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U.S. Struggles to Keep Up with Demand for Evacuations from Afghanistan; German Military Reports Firefight at Kabul Airport; Full FDA Approval of Pfizer/BioNTech Vaccine Imminent; Devasting Floods Leave at Least 21 Dead in Tennessee; Henri Now a Tropical Depression But Flood Threat Remains. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired August 23, 2021 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's no way to evacuate this many people without pain and loss of heartbreaking images you see on television. We have a long way to go and a lot can still go wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Thousands of people remain trapped in Kabul. We will have a live report on the latest evacuation efforts at the airport.

Flash flooding destroys rural towns in Tennessee. At least 21 people are dead and many still missing.

And Vice President Kamala Harris is on a diplomatic offensive in Southeast Asia in an effort to deepen ties with allies and counter China's influence.

Good to have you with us. Well, amid scenes of chaos at Kabul's airport, U.S. President Joe Biden says the deadline to pull all U.S. troops from Afghanistan may be postponed and that it depends on progress evaluating Americans and Afghans who helped the war effort.

The airport remains the epicenter of a desperate attempt by thousands to flee the Taliban. On Sunday, Mr. Biden said a number of changes have been made to ease evacuations. Though there's little sign the number of people waiting to get out is decreasing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: 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 MALE: And will the Taliban agree to an extension past August 31? Have you discussed that with them?

BIDEN: We've 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 VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Sources say some 20,000 people are still waiting at Kabul airport. And although the U.S. is ramping up the pace of evacuations, so many people keep arriving that it's nearly impossible to keep up. Their choice to leave life under the Taliban is obvious. But that doesn't make it any less painful. They are leaving family members, friends, and their entire lives behind. One of them spoke to CNN's Sam Kiley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QIAAM NOORI, JOURNALIST LEAVING AFGHANISTAN: It seems that I'm just getting one piece of my story but leaving a lot of pieces just back at home. So, it's really strange. I don't know how to describe this. Am I my happy, and 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.

KILEY: Good luck.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Well meanwhile, we are following developments at Kabul's airport after reports of a firefight. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh joining me now from Doha. Good to see you, Nick. So, bring us up to date on the latest your hearing about this firefight and what you're learning about this change in evacuation policy at the Kabul airport.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes, I mean, when I was on the airport on Tuesday -- Wednesday morning, I could hear gunfire then. But this appears to be the most significant security instance perhaps we've heard so far since this crisis. About 4:00 this morning a sniper appears to -- as far as I'm told by a source familiar with the situation -- a sniper fired on to the base. Hit one of the Afghan security forces that are assisting the Americans in perimeter security killing that Afghan soldier. Their colleagues then fired in the general direction of that shot. But in that general direction two were U.S. Marines.

Remember, it's cramped, everyone's not slept for a week, a lot of frayed nerves, a lot of emotions running high. So, a mistake seems to have been made. U.S. Marines thought they were under attack and returned fire and appeared to have injured four Afghans who are now in a stable condition. But this tells you there's something off on the base that are trying to harass the Afghans on the base. And then on the base itself there is confusion certainly. That's one instance. I'm sure it will play into the broader narrative we're hearing now from U.S. officials about security issues on that base.

And that will also inform the most important thing now, which is the timing of all of this, Rosemary. Now there are still 20,000, it seems on the base who wants to leave.

[04:05:00]

I think a source I spoke familiar with the situation says there's something of a puzzle as to how these numbers remain so high. 8,000 got off on the last 24 hours. Joe Biden, President Joe Biden talked about 11,000 in the last 36 hours. They're moving people off an incredible clip but they're filling up again. A source I spoke to said it is possible that there are some of these Afghan security forces creating a separate channel together with whoever the American citizens are getting on to this airport that's adding to these numbers being increased.

Now there comes a point, presumably, it may stop and also, today, in the next 24 hours, I'm told, there will be 33 C-17 cargo planes landing. Now I'm sure Sam will see extraordinary scenes of these thousands being put on to those planes. Which in theory, should be able to bring the number on the base down to the sort of maybe even single figure, thousands, 10,000 or so. A huge operation, indeed ahead of them.

The key thing though, today, I understand, is that essentially been a policy change now. Whereas before technically speaking, SIV applicants could try and get on to the base and might be successful. The policy is now that the gates are closed. Which is a key thing, because it essentially means you're not getting on unless you're part of the alternative routes that are being used to get U.S. citizens on to the base, which U.S. officials don't want to elaborate on for security reasons. And essentially, they're only letting Americans and NATO citizens on to the base along with immediate members of the family and green cardholders.

That is, obviously, I think a practical choice. It is essentially what's already happening anyway. Because if these alternate routes are essentially just looking for Americans or green cardholders, then the SIV chance has diminished anyway because the gates are closed.

But once again it informs this decision of how long does it go on for? Now I also understand that on that base amongst the thousands are thousands of Afghan military age males with quote, no documentation, who got in the early stage when filtration is essentially lapsed and are still there. There's no plan to kick anybody off. But there are now faced with a dilemma -- Americans they know their priority, SIV applicants on the airport know they have to process and get off, and then also, these undocumented males who appear to be a problem they have to solve somehow. So very tense days ahead. CHURCH: Yes, understood. Nick Payton Walsh bringing us the very latest

from Doha, many thanks.

Well, President Joe Biden says there's a long way to go before all Americans and Afghan allies are out of the country but pledges the evacuation effort will push on. CNN's Arlette Saenz has more now from the White House.

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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden once again pledged to get all Americans out of Afghanistan safely. And said the U.S. troops may need to remain in the country past the August 31st drawdown deadline in order to make that happen. The president said discussions are underway with his team about the progress of evacuations. And he said he does hope they will be able to leave by August 31st. So it will be dependent on the status of Americans who are in Afghanistan.

Now the president's remarks came as he addressed the country for the third time since Kabul fell to the Taliban. And while the president offered these assurances about evacuating Americans and Afghan allies safely and in a quick manner, he also said that there is still room for something to go wrong in the process. Take a listen.

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 thousands of people a day out Kabul. We're bringing our citizens, NATO allies, Afghanis who helped us in a war effort. We have a long way to go. And a lot can still go wrong.

SAENZ: The president is facing incredible pressure. Not just to get Americans out of Afghanistan, but also to evacuate those Afghan allies who worked closely with the U.S. over the course of the 20-year war in Afghanistan. Now the president said those SIV applicants will be able to come to the United States and insisted they will be thoroughly vetted before they travel to the U.S. The evacuees are leaving the Kabul airport and heading to a thirty-party site or operating base where that vetting is underway.

Now President Biden later this week is also preparing to once again speak with foreign leaders. He'll attend -- virtually attend a G-7 leader meeting where Afghanistan will be a focus. There are so many questions from allies about the U.S. response in Afghanistan and what the future holds.

Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: We are now getting a better sense of how Americans view the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

[04:10:00] A new CBS/YouGov poll shows Mr. Biden's approval rating on the withdrawal now stands at 47 percent. Down from 60 percent just last month. While 53 percent disapprove. In an NBC poll, just 25 percent said they approve of his handling of the situation in Afghanistan. while 60 percent disapprove.

A major development in the fight against the coronavirus. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to grant full approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID vaccine as early as today. A senior federal official described the decision as being imminent. The Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy explains why it will be significant.

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DR. VIVEK MURTHY , U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: I think for people who have been waiting for this I think that's -- and that's a small number of people, but I think so significant. I think this may tip them over toward getting vaccinated. But I also think that for businesses and universities that have been thinking about putting vaccine requirements in place in order to create safer spaces for people to work and learn, I think that this move from the FDA, when it comes, will actually help them to move forward with those kind of plans.

We've had strong evidence, you know, from real world data that this vaccine is doing remarkably well and maintained its strong safety profile. We've given it to hundreds of millions of people. We've seen that it's doing its job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The surgeon general is also weighing in on booster shots. He said those who receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will likely need a second dose. But he adds that the FDA needs additional data to fully evaluate the safety and efficacy of that dose. According to the CDC some 14 million Americans have received the J&J shot.

Well, the United States is coming off a three-day streak of administering more than 1 million vaccine doses, with the number dipping slightly on Sunday, according to CDC data. Over 170 million Americans are now fully vaccinated.

But U.S. COVID deaths are rising. For the first time in nearly five months, deaths are once again averaging more than 1,000 a day. And hospitalizations are also on a steady upswing. More than 95,000 people are currently hospitalized with COVID 189, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 23,000 of those are in ICU beds. And earlier, I spoke with cardiologist Dr. Eric Topol about how to get vaccine skeptics on board with getting the shot even after the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine gets full approval.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. ERIC TOPOL, CARDIOLOGIST: We have a lot of work to do. There's just too many people. We need to get everyone either vaccinated or if they've had prior COVID that would provide some immunity. We have a long ways to go to get the Delta immunity wall built for the United States.

CHURCH: And, doctor, the FDA is still waiting for the necessary data it needs from Pfizer so going ahead and authorize the vaccination of kids under 12 years of age. So, they probably won't be able to get access to those shots until the end of fall or perhaps the beginning of winter. And yet the governors of Florida, Texas, and Arizona refuse to mandate masks in schools leaving the kids very vulnerable. And former FDA chief Dr. Scott Gottlieb says the South could be a harbinger for the U.S. as schools reopen. Do you share his concerns? And why do you think these governors are willing to expose these kids and of course, their families to possible infection?

TOPOL: You're bringing a critical point up here, Rosemary. Because just this past week was the first week after many, we're starting to see a drop off in case growth. And so, here we have a chance to start to turn things around in the fourth Delta wave and at the same time schools are opening up and have been opening in the South. There've been many operations recorded. So, we really have to tighten up. And this is a wrong message that's happening there, as you mentioned in Florida and many other places. Masks are certainly a helpful but also things like rapid testing, things that we could be doing on a daily basis as we get schools back in all over the country, which we're not doing well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH (on camera): And that was cardiologist Dr. Eric Topol speaking to me earlier.

Well, the son of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson has given an update on his parents' conditions after they were hospitalized with COVID over the weekend. In a statement through the Rainbow Push Coalition -- which is the organization his father founded -- Jonathan Jackson said doctors were continuing to monitor his parents and that both were resting comfortably.

[04:15:00]

He added: My family appreciates all of the expressions of concern and prayers that have been offered on their behalf. We ask that you continue to pray for the full recovery of our parents.

Well, still to come, we are hearing from survivors after catastrophic floods swept through parts of Tennessee.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those houses moved off their foundations. Cars and trees, I mean, this is almost a biblical proportions here. Like a massive tornado came through here

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASEY HIPSHIRE, FLOOD SURVIVOR: It just came so fast. And I packed a bag as quick as I could for all of this and next thing I know, the water is in my house and it's up to my chest. In 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. And our yard filled up and like, OK, it's going to go back down. It'll be OK. All of a sudden, it was like a tidal wave that came over the road and into my yard and swept my house away.

[04:20:00]

It was so fast and so devastating.

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CHURCH: Terrifying situation there. That was Casey Hipshire describing the devastating floods in Tennessee. At least 21 people were killed and around 20 others are still missing after flood waters swept through part of the state. Almost all the people who died were found in the small town of Waverly west of Nashville. On Sunday, authorities described how heartbreaking it has been for the community.

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SHERIFF CHRIS DAVIS, HUMPHREYS COUNTY, TENNESSEE: You know they just got one of my best friends. It's covered him, when he -- he drown in this. And it's sad here thinking about that. Yes, it's tough but we're going to move forward. Yes, it's the hard part. You know, the small town, small community, we know each other, we love each other. You know, and I've always said one of our biggest assets in this county is when bad things happen our people -- when rubber meets road, our people are going to come out. They're out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And right now, search efforts are continuing for those still missing. Meanwhile, the long road to recovery is just beginning. CNN's Nick Valencia is in Humphreys County with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The governor of Tennessee called it devastating and looking at the images, you can certainly understand why. We tried to make our way in safely to the hardest hit area but encountered washed out roads and downed bridges, and the remnants of the severe storm system that moved through Humphreys County over the weekend.

According to the National Weather Service, 17 inches of rain fell in the span of 24 hours. And talking to residents, they say it felt like somebody was outside of their home with a fire hose and just relentless. That water just continuing to come down 3 inches of rain consecutive for three hours straight. The devastation is all around and as the week begins, the cleanup will continue.

Over the weekend, search and rescue crews went door to door trying to account for the missing. Dozens of missing are still unaccounted for and according to local witnesses, there was a housing project behind a Dollar General store, where several residents they saw tried to make the way to the rooftops but were swept away by the water. This week will continue with a lot of search and recovery efforts in the days ahead.

Nick Valencia, CNN, Humphreys County, Tennessee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And in the northeastern U.S., Henri has weakened to a tropical depression but the storm is still expected to produce heavy rainfall and flooding across the region in the hours ahead. So, let's bring in meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. So Pedram, what are you seeing in the forecast for this tropical depression? And how bad do you think it may be?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, Rosemary, once the sun comes up in the next couple of hours, I do expect the atmosphere to destabilize a little bit and thunderstorms to flourish a little bit more. At this hour, we're seeing conditions quiet down just a tad here as we're seeing, of course, the daytime heat wane. But again, with the sunrise here expecting thunderstorms coverage to pick up in intensity across a large area of the northeastern U.S.

And here looking at the historic track of Henri, it really took the scenic route south of Bermuda. It skirted further toward the West. It looked like a potential southern U.S. landfall and then making a sharp right turn, category one at one point. Making landfall as a tropical storm. And now once again pushing back inland before we expect it to make a sharp right turn back out over the open waters.

With that said, quite a bit of rainfall in place. Gusty winds at times, gusting up to 70 miles per hour. Strong enough to leave upwards of 100,000 customers in the height of this storm without power. And still watching flood watches here wide spread around parts of New England. Rainfall amounts in millimeters, 200 plus, that's about 8 to 9 inches. Across areas of Brooklyn into Cranberry, New Jersey.

And again, we're coming up on the historic month of July of New York state and into Massachusetts for the wettest month of July on record. So, any additional rainfall here on Monday afternoon is going to be problematic. I do expect another couple of inches on top of the 8 to 9 that is falling in the region. So, the weather service here has pushed the level of concern up to a 3 out of 4 for excessive flooding risk. That is in place there across the Northeast.

But you know, we talked about flooding also happening in portions of Tennessee and the rainfall there as remarkable as it gets. In fact, you look some of the observations in McEwen coming in with 17 inches. The preliminary number this is out of McEwen in central Tennessee on Wednesday -- on Saturday afternoon. An incredible amount for 24-hour totals comes in as the wettest 24-hour period on record shattering the previous record for the entire state which sat at 13 inches. And statistically, this is a one in a thousand-year event, which means one in 1,000 chance it would happen in any given year or a .1 percent chance. This sort of a pattern, this sort of rainfall would take place across this region of Tennessee. That is an incredible ability amount moisture in the atmosphere to be brought down to the surface.

[04:25:00]

And of course, we've seen the result there with fatalities and widespread destruction with the tremendous rainfall in place -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes, absolutely. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri, many thanks for bringing us up to date on that.

Well, it didn't take long for the flood waters to rise once Henri made landfall on Sunday. CNN Brian Todd traveled to Connecticut to assess more of the damage from this storm.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just before the tropical storm Henri passed through the area of New London and Groton Connecticut, we talked to local officials, mayors and fire chiefs who said they were worried about storm surge, about flooding in low-lying areas. And also, about power lines down and trees being down.

Well, I just talked to the fire chief of New London. He says by and large, they may have dodged a bullet as far as flooding, storm surge and that kind of damage. But some houses, he said, had some damage like this one. Downed trees coming down on top of this house. This is on Montauk Avenue here in New London. Look at that tree, it came crashing down on this older house. I just talked to the homeowner, Nate Hall, who told me he was home when this happened and heard the crash, went to the window, saw that tree there, came down and assessed some of the damage. He saw some of these power lines down around his house.

So still not quite a safe situation here even though he was uninjured and no one in the house was injured by this. No one in the town, fortunately, has been reported injured in this storm so far, by the way. But he said, one fortunate thing is that this house is so solidly built that it didn't seem to cause a lot of damage on this roof up here. It came crashing down and hit that part of the roof. But as you can see it didn't collapse. And they large part of the tree snapped and came down here. So, you've got that damage. And he's assessing that and getting ready to call his insurance company to come and try to help him out that way.

Again, power lines down here and we do know that there are power lines down throughout the city. Over here is where the homeowner told me that the power got knocked out. You see the dangling wirings up there on that pole. That's where the power got knocked out in this neighborhood. So you've that to deal with in many of the neighborhoods here in New London.

And again, this area was so saturated with water already with recent storms and recent weeks, that you had situations like this. This is what local officials were worried about here in New London and Groton Connecticut, that they've had so much rain, the ground was saturated, that any small amount of wind could pick up a tree and bring it down on a house like this one.

So that's what happened here. By and large, officials here in New London and in Groton are pretty thankful right now that they've dodged most of what they anticipated would be major damage from the storm.

Brian Todd, CNN, New London, Connecticut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: As the U.S. rushes to evacuate Americans from Kabul, one official is warning about emerging threats in Afghanistan -- the latest from Washington. That's next.

The U.S. Vice President gets down to business in Singapore. We will tell you what was on the agenda in bilateral talks and what's next in a live report.

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