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Taliban Celebrate, Civilians Fearful With U.S. Gone; E.U. Divided On Offering Asylum To People Fleeing Taliban; 55,000 Told To Evacuate As Caldor Fire Threatens Lake Tahoe; One Million Plus Could Spend Weeks Without Power Amid Dangerous Heat; How Climate Change Is Fueling Extreme Weather; Taliban Co-Founder Baradar Settles In After Return From Exile; Folk Singer's Killing Fuels Fears On Cultural Crackdown; YouTuber Killed In Kabul Terror Attack; Hospitals In Parts Of U.S. Overwhelmed By New Cases. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired September 01, 2021 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm John Vause.
Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, America's days of nation building are over as he briefed the nation on the pullout from Afghanistan, Joe Biden also declared an end to an era of major military operations to remake other countries.
And yes, climate change made hurricane Ida stronger, slower and wetter, causing devastation to the U.S. state of Louisiana. What is an extreme weather event today will become commonplace in the years ahead.
There's good news from the E.U., 70 percent of all adults are now fully vaccinated. And then, there is the not so good, the rate of vaccination has slumped.
For Joe Biden, the withdrawal from Afghanistan was in his words, an extraordinary success. It is hard to see how are the two weeks of watching in real time, desperation, chaos and death at Kabul's airport. Where on Tuesday, the Taliban declared victory and celebrated.
During his national address, President Biden also declared the era of military operations in support of nation building was over. It was a tacit admission of massive overreach in the past by the United States. And as for America's longest running war, the president said an end was long overdue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The war in Afghanistan is now over. I'm the fourth President who has faced the issue of whether and when to end this war. When I was running for President, I made a commitment to the American people that I would end this war. And today, I've honored that commitment.
This decision about Afghanistan is not just about Afghanistan. It's about ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries.
That was the choice, the real choice between leaving or escalating. I was not going to extend this forever war. And I was not extending a forever exit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: While President Biden puts the focus back on national security and domestic issues, there are similar challenges for the new leaders of Afghanistan.
The Taliban is now trying to form a working government and govern a country which is much more complex and sophisticated and advanced than the one they ruled more than 20 years ago. It's also a country in crisis on multiple fronts.
CNN's Sam Kiley has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The spoils of war, body armor, helmets, aircraft, all left by Afghanistan's army, and the U.S. rush for the exit from America's longest war.
The U.S. says it destroyed what it could not take when the last American boot left the ground from Kabul International Airport.
GEN. KENNETH MCKENZIE JR., COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: We have also demilitarized equipment that we did not bring at the airport that included a number of MRAPs, up to 70 MRAPs that we demilitarized and will never be used again by anyone; 27 Humvees, that little tactical vehicle that will never be driven again.
And additionally, on the ramp at HKIA are a total of 73 aircraft. Those aircraft will never fly again.
KILEY: Although these armored NATO MRAP vehicles have clearly been successfully salvaged. But after 20 years of war, terror attacks and political murder, the triumphant Taliban striking a conciliatory tone at the same airport.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan wants good relations with the Americans through diplomacy. However, the Americans failed here, they failed. From the military perspective, they failed to achieve their goals. But the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan wants to have good relations with the whole world on behalf of the nation, said the Taliban spokesman.
He repeated orders for Taliban special forces to treat even former Afghan enemies with respect.
I call on all our soldiers to treat the people well, because the people have the right to peace to unite, and we are the servants of the nation. We must not oppress the people, he said.
[00:05:10]
KILEY: In Kabul, some celebrated the U.S. withdrawal with gunfire. In daylight and in persistent fear of the city's new Taliban masters, a more muted response.
It is good that Americans withdrew from the country, they must let Afghans discuss what they will agree on, and how they would form a government. The government must be inclusive, acceptable to all Afghanistan, he said.
The Taliban has promised to deliver that and to allow anyone who wants to leave to go, including at least a hundred Americans still trapped in Afghanistan. Their future administration, and aid and trade depends on it. Failure to deliver will inevitably lead to a victory spoiled.
Sam Kylie, CNN, Doha.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: CNN's Anna Coren was recently in Kabul, she just returned from one trip (INAUDIBLE) she's made to Afghanistan over the years. She's with us live from Hong Kong right now.
So, Anna, out of a long laundry list of urgent problems from the economy to the pandemic, I guess, what is the most pressing issue for the Taliban to try and deal with? I guess, their number one priority?
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to the United Nations, John, Afghanistan is going to run out of food within the month.
I mean, that is the fundamental problem facing this country, deeply impoverished country that was propped up by foreign aid. But we know that the Afghan government reserves have been frozen by the United States. We know the International Monetary Fund has also blocked any access to emergency funds.
So, the Taliban has this huge problem facing -- you know, their leadership facing their future government, how are they going to look after the 38 million people in this country that they now have to govern?
You know, as we've been discussing, you know, being on the battlefield, you know, fighting a war against the Americans is one thing. Now, managing a country and its people is something they haven't done for 20 years, do they have the expertise? Do they have the relations with the international community with the United States to release those funds, to get money coming in to the country?
Let me tell you, one of the things that Zabihullah Mujahid the Taliban spokesperson said to the media yesterday, he said, I invite you all to come and invest in Afghanistan, your investments will be in good hands, the country will be stable and safe.
You know, this is a place where electricity isn't running, you know, basic services, and not functioning because state employees are not going to work because of fear. Fear of reprisals, fear that they will be punished for working with the Afghan government, for working with foreign companies. So, these are some of the issues that they have no doubt, are facing John.
And, you know, the deep, I guess, economic plight of this country, the safety of this country. Of course, you've got the Taliban driving around, showing off their weaponry. But we've seen what ISIS-K can do.
And, you know, this game of one-upmanship is going to be, you know, playing out in real time in Afghanistan as ISIS-K, you know, proves its power, you know, what it is capable of.
For the people left there, John, the people, the thousands of people so desperate to leave, you know, these messages continue to come out.
Let me read you something that one Afghan woman wrote to me a short time ago, she said, please don't forget the Afghan allies you've left behind. To the media, don't forget us. We've been silenced by the Taliban and have no way to raise our voices openly. I am scared and have a heavy pain in my heart. Please do something for us.
Now, John, these are Afghans who don't have visas, who have no way out of there. But we do know there are between two to 300 American citizens left in Afghanistan, some by choice, but many who weren't able to get out.
VAUSE: Anna, thank you. Anna Coren live for us there in Hong Kong.
Well, for tens of thousands of Afghans who have escaped the Taliban rule, there is now the uncertainty of what's next. Where will they live? The European Union doesn't know either.
On Tuesday, the Bloc met and offered to boost aid to Afghanistan and its neighbors but they're sharply divided when it comes to offering asylum to evacuees.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YLVA JOHANSSON, EU COMMISSIONER FOR HOME AFFAIRS: We are in a situation, of course, where we need a comprehensive approach towards Afghanistan. We need to avoid a humanitarian crisis. We need to avoid a migratory crisis. And we need to avoid security threats.
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KARL NEHAMMER, AUSTRIAN INTERIOR MINISTER: What is the most important thing now, the most important thing now is to send the right message into the region. Stay there and we will support their region to help the people there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Coalition allies evacuated more than 100,000 people from Afghanistan before the airlift ended. European leader say they want to avoid a repeat of the region's immigration crisis of 2015. Well, for more on the view from Europe, CNN's European Affairs
Commentator, Dominic Thomas is with us now from Los Angeles. Dominic, good to see you.
DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Thanks for having me on, John.
VAUSE: OK, just two months ago, Joe Biden I should say was in Europe, he was telling anyone who had listened, America is back.
You know, there was palpable relief among European leaders when he was sworn in as president. But we're what, 220 days now after the inauguration and the honeymoon appears over. The Financial Times declares Joe Biden and Europe going different ways.
The Washington Post says as U.S. leaves Afghanistan, Europe sours on Biden. And then from Politico, disbelief and betrayal: Euro reacts to Biden's Afghanistan miscalculation.
You know, the unilateral withdrawal from Afghanistan is a big factor behind this. But it's not the only issue driving this division, right?
THOMAS: No, I mean, it's not, John. I mean, clearly, the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the way in which this was handled with the United States as allies was a significant wake up call.
But I think it needs to be put in the broader context of the impact that the Trump presidency had on the European Union, on NATO and on the G7. The disruption and the way in which his policy agendas and his own personal agendas, but ultimately aimed at undermining and weakening those organizations.
And I think that the trauma is real, and that these entities, countries, organizations, after the storm, we're very much hoping for some calm, and the knock-on effect is real.
You take a country like Germany, where Chancellor Merkel is stepping down at the end of September, this is creating even greater uncertainty for a country that you could argue will be left rudderless.
But the broader reality is that U.S. foreign policy, trade interests and so on are shifting towards China and Asia in a broader context. But there are also smaller kind of impacts that policy has had. And one of them, of course, is over the COVID travel restrictions and the inequities between opening up Europe versus shutting down, and the United States to travelers.
So, all of these are sending very confused and different messages to their former European allies, one could say.
VAUSE: Well, yes, Donald Trump had his own sort of meat axe wielding style of making it known that, you know, the reality of the 21st century is that Europe is no longer the centerpiece of U.S. foreign policy. So, I'm wondering if what we're seeing in some of this disappointment,
and maybe the anger is there's such high hopes that Biden would return to a more traditional role or a traditional relationship, and now that he hasn't, it's only made things so much worse.
THOMAS: It has, and there were just so many distractions, Brexit being one of them, the way in which the Trump presidency also kind of helped fuel that sort of far-right agenda in Europe as well.
But I think it's not just a 21st century question. I think what we're seeing here is a complete recalibration of essentially, the post-World War II global order, the Cold War, the post 9/11 and also, this sort of strategic ideological move towards a nation building.
And so, this recalibration was evident in the Afghanistan situation. But I think what was so compelling about this is that we saw in absolutely unambiguous terms, the ways in which the optics and public opinion and the historical low of tolerance in the United States for engagement in foreign policy abroad and in conflict motivated the administration to make decisions that were -- that were geared around, essentially domestic policies, and not foreign policy.
In other words, not listening to their allies. And that in and of itself is a fairly significant shift.
VAUSE: And Biden really spelled that out in that national address. He basically said, you know, this is where U.S. foreign policy is now heading, here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: We must stay clearly focused on the fundamental national security interest of the United States of America.
We saw a mission of counterterrorism in Afghanistan. Getting the terrorists and stopping attacks. Morph into a counterinsurgency, nation building. Trying to create a democratic, cohesive, and united Afghanistan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It was a sort of an admission of overreach by the United States for decades, and what it seems is that for the next few years at least, the Europe can expect to see the United States now taking very much a backseat role.
THOMAS: Yes, and I think it -- that could be also, you know, be interesting to see how that, of course, plays out. It's clear, as I have said, the center of gravity has shifted.
Now, this is not the same as the far-right agenda of the Trump presidency in which he consistently argued for USA First, America First and so on. This is not an isolationist protectionist move, but it is nevertheless a change in terms of the expectations that Europe and that broader region can have. And it has an impact on security in the Baltics, you know, the Ukraine, the relationship with Russia, and so on, and the security of NATO.
But I think ultimately, this is an opportunity for the European Union and for Europe in a broader context to kind of rethink and redefine its role and to see whether in the aftermath of Brexit, and in the shifting relationship with the United States, whether or not they can take this opportunity, and ultimately emerge from this as a -- as a stronger, more independent, more autonomous entity, bearing in mind the global economic importance that they continue to have in the world today.
So, it's going to be interesting to see how they go down that roll, that particular road.
VAUSE: But when they -- there's chatter, once again, of your strategic autonomy among Europeans, that they're basically, you know, making their own path away from the United States. That just seems to ring hollow, though, when you really think about everything that they still gain from this relationship with the United States.
THOMAS: Yes, you know, they absolutely do. And some have anticipated this, some perhaps less so. But there have been moves in Europe and Emmanuel Macron is one, for example and who also, of course, is up for election and in spring 2022 has been arguing for the development of stronger kind of military power and force in Europe, which would allow it to respond and then react to things in a way that he would not have to automatically rely on the United States.
I mean, this relationship is not over. It's as I keep saying, it's being recalibrated. It's being rethought. And I think the United States faces some real challenges when it comes to -- just like I said, the optics of engagement abroad versus this sort of, you know, the legacy of the Trump administration and of rethinking politics within and the context itself.
But I think that the relationship is certainly not over, they remain important and trading partners. And I think that when Biden visited the G7, E.U. and so on, underscoring their shared values remains still to this day, a really important component as to what brings them together rather than sets them apart.
VAUSE: Dominic, we appreciate the analysis and the insight. Dominic Thomas for us in Los Angeles, thank you.
THOMAS: Thank you.
VAUSE: Still to come, what an Afghan YouTuber said before her death about the drastic changes in Kabul after the Taliban takeover. Also, how climate change may be feeling extreme weather events or is fueling extreme weather events like Hurricane Ida. (INAUDIBLE) of the U.N.'s new landmark climate report, that's ahead.
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VAUSE: Well, its crystal-clear waters and usually green lush mountains, Lake Tahoe should be a major tourist draw right now. But instead, more than 55,000 people are being told to evacuate. That's because of a massive Caldor fire, wildfire which is raging and threatening homes along the Nevada California border. Nearly 200,000 acres have burned. That's about 80,000 hectares.
[00:20:11]
VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE) there are 13 large wildfires burning across the state of California. It's so bad, the U.S. Forensic Service has closed all national forests in the state.
Along the U.S. Gulf Coast, the death toll from Hurricane Ida has climbed to at least five people. More than a million are without electricity, mostly in Louisiana, crews are hoping to restore some service too in New Orleans by Wednesday night.
Other places are facing weeks without power and sweltering heat and humidity will only make conditions worse.
CNN's Brian Todd reports now from New Orleans.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Even as hundreds of floodwater rescues have been carried out, the death toll inches up, the damage is assessed and the cleanup begins.
Millions of residents along the Gulf Coast who survived Ida's wrath now facing new threats.
GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS (D-LA): Please don't come home before they tell you that it's time.
TODD: More than a million people are still without power. Officials warning that could last as long as a month for some customers.
EDWARDS: I'm not satisfied with 30 days. The Entergy people aren't satisfied with 30 days, nobody who's out there in needing power is satisfied with that.
TODD: This as heat advisories are in effect for the entire region where Ida made landfall.
EDWARDS: Heat indexes will be 100 degrees for the next two weeks, now is really the most dangerous time over the next week -- a couple of weeks and so we're asking people to be patient. We're asking people to be careful.
TODD: Add to that, limited drinking water, a lack of cell service, shuttered grocery stores and gas lines that are three hours long, making the situation dire.
MITCH LANDRIEU, FORMER NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA MAYOR: The deck is stacked against us at the moment. We're going to dig our way out of it. We always do but people shouldn't underestimate how tough this is going to be and how long it's going to take.
TODD: In a lower income neighborhood of the Algiers section of New Orleans, residents are on edge.
LEA MACK, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA RESIDENT: The biggest failure is this colossal failure of Entergy Corporation. They are the only game in town. Nine parishes or counties without power, nine? Really?
TODD: The Entergy Corporation has given no specific timetable for when power will be restored, saying it's still working to assess the damage and that residents should be prepared for the recovery to take some time.
This line at a food and water distribution center in Algiers snakes around several blocks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The food issue, the water issue, I don't think that they have these things out quick enough.
TODD: Yolanda Teague lives with her eight children, her mother and others in this house where the roof and ceiling were damaged by Ida.
YOLANDA TEAGUE, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA RESIDENT: When it rained last night, it was water all over.
TODD: With no end in sight to the power outage, just getting basic supplies is a huge concern.
What's your biggest worry right now, Yolanda?
TEAGUE: (INAUDIBLE) running out of food and beverages and I have a son with a heart condition. So, that's my biggest concern is him.
TODD: Teague's concerned that the oppressive heat that's set in following Hurricane Ida will make her son's condition deteriorate even more, and she's worried about others in her neighborhood as desperation seeps in.
How worried are you about how bad that's going to get as the days go by with no power?
TEAGUE: Eventually, people it's going to get rough. You know what I'm saying? No electricity. People don't know what's their next move, so it's probably going to get rough.
TODD: Yolanda Teague says her 10-year-old son has enough heart medication for now. But if he runs out, she says she's had to make her own arrangements with a local Children's Hospital to send an ambulance for him.
Brian Todd, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Joining us now is Kim Cobb, Professor in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Thank you for being with us.
KIM COBB, PROFESSOR IN EARTH AND ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: OK, well, we've known for a while that climate change works as a multiplier effect. Droughts are getting longer, wildfires are burning longer and making hurricanes stronger, slower and wetter. Ida checked all three boxes.
But what seems to be underestimated in some of the modeling is just how extreme these individual weather events might actually end up being. So, is there a general school of thought on what we're facing here over the next 20 or 30 years?
COBB: Well, you're very right. As lead author for the recent United Nations report that just dropped on August 9th, the evidence is beyond irrefutable, human caused warming is upon us. It is going to be upon us for the next couple of decades.
But the new information here is the strong lines of physical evidence linking ongoing warming to any number of climate and weather extremes, including, as you mentioned, drought in some regions, a fire prone weather and others. And of course, here in the southeast, as we've just seen, stronger storms are becoming more frequent, as well as more episodes of extreme rainfall.
To minimize this risk, of course, the report calls on deep and sustained reductions in emissions to keep warming to the minimum levels and reduce the risk of those kind of weather related extremes.
VAUSE: But those extremes are with us for at least the next three decades, right? Because the impact of climate change has locked in.
COBB: Well, actually, that's not entirely true. The report calls out that we could actually reverse global warming by mid-century and again, hold global warming levels to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the most ambitious target associated with the Paris Climate Accord of 2015, we're already at 1.1 degrees Celsius.
[00:25:12]
So yes, additional increments of warming over the next 20 years. These next -- these last couple years are a reminder of just what's at stake here across the board, and to our economy, to equity and justice, to our water infrastructure, to homes and lives and livelihoods that have already been upended. We need to prepare for our climate of now. And of course, continue to build infrastructure and readiness for the climate of tomorrow.
VAUSE: There's also some of what appears to be these weather extremes, all happening at once. There are hurricanes, wildfires, and drought. The U.S. is finding itself battling climate disasters on several fronts.
There was a similar situation in Europe earlier this year with floods and bushfires as well as drought across the southern part of Europe and also in the north.
Now, it's known as compounding, right? And so, how does climate change make these things happen simultaneously, I guess? And what ultimately will be the impact from that?
COBB: Well, you have to remember that any given summer in the Northern Hemisphere may or may not bring these kinds of record breaking extremes to any one given religion in any one given year.
But statistically speaking, over the next decade or two, we do expect these regions of the world to be touched by one or more of these different kinds of climate extremes.
The report from the United Nations already indicating that every region of the world is currently facing a number of climate related weather extremes and ongoing challenges related to human caused climate change.
This will accelerate going forward. But understanding just where it falls every year, of course, is a roll of the dice.
This year, we're facing compound simultaneous extremes across the United States while witnessing headlines from around the world this very season.
VAUSE: And when Ida made landfall in Louisiana, it was more powerful than Hurricane Katrina 16 years ago. I want you to listen to the State Governor John Edwards, here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EDWARDS: This storm was every bit as advertised. And the damage that we have seen here, and that they're dealing with is just catastrophic. And it was not just surge, but you've got plenty of surge. It was not just wind, but you got plenty of that. But also, some of the heaviest rains that fell anywhere in the state of Louisiana fell on St. John the Baptist Parish.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The U.S. government spent I think about $15 billion, reinforcing the levee system around New Orleans, which failed during Katrina related catastrophic flooding. The levees held this time, and those areas beyond New Orleans had been, you know, the most impacted by all of this.
That's sort of good news, bad news here. The good news is you can strengthen infrastructure to operate and survive in extreme conditions. The bad news is it's going to cost a lot of money.
COBB: Yes, that's right. And first, I want to say my heart goes out to all the emergency responders, first responders and people still reeling from Hurricane Ida across Louisiana, Mississippi, and of course, reaching here in to Georgia today with power outages in my own home earlier.
But of course, you note that these damages require reworking our infrastructure. And these risks are clearly pointing to what science has been telling us for decades. Climate change impacts will accelerate. Our coastlines are uniquely vulnerable to many of these compound climate related extremes.
You talk about the cost of addressing these challenges, but what we have to realize and what is becoming increasingly apparent, we are already paying for climate related damages across the country to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars a year in some cases.
And so, we really have to think about what we want for our future. Do we want a climate smart and resilient communities across the country? Or do you want to be in reactive mode, paying the cost of these damages because we did not listen to the science and the evidence supporting ongoing climate change risks.
VAUSE: That's pretty obvious choice when you put it that way. Professor Cobb, thank you. Thank you very much for being with us. We appreciate it.
COBB: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: Well, just ahead here on CNN, before her death an Afghan YouTuber talk to being too scared to leave her home because of the Taliban.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NAJMA SADEQI, YOUTUBER (through translator): Life in Kabul has become very difficult, especially for those who used to be free and happy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
[00:31:53]
It's just past 9 on Wednesday morning in Kabul, where the Taliban, fresh off a successful military offensive, are now facing the harsh reality of governing the country of 38 million people.
And one of their main concerns is reopening and securing Hamid Karzai International Airport. Afghanistan relies almost entirely on foreign aid, and with no flights landing, the U.N. secretary-general is warning of a looming humanitarian catastrophe because of a shortage of medical and food supplies.
And while Taliban fighters assessed their spoils of war, the U.N. says one in three Afghans don't know where their next meal will come from. More than half the country's children are expected to be diagnosed as malnourished in the next year.
Meantime, U.S. President Joe Biden has defended his withdrawal of American forces. He says he had no plans to extend the forever war in Afghanistan. He had no plans for a forever exit, either.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Last night in Kabul, the United States ended 20 years of war in Afghanistan, the longest war in American history.
We completed one of the biggest airlifts in history, with more than 120,000 people evacuated. That number is more than double what most experts thought were possible. No nation -- no nation has ever done anything like it in all history. Only the United States had the capacity and the will and the ability to do it, and we did it today.
The extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill, bravery, and selfless courage of the United States military, and our diplomats and intelligence professionals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: This new Taliban government is likely to be led by a veteran leader from the group, but the cofounder, deputy leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, has already played a key role on the Taliban in the world stage. CNN's Nic Robertson has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): The scale of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar's triumphant return to Afghanistan, just days after the Taliban took Kabul, is a measure of his importance. Years in exile, many spent in a Pakistani jail, he has run point in all the Taliban's dealings with the U.S. for almost three years. Most recently, reportedly meeting face to face with CIA chief Bill Burns.
In Doha February 2020, it was Baradar who signed the U.S. troop withdrawal agreement with U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, as then U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo looked on.
And it was Baradar who the Taliban had negotiate its terms, hammered out over more than a year. They would not attack exiting U.S. forces.
Baradar was a Taliban original, a founding member in the early Nineties and a close friend of its then-leader Mullah Omar. The pair fought the Soviet occupation in the Eighties, and it was Omar who named him Baradar, meaning brother.
In 2001, Baradar dodged invading U.S. forces, hiding out in Pakistan, later captured in 2010, and released by Pakistan in 2018 to lead negotiations with the U.S.
[00:35:13]
He is in his early 50s now. Although not the Taliban's top official, he can expect to remain the international face of the Taliban for at least the near future.
The Taliban's ultimate authority is Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Amir al-Mu'minin, leader of the faithful, who emerged from the shadows last week after years in hiding. Baradar has rare experience, face-to-face dealings with western powers. How much actual influence he'll have in the day-to-day runnings of the country rests in internal Taliban power plays yet to fully emerge.
Haqqani network leader, Sirajuddin Haqqani and Omar's son, Mullah Yaqoob, are powerful military forces within the Taliban, both with an eye for leadership roles. Baradar will know to watch his back.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Islamabad, Pakistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The recent killing of an Afghan folksinger is fueling fears over a return to the Taliban's harsh crackdown on musicians and other artists. For more, we're joined now by the U.N. special rapporteur on cultural rights, Karima Bennoune.
Karima, thank you for being with us. We appreciate your time.
KARIMA BENNOUNE, U.N. SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON CULTURAL RIGHTS: Thank you.
VAUSE: You know, radio stations in Kandahar have reportedly been ordered to stop playing music. A ban on playing instruments in public is also believed to be in place in some parts.
But when a folk singer is dragged from his home, shot in the head and killed, is there really any need for formal orders? The message is very loud and clear.
BENNOUNE: The message is all too clear, and I have expressed my grave concern about reports of this killing. There clearly needs to be investigation in the perpetrators need to be held accountable.
But it's also a message that the international community and governments need to do everything they can to help at-risk artists and cultural workers leave Afghanistan, or I fear this will be one of the first killings, with many more to come.
VAUSE: I'd like to play an example of the music which is no longer allowed in public to be performed or played or listened to in Afghanistan. Here we go. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC: "SWEET DREAMS" BY THE MIRACULOUS LOVE KIDS & GIRL WITH A GUITAR)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The young women are part of a program called Girl with a Guitar. It's for traumatized orphan girls. It was started by Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine.
In an open letter, he writes, "They use music as a rehabilitation tool and means of working through their problems, their histories and their hopes. Since the Taliban takeover, their school has been destroyed. The girls are in hiding. There are extreme risks, because they are widely known to have performed western music and have been educated by a male American teacher."
What could happen to those girls, if they're found?
BENNOUNE: I fear there is a possibility of cruel punishments. There's a possibility even of violence.
We need to make sure that the international community demands that the Taliban lives up to international standards and the stated commitments of its own leadership, even though there's good reason to fear that they will not do that.
And so, we must recognize artists, musicians like those girls and many others, as being in the front line in terms of risk, as needing to be included in all resettlement and visa programs.
VAUSE: Yes. We're hearing the statements coming from the Taliban leadership, you know, trying to convince the world that they are more tolerant, more inclusive. All the evidence is just pointing to what seems to be just a snow job in this.
BENNOUNE: What matters is not the rhetoric coming from the Taliban leaders in Doha. It is the reality on the ground, not only in Kabul, but across the whole country.
And we need to make sure that there is accountability for abuses, that the Taliban leadership ensures human rights, including the rights of artists.
And people may wonder why care about this issue, when there's so much other violence to worry about in Afghanistan? I always think of the motto of the Afghan National Museum, which is that a nation stays alive when its culture stays alive. Afghans, inside the country and forced into exile, need their culture now to survive.
VAUSE: I remember, back in 2001, just after the fall of Kabul, the fall of the Taliban, we were in Kabul, the CNN staff. Everyone had a bureau Christmas party. The local staff was there, as well. We played loud music, and we danced.
And it was this cathartic moment for everybody. There was jubilation. And it is hard to overstate just how important music is when it comes to the reason for living, as opposed to what keeps us alive. And it seems that there is now this horrible prospect that the music will fall silent again.
[00:40:07]
BENNOUNE: Absolutely. We're hearing reports from Kabul that the streets have gone silent, that music is not, in fact, being played.
And this is not a luxury; this is lifeblood. This gives people strength and resilience. The ability to continue in what may be, we fear, terrible times to come.
VAUSE: Yes, and all indications are that things will only get worse. Let's hope that they do not. As you say, let's keep the -- keep the focus on this issue as we move forward.
Karima Bennoune, thank you. We appreciate your time.
BENNOUNE: Thank you very much.
VAUSE: Well, despite promises from the Taliban, life has radically changed for women in Afghanistan. One Afghan YouTube star detailed how scared she was to even leave her home before being killed in the terror attack in Kabul's international airport.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh has her story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NAJMA SADEQI, YOUTUBER KILLED IN KABUL TERROR ATTACK (through translator): Since we're not allowed to work and go out of our homes, we all had to record a new video for you. And through this video, to say goodbye to you all and ask you to keep us in your prayers.
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was Najma Sadeqi's good-bye video to thousands of her followers. A good-bye to the only way of life this 20-year-old Afghan YouTube star has ever known.
For Najma's generation of Afghan woman, life after the Taliban was a story of the past. Just days before the fall of her city, Najma was out on the streets of Kabul.
You could easily think this trio of YouTube reporters in their bright, fashionable clothes were out on the streets of another modern city like Dubai or Doha, smiling, giggling, just having fun. Najma was doing what she loved the most: reporting on daily life in her beloved city.
Four days after the fall of Kabul, she recorded this video.
SADEQI (through translator): Life in Kabul has become very difficult, especially for those who used to be free and happy. We are all inside our homes, and we do not have the ability and courage to go outside, to go back to work, to go back to our universities. We are no longer able to record programs and study.
Despite what they are saying, that they don't have any problems with girls, that girls can seek education, go to university, and go to work, but we've heard about their past. We can no longer trust them to go back to the university or work with the kind of courage we used to have.
KARADSHEH: Najma was studying to become a journalist. In her final year at a Kabul journalism institute, she joined the Afghan Insider YouTube channel, a job she clearly loved. But it was more than just that. SADEQI (through translator): Most of the families in the city are just
waiting for one meal a day to survive now. I was working to make enough to pay for my daily expenses and for my education. Like me, there are other girls who were the breadwinners of their entire families. They were the ones who didn't have an older brother or father to provide for them. But now, they are at home, waiting for the situation to get better.
Dear friend, I don't have the ability to talk any longer, and I can't say any more. Just pray for us. Pray for us that we don't go too far away from our hopes and dreams, and we can become the girls we were before. That we can be happy again, wear the clothes we loved again.
KARADSHEH: But as her world collapsed, she had to get out before it was too late. In desperation, Najma, her brother and cousin, joined thousands of others at the Kabul airport, trying to escape a life without much hope.
They never made it out. The three were among the more than 170 lives lost in Thursday's murderous attack. The haunting words in her goodbye video now more then just a farewell to freedom.
SADEQI: I wish it is a bad dream. I wish we can wake up one day. As someone wakes up saying drinking glass of water, you had a bad dream. But I know that it is not possible. And it is a reality that we are finished.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thanks to Jomana Karadsheh for that report. And we'll take a short break. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: About 70 percent of all adults in the E.U., more than 250 million people, are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Here's the president of the European Commission, speaking on Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: Today, we reached an important milestone in our vaccination campaign. Seventy percent of adults in the European Union are now fully vaccinated. And that is more than 250 million people who are immunized. And this is a great achievement, which really shows what we can do when we work together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: But the spread of vaccination is uneven, with eastern Europe lagging way behind. And the WHO warns another 236,000 people in Europe could die from COVID by December.
The CDC is advising the unvaccinated not to travel for the upcoming Labor Day holiday weekend. And given the recent surge in new infections and hospitalizations, they're warning even vaccinated people traveling this weekend of potential risk. CNN's Athena Jones has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. HASAN KAKLI, REGIONAL MEDICAL DIRECTOR, CONCORD MEDICAL GROUP: We are in the worst crisis of the pandemic. We wish for 2020 again.
ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With new COVID- 19 cases battering the country, particularly in the less vaccinated South, overwhelmed hospitals reaching a breaking point. Mississippi, the hardest hit state, has just nine intensive care unit beds available.
JIM CRAIG, SENIOR DEPUTY AND DIRECTOR, MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Our ICU capacity remains effectively zero. At 8 o'clock this morning, nine ICU beds were reported available.
JONES: And in five southern states, less than 10 percent of ICU beds are free. Kentucky hospitals seeing a record number of COVID patients and critical staffing shortages.
GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): We are living in a reality where some COVID patients that are sick are being treated in their cars, when there isn't room for them inside the E.R. or in the hospital.
CRAIG: New COVID cases nationwide now average nearly 160,000 a day. And more than 100,000 people are hospitalized, nearly all of them unvaccinated, say health officials.
It's a message that may finally be reaching more people. A new Axios IPSOS poll shows just one in five people say they aren't likely to get the vaccine, down from 34 percent in March.
Experts say vaccination is key to prevent the spread of new variants, but the CDC says less than half of children ages 12 to 15 have gotten at least one dose, even as COVID cases in kids skyrocket: more than 200,000 testing positive last week, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, up fivefold from a month ago.
DR. KATHLEEN TOOMEY, COMMISSIONER, GEORGIA PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT: We've seen, however, the highest number of weekly outbreak since the pandemic began. A hundred and seventy outbreaks statewide, with more than half of these outbreaks in K through 12 schools.
JONES: All this raising the stakes in the debate over masking in schools. Florida officials now following through on the governor's promise to withhold the salaries of school board officials in Broward and Alachua counties after they implemented mask mandates.
[00:50:02]
While in Lee County, the battle over masks got physical.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So as you can see, fists are now flying. All of this on live television. JONES (on camera): When it comes to overwhelmed hospitals, one Texas
doctor telling CNN the intensive care unit at his hospital was so strained they had to downgrade two ICU patients who are still sick enough to need intensive care, because there were two other patients who are sicker and needed the beds more. So they're making decisions they've never had to made before.
Athena Jones, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN, Afghans who spent their life working to make their country a better place are devastated after the Taliban takeover. Their stories next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: In the days after the fall of the Afghan government, Pakistan was expecting a flood of refugees on their border, but that has not happened. The U.N. refugee agency says border traffic is at its usual level at the Torkham crossing, the main crossing from Pakistan into Afghanistan.
However, they report more people are trying to cross at the other major point -- that's the Chaman border crossing -- because officials at Torkham have been stricter. Only those with Pakistani documents or residency are being allowed to pass at this time, as Pakistan says it cannot handle any more refugees.
But many Afghans who spent years working to improve their country have now had to leave their homes and their dreams behind, becoming refugees in a foreign land.
Our Barbie Nadeau spoke to some of them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It wasn't supposed to end like this. Despite years of warnings that the United States would someday end their mission in Afghanistan, those who held the future of this country in their hands are devastated.
Dr. Arif is a two-time refugee. He first fled Afghanistan in 1993 when he was 32 years old, walking for weeks to reach safety in Pakistan, and eventually move to Italy.
This time, he was forced to leave.
He went back in 2006, with the Italian Development Agency to rebuild his country. They worked on infrastructure and roads. They built hospitals and trained medical staff.
(on camera): Are the last 20 years lost?
DR. ARIF, ITALIAN DEVELOPMENT AND COOPERATION AGENCY: It's not that we have lost everything, but the way we have abandoned them, this is more difficult, more painful. We do many, many things, but we should not have abandoned them in this way.
Nadeau: Arianna Brigante is the vice chairperson with the Italian agency Nove Onlus, which worked in Afghanistan over the last decade to empower women. The group set up a women's driving school in Kabul and provided a shelter service so women could get from work and school home safely.
ARIANNA BRIGANTE, VICE CHAIRPERSON, NOVE ONLUS: It was a hopeful generation. And I think we lost that. I mean, people that I've been working with for such a long time, and even the one that my organization managed to evacuate, they're hopeless. They don't think there's a future in Afghanistan any more.
NADEAU: Amina (ph), not her real name, works for Nove Onlus. She tried three times to get to the Kabul airport before finally using a red flag to signal Italian soldiers who brought her to safety. She fears for those she left behind, but she knows her work was not in vain.
AMINA (ph), WORKED FOR NOVE ONLUS: I am proud of all the times, all the work we have done by the -- by our organization that we have done there. Since our projects were related to women's empowerment, women's education and development.
[00:55:07]
Nadeau: Captain Luca of the Italian air flew the first Italian evacuation mission out of Kabul on August 15. Even though so much has changed since then, with security threats and a deadly suicide bombing, he will never forget he people he bought to safety, or those he left behind.
CAPTAIN LUCA, ITALIAN AIR FORCE: There was a challenge for everybody. But when you finally land and you relax just one second there, you look at these people in their eyes. And you feel like you did something really good. And you really can see the hope in their eyes, you know?
And it has been a long journey for everybody. But now, they're just getting home. And they are going towards something new, a very new kind of life.
Nadeau: Many of those who left Afghanistan hope to go back one day, but like Dr. Arif, they are worried that once the last flight from Kabul leaves, the world will forget about his country.
ARIF: They'll forget about Afghanistan. Afghanistan needs it, not the government. Now it's about the Afghan population that needs help. They don't have to die from disease, from hunger, from lack of medicine.
Nadeau: Will the world listen?
Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: To find out how you can help Afghan refugees, or if you're a veteran troubled by the recent events in Afghanistan, please go to CNN.com/impact for resources that can help.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. Please stay with us. I will be back after a very short break. Another hour of CNN NEWSROOM, just moments away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Hello, I'm John Vause. Ahead this hour on CNN NEWSROOM: International address. The U.S. president defends the hard exit from Afghanistan and declares America's days of nation building are over.
New details on the final flights out of Kabul, as well as the secret deal between the U.S. and the Taliban to get Americans to the airport safely.
And against all odds, she survived a suicide bombing at a very young age. Well, this Paralympian has turned that tragedy into motivation.
