Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Afghans Face Humanitarian And Economic Crises; Boys Called To Resume Secondary School, But Not Girls; Nearly 12,000 Migrants Still Under Del Rio Bridge. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired September 20, 2021 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:14]
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.
Coming up here on CNN Newsroom, women bravely out in the streets of Afghanistan, not staying silent despite being told to stay at home and don't go to school. Drone video captures a massive crisis at the U.S. border. Some 12,000 migrants camped under a bridge in Texas, in during searing heat and squalid conditions. And Canada heads to the polls for snap elections, a tight race with Justin Trudeau, hoping his handling of the pandemic will keep him in power.
Although the Taliban are showing increasing signs of repressive governance, some women are not backing down.
A group of brave activists protesting outside what used to be the women's ministry on Sunday, the Taliban closed it and replaced it with the feared ministry for promotion of virtue and prevention of vice. The protests come after concerns were raised about girls being allowed to attend secondary school.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TARANUM SAYEEDI, WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST (through translator): You cannot suppress the voice of Afghan women by keeping girls at home and restricting them as well as by not allowing them to go to school. You cannot suppress the voice of Afghanistan's women.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now a private preschool opened on Sunday in Kabul with both boys and girls attending. That's a rare sight. The Taliban insists that public secondary school for girls will be allowed but they say they have to set up what they called safe transportation first, over the Afghans who remain in the country the future of course, far from certain and camps for the displaced around Kabul, conditions crowded and unsanitary. And in the rest of the capital, the economic crisis is staring we clear. Nic Robertson reports from Kabul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): On Kabul's fringes, families displaced by fighting, abandoned by the new Taliban Islamic Emirate government.
(voice-over): Literally just getting out of the car coming into the camp, people are surrounding us. They want to know how we can help them. And this is how bad the camp is, human feces along the wall here, this is awful conditions. The Taliban have won the war. But their problems running the country are piling up.
(on camera): It's the smell that hits you first, people literally forced to get to the toilet right next their tents where they're cooking. How many people in this camp here? Five hundred families he tells me. No sign here of any aid, no water, no food, no shelter, no toilets, and anyone coming from the Islamic Emirate offices to talk to them and ask them what they need. His answer needs no translation. You're on your own.
He shows me the long lists of the displaced. As he speaks a man in a high vis vest with a stick in his hand interrupts. It's clear. We have to go. We were told that we didn't have permission to film there that's why we're leaving. And literally as we're leaving, we've been handed all these numbers, the people thrusting phone numbers into us. They are literally banging on the car now desperate for us to be able to help them in some way and they think giving us their phone numbers is going to help.
(voice-over): Across town in the book market that there is calm, too much of it. Books, books, books, but no one to buy them. No one is spending money he says they don't know what's coming. The only books that are selling well are religious ones. Of 300 stores here, only 20 remain open.
Another market, this secondhand goods trader says everyone is selling up to flee the country. So far, the Taliban is limiting cash withdrawals to $200 a week. But that seems to be the only economic policy so far. During Friday prayers, the call from the mosques, America is being blamed for Afghanistan's dire situation.
(on camera): The reality the economy is hurting. The International Monetary Fund warns of a looming humanitarian crisis. The Taliban won the war. But can they run the country? Right now they could use international help.
[01:05:11]
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The foreign reserves of Afghanistan are almost exclusively in banks here in the United States, including the Federal Reserve, other banks about $9 billion. All of that has been frozen.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Early signs the pressure is taking its toll. The Taliban this week struggling to call reports of a rift in their ranks, triggered when the Deputy Prime Minister, the main negotiator with the U.S. unexpectedly missing for several days. This week, the Taliban's most powerful military commander, Sirajuddin Haqqani, told the U.N. frozen money must be released. He has a $10 million FBI bounty on his head for ties to terrorism and al-Qaeda.
(on camera): The Taliban have got what they want control of Afghanistan, but running the country and winning the peace. That's their biggest challenge yet.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And Anna Coren is tracking developments for us from Hong Kong joins me now live, let's talk about this social media campaign, Afghan mothers pushing back saying, you know, if our sons can't go, if our daughters can't to go to school, our sons won't either. They're very courageous.
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very courageous, Michael, I mean, you're talking about a generation of women that have been educated over the last 20 years. And these mothers have been able to educate their daughters. And just because the Taliban has now returned to government, they don't want to see that ends. So you're seeing the social media campaign of these brave mothers, obviously communicating, you know, it's not to the Taliban, but to the outside world, to the international community, to the United States. And to those donors, I guess, who could provide aid to the Taliban.
But they need to say, right, if you want this aid, then you need to improve the rights of women, of girls, of human rights. And so far, we aren't seeing that happen. So really, it is a plea to the international community. And I guess what we are saying to from the Taliban is that they haven't evolved. I mean, we've been talking about this now for the past month since they've come into government. But this is not an inclusive Taliban or a tolerant Taliban or revised Taliban. This is the Taliban that ruled in the 90s.
And what we are seeing is a government that has a very strict interpretation of Islam, and believes solely in Sharia law. I mean, let's have a listen now to what Kabul's acting Mayor had to say about women returning to work in the government services, basically, that these jobs are now for men unless the jobs that men can't do take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAMDULLAH NOMANI, KABUL, AFGHANISTAN ACTING MAYOR (through translator): However, if a work can be done by others, male employees, under the current condition, until the situation comes to a normal state, we have asked them to stay at home, their salaries will be paid as per usual.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: And the job Michael that he referred to was cleaning women's toilets. That is what women can do. Now we are hearing of women doctors treating women patients but really that is about it. I've been in touch with many women in Kabul in particular, and they say that they are staying at home that they are too scared to venture outside that they haven't returned to university despite this idea that they're open, but they they're segregated.
We're being told that they're not allowed to return. And then, you know, for secondary students, these female students, the Taliban is not outright saying they can never return to school, but they have to improve the transportation system for these girls. How long is that going to take Michael? How long is it going to take for a normal state to resume in Afghanistan so women can return to work? We know that just in Kabul alone, there are about 3,000 government employees, 27 percent of them are women.
Right now they are staying at home, scared to venture outside. And this is the reality. I guess the question is how long will this last?
HOLMES: Indeed. Anna, thank you, Anna Coren there in Hong Kong for us.
Well, the migrant crisis is unfolding at the U.S.-Mexico border. Let's show you some drone video here of a migrant camp under the Del Rio International Bridge. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has already conducted three repatriation flights from Del Rio, Texas to Access to Port-au-Prince in Haiti with more than 300 Haitians on board. But an official says, the migrants are not deterred by U.S. plans to send them back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[01:10:11]
RAUL ORTIZ, CHIEF, UNITED STATES BORDER PATROL: Haitians and folks from Western Africa traditionally cross in the Del Rio sector area because they have known individuals previously who have crossed in this area. They say that community across the border at Konya is relatively safe and so traditionally is because of word of mouth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: There are still nearly 12,000 migrants at the Bridge waiting to be processed by U.S. immigration authorities and the head of U.S. Homeland Security himself plans to travel to the border to assess the situation. CNN's Rosa Flores takes a look at the desperate living conditions at the migrant camp.
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I've never seen anything like this in the United States. Take a look. This is a migrant camp in Del Rio, Texas underneath the International Bridge. Now days ago, there were a few tents out here there was a small tent city. Now you can see that it has grown significantly, people have used what looks like tree branches, bamboo, blankets, plastics to create small huts so that they can protect themselves from the heat.
Now we are seeing state and federal resources arrive to make sure that these individuals can be processed in U.S. immigration facilities. But we don't have a timeline. The federal government doesn't know exactly when they will be able to clear this camp out. Now if you look closely, you'll see that these are men, women, children, I see pregnant women, infants in the heat underneath a bridge living here. You can see that they're drying their clothes, hanging them from wherever they can.
Now the federal government says that they've brought in towels, toilets, I'm looking at them, and that they're trying to up the humanitarian action, the humanitarian aid. And by what I'm looking at, it doesn't look like much of that has arrived because these are huts. Take a look at this. They're huts that have plastic and blankets covering over them.
Now, the silver lining here is that the mayor of Del Rio who has been calling on the federal government to step in, says that now there are the resources to take care of this humanitarian crisis. He says that both state and federal resources are arriving. We know that hundreds of agents are being sent here to Del Rio to make sure that these individuals are processed. Again, these are the gates of America. This is the immigration waiting room right now in Del Rio, Texas.
Rosa Flores, CNN, Del Rio, Texas.
HOLMES: Guerline Jozef is president of the Haitian Bridge Alliance. She joins me now from Del Rio, Texas and thanks for doing so. Firstly, just tried to give us a brief sense of what it is like for the people under that bridge. What are they -- what are you hearing from them?
GUERLINE JOZEF, PRESIDENT, HAITIAN BRIDGE ALLIANCE: Thank you so much for having us. What we are hearing and seeing are people in need of protection. People who have made a long journey, some of them years, people who have been in Mexico for two, three, up to four or five years have been awaiting for a way to properly present themselves to ask for asylum and have been left without any options.
We know that right now. There are over 10,000 people under the bridge and right now asking for protection
HOLMES: Right.
JOZEF: Those people as we mentioned before, men, pregnant women, children, babies, so that is why --
HOLMES: Yes, the administration has made it very clear that they will -- most will be deported back to Haiti. It's already starting. What will they be returning to?
JOZEF: Chaos. That's what they will be returning to. They will be returning to a country that is struggling to, you know, to grapple with the aftermath of the earthquake, extreme political turmoil, the assassination of a president, kidnapping, violence, that is what people will be returning to. And keep in mind many of them have left the country in hope to get protection only to be returned to the same burning house they have fled.
HOLMES: And when it comes to why they came in the first place and some have taken a long journey through other places obviously starting in places like Chile and so on. But when it comes to their motivation, I saw you quoted as saying false information, misinformation, and misunderstanding might have created a false sense of hope. Tell me more about that. [01:15:11]
JOZEF: Yes, as I mentioned, the lack of protection, a lot of people have been here for a very long time, and they have not been able to access the asylum system. The previous president completely destroyed any possible way for people to get protection, including the MPP and Title 42, with the current administration continued to use as a trap for those people.
And now we see that people are leaving the places like Tijuana and other border entries, to come to Del Rio as a response that they do not have any other choices. The people that I have been able to talk to have said that they thought if they came to that specific location, they might be able to get protection that is why they came to that specific space. However, they have been in Mexico for a very long time. So now we are seeing the reality of not having acting to provide safe in a humane spin humane way for those people to come and ask for asylum.
HOLMES: Right.
JOZEF: It is unbelievable for the United States to be deporting people today as we're still trying to recover from the earthquake and extreme political turmoil on the ground.
HOLMES: Still to come here on CNN Newsroom, a navy jet crashes into a Texas neighborhood what authorities are saying about the condition of those onboard.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:20:42]
HOLMES: An investigation is underway after a U.S. Navy training jet crashed in a neighborhood near Dallas on Sunday. The instructor and student on board were able to eject. However, debris from the crash fell into the yards of at least three homes but fortunately no one on the ground was injured. Authorities say the instructor is in stable condition, the student's condition unknown but the Navy says he is alive and receiving treatment at a medical facility.
Now the family of Gabby Petito is asking for privacy as they grieve the loss of their daughter. On Sunday, FBI investigators said the human remains they found in Wyoming are consistent with the description of Petito who was reported missing more than a week ago. Meanwhile, authorities spent another day searching a Florida nature reserve for Petito's fiance whose whereabouts are unknown. CNN's Leyla Santiago with more from the scene.
LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Northport police say that they will continue to work with the FBI in order to find more answers when it comes to the disappearance of Gabby Petito as well as the disappearance of Brian Laundrie. Now they have been searching here in this Wildlife Reserve where we are right now, 25,000 acres by the way, a very lush terrain all day long after the Laundrie family reached out to police on Friday saying the last time they had seen him was on Tuesday. This search continues to finding Brian Laundrie. Now as far as Gabby Petito, FBI held a press conference with some very tragic news. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES JONES, FBI SUPERVISORY SENIOR RESIDENT AGENT: Earlier today, human remains were discovered consistent with a description of Gabrielle Gabby Petitto. Full forensic identification has not been completed to confirm 100 percent that we found Gabby, but her family has been notified of this discovery. The cause of death has not been determined at this time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANTIAGO: Still, lots of questions remain and there are still a lot of investigators as well as a community here that is hoping that if investigators can find Brian Laundrie that perhaps they can get more information to what led up to the disappearance and death of Gabby Petito.
Leyla Santiago, CNN, Northport, Florida.
HOLMES: Counting is underway after parliamentary elections in Russia this weekend. But some critics believe the outcome was always predetermined. We'll explain after the break.
Also, polls will soon open in Canada's heated federal election. We'll look at the issues most important to Canadian voters and which way they might vote, that's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:26:57]
HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone. This is CNN Newsroom. I'm Michael Holmes appreciate you being with us. Millions of Russians voted in parliamentary elections this weekend. And now officials are counting ballots that will select members of the State Duma along with regional and municipal leaders. State media report the United Russia Party, a firm backer of President Vladimir Putin leads with about 45 percent of the vote. Only 30 percent of return, however, have been tallied. Now United Russia's success is no surprise to anyone who watches Russian politics. The party widely expected to win these elections which come against the backdrop of an unprecedented assault on democracy. CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Russians have been casting their votes. But the critics, this is Democracy at its worst. Accusing the Kremlin of blatant election fraud, some actually caught on official cameras. Watch the woman in black on the right awkwardly trying to shield the ballot box as a hand appears from behind the Russian flag. You can see it repeatedly stuffing papers inside. Election officials say they've nulled these votes, but critics say thousands of violations including ballot box stuffing and forced voting are being ignored.
In total we've counted 12 cases of ballot stuffing in the whole country in just eight districts, the chief election commissioner brags on Russian state media. This is not hype like from some information sources she adds.
From self-imposed COVID-19 quarantine near Moscow, the Russian President has shown using a controversial online voting system, which critics say allows even more opportunity to manipulate results. The system needs a mobile phone for verification. And there are questions about how Putin who insists he never uses one, was able to cast his vote. The Kremlin says he used an assistance denying this whole scene with state.
But critics accused the Kremlin of carefully ensuring a win despite flagging opinion polls, not just with the infamous poisoning of prominent critic Alexey Navalny last year, which officials deny, but also the moves since then, branding his supporters extremists banning them and other opposition figures from standing for office. One rights group estimates hundreds of thousands of activists have been affected.
To dense the ruling United Russia Party, Navalny's team have promoted what they call smart voting, using apps and videos like this one to show Russians which candidates mostly old communists stand the best chance of unseating incumbents. Controversially, Google and Apple have agreed to block material in Russia caving in to Russian legal demands.
[01:29:35]
But even Kremlin critics have been allowed to stand so they face extraordinary pressure. Like this candidate in St. Petersburg who found rivals on the local ballot paper and adopted his name and appearance to confuse voters. Russian election officials have called this a disgrace.
We met one veteran, anti Kremlin activist, himself poisoned twice and now barred from standing at a Moscow polling station. He admits this election may be lost but Kremlin efforts to cling to power indefinitely, he says will backfire.
VLADIMIR KARA-MURZA, RUSSIAN OPPOSITION POLITICIAN: We have a situation in Russia, where there is now an entire generation of people, that has no other political memories except Vladimir Putin's regime. He's been in power now for 22 years. That is a mind-boggling fact.
And if the regime is preventing people from changing the government at the ballot box, sooner or later, people will change the government.
CHANCE (on camera): Another Russian revolution.
KARA-MURZA: Unfortunately, again, it gives me no pleasure to say this.
CHANCE (voice over): For now, revolution seems a long way off. Even winning a single seat in this tightly-controlled, Russian election will be something of his opposition coup. Matthew Chance, CNN -- Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Canadians are just hours away from casting their ballots in the nation's federal election. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling the vote early, hoping his handling of the pandemic could win him a majority in parliament. But will he soon regret that decision? Polls show Mr. Trudeau's once-healthy lead quickly shrinking.
CNN's Paula Newton reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In the last lingering days of summer, a snap election seemed a rude intrusion for so many Canadians. It is the middle of a pandemic not even two years since the last one and it was tough to dodge, especially this campaign.
It was ugly. This -- the token moment. Protesters, many of them opposing vaccines, threw gravel at Justin Trudeau and stalked his campaign.
His rivals have hit him rhetorically, calling him selfish for calling a snap election in mid-August trying to capitalize on good poll numbers to secure a majority in parliament.
At first, those favorable polls collapse for Trudeau. For a few weeks he even trailed the main rival, Conservative Party leader Erin O'Toole, who accused him of attempting a power grab.
ERIN O'TOOLE, CANADIAN CONSERVATIVE PARTY LEADER: We are in the middle of an unnecessary, $600 dollar pandemic election called by Mr. Trudeau for no other reason than himself.
NEWTON: But the angry, loud, anti vaccine chants of Canada's People's Party, energized the Trudeau campaign and put the pandemic squarely in voters sights.
JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: We're going to trust science. We're going to trust the experts. We're going to make sure that anyone on a plane or train is vaccinated.
NEWTON: Here in Shefford, Quebec an hour for Montreal, it is a district or (INAUDIBLE) that has voted for three different parties in the last decade. Organic farmer, Isabelle Hauver was looking on with sheer exhaustion.
She, like so many Canadians, wanted to hear more about enduring issues like climate change.
ISABELLE HAUVER, CANADIAN FARMER: I won't be going on all this little event on the right or this little event on the left, you know, that bothered me or that made a big thing on the news, you know. That is not really the -- to me that's not the big picture. NEWTON: But time and again, the election pivoted back to the pandemic
in divisive ways. The local New Democratic Party candidate says the People's Party imported a brand of disinformation.
PATRICK JASMIN, CANADIAN NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY CANDIDATE: And not believing in truth, sorry to say that Trump didn't help on that issue.
NEWTON: A short drive away? The People's Party candidate is pressing her points to voters. And she says they are listening.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because we give them the freedom of choice. We believe in a choice, as opposed to forced vaccination.
NEWTON: This is still a tight race. With Trudeau favorite to win but perhaps with no more political power than he started with. The campaign may not change Canada's leader or even its parliament but it has already left its mark on the very character of politics here.
Paula Newton, CNN -- Granby, Quebec.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Althia Raj is a national columnist with the "Toronto Star Newspaper". She joins me now and Interestingly on a Trudeau campaign bus in Winnipeg, I believe, which is a very cool location for this interview.
So let's talk about the election. How close is it? Is there a chance Mr. Trudeau could be out of a job?
[01:34:54]
ALTHIA RAJ, NATIONAL COLUMNIST, "TORONTO STAR NEWSPAPER": Yes. There is a chance. The probability is that he likely gets a minority government. But I was just speaking to an internal pollster who was telling me that there is a possibility that Justin Trudeau could wake up Tuesday morning and no longer be prime minister of Canada. It's very, very tight.
HOLMES: Yes. It's very close. What is it that most Canadians care about in this election? What are the major concerns they have? I know that you've written that this election is about trust.
RAJ: Yes. I would say there's a couple of things. And I think that is one of the reasons why this is an unpredictable election.
The liberals basically gambled. They called it hoping to have (AUDIO GAP) to obtain a majority government. And what instead has happened is that the opposition has successfully, I think, argued the case that this was completely unnecessary.
Justin Trudeau had a workable minority in the House of Commons. He had two partners that were willing to dance with him. Nothing he has tried to do during the past 18 months has he been prevented from doing. So when you think about the billions -- hundreds of billions of dollars that have been spent to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, to keep businesses afloat during the lockdowns, the $4 billion -- actually $9 billion he spent trying to get vaccines so that every Canadian can be vaccinated, five times over if they wanted.
Nothing in the House of Commons prevented him from going forward with his agenda. So while the liberals want to say that they're having an election to bring forward, you know, tougher targets on climate and change, $10 a day daycare across the country. You know, currently, these big social programs that liberals have long talked about and really, haven't done.
The opposition has said, you know, this is selfish, vain election, and he should be punished for sending the country to the polls.
And there is a lot of traction for that message, and it's fact his popularity, has really dropped throughout the course of this five-week campaign.
HOLMES: I want you to tell me a little bit about Mr. Trudeau's main threat, the conservative leader, Erin O'Toole. At the start of the campaign, according to some data I was reading, 40 percent of Canadians didn't know enough about him to even form an opinion about him and he is facing accusations that he has strategically move to the left after portraying himself as a staunch conservative.
Has that hurt his credibility? How would he govern versus what he said to voters?
RAJ: Yes. He probably has that credibility deficit. Erin O'Toole was the Veterans Affairs minister, under the Stephen Harper government, the previous prime minister. He ran for the leadership of the conservative party as, basically, the hard-right candidate, saying, he was true blue and he was going to, you know, scrap the carbon tax and he was going to bring forward gun reforms so that gun owners would no longer have to abide by the Trudeau rule.
And so he reached out to social conservatives, you know, the anti- abortionists in his caucus and he won a decisive leadership.
And then, you know, basically the day after he won the leadership race, he told people, he'd been elected as a pro choice candidate. And he viewed his mandate as one of growing the conservative tent and reaching out to union members and indigenous Canadians, and really, moving the party drastically towards the center.
And a lot of conservatives, especially the party's membership, have refused to follow him. And now, he has a threat on the right, with the far-right party, called The People's Party of Canada. So he is bleeding support on his right flank, and he is trying to convince those voters in the middle, that they can trust him to be the centrist candidate after spending so much time running as a center-right candidate.
HOLMES: We've literally only got a minute left. But you mentioned before that, you know, Trudeau has been running a minority government. He might still be after this election. But Canada has at least six parties, with a chance of getting seats. I'm curious, how might that factor in the Social Democrats, the New Democratic Party, could they hold the balance of power in a minority government?
RAJ: Absolutely. I mean frankly, they were holding the balance of power before. They could have an even larger voice. I think, the real trouble though, is if Mr. Trudeau has a weaker minority and then has to find at least two dance partners to keep him afloat.
That is going to be much more difficult. There is the Sovereign (INAUDIBLE) in Quebec that can make some demands, that don't have the support of the rest of the country. The Green Party is imploding so they are less likely to be a factor in the next election.
It is -- it's going to be really interesting to see this kind of pizza parliament, that we may end up with, on Tuesday morning.
HOLMES: Althia Raj, thank you so much there on the Trudeau campaign bus in Winnipeg. Thank you so much.
RAJ: Thank you very much.
HOLMES: Coming up, testing the honor system. COVID vaccine critic Jair Bolsonaro headed to the U.N. General Assembly in New York where there is a rule for vaccinations.
We'll discuss.
[01:39:54]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: There is some new confusion over COVID booster shots in the U.S. The Biden administration had wanted to make them available for all eligible Americans as soon as Monday. But on Friday, and FDA advisory committee, made a more limited recommendation.
CNN's Arlette Saenz with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The Biden administration, signaling that it will follow the guidance and recommendations of the FDA and CDC when rolls out COVID-19 booster shots.
This week, advisers to the FDA said that that plan needs to be more limited in scope after the Biden administration has initially said they would plan on rolling out booster shots for all Americans by the week of September 20th.
The advisers to the FDA met on Friday and said that initially boosters should only be going out to those in higher risk categories including individual 65 and above.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says he believes later on that decision may be revised. Take a listen.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We fully anticipate that within a period of a couple to three weeks that there will be enough information on the data, that will be presented to the FDA by J&J and by Moderna that will be able to proceed and get those data analyzed to be able to move with the booster in those categories. We don't believe it's going to be a considerable period of time.
SAENZ (voice over): Now these advisers, were saying more scientific evidence was needed before they would authorize and recommend these boosters for the general population. Much of their focus right now is also on trying to get those first two shots to those unvaccinated Americans across the country.
[01:44:50]
SAENZ: This all comes as the COVID-19 pandemic remains a top priority for President Biden, both domestically and abroad. On Wednesday the president will be hosting and holding a virtual COVID-19 global summit where part of the discussion will include donating vaccines across the world.
The president wants to get a handle on this pandemic both here at home in the United State and helping those foreign countries, around the world.
Arlette Saenz, CNN -- traveling with the president in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Brazil's president says he expects to deliver the opening speech at the United Nations General Assembly as planned and as is tradition. That is despite the U.N.'s vaccine requirements though.
CNN's Rafael Romo with more on Jair Bolsonaro's vaccine skepticism.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): He once said that coronavirus was (INAUDIBLE), a little flu. Last December he suggested that a coronavirus vaccine can turn people into an alligator or a bearded woman. And now Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a controversial right wing former military officer is attending the U.N. General Assembly, even though he hasn't been outside and rules require it.
During an interview that was broadcast online last week, Bolsonaro dismissed vaccines. "Why would I get vaccinated," he asked adding that in his case, his antibody levels are so high, he doesn't need any vaccine.
Let's remember that the president tested positive for COVID-19 in July 2020. In a statement released last week New York Mayor Bill De Blasio thanked assembly president Abdullah Shahid for requiring proof of vaccination to enter the U.N. General Assembly Hall.
But in an interview with Reuters the same day, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said it is a rule that he cannot enforce.
ANTONIO GUTERRES, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL: Of course, we as secretariat cannot tell a head of state if he's not vaccinated that he cannot enter the United Nations.
ROMO: Bolsonaro was immediately targeted by the opposition after declaring he is not getting vaccinated before going to New York.
Erika Kokay, a congresswoman from the leftist workers party blasted the president on Twitter. "New York demands proof of vaccination from the U.N. assembly," she wrote. And, "Can you imagine which political leader did not get vaccinated and will bring more international shame to the people of this country?"
With more than 21 million cases, Brazil ranks third in the world for the largest number of confirmed COVID-19 infections. More than 590,000 people have died of the disease there since the beginning of the pandemic.
Rafael Romo, CNN -- Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Still to come here on the program, as fires rage across California, crews hoping to avoid a repeat of last year when thousands of majestic sequoia trees were destroyed.
[01:47:45]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: In northern California, the threat of strong wind gusts has prompted a red flag warning, meaning conditions are favorable for the spread of wildfires.
The warning affects about six million people and it includes that Dixie fire which has already burned an incredible million, million acres.
Crews are also battling a fire that has reached Sequoia National Park. It is an area where some of the world's largest trees have stood for thousands of years.
CNN's Stephanie Elam is covering that part of the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): From their size --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: General Sherman is 275 feet tall.
ELAM (on camera): Holy cow.
(voice over): To their longevity.
CLAY JORDAN, SUPERINTENDENT, SEQUIOA AND KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS: Before Ancient Rome, before Christ -- I mean these trees were mature.
ELAM: Much about giant sequoia trees is on a grand scale. With that distinctive red brown bark covering their thick trunks, sequoia trees can only be found in California's Sierra Nevada mountains.
SAM HODDER, PRESIDENT AND CEO, SAVE THE REDWOODS LEAGUE: This is a resilient tree. They are tough. Almost nothing can kill them.
ELAM: But climate change is changing that. Shrinking the giant sequoia's footprint.
HODDER: The giant sequoia that was first weakened by drought was then subject to impacts by the bark beetle, which then further weakened the tree and potentially make it more susceptible to mortality from fire.
ELAM: The Stagg Tree is said to be the fifth largest tree in the entire world. It's lived more than 3,000 years, and yet we're that wildfire is threatening these giant sequoias more than ever before.
JORDAN: The Castle fire was a wake up call. And estimated 7,500 to 10,600 trees were destroyed in that one fire alone.
ELAM: Started by lightning in August 2020, the Castle fire was part of the sequoia complex that burned more than 174,000 acres, scorching several sequoia groves.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was devastating, heartbreaking, everything had been incinerated. It was a field of the world's largest burned up toothpicks.
ELAM: After decades of suppressing forest fire, other trees and brush have grown rampantly around the sequoias.
HODDER: The fires that used to burn every five to 10 years on the Sierra, would just keep down the competition and reduce the fuel naturally.
ELAM: On land owned by the "Save The Redwoods League, we hiked out to see just how deadly the Castle fire was here.
TIM BORDEN, SAVE THE REDWOODS LEAGUE: For us to see 10, to 14 percent of the total of giants sequoias alive, killed in one year in one fire is -- there is nothing to compare that to.
ELAM: Yet fire in and of itself is not the enemy of the giant sequoia.
HODDER: Their cones open up, their seeds start to germinate after a fire.
ELAM: So near those lost giants where the fire was not too intense, small shoots of hope take root.
HODDER: What I see is a lot of these little, baby giant sequoias that have sprouted up since the fire happened.
[01:54:53]
ELAM: Without an urgent response to the climate crisis and increased forest maintenance, experts worry more of the once seemingly impervious sequoias will be lost.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The biggest worry for me is we have two fires burning right now that are threatening groves that we have not been able to treat. The risk is still there.
Stephanie Elam, CNN -- in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, all the glitz and glamour of television's biggest night was back on display at Sunday's Primetime Emmy Awards. After last year's virtual ceremony, stars of the small screen were back on the red carpet to the delight of fans and photographers.
One of the night's biggest winners, was the Netflix series "The Crown" -- watch it, if you haven't -- bringing home awards for best actor and actress in a drama series. Best supporting actor and actress in a drama series, and you guessed it, best drama a series.
And the legendary entertainer RuPaul made Emmy history by becoming the most awarded person of color in the show's history. And RuPaul had an encouraging message for the kids watching at home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUPAUL, ENTERTAINER: And for you kids out there watching, you have a tribe that is waiting for you. We are waiting for you, baby. Come on to Mama Ru.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: RuPaul's "Drag Race" won for best reality competition program bringing RuPaul's total number of Emmys to 11.
Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM, spending part of your day with me. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @HolmesCNN.
Don't go anywhere. The news continues with Robyn Curnow after a quick break.
[01:56:31]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
