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Taliban Cheered Their New Leader for Afghanistan; Afghan Interpreter Denied Visa; World Leaders Meet to Discuss Afghanistan Related Issues; Migrants Expected to Flock Europe and U.S.; Leaders Not Buying Taliban's Sugarcoated Promises; Afghan Women Face Worrisome Future Despite Taliban Vows; Afghans And Others Remain Stranded At Kabul Airport; Afghans Watch Nervously As Taliban Rule Begins; CNN Visits One Of The Hard-Hit Areas After Haiti Quake; Biden To Speak On Booster Shots As Delta Variant Surges; Filmmaker's Take On The Afghanistan War's End. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired August 18, 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]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead here on CNN Newsroom, after 20 years of progress, women once again fear for their lives in Afghanistan. How the Taliban regime is taking shape and why the international community is skeptical of some bold new promises.

Plus, evacuations are slow going at the Kabul airport where many Afghans and foreign nationals are still waiting to escape.

And just days after a devastating earthquake, Haiti is now battered by a tropical storm adding to the country's turmoil.

It is 11.30 in the morning in Kabul, where Afghans are facing a third full day of Taliban rule. The militants have brought back a senior leader who may become Afghanistan's new president. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was cheered as he arrived at the Kandahar airport Tuesday.

He was one of the Taliban's core members when they ruled with an iron fist two decades ago. He took part in peace talks with the U.S. But his presence doesn't bode well for Afghans hoping to avoid a return to strict Islamist law.

Anxiety about what comes next is driving thousands of people to the Kabul airport, trying to escape. The chaos of the past few days though has calmed down. Troops from the U.S. are on site and Washington says it hopes to pick up the pace of evacuations.

Meantime, the Taliban are vowing a more moderate version of their historically brutal rule. They even held a news conference Tuesday promising mercy for their enemies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ZABIHULLAH MUJAHID, TALIBAN SPOKESMAN (through translator): We don't want Afghanistan to be a battlefield. Today, the fighting is over. Whoever was against the opposition has been given blanket amnesty. The fighting should not be repeated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (on camera): The Taliban are also promising to uphold women's rights, but they say that they will be respected within the framework of Sharia law. And that's up to the Taliban's interpretation which is a big reason why many fears two decades of progress may soon be wiped away.

CNN's Clarissa Ward has more now from Kabul.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At the central Kabul market, stores were open and people were back on the streets, or at least some people. It was impossible not to notice that women here seem to have largely melted away. One store was doing better business than usual.

For more than a decade, Muhammad has been selling burqas, the head to toe coverings once imposed by the Taliban. "Business was good, but now it's even better," he tells us, "more sales."

Why do you think you're selling more burqas right now?

"Because the Taliban took over, and all the women are afraid," he says. So that's why they are all coming in and buying burqas."

Do you feel abandoned?

UNKNOWN: Yes, exactly.

WARD: In an apartment downtown, we saw that fear firsthand. Until last week, Fazila was working for the U.N. That's not her real name, and she asked that we not show her face. She's petrified that the Taliban will link her to western organizations, and says she hasn't gone outside since they arrived in Kabul.

You look very frightened.

UNKNOWN: Exactly, too much. It is not easy for a person to work a lot with international organization, having more than 10 years' experience of working with international and now not one of them help me. Just sending e-mails to different organizations that I work with you but now, no response.

WARD: Are you angry?

UNKNOWN: No, I'm not angry. But as a person that who work with them, now I need their support. It is not fair.

WARD: You look at very emotional as well. UNKNOWN: Yes, because I'm thinking about my future, my daughters.

What will happen to them if they kill me, two daughters without a mother?

WARD: The Taliban says they have learned from history, and that women's rights will be protected. But many fearful Afghan women remain to be persuaded.

We are on our way now to the home of a prominent female Afghan politician. She's told me that there are Taliban fighters outside her front door, so she's asked that I go in alone.

[03:05:00]

Fawzia Koofi was one of the Afghan government negotiators during peace talks with the Taliban and has dealt with the group a lot. She says that promising change is not enough.

FAWZIA KOOFI, MEMBER, AFGHAN PARLIAMENT: They have to really prove it in the provinces across Afghanistan. They have to show it by example. It's very easy to issue statements but people need to see that in practice.

WARD: Koofi has every reason not to trust. Last year she was shot by unknown gunmen. The Taliban denied they were behind the attack.

You have children?

KOOFI: I have two daughters.

WARD: And now they're here?

KOOFI: They're in Kabul.

WARD: And are you concerned for them, or?

KOOFI: I'm concerned for my daughters, and all the girls of Afghanistan. I don't want history to repeat itself and then very brutally.

WARD: Twenty years of progress for women in Afghanistan now hangs by a thread.

Clarissa Ward, CNN, Kabul.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (on camera): Well thousands of Afghans who helped the U.S. mission over the years are now living in fear. And we are joined now by a man who worked with U.S. Special Forces for five years. But he says the U.S. denied his visa application. And now he fears the Taliban will find him and kill him. He joins us now from Kabul.

Thank you so much for joining us and for your service to the United States.

UNKNOWN: Thank you for having me on your program.

CHURCH: Thank you. And you were at the airport in Kabul on Monday, trying to get out of Afghanistan. But you say it was the blackest day of your life. What happened there?

UNKNOWN: I am (Inaudible) I found out, you know, that the Taliban were trying to (Inaudible) at the capitol. So, I went to ask for assistance from the American soldiers because I serve (Inaudible) they are the only people living in (Inaudible). So, I went at (Inaudible) airport. I tried to (Inaudible) and wanting to get and they were shooting of people. They were shooting people like the way they are killing people men and women before 2001, they never had a chance --

(CROSSTALK)

CHURCH: Sorry, who was shooting at people? Who was shooting at people?

UNKNOWN: I'm sorry?

CHURCH: Who were you saying was shooting at people?

UNKNOWN: They were shooting at people because the people were (Inaudible) trying to get to the airport. So that means that the Taliban were running. So, they were trying to push the people back by shooting, you know? So, they could -- they were shooting (Inaudible) of the people. You know, they killed more than 12 people out of (Inaudible) and it's 12 civilian people. Yes.

So finally, I (Inaudible) they were firing at people, they were shooting at people, so I got down. And people were crossing over me, I got injured in the head.

CHURCH: And you say, of course, you risk your life to protect American soldiers. What do you want in return for that? And why is it taking so long to process your paperwork? Your visa, we understand, was rejected.

UNKNOWN: Yes, that's what I'm telling you. I had to go through all these problems, you know. I find (Inaudible) so I had to deal (Inaudible) right now. So, they will not experience in the life there (Inaudible). So, I'm telling you this for no reason, the world know I have (Inaudible) that I had done nothing wrong. So, they would get rid of me and they denied my visa I.D. from 2016.

So, yes, that's why I'm now left behind in Kabul. We are in danger. You know, the Taliban will kill me and will find me and will kill me. They beheaded, you know, one of the interpreters myself two months ago, three months ago. So, they will be dependent for everyone, you know, (Inaudible) and the U.S. also.

CHURCH: Thank you so much for talking with us. I am so sorry for what is happening to you there in Afghanistan. And we do hope at some point you are able to get out. Obviously, we are not naming this gentleman for his own safety. But thank you so much, sir, for talking with us.

Well CNN's Anna Coren has reported from Afghanistan for years, including on a recent trip there. And she joins us now.

[03:09:58]

So, Anna, what is the latest on evacuation efforts at the airport in Kabul. And what's been the response to the Taliban press conference? And this effort on the part of the Taliban to present to the world a much more moderate version of themselves?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, just listening to that Afghan interpreter, I know it's quite difficult to hear, network connection in Afghanistan, you know, is patchy at the best of times.

But these are people who have worked with the Americans for years. They've risked their lives. They have letters of recommendation and commendation from commanders within the U.S. military. And yet they cannot get a visa into the United States. They have been trying for years, and as far as the State Department is concerned, they will see termination and they will not process these visas. They won't even look at these visas again.

Hence, you saw all these interpreters, race to the airport on Monday, of which he was one of those people. And they are scared for their lives, Rosemary. We did a report just last month on an interpreter who was hunted down and beheaded. So, you know, this retribution is real.

You might have a Taliban that's presenting itself to the world, like it did in this press conference with the spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid yesterday, saying that we want everyone to remain here. There's blanket amnesty, we want women to go to work, we want, you know, young girls to go to school.

But from the people that I am speaking to, Rosemary, no one is buying this. No one believes that the Taliban, that brutal regime that has committed atrocities for decades, that has gone after ethnic minorities like the Hazaras, killing thousands of them when they were in power from 1996 to 2001. They do not believe that that is going to stop.

Of course, the eyes of the world are on -- is on Afghanistan at the moment, are on the Taliban at the moment. But when the cameras leave, when the world's attention turns to the next big news story, what then? How will the Taliban behave? And that is the question.

We know that there are high-profile women under house arrest. I'm speaking to women who are petrified of going outside their homes. They say they get a knock at the door, fearing that it could be the Taliban looking for them. These are educated people who know that they have no future.

As for the airport, Rosemary, we understand that it has been secured. That flights are coming in and out that they are moving those people on the military side of the airport. The staff from all the embassies, you know, the U.S. staff, the foreigners, as well as those Afghan interpreters that do have SIVs. That is starting.

But Rosemary, they have two weeks, that is the deadline that President Biden has given the U.S. military, they must be out by the 31st of August. There is a mammoth task ahead to get out these people who are scared for their lives.

CHURCH: Yes. It is such a desperate situation for those who want to leave and leave quickly because that isn't going to happen at this point. Anna Coren, joining us there live, many thanks.

Well, countries that once fought the Taliban must now decide how to deal with their former foes. How world powers are responding?

Plus, the Taliban claim to have changed their ways from their bloody past. But some experts are not buying it.

[03:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH (on camera): After Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, it's believed the U.S. president did not talk with any allied leaders for days. But he and the British prime minister did speak on Tuesday. Boris Johnson is calling for a virtual meeting of the G7 leaders in the coming days to discuss Afghanistan and get the international community on the same page.

The British government is also launching a plan to resettle Afghans facing persecution from the Taliban, with the priority on women and girls. Up to 5,000 will be welcome to the U.K. initially, with the goal of up to 20,000 in the long term.

Meantime, world leaders are closely watching the Taliban's return to power. Many with alarm, others with curiosity, and one neighbor is even expressing satisfaction.

CNN's Arwa Damon reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The headlines bare the ugly almost incomprehensible truth. After 20 years of war against the world's most powerful armies, the Taliban won. And those countries that once fought them are having to accept that they have to engage their former foes.

JOSEP BORRELL, E.U. FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF: The Taliban has won the war, so we have to deal with that in order to engage in a time as soon as necessary to prevent a humanitarian and a potential migratory disaster, but also on humanitarian crisis.

DAMON: After an emergency meeting Tuesday the E.U.'s foreign policy chief said that the block will not recognize but will work with the Taliban if fundamental human rights are respected. But it seems that the main concern is how to prevent Afghans from flooding Europe and avoiding a repeat of the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis.

EMMANUEL MACRON PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): France, as I said, we'll continue to do its duty to those who are most threatened. We will do our full part in an organized and fair and international effort. But Europe cannot be the only ones to take on consequences of the current situation.

DAMON: The consequences of the current situation, in other words, desperate Afghans wanting to flee the Taliban.

ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): Before talking about quotas, we must first talk about security possibilities for refugees in the neighborhood of Afghanistan, and I will also discuss this with UNHCR. Then we can think about as a second step whether specially affected people can be brought to Europe in a controlled and supported way.

DAMON: As Europe scrambles to protect itself, Afghanistan's neighbor and fickle American ally, Pakistan's leader praised the Taliban's take over as having broken the shackles of slavery. And where the west recedes, Russia and China will step in. The two countries foreign ministers reportedly spoke by phone on Monday to discuss the unfolding situation.

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): The fact that the Taliban show a willingness to consider the position of others, in my opinion, is a positive sign, and they said that they are ready to discuss a government in which not only them but the other representatives of Afghan powers can be a part.

DAMON: It is arguably among the saddest outcomes of a 20-year war that was meant to deliver so much more than this to a population that has already suffered more than most of us can even imagine.

Arwa Damon, CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (on camera): Pakistan has long been a safe haven for the Afghan Taliban. But Islamabad says it will not recognize Afghanistan's new regime before consulting with regional and international powers.

Sophia Saifi is in Islamabad, she joins us now live. Good to see you, Sophia.

[03:20:02]

So, what more are you learning about this apparent new approach from Pakistan? And Prime Minister Imran Khan's call with his U.K. counterpart, Boris Johnson.

SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN PRODUCER: Hi, Rosemary. Well, you know, there been a lot of this -- there's been a lot of diplomatic back and forth ever since the events over the past weekend. Just on Sunday night there was a band delegation led by various leaders of the former northern alliance. They were there in Pakistan.

Pakistan has also had a conversation with the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. Pakistan was pretty critical of the United States, you know, approach towards the peace talks that were taking place in the past few months. It had said that it was unfair, that there was so much expected from Pakistan and that the U.S. was just leaving the way that it was.

However, on Monday, Pakistan went ahead and said that the way that President Biden's decision to withdraw was now considering the situation, a logical decision. Pakistan has a lot of stake in what's going to happen in Afghanistan. They share, both countries share a large land border, there's a possible refugee crisis growing. There's also the question of where China comes in all of this.

Pakistan all, you know, with the one belt, one road project. Pakistan also has a very virulent, strong, loud, right-wing Islamist element within the country who have been directly congratulating the Afghan Taliban. There are also security concerns. There's the Pakistan Taliban, which is known to have strongholds in Afghanistan. And they went ahead and released a statement pledging allegiance to the Afghan Taliban.

So there are these concerns about what's going to happen in terms of Pakistan security. Their concern Pakistan has said, like you said earlier that this is going to be a regional decision, whether Pakistan is going to acknowledge the Afghan Taliban as a government in Afghanistan. And goes into question as how much Pakistan is going to walk hand in hand with China in recognizing what's happening in Afghanistan.

So, we'll just have to wait and see because it's such a moment of fluidity in this region. There are many things that are changing because of the geodynamics of what happened. That we'll just have to wait and see day by day, hour by hour how things change in the Pakistan and in the wider region. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Indeed, we will. Sophia Saifi joining us live from Islamabad, many thanks.

Well, many in Afghanistan are growing desperate to escape the uncertainty of Taliban rule. But for some, freedom comes with a price, leaving behind family, friends and lifelong professions.

Earlier, we spoke with Nasrin Nawa, a Fulbright scholar at the University of Nebraska Lincoln who fled Kabul just days ago. She says she gave up her career as a BBC Persian journalist and fierce things will get a lot worse for women in her home country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NASRIN NAWA, FORMER JOURNALIST WITH BBC PERSIAN BASED IN KABUL: It's just historic, it will be worse. Maybe they won't allow women to do some specific jobs, like policewoman. They won't let girls have some specific sports, like cycling, which I used to do in Kabul. And at the other hand, they are claiming that there is an amnesty, there will be safety for everyone, and they accept all the society members. But what kind of acceptance is has when you interfere with your personal choice?

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH (on camera): And despite these fears, the Taliban say they

have turned over a new leaf, making positive changes to distance themselves from the brutal regime they ran in the past. But the future of Afghanistan now depends on whether they are promises are truly kept.

CNN's Brian Todd has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Taliban's P.R. offensive is now in full swing, its spokesman claiming that while their ideology hasn't changed --

MUJAHID (through translator): On the basis of maturity, on experience, our vision, there are a lot of differences.

TODD: When the Taliban previously ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, women were forced to wear burqas, schools for girls were closed, women who were unaccompanied in public places could be beaten. Now, when asked if Afghan women can go to work --

MUJAHID (through translator): Yes. With regards to women, as I stated earlier, it will be within the framework of Sharia law.

TODD: Within the framework of sharia law, women can work, can go to school. What does that mean?

PETER BERGEN, AUTHOR, THE RISE AND FALL OF OSAMA BIN LADEN: Well, it's their version of Sharia law. And you know, work for women will be very limited. It will be in education, teaching girls, or treating other women patients. Girls may be able to go to school but it would be a Quranic school and at certain point also become teenagers, my guess is that there will be no education.

[03:25:01]

TODD: As for the Taliban's vicious record of violence against women, another claim.

MUJAHID (through translator): There will be no violence against women, no discrimination against women within the framework of Islamic law.

TODD: Women's rights advocates say this isn't the reality on the ground.

GAYATRI PATEL, VICE PRESIDENT OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS, WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION: What we are seeing on the ground is that women are still being harassed in the street by Taliban forces. There are report after report of women and girls being kidnapped and forced into marriages to Taliban soldiers or put into sexual servitude, children being groomed for marriage, public floggings for minor offenses.

TODD: Zarifa Ghafari, one of Afghanistan's first female mayors of a town in central Afghanistan told Britain's I News she's received death threats. Quote, "I'm sitting here waiting for them to come, they will come for people like me and kill me."

There's another promise being made tonight by the Taliban, blanket amnesty for people who worked in the previous government, even for people who helped the forces fighting against the Taliban.

MUJAHID (through translator): I would like to assure you there will be no danger to them.

BERGEN: I don't believe this blanket amnesty for the government and for the military. They've already beheaded an Afghan who was an interpreter for the U.S. military.

TODD: Relations between the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, according to the U.N., remain strong. On that score, the Taliban spokesman promised that on their watch, no death will be caused to anyone outside Afghanistan but with Al-Qaeda on the rebound there.

BERGEN: We can expect a lot more foreign fighters coming in. This will be tremendously energizing for any kind of Jihadi minded person around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD (on camera): Peter Bergen says once Al-Qaeda gets more organized, gain strength and more training and resources in Afghanistan, we can expect another attack on American interests, not necessarily on the American homeland, but certainly, on an American installation overseas, or maybe a soft target.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

CHURCH: Heather Barr is the associate director of the women's rights division at Human Rights Watch. And she joins me now via Skype from Islamabad, Pakistan. Thank you so much for talking with us.

HEATHER BARR, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, WOMEN'S RIGHTS DIVISION, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Thank you.

CHURCH: So, understandably many Afghan women don't believe these assurances from the Taliban, that they've evolved and will uphold women's rights, with disqualification that they will come, quote, "within the framework of Islamic Sharia." What does that mean exactly?

BARR: Well, presumably, the Taliban in 2001 believe that everything they were doing was in line with Sharia. Their interpretation of Sharia is way outside the mainstream, very fringe and very strange. And women have no reason to trust them, because this is not just about how they were treating women 20 years ago. It's about how they were treating women last week.

Because as they -- as they gain control of more parts of the country, they have very often implemented policies that are undistinguishable from how they treated women and girls in 2001, and even in the last few weeks, as they have swept across the country, there have been plenty of incidents of them closing schools, pushing women out of -- women and girls out of your university, telling women they can't be employed anymore and telling women that they can't even leave the house without a male family member escorting them.

So, there is no reason to trust them and to demonstrate on the ground that their behavior has changed across the entire country.

CHURCH: And what are Afghan women telling you about their fears and concerns about life under the Taliban? What can your organization do?

BARR: They are absolutely terrified. You know? I think this is particularly devastating for the generation that grew up in the last 20 years, who grew up hearing stories about the Taliban from their mothers and grandmothers and aunts and saw this as sort of a dark nightmare in their country's past that they were lucky enough to have escaped.

And now they are seeing the education, the career that they fought so hard for just disappearing overnight. In terms of what my organization can do, we are feeling helpless and devastated. You know, we are trying our best to try and help women and other human rights activists to escape the country. But that's extremely difficult for reasons that you described a moment ago.

We are trying to, you know, watch what's happening, but that's very difficult, with so many of our allies having fled the country or in hiding, or afraid to talk. So, I mean, this is one way that the Taliban can prove that they have changed, to actually allow human rights organizations, Afghan and international, to have access to the country and to see what's going on.

Because right now we are hearing plenty from people in the country, but feeling so frustrated that can't do more to help.

[03:30:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): And what do you think the future holds for these women? And what will likely happen to those women who are educated and have careers at the moment?

BARR: It is an incredibly dark picture. And I think the most important thing is that the international community can't sort of shrug and say, oh, shame about that and walk away. I think that the international community has an enormous responsibility to Afghan women. You'll recall in 2001, in the days after 9/11, the plight of women in Afghanistan was used to convince people, taxpayers, voters and the U.S. and every other country that sent troops, that this was a righteous war. That this was a war to protect women.

And it's really shocking to me the way that in this moment as there has been this abrupt withdrawal led by the U.S. That seems to have been completely forgotten. It doesn't seem to have been any planning for how to get high-profile women, women's rights activists out of the country in advance of the announcement of the withdrawal.

But there are still things that the international community can do. They can first of all, you know, do everything they can to help anyone who feels they need to escape Afghanistan, to be able to do so via the airport, via land borders, etcetera. And then they got to figure out how to put pressure on the Taliban, to respect human rights, particularly the rights of women and girls. And how to do that in a way that doesn't involve cutting off aid and further devastating what is already a terrible humanitarian situation.

CHURCH: Heather Barr, thank you so much for talking with us, we appreciate it.

BARR: Thank you.

CHURCH: The U.S. President is defending his decision on Afghanistan after the Taliban took control. Ahead, I will talk with a retired general about the U.S. withdrawal and the new realities on the ground.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: In their first news conference since taking control in Afghanistan, the Taliban made promises intended to ease widespread concerns, including blanket amnesty for all Afghans. But they are pledges are being met with skepticism and many aren't waiting to see if the groups promises will be kept. Those desperate to flee the country remain at the Kabul airport in hopes of finding a way out.

The White House says, the Taliban have promised safe passage for civilians looking to leave, amid reports of beatings for some who try to bypass Taliban checkpoints near the airport.

And we have more details on the situation at Kabul Airport from CNN's Nick Paton Walsh.

[03:35:14]

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Around Kabul Airport, lives spared or spoiled. At one gate, I was caught in the crash, shots in the air. Afghan soldiers let us in through a hole in the fence. Inside, a few lucky Afghans still with steps to go and sleepless U.S. Marines. Some not born before 9/11, whose first glimpse of Afghanistan here was the same as so many before them, except this time, they were truly encircled by (inaudible) Taliban just outside and they were leaving.

The detritus of 20 years of trying was everywhere, vehicles that may be left behind. And the Afghans who won't be blowing their faces to protect them. Lucky enough to get on a flight but not as huge in number as those who had swamped the airfield the days before.

It is absolutely breathtaking to see the scale of the operation underway here and the volume of people relieved to be inside, but still, the chaos (inaudible).

Flights picked up as evening fell. Urgency but a strange disconnect to the chaos that was swirling around the airport. People inside the airport simply did not know what was happening outside. And inside, they were headed in one direction. At airport security, the country's new rulers were given their first press conference on a TV that surely shown all four of the U.S. presidents who had been at war here. They sit and wait to be called to a new life in a land of plenty, where they will land with only what they can carry.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And for the thousands of Afghans who helped the U.S. and its allies during two decades of war, getting out of the country is a necessity. They are afraid of Taliban reprisals.

CNN's Clarissa Ward spoke with Pentagon Spokesman, John Kirby, from Kabul. He told her the U.S. is sending more planes and troops to speed the evacuations in the coming weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: To most Afghan people that I am talking to, John that is going to sound like a hollow promises. Can I have your word -- these people are depending on you, they are depending on America. Their lives are at threat. They have given everything to work with America to rebuild this country, and now they are asking simply for an assurance that they will not be cast aside, they will not be abandoned, that America will step up and take responsibility for the lives that are in its care at the moment.

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: Clarissa, there is nothing hollow about the obligation that we know we have to these Afghans who so bravely helped us over the last 20 years. Believe me, nobody in the United States Government more than the Pentagon understands that obligation to these individuals.

And as I said before, we will continue to do whatever we can to help them get out of the country, in concert with our State Department colleagues. We are absolutely committed to that, and we are going to stay and we are going to do it for as long as we possibly can, up until the end of the month. Certainly that's when the mission ends. We are going to continue to work on that very, very hard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: With us now is CNN military analyst and former NATO supreme allied commander, General Wesley Clark. Thank you sir for joining us.

WESLEY CLARK, CNN MILITARY ANALYST, RET. GEN. FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER (on camera): Thank you, good to be here.

CHURCH: So the mission right now is to evacuate Americans and Afghans who helped the U.S. But there still a crush of people outside the airport, trying to get in. With so many thousands still to evacuate, will they all get out in time? And why wasn't this exit conducted earlier and with better preparation?

CLARK: Well, I think there is good reason why it wasn't conducted earlier. Because once you start this, you have triggered the very thing that happened. And it would have been our blame for having started this. Now will they all get out? Well, first of all, it's not just Americans. There are other nationalities there, and there are Afghans who worked with those nationalities also. Not just the ones who worked with the Americans.

So this really is an international effort to pull out the people who consider themselves and are considered to be most at risk by the Taliban. And so there are many, many thousands trying to get in. They have got to be identified, checked in some way, they got to have visas to go somewhere. And they got to have airplane tickets, commercial, or they have got through to be on somebody's list to get a military flight.

[03:40:07]

CHURCH: And the Biden administration have set themselves a deadline for the end of August. Can it be done?

CLARK: It's possible, mechanically, that you could get the aircraft there. And if you could pull off 9,000 a day. And you've got another 10 or 12 days to bring out over 100,000. That seems like that is all. I'm getting calls from people, as you probably are too and other people going every which way, they are driving to Uzbekistan, they are trying to get out of Pakistan, they are going over the border, they are paying bribes.

There is a real sense of foreboding about this, no matter what the Taliban say. No one expects it to last. This is like a 90 percent, 10 percent. 90 percent, they will go back to Sharia Law. They will seek revenge, they will replace the people who worked so hard in the government, they will put their own people in and they will deal Sharia Justice.

CHURCH: And what is your reaction to President Biden's argument that if the Afghan army wasn't willing to fight for the country, then why should the U.S. continue to do so after 20 years? And risk more American lives? The president says, this is what reinforced his decision to withdraw U.S. troops at this time. How compelling do you find that argument?

CLARK: It's a very persuasive argument to the American public. We get this argument one way or another since the Vietnam War in the United States. If the country we are working to defend, doesn't fight as hard to defend itself as our American forces are fighting, why should we be there? President Nixon publish the Manila Doctrine in 1971, in answer to this. He said we would help those countries defend themselves or they are defending trying to defend themselves also. We would insist, we would not do it for him. And that has been pretty much a state full idea of American foreign policy.

Now we got into Afghanistan with a different mission. And that mission evolved into nation building and we said we would never do that again after Vietnam. But here we were, trying to do it. And in a most incredible difficult circumstances. A country rocked by two decades of war at that time, a country that was tribal, a country that was mostly illiterate. Really tough circumstances and so there were many mistakes, many misjudgments along the way, everybody bears some of these responsibility.

Not just in the United States, but also with our allies. Not everybody saw it as doable, but still it was projected as doable. And we kept putting the resources into it. So there are a lot of lessons learned and re-learned and relearned again out of this. I hope we can do it and as nonpartisan away as possible. We have got other big challenges on the national security agenda for the United States, as President Biden said.

And on the other hand, we still have got to work to tamp down terrorism and not let Afghanistan become a hotbed of terrorism. So can we do that without U.S. troops there? That remains to be seen. Can we do it and still face China and Russia? That is the top of the agenda right now.

CHURCH: General Wesley Clark, thank you so much for joining us.

CLARK: Thank you.

CHURCH: And still to come, a growing humanitarian crisis in Haiti. We will show you how heavy rain is hampering relief efforts and the search for survivors after Saturday's earthquake.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:45:00]

CHURCH: A hurricane watches in effect for Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and parts of the Caribbean right now, with tropical storm Grace pushes through the region. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says the storm is expected to strengthen into a hurricane on Wednesday, ahead of a possible landfall just south of Cancun.

Now this comes after Grace brought heavy rain Tuesday to Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti. And that's made the situation even more difficult for the island nation of Haiti. Hospitals are struggling to keep up with the influx of injured people after last weekend's deadly earthquake. CNN's Matt Rivers is near the epicenter of that quake and has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, here in Dimitri, this is one of the harder hit parts of Haiti as a result of this earthquake. It's difficult to get to, we took Coast Guard helicopter out here because we wanted to see the damage here firsthand. And we also wanted to see what the people here are going through after so many people in this part of the country were injured or killed as a result of this earthquake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS (voice over): As soon as we arrive to the hospital, so did this man on a stretcher. First responders brought him to the main hospital in the city of Jeremie, a facility that in reality has no room for him. Inside, Haitian doctors and nurses are doing what they can to manage an influx of earthquake victims. So many have come in, every single bed is full, so some are simply laid on the floor. There are broken arms and legs, crush wounds from falling debris. And in the case of 22-month-old Evenson reveal a shattered femur. My daughter is suffering, her dad says, and I don't want her to lose

her leg. I am so sad she's going through this.

Evenson's dad says he pulled her out of the rubble himself.

I love my daughter very much and I almost lost her. I'm very grateful to these doctors, working with their bare hands. It's horrific for everyone.

Not far from the hospital, there is destruction on every block. Here, ordinary people are clearing this debris, because underneath was a grocery store. Food supplies are thin right now, so anything they can find will help. Hundreds have died here. Many remain missing and thousands were injured, far more than the health system can handle.

At the hospital, there is only so much these doctors and nurses can do. On a normal day officials say they treat 10 people here. When we were there, 84 people were waiting for treatment and more were coming in.

We are totally overwhelmed says the hospital director, the patients keep coming in. And we don't have the means to take care of them all.

A doctor on scene told us at least a third of these people need to be moved to better equipped facilities. If they are not, it could lead to everything from losing limbs, to losing lives. It's what Evenson's dad fears the most. He is doing his best to just keep it together because he doesn't know what else to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS (on camera): And obviously what is needed here is more outside aid, be it from the government, charity organizations, but clearly there needs to be a more robust government response here. There needs to be resources surged to this area. It is a part of Haiti that is relatively difficult to reach, made more so because of damage from this earthquake. They're also remains sections of roadways between here and Port-au-Prince that can be quite dangerous at times.

But whatever the reason is, it doesn't change the need, there needs to be more resources sent to this part of Haiti. And until they get here, the people that are struggling so valiantly right now to try and you know, help people, to make the situation better, they are going to continue to face a very uphill battle. Matt Rivers, CNN, in Dimitri Haiti.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:50:10]

CHURCH: COVID hospitalizations in the U.S. have doubled over the past three weeks as the Delta variant surges. The U.S. Health Department data shows that more than 83,000 people were hospitalized this week alone, straining health care systems. Texas is requesting additional mortuary trailers, while Alabama has run out of ICU beds. And Kentucky says, pediatric cases have soared more than 400 percent in a month. Later today, President Joe Biden is expected to speak about vaccine

booster shots and the White House data on waning immunity. The administration is considering a plan for boosters eight months after full vaccination.

And the U.S. Transportation Security Administration will extend its mask mandate on public transport into January. The mandate was set to expire in September, but officials say it needs to stay in place due to the skyrocketing COVID cases and the highly transmissible Delta variant. A flight attendants union praised the extension of the mask mandate. But flight attendants and other airline workers have been on the front lines of enforcing the mask rules. Federal Aviation Authorities say there have been about 3,000 incidents of passengers violating the mask mandate this year.

Well, at times journalists and filmmakers get front row seats to the brutal experiences troops face on the front lines. Coming up on "CNN Newsroom," we will hear what one Afghanistan war filmmaker thinks about how it all ended.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Well many who have served in the U.S. military are voicing their frustration about how things have fallen apart in Afghanistan. One veteran tells CNN, quote, "all the friends I lost in Afghanistan, what were their deaths for?"

Over two decades, hundreds of thousands of troops were deployed there and countless Americans and Afghans sacrificed their lives, fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Some journalists and filmmakers were able to record their experiences. "Restrepo," a 2010 documentary chronicles a year with one battalion in an isolated outpost in Afghanistan. And here's a clip of that film and a warning, you may find this disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(HUGE BLAST)

UNKNOWN: IED. Keep going, keep going. IED.

UNKNOWN: What are we doing?

UNKNOWN: Right now, right now.

UNKNOWN: Fire. Got to get out. Get moving. (BEEP)

UNKNOWN: 600 meters. 300 meters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:55:00]

CHURCH: And CNN's Anderson Cooper spoke to one of the filmmakers behind "Restrepo," Sebastian Junger. He echoed the growing frustration among veterans, but said many were not surprised by the outcome in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN JUNGER, FILMMAKER, RESTREPO (on camera): I think some are like, you know, it's gone on long enough, no one else should die over there, the Afghans aren't appreciating us, you know, whatever. It's time to leave. There's a lot of that, right? But then there's a lot of, what's it all for? I think there are some tentative answers about what it was all for. But many of them -- those answers I am not sure will emotionally satisfy people that have, you know, suffered in combat.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST (on camera): Were you surprised at the speed with which things fell apart?

JUNGER: No, I mean, I was there in 1996 when the Taliban took over initially. And you know, I was in Jalalabad, and I was staying at the one hotel in town, the Spinghar, and you know, the Taliban delegation was across the breakfast room, sort of glaring at me suspiciously. And they were negotiating the handover of Jalalabad. There wasn't any fighting. And it happen very quickly.

And so, you know, the Taliban didn't fight their way across Afghanistan, except for a few locations. Like it was all negotiated and the Afghan soldiers who were supplied with ammunition or even food or salaries, because all that stuff was getting stolen by commanders. You know, they were told by the Taliban, look, if you give up, we won't kill you. And so, of course they did. Like, it made totally makes sense.

So, no. It didn't surprise me at all. And once, you know, they were outside Kabul, there was rioting and looting and the Taliban went into keep order. You know, people say, they took Kabul. It wasn't being defended, like they didn't really take it in that sense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Filmmaker and journalist, Sebastian Junger, speaking earlier to CNN. And thank you so much for watching. I'm Rosemary Church. I will be back after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world, I'm Rosemary Church.