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Top U.S. Military Leaders Testify About What Went Wrong; Senate Leaders Push to Expedite Bill to Avoid Shutdown; Infrastructure Bill Up for a Vote on Thursday; Kishida Wins Vote to Become Japan's Ruling Party Leader; Pfizer Submits Data on Vaccine for Children Ages 5-11 to FDA; Prime Minister Boris Johnson Says Fuel Supply Situation Starting to Improve. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired September 29, 2021 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and right around the world. I'm Isa Soares in London. And just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. KENNETH MCKENZIE, U.S. CENTCOM COMMANDER: I recommended that we maintain 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We helped build a state, Mr. Chairman, but we could not forge a nation.

GEN. MARK MILLEY, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: The Taliban was and remains a terrorist organization.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: U.S. President Joe Biden's defense officials face a second round of grilling today on the chaotic exit from Afghanistan.

Tensions rise on the Korean Peninsula as North Korea says it has fired a new hypersonic missile.

And new details in the Gabby Petito case. What Brian Laundrie's family knew about his where-abouts before her disappearance.

Hello, everyone, happy Wednesday. Now, two of the world's largest economies are under pressure. And there could be enormous political indications in both countries, in the United States, President Joe Biden is continuing tense negotiation for his infrastructure as well as economic plan. Political brinkmanship is delaying action to fund the government by Thursday and to suspend of course the debt limit. The Treasury Secretary didn't mince words on what will happen if U.S. defaults on its obligations possibly by October 18th. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET YELLEN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: This would be a manufactured crisis we had impose on this country which has been going through a very difficult period, is on the road to recovery, and it would be a self-inflicted wound of enormous proportions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, all the uncertainties you can imagine sent the Dow plunging 569 points -- you see their. The tech-focused Nasdaq down nearly 3 percent and the S&P 500 closed down 2 percent. A look at the futures and look slightly brighter for today. So, keep on top of the numbers for you as soon of course as the markets open.

Here in the U.K., meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the fuel supply is improving though many are still lining up and facing higher prices at the pump. Now this is not a fuel problem. There's plenty of fuel in the U.K. but is a supply chain issue. Getting drivers to deliver the fuel. The problem has exacerbated by the pandemic of course and by Brexit. Will have more on this story roughly about 10 minutes.

Now we're going to take you back to the United States. For the first time since the fall of Afghanistan, top American military leaders are publicly testifying before Congress about what went so terribly wrong. In the coming hours, they'll address the U.S. House Armed Services Committee. But on Tuesday, if you remember, they gave Senators their take on why the Afghan government and army collapsed so spectacularly and why the Taliban remain a serious threat.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: We helped build a state, Mr. Chairman, but we could not forge a nation. The fact that the Afghan army that we and our partners trained simply melted away in many cases without firing a shot, took us all by surprise. And it would be dishonest to claim otherwise.

GEN. MARK MILLEY, U.S. JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF CHAIRMAN: We must remember that the Taliban was and remain a terrorist organization. And they still have not broken ties with al Qaeda. I have no illusions who we are dealing with. It remains to be seen whether or not the Taliban can consolidate power, or if the country will further fracture into civil war.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: While these Pentagon leaders were pressed on why the Afghan army had no will to win and it seems largely due to the Doha deal with the Taliban brokered by the Trump administration, if you remember. We're hearing the agreement demoralized Afghan forces. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JACK REED (D-RI): Did the Doha agreement affect the morale of the Afghan forces, i.e., was there a sense now that even though it was months away, that the United States was leaving since we had agreed to leave?

MILLEY: I'll let Frank talk the details but my assessment is yes, Senator, it did affect the morale of the Afghan security forces. REED: General McKenzie.

GEN. KENNETH F. MCKENZIE, U.S. CENTCOM COMMANDER: Sir, it's my judgment that the Doha agreement did negatively affect the performance of the Afghan forces by in particular by some of the actions that the government of Afghanistan was required to undertake as part of that agreement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, those answers are pretty clear. Meanwhile the generals are saying the complete U.S. military pullout was not what they wanted and that they recommended leaving a few thousand American troops behind.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[04:05:00]

MCKENZIE: I won't share my personal recommendations with the president but I will give you my honest opinion and my honest opinion is you shaped my recommendation, I recommended that we maintain 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.

SEN. JIM INHOFE (R-OK) General Milley, I you assume you agree with that in terms of the recommendation of 2,500?

MILLEY: I do agree with that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, that testimony contradicts earlier remarks from U.S. President Joe Biden who told ABC News he didn't recall anyone recommending that his troop levels to him. The White House has a range of viewpoints were presented to the president on how to exit Afghanistan.

Our Nic Robertson has recently returned from Afghanistan, is tracking all this live for us from Abu Dhabi. Look Nic, I mean, what I heard there, what we just played out, was basically America's top generals saying their views were heard but were not followed. What stood out to you from what you heard, specifically on the intelligence front and perhaps the challenges this poses for the U.S., of course, has no boots on the ground?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I think a number of things. The notion that it's encapsulated into sort of an 11-day surprise, a swing and miss, the intelligence assessment that didn't expect the Afghan government to collapse in 11 days. It's strains credibility that intelligence services were not tracking the potential for its collapse at an earlier phase and signaling warnings previously. And if they weren't signaling warnings, then that clearly shows an intelligence failure. That seems to be, you know, an accepted part of the narrative now. But reigns rather narrowly.

Certainly, I'm sure the United States partners, NATO partners in this, will look at that hearing quite critically and draw a similar conclusion. And the other conclusion that relates to intelligence is that, you know, now, after 20 years of building the Afghan national army, the top generals should say that they realize that there were errors. That they made the Afghan army in their own image. That it was too high-tech dependent. That they weren't aware of sort of cultural sensitivities.

All of that, you know, really begs the question where were the assessments made ongoing? And certainly, from my experience of covering the Afghan national army and international forces who were training them, many shortcomings were known for over a long period of time. So, this sudden collapse of the Afghan army shouldn't be such a surprise.

So, you know, where does it leave the military going forward on this issue? Clearly, they have to examine this in their own terms of reference, but I think that it certainly strains the credibility that intelligence that could have highlighted some of these issues wasn't available, and therefore it appears that it was perhaps overlooked or dismissed for whatever reason.

SOARES: Nic Robertson for us there in Abu Dhabi. Great to see you, Nic, thanks very much.

Now, during the hearing, the Joints Chiefs Chairman was also grilled about his decisions near the end of the Trump administration, which includes calls to a Chinese general detailed in a new book. Mark Milley said he tried to reassure his Chinese counterpart that then President Donald Trump had no plans to attack China. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MILLEY: And I told him that we are not going to attack. President Trump has no intent to attack. And I told him that repeatedly. And I told him if there was going to be an attack, there'll be plenty of communications going back and forth, your intel system is going to pick up. I said I'll probably call you. Everybody will be calling you. We're not going to attack you. Just settle down. It's not going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton is backing General Milley. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BOLTON, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR TO TRUMP: Milley said today that he was reading intelligence that the Chinese were worried that in this confusion and so on they would be subject to a wag the dog military attack, or at least that was possible.

Now I have to say, quite apart from the Donald Trump's state of mind, if the state of mind of the Chinese leadership was about to make that miscalculation, it was nothing more than common sense for several communications to be made to the Chinese, including Milley through his counterpart conversation, to say don't believe what you read in the newspaper.

So those who say that Milley violated the civilian control of the military, undercut the chain of command, betrayed the president on one hand and those who say Milley saved the country from a psychopath on the other are both wrong. Milley did his duty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Now we'll stay on top of course of those hearings as they continue today.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden is scrapping his travel plans to stay in Washington today to negotiate key pieces of his legislative agenda. The next two days will be critical to determine the fate of his $3.5 trillion budget legislation and a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package.

[04:10:00]

Meanwhile, the Senate is also looking to really expedite the consideration of a bill to avoid a looming government shutdown. Even if it strips out Democratic efforts to suspend the debt limit. CNN's Ryan Nobles reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Time is running out on Capitol Hill to stop America from an economic disaster.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Morning, everyone. This is a big week for the American people.

NOBLES (voice-over): Lawmakers are furiously negotiating, hoping to make progress on four major issues central to the Biden agenda and the nation's economy.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We will pass both bills.

NOBLES (voice-over): On the docket, passing a continuing resolution that will continue to fund the government before it runs out of cash as soon as Friday, lifting the debt ceiling before the government reaches that threshold by the middle of October. Striking a compromise on a massive expansion of the social safety net that both moderates and progressives can agree on. And passing a bipartisan infrastructure bill that will offer up more than $1 trillion to fix roads and bridges across America.

The problem is Democrats have tied several of these items together. And now they are trying to untangle them. When it comes to the debt ceiling and keeping the government open, House leaders say they have a plan.

PELOSI: So, we have a number of things on the -- lift the debt ceiling, keep government open. We have to do those imminently.

NOBLES (voice-over): The intraparty fight over infrastructure and reconciliation are the bigger problem. Speaker Pelosi wants a vote as soon as Thursday on the infrastructure plan, but progressives continue to say they won't vote yes without a guarantee about the bigger package.

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): Our caucus is strongest when it's unified and decoupling these bills, it starts to pit priorities against one another, and that's why I don't -- I disagree with separating them.

NOBLES (voice-over): Part of the problem is that moderates still won't say what they are willing to agree to spend on expanding the social safety net. Progressives want the package to be as big as $3.5 trillion and expand programs like Medicaid, pre-K and the child tax credit. Moderates like Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin don't want to spend that much but they're also not ready to say publicly how high they're willing to go.

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): There's a lot of work that needs to be done. I keep telling you. Are we going to work and work and work in a good faith measure?

NOBLES (voice-over): As a result, Democrats remain in a staring contest with the clock ticking and that big vote still scheduled for Thursday with no guarantee it will pass.

NOBLES: So, it seems pretty clear that we are all waiting to see if the House progressives have the resolve necessary to hold firm against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's insistence on passing this bipartisan infrastructure package on Thursday. They seem to be able to do it at this point, and they got some powerful backup from the former founder of the progressive caucus in the house, Bernie Sanders. He's of course the Senate budget committee chairman. He begged his fellow progressives in the House not to vote yes on the bipartisan infrastructure package until they know definitively what the reconciliation package is going to look like and they have buy-in from all of the moderates that are currently holding back.

Ryan Nobles, CNN, on Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Well, for now, progressive Democrats say they are not giving up their leverage to pass the $3.5 trillion spending bill. They insist they will not pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill without moderate Senate Democrat support on the spending measure.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): The main part of the president's bill, back better agenda, that he came and delivered to us, to Congress, in February, the main part of that agenda that we ran on, as Democrats, to get the house, the Senate and the White House, is contained within the "Build Back Better" agenda. So, 70 percent of the entire "Build Back Better" agenda is in the "Build Back Better Act." And if we don't pass that, then we are saying to people, sorry, we promised but we're only going to deliver you a tiny sliver of things, and we're going to go back on our word to you as voters, and also as Democrats.

And so no, I'm not concerned about the perfect being the enemy of the good, I'm concerned that 4 percent of the Democratic caucus is in both the House and the Senate, is not coming to the table to negotiate in good faith what we thought we had already negotiated.

REP. JARED HUFFMAN (D-CA): We don't have to settle for just any old something. We can do a lot better than that. The deal that came to us from the president, that came out of Senate to the House, was for a lot more than just that one piece. So, when folks suggest that we should decouple them, dozens of my colleagues and I feel very strongly, no, that's a terrible idea. We need the original deal. And if we have to vote no on a vote Thursday that we think is counter- productive and shouldn't even happen, we'll do that, but we'll also roll up our sleeves and get to work to try to get this done.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: We'll stay on top of this story of course, as the clock ticks to Thursday.

I want to switch gears and take to you Japan.

[04:15:00]

The country's ruling Liberal Democratic Party has a new leader which means Japan will be getting a new Prime Minister soon. Former foreign minister Fumio Kishida won a runoff election just a few hours ago. He defeated the country's popular vaccines czar.

CNN's Selina Wang is following the results from Tokyo. And Selina, from what I understand is that Fumio Kishida, you know, he's not the public's favorite but clearly the favorite of the party. But what can we expect from him on the policy front here?

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's exactly right, Isa. The results really show here that Japan party leads ultimately is on top of public opinion. The winner Fumio Kishida who is virtually assured to become Japan's next Prime Minister, given the LDP's dominance in Parliament had lackluster support public support going into these elections.

He had served as former foreign minister under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. And he's a moderate liberal who is known as a consensus builder. He campaigned on spending billions to help the Japanese economy recover from the pandemic. He's also campaigned on narrowing the income gap. He is really seen, Isa, as an establishment choice, to a large degree more of the same and status quo.

And compare that to Taro Kono. He was the public's favorite known as a political maverick. Who wasn't afraid to speak his mind and tear down bureaucratic barriers to get things done. He's extremely active on social medias. Known to directly converse with the public on Twitter, where has more than two million followers.

But ultimately analysts said that Kono's reputation as this outspoken maverick was too much of a risk in the Conservative Party elders party elites preferred the stable and safe choice of Kishida. Now when he assumes prime ministership, he's going to have to contend with challenges including the pandemic, boosting Japan's stagnant economy, balancing deep economic ties with China and growing concerns around Beijing's military assertiveness.

But a key issue, Isa, is that it is unclear how long Fumio Kishida can actually maintain in power. Since before the time of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's leadership, Japan had churned through six Prime Ministers in six years. So, the question is, is Japan returning to this period of revolving door prime ministership.

Another important point to note is that this race was historic and that it is the first time ever in which the LDP leadership race had to remit. Remarkable for a country where women are vastly underrepresented in politics -- Isa.

SOARES: Indeed. Selina Wang there for us in Tokyo. Thanks very much, Selina.

And still to come, right here on the show, COVID vaccines for younger children in the U.S. How the timeline is shaping up to get those shots in arm.

Plus, the British government says the petrol crisis is easing but there are still long lines at the pumps. We'll take a look at the underlying issues when we come back. That is next.

[04:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: Now Pfizer and BioNtech have submitted COVID vaccine data on children ages 5 to 11 for initial review. But they're not seeking Emergency Use Authorization yet. Experts say the U.S. is weeks not months away from a vaccine for children. Both Pfizer and the Biden administration say they're standing by but the rollout will be as soon as the FDA gives it the green light. But first they need more data.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Do you have an idea of when the Emergency Use Authorization request will be made by Pfizer?

DR. SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: Yes, I think imminently.

DR. VIVEK MURTHY, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: The FDA's top priority is getting COVID vaccines for the population, particularly for our children. They are standing by ready to analyze that data.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well meanwhile, the former head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns that the twin threats of COVID as well as the winter flu will require adjustments to daily life. The latest data from the CDC shows more than 185 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against the virus. That's about 55 percent of the population. You see the breakdown on your TV screens right now.

While vaccine mandates appear to be working, United Airlines is revealing a tiny fraction, less than 1 percent of its employees have not met the company's vaccine requirements. And New York City reports a 45 percent jump in its vaccination rates since announcing mandates back in July. But still despite the progress experts say we shouldn't forget really about the other measures to keep people safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We should be flooding the system with easily attainable at-home testing. So, people can get a good feel for themselves, their families, their workplace, about who is infected and who is not. Just the fact that we have very highly effective and safe vaccines should not make us move away from intensity of testing. Because testing is going to be very important. Particularly when you have a virus in which you will have break-through infections.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, meanwhile, we're learning more about the vaccine boosters. New CDC data suggest the side effects are very similar to after getting the second vaccine dose. The study found only three mild to moderate side effects, if any at all. Booster doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine are now available in the U.S. to people ages 65 and older, as well as people who were at increased risk of course of infection.

Federal agencies will soon be evaluating the safety and efficacy of make mixing different brands of vaccines for those booster shots. That data is expected to come in the coming days. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAUCI: The J&J, as the boost for the other three, likely will be available literally within a week, a few days to a week, and the data on looking at Pfizer as the boost to the other three will be available somewhere in the first week or at the most two of October.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, meantime, drug companies are working to develop pills to treat the coronavirus. Merck and Pfizer preparing to report the clinical trial results of their experimental anti-virus pills.

[04:25:00]

Both companies and their partners say they could seek emergency authorization for their pills by the end of the year. Infectious disease experts say preventing the virus through vaccines are still the best way to control the pandemic but they admit more convenient treatments are needed.

Now the World Health Organization is calling the global community, to help with the second phase of investigation into the origins of the coronavirus. And the Director General of the W.H.O. says that cooperation of all countries including China is needed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, W.H.O. DIRECTOR GENERAL: I hope this will start as soon as possible. Knowing the origin of the virus is very, very important, because you know, it's knowing the origin or what happened that we can prevent the next one. So, we expect the collaboration of China and all countries in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Expect the collaboration but China doesn't want to play ball. The country quickly rejected the invitation saying the WHO's plan is against science. The WHO says the first probe had been hampered by a lack of data from the early days of the pandemic.

Well, here in London, welcome news from Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as he said, the U.K.'s fuel supply shortage is beginning to ease. The Petrol Retailers Association said just over 1/3 of its members are without fuel, which is down to about two-thirds on Sunday. Still many drivers here are finding themselves waiting in long lines to fill up. As you can see there it comes as there's a shortage of tanker drivers to deliver the fuel.

CNN's Nina dos Santos has been with the story and she joins me now. And Nina, the Prime Minister saying it's improving. I would like to know where you are if it is? On my way into this morning, it didn't look that way. I saw long queues in the early hours of this morning.

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there's one line behind me here, this fuel station in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and people have been getting quite irate actually. They've been trying desperately to is just a little bit further forward in the line. When they eventually get to the petrol pump, he says they're greeted with the highest fuel price at the pump in about eight years.

So, people are getting angry about this situation. And after we saw demand spike about 500 percent over the weekend which is when a real crunch point was, people were starting asking themselves where is Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister? Why haven't we heard from him yet? Some people even debating whether or not he might have one of his coronavirus style pandemic press conferences.

But instead, eventually we heard from him yesterday evening. And just this small distributed sound bite, as you can hear here, he saying that there's a sign that things are starting to ease. Even here on the streets of London that might not be the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We now are starting to the see the situation improve. We're hearing from the industry that supplies are coming back onto the four ports in the normal way. And I would just really urge everybody to just go back to their business in a normal way, and fill up in the normal way, when you really need it. And you know, things will start to -- all we want to do is make sure that we have all of the preparations necessary to get through till Christmas and beyond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOS SANTOS (on camera): Well, the government says of course that there's no national shortage of fuel, rather a shortage of those drivers to get all sorts of goods that are badly needed from A to B. That's likely to get worse as we head further along in the year with seasonal buying for the Christmas festive season.

And when it comes to the kind of panic we've seen at the pumps and the run on the pumps, that has also brought out some of the worst of human behaviors. As you can imagine, this is a scene that really galvanized the media overnight. It is a scene that happened about 18 miles away from where I am in Welling, in southwest London. You can see a passenger in a car got so irate that somebody had que jumped that he took out a knife and then through somebody on the hood of the car. So, it seems like these people don't want replicated, that's why they want an end to this panic buying and a smooth passage of goods -- Isa.

SOARES: Thanks very much to our Nina dos Santos there in London. Thanks, Nina.

Right ahead on CNN, North Korea claims the have successfully tested a new hypersonic missile. A live report from the region next.

Plus, a volcano on Spain's Canary Islands still erupting. But now locals face another threat as the lava meets the ocean. Both those stories after a very short break. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.

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