Evacuations are finally getting under away in eastern Aleppo
BALDWIN: Breaking news here on CNN. We are following news out of Syria. Evacuations are finally getting under away in eastern Aleppo. We just heard from U.S. secretary of state John Kerry commenting on the situation just a short time ago.</s>JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I don't think I have to elaborate but I'm going to certainly focus on the anger and the anguish that everybody feels or most people feel about the continued relentless and inexcusable attacks that have been directed at the civilian population in Aleppo, including women, children, humanitarian workers and medical personnel. And there is absolutely no justification whatsoever for the indiscriminate and savage brutality against civilians shown by the regime and by its Russian and Iranian allies over the past few weeks or indeed the past five years.</s>BALDWIN: A fragile new cease-fire getting off to a rocky start with activists saying regime forces have already fired on ambulance convoys. There is still fears that people in these buses and ambulances will not arrive to that safe location alive. Lines of green buses the backdrop. Look at other side of the road. Just utter devastation. The epicenter of the regime's battle against the rebels who are trying to topple President Bashar Al Assad. We just show you also two pictures. Look to the left and the right of your screen. This is before and after of this thriving city. The aftermath of years of destruction, bombs raining down day after day. A groundhog day in hell. And these are the same headlines we have been bringing to you for years.</s>BALDWIN: Bloodshed, massacres and fear. This is what people living in Syria have been dealing with for nearly 18 months. Syrian state media reporting chemical weapons have been strapped to a missile and fired on civilians in Aleppo province, killing at least 25 people and injuring dozens more. Today the U.S. denying America's accusations that they bombed the war torn city of Aleppo inside Syria. And as the brutal war there escalates, families are running for their lives.</s>BALDWIN: Whether today's cease-fire finally means lasting change remains to be seen. Let's go to Fred Pleitgen who was just inside of Syria. He is in Lebanon now. But Fred, we know that they are moving these civilians to the province of Idlib which is another rebel held area. And likely the regime's next are for recapture. So aren't they essentially fleeing this dangerous zone in Aleppo for another war zone elsewhere?</s>FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's exactly what's happening, Brooke. And it seems as though what the Assad government is trying to do not just in Aleppo but in other places as well is it's trying to besiege the rebels that are in those major cities, surround them, essentially starve them because there is no supplies getting into those places and then offer them at the end, offer them the choice, either they can be continue to bombed or they can leave to this place, Idlib province, which they have done with other cities as well. So essentially what's going on is that all those rebel fighters and many of those civilians are being bunched up in that one province while the Assad government continues to take back the major cities of Syria. It has several reasons why they are doing that. One of them is, of course, they need a lot of forces concentrated in places like Aleppo to continue those sieges, to continue those battles. And once those rebels and once those civilians are out, they can use those forces in other places. But you're absolutely right. You are basically only shifting these people from one war zone to the next. Now what they can do in Idlib province, the civilians, at least, is they can get to other places. They can try to get to Turkey. They can try to get to places that are controlled by Turkish forces and possibly get out of the way of bombings there. But in the end these people that are being evacuated today, they are out of harm's way for the moment. They are safe for the moment. But they are just going into another war zone where it's only a matter of time before that Syrian war catches up with them there as well, Brooke.</s>BALDWIN: According to the international committee of the Red Cross, at least 3,000 people have been brought out of eastern Aleppo during the first two evacuations. Fred, thank you so much. Meantime, people just inside of Aleppo. They are sick of just surviving. A heartbreaking video here is now surfacing of these young orphans pleading for the world's help. A 10-year-old boy saying this might be his last message.</s>YASMEAN KAIMOUZ, 10-YEAR-OLD (through text): Hi. This might be the last time you see and hear from me. My name is Yasmean Kaimouz, and I am 10-years-old. We are scared on the air strikes. We wish you will get us out of Aleppo. We want to live like everyone else.</s>BALDWIN: The man who helped share this video to the world is a former Aleppo citizen himself, he is Doctor Ahmad Tarakji, a heart surgeon. President of Syrian-American medical society and he is with me now. Dr. Tarakji, thank you for taking time.</s>DR. AHMAD TARAKJI, PRESIDENT, SYRIAN-AMERICAN MEDICAL SOCIETY (on the phone): Thank you, Brooke, for the opportunity.</s>BALDWIN: I understand you are talking hourly to a man who is managing just the medical evacuations in eastern Aleppo. What is he telling you now?</s>TARAKJI: Unfortunately, as you mentioned earlier, it's a chaotic situation in eastern Aleppo right now. The -- what would be the least situation in this humanitarian crisis to have some orderly process is also under mine as of the nation</s>BALDWIN: You know, we heard from Secretary Kerry saying at least one convoy had been fired upon. Can I ask you, doctor, just about the little orphans we saw in that video? How are they?</s>TARAKJI: I'm -- it does break my heart to see this video and that's all of us and at this time we're trying to get them out of eastern Aleppo. It's a very complicated process you would think humanitarian values would be respected. And unfortunately it's unpredictable as the workers from the civil defense who are trying to open up the road for the humanitarian evacuations were shot at this morning and were killed. And every single thing is very unpredictable until they make the western countryside of Aleppo. So we are hopeful that they will make their way over there. We pray for them. I ask everybody to join us praying for them. But certainly the suffering you see from those children is not a random process. It's unfortunately the result of disruption from the humanitarian order. And internationally humanitarian order. What is going on right now I think will last -- it will have an effect that will last for so many years in the international community when we see those massacres and shooting on civilians is showing the infrastructures. I think the effect will last for so many years to come. And unfortunately, with lack of accountability and lack of ability of the humanitarian workers to do what they best do.</s>BALDWIN: The world is watching. Dr. Tarakji, thank you so much for taking the time. I know so many of you have reached out. How can you help? You can help - we, here at CNN have vetted a number of organizations in the effort helping those Syrian civilians. Just go to CNN.com/impact. Just in to CNN, president-elect Donald Trump reacting to reports of Russia hacking during the presidential election. 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