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Cities From Gulf To Northeast Reeling From Storm's Destruction; Safety Of NYC Basement Apartments Under Scrutiny Under Ida; Experts Say Extreme Rainfall More Common Because Of Global Warming; Roe V. Wade In Danger As Texas Effectively Outlaws Abortion; Harris, Warren Campaign For Embattled California Gov. Newsom; Former Afghan Translator And Wife Start New Life In U.S. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired September 04, 2021 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:03]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The safety of basement apartments under scrutiny in New York City tonight after 10 people including a two-year-old boy died in their homes during catastrophic flooding.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: We know that basement apartments create a whole set of particular challenges.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got wind damage everywhere. There's not a neighborhood that's been spared. There's not a street that's been spared.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is still no power in some parts of the city and across the state. More than 700,000 people are still without electricity, and tensions are rising. Less than 10 miles from where we are right now, police say, a man was shot and killed who was trying to get gasoline.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: A Texas Judge has issued a temporary restraining order against the state's largest anti-abortion group.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The most pernicious thing about the Texas law, it sort of creates a vigilante system. It just seems -- I know this sounds ridiculous -- almost un-American.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMARA WALKER, CNN HOST: Hi, everyone. Thanks for being with me. I'm Amara Walker in Atlanta, in for Pamela Brown, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Weather in turmoil. A climate in crisis. Across the U.S. this week, extreme weather has crushed records and claimed lives. The death toll has climbed to at least 50 in the northeast from Ida's record rainfall. New York officials blame illegal basement apartments for most of the city's in-home deaths.

In New Jersey, searchers are still looking for two college students who were swept into a storm drain, and receding floodwaters left their empty car hanging above the drain.

To get an idea of how fast and deadly the rainfall was, watch this. The wall of a flooded basement in New Jersey buckles and unleashes a wave of water.

And in hurricane ravaged Louisiana, temperatures are climbing and desperation is growing for food, water, electricity, and fuel. In Jefferson Parish, a man has surrendered after allegedly shooting and killing another motorist in line at a gas station. Some stations are seeing violence with lines lasting up to five hours.

Experts say one thing is clear, climate change is supercharging our weather from ferocious storms to the wildfires burning in the West.

We are following this from every coast and we are going to begin now with Nadia Romero in New Orleans where these very difficult conditions have some people leaving the state now. Nadia, I know you've been on the ground there for some time. What have the people have been telling you?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Amara, they are fleeing the city and many of them are lifelong residents. They've been through storms before, but the aftermath now of Hurricane Ida is just too much for them to bear.

So, if you take a look behind me, you can see these coach buses that are lined up along the street right outside of the Convention Center. They're ready to take 50 people at a time per bus, get them out of New Orleans and they're going to take people to Northern Louisiana like Shreveport or even Texas, just somewhere where they have air conditioning or electricity, where they can get clean clothes and food, you know basic necessities that people have gone without for the last week or so since the storm hit.

Now, we spoke with one woman who says she is just frustrated. She says there's looting and people are breaking into homes in her neighborhood at night because they're all without power and they're vulnerable and she can't find her medicine. She lost that along with all of her clothes and furniture in the storm as well. And she says, now is the time that she just has to leave.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: What are you missing in your home right now that's making it unlivable?

MARY CARTER, NEW ORLEANS EVACUEE: Well, it just smells bad in there. You know, it is sitting up molds.

ROMERO: Is there -- you have any food?

CARTER: I've got no food. It's spoiled. My food is spoiled. I don't have no food. I had to throw it out. And oh, it is rough -- this, then we are getting so much of heat.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMERO: Heat is right. I mean, I can think of some other words to

describe how we're feeling, we're boiling out here, especially when you don't have power or air conditioning.

Now, we have seen some really terrible deplorable conditions in nursing homes all across the city, and that's why they're targeting nursing homes and assisted living facilities to get people on these buses and out of New Orleans.

Now, we also know that tempers are running high, just as high as the temperatures are and that has led to some frustrations that are really unacceptable. There was a shooting that happened at a Chevron gas station not far from here because it sounded like someone was trying to cut in line and those lines are lasting for several hours.

People are waking up at three, four o'clock in the morning to get in the gas line because they've run out of fuel for their cars and the people who are lucky enough to have generators are running out of fuel to keep their homes with electricity and keep their refrigerators working.

[18:05:10]

ROMERO: So, those long lines are causing a lot of frustrations and there are plenty of people here, Amara, who have just thrown their hands up in the air and said, "Enough is enough. I'm done. Get me out of New Orleans."

WALKER: Yes, you can't blame them for feeling that way. Just a really tough situation for the people there in Louisiana.

Nadia Romero, appreciate your reporting. Thank you for that.

Let's head now to Philadelphia and CNN's Polo Sandoval standing by.

Polo, so President Biden will be visiting New York and New Jersey next week. Just give us a sense of what kind of damage the President is going to see there.

SANDOVAL: I've got to tell you, Amara, the Commander-in-Chief will be visiting New Jersey and New York. These are two states that are all too familiar with the devastation that was left behind in the wake of Tropical Storm Ida here.

I've seen it firsthand, for example, in neighboring New Jersey here where people lost their homes. And of course, almost half of the total death toll has actually been there in New Jersey and also in New York, where we have some fresh reporting, a recent reporting from a colleague, Mark Morales now indicates that five or the six locations where a total of 10 New York City residents where they lost their lives, were actually basements or cellars that were illegally converted into living spaces.

This storm is certainly shedding new light on what has been a persistent issue, where many of these spaces are converted into these kinds of potential threats here that sadly, resulted in the deaths of several individuals when those floodwaters came gushing in, and one of those is actually a family of three, including a two-year-old toddler and his parents in Queens that sadly did not make it out of their apartment there.

The New York State Department of Buildings promising that they're going to take a hard look here and make sure that those kinds of underground living spaces are in fact permitted.

In the meantime, though, in terms of what you can hear in the background, Amara, those are -- that's the roaring river here that cuts through along the City of Philadelphia.

If you look over my shoulder, you can see that what is currently a raging Schuylkill River rose about two feet above major flood stage during the height of the storm. I've got to tell you, though, this has actually dropped dramatically just in the last couple of hours, which could perhaps signal the end of one phase and the beginning of the other and that is, of course, the cleanup.

These are the pictures I'll leave you here with, Amara. All of this was brought in by these floodwaters that have since then receded, certainly showing that authorities are going to have their hands full as they get ready to not only recover, but certainly cleanup as well -- Amara.

WALKER: All right, Polo Sandoval showing us what is happening on the ground there. I appreciate your reporting.

And to the West now and those wildfires out there and some encouraging signs on the massive Caldor wildfire that forced people in South Lake Tahoe, California to evacuate.

CNN's Natasha Chen is following that.

Hi there, Natasha. So, what's the latest on that fire?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Amara, the Caldor fire is now 37 percent contained. As you said, it is encouraging because there are lighter winds today and yesterday, but humidity is still low. Temperatures are going to rise this weekend.

And keep in mind that thousands of residents remain evacuated from that South Lake Tahoe area. So, it's still not safe for them to go back. Their structure is still threatened.

Take a look at this overnight time lapse video taken from a popular ski resort. What you're seeing there, those are not city lights. Those are flames filling the hillsides.

Keep in mind this is a very popular place for people to go for vacation. Labor Day weekend, typically it would be packed. But you're seeing this video that was posted on Twitter by emergency services, it is a ghost town right now, nobody there.

A lot of residents who had to leave in a hurry said that they grabbed whatever they could, some of them sleeping in their cars in parking lots, really a devastating situation there. Even those not directly close to flames can feel that smoke and haze and ash in the air for miles.

Firefighters are exhausted. Not only has the Caldor fire been active for 20 days, they've also been fighting the Dixie fire, which is more than half contained now. That's the second largest wildfire in California history.

So, they are tired, and this morning before the crews went out for another day of firefighting, they got a bit of a pep talk, reminding them what Labor Day weekend usually means for most people and how critical their role is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN GOULD, AGENCY ADMINISTRATOR, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: The majority of the population, yes, they're going to be dealing with smoke and intense heat and ash, stuff that's going to be coming from barbecues. Yours is coming from a 212,000-acre fire of national attention that's tormenting three forests and is doing its best to get into a second state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: And the Caldor fire has now destroyed nearly 900 structures. Just to give you some context, this year this fire season, California has seen the three times the amount of land burned compared to the same time period in this state last year and the fire conditions, they are above average danger here, this could last for still through the end of September in the northwest and parts of the Northern Rockies.

Here in Southern California, those conditions could last even through November -- Amara.

[18:10:20]

WALKER: Oh, boy. All right, in for a long season. Natasha Chen, thank you so much for joining us.

For millions of Americans, you need only to look out the window to see just how volatile much of our weather has become. But it was striking to see this blunt wording.

A climate scientist writing an opinion piece for cnn.com calling this quote, "A dystopian moment."

Adam Sobel is a Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University. Adam, appreciate you joining us. I want to get straight to your piece because it really was striking. And you wrote, quote, "This is a point in the new cycle when I would normally be called upon to explain why in a warmer climate, hurricanes and heavy rain events can get more extreme. I can't do it. Not today. At this dystopian moment, I'm just not feeling it and I don't think I'm alone. I think I can speak for many of us when I say we're stunned."

Adam, why did this push you to that tipping point? ADAM SOBEL, PROFESSOR OF EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES, COLUMBIA

UNIVERSITY: Well, I mean, so we, climate scientists have been saying for a long time that extreme weather events are getting more severe, at least some kinds of extreme weather events, and that this is already happening to some degree, in for much of my life, that's been a fairly subtle signal.

But you know, these last few years have really -- and this summer in particular -- has just been shocking. I mean, you know, we can't attribute everything to climate change, of course. There are some natural variability in here. There's been extreme weather events in the distant past, but -- and, you know, it's going to take research to say exactly what the role of the human influence is on these events.

But there's certainly some in the extreme heat waves that we had in the northwest, in the fires in California, and in the floods in the east. And, you know, it's just at some point -- it's just, I'm just having an emotional reaction to it. It's just really, really been striking.

And it's not just -- I want to say the events are non-stop, but they're more than non-stop, they are coming right on top of each other at the same time, such that, you know, it's just hard to even keep track of them.

WALKER: You know, you write in that piece that you were watching that devastating rainfall in New York. What were you thinking? And did you have hope that there is time to reverse this? Because, you know, New York's Mayor Bill de Blasio saying that this has to be the biggest wake-up call that they could possibly get?

SOBEL: Yes, you know, first of all, I want to say this rainfall wasn't harmful to me, I was fine and I wasn't even aware until the next day or even a couple of days later how serious the effects were with all the deaths and all, and I think that was really quite shocking.

You know, I think our infrastructure is unprepared for these kind of events. You know, it probably was unprepared even without climate change, but that's just adding a little more to it. And, yes, I don't know what else to say.

I mean, it's -- my reaction was, you know, part of the problem is, if you study extreme weather events then when they happen, they're exciting, you know, but they're also -- it can also be terrifying, and so harmful to so many.

So, it's just -- it is just distressing to see the deaths and the damage caused by this event.

WALKER: You know, so what needs to change? I mean, you mentioned that our infrastructure was not built to withstand the climate that we are now dealing with, because the climate has changed.

And you also talk about in your piece that there needs to be a will when it comes to environmental policies. I mean, what can be done right now? Are you hopeful? SOBEL: Well, you know, it's hopeful and distressing at the same time.

I mean, we have major bills in Congress, the infrastructure, and especially the reconciliation bill that do have a lot of serious climate -- both mitigation and adaptation measures, and the mitigation being reducing greenhouse gas emissions to reduce the risks in the long term and adaptation being dealing with the extreme weather that we already have -- and those would make a big difference.

Those are more serious measures than have ever been proposed in the United States before. And, you know, the Democratic majority in Congress could in principle, pass them but, I'm no expert on the politics, but it looks like there's a real uphill battle in some respects, and some, you know, people are really opposed to them.

And, you know, so I have hope, but at the same time, concern, to say the least.

WALKER: Yes, and lastly, you know, I feel like we've talked about this for years now, right, about scientists like you and your colleagues warning that we are reaching or we have reached the point of no return. I mean, we're talking about back-to-back extreme weather events and droughts and people being -- millions of people being displaced in a water crisis, et cetera, et cetera.

Can you just bring it down to a practical level? You know, what do we need to know, especially for those who don't see this as an existential threat? How does climate change -- what we're seeing now impact all of us? And how soon? I mean, obviously, we're seeing the impact now, right?

[18:15:29]

SOBEL: Yes, I mean, I think we can see how it impacts all of us, you know, extreme weather events that are to some extent, amplified by climate change. I don't think the point of no return rhetoric is helpful, because, I mean, it's true that some warming has already been -- we've already had some warming, we're already seeing some effects of it. And it's -- you know, we can't reverse that.

But every bit to which, at least, to whatever extent we can reduce future warming, it makes a difference. And so any actions we can take are worthwhile.

There is no single point at which we go off some cliff and you know, the world is over. Every bit of action matters, every bit to which we can reduce both the extent to which the warming happens by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the extent to which it does damage by having better infrastructure, better policies, better -- you know, not having people living in, you know, basement apartments where they don't have warning and they get drowned and so on.

So I don't think, you know, there's no point of no return. I think it's just -- it's just something where we all have to do whatever we can do.

WALKER: Yes, it does make it sound hopeless, right, when you hear a point of no return. There are things that we can do to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and more.

Adam Sobel, appreciate you joining us. Thank you for that.

SOBEL: Thank you very much.

WALKER: Hall of Fame boxer, Oscar De La Hoya putting a return to the ring on hold. He was hospitalized with COVID even though he was fully vaccinated.

Also ahead, turning private citizens into bounty hunters. Reproductive rights expert Jessica Waters slammed the Texas abortion ban saying she is quote "done compromising with anti-choice extremists." She will join us live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:21:22]

WALKER: As people and much of the world wait to get their first COVID vaccines, wealthier Western nations are debating the need for and timing of third doses. A hundred and seventy six million people in the U.S. are now fully vaccinated. This is according to data from the C.D.C., and despite reports of so-called breakthrough infections, 99.99 percent of fully vaccinated people have not been hospitalized or died. That is a very important fact.

Now, the Biden administration announced booster shots for all American adults starting September 20th, but that plan might have to be scaled back to only include Pfizer vaccine recipients.

The F.D.A. and C.D.C. want more data before approving a third Moderna shot.

Joining me now to clarify some of the booster shot confusion is Dr. Peter Hotez from the Baylor College of Medicine, who also wrote "Preventing the Next Pandemic: Vaccine Diplomacy in a Time of Anti- Science."

Dr. Hotez, great to see you again. So, we were just mentioning the Biden administration talking about announcing this plan to have the booster shots available by September 20th. But now that plan may have to be scaled back. What are your thoughts about this? What are your thoughts on this? And do you think the White House spoke too soon?

DR. PETER HOTEZ, DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Well, I think you know, looking at this, from the very beginning, I've been saying it's a high likelihood that both of the mRNA vaccines will be three dose vaccines. And even the good likelihood that J & J will turn out to be a two-dose vaccine.

You know, when those first two immunizations were given, Amara, for the Pfizer-BioNTech, they were given three and four weeks apart, and that schedule was selected because we were in crisis. If you remember, we were losing 3,000 American lives a day and we had to get the healthcare workers, we had to get the nursing home residents fully immunized as quickly as possible. But ordinarily, you would not select that schedule for long lasting

protection, and that's why when you look at a lot of pediatric vaccines, you give several doses in a row and then you wait six months to a year before you give that next immunization. And then that really gives you long lasting and durable protection, and I think that's probably the situation that we're seeing.

One of the problems, though, is that most of the data is not publicly available and it is coming out in drips and drabs. And we're seeing some information from Israel showing that the protection against infection has gone down for over 90 percent to 40 to 50 percent for infection. But it's not clear whether we're seeing breakthrough hospitalizations.

And so, this is all going to come to a head on September 17th. The VRBPAC committee will have a chance to fully review the data and we'll get to see the data as well, and then we'll get some clarity on this.

WALKER: Yes, I mean that was interesting, because Dr. Fauci did mention, I think, it was on Thursday during the White House briefing this Israel study that showed that you know, I think for more than a million people, 16 and older, their relative risk of infection went down by 11-fold, 12 days after getting the booster, but do we know more about the safety data in terms of any bad side effects from a third shot?

HOTEZ: So far, I've not seen any red flags and that's good news. The one thing that I'll look at the VRBPAC meeting is whether there's any increase in myocarditis.

If you remember that myocarditis, it was a rare event that occurred in younger individuals. I mean, really rare like 300 cases out of 20 million, and it was more common after the second dose. So you want to get some confirmation that it's not going to accelerate after the third dose.

[18:25:07]

HOTEZ: I don't think that's going to be the case. I think it's going to be safe. But again, this is why we -- this is why we have a process and we work through things like the VRBPAC committee, which has got a great record, track record of making recommendations on safe and effective vaccines.

WALKER: Yes. And also, you know, we were mentioning breakthrough cases and just how rare they are. But, you know, anecdotally it seems like we're hearing about more and more of them and Oscar de la Hoya just revealed he is fighting the virus, he was fully vaccinated.

Are you worried about the effectiveness of the vaccines, at least the vaccines fading with time, especially after six months?

HOTEZ: Yes, certainly with the Pfizer vaccine, I am. As I said, the data looks like it's going down from over 90 percent to 40 to 50 percent. But before you panic, remember, the vast majority of those breakthrough cases are without symptoms or very mild symptoms. What we're not really seeing, we don't think are breakthrough

hospitalizations. On the other hand, we're not seeing a lot of data presented by the C.D.C.

So for instance, it would be nice if we had a breakdown of all major medical centers in the United States knowing the percentage of hospitalized individuals who are vaccinated versus unvaccinated. That might help, but we haven't seen it. So hopefully, that data will be forthcoming.

So yes, we are seeing a decline in protection. You know, it may be the tip of the spear for breakthrough hospitalizations. We haven't seen that yet, so no need to panic, but we will need a third immunization, I think.

WALKER: Sure thing. Yes, a clear and a very important distinction. Dr. Peter Hotez, appreciate your time. Thank you so much.

HOTEZ: Thank you.

WALKER: Up next, an Oklahoma abortion clinic now seeing a big surge in patients from Texas. The co-executive director of Trust Women, Rebecca Tong says she is asking staff to pick up extra shifts. She will join me live when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:31:16]

WALKER: The new law making abortions all but impossible in Texas is facing pushback on several fronts. A District Judge temporarily blocked an anti-abortion group from suing abortion providers with planned parenthood. Meantime, some companies are taking action to show their opposition from Uber and Lyft to GoDaddy to Bumble and Match.

Now, the Texas law basically outlaws abortions after six weeks of pregnancy before most women even know that they're pregnant. And many fear this will inspire other Republican-led states to pass their own bans while the Supreme Court with its conservative majority looks the other way.

Now, besides the six-week limitation, what makes this Texas law different from other efforts to chip away at Roe v. Wade is the way it's enforced. Private citizens can sue people for helping a pregnant woman get an abortion like by giving her a ride or paying for it.

Rebecca Tong is the Co-Executive Director of the Trust Women Foundation which operates clinics in Wichita, Kansas and Oklahoma City. And Jessica Waters is Dean of Undergraduate Education at American University. Her research focuses on reproductive rights law. Thank you both for joining me.

And Rebecca, let's start with you because you say your clinic in Oklahoma is among those seeing a huge uptick in interest from patients from Texas who need or want an abortion. Just explain to us what the last few days have been like in terms of the calls you've been getting and the types of questions and concerns you've been hearing.

REBECCA TONG, ACTING CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TRUST WOMEN: Yes. The volume has just been ridiculous. At least four times as many appointments that we've been making right now and people from all over Texas and people who would have normally gone to a Texas clinic perhaps now can no longer do that. So we're receiving calls from Louisiana as well.

People are panicked. They are upset that they have to travel four to six hours, sometimes 600 miles round trip to be seen for a very simple procedure, sometimes for a pill. It's very cruel how they wrote this law in the way that they've implemented it and it's going to lead to worse health care outcomes not just for the woman who needs the abortion, but also for her family. It's devastating to people.

WALKER: Yes. That's one of the big concerns that we're hearing that this is going to lead to worse health outcomes for women. And Jessica, you wrote a very passionate opinion piece in USA Today calling the Texas abortion ban an assault on women, their bodies, their decision- making, their freedom and their autonomy. This is Gilead. A reference to the Netflix show The Handmaid's Tale.

And you also write because the law incentivizes private citizens, just complete strangers to enforce the ban rather than government or public officials. You say the law is an incitement to violence, can you expand on that?

JESSICA WATERS, DEAN OF UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: Yes, absolutely. And first, Rebecca, thank you for your work. You were on the front line, so thank you for that.

It is an incitement to violence, that's all it could possibly be called. It is a law that encourages and incites private individuals to essentially stock abortion providers, medical health professionals and women and their partners and families who are seeking abortion care. That's all it can be seen as, is actually encouraging individuals to stalk and harass medical health professionals and women seeking health care.

WALKER: And Rebecca, you also say the new Texas law has increased the number of second trimester patients that you're seeing, because they're forcing people to delay access to this care.

[18:35:05]

Because as you mentioned, some have to figure out how to get to neighboring states and drive four to six hours. Can you describe some of these cases you're now faced with and what it means clinically?

TONG: These are the most desperate people who are willing to do whatever it takes in order to be seen. The sad reality is that everyone who needs an abortion right now in that region may not be able to get an appointment even as we tried to expand how many days we see people and how many physicians that we have on staff.

So I wish that the lawmakers in Texas could tell the 13-year-old victim of rape why she has to travel 600 miles, to tell the single mother who is struggling to take care of her current children why she has to go out of state when this is a very safe, very simple procedure.

These are people who are trying to live their lives and it's going to lead to increased homelessness, it's going to drive people to take measures into their own hands and there will be a lot of people who will not be able to access care.

WALKER: Yes. And I can only imagine that this is also going to make some women, many women who are seeking abortion in Texas to feel isolated because of this law that allows complete strangers to enforce the ban and sue. And Jessica, you gave a TED talk on changing the conversation around abortion and the complexity and difficulty that comes with making such a decision.

I feel like sometimes abortion has been oversimplified and just painted as a black or white issue. But can you give us a reality check on that and how important it is for women to have the support network around them during these difficult times?

WATERS: Right, absolutely. I mean, think about any medical procedure that you engage in and typically you would want someone with you. You would want someone who cared about you and had your best interests at heart. And that's not what we're seeing here. We're seeing a Texas legislature that essentially says you need to do this alone, no one can support you and no one can help you as you're making potentially a hard decision and potentially the very best decision for you.

I think, context is important here. When we think about the people who are actually seeking abortion care, almost 60 percent of women who seek abortion care have already had one birth. So we're talking about mothers who know what it means to go through childbirth and pregnancy.

And let's also think about the medical realities as well. When we think about the safety of abortion versus the safety of pregnancy and childbirth, a woman is 14 times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than she is from safe legal abortion care. So this is a bill that ignores those complexities and says, women, we expect you to do this alone and we're going to support individuals who will harass you while you do it.

WALKER: And we got to note, I mean, this Texas abortion ban does not give any exception to cases of rape or even incest. And Rebecca, I just want to pick up on a point about the hardship that it's puts on teenagers or people who can't afford to travel out of state. I mean, this is going to hit lower income women harder, correct?

TONG: Women of means will always be able to access the care that they need. The only people that this law is designed to hurt are women of color, women who live paycheck to paycheck, people who English is not their first language. These are the people who are going to suffer and it's cruel.

WALKER: Rebecca Tong and Jessica Waters, this is such an important conversation. I wish we had more time. Thank you both for taking the time. Appreciate it.

WATERS: Thank you.

WALKER: Some big names are coming out to support California Governor Gavin Newsom as he fights to stay in office. Our Kyung Lah is following it all from Los Angeles and she will join me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:43:39]

WALKER: Vice President Kamala Harris heading to her home state of California Wednesday just stumped for embattled governor, Gavin Newsom. Today, Newsom got an assist from Sen. Elizabeth Warren at a rally in Los Angeles.

CNN's Kyung Lah is there. Hi there, Kyung. So what are the chances that Gov. Newsom actually gets recalled?

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, if you look at the ballot returns that are coming in, it's looking much better for the governor than it did, at least the concerns that existed even just as recently as a month ago. Increasingly, the Democrats are looking that they are overperforming what the registration is here in the state.

And so you're seeing and hearing an optimistic Gov. Gavin Newsom in front of these crowds and he is delivering a closing message that it is not just him that's on the ballot, what his argument is to this predominantly female crowd is that it is the Democratic agenda and you heard Sen. Elizabeth Warren talking to this crowd saying we just saw what happened in Texas with the abortion bill. We are seeing what is happening in Florida with the mask, with COVID, that it is the governors who matter. Take a listen.

[18:45:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D) CALIFORNIA: The idea that we have someone on the other side of this ballot that could be sworn in, in a matter of weeks, that not only doesn't believe a woman has the right to choose, not only doesn't believe as the Senator said women are as smart as men. Women are smarter in politics, smarter in civics. They're smarter in economics. Women rule, man,. Turn on the TV, Larry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: And what the Governor is referencing Larry, he's talking about Larry Elder, the presumed Republican front-runner who hopes to take the job if Gov. Newsom is recalled, Amara.

Now, Sen. Warren was there. In addition to Warren this weekend, Sen. Amy Klobuchar will be standing next to Gov. Newsom at an event tomorrow night. And the next week, Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to come here. Amara?

WALKER: Getting a lot of help from some high profile politicians. Appreciate for joining us, Kyung Lah. Thank you so much.

All right. Up next, an Afghan translator who worked for the U.S. survives a harrowing evacuation and starts a new life in the U.S. But not everyone in his family was so lucky. He shares his story with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:50:46]

WALKER: Less than a week after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, new video they're showing Taliban fighters cracking down hard on calls for equality many by women. And a protester in Kabul telling Reuters, the Taliban used tasers and tear gas to scatter the crowd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SORAYA, ATTENDED AFGHAN WOMEN'S RIGHTS PROTEST(through interpreter): Together with a group of our colleagues, we wanted to go near the former government offices for a protest. But before we got there, the Taliban hit women with electric tasers and they use tear gas against women. They also hit women on the head with a gun magazine and the women became bloody. There was no one to ask why.

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WALKER: More than 40,000 evacuees from Afghanistan have been admitted into the United States and tonight we're hearing from one of them. He says he is terrified for the family he had to leave behind, so we're not using his full name. CNN's Brynn Gingras has his story.

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BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the first day of a new life for Zubair and Shabano (ph). This tiny one-bedroom apartment in Buffalo, New York, is their new home.

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ZUBAIR, FORMER U.S. TRANSLATOR WHO FLED AFGHANISTAN: I can't believe that I'm here in the United States. Sometimes I'm telling to my wife, I'm not sleep. She says no, now you are wake up. It's really ...

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GINGRAS (voice-over): It was one week ago when Zubair says he was living a nightmare in Afghanistan.

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ZUBAIR: It was really bad. We were stuck at home. One minute is like one day.

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GINGRAS (voice-over): The former translator worked alongside U.S. forces for four years. He applied for a special immigrant visa more than two years ago. Zubair was one of the lucky ones. It was granted, just two days before the Taliban overtook Kabul.

But Zubair needed to get his family to the airport. He and his father both worked with the U.S. government and they knew if they stayed in Kabul, their lives would be in danger. Zubair was getting text messages from friends who are also trying to escape.

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ZUBAIR: He says it's like horror movie. He says that Taliban are like zombies.

GINGRAS (off camera): What were you thinking watching this?

ZUBAIR: I thought I can't get out of Kabul.

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GINGRAS (voice-over): Zubair says he was on his own. With visa in hand, he spent days trying to get himself and his family past the Taliban. With no help from the Americans, he says.

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ZUBAIR: The Taliban was behaving very bad. Most of them were beating people. I was like in three days I got to the gate inside the Kabul airport.

GINGRAS (off camera): Three days?

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GINGRAS (voice-over): But his father ...

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ZUBAIR: I leave him at the gate, the last think - I couldn't talk with him, because I was in a hurry to leave Afghanistan.

GINGRAS (off camera): So you didn't get to say good-bye?

ZUBAIR: No.

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GINGRAS (voice-over): The couple fled with just these three bags, leaving everything else behind; family, friends and former co-workers.

Z, a fellow translator, says he was days away from getting his visa when the Taliban took over. He's still stuck in Kabul. He asked we not disclose his name or show his face for his safety.

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"Z", FORMER U.S. TRANSLATOR UNABLE TO LEAVE AFGHANISTAN: People like me, there are a lot of people like me who was working all within the same company, we all left behind. So we're currently, you know that we're receiving the threats. My family and my life is really in great danger.

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GINGRAS (voice-over): His plea to the U.S. government.

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Z: My message to Mr. President Joe Biden is don't leave us behind.

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GINGRAS (voice-over): Zubair calls friends of his left behind daily. He says his mom is too heartbroken to speak with him, but he keeps hope.

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ZUBAIR: I have hope that one day they'll be evacuated to the America and I see them here alive.

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GINGRAS (voice-over): In the meantime, he and his wife are starting over with help from a resettlement agency, Journey's End Refugee Services, which expects to assist many more Afghan families in the coming months.

[18:55:01]

They couple says they feel safe here. They can finally sleep and dream about what lies ahead.

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ZUBAIR: The feeling that I will start everything again, it looks like a mountain, very high mountain, now I am looking how I can climb this mountain. I should find a way.

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GINGRAS (voice-over): Brynn Gingras, CNN, Buffalo, New York.

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WALKER: A beautiful story of hope for Zubair by and his wife, but your heartbreaks for that man who's saying do not leave us behind. Prayers for that family.

High temperatures, high humidity, high tensions and no power, conditions so bad right now in Louisiana. Some people are leaving until the situation gets better. We're going to follow it all next.

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