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White House Says, Pause on Evac Flights will be Lifted, Flights to Resume Soon; U.S Administers 1 Million-Plus Vaccines in Single Day, First Time Since Early July. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 20, 2021 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:01]

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Outside the airport, Taliban fighters rule the streets. It's not known, at least publicly, how many Americans and Afghan allies may be in hiding, and don't dare venture toward the airport and test the gauntlet of Taliban-held towns and checkpoints.

CNN reporters and correspondents are covering all angles of this developing story. I want to begin with Jeff Zeleny, who just got this new reporting about flights about to resume. Jeff, what can you tell us?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Ana, we are learning from the White House that the flights are going to resume shortly. At least that is the plan at the Kabul airport. A White House official telling me that there was, indeed, a backup in processing all of these people flying out to third party countries, also, of course, looking for other places to fly some of these evacuees. So that has what led to a pause.

The White House described it as a brief pause. But our Clarissa Ward and team our team on the ground there in Kabul described this as an eight-hour delay, so hardly a brief pause. And it just gives you a sense of how difficult this process is to bring people in, fly them to these countries and process them. So, that caused a bit of a backup, a significant backup, actually. But the White House is saying that President Biden will announce that the flights are resuming. They will resume. The order has been give to start these flights up again.

But the question here is, is the State Department, is this government bureaucracy working as fast as it needs to here? That is one thing that's been on the minds of officials here at the White House as they've been meeting with the president and others trying to get some of this backlog unjammed, if you will. And that has been a challenge of the morning.

And this is just the airport we're talking. Never mind the people who are trying to get to the airport, still trying to go through Taliban control. So, that still needs to be addressed. But we are told the president will be delivering remarks this afternoon, talking about the process there.

And he's also staying here at the White House today. He was planning on going to Wilmington, Delaware for a three-day weekend there for a vacation. That is not going to happen. He's staying here at the White House to keep managing this situation here. But as far as we're told, those flights should be resuming shortly, Ana.

CABRERA: And if you will, Sam Kiley, who is in Doha, Qatar, which is obviously nearby and also the site of where there are ongoing talks, we are told, between the State Department and the Taliban about these evacuations. Sam, set the scene a little bit for us on what's happening in Afghanistan right now. We saw those images of the baby being handed over barbed wire to military officials. That really does speak to the desperation and the urgency and the panic still there happening on the ground in Afghanistan.

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Acute (ph) urgency, panic and desperation, Ana, absolutely. And with this eight- hour pause in movement, we think mostly towards Qatar, where Qatari's officials are saying that the American side of the Al Udeid Base is rapidly filling up or reaching capacity. They're comfortable. They can absorb more in Qatar. But that is called comfort in a very hot environment indeed in Kabul where there are thousands, tens of thousands of people hoping to get out of the country. And Clarissa Ward ran the gauntlet into the airport. And this is what she came across.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): We actually went through the clash (ph) today. And we were very lucky because we went through a gate where there were relatively few people, and we went at a very early hour in the morning. But I can tell you it was one of the more harrowing experiences I've ever had, because the desperation when that gate opened just a tiny (INAUDIBLE) and there's just this rush, people pushing, pushing, they were desperately trying to stand up. I'm holding hands with my colleagues and then some of our local staff who are trying to get out. And everybody is screaming and children are screaming. And on the other side of the war, they're screaming to get back. I mean, it's just unconscionable that there are women that are carrying newborn babies. And I just -- at a certain point, I'm at a loss of words, honestly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILEY: Now, Ana, organizing an evacuation on this scale for a developed nation that hadn't just had a violent change of government would be one thing, the Taliban are insisting that they're not standing in the way of people evacuating. They are insisting indeed that they'd like to see better organization of the evacuation. But at the same time, there have been allegations against the Taliban that they have been trying to hunt people down, associated with the NATO involvement there and, indeed, with the government. But there are people passing through the Taliban checkpoints showing papers that obviously prove their connection to the United States and her allies.

[13:05:05]

And some are getting through but nowhere near enough, Ana. CABRERA: Barbara, the Pentagon had set this expectation that eventually they'd be able to fly out somewhere in the range of 4,000 to 9,000 people per day. It seems like there is still a jam up. What is the biggest challenge as far as what you understand right now for the U.S. to carry out these evacuations?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, it seems after today, there's jam-ups everywhere, Ana. And the Pentagon not yet speaking plainly, speaking publicly, very candidly about what is going wrong. So, let's review for a minute.

The gates at the airport were closed for hours earlier today. And why was that? Of course, desperate Afghans backing up outside the gate trying to get in, inside the airport a jam-up of more than 10,000 people, we are told, trying to get on planes, get processed and get out. But no planes took off because they had nowhere to go. The landing sites in Qatar and other possible locations are full.

The administration is expected to announce it has new additional landing sites. One that we are hearing very strongly is ramp stain in Ramstein in Germany. That should open up more capacity.

But speaking plainly, the Pentagon, the U.S. military, they have, for decades, said their expertise is in planning, planning a mission, carrying it out, knowing what they must do to carry out that mission. And right now, each and every day, we see something not being done because they either don't -- over the last several days, they haven't had the people, the resources, the aircraft, the personnel, the processing capability, and, of course, the very tough issue of getting Afghans through those Taliban checkpoints outside the airport. The U.S. continuing to talk to the Taliban about trying to get that part of the process moving more freely, getting the Taliban to back off from their very violent tactics.

But right now, it is hard to see where all of this goes. There are less than two weeks to August 31st, which continues to be the stated Biden administration timeline, deadline for getting out. If they decide they want to stay later for all practical purposes, they are going to have to get the Taliban to agree to it. Ana?

CABRERA: So, David Chalian, this is the backdrop as the president prepares to speak to the American people any moment now. It will be his second formal address to the American people since Kabul fell. He also had that interview with ABC this week. What will you be listening for?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, his third attempt to explain to the American people what they're seeing across their screens and give them confidence that he is in command of this moment. And I think, as you heard, he has some news to bring, as Jeff Zeleny was reporting, about these flights starting up again after this long pause.

So I would expect to hear a president, a commander-in-chief, talk operationally, because when George Stephanopoulos in that interview, you referenced, Ana, asked for his reaction to the images he was seeing, he said, well, my first reaction was we need to get our arms around and get this airport operating. And so I would imagine we're going to hear from him some operational details in that way that show that he's on top of this.

But I'm also listening very carefully to see if he brings a little more heart in his response to the images that we've seen playing out across the screens all week long at that airport. I don't think we've heard that much from his heart on that subject just yet. And, of course, as he did on Monday, as he did in that interview on Wednesday, I have no doubt that we will hear him recommit to his overall strategy here that it is the right course for the United States of America, and the U.S. national security interest to pull all forces out of Afghanistan.

CABRERA: David Sanger, there have been multiple press briefings this week with the Pentagon, with the State Department, the daily White House briefing, of course. What questions still haven't been answered?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, there are a number, Ana. One is why is this process that we're seeing now of getting the allies, those who worked for the American forces out of Kabul really revving up now instead of back in April or May after the president announced the deadline for the American withdrawal?

The timeline just doesn't add up because the pace at which they were moving before the Taliban took over got only 2,000 or less than 10 percent of the applicants for these visas out of the country for consideration. Meaning that the military, if it stuck to its August 31st deadline, would have been gone and left these people to the mercies of the Taliban or whoever was in control of Kabul and other cities without protection while their visas were being considered.

[13:10:14]

And that timeline just doesn't wash.

So now, the president is going to have to make a case that he's doing everything he can. It looks like the U.S. is in control inside the walls of the airport. But outside the walls, we have no presence, we have no sovereignty, we have no authority, and so the bigger problem, which is getting people to the airport, is the one I'm going -- is a problem I want to hear how he plans to address.

Jake Sullivan, his National Security Adviser, said the other day that any American citizen who was there, who wants to get out, they'll get out, but, of course, many of those who are spread around Afghanistan.

CABRERA: Right. And at this point, according to the White House and Pentagon, those who have been speaking this week, they said they don't have the ability right now to go beyond the airport in order to go in and help those people who might be in hiding and hunkering down for the time being.

Nia, as we await the president, we are told the vice president, Kamala Harris, will be alongside President Biden during today's remarks. She hasn't made any public comments about Afghanistan this week. And in April, I recall her telling Dana Bash that she remains the last person in the room when big decisions are made, including, she said, when President Biden decided to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by September 11th. What do you make of her role this week?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, listen, we know from this White House and from President Biden that he very much seeks out his vice president, Kamala Harris, for her advice, for her counsel, for her point of view. He very much wants her to be the last person in that room. She has been in all of the briefings. We didn't see her on Monday when he gave his speech, but as you said, we will see her by his side today.

We don't know what her advice to this president has been in regards to Afghanistan. We do know that she too agreed with that troops should withdraw when she was running for president. She was in line with what President Biden ended up doing. And he said that she is all in on this decision.

What is interesting is what will come in the coming days. She is set to leave today for a foreign trip. This is her second foreign trip as vice president. We know the first one had some bumps in the road. And we know that the backdrop of this one is incredibly important given how shaky the status of this withdrawal is and this massive mission that the Biden administration is undertaking.

She now has to go to Vietnam and Singapore and reassure American allies that America is good for its word, that it will remain a dependable and reliable ally in the face of what we're seeing in Afghanistan. So we will see her on the international stage in the coming days. And we know that this is a vice president who isn't steeped in foreign policy in the way that obviously President Biden is and was as vice president. So that, I think, is her coming challenge and we'll see how she does.

But for now, we don't know what her counsel is in on Afghanistan. And maybe in years to come, we'll find that out. But oftentimes, she obviously has said that she is a loyal person to this president and that she supports his decision, and we'll see how she does on this foreign trip coming up in a couple days.

CABRERA: Everybody please stand by. We are waiting for the president to speak. We will bring that to you live.

Meantime, a welcome surge in this pandemic, an increase in vaccinations. Will it last and how big of an impact will that have on hospitals already out of critical space?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:15:00]

CABRERA: We have images of the White House. Any moment, President Biden will be addressing the nation as chaos continues to unfold in Afghanistan. We will be bring you his remarks live.

We're also keeping an eye on developments with the pandemic and finally some good news. For the first time since early July, more than 1 million vaccines were administered in a single day. The pace is about 73 percent higher than a month ago. And CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is all over this.

Elizabeth, nearly 60 percent of all eligible people in the U.S. are now fully vaccinated. But it is still the unvaccinated that continue to overwhelm our health care system. How long could it be before we start to see the impact of those who are getting vaccinated?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Ana, every vaccinated body is a good thing. That's one person fewer who is as likely to get hospitalized and is likely to die and is likely to spread this horrible virus. But we need to keep going.

So let's take a look again at the graphic that you just showed. If you look on the right-hand side, that's where we are today with vaccinations. It's getting better. You can see that sort of uphill curve there. That's good but we're nowhere near where we should be, nowhere near where we were last spring.

So, let's take a look at who we have left to convince because there are still a large number of people whoare just not getting this message. About 84 million Americans who are eligible for a COVID shot haven't even gotten a single shot yet, 84 million people who don't understand the death and destruction that this virus has done. That's 30 percent of the eligible population, 30 percent of people 12 and up who are just not getting this.

And this is upswing that we're seeing now, this good uptick on I suspect that's because they're watching people die.

[13:20:05]

And they're watching people in the hospital. And they don't want to die. It's unfortunate it's taken this to convince them to get vaccinated. Maybe that's what it takes.

I think one thing that we've learned here is that, in a way, the science of the vaccine was easy. I think the CDC and others are having a hard time figuring out how best to message this, how do we reach those 84 million people.

CABRERA: Elizabeth, there is this new study today showing that a lot of people were refusing emergency transport to hospitals in the early days of the pandemic, even when they were experiencing life- threatening emergencies. Tell us more about this.

COHEN: Right, Ana. Some of these folks in the study, they were having chest pain and they wouldn't get into an ambulance. So this is a study that looked at about 80,000 calls to 911 in the Detroit area. And so all of these calls were made to 911, someone had chest pain or some other symptoms, 16,000 patients refused to get on an ambulance despite having symptoms and 2,000 of those people died. And that just shows you sort of the difficult situation that these EMT workers were in, these poor patients trying to think, am I sick enough, that I want to go to a hospital where there could be COVID-19. But those numbers are pretty stark. 16,000 people looking at 80,000 calls, 16,000 of them wouldn't get into the ambulance, even though an ambulance had been called.

CABRERA: And what's so awful is that we're starting to see hospitals again overwhelmed and hospital staff saying, we can't deal with the crush of people who are coming into our ICUs.

Elizabeth Cohen, thank you for being with us.

Now, starting today, if you live in San Francisco, or even if you just plan to visit, bring your proof of vaccination. It is now required at places like bars, restaurants and gyms.

CNN Correspondent Dan Simon is live for us. Are businesses ready?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think so, Ana. San Francisco is a city from the very beginning, people were wildly accepting of masks and vaccines. Nearly 80 percent of the eligible population in the city is fully vaccinated, one of the highest vaccination rates in the country. So, all indicators are that businesses, people ready to accept these new rules.

Now, let's talk about what they are. If you go to a bar, a restaurant, a club, theater or a gym, you need to show your vaccination card. You can either show the physical card or you can show a photo of it. Now, many restaurants and bars in the city have already been doing this for the past few weeks. They decided to do this independently. Now, it's a bit of a different story with the city mandating it. This is some of the early reaction we've gotten. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF DOWD, BAR PATRON: I think that everybody needs to help each other out and get vaccinated, and this is a really wonderful way to do that. And also we've had supported the bar and restaurant industry for a very long time. It's the least we could do.

NIKKI LOGAN CURRA, BAR PATRON: I think a lot of people are going to have a stink about it. But I think a lot of people are going to be really happy that they're in an environment with like-minded people who feel like they're making all the precautions they can to stay safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: Now, while customers have to comply with these rules beginning today, employees, staff at the various businesses, they actually have a little bit of time to come to compliance and to be fully vaccinated. For them, it is October 13th.

And this is similar to what the Mayor de Balsio enacted in New York where you have to show your vaccination card. But one key difference between New York and San Francisco, here you have to be fully vaccinated, both doses, New York just one dose. Ana?

CABRERA: Dan Simon in San Francisco, thank you.

We're keeping an eye on the White House, of course, as the president prepares to address the American people. The race to evacuate Afghanistan is underway. Where things stand, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:25:00]

CABRERA: We're back with our breaking news. The president getting ready to address the American people as chaos grips Afghanistan. We'll be bringing you his speech live.

I want to continue our conversation with our reporters and analysts. Let's start with Jeff Zeleny at the White House. Why don't we know how many Americans are still in Afghanistan, Zeleny?

ZELENY: Ana, that has been a question that's been asked around Washington for the last several days, and officials have been unwilling and, in fact, unable to put a number to it. But there is a good explanation for why that is. You do have to register as a U.S. citizen when you go into Afghanistan. So with the embassy, of course, before Kabul fell just a few days ago, but you do not have to deregister.

So, of course, the last several days have been chaotic. There have been charter planes leaving. 11 left last evening alone with the help of the U.S. military. So there could be some Americans on those flights. In fact, there likely are Americans on those flights. So that is why there is not necessarily an exact accounting for how many Americans remain in Afghanistan. It's something that the State Department, the Pentagon, and here at the White House, officials have been trying to get a better estimate of that. But they do believe the numbers are dwindling and are quite low. So, we will see if the president addresses that specifically when he talks shortly in the east room of the White House.

[13:30:05]

But, Ana, I am told he is going to give an operational update. And what that means, he's going --