Tide of Anguished Humanity on the Move in Aleppo; White Helmets Unable to Carry Out Rescue Efforts; Stitching Syria Back Together
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN HOST: Tonight, a human avalanche. Civilians flee the bombardment of Eastern Aleppo. A special report from the ground on the exodus. Plus, two more voices from behind the front lines including a doctor whose house has been hit. Also ahead, from a refugee to the first Somali-American lawmaker. Ilhan Omar's message to young children without a home.</s>ILHAN OMAR, SOMALI-AMERICAN LAWMAKER: I was in their shoes. You know 20 years ago, sitting in a refugee camp in Kenya. And today, I'm able to represent my community here in the U.S. So it's a story of hope.</s>AMANPOUR: Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the program. I'm Christiane Amanpour in London. After coming under heavy international pressure to save civilian lives in Aleppo, late this evening, Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, told reporters that the Syrian military has ceased all operations in Aleppo to focus on evacuating up to 5,000 civilians. But our Fred Pleitgen on the ground tells us there continues to be gun and mortar fire. Military jets overhead. And just now, an air strike. Meanwhile, the trickle of people out of the east part of the city has become a flood, under the regime's advance. Bashar al-Assad calls this a significant landmark. And earlier today, he told a newspaper, quote, "There are no truces. They still insist on calling for a truce, particularly the Americans, because their proxies, the terrorists, are in a difficult position. That's why crying, wailing and begging for a truce constitute their only political discourse now. In addition of course, to talking about humanitarian aspects." Now while the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's talks with his Russian counterpart have until now clearly been futile.</s>JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: We're working on something. And we have to wait for certain feedback and input. But we are working on something.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you comfortable with the breakthrough?</s>KERRY: Not confident, I'm hopeful. We'll see where we are.</s>AMANPOUR: Perhaps that was what was Sergey Lavrov was reflecting in his talk to journalist just a short time ago saying that the Syrian regime would pause action in Aleppo in order to focus on saving civilians. Now in an extremely rare public speech, the head of Britain's secret intelligence service, MI-6 painted a very grim picture.</s>ALEX YOUNGER, HEAD OF UK'S SECRET INTELLIGENCE SERVICE, MI6: In Aleppo, Russian and the Syria -- Russia and the Syria regime seek to make a desert and call it peace. The human tragedy is heartbreaking.</s>AMANPOUR: And that is where our Fred Pleitgen has been covering the regime's advance. All week he's been sending us reports saying that the fighting continues tonight and he's just sent us this latest.</s>FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the rebels increasingly lose their grip on Aleppo, Syrian armed forces continue to pound the besieged areas, many killed and wounded in the cross-fire. We came to this front line crossing just as a man was being evacuated. Claiming he was shot by rebels as he tried to flee. "They shot me as I was running out," he says. They're not allowing anyone to get out. They said, "Are you going to the regime areas?" The opposition strongly denies its fighters would harm civilians. But rebels do acknowledge they won't be able to hold out in Aleppo much longer. And that realization is leading to an avalanche of people trying to flee the rebel districts. Syrian troops throwing some bread, but not nearly enough to quell the hunger of the many who have been starving for months. (on-camera): The Syrian military has made major advances, once again in the past 24 hours. And we can see that as the army moves forward, more and more people are coming out of those former besieged areas. (voice-over): Many of those fleeing, families with small children. Struggling to carry the few belongings they were able to take. Many overpowered by emotions, some with barely enough strength to walk. Others too frail to walk at all. The Syrian army has amassed a massive force at this front line. A local commander with a clear message to the rebels. "Look at the sea," he says. "These are your families, surrender yourselves and drop your arms. Come back to the country and hopefully our leadership." But for now, the fight goes on. This family one of the many to cross into government-controlled territory, now in safety, but still in agony. "Things used to be good," this elderly woman says. "May God act out revenge on those who brought us these difficult circumstances and may God protect us." And so they walk on. Weak and traumatized, moving into an uncertain future. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Aleppo.</s>AMANPOUR: And all this week, we've also been reaching out to voices behind the front line in Eastern Aleppo as the conditions for civilians continue to deteriorate. When I last spoke to Dr. Farida, who is one of the last OB-GYNs in the east, she told me it was like a horror movie there. She's wearing a surgical mask in part to protect her identity.</s>AMANPOUR: Farida, thanks for joining us again. I see you have no light there, what's the situation?</s>DR. FARIDA: We have no electricity. No water. Nothing in Aleppo. We -- today, I came home and I find my home partially destroyed. But I can -- I physically go there, there is no water. And now there is no electricity. I just go to hospital and charge my phone and do some operations and some emergencies. And then I came home to find everything is destroyed. And the government army is -- there is about 2 kilometers between the regime and my house.</s>AMANPOUR: Farida, are they getting closer and closer to you?</s>DR. FARIDA: Yes, they are getting closer, every few hours or days. But from yesterday until now, they stopped because the FSA are defending us. They have stopped from yesterday. Today, there is no encroachment from them to my house, so I came back to my house just to see what's happened because they told me they're bombing barrels next to my house. So I came and find it destroyed partially but I can live in this room. The other rooms, the other rooms have -- broke their windows and their doors and the kitchen is destroyed. So I am now staying in this room.</s>AMANPOUR: So you know the last time we talked, before this offensive had really made so much progress, you told me that it was like living in a horror movie. What is changing? How is it changing?</s>DR. FARIDA: It's worse. It's worse. Now when I have been in the hospital in the morning, I saw one little child about three years in the operating room. I find his shoe on the ground. I give it to him. I told him my little boy, take your shoe. He told me, no, I don't need it any more. I lost my legs. It's always -- in Aleppo, you can't see this child, children every day. I see one girl in the age of my girl, about seven or eight years, she lost one hand. And you can imagine a little baby in this age, can't live their childhood. They have broken legs. They have cut off their legs or their hands. They have colostomy. They had some injuries. They have burns. You can't imagine a child still alive in this, they're like disabled.</s>AMANPOUR: At what point is it going to get too dangerous for you? Can you escape from where you are to a place of safety?</s>DR. FARIDA: If I want to escape, I have to go to regime areas. But I don't think I can go there, because I'm afraid for my name or the name of my husband, or my family there. So I'm afraid for everyone there and on myself.</s>AMANPOUR: Well, Dr. Farida, we wish you all the best. We wish you a lot of good luck in these difficult days. Thank you for talking to us from an area of Eastern Aleppo still controlled by the rebels. Thank you.</s>AMANPOUR: The U.N. special adviser on Syria, Jan Egeland says they haven't been able to evacuate the wounded or deliver food and medical supplies, calling this the most frustrating humanitarian stalemate he has ever faced. Talks which have quote produced nothing in spite of thousands of contacts with all the parties. The famous Syrian defense -- civil defense forces also known as the White Helmets, short-listed for this year's Nobel Peace Prize for their outstanding rescue efforts, also can no longer reach the wounded as their director told me when I reached him by Skype just outside Aleppo.</s>AMANPOUR: Ammar al-Salmo, thank you for joining us. Ammar, are you still able to rescue people in Eastern Aleppo?</s>AMMAR AL-SALMO, MANAGER, SYRIAN WHITE HELMETS: In Eastern Aleppo, everything has stopped, but the shelling. Except the shelling. The cold of the winter and the starving and the fear and the terror. Just except this, but everything stopped. Bakery, civil defence workers and even the medical points. Right now, those victims, those wounded who are lucky -- those lucky wounded who have -- has the treatment. In some point they, they did have surgery without anesthesia, without anesthesia. So the situation is deteriorated every moment. Every day is worse than before.</s>AMANPOUR: We have just heard from Dr. Farida, still inside Eastern Aleppo, saying that the FSA, the Free Syrian Army, are still trying to fight to control where they are now. Can you discuss what may be going on?</s>AL-SALMO: Actually just after 105 days of the siege, all the rebels right now are tired, exhausted. They want some solution. They want a safe passage to go through. Actually, you know, the regime drop on the citizens two weeks leaflets that say you are left alone to face your doom. You will be annihilated. This clear message from the regime and from the Russia and also from the war, the civilians start to say that this message, not written in Moscow or in Damascus, but are written in the U.N. because we are actually left alone. More than 60, 60 dead bodies in the street. We cannot reach them. We cannot pull them. No one can pull them. We are faced today like doomsday.</s>AMANPOUR: Ammar al-Salmo, from the civil defense White Helmets, thank you very much indeed for joining us.</s>AL-SALMO: Thank you, thank you.</s>AMANPOUR: Really dire eye witness reports. And when we come back, the woman who was born a refugee, and rose to become American's first Somali- American lawmaker. I talk to Ilhan Omar about being elected the same night as Donald Trump. That's next.