As Venezuela crisis deepens, Chef José Andrés feeds earthquake survivors and search teams

Geoff Bennett:

More than a week after Venezuela's devastating earthquakes, today, there was a rare moment of hope. A security guard was pulled alive from the rubble after eight days trapped underground following a painstaking multinational rescue effort.

But, for most, the crisis is only deepening. The official death toll has climbed to nearly 2,300, with thousands more injured and tens of thousands still unaccounted for. As rescue efforts continue, overwhelmed morgues, growing humanitarian needs, and mounting frustration over the pace of the response are compounding the crisis.

Amid that effort is chef Jose Andres, whose organization, World Central Kitchen, is on the ground delivering meals to survivors and first responders.

Chef Andres, welcome to the "News Hour."

You have responded to disasters from Haiti and Puerto Rico, from Ukraine to Gaza. No two disasters are alike. What are you seeing on the ground there in Venezuela that the cameras simply can't capture? What's striking you the most?

Jose Andres, Founder, World Central Kitchen:

What is striking me the most right now is, with a window of maybe two, three days, where all the amazing search-and-rescue teams are working every single minute of the day, 24 hours a day, to try to find people that they may be alive under the rubble.

Today, I was able -- we were able to be delivering food in many different places. And, today, at least, I was in five places where the teams will not give up, because they have hope that somebody may be alive under the rubble.

And this is only five buildings, I know. I'm sure there's a few others. So what is amazing is that these people don't give up. Even when someone already one or two days ago said, maybe nobody's here, when you have dogs that they specialize in knowing if there's life, people alive, when those dogs bark and when you send not only one dog, but two, three, four other dogs from different teams, in that moment, everybody thinks it's worth to keep working, even is going to be hard work.

And this is what is amazing. But it doesn't surprise me, because many of the teams, search-and-rescue, are good at what they do, that they will not give up until they are 100 percent certain that nobody is alive under the rubble.

Geoff Bennett:

When we have spoken in the past, you have said that a hot meal is more than just about the food. It offers people hope. It offers people a sense of dignity. What are you and your teams hearing from the families that you're serving there? What are they telling you? What kind of stories are they sharing?

Jose Andres:

The people of Venezuela are the most thankful people in the history.

Unfortunately, I have been here a few times because of emergencies during COVID, before, when was one of the biggest refugee crises. We need to remember that Venezuela is one of the groups in the world that has the most people outside the country, all around Latin America and the United States.

And so the people cannot be obviously more thankful. Obviously, those families that they are not moving from the building, that they are hoping and praying that they will find their families alive, but, if not, they will not move until they don't recuperate the body of their loved ones.

Today, unfortunately, I was in a few buildings in the moment that they rescue the body of some family members. And that's probably one of the most powerful moments that you see in an earthquake. It's kind of a bittersweet moment, because the people knew that already they were not alive.

But it's kind of some joy to know that they are not going to be doing a mass in the rubble of the building, but that they're going to be able for one last time to say goodbye and to know that they're going to be bringing them home to pay respects one last time.

Geoff Bennett:

Yes.

Right now, the world's attention is focused on the rescue effort, but you have been through enough of these disasters to know that the next phase can be in some ways more dangerous. What are you worried the most about in the coming days and weeks?

Jose Andres:

Well, listen, in some of these situations, you will always hear about cholera.

But I think, overall, the situation is hard. But people know that, if you have clean water and you keep people with clean water in clean kitchens, you minimize any risk of that.

We could see it yesterday. It's a lot of insects. It's a lot of mosquitoes. That's obviously a problem. But the biggest question is all the people that lost their homes. Some of them they have ways and means, but many of them don't. What is going to happen with them? Where is going to be home for them next in these situations, beyond even earthquakes?

That's obviously the biggest one. World Central Kitchen, we're getting ready for what is going to be already this phase two. As government and other agencies, U.N. and others are setting up the camps, most important is to make sure that we are able to be taking care of the needs of all (AUDIO GAP)

Geoff Bennett:

Chef Jose Andres of World Central Kitchen speaking to us tonight from La Guaira, Venezuela, thanks again for your time this evening, sir. We appreciate it.

Jose Andres:

Thank you, Geoff.