so i m going to have to pay attention but if i can do the job, i will on sunday when the storm is there. stay safe and keep your family safe. everyone is thinking of everyone out there that needs to do the same. we re all in it together, l coats, we re all in it together. that s what they say and i m waiting for humanity to act on it. you have to say it. thank you, chris. talk to you soon. be safe. this is don lemon tonight. i m laura coats in for don lemon and in the past week, we ve seen the collapse of the afghan government. the taliban takeover. the chaos at the airport as thousands and thousands of desperate people try to get on planes. their only hope of escape, that as president biden is holding firm today in his view that getting out of afghanistan was not only the right decision but the only decision. committing to do everything he can to evacuate afghan allies and promising that any american
citizens figuring out what is happening and a very compelling story to tell. you re right. i want to bring in douglas and we can t say enough about the excellent reporting and the valiant reporting of clarissa ward. we ll hear from her later. i want to play what we heard from president biden during his interview and what we heard today. i want you to take a listen. watch. we ve all seen the pictures. we ve seen the hundreds of people packed into a c-17. we ve seen afghans falling that was four days ago, five days ago. what did you think when you first saw the pictures? what i thought is we have to gain control of this. we have to move this more quickly. we have to move in a way in which we can take control of the airport and we did. the past week has been heartbreaking. we ve seen gut wrenching images of panicked people acting out of sheer desperation. it s completely understandable. they re frightened. they re sad.
any american who wants to come home, we will get you home. make no mistake. but this was another day where some of what the president said just didn t match what we re seeing on the ground. will you sign off on sending u.s. troops into kabul to evacuate americans who haven t been able to get to the airport safely? we have no indication that they haven t been able to get in kabul through the airport. there is no question. this is a massive incredibly difficult and dangerous operation but we ve seen what is happening at the airport. cnn is told it s impossible to make it inside and a white house official acknowledged tonight the challenge and chaos at the airport. remember this video? it s a baby being handed to american troops on top of a wall at the airport. the pentagon says the baby was
operation of americans outside the airport perimeter. meanwhile, the taliban showing off the spoils of war. they published photographs showing their fighters armed with u.s. weapons seized from the afghan national army. now, after reporting from inside afghanistan since the beginning of the month, our clarissa ward and he team made it out of the country friday. and i want to show you what it looked like inside their plane as they flew to qatar, about 300 afghan evacuees were onboard. clarissa has since tweeted they ve made it to doha. before leaving, she filed this report on the conditions that thousands of people are facing as they try to flee taliban rule. reporter: after three weeks in afghanistan, we joined the crowds at kabul airport. now, the only way out of the country. there is a huge block here. lots of cars. hundreds of people wait in the blistering heat hoping for a flight out.
who wants to come home will get ho home. we re going to do everything to provide safe evacuation for afterb afghan allies, partners and afghans who might be targeted because of their association with the united states. but let me be clear. any american who wants to come home, we will get you home. make no mistake. but this was another day where some of what the president said just didn t match what we re seeing on the ground. will you sign off on sending u.s. troops into kabul to evacuate americans who haven t been able to get to the airport safely? we have no indication that they haven t been able to get in kabul through the airport. there is no question. this is a massive incredibly difficult and dangerous