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Afghan Women Defy Taliban to Protest for Their Rights; Taliban Claim to Be Forming New Government; Biden Visits, Vows Help for Storm- Ravaged Louisiana; Massive Cleanup Underway after Monster Storm Slams Northeast; White House May Have to Scale Back Booster Plan. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired September 04, 2021 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.
We will take to the streets of Kabul in protest. CNN takes you live to the Afghan capital and to Islamabad for the latest.
Plus, President Joe Biden get a firsthand look at the damage from Hurricane Ida as controversy erupts over the deaths of elderly nursing home residents.
And a possible snag in the White House plan to roll out booster shots.
Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
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BRUNHUBER: Afghanistan's new rulers have yet to unveil a formal government and that has presented a small window for Afghan women to publicly demand their rights be protected.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): The women are demanding the right to work and to have a continued voice in the country's affairs, especially on education and health. But as you can see here, even this small demonstration was enough to provoke the Taliban to try to break it up.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Meanwhile, anti-Taliban forces in the rugged Panjshir Valley are battling an incursion by Taliban fighters. The Panjshir has long been controlled by the National Resistance Front and has never been under Taliban control. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Journalist Ben farmer is in Kabul where it's 1:30 in the afternoon. He joins us by phone.
Ben, thanks for being with us. Let's start with the protests we saw from those women there in Kabul a day after a similar one in Herat. Tell us more about their pledge to the Taliban and to the outside world.
BEN FARMER, JOURNALIST: Well, these are -- they're not huge protests, we're perhaps looking at a few dozen women. But they are significant. The women are very brave for doing this.
The Taliban have been very dismissive and very hostile toward women's rights activists in the past. The women have been saying in these protests that they demand a say in government and they demand a say in their lives.
And they've also asked for representation, when the Taliban do actually form their government. The -- the Taliban, who have been at the scene of these protests, have looked on as if unsure what to do at first. But then they have moved in and they've used some violence and some force to move these women on.
So they are taking a grave risk. I think their message is both to the Taliban but also as much to the wider world, hoping that these protests get picked up and they're hoping the world does not forget there are still women inside Afghanistan, campaigning for their rights.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Absolutely. In the meantime, people are trying to adjust to the new normal there. I know access to cash has been hard. There have been food price hikes and shortages. I saw, though, a key money exchange market just reopened today.
So what's the situation now there for most Afghans?
FARMER: People are finding if difficult. I've been driving road the city and there are look queues at banks. There are strict rules on how much you can withdraw from banks. It's $200 per week at the moment.
And a lot of people are struggling. A lot of people are on the government payroll, whether they're in the security forces or education or health. And these people, the government employees, have not been paid for two months.
It's not just the Taliban that didn't pay them but, in the last stages of the former Afghan government, they weren't being paid, either. So a lot of people are struggling.
BRUNHUBER: Other aspects of life already seem to be changing under the Taliban. I saw, for instance, that they took a popular soap opera off the air. Tell us how Afghans are getting their news, their entertainment, how that has changed and will likely change further in the weeks to come. FARMER: It's changing subtly but there's definitely a change in the
cultural landscape. The news channels which were often seen as some of the great achievements of the past (INAUDIBLE) still broadcasting.
But the radio channels and a lot of the TV networks, they're starting to cut back on the amount of music they play and the different sorts of different programs that they show, much less entertainment.
And what they're showing is more modest. We're also seeing things like murals being painted, adverts -- being painted over -- sorry -- adverts being painted over. And I'm sitting outside a beauty parlor at the moment. And all the signs which showed women in their dresses have all been whitewashed over.
BRUNHUBER: Wow. That's a dramatic symbol of the changes that are arriving there in Kabul.
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BRUNHUBER: Listen, thanks so much for talking to us, Ben Farmer in Kabul, appreciate it.
And now I want to turn to CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson, live in Islamabad.
Nic, the resistance in the Panjshir Valley, the Taliban say they control it; the resistance says it's still in their hands.
What's the latest on the resistance movement there?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The fighting continues. The resistance movement is making clear that they're not going to budge. The Taliban have released videos that show that they've taken some of the strategic heights around the valley.
This is a valley that the Soviets couldn't conquer. This is a valley that the -- when they were in the country in the 1980s, that the Taliban, back in the '90s, they couldn't conquer it.
It was able to hold out because it had very hardened fighters, who knew the terrain, who were good at sort of setting ambushes to sort of lure people into the steep-sided valley and then hit them from the sides and the back.
These are the sorts of tactics that are being employed at the moment. But it does appear -- and the Taliban are maintaining a narrative that they are making gains -- the resistance in there say that the phones have been cut, that the power's been cut off, the fuel supplies can't get into the valley.
These are the typical siege tactics that the Taliban have used elsewhere in the country. The former vice president, Amrullah Saleh, who is in the valley, released a short video in the past few days, saying that, yes, things were tough.
But there were casualties on both sides, both the Taliban and the resistance. He said, but despite that, we're going to continue to fight. This is the heart of the resistance. And you know, the problem for the Taliban is they can't negotiate an end to this, they have to fight an end to it.
Because if they don't, this valley holds out again, then it will attract other disaffected factions, other warlords who fled the country to come back and join a nascent national resistance front, what this group is.
And that would spread problems to other areas of Afghanistan for the Taliban. So this is very important for the Taliban, to negotiate or win the battle.
BRUNHUBER: Well, since you're in Pakistan right now, let's turn there now. The head of Pakistan's intelligence agency is in Kabul, according to our reporting. Many in the West are hoping that Pakistan can play the role of mediator. I saw the U.K. foreign secretary was just in Pakistan, talking about that.
What more can you tell us?
ROBERTSON: Yes, General Faiz Hameed has gone to Kabul. He's the most senior ranking Pakistani official to visit since the Taliban took control, has taken with him a number of other Pakistani officials.
I think it was significant that, yesterday, a Pakistani official had meetings with Taliban in Qatar, sort of a lower level meeting that seems to have opened the door to what we are witnessing today.
Historically, Pakistan has had, you know, at times, good; at times frosty; at times opaque relationships with the Taliban. But of all the sort of bordering nations here, Pakistan perhaps has the greatest understanding of the Taliban and, potentially -- I think, leverage is too strong a word but would like to -- would like to influence them.
And one of the messages that undoubtedly will come from Pakistan is concern that a government hasn't been formed yet. And they would relay that concern very likely in the terms of it's Pakistan that's going to get -- bear the brunt of the fallout if the Taliban doesn't announce the government, doesn't reconcile its differences with the international community, doesn't develop, you know, a better economic situation in the country.
Because refugees will flood out to Pakistan. And this is really Pakistan's big concern at the moment. So you know, in the sporting analogy, you know, Pakistan has a lot of skin in the game here.
They have a lot to lose, their economy here and social disruption and the potential for terrorism, violence, so they're really keen to kind of understand what's going on in Kabul and influence it as much as they can.
How much they can influence it, I think that's really unclear.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. It's an important part of the story we'll keep following. Thank you so much for the analysis, Nic Robertson in Islamabad.
And ahead this hour, a closer look at the women protesting the Taliban and demanding the right to work and what might happen to the country's struggling economy under Taliban rule.
U.S. President Joe Biden says federal help is on the way to Louisiana after Hurricane Ida pummeled the region. Biden saw the extent of the damage firsthand on Friday while touring areas ravaged by the storm. He emphasized the need to fund climate-resilient infrastructure and promised hardhit communities that he has their backs.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's much to be done. We're working around the clock with the governor and the elected officials here until we can meet every need y'all have.
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BRUNHUBER: Louisiana now faces a monumental recovery effort with some areas still under water. More than 700,000 homes and businesses are still in the dark days after the storm. And fuel remains in short supply.
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BRUNHUBER: Louisiana state representative Mandy Landry joins me on the phone from New Orleans.
Thank you so much for making the time for us here. President Biden toured the state to see the storm damage, he made plenty of promises.
Are you convinced you'll get what you need?
MANDY LANDRY(D-LA), STATE REPRESENTATIVE: I absolutely think we will. I trust in President Biden. He knows what we need. He knows people. We also -- Louisiana has a secret weapon in the White House with our former representative, Cedric Richmond, who is one of the president's right-hand men.
And so I really do believe, given all our state has been through in the last couple of decades, that we're going to get what we need this time.
BRUNHUBER: You and I spoke in the hours before Ida hit. You said everyone was concerned whether the levees would hold. Well, they did but the electric system didn't.
Is that the biggest problem for most folks right now?
LANDRY: Yes, absolutely. For anyone who's ever been to the South, particularly in Louisiana, you know how hot it gets this time of year. It is indescribably hot and humid. For so many people, especially elderly and people with health
problems, it's really difficult and often deadly for them to be in this kind of weather without any fans or ACs or anything.
So that's kind of what we're doing. The lack of electricity, it prevent our basic businesses from running. It requires a lot of our grocery stores and hospitals to be on generators. And it really makes you realize that climate change is here and we need to make sure we know how to deal with it, because it is just difficult to live in this type of heat.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Another huge problem has been gas shortages. People waiting in hours -- hours in line for gas. One man was shot and killed in a gas station line yesterday. Frustration is mounting.
Are you getting the federal help there that you need, to get more gas into the system?
LANDRY: It's been slow for sure. I saw that evening, what you said about the shooting in line. And look, I mean, while it's never acceptable, like it -- it wasn't so much surprising to anyone who lives here when you know how hot it is. And if you've been waiting for five hours for a couple of gallons of gas just to get yourself out of town hopefully, you know that temperatures flare.
But we need to realize that people are running out of patience. In terms of federal help, our state provides access to about 90 percent -- I say this slightly off -- but about 90 percent of the oil and gas that flows through the country goes through my state somehow, whether it's through an oil service company or otherwise.
And to have that down is harmful for everyone. But for us to be here in this state and not have access to our own natural resources is especially -- it angers people a lot, given like how much that we give up to the rest of the country for that.
BRUNHUBER: Hopefully you and everybody out there will get the help that they need. Really appreciate you talking to us. Representative Mandy Landry, thank you so much.
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BRUNHUBER: In the Northeast, at least 50 people are now confirmed dead after the remnants of Ida unleashed catastrophic flooding across the region. CNN's Miguel Marquez has a look at the devastation from Pennsylvania to New York.
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MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In Passaic, New Jersey, dive crews have suspended the search for two missing people. Officials say a man and woman were in a car near a drainage ditch when they got out or were forced out by the floodwaters. They were then swept away by Ida's deluge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was seven feet water at that time. The water force was so high and they might be somewhere in the bank of rivers.
MARQUEZ: The drain empties into the Passaic River, which remains above flood stage at this hour. Tonight in Philadelphia, floodwaters haven't fully receded along many streets and parking lots that remain underwater.
COMMISSIONER ADAM THIEL, PHILADELPHIA FIRE DEPARTMENT: At the same time, we're moving into a recovery mode and a cleanup mode. The recovery process for this is going to take months.
MARQUEZ: Damage from a tornado just outside Philadelphia, no one prepared for a tornado here.
CHIEF ANDREW RATHFON, FORT WASHINGTON FIRE COMPANY: It's unimaginable.
MARQUEZ: The twister winds up to 130 miles an hour ripped through Fort Washington, damaging home, businesses and bringing down power lines.
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RATHFON: I mean, the landscape of our community is completely different.
MARQUEZ: Power poles strewn across streets, huge trees uprooted in neighborhood and even roads and overpasses left in disarray.
Today, 4 million people in the northeast remain under a flood advisory due to swelling waters. At one apartment complex in Philadelphia, the National Guard rescued almost a dozen people and their pets, one of several in the area.
JAKE BLANK, RESIDENT: We really appreciate it. You know, we were waiting for quite some time and you don't really expect these types of things to happen when, you know, you are in a big building like this.
MARQUEZ: Today, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy getting a firsthand look of the devastation in his state. That's where at least six people remain missing and more than two dozen reported deaths.
GOV. PHIL MURPHY (D-NJ): It is quite clear our state and our nation does not have the infrastructure to meet this moment and to meet the future as it relates to these storms.
MARQUEZ: In Mullica Hill, families are trying to recover after a tornado ripped through their homes.
PAULA MENZONI, RESIDENT: Our house is gone. I said what, do you mean? He said the tornado.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were all muddled. Everything was falling on our backs and luckily our house has a walkout basement or we would have never gotten out.
MARQUEZ: New York also the worst flash flooding in the region. At least 16 people died across the state with nearly a dozen victims in Queens alone. AMRITA BHAGWANDI, FLOOD VICTIM: There was only sadness and it's just overwhelming.
MARQUEZ: At least eight of the victims in New York City died in basements.
GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): Those who lost a loved one, someone swept away in a car, people trapped in their basements, not able to escape, those are the images that haunt me in the aftermath of this storm.
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BRUNHUBER: That was CNN's Miguel Marquez reporting.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, the Biden administration's plan to roll out vaccine boosters may have hit a snag. We'll find out why some people may have to wait even longer.
Plus, Afghan women demand a voice in the country's affairs. More on that after the break. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Even as vaccination numbers in the U.S. slowly increase, COVID cases continue to spread, driving up hospitalizations.
You can see all that red and orange on the map there. And case surges are hitting children in states with lower vaccination rates especially hard.
New CDC research indicates the rate of hospitalization for unvaccinated teens is 10 times higher than for those who are vaccinated. The data also shows hospitalizations are highest among kids under 4 and in teens between 12 and 17.
Well, the White House may have to scale back the vaccine booster rollout that's slated to begin in the coming weeks. President Biden revealed the plan last month, telling Americans to get ready for booster doses starting on September 20th.
But now a White House source tells CNN the initial rollout might be limited to Pfizer since there isn't enough data yet on Moderna or Johnson & Johnson. However, on Wednesday, Moderna said it has begun submitting booster data to the FDA.
CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen explains what this means and why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Several weeks ago, when the Biden administration announced that there would be a booster rollout, starting September 20th for the COVID-19 vaccines, that left many people scratching their heads.
You can't have a booster rollout until the FDA and the CDC review the data and weigh in. And that has not happened. There have been no announcements for any of the three COVID-19 vaccines.
So here's the issue: it is possible that Pfizer could have a booster rollout, starting the week of September 20th. And here's why. They've submitted their data. They have a date, September 17th, to speak to the FDA's advisers. So they could have a rollout on September 20th.
But not everybody got Pfizer. Let's take a look at these numbers.
As you can see among vaccinated people in the U.S., 54 percent got Pfizer, 38 percent got Moderna and 8 percent got Johnson & Johnson. So here's the bottom line for people who are vaccinated.
There is an excellent chance, no matter what vaccine you got, that you will be told to get a booster sometime in the coming months. We don't know exactly when but it really is very, very likely that you will be getting a booster sometime in the coming months.
The concern here is really for the folks who are unvaccinated. The concern is that all this back and forth over boosters is going to make this group even more mistrustful of the government. These are folks who are not listening to health authorities. They're not getting vaccinated and.
The concern is this could make it worse. Let's take a look at this number. More than 1 in 4 eligible Americans have not gotten even a single shot of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Again, the concern is that this back and forth will make them even more reluctant to get a vaccine. The concern here is that the Biden administration needs to work on its messaging. Back to you.
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BRUNHUBER: Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, sending her peers a simple message.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My message technically is, just, if you're eligible to get the vaccine, please do.
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): The Florida teen's terrifying experience. That's ahead.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Plus, women are demanding the Taliban respect their rights as Afghanistan's new rumors consolidate power. But are the Taliban listening?
We'll have those details just ahead. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban are pressing their military offensive into the mountainous Panjshir Valley north of Kabul. Heavy fighting was reported Friday between the Taliban and the National Resistance Front, a coalition of Afghan fighters long opposed to the Taliban.
Panjshir has been a stronghold of Afghan resistance for decades. It's the only piece of the country the Taliban have never controlled.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Celebratory gunfire broke out in Kabul after the Taliban claimed to have seized the Panjshir but the resistance denies it's been defeated.
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BRUNHUBER: The White House is detailing what was said between the U.S. president and the former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani during their last phone call before the Taliban takeover. Listen to this.
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KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: President Biden was telling Ghani three things: work with my team to nail down the details of an effective military strategy, consolidating around population centers.
Two, let your military commanders implement that strategy.
And, three, rally the political leaders behind that strategy, to reinforce the confidence of the Afghan public and the international community behind that strategy.
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BRUNHUBER: The White House added, unfortunately, Ghani couldn't or wouldn't heed that advice. Now this all comes after Reuters reported it reviewed a transcript of that phone call. And much of the conversation was focused on what President Biden called the Afghan government's "perception problem." The absence of a formal Taliban government has provided a small window
for Afghan women to demand their rights be protected. But Friday's public demonstration, in full view of armed militants, was a risky gamble. CNN's Isa Soares explains.
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ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A small but brave band of women chant the right to work and go to school in Taliban-run Afghanistan.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They must make sure women participate in their government. We know that women form a majority of the population of Afghanistan.
If they are not prepared in areas like education, health and politics and do not have a role in these areas in our society, so the world will not recognize us. They will not hear our voice.
SOARES (voice-over): There's a brief confrontation between the Taliban and the women. Twenty years ago when the Taliban last ran Afghanistan, a protest like this would be unthinkable. The women would have been beaten, tortured or even executed.
The Taliban insist they will respect women's rights within the framework of sharia law. That includes giving women access to education and the workplace. Still to be seen whether women will be forced to wear burqas and not allowed to leave their homes without a close male relative.
And the public messaging is often different from reality at street level. Recently, a spokesman for the group urged women to stay home for their safety because Taliban fighters had not been trained to respect them.
The warning has left many Afghan women afraid and uncertain of what is next. Street vendors in Kabul said the sale of burqas has increased. In some instances, militants have forced women out of their workplaces, though some women continue to work.
The female staff of one hospital in Kabul stayed home for a day when the Taliban first took over until their managers told them it was OK to come back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): In the beginning when the situation occurred, it was very difficult for us. We were worried about what would happen. Our request is we want to make progress, we don't want to go backwards.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
SOARES (voice-over): A female anchor on a television morning show this earlier week had a interview with a male guest on a health topic. But another female journalist fled the country after she interviewed a member of the Taliban on live TV.
Reporters without Borders say there are under 100 female journalists who still work in Kabul and some have been attacked or harassed. The conductor of the country's all-female orchestra says she has escaped to the United States but says many of her fellow musicians are in hiding. The Taliban banned most music during its earlier rule.
NEGIN KHPALWAK, AFGHAN WOMEN'S ORCHESTRA CONDUCTOR (through translator): When the Taliban neared the city, everyone stayed at home. They didn't go out, especially female musicians. I am sure that every one of them felt the same way as I did, that we will not be able to play again.
SOARES (voice-over): As the Taliban consolidate power, many Afghan women, especially professionals, feel stifled and silenced -- Isa Soares, CNN.
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BRUNHUBER: Afghanistan's already shattered economy is now in even more chaos because of the Taliban takeover. CNN's Anna Stewart looks at the new leadership's struggle to finance a country that relies heavily on foreign aid.
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ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Banks are open again in Afghanistan but it takes hours, even a whole day to reach the front of the line. And then withdrawals are limited to 20,000 afghanis, around $200, which has to last a week.
A journalist in Kabul working with CNN has seen prices for basic necessities skyrocket. In just two weeks, petrol prices are 140 percent higher, cooking oil up 63 percent. Basic food items like rice, flour and sugar are all significantly more expensive. It's adding pressure on people after weeks of upheaval.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I've been unemployed and sitting at home for 17 or 18 days. This isn't easy because we have rent and electricity bills and other expenses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I do not feel well. Everyone fled and there are no work opportunities in Afghanistan at all.
STEWART (voice-over): Afghanistan was already one of the poorest countries in the world, facing rampant corruption and dependent on foreign aid. Around 75 percent of the previous government's budget came from overseas grants, according to the World Bank.
Now the U.S. has blocked the Taliban from accessing Afghanistan's foreign reserves and the IMF, E.U. and World Bank have suspended payments.
ABDUL FITRAT, FORMER GOVERNOR, CENTRAL BANK OF AFGHANISTAN: Now the Taliban has only access to roughly $100 million in cash inside the country. STEWART: Only $100 million?
But Afghanistan's reserves are a little under $10 billion.
But is all of that overseas?
FITRAT: Correct. And majority of them are in the U.S. and less than half in Europe.
STEWART: Should the international community unblock the reserves?
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Should they give financial aid to the Taliban to help the people?
FITRAT: No. If they have access to Afghanistan's reserves, they will not spend that for the benefit of the population. They will transfer some of those money to the international terrorist colleagues in the country, to the terrorist groups. We saw that, examples of that, in the past.
STEWART (voice-over): Aid organizations are already warning of a health care system facing collapse and food shortages. Without recognition from the international community, it seems the Taliban could struggle to govern a country they fought so long to control -- Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
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BRUNHUBER: Coming up, while it's been a tough week for Joe Biden, we'll explain all the ways why coming up. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Opponents of a controversial Texas anti-abortion law won a small victory Friday. A Texas district judge granted a temporary restraining order that bars the group Texans -- Texas right to life from suing Planned Parenthood providers in the state.
The law bans abortions only after six weeks and is the most restrictive in the nation. It also allows private citizens to sue anyone who helps a pregnant person seeking the procedure.
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NANCY NORTHRUP, PRESIDENT AND CEO, CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: What Texas has done is to off-load, you know, its responsibilities to protect the Constitution and empower individuals to be bounty hunters.
The $10,000 is a minimum. A court could impose more fees but also attorneys' fees on the people who are sued. And this was not going to be limited to abortion for the court to hold it up. [05:40:00]
NORTHRUP: It means that any constitutional individual right could be on the chopping block.
Texas could deny people the right to vote and say but we're just going to empower private individuals to do this or the right of kids to get education, a whole host of individual rights.
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BRUNHUBER: Planned Parenthood said in a statement it is, quote, "relieved" that the court acted quickly to grant the restraining order.
And U.S. President Joe Biden calls the Texas law almost un-American and it came during a week that he probably would like to forget. From the heartbreaking scenes, as troops withdrew from Afghanistan, to disappointing August jobs numbers because of the Delta variant, the president could really use a weekend holiday break. CNN's Phil Mattingly explains.
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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden landed in Louisiana on Friday just days after the state, really the whole Gulf Coast region, was ravaged by a category 4 hurricane. He made clear the federal government, his administration, were absolutely there to help. Take a listen.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My message today is I think what we're all seeing -- and I'm getting the same response from my Republican friends, Republican friends here that are in the Congress, there's nothing political about this.
It's just simply about saving lives and getting people back up and running.
And we're in this together. And so, we're not going to leave any community behind, rural, city, coastal, inland. And I promise we're going to have your backs until this thing gets done.
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MATTINGLY (voice-over): A critical moment for the administration, particularly an administration led by a president, who campaigned on and since he's been in office has consistently reiterated the idea that competency, showing that government can work, is critical in this moment in time in the country.
And yet if you look past, over the course of the last several weeks, those pledges, that kind of guarantee, that he said he would bring to office, have very much been called into question. You've had the surge of the Delta variant that has really sunk the
country back into a pandemic crisis, that most officials didn't believe they would ever get back to after vaccinations kicked up into such a high gear and even mask requirements were removed for those who were vaccinated just a few months ago.
Obviously Afghanistan, a bloody, chaotic crisis, that the administration dealt with and often was behind the ball or on its back foot in over the course of a 17-day period after Kabul fell and a timeline that nobody inside the administration expected.
And then you have the economy. It has been one of the bulwarks of the Biden administration, consistently hundreds of thousands of jobs added every single month. In July, more than 1 million jobs added.
Not so in August. The August jobs report showing 235,000 jobs added, that was well below estimates. And obviously well below the month prior. Now the effect of that to some degree is the Delta variant.
You look across the jobs numbers, whether it's retail, whether it's hospitality, much of the front-facing COVID most affected industries were the ones where there were no job increases or very limited job increases.
The types of industries that have been driving the economy over the last several months. It all plays into the reality as the president's approval numbers have been dropping over the course of the last several weeks.
The administration has had a tough month. Its competency argument has taken a number of hits. Things aren't necessarily going to get easier going forward. Obviously the Delta variant still surging throughout the country.
The president's legislative agenda still with a number of major hurdles in the weeks ahead, as Congress, Democrats primarily, enter a critical stage in trying to enact two proposals totaling more than $4 trillion that sit at the core of Biden's first year in office, perhaps even first term in office.
The White House has a lot of work to do. The White House officials openly acknowledge that. They believe they can get control of what's happened over the course of the last several weeks.
However, there are still Americans on the ground in Afghanistan. That is something the White House needs to continue to work on. There's obviously still a surge in the pandemic. That is something you'll hear the president talk about a lot in the coming days, trying to restore a sense of confidence in the U.S. approach to that.
And then there's the economy which is quite intertwined with that pandemic and how it ends up. Again, no shortage of issues for the White House to deal with. A number of issues that run headlong into what the president pledged he would bring to office.
White House officials confident they can get the country back to where they thought they were a few months ago and perhaps much further than they thought they could be, depending on the legislative agenda.
But a lot of work ahead and certainly officials acknowledge they are very happy to get the month of August behind them -- Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, a message to her peers. A Florida teen, who almost died battling COVID-19, uses her experience to motivate others to get vaccinated. We'll have her story ahead. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: The wife of civil rights leader reverend Jesse Jackson is back home after being hospitalized for COVID-19.
The virus sent both Jacqueline Jackson and her husband to hospitals last month. She was released Friday but the reverend remains hospitalized at a facility that focuses on Parkinson's disease. He was diagnosed with the neurological disorder in 2017.
If you're a young person or have a young child, pay attention to this story. A Florida teen is using her experience to sound the alarm to the dangers of COVID in young people. Her message: get vaccinated or risk winding up on a ventilator like she did -- or worse. CNN's Randi Kaye has her terrifying story.
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RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How are you feeling?
PAULINA VELASQUEZ, COVID-19 PATIENT: Much better I'm able to walk, finally able to move around, do stuff by myself. Still need a little bit of help but I'm improving every single day.
KAYE (voice-over): Just weeks ago, an interview with 15-year-old Paulina Velasquez seemed unthinkable. The unvaccinated Florida teenager had tested positive for COVID-19 and was fighting for her life in a Florida hospital.
KAYE (on camera): Paulina, do you remember how you felt by the time you got to the ER?
P. VELASQUEZ: The last thing I remember is like walking into the ER.
[05:50:00]
P. VELASQUEZ: And like, I was like dragging my feet, like it was hot outside and I just couldn't breathe normally. KAYE: Was it scary for you?
P. VELASQUEZ: Yes, very.
KAYE (voice-over): Paulina tested positive for COVID on July 11th, just as she was making plans to be vaccinated. First it was just a runny nose but then came the headaches, loss of taste and smell and the struggle to breathe.
This was Paulina before she got sick, a healthy energetic high school sophomore.
That quickly turned into this. Less than a week after testing positive, Paulina's oxygen levels dropped to below 70. So on July 17th, when she went to the hospital, doctors immediately put her on a ventilator.
AGNES VELASQUEZ, PAULINA'S MOTHER: Oh my God, that was the scariest moment when they told me because I didn't know what to expect. I started asking questions. So first, I said no, no, no, please. No. And they said, well, we don't have any other alternatives. We have to do that, other way, you know, it's something you know, worse can happen.
And I said, OK, well, I guess you guys know better. So just do what you can do to save my daughter's life.
KAYE (voice-over): Paulina's mother Agnes Velazquez had also tested positive for COVID around the same time, even though she'd been fully vaccinated in April. She insisted on staying in her daughter's hospital room.
A. VELASQUEZ: They said, OK, that's fine. But they told me if I go in to the room, I cannot go out. So that's why I was every single minute with her.
KAYE (on camera): Did you pray for her?
A. VELASQUEZ: Of course, I did. I did pray every single day. There was no day or moment that I would not pray.
KAYE (voice-over): Paulina had pneumonia, too and doctors put her into a medically induced coma. They kept her on the ventilator for 11 days.
KAYE (on camera): Do you remember anything about being in the hospital when you were so sick?
P. VELASQUEZ: I don't remember much since I was in the medically induced coma. Besides, when I woke up from the coma and seeing my mom by my side.
KAYE (voice-over): After a month hooked up to life-saving machines, Paulina was finally able to go home, August 13th. And now she has a message.
KAYE (on camera): A lot of teenagers think that they don't have to get vaccinated. They're so young, nothing's going to happen to them. Do you believe that given what you went through?
P. VELASQUEZ: No, it is a very serious virus. This virus does not pick and choose who to infect and it could hit you as hard as it hit me. And I don't want anybody to go through what I went through.
My message technically is, just if you're eligible to get the vaccine, please do. I plan on getting vaccinated as soon as my doctor lets us know when I can.
KAYE (voice-over): Randi Kaye, CNN, Palm Beach County, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Defending champion Naomi Osaka is out of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, suffering a loss that left her near tears. The Japanese star was frustrated in the third round by Canadian teen Leyla Fernandez, falling in three sets.
Osaka lost her cool, repeatedly banging, slamming her racquet and also hitting a ball into the crowd. She did later apologize and spoke about her future.
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NAOMI OSAKA, TWO-TIME U.S. OPEN CHAMPION: I feel like for me, recently, like when I win, I don't feel happy. I feel more like a relief. Then when I lose, I feel very sad. And I don't -- I don't think that's normal. And I didn't really want to cry but basically I feel like ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gentlemen, I'm done, OK?
Thank you.
OSAKA: No, I kind of want to finish this up, I'm sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's up to you.
OSAKA: Yes. So basically I feel like -- OK. So -- this is very hard to articulate. Well, basically, I feel like I'm kind of at this point where I'm trying to figure out what I want to do. And I honestly don't know when I'm going to play my next tennis match.
Sorry. But -- sorry. OK. Yes.
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OSAKA: But I -- I think I'm going to take a break from playing for a while. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Osaka, the world number three, abruptly pulled out of the French Open earlier this year over anxiety and depression. The dramatic move raised the profile of mental health issues in sports. And this just in to CNN: a short time ago, Larry became a major
hurricane -- that's considered a category 3 or higher -- strengthening to about 115 miles per hour. Right now it's in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. This is the third major hurricane to have formed in the Atlantic Basin this hurricane season.
Now Larry won't be threat to land for at least the next four days, tracking to the north and west over the open waters of the Atlantic.
I'm Kim Brunhuber at CNN Center in Atlanta. Thank you so much for joining me. For viewers in North America, "NEW DAY" is next. For everyone else it's "MARKETPLACE AFRICA."
