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COVID Outbreak Fears At U.N. General Assembly; Rare Earthquake Rocks Australia; Iran's President Takes Swipe At U.S. Over Afghanistan. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired September 22, 2021 - 02:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:07]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Coming up this hour. After shaking hands with the British Prime Minister who then met with the U.S. president, Brazil's health minister test positive for COVID. By so many feared the U.N. General Assembly could become a super spreader event.
Array strong earthquake rocks the Australian city of Melbourne and there's a risk of aftershocks. We have the very latest live this hour.
And inside Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, and the notorious detention center built by the U.S. which is now under Taliban control.
For days, health experts warned the United Nations General Assembly just like any other mass gathering could potentially be a super spreader event. Only with dire consequences. Keep in mind while there are 100 world leaders and high-ranking government officials attended the first official day. Among them, Brazil's health minister, who's now in quarantine after testing positive COVID.
Marcelo Queiroga is the second member of the Brazilian delegation to test positive. The first was with the events team. It's been reported Queiroga was staying at the same hotel as U.S. President Joe Biden, who is also speaking at the U.N. Tuesday. Queiroga was in the audience. And unlike Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, Queiroga tells our affiliates in in Brazil, he's fully vaccinated and wore a mask the entire time, he was inside the U.N. headquarters.
He was later seen wearing a mask, shaking hands with the British Prime Minister who was not wearing a mask. Boris Johnson later met with the U.S. President at the White House. Queiroga has not had a good trip to New York, he was already under fire for making obscene gestures to anti-Bolsonaro protesters. Our response which many say sums up the government's attitude when it comes to their utter failure in responding to the pandemic.
Well, his boss and other members of Brazil's delegation were forced to eat pizza on the sidewalk Sunday because of a ban in New York City on indoor dining for unvaccinated customers. The U.S. President will convene a virtual summit of world leaders in the coming hours to discuss the coronavirus pandemic. And Wednesday speakers at the General Assembly include the president of Ukraine, Venezuela, Kenya. The climate crisis and the coronavirus pandemic have been dominating discussions at the U.N. G.A. U.S. President Joe Biden use his speech to make an appeal for diplomacy not military might to solve the world's problems. CNN Richard Roth has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Joe Biden leading the way after eight years of walking into the U.N. behind former President Barack Obama, but his debut on the world stage comes after a bitter blows to his credibility globally.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've ended 20 years of conflict in Afghanistan. And as we close this period of relentless war, we're opening a new era of relentless diplomacy.
ROTH: The U.S. fateful departure noted by one adversary another president making his own debut.
EBRAHIM RAISI, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): This year, two scenes made history. One was on January the sixth when the U.S. Congress was attacked by the people and two, when the people of Afghanistan would drop down from the U.S. planes in August. From the Capitol to Kabul. One clear message was sent to the world. The United States hegemony system has no credibility, whether inside or outside the country.
ROTH: Outside the U.N. home grown opposition demanding more Afghan refugees be allowed into the United States. Inside the U.N. the Taliban now that the war is over, has officially requested the government seat in order to address this year's General Assembly. A fight with the ousted governments Ambassador is on, he may speak to the assembly next Monday as the current account holder.
The international community may not want to give the Taliban still under sanctions. The seal of approval by turning the prestigious U.N. chair over to the group.
ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: The world must wake up.
ROTH: Reducing global warming, a major priority here also. Two major pollution emitters made promises to the U.N., President Biden offered $11.4 billion in international climate financing and China.
XI JINPING, CHINESE PRESIDENT (through translator): China will step up support for other developing countries in developing green and low carbon energy and will not build new coal fired power projects abroad.
ROTH: And the pandemic, staff rushed to the assembly microphones to clean the podium between the VIP appearances. One country could really bring in only three people to hear the addresses.
[02:05:03]
ROTH: New Peruvian President Castillo did not come hand in hand but let it charge that vaccines must be available to all, rich or poor. And then would he or wouldn't he? COVID skeptic Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro did come in mask but violated U.N. protocols by entering the assembly hall despite not being vaccinated.
JAIR BOLSONARO, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We cannot understand why many countries together with a large portion of the media took a stance against early treatment measures, history and science will certainly be wise enough to hold everyone accountable.
ROTH: The U.N. couldn't keep out Bolsonaro, leader of the U.N. nation, but New York City could, restaurants and bars in New York must block any guests without proof of vaccination. So Bolsonaro settled on Sunday for a slice on a sidewalk. Richard Roth, CNN United Nations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The climate crisis was also on the agenda when British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with U.S. President Joe Biden, at the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: But I think the most important thing today has been your speech, Joe, to UNGA where you made a commitment on supporting the world to adapt to climate change, doubling the American commitment, it's very important for us that we've made 11.6-billion-pound commitment I made when I first became a prime minister. But it's fantastic to see the United States really stepping up and showing a lead, a real, real leader.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Jeffrey Sachs is the director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University. He's a senior adviser to the U.N. and author of The Price of Civilization. He is with us this hour from New York City. Thank you for taking the time to be with us.
JEFFREY SACHS, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Pleasure to be with you. Thank you.
VAUSE: OK. Let's just start with some historical perspective here because that $100 billion a year pledge from wealthy nations for low income countries. It wasn't some sort of act of generosity laws. Yes, it was back in 2009 in Copenhagen when rich countries refused to directly compensate developing countries who'd been impacted by, you know, climate changing, causing carbon emissions.
And so, this was basically kind of their way of getting out of any kind of direct responsibility, I guess. And even then, it seems they haven't kept this pledge which they made what, you know, 12 years ago.
SACHS: It's actually extraordinary because $100 billion, well, it's a lot of money for you or for me but it's not a lot of money for all of the world's rich countries combined which have $50 trillion of annual output. And the fact is, Hillary Clinton, then secretary of state of the U.S. made that pledge in Copenhagen, as you said, it was to cover lots of reasons. It was very -- supposed to be practical, it should not be this hard.
Then 12 years later, they're struggling for this very small amount. We're appropriating trillions of dollars for an annual -- for response to COVID or something else. This is 100 billion from all of the rich world and they could not pull it off. It's just not serious actually. It's a -- it's very serious that they couldn't but it's not serious behavior on the part of the United States and other countries that this was so hard.
VAUSE: Well, one of the countries which has actually shortchanged this fund over the over -- the years is the United States. But if you to believe the U.S. President and what he said at the United Nations on Tuesday, times might be changing. Listen to Joe Biden, here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: In April, I announced the United States will double our public international financing, to help developing nations tackle the climate crisis. And today, I'm proud to announce that we will work with the Congress to double that number again, including for adaptation efforts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: You know, the key words there seem to be work with Congress, that never seems to end well.
SACHS: This is America's problem right now. We can't cooperate on anything. We have one political party, the Republican Party, which is so much in the hands of big oil and big coal, that they vote against anything to do with climate. They're still literally in a state of trying to stop everything about this. The other party, the Democrats, the President's party, they have -- most of them are there, but some of them represent cold states and so forth.
And so it's very, very fragile. And that's why the President said we'll work with Congress. Well, good luck and I'm rooting for it. But this is where things have gone so wrong for the United States. Congress has not voted a major piece of legislation on climate change in 25 years.
[02:10:04]
SACHS: So this is the grim reality.
VAUSE: What's -- another grim reality, it came for the U.N. Secretary General at the beginning of the UNGA about where the planet is heading in terms of climate. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUTERRES: The world must wake up. We are on the edge of an abyss and moving in the wrong direction.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: You know, the U.S. has spent what almost $7 trillion
responding to the pandemic. $100 billion to walk back from the abyss seems like a bargain.
SACHS: And we spent $7 trillion on wasted wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, just unbelievable waste. But then when it comes to saving the planet, Oh, that's too expensive. We don't want to do that. It's incredibly short sighted. But this has been American reality for a long time. There's a lot of greed and a lot of corruption in our political system. A lot of money changes hands from the oil companies and the coal companies to congressmen and senators.
And they vote the way their donors tell them to vote, even though the American people, roughly 70 percent now say this is serious. We want to go to renewable energy. We want to get away from fossil fuels. So the public is there, but the political system is really broken.
VAUSE: Well, that was Winston Churchill once said, you know, the United States will always do the right thing once every other option is well and truly exhaustive.
SACHS: We're trying all of them. Thank you.
VAUSE: Thank you so much for being with us. Array of powerful earthquake has rocked Australia's second largest city. Building to a damage, power lines brought down on the state capital of Melbourne. Almost 200 kilometers from the epicenter. Well, tremors (INAUDIBLE) north of Sydney. So far no reports of serious injuries. The 5.9 magnitude quake is one of the strongest on record in Australia.
And on the national broadcast of the ABC. Here's the moment the quake struck, with presenters feeling the tremors and the studio starting to shake. Let's bring in CNN Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. So, you know, this was obviously, if you don't experience it a lot, which they don't (INAUDIBLE) this can be quite terrifying.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know, it's not unheard of. Yes, exactly. So it is a scary sight. And you certainly look at the numbers, you see that about on average, about 100 quakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater happen every single year. But of course, when you get to this strength of 5.9, closing it on six, that is a significant difference than just a 3.0. But again, doesn't happen every single day.
And that's the biggest concern and one to two on average that you see this magnitude 1 -- 5.0 or greater take place. But looking at the broader perspective happening shortly after 8:00 a.m., the 5.9 coming in, as John noted one of the strongest on record really important to note, when you put it down closer to a population density there. Close to Melbourne, not far away from Sydney. All of this plays a significant role in what plays out across this region.
And we know when it comes to getting above 6.0 or greater, only 13 in recorded history have been a spare -- observe and you kind of take a look at the widespread coverage of these 13 quakes of such magnitude. And we know some of the deadliest have been in that threshold of about 5.6 to 6.5 which are the strongest on record. But you take a look upwards at 14-plus million Australians felt this quake.
A lot of this being on the lesser end of the shaking which was in Sydney and as far away as areas across Adelaide where we're talking 800 to 900 kilometers away. But it really speaks to the wide reaching impacts of a shallow quake that was about 10 kilometers deep. And then you take a look, we do expect based on historical data according to the USGS, the damages could be somewhere north of $10 million U.S. there.
So pretty impressive run of damages potentially in placed. And looking at aftershocks as well, the potential for a 5.9 is to generate at least one 5.0 or greater aftershock and about 10 or so in the 4.0 or greater. That has happened already. We've had at least one 4.1 aftershock observed, So, could be an active few days across this region, John.
VAUSE: Yes, still nothing compared to the 1989 earthquake in Newcastle. Just north of Sydney but still big enough. Thanks, Pedram. The volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma is still very active. Plumes of smoke and streams of lava have been spewing westward towards the sea. The lava flow has destroyed a number of properties including a school. Eruptions began Sunday forcing thousands of people to evacuated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LORENA, RESIDENT FORCED TO EVACUATE (through translator): We are very nervous. We are taking the essentials, mattresses, the fridge some other things just to have something.
They evacuated us yesterday, but they gave us two hours an hour and a half to take our essentials.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: When the lava reaches the sea, there appears toxic gases could be released from the cooling molten rock. Still ahead on CNN NEWSROOM. Authorities are intensifying their search scouring the Florida wilderness for the one person they might have information about the death of Gabby Petito. Also ahead this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[02:15:06]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This looks like the place, so putting shackles on handcuffs, food here, how many prisoners in here? How many?
VAUSE: Inside that notorious detention center at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan now under the Taliban control.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Police in Florida will resume a search for Gabby Petito's putida his fiance in the coming hours. 23-year-old Brian Laundrie hasn't been seen in more than a week. An autopsy has confirmed for Petito's remains were found over the weekend in the State of Wyoming. Laundrie might be the one person with answers about what happened to her. CNN's Athena Jones reports on potential clues in this case.
ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An autopsy conducted confirming the remains found in a remote part of Wyoming on Sunday are those 22-year-old Gabby Petito. The FBI saying in a tweet, the initial determination for the manner of death is homicide. The cause of death is pending autopsy results. The search for fiance Brian Launrie intensifying today.
Police returning to this 25,000-acre reserve. Officers searching by foot with canines using all-terrain vehicles and drones to cover the vast area of treacherous wilderness.
JOE RUSSELL, NORTH PORT POLICE DEPARTMENT COMMANDER: Terrain is very difficult. Essentially 75 percent of its underwater and other areas that are dry we're trying to clear.
JONES: Authorities not saying what led them back to the 25,000-acre reserve. After calling off the search there Monday morning. A search warrant obtained for an external hard drive found in the van the couple had been traveling in noting more and more tension between Laundire and Petito. And detailed what Petito's mother Nicole Schmidt called an odd text she received from her daughter.
Calling her grandfather by his first name, saying per the mother she never calls him Stan. Petitto stop posting anything on social media after that message.
GABBY PETITO, FLORIDA MISSING WOMAN: We have been fighting all morning and he wouldn't let me in the car before.
JONES: We're also learning more about their August 12 encounter with police in Moab, Utah captured on body camera. Officers concluded the situation was the result of a mental health crisis and suggested that to separate for the night. No charges were filed. A national park service ranger there for the stop revealing to a newspaper that she told Petito her relationship seemed toxic.
Also telling the Deseret News, we thought we were making the right decision when we left them.
MIRANDA BAKER, SAYS SHE ENCOUNTERED BRIAN LAUNDRIE: On August 29th my boyfriend I picked up Brian at Grand Teton National Park.
JONES: And authority is looking into an encounter with Laundrie in Wyoming where this woman says he was hitchhiking. Picking him up in an area near where Petito's body was later discovered. According to the woman, Laundrie told the couple he had been camping alone for days while Petito stayed back of the van to work on social media posts.
[02:20:06]
JONES: Once Laundrie realized the couple was not going toward his destination, she says he became as agitated and quickly left their vehicle. BAKER: He kind of like hurried out of the car. And he said all he had was a tarp to sleep on, which you think if you're going camping for days on and you'd want food and a tent, and he had none of that.
JONES: With the corners finding that the remains found over the weekend in Wyoming are those of Gabby Petito. The FBI is once again asking for the public's help in locating her fiance Brian Laundrie. Calling on anyone with information concerning Laundrie's his role in this matter or his current whereabouts to contact them. Athena Jones, CNN New York.
VAUSE: A third suspect has been publicly named in the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in the U.K. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is demanding the Kremlin hand over all three alleged attackers. British police say Denis Sergeev is a Russian agent tied to the attempted assassination of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in 2018. Police have also confirmed the names of two other suspects.
Anatoliy Chepiga and Alexander Mishkin. The alleged victims of scribbles were poisoned by an internationally banned chemical weapon. Both survived. This woman did not. Dawn Starges died after having a toxic substance which she thought was perfume. Her partner was also poisoned but he recovered. The scribbles weren't the first or were the last -- the last target of a poisoned attack, allegedly carried out on the orders of the Kremlin.
The European Court of Human Rights has just ruled on the 28th -- 2006 killing of Alexander Litvinenko. And once again, Russia has been found guilty. CNN's Matthew Chance has more now on the Putin critics assassination reporting in from Moscow.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alexander Litvinenko was a former Russian intelligence official turned Kremlin critic who was living in London when in 2006 he was poisoned with a rare radioactive substance called Polonium-210. British investigators at the time said the prime suspects were two former Russian colleagues of his that he met for a cup of tea in a hotel lobby.
A later British inquiry into the incident found that the Russian security services were responsible. So, it's no surprise that the European Court of Human Rights has reached the same conclusion. Of course, the Kremlin categorically denies any connection with the killing, calling the allegation of state involvement politically motivated. At the time, the incident soured relations between London and Moscow leading to diplomatic explosions and a freezing of intelligence cooperation but it's unclear what consequences there may be, if any of the latest ruling.
What it does do, however, is reminders of how the agonizing death of Alexander Litvinenko was perhaps an early sign of the kind of brutal state. The critics say Russia has become under Vladimir Putin since the Litvinenko killing. A prominent Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down outside the Kremlin. In 2018, another former Russian intelligence officer, along with his daughter who defected to Britain was poisoned with novichok. A powerful nerve agent. And just last year, Russia's leading anti- corruption campaigner and Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny fell seriously ill on a plane with suspected novichok poisoning and nearly died. It only lines the lengths that have been gone to to silence the Kremlin's critics. Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.
VAUSE: Lawyers in Los Angeles representing Britain's Prince Andrew had been served with legal papers in a civil suit alleging sexual assault. He now has 21 days to respond, but it's seen as being extremely unlikely he'll cooperate with any proceedings. CNN's Anna Stewart has details.
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Now the papers have been served Prince Andrew's legal team have 21 days to respond. They have consistently denied the claims calling the case baseless, non-viable and potentially unlawful. They've also said that Andrew was actually released from any and all liability due to a sealed settlement between Virginia Giuffre and the convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
When the papers are served in Hollywood movies, you often hear the line, we'll see you in court. But we aren't likely to see Prince Andrew in court anytime soon. A judge now needs to decide whether the case can proceed. It's unlikely that Andrew will agree to submit the jurisdiction of a U.S. Court and unclear whether a U.K. court would order him to participate. The case could continue without him but even if it does, it would be hard to enforce any resulting order without Prince Andrews cooperation or that of the British justice system.
However, it is a step forwards for Virginia Giuffre. One of her lawyers has told CNN they are pleased the service issue is now behind them and they can proceed to a resolution they say of Miss Giuffre's claims. Anna Stewart, CNN London.
[02:25:01]
VAUSE: The Taliban asking for a seat at the U.N. General Assembly. Coming up. The diplomatic challenge now facing the U.N.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. At the U.N. General Assembly, the U.S. President spoke of global unity, cooperation and respect for human rights. In other words, the Trump era of America First is over. Problems he said should be solved by relentless diplomacy, not military bite. Joe Biden urged fellow world leaders to take on the climate crisis and coronavirus pandemic with innovation and cooperation. And he made this thinly veiled reference to China.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: We are not seeking the new Cold War, or a world divided into rigid blocks. United States is ready to work with any nation that steps up and pursues peaceful resolution to share challenges. Even if we have intense disagreements in other areas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, for more on this. Max Boot is a senior fellow on the Council of Foreign Relations and a columnist for The Washington Post. Max, welcome back. Good to see you.
MAX BOOT, SENIOR FELLOW, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Good to be here.
VAUSE: OK. So, I want you to listen to President Joe Biden on his visit to Europe back in June. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: American, we are committed, we have never fully met but we are reasserting back then. It's overwhelming the interest of United States of America to have a great relationship with NATO and with the E.U. I have a very different view than my predecessors. So I'm looking forward to talking to you all about what I'm about to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Oh, how times change on Tuesday. The European Council President Charles Michel told reporters with the new Joe Biden administration America is back. What does it mean America is back? Is America back in America or somewhere else? We don't know. Donald Trump had all the subtlety of a meat axe since doing -- just playing content for old European allies. And Joe Biden is certainly no Donald Trump.
He is a new president. But that doesn't change what seems to be an old reality. The threat from the Soviet Union is gone. And with the loss of much of the value of European alliances, well, the threat from China is rising. And so that is shifting focus. Is that saying which the Europeans seem to have trouble grasping at the moment?
BOOT: Well, there's no question the U.S. and the European Union are going to have divergent views on the world and in fact countries within the E.U. are going to have divergent views.
[02:30:00]
There was a tendency to focus on the extent to which Donald Trump was exacerbating the promise and the relationship that was absolutely valid because he was making everything about 10 times worst. But even with Donald Trump gone, that doesn't mean that everything is suddenly going to be perfect and we're all going to be singing kumbaya together.
I think that when Joe Biden went to Europe for a few months ago to meet with European leaders and then with Vladimir Putin, that was still in the honeymoon phase of the Biden presidency. And everybody was just delighted that Joe Biden was not Donald Trump, and that was pretty much good enough. And so, they could embrace an American president. Putin stick a finger on their chest and could go on about America first.
But now that we're a few months down the road, I think there is kind of a post honeymoon phase which has begun. We Europeans are realizing, oh, wait a second, just because Joe Biden isn't Donald Trump doesn't mean that he is going to agree with us on everything or he is going to give us everything that we want. And so, I think that there is some disenchantment which has naturally set in.
VAUSE: You know, so there is a lot of unhappiness and complaining across the Atlantic. The British prime minister seems especially pleased with the U.S. president. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Then of course, there is the progress that we are making in the defense technology partnership that you've led and -- with our Australian friends that I think has great potential.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It's not just that defense agreement which is, you know, the reason for so much joy. There's a potential trade deal as well, right?
BOOT: Yes, there is no question, of all the leaders in Europe, Boris Johnson may well be the one who is happiest with President Biden at the moment. And of course, Britain is no longer in the European Union, although it is still physically located in Europe. But, you know, Biden has done Boris Johnson a good turn by including the U.K. including them in this U.S.-Australia nuclear submarine deal, which gives the U.K. and new role on the world stage, which is something that the Brits have been seeking ever since Brexit.
And so, there is -- you know, it's sort of ironic because Boris Johnson thought that he would get all these benefits from being chummy with Donald Trump, his fellow right-wing populist. But in fact, Boris Johnson is getting more out of the Biden presidency, at least so far.
VAUSE: So, very quickly, if this is how the European feel right now after that defense deal -- listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THIERRY BRETON, EU COMMISSIONER FOR INTERNAL MARKET: The feeling in Europe is growing through the population that something is broken between our relationship in Europe and the U.S.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: What will be the reaction to a trade deal which sees the United Kingdom join the U.S., Canada and Mexico in a trade deal?
BOOT: Well, if that were to happen, and I think it is still a long way from being realized. Obviously, there would be some real unhappiness on the continent because we don't seem to be making much progress on a U.S.-E.U. trade deal. So, if -- you know, if Britain managed to jump to the head of the queue, obviously there would be some jealousy and backbiting there. But I -- you know, I think we're a long from achieving that and there's real problems now with getting any kind of trade deal through because Republicans have turned protectionist and Democrats have also increasingly turned protectionists. So, there is just not a good constituency in Washington right now for free trade.
VAUSE: OK. Max, thank you. Max Boot, senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations. Thanks you for being with us.
BOOT: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: The Taliban have asked not just for a seat at the annual U.N. General Assembly but also to address the gathering underway in New York. Right now, Afghanistan is represented by a holdover from the former government. The final decision on representation is now with the U.N.'s Credential Committee.
CNN's Anna Coren following developments from Hong Kong. She joins us now live.
Afghanistan is actually- scheduled to speak at the UNGA. It's the last speech on the last day. So, they have some time to sort of work who gets to talk at this point. How would the Taliban actually front up and make this speech? Would they be live with country or would they do it virtually? I mean, a lot of questions here as well as the implications diplomatically.
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Of course, I think U.N. sanctions would have to drop to enable some of these new Taliban government to travel to New York. But quite frankly, John, you know, no government in the world has recognized this Taliban government. The United Nations has not recognized this Taliban government.
And to be making these demands, you know, this is our demand ambassador, we want them to have a seat at the table, we want our foreign minister, acting foreign minister to speak at the UNGA. When you are not delivering on the promises that you made when you came into power over a month ago, why would the United Nations reward this bad behavior? Which, quite frankly, it is what it is.
[02:35:00]
I mean, their record on women's rights is thus far appalling. You know, women have not returned to work. Girls are not allowed to go to secondary school. And we are getting these excuses as to the system that the Taliban is trying to set up to ensure that it is safe and secure. And that their Taliban fighters and militants will respect women. I mean, I just don't think anyone is really buying it. But as Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Taliban, was saying the same thing yesterday, why don't we have a listen to what he had to say?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZABIHULLAH MUJAHID TALIBAN SPOKESMAN (through translator): There are Sharia issues here. All the strategies will allow women to go to work and get educated so that women can fulfill their responsibilities and start their work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: I mean, you would think that the Taliban would have this in place before making the demands upon the United Nations and the International Community. You know, there are Afghan activists, John, female activists that are crying out, saying to the United Nations, do not fall for this. Do not buy, you know, this ruse that they are putting up. You know, so much so that the U.N. human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, she said this at the U.N. yesterday. There is real and palpable fear among Afghan women of a return to the Taliban's brutal and systemic repression of women and girls during the '90s.
And we have seen what they have been doing these last couple of weeks. Every time that women, you know, want to protest on the streets peacefully, it is repressed. It is met with violence and brutality. So, why would the United Nations, you know, as I say, reward this?
Let's have a listen to what an Afghan woman said on the streets of Kabul about not being able to work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Women want to have a profession and to work. But since the Taliban came in and took Kabul, they can't continue in their jobs. The Taliban have taken away their freedom to work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: John, at the end of the day, these are women who want to work and these are women who need feed their families.
VAUSE: Yes. That's the reality. Anna, thank you. Anna Coren live there for us in Hong Kong.
For almost 20 years, the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan was the main hub for U.S. military operations. It was also home to a notorious detention center, with some detainees who were torture to death. Many others subjected to brutal treatment by the U.S guards. Two months ago, with little fanfare and under the cover of darkness, U.S. forces abandoned the base much of the surprise of the Afghan national government, th U.S. allies.
Now, Bagram and all that was left behind by the U.S. military belongs to the Taliban control. Here's CNN Nic Robertson reporting from Bagram.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Behind Bagram's gates, a wasteland. Military hardware abandoned.
ROBERTSON (on camera): It's like driving through a ghost town here, completely deserted. The old Taliban vehicle and everything just the way that it was. ROBERTSON (voiceover): But eerily different. On many city, hospitals, shops, cafes, restaurants, power plants.
ROBERTSON (on camera): This was Route Disney (ph), the main road through the base. Those are hangers at the side of the runway over here.
ROBERTSON (voiceover): Where presidents and defense chiefs once landed, America's multibillion dollar Afghan hub is in the Taliban's hands. Its dark secrets are being revealed.
ROBERTSON (on camera): Is it the handcuffs for the prisoners?
ROBERTSON (voiceover): Bagram's jail, once feared by the Taliban, that the U.S. handed to Afghan Security Forces in 2014 vast sprawling and trashed.
ROBERTSON (on camera): Prisoners' identification. Cover his face. This is a I.D. photograph I am looking at a prisoner here just lying on the ground.
ROBERTSON (voiceover): The Taliban's victory freed the prisoners. Not all of them were Taliban. They want us to see the harsh conditions.
ROBERTSON (on camera): Even they're confused about how to find their way around this place. They really don't know it. We're going in.
ROBERTSON (voiceover): The way the prisoners got out.
ROBERTSON (on camera): These are the cages inside here. These are the cages. Huge cages, they're just been left as they are. Look at this. Take a look, take a look. Prisoners' food. This bread is still hanging on the plate here. This looks like a place for putting shackles on, handcuffs. Food here. How many prisoners in here? How many?
ROBERTSON (voiceover): Thousands, he tells me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is -- prisoner escaped.
ROBERTSON (on camera): Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they left the curtain (ph) behind.
ROBERTSON: They got out? Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they didn't took it --
ROBERTSON: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is all here.
[02:40:00]
ROBERTSON: So, this is everyone's shoes, hanging here? Blankets? Towels, books? The Quran? Phone numbers scribbled on the wall. You really get an idea of just how many people were crammed in these cells, one mattress, another one, another one. It looks like at least 30 in each of these wire mesh cells. Look.
Conditions in here were so tight the prisoners are hanging their possessions, there's not much in this bag, hanging them from these little ropes from the wire cage. And this was it. This piece of mattress, that was their personal space.
ROBERTSON (voiceover): Some prisoners were locked up here for years. And like Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, infamous for torture.
ROBERTSON (on camera): So, we've past one cage, 2, 3, number 4, 5, 6, 7 cages I can see here.
ROBERTSON (voiceover): What we don't realize until later, this cavernous cellblock just one of many.
ROBERTSON (on camera): When you look at all this now, how do you feel about the situation for the people that were held here?
ROBERTSON (voiceover): It was harsh, he says. They were beaten, there was torture. The U.S. Department of Defense said it investigated all credible allegations of abuse by its soldiers, some were convicted.
ROBERTSON (on camera): So, here are the rules. No throwing or assaulting guards, no fighting, no escaping, no damaging the cells, no disobedience. You will not touch my guards, no spitting in my house. Those are the rules.
ROBERTSON (voiceover): We are not the only ones getting a look. The Taliban are bringing their friends in, wandering on the top of the cages too.
ROBERTSON (on camera): What do you think?
It should be destroyed, he says. So, brutal people can't use it again.
This is a staircase to the platform above the cells. And when you get up here, you get a sense of the sheer scale of this detention facility, how many people must have been in here. Just huge. This is where they say the guards patrol so that they could look down into the different cells. They sprayed it on the prisoners.
ROBERTSON (voiceover): The Taliban commander says, the guards use water to break up flights or keep the prisoners awake at night.
ROBERTSON (on camera): What I find a little surprising is that everyone here has come to look. Some of the guards here are familiar with this. But none of them seem angry. Angry at us at least. And that's something I would have expected. Do you want revenge for this?
We forced the Americans out, he says. That's revenge. The other Taliban says, but it doesn't mean we will forget them.
Can you shine a light in this so we can just have a look in here?
ROBERTSON (voiceover): Room after room, documents scattered.
ROBERTSON (on camera): And over here, aboard with all of the prisoners' numbers on, look.
ROBERTSON (voiceover): The remnants of an occupation in overdrive, years and years of jailing Afghans.
ROBERTSON (on camera): Look at this, this must have been the control room. Look at all the LCD monitors around the wall here.
ROBERTSON (voiceover): Around the corner, the psychiatric ward.
ROBERTSON (on camera): It's a medical center but it still got cages inside, smaller cages. Yes. Oh, OK. So, he's showing us here the isolation side. I don't know if you can see. If you put your camera up right next to here, John, where there's torch shining in? There, isolation cell.
ROBERTSON (voiceover): The writing on the wall tells us two prisoners crammed in here.
ROBERTSON (on camera): And then, there is this net which I can't figure out what it's for, unless it is for putting on somebody to restrain them. Just lying on the floor.
ROBERTSON (voiceover): What is clear here, individual trauma, collective anger. And from what we have been told, an unpaid score to settle with America.
Nic Robertson CNN, Bagram Airbase, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Still ahead here on CNN Newsroom, conditions at the U.S. border with Mexico are being described as inhumane and getting worse. How the Biden administration might be facing its own kids in cages moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:45:00]
VAUSE: America's struggle with illegal immigration is once again under the spotlight with U.S. border patrol agents now on administrative leave after aggressively confronting migrants on horseback over the weekend. An internal investigation is underway with preliminary findings expected by the end of next week.
The bigger issue though is the fate of thousands of migrants living at atrocious conditions waiting to apply for asylum. At least 4,000 people, many of Haitians, have already been moved away from that border region, many will be deported in the next few days.
CNN's Rosa Flores is on the scene in Del Rio, Texas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What was it like under the bridge? Horrible, she says. FLORES (voiceover): New videos from under the Del Rio International Bridge showing the overcrowded conditions and thousands living in squalor. These images were taken by a Cuban couple who say they waited there for four days before being processed by U.S. immigration authorities and released at a nearby gas station.
Yuwanri Daria (ph) breaks down saying, it was his mother's dream for him to get to America. The American dreams of thousands of migrants still under the bridge, mostly Haitians, say officials are expected to be cut short as U.S. immigration authorities increase the numbers of removal flights.
ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: So, we expect four flights to depart today. We are working very closely with Haiti and other countries to which the migrants are being repatriated.
FLORES (voiceover): This as DHS launches an investigation into this video showing border patrol agents on horseback using aggressive tactics against migrants.
KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Human beings should never be treated that way, and I'm deeply troubled about it.
FLORES (voiceover): Aliusca Romero (ph) says, she crossed 14 countries and risked her own life to get here. Assaults, rapes. She shows a cell phone video of the sharp cliff and the steep mountain she climbed in the thick jungles of Columbia.
FLORES (on camera): And when you that there's a lot of dead people, what do you mean? She says, you find people along the path who are dead.
FLORES (voiceover): Daria (ph) says, he counted 17 dead.
FLORES (on camera): He said that he saw dead women, dead children that were already decomposing. The bodies were on the side of the river. Did you have to drink that water?
FLORES (voiceover): And inside this tent, they say, was a pregnant woman who was left behind. Romero (ph) says she started crying, Daria (ph) says he left her his food. Despite the dangers, CNN has learned that up to 30,000 Haitians could be headed to the U.S. southern border.
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): And that is exactly why we are here, because we want anybody who's thinking about coming to Texas, whether it be from Columbia or any country, that Texas is going to be responding.
FLORES (voiceover): As for Daria (ph), he was allowed to stay in the U.S. for a now.
FLORES (on camera): He says that he lost his mother 15 days ago.
FLORES (voiceover): But his mom didn't live to see her son make it to America. He says, she died unexpectedly in Cuba.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLORES (on camera): As for the number of migrants who are still under the bridge waiting to get processed by U.S. immigration authorities it's still in the thousands. At last check, the mayor Del Rio says, that there are more than 8,500 migrants still waiting.
Rosa Flores, CNN, Del Rio, Texas.
[02:50:00]
VAUSE: Still ahead here on CNN Newsroom, this is what a 75 percent vaccination rate looks like. People, out and about and not a mask in sight. We will take you to the only country in Europe with no pandemic restrictions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: It may look a little old school, a little strange, something we haven't seen this in quite some time. But when you hit a vaccination rate nationally of around 75 percent, this is what happens, lots of people, busy streets, no one wearing a mask. Denmark is the only E.U. country free of any COVID restrictions after the last was lifted just a few weeks ago. All of this, welcome relief for many small businesses.
Last year, CNN's Richard Quest spoke with a Danish hair salon owner whose business all but disappeared when COVID-19 shut it down. He caught up with her again recently to find out what has changed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS HOST: The urge to actually just say do your wildest.
SIDSEL RIISBERG, HAIRDRESSER, ZENZ SALON: I mean, do you dare?
QUEST: No. Don't strangle me.
RIISBERG: I don't want you to feel uncomfortable in my chair though. Do you you're your legs up and the back massage on? Yes?
QUEST: When we spoke in May of last year --
RIISBERG: Yes?
QUEST: -- the silent -- you've been closed for a month and it was the week after you had just opened.
RIISBERG: Yes.
QUEST: You are very enthusiastic.
RIISBERG: I was super happy.
It was nerve-racking to be on a lockdown for a month, for us and for some people longer. So, when finally coming back to your clients and even though it was a bit of a hassle to get everyone regrouped and figuring out how do we make time for everyone, it is a pure joy to welcome clients again.
Back then, everything was so new that, you know, you couldn't believe that Denmark had closed down, we were so safe here. So, it was surprising, yes, that everything like got very serious.
QUEST: So, then you go through May, June, July, August, you go through the year and things get worse in December, and you have to close again.
RIISBERG: Yes. So, we've suddenly had to close again. We weren't very worried about this. And -- but in the beginning, we think, OK, it's just a month, it's just until New Year, maybe it is, maybe we can open again. And everyone was kind of like, this is just 2020. Next year, everything is going to be better. We were living in oblivious back then. And then, it's next year and we are still closed. And we still closed all the way until April. So, a very, very long period of time.
QUEST: How difficult was it to stay in business for the four months, even with government help?
RIISBERG: It was tough. And I think, especially for smaller salons (INAUDIBLE) company. But for smaller salons, I think it has been almost impossible. I think a lot of salons have had to close down or change the way they do things.
QUEST: So, you've reopened now, what's the situation now?
RIISBERG: Now, we are a little bit more relaxed. The face mask it has gone off. Everybody needs a corona passport. Everyone has gotten one already and gotten used to it. So, it's way more relaxed and we are almost back to normal.
[02:55:00]
QUEST: How many customers do you think you lost or gained?
RIISBERG: Oh, I don't know how many we lost. I don't think we lost any, really. I think everyone really started to value us a little bit more. It became very popular, supporting your local hairdresser and showing -- you know, showing everyone that had showed up.
I feel like our company has really dealt with this in the best possible way. I do a lot of our social media and I've been happy that we had the time and we had --
QUEST: You told people, come and get your color, you did tutorials, how to cut your own hair. You -- and people responded.
RIISBERG: Yes, there was a great response on it. And, yes, especially for the color they could take home, instead of going to some drugstore and get a box type (ph) and then we have to fix it after, trust me we do have a lock to fix after five months of lockdown in the first place.
So, for someone to come in with green hair, they dyed themselves or whatever, I mean, that's just tough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Actor Willie Garson has died age 57 after what his family described was a short illness. He was best known for playing Stanford Blatch, Carrie Bradshaw's friend on the hit series, "Sex and the City." Garson also appeared in both "Sex and the City" films. And the premier of the second movie, he shared with CNN why viewers continue to love the series after so many series.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIE GARSON, ACTOR: It's about finding love, keeping love, looking for love, staying in love, falling out of love. It's about love. That's all it's ever been about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Friends and colleagues now paying their respects. Mario Cantone who played Garson's onscreen partner in "Sex and the City" tweeted, I could not have had a more brilliant TV partner. I'm devastated, just overwhelmed with sadness.
Garson had one child, a son, Nathan, who wrote on Instagram, I'm so glad you got to share all of your adventures with me and were able to accomplish so much. I'm so proud of you. I will always love you.
On that said note, thank you for watching CNN Newsroom. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us, CNN Newsroom continues after a short break with Rosemary Church. I'll see you tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.
