vaccine. again, the concern is that this back and forth will make them even more reluctant to get a vaccine. the concern here is that the biden administration needs to work on its messaging. back to you. coming up on cnn newsroom, sending her peers a simple message. my message technically is just if you re eligible to get the vaccine, please do. the florida teen s terrifying experience. that s ahead. plus, women are demanding the taliban respect their right as afghanistan s new rumors consolidate power, but are the taliban listening? we ll have those details just ahead. stay with us. energy is everywhere. even in a little seedling. which, when turned into fuel, can help power a plane.
government, and that has presented a small window for afghan women to publicly demand their rights be protected. [ chants ] the women are demanding the right to work and to have a continued voice in the country s affairs, especially on education and health. but as you can see here, even this small demonstration was enough to provoke the taliban to try to break it up. meanwhile, anti-taliban forces in the rugged panjshir valley are battling an incursion by taliban fighters. the panjshir has long been controlled by the national resistance front and has never been under taliban control journalist ben farmer is in kabul where it s 1:30 in the afternoon. he joins us by phone. thanks for being with us. let s start with the protests we saw from those women there in kabul a day after a similar one in harot. tell us more about their pledge to the taliban and to the outside world. reporter: well, these are they re not huge protests, a few
welcome back to all of you watching us here in the united states, canada, and around the world. i m kim brunhuber. this is cnn newsroom. in afghanistan, the taliban are pressing their military offensive into the mountainous panjshir valley north of kabul. heavy fighting was reported friday between the taliban and the national resistance front, a coalition of afghan fighters long opposed to the taliban. panjshir has been a stronghold for decades. it s the only piece of the country the taliban have never controlled. selcelebratory gunfire broke ou after they seemed to gain panjshir but the resistance denieses it s been defeated.
translator: i ve been unemployed and sitting at home for 17 or 18 days. this isn t easy because we have rent and other expenses. translator: i do not feel well. everyone fled, and there are no work opportunities in afghanistan at all. reporter: afghanistan was already one of the poorest countries in the world. facing rampant corruption and dependent on foreign aid. around 75% of the previous government s budget came from overseas grants according to the world bank. now the u.s. has blocked the taliban from accessing afghanistan s foreign reserves, and the imf, eu and world bank have suspended payments. now the taliban has only access to roughly $100 million in cash inside the country. reporter: only $100 million. but afghanistan s reserves are a
the white house is dealing what was said between the president and the afghan president during the last phone call before the taliban takeover. listen to this president biden was telling ghani three things work with my team to mail down the nail down the doeletails of letting military commanders implement the strategy, three, rally the political leaders behind that strategy to reinforce the confidence of the afghan public and the international community behind that strategy. the white house added, unfortunately ghani, quote, couldn t or wouldn t heed that ad advice. it comes after reuters reported it reviewed a transcript of that phone call and much of the conversation was focused on what president biden called the afghan government s perception problem. the absence of a formal taliban government has provided a small window for afghan women to demand their rights be protected. but friday s public