Return to Transcripts main page
Connect the World
U.S. President Joe Biden to Announce Withdrawal of U.S. Troops from Afghanistan by September 11; America's Longest War; NATO Concerned about Russian Buildup at Ukraine Border; South Africa Pauses J&J Vaccine; Interview with Dr. Siddhartha Datta of World Health Organization Europe on Global Vaccinations; Report Confirms Moscow Targeted 2020 U.S. Election; Beijing Accuses Washington of Stirring Up Trouble; Meteor Screams across the Sky and Explodes. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired April 14, 2021 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There are consequences. If you don't pay, they beat you or imprison you.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNNI HOST (voice-over): What it's really like living in Taliban controlled parts of Afghanistan today. CNN has exclusive access on
the ground, as the U.S. prepares to withdraw all of its troops.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON (voice-over): Then --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: What is a real concern to us is in increasingly aggressive actions by the government in Beijing directed at
Taiwan.
ANDERSON (voice-over): The global power struggle between Beijing and Washington could lie in the fate of Taiwan. Details on that are just ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON (voice-over): And will South Africa ever catch a break?
How its vaccine rollout pause is impacting its fight against the pandemic.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
ANDERSON: Thank you for joining us wherever you are watching. It is 4:00 pm here in Abu Dhabi. This is CONNECT THE WORLD from our Middle East
programming hub and it is 4:30 pm in Kabul, Afghanistan, where we begin our show today.
After 20 long years, trillions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost, the American president set to announce today that his forces will
finally be leaving Afghanistan, effectively ending America's longest war.
They'll be gone, Joe Biden is set to promise, by September 11th. That, of course, the date in 2001, on which horrific terror attacks set in motion
the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan. The date then incredibly symbolic. Here's why the White House thinks the time has come to withdraw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: But I will say that the president has been consistent in his view that are there is not a military solution
to Afghanistan, that we have been there for far too long. That has been his view for some time, well documented, well reported on.
He believes that and he remains committed to supporting negotiations between the parties, which many of you may be following, are resuming next
week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: But what of it for the nearly 40 million people who live in Afghanistan?
Connecting us to Kabul this hour, Nick Paton Walsh.
Describe the situation on the ground for us at present.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: I think a lot of trepidation as to whether there will be any further fine print to Joe
Biden's announcement in the hours ahead.
It's clear they're leaving without conditions. Already, we're seeing the Taliban, frankly, the major beneficiary of this, saying that's still not
enough. For two days, they said they don't want to attend the Istanbul peace summit because their conditions haven't been met.
But just in the last few minutes, we have heard from a spokesperson for the Taliban and his second tweet essentially after a first, saying that the
U.S. needs to exit within the next two weeks, by May 1st, as originally specified.
The second tweet goes on to say, if the agreement is breached and foreign forces fail to exit our country on the specified date, problems will
certainly be compounded and those who fail to comply with the agreement will be held liable.
Now it's not quite clear what they mean by that and, obviously, within the context of this, over the past years of the peace talks, Taliban have
talked very loud but still gone to the negotiating table.
We had a snapshot of exactly what life under them looks like in a town you may have heard of before, Musa Qala, where many NATO lives and Afghanistan
lives have been lost. Here's what a number of years of exclusive Taliban control looks like.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH (voice-over): If America is leaving Afghanistan, after nearly two decades of blood and treasure lost, what world does the U.S. leave behind
for ordinary Afghans?
Taliban stronghold Musa Qala is where many American and British soldiers died. Now it's a snapshot of how the Taliban will run Afghanistan as they
gain power. We asked six men living there, two on camera anonymously in safety, what it's like.
In short, bleak for women, a few smartphones but, for all, Taliban justice and Taliban taxes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There are consequences. If you don't pay, they beat you or imprison you.
[08:05:00]
WALSH (voice-over): A broadly medieval society then, considering all the billions spent. Except just recently with the odd smartphone allowed.
That's how we got pictures of the streets. Taliban roam the market U.S. Marines once patrolled 10 years ago.
The Americans were based here, a location you can see on the satellite images not far from the empty shop where the Taliban have their temporary
courts, which they call the room, dispensing swift, brutal justice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Punishments depend on what they want. If the plaintiff gives a murder, the court might not give a sentence.
But if it's demanded they may, for example.
Around four years back, three people were hanged to death from the electricity pole on the road out of town for people to see. They had been
arrested a few times for robbery but they did not stop.
WALSH (voice-over): This footage from a drive around town heads out to the refugee camps by the river, from where U.S. Marines used to get shot at.
And it's clear few women are allowed on the streets.
They still don't go to school. Nobody even dares ask about that, we're told. But most men we asked said women had it good. This is what they
meant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They are not allowed to do business outside their house. When they go out, they need to dress
according to sharia law. So for them, it's more important to take care of their homes than working outside.
WALSH (voice-over): Women can also get a rough justice in this backward world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): One woman pleaded guilty for adultery and she has been in prison for the last five years now. No one
knows what will happen to her in the end. The man caught with her was killed by his in-laws for bringing shame to his marriage.
WALSH (voice-over): Fighting is rare here now and the Americans must just watch from jets or drones above.
WALSH: In fact, we were told the Taliban only allowed some smartphones in Musa Qala because peace talks meant that U.S. airstrikes there had slowed
down. The Americans had been using smartphones to track Taliban fighters.
WALSH (voice-over): Taliban rule in these streets, means they set taxes from opium harvests or shops, we were told, or ask for bread or clothes for
their fighters when in need. But some said feuds between Taliban groups mean people can pay more than once.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Many people have been taken to the Taliban room, locked up for a night or two or have been beaten up. There
are different groups of Taliban. It would be better to have a single official getting tax. But every group tries to take tax for their own
pockets. That's one problem for people now.
WALSH (voice-over): Life then goes on, much as it did much before the Taliban were removed from power after 9/11. It's just a lot of Americans
and Afghans lost in the battle in between.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH: I will say, Taliban control, really, no hopes they have moderated or become a light version of their traditional isn't really going to
happen. The key question, Becky, going forward, are the Istanbul peace talks. Everyone can make all the noises they like about immediate
withdrawing.
But when it comes to that moment, is the Taliban willing to sit down?
There are many who say they do need some sort of international legitimacy, possibly in a transitional government like the Americans are suggesting, in
order to keep international aid coming in.
If you run the country like they wish to, you need to make sure you can feed it and keep the lights on. That's already a struggle for the current
Afghan government.
ANDERSON: Nick, I want to rewind to some of your reporting from the country 10 years ago, when you were at a military outpost inside Taliban
controlled territory. Stand by.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALSH: After days of nothing, the insurgents have finally amassed around the compound, getting attacked from all sides.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, hustle up. Grab it and get ready.
WALSH (voice-over): They use mortars first, aiming for Taliban, dug into the hills. But the incoming fire is very accurate here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go, go, go, go.
WALSH (voice-over): They arrange cover from heavy machine guns.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grab the rounds and soon as they go cyclic, grab them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what (INAUDIBLE)?
WALSH (voice-over): But the bullets are too close.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: A reminder of just some of your reporting over the years.
This is not a conditions-based withdrawal. The Taliban know when the U.S. will be out of the country.
What do the next few months between now and September look like?
[08:10:00]
WALSH: Yes, it's essential that the Istanbul peace talks really happen for the process, as the Biden administration view it, to keep moving. They say
it's not condition-based but they said they might leave earlier if the conditions were right.
I'm sort of paraphrasing there. There was a judgment about how well this goes being made in their minds. Remember, in the past, the Trump
administration said they clearly wanted out and America is still here. So it's more complicated than just the statements we have necessarily been
hearing.
But Joe Biden has always thought a long-term U.S. investment here was a bad idea, back when Barack Obama committed to the surge back in 2009 and '10 or
so. So certainly this has been his long-term ambition. And the remaining long-term observers says America has tried everything here and it hasn't
worked.
They're going to try the one thing they haven't done, which is leave. The question is whether the Taliban feel they have the upper hand so
conveniently and so convincingly that they can simply look at the fighting season in the months ahead as the time to make good on their gains.
That U.S. airpower won't be enough to hold them back, that the Afghan government here is losing its main ally, the Americans, who seem
increasingly frustrated about their different view of how the peace process should work. This is when the Taliban start to make good on their gains.
They have a lot of competing fractions who want different things, young, old, many different parts of this, which now sprawl into criminality, into
different parts of extremism, too. So it's not an easy task to bring all those different groups into one fold and think about running the country.
And possibly harder, too, if they're busy at the negotiating table with the Americans, the people they have sworn to fight. But still at the same time,
the other road for the Taliban, of going ahead and ignoring the American timetable and requests, is equally problematic, because Joe Biden could
change his mind.
It doesn't look like it. It does look like we're in the last months of the American presence there. But that is not the end of the war, just the
beginning of likely a new phase -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Nick Paton Walsh on the ground for you in Kabul today. Thank you.
Why some are calling Joe Biden's decision to withdraw a, quote, "major mistake." That on the latest news and analysis on Afghanistan on cnn.com.
Right. President Biden wants a summit with his Russian counterpart in the next few months. He called Vladimir Putin on Tuesday and proposed a face-
to-face meeting in a third country.
The White House says they talked about security issues as well as Moscow's military buildup on its border with Ukraine and in Crimea. Russia has been
amassing troops there in recent weeks. We recently brought you a look at the front lines in Ukraine. CNN's Matthew Chance joined Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky on a tour of the Donbas region. Here's a part of that reporting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, we have entered this warren of trenches that have been dug along the front line. I
tell you, I mean, it's like being thrown back to the early 20th century and the Great War because I have not seen anything like this in modern warfare.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: International diplomatic editor Nic Robertson joining us with more on what is being described as this power play.
Nic, what came of the meeting today?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: NATO, we heard a discussion, a lot about Afghanistan but specifically, on the issue of
Ukraine, that was a topic of conversation, key to many NATO members.
And the U.S. secretary of state, Antony Blinken, gave a sense of it. But I think what's interesting, when you listen to what he has to say here, he
doesn't get into specific detail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLINKEN: As he said, we'll also discuss the concerns shared across the alliance and among allies about Russia's actions in and near Ukraine,
particularly the significant amassing of forces, the largest since 2014.
And we'll talk about the future of our alliance. This, too, is a very important year for NATO, the work of the secretary-general, his leadership,
in setting out a vision for NATO 2030.
And a strong agenda to make sure that NATO remains strong, effective and united going forward is vitally important and we very much look forward to
working on that. So a lot to discuss, a lot to talk about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: So I think when you compare that with what the NATO secretary- general Jens Stoltenberg said a couple days ago, that the Russia troop buildup was unjustified, that essentially it didn't make sense, was
unexplained.
[08:15:00]
ROBERTSON: And previous statements from U.S. officials saying that it really was destabilizing the situation. I think if you compare that with
what Secretary Blinken said today, it's a slight change in moderation, in tone.
And I think in parallel, listen to what the Kremlin has been saying today, Dmitry Peskov saying that the Kremlin will look at this offer from
President Biden to President Putin for a summit in a third country. They'll examine it.
He went on to say that would be done through, as the two presidents discuss, through diplomatic channels.
What's happened in Moscow today?
The U.S. ambassador has been called in to meet with one of the Kremlin's chief foreign policy advisers. That's a diplomatic channel.
Are they talking about what may be discussed at the summit?
It certainly creates that sort of change, dialing back in tone a little bit from Secretary Blinken. And this apparent ongoing conversation between
Moscow and Washington gives the impression that there's potentially a diplomatic off-ramp being built here at the moment.
But it certainly, we're not seeing any off-ramp for troops exiting, Russian troops exiting the border region.
ANDERSON: Some remarkable reporting from our colleague, Matthew Chance, on that. Nic, thank you.
We will have more on what is going on in Russia but also what is going on with regard to the U.S. troop withdrawal later in the show. CNN's chief
international anchor, Christiane Amanpour, joins me to talk about her long history of reporting from the country.
South Africa joins the U.S. in a temporary pause of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine rollout. We're live in Johannesburg on why this is
particularly significant for South Africa right now.
And if you are concerned about vaccines, stay with us as we speak to a leading doctor at the World Health Organization for Europe.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ANDERSON: Right now the European Union is waiting on urgent clarification from Johnson & Johnson as it reviews rare blood clot cases linked to its
COVID vaccine. An E.U. official says the decision to delay deliveries was completely unexpected. A total of 200 million doses are in question now.
The CDC and FDA in the States are calling for a suspension in America, as South Africa slams its brakes on temporarily as well. It's been banking
heavily on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after the AstraZeneca jab was shown to be less effective against mild and moderate cases of the COVID
strain that was discovered there.
David McKenzie is on the story for us from Johannesburg.
There are those that are suggesting that South Africa just can't get a break.
[08:20:00]
ANDERSON: First, the AstraZeneca vaccine proving ineffective against the variant or that's what some research suggested. They were relying on J&J to
fill the hole and now this.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly, it's bad news; hopefully just a temporary pause. But you're right, Becky. There is a sense
of throwing up your hands in this country. You know, there was criticism; the authorities didn't order vaccines fast enough.
Then they brought in a million AstraZeneca vaccines with much fanfare. And that was shown to be ineffective against the strain discovered here, as you
say. And now this, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, taking the cue from the FDA in the U.S. to pause the rollout at this stage, a large trial rollout
of this vaccine.
And it's all really playing into the fact that the population here in South Africa is a bit jaded by the vaccine rollout, as well as some people
questioning whether they want a vaccine altogether. But hopefully it is just a couple of days' pause -- Becky.
ANDERSON: As you understand it, South Africa remains committed to this Johnson & Johnson vaccine, correct?
MCKENZIE: Well, that's right. You know, they have said that they have ordered more than 30 million Johnson & Johnson vaccines. And they are
sticking with that. In fact, it's nonrefundable.
They believe the rare nature of the blood clot, the fact that, in more than a quarter million vaccines distributed here, they haven't seen that issue
here in the South African population.
And think about this vaccine in general. It can be stored at a higher temperature. It's only one dose of the vaccine that is needed, which really
helped with logistical challenges.
And it's not just South Africa. It's countries across the continent banking on this. Whereas the U.S. and the White House has said, pausing this
doesn't have any meaningful effect in reaching their goals, it has a massive effect if this pause would be substantially extended here in South
Africa, because this really and the Pfizer vaccine are their two vaccines that they're hoping to eventually get to the whole population. Becky.
ANDERSON: David McKenzie on the story. Thank you.
Joining me, Dr. Siddhartha Datta, who is regional adviser for vaccine preventable diseases and immunization programs for the World Health
Organization. He's in the regional office for Europe and he joins us now.
First question to you. Is this a responsible decision by the FDA, the CDC, possibly by the Europeans going forward and indeed the South Africans to
pause this Johnson & Johnson vaccine?
After all, people think whatever happens after a vaccination is caused by the vaccination and that, sir, is simply not true, is it?
DR. SIDDHARTHA DATTA, WHO EUROPE: Yes, thank you so much for that question. So let me try to answer your question in two parts.
First, we see several examples in the European region where I'm talking to you from, 172 million doses have been administered. This clearly shows that
the population at large is willing to receive this vaccine and they're being benefited from the vaccine.
The second part is we take safety as one of our priorities. And that should remain a priority. Any safety signal, any adverse event reports that are
reported from any of the countries need to be investigated, need to be reported.
And this transparency in sharing this information with the population is extremely critical. And these are all early (INAUDIBLE) after the vaccine
rollout and this is not the end.
When we roll out the vaccines to the wider population groups, these incidents, for example (INAUDIBLE) because they are investigating these
cases and they will let them know, the population, what are the results of these. This will play an immense role in enhancing the trust of the system
and the vaccine to the population group.
ANDERSON: Europe has had a slow rollout at best, let's call it that and let's be generous. Others calling it an unmitigated disaster. European
officials do say they intend to vaccinate 70 percent of the E.U.'s adult population -- that's 255 million people -- by the end of the summer.
I wonder just how realistic you believe that will be, given these new problems that could surely jeopardize that goal.
DATTA: Yes, thank you. So I think one thing we all need to understand -- and I'm sure we all know about it -- in the recent history, we haven't done
the scale of vaccination that we all have committed to. The efforts made by each and every member state is applaudable.
[08:25:00]
DATTA: However, the issues that we have seen with production, distribution of vaccines, are playing a role in the rollout. But I think it's much
beyond the production issues, much beyond the issues of distribution.
Each and every country has got its own immunization system, health system, delivery and they will differ. We all have to also agree that we are not
fighting a battle between the countries in terms of who reaches their goal first. It's a matter of collectively waging a war against a virus.
Like I said, because the systems vary, service modality will vary. We take the goal that has been put together by the European Union member states, to
reach coverage of 70 percent, it's extremely important that all of these issues, what are the drivers and barriers to reaching a smart rollout in
vaccines, needs to be looked into very closely at a community level and then devise a solution by the country.
ANDERSON: Getting 70 percent of the adult population vaccinated by the summer means effectively putting aside what we know to be a continent which
is very vaccine hesitant. It is in the midst of a third wave at present, of course. Polling by YouGov in March found following the temporary suspension
of AstraZeneca across the continent, Europeans surveyed now view that as unsafe.
Do you think the news about Johnson & Johnson being paused will increase vaccine hesitancy, which is so strong anyway in Europe?
DATTA: Yes, so if we look back into the routine immunization vaccine delivery in the WHO European region, we have seen similar patterns of
vaccine hesitancy or perception of the population, if I can put it that way, on the concern of a vaccine.
We sincerely feel that these concern or the perception that the population, that these polls are showing, are quite natural. This should be seen as a
health seeking behavior of the population for their informed decision making.
The transparency in sharing information and the trust that they would have in the system will play a big role. These types of pauses that we have seen
can dent the effort made by the government in ensuring a smooth rollout and also for the population to come forward.
But it's also important that any such type of safety events are let known to the population, investigated and then they are shared this information
because, as I have said to you, these are critical elements to instilling trust in the population groups with the recipients.
ANDERSON: We'll leave it there. We thank you very much indeed for joining us.
Coming up on this show, the U.S. intelligence community issues a gloomy report on Afghanistan, pointing out the potential dangers if U.S. troops
leave the country. We are live in Washington, D.C., as Joe Biden is set to announce the withdrawal of all U.S. troops by September the 11th.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:30:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ANDERSON: Several hours from now, U.S. President Joe Biden is set to announce all remaining U.S. troops will be out of Afghanistan by September
11th this year, putting an end to America's longest war.
The plan was revealed on Tuesday, the same day that U.S. intelligence issued a report raising some serious concerns over U.S. and coalition
forces pulling out of the country. Let's get to Alex Marquardt, who is live in Washington, D.C.
Walk us through this report.
What are the main takeaways here?
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, what's remarkable is not just how pessimistic the U.S. intelligence
community is about the prospects of a peace deal between the Afghan government and the Taliban, which the U.S. continues to support, it's
really the timing.
The intelligence report came out yesterday, the same day the White House announced the U.S. would be pulling out of Afghanistan by September 11th.
And it says that, without coalition support, that the Afghan government will struggle against the Taliban.
Now this is no small report. It is a major annual report that details what the U.S. intelligence community sees as the major threats around the world
for the coming year and beyond.
And in it, it writes about Afghanistan, "We assess that prospects for a peace deal will remain low during the next year. The Taliban is likely to
make gains on the battlefield and the Afghan government will struggle to hold the Taliban at bay if the coalition withdraws support."
Becky, that is exactly what the U.S. is doing. The U.S. is going to withdraw its support on September 11th -- by September 11th, I should say.
The U.S., of course, is the backbone of the NATO coalition and NATO is expected to follow suit.
This intelligence report goes on to say that the Taliban is confident that it can achieve its military goals, that Afghan forces are largely in a
defensive position. They have struggled to hold on to recaptured territory.
So this paints a very bleak picture for the prospects of the Afghan government, Becky. The intelligence report also goes on to say that, as the
U.S. is announcing its withdrawal from Afghanistan, Iran is looking to take advantage and make gains in Afghanistan, essentially hedging its bets,
playing both sides and looking to get in with both the Afghan government and the Taliban, so that it's ready to take advantage for whichever
political outcome -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Alex Marquardt is on that report out of Washington. Alex, that's really valuable. Thank you.
Wars in Afghanistan date back to the Soviet invasion of '79. Christiane Amanpour has covered the conflicts for decades. Here's a clip of her
reporting of her covering Afghanistan in 1996.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to tell them to stop the war and they kill their brothers. They fight with each other. It's not good way.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN HOST (voice-over): That kind of despair is slowly sapping Kabul's strength. The government says the U.S. has a moral
obligation to reengage but its embassy remains firmly shut.
U.S. involvement amounts to backing a defunct U.N. peace mission.
AMANPOUR: The U.N. has been trying without success for the last two years to get warring factions to form a national authority just to kick off the
political process. But increasingly, many fear nothing will change unless the major powers weigh in on the side of peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, that was then. This is now. Christiane, our chief international anchor joining me from London.
Good to have you. I spoke to the NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg a couple of weeks back. Have a listen to what he told me about the potential
for U.S. troops withdrawing from Afghanistan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: If we leave too early, then, of course, we risk that we lose all the gains we have made over the last
years, especially in preventing Afghanistan being a safe haven for international terrorists but also the social and economic progress we have
helped to facilitate in Afghanistan, especially for women. So that's the risk if we leave.
[08:35:00]
STOLTENBERG: The risk if we stay is that, of course, we will then risk to see more violence against NATO troops. We may risk to be then involved in
even long-term or even longer-term military involvement in a difficult operation of Afghanistan. So this is a real and difficult dilemma, no easy
solution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: "No easy solution," voicing some serious concern about the withdrawal of U.S. and other NATO troops. And you heard Alex Marquardt's
reporting on a very gloomy prospects for the Afghan government going forward, should the U.S. troops withdrawal.
What is your sense of what is likely to happen next?
AMANPOUR: Already, the Taliban have telegraphed exactly what is going to happen next. Within hours of this news that the U.S. will be pulling out --
and by the way, NATO as well, so that's all of the foreign troops out of Afghanistan by September 11th.
They have said that, if they don't come out quicker, there's going to be trouble. As you know, the Biden administration has decided not to go out on
May 1st, which was something the Trump administration had agreed to.
But that actually was conditions-based. It was based on the Taliban agreeing to a deal called the Doha agreement. As we know, they haven't.
They have not kept any of the commitments that were required of them for the peace deal and for the U.S. and other forces to leave.
So now they're threatening violence even before the U.S. pulls out, which bodes very badly for what might happen when the U.S. finally does pull out.
ANDERSON: The Taliban would find it very difficult, even if they controlled the entire country, to turn the clock back completely to the
1990s, when the movement imposed its very extreme interpretation of Islam on Afghanistan.
Although the country is still very poor and underdeveloped in areas, Afghans are more globally and regionally connected.
And many would say, it's fair to say, that the Taliban 2.0, as it were, recognizes that, correct?
AMANPOUR: I don't think correct, actually. I think that's wishful thinking and that's certainly what's been briefed, that the Taliban would not want
to go back to being an international pariah, as they were in that first clip that you played, when I was there in 1996.
That was when the Taliban were in full control of Afghanistan and, by the way, as they were providing the ground for Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda to
prepare their anti-American, anti-Western terror organization, which then culminated in the 9/11 attack.
At the time, there were very strong pro-American forces on the ground, local forces, basically the successors of the mujahidin. But then he was
assassinated by the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
So I think they're already suggesting that, you know, they say that, you know, that people will have their human rights in Afghanistan. But nobody's
sure about that. And most certainly, the women aren't sure.
This is what the president of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, the U.S.-backed elected president of Afghanistan, told me about a U.S. withdrawal not so
long ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHRAF GHANI, AFGHANISTAN PRESIDENT: One thing needs to be clear. Afghan society is not willing to go back and we're not the type of society that
the Taliban-type approach of the past can be imposed on us.
That was the piece of the graveyard. We want a positive piece, where all of us together overcome our past, embrace each other and together build --
rebuild an Afghanistan that can be what I call a roundabout, where all civilizations, all people, all activities can interact.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: Well, that, of course, Becky, is wishful thinking. That would be a perfect situation if, in fact, that could be achieved. Of course, the
U.S. and others have tried to achieve that.
The Taliban are recalcitrant. That's a diplomatic word. They have not kept their agreements. They have been battling the Afghan government, even under
this interim period, where the negotiations are meant to be carrying on, the so-called Doha agreement.
And the sources in the United States who brief me, those familiar with the president's thinking, admit that the Taliban aren't even willing to come to
the next proposed summit, which is going to be in Istanbul, to try to get all of the players, all of the actors and their backers, together, to see
if they can actually get a workable peace agreement so the United States and NATO can leave, end this longest war in a state of security. That is
absolutely not obvious and not the case right now.
ANDERSON: And certainly, the reporting from Alex Marquardt suggests that U.S. intelligence, the U.S. intelligence community agrees with that
assessment.
[08:40:00]
ANDERSON: Nevertheless, it is, according to Biden's sources, time to close the book on America's longest war.
The reasons the U.S. went into Afghanistan, Christiane, over two decades ago, have not been fully addressed since. Neither would this withdrawal
eliminate the original threat of violence since America's arrival.
What's the path forward for America in Afghanistan?
I know what we are saying is, you know, troops are out by September.
Is there any room for maneuver here?
What's the future?
AMANPOUR: Well, look, up until now, for the last 20 years of an admittedly difficult and expensive international coalition led by the United States,
with NATO forces in Afghanistan -- and lots of gains have been made.
Let us not forget the good news, women's rights, human rights, education, health. Many, many issues have become so much better for so many people.
But we still have the Taliban going out and about, terrorizing the neighborhoods, terrorizing the countryside, winning to reign. What the U.S.
did was go in to try to get rid of the Al Qaeda capacity to launch attacks against the United States.
What I have been told by those familiar with the president's thinking is the U.S. intelligence no longer believes that that kind of capacity can be
easily mounted to attack the homeland. So that's what they're saying in public, despite what the intelligence assessment has said.
You will hear U.S. intelligence, the CIA director and the head of National Intelligence talk about how the threat to the United States has become more
diffuse and how the United States cannot afford to overresource in just one country, i.e. Afghanistan. That's what they hope. That is what they're
going to say.
But up until now, the rationale for withdrawing from Afghanistan was always going to be conditioned based, i.e., it was safe to withdraw without any
further threat to the United States or to allies in the region or to the elected government there.
This is what, though, many elected officials in the United States are feeling right now. Many agree with what President Biden is doing and they
state and they quote opinion polls about wanting this war to end. This is what Senator Chris Coons, a close confidant of the president, he travels
internationally for the president, this is what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): A decades' long war to build a successful independent democratic republic and to help ensure their security is an
effort that I have concluded would have no reasonable end in the next 5-10 years.
So for those who say we should stay, we should stay for another year or another two, they have to look clearly at just how much we have invested
over the last 20 years and just how much the world has changed in those 20 years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: Bottom line, the U.S. no longer believes its troops are, quote, "a game changer" in Afghanistan and as Senator Chris Coons said, it's no
longer Afghanistan or the Middle East for the United States. It is China.
And as they told me, China would like nothing more than to see the U.S. bog down, fighting over every last hill in Kandahar -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes. Christiane, thank you for that. A lot more analysis by Christiane at cnn.com. So do use the digital site there. Appreciate it.
Taliban, not much has changed in decades. Our chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward spent 36 hours with the Taliban two years ago.
I want to show you a bit of her reporting and how they felt about having a woman there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As we're leaving the interview, the military commander for the district
arrives. And a dispute breaks out about us.
"They should have brought a man," one of them says.
WARD: So the issue right now is that they don't want us to walk outside because I'm a woman. They think it's inappropriate.
WARD (voice-over): We agreed to follow the men at a distance, something I have never had to do in my career.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: You can see Clarissa's full report from 2019 on the website.
The U.S., meanwhile, aiming to avoid more conflict with China. But Beijing's move to send 2 dozen warplanes to Taiwan has inflamed tensions
there. We'll show you what experts say Beijing is really trying to prove to the United States.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:45:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ANDERSON: A new U.S. intel report warning of growing intelligence threats posed by Russia and by China. Washington's annual Threat Assessment Report
confirmed Moscow's influence operations targeting the 2020 U.S. election, also said Beijing, quote, "China considered but did not deploy influence
efforts intended to change the outcome of the U.S. presidential election."
If that report doesn't inflame U.S.-China relations, this might. U.S. President Joe Biden sending an unofficial delegation to Taiwan this week. A
senior administration official says the trip is meant to show support for Taiwan's democracy and they're set to meet with senior Taiwanese officials.
The announcement comes a day after China sent 25 warplanes into the island's air defense identification zone. David Culver has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): China is flexing its military might, releasing through state media a flood of dramatic video
clips like these. They show Chinese naval exercises that U.S. officials say are aimed to intimidate the people of Taiwan.
BLINKEN: And what is of real concern to us is increasingly aggressive actions by the government in Beijing directed at Taiwan.
CULVER (voice-over): Under the one China policy the People's Republic of China and its ruling Communist Party, consider Taiwan to be part of its
sovereign territory.
President Xi Jinping has vowed to never allow the self-governed democracy to become formally independent and he will not rule out the use of force,
if necessary, to take the island back.
CAPT. CARL SCHUSTER, U.S. NAVY (RET): He's also signaling to the United States we can prevent you from helping Taiwan.
In recent months, the People's Liberation's Army-Navy showcasing its capabilities just off Taiwan's eastern coast. Military experts say that is
a pointed effort to demonstrate that China can cut the island off from U.S. military support.
Above, near daily occurrences of multiple PLA aircraft entering Taiwan's air defense zone from the West, a coordinated move that is alarming to some
experts. It has sparked strong words from Taiwan's foreign minister.
JOSEPH WU, FOREIGN MINISTER OF TAIWAN: We are willing to defend ourselves and it's without any question. And we will fight the war if we need to
fight the war.
CULVER: Taiwan's military is no comparison to China's; where the PLA boast more than a million soldiers, Taiwan only has 140,000 troops. China has got
roughly 100 intercontinental ballistic missiles and more than 200 nuclear warheads. Taiwan has neither. That is why the island is so heavily reliant
on allies, most especially the U.S.
BLINKEN: And, we have a commitment to Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act to make sure that Taiwan has the ability to defend itself.
CULVER: But Biden administration officials stopped short of guaranteeing U.S. military intervention should Beijing make a move on Taiwan. Instead,
the U.S. has been using its Pacific fleet to showcase its own strength.
This photo from last week showing a Navy-guided missile destroyer's commanding officers sitting, feet propped up, as one of China's two
aircraft carriers sail by. And while the PLA has focused its exercises to Taiwan's east, the USS John McCain cruised to the west of the island last
week.
The guided missile destroyer passing through the Taiwan Strait, right between the mainland and Taiwan. In response, Chinese officials said the
U.S. was stirring up trouble.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: U.S. military leaders believe a Chinese attack on Taiwan could be just years away.
[08:50:00]
ADM. PHILIP DAVIDSON, COMMANDER, U.S. INDO-PACIFIC COMMAND: I think the threat is manifest during this decade; in fact, in the next six years.
ADM. JOHN AQUILINO, COMMANDER, U.S. PACIFIC FLEET: My opinion is this problem is much closer to us than most think.
CULVER: The Biden administration facing mounting pressure on the matter as tensions at sea rise. But some analysts believe much of what we're seeing
is unnecessary hype.
BONNIE GLASER, SENIOR ADVISER FOR ASIA, CSIS: The near term goal is to deter independence. And China has largely achieved that goal. And I don't
believe that the Chinese are likely to use force within the next few years. I think they do not want to pay the price.
CULVER: Whatever the intention, former Navy captain and U.S. intelligence officer Carl Schuster (ph) says China's messaging is clearly directed to a
specific audience.
SCHUSTER: They want the American people and the American government to see the cost of helping Taiwan as exceeding the benefits.
CULVER: You well know, Captain, you're going to have Americans who will look at this and they'll say, why should Americans be involved in anything
over there?
Why should they care what's happening with Taiwan?
To that you would say?
SCHUSTER: If we won't defend a 70-year partner from a violent aggression, then other countries will look at it and believe we either are not capable
or not willing to sacrifice anything for them.
CULVER (voice-over): David Culver, CNN, Shanghai.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Washington also sending its climate envoy, John Kerry, to China this week. Two U.S. administration officials tell CNN, Kerry is heading up
talks in Shanghai on potential joint efforts on climate change, one of President Biden's foreign policy priorities.
And John Kerry has said he hopes he can work with China on this. This is a first time a Biden administration official is visiting China, a first face-
to-face meeting since a very tense meeting in Alaska last month, when the U.S. called out China's actions on Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
I met up with John Kerry when he was in Abu Dhabi here last week. And later he spoke with me from New Delhi, where he met with Indian officials and
NGOs in an effort to drum up support for climate action. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KERRY, U.S. SPECIAL PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY FOR CLIMATE: In the case of China, which is 30 percent of all of the emissions on the planet, if we
don't see a reduction between 2020 and 2030, we lose the capacity to hold on to 1.5 degrees. We lose the capacity to hit 2050 net zero.
I don't think anybody wants to carry that weight or see that happen. So we have to, all of us, do this at the same time. The tragedy, I mean, Mother
Earth doesn't measure which country is putting it up there. Nor does Mother Earth measure when somebody began to develop.
What we get is a collective amount of the emissions that are in the atmosphere. That's what creates the damage. So we need each other. Every
nation must work together on this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: This is John Kerry on climate change and China.
Coming up, Iran planning to boost its nuclear capabilities even as it's set to begin negotiations with the E.U. later this week. We'll have a live
report on that up next.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ANDERSON: It looked like another ordinary night in Florida on Tuesday. But then, look at this.
[08:55:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON (voice-over): You're watching a meteor hurtle through the sky and then burst into a blinding flash of light as it gets torn apart in the
Earth's atmosphere. The incredible cosmic light show caught by this security camera.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: It was so bright, you couldn't just see it in Florida but in the Bahamas, too. Just look at that thing go. It must be pretty scary to see in
real life but it does make for a brilliant show.
Iran's president says his country ramped up uranium enrichment in direct response to what was a mysterious blackout at a key nuclear facility this
week. Iran will increases its uranium enrichment to 60 percent but President Hassan Rouhani says they have no intention of building a nuclear
weapon.
This comes as nuclear talks between Iran and the European Union have been delayed by a day in Vienna due to a positive COVID-19 case on one of the
negotiating teams. Fred Pleitgen joins me from Berlin.
You were in Vienna last week.
What do you make of where things are at, at this point?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They certainly seem to be quite difficult. I think right now all of the parties that are
negotiating there in Vienna, including the United States and the countries still within the Iran nuclear agreement, including Iran and then, of
course, the European nations as well as Russia and China, they still want to see this through.
Right now, it certainly does seem as though, especially after the incident in Natanz, things are getting a lot more difficult. You mentioned the fact
that Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, he came out earlier today and said Iran is going to start now enriching uranium up to 60 percent, purity
grade, in direct response to that incident that happened at the Natanz reactor.
We had reaction from the United States last night. The spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, for the White House, came out and condemned the move by the Iranians
and said it called into question Iran's sincerity when going to the negotiations in Vienna and whether or not they're negotiating in good
faith.
The U.S. also called on their partners that are still part of the nuclear agreement, Germany, the U.K. and France, to condemn Iran's upping of the
purity grade of its uranium enrichment. And they did so.
Just a couple minutes before we went to air, there was a statement put down, a joint statement by these three nations, where they also condemned
this and also said this is something that could be detrimental to those negotiations.
Now having said that, it certainly does appear as though the parties that are negotiating there in Vienna want to continue that. You did mention that
apparent positive COVID analysis there. That obviously brought things back a little bit.
But on the whole, the United States and Iran both still say that they want to make all of this work and want to salvage the agreement -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Fred Pleitgen is in Berlin for you.
I'm in Abu Dhabi. Thank you for watching. I'll be back with another edition of CONNECT THE WORLD in an hour's time. First up, "FIRST MOVE" with my
colleague, Julia Chatterley.
[09:00:00]
END
