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Iran Nuclear Talks Push Past Deadline; Tornado Threat Grips Central U.S.; Airline Knew About Co-Pilot's Depression; Bikram Yoga Founder on Sex Allegations. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired April 01, 2015 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[06:32:01] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Talks on Iran's nuclear program under way this morning. Some mixed messages coming from Switzerland. All sides say despite progress major hurdles remain, mainly the lifting of sanctions. The White House says the U.S. will remain at the table as long as conversations are productive. But top diplomats from Russia, France and China have left.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: The Boston marathon bombing trial going to the jury next week as the defense rests its case. Lawyers for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev brought four witnesses to the stand. Their case lasting less than two days, while the prosecution presented more than 90 witnesses in the last month. Closing arguments are expected Monday. Tsarnaev, you'll recall, faces the death penalty.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Here's a "what do you think" segment for you. New York City police are investigating a video showing a detective berating an Uber driver. It happened after the driver gestured to the detective in an unmarked car to use a blinker while parking. Watch what happens.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DETECTIVE: You understand me? I don't know what (EXPLETIVE DELETED) planet you think you're on right now.
UBER DRIVER: I'm not planning, sir. I'm here.
DETECTIVE: Planning? It's a planet. It's a planet.
UBERT DRIVER: Yes, I'm not from any planet.
(EXPLETIVE DELETED)
DETECTIVE: Get in the car and stay there. The next time you do it again --
UBER DRIVER: OK, what?
DETECTIVE: OK what? You going to let me (EXPLETIVE DELETED) finish? Stop interrupting me. UBER DRIVER: OK. I apologize, I'm sorry.
DETECTIVE: Who do you think you're talking to here? How long have you been in this country?
UBER DRIVER: Almost two years.
DETECTIVE: Almost how long?
UBER DRIVER: Two years.
DETECTIVE: I got news for you, remember this in the future. Don't ever do that again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: Passenger in the back obviously capturing the incident.
The detective is assigned to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. He's now facing suspension, reassignment and the loss of his high- level security clearance.
Thoughts?
CAMEROTA: I don't think his anger management courses are working. It was such a disproportionate response. And the driver was being so cordial.
PEREIRA: He was very mild-mannered and the people in the back encouraged him to go and report this action, too. So --
CAMEROTA: Your thoughts?
CUOMO: The only piece I still need is I need to know what happened that precipitated it. I'm not saying that it justifies anything? But, you know -- I would like to know that piece.
PEREIRA: They also say the officer was coming from visiting a colleague who had been injured or sick in the hospital. But still, there's a lot of things --
CUOMO: That's part of being a professional, is being able to separate what you're dealing with. But I'd like to know that piece.
What do you think? You know how to get us.
PEREIRA: All right. We've got to talk weather, because there's a tornado threat hanging over the middle of our nation today.
Meteorologist Chad Myers is in the CNN weather center.
Tell us what we need to know here, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Spring has sprung in some spots, in other spots they don't want spring to come. Temperatures are going to be nice and warm. In Omaha today, all the way back out to Kansas City. But that heat, that humidity will fire the storms, damaging winds, large hail.
Hail as big as baseballs yesterday across parts of the Deep South.
Here's how it happens, here from about Norfolk, all the way back down to Lincoln and Grand Island, into Omaha as well. Tomorrow, farther to east, and for Friday, farther to the southeast. So three solid days of potential for severe weather, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
[06:35:08] And then for you spring people that want spring like in -- I don't know, like in Rutland, here's what your Saturday and Sunday looks like. Yes, that is snow. Sorry.
Back to you.
PEREIRA: OK, he said it, the "S" word.
All right. Chad, thanks so much.
CAMEROTA: We warned you never to do that again, Chad.
PEREIRA: It's a curse word around here.
CAMEROTA: It really is.
PEREIRA: All right. Ahead here, critical development in the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525. The co-pilot who deliberately steered the jet into a mountain told his employers some five or six years ago, he had been suffering from depression. So, why was he allowed to continue flying?
CAMEROTA: And our exclusive interview with the founder of Bikram Yoga, six different women claim he sexually assaulted or raped them. Now, there are signs his empire could be threatened. So, I asked him point-blank about the allegations, his emotional response ahead on NEW DAY.
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[06:40:03] CARSTEN SPOHR, CEO, LUFTHANSA: The pilot has passed all these tests, all his medical exams. We have at Lufthansa, reporting system where crew can report without being punished, their own problems or they can report about problems of others without any kind of punishment. That hasn't been used either in this case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PEREIRA: Welcome back. That was the CEO of Lufthansa speaking to CNN's Frederik Pleitgen last week about how there were no warning signs of co-pilot Andreas Lubitz' behavior.
It has now come to light that Lubitz did indeed report to the company, that he suffered a severe depressive episode back in 2009 and reported it.
Let's bring in, rather, Mary Schiavo, CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Justin Green is here. He's a private pilot and president of the International Air and Transportation Safety Bar Association.
Mary, the airline knew, the airline knew. He disclosed it to them that he suffered a severe depressive episode. He sent them an email later saying it seems to have -- or it subsided. So, he self-reported it, it would appear. Yet there was no follow-up.
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Yes. Well and that's the big problem here and the crux of the issue. And follow-up under the ICAO guidelines and certainly if it's comparable in Germany to the Federal Aviation Administration, the airline was required to do so, particularly where medications were involved and apparently this person had it not one, but perhaps more than one form of medication.
You have to go through a series of monitoring. He has to have a special medical license. That has to be monitored very carefully by the airline, including at three-month intervals. They have to do that.
So, I think the airline clearly dropped the ball.
PEREIRA: So, we don't know that that was done.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHIAVO: That's right. We have no way of knowing that was done. Apparently not, because the airline said, well, they just found this in their records that suggest it was not done.
PEREIRA: And, Justin, you made that point before here with us. There are levels of depression, mild, moderate, where a pilot well-treated, well-medicated can still fly.
JUSTIN GREEN, PRIVATE PILOT: I think what has to be looked at is why this guy self-reported. He self-reported because he was their flight training program.
PEREIRA: Right.
GREEN: And under their flight training program, the pilot basically goes, pays his own way, you know to, his housing, his food. The airline pre-finances the training.
PEREIRA: Right.
GREEN: And when the pilot gets a contract with Lufthansa, with Germanwings, the pilot pays back, pays the airline back for all the training. So, there's a big incentive, I believe --
PEREIRA: To self-report.
GREEN: No, I believe there's a big incentive for the airline to get the pilot through training.
PEREIRA: OK, that's what you mean.
GREEN: The only reason -- the pilot had to take a break. The big question is why after this guy in the training was unable to finish it, why he had to leave, why they let him back in the program, why they hired him after that, and I think it probably has to do with the way that program is set up.
PEREIRA: And, Mary, all of this is important because if the airline is deemed responsible, that is, it changes the liability, and it changes the compensation for the families, correct?
SCHIAVO: Well, not to the degree that that would be the case in the United States, but with the domestic flight. Because this flight is governed by something we call the Montreal Treaty, it's a treaty signed by most nations, the airlines automatically responsible for the initial amount, which is something called a special drawing rights. It's about US$175,000. It varies literally daily with the markets.
But then the airline is responsible for unlimited amounts thereafter, if they can show they took all reasonable measures to prevent this tragedy. Obviously, they did not.
But under this treaty, usually, you cannot get punitive damages. In other words, damage because you're just egregiously and horribly negligent. Usually, the treaty just doesn't allow that.
PEREIRA: All right. Just quickly, we want to switch focus for a second. We learned that a SIM card was found at the scene of the crash. I've got to imagine that this is helpful to an investigator. But it brings up all sorts of other questions. Should it be seen?
What are your thoughts on this, Justin?
GREEN: Well, you know, videos or audio tapes or any photographs taken by victims can be very crucial evidence in the Asiana crash that we're working on right now, the people on board were videoing, taking pictures, we were able to use that and basically get a very good picture of what actually happened during the approach and after the crash landing.
My problem is, is that this information came out so quickly during --
PEREIRA: In a leak.
GREEN: During a period where -- to a tabloid.
PEREIRA: Yes.
GREEN: During a period where the families are grieving and I'm just -- I just feel you know I work with families and I just -- they go through, I never say that I know what they're going through, because I don't think you can. But I do know going to the supermarket and seeing this on a tabloid is not something helpful.
PEREIRA: Such sensitivity requires. We should point out, one of the editors from that German tabloid is going to be joining us later. We're going to ask him about that video and its contents and the struggle about what they do with it now.
[06:45:01] Mary, Justin, thank you.
GREEN: Thank you.
SCHIAVO: Thank you.
PEREIRA: Alisyn?
CAMEROTA: OK, Michaela.
Up next, our exclusive interview with the man behind the Bikram Yoga empire. What he says about the sexual assault and rape allegations against him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIKRAM CHOUDHURY, BIKRAM YOGA FOUNDER: We die only once in our life. I'm dying every day when I get up in the morning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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CAMEROTA: He's the world-famous creator of the Bikram Yoga method, a guru to legions of devotees. But Bikram Choudhury's success story now threatened. Lawsuits filed by a half dozen women claim he sexually assaulted or raped them.
I sat down with Choudhury for an exclusive interview to talk about those allegations and the effect on the Bikram empire.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHOUDHURY: Welcome to Bikram (INAUDIBLE). Usually 90 minutes, but I don't know how long today.
CAMEROTA (voice-over): For five decades, Bikram Choudhury has built an empire through his signature hot yoga that bears his name.
CHOUDHURY: I implant my mind into your brain.
CAMEROTA: With studios heated to 105 degrees, Bikram credits the steamy, sweaty stretches with transforming people's bodies and minds. He says he's guided by a deep calling to help.
CHOUDHURY: Go around the world, share your knowledge and wisdom, help people, heal people and make this world a better world.
CAMEROTA: And for millions of Bikram students, all over the world, it's worked.
CHERYL BALDINGER, BIKRAM YOGA INSTRUCTOR: I love him. Every class, I feel like it's church. I've been kissed by the divine.
CAMEROTA: But he's more than a spiritual leader. He's become a celebrity icon, with a long list of famous followers and friends.
CHOUDHURY: I invited them to (INAUDIBLE) Tokyo in 1971.
CAMEROTA: From Brooke Shields to Elvis and lots in between. He credits Shirley MacLaine with putting him on the map in 1971 when he moved to the U.S. from India.
CHOUDHURY: From the day I came here, she put me on Johnny Carson show, I don't know who is Johnny. Everywhere, every magazine, I'm the cover page, "Time," "Life", "New York Times", "Wall Street Journal", everywhere.
CAMEROTA: But now, the Bikram brand is in jeopardy. Some yoga studios dropping his name after he's been accused of rape or sexual assault by six of his former students.
Choudhury sat down with CNN to address the allegations for the first time.
CHOUDHURY: I watch this show to tell the truth to the world that I never assaulted them.
CAMEROTA (on camera): I've read all the affidavits, there's a pattern. You found vulnerable young women. And they came because they believed in you.
And then something happened, during the training, they say that you somehow managed to get them alone. You became physically aggressive with them. You demanded sex. And when they refused you, you raped them.
CHOUDHURY: I never assaulted them. The answer is, I feel sorry for them. I have nothing against them. I don't think they're bad people. It's not they're saying that. They're influenced by somebody, which is --
CAMEROTA: A lawyer?
CHOUDHURY: Lawyers.
CAMEROTA (voice-over): Choudhury, who has been married to his wife for more than 30 years, goes even further, saying he would never have to resort to physical aggression to have sex, because he has so many offers.
CHOUDHURY: Women likes me, women loves me. If I really wanted to involve the women, I don't have to assault women.
CAMEROTA: The complaints tell a story of a different Bikram Choudhury, one who preyed on young women who looked to him as their guru.
Sarah Baughn, one of the accusers, explained how at first, she believed Bikram Yoga would be the answer to her years of back pain and depression. SARAH BAUGHN, ALLEGES BIKRAM CHOUDHURY SEXUALLY ASSAULTED HER: It
really was life-changing for me, I mean, in that first day. I went back the next day and I went back the next day. It was raining and I was singing "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" from Annie, and I didn't care if anybody heard me, I felt good, for the first time in a while.
CAMEROTA (on camera): You credit a Bikram Yoga class with transforming your life.
BAUGHN: Yes, absolutely. And I knew then I wanted to be a teacher.
CAMEROTA (voice-over): Baughn said her dad helped her take out a $7,000 loan so she could attend Bikram's teacher training.
But within the first week, one episode left her feeling uncomfortable.
BAUGHN: I was asked by him to come into his office and he sat down behind his desk and immediately went into, "What should we do about this?" And I asked him, "What?" And he said, "What should we do about us? We need it make this a relationship. I've known from you a past life."
It was instantly shocking. I felt like my whole system just sort of imploded.
CAMEROTA: After that, Baughn said she told a staff member who suggested she not be alone with Choudhury again.
But late one night, after making a group of students watch a Bollywood movie, Bikram, she says, cornered her.
BAUGHN: He crawled on top of me. He put his hands on my inside of my thigh. And the other hand he wrapped around me. And he was holding me there.
He told me that he needed somebody to be with him, to massage him, to brush his hair. And I need someone to, to have sex with me.
CAMEROTA: Baughn says Choudhury made it clear she must sleep with him in order to advance her career.
BAUGHN: He told me I would never win the yoga competition if I did not have sex with him, and I looked him in the eyes, I pushed him off of me and said, "I can do this by myself." And he said, "No, you can't. There's no way." And I got up and I left the room.
CAMEROTA: Besides Sarah Baughn's claim of sexual assault, five other women have come forward with civil lawsuits claiming Choudhury raped them.
Choudhury vows to clear his name. But he says the damage has already been done to his family.
(on camera): How has your wife responded to this?
CHOUDHURY: Wow, that's a tough question. I just -- I can't answer that question. My wife will not look at me anymore, my children, my wife. We die only once, in our life. I'm dying every day when I get up in the morning.
CAMEROTA: Does your family believe you?
CHOUDHURY: What can I answer? How can I share my heart, my spirit to you? Twenty-four hours a day, I work harder than any human being in this earth, you know. And this is the reward? I'm a rapist?
Shame, of your culture, Western culture. Shame. Shame. Your job, to go and tell the world the truth.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PEREIRA: My goodness.
What was your sense of him, sitting with him?
CAMEROTA: You know, he's passionate, he's enthusiastic. He's at times friendly, he's charming.
You see how he, you see why people follow him and how he sort of reels people in.
But I also found the accusers compelling. They tell a compelling story, also.
Both the stories are compelling. And you know it's important --
CUOMO: What makes his side compelling other than the women loves me? Woman --
CAMEROTA: He gives evidence of why he says he claims he's never been alone with a student. He says he's very careful about that. He's never been alone with them.
PEREIRA: Did anybody corroborate that, though?
CAMEROTA: No. In fact, they say he was alone with them. I mean --
CUOMO: Well, certainly the people who were saying he violated them. But I'm saying as a practice, was he able to show, see, how nobody has ever with me because this person is always there?
CAMEROTA: No, I mean, that's just his claim. His claim is that he's very careful about these things. They say that's not true.
But he just -- you know, as you'll hear coming up also, he just says that he would, this is against his sort of all abiding philosophy. He would never hurt anybody, he would never harm anybody. His whole mantra is to help people.
You'll see much more of my exclusive interview on "CNN TONIGHT" at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. You'll see it in a long version.
Also, we'll have more tomorrow on NEW DAY where Bikram talks about his complicated sexual history with his students.
PEREIRA: OK, that changes the conversation.
CAMEROTA: It may, tune in for that tomorrow.
CUOMO: That's one story for you. But there's so much news this morning, that please, let's all get to it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAMEROTA: Will all sides today agree to any deal or even a framework?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The United States has not ruled out military force to prevent Iran from going nuclear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lufthansa now says it knew that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz suffered depression.
PEREIRA: Police denying claims that cell phone video exists from inside Flight 9525.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much do you want to know about how awful this moment was?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your rights stop where someone else's rights start. I mean, that's the basis of what America is.
WARREN BUFFETT, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY: If people can exercise discrimination based on sexual orientation, that is wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Arkansas, a similar bill could soon be law. The Republican governor there says he'll sign it.
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to your NEW DAY.
A diplomatic scramble at this hour in Switzerland has all sides try to cement a framework on Iran's nuclear program. Talks are in overtime at this hour, though three of the six foreign ministers negotiating have left.
CUOMO: So, after all these months, are we on the verge of an historic deal or historic impasse that may lead to even stricter sanctions and bigger problems?
We have the story covered only the way that CNN can.
Let's begin with global affairs correspondent Elise Labott live in Switzerland.
There are reports bubbling up about what may be happening. What do you hear? ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Chris.
Well, the Iranian deputy foreign minister, one of the lead negotiators here, just told state TV that there would be no deal today, just some kind of press statement. And it has been looking like that over the last few days, we know that there have been key sticking points that the negotiators could not agree upon.
They went into overdrive last night, past the 12:00 a.m. deadline, working throughout the night. But even this morning the British foreign minister said key differences unresolved. We've been talking about them all week, related to U.N. sanctions, related to the amount of advanced nuclear research Iran could do, the Iranian enrichment program.
There's been a lot of progress in these talks, certainly, over the last 18 months.
