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Senate Close to Passing Infrastructure; Taliban Seizes Fifth Afghan City; Middle East's Largest Lake Turned to Desert; JT Ibe is Interviewed about a Hit in Football. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired August 09, 2021 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: The process of an attempted coup.

But we also have to be relieved that the institutions did hold, that there were members of his own party who were breaking from this particular path by Trump that the military was resisting and that even a kind of scaled down Justice Department had figures who were willing to step up and say, no, we can't do this. Even under threat that he would be removed.

Again, the time in which it happened was important because I think there are enough people, like a Jeffrey Rosen, who recognized this is out of control and he doesn't have the authority to do this. And he could withstand the pressure that others had not before.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Amanda, I want to ask you, changing topics here about infrastructure, because it advanced in the Senate and you saw Republicans joining that move.

But we're talking about two bills here, right? We've got the one that is bipartisan and then there's the huge infrastructure bill that is going to be passed, we expect, you know, through the budget reconciliation process. And there's this tension that we're seeing play out between the two.

How do you see this moment? How do you see this proceeding?

AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, I sort of think official establishment Washington will look at the bipartisan bill and say, hey, look, Washington can work again. But, of course, Biden has to keep his progressive caucus together.

You know, I look at this as a conservative Republican and say, my goodness, there's so much money flying out the door. I'm not sure there's any controls on this train. I mean if you look at the COVID spending that happened between President Trump and President Biden, you're already looking at $5 trillion or so. And now they're saying that Biden's economic agenda is costing another $4 trillion.

We -- there's cause for concern there. And at least from the Biden administration perspective, I think they should be a lot more clear on exactly what this is doing. We've had a number of bills, the American jobs, Rescue Family, something, something. What is going on here? I'm not sure that people fully understand and spending, if Republicans ever get their act together, will be an essential voting issue sometime in the future.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: You know, it got 18 Republican votes yesterday in the last procedural hurdle, which is a lot. I mean, in this -- in this environment it's a whole lot.

CARPENTER: Yes.

BERMAN: But, David, as it goes to the House, I'm -- I have no idea what's going to happen there. I'm not sure I fully understand at this point, with moderates uneasy about the second part of the bill, with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others saying we're not going anywhere unless we get more in this second part of the bill, it's one of these situations where, you know, Nancy Pelosi takes the wheel here. If Democrats want to get this, she's got to work some magic.

GREGORY: Right. Well, and that's why the -- the first point of it, the fact that there are 18 Republicans on an infrastructure bill that we've been talking about for years, you know, roads and bridges and broadband and that kind of thing, that it makes sense that the parties come together. It's a great moment for a president who's got a very strong economy and a history of being able to pull off these kinds of deals on Capitol Hill.

But, yes, it gets a lot murkier because from a political point of view the same Republicans who might have been on board can turn and say, look, this is now becoming out of control spending by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party that Biden himself doesn't even control. And if they do it through reconciliation, I'm sure that will be the political fight that breaks out.

So, you know, we got two storylines kind of colliding at the moment.

David, Amanda, thank you both very much.

GREGORY: Thanks.

CARPENTER: Thanks.

BERMAN: The widow of a Capitol officer who died by suicide after the January 6th insurrection is speaking out about the toll the day took on her husband.

KEILAR: Plus, another city in Afghanistan falling to the Taliban overnight. The latest in a string of victories for them as the U.S. withdraws. We'll have all of the latest developments, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:38:10]

KEILAR: An alarming Taliban takeover continuing in Afghanistan. Taliban forces seizing control of a fifth Afghan city in just a matter of days. Kunduz, in northern Afghan, is the first major city to fall with U.S. troops almost completely gone from the country.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is joining us now from London.

This is really a march forward by the Taliban, Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes, it would not be overstating it to say this is probably the worst moment for the Afghan government and its security forces and by extension the U.S. project in Afghanistan for the last 20 years.

Now, it began on Friday with the first provincial city to fall and then suddenly yesterday grew from two cities that have fallen to a total of five, including the major one, Kunduz.

Now, there's still fighting, it seems, going on inside there, but all of that, to some degree, feels a bit like the past because we're now hearing of other cities pressured today, including Ghazni as well. Kunduz and Ghazni fundamental parts of Afghanistan's economy.

This is happening with U.S. air power still in effect over the skies, but it doesn't appear to be stopping Taliban advances. And the real concern here, as it has been for a while, is the Taliban do well in rural Afghanistan. They always have. But they haven't been able to get into main cities. That seems to be changing. And the fear is now that the Afghan security forces don't know which fire to put out next. They're simply overstretched.

I was talking to one senior Afghan security official who reminded me that there are now only 22 days left in which the U.S. says it will be using air power to assist Afghan security forces. They're supposed to end when the U.S. withdrawal is complete. That Afghan security official basically said that will be catastrophic if they didn't have U.S. support. Look how bad, frankly, it already is when they still have some remaining. He said, quote, things are getting nasty.

Things could get significantly nastier still if that air power slows and, as you see here today, I mean it's hard to keep up, frankly, with the speed of change on the ground.

[06:40:09]

I've never seen anything like this in two decades of this war. It is quite extraordinary.

Many warned this would happen if the U.S. withdrew in the way that it said it would. Many warned that the peace process the U.S. laid so much stead on was a sham. It appears, sadly, to be the case right now and it's the Afghan people who are bearing the brunt of this sweeping change.

Brianna.

KEILAR: What is the U.S. saying, though, Nick, because I think the expectations was by objective observers that things were going to fall apart but that it might happen down the line. Now it's happening in real-time before the withdrawal is even complete? What are they saying?

WALSH: Yes, I mean, look, the U.S. problem here is that when you said you're leaving regardless, when you see the things happening that you thought were probably going to happen, happen, you then can't say, well, actually, sorry, we changed our mind.

President Joe Biden's always felt nation building wasn't an option. I wonder, though, as we begin to see the true nature of the Taliban moving into popularized areas with stories of atrocities, killings, whether or not the international community will begin to regret this or later regret it.

It's moving a lot quickly, I think, than many feared would be the case. Kabul, the major sort of ring of steel that everybody thought was impenetrable, seems not to be vulnerable to a Taliban attack at this moment, although certainly vulnerable to assassinations. I think the real problem here is the reason why the U.S. went in, in the first place was to fight terrorism and there are a lot of concerns as to what's coming into the vacuum already, the nature of this young, angry Taliban that's had extremists in its midst for quite some time.

Put all that aside, regardless of what this says for the U.S.' standing globally. Yes, many said there were simply nothing else that the U.S. hadn't tried so far apart from leaving and they had to see whether or not this forever war could at some point be ended. But it is stark, Brianna, you've seen this yourself, stark to see quite how quickly things are unraveling. And I think the hope is that Afghan security forces have a plan, nowhere to focus their resources and can slow this sort of sense of momentum that's tragically developing around the insurgency down.

KEILAR: Yes, those are high hopes. Perhaps some misguided hopes. We will see as the days continue here.

Nick, thank you so much for that report.

A code red for humanity. That is how the U.N. describes climate change in a brand new U.N. report that warns the climate crisis is actually happening faster than previously thought.

BERMAN: Plus, the climate emergency on display in northern Iran where the Middle East's biggest lake is now a desert. A CNN exclusive, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:46:51]

BERMAN: Breaking overnight, a landmark U.N. report on climate change says the earth's climate is warming at a rate faster than previously thought. And the window for countries to take decisive action to avoid the most dire consequences, that window is narrowing. The report authored by more than 200 climate scientists from more than 60 nations says countries have delayed curbing fossil fuel emissions for so long there is no avoiding a hotter future.

The U.N. secretary general calls the report a code red for humanity. It comes as the world experiences historic droughts, landscape altering wildfires and deadly floods. Extreme weather that scientists say is directly linked to human behavior.

KEILAR: And in northern Iran, the devastating effects of climate change is on display at Like Urmia. The Middle East's biggest lake is now a desert due to climate -- the climate crisis, due to water shortages that it has sparked and social unrest as well.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen just travelled there to give us an exclusive look at this climate emergency.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): From a lush, natural paradise, to a dry, salty desert. Global warming is literally evaporating what once was the largest lake in the entire Middle East, Like Urmia in Iran, the sixth largest salt lake in the world.

PLEITGEN (on camera): All around Lake Urmia you can see the impact of the global climate emergency, on the communities here, on the people, their livelihoods and, of course, also, their future. The authorities tell us today Lake Urmia is less than half the size of what it used to be.

PLEITGEN (voice over): The shrinkage is due in part to dam projects around here, but mostly due to years of severe brought as our planet gets hotter. Ahad Ahmady was a tourist photographer on the boardwalk in what used to be the beach resort Sharif Hani (ph). Believe it or not, this photo was only taken in 1995, when tourists still flocked here, he says.

People would come here for swimming and would use the mud for therapeutic purposes. They would stay here for several days, he says.

The ferry boats many used to cross the lake now lay stranded on the salty crust slowly rusting away.

This Google Maps animation shows just how fast Lake Urmia has shrunk, going from 5,400 square kilometers in size, to just 2,500 in about 30 years.

Lack of rain and water shortages are a problem all across Iran. Severe lack of water recently led to protests, some violent, in the southwest of the country. Iran's new president saying he will act.

The matters have been detected and I assure the people that the solutions have been delineated.

Iranian authorities say they've made saving Lake Urmia a priority and that a halt to new dam project and diverting other water sources towards the lake have at least slowed its decline.

But the lake's salt content has dramatically increased as the water body shrinks, wreaking havoc on farm crops around here.

[06:50:04]

The day the soil will become unfarmable is not far away, he says.

The water is now so salty that microorganisms that flourish in these conditions have dyed it reddish pink. The deputy head of this province's environmental protection agency tells me he believes there are now about 6 billion tons of salt around the lake. Still, he says, he's confident they can stop the lake from drying up.

Pausing all dam construction projects has been very effective, he says.

Those measures are making a big difference the authorities say, but they are also under no illusion. What they urgently need here is more rain to stop Lake Urmia, a natural treasure of this region, from vanishing into thin and salty air.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Urmia, Iran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: The pictures of that are stunning.

KEILAR: I know. It's devastating.

BERMAN: I mean, 1995, to see people swimming and splashing in the shores that don't exist for miles around.

KEILAR: Yes, and just seeing that salt cake up. You know, it's just a very real and quick example of what we're seeing just as we watch even glaciers as well. It's a reminder that it's real even as a lot of people say it isn't.

Many teenagers are faced with the dilemma, they want to get vaccinated but their parents are against it. So, coming up, we'll be joined by a teen who's helping her peers get vaccinated even when their parents won't give their consent.

BERMAN: And a would-be NFL player fired for a hit that put his teammate in the hospital. He's speaking out now for the first time to CNN, and he joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:51]

BERMAN: A Carolina Panthers player was kicked out of practice and then cut from the team last week after a dangerous hit sent his teammate to the hospital. You can sort of make out the play right there. Receiver Keith Kirkwood goes up for a catch before being hit by rookie safety JT Ibe. Kirkwood was taken away in an ambulance but has since been released from the hospital.

Joining us now is the player who made that hit and then was cut, JT Ibe. This is his first television interview since the incident.

JT, thanks so much for being with us.

I get the sense there's quite a bit you want to get off your chest. What is it you want to say?

JT IBE, FORMER PANTHERS SAFETY WAIVED BY TEAM AFTER DANGEROUS HIT: Yes, I think the main thing that I really want to say, and I said it in my statement when I spoke to "The Charlotte Observer," is just to apologize to Keith's family. I spoke with Keith and he's doing all right. And he hopefully has a speedy recovery. But I also want to just apologize to the team and the Carolina Panthers and the Panthers fans.

The hit wasn't intentional. It wasn't -- it wasn't -- I didn't have any malicious intent to hurt anybody. It was a -- it was honestly an unfortunate accident and the speed of play is really fast.

But I just wanted to apologize and just show my face and let everybody know that it wasn't intentional.

BERMAN: So you spoke to Keith. What did you say to him? What did he say to you?

IBE: Yes, I just apologized to him. Let him know that, you know, I admire his game and that it wasn't intentional. And he just -- he was like, thank you, you know, it's football, it happens. And just wished him luck for the rest of the season. He wished me luck, too.

BERMAN: Now, the coach, the Panthers coach, Matt Rhule, called the hit completely unacceptable. Do you understand where he's coming from and his decision to cut you from the team?

IBE: Yes, I do. I do understand. And, honestly, I completely understand because when I go back to the play, I think like, man, I could have just punched the ball out instead of playing through the man. And, like, it's a learning experience, right? And I -- and this situation taught me, hey, practice is practice. You don't play through the man. Rather punch the ball out instead of trying to draw the ball out through the man.

BERMAN: So you think you had time to do it differently if you had to do it over again?

IBE: Yes, everything happens fast, but, you know, that's -- that's part of being a professional, in my opinion, it's part of being a smart, good football player is knowing when to go through the man in practice and knowing when to punch the ball out.

BERMAN: Because there are people who are going to see this and say, hey, it's, you know, this is football. Why are you cutting a guy for a football play? But even you don't see it like that?

IBE: No, I understand completely. Yes.

BERMAN: So, what's going to happen with you going forward? I mean, look, you were an undrafted free agent as it was. How do you feel this will affect your ability to get on an NFL team going forward? IBE: Yes, I mean, I hope I have a career in the NFL. I'm very

optimistic about it. I think I've had a super windy long journey just to get here and that's why I thank the Carolina Panthers and Coach Rhule for taking a chance on me in the first place.

So, you know, the future is unknown, but hopefully I do get another chance to play in the NFL. And if I do, I'm not going to miss my opportunity.

BERMAN: You know what I have to say, JT, is there are a lot of people in a lot of different walks of life who can learn from you. There are a lot of people who make mistakes who don't own them and try to correct them going forward. But you've owned your mistake right here. You've come out and you've apologized. You've said what you've done is wrong and I hope people are listening to you.

And I appreciate you coming on and talking to us.

IBE: Yes, thank you, John.

BERMAN: JT Ibe, thank you so much.

NEW DAY continues right now.

KEILAR: I'm Brianna Keilar, alongside John Berman on this NEW DAY.

And children are at risk. More kids are ending up in the hospital as top doctors warn of even more dangerous variants developing if enough people don't get vaccinated.

BERMAN: So what can teenagers do if their parents refuse to get them vaccinated? We're going to speak to a high school student whose vaccine website even caught the attention of the White House.

[07:00:04]

KEILAR: And breaking overnight, a top aide to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo resigns after that bombshell sexual harassment report