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New Day

Five Rockets Fired On Kabul Airport, Defense System Intercepts. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired August 30, 2021 - 07:30   ET

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


[07:30:00]

NABIH BULOS, MIDDLE EAST BUREAU CHIEF, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES (via telephone): I mean, there was the same airstrike that seems to have killed about 10 civilians, including seven children. So that's been the main concern this morning for most of us here in Kabul as journalists.

JOHN AVLON, CNN ANCHOR: And what is the feeling in the streets of Kabul right now? You are there on America's final day. What are you seeing? What are you hearing? What are you feeling?

BULOS: Of course, there's apprehension throughout. I mean, as you could imagine, right now -- you know, so much is unknown at the moment in terms of how the Taliban will be behaving in the coming days once the world's attention wanes and stops looking at Kabul as it has in the last few weeks.

And the fact of the matter is the Taliban have now secured (ph) checkpoints and, of course, there are all these rumors -- or I should say all these reports of door-to-door searches and persecution of former members of the security apparatus and the government.

And also at the same time, of course, you have the full-throated economic crisis in the making here because right now, there aren't enough dollars in the country. And you're already seeing the long lines in front of banks with people basically limited in their withdrawal -- so about $200 or 10,000 Afghani for every two days. So this is really quite a big problem and it's going to even --

AVLON: Sure.

BULOS: -- get worse.

And with all that being said, you also have the issue of women and whether they will be allowed to work. You know, whether they'll actually just be like sequestered in their homes like they have been in the past.

AVLON: Sure. And "The New York Times" reporting, Nabih, that hundreds of students and staff from American University of Afghanistan who were trying to flee were told to return home. That there would be no more rescue flights from Kabul airport. Now this is within the window. There is still technically 24 hours up until the deadline. So what does that say about the free flow and the Taliban's promises of guaranteeing that flow before the deadline?

BULOS: Well, I mean, the fact of the matter is it's been winding down over these last few days. So -- I mean, even yesterday, we saw actually e-mails from the American embassy were saying that it's only now for U.S. citizens. And, in fact, those were SIVs or other statuses. They actually would no longer be allowed to go.

And at the same time, you have the issue that the buses right now are being severely curtailed in terms of going. So, I mean -- I mean, I personally know a few groups that have been trying to go in for the last few days and they weren't allowed to do. And, in fact, yesterday, they gave up. I think they're going to try again one more today. But it really is very, very difficult right now and it's more than likely that all these people will be left behind.

AVLON: There is more than likely that all will be left behind.

Now, you recently went on a Taliban patrol and we have video you shot in the vehicle with the Taliban. What did you learn? Do you believe that they are capable of bringing security to Kabul?

BULOS: Well, they certainly continue to believe so. I mean, they've been trying to do so. It's worth noting the Taliban are also as surprised as anyone else at how fast they were able to take Kabul, so they are scrambling to sort of secure their control of the capital.

And -- I mean, to be fair to them, they are in charge -- or they have managed to infiltrate most of the military and the police stations. Now, Kabul is a -- is a huge area for them to patrol and to control, so it's no surprise that there would be issues.

And, of course, if you look at what happened on the -- sorry, on Thursday with the bombing -- I mean, that has called into question whether the Taliban can actually bring the security and the stability they've been promising for so long.

With that being said, they were the main threat back in the day to Kabul's security. And so, with now them in government that's changed -- the equation has changed. It's a matter of whether they can actually control suicide bombers or rocket attacks like we've seen in the past from (INAUDIBLE).

AVLON: One of many questions looming over Kabul with 24 hours to death -- to date until the American deadline.

Nabih Bulos, thank you very much for joining us live from Kabul.

BULOS: Thank you.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And CNN's Clarissa Ward is actually with us now. She's joining us live from neighboring Pakistan. Nabih says it's inevitable, Clarissa, that people will be left behind, including Americans and green cardholders. CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, that's certainly how it looks from where we're standing. I've been talking to people, as I know you and so many others have as well, who are green cardholders, who are SIV -- special immigrant visa holders -- who are American passport holders.

I was on the phone earlier today with a family of four from Houston, Texas. They went over to visit their grandparents and got caught up in this whole mess and now cannot leave the country. And the mother told me that they have gone for two weeks now to the airport. They have trouble getting past that Taliban checkpoint. They have reached out to the U.S. military who have said that they are doing everything that they can.

NABIH BULOS, MIDDLE EAST BUREAU CHIEF, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES (via telephone): I mean there was the same airstrike that seems to have killed about 10 civilians, including seven children. So that's been the main concern this morning for most of us here in Kabul as journalists.

JOHN AVLON, CNN ANCHOR: And what is the feeling in the streets of Kabul right now? You are there on America's final day. What are you seeing? What are you hearing? What are you feeling?

BULOS: Of course, there's apprehension throughout. I mean, as you could imagine, right now -- you know, so much is unknown at the moment in terms of how the Taliban will be behaving in the coming days once the world's attention wanes and stops looking at Kabul as it has in the last few weeks.

And the fact of the matter is the Taliban have now secured (ph) checkpoints and, of course, there are all these rumors -- or I should say all these reports of door-to-door searches and persecution of former members of the security apparatus and the government.

And also at the same time, of course, you have the full-throated economic crisis in the making here because right now, there aren't enough dollars in the country. And you're already seeing the long lines in front of banks with people basically limited in their withdrawal -- so about $200 or 10,000 Afghani for every two days. So this is really quite a big problem and it's going to even --

AVLON: Sure.

BULOS: -- get worse.

And with all that being said, you also have the issue of women and whether they will be allowed to work. You know, whether they'll actually just be like sequestered in their homes like they have been in the past.

AVLON: Sure. And "The New York Times" reporting, Nabih, that hundreds of students and staff from American University of Afghanistan who were trying to flee were told to return home. That there would be no more rescue flights from Kabul airport. Now this is within the window. There is still technically 24 hours up until the deadline. So what does that say about the free flow and the Taliban's promises of guaranteeing that flow before the deadline?

BULOS: Well, I mean, the fact of the matter is it's been winding down over these last few days. So -- I mean, even yesterday, we saw actually e-mails from the American embassy were saying that it's only now for U.S. citizens. And, in fact, those were SIVs or other statuses. They actually would no longer be allowed to go.

And at the same time, you have the issue that the buses right now are being severely curtailed in terms of going. So, I mean -- I mean, I personally know a few groups that have been trying to go in for the last few days and they weren't allowed to do. And, in fact, yesterday, they gave up. I think they're going to try again one more today. But it really is very, very difficult right now and it's more than likely that all these people will be left behind.

AVLON: There is more than likely that all will be left behind.

Now, you recently went on a Taliban patrol and we have video you shot in the vehicle with the Taliban. What did you learn? Do you believe that they are capable of bringing security to Kabul?

BULOS: Well, they certainly continue to believe so. I mean, they've been trying to do so. It's worth noting the Taliban are also as surprised as anyone else at how fast they were able to take Kabul, so they are scrambling to sort of secure their control of the capital.

And -- I mean, to be fair to them, they are in charge -- or they have managed to infiltrate most of the military and the police stations. Now, Kabul is a -- is a huge area for them to patrol and to control, so it's no surprise that there would be issues.

And, of course, if you look at what happened on the -- sorry, on Thursday with the bombing -- I mean, that has called into question whether the Taliban can actually bring the security and the stability they've been promising for so long.

With that being said, they were the main threat back in the day to Kabul's security. And so, with now them in government that's changed -- the equation has changed. It's a matter of whether they can actually control suicide bombers or rocket attacks like we've seen in the past from (INAUDIBLE).

AVLON: One of many questions looming over Kabul with 24 hours to death -- to date until the American deadline.

Nabih Bulos, thank you very much for joining us live from Kabul.

BULOS: Thank you.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And CNN's Clarissa Ward is actually with us now. She's joining us live from neighboring Pakistan. Nabih says it's inevitable, Clarissa, that people will be left behind, including Americans and green cardholders. CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, that's certainly how it looks from where we're standing. I've been talking to people, as I know you and so many others have as well, who are green cardholders, who are SIV -- special immigrant visa holders -- who are American passport holders.

I was on the phone earlier today with a family of four from Houston, Texas. They went over to visit their grandparents and got caught up in this whole mess and now cannot leave the country. And the mother told me that they have gone for two weeks now to the airport. They have trouble getting past that Taliban checkpoint. They have reached out to the U.S. military who have said that they are doing everything that they can.

But the understanding that's being related to many on the ground, even those who do have American passports is that in these final hours the gates are closed. It is not possible or, you know, it does not seem to be possible according to people who are on the ground and trying to get in to get past those gates at this time.

Now that does make sense when you think of where we are in this U.S. evacuation, which are the very final hours essentially.

[07:35:00]

This is the most sensitive time. This is where America sort of, you know, takes its perimeter, brings it in, starts to destroy equipment that it can't take, load the equipment that it can take. And so, it's in some ways the most vulnerable part of the entire evacuation operation.

Given what we've seen at Kabul Airport, the constant stream of rockets, the threat of, you know, a suicide born IED from a vehicle yesterday that was taken out with a drone strike. Of course, the massive attack on Thursday. I mean, all of this, I think, gives you sense of why the security situation is so sensitive and why it is so difficult for U.S. forces to try to bring out more people.

You heard from Jeff Zeleny as well, those numbers are coming down. Saturday to Sunday 2,900. Sunday to Monday we're down to just over 1,000. So we are in the final phases.

And I think the U.S. military and many other forces internationally are now relying on the Taliban that they will keep their word, that they will let people out who have the appropriate documentation even after the deadline has past.

AVLON: Clarissa, I mean, that's the thing. I mean, yes, we need to acknowledge. Over 113,000 have been evacuated since August 14. But already people who have the appropriate paperwork, American passports, green card holders are not able to get to the airport.

And this ambiguous deal that's being discussed by the White House saying they have some deal with the Taliban to help get Americans and other foreign nationals out after the deadline passes, what do you know about what that looks like? And is there any rational reason to think that those folks will have better access to the airport once the Taliban controlled it than they do today?

WARD: Well, I mean it's a really important question John and you raise also a really important point which is, you know, this has been extraordinary effort by the U.S. military and not like anything else that I can think of that we've seen in history in terms of the scale of this airlift evacuation.

It really has surpassed everybody's expectations and nonetheless there a lot of people who are getting left behind, as we discussed. Not just SIV, green card holders, some Americans potentially as well, but also people who are human rights activists, feminists, people who were with the Afghan forces, there are a lot of people who think that their lives are in immediate danger or under threat.

The main leverage that the U.S. has in terms of -- and the international community more broadly I would say is twofold. Number one, the Taliban does not want to be an international pariah again. They've experienced that in the late '90s. They know how difficult it was.

And they know, as well, that they're going to be very challenged as you head Nabih Bulos point in terms of security, in terms of governance. They need all the help they can get.

So they need help from international partners and perhaps even more importantly they need funding, they need aide, they need money. And in order to get that they need to play ball with the demands and with the sort of expectations of the international community.

Now the problem you always have is that you can have the message set on high from the sort of elite leaders that nobody is to be touched and they're to be protected and they're give amnesty and they can leave if they want to. But then you also have situations on the ground where fighters may be behaving with impunity, where they may be carrying out retaliatory attacks.

It's very difficult to try to contain that particularly as you're facing a really challenging security situation. You've got, you know huge crowds outside the banks.

I mean, they have enormous challenges facing them in the coming weeks and months. And so, it becomes harder I think for many people on the ground to take them at their word even if it might be in their best interest, vis-a-vis support from the international community.

AVLON: Well, Clarissa Ward, thank you very much as always from your reporting. We'll be talking to you soon.

Up next Hurricane Ida leaving a major U.S. city completely without power. The latest on the catastrophic damage left by the storm next.

KEILAR: And new shortages at hospitals due to the surging Delta variant.

[07:39:20]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:43:36]

KEILAR: One point one million customers in the entire city of New Orleans are without power this morning. Ida hitting the Gulf Coast as a huge storm, a category four and a strong one at that on Sunday.

Right now it's a tropical storm but it has carved out a devastating path of destruction through Louisiana where one person is confirmed dead and levies have been overrun.

Nadia Romero is live for us on the ground in New Orleans.

Nadia, we are seeing day break since we last spoke to you. What are you seeing now?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and it is a welcome sight Brianna, to finally have a little bit of light out here so we can see. We've all been using headlamps and flashlights to get around for the first hours of the morning. Now we can see a little bit more of the damage that happened after Hurricane Ida made her way through.

So if you look behind me the streets are pretty empty but they're just trash. Not like a normal morning after on Bourbon Street, but from the debris. From trees being down, from roofs and awnings being ripped off. That's what we're seeing all across the French Quarter.

If you go down to the iconic Magazine Street that's where you're going to see signs of that power outage, right. So we know that some of those trees fell on to power lines and that helped to knock out the power for many of these neighborhoods, but we also had eight transmission lines that are responsible for bringing that power to the entire city of New Orleans. That was compromised during the storm as well.

[07:45:00]

So we have really blackout conditions. And it was eerie and spooky to be on Bourbon Street, really quite anyways, but then to not have any kind of light or sounds of life after the storm was just an odd thing to experience this morning. So we're still waiting to hear how long it might be before the city of New Orleans gets lights back on.

And that's why the governor's telling people it could be weeks because there is a priority list of where they start, with hospitals and nursing homes, that's top of the list and then they work their way through neighborhoods. So if you're in a neighborhood you may not get your lights turned back on this week, you may have to wait longer.

We also know that there are, along with the power outages, we've saw levies toppled and there are people who have to be rescued from their attics and from their roofs.

Further south of here towards where the storm first made landfall that seems to be the area hardest hit, at least with the rain. In this part of Louisiana we dealt with this -- the effects of the wind. So now that we have a little bit of the sunlight coming out this

morning we're going to try to get out and do a better assessment of the damage that we're seeing and figure out how many people are still trapped in their homes, because EMS lines, 911 lines are compromised as well. Those went down. They were not taking any calls.

Cell phone service is still out in the city of New Orleans. So if you're trying to communicate it's going to be awful hard to do so without Wi-Fi and without cell phone service along with the power being out.

So a lot of issues and a lot of complications that we're still dealing with just a day after Hurricane Ida made her way through.

Brianna?

KEILAR: Yes, we're trying to get a sense here. Day has dawned there in New Orleans. Nadia we'll let you go so that you can go see what damage has been done. Thank you so much.

AVLON: Now let's bring in Craig Fugate. He's a former administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Craig, good to see you. The son is rising in Louisiana, revealing the damage and the devastation. But the danger's not over.

So what is your primary concern at this point?

CRAIG FUGATE, FORMER ADMINISTRATOR OF FEMA: Well and unfortunately I don't know if people are going to hear this where it's really hit because of all the power outages, but the best thing people can do right now and let -- if you're safe stay home, stay inside, let the rescue teams, utilities begin their work. Stay off the roads.

Our experience has been we have a tendency to have more people die after hurricanes because of accidents, traffic crashes, fall (ph) and we already know the hospitals are stressed from COVID.

So if we can just get people to stay home, stay off the road, let rescuers and utility crews do their jobs before people start going out to see how bad it is we can keep people safe.

AVLON: Now we've had reports of people calling for rescue but, of course, during the height of the storm that's just not possible. And the focus now is on that search and rescue.

National Weather Service reporting that heavy rain is causing flash flooding in LaPlace trapping residents at a local hotel. They're calling for rescue. So will first responders be able to get them? And what timeframe, given your experience?

FUGATE: Well, they've already been going. I mean, they didn't wait for the sun come up and they're not -- they didn't wait for the winds to die down. In some cases it's basically having to find a way in.

In some places they're having to stop and put the boats in the water because the roads are still flooded. But, you know, they're going to be working from the known, the list that came in, but also areas they know have devastation to get in there and check on folks.

And so this was -- you know, if you look at what Governor Edwards and the team does in Louisiana, this is something they've really refined over the last years, you know, lessons from Katrina, is they're bringing in a lot of resources, you've got a lot of volunteer agencies.

And it's a -- it's really this race to get into areas and in some cases debris has to be cleared first, power lines have to be saved (ph). But this is -- this is really the focus today, is this is search and rescue day, this is get to people today and do those rescues.

AVLON: And there are lives on the line today. You know, you mentioned the lessons learned from Katrina 16 years ago, real massive investment also to try to mitigate the effects of future hurricanes.

In this case we saw a catastrophic blackout in New Orleans. We don't know the full extent of the damage in the southern areas, but what are you making of the federal response so far? And whether the region is passing the test given the investment made in the wake of Katrina?

FUGATE: Well again, the federal response started days ago when the Hurricane Center said this could, you know, potentially become a major hurricane well before it did.

The question now is we've made a lot of investments, people focus on the levy system, but we also built back a lot of buildings, schools, fire stations, police stations in the areas that have been hit. So it will be important to see how that is.

And this is critical, we must continue to apply the lessons not to build it back the way it was but to build for future risks, because New Orleans didn't get the wind that they saw in this storm during Katrina. They got the water. This storm revealed new risks and new vulnerabilities to the high wind.

[07:50:10]

So again, the important lesson here is rescue today but in the future as we start rebuilding we've got to build to what climate is driving and adapt to that, not just build it back the way it was.

AVLON: Build back better as someone once said. All right thank you very much Craig. Appreciate your time.

Right now Coast Guard teams are gearing up to make aerial rescues in the storm zone and we're going to get the latest from their commanding officer.

KEILAR: And next, doctors forced to play musical chairs due to the surging Delta variant. How it may have cost a combat veteran his life.

[07:50:43]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:25]

KEILAR: We have some breaking news. Hospitals in parts of the south are running out of oxygen as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations soar. This is a surge that is driven by those who remain unvaccinated and also the spread of the Delta variant.

Now several hospitals in Florida, South Carolina, Texas and Louisiana are all reaching dangerously low amounts of oxygen. Many are relying on reserve tanks. And a hospital supply purchasing group says the worst hit hospitals have only 12 to 24 hours worth of oxygen left.

So imagine surviving combat twice only to come home and die because of a gallstone because there were no beds in the ICU when you needed them.

[07:55:00]

That is the horror of one family, of one mother who is enduring this in Bellville, Texas. Danny Wilkinson who is a Purple Heart recipient is a casualty of COVID despite never having even contracted the virus.

He waited for seven hours for an ICU bed despite doctor's best efforts to find space to save his life only to eventually pass away from what is a completely treatable ailment.

And with us now is Danny's mother Michelle Puget. Michelle I am -- I am so sorry for your loss.

MICHELLE PUGET, SON DIES OF TREATABLE ILLNESS DUE TO LACK OF ICU BEDS: Thank you.

KEILAR: And, you know, first if you could just tell us, you know, this is the -- you know, this is the side effect of these ICUs that are so full and now your family has paid this ultimate price.

Can you -- can you tell us first -- tell us a little bit about Danny?

PUGET: Oh, Danny was a -- pretty much a bigger than life type personality. He was a wonderful son. When he made a friend he made a friend for life. And a brother to all of his Army buddies.

He took care of me for two years while I was going through breast cancer, taking care of me completely as far as my appointments and my chemos and everything.

But all rolled up into one he was a big teddy bear.

KEILAR: The big teddy bear. We're seeing a picture of him now and we know how -- we know how much you're hurting. We've talked to so many people who have lost their family members because of coronavirus.

That is not why he died.

PUGET: No.

KEILAR: Although in a way it is because of that because of how full the ICUs are. Can you just tell us -- tell us about what happened. He was diagnosed with gallstone pancreatitis and then what happened?

PUGET: Once the doctor made the diagnosis and they had already told him that he was -- he was pretty sick and they were -- started doing the labs and running whatever tests that they needed to have done. And he discovered that he had gallstone pancreatitis -- I can't say it this morning, I'm sorry.

He said if he doesn't have a special procedure he will die. And Danny at that point and everything was still talking and I was able to discuss, you know, what he needed me to do. And they fought for a bed for seven hours to try to get him into an ICU. They called all the hospitals in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Colorado and there wasn't a bed for him.

And every minute that he was being rejected an ICU bed he was dying. Because all the bile and everything was backing up into his system and his organs were already starting to shut down.

And so seven hours later they were able to get him to the V.A. And it was -- it was too late. They were unable to stabilize him. His blood pressure kept dropping down into the 40s and 50s. And so those hours were very, very important. Those minutes were very important.

KEILAR: And those hours and minutes weren't there because of how full the hospitals are. And look, I know -- I know, nothing can bring Danny back, but I wonder what your message is as you are reflecting on --

PUGET: Well --

KEILAR: -- on this backup that cost his life?

PUGET: Well, it's not -- I've heard from the doctors that they have ICU beds, they just don't have the personnel to man them. And the shortage of nurses.

The doctor and I were talking and after the fact and our idea was that, you know, when the pandemic first came out they threw up all these tent hospitals, the ships were there to take care of COVID patients and everything.