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U.S. Embassy Warns Americans at Kabul Airport Gates to "Leave Immediately"; U.S. Military Conducts Airstrike against ISIS-K Planner; U.S. Evacuation from Afghanistan Now in Final Phase; Several Groups Vying for Power in Afghanistan; Cases among Unvaccinated Overwhelming Some U.S. Hospitals. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired August 28, 2021 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.
Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, President Biden vowed revenge for the Kabul airport bombing and, in the last few hours, word the U.S. military began doing just that.
How COVID-19 originated: the report from the U.S. intelligence community that China is calling fabricated.
Plus, another Atlantic hurricane after roaring over Cuba, Ida now setting her sights on the U.S. Gulf Coast and it could become a monster.
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HOLMES: The U.S. is beginning to make good on its promise to strike back against the terror group that is believed responsible for the Kabul airport attack. Launching a drone strike against the terror group ISIS-K in Nangarhar province, a U.S. Central Command spokesman said this, quoting now.
"U.S. military forces conducted an over-the-horizon counterterrorism operation today against an ISIS-K planner. The unmanned airstrike occurred in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties."
Now this, of course, coming as the U.S. embassy in Kabul issued a fresh security alert again, telling Americans to avoid going to the airport and warning if they are already waiting at the gates to quote, "leave immediately." The White House says the national security team has determined that another terror attack in Kabul is likely.
At least 170 Afghans, 13 American troops and 2 British citizens were killed in that Kabul airport bombing. CNN senior international correspondent Ivan Watson joins me live from Hong Kong. Also White House reporter Jasmine Wright is in Washington for us. Ivan, let's begin with you. So Joe Biden vowed to strike back; 36
hours later, it appears that he did.
What is your take on the effectiveness or otherwise of it militarily in the big picture?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For the moment, we only have the very few bits of information that the Central Command has put out, that this was a drone strike. They claimed to have killed this ISIS-K planner.
And they also said there were no further civilian casualties. We will need to see whether the military will add initial information about who the suspected target was and perhaps videos of the drone strike, things like that to learn a little bit more about. This
In the bigger picture the U.S. has had boots on the ground in Afghanistan for 20 years. It has been hunting for the past five years ISIS-K operatives. In addition, the Taliban and Al Qaeda, it has dropped larger munitions and has not succeeded in eliminating its enemies in Afghanistan.
As we can see with the spectacular fall of the U.S.-backed governments in Kabul in just the last couple of weeks.
So can this one drone strike really dramatically change the equation on the ground?
Very unlikely. They may have assassinated an ISIS-K operative but the fact remains that this group, one of the many fighting groups on the ground in Afghanistan, was able to kill a massive number of people, as it has done in the past, Michael.
This is a group that has killed deminers, the -- you cannot argue about whether or not that the Halo Trust, who remove the land mines that kill civilians, are heroes. And they claimed responsibility for an attack that killed them, of all people, and massacred more than 100 of their own countrymen as well as U.S. service personnel at Kabul airport in the last couple days.
HOLMES: Many, many horrors, including shooting women, giving birth, in labor at a maternity hospital. Just unbelievable stuff.
Let's turn to Jasmine Wright now. Joe Biden true to his promise basically to hunt down at least one of those responsible for the bombing, according to the U.S., he's been taking some political heat.
Might this calm the critics a little bit?
JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Michael, that's the question. Look, President Biden said that he would retaliate and he has now just fulfilled his pledge. And as Ivan was saying we don't know all the details, including whether or not the person targeted and killed is directly related to yesterday's suicide bombing attacks.
[01:05:00] WRIGHT: But there is no doubt that, as President Biden takes incoming political flak from both the Right and people within his own party, there is no coincidence about how quickly this attack came, just 36 hours after President Biden made that pledge.
And the question of whether or not this was successful or what the impact of it will be determined in time and, of course, it's not exactly sure whether or not this one airstrikes or potentially that are to come as the U.S. tries to disrupt any threats from ISIS-K on the ground, as we get closer to the August 31st date will silence the critics.
But this came quickly and President Biden foreshadowed it kind of yesterday, when he said that they had some evidence in the intelligence community about who carried it out.
So the question was what does this look like going forward?
Because there is a chance that this strike makes things more unstable on the ground as the U.S. works to get more people out of the country, also draw down their forces. Remember, they said they got in that national security briefing this morning with the president and the vice president that there was likely another attack coming in Kabul and they said, quote, "the next few days of this mission will be the most dangerous period to date."
So we know that the mission continues and they are focused on evacuations and focused on drawing down forces. . But the question is what happens in the next few days as we get closer and closer to that August 31st date, Michael?
HOLMES: Absolutely.
Ivan, I want to come back to you for a moment, you've covered Afghanistan for years.
Do you see a Taliban in 2021 as being meaningfully different in how they might rule compared to the first iteration?
WATSON: That's the big question. Here they're certainly more sophisticated than they were 20 years ago. They have, after all been, battling the U.S. and NATO and the now defeated Western-backed government.
They certainly are better at social media and propaganda. And one of the ironies of the past 20 years is that some of the infrastructure that, the overthrow of the Taliban, some of the infrastructure that was brought in, for example, the cell phone networks that now cover Afghanistan, prior, when the Taliban were in charge 20 years ago, you had to go to neighboring Pakistan to make a phone call, because there was no telecommunications system across the country.
And the Taliban ended up using that same cell phone network for its own operations and communications and to attack their own targets. So there is a different country now than there was 20 years ago when they were last in charge. There are now functioning airports and paved roads, which did not exist.
The question will be, can they establish control?
There's likely to be some kind of a power struggle with ISIS-K, that are their enemies, with the anti-Taliban movement coalescing around the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud in the Panjshir valley. They're still apparently rounding up their former enemies in the former Afghan government, though they deny that and claim that there has been an amnesty.
Can they also function and maintain relations with neighboring countries, like the former Soviet states to the north, like Iran to the west, which is a Shia Muslim country and a lot of the Taliban view Shiites as heretics, that they want to kill?
At least that was the case in the past.
Can they maintain relations with China?
And there have been meetings face to face. These are all going to be questions going forward.
Or will they bring the same kind of rule that they had in the past?
And we are hearing signs of it, where it will arrest men who don't grow their beards long enough or arrest people who are caught playing chess. And that will really depend on how much of a command and control the Taliban will be able to institute throughout their own forces.
And here is another big question, Michael.
What kind of an economy is if Afghanistan going to have?
It relied heavily, the government, the former government, on international aid that has since been frozen from the World Bank, the IMF and the U.S.
Can it maintain relations with those institutions and unlock its own money so that it can pay policemen and doctors and keep the hospitals running?
Or will resort back to the system of, more than 20 years ago, where the U.N. and international aid organizations were providing those services -- Michael?
HOLMES: Yes.
And where will all the money come from?
Heroin, probably, a lot of it. Good to see you, Ivan. Thanks so much for. That
Jasmine Wright, thanks to you, too, there in Washington.
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HOLMES: Bill Roggio is the managing editor for the excellent "Long War Journal" and he joins me now from Pennsylvania.
Good to see you again, Bill. Let's talk about the battlefield, if you like, you've got the Taliban ostensibly in control and ISIS-K already flexing muscle. The nascent resistance movement in the Panjshir that you and I have discussed before. They you've got other militant and ethnic groups and associated divisions.
What do you see going forward?
When is the chance of a civil war, a fracturing?
BILL ROGGIO, MANAGING EDITOR, "LONG WAR JOURNAL": Right now the Taliban is dominant. They control 32 of the 34 provinces. The nascent resistance in Panjshir is really the only viable resistance to the Taliban.
The Panjshir province is a very difficult province to get into. The acting president of Afghanistan is organizing forces but he has a long climb ahead of him. He has to reach out to a lot of Afghans.
The Islamic State, when it comes to them they are an opponent to the Taliban. There's some evidence that occasionally they'll work with the Taliban to conduct its specific attacks.
But in the end the two are enemies because the Islamic State challenges the primacy of the Taliban's jihad. So I think if the Taliban does turn its sights on the Islamic State, that problem will be quick (ph) and you'll be down to the resistance versus the Taliban.
HOLMES: Of course, when it comes to ISIS-K, the case stands for Khorasan, which is a region that encompasses more than Afghanistan -- Iran, parts of China, Pakistan -- whose intel service has been heavily involved with the Taliban.
Do you worry about regional instability if ISIS-K gets a foothold?
ROGGIO: Yes, ISIS-K is definitely more of a regional threat, in my opinion, than a fractious (ph) Afghanistan. It has sprung up from this disparate elements, disaffected elements from the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban and some members of Al Qaeda and some other jihadist groups after the Taliban lied about Mullah Omar's (ph) death in 2013 to 2015.
They hid it. It's estimated to have several thousand members; that number might be a little higher. But it's, compared to the Taliban-Al Qaeda nexus, the Taliban -- and particularly Al Qaeda and allied groups, the ones operating in Pakistan, Islamic State, Khorasan province is a lesser threat.
But its threat level is upgraded a little bit, because it is the one willing to conduct attacks on soft targets like mosques, schools and things of that nature; whereas Al Qaeda and its allies have been more tactical. HOLMES: Yes, they killed dozens of girls at a girls' school, shot
mothers giving birth in a maternity hospital, ISIS-K did.
Obviously the U.S. hitting this ISIS planner in the last few hours was the result of intelligence.
But I'm curious what you think going forward, how damaged will the U.S.' ability to gather intelligence on the ground be?
Especially given the thousands of wartime allies who have been left behind, who on the ground would want to help the Americans and trust them?
ROGGIO: Michael, that's exactly the right point. I mean after the United -- after the U.S. President abandoned Afghanistan in its time of need and told Afghan soldiers, accused them of not fighting for their country when more than 66,000 have died fighting over the years, it is very, very difficult to find allies.
Ultimately, intelligence operations require intelligence on the ground, require human intelligence. And the U.S. may have been able to strike an Islamic State Khorasan Province facilitator today.
But the ability to do that tomorrow and the days moving forward is going to diminish. There's no Afghan army to assist us. There's no national director to secure the Afghanistan CIA around anymore. The U.S. is going to be -- you know, intelligence is going to have to be gathered via signals. And those can be fooled.
HOLMES: A few people have defined (ph) the Taliban literally the way you have over the years. There are many who doubt Taliban 2.0 is in any way a kinder, gentler version.
What do you expect Afghanistan will look like in 6 to 12 months?
ROGGIO: Yes, in 6 to 12 months, let's put it this way, meet the new Taliban, it's the same as the old Taliban. We will see a return to the Taliban from 1996 to 2001. We're already seeing evidence of. This The pictures we see in Kabul seem much more tame although we're starting to see reports of increased arrests and searches.
But from what I'm hearing that's happening outside the province it's back to the old school Taliban way of rule.
The one thing the Taliban is new -- is the new improved Taliban aren't ways that help us, its alliance with Al Qaeda's improved. Its propaganda operations have improved.
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ROGGIO: Its ability to use the internet to recruit and to get its message across.
It is a far more sophisticated organization with an army that is armed with U.S. weapons. None of those things are good for the United States or the West. HOLMES: Yes, indeed. Bill, thank you. Bill Roggio with the "Long War
Journal."
ROGGIO: Thank you, sir.
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HOLMES: Now Thursday's attack, leaving more than a dozen U.S. troops injured, some, being treated at the same airbase in Germany, where thousands of evacuees are being taken. CNN's Atika Shubert is there.
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ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Both Ramstein airbase and the Landstuhl Medical Centre have a lot of experience in treating wounded soldiers brought in from Afghanistan but also Iraq.
That is really because of a combination of things. For his, the air mobility command, at the airbase here, especially those C-17 planes. But also, the trauma center at the medical centre, this is a level 2 trauma center and that means it has 24-hour, in-hospital coverage, by a trauma surgeon and an anesthesiologist.
So when a soldier is wounded, they can be evacuated out, by those C-17 aircraft and, by the way, these are the same planes that we see evacuating people out of Kabul airport. Those photos of people, crammed by the, hundreds into those cavernous cargo bays, those are C- 17s.
But they can also be transformed into flying operating rooms, with the same integrated electronics or oxygen systems we would find in a hospital. That is what, really, allows doctors to stabilize even the most critical patients, all the way until they're able to get to the trauma center in Landstuhl -- Atika Shubert, CNN, outside of the Ramstein airbase, in Germany.
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HOLMES: August 31st is the deadline for the U.S. withdrawal and the end of U.S. evacuations. And thousands of Afghans, who want to leave, will be looking for another way out.
The United Nations, asking Afghanistan's neighbors on Friday, to keep their borders open amid worries that more than a half million refugees may flee, to surrounding countries, by the end of the year. Take a look.
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HOLMES (voice-over): Carrying all they have left, weary Afghans walk across the border into neighboring Pakistan.
"We went to the Kabul airport," says one refugee, who had hoped to leave in the U.S.-led airlift out of the Afghan capital.
"We stayed there for 2, 3 days but the situation worsened," he says. Finally, he left in search of another way out, before Thursday's twin
bombings added to the panic, while evacuations draw to a close.
As the security situation deteriorates, more Afghan refugees are fleeing to the country's main border crossings since the Taliban takeover. Soon, their numbers may swell.
KELLY CLEMENTS, DEPUTY, U.N. HIGH COMMISIONER FOR REFUGEES: UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: While we have not seen large outflows of Afghans, at this point, the situation inside of Afghanistan has evolved, more rapidly, than anyone expected.
In terms of numbers, we are preparing for 500,000 new refugees in the region. This is a worst-case scenario.
HOLMES (voice-over): So far, the U.S. and allies, have evacuated more than 100,000 people from Afghanistan, since August 14. But as they scramble to help those desperate to leave, an August 31 deadline is fast approaching.
In the months that follow, the UNHCR predicts that refugees will flow into neighboring Iran, Pakistan and other nations in central Asia. The refugee agency urging them to keep borders open.
But some may have little bandwidth for the influx, in particular Pakistan, where and estimated 2.4 million Afghan refugees, already, reside, according to the Center for Global Development. Thousands more may soon arrive, desperately, searching for safety as the crisis in Afghanistan continues to unfold.
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HOLMES: Now we will take a quick break. When we come back on CNN NEWSROOM, we will find out how a Florida judge has just dealt a blow to the state governor's controversial COVID agenda.
And, the U.S. has released its report on the origins of COVID. We will find out what it reveals and what China has to say about that.
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HOLMES: Welcome back. Let's take a look at the COVID situation around the world for you now.
Norway is seeing a dramatic spike in cases in recent weeks. For the third day in a row, the country reported more than 1,000 cases. They have been surging there since mid July, when Norway was only reporting about 200 per day.
Canadian health officials have authorized the use of the Moderna shot in children, ages 12, to 17. The vaccine was previously authorized, only for adults.
And, in Australia, New South Wales, reporting more than 1,000 new community cases in the state's highest caseload so far in the pandemic and it comes as Sydney has spent 9 weeks in lockdown.
Vaccinations in the U.S., slowly, inching higher, with 52 percent of the total population, now, fully vaccinated. That is according to the CDC.
But even as vaccinations increase, cases and hospitalizations, are skyrocketing. The U.S. state of Florida, reporting more cases in the past week than during any other 7-day period since the pandemic began.
And its governor is fighting mask mandates in schools. But as CNN's Nick Watt explains, the courts are pushing back.
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GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): And these school districts are saying no.
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A slap to the often un-masked face of Governor Ron DeSantis. A Florida judge just ruled his office cannot outlaw school mask mandates.
JUDGE JOHN COOPER, SECOND JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COURT, LEON COUNTY: They simply do not have that authority.
WATT: Many districts were defying the ban, enforcing mask mandates as, nationwide, a record number of children are in the hospital with COVID-19.
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: occurring now in the context of not following these layered prevention strategies.
WATT: Like masks.
This week, Missouri's attorney general sued a school district over its mask requirement. The lawsuit states, the cure should not be worse than the disease. It's not. One thousand two hundred ninety-two people were reported killed by COVID-19 yesterday. No one reported killed by a mask.
In San Antonio, Texas, the school district wants a mask mandate. The governor does not. That state's supreme court just backed him.
Just outside Austin at a school board meeting this week, this happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At work, they make me wear this jacket. I hate it.
WATT: A parent got nearly naked to make a pro-mask mandate point. Here go his pants.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's simple protocol, people. We follow certain rules for a very good reason.
WATT: Pants for decency. Masks for safety.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. We appreciate that.
WATT (on camera): In Florida, governor Ron DeSantis calling the judge's ruling incoherent, saying that he will appeal immediately.
Meantime, more than 16,000 Floridians are in the hospital, fighting COVID-19. That is near an all-time record high.
Over in Alabama, they are deploying freezer trucks to morgues for the first time in the pandemic.
In Texas, they are deploying an extra 2.5 thousand staff to hospitals and nursing homes.
But there is a ray of sunshine and hope here in California where officials tell us that after the Delta driven surge, they are hopeful the cases are now plateauing -- Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
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HOLMES: A long awaited report from the U.S. intelligence community, shedding little light on the origins of the COVID-19 virus.
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HOLMES: CNN's Alex Marquardt, with more, on the unclassified findings, that were just released.
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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. intelligence community, saying that it has not come to a conclusion about the origins of the COVID-19 virus.
On Friday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a brief summary of the key findings of a classified report that was ordered back in May by President Biden.
The intelligence community had 90 days to pore over all the intelligence they could find, as well as work with outside experts and foreign partners to try to answer the vital question of where the virus originated.
But they came to no conclusion, instead saying only that they all agreed that there are two possibilities: that the virus leaked from the lab in Wuhan, China, or that it naturally jumped from an animal to a human in the wild.
Four U.S. agencies supporting the hypothesis, with a low level of confidence, that it was naturally occurring in the wild; while one intelligence agency had a moderate level of confidence that it leaked from the lab.
Other agencies felt they didn't have enough information. What we got on Friday from the intelligence community was barely two pages of an unclassified summary of those key findings of the classified report.
One thing they did assess was that the virus was not a Chinese bioweapon and that most of the U.S. intelligence agencies agree that the virus had not been genetically modified.
But, they said, without more cooperation from China and without more information from Beijing, the intelligence community says it won't be able to provide a more definitive explanation -- Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.
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HOLMES: We should note, China has dismissed the report as, quote, "fabricated" by the intelligence community and not scientifically credible.
The Chinese embassy in Washington, saying that the U.S. was trying to stigmatize China, by accusing it of not being transparent about the origins of the disease.
Still to come on the program, the growing threat of ISIS-K. We take a closer look, at where the terror group came from and the danger that it poses to Afghanistan and beyond.
We also take a look at what the Taliban's interpretation of Islam could mean for women in Afghanistan. We will be right back.
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HOLMES: Welcome back.
Returning to Afghanistan, a swift response by the U.S. to Thursday's deadly attack at Kabul's airport. A few hours ago the U.S. announced it had conducted an airstrike against ISIS-K in an area east of Kabul.
The terror group claiming responsibility for that horrific bombing that killed at least 170 Afghan people as well as 13 U.S. service members.
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HOLMES: Central Command spokesman Captain Bill Urban issued a statement and I will quote it for you.
"U.S. military forces conducted an over-the-horizon counterterrorism operation today against an ISIS-K planner. The unmanned airstrike occurred in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties."
All of this as the U.S. embassy in Kabul once again warned its citizens to stay away from the airport and its gates. All this playing out as the U.S. evacuation effort is in its final phase before troops are set to leave Tuesday. Sam Kiley with more.
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SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Crowd control, Taliban style. A day after 13 American service members, two British citizens, and at least 170 Afghans were killed by a suicide bomber, Afghans are still trying to get to Kabul's airport and to freedom.
Just over the blast walls, the mission continues. Nearly 13,000 people flown out in 24 hours. The wounded American service members have been transferred to Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre in Germany.
Now, there is a second mission. Hunting down the ISIS-K terrorists behind Thursday's attack. To accomplish that, America will need continued cooperation from the Taliban, which still controls checkpoints like this one in Kabul filmed today.
They're implementing a harder ring around the airport and crowds have thinned. Abbey Gate, where the attack occurred, remains closed.
ADM. JOHN KIRBY (RET.), PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: We still believe there are credible threats. In fact, I'd say specific, credible threats, and we want to make sure we're prepared for those.
KILEY: The Pentagon warning that these could be rockets or vehicle bombs.
In Kabul, families collect the bodies of their loved ones, and survivors come to terms with what has happened. This man says that he was an interpreter for the British and was among the hundreds of Afghans wounded.
"I fell into the stream and thought I was the only one still alive. I saw all the other people were dead. More than 5000 evacuees are waiting for flights at Kabul's airport. And I realize like Italy and Spain have already ended their missions in Afghanistan."
MAJ. GEN. HANK TAYLOR, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, U.S. JOINT STAFF REGIONAL OPERATIONS: We have the ability to include evacuees on U.S. military airlift out of Afghanistan, until the very end.
KILEY: The walls of Kabul's airport are now stained with blood, as Afghanistan counts down the final days of America's longest war -- Sam Kiley, CNN, Doha.
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HOLMES: ISIS-K was quick to claim responsibility for the deadly bombing and the U.S. warns more attacks could come in the days ahead.
But who exactly is ISIS-K and what is their relationship with the Taliban?
CNN's Brian Todd with a closer look now -- we must warn you, some of the images you are about to see your graphic. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Carnage and slaughter in Kabul, the claim of responsibility coming from ISIS-K, a group claiming to be branch of the main Isis network which swept through Syria and Iraq in 2014, a terror force with the means and motive to launch attacks like this.
DAVEED GARTENSTEIN-ROSS, CEO, VALENS GLOBAL: ISIS-K is known for attacks that are able to slaughter a large number of civilians. This includes suicide bombings. They have had for some time an attack network that operates within Kabul.
TODD: Analysts say ISIS-K has had no qualms about murdering innocents in their pursuit of a caliphate in Afghanistan. In May of this year, they attacked a school for girls in Kabul, killing at least 85 people, according to Afghan officials most of them girls.
In June an ISIS-K attack on a British American de-mining charity killed at least 10 people. But even then, they weren't beginners.
ROSS: Back in November, an hour's long assault at Kabul University that killed 22, a suicide bombing at an education center in October that killed 24. And a gun attack on a hospital maternity ward back in May of 2020 that also resulted in 24 fatalities. All of that shows a capable militant network.
TODD: But there are other terror networks in Afghanistan as well, experts say, extremist movements allied with Al Qaeda and the Taliban and other cells which pose a threat inside Afghanistan and beyond.
TIM LISTER, CNN PRODUCER: One, for example, is a Uyghur extremist group that has been active in Syria, a lot of people have moved back to eastern Afghanistan and that little part of Afghanistan up in the northeastern corner shares a border with China. And the Chinese are very concerned.
TODD: But ISIS-K remains a prominent threat, officials say. A top U.S. military official saying there are imminent threats from ISIS, ranging from rocket strikes to vehicle-borne suicide attacks.
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TODD (voice-over): And with the latest attacks in Kabul, killing scores of civilians and U.S. service members, experts say ISIS-K ramps up its profile in jihadist circles, which could bring the group more money, weapons and other assets.
ROSS: They hope that this will benefit them directly via other militant factions and other potential recruits and others who can help them within the country.
TODD: Another concern, experts say the Taliban, a sworn enemy of ISIS- K have little control over the areas where ISIS-K and other groups operate and an insufficient security force to go after that. As for the U.S. intelligence footprint in Afghanistan going forward -- LISTER: Even the Joint Chiefs of Staff has said quite clearly our capabilities are not going to be what they were because we don't have the presence on the ground. Everything has to be done remotely.
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HOLMES: Jason Blazakis is a former State Department official and terrorism expert at the Soufan Center. He joins me now from Monterey, California.
Good to see you. Let's start with this. The Afghan war began 20 years ago to fight terror. Now the Americans are leaving after another terror attack. You said that you see the beginnings of, quote, "a massive relocation" of radical Islamists to Afghanistan.
What could that look like and what would be the likely impact in the months ahead?
JASON BLAZAKIS, SOUFAN CENTER: What that could look like as the United States and Western governments leave. You're going to have an intelligence vacuum.
You're going to have a vacuum in which counter-terrorism, practitioners who have been fighting the last 20-year war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, will not have the eyes and ears they need to get an idea about what is happening in Afghanistan.
That could create a scenario in which jihadists can travel to Afghanistan in a free and easy manner. And that is a great concern.
In fact, it was this past June where the United Nations actually issued a report, talking about how that flow of fighters was already making their way into Afghanistan. With the United States' departure and the chaos that we are seeing now, I do believe we are going to see individuals from all stripes of jihadist groups going into Afghanistan.
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BLAZAKIS: And the consequences --
HOLMES: Yes, I was just going to say, I think you are going to say this as well, your assessment of the eventual risks to the West, in terms of that, organizing terror attacks from within?
BLAZAKIS: Absolutely, so one of the primary concerns I have is about a resurgent Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda has been on the ropes for more than a decade. It has essentially been a shelter -- a shell of itself. It is an organization that does not have the reach that it once did.
It obviously struck the United States on 9/11. It struck the United Kingdom in 2005 but it has not been able to replicate that success.
My concern is, there is still a relationship between the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda can grow, become resurgent and can use Afghanistan again as a potential launching pad for attacks against the West and European interests.
There's also, of course, the concern relating to the so-called Islamic State province known as the Khorasan province, that is the organization that struck just 2 days ago at the Kabul airport.
It's an organization that has a footprint in the Afghanistan, Pakistan region. It has about 1,000 fighters, according to the State Department. It's an organization that could see more individuals go to Afghanistan in these next few months. That is a great concern to me.
HOLMES: One of the disturbing things, I mean you've got a resurgent Al Qaeda. You've got the Taliban who do their own nasty things. ISIS-K. In the Panjshir valley you've got a resistance that is starting to form.
What are the chances that -- they don't all get along, obviously -- what are the chances of it fracturing into a civil war again?
BLAZAKIS: I think what we are seeing now is just the beginning of a civil war. The Taliban and the Khorasan province of ISIS do not have any love for one another. ISIS and Al Qaeda despise each other. They see each other as rivals. ISIS and the Islamic State and Khorasan look at the Taliban as being too parochial and locally focused, not sufficiently thinking about the growing of a global caliphate, which, of course, is ISIS' objective.
So we're going to see them at loggerheads. They're going to carry out attacks against one another. The strike recently just 2 days ago was not just a strike against the United States and Western interests. It was also a strike by the Khorasan component of the Islamic State against the Taliban, to embarrass them and to show Afghanistan that the Taliban is not going to be able to govern.
HOLMES: I wanted to ask you as well, because you've looked at it from the 20,000-foot view as well.
The broader picture of the so-called war on terror and Afghanistan's role in it, was this a war that, in many ways, lost its way?
The U.S. went into fight terror. It's leaving, as other groups have reformed there.
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HOLMES: Was it a war that was effective?
What was done right and what was done wrong?
BLAZAKIS: I lived in Afghanistan for much of 2004 myself and went back in 2012 when I was in the U.S. government. There are a number of missteps that were made.
The first misstep was made when the United States went into Iraq a second time, distracting ourselves from the mission in Afghanistan, taking away vitally important resources that were crucial to tackling the Taliban and uprooting Al Qaeda.
And I think that is the first and most important misstep. And there's been a number of other missteps throughout the years, of course: providing support to the Karzai regime, the corruption that was running rampant throughout Afghanistan; terrible intelligence being providing to policy makers, related to how capable the Afghan government was and the Afghan security services.
So a number of missteps. And I think, in the end, the Biden decision actually to leave, is the right one. It's been 20 years; we've been there for a long time and, really, the underlying mission to, essentially, ensure that Al Qaeda cannot become resurgent was successful.
It is just unfortunate that things have gone the way they have the last few months.
HOLMES: Jason Blazakis, thank you so much, fascinating stuff.
BLAZAKIS: My pleasure, thank you for having me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan almost two weeks ago the, group said the government that they would form would respect women's rights within sharia or Islamic law. Except sharia is not actually a set of codified laws.
Sharia interprets the Islamic faith and it varies greatly across the diverse communities of the Muslim world. Salma Abdelaziz looks further.
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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After takeover, the Taliban vowed to govern Afghanistan by sharia. When asked how that would differ from the group's rule two decades ago, this was the answer.
"If this question is based on thoughts, ideology, beliefs, then there is no difference. We have the same beliefs," the group spokesman said.
The Taliban says it is forming an inclusive government that will ensure women's rights within an Islamic framework. But because sharia is not a codified system of laws, what that means is entirely up to the Taliban themselves, says Professor Hasham Hallyer (ph).
PROFESSOR HASHAM HALLYER (PH): When we talk about sharia in a public context, then, again, interpretations for how that is applied as Islamic law, they differ tremendously across the board.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): The group's record is bleak. The Taliban's draconian regime from 1996 to 2001 was widely criticized by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. And modern legislative applications of sharia by other Muslim majority states provide little comfort. Take for example, Iran, a country ruled by strict Shia interpretation
of Islam. There, the morality police subject women and girls to daily harassment and violent attacks, says Amnesty International.
In Qatar, women are denied the right to make key decisions about their lives, from marriage to work, without a male relative, Human Rights Watch reports.
And under Saudi's male guardianship system, women must obtain permission for some of their most basic rights. Men can even file cases for disobedience, rights groups say.
But there has been a recent shift in the kingdom. A driving ban was reversed and travel restrictions on females eased in recent years.
HALLYER (PH): There are certain interpretations that are held up and then there are other interpretations that are equally valid in Islamic law that are not.
Why?
That is a public policy decision.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): And that is exactly where the Taliban say they are changing. They want to engage on a global stage.
HALLYER (PH): They also have to take into account relationships that they have with powerful actors outside of the country.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): That leaves the U.S. and its allies with one key piece of leverage: international recognition and legitimacy. Hanging in the balance, the 20 years of gains and rights and liberties for the women and girls of Afghanistan -- Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Hurricane Ida is entering the Gulf of Mexico and getting stronger as it lands. When we come back, we will talk with our meteorologist about the damage it's threatening to do in a historic American city.
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HOLMES: Welcome back.
A category one hurricane now in the Gulf of Mexico, forecasters say, will likely slam into New Orleans on, yes, the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, it's called hurricane Ida and it is expected to strengthen into a category 4 storm as it makes landfall during the weekend.
Hurricane warnings posted for much of coastal Louisiana, including metropolitan New Orleans. The hurricane has already hit Cuba in two different spots. First on the Island of Youth Friday afternoon, the latest in the province of Pinar del Rio on Friday evening, where it brought in 130 kilometer an hour winds.
But Ida is likely to be a much more powerful storm when it reaches the U.S.
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HOLMES: Reset was the operative word as the Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett headed to the right house Friday. He had his first meeting with U.S. President Biden 2.5 months after Mr. Biden -- Bennett rather -- was sworn in.
The White House was concerned its relationship with Israel might have soured if Bennett's opponent, Benjamin Netanyahu, had stayed in power. But as Hadas Gold reports, the two administrations are now hoping for a fresh start.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: After their scheduled meeting was postponed because of the attack in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden and the Israeli prime minister, Naftali, Bennett met for the first time on Friday, at the White House.
The 2, trying to reset the tone between the 2 countries, after 12 years, of former prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and to really open a clear line of communication, between the 2 leaders.
The prime minister, telling reporters after the meeting, that he felt that it went well. They received a warm welcome and a clear show of support, despite what is a very stressful time for this White House.
One of the prime ministers' main goals of this meeting, trying to push President Biden, off of a return, to the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal. Presenting the president with what they're calling a new strategy on Iran, one that addresses not only their nuclear ambitions but also Iranian aggression.
Their activities in places, like Syria, Lebanon and the incidents at sea such as the attack on the Mercer Street cargo ship. Both Israel and the United States, have both attributed to Iran.
Now while President Biden didn't immediately drop on the idea of returning to the Iranian nuclear deal, he did do something new. He did say that if diplomacy fails, when it comes to Iran, they will consider other options.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BIDEN: But if diplomacy fails, we are ready to turn to other options. We'll support Israel and developing deeper ties, as well, with the Arab and Muslim neighbors and globally. That's a trend, that I think, should encourage, not discourage and we'll do all we can to be (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLD: One issue that did not appear to be a major focus of this meeting, was relations with the Palestinians. Although, it was brought up. This really is a reflection of the political reality that the prime minister faces, back in Israel.
He leads a fragile and diverse coalition, of political parties, that really, run the spectrum when it comes to views on the Israeli Palestinian conflict. The Israeli and American officials, both recognizing that under this current government, they will not have any sort of major moves, when it comes to peace talks or any sort of discussion around a Tuesday solution.
President Biden, only saying that they will work toward peace and prosperity, for both Israelis and Palestinians -- Hadas Gold, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, the man convicted of assassinating RFK could soon be a free man. How some of Kennedy's own children support the release of their father's killer. That is when we come back.
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HOLMES: The man convicted of assassinating Senator Robert F. Kennedy back in 1968 was recommended for parole on Friday. Sirhan Sirhan spent the last 53 years in prison and had some unlikely supporters for his release. CNN's Natasha Chen has the details.
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NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was the 16th time Sirhan Sirhan had been considered for parole.
[01:55:00]
CHEN: But this time it was different, because the Los Angeles County prosecutor, elected late last year, has a new directive for his office, not to attend parole hearings.
In talking with the prosecutor George Gascon's (ph) office, we learned that this is an efforts to allow the parole board to make an objective decision based on the inmate's actions since the crime, not just on the fact of the crime itself.
The parole board did spend time asking Sirhan about his remorse, his rehabilitation and seeing whether and how he had changed over the course of 53 years in prison.
Sirhan says he does take responsibility for what happened, saying, quote, "Every day that I am alive, that is all I think about."
His original death sentence was commuted to life in prison in the early '70s when the California Supreme Court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional. Two children of Robert F. Kennedy also openly supported his release.
Douglas Kennedy was present for the hearing and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote a letter, saying, in part, that Sirhan should be released and he would offer to be a guiding friend for him.
Quote, "While nobody can speak definitively on behalf of my father, I firmly believe that, based on his own consuming commitment to fairness and justice, that he would strongly encourage this board to release Mr. Sirhan because of Sirhan's impressive record of rehabilitation."
Sirhan's attorney told CNN the panel made the right decision by keeping the politics out and following the law.
This proposed grant of release now goes through a review process. Ultimately, the governor has the ability to reverse the decision if he chooses to do so. But governor Gavin Newsom's office did not offer any statement on the decision -- back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Natasha Chen, our thanks.
And in just the past few hours, six of Robert Kennedy's children issued a blistering statement about the parole board's recommendation. They wrote this.
"Today's decision by a two-member parole board has inflicted enormous pain but beyond just us, Sirhan Sirhan committed a crime against our nation and its people. We are in disbelief that this man would be recommended for release. It is a recommendation we intend to challenge every step of the way."
Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @HolmesCNN but do stay with us. My colleague Robyn Curnow is all set up to bring you another hour of CNN NEWSROOM.
