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Biden on Evacuations: We Have a Long Way to Go; Thousands Protest in Australian Cities Against Lockdowns; Some Chileans Who Got 2 Sinovac Doses Eligible for Boosters; Afghan Evacuee Gives Birth Moments after Flight Lands; U.S. VP Harris Meets in Singapore with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong; Resistance to Vaccine Hampers COVID-19 Fight in Kenya. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired August 23, 2021 - 00:00   ET

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

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello. Welcome to all of our viewers around the world. I'm Robyn Curnow, live in Atlanta.

[00:00:13]

So ahead on CNN, the United States is accelerating efforts to rescue stranded Americans in Afghanistan.

This as the scene at the airport in Kabul remains chaotic. Evacuation flights continue to leave, but more and more people keep on arriving, hoping to get out.

And after a week of anti-lockdown protests in Australia, talk of relaxing restrictions, despite another record number of cases.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Robyn Curnow.

CURNOW: Thanks so much for joining me this hour.

A week after the fall of Kabul, U.S. President Joe Biden says changes are being made to help Americans and their allies flee Afghanistan. They also say around 5,000 people were evacuated in just a 12-hour period on Sunday, but some 20,000 others still remain in Kabul's airport. Although the U.S. is ramping up the pace of evacuations, more and more people we know are pouring in.

Now, the U.S. is also extending a safe zone around the airport, and calling on civilian airlines to help move evacuees once they're out of Afghanistan. Well, Mr. Biden says there's also active talk about extending U.S. troop presence in the country past the deadline of the end of the month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are proving that we can move, though, thousands of people a day out of Kabul. We're bringing our citizens, NATO allies, Afghanis who had helped us in the war effort. But we have a long way to go, and a lot could still go wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CURNOW: A source says hundreds of Afghan staff for the U.S. embassy still remain trapped and haven't been brought to the airport, and as the Taliban tighten their control on the country, their enemies say they're ready to negotiate.

Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Massoud and his forces have clashed with the Taliban over the past week, and the militants gave him a Sunday deadline to surrender. Here's what he said in a recent interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AHMAD MASSOUD, NORTHERN ALLIANCE LEADER: We are not fighting a geography. We are not fighting one province. We are defending the whole country in one province. That's what's happening, and we want to make Taliban realize that the only way forward is through negotiation and talk, and we are talking to them, and we want -- we do not want or to break up and to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: For thousands of Afghans waiting at Kabul Airport, the choice to leave the country after the Taliban takeover might be an obvious one, but that certainly doesn't make it any less painful. Family members, friends and their entire lives behind.

Sam Kiley hears from some of them -- Sam.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We've landed just a few minute moments ago here at Kabul International Airport clearly the pace of evacuation has been picking up. There are planes leaving pretty regularly now, and large numbers of refugees of evacuees getting ready to get on those flights.

This is a group that are heading into Qatar, where they're hoping then to either stay there or move on.

Qiaam, you are about to leave, what is going through your mind and your -- and your heart at the moment?

QIAAM NOORI, JOURNALIST: Actually, right now I have a mixed feeling. Being a journalist myself, I thought probably I'm lucky enough to leave, because a lot of choices exist here. But I'm also leaving a family, a whole family behind and left a lot of friends behind.

And also most importantly, my city Kabul that I've been raised and worked here, that's really -- it seems that I'm just just putting one piece of my soul but leaving a lot of pieces just back in home.

So it's really strange. I don't know that -- how to describe this. Am I happy? Am I sad? With this government, with these new rulers, they -- I'm sure they will not leave us any space to be here.

KILEY: That must break your heart. NOORI: Of course, certainly. That has already broken? But that's reality.

KILEY: It's already broken.

NOORI: Yes, yes.

KILEY: Good luck.

It's not just the personal tragedies that are so heartbreaking here. It is the tragedy of Afghanistan itself.

For 20 years, so many millions of people believed that they would receive western support. They believed in the evolution of female education, of the arts, of cinema. They thought they had a future.

Now, that future is getting on an aircraft and leaving. As one of the evacuates just said to me, Afghanistan is seeing a total brain drain.

[00:5:03]

Sam Kiley, CNN, the Kabul International Airport.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Thanks, Sam, for that.

I want to go straight to Anna Coren. Anna has reported from Afghanistan for many, many years. You're joining me, though, from Hong Kong.

What is the latest in terms of where we are? It's a week in.

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Robyn, we know that over 30,000 people have been evacuated now from Afghanistan since August 14, which is when the United States began this chaotic evacuation plan.

Look, this is a global effort. There is -- there's no denying it. There are obviously U.S. military planes. There are other military planes flying in, as well. The U.S. has called on six commercial airlines to lend their planes to get people out.

And we're not just talking about U.S. citizens. We're also talking about, you know, Afghan allies, people who have worked with the Americans, with foreigners, who are desperately wanting to leave.

The scenes that we saw in Sam's piece, you know, obviously quite calm, orderly. People are in queues getting on the planes. But these are the lucky people.

The scenes outside the airport, Robyn, are nothing short of absolute chaos. And we've been seeing that now for days. Thousands and thousands of Afghans are camping out outside these gates.

It's an enormous airport. The perimeter is huge, but there are gates located around the airport where these Afghans are assembling, and they are camping out for days, and it is -- it is hot. You know, they are running out of water. Children are dehydrated.

And then on top of that, you have these stampedes when suddenly the gates are opened for a very short period of time. And people are being trampled to death, including children. That has been confirmed. So this is extremely worrying for the people inside, you know, trying to manage people's expectations.

We have been working with Afghans, Robyn, who we have worked with to get them into the airport. I mean, that is the first challenge. We have been successful in those attempts. But once they get inside, they have to have the right documentation.

One Afghan interpreter who we've been dealing with, he has a young family. One went through. He wasn't allowed to go through. The Marine said he didn't have the right documentation.

And this became, you know, a frantic effort between the United States, the U.K., and us here in Hong Kong, trying to ensure that he had the right paperwork to get through.

Thankfully, we can report that he is now through that checkpoint and is waiting for his plane. But you know, Robyn, this is just one family. There are thousands.

CURNOW Anna Coren, thank you very much.

Joining me now is CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger.

David, hi. You're also White House and national security correspondent for "The New York Times."

And as we look back over the past week or so, we've seen a lot of miscalculations, a lot of misjudgments, a lot of assumptions. How is that not different from the last 20 years in Afghanistan? Why are people surprised that they were surprised by -- by the failure of Afghan troops to stand up to the Taliban?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Robyn, I think you're right that the history of this war has been one of over-assuming the degree to which the Afghan national security forces would make use of the capacity they were given. And frequently underestimating how organized and strategic the Taliban were.

And, you know, as we did this large reconstruction of events that appeared in the Sunday "New York Times," what became clear to us is that back in April when the president made his decision that he was going to draw down to zero, the working intelligence assessment at the time was that the Afghans could hold off for one to two years.

By June, that came down to sort of 18 months, six months, then later on and within a few days before Kabul fell, it came down to it's so close we can't guarantee we could give you any warning. CURNOW: So what is this, then? A political failure, an intelligence

failure or just American interventions gone wrong? A history of naivete, overreach and a variety of other foreign policy mistakes?

[00:10:05]

SANGER: Well, President Biden has argued, I think accurately, that the reason he wanted to get out was because he was persuaded years ago that this was overreach, that we can't reform these countries, and that we've completed the mission when al-Qaeda got driven out of Afghanistan.

And his next point was, if you're going to go focus the United States on true, big threats these days: focus on China, focus on cyberattacks, focus on this competition in space. But the risk of another terror attack coming out of Afghan territory was pretty low.

There are higher risks, actually, elsewhere. Africa and other places where we've seen terror groups act. That all made perfect sense as setting a set of priorities.

But then there was the question of, if you know you're going to get out by a date certain, how do you prepare for it? And clearly, they didn't get enough of the work done in advance, especially getting out those Afghan interpreters and others who helped the United States, the sort of special visa applicants.

CURNOW: So this is a final act, or maybe this is the beginning of another act, that this is not a Hollywood ending. Americans are feeling ashamed, and there's obviously this great sense of moral hand- wringing, justifiably so about abandoning people, particularly vulnerable people who worked or gave something to the Americans.

How is this then a political -- politically impacting this president? Was he gambling that this is really going to peter out?

SANGER: What he's gambling is that, at the end of this whole process, Americans --

CURNOW: Whenever it is, because at the moment it seems pretty endless.

SANGER: Yes, right. Well, whenever that moment comes, that he will be given credit as the president who finally got us out. Obama said he wanted to do it but surged troops and never really could bring the numbers down.

CURNOW: We know, and many people who read history know that Afghanistan is -- you know, I think it was Alexander the Great said it was the graveyard of empires.

You know, there's no -- there's no surprise that Afghanistan is a messy, messy place by which to create -- try to create some sort of intervention. How -- how much of an intelligence failure is this, or is this just a political failure? Or a military one?

SANGER: You know, I think President Biden would argue that because it is the graveyard of empires, because you can't change the nature of the country, this ratifies that he was right to get out.

But that doesn't excuse the failures, some of which were political, some of which were intelligence, about how quickly the Taliban would take over. And thus, without the luxury of time, the U.S. finds it's not able to rescue its own citizens the way that it had in mind, or get those 20,000 special interpreters and others out of the country.

Now he could still pull the rabbit out of the hat here. They are clearly thinking of something, as the president said on Sunday, that is the size and sophistication of the Berlin airlift. And if they can actually make that work, I think they'll get something turned around here.

CURNOW: David Sanger, always good to get your analysis. Thank you very much, sir.

SANGER: Great to be with you.

CURNOW: So coming up on CNN, after months of strict COVID measures, Australia is dealing with tense protests and a surge in new cases.

Coming up, the prime minister's efforts to reassure the public.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:16:02]

CURNOW: Welcome back. I'm Robyn Curnow. Thanks for joining me.

Look now at the COVID situation around the world. Iran has reported a record daily death toll from the virus, with nearly 700 new deaths on Sunday. That comes just a day after the country eased some recent COVID restrictions, in which banks, government buildings, and nonessential businesses were closed.

Taiwan's president is now among the first to receive a locally- developed COVID shot. The ministry gave emergency approval for Medigen's COVID vaccine last month.

The opposition party opposes its use, saying the approval was rushed.

And just days before the Paralympics in Japan are set to begin, organizers are tightening COVID protocols, with increased testing and limits on movement inside the venues.

There are already more than 130 cases among Paralympic athletes.

In Australia, New South Wales has just reported another 800 new cases, a slight drop from Sunday's record daily high. Meantime, the prime minister says the strict COVID measures will come to an end once the vaccination rate hits 70 percent.

The announcement comes after police arrested hundreds of anti-lockdown protesters over the weekend.

Angus Watson is in Sydney for us on that. Angus, hi. What's the situation right now? Certainly, people have been

pretty angry about the way the government has dealt with this, and it's been very much felt in the streets.

ANGUS WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Robyn. The scenes over the weekend in which violent protesters turned out across Australia's major cities of Sydney or Melbourne is not what many people in the community here wanted to see and absolutely not what politicians wanted to see, the politicians that have been telling their citizens to stay at home across major cities in Sydney, in the capital Canberra, as well in Melbourne, particularly violent scenes on Saturday.

And that's just the beginning of Scott Morrison's troubles, the prime minister of Australia. He was lauded for his success in 2020 with keeping the virus at bay with strict lockdowns and strict border measures, keeping the virus out.

But Delta has changed the game for him, meaning he's now saying that case numbers, well, frankly, they may be out of control. They might not be getting down to the low numbers that we saw earlier this year and last year.

Robyn, instead he wants the focus to shift to hospitalizations and deaths. But the problem with him, of course, is Australia's vaccination rates are just too slow. Just over 20 percent of the population here in Australia is fully vaccinated. Scott Morrison wants lockdowns to become a thing of the past, but that won't be possible until 70 to 80 percent of adults here in Australia are fully vaccinated, Robyn.

CURNOW: And let's also talk about New Zealand, a nationwide lockdown until Tuesday, I understand. How likely is that that will be -- that they'll be able to be released from that?

WATSON: Robyn, well, Jacinda Ardern, just moments ago, has stood up for the lectern in the capital, Wellington, and said that the lockdown will continue until at least Friday.

New Zealand has over 100 active cases of COVID-19 in the community at the moment. They were willing to go into lockdown with just one case last week, so that lockdown could be extended even further from Friday if New Zealand can't get those numbers out of control.

And the COVID-19 minister in charge, Chris Hipkins, has said that the Delta variant has changed the game in New Zealand, as well as it has in Australia. New Zealand, the country which has also done particularly well in keeping the virus out.

Just 26 people have died in New Zealand through the entirety of the pandemic. Delta is changing the game. New Zealand wants to keep its borders closed until the end of the year to give its people a chance to get vaccinated, Robyn. So we'll see what success they have in the coming weeks.

CURNOW: Angus Watson, thanks for that. Live in Sydney. Well, let's stick in Australia. I'd like to bring in Sanjaya

Senanayake. He is an infectious disease specialist and an associate professor at the Australian National University Medical School.

Doctor, hi, lovely to see you, joining me from Canberra. So is the prime minister acknowledging that the restrictions in Australia so far has been overkill, too tough, not effective in the long run?

DR. SANJAYA SENANAYAKE, INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERT: I don't know about that, Robyn. We certainly are trying to find that fine balance, with trying to get life to move on normally without all the economic and psychological and medical hardships we've seen with COVID, but also balancing that by making sure that the healthcare system doesn't get overwhelmed.

So a lot of the country is in lockdown at the moment. In fact, where I am in Canberra is in lockdown.

CURNOW: Yes. And many Australians seem to think that these lockdowns are never ending. Has the Australian leadership, do you think, being beaten by -- by this virus and trying to retreat into an island nation mentality, but at the same time not managing to deal with it when Delta turned up. How much has Delta changed the conversation for Australians?

SENANAYAKE: Robyn, Delta has been a game-changer. So we had the Alpha variant into the country, would have been at the end of last year or the very start of this year.

And we had a number of incursions through hotel quarantine into the community in different parts of the country. And we were all very worried, because we knew it was more infectious than the other Wuhan strain, but that never bore fruit. We were able to get on top of it, no matter what state or jurisdiction was involved.

But Delta is different. It is far more infectious, and once it gets a foothold in a community, it is spreading like wildfire. So that has changed the mentality, and even the vaccination rates= in Australia has just accelerated in response to seeing what Delta can do.

CURNOW: Is -- Why is the vaccination rate so low? I mean, again, is this another failure by the government?

SENANAYAKE: So again, very interesting, Robyn, if you look at the countries that -- it seems to be a tale, almost, of two halves. So if you look at countries that controlled COVID really well through last year -- so Taiwan, New Zealand, Australia, South Korea -- and you look now, they've got relatively slow vaccine rollouts.

And that's a contrast to countries which really struggled with COVID, like the U.S. and the U.K. who've done very well with their vaccine rollouts.

And I think you can see in Australia by the surge in vaccinations in response to the lockdown and the Delta outbreaks, that seeing what Delta can do, whatever part of the world you're in, will accelerate your vaccine rollout. And that's what's happening here.

CURNOW: But I just want to get -- I mean, for many Australians, having this number of 70 percent to 80 percent vaccinated, it's kind of going to be a moving target isn't it? Particularly if boosters come into play. Because you're never really going to get on top by hitting a finite 70 percent, because you're having to play catch-up with whoever gets vaccinated and needs a booster in eight months.

Particularly also the fact that a lot of people, 20 percent perhaps of the population and certain teenagers, you know, really make up, you know, that dent into 70 percent.

So it just -- the numbers will never add up, and that means for many Australians, this is endless.

SENANAYAKE: Well, I think not just for Australians. I think around the world, vaccination, it's wonderful, it's amazing that we have it --

CURNOW: But for Australians, putting a 70 percent finite number on this. I mean, you're never going to be able to pin it down, because the vaccinations wane in efficacy. So you're never going to be able to have a finite, OK, everybody's 70 percent vaccinated, because you're going to need boosters for the people who got vaccinated eight months ago.

SENANAYAKE: No, I think you're quite right. That's what I was saying. As wonderful as the vaccines are, with the waning immunity and Delta being so infectious, we're never going to achieve herd immunity. So it is going to be a matter of vaccinating as much of the population as we can, catching up with booster doses, and working around that.

And we will -- all of those measures, those COVID safe measures we've been seeing around the world -- social distancing, wearing masks -- those things are here to stay. So it won't be a completely normal life for a very long time, Robyn, for any of us.

CURNOW: No. And for many Australians that you speak to, how angry are they? We've seen them over the weekend on the streets. But in terms of ordinary people who are locked in their houses and, you know, police are chasing them on the beach, and there's been a pretty, pretty tough lockdown in terms of consequences.

The mental health and the broader implications for society. Not being able to leave. Australians not being able to get in. How damaging has this been?

[00:25:06]

SENANAYAKE: Well, of course, the lockdowns have negative -- enormous amount of negative consequences. And you do see that manifesting with the protests. But at the same time, a lot of people are understanding and are compliant.

But the problem is because Delta is so infectious, any noncompliance is so unforgiving. But you are right, Robyn, I think we will all breathe a sigh of relief when we come out of this lockdown. But it's not going to be into herd immunity. It's going to be a combination of getting high vaccination rates and COVID-safe measures to try and lead some sort of normal life.

CURNOW: Great to speak to you. Great to get your perspective from down under. Thank you very much, Dr. Sanjaya Senanayake. Appreciate it.

SENANAYAKE: Thank you, Robyn.

CURNOW: Cheers.

So 70 percent of Chile's population is fully vaccinated, but now authorities are rolling out booster shots. Some older citizens who receive the vaccine developed by a Chinese company, Sinovac. It's part of efforts to turn back a new tide of COVID cases in the country. Here's Rafael Romo with that story -- Rafael.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While some people refused to get vaccinated, this man in Chile lost his temper when a nurse told him he was not yet eligible to get inoculated.

It was only 8 in the morning, but lines outside this vaccination center in Santiago, the capital, were already long. The Chilean government had just announced a third dose was now available for some.

The new vaccination campaign started earlier this month for those 86 and older. Those who already got two doses of the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine are eligible for an AstraZeneca booster shot, and people with weak immune systems or chronic diseases can get Pfizer BioNTech.

"I showed up early to seek my third dose, because I'm 86 years old," this man said.

"You just have to be a little smart and show up. It would be ridiculous to say no to this opportunity," this woman said.

President Sebastian Pinera said his government expects two million Chileans 55 years and older will get the third dose in the next four weeks, and that younger people will start to have access gradually, starting in September.

At the same time, the president made a passionate plea to the estimated 1.8 million who have yet to get vaccinated.

"I would like to tell them one and for all," the president said, "how can you be so stubborn and not understand that not getting vaccinated puts not only yourself but others at risk?"

Chile was supposed to be Latin America's bright spot in the fight against COVID-19. Only months after the pandemic was declared, it managed to acquire vaccines from companies like Sinovac and Pfizer BioNTech.

(on camera): This head start gave many Chileans a sense of safety, even the rapid pace of vaccinations.

But after Christmas gatherings and New Year's festivities, a sustained push to reopen all schools and shopping malls and less than desired levels of effectiveness of the Sinovac vaccine, the country was hit by a new wave of infections early this year.

(voice-over): Things have since gotten better in the country of 19 million. More than 12.7 million people are already fully vaccinated, and just over 100,000 have received the third dose.

"It's like going back to the beginning," this nurse says. "We have to redouble our efforts, but our personnel is trained to inoculate the patients."

The Chilean health minister, who several months ago apologized for what he called mistakes that probably caused pain for many families, announced in mid-August an 82 percent decrease in COVID-19 admissions to ICU units.

However, he warned, we must remember that we have not yet defeated the pandemic and that we need to keep on fighting against it.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Well, coming up on CNN, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris now in Singapore as part of a larger diplomatic mission to Southeast Asia. A live report after the break.

Plus, a small miracle amid the desperate scramble to get -- to escape from Afghanistan. A baby was born in the cargo hold of a U.S. military plane carrying Afghan evacuees. We have that story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:31:48]

CURNOW: Welcome back. It's been one week since the Taliban took control in Afghanistan. For thousands, the airport in Kabul remains the epicenter of a desperate attempt to escape.

A source says about 20,000 people are still at the airport, even as more flights take off. Numbers have fallen, because more people just keep on coming and coming.

Over a 12-hour period on Sunday, just more than 5,000 people were evacuated.

U.S. President Joe Biden says some changes have been made to ease evacuations.

Meanwhile, the heartbreaking images we've seen of Afghans trying to flee the country have laid bare the desperation so many are feeling. But amid the chaos and the despair, there have also been some moments of small joy. Atika Shubert shares one such story. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An image of hope amid the chaos, a baby girl born in the cargo bay of the U.S. Air Force C-17 carrying Afghan evacuees.

As the plane landed at Ramstein Air Base, the 86th Medical Group rushed in to safely deliver her.

Ramstein Air Base in Germany has become the latest hub for evacuation flights out of Afghanistan. CNN filmed as some of the first flights arrived. More than 6,000 have been evacuated here, with 17 flights landing in 24 hours, air base officials say, and more to come.

Here, there is safety, basic shelter, food and water, but it is only a temporary measure. Many here do not know where they will go next or how. But for the moment, there is relief and reason to celebrate new life.

(on camera): Now the capacity at the air base is 7,500, and even though flights are not coming in on Sunday evening, they are expected to continue Monday morning. So it is filling up fast, and it's still not clear where evacuees will got to next.

Atika Shubert, CNN, at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: And U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is in Singapore this hour for talks with the prime minister and other officials. She will also meet U.S. service members at a naval base in the coming hours.

The trip, which will take her to Vietnam on Tuesday, was planned before the current crisis in Afghanistan erupted.

Journalist Manisha Tank is there in Singapore and joins us now, live.

How important is this trip? What's the reaction to the vice president's arrival in the region?

MANISHA TANK, JOURNALIST: It's being seen as very significant, Robyn. I think that's indicative of the fact that this is the vice president of the United States, and at least one expert I'm speaking to, who is an expert on foreign policy, in particular, says it sends a message that Southeast Asia is very much on the radar for the United States.

And it really does need to be, if you think about the foreign policy situation around the U.S. and China right now, and Southeast Asia, the Indo-Pacific region as a whole, fits into that game.

All of that said, it brings to the fore the big issues that we are looking at in this part of the world, in particular COVID-19, of course. That was slated to be something very much under discussion today. We will get more details soon. A press conference is due to be held. It is a bit delayed, actually, and that will be taking place at the Istana Palace, which is just off the famous Orchard Road. It's a very pretty palace, where Kamala Harris has been, the vice president has been meeting officials from Singapore today. But also, climate change on the agenda, sustainability.

All of this, though, are being overshadowed, of course, by the situation in Afghanistan. So experts in this part of the world saying that the questions around -- that will be following the vice president around, will be, is the United States a reliable strategic partner, given what's slated in terms of economic growth in this region but also given what's happening politically, a little bit north of where we are.

Let's just talk about what's been on the agenda and what will be on the agenda in terms of discussions. Like I said, the U.S. and China. At least one expert saying that Southeast Asia doesn't want to have to choose between the two.

Let's hear from Professor Kishore Mahbubani, who is from National University of Singapore.

KISHORE MAHBUBANI, PROFESSOR, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE: There's no question whatsoever that Vice President Harris will bring up China in a forceful way in conversations and build Singapore and Vietnam.

The response will be that all of Southeast Asia wants to see a strong U.S. president but don't make us choose you against China.

TANK: Interesting stuff. There has been a bilateral meeting. We do know that the national security team around Vice President Kamala Harris did brief her on Afghanistan, the details of which we are not party to, but of course, there will be questions around that, which I was saying.

I want to tell you that later in the afternoon here in Singapore, she'll be visiting the Chinese naval base. And the USS Tulsa is in port. So she will get a look at that and will be speaking to some of those people connected to the naval base, as well -- Robyn.

CURNOW: Thanks so much there. Live in Singapore, Manisha Tank. Thank you.

So an incredible discovery in Haiti a week after that devastating earthquake hit the country. Rescue crews have actually found two dozen survivors, trapped in an area about 60 kilometers from the quake's epicenter.

The four children and 20 adults were airlifted to a nearby town for treatment.

And on Sunday, we learned the death toll from the August 14 earthquake has now passed 2,200. More than 12,000 people injured. Officials say, hundreds of thousands of Haitians still need humanitarian aid.

And still to come on CNN, a growing number of unvaccinated COVID patients are filling up hospitals in Kenya and overwhelming the country's healthcare system. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: In East Africa, a surge in COVID cases is getting the attention of vaccine hesitant Kenyans as hospitals and morgues are pushed to the absolute limit.

Scott McLean reports -- Scott.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the Kenyan county of Nyeri, coffin makers say they have never been so busy. Over the past few weeks, the Delta variant has turned the funeral business into a lucrative one, as Kenya battles its fourth wave of COVID-19.

[00:40:03]

Lately, demand for caskets has more than tripled, and yet not even all the men building them want to take the vaccine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no. People are not dying because of the virus. They're dying because of another disease.

MCLEAN: Around town, it's more of the same.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why should I take something that I don't have -- I don't know what it would do to my body.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If -- and I say "if" with capital letters -- if we understand about it, maybe we can do it, but for now, it's a no.

MCLEAN: Across the country, less than two percent of Kenyans are fully vaccinated. Short supply has been a problem since day one, but now it's not the only one. Vaccine hesitancy is also having deadly consequences.

(on camera): All 31 beds at this hospital are occupied. When a new patient shows up, they're simply turned away. Most of the patients here are unvaccinated, not because they couldn't get the vaccine, but because they chose not to take it.

EUDIAH WANG'OMBE, HOSPITAL CLINICIAN: They have those reservations. They have their own fears. That's why they don't get it. If you ask why they didn't get the jab, some of them are told it is not available. Others, majority are to have it, because they have issues.

MCLEAN (voice-over): The hospital says it has a newly-installed oxygen compressor, but it's not enough to meet demands. There are also no intensive care beds. And on this day, four patients are in desperate need but likely won't find one.

MUTAHI KAHIGA, GOVERNOR, NYERI COUNTY: Yes, I will admit that the situation is dire. We have not been here before. MCLEAN (on camera): Are hospitals having to turn people away?

KAHIGA: Yes, because if you went out to Mount Kenya, we don't have -- we have nowhere to take you.

MCLEAN (voice-over): The governor of the largely rural county says Kenyans have been slow to recognize the seriousness of the virus. He says many people have chosen not to get the vaccine. And even a third of people who got their first shot haven't turned up for the second. Reports of extremely rare blood clots associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, general misinformation and some traditional beliefs have all contributed.

KAHIGA: I think with COVID-19, some of us are still in denial. They are still -- they are still holding onto traditional beliefs, which cut across Africa.

MCLEAN: But as the hospitals and morgues fill up, some attitudes are changing, from small towns and villages to the capital, Nairobi.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I was concerned for a long time. That can convince me, yes. But this will prevent me from dying. Hopefully, I would rather take it.

MCLEAN: Back at the hospital, another body leaves for the morgue in what lately has become a daily routine here. Every death, a tragedy, many also entirely preventable.

(on camera): How does that make you feel?

WANG'OMBE: Demoralizing. Breaking. To break somebody's heart. Yes, it breaks. It's so demoralizing.

MCLEAN (voice-over): Scott McLean, CNN, Nyeri County, Kenya.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Thanks, Scott, for that report.

So thanks for watching CNN. I'm Robyn Curnow. I'll be back in 15 minutes' time with more news. I'm going to hand you over to the good folks at WORLD SPORT. Enjoy.

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