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New Day

Suspect Surrenders after Standoff at Capitol; Disaster in Haiti; Allyson Reneau is Interviewed about Rescuing 10 Girls from Afghanistan; Chaotic Scene at Kabul. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired August 20, 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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[06:33:42]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: A man who threatened the Capitol claiming to have a bomb is in custody this morning. Floyd Roseberry surrendered to police after an hour's long standoff. Investigators say no bomb was found in his truck, but he did have suspected bomb-making materials. Multiple buildings were evacuated, traffic was shut down near the Library of Congress while police were investigating this bomb threat.

Now let's get the latest on this from CNN's Whitney Wild, who is here with a live report.

What is the latest here?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now what they're doing is working through what his charges are actually going to be. So a lot of outstanding questions, especially about the bomb making materials, how he might have accumulated those materials, what was actually in his vehicle. So a lot of questions about the lingering details.

However, here's what I can tell you. Yesterday morning, though, a very scary scene here in Washington. Around 9:15 in the morning, this man drove his truck up onto the sidewalk just outside the Library of Congress, claiming he had explosive devices. He posted several videos on FaceBook claiming again that he had a bomb. Police again said that there was no bomb found in the truck. But, again, still thinking that it's possible that there were suspected bomb-making materials.

In those FaceBook videos he made several statements in his -- again, in his live stream. For example, he said that all Democrats should step down. He expressed frustration with what was going on with regards to the war in Afghanistan. [06:35:02]

He also said that he didn't care if Donald Trump ever became president again.

However, past posts on his social media indicated that he was a Donald Trump supporter. So some flip-flopping around with his political ramblings there.

Police were reluctant to ascribe a political motivation during a press conference yesterday and said that he had suffered personal trauma, for example, the death of a family member. Roseberry's son told CNN Thursday he didn't fully understand what motivated his father's actions and he didn't know about any of his plans.

But what is really alarming here and what has law enforcement continuing to be on heightened alert is that federal officials have been warning for months now that we remain in this heightened environment, that there are political -- political themes with that. And so yesterday, when they saw these FaceBook videos with political statements in them, in addition to someone driving up on the sidewalk in front of the Library of Congress saying they had a bomb, it was a full court press. Federal officials, local police, swarming and spending hours trying to convince that man to leave his vehicle, which, in the end, he did, basically on his own volition.

KEILAR: You know that that fear is hanging over these officers day in, day out.

WILD: Right.

KEILAR: Whitney, thank you so much for that report.

JOHN AVLON, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you. Thank you.

And Republican Congressman Mo Brooks getting slammed by Democrats and at least one GOP lawmaker for a statement that appeared to sympathize with the suspect following the Capitol bomb threat. It said in part, quote, I understand citizenry anger directed at dictatorial socialism and its threat to liberty, freedom and the very fabric to American society.

Republican Adam Kinzinger called the statement evil.

Now, Mo Brooks, you will recall, spoke at the Trump rally on January 6th that proceeded the Capitol riot telling the mob of supporters to, quote, start taking down names and kicking ass.

Look, what the actual hell, Bri? This is a member of Congress, running for the Senate, without knowing all the facts, saying I don't know all the details, but -- but my sympathies are with people who might have been motivated to possibly say they have a bomb, to blow up where he works, the heart of the Capitol, again?

KEILAR: Now, I think the thing that is particularly alarming, and Mo Brooks might -- Mo Brooks might be right about this, there may be a constituency for sympathizing with domestic terrorists or potential domestic terrorists. That's incredibly alarming.

AVLON: If that's not a screaming warning about a sickness in our politics, where a politician who's already implicated for incitement, you know, given that what he said, go and kick ass on Capitol Hill, to see this and his first impulse is to put out a statement saying that he doesn't know all the details but he wants to sympathize with what he believes might be their impulse? That is a -- we have crossed a line when politicians see political gain in praising people who say they want to blow up the place where they work.

KEILAR: Yes. No, it is, obviously, very alarming.

Hospitals in Haiti are overflowing after a powerful earthquake devastated the island nation. Victims and medical staff share their harrowing stories from the aftermath.

AVLON: Plus, parts of the Northeast are on high alert for what's expected to become a hurricane and could potentially make landfall over the weekend.

And be sure to join CNN for "We Love New York City: The Homecoming Concert." This is a once-in-a-lifetime concert event where everyone will be vaccinated. Tomorrow, 5:00 p.m. Eastern, exclusively on CNN.

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[06:42:49]

AVLON: Hospitals in Haiti are overwhelmed by victims of Saturday's deadly earthquake. Some patients finally reaching the hospital almost a week after the disaster struck as doctors and nurses struggle without basic medical devices that they need to save lives.

CNN's Joe Johns is live in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Joe, what are you seeing there?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, on top of all of what you said there, the roads into and out of the disaster zone are often either covered in debris or controlled by armed gangs, making it very difficult to get in and out.

So we took a look at the helicopter convoy that has been moving patients out of the disaster zone and over here to Port-au-Prince, where they can get to hospitals to be treated.

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JOHNS (voice over): The helicopter convoy bringing the most seriously injured from the earthquake zone to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, running from sun up to sun down. Today, they're greeted by a surgeon, a broken bone specialist, who quickly evaluates their condition.

The 7.2 magnitude earthquake left more than 2,000 people dead and over 12,000 people injured, causing hospitals in Haiti to be completely overwhelmed. A short distance by air from La Kai (Ph) to Port-au- Prince, but getting here can be a slow process. This 23-month-old girl suffered a laceration running from thigh to ankle in Saturday's earthquake. When she finally was flown into the capital, her leg was badly infected.

JOHNS (on camera): It took a long time to get her here.

DR. JEAN WILDRIC HIPPOLYTE, ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON: To get her saw. So it's about three days. The facilities are pretty good over there. It's the issue that they are dealing now with, you know, a country side (ph).

JOHNS (voice over): Many of the patients coming in, children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): As I was sleeping, the bed was shaking. And then I ran. And there was a brick in front of me that fell on my feet.

JOHNS: From the airport, ambulances fan out across the city, taking the patients to hospitals that should best suit their needs.

[06:45:08]

Here, at the hospital run by Doctors Without Borders, on the west side of town, where the staff have been dealing with more than just the rapidly-filling beds.

DR. JOHANNE PAUL, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS (through translator): The hardest part is when a staff member knows or receives a patient to whom they may be related and it's tougher for them.

JOHNS: The stories of the patients, heart-wrenching.

My first son died next to me, this mother of four says. She lost not one but two sons in the earthquake, both dying right next to her when their house collapsed on top of them. She was pinned in the rubble for hours before being rescued.

GLADYS CASIMIR, LOST TWO SONS IN EARTHQUAKE (through translator): When they started digging, they made a hole. I grabbed one of the people's feet so they knew I was alive.

JOHNS: After being pulled from the rubble, her right leg was amputated, but she says her spirit is unbroken.

CASIMIR: I have a sister and a mother who are living in the states. I want them to know to stay strong because God has given, God will take away.

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JOHNS: Because of the large number of people who have been injured, there is no assurance that patients brought to hospitals here in Port- au-Prince will stay for long. Many are treated and flown back to the disaster zone in order to make room in the hospitals for other patients.

John, back to you.

AVLON: Joe, I'm so grateful that you're there in Haiti and telling these stories. That one woman losing two sons in the earthquake among the 2,100 dead.

Joe Johns, thank you very much.

All right, breaking news out of Afghanistan. We are now learning of a new threat assessment that shows the Taliban are intensifying their hunt for allies of the United States. So stand by for more on that.

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[06:51:14]

KEILAR: As the Taliban take over in Afghanistan, a mother from Oklahoma with a special connection to Afghanistan's All Girls Robotics Team just took it upon herself to help evacuate ten girls from the country and she has 25 more members that she's trying to help get out as well. She is with us now, Allyson Reneau.

Allyson, thank you so much. This is really an extraordinary story that I think a lot of Americans who are feeling helpless and want to do something, you know, they need to hear this. So tell us a little bit about -- I know that you first got to know this team of extraordinary young women a couple years ago. But when you realized they were in trouble, tell us about the steps that you decided you were going to take.

ALLYSON RENEAU, HELPED RESCUE AFGHAN ALL-GIRLS ROBOTICS TEAM: Well, as -- as you may know, I'm the mother of 11 biological children, and nine of them are girls. So I had a special connection to these girls when I met them at a conference in Washington, D.C., in 2019. I'm part of a board of directors for Explore Mars and we chose to fly these girls over from Afghanistan to be part of our conference and to help them pursue their dreams to be in the engineering and space field.

KEILAR: So, you helped them and you got to know them. You stayed in -- you stayed in touch with them as you got to know them from this conference.

RENEAU: Yes.

KEILAR: At what point did you think, hey, maybe I can do something here?

RENEAU: Well, I -- on August the 3rd, it would have been Tuesday morning, a couple of weeks ago, I just woke up with an overwhelming feeling that something was wrong. And it felt dreadful. And I just couldn't shake it. And so I decided, you know, to take some action.

I wasn't sure where to start. I knew if they needed help and they needed to be evacuated, it would require some pretty powerful people, which is a little bit above my pay grade and my network. But, you know, I just couldn't sit on my hands and do nothing. So I said to myself, self, you've given birth 11 times, certainly you

can -- you can do this. And so I just began, first of all, to reach out to my senator in D.C., Jim Inhofe, who's a ranking member of the Armed Services Committee. And he put me in touch with the military liaison, who then began to get some traction and get some things going. But, as you know, things began to collapse quickly and they had to turn their attention to American citizens.

So I just kept knocking on doors and knocking on doors and trying and trying. And, honestly, it was just night and day for two weeks. Finally, last Monday, just a few days ago, I decided, maybe I just need to fly to Qatar. Maybe I just need to go there. And sometimes when you have a dream, you just have to take that first step and take some more action.

So I thought, I had my bags packed, thinking I'm going to fly there. But then I thought, I don't know anyone there. I'm going to go by myself. I -- oh, yes, I do know someone. I had a former roommate in Washington, D.C., a couple of years ago who was called up there for the military. And I thought, I need to ask her what to wear and -- and -- and if I go jogging, what to wear, where to stay. And she said, well -- I contacted her and she said, well, what's going on. And I told her. And she said, well, I work in the U.S. embassy in Qatar. And my chief of staff, I think, would love to help these girls. Send me their passports. Send me their information.

She went back to work at midnight and stayed up all night preparing all of their information, their pacts, and presented it. And they -- the leadership there and also in Kabul, went to town and took action.

KEILAR: It's an amazing story, Allyson. And, you know, you are one person, but you are one of many. I know there is this effort by so many people to do this and we appreciate you joining us today to talk about this good news story. Thank you.

I do want to go now live to the airport where Clarissa Ward is there with a live report.

[06:55:02]

This is a -- the chaotic scene that you have been witnessing as thousands of people are trying to escape. Tell us what it's like on the ground there, Clarissa.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Brianna, I have to say, this is the least chaotic part of the whole process. This is the final furlong when you're almost about to get on one of those military aircraft carriers. And you can probably see behind me, I'm trying not to move too much because our signal is pretty weak, there are a lot of people who have been standing out in that scorching sun for many hours. And as I said, this is the last stage.

It begins at the front barriers with the Taliban. We went through one gate this morning. A crush of people pushing, shoving, screaming, children crying out. I can honestly say it was one of the more harrowing things I have experienced. Then for the lucky people who do get in, you go to the next phase

where you sit and wait for several hours. I have talked to people here who have been waiting for two days. Two days. And it's such a bottleneck trying to get all these people processed and all these people through. And the problem is that at these bottlenecks, you have these very dangerous situations where you have a crush of people and crowds. And one soldier was telling me that yesterday two women actually threw their babies over the fence trying to throw them to the U.S. soldiers. One soldier actually caught the baby in his arms. He went and found the woman afterwards to give the baby back.

But, honestly, Brianna, what kind of desperation does a parent have to be in where that's your best hope is to try to throw your baby to a soldier to get them out, to save them from being crushed, to give them a better future? And I think there is nothing that illustrates better the panic, the chaos, the fear than that description.

I talked to another British soldier who started talking to me and he just started weeping. He said, I've down two tours in Helmand, but the PTSD I will have from this last week is worse than either of those deployments because people are getting trampled.

I heard another story from a U.S. soldier, a woman trampled, almost to death, last night while we were sitting, waiting in a processing line for about five hours. We saw a military vehicles come streaking through with a newborn baby. And we chased after it. And later we found out that the newborn baby had sunstroke and dehydration and they had to rush it to medical care. The baby is OK. But let me tell you, there are so many babies. I can't tell you how many babies I've seen today, how many mothers desperately trying to stop their children from screaming, looking for (INAUDIBLE) so that they can (INAUDIBLE) themselves and their children.

It is a desperate situation. It is a chaotic situation. The military personnel here are doing everything they can. But, it's not enough. Not yet. There are still so many people who can't even get close to where I am.

Brianna.

KEILAR: Look, and this issue is getting them through to the airport. We're hearing so much from the American government about, they're keeping the airport safe and secure. Well, what good does that do, right, if you can't get through to the airport?

So talk about, you know, the people who are getting through, Clarissa, and the folks who are there showing their papers trying to get through. These are -- these are, what, American -- these are Americans, these are people with green cards, these are people with visa applications? Are all of these people getting through, people who have, you know, verifiable, legal eligibility to come and emigrate from Afghanistan?

WARD: A lot of the people that we've seen -- we were told that we're basically the last or some of the last Americans that they've seen who are leaving. Most of the Americans have already gone. The people that we have spent the day with, the last eight hours with, are Afghans, many of them worked at the embassy, many of them worked as translators, a lot of people worked with international organizations, NGOs. The vast majority of them had their paperwork in order.

But you do see also, and, man, does it break your heart when you see the few people that come in and, oh, I've started the application but it hasn't been finished yet. And you see them being escorted back out through the very gate that they got crushed in for seven hours just to get their chance to leave. So if your paperwork isn't in order and you don't have a sponsor with you, it is very tough to get to this stage where you're finally on the airfield and ready to go.

[07:00:01]

And, listen, everyone's doing their best to streamline this process. But you have to remember, there's a huge amount of people, thousands and thousands