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Taliban's Hold in Afghanistan Growing by the Day; Cities Seized Without a Fight; Pentagon Sending 3,000 Troops in Afghanistan; FDA Approves Booster Shots; Mexico's Health Care System Overwhelmed by COVID Cases; Pooper Countries Left Behind in Vaccination; Afghan Cities Lashkar Gah, Kandahar Fall To Taliban; Samsung's Vice Chairman Lee Jae-Yong Released On Parole; Wildfires Wipeout Greek Villages; Algeria Battling Wildfires; Onboard JetBlue's First Trans-Atlantic Flight; Britney Spears Conservator Challenge. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired August 13, 2021 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Hello, and welcome, everyone to CNN Newsroom. I appreciate your company. I'm Michael Holmes.

We begin with breaking news from Afghanistan where or Taliban fighters have now captured two more key cities. Lashkar Gah and Kandahar. Video released by the militant group claims to show victory celebrations in Kandahar. CNN can't confirm its authenticity.

Taliban say they seized hundreds of weapons, vehicles, and ammunition, as you can see there, American supplied vehicles. The head of the provincial council says the entire city is under Taliban control except the airport and army corps.

Now another video purports to show Taliban fighters taking over the governor's building in Kandahar. Afghan National Forces appeared to either surrender or flee. The Taliban now controlling 14 provincial capitals.

Let's bring in CNN international security editor Nick Paton Walsh live in London. So, you've got to take of Kandahar, now Lashkar Gah, just the latest in stunning turns of events in a string of them. Speak to the significance as Kabul is increasingly surrounded, I guess.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes. I mean, it's important to emphasize that Lashkar Gah and its fall where we understand it, pretty much all of it with the exception of one or two army bases is under Taliban control is a deeply symbolic moment.

Kandahar, of course massively important. But Lashkar Gah in itself in Helmand is a place where so much U.S. and NATO lives have been lost. And it's a focal point of the opium trade that funds the insurgency.

So, the fact that the Afghan Security Forces put up such an intensive fight lay down a lot of their commandoes their because they knew that they had to hold back symbolically, and that they have now lost along with Kandahar in the same night it appears is absolutely startling. And that with Herat leave the major cities in the west and south of the country under Taliban control, particularly the birthplace of that movement, Kandahar.

We are also now hearing now to that Farah which is a sparsely populated province of Ghor has also fallen now as well. So, it is literally a slow increasingly fast drumbeat of provincial capitals falling at this particular point.

Now Mazar-i-Sharif in the north is still under pressure, an economic hub there which certainly, I think we'll hear more about what's happening around there in the day ahead. And Michael, you importantly point out, does this turn focus now to Kabul? Sadly, it does. There's no indication the capital is currently being besieged or under threat. But it's increasingly surrounded geographically.

And so, we are into an extraordinary two to three weeks ahead where the U.S. has now stated they will put 3,000 marines into Kabul international airport to secure it to get their diplomats out to likely get out some of the tens of thousands of Afghans who they've said might get special immigrant visa status.

And then at the end of August they will leave under the current plan. That may alter but we are then going to see the extraordinary departure of U.S. forces and personnel to the greatest extent frankly and then see what exactly comes after that.

I have to say it's strange to see the former ally of the Afghan government to say they are still the ally because create this moment of departure, emphasized it almost by sending in a very practical very necessary security force for their diplomats.

But it does send a message too, I think, and talking to senior Afghan officials last night that certainly the U.S. knows which direction this is likely to be going. And certainly, within those senior U.S. Afghan officials is a sense of betrayal, of loss.

Kabul by no means is an easy thing for the Taliban to walk into. But I would have to say all conventional wisdom is essentially off and that nobody thought they would sweep through in just one week this numbers of provincial capitals. But Kabul six million people a lot of them very government loyal could be messier. We don't know where this will play out, Michael.

HOLMES: It's interesting. I like your thoughts on this. I mean, Ghazni is another place in the headlines on all of this. Al-Qaeda had a long history there. Osama bin Laden saw it as a safe haven for his men.

I mean, what do you see as the risks of an Al-Qaeda resurgence? They are fighting shoulder to shoulder in some parts of the country.

[03:04:56] WALSH: Yes. I mean, the U.S. perception of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan has essentially changed to suit their policy at the time. Obviously, in 2001, they're all over the place and then the last decade we saw the persistent be heard as the U.S. try to wind down its presence there and declare victory than Al-Qaeda where reduce to recall of hundreds.

That seems to still roughly be the case. But within those hundred ranks are some pretty senior people. I mean, a reporter on the story I don't know, October last year an Afghan intelligence raid killed Abu Muhammad al-Masri, the sort of number two there very much in charge of propaganda and communication. He was said to be communicating with other Al-Qaeda cells in Syria there appeared to have been a U.S. strike on one of those cells.

Shortly after, his possessions were in fact are intercepted. And I was told the Americans and in fact asked the Afghans not to publicize their assassination of Masri presumably so they could get on with acting on the information that they have found.

So, there is plenty of evidence that senior Al-Qaeda figures retain a presence in Afghanistan. In fact, Masri was killed in Ghazni, the city you just referred to. It is hard, I think, to delineate in this changing world of extremists precisely where Al-Qaeda ends and the Taliban begins.

Now, Taliban senior leadership brought in part of the Haqqani network who were considered an Al-Qaeda affiliate a few years ago into their command structure. So, their lines are blurred. The Taliban are clear they don't want foreigners or terrorist. They signed a deal with the U.S. saying they won't let Afghanistan be used for attacks on foreign countries. But it is a very key pressing problem and one I think that we will hear much more about than we do now in the years ahead. Michael?

HOLMES: Yes. Great point. And you mentioned the Haqqani network we're yet to see how they may play into all of this too.

Good to see you, Nick. I appreciate the analysis. Thanks.

Ali Latifi is a freelance journalist based in Afghanistan. He joins me from Kabul. Ali, thanks for doing so. I know it's been difficult there. How are conditions in Kabul? Thousands of displaced people arriving in the capital. What's the level of anticipation and concern?

ALI LATIFI, AFGHAN JOURNALIST: Since maybe, I think 5 or 6 p.m. last night, we live in a different country. Things have changed, obviously things have changed a lot. You know, the fact that Herat and Kandahar were lost, essentially in the same day. You know, the two, two of the biggest cities in the country. You know, cities that people never would have imagined would have fallen, you know.

And it was sort of, your last hope saying that if they weren't able to take over the cities, then, you know, they won't make it much further. Or they won't make it into the big major population areas. And they're seeing them make it into those cities, and if you've been to those cities and you understand sort of the historical and the cultural significance of them.

Seeing those videos and that footage it really, really affected people. You know, it affected the whole country. Kabul is like New York City or L.A. where very few people are actually from Kabul. You know, obviously, like, people over decades spent time here and like claiming to be Kabuli, but still, you know, almost everyone's family comes from somewhere else.

So, when you look at this map and you see these provinces falling, almost everybody probably has some connection to one of those.

HOLMES: Are Afghans you speak with angry about the speed of the withdrawal of the west? Do they feel let down or abandoned? Not just by the west but by their own leaders who, often of course being accused of being corrupt or running the country in an inept away?

LATIFI: I was speaking to friends from Herat and Kandahar last night and that was exactly what they were saying. They were saying that they felt like there wasn't much of a fight put up. That there wasn't much of an effort put into defending the cities, that these cities fell too easily and too quickly, considering their significance to the history and to the population and to the economy of this country. And so, many online are saying that, you know, just expressing so much their frustration at this government for its corruption, for its inability.

HOLMES: Is there a risk for the Taliban domestically that, you know, having got their chief demand, which is the departure of foreign forces, that them, continuing the fight and killing fellow Afghans might backfire on the group in terms of whatever grassroots support they had? I mean, they are not killing westerners right now, they are killing Afghans.

LATIFI: And this is exactly what people say, right? As you are fighting an occupation, you let the occupier to leave. And you even agreed for a year not to touch their forces or their administrators or everything like that.

[03:10:00]

In the way they have been acting, in the way they have been storming through the cities has also lost them a lot of support, you know. Because if you see how many people are fleeing these cities, right? And I've talked to people who have fled them, I've even met them when they came to Kabul. And what they all say is when we hear they are on their way, like, we know they are coming in a day or two, we flee as soon as we can.

Because there is a lot of fear, right? There is a lot of fear of the fighting that will come with it because if they come and they over your city that means they are going to be fighting, you know, with the security forces and the security forces will be fighting with them. And who is caught in the cross fire?

HOLMES: You are there, I mean, they're knocking on the door or they will be soon of Kabul. Are you worried yourself?

LATIFI: I'm worried for my people. I'm worried for the country.

HOLMES: Are you angry at how this came to be?

LATIFI: Yes. Because -- because I feel like everybody shares a responsibility in this.

HOLMES: Ali Latifi, thank you so much. Thinking of you there in Kabul and everyone else there as well. Following your Twitter and people should because you can learn a lot. Ali, thank you so much.

LATIFI: Thank you.

HOLMES: Meanwhile, several thousand U.S. troops are being sent to the Afghan capital to help evacuate civilian employees from the American embassy. But the Pentagon insists these forces are not being deployed in a combat role.

CNN's Oren Liebermann with the latest from the Pentagon.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Pentagon is sending 3,000 more troops into Afghanistan for a very specific limited role. It will be about 2,000 marines and 1,000 soldiers at Hamid Karzai International Airport, what is effectively the international gateway into Kabul into the capital of Afghanistan. And the key entry and exit point for diplomats and embassy staff.

These troops have a specific role, and that is to secure and assist in the withdrawal of a partial drawdown of the embassy. Only the corps diplomatic staff will remain at the embassy in Kabul, as well as to assist in what is now very much an acceleration of the withdrawal of Afghan interpreters who helped the United States and their families.

The process of bringing them out has only just begun. But there is now critical time left as the Taliban has made sweeping gains across the country as the U.S. faces what very much looks like very close to a worst-case scenario with these Taliban advances that are now slowing down at this point.

As for the withdrawal of U.S. forces that of course was President Joe Biden's goal. The withdrawal of combat troops pending on press secretary John Kirby says is set to be completed by the end of a month. It's already 95 percent complete according to U.S. Central Command which governs the area.

But as for these 3,000 troops going in to assist in the withdrawal it's very possible that they stay longer than the end of the month depending on wouldn't be clear on their timeline for withdrawal. And because of the situation there are more troops in the region ready to stand by.

First, 1,000 troops in Qatar that will help with the processing of visas for the Afghan interpreters and their families trying to get out of the country. And if the situation deteriorates much further there will be 3,500 soldiers on standby in Kuwait who can be brought into the country if it requires more assistance and more security. The Pentagon has made clear that the troops going in now are not there

in a combat role but it is of course very much a combat zone. Depending on very much aware of how fast the situation is deteriorating there. And that has very much put a sense of urgency on the decisions that were made over the course of the last 24 hours and the movement out of the country.

Although the U.S. is using terms like withdrawal and drawdown, Afghans see this as evacuation and abandonment. A blow not only to the moral of Afghan forces that are losing ground very quickly to the Taliban, but to the Afghan people who have come to rely on the U.S. presence and U.S. support.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, in the Pentagon.

HOLMES: Now to a mass shooting in the United Kingdom where at least five people and the suspected gunman are dead. Now this happened in Plymouth in Southwest England and police say the incident is not terror-related. Two females and two males found dead at the scene.

A local member of parliament saying one of the victims was a child under 10 years of age. Another woman was treated for gunshot wounds but died a short time later at the hospital. And the suspected shooter also found dead.

We'll bring you more information on this as it comes to hand.

Now this kind of gun violence that happens daily in the U.S. is very rare of course in the U.K. A mass shooting 25 years ago prompted the British government to tighten gun laws and ban private gun ownership.

We are going to take a quick break. When we come back here on the program, U.S. health officials are making some decisions on coronavirus booster shots. We'll tell you what they are.

[03:15:06]

Also Mexico reporting a record number of COVID daily infections. Why some doctors feel that the medical system there could soon be pushed to its limits.

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HOLMES (on camera): Welcome back. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized the third coronavirus shot for some immunocompromised Americans. Advisers at the Centers of Disease Control set to meet today to vote on whether to recommend it. The FDA and other health officials agree that the general population does not need boosters, not yet, anyway.

Meanwhile, the Delta variant hitting the U.S. hard as it has for weeks now. Now this is a map of the U.S. one month ago, only 19 percent of the U.S. residents living in an area of high or substantial coronavirus transmission.

Have a look at this. This is where we're at today. A shocking change, most of the country engulfed in red, meaning high transmissions are nearly everywhere.

Now we know that even when people are fully vaccinated, they can still come down with COVID in what are called breakthrough infections, and Dr. Anthony Fauci says we are still learning about some lingering after effects of infections referred to as long COVID.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Certainly, if you get vaccinated and you get a breakthrough infection, you can get long COVID. We don't have enough data in that to say if it's the same kind of risk of getting long COVID of others. But it is likely it would be less because you've got a good deal of protection from your vaccine. Children can get long COVID, but the incidents of it is significantly lower than in an adult.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES (on camera): China tightening its mask requirements for public spaces as the country grapples with its worst COVID resurgence in more than a year. People must now wear face coverings when they are indoors, in shopping malls, supermarkets and airports, for example. Masks will also be required in crowded outdoor areas, including public squares, parks, and theaters.

Amid a surge of COVID infections, Israel planning to expand booster shots, dropping its minimum age of availability for a third dose from 60 to 50 years old.

Meanwhile, the Australian state of New South Wales reporting a record number of new infections on Friday. This despite lockdowns in much of the states populated areas.

And another tough day in Mexico reporting nearly 25,000 new infections. Its highest single day increase since the pandemic began. Some health officials worrying that if this trend continues, Mexico's health care system could, once again, he pushed to the brink.

[03:20:05]

CNN's Matt Rivers is in Mexico City and takes a closer look at what's driving the surge.

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MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Public COVID-19 testing centers packed in Mexico City, as yet again, the pandemic spirals out of control in Mexico. This week, yet another new record set, the highest number of cases recorded in a single day since this all began. The seven-day average of new cases, about as high as it has ever been. Experts blame loosening restrictions and the Delta variant.

FRANCISCO MORENO SANCHEZ, DIRECTOR, COVID-19 PROGRAM, ABC MEDICAL CENTER: We have one patient that infected eight. So, the explanation is just because you have a more severe, more contagious variant. RIVERS: Multiple doctors told CNN, more and more young people in

their 20s and 30s are now filling ICU wards across the country, and as beds fill up, once again, do the morgues. About as many people are dying of COVID each day in Mexico as in the U.S. despite the U.S. population being more than two and a half times larger.

Mexico's testing rate also remains among the worst in the world, experts say, that means the true number of deaths and cases is inevitably far higher. And yet, life around the country goes on as normal in many places.

SANCHEZ: There is (Inaudible) world in other hospital, and another world outside the hospital. Because you go outside, it's like nothing is happening.

RIVERS: Part of the reason continued mixed messaging from the government. Go to the health ministry web site in Mexico City is at red level, the country's highest COVID-19 alert. But the city's mayor says no, things aren't that bad, and insist on keeping the city at orange level, a notch below meaning fewer restrictions are in place.

The good news in all this, a vaccination campaign continues. Just over 21 percent of the country has been fully vaccinated, and more than 40 percent have received a first dose. U.S. and Mexican officials announced the U.S. would donate millions more vaccines to Mexico in the coming weeks, crucial, experts say, in curtailing the pandemic that respects no borders.

CARISSA ETIENNE, DIRECTOR, PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION: But these disparities are also dangerous. There is no path to recovery for any country while its neighbors remain vulnerable. And while virus sacculate and multiply.

RIVERS: Medical experts have speculated Mexico might follow a similar path to what we saw recently in the U.K., a huge spike in cases followed by a swift decrease, but a complicating factor loom. Mexico's millions of schoolchildren head back to the classrooms on August 30th, some fear it could keep driving cases higher and push medical systems to their absolute limits.

SANCHEZ: Right now, because of the time and the stress of having younger people very sick with young children, we -- I'm really frustrated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS (on camera): And with the numbers released by the government on Thursday, that marks two single day record for coronavirus cases recorded in a 24-hour span. As of now, hospitalization rates across the country remain at manageable levels, but that doctor you just heard from in that piece told me that if these numbers continue to go as they have been, continue to rise, that ICU space will begin to run out very quickly.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City. HOLMES: The World Health Organization is calling on world leaders and

pharmaceutical chiefs to end the, quote, "disgraceful inequality in global access to vaccines." This coming as the disparity between high and low- income countries grows ever wider, and some are talking about giving booster shots as we've been reporting, while others haven't had their first.

In Europe, more than 40 percent of the population is fully vaccinated compare that to Africa, where only two percent of the population overall has received full doses.

Dr. John Nkengasong is the director of Africa's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He joins me now from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. Good to see you, doctor.

We've seen these moves in the west to provide these booster shots, third doses, what is your reaction to that with the vaccination rates in Africa where they're at?

JOHN NKENGASONG, DIRECTOR, AFRICA CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: The vaccination rates in Africa are ridiculously low. I mean, as we speak, a continent of 1.2 billion people has vaccinated, fully, only 1.7 percent of its population. Our goal is to get to 16 percent of our population immunized by the end of next year.

The only pathway for us to recover in this pandemic is for global vaccination to occur almost simultaneously. We cannot allow the virus to be separated in some parts of the world, and then some parts of the world have full immunization there. That is clearly a formula for creating new variants as we are seeing every day across the world.

[03:25:04]

So, I think we are not doing a good job as a whole in tackling this pandemic, in the manner in which we should be.

HOLMES: Do you think western nations understand what you just said there which is very important, and that is that variants develop in an environment where there is rampant spread. So, it's actually in the interest of wealthier nations to vaccinate poor ones, isn't it? Because the wealthier nations will suffer if there is a vaccine defeating variant?

NKENGASONG: Absolutely. I think just a few months ago we didn't know about the Delta variant, right? We were all focused on the Alpha and the Beta variant, those variants that we isolated or identified initially in the United Kingdom and in South Africa, then came the Delta variant.

What we don't know is what we don't know, which is we don't know if another even more virulent variant will emerge after the Delta. We are all talking about Delta, but nothing tells us from the biology of the virus that there will not be another variant that is more aggressive and more threatening to the vaccine that are being administered there.

So, I think we are not addressing this pandemic in a comprehensive way. As I said --

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: The key to that is, as you point out, vaccination. It's interesting the WHO says that if the 11 rich countries that are either rolling out boosters or considering it this year, were to give the shots to everyone over 50 years old, they would use up, I think it was 440 million doses of global supply. What damage does that do to poorer nations?

NKENGASONG: That'll be catastrophic, that will further worsen the gap, the inequality gaps. You just said earlier, that most countries in the world are immunized up to about 40, 50 percent of their population. The continent of Africa less than 2 percent of the population is fully immunized.

If that was to happen, you even see that countries in Africa and other parts of the developing world will struggle to even get to 10 percent of their population fully immunized. And let me just say it again, it would be a risk for everybody that we create, we continue to create this equilibrium and enable the variants to keep circulating. The virus will circulate, it will mutate, it will lead to new variants. And it will completely undermine even countries that have been fully vaccinated.

HOLMES: Yes. There was a study that showed low income countries won't achieve substantial levels of protection until 2023, which is frankly outrageous. How then do you convince those richer nations to pause on the notion of boosters and share the doses with those in desperate need?

NKENGASONG: What is, to me, surprising about the booster scenario is that we have not seen any evidence yet that that is required except for certain varied specific category of people like the immunosuppressed. So, again, we said at the beginning of this pandemic that our respond to the pandemic should be guided by good science, and should be guided by good evidence and data and not speculation.

So, I think we are still not certain and confused as to why the narrative of doing a booster when so many people in the world have not even received one shot of their vaccine.

HOLMES: And real quick, I mean, there are myriad impacts of COVID spread on poorer nations, aren't they? Not just -- not just health implications, I mean, if, for example, in countries in Africa with a 2 percent vaccination rate have to lockdown to curve spread, then the economic impacts are huge for already struggling economies, right?

NKENGASONG: Their stimulus for recovering economy is vaccination. Vaccines save lives, vaccines save economy. I think that is clear. Unless and until we get our population fully vaccinated and create the so-called herd immunity, we'll continue to move from wave to wave.

As we speak, in Africa, about 32 countries are going through a third wave, four countries are going through a fourth wave. And you will continue to see that pattern and it will to impact severely on the economy of their countries if we do not vaccinate on scale and that speed.

HOLMES: Dr. John Nkengasong, thank you so much for your time. I wish you well and hopefully the world is listening. Thank you.

NKENGASONG: Thank you for the opportunity.

HOLMES: We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, intense violence has forced hundreds of thousands of Afghans from their homes this year, and as the Taliban advance, the search for safety grows increasingly dire.

We'll be right back.

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[03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): And the breaking news this hour, the Taliban now control two more key cities in Afghanistan, Lashkar Gah and Kandahar. The militant group releasing video of victory celebrations in Kandahar. CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity.

Another video apparently showing Taliban fighters taking over the governors building, Afghan National Forces appear to either surrendered or fled. The Taliban have now taken over 14 provincial capitals in just the past few weeks. The militant group has been gaining ground and quickly since the U.S. announced a complete withdrawal of combat troops by in mid-September and that has many in Afghanistan fearing for their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAZHMA FROGH, FOUNDER, WOMEN AND PEACE STUDIES ORGANIZATION: The fact that, you know, tons of Afghan girls, you know, right now, they have no future. Just thinking about, you know, no school or even the survival right now is in a major question. Imagine you have built a community, we have built, you know, we have like media, we have -- flourishing civil society, all of these institutions. Of course, we have fields in many areas. We have a lot of challenges, but the fact that all these young people right now, you know, like I keep getting calls from -- like all over who just keep asking can you help us. Can you help us get out of Afghanistan?

And that hurts me so much, because this country, we put our blood, our sweat in building it and we thought that, you know, the United States was a friend. We stood by you when America was attacked by the same, you know, terrorist groups that that the Taliban had given them sanctuary. We thought that the Americans too would actually stand. And I'm not asking for American troops to fight our war. No, it's not even our war. If you see the composition of the militants on the ground, you know, you would understand that it is not our war.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: United Nations says nearly 400,000 Afghans have been

displaced inside the country by the Taliban of violent territorial gains and that's just this year. There are more than 5 million in total of being displaced over various conflicts across the years. Others fled the country altogether, millions of them.

Pakistan host almost 1.5 million Afghan refugees. Some 750,000 are living in Iran and Afghans are the second largest refugee population in Turkey after Syrians. Many of those recently uprooted had made their way to Kabul in search of safety. But with the Taliban rapidly gaining ground the capital city may soon provide no refuge.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[03:35:00]

HOLMES (voice over): Families sleep on the hard ground outside the school in Afghanistan. It may not look like the most comfortable place to rest, but at least for now it is safe, away from the trail of violence left behind by the Taliban's advance.

Many bombs were dropped on our village one woman says. The Taliban came and destroyed everything, we were helpless and have to leave our houses. One Afghan officials Kandahar province where the school is located says there are thousands of displaced families in his province alone. Trying to escape the fighting but for some it is too late.

The Taliban were firing guns next to our house, one man says. Many bullets came our way, in the end my wife was killed.

A hospital filled with wounded civilians' shows just how pitch the battle is. One patient says I was on the side of the street, I was hit by a mortar and one of my legs was injured. Some people taking refuge in the country's capital Kabul thinking it is one of the safest bets with the Taliban on the move. This man left the besiege city of Lashkar Gah two weeks ago, but hopes to return one day.

If you ask most people in Afghanistan, 99 percent of the people will say the fighting is not the solution, he says. The only way is peace and the Afghan people want peace. A peace that seems more elusive as more civilians are forced from their homes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES (on camera): Now one of South Korea's top business tycoons says, he is truly sorry as he walked out of prison several hours ago. Lee Jae-Yong is a de facto leader of Samsung, the world's largest cell phone maker. He was convicted of bribery and embezzlement after being caught in a massive scandal that went all the way to the highest echelons of power in South Korea.

Paula Hancocks joins me now live from Seoul with more on this. And it seems not everyone is happy he is being let out early.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): That's right, Michael. And when he came out of the detention center of this Friday, there were supporters there who are calling out his name, but there are also people who did not believe that he should have had early parole.

So what he was accused of, and what he was found guilty of as you say, was embezzlement of bribery. And in all he served about 18 months just over of a 13 month sentence. Now the first part of the sentence was back in 2017. He was sentenced to five years but then left prison in less than a year after an appeals court overturned that decision and suspended the sentence.

Now the opposition party, the Justice Party is saying that he should not have had early parole, saying that they are furious to find out that South Korea is a Republic of Samsung and they are saying that this shows how unfair it is that a certain level of the elite in this country do not have to follow the same rules as everyone else.

We have heard from the Blue House, as well, from the presidential office. The spokesperson saying that they understand both arguments, but they have had to understand that this is in the national interest. Now this is an interesting point, Michael, because this is what has happened many times in the past when a chief executive of a very large and influential company in this country has been found guilty of something like embezzlement, bribery or corruption they are often lead out early, because they are believed to be integral to the economy in South Korea.

So this appears to be the reasoning for the early parole of J.Y. Lee as well. The fact that he is integral being the head or the de facto leader of Samsung to the economy overall. But this doesn't necessarily mean it's the last time that he is going to see the inside of a court. There is still two more court cases that J.Y. Lee is undergoing, including one from a controversial merger back in 2015 which many believe helped him to gain more control of the company itself. So even though he has early parole for this particular court sentencing there are still two more court cases coming up. Michael?

HOLMES: Alright. Paula Hancocks, in Seoul. Thanks for the update there.

OK, a quick break here when we come back homes, businesses, livelihoods all wiped out by wildfires in Greece. Villagers who fled the flames returning to see what if anything is left.

Also deadly fires scorching Algeria. The latest efforts to put out the blazes and why authorities have started making arrests. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:40:00]

HOLMES: Where mighty forest once stood, we now see charred branches and piles of ash. This is Evia Island in Greece which has endured more than a week of wildfires and the damage has been tremendous. Our Eleni Giokos, is live in Evia for us. Burning for 10 days, I mean, the losses must be devastating. What are you being told?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN MONEY AFRICA CORRESPONDENT (on camera): There are absolutely devastating. And it cuts across so many different things. So you're looking at 465 square kilometers of forests and agricultural land and other land, as well. And then you are seeing the impacts on livelihoods because so many people lived off the forest. So whether it was production of resin, whether its honey, whether it's, you know, olive trees, the farmers here are feeling despair.

And that is a big issue. They don't know what their life is going to look like because it is going to take decades, Michael, to restore forest area. The other thing we are hearing is shocked, devastation, absolute despair, I mean, look, people here have lost everything. This is what they are telling us. And they just don't know what the future is going to look like.

HOLMES: I have got to ask you, the locals have been critical of the government's handling of the fire. So, I mean, do they believe in the promises to restore the island? Do they believe it?

GIOKOS: It is such a good question, Michael, because the general sentiment is that they felt that when the fires initially broke out, that there wasn't enough boots on the ground, that eyewitnesses were telling us that while there were fire trucks they weren't mandated to put out the fires. That their first priority was to evacuate. Some people feel that that shouldn't have been the priority. That they should have stayed back and protected their homes but the people that opted to stay back they say, were able to salvage their houses and their businesses.

They also feel that not enough priority was sent to Evia when the fires -- wildfires broke out in Greece. You have got to remember, over 580 wildfires hit the country in just a few days and they say that the government really focused on -- of areas like Athens. The Prime Minister, of course we know has apologized for the weaknesses in the reaction.

And then we also heard from (inaudible) yesterday where it was the first press conferences since the wildfires broke out. He says, they are taking responsibility, they will take a look to see why there were weaknesses in the response. But they also been stressed that there were no deaths apart from one volunteer that died. That the evacuations were the right course of action, but the locals say that when you lose forest and when you lose livelihoods they feel like they have lost everything and the different approach should have been taken.

To be honest with you, Michael, when we see the international community coming to help and how more boots on the ground in this week while we were here in Evia, it made such a huge impact. People say why didn't this happen earlier? Why wasn't there more aerial systems? There was bad visibility, but they say that if the fire had been arrested when it first started then we wouldn't be sitting with this situation.

[03:44:58]

The other big concern is rain, coming in winter. They say that they're worried about floods and landslides. All of this forest that has been destroyed was acting as an anti-erosion wall. Now that could be the biggest Russian

HOLMES: Unbelievable. Eleni, thank you. Eleni Giokos there in Evia, Greece.

And turning now to our Algeria, a period of national mourning underway for at least 69 people who've lost their lives this week in wildfires sweeping across that country. Authorities blaming arson, they've started to make arrests. Joining me now from Istanbul, Jomana Karadsheh. What is the latest on the fires and what's sort of help is Algeria getting?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, Michael, first of all we heard from the Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, addressing the nation in a televise address last night and while he's not denying that the current weather conditions, the heat wave the country is going through contributed to the spread of these fires. He is continuing to blame this on arsonists saying that at least 22 people have so far been detained and that the investigations are ongoing and they expect to detain more people blaming this on what he describes as criminal hands that started these fires.

Whatever may have started the fires, Michael, the result, the impact that we have seen has been nothing short of catastrophic. More than 100 fires since Monday. This is day five of this battle against the wildfires that have spread to about 16 provinces in northern Algeria. One of the biggest problems, the difficulties the country has faced. And we heard this from the president yesterday, is that they were not ready for fires on this sort of scale. They didn't have the capabilities to deal with it. He said they tried from early on to reach out to European countries to try and get help but their planes were busy in Greece and in Turkey.

But right now, he says, help is starting to arrive. They have two planes, firefighting planes that arrived yesterday from France, two more from Spain today and another one from Switzerland in the coming days. And from what we have been seeing, what we have been hearing over the past few days, Michael, this sort of international assistance is just so desperately needed right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARADSHEH (voice over): As monstrous flames devour all that is in their paths, villagers have been desperately trying to confront this fire. Grabbing whatever they can find, whether tree branches and water hoses, clearly no match for this ruthless inferno.

SI HAMDI KAMEL, ALGERIAN VILLAGER (through translator): We don't have tools. We are trying with what we have to put it out it will be hard with the wind. We will try with what we have, we can't do anything else, only try to protect the houses. May God be with us.

KARADSHEH: On the ground and in the air, it's been a tough fight against some of the worst wildfires in Algeria's history. The country's military was deployed to help evacuate residents embattled blazed that's claimed dozens of lives and destroyed countless homes and livelihoods. The smoke that has engulfed many of these hard to reach areas has made this an even tougher fight, a near record temperatures from a scorching heat wave are making it almost impossible to try and contain the flames.

HAKIM HADJ, ALGERIAN VILLAGER (through translator): We are watching the fire to prevent it from spreading farther, but it seems to be impossible. And now it has reach our zone, all trees are burning. May God protect, because it is near the village.

KARADSHEH: The government blaming the fires on Arson, deliberate and premeditated. But the scale and ferocity these fires that has left these nations in shock.

MUHAMMAD, DOCTOR (through translator): We saw the fire in the morning from a distance and then two minutes it arrived here it was unbelievable. We can't understand it at all. Really we do not understand how this happened so much fire in one day. It's not normal.

KARADSHEH: But experts have been warning this is likely the new normal the result of a climate crisis, severe weather conditions that transform seasonal wildfires into these vicious flames. From Turkey, to Greece, Italy and now Algeria, scientists say the Mediterranean has become a wildfire hot spot where no creature is spared Mother Nature's wrath.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KARADSHEH: And Michael, while the good news is that international help is starting to arrive the bad news is that warning for extreme weather, the scorching temperatures that heat wave that's been impacting the country was set to expire on Thursday. Authorities have extended that through Saturday at least.

[03:50:10]

HOLMES: All right incredible stuff. Thank you, Jomana. Jomana Karadsheh there.

And coming up here on CNN Newsroom. JetBlue is now offering flights across the Atlantic, we will go along for the first trip, why not?

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HOLMES: One of America's top airlines is now offering Trans-Atlantic flights discount carrier JetBlue just started flying from New York to London. But travel across the Atlantic remains lopsided as vaccinated Americans can go to most of Europe but most Europeans still can't come to the U.S. Our Richard Quest was on board the inaugural flight.

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RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR (voice over): After years of planning and a pandemic that devastated the industry, JetBlue is finally a Trans-Atlantic carrier. For the company and the British expat chief executive Robin Hayes, it's a moment to savor. ROBIN HAYES, CEO JETBLUE: Well, London is really the biggest market.

We don't fly of New York and Boston today. So, obviously we needed a different type of airplane, you know, we needed to get certification to fly across the Atlantic that took a lot of work. But London really was made sense, because we just -- it's a large market, our customers wants us to fly there.

QUEST: JetBlue's decision to continue with a launch of this route to London has raised some eyebrows in the industry. Firstly of course, the Delta variant has changed all the calculations on what's demand is likely to be. And then you have got the fact the corridor across the Atlantic is one way. Americans are welcome in Europe but so far Brits and Europeans are not allowed to come back.

I'm frustrated about that, because I think that the U.S. government should take a risk based approach. I mean, COVID infection rates in Europe are lower than many other countries in the world where you can fly from today. But as a U.S. airline, we always view most of ourselves were going to be out of the U.S. So, the opening of the U.K. by U.K. government is great news.

So it doesn't affect you as much as the sense of the westbound traffic?

HAYES: It will have a little bit of an impact but we still feel it is the right time for us to go.

QUEST: On the question of mandates for masks, for vaccinations of staffs, the United has said, it's vaccinating, and it's a mandate, the others haven't. You are sort of -- I get the feeling you're all waiting and watching but not prepared to go there where Scott Kirby has gone.

HAYES: Right now, we are talking to our crew members, we're talking to unions, we are talking to our crew members at JetBlue to see what we should do. You know, right now we are still strongly encouraging people to get vaccinated. But I don't rule out that at some point in the future a mandate may be something that we look at.

QUEST: Tonight's JetBlue flight is (inaudible), well, it's the inaugural service after all. The problem with the industry is that the Trans-Atlantic is still one way street.

As I arrived at Heathrow the hope is America will reopen its doors soon.

EMMA GILTHORPE, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, HEATHROW AIRPORT: We need the U.S. government to review its border policy. Really critical, U.K. government has taken the ambitious step of opening our borders, but we must have the U.S. government doing the same reciprocally and putting in the ability for vaccinated passengers to travel to the U.S.

[03:55:12]

QUEST: Heathrow is seeing some of the best passenger numbers it had in more than a year, but the rate of growth both here and in the European airport is still much less than that seen in for example the United States or China.

What the airports and airlines really want, of course, is for the U.S. administration in Washington to allow vaccinated travelers to cross the pond. And so far unfortunately, Washington doesn't want to play.

I'm barely in Britain for five hours as I board the same aircraft for the return journey across the Atlantic. The clearest indication of what's a change in U.S. policy would mean could be seen on the return flight to the United States. Because Brits even those fully vaccinated are not allowed into the United States, well, this plane is about a quarter full.

Richard Quest, CNN, somewhere across the north Atlantic.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: A court filing says Britney Spears father intends to step down as co-conservator of the popstar's estate. Jamie Spears faced enormous public pressure after his daughter accused him of abusive action, but he defended his role. He's been Britney's co-conservator for 13 years. The Grammy winner's estate is estimated to be worth $60 million.

Her attorney calling the move vindication adding quote, "we are disappointed however by their ongoing shameful and reprehensible attacks on Miss Spears and others. We look forward to continuing our vigorous investigation into the conduct of Mr. Spears and others over the past 13 years, while he reaped millions of dollars from his daughter's estate," end quote.

Thanks for watching and spending part of your day with me, I'm Michael Holmes. "CNN Newsroom" continues with Kim Brunhuber, coming up next.

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