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U.S. Vice President Visits Singapore and Vietnam; Thousands of Evacuees Wait to Depart U.S. Base in Germany; Afghan Pop Star Tells of Escape from Kabul; Israel PM Bennett to Meet with Biden at White House; Eating the Enemy; Rolling Stones Drummer Charlie Watts Dies at 80. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired August 25, 2021 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:18]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Coming up this hour:
The deadline stands. U.S. military flights from Kabul on track to end by next Tuesday's deadline. Will the Taliban effectively bans Afghans from reaching the airport?
All it took just was one infection, and Australia and New Zealand saw their COVID defenses breached by the delta variant. Now, concerns are growing, along with a surge and a number of new daily cases.
And the quiet passing of a modest man whose legendary back beat changed music forever and made the Rolling Stones the greatest rock and roll band ever.
(MUSIC)
VAUSE: Despite pleas from coalition allies, despite growing pressure at home, the U.S. president is standing firm on next Tuesday's deadline for an end to all U.S. operations in Kabul. That along with an announcement by the Taliban, effectively banning all Afghan nationals from the airport means that thousands of Afghans and their families will be left behind. Their fate up to Tuesday will be at the whim of the Taliban.
About 5,000 people, mostly Afghans were waiting at the airport Tuesday for flight out. In recent days, the pace of one of the world's biggest airlifts in history has dramatically increased, with more than 21,000 people evacuated since the start of this week.
But now, Taliban roadblocks and checkpoints on the road to the airport are enforcing a ban on all Afghan citizens. So many wanted to flee their new militant Islamist leaders, the Taliban became concerned about a possible brain drain that has caused the departure of many professionals, doctors, academics and other with years of experience and expertise.
U.S. President Joe Biden cited the acute threat of a terror attack on U.S. troops as one of the main reasons for the exit, the longer troops stayed, the greater the risk. And so, this drawdown begins, with some troops already pulling out. But Mr. Biden did have a caveat. Plans are being prepared should American forces need to stay longer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are currently on pace to finish by August 31st. The sooner we can finish, the better. Each day of operations brings added risk to our troops. But the completion by August 31st depends upon the Taliban continuing to cooperate and allow access to the airport for those who are transporting out and no disruptions to our operations. In addition, I have asked the Pentagon and State Department for contingency plans to adjust the timetable, should that become necessary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: But those two announcements, one from the U.S. president and another from the Taliban, have been devastating for the many Afghans desperate to leave. We have more now from CNN's Oren Liebermann.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The tide of Afghan evacuees flowing out of Kabul is at a new peak, as the effort to move as many people as possible enters its final seven days. Twelve thousand people flown out in 12 hours.
The U.S. alone flew out 6,400 people, averaging nearly 350 per flight. That's 15 times what the U.S. flew out a week ago.
Since August 14th, more than 70,000 people have been evacuated from Kabul. The airport which once had 14,000 people on the field waiting for flights now down to about 5,000, though there are many more outside desperate to get in.
But as the operation improves, the environment grows more tense. The military's monitoring threats from ISIS-K and others aware that crowds are a target for terror groups, and the Taliban warning the U.S. to be out by the end of the month, telling Afghans they won't be allowed to pass the road to the airport.
ZABIULLAH MUJAHID, TALIBAN SPOKESMAN (through translator): We have indigenous doctors, professors, academics. They are talented people. They are talent of this country.
They should not leave this country. They should work in their own specialist areas. They should not go to other countries, to those Western countries.
LIEBERMANN: One question the Biden administration hasn't answered, how many Americans are left in Afghanistan? The White House promised to evacuate every U.S. citizen who wants out, but the Pentagon refusing to say how many that is.
JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: I don't think there's a perfect number that we know with certainty of all Americans in Afghanistan.
LIEBERMANN: The sheer number of Afghans leaving the country has created its own set of problems -- a lack of basic sanitation at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the first stop for many of those fleeing Kabul.
KIRBY: We recognize that things were and in many ways still are not at the level of sanitation and good hygiene that we want.
[01:05:06]
LIEBERMANN: Meanwhile, Afghan evacuees beginning to arrive in the United States. In the past 24 hours, four flights landed at Dulles International Airport outside D.C. with more than 1000 passengers.
With the part of the operation in the United States just starting, the Pentagon has only days left before it winds down the effort in Kabul. With 5,800 troops on the ground and an August 31st deadline to get them out, Pentagon knows the last 48 hours are critical. The focus, how to get out thousands of troops who've made it possible to move tens of thousands of people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIEBERMANN (on camera): Several hundred U.S. troops have already left Afghanistan, but the Pentagon emphasizes this isn't the final withdrawal of those 5,800 troops. It's simply troops that are no longer required heading back to the U.S., since having extra troops in Kabul would pose an unnecessary risk.
For now the mission remains the evacuation of Afghanistan. But sooner or later, they will have to transition away from evacuation and into the final withdrawal of those U.S. troops, to end the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.
Oren Liebermann, CNN, at the Pentagon.
WALSH: CNN's Anna Coren has covered Afghanistan for years and recently returned from Kabul. She joins us now live from Hong Kong.
There is a lot of attention right now on the Taliban, in particular how women are being treated, I guess will be treated. It seems the Taliban at least have concerns about possibly a lack of discipline within the ranks.
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is seriously alarming, isn't it, John? This is an organization that says it has changed, it's evolved and modernized. Girls will be able to go to school, that women will be able to work as long as they wear the hijab. That is from the political leadership within the Taliban.
But we heard from the spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid yesterday. He heard held a press conference. And he asked for women in Afghanistan, particularly Kabul, to stay at home.
Let me read to you what he said. He said: We are worried our forces, who are new, and who have not yet been trained very well, may mistreat women. Until we have a new procedure, they should stay home. They won't be counted as absent and their salaries will be paid in their homes.
They may be mistreated -- I mean, just that statement alone says everything. That this organization, which has a lot of young fighters, that have probably grown up in the last few years -- it still has the same mentality as the organization had 25 years ago, when it was in power. Women were prisoners in their homes. They had to wear burqas when they went outside and had to be accompanied by a male relative.
You know, in the last 20 years, girls have gone to school, they have gone to university, they are now part of the workforce. They have been professionals in Afghan society. And they are now fearing for their lives.
I'm in touch with a group of women who worked for an organization funded by the U.S. State Department, by the U.S. embassy. And they have not left their homes since Kabul fell on the 15th of August. They say they are terrified that the Taliban will come and find them. One of them said that the Taliban came to their door, knocked on their door just days ago.
They have burned documents. They are terrified about their younger siblings, particularly their younger sisters, who they think will be married off as war slaves to the Taliban fighters. I mean, these are real fears. And then we know from what Zabihullah Mujahid said yesterday that Afghans will no longer be allowed to the airport.
That the window is closing, if it has not already closed, for these people. They say that the organization has applied for SIVs, for P-2s, but these are people who probably will not be allowed out of Afghanistan. And they know this, and they know what lies ahead for them. And that is truly terrifying.
This young generation of women who, as they said to me, you know, our future was taken away in a moment.
VAUSE: Yeah. It's hard to forget that the last time around, girls 12 years and older were eligible for a marriage to Taliban fighters.
Anna Coren, live for us there in Hong Kong.
G7 leaders met virtually on Tuesday, concerned over the chaos caused by the U.S. sudden withdrawal. After, they insisted that the Taliban live up to their international commitments, if they want any chance of relations with the West.
We have more now from CNN's Nic Robertson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, this really does appear to be a potential moment where there could be a significant, perhaps the first big bust up between the Taliban since they got to Kabul and the international community. [01:10:0]
The G7, made it clear that for them a priority of the future relationship with the Taliban would depend on Afghans who had helped coalition partners get to the airport and be allowed to leave. The Taliban is saying they do not want that to happen, that they need to keep their doctors or engineers, their academics. So, blocking them getting to the airport potentially puts a serious roadblock in how the international community gets on with the Taliban.
This is how the British prime minister framed it.
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The number one condition we are setting as G7 is that they have got to guarantee, right away through, through August the 31st, and beyond, a safe passage for those who want to come out.
ROBERTSON: Now, what the G7 said was that the Taliban should live up to their international obligations, that they should prevent terrorists from being able to set up inside Afghanistan, they should give humanitarian access across the country. And they also said that they should stand up for their human rights obligations, for women, children, for ethnic minorities, for religious minorities. The European Council president, Charles Michel, framed it this way.
CHARLES MICHEL, EUROPEAN COUNCIL PRESIDENT: And this will be subject to strict conditions, regarding the deeds and attitudes of the new regime, both in preserving the political, economic and social achievements for the Afghan citizens and their human rights, notably of women, girls and minorities.
ROBERTSON: Now, President Biden said that thus far the Taliban have been working with the U.S. So, this is a real pinch point, a really decisive moment. President Biden has said he won't take the Taliban at their word, he will see with their actions are. So, this issue over the airport could become a really decisive issue, setting the stage for the future relationship between the Taliban and the international community.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: There are few people out there who know more about logistics than our next guest, Lt. General Russel Honore. He's a 37-year veteran of the U.S. Army who many will remember as the man who brought order to chaos in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He joins us from Baton Rouge in Louisiana.
It is good to see you, sir. Thank you for your time.
LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE (RET), U.S. ARMY: Good evening.
VAUSE: So, this drawdown that seems to be underway right now. Several hundred troops are leaving Afghanistan, this may be surprising, giving it's the same day President Biden said that the deadline stands. But it seems that this is now standard operation procedure. We are now into the drawdown.
HONORE: Yes, once you take it in, you have to take it out, and normally first in, first out. In this case, it is probably logistics and maintenance people that may not be needed right now. And they will have a priority, those soldiers and marines, when they leave to be able to continue to secure the perimeter.
But this will change overtime here because that is a big, big bass, and those last couple of moves are going to have to be big ones, in order to meet the August 31st date that has been set for the completion of the mission. But I would suspect that there may be -- that there may be some wash over at the end, to get everyone out.
But they are talking to the Taliban. As long as there are no attacks, I don't think the Taliban want, other than some rogue elements of the Taliban who act independently, I think they've got a pretty good tempo, to plan, logistically. You are still flowing refugees out as well as the flow of troops out. That is going to be a master logistics plan.
But we have programs in the right people on the ground to do it, along with transportation command.
VAUSE: At what point does that decision get made within the process? When it begins in earnest? When do the evacuation flights stop to allow the withdrawal to get underway and completed? Is there a sort of tipping point here?
HONORE: Well, you got two things you are managing, security of the airfield and the number of aircraft you can put on the ground at any given time period. It is called the maximum aircraft on the ground. So, there's only so many you can have on the ground, at the same time, you have to maintain security until you leave. And that is going to be an orchestrated event by the tactical commanders, along with U.S. Transportation Command, who is managing the aircraft going in now.
[01:15:06]
So it is going to be a tough mission to orchestrate that, as well as to provide security, not only for the U.S. personnel but for our NATO partners also on the ground. And you might start to see them start to move had little earlier, down to one or two battalions at the end, and do security, at the same time to take the equipment out.
VAUSE: Yeah. And you mentioned this, this is still hostile territory, even though there are negotiating the communications with the Taliban, but it is a delicate dance, as this goes on. So, when that order comes, for wheels up everyone out. What will it look like? How quickly will it all happen from the first soldier on, to the last soldier gone?
HONORE: Well, there's -- the number of people we've taken out now in the aircraft, we won't be able to do that with the soldiers. Right now, they are doing a lot of what they call a floating hundreds of people on the C17's with the troops, the standard procedure would be maybe a third of that, would be able to haul out so you need more aircraft and the able to take them to short distance off the Gulf to Kuwait. So, that's about a two-hour flight, and they will be able to turn right back and come back in.
So, it is going to be an orchestrated event. It's going to be high risk event and we just hope no firefights start on the perimeter of the airfield until everyone leaves. It's not into the Taliban interest to shut up that airfield, or get that airfield bombed because they will want to use it to maintain their international connection. So, there is a burden on the Taliban too to make sure that this goes off smoothly, so they get to retain that airfield once the U.S. leaves there, because that thing has been under U.S. security for 20 years now along with the Afghan army that have secured that airfield. So, that's a resource I would suspect they would want to be able to continue to use.
VAUSE: That makes sense.
General Russel Honore, it's good to see you, sir. We appreciate your insights.
HONORE: Good evening and good luck to the troops, and all the people that are trying to get out of Afghanistan.
VAUSE: Absolutely. Thank you, sir.
HONORE: Thank you.
VAUSE: The U.N. Human Rights Council wants an investigation into reports of abuses in Afghanistan, citing grave concerns for women, journalists, and other groups. The Taliban has promised women's rights will be respected within the context of the Sharia law. It also promised a blanket amnesty for their old rivals, notably similar promises were made after they seized power the first time. The U.N. says there are reports violations are already happening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE BACHELET, U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: We have also received credible reports of serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses, taking place in many areas under effective telephone control. They include among others summary executions of civilians, and all the combatant members of the Afghan national security forces. Restrictions on the rights of women including the right to move around freely and girls' rights to attend schools, recruitment of child soldiers, and repression of peaceful protests an expression of descent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The U.N. Human rights chief adds that the Taliban's treatment of women will mark a fundamental red line. And the World Bank's financial support for Afghanistan is now on hold over doubts the Taliban will follow through on women's rights under the commitments, another financial blow to a country which relies on foreign aid.
A World Bank spokeswoman says people concerned about the situation in Afghanistan and the impact of the country's development prospects especially for women. This follows last week's move by the International Monetary Fund which froze the release of $450 million for Afghanistan under pressure from the Biden administration.
We will take a short break. When we come back, why it mysterious incident in Hanoi delayed Kamala Harris light to Vietnam. We'll explain what happened and also look at why she is there in the first place. Also ahead, great outbreaks of the delta variant putting the zero carbon strategy to the test, and Australia as well as New Zealand.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:21:50]
VAUSE: After nearly two months of rising COVID cases globally, the World Health Organization says the number of new infections seems to be leveling off. More than 4-1/2 million cases though were reported in the past week, about the same as a week earlier.
Almost a quarter of those new cases are in the United States where the infection rate is back to where it was in January.
Hospitals once again feeling the strain especially in parts where vaccination rates are low. Health experts say the U.S. can stem the tide of new infections, but it means more Americans must get vaccinated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISOR TO PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I would like to appeal to this country, to the people in the country who are not vaccinated to realize that we have the capability among ourselves to essentially cut down the timeframe to getting the end of this pandemic.
Very, very clearly, by just listening to everything you've heard on this press conference. Get vaccinated and the time frame will be truncated dramatically.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, for a time, Australia and New Zealand, were islands in the Pacific virtually untouched by the pandemic. Their borders close protected by distance and oceans. But now, both countries are in the grips of a surge and a number of COVID infections driven by the delta variant.
The Australian state of New South Wales just recorded its worst day of the pandemic, more than 900 new cases, two deaths in the past 24 hours.
CNN's Will Ripley is following this outbreak for us from Hong Kong.
And in Australia in particular, these lockdown measures I think in Sydney is now into week number nine or something. It's been going on forever. There is no real anger there, protesters on the streets and many are very unhappy about these lockdown measures.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's like when I was a kid, and my parents used to let me watch our R-rated movies until I got old enough to actually know what was going on the screen, and then they cut me, off and I was like so indignant. That's how it feels in these places that open backup. Australia and Sydney, they were one of the first to reopen their theaters. People were out and they were living life.
And then you get a surge in cases, now with the delta variant pretty much inevitable that's going to happen eventually. Somebody is going to slip through the cracks. And everything locks back down. You are back to being stuck in your house. And you can't go anywhere, unless it's essential travel.
And when you get a taste of freedom, and it's taken away, it is a tough, bitter pill to swallow. And they're certainly growing frustration in Australia about this. And that is why you have the premier of New South Wales and others in Australia talking now about a shift away from this zero COVID strategy that they have also embraced in New Zealand. They are embracing it currently in Hong Kong with the delta variant her surging. Hong Kong up to their quarantine measures, some of the strictest in the world.
It's why I had to cut my vacation short by two weeks and race back here at the last minute. Now I'm sitting in quarantine, beginning week number two. There's a lot of frustration. People are saying, okay, with delta, is there ever really going to be zero COVID unless you just keep yourself medically sealed off from the rest of the world, kind of like North Korea but with Internet?
So, the question now becomes, as more and more people are vaccinated, should these places be looking at the hospitalizations?
[01:25:04]
Looking at the deaths, and looking at the severity of the COVID-19 cases? And using that as a measure of whether not they can start to open their economies back up. Let people breathe fresh air, that people leave the country, and go see their families, their aging parents, or children who live in other places beyond their borders.
This is really starting to take a toll on people's mental health, and there is growing talk about mental health as well as public health. In New South Wales in particular, John, which you mentioned in the introduction, they have 113 or so people in ICU right now, 98 percent of those people are unvaccinated.
And people are unvaccinated, we now have more serious cases of the virus. If you are vaccinated, you can still catch, as we saw that at the Olympics. People who are vaccinated still got it, but often had almost no symptoms.
So, zero COVID really under the microscope right now. A lot of places that have high case numbers but have opened back up, where life really feels normal, the job market is booming. People are back out, living. They're looking at places like this, and there's a lot here in Asia
that are still embracing zero COVID, largely because that's what mainland China is doing. They are looking at this strategy like the fax machine. It's kind of, you know, at update.
VAUSE: One of the things here which seems to be playing into all of this, because of that initial success, especially in Australia, they had a control of the pandemic. It led to a very slow take up of vaccination, even the prime minister at one point was urging Australians take your time, it's a marathon, not a sprint. Don't all rush out and get vaccinated at once.
In hindsight, that seems to be a very bad idea.
RIPLEY: Yeah, hindsight is 2020. It's always easy to be the Monday morning, you know, armchair quarterback. But for sure, countries that suffered early on, people were motivated to go and get the vaccine. I mean, in the U.S., there were lines overnight of cars initially in that chaotic initial vaccine rollout from people who wanted to get that shot in the arm because the U.S. really did struggle, and really did suffer.
Places like this, where life has remained relatively normal, and frankly if you don't have the desire to travel or the need to travel, what's the big deal? There is a lot of fake news about the vaccines circulating around, you know, that they don't work or some sort of tracking device in them. All this ridiculous BS that people have stuck in their heads that makes them for whatever reason reluctant to go get the shot.
But by not getting the shot, with vaccination numbers remaining low, you are basically holding your country and your fellow citizens back from returning to the rest of the world.
VAUSE: Will, thank you. Will Ripley, still there, stuck in quarantine, not doing a whole lot.
RIPLEY: Call me Marie Kondo. I'm organizing, as we speak.
VAUSE: We are glad that you're there. You are always available now. You can't go anywhere. Thanks, Will.
RIPLEY: Oh yeah, anytime, John. Call me.
VAUSE: Appreciate it.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is in Hanoi at this hour. Her trip there was delayed, though, for several hours because of possible Havana syndrome. Harris in Singapore on the U.S. embassy and Vietnam's capital told her there may have been a recent occurrence of this.
The intelligence community still has no official explanation for this syndrome which has taken hundreds of U.S. diplomats and troops around the world. Harris met in the past few hours with Vietnam's president, at the presidential palace in Hanoi. Along the way, she had very strong words for China. Kristie Lu Stout live for us also in Hong Kong with more details on
this, not in quarantine.
So, Kristie, just first of all, tell us what she was saying about China and then what's this about the Havana syndrome?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, first about the Havana syndrome all very interesting, very mysterious, we know this is that illness of unknown origin that has a range of symptoms like dizziness, migraines, memory lapses, it's afflicted hundreds of U.S. officials over the years and it was because of a very possible reported case of Havana syndrome in Hanoi which was why there was a delay in the U.S. vice presidents trip from Singapore to Hanoi.
She is indeed in Vietnam for high-level meetings, but it's interesting that during that delay, the Chinese swooped in. In fact, the Vietnamese prime minister on Tuesday met with a Chinese ambassador. And China presented a gift of 2 million COVID-19 vaccines for Vietnam. And it prompted the prime minister to say that it does not take any sides.
So, today, a number of high-level meetings are underway. We know that Kamala Harris is already spoken to the vice president of Vietnam as well, but meeting with the prime minister shortly. On the agenda our whole range of issues, you've got the coronavirus pandemic. You have economic concerns, like concerns over global chip production, as well as security cooperation, and China and its assertions of sovereignty in the South China Sea.
I want you to listen to what the U.S. vice president said in the last few hours about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will work closely with Vietnam to uphold the rule-based international order, including freedom of navigation, an issue that we take seriously, and including as it relates to the South China Sea.
We need to find ways to pressure and raise the pressure, frankly, on Beijing to abide by the United Nations convention on the law of the sea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: In addition to security concerns in the South China Sea, also on the agenda, of course, the coronavirus pandemic. And now we can report that the United States during this visit by Kamala Harris is donating an additional one million doses of coronavirus vaccine to Vietnam. In fact one million doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
Here is analyst Angela Mancini.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA MANCINI, PARTNER, CONTROL RISKS: I think where the interests align and have some good opportunities for conflict solutions is number one, health. The U.S., you know, is already producing very effective vaccines and presenting those as donations free and clear, no strings attached, to Vietnam.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: Now we are waiting for the U.S. Vice president to launch that regional office of the U.S. CDC, the centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Vietnam. That should happen in the next couple of hours.
The U.S. has already donated about five million doses of the Moderna vaccine. Today it just announced it will donate an additional one million doses of the Pfizer vaccine but it is not enough.
Vietnam is really struggling with the delta variant in this terrible outbreak that is ravaging the country and the region. The vaccination rate in Vietnam among the lowest in the region. Only 1.8 percent of some what -- 96 million people in Vietnam have been inoculated, John.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: That is a very low rate indeed. Kristie, thank you. Kristie Lu Stout live for us in Hong Kong.
Well, the number of evacuation flights from Kabul has increased but at the same time the Taliban has banned Afghan nationals from leaving.
The very latest when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:34:29]
VAUSE: Welcome back everyone. I'm John Vause.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Less than 5,000 Afghans are now waiting at Kabul's airport for a flight out. And that number is likely to continue to fall now that the Taliban will no longer allow Afghan nationals access to the airport. And with the pace of the evacuations ramping up U.S. President Joe Biden is standing firm on this Tuesday's deadline to withdraw U.S. troops.
But he has all also requested contingency plans in case American forces need to stay beyond Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The longer we stay, starting with the acute and growing risk of an attack by terrorist group know an ISIS-K, an ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan, which is a sworn enemy of the Taliban as well.
Every day we are on the ground is another day we know that Isis-K is seeking to target the airport and attack both U.S. and allied forces and innocent civilians.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It seems getting to the airport and getting on to a flight is just the start of a long journey for thousands of Afghan evacuees. Now many are at Ramstein Airbase in Germany, and there they are staying in tents waiting for another set of flights to the U.S.
Atika Shubert reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Ramstein Airbase has rapidly transformed into a temporary refuge for Afghan evacuees.
(on camera): So it's really from this vantage point that you can see just how much this operation has grown. When we got here on Saturday morning to see those first few flights arriving, there were only a few tents over there. Now if you can see it's grown.
And it really just goes to show what a massive operation this is to bring in thousands of evacuees.
(voice over): The number now waiting here has swelled to 7,000. All of them desperate to get to the U.S.
Donia Laali says she fought her way into Kabul Airport to get all the women and her family out.
DONIA LAALI, AFGHAN EVACUEE: We saw lots of problems here. And I just try and my family tried to come out because we are all women. There is no men with us. Because we are just women, and my two brothers, they're in the U.S. So we try to go and reach them.
SHUBERT: The quick transit is now taking much longer. Evacuees are tired and frustrated. U.S. citizens, green card holders, and those with approved visas are being given priority according to the State Department.
But Nazif Maywand told us he has a visa and has been waiting for more than two days to board a flight.
MOHAMMED NAZIF MAYWAND, EVACUEE: We need showers, we need Internet. The Internet is not available over here. Somehow we need to have contact with our family members that they're worried about us.
We're not so relaxed over here. Things are not that good over here. I know that they're trying their best.
SHUBERT: To speed up mobilization, the Pentagon has activated a civil reserve air fleet with commercial carriers such as Delta to bring evacuees to the U.S. But as of Tuesday night, only a handful of flights have flown out of Ramstein and with a total of just several hundred on board.
In the meantime, singalongs and football keep the little ones occupied while their parents worry and wait.
Atika Shubert, for CNN -- at the Ramstein Airbase in Germany.
The World Food Programme is warning millions of Afghans could face starvation by next month. The group's director says so far getting food in has not been impacted by the Taliban takeover but he warns hundreds of millions of dollars are now needed to avoid catastrophe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID BEASLEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: Because of COVID conflict, economic deterioration -- the numbers of people marching to the brink of starvation has spiked to now about 13 to 14 million people.
So right now we need money, we need it desperately, because we are running out of money. our pipeline will break at the end of September.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: (AUDIO GAP) is the deputy director of Cares Operations in Afghanistan. A week ago she was airlifted out of Kabul on a U.S. military flight. She is with us this hour now from Washington.
Marianne, thank you for being with us.
MARIANNE O'GRADY, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF CARES OPERATIONS: Thank you for having me this evening.
VAUSE: Now, one of the major headlines, now that you've heard this from Afghanistan the last few hours, the Taliban now preventing all Afghans from actually reaching the airport in Kabul. It's essentially a ban on leaving the country.
What does that now mean for you or Afghan colleagues at Care and your Afghan friends of 20 years, who now are trapped, if you like..
O'GRADY: Yes. You know, there is a lot of people, a large majority of people that actually want to stay in Afghanistan. They love their country. they're very proud of it. They are there to do work for their very own people in the communities that care and other NGOs are serving.
So some people would like to get out and some people actually would like to stay.
VAUSE: It just seems that the door is now well and truly shot, at least, you know, for the time being on getting out if someone wanted to, right?
O'GRADY: It probably could be that way. It's unclear when U.S. flights, sorry U.N. flights and commercial flights will start back up again. I know that the U.N. is working really, really hard right now on some in-house (ph) flights coming and going from the country.
[01:39:48]
VAUSE: So, you know, each day the situation changes, and, you know, this is not going to be a permanent close, you know, of the airport at all.
There is lots of goods that need to come and go to have a functioning country so that people have the food and the needs that they have, you know, just their general everyday needs to be met.
VAUSE: Yes. I imagine for you there is a feeling of relief being out of Afghanistan, at least for the time being, out of the reach of the Taliban. At the same time, though, you've left 20 years of your life behind including colleagues who are now facing an uncertain future.
I guess you've been dealing with a whole lot of very different and very intense emotions over the last few days. What's that been like?
O'GRADY: I would say that I don't have relief, actually. I've quite emotional, very strong feelings about sadness and abandonment. There is a lot of work to be done in the country. There are 11 million people in severe hunger crisis. There is a very serious drought going on right now.
The effects of COVID over the last, you know, 15, 18 months in the country has created an already bad economic situation is now even worse.
So food hunger, livelihood, issues, economic problems are underlying and there are millions of people that are suffering right now. The humanitarian needs are so absolutely great that there isn't relief. And in my feelings, the dedication we need to make sure that citizens are getting basic needs met -- health care, food, water, livelihoods, shelter, places to raise their children and take care of them because that's what, to me, is the most important.
VAUSE: Because there are fears that just simply in the coming weeks, millions of people in Afghanistan could be going hungry.
O'GRADY: Yes, they already are hungry and even more will be hungry. That's absolutely true, both because of the droughts and the economic problems. It's unclear what's going be happening in terms of the borders being open or closed, and how that's going to affect the food situation and the food security in the country.
VAUSE: The Taliban would like the world to believe that they are no longer the misogynistic child bride-marrying killers they once were. Chances are they have not changed. But 14 million Afghan women -- you know, many of them have, they've been educated. They've been in power to a degree.
Will the Taliban be able to wind back the clock. Take away that education, take away their sense of work.
O'GRADY: Well, you know, you can't uneducated anybody. But you cannot uneducate a female and the work that's been done over the last 20 years to not only educate women and boys, and the youth. Not only are they educated, they have gone to university. They have not just jobs, they actually have careers.
And so it could be the couple steps you need to go back when we go backwards, but actually that's fuel for our launch forward to making sure that careers can happen, citizens are functioning in the country, and bringing the culture and, you know, the every day living forward.
That's what we are really counting on. It's very hard to know what the next couple of months are going to be like in terms of some of the ways of working and the ways of supporting citizens in the country will happen. And we look forward to knowing what those are so that we can support the citizens no matter what government is in place.
VAUSE: Marianne O'Grady, we wish you all the very best. I'm glad you are safe and sound.
O'GRADY: Thank you.
Just 10 days have passed since the fall of Kabul and as the Taliban took control in those few days afterwards, an Afghan pop star was able to flee. Now she is sharing her story.
Singer and women's rights activist Aryana Sayeed and her fiance feared they would both be killed by the Taliban when they were initially unable to leave from Kabul. After staying with family they were finally able to fly out on a second attempt, following a terrifying journey.
Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARYANA SAYEED, AFGHAN POP STAR AND ACTIVIST: So we are driving and we passed through about five Taliban checkpoints, one of them actually stopped our car. And it was like 11 at night.
And one of them -- he just put a light through the car and the minute that he saw me with the little boy and obviously I was covered with the hijab. They could only saw my eyes and I was wearing glasses as well.
It was just terrifying, you know. I was just shaking at that moment, thinking what if he is going to ask for identity and stuff like that , what am I going to do?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:44:53]
VAUSE: At the airport, Sayeed said there were some chaotic as well as heartbreaking moments.
One woman begged her to take her baby with her. She's now safely in the United States but fears for the millions that are being left behind.
The Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has arrived in the United States. He will meet with President Biden at the White House on Thursday. Bennett's goals during this visit will be to reaffirm the strong relationship between Israel and the United States as well as seeking common ground with the Biden administration on Iran.
CNN's Hadas Gold is following the prime minister's trip.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This trip will be fast and furious, but with incredibly high stakes. Only about two days long, the prime minister will arrive in Washington on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday he will have various meetings with officials, and on Thursday will be the big meeting with President Joe Biden.
Israeli officials who briefed reporters prior to the trip said that there are two main objectives to this trip. The first is simply the meeting. Getting to know President Biden, and continuing what they say is the strong relationship between Israel and the United States.
The two leaders have actually never met before. They've spoken by phone, but it's incredibly important for the Israeli prime minister to show the Israeli public that the strong relationship with the United States will continue under this new prime minister.
The second and probably most important point of this trip in the eyes of the Israelis, is to press the United States on Iran. Now Israel has long been opposed to any sort of return to the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal. And Israeli officials told reporters that when they first started planning this trip a few months ago, they felt as though a return to the deal was inevitable.
Now they feel as though they have a chance to potentially try and prevent the return to the nuclear deal. Saying that they believe with a new hardline president in Iran, as well as the understanding that talks may be installed, now maybe the chance to try and stop the return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Prime minister Naftali Bennett will be presenting to President Biden what the Israelis are calling a holistic strategy to counter Iran, not only the nuclear ambitions but also on what they call regional aggression. Their actions in places like Syria, like Lebanon -- incidents that we have seen recently at sea.
The Israelis feel that time is of the essence here and that time is running out to try and stop Iran not only for their nuclear ambitions, but also regarding these regional aggressions, these activities that we've been seeing in recent months.
That's why this trip, although it will be quick will be incredibly important, of incredibly high stakes to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
Hadas Gold, CNN -- Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come here, eating the enemy. How a conservationist and seafood lovers are saving ecosystems from an invasive species.
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[01:49:57]
VAUSE: Now, our "Call to Earth", CNN's initiative to promote a more sustainable future for the planet.
Protecting marine habitats is a growing concern especially for those who enjoy seafood. But what if you could consume with a conscience by eating rather, what is a threat to coral reefs?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These eco or years are heading into unusual battle.
The enemy, a dangerous and invasive species that is destroying the local habitat.
ALEX FOGG, MARINE BIOLOGIST: It's caused a pretty major problem here in western Atlantic waters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Leading the charge is Alex Fogg, a marine biologist and conservationist, destined Fort Walton Beach in the Florida Panhandle.
He is known as the lionfish guy around these parts.
FOG: Lionfish is such a passion to what I do in my everyday life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lionfish are native to the South Pacific and Indian Ocean. They were first detected along the Florida coast in the mid 1980s more than 10,000 miles from home.
FOGG: There's a lot of theories exactly how they came to be, but most likely option was that lionfish were in the aquarium trade and end up being released by a pet owner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over the years, the population has multiplied, and is wreaking havoc.
FOGG: If you put something into the ecosystem that's not supposed to be there, and they are eating the same food as some of your native species, there's competition there.
There is grazers, like they're parrot fish. If lionfish are preying on parrot fish, those parrot fish are no longer keeping the reefs clean and a lot of times the algae can overtake the reef and cause a bunch of coral death.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To make matters worse, lionfish have no predators in these western waters.
FOGG: It comes down to something else besides predators to take charge and keep these fish under control. And that's us, divers.
There may be fishermen out there that would've never really considered themselves conservationists, but this is something where they can go diving, they can go harvest a fish and healthy ecosystem in the process.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have to be careful, though. Those spines along their back and sides, they're venomous.
FOGG: You aren't going to die, but you may shed a tear or two.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To keep their hands safe, divers use a long spear to catch the lionfish and a contraption called a zookeeper to contain them.
FOGG: It's essentially a plastic tube that allows you to put the lionfish into it and prevents the spines from poking out and potentially stinging you. You want to make sure that you're not going to get stung.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The good news, lionfish happen to taste good and have become somewhat of a delicacy in upscale restaurants along the coast, like GW Fins in New Orleans where this has become a story of eat them to beat them.
MICHAEL NELSON, EXECUTIVE CHEF, GW FINS RESTAURANT: When we heard about what lionfish is starting to do the ecosystem here, we want to do whatever we could to, you know, help solve the problem.
And we got our first shipment of lionfish, we were actually pleasantly surprised for an invasive species. It's probably one of the most delicious ones I've ever tasted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The restaurant works directly with the spearfishermen, who supply their lionfish. It's good for business and good for the environment. Crucially, their methods avoid bycatch and target the enemy.
NELSON: When you run a net through the water, you really never know exactly what you are pulling up.
When it comes to the spear fisherman, they are only harvesting exactly the fish that we are looking for and nothing else.
NELSON: Sourcing is probably the most important thing we do to make sure we know who, when, where, and how all of our fish is caught.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Understanding why is important too. If the Lionfish population spirals out of control, it could eat many of the species the restaurant is used to having on its menu.
NELSON: Really, the only way to incentivize people to get out there, and eradicate these, and catch as many as they can is to create a demand and a market for them. Then boom, you know, you'll have a lot more people out there hunting for lionfish.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The goal is to control the lionfish population, not eliminate it.
FOGG: The lionfish will really always be here. It's just where they're going to find their place in the ecosystem, and in the food web. (END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: We will continue to showcase environmental stories like this one as part of the initiative here at CNN. Let us know what you are doing to answer the call with hashtag CallToEarth.
A short break -- we will be back in a moment.
[01:54:23]
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VAUSE: Charlie Watts, the strong and steady drummer for the Rolling Stones has died at the age of 80. According to his publicist, Watts passed away peacefully at a London hospital surrounded by family.
It's plagued with the Stone from the very 58 years in all and was regarded by many as the greatest drummer ever. His beat gave anchored the stones' a unique blues rock sound.
He was the quiet, modest one, in stark contrast to Mick, Keith and Ronny. A humble rock and roll legend who joked that he used his day job with the Stones to support his enduring love of jazz.
Charlie Watts is survived by his wife, Shirley Ann Shepard who he was married to for 56 years, and his daughter.
Shortly after Heathrow have Watches death then Mick Jagger paid a wordless tribute he shared this photograph on his Tweeter account of what -- smiling, we'll see who's behind the drum set.
And Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richard shared a photo on social media over a drum set with a close sign on it, no caption.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause and I will be back with another hour of CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment.
See you soon.
[01:57:09]
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VAUSE: This is CNN NEWSROOM. Hello I'm John Vause.
