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Security Threats Prompt Warnings to Leave Airport; Desperation Grows Outside Kabul Airport as Deadline Nears; U.S. Air Base Housing Thousands of Afghan Evacuees; Florida Hospitals Facing Shortage of ICU Beds; Pfizer Seeks FDA Approval of Third Vaccine Dose; China Slams U.S. Intel Report on Origin of COVID-19; Congress Requests Records on Trump's Final Weeks in Office. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired August 26, 2021 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: With just five days until the pullout deadline, warnings of a possible terror threat at Kabul airport complicate the frantic evacuation efforts.

Why a U.S. intelligence report on the origins of COVID-19 is angering China before it's even published. Plus --

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're coming here, and it is war. It's sometimes chaos.

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BRUNHUBER: Overworked and overwhelmed, nurses quitting amid the grueling pressures of caring for so many COVID patients.

Live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber, this is CNN NEWSROOM.

Fears of a potential terror attack at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan have the U.S., the 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. And the U.K. foreign office cited a high threat of terrorist attack.

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JAMES HEAPPEY, BRITISH ARMED FORCES MINISTER: There is now very, very credible reporting of an imminent attack and hence why the foreign office advice was changed last night. That people should not come to Kabul airport, they should move to a safe place and await further instructions.

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BRUNHUBER: Thousands of Afghans are crowded around the airport perimeter hoping for a flight out of the country before the U.S. military's mission ends next week. And the State Department says about 1,500 Americans still may be in Afghanistan. It's made contact with about 500 of them with specific instructions on how to get to the airport safely.

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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: There is no deadline on our work to help any remaining citizens who decide they want to leave do so along with the many Afghans who have stood by us over these many years and want to leave and have been unable to do so. That effort will continue every day past August 31. The Taliban have made public and private commitments to provide and permit safe passage for Americans, for third country nationals and Afghans at risk going forward past August 31. Our expectation, the expectation of the international community is that people who want to leave Afghanistan after the U.S. military departs should be able to do so.

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BRUNHUBER: So, who is this ISIS-K group that's threatening people in Afghanistan? The K stands for Khorasan, an area around the Afghan- Pakistani border. Experts say they are mostly veteran jihadists from Syria and elsewhere, some recently released from Afghan prisons.

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PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: ISIS-K has the ability to strike at will in Kabul. They have carried out attacks that have killed dozens including girls. They certainly have the capacity to carry it out an attack at Kabul airport. They certainly probably have the intent since it is a group that's very anti-American. And the estimates I've seen are 1,000 to 2,000 fighters. They've taken some hits in recent years. There has been very strong military operations against them. The Taliban has fought them. But they are not out of commission.

Afghan officials estimate there are about 10,000 foreign fighters in Afghanistan, but it doesn't mean ISIS is 10,000 foreign fighters, but there are a lot of foreign fighters. And I think a key here is when the Taliban rolled in to places like Bagram Air Base or Pul-e-Charkhi Prison just outside Kabul, every prisoner there got released. That means ISIS-K, Al Qaeda, the Taliban, all the ranks of these groups were replenished by these prisoner releases.

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BRUNHUBER: And many Afghans are trying to keep the airport arguing so at great personal risk. In a video shared on social media a man says he was beaten by the Taliban while attempting to get to the airport. His face is bloodied and he can be heard saying they hit me bad. But despite these reports of violence, threats and beatings, thousands of Afghans are persistent. CNN's Sam Kiley reports from the Kabul airport.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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.

[04:05:00]

Beyond these barriers, plane 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.

KILEY: We've also had a number of reports of Afghans stuck in pockets around the town desperately sending out signals to America to try to get them out, particularly people who have been working with the United States. We've heard from one group whose identity we're keeping secret that really fear that they will not survive the coming days if they can't get to this airport.

KILEY (voice-over): 19,000 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 effort will have to focus on its own withdrawal. Amid detailed threats from ISIS-K who 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 their home easily. But there are a lot of challenges around.

KILEY (voice-over): Landing in Doha, a muted joy. Now they're safe, but on a long journey into the unknown.

Sam Kiley, CNN, Kabul International Airport.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, as we heard some Afghans are going to extraordinary lengths just to get into the Kabul airport. One woman and her two children had tried almost a dozen times to get in so they could catch a flight and join her husband in the U.S. Well, they finally made it through after she dressed her baby in this yellow outfit and sent a photo to U.S. marines. Well, they spotted the baby in the crowd and the family finally made it.

For many evacuees, one of the main stop over points is the U.S. air base in Ramstein, Germany. Right now, thousands of Afghans are taking shelter there stretching the massive military base to capacity.

Journalist Atika Shubert is there and joins us now. Atika, resources are stretched to say the least. How are the authorities trying to cope with the demands and how are the Afghans themselves coping with the challenging conditions there?

ATIKA SHUBERT, JOURNALIST: Well, what they have really done is created a temporary refuge within the air base that involves hundreds of these military tents. It's really a kind of a tent city. And every time a plane, a C-13 arrives here, the evacuees disembark, they get screened, security screened, medical screened, and then they get placed in one of these tents. You know, it's very basic shelter essentially. You know, when it rains, it is not that comfortable but it's safe and it's secure and they are getting three hot meals a day.

The most difficult part for evacuees from my understanding is the fact that they've told me that they have to wait and they don't know when they will get on a flight to the United States. And for them, the hardest part is not being able to communicate with other parts of their family. They have no connection to the internet. Their phones only work at certain times. So, they're very worried about family members they've left behind. Some of them can't even communicate with other family members who are actually in Ramstein Air Base but in other parts of the camp.

Now the good news is that those flights taking them to the U.S. have dramatically increased. In fact, they've more than doubled and they have now been able to get more than 2,500 of these evacuees to the U.S., to Dulles airport, mostly with commercial carriers such as Delta Airlines. So, the system does now seem to be now picking up some speed getting them to the U.S., but it has been slow going at first. Hopefully that means that they'll pick up some pace -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. All right, thank you so much, Atika Shubert. Appreciate it.

The number of COVID patients admitted to U.S. hospitals has nearly tripled in the past month straining health care systems nationwide. More than 100,000 Americans are now in hospital with the virus according to the U.S. health department, the most since January. And the CDC says hospital rates among children are the highest they've ever been.

Meanwhile intensive care units are also filling up. Some of the states facing the worst capacity issues are ones with the lowest vaccination rates. And that includes parts of Florida which have some of the worst vaccination rates in the country and are running out of hospital beds. One doctor with a long history of treating cancer patients was forced to make an agonizing decision.

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DR. NITESH PARYANI, ONCOLOGIST IN FLORIDA: I'm a third-generation oncologist. The one principle that my family had built treating cancer patients is that we would never turn away a patient regardless of whether they could pay or not.

[04:10:00] And for the first time in 60 years of my family's history of treating cancer, we had to turn someone away. We just didn't have a bed. There was simply no room in the hospital to treat the patient. What we're seeing is a tremendous amount of patients coming in, and the other day our emergency room had a 12 hour wait. Almost every hospital in the city is on the verge of -- they don't have room to take transfer patients, patients who need complex care simply can't access it. And it's -- this kind of strain is something we've never seen before.

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BRUNHUBER: With infections surging, a plan to offer booster shots is shaping up in the U.S. Pfizer is seeking approval from federal regulators for a third dose and Johnson & Johnson says early trial data is promising for its booster shot. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There are three authorized vaccines in the United States and now there is discussion about a third shot for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, these miRNA vaccines. There are still steps to go through. The FDA and CDC have to officially weigh in, authorize it and formally recommend a third shot.

And there will be meetings this week about that. So far, some data has been presented, but in addition to showing the data around antibodies, which is a term most people know how to, these proteins that help fight infections, they also want to know as part of its data, is there evidence that the third shot actually offers more protection, not just more antibodies, but more protection. And that's part of what the discussion is going to be around Johnson & Johnson as well.

Now keep in mind as I show you this data that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was authorized in the United States in March, so a few months after the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. And there is 14 million people who have received a shot, a much smaller number than with the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, so you have less data.

But what they found out of this small study is that people who received the booster six months after the first shot did have antibodies increase nine-fold. So that's pretty significant. Now it's a small study, it still needs to be peer reviewed and published. But if that data holds up, that would be significant. But I think in order to authorize a booster -- many people think it should be authorized -- but in order to do that the CDC is probably going to want to know is there evidence that another shot will actually be of benefit to these patients. Should that shot be another Johnson & Johnson shot? Should it be a different vaccine? Sometimes mix and match can be even more effective.

All of that to say that there is still more data that needs to be presented, more homework that needs to be done before any of these shots get formally recommended as boosters no matter the vaccine. As we get more information, we'll certainly bring to you.

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BRUNHUBER: Delta Airlines isn't forcing its current U.S. employees to get vaccinated but it is making it clear that if they refuse, well it will cost them. 25 percent of staff who are unvaccinated will pay an extra $200 a month for a company health insurance come November, that's to offset soaring hospital costs. Delta says it has paid on average $50,000 for each COVID patient's hospital stay. Unvaccinated employees will also be subject to weekly COVID tests starting next month.

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ED BASTIAN, DELTA CEO: 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 are already vaccinated. So, I think this last step just short of a mandate I think will work for us.

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BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile Disney World has reached a deal with two unions that will mandate vaccinations for many of its Florida employees. The Orlando-based resort will require tens of thousands of staff members to show proof of vaccination by late October. It does allow exemptions for those with medical conditions and certain religious beliefs.

All right. Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, the U.S. review of the origins of COVID-19 is now complete. But China is slamming the report and the motives behind it.

Plus, U.S. lawmakers step up their probe into what led on the Capitol insurrection on January 6. Now they want information about conversations held behind the scenes in Donald Trump's White House. Stay with us.

[04:15:00]

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BRUNHUBER: China is slamming the U.S. over its now completed intelligence report on the origins of COVID-19 which could be released as early as this week. But sources suggest the 90-day review ordered by President Biden is largely a dud. And that the intelligence community still has little confidence in either of the origin theories, whether their virus emerge naturally or it was leaked from a lab. CNN spoke to Jamie Metzl, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council about what needs to happen next.

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JAMIE METZL, SENIOR FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Now we need a full investigation to get to the bottom of this. There is a lot of evidence that is fully available and should be available in China. But even if the Chinese government continues to not participate and prevent any kind of investigation inside of China, there are many other resources which we need access to and that's why this is the first step. We need to authorize a continuation of this Biden intelligence review. We need national COVID commission, a bipartisan commission, and we need to ramp up international efforts to have the kind of full investigation that's never even to date has been mandated.

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BRUNHUBER: CNN's Will Ripley is following the story from Hong Kong. Will, it doesn't sound as though this report will have accomplished much except maybe anger China. What can you tell us?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's a very good point, Kim. I mean, I remember we were talking about this three months ago when President Biden ordered this report. Because remember, there was the intelligence that, you know, researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in November of 2019 had to go to the hospital because they came down with some sort of flu-like illness. Now granted there was -- excuse me as I wipe my nose here. Not COVID, I just tested about ten minutes ago. I got the text message.

[04:20:00]

But you know, there were a lot of things going around in Wuhan at the time that they could have had. But it was that nugget of information that, you know, caused President Biden to say, OK, you have 90 days. I want a full review. There was supposedly was this trove of genetic data questionable about whether 90 days is even time to go through all of this experts say. Also, they had another look at intelligence. So, they looked at satellite imagery. They look at intercepted communications. And in the end here we are now, Kim, 90 days later, they still have no conclusive evidence of either pre-dominant theory. Could it have been the lab leak theory? Could it have naturally emerged through animal and human interaction? We're just pretty much at the same place today that we were three months ago when we were talking about this, Kim.

And that is what is so frustrating. Is that we're fast approaching the two-year mark of this pandemic. And we don't know how it started. And if you don't know how it started, scientists say how can you possibly learn from it and prevent the next one.

But in Beijing, they are just digging in their heels and it's this almost schoolyard tit for tat. They say that this unscientific report as they call it is only going to cause interference and damage to international traceability and global pandemic cooperation. They say it's not a scientific report based on facts which in some ways is true in that a lot of the facts were blocked by China initially according to the U.S. and allies around the world. Who said that China lacked transparency and basically tried to block international researchers from getting in and having actual access to samples. They had conversations with Chinese researchers, but did they actually have access to samples. A lot of the samples have been thrown out. What even exists now in terms of physical evidence.

They say that the United States is doing this report because of its own as they put guilty conscience. They say the U.S. is trying to shirk responsibility for what China feels are its failures to properly handle the COVID-19 pandemic. And they say -- and this is a quote here, Kim -- the U.S. avoids answers, keeps secrets and constantly sets up obstacles.

Doesn't that some familiar? China accusing the United States of what the United States has been accusing China of doing basically from the early months of this pandemic.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, and experts say time is running out if we're to get to the bottom of this as evidence phases fades as you said there. Will Ripley, get better.

RIPLEY: I'm OK, I promise, it's just a stuffy nose.

BRUNHUBER: Here in the U.S. former President Trump is threatening to invoke executive privilege to block a Congressional probe into the final weeks of his presidency. But it's unclear how he would do that because the current president, Joe Biden has final say over the matter. A Congressional select committee is looking for a massive amount of documents to help find out what was happening behind closed doors as Mr. Trump was trying to hold on to his presidency. Jessica Schneider reports.

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JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Select Committee blasting out a sweeping demand for documents hoping to find out the conversations inside the White House and among former President Trump's allies and advisors related to those false claims of election fraud and the Capitol attack on January 6th.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We fight like hell.

SCHNEIDER (voice over): The Committee's Chairman signaling this will be a sprawling probe.

REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-MS): It's several hundred people that make up the list of individuals we plan to contact.

SCHNEIDER (voice over): The initial wave of requests sent to eight government agencies, including the Department of Justice, the FBI and the National Archives. The archives could be key since it has legal custody of all the presidential records from Donald Trump's time in office.

The Committee has sent that agency 12 pages of demands, including for White House records relating to Trump's family like the call logs and schedules from Melania Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner and his three eldest children.

DONALD TRUMP, JR., DONALD TRUMP SON: An actual fighter, one of the few.

SCHNEIDER (voice over): They are also seeking communications from key White House staffers like Chief of Staff Mark Meadows who pushed the Justice Department to investigate baseless claims of fraud already released documents show and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, who CNN has reported pushed back.

Plus, the Committee wants the archives to hand over evidence of any efforts to delay the electoral count, including communications involving Trump lawyer Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani.

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: Good afternoon.

SCHNEIDER (voice over): Who persistently pushed false claims or fraud all over the country.

TRUMP: All I want to do is this, I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more that we have.

SCHNEIDER (voice over): Trump's pressure campaign on Georgia officials to overturn the results also a target of the massive records request. But all the White House requests will be subject to executive privilege if the current president chooses to assert it. And even if Biden chooses not to, Trump could try to challenge it and wage a long ranging legal fight.

[04:25:00]

The Committee's chairman who's also said the panel plans to send notices to various communications companies, requesting that they preserve phone records of several people, including members of Congress.

THOMPSON: In terms of telecom companies, they're the ones that pretty much already know. The major networks, the social media platforms, those kinds of things. We'll do what's required to get the information.

SCHNEIDER: The select committee also wants to know who stood up to the former president. They've asked for a paper trail about whether anyone defied any orders from Trump and the committee is asking for all of this information before September 9, that is in just two weeks.

Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.

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BRUNHUBER: Some of the Trump attorneys mentioned in that report now face sanctions in the state of Michigan. They include Sydney Powell, Lynn Wood and several other lawyers who filed lawsuits challenging the election results. A federal judge in Michigan concluded those lawsuits were frivolous and Trump's attorneys have to pay their opponents legal fees. They may also face further disciplinary action in the state.

At least three other attorneys have already been slapped with legal penalties for pushing Trump's election lies including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani who's temporarily lost his law license in his home state and in Washington.

Well, it's a race against time in Afghanistan. With just days until the U.S. withdraws its troops from the Kabul airport, crowds are braving desperate and dangerous conditions even as officials warn of an imminent terror attack. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber, this is CNN NEWSROOM.