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Afghan Government Reacts to Sexual Abuse Report; Afghan and Iraqi Interpreters Face Death at Home; VW Rocked by Emissions Tests Cheating Scandal; Imagine a World. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired September 22, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN HOST (voice-over): Tonight on the program, a damning report alleging U.S. troops were ordered to ignore child sex abuse

in Afghanistan. We're going to bring you the Afghan government's response.

Also, now that the West's involvement in the Afghanistan conflict is officially over, what happens to all those men and women left behind by our

militaries? Some are ending up in those rickety boats to Europe.

And then later, imagine buying an eco-friendly car only to find out it's dirty. We're going to be talking about the future of diesel cars in

the wake of the Volkswagen scandal.

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HOLMES: Good evening, everyone, welcome to the program. I'm Michael Holmes sitting in for Christiane today.

Well, the Afghan government today responded strongly to a disturbing report about the sexual abuse of young boys, a subculture of what was

called "bacha bazi" or "boy play," in which minors were used as sex slaves. It's widely known in Afghanistan.

But for U.S. forces in that country, it was infuriatingly hard to stop, especially when it was being carried out by American-backed Afghan

commanders on bases.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (from captions): I had a boy because every commander had one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The Pentagon denies it ordered its troops to ignore this abuse. They deny it was a policy to do so, but "The New York Times"

reports not only were they told not to intervene, some were punished when they did.

A former captain and his colleague tell CNN they were punished for confronting an admitted to Afghan child rapist, a police commander.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPTAIN DAN QUINN, U.S. ARMY (RET.): The confrontation turned physical and I picked up him up, threw him onto the ground multiple times

and Charles did the same thing. We basically had to make sure that he would -- that this was not going to happen again, that he fully understood

that if he ever went near that boy or his mother again, there was going to be hell to pay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And the pair were relieved of their duties shortly afterwards.

The Afghan government says they take the issue of sexual abuse very seriously. The interior minister's spokesman, Sediq Sediqqi, joins me now

live from Kabul.

And thanks for doing so.

Sir, you do realize how sickening these practices appear to people, I'm sure, the sexual abuse of boys and young men by Afghan officers and, by

all accounts, it being tolerated in this way.

You do know how that appears?

SEDIQ SEDIQQI, AFGHAN INTERIOR MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON: Well, first and foremost, (INAUDIBLE) ignoring this nor the Afghan forces or the

international forces who were with us on that time.

And the other thing, which is very clear, is that in early years, when we established the Afghan police, we had some problems. But today our

police, they know how to do their duties and we have invested in great deals so they can do their jobs and they can protect people.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: Why would the -- why would U.S. soldiers have said -- why would U.S. soldiers have said they were told by their superiors to ignore

it because it was part of culture in your country among police officers?

Why would they have been told to do that?

SEDIQQI: No. No. I will not agree here because, first, it's not part of our culture and it's not widespread. There are only some areas in

which this have happened in the past and we have been able to investigate and remove those people who have been in the Afghan local police force.

But again, this has not been a policy. I do not believe and we do not believe here, the Afghan government, that it has been a policy to ignore

it.

In the international forces here, that has not been the case and we will not agree here.

But for us, it's a crime. It comes under the criminal law of Afghanistan. And there's zero tolerance. In fact, there has been some

cases in the past. We have looked into it. We have investigated and we have made sure that these people cannot be part of our local police force,

which are in the front line that are fighting the international terrorism here for the security and (INAUDIBLE).

HOLMES: It may not have been policy, but it was certainly practice that it was ignored.

Now you say that action is being taken.

Exactly what action? And what --

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HOLMES: -- enforcement of that action?

SEDIQQI: In those particular areas that the report also says that, we had a number of cases in the past, it was like three to four years ago that

we worked closely with the Afghan independent human rights commission, but they are also watching, you know, on -- in local police.

So there were some cases that we were able to intervene and identify those LP members that were introduced to us from their communities. And

they were apprehended and now they are serving in jail.

So we are serious. We are committed and we are resolved to fight this. And we will not allow this or ignore this. So nobody is ignoring

this, but we have been doing everything in the past 14 years to make sure or -- assure the rights of children and people, man, woman in this country.

HOLMES: Because that's what is stunning to people.

(CROSSTALK)

SEDIQQI: -- and nobody will ignore this.

HOLMES: That's what is stunning to people is we're not talking about sexual abuse in the general community, which is bad enough. We are talking

about police officers. We're talking about members of the security forces.

And you yourself have said in Northeastern Kunduz province, you have arrested 120 police suspected of sexual abuse, including rape and sexual

abuse of children. Now you have said that. You said, look what we did.

But think about that, that's one province and it's 120 members of your force. That is huge.

SEDIQQI: Because you have to understand that all of the LP -- LP are not proper Afghan trained professional police officers. In earlier years

in 2011 when we established, you know, having this unit from the communities, people were introduced to us. We were not having the

authority and direct recruitments of these guys, that they can protect their communities.

On that time, they were not receiving training, which is now very different today. We train them, we look at their backgrounds. We do

everything to make sure that they do not do something wrong.

In the past four years, I say, not only in Kunduz but in Kunduz, Baghlan, two or three provinces, we identified some people who used that

opportunity in early years, like 2011 and joined LP and then they committed crimes.

So they were apprehended. This also shows and indicates that we are serious in looking into these cases. And it will not allow in the future

anyone to do something wrong.

So that's -- the definition has to be there. It's not the police officers. They are members of communities introduced to us and there are

communities and districts level so they can protect their districts and villages.

HOLMES: But they are members of the Afghan federal police and 120 is a lot in one province alone.

But going back to those U.S. soldiers, who came across an Afghan policeman, who abusing a child on a base, and they assaulted him and they

have now been sort of drummed out of the military.

Do you think they should have been punished, the U.S. soldiers who tried to stop this man?

SEDIQQI: Well, as I said, nobody is ignoring and nobody -- we're ignoring these kind of cases in the past. Everybody's committed to the

laws of wars in Afghanistan and those who came to help us here. And everybody was, you know, also they tried to make sure that there's a

protection for children.

Let me come back to the 108 cases, they were not all sexual abuses. They were cases that members of the LP, somehow, they were doing things

that they were not supposed to do, for example, you know, searching people or doing something out of their mandates.

And this, as I said, not only one province, two or three provinces. But now things have changed. Now we are in 2015. We brought so many

changes. We brought improvements in our measures to see that people with good backgrounds, they can be part of the LP.

HOLMES: Right. A spokesman there, Sediq Sediqqi, thanks so much, a spokesman for the Afghan interior ministry.

We thank you.

I will just say by way of clarification, I'm quoting you when you said Kunduz province, 120 police suspected of sexual abuse, including rape and

sexual abuse of children.

I just want to make that clear. They were your words.

All right. While the international combat mission in Afghanistan may be officially over, thousands of the military's translators vital in the

war effort have been left behind.

We have reported on this before on this program and elsewhere, lives potentially and for many literally at risk from retaliation for the work

they did.

And now some are turning up in those boatloads of refugees trying to get to Europe's shores.

Khushal, who worked for the British army for two years, made that grueling journey to --

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HOLMES: -- Calais in France after his brother was killed by the Taliban. Khushal is now finally in the U.K., where his asylum case is

being considered. But it took some work to get him there.

Former British soldier, George Tyldesley, who worked with him in Afghanistan, says he was a vital member of the team.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE TYLDESLEY, FORMER BRITISH ARMY OFFICER: We were patrolling back to the checkpoint and Khushal happily spotted some activity up ahead,

some guys running around -- I hadn't seen it. But based on what he'd said, I diverted our course slightly via compound and a command wire-operated IED

was operated later.

And if Khushal hadn't alerted me to the movement in team, we would have been walking straight into the path of that.

So for me, I feel there's a good chance -- and you can never be sure of these things, but I think there's a very good chance that he saved both

my life and the life of a number of other soldiers that day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right. Joining me now is Masood Wahab, an Afghan translator who worked with the U.S. military for five years. He came to

the United States after getting one of those treasured and rare, I'm sad to say, special immigration visas.

Masood, great to see you. You and your family faced so many threats because of your work with the Americans. And after initially not being

able to get out, you were planning on traveling to Europe illegally as well.

How desperate were you then when you were thinking of doing that?

MASOOD WAHAB, FORMER U.S. INTERPRETER FOR U.S. ARMY, AFGHANISTAN: Thanks for having us, first.

And I was enjoying my work and I was proud to do that. And I was happy. I had a goal, like I have to do something against the enemies that

killed my uncle, a lot of my friends. And I have to help both countries.

HOLMES: So you ended up deciding not to go illegally to Europe.

But when you look at other translators, other people who worked with the U.S., Britain and others in Afghanistan and Iraq, for that matter, do

you blame them for trying to get to Europe in the way the other migrants are?

Do you blame them for trying rather than wait for that visa?

WAHAB: No. I believe it's a bad idea, they shouldn't go there illegally because it's dangerous. It's dangerous for their lives. There

are dangers near the Iran border, like their army. They kill them, like most of my friends have died because of that. The oceans, they get drowned

over there.

And I would rather say that they should go to a different country like India. For us in Afghanistan, India is the easiest way to go. Go to the

embassy and apply for that. It won't cost a lot. So that's why I would recommend them to do. They shouldn't go illegally to Europe or risk their

lives.

HOLMES: And it has taken so long for so many of these translators. And I know some of them personally, who have waited years for the system to

legally get them out and away from danger.

What do you say to that system that has failed so many others? Not you but so many others?

WAHAB: Yes, it is so hard. I was waiting for eight months and I faced a lot of trouble. I was broke, like I was hiding from -- I was going

to my relatives. I was moving around. I couldn't stay in one place. So for eight months I was facing that much trouble. I'm thinking, like I have

-- there are many people that are waiting for two or three years.

So I request the Congress like if they do something, they are in so much trouble, they are broke. And they need -- they need their -- they are

living a bad life.

HOLMES: And for a lot of those people, and again, this is important to say, these are not people who just want to come for a better life.

These are people who could be killed for the work they did, right?

WAHAB: Yes, right.

What was that?

Sorry, I can't -- I couldn't hear.

HOLMES: These people, these people we're talking about, they could be killed for the work they did, right?

WAHAB: Yes, they are in trouble. Like their lives, it's in risk.

HOLMES: Do you know translators or guides or people who worked for the Americans or the British who have been killed?

WAHAB: Yes, I do. I have -- I have a friend that worked with us on the same base. So one night the Taliban went to their house, break into

their house and killed that poor guy. He was waiting for the reason he did his interview. And it took so long. He waited like for almost two years

and he finally died because of that.

HOLMES: And that is -- that is -- that is scandalous, it must be said. You did make it out, Masood; you are in the U.S.

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HOLMES: How is life for you now?

WAHAB: Life is better here, it's safe. I have freedom like -- there are too many opportunities in this country. If you work hard, we can go

farther. Like we can go to success. We can do if we work hard. We can do anything.

HOLMES: I'm very glad that you are here, Masood. And you are one of the lucky ones. And it's a pleasure to talk with you. And I can only hope

that others in your situation still in Afghanistan and Iraq get out as well. Thank you so much.

WAHAB: All right. Thank you. Thanks for your time. And thanks for having us. Thanks.

HOLMES: Let's not ever understate the work and the risks those men and women did.

A difficult path to a better life after years of service but maybe one that's been made slightly easier as E.U. ministers today voted to adopt

refugee quotas. The resolution will see asylum seekers distributed across the European Union.

After the break, a bump in the road for the carmaker, Volkswagen, cheating the system and the planet. That's next.

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HOLMES: And welcome back to the program, everyone.

As consumers we're often asked to make choices to protect the environment or try to as the threat of global warming becomes ever more

grave.

But 11 million consumers around the world found out that the diesel cars they bought were worse for the planet than they -- or the government,

for that matter, in their country -- were told.

Volkswagen has admitted to fiddling the tests for emissions on 11 million of its cars worldwide. And they say they are sorry.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel weighing in on the growing crisis, calling for complete transparency from the company. But earlier I spoke

Greg Archer from the Transport and Environment Campaign Group, who told me the future of diesel cars could be at risk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Greg Archer, welcome to the program. Thanks so much for being with us.

There have been so many problems with the auto industry in terms of recalls and so on.

But what makes this stand out is that it appears to be a deliberate act. You know, someone or some people placed this programming into the car

to consciously get around emission rules.

What is your reaction to that fundamentally?

GREG ARCHER, TRANSPORT AND ENVIRONMENT CAMPAIGN GROUP: Yes, most recalls are because of faulty equipment of one type or other, but this is

quite different. This is a company which has chosen to develop software specifically with the intention of defeating the emissions tests which are

being carried out. It's absolutely cynical.

HOLMES: You've said before that what's happening with VW is not surprising, that it's the tip of the iceberg. Tell me more about that.

ARCHER: Yes. We've examined the real world performance of quite a number of diesel cars, new diesel cars, which are on sale here in Europe.

And what we found is just one in 10 of those vehicles is actually achieving the emissions limits, which they are supposed to.

On average, a diesel is five times higher than is legally permitted. But we also found some vehicles which were substantially more than that, 20

or 10 times higher.

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ARCHER: Now these cars are passing their laboratory tests but they are clearly producing much more pollution on the road. And that's very

suspicious and it would point to the use of a defeat device. It's exactly the kind of evidence which the U.S. EPA began with before they carried

out a more detailed investigation.

HOLMES: This, as a consumer, that just seems staggering. You have vehicles spewing out, you know, multiple times the pollution that they are

meant to do under the rules, and what, how long has it taken to find this out, let alone do anything about it?

ARCHER: Well, the U.S. EPA have said that these devices have been fitted since 2009 and Volkswagen has acknowledged that. So this is

something that's been going on for at least six years. There's been rumors of this sort of technology circulating for a couple of years that I've been

aware of but this is the first piece of definitive evidence -- although there was a truck back in 1998, which also used this sort of defeat

technology.

HOLMES: I'm curious when it comes to diesel and these results in the real world that you're seeing.

What do you see as the future of the diesel as a commuter vehicle in our society, given the advances in other areas, such as gas, hybrid,

electric and so on?

ARCHER: Well, there can't be any future for diesel unless these vehicles are actually meeting the legal limits. And at the moment, most of

them aren't.

Now, if the car industry can clean up the diesel emissions, then I think there can continue to be some future for diesel. But it's very clear

that gasoline engines are becoming more efficient with new direct injection systems.

We are seeing a big shift to gasoline hybrid technology, to plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles, maybe fuel cells in the future. So all of

these technologies are going to eat into the market share which diesel has here in Europe; half of the cars sold in Europe are diesels.

And I would expect a steady decline in the number of diesel sales over in the future. It's clear that for mainstream vehicles, diesel will become

more expensive, because they are going to have to fit better after treatment systems to clean up the exhaust. That's going to make the diesel

more expensive.

And in comparison to gasoline hybrid vehicles, diesel will start to look like an expensive option.

HOLMES: Rules and regulations -- and you alluded to this -- are different around the world, the U.S. and Europe, for example, but what is

this going to mean in the short to medium term for testing, as it's carried out now?

Because clearly it's not hard to get around it, testing versus real- world operation.

ARCHER: Yes, the testing system in Europe isn't fit for purpose. And we've known that for a long time. The cars which are actually tested are

not the cars which people actually buy. They are especially prepared vehicles with much lower emissions.

The tests themselves are completely unrepresentative of the types of ways that cars are used in Europe. We know that the people that undertake

the tests are actually paid for by the manufacturers and they usually test those vehicles in the manufacturers' own laboratories. And the

organizations that oversee the testing system, well, they're all in competition with one another for the manufacturers' business.

This is an inherently -- this system lacks independence, it lacks credibility and we need to see the European Commission acting urgently to

really tighten up the system. The approach at the U.S. is really much more rigorous.

HOLMES: And yet it took a while for this to come out as well. It says a lot about the transparency of the industry, I suppose, when you can

have seemingly wanton evasion of the rules like this.

Tell me, though, Greg, if you were a diesel owner -- and I am -- what would be your advice?

ARCHER: Well, I think the first thing to say is that you are not responsible for the emissions of your vehicle. If your vehicle is not

compliant with the law, then the vehicle manufacturer will have to write to you; there will be a recall notice and you'll be asked to take it into your

local dealership and they will hopefully be able to put it right.

But certainly I think people will start looking at whether or not there should be class action suites to start suing the vehicle

manufacturers for the fact that they are selling a product which isn't fit for purpose and doesn't comply with the law.

HOLMES: Certainly it does seem a bit outrageous from a consumer standpoint. Greg Archer, clean vehicles manager at the Group Transport and

Environment, appreciate you joining us today.

ARCHER: Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And when we come back on the program, we turn from the health of the planet to the survival of creatures who live here. That's next.

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HOLMES: Finally tonight, imagine a world without its rhinos. Today, on World Rhino Day, it is sadly becoming all the more possible.

In South Africa alone, one rhinoceros was slaughtered every eight hours last year. Think about that. And this year could be even worse.

Now amidst the carnage, a new breed of soldier has risen up to protect the animals there. While in Kenya, the last male northern white rhino

retains a full complement of bodyguards all to himself.

Hope springs with the promise of new life, though. Today a British zoo welcomed a baby one-horned rhino. Perhaps a good omen because this

month the even rarer Java rhino also seeing a small population boom. Three new calves spotted out in the wild helping to perhaps bring this tiny rhino

population back from the brink and showing us that we can save the rest as well if we try.

That is it for our program tonight. Thanks for watching.

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