Return to Transcripts main page
Connect the World
Taliban Out in Force after Announcing Protest Ban; U.S. Defense Secretary's Visit to Saudi Arabia Postponed; NATO Says almost 2,000 Personnel Evacuated from Afghanistan; Interview with Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, on the "Difficult Decision" to Leave Afghanistan; Australia to Offer Pfizer Vaccine to Kids 12-15; Afghan Footballer on Life under the Taliban; Emma Raducanu Turning Heads at U.S. Open. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired September 09, 2021 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Going home: 200 passengers, including U.S. citizens, flying out of Kabul airport, the first commercial
flight since American troops left Afghanistan.
The NATO secretary-general is adamant: the world still has leverage with the Taliban; economic leverage, that is but concedes it will be more
difficult to identify threats from the region going forward.
And?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm very keen on our students to take up the vaccination as and when they get the opportunity.
ANDERSON (voice-over): As Australian schools plan to reopen, they are encouraging vaccines as the way to keep educating kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ANDERSON: It's 6:00 pm in Abu Dhabi, home to CONNECT THE WORLD. Hello and welcome. I'm Becky Anderson.
We begin with the first commercial flight out of Kabul airport since the Taliban took over. A flight to Doha taking off just a short time ago. It's
carrying around 200 people, including Americans. Qatar, of course, key in getting the airport back up and running.
On the ground, the Taliban making their presence known a day after banning protests that they don't approve beforehand.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON (voice-over): We saw these images yesterday of a brutal crackdown against women protesting in Kabul.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: I want to warn you, the next picture that I will show you is difficult to look at. But we think it is important to show the reality on
the ground.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: So these two journalists were detained for covering those protests. Here's what they looked like after a few hours in Taliban
custody, absolutely gruesome images.
And here is a sign of the times. Posters of the commander who fought the Taliban the first time around are being defaced and torn down. Ahmad Shah
Massoud was assassinated 20 years ago today but continues to be a symbol for the resistance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: I want to bring in journalist Vladimir Banic from the Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
And you are on the ground. Just describe what you are seeing and hearing.
VLADIMIR BANIC, JOURNALIST: Yes, well, you have to meet Taliban first. And the first thing that I did when I entered the country and (INAUDIBLE)
later, Mazar-i-Sharif was to meet the spokesperson, the media guy, because the new future all the journalists is that you have to obtain permission to
film.
When I saw there is a calm approach to journalists, and I hope it is going to be the same when we start to report about riots, protests and possibly
report about stranded Americans currently here in Mazar-i-Sharif, around 200 of them.
But the meeting was pleasant, nice, fair. And I really hope it is going to be like that in the future, in our future, reporting from here. You don't
need to go there to see the Taliban; they are all over the city. So I'm in front of the Blue Mosque, a very famous building here in Mazar-i-Sharif.
And all these foreign (INAUDIBLE) like the one that you see behind me, are guarded by Taliban. So that's the new reality here. You have men with long
hair, long beard and long barrels, patrolling the city in SUVs, in American Humvees.
But I would remind you that they are the only security forces here since the police doesn't exist anymore, apart from traffic police. And the
military, of course, doesn't exist any more. Becky.
ANDERSON: This is a symbolic day, the 20th anniversary of the assassination of Ahmad Shah Massoud. He continues to be a symbol for the
resistance.
Is there, do you feel, a sense of occasion today at all?
BANIC: Not really, not really. People that I was talking to say nothing really changed after Taliban took power and there was a switch in the power
regime here in Afghanistan. The only thing that changed is when the new flea market, not far away from the place where I am, where the people are
selling all of their property.
So their blankets, their pillows, their children's bicycles to get money to leave Afghanistan. These are the people who are not OK with this shift of
power.
[10:05:00]
BANIC: The rest is more or less the same, just you see lots of Taliban on the streets, not in the mountains anymore. Music is not forbidden but I
didn't hear any kind of music while I was here. And I'm probably the only guy wearing jeans because many other people started to wear traditional
Afghanistan clothes after Taliban took power -- Becky?
ANDERSON: A sense of the atmosphere there in Mazar-i-Sharif. Thank you.
Sam Kiley is in Doha in Qatar, where the first flight out of Kabul airport is due to land.
This is a significant announcement, Kabul airport a vital link between Afghanistan and the rest of the world.
What do we know about this reopening and who is on this flight?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that -- well, we think that there are 200 people on this flight. It's a commercial
flight but a charter, Becky. It's not part of any kind of scheduled airline move but a special move put on in addition to a flight by the Qatari
government as part of its effort.
It has been doing this now for nearly a week, to send in aid each day with the hope of persuading the Taliban to allow passengers get on flights
coming back into Doha.
Now there is one in the air, a 777 Boeing, a substantial aircraft. And Qatari engineers on the ground said that 90 percent of what needs to be
done so open the airport fully to commercial airlines has been done.
In other words, the airport is nearly up and running. And so, in many ways, this is kind of a test case, particularly for the Taliban, who are now in
charge of airport security, a very strange position to be in for an organization that used to conduct terrorist attacks, largely through the
Haqqani Network inside Kabul in particular.
Now the interior minister is himself a Haqqani. So they have a number of conundra to sort out for themselves. But it is a very important moment
indeed in terms of the normalization of relationships between Afghanistan and the outside world, particularly between the Taliban and the outside
world.
The Qatari view is the more they see the benefit and success of this relationship, the less likely they are to backslide into a highly medieval
interpretation of sharia law that we saw applied in the late 1990s, Becky.
ANDERSON: Sam Kiley is in Doha for you. Thanks, Sam.
And we have learned the head of U.S. Central Intelligence, the CIA, has visited the region, William Burns was in Pakistan which has traditionally
had close ties, of course, with the Taliban.
He met with the army chief of staff. They talked about Afghanistan, as we understand it, and regional security. The head of ISI, Pakistan's
intelligence operation, was also there.
Meantime, Pakistan has delivered three planeloads of food and medicine to Afghanistan. The foreign ministry says it will send more aid by land.
The U.S. Defense Secretary ending his Middle East tour without a stop in Saudi Arabia. Lloyd Austin saying his planned visit has been postponed due
to scheduling issues, apparently on the Saudi side. We should note this comes just days after Joe Biden signed an executive order to declassify
information that could show Saudi links to the 9/11 attacks.
In Kuwait, Austin saying he doesn't look favorably on the Haqqani Network individuals named for the Taliban's new interim government in Afghanistan.
U.S. security correspondent Kylie Atwood connecting us from the State Department.
I want to talk about the fact that there is a scheduling issue for Lloyd Austin and, therefore, he will not be stopping in Saudi Arabia. But before
we do that, let's step back.
What did we learn ultimately from the trip by Lloyd Austin and Antony Blinken to the region?
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY ANALYST: Well, what we learned is that they are working with our allies in the region, of course, Becky, to get
whatever they can going with regard to working with the Taliban, to focusing specifically, of course, on what has been front and foremost for
the Biden administration, getting out these remaining Americans, getting out any Afghans that they can.
But of course, there have been impediments to this. We heard yesterday secretary of state Tony Blinken said the flights in Mazar were not taking
off because the Taliban were prohibiting them. Then we learned today there is the first commercial flight leaving from Afghanistan, going to Doha. The
Qataris announcing that it is a Qatari Airways flight.
But what is significant about this flight.
[10:10:00]
ATWOOD: As of now it appears that there are only Americans and third-party foreign party internationals on it, no Afghans on it. So that is
significant because the Biden administration has said they'll work to get out Americans and others, including Afghans who are at risk.
As of now, we haven't seen any Afghans leave the flight. I think it's significant that Lloyd Austin isn't going to Saudi Arabia, as you said. The
Pentagon not being very explicit in explaining what the scheduling issue is.
It comes after there is this decision by President Biden to declassify this information around 9/11 and officially the Saudi embassy here in Washington
said they welcome that move.
But clearly behind the scenes it could be a different picture. I think that's something we'll learn a little more about in the coming days, as the
Biden administration has more conversations with the Saudis about really what could be in these documents that are going to be declassified.
ANDERSON: Kylie, always a pleasure. Thank you very much indeed.
The NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg recently said the Taliban must make good in their commitments on terrorism, human rights and safe passage
for those who wish to leave Afghanistan. Well, I spoke to him earlier. I started by asking him how NATO plans to hold the Taliban to account.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: We have communicated that in different ways. Our NATO allies also had some -- I'll call it operational
contact with the Taliban. But they are able to see a clear and unified message from the international community.
We have NATO, NATO allies. We have also the U.N. Security Council sending this message. Of course, the leverage is not the same as it was when we had
military troops on the ground. But we still have leverage, economic, diplomatic, political leverage, on the Taliban. And we'll use that as an
international community to press them on all these issues.
ANDERSON: How will you use that?
Just explain.
STOLTENBERG: Partly by the fact that Afghan assets are frozen. Different development organizations, the World Bank, has made also clear there are
conditions for any assumption of a development corporation and so on.
And also many countries, NATO allies and others, have also expressed clearly that there would be conditions if they're going to have any kind of
political, practical, economic support of the new government in Afghanistan.
So again, we are in no illusion that we have the same power, the same leverage as when you had thousands of troops on the ground. But that
doesn't mean that we have zero leverage. We would use that leverage to continue to press the Taliban rulers --
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: Yes, let's just be clear. The government that was announced by the Taliban was not at all what was promised. It wasn't inclusive. It has
no female representation.
Are you comfortable with that government?
And will you reinstate your support at some point?
STOLTENBERG: No, I'm not comfortable with that government. Actually, it is a big tragedy for the people of Afghanistan. It is heartbreaking for all
those also who have been supporting the Afghans for decades to see Taliban back in Kabul, back in charge of the country.
And the new government is not inclusive. There are many people there who have a very bad track record when it comes to terrorism. And minorities are
not represented; no women. So this is, of course, of concern. But we will judge that government on their words, what they do and not on their actions
-- sorry, on their actions, not on what they say.
ANDERSON: You said NATO would seek to evacuate more vulnerable Afghans.
What's the latest on that?
STOLTENBERG: Well, we have been able to get out most of those people who worked for NATO, close to 2,000. That was part of this broad effort by all
NATO allies and partner nations to bring people out, more than 170,000 people.
NATO played a key role in coordinating those effort; 800 NATO civilian personnel at the airport, providing key services, air traffic control,
refueling and all that stuff. We are still working on getting people out, both people who worked for NATO but also people who worked for NATO allies
and other Afghans.
So in different ways we are working hard to get more people out.
[10:15:00]
ANDERSON: How many are left, to your mind, those that you feel responsible for?
STOLTENBERG: There are still too many left. These numbers varies a bit, partly because there are not only those who work for us as -- when we ended
the military mission but there are also people who worked for us over several years. And then there are family members. And that number is --
varies over time. So we get different reports of --
ANDERSON: Are we talking about hundreds, thousands?
STOLTENBERG: For NATO, we speak about hundreds. But in total, when it comes to people who have worked for NATO and NATO allies, we speak about
thousands. The thing is that we will continue to work hard to get those people out.
And this is not only NATO but all of the reasons why it is important to have these meetings with foreign ministers from NATO allied countries, with
all the countries in the region, with Qatar; a few days ago, with the countries from Central Asia, is to coordinate those efforts to look into
how we can reopen the airport.
Qatar (ph) is playing a key role and Turkey is playing a key role to reopen the airport but also to look into whether we can open up land routes and
get the people out.
ANDERSON: Both Qatar and Turkey, which, of course, is a NATO member, as you rightly point out, involved in trying to get the airport up and running
again. I know you've spoken recently to Qatar's emir.
And what came out of that?
STOLTENBERG: First of all, I praised Qatar and the emir for the very important role they play during the evacuation, helping to get people out
but also to actually receive thousands -- tens of thousands -- that were taken directly from Kabul airport to Qatar.
And then we brought them from there to different places in Europe and the United States. I also thanked the emir for what he has done, being as kind
of -- as going in between, his help, also to have some of the contacts with the Taliban.
And he promised to continue to make sure that Qatar was going to help, both with reopening the airport but also with the political contacts we need to
get the people out. And that is extremely important.
ANDERSON: NATO has pulled out all of its troops from Afghanistan, as has the United States. Of course, and Washington has made it very clear that,
because of that, it will be more difficult to identify and engage threats that emanate from the region.
What is your plan to address that?
And what do you see as the risks going forward?
Just how concerned are you about that lack of intel going forward?
STOLTENBERG: So we went into Afghanistan to fight international terrorism. And for 20 years we were able to prevent any terrorist attack from
Afghanistan against a NATO country. And we degraded Al Qaeda.
These gains have to be preserved partly by holding the new Afghan government responsible on what they have promised, to not again turn
Afghanistan into safe haven for international terrorists.
But also by using the leverage we have and also by being vigilant and monitoring closely. And as we have seen, NATO allies have the capabilities,
especially United States, to strike terrorist groups from long distance over the horizon if that is needed.
One of the issues we are discussing at NATO now is how can NATO step up. How can we do even more in the fight against terrorism. We are part of the
global coalition to defeat daish or ISIS. We have a military presence in Iraq. We trained Iraqi security forces.
And, of course, this all is easier when you have troops on the ground. But there are also risks when you have troops on the ground. And we have proven
we are able to fight terrorism also in countries where we don't have thousands of troops on the ground. And now we have to do that also in
Afghanistan.
ANDERSON: The Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan is being described by many and specifically one commentator I read today, as a massive defeat for the
NATO alliance. Your response.
STOLTENBERG: It was a difficult decision to decide to end our military presence in Afghanistan. And we were clear-eyed about the risks for Taliban
returning.
At the same time, to stay was also a decision that would have entailed risks -- more casualties, more violence, more civilian casualties in
Afghanistan and also the risk of us being forced to increase the number of NATO troops in Afghanistan.
[10:20:00]
STOLTENBERG: It was never the intention to stay in Afghanistan forever and, therefore, NATO allies, after consultations, agreed to end our
mission. The main purpose to prevent Afghanistan from being a safe haven, we have (INAUDIBLE) prevented --
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: But let me put this to you. There are concerns now about the presence of ISIS, the presence of Al Qaeda and then the wider concern about
what the Taliban group and government will be going forward. So I put that to you again.
Is this not a massive defeat for NATO?
After all, it is not clear that threats will not emanate from Afghanistan going forward, is it?
STOLTENBERG: So NATO's main responsibility is to protect and defend 30 allies, a collected defense against any threat from any direction. So we
went into Afghanistan to fight terrorism. We have made significant achievements, degraded Al Qaeda and prevented terrorist attacks from being
organized from Afghanistan.
Afghanistan not being a safe haven for international terrorists, now it is an issue -- or the task is not to preserve that gain and we will do that
partly by putting pressure on the new government in Afghanistan but also by working with partners and allies around the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: My interview with NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg.
And you can help the hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees all internally displaced Afghans by using cnn.com/impact. There a full list of
vetted organizations that are offering assistance. If you have a friend or family member in need of help, there is also information on that. That's
all on the website. Please do use that.
You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. Coming up, you'll meet an Afghan footballer, who escaped the Taliban over a decade ago. Now she is trying to
help women under Taliban rule.
And we return to our in-depth report on education during the COVID-19 pandemic. We'll tell you how New South Wales, Australia, is trying to get
its students back into schools.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ANDERSON: All this week, we are talking about education. Millions upon millions of students around the globe are returning to classrooms. And that
is despite the spread of the Delta variant, despite a lack of vaccines for everyone and despite protests from many parents.
At the same time, there are also very real worries that children will be falling behind in learning and simply won't be able to make up for what
they lost out on during COVID. So far this week, we've talked about the millions of kids going back into classrooms in Mexico and Israel and in the
U.K.
Today, we are focusing on Australia. Scott Morrison's government is trying to give families of children going back to school peace of mind.
[10:25:00]
ANDERSON: It's about to offer the Pfizer vaccine to over a million kids aged 12 to 15. The government says the move is based on expert medical
advice. The minister for education and youth had this to say.
"Keeping kids in school is so important. Not just for education but for their mental health, physical development and to have those critical
interactions with their peers and teachers."
It appears the government is looking at vaccines, not lockdowns, as the key to students returning to normal and taking their end of year exams. Here's
Kristie Lu Stout.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's exam season in Sydney, Australia. Quarters like these should be buzzing with
nervous energy as school levers begin a rite of passage, a suite of tests to determine whether they make their university course of choice.
Instead, the schoolyard is as hushed as an exam hall. Trinity Grammar, locked down since June, just like all of the schools in Australia's biggest
city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we're all pretty jaded by the experience. I think that the experience for boys have been stuck in their houses for this
length of time is weighing on them. And I know that for the teachers, it's wearing on us, too.
STOUT (voice-over): It was the first city-wide lockdown in over a year; until then, a successful elimination strategy had kept all aspects of life,
including school, relatively normal. Now each day brings well over 1,000 new infections. And the whole state of New South Wales is shut, every
school as quiet as this one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have all been caught by surprise. I think we are settling now into an understanding that this will be with us some time to
come. I'm very keen that our students to take up the vaccination as and when they get the opportunity to do so.
STOUT (voice-over): That opportunity is finally presenting itself. After a slow start, Australia's vaccine rollout is picking up pace, soon expanding
to ages 12 to 15, meaning that, even as the virus quickly spreads, the state government can begin to plan.
GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN, PREMIER, NEW SOUTH WALES: Whatever dream they want to pursue, whether it's further education, getting into the work force,
getting their credentials, it's really important, whilst in anybody's life and we want to make sure we provide that certainty.
STOUT (voice-over): Next month some classes will be back in session. Students will get to sit their tests, pushed back to November. But with
cases remaining high, officials hope to stop the spread through vaccinations. The state has made them mandatory for teachers and campus
staff.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am fully vaccinated and I do have the privilege of living in a household that is comfortable and safe. And I know that
situation really can't speak for other students, who might be having a really rough time right now, given the circumstances.
STOUT (voice-over): As recently as August, very few eligible teens were vaccinated. Doses have been redistributed to target young people in working
class neighborhoods of Sydney, where COVID transmission has been at its worst.
Over 15,000 took that chance over one week in August. And now vaccine uptake among the 16 to 19 age group has been increasing across the city.
And students like Sam Hohne, in his final year at Trinity, came to do whatever it takes to reclaim important moments.
SAM HOHNE, STUDENT, TRINITY GRAMMAR SCHOOL: When we had vaccinations, which did seem to be a pretty constructive solution to the issue, it seems
like a bit of a no-brainer to me to want to go for that.
STOUT (voice-over): At least one no-brainer, for a student sitting exams during a global pandemic -- Kristie Lu Stout, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Coming up on our Friday in our back to school special series, we'll be looking at India. Months after a devastating second COVID wave, a
new study there says the country faces the threat of a third one. And the kids are most vulnerable. Yet some states have reopened their schools.
So how is India planning to cope?
We will take a closer look at that tomorrow for you.
From life under the Taliban to life on a European football pitch and then beyond to the States. You'll hear this Afghan footballer's incredible
journey and what she is doing to help women in her home country.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:30:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD, where it is just after half past 6:00.
Australia's cricket board says it will cancel plans to host Afghanistan for an upcoming test match if the Taliban bans women from playing sport. On
Wednesday, one Taliban official said women should not be allowed to play cricket, for example, because it might expose their bodies.
The planned match was against the Afghan men's team in November. The board says cricket is "a sport for all and we support the game the game
unequivocally for women at every level."
Earlier I spoke to Nadia Nadim. She is an Afghan Danish footballer who knows all too well about life under the Taliban. Nadia's family fled
Afghanistan after the Taliban killed her father in 2000. Our conversation began with her memories of growing up in Afghanistan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NADIA NADIM, AFGHAN DANISH FOOTBALLER: Before the Taliban, we had a great life, a safe environment. My mom and dad provided the best life for us
possible. And then after the Taliban gained power, my dad was killed. All that time was a life with a lot of fear, poor and trying to survive. So
it's almost two movies, two different worlds.
ANDERSON: How did you get out of Afghanistan?
NADIM: We got out -- we were probably among the more fortunate ones. My mom sold everything she had. We had found a human smuggler to fly us out to
Pakistan and from Pakistan, was a passport, first to Italy and then a truck to Denmark. So --
(CROSSTALK)
NADIM: -- a long way.
ANDERSON: This is a remarkable journey. I've got to ask you.
How did you get into football?
NADIM: I always say it's probably fate because the refugee camp I was staying in, in Denmark, was just beside this amazing football field and a
football club. That's the first time I got to see the girls actually play football. Right away I fell in love with the game. And since then, I never
really left the ball.
ANDERSON: I want our viewers to get a sense of your success. You moved from playing football, eventually in Denmark, to PSG in Paris. There, you
won the French championship last season with the team. That is amazing.
How was that?
NADIM: It was great. It was the first time in the club's history that they won the league and that was the reason I signed with PSG. I wanted to win
the league with them, probably one of the biggest achievements.
ANDERSON: Look, it's been quite the summer for you, winning the French championship with PSG; only weeks later, the Taliban taking over power in
Kabul.
[10:35:00]
ANDERSON: What's been running through your mind when you see these images coming out of Afghanistan now?
NADIM: At the beginning I wasn't really understanding what was happening. It sounded like a deja vu. And I never really thought that it would come
back to this. It feels like history repeating itself. So that way, it was confusing. I couldn't understand it. And it was upsetting to see how
they're gaining more power.
And now that they're actually running the country, yes, it makes me upset, makes me angry. I don't think they deserve it. I don't think that terrorist
groups should have that much power.
ANDERSON: They have just announced the formation of a government, which is not at all inclusive. It has no women representation. In fact, the Taliban
said women in Afghanistan will be banned from playing any kind of sport. It, quote, "exposes their bodies."
You must be concerned about the future for Afghanistan's sporting teams, aren't you?
NADIM: If you're not allowed to play music or listen to music, how do you think sports is going to be in the conversation?
It's just cave men trying to control people by fear. I don't see any sports in the future in Afghanistan.
ANDERSON: How does that make you feel?
NADIM: Like upset. It upsets me, you know. Born in a country, where you're not even allowed to play a sport, it's such a basic thing. Like it doesn't
harm anyone. You are just having fun. You're just like enjoying yourself. You're actually trying to improve your health, trying to learn.
Why it's a bad thing, I don't understand it. It doesn't make any sense in my brain. And then that's the people who have the power to run a country.
What does that say about the country?
And where does that leave the country's future?
ANDERSON: To the thousands of Afghan women, that have a dream to play sport in Afghanistan, what's your message to them?
NADIM: You know, the message I would say, no matter how hard the times are, one should never lose hope. Always try to feel or think that it's
going to change. And you're able to change it through your mindset and your positive attitude.
But right now I feel like, saying this, it doesn't really hit home because, to me, even when I'm trying to imagine the future, it doesn't -- I don't
see any light. It seems very dark.
The only way I can see them, like, having a future in terms of where they're actually allowed to do basic stuff, basic human rights, is if the
Taliban really loosens up because of the pressure of the international community or they somehow are removed.
ANDERSON: If you had a message to the Taliban themselves, what would it be?
NADIM: Educate yourself. It's very simple. Like, there are so many questions I have and I think I would tell them, yes, educate your self. See
how the world works around you. And maybe they will change their values. But I doubt that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Nadia Nadim there.
Some tough talk from North Korea, from the International Olympic Committee. The IOC saying to Pyongyang you can't play in next year's Winter Games
because you skipped the Tokyo Olympics this summer.
China seems to be stepping in. Its foreign ministry says Beijing will have a chat with the IOC about the issue. Beijing making the point North Korea
was a no-show in Tokyo, quote, "because of the pandemic."
China also sending best wishes to North Korea's Kim Jong-un, who put on a big military parade overnight to mark the country's 73rd anniversary. And
it was anything but your typical midnight show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON (voice-over): Besides the battalions of marching troops and crowds waving flags, the procession also featured a large group marchers
dressed in orange hazmat-style suits. State media describing them as an emergency disease prevention unit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: There is a new name on the lips of everyone at the U.S. Open. Coming up, you will meet the 18-year-old tennis phenom on the cusp of a
grand slam.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:40:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ANDERSON: Well, teen sensation Emma Raducanu is just one victory away from her first grand slam final. The British 18-year old defeated Tokyo Olympic
champion Belinda Bencic. ANDERSON: Raducanu is now the youngest U.S. Open women's semi finalist since Maria Sharapova in 2005.
And how things have changed after what happened with her at Wimbledon.
Amanda Davis in the house for you. Amanda, it is so fab to see these images isn't it. She was is such a good player, she has such a good personality
and she's on winning form (ph).
AMANDA DAVIS, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes absolutely Becky. It was only, what, a couple of weeks, months ago we saw her at Wimbledon where she really
burst onto the screen in front of the home fans and then was forced to retire.
And really said she felt the pressure in the moment got too much for her. But here, just in her second --
ANDERSON: Amazing.
DAVIS: -- Grand Slam. She is into the semi final and really winning so many fans across the world not only with the tennis that she's playing, but
her attitude, the way she's --
ANDERSON: Yes.
DAVIS: -- embracing the stage. She admitted her flight home from New York were booked at the end of the qualifying matches and here she is not only
through qualifying into week two and heading into --
ANDERSON: Lovely.
DAVIS: -- the final weekend. It's such a --
ANDERSON: Lovely.
DAVIS: -- fantastic story. And a real reason to set and watch the final weekend.
ANDERSON: I'm sure if there are penalties for changing those flights, she or her parents or whoever will be perfectly happy to pay them at this
point. World Sports up next. We're back after that.
[10:43:42]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WORLD SPORT)
END
