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Death Toll from Northeast Flooding Rises to 46; Taliban Expected to Announced New Government; Afghan Women Demand Rights, Education in Rare Protest; U.K. Report in July Warned of Possible Taliban Return; Japanese Prime Minister Will not Seek Reelection; Afghan Refugees Begin New Lives; New Cases in China Triggered Harsh Lockdown Measures in July. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired September 03, 2021 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, I'm John Vause.
[00:00:58]
Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, unprecedented and deadly flooding in the Northeast from the remnants of a monster hurricane which devastated parts of the south while wildfires rage out of control in the west. Is America's climate change day of reckoning at hand?
The last holdouts. Heavy clashes reported in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley, the mountainous region known to the National Resistance Front, the last redoubt of any total Taliban takeover.
Harsh, but effective. China's zero COVID policy has triggered some of the harshest COVID restrictions in the world, but it appears to be working.
At least 46 people are now confirmed dead after Wednesday's unprecedented flooding across the Northeast United States. But hundreds of others were saved from the fast-rising waters.
Through the worst of the deluge, they NYPD says it made more than 400 rescues, including 69 high-water rescues.
The emergency response continued into Thursday from Virginia to New England with many homes left flooded.
Before the worst of the storm hit the tristate area, dozens of students near Pittsburgh were saved after rising water trapped them inside their school bus.
South of Philadelphia, at least two dozen homes were destroyed or badly damaged by a powerful with winds up to 165 miles or 260 kilometers per hour, one of at least eight kilometers formed across the region.
U.S. President Joe Biden promised continued federal assistance until the region recovers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We need to get power
restored. We need to get more food, fuel, and water deployed. I get hourly updates from the progress from FEMA well into the night. And we'll be working around the clock until the critical needs of the region are fully met.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: For the very latest across the region, here's CNN's Jason Carroll.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over) Historic flooding pummeling the Northeast in the race now to rescue people from their homes.
GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): We're still uncovering the true depth of the loss, the human loss, which is hard to imagine.
CARROLL: Officials say they have responded to at least 500 emergency calls in just one Philadelphia county.
RANDY PADFIELD, DIRECTOR, PENNSYLVANIA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY: We are still seeing ongoing flooding in the southeast portion of the state, some of which is surpassing record flood levels. And there are rescues ongoing.
CARROLL: Flood gauges show the Schuylkill River rose more than 12 feet in eight hours.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just because the rain has stopped doesn't mean the water stops flowing.
CARROLL: In Bound Brook, New Jersey, waters are still high enough to completely cover train tracks and to flood this stadium.
Parts of New York are still underwater, a major highway in the Bronx now a parking lot.
And here in Mamaroneck, New York, the cleanup is just getting underway. These bakery owners lost everything.
(on camera) How high was the water in here?
CHRISTIAN ESTRADA, OWNER, WESTCHESTER ITALIAN BAKERY: I would say it was at least six feet, almost -- almost six feet where that line is. That's where the water went up to.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God!
CARROLL: It all started Wednesday night, the National Weather Service issuing a flash flood emergency in New York City for the first time ever.
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: The report was 3 to 6 inches over the course of the whole day, which was not a particularly problematic amount. That turned into the biggest single hour of rainfall in New York City history with almost no warning.
CARROLL: But its intensity took many by surprise. The city's infrastructure was unprepared. Dozens of people were stuck on city buses and in subway stations.
BEVERLY PRICE, STUCK OVERNIGHT IN SUBWAY: A lot of people stranded down here. Yes. Oh my God. I've been down here from 11:30-something.
CARROLL: The MTA reporting 46 stations were inundated with water, officials admitting the system was not designed for this type of record rainfall.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything over two inches an hour, we're going to have trouble with it.
[00:05:04]
CARROLL: In southern New Jersey, another disaster. Reports of a tornado there completely leveled homes.
President Biden committing his full support to the states affected by Ida and calling on Congress to invest in infrastructure.
BIDEN: These extreme storms and the climate crisis are here. We need to do -- we must be better prepared. We need to act.
CARROLL: Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: CNN meteorologist Derek van Dam joins us now.
Derek, it seems we've moved away from predictions and warnings to reality of the impact from climate change.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST Yes John. It's not for future generations to worry about. It's not for our children's children. It is playing out right before our eyes right now.
From the flash flood events in Germany and Europe last month to the flooding in China, now across the United States, we are seeing this take place.
The remnants of Ida causing historic flooding across the Northeastern U.S., and ongoing wildfire season over the western parts of the U.S.
Let's break it down. On Earth, on average, the Earth has warmed about one degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial averages. And what that's doing is allowing for more water vapor to collect within the atmosphere, about 7 percent increase.
And that allows the frequency and occurrence of these heavy rainfall events to take place more rapidly, more -- more frequently. Daily records yesterday, 20-plus records shattered across the Northeastern U.S. And that's not just the amount of rain. That was impressive, but it's the short period of time that that actually fell.
Just in a one-hour period, 80 millimeters of rain fell in Central Park, shattering their one-hour rainfall total. And the last time that was set was just a couple of weeks ago. So that gives you an idea of what we're dealing with here.
By the way, when we start to see that increase in our global temperatures, the oceans, they're doing the heavy lifting. They're absorbing the majority of that heat. And that allows for more intense hurricanes, providing that fuel.
Trust me, I was within the eyewall of Hurricane Ida. I felt those strong Category 4 hurricane winds in Louisiana, and let me tell you, it was relentless. It lasted for hours as that storm literally pivoted over our location.
We had seen the impacts on our wildfire season, which continues to increase. We have our shoulder (ph) seasons, longer wildfire seasons. And also, the area burned over the Western U.S. continues to spike, as well. We're starting to see the average number of large wildfires increase, decade per decade over the western U.S.
So all kinds of climate change impacts. We are seeing it unfold across the U.S. as we speak -- John.
VAUSE: Derek, thank you. Derek van Dam there with the very latest. And the experience, as well. Appreciate it.
Now to Afghanistan. With Taliban fighters manning checkpoints and appearing to be firmly in control of the capital, expectations are rising that soon the Islamic militants will announce the formation of a new government.
Meantime, Qatar is working with Turkey to try to reopen Kabul Airport. Officials say it remains unclear, though, when flights will actually resume.
U.N. aid (ph) flights have resumed in two other airports: Maz-i-Sharif (ph) in the north and Kandahar in the south.
U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is expected to discuss Afghanistan's future with Pakistani leaders. And Western Union announced money transfers will resume.
Meantime, heavy clashes have been reported north of Kabul between Taliban fighters and a group called the National Resistance Front. Panjshir province is the last holdout against a total Taliban takeover.
And a rare sight in the western city of Herat. A protest by about 50 Afghan women demanding education and a role in government. And they say they'll wear their burqas if they're allowed to go to work and school.
CNN's Ivan Watson has reported extensively from Afghanistan. He joins me now live.
What about the -- this government and the expectations that, when it is announced. What will it look like and what will this ideology be? Do we have any idea?
IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that the Taliban is already referring to itself as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and its leaders have long professed an ideology that they want Afghanistan to be ruled according to Islamic Sharia law.
But that conversion, from being a guerrilla fighting force for the last 20 years to being a government, it is apparently taking time. So we do not yet have a government announced.
As you mentioned, there is still a pocket of violent holdout against the Taliban's rule in the Panjshir Valley, which historically, was a kind of fortress against the Soviet occupation in the 1980s and against the Taliban in the late 1990s, and early aughts with fighting in that Panjshir Valley, which is -- is close to Kabul.
And the son of the former resistance leader, Ahmed Shah Massoud, is one of the leaders of this holdout force. And we're still trying to get some more details on how kind of the siege of this valley is taking place.
[00:10:03]
Difficult to get any confirmed details from the battle that's taking place there. As you mentioned also, John, we're seeing other signs of peaceful resistance to the Taliban.
These women, in a rare protest in the western city of Herat, are calling for women's rights. And let's take a listen to what one of these women had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINA HAIDARI, PROTESTOR, GOVERNMENT SCHOOL TEACHER (through translator): The rights and the achievements of women, for which we fought for over 20 years, must not be ignored. We demand the international community respond to the demands of women and that the voice of each and every Afghan women and young person is heard all over the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: There are other signs, John, of a lack of confidence in the new regime that is taking hold in Kabul. And that you could see on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, that Spin Boldak border, which is normally a busy trading route.
And on Wednesday, it was the scene of a deadly stampede. You know, we had seen for days the crowds at Kabul Airport. Here you have Afghans by the hundreds, if not thousands, that we're trying to get into Pakistan, being blocked by the border security forces there. At least one person reported dead on Wednesday. And a Pakistani official telling CNN that at least 5,000 Afghans were turned back at the border.
The Taliban have said that they're aware of these issues. They expect that, with a formation of a government, that these kind of flows of people heading towards the borders will reduce.
But there are serious economic challenges facing their new rule. The amount of money that's being allowed to be withdrawn from banks, for example, is limited to $200 a week. The money transfer company, Western Union, has announced that it is reopening money transfers into Afghanistan. You can pull out Afghani currency. You can pull out dollars, as well.
But this is going to be one of the big challenges going forward. How can the Taliban govern a country after it has spent 20 years fighting against the U.S.-backed government that was fulfilling that responsibility -- John.
VAUSE: I guess we'll find out in the days and weeks ahead. Ivan, thank you. Ivan Watson, live for us in Hong Kong.
Bob Baer is a CNN intelligence and security analyst and former CIA operative. He joins us this hour from Telluride in Colorado.
Bob, good to see you. I want to ask you with this, the anti-Taliban forces in the Panjshir Valley. How long can they hold out against the Taliban? Heavy fighting's been reported in the region. They're led, as Ivan was reporting, by the son of Ahmed Massoud. He was called the Lion of Panjshir. But this is a very different time, compared to when his father was leading the resistance against the Taliban.
BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Yes. Exactly, John. I don't know how much they can -- long they can hold out. The terrain there is very difficult in Badakhshan, in the Panjshir Valley. It's very steep; a lot of places for ambushes.
But don't forget, when Massoud was fighting, the father, you also had the Uzbeks in the resistance in other parts of Afghanistan. And you also had the support of the Russians for Ahmed Shah Massoud, which I'm not sure is coming right now. The Russians are standing back. The only thing they care about is -- is controlling the borders into central Asia. So, you know, it could fall very easily.
VAUSE: Yes. A question, though, about the intelligence that's coming from Afghanistan in recent weeks. The U.K. foreign secretary was asked how British intelligence failed to predict the sudden and total collapse of Kabul.
His answer was essentially, Hey, everyone else got it wrong, too. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOMINIC RAAB, U.K. FOREIGN SECRETARY: Given the troop withdrawal by the end of August, you would see a steady deterioration from that point. And that it was unlikely Kabul would fall this year. That was the central assessment, and of course, with all the usual caveats that you will be familiar with. That doesn't mean we didn't do contingency planning or game out or test the other propositions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And here's another proposition. It comes from U.K. Foreign Officer, dated July 22. "Peace talks have stalled, and U.S. NATO withdrawal is resulting in rapid Taliban advances. This could lead to: fall of cities, collapse of security forces, Taliban return to power, massive displacement and significant humanitarian need. The embassy may need to close if security deteriorates."
OK. They didn't say Kabul will fall August 15, but it was pretty close. If the British were planning for other possibilities, they don't plan for that one, did they?
BAER: No. I mean, our intelligence in the west on Afghanistan has been awful, especially on the Pashtuns. It's never been any good. We've never been able to get inside the Taliban and figure out what their plans and intentions are.
And we also clearly didn't understand that the military, the Afghan army, would surrender, would simply give up cut deals, head for the hills, whatever they did, took money. We saw none of that.
[00:15:06]
Because the United States, for one, never thought it was going to -- we were going to be out the 15th of August. That came as a surprise. I realize the intelligence assessments are all over the map, but I think it surprised a lot of people, because if we had known how bad things were, we would have simply, you know, retreated to Bagram Air Force Base and retreated out of there rather than the airport.
VAUSE: You mentioned this. The U.S. was absolutely clueless about these deals being done between Taliban and senior figures within the Afghan national government and within the military to switch sides. Here's Lieutenant General Douglas Lute.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. DOUGLAS LUTE (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Our fundamental understanding of Afghanistan was, often, at the 101 college level, and we needed master's degrees.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The U.S. was in Afghanistan for 20 years. That's enough time to finish 10 master's degrees. How can they be so cut off from reality?
BAER: The Pashtun are very difficult people, in the sense that they are xenophobic. And let's not forget that Mullah Omar died outside of an American military base, and we didn't know it for two years. That's how bad it was. And it never got any better, and it was never -- and I worked on that border for a long time. And I can say that utterly failed to collect intelligence on Afghanistan, as well.
So, I know the difficulties. And you're right. Twenty years seems too long, but that's the nature of the terrain there.
VAUSE: The Bush administration, you know, before the Iraq invasion, cherry-picked intelligence to build a case. Did the Biden administration, essentially, do the same thing to build a case to leave?
BAER: Look, you know, we had to leave, John. We had to leave. We could've stayed there. You know, $20 trillion, how many lives later, 50 years from now. I don't know. We could have never built a state there. It was never doable. We could never have built a military. And it was always going to be a messy retreat.
The British, in the 19th Century had a horrible retreat, much worse than ours, and there's no reason that we could do any better. You know, you can't blame anybody. And Biden is right. Get out of there, give it up. And if they go back to sponsoring terrorism, you have to deal with it with drones.
VAUSE: I don't want to conflate the withdrawal with a messy evacuation, but it's a good point to finish on. Bob, thank you. Bob there for us. We appreciate it. Thanks, Bob.
Coming up, we'll take you to Tokyo, where the man who led Japan through the pandemic will not seek a new term as prime minister. A developing story. We'll have all the details in just a moment.
Also ahead, more than 100,000 refugees have flown out of Afghanistan to start new lives. We'll hear from some of them and from those who weren't fortunate enough to make it out of the country.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: We have this breaking news, just into CNN. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is effectively stepping down. Mr. Suga is not planning to run in the Liberal Democratic Party leadership race later this month, which will end his time as prime minister.
[00:20:04]
CNN's Blake Essig is in Tokyo, following the story. Why, I guess, is the main question?
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, John, somewhat surprising, Japan will now soon have a new prime minister. Earlier today, Japan's ruling party secretary-general said that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga does not intend to run in this month's party leadership race, effectively giving up the premiership.
According to the secretary-general, Suga is stepping down to focus on COVID-19. In the past two months, COVID-19 cases in Tokyo and across the country have skyrocketed.
A public broadcaster, NHK, reports that Suga made the announcement at an extraordinary board meeting at the party headquarters just a few hours ago, and he left without taking any questions. Public support for the prime minister has fallen dramatically in
recent months. At one point, multiple polls had Suga's approval rating near 70 percent. Today, it's consistently below 30 percent.
The two biggest factors for that sharp decline in popularity have been his government's handling of COVID-19, which critics have called slow, and indecisive. Then there's also the decision to hold the Olympics, against the will of the people, and despite warnings from health officials that COVID cases could surge.
Now, of course, when Suga took office last year, after then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stepped down because of health reasons. Suga inherited an extremely challenging set of circumstances between the ongoing pandemic, and of course, the delayed Olympic games.
To regain support recently within the party, local media reports suggest that Suga had been planning to reshuffle his cabinet and the leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party executive team by early next week.
But it is believed that he was struggling to appoint people for his posts, as many members questioned his leadership capability.
Now, Suga's term as Liberal Democratic Party president ends at the end of the month, and the LDC/LDP leadership election, John, is set for September 29.
VAUSE: Blake, thank you. Appreciate the update. Blake Essig there in Tokyo.
Well, tens of thousands of Afghan refugees who it out of the country are now on the eve of a new, hopefully, more peaceful life. Those left behind and trying to escape across the border into Pakistan face a more uncertain fate.
CNN's Nic Robertson has details from Islamabad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): As they set foot on new soil, after countless hours of travel, many of the more than 150,000 evacuated Afghan refugees, relieved to be free from fear of life under Taliban control.
This 40-year-old former translator now in South Korea.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People do not believe them. We do not believe their promise. They are the opposite of humanity, especially for the women, and for the girls. They are not happy that the girls go to school.
ROBERTSON: Whether it's in South Korea, the U.S., Spain, Mexico, France, Qatar, or many of the other hundred-plus countries that have vowed to take them in. Their new lives, and dreams, begin now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We came here, and we want to live for a long time in peace. Our children should have a good education here and a peaceful situation.
ROBERTSON: At Afghanistan's border with Pakistan, those not lucky enough to make the evac flight struggle to leave. One man crushed to death Thursday, as the crowd pushed across. Some here, though, not fleeing fighting, or fearing the Taliban, but just looking for survival.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Previously during such change, a lot of looting had happened, and so for that reason, people were scared. People were running away. Myself, I've come here with a patient for medical treatment.
ROBERTSON: And some coming for that most basic need: economic certainty, escaping drought and unemployment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We are 150 families. It was tough for us to cross the border. We were very oppressed, and many families are stranded there. We were unemployed and hungry. We migrated here because of poverty. And we need help, because we don't have tents and food. We have nothing. Have mercy on us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): No work here, no jobs. We fled to Pakistan in disarray. We're requesting the Pakistani government to help us, because we are refugees. Look at these kids. They have nowhere to go.
ROBERTSON (on camera): For now, Pakistan's message to would-be refugees, in particular, economic migrants, don't come, if you don't have the right paperwork. We simply can't afford it anymore.
The message to the international community: engage, economically, with the new Taliban government, and do it soon. If you don't, the trickle of suffering at the border will turn into a surging torrent.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Islamabad, Pakistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[06:25:04]
VAUSE: In New Zealand, police have reportedly shot one man dead after an attack at a suburban mall in New Lynn near Auckland. Police say a number of people have been injured. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been briefed on this incident.
CNN will stay on the story. We'll have more details as soon as we get them.
We'll take a short break. When we come back, scientists are warning weather disasters are becoming more frequent, and it's largely because of climate change.
Coming up, how nations are trying to prepare for extreme weather.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
More now on our top story. Across the Northeast of the U.S., they're cleaning up and counting the costs from torrential rains, catastrophic flooding, and tornadoes, all caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida.
At least 46 people are now confirmed dead. Officials say in Pennsylvania alone, dozens of rescues were made, as rising water left communities submerged.
Around the world, wildfires, other natural disasters are becoming increasingly common and severe. A new U.N. report found extreme weather events or climate disasters happen every day, on average, over the last 50 years. And scientists say climate change is a driving factor.
The U.S. president, Joe Biden, is now calling on Congress to take further action to better prepare the nation's infrastructure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BIDEN: The past few days of Hurricane Ida, and the wildfires in the west, and the unprecedented flash floods in New York and New Jersey, is yet another reminder that these extreme storms, and how the climate crisis are here. We need to do -- we need to be better prepared. We need to act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Joining us now is Adda Athanasopoulos-Zekkos. She's an assistant professor at the College of Civil and Environmental Engineering, at the University of California in Berkeley.
Thank you for being with us. We appreciate your time.
ADDA ATHANASOPOULOS-ZEKKOS, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, COLLEGE OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IN BERKELEY: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: So once again, it's become obvious that 20th Century infrastructure has not been built to cope, or survive, a 21st Century crisis caused by climate change.
Storms, and flooding, like we saw 24 hours ago in the New York area, will only get worse. I want you to listen now to the senator from New York state. That's Chuck Schumer. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Woe is us if we don't recognize these changes are due to climate change. Woe is us if we don't do something about it quickly, both in building resilient infrastructure and going to clean power.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: In this context, how bad is woe? And exactly what does resilient mean when we're talking about resilient infrastructure? What does that cost, and what's the level here? What will gauge successful resilience?
[00:30:02]
ATHANASOPOULOS-ZEKKOS: So I think one -- something that is important to understand is that, when we talk about infrastructure, that involves many different types of systems and components.
And what we're seeing now occur more and more frequently is a domino effect, basically, where one -- the failure of one system affects the performance of another system.
So it's really important to design and strengthen these with that always in mind.
Now of course, as you mentioned, this is going to require significant resources. And I think we cannot step away from supporting our infrastructure. We do have solutions. We have capabilities, but it is important to have the resources and the will to back that up.
I think a good example is Hurricane Katrina versus Hurricane Ida. And the difference is the response of the levee systems in New Orleans. It is something that we're going to be looking into with reconnaissance efforts very soon to compare the difference between the response of a strengthened system.
VAUSE: Well, in New Orleans, a situation where $15 billion was spent to upgrade the levee system, and that worked great. It prevented the flooding like we saw during Katrina. But if the city is without power, because the electricity is out because the grid collapsed, that would seem to be an example of an incomplete. A lot more needs to be done.
ATHANASOPOULOS-ZEKKOS: Exactly. No, I agree that, as I mentioned before, these are highly complex interconnected systems, and we need to design them and address them as such. This is why it's important to use these disasters, to turn them into knowledge. Study exactly what happened, what worked well, because it's important to be able to recognize that, and then move on and understand what didn't and what can be done better next time.
VAUSE: You know, computer modeling has been able to forecast fairly well the overall trend and the changes which are happening in our climate and where we're heading. There was a lot of specific data on how extreme the extremes will actually get. That seems to be the missing part of the puzzle right now.
How can you build infrastructure to survive a weather event 30 years in the future when you don't know how bad that weather event could be?
ATHANASOPOULOS-ZEKKOS: This is an excellent point, and I think this is the challenge that we face. We are constantly updating our models in terms of the forecasts, whether that is a surge following a hurricane or wind gusts.
And I think we -- we need to continue to learn from the disasters that we experience. We need to use our best protective models. And this is why it's really important to investigate every single event so that we can continue to validate and calibrate our models to make them better in terms of being able to predict.
At the same time, I think we need to realize that we are never going to be able to eliminate risk. What we are trying to do is reduce risk, reduce the loss of human life, of course, first and foremost. Make our communities more resilient. So that even if affected by certain failures, they can quickly bounce back. And it's very important to be able to do that in an equitable way so that everybody has access to such resources.
VAUSE: There is the infrastructure bill which has passed the Senate in the United States. It's now in the House of Representatives. It's billions of dollars in that bill for climate change investment, for resilience within infrastructure. That's now being debated.
How much time do we have, essentially, to wait for these sort of political arguments to unfold before this money starts to be spent? Because what happens in the United States influences the rest of the world. You know, this sets -- this country sets the benchmark. Others tend to follow.
So what happened here is important. But there seems to be so much time now being wasted and has been wasted up until this point.
ATHANASOPOULOS-ZEKKOS: In my opinion, there is no longer time to waste. Climate change is here. I was watching the early part of your segments. I think the evidence is overwhelming. We definitely need to act now. And we need to continue to support the improvement of our infrastructure.
The engineers are offering new solutions and the ability, basically, to reimagine certain parts of the infrastructure so that it can accommodate our new needs.
VAUSE Adda Athanasopoulos-Zekkos -- I hope I got that right -- thank you. We really appreciate your time. Thank you very much.
ATHANASOPOULOS-ZEKKOS: Of course. Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: Pleasure.
More now, breaking news from New Zealand, where police have reportedly shot dead one man after an attack at a suburban mall in New Lynn near Auckland.
Police say a number of people have been hurt, and the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has been briefed about the incident.
The managers of the shopping mall say it is now closed, and the police are handling the investigation. They will provide authorities with their full assistance.
Please stay on this -- we'll stay on the story, rather, I should say. And we'll bring you more information as soon as we get it.
Well, China's COVID case -- numbers, rather, remain very low. After the break, we'll tell you about the policies being implemented to fight new infections and whether they're worth it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Well, he gained infamy on ISIS hostage videos from Syria. A British accent earned him the nickname as one of the Beatles. Now he's on his way to a U.S. prison.
Alexanda Kotey pleaded guilty to eight counts in the kidnapping and killing of U.S. and other international hostages. He faces life in prison without parole.
ISIS killed a number of hostages in Syria, including U.S. aid workers Kayla Mueller, as well as Peter Kassig, and American journalist James Foley and Steven Sotloff.
The Australian state of New South Wales is reporting another daily high in COVID-19 cases. Most of the more than 1,400 new infections are in the capitol, Sydney, despite the city being in lockdown for 10 weeks.
New South Wales premier Gladys -- I don't know -- is warning that the numbers will continue to increase even with rising vaccination rates. Only a little more than 36 percent of the entire country is vaccinated.
U.S. vaccination numbers are slowly creeping up, and some of the states hit hardest recently by COVID are showing the biggest increases in new vaccinations. Mississippi, Florida, and Georgia were among the states that had the best vaccination rates last week. This comes as more U.S. health officials warmed to the idea of booster shots as data shows they work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE: There's no doubt, from the dramatic data from the Israeli study, that the boosts that are being now done there, and contemplated here, support very strongly the rationale for such an approach, based on the very favorable data associated with boosts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Others are warning against the rush to boosters, since many countries still are struggling to give out their first dose.
Thursday, the European Medicines Agency said there was no urgent need for boosters among the fully vaccinated general population.
In China, life is returning to normal, for the most part, after a sudden surge of new cases which drew (ph) harsh lockdown measures back in July. Beijing's zero-tolerance approach to new cases had been criticized as being extreme. It's also effective.
Here's David Culver.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): China's
worst surging cases since the initial outbreak in Wuhan, now under control, according to the government, residents in some cities celebrating the end of quarantine.
Health officials say the Delta-linked variant of COVID-19 was first detected in China in July. They traced it to an Air China flight from Moscow. Officials say it first affected several airport workers in Nanjing and rapidly spread to other parts of the country, including major cities like Chengdu and Beijing.
Though the overall number of cases was relatively small, just under 1,300 since July 20, it led to a return of mass testing, some cities screening their entire population, millions of people often tested multiple times. Smartphone contact tracing strictly reinforced. And tightened travel restrictions.
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For millions, it was back into lockdown. In early August, we drove past one of the elevated-risk communities in Beijing. Residents essentially sealed off due to a single positive case being detected here.
(on camera): Behind these barriers, you have folks who are abiding by the stay-at-home orders and who are, once again, having to undergo mass testing.
But that was a few weeks ago. Now you can see this is no longer an elevated-risk area. You've got folks who live at the community out and about. The gates are open. Things returning to normal.
(voice-over): Though some still a bit sensitive with people from outside the community, like us, walking in.
In other parts of the country, lockdowns were brutal. Folks in one central Chinese city even shouting for help from their windows at some point.
The threat of more stay-at-home orders sparked panic buying in some cities, shelves emptying out of basic goods.
But even before official policies changed, most began wearing face masks again voluntarily. Most people here share, it seems, a collective understanding. The inconveniences, while extreme, are effective.
(on camera): But they seem to accept, for the most part, that's going to last just a couple of weeks. Then, they can get back to life as it was.
(voice-over): Officials used this most recent surge in cases to push, or in some cases, require more people to get vaccinated. In late August, China reported that they'd given out more than 2 billion doses of vaccines domestically. More than 60 percent of the population now fully vaccinated. In the
effort to reach herd immunity, some Chinese cities started blocking unvaccinated residents from entering public venues or even from riding the subway.
(on camera): With daily new COVID case counts back to single digits, and sometimes zero, ahead of the Beijing 2022 Olympics in February, many remain skeptical. Is this zero-tolerance toward any new cases approach sustainable?
For now, China's sticking to it.
David Culver, CNN, Beijing.
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VAUSE: Well, Mama Mia, here we go again. After four decades, the legendary Swedish pop group Abba, they're back together.
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(MUSIC: "MAMA MIA")
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VAUSE: Yes, it was 1982 when the band broke up. The "Mama Mia," "Dancing Queen," and "Waterloo" singers said they were working on a stage show when they decided it was time for a return to the recording studio.
Their ten-track album, "Voyage," is set to be released on November 5. They're also planning a virtual concert series in London, appearing as digital avatars alongside a 10-piece live band. Those shows slated to begin next May. Something to mark on your calendars.
I'm John Vause. I will be back with another hour of CNN NEWSROOM at the top of this hour. WORLD SPORT is next.
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