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Russia: 1,730 Ukrainian Soldiers Surrendered So Far At Azovstal; Some Civilians Return To Kharkiv As Russian Forces Withdraw; Biden To Visit South Korea, Japan On First Asia Trip; Biden Evokes Defense Production Act To Address Crisis; House Passes $28M Emergency Funding To Address Crisis; Suspect Appears In Court After Grand Jury Indictment; Female Journalists Ordered to Cover Their Faces on Air; Saving the Andean Condor; Deadly Floods Tear Through India's Assam State. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired May 20, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:00:54]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN Newsroom live from CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta. Ahead, Washington parses a staggering $14 billion bill for military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine. And at this hour, Joe Biden heading to South Korea, his first trip to Asia as President, while Pyongyang watches closely.
And the Taliban continues to roll back the rights of women in Afghanistan, now forcing a choice between covering their faces or losing their on air jobs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: A bill authorizing $40 billion in USA to Ukraine is on its way to Seoul, South Korea for President Joe Biden's signature. The aid package easily passed the U.S. Senate on Thursday but does not take effect until it's signed. Still, the administration immediately announced it was sending another $100 million worth of artillery radar and other equipment to Ukraine.
And in southern Ukraine, local military officials say more than 1,000 cars have been blocked at a Russian checkpoint for four days. The convoy is trying to reach Ukrainian held territory in Zaporizhzhia. With reports many making that store journey are running low on food and water.
In Mariupol, Russian claims more than 1,700 Ukrainian troops have surrendered so far at the Azovstal steel factory. CNN cannot verify that report. But an unknown number of Ukrainian soldiers, including senior commanders, apparently are holding out in the plant and vowing to continue to fight.
Raids (ph) ongoing counter offensive around Kharkiv has made that city a lot safer than it was just a few weeks ago. Now, some residents who evacuated are starting to go back, reuniting with loved ones and seeing what's left of their homes. ITN's Dan Rivers has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, ITN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The siege of Kharkiv was documented for us in March in this video diary.
ANASTASIYA PARASKEVOVA, KHARKIV RESIDENT: Last night was probably the most terrifying night of my life. Kharkiv was terribly bombarded.
RIVERS (voice-over): Anastasiya Paraskevova film the destruction and her emotions, giving a harrowing insight into this war.
PARASKEVOVA: Airstrikes all over the city. Dozens of buildings destroyed, civilian buildings where people live.
RIVERS (voice-over): Today, she's returned to her home city for the first time. She's with her mother after staying with friends in the relative safety of Poltava, a two-hour drive from Kharkiv.
PARASKEVOVA: She's happy to see things, be in the place. Crying again. Sorry.
RIVERS (voice-over): They haven't seen her father for almost two months.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Welcome back to your home city.
(Speaking Foreign Language)
PARASKEVOVA: He says, it's time to come back.
RIVERS (voice-over): In her video diary, Anastasiya showed where she took refuge in her flat. A home she was forced to leave without knowing if she'd ever see it again.
PARASKEVOVA: This is our hiding place. It's a vestibule area between two walls with no windows.
I don't know why but being bombarded is easier to live in your home.
RIVERS (voice-over): But today, Kharkiv is much safer. She's come back to check on her apartment.
[01:05:06]
PARASKEVOVA: It feels so strange (ph).
RIVERS (on-camera): Does it feel strange coming back?
PARASKEVOVA: Yes. My room. It just feels odd, because it's so not usual like it's supposed to be, you know. I, just for some reason, thought that I will return and all the furniture will be standing the right way. Sorry. My bed is (INAUDIBLE).
RIVERS (voice-over): Her flat is on damage, but you don't have to go far to see the consequences of Russia's bombing.
PARASKEVOVA: When we were still at Kharkiv, this was the closest cross -- the closest large explosion. We heard incredibly loud noise and also the windows and the doors in the house were shaken and this was it.
RIVERS (voice-over): Walls peeled off by the blast, which have laid bare lives ruined in an instant. The random nature of what survived and what didn't is on display, like an exhibit in a museum.
But this war is not in the past around the edge of the city. It is very much in the present. The attack on the city's town hall marked the beginning of the siege. Today, almost in an act of defiance, flowers have been planted in front of it.
For Anastasiya, it is a sign Kharkiv will recover.
(on-camera): This building was the heart of Kharkiv.
PARASKEVOVA: Yes.
RIVERS (on-camera): Would you say Kharkiv's heart has been broken?
PARASKEVOVA: Yes, I would say so for sure. When this -- it was the most excruciating thing to see this building rocketed.
RIVERS (voice-over): Anastasiya has returned to a city scarred by this war, but one in which its citizens are beginning to glimpse normality again. And in the warm spring sunshine, there is something that's been absent for the people of Kharkiv and Anastasiya for so long, hope.
Dan Rivers, ITV News, Kharkiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The war crimes trial of Russian soldier, Vadim Shishimarin is set to resume in Kyiv in a few hours. On Thursday, Shishimarin testified that he was ordered to shoot an unarmed civilian. Out of fear, the 62-year-old man would give away their position. Therefore, a direct confrontation from the widow of the man the Russian killed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATERINA SHELIPOVA, SLAIN CIVILIAN'S WIDOW (through translation): Can you please tell me what did you feel when you killed my husband?
VADIM SHISHIMARIN, RUSSIAN SOLDIER ON TRIAL (through translation): Shame.
SHELIPOVA (through translation): Do you repent?
SHISHIMARIN (through translation): Yes, I acknowledge my fault. I understand that you will not be able to forgive me, but I am sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Shishimarin's trial expected to resume in about three hours from now. The first of what Ukrainian prosecutors expected will be many, many more war crimes trials to come.
Well President Joe Biden says Finland and Sweden have the full and complete backing of the United States with their formal applications to join NATO. He welcomed the leaders of the two nations to the White House Thursday, shows support solidarity.
Finland and Sweden say their bids to join NATO, a direct result of Russia's war on Ukraine, which sparked security concerns across the region. Mr. Biden says the Nordic countries will bring new strength to the alliance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, there is no question, NATO is relevant. It is effective, and there's more needed now than ever. The bottom line is simple, quite straightforward, Finland and Sweden make NATO stronger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well shortly after meeting with the leaders of Finland and Sweden, Joe Biden left South Korea and his first trip to Asia as President with the stated goal to, quote, affirm the importance of our Indo-Pacific alliances.
CNN's Kevin Liptak and CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us live from Seoul with more on this. And Paula, I'll begin with you because of that threat from the North Koreans about a possible nuclear or missile test or maybe both in the coming days. Where does United States stand with the incoming South Korean president when it comes to North Korea and security policy?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, what we've heard so far is from both the U.S. and the South Korean side saying that they do believe that an intercontinental ballistic missile launch and test may be imminent from North Korea. Now this is the kind of missile that if fired at a normal trajectory, which it is not when tested, could reach mainland United States. So certainly there is a concern.
We've heard from the U.S. intelligence agencies through a U.S. official familiar with the matter that they believe that they may even be close at this point to fueling, putting fuel into an ICBM. They have satellite images where they can see vehicles on the tarmac at the air fields near potential missile, then it doesn't take much longer until that launch happens.
[01:10:04]
So we've heard from Jake Sullivan, the National Security Adviser, he said that they are preparing for all contingencies. Obviously, the concern being that some kind of a launch could happen whilst U.S. President Joe Biden is in the country. It would be remarkable if that happened.
It hasn't in my memory ever happened that there's been some kind of a North Korean launch or test while a U.S. president is in country. Certainly it has happened just before or just after before in the past, but never well, he has been in country. Now also, we've heard from both South Korean and U.S. officials that they believe a seventh nuclear test is imminent. But we've also heard from the South Korean side potentially not well, the U.S. president is here.
We have been hearing though, from Washington that President Biden has been -- at least his people have been consulting with allies, in particular, the South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and his allies. They have a response ready if North Korea were to carry out some kind of a test. So it really is a case of wait and see as to whether or not North Korea would carry this out.
Now, of course, they've only a week ago admitted that they have a fairly serious COVID outbreak within the country. But the same day, they announced that they also fired three short range missiles, so clearly showing that even though they are dealing with this outbreak, that's not going to slow their weapons testing and their missile testing down.
So we really are waiting to see whether or not there is going to be some kind of a test from North Korea this year, so far has been quite remarkable. 15 missile launches so far. John?
VAUSE: Paula, stay with us. Thank you. Kevin, to you, North Korea is always a problem, at least an issue for the United States and the U.S. President. But it won't be the focus of this trip by Joe Biden.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, certainly not the primary focus of the trip. And President Biden is really coming over here to Asia to try and reaffirm these important alliances in Japan and South Korea and sort of demonstrate his continued focus on this region, even as his time and attention have been really consumed by the war in Ukraine.
And what officials say is that the President is able to focus on both of these things at the same time, it's not one or the other. And that the war in Ukraine really sort of emphasizes this ability of the United States to convene its allies in response to aggression. And that's something the players in this region are certainly watching very closely, because even as this war has proceeded in Ukraine, these other hotspots are boiling up.
In particular, North Korea, as Paula mentioned, preparing potentially for a nuclear test, a missile test, but also China. China really flexing its military and economic muscles in this region. And that's something that the President has said that he wants to do more to counter China, to really show that the United States can play on that field as well.
Certainly, he would have liked to travel to Asia sooner in his presidency. He was hampered by the coronavirus pandemic, of course, and by these other foreign hotspots. He is traveling here much later than his predecessors might have. And it has really sort of thrown into question the idea of this whole pivot to Asia. That's something that President Obama talked about, that President Trump sort of alluded to as well.
Now it's President Biden's turn to really sort of turn his attention and renew this focus on what he has said is the defining challenge of the 21st century is to counter China. And so, when you see him arrive here in Seoul in the next couple of hours, his first stop will be at a Samsung plant that manufactures these semiconductor chips. These microchips that are so important to critical technologies, including cars.
There's been a shortage of those because of some plant shutdowns in China and one of President Biden's main initiatives is trying to wean the United States off of Chinese microchips and trying to find other sources of them, including in the United States, but also among allies in the region. So that's something that you'll hear President Biden talk about when he first gets to Seoul in a matter of a couple of hours here, John.
VAUSE: Kevin, thank you. Kevin Liptak there in Seoul. So Paula Hancocks, thanks to you as well also in Seoul.
Well the U.S. government scrambling to address the shortage of baby formula. When we come back, lawmakers weigh in on this crisis, ahead of operation baby formula airlift. Also final goodbyes set to begin with the victims of the horrific mass shooting in Buffalo, New York.
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VAUSE: Just on 18 minutes past the hour, welcome back everyone. The ballot count in Pennsylvania goes on with the state's Republican primary race still too close to call. Right now, Trump endorsed TV personality Mehmet Oz, has a very slim lead over former Hedge Fund Executive David McCormick. He expect count be done in another day or two until the local radio station, expects the module (ph) be so small, an automatic recount will be triggered.
And there are two major developments in the investigation into the January 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection. First, the former Attorney General Bill Barr has tentatively agreed to testify under oath to the House Select Committee, according to two sources familiar with the negotiations. Barr talked informally to the committee late last year, a two-hour long meeting of thereabouts focusing on his interactions with the former President Donald Trump before and after the election.
And this comes as the committee also investigating a Capitol tour given by a Republican Congressman one day before the deadly riots. The committee has asked Barry Loudermilk of Georgia for more information about the tour and who was taking part. Loudermilk fired back saying, "A constituent family with young children meeting with their members of Congress in the House Office Building is not a suspicious group or reconnaissance tour. The family never entered the Capitol building. The Select Committee is once again pushing a verifiably false narrative that Republicans conducted reconnaissance tours on January 5th."
[01:20:01]
The Biden administration is preparing to fly in the first batch of baby formula from overseas. The White House came to an agreement with Nestle to transfer the equivalent of 1.5 million, 8 ounce bottles of formula. Whole part of the newly launched Operation Fly Formula program in response to the alarming shortage in the United States.
Details with CNN's Manu Raju.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nearly everyone in Washington is angry about the nationwide shortage of baby formula.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No one did well. Nobody responded with adequate urgency.
RAJU (voice-over): And lawmakers are getting an earful back home.
MARTIN HEINRICH, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRAT: I'm hearing concerns that it's hard to find formula. And anybody who's been a parent knows what a, you know, what a panic that puts parents in.
RAJU (voice-over): The shortage stemming from a shutdown at an Abbott plant in Michigan, severely disrupting the supply chain given that Abbott is one of just four companies controlling most of the U.S. market.
SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): What we should be doing is blaming the system, why we love the monopoly to occur. Why this is happening.
RAJU (voice-over): As the crisis has compounded, President Biden invoked the Defense Production Act, ordering suppliers to provide resources to manufacturers and allowing the use of Defense Department aircraft to pick up formula produced overseas since 98 percent of baby food consumed by Americans is made in the U.S. It's a move that even some Democrats wished had been employed sooner.
(on-camera): Should the Biden have invoked the Defense Production Act sooner?
CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRAT: Well, they did now. I will tell you, I sent a letter prior saying they should act because we needed immediate action.
RAJU (on-camera): But that wasn't immediate enough?
CORTEZ MASTO: Well, I can tell you, I sent a letter for a reason.
RAJU (voice-over): Even loyal allies frustrated, RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRAT: I urge repeatedly use of the Defense Production Act. I regret that it took a few days and maybe longer to do it.
RAJU (voice-over): Senator Mark Kelly battling to hang on to his seat in Arizona, did not mince words.
MARK KELLY, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRAT: We've got a major issue here. You know, we've got families across the country that are really struggling. I mean, there is not an alternative to this. So this is critical, I mean, it's a crisis right now.
RAJU (voice-over): FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, grilled by both parties today.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It all begs the question, why did the FDA not sprang into action?
RAJU (voice-over): Califf predicted the problem would soon be fixed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So I can tell my constituents that within a matter of days, they'll be able to find formula on the shelves?
DR. ROBERT CALIFF, FDA COMMISSIONER: Within days it will get better, but it will be a few weeks before work back to normal.
RAJU (voice-over): For Democrats, struggling to keep control of Congress in this fall's midterms, the issue only adding to their problems.
(on-camera): Do you worry politically that all these issues could hurt your ability to keep the House?
ADAM SMITH, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: Sure. I'm not an idiot, so yes. I mean, you know, people have challenges. We got to get a stronger better message out there. There's no question about it. If you're a Democrat and you're not worried about that, you're not paying attention.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RAJU (voice-over): Now the Senate on Thursday passed a bill that would allow low income individuals to use federal benefits to purchase baby formula. But a separate bill that actually passed the House and is awaiting action, the Senate faces an uncertain future in the chamber because GOP senators are skeptical providing $28 million to FDA to help deal with this crisis.
Now this all comes as some Democratic senators are calling on the White House to name one point person to help oversee this crisis. But at the moment, it's unclear if the White House will go this route.
Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.
VAUSE: In the U.S., children's ages from five to 11 are now eligible for a COVID booster shot. On Thursday, the director for the Centers for Disease Control approve the extra shot. It will be a Pfizer vaccine, the only one approved as a booster for children in the United States. The CDC says the additional dose should be given at least five months after the first two doses.
State lawmakers in Oklahoma have passed one of the country's strictest abortion bills, essentially banning all abortions after fertilization. The bill would also allow private citizens to sue providers who knowingly perform will induce abortions on a pregnant woman. The only exceptions are for medical emergencies or if the pregnancy resulted from rape, sexual assault or incest and is reported to law enforcement. The bill is waiting for approval by Oklahoma's Republican governor who has promised to sign any legislation which limits abortion.
The suspect in Saturday's mass shooting in Buffalo, New York appeared in court Thursday as investigators focus on a private social media chat he created just before the rampage. Payton Gendron has been indicted by a grand jury, so far facing a charge of first degree murder. A sources, 15 people were part of the discord shot (ph) he's created before the shooting. The suspect started that shot before the shooting spree which left 10 people dead and wounded three others in what's believed to be a racially motivated attack.
One victim's daughter could not hold back her tears in her reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBIN WHITFIELD, DAUGHTER OF SHOOTING VICTIM: That racist young man took my mother away. I am the eldest daughter of Ruth Whitfield, she was my best friend.
[01:25:04]
What am I to do? What am I supposed to do now? We were supposed to go see the Temptation's play that night. And I have the tickets still on my table. How dare you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Funerals for those who were shot dead are expected to begin in the coming days.
We'll take a break. When we come back, more crackdowns on women's rights in Afghanistan. We'll hear from female journalists who were ordered not to show their faces while on air. That's next.
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[01:29:58]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody.
I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
It's been nine months since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan. And with each passing day more rights, more freedoms, are being stripped away from Afghan women and girls.
Just this week, the militant group ordered all female TV presenters to cover their faces while on air. Now many journalists fear what could be next.
CNN's Christiane Amanpour has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For the past five months, Khatera Ahmadi (ph) has been anchoring the morning news on TOLO TV, but this might be the last time she can show her face on air.
The morning editorial meeting starts with worried discussion about mandatory masking. Station director Khpolwak Sapai said he'd even considered just shutting down and leaving but then he thought female staff who want to carry on anchoring with a mask can, while those who don't will get other jobs behind the scenes.
KHPOLWAK SAPAI, DIRECTOR, TOLONEWS: We will leave the last decision to them. They will make their own decision.
AMANPOUR: And it's a tough decision for these women, who brave the new Taliban regime to stay on the air, who already adjusted their head scarves to hide their hair and who now fear a steep slide back to the Middle Ages. Khatera says she's so stressed, she couldn't even present her program properly.
KHATERA, TOLONEWS ANCHOR: It's not clear. Even if we appear with the burqa, maybe they will say that women's voices are forbidden. They want women to be removed from the screen. They are afraid of an educated woman.
AMANPOUR: Across town, the Taliban government spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid was attending a meeting with local journalists to mark a slightly delayed World Press Freedom Day. We stopped him on the way in.
You have said they have to wear a face mask if they're on television, women. Why?
"It's advisory from the ministry," he says.
But what does that mean? Is it compulsory?
"If it is said, they should wear it. It will be implemented as it is in our religion too," says Mujahid. "It is good if it's implemented."
Afghan women are afraid that this is the beginning of your efforts to erase them from the work space. They're afraid that if they wear the mask, the next thing you will say is their voice cannot be heard publicly. What is your response to that?
"Like during COVID," he says, "masks were mandatory. Women would only be wearing hijab or masks and they will continue their work." He seems to say that if women wear this, they can go to work, but the dress code edicts like saying female university students must now wear black, not colored head scarves, is an escalating war of nerves and everyone fears where this will lead.
Back at TOLONews, these female anchors are distraught.
"What should we do," cries Tamina (ph). "We don't know. We were ready to fight to the last to perform our work, but they don't allow us.
"We women have been taken hostage," says Geelah (ph). Women can't get themselves educated or work, like me, who has worked on screen for years and couldn't leave Afghanistan. Due to the fear of the Taliban I can't go on screen again."
Since the Taliban takeover, the station's employed even more women than before, because they need a safe space. And as for the actual journalism, TOLONews is Afghanistan's leading independent news channel. But Director Sapai says they'll all quit the day the Taliban pressures them to tailor their coverage or lie to a public that's come to trust the truth they've been delivering over 20 years.
He saved the station so far, recruiting a whole new staff after most employees fled the Taliban's arrival.
SAPAI: From management level, I stood alone and I was confident, I was only thinking that -- how to keep the screen alive, not to go dark.
AMANPOUR: The challenge now is keeping it from going dark.
Christiane Amanpour, CNN -- Kabul, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Pashtana Durrani is the founder and executive director of a nonprofit organization for girls education in Afghanistan called LEARN.
Good to see you and thank you for being with us.
PASHTANA DURRANI, FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NONPROFIT LEARN: Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: So this edict for women anchors on the TV news to cover their faces, it is shocking, but at the same time, it's hardly surprising.
DURRANI: Oh, yes, definitely. It's not surprising, I was just watching the video, the way the girl -- she was dressing. The anchor who (INAUDIBLE) about it. I was like we all saw it coming. They are trying to seek attention and the least that they could -- and they have been consistent.
[01:34:55]
DURRANI: Back in the day, they were taking months to have another decree about women. Now they are being consistent. Every other week, they find (INAUDIBLE) activities in the same day (ph) and try to impose it on women.
VAUSE: And one of the most egregious edicts, if you like, by the Taliban is denying girls a secondary level education and that's despite all those promises to the contrary last year.
And this week, during an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, a senior Taliban official was again holding out this prospect that maybe change was coming. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SIRAJUDDIN HAQQANI, AFGHAN ACTING INTERIOR MINISTER: Already girls are allowed to go to school up to grade six and above that grade. The work is continuing on a mechanism. Very soon, you will hear very good news about this issue, God willing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Being totally realistic, do the Taliban have any intention of ever allowing girls to receive, you know, a full education, the same kind of education that boys would receive?
DURRANI: I mean, the first thing that anyone would need to ask from the Taliban is, what is this mechanism that they are trying to put in place that is not needed for girls from Grade 1 to 6, but is needed for girls from Grade 7 up until 12 and is not needed by girls who are already in universities and are going to colleges and universities. Those are the two different things that we have to understand.
This is a very sensitive topic and they do know that. Back in the day, the Taliban got a lot of attention on this and they are just trying to milk this, that's it. Because they already know this is a sensitive topic and these were projects that were actually funded by USAID and they need more money. They want more legitimacy and they are trying to use it as a bargaining chip.
But also coming back to your question, I personally think if they are politically literate, they need to open schools. You can't alienate the daughters of Afghanistan. 50 percent of the country. There are teachers and students within that community.
But then at the same time, I do think that they won't be so equal the way they have been open and making sure that the schools for boys remain open. They won't continue the same support for the girls' schools -- for girls.
VAUSE: So, not only are they misogynists, but the Taliban also hate music, it seems. Here's the founder of Afghanistan's National Institute of music, Ahmad Sarmast speaking to again, Christiane Amanpour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AHMAD SARMAST, FOUNDER, AFGHANISTAN NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MUSIC: Once again, Afghanistan is a silent nation. Once again, Afghanistan is a place where the Taliban forcibly deny the music of Afghan people. And also to let the international community know that today the people of Afghanistan do not have the right to listen to music, to play music, to learn music.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So, it's a case of, you know, meet the new Taliban, just the same as the old Taliban. And they've been rolling out these restrictions or ramping up the restrictions, if you like, while a lot of the world's focus has been on Ukraine.
And I guess at the end of the day, is this where Afghanistan is basically heading, from the moment the Taliban seized power, basically back to where it was from 1996?
DURRANI: I mean, we are already there. We are not headed, we are already there. The day we were abandoned, not by the international community, but abandoned and were erased from the world as a legitimate government, we have lost all those things.
We are there already. We were there yesterday. We don't have the right to work right now in Afghanistan. We don't have the right to leave the country or travel into the country. We don't have the right as Sarmast said that you cannot listen to music, you cannot go out, you cannot socialize.
And if you know that Afghanistan is one of the lively countries in Central Asia and does believe in deep culture and our culture does have a segment where music is practiced and where music is taught to kids.
So for me personally, Afghanistan is already there which it was in the late 90s. We're not headed there. We are already there.
VAUSE: Is there any reason for hope that things will change?
DURRANI: I mean, in the 90s, yes. Back in the day, women were there who were teaching music at schools, there were women who were resisting. There were people who were trying to run (INAUDIBLE) and the same is happening right now in Afghanistan.
One cannot always say that these are the representatives (ph) of Afghanistan, but there is always an opposing force and I do believe in it. And right now, I can see that women are leading it, including women within Afghanistan who are trying to resist and women outside of Afghanistan who are trying to make sure that they are representing the actual Afghanistan, not the one the Taliban are trying to show the world. So, yes, always hope, yes.
VAUSE: And that is a good note to finish. Thank you. Pashtana Durrani, we appreciate your time.
DURRANI: Thank you.
VAUSE: Well, coming up, a puppet show for preserving a species, raising condor chicks without exposing them to human contact and that requires some imagination.
[01:39:29]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Andean condors are among the world's largest birds soaring up to 100 miles at a stretch without even flapping their wings. But despite their epic grandeur, they are under threat.
Today on Call to Earth, a Rolex Awards Laureate had developed a way to breed the giant birds and is now giving them a chance at survival.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: High on a hilltop in the Andes, a moment of transcendence is about to take place.
NORBERTO LUIS JACOME, BIOLOGIST: When the condor takes flight, all of us feel like we rise with him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This Andean condor has been bred in captivity and never flown before. Now, it's doing it with an audience to celebrate its release into the wild.
[01:44:52]
JACOME: The connection with an iconic species for thousands of years has inspired man to look up at the sky and connect with the sacred.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the life's work of Argentinean biologist Norberto Luis Jacome.
JACOME: Our mission is to conserve the Andean condor and through the condor to reconnect people with nature.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Endemic to South America, numbers of these soaring birds are plummeting across the continent. Sometimes mistaken for predators, they face threats from human activities like hunting and poisoning from toxic baits.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many condors come down to eat dead animals to fulfill their role of scavenger. They ingest lead bullets and lead kills them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: with a wingspan of up to ten feet, these giant birds are slow to reproduce. So Jacome and his team developed a captive breeding program at the Buenos Aires Eco Park. They take one egg from a breeding pair, which prompts the condors to produce a second egg shortly after ensuring all the eggs aren't in one basket.
JACOME: So the second egg is raised by the couple. We can get two chicks for each couple per year. When in reality, Condors would have one offspring every three years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After two months of careful monitoring, a tiny miracle. If needed, the chicks receive a helping hand to break free. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Caring for newborn chicks while ensuring they don't
become attached to humans requires thinking outside the box.
JACOME: All the contact that the fledgling has here will be through latex puppets that represent its parents.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At that moment you are the father, you are the mother. You are responsible for that life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jacome says the program has raised 78 chicks and rescued and released hundreds of condors throughout South America.
But an increase in poisoning has killed 150 condors in just the past two years.
JACOME: It means that a whole effort, a lifetime of 30 years is not enough, if we do not change that relationship we have with the environment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here, Jacome and his team celebrate the release of the condors with the Mapuches (ph) and Teiwelches (ph) communities, who have long had reverence for this bird.
As part of a traditional ceremony, the event is transformed from the scientific to the spiritual.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It opens hearts. It opens people's minds. And people quickly in a practical way understand why we should take care of Mother Nature.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Let us know what you're doing to answer the call with #calltoearth.
[01:48:13]
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Four, three, two -- and liftoff.
Starliner is headed back to space on the shoulders of Atlas.
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VAUSE: Liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida just a few hours ago. The Boeing capsule has no crew as it travels to the International Space Station. The plan is to dock and then return to earth just a few days later.
After years of setbacks, Boeing is trying to show NASA that its Starliner spacecraft is ready to carry astronauts and can compete with Elon Musk's SpaceX for NASA's business. U.S. automaker Ford recalling almost 40,000 large SUVs and advising owners to park outside because of a fire risk. There have been multiple incidents of engines of some 2,300 Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators catching fire while parked and the engine turned off. Ford says it's still investigating the cause of the fires.
Dozens of case of monkeypox have been detected worldwide. Infections have now been recorded in Europe, the U.S., the U.K., Australia and Canada. Symptoms include fever, rashes and swollen lymph nodes.
In the U.S. the Centers for Disease Control is monitoring six people for possible infections. It's believed they sat near an infected travel on a flight from Nigeria to the United Kingdom in early May.
And while U.S. health experts are urging calm, the surgeon general is also stressing vigilance.
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DR. VIVEK MURTHY, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: This is a virus that is rare in humans but when it does come up, it's a serious one that we should investigate.
At this time, we don't want people to worry at this point. Again, these numbers are still small. We want them to be aware of these symptoms and if they have any concerns, to reach out to their doctor.
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VAUSE: According to the CDC, the six people being monitored are healthy, show no symptoms and are considered at low risk. In previous outbreaks, about 1 percent of those affected actually died.
Heavy pre-monsoon rains have swept through northeast India causing severe flooding and landslides. And according to disaster officials, killing at least 10 people. More than 700,000 people have been impacted as hundreds of villages in the state of Assam have been swamped.
Tom Sater has our report.
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TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Half a million people are on the move across northeast India's Assam State. Some wading through ankle deep water, others paddling canoes in deeper water or makeshift rafts.
The Brahmaputra River has burst its banks in parts of Assam over the last three days following torrential downpours and more rain is in the forecast.
[01:54:50]
SATER: Already some 1,500 villages are inundated. Rescue boats have been deployed in harder hit areas but not every one in trouble has been saved. Several have drowned and many are in need of help. SADANAODA BORDOLOI, NAGAON (ph) RESIDENT (through translator): The
condition of the flood is worsening with each passing day. Schools, prayer houses, temples -- everything is getting submerged in the flood waters. The entire place looks like an ocean.
The weather here is horrible. It has been raining continuously for three to four days. The people are facing a lot of difficulties.
SATER: Many farmers saying they have lost a majority of the crops due to the floods.
These farmers are trying to dry out wheat grains they were able to harvest.
YUSUF, RESIDENT: There are floods because of excessive rain and the lack of a river dam. There are 3,000 to 4,000 farmers who live here. They have to harvest their crops early because of the water.
SATER: And while Assam is suffering from too much water, other parts of India are suffering from an acute water shortage in the midst of a heat wave.
Some New Delhi residents are putting chains and locks on water cabins to prevent theft. And the river that flows through the capital is parched.
Tom Sater, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thank you for watching this hour of CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. Another hour of news right after the break. And I'll see you then.
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