Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S. to Recommend Booster Shots Eight Months after Vaccination; Biden Stands Squarely Behind Decision to Withdraw Troops; Pentagon Gives Update after Taliban Takes Over Afghanistan. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired August 17, 2021 - 10:00   ET

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

POPPY HARLOW, CNN NEWSROOM: And I'm Poppy Harlow. We're glad you're with us.

Well, at any moment, we're expecting a press briefing from the Pentagon. Obviously, you'll see that live here after a day of chaos and desperation across Afghanistan. The Pentagon says it will do everything it can in the coming weeks to help Afghans who worked with the U.S. safely leave the country.

SCIUTTO: And breaking news overnight, sources tell CNN that the White House could soon recommend most Americans, and vaccinated ones, get a COVID-19 booster shot. Those shots would come eight months after being fully vaccinated and would expand the pool of people now encouraged to get an additional dose beyond those who have compromised immune systems.

HARLOW: So let's tart there. Let me bring in our Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay, good morning to you. There has got to be a lot of people, myself included, waking up this morning who are fully vaccinated and questioning why do we need a third booster shot. Can you explain it to everyone?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think you're asking a very fair question, especially given that just a couple of weeks ago the message seemed to be you're not going to need booster shots, this will probably just be for people who have weakened immune systems who couldn't generate the proper immune response initially. So it is a very fair question. And I think I will preface by saying the mass majority of both disease, severe disease, and transmission of this virus, is still occurring among half of the country that is not vaccinated. So just make that really clear, people who are vaccinated, they have really good protection.

Let me show you some what is driving this -- the data that we're seeing here. This was basically looking at vaccine effectiveness against any kind of infection, right? It could breakthrough infections. People didn't even have any symptoms. They were just getting surveillance screening, whatever, they did see waning of the vaccine's effectiveness overall. But, again, that is not reflective of how well the vaccine works against what we really want it to work for, which is severe disease. And let me show you the data on that.

If you look at the impact overall, the vaccine and hospitalizations and deaths, Poppy, it is really good, right? I mean, it is been good. It remains good. And we haven't seen data certainly from this country at least to suggest that that is a problem, that that has waned in some way. But these are the exact questions now that are sort of informing these decisions.

This is what the advisory committee to the CDC is asking, has the vaccine demonstrated that it is waning in terms of its effectiveness. Has the delta variant changed things? Has the delta variant reduced that effectiveness? Do we need to be looking at this in terms of specific populations? If you're a young person, I'm 51, my parents are in their late 70s, should these be different subgroups and are these booster shots safe? So these are the questions that are going to be asked.

As you mentioned, it looks like it's going to happen, that they're going to recommend boosters for everybody. But is it sort of because we're trying to decrease transmission or prevent severe disease? If we're preventing severe disease, as you point out, the vaccines work pretty well for that.

HARLOW: They do. But why not if you have can -- I think, obviously, if you have access to it, get more protection. But, Sanjay, here is what I struggle with and what I think a lot of people are also going to wrestle with just sort of morally and ethically, you still have significant parts of the world and the developing world with limited to know vaccine access, right? And so that just becomes a question. Look at the situation across Africa. So how should we think about that?

GUPTA: Well, I think it is a very --again, a very fair question. I mean, look, the nature of a pandemic is that the entire world is in this together. So we can show you what the rest of the world looks like now in terms of vaccines, and you're right, it is far worse in many other countries around the world in terms of fully vaccinated percentages compared to the United States.

So, you know, this has long been an issue, even before this pandemic, the equity of being able to share these types of really important commodities and resources at a time when the entire world needs them. That is not new. But I think this third shot issue is really raising the question that the World Health Organization has raised themselves, which is, in order to prevent milder symptoms in the United States, does that mean they're going to take away the protection against hospitalizations and deaths in other parts of the world.

HARLOW: Right.

GUPTA: In order to prevent bad colds, are we putting people at increased risk of hospitalization and deaths in other parts of the world.

And I think when you have a commodity that's of limited supply, that is likely what is happening. We know the United States has already purchased, July 23rd, 200 million more doses of Pfizer and the anticipation of these boosters but the question you're asking is the question the world is going to be asking for some time to come. HARLOW: Okay. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you, as always.

GUPTA: You got it. Thank you.

[10:05:00]

SCIUTTO: As just terrific images pour out of Kabul with residents desperately trying to flee the country, some Democrats on Capitol Hill are expressing their frustration with the administration's decisions here. They say they warned the Biden administration months ago a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan could become a fiasco.

Stand by, we're going live to the Pentagon now, Spokesman John Kirby.

ADM. JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: -- this morning on our operations in Afghanistan at the Hamid Karzai International Airport and I'm going to ask General Taylor to come back up here. I think I botched his title yesterday, Deputy Director of the Joint Staff for Regional Operations, J35, so I got that wrong yesterday and I apologize for that.

But before I ask the general to give you an update, there is a couple of other things that I do want to get out there, first on Haiti. In support of the U.S. agency for international development, their bureau of humanitarian assistance, U.S. Southern Command is working to assess damage, develop common operational pictures and provide life saving support for the people of Haiti. They stood up a joint task force, Joint Task Force Haiti, which will led by Rear Admiral Keith Davids, who is a special operations commander south there at South Comm. He's going to be currently operating or is currently operating from Homestead Air Reserve Base. The JTF is now the forward elements of it, the headquarters elements of the joints task force will be moving to Haiti today.

We are also flying eight helicopters to Haiti later this morning to help with, again, providing a picture overhead. The USS Arlington, a Navy amphibious ship, will be getting underway today as well and we'll have embarked on it two MH-60 helicopters. It also will have on board a surgical team and a landing craft mechanized to be able to move things ashore. The U.S. Naval Ship Burlington is also going to provide aerial footage and assist with our overall assessment.

Two P-8 Poseidon maritime reconnaissance aircraft operating, which are currently operating out of El Salvador, will also be sent to the region to provide aerial coverage and assist again in our assessment. And that is where we are right now, is getting a clear picture of what the situation looks like on the ground. And the assessment team on ground will continue to look at the area and to report back to South Comm so that we can best coordinate and integrate USAID and other agency assistance to the people of Haiti.

There are also two U.S. Coast Guard Cutters on station in Southern Haiti. There are seven additional cutters now moving forward. There will also be one U.S. Coast Guard fixed wing aircraft operating out of Guantanamo Bay again to help us provide aerial visibility on what things look like on ground. And we do expect that field hospitals, four field hospitals from U.S. Southern Command will be set up in Southern Haiti by later this week.

So the U.S. military continues to provide unique air, medical, logistical and engineering capabilities in support of USAID and their bureau of humanitarian assistance. They are leading this effort. We are supporting them to help save lives and alleviate human suffering in these critical early stages of disaster relief operation. So, we'll have more to say in coming hours and days on that, but I wanted to give you an update on Haiti.

Another update on COVID response efforts in response to the latest surge, and at the request of FEMA, the Department of Defense is identifying five medical assistance teams to support efforts around the nation. These teams will be comprised of about 20 medical personnel, including doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists. Currently, the department will provide a medical assistance team, one of these medical assistance teams to a hospital in Lafayette, Louisiana. We expect that there could be additional requests from other states for other teams, and so that is why we're being prepared to stand up five teams. But one of them will be dedicated to go into Lafayette, Louisiana, again, at the request of FEMA and the state of Louisiana.

So we're continuing to lean forward to help our fellow Americans deal with this latest surge in the pandemic. And, again, as we have more information, and more things to report to you, we certainly will.

So with that I'm going to turn it over to General Taylor and --

REPORTER: For clarification on the teams, they're all military personnel that are on these --

KIRBY: These are military medical assistance teams, yes.

REPORTER: Great.

KIRBY: Okay. General, if it is okay I can leave all of my stuff on the podium, I'll turn it over to you.

MAJ. GEN. HANK TAYLOR, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, JOINT STAFF REGIONAL OPERATIONS: Good morning. Nice to see you again. Thank you, Mr. Kirby, for the opportunity again to give you an operations update of current operations in Afghanistan.

[10:10:00]

My goal is to provide you with details from my last time in here to ensure that you have as much information as possible. A number of evacuations occurred overnight, which I'll provide you more details here shortly.

As we speak, we're continuing air operations and air operations continue throughout the night. I'm tremendously proud of the herculean effort we've seen but our U.S. military so far, the rapid insertion of Marines and soldiers and a number of enabling forces moving from within the Cent Comm AOR and from the United States. Yesterday, the U.S. military footprint in Afghanistan started at about roughly 2,500. And by the end of today, there will be more than approximately 4,000 troops on the ground in Kabul. Forces will continue to flow in and reinforce the state department and DOD effort there.

The operation is ongoing and I'd like to give you a few more details on that operation. HKIA remains secure. It is currently open for military flight operations as well as limited commercial flight operations. Throughout the night, nine C-17s arrived delivering equipment and approximately 1,000 troops. Additionally, seven C-17s departed. These flights lifted approximately 700 to 800 passengers and we can confirm 165 of these passengers are American citizens, the rest are a mix of SIV applicants, third country nationals.

Responding to the situation at HKIA, our initial focus was to assert forces and equipment. As part of this force concludes, the speed of evacuation will pick up. Right now, we're looking at one aircraft per hour in and out of HKIA. We predict that our best effort could look like 5,000 to 9,000 passengers departing her day. But we are mindful that a number of factors influence this effort, and circumstances could change. We will keep you updated.

There are a number of unexpected challenges that can occur for personnel in a complex and dynamic security environment. We are confident that we have taken the right steps to resume safe orderly operations at the airport. We continue to prioritize the safety military personnel and those who await evacuation from Afghanistan. With great effort and care, we proceed through each day of this work.

You have likely seen the image floating around of Afghan families in a cargo plane. This speaks to the humanity of our troops in this mission, the skill and professionalism of our U.S. military.

The last point I'd like to make is about the assessed threat right now. We have had no hostile interactions, no attack and no threat by the Taliban. We remain vigilant. We also have not experienced any additional security incidents at HKIA. We retain the security of HKIA that enables the safe orderly evacuation of Americans and Afghans.

I want to reinforce that we are focused on the present mission, to facilitate the safe evacuation of U.S. citizens, SIVs and Afghans at risk to get these personnel out of Afghanistan as quickly and as safely as possible. That mission has not changed. The mission is of a historical significance and it is incumbent upon us to be resolute in the protection of American and Afghan lives. Thank you. Mr. Kirby?

KIRBY: Thanks, General.

Okay, Bob (ph)?

REPORTER: I have a narrow question for the general and a broader question for you, if I could start with him, if you don't mind?

KIRBY: Sure, absolutely. I'll just leave.

REPORTER: General, I think you said that you would wrap up to one aircraft departure per hour.

TAYLOR: That is the planning figure.

REPORTER: And when would that -- my question is when will you get there?

TAYLOR: We hope within the next 24 hours. And so as the commander on the ground continues to build the combat power there and flights are available, that is the goal.

REPORTER: Okay. If I may ask a question for you, John?

KIRBY: Sir?

REPORTER: The general mentioned there have been no hostile threats from the Taliban at the airport. I'm wondering, does the U.S. have an arrangement to the Taliban to allow the evacuation airlift to proceed until August 31st? And the second question is under what circumstance would the U.S. troops leave before August 31st?

[10:15:00]

KIRBY: So, on your first question, Bob, what I would tell you is coming out of General McKenzie's discussions with senior Taliban leaders in Doha, our commanders at the airport are in communication with Taliban commanders on the ground outside of the airport. There have been discussions, there is communication between them and us. And I would just let the results speak for themselves. I'm not going to get into the details of how those discussions are progressing because there are interactions multiple times a day. And as the general said, I think, very well, there have been no hostile interactions from the Taliban to our operations at the airport.

REPORTER: So, the point of that would be to allow -- that the Taliban is willing to allow it to proceed and they're cooperating in that regard?

KIRBY: I would just let the results speak for themselves so far and we're not taking anything for granted.

REPORTER: And prior to August 31st --

KIRBY: I'm sorry, yes. Right now, as the general made clear, the mission runs through August 31st. The commander-in-chief made it very clear we were to complete this drawdown by august 31st, which now includes the drawdown of American -- the pulling out of American citizens and drawdown of our embassy personnel. So that's what we're focused on. That is the timeline we're on. And as the secretary made clear to leaders, even as recently as this morning, time is of the essence and we all share a sense of urgency here. But right now, the mission runs to 31st of August and I won't begin to speculate what happens after that.

REPORTER: Do those discussions with the Taliban include, talk about allowing Americans or Afghans through some of these Taliban checkpoints or even potentially expanding the perimeter around the airport so more people can get there safely? That is one of the things that we're hearing is that people can't get through these Taliban checkpoints and they can't even get to the airport to leave.

KIRBY: Yes. Again, without going into the details of communications of which I'm not a part, as I said, there is -- there is -- there are interactions down at the local level. And as the general said, we are processing American citizens to get out. So, again, Court, with speaking to the sausage making of communications here, thus far, and it is early on, the results are speaking for themselves and I think it is probably where I'd like to leave it.

REPORTER: And then one for General Taylor. Can you just on the numbers? So this is now 700 to 800 that have gotten out. So, is that now a total of somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,400 to 1,500 people have been taken out since August 14th when this began?

TAYLOR: Yes, rough numbers, yet to include the SIVs.

REPORTER: And can you say just from an operational perspective, there is talk of expanding the perimeter around the airport?

TAYLOR: Right now, the airfield, like I said earlier, is secure. And the command on the ground has the ability to continue to flow flights in and out, so I would say the airfield is secure right now to allow us to do that mission.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Just to clarify a couple of things on what you said about these talks with the Taliban to make sure I get it. It is U.S. military personnel that are talking to Taliban commander commanders?

KIRBY: Our commanders in the operation have had communication with Taliban leaders.

STARR: And is this why or could you explain apparently you put the 82nd Airborne headquarters element in there. Is that --

KIRBY: (INAUDIBLE) General Donahue and his staff.

STARR: Could you walk us through a little bit of that?

KIRBY: Sure, a couple of things there, Barb. Number one, this is what the 82nd Airborne does really well. And as the global response force, their job is to be ready to assist in a very expeditious manner. And the task of securing and operating an airfield is actually a unique task that the 82nd can do, and General Donahue has experience in that. So that's one reason.

Number two, Rear Admiral Vasely, who has been commanding on the ground, also has a spate of other duties he has to attend to, to include liaison with the State Department, our allies and partners that are also on the ground there in Kabul, the Turkish support element, there is a lot of things to do. So we felt like this division of labor made the most sense given the urgency of time and what we're trying to accomplish in the next couple of weeks. STARR: So 82nd -- I'm sorry, just to make sure. 82nd is in command at the airport and the general you mentioned is the one talking to the Taliban?

KIRBY: I'm not going to talk about specific conversations, Barb, or who is having what. Our commanders, in fact, Admiral Vasely has been there throughout this thing and I don't know exactly. I mean, the general knows when General Donahue is getting there.

[10:20:00]

But just suffice it to say that our commanders there at the airport are charged with securing that airport and keeping this secure. And to doing what is required to keep it secure and to get operations back up and running and to be sustained. And they will and should have whatever interactions they believe that are necessary to accomplish that mission. I'm not in a position now and I won't begin to get in a position where I'm detailing every single conversation or what the details of that are.

I think, as I said to Courtney, the best judge of how we're doing is how we're doing and the results that we're achieving. And I think I would leave it at that.

REPORTER: John?

KIRBY: Let me get to Helene (ph) and then I'll come to you, Tom. Go ahead.

REPORTER: Thank you, Kirby. This is for General Taylor. I understand that we are -- the Marines are there and our troops are there and they are under orders. We don't want them getting into combat situation with the Taliban. So you do have a little bit of a balance that you have to strike between getting this orderly evacuation out of the airport but at the same time we know that there are reports on the ground from your SIV applicants that a lot of them are getting beat up on the way to the airport, they're getting beat up outside of the airport. How do you manage then -- and I know this is a bit of what Courtney and Barbara both were asking you, but how do you manage to strike that balance between, we're not here to get into a fight, we just want to get our people out but you have to get your people to where they can get out?

TAYLOR: Sure. So, as we look at military task and requirements of securing the airfield, that is what we are absolutely focused on doing, to ensure that part of this whole mission is being able to be completed. I really, on the outside, as we talk about on the outside of the airfield and through Kabul, and that process there, I'd really have to push that over to the Department of State because our mission right now is that securing of the airfield to allow those that come on to the airfield to quickly be put on aircraft and evacuated.

REPORTER: So, let me get back to the numbers of Afghans and others trying to get out. If you look at the SIV people, special immigrant visa and their families, there are estimate of 70,000 to 88,000, and then you add the P-2 people who are trying to get out to a third country and then maybe hundreds, if not, thousands beyond that. So, all told, the total universe we're talking about is probably 100,000 people trying to get out of Afghanistan.

Given that, are you confident with your planning that by the 31st, you can get all of those people out, or is that uncertain?

KIRBY: What we are confident is that we're going to maximize capacity to the degree that we can. And that at max capacity, as the general said, given what could be more than two dozen sorties per day, you could get to 5,000 to 9,000 people out per day.

Our focus is on, again, making sure that the environment, the conditions are set to be able to do that. As I said the other day, airlift is not going to be a limiting factor but it also is going to require and has required constant liaison with our State Department colleagues who are obviously in charge of administering the special immigrant visa process and the other priority visas that you mentioned.

So we're working hand in glove with them on the manifest. Who is being processed, when they're being processed and making sure that they're ready and able to get on flights out of there. So it is a complex interagency effort here, tom.

What I can tell you, I can't guarantee a certain number by a certain day. I wouldn't do that. As the general rightly said, weather can play a factor. In fact, weather has played a factor today. So what we think is at max capacity, 5,000 to 9,000 per day, a couple of dozen sorties, maybe even more per day, conditions permitting. But it has to be done in close concert with our State Department colleagues. And so we'll do as much as we can for as long as we can.

REPORTER: And you talk about the 31st and the mission coming to an end. That is an arbitrary date set by the White House. The White House could, the president could, I know this is a question for the White House, extend that deadline into September as long as the airport is secure, isn't that right?

KIRBY: The mission that we've been given, Tom, is to conduct this drawdown by the 31st of August.

REPORTER: But if the airport is secure, you could continue into September, couldn't you?

KIRBY: That is a decision that the president, commander-in-chief, would have to make. Our mission right now, we have to talk about what we're doing now, Tom, and what our focus is, and that is on getting this completed by the 31st of August.

REPORTER: John, could I follow up on the agreement with the Taliban. Do you have an agreement with the Taliban they will allow for safe passage to the airport for SIVs, number one?

[10:25:03]

And there also are reports that you are having to negotiate now with former Gitmo detainees. One of the leaders in Qatar is a well-known Gitmo detainee who was released in 2014. Are you finding yourselves having to negotiate with former --

KIRBY: I know of no negotiations with former Guantanamo Bay detainees, Jen. On your first question, I would just, again, leave it to what I've been saying. There are interactions at the airport by our commanders with Taliban leaders out in town. As I said, they are charged with making sure this is a safe and secure environment and we trust them to have the interactions that they feel they need to have to ensure that in every aspect across the whole spectrum of what this mission requires of them, that they can do it safely and efficiently and in an orderly manner and I'm not going beyond that.

REPORTER: And, John, why are we not hearing from Defense Secretary Austin and General Mark Milley?

KIRBY: The chairman and the secretary are, as I think you would understand, extremely busy in communication with commanders on the ground, with General McKenzie, with the interagency. And I have every expectation that at the appropriate time, you'll hear from both of them.

REPORTER: Going down on the statement of no hostile attacks from the Taliban, who does that cover? Does that cover Afghan civilians and U.S. military and is that limited to the airport or is there also monitoring of Taliban attacks outside of the airport?

KIRBY: The mission is about the airport. As the general said, there has been no hostile interactions with the Taliban on either our people or our operations.

REPORTER: And can you confirm? So there is no tracking of what the Taliban is doing?

KIRBY: Our focus is on security and the operation of the airport. I haven't gone to anybody on the the phone and I need to do that, or I get in big trouble. Megan?

Okay, Megan may not be there. Tom --

REPORTER: I think I'm back.

KIRBY: Okay, you are.

REPORTER: Yes, unmute. Okay. So, is there an estimate of how many people are still currently at the airport and does that include people -- not just Americans and SIVs, but people who kind of bum rushed the airport a couple of days ago? And how is that situation being handled? And is there a hope for them to get out as well?

TAYLOR: So, right now, at the airport we continue to process in American citizens that have shown up. As we look at -- I think I heard this question of those that bum rushed the airfield. The airfield is secure. As I said earlier, those folks that were there on the southern part are no longer inside the airfield. And there is nobody no longer in there. And as you saw, we were able to get those -- some passengers out the day before. But right now, I don't have the number of those waiting for flight right now. But I'll be able to get that later on.

KIRBY: We go to another one on the phone here. Paul Shinkman from USNews.

REPORTER: Yes, hi, John. Two questions. Is the U.S. aware of any remaining vestige of the 300,000 Afghan security forces that it trained that are still operational? And if so, is the U.S. supporting them in any way? And then, secondly, has the secretary or any other senior official at the Pentagon spoken with any other Afghan counterparts or I suppose at this point people who are former Afghan counterparts since Sunday?

KIRBY: I know of no high level communications here from the Pentagon with Afghan counterparts over the last couple of days and I'll let the general take the question about the INSO.

TAYLOR: We do know that commanders on ground are continuing to communicate with ANDSF. And specifically on the airfield, we do have approximately 500 to 600 ANDSF that are assisting us with that security.

KIRBY: Okay, back in the room.

REPORTER: Thank you, John. I'll start with you and then I have a question for the general as well. What advice, John, do you have for the Afghans who assisted the U.S. and now can't get to the airport or are in Kandahar and can't even get to Kabul and they feel left behind? What is the advice the Pentagon is giving them?

KIRBY: What I'd tell you is, largely speaking, we know we have an obligation to help these individuals and their families who helped us so much over the last 20 years.

[10:30:00]

And we have been focused on this for quite some time. There is a process by which they can apply for these visas.