CNN Correspondent (3:15)

It is officially day two of Driving from Afghanistan back to America. And we are here with a CNN crew in the city of Kabul.

CNN Interviewer (3:21)

So do you have a routine when you come to a city like this, like Kabul?

CNN Correspondent (3:25)

First thing I do is find a gym.

CNN Interviewer (3:27)

Are there good gyms in Afghanistan?

CNN Correspondent (3:29)

Oh, ye.

CNN Interviewer (3:38)

The Taliban have banned women from going to the gym along with any other sports. Were women allowed to work out here?

Sarah Adams (3:46)

For now, no.

CNN Correspondent (3:47)

They just directed from the Verna and south.

CNN Interviewer (3:50)

So the Taliban's not allowed?

CNN Correspondent (3:51)

Yeah, but in the near future, we hope.

CNN Interviewer (3:58)

We'Re just gonna hang by the side and watch him work out. Fun.

CNN Correspondent (4:09)

So this is the result of driving around the world still. Still jacked. We'll see in another year from now when I make it back home.

CNN Interviewer (4:16)

What's your impressions of Afghanistan been?

CNN Correspondent (4:19)

I had good expectations and they've actually been blown out of the water in terms of hospitality and kindness from the Taliban.

CNN Interviewer (4:25)

The Taliban you found to be very.

CNN Correspondent (4:26)

Kind, incredibly kind and curious about an. They're appreciative that an American wants to come see their country for what it is and not stay away because of what's told.

Sarah Adams (4:36)

Oh, the Taliban is so hospitable. I wish I had kind of like those big fake eyelashes and I could bat them at the Taliban right now because I really think they deserve it for how they got CNN to spin this. This was very. So first off, as a lot of people know and that I've spent a lot of time discussing, over the course of the last four years, the Taliban have held multiple American hostages. The one of most concern is Mahmoud Shah habibi. Right. He was captured by the Taliban, transferred to Al Qaeda custody. He's obviously been through more than we want to talk about publicly. But one thing I want to explain is they were torturing him to the brink of death to where they had to take him to a hospital and revive him. They didn't revive him so he could get better. They were reviving him so they could return him back and continue torturing him. Right. So this is the experience of an actual American, you know, in custody in Afghanistan. And this is just a frustrating thing, as you can imagine, to watch. Now, another thing we have to be very honest about is to be able to travel in this capacity in Afghanistan, you have to have approvals by the Haqqani network. Yes, the same Haqqani network, which is a designated terrorist organization in the United States. Right. So actually, under US Law, this clip and this video and this travel and this funding and this movement by the Haqqani network is actually material Support to terrorism. I think people need to start being honest about these influencers because, yeah, everybody's kind of dropped the ball and they're not using US Law now, but it does not mean it won't be used against you in the future. Now, as I'm saying, you get approvals from the Haqqanis to come in, and then they help fund pieces of this travel as they move you around and set up these sites and these places for you to visit, because obviously they can only occur at certain times and in certain places. Another thing that's really important is you have to keep these individuals safe. Right? These are foreigners in Afghanistan filming propaganda for you. So the insane part is, in a lot of cases, the surrounding security around these movements is Badri 313. So that's a special operations unit within the Taliban, but it's actually also a suicide bomber unit that helps support the Aby Gate attack. You know, In August of 2021, you know that unfortunately, 13 of our service members died in. Right. So now we have Americans traveling to Afghanistan and literally traveling around with the crew that enabled the deaths of American soldiers. I mean, watching something like this is just, like, utterly frustrating. Now, the last piece is just icing on the cake. They go into a gym. Now, the gyms in Afghanistan, a woman can't go into them. So there's already a woman allowed to go into a gym. But then she has, like, zero integrity to discuss or even ask, oh, why are no women in the gym? Oh, why are men cleared out of the gym while I'm in the gym? Right. There's just no discussion about it. If you're in Afghanistan and you're not a member of the Taliban, you're living in a literal prison. And we have to be honest about it. And heck, over 30,000 of our allies are either in prison or they're dead because they were picked up by the Taliban and nobody knows what's happened to them. So watching stuff like this is very frustrating. But I do think it's important for people to see that this type of content is coming out and it's in support of terrorists. Now let's roll another clip. Like sugar on my tongue, tongue, tongue your body so sweet, sweet, sweet. Invite me if you come. She's not even in Afghanistan yet, and there's so much to unpack in this video. First off, it literally has music in the background. The Taliban have banned music. Not only did they ban music, they went and collected musical instruments and they burned them in giant bonfire piles. And then they went and assassinated famous musicians in the country who weren't able to flee in some way. This is how they handle music. So if you're going to make a Taliban propaganda video, you don't get to put music in it, right? Because they don't get to listen to music over there. So stop playing these games. Another foolish thing we see here is she is covered in makeup. Okay? Now, if you know anything about Afghanistan. It has been forbidden for women to wear makeup in Afghanistan. They also are forbidden from even going and get their hair styled. They can't even get it cut. Right? So just that extreme dichotomy of how she is getting prepared to go into Afghanistan and how women live every day in Afghanistan is foolish. Then she's putting on, like, an abaya. Okay, sure, that would have been great five years ago in Afghanistan, but now the majority of Afghanistan is you're basically forced to wear the full burqa, right? Like, you get the little slits in your eyes, and that's pretty much it. So it's really ironic that she throws on this ABY and she puts it on very incorrectly and acts like, that's enough. Yes, it's going to be enough because again, she's going to be escorted through an airport by the Haqqani network and driven around as a piece of propaganda. But she is not going to get the real experience that women have to go through, you know, inside of Afghanistan as a woman. This is so offensive to watch. First off, think about it. For 20 years, we told the women of Afghanistan, hey, you're going to have freedom. You're going to live just like us. And they did. You can be a member of parliament, you can be a doctor, you can be a scientist. Heck, you can be an astronaut, right? This is what we told them, and this is the life they had, the freedom they had. They were single women. They were single women with kids, right? They had the same sort of life we had here. Now everything is gone. They can't even leave a house without some sort of male escort. But even then, they can hardly go anywhere. Most locations like parks, stores, any kind of, like, public event is banned from women. So they basically have to stay in their house at all times. So I find this frustrating that this young girl who has no understanding of the world is going in there, getting to do and go places the women of Afghanistan can't even go. And she's perfectly fine with it. That's gender apartheid. And she's like, well, it doesn't affect me. I have this privilege of being an American And I get to go anywhere I want with these terrorists. You know, like, screw the women of Afghanistan. That's what it looks like. And it really does harm those women. Right. Because it kind of like whitewash is what they're going through and it doesn't put out the truth. I'm going to roll another clip, but I'm going to get probably even more frustrated as these go on, because they are completely absurd all day in Afghanistan.

Western Female Influencer (12:52)

We're in Kabul. I absolutely love this city. It's such a cool city. We went to a coffee shop to have an iced mocha. Coffee shops were actually banned by the Taliban, but we managed to find one. Except I was told that a lot has to do now with the financial situation in Afghanistan and the poverty and that people can't afford coffee rather than the Taliban. So rules. You went to the Blue Mosque. Sometimes women are allowed in, sometimes they're not. It really depends. Anyway, so today we were allowed in, which was really good because it's such a beautiful mosque. Although I definitely prefer the one in Mazar, which is the most incredible mosque I've ever seen in my entire life. We went to the bird market. And also no one hassles you here, which is something I can't say about a lot of countries I've traveled to as a female. We got our photo taken at this 100-year-old camp, which was a very cool souvenir to have. Also, there are a lot of women on the streets. And we went to a shopping center that was filled with only women. But I purposely obviously haven't filmed them. Slash, I've cut out clips that also include women. I was able to take my headscarf off for lunch today because the owner said it was okay and all the men in the restaurant said they'll keep a lookout for me. Then we went to some of the jewelry and gold stores. There are so, so many gold stores here. And Afghanistan actually has some of the best emeralds and rubies in the entire world. Oh, and this rug really summarizes some of the people's views on Americans. It's bringing freedom and democracy to an oil rich country. Near you found this vintage watch shop which had all vintage Omega watches. And then. And then I finally had Afghani ice cream.

Sarah Adams (13:59)

I.

Western Female Influencer (14:00)

It was so good. Okay, so love you.

Firtz (Travel Vlogger) (14:01)

Bye.

Sarah Adams (14:01)

This video literally starts with a selfie. A woman taking a selfie. It is banned for women in Afghanistan to take selfies. They're not even allowed to have smartphones. You know why they can't have smartphones? Because the Taliban don't want them to have any opportunity to be educated. Okay, so no selfies. Don't take selfies. When you're making Taliban propaganda, it's not going to work. Would you stop taking pictures of yourself? Your sister's going to jail. Now another thing is this girl talks about, oh, like, coffee shops are forbidden, mostly because people are poor and can't afford them. Which is absurd, right? They can afford coffee, but she is this intrepid, kind of off the beaten path type of traveler, I guess. And she found magically a coffee shop. I mean, clearly the Taliban brought her into that location and it was a stage coffee shop, you know, for the video. It's like, come on, let's be honest about what's going on here. And then she says, oh, in all these locations I was in, there was women everywhere. But, you know, I was respectful to them and did not film them. It's like, are you kidding me? She then says, oh, the terrorist said, I can take off my headscarf. Yes, of course you can take off your headscarf. You're a useful idiot filming propaganda for them. Then she just does an outright lie, which really angers me. So she goes to the Blue Mosque and then says, oh, there are certain days women are allowed here. No, women are no longer allowed to go to that location. Right. They let you in to let you film this. If you're a woman in Afghanistan, there's no day of the week, there's no time of the day that you would be allowed access to that location. Right. Like, don't lie to the entire world. Have some sort of ethics, you know. Then at the end, the end is probably the greatest part about this. Cause it shows you. Okay, I can see how the Taliban recruited these people. So, you know, her and her friends start talking about some, like, propaganda against America. And literally they say the fact we went into Afghanistan was for its oil. Yes. I mean, our American oil companies has made billions, you know, on their refineries in Afghanistan. I mean, we're still doing these massive shipments of oil from Afghanistan. Like, who educated these people? It's the craziest thing I've ever seen. It only gets better. Let's roll the next video.

Firtz (Travel Vlogger) (16:38)

Talban controlled Afghanistan. Dangerous. Dangerous to visit as a foreigner. Despite the wealth of understandings the general people seem to be certain of regarding the subject. I figured I'd share my thoughts from the perspective of someone who's actually been there and didn't get his or her information from mass media. So first off, there are different types of danger in the world. The dangers that we're familiar with in the west, like pickpocketing, mugging, stealing. Yeah, those are very absent in Afghanistan. You're not going to be robbed or feel concerned for your safety walking at night. Afghan people are ridiculously hospitable and respectful, and doing such a thing would just go against their entire being that you're just not going to have to worry about it. As for firearm danger, I'm sure many of you heard the tragic news that Afghanistan just experienced its first mass shooting this year in which three Spanish tourists as well as three Afghans passed away in Bamyan. That's incredibly heartbreaking and my thoughts and prayers are with the victims families. Unfortunately, that's an incident that my home country is no stranger to, as the Gun Violence Archive reports that the United states, as of May 23, has already experienced 168 mass shootings this year, or 1.17 per day. That's a reality about my home country, the that I really regret. And I think it gives tons of context when talking about this subject. Now, where I could see Afghanistan being dangerous would be with unjust imprisonment, although it's quite uncommon. The reason I say that is because I got the sense that the Taliban aren't always on the same page with one another when it comes to what the protocol is in any given situation. Also, they have a bunch of nonsensical and fruitless rules that I could see one violating unintentionally. I'll make a separate video about that. But overall, this is still a very rugged country in every sense of the term. And I would only recommend it to the most intrepid and advanced of travelers. And if you do come here, it's probably better you do it with a guide follow for more real travel. Ciao.

Sarah Adams (18:03)

So this one is its own level of special. If Firtz starts talking like, all these people don't know what's going on in Afghanistan, and because he doesn't get info from the mass media, he's some sort of like, subject matter expert? Well, because he's got his information from the Taliban. I mean, is that really the source of information you want to put out there and say, oh, I'm an expert because the terrorists told me this, right? I mean, that's one of the foolish ways to start this. The other thing is he goes into this, like, little thing about how there's no pickpockets or mugging or robberies, which is incredibly ironic because the Taliban is always breaking down doors of our Former allies and shooting them in raids to capture them for robberies. Right. They'll say, hey, this former Afghan national army member committed this robbery a few blocks away, you know, at a convenience store. You know, we found him and hunted him down and when we broke into his home, he pointed a gun at us. Even though all the guns were confiscated and he didn't have a gun, they planted it on the scene and oh, we had to shoot him and oh yeah, we had to shoot a 7 year old kid because he was there too. Unfortunate. They shouldn't have committed a robbery. Right. So the Taliban's even using these crimes as cover to kill people. So you can't say those crimes aren't occurring. Right. Because the Taliban is even reporting them out as occurring. Yes. If you are escorted around the country of Afghanistan by the Haqqani network, the chance you will be pickpocketed is 0%. So I guess that is a little true. The other part is he goes into this bit about kind of this lack of firearms danger. He starts with this absurd claim that just in the last year, for the first time ever, Afghanistan had its first mass shooting. For the first time ever. Then he says the people in that shooting unfortunately passed away. No, they were murdered in Afghanistan. Like thousands of people have been murdered in the last few years. I mean, this is crazy. I mean, go talk to the Hazaras and ask if they've had any mass shootings in the last few years. I think they could put plenty in front of you. We've had thousands of allies be executed. I have been given execution videos of our allies killing multiple allies at a time, which is actually a mass shooting. I mean, I love how he played with his statistics too. When he had to talk about American mass shootings, he threw gang violence in there because, you know, none of us know how statistics works.

CNN Interviewer (20:49)

But.

Sarah Adams (20:49)

Right. He's an expert. He doesn't get his info from mass media, so you should believe him. And then even during wartime, of course, things occurred. We lost 24Americans, you know, in Afghanistan. He seems to forget that. But again, talking about Americans, he does this little bit about, yeah, I can see how people are worried about unjust imprisonment, but don't worry, it's quite uncommon. It's quite uncommon. First off, there are Americans being held unjustly in Afghanistan. We've luckily got a few released over the last few years. We had to give the Taliban obviously a lot of money and other things to release those Americans. Unfortunately, to include releasing terrorists. Right. But for him to act like nobody's in just Lady Taine. I mean, think of just about the women. If you try to protest in Afghanistan, if they don't pull you off the streets and throw you in prison, they go into your house, take the door down, and drag you out, right? I mean, there are even videos of this. Then when you get to prison unjustly as a woman, because you have not committed a crime, they will rape you on video. So when you get released, you don't talk about the rape or anything that occurred to you in prison. And they say, if you do talk about it, we'll put the video out publicly. And obviously, in that type of society, a video like that is just horrible for a woman to have up publicly. It causes shame to the family and all these things. We also talked previously about the fact that over 30,000 of our allies were unjustly detained. They were only detained for working previously with Americans. And then, if you had seen earlier this year, I put out a report on the Islamic State Khorasan province and how the Taliban was doing fake operations against them. And they detained thousands of innocent people. Label them as isis. Told the US Government, we're fighting isis. And everyone's like, rah, rah, rah. Wow, a great counterterrorism partner. So there's probably a good 50,000 people right now unjustly in detentions in Afghanistan, and that's if they survive the torture. A good number of them probably have been extrajudicially killed. Right? And who knows, unfortunately, where their body is? I mean, this is a horrible thing to just kind of, like, downplay and act like it's not happening. But at the end, he does point out, Afghanistan is a rugged place. So, you know, you really should have a guide when you go there. Yes, people, please, if you go to Afghanistan, go with the terrorists so we don't have to come get you out of your unjust custody. Thank you. One more clip, please.

Chloe (Integrity Influencer) (23:34)

Everything you'll see in this video is now illegal in Afghanistan. This music is illegal because all music is illegal. This music is illegal, too. So how are we listening to it? We'd have to turn it off before we got to any checkpoints. This is also illegal. I was not allowed to go out without wearing hijab outside the privacy of my own home or hotel room. I only took my hijab off because I was on a mountain in the middle of nowhere and no one could see me. This is also illegal for me because women are no longer allowed in parks. For a while, they were able to go on certain days of the Week. But now they are completely banned. I was in Afghanistan in October of 2022. So much has changed even since since then. This is also illegal. You cannot take photos of the Taliban or anything to do with government structures. But do you know what's not illegal? Forcing thousands of people to move out to these barren lands in displaced homes, legally mandating hijab, saying that it's greatly recommended, and banning women and girls from most school. This is your reminder that although I haven't been in Afghanistan for a few months, the people of Afghanistan are still suffering. Rules continue to get stricter and come down on women, barring them from mosques, park and most public places. Don't forget about the Afghan people.

Sarah Adams (24:34)

After everything we've been through today, I had to play one video that cleanses the soul. Thank you, Chloe, for having some integrity. At least she went there and she actually showed you the absurdity of everything they were allowing her to do, but they weren't allowing women in Afghanistan to do. And then she showed you proof, like, hey, I'm able to do this right, because I have these terrorists on both sides of me escorting me and kind of setting up these locations for me to film in. She talks the truth about how music's banned, how she can't go to a lot of different places, and then, of course, women can't go to any of them. She says how she can't take pictures of the Taliban, she can't take pictures of government buildings. Oh, it's very interesting. None of the other influencers told us the truth about that. And she really explains how, hey, guys, everything you saw me in this me do in this video, please know this is completely illegal for women in Afghanistan. You know, it was really honest and it was the right thing for her to do, to put that out, especially to her audience, you know, and to do the right thing. You know, she really put her foot down and said, hey, I'm not going to be this propaganda propagandist for terrorists right now. The interesting part is, though, we saw so many who were willing to. And the crazy part is we saw Americans who were willing to. I told you, in those cases, they were with a designated foreign terrorist organization. And, you know, Afghanistan doesn't get a lot of attention right now when it should. But there are terrorist training here and training there and deploying here. And now we have Americans on the ground in Afghanistan saying, oh, it's perfectly safe. It is, because there's terrorist camps there, there's suicide bomber camps there. They are doing mock drills to attack buildings in the United States. How is it going to look after an attack in the United States? And you have all this propaganda on the Internet in support of the Taliban. I mean, have you even thought through that? Because you really should have, you know, saying everything is okay and everything's safe and travel to Afghanistan is not a good message. But for those of you who want to travel to Afghanistan, please send me a reel. It'll make it a lot easier for me to locate you when the terrorists capture you. Thanks for being here on the watch floor. See you next time.