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Americans And Afghans Continue Leaving Afghanistan From Kabul Airport After Taliban Takeover Of Country; Terrorist Groups May Target Americans Attempting To Leave Afghanistan; Tropical Storm Henri Becomes Hurricane And Threatens Parts Of New England; Trump Administration's Role In Making Deal With Taliban For U.S. Troop Withdrawal And Preventing Processing Of Potential Refugees From Afghanistan Examined; FDA May Give Full Approval To Pfizer Vaccine For COVID-19. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired August 21, 2021 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: That's going to do it for me. Thanks so much for being with me today. The NEWSROOM continues with Jim Acosta.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

Today, the Pentagon confirming reports that some Americans have been beaten or harassed by the Taliban as they desperately try to escape to the airport in Kabul. The U.S. embassy now warning Americans do not come to the airport unless specifically instructed by the U.S. government because of the potential security threats outside the gates.

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ACOSTA: Chaotic scenes like this one playing out over and over again as Taliban fighters clash with crowds desperate to escape. Right now, an estimated 14,000 people are at the airport in Kabul waiting to board evacuation flights to whatever country will take them. The Pentagon says they are fighting time and space with this operation.

CNN's Clarissa Ward and her crew captured these remarkable images aboard a C-17 cargo plane as they prepared to take off for Doha, Qatar, along with roughly 400 Afghan nationals. The Pentagon announcing that 17,000 people, including 2,500 Americans have gotten out in the last week, some taken to this U.S. air base in Germany. They are among the lucky ones. Thousands still outside the airport in Kabul are braving 90-degree heat, sleeping on gravel, their cries for help drowned out at times by the gunfire of Taliban fighters.

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ACOSTA: And an update on a piece of video that came to symbolize the desperation, an infant who was passed through the crowd and hoisted above barbed wire to U.S. troops. That baby has been reunited with her father, and both are safe. Let's go to CNN's Oren Liebermann over at the Pentagon. Oren, President Biden cancelled a planned trip to Delaware to stay in Washington where he's getting regular briefings. And now we're seeing some mixed message for Americans trying to get out of Afghanistan. What can you tell us?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: So at first, for a couple of days, it was Americans to try to make their way to the airport, and if the Taliban would let them through, President Joe Biden said pretty unequivocally on Friday that they were getting through.

But then the Pentagon walking that back a bit, saying there have been some reports, limited reports of Americans having trouble getting through Taliban checkpoints. The U.S. on the ground there, local commanders are in touch with the Taliban about that. But by and large, they're saying the vast majority of Americans are getting through and are getting to the airport.

And then, of course, a message that came out earlier today, Saturday, in Kabul that said Americans should hold in place until they get the all clear, the instructions to go to the airport. And it's unclear now where this message came from. It talks about a changing security situation, the security threat around the airport. But general Taylor, who briefed us earlier today, said that the current threat environment or situation hasn't changed reportedly from yesterday. So we're still trying to get some clarity about what exactly prompted this message.

Meanwhile, the bottleneck in terms of moving people has gone from initially it was processing, now to simply where to put people. There was about an eight to 10 hour stoppage in flights yesterday. They're still trying to work through that and get people moving again.

The number of flights dropping from 15 or 16 C-17s and 6,000 people to about six C-17s with only about 1,600 people. So the military is working its way through that to try to get those numbers back up to, frankly, where they need to be during this NEO, this non-combatant evacuation operation, 5,000, 6,000, 7,000 a day.

Meanwhile, we did learn that U.S. troops in three CH-47 Chinook helicopters left the airport to a nearby space, took up 169 Americans and brought them back to the military side of the airport so they could be evacuated. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby says as far as he knows from the information he has, that's the only time U.S. troops have left the base in such a fashion to bring in Americans.

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JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: To my knowledge, since you and I last talked yesterday, there have been no additional operations, as you put it, outside the wire, outside the security perimeter of the airport. But look, without getting predictive here, we have troops in a very, as I said, dynamic environment, very perilous mission, and they understand that. And they also understand why they're there, which is to help people. And I'm not going to rule out the possibility that if they see a moment, if they see an opportunity to do it, that they won't do it.

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[14:05:00]

LIEBERMANN: For all the challenges and criticism this operation has faced, here's a look at what U.S. troops on the ground have been doing.

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LIEBERMANN: Kabul has become a tale of two cities. Outside the gated walls of the airport, panic, despair. Inside the compound, there is what so many Afghans feared was lost, a measure of hope. There are 5,800 troops at Hamid Karzai International Airport, some for security of the most important real estate in the country right now.

But for many others, this is a humanitarian mission. The military has come with food, water, and medical supplies. Here, something as simple as water, large, clear plastic bottles, something that's small, has an impact on those fleeing for their lives, especially after hours of waiting in the summer heat of Afghanistan. A father passes his child to a marine for medical help. The marines say the infant was treated and reunited with family at the airport.

LT. GENERAL MARK HERTLING (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Having prepared and partially executed a NEO, a non-combatant evacuation operation like what we're seeing right now, it is the toughest mission the military does. So many challenges that require continuous adaptation to changing circumstances.

LIEBERMANN: Here, another child passed to marines, a picture that underscores how important Afghans feel it is to leave the country they once knew. Powerful images like this have helped define this evacuation effort, pictures of the crowd, and pictures of the people. It is a difficult mission, one the White House acknowledged is a dangerous one, under pressure from the clock, the environment, and the enemy. But it is one that presses on and brings some hope, maybe even some happiness to those who have known days of fear.

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LIEBERMANN: And we've just been cleared to report the latest from Afghanistan, that because of the evolving situation on the ground and a threat from ISIS-K there, the U.S. military is planning alternative routes to get U.S. evacuees as well as others Afghan evacuees and others to Hamid Karzai International Airport, according to two defense officials.

The plans are a result of the growing crowds outside the airport, which the U.S. and the Pentagon have known, are a tempting for ISIS-K and other terrorist organizations who could try to attack such large gatherings of crowds with either vehicle-borne IEDs, suicide bombs, mortars.

The U.S. military has its plans evolve because of the changing situation on the ground, went ahead and developed and is developing alternative routes to try to get in different ways to bring U.S. citizens as well as Afghan evacuees and other from their location to Hamid Karzai International Airport, or different ways for them to make that trip on their own.

One defense official says the U.S. is in contact with the Taliban over these alternative plans to some extent, not sharing all the information, but enough to make sure that these would be workable in such a way that the U.S. military there and the troops there are able to have more visibility on the movement of troops.

The plans, the alternative routes, would also be used as a way of either avoiding crowds altogether, or dispersing the crowds so they aren't such a tempting target for ISIS-K and others. A senior diplomat in Kabul, meanwhile, tells one of my colleagues who covers the State Department, that although there is an ISIS-K threat, they're not aware of a specific threat of an attack but a general threat level coming from ISIS-K there. President Joe Biden when he spoke yesterday acknowledged the threat from ISIS-K, and said this is something that they're watching. Jim?

ACOSTA: Oren Liebermann, a lot to keep track of. Thanks for doing that for us over at the Pentagon. We appreciate it.

And joining me now is the former defense secretary under President Clinton, William Cohen. He also previously served as Republican member of the House and Senate. Secretary Cohen, thanks so much for being here with us, especially in person.

As you know, President Biden said there is no indication Americans are unable to get to the airport, but that, as we know, has been contradicted by our own reporters on the ground. And Oren Liebermann is reporting they're now making contingency plans to, perhaps, look at other routes to get to the airport. What do you think the U.S. should be contemplating at this point as they're developing these plans?

WILLIAM COHEN, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE UNDER PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, as the administration has been saying, it's fluid and dynamic. Some would characterize it as fairly chaotic, as well.

But I think what we need to do is to pause and praise our U.S. military, just the segment that you just ran showing our military adapting. They're not only being military people but humanitarians. They are taking care of the people, and they are using the great capability they have. I don't think that we appreciate that enough, how capable our military is, how flexible they are, how they can adjust to any type of threat. So praise to our military and for the veterans who have served there who understand what our obligation is to those who helped us in Afghanistan.

What should they do now? They need to be flexible as possible. If they can't get to the airport, they have to have whatever intelligence we have to go and try and locate where the Americans are in Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan, communicate with them in terms of what areas of the airport they can get to or what there is other than Kabul they can get to.

[14:10:07]

So I think they've got to be real flexible, adaptable, and I have every confidence our military is capable of doing that.

ACOSTA: You're right, and the images of our servicemembers lending a hand, doing everything they have to help with this almost impossible situation that they've been thrust into, it's really remarkable, and of course our hats off to them, and we hope that they can stay safe as they can as humanly possible.

But let me ask you about this, because this sets up a very delicate question, and that is whether or not we may have to confront the Taliban at some point, ISIS-K. What are those possibilities do you think? How does that complicate things? Obviously, it is going to get enormously complicated if that happens.

COHEN: Worst case scenario, we have to fight our way out. I think that the military has to take that into account right now, what would happen if. I think they have to take into account the worst-case scenario in terms of really getting out of Afghanistan, out of Kabul, but now they have to think of, what happens if a bomb goes off? What happens if Al-Qaeda tries to destroy all those? I think that's the worst-case scenario, that we may have to engage in combat. Evacuation not combatant at this point, but a combatant operation.

So I think the military obviously has to be thinking about this. We have to be organized. I'm sure they do. I'm sure they have a plan on what happens if. Do we put more troops in? Where do they go? Do we have to fight our way in. How do we get people out? All of that has to be taken into account.

But Tom Friedman had an interesting piece last week. He talked about, let's wait a second and think about the day or the morning after the morning after. I think we have to go back and look at the day before the day before, and how did we get here?

Why are they so clogged at the airport? Because the State Department, Homeland Security were told by the Trump administration that they didn't want to process this. We have thousands of visas waiting to be processed. They didn't do it because the administration, Trump administration, didn't want to allow those people to come to the United States.

ACOSTA: And let me ask you this. Former national security advisor H.R. McMaster, he had something to say about how the Trump administration handled the laying of the groundwork of this withdrawal from Afghanistan. If we have a little bit of time, let's play a little bit of that sound. He was laying the blame at the feet of the former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Let's listen to that.

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H.R. MCMASTER, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: Our secretary of state signed a surrender agreement to the Taliban.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're talking about Mike Pompeo?

MCMASTER: Yes. This collapse goes back to the capitulation agreement of 2020. The Taliban didn't defeat us. We defeated ourselves. And what's worse is we threw the Afghans under the bus on our way out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And of course, we have images from 2020, from just last year of then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and members of the Taliban. The Taliban putting together this peace deal. This was just last September of last year. Secretary Cohen, what is your thinking on this? I'm sure you've been contemplating this.

COHEN: Well, President Biden sits behind the Resolute Desk, and there's a reason why it's called Resolute. He made a resolution decision that we were coming out. So it's not, I think, becoming for him to point fingers at the Trump administration or anybody else, because he's accepted the responsibility knowing just how bad it could be.

But leave it to me or to General McMaster to say this was equivalent to Neville Chamberlain saying peace is around the corner, that we surrender to the Taliban. Let us go back and look at that. Let Congress go back and look at all the steps that led to this. As far as President Biden is concerned, he accepted the responsibility, and I'd rather have him now focus on how do we get out of here?

This is pretty much a very difficult, messy situation. I'm responsible for making the decision to get out under these circumstances, and I have to accept that responsibility. Did I plan for the most difficult, the worst-case scenario? If not, why not? What was presented to me?

He said the other day that there were a number of intelligence reports. I understand that. I had a number of intelligence reports. You have to sift through them. What is the majority consensus? Can I rely upon the consensus? He'll have to explain that. I'm sure Congress is going to insist upon it.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. Secretary Cohen, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it, as always.

And coming up, Long Island, New York, bracing for something they haven't seen in more than 30 years, a possible direct hit from a hurricane. An update on the storm's track with 40 million people in the path. That's next.

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[14:18:56]

ACOSTA: And we're keeping a close eye on what is now hurricane Henri. It's barreling towards the northeast as a category one. Henry is expected to make landfall tomorrow on the eastern portion of Long Island or southern New England. More than 40 million people are under hurricane or tropical storm warnings right now. CNN's Allison Chinchar is tracking the storm in the Weather Center. Where is Henri now, and what do people need to know? I suppose people are just catching up to the fact that this is coming. People need to get prepared.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. When you went to bed last night, this was just a tropical storm, many people waking up, now it's a hurricane.

Again, right now what we're seeing is it's basically just about 200 or so miles east of North Carolina, just off the shore there. Sustained winds at 75 miles per hour gusting up to 90, moving to the northeast, north-northeast at 17 miles per hour. So we have seen the forward speed pick up just ever so slightly. We still anticipate it's going to curve a little bit closer towards the west right before landfall, which is why we still think the best location for landfall likely going to be over Long Island, likely around lunchtime on Sunday.

[14:20:00]

From there, it will push a little bit farther inland before then making a very sharp turn to the east and going back out over the open water. The forecast radar, again, shows a lot of heavy rain really starting to move in across New Jersey first. That's what you're going to notice through the overnight hours. Then we start to see those outer bands pick up across areas of New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and even Massachusetts before the system as a whole begins to push farther inland.

Now, one thing to note -- that heavy rain while, yes, it will be heavy along the coast, it's going to spread pretty far in. So you'll notice areas of upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire also getting several inches of rain out of this storm. Keep in mind, a lot of these same areas had very heavy rain earlier this week due to the remnants of Fred, so that ground is very saturated, leading to a moderate flash flood risk across several states here.

Another thing to note -- when the ground is saturated like that, it doesn't take very strong winds, usually about 40 or 60 miles per hour, to bring trees and power lines down. But the forecast is calling for winds much, much stronger than that. You can see here the red area, 75 to 110-mile-per-hour wind gusts. This purple area, including Montauk, perhaps even higher than that, which is why we're anticipating such widespread power outages, not only Sunday, but for the days after as well.

Storm surge is going to be a big concern, especially right there along the coast from Nantucket, Providence, down through East Hampton, about three to five feet there. But even areas like Boston and the Jersey Shore, which, in theory, are pretty far from where the landfall point will be, they can still expect some storm surge numbers around one to three feet.

One other thing to point out, that for some of these locations, when landfall is happening, high tide may also be occurring, Jim, and one thing to point there, this is not a normal daily high tide. Full moon is tomorrow, which means you're talking astronomical high tides at the same time dealing with storm surge.

ACOSTA: All right, and boaters beware, people who live in those coastal areas, beware. Allison Chinchar, I know you're following all of this. Thank you so much.

Twenty years, and more than $80 billion spent on training the Afghan military to keep the Taliban away. So how did all of that go down the drain in 11 days? A brand new books says the collapse was actually years in the making. Those revelations next. You're live in the CNN Newsroom.

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[14:26:42]

ACOSTA: Incredibly moving scenes near the nation's capital just after midnight. Tearful reunions when a flight carrying people who fled Afghanistan arrived at Dulles Airport in Virginia.

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ACOSTA: And CNN has learned these are just some of the 1,500 people, Americans and Afghans, expected to arrive in the D.C. region this weekend after leaving Afghanistan. For those who made it to American soil, relief after a traumatic journey.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's absolutely amazing to see family members. They've been apart for years and years, and now they are united. It's just, everybody's so happy. But we are still very sad for those that are still in Afghanistan, stranded in their own country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had to push a lot of people, and a lot of people pushed us. That's how we got in. We tried for maybe five hours to get in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are trying for two days to get out of Afghanistan. Just go to international airport, but there are a lot of crowd of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Let's bring in former homeland security counterterrorism and COVID task force adviser to Vice President Mike Pence Olivia Troye, and "Washington Post" investigative reporter Craig Whitlock. He's the author of "The Afghanistan Papers, A Secret History of the War," out on August 31st.

Olivia, let me start with you. Some on the right are claiming that this withdrawal would have been smooth under Trump and that he would have evacuated everyone, no problem. You pushed back hard against that narrative, tweeting "There were cabinet meetings about this during the Trump administration where Steven Miller," who was a domestic policy adviser to Trump, "would peddle his racist hysteria about Iraq and Afghanistan. He and his enablers across government would undermine anyone who worked on solving the SIV issue by devastating the system at DHS and State."

Olivia, I know that Stephen Miller's wife, Katie Miller, is pushing back on that. She also worked with you in the Trump administration, but what kind of arguments were they making against taking in Afghan partners and refugees when you were there? What did you witness?

OLIVIA TROYE, FORMER ADVISER TO VICE PRESIDENT PENCE: I find these arguments and narratives frustrating, very, very frustrating, because when I was there in the White House working on these issues, it was nothing but increasing restrictions on immigration and restricting refugee admissions.

And all of these categories are part of that process, and the SIVs are part of that, P-2s, all of this falls into the pipeline of these offices with resources that were gutted during the Trump administration, where many of us who actually worked with refugee issues who were pushing to make sure that they did not reduce the ceiling number for refugees and ensure that this process continued, especially prioritizing the interpreters who had served overseas with military and intelligence officers would be able to get through that system.

And it was a very challenging situation, and these claims that Trump would have done this differently and would have saved all of them, he had several years to do that.

[14:30:08]

And the numbers speak for themselves. The numbers of people, Afghans and especially Iraqis, the Iraqis who are still waiting to come here. Very few got through the system.

ACOSTA: And that was in large part because, in your view, there was just an anti-refugee mentality being pushed by folks like Stephen Miller? I think you've described situations where if Stephen caught wind of other officials trying to push in favor of allowing refugees into the country, he would seek to cut those people out, ice those people out.

TROYE: There was certainly situations where these meetings to discuss refugee admissions and these exact topics where people would be blocked to the meetings. There were times when these meetings got smaller when advisers that needed to be in those meetings were not included and they were purposely dropped off the list. There were certainly times when I would show up at a meeting when I wasn't welcome, but it was my job to cover the topic.

And I knew former Vice President Pence was paying attention to this closely. He has a son who is in the military. He understands the issue, and he had specifically asked that SIVs be prioritized in the process, he would call and sometimes check and say, where are we on the applications of many of these visas and SIVs. And I would say, well, sir, they're stuck in the process, and I'm doing my best to navigate through the system. But we all knew the reality of what was happening here and the situation.

ACOSTA: And Craig, regarding this situation today, it's looking like the Taliban were essentially able to bribe large numbers of Afghan forces to surrender. How did we get outbid? Were we outbid by the Taliban? Is that what happened here?

CRAIG WHITLOCK, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, "WASHINGTON POST": I don't think outbid. I think that you have to remember, in Afghanistan, they have a traditional way of war there where militia commanders and military commanders, they kind of put their finger in the wind to see which ways things are blowing, and they want to be on the victorious side.

And it became clear as the Taliban moved city to city, and provincial capital to provincial capital, that the Afghan security forces were taking it on the chin. And if you're an Afghan commander and you're isolated and you don't have a lot of faith in your government, the Taliban says, well, surrender or die or we'll give you some money to persuade you to switch allegiance, it's a pretty tempting offer and hard to resist.

ACOSTA: And Craig, in your book you lay out how various administrations were part of this failure that became the U.S. commitment in Afghanistan. Things fell apart the way they did, you write in your book, in part because of what we saw over the course of many years. What can you tell us about that?

WHITLOCK: Dating back to the Bush administration, the U.S. government, the whole strategy for getting out of Afghanistan hinged on building up an Afghan army and an Afghan paramilitary police force. The whole idea was to build this enormous military that could defend their own country against the Taliban or other threats. And this started 18 years ago to try and build it up.

But from the beginning, it was a flawed plan. And our U.S. officials knew this, that this was going to be really difficult to pull off. The Afghans were largely illiterate, they weren't familiar with our weapons systems. Corruption became an enormous problem where Afghan commanders would steal salaries and food and other benefits through their own troops. And this was a persistent problem for three presidents President Biden came into office.

So we knew this force wasn't strong enough to defend themselves, and yet, they were everything our strategy hinged on. So we could kind of see this coming for a number of years, but it really just kind of -- they fell apart at the end there.

ACOSTA: And I know in your book, you talk about the American people were essentially misled about the progress being made in Afghanistan throughout all of this. Olivia, let me get back to you. Just about every assessment has the Afghan government falling after U.S. exit. What were the conversations like that you were a part of? Was that taken into consideration by the Trump administration, that this was likely to fall apart quickly if the U.S. were to say, OK, we're getting out?

TROYE: Well, I think, yes. Those conversations were had and certainly, the intelligence was there about this possibility. I covered this topic from the perspective of counterterrorism. I had a regional person that covered the portfolio on staff as well. He would speak to probably more directly in terms of that and those discussions, because he was in those discussions specifically about the withdrawal.

ACOSTA: All right, Greg Whitlock, Olivia Troye, thank you both so much. And again, we should mention, Craig is author of the forthcoming book, "The Afghanistan Papers, A Secret History of the War." Be sure to check that out. And Craig, thank you so much for writing that book. We've had 20 years since we got into Afghanistan, and it's important that people understand, this has been building up for two decades now. It didn't just happen in the last couple of weeks. Thank you so much, we appreciate it.

[14:35:00]

Full FDA approval of Pfizer's COVID vaccine could come as early as Monday. The details are next. You're live in the CNN Newsroom.

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ACOSTA: This just in to CNN. We're learning that five law enforcement officers in south Florida have all died in the last week after getting COVID. Right now in Florida, COVID cases are surging, and so are hospitalizations. All of this as the state's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis continues to wage an aggressive campaign against mandatory mask wearing and other COVID mitigation strategies.

[14:40:07]

Sources telling CNN that full approval of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine is imminent and could come as early as Monday. Up until now, the vaccine has been made available under emergency use authorization, but experts say full approval could help combat vaccine hesitancy and clarify legal issues about vaccine mandates. This comes as the U.S. celebrates another milestone. More than 200 million people in this country have now received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Joining me now, the former CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden on the imminent approval for the COVID vaccine, the Pfizer COVID vaccine. Dr. Frieden, great to have you on. Thanks so much. Let me ask you this. Are you encouraged now that more people might get this vaccine, and that more businesses, schools, and others might mandate the vaccine, given that we're going to have full FDA approval for at least the Pfizer version?

DR. TOM FRIEDEN, FORMER CDC DIRECTOR: I think what we're seeing, Jim, is a recognition that Delta really does change things. There is increasing recognition of the importance of both vaccination and masks, and increasing acceptance of the desirability of mandates for both vaccines and masks in certain situations, including in schools.

And I have to say that the politicians who are taking the side of anti-mask, anti-vaccine, anti-science, are basically pro-virus and anti-child, because the real thing in the balance in the coming weeks and months is whether we can get our kids back to school, learning, and staying in school, not having to shut down, and not posing a risk to themselves, their family, their teachers, and the staff of those schools.

ACOSTA: And do you think this approval impacts the process now for the shot being approved for children under 12, because that is a key question so many parents are asking about?

FRIEDEN: They are really very separated. One the one hand you've got the full authorization of the Pfizer, and soon after that the Moderna MRNA vaccines. That will happen. I think that will happen. I think that will answer some questions that some people have who may wonder what an emergency authorization means, so full authorization may be helpful for some of those who are on the fence about whether or not to get vaccinated.

It's also going to be helpful for some institutions that were hesitant about mandating vaccination, and the fact that it will be fully approved makes them less hesitant to do that. And we're seeing in more settings, whether health care or schools or workplaces, that mandating vaccination, mandating masks is the way to get back to an economy, to get back to learning in person, and to save a lot of lives.

ACOSTA: And we continue to see debates over masks and vaccines in schools, with schools starting up for the fall. There really is no hiding from that neighbor who may be anti-vax or anti-mask, because the reality is your child may be in a classroom with kids whose parents don't believe in these CDC guidelines. So if your child is one of the few in a classroom wearing a mask, or even if it's 50-50, how much protection do they really have if there are other kids who are there not wearing those masks?

FRIEDEN: Well, if your kid is 12 and above, get them vaccinated. The vaccines are stunningly effective and extremely safe. If your kid is under 12, the good news is that illness usually is quite mild. The bad news is they could bring it back to others, and it's not always mild.

So what some parents are doing, is if anyone who is at risk is around others who aren't masked, they up their mask game. Use an N-95 to provide more protection for yourself. But really, the better way is for everyone indoors to be masked and, when eligible, vaccinated. That's the way to get our schools back, our economy back, and to save a lot of lives.

ACOSTA: Yes, and get all of this under control. It's so important.

And there was some promising news that for the first time since early July, more than 1 million vaccine doses had been administered in a single day. How significant is that? And do you think that will help us get to that so-called herd immunity? FRIEDEN: Well, we're encouraged by the increase in uptake of vaccines,

but remember, you've got something like 90 million people not vaccinated. So a million a day leaves you months and months of lots of people susceptible to severe illness or death.

The other thing that's really concerning is that the Delta variant seems to be able to spread even from vaccinated people. So I think we have to temper expectations in terms of herd immunity. But Jim, the really biggest issue right here is a global issue. As long as there is spread of this virus around the world, there could be even more dangerous variants than Delta emerging. And as long as we're not scaling up manufacturing, especially of the MRNA vaccines, we're not doing everything we can to protect ourselves, to protect the world, and to save lives.

[14:45:00]

And that's why I'm so concerned at the actions of one particular company, Moderna. They've taken billions and billions of taxpayer money. They've got $12 billion in the bank. They're very focused on selling boosters to rich countries, but as far as I can tell, they've done virtually nothing to sell vaccines, to scale up production capacity for the billions of people who don't have access.

So we're getting thirds in the U.S. before doctors in Africa and Asia and other places have even first doses of the vaccine. And that's something that both the company, their board of directors, and the Biden administration needs to address urgently.

ACOSTA: Yes, and unless the rest of the world gets help, we're just going to see more mutations, more variants that can come here, obviously, and cause more problems.

All right, Dr. Tom Frieden, to be continued. We'll continue this conversation.

FRIEDEN: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Very important point. Thank you so much, we appreciate it.

Up next, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Paul Simon, those are just some of the performers who will take the stage tonight for the star-studded "We Love New York" concert. Preview of the CNN special event is next. You're live in the CNN Newsroom.

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[14:50:53]

ACOSTA: A star-studded night after a difficult year. Tonight New Yorkers are showing their love to their city with a homecoming concert. Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, and Paul Simon are among the stars who will take the stage in Central Park for the "We Love New York City" concert. And we will be bringing it to you live right here on CNN. It's going to be a great event.

CNN's Chloe Melas joins me from New York with a preview. Chloe, what can we expect? This is going to be a lot of fun.

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: This is going to be a historic moment, not just for New York City, but in terms of concerts in general, Jim. Some of the biggest names in music are going to be taking the stage for this epic five-hour concert. Like you said, Bruce Springsteen, Maluma, Paul Simon. You have LL Cool J, and you guys better watch that performance. That's all I'm going to say, OK. There's going to be surprise guests. We have CNN's Don Lemon who's going to be on the stage tonight as one of the hosts.

ACOSTA: Wow.

MELAS: Gayle King. But this was all put together by the city of New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio, and Clive Davis, the legendary music producer who was actually the person who signed Bruce Springsteen to his first record deal. So he and his son, Doug Davis, have called upon their friends like Barry Manilow in the music industry to come together to give a gift to the city of New York after what has been an incredibly difficult year with the COVID-19 pandemic.

And I for one, Jim, am so ready for the return of live music.

ACOSTA: Oh, I am, too. I cannot wait to get back to a concert. Obviously, we have to do it safely. And the other thing I have to say, Chloe, is if we put up that list of the performers again, I want to say that I feel somewhat cool because I recognize most of those names on that list. I assume you do as well.

MELAS: I do, too.

ACOSTA: I recognize more of the older names.

(LAUGHTER)

MELAS: The cool thing is that I've actually gotten to interview some of these people, like Andrea Bocelli, Jennifer Hudson, Bruce Springsteen English. But I haven't seen some of them in concert. So this is also my moment to get to see that. It's going to be on New York City's iconic Central Park great lawn.

And like you said, we're doing this safely. We are -- or not we, but CNN is going to be broadcasting this worldwide exclusively. But the concert itself, you have to have the first dose of the vaccine in order to gain entry. And now the majority of these tickets were free and given out to concertgoers. So it's going to be a great night, enforcing social distancing and listening to some of the greatest musicians of our generation.

ACOSTA: I love it. And it hammers home that message, get vaccinated, get back to normal life. I love it. Chloe Melas, thank you so much, have a great time tonight. We appreciate it.

MELAS: Thank you.

ACOSTA: And be sure to tune in, "We Love New York City." And we do love New York City. But that's the name of the homecoming concert that gets started at 5:00 right here on CNN.

And wrestling gave this athlete a sense of peace during a rocky childhood. Today he's a world-class wrestler and track star and the inspiration for this week's "The Human Factor".

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ZION CLARK, PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE: The feeling of going down the straightaway on a 100 meter is electrifying. The only thing I'm thinking is move, move, move, move, and I'm just there racing on the track. I don't see anybody next to me. I don't hear the crowd. I just see the light at the end of the tunnel and I try to get there as fast as I can.

I am a professional track athlete, I'm a high level wrestler. The speed I usually top out on the track is about 20, 21 more than miles an hour. Currently, I'm training for world championships for track and field and for wrestling. Working on out and being an athlete in general helps keep my spine safe, my body healthy.

Caudal regression syndrome is what I was born with. I went through a couple surgeries to straighten my spine. I had to go through a lot of therapy. I went into foster care for the next 17 years of my life. I suffered a lot of mental abuse, a lot of physical abuse, which I still have scars from to this day. I was adopted by the time I was 18.

My mother has changed me in so many ways. She understood me like no one else did. When I was seven-years-old, I started wrestling. I walked out onto a mat. People think this guy doesn't have legs. I'm about to just walk through him.

[14:55:03]

And I'm thinking like, all right, come try it, because I'm ready.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

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ACOSTA: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. And we're following breaking news.