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Grace Hitting Haiti Amid Quake; Deaths and Injuries Rise after Earthquake in Haiti; Outbreak Sends Florida Students into Quarantine; Seamus Fennessy is Interviewed about Afghanistan; Graphic Video of Bodies Falling from Plane in Afghanistan. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired August 17, 2021 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:34:28]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Right on the heels of a deadly and devastating earthquake, this morning Haiti is getting lashed by a tropical storm, Tropical Storm Grace. Just one of three systems in or near the United States.

Let's get right to meteorologist Chad Myers.

Chad, what are you seeing?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Fred, Grace, and Henri. They're all out there now. Get rid of the "h" storm near Bermuda. But we're worried about Grace right now because literally the convection, the thunderstorms with Grace right over the top of that 7.2 epicenter.

This weather is brought to you by Servpro, helping make fire and water damage like it never even happened.

[06:35:01]

So let's get to it.

Here's Fred. Fred came onshore yesterday near Apalachicola as a 65 or 70 miles per hour storm. Put a four foot storm surge into Apalachicola. Now it's raining heavily in Atlanta through North Carolina, Tennessee, and eventually by tomorrow all the way up into Pennsylvania.

There will be some flash flooding along the line, although it's only a tropical depression, but there you go.

There's Grace. And right there is the epicenter, John.

BERMAN: Watching it very closely. Chad, thank you very much.

MYERS: Yes.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Now, the death toll in Haiti from Saturday's earthquake has risen above 1,400. Rescue and recovery efforts there are being hampered by overwhelmed hospitals and an urgent lack of resources. And now you have that Tropical Storm Grace, that we just heard Chad talking about, threatening further devastation.

Joe Johns is live for us in Port-au-Prince.

And, Joe, you know, tell us about this. This is such bad news. A tropical storm settling over a country that has really already been dealt this huge blow.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. About as bad as it could get, Brianna.

Look, the prime minister has declared three days of mourning here in Haiti as the Haiti's government as well as the United States' government, other non-governmental organizations all try to figure out what they can do for the victims. Many of those victims spent the night sleeping outside after losing their homes in that earthquake. And, of course, as the sun comes up right now, we'll start to get to see just how well they've been able to do.

So the numbers are very disturbing. Thirty-six thousand homes destroyed just south of Port-au-Prince, where I'm standing right now, along with 1,400 people killed, as you said. Something like 7,000 people injured. And those numbers are still being tallied.

So one of the questions certainly is, why is it that Haiti has such disasters here. And it's happened again and again and again. It's pretty simple. Haiti does not have the institutions. It does not have the infrastructure to deal with a crisis when it occurs. The crisis that occurred 11 years ago here in Haiti, that terrible earthquake that killed 200,000 people, as I moved through the streets, it's very clear Haiti has not recovered from that.

Back to you.

KEILAR: Yes, it is terrible.

Joe, thank you so much. We know that you will be there reporting for us. We'll be checking in with you.

The start of the school year in one Florida county derailed by a COVID outbreak that has, get this, 5,000 students either quarantining or in isolation. The school board considering whether to defy the governor's masking ban. We're live in Tampa, next.

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[06:42:05]

KEILAR: Just one week into the school year in Hillsborough County, Florida, more than 5,000 students and hundreds of school district employees are either isolated or they are quarantining because there's been a coronavirus outbreak there. The school board has called an emergency meeting tomorrow to consider changes. And that includes making face masks mandatory in schools there. CNN's Evan McMorris-Santoro is live in Tampa.

It appears this is almost like a science experiment in anti-masking that has gone awry here, Evan.

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, this isn't exactly the worst-case scenario in terms of the start of the school year, but it's pretty close. I mean, as you mentioned, this is the seventh largest school district in the United States, 220,000 students, and a week into school, around 3 percent of those students are in quarantine.

We have some numbers we can break that down for you. And 5,599 students are currently quarantining because of exposure to coronavirus, 316 employees of this district.

Now, obviously, as you mentioned, this has been the epicenter of the debate about how to mitigate coronavirus in schools. The CDC has said very clearly that what you need is to wear masks universally. Here in this state there's been a big argument over whether or not you have to do that or not. The governor is saying he doesn't want to force that to happen. Some schools wanting to make it happen.

Here in Hillsborough, parents could opt their students out of a mask requirement if they wanted to. And around 15 percent of students have done that.

Now, we're seeing some indication of what that might actually do to schools. As you mentioned, the -- you know, inside the schools, 804 students so far have tested positive for COVID and 437 employees according to the latest numbers we have here.

Now, as you mentioned, there's going to be an emergency school meeting tomorrow to address this situation. But when anybody talked about school reopening this year, the thing they were most worried about was thousands of students being quarantined very early on because you couldn't control the coronavirus. And right now here in Hillsborough, that might be what's happening.

Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes. And those are thousands of parents at home with those kids as well. A big question about how do you reopen the economy while doing this as well.

Evan McMorris-Santoro, thank you so much for that report.

Next, we're going to be speaking live with one veteran of the Afghan war who says he predicted what is happening.

BERMAN: Plus, the stunning back story behind this picture, hundreds of Afghans cramming onto a U.S. plane trying to escape the Taliban.

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[06:48:49] JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: How many more generations of America's daughters and sons would you have me send to fight Afghanistan's civil war when Afghan troops will not? How many more lives, American lives, is it worth? How many endless rows of headstones at Arlington National Cemetery? I'm clear on my answer.

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BERMAN: President Biden, defiant in his decision to leave Afghanistan, pointing to the sacrifices made by thousands of American families. But now Afghan allies to the United States and translators, people who helped U.S. troops, are in harm's way after the U.S.' hasty withdrawal from the country.

Joining us now is an Afghan combat veteran, Army Staff Sergeant Seamus Fennessy. He's also the author of the book "Heaven Help Us, Now!: A Self Help Guide to God's Own First Responder, St. Jude Thaddeus."

Staff Sergeant, it's great to have you on. Thanks so much for being with us.

STAFF SGT. SEAMUS FENNESSY, AFGHANISTAN COMBAT VETERAN: Thank you very much, Mr. Berman.

You can just call me Seamus because I'm no longer active duty. Just want to make that clear.

BERMAN: Well, I respect the work that you put in, but I appreciate that.

Look, we just heard President Biden, what he said yesterday, and I know you've been watching the images from Afghanistan like the rest of us have over the last few days.

[06:50:04]

What does that feel like for you?

FENNESSY: It's heartbreaking. It's a mixture of both anger and sadness. And that principally derives from, one, the human tragedy of it all, just as a gut reaction, but also the unnecessity of it.

Now, we're not talking big picture strategy. There were many forks in the road over the past 20 years, what could have been done. Turn left, turn right.

What we're talking about right now is an extremely hasty withdrawal where the cord was plugged out from the Afghan forces and their ability to defend their country. And proper provision was not made for those who allied themselves with us, who placed their entire trust in the United States to protect them and their families.

And I have personal experience with this right now. I can't give names, but there are people behind the scenes, Afghans, who have come over, who are trying to get their families out because they know that they will be slaughter by the Taliban once the Taliban takes over complete control of the country.

And this is something that's happening right here, right now. It's real. The feelings are visceral. They come from the gut because it's an actual human tragedy that's happening right now. And like I said, it's so preventable because we trained the Afghan forces to fight in our manner, which was a very technology dependent manner, one that relied on airpower. And then yank those very resources away that we trained them to be dependent on.

BERMAN: What now? I mean what do you think will happen over the next few days and weeks and what could the United States do to facilitate the withdrawal or removal of these people you were just talking about?

FENNESSY: At the very least, we need a robust evacuation policy, which requires us to secure that perimeter around the territory that we do have right now.

BERMAN: That's the airport. That's --

FENNESSY: Yes, yes, exactly, exactly, which is a shame, which is such a tragedy.

What will happen in the future, I don't know. I'm not any kind of prophet. I did see this coming, but it's not because of any special foresight on my part. Distinguished military experts who study this stuff have seen this coming from a mile away. People like General Jack Keane or Donald Vandergriff. And so having just a little bit of awareness of this type of security situation could have clued you in that this was coming.

So as far as what will happen here on out, I pray for the best. Like, literally, I pray for the best.

I don't know. At the very least I know -- I know personally people on the ground there right now who are trying to get their families out and deserve it because they placed their lives and their families' lives on the line to not just support us, but do good for their country in their eyes.

BERMAN: Look, I don't think there's any question about what they deserve at this point. They deserve to be alive and they deserve to be given a chance for a life right now.

Seamus Fennessy, thank you for your service. Thank you for coming on this morning.

FENNESSY: Thank you, Mr. Berman, I really appreciate it.

BERMAN: So, more on our breaking news.

On another front, the U.S. set to recommend booster shots for Americans after eight months, eight months from their second dose. Now a recommendation they get a booster shot. What this means for you.

KEILAR: Plus, the World Health Organization reacts live on NEW DAY after saying that the U.S. should not go through with boosters yet. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:56:39]

KEILAR: As the situation in Afghanistan continues to unfold, I do want to warn you that what you are about to see is very disturbing. We are seeing some horrifying images of bodies plummeting from a U.S. military airplane carrying Afghans leaving the country to escape Taliban rule. Those people, obviously, did not make it inside the aircraft and had fallen from it.

Now, this video is coming almost 20 years after similarly striking images, some of the hardest to see from the day of 9/11, of people who jumped from the Twin Towers on the morning of September 11th while it was on fire.

And joining us now for more on the situation as CNN contributor Garrett Graff.

You know, Garrett, I know those images are -- they're very difficult to see. You know, it's so hard. It's so hard. But I also think it's important to bear witness here. And a lot of people have been truly struck by these images, the desperation of Americans on 9/11. And then we're seeing this end with this image of the desperation of Afghan civilians yesterday.

GARRETT GRAFF, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, and I think, as Joe Biden said yesterday, there was never a good time to lose Afghanistan, but the psychic weight of these images coming from Afghanistan so close to the 20th anniversary of these attacks here in the United States I think is particularly hard for Americans to think about and weigh sort of what has actually transpired over the last 20 years.

And it's important to remember just how long of a period that is. I mean many of the service men and women in Afghanistan were not old enough to remember the original 9/11 attacks. And likewise on the other side, many of the Taliban fighters we are facing in and across Afghanistan today are people actually born after the 9/11 attacks. I mean this has been an incredibly long, generational war.

KEILAR: How do you think history will judge this war? How do you think it will judge President Biden? Obviously, you know, he wasn't there as president for the -- almost the entirety of the war, but this has really been a humiliating and very likely avoidable exit. What do you think will be his legacy?

GRAFF: Yes, and I think that's where it's important to separate the what from the how, the policy decision from the implementation, which is, I don't think anyone seriously believes that there was a different outcome other than that which we're seeing this week, the Taliban retaking this country. This has been a place where we have been unable to build a lasting and secure country for 20 years.

At the same time, it's clear that this departure was mismanaged and under planned in some ways in exactly as poorly as we have made so many of the military decisions that we have made since 9/11, you know. Going into Afghanistan, everyone agrees was the right decision and one that was actually carried out with remarkable success. But within a few months after that, we began to pivot to invading Iraq and have been distracted and sort of misled for most of the 19 years ever since.

[07:00:05]

KEILAR: You know, Garrett, I know that you have been watching this for the 19 years since and I