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U.S. Faces Tight Deadline for Afghanistan Evacuations; Taliban Spokesman Said Fighting is Over, Pledges Amnesty; U.S. Covid Hospitalizations Doubled Over Past Three Weeks; Texas Governor Who Opposes Masks Infected with COVID-19; British Prime Minister Addressing Parliament on Afghanistan; Death Toll Rises as Rain Hampers Relief Efforts in Haiti; Trio of Tropical Systems Threaten Mid- Atlantic, Caribbean. Aired 4:00-4:30a ET

Aired August 18, 2021 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

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

Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, Afghan airlift, the U.S. ramps up its efforts to fly thousands of people out of Afghanistan by the end of the month.

Greg Abbott becomes a victim of his own war on masking. The Texas governor says he has COVID.

And at the epicenter of Haiti's earthquake, hospital workers struggle with a massive influx of patients.

Good to have you with us. Well, the man who may become Afghanistan's new ruler has returned from a 20-year exile. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was cheered by his fellow Taliban as he arrived Tuesday in Kandahar. He co-founded the militant group almost three decades ago and with the U.S. withdrawal, he looks set to take charge again.

The Taliban have been settling into Kabul after taking the capital, even holding a news conference. And this comes as the U.S. tries to cut off their access to cash. Officials say the bulk of assets at the Afghan central bank, billions of dollars, are not even in Afghanistan. And the U.S. Treasury is working to effectively freeze them.

Meantime with thousands of people still trying to escape at the airport in Kabul, U.S. officials are in talks with the Taliban. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby was asked about that on Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do those discussions 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? So, that's one of the things that we're hearing is that people can't get through the Taliban checkpoints and they can't even get to the airport to leave. JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Yes, again, without going into

the details of the communications of which I'm not a part. As I said, there are interactions down at the local level and as the general said, we are processing American citizens to get out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: So, the question that remains is whether that process can move fast enough. Thousands of Americans and Afghan allies are still in Afghanistan. And if the U.S. sticks to its deadline, there's less than two weeks to get them all out. CNN's Oren Liebermann has more.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Kabul's international airport is in a more secure stable situation than it was 24 or 48 hours ago, but the U.S. is still unable to move 5,000 to 9,000 people a day out of the airport. That's what the minute Pentagon trying to hit with cargo aircraft moving people out of the country, but that number still very far away from it.

In fact, according to an update from the State Department, the U.S. moved about 1,000 people out of Kabul international airport on Tuesday including 300 or so Americans. That brings the total number of people moved over the last few days to some 3,000, but that number well short of what it will have to be on a daily basis to really start getting U.S. citizens as well as Afghan interpreters and their families out of the country. The potential number that have to be moved, tens of thousands. And that right now seems like a daunting task although that's an effort that the U.S. Pentagon hopes to hit. The ability to move thousands a day in the coming days.

Meanwhile National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says the U.S. has assurances from the Taliban that U.S. citizens will have free passage to be able to get to Kabul's international airport. That key piece of real estate is the entry point for U.S. troops to secure the airport, as well as the exit point for all those trying to evacuate the airport.

The challenge here, not all of those citizens, not all of the U.S. citizens that America is trying to evacuate are in Kabul. And travel throughout the rest of the country incredibly difficult if not impossible. The logistical difficulties, the challenges ahead, many it seems have still not been solved. At this point as the hours tick away, the effort to get everybody out, still aiming for an August 31 deadline that is approaching very quickly.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, in the Pentagon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Women, girls and religious minorities have very good reasons to fear a return to Taliban rule. So do Afghans who worked for the U.S. and its allies. But the militants say they want peace and won't hurt women. Here's what a Taliban spokesman said at their news conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) [04:05:00]

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)

Well, CNN's Anna Coren has reported from Afghanistan for years, including on a recent trip there. She is with us now from Hong Kong for the latest on the Taliban takeover. Good to see you, Anna. So, what do you make of the Taliban's efforts to convince the world that they've changed and will now support the rights of women and that are Afghans saying about all of this?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well certainly they're trying to say all the right things. Such as women will still be allowed to go to work. They will only have to wear the hijab, which is a head scarf, which is what most Afghan women where now. But it's all within this Islamic framework, this sharia law and it's up to, you know, their interpretation. There was no clarification of what that really meant.

And the fear for women in particular in Afghanistan who if they were around for the Taliban rule back in 1996 to 2001 was that it was absolutely brutal. These women were basically prisoners in their own home. They are only allowed to go outside wearing a burqa and chaperoned by a male relative. Now the Taliban is saying, no we want you part of the workforce but within this framework.

I was speaking to a 25-year-old woman a little bit earlier, Rosemary. She has worked for an international company in Kabul. She said she is terrified. She has not left her home since Sunday. She said we wake up with this nightmare every single day with the Taliban on our streets, patrolling, you know, the checkpoints. She said I will not go outside. My heart bleeds for my homeland. She has two younger sisters and she said will they be married off to Taliban fighters? Which is what we were seeing up in certain provinces during the fighting of the last few months.

So, these are the sort of concerns. And you know, she is doing her MBA. She's somebody who wants a future. And so many young women, millions and millions of women, have gone to school, gone to university, and were part of that future of, you know, of a democratic Afghanistan. That has now just vanished overnight. They are now living with this reality. They know they have no future in Afghanistan despite what the Taliban is saying to them and they are looking for a way out.

You know, I'm getting messages constantly, you know, how can I get out of this country? Can you get me on a list? A State Department list. And you heard then from the State Department saying, well, at the moment we're just getting American citizens out. What happens to all those Afghan interpreters, all those activists, all those journalists who are now fearing for their lives, Rosemary. They've got two weeks to get them out. CHURCH: Yes, it is just a terrifying situation for all of those

people. Anna Coren, many thanks for bringing us up to date with all of that. Appreciate it.

Well, in the coming hours, President Joe Biden is expected to speak to the American people about the need for COVID booster shots. COVID hospitalizations have doubled over the past three weeks as the Delta variant surges through the country. The U.S. health department data shows more than 83,000 people are hospitalized this week alone straining health care systems. Although officials previously held off calling for a booster shot, it appears that they now believe it is necessary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY SLAVITT, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 ADVISOR: They're doing something smart I think, which is they've learned a lesson that you have to lay the groundwork when you are going to make a big change. And so, what they've done in the last couple weeks by saying, hey, we're going to need them in the future, we might need them, it looks like we're going to need them, at some point we're going to need them, is better than where I think they've been criticized for before. Which is just coming out with a change without making people all aware that it was going to come.

Not everybody pays equal attention, but what I think they're going to say tomorrow when they announce this is that we are getting ahead of the problem. We're trying to prevent the problem from becoming worse. We've studied the data, hopefully they're going to share the data. They have told me they will share the data, which will tell people, hey, here is what we're seeing and because we're seeing this, here is what we're recommending. And we should look long and hard at that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The administration is considering a plan for boosters eight months after full vaccination, but the World Health Organization wants wealthy countries to delay booster doses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[04:10:00]

MARIA VAN KERKHOVE, COVID-19 TECHNICAL LEAD, WHO: This is a global pandemic and we need global solutions. What our recommendation is, is that all of the world's most vulnerable and those who are most at risk, health workers, need to receive their first and second doses before large proportions of the population or all of the population in some countries receive that third dose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The U.S. Transportation Security Administration will extend its mask mandate on planes, trains and buses into January. The mandate was set to expire in September, but officials say it needs to stay due to the skyrocketing COVID cases and the highly transmissible Delta variant. A flight attendants union praised the extension of the mask mandate. Flight attendants and airline workers have been on the front lines of enforcing the mask rules and there have been nearly 3,000 incidents of passengers violating the mask mandate this year.

Well meantime the governor of Texas who has been a staunch opponent of mask mandates has now tested positive for COVID-19. Greg Abbott's office revealed his diagnosis on Tuesday. But the governor also posting a video to social media about how he's feeling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): I test myself every day and today is the first day that I tested positive. The good news is that my wife continues to test negative. Also want you to know that I have received the COVID-19 vaccine and that may be one reason why I'm really not feeling any symptoms right now. I have no fever, no aches and pains, or other types of symptoms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Abbott is now isolating at the governor's mansion while receiving antibody treatments. CNN's Rosa Flores has more now on how this could affect the rest of the state.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: His press office also saying that everyone who has been in close contact with the governor has been contacted. Now, that might include the people in these pictures. Take a look. Governor Greg Abbott tweeting these Monday night showing his attendance at a mostly maskless rally in Collin County.

Now Governor Greg Abbott now a part of the alarming statistics in this state, the growing number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19. Now all of this happening at a time when his attorneys are arguing in courts across this state against mask mandates in schools at a time when the state of Texas leads the nation in the number of children who are hospitalized with COVID-19.

Now will his infection change his mind on mask mandates. We don't know that. What we do know is that the legal battle over mask mandates in this state continues.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: In Florida, the State Board of Education is targeting two school districts over mask mandates. The board voted unanimously that the two counties be investigated for apparently defying Governor Ron DeSantis's order against masks. The school districts could face funding and salary cuts and removal of officers. The board says the mandates violate state law because they don't include opt out provisions for parents.

And in Arizona, Republican Governor Doug Ducey is escalating his efforts to prohibit mask mandates in schools. He said the state would use federal COVID relief money to increase funding available to public school districts only if they are open for in-person learning and don't require masks.

U.S. House lawmaker Greg Stanton, a Arizona Democrat, says that move is illegal and he is now urging the U.S. Treasury to withhold those funds from his home state.

In Kentucky, there's been an explosion of pediatric COVID cases. The number of infected children has soared more than 400 percent in just one month and the governor's office warns that children are at greater risk from the virus than ever before.

And in Alabama, the COVID situation has gotten so bad that hospitals have run out of ICU beds. The Alabama Hospital Association told local media that nearly 1,600 patients were in need of intensive care and they were about 11 beds short. One doctor says the shortages are emotionally devastating and staff have been holding one another and crying. Just extraordinary.

And still to come, the British Prime Minister will be speaking about the chaos in Afghanistan. We will bring you details of what he says.

Plus, the death toll from the devastating earthquake in Haiti keeps climbing. A CNN crew is in one of the hardest hit cities and we'll take you there next.

[04:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Days after the Taliban took control of Kabul British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will address Parliament later this morning on the situation in Afghanistan. And CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is in London with the latest. Good to see you, Salma. So, what is the British Prime Minister expected to say?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: So, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is going to be speaking to the House of Commons midday today. This is rather rare because this is August, this is the summer season, but it shows just how important it is to the members of Parliament, to the government here to have this session. He will be facing criticism, Rosemary, that's absolutely going to happen.

Members of Parliament will be asking the Prime Minister how did this happen so quickly? How did everything unfold so dramatically, so drastically in just a matter of days in Afghanistan? Was he aware, did he have security briefings necessary? What was his coordination with the United States? All of these questions will be asked because fundamentally there are still several thousand British nationals that we understand inside Afghanistan needing evacuation. A few hundred troops to coordinate that evacuation.

And of course, Britain's long-standing dedication to this war over two decades.

[04:20:00]

So real questions about what was the purpose? What is happening? What is the future plan here? A lot of criticism (INAUDIBLE). Boris Johnson will of course be expected to defend what's taken place over the last few days. He has already spoken to the press in the past and said it was essentially inevitable that at some point troops would have to pull out and that the Afghan people would be left to some sort of their own devices, if you will. So, you will expect him to have some sort of response to those questions.

But the other matter we're also expecting from Prime Minister Boris Johnson is the announcement of a resettlement scheme. So potentially thousands of Afghan nationals will be provided asylum here in the U.K., in the first year, this resettlement scheme is expected to bring in 5,000 Afghan nationals over the long term, potentially 20,000. Priority will be given to women and girls and people from minorities of course being the most vulnerable groups there.

So that will be one way in which the British Prime Minister shows his obligation and dedication to the Afghan people is through this resettlement scheme. But a lot of questions will be asked here. There is a little bit of kicking the can down the road, there is a G7 summit next week. So, Prime Minister Boris Johnson can say, look, I need to speak to other world leaders. I need to speak to our allies before we have a coordinated and clear strategy on the future of Afghanistan.

But for right now, we need to focus on the evacuations, so that is what he will be discussing, how do you pull out the last British nationals in the country and how do you begin to coordinate that full withdrawal of British troops -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right, Salma Abdelaziz joining us live from London, many thanks.

Well, we are getting a clearer picture of the devastation left behind after the earthquake in Haiti. The death toll has now jumped to over 1,900 people, hospitals are inundated with victims. And heavy rain from tropical storm Grace is further complicating relief efforts. Many injured survivors are stuck in remote areas huddled together under make shift tents or with no shelter at all. Getting aid to them is slow going and leading to growing frustrations. Here's what one victim told us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARIMENE JOUESIL, HOMELESS AFTER EARTHQUAKE (through translator): We have been promised medicine. I went to look for it and I was told to wait. Yesterday they distributed aid but I wasn't able to get anything. It rained a lot at night. We could not sleep. We have nothing to eat. We have nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Matt rivers is near the epicenter of the quake where health care workers at one hospital are overwhelmed with patients, And here's his report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As soon as we arrived 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 this 22-month-old, Evan San Dovial (ph) a shattered femur.

My daughter is suffering, her dad says, and I don't want her to lose her leg. I'm so sad she is going through this. Evan San's (ph) dad says he pulled her out of the rubble himself.

5I 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 had died here. Many remain missing and thousands were injured far more than the small health system can handle.

At the hospital, there is only so much these doctors and nurses can do. On a normal day official 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're not, it could lead to everything from losing limbs to losing lives. It's what even Evan San's (ph) dad fears the most. He's doing his best to just keep it together because he doesn't know what else to do.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And for more on how you can help the people of Haiti, go to CNN.com/impact.

And we're tracking three powerful storms right now, a flash flood threat continues from the mid-Atlantic through the northeast from former tropical storm Fred. But while tropical storm Grace takes aim at the Yucatan. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has the details -- Pedram.

[04:25:00]

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Rosemary. Yes, we're watching parts of three storms here, from Henri in the ear of Bermuda, to tropical storm Grace just outside -- just south of the Cayman Islands. And what is left of what was once tropical storm Fred and Fred really left a mess across the southern United States. Look at portions of the panhandle into northern Georgia, into the Carolinas, that is widespread coverage of 3 to 4 inches of rainfall that came down in the past 24 hours.

And we do have flood alerts extending into the northeast and we think this storm will eventually rain itself out across this region with another round of 3 to 4 inches. So essentially what played across areas of the south, will play out across areas of the northeast over the next 24 to 36 hours with this heavy rainfall in place.

Now tropical storm Grace, it's still there, very slow-moving exiting out of Jamaica into portions of the Cayman Islands. And all eyes on this because we do expect this to strengthen backup to a hurricane. Potentially making another landfall over Cozumel, Mexico, reemerge over the Bay of Campeche. Restrengthen back up to a category 1 making another landfall into northern Mexico near Tampico. So, we'll watch this here over the next several days with multiple impact points before it's all said and done.

Now widespread coverage of the U.S., we've talked about the excessive heat and also the fire weather risks, and that is once again back at play there across parts of the Western U.S. Very strong winds with a potent frontal boundary that is pushing through the region. So, expect the winds to howl to as high as 40, maybe 45 miles per hour. That will lead to the more fire weather concerns around parts of the West. But back behind this front, look at those temperatures, cream contours we have not seen in some time. Temps running 20 to 30 degrees below where they were yesterday. Billings, Montana, Rosemary, only 58 degrees, and even a possibility for some wintry weather in the higher elevations of the Rockies -- Rosie.

All right, thanks so much for that, Pedram, appreciate it.

Well, firefighters are working around the clock in California right now, the Caldor fire expanded dramatically in the past 24 hours going from 6,000 acres burned to now more than 30,000 with containment at 0 percent. Evacuation orders are in place for some areas and thousands of residents have already fled. Officials say the flames have destroyed scores of buildings, including an elementary school. And at least two people have been injured.

Well, still to come, U.S. troops have secured Kabul's airport restoring order after chaos erupted just a few days ago. But that sense of calm extends only as far as the gates where crowds of panicked Afghans are still desperately trying to find a way out.

Plus, it is an image that drives home just how dire the situation is for so many Afghans. Hundreds of people cramming on to a U.S. military plane escaping thanks to one split second decision.

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