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President Biden Addresses The Nation For The Third Time Since Kabul Fell To The Taliban; Flash Flooding In Tennessee Leaves 21 Dead, 20 Missing; Interview With Gov. Daniel McKee (D-RI); Interview With Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA); COVID Surge Threatens To Overwhelm Texas Health System; Haiti Recovery Efforts Continue As Death Toll Climbs. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired August 22, 2021 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:24]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: President Biden is ramping up efforts to rescue stranded Americans in Afghanistan. In Tennessee, 21 people are dead and nearly as many people are missing after intense flash flooding. Tonight authorities appeal for help. And then the Haitian rapper with a rallying cry for unity as his country reels from natural disasters, poverty and political uncertainty.

I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM on this Sunday evening.

President Biden is under growing pressure regarding the chaotic situation at Kabul's airport. Right now it's the middle of the night there but we saw another tense day earlier. An estimated 18,500 people packed into the waiting areas today. Yesterday similar crowds led to the death of at least seven Afghan citizens crushed in the surge of people trying to escape.

President Biden continued to stress that safety is his administration's number one priority, and admitted there are discussions about U.S. troops possibly sticking around past August 31st.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are working diligently to make sure we've increased the ability to get them out. We've changed the gate operations and a whole range of things, and that's why we've been able to significantly increase the number of people we're getting out.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And will the Taliban agree to extending (INAUDIBLE)

BIDEN: We discussed a lot with the Taliban. They've been cooperative in extending some of the perimeter. That remains to be seen whether we ask that question.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: President Biden also made clear he thinks no matter when we leave Afghanistan, we'd see the kinds of images that we are seeing now.

Here's what a U.S. Military veteran leading a grassroots effort to help Afghans flee the Taliban had to say about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. TRIPP ADAMS, U.S. ARMY RESERVE, PART OF #AFGHANEVAC GROUP: Because of that throughput issue and the lack of coordination in the interagency, folks are just not getting through, and that math problem doesn't work out if we're leaving by the 31st, we will not get out all the Americans we need to and we absolutely will not get out all our allies who've served with us for 20 years.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Let's start with White House correspondent Arlette Saenz.

Arlette, what more did the president say in his address to the nation?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, President Biden made it clear that the top priority for this administration is getting Americans safely out of Afghanistan. This is the third time that the president delivered remarks regarding the situation in Afghanistan since Kabul fell just one week ago today, and the president outlined some of the changes that they've made with some of the operations at the airport and how they are adjusting things on the ground as the security situation is constantly evolving in Afghanistan.

But even as the president made this pledge to get all Americans who want to get out, out of the country safely, he also said that there is still a long way to go and that some things could potentially go wrong. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: There's 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. We are proving that we can move those thousands of people a day out of Kabul. We're bringing our citizens, NATO allies, Afghanis who have in fact helped us in the war effort, but we have a long way to go and a lot could still go wrong.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: So as the president is making that pledge to get Americans and Afghan allies out safely, there are still so many questions about how assured they are about that given there's so much uncertainty around this situation.

Now the president also announced that there are discussions about whether they will need to keep troops in the country beyond August 31st, that deadline that he had set just a few months ago. He did not reveal whether that has been an issue that's been discussed with the Taliban so far, but asked that they are working with the Taliban on the ground to assure safe passage for Americans and those Afghan allies.

Now another point from the president's speech that I want to note is that he talked about how these Afghan allies, these SIV applicants would be making their way to the United States, going through a third- party country, going to sites outside of Afghanistan, and he vowed that any Afghan allies who are coming to the U.S. will be vetted before they are traveling.

So all of this is a constantly evolving situation, but the president trying to relay that they are getting some control over this situation as things got off to a bit of a rocky start with that drawdown as it began last week.

[19:05:10]

But still so many uncertain questions -- uncertain moments around this withdrawal that are playing out, and we will see whether the administration needs to further adjust any strategy going forward.

BROWN: All right. Arlette Saenz, from the White House for us, thanks so much.

And let's talk more about this with CNN military analyst, Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Thank you for joining us, Cedric. Let's listen to another part of President Biden's speech just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: We know that terrorists may seek to exploit the situation, and target innocent Afghans or American troops. We're maintaining constant vigilance -- we are maintaining the constant vigilance to monitor and disrupt threats from any source, including the likely source being ISIS, ISIS-K, the Afghan affiliate referred to as ISIS-K, but we're under no illusions about the threat.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So on one hand, President Biden said every American in Afghanistan will make it home. On the other hand he lays that out and says a lot could go wrong. What is your reaction to that?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Pamela, I guess he's trying to prepare us for whatever might happen next, and I mean, in many ways the president was more direct in his approach with this speech than he had been with his previous efforts, but what I'm seeing here is, you know, the fact that we are operating in a very hostile environment. We're dealing with a group that is hostile to us, it is, you know, made up of so many different people that support a particular chain of command in other ways.

They don't listen to any of their superiors, so it's not a normal kind of military, and in that particular sense it makes it very dangerous. And the fact that, you know, we're having to extend perimeters and to find other ways to get not only American citizens but also SIV and other types of aspirants to the United States into the airport makes it a very dangerous, difficult area that really will require a bit of time and a bit more effort, and that's I think what we're bumping up against here.

BROWN: And the president repeated what he had said previously that no matter when we withdrew, whether it'd be five years from now, 10 years from now, chaos would have been inevitable. Is that true in your view?

LEIGHTON: Well, Afghanistan, Pamela, is a chaotic place. I mean, you know, it's been that way for a very long time, even before we ever sent troops to that country. But there are ways to manage chaos, and I think that you -- what we should have done is planned for that chaos as much as we possibly can. You know, we know that the minute that we say something like we're going to be leaving that people are going to try to join us, and they'll try to clamor for the exits.

That's, you know, part of the way in which these things kind of go no matter where they happen. And I think that, you know, the planning efforts, although we're trying to play catchup with, you know, a lot of things, the planning efforts could have definitely been better and the intelligence could have been much more thorough on the kinds of situations that we would be finding ourselves in.

BROWN: And what more can be done now as there are still so many people in Afghanistan trying to make it out? Are you satisfied with what you heard from the president today in terms of the current plan and what they are doing? Or do you think they should be doing more?

LEIGHTON: I think they should be doing a lot more. You know, part of the problem is this. I get reports like many others, you know, in this effort, this digital Dunkirk to get people out of Afghanistan, I get reports on an hourly basis from Afghans on the ground saying, you know, what is happening to them. We've got people who are being clogged at the checkpoints, right, in front of the Taliban checkpoints and not too far from American or British soldiers.

We have people who get trampled. We have people who are injured in other way. And that is a real problem, you know, from that standpoint. And plus the sheer volume of people. We have people who are -- you know, all over Kabul waiting to get word that they can come to the airport because they want to avoid the crowds, and the very fact that that's happening shows that, you know, this plan has basically run into a lot of difficulty and it needs to be revised as we work through this process.

That is I think, you know, the key problem here. We get a lot more information, you know, just to gain citizens who are trying to do a good job, then people in the federal government seem to be getting, and they need to start paying attention to the facts that are on the ground.

[19:10:06]

We can have those facts and we need to start looking at what we have.

BROWN: Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you so much.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Pamela.

BROWN: And still ahead on this Sunday, an unheard of astronomical type of statistic. That is a quote. A meteorologist describes the stunning amount of rain that caused catastrophic flooding in Tennessee. We're going to take you there when we come back. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: A desperate search and rescue effort happening right now in central Tennessee where around 20 people are missing after severe flooding. At least 21 others are confirmed dead, including two toddlers. Take a listen to what one storm spotter found when he made it to the city of Waverly about an hour and a half outside of Nashville.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE SMITH, STORM CHASER: Another upside-down vehicle, and guys, the creek, it's over there.

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It's a little ways from here. That's how high all of this water came from the creek. Look at the power of what it did. Steel sign on the bridge here. Totally bent. Of course you have random things like this, trailers turned over, portions of homes destroyed. Portions of buildings wrapped around.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Last hour I spoke to Casey Hipshire who had just moments to get her family out safely when the flood waters filled her home and lifted it off the foundation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASEY HIPSHIRE, LOST HOME IN TENNESSEE FLOODING: 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.

My yard filled up, I'm like, OK, it's going to be going back down, it will be OK, 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.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: The Tennessee National Guard deployed a Blackhawk helicopter to help with water rescues but the scope of the devastation can only be fully appreciated up close. We've just received this video from reporter Marissa Sulek of a CNN affiliate WSMV in Nashville.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARISSA SULEK, WSMV REPORTER: I'll show you guys what we're seeing. So one of the first images -- and we just saw this, our photographer, Nicky, just pointed this out to me. So here is the foundation of a house. The house, itself, went across this road and all the way on the left there. We got Nicky pointing right there, that's where that house is. And again, it went from this foundation -- there's his finger again -- all the way to right over there across the road.

This is insane. This is just one of the few things we have seen here in Waverly, but there is countless more. I'm going to walk over this way. So this is the creek here. This is a car just turned over on its side. And this isn't the only car. If you look down the creek there -- I wish I could zoom in but I don't think we can. No, we cannot. There's at least one, two, three more cars down there. And this is just a pile, a pile of debris here.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: That was reporter Marissa Sulek of CNN affiliate WSMV in Nashville. Just showing the devastation on the ground.

And now to Tropical Storm Henri. It made landfall this afternoon along the coast of Rhode Island near Westerly. Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee joins us by phone.

And Governor, thanks for taking some time out for us. I know how busy you are right now. You have been touring some of the damage this afternoon. What are your initial impressions?

GOV. DANIEL MCKEE (D), RHODE ISLAND : Well, Pamela, thanks for having me on again. Yes, Rhode Island, after hearing that clip on Tennessee, my heart goes out to them, our prayers do as well. We count our blessings here that it went from a hurricane 1 to a tropical storm, but still we had well over 100,000 people without electricity. And you're right, we did travel into Westerly. Sandy was a 2010 disaster for us, we didn't reach those levels but we don't forget.

And on Westerly, many of our businesses were down. The riptides and the waves and the water are very dangerous. So we're asking people still to stay home right now in Rhode Island. We're saying better be safe than sorry and especially out of the water because of the heavy current along our coastline. We've got about 400 miles of coastline. So we're in a spot where we're going to get into the recovery mode.

We were down to I think about 63,000 people without electricity. Very concerned about the fact that we got a heat wave coming in the 90- degree territory beginning Tuesday, that's why we're really putting a great deal of importance on getting everybody back their electricity so that we're able to keep the health risks down, and it's very important for us, especially coming out of the tail end of this pandemic, and now Delta surfacing again, stretching all our public safety and all our, you know, National Guard and all our first responders in all 39 cities and towns. We count our blessings that we're OK, but we still have some level of

recovery to do. I did speak personally to the president yesterday. We had a disaster relief proclamation that was signed by the president calling Rhode Island a place where we need to have federal assistance.

[19:20:02]

So, yes, we are fortunate but we still have our challenges in the recovery, and as you said on our, you know, oceanfront right now, still very cautious and telling our people in the state stay in their homes so our first responders and our national grid utilities can get everybody restored back with their energy.

BROWN: And this is all going, as you pointed out, during a pandemic. You signed an emergency declaration over fears that Rhode Island's high rate of hospitalizations will only get worse. What will be done if hospitals become overwhelmed, Governor?

MCKEE: Well, I think that we're very fortunate that I don't believe the tropical storm is going to impact that, but we are -- you know, we are handling two emergencies at the same time, right, Pamela? We're handling, you know, a weather emergency in the form of a tropical storm and also the pandemic in terms of the Delta. Fortunately in Rhode Island right now, although we have some of the lowest death rates, the lowest hospitalization rates, the highest vaccination rates in the country, and we're also, you know, leading the country in many ways in our economic recovery.

We want to keep it that way, so when you get an emergency like this, it can kind of complicate issues in terms of the Tropical Storm Henri, and, you know, so we're very aware of that. And it can only complicate it in the way that -- you know, potentially, you know, like I say a hospitalization issue or a problem there compounding the issues that COVID is and the Delta variant, and we're focused on our economy.

We know that's a risk as well, if you can't keep your economy going strong people are at risk as well both financially and emotionally, so it's a great deal of work. We really appreciate the fact that the president took our call yesterday with governors from up the East Coast, New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, as well as Massachusetts, and has pledged his support. And we're going to be very -- it's going to be very helpful to us.

I mean, back in 2010 alone, Pamela, we're still trying to recover some of the federal dollars that relates for the Storm Sandy, and hopefully we're going to be able to roll that all into one package that give our business community the relief that they need coming out of this pandemic and going forward.

BROWN: Certainly a lot of challenges in your state and states across the country.

Governor Daniel McKee, thank you very much.

Well, Capitol Hill will soon hold hearings on why the U.S. was surprised by how the war in Afghanistan played out. But our next guest knew it was a bad idea all along.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee was the only member of Congress to vote against the war in Afghanistan. Does she feel vindicated now?

Congresswoman Lee joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:27:18]

BROWN: Frustration on Capitol Hill as lawmakers point fingers about the fall of Afghanistan. GOP Senator Ben Sasse lashing out at President Biden saying that he's created a hostage situation in the making. But GOP Congressman Adam Kinzinger who served in Afghanistan says there is plenty of blame to go around.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): But let's keep in mind, Mike Pompeo met with the Taliban as Donald Trump was publicly saying we have to get out of Afghanistan at all costs, it's not worth it. Mike Pompeo meets with the Taliban and tries to negotiate something. By the way, they ended up getting rolled harder than -- almost as bad as Neville Chamberlain because they knew what the desired outcome of the Trump administration was, so they set this up to fail but always, of course, Joe Biden could have easily turned this around and instead used it as the excuse to get out.

Both parties have failed the American people and it can't continue and it particularly can't continue with just pointing fingers while America is embarrassed in front of the world.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Joining me now, Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California.

Congresswoman, nice to see you. In 2001, you were the sole member of Congress to vote against authorizing U.S. military force in Afghanistan. You were vilified for your vote that day. What was your reasoning then and do you stand by what you said that day?

REP. BARBARA LEE (D-CA): Thank you, Pam. Thanks for inviting me to be with you for a few minutes. Yes, I stand by that vote. This was a 60- word authorization to use military force. It was a blank check that set the stage for perpetual war, forever wars. It also put forth the framework to keep Congress out of performance constitutional responsibility. You know, the Congress does-- the Constitution requires the president to come to Congress to ask for an authorization to use military force.

This authorization was so overly broad that the executive power now has full range to use force and that's why I'm trying to repeal this, and having said that now -- well, also, then I knew that there was no military solution in Afghanistan and you can just look at the history of Afghanistan and, in fact, I was very concerned that it was passed just three days after the horrific attacks against our nation and had no strategy, no plan, no exit strategy, and I'm the daughter of a military officer of 25 years in the military, and I knew good and well then that we should not give that kind of executive power, that kind of authorization from the Congress to the president.

So now where do we go from here? We have to make sure that every American citizen and every Afghan ally, all of our NATO friends and allies who are in Afghanistan, everyone who should get out should get out, and we need to provide the resources for that and we should make sure that the evacuation plans go as smoothly as they can go and I'm glad the President really did not paint a rosy picture. He said that it's dangerous, it's going to be difficult, but we've got to do everything we can do to help save lives.

BROWN: He did say that today. But he also said that every American in Afghanistan will make it home safely. How can he give that assurance if he's also saying in the same speech that a lot could go wrong?

LEE: Well, he did say a lot to go wrong also. But we have to be committed to making sure that every American and every Afghan ally can get out of Afghanistan safely. We have to have that as a goal. We cannot do anything less.

I mean, the Taliban, they're brutal. You see what's taking place now, and we cannot allow the country, the people who have supported the United States through this last 20 years to be subject to getting their lives taken away from them. And that's exactly what could happen.

And so the President has been very honest, I think, he is saying everything that the country needs to hear in a very sobering manner. He is telling the truth. And in fact, I'm still supportive of his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.

He knows good and well, and he said it over and over again, that if we stay there, keeping our troops in harm's way, which they have done, everything we have asked them to do, and we need to honor and salute our troops for doing their job, that then another 10, 15, 20 years will still be there, who knows what would take place in the in Afghanistan, given its history, and there's no military solution.

So that was the right decision.

BROWN: I'm just going to jump in -- I am going to jump in because the decision, it has been conflated with the execution, and so there are two separate things here. There is the decision to withdraw. President Biden ultimately made that decision, even though the deal with the Taliban was struck under the Trump administration.

But then there is the execution aspect of this and we are seeing the images on the ground, the chaos people desperate to get out, people who have already lost their lives, Afghan allies who have lost their lives. So what do you say about the withdrawal? What do you think could have been better in that regard?

LEE: Sure. And I'm one who says that this was poorly planned, that people's lives are in danger. For the life of me, I don't know why when we knew that we had a deadline to get out, why in the world, we did not have the appropriate plans in place.

We know there would be chaos. I mean, that's to be expected. But we knew early on that we needed to execute and provide for the Special Immigrant Visas. We needed to get the planning in place. So we have to drill down and have oversight hearings and get the Congress more involved so we know exactly what happened, so it will never happen again.

I chair the Subcommittee on the Appropriation Committee that provides for the resources for diplomacy and development. And my subcommittee needs to know very quickly if we need more resources to help protect women and children and what to do to make this run smoothly. So nobody is plotting this. No one is looking at this through rose colored glasses.

This has been a very perilous evacuation and the President said, it's going to be very dicey. It's going to be dangerous and we have to do everything we can do, Pam, to get this done.

BROWN: We sure do. All right, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, thank you so much for your time on this Sunday.

LEE: Thank you.

BROWN: The COVID surge in Texas is putting a stunning strain on hospitals across the state. An ICU doctor on the frontlines in Houston joins us to share what he has seen, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:38:24]

BROWN: The delta variant became prevalent in the U.S. in July and since then, Texas is running second only to Florida in the number of new coronavirus cases.

Now, Texas hospitals are feeling the crunch, and as cases rise, so do that strain on healthcare providers and some fear this latest surge might completely overwhelm the system.

Dr. George Williams is an ICU physician with UT Health Houston and LBJ Hospital. Dr. Williams, I know how busy you are. So, thanks for joining us tonight.

Some say Houston hospitals have reached a breaking point. What does that look like if the system is overwhelmed? What are you seeing?

DR. GEORGE WILLIAMS, ICU PHYSICIAN WITH UT HEALTH HOUSTON AND LBJ HOSPITAL: Well, thank you very much, Pamela, for having me. And a breaking point looks like we're we have more patients than we can actually put in beds, that we can take care of safely, that we have enough doctors and nurses and respiratory therapists present to be able to meet their needs, keeping the standard of care that we've all come to expect here in the United States of America. BROWN: So, you have the ICU for adults and you have the ICU for kids

and Texas and Florida lead the nation right now in pediatric hospitalizations. Here is a graph, I'm going to show you on the screen, showing the rise among Texas children.

I mean, I cannot think of anything much worse than seeing babies, children sick and possibly dying because people have refused to get the vaccine and wear masks.

Have you seen many pediatric cases and these past few weeks?

WILLIAMS: Well, in my hospital, we actually are not a pediatric hospital, so we take care of mostly adults However, we do have pediatric patients that have come to our hospital and in several cases, and we've had to make sure we send those patients to other locations.

[19:40:05]

WILLIAMS: Recently, we had to send a pediatric patient out of state because that was a nearest available ICU bed that could take care of that pediatric patient. So, it's very concerning to see that trend.

BROWN: Yes, I remember when that the child was put on the helicopter, had to be medivaced to another hospital.

So, I want to ask you about the fact that the Health Services Department in Texas has requested five mortuary trailers from F.E.M.A. clearly anticipate a surge in COVID deaths. How distressing is this to you and other health care professionals?

WILLIAMS: It's very distressing. It's honestly heartbreaking because we're seeing a tremendous number of patients come into our ICUs, we have to increase our ICU capacity and patients, unfortunately, in many cases are dying. And these deaths are vast, vast, vast majority unvaccinated patients.

So, it feels sad to see something preventable on this scale, where we had to ask for more body bags as you just described.

BROWN: Yes. And roughly 30 percent of Americans eligible to get vaccinated are not yet vaccinated. Are you starting to lose compassionate all for those coming in, who are choosing not to be vaccinated even though they're eligible?

WILLIAMS: Well, I wouldn't say we are losing compassion for them, if anything, it makes us -- it's more distressing to see that. We recognize that sometimes people have hesitancy for various reasons. We just want to encourage everyone to do everything they can to get vaccinated. It's available, it is free, and it's everywhere.

And I just don't want to see people that don't have to come to my Intensive Care Unit coming there for something avoidable from a simple free vaccine.

BROWN: Of course, doctors on the front lines are so important, as are the nurses. One area of critical need are nurses right now because we weeks after 150 nurses and hospital workers were fired for refusing to get vaccinated, Houston hospitals, as we said earlier, have reached this breaking point. How is it affecting your ability to treat patients?

WILLIAMS: Well, our nurses are an absolutely critical part of our team. We simply can't take care of our patients without our nurses. And in my hospital, we were basically down to bare bones in terms of our nursing staffing. We just got an emergency arrival of nurses on Friday.

I was there in the ICU when they arrived and we could feel the palpable relief of having those resources, those nurses come and help us. But without that staffing, we simply can't do our job we simply can't do -- we simply can't provide great care to the patients that the patients expect and their families expect. It's very important to have appropriate staffing.

BROWN: Well, Dr. Williams, thanks for coming on. And thank you for all that you are doing in this fight during this pandemic. We appreciate it.

WILLIAMS: Thank you, Pam.

BROWN: There is a struggle to get humanitarian aid to victims of last week's devastating earthquake in Haiti. One Haitian artist hopes his music might bring some healing, and he joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:47:24]

BROWN: Well, this is just one scene of the ongoing recovery efforts in Haiti after the devastating earthquake. Homes are destroyed, lives ruined, and the death toll keeps climbing.

Right now, more than 2,200 people are reported dead, and an estimated 600,000 people need help. Injured Haitians from remote parts of the country continue to flood hospitals and some places are not seeing any aid more than a week after the quake.

My next guest is hoping his music will bring hope to Haiti. Take a listen.

[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS]

BROWN: That is the latest song from Haitian rapper Christopher Laroche who goes by the name "Freedom." He describes the song as a rallying cry for Haitians amid poverty, natural disasters, and political uncertainty.

Singing in the chorus, "Mother Nature is calling, you she needs you." And Freedom now joins us from Davie, Florida.

Hi Freedom. Thanks for joining us.

CHRISTOPHER "FREEDOM" LAROCHE, HAITIAN ARTIST AND RAPPER: Hi, how you doing today? Thanks, it's a pleasure.

BROWN: Let's talk about that song we just played, Freedom. Tell us about the inspiration behind it? What went into writing it?

LAROCHE: So, I wanted to make the type of sound that could truly unite the Haitian people. The concept of Mother Haiti calling her children reminds us all that we're the same family that connected with me.

Mama still loves us. She wants all Haitians worldwide to know that she wants them all come together to make a difference in the future and we can build a very bright future together. So, it's the calling for the doctors, the lawyers, the farmers, the merchants, for everyone to come together to make a difference. That's what the song is about.

It's about the mother opening her arms and telling everyone to come back home, to make home better, to make a difference.

BROWN: Right now, it is not looking good in Haiti. In just the past month, Freedom, the Haitian President was assassinated, the country was hit by multiple natural disasters. Tell us what it is like there right now.

LAROCHE: Man, I must say that it's just been getting worse and worse for quite some time and every time we get past one thing, something different hits us. And I think that right now is a moment where everyone is conscious that if we all don't unite, change doesn't happen.

So, I think it's a door about to open for the true change in Haiti, and I know everyone is heartbroken and everyone feels a bit discouraged, so we wanted to bring some light. We wanted to bring some light because it's much needed at the moment.

[19:50:15]

BROWN: And what are you hoping for those Haitians who might be listening to your song? What are you hoping that they take away from it?

LAROCHE: I'm hoping that they realize that no matter where you are worldwide, if you're Haitian, and you're not home, then you're not home. And if we all come together to contribute what we can to the change, then we can make home somewhere where we can all go back, see our children there, and it will make a huge difference in the future.

I truly believe that the solution to all Haiti's problems is written on our flag. The flag "L'Union Fait La Force" and that means unity creates strength.

I believe if we really follow that, we'll see a change, and I know Mother Haiti needs us all. So that's what it's about.

BROWN: And that's what you mean when you sing as you pointed out, where are the doctors, the agronomists, the lawyers, the Patriots? That's what you mean to say? LAROCHE: Exactly.

BROWN: Everyone needs to be there, united. Would you say that your new song is a form of protest music?

LAROCHE: I would say it is inspirational, conscious music about reality that everyone sees back home, and a calling -- a calling cry to bring all the Haitians in the world together.

BROWN: In the past, Haiti has had issues with aid during these moments of tragedy. I remember when I was there, I went back right after the earthquake -- then this was in 2010 -- and then months after, and the Haitians were really left to rebuild with their own hands, even though so much money was being poured in to aid. How confident are you that the aid coming in now we'll get to those who really need it?

LAROCHE: Well, I truly believe that the aid needs to be with people that are on the ground, going directly to Haiti for it to get there. And I believe that we need the world to actually help us at this moment in time to rebuild Haiti on many levels and to stand on its own two feet.

BROWN: How emotional is it? How emotional is all of this for you? Just seeing Haiti hit time and time again.

LAROCHE: I must say, it made me quite emotional. It made me quite emotional because I've dedicated my life to the change and sometimes, it seems quite grim. But I truly believe that the day we all stand together, the light will shine again. It is darkest before dawn, and I think the dawn now is about to come. The sun will rise again.

BROWN: Freedom, thank you so much for joining us.

LAROCHE: Thank you.

BROWN: And for ways to help Haitians recover from the earthquake, go to cnn.com/impact.

Still ahead on a Sunday evening, delivering a baby to the tough jobs our troops are tackling amid Afghanistan evacuation efforts.

CNN is at the US Air Base in Germany where a baby girl is now safe after being born aboard an evacuation aircraft.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:58:05]

BROWN: The Taliban's takeover of Kabul as effectively ending the work of 2014 CNN Hero of the Year, Pen Farthing.

For almost 15 years, he and his nonprofit Nowzad had been reuniting stray animals with the soldiers who rescued them while serving in Afghanistan. Now, Farthing has an urgent mission, evacuate his staff and nearly 200 dogs and cats by cargo plane. He spoke with CNN days before the Taliban entered Kabul.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEN FARTHING, 2014 CNN HERO: Nowzad before the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan was actually progressing extremely well.

Hey, guys, hello.

We have over 140 dogs in our care. We have 50 cats, a donkey sanctuary, the first of its kind in Afghanistan. So we were really being recognized by the community and we just employed our third female Afghan national as a veterinarian. So, we're incredibly proud of that.

You know, our young girls who work for us, the young women who work, the other organizations, you know, they believe they had a future. And now suddenly, in a matter of literally weeks, that has just been ripped apart and I cannot believe that the West is allowing that to happen.

You go to any country in the West and people talk about, you know, women's rights, women's equality. Yes, we almost had that here in Afghanistan and we've just thrown that away.

So, I would ask everybody, you know, please don't give up on Afghanistan yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: For the latest on Pen's efforts to get his team and animals to safety, go to CNNheroes.com.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: At the end of the day, if we didn't leave Afghanistan now when do we leave?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There is much more order, I have to say inside the airfield, but there is a great deal of nervousness indeed because, as The Pentagon has been saying, they're insisting that the so-called Islamic State, the DAESH as they are called here, there is active Intelligence that they are posing a serious threat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The threat is real, it is acute, it is persistent.

[20:00:18]