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U.S. Envoy To Haiti Quits Over "Inhumane" Deportations; U.S. Deports 1,400 Plus Haitians As Backlash Grows; Leaders Of Japan, U.S.; Australia, India To Meet Friday; Social Democrat Scholz Polls Ahead of Crucial Vote; Interview with Taliban's Anas Haqqani; CDC Director Approves COVID Boosters for Age 50+ and Those at Risk; More People Evacuated as Volcano Erupts for a Fifth Day; China's Billionaire Actress Erased from Internet. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired September 24, 2021 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:11]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm John Vause. Ahead this hour on CNN newsroom, Haitian migrants who spent months making an arduous journey to the United States returned by plane, a direct flight to one of the poorest places on earth with absolutely nothing in hand and no warning.
One last go, candidates spar in the final T.V. debate out of Germany's election on Sunday, and the sheer brutality of Myanmar's military Junta, why this young girl spent her fifth birthday behind bars.
Much like his recent predecessors, U.S. President Joe Biden, is now facing an immigration crisis on the southern border. And his administration's response has led many outrage, especially after Joe Biden campaigned on a more humane policy with respect for human dignity. In recent days, there has been a steady increased flow of human traffic, mostly Haitians trying to reach the United States. And this was the scene on Thursday, mothers carrying toddlers, children and others all wading across the Rio Grande, the river which marks the border between Mexico and the United States.
More than 1,400 Haitians have now been deported from the U.S. on direct flights back to Port-au-Prince. Well, tractors have cleared part of the makeshift squalid camp under the Del Rio international bridge. But more than 3,000 migrants are still living there. The U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security says the deportations are all pandemic related, a matter of public health.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: This country and the world is in the midst of a pandemic, we are exercising that authority as we are required to do to protect the health and wellbeing of the migrants themselves, our personnel, local communities, and the American public.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The Haitian ambassador to the United States sees it very differently.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOCCHIT EDMOND, HAITIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: The only thing we are asking is to respect the dignity of any persons, regardless of where you from. But that's the most important issue, the dignity and the rights. I believe in every society, someone has a due process. And those are values that are being championed by the United States for years. So that's what we only expect from the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And amid all of this, congressional Democrats are fuming over the Biden administration's use of the most aggressive Trump era immigration tactics. And just two months in the job, the U.S. Special Envoy to Haiti has quit in protest. CNN's Melissa Bell begins our coverage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A scathing letter of rebuke to the U.S. government and a high level resignation, the American special envoy to Haiti Daniel Foote, leaving his post in protest, telling the Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday, that he will, quote, not be associated with the United States' inhumane counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees from the U.S.-Mexico border.
It comes as chaos intensifies at the Port-au-Prince airport. Migrants arriving in droves from encampments at the U.S. border with Mexico. They were deported all masked back to Haiti by the American government. Many longed for a better life in the U.S., desperate to escape devastating poverty, political unrest, and escalating gang violence in the Haitian capital.
The former U.S. envoy describing the situation as so dangerous that American officials in Haiti are confined to compounds. But these Haitian citizens have nowhere to hide, forced to return to the homeland they were trying so hard to escape.
(on camera): Those words by the U.S. Special Envoy about the grinding poverty, the endemic violence, and the lack of basic resources here in Haiti, also reflected in the assessment made by the Department of Homeland Security in the spring, when it decided to accord special protected persons status to those Haitians already in the United States. And yet, the Haitians being returned at the moment here in their hundreds every day, haven't even been given the chance of applying for asylum.
(voice-over): Many return after a treacherous sometimes deadly journey winding through South and Central America, some crossing nearly a dozen countries on route to the U.S. Some of those we spoke to tell us that once at the border, U.S. officials treated the more like inmates than exhausted refugees.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we got to the U.S., they closed all the access points and we could not go to buy food.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we arrived in the U.S., the authorities put us on a bus and send us to jail. And said we would be released in two days. They put chains on our feet around our stomachs and on our hands. They put us in cars and took us to the airport.
[01:05:09]
BELL (voice-over): Some deportees tell us they didn't know where they were being taken when U.S. authorities ushered them onto a plane. It wasn't until landing back in Haiti, that they discovered it was a return to where they'd started a seemingly tragic end to a long and desperate journey, it appears was all for naught.
Melissa Bell, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Up until recently, Mexican border officials for the most part would allow migrants to cross freely into the United States, but not now. As CNN's Matt Rivers reports on a change in policing now, which he saw firsthand not far from Ciudad Acuna. It's just across the border from Del Rio, Texas.
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here on the Mexican side of the U.S.- Mexico border just across the border from Del Rio, Texas here in Ciudad Acuna, this was a point where dozens and dozens of people were basically freely traveling back and forth between the United States and Mexico, people most of whom were staying in that encampment in the U.S. where we've seen thousands of Haitian migrants gather over the past week or so just up the river from where we are.
But because of the conditions there, many people would come here to the Mexican side, crossover freely allowed to do so by law enforcement to come here to do everything from charge a cell phone, to get food, water, even diapers for their kids, and then put them in garbage bags, and bring them back across the river. That had been happening for a while that is no longer happening at this point.
Basically what happened at some point during the day and midafternoon more or less on Thursday here, were about six or seven immigration officials here in Mexico kind of formed a mini human chain and started preventing Haitian migrants who wanted to go back to the United States from doing so. That created a very volatile situation for about a half an hour here, word quickly spread about that. And several dozen Haitian migrants who were on this side of the border basically push past those immigration officials overwhelmed them and made their way across to the United States, bringing what limited things they could with them.
As a result of that Mexico stepped up its response bringing in more heavily armed police creating kind of a mini wall with four or five, maybe a half dozen vehicles put -- just behind the camera, where it is now preventing Haitian migrants from coming in. And that's basically where we stand at this point. If you are a Haitian migrant right now, in Mexico, you're more or less stuck in that country even if you want to cross to the United States. It is a long border, you could probably figure out some way to do it. But going through this point, the point that's been more established over the past several days is a more traffic point to get across. That's not happening anymore.
And as a result, it's actually separated. Some families we met one man who said he came from the U.S. camp here for a few hours to Mexico to try and charge his cell phone when he tried to go back across immigration officials here in Mexico wouldn't let him here's what he told us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They won't let me cross the water right now. But if they don't let me cross if my son has a problem, are they're going to be responsible for my son, if my son dies over there, whose fault is it, not mine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: And so it's heartbreaking when you think about that man not being able to go across and see his family. And unfortunately, that is something that's being repeated many times over right now between Mexico and the United States.
Matt Rivers, CNN, Ciudad Acuna, Mexico.
VAUSE: Hundreds of patients who crossed into the U.S. will have to give up on the American dream for now. More than 1,400 Haitians have already been sent back home. Deportations have reportedly ramped up in recent days. And they're being sent to the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, which is struggling to recover from natural disasters and a presidential assassination, 60 percent within poverty according to the World Bank, Haiti was ranked near the bottom of the U.N.'s Human Development Index, its per capita GDP, about $1,100.
The country is in the grip of a widespread gang violence. It's grappling with the fallout from the assassination of the President, and also deadly earthquake, which has left tens of thousands homeless. Joining me now from Haiti is Laurent Duvillier, UNICEF regional chief of communication for Latin America and the Caribbean, Sir, thank you for being with us. I'll just start with the Haitian government, which seems to be a government in name only incapable of providing the most basic public services.
Are the Haitians deported from the U.S. southern border, where they've been living in squalor conditions in makeshift camps heading to a worse situation than the one they left behind?
LAURENT DUVILLIER, COMMUNICATION CHIEF, LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN, UNICEF: What we're seeing and thanks, John, for having me. What we're seeing here at the airport of Port-au-Prince where I spent most of the day, we can see that there are many women and children coming in Haitian migrants, and they've lost everything. They've lost their belongings. They've lost their money. But they've also lost their hope. We've heard heartbreaking a one woman, for example, told us about how she left Haiti years ago, then settle down in Chile. And then because of the pandemic, she lost her job and she had no other option, but to walk for 30 days with a four-year-old boy, through the jungle, through the mountains, towards north in search for a better future.
[01:10:26]
And now she is being expelled in Haiti. So it's devastating stories, especially for this boy who was born in Haiti -- in Chile, not in Haiti. He doesn't speak the language. He doesn't know the country, so many challenges. But indeed, as you mentioned, Haiti has been reeling from what we call triple tragedy, natural disaster back to back to NATO's and stores, but also increased gang violence, and indeed, poverty and the COVID-19 pandemic. So the national authorities are doing all they can given the circumstances, but they need help.
UNICEF is there to support but more needed is definitely helped to provide support, protection to those children in need and their families.
VAUSE: And with that in mind with the question of how much aid and assistance they need, here's part of a "New York Times" report about Haitian arrivals from the U.S. On Sunday after being processed, the migrants were given Styrofoam containers with a meal of rice and beans. The government planned to give them the equivalent of $100. Then they were sent on their way. Is there any other assistance apart from that? How these people are expected to live?
DUVILLIER: Yes, there is assistance coming in, what we need to take in mind is and it was what we've heard from the mothers today is that beyond the financial assistance, what is very important is the protection that is being provided, especially for those children. We need to take into account that and we could see that in their eyes that there's a lot of anxiety and fear, because they have no plan. They don't know what is the next step. What is very important is to create a safe space for those children who are coming back to country that they barely know.
And sometimes they don't even know to be able to grow into learn again. And that's what UNICEF is doing, protecting them at the airport, registering them to ensure that we can follow up with the families and meet their needs. And to make sure that those children who don't even speak Creole, some of them speak Spanish will have opportunities to go back to school, for example, in an environment and to rebuild their life in Haiti, but it's not going to be an easy task.
VAUSE: And you mentioned when these Haitians get off these flights from the United States, you've been there, you've seen it. And you talked about them being dazed and in fear. Some of them didn't even know that they were heading to Haiti, some of them, I believe, even they arrived without a cell phone, without any possessions. How -- that's thing, how they meant to contact anybody how -- they're not meant to be under Haitian law anyway, they're not allowed to leave the airport unless there's a family member there to take them away, there seems to be absolutely no planning here.
DUVILLIER: Many of them still have relatives in the country, and they are in contact with them. But indeed, it is not enough to rebuild their life. And that's what they need now. They need to reconsider reintegration in the Haitian society, where the conditions, the living conditions are worse than when they left with increased poverty, increased gang violence, it's not going to be easy, especially for those children who don't speak the language and don't know that country.
That's why they need to be accompanied. And they need to be supported. Let's keep in mind that after, a month after the earthquake, we still have 260,000 children in the country in need of humanitarian support. And most of those kids still need support and assistance. So it's a combination of crisis, if you made those in crisis that Haiti is facing right now. And we need to make sure that we prevent those families of migrants to be subject to violence, to poverty, and to displacement, exactly the factor that that trigger their migration years ago. VAUSE: And just to be clear, right now, it would seem that the Haitian government is incapable of offering any kind of assistance. So it says to groups like UNICEF and other international organizations and charity groups to provide this assistance. Is that right?
DUVILLIER: No, it is a collective effort. The Haitian authorities are collaborating together with NGOs and U.N. agencies in registering those families, which is an essential part. As soon as they arrive in the country, the families are being registered. So we know exactly the specific needs of each of them. And then support can be followed and tailored to the needs of each and families. But it's very much of collective efforts from the Haitian authorities together with U.N. agencies and NGOs. Is it enough? No, it's not enough and more resources are need. And the international community should not turn a blind eye on Haiti right now.
[01:15:39]
VAUSE: Laurent Duvillier, thank you so much. We appreciate your efforts. We appreciate you being with us. Thank you, sir.
DUVILLIER: Thank you for inviting me.
VAUSE: OK.
Well, when activists in Myanmar stand up to the military regime, their families often pay the price. Next, a five-year-old girl thrown in jail, punished for the sins of the father. Plus a high stakes diplomatic crisis between the U.S. and France apparently resolved. For now, France says it's not entirely satisfied. Details when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Acts protests and defiance continue in Myanmar almost eight months after the military cease power. But when the security services cannot find the troublemakers and dissidents, they are looking for their families. It's called collective punishment. CNN's Paula Hancocks reports that left a five-year-old girl behind bars.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A five- year-old girl sings along to a favorite song, at first glance, a picture of innocence. But Su Htet Waing's innocence is gone, taken away by Myanmar's brutal military. Soldiers arrested her along with her mother and older sister because her father, a leader in the pro democracy movement was in hiding.
Released after 18 days she spent her fifth birthday behind bars. She is now reunited with her father, hiding in the jungle, Su Htet, sent us audio clips through his mobile.
SU HTET WAING, 5-YEAR-OLD FORMER DETAINEE: (Speaking in Foreign Language).
HANCOCKS (voice-over): The young girl says she was forced to stay in a half sitting, half standing position widely considered to be a stress position.
WAING: (Speaking in Foreign Language).
HANCOCKS (voice-over): The U.N. Committee Against Torture abuse stress positions as contrary to the convention against torture.
TOM ANDREWS, UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR FOR MYANMAR: I've seen reports of infants being abducted is just a degree of outrage. That it's just hard to put in words. Just how angry I am at the depth that this military Junta is willing to go.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): We said the military detailed questions about the girls detention. They have not responded to our e-mails or texts.
SOE HTAY, PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST (through translator): She's still suffering some mental trauma. She wakes up in the morning crying saying I miss my mom and I miss my oldest sister. Why aren't they back yet?
[01:20:00]
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Soe Htay refuses to give up on his fight for democracy despite his seemingly desperate situation. He says his wife and daughter have been sentenced to three years in prison and have been separated from each other. He heard his daughter contracted COVID-19 in prison, but has since recovered. Khaing Zin Thaw is a social influencer with around 700,000 followers on Facebook. She's been active in the civil disobedience movement, collecting donations for protesters before going into hiding when the military tried to arrest her. Instead, she says they arrested her parents and sister in law. The latter has since been released.
KHAING ZIN THAW, SOCIAL INFLUENCER (through translator): My father was on medication she says, but he doesn't have any in prison. I send food but have no idea if it gets to him. I heard from a source that my father has been tortured. Sometimes I feel like I'm losing my mind.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Khaing Zin Thaw says she feels guilty her parents are suffering. Desperate, she has no contact with him and guilty she can no longer help protesters from hiding.
ANDREWS: A form of terror in which they are intimidating people to an extraordinary degree. People are extremely fearful.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Two more families torn apart by a ruthless military Junta intent on holding power, no matter the cost to the people of Myanmar.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: We can't since an American, British, Australian security deal triggered one of the worst black spots of U.S. French history. It seems relations are now on the mend. But France is wary of being burned twice, waiting to see what happens next. Cyril Vanier has a report now from Paris.
CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: France is warning that ending the diplomatic crisis with the U.S. will take time. The top diplomats from both countries, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday to discuss the way forward after Presidents Macron and Biden had broken the ice with what was described as a friendly phone call.
The crisis erupted after a new security agreements between the U.S., the U.K., and Australia effectively torpedoed a multibillion dollar submarine deal that France had been negotiating with Canberra for years. Short term, what the French wants after feeling they were blindsided by their allies is to be treated with the respect that they feel they deserve both as a close partner of the U.S. and an upper tier military power.
They got that in the form of a quasi-apology from the White House which a French government spokesperson hailed as a victory on French radio.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GABRIEL ATTAL, FRENCH GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON (through translator): First of all, Joe Biden admitted the U.S. responsibility in the crisis. It's rather unusual that the U.S. would admit it wrongs in a written and signed press release. I think Joe Biden understood that with us, Europe was not looking for a big brother, but a partner.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VANIER: That signals that the worst parts of the diplomatic crisis is over and it paves the way for a Macron-Biden meeting in Europe next month. However, some diplomatic legwork might still be needed before then, as France says it wants to see concrete actions for trust to be fully restored.
Cyril Vanier, CNN, Paris. VANIER: The so called quad summit set to get underway in the White House in the coming hours. It's made up of four countries, all sharing a very wary view of China's expanding influence in the Indo-Pacific. CNN's Anna Coren explains how the so called AUKUS agreement plays into all of that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A warm Washington welcome for Australia, Scott Morrison, now firmly in Joe Biden's inner sanctum, as the White House focuses foreign policy on countering the perceived threat from China.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: United States has no closer and more reliable ally than Australia.
COREN (voice-over): Reliable enough to be trusted with the closest of secrets, nuclear propelled submarine technology. New weapons of war, the U.S. and U.K. will help Australia build as a powerful deterrent to China.
SCOTT MORRISON, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: Mr. President, I want to thank you for your leadership and your focus on the Indo-Pacific region. There's no doubt that you get it.
COREN (voice-over): What's to get is a sense of the pain that China has inflicted on Australia through blocks and tariffs on exported products from wine to coal. Economic punishment Australia says for defying Beijing.
JOHN LEE, FORMER ADVISER TO AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Beijing calls Australia an upstart and ungrateful upstart. And what it means by that is, it is a small country, which it hoped would become more of a neutral state which is moved against Beijing.
COREN (voice-over): John Lee is a former adviser to Australia's foreign minister. He says China has worked hard to try to pull Australia away from the U.S. A free trade agreement between the two countries in 2015 supercharged Australian exports. But Australia has pushed back against alleged Chinese interference in its domestic politics and angered China by calling for an independent inquiry into the origins of COVID-19. Intentionally or otherwise, Australia has become a global example on how to resist Beijing.
LEE: I think what so enraged Beijing is that a lot of other countries have taken inspiration from Australia on policies such as banning Huawei on foreign interference legislation even the strategic affairs.
[01:25:11]
COREN (voice-over): Australia has earned a central role in U.S. efforts to counter Chinese aggression from threats against Taiwan to the militarization of the South China Sea. And China's reaction to the submarine deal was swift and sharp.
ZHAO LIJIAN, SPOKESMAN, CHINA'S MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Cooperation on nuclear powered submarine technology between the U.S., the U.K., and Australia will gravely undermine regional peace and stability, aggravate an arms race and impair international nuclear nonproliferation efforts.
COREN (voice-over): Biden and Morrison joined Friday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India and Yoshihide Suga of Japan. The four call themselves the quad brought together by one common concern, a more aggressive China, Australia's place in the quad and its AUKUS deal with the U.S. and U.K. now threatening to transform the upstart into a new competitor for Beijing.
Anna Coren, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And Steven Jiang is live in Beijing this hour with reaction from the communist government. What are they saying Steven?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Well, John, you know, we have been covering this line of to kind of predict what they would say to whatever it comes out of the summit, which obviously has yet to happen. But, you know, this is a big deal, because this is the first in person meeting of the four leaders in the time of global pandemic. That's how much importance the White House is attaching to what this mechanism which has really evolved from informal discussions between the four governments on coordinating and cooperating on their policies in the region to an increasingly frequent and even urgent dialogue on strategic issues from the highest level of the four countries.
And the impetus, of course, as you say, is China. And Beijing is very clear about this, you know, they were asked about this upcoming summit a few days ago, and they reiterate their usual position of rejecting the so called Cold War and zero sum mentality, saying this kind of closed and exclusive cliques runs counter to the trend of times and deviates from the expectations of countries in the region. So it's doomed to fail.
But on the other hand, we've also seen some very harsh and even colorful language from the same media here with the Global Times, for example, insisting the quad isn't capable of inflicting real harm to China, because in their words, the U.S. always abandons its allies like trash when it comes to its own self-interest and also warning of Japan, Australia, and India not to go too far in following the U.S. or they will become quote unquote, cannon fodder when China fights back.
So this kind of rhetoric aside, I think it's really the Chinese government policies and actions, especially on the security front that's really pushing these four countries closer and closer together. And that's obviously I think, concerning to some people, especially because the potential arms race and even military conflict with China trying to dominate the region. John?
VAUSE: Steven, thank you. Steven Jiang there, live in Beijing. We appreciate that.
An update now on the booster situation in the United States with the director of the CDC just issued a statement, she is breaking with her advisors in the U.S. and is actually siding with an earlier recommendation put forward by the Food and Drug Administration. The key difference here is who gets the boosters and when. The CDC director has said that she has decided that those who are at high risk because of their job, or because the location of where they work, are entitled or eligible for a booster shot. That was the recommendation from the FDA. It was not the recommendation from the panel of independent advisors to the Centers for Disease Control in the U.S. So that's a major difference here.
But on Thursday, she actually put out a statement, which read the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. And I have that same actually. So we'll just move on from that. But essentially, that's the big difference regulating booster shots for those over 65 years of age, those in high risk categories, and also those whose jobs all location puts them at a higher risk of catching COVID-19.
[01:29:11]
But we'll take a short break. The more things change, the more they stay the same, Germany on the brink of a new era in politics with the front runner to replace Angela Merkel, promising more to say.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:48]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Germany is nearing the end of a political era, as voters head to the polls this weekend to choose the next chancellor. Social Democratic candidate Olaf Scholz was out on the campaign trail, Thursday, visiting a steel plant. Polls show his party clinging to a narrow lead, with the conservative bloc close behind.
The candidates going to head to head Thursday night, all seven of them in the last televised debate. They clashed on taxes, debt, as well as foreign policy.
And the race is tightened among candidates hoping to succeed long time chancellor, Angela Merkel, and there's one unlikely contender -- a mild-mannered sort of accountant, every man kind of guy. He's managed to become the front runner.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It might not look very exciting, but this is a rally for the front runner in Germany's election campaign. Olaf Scholz speaks softly, has no catchy slogan, and yet is ahead in the polls.
OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN CANDIDATE FOR CHANCELLOR: I am a social democrat. The people know this. But they know that I'm a very pragmatic man. That I want to rule the country with all the -- having in mind what is necessary for such a big country in Europe. PLEITGEN: After 16 years of Angela Merkel, Scholz, who is the finance
minister in Merkel's cabinet is trying to pull off a win by appearing to be very similar to Angela Merkel. And his no frills style seems to be resonating with voters.
(on camera): Only a couple of months ago, it seemed as though Olaf Scholz had no chance of winning the upcoming election. But now, he is firmly in the lead and could be well on his way to becoming Germany's next chancellor.
(voice over): Folks at this rally outside of Berlin say they believe Scholz would govern with a steady hand, just like Merkel has.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He appears very confident in what he promises.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, one thing is his experience, certainly and what he has achieved in the past.
PLEITGEN (voice over): But not everything Olaf Scholz has done in the past as finance minister is viewed positively. He faced criticism after failing to detect the impending bankruptcy of electronic payment firm, WireCard, and was recently questioned by a parliamentary inquiry committee, investigating about allegedly not following through on a money laundering investigation, which he denies.
Scholz's main rival, Armin Laschet who is actually from Angela Merkel's party, accuses Scholz of wanting to move Germany to the left, and possibly cooperating with the left wing Socialist Party.
"We have to be clear because the people don't want the leftist's in a federal government and tonight, once again, you have not been willing to be clear," Laschet said.
But Scholz told me, Germany would not seriously change its domestic or foreign policy, if he wins.
SCHOLZ: The transatlantic partnership is important for us and it's important for the United States. And I'm willing to make -- work very hard that this will be a strong base for international politics.
[01:34:48]
PLEITGEN: Olaf Scholz's personal popularity, is much higher than his party popularity. And while his social democrats are currently polling in first place, the race to succeed Angela Merkel, is far from decided.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN -- (INAUDIBLE) Germany.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: CNN European affairs commentator Dominic Thomas is live this hour for us in Berlin. Dominic, good to see you.
DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Good to see you John. VAUSE: Ok. Well, the overall election, and which party will form a --
or parties will form a coalition government remains too close to call, according to the polls.
There is this front runner. His name is Olaf Scholz to replace Angela Merkel. And he's the front runner, because he's kind of dull and has Merkel-like qualities. They don't seem to care though that he's been linked to some of the biggest scandals in German history. Why is that?
THOMAS: Yes. I mean it's really interesting. I mean ultimately, you know, When you look at elections for prime ministers, presidents, and so on, it is really all about the leader.
But in the German context it is absolutely about the parties. It is about coalitions and consensus. And all the way back to 2005 when Chancellor Merkel came to power. She's been in coalition with the SPD. Scholz himself was a minister going all the way back to 2007. And now the finance minister and the deputy chancellor.
So, even though he is trying to sort of set himself apart from the pack, he understands that what Angela Merkel represented and the level of anxiety in so many ways in German society, that the rudder has been taken away from the ship, and her qualities of stability, reliability, and consistency are the ones that he's putting forward and privileging.
And ultimately those issues hanging around him are secondary to this in the eyes of the voters.
VAUSE: So what does that say about Merkel's legacy? The fact that the front runner is essentially campaigning as being more Merkel than Merkel, if you like which would indicate that Merkel clearly, has had this huge mark on German history and German politics.
THOMAS: Yes. And it's going to be very difficult for them to sort of recalibrate especially within her own party. I mean the irony, John, is that if Angela Merkel had been the candidate for the CDU going into this election, her party would've done much better. And I would bet my bottom dollar that she would become next week, the new chancellor.
And so of course, all of those issues around Europe and global politics and climate are going to remain issues moving forward. I'll just put her sort of chancellorship in context.
You know, she came to power when Tony Blair was the prime minister in the U.K. When George W. Bush was the president in the United States. and in the meantime, she's worked with nine presidents and prime ministers just from those countries. So I think that just puts the sort of the long term aspect, the longevity, of this chancellorship into context and why there is so much anxiety moving forward, as to what will happen when she finally does step away.
VAUSE: Well, that is a certainly that we believe will happen. That the next German government will be without Frau Merkel. But also the far right AfD -- the anti immigration, anti-feminist, anti-Europe white nationalists -- have been locked out of all coalition negotiations. But support for AfD remain strong right? So they're isolated, but still standing.
THOMAS: Yes. I mean they're interesting. I mean of course, back in 2017, you know, on the heels of the so-called global, you know, migrants crisis and the way in which that impacted discussions in Europe and elsewhere.
this single issue party that had sort of reconfigured itself from being an austerity party to an anti-immigration party, really focused on these questions of immigration and identity and Islam. And of course, unemployment.
But what was interesting is they also did well in the west where you could argue that income disparity are less of an issue.
And I think, once again Chancellor Merkel played an important role in this. Unlike let's say with the conservatives in France or the U.K. who ended up mainstreaming so many of the policies of the far-right, through their Brexit policies, and so on. And, in some ways, gave oxygen to those.
And Angela Merkel stared them down. Angela Merkel offered alternatives. And I think that's played a role in kind of stifling the growth of this political party. And people have moved on, and there are other issues that are central in this 2021 election.
VAUSE: Yes. And climate change appears to be the number one out of all of them -- the number one issue.
And was interesting in the debate, which happened just a few hours ago. It wasn't about broad policy issues, but a sort of granular details about what -- individually doing -- the leaders of these parties. What they're all doing individually for their part and trying to limit climate change.
THOMAS: Yes. I mean it's a curious dynamic where in a way there is this sort of indistinguishability between so many of the candidates and policies. I mean there's discussions on emissions and stop, you know, car highway, you know, speed limits and so on and so forth.
Climate essential, Europe essential, but it's always around not questioning Europe itself but say questioning fiscal policy.
But having said that, the story really of the German elections especially over the last 20 years has been this erosion of mainstream political parties.
[01:39:53]
THOMAS: Merkel's first coalition with the SPD back in 2005, they had almost 70 percent of the vote. By 2017, you have the largest number of parties entering the German parliament, the longest coalition talks.
And we know that when the votes are counted on Sunday evening, it's going to take at least three parties to be able to form a majority. So the divisions are there, the uncertainties are there and the process of establishing a new government is going to take a while to such an extent that Merkel herself, will remain in office while this process plays out.
And if it does drag its feet all the way through to December, she could actually then be -- or have been the longest standing chancellor in German history. And that would be qui9te a legacy to add to her already impressive CV.
VAUSE: Absolutely. Dominic, thank you. We know you will be there. We'll be catching up in the coming days. Appreciate it, Dominic Thomas.
THOMAS: Ok. Looking forward to it. Thank you.
VAUSE: Quick programming note before we go -- ok, mate. Good to see you.
Now, tune in for CNN's special live coverage of the German federal elections. Find out who will be next to lead the country.
Hala Gorani, Fred Pleitgen, Salma Abdelaziz there, we'll have the very latest, starting from Sunday. That's 12:00 p.m. in New York, 5:00 p.m. in London right here on CNN.
We'll take a short break. When we come CNN's Nic Robertson sitting down with a member of the Taliban leadership who makes the case for why world leaders should urgently recognize the militant group as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
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VAUSE: Well, the World Health Organization has a dire warning about Afghanistan's future if the country does not receive significant international help. The WHO says Afghanistan's health care system is on the brink of collapse. It's urging the international community to resume financial support which ended when the Taliban took control.
The director general saw the crisis firsthand, when he visited a Kabul hospital, earlier this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: There has been a surge in cases of measles and diarrhea. Almost 50 percent of children are at high risk of malnutrition. The resurgence of polio is a major risk. And 2.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine remain unused.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The U.N. has released $45 million, in emergency funding to help the health care system from collapsing.
Many world leaders say they will not support the Taliban government until it forms a more inclusive government and allow women to keep their hard earned freedoms. But it is not clear if the Taliban are ready to do that.
CNN's Nic Robertson spoke with one of the groups political leaders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANAS HAQQANI, TALIBAN POLITICAL COMMISSION (through translator): Those who raised this issue are the ones who don't want peace, unity, and national unity in Afghanistan. They make the excuse of women and the rights of minorities to try to damage the system.
We, praise be to God, have religious principles as well as national traditions. The rights Islam has given to women cannot be found in any religion or nation.
[01:44:56]
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (on camera): Is Afghanistan at risk over the issue of women of not getting its accounts unfrozen?
HAQQANI: The frozen money is the people's right. It doesn't have anything to do with the government and politics. It is the nation's right. The whole nation. With frozen money they cannot make us copy and bring their culture here. It is in contradiction with our history, beliefs and traditions.
ROBERTSON: This is the coming big issue for the Afghan people is the money coming or is the money not coming?
HAQQANI: We will not give up on our people's rights. We will do our utmost effort for the right of our people, the same way we did in the past 20 years.
This is the right of the people. This is not the right of Biden or the right of the United States government so they can seize it to freeze it.
ROBERTSON: How long do you have before the economy really starts to hurt?
HAQQANI: If the world thinks that they can put a lot of pressure on us through this matter that we will accept what they wanted us to accept during the war, this is a very wrong thinking.
(INAUDIBLE) is not in the hands of Biden, Europe, Russia, or China. Thank God we are not panicking about this hardship. This is our affair with God almighty.
ROBERTSON: When will you consider the war with America to be over and finished?
HAQQANI: The policy of the Islamic emirate is that we want positive diplomatic relations with the entire world including United States. Now it's up to them.
However now the money freezing issue and other issues this isn't fighting war. This is breaking relations. The Islamic emirate wants positive relationships with all. Yesterday, we introduced an envoy to the United Nations, too, Mr. Suhail Shaheen. It means that we are ready for every positive relation that support peace and security and it is not in contradiction with our principles, religion, faith, and national traditions.
ROBERTSON: How quickly do you need that international recognition of the Taliban government? Weeks, months? How long?
HAQQANI: If the world wants peace and security it can be achieved in one day. It is beneficial to them and beneficial to us, too. If they don't want peace and security, and they want people here to face hardship and problem then certainly it may take time. However this is in the best interest of everyone to be achieved urgently.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Africa is facing a drastic shortfall in vaccine supplies. That's according to the World Health Organization.
There will now be an increase and need to increase shipments rather by seven-fold that would be up from 20 million doses a month heading to Africa to now what is now set to be required which is about 150 million doses each month.
Much of the continent is in the grips of a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, notably just 4 percent of Africans have been fully vaccinated.
From November 1st unvaccinated workers in Germany will not be compensated for lost wages if they are forced to quarantine for COVID. Quarantine is required for anyone testing positive and travelers returning from high-risk countries.
As of Thursday more than 60 percent of Germany's population is fully vaccinated. Shots are not mandatory but officials have been ramping up measures which make it increasingly inconvenient not to be vaccinated.
We have more details now on the late breaking developments in the U.S. and the emergency authorization for booster shots. The director for the Centers for Disease Control has approved COVID booster shots for those 65 and older, as well as residents in long term care settings.
But notably it's also proved the extra shot for anyone 18 and over with underlying medical conditions or at increased risk for infections because of their jobs or institutional setting.
And that is a break with earlier recommendations from an independent advisory panel to the CDC. She also mentioned that because of this announcement people in those groups are now eligible for that booster shot.
Well, moving now. Ok, we are going to take a short break rather. I say, when we come back, well known celebrity in China suddenly wiped from the Internet. How cancel culture played a big part in her virtual disappearance.
And thousands forced to evacuate after a volcano erupts in the Canary Islands. The very latest from the CNN Weather Center.
[01:49:27]
VAUSE: This is what it looks like right now in La Palma, Spain in the Canary Islands. It's coming up to 7:00 in the morning and volcanic eruptions continue, now into their fifth straight day.
Lava has destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes and businesses along with banana crops which are the main export from the island. Experts say the flow has now reached a point where it is slowed and might not actually make it to the ocean.
In some places the lava wall standing as high as 12 meters -- that's about 38 feet tall. So far no injuries, no deaths have been reported.
Let's go to CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam for more.
And it's important to not why it's an important issue with the lava not reaching the ocean, right? Because that's when really bad things can happen.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. That's when you start talking about sulfur dioxide emissions and a whole set of respiratory problems.
But just the pictures here are just absolutely astonishing. Let's begin on Sunday. We have widely seen videos, drone videos just like this of the lava encroaching on neighborhoods destroying homes and creating just incredible scenery, of course, unfortunate for the residents being impacted by this.
But it's incredible because they have already had over $100 million U.S. or roughly $87 billion euros of property damage from this particular volcanic eruption.
Just to put this into geographic perspective, we are off the coast of Morocco. This is a Spanish archipelago, La Palma -- that's the island where the (INAUDIBLE) of the Aha (ph) Volcano is located, the volcano that erupted and the lava flow at one stage was over 700 meters per hour so it was moving at quite a pace. That's equivalent to about 7 football pitches in one hour.
As John mentioned, it was slowed down but it has created quite an extensive range of damage. We've destroyed nearly 200 houses, and already talked about the property losses there. Over 100 million U.S. at least at the current estimate. Now, a lot of people want to know where will the wind take the ash, smoke, and sulfur dioxide potential? If it does eventually reach the ocean.
Well, the moment we have a general northerly component to the wind but we do believe that will change to a more southerly direction over the coming days.
So Saturday night, into Sunday we could start to that southerly wind. So that will push that potential smoke and ash over the Canary Islands and potentially into the Iberian Peninsula, as well as the coastal areas of Morocco.
So something we need to be aware of are not particularly dangerous when it is that farfetched. But something we all need to monitor.
Last time this volcano erupted back in 1971. So it was long overdue and there were several earthquakes associated with this eruption as well, John.
VAUSE: Ok. Derek, thanks for the report. Derek Van Dam, at the CNN Weather Center.
VAN DAM: All right.
Well, the Internet is said to forget nothing but it seems in China it can have selected amnesia. For a time, one of China's leading actresses and businesswomen disappeared from the net. Everything about her gone, like she never existed.
CNN's Ivan Watson explains it might just be the work of the Chinese government turning off her star power.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Imagine one of Hollywood's biggest celebrities erased from the Internet in a single night.
That's basically what happened to Zhao Wei, one of China's most successful actresses. A star of Chinese television and film, Zhao was also a wealthy entrepreneur who bought vineyards in France and acquired a stake in one of China's biggest film studios.
(on camera): That all changed one night in August when Zhao suddenly inexplicably disappeared from the Chinese Internet. Her movies and TV shows removed from streaming sites, her social media accounts erased.
[01:54:57]
JENNIFER HSU, RESEARCH FELLOW, LOWY INSTITUTE: To imagine someone's name, history is eliminated from the Internet it shows the power and the infrastructure of China's Internet architecture and who really is in power. It is Chinese Party state.
WATSON: China experts say the canceling of Zhao Wei is part of a much bigger crackdown now underway in China.
WEN ZHAO, INDEPENDENT CHINA ANALYST: The whole entertainment industry was targeted by Xi Jinping.
WATSON: Canada-based analyst Wen Zhao argues there's only room for one real star in today's China -- Chinese President Xi Jinping.
ZHAO: Xi Jinping deliberately eliminate any independent social influence might be out of his control. He wants to take control of everything. WATSON: This summer Beijing issued new rules cutting back the
activities of China's wildly popular celebrity fan clubs. Other regulations Beijing says are aimed at restoring morality. Ban male celebrities from appearing too effeminate on TV, and limit minors to three hours of online video games a week.
Meanwhile, the government introduced a new subject to the curriculum for students of all ages from elementary school to universities -- Xi Jinping thought, an approached that some say echoes the cult of personality of Mao Zedong the founding father of Communist China.
ZHAO: People have only one voice to be heard, only one leader to worship.
WATSON: In recent months, Xi also cracked down hard on China's huge tech and private education industries. Wiping out trillions of dollars in market value from some of China's biggest companies. As Xi pushes for so-called common prosperity and a more leveled economic playing field while shaping people's minds to his worldview.
So, where does that leave people like this canceled actress Zhao Wei? She appears to have recently reemerged in several photos that went quickly viral. The glamorous actress almost unrecognizable in a humble tee shirt and shorts.
Ivan Watson, CNN -- Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: I'm John Vause. Thank you for watching. CNN NEWSROOM continues with my friend and colleague Anna Coren in Hong Kong after a very short break.
I will see you next week.
[01:57:23]
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