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Rare Insight From North Korean Political Analyst; 63 Found Dead In Langtang Valley, Nepal; According to Investigation, Germanwings Co-Pilot "Rehearsed" Controlled Descent On Previous Flight; Cross Country Travel As British Party Leaders Gear Up For Tomorrow's Election. Aired 8:00-9:00A ET

Aired May 06, 2015 - 8:00   ET

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

[08:00:18] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream.

Investigators say the co-pilot of Germanwings flight 9525 practiced a deadly descent on a previous flight. I'll bring you details from this new

report.

Plus, we're just one day before British voters hit the polls. The outcome is still anyone's guess.

And California's historic drought forces the state to take more drastic measures.

A new report is out on the recent Germanwings plane crash that killed all 150 people on board. French investigators have said the co-pilot

brought down the plane intentionally. And this new report offers evidence he practiced that.

It says Andres Lubitz rehearsed a controlled descent on the previous flight while he was alone in the cockpit.

Now the report, it goes into greater detail about what happened on that previous flight. And CNN's Jim Bittermann joins me now live from

Paris with more.

And Jim, a chilling new finding about Lubitz before the fatal crash. Walk us through this new report.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Chilling and intriguing, I think, Kristie.

In fact, it appears that Andres Lubitz before the fatal crash on the leg from Dusseldorf to Barcelona had practiced, or maybe tried out what

would happen if he reset the autopilot to down to 100 feet. That's, in fact, what brought down the airplane on the return flight from Barcelona to

Dusseldorf.

But in any case, he was ordered -- the pilot was out of the cockpit. It's a very similar situation to the time of the crash, the pilot was out

of the cockpit, and the co-pilot, Lubitz, decided to after getting instructions to air traffic controllers to descend, he decided to set the

speed -- the altitude reading to -- on the auto-pilot -- to 100 feet. And the plane began to descend.

Now because the controllers had ordered the descent, it's not clear at all that the pilot was aware of the fact that the setting had been reduced

to 100 feet instead of the assigned altitude, which I think was 35,000 feet.

So, clearly -- and he did this several times. He did the gesture several times, dialed in the 100 foot altitude several times. And it's

very possible that the pilot was totally unaware of that fact that it was an ordered descent -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and this is a question that everyone is asking is how is it that a pilot can rehearse controlled descent on an actual flight,

essentially practice how to crash a plane without anyone noticing?

BITTERMANN: Well, I think practice is maybe a strong word. I mean, basically I think, you know, you have this control that puts the altitude

setting into the auto-pilot. And the auto-pilot then takes you into a descent mode at a sort of controlled rate. So it's not evident that -- the

nose of the plane doesn't drop straight down or anything like that, it just goes into a descent mode. So the plane was descending as the air-traffic

controllers wanted.

What was unknown to the pilot, and what Andres Lubitz apparently did, was set the level of leveling off the descent at 100 feet. And that's

something that the pilot would not have seen, because he was outside the cockpit and wouldn't have detected when he came back to the cockpit,

because he had been ordered to descend by the air-traffic controllers.

LU STOUT: All right, appreciate your guidance there on this. Again, a preliminary report. Jim Bittermann reporting live from Paris. Thank

you, Jim.

With less than 24 hours to go until polls open in the UK, British politicians are making one final push to break the deadlock. Conservative

prime minister David Cameron wants to hold onto the country's leadership. The promise of a referendum on Britain's membership in the EU.

While his chief rival, Labour's Ed Milliband, is appealing to voters will more support of social programs and a higher tax on some business.

Now this is the closest general election the UK has seen in years. And CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins me now

live from London.

And Nic, yesterday you were in Bedford following the Ed Milliband camp. Today, could we start by talking about the Prime Minister David

Cameron? It's been said that he's been appeared relaxed on this monthlong campaign, but is he finally rolling up the sleeves, campaigning really hard

today?

[08:05:17] NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The prime minister is going almost a whole length of the country. He sort of really

sort of energized his campaign about seven or eight, 10 days ago maybe. And he was appearing with his sleeves rolled up. And you -- there was a

marked difference to his campaigning style before.

But what he's doing today, starting off in the southwest of the country, working his way all the way up the west right up to the northwest

of the country, going across the border just into Scotland, Dumfries and Galloway, ending his day in Carlisle. So he's logging a lot of miles.

His message for the people of the country is the Conservatives have done a lot. They've brought down the deficit. They've added close to 2

million jobs. They've put an additional million people back in work. And he says it's time the to continue that, that they should be given the

opportunity to continue.

Ed Milliband, the Labour Leader on the other hand down in Bedford outside London yesterday. Today in not traveling as much as David Cameron.

He is in Lancashire Yorkshire. That sort of the central north of the country.

Nick Clegg, on the other hand, he also is traveling a long way. He's going for the very northwest of England, the picturesque lake district,

dropping into an affluent suburb of Glasgow up to Inverness. He'll be dropping into a whiskey distillery outside of there later in the day before

going up o the very, very northern tip of Scotland. So he, too, is traveling a long way.

Ed Milliband's message is very clear and particularly attacking David Cameron on the health service here in the country, saying that David

Cameron plans more cuts for that health service. It's dangerous for the country. Nick Clegg who has seen his party, Liberal Democrats, losing --

or apparently according to the polls is sort of losing a number of seats potentially has been saying that he expects Libs Dems to do a lot better, a

lot better than the polls are predicting. And people will see that in the coming days -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: They are certainly crisscrossing the nation in a bid for that vote.

We know that this is the closest general election in years. Labour and the conservatives, they are locked in a dead heat. Why is that? Why

has there been such little movement between the two major parties?

ROBERTSON: Well, Labour is actually expecting to win some seats away from the Conservatives. If you compare it to the last election, 2010, the

conservatives -- pollsters are predicting that they will lose seats compared to the last elections.

One of the things that will make this closer is that the Scottish National Party in Scotland are expected to do very, very well in the polls

and take a lot of seats away from Labour, so where Labour is sort of making gains in other places, they're also losing in Scotland. So the net result

is, is that the pollsters at the moment are predicting that while the voting looks neck and neck, conservatives will come out with a handful more

seats than Labour.

But it will be a hung parliament. No party will have a clear cut majority. And therefore alliances will have to be made.

But at the moment, you have to -- you know, David Cameron, Ed Milliband, the two principle leaders here are both saying we can do it.

David Cameron saying we need 23 more seats and really pushing and trying to convince the electorate -- although I don't think -- I think the electorate

remains very skeptical about it, but trying to convince the electorate that they can get this majority and to vote for them just to get the vote out,

Kristie.

LU STOUT: Got it. Got it. Nic Robertson there, thank you.

Thank you, Nic, for the rundown on the 11th hour campaign push.

Now come Thursday, British voters face a choice that could reshape the country's global role for years to come. And joining me now is CNN

political contributor Robin Oakley.

And Robin, let's first talk about the issues that are driving voters to the polls. You know, not much discussion this last month about foreign

policy issues like Russia, like ISIS. So in the UK has it all be about pocketbook domestic issues like jobs and the NHS?

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Its' the same old Bill Clinton story: it's the economy, stupid.

People go into an election often thinking of themselves, what's going to be good for them. The election has a lot to do with jobs, with

taxation, with benefits and issues like that.

But nobody every really made many votes on foreign policy issues in an election. But there are some crucial differences, really, here. And the

biggest of those is Britain's future relationship with the European Union. David Cameron, under pressure from his own right wing, and under pressure

for votes from UKIP, the United Kingdom Independence Party who want Britain out of Europe, he's promised British electors that he will conduct a

referendum on whether Britain should stay in the European Union before the end of 2017, following negotiations he wants to have with European leaders

about changing Britain's arrangements with Europe.

And a lot of business people are worried that that's going to lead to two years of uncertainty.

Labour, for their part, having once back in 1980s been an anti- European party, these days they say, no, no referendum is needed on Europe. Britain's place is in Europe. Jobs would be at stake if Britain were to

leave Europe and they're not promising any renegotiations and not promising any referendum.

UKIP, for their part, of course, are insisting that they would have a referendum. And the UKIP factor is a bit of a key in this election,

because their intervention in marginal seats, if people leave the Conservatives and vote for UKIP because they are anti-European or because

they like UKIP's very strong stand on immigration, that could cost key seats to David Cameron.

But, UKIP has also shown its ability to take seats of Labour. They won two parliamentary seats in the last parliament from the Conservatives.

They very nearly took a safe Labour seat as well. So UKIP are a factor, Kristie.

[08:11:00] LU STOUT: And given the rise of UKIP and the pressure it has put on, as you put it, both the Conservatives and the Labour Party, and

also this focus on domestic economic issues, what is this election reveal about Britain today. Is Britain in general turning more inward? Is it

turning away from the global stage?

OAKLEY: There are some signs of that, because one of the best lines in terms of UKIP's appeal to the public seems to be its determination to

scrap all foreign aid. But UKIP, interestingly does say that it would commit -- of course they're only going to have two, three MPs at the most -

- UKIP says it would stick to Britain's, or would force Britain to adhere to the NATO plan for a 2 percent of the budget to be devoted to defense

spending.

Neither of the two major parties in an election in which foreign affairs have been totally absent, neither of the two have committed to

that, though both of them would say they would maintain the percentage of the budget which goes to foreign aid, which UKIP would scrap.

Another key issue, of course, is that are Trident -- the Trident nuclear missile system, because one of the reasons why the Scottish

National Party is advancing, they're formally opposed to Trident. And if Ed Milliband, the Labour leader, is only able to come to power with the

support of Scottish National Party voters who are going to take a lot of seats of Labour and have a real strength in the parliament to come, people

will be worried that a Labour government would be under pressure -- Ed Milliband says he wouldn't scrap Trident, but Labour has already said they

might move down from three Trident submarines to four, something that David Cameron is insisting would be dangerous for the country, Kristie.

LU STOUT; Very interesting stuff. The election already revealing a changing UK on the global stage. Robin Oakley, we'll leave it at that.

Thank you very much indeed.

Now CNN is the place for extensive coverage of the vote. We'll have live coverage all this week and special coverage Thursday from when the

first votes are cast to when a new government takes shape. That's right here on CNN.

In Israel, it is crunch time for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He has less than nine hours to form a government struggling to win enough

support for a coalition. The country's foreign minister dealt him a blow when he announced his party would no longer support Mr. Netanyahu.

The Israeli prime minister is now reaching out to the right wing Jewish Home Party for the necessary seats.

And now to Afghanistan where a Afghanistan where a judge has sentenced four men to death for taking part in the mob killing of a woman accused of

burning a Quran. Eight suspects received 16 year prison terms. The men were among 49 defendants in the case, 19 of them police officers.

Authorities say a mob beat the woman, set her on fire and then threw her body into a river.

An investigation found no evidence that the woman burned a Quran.

You're watching News Stream. And still to come, a Bollywood super star is found guilty in a deadly hit and run. We'll tell you what's next

for Salman Khan.

Plus, investigating ISIS ties in the U.S. Just how involved was the militant group in the attack in Texas?

And incredible access inside North Korea. Hear what a political analyst in the country is telling CNN straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:16:04] LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now we are learning more about the two men who tried to attack that event in Texas where a group had gathered for an exhibit featuring cartoons

of the Prophet Muhammed. ISIS is claiming responsibility, but it is still not clear if the group was in direct contact with the gunmen. But as Kyung

Lah reports, there is evidence at least one of the attackers had contact with an ISIS recruiter overseas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Investigators on the hunt for any possible accomplices in the Garland, Texas, terror attack. The FBI

scrubbing through the two deceased gunmen's electronics found in their Phoenix apartment searching for any clues that may connect Elton Simpson

and Nadir Soofi to other terrorists in Phoenix and across the country. But one law enforcement official says investigators did know Simpson was openly

communicating online with members of ISIS overseas, and even opened a new investigation into both men in recent months.

SETH JONES, DIRECTOR, RAND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND DEFENSE POLICY CENTER: I think from an intelligence standpoint, what is difficult is to

move that quickly and to arrest them when it's not entirely clear that he is going to do it. We have a lot of people on social media that are saying

these kinds of things.

LAH (voice-over): Simpson apparently had public exchanges on a Twitter with this prominent: British-born ISIS fighter and a U.S.-born al- Shabab

fighter in Somalia, Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan. Just a week before the attack, Simpson tweeted in reference to the controversial event, "When will

they ever learn?" Hassan retweeted his tweet and later wrote "The brothers from the Charlie Hebdo attack did their part. It's time for brother in the

U.S. to do their part."

According to U.S. court documents, Hassan traveled to Somalia in 2008 from Minneapolis to join the terrorist group al-Shabab. Court records also

suggest Simpson wanted to join the jihad in Somalia around the same time, but it's not known whether Simpson and Hassan knew each other.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is something that the United States government has been focused on in both issues. Both in terms

of foreign fighters as well as efforts that are underway by extremists, including those in ISIL, to use social media to try to radicalize

individuals and inspire them to carry out acts of violence.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was Kyung Lah reporting.

Now one U.S. official says that British ISIS jihadist is, quote, "a real problem due to his ability to recruit online and inspire others to

launch attacks in the west."

Al-Berthani's (ph) Twitter account, seen here, has now been suspended.

Now the deadly terror attacks in Paris in January have pushed French lawmakers to beef up the country's security laws. The lower house has

approved a surveillance measure, which would vastly expand the government's abilities to gather intelligence.

Now before the vote, protesters gathered, calling the bill too intrusive. The bill now heads o the French senate.

Now you're watching News Stream. And coming up, according to India has sentenced Bollywood superstar Salman Khan to five years in prison for a

deadly hit and run. The details are next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:21:42] LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream.

In India, a Bollywood star has been found guilty of culpable homicide in the hit and run death of a homeless man. Now prosecutors say the star

ran over five men sleeping outside a Mumbai bakery back in 2002 killing one of them. New Delhi bureau chief Ravi Agrawal reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAVI AGRAWAL, CNN NEW DELHI BUREAU CHIEF: A bonafide Indian megastar now a fallen idol. Bollywood icon Salman Khan faces five years in prison

after being found guilty of culpable homicide for his rule in a 2002 hit and run case.

The verdict breathlessly reported wall-to-wall on Indian TV. Khan has a fan following of tens of millions, not just in India, but around the

world.

For almost three decades, Khan has been a heart throb, an action hero, a man of the people.

High powered friends have leaped to his defense pointing to Khan's track record of Philanthropy. "I stand for the man who stands for

everyone," tweeted the singer Mika Singh (ph). "Your fans are with you."

Khan has said he wasn't behind the wheel, but the court found the he was driving and that he was drunk that right 12 years ago when five

homeless men sleeping on a Mumbai pavement were hit, one of them killed.

After the verdict, CNN's Indian affiliate spoke with the widow of the man who died.

"I didn't know how to get by. My little children had to wash cars to get money to eat," she says.

For her and the other victims, it is justice at long last.

Khan is going to appeal the verdict, but there is a certain irony to this case with a victory for the little guys against a big, rich superstar.

It almost follows the script of a Bollywood movie 12 years on the Indian legal system delivering a verdict many thought unlikely, a verdict that has

rocked the country.

Ravi Argawal, CNN, New Delhi, India.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, it has been more than three days since the final bell in the Pacquiao-Mayweather boxing match. And now, the lawyers are coming

out swinging.

Now two viewers have filed a class action lawsuit against Manny Pacquiao. They say he concealed his shoulder injury before the fight. And

they alleged that amounts to consumer fraud. The plaintiffs are demanding at least $5 million.

And, Floyd Mayweather is facing his own legal battle. Now World Sport will have all the details in about 20 minutes from now.

Let's turn now to the Chinese leadership's latest attempt to tackle corruption. Now senior officials in Shanghai are now required to keep

their spouses and children from running local businesses. This has meant to be a pilot program that will expand across the country eventually.

And the new rules were blessed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who launched a sweeping anti-graft campaign when he came into power two years

ago. He also come on the back of a New York Times report that links relatives of some of China's most powerful politicians to China's richest

man, Wang Jianlin.

Now released last week, the front page story says as Wang got rich, so did his early investors, and that include Qi Qiaoqiao, the sister of

President Xi.

The report says Qi and her husband bought shares in Wang's company five years ago, and today their stake is reportedly worth some $240

million, more than eight times the original investment.

Now CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour has just wrapped up an exclusive interview with former U.S. President Bill

Clinton. Now the pair met on the sidelines of a Clinton global initiative summit in Marrakech. And Christiane started by asking him about

accusations that foreign donations were made to gain influence on Hillary Clinton's decisions when she was secretary of state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:25:40] BILL CLINTON, 42ND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We had a policy when she was secretary of state that we would only continue

accepting money from people that were already giving us money. And I tried to recreate that policy as nearly as I can now during the campaign with

minor exceptions for our health care work, which we can talk about if you like.

And I think they all -- people know that. People -- they understand that enormous percentage of health and development work around the world is

funded by governments and multinational organizations. And they fund us, because they think we're good at solving problems and taking care -- taking

advantage of opportunities.

But we also have 300,000 other donors and 90 percent of them give $100 or less.

So, there is just no evidence. Even the guy that wrote the book, apparently, had to admit under questioning that he didn't have a shred of

evidence for this he just sort of thought he'd throw it out there and see if it would fly.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He did actually -- it won't fly, is that you say?

CLINTON: Yeah, it won't fly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And you can watch Christiane's full interview with former President Bill Clinton coming up on Amanpour. It starts 7:00 p.m. in

London, 8:00 p.m. Central European Time only on CNN.

North Korea has been accused of being one of the most repressive regimes on Earth. And now a North Korean political analyst tells CNN what

North Korea really thinks of these allegations. We've got the details when we come back.

And, recovery teams made a chilling discovery when they reached the Nepalese village of Langtang. We'll bring you the details after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.

Now the co-pilot accused of deliberately crashing a Germanwings plane in the French Alps practiced a controlled descent on the previous flight,

that's according to an interim report on the crash that has just been released. It says that there were numerous, unnecessary altitude changes

made during the preceding flight while the co-pilot was alone in the cockpit.

Now less than 24 hours to go until the closest general election the UK has seen in decades. And opinion polls are still predicting a dead heat

between the Conservative and Labour parties. Now politicians are spending this final day of campaigning trying to break the deadlock ahead of

Thursday's vote.

An Indian court has sentenced Bollywood superstar Salman Khan to five years in prison for culpable homicide. He was found guilty in the hit and

run driving incident that left a homeless man dead back in 2002.

The court found Khan was under the influence of alcohol. He is expected to appeal.

North Korea is an extremely secretive nation and is considered one of the world's most repressive regimes. Our Will Ripley was invited back to

North Korea. And he got a rare chance to speak to a North Korean political analyst. Will Ripley joins me now live from Pyongyang.

And Will, from the issue of human rights to its nuclear program, how does North Korea view all the charges made against it?

[08:31:11] WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they certainly feel misunderstood at times, Kristie. But then again as you mentioned it's very

rare to actually be able to have an interview with somebody in North Korea's inner circle, if you will.

It's been many years since we've talked to an official at this high of a level: the deputy director of a North Korean think tank with close ties

to the highest levels of government.

We asked about the nuclear program, about that leaked report in the Wall Street Journal that North Korea has 20 nuclear devices and the

potential to double that number in the near future. He did not deny that, although certainly wouldn't confirm the numbers. He said North Korea does

have nuclear weapons. He also said the country has a long range ballistic missile capable of reaching the mainland United States.

We also asked about the recent UN human rights report alleging starvation, murder and torture of inmates in a network of gulags in this

country. He denied the existence of political prison camps saying that there is no political strife in North Korea, no disagreement with the

political system where there is only one party and one supreme leader in control. So he said those prison camps did not exist.

And then we also asked him about another report, a report that was breaking last week, accusing the supreme leader here, Kim Jong un, of

essentially knocking off those who disagree with him. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: South Korea's national intelligence service alleged that the Marshall Kim Jong un ordered 15 executions of officials this year.

PARK YOUNG-CHOI, NORTH KOREAN POLITICAL ANALYST (through translator): The report itself is malicious slander against the DPRK, especially because

they tried to link the alleged statements to the august name of our supreme leader Marshall Kim Jong un.

I would say that any country might have anti-government hostile elements who are trying to overthrow their government, or trying to subvert

the system. So it's very normal for any country to go after those hostile elements and punish them and execute them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: Park also told me that he is hopeful that in the coming years, North Korea's economy will continue to grow. As you know it

struggles because of economic sanctions. And in order for that economy to recover, there need to be better ties with the west.

But Kristie, with the mutual distrust and refusal to disarm that nuclear arsenal there are many challenges that lie ahead.

LU STOUT: Incredible access into the official way of thinking there in North Korea. And Will, this is the second time you've been to North

Korea in eight months. Why do you think you were invited back?

RIPLEY: I get the impression that North Korea is trying on its own terms to open up a bit more to the rest of the world, to give its

perspective. We've been taken all around the country. It's been really an exhaustive shooting schedule. And in the coming days you're going to see

really a wide variety of life.

We had access to students all the way from elementary school up through university. We visited the demilitarized zone and talked to a

soldier there very candidly about the continued hostility between North and South Korea and the United States.

And there's also a lot of kind of interesting things going on here that you might not expect to find in North Korea. So definitely looking

forward to sharing more of those stories in the coming days.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and looking forward to those reports.

And Will, since your last visit, have you seen much change? I know it's pitch black behind you, but what is the level of development that

you've seen there in Pyongyang.

RIPLEY: Part of the reason why it's pitch black is because this country does still struggle to generate enough electricity. So there are

power shortages.

But, you know, we're seeing a lot of solar panels in people's homes. There are solar powered lights on the streets. We're seeing more

construction projects happening. So the North Korean government is trying to improve its infrastructure, trying to improve the living standard for

the almost 25 million people who live here.

They believe that their ideology and their system is the best way. And while there are a lot of others around the world who disagree with

them, this country is intent on moving forward on its own terms, Kristie.

[08:35:10] LU STOUT: All right, Will Ripley reporting live inside North Korea there in Pyongyang. Many thanks indeed for your reporting,

Will.

Now, on the back of Will's interview with that North Korean political analyst, CNN has reached out to South Korea's national intelligence service

about Park's claims. And so far, we have not received a response.

Now turning now to Nepal, and another grim discovery after last month's earthquake. Authorities say they found the bodies of dozens of

foreigners and locals buried under a landslide in the remote village of Langtang.

CNN's Sumnima Udas reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Grim news out of Langtang Valley, Nepal's third most popular trekking destination. The

military and the police says some 63 bodies have been recovered from the valley thus far, at least 11 of them are foreigners and some 200 more are

expected to be missing.

The earthquake on April 23 triggered a massive avalanche and several landslides thereafter. The army says the entire valley is wiped out. And

there's only half a building left there, and that is of a hotel.

This was the hub for all the tourists, all the trekkers, who wanted to explore the Langtang Valley. There was at least 100 hotels there. Almost

every other building here was a hotel.

But the army says there's very few locals left, that's why it's been so difficult for them to decipher just how big this tragedy is, just how

many trekkers were in this area.

The army says the weather has been very severe up there, but they continue their search and rescue operations.

Sumnima Udas, CNN, Kathmandu, Nepal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now you're watching News Stream. And up next, California orders unprecedented new water cutbacks as the state's drought emergency

just keeps getting worse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now it was a big first for SpaceX. In about an hour from now it's about to run a crew Dragon spacecraft test. Now the pad abort test

simulates a spacecraft launch gone wrong. And it checks how the system ejects the crew and spacecraft to safety. If successful, SpaceX would be

one-step closer to a human mission.

Now for the first time ever, drought stricken California has ordered mandatory water restrictions for all residents. Now the cuts will be

drastic. And penalties for violators could be severe.

Now the new measure requires cities to cut water use by up to 36 percent. And those who break the stringent new rules could face fines of up

to $10,000

Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri looks at the various causes of California's four year long drought.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning.

Yes, the state of California certainly dealing with a historic setup when it comes to the water restrictions and also what it means for the

state, because you think about the last nine months, the governor they were shooting for about a 20 percent reduction in water usage. They were able

to obtain about 9 percent usage. So certainly the 25 percent restriction a long ways to go for a lot of people to have to kick in.

But you take a look at Santa Cruz County, because fascinating depiction here of water usage per person per day, the fewest amount of

water per liters, about 170 liters per person per day being used out of Santa Cruz County.

While in San Diego County, the northern tier of this county, people are using on average 1,300 liters of water per person per day, a remarkable

number. Officials saying that number need s to come down close to 200 liters of water per person per day to make this achievable when it comes to

reductions in water.

And of course you know what's happening with nearly 100 percent of the state dealing with severe drought, worst in recorded history. We got here

because of the lack of snowfall in the last couple of years, about 40 percent of course of the ground water out of the state of California, you

get that from the Sierra Nevada snowmelt. It has been literally nonexistent in the past couple of years with the historic low now in 2015

and you look at the numbers from January through April, the city of San Francisco, they are also experiencing record drought with about three

inches or only 70 millimeters of rainfall.

So now we're sitting in a position where one to two years of deficit in the rainfall department, that means two years of what would be

considered normal rainfall would need to come down to get us out of the drought across the state of California.

You look at the numbers. We know it is a very thirsty state when it comes to its agricultural industry. Almonds, for example, 8,000 liters of

water just for half a kilogram for this production of almonds. Also beef water heavy, and also walnuts in this order.

But you think about this number and that is equivalent of an eight hour shower. So it kind of puts it in perspective of the long ways the

state has to go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Indeed. Pedram, thank you.

And finally, we want to mark the passing of Dave Goldberg, Silicon Valley executive and husband of Facebook Cheryl Sandberg.

Goldberg was laid to rest on Tuesday. He passed away on Friday after collapsing while on vacation in Mexico.

And Sandberg has just publicly shared this note on her Facebook page. She calls her husband her rock and says, quote, "things will never be the

same, but the world is better for the years my beloved husband lived."

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. But don't go anywhere. World Sport with Alex Thomas is next.

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