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People Must Run Taliban Gauntlet To Get Into Kabul Airport; Chaos Outside Kabul Airport As Desperate Crowds Try To Flee; Skepticism Over Taliban Offers Of Amnesty And Peace; Pakistan Opens Both Major Border Crossings To Afghanistan; U.S. Facing Global Criticism For Messy Withdrawal. Aired 12-1a EST
Aired August 19, 2021 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:41]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm John Vause.
Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, just like the Taliban of old, shooting protesters dead, leaving others bruised, bloody and denied entry to Kabul's airport. And it hasn't even been a week.
It's booster shots for all in the U.S. as evidence grows that COVID vaccines are becoming less effective in preventing infections.
And a double disaster, first, the quake then the storm. But what has not arrived? Help for many Haitians who are isolated and left to fend for themselves.
The fate of more than 65,000 Afghans who work with U.S. forces along with their families now at the mercy of the Taliban fighters who have surrounded Kabul's Airport and ultimately decide who gets in and who does not.
Wednesday, so increasingly violent confrontations, the sound of heavy gunfire could be heard. With reports many Afghans trying to leave returned back at checkpoints. Others were beaten by Taliban soldiers.
Under a deal between the Trump administration and the Taliban, the U.S. withdrawal must be complete 12 days from now. But President Joe Biden has indicated U.S. forces may stay longer if needed to ensure safe passage for all Americans.
In Afghanistan's East, the city of Jalalabad saw a violent clashes between Taliban fighters and protesters who removed the group's plain white flag from the main square.
Well, the southern city of coast sources tell CNN, a curfew is now in place after angry demonstrations.
And Afghanistan's former leader who fled the country as the Taliban overwhelmed the capital is alive and well and living in the UAE. Ashraf Ghani was candid during his public remarks saying he left because he did not want to be hanged.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ASHRAF GHANI, FORMER AFGHAN PRESIDENT (through translator): My commitment to all my countrymen and women was to avoid bloodshed and to ensure peace, stability and development for Afghanistan. That was my overall objective.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The former president is now safely out of the country. But the same is not even close to reality. For tens of thousands of Afghans who've mobbed Kabul's airport in recent days.
With 4,500 U.S. troops securing the airfield, evacuation flights are wrapping up but making it into the airport has been impossible for many.
Taliban fighters are roaming the streets around the perimeter, turning desperation to leave into a torment of being left behind.
We begin our coverage with CNN's Clarissa Ward reporting in from Kabul.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: America's last foothold in Afghanistan is now guarded by the Taliban.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you can see, the Taliban are all over (INAUDIBLE).
WARD: We've come to Kabul's airport to see the gauntlet people must pass through to fly out.
You can hear gunshots every couple of minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN.
WARD: Quickly, we are accosted by an angry Taliban fighter.
Can I ask you a question? Excuse me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He says first --
WARD: Cover my face?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cover.
WARD: OK, covered my face. What is this? What is that?
He told me to cover my face. But he doesn't want to comment on that truncheon he's carrying.
The fighter tells us these chaotic scenes are the fault of America.
The cause of all this is America in Afghanistan. Look at these people, he says. America is really acting unfairly towards them. Why are they lying and telling them that they can go to America? Why don't they let them stay and help their country?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He doesn't want to talk to you.
WARD: OK. (INAUDIBLE)
We keep walking to avoid confrontation. A man follows us asking for advice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How we can enter the base?
WARD: How you can enter the base?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Because they are sending me e-mails also.
WARD: Do you have paperwork to enter?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
WARD: Show me your paper.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The interno (PH) but we have e-mail, they call on me.
WARD: Was this an Italian company?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Italian company.
[00:05:04]
WARD: OK, but I don't want this guy to whip you.
WARD: OK, thank you.
WARD: Others crowd around us to show their documents.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's my -- translator.
WARD: Yes, you were a translator?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
WARD: OK. (INAUDIBLE)
So, they're saying they all worked at American camps as translators for the Americans and they can't get into that airport.
These Taliban fighters are a little upset with us, so let's keep going. We decide to leave and head for our car.
The fighter takes the safety off his AK-47 and pushes through the crowd.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay behind him -- stay behind him.
WARD: You can see that some of these Taliban fighters, they're just hopped up on adrenaline or I don't know what. It's a very dicey situation.
Suddenly, two other Taliban charged towards us. You can see their rifle butt, raised to strike producer Brent Swails. When the fighters are told we have permission to report, they lower their weapons and let us pass.
OK, now we're going to get in the car.
While the scenes of the airport are incredibly distressing and incredibly chaotic, the rest of the city is largely calm. We saw more people on the streets today, more shops open, more cars on the road, fewer Taliban checkpoints in many areas.
So, they are trying to provide law and order. But the situation at the airport is so tense that I worry it's become like a powder keg, and that one little thing could go wrong and it really could escalate into a very bad situation indeed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: All thanks to CNN's Clarissa Ward reporting in from Kabul.
Live now to CNN's Arwa Damon following developments from Istanbul.
So, Arwa, what happened to those Taliban promises that those who want to leave will be allowed to leave, they'll be given a safe corridor, safe passage into the airport?
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think there's a lot of confusion right now, John, because it's not just the issue with those Taliban promises. The issue also is with capacity at the airport with the sheer and utter lack of planning for all of this.
The U.S. doesn't have the tempo of flights in place at the moment to get everybody out who actually needs to get out. We're getting all sorts of reports of lists being provided on the outer perimeter of the airport of people whose names are being allowed -- who would be allowed to go through If your name is not on that list, you can't go through, we're hearing reporting.
Even if people with Green Cards who aren't being allowed to go through for any number of different reasons. I mean, you have such a lack of coordination, of organization at just about every single level right now. The scenes outside of the airport are to a certain degree, almost unimaginable.
And here's the other issue, John, is that those people that we're seeing there, those are just the people who potentially actually have either the paperwork or an application in process who were able to get to that point inside Kabul itself.
But let's think about all of the others who are in other parts of the country who have to basically somehow try to make their own way, not just to Kabul, to the airport, past the Taliban perimeter, and then into the actual airport complex itself. Add to all of this, of course, the underlying issue of what is going
to happen to all of those other Afghans civilians whose lives are potentially in grave danger, who don't have access to the one and only exit lifeline from Afghanistan at this moment, the Kabul airport? That is again, being controlled by both the Taliban and by the United States.
There are so many multiple obstacles in everyone's way. Anyone who is trying to just get out of that country.
VAUSE: Yes, the fate of so many civilians as 36 million people living in Afghanistan right now, many not pleased to be living under Taliban rule.
But just to get back to the issue with the airport right now, if the U.S. wanted to, do they have the numbers needed on the ground to provide any kind of safe corridor into the airport?
DAMON: There's a lot of reluctance to want to do that. And right now, from what we understand, their strategy in terms of the troop buildup at the airport is merely to secure the airport itself and allow those flights to continue to land and take off.
[00:10:03]
DAMON: What we heard yesterday from the top commanders of the U.S. military is that when it comes to other parts of the country, for example, they don't have the capacity to create another sort of more permanent evacuation system similar to the one that they have in Kabul.
They could potentially in theory, go and do a couple of extractions, should that be deemed necessary. But right now, no, they don't have that capacity in hand.
And it's also highly unlikely that the U.S. would want to unilaterally push its perimeter of control beyond what it currently is.
Because obviously, the U.S. is in a position where it's having to negotiate with the Taliban, it's having to speak with the Taliban on all of these different levels to ensure safe passage for those who want to leave, to ensure that Americans who are on the ground, whether it's in the airport or elsewhere trying to leave are not going to be attacked by the Taliban forces.
And so, should they try to push that airport perimeter out beyond what it currently is that could very realistically risk a confrontation right now that the U.S. quite simply doesn't want to undertake?
America has one goal, and it has made that goal very, very clear, get Americans out, that's their top priority. After that, if they're able to do it, it would seem that they want to get those Afghans who worked alongside the U.S. military out.
But anything beyond that, the U.S. has abdicated responsibility for what's happening in Afghanistan. VAUSE: Yes, and there is a responsibility there, which many say is not being met right now. So, Arwa, thank you. Arwa Damon in Istanbul, we appreciate the update.
Well, despite the ongoing chaos and already long list of broken Afghan promises, the U.S. president believes that withdrawal so far has not been a failure.
During an interview with ABC News, Joe Biden even went as far to say the withdrawal could not have been handled any better.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS HOST: When you look at what's happened over the last week, was it a failure of intelligence, planning, execution or judgment?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, I don't think it was a fail -- look, it was a simple choice, George.
When the Taliban--let me put it another way--when you had the government of Afghanistan, the leader of that government getting in a plane and taking off and going to another country, when you saw the significant collapse of the -- of the Afghan troops we had trained, up to 300,000 of them, just leaving their equipment and taking off, that was -- you know, I'm not -- that's what happened, that's simply what happened
STEPHANOPOULOS: We've all seen the pictures. We've seen those hundreds of people packed into a C-17. We've seen Afghans falling --
BIDEN: That was four days ago, five days ago.
STEPHANOPOULOS: What did you think when you first saw those pictures?
BIDEN: Well, I thought was we have to gain control of this. We have to move this more quickly. We have to move in a way in which we can take control of that airport. And we did.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So, you don't think this could have been handled -- this exit could have been handled better in any way, no mistakes?
BIDEN: No, I don't think it could have been handled in a way that there we -- we're going to go back in hindsight and look, but the idea that somehow, there's a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, I don't know how that happens. I don't know how that happened.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So, for you that was always priced into the decision?
BIDEN: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Bruce Hoffman is the Senior Fellow for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is joining us this hour from the U.S. Capitol. Bruce Hoffman, thank you for being with us.
OK, so it seems that maybe this Taliban charm offensive has convinced some that possibly they're no longer bloodthirsty murderers, misogynist, homophobes, anti-Semites who want to force a version of Islam onto the entire world. One of these people could be the U.K.'s Chief of Defense Staff, here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. NICK CARTER, BRITAIN'S CHIEF OF DEFENSE STAFF: We have to be patient, we have to hold our nerve. And we have to give them the space to form a government. And we have to give them the space to show their credentials.
We may well discover if we give them the space that this Taliban is, of course, more reasonable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Anything is possible, but in terms of Afghanistan being used as a safe haven for terror organizations, what are the risks of giving the Taliban the benefit of the doubt? Especially there was a CNN report back in April which quoted al-Qaeda officials, heaping praise on their Taliban friends saying "Thanks to Afghans for protection of comrades-in-arms, many such jihadi fronts have been successfully operating in different parts of the Islamic world for a long time."
Clearly, these groups are in communication despite what the Taliban has said.
BRUCE HOFFMAN, TERRORISM/INSURGENCY EXPERT: Yes, that's absolutely correct. I think this is the problem, I agree that we need to give any renegade organization a chance to see if they will reform and whether they'll govern.
[00:15:08]
HOFFMAN: I have to admit, though, our optimism rests on a pretty thin reed right now, because the Taliban thus far has violated many aspects of the agreement that Zalmay Khalilzad in the United States worked out with them in Doha.
VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE) the Afghan government was a surprise as well in terms of just how quickly it unfolded. Now, here's more on that from the U.S. General Mark Milley.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. MARK MILLEY, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: The timeframe of a rapid collapse that was widely estimated and ranged from weeks to months, and even years following our departure. There was nothing that I or anyone else saw that indicated a collapse of this army in this government in 11 days.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: We all make mistakes. But if they got that so spectacularly wrong, what's to say the U.S. assessment that there's no need for a true presence in Afghanistan to prevent another 9/11 style attack is also way off the mark?
HOFFMAN: No, I think that's very much the case. And it's not just not having a true presence, not having an embassy in Afghanistan, enormously consequential, at least in terms that are on the ground ability to gather intelligence.
So, depending on what unfolds in the next weeks, we could be pretty much blind to what is going on in Afghanistan and what the Taliban's true intentions are.
And let's make no mistake, the United Nations in successive reports, has in essence said that the Taliban and al-Qaeda remain joint at the hip.
So, the Taliban has, I think, a very high bar to prove that it really will adhere to the terms of the negotiated settlement where it will break all ties with al-Qaeda. That has not happened yet.
VAUSE: Joe Biden, the U.S. President indicated that there was no need for a presence in Afghanistan, essentially, because of developments in counterterrorism and intelligence gathering, that kind of stuff.
Is that true? Are we now at that point technologically that it's possible to have the protection needed without having that presence in Afghanistan?
HOFFMAN: I'm skeptical, mainly because throughout the entire (AUDIO GAP) terrorist pass, we've been told that this or that technology, or this or that advanced military doctrine and training had rendered the United States capable of dispatching any foe anywhere and triumphing over any adversary. We clearly see that hasn't been the case.
VAUSE: Well, we know the president of Afghanistan, at least the president for now is alive and well and living in the UAE. Here's Ashraf Ghani on why the Afghan government folded like a cheap suit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GHANI: I am grateful for the security and defense forces. They have not been defeated. This was a failure from the top leadership at the Taliban, from our government, and from our international colleagues. This failure was the peace process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: I'd like to know his definition of defeated but regardless, when he talks about the peace talks being a failure, was the whole process a sham? Was the Taliban ever really serious about finding a political solution or was it just a diversion?
HOFFMAN: I think one has to ask was the United States really serious about finding a political solution? We made it very clear to the Taliban in the negotiations that we will leave you regardless.
So, therefore, that pretty much knock the legs out from under any chair that we could sit on with the Taliban.
I mean, don't forget, only two years ago, then-President Trump had extended an invitation to Taliban to be his guests at Camp David, only days before the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
So, you know, the credulousness of the negotiations on our side I think was a big problem. And then, of course, the Taliban had nothing really to lose just to play along.
For over a decade, they have said that we may have the watches, but they have the time and unfortunately, the events of the past few days have proven them to be entirely correct.
VAUSE: Now they have the watches as well. Bruce, thank you. Bruce Hoffman there. We appreciate your time, appreciate your insight, Sir. Thank you very much.
HOFFMAN: You're welcome.
VAUSE: Still to come, Russia knows a thing or two about chaotic retreats from Afghanistan but still Moscow among a number of countries heaping criticism upon criticism of the U.S. withdrawal.
Also ahead, the WHO are highly critical about U.S. plans to offer COVID back -- booster shots rather, to all eligible Americans beginning mid next month.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:21:51]
VAUSE: Pakistan's two major border crossings now open to Afghan nationals holding Pakistani visas. The interior minister says more than 400 Afghans entered the country since Saturday. So far, though none have claimed refugee status.
For the very latest, let's go live to Islamabad and Sophia Saifi. So, I guess the other issue here is, you know, that expected rush of people heading out of Afghanistan to Pakistan because the Taliban hasn't happened at least -- it hasn't happened yet.
SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN PRODUCER: Yes, John, I mean, I've been in touch with UNHCR for quite a while all of this summer leading up to what happened over the weekend. And they told me (AUDIO GAP) was to happen in Kabul, they weren't expecting a huge rush at the border, because of the fact that a considerable part of the -- part of Afghanistan that borders Pakistan is already under a shadow rule of the Taliban.
And if we see what happened on during the events over the past week and a bit is that there wasn't really any -- there wasn't any combat fighting for people to be displaced specifically in that region bordering Pakistan. Apart from that, Pakistan has also been working on a -- on, you know,
fencing the border between the two countries. So, about 90 percent of the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been completely fenced by the Pakistani military.
On top of that, Pakistan's also come out and said that it will not be, you know, accepting any more Afghan refugees into Pakistan, that they simply do not have the economic capacity to do so.
And Pakistan still very much sticking to that line for now. We have heard that they are some aid agencies, international aid agencies who are trying to put pressure on the Pakistani government to open up the border a little bit more.
But since we aren't seeing as you said, that kind of rush at the border yet. I mean, Chaman border (INAUDIBLE) has been open for the past couple of days. Torkham border in the north, which is closer to Kabul and close to Peshawar and Pakistan's KPK province, it opened up to pedestrians yesterday morning.
They are letting in Afghan citizen with the visas. We do know that Pakistan -- the Pakistani embassy is up and running in Kabul. There have been visas issued to Afghan nationals who are for international organizations, for foreign media, etcetera. And those are being given -- those individuals are being given visas on a priority basis.
Keeping that in mind, you know, like I said earlier, this is a situation that could change day by day. And what we've seen at Kabul airport and from what I've spoken to with people in the government and in UNHCR is that, you know, people who might not be able to get onto a flight and at the airport in Kabul might start coming towards the land borders and maybe we'll start seeing a different situation in the days to come, John.
VAUSE: Sophia, thank you. Sophia Saifi in Islamabad. Appreciate it.
Well, both Russia and China have welcomed the new Taliban government and are looking forward to establishing peace in Afghanistan. They say they're willing to work with the Taliban to achieve it.
Something else they agree on. Not surprisingly, the U.S. is responsible for leaving the region in shambles.
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[00:25:03]
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As the Biden administration faces global criticism for its chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, Kremlin controlled media isn't even trying to hide its glee with the clear message, the U.S. can't be trusted.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Now, the whole world saw American disgrace and failure and how U.S. diplomats and staff are rushing around Kabul airport while all U.S. allies saw pathetic excuses from Biden and Blinken.
PLEITGEN: Russia is still angry at the U.S. for Washington support of the Mujahideen against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
Now, Moscow cynically saying, at least the Soviet retreat was orderly.
Apparently, overestimated the talents of our American colleagues and this army gave up without a fight, he says.
The unraveling in Afghanistan comes only two months after President Biden on his tour of Europe assured allies that on his watch, the U.S. would once again be a global leader.
We're going to make it clear that the United States is back and democracies of the world are standing together to tackle the toughest challenges.
But so far, Biden hasn't done much to signal coordination with NATO or allied countries since the Taliban overran Kabul, as leaders voiced disappointment in the failed U.S. led mission.
ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): Developments in Afghanistan are obviously also bitter for Germany and other allied nations, which for 20 years following the 9/11 terror attacks, fought against terrorism and for freedom in Afghanistan under the leadership of the United States and NATO.
PLEITGEN: Meanwhile, Russia is not the only adversary looking to capitalize on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Top Chinese officials recently met senior Taliban leaders to extract security guarantees and revive China's business projects in Afghanistan. Beijing's message, don't count on the U.S.
HUA CHUNYING, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON: Has the United States foreign policy failed? Well, its allies think it's untrustworthy. I think the United States and the relevant countries will have their own thoughts and conclusions.
PLEITGEN: With the U.S. looking to wrap up evacuation flights from Kabul soon and allies in shock, China and Russia seem to be savoring this moment of American failure while preparing to deal with Afghanistan under Taliban rule.
Frederik Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The new Taliban government has already come with a cost to Afghanistan $450 million which was scheduled to be sent next week by the IMF is now on hold after the U.S. Treasury and Republican lawmakers raised concerns about the funds falling into Taliban hands.
The U.S. has also moved to block the Taliban's access to billions of dollars in cash reserves held in foreign banks.
Early signs of trouble perhaps for the Taliban, some Afghans openly defying the group, waving the Afghan flag and embracing challenge that was met with gunfire.
A closer look at this and could it be the beginning of some kind of resistance (INAUDIBLE)?
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
[00:30:50]
President Joe Biden says U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan until all Americans are out, even if it's after the August 31st deadline. But he said nothing about the fate of tens of thousands of Afghans. Many worked with the U.S. and are eligible for special visas for the United States, but they're unable to get into the Kabul airport because of the Taliban.
The militants sudden and brutal control of the country has provoked a public backlash in parts. On Wednesday, protesters in the city of Jalalabad took down the Taliban flag in the main square, replacing it with the Afghan flag.
The Taliban fighters there responded by firing into the crowd, beating some of the protesters. Sources say the Taliban also imposed a curfew on the city of Khost after reports of angry demonstrations.
And we are now hearing from Afghanistan's former president for the first time since he fled the country. Ashraf Ghani, now in the United Arab Emirates, said he did not want to be hanged or see more bloodshed.
CNN's Eleni Giokos has more now from Dubai.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is currently in the UAE. The prime ministry today confirming that he is, in fact, in the country, and they welcomed him, what they say, based on humanitarian grounds.
Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Sunday, and it was a lot of speculation as to where he was. Some had said that he was in Kyrgyzstan, Oman, and finally confirmation about his whereabouts a few hours later.
We saw a Facebook post with a message that basically justified why he decided to leave. And he described the incident at the presidential palace that was very dangerous and risky for him to stay. Take a listen to what he had to say.
ASHRAF GHANI, FORMER AFGHAN PRESIDENT (through translator): If I had stayed the president of Afghanistan, I would have been hanged in front of the eyes of the people of Afghanistan. This would have been a dreadful disaster in our history. I am not fearful of an honorable death, but I don't want the dishonoring of Afghanistan.
GIOKOS: He also refuted a lot of the allegations and rumors with regards to him leaving with bags of money, as well as concerns as to why he abandoned Kabul.
That is what a lot of people have been asking parliamentarians, politicians, then tried to allay fears in Afghanistan. Many have said that this was the final straw that allowed for the Taliban to take over the capital city.
In the meantime, the Taliban is saying that they were sitting on the sidelines and they wanted a peaceful transfer of power. Ashraf Ghani, however, describing a very different scenario, saying that the Taliban were showing aggression and that he wanted to avoid further bloodshed.
Eleni Giokos, CNN, Dubai.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Atia Abawi is a former CNN correspondent based in Kabul and author of "The Secrets Guy," a novel about the Taliban in Afghanistan. Atia joins me now from Los Angeles.
It's good to see you. It's been way too long.
ATIA ABAWI, AUTHOR, "THE SECRETS GUY": Thank you, John, it's good to be with you, unfortunately under these circumstances, though.
VAUSE: Yes, absolutely. There is this early sign, perhaps, of opposition, though, to the new rulers of Afghanistan. It happened Wednesday. Protestors in Jalalabad took down the Taliban white flag. They tried to replace it with the Afghan national flag.
And then next came this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(GUNSHOTS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Taliban fighters say they fired into the air to disperse the crowd. Local reports say they fired into the crowd, and three people were killed. How significant, though, is this protest in terms of setting the stage for some kind of homegrown resistance to the Taliban?
ABAWI: So John, I think that what's important about this protest is that these crowds, these people, they know how powerful the Taliban are. They are terrified of him.
But at the same time, they don't want to lose the freedoms that they've gained in the last 20 years. So we're seeing in this video. There's also images of Afghan women in Kabul, I believe in the Wazira Bahan (ph) neighborhood in central Kabul, who went out with signs telling the Taliban to treat them with respect and equally.
A lot of Afghans that I've spoken to, and particularly politicians who have tried to fight for women's rights, have told me that this is their moment. This is their moment to go out. But at the same time, they're also scared to.
[00:35:12]
And Afghans who worked for the U.S. government, along with their families, are now playing the worst kind of waiting game of all. It's a desperate plea from a person who worked as an interpreter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are the American soldiers forgetting about us after everything we did, the sacrifices we made? Why are they leaving us behind? I don't want to be killed by the Taliban. They're going to cut our heads off if they find my location. Please help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: There is obviously -- there's actually fear in the voice, obviously, you can hear it. But these people are also listening to leaders like Joe Biden, making decisions about their futures and their lives. Based on the assumption that the Taliban will keep their word. How difficult is that?
ABAWI: It's very difficult. The Afghans that I've spoken to have talked about betrayal. The term betrayal has been used over and over again. And not all of them blame their Afghan counterparts, because there are soldiers right now that were in Afghanistan that are trying really hard to bring their interpreters back. There are diplomats. There are Americans who just want went there for aid projects.
And many Afghans know it's not those people. But they are upset with President Biden. Not just for cutting and running. But because he's pointing the finger only at the Afghans.
He, in a speech that -- his televised speech, he pointed the finger at the Afghan military, at the Afghan government. And just the Afghan army. It's just -- it's not just the Afghans. There were a lot of mistakes made by the international community, in particular the U.S. administrations.
And yes, we could point to finger at past administrations, for mistakes made. But really, the buck does stop with President Biden. And he had other choices. There are more choices than just all-out war or complete abandonment.
VAUSE: Well, on that evacuation process, here's the U.S. defense secretary on Afghans who have been granted a special immigration visa because they worked with the U.S. government and what the plans are moving forward. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: We're really working hard to get as many people through as possible, and quite frankly, we're not -- it's obvious we're not close to where you want to be in terms of getting the numbers through. So we're going to work on that 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And we're going to get everyone that we can possibly evacuate,
evacuated. And I'll do that as long as we possibly can, until the clock runs out or we run out of capability.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Until the clock runs out? Well, the clock has 11 days, right? That's going to make it difficult for anyone just to reach the airport in time, given that the Taliban control the checkpoints. So those who don't get out in 11 days, what, they just wait to be killed?
ABAWI: Unfortunately, it's unpredictable. You don't know what's going to happen next. History is a lesson. The Taliban have shown that they haven't changed very much. They say they have, but can we believe them?
This isn't an organized group that was handed a country. This is a situation for the world at the moment, as the world leaves it. Let's just think about the whole country that has been handed to a fundamentalist group.
We're see -- we're going to see people coming from all over the world, flying into their, just as they flew into Syria when ISIS was there. And what's going to happen next? That's the big question.
And that's a big question that we should all really think about and be afraid of. And really push our politicians to try and do something about it. But right now, honestly, there's not much to do.
VAUSE: Well, the thing is that if you don't care about the plight of so many Afghans, and those who served the U.S., as well, think about it from self-interest, from a security point of view.
Atia, dank you for being with us. Appreciate it.
ABAWI: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: The U.S. president is not the only world leader being criticized for the Taliban's takeover. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced pointed questions in Parliament on intelligence barriers (ph), about the strength of the offensive and the chaotic evacuation that followed.
Salma Abdelaziz reports now from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced tough criticism in the House of Commons today during an emergency session. This is the first time MPs have been brought together since lockdown restrictions were fully lifted. So it was packed. It was boisterous and, yes, at times it was an angry and passionate debate.
Of course, the predominant question is how did this happen? How did Kabul fall so quickly? And what does this mean for the U.K.'s role in Afghanistan and the sacrifices it has made in that country More than 450 British troops have lost their lives during the Afghan
war. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, of course, defending his record and saying that the government was prepared for the fallout. Take a listen.
BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: I think you'd be fair to say that the events in Afghanistan have unfolded and the collapse has been faster than I think even the Taliban themselves predicted.
What is not true is to say that the U.K. government did not foresee this. Because it was certainly part of our planning, of putting the very difficult logistical operation for the withdrawal of U.K. nationals. That has been under preparation for many months.
ABDELAZIZ: One of the main concerns for the British government right now is evacuations for British nationals. But also for Afghan staff who supported the British government and the British military over the past two decades of potentially thousands, waiting to come to safety to the U.K.
The U.K. says that's absolutely a priority. Prime Minister Boris Johnson also announcing a resettlement scheme that will see up to 20,000 Afghans settled here in the U.K. over the course of the next several years.
But in the first year, the government says it wants to see about 5,000 Afghans resettled here in the U.K. Priority will, of course, be given to vulnerable populations, women and girls.
In terms of future strategy for Afghanistan, Prime Minister Boris Johnson kicking the can down the road. There will be a G-7 meeting next week to discuss that with other world leaders.
Salma Abdelaziz. CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come on CNN, volunteers on foot, carrying supplies into Haiti's quake zone after a tropical storm left behind damaged bridges and roads, slowing an already slow aid effort.
It's been a one-two punch for Haiti. An earthquake caused the devastation, and then a tropical storm left many isolated regions even further cut off.
CNN's Matt Rivers reports many survivors have been left to fend for themselves.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Driving into rural Haiti is not easy. Miles and miles of tough on paved roads.
But it's at the end of those roads where some of the worst damage from this earthquake lies. This is Karai (ph), a fishing town of 30,000, where hundreds of structures have been destroyed. Kilim Rashard (ph) lost everything when the ground shook. "I lost my
business and my home," she says. "I have six kids to send to school, and I don't know what I'm going to do."
Hers was just the first home we saw. Up the street, we couldn't drive past this home because, like so many others here, what remains could collapse at any moment.
[00:45:05]
(on camera): So these guys behind me aren't professionals. They're just locals with hammer, wood, and nails, trying to figure out a safe way to bring that severely damaged building behind me down to the ground. They told us, in the nearly 5 days since this earthquake happened, they still have not had one representative from the central government show up.
It's a tough place to get to, but as some pointed out to us, we managed to do it. So why hasn't the government?
Anger, a persistent sentiment for many. This man's family was injured when their home collapsed.
(on camera): Do you think that the government can come here and help you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think so. I don't think so. I don't think so.
RIVERS: So you're not waiting for them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no.
RIVERS: And are you frustrated with that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, very frustrated. I'm very frustrated. I'm very frustrated.
RIVERS (voice-over): Some blame corruption and a lack of will for government inaction. There's also the recent assassination of Haiti's president, gang violence, and a lack of quality infrastructure possibly at fault.
This bridge in the city of Jeremie, in rough shape before the earthquake, now so damaged that trucks like these, loaded down with aid, cannot cross. Supplies sometimes hand carried.
No matter the reason, the reality persists: people in need are growing increasingly desperate.
"I need help," she says, "and no one is helping me. So far, I think it's only God who I think will help me right now."
The place where she might pray for that, the church in the town center, also destroyed. Thankfully, fewer people died during this earthquake, compared to previous similar quakes. Imagine, as one person told us, if it had happened on a Sunday morning
when church was full.
(on camera): And we did reach out to the Haiti's central government asking, have you sent representatives to Karai (ph) to see the hundreds of structures that have been destroyed? What are you planning on doing to try and make the lives of people affected by this earthquake better? They did not respond to our request for comment.
Matt Rivers, CNN, Jeremie, Haiti.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: If you want to find out how to help the people of Haiti suffering from the earthquake, please go to our website, CNN.com/impact.
The White House is now backing COVID boosters for all Americans, eight months after their second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. But the World Health Organization has criticized this move, rather, saying that there's not enough data to prove that boosters are needed. And adding that this will only widen the gap between the vaccine haves and have nots.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MICHAEL RYAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WHO HEALTH EMERGENCIES PROGRAMME: Regardless of what ultimately, the science comes to an agreement, regarding the length of protection over the increased benefits from marginal increase and benefits from having booster doses. The reality is quite mad today.
If we think about this in terms of an analogy, we're planning to hand out extra life jackets to people who already have lifejackets. While we are leaving other people to drown without a single lifejacket. That's the reality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: CNN's Athena Jones reports, though, the U.S. surgeon general believes that COVID booster shots are a way to stay ahead of the virus and the variant.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. VIVEK MURTHY, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: The time to lay out a plan for COVID-19 boosters is now.
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With new COVID cases and hospitalizations surging to where they were in November, before the first vaccinations began, the White House announced plans for a broad rollout of vaccine booster shots next month.
Starting September 20th, the administration recommending vaccinated adults receive a booster 8 months after their second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, presenting data suggesting waning immunity over time.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This will boost your immune response. It will increase your protection from COVID-19. And it's the best way to protect ourselves from new variants that could arise.
JONES: Booster doses still must be approved by the FDA, which is still reviewing the data. But experts warn --
DR. RICHARD BESSER, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, U.S. CDC: Boosters is not going to end this pandemic. What's going to end this pandemic is finding a way to motivate the 30, 40 percent of people in this country who haven't gotten any vaccines yet.
JONES: It's the unvaccinated that have hospitals around the country stressed. In the five hardest hit states, intensive care units are more than 90 percent full, Alabama reporting it is out of ICU beds.
DR. JEANNE MARRAZZO, PROFESSOR OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM: It's really just a domino effect that then clogs up our ERs, clogs up everything else.
JONES: With more than 121,000 child COVID cases reported in the U.S. last week, Texas and Florida lead the nation in new pediatric cases, while in Mississippi, a 13-year-old died just one day after testing positive for COVID.
ERICA EPTING, PARENT: I thought it was safe with a child. We went to the hospital, but they said to go home that evening. While she was sick, they should have sent her to a hospital to get her some help.
[00:50:04]
JONES: But the debate over masking in schools rages on. Schools in Broward County, Florida, instituting mask mandates as students return to class today, in defiance of Governor Ron DeSantis.
The state board of education voting to punish counties like Broward and Alachua for violating the governor's ban on such mandates.
In Hillsborough County, Florida, where parents can opt out of the mask requirement, almost 10,000 students are quarantined due to COVID cases.
One school district outside of Dallas, Texas, getting around the governor's ban on mask mandates by making masks part of the dress code.
President Biden directing his education secretary to take additional steps to protect children.
BIDEN: This includes using all of its oversight authorities and legal action, if appropriate, against governors who are trying to block and intimidate local school officials and educators.
JONES (on camera): And the debate over masks in schools isn't just continuing. It's heating up in some places. And it's not just shouting matches.
In Austin, Texas, one parent reportedly ripped the mask off one teacher's face during a meet the teacher event on Tuesday night, prompting the superintendent to call on everyone to treat each other respectfully.
Athena Jones, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Some Afghan refugees have made it out of the country and to relative safety. But they still cannot escape the fear that their lives, at some point, were and might still be at risk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You felt your life was threatened, if you stayed there?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, of course.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: The journey out of Afghanistan, for one woman, took nearly four years. That's how long the visa approval process took so she could reach the United States. She's one of the lucky ones.
Despite being a world away, the threat of the Taliban still keeps her up at night. CNN's Gary Tuchman has her story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thirty-year-old Tamana left her entire life in Afghanistan until this past Friday when she flew to Washington after receiving a special immigrant visa, allowing her to move to the United States.
(on camera): How did you feel when you landed in the capital of the United States? What went through your mind?
TAMANA, AFGHAN REFUGEE: I said that I'm dreaming. It is not possible that I'm in the U.S.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Tamana worked in Afghanistan for USAID, the foreign aid organization that's an independent agency of the U.S. government. She applied for a visa four years ago, as she increasingly got worried about her safety, because she worked with Americans.
(on camera): You felt your life was threatened if you stay there?
TAMANA: Yes, of course. Yes.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Tamana's mother has passed away, but her father, three brothers and two sisters remain in Kabul. She financially supported them and has no idea when she'll see them in person again and prays they won't be targeted because of her.
(on camera): How worried are you about your family right now being there?
TAMANA: Believe me, I cannot sleep every night. But I'm thinking about my family. What should I do?
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Tamana and many other Afghan refugees are being supported by a group called Lutheran Social Services of the national capital area. One of the group's offices is in this Lutheran church in Fairfax, Virginia, where boxes of donations are arriving by the hundreds to help the expected huge influx of Afghans who will arriving in the days and weeks to come.
[00:55:09]
KRISTYN PECK, CEO, LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL AREA: Everyone I've met is so grateful to be here, and they're so full of hope. And I find that really inspiring.
TUCHMAN (on camera): What did you do in Afghanistan?
RAZIA, FORMER U.S. ARMY INTERPRETER: I was working as an interpreter for the U.S. Army.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Twenty-nine-year-old Razia is one of those inspiring people. She arrived in the United States when she was 24, all by herself. Her parents, two sisters, and one brother remain in Kabul. She now worked for the social services group and continues to financially support her family with her American salary.
RAZIA: The Taliban always say that we are against foreign countries to be in Afghanistan, especially the United States. And we will kill anybody that helped them, anyone that works for them.
TUCHMAN (on camera): So you feared for your life?
RAZIA: Yes.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): The takeover by the Taliban and the ensuing chaos affected Afghans who have been fortunate enough to receive visas. Their anxiety has dramatically increased.
(on camera): This may be a painful question, but are you concerned that, because people know what you did, working for the U.S. government, that your family could be in danger?
RAZIA: Yes. Actually, the other day, I told my sister that burn all the certificates that I had from the U.S. government. Because I had a lot of certificates, and my mom hanged one of them on the wall, actually. You know, like --
TUCHMAN: Because she's proud of you?
RAZIA: Yes, you know, she was. And I told them, just destroy it. You know, because I was scared, if the Taliban goes to our house, because I hear they are searching some houses -- I told him to just destroy them.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Tamana is now looking for a job, a permanent place to live. And not allowing herself to look back.
(on camera): You know that it may be a long time before you see your family again.
TAMANA: Yes.
TUCHMAN: But you felt that your life was in danger and you need to be here.
TAMANA: Yes, yes.
TUCHMAN: And you had no choice?
TAMANA: I don't have any choice.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Gary Tuchman, CNN, Fairfax, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thank you for watching. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. I'll be back with another hour of CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
