Week. Climate envoy John Kerry will help us understand the prognosis of it. But first heres my take. As we watch the tragedy that is unfolding in afghanistan, lets first dispense with the fantasy that the United States was maintaining the peace there with just a few thousand troops and that the situation couldve been managed with this small commitment. For the last couple of years, it sure looked that way to americans because washington had made a deal with the taliban, and as a result the taliban was deliberately not attacking u. S. And coalition forces. For the afghans, the war had been intensifying. In the summer of 2019 the afghan Army And Police force suffered their worst casualties in the two decades of fighting. It was also the worst spirit for afghan civilian casualties in a decade. In 2018 when the u. S. Had four times as many troops as this year, 282 civilian afghans fled their homes in the countryside. A Government Survey done that year showed that afghan support for u. S. Troops was at 55 down from 90 a decade earlier. You have heard people suggest that the Withdrawal Shouldve been delayed just a bit. Perhaps, but consider this News Report in the guardian in 2016. Afghan forces lose ground to taliban despite delayed u. S. Troop withdrawal. The story pointed out that the u. S. Military had persuaded President Barack Obama to delay his plans. The afghan central Governments Control dropped to only about 65 of the countrys districts. Some of the data ive cited comes from a powerful new book The American War In Afghanistan by a civilian officer in helman province. Drawing his conclusions from the book in a political essay, he begins by noting there can be little doubt that we lost the war. The United States spent 20 years, 2 trillion, commanded at its peak 130,000 coalition troops, built up an afghan Security Force of 300,000, at least on paper, and used the worlds most sophisticated and lethal air power. Still, it was unable to defeat an illequipped taliban force of perhaps 75,000. Why . He tries to answer the question and watched in battle after Battle Numerically Superior and better supplied soldiers being defeated by Poorly Resourced and unexceptionally led taliban. In the last few weeks the most extraordinary site has surely been to see how little the afghan Army And Police has fought back, often melting away the site of the taliban force. The taliban fight for belief, for heaven, killing infidels. The Army And Police fight for money. To be sure afghan soldiers have also been unable, unwilling to turn back the taliban advance because theyre not getting the backup and supplies they need from their leaders. Thats not surprise given the many problems with the afghan government. While democratically elected, it lacks broad support. In the 2019 election, just over 1. 8 million people voted in a country with a population of 39 million. Corruption was and is endemic, and billions of dollars of american aid sloshed around carelessly made it much, much worse. The government never truly incorporated the rural community from which the taliban draws its greatest strength. But, above all, that governments legitimacy was crippled because it survived only thanks to the support of a foreign power. Afghan identity is closely tied to resistance against foreign invasion, particularly the invasion of infidels. Afghan history glorifies the centurylong struggle against the british and the jihad against the godless soviet union. It is easy for the taliban to use these tropes to mobilize nationalism and religious devotion, which powerfully fueled the will to fight and die. The ghani government has no countervailing narrative to inspire its troops. The United States has been watching the taliban Gain Ground in afghanistan for years now. But it is rich and powerful enough to have been able to mask that reality through a steady stream of counterattacks and air, missile, and drone strikes. But none of that changed the fact that despite all itefforts, it had not been able to achieve victory. It could not defeat the taliban. Now, could it have withdrawn better, more slowly in a different season after better negotiations . Certainly. But The Naked Truth is, there is no elegant way to lose a war. And lets get started. The speed of the talibans Triumphant March across afghanistan has shocked even close observers. Now the militants are on the outskirts of the Capital City kabul. Cnns Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward us the latest. Clarissa, welcome. I guess the Big Question is the taliban seems certainly poised to Take Kabul. Will it fall, and if it doesnt, is that because the taliban are being restrained for some reason . Well, i think right now there are talks ongoing at the president ial palace between the government and various taliban representatives from the doha contingency. But it appears that the city is poised to fall to the taliban. People here woke up to the news in the morning that the taliban was at the gates just outside kabul. There was chaos in the streets, fareed. People double parking, people were driving down the wrong side of the road. People were just absolutely panicked. There was a run on the banks. There were people waiting outside in long lines outside of the passport office. So now everybody is just waiting to see what emerges from these talks, what, if anything. Were just learning, forgive me for reaching out, fareed, that a spokesperson for the taliban has now confirmed that the taliban are in the kabul city center. So that is certainly a huge update and will undoubtedly be frightening very many people in this city who face an uncertain future, fareed. What is extraordinary is the lack of response, the military response from the Afghan Army, but even political response from the afghan government. Have we heard anything other than that brief Prerecorded Message from president ghani or from the Defense Minister or from the commander of the Afghan Military . No, thats basically all we heard, a brief message from the Defense Minister, another brief message from the interim minister, assuring everyone to be calm, that Cab Y ul is under control. But that is not likely to assuage anyones fears. We have heard also from the taliban who said we want this to be bloodless, we want this to be peaceful, we will have a Blanket Amnesty for anyone who puts down their weapons and surrenders. You dont need to leave your homes, you can be assured that we will not harm you, our fighters will not come and take over your businesses or launch searches on your houses. But the feeling now, honestly this morning, it was one of chaos. Everybody clammering to get to the airport, the road completely overrun. And now its this very eerie, eerie quiet whereby people are locked up in their homes, they know the taliban is in the city now, but they have no idea what the future will bring and no sense of clarity from their government as to what the situation is, fareed. Clarissa, it does seem like this has been so swift and sudden, and part of a large part of it is the Afghan Army is not fighting. Does that mean that it has been largely bloodless . What are you hearing . The taliban comes in, are there actually any skirmishes, are people losing their lives . So we were in kandahar about ten days ago, and there was definitely fierce fighting going on there. The government understood at that stage that they couldnt afford to lose afghanistans second largest city. Also in herat there was some pretty fierce fighting, there were airstrikes, there were attempts at counteroffenses. But what weve seen in the last few days is a kind of melting away of that resistance. And even my Camera Man and i were driving back from taliban territory recently, and we saw a sort of slough of afghan soldiers running out of their base at a checkpoint hailing down a civilian car and getting in the car and running away, essentially, which i think gives you a feeling for the lack of morale in the Afghan Army. Theres a broad sense clearly that they cant win this, and theyre not willing to die trying to fight it. Clarissa, very briefly i got to ask you, what do you think happens to you if the taliban Take Kabul . Well, we are trying to reach out to the taliban to be in contact with them so that they protect our rights as journalists. But obviously were watching the situation very closely. Most foreigners are now evacuating the country, and we will have to be looking very closely if the time comes when we do so as well. Clarissa, your reporting has just been extraordinary, courageous, and important. So first of all, thank you so much, and please, please stay safe. Thank you, fareed. Next on gps, the Big Question is what happened to the Afghan Military. I will ask americas former top military officer. Growing up in a little red house, on the edge of a forest in norway, there were three things my family encouraged kindness, honesty and hard work. Over time, ive come to add a fourth be curious. Be curious about the world around us, and then go. Go with an open heart and you will find inspiration anew. Viking. Exploring the world in comfort. Ok everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. Whoo hoo ensure, with 27 vitamins and minerals, now introducing ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. For people who could use a lift new neutrogena® rapid firming. A Triplelift Serum with pure collagen. 92 saw visibly firmer skin in just 4 weeks. 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He served as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff from October 2007 to september 2011. In that role he was the top Military Adviser to president s george w. Bush and barack obama. Welcome, admiral. Let me ask you first, on July 8th when President Biden announced the decision to withdraw american troops, you said you agreed with it, you thought it was after 20 years time for the afghan people to sort out their own affairs. Has anything thats happened in the last week changed your mind about that . No. I still think it was the right decision, and it is time to come home. I am taken back by the speed of the collapse, if you will, of the Afghan Army, the afghan police, and indeed even the afghan government, and that its happened so visibly, often times in the discussion right now, there is this comparison to vietnam and that haunting picture of the embassy there as saigon finally fell. And quite frankly with where we are right now were seeing images like that almost every single day. What i dont quite understand in the decision is the timing of it. Anybody thats been in afghanistan or around it knows that this is really the peak of the Fighting Season. So we really are moving out at a time where the taliban are at their absolute max effectiveness. That has puzzled me. In fairness, President Trump set a date, i think of 1 may, President Biden then moved that to the right to create an opportunity for a more orderly departure. That said, my own view is that putting that departure in the middle of the winter, if you will, will allow possibly allow a better outcome here. But the longterm outcome i think is inevitable that the taliban are going to take control and run the country. And, in that regard, i dont think theres a whole lot we can do. You talk about the timing, and of course its peak Fighting Season for both sides, but it will also give the Afghan Army a chance. When you were chairman you focused a lot. I remember having conversations with you both on the show and privately. You were very worried about the level of corruption, the lack of morale in the Afghan Army. Part of whats puzzling about this, theyre not even fighting, theyre melting away. And so what do you think fundamentally went wrong in building an Afghan Army . Well, i think we, the United States and many of our allies, i mean, when i left the Chairmans Job in 2011, there were 49 countries with Military Capability in afghanistan. So there was an awful lot of Military Capability and a lot of political capital invested. And i think all of us, myself included, underestimated the impact of what a corrupt government does. And that was with president karzai, and it is sustained in president ghani to this day. And the afghan people who had great many of them had Great Expectations in us. How can you continue to support this government which is ripping us off right and left . And i think thats not all of it but thats fundamental. And we, in our government, did not actually sort that out. We really werent able to put in Place Support mechanisms which would move that to a much less corrupt state. And i think its fundamental in how we got here. And having the institutions and particularly the army and the police right now collapse, they do that with a knowledge that the government that theyre trying to support is one that i dont think they really do support in terms of the longterm health of the country. You were the chairman when the surge took place, and people forget now, but way back when, general crystal asked for more troops, President Obama agreed to it. After 18 months the data didnt show, the taliban still inflicted the ability to inflict casualties. Was there any learning from that . Well, one of the really controversial issues when President Obama ordered that surge was he set a date for a departure. And actually i supported that decision. And it was a controversial part of his decision. And the reason i supported that is because if we did not have significant progress or show significant progress over the course of the next 18 months or so, then we had the wrong strategy, and we really needed to recalibrate. And i think that was indicated and actually what happened. This is a war that started in 2001, fareed. Weve been through two republican administrations, two democratic administrations, lots of, you know, really significant military leadership, political leadership, diplomatic leadership. And all of us, myself included, we just reached too far. We had expectations were too high and it was a bridge too far to get to where we said we thought we wanted to go. Admiral mullen, pleasure to have you on, sir. Thanks, fareed. Good to be with you. Next on gps, perhaps the people with the most to lose as the taliban seeks to take control of afghanistan again, the nations women and girls. I will talk to a fierce advocate for them who has some tough words for the United States. Back in a moment. Before we talk about taxsmart investing, whats new . Audreys expecting. Twins wed be closer to the twins. Change in plans. At fidelity, a change in plans is always part of the plan. [narrator] at southern new hampshire university, were committed to making college more accessible by making it more affordable. Thats why were keeping our tuition the same for all online and campus programs through the year 2022. I knew snhu was the place for me when i saw how affordable it was, i ran to my husband with my computer and i said, look, we can do this. [narrator] take advantage of some of the lowest online Tuition Rates in the nation. Find youR Degree at snhu. Edu. Shingles . Camera man yeah, 1 out of 3 people get shingles in their lifetime. Well that leaves 2 out of 3 people who dont. I dont know anybody whos had it. Your uncle had shingles. You mean that nasty red rash . 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Our very own way of thanking you just for being with us. Enjoy rewards like Movie Night specials. Xfinity mobile benefits. And exclusive experiences, like the chance to win tickets to see watch what happens live. Hey its me. The longer youve been with us. The more rewards you can get. Like sharpening your Cooking Skills with a top chef. Join for free on the Xfinity App and watch all the rewards float in. Our thanks. Your rewards. First i have some breaking news. Cnn has just confirmed that afghan president Ashraf Ghani has fled the country. Another stunning development in this wartorn nation. When the taliban last ruled over afghanistan from 1996 until the u. S. Invasion in 2001, women and girls were treated in ways that can only be described as medieval. They were not allowed to go to school or to go to work. 6 62 of girls were married off before the age of 18. Violence against women was rampant. Will this be the fate of afghan women again . Joining me now is of the afghans women network, an extraordinary organization. First let me just ask you as somebody, an afghan living in afghanistan, have you been surprised by the collapse of the government and the army and the Police Force . You know, yes and no. Yes, i have been surprised because of the way it went so fast. Notify a matter of two days four provinces of afghanistan going into the hands of taliban. And i was wondering what on earth could be doing that. But then again, at the same time, because of the way this country has become and the corruption the way it is in the world and in afghanistan today, i knew we were sold out. And thats exactly what happened and thats why we are where we are. Thats exactly what it is. So the taliban has claimed that they are not going to do to women now what they did when they ruled it last. Have you heard the same thing . And do you believe them . You know, as an example, some of the women in herat, now, i dont know whether that guy is a part of the taliban or not, but he is a person that belongs to the herat, and you shouldve heard what the man, how the Man Talked to the Women Today when in herat the women went to him and told him about their lives, their work, the permission that they should have to go to school and to go to work. The man absolutely refused them everything, everything and said, no, theres going to be some Women Doctors that are going to be doing the Work But Nobody else. No, youre supposed to be staying home because, you see the reason why there is such a problem with the generation of afghanistan that the children when they are and how they are and how they are living and all of that and behaving is because the mothers are not home, and you are supposed to be staying home and looking after them. So this was his answer. So i dont know what the taliban are going to say. Is this what they believe or is this just one man in their group that believes like that . So to tell you the honest truth, we really dont know until they come and we sit down and talk to them. Tell us about the kind of work youve been doing for the last many years. Uh, i came to afghanistan back to afghanistan to my country to this beautiful land that i love more than anything in this world. I came back to It End of 2002, 2003 actually, and ive been working with the women and children of afghanistan, mainly the women. I started doing Volunteer Work with the ministry of foreign affairs. I thought i should be teaching, but that was to the men and women actually. Because it was right after the problems and Everything And Afghanistan going backwards so many years. So i started working with ouR Diplomats. And then after that i started working with the organization that was giving, disseminating information about human rights, about rights of women, about education, about healthcare, to all of the provinces of afghanistan. So i traveled all over. And everything i was doing was in the form of tapes, and i would go and share the tapes with the women. And we all sit around and we talk, and they would tell about their problems. And that way the women of the village could come and tell about, you know, what was going on and the things that were done, and they were done the wrong way and all of that. So that was an amazing program, and i worked for quite a few years. But in between, you know, being involved with the women, seeing another generation coming up, trying to be the voice of the voiceless, that was my whole idea of coming to afghanistan. I didnt come to this country to make, you know, to make Women Ministers and to make women become into take such a huge power in the government and all of that. I really didnt. I came to afghanistan to be the voice of the voiceless women of my country. All of those women that they are living in the provinces of afghanistan all the way back in the districts, and nobody hears their voices, and they are in dire need of help. They are poor, they are not educated, their children are dying because they are sick, and they have their own childbirth, and there was such a Mother And Child Mortality Rate in afghanistan. I came from that, and i did my part all of these years traveling everywhere, working with the organizations that i absolutely admire. And we were doing fantastic work in these areas. You must be worried watching the taliban rise, not just of the work of you are doing, but you also must be worried about your own personal safety of your own life. You know, i am not a very brave person. I really am not. And im not a martyr either. I love my life and i want to be alive because the women of afghanistan still need me. But this is something, this whole thing that why im here, why im staying, what im doing and how im doing it is because its my job. Its my duty, its my responsibility and i have to do that. And thats exactly why im doing it. So, this is where i am and this is where i want to stay, and i want to be for my girls, for my sisters, and for my daughters. Right now theyre my daughters mostly because theyre young and im an old woman now. But, at the same time, i just want to be here because i know my presence really gives them the kind of, you know, moral and the kind of support that they really need in these very hard times. So thats exactly what im doing. I dont think ive ever offered prayers on television, but i pray that you will be safe, and i hope it with all my heart. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so very much. Next on gps, we will switch to climate. John kerry on the troubling report on Climate Change from the United Nations this week. Can the planet be saved . Will it . From fidelity. Ok everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. Whoo hoo ensure, with 27 vitamins and minerals, now introducing ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. With schizophrenia, i see progress differently. Its in the small things i look forward to. With the people i want to share it with. Its doing my best to follow through. Its the little signs that make me feel like things could be better. Signs that make it feel like real progress. Caplyta effectively treats adults with schizophrenia. And its just one pill, once a day, with no titration. Caplyta can cause serious Side Effects. Elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. 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These are the takeaways from a sobering report from the u. N. This week. So what can be done . Joining me now is the u. S. Climate envoy John Kerry. Secretary kerry, of course i want to ask you questions about afghanistan, but i know you are here to talk about Climate Change. So, let me ask you about last week. White house hails this u. N. Report, and then one day later the White House urges Saudi Arabia and opec to increase production of petroleum, spewing more Greenhouse Gases into the atmosphere. Is that not a kind of mixed message and the central issue we want to have it both ways . We want to have all the cheap oil we can, and at the same time we talk about Climate Change. Well, i dont think, In The End i can understand why some people think it might be, but the fact is it isnt, fareed. The president s really talking about a very short moment where production was at a level anyway that is having an impact on the marketplace. I think the president wants to make sure the marketplace is able to move rapidly in the way that it needs to, to invest the money to make this transition. The president has been crystal clear about that. He has made a goal, which is firmly now implanted in everybodys minds. You just saw the announcement about a 50 sales of electric vehicles only by 2030. In addition, the president has set a goal of by 2035 we will have a Carbonfree Power Production capacity in the United States. So this is a very shortterm Moment Measure with respect to the current state of the marketplace. It is not reflective of the direction that the administration thinks we ought to be going. In fact, the administration has been phasing down and pushing other countries to phase down use of coal, the dirtiest fuel in the world and one of the most impactful negatively right now in many parts of the world. So, i dont think, In The End its not a longterm policy, its a shortterm move for an immediate stabilization. But that will empower us, i think, to do a lot of the things we need to do. You talked about coal and how we are trying to get people Around The World off coal. So i want to ask you about this. When you go Around The World, i hear from people who say, look, the chinese government has offered us these Financing Deals to built coalfired power plants. Our only other option is natural gas, but the united States Government will not offer Project Financing for natural gas. Theyre not going to be able to set up renewal, they dont have Battery Storage to do that. They need whats called Base Load Power that is always on. Should we not be countering chinas efforts to fund coal with american natural gas, which is half the emissions of coal . There are places, fareed, in the world, where it is imperative to have power and to transition into Power Production that is absolutely clean. But not every place is going to be able to do that immediately. So, i would personally and i think as a matter of policy, we would prefer a country to be using gas momentarily if theyre not able to deploy renewals. The first choice should be renewal. Without any question there are countries now that are at 90 production by renewals. A few at 100 , very few. Iceland, for instance. But it is possible to be able to be building out a capacity to be able to transition more rapidly from gas and from fossil fuel, generally. That is what ought to be the goal. But there are certain places where that isnt possible immediately. I would much rather have a Country Transition temporarily to the gas rather than burning the coal because you do get a 50 reduction. And so some countries could buy a tenyear period here. The 2020 to 2030 period where theyre actually reducing by 50 , but with a plan to be transitioning into green hydrogen or using storage or other renewable possibilities. Thats exactly what were trying to work towards with the Glasgow Meeting coming up on november 1st. Thats the next meeting of the u. N. Parties, 196 plus countries will come together. And we need to adopt a very forwardleaning policy for 2020 to 2030. The challenge with china is to get china to stop funding externally outside of their country, those coal plants. Theyve talked about having a green, you know, green Belt And Road initiative. Were working with china very closely right now. Im going there in three weeks. We will be continuing the conversations weve had over the course of the last six months. My hope is that china will step up as it did in 2013 and help to lead the world as we move forward here. China is already the largest producer of renewable power. Its already deployed more renewable power than any other country in the world. But because china is bigger than almost every other country in the world, china needs to do that, needs to reduce more rapidly. And were working how that might be achievable. Secretary kerry, Id Love to talk to you more. Afghanistan has crowded this show. We will have you on again to talk more about this important subject. Thank you, sir. Next on gps, europes dreadful Heat Wave, the greek Prime Minister explains just what happened. man ive made progress with my Mental Health. So when i started having unintentional Body Movements called tardive dyskinesia. I ignored them. But when the movements in my hands and feet started throwing me off at work. I finally had to say, its not ok. it was time to talk to my doctor about austedo. She said that austedo helps reduce Td Movements in adults. While i continue with most of my Mental Health medications. Vo Austedo can cause depression, suicidal thoughts, or actions in patients with huntingtons disease. Pay close attention to and call youR Doctor if you become depressed, have sudden changes in mood, behaviors, feelings, or have suicidal thoughts. 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Coventry direct, redefining insurance. We are back with nick live from kabul. The afghan president has fled apparently tajikistan. The taliban now they say have entered kabul. What is it like, has kabul, in effect, fallen . This is a seismic moment. There is the sound of Gun Fire pretty consistently in kabul at the moment. Unclear whos shooting who and it could often be nervousless. There is obviously seismic news for people in afghanistan to suggest. Ashraf ghani i am told left the country five or six hours ago. Possibly to tajikistan with his close aides, a small number of them. Hes now referred to by a key figure here in former government as the former president. Appeals for calm here certainly, but i have to say one of the former members of staff of president ghani referred to this as him running away. And, most importantly, we had been expecting for weeks, even months if you listen to u. S. Diplomacy some sort of transitional powersharing agreement. More clearly that has not happened. The president has left the country. There is nothing that we are aware of at this point to shore up political factions here and prevent the taliban from simply moving in and taking power. And a lot of the reports were hearing here is they are slowly moving around the city with the key goal of securing major objectives here. So unclear precisely what awaits many kabulis tomorrow morning. Dark is certainly falling here, and it is an unprecedented night for this Capital City after 20 years of the american security blanket. Again, nick, we often heard about how kabul was well fortified. The afghan Army And Police force had its strongest numbers there. Did they fight . How did the taliban enter . Reporter theyve seemed for the most part to have entered peacefully. We are Hearing Crackles of gunfire here and there, but there are not reports of fighting or amassing in specific areas. As far as we are aware and it is dark here, so we are not able to go around and witness these events, they are moving gently across the city. But, as i say, unprecedented times partly because nobody imagined the taliban would enter into the city of 6 Million um impeded. But i think, frankly, the president said that he essentially wanted to stick around and has now disappeared without a transitional government potentially to take over the chaos here. It does seem as though the talibans power grab, which began, i mean, startlingly about eight or nine days ago in full with a move to provincial cities is now moving into the capital of kabul, fareed. Nick, i have to ask you what i asked Clarissa Ward. Do you have any assurances from anyone in the taliban that you and journalists like you will be safe . Well, they have been very clear, those elements the taliban leadership foreign reporters like clarissa and myself will be looked after and objective reporting is indeed welcome here. So we would like to hold them of course. And at this stage, while it is dark, we are not hearing reports at this point of violence inside this city. But we hear the crackle of gunfire occasionally and clearly there are millions of people in kabul here having to come to terms with the unthinkable idea of an insurgency, who, for so many years thought would never be able to open the ring of steel. Stay safe, nick. Thank you so much. We next go to the interview with the Prime Minister of greece on those Forest Fires ravaging europe. Reporter the statistics from greeces wildfires are astounding. More than 500 separate fires burning in a country roughly the same size as pennsylvania. More than 20 other nations have sent help, and more than half of greeces second largest island has already burned. Meanwhile, europe recorded what appears to be its Highestever Temperature reaching almost 120 degrees in sicily. The heat comes from an anticyclone that has fittingly been nicknamed lucifer. Parts of Southern Europe have truly looked like hell this week. Joining me now is greeces Prime Minister kyriakos mitsotakis. Prime minister, welcome. First my condolences. How did this get so out of hand . Fareed, thank you for having me. We faced an unprecedented Heat Wave for approximately ten days we had temperatures exceeding 43, getting close to 45 degrees celsius. We havent had such a bad Heat Wave for many, many decades, and we had to deal with almost 600 fires that broke out over a span of a week. We did manage to put out almost all of them, but unfortunately a few of them got very big. So at some point we had to deal with four mega fires simultaneously. We did the best we could. We evacuated Tens Of Thousands of people. Fortunately, we managed to protect human life. We only had one loss of human life. So our protection in that respect did great job. But of course we are faced with a big environmental catastrophe. Significant number of forests have been destroyed. And im afraid that this is going to be the reality that areas such as the mediterranean will be facing from now on. This was not just a greek problem. Spoke about the fires in sicily and nigeria and in turkey. This is the climate Crisis Striking here. And its time for all of us to get very serious about what we should do about it. Youve talked about the Climate Crisis. But, you know, even in europe where people are much more aware of this, there is a lot of resistance to taking the pain that will inevitably come from serious efforts to tackle Climate Crisis. The movement in france was essentially a protest against gas taxes. Do you think that something like the Forest Fires will be a Wakeup Call . Will it be easier for you to pass measures that will really address the Climate Crisis . Well, first of all, fareed, let me point out that europe is at the forefront of tackling Climate Change. As you know, we have set a very ambitious target to bring down Greenhouse Gases by 55 by 2030. And we do hope and the goal is to become climate neutral by 2050. So, these are very ambitious targets. And the good thing is that we also have the financial instruments now to support these types of policies. Of course, we need the people on board. And i can tell you that greece was at the forefront of decarbonizing even before this crisis struck back in 2019 i announced that within a relatively short time frame, we would shut down all our coalfired, in our Case Electricity plants. And weve worked very hard with the local communities to ensure that we can make this Transition Work for them and that we will actually create more jobs than the jobs that will be lost. But we need to explain to people that this is a oneway street that, this is a crisis that cannot just be addressed through lofty declarations, that we need to put our money where our mouth is. And certainly i intend for greece to be at the forefront of this effort. This is going to be a Wakeup Call. This and other catastrophes, i think its becoming a reality especially for the younger generation that we need to drastically change the way we produce electricity, the way we build our buildings, the way we grow our food, the way we move around. This has to happen and we need to start now. It feels like this is an area where the United States is not really the leader. Europe has more ambitious targets, more ambitious policies. What do you want to see from the United States . Well, first of all, i had a chance to speak with Secretary Kerry extensively. And im happy that this is a very important agenda for the new biden administration. So i do think things in the u. S. Are much better and that the current administration recognizes that the u. S. Needs to take the lead when it comes to addressing Climate Change. And of course the u. S. Being the largest economy in the world i think is going to be a hot bed of innovation because we cannot address this issue without significant investment in R D and without significant innovation. So im much more optimistic about the role that the u. S. Can play, but we need all the big players on board. The u. S. , china, india, everyone needs to do their share. Prime minister, pleasure to have you on. Fareed, thank you very much. Thanks to all of you for being part of my program this week. I will see you next week. This is cnn breaking