♪ ♪ great rates for great rides. geico motorcycle, see how much you could save. introducing a pm pain reliever that dares to work all the way until the am. new aleve pm the only one with a safe sleep aid. plus the 12 hour strength of aleve. it was in the united states and all around the world. i'm rosemary church. ahead this hour, tensions easing in hong kong after riot police pulled back from massive demonstrations there. also ahead -- >> just over there where you can see that smokestack, that was clearly mortar fire from across

the border in syriasyria. >> cnn takes you along the border with turkey where fighters are engaged in a tense battle. and later, dozens are feared dead following a volcanic eruption in japan. authorities worry even more could be buried under that ash. >> hong kong authorities say that i withdrawn riot police in the territory. officials say they're done that because the demonstrators are currently acting peacefully. we're looking at live pictures right now. but the authorities are urging activists who were blocking roads to allow cars and emergency vehicles to pass. that statement from the hong kong government just a few hours ago in fact. we want to go straight to cnn's andrew stevens who has been live from hong kong for some time now and it's just extraordinary looking at the tens of thousands of people massed behind you,

andrew, just amazing. >> reporter: it's turned so quickly, rosemary. just in the last two hours or so, we've suddenly seen this influx of people. let me just get out of the shot, just to give you a clear picture of what's going on. you are actually looking at a ten-lane highway there, thronged with people. we came down here in the very early hours. there were perhaps maybe a third of the number that you're seeing there now. those protesters stretching right back under that overpass there, back towards the central business district of hong kong, the financial heart of hong kong. but the key at the moment, as you say, rosemary, this is a very peaceful demonstration. so peaceful, in fact, that the hong kong police believe they can stand down their riot police. so the police presence on the ground is minimal. there are the blue uniforms here, but quite few and far between. at this stage, the protesters

have seen no reason to antagonize or push forward. they seem to be happy just staying here, making their presence felt and boy, what a presence it is as well. but don't take the sign that this is peaceful with a sign that they're prepared to back down from their demands. listen to what a couple of the protesters told us a little earlier. >> as long as it takes. as long as there's still one person out here on this highway, i'm going to be here. >> i don't think it affected our business. secondly, even if it affected our business, i think it's worth it. >> okay, as long as it takes. that first person responding to the question, how long are you prepared to be here? now that is very much the line talking to the protesters here. they are here for the long haul. they want to see change, rosemary. they want to see reconsideration of the political process that

will elect the next chief executi executive, the next leader of hong kong. they want to be able to choose their candidate and vote for their candidate. what they say at the moment is beijing has interfered to the point where beijing will effectively choose the candidates and hong kong can then decide which one. hong kong does not want that. so at the moment, we have fundamentally a peaceful stand yuf, but stand-off nonetheless. compare this with 12 hours earlier when my colleague was in the same place reporting. take a look at his experience. >> you can see the demonstrators now clashing with riot police, walking through with a sign that says tear smoke and disperse. they have continued with the tactics of civil disobedience, trying to stand in the way. riot police aren't using force, but they are vastly outnumbered. look at this. vastly outnumbered by the

demonstrators who are screaming at their fellow protesters not to throw bottles at the riot police. this is clearly a very tense situation, as the demonstrators have blocked off, i estimate tens of thousands of them, have blocked off the central artery through hong kong as part of these pro-democracy protests. and they're pleading on their hands and knees, pleading to the riot police, as they've been chanting shame on them in the past. the protesters here in hong kong, afraid that the central government in china will impose a more authoritarian system of government on this former british colony. and you can see the riot police trying not to use norris on the demonstrators. it's an incredibly dramatic moment here.

a real test for this port city. as both the demonstrators and the security forces try to avoid escalating the situation any more than it already is at this very tense moment. this protest movement has been spearheaded by university students, by teenagers, who boycotted classes for a week, to protest against new election regulations. and as their leaders were arrested in the dozens by police on friday, this protest movement ballooned. and has led to the scenes we've seen now with tear gas now breaking the truce here. we're now going to be enveloped in tear gas.

okay, okay. i'm okay, i'm okay. we're pulling back. [ coughing ] >> they were caught right in the thick of things about 12 hours ago, but my, what a difference that time makes. because if you look now at what's happening, rosemary, behind me, there is, as i've said, a much more peaceful, yet powerful protest going on. it's interesting. in talking to the police here, get the impression they were not expecting the numbers that we are now seeing here on the streets of hong kong. and of course the images of what's happening here being beam out across the world, including to beijing, where dave mckenzie is, and he's been monitoring the events in hong kong from

beijing. david, first of all, obviously beiging is sensitive to any sort of street protests and any vision, any footage of this being shown across china. so has there been any sort of reporting of what's been happening in hong kong on the chinese mainland? >> well, basically the chinese media has been most likely forced to toe the party line more strictly than usual even. because they are all quoting shing wa, the main media here in china. that effectively means that the chinese government, the communists want to control the message to the chinese people on the mainland, what is going on in hong kong. as we've been reporting, protests are pretty common in hong kong. in fact, some would say it's a way of life on some level. but this is very different, because it's setting up the protesters in hong kong, directly in our position and potentially to clash, eventually

directly with the communist party here in mainland china. that's a very different situation than we've seen in the past. andrew? >> just going back to an earlier conversation we had, david, how much influence does hong kong have in beijing? it's a special case, hong kong, within the chinese political system. because it has its own mini constitution. it has its own mini rule of law. it enjoys so many more freedoms than the citizens on mainland china. but at the end of the day, can the people of hong kong realistically expect beijing to change its thinking over something as fundamental as democracy and political reform? >> well, most independent analysts say, no, they will not be able to do that. they say the communist party will not move on this issue, both because they want to save face on the hong kong issue, and

because they don't want to set a precedent again for that 1.5 billion people here in mainland china. but it's unclear whether there might be some other way out of the situation, some consultations and talks, as we've heard people are saying, like victor gall there in the last hour, that they might want to get away to diffuse the situation and at least negotiate. but throughout the last several months, the party in beijing has been pretty clear that they will not bend, and they will not break. and so you could have a situation of a potentially dangerous escalation. it's absolutely not at that point yet. but that is why i think people are watching this very carefully. and it's important to stress to the viewers the system here. kong hong is part of china, but hong kong is ruled, as you say, through a whole different set of laws, where you could have thousands protesting today, surrounding your live position

quite peacefully. if just a handful of people went on the street in beijing, you would be seeing them rounded up and put in detention. so those two systems are very much at play here and it's how the government in china reacts to this, which will be ultimately the question going forward. >> absolutely. david, obviously thousands of mainland chinese travel to hong kong every day, to shop, to dine, to see this unique territory within the structure of china. they take their pictures, they see what's going on and return to china. is there a social media to this and what they're seeing, that they're spreading out on social media what is happening in hong kong, and would that worry beijing? >> well, it would worry beijing, absolutely. beijing, since the early morning

hou have blocked instagram the photo-sharing site. that comes on the heels of other sites, facebook, twitter, other sites that have been blocked. but it sthhoz the images of peoe standing up to police that they don't want to spread. it's the powerful images we've seen overnight and into today that they don't want to get to the chinese population. and yes, there are many mainland chinese who go to hong kong all the time to shop and be tourists in hong kong. and we'll see one of the key moments of that coming up later this week, when china goes on a national week-long holiday. it will be very fascinating to see how mainland chinese will react, visiting hong kong, and seeing these protests, if they continue into the next two days to 72 hours.

>> yes, that's an interesting point. because indications at least right now, david, suggest that this protest does have quite a lot of steam left. on october 1st, public holiday, hong kong is so used to protesting, we could see a significant increase in the numbers we're already seeing on the streets here in hong kong. thanks so much for that. and with that, we'll go back to you, rosemary. just before i send it back to you, just to point out, there is, i wouldn't say it's a carnival atmosphere, but there is a very sort of comfortable atmosphere down here amongst the protesters. people are looking out for each other. there are people making sure that enough water is circulating, that the food is circulating. that their umbrellas against the sun, there are rolls of plastic wrap which you can take if you want, if you're concerned about pepper spray and wrapping your exposed skin up in plastic.

so there's that sort of camaraderie going on on the streets of hong kong, and i suspect that may have something to do with the fact that there are a lot of young people down here. the local schools and there have been schoolchildren, 14, 15 years old, involved in the protest so far. by far the biggest turnouts have been in the past 24 hours. but it's those sort of kids almost who have come down here today, lending their support to that. and it does seem to be a camaraderie here, everybody looking out for each other at the moment. and as you've been saying, the police have pulled back and it is a peaceful scene here at the moment, rosemary. >> calling it peaceful defiance there for sure. a sea of people behind you, mostly young people. and andrew, it's worth pointing out, it is very, very hot, very difficult conditions there and they are packed side by side, shoulder to shoulder there in the streets, just extraordinary scenes there behind you. many thanks to andrew stevens

there. we will of course continue to follow this story. well, we're going to take a short break now. afghanistan's political landscape is shifting. ahead, the challenges facing the new president who was just sworn in. then in a cnn exclusive, we hear from past and present members of isis. >> we're interviewing an isis fighter by skype in raqqa. he won't speak directly to a woman.

the search for missing hikers on japan's mount ontake is suspected and the death toll has risen. will ripley is live with us from mount ontake with the very latest. and this is very disappointing news of course for family to hear that it's been suspended, but it just has to, given the conditions there, doesn't it? >> yeah, absolutely, rosemary. the conditions on the ground here continue to worsen as far as the air quality is concerned. we're seeing more and more people wearing these masks. we've started wearing them in between live shots. i have it off now so my voice doesn't muffle as i speak to you. and we have the helmets on stand by next to us in case some of this ash falling down, if the wind shifts or if there was an eruption shooting embers into this area, you need to have your

head protected. long sleeves and pants as well. the conditions for rescuers at the summit, much more dangerous. which is why they have suspended the search for the day because the gases coming up are just too strong for these men and women to safely operate. these are police, firefighters, members of japan's self-defense force, and they're trying to recover now, what we are told, 24 lifeless bodies that remain on that summit, in addition to 12 bodies that have already been carried down and identified. >> one by one they're carried off the mountain. more than 30 people with no pulse, in a state of cardiac arrest. all of them near the summit when mount ontake erupted. home video shows a giant plume of gas and ash surrounding and blinding these hikers in seconds. security cameras captured mount

ontake rumbling to life saturday, its first major eruption in 35 years. more than 200 climbers came for autumn viewing. >> so many people were near the summit. everyone started running but some were hurt and couldn't move. >> reporter: the volcano's rising plume is disrupting air travel. volcanic ash is raining down on hundreds of rescuers below. they face danger from seismic activity and the looming threat of another eruption in the coming days. am. >> please help us, he says. his son and his girlfriend reached the summit just minutes before noon saturday when ontake blew its top. both are still missing. now he sits on the floor of this evacuation center, waiting. >> translator: all i can do is beg for your help to get us

information. please. >> reporter: as each hour passes, desperation grows. families are waiting for word on their loved ones, who were dangerously close to a sleeping volcano that suddenly woke up. rosemary, to see someone like the father in our peace, who publicly showed his grief, that shows you how deep that grief is here in japan where people are normally reserved and often keep their emotions to themselves. and yet when we saw things like today, we were at an elementary school that turned into a mo morgue. we saw in the span of 20 minutes, three different bodies carried in. you know each of those bodies, they have families, that know that their loved ones climbed on that mountain to go sight-seeing and then got caught in the middle of that. that eruption. there was no warning. the warning level was the lowest. this country has some of the most advanced detection

equipment in the world. nobody saw this coming, rosemary. and more bodies are coming down the mountain, but again, the search suspended for now. >> it's horrify and heartbreaking. will, many thanks to you. going to take a short break, but just ahead inside the mind of isis. after this break, cnn's interviews with past and present members of the jihadist group. we're back in a moment. what's jennifer's story? i have two kids and my home is my children's playground. my go-to product is lysol disinfectant spray. i really use it in every room, on every surface and it allows me to get to all the hard-to-reach areas. all of the different nooks and crannies and places that little hands like to go. it makes me feel comfortable and confident that my home is fresh, it's protected, and that i've killed the germs and bacteria. one lysol, hundreds of uses. start healthing.

a new political era is beginning in afghanistan. the country's new president was inaugurated a short time ago. he'll share power with his opponent after months of dispute over the election results. abdullah becomes the country's first chief executive. the transition of power comes just before most foreign troops start withdrawing from the country. u.s. led forces have launched more air strikes against isis in syria and iraq. u.s. military officials say a mix of attack fighter and remote aircraft hit targets in syria. in iraq, air strikes destroyed an isis safe house near baghdad and several targets nearly fallujah. there were at least 12 air strikes in syria and iraq in the

past 24 hours. meanwhile isis fighters are closer to seizing kobani, right on the border with turkey. they launched a counteroffensive against kurdish forces on sunday, despite several u.s. air strikes. activists there say electricity and water are cut off and basic supplies are running low. tens of thousands of kurds have fled north to turkey. our phil black is following the battle lines around kobani where he witnessed some intense fighting. >> reporter: crowds of kurds watched from turkey, they screamed in anger. some wept as their fellow kurds just across the syrian border were pounded by isis. they watched this truck-mounted artillery repeatedly fire into a

village. the sound hits seconds later. we see kurdish fighters running between buildings, desperately taking cover. pinned down here, they smash a hole in a wall to get away. the noise of small arms and heavy weapons cuts through the sky. one mortar round flies way off target. just over there, where you can see that smokestack, that was clearly mortar fire coming from across the border in syria, landing here on turkish territory and pretty close to where we're standing. pretty close to where all of these people are standing. the crowd is furious. the people here say the coalition's air strikes against isis haven't worked. >> they're coming and shooting our people and killing the woman

here, killing the child here. >> these isis fighters are advancing from the east, to take kobani, the major city in this region. on friday we saw isis trying to move in from the west. and they're attacking from the south too. the kurds on both sides of the border fear kobani will fall until international air power stops isis quickly. phil black, cnn, on the turkey-syria border. >> it's believed isis has recruited thousands of new members in recent months, raising questions about its apparent allure. now two members, one who is currently active, and one who defected are giving us a glimpse into the mind-set of the extremist group. our damon has this exclusive report. >> when coalition air strikes blasted the isis strong hold of raqqa, he saw a target of opportunity. he called the only person he

could trust. >> translator: he was a relative. he was always telling me to defect. >> reporter: defect from isis. he shaved his beard and crossed into turkey, visibly anxious as we speak, now wanted by all sides. the organization he refers to as the islamic state, he tells us, relies heavily on foreign fighters. >> translator: the french, they have so much control. they're even more extreme than we are. they come from france, but it's as if they've been a part of the islamic state for years. >> reporter: and he says, isis was well prepared for coalition air strikes. moving their fighters and equipment. >> translator: they almost entirely emptied out the headquarters. some equipment they hid in civilian neighborhoods. some they hid underground. >> reporter: we're interviewing abu, an isis fighter in raqqa, but he won't speak directly to a

woman. so that's why he's asking the questions. since the coalition air strikes in syria, he says, isis banned all communication from raqqa. with permission from his emir, he traveled closer to the border with iraq to access the internet for this interview. >> translator: we've been ready for this for some time. we know that our bases are known, because they're tracking us with radar and satellites. so we had backup locations. they thought they knew everything, but thank god, they don't know anything. and god willing, we will defeat the infidels. >> reporter: he says he was with the fighters who overran mosul and that they knew how easy it would be to push out the iraqi army and seize their weapons and armor, much of it american-made. >> translator: this thing was all planned and prepared. there was nothing by chance. it was all organized. >> abu has scoffed at the

strikes on the oil installations and other targets. >> translator: we the islamic state have revenue other than oil. we have other avenues and our finances aren't going to stop because they hit the oil. if we are pushed back in iraq, we advance in northern syria. these strikes cannot stop us, our support, or our fighters. >> reporter: for him, the caliphate was a dream. one he still believes in, but not under isis, not like this. >> translator: i saw a 70-year-old sheikh killed in front of me. the islamic state can't continue like this. there are a lot of youth who are joining, 14, 15 years old. maybe my voice can make them think again. >> cnn, turkey. >> extraordinary. all right, we will take a very short break. but next here on cnn,

pro-democracy demonstratorors in hong kong remain defiant. large crowds are still gathered at this hour. but riot police have pulled back. the very latest straight ahead. but not all cleaners are equal. at lysol, we go beyond cleaning, we call it healthing. healthing is killing germs, and having more cleaning power than bleach without the harshness. large crowds are still gathered recommended brand. and sharing healthy habits in 65,000 schools. lysol. start healthing.

and thanks for staying with us. the headlines this hour, afghanistan has a new president. ash raf gani was inaugurated in kabul a short time ago. he'll share power with his opponent in a deal to settle the disputed election. abdullah abdullah will be the country's first chief executive. the u.s. military is accessing the outcome of the latest air

strikes. it's believed they were successful. we're told they destroyed some armored vehicles and refineries and a small command center. in iraq, u.s. warplanes took out several checkpoints and an isis safe house near baghdad. >> the death toll continues to rise from the eruption of mount ontake in japan. authorities have now confirmed the deaths of 12 people. at least 24 others are presumed to be dead. the eruption on saturday overtook hikers with ash and gas. it's still not clear how many are still missing. >> hong kong authorities say they have now withdrawn riot police from protest areas in the territory. they say they've done that because the demonstrators are peaceful right now. but the authorities urge activists who are blocking roads to allow cars and emergency vehicles to pass. >> all right, want to turn to

europe now where two terror trials get under way in the coming day. the alleged head of a militant se cell with ties to isis will appear in a madrid court. the spanish national was arrested friday in a spanish enclave connected to morocco's north coast. eight moroccan nationals were also detained. in belgium, 46 suspected jihadists will soon appear in court. it's believed about 15 of them returned from iraq and syria after being recruited by militants. we have more details on the trial and a key witness. >> reporter: islamist fighters in syria, but speaking flemish. easily identifying them as belgian. the government estimates that more than 300 belgian fighters like these have traveled to syria to join the ranks of militant groups like isis. nearly a quarter of those are believed to have links to this man. the head of sharia for belgium.

a banned islamic extremist group based in antwerp. now he's the main suspect in the country's biggest terror trial, accused of leading a terrorist organization and recruiting young muslims to its cause. the father of one recruit said he brainwashed his son into joining a cult. >> he prepared them to make jihad in conflict areas. it's like a drug, like an injection in your arm. >> reporter: his anger is understandable. his son was recruited by sharia for belgium at just 16 years old. in their videos, he's seated next to him and is featured as one of the most popular street preachers. but he was no ordinary recruit, joining a group of foreign fighters absorbed by isis. after nearly a year inside, his father tracked him down in syria and convinced him to come home

and incredibly, to tell belgian police everything he knew about jihadist recruitment to syria. despite death threats from former sharia for belgium members. >> my son, he give very good cooperation, he tell the truth, how he was influenced by this sect. because he's the golden crown witness. without my son, they are nothing. >> now he's a key witness even as he faces charges himself of being a member of a terrorist organization. but dimitery bot nick insists val kosum is not the only one to blame. >> do you blame him? >> i don't blame only him. i blame the western governments also. because they have blood on their hands also. >> because they didn't arrest him? >> they didn't arrest him. they know that bell qassam was recruiting and selecting western children. if there was no sharia for belgium, my son would never have

gone to syria. there's no depth about this. let us be clear about this. >> reporter: cnn has attempted to contact them, we have not received a response. over the next few days and weeks, his story will unfold in court. cnn, antwerp, belgium. >> and that terror trial begins soon. stay with cnn. we'll be back in just a moment with more news right after this.

i want to turn back to our top story, prodemocracy protests in hong kong. i'm joined by martin lee, the founding chairman of the democratic party, hong kong's largest political party. thank you, sir, for being with us. now it is worth pointing out that you yourself were gassed when you were protesting sunday night. and i do want to ask you where you see this all going, given the government there will uphold beijing's decision to elect the next leader of hong kong. >> well, this government is just a puppet government of beijing. it's never on our side. it's listening to the orders issued by beijing. and so this government will do what beijing bid it to do and will therefore deny hong kong people genuine democracy.

they are prepared to get involved in the election of our executives in 2017, but beijing is going to choose all the candidates. >> so if that goes ahead, what do you think is going to happen? when you look at the sea of people behind you, tens of thousands of people gathered there, shoulder to shoulder, not happy with that decision, what's going to happen here? >> well, i don't know exactly what's going to happen next, but there's no doubt that the whole world can now see how hong kong want what was promised to them many years ago. it was delayed twice, and now finally, when we are supposed to have it, beijing is changing the rules. but, the people want democracy, without resulting to any form of

violence. as the model of this demonstration says, we must show peace and love. so they are bringing love and peace into this demonstration, and last night, i think people all over the world would have watched on television how the people of hong kong cope with the massive amount of tear gas thrown at them. they had to run away, wash their eyes and come back. every time they came back, they stood with their arms raised and standing right in front of a line of policemen who were armed. and when they hit them again with tear gas, ran away again, came back after washing their eyes. again standing there, confronting the police. and you also saw numerous police vehicles surrounded by demonstrators. now anywhere else in the world, people would start burning those

vehicles. so i think hong kong people are unique. they want democracy, they're prepared to fight for it. they are prepared to die for it. i think many will. so the message is, give us democracy or give us death. >> martin lee, china's government response has been muted except to say that these protests are illegal. but how concerned do you think china is with this push for democracy given what we've seen happen in other countries across the globe where people have actually pushed leaders from power? do you think china's worried about this as it watches these people massed behind you there? >> well, we are not asking beijing to do anything. just what was already promised. in fact, when the joint

declaration was announced, both the chinese government and the british government, and all overseas countries, including u.s. government, and all these governments supported it because they saw it was possible for it to work. but it can only work if hong kong people can really be masters in their own country through the ballot box. and that has been continually denied to us even up to now. so what we want is genuine democracy has promised. so that hong kong can continue to have all our freedoms protected by law and our independence and our core values, so that china will takes many years to catch up with us. this is the plan for hong kong. we just want to follow the plan and we're asking for what was promised. not anything new.

>> all right, martin lee, thanks so much for joining us there in hong kong. of course with those protesters behind you, who are vowing to stay there until they get what they're calling for, democracy, there in hong kong, democratic elections. many thanks to you. next here on cnn, searching for the victims of a volcanic eruption in japan. the very latest after this short break. why do we clean? to help keep our homes healthy. but not all cleaners are equal. at lysol, we go beyond cleaning, we call it healthing. healthing is killing germs, and having more cleaning power than bleach without the harshness. it's being the #1 pediatrician recommended brand. and sharing healthy habits in 65,000 schools. lysol. start healthing.

welcome back, everyone. closing arguments are on under way in the war crimes trial of a bosnian serb leader who faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for alleged crimes committed in the 1990s. more than 100,000 people died in the war raging between muslims, croats, and serbs. car as itch was nicknamed the butcher. u.n. prosecutors are asking for a life sentence. >> well, the search for missing hikers on japan's mt. ontake has been suspended due to dangerous gases seeping from that volcano. 12 people are confirmed dead from saturday's massive eruption. at least 24 others are presumed to have died. the eruption injured more than 25 people, but it's not clear how many more they still be

buried under the deep layers of ash. for more, let's bring in meteorologist pedram. and this is just extraordinary. what is really difficult to comprehend is that in a place like japan, where they have so many technical advancements, and the technology is just extraordinary, and they wouldn't have some way of detecting the rumble of an eruption of a volcano of this magnitude. >> there's very little. it's exceedingly rare, rosemary, to see an eruption like this, with very little to absolutely no warning leading up to it. just a few quakes in the last several weeks, no magma coming up to the surface. this was a set-up, unlike what we saw in iceland several weeks ago. we had 10,000 quakes leading up to that eruption. but here we go, across portions of central japan, about 200 kilometers or 125 miles west of tokyo is where the eruption took

place late saturday morning. in the heart of the fall now. conducive for hundreds of people making their way to the second highest volcano in japan and then it the situation turns deadly in a matter of just a few second there is. share with you this video showing you what happened on saturday when it comes to the initial eruption, and the classic flow, talk about 700 degrees celsius, over a thousand degrees fahrenheit. as hot as some of the ash can get. and boulders in this going downstream as well. making it extremely dangerous. and the search and rescue operation has been halted because additional smaller eruptions are releasing dangerous gases into the atmosphere. and the suddenness of this making it so hard to believe. in a country that is so used to such events and has advancements as well. we know japanese media are reporting bodies found near the lodge, inside the lodge have

been covered by 50 centimeters or two feet of ash with this eruption. but again, here's the perspective. we had one of our operations managers on a flight from canada to hong kong and this photo snapped by him as he was traveling near this zone. and the flight restrictions have now been lifted because at tthe eruptions are on a smaller level. but the japan meteorological agency is telling us a possibility exists for further eruption and potentially the next few months before everything tapers off hopefully for the foreseeable future in this region. >> it's such a distressing story, particularly the images we shared with our viewers of family members waiting for word of their loved ones. just horrendous. thanks so much, pedram. right now, athletes from more than 40 countries are in south korea for the asian games. that includes a delegation from

north korea. it's an emotional situation for one boxer in seoul who defected from the north years ago. paula hancocks has her story. >> reporter: she packs a mean punch. world champion in featherweight and super featherweight boxing, representing south korea after escaping from north korea ten years ago. she tells me how competitive the training was in the north. trr kids from a poor family had a strong sense of rivalry as they earn extra money and food if they win the sparring. but for me, from a rich family, it wasn't about food and money, i just hated losing. >> reporter: she said her peers were desperate to win to please kim jong-il, the latest north korean leader. her father gave up a successful business in the north to give her a more normal life. financially it's harder for them in the south, she's still looking for sponsorship, but she

knows she's far better off than the north korean athletes here for the games. >> she said the worst case scenario for a north korean athlete is not just losing. it's losing against someone who is from south korea, japan, or from the united states. she said in that case it is very rare for that sports person to compete again. the fact north korean athletes are in the south for the games and competing in a country which is considered enemy trrt is progress in itself. the two koreas are still technically at war. >> it shows that north korea wants to make this trip very visible, that maybe other forms of traditional diplomacy, they're trying everything, may not be working optimally. >> one political hiccup before the athletes arrived. all national flags were taken down from the streets of host city as the north korean flag is not allowed to be flown in the south, outside of a sporting stadium. choi is proud to be fighting

under the south korean flag. as a professional she's not eligible for the asian games and seems relieved she will not be fighting against a north korean contender, upknowing that if sh wins, her rival could be out of a job. >> well, hearts must have been broken around the world when george clooney, hollywood's most eligible bachelor, got married. the actor wed human rights lawyer amal alamuddin in venice on is the. look at those images. but the celebrations and formalities, they will continue for some time yet. earlier, i spoke with kim sarah fin about the big event, the senior editor of "in touch weekly" magazine. >> kim, thanks so much for joining us. so george clooney, he has tied the knot. but it's not over yet, is it? still more to come. >> ygs, it's been a long time coming this wedding so obviously it's going to be a four-day

affair. we waited long enough to see george married. he's been waiting a long time. so they're making it a four-day event. friday night there were the bachelor and bachelorette events. saturday was the big ceremony. then today, sunday, there was a brunch and then monday is the actual civil ceremony, and that in venice, they're closing off an area near where the civil ceremony is happening by the grand canal because they don't want the huge crowds following him around to gather there. so they're getting a private area for that to happen. >> who were some of the celebrity guests in attendance? >> lot of a-list celebrities of course because it's george clooney. matt damon was one of the first to arrive with his beautiful wife. randy gerber and cindy crawford. they have been involved in the events leading up to this marriage. they were there at the engagement party and at the dinner when amal flashed her bring initially here in l.a. so they were there, and then of course bill murray was there. he's been in movies with george clooney. ellen barkin was there. bono was there.

he got a big round of applause from the crowds when he was on his boat going to the wedding, floating down the canal. a lot of people were excited to see him. anna win tour was there. a lot of a-list celebrities. and they were asked to leave their phones in their hotel rooms apparently, because look, you don't want pictures floating around. and even if you're an a-list celebrity, you're asked to leave your phone in the hotel room for the ceremony. >> intrigued as to how they policed that. and george clooney, it has to be said he's met and married his intellectual match in amal, hasn't he? he's a human rights lawyer. let's talk more about here, so people can find out a little bit more of her background. >> yeah, it really is incredible. obviously george clooney has dated a lot of women over the years. we've all been waiting for that time to have our shot at him. but no, he's met his match with amal. she's, as you mentioned, an

international human rights lawyer. she's worked with the u.n., with yu julian assange. and she shares interests with george clooney, international social issues, human rights issue. they met at some sort of event, some fund-raiser or charity event for some of these issues. so she's been involved in so many of these international things that george passionately cares about, so i think it really does make sense. especially because there's always all these rumors that george may have political aspirations. wouldn't this be a perfect partner for him to have? >> we'll watch that space. that was the senior editor of "in touch weekly." stay with us. cnn newsroom is next for our international viewers. and if you're watching in the united states, "early start" begins after the break.

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call now for your free information kit and ask about free activation when you order. underestimating the enemy. president obama with the risk of asiri. this as the fight rages on. al qaeda leader's warning to the west. how it will seek revenge for u.s. air strikes. protests filling the streets of hong kong. police launching tear gas at pro democracy demonstrators. we are live ahead. good mog.