>> building a better bay area. moving forward. finding solutions. this is abc 7 kristen: you are watching "getting answers" live on abc seven, hulu live, and wherever you stream. we asked experts everywhere at 3:00. today we bring in a doctor to talk about kids safely returning to in-person learning. his prescription for your kids, and the latest on posters. first, the follower's kenaston. president biden just addressed the nation regarding his decision to withdraw u.s. troops from that country and end the u.s. military commitment that after 20 years. pres. biden: our mission was never supposed to be nation-building, it was never supposed to be creating a

unified, center-left democracy. it remains today what it has always been, preventing a terrorist attack on american homeland, and that is why as president, i am adamant we focus on the threats we face today, in 2021, not yesterday's threats. kristen: joining us now is aisha wahab, hey words of mayor pro tempore. she became the first african-american elected to office in the u.s. -- afghan-american elected to office in the u.s. when she joined the board. i know today that your heart is heavy. describe what you are thinking as you watch the images we have all seen these past few days. >> i think it is disappointing to see the execution of the withdrawal, the way it has unfolded. it was inevitable to withdraw. i do believe that the larger

afghan american the diaspora in particular, feel very hopeless and very abandoned as to what will happen in the future for afghan women, religious minorities, and ethnic minorities as kristen: you heard president biden say that our commitment there was to prevent a terrorist attack here in the u.s., to keep us safer. do you think leaving afghanistan, with the taliban now back in power, actually makes us safer here? >> no. i can state that by the fact that afghanistan has always been a geopolitical stronghold for every great nation in history. afghanistan being surrounded by russia, china, pakistan, india and iran, we are not making necessarily the american people safer by abandoning afghanistan. the u.s. still has a role to play, in afghanistan is a key part in national security. kristen: you came to the u.s. by

-- you were born in new york city -- but that is because your parents fled in the 1980's when the soviets took over. were they targeted? aisha: my parents, or just in general? my parents were seeking political asylum. they came as refugees to the united states. my father ended up being murdered in new york city. my sister and i grew up in the foster care system. kristen: it has been a hard road, he ended up in california in hayward. you have been able to thrive, becoming the first african-american elected to public office. i wonder when you look at afghanistan and do you think, had my parents not fled, had that been where i was born, maybe you would have become a mayor i am. thinking of the 27-year-old mayor who was quoted saying that she is waiting for the taliban to come and kill her now. does that break your heart?

aisha: yes, because the beauty of the united states is that you can come from anywhere and make it if you work hard and new put yourself out there. the situation ends up being that this is a circumstance. afghan women and many others in afghanistan do not have the same circumstances. they cannot thrive in the country that they were born in. and they will be treated as second-class citizens. that is a big fear, of what the taliban will do. kristen: do you still have any relatives there at all or anyone that you keep in touch with? aisha: we have a lot of african-americans that were born in the u.s. that are serving in the u.s. army as well as in humanitarian efforts and different nonprofits and agencies. many of them are very concerned, especially the young women, very concerned as to what will happen to them, how they will leave afghanistan, if they will stay in afghanistan. communication has been pretty consistent, though.

social media has been very helpful -- twitter, instagram, facebook, all that has been accessible. but the concern is, will the taliban go dark? kristen: that is the big unknown. we have heard interviews of taliban fighters, leaders on the street saying, women can still go to school, girls can still go to school. but we see pictures of storefronts already covering up advertisements of women's faces, women buying burqa's again. what do you think the u.s. for the international community can do to hold them accountable for continuing or, i should say, respecting the rights of women? aisha: the international community has a role to play in holding the government and whatever government ends up being formed, accountable to international law, as well as holding up women's rights and the rights of many minorities. the situation ends up being shanks than.

with the debt's who meant -- the situation ends up being shanks shanksanctions. government is not just holding food, shelter and security. we don't know what the taliban will do in regards to governance. that said, there are many other nations surrounding afghanistan that are deeply interested in what will happen and are partnering with the taliban. the united states and western countries have a role to play in international and humanitarian aid. kristen: what about us? what can we do as citizens to support the people of afghanistan or even african-americans who are hurting here right now? aisha: could you repeat the question, i apologize, you went. kristen: what can we do to support the people in afghanistan or african-americans right now? aisha: reach out to your

african-american friends. it is a sad time in our history and collectively as a community. i will also say, do your part in holding your elected officials accountable. all our congress members, senators, they have a role to play in what type of diplomacy will move forward. the state department has a huge role in the diplomacy that will be interacting with the taliban and other the countries that surround the country. kristen: hey words mayor pro tem, aisha wahab, thank you so much for taking time to chat with us. i know we have not seen the last of you. i will be talking to you soon. thank you so much. aisha: thank you. take care. kristen: we will be keeping this conversation going with an afghan interpreter who helped the u.s. army. he got out but he is worried about those who will n

retaliio ismail seattle area director of the nonprofit "no one left behind." thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. kristen: you were an afghan interpreter who worked with the u.s. army. can you describe how you feel today watching these events unfold? i everything on the line for peace and security and stability for our country, and we never thought it would come down to this. it is a nightmare. kristen: how many people are in

the category of facing the wrath of the taliban for how they worked with the u.s.? i know interpreters is one category. who else? ismail: there are a lot of different people. one, interpreters. the other was cooks, cleaners, security guards, mechanics, laundry guys, there are a lot of people that worked with u.s. forces and not only their lives, their families' lives are in danger. kristen: is that something you thought about when he signed on to be an interpreter for the u.s. military? were their friends or people who told you not to do it? ismail: there are a lot of people that was encouraging to join, but there were many people that also said, don't do this. it will get you and your family

and friends in trouble one day. and we did not listen. now we are facing the reality. kristen: how many people are we talking about. one figure said 20,000. i think that is the number that applied for the special immigrant visa. give us the background on that. ismail: i w w w more than 60,000 people that need to get out right now. kristen: that is realistically, obviously not going to happen. the biden administration committed to about 5000 who have gotten conditional approval for a visa from the u.s. embassy. that means thousands don't qualify. what are you urging people right now, what are you doing as part of no one left behind? ismail: we have been pushing everything we can. we came up with a petitionn include members, immediate

family, parents, brothers and sisters, in the siv process. their lives are in danger because of their service to the u.s. government. we are a people underground who served the american forces, only u.s. government. we listen to them, we are in direct contact with them, we listen to their problems and then we bring them to the u.s. government. and the solution we have. kristen: even if you get sympathetic years in washington, isn't this a process that takes a lot of time? your own experience tells you that, right?il: it takes many y. someone is waiting for his visa for 15 years. there is someone who came in july who waited 10 years. 3-5 years is the normal process time. kristen: but we are out of time now. ismail: we are out of time.

we do not have time. kristen: so what is going to happen to all those thousands of people? ismail: people are going today. they have killed some translator up north, three of them. they are going door-to-door to slaughter and kill those who've raised their head and wanted to help. kristen: you have already heard of actual stories, from trustworthy sources, of people who had been killed already for having worked with the u.s.? ismail: i have not slept for the last two or three days because of the phone calls, emails, everything that we receive over the past few days. they don't know what to do. they are fearful. they are in hiding, in the basement, my own family, there

in four separate locations, just to make sure they are alive, they survive. they are calling me, like, i am going to burn my documents. . we are advising them, whatever you do, please send copies to friends and family in the united states, as you are dealing with the government, they will never help you if you cannot prove that you worked with them, so make sure you keep those documents. it is not an easy time. i don't know if you watched the video, 17 people are jumping on the wings and hope. kristen: what appeared to be one person falling from the wing, dropping from the air. that is heartbreaking. i got to ask you, the, you know, president biden said today that many afghans did not want to leave sooner. do you agree with that

ismail, do you still hear me? ismail: i can hear. kristen: many americans are saying, what was the plan to get the folks who helped us out? why was that not done first before we withdrew the but president biden said many afghans did not want to leave sooner. do you agree with that? ismail: no. show me one person. don't talk about many, show me one person. i have been helping someone directly who was with robert miller, who was a medal of honor winner, and he spent 11 years with u.s. special forces working across the country. his son was kidnapped in 2012. his oldest son was killed four months ago. he did his interview in 2019 and he is still waiting for his visa. . and they are talking about people don't want to leave?

show me one person who said he did not want to leave. the process they have put in place is a nightmare. it is slow. it is not moving. you're not helping. people are dying. kristen: i feel like i am losing your signal, but i do want to ask you this, because, president biden just said, "we can't keep sending our sons and daughters to fight afghanistan's civil war, when afghan troops will not fight." do you suppose afghan troops do not fight? we did not see a lot of fighting or resistance when the taliban came rolling in. ismail: when you tie everyone's hands, when you politically make decisions someone to fight when they don't have the support? like they did not have food and

water to eat or drink. they did not have anything to fight with, so how would they fight. they did not get their salaries for the last few months. they have been begging for supplies, but there is no supplies. so how could they fight. kristen: this is not a problem that we can solve in this conversation, but you certainly have highlighted for many americans who are not aware what is going on. tell us, how can the public help in your work? ismail: talk to your congressmen and congresswomen, talk to senators, talk to the biden administration. it is not possible to bring them to the united states, take them to another country. get them out of the kill zone. those are heroes. they stood with american people at a time when they needed them the most. they made sure that your loved one comes to you alive.

now your lives are in danger -- their lives are in danger, their families' lives are in danger. they are dying and they are begging for help. we should stand up and do something about it. it is a matter of life and death. kristen: is mild can, seattle area director -- ismail seattle director of the nonprofit "no one left behind and former interpreter of the u.s. army. thank you so much for the conversation today. is

latest covid-19 developments now, and there are many. california's new numbers offer a glimmer of hope. pfizer moves closer to getting its booster shot out, and thousands of students go back to school. joining us is dr. peter chin

hung. good to see you. >> always a pleasure, kristin. kristen: let's start with pfizer. they just submitted data concerning a booster dose. give us the details. >> pfizer submitted data to the fda about safety, which nobody ever had in question. it is going to be safe. the question is whether or not it is needed clinically, and i think that question has still not been resolved for most of the american population. it has been approved for immunocompromised individuals. this is not really a booster for them, it is more that we are trying to increase their response to the vaccine in the first kristen: so are you saying the jury is still out? will the fda want more data? when do you think we will see more resolution on that? >> the fda will probably approve it, they probably will not have any barriers to approving it.

whether or not the cdc will then sanction or recommend it is another step in the process, and that is probably where there will be some dis-synchrony. they will probably need a few more months of data, looking at hospitalizations and deaths. kristen: the fda already okayed it for the immunocompromised group, just because maybe their immunity did not take as much of the vaccine. do you think people of a certain age might get the booster through that avenue soon? i know that france, germany and israel have been giving it to elderly people. they are lowering the age 250. i don't want to think that 50 is elderly. >> tell me about it. i think that will be the next group that the biden administration is already planning on no waiting -- not waiting for to approve it. it takes a lot of logistics. that will be the next group, in my opinion. you don't want to wait for that

group to go to the hospital, you want to make sure they continue to be protected. kristen: today in california, we have 11,000 new cases, but the seven-day test positivity rate is 6.1%, down a little from last week. is that reason for optimism? is the surge plateauing? >> i am holding hope that this is real. we saw in los angeles first, the glimmer that the rate of increase was going down. then los angeles started their mask mandate before we did. so it makes sense it would be seen there first. i think this is real. it makes sense to me. what we know and did not know on june 15. now that everybody is aware, that is driving down transmissions. kristen: in missouri, i heard ybout

soon dr. chin-hong: yes. erybody says delta is rapid on and rapid off. we saw what happened in the u.k. . we see what is happening in missouri. the difference with misery and us is misery is having more deaths, and we are not. ismail: our vaccination rate in our particles are pretty safe here. there is a new study about the bees and toddlers seemingly spreading covid more easily than teens. seems counterintuitive to me. ismail: there were thousands of households studied in canada and ontario. what they showed is probably not that surprising, which is that the people bringing covid to the hospitals are the young adults and teens. the vast majority. but once it gets into the household, babies become a potential source of transmission , not in a lot, but in about 25%

of cases. in most of the hospitals, nothing happened -- in most of the households. but when there was transmission, of course, you are getting it from the adolescent probably, then when taking care of the baby, it makes sense that they would transmit it. they are not dying, but they are a source of transmission. kristen:. kristen: got it. that makes sensep alex wants to know, how concerned are you about kids in schools, many districts are reporting outbreaks? he uses the term outbreaks but i think it is more cases we have heard about in bay area schools. ismail: what people are hearing about is just people being tested or being sick, which is consistent with what we know about from the last year. most of the kids get it from the community. the school is actually a very controlled environment if you think about it. i don't expect any interest school outbreaks.

kristen: so if you had a kid that was school aged, you would send them back in person? dr. chin-hong: yes. i have spoken to a few parents. i would say the majority are excited that school started. kids are excited, and i hope with the current cases in the community that this will continue to be ok. kristen: we will go over to facebook live as we take a short i was injured in a car crash. i had no idea how much my case was worth. i called the barnes firm. when a truck hit my son, i had so many questions about his case. i called the barnes firm. it was the best call i could've made. your case is often worth more than insurance offers. call the barnes firm to find out what your case could be worth. we will help get you the best result possible.

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kristen: thank you so much for joining us on this interactive show, getting today recovered local perspectives to the major news that the taliban has taken over kabul and afghanistan. we heard from the hayward mayor pro tem, and a former i've got

interpreter working for the u.s. military. he now works for the nonprofit "no one left behind." to l tonight, the fall of afghanistan. president biden addressing the american people late today, defending the u.s. withdrawal, telling americans, quote, i stand firmly behind my decision. the searing images from kabul, with the taliban now in control of the country. afghan citizens racing to an american military plane, a c-17, heading down the runway for takeoff. reports people were killed falling from the plane. and that others died in the chaos. disturbing video showing people desperate to board planes. video showing a child being pulled aboard, clinging to a rope. the u.s. tonight now says it is preparing to air lift ousandof americaembassy staffnd afghan interpreters and their families. those who briefly worked with the americans over 20 years. now fearing for their