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U.S. Troops Leaving Afghanistan; Health Officials Warns the Globe of the Delta Variant; Fans in Euro 2020 Forgot There's Still Pandemic; Lone Wolf Stabbed Police in Hong Kong; Tension Between Beijing and Taipei Escalates; United Nations to Address the Tigray Humanitarian Crisis; U.K. Coronavirus Cases Increase Nearly 72 Percent In One Week; Indonesia To Implement New Restrictions For Java And Bali; Last U.S. troops Leave Afghanistan's Bagram Air Base; Moving Toward A Global Minimum Tax; Biden Visits Florida Condo Collapse Victims; Trump Org., CFO Charged In 15-Year Tax Fraud Scheme. Aired 3- 4a ET

Aired July 2, 2021 - 03:00   ET

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


[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): And a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Paula Newton.

Just ahead right here on CNN Newsroom, after two decades of war, all remaining American troops are finally out of a key military base leaving the security mission they provide to the people of Afghanistan. We will go live to Kabul.

Plus, as the Delta variant causes an uptick in cases experts warn another wave of COVID-19 maybe just around the corner.

And Beijing is escalating tensions with Taipei, warning Taiwan to prepare for war.

And it has been nearly 20 years since the United States first invaded Afghanistan, now a senior U.S. defense official tells CNN that the last forces have now left Bagram Air Base. That ends U.S. NATO security for the Afghan people.

Sprawling compound has become the center of military power in Afghanistan over the past two decades. Here's what the top U.S. commander had to say about the situation there on the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MILLER, TOP U.S. COMMANDER IN AFGHANISTAN: The security situation is not good right now. That's something that is recognized by the Afghan Security Forces and they are making the appropriate adjustments as we move forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP) NEWTON (on camera): But the senior Afghan official behind peace talks

with the Taliban tells CNN that negotiations are proceeding at a very slow pace and making in fact in his words very little progress. Abdullah Abdullah says the Taliban have gained momentum as militants expand their reach across the country particularly in the north as you see it there. According to the U.N. 50 of Afghanistan's 370 districts have fallen to Taliban forces since May.

CNN's Anna Coren spoke with Abdullah about the ongoing peace talks and the future of Afghanistan. She joins me now from Kabul. Really, it is quite something here, when you think two decades, the reason they call it the forever war. The Taliban must see some margin of victory here, right, Anna? How could they not?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Yes. Paula, I think the only group that is celebrating today's withdrawal of all U.S. forces and coalition forces. We have confirmed that two planeloads left last night from Bagram Air Base and one other planeload left this morning 6.30 a.m. local time with troops and equipment on board, bringing an end to America's longest war. Twenty years here in Afghanistan, $2 trillion has been spent, more than 2,400 troops, U.S. troops killed, 1,200 coalition forces killed and tens of thousands of troops injured.

This has left Afghanistan in a precarious situation 20 years on. This is not a stable country. It's not prosperous, it's not strong. You heard then from General Miller saying the security situation is not good. The offensive launched by the Taliban has caught the government off-guard.

We spoke with Dr. Abdullah Abdullah who as you mentioned is the head of the peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Dr. Abdullah, how can you guarantee that Afghanistan will not be a safe haven for terrorists in the future?

ABDULLAH ABDULLAH, AFGHAN HIGH COUNCIL FOR NATIONAL RECONCILIATION: I don't think that there is a guarantee. And there are also Taliban have failed, they promised that they would de-link with Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. We don't have many signs of that. So that's the danger. For us, as well as for the region and beyond.

[03:04:59]

CPREN: A U.S. intelligence report said the Afghan government could fall within six months once U.S. troops withdraw. Do you see the Taliban one day toppling the Afghan government?

ABDULLAH: No. It shall not. That maybe there thinking or thinking in parts of Taliban movement, but this will not happen.

COREN: You are obviously in charge of the peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. You've said yourself that they've made no progress. What is the latest? ABDULLAH: Very little progress, very slow pace. Look at the urgency of

the situation. Look at what's going on in the country, the opportunities that we miss as a result of the continuation of the war.

COREN: What do you think the past 20 years, America's longest war, has achieved for Afghanistan?

ABDULLAH: Most part of Afghanistan was under the Taliban control. Al- Qaeda was freelancing, Usama bin Laden was planning Washington and New York from Afghanistan. That part, of course, some challenges remain, the situation of women in Afghanistan, so freedoms, freedom of speech, awareness of the people about their rights. It's a very different Afghanistan today.

COREN: We've been speaking to so many Afghans who now just want to leave the country with the deteriorating security situation. What is your message to these people? These people who were perhaps the future of this country?

ABDULLAH: Our country, our people are going through very, very difficult times. The world has supported us and they will continue to support. But it's only us who can save it. Those who believe in military takeover take responsibility for the continuation of the misery of the people, the suffering of the people. And they will not have their ideas materialized.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN (on camera): Dr. Abdullah told me, Paula, that if it was up to the Afghans the Americans would not have left. That now was not the right time. But this is the reality that they couldn't stay forever. And it's now time for the Afghan national security forces to step up and defend this country.

There are 300,000 of them and whilst they are certainly, you know, taking hits on the battlefield, we are seeing from the propaganda video from the Taliban forces either surrendering or fleeing as the Taliban encroaches. They are still maintaining certain areas. And certainly, the provincial capitals have not been touched.

The Taliban, you know, are on the outskirts of Kabul, but as Dr. Abdullah said, this city will not fall. He will make sure of that with the forces in place. And of course, he says the U.S. is not abandoning Afghanistan. That the support will be there, still financial support $3.3 billion is what President Biden has pledged to Afghanistan to provide security assistance, to make sure that those forces are paid, to make sure the equipment is there. The resources are there to fight the Taliban offensive.

But whilst this might be the end of America's physical presence, the end of their war in Afghanistan, it's only just starting for, you know, for the Afghans. It's a new chapter in a country that has been ravaged by war for decades.

NEWTON: Yes. A new chapter and certainly chilling just to hear some of the claims from the Taliban going forward and again, the support the United States give as well as air support something that's on the table.

Anna, I'm really happy that you are there and we will continue to follow developments in the coming hours and days. I appreciate it.

Global health experts are warning another deadly wave of COVID-19 infections could be on the horizon as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads worldwide now. Many countries are seeing new case numbers go up, especially in places with low vaccination rates.

South Africa is in a two-week lockdown as it battles a third wave of the virus linked to the Delta variant. But with few people vaccinated and hospitals already overwhelmed, medical workers are often unable to keep up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANEES KARA, VOLUNTEER MEDIC: We don't see dead people. The funeral services see dead people. We see death. There's a difference. You see death happening. We get -- we tried to get to the patients in time, but unfortunately at certain times we can't get to them in time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:09:54]

NEWTON (on camera): Health officials believe the Delta variant is driving now a rise in European COVID cases as well. The World Health Organization is reporting a 10 percent spike in new infections right across Europe. It's the first time those weekly figures have gone up since April.

And of course, scenes like the ones in London, you see those scenes right there. Those scenes from London where football fans gathered in large numbers for the Euro 2020 championship games. All of this contributing to the resurgence of cases. One WHO official says he fears another wave in Europe is inevitable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANS KLUGE, REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR EUROPE, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: The three conditions for a new wave of excess hospitalizations and deaths before autumn are therefore in place. New variants, deficit in vaccine uptake, increased social mixing. And there will be a new wave in the WHO European region unless we remain disciplined.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON (on camera): Barbie Nadeau is covering this for us from Rome. We were just looking at some of those scenes there. Many countries, public health officials in many countries including Germany have warned look, having this Euro 2020 is not a good idea. And kind of give me the scene of what is going on even there in Italy? Because it's not just about when those games happened in the stadiums. Right?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: That's absolutely right. And discipline is the key word here. And we're not seeing a lot of that, especially outside of the stadiums. Now on Saturday night the Olympic stadium here in Rome will host England against Ukraine. And they are expecting 16,000 people inside that stadium. They'll have control, they are supposed COVID tests.

But it's going to be those fans that are gathering and the fans outside the stadium in the pubs, in the bars yelling, screaming, hugging, high-fiving when their team does well. That's what a real concern as.

Now, the Italian government institutes a five-day quarantine for anyone coming from England but that's difficult to enforce because flights are still coming in and they're not escorted to quarantine hotels or anything like that. There is concern here. There was concern when this tournament opens a couple weeks ago in Rome, and it is even more disconcerting right now because we are seeing numbers go up. Not as much here in Italy as we've seen elsewhere. But the vaccination rate in this country is still very low, and less than half the people of Italy have been vaccinated with two jabs.

And until everything is in place with the vaccines and, you know, we've got tourism in place again here people moving around, crowds moving, the curfew has bene lifted. That is a concern about a new wave, I guess it would be the third wave. And nobody wants that here, Paula. Nobody wants that.

NEWTON: Yes. A lot of the people talking about the fact that this is in some ways a whole new pandemic, and unless you have people with two shots of the vaccine, not even just one that this can happen.

Barbie, we'll continue to keep an eye on it as that Euro 2020 marches on. I appreciate it.

Now strict COVID rules have now been relaxed in parts of Australia. But five million people in Sydney will remain locked down until July 9th. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says it's time the country developed a new mind said about the pandemic so that it can be managed more like seasonal flu.

Only 8 percent of Australia's population is fully vaccinated and the success of the prime minister's plan will depend of course largely on reaching certain vaccination goals. In the meantime, the country will only allow up to 3000 international visitors per week for the remainder of the year. Half of what it had permitted.

Now a brutal stabbing on the streets of Hong Kong has left a police officer in critical condition. We'll have a live report when we come back.

Plus, sparks fly between Beijing and Taipei. Some fear a diplomatic incident. We'll hear from an expert says future complex will be fought online not on the battlefield.

[03:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) NEWTON (on camera): A Hong Kong police officer has been stabbed in what the security chief is calling a lone wolf terrorist attack. The officer is in critical condition after being stabbed in the back Thursday night. The attacker died after stabbing himself in the chest.

CNN senior international correspondent Ivan Watson joins me now from Hong Kong.

Such a bizarre attack really and happening at such a time of heightened tension in Hong Kong, truly unprecedented times.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. The timing and the location quite conspicuous, but this appears to have been a suicide stabbing, Paula, as you mentioned, and I'm going to warn viewers that there's some disturbing video because the attack was filmed. It took place at 10 p.m. last night, July 1st in the heart of the commercial district Causeway Bay.

And you can see this man approaching a uniformed police officer and just stab him in the back. Fortunately, that officer survived, though he needed emergency medical care. Now seconds later, the attacker stepped away and then police say he stabbed himself and was seen by eyewitnesses in a huge pool of blood, rushed away to a hospital after being subdued by police and declared dead less than an hour and a half later, described as a 50-year-old man.

The exact motives are not clear at this time. But the Hong Kong police have suggested that the attacker may have been incited or motivated by rhetoric that is critical of Hong Kong's authorities. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS TANG, HONG KONG SECURITY CHIEF (through translator): At this point in time there is no evidence pointing to a state of organized crime. The attacker acted on his own. However, investigations at his home, we've picked up his laptop and believe that the motivation for his attack comes from the backing and an encouragement of others in doing violent behavior. He was radicalized.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON (on camera): Now here is where the timing and location is conspicuous. July 1st was a triple anniversary for Hong Kong, Paula, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the 24th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from a British to Chinese rule. And a year and a day after Beijing rammed through a controversial national security law on the city that has resulted in a lot of the freedoms and political diversity that had been tolerated in the past, basically being largely snuffed out.

You know, elections from the legislative council postponed a year. The protest marches, pro-democracy protest marches that had been a hallmark of July 1st through the same neighborhood of Causeway Bay. Peaceful marches that I have covered in years past were not allowed by the police ostensibly on public health grounds because of the coronavirus pandemic. Even though cinemas and restaurants and shopping malls are open to the public.

And a major opposition newspaper closed just last week after its top journalists were arrested on national security grounds. So, you don't have, for example, peaceful protest march that had been tolerated for years. Instead you have a very disturbing active violence. Paula?

NEWTON: Yes. The transformation in Hong Kong has been so startling, as was that very disturbing video you showed us. I appreciate the update on this, Ivan.

Now Chinese President Xi Jinping says Beijing will, in his words, smash any of Taiwan's attempts at formal independence. That's just one comment from his speech marking the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party. That's making matters worse now between mainland China and the island.

CNN's Will Ripley is in Taiwan for us and really got to say here that the speech was extraordinary in more ways than one. I'm interested to hear your take because perhaps Taiwan is thinking to themselves, this is just more of the same rhetoric. Or do they feel that they heard something different?

[03:20:06]

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a little bit confusing when you hear in one sentence that President Xi Jinping wants to crush the idea of Taiwanese independents. Then also continue to say we want peaceful reunification between the island of Taiwan and the mainland, so crashing peaceful.

But you know, here in Taiwan they say they're used to this kind of thing from Beijing. They're used to the games, they're used to military intimidation and they're used to something that is, they say, getting worse, cyberattacks, disinformation warfare. This kind of propaganda psychological campaign that actually has its roots decades ago in Taiwan's outlining islands.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY (voice over): Prepare for war. The menacing message of mainland Chinese propaganda aimed at the islands of Taiwan. Military intimidation in real-time, 28 Chinese war planes entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone. Taiwan calls it the largest air incursion ever reported. In this inclusive interview, Taiwan's Foreign Minister, Joseph Wu tells CNN China is engaging in psychological warfare.

JOSEPH WU, TAIWAN MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: They want to shape Taiwanese people's cognition. That Taiwan is very dangerous. Taiwan cannot do without China.

RIPLEY: More than 23 million people caught in the crossfire, a battle between Beijing and Taipei, a fight for their hearts and minds.

I'm flying to the front lines, across the Taiwan Strait to the small island of Kinmen more than 200 miles from the Taiwanese capital, just six miles from mainland China. Kinmen is the only place in Taiwan that saw actual combat during the China's civil war ending in 1949. Many buildings bear the scars, the fighting, ferocious. Nationalist forces fended off communist troops, effectively shielding Taiwan's main island, warding off a Chinese invasion.

ANDY YANG, MAGISTRATE OF KINMEN COUNTY (through translator): Kinmen people often say only those who experienced war can understand its horror. We have the right to say loudly we want peace.

UNKNOWN: This place we called Dandong (Ph) --

RIPLEY: Longtime tour guide Robin Yang (Ph) takes me underground to one of the island's massive military bunkers. Once top secret, now abandoned. He also shows me how China's relentless artillery barrage left the island with mountains of old shells.

When the battle ended the shells kept flying. Local historians say half a million of these landed on Kinmen between 1958 and 1978, but this was not artillery. These shelves were full of communist propaganda. The beginning of what experts call a decade's long disinformation and war. A war super charged by social media.

How dangerous is disinformation?

PUMA SHEN, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF CRIMINOLOGY, NATIONAL TAIPEI UNIVERSITY: The danger here is that the main goal of all this disinformation campaign is to create chaos and create distrust.

RIPLEY: Is China doing this exact same thing in the United States?

SHEN: Yes, definitely. And also, in Australia, Canada, also Europe.

RIPLEY: Beijing denies disinformation warfare. China's Taiwan affairs office has previously called Taipei's accusations imaginary.

Experts say the threat goes well beyond disinformation. the Taiwanese government says its hit by 20 million cyberattacks every month. Targets include defense computer systems, finance, communications, even critical infrastructure.

ALLEN OWN, CO-FOUNDER, DEVCORE (through translator): In information security we believe World War III will happen over the internet.

RIPLEY: Basically, every aspect of our life for which we rely on computers could immediately be turned off.

OWN: Yes.

RIPLEY: Taiwan's major gas company CPC was hit by a major malware attack. A ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline, which U.S. intel believes came from Russia, paralyzed the U.S. East Coast.

TSAI SUNG-TING, FOUNDER, TEAM T5: Just imagine what just happened in the United States. You could do nothing.

RIPLEY: Cyber is a bigger threat than --

SUNG-TING: Yes.

RIPLEY: -- nuclear weapons.

SUNG-TING: Yes, from my point of view, because it is happening every day.

RIPLEY: Taiwan's President, Tsai Ing-wen, named cyberattacks a matter of national security. Back on Kinmen Island, this 30-foot loudspeaker spent decades blasting anti-communist propaganda to the mainland. A super-sized reminder of how much things have changed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY (on camera): We try to get China's reaction, their comment to the story. We reached out to the mainland affairs council and their ministry of foreign affairs in Beijing more than a week ago, still no response. Although in the past they have repeatedly denied engaging in cyber warfare pointing the finger back at a country with another massive cyber army, Paula, the United States.

[03:25:02]

NEWTON: Yes. And obviously strategically very important what is going on there for the United States. Will Ripley, thanks. Good to have you there on the ground. I appreciate it.

In the coming hours the U.N. Security Council is expected to hold an open meeting on the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region. This comes after months of brutal fighting and reports of war crimes.

Now a full-blown humanitarian crisis, we have to remind you is already underway with hundreds of thousands of people facing famine. Now a key bridge used to deliver aid to Tigray has been destroyed and it's not clear why. The electricity in telecommunications have also been cut off. The U.N. says the situation remains volatile and unpredictable.

We want to bring in CNN's Larry Madowo now, he is following the situation live from Nairobi. You just returned from Ethiopia. You know, the U.N. so far, we have to be blunt has been largely impotent. Is -- if there is the political will going forward, is there really any chance that it will make a difference given how fraught the situation already is?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is what the people in Tigray will hope for. But I think in Addis Ababa there is little political will. Everybody I spoke to in Ethiopia had a position on the Tigray conflict but there were very hard line positions. And Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed will feel strengthened. He's handedly strengthened when he inevitably wins the elections that is held about a weekend so ago.

His prosperity party is the likely winner of that. But what will then happen is that he feels that he has to handle the situation somehow. This is a man who two years ago won the Nobel Peace Prize because of his reform credentials and now his army is accused of atrocities in the north of the country. So that is something that significant. But this U.N. Security Council meeting could have not happened because

there's likelihood that Russia and China might oppose the 15-member body even discussing this publicly apart from the private meetings they've held. So, there's still a long way to go. There's a possibility, Paula, that there might be pressure on the parties here to this conflict to come to a table and to find a political settlement. But more importantly, to try and make sure that there is access for humanitarian workers, for those people that are in dire need of aid to do something and to try and resume normalcy here in Tigray.

NEWTON: Yes. Because we don't use the word famine lightly, and yet aid organizations telling us 3 to 400,000 people facing that at this very hour.

Larry, I appreciate the update. Now we will be right back with more news right here in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON (on camera): The U.K. government says it's aiming to lift all coronavirus restrictions by July 19th, but some new numbers may be cause for concern at Downing Street.

On Thursday, the U.K. reported a 72 percent increase in new cases compared to the previous week.

[03:30:00]

Think about that, in one week alone, that's nearly 28,000 new infections posted in just one day. The highest number since late January. The daily deaths are much lower than they were at that time.

Dr. Peter Drobac is an infectious disease and global health expert at the University of Oxford. He joins us now from Oxford, England. You know, those are the numbers. OK, they sound quite dire. 72 percent in just one week. And yet what I've been watching carefully, perhaps not as carefully as you have been watching it are the hospitalizations. This seems to indicate that the vaccines do work?

PETER DROBAC, GLOBAL HEALTH EXPERT, OXFORD UNIVERSITY (on camera): Well, that's true, of course the big rise we are seeing is due to the Delta variant which is about twice as transmissible as the original Wuhan strain. It does cause more severe disease. It does affect vaccination efficacy a little bit, but the good news is that vaccines are still very protective against severe disease and death. Even with Delta variant.

However with a high level of spread that we are seeing, and with just half of the total population of the U.K. vaccinated right now, we still are seeing spread. You know, it's worth noting actually in those hospitalization figures, even though they are very low, they have also risen quite steeply in recent weeks.

And yesterday's hospitalization rates were about triple what they were in mid-May when Delta started to pick up. So we are beginning to see the potential for some pressure on the NHS. And I think that's something to pay attention to.

NEWTON: Yeah. And right there I hear a lot of caution in your voice. And remember we are digging into the U.K. numbers because yes the Delta variant is spreading very quickly, but yes, they do have a significant amount of their population now vaccinated. So when we look at the fact that you know, Boris Johnson wants to try and lift all restrictions July 19th, I mean, what is your advice there? Especially since, you know, we've already seen what's been going on with the Euro 2020 competition and how that has affected spread.

DROBAC: Well, that's right. We've seen quite a number of new cases and transmission that's link to people either attending football matches or going out to pubs and gathering there. You know, 2,000 new cases in Scotland linked to people who attended matches, including here in London.

And so that's quite significant. That along with increased travel, relaxation of all the various restrictions. At the same time that Delta has now become the predominant strains, it's really created a perfect storm for increased transmission.

I think the government is banking on the link, as they say, between cases and hospitalizations depths being broken. I think that is not quite sure. I think it's been weekend. The reality is though, this is a much more transmissible virus. It's a little bit of a new situation here.

If we keep seeing exponential rise in the number of cases, we will start to see pressure on the health care system and we will eventually see a rise in the number of deaths. So, I don't want to be an alarmist, but I think this has cause for concern and should be a signal for caution for the rest of the world as well as Delta continues to spread.

NEWTON: And with that note of caution, how long do you think that has to last in a place like the U.K. which hopefully, let's say, in about -- let's give it two more months, would get to a point where a very large majority of their population would be fully vaccinated?

DROBAC: Well I think that's important. Now remember with more transmissible variant, the percentage of the population you need to have vaccinated to give good protection is probably going to be higher. We often talked about a 70 percent or so level of vaccination, potentially giving a herd immunity type protection. With Delta it's likely to be 90 percent or even higher.

NEWTON: Wow, 90 percent.

DROBAC: So we have a long ways to go even here in the U.K. before we are going to see that level of protection. And the thing we do have to worry about as we know there is a certain amount of seasonality of transmission, as you get into the winter months and into the flu season, etcetera. So we have to be thinking months down the road for what may happen in the winter season.

Last summer, right, things got relaxed, we saw an increased numbers of transmission. We didn't drive those rates low enough and we saw big surge in infections in the autumn. That's still a possibility actually for the months to come. And so I think our strategy now should be to try to drive cases as low as possible and really try to continue to accelerate our vaccination campaign. You know, we are racing, its vaccines versus the variant. But right now the variant is spreading faster.

NEWTON: Yes, and a reminder that so many countries, the majority of countries in the world do not have vaccines. I don't have a lot of time left, but Doctor, do you think we do have to kind of change our thinking though in the sense that this disease will now be endemic, and not so much a pandemic, but that we will have to put strategies in place that fall well short of full lockdowns?

DROBAC: Yes. I think that's right. COVID-19 and the SARS-covi-2 virus is not going away. We are going to have to live with it. That means ongoing vaccination campaigns, the potential for boosters, but also particularly winter months that we may need to for years to come, be thinking about masking and social distancing. And some of the measures we've all become so familiar with. Hopefully well short of lockdowns but still alterations to our daily lives.

[03:35:15]

NEWTON: Yeah. Which has taken a toll, unfortunately. Dr. Peter Drobac, I really appreciate you going through all of that for us.

DROBAC: Thanks, Paula.

Now, Indonesia is preparing to implement new COVID restrictions in the islands of Java and Bali. That's where the worst outbreaks are driven by the fast spreading Delta variant. Like we were just talking about there. Now reported infections across the country keep hitting new highs. Hospitals are being overwhelmed and the Red Cross warns Indonesia is on the edge of a catastrophe. We will be right back with more news in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: The situation ever more dire in Indonesia. You see there the seven-day average spiking and especially acute is a situation in Jakarta. Where they are running out of hospital space and oxygen, and they are scrambling to try and increase their capacity as the Delta variant continues to cause chaos there.

Indonesia's health minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin joins me now from Jakarta. I really want to talk to you about what's going on the ground there in Indonesia right now. The Red Cross says look, your country could be on the edge of a COVID catastrophe. What are you seeing right now?

BUDI GUNADI SADIKIN, INDONESIA'S HEALTH MINISTER (on camera): We have seen dramatic increase in confirmed cases, after the (inaudible) holidays. We anticipated this already. But we didn't realize that it is very fast actually because of the Delta variant. We still have some rooms to cater the people, but it is growing very, very fast, the case.

So what we are doing now, we are building, you know, a large additional bedroom at the stadium. Hopefully for the next two weeks we can cater to more than 5,000 additional beds in Jakarta. But for your information, it's not across the country, it's isolated in several regions like Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya (ph) where the Delta variant is noted.

NEWTON: And yet given travel patterns, you must be concerned that it will spread to other areas? I mean, you are building this field hospital. You must be concerned though about running out of both not just hospital beds but the personnel needed and obviously oxygen as well.

[03:40:00]

GUNADI SADIKIN: We -- yesterday, we do a major isolated of those three pandemic centers. So starting tomorrow, it'll be isolated. On the additionally bed, Jakarta, two of the areas Bandung and Surabaya still have bedrooms. Jakarta is a place where the increase of number is very, very fast.

You are right, we are looking now for doctors which has just finished their educations to start getting into the hospital including nurses. And we bring it also doctor and nurses for other cities. That doesn't have the outbreak.

On the oxygen level, we are changing the allocation for industry to the hospital. So far it's still enough, and we are transporting oxygen from other islands also. Because we have many shelters that need oxygen. So we dealt with the ministry of industrito (ph) reallocate oxygen from industry to hospitals.

NEWTON: So, the Delta variant here, as you said, which is part of the problem in terms of fueling this, people have described this as a whole new pandemic because the Delta variant is so much more contagious. What is message to the world about this variant and how to handle it? Because clearly, your country has been caught a bit by surprise by how quickly it has spread and continues to spread.

GUNADI SADIKIN: Our advice, don't underestimate, and don't relax so fast. I've noticed that even Israel or also United Kingdom has recently surged in cases quite fast. And I strongly believe it's also based on the Delta variant. What makes me quite happy is actually the fatality rate doesn't show a significant increase, compared with the transmission rate. The transmission rate is definitely faster. But that is not what we are observing on the fatality rate.

NEWTON: Which is good news and hopefully as you said by moving these resources across the country, you'll be able to mitigate even more deaths. I've got to ask you about something that's incredibly troubling especially given the fact the vast majority of all children are not vaccinated and still can't be vaccinated around the globe. Do you see at least even anecdotal evidence that this variant is hitting children more severely right now, even those that are under five years old? GUNADI SADIKIN: What we notice now, this variant hit everyone. So not

only children, but also adults. So, if we compare with the previous wave, the number of confirmed cases increased significantly faster for both adults and children.

NEWTON: But are you seeing children -- are you seeing children hospitalized though as well with this?

GUNADI SADIKIN: Children hospitalized compared with adults is less. But because of the number of children cases increase, then compared with the previous wave, the number of children hospitalized has increased. However, what we noticed also, the number of deaths compared with the previous wave is actually still lower.

I don't know whether it is because of the virus itself is less fatal, or if it's because by the vaccination program. Because we already vaccinated around 40 million jabs to more than 13 million Indonesians. We are still doing some research. What is the reason why the fatality rate compared with the first wave is actually lower? Both for adults and children.

NEWTON: Yes. And that is good to hear. You have a lot on your plate there. I thank you for taking some time to really warn everybody about the effects of this Delta variant. Thank you so much, I appreciate it.

GUNADI SADIKIN: By the way, thanks a lot because the United States donated us 4 million of Moderna, and we will receive it by this week. Thanks to the U.S. government and U.S. citizens from the Indonesian people.

NEWTON: Understood. And thank you for being with us, minister. Thank you very much.

GUNADI SADIKIN: Yes. Thank you.

NEWTON: And returning now to our top story from Afghanistan. CNN has learned that the last U.S. troops have now left the Bagram Air Base located north of Kabul. As Americas drawdown nears very close to completion. The departure brings an end to the U.S. presence at the compound that became the center of military power in Afghanistan.

[03:45:00]

Peter Layton, is a visiting fellow at Griffith Asia Institute and joins me now from Brisbane, Australia. Thanks for joining us. I appreciate you weighing in here. You know, the cynical view, and I know it's the easy view, it's also the most devastating view that 20 years has gotten the United States and any of its allies absolutely nowhere. Do you care to argue a contrary view there?

PETER LAYTON, VISITING FELLOW AT GRIFFITH ASIA INSTITUTE (on camera): Probably not. You know, you are very right. Certainly I think that when the U.S. and the allied forces went in, they joined the civil war on the one side, and they still fighting and when the U.S. Forces leave, they will still be a civil war raging. Unfortunately I think the last 20 years hasn't changed the situation very much on the ground as far as that goes.

NEWTON: There is a lot to dive into here. And yet, you know, one trite by true cliche has remained, right? We have the clocks, the Taliban has the time. I was interested to hear earlier Anna Coren. Our Anna Coren did an interview with Dr. Abdullah, and what he was saying about the fact that, look, peace talks with the Taliban are going absolutely nowhere.

It was a very clear but subtle warning to the United States and allies that Taliban still refuses to de-link from other terrorist groups. Do you believe that that is a real risk here? Not just the issue of open civil war in Afghanistan, but again to have the roots of terrorism taking hold there and then spreading around the world?

LAYTON: That's a real risk but I think what we have to see first is the Taliban win. Now what I left out before was that if you recall back in history, when the Russians left and the war lords came in, that the Afghan government survived for a few years at least upon Russian aid.

Now as long has western aid, as long as global aid keeps on flowing to the Kabul government, I think (inaudible), sort of half the country Taliban and perhaps a third of the country run by the Kabul government.

So I think to a certain extent that the clocks might be sort of reversing here, in that as long as we keep the government going, they can restrain the Taliban.

NEWTON: In terms of some of these strides that so many military aid organizations hope to make in the country, strides in women's rights and that was closely tied of course to progress that we saw in health and in education. Do you think that in the way the country may now be carved up, that it will be a problem to keep so many of the things, so many of the progress that has happened in (inaudible).

LAYTON: In the Taliban area, certainly. The Taliban do not bring all those extra things. The Taliban, their principle (inaudible) is they bring security and Sharia law whereas western aid agencies brought a lot more, whether it was food, education, industry, etc. But you have to bear in mind, in a civil war, civil wars are all about people. And the more people that you bring to your side, you will win. And the Taliban obviously retains a lot of support amongst the pushed in part of Afghanistan.

NEWTON: You know, you make an interesting observation. We are used to certainly hearing about Pakistan's influence in Afghanistan. But you actually say there's another player involved now, and that is China. How so?

LAYTON: Certainly now, you go back to what you said before about the al-Qaeda coming back, and possibly Islamic state as well, of course which are still active in the country. Pakistan is courting the Taliban. But China, to a certain extent, doesn't control Pakistan, but certainly influences Pakistan a lot. So, I feel that China and bear in mind that China shares a border with

Afghanistan, China will be trying to work through Pakistan to make sure that the Taliban do not export terrorism around the world. If the Taliban start exporting terrorism around the world, then the clock starts once more.

I understand that the U.S. is looking at signing some agreements with the Uzbekistan government, they are possibly putting drones into Uzbekistan. They could certainly maintain the pressure on the Taliban in that sort of counter-terrorist role from there.

NEWTON: And certainly you bring me into another good point about this, and that's air support. A lot of people are banking on the fact that if there aren't boots on the ground that the air support from above will make a critical difference here. Do you think that is true?

[03:50:05]

LAYTON: It did make a difference sort of for the last three or four years. It is whether the weight of air support will be sufficient. With U.S. Forces based in Afghanistan, they could certainly bring a lot more power to bear. So, I'm not sure. I think there is a fair chance in the next few years we will see a stalemate where the Taliban and the Afghan government will fight it out.

NEWTON: OK. A historic day, historic hours to come. I appreciate your insights here. Peter Layton from Australia.

LAYTON: Thanks for having me.

NEWTON: Now, more than 100 countries agree on a plan for a global minimum tax. We will explain what that is and what it means for tech giants such as Amazon and Facebook. That's just ahead.

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NEWTON (on camera): Joe Biden is encouraging the families of those missing in the South Florida condo collapse to never give up hope. The U.S. President also met with first responders and rescue workers and praised the family's resilience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The whole nation is mourning with these families. They see it every day on television. They are going through hell, and those who survived the collapse as well as those who are missing loved ones.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON (on camera): Search and rescue efforts are again underway after being suspended over safety concerns. The Miami-Dade fire chief reports dangerous shifting in the structure. And a large column hanging from the building is now in danger of falling. Authorities say remaining tower will likely have to be demolished. Although a final decision on that could take weeks. Former U.S. President Donald Trump's company is on the defensive after

being accused of evading taxes for 15 years. New York prosecutors charged the Trump Organization and its financial chief Allen Weisselberg with falsifying records and tax fraud. Payments were perks like free apartments, cars, and even school tuition were allegedly kept off the books. It's raised speculation about what might be revealed about Donald Trump if Weisselberg chooses to cooperate with prosecutors. The two had been closed for years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER WEISSELBERG, TRUMP ORG. CFO'S FORMER DAUGHTER-IN-LAW: It's been his life. He's always been saved by Donald.

JAY GOLDBERG, FORMER LONGTIME ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: He knows everything about Donald. Next to a family member, and perhaps even more than a family member. He knows everything about Donald.

MICHAEL COHEN, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S FORMER PERSONAL ATTORNEY: Everything went through Donald. You name it, right. Allen Weisselberg's kids payments, rent, everything would have a Donald signature on it or his initial.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON (on camera): So most of Trump administration and Weisselberg have pleaded not guilty. Donald Trump released a statement calling the prosecution a, quote, political witch hunt.

The organization for economic cooperation and development says 103 nations including China and India have endorsed plans for a global minimum corporate tax rate.

CNN's Clare Sebastian explains what that could mean for some of the world's largest companies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): To have 130 countries agreed to this is a massive step forward in a process that's taken the best part of the decade. Now this deal aims to solve several problems.

SEBASTIAN (voice over): One, is that big international companies have been able to avoid taxes by shifting their headquarters or locations to lower taxed countries.

[03:55:06]

This deal aims to solve that by allowing the profits of the biggest companies in the world to be taxed not only would they have a physical presence, but where they make their sales. And the other problem it aims to solve is that countries have been lowering their corporate tax rates to attract these companies.

The deal would avoid that by setting a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15 percent. Now the deal targets primarily they are not exclusively the big U.S. Tech giants. Alexa, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Google. And it was made possible by a compromise this year from the Biden administration. Allowing the profits of these big companies to be taxed around the world in exchange for that global minimum tax, which is something the administration has been pushing for.

In a statement today, the U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the race to the bottom is one step closer to coming to an end. Her French counterpart (Inaudible), called this the most important international tax agreement in a century. Now there is still some way to go, not at least because this was not a unanimous agreement. There were nine countries who did not sign up to the deal today, and Ireland perhaps not surprisingly was one of them.

It has a 12.5 percent corporate tax rate, which has attract to some of this big tech companies for the likes of Facebook and Apple have the European headquarters in Ireland. The finance minister saying he couldn't sign up to the global minimum tax as yet, but he continues to work towards consensus.

And there is another concern that this doesn't do enough to help the poorest countries in the world. Oxfam today in a statement called this no more than a G7 money grab. Saying there is only 3 percent of the proceeds from the global minimum tax would go to the poorest countries in the world. Now the OECD said that it was several months to iron out the final technical issues around this deal and it hopes for a final agreement in October. Clare Sebastian, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON (on camera): I'm Paula Newton. Thanks for spending part of your day with me. Kim Brunhuber picks things up from here. You'll have more CNN Newsroom in just a moment.

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