and god knows, maybe even further east, take precautions. listen, take it seriously. really very seriously. fema is sending 2,000 emergency workers to assist local authorities. for now, though, residents are on their own for the duration of the storm. nada tawfik, bbc news, new orleans. let s return to the situation in afghanistan the pentagon says it s investigating reports that ten civilians were killed in yesterday s us drone strike, which officials say targeted an islamic state group suicide bomber planning an attack on kabul airport. gary 0 donoghue is in washington. the us evacuation now reaching its very final hours, the deadline of course tomorrow, august to 31st. that s right, and you can tell by
making sure that we can have our freedom. white house correspondent arlette saenz is with us now. the president warning another attack on the kabul airport is, quote, highly likely soon. with that said, what is the president saying about evacuations? . well, officials here at the white house arebration for an incredibly dangerous period over the course of the next two days as that evacuation mission and the military drawdown are entering the final stages. president biden spoke to the threats at the kabul airport after a national security team meeting yesterday. he released a statement saying the situation on the ground continues to be extremely dangerous and the threat of terrorist attacks on the airport remains high. our commanders informed me that an attack is highly likely in the next 24 to 36 hours. now, the administration
two stories we are following this morning, the breaking news is that hurricane ida has strengthened now into a dangerous category 4 hurricane, taking direct aim at louisiana. and the latest advisory just moments ago, the national hurricane center is warning of life-threatening storm surge and catastrophic damage. meteorologist allison chinchar with the latest for us next. also developing this morning, the u.s. embassy in kabul is warning of a, quote, specific credible threat to u.s. citizens near the airport. this as president biden warns another attack is highly likely. this special edition of new day weekend starts right now. it s sunday, august 29th. thank you for joining us today. christi, thanks for letting me tag along on another major news
any of the attacks as long as possible as we try to clear the airport. and then finally the long-term effort. i think people are mistaken about thinking of the deadline as, okay, there is a before and after. the united states presence will be very, very different, but its interests will continue, and that interest will be both in, i think, covert operations to get people still out. so americans who remain, who could not get to the airport will still there will still be attempts to get them out. then, of course, the longer-term counterterrorism effort, which is going to be sort of i think a drone strategy at this stage to try to disrupt them. so there is a lot going on. but we know that the state department says they are in direct contact with about 500 people. yes. americans who are still there. first of all, give me the accuracy of that number. secondly, give us a real picture, juliette, of what life is like for americans 48 hours from now who are in afghanistan.
i mean, in other words, when we started in 2001 we had a focused counterterrorism in the war in afghanistan. we strayed from that and the irony and tragedy 20 years later is we are returning to that. i think it s a just mission to the counterterrorism mission in afghanistan. it s just a lot of damage in the 20 years. and so i would anticipate that the taliban using it, but on the other hand just remember also they have an interest, like we do, in stopping the isis threat for the short term because they have to assert control over their country and the attacks that we are seeing around the airport look like the taliban is not in charge. so it s a really it s sort of a, you know, mind-bending period right now where our interests align with the taliban s. but i want to make it clear, especially to people who lost people on 9/11, this wasn t for naught. there has not been a major u.s. attack since 9/11, and that is because of the troops that fought and the counterterrorism effort that wa