As Taliban sweeps through Afghanistan, hundreds of thousands flee homes: 5 Things podcast

USA TODAY
·9 min read

On today's 5 Things episode: The Taliban is surging. Will they take Kabul next? Plus, South Florida braces for tropical depression Fred, COVID-19 cases spike, there's an impending Affordable Care Act deadline and the NFL preseason kicks off.

Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning, I'm Taylor Wilson. And this is 5 Things you need to know Saturday, the 14th of August 2021. Today, chaos in Afghanistan, plus Fred makes landfall in Florida, and more.

Taylor Wilson:

Here are some of the top headlines.

  1. Nanci Griffith has died. The folk ability singer was the first artist to record from a distance, she was 68.

  2. An Algerian Prosecutor has ordered an investigation into the death of a man killed by a mob, after being accused of setting wildfires. The fires have killed at least 69 people throughout the mountainous Berber region.

  3. And that Field of Dreams game in Major League Baseball this week was the most watched regular season MLB game since 2005. In the game, the Chicago White Sox walked off to beat the New York Yankees, surrounded by Iowa cornfields where the iconic 1989 movie was shot.

Taylor Wilson:

The US Embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul is preparing to evacuate. The Embassy has also directed staff members to destroy sensitive documents and other material that could be used as propaganda. The move comes as the Taliban quickly expands its hold across Afghanistan. The insurgents are taking new provincial capitals almost every week and closing in on Kabul itself.

Taylor Wilson:

The Taliban offensive comes as the US and NATO will soon withdraw most troops from the country, but Pentagon spokesman, John Kirby said this week, that the US is sending thousands of troops back into Afghanistan to help evacuate most embassy personnel.

John Kirby:

Three battalions are preparing to move from their current locations in the central command area of responsibility to Kabul. And they consist of a Marine battalion that was already pre-staged in the region, and has lifts sustainment and support capabilities. And another Marine infantry battalion from a Marine expeditionary unit, and a US Army infantry battalion.

John Kirby:

What we want to be able to do is to get there fast and get there capable, and be able to provide as much capacity to the State Department as we can. And our intention is to be able to move thousands per day. Kabul is not right now, an imminent threat environment, but clearly David, if you just look at what the Taliban has been doing, you can see that they are trying to isolate Kabul.

John Kirby:

We are always worried about US equipment that could fall into an adversary's hands, and that's something we never lose focus on. And what actions we might take to prevent that or to forestall it, I just don't believe we'll speculate about today.

Taylor Wilson:

While Kirby said that there is not an imminent threat to Kabul, the Taliban keeps moving closer. On Saturday, they seized a province just 50 miles south of the city, and the insurgents control most of Northern, Western, and Southern Afghanistan, and Kabul is located in the Northeastern part of the country.

Taylor Wilson:

The Taliban has also taken over the second and third largest cities of Kandahar and Herat. United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres said Afghanistan is spinning out of control.

Antonio Guterres:

Even a country that has tragically known generations of conflicts, Afghanistan is in the throes of yet another chaotic and desperate chapter, an incredible tragedy for its long suffering people. Afghanistan is spinning out of control.

Antonio Guterres:

In the last months alone, more than 1,000 people have been killed or injured from indiscriminate attacks against civilians, notably in Helmand, Kandahar, and Herat provinces. The fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security forces in urban environments is causing tremendous harm.

Antonio Guterres:

At least 241,000 people have been forced to flee from their homes and humanitarian needs are growing by the hour.

Taylor Wilson:

The US invaded Afghanistan after 9/11. The terror attacks were planned and carried out by Al-Qaeda while being sheltered by the Taliban. After largely pushing the Taliban out of power, the US in more recent years, shifted to nation building and training, hoping to create a modern and safer Afghanistan.

Taylor Wilson:

Former President Donald Trump then reached an agreement with the Taliban to pave the way for a US troop withdrawal, and president Joe Biden announced a timeline earlier this year to withdraw almost all US troops by the end of August. The Taliban has been reinvigorated in recent months ahead of that move. The group had previously ruled the country under a harsh version of Islamic law, where women were largely confined to their homes.

Taylor Wilson:

South Florida has a common weekend on its hands this time of year, one with intense tropical weather. Tropical Depression Fred dumped more heavy rain Friday over Cuba, and is expected to make landfall early Saturday in the Florida Keys.

Taylor Wilson:

A tropical storm warning has been issued there, meaning tropical storm conditions are expected within 36 hours. As of 2:00 AM Eastern time, Saturday, it was about 130 miles South Southeast of Key West. As Fred gets closer to US landfall, another system in the Atlantic, Tropical Depression Seven was forecast to become Tropical Storm Grace this weekend in the Caribbean. And AccuWeather is predicting it'll also make landfall in Florida sometime next week, though its path is still unclear.

Taylor Wilson:

It has not been a good second half of the summer when it comes to COVID-19 in the United States. According to the CDC, since July 1st, there's been a 700% increase in the week, over week average of infections. This period comes after the country reached a low point for new infections in late June, with about 10,000 cases a day.

Taylor Wilson:

Today, the average is closer to 125,000 a day. The info was presented on Friday at the CDCs Advisory Committee on immunization practices meeting. While talking about vaccine booster shots, Dr. William Moss, a Professor of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins said, "The combination of the Delta variant, susceptibility due to relatively low vaccination coverage, some relaxing of our public health measures, these all came together and we're seeing this wave."

Taylor Wilson:

Other epidemiologists at the meeting emphasize that the Delta variant is nearly twice as contagious as previous versions, and that fully vaccinated people can still spread the virus to others, but do appear to be infectious for a shorter period of time than unvaccinated people.

Taylor Wilson:

Additionally, in the first 12 days of August, the US reported more cases than it did the entire month of July, but health experts clarified at the meeting that because so many older people are now fully vaccinated, huge case numbers don't mean the exact same thing as before vaccinations.

Taylor Wilson:

UC, Irvine Population Health Professor, Andrew Noymer said, "100,000 cases today is less dire than 100,000 in December 2020." That means cases are more concentrated in younger people who are less likely to be vaccinated. Dr. Anthony Fauci said this week that he does expect more children to get the virus, and more to get sick from it.

Anthony Fauci:

The Delta variant is much more highly transmissible than was Alpha. So given that, you'll see more children likely get infected. And since you have a certain percentage of children, even though the percentage is small, certain percentage of children will require hospitalization. So quantitatively, you will see more children in the hospital.

Anthony Fauci:

Regarding the severity of illness, there was a couple of studies, mostly international, which suggested that Delta was more severe in adults, namely causing more relative percentage of hospitalization and more severe disease.

Anthony Fauci:

With regard to children, this could possibly be the case, but we are not seeing this in a definitive way.

Taylor Wilson:

For all the latest on the pandemic, stay with the live COVID-19 updates page on usatoday.com.

Taylor Wilson:

The Affordable Care Act is going through a revival under President Joe Biden, and the end of day, Sunday, local time is the deadline for Americans to take advantage of a special signup period for private health care coverage.

Taylor Wilson:

Biden ordered the healthcare.gov marketplace to reopen in February, and since, more than 2,500,000 people have signed up. Then in April, new subsidies in Biden's American Rescue Plan created plans with lower premiums and deductibles. The ACA better known as Obamacare appears here to stay. The Supreme court turned away a third major challenge to the law earlier this summer.

Taylor Wilson:

NFL preseason is in full swing. It officially kicked off last week with the Hall of Fame game, but all 32 NFL teams are now in action this weekend. And it's the first pre-season since 2019 because of the pandemic last year. There is one change though, it's been shortened.

Taylor Wilson:

Pre-season will be just three weeks long instead of the usual four. Because of another change to this year's NFL season, a shift from 16 to 17 regular season games. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers enter the season as defending champions. They beat the previous defending champs, the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. And the Chiefs are this year's odds on favorites followed by the Bucks, then the Green Bay Packers, and Buffalo Bills. Head to USA Today Sports for previews and more this month, ahead of opening night on September 9th.

Taylor Wilson:

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. A special shout out if you're listening to us on your daily drive through Spotify. And if you're listening for the first time, we love that you're here. You can stick around by getting the show every morning on Spotify. Just search 5 Things under podcasts on the app, then click follow and your phone will automatically download the pod each morning.

Taylor Wilson:

Thanks as always to Shannon Green and Claire Thornton for their great work on the show. And Claire's back with the special edition Sunday show, right here on this feed. 5 Things is part of the USA Today Network.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Taliban is surging in Afghanistan, weeks before U.S. set to pull out.

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