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Chaos Near Kabul Airport as Desperate Crowds Try to Flee; Former Afghan President Ghani Speaks from UAE; Russia and China Capitalize on Chaos in Afghanistan; U.S. Facing Global Criticism for Messy Withdrawal; Survivors Deal with Aftermath as Aid Deliveries Lag. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired August 19, 2021 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:14]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. I'm John Vause.
Ahead this hour on CNN NEWSROOM.
Chaos in Kabul as crowds gathered outside the airport, where desperation is met with gunfire.
Booster-palooza in the U.S. The White House pushing booster shots for all Americans, leaving health officials outraged.
And help for Haiti. The slow drip of aid for those in dire need.
(MUSIC)
VAUSE: The fate of more than 65,000 Afghans who worked with U.S. forces, along with their families is now at the mercy of Taliban fighters who surround Kabul's airport and decide who gets in and who does not.
Wednesday, increasingly violent confrontations were seen with our correspondents being told that many trying to leave, even with documentation, were turned back at Taliban checkpoints.
U.S. evacuations are set to end by August 31st, but President Biden has said that U.S. forces may stay longer, if needed, to ensure safe passage for all Americans. Eighteen hundred people were evacuated Wednesday, almost 6,000 in the past four days. Among them, an Afghan child sleeping on the floor of a U.S. military plane. The child was covered with a coat. Belonging to one of the flight crew.
Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani who fled the country as the Taliban moved in to Kabul has emerged in the UAE. In video posted on social media, he said he did so to avoid bloodshed, including his own.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHRAF GHANI, FORMER AFGHAN PRESIDENT (through translator): If I had stayed, stayed the president of Afghanistan, I would have been had 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 dishonor of Afghanistan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The former president, who we safely out, but the same is not true for the tens of thousands of Afghans who have mob to the airport in recent days. With 4,500 U.S. troops securing the airfield, evacuation flights are ramping up. But making it into the airport has been impossible for many. Taliban fighters are surrounding streets, turning desperation to leave into the fear of being left behind.
CNN's Clarissa Ward takes us through the chaos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): America's last foothold in Afghanistan is now guarded by the Taliban.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you can see, the Taliban are all over and they don't allow anyone (ph).
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.
(CROSSTALK)
WARD: 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.
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.
(CROSSTALK)
WARD: 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.
[01:05:03]
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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WARD (on camera): I should emphasize that while the airport has been exceptionally chaotic, most of the city has been relatively calm again today. We saw people starting to come out, onto the streets, stores were open, traffic was moving. Traffic policeman were out, government workers. The Taliban understands that this is their moment, that the world is watching, and they need to provide some semblance of law and order, which makes those images from the airport all the more stark.
And, of course, the real worry now, is that the airport is becoming like a powder keg, and that just one incident, one wrong move, could risk everything exploding into a much more serious conflagration.
VAUSE: Thanks to CNN's Clarissa Ward reporting there from Kabul.
The Biden administration planned for a total and complete withdrawal by the end of this month. But during an intense interview with ABC News, President Biden indicated that the timeline is fluid. They will stay until all Americans who want to leave have done so.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: All troops are supposed to be out by august 31st, even if Americans and Afghan allies are trying to get out, they are going to leave?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to do everything in our power to get all Americans out and our allies out.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Does that mean troops will stay beyond August 31st if necessary?
BIDEN: It depends on where we are and whether we can ramp these numbers up to 5,000 to 7,000 a day, coming out. If that's the case, they will all be out.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Because we've got like 10,000 to 15,000 Americans in the country right now, right? And are you committed to making sure that the troops are staying until every American who wants to get out gets out --
BIDEN: Yes, yes.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So American should understand that troops may have to be there beyond August 31st.
BIDEN: No, Americans should understand that we are going to try and get it done before August 31st.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But if we don't, the troops will stay?
BIDEN: If we don't, we'll determine at the time who is left.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And? BIDEN: And if American force -- if there's American citizens left,
we're going to stay until we get them all out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Live now to CNN's Arwa Damon, following developments from Istanbul.
And, Arwa, we just heard from Joe Biden, the U.S. president, talking about the determination to live the U.S. troops in place until the last American who wants to leave has done so.
What about the Afghans who want to leave? What about the Afghan allies who have visas and want to leave?
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's the big issue, isn't it, John? In theory, the Afghan allies also should be evacuated by the Americans, or whichever country that they were working with. But we have been clearly seeing from the way the U.S. has been prioritizing things, and the way it went in and took control over Kabul's airport, that it is first and foremost wanting to get Americans themselves out. The other big challenge, of course, is for those Afghan allies who are not in Kabul.
Remember, there are people all over the country who were working either with the U.S., with other contractors, with other NATO countries or just other Western companies in country, all of whom could, potentially, be engraved danger.
Now if they are not physically located in Kabul and don't even have a chance to get into that horrific mess, that right now exists at the airport, they are effectively being left to their own devices. And that is pretty much with the U.S. itself has had to, even when it comes to its own citizens. That if you are outside of Kabul, right now, you are on your own, in terms of trying to make it to the city and then to the airport itself. Add to all of this, John, that you also have people such as academics, human rights advocates, lawyers, women's rights advocates, lawyers, people who have been outspoken against the Taliban, journalists, all sorts of stratus of society who are potentially at risk, when it comes to the Taliban.
And these are the people who are by and large, right now, sheltering in place, not daring to go out, because they don't have an option.
[01:10:07]
The Kabul airport is not an option for them. Going out of Afghanistan by car or by road, that is not an option to them. The vast majority of Afghans right now, John, are still trapped inside of Afghanistan.
VAUSE: What is interesting is that a number of other countries have actually managed to get those Afghan allies out of the country, and to relative safety, and back to their home countries. Germany for one did it weeks ago. Australia did it days ago. Others have also managed to get their allies out and safe. It does raise the question that given the size and strength of the
United States, and the fact that they knew all the planning all along, why have they bungled this so badly? Why was there no way that they could have done this without the chaos at Kabul's airport? Joe Biden says that was always going to happen. It seems that that is not necessarily the case.
DAMON: No, and it's rather an egregious story that we have been seeing, everything playing out. Because everything that we are hearing from the U.S. administration, even if they did not of this was going to happen, this fast, everybody, from President Biden on down is saying that we knew the Taliban was going to take over, which is a pretty mind-blowing statement in and of itself.
But, again, if you knew that the Taliban was going to take over, then this is what basic planning is all about, and the justification for why Afghan allied weren't evacuated months ago, that's been something along the lines of, oh, well some of them didn't want to leave, that kind of logic.
But what we also know, John, is that that's not necessarily the case. The special immigrant visas, that program is laborious, extraordinarily slow. We know that applications have been held up or not processed in due time, due to a number of different, mostly bureaucratic, reasons. And so, one is quite justified in arguing that this process should have been sped up months ago, because by all accounts, no matter what the U.S. is publicly saying, on the ground reporting, indicated that the situation was growing extraordinarily dangerous.
So even if no one predicted that Kabul itself would fall this fast, everyone has been warning about the Taliban takeovers. And in that sense, there is no justification for how the U.S. has chosen to go about this. And a tone that we are hearing from the U.S. administration is so unapologetic that it really resonates as being one that is quite callous towards the plight, not just of Afghan allies, but have Afghans themselves.
VAUSE: Yeah. And it also sends a message to any future allies, or whether you're thinking of being allies, fairly future U.S. military actions.
Arwa Damon in Istanbul, thank you.
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.
BRUCE HOFFMAN, TERRORISM/INSURGENCY EXPERT: You're very welcome.
VAUSE: 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.
HOFFMAN: 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.
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: (AUDIO GAPE) the Afghan government was a surprise as well in terms of just how quickly it unfolded.
[01:15:00]
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: And still to come, the harsh reality for the thousands of Afghans looking for a way out of their country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTFIED MALE: You just make your way to the airport. How? How do you make your way to the airport while it is surrounded by the Taliban?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: A former Afghan presidential aide talks about how his family fled Kabul.
Also ahead, the WHO is highly critical of the U.S. plans to offer booster shots to all eligible Americans beginning middle of next month.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:21:31]
VAUSE: The White House is now recommending that all Americans receive a COVID booster eight months after the second dose of Pfizer or Moderna. The boosters would be available starting next month, and are needed, according to President Biden, to stay ahead of the virus and a variant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: This is no time to let our guard down. We just need to finish the job, with science, with facts and with confidence. And together, the United States of America, we'll get this done.
Now I know there are some world leaders who say Americans should not get a third shot until other countries get their first shot. I disagree. We can take care of America and help the world at the same time. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: A new study from Israel has found that booster shots can provide and efficacy of almost 90 percent in those 60 or older. Hundreds of thousands of people took part in the study. Israel has given out more than 1 million booster shots to people over 50, health care workers and others since last month.
But the WHO says that any talk of bruises premature. They say there is not enough data to show that boosters are needed. And that this will only widen the gap between vaccine halves and vaccine have-knots.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SOUMYA SWAMINATHAN, CHIEF SCIENTIST, W.H.O: On boosters, because we believe clearly, that the data today does not indicate that boosters are needed. And we need to know what groups at which period of the vaccination, and which particular vaccines will be received in the primary course.
TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, W.H.O.: These countries have 75 percent of all vaccines. And low income countries are barely vaccinated, only 2 percent of their people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Live now to Los Angeles, Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, a viral researcher and specialist in internal medicine.
Dr. Rodriguez, good to see.
DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Thank you John. You, too.
VAUSE: Thank you. I wish we heard more from the WHO why they believe booster shots at this time are not a good idea. Here you go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL RYAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, W.H.O. HEALTH EMERGENCIES PROGRAMME: We are handing out those 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: Yeah, in an ideal world, if booster shots were injected directly into the arms of millions of unvaccinated people around the world, we would be better, off right? But we don't live in an ideal world.
RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, that's exactly the point that I wanted to make. There is no answer here that is going to satisfy everyone. There is no answer here that is not going to make someone uncaring.
But the truth is that, as difficult as it is to say or here, a countries responsibility first and foremost is to its citizens. And booster shots are helping and are going to be helping people's immunity to go down. And we are very proud of the U.S., that it is committed to doing both things, to protecting its citizens and also helping the world.
They alone have given over 110 million vaccine doses, more than any other country combined, excuse me -- when President Biden, says that we can chew and walk at the same time, and help the world and his country, I think that they mean it and will do it.
VAUSE: I think the other point here is that even as booster shots were not given out in the United States, that doesn't necessarily mean however many of those shots would have been, they're getting directly to those who need it.
[01:25:03]
I mean, because what, they go past their used-by date, they expire, they're not being used.
RODRIGUEZ: Exactly, and that's why I think that it isn't helpful at all for the W.H.O. to point of finger because three are actually pointing toward them. You know, there needs to be mechanisms where we can assure that these vaccines will get to people. They are being wasted here in the United States. Some people don't want to take them.
And so, it's a very complicated issue, John, as you well know.
VAUSE: One of the reasons for the booster shots is because the vaccines are becoming less effective in preventing infection, now that we are dealing with the delta variant. I want you to listen to White House medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, on why that has resulted in this recommendation. Here is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: You want to stay ahead of the virus. And if you look at the indications that we have had, including what's Dr. Walensky just mentioned, you don't want to find yourself behind, playing catch-up.
END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: I guess -- should the recommendations, and this is a criticism, should be so broad? Some have suggested limiting the availability to high-risk groups and others, but not to everyone.
RODRIGUEZ: Well, see, I disagree with that. Because once your immunity goes down, you are susceptible to getting infections. We are not probably going to die from it. But you are going to get infected, you will re-variance, and you are going to spread it.
So at the end of the day, the more people that have a robust immune system from the vaccine, the better it is for everyone. And yes, if you look at Israel right now, they have the highest, I think, per capita vaccination. They also have the highest now, number of people becoming positive.
So when the W.H.O. representative said that immunity does not wane and boosters do not help, that's not correct.
VAUSE: Another criticism on this decision, not so much actually the giving out of the booster shots, but the messaging from public health officials. I want you to listen to what they were saying last week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: You do not need a booster shot right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, there are certain that no Americans need boosters.
FAUCI: We don't need boosters right now, for otherwise healthy people who have been vaccinated. But it is entirely conceivable, if not likely, that we are going to have some time.
DR. VIVEK MURTHY, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: It is likely that boosters will be needed for a broader segment of the population. What we are trying to figure out right now is the right timing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That was last month and last week, I should add. But just like face masks won't protect you, and then face masks will save us all, it's not airborne to it is airborne. No boosters to booster palooza. You know, I get it, the science changes. But should the re-more attention to the messaging overall? Nuance is not easy but maybe that's what's needed.
RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, absolutely, there should be, and I think there should be consistency. I think some of us who have known, we have looked at the data, that boosters would be required sooner rather than later. Some people said this should have been 6 months after vaccination.
But I agree 100 percent. Unfortunately, you have many people speaking from many groups, everyone trying to walk a line and be political about it. But absolutely, John, I think that's why this causing a lot of people not to have faith, you know, in what is being said. They should, because I think these people are very intelligent, they know what they are saying. But the messaging definitely could be a little tighter.
VAUSE: Yeah, it's not one size all, unfortunately, and that seems to be what we are getting.
But, Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, as always. It is good to see you. Thank you for being with us.
RODRIGUEZ: Thank you, sir.
VAUSE: Take care. Well, desperation grows by the hour, as the Taliban tightens its grip on Afghanistan. Thousands of Afghans eager to leave must run a gauntlet of Taliban fighters just to reach Kabul's airport and hope for a flight out. That's ahead.
Also, Afghanistan's former president arrives in the United Arab Emirates and explains why he fled.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:27]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back everyone.
I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
The U.S. president suggesting American forces in Afghanistan could stay past the August 31st deadline. But only if more time is needed for the evacuation of all Americans. Notably, Biden made no mention of an extended timeline for Afghan allies.
Meantime, a video posted online shows frantic and violent scenes at Kabul's airport. Amid the desperation, there's yelling and some sort of gunfire can also be heard.
And Afghanistan's former president is speaking out after fleeing to the U.A.E. Ashraf Ghani says he would've been publicly hanged had he stayed. And he denies leaving with bags of stolen money.
The U.S. believes up to 65,000 Afghan nationals and their families may be eligible for evacuation. But in the chaos of the Taliban's swift takeover, only a fraction have been airlifted out.
Feroz Mohmand was press coordinator for former president Hamid Karzai. He spoke to CNN's Jake Tapper about the risks of just getting into the airport.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FEROZ MOHMAND, PRESS AIDE TO FORMER AFGHAN PRESIDENT HAMID KARZAI: The situation on the ground that has been, you know, recorded (ph), is totally different than what I hear from my friends and those who are trying to get to the airport even U.S. citizens.
This morning, I was in contact with one of my friends whose mom, sister and a little niece are U.S. citizens. They were trying since yesterday to come to the airport. But they couldn't make their way on the third or fourth time -- I think actually they were able into the airport after all this chaos that are in the street.
They were pushed and tortured by the Taliban, that they sold their country, that's why they are going to work for infidels in the United States. And they are United States puppets.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: But they got to the airport, which obviously is the good news there. And I'm told you are personally helping some people who were able to get on flights yesterday. Tell us about that.
MOHMAND: Yes, yes. I have helped with this family, probably 10 people now, that I have been in contact with my friends from Washington, D.C., some friends from DoD. They were really helpful and some of my previous coworkers in Afghanistan, from the United States side.
They are all trying and coordinating to have them get on the C-17. And it's not an easy process, I have to stay up late tonight and talk and make phone calls e-mails. But I'm happy to see those families are reuniting and coming back to their home, their second home, the United States.
And again the process is not as easy as it sound. Like I was listening to some of the reports that, you know, you just make your way to the airport.
TAPPER: Right.
MOHMAND: How? How you make your way to the airport while it surrounded by the Taliban?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: To learn more about how you can help Afghan refugees please go to CNN.com/impact.
Afghanistan's former president is now speaking out for the first time since being airlifted out of the country ahead of the Taliban takeover. Ashraf Ghani now in the United Arab Emirates, said he fled simply because he did not want to be hanged.
[01:34:54]
VAUSE: CNN's Eleni Giokos has more now reporting in from Dubai.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is currently in the U.A.E. The foreign ministry today confirming that he is in fact in the country. They welcomed him what they say based on humanitarian grounds.
Ashraf Ghani and his family fled the country on Sunday and there was a lot of speculation as to where he was.
Some had said that he was in Tajikistan and 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, OUSTED 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 regard 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 the Taliban to take over the capital city.
In the meantime, the Taliban are 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: Pakistan's two major border crossings are now open to Afghan nationals holding Pakistani visas. The government says more than 400 Afghans have crossed the border since Saturday. So far, though are claiming refugee status.
CNN's Sophia Saifi is in Islamabad with details. They are crossing in small numbers and there has supposed to have been no panic, no chaos, no rush of refugees hoping to leave the country.
SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN PRODUCER: Yes John. I mean Pakistan -- so let's go back a little bit to June in which Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan had said in a statement that Pakistan will not be taking in anymore Afghan refugees if things fall apart next door in Afghanistan.
And they have stuck to that. The border crossings between the two countries were initially shut. And then early on this week, Chaman border and the southern province of Balochistan was opened. And then just yesterday the Torkham border which is quite close to Kabul and also close to a major city Besharver (ph) in Pakistan was also reopened for pedestrians.
They are only allowing people who have visas and proper documentation to come through. I've been in touch with UNHCR and they kind of explained to me they are not really expecting a surge just yet because of the fact that the region bordering Pakistan, the region of Afghanistan which borders Pakistan hasn't seen any massive combat fighting.
Those regions kind of just fell to the Taliban. There wasn't really much of a pushback. So people haven't really been displaced in that part of Afghanistan. And there has not been a surge at the borders just yet. Of course, this is a developing situation. We do know that the Pakistani embassy in Kabul remains open. We have had information shared with us from Pakistan's information ministry that they are giving visas to Afghan nationals who have worked for foreign organizations, for international media for example.
They are them visas -- granting Afghan nationals visas on a priority basis and trying to fly them out on Pakistan International Airlines. They've evacuated about 1,100 people.
But there is, you know -- there is a possibility as things are changing quite quickly, that the amount of people that you've seen at Kabul Airport, for example, those horrific images, that people are going to try to maybe get out of the country through the land borders.
And things might change in the days to come. We are hearing that there is pressure on the government by certain international organizations to change their policy and review it, regarding allowing refugees in.
Pakistan has fenced (ph) about 90 percent of its border. There are huge fences set up by the Pakistani military. They have been working on that for about two years now.
So this is a long plan. This is something that they have been expecting for a while, with the ongoing peace talks, et cetera, that were happening.
So we just have to wait and see how things change in the days to come because things are changing quite quickly, as we've already seen, John.
[01:39:49]
VAUSE: Sophia, thank you. Sofia Saifi in Islamabad.
Well, there seems to be an element of schadenfreude from Russia, which along with China, is welcoming the new Taliban government and say they are looking forward to establishing peace in Afghanistan. And they'll work with the Taliban to achieve it. And they both say the region has now been left in shambles.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): 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 a clear message the U.S. can't be trusted.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now the whole world saw American disgrace and failure and how U.S. diplomats and staff are rushing around the 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 Mujahedeen against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Now Moscow cynically saying, at least the Soviet retreat was orderly.
"Apparently we overestimated the talents of our American colleagues and its army gave up without a fights," 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.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are going to make it clear that the United States is back and democracies of the world are standing together to tackle the toughest challenges.
PLEITGEN: 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 (through translator): Has the United States foreign policy failed? Will 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.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN -- Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Up next on CNN, in some of the hardest hit parts of Haiti, an already slow earthquake relief effort has come down to this -- volunteers carrying supplies in by hand after heavy rains and mudslides damage bridges and roads.
[01:42:59]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Haiti's prime minister is calling for unity and rebuilding after a devastating earthquake. But this is now reality for some survivors -- a tent city on the southwest coast, one of the areas hit hardest by the weekend earthquake.
With no place to go in little aid arriving, they say the government is doing next to nothing to help them. In the past 3 days, Haiti was hit by the earthquake that killed more than 2,000 people and by a tropical depression which left behind mudslides that are now hampering aid deliveries.
We get more now from CNN's Matt Rivers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Driving into rural Haiti is not easy. Miles and miles of tough unpaved roads. But it's at the end of those roads where some of the worst damage from this earthquake lies.
This is Carai (ph), a fishing town of 30,000 where hundreds of structures have been destroyed.
Guillen Richard (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.
(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 five days since this earthquake happened, they still have not had one representative from the central government show up.
(voice over): 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 are not waiting for them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no.
RIVERS: And are you frustrated with that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes. 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 heavy 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. 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 Haiti's central government asking, have you sent representatives to Carai, 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 would like to help the victims of this earthquake in Haiti, please go to our Web site CNN.com/impact.
Haiti may have just been the warm-up for Grace, which has now grown in strength to a hurricane, and on course to hit Mexico within hours. There's also an Atlantic storm heading for the U.S. East Coast.
And with details on all of that, meteorologist Derek Van Dam joins us now. Busy day.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. I'm going to say those things, potentially U.S. East Coast impacts and, of course, our impending storm for the Yucatan Peninsula.
Moving away from Haiti, as you've mentioned, this is just hours away from the eastern coastline of the Yucatan Peninsula. They have already started to evacuate some of the local tourists located within this area.
Just to give you an idea how hard this particular part of Mexico has been hit within the past year. In less than a year's time they have had four named tropical systems. And now we have got Grace coming in very quickly.
In fact, here's a look at the latest warnings. Hurricane warnings including the Cozumel region, hurricane watches, tropical storm watches for the northern Yucatan and then they've hoisted hurricane watches for the Veracruz state, right along the eastern coastline of mainland Mexico.
Now, we are talking about 130 kilometer per hour sustained wind storm. So that means it's a category 1 hurricane 160 kilometer per hour gust. It will move across the Yucatan, kind of interact with land, lose its energy source which of course, is the ocean.
It will deteriorate somewhat but once it reemerges in the Bay of Campeche by this time tomorrow, it will restrengthen into potentially a high end category one hurricane.
So you can see some of our computer models picking that up.
[01:49:56]
VAN DAM: But the immediate threats here, certainly the winds gusting over 100 kilometers per hour. Cozumel, just to the south near Tulum, that area going to be rocked within the next six hours.
Then the heavy rainfall causing landslides and the potential of mudslides and localized flooding. The threats along the East Coast, completely different storm. This is tropical storm Henri. It is at 110 kilometer power so just shy of hurricane strength.
And I want to show you what is called a spaghetti model. This gives all the various computer models forecast, project paths of this particular storm.
Of course, there's quite a variation. But what I want you to notice that this was not impacting the New England coast by this time yesterday. So we are starting to see the trend, the shift towards the north and west. And that has major implications for some of the most densely populated portions of the United States, that being the Eastern Seaboard.
So look at this. Official forecast track, John, from the National Hurricane Center, does show the potential of a landfalling tropical system by Sunday into Monday.
Back to you.
VAUSE: Derek, thank you. Derek Van Dam there with all the very latest. CNN NEWSROOM continues in just a moment. Please stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone.
Demonstrations are being held around the world to show support for the people of Afghanistan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: No more foreign wars. No more foreign wars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: In the United Kingdom, members of the opposition Labour Party joined the protest in London's Parliament Square Wednesday. They're urging their government not to limit the number of Afghan refugees allowed into Britain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEREMY CORBYN, OPPOSITION LABOUR PARTY LEADER: Let's pick up the refugees and those that are vulnerable. And at the same time, learn the lessons of what these foreign policy mistakes actually lead to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: In India, Afghan refugees and supporters held demonstrations in New Delhi and Kolkata calling on the Indian government to help Afghans in need.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANVISHA ROY, STUDENT ACTIVIST: They are leaving Taliban in large numbers. We have seen mass exodus. So we demand to the Indian government that Indian government must give refuge, must give shelter to these Afghanistan refugees.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And in Berlin German leaders are being urged to airlift thousands of German-Afghan nationals as well as others who worked with German forces. Germany had the second largest military contingent in Afghanistan after the United States.
And then in Belgium -- hundreds of Afghans living in Brussels protested the Taliban's seizure of power. Many waving the old flag of the old Afghan Republic.
Now the Taliban are back, their brutality is expected to follow and many U.S. veterans are asking was it all worth it?
Here is Tom Foreman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Amid the turmoil, panic, and the shattering end to 20 years of Combat, U.S. veterans of the Afghan war are struggling. Some taking calls around the clock from Afghan allies trying to find a way out.
Mike Breen is a former army captain.
MIKE BREEN, FORMER ARMY CAPTAIN: We made promises to people because we were told to. We made promises to people that we would protect them if they stood with us. And the deepest, you know, most core belief that many of us carried around was no one gets left behind.
FOREMAN (on camera): This feels like a personal thing for many veterans.
[01:54:57]
BREEN: Of course it is, deeply personal.
FOREMAN (voice over): The administration acknowledged that impact.
LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I know that these are difficult days for those who lost loved ones in Afghanistan and for those who carry the wounds of war.
FOREMAN: But the truth goes far beyond bad feelings. Post-9/11 veterans have a significantly higher rate of suicide than other vets. And a study from Brown and Boston Universities estimates over 30,000 active-duty and veterans in that age group have died that way, many more than the roughly 7,000 killed in combat.
Why? In part, the study suggests the length of the Afghan and Iraq wars took a terrible toll subjecting troops to multiple deployments and repeated traumas. And now this.
Cherissa Jackson, is a retired Air Force nurse who has dedicated her life to helping vets. She nearly died in Afghanistan.
CHERISSA JACKSON, RETIRED AIR FORCE NURSE: It was like what was all of this for? Why did I work so hard? Why was I gone for six months away from my family?
FOREMAN: Jason Kander (ph), former Missouri secretary of state and previously a CNN contributor works to help vets as well and he served in Afghanistan too.
JASON KANDER, AFGHANISTAN VETERAN: A buddy of mine said to me not long ago, he said, you know, obviously the Vietnam veterans and others had it really bad too but at least their war is ended.
FOREMAN: And so it is with so many who went there who fought, who believed, who are still proud like former Green Beret and NFL player Nate Boyer.
NATE BOYER, FORMER GREEN BERET: We did what we could. We fought for those that can't fight for themselves and we still do that today and we are still going to do that in the future moving forward.
FOREMAN: Now they are all watching and wondering after all the years, the victories and losses, the fighting and grieving, what will the legacy be and how will we all live with it?
BREEN: This is the question. Is the last act of an American soldier in Afghanistan going to be pushing a refugee, pushing an American ally, pushing a former interpreter away from an airplane. Will they get on or pulling them aboard.
FOREMAN: Tom Foreman, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
Please stay with us. Another hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a very short break with Rosemary Church.
[01:57:12]
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the --
