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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Magnitude 7.3 Quake Hits Nepal; Tom Brady Suspended Four Games Over Deflategate; NSA Concerned By ISIS Use Of Web As Weapon; Closing Arguments Ahead For Tsarnaev; Millennials Take Over Workplace. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired May 12, 2015 - 05:30   ET

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

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[05:30:23] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, good morning, everyone. John Berman is here along with Christine Romans. We have breaking news this morning. A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake has hit Nepal. This is a new earthquake, folks, the second one, of course.

There was one more than two weeks ago that killed more than 8,000 people. The epicenter this morning near the Nepalese city of Namche, that is the gateway to Everest. It is right on the border with China.

Kathmandu, 50 miles west of the epicenter, you can see some crowds here, fleeing on the streets. We are being told by people on the ground that everyone is rushing outside. Traffic there is said to be snarled.

We talked to someone on the ground there. He said the first thing is people are in shock. In the town of Tchohara at least four people are now reported killed, but that is just a preliminary report and that number could very well rise perhaps substantially.

I want to bring CNN's Sumnima Udas, who is live for us in New Delhi. Sumnima just returned from Nepal to cover the devastation of that first earthquake more than two weeks ago.

Sumnima, we are getting reports now of some building collapses. We are starting to hear from some of the towns closer to the epicenter and the news not good.

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not good at all. In fact, with the last earthquake, it took some time, at least three to four days for authorities and us as well to just get a sense of the scope and magnitude of the earthquake and the scope of the damage there.

Until you got out of Kathmandu Valley, it is very difficult to ascertain how big the earthquake was. In Kathmandu, complete chaos on the streets as you mentioned, a lot of people outside. A lot of people were just starting to move back in their homes after the earthquake two and a half weeks ago.

A lot of them were cracked homes because of the earthquake. Complete panic on the streets. Police set out a tweet saying please don't occupy the streets. Find some open areas. Kathmandu has very few open areas. It's an incredibly congested city.

There is one huge park in the middle of the city. That is about it really in terms of massive open areas. So presumably a lot of people are headed that way.

Otherwise, just outside in their gardens. This is something that people have been talking about since that previous earthquake. Another earthquake will strike again. It has been continuous aftershocks.

According to one account, at least 600 aftershocks so people have been panicking and traumatized by the earthquake. Now this happens. Again, the aftershocks are continuing at least six already.

BERMAN: We have heard the airport in Kathmandu has been closed after this quake a couple of hours ago. We now understand that the airport in Kathmandu has reopened. That is good news. They need the aid coming in and out. Sumnima, what can you tell me about the town of Namche, which is where we believed the epicenter of this quake was? You called it the gateway to Everest.

[05:35:11] UDAS: That's right. Anytime someone wants to summit Everest or go on a trekking trip around Everest base camp, you have to go to Namche. You first land in a space from Kathmandu and you walk for two days to get to Namche Bazaar.

That is really the hub of the expedition in the industry in around the Everest area. That's where all the sherpas are. You pick up your guys or sherpas from Namche and then you head over to the base camp and the summit.

Everest was closed or expeditions were closed because of the previous earthquake and all those avalanches thereafter, but still a lot of people were around Namche area because people could still trek around the area and to base camp as well.

So we don't know what's happened in Namche right now. It could be quite bad. If there are avalanches, if you are talking close to Everest, the last earthquake was a distance, but still avalanches.

Now Namche is just really the bottom of Everest. If an earthquake hit around there, then potentially there could be a lot of avalanches.

BERMAN: We are waiting to see, waiting to hear from that town. Sumnima Udas, thanks so much for being with us.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, back here, the NFL bringing the hammer down on New England Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady suspending him four games over deflate-gate. The Patriots is also hit hard, fined $1 million, set to forfeit two draft picks including their 2016 first round choice.

The agent for Tom Brady calls the discipline ridiculous. He says there was quote no fairness in the investigation. He promises to appeal. The team owner, Robert Kraft is also blasting the league saying Brady has the Patriots unwavering support. CNN's Andy Scholes joins us now with more. There will be an appeals process that will get underway here. What is going on?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: The NFL hitting Brady with the suspension. The league says they are handing down such a harsh punishment because they must protect the integrity of the game.

In a letter to Brady, NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent says Brady's actions as described in the Wells reports were considered conduct detrimental to the integrity game of football.

Brady's agent, Don Yee, said they plan to appeal the four games suspension. In a statement, he said, "The discipline is ridiculous and has no legitimate basis. The NFL lacks standards or protocols with respect to the handling of footballs prior to games. This is not the fault of Tom or the Patriots. We will appeal."

The letter to the Patriots mentioned the team's prior record including the spy-gate scandal in 2007 as a factor in assessing the discipline. The punishment this time around is much harsher.

Here's how the play-gate compares to spy-gate, the Patriots, the only franchise since 1980, to be stripped of a first-round draft pick and it happened to them twice. NFL is doubling the fine to the Patriots this time around.

As you can see, Tom Brady is getting a much harsher punishment than Bill Bilicheck did for spy-gate. Now Patriots' owner, Robert Kraft won't be getting that apology from the NFL that he asked for before the Super Bowl.

He released a statement last night condemning the league's actions saying, "Today's punishment far exceeded any reasonable expectation. It was based completely on circumstantial rather than hard or conclusive evidence. Tom Brady has our unconditional support and our belief in him has not wavered."

A reaction to Brady's suspension was mixed on social media. Patriots runningback, Lagaret Blunt tweeted, "This is absolutely ridiculous. Shaking my head." #standup.

Cardinal's defender, Patrick Peterson meanwhile, he tweeted, "Well done, NFL. #deflategat and while Steve Weatherferd, the Giant's

punter, he tweeted, "Tom Brady suspended four games? That's just ridiculous. They are comparing it to steroid use."

If Brady misses the first four games of next season, he would be out for Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Jacksonville and Dallas. If he returns for the fifth game, barring if he wins an appeals process, it will be at Indianapolis on Sunday night football. Of course, the Colts got the controversy going.

ROMANS: I have been asking John Berman all morning. If you are trying to find a pattern in what is justice in the NFL, would you be able to find a pattern? I didn't hear anybody say four games, two draft picks and $1 million. Some people thought he'd be out, you know, just a game.

SCHOLES: It's a new league. They have been all over the place in the past year, you know, with all the problems they've had with domestic violence and child abuse. Now they are just trying to -- we're going to hand down the harshest punishment possible and let the appeals process play out.

BERMAN: All right, Andy Scholes, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

Developing this morning in Lake Mary, Florida, police there are expected to release a report detailing a shooting that injured George Zimmerman.

[05:40:05] Of course, Zimmerman is the man acquitted in the murder -- in the 2013 death of Trayvon Martin. He said that someone -- he had been in an ongoing dispute with pulled up alongside in traffic, and took a shot.

The bullet missed him, but he was hit in the face by flying glass. The attorney for the shooter says his client shot at Zimmerman because Zimmerman brandished a gun at him.

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MARK NEJAME, MATT APPERSON'S LAWYER: This good old fashion self- defense. If one is in reasonable fear of their life or 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 are going to shoot me now kind of thing. 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, followed him around the u-turn and then pulled up next to him and shot him. He could have killed him easily.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Zimmerman's lawyer denies that his client waved a gun. So far there had been no arrest or charges in this case.

ROMANS: All right, we are continuing to follow this breaking news out of Nepal, a new earthquake striking this morning. We are bringing you new details as we get them.

Plus, a stern warning about the success of ISIS on American soil.

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[05:45:09]

BERMAN: All right, the breaking news this morning. A magnitude 7.3 earthquake, a powerful earthquake has hit Nepal. This is a new earthquake to hit the country that has been devastated over the last few weeks by the 7.8 quake that hit on April 25th killing 8,000 people.

This morning, the U.S. Geological Survey reports the epicenter of the quake is near the city of Namche. That is close to the border of China. It is the gateway to Everest, the very popular area with trekkers.

We already know there have been at least six aftershocks this morning, up to 6.3 magnitude, powerful in of themselves. In Kathmandu, west of the epicenter, panicked crowds ran into the streets. At least four people in the town of Chatara have been killed. That number could sadly rise.

ROMANS: All right, the head of the National Security Agency with a stern warning about ISIS efforts to use the internet as a weapon against the west and just how successful it has been.

It is not just for recruiting and spreading ideology, but using it as a weapon and the audience is pretty receptive. This is a great concern for the NSA.

Admiral Mike Rogers says his agency is increasingly worried that ISIS is using the web to turn people into lone wolf attackers in the U.S.

I want to bring in senior international correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh. Good morning, Nick. You know, we have heard from officials again and again that the Jihadists narrative is -- resonates very well among a certain sub sect of people and quite frankly using the internet quite well to spread that message.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Many analysts have spoken of how it resonates among those who ideologically driven and feel that Islamic faith resonates closely with them. There are others who are dysfunctional, attached, disenfranchised from the communities that they are in.

Kind of people who might, for example, decades ago be drawn sort of slightly extremist communist and militant groups, but, Admiral Michael Rogers, the director of the NSA speaking to a security conference did sound a pretty stark warning saying that individuals in the U.S. are increasingly resonating with the ideology of ISIS and acting violently is clearly of great concern.

It is a trend things suggest is increasing, not decreasing. Obviously, that is to state the obvious after the first attack in the U.S., which ISIS purportedly tried to latch themselves on to with the shootings in Garland, Texas.

The two gunmen there pledge an allegiance to ISIS leader so it's seen on Twitter before the attacks and then ISIS came out afterwards and said, that they would be working for them, still unclear if there is prior communication at all.

This is the key concern, Christine. You are talking about an ideology which is attractive to people who may have never met ISIS leadership. In the past, you have a chain of command or you could investigator look for and surveillance.

In this case, you may not get that. You may have a lone wolf who sees something online and learns what he has to do on the internet and plots the attack.

Then afterwards, ISIS says they are connected. One piece of information, Christine, the head of the NSA embattled after the revelations of Edward Snowden in terms of individual privacy.

He is going to be talking in the weeks ahead about trying to renew the powers that the NSA have for mass surveillance and you may want to view the comments on the imminent threat of ISIS as he sees it, within the light of the NSA and also trying to preserve the ability to do what they say to protect the national security.

ROMANS: Nick, very good point, looking at all of these comments into the prism, incredibly important, balancing the privacy and security of America. Thanks for that, Nick Paton Walsh for us this morning.

BERMAN: It's about 12 minutes until the hour right now. Dramatic testimony in the Boston marathon bombing trial, the sentencing phase, did Dzhokhar tsarnaev apologize for his crimes? An open question, we'll tell you what he told a famous nun. That's next.

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[05:52:53]

ROMANS: Closing arguments are set for tomorrow in the penalty phase of the Boston bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's trial. Both sides resting on Monday after testimony from Sister Helen Prejean after she told jurors she believes he is genuinely sorry for what he did. Here is Deborah Feyerick.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, Christine, this is really the first time that the court was able to hear what Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been thinking over the last couple of weeks since this trial began.

Now Sister Helen Prejean took the stand, testifying that she met with Dzhokhar five times, and that they talked about the attack and that they talked about the victims.

She describes his demeanor saying that his eyes were lowered. His voice had pain in it and he quote said emphatically, "No one deserves to suffer like they did."

She also said I had every reason to think he was genuinely sorry for what he did. She did not say that he actually said those words, I'm sorry.

I asked a survivor outside court afterwards, she said she has not seen any remorse during the course of the trial. The jury will return to court on Wednesday to hear closing arguments from both sides and then they will get the case and decide whether Dzhokhar Tsarnaev lives or dies -- John, Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Deborah Feyerick in Boston, thank you for that, Deborah. Millennials are taking over the work force. They are. What's more important to them than a paycheck? I'll tell you next.

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ROMANS: Good morning. I'm Christine Romans. Let's get an EARLY START on your money. Millennials are taking over the workplace. There are 53.5 million millennials working. That's more than 1 in 3 workers according to Pew Research.

This year, adults aged 18 to 34, they surpassed Generation X to become the largest share of the American work force. These numbers will keep growing as more millennials graduate from college and begin working careers.

So where do millennials want to work? According to a new survey from Extensure, most 2015 college graduates would prefer to work at mid- size companies and 60 percent want a company with a good social atmosphere even if it means lower pay.

They value fun over pay. Of course, that could change once mom and dad are not picking up the tab. More than 70 percent of millennials said parents are paying the majority of their rent and living expenses.

All right, breaking news, the breaking news this morning, this new earthquake has hit Nepal. "NEW DAY" picks up coverage of that important story right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unprecedented penalties.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suspended for four games without pay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have full belief and faith in our quarterback.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone's breaking rules, you got to get punished for them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This video from a French pro-ISIS hacking group threatening a cyberattack is coming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is about the first time in about a decade that I've personally been concerned about the fight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The shooting death of unarmed teen, Tony Robinson.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a good kindhearted kid who was very happy and just wanted to be accepted.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Will the Madison police officer be charged?

JEB BUSH: I'm a proud brother of George W. Bush. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the subject of Iraq.

BUSH: Yes, I would have. So would have Hillary Clinton.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Tuesday, May 12th, 6:00 in the East. We begin with breaking news, another major earthquake hitting Nepal near Mt. Everest and the China border. This is the moment the 7.3 quake started shaking what's left of that city and surrounding areas.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So you can see first images of chaos and confusion in the streets.