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One World with Zain Asher

Death Toll Rises To 224 After Devastating Colombia Earthquake; Former Syrian President Assad Sentenced To Death In Absentia; CNN ON Scene During Rescue Efforts After Colombian Earthquake; Aired 12-1p ET

Aired August 11, 2026 - 12:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:00:29]

ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher. The second hour of "One World" starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This was in another category. I've never felt anything like this. It was scary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: A race against time, rescuers in Colombia are working round the clock to save survivors. CNN is on the scene.

Plus, now that Bashar al-Assad has been sentenced, will he face justice? What we know so far?

And later, they say you are what you eat. And if you're in the United States, the food safety rules are about to change, what they are and how

they stuck up against other countries, next.

All right. The death toll in Monday's devastating earthquake in Colombia has just risen to 213. That's according to officials in five areas of the

country. The goal is now to save those buried under the dozens of collapsed buildings.

Take a look here. You see live pictures of the search for survivors. The 7.4 quake hit in the western part of Colombia, but its tremors could be

felt in at least five major cities and in neighboring Venezuela.

It's also brought down buildings, including hospitals and schools as well. You are looking at these live pictures here and are crews like these are

scouring the rubble for any signs of life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(RUMBLING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: This is the Castellanos (ph) family home in Pereira, the moment the quake struck. You can actually see parts of the house just falling,

collapsed into the ground and buildings around them crumbling.

From the air, you get a very different perspective over the damage, but in the meantime, crews continue the meticulous efforts of searching the

collapsed buildings just to find survivors. Crews from around the country have been called in to help with the operations.

Our David Culver is in Pereira with a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You've got dozens of rescuers, but also just folks who are living in this community on top of this one, what was an

apartment building.

And according to a couple that I was just talking to, they were hearing yelling through the night. And so that's now had them urgently trying to

figure out how to get to the individuals that they believe are still trapped inside this apartment building.

You have a lot of onlookers too. This is their community and they're just taking this in really distraught, but also a bit in shock. I mean, there --

there's almost days when you look at folks who are walking around Pereira where we are, one of the, if not the hardest hit communities after this

earthquake.

And we arrived late in the evening around 10:00 P.M. And at that point, all flights getting to this area were canceled. And so we were in the capital

Bogota, drove eight hours through the night. And it's through mountainous, windy roads.

And passing us at high speeds were emergency services, were added resources coming from the capital, trying to get here as quickly as possible to

assist in this.

And -- and you can even see they've got cranes running here. They've got a Red Cross truck behind it, but they've been bringing fuel tanker trucks to

keep it going so that they don't have to move. And -- and they don't have to slow down the operation.

I've also just noticed that it just went past over there, but they've now just brought in search dogs to assist in this.

This is probably the third or fourth location we've been to in just the past 45 minutes or so. And the reason is every time we go to a location,

some of the locals will come up to us and they say, if you think this devastation is bad, you need to go here. If you think this is bad, you need

to go here. So, they're just pointing us to all different parts of the city where they have realized a lot of it is just inoperable and destruction is

-- is everywhere.

I mean, it's -- it's a rubble that lines the streets. This is actually an entire street right here that is now just under layers and layers of

concrete and steel.

And so right now, it does look like they've paused. And we've seen this kind of on and off in the past little bit where -- where they've held off

and moved away from a certain spot and then tried to direct resources to that location.

[12:05:03]

And you can see some of the folks will move off as though they don't want to get in the way.

OK. They're still directing people to a certain location there. I mean, this is now constant for the folks here in Pereira.

And as of now, it just seems increasingly frustrating for them to -- to try to figure out what's going to come next.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: It's our David Culver reporting there. And I've just been told that the death toll in Colombia is now at 224. And, obviously, the sad part of

all this is, that number could obviously rise in the coming weeks and days.

I want to go live now to Bogota, Colombia, and speak with Angela Anzola de Toro. He's -- she's the CEO of Plan International Colombia. Angela, thank

you so much for being with us.

I just want our audiences to really sort of think about what people in Colombia and places like Pereira are going through right now. Because when

your home collapses and then, let's say, on top of that, your place of work, maybe that's damaged too, or maybe you simply can't get to your place

of work because of damages to the roads and the infrastructure around your neighborhood.

And then on top of that, your -- your local supermarket, for example, might not be up and running because of damage.

How are you getting basic necessities and basic supplies in that kind of situation?

ANGELA ANZOLA DE TORO, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, PLAN INTERNATIONAL COLOMBIA: Well, thank you very much for being attentive to the earthquake

that hit Colombia. I think we are all absolutely worried about the situation. We haven't had an earthquake this strong, this terrible and this

destructive in this century.

Just to give you an idea as to what you were just mentioning, the people who work with Plan International in the affected areas, they lost their

homes. We had a colleague who would thank God she's alive, but she was buried under the rubble for a -- for a good several hours.

And the whole situation is quite dire. People losing their homes. Everything that they owned is now completely damaged.

So, we're talking about so many lives. More than 7,400 homes have been affected. We are speaking about more than 2,500 people injured. More than

176 people who are dead.

But probably I think the worst thing, the worst situation, might be the people who are missing. We're desperately looking for a girl named

Imbioleta (ph) who is buried under the rubble and we know she's alive. But search and rescue teams are hard to -- in a -- in a difficult situation

because there are so many people, so many rubble and so many difficulties that it's hard.

Even other cities are sending in firefighters and search and rescue teams to -- to seek to lives of those who are still buried under the rubble.

We have difficulty in -- in connection because many roads were affected. More like 70 roads, at least, were affected as well as six airports, so

it's also difficult.

So, in terms of what you were mentioning, we're trying to get humanitarian help. Cash voucher assistance. We started yesterday sending cash transfers

to the people for them to be able to feed themselves.

But the whole of our response is going to be also very much focused on children. The children are particularly vulnerable in this kind of

situation, in this kind of crisis. And we have to think, not only now in these 72 hours that are crucial to save lives, but this is an effort and a

reconstruction effort that is going to last for months.

Just to give you an idea more than 790 schools were damaged. This means that the children are not going to -- they're going to have their education

impacted, severely affected and also in many parts of -- of Colombia and especially where the epicenter of this earthquake, Choco, is a very poor

part of the country.

And basically sometimes the only meal that these children get is the meal that they get served at school. So, we are very worried and -- and Plan

International, we're going to work endlessly and tirelessly to get the children safe, to give them -- get them into safe spaces to be protected

and to them -- for them to have education in -- in -- in times of crisis as well, as well as the food, the shelter and every other necessity that they

might have.

[12:10:02]

ASHER: Yes. I'm so glad that you brought up the impact on children because they're facing multiple. I mean, aside from the psychological impact, then

you've got the fact that they're not going to school, some of them, and then if they rely on schools to -- to provide meals, that's also impacted

as well.

For search and rescue teams, I mean, I imagine that they must be stretched thin, you know, there's only so many rescue crews that can go around. And,

you know, a lot of them are, of course, overwhelmed.

And so for the areas that are harder to reach, you know, I would worry about people who are in neighborhoods where they have been, you know,

damaged buildings, buildings that have collapsed. People sort of taking upon themselves to start kind of digging through the rubble, looking for

their own loved ones. What are the risks with that?

DE TORO: Well, there are many risks associated to that, but I -- I think it's so touching and -- and really wonderful to see the solidarity of all

the Colombian people. Since early hours after the -- the earthquake struck, people were themselves taking it up on themselves to try and find their

families, their loved one and -- and strangers, you know, they're just people digging through the rubble.

Of course, we are getting help from other cities like cities like Bogota. The mayor sent firefighters. They sent engineers and other -- other mayors

from other cities that were not as affected are also sending experts and other countries.

We are very glad that the national government declared this a national disaster and very quickly opened the doors to international cooperation and

also the for technical cooperation experts for people to try and help the - - to -- to rescue.

The 72 hours are crucial to save lives and to make sure that the people are currently missing are -- are found alive and -- and taken to hospitals, but

just -- just to give you an idea in terms of that, we have 84 health facilities partially or completely affected by the earthquake.

So, the situation is quite dire. And we also are getting people to donate blood because it's -- we -- we need to tend to the sick and -- and those

affected and those who were badly injured by this earthquake.

ASHER: All right. Angela Anzola De Toro, thank you so much. And thank you so much for the work that you and your teams on the ground are -- are

doing. And I hope that everyone that is working with you remains safe. Angela, thank you for that.

DE TORO: Thank you very much.

All right. For more information about how you can help Colombia earthquake victims, go to cnn.com/impact.

All right. Turning now to Russia's war on Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says, a deadly Moscow attack on Zaporizhzhia involved North

Korean ballistic missiles.

At least six people were killed in the attack on Tuesday in a southeastern city. Zelenskyy calls it a, quote, brutal attack calculated to inflict

maximum damage on civilian infrastructure. Pyongyang has not commented on the assault.

In Kyiv, firefighters battled a blaze following an overnight Russian airstrike. Elsewhere on the capital, no injuries were reported when a

Russian missile damaged a children's hospital.

Ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has been sentenced to death in absentia by a court in Damascus. His cousin and former security official,

Atef Najib, also faces the death penalty, but not in absentia. He was detained before he could flee.

Syrians are welcoming the death sentences. Today's ruling convicts both Assad and Najib with war crimes and crimes against humanity during Syria's

14-year civil war that left a staggering half a million people dead.

Assad fled to Russia after insurgents marched into Damascus in December 2024. For many Syrians, today's ruling could not come soon enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOUAWIYA AL-SYASNEH, SYRIAN RESIDENT (through translator): Thank God that today at Atef Najib was sentenced to death. The joy is beyond words. We

congratulate the mothers of the martyrs on the verdict against the criminal, Atef Najib. And we hope that the new Syrian state and President

Ahmed al-Sharaa, may God grant him a long life, will hold every war criminal who humiliated the Syrian people accountable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: The Assad's family power abruptly came to an end nearly 20 months ago.

And today's court session was aired live on Syrian state TV. CNN's Paula Hancocks brings us this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These are the very first sentences against the former Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, and any member of his

family or in a circle since his regime was toppled and he fled the country in December 2024.

[12:15:00]

Bashar al-Assad and his younger brother, Maher, was sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity and war crimes during Syria's 14-year

conflict.

Now, it was a bloody conflict that saw about a half a million people killed. Now, there was one member of his inner circle in the court in

Damascus, and this was Assad's cousin and his former political security chief in the southern Daraa province. This was Atef Najib. We saw him,

images of him in a striped prison uniform inside a cage that was inside this courtroom in Damascus as these sentences were read out. He was also

sentenced to death for his role.

Now, he was in charge of this province, the security in 2011 under Assad. And this is when a group of teenagers were caught scrolling anti-government

graffiti on a school wall. They were arrested and they were tortured. This incident is widely seen as a trigger or a catalyst for those mass protests

against Assad that followed.

Now, Bashar al-Assad and his younger brother are in Russia. This is where they fled after the regime was toppled. The current Syrian government has

asked Moscow to extradite them, but up until now, that has not been successful.

But even in absentia, these are significant sentences for a country that is trying to find justice for the many that were persecuted under the Assad

regime and to -- to allow the country to start to heal after a particularly bloody civil war.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: All right. We want to turn now back to our breaking news where there's obviously been an earthquake in Colombia. That's where we find

David Culver in Pereira where it looks like a rescue operation is underway.

David, can you hear me? What can you see? What can you tell us?

CULVER: Zain, I can hear you, but I'm going to be very quiet because they're trying to listen to the sounds. We're just going to pan over. This

is an apartment building that collapsed about 24 hours ago when that quake first struck a little more than that.

And they believe they have found somebody inside. They're asking for total silence. So I'm going to add a respect just to be quiet. And you can cut

away if you need to, but.

OK. They're asking people now to back away to give a bit more space. In the past 30 minutes or so, there was a massive mobilization. I'm going to pan

over just with David here and you can see this group here where bystanders had suddenly rushed in to help pull a lot of the rubble off just to create

some more space for these rescuers to get closer into. And they begin to hear something from within the rubble and it's for that reason they then

have asked several times intermittently for silence.

And now they're asking people to give space to back up to move the crowd which suggests that they're going to potentially try to either bring in

canine (TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES) some of the heavier equipment with the crane they have on site.

[12:20:19]

So, just to give you some context of this, Zain, this is -- this is an apartment building. It was an apartment building that stood about four

stories high. On the ground level, there was a restaurant and there was a drug store. And when the quake struck, you had those top four floors and

caked out.

In the past 24 hours or so, seven people have been pulled from this rubble. Three of them were pulled lifeless. The other four were told did survive

are being treated.

But as of the past couple of hours, we've been told by several bystanders, there's a little girl still in there and there's an older woman as well.

It's not clear what their condition is.

But just in the past few minutes, we were hearing cheers and a lot of celebration and a rapid push to try to clear as much of this as possible.

Now, we're hearing sirens coming just off to the side here. The challenges, I mean all of (TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES) angled steel. And so it's -- it's

very difficult to not only walk through these streets, let alone drive.

So, it's -- it's a challenge just from a logistical perspective to get to anybody inside, but this has not slowed them down at all.

Zain, we'll continue to monitor it because this could go on for some time, but we'll come back to you quickly if there is any sort of development.

But mind you, these -- these are volunteers and first responders working in extreme heat. It's brutal at times here. And you've got folks trying to

shield themselves and people passing around water, sharing whatever resources they have.

The group that you see that extends out here has brought a lot of the rubble out with -- they're asking for silence.

(SILENCE)

[12:25:58]

CULVER: They're still reminded folks just to keep quiet because they're trying to get a response from within the rubble. About 10 minutes ago, they

were able to hear something and there were cheers. And now they're, once again, trying to get a response. So, we're going to remain silent out

respect, but just to give you an understanding of what's happening.

They're now asking people to move vehicles again and even wider base for them to spread more than rubble out and allow access for ambulances.

They're going to have people mobilize in now to start clearing more of this. So, they seem a bit frustrated, Zain, than the last time they have

called for silence. They're going to try to dismantle as much of this as possible and continue moving it down this way.

I mean, you can see you have folks who are just standing by. And -- and look at here, they're all going to continue along to line up and to move as

much of the rubble out so that they can get (TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES)

[12:30:40]

ASHER: All right. If you're just joining us, we are looking at live pictures of a rescue operation taking place as I speak. This is a

residential building in Pereira, Colombia. Pereira is one of the hardest hit cities as a result of this earthquake. The earthquake that struck

Monday, 7:30 in the morning local time.

You're seeing rescue crews digging through the rubble. We just had our David Culver on the ground explaining to us that for a while, rescue crews

really wanted those in the area to really be quiet because they've been calling out to see if they can hear any sound, any voices to indicate signs

of life.

Now, just to sort of reiterate that the first 72 hours after an earthquake is what is known as the golden window. So, you really want to make sure and

where rescue crews are really working hard, round the clock, to ensure that they pull out any survivors from the rubble in that crucial 72-hour window

and we are at day two.

It has been basically a little bit more than 24 hours since the earthquake first struck. And by the way, this is about 35 miles or so from the

epicenter in Choco. This is the western part of Colombia.

We know that the death toll, by the way, obviously, it continues to rise constantly, but the death toll as it pertains right now is 224 people. Two

hundred and twenty-four people have been confirmed dead. Pereira is about 180 miles from Bogota, the capital.

We are seeing what looks like what appears to be a bit more activity. We don't necessarily know if this means that somebody has been found alive, if

that is what we are witnessing, but there is, of course, there does appear to be a bit more commotion.

As I mentioned, when David Culver was outside this residential building, they did want people around to be very, very quiet to listen out to see if

they could hear voices. David was mentioning that seven people have been pulled from this exact residential building. He -- he said that three of

them sadly were no longer alive. Four of them were alive and were taken to nearby hospitals.

I want us to continue listening to see what is taking place right now as this rescue operation continues live for us.

(ONGOING RESCUE)

[12:35:53]

ASHER: All right. What you're looking at here is a rescue operation taking place in the city of Pereira. This is a relatively small town of about half

a million people. A residential building, an apartment building. Our David Culver, our reporter on the ground is explaining to us. This is one of the

buildings that collapsed as a result of that earthquake that we saw Monday morning.

And sadly, this is the scene across a lot of Western Colombia right now where rescue crews are really racing around the clock desperate to find

survivors before, of course, it is too late. We are almost in the middle. We are almost in the middle of that crucial 72-hour window.

One of the things that Colombia does have in certain parts working in its favor is the fact that a lot of its buildings have a little bit more

structural integrity compared to what we have seen in neighboring Venezuela. Obviously, six weeks ago, we had those twin earthquakes around

the same magnitude in Venezuela that led to widespread destruction. That is the major fear here.

I want to bring in our David Culver who is live for us on the ground, but he's joining us on the phone.

David, you were explaining to us that they have managed to rescue a few people from this building. I understand that seven people were pulled out

from this building earlier. Three of them --

CULVER: Right.

ASHER: -- sadly had passed away. Four of them, luckily, still alive.

But I was also explaining to our audience that this window that we have, this sort of 72-hour window is really the golden window for rescue crews.

They really have to work hard because this is the moment when it is absolutely vital that they find as many survivors as possible, because

obviously after the 72-hour window, a lot of people will fear the worst.

Just walk us through what you're -- what you're seeing on the ground.

CULVER: And they've been working nonstop throughout the night, Zain, and this something that's worked today now where -- I mean, they're -- they're

on top of what is -- what was an apartment building, four-story kind. The bottom you had a -- a drug store and a restaurant.

And so what we have been seeing on and off, we've been down here for a few hours now. And what we have seen is -- is a lot of adrenaline and

excitement towards perhaps hearing something from within. And then that leads to a -- a quick -- you'll see two hands go up in the air and fifth,

and that means silence in the entire crowd. I mean, we're talking several hundred people now who have surrounded this area go quiet.

And when they then jump back into action, we've seen folks who are in athleisure wearing. Now, wait a minute. Watch this. Stay -- stay here. Stay

here.

It looks like they've passed over a stretcher. There are applause. I'm just getting closer to see. They're asking people to -- to give them some space.

(APPLAUSE)

[12:40:08]

Zain, I'll tell you, we've -- we've seen this before, but had the moments of cheers like that. And -- and then it goes quiet.

Now, it's not clear if they put somebody in that ambulance, but that ambulance is now backing up.

OK. But even as this ambulance is backing up on top of the apartment building, you have sledgehammers going. You have this urgent and rapid push

to continue getting to the bottom.

I mean, mind you, there are potentially several people within this complex building that are trapped. I was talking to one neighbor who said he knows

at least a little girl was in there and an older woman. He said, but possibly many others.

Given the time of morning that this happened, I mean, it was about 7:30, but then 24 hours ago now. And folks were certainly at home and not --

they're expecting any of this to have played out the way that they were it has now. And so many of them are potentially within this rubble.

I mean, this is -- this is now a -- a rapid mobilization compared to what we've seen. It's -- it's more so focused. If you can see here any images of

just trying to potentially attack these large slabs of concrete any way they can.

And they're -- they're now seemingly making progress on some of this. And - - and the way that they've been clearing it out is just using anybody who's nearby, filming everything from buckets to big bags to axe, whatever they

can fill just to move out some of this concrete and metal and any debris to give them space to get deeper to the bottom of it.

It does seem like just a lot of spurts of -- of energy and -- and even hope with that too. We're trying to clear more space.

OK. So, this -- this ambulance now that we were -- that we saw pull out, it's -- it's now reversing back in. So, it looks like it is preparing to be

loaded up with somebody. And that's why they've had to reposition it.

I mean, it's such a challenge to get through these streets because they're just most of them covered.

So, we can see from our ground now these fists are in the air. They're asking for silence. They had once again another pause but they've resumed

trying to break apart.

It's this one piece of concrete. I mean, this is actually one of the higher floors that you're looking at because you can see what was their tile and

everything. I mean, it just came down four stories and that's what they're trying to break apart now.

They've got now is the top layer that's mostly feeling everyone and they ask for silence again.

(ONGOING RESCUE)

[12:45:20]

CULVER: I'll just point your attention to over here to the side, but it's picked up again. You have again these folks who have jumped in.

And you can see they're wearing everything from athleisure wear to shorts, tennis shoes. They're -- they're not prepared for this. The gloves have

been handed out by volunteers. And yet, they're stepping into help, determined to try to do something to contribute.

You can see as many people are standing as onlookers, how uncomfortable they felt watching this and feeling like they couldn't do anything. One man

said he -- he just felt powerless. And there was such an emotion. And so there's a lot of confusion too.

And you can see that because there's a lot of ups and down with it. Now, they're asking people to move out to get some more space. They -- they do

this almost in cycle so they can then have -- there's more stillness and be quiet closer to where they are.

The reason we move back is that we can talk and not be in the area that they're trying to focus on getting a response from within.

Mike, it's tough to see that there's a gentleman in a -- in a black hat, black t-shirt, yellow gloves sitting at the far left. He's kind of taking

the command of this. And it's not clear if he is potentially a first responder or a community member, but he will often try to coordinate the

crowd, if you will.

(ONGOING RESCUE)

CULVER: Now, they're asking people to mobilize again to continue onward. So watch the crowd again jump in.

It looks like there's also a movement of the crane that they brought on site. And they've been fueling this crane by bringing tanks of fuel to this

location so it doesn't have to move and it can continue going at all hours. It's possible that try to move a larger piece of the concrete slabs.

And here, our first responders (INAUDIBLE).

And it is worth putting in perspective. I mean, this is one of several pockets across the city that is experiencing search and rescues like this.

It does feel like though a lot more of the -- of the attention right now has come to this location. And it's perhaps because they have heard in the

past hour or so response from within that level.

I think there are firefighters here.

[12:50:13]

All right. This looks they have crates in the back carrying canine. So, we'll see if they'll be utilizing them here.

(ONGOING RESCUE)

CULVER: OK. Now, they're continuing to expand this process of -- of trying to clear the rubble. I mean, when we got here, none of this row of

(INAUDIBLE) of steel existed. They have expanded this out and they've been -- and they're -- they're continuing to move people along.

And you can see here folks from all walks of life, all ages, jumping in to help out here. They're -- they're really picking up the effort and energy

here. I mean, something that indicative of -- of potentially getting closer a rescue.

So, now they're asking for silence again.

OK. There's loud cheers going on.

(ONGOING RESCUE)

We might have a better view here, David.

[12:55:06]

They're trying to pull up all the (INAUDIBLE).

(ONGOING RESCUE)

ASHER: All right. You are looking at -- the pictures are a little bit fuzzy. OK. We have a clearer view now. Live pictures in Pereira, Colombia,

where we have for the past 45 minutes or so been witnessing what we believe to be a rescue operation taking place.

This is a residential building that apparently collapsed on Monday at around 7:30 in the morning during that 7.4 magnitude earthquake there in

Colombia.

We have just been listening to our David Culver really narrate to us what is happening. We were seeing rescue crews essentially using pickaxes, at

times using their bare hands, to tear at the concrete slabs bit by bit.

There was a human chain being formed. I'm not sure if you can still see it in the corner of -- in the corner of the screen there. But there was a

human chain where a lot of locals had essentially gathered to help rescue crews move the concrete away from that disaster.

I mean, one of the challenges with this kind of operation is that some of the people who might be trapped might be indeed buried very, very deep. No

one knows exactly where survivors might indeed be in this building.

David Culver, our reporter on the ground, was essentially saying that authorities were looking for a young girl who might indeed be trapped as

well as possibly her grandmother as well. He was also saying that there were seven people who were taken away from this building. Sadly, three of

them had passed away. Four of them was still alive and taken to hospital.

But you have been seeing periodically a lot of commotion, a lot of cheering, a lot of essentially excitement. So, a lot of people had been --

has anticipating that that might indeed mean that there was indeed signs of life.

I want to go straight now to our colleagues on CNN domestic for our continued coverage of this earthquake rescue.

[13:00:00]

END