Good morning to viewers here in the u. S. And around the world. It is monday, august 16th. We are beginning with our special live coverage of the fall of afghanistan, nearly two decades after 9 11. Moments ago the u. S. Temporarily suspended all Air Operations at the airport in kabul. Were seeing can haotic Scenes E this. This is part of the reason for the suspension, desperate afghans chasing down u. S. Planes that are leaving the tarmac, some clinging to the fuselage as the airplane taxied. The taliban is now in charge as it seized control of the capital without hardly a shot fired yesterday. Insurgents overran key provincial capitals in the span of the last week. Embassy officials have warned americans still in the city not to travel to the airport because it is unsafe. But as of now, it is the only way out. We heard from a White House official, theres no way to get those folks to the airport. The pentagon is rushing 1,000 more Combat Troops to secure the perimeter to get american personnel and others safely evacuated. President biden was briefed at Camp David over the weekend. Hes still there. They are planning to proceed with the withdrawal of all u. S. Troops, despite the strength of the afghan military, and the reach of the taliban. Still no public remarks from the president who the White House says is expected to address the nation in the next few days. Lets go right to cnns chief international correspondent, who has been doing remarkable reporting on the ground in kabul on the streets there. I want to get to the breaking news. No flights in and out of kabul right now, suspending all Air Operations because the u. S. Military, frankly, needs to get a grip of the situation. Thats right, jon. Youve seen those images. Its absolute pandemonium. Nick Paton Walsh said theres a crush of humanity trying to press their way into the airport. Youve seen, of course, those harrowing images that i dont think any of us will ever forget easily of afghans desperately trying to hold on to the fuselage of an airplane with their bare hands, so desperate they are to get out of the country. The u. S. Had laid Razor Wire around, trying to stop people basically from sneaking in. Those images you saw, hundreds of people flooding the runway, obviously, u. S. Planes cannot take off and land, cannot carry out these evacuations safely when there are hundreds of people on the runway. That is definitely the primary focus for the u. S. Right now, trying to ensure that the situation at the airport is somehow contained so that these evacuations can continue in an orderly manner. Here in the center of town in kabul, it is a surreal and very different story. We woke up this morning, day one, reporting in the islamic emirates of afghanistan, as its now called. You can see a lot has changed, including my Clothing And Attire on the streets. We spent the whole day basically driving around, talking to the taliban, talking to people on the streets, seeing what the mood is. Its very strange and quite scary. Take a look. As soon as we leave our compound, its clear who is now in charge. Taliban fighters have flooded the capital. Smiling and victorious, they took the city of 6 Million people in a matter of hours, barely firing a shot. This is a sight i honestly thought i would never see. Scores of Taliban Fighters. And just behind us, the u. S. Embassy compound. Some carry american weapons. They tell us they are here to maintain law and order. Everything is under control. Everything will be fine, the commander says. Nobody should worry. Whats your message to america right now . America already spent enough time in afghanistan. They need to leave, he tells us. They already lost lots of lives and lots of money. People come up to them to pose for photographs. Theyre just chanting Death To America but seem friendly at the same time. Its utterly bizarre. Reporter at the president ial palace the taliban are guarding the gate. They say theyre here to fill the vacuum left when the government fled but the welcoming spirit only extends so far and my presence soon creates tension. They just told me to stand to the side because im a woman. Outside, ordinary afghans clamor to talk to us, Struggle Ing to process the dizzying speed of kabuls fall. Actually, i feel nothing right now. We want peace. We are tired of this ongoing war. Reporter what does the future look like to you now . I cannot predict right now and i cant predict even minutes right now. Thats why i dont know what will happen tomorrow or after. Reporter and that man is not alone, john and brianna. Hard to predict where this story is going. You see whats happening on the streets but so much of the story is about what youre not seeing, people who are petrified, Hunkered Down, hiding out in their homes, who have no idea if Theyll Face reprisals over the work they do, the people they consort with, the places they go to. Its so important in all this Chaos And Mayhem that their story does not get lost, john. Thats why its so great, clarissa, we have you there and your fearless reporting. And thanks to you and your team. You talk about the people who are unseen right now. Are we talking about all women, for instance . Are we talking about people who have been trying to live normal lives the last two decades . Whats going on for them . I think mostly, who hasly, about ordinary people, especially people who are educated, speak other languages, who may have worked with the u. S. Military, u. S. Embassy, foreign journalists and various ngos. Also lets talk about female journ journalists on the ground. Incredible, brilliant, trailblazing women who have done such Brait Brave and important reporting over the last 20 years. What do they do now . I interviewed a taliban fighter who spoke very good english and asked them what about female journalists, will you allow them to keep Work Ing . He said yes, of course, but they must wear the appropriate hijab. I said okay, am i wearing the appropriate hijab . He said no. I said why . He said your face is showing and also you should wear gloves. If a Woman Journalist wears a nikab and gloves, she can do her job but not around men. Clearly, once you start to stack all this up, john, it becomes obvious it will be very difficult for women who have enjoyed a certain type of life for the last 20 years to assimilate into this new surreal normal. Yeah. And, look, when you talk about the range of possibilities, their fears, clarissa, is that thats not going to save them, just to dress in a more conservative way. There are many women who are fearful that they will be raped, that they could be forcibly married off to the taliban. These are the potential realities and certainly the rumors that are percolating as folks in kabul who are holed up are worried the taliban might start knocking Door To door. Reporter i think whenever you have a situation where there is this level of Fear And Uncertainty and so little clear, solid information coming in, you have panic. You have rumors. People start playing telephone. They start spreading reports that theyre hearing on social media. And its almost impossible to try to control the fear and the Ca Chaos that ensues as a result of that sort of void. So for now, from what we are hearing, the taliban tells us they do not plan to carry out any Reprisal Attacks but the question remains on the ground, how much can people who are Hunkered Down and in hiding take their words, how much can they be trusted . The reality is that were only going to see that as time plays out. And the taliban wants to stress that theyve changed theyre different, theyve evolved. Theyre more pragmatic, politically mature. As they say, the proof will be in the pudding. This is very early days yet. Very early days. The first day, as you say, in this next chapter in afghanistan. Clarissa, youre talking about the taliban and their intentions. I was very interested in something you said earlier, which is that as of now, the taliban only too happy to have the united states, the u. S. Troop presence at the airport in kabul about have the u. S. Running these evacuations. Whats going on with that . Reporter well, let me caveat that by saying they want the u. S. To leave as soon as possible, and they believe that the fastest way to get the u. S. Out of here is for the u. S. To evacuate its people as soon as possible. So, as long as the u. S. Is solely engaged in evacuating people from the airport, i am guessing, and its speculation, that some kind of a deal has been struck behind the scenes whereby the two sides sort of avoid each other until that process is done and the 6,000 troops can leave again. The problem is, john and brianna, as you can well imagine, when you have 6,000 u. S. Soldiers and im sure hundreds if not thousands of Taliban Fighters in relatively close proximity to each other and a chaotic scene all around t them, there is always the opportunity for things to go very wrong, indeed. And i think thats why you are seeing the u. S. Military really try to expedite this effort to the best of their ability, to get americans out as quickly as possible so that they can try to leave as quickly as possible. Because its not safe for the u. S. Military either. John kirby, the pentagon spokesman, clarissa, told us the timeline theyre operating on is that they have until that End Date that President Biden set, which is august 31st. That is more than two weeks away. Can you imagine a situation where the taliban is okay with the u. S. Running operations out of the airport for two more weeks, or do you think this is going to be a much shortened operation . All right. I think we reporter between the taliban side and the u. S. Unfortunately, i think we lost our signal with clarissa ward. Well be trying to reestablish that and check in with her. Shes certainly our eyes and ears on the ground. I think thats an equipment issue. Yes. I know everyone watching right now is concerned, frankly, about colllarissa and the safetf her team. That, i have reason to believe, was the equipment, the battery going funky right there. Were sure that clarissa and her team will be as safe as she the can be right now and will continue to be. I think i heard her say i lost you. U. S. Troops try to clear the afghans at the airport who flooded the Air Field there, hanging on to a u. S. Military airport as fwas trying to depart. New reporting coming to us from cnns barbara starr, live for us at the pentagon. Tell us the latest in what is really a Fastmoving Situation here. We learned this morning the u. S. Military has temporarily suspended evacuation operations, military flights out of Kabul Airport for the very reason you see in these videos. The Air Field has been flooded for the last couple of days with afghans desperate to get out, clinging to the side of u. S. Military aircraft, flooding the Air Field. And they simply cannot operate safely in these circumstances. The pilots are well aware, as they have landed and taken off, what is going on. It just cannot continue. This is really anything but the orderly evacuation that the biden administration had said it wanted, that has been such a central Message Point for the administration. Those Message Points now clearly are gone. They are trying to restore order. 6,000 u. S. Troops earmarked, flooding into the airport, taking control of the perimeter of the airport and trying to clear people away and and maintain that security. They do have several days to go yet to get all the americans out, to get any aftghans they cn out. And it should be said, theyre trying to assist other allied countries in get ting their people out. Its a very complex operation right now. Being monitored around the clock. And, obviously, concern how long will the taliban hold their patience, if you will, how long will they let this go on. The u. S. Has told the taliban directly in the last two days, all it wants right now is to get americans and its people safely out. That is a direct message to the taliban. And also a message that u. S. Troops do have the authority to defend themselves if the unrest grows, if they are attacked or threatened. John, brianna . Barbara, thank you so much for that. Barbara starr live for us from the pentagon. Joining us now, former ambassador to na tto, lieutenan general douglas loot. He served under former george w. Bush. You obviously worked for years dealing with issues surrounding afg. Those images we see, people chasing u. S. Cargo planes hoping to get out, did you ever think you would see anything like that . Of course not. Im stunned it has come to this. This is obviously not what anybody wanted but frankly the stage was set for the tragic and desperate events that were seeing now on your screens. The stage was set ten years ago when we brought Bin Laden to justice and decimated Al Qaeda. In the intervening ten years, if weve been watching closely, we have seen an Afghan Government, set of Afghan Security Forces that made too little progress. Weve seen diplomacy explored with the taliban but only stalemated. And someone who has been watching this very closely, joe biden, has decided it is time for afghanistan to be decided by afghans. And so this has been a slowly eroding security and political situation for about ten years, which has culminated in the scene weiss see today. Are these scenes avoidable, sir . Not today they arent. Because this has been the accumulation of a lack of progress over at least a decade and perhaps arguably longer than a decade, then we cant reverse the tape. We cant rewind the clock. And in a way, this is simply culminating because of too little progress. And while the government has the taliban made progress. The government did not. We built Security Forces that, in the end, did not stand up, could not withstand the pressure from the taliban. Im afraid that we built a house built on sand. We heard, even from people who support the total draw down, which, of course, there are many people who have said there should be a residual number of troops. There are also a lot of people who said no, its time to get out and, you know, even hearing from them theyre watching what is going down there in kabul. And they say this is unacceptable and this is something that could have been prevented. What do you say to that . Well, i think there is a reasonable debate over do we stay or do we leave . The president decided that we would leave but the scenes we see today suggest that we believed intelligence estimates that were most likely estimates. And we didnt plan against the worst Case Estimates. And some of the worst Case Estimates are actually playing out as we watch. Didnt plan for the worst Case Estimates. Made the wrong bet. Now that theyre paying the consequences for that wrong bet, how secure do you think the airport can be over the coming days, weeks maybe at the outset . The u. S. Wants brianna has some reporting that the u. S. Wants to evacuate as many as 30,000 people by august 31st. Can that happen based on the situation there . The first step is what we see happening right now. And that is suspend the flights. Secure the perimeter of the airport. Airports have large perimeters. This is several miles of perimeter around the Kabul Airport. Secure that so that you could impose some sort of Order And Discipline on the process. That will happen in that can happen in hours, not days. Now, the numbers of Tens Of Thousands of afghans who have served alongside American Forces and american diplomats, those, of course, are those folks are not all at the airport. Theyre scattered around afghanistan. So, while we can impose discipline at the airport and impose order and get flights moving on time, the real challenge will be how do we get people who are not yet at the airport to the airport itself. General, can i is there sorry, brianna. One more question i wanted to ask. As were seeing this Go South very quickly, the taliban has taken control of the country, there are people in the united states who suggested, why doesnt the u. S. Go back in . Its broken now. Why dont we go back and fix it again . What do you say to that . Theres no going back. Theres no rewinding the tape. There is no afghan army. There are no afghan police. There is no Afghan Government. The taliban are in charge. So, were in no position to reverse what we see today. The best we can do is to cope with the circumstances at the airport. Obviously, prioritize the evacuation of americans, but then right behind them, the afghans who have served alongside of us. You mentioned getting some of those folks to the airport. Because that is the only way out at this point of afghanistan. We just have to be clear about where afghan allies to america are right now. Some are stuck in the provinces. Theyre not going to get through taliban checkpoints into kabul. A lot of people are holed up in their homes. Even if they might be awaiting something with a special immigrant veisa, P1 Or P2 vis and they cant get to the airport. We heard from John Finer, national Dispute Security Adviser last hour that there is no way to provide safe passage to the airport for these folks. What do you think of that . Well, i think John Finer was probably accurately describing the situation. This is what happens when a government collapses so quickly and so comprehensively across the board, both the Security Side and the political side. It leaves this very uncertain, unpredictable and dangerous outcome. It is terrible what were watching unfold. Sir, we certainly appreciate you giving us your expertise on it this morning. Lieutenant general douglas lute, thank you. Up next, will terrorists be able to take refuge in afghanistan again now that it has fallen so quickly to the taliban . Search for survivors in haiti after the devastating earthquake that has killed at least 1300 people . Were live on the ground. Everyone. Everywhere. Where everyone is included. Where everyone has access to information, education, opportunity. When Everyone And Everything is connected. Thats really beautiful. Anything is possible. Good morning. Cisco. The bridge to possible. One, two one, two, three only pay for what you need with customized Car Insurance from Liberty Mutual nothing rhymes with Liberty Mutual. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. We are following breaking news. Kabul has fallen to the taliban. Jim sciutto has joined me and has followed afghanistan for years. That only means were old. Whats the cost here . Its staggering, 2300 u. S. Troops killed and thousands more injured, some with debilitating injuries for years. You have thousands of american soldiers and their families who sacrificed to fight Al Qaeda through 20 years. The other is were talking about trillions of dollars on projects in the u. S. , trillions both to try to build a capable afghan military but also to try to build a capable Afghan Government, which in the span of days fell apart. Its just remarkable to think through those years, all that S Sacrifice by The Way, we didnt serve there, but this is american Taxpayers Money that was going there as well that could have been spent here. It disappears in a day. Weeks, poof, up in smoke. The Trump Administration, one of the things that President Biden has suggested is that his hands were tied because of decisions that were made, put in place in the last administration. Yeah. What were those decisions . So, i mean, first point, ri right, of course, biden could have reversed that. He could have kept the troops in. Hes the commander in chief. He could have reversed that. That said the Trump Administration agreed to leave by May 1st this year. By The Way, you have a lot of dumping on Biden Today by many republicans, lets remember a few months back what President Trump was saying. We had a very good conversation with the leader of the taliban today. Theyre looking to get this ended. Treating the taliban as a credible peace partner. Trump wanted to invite the taliban to Camp David without our Afghan Government partners. On september 11th. So this is two administrations who made this decision, which is quite remarkable. Both Trump And Biden calculated it was time to get out of that country, that it wasnt worth it anymore. Just remember, it didnt start today. It started many months ago. One criticism i will note that trump had for biden recently wasnt that biden was pulling out the troops, it was that he wasnt doing it quickly enough. Exactly. Something that, by The Way, trump tryied to do in syria as well. Secretary pompeo criticizing the administration. He met with taliban leaders, again, treating them as a credible partner, which the events of the last several days as they advance across the country show theyre not interested in a peaceful end to this conflict. They were using their power to take over the country. Preventing the reintroduction of Terror Groups in that country. Obviously the situation is worse today than it was yesterday. You lose something in terms of counterterror by not being on the ground in afghanistan because youre closer. Thats for Intelligence Gathering and responding to threats. Now were going to be flying in Counter Terror missions from q qatar, many hundreds of miles away, also from kuwait. And its not just the migs that will be based outside the country now, no longer inside the country. Its also surveillance, right . Dro drones have to fly farther. I was speaking with a member of congress who has been briefed on the intelligence there. That means less time over target. You have to fly over here, spend less time on target, to go back, to keep track of the bad guys, in effect. Who is fighting alongside the taliban in recent weeks . Al qaeda and isis. The question going forward is, does afghanistan become a Terror Haven again . This is where we were 20 years ago. Its a real question going forward. They certainly have an Advantage Today they didnt have because u. S. Forces arent close. The situation very much worse today than it was weeks and months ago. Jim sciutto, thank you for helping us understand this. Doctors talking about the danger of covid to kids just as schools reopen. Plus, unvaccinated Covid Patient spoke to cnn about her regrets from inside the hospital. She has died. Her story, ahead. I had the nightmare again maxine. The world was out of wonka bars. Relax. You just need digital workflows. They help keep everyone supplied and happy, proactively. Lets workflow it. Then you can stop having those nightmares. No, i would miss them too much. 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And while her friends are doing the heavy lifting, jess is busy moving her Xfinity Internet and tv services. It only takes about a minute. Wait, a minute . But what have you been doing for the last two hours . Delegating . Oh, good one. Move your xfinity services without breaking a sweat. Xfinity makes moving easy. Go online to transfer your services in about a minute. Get started today. We have a very sad update to a story we brought you last month as covid cases are on the increase in parts of the south. Miguel marquez visited a hospital in which almost every patient was unvaccinated. 34yearold woman told miguel she wasnt antivax, she just never got around to getting the vaccine. Reporter what does it feel like to have covid . Exhausting, extremely frustrating. Tiring. And the fact that i am here now, i am furious with myself. Reporter why . Because i was not vaccinated. Now we learned from miguel overnight that amy there had passed away. She had a feeling that had she been vaccinated she would not have been hospitalized. Louisiana is one of the five states with the least amount of fully vaccinated people. And on friday, louisianas go governor reported the States Highestever Number of hospitalizations during the pandemic. That is incredibly heartbreaking news of someone that we saw on our air and was trying to get the message out. First, obviously, our thoughts are with Amys Family right now. We know how hard this can be. And miguel made the point he was really surprised because he thought she had been doing better. He was surprised to learn of amys passing. It goes to show how insidious this is, how Deadly Covid can be. And the struggle, the real struggle that people are going through who got it. And right now those people are people who have chosen largely to be unvaccinated. It makes people fight for a long time and it demands a lot. And sometimes it demands too much, as we see with amy. Up next, rising Death Toll in haiti. Cnn is live there on the ground. Breaking developments out of afghanistan. The u. S. Military halting operations at Kabuls Airport as afghans swarm the airport in a desperate bid to escape. Your movements and automatically responding to both of you. And, its Temperature Balancing to help you stay comfortable all night. It even tracks your circadian rhythm, so you know when youre at your best. In other words, its the most energybuilding, wellnessboosting, parentpowering, proven quality nights sleep weve ever made. Dont miss our Weekend Special where all smart beds are on sale. Save 50 on the new Sleep Number 360 limited edition smart bed. Plus, 0 interest for 36 months. Ends monday. Age is just a number. And mines unlisted. Try boost® High Protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. Versus 16 grams in ensure High Protein. Boost® High Protein also has key nutrients for immune support. Boost® High Protein. 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With 6 times the freshness ingredients, Downy Unstopables gives you more of what you love. If you want laundry to smell fresh for weeks make sure you have Downy Unstopables inwash Scent Boosters. Attention, california. New federal funding of 3 Billion is available to help more people pay for Health Insurance no matter what your income. How much is yours . Julie and bob are paying 700 less, every month. Dee got comprehensive coverage for only 1 a month. And the navarros are paying less than 100 a month. Check coveredca. Com to see your new, lower price. The sooner you sign up the more you save. Only at covered california. This way to Health Insurance. The earthquake that struck haiti over the weekend has left nearly 1300 people dead as of now and 5,000 injured. Calling upon foreign aid to provide urgent need of medical su supplies for the thousands of victims. In portauprince right now, matt, what are you hearing . Reporter these are difficult places to get to. This region has been affected by road closures, mud slides, access is a big problem for the government right now as weve been told by Haitian Authorities. As high as those numbers are with the Death Toll, numbers of injured, missing, we expect the Death Toll to go up as the days continue. We got access by helicopter, and flew to an area not far from the E Epicenter of this earthquake. We saw a hotel that was multiple stories high, collapsed in on itself after that earthquake happened early Saturday Morning here, multiple fatalities at this site. What we didnt really see at that site was a big Search And Rescue effort, despite being one of the largest buildings to be affected by all of this. Its clear that Haitian Authorities are having difficulty we seem to have lost communication with Matt Rivers temporarily on the ground there. Obviously, the situation very fluid. The haitian government asking for help. As matt noted, the Death Count expected is to rise. Matt, did we get you back . Yeah, john. If you can hear me at this point, basically what happened there was at that hotel, it collapsed. What i was saying before, Haitian Authorities having such a difficult time at this point reaching some of these places. We didnt see the kind of Search And Rescue efforts you think you would see. Part of the reason is because this is a very widespread area. Different localities, relatively small communities that authorities are having trouble getting access to. And thats before whats going to happen in a few hours from now, john, when this tropical depression, grace, is expected to arrive here. Its expected to directly impact where this earthquake happened, at least 35mileanhour winds, if not higher, with the gusts, local ied amounts of rain according to the cnn weather team, anywhere from 5 to 15 inches. Thats mudslides. Thats flash flooding. That makes a complicated situation that much more complicated. John . Matt rivers, a lot of suffering. Please keep us posted on the new developments. Moments ago, the superintendent of schools in dallas told me hes going to defy the states supreme Court Decision and he will institute Mask Requirements in schools. Hear what he thinks will happen next. More on the Taliban Takeover In Afghanistan as we learn that the u. S. Has stopped all Air Operations at the Kabul Airport, which is the only way out of afghanistan right now. How did this go so wrong, so fast . sound of a busy office phones ringing, people talking, meeting the Company Weve trusted to keep us working remotely, is the same company well trust to bring us back together. Safely. Securely. And responsibly. So now, between all apart and all together, theres a bridge. Cisco. The bridge to possible. Welcome back to milkshake mustaches, high fives and high dives. To 3on 3s. 2on2s. And 1on1s. 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This is cnns Special Coverage of the collapse of afghanistan. You can see the video as hundreds of thousands of people scramble to get out of kabul. U. S. Military forced to suspend Air Operations at the airport. U. S. Troops are trying to clear the Air Field, institute some sense of order. Clearly, this is not order. Hours from now, we expect the State Department Briefing on the situation there. Cnns Kylie Atwood is live at the State Department. Look, ckylie, the situation changing so quickly. Unclear that a briefing two hours from now, what it will cover. The situation could change a lot until then. What are the plans . Reporter ill give you a little bit of good news here, john. The State Department says all the u. S. Diplomats at the embassy were safely evacuated from the embassy to the airport. The bad news, however, is what were seeing there. Incredible images of afghans flooding the runway, Holding On to american planes as they try to get out. Of course, that is the reason that the pentagon just announced this morning they are temporarily suspending all of these flights out of the country. That is the only Way Pore people to get out of country right now. So, resuming those flights will mean that u. S. Diplomats, u. S. Contractors can get back on these flights and get out of the country. And then the question, of course, is what about these afghans who Work Ed alongside u. S. Diplomats and u. S. Military officials over the last 20 years, doing jobs such as interpreting . A lot of them have received or are in the process of receiving special immigrant visas to the united states. The State Department has said that they are working rapidly to get those flights of those afghans out of the country, but we are told that they have been la largely put on pause because, first, the State Department wants to get out american diplomats, american contractors. So we will be watching to see when they can resume both of these sorts of flights. And the question here also is just how many of these afghan interp interpreters, siv applicants, the u. S. Is going to be able to get out in the coming days. If you look at this airport, theres questions about how long the u. S. Will be able to continue flying these planes out. Those are questions well ask at the State Department Briefing today. Well also ask about the future of the u. S. taliban relationship. John . Key questions there. When brianna was talking to the national deputy security adviser, right now theres no plan in place to get people to the airport. Exactly. Theres no way to get these afghans who desperately need to get out to get to the airport so theres even a chance of them getting out. Kylie atwood, thank you for your reporting. National Security Analyst Rebecca Grant and new Yorker Columnist and distinguished fellow Robin Wright with us. To you first, rebecca. Lets deal with theres a Blame Game thats being played. Lets deal first with the people who are being trapped . This is the acute situation here. You have americans, afghan a allies, highly skilled and educated afghans who are particularly vulnerable to taliban reprisal. They may be eligible for p1, p2 visas. What happens to them if they are holed up in kabul . This may be as many as 60,000 people who are being told to shelter in place. Job one is for the military to clear the ramp at kabuls international airport and resume the flights. Theyll have to bring in not only military transport but commercial and Contract Air Lift to get everyone out. Theyll need a secure airport, a clear ramp and then a way to bring people to Kabul Airport even approximate that means using u. S. Ground forces to hold those roots through the city. Do you see that happening, robin . Because i have spoken with the pentagon official, we spoke with the White House on this show, and there appears to be no plan to put u. S. Forces in that position, where they would be essentially on the same streets as the taliban. The biden administration clearly wants to limit its military presence. And its military mission. The fact is that the united states is getting out. That was the signal with the closure of the embassy and the evacuation of all american diplomats. I think the focus will be just on the airport and try to limit it to the evacuation. The question is, is there a Time Limit of how long the u. S. Is willing to say, and how long will the taliban let the americans stay . What does that mean . What does that signify fou, rebecca, in terms of the u. S. Commitment to its afghan partners, people who served alongside americans and kept them safe, who, you know, are now in peril . Right. And its time to demand that the taliban allow us to build that Security Perimeter and move those people out. I dont want to hear ask ing th taliban. We have the military power to secure that airport, move forces out and weve got two more weeks to get it done. Lets make this happen. Robin, do you think the taliban would be okay with two more weeks . Whats your expectation . The taliban clearly wants the united states out. And the question is, does the taliban have the kind of Control Overall of its diverse elements so that that could happen in a peaceful way and that theres no bustup, be it small or larger, between the two. They need cooperation. Cent com has talked directly to the taliban go getting the u. S. Out. I think this say reflection of the implosion really of u. S. Policy in afghanistan that the mightiest nation in the world has to go to a rag tag militia, ask for Permission And Help in allowing americans to leave afghanistan. Rebecca, where did this go wrong . Even with withdrawing all u. S. Troops, there are many experts, lawmakers who say that this wasnt The Way to do it, even people who were supportive of this policy. Where did this go wrong . Make no mistake, this went wrong in the last few weeks. Really, this went wrong last week. Theres been an implosion of u. S. Policy. And i think one gets fired for this. In my opinion, it would be secretary blinken. Why . Because this was a Signature Event for the biden administration. They had the warning, should have seen this coming. Clearly what we see at Kabul Airport is that they were weeks and months off. This is not the militarys fault. This is an Intelligence Failure here in washington. Robin, what do you think . I think all four president s made profoundly flawed calculations about how you build a nation, how you create an army from scratch, how long it would take and how much it would cost the united states. And one mission, that was to eliminate Al Qaeda as a threat to the american homeland, it stayed longer, hoping to secure afghanistan and create kind of a different kind of country that would have a Rippling Effect across Southern Asia and well beyond. I think history will look back on american presence in afghanistan and see a number of times we made mistakes. Those We Choz as allies and the diff difficulties, low education rates and trying to overhaul a country politically and militarily in a very short time period. It didnt work in iraq and it certainly hasnt worked in afghanistan. And the cost to the united States Reputation worldwide. Robin and rebecca, thank you so much to both of you. Thank you. Just in to cnn, we are Learning Militants in Gaza Have fired a rocket in israel, the first launch since the 11day War in may. The rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome Defense system, Israeli Military says, and it comes as hamas believes israel is not delivering on its end of the deal to partially ease the blockade on the enclave there. Cnn following all sorts of breaking news. Special coverage of the situation in afghanistan, right after this. Like many people with moderate to severe Ulcerative Colitis or crohns disease, i was there. Be right back. But my symptoms were keeping me from where i needed to be. So i talked to my doctor and learned humira is the 1 prescribed biologic for people with uc or crohns disease. And humira helps people achieve remission that can last, so you can experience few or no symptoms. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections. Serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. 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