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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Earthquake Hits Nepal; Tom Brady Suspended 4 Games Over Deflategate; Kerry in Russia to Meet with Putin. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired May 12, 2015 - 05:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[05:00:07] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: EARLY START continues right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START.

We have breaking news this morning. A powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake has hit Nepal. The tremors felt as far as New Delhi. The U.S. Geological Service says the epicenter is near the Nepalese city of Namche. That's close to the border with China. There have been at least six aftershocks, up to 6.3 magnitude.

In Kathmandu, 50 miles west of the epicenter, panicked crowds ran into the streets. Some people apparently carried, and at least four people are reported to have been killed in the town of Chautara. You're seeing some of the images now coming from a terrified population in Nepal.

I want to bring in CNN's Sumnima Udas. She is in New Delhi.

You've just returned from the earthquake on April 25th -- an earthquake that killed more than 8,000 people. The country is still struggling, struggling to get on its feet really, get open for business and now this, Sumnima.

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That is right, Christine. And if you remember the earthquake on April 25th, the scope and scale of the earthquake on April 25th, the authorities didn't know until a few days later, took some time until you got outside of Kathmandu valley. It was difficult to assess. They are still assessing the damage of the previous earthquake.

Nepal was just moving from the search and rescue phase to its rehabilitation phase. And even while I was there a few days ago and the army was still going out on just serving the area, trying to assess the damage of the previous earthquake and this happens. People were so panicked and so traumatized. Many of them were still camping out outside scared to go back in their homes.

And there always this rumor, there's always this fear that another big earthquake will hit again and now it has. And, of course, during this time, so many aftershocks, at least 600 aftershocks after the first quake. So, this is going to have an issue on psychology there, but also just in terms of the relief and rehabilitation process.

ROMANS: Relief and rehabilitation. We are getting reports of landslides and more fatalities. We are starting to see these pictures -- these are "Reuters" pictures coming in this morning, people obviously fleeing a building. We know they just started to get back. Businesses opening up again and markets opening and now this.

Sumnima, it is only 11 miles deep, this quake. That means the damage can be that much more significant and severe.

UDAS: It could be. Right now, we don't have any reports from Namche, which is the closest town to the epicenter. Namche Bazaar is really the gateway to Everest. That is where any trek or anyone who wants to summit Everest would go to first to trek up to base camp and further up to Everest. Everest was closed off because of the previous earthquake and avalanche thereafter.

So, a lot of people wanted to trek in the area around Namche. So, we don't know the status of that area. We don't know if there have been avalanches of what's happening on the ground. A lot of homes are made out of wood and mud. So, very difficult to tell, too early to assess the damage. You know, a lot of concern that this could be another big one.

ROMANS: All right. Sumnima Udas, thank you so much for that in New Delhi this morning. And again, she just returned from covering the quake.

BERMAN: Eight thousand dead in that, and very -- you know, a lot of reason to be concerned this morning about Namche and the town surrounding that where there are trekkers and threat of avalanches and other aftereffects of that powerful earthquake.

All right. There is more news to talk about this morning.

The NFL issuing a severe, harsh punishment on New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, suspended the star quarterback for four games over deflategate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN (voice-over): The unprecedented penalties, including a four- game suspension for Tom Brady came less than a week after the bombshell 243-page report on deflategate.

TOM BRADY, PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK: I don't have really any reaction. I haven't had much time to digest it fully.

BERMAN: Players throughout the league are reacting to the punishment.

DEVIN MCCOURTY, PATRIOTS SAFETY: We have full belief and faith in Tom. It has been like that for six years for me. That's not going to change now.

ELI MANNING, QUARTERBACK, NEW YORK GIANTS: Someone breaking rules, I understand. You're going to get punished for it. BERMAN: The report led the league to not only bench the star

quarterback, but also slap the Patriots with a $1 million fine. the highest ever. And in another staggering blow, the team has to give up its 2016 first-round draft pick and fourth round pick in 2017.

[05:05:03] DREW ROSENHAUS, SPORTS AGENT: The NFL is on a mission right now to repair some of the mistakes they made in the past. The NFL league office on this one out of control.

BERMAN: Brady's agent is blasting the decision, saying in a statement, "We will appeal and that the discipline is ridiculous and has no legitimate basis."

New England fans are showing support online and beyond. There's a #nobradynobanner. Pressing the NFL to wait to raise the championship banner until Brady is back on the field.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't want to see a banner without Brady. He's been the franchise.

BERMAN: The Patriots owner is also sticking by his players, stating, "Tom Brady has our unconditional support. Our belief in him has not wavered."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: So, the two employees who were cited in the report, they have been suspended without pay indefinitely without pay. The Patriots did that already. If they want to be back with the team, they need approval.

Now, as for the appeal, it will be held by Roger Goodell himself or by someone appointed by Roger Goodell. The Patriots and Tom Brady also have the option to send it to a judge after that deal. A lot of people think the suspension will be reduced, maybe as much as two games.

And one other note, the NFL may clear the severity of the punishment wasn't due to what happened here, but because the patriots have infractions in the past, spygate back in 2007.

ROMANS: So, it's May. If you are talking about four games next season, they have to resolve all of the appeals and legal procedure, all has to happen over the summer.

BERMAN: They will. I mean, that's enough time for them to do it. Suspensions get reduced or eliminated. I suspect he will miss a few games, whether it's four remains to be seen.

ROMANS: All right. He has the paycheck from Gisele.

BERMAN: Oh, I think he is doing OK. I don't think you have to worry about --

ROMANS: Four games without pay for Tom Brady is --

BERMAN: Two million bucks, though.

ROMANS: Yes, that's real money. All right. Thanks, John.

Developing this morning, police in Lake Mary, Florida, are expected to release a report detailing the Monday shooting that injured George Zimmerman, the man acquitted of murder in the 2013 death of Trayvon Martin, he says that someone he had been in an ongoing dispute with pulled up along him in traffic and took a shot at him. The bullet missed Zimmerman, but he was hit in the face by flying glass.

Now, the attorney for the shooter Matthew Apperson tells a different story, saying his client shot at Zimmerman because Zimmerman brandished a gun at him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK NEJAME, MATT APPERSON'S LAWYER: Now, this is good old fashioned self defense. If, in fact, one is in reasonable fear of his life or imminent bodily harm, they have a right, as every state in the country allows, to protect themselves if, in fact, they are threatened.

DON WEST, GEORGE ZIMMERMAN'S LAWYER: This fellow was taunting and yelling at him calling him names. You're going to shoot me now kind of thing, and I don't know where that came from.

But in any event, when George recognized him and realized who he was and what he was saying, he rolled his window up and decided to get away. Not to provoke it whatsoever. The fellow followed him around the U-turn and then pulled up next to him and shot him. It could have killed him easily, could have killed him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Zimmerman's lawyer denies that his client waved a gun. So far, there'd been no arrest and there'd been no charges in that case.

ROMANS: The head of the National Security Agency says ISIS efforts to use the Internet as a weapon against the West, instead of just for recruiting and spreading ideology but is an actual weapon is a great concern for the NSA, as well it should be.

Admiral Mike Rogers told a conference on Monday that his agency is also increasingly worried about ISIS using the web to recruit and encourage lone wolf attacks in the United States.

I want to bring in senior correspondent Nick Paton Walsh for the latest.

Good morning, Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, some stark warnings from Admiral Mike Rogers, the director of the NSA, speaking to a cyber conference, talking about what her perceives to be the new threat that ISIS posed to people in the United States simply because of the power to project their ideology over the Internet. Now, let me read to you what he had to say. Concern about individuals

in the United States resonating with the ideology of ISIS and idea of acting violently is of great concern. It is a trend that things would suggest is increasing, not decreasing. That comes hot on the heels of the Garland, Texas shooting in which two attackers tweeted allegiance to ISIS ahead of that particular attack and seem to have Internet traffic or social media contact with ISIS supporters in the weeks, months beforehand.

The key issue here, though, John, is not necessarily that we are talking about command or control. The different nature of the ISIS threat is ideas and ideology and videos online and handbooks as how to do things can appeal to people who are dissolution or lost or dysfunctional, call it what you will.

[05:10:04] Some analysts say very much like the hard lined communist ideas and ideology and videos online and handbooks as how to do things can appeal to people who are dissolution or lost or dysfunctional. Some say the hard lined communists guerilla groups springing up in European cities way back in the '70s or so, and this could potentially garner attraction in the U.S.

One small bit, though, of context here. The director of the NSA giving this warning. A lot of focus on the NSA after the revelations of Edward Snowden and the nature mass surveillance and the weeks and months ahead, NSA will be seeking to renew its capacity to look at elements of Internet traffic in the U.S.

So, a lot riding on this in terms of American security, but also in terms of the capabilities perhaps the NSA gets to retain to try and combat which they have just said is the growing ISIS threat in the U.S., John.

BERMAN: Important context. Nick Paton Walsh, thanks so much.

ROMANS: A humanitarian five-day cease-fire in Yemen set to begin today. Warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition stepped up air strikes on Houthis rebels targets in the final hours before the deadline. It is hoped the cease-fire will allow aid to reach thousands of Yemeni citizens who have endured power outages, shortages of food, no water, little medicine. Over 1,400 have been killed in that conflict.

BERMAN: The White House is pushing back against the idea that relations are souring with these two allied nations. Officials in both countries are dismissing the perception that King Salman's decision to skip a Camp David summit with Persian Gulf leader is being done to send a message to President Obama about U.S. overtures to Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL AL-JUBEIR, FOREIGN MINISTER, SAUDI ARABIA: This idea that this is in any way a snub or reflects in the relationship is absolutely has no basis in fact.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Why did he lead the U.S. believe he would be here this week?

AL-JUBEIR: Well, the circumstances in Yemen was such that it was changing. Our cities were attacks in (INAUDIBLE). The cease-fire was announced and timing of the ceasefire was announced. So, the circumstances have changed.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I know there have been some speculations that this change in travel plans was an attempt to send a message to the United States. If so, that message was not received because of the feedback we have received from the Saudis has been positive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The fact is last week, he said he was coming. This week, he says he is not. The president and King Salman did speak Monday by telephone about the summit and about the negotiations with Iran.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an early on your money.

European shares, wow, guys, look at this. There are much lower this morning. There are concerns about Greece's debt and future in the E.U. Plus, bond fields are surging all a sudden, pretty dramatically actually. That is not good news for stocks.

U.S. stock futures are down. Yesterday's stocks pulled back. The Dow down 86 points.

Google's self driving cars have been in 11 accidents in the last six years. They are testing the self driving cars. According to a Google blog post, all those accidents were minor, with limited damage and no injuries.

The self driving car was apparently never the cause of the accident. In some cases, the person inside the car had taken control. In others, the car was rear-ended or sideswiped. Google says these cars could potentially save thousands of lives a year from traffic fatalities. And also, the whole self driving idea, they think it's going to be good for congestion, for commutes, for time, quality of life.

BERMAN: I like the guy with the cheese cutter hat. He looks cool driving the self-driving vehicle.

ROMANS: They are very safe as long as no humans are involved, apparently.

BERMAN: All right. We do have breaking news we are following this morning. A new earthquake, a powerful earthquake in Nepal. You remember, just a few weeks ago, 8,000 people killed in a quake -- well, there is a new one. We have reports of fatalities. We have reports of building collapses. We are getting details -- new details by the minute.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:16:53] ROMANS: We are covering breaking news this morning. We are getting our first reports here, early reports of deaths caused by new magnitude 7.3 earthquake in Nepal. At least four deaths have been reported. U.S. Geological Survey reports have been at least six aftershocks up to magnitude 6.3. International agency says there were four deaths in the town of Chautara.

The epicenter reported to be near the Nepalese city of Namche. It is near, the city of Namche, it's close to the border with China. About 11 miles, so relatively shallow quake.

We have reports this morning of buildings collapsing, of buildings that were damaged in the prior quake collapsing now. You got reports this was felt as far away as New Delhi.

Joining us now on the phone now from Kathmandu is journalist Manesh Shrestha.

Thank you for joining us. We know that the Kathmandu airport has now been close. We know this is just devastating on the heels of a country trying to get back on its feet after that 7.8 magnitude quake on April 25th.

What can you tell us, Manesh, about what's happening now?

MANESH SHRESTHA, JOURNALIST (via telephone): People are in shock. I was walking down the street when this earthquake struck. And everywhere, people just started running out of the building. The traffic came to a standstill. And people tried to call their loved ones, but they could not work or get through on the phones.

People were saying like, when will this ever stop? We just want this to stop. They are really scared.

As you mentioned in the report earlier, this town of Chautara (INAUDIBLE) is more than 3,000 people (INAUDIBLE) April 25th quake. I hear reports that the whole town has been devastated and that hardly any buildings standing there.

I talked to the police. The police said they are still getting reports and sending teams to assess the damage.

But again, we're sure, the death toll is going to rise. It will rise as we get more reports, and as get more reports.

People are still not coming to terms with the April 25th quake. And some offices started opening on Friday as well as schools. Now with this quake, I do not know when life will come to normal again.

ROMANS: So, just on Friday, the schools in Nepal starting to reopen. You say for obvious reasons. People just now beginning to come to terms with what had happened on April 25th. And then this new quake.

We do know, Manesh, there have been several aftershocks as well. People are standing outside? Are they afraid to go inside buildings? [05:20:00] SHRESTHA: Yes, people are standing outside. As soon as the quake happened, the stores pulled down shutters, the (INAUDIBLE) closed, and people coming out of offices. I talked to some office goers. They do not know. They said that office just started yesterday.

And there are people that I was talking to on the streets were telling me they will start sleeping outside again, because after the April 25th, they had been too scared of the aftershocks. They are too scared to go inside.

Now, we are going to see a lot of people sleeping outside again. In any open space you see in Kathmandu, people are still outside. They want this to stop.

BERMAN: Manesh, what can you tell me about Namche? That is the town where this quake, the epicenter of the quake, is believed to be, 7.3 magnitude. Namche known as the gateway to Everest, haven for trekkers, people wanting to hike in those mountains up there.

Are you getting any early reports about possible damage or the condition of that town?

SHRESTHA: I have no reports of damages. Police are still assessing the situation. But if that is where the epicenter is and there is damage, then that will mean a lot to Nepal industry. a lot of rebuilding. People are still missing from -- I mean, tourists, trekkers are still missing from the April 25th quake. All the expedition on Everest and other mountains in the area have already been abandoned.

I do not think there are too many tourists out there. But it is going to hard hit the Nepalese tourist economy very hard if that is the epicenter and we are hearing. We have not got reports. Maybe in the next few hours, more into the area about what exactly how badly damaged that place is. Because Barpak is the epicenter of the April 25 earthquake, the whole village is damaged as we saw in CNN reports earlier and we can expect something similar.

And there were 18 deaths in Everest base camp already. So, we can expect more deaths there. I hope there are not that many deaths (INAUDIBLE) damage.

BERMAN: We all hope that. Manesh Shrestha, thank you so much for being with us and helping us understand what is going on in Nepal.

Again, the breaking news, a 7.3 magnitude quake. This is a new earthquake, folks, that hit that country, devastated by a quake a couple of weeks ago, more than 8,000 people killed over the last few weeks from that first quake now. Now, a new quake, 7.3 magnitude, just getting the first reports of fatalities and structural damage. We will bring you more information as it comes then.

Happening, Secretary of State John Kerry is in high stakes meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. We will tell you what it means next. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:26:52] ROMANS: U.S. officials say Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet face-to-face this morning in Sochi.

CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance is in Moscow for us this morning, giving us a look at a peak at what's on the agenda. There are no shortage of things for these two to talk about. It has been a while since this has been a high level face-to-face meeting.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's night. John Kerry hasn't been to Russia since 2013, which is astonishing given the state of relations between Moscow and Washington. Also, areas of dispute from Ukraine crisis, of course, the sanctions that have been imposed by Washington on Russia over its alleged involvement in Ukraine.

NATO expansion as well is also a real kind of thorn in the side of relations as it were between Moscow and Washington. All of those threaten the cooperation that exists between the countries in various other areas in international diplomacy on Syria, on Iran, on Yemen. They have to cooperate, particularly at U.N. Security Council to try and get things done in that arena.

So, I think what we are seeing now is perhaps a first step by the United States to try to move toward normalizing the relationship. John Kerry will be meeting with Vladimir Putin, as well as the Russian foreign minister later on today. And, you know, I think we can look at that as a potentially good sign, whether it is reciprocated or not is a different question.

ROMANS: Altogether a different question indeed. Thank you for that, Matthew Chance, in Moscow for us this morning.

BERMAN: All right. Our breaking news this morning: a new major earthquake has hit Nepal. This country devastated by a quake a few weeks ago, 8,000 people killed in the first earthquake. Today, we have a new one, 7.3 magnitude. Already reports of fatalities. We will bring you the latest information right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)