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Rockets Fired At Turkey Airport; Italy Mourns Dead After Earthquake; Surge in U.S. Heroin Overdoses. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired August 28, 2016 - 05:00   ET

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


[05:00:13] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Tensions inside Turkey. Rockets fired along the Syrian-Turkish border. The fight intensifies for control in that region.

Finding closure. Italy buries its dead after a devastating earthquake while survivors look for refuge.

One hundred overdoses in one week. Police trying to stop a new spread of a form of heroin laced with a drug so powerful it can take down an elephant.

Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm George Howell.

CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

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Five a.m. on the U.S. East Coast, and we continue to follow the crisis in Aleppo, Syria, where there seems to be no end to the war's cruelty. The Aleppo media center says explosions hit a wake that was taking place there on Saturday. Two barrel bombs struck the ceremony, killing at least 24 people, 30 more wounded.

The wake was for children for the victims of a barrel bomb that hit the very same neighborhood on Thursday. Activists say the attack left at least 15 people dead.

And there is more violence outside Jarabulus, near Syria's border with Turkey. Turkish officials say that one of their soldiers was killed there on Saturday. Two tanks were hit by rocket fire and three more soldiers were wounded. Turkish forces helped Syrian rebel retake Jarabulus from ISIS earlier this week. It's all part of the country's operation to secure its border with Syria.

Following it all, CNN senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh live in Gaziantep, Turkey, this hour.

Nick, if we could first start with the Turkish troops inside Syria and these reports of the first Turkish casualties.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Overnight, George, we're hearing of one Turkish soldier having lost their life as a result of rocket fire on two tanks. Now, we don't know the precise location but it does appears to be south of Jarabulus. That is as you know was the town that was swept into by Syrian rebels with Turkish backing, Turkish air cover on Wednesday, taken with little resistance.

The issue now is, where do they go next? Well, we've had an indication from the deputy prime minister yesterday that the scope of the operation is pretty wide. We heard yesterday how the same Syrian rebels with Turkish backing have been moving west close towards an area known as Mariah (ph). That's close to a very important border crossing where there are other Turkish friendly Syrian rebels that also get some element of American backing. It seems like they want to link Maraya up with Jarabulus and therefore control a pretty substantial swath of the Turkish border.

But the major contention now is to the east of Jarabulus, to its southeast. That is where we hear the Free Syrian Army, Syrian rebels with Turkish backing, are moving at the moment. In fact, one of them have -- one of the units have just claimed to have taken some villages to the south of there.

Now, there have been quite substantial clashes around there over the past 24 hours or so, claims that may be well where the Turkish lost their lives, claims that there are exchanges fire. The issue here is that these are basically those Turkish rebels who are Sunni, who are Arab, who have Turkish backing, moving against territory held by Kurdish fighters or those loyal to Kurdish fighters.

The Kurds say that their SDF, unit that has American backing that held area, particularly the main town of Mambish, have moved back. But it's clear people are resisting the advance of the Syrian rebels with Turkish backing. That's the flash point ahead, extraordinarily complicated but, in short, we have two sets of fighters with American backing here, the Kurds who have been fighting ISIS with Pentagon support on the ground. On the other side, with Turkish backing tehse Syrian rebels. They're headed for the same particular town of Mambish.

This could be a huge distraction for the fight against ISIS. Joe Biden, U.S. vice president, absolutely clear that the Kurds need to pull out of Mambish, as they had promise they would once they liberated a couple of weeks ago, back across the Euphrates River.

The issue really here is, given last night, there was a rocket attack on the airport in southeastern Turkey. Reportedly, it seems by the Kurds. Turkey is widening its issues here on its southern border. Yes, we've known they've had a long war against the Kurds.

Now, they're in clashes with the Syrian Kurds, not just those inside of Turkey and they're opening a broader offense to clear ISIS out of the territory. They have the army to do it, the biggest -- second biggest one in NATO, apart from the United States. But at a time of such great porousness and volatility along the huge south border where they have, many say, for years ignore the growing jihadism here in southern Turkey, do they absolutely have the manpower and staying power in this turbulent time in Turkey to pursue this through. Will it distract from the broader, more pressing fight the U.S. has against ISIS, George?

HOWELL: Nick, I'm sure the viewers around the world are appreciative of the fact that you explain the many, many different groups that are at play here.

[05:05:06] The United States also involved. It is a multilayered situation, Turkey doing its best to take control of that border region with Syria.

But is there any indication or idea of a timetable as to how long Turkish troops will be inside this other country?

PATON WALSH: Nobody thought the Syrian revolution would go on much longer than about a year. And here we are five years into what many might even consider to be yet another phase. We've had ISIS rise and now it seems ebb. Now, we have Turkey throwing themselves in to prevent the advance ever the Kurds who are trying to establish their own territory here as well.

The Kurdish fight the Turkey has is decades old. It ebbed and waned itself, but at the same time, it's still there and possibly in one of its worst phases. We have the Kurds who feel to some degree if you talk to them that they're owed their own homeland after the sacrifice they've given kicking out ISIS from that part of northern Syria. They now have de facto control by their own. They aren't going to give up that territory fast.

We've even heard reports that, in fact, the Kurdish military is close to Kobani, pretty much storied because of the level of coalition air power used to facilitate it.

We're into a new chapter here for Turkey, certainly. Some say maybe it's too late or late that Turkey has joined the fight at this stage. They've known they've had this problem for a long time. Some blame the military behind the coup for delaying this kind of operation, saying it was the generals against them rather than political leadership, regardless of where we are now, Turkey has absolutely skin in the game, now very much in the mix now here.

They have two enemies, ISIS and the Kurds. Everybody knows they consider the Kurds to be the most existential threat. ISIS is still there however, pose bigger threat to Europe, just bordering Turkey. So, we're in I think now to a yet more complex and yet more (AUDIO GAP) unsustainable or might say unpredictable part of this five-year war, George.

HOWELL: It is a complicated affair.

Our senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh live in Gaziantep, Turkey -- Nick, thank you so much for the reporting and we will stay in touch with you.

For more context on what's happening on the ground there, CNN military analyst, retired Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona believes that Turkey is planning for what will happen after ISIS is gone. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: The Turks are not worried about what's happening right now in Syria. They're worried what's going to happen a year from now, two years from now, when ISIS is defeated and I think everybody understands that at some point, ISIS is going to be defeated.

You can see it happening in Iraq in probably the next year and soon after that in Syria. Everybody is vying for positions on what's going to happen post-ISIS. And the Kurds are also doing this as well. They're staking out as much territory as they can in both countries because they're angling for much more territory, much more autonomy, some say even some sort of unified Kurdish area up there across northern Syria and northern Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Italy is mourning. We will continue to get more on Italy just a little later in the newscast, given the earthquake that happened there.

A new attack in Turkey, rockets fired at an airport in the southeastern part of that country. It happened Saturday night at the Diyarbakir Airport. Turkey state run news agency is blaming a Kurdish militant group known as the PKK for the attack. No casualties or injuries have been reported and flights have not been disrupted.

Hundreds of Syrians are starting a new life after being trapped in Daraya. It's a city that has been under siege now for four years. Buses started to arrive this weekend bringing them to their new settlement in Herjjaleh. The Syrian government prepared nearly 300 apartments for these families. They had been essentially cut off from food, water and supplies after rebels took over the town near Damascus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMER SHEIKH RAJAB, EVACUATED FROM DARAYA (through translator): At first, they scared me in Daraya. Yes, I was afraid because the rebels told me that the government would take me and kill me. But when I got out and saw the situation here, everything changed. The situation is very good and they treat us very well here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: The Syrian government has now taken control of Daraya under terms for the evacuation of both civilians and rebels.

Also want to tell you about the situation in Italy. People there mourning the deaths of almost 300 people who were killed in Wednesday's earthquake. Hundreds of people attended a state funeral on Saturday for nearly three dozen of the victims.

Our senior international correspondent Atika Shubert has more now from the services there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The school gymnasium turned makeshift chapel fit for a state funeral. Three rows of coffins, 35 in all, each with a bouquet of flowers and a photo of the person lost in Italy's devastating earthquake. Beside them, family members, many of them survivors themselves, their broken limbs in casts, their faces bruised and bandaged, their eyes red and swollen from crying.

Italy's prime minister and president attended offering condolences to those who lost loved ones, conveying their gratitude to the firefighters, police and emergency medics that pulled survivors from the rubble.

[05:10:07] Bishop Guiseppi D'ercole, led the service mentioning victims by name, including Julia Rinaldi, the young girl who died shielding her four year old sister Georgia as their summer home collapsed around them. Georgia survived with minor injuries, Julia did not.

Maria Kamatchi (ph) lost friends and family in the earthquake. She and her husband used their bare hands to dig neighbors out of the rubble.

"Community is very important", she told us. "The small villages like this, the relationship with the land with those you love, with your family is very, very strong. It will be even stronger. We won't give up," she says.

There will be more funerals. The death toll from the earthquake continues to climb into the hundreds as more bodies are discovered in the rubble. This funeral is only among the first -- a national day of mourning for the country to come together and begin the process of healing and rebuilding.

Atika Shubert, CNN, Ascoli Piceno, Italy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: And rebuilding will take a great deal of time there in Italy. Atika, thank you.

This is CNN NEWSROOM.

Still ahead, in the U.S. presidential race, Donald Trump claims that he has African-American support, but what are his true odds with that demographic? We'll take a look coming up.

Plus, the heroin epidemic in the U.S. has become even deadlier. The powerful concoction that's causing a spike in overdoses.

This is CNN NEWSROOM.

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HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell. The shooting death of an NBA star's cousin has drawn fresh attention

to the U.S. when it comes to gun violence. Nykea Aldridge was shot in the head in Chicago on Friday. It happened while she was pushing her infant in a stroller. She was the cousin of 12-time NBA all-star Dwayne Wade. Aldridge was an innocent victim in the wrong place at the wrong time when police say a dispute led to gunfire.

Wade has been an outspoken critic of gun violence, and he took to Twitter to mourn. He said the following, quote, "My cousin was killed today in Chicago, another act of senseless gun violence. Four kids lost their mom for no reason. Unreal."

At least 455 people have been shot to death in Chicago in the first 7 1/2 months of the year 2016.

[05:15:03] This is according to the "Chicago Tribune" newspaper which has been tracking every homicide in that city.

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HOWELL: The death of Nykea Aldridge has become even a talking point in the U.S. presidential election, as issues of gun violence and race take center stage.

The Republican Donald Trump is reaching out to minority voters now with an emphasis on economic growth, but he's also citing violence in U.S. inner cities as a reason why African-Americans should vote for him. Saturday, he tweeted about Aldridge's death and its possible effect on his campaign, saying the following, quote "Dwayne Wade's cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying, African-Americans will vote Trump!"

The Republican candidate also mentioned Aldridge's death as he campaigned over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The cousin of NBA star Dwayne Wade, a great guy Dwayne Wade, was the victim of a tragic shooting in Chicago. She was the mother of four and was killed while pushing her infant child in a stroller just walking down the street. Shot.

It breaks all of our hearts to see it it's horrible. It's horrible. And it's only getting worse. This shouldn't happen in our country. This shouldn't happen in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Trump misspelling Dwayne Wade's name in a first tweet but then correcting it in a second tweet that he sent out.

My colleague Jonathan Mann spoke earlier to Larry Sabato for more perspective on what Trump hopes to achieve with African-Americans voters. Sabato is the director for the Center of Politics at the University of Virginia. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY SABATO, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER OF POLITICS: What is this really about? Is Donald Trump actually making a pitch for the African-American vote? I can tell you right now and his advisers have told him that he has very little chance of getting more than a handful of percentage points from African-Americans. This is designed to reassure conservative or moderate normally Republican whites who are living in suburbs or central cities and their concern that Donald Trump is to be blunt about it anti-black. They don't want to be associated with that.

JONATHAN MANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Is it working? I ask because the examples jump out at you. When he started this outreach effort, he started with a series of really offensive generalizations about African-Americans, that they have no jobs, that they have no homes, that they have no safe neighborhoods. And today that tweet which seemed to capitalize on the murder of an innocent woman as evidence that African-Americans will vote Trump, like there was somehow a logical connection between that woman's death and his success.

I mean, does this look good even to white voters?

SABATO: Well, I would think that most people who had at least tentatively decided they weren't going to vote for Donald Trump are still right there. They haven't changed a wit.

You talked about stereotypes and overgeneralizations. Trump's attempts to correct his problems are usually ham-handed. And I'm not being overcritical there. When you go back and you think about the controversies he's had over this year and how he has tried to correct them, he generally causes his problems to double or triple, and he gives Democrats a week or two to attack him on his course corrections. I think he's done precisely that again.

MANN: Now, there was a recent poll I think a "Washington Post"/ABC News poll, that found 56 percent of registered voters believe Trump is biased against women and minorities. And yet at least some of those people plan to vote for him anyway. He clearly thinks that this is a serious challenge, but what do you think it's going to cost him on Election Day if he doesn't fix this problem?

SABATO: He's already losing women badly. Incredibly, he is losing college-educated whites. All of the Republicans in modern times have won college-educated whites usually in a landslide. He certainly is losing minorities by a record amount. It's really incredible when you look at the numbers in some of these polls. Some polls have him at 8 percent of African-Americans. More have him at 1 percent or 2 percent, which is actually worse than some segregationists who have run such as George Wallace in 1968.

So, I think he's already cost himself a lot of support. And to be honest, Jonathan, I don't see it coming back to him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Larry Sabato there speaking to my colleague Jonathan Mann.

On top of the backlash over Trump's tweets, one of his top aides is under fire for alleged anti-Semitism.

[05:20:05] The ex-wife of Trump's new CEO, Steve Bannon, claimed that in 2007, he didn't want his daughters attending a school because too many Jews attended it.

Our Dianne Gallagher has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is important to note that those charges of anti-Semitism do come from his now ex-wife during a child custody case.

Back in 2007, she said in a court statement that Bannon does not want his daughters to attend a certain girls school that they were considering due to the number of Jewish students. Now, the documents show her stating, quote, "He says he doesn't like Jews and that he doesn't like they raise their kids to be whiney brats and that he didn't want the girls going to school with Jews." Now, again, these are now ex-wife's words from a court declaration involving a dispute over child support.

CNN has reached out to the Trump campaign. We haven't heard back from them just yet.

But Bannon's spokeswoman tells us that, quote, "At the time, Mr. Bannon never said anything like that and proudly sent the girls to Archer for their middle school and high school education."

Now, of course, all of this does come as the newly appointed campaign CEO is already facing scrutiny about his background. We learned this week just that 20 years ago, Bannon faced multiple charges including misdemeanor domestic violence, stemming from an incident involving his ex-wife.

Now, those charges were eventually dismissed because his ex-wife didn't show up to court. She said later that it's because Bannon's attorney threatened her, saying she wouldn't be able to support her children if she did. That is a charge that attorney has denied. Of course, it is just another chapter in what has been a very controversial career for Steve Bannon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Dianne Gallagher, thank you so much for the reporting.

Drug dealers in the U.S. are mixing heroin with a powerful elephant tranquillizer, and that's creating a drug so lethal there have been 100 overdoses in Cincinnati, Ohio, in just one week.

CNN's Rachel Crane spoke with one self-described addict about why this drug is so appealing and why it is so dangerous.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURIE ERION, APRIL'S MOTHER: It's terrifying. It terrifies me.

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A recent spike in heroin overdoses. Nearly 100 in the last week alone have Laurie Erion fearing for her daughter's life.

APRIL ERION, HEROIN ADDICT: I would love to get high. I would, you know I'm a drug addict, that's what I do best.

CRANE: April is 22 years old and she's been using heroin for the last six years. In those years, she said she's lost about a dozen friends.

ERION: Overdose. I just had one of my friend's die I think yesterday morning and she left four kids behind.

CRANE: Officials suspect a batch of heroin laced with elephant tranquilizers is to blame for the latest string of overdoses. But April says that's not enough to scare away regular users.

(on camera): When you are addicted to heroin, when you're using, you don't care about dying. You're just chasing the next high. And for a lot of people, hearing that there is a souped-up strain of dope on the streets, that's actually appealing?

ERION: Yes, definitely. Absolutely, because you -- you stop getting high. That's why they call it chasing because you stop getting high. You're just -- you're staying well, you're staying not sick.

So, when you here that somebody has overdosed or you hear about these crazy new drugs, you know, you're thinking, like, well, all right. It's about time. I'm trying to get high. I mean, that's all you've been trying to do.

CRANE: So, that means with this new strain of heroin that's cut with an elephant tranquilizer?

ERION: I am very sure that there are heroin addicts who are actively looking for it, and thinking that the people that are dying are doing it wrong. They're doing too much. They're not -- you know what I mean? They're just thinking that they're going to find a way to get really high and not die. Or if they die, they don't really care.

But they're definitely looking for it. I would be.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My son's on drugs and I think he's overdosing. I think he's overdosed.

911 OPERATOR: Is he awake?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, he's awake but barely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not breathing.

911 OPERATOR: OK. What's he OD'ing on?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heroin. It's -- I guess it's fentanyl.

CRANE (voice-over): This firehouse in Cincinnati responded to nearly two dozen overdoses in a single day last week. More than ten times their daily average. And they don't know when the calls will stop coming in.

But April's mom is worried about a different type of call.

LAURIE ERION: You know, we hear an ambulance, and we always wonder if it's someone that we know or for our child. And that's something that we live with every day. You know, we go to bed at night, wondering if we're going to get that phone call.

CRANE: April and her mom know better than anyone how difficult the struggle with opioid addiction is.

[05:25:03] ERION: I'll do any drug you put in front of me. So, it's definitely a struggle. It's really hard.

LAURIE ERION: It's difficult because we can't like love them out of it. You know? So, we love them so much, and it doesn't -- there's nothing that we can really do for them.

CRANE: April says getting sober is a daily struggle. But in her eyes, not using heroin is progress. Even if other drugs are taking its place.

ERION: I'm definitely not -- I wouldn't say I'm using. But I've used twice since I've been out and I've been out for a month.

CRANE (on camera): How has heroin changed your life?

ERION: Well, I'm 22. I just did 11 months incarcerated. I'm back on probation with more time on the shelf. When in reality, I mean, I probably should have been applying for med school this summer. You know, that was what I wanted to do. That's where I should have been.

CRANE (voice-over): Rachel Crane, CNN, Cincinnati.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Rachel, thank you.

And as Rachel mentioned, officials believe the heroin blamed in the rash of deaths was combined with an elephant tranquilizer. It is the most potent opioid used commercially. It's 10,000 times stronger than morphine, and it's a version of fentanyl, the painkiller that investigators say is responsible for the death of entertainer Prince that happened earlier this year.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Still ahead, Colombia's main rebel group FARC says that it is taking steps to officially end the longest running civil conflict in Latin America. We'll have details on that. Plus, a guerilla group in Paraguay is suspected of carrying out an

ambush that killed eight soldiers. How Colombia's FARC inspired the leftist group.

We are live from Atlanta this hour, broadcasting across the United States and around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

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[05:30:20] HOWELL: And welcome back to you're viewers here in the United States and around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. It's always good to have you with us. I'm George Howell with the headlines we're following for you this hour.

Rockets were fired at Turkey's Diyarbakir Airport on Saturday night. Turkey's state-run news agency blaming the Kurdish militant group known as the PKK for these attacks. No casualties have been reported and flights have not been disrupted.

A Turkish soldier was killed Saturday in a rocket attack south of the Syrian town of Jarabulus. A Turkish military source says two soldiers were wounded in that attack. Turkish officials blaming the attack on Kurdish militias. Earlier this week, Turkish forces helped Syrian rebels to retake Jarabulus from the terror group ISIS.

In the presidential race in the United States, Donald Trump saying tragedies like the death of NBA star Dwayne Wade's cousin are the reason that African-Americans will vote for Donald Trump.

Nykea Aldridge was killed in a shooting in Chicago on Friday. Trump cited her death in a tweet saying in part, "Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will vote for Trump!"

And in Italy, people have started to bury the 291 people killed in Wednesday's earthquake. Hundreds of mourners gathered to remember nearly three dozen caskets there. The government declared Saturday a national day of mourning.

In the U.S. in the state of Florida, people are keeping an eye to the skies as storm systems brew in the tropics.

To talk more about that, our meteorologist Derek Van Dam is here.

Derek, so, what's going on?

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOWELL: Derek, thank you.

Now to the U.S. state of Mississippi. Police say that they have a suspect in custody for the murder of two nuns, but residents there say that they can't understand why anyone would have wanted to hurt them.

CNN's Reid Binion has more for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's sad that people come to this whatever motivates them.

REID BINION, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Forty-six-year-old Rodney Earl Sanders is facing two counts of capital murder in the stabbing death of two Mississippi nuns.

[05:35:06] Authorities say Margaret Held and Paula Merrill were found dead inside their home Thursday morning. Held and Merrill were both nurse practitioners who worked for hospitals in the state's poorest community.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They take time to explain things to patients where they can understand it. You know, they go way beyond.

BINION: Clinic employees notified police when nuns failed to show up for work. A car missing from the home was also found later that night about a mile away. The bodies were found.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's hard to imagine that one who served the poor untiringly day and night sometimes, that her life would be taken in this violent way.

BINION: Those who knew the nuns say they had real empathy and compassion for the people they served.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody was the same in their eyes, you know. All you had to do was go to them, ask them for help, and they helped you any way they can.

BINION: Authorities have not revealed a motive or a possible link between sanders and the nuns.

I'm Reid Binion reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Reid, thank you.

Italy is mourning the loss of people and communities after this week's earthquakes. Still ahead, a report from one of the country's most devastated towns.

And migrants are still making the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean despite all the risks. Next, the horrors that many face searching for a better future and the race to prevent hundreds more from drowning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell.

[05:40:01] In Italy, people are struggling with a great deal of sadness as many bury the victims from Wednesday's earthquake. That country held a state funeral on Saturday. You see people gathered there. It was also a national day of mourning. The earthquake reduced one town to rubble, and it badly damaged

several others. But it's the human loss that is most painful in these communities. Almost 300 people are dead and many, many more are missing.

CNN is live near Amatrice, the hardest hit town from this earthquake and our senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen is live on the ground to give us an idea of what the damage means for people, Fred.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, George. I want to give you the reason why we're actually out here right now. You'll see behind me this mountain range over there. This entire area of Italy through the force of that earthquake, which is, of course, a magnitude 6.2.

So, this whole region in Italy dropped by about 8 inches or about 20 centimeters in an instant when that earthquake happened. That's also one of the reasons why the damage is so bad and also another one of the reasons why a lot of the access roads have actually been cut off through the force of that earthquake in the aftermath of that happening.

Now, of course, all of this caused major damage to the towns around here. A lot of the people we've been speaking to say, look, after this happened we don't know if any of these small villages are actually going to be viable in the future. They've been destroyed. A lot of historic buildings have been destroyed by the earthquake. Do you really want to rebuild on a fault line, in a place where you know there is seismic activity? There is this major earthquake now. There was a major earthquake in the '70s.

And so, many of them are now questioning whether or not the places that they live in are still viable. It's a big question on people's minds here, also, of course, on Italian politicians' minds as well. And it's something that just adds to the trauma of this earthquake. Many of these people have lost loved ones. Many of these people have loved ones who have been injured. Many of these people, of course, have lost the houses they live in, are now sleeping out in the open or in camper vans.

And now, they have to deal with this long-term question about whether many of the places in this area here are going to be viable or actually going to be exist in the future, George.

HOWELL: Fred, you also -- we were speaking just a moment ago before your report about the aftershocks that you have experience. If you could tell us about what the situation is now. I mean, have there been pretty powerful aftershocks? And how has that affected people just getting in and around those areas?

PLEITGEN: I would say, George, that the aftershocks that this area is experiencing is probably the biggest impediments to the search and rescue efforts and also the biggest thing driving fear into these folks after going through this horrible earthquake. We did have -- just had an aftershock a couple of moments ago that we felt. There have been some other powerful aftershocks as well.

And every time those aftershocks happen, of course, all the rescue efforts going on and recovery efforts quite frankly as well, they have to stop immediately because all the rescue crews have to get out of the rubble because the rubble can shift itself, could potentially bury the rescue crews underneath.

So, it's something that just stops everybody. Of course, all the folks here are in great fear every time that happens. These aftershocks are very powerful. So, we have to keep in mind the original earthquake was 6.2 magnitude. There have been aftershocks of 5.5. and just last night, one of 4.7. So, that's something that really rocks the earth and causes additional buildings to collapse as well, George.

HOWELL: Our senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen live near Amatrice -- Fred, thank you for giving us a sense of what happened there. Just seeing that range behind you and explaining what that means, wow. It was a very powerful earthquake. Thank you.

Now to Berlin. Anti-immigration protesters climbed the famous Brandenburg Gate on Saturday, the par right activists say that they are against the, quote, "Islamization" of German. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing a drop of popularity there after welcoming over a million asylum seekers last year. The anti-immigration party, Alternative for Germany, is expected to do well in two regional elections that are to take place next month.

According to the United Nations, thousands of asylum seekers continue to cross the Mediterranean searching for a better future, a better life in Europe. But it's an incredibly dangerous journey. Human smugglers are cramming migrants on rickety floats and many of those families drown.

Here are some of the stories from those who are rescued at sea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[05:45:04] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to give everyone a life jacket. You're all safe, okay? Sit down!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They might not trust us and their concern is they might be attacked by pirates or get arrested again by the Libyan authorities. All we were just hearing is people dying, dying, dying, boats capsizing. The Italian coast guard, they cannot cope. We're talking about mass migration. We have to do something.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They called one of my cousins and they said, if you do not bring $2,000, you'll be dead by evening.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I get outside from the misery. They are treating people like an animal.

JOHN HAMILTON, DEPUTY OPERATION OFFICER: These people that we come across are really desperate. They're coming from countries that torture. They're beaten. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But they choke me with knife and he asked for

money. There's no light. They are killing. You don't have money, you have nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The time now is 20 past 7:00. We've started early. It's 4:00 in the morning. Now we're coming to another two boats.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have another boat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They do know about this journey before. They know exactly what it's going to be. Maybe they got two choice, whether you die at the sea or you are getting across the sea. This is the two choices that you have.

(SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At times the way they speak, they think that everything is so easy. You know they're going to get there, find a job and all this. But then I try to think that I wonder if they do get what they want, you know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Africa, they traded people like real people, real humans. Yes, that's what we're looking for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I look at the children they're all happy, laughing and that and in my mind I think these children don't know what they're going through. They might, in a time, go back to their country, and share their expertise in whatever they do. And make their country better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:50:12] KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORT: I'm Kate Riley with your CNN "World Sport" headlines. Real Madrid may have started their campaign with a 3-0 win over Sociedad last week but Saturday you saw them play at home for the first time this season as they faced Celta Vigo.

They had to wait for the hour mark for the first goal when Alvaro Morata put the home side ahead. The visitors then drew level setting the stage for Toni Kroos to score the winner for Real. 2-1 it ends, their 14th straight la Liga win.

To the English premier league where Jose Mourinho's Manchester United looked to continue their fine start to the season. They traveled to Hull on a miserable, rainy night. United needed more than the full 90 minutes to get the win. Substitute Marcus Rashford scored in the second minute of stoppage time. United made it 1-0 giving them three wins from three to start the year for the first time in four seasons.

Formula one champion Lewis Hamilton suffers yet another engine change in the Belgian Grand Prix. The Brit's starting grid penalty has being risen to a whopping 55 places. But he will start 21st due to their being only 22 cars in the race. And Fernando Alonso's grid penalty. As for Hamilton's teammate Nico

Rosberg it will be another pole position. Hamilton has a 19-point lead over his German teammate. That means a win in Belgium could be enough to put Rosberg back on top.

And that's a look at all your sport's headlines. I'm Kate Riley.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: Are you having withdrawal from the Rio Olympics? Do you miss the games?

Well, it's a little early to start forecasting the next Summer Olympics in Tokyo 2020, but the new addition of a few new sports including rock climbing, that will bring a whole new cast of stars.

And our Patrick Snell introduces us to one such talent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At only 15 years of age Ashima Shiraishi may well be the best rock climber the world has seen. Four years from now there's a good chance she'll be a household name in the U.S. as she's considered one of America's best prospects for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where climbing has just been sanctioned as an official sport.

ASHIMA SHIRAISHI, 15 YEAR OLD ROCK CLIMBER: It's really interesting because the format that's going to be in the Olympics has never been, you know has never been happened ever before in any other competition. But basically there's three disciplines of climbing and it's sport climbing and bouldering and speed climbing.

And -- so, for sport and bouldering, it's basically just getting to the top that's the most important thing and just getting higher or just completing the climb. But then for speed climbing, it's about time. So, you have to go up the wall as quickly as you can. But then at the end, they're going to combine the scores of how well you do on all three of the disciplines. So, basically, you have to be good at all of them which is going to be a challenge.

SNELL: As for the challenge of growing the sport, rock climbing has benefitted from the rise of climbing gyms that have popped up. Beforehand it was really only a sport attempted by those close to mountain ranges. But by being brought up in New York City, Ashima started her climbing career on the rock walls of a Brooklyn gym before graduating to the real rocks found in Central Park.

SHIRAISHI: Since you are a baby, you walk or just crawl, then you climb. It's just something that's very natural. And for me that's how I found climbing so interesting. It's because you don't really need to know much to be able to climb. All you have to do is just climb up the rock.

[05:55:02] SNELL: Memory described as a bouldering phenom Ashima is particularly excited by the Tokyo games because it's taking place in the country of her parents' birth. Nevertheless the inspirational moments that just took place at the Rio Olympics have clearly left an impression.

SHIRAISHI: There are so many athletes that I'm really inspired by. But I would say Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt and Simone Biles probably are the most inspirational for me. They inspire me because they prove that there are no boundaries in sports and I guess history and all these barriers are meant to be broken.

SNELL: History beckons for the teenager who may well inspire the next generation of rock climbers to break barriers of their own.

Patrick Snell, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Patrick, thank you.

So do you like pizza and could you imagine pizza when you want it just to fall from the sky delivered right to your door? Well, it could become a reality thanks to Domino's Pizza, hoping to soon begin food deliveries by drone in New Zealand. Customers will be notified when the drone is approaching. They go outside, hit a button on their smartphone, the drone lowers it on a tether. But Domino's says test deliveries to customers will begin next month.

That is the new world we're in, people.

Thanks for being with us. I'm George Howell at the CNN Center in Atlanta. For our viewers in the United States, "NEW DAY" is next. For other viewers around the world, "THE BEST OF QUEST" starts in a moment. We thank you for watching CNN, the world's news leader.