Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Five Days Left Until U.S. Withdrawal Deadline; ISIS-K Poses Threat To Kabul Evacuation; COVID Origins Report Deemed Inconclusive. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired August 26, 2021 - 02:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:00:15]
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. And I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead, five days. That's all the time Joe Biden says the U.S. military has left in Afghanistan. The latest on the evacuations and what might happen for Americans and their allies left behind.
Meantime, a Taliban rival has become an added threat. What we know about the terror group, ISIS-K.
And still no answers into how the COVID-19 pandemic originated despite a trove of documents at another lengthy investigation.
Good to have you with us. We begin in Afghanistan where new security threats have the U.S., U.K. and Australia warning their citizens to stay away from the Kabul Airport. The U.K. Foreign Office cite today high threat of terrorist attack and a U.S. defense official tell CNN the group known as ISIS-K wants to create mayhem at the airport where huge crowds of people are hoping for a flight out of the country.
The U.S. military is set to leave Afghanistan in less than a week and tens of thousands of Afghans who assisted U.S. forces and their families could be left behind. Their fate in the hands of the Taliban. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken reports more than 82,000 people have been flown out of Kabul as part of a massive airlift. 19,000 in just the past day. Blinken would not commit to a U.S. diplomatic presence in Afghanistan after the military withdraw but he did make this promise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTON BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Let me be crystal clear about this. There is no deadline on our work to help any remaining American citizens who decide they want to leave to do so along with many Afghans who have stood by us over these many years and want to leave and have been unable to do so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And for so many hoping to flee Afghanistan and the Taliban, time is running out. And the desperation and the danger grows with each passing day. CNN Sam Kiley has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In the closing moments of America's longest war, a desperate legacy. A day after the Taliban announced that they would stop Afghans getting into Kabul Airport. These are the scenes at its walls. They wade through sewage in breathtaking heat, waving their documents desperate for escape. Beyond these barriers playing after plane carrying thousands to freedom.
But here there is fast fading hope that they will get to safety before America and its allies leave in a few days time. The process taking an added urgency with what U.S. intelligence have described as a very specific threat against crowds gathering outside the airport.
(on camera): We've also had a number of reports of Afghans stuck in pockets around the town, desperately sending out signals to Americans to try to get them out. Particularly people who've been working with the United States. We've heard from one group whose identity we're keeping secret, they really fear that they will not survive the coming days if they can't get to this airport.
(voice-over): Nineteen thousand people have been evacuated the last 24 hours. But with the Taliban blocking refugees from getting to the airport, the numbers here are down. There will be a day maybe two before the military efforts will have to focus on its own withdrawal. And the detailed threats from ISIS-K whose sources tell CNN have the capacity and plans to commit atrocities against desperate Afghan crowds.
Such fears are now behind those who are boarding on the plane relief. Mohammed Yusufzai is a U.S. citizen. So with his family of six, he was able to make it through the Taliban blocks.
MOHAMMED YUSUFZAI, U.S. CITIZEN: Nobody want to leave home easily. But there are a lot of challenges around.
KILEY: Landing in Doha a muted joy. Now they're safe, but on a long journey into the unknown. Sam Kiley, CNN Kabul International Airport.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And for those still waiting at the Kabul airport safety concerns are growing as U.S. officials sound the alarm over a threat posed by the terror group ISIS-K. CNNs' Brian Todd has the details from Washington.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A U.S. defense official tell CNN there's a very specific threat stream from ISIS-K regarding attacks planned on crowds at the Kabul Airport. Intelligence suggesting the group is capable of and planning to carry out multiple attacks and wants to create mayhem at the airport.
[02:05:12] TODD: We've spoken to terrorism analysts who say ISIS-K could deploy a massive bomb or a team of bombers to strike simultaneously. One analyst Colin Clarke of the Soufan Group says if ISIS-K has surface to air missiles, the concern is they could try to take out evacuation planes, taking off and landing at the Kabul airport. Now we've been digging into who ISIS-K is, their origins and capabilities.
They claim to be a branch of the main ISIS terror group which gained power in Syria and Iraq seven years ago. Experts say ISIS-K comprised of some veteran jihadists from Syria and elsewhere has lost ground and manpower since 2018, but still has a presence in eastern Afghanistan and has formed cells in Kabul. In total, according to a U.N. report, they're believed to have between 1500 and 2200 fighters in Afghanistan.
They are sworn enemy of the Taliban said by analysts to be even more draconian in their enforcement of Sharia law than the Taliban. More brutal towards civilians. Colin Clarke says they try to recruit what he calls the most ardent sociopath in the country. ISIS-K has carried out several devastating suicide bombing attacks in Afghanistan in recent years, including an attack on a school for girls this past spring which according to a Pentagon assessment, killed at least 68 people, most of them girls, Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
CHURCH: Joining me now from Washington, D.C. via Skype is Afghan Human Rights Activist Zubaida Akbar. Thank you so much for talking with us.
ZUBAIDA AKBAR, AFGHAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST (via Skype): Thank you for having me.
CHURCH: Now, you last lived in Afghanistan back in 2018. But you did return in late July to visit your family there. Now, as you watch the takeover of your country by the Taliban and the evacuation process from afar, what are your biggest concerns? Particularly for women who are now being told by the Taliban to stay home for their own safety?
AKBAR: Well, I'm extremely concerned for the safety of women across Afghanistan. We have been hearing from the news from different provinces of Afghanistan that the Taliban are still practicing their old laws and they are suppressing women, especially women who were active in the society, who were taking part in political life, female journalists. People, women who were not at the society level.
But then also they are -- it seems that they have the same views about girls' education, and women's presence in public spaces in general. So we are we are scared, we are angry about everything that we have lost. Women had made a lot of gains in the past 20 years. And they had hopes and dreams for the future. It seems that what we have gained, we have lost and then our hopes and dreams for the future has been shattered.
CHURCH: And you have been working to get people out of Afghanistan. How difficult has that been? And how hard is that decision for many Afghans to leave their country for good?
When I visited Kabul two weeks ago, there were many people who are trying to leave Afghanistan because they could already feel that the situation is deteriorating. But then there were -- there were many women and men who were holding the fort and who believed in Afghanistan and who were willing to stay until the last minute. They continue to have hope, I think when the fall of the Kabul happened, so suddenly, people were shocked.
They did not expect this happening so fast. And people were desperate to leave because they were scared for their lives. This was something that they -- no one could imagine that Afghanistan could fall so quickly in the hands of the Taliban. I have been trying to help women get out of Afghanistan, different woman from different walks of life. These are women's rights activists, civil society activists, journalists, and all of these people.
Just two weeks ago believed in a better Afghanistan. They believed in a prosperous Afghanistan, and they had -- they had the opportunities to leave Afghanistan before that, but they stayed behind and they were holding the fort down because they never imagined that they would be abandoned like this. So it's very difficult for these women to be leaving Afghanistan right now when they are having very mixed emotions and feelings of anger, abandonment, frustration and hopelessness.
CHURCH: And total is more about that level of difficulty with life for the Afghan people, particularly women under this Taliban regime. Even as they tried to convince the world that they will maintain women's rights.
[02:10:06]
CHURCH: Do you believe anyone thinks that's true that they've transformed into this kind of version of the brutal fighting force that they were back in the 90s? Particularly when they are telling women to stay home because they don't even trust their own men to respect women.
AKBAR: I do not believe the Taliban when they say they have changed. I think this narrative of change, Taliban and rebranded Taliban went really -- well, really well with the world's decision to leave Afghanistan. For the past 1-1/2 years and the peace negotiation with the Taliban started Taliban had many opportunities and platforms to rebrand themselves as changed. And the world chose to listen to their words, rather than watch the actions.
But for the Afghan people, it's a different story. We have been exposed to their actions. For the past 20 years when they continue to fight the Afghan people, for the past 1-1/2 years since they started the peace negotiations and before that when they ruled Afghanistan, we were exposed to the same or more level of violence from the Taliban. Nothing has changed in the ways that they think about women and humans and human rights issues.
CHURCH: Zubaida Akbar, thank you so much for joining us. We do appreciate it.
AKBAR: Thank you.
CHURCH: Lockdown fatigue and a surge in cases is forcing Australia and New Zealand to reconsider their zero COVID policy, but their leaders are coming to very different conclusions. Plus, it seems a three-month review by the U.S. on the origins of COVID-19 has only angered China and brings us no closer to learning exactly how the virus began. More on that after this short break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: We have been fighting COVID-19 since December 2019. For many countries, the first lockdowns were a year and a half ago. Yet despite vaccines, boosters and all kinds of restrictions, we are still seeing surges in places like the United States, parts of Africa, Asia, and Australia. And the best way to combat those surges is being debated in Australia and New Zealand right now.
Border closures and lock downs are no longer holding. Thanks to the Delta variant. And it's putting the two countries zero COVID strategy to the test. CNN's Ivan Watson explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Australia and New Zealand, two countries that stamped out each and every COVID-19 outbreak over the first year and a half of the pandemic. Now in partial or complete lockdown as they struggle with a new surge of infections.
NICOLE, SYDNEY RESIDENT: At this point, I don't think my kids would go back to school this year.
[02:15:04]
WATSON: The outbreaks, prompting Australia's Prime Minister to suggest moving on from a zero case approach to COVID.
SCOTT MORRISON, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: This cannot go on forever. This is not a sustainable way to live in this country.
WATSON: Stay at home orders in the major cities Sydney, Melbourne and the capital Canberra extended. COVID fatigue contributing to binding protests that erupted in Melbourne last weekend. Prime Minister Scott Morrison now promoting a plan to ease restrictions once 70 to 80 percent of adults get vaccinated. But vaccination rates in both Australia and New Zealand are still low with only about a quarter of Australians and a fifth of New Zealanders fully vaccinated.
This summer's outbreaks hopped the short lived travel bubble between both countries in late July. Their borders now largely shut to the outside world. And New Zealand's leader wants to maintain her government's zero case COVID strategy for as long as she can.
JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: For now, absolutely elimination is the strategy, we need more certainty we don't want to take any risks with Delta. If the world has taught us anything it is to be cautious with this variant of COVID-19.
WATSON: In just two months, Australia went from one confirmed case of COVID to over 16,000 fueled by the more contagious Delta variant.
Do you believe that a zero cases strategy is still viable for Australia?
MARY-LOUISE MCLAWS, EPIDEMIOLOGIST, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES: Sadly, not anymore. I think it's too late. But we may go to some type of mitigation, while desperately trying to increase our vaccine rollout.
WATSON: Some weary Australian say this islands nation may need to accept the reality of the virus.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At some point we're going to have to open up. I don't think we're ever going to be 100 percent confident and safe.
WATSON: Two countries grateful to have been spared the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Delta now threatening to take away their hard won success. Ivan Watson, CNN.
CHURCH: Experts say vaccine hesitancy has contributed to the increase of COVID cases in the U.S. But a new Israeli study finds the risks that come with getting the shots of vastly less than if someone catches the virus. The study involved almost two million Israelis. It shows that the Pfizer vaccine slightly raises the risk of heart inflammation, swollen lymph nodes and shingles, but it also showed that the virus increases the risk of heart inflammation even more.
Along with blood clots, heart attacks and other deadly events. And this is the first large study to compare the risks of vaccination versus infection in the same population during the same time. In Cuba, an ongoing COVID surge is leading to something unprecedented. The government taking fire from healthcare workers over its coronavirus response. As Patrick Oppman reports, that's a far cry from where things were at the beginning of the pandemic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): During the first months of the pandemic, human healthcare workers received applause every month. Cuba's government calls the doctors and nurses heroes and white coats, and sends them to work in countries around the world to earn the hard currency the communist-run Island desperately needs. But as Cuba's socialist healthcare system faces shortages of medicine, and hospitals are overwhelmed by COVID.
Pensions have emerged between the government and the doctors and nurses that usually prays. During a visit to a province hard hit by COVID in August, Cuba's Prime Minister said healthcare workers there had committed errors and were undisciplined. There are complaints about lack of medicine, he said, but they are less than the complaints of mistreatment of neglect, or the doctors don't make visits. That's incredible.
The backlash across the island from some Cuban healthcare workers was swift and unprecedented. We are demanding the minimum conditions to offer decent care to our patients and healthcare workers this doctor said. More than three dozen doctors and nurses have posted videos to social media, saying the government's pandemic response is failing.
We want to keep working, we want to keep saving lives says this doctor. We are not responsible for the sanitary collapse in our country. The Cuban government says the doctors are being used for "New enemy campaigns," but has recognized the healthcare system is at its limits.
(on camera): For much of the pandemic, Cuba seem to have the spread of the coronavirus under control but then in late 2020, the island reopened borders without first requiring travelers to have a PCR test before arrival.
[02:20:11]
OPPMAN: Now with a Delta variant, the number of cases and deaths are skyrocketing.
(voice over): Cuba turned down offers from other countries to send vaccines, instead developing their own. We trust 100 percent in our vaccine candidates, she says. The numbers of cases that we have today, in a few months, our vaccine candidates will show that they are effective and the situation will improve. So far more than 30 percent of the island is completely vaccinated according to the health ministry.
The government predicts they will vaccinate every Cuban by the end of the year. Despite the massive effort, cases and deaths remain at an all-time high. For the rebellious Cuban healthcare workers who have spoken out against their government's handling of the pandemic. Even if the vaccine succeeds, it is already too late.
Patrick Oppman, CNN, Havana.
CHURCH: Delta Airlines is starting to choose the stick over the carrot when it comes to getting existing employees vaccinated. They're not being forced but rejecting the shot will cost them. CNN's Pete Montean explains.
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Airlines are trying everything from incentives to mandates to get their workers vaccinated. But what's so interesting is that Delta Airlines has now become the first to penalize its workers who are still not vaccinated. Delta is telling its workers, they must get vaccinated by November 1st or begin paying a $200 a month surcharge, depending on their health insurance.
Sound like the surcharge that a smoker would pay on their health insurance. And Delta says the rationale is this. The average hospital stay for somebody who has COVID-19 cost Delta $50,000 per person it says. This surcharge will be necessary to address the financial risk. The decision to not vaccinate is creating for our company. Company CEO Ed Bastian made this announcement in a company-wide memo. And he says the company is stopping short of a mandate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED BASTIAN CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, DELTA AIRLINES: And I think these added voluntary steps short of mandating a vaccine are going to get us as close to 100 percent as we can. And we have over 80 percent of our crews, both pilots and flight attendants already vaccinated. So I think this last step, just short of a mandate I think will work for us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MUNTEAN: Remember, United Airlines is the only major U.S. airline to mandate that its workers get vaccinated. All 67,000 employees in the United States must get vaccinated now by September 27th since the FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine. Interestingly, Delta did not mention the Delta variant in its release by name, instead mentioning the B 161 7.2 virus. Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.
CHURCH: The world has endured well over a year of this deadly pandemic and we still don't know definitively how it all began. A three-month U.S. investigation into the origins of the virus is now complete. But China is already criticizing it before it's been released calling report politically motivated and accusing the U.S. of blaming its own pandemic failures on China. Sources also say the report has done little to sway the intelligence community's confidence on either of the origin theories.
Whether the virus was leaked from a lab or emerged naturally. CNN's David Culver has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A 90-day deep dive into a trove of U.S. intelligence, the focus to find the origins of COVID-19. As that work came to a close, it seems no apparent smoking gun evidence surface to prove one side over another. According to one source, the intelligence community review focusing on two possible origins. Either the virus started in at least from a Wuhan lab or did it emerge naturally. One thing that is certain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think anyone would disagree that the major first amplification occurred in Wuhan.
CULVER: CNN was in Wuhan just before the lockdown as the virus was rapidly spreading. Initially, the Huanan Seafood Market was believed to be the epicenter. Security told us at the time to leave as soon as we stepped out to record. This past January, a year after the outbreak began, a WHO field team was granted access to the market. This is video shot by the head of that international mission as he and the team walked through the now shuttered market.
And TV 2 Danish documentary released this month, they stumbled upon a space that suggested people might have also been living inside the market leading up to the outbreak.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): If these rooms were used as living quarters, that would mean that people were in contact with what was at the market, including the virus and perhaps live animals more intensely.
CULVER: Possibly supporting a natural origins theory that the virus went from animals to humans.
[02:25:01]
CULVER: But the WHO team also revealed to TV 2, tense negotiations with their Chinese counterparts who they say at first resisted any mention of a possible lab leak in the WHO's findings. And also say their Chinese counterparts later insisted the lab leak theory was extremely unlikely but that conclusion has since been met with heavy skepticism among U.S. politicians who remain skeptical given the Chinese government's lack of transparency.
Twenty-five miles from the Huanan Market is the Wuhan Institute of Neurology and its Biosafety Level 4 or BSL-4 lab. The Trump administration alleged for months that this is where the virus really started. But U.S. officials never provided evidence to the public. CNN spoke with a source directly involved with the construction of the BSL-4 using their insight along with information published by the Chinese before the outbreak.
Here's what we know. Planning and construction at the BSL-4 started in 2003. In 2018 it officially became operational. It's located on the sprawling fenced in Wuhan Institute of Neurology campus. The building containing the lab sits separate. Four levels make up the structure. At the top, a sophisticated air purification system. At the bottom and underneath the lab, decontamination equipment that allows for safe sewage disposal.
Level two, this is where the research takes place. There are separate entrances and exits, along with dedicated dissection rooms, virus storage facilities, and multiple labs for distinct animal and cellular level research. French engineers helped in the planning and the construction. But one source tells us the Chinese were initially resistant and adding some basic safety features due to the high cost of some equipment such as multiple chemical decontamination showers. But that they eventually relented adding them.
GERALD T. KEUSCH, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASE LABORATORIES: Who had a first class facility, high-class virologists and well-trained staff. You put all of that together and you'd say, well, I can't exclude a lab accident. It doesn't seem likely. It also does not rule out the possibility of a leak from another lab in Wuhan. And we drove by it last year.
OK. There you can see right here. This is Wuhan Center for Disease Control. This is one of the labs within Wuhan. And of course, not too far from the market either.
Located just a couple of blocks from the Huanan Seafood Market in fact. Inside lower level biosafety labs that likewise involved with the study of bats and coronaviruses. Still, there is one thing lacking in the search for an origin. That is full transparency from and collaboration with the Chinese. Instead, China's launched a relentless propaganda campaign, a constant barrage of digital articles with sarcastic cartoons, T.V. reports, documentaries, even a rap song. It's aimed to sow doubt and deflect blame when it comes to the origins of COVID-19. And we've seen a constant rehashing of old conspiracy theories. Primarily that the virus started in this lab, Fort Detrick in the United States, the home of the U.S. Army's Biological Laboratory. Though there is no evidence that virus originated here, that has not stopped the Chinese from trying to push their version of a lab leak theory.
China has essentially shut the door on future visits by the WHO. Chinese officials believe the origins investigation has become politically manipulated by the U.S. Crushing any potential of a bilateral source tracing effort.
KEUSCH: The longer it takes, the more difficult it's going to be to get a complete picture of what happened. Maybe never, it may be too late now.
David Culver, CNN, Beijing.
CHURCH: And just ahead, we are just days away from the deadline to evacuated those who want out of Afghanistan, but with the Taliban's crackdown and the growing ISIS threat getting out is becoming more difficult.
[02:30:00]
CHURCH: Fears of a potential terror attack at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, have the U.S., U.K. and Australia warning their citizens to stay away. A U.S. defense official tells CNN the concerns are based on a very specific threat stream from an ISIS offshoot known as ISIS- K. Intelligence indicates the group is capable of planning and carrying out multiple attacks meant to create mayhem at the airport. Thousands of Afghans are crowded around the base's perimeter, hoping for a flight out of the country before the U.S. military mission ends next week.
And while U.S. President Joe Biden was briefed on contingency plans, he remains committed to the August 31st deadline to withdraw all U.S. troops. Now, the race is on to evacuate as many people as possible ahead of that date. CNN's Oren Liebermann has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): In the span of 10 days, the U.S. and its allies have moved nearly the equivalent of a packed giant stadium out of Afghanistan. Flights leaving Kabul International Airport every 39 minutes. But there are possibly as many as 1,500 Americans who remain in the country. The Biden administration still working to keep its solemn promise, to evacuate every American who wants out. But also saying, it's difficult to track in real-time every U.S. citizen in Afghanistan. But how the U.S. will ensure passage for Afghans after the last U.S. plane leaves remains a question.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: They will not be forgotten. We certainly have points of -- incentive and points of leverage with a future Afghan government to help make sure that that happens. But I can tell you again, from my perspective, from the president's perspective, this effort does not end on August 31st.
LIEBERMANN (voiceover): When asked who shoulders the blame for this frantic effort up to the deadline, he said this.
BLINKEN: I take responsibility. I know the president has said he takes responsibility. There will be plenty of time to look back at the last six or seven months, to look back at the last 20 years, and to look to see what we might have done differently.
LIEBERMANN (voiceover): The Taliban now imposing even tighter restrictions on Afghanistan. One day after warning it wouldn't allow Afghans to reach the airport. In this video shared on social media, this man says he was beaten by the Taliban. His face bloodied, he says, they hit me bad and this happened to me when I was crossing to the airport.
Now, the Taliban telling working women to stay home until security is in place for them. They say their fighters don't know how to treat women yet.
ZABIHULLAH MUJAHID, TALIBAN SPOKESMAN (through translator): We want to make sure women are not treated in a disrespectful way or God forbid hurt. So, we would like them to stay at home until security is in place for them in the offices.
LIEBERMANN (voiceover): The founder of an Afghan girls school burning school records for her student's protection. She fled with her students to Rwanda. Taliban checkpoints limiting movement in Kabul and beyond. In the crowds outside the airport, one Afghan women tried about a dozen times to get through so she could join her husband in the United States, she told CNN's Kylie Atwood. Finally, she dressed her baby in yellow and managed to send a photo through to marines who were able to spot the baby in the crowd. The family made it in.
On Tuesday, the first U.S. troops began leaving Afghanistan, a mix of headquarters staff and maintenance no longer required in Kabul.
JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: On those last couple days, we will begin to prioritize military capabilities and military resources to move out.
[02:35:00]
LIEBERMANN (voiceover): For now, the mission remains focused on the evacuation. But with time racing down, it will soon transition to the withdrawal of U.S. forces and equipment before the August 31st deadline.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And CNN's Anna Coren has covered Afghanistan for years and has recently returned from Kabul. She joins me now live.
Good to see, you Anna. So, what more are you learning about this terror threat imposed by ISIS-K? And what is the scene of the airport right now, that the U.S. and other nations, of course, are warning to leave from in order for their own safety?
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, the threat is real. Speaking to experts who have covered ISIS, al-Qaeda, Taliban for years, they say that they are surprised that there haven't been any attacks orchestrated by ISIS-K. They say there's numerous cells, certainly within Kabul they believe that when Kabul fell on the 15th of August, that about 2,000 ISIS-K fighters that were imprisoned, obviously, were released. They fled. And only about 100 have been killed by the Taliban. So, the threat, Rosemary, very real.
We know there are about 1,500 American citizens yet to enter the airport, yet to get in. And obviously, efforts are being made to try and fast-track that, try and sneak them in certain gates. But, Rosemary, for the tens of thousands of other Afghan allies, as we call them, those people who worked with Americans, worked with foreigners, worked for companies sponsored by the Americans, they have been left to fend for themselves. And that is absolutely frightening.
CHURCH: It most certainly is. And, Anna, you are in touch with Afghans now trapped in Kabul. Where are they saying?
COREN: Rosemary, I am being inundated with messages from Afghans who are trapped in Kabul. I mean, there's is no other way to put it. Pleading for help, pleading for assistance, can you take my baby? Can you get my child out of Afghanistan? And generally, it is the fear for their children, if they are killed, who is going to care for their children? One woman, one mother, she wrote to me a little bit earlier today, and I would just want to read you some of what she said. She said, dear ma'am, please help us. We're raising the voice of thousands of Afghans who are left here in this hell, while America decided to leave Afghanistan. How could you leave us behind while know that the hunters are everywhere, while all the doors are being locked by them and the only door is America and we worked with while they were in Afghanistan?
And that is the feeling, you know, amongst so many Afghans who worked for, you know, U.S. funded companies. I was in touch with one man last night, a 30-year-old father of two young children, who manages 128 staff. His company, based in Washington D.C., Rosemary, told them that they would evacuate them on the 7th of August. That got delayed after day after day after day. And now, we are here, you know, just days away from the United States pulling out of Hamid Karzai International Airport.
And it's not just U.S. troops. We are also talking about the foreign troops, we're talking about the Afghan soldiers, the commandoes who have not surrendered to the Taliban. They all must be evacuated along with their equipment, leaving tens of thousands of Afghans who worked with the Americans, worked with the International Community stranded.
CHURCH: Yes. It is a desperate situation for those Afghan allies.
Anna Coren, bringing us the latest on all of that. We appreciate it.
And still to come, the baby from this iconic Nirvana album cover is all grown up and now suing the rock band for using his picture. What his lawyer has to say, just after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:40:00]
CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, three decades after creating one of the most recognizable album covers in rock music, the band Nirvana is being sued for what's on it. Nirvana's 1991 "Nevermind" album cover features the naked baby in a pool appearing to swim toward $1 bill. That baby is now 30 years old and suing the band.
Spencer Elden says the artwork is child pornography. The lawsuit alleges he was sexualized because the dollar bill used in the artwork made the baby resemble a sex worker. Despite recreating the image several times throughout his adulthood, Elden claims he has suffered lifelong damages. He is seeking $150,000 from each surviving band members and others, including Kurt Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, who is the executor of his estate.
And CNN spoke with the lawyer for Spencer Elden's lawyer. She explained why her client is coming forward with these allegations after all this time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARGARET MABIE, ASSOCIATE, MARCH LAW FIRM: If you look at the case law and dose factors and you analyze this image comparing to those factors, it very much constitutes pornography. And I think the reason that Spencer is bringing this suit now is because he's about to face a very large invasion of his privacy again and the 30th anniversary. And when that album is released, he expects for his privacy to be invaded and this display of his genitalia to be put all across the world.
Spencer wants this image redacted. He is saying that he doesn't want his genitalia out there for the world to consume any longer. And if we have this image redacted, that will be a monumental statement for all victims of child pornography, that their voices are being heard and their privacy is being respected.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Over the years, the band has sold millions of copies of "Nevermind" and its lead single, "Smells Like Teen Spirit." CNN has reached out to those. Spencer Elden is suing for comment.
Well, I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back at the top of the hour with more CNN Newsroom. World Sport is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:45:00]
Hello there and welcome to World Sport. I'm Don Riddell at CNN Center.
It is really starting to feel as though we are in the twilight of an extraordinary tennis around. Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal had already ruled themselves out for the rest of the season. Now, both Williams sisters have pulled out of the U.S. Open. Serena Williams has 23 grand slam single titles to her name, announced via social media on Wednesday that she was pulling out in order to try and recover from injury.
The 39-year-old American wrote on Instagram, "After careful consideration and following the advice of my doctors and medical team, I've decided to withdraw from the U.S. Open to allow my body to heal completely from a torn hamstring."
On the same day, her big sister, Venus, announced that she is also going to be missing their home open. She's also dealing with a similar injury. The 41-year-old seven-time major champion expressed her disappointment in a video post.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VENUS WILLLIAMS, 7-TIME MAJOR WINNER: So, hi, everyone. Not the best news from Serena and I today. I too am unable to play the U.S. Open. It's super, super, super disappointing having some issues with my leg all summer. And just couldn't work through it, tried my best here in Chicago but I just was unable to figure out the equation. And there's been so many times where I've been able to figure it out, even not in the best of my health. But this time, I just couldn't make any miracles work.
I'm going to miss the Open, it's my favorite slam. Had so many amazing memories there and I can't wait to get back out on the court whenever that is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: Well, it means for the first time since 1996, the U.S. Open won't feature Federer, Nadal, or either of the Williams sisters.
For varying reasons, there are some other high-profile absences coming up of Flushing Meadows next week. Last year's Australian Open champion, Sofia Kenin, says that she has tested positive for COVID-19, and will therefore have to give it a miss. The world number 5 says she is vaccinated and experiencing only mild symptoms.
Earlier last week, the defending men's champion, Dominic Thiem, said that he'd also missed the Open because of a wrist injury that he says might require surgery.
European football season is about a kick into a pretty high gear and there are still a few days left for clubs to make some moves in the transfer market. It sounds like Harry Kane will be staying at Spurs, though. The England captain had been a big target of Manchester City, but he says that he is 100 percent focused on helping Spurs succeed.
Meanwhile, perhaps, the young French World Cup winner, Kylian Mbappe, could be heading to Spain. Real Madrid have offered $188 million to buy him from Paris Saint-Germain. Now, PSG have said they won't try to hold him back, but they are going to want more money from Real.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROB HARRIS, AP GLOBAL SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Perhaps it would also be in past dues interest if they could get a significant fee to sell Mbappe to help them comply with financial fair play or by all those UEFA rules are influx at the moment. For Mbappe, for him to leave, he is, obviously, has his status almost diminished at the club now. You've got Lionel Messi there as well as Neymar, in a move to Real Madrid could actually make him the main man there, almost at the side.
For Real Madrid, it's in their interest, perhaps, to let this interest be known, the status of LaLiga has been somewhat rocked by Messi leaving. What is so surprising about the numbers being floated are the fact that Mbappe will be a free agent next summer. His contract is in the final year at PSG. So, it's a technically big number to be talking about when he wouldn't cost anything. And Mbappe, next summer, then could potentially command a big signing on fee as well as a large salary because the club wouldn't have to fork out any money in terms of a transfer fee for him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: That's Rob Harris speaking on an earlier edition of World Sport.
OK. The draw for new season of the Champions League will be made on Tuesday, the group stage that is, in the coming hours will learn who will be playing in the group stage when it all kicks off in three weeks' time. 32 clubs are anxiously awaiting to see, three of them only just qualified on Wednesday night. It was a dramatic evening in Belgrade where Shakhtar Donetsk looked like there were out against Monaco. The French side were 2-0 up, leading 2-1 on aggregate. But a neat finish from Marlos got Shakhtar back into contention, sending the game into extra time.
And it was then that Monaco suffered a heartbreaking fate. A known goal from Ruben Aguilar saw them eliminated. The goal came against the run of play, as you can see. They are devastated.
Joining them -- or joining aggregate in their draw, I should say, will be R.B. Salzburg and also the first-ever Moldova side in the group stage, Sheriff Tiraspol. Wednesday second leg match against (INAUDIBLE) ended in a goalless draw. And therefore, a stunning 3-0 aggregate win against the Croatian champions.
[02:50:00]
It has not been a particularly good start for the new season for Arsenal losing back-to-back Premier League games against London rivals Bradford and then Chelsea. But the Gunners were very much in the mood against West Brom in the League Cup on Wednesday, thrashing the baggies 6-0 and it was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, just the roar of thunder with a hat-trick of goals. His first two were tap ins but his third was a curling finish just after the hour mark.
OK. It is day two of the Paralympic Games, and there are so many incredible athletes competing right now in Tokyo. Up next in World Sport, we're in conversation with an American legend competing in her sixth Paralympics.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RIDDELL: Welcome back. The Olympic Games are often amazing, but if you want to be truly inspired, then maybe you should pay attention to the Paralympic Games, which got underway in Tokyo yesterday.
Tatyana McFadden is one of the most high-profile athletes on the American team, and her backstory is just incredible. Adopted from a Russian orphanage at the age of six, McFadden has had to overcome paralysis below the waist. She's been talking to CNN's Selina Wang.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You are an absolute Paralympic legend. How does it feel to be here in Tokyo for your sixth Paralympic Games?
TATYANA MCFADDEN, COMPETING IN HER SIXTH PARALYMPICS: It definitely feels surreal. One, just being in Tokyo, especially after last year and the postponements. And for me, you know, it's been such a long journey. A different journey getting to these games specifically.
In 2017, after such an incredible game in 2016 from Rio and all the major marathon wins, I was diagnosed with a blood clotting disorder. I had several -- actually, several surgeries from February to March to April. They tried to -- I severely clotted in the right leg, and they try to break it up. And it just wasn't disappearing. So, it's been a really tough journey getting to Tokyo. You know, the 2017 me thought that wouldn't happen.
WANG: And you, obviously, had a lot of challenges on your road to Tokyo 2020. But how difficult was it to train during the pandemic and how did you stay motivated?
MCFADDEN: Yes. It was really hard. I think for athletes, you know, we know our schedule a year in advance. We know where we are going. We know what competitions we have. So, the unknown was really difficult.
WANG: You were born in Russia. What were the first six years of your life like in an orphanage before your adoption?
MCFADDEN: Yes. So, I was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. Orphanage number 13 is where I grew up for the first six years of my life. I didn't have any medical treatment. As soon as my surgery happened, no wheelchair and all I had was me. And the six-year changed when my mom happened to come through. She, at the time, ran her own adoption agency, and she went there just to see, you know, how all the kids were doing, and just purely on a business trip. And we met for the first time. And before I knew it, I was on the plane to the U.S., and so many wonderful things happened. A lot of firsts happened. Lots of surgeries, going to the school for the first time. Getting involved with sports for the first time.
[02:55:00]
WANG: Now, you've won 17 medals. 7 golds. You're the first person to win four major marathons in a year and you've broken many, many world records. What is it that drives you?
MCFADDEN: I love it. I love competing. I got into sports for health reasons, and it brought me so much more. It brought me to be independent. It brought me to be confident. It brought me to be -- to love myself for who I am. And then it brought out those competitive drives to wanting to be, you know, better each time, better each race.
WANG: Now, the Tokyo Olympics will be remembered for the dominant conversation about athlete mental health, especially with Simone Biles opening up that conversation. How did you react to that as it was playing out and how can you relate to it?
MCFADDEN: I respected her 100 percent. It is -- I'm proud of her because it is hard. It is -- you know, for athletes, we put so much on ourself and we honestly think that we are failures if we don't, you know, win or get top. You know, I feel like there is a mindset that only gold is highlighted, that, you know, silver and bronze are just OK.
And, you know, we worked four years for this. And so, we do put a lot of pressure on ourselves. Almost too much. And so, I think, looking at the mental health is super important because healthy living is the -- should be the number one goal. I applaud for all the athletes who talked about mental health because it made me realize I'm going to be OK. We are all going to be OK. And we are role models because the world is listening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: OK. We are just about out of time. But before we go, congratulations to the Major League Soccer All-Star team which has beaten the best of Mexico's Liga MX. After the game finished, won all in regular time, it was set over the penalty shootout and New England's goalie, Matt Turner, played a decisive role. He saved two kicks before Ricardo Pepi of Dallas stepped up to finish it.
And that does it for this edition of World Sport. Thanks for your company. I'm Don Riddell at CNN Center. See you again soon.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
