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Source: 14,000 Afghans Now At Kabul Airport; Chaotic Journey To Escape Through Kabul Airport; Interview With Dr. Wahid Majrooh, Afghan Acting Minister Of Public Health; Two Florida Counties Refuse To Back Down On School Mask Mandates; Thousands Protest Over Australia's Increased COVID-19 Restrictions; Biden Vows To Bring Home Americans Stranded In Afghanistan; Hurricane Warnings For Northeast U.S.; U.S. Made Commitment To Afghans As Taliban Began Takeover. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired August 21, 2021 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): As thousands of desperate people struggle to get out of Afghanistan, CNN's Clarissa Ward shows what it's like inside the Kabul airport.

Plus, Afghan evacuees arrive in safe countries as Joe Biden makes a promise.

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

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

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BRUNHUBER: U.S. President Joe Biden is vowing to bring every American home from Afghanistan if they want to leave. But nobody knows how many U.S. citizens are in the country. The State Department says it's trying to track down as many as possible.

Meanwhile, the Taliban are showing off the spoils of war. They published photos showing their fighters armed with U.S. weapons seized from the Afghan national army. It's menacing images like these and the Taliban's long history of brutality that makes many Afghans scared to stay in the country.

On Friday, the Pentagon confirmed it had flown 169 Americans by helicopter from a hotel near the airport after large crowds blocked access to the gates. It's the first-known rescue of Americans outside the airport perimeter.

The first flights of evacuees have begun arriving in the United States. Now we don't know how many Americans were among the passengers. But a source tells CNN that about 1,500 people, who evacuated from Kabul in recent days, are expected to arrive in the Washington area this weekend.

And others are being flown to the U.S. military base in Ramstein, Germany, until permanent relocations can be arranged.

So we are getting a picture of just how dangerous it can be outside Kabul's airport. Disturbing new video has emerged -- and we want to warn you it is graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): A local employee of a U.S.-based NGO captured images of two people wounded on the ground outside the airport Thursday morning. It was filmed while several gunshots could be heard and hundreds of people were seen crowding together, screaming in panic.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, after reporting from Afghanistan since the start of the month, our Clarissa Ward and her team were among those who were able to fly out Friday. Before leaving, she filed this report on the conditions that thousands are facing as they try to flee Taliban rule.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WARD (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.

[04:05:00]

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.

(on camera): 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And Clarissa has since tweeted that she has landed in Doha, Qatar, along with her team and nearly 300 Afghan evacuees. She thanked those involved, saying, "We are the lucky ones."

Well, we're learning more about just 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. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh joins us from Doha.

Nick, I understand the situation may be even more dire in terms of numbers than we might have previously thought. You have got some new reporting on this.

What can you tell us?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: I have to say, the numbers have been hard to follow since the start of all of this: who's been taking off, who is ready to go, who is trying to get on.

I have heard from a source familiar with the situation on the airport that there are currently 14,000 people on the airport, trying to get out on the planes. That is utterly startling and 4,000 higher than the number of 10,000 Clarissa heard yesterday from Marines on the ground.

How do they get to this situation?

Well, the source said essentially, for a number of days, you might call it the filtration process, the -- the need for the U.S. Marines, for the Afghan security forces on the gates to show that people have proper paperwork before they permitted them onto the base.

That sort of collapsed in a bit of humanitarian emergency. And people just piled in. Now they are inside.

And the question, of course, is, when does this end or slow? If you look at the numbers, potentially eligible for SIV programs, that could head into the tens of thousands, given the expanded definition we've had from the Biden administration; Joe Biden's guaranteed to bring back American citizens.

But he doesn't know -- his administration don't know how many Americans are in Kabul. So these scenes, shocking as they are, causing loss of life, as appears in the video you showed earlier on, at least 12 dead, if not more.

With the capacity for yet more to be crushed as the pressure grows, well, how long could it go on for?

The source I spoke to said that there's already discussion about maybe this not being able to go on for much more than under a week. And that, in itself, is important to realize because, if you have a deadline, you'll cause people to rush to try and beat that deadline.

If you don't have a deadline, you have essentially an indefinite process, in which anybody in Afghanistan might feel they have a chance.

I should point out, you know, that this is a country where you could say possibly millions of people would deeply love a shot abroad somewhere, starting a new life because of what life under the Taliban will be and because of what life was like before the Taliban.

So it appears the situation on that base, utterly dire, worsening. But now, I -- I get the feeling, with the clock ticking, because you cannot sustain that for indefinite period of time. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. Among those who did make it out, now former president Ashraf Ghani, you have done some great reporting on exactly what went on behind the scenes as he fled the country. Take us through this story.

WALSH: It was a shock really, because the whole American plan rested on Ashraf Ghani not running. And that's what he did.

[04:10:00]

WALSH: Now I spoke to a former senior official and I got a pretty detailed account of the final days' thinking. And it does essentially appear that the kind of final warning, the final demand for surrender to the Ghani administration, came to his national security adviser from a man, who is essentially part of the Haqqani Network, an Al Qaeda affiliate.

Think about that, Al Qaeda essentially telling the Afghan government to get out of town. Now that's clearly resulted in them leaving. And I got an insight into the chain of events that led up to that.

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WALSH (voice-over): They were the final days of the Afghan government: Kandahar falling, Kabul on the edge and, then, suddenly, the Taliban in the presidential palace. Now a former senior Ghani administration official has given CNN, for the first time, their detailed account of what happened.

Before the president, the official said, fled to Uzbekistan for one night and then, on to Dubai, where he is now, there was no money with him, the official said. He literally just had the clothes he was wearing.

But why did the collapse happen so fast?

First, the official says, they had underestimated the local and tribal political deals the Taliban made to ease their advance and hoped, under American advice, to fall back, consolidating cities. But cities like the vital Kandahar fell before they could.

He said they underestimated, too, the effect the U.S. withdrawal would have on morale.

As Kabul began to look precarious, the U.S. helped focus on negotiated settlement that would lead to Ghani stepping aside in a transition. The president agreed to leave to ensure peace.

The official said the concern was war inside a city of 6 million people.

"We knew that if Ghani left, the guns would be silent."

Talks were meant for Monday in Qatar. But on Sunday the Taliban hit Kabul's outskirts. Then, Ghani's national security adviser got the final demand to surrender from a man the U.S. wanted as a terrorist Khalil Haqqani (ph), from a network affiliated with Al Qaeda.

Haqqani, a long-term Taliban negotiator, wanted a peaceful transfer of power and that the government should issue a statement of surrender.

But Ghani fled. And the official insists there was no single scapegoat here because the process was never fully controlled by Afghans in the first place.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH: Now of course, important to remember this is a -- an administration that essentially fled the scene, justifying their actions. But I was stunned to hear from that, the U.S. persistence towards pushing them towards negotiation.

And I think the sense, possibly, too, that they were never really able to keep pace with the speed of Afghan advances. That, we knew. But what I didn't know and what I think will always stay with me is the idea for a member of the Haqqani Network, an affiliate, being the people of Al Qaeda, being the people who tell that Afghan administration it's time to surrender.

That's the reason the U.S. went into Afghanistan and they're the people, it seemed, who told the government the U.S. were backing to get out. BRUNHUBER: Yes, unbelievable. Really appreciate that. Nick Paton

Walsh, thanks so much.

Well, what's left of the Afghan government must now work with the Taliban, including on critical efforts to keep the country's already fragile health system running. Dr. Wahid Majrooh is Afghanistan's acting public health minister and he joins me now from Kabul.

Thank you so much for being with us. Many who worked for the government are in hiding right now.

So first of all, Doctor, what's your situation, with the government basically having collapsed here?

Are you still going to work?

And how much contact do you have with the Taliban?

DR. WAHID MAJROOH, AFGHANISTAN'S ACTING PUBLIC HEALTH MINISTER: Thank you very much. I'm still in the office. Staff members, both the administrative side and the health side, are available here in the ministry in the health facilities.

The ministry of public health is maybe the only one of the main government institutions which are up and run from the day after the political and military transition. I was able to convince the team, including staff members, both at the hospitals and the administrative offices, to join the work.

Hopefully, we do not witness a disruption in our administrative work as well as service delivery in health facilities. So we're -- the ministry is in a good mood right now and it's running, serving people in need.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, it must be the only one. If you say in a good mood. I mean, what -- what happens next?

Are you -- are you working with the Taliban now to -- to carry on the vital health infrastructure going forward?

MAJROOH: Well, my first responsibility and commitment to the health of my people was to ensure that we don't witness a disruption or a vacuum of leadership.

[04:15:00]

MAJROOH: Now we have the leadership of the health commission of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. They have come to office. There is a good coordination, for the time being, for last day, between the leadership of the ministry and the leadership of the health commission of the emirate, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

The next steps depends on the decision made by the leadership of the emirate on how they want a health sector to be led. But what I can tell you is that we were able to avoid any leadership vacuum or disruption in the work of the ministry and the health facilities during last few days.

And that is what I was committed to. And we -- I'm very happy that we could make it. What happens next is a decision with higher authorities and in a large scale to the government's institution, with the ministry of public health will be part of that.

BRUNHUBER: So you talk about these discussions with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. I mean, that is the -- the -- the Taliban, essentially.

What about the -- the -- all of the women in health care?

Will they be allowed to work going forward?

MAJROOH: The message we have received during last two days from the leadership of the health commission of the Islamic Emirate of Taliban is that they have allowed the female staff members to attend their jobs at the health facilities, as well as their offices in the ministry.

There -- we haven't observed any limitation until now. Hopefully, we have our female directors and staff members here in the office, as well as the health facilities, which are in Kabul and around the country.

Yes, it takes time. It takes time to ensure them that they're safe and to convince them to get back to offices and to health facilities. And I am working on that.

BRUNHUBER: I have to say you sound very optimistic when many are very pessimistic about -- about the future and about the future of women, whether they will be able to work and so on.

What has given you any cause to perhaps be as optimistic as you sound right now?

MAJROOH: Well, I think, at this point, I have no other options. But to convince the health personnel to join the health facilities, I -- during my tenure -- even though during the hard days of conflict, what I could do and what I tried for was to ensure neutrality and impartiality of the health sector.

I have tried my best to keep the health sector away from all political aspects of the game (ph) in the transition. Today, this is my responsibility and commitment, to -- to try my best to ensure that our patients are attended by health care personnel.

With pessimism, only thing I can do is to further enhance the environment of limitation for my staff members and deprive (ph) patients in bed from health care personnel. Let's see how the decisions evolve in the future.

But currently, I am committed to try to convince all parties, including the commission, to have the right atmosphere for female workers to attend their health facilities and provide services needed by mothers and children in these centers. BRUNHUBER: And there is such a need. So we wish you the best of luck

in these extraordinary and -- and trying times. Dr. Wahid Majrooh, Afghanistan's acting public health minister, really appreciate having you on. And again, best of luck.

MAJROOH: Thank you very much. Pleasure is mine.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, as desperation grows in Afghanistan, the U.S. President is defending the evacuation process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The only country in the world capable of projecting this much power, on the far side of the world, with this degree of precision, is the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Plus, we'll find out which COVID shot could get the FDA's thumbs up for full approval in the coming days and how it could help increase the rate of vaccination. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: There's some good news on the U.S. vaccine front. A senior federal official tells CNN that full FDA approval of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine is imminent. A Biden administration official added that it could come as soon as Monday.

Now this could be a game-changer in how skeptical Americans view the shot's safety. The vaccine currently is authorized for emergency use. But health experts hope full authorization will lead to more people getting vaccinated.

Two counties in Florida refusing to back down from their mask requirements for schools. The Florida Board of Education gave Broward and Alachua County 48 hours to allow parents to opt out of face coverings or the state would begin to withhold funding.

Now this has largely been at the direction of Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, who opposes mask mandates. But Broward officials say their district is in compliance, since they provided exceptions to the mask mandate for students with a medical condition or other special circumstances.

Alachua officials say they have no plans to change their current masking requirements. They say universal masking is absolutely critical to protect the health of students and staff and limit the strain on the health care system. New restrictions to control the COVID outbreak are meeting with

sometimes violent resistance in Australia. Six police were hospitalized after officials in Melbourne clashed with demonstrators and used pepper spray, as the state of Victoria went into a full lockdown. More than 200 were arrested there as well as dozens more in Sydney.

[04:25:00]

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

And New Zealand is, also, seeing cases rise, 30, so far, in the latest outbreak. Its prime minister says a new, extended lockdown would let contact tracers figure out how far the virus has actually spread. CNN's Michael Holmes looks at how both countries are trying to fight new infections.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A national lockdown extended in New Zealand over a small cluster of COVID-19 cases. The first case identified in Auckland earlier this week. Cases have been discovered in at least one other city since.

JACINDA ARDERN, NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER: We just don't quite know the full scale of this Delta outbreak. All in all, it tells us we need to continue to be cautious and that we need more time before we have the complete picture we need to change our seatings (ph).

HOLMES (voice-over): The country's lockdown now continuing into the middle of next week to try to contain the first outbreak of locally transmitted cases since February. Some residents say they had hoped it was gone for good, at least in New Zealand, which has had much success containing the virus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just got it, really. I think most of the country is gutted. We've kept it out for so long and now it's, back so it is what it, is I suppose.

HOLMES (voice-over): Australia also tightening some of its coronavirus restrictions. A lockdown in Sydney has been extended until the end of September. And officials say that people must wear masks as soon as they step outside their house except when exercising.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's time for all of us to bunker down, take this as seriously as we can, although so many of us have, the vast majority have.

HOLMES (voice-over): Officials say the outbreak in Sydney has not yet peaked. The worst is yet to come. The city still logging record- breaking numbers of new COVID-19 cases, even after nearly two months of lockdown -- Michael Holmes, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: Floods of people are seeking to flee Afghanistan as the U.S. President makes new promises to get people to safety. We'll have the latest on chaotic evacuation efforts, next.

Plus, hurricane preparations are underway in the northeastern United States as Henri approaches. We will have a live report from the CNN Weather Center, coming up. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

We are learning more about the situation unfolding at the Kabul airport. A source tells CNN that 14,000 people are inside the perimeter hoping to flee Afghanistan. Now it's not clear how many of them are foreign nationals or Afghans or what permissions any of them may already have to leave.

For a few days, anyone was apparently allowed to enter without filtration. Now that same source says that some Defense officials think the evacuation operation at the airport might not be able to last longer than another week.

Well, despite those harrowing scenes at Kabul's airport, the U.S. President is defending the evacuation process. Joe Biden says he's focused on bringing Americans home and helping Afghan allies. But his critics aren't convinced it's working. Kaitlan Collins has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Biden making a promise amid the chaos in Kabul.

BIDEN: We're going to do everything -- everything that we can --

COLLINS (voice-over): As his defense secretary, vice president, secretary of state and national security adviser stood behind him, the president vowed to bring all Americans in Afghanistan home.

BIDEN: Any American who wants to come home, we will get you home.

COLLINS (voice-over): But Biden conceding he doesn't know if everyone will ultimately be brought to safety.

BIDEN: I cannot promise what the final outcome will be or that it will be without risk of loss. But as commander in chief, I can assure you that I will mobilize every resource necessary.

COLLINS (voice-over): The president also acknowledging that the U.S. still doesn't know how many Americans are left in Afghanistan.

BIDEN: We want to get a strong number as to exactly how many people are there, how many American citizens and where they are.

COLLINS (voice-over): Flights in Kabul were paused for at least eight hours as the U.S. scrambled to find refuge for Afghans as other locations surged to capacity.

BIDEN: We paused flights in Kabul a few hours this morning to make sure we could process the arriving evacuees at the transit points.

COLLINS (voice-over): Today, Biden claimed no Americans have had trouble reaching the gates of the crowded Kabul airport.

BIDEN: We know of no circumstance where American citizens are carrying an American passport are trying to get through to the airport.

COLLINS (voice-over): That account contradicting reports on the ground from CNN's own team.

WARD: Anyone who says that any American can get in here is -- yes, I mean, technically it's possible. But it's extremely difficult and it is dangerous.

COLLINS (voice-over): Biden's latest remarks followed days of defensiveness over the botched drawdown.

BIDEN: There will be plenty of time to criticize and second-guess when this operation is over. But now, now, I'm focused on getting this job done.

COLLINS (voice-over): While making clear Americans are his first priority, the president vowed to help Afghans who are now targets of the Taliban for working alongside U.S. troops.

BIDEN: There's no important thing that bringing out American citizens out, I acknowledge that. But they're equally important almost as all those SIVs, we call them, who in fact helped us.

COLLINS: And after President Biden gave that speech, his Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, briefed lawmakers on the unfolding situation in Afghanistan when he told them that, yes, Americans have been beaten by the Taliban in Kabul on their way to the airport, despite the president saying that they do not have reports of Americans being unable to ultimately get to the airport.

This does show and confirm Clarissa Ward's and others' reporting about how difficult it is to get to the airport, to actually try to get out of Afghanistan. According to our reporting, Austin said that this is unacceptable and they have made that clear to the Taliban.

And he said, generally, they do not believe Americans are having -- are being prevented by the Taliban from accessing the airport -- Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: Even before Afghanistan's national government fell, tens of thousands of Afghans were leaving the country every week, according to the U.N.

[04:35:00]

Haroon Rahimi is an Afghan living in Canada. His sister was one of three female journalists killed by gunmen back in March. That happened just a few months after another female journalist from the same TV station was killed, a total of four out of the 10 women who worked there.

Rahimi's family is still in Afghanistan and he fears for their safety. But he said he wants to tell the world what life was like for regular Afghans. And here is some of our conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Do you think that your family might be in even more danger because their daughter was a journalist there in Kabul?

I mean, what's their situation right now?

HAROON RAHIMI, AFGHAN LIVING IN CANADA: They -- as I said, we are hiding. We are hiding with limited sources of water and food. We're very scared. And not only one of my sister, she was a social activist; my older sister, she is also a social activist.

And she has not given up, even though my sister was killed. So, for us, the reason why we're terrified, because the sources that my sister have worked for human rights are all posted online. They're all everywhere. It's -- it's on TV. It's -- and her interviews are everywhere.

So the threats are really high and it is -- you wouldn't be surprised if the Taliban have a thing. You never know who is going to snitch, could be your neighbor. Could be a local shopkeeper. It could be anybody. It's Afghanistan. You shouldn't be surprised if anything happens.

So that's why my family dislocated themselves in Kabul, places that they are trying to move around in order to -- to be safe. So we terrified. The -- the saddest words I've ever heard from my mother was like, if we die, you take care of yourself. That was the hardest, toughest words I have heard while I'm abroad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: That was Haroon Rahimi, an Afghan, now living in Canada, describing the conditions his family is now facing back home.

Well, the fall of Afghanistan isn't easy to come to terms with, especially for some who worked there and fought there. Next, military veterans and others tell us how they feel about the Taliban being back in charge. Plus, hurricane warnings are issued for Long Island and southern New

England as Henri approaches. We'll have a live report from the CNN Weather Center next. Stay with us.

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[04:40:00]

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BRUNHUBER: Hurricane warnings are posted for Long Island and southern New England, at this hour, as tropical storm Henri gathers strength and approaches the coast. New York City is under a tropical storm warning. Henri is expected to make landfall Sunday as a category 1 hurricane.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, we now want to show you the horrific new reality for the survivors of last Saturday's 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Haiti. Homes are toppled, hospitals overwhelmed and aid is scarce.

The U.N. says even the hospital treating survivors in the city of Les Cayes became structurally unsafe. Its pediatric wing had to be evacuated. Humanitarian aid is dripping in, including the first shipment from UNICEF on Friday. But many survivors say they haven't seen any of it yet.

We'll be right back.

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[04:45:00]

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BRUNHUBER: After days of chaotic scenes at the Kabul airport, U.S. President Joe Biden says he'll, quote, "mobilize every resource" for the evacuation effort.

He is promising to do everything he can to get Americans and Afghan allies safely out of the country. But getting through the crowds and past the Taliban into Kabul airport remains a daunting and dangerous task. The U.S. says about 13,000 people have been airlifted in the past week.

Germany is among the locations now being used as a stop along the way. Evacuation flights to Ramstein airbase began arriving on Friday.

Well, recent events in Afghanistan feel like a punch in the gut to many people who spent time over there in the past 20 years. They include military veterans, journalists and others. As Jake Tapper reports, what they see happening now -- well, it's hard to take.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST (voice-over): With the Taliban taking over Afghanistan before the U.S. could even fully withdraw, we see now disturbing images such as these, Afghans desperate to leave, fearful of being hunted down and killed by the Taliban, terrified the group will wipe away women's rights, returning to the days of executions and rapes and torture.

[04:50:00]

TAPPER (voice-over): So many journalists have been following this war from the beginning, both here in Washington, D.C., and on the ground where so many of us have gotten to know the men and women who fought and sacrificed so much.

Some of those veterans giving us their raw reactions to this week's awful scenes in Afghanistan, a place they defended, a place where they live, where they lost friends, a place now back in Taliban control.

All of them saying these are just their opinions not representative of every veteran or the military or the U.S. government or the honors they received.

CAPT. MATTHEW SCHACHMAN, U.S. ARMY (RET.), AFGHAN WAR VETERAN: My thoughts are with the people who are trapped and trying to figure out how to get out and don't have time to be angry or sad or mad because their life is on the line.

TAPPER (voice-over): Ten years ago, Matthew Schachman, then with the U.S. Army's 227th Infantry, known as the Wolfhounds, gave me a tour of Forward Operating Base Bostick, at the tip of the spear.

SCHACHMAN: There's a couple different points up on the ridge line up here where they shoot at us from.

TAPPER (voice-over): Schachman was just 28 at the time, he had just had his second child who was not even a year old. A decade later, he is now a father of three girls and one boy.

SCHACHMAN: Being able to see the changes in the way that women and girls are treated, you know, I have three daughters myself. You know, it's certainly concerned for the citizens there and, you know, a huge step backwards in the last week.

TAPPER (voice-over): And the retired captain is upset to see so many of America's Afghan partners such as the translators and mechanics who work with U.S. forces left behind. He reached out to his member of Congress after he watched the evacuation unfold on TV, sending her part of the Army Rangers creed that reads, "I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy."

SCHACHMAN: We look those people in the eye and said, America has your back. And there's just not an acceptable course of action where we go back on our word. TAPPER (voice-over): On that same 2011 trip, I embedded with Major Graham Bundy and the Dustoff Medevac Company. He was the commander and he had just lost one of his staff sergeants.

MAJ. GRAHAM BUNDY, U.S. ARMY (RET.): He was probably one of my most capable, qualified and best talents and flight medics that I had.

TAPPER (voice-over): Bundy completed two tours in Afghanistan before retiring in 2013. He tells me his final tour when I met him was particularly grueling.

BUNDY: And it really knocked me through, I guess, is the best way of say it. The ability to get to a better place, I think has made what's happened this last week, somewhat easier to handle, right, in the sense that I came to terms with that very difficult appointment.

TAPPER (voice-over): He's been talking to his fellow veterans about the withdrawal. He says many have told them, they're angry.

BUNDY: The most of the folks that I've talked to it's, you know, we sacrifice for nothing. Frame of mind. And I think part of that is probably just because it's so raw right now. And maybe the farther you get away from it, you can take a wider view.

TAPPER (voice-over): And then there are the men from Combat Outpost Keating, who fought in the Battle of Kamdesh in Eastern Afghanistan in 2009, such as retired Lieutenant Andrew Bundermann.

1ST LT. ANDREW BUNDERMANN, U.S. ARMY (RET.): It's just super hard to come to grips with the fact that it's going to -- it's -- that maybe it isn't as bad as before but it's certainly not going to be the nation maybe that we thought was going to be there when the American forces left.

TAPPER (voice-over): Bundermann ran the tactical operations center during the battle, which I wrote about in my book, "The Outpost," that was turned into a movie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger, Captain Goris (ph), we're going to hang on to what we can.

BUNDERMANN: And it's going to be tough to watch how reality is -- how hard the lives of the Afghans are going to become in many areas.

TAPPER (voice-over): And while Bundermann says he was not surprised to see the Taliban's resurgence in Afghanistan, he was disappointed by how the U.S. executed its withdrawal from the country.

BUNDERMANN: Then at least put together something that doesn't look this terrible.

TAPPER (voice-over): Bundermann's fellow soldier from COP Keating, Ty Carter agrees.

STAFF SGT. TY MICHAEL CARTER, U.S. ARMY (RET.), AFGHAN WAR VETERAN: The exit plan should have been a hell of a lot better than what we saw. People climbing onto airplanes, falling off airplanes, dying.

TAPPER (voice-over): Carter sat with us for a documentary we did after he was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2013. Carter risked his life several times during that battle, running to save the life of Stephan Mace. He and another soldier ran through enemy fire to bring him back to the medic station.

CARTER: Every muscle in my body was on fire and I couldn't breathe. And tears were coming down in my eyes because everything hurts so bad.

TAPPER (voice-over): Carter believes that the U.S. should have pulled out sooner. He was not surprised that in the last few weeks, the Afghan army did not put up much of a fight against the Taliban.

[04:55:00]

CARTER: Being a service member who fought in the Battle of Combat Outpost Keating, the way the Afghan Department of Defense or their forces, the way they acted is no surprise to me. There were a select few that stood in thought and more power to them but most of them they just gave up.

TAPPER (voice-over): Carter also agrees with the other veterans who say the United States has an obligation to save those Afghans who directly helped U.S. efforts on the ground.

CARTER: The linguists and interpreters are first priority, should treat them as they were Americans because they helped us.

TAPPER (voice-over): Despite how this war ended, all of these soldiers, all of these veterans look back at their work and accomplishments in Afghanistan with pride and hope that their fellow veterans feel the same way.

CARTER: We fought for each other. We died for each other. We are wounded for each other.

BUNDY: We can look back and say, hey, we did good.

SCHACHMAN: I'm proud of everything we accomplished.

BUNDERMANN: So I'm super proud of every single soldier I had an opportunity to serve with.

TAPPER (voice-over): Jake Tapper, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And if you're a veteran who is struggling or you know someone who needs help, you can find resources at a special section of our website, cnn.com/impact.

Well, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber and I will be back, in just a moment, with more news. Please, do stay with us.