[Banfield:] It is kind of hard to imagine New York without Ed Koch. We've got some live pictures for you right now of his funeral. And that thing that I just said, explains the tears you might be seeing here. This was a three-term New York mayor who passed away on Friday at the age of 88. Mayor-schmayor, he was an icon. If you see smiles at this theater at this funeral, it is also because that's Ed Koch. He was hilarious. He once famously told voters, if you agree with me on nine out of 12 voters, well, vote for me. If you agree with me on 12 out of 12, see a psychiatrist. These are his nephews who are eulogizing him right now live at the podium. He's also going to be eulogized by some very for people. New York's current mayor, Mike Bloomberg, who calls Ed Koch an irrepressible icon. Bill Clinton is also due to speak as well as a representative for President Obama. Years after Ed Koch left office in 1989, people were urging him to run again, but he always declined. And the reason, he said the people voted me out and the people must be punished. Ed Koch, we're going to continue to watch that ceremony. In the meantime, other news, South Korea bracing for a possible North Korean nuclear test. President Lee Myung-bak and senior officials assessing their government's readiness as the U.S. and South Korea begin three days of joint naval exercises. Yesterday, North Korea said its leader, Kim Jong-un, had made, quote, an important decision to strengthen the country. South Korea and the U.S. and Japan are warning any provocative moves will bring significant consequences. Turkish authorities have arrested at least 11 people in connection with the disappearance and now the death that's been reported of Sarai Sierra. She's a New York woman who went missing in Istanbul almost two weeks ago, but police found her body this weekend. And they found her body by the ruins of this ancient stone wall near a popular tourist attraction. They say she had multiple stab wounds and a blow to the head. A speeding bus full of terrified passengers careening down a long and winding hillside road, smoke pouring out the back, crashed violently into two vehicles last night and the death toll is expected to rise today. At least eight people are dead, currently, but police say they are only just beginning to identify the bodies and the body parts. Dozens more people were hurt. Up until this terrible crash, the California bus company had a pretty good safety record with no prior crashes in two years and a, quote, "satisfactory rating" given just last month. Our Paul Vercammen has more from San Bernardino County, due east of L.A. Paul, do we have any clearer reason as to why this happened and how it happened?
[Paul Vercammen, Cnn Senior Producer:] Well, right now, authorities are looking at the brakes. Caltrans had told us that they had witness accounts that they said the back of the bus smoking and that they now suspect that the brakes could have played a role in the crash, Ashleigh, so that's where the focus of the attention will be. But right now, the crime scene is so ghastly and grisly and there are bodies still inside the bus and bodies outside the bus. It extremely difficult for the coroner and others to get to all of the bodies. And that's why, as you said earlier, the death toll right now stands at eight, but they say that is sure to change, meaning that it will undoubtedly rise, Ashleigh
[Banfield:] And the bus driver and you'll have to maybe update me on this. One of the reports had a terrible amount of damage near where he was seated, but that he lived. So, presumably the authorities are going to be able to question him about what happened immediately preceding thing disaster.
[Vercammen:] Absolutely. In what was just probably a miracle of some sort, the bus rolled over, completely, and then landed upright again. Part of the top of the bus, very near the bus driver's seat, is caved in, but there was just sort of a little window, if will you, a little we'll call it maybe a cone where the bus driver was sitting. That did not get caved in and somehow he survived. According to the highway patrol, they have interviewed him already. Of course, he probably may not be as lucid as they would want, but he reportedly said to them that the brakes were at fault here.
[Banfield:] So, I'm just looking behind you, Paul, at the mountains and a producer who works with us lives in that area, has lived in that area, and says that this is a very treacherous area in terms of navigating. Can you give as you bit of a feel for the path that that bus was on just before this happened?
[Vercammen:] Well, we are at the foot of the mountains here and a lot of Southern Californians will go up for a day trip or a weekend trip to Big Bear off in the hills behind me for sort of a winter wonderland, a chance to play in the snow, maybe even do a little bit of skiing. We are at the bottom of the mountain, though, and, while much of the road is extremely treacherous, this particular part kind of levels out. The grade isn't as steep and it wasn't as winding where the bus crashed. However, one reason the brakes are part of the suspicion is you can imagine, if for miles and miles and miles, the brakes were being ridden by the bus driver and, of course, we are not saying that they were but it is possible that someone would overdo it. You know, Caltrans talks about this, as well, and the danger of this road. You have a situation here where you could have put a lot of pressure on the brakes.
[Banfield:] All right, Paul Vercammen is going to stay on this for us. Thank you, Paul. And just update us when you hear anything from those officials on the number of people who were not able to survive this crash. We're back after this.