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Security Team Warns Biden, Another Attack in Kabul is Likely; 13 U.S. Service Members, 170 Afghans Killed in Kabul Attack; Pentagon Says, Taliban Security Failure may Have Led to Bombing. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 27, 2021 - 13:00   ET

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

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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN NEWSROOM: Yes. We'll kind of follow that one closely. Thanks very much, Chad.

I'm Anderson Cooper in New York in for Ana Cabrera. We're going to have more. Let's take a quick pause.

The fall of Afghanistan and the latest from the airport in Kabul. At any moment, the White House is expected to hold a briefing with Press Secretary Jen Psaki. We're going to bring that to you live, of course. There you see the podium.

The latest and most ominous headline, we've learned the national security team has warned President Biden than, quote, another terror attack in Kabul is likely as the mission enters its, quote, most dangerous period. Yet, right now, U.S. troops, soldier on in their mission evacuating as many Americans and Afghan allies as possible before Tuesday's withdrawal deadline. Marines, Army and others looming over this race against the clock, trying to get out as many as they can. The deaths of 13 U.S. Service members, of course, yesterday, a tragic toll.

A short time ago, we learned the losses are even greater than feared among Afghans, 170 Afghans killed, 200 or so wounded, according to Afghans' health ministry. And we're learning from U.S. authorities that there was just one suicide bomber, not, in fact, two as it was first believed yesterday. The Pentagon also warns of more what they call specific, credible threats from ISIS-K, the terror group claiming responsibility for yesterday's massacre.

Now, a short time ago, we learned that all wounded U.S. military personnel are now receiving care in Germany. More than 5,000 are still awaiting evacuation at the Kabul airport right now.

This morning, amid the heightened tensions, Afghan and other security forces deployed nonlethal stun grenades. The goal was to try to disperse crowds that are, of course, potential targets for a future attack.

We have CNN correspondents in place to bring you all the latest developments as we await this White House briefing. I want to bring in Kaitlan Collins who is at the White House.

So, let's talk a little bit more about this warning that the president received this morning from his national security team.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Anderson. This is a readout that we are getting from the press secretary, Jen Psaki. She is going to be taking questions from reporters in a few moments. She'll likely expand on these thoughts and this readout.

But this is pretty blunt. This is saying President Biden had this meeting this morning, where we saw the top national security aides arriving here at the White House, including the defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, the director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, as well. And what they told the president and the vice president, who was teleconferencing in, is that they believe that, quote, another terror attack in Kabul is likely.

They did say that the team on the ground is taking the maximum protection measures at the Kabul airport, hopefully to thwart that attack. But, of course, as we saw yesterday and what we've heard from the Pentagon is sometimes it's really hard to find a suicide bomber. Talking about, of course, how close quarters they are with people who are coming into the airport, those people that they are trying to evacuate, of course, by the hundreds and the thousands as this clock ticks down on this timeline for the U.S. to remove all of its forces from Afghanistan.

And so, Anderson, that is something they're balancing. The president said this was a really detailed briefing that he got from his national security team on what this threat is looking like. And it looks like the U.S. is trying to get out ahead of it, that another one certainly is possible in the next few days given there are still several more days in the U.S.-led evacuation.

And we should also note that in this, we heard the president yesterday saying that he had directed the Pentagon to develop plans to develop ways to strike ISIS-K assets, given they said they believe they're the ones responsible for this attack that killed 13 U.S. service members. And then this, Anderson, it says that the commanders did give the president and the vice president an update on the plans to develop ways to target ISIS-K.

It also says, quote, the next few days of this mission will be the most dangerous period to date. That is something that officials had been warning about but it is pretty blunt here in this readout about what the next few days are going to look like given the Pentagon said today there are still about 5,000 troops on the ground in Kabul.

COOPER: Yes. I appreciate it. Kaitlan, we'll check in with you. As we said, we'll be getting this press briefing at any moment.

Kylie Atwood is at the State Department for us. I understand you have some new reporting about the effort to get remaining U.S. embassy staff out.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, the U.S. diplomats who are on the ground at the Kabul airport right now, it's expected that a large contingent of them are going to leave over the weekend. And there are also plans underway for all of the remaining diplomats in the country to leave.

Now, the secretary of state hasn't definitely signed off on that but the preparations are underway with the expectation that these diplomats cannot remain in the country.

Now, we should note that most of the U.S. diplomats in Afghanistan left less than two weeks ago when the U.S. embassy was completely evacuated. So, the remaining contingent are a smaller number. They've been there helping with the evacuation process, processing these Afghan visas as they have come in through the gates.

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But these diplomats can't stay there if there's no operating airport, of course.

And a senior State Department official said that those two things are very much related. Earlier this week when talking about what was going to happen to the diplomatic presence there, saying, it's very unlikely that you would keep U.S. diplomats in a country where there's no way to get out by air or by sea, of course, given that Afghanistan is a land-locked country. Anderson?

COOPER: Is it clear to you what would happen to the U.S. embassy? I mean, is it possible that depending on what kind of rule the Taliban actually ends up having that the U.S. could reopen an embassy?

ATWOOD: It is possible. I mean, the embassy remains closed right now. It hasn't been protected, which is noteworthy. The State Department has said it's in a very protected area. But there's no one standing outside of it protecting folks from breaking in.

So, if the United States were to reopen that embassy, I think there would be a long process to make sure that nothing happened there, that there was nothing implanted in that embassy while the United States wasn't there.

And, of course, that would be determined by what the Biden administration decides they want their relationship with the Taliban to look like, and they have been reticent to commit one way or another to that, saying it will depend on how the Taliban decide to rule the country now that they're in control.

COOPER: Yes. Thanks, Kylie. We'll continue checking with you.

I want to go to Sam Kiley in Doha, Qatar. So, Sam, what is the situation at the Kabul airport currently? Do we know much about exactly how this attack has impacted efforts to get people out?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, remarkably, Anderson, people are still getting into the airport, mostly by relatively covert means, it would appear, because there're still about 4,000 people there waiting for flights out. 12,500 people were moved yesterday right in the middle or around that atrocious terrorist attack, which has now killed 13 Americans and at least 170 other people, according to the Afghan ministry of health. Among those dead now confirmed by British authorities, two British citizens and the child of a British national too. The number of dead is now including foreign civilians as well as foreign troops.

There was still though an enormous evacuation process that's going to go on until those American diplomats leave, certainly from the perspective of people going to the United States. And they are the overwhelming bulk of evacuees. A number of other countries, Belgium, Holland and other European countries have already suspended or ended their evacuation process because they're having to bring their people out as part of the U.S. withdrawal.

So this is now getting to the critical moment at a time when you already mentioned there, there are still ongoing threats. And when security officials say that, they mean there are -- they are known and active plots that they're trying to disrupt to continue to attack either people trying to get out through the airport or the airport itself. And, of course, as those aircrafts start taking off and a lot of the defensive measures start to be drawn down and the numbers of troops to manage all of that become less, all becomes a lot more vulnerable.

But the Taliban continuing to work with the Americans to try to hand over or control security, and the Taliban have also, as been announced today, actually offered or asked the Turkish authorities, remember, Turkey is the massive part of NATO, to stay on with their troops to help run the airport once the United States moves on. The Turks are now considering that. Their application, if you like, from the Taliban, but a remarkable moment, if you like, when they're reaching out to a NATO-powered arsenal to leave troops behind in order that they can still run their airports, and that might be the way out for those who have been left behind, Anderson.

COOPER: It's really interesting, Sam, that that last bit about Turkey. I mean, Turkey was all along -- I mean, in recent weeks before the Taliban took over, Turkey was in charge at the airport providing security for the running of the airport, and that had been the plan when the U.S. was thinking the Afghan government would continue to stand, the embassy would still be there. Turkey was still going to take charge of the airport. It would be very interesting, indeed, if Turkey decided to continue doing that. It would say a lot about the ability for commercial airliners to continue to land at that airport.

KILEY: It would, Anderson. There is one slight glitch in this, and that almost all the Turkish forces have actually already withdrawn. They've been withdrawn through Pakistan and flown on back to Istanbul. So, there is a problem there. If they wanted to do this, they would probably have to send either the same troops or fresh troops back in, just as the United States and its other allies are moving out.

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That's not impossible at all. It would be relatively straightforward, because the infrastructure to hand over is still there. That was not destroyed. The air traffic control, all of those structures, the airport is in perfect condition. The accommodation is still there. It hasn't been looted. It hasn't been smashed up. And that's clearly a massively important issue for the international community.

Notably, the United Nations, which is saying today that they fear 500,000 Afghans may turn into refugees and flee the country, especially if they don't get what they're talking about trying to do, which is getting a humanitarian air bridge, at the very least, into Afghanistan to try to get food and other commodities out into a population who can't even get access to their salaries, cannot get the access to the banks at the moment. The whole economy has ground to a halt, Anderson.

COOPER: Yes. Sam Kiley, I appreciate it, from Doha. We'll check in with you a little bit later.

Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon for us. U.S. Central Command, Barbara, warning the specific, credible and imminent threats of ISIS-K attacks. The U.S. has been very insistent that the evacuation is ongoing but will end next Tuesday. Does the Pentagon believe that a second attack before then is likely?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: They are worried about it, Anderson. There's no question about it. The Pentagon saying earlier today that they're monitoring all these threats in real-time. That is how seriously they are taking it and how closely they are watching everything. They have drones, intelligence assets up over the airport, trying to monitor the situation.

But as the clock ticks down, here is the major problem, and there was nothing more telling than what we learned today. While there's still about 5,000 troops at the airport, U.S. troops, that may be the last time we ever publicly hear about the number of troops there until they are all gone on Tuesday, presumably, because of the security situation. They are concerned that as they draw down between now and Tuesday, the threat becomes more dire, potentially, because somebody out there is going to think the U.S. military is vulnerable. And they potentially will be, indeed, as the number of U.S. troops draws down continuously between now and next Tuesday.

We are also led to understand that there will come a point, sooner than later, perhaps, where those gates at the airport will, in fact, be turned over to the Taliban. And think about it this way. Less U.S. troops, they have to pull back. They have to pack, get on the airplanes and prepare to leave. They will not be able to continue to monitor those gates. They -- Sam said, the Turks may come back in, but there will be a point at which the Taliban essentially control the airfield, control air traffic control, control the gate, access to the airport. They will be in charge. And when that last U.S. military plane rolls down the runway and those wheels lift off, it will be the Taliban who are in charge of the airport finally. Anderson?

COOPER: I mean, it is, just in the way you say it, it is obviously such a huge security concern for U.S. forces on the ground there. I mean, pulling out when it gets down to the last few plane loads, the last plane load, there are so many factors at play.

There are. Now, I must tell you, commanders insist behind the scenes somewhat that they understand the risk and that they have the assets in place to take care of it and to manage it. One of the traditional things they would rely on is overhead, airplanes, drones, with missiles and sensors, to understand the threats if they potentially approach the airport.

They will also have to rely on the Taliban. There's no question about it. They hope the Taliban continues to be the sworn enemy of ISIS-K. The Taliban want to demonstrate to the world they can control the situation even as they enact violence against the Afghan people. The U.S. certainly hopes it's just going to somehow be enough to get U.S. forces out of there.

I don't know that I recall a situation somewhat like this, because the complication here is Afghanistan is a land-locked country. There're no aircraft carriers offshore where they can all jump on helicopters and land on some ship just off the coastline. It is a very long way in an airplane to get past the Afghan borders, to get into a nearby country, to move people in and out. This is a continuous problem in Afghanistan. So there's -- we're going to have to see how it plays out.

Pentagon insists they think they have a handle on it. They are also very cautious, very much warning that this threat is not over.

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And they are not going to be able to rest until, in fact, that last plane rolls down the runway and lifts off.

COOPER: Yes. Barbara Starr, thank you, from the Pentagon. We're going to check back with all our correspondents as things develop this hour.

Coming up, senators are being briefed right now on the situation in Afghanistan. We'll take you live to Capitol Hill for the latest there.

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COOPER: Capitol flags at half staff in honor of the service members killed in yesterday's suicide attack in Kabul. Senators are receiving a briefing right now. This as lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are calling for investigations and that some Republicans call for President Biden to resign, at least one suggesting the 25th Amendment.

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CNN Congressional Correspondent Jessica Dean joins us now with the latest reactions coming in. Jessica?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, as you mentioned, that briefing going on with all 100 senators, as we speak. We know that's happening over the phone, that there are officials from the State Department, from the Defense Department and others who will be briefing those senators, so we hope to get a readout on that very soon.

In the meantime, we did hear from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy just a short time ago on Afghanistan. He kind of went back and forth on whether he thought troops should remain in Afghanistan, at one point saying they should all be evacuated, at another point saying that they should send more in if they're needed to get the evacuations completed of Americans and vulnerable Afghans who are still on the ground. So, he went a little bit back and forth there.

He also was asked whether he stands by other House Republicans who, as you mentioned, have called for President Biden and other members of his cabinet to either resign or be impeached. We know that in a private meeting with House Republicans last night, he said that was counterproductive. Here's what he said today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): Look, I'm extremely frustrated with this president. As I said, if you want to be president of the free world, you have to have the faith, the trust and the confidence of the American public. President Biden lost that yesterday. There will be a day of reckoning and we have a constitutional right. Right now, in the next five days, everyone's responsibility should only be focused on getting the Americans out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Now, of course, President Biden is largely protected from big investigations right now, Anderson, because Democrats control, of course, both the House and the Senate. And for the most part, Democrats are standing by President Biden and his decisions. Though we did hear from one representative, Susan, Wild, who went so far as to say that these evacuations were egregiously mishandled and did ask for answers that she hopes to get more answers using her position on various committees to do so.

We also heard from the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Bob Menendez, and he said we should not be trusting the Taliban with American security, Anderson. But, again, that briefing for senators ongoing and we'll get you more details as we get them. Anderson?

COOPER: Jessica Dean, I appreciate it. Thanks. I want to get to our CNN Global Affairs Analyst Kim Dozier. Kim, you're still in contact with people trying to evacuate in Afghanistan. What are you hearing?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, for some, they have magically gotten through. There are a number of high risk elements like people who used to work with Special Operations Forces who used a sort of flash mob method of getting in one part of Kabul and then looking like they were blending in and then hopping onto transport that was arranged. So it just looked like people getting on taxis, and some of those are now awaiting transport out. So, that's the good news.

The bad news is a lot of the gates have literally been welded shut, and one of the few that was still taking American citizens and green card holders only, the Taliban had to call a halt to letting people in from their side. So you've got this airport with the walls and the Americans on the control inside, and then you have Taliban checkpoints pushing out from the airport and they determine who gets how close.

Not all of them were well controlled. You saw what happened at Abbey Gate. All they could go do was wade in the crowd. But there are other people who now realize they're not going to get out on these flights. The U.S. is going to need probably the rest of these days left to process the people already on the airfield and get its own troops out.

And I spoke to one family that said well, we now understand, if we want out, we've got to go over land, and they're selling off of their possessions to get enough money to survive as refugees.

COOPER: Wow. Today, the Pentagon said that a Taliban security failure may have led to yesterday's bombings. If that ends up being true, it certainly points to just the ad hoc nature of this bizarre alliance right now between U.S. forces and the Taliban, two sides which have been fighting each other now for 20 years. It's not as if the Taliban has well-orchestrated checkpoints. I think it's important to point out it's a very ad hoc -- I mean, it's sometimes just a bunch of people kind of whipping people in a crowd.

DOZIER: Yes. Okay. The road supporting approaching the airport, yes, the Taliban have tried to install checkpoints. But those checkpoints rove, they move. Those people manning the checkpoints, these aren't people who have been trained to be policemen. A lot of them have just been fighting in the hills for the past decade.

And the other thing is I've been spending a lot of my time with this volunteer task force of former special operators people moving people out.

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We counted on the fact that those Taliban checkpoints were moving around to try to get people vulnerable people past them and to the front gates. So I got to say, in the hours before the Abbey Gate attack, one of the families I was speaking to managed to go on foot and avoid the Taliban checkpoints.

Was that a failure? I think the situation is too fluid for anybody to guarantee security in Kabul right now.

COOPER: It's also going to be incredibly risky, as we were just talking about in the previous segment, in the final days, as U.S. forces continue -- start to dwindle in number. Just access to the airport will be pretty much controlled by the Taliban, and at some point the U.S. will be off the wall and trying to get out.

DOZIER: True. But, remember, the Taliban has been in talks with the U.S. military for more than a year now, a lot of tactical talks of coordination. And the Taliban also knows, the leadership knows that they need international support and they don't need the U.S. as the enemy. They put out an official statement today that they have reached out to the World Food Program and other international aid agencies for aid. So it is not in their interest to attack the U.S. on the way out.

However, it's going to be hard with this untrained force to keep ISIS- K from lobbing a rocket in or doing something to act as spoiler as the last Americans try to leave.

COOPER: President Biden has said, of course, yesterday that he'll hunt down the terrorists responsible for the attack, make them pay at a time and place of the U.S. choosing. U.S. forces are set obviously to, what, four days. It's going to be -- it just makes -- to actually pull off.

DOZIER: But there are two things working ironically in the U.S.'s favor. Some of the people inside Afghanistan over the years that were either part of the Taliban or sympathetic to anyone fighting the United States might have looked the other way at ISIS-K activities. Now, if the Taliban is going to be in charge, they might turn those people in.

The other thing that is happening is that the U.S. is going to have to basically go back to how it hunts terrorists in a place like Yemen or in a place like Libya. You're going to rely a lot on signals intelligence, on intercepting phone calls, and maybe even somewhere down the road, there might be some form of cooperation between the Taliban, the U.S. and Pakistan that is something that had been discussed in Doha peace talks. But we just don't know how --

COOPER: We also heard that the Taliban has reached out to Turkey to ask them to essentially bring back their troops to provide security at the airport moving forward once the U.S. leaves, which would -- obviously, it would encourage commercial airliners probably to be able to fly in.

Kim Dozier, it's a fast-moving situation. I really appreciate all the information you have. Thank you so much.

DOZIER: Thank you.

COOPER: We're minutes away from the next White House briefing on Afghanistan. We'll bring that to you live, of course. We'll be right back.

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