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AMNA NAWAZ: Turkey's interior 
minister said today that 
over 80,000 buildings

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in his nation were 
either destroyed or have 
become uninhabitable 
after last week's quake.

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The situation across the 
border in Syria is dire 
for the millions left 
homeless, so many of whom

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already suffered greatly 
through nearly 12 years 
of war. Supplying shelter 
and aid is a prime focus

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there now. But, remarkably, 
people are still being 
pulled from the rubble 
after a week-and-a-half.

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Another miraculous rescue. 
Mustafa Avci was pulled 
from the rubble in Antakya 
after than 10 days.

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His first phone call 
was to his brother.

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"I would die to see you 
smile," he told him.

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But most hope has faded 
elsewhere. In Kahramanamaras, 
the epicenter of the

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second quake, families 
finally found their loved 
ones, only to bury them.

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HUSEYIN AKIS, Turkish Earthquake 
Survivor (through translator): 
We waited by the fire

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for 10 days to get the bodies 
our family members from 
under the rubble, 10 days.

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AMNA NAWAZ: Turkey is 
grieving and praying for 
those dead and alive.

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Across the border in Idlib 
city in Northwest Syria,

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9-year-old Nour Mohammed has 
been alone at this hospital 
since the earthquake. Today,

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she's being taken to her father, 
their first embrace in 11 days.

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In the tent city of Salqin, 
thousands of Syrian families 
now left to live in the ruins.

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There's hunger and a childhood 
scarred. Mohammed Ali and his 
children were lucky to survive,

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but nothing much is left of 
their home. They have lost 
27 members of their family.

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The remaining survivors 
live in this tiny tent, 17 
men, women and children,

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everything they now own 
piled in this corner.

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MOHAMMED ALI, Syrian 
Earthquake Survivor (through 
translator): We need 
tents to use as makeshift

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bathrooms. We have not 
cooked a single meal 
since the earthquake. 
The first day or two,

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they brought us meals. 
Since then, it's closed,

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and they have given us 
nothing. We need gas, 
things to cook with.

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AMNA NAWAZ: At the tent next 
door, 25-year-old Absi Ahmed 
Obeid and his aunt, Zahra Abidi,

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struggle to care for his 
4-month-old. He's all they 
have left. Ahmed lost his

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parents and sister. His 
wife is seriously injured.

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ABSI AHMED OBEID, Syrian 
Earthquake Survivor 
(through translator): 
We need everything. What

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can I tell you? I'm in this 
tent, and all we have is a 
heater, no food, not drinks,

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nothing. I left barefoot. 
I didn't take anything 
from the building I lived 
in. It's all rubble.

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ZAHRA ABIDI, Syrian 
Earthquake Survivor (through 
translator): We don't have milk

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for this child. We don't 
have anything but this 
tent. Some people gave some

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rice that we made starch 
from for the child to 
eat. We don't matter.

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We are used to it, but 
not our children. We 
need things like milk,

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diapers, warm clothes, 
and health services.

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AMNA NAWAZ: The 
needs are enormous,

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but hopes have long 
since dwindled for these 
Syrians displaced by 
yet another calamity.

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For more on this, we turn to 
Dr. Zaher Sahloul, president 
and co-founder of MedGlobal,

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an organization that provides 
medical support to conflict 
zones around the world. He was

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raised in Syria, went to medical 
school there, came to the United 
States in the early 1990s.

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Dr. Sahloul, welcome. 
And thank you for joining 
us. Tell us a little bit 
about what your team is

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doing right now, what 
they are able to do on the 
ground in Syria and what 
additional aid is needed

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DR. ZAHER SAHLOUL, 
President, MedGlobal: Thank 
you, Amna, for having me.

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Our team started working 
right after the earthquake. 
We have a team of 200 doctors

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and nurses and humanitarian 
workers. We run two 
hospitals and multiple 
clinics. As you know,

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this is an area that has 4.2 
million people. Half of them 
are displaced from other parts

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of Syria. So, our surgeons have 
been doing surgeries nonstop, 
more than 700 procedures,

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between major operations 
and smaller operations.

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We also mobilized a mobile 
clinic to provide health 
care services to the

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victims of the earthquake 
that now lost their homes, 
and they are in temporary

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shelters. So they're providing 
nutritional support for the 
children and pregnant woman,

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medications for patients with 
chronic diseases, psychosocial 
support for everyone,

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because everyone is traumatized, 
including our medical team.

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AMNA NAWAZ: As you 
just described, as we 
just saw in the report,

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the need is so great. 
It is so enormous.

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We know now there are 
three border crossings 
that are open to aid,

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after President Bashar 
al-Assad relented days 
after the earthquake. Is 
the aid that's coming,

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is it enough, and is it 
going where it needs to go?

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DR. ZAHER SAHLOUL: It was 
too little and too late.

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It took more than eight days 
for the aid to start flowing. 
And this is in a major disaster,

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an area that was hit by multiple 
disasters in the past. As 
everyone knows, this is an

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area that was the place of war 
for the past 12 years. There 
is a COVID pandemic for the

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past three years or so. 
There's a cholera outbreak. 
The weather is freezing cold.

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And half of the population 
are displaced. And now 
you have this major 
earthquake, and the area was

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not ready for this. The last 
major earthquake that hit Syria 
was more than 200 years ago.

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And the flow started coming, 
trickling eight days after 
the earthquake, because

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the border crossing was 
closed -- were closed 
because the damage that 
happened to the road.

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It is also because of the 
blockage from the Assad 
regime to the border crossing.

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But since it opened, now we 
have more than 140 U.N. trucks 
that went through. It is not

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enough. And people are feeling 
deserted by the international 
community after the earthquake.

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AMNA NAWAZ: Now that the aid has 
started to flow, there are some 
concerns that President Assad is

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exploiting this tragedy, 
that he's using it as 
an opportunity to sort

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of normalize himself and 
emerge from isolation back 
onto the global stage.

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Do you share that concern?

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DR. ZAHER SAHLOUL: Clearly, 
the population in that 
area feels that way.

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This is an area that was 
bombed by the Assad regime 
frequently. There is a history

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here of the Assad regime 
weaponizing humanitarian 
aid. And because of that,

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people are fearful in 
Idlib that, if humanitarian 
assistance were given

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to the Assad regime, then 
they will end up -- they 
will end up manipulating it,

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as they have done in the 
past, and preventing the 
population from getting any aid.

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Right now, the aid is 
flowing through the three

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border crossings, al-Raee, 
and Bab al-Hawa and Bab 
al-Salam. And this should 
continue and should be

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sustained, so that, that 
way, people have access 
to life-sustaining food, 
medicine and shelter.

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AMNA NAWAZ: So, the problem 
here -- and this is where 
I'd love your take -- is,

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how can the -- how can 
the United Nations, how 
can the U.S. continue

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to provide the aid that's 
needed, and, at the same 
time, not empower Assad?

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DR. ZAHER SAHLOUL: I think our 
U.S. policy was clear and right, 
which is basically providing

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the aid to the population 
through the local NGOs 
directly and through 
the U.N., of course.

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Local NGOs should be supported 
and funded directly by the USAID 
and other international funders,

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because they know what are the 
needs of the population. They 
react much faster than the U.N.,

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as we have proved in 
this crisis. Many global 
team and other NGOs

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started responding to 
the crisis a few minutes 
after the earthquake.

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The U.N. took them more 
than eight days to get 
there. Unfortunately, 
what will come after the

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first shock from the earthquake 
will be even worse because 
of the outbreaks of diseases,

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including cholera and 
other conditions, and 
because of the malnutrition 
that will get worse,

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and because of the mental 
health trauma that affected 
the whole population.

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So Syria should be lifted 
as a priority to the 
U.S. administration and 
to the international

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community. The silver lining of 
the earthquake, that people are 
paying more attention to Syria,

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and maybe the Biden 
administration should 
pay more attention to 
ending the Syrian crisis

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politically and exerted 
all of its -- exert all of 
its political diplomatic 
power to end the crisis.

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AMNA NAWAZ: That is Dr. 
Zaher Sahloul, president 
and founder of MedGlobal.

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Thank you for joining us.

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DR. ZAHER SAHLOUL: Thank you.