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Afghanistan Evacuation Flights Resume After Lengthy Pause; Chaotic Journey To Escape Through Kabul Airport; Source: 14,000 Afghans Now At Kabul Airport; U.S. Official: Full FDA Approval Of Pfizer Vaccine Imminent; Many U.S. States At Or Nearing ICU Capacity; World Food Programme Says 14 Million Afghans Considered Food Insecure; Hurricane Warnings For Northeast U.S. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired August 21, 2021 - 03:00   ET

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

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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Coming up, President Biden vows to get every American out of Afghanistan but his assurances contradict the chaotic images we're seeing here on the ground.

And what could be a big game changer in the battle against COVID-19, CNN has learned full FDA approval for the Pfizer vaccine is imminent.

Plus warnings and watches are going up for millions of people as tropical storm Henri gains strength and heads straight for parts of New York and New England.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Robyn Curnow.

CURNOW: U.S. President Joe Biden is vowing to bring every American home from Afghanistan if they want to leave. One problem, though: nobody knows how many U.S. citizens are in the country or their circumstances.

The U.S. State Department says it is actively trying to track down as many as possible. Here's what the president had to say on Friday.

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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Any American who wants to come home, we will get you home.

I cannot promise what the final outcome will be, what it will be and whether it will be without risk of loss. But as commander in chief, I can assure you that I will mobilize every resource necessary. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: So evacuation flights resumed on Friday after a lengthy pause. Officials had to scramble to line up more countries willing to take in thousands of Afghan refugees, even temporarily. The Pentagon has now confirmed that 169 Americans were brought to the

airport by helicopter from a nearby hotel because large crowds had blocked the gates. It's the first known rescue of Americans outside the airport perimeter.

Now the hastily arranged airlift is a huge undertaking but still nowhere large enough to accommodate the crowds outside the gates. Thousands of men, women and children are waiting in oppressive heat, sometimes for days, in hopes they, too, can get out before it is too late.

After reporting from inside Afghanistan for weeks, our Clarissa Ward and her team have made it out of the country.

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CURNOW (voice-over): This is what it looked like inside their plane as they flew to Qatar with about 300 Afghan evacuees on board as well. Now Clarissa has since tweeted that they made it to Doha. Before leaving, she filed this report on the conditions thousands are facing as they try to flee Taliban rule.

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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After three weeks in Afghanistan, we joined the crowds at Kabul airport. Now the only way out of the country.

(on camera): There's a huge block here, lots of cars.

(voice-over): hundreds of people wait in the blistering heat, hoping for a flight out.

(on camera): So we just managed to get into the airport compound and I have to say it was pretty intense. It was just like this crush of desperate people and screaming children and women and babies. And -- yes, it's not often you rarely see desperation like that.

(voice-over): The few people that do make it are exhausted and scared but they're the lucky ones. They've made it past the Taliban checkpoints, Afghan security guards and finally the airport gate. But they can't forget those who they left behind.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're getting out. We're happy for that. But we're heartbroken for our country. Especially for those can't get out, those who are stuck here. And we're really heartbroken. Our heart bleeds for them.

WARD (on camera): What do you feel for all the mothers with young daughters will now be growing up under Taliban rule?

The back of a pretty long line now. Transportations are just strained, they said. And obviously, the priority is getting children and babies out as soon as possible. But I think we'll probably be here for a while.

You'd work for the U.S. military or ... ?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not military but we are working with the Ministry of --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Defense.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- Defense.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Afghanistan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But we are also work with the foreign people, too.

WARD (on camera): And so you have visa?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes.

WARD (voice-over): As we interview this couple, suddenly shouts behind us, a vehicle speeds through.

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WARD: That's a newborn baby that just flew past. That was a newborn.

Did you see the baby?

It was this big.

(voice-over): The baby, we find out, has heat stroke and needs treatment. A reminder for these families that they're close to safety but not there yet.

We stand in the blazing hot sun for hours. Everyone's seeking what shelter they can. Patients wearing thin. It's an agonizingly slow process but finally we're allowed inside. Out on the tarmac now safe but the chaos continues.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been waiting for two days, yesterday since 3:00 am

WARD (on camera): Yesterday, since 3:00 am?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

WARD (on camera): Tell me what the situation was like trying to get into the airport.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was really busy. And a lot of people were just fighting and trying to make way for themselves. But we push through.

WARD (on camera): We are certainly some of the very lucky ones here. Others, as you heard from that young man, have been waiting for two days. Others we saw getting turned around, sent back, told you don't have the appropriate paperwork. And there's no question, everybody here is doing their best. But it's not clear if it's fast enough, if enough people can get out and how much longer they have to finish this massive operation -- Clarissa Ward, CNN, Kabul.

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CURNOW: Thanks to Clarissa and her team for some extraordinary reporting the last week or so.

And to continue on this story, U.S. green card holder Hanif Sufizada endured a harrowing five days trying to get back to the United States from Kabul. On Sunday, he went to the U.S. embassy but found it closed.

So he went to the airport to try to get a flight. By then, the Hamid Karzai International Airport was already chaotic. This is him in the middle of your shot there. In the end, he got out but it was not easy. The six-day ordeal saw him go from Kabul to an air base in Qatar, then on to Kuwait.

He then flew from there to Washington and then on the Dallas and finally, on Friday, he made it home to Omaha, Nebraska. And that's when he was reunited with his family. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Hanif Sufizada joins me now from Omaha to share his extraordinary story.

You're still trying to process it and need some sleep as well.

What was the one moment that will never leave you?

HANIF SUFIZADA, EDUCATION AND OUTREACH COORDINATOR, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA/OMAHA: Well, the moment that I dodged some bullets, I said, OK, this is the end of my life here.

And what should I do if my kids become an orphan?

By the time I reached the airport, it was very chaotic. People were just milling around amid the constant roar of planes taking off from the adjacent military air base. But I didn't know where this military base is actually.

I was confused where to find the American forces, because I fill out the evacuation form early in the morning. And it said that, if you fill out this form, you will be able to get an evacuation.

So it was 5:00 am in the morning that I fill out the form, hoping that I will get a chance to get out of Kabul as soon as possible. I waited. I waited. I never heard from them. So then a colleague of mine told me you have to get as much close to the airport as possible.

But I could not because all the roads are blocked because of huge traffic on that day. And until afternoon, I didn't know that the Taliban had already entered Kabul city. Everything looked normal. But all of the sudden, things have changed. CURNOW: You made your way eventually after not a lot of sleep and a

lot of tenaciousness and you got on a plane out.

How did you feel when you took off?

SUFIZADA: Well, I was very joyful. To be honest, it was one other British girl with us and one German. And when we heard it, we got a chance to get on the plane. So we were so happy that we were not able to express it.

But our -- the complexion of our body would tell us that something has changed. I told the girl that, OK, now the blood is circulating in your body and that is what was happening to me as well because we could see, we could feel that we survived at the very last minute. Otherwise, it would have been very difficult to stay.

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SUFIZADA: Had we stayed one or two days more, we would have got painted there because of no water, no food.

CURNOW: Now that you are home, you're watching the chaos at Kabul airport. You were there only just a few days ago.

How are you coping by just watching the images and trying to process what you went through?

SUFIZADA: Well, it is pretty much traumatizing, because I feel bad for people who are crammed in the airport. It could have been done in a better way. And even our people could have done it in a better way. And the government could have done it in a better way. And the U.S. administration could have done it in a better way.

So things got chaotic. And I'm sorry for the people that they're still caught up in such a miserable condition.

CURNOW: You must have had some indication that something was going wrong. You sent your children out, I understand, a few weeks before.

Did you have an inkling that things could change so quickly and dramatically?

SUFIZADA: Yes. As the Taliban were progressing very fast and they were capturing province after province or city after city, so that looked murky. And I thought, OK, they will eventually come to Kabul or reach Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan.

I thought that my children should go as soon as possible. But I had to stay for some business and that kept me busy. Otherwise, I would have already flown as well.

CURNOW: So you got out of there as quickly as possible. And you also have left people behind.

Have you spoken to them? SUFIZADA: Yes. I have left behind my siblings and my mom, who are also asking me how to get out of here, because I feel pity for them but I could not take them with me. I only had a green card and I know that they would not be allowed to go with me.

Now that I know I can bring my siblings at least or my mom and I'm hoping that one day they will join me in the United States. So I'm trying for them. I'm reaching out to the senators here in the United States to help them come and join me and others with their families.

CURNOW: Thank you for sharing your story and I hope things pan out well for your family. Hanif Sufizada, thank you.

SUFIZADA: Thank you so much for having me tonight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: And we are learning more about how many Afghans are at the Kabul airport right now, hoping for a chance to leave. But they're not necessarily all eligible to be evacuated. I want to go straight to Doha. Nick Paton Walsh joins me now. He was also in Kabul just a few days ago.

We're getting this real sense of how many people are there on the ground, just clamoring to try to get out of Kabul right now.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes, I'm hearing from a source familiar with the situation on the airport that there are a total of 14,000 currently on the airport. That's people trying to get out.

Now it's not clear obviously amongst those who are Europeans, American citizens, who are Afghans who have got on to the base, who amongst those Afghans have a legitimate, under the American system, right to leave the country under the SIV program.

I should point out that figure of 14,000 -- there are a lot of numbers floating around but this source does know the situation pretty well and says they're currently dealing with 14,000.

Now if you are able to put 400 on a flight -- my math is terrible -- but you probably got about 28 planes' worth there, so that's an extraordinary task in and of itself.

How did they get to this situation?

My source says essentially they had a number of days in which they were letting women and children, the vulnerable, those in need, onto the base, not filtering people because of the paperwork or claim they had.

Now there are still flights moving. This source says that the Qatar are allowing flights to land again. Kuwait are accepting, provided those people are on their way to the United States. There is talk of other European countries, possibly even Hungary, coming into the mix here. It's expanding the list of bases. But even if you take, for example, Dubai's 5,000, it's clear what

they've got on the airport now, they're going need three Dubais.

So the question really is, how long does this go on for?

Now President Biden was clear they're definitely getting all the American citizens off, although they don't know how many there are still in Afghanistan and he made a suggestion that they do want to do the best they can for Afghan allies.

Now according to my source, the conversation about how long this goes on for is already happening on the base. And the concern I think, amongst Defense officials, is that there is probably about another week in which they can do this.

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WALSH: I mean, I have to say that sounds, to some degree, optimistic, because you have this extraordinary pressure on infrastructure there, on the soldiers, a risk to human life.

And the problem, too, is you sustain this operation, if it seems to be going well, more will come. If you shut this operation down or you say you've got another 48 hours, everybody will come.

So there is very few messages you can give that will stop that desperate tide of Afghans outside the fence that I saw on Tuesday, Clarissa saw yesterday. It's astounding to be in that morass of desperate souls. And it does appear to get worse simply all the time -- Robyn.

CURNOW: OK, thanks for that. Nick Paton Walsh live there in Doha. Thank you.

I want to go straight to Istanbul. Jomana Karadsheh stands by with more on that.

Jomana, the number of people clamoring to get out and that's a concern especially where you are in Istanbul.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a big concern. A lot of governments in this region, especially here in Turkey, they have been watching this situation, really worried about how this is going to turn out, possibly into a new refugee crisis.

They're still dealing with the political fallout from the Syrian refugee crisis. What we've heard from President Erdogan over the past few days is he is saying, look, we're not going see a repeat of what happened before, where Turkey basically signed an agreement with the E.U. back in 2016 to stop that flow of migrants and refugees into Europe.

They've criticized that agreement, criticized the E.U. of not fulfilling its obligations under this agreement. So he is saying right now, we're not going to do this again. The E.U. needs to deal with a possible humanitarian situation that is developing right now, not just by closing its borders.

He says Turkey cannot be, quote, "a refugee warehouse."

And this is not President Erdogan, Robyn, trying to be controversial with his usual controversial comments. This is a very, very serious issue for him, for his government right now. They are under intense pressure here from opposition parties, from large segments of the population, who do not want to see an influx of refugees.

We have seen a rise in anti-immigrant sentiments in this country, primarily because of the economic situation here. The feeling is this country right now cannot take in any more migrants and refugees. They're already hosting about 5 million people, nearly 4 million Syrian refugees.

According to the government over the past three years, more than half of all regular immigrants arriving into Turkey have been Afghans. And this is prior to this current crisis.

The government has been very keen to come out, almost on a daily basis, to show they are not going to allow this to happen, whether it's calling for fortifications at the border with Iran. You have the defense minister visiting there, extending a border wall to ensure there is not going to be an influx of refugees.

President Erdogan working the phone, talking to leaders, including the prime minister of Greece yesterday. Those are the two countries that dealt with that refugee influx back in 2016 on behalf of Europe and continue to do so.

And what President Erdogan is saying is that more needs to be done to try and contain the crisis, to try and stabilize Afghanistan, to avert this kind of humanitarian crisis from happening.

He says two things: he is willing to talk to the Taliban. He is open to that, whatever government emerges, to try and stabilize the country in whatever way possible. And he is also calling on the E.U. and others to work with Afghanistan's neighbors, to try and support them in dealing with an influx of refugees, including Iran and other countries.

So, Robyn, everyone is watching this very closely, very concerned about what comes next in terms of dealing with the humanitarian disaster that could unfold beyond what we're seeing right now.

CURNOW: OK. In Istanbul, Jomana Karadsheh, thanks for that update.

Coming up here at CNN, one COVID vaccine could be just days away from full approval in the U.S. When we return, we'll tell you which shot could get the thumbs-up and how it could help increase the rate of vaccinations in the U.S. That story next.

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CURNOW: Welcome back. I'm Robyn Curnow live in Atlanta.

We have some promising news on the U.S. vaccine front. A senior official tells CNN full approval of the BioNTech Pfizer vaccine is imminent. It could come as soon as Monday.

This could certainly be a game changer in how skeptical Americans and others view the shot's safety. The vaccine is currently authorized for emergency use. Health experts are hoping full authorization will lead more people to get vaccinated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JEROME ADAMS, FORMER U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: All of those people who said they've been waiting for full approval, I hope, I hope you go to vaccines.gov this weekend and make your appointment for next week, because, again, it's coming. What you asked for is coming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: So despite a recent uptick in vaccinations, roughly 30 percent of eligible Americans have yet to even get their first shot. Cases and hospitalizations continue to soar across the U.S. And that's really causing intensive care units to just run out of space, as Miguel Marquez now reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than 1 million vaccines reported by CDC went into arms Thursday, the most in weeks but the Delta variant hasn't slowed down yet.

DR. JENNA CARPENTER, PULMONARY CRITICAL CARE PHYSICIAN, MARSHALL MEDICAL CENTER SOUTH: At the bottom of my heart, we as the medical community are completely exhausted.

MARQUEZ: Nationwide, deaths up 62 percent. Most unvaccinated on a seven day average, 862 Americans now dying every day on average from COVID-19.

More than 93,000 Americans now in hospitals, numbers climbing towards January's record high.

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MARQUEZ (voice-over): Cases 14 percent higher than last week's seven day average, more than 141,000 Americans testing positive on average every day. Just 30 days ago, the average was around 37,000.

MARY C. MAYHEW, PRESIDENT & CEO, FLORIDA HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION: Not only are we seeing a significant number of COVID hospitalizations but we have a much higher volume of critically ill non-COVID patients. MARQUEZ: Florida intensive care units statewide nearing capacity, along with Georgia, Mississippi and Texas. ICUs filling to concerning levels all at more than 90 percent capacity. Alabama is out of ICU beds statewide.

MAYHEW: We are seeing a much younger group of individuals who are hospitalized for COVID in our intensive care units on ventilators. These are healthy, young 20-year olds, 30-year olds who, because of the aggressive nature of the Delta variant, are now being hospitalized. The Supreme Court ruling the governor cannot stop schools from imposing mask orders.

MARQUEZ: In Florida, in Texas, the battle over masks and schools continues. The Texas Supreme Court ruling the government cannot stop schools from imposing mask orders.

In Florida, the state ordered two counties to give an opt-out option for their school mask mandates or lose funding and face new scrutiny from the state.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): My view is that the parents understand what's best for their kids.

MARQUEZ: The governor instead pushing monoclonal antibody treatment clinics that are being set up across the state. One of those sites, this Jacksonville library, where Louie Lopez snapped this disturbing picture.

LOUIE LOPEZ, COVID-19 PATIENT: They were so sick, the picture really doesn't do it justice because they were moaning, they were in a lot of pain. It really drove the point home as to how serious these people are.

MARQUEZ: This pandemic creating really disturbing scenes across other areas of the United States as well.

In Roseburg, Oregon, Mercy Hospital saying there was a patient in their emergency department and they were waiting for an ICU bed. One did not open in time, that person died. The hospital issued a statement about it, asking for kindness from the community.

And in places like San Francisco, they are now mandating vaccinations to enter places like restaurants, bars, gyms and theaters. The backlash to this pandemic and this pandemic is a long way from over -- back to you.

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CURNOW: Thanks, Miguel for that.

New restrictions to control a virulent COVID-19 outbreak are meeting with sometimes violent resistance in Australia. Officers in Melbourne clashed with demonstrators and used pepper spray as the state of Victoria went into a full lockdown.

Thousands of protesters marching in various cities as Australia recorded its worse daily case count of the pandemic, with 825 infections in New South Wales alone.

And still to come, while some Afghans have managed to flee the country, those left behind are certainly facing looming humanitarian crises, with a lack of food top of mind. I'll speak with the deputy director of the World Food Programme in Afghanistan just after the break.

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WARD: When you see the few people that have come in and have started the application but it hasn't been finished yet and you see them being escorted back out through the very gate that they got crushed in for seven hours, just to get their chance to leave.

So if your paperwork isn't in order and you don't have a sponsor with you, it is very tough to get to this stage, where you're finally on the airfield and ready to go.

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CURNOW: Welcome back. You're watching CNN.

That, of course, was a clip of Clarissa Ward's reporting from the airport in Kabul on Friday, as she and her CNN crew captured the chaotic journey so many Afghans are taking to try and escape Taliban rules.

It is now noon on Saturday in Kabul, nearly one week after the Taliban seized control of the capital. Thousands and thousands of people are being airlifted out each day. But tens of thousands of Afghans are waiting and hoping just outside the gates.

And as each day passes, their situation certainly becomes more desperate. Well, Sam Kiley has the latest -- Sam.

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SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Desperate for a child's salvation, a baby handed to the U.S. Marines over razor wire at Kabul's airport. President Biden offering a dispassionate view.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've secured the airport, enabling flights to resume, not just military flights but civilian charters and other -- from other countries and the NGOs taking out civilians and vulnerable Afghans. And now we have almost 6,000 troops on the ground. KILEY (voice-over): But through the eyes of daylight today, no evacuation aircraft left the runway, leaving hundreds pressing on its perimeter as night fell. Some 13,000 people have been flown out by the U.S. since last Saturday, August the 14th.

Many times that number are waiting in heat, chaos and gunfire. Threatened by Taliban whips, they fear worse awaits them if they stay.

The German broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, says the Taliban fighters, searching for one of their journalists, killed a member of his family. And artists are fleeing in fear, too.

SAHRAA KARIMI, AFGHAN FILM DIRECTOR: As a human being you should have a value. But under Taliban rules, OK, you live but with miserable life. OK, life is not about just eating or they're in (INAUDIBLE), it is about creativity.

KILEY (voice-over): The Taliban is dismissing allegations of reprisal attacks against those who fought them or work for NATO as fake news. Twenty years of fighting by the U.S. and its allies has resulted in a Taliban triumph and an evacuation of local allies and foreigners that looks more like a rout.

Many European allies of the U.S. are rattled by the sudden withdrawal of American forces and the Taliban victory.

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: There are hard questions that we need to ask ourselves over our engagement in Afghanistan.

KILEY (voice-over): The president defiant.

BIDEN: There's a greater danger from ISIS and Al Qaeda and all these affiliates and other countries by far than there is from Afghanistan.

And we're going to retain an over-the-horizon capability, if they were to come back, to be able to take them out, surgically move. So this is where we should be. This is about America leading the world. And all our allies have agreed with that.

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KILEY (voice-over): The Taliban, meanwhile, celebrating with broadcast parades of its special forces, carrying what appear to be captured American weapons. They were all born in a time of war, like this baby who was treated in an airport clinic and returned to their family.

If he or she makes it out of Kabul, they at least will have no memory of these dark days -- Sam Kiley, CNN, Doha, Qatar.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Now key border crossings between Afghanistan and Pakistan are open again, as Pakistani authorities and the Afghan Taliban work together to keep traffic flowing.

While some in Pakistan may welcome the U.S. exit, few relish the prospect of regional instability. Pakistan is already home to hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees and is keeping a keen eye on the chaos unfolding next door. Sophia Saifi joins me now from Islamabad with more on this.

What can you tell us?

SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN PRODUCER: Well, Robyn, it is a time of great uncertainty in the region, of course, in Afghanistan. But whatever has happened in Afghanistan has always spilled over into Pakistan and also the larger South Asian region.

What we're seeing right now over the past couple of years is that China is, of course, flexing its muscles as well. China has an immense amount of investment within Pakistan because of its One Belt, One Road Project. It's got its deep seaport in the south of Pakistan on border with Afghanistan.

And just last night, there were reports -- well, there was a suicide attack on Chinese workers. And there is a lot of concern about security. Pakistan has outrightly said that it will not be accepting any more Afghan refugees.

That's a policy that it adopted in early summer. It's sticking to that. Of course there have been visas given to nationals but Pakistan is very wary about acknowledging the Afghan government, about the Afghan Taliban as an official government.

Of Afghanistan, it's said it's going to take a multilateral approach. The United States said it's in touch with Pakistan as well as with China. So there is a new world order emerging. We haven't heard much from India. Pakistan has often blamed its neighbors for harboring terrorism in Afghanistan, for funding it.

There is a lot changing in terms of how Pakistan is often approached. The Taliban, for example, Pakistan is known to have many, many links to the Afghan Taliban and is a lot more measured in its approach to whether it's going to recognize the new government in Afghanistan or not -- Robyn.

CURNOW: OK, thank you for that update, Sophia Saifi there. Appreciate it, live in Islamabad.

So some areas in Haiti are yet to see any aid, even though it has been a week since a devastating earthquake there. Next, CNN flies to remote towns that have been dealing with the aftermath largely on their own. Stick around for that story.

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CURNOW: Welcome back. I'm Robyn Curnow live in Atlanta. It's 41 minutes past the hour.

We're going stick with our top story. Afghanistan's economy was already struggling before the Taliban ousted the U.S.-backed government. And it's not likely to improve, especially on basic necessities such as food.

The World Food Programme estimates some 14 million Afghans are already food insecure.

Joining us is Andrew Patterson, the deputy director for the World Food Programme in Afghanistan.

Thank you so much for joining us. Obviously, it's been a chaotic week.

How you doing there on the ground?

ANDREW PATTERSON, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME AFGHANISTAN: Thanks, Robyn. Well, WFP is staying and delivering for the people of Afghanistan.

You're right. It has been a turbulent week but we're seeing some calming of the situation in different areas and that's what we need. We want the conflict to go away, because we need to get out to those 14 million people or even up to 20 million people that are food insecure in Afghanistan.

CURNOW: So what is the situation?

I want to talk about broadly with the country but, clearly, we've also got a real crisis happening around the airport. People inside and outside, no water, little food. Obviously not a lot of sleep.

How are you dealing with that?

PATTERSON: Yes, Robyn, you're right. It does vary all the way around the country. Some of the areas where our field officers are, are already returning to a sense of normality. We're definitely not back to a normal situation and it is a tense situation.

But we're managing to already start food distributions and other assessments to see what we need to do in each place.

In Kabul, the city itself appears to be reasonably calm but, as you mention, around the airport is the real center of a lot of activity at the moment, with those people waiting outside the gates, trying to get in.

So we have teams that go out and assess what the internally displaced people need. We need calm to do that, because we don't want to put our own people in danger. But at the moment, as I say, we're seeing the city is reasonably calm, except for the activity around the airport.

CURNOW: Many of the main border crossings have been closed. I know that the one with some of the ones with Pakistan have reopened.

How are you doing? And, of course, the airport is closed.

How are you doing in terms of actually getting access to food?

PATTERSON: So at the moment, we've got about 20.5 thousand metric tons of food in country in our warehouses. So we have access to that to be able to distribute. The border crossings have all opened, as far as we're aware.

And supplies are coming in to the country, particularly through Tokum (ph), which is the main entry point from Pakistan. At the moment, our supply routes are open.

But what we'll need next is funding; $200 million is what we are estimating we'll need in the coming months because we're about to hit the lean season in Afghanistan following a drought already.

And we know we're going have to preposition food before winter comes and the roads in Afghanistan become closed. So we need to get that food into our warehouses now and through to the end of September.

CURNOW: You talk about the need for calm.

How are you managing with negotiating, at least on the ground, particularly in rural areas, with the Taliban and the prospect then of having to essentially do business with the Taliban in Kabul to get food to people?

[03:45:00]

PATTERSON: Robyn, WFP has been here since 1963. We've operated through various regimes, including a previous Taliban regime. We're used to having to deal with access right around the world. Whenever we're in a conflict zone, we have to deal with local actors to make sure that our people can get through safely.

We have established communications locally with the Taliban and we also have communications established with their hierarchy through the NGO commission. It's a daily business for WFP and the humanitarian community at large.

CURNOW: How are all of your workers, all of the people who work for you, dealing with what's happened in the last week?

Obviously this was not planned.

How are you all managing?

PATTERSON: It's a very tense time for our people, particularly the local -- local workforce. A lot of them don't remember the Taliban last time they were in power. And so they hear stories of what it was like before.

So our people are concerned for their future. Our people, in and of themselves, are not targets because of their work with WFP and other humanitarian organizations as well. And our access needs to be respected by the authorities. But our people are really fearful of what the future may bring for them.

CURNOW: Andrew Patterson with the World Food Programme there in Kabul. Thank you so much for all you and your teams are doing. Good luck. Stay safe.

PATTERSON: Thank you.

CURNOW: So coming up, more international aid is trickling into southern Haiti, even as the needs of earthquake victims get more dire by the hour. UNICEF delivered its first batch to the capital on Friday with more aid on the way.

But we want to take you now to some areas that have not received any help since the earthquake struck just a week ago. Matt Rivers is there and he flew to this location. Take a look.

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MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Our chopper takes off with no clear destination in mind. Flying with charity group World Central Kitchen or WCK, we want to find remote villages in Haiti that still need help.

A week after this earthquake just finding out where the needs are, remains a challenge. A tip led us to Grande Cayemite, an island off Haiti's coast.

On the ground, we're told damage is actually a bit further west, which it is seen from above. Dozens of structures were damaged and the contact in town told us no one has come to help them yet, but we can't either.

RIVERS: So there was damage in that town and the people there clearly wanted us to land and the problem was there was no safe area for us to touch down and that gives you an idea of how difficult it is to access these places. Just because you want to go somewhere doesn't mean that you can at least right away.

RIVERS (voice-over): Another tip leads us back into Haiti's mountains and the remote town of Minish. Destruction greets us as we land and the charity starts to assess the damage.

RIVERS: In terms of figuring out exactly what needs what you really need to go to the ground?

JEAN MARC DEMATTEIS, BOARD MEMBER, WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: Correct. And these areas are remote, for the cell service has been knocked out and due to damage from the earthquake. So there's no substitute for just getting out there and on the ground.

RIVERS (voice-over): There team fans out and so do we, the damage is as bad as anything we've seen. Entire blocks destroyed, near some damage lead distinct smell of bodies lingers. Amidst all the rubble there is grief.

Rose Mika Fontus' mom died when her home collapsed. My mom was everything to us, she says and now she's gone. We're just waiting for help.

Rose is now homeless, saying the government has yet to visit her town, they've had to make do with what they have not easy in such a remote place. That's where charities like WKC are trying to help fill the gap. People crowd around as the team drops off a few hundred sandwiches. Now that they know where to go, aid workers say thousands more meals will likely follow soon.

RIVERS: Of course, it is a good thing that organizations like the World Central Kitchen have identified this town in dire need of assistance. They're starting to figure out exactly what those needs are. But those are just first steps, unfortunately.

Getting those government resources actually moved into that area is a different challenge altogether. And this is not the only town affected by the earthquake there. Scattered throughout the region affected by all of this, many of which haven't gotten any help so far -- Matt Rivers, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Thanks to Matt and his team for that. You can find out how you can help the people of Haiti suffering from this earthquake. Please do go to cnn.com/impact.

Now Mexico is now feeling the wrath of the first major hurricane of the Atlantic season.

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CURNOW: But there is also another storm making its way toward New York and New England. The latest track for Henri, when we come back.

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CURNOW: So Hurricane Grace is now the first major hurricane of the Atlantic system, has just made landfall in Mexico for a second time. It's now pounding the Mexican coast with heavy rain.

It was a category 3 storm at landfall with maximum sustained winds of 125 miles per hour. Now the National Hurricane Center warns a potential storm surge is between 6 and 9 feet.

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[03:55:00]

CURNOW: I'm Robyn Curnow. The news continues here on CNN.