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Twenty-one Dead, 45 Missing From Flash Flooding In Tennessee; Tennessee Governor Is Giving An Update on Deadly Flooding; Biden Says, U.S. Is Extending Safe Zone Around Kabul Airport. Full FDA Approval of Pfizer Vaccine Could Happen Tomorrow; Interview with Representative Brian Mast (R-FL) about U.S. Evacuations from Afghanistan. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired August 22, 2021 - 18:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. You are live the CNN Newsroom. We are following breaking news this hour out of Middle Tennessee, as the flood waters recede, the death toll climbs. The new numbers, 21 dead, 45 missing after staggering amount of rain unleashed catastrophic flash floods.

People in Humphreys County west of Nashville say the flood waters struck almost without warning. Some compared it to a tidal wave that swallowed its victims and swept them away. Twin toddlers are reported among the dead and at least five children had been listed among the missing.

Search and rescue efforts are grinding on as are the grim duties of recovering the dead. Tennessee's governor is due to speak at any minute and, of course, we will have that live for you.

But let's get the latest from CNN's Nick Valencia who is joining us by phone from Tennessee. Nick, where do things stand as far as missing?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Well, the National Weather Service is calling this a devastating and catastrophic situation. And looking at the numbers of those missing, it certainly seems that way. We have at least 21 people that have perished as a result of this severe weather system that passed through really starting on Thursday when that heavy rain started to fall. And just released a short time ago from the Waverly Police Department, one of the local emergency agencies, 45 people --

BROWN: Okay, Nick, we're going to have to cut in, because the governor is speaking now. Let's listen.

GOV. BILL LEE (R-TN): --situation in a county, just a few counties away, particularly in the community of Waverly, there's been a record number of inches of rainfall over Saturday -- Friday night and Saturday morning that created devastating flooding in this community. Tremendous loss of life, a number of missing people on the ground, homes washed off their foundations, cars strewn around the community. It is a devastating picture of loss and heartache in one of our Tennessee communities.

We have also seen a tremendous outpouring from surrounding communities, churches that are opening up as shelters. We've also seen a swift response from highway patrol, from the National Guard, from first responders from counties all over the state, a number of them working together coordinating efforts.

But, nonetheless, this is still unfolding even this afternoon. And there's much yet to know about what the end results will be. But what we do know is that it's incredibly difficult and our hearts and prayers need to be for those communities, for those folks in that community, many of them who have suffered not only the loss of their homes and their property but the loss of family members and friends.

I'm going to have Patrick Sheehan, our director of TEMA, come up and make a few comments about particular numbers and the response that is happening right now on the ground as well. Patrick?

PATRICK SHEEHAN, DIRECTOR, TEMA: Thank you, Governor Lee. It's pretty devastating on the ground, I'm sure some of you have seen and certainly have seen the news and so we want to make sure that this communities know that they're not forgotten and that Tennesseans share the heartbreak of the loss of life.

[18:05:03]

The Tennessee Department of Health has confirmed the team at this time, 16 confirmed fatalities. As you'll notice, that's different perhaps in what's coming out of local government. And that has to do with just our validation process. So we don't get ahead of ourselves as we are making sure that we are account for each Tennesseans that has sadly perished or is missing. And so you'll might see a discrepancy in numbers sometimes which coming from the Sheriff's or what's coming from our official reports and it's really just a matter of process.

What we know is that there are a number of people still missing. Recovery efforts continue underway, search efforts continue underway. Those will go on until we account for all of those Tennesseans that are missing at this time. TEMA staff are working with the Tennessee National Guard now to establish a donation center at the national guard armory in Waverly. So thank you to the Adjutant General and his team for making that facility available. It's going to be a physical location. Currently, donations are being accepted at Waverly High School.

I will add that the most important way that folks can help those that have been impacted by this terrible tragedy are with monetary donations. So people will be working to find new homes or temporary living arrangements for weeks and months to come and there are a number of reputable organizations that will help process donations and we have case were who's they can them to those that are in need.

Some examples of these are the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, their website is cfmt.org. The Nashville community resource center, crcnashville.org, is also an avenue of reputable source where donations can be directed. And, of course, the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and then any reputable local charitable organization in the area to include churches. Churches will be -- already working with those communities to host shelters and those that are requiring shelters right now. And so, If you're looking to help -- and I would ask that you do help -- donations to those organizations and then donations -- monetary donations to those locations, those organizations and then physical donations can be taken into the armory when that's open. And we don't know quite when that is yet. But our team is working to set that up now.

Responders from across Tennessee have been practicing for this. This was the first deployment of the Tennessee National Guard and the Nashville Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team to help with the recovery and rescue efforts, with just practices with a large exercise two weeks ago to validate this capability. And the City of Nashville was a great partner. Tennessee National Guard, Tennessee Highway Patrol, I'm sure you've been in the area, you've seen those helicopters flying to help find those that are missing and rescue those that need rescuing.

And, so far, the rescue time from across Tennessee, the outpouring of volunteer spirit has been apparent here in these first 48 hours. And we just ask that in the weeks and months ahead that the city of Waverly and Dixon, Humphreys County, writ large, Hickman County and Houston County, that please keep them all in your thoughts and share generously as Tennesseans do. Thank you.

LEE: Thank you, Patrick. Also in the ground with us today, we have Senator Hagerty and Senator Blackburn. If you would like to make some comments, it would be welcomed.

SEN. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R-TN): Thank you, Governor. Yes, we have seen so much devastations today. And we've talked with families, loss of life, livelihood, loss of their homes and the needs for Humphreys County are just going to be tremendous. But as Patrick said, the volunteer spirit is indeed alive and well. And they have shown up today.

And volunteers from all across the state coming to help with the search, coming to help people to salvage what they can from homes that were completely moved off of their foundations. And I had a conversation with Secretary Mayorkas from Homeland Security. They are waiting and ready to respond. So we look forward to doing our part to work with the governor and also with the local mayors to address the tremendous need that is going to be on ground.

SEN. BILL HAGERTY (R-TN): Thank you, Governor, and thank you, Senator Blackburn. Patrick, it was impressive to see the operation taken place on the field in very short order. What we saw today was devastation at a level that is absolutely heartbreaking. What we've seen is the Tennessee spirit at the same time. We see people that have lost family members, people that don't know where family members are.

[18:10:03]

But we've seen Tennesseans come to aid.

I was so touched to see first responders from all over Tennessee there on the ground, doing everything they can to help address this problem. As Patrick mentioned, I think we as Tennesseans can do more by making contributions to reputable organizations and to churches who will be in a position to make a real difference.

We toured an elementary school today. That school has been devastated. I couldn't believe the amount of damage that occurred. These kids are going to need supplies, they're going to need care, they are going to need your prayers. I'd like to say this. Senator Blackburn and I are going to do everything that we can to support Governor Lee to make certain that the grants that are coming this way happened as quickly and expeditiously as possible. We'll be doing everything that we possibly can to make sure that Tennessee is taken care of.

The news media has been very focused on what's happening in other areas, Haiti, Afghanistan, hurricanes coming to the northeast. But I think that we need to understand that the devastation here in Tennessee has been every bit as significant and we intend to put every amount of attention we can to make certain that we take care of Tennessee's needs. Thank you.

LEE: Thank you. And I will, to that end, the Biden administration has reached out to us. We've been in communication with them today. President Biden expressed his interest in helping. We will be putting together a request for an emergency federal assistance, a declaration of emergency. So those talks are happening right now. And that request for assistance will happen after assessments are done, initial assessments within just the next couple of days.

I'd be happy to answer any of your questions. Yes?

REPORTER: Governor, I would imagine given how quick it was and how unexpected that there's a lot of folks that did not have flood insurance, don't think of themselves as in a flood plain who are affected hereby. And I know that there's this FEMA money with the declaration but it's almost never nearly enough. Is there something that you've been contemplating? Is there special circumstance where the state steps in in a new and different way?

LEE: I think it's brand new on the ground right now, and it's actually still unfolding. So, we'll be looking at the individual circumstances with this particular flood and see if there is what help is going to be available. We want to provide help to Tennesseans and we're going to look for avenues for that. So, we'll explore that clearly in the next few days.

REPORTER: Governor Lee?

LEE: Yes?

REPORTER: Flooding was a part here before in this area. Are you all planning to project (ph) different ways that it could prevent this from happening in the future? LEE: Well, the difference, of course, for this particular flood is the record level of flooding. I think we received about 15 inches of rain in a 12-hour period of time. I'm not sure about that particular number, but close to that. It's very different than flooding we've had before.

But I'm sure there will be assessments after the fact, what happened, how it happened, are there ways that we can look to mitigate this going forward. But right now, we know this is a result of a record flood, like that community has not seen before with regard to the amount of rainfall.

Yes?

REPORTER: Is there a timeline for the search and rescue efforts?

LEE: Patrick, do you want to comment on that, make a comment on that?

SHEEHAN: Yes, sir.

BROWN: We're just listening to officials there in Tennessee talking about the deadly flooding that has already claimed the lives of 21 people there. We just heard from Governor Lee saying that they are now working on a request for federal emergency assistance, so a lot unfolding there on the ground in Tennessee. So many people impacted by the devastating flood. One of those is Casey Hipshire. She joins me now on the phone. She lost her home in this terrible flooding. Casey, thank you for joining us. How are you doing right now?

CASEY HIPSHIRE, LOST HOME IN TENNESSEE FLOODING (voice over): Holding up -- excuse me. Holding up the best I can.

BROWN: Tell me what you've been going through over the last day.

HIPSHIRE (voice over): I'm sorry.

BROWN: That's okay.

HIPSHIRE (voice over): A lot of heartache, watching my neighbors suffer too, just like I did. Going back and looking at all the destruction, it's devastating, absolutely devastating. But I'm thankful and extremely thankful to God that we're alive and I have my family.

BROWN: That is such a blessing. When you woke up and realized the water was rising yesterday morning, what went through your mind?

[18:15:04]

What was that like?

HIPSHIRE (voice over): I was just praying that it wouldn't get any higher. And then it just came so fast. And I packed a bag as quick as I could for all of us and next thing I know the water is in my house and it's up to my chest and my house fell off the foundation while we were still in it. So we had to break the window in the kitchen and crawl out of it and get up on the roof as fast as we could. That's my husband, my eight-year-old son and me.

BROWN: That must have been just terrifying.

HIPSHIRE: It was.

BROWN (voice over): I imagine never in your wildest dreams did you think you'd have to go through something like this. Did you know there was going to be the potential for flooding, or were you completely caught off guard by this?

HIPSHIRE (voice over): We knew that there was flooding going to come, but we didn't know -- I don't think anybody knew that it was going to be this harsh, because it just -- my yard filled up. I'm like, okay, it's going to go back down, it will be okay, and then all of a sudden it was like a tidal wave that just came over the road and into my yard and swept my house away. It was so fast and so devastating.

BROWN: And I understand you tried to call 911 but you couldn't get through?

HIPSHIRE (voice over): I called them at least ten times and they said that there were people on the way, just be patient. And by the 11th time I called, I said, please, somebody just come. The call went to Dixon. I said please just come, just come get my eight-year-old son. You can leave me, but take him.

BROWN: Were all of your friends and your neighbors able to get out safely?

HIPSHIRE (voice over): As far as I know, most of them did. All of them lost their houses and lost a lot of things, but I don't know how many, unfortunately, have perished. I'm not sure. And my prayers are with their families. But it's just -- we all -- the ones that did survive, we all came together and just give what we could for each other.

BROWN: Yes. There's been a lot of talk we heard there at the press conference with the Tennessee officials with just the spirit of volunteering on the ground and neighbors helping neighbors. What have you seen in that regard? What have you been able to do to help your fellow neighbors who are struggling right now?

HIPSHIRE (voice over): I haven't really been able to do much, but support them and be there for them and, you know, share that it's okay, we're alive, we can do this, we can work together, we can come together and we can rebuild. We will make it. I haven't been able to give them money or anything, but we will get together and we will make it together.

BROWN: Those words of encouragement can go such a long way. What do you and your community need right now?

HIPSHIRE (voice over): In all honesty, a lot of it is monetary to help us try to start the rebuilding process. And the other part is, you know, like clothing and bath supplies, anything that we can do, bottled water, canned foods that we have to just to keep us all going. Because like my house and like a lot of other houses, they're completely demolished. There is no house.

BROWN: So what comes next for you and your family? Where are you now? What does the future look like for you right now?

HIPSHIRE (voice over): For our family, and I hope other families think the same way, but we are thinking positive with the support of everybody. And then we're just going to start slowly, rebuild. We're going to beat this, we're going to get over it and we're going to stick together.

BROWN: That is an incredible attitude to have after going through what you and your family just went through, Casey. And we thank you for coming on and sharing your story. Thank you so much. And we all wish you the best of luck. Casey Hipshire, we appreciate it.

HIPSHIRE (voice over): Thank you.

BROWN: And new tonight, President Biden expanding the safe zone around Kabul Airport and ramping up efforts to rescue stranded Americans. We were going to be right back for more.

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[18:20:00]

BROWN: Turning now to the crisis in Afghanistan. As the situation continues to deteriorate, President Biden says the U.S. has extended the save zone around the Kabul Airport to make it easier to evacuate the thousands of people still waiting to leave in desperation, as we see. And that process could mean American troops stay longer. Biden says there are, quote, discussions for staying past the August 31st deadline. In his third public comment since the fall, he vowed to get every American home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Any American who wants to get home will get home. We've also been evacuating the citizens of our NATO allies and our partners, including their diplomats, their embassy staff, who remain in Afghanistan and to get them back to their homes as well. And as we do this, we're also working to move our Afghan allies who stood by us side by side and other vulnerable Afghans such as - leaders and journalist out of the country.

[18:25:01]

As of this morning, we have evacuated nearly 28,000 people since August the 14th.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: CNN National Security Correspondent Kylie Atwood joins me now. So, Kylie, you heard them say, very resolute, that we are going to get every American back home. But he also said in that same speech that a lot could go wrong. So how does that square? KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And I think there're questions about making such firm commitments right now. And it's right to question that. Because in this same speech that he's saying that, yes, every American who wants to get out is going to get out, he's also essentially acknowledging that the strategy of this administration initially brought to the table for this massive evacuation hasn't worked, because he's announcing changes that they're making to the evacuation plan.

First of all, as you noted out at the front here, they're extending the perimeter outside of the Kabul airport. So the military has been very clear in saying, our only thing that we're doing is focusing on the airport. Now, he's saying that that's extended.

He's also saying they're executing a plan to get Americans who are in the country to safety and get them into the airport in Kabul. He wasn't very specific about exactly how they're doing that, presumably for safety reasons. We know that ISIS-K, one of the terror groups in the region, is posing threats. But that, of course, is going to complicate things, right?

And I want us to listen to what National Security, Jake Sullivan said earlier this morning about those threats on the ground right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The threat is real. It is acute, it is persistent and it is something that we are focused on with every tool in our arsenal. Our commanders on the ground have a wide variety of capabilities that they are using to defend the airfield against a potential terrorist attack. We are working hard with our intelligence community to try to isolate and determine where an attack might come from. It is something that we are placing paramount priority on stopping or disrupting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ATWOOD: Now, the question of the timeline is a key one here, right? As these ISIS-K threats are increasing, as the administration is making changes to their plans, President Biden also said that U.S. military officials are in talks about potentially extending the self- imposed August 31st deadline. That is the date when he has said the U.S. military will be completely out of the country, completely out of airport in Kabul.

But now, given how things are so chaotic on the ground, he acknowledges there are some discussions about potentially having to extend that, though he says that he hopes they'll be able to get everything done before August 31st.

BROWN: And this isn't just impacting the U.S., it's also impacting obviously U.S. allies, as well in addition to the Afghan allies who helped us during the 20-year war. What are the allies saying about all these, as they try to scrambling and get their citizens out to safety?

ATWOOD: Yes. I mean, President Biden on Friday, when he spoke, said that he hadn't heard about folks around the world questioning American leadership right now, but that is not what you hear when you talk to diplomats who are dealing with the United States, dealing with the fallout right now.

First of all, they're questioning this decision writ large, right? Why did the United States have to withdraw everything? Second of all, they're looking at what does this mean in the region? What does this going to mean for terrorism? Is terrorism going to be bred even more aggressively now in Afghanistan, which was the major purpose of going there in the first place?

So, I think there are a lot of questions about the relationship that the Biden administration has with these foreign allies right now, particularly given President Biden's promise that he came in to -- sorry, to restore those alliances.

BROWN: We heard Secretary of State, Antony Blinken say he had been talking with the allies, planning with them, but it seems as though they are also scrambling just as the U.S. is trying to get their citizens to safety. Kylie Atwood, thank you so much.

Well, the Pfizer vaccine is on the cusp of getting full approval from the FDA. It could push some vaccine hesitant Americans to get the shot as the delta variant wreaks havoc across the country.

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[18:33:33]

BROWN: There is rarely good news on the pandemic, but this may qualify. Full FDA approval of the Pfizer COVID vaccine may be imminent and it could come as early as tomorrow. That's none too soon as these frightening new COVID numbers from Johns Hopkins reveal the U.S. is now averaging 1,000 COVID deaths a day. We haven't seen these numbers since March when the pandemic was still raging.

Add to that CDC data showing roughly 30 percent of Americans who are eligible to receive the vaccine still aren't vaccinated.

I want to bring in Dr. William Schaffner. He's a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Doctor, nice to see you? Those numbers are so troubling. Do you think an FDA approval could lead to a surge in vaccine demand?

DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, INFECTIOUS DISEASES DIRECTOR, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: Well, Pamela, the numbers are still very, very troubling. We have a large number of people still unvaccinated. The announcement or the anticipated announcement of full licensure is very, very welcomed. That may well move some people to the sunny side of the street and get them vaccinated for sure.

The other thing it might do is give some institutions, employers, colleges, health care institutions and others the courage to actually say, you know, we're going to oblige everybody who works here to have the vaccine. It's in their best interest, the best interest of their clients, their customers and their fellow workers. And that would be very welcome.

[18:35:04]

BROWN: Yes. Could give them the ammunition they've been waiting for. What about kids' vaccine approval? Will FDA approval help speed that along?

SCHAFFNER: Those are separate issues. We have to wait for the data in the children. We want those clinical trials to be thorough and complete before we start vaccinating younger children. Every parent would want that. That's going to take a little more time. It will probably come through end of the fall, beginning of the winter sometime. That's the anticipation.

BROWN: I've been getting a lot of viewer questions. And one of the big questions I've been getting is how does Delta's increased transmission affect outdoor transmissibility? There was a time when we were getting vaccinated where we thought as long as we're outdoors, we're all vaccinated, we're going to be OK. What's the deal?

SCHAFFNER: Yes. I think we're still pretty much OK, but we're a little bit more nervous because it is so highly contagious. We've been telling people, especially if you're immunocompromised, if you're older and somewhat frail, please even in outdoor gatherings wear that mask. When in doubt, be cautious, put on the mask, the mask works.

BROWN: And this is another viewer question I was getting. And just given these numbers, you know, some people are still looking at that CDC guidance from months ago that said if you're vaccinated, it's OK to gather indoors with other vaccinated people unmasked. What would you say now? Does that guidance still hold?

SCHAFFNER: Well, that guidance has been updated. You know, Delta changed the ground rules. And once it became evident that Delta was so highly contagious, if you're indoors in a group outside of your family, in that group, whether you're vaccinated or unvaccinated, please wear the mask. That's the current recommendation.

BROWN: It's important to emphasize that as people are still trying to grapple with this and figure out what they can and can't do. There is still, though, plenty of vaccine resistance, especially in areas getting hammered with new cases and hospitals being overrun with sick patients like in Alabama where the vaccination rate is among the lowest in the country.

I want you to listen to what happened last night when former President Trump urged one of his MAGA crowds to get vaccinated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: I recommend take the vaccines. I did it. It's good. Take the vaccines. But you got -- no, that's OK. That's all right. You got your freedoms. But I happen to take the vaccine.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: So Trump did sort of urge his MAGA crowd, but after the crowd booed, he sort of backed off. Do you see many in that Alabama crowd changing their mind because the FDA gives its approval?

SCHAFFNER: Well, I think it will make a few people happier and they'll come over and be vaccinated. I don't expect a big parade on Tuesday outside of the vaccination centers with people wanting vaccines, but there may indeed be some. I think in addition to the former president's support, I think we need local people, local political leaders, local religious leaders, business leaders at the local level where they're respected and known all promoting vaccination in chorus.

BROWN: Former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb warned today that what's happening in schools in the south could be a harbinger for the rest of the U.S. Gottlieb says that the south has seen slowing in its COVID surge in all areas except among school age kids. Do you agree?

SCHAFFNER: Well, I think there will be schools here and there if they're casual, if they're not masked, if they're not social distancing, if they haven't taken the precautions to protect the children. Of course we want all the adults in the school system to be vaccinated and all children age 12 and over should be vaccinated by now. If not, let's get them vaccinated. All those things contribute to a very low risk school environment. We can do this, but every school has to do many of those things.

BROWN: I want to talk about misinformation because it's ongoing. Now you have the surgeon general saying increased reports of people using livestock drug for COVID-19 highlights health misinformation problems happening online. People are swamping poison control hotlines after using anti-parasitic drugs used on livestock. People seemed desperate for a treatment but unwilling to take a vaccine. How do you even begin to understand, explain that, combat that?

SCHAFFNER: Pamela, I can't explain it. People are looking for something magical when what we have at hand is this extraordinarily effective vaccine. We know it works. It keeps people out of the hospital. So if you're looking for something to help you, the vaccine is there.

[18:40:01]

It's free. It's widely available. We've got plenty. It just needs to get out of those refrigerators and into arms.

BROWN: You've been saying the same thing for months, Dr. Schaffner. We'll see if there will be an uptick in these vaccinations once there is full FDA approval for the Pfizer vaccine.

Dr. William Schaffner, thank you so much for joining us tonight.

SCHAFFNER: Thank you.

BROWN: Meantime, thousands of Afghan refugees flown out of Kabul are now safe from the Taliban, but where will they go next to rebuild their lives? When we come back I'm going to speak to Florida congressman and Afghan

war veteran Brian Mast.

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[18:45:13]

BROWN: Right now Tropical Storm Henri is getting weaker but it is still threatening hundreds of thousands of people in the northeast with heavy rain and severe flooding. The storm made landfall in Rhode Island this afternoon with 60-mile-per-hour winds. That state's governor expects more than 100,000 people will be without power as the storm moves through.

President Biden has already approved disaster declarations for Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York. Central Park recorded more rain in the last 48 hours than in any two-day span over the last decade.

And we're also following the wildfires in California. Right now there are more than 13,000 people battling at least 13 large active fires across the state. That includes the Dixie Fire, the Monument Fire and the Caldor Fire seen here. More than 1.5 million acres have been destroyed across California. This as severe drought continues across the west.

Well, this morning roughly 18,500 people gathered at Kabul airport clamoring for an escape after the Taliban takeover. And despite crowd surges on Saturday that killed at least seven Afghan citizens, those who are able to leave jump at the chance, but suffer pains for what and who they must leave behind.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QAAM NOORI, JOURNALIST: It seems that I am just picking one piece of my soul but leaving a lot of pieces back at home. So it's really strange. I don't know how to describe this. Am I happy, am I sad? With this government, with these new rulers, I'm sure they will not leave us any space to be here.

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That must break your heart.

NOORI: Of course, certainly, that has already broken but, you know, that's the reality.

KILEY: Your heart's already broken?

NOORI: Yes, yes, yes. Yes.

KILEY: Good luck.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And heartbreaking scenes continue to play out. In some cases parents are passing their babies to total strangers to get them out of an increasingly dire situation. One source tells CNN that much of the U.S. embassy's Afghan staff have been, quote, "screwed over" and remain trapped in Kabul.

For veterans of the war in Afghanistan, all these images and anecdotes are especially painful. They befriended and relied on some of these very people during their tours of duty. Brian Mast worked alongside Afghan citizens as a bomb disposal expert. The last IED he tried to disarm went off and he lost both legs.

Brian Mast, a Purple Heart recipient and now Republican congressman from Florida, joins me now.

Thank you so much for joining us, Congressman. Recently you told the "Wall Street Journal," "People are coming to us in desperation. To let somebody fall through the cracks is a death sentence, it's a death warrant for the crime of helping American."

Congressman, we just heard from President Biden a short time ago. And I'd like you to listen to something he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me be clear. The evacuation of thousands of people from Kabul is going to be hard and painful no matter when it started, when we began. It would have been true if we had started a month ago or a month from now. There is no way to evacuate this many people without pain and loss of heartbreaking images you see on television. It's just a fact. My heart aches for those people you see.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Congressman Mast, as someone who served in Afghanistan, what is your response to Biden claiming a withdrawal was always going to be chaotic like this?

REP. BRIAN MAST (R-FL): I would say flat out it's not a fact. He said it's fact. It's not a fact. I think he's taking his talking points in this way. Look at whatever's going on in Afghanistan or around the world and just say the opposite. I think that's really what his people are telling him right now. Because you look at the situation and you look at what he did just prior to this. You go to another quote from President Biden that said, the Afghans now have the most advanced military weaponry, which we don't have an inventory of, by the way, right now.

Why would they leave the most advanced military weaponry to what they assessed would be a chaotic situation that's playing out that we see right now? It was a total misread of everything going on.

BROWN: The Biden administration has managed to evacuate 33,000 people without a single U.S. life being lost. Does that deserve any credit in your view?

MAST: Our military deserves every bit of credit for putting their lives at risk in a situation that is infinitely more dangerous because unfortunately the biggest program for the administration in my assessment is the optics. They went in there saying over a week ago we're not going to call this a combat mission.

[18:50:02]

That's because they were concerned about the optics of the situation. They weren't pushing out in order to get more of our people inside of that cordoned area because they were concerned about the optics of it. I'm going to give you something that I can only say as Brian Mast's opinion. I think that they rushed out of Afghanistan so quickly because they wanted the optics of getting out before 9/11 to have a rah-rah ceremony on that day.

BROWN: So you clearly have these strong feelings that Joe Biden made a huge mistake in Afghanistan. And again this is personal for you. You served there, you lost two legs, but we can't undo the past couple of week and the decisions that have already been made, so what should we be doing right now to protect as many people as possible from the Taliban?

MAST: Yes, to be clear I lost two legs and a finger as well.

BROWN: And a finger. Thank you.

MAST: But in that, you know, in that point, what we need to be doing is two very specific things. Number one, everything possible to get our Americans and those that helped us out alive, and everything possible, every option on the table to make that happen. I alluded to a point just a moment ago that's so important in this effort. We do not have an inventory of the most sophisticated military weaponry that was left to the Afghans that's now in Taliban control, probably some of it in an Iranian control.

Give you a quick example, how many Raytheon built stinger missiles, those are surface-to-air, shoulder-fired missiles are now in the hands of the Taliban when we're moving thousands of individuals out by aircraft. That's one easy example of the kind of threat that exists on the ground when they have our weaponry, that they are becoming more and more familiar with every minute.

BROWN: Yes. That is certainly a concern among people I have spoken with on both sides of the aisle, that now the Taliban and perhaps potentially other terrorist groups could have the weapons that the U.S. have given to Afghan forces. As all of that is playing out, you have President Biden extending the parameter of the airports, so U.S. troops will now be extending the perimeter. What danger to they face in doing that?

MAST: Infinite amount of danger. Now no more capable groups on the ground that our Marines, than our rangers, to go out there and secure airfields. They know this mission. They train for it year in and year out for decades. It's just the bread and butter of what they do. But again, they have the most sophisticated military weaponry. We saw images of Taliban just the other day, in U.S. garments, in helmets with night vision optics on them, which means your nighttime operations now are infinitely more dangerous with what's going on there because they can see in the dark, whereas before we only had a specific capability to see in the dark in those (INAUDIBLE). Every bit of it is that much more dangerous, not just because of the

equipment, but also because of what you could say is the high ground. We are their hostages in the cordoned off area whereas a couple of weeks ago the Taliban were our hostages. We have the high ground of the most fortified embassy, the most fortified airbase, Bagram Airbase, probably anywhere in the world. We have those high ground positions. We do not those high ground positions in the same way. Those are all reasons that it's infinitely more dangerous.

BROWN: And you have President Biden also saying today that every American will be able to make it home. But at the same time he wouldn't detail how they're getting some of the Americans out and to the airport there. Does that tell you that special forces are going in to rescue them and bringing them to the airport?

MAST: I'm not going to speak to which assets specifically are all on the ground beyond those that have already been mentioned, but I am confident that those that had the capability are standing by ready to go. It's whether the president will unleash those that have the capability to go and get our Americans home.

BROWN: I want to talk about the Afghan allies who were there clamoring to get in and get on a flight and get out of Afghanistan. You strongly believe we owe it to some of the Afghans to get them to safety. Do you think America should give them asylum?

MAST: You look at those that are applying for special immigrant visas, this could have been done in a lot better way, but we need to get to those that helped us, their families, their spouses, their children, we need to get them out of Afghanistan back to the hope that America offers and away from the threat that the Taliban offer in Afghanistan. You know, specifically I would tell you on this front, we believe in that enough that we have been working on this day in and day out for weeks and even months and years on these, but specifically for the past couple of weeks.

There hasn't been a day that's gone by where I haven't received a message, a phone call, an e-mail or something personally saying I'm this U.S. service member. I was contacted by this interpreter or somebody that I worked with, can you help us get the picture, their identification to that cordoned area to help get them through into the Kabul airport, or into this place? Or can they get into Pakistan and get to the embassy there? Or can they get here?

Every single day right up to the point I received a message about this probably about 30 minutes ago, it was the most recent one.

[18:55:03]

I believe in this enough that, you know, you see the images of children being handed over the wall. If the State Department needs a family to send any of those children to, my wife and I will take in those children, as I believe there are probably millions of Americans that would say the exact same thing.

BROWN: Congressman Brian Mast, thank you so much for coming on. Thank you for your service in Afghanistan, all the sacrifices you have made. I think watching our U.S. troops there on the ground surrounding the airport, helping these, you know, babies and others who were just there in desperation is just an inspiration for every American to see. We want thank all of our troops. Thank you, again, Congressman.

MAST: Yes, ma'am.

BROWN: And still ahead, a flight to safety ends with an early arrival, a baby girl was just born aboard an evacuation flight out of Kabul. CNN is at the U.S. air base in Germany where that plane landed. And we'll be right back.

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