Good evening. A lot happening tonight including a look ahead at President Bidens planned Announcement Tomorrow on covid Booster Shots for most vaccinated americans. We begin, though, with afghanistan. We learned late today the president spoke with british prime Minister Boris Johnson about the situation there including the safe evacuation of westerners and afghan nationals. To that end another 1,000 troops have landed In Kabul since we left you last night with another 2,000 or so on the way. According to the White House 700 to 800 americans, afghans and other foreign nationals managed to leave the country today. That said, the goal is more like 5,000 today. However, just getting to the airport may be difficult or impossible for many. These next photos explain why, but we have to warn you first theyre very tough to see. If you have children in the room you might want to have them turn away now. These photos were taken by a Los Los Angeles times photographer and Foreign Correspondent named Marcus Yam on a road near the airport packed with people trying to leave. You can see an injured child, there on the right. His head bloodied apparently unconscious in a mans arms. Lying on the pavement a woman also bloodied. Also with injuries to her head. He says taliban fighters used whips and sticks and sharp objects and gunfire on the crowd and says at least half a dozen people were wounded while he was there. We should point out that mr. Yam does not know why the taliban fired into the crowd and we dont know how badly they were injured. Jake sullivan, the president s national Security Adviser, was asked about such reports. He says theyre taking it up in talks through a channel with the taliban. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby was also asked about it it. Do those discussions with the taliban include talk about allowing americans or afghans through some of these taliban check points or even potentially expanding the perimeter around the airport so more people can get there safely . Thats one of the things were hear, is People Cant get through these taliban checkpoints, they cant even get to the airport to leave. Again, without going through the details of these communications of which im not a part, as i said there are interactions down at the local level. And as the general said, we are processing american citizens to get out. Well, he did not get any more specific than that saying only, quote, the results are speaking for themselves, unquote. As for taliban Promises Today the amnesty for their one time opponents and commitments to protecting womens rights under their version of islam, the national Security Adviser had this to say. Like ive said all along, this is not about trust. This is about verify. And well see what the taliban end up doing in the days and weeks ahead. Well, we also got another grim Reminder Today of the desperation to leave the country. Not only were people clinging to departing transport jets, the Air Force Today said Human Remains were found in a wheel well of one of the c17s on arrival from a flight out of kabul. There was also of course another round of finger pointing today, some of it partisan, some of it not, on what a mess the pullout has become. But we want to keep the focus right now on what matters most right now, the situation on the ground in afghanistan. Clarissa ward is In Kabul for us tonight. So just how quickly have things been changing now kabul is under taliban control . Yeah, its surreal, anderson. Within a couple of days normal life is sort of starting to creep back in. The taliban announced yesterday that Government Workers can return to their positions. We saw Traffic Policemen for the first time in days guiding traffic on The Streets today. But you know, what we really wanted to get at in our Reporting Today was this idea of people who werent out on The Streets, people who were too frightened to get out there and to show their faces. And that you have to look a little harder for. Take a look. At the central Kabul Market Today stores were open and people were back on The Streets. Or at least some people. It was impossible not to notice that women here seem to have largely melted away. One store was doing better business than usual. For more than a decade mohamed has been selling burkas, the head to Toe Covering once imposed by the taliban. Business was good but now its even better, he tells us. More sales. Why do you think youre selling more burkas right now . [ speaking foreign language ]. Reporter because the taliban took over and all the women are afraid, he says. So thats why theyre all coming in and buying burqas. Do you feel abandoned . Yeah, exactly. Reporter in an Apartment Downtown We Saw that fear firsthand. Until last Week Fazila was working for the u. N. Thats not her real name and she asked we not show her face. Shes petrified that the taliban will link her to western organizations and says she hasnt gone outside since they arrived In Kabul. You look very frightened. Exactly. Too much. It is not easy for a person who worked a lot with an international organization having more than ten years of experience of working with international and now no one of them help me. Just sending emails to different organizations i work with but now no response. Are you angry . No, im not angry but as a person that who worked with them, now i need their supports. It is not fair. Reporter you look very emotional as well. Yeah. Because im thinking about my future, my daughters. What will happen to them, if they kill me. Two daughters without mother. Reporter the taliban says they have learned from history and that womens rights will be protected. But many fearful afghan women remain to be persuaded. Were on our way now to the home of a prominent female afghan politician. Shes told me that there are taliban fighters outside her front door, so shes asked i go in alone. Fauzi aqufi was one of the afghan government negotiators during Peace Talks with the taliban and has dealt with the group a lot. She says that promising change is not enough. They have to really prove it in the provinces across afghanistan. They have to show it by example. Its very easy to issue statements, but people need to see that in practice. Reporter qufi has every reason not to trust. Last year she was shot by unknown gunmen. The taliban denied they were behind the attack. You have children. I have two daughters. Reporter and are they here . They are In Kabul. Reporter and are you concerned for them or im concerned for my daughters and all the girls of afghanistan. I dont want history to repeat itself on them, very brutally. Reporter 20 years of progress for women in afghanistan now hangs by a thread. Just logistically if somebody you know, some of the people you interviewed who some of them may have contacts, some of them may already be approved for a visa or be in the process, can anyone get can somebody get to the airport if one of those women wanted to try to leave . Could she actually get to the airport . Reporter you can get to the airport, but its incredibly difficult. And our Colleague Nick Paton walsh just did it today. He tried yesterday, tried it again today, managed it. But its insanity. Its pandemonium there. They say the situation is better, its calmer than before, which i think gives you a sense of just how terrible the situation was before. But its still incredibly dangerous and incredibly difficult. Choked full of cars, angry crowds. Then you had people who are just kind of malingering and taking advantage of the chaos and pickpocketing. This kind of rampant Criminal Activity on top of everything else. So yes, for an ordinary afghan woman with small children is that a road youre willing to try to navigate at the moment . Yes, potentially, if you believe that the alternative is a very real threat to your life. But thats not an easy decision to make. And i should just add, anderson, that for most people theyd be ready to take that Airport Road and try their chances and push through checkpoints and get beaten by the taliban. Their problem is getting the paperwork together. Their problem is as you heard fazila as we called her say in the piece, that these international organizations who are so overwhelmed by afghan employees desperately appealing for help at the moment are not even answering their calls or their emails. And thats why they feel theyve been abandoned. I want to play something you asked the Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby this morning. Lets listen. I just wanted to ask you because obviously im The One whos here on the ground talking to afghans every day who worked with the u. S. Military, who worked with the u. S. Embassy, who worked with american ngos or journalistic organizations. Im The One who has to look them in the eye. Can i offer them your assurance that everyone who has worked with american organizations will be got out of this country safely . I would ask you to tell them that there is a process that they can apply for through the State Department to get onto the list and get onto the manifest. I can assure them and you can assure them on our behalf that we in the pentagon will do everything we can to help get them out of the country over the next couple of weeks. Its been more than 12 hours since you asked that question. Youve been talking to people In Kabul. I mean, have afghans been able to do that . Talk about this process to get on the list, does that require an Internet Hookup . How what is this . Its not just an Internet Hookup. It requires letters of recommendation. It requires security checks. It can take years to get through that bureaucracy. And i know plenty of people who have been calling me, my phone has been burning up, anderson, for the last couple of days. And they tell me, oh, my s. I. V. Application was rejected because of some discrepancy about this or that or they didnt receive this or whatever, a myriad of different reasons that you can get for an online form being suddenly rejected. How do i restart the form . Whats the next step, where do i go to, how do i reach this person to get my Recommendation Letter . Even though i did have a recommendation, i still didnt get approval. And so what do you tell these people . Where are they supposed to go now . They have in recourse, anderson. And they thought they had longer to prepare for this moment. They didnt realize that within a matter of hours their lives will be turned upside down and within a matter of weeks the u. S. Would essentially have washed their hands of this. Yeah. Cl Clarissa Ward In Kabul. Thank you. Be careful. Now, the l. A. Times photographer whose photos we showed you at the top of program well be showing again in the course of the conversation. So again a warning, they are graphic. I spoke with Marcus Yam just before air time. The photographs you took these are people, are they trying to get to the airport and theyre being stopped by the taliban . These are people basically who are waiting outside the airport. Basically lingering outside the Airport Waiting for an opportunity, waiting to hear about an opportunity basically a chance to try to get into the airport. Some actually have tickets and most i talked to dont and theyre just waiting. I think a lot of them read on facebook that the americans were picking afghans and taking them out of the country, so they maybe just wanted to try their luck. And this is on the road on the side of the airport outside the airport where this is going on. The taliban basically were in i watched several taliban fighters walk around with stakes, rubber hoses. They even used the butt of their rifles to hit people and chase them around. They just wanted everybody off The Streets. And in afghanistan thats really hard because you know, Traffic Rules are a little different here. People just jaywalking. And everyones trying to get onto the Airport Side of the road to see whats going on and crowd around the fence. And thats what the taliban fighters were trying to get people to not do. Its pretty obviously mominous given the Talibans History and what we know about them and their ideology that they feel so emboldened to just beat people in The Streets and leave them there. Theres nothing i mean theres no Recourse Anybody has. The taliban can do whatever they want. I mean, from all the stuff im hearing and they want law and order, peace and security, they say theyre a different regime now. But what i saw was completely different. The violence was indiscriminate. It seemed like they were just doing what they wanted. I even watched one taliban fighter after firing some shots in the general direction of the crowd, smiling at another taliban fighter. As though it was a game for them or something. It was shocking to watch my people get wounded, especially that woman and child. You know, i heard shots and in the middle of an interview on the other side of The Street i heard repetitive shots and i was curious and i ran towards it and i could see i could see her slumped over and there was kind of like saw the men try to get her out, carry her over toward the other side of the road. The difference between what it was a couple days ago before the taliban arrived and what it is right now, what does it tell you about whats going to happen down the road . You know, im fearful for the afghan people. You know, if this is yesterday was a pretty crazy day in terms of in terms of intensity and in terms of despair and also desperation. And Todays Crowd at the airport was a lot more calmer. Everybody seemed a lot more tired. They were also resigned to maybe not leaving but they just wanted to hang on for hope that maybe leaving the country. With that said to see so much indiscriminate violence, it doesnt bode very well and im really very worried. Marcus yam, please be careful. Its extraordinarily brave what youre doing, and i appreciate it. And i appreciate you talking to us. Thank you. Thank you for having me on. I appreciate it. Marcus yam, Clarissa Ward and all of the reporters and their teams in the country risking their lives. Much more ahead on this next including the president cutting short his stay at camp david, heading back to the White House to handle the crisis as the administration also tries to do damage control. And later, this is Breaking News on the Chief Executive of one of the hardesthit states For Covid, Texas Governor Greg abbott now himself infected with the virus. That and the latest on Booster Shots and how soon covid immunity might fade for the vaccinated. Ok, got everything ready. Got the rental. Got it dropped off. Going to the championship with. Your tiny champion. Going. Going. Got it. Boost is the only mobile carrier to give you the power of free 24 7 access to live doctors from your phone. Get a free Samsung Galaxy A32 5g when you switch to americas largest fastest 5g network. More power to stay healthy. Boost mobile now were giving you even more reasons to rediscover the joy of travel. Like more ways to reward your loyalty. Which means future trips can be even more rewarding. 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Click or call for a lower Auto Rate today. Before we talk about taxsmart investing, whats new . Well, audreys expecting. Twins grandparents we want to put money aside for them, so. Change in plans. Alright, lets see what we can adjust. Wed be closer to the twins. Change in plans. Okay. Mom, are you painting again . You could sell these. Lemme guess, change in plans . At fidelity, a change in plans is always part of the plan. The situation on the ground in afghanistan especially the signs already Theres Nothing especially new or enlightened about this version of the taliban, we want to focus on how the White House is responding to it, whether its with Crisis Management or attempts at damage control. President Biden Weve learned is returning shortly to the White House from camp david. And earlier he spoke by phone for the first time since the crisis began with a foreign allied leader, british prime Minister Boris Johnson. Our Kaitlan Collins joins us now with more. So President Biden coming back earlier than planned. Whats the latest we know about his handling of all of this . Well, theyre still defending the exit, but they are coming under increasing scrutiny tonight, anderson, about how this exit went down. And thats not just from their critics, it is from democratic lawmakers as well who are typically their allies. So right now they are focusing on how this departure is still under way, and they are saying that is their primary mission, is making sure they get everyone out of there safely given the conditions on the ground that you just saw from clarissa. And we did just get an update from the White House. They say today that they did evacuate 1,100 u. S. Citizens, u. S. Permanent residents and their families on 13 flights. They believe now that theyve established that flow, theyve got flights actually leaving the airport after being temporarily suspended, that its only going to go up from there, anderson. I think this is a critical role the White House is playing right now in trying to make sure they patch up a lot of the fallout thats happened given the way this takeover by the taliban happened and just how quickly it surprised the White House. They are trying to ramp this up, though of course we should note there are thousands more to go because the estimates of how many americans are still there have ranged from 5,000 today from the pentagon to potentially 15,000 based on what the White House is telling lawmakers. So that remains to be seen how this is going to go, how quickly its going to go, but we do know they are trying to move quickly ahead of what they believe they have right now, an August 31st deadline. So they have an August 31st deadline, thats what theyre saying. Is that just for thats for american citizens. What about for the afghans who have been working with the u. S. . Thats the cutoff . So far thats been the agreement they had had of when theyd have everything drawn down completely with afghanistan. This is something the White House was pressed repeatedly on today which is would you consider sliding that deadline if you dont have everyone out by then given how many people there are to evacuate, not just americans but these endangered afghans as well and given the issues were seeing that people are having getting to the airport. Theyre scared to go to the airport. Theyre just now secured the airport. And so those have been questions that are still facing the White House. But theyre also facing questions, anderson, about how this went down in the first place. And jake sullivan, the national Security Adviser, did tell us today they will be conducting a review of the u. S. s role in how this was handled, the weak spots that they had. He said its not a what went wrong review but they are going to be looking at essentially what went wrong and the holes that he says essentially need to be filled. They have committed to sharing that, so that will be something not just we are looking at but democratic lawmakers including the chairman of the foreign Relations Committee who say they want to know what went wrong and how they are going to address these shortcomings. And what about whats the president saying to u. S. Allies . Do we know about the chaos In Kabul . Obviously many allied countries have been trying to evacuate their own personnel as well and didnt think it would be like this. And thats what makes it so interesting, that it wasnt until this afternoon that he had his first Phone Call with an ally, someone who of course is involved in this, british prime Minister Boris Johnson. He had not spoken to a World Leader since kabul fell on sunday. Obviously the president has been busy, so has his team, theyve been speaking to their counterparts, but World Leaders do usually talk to each other pretty quickly when something this grave in nature has happened. They did speak today. According to the readout that we got from Downing Street was notable because prime Minister Johnson said that he wanted to make sure the gains that he believes the world, the Western World has made in the last two decades in afghanistan are not erased by the last few days and the chaos and deteriorating situation that youve seen take place. We expect more conversations with other World Leaders but it is notable that it took this long for the president and another ally to speak. Kaitlan collins, i spreesh it. Joining us now colorado democratic congressman jason crow, former Army Ranger and afghanistan combat vet. Congressman crow, thanks for joining us. Appreciate it. First of all, just as a veteran im wondering of afghanistan whats going through your mind about what is happening there right now . Hi, anderson. Thanks for having me on. Im still processing the events of the last five days, to be honest with you. Ive been so focused on the mission we have on hand and that is to save american citizens and our afghan partners and allies. Ive been Receiving Hundreds of emails, texts, calls. In fact, just a few minutes before coming on here live video from the line of people trying to get into the airport In Kabul. Its of course a disaster that continues to unfold and heartbreaking. My message, though, to veterans is all my fellow veterans should be very proud of their service. Theres this reaction a lot of veterans are going through right now questioning the nature of their service, trying to conflate what it means and associating their service to the politics of this war. Dont do that. My fellow veterans stood up, and raised their right hand, answered the call of service that this country put out after 9 11 and you should all be extremely proud of that because i am proud of you as well. We will debate the politics and policy of this for years to come. What do you i mean how is the u. S. Going to live up to the promises that were made to afghans, interpreters, others who had been working for the u. S. For so long . I mean it seems like theres a whole bunch of people, a, who cant even get to the airport. Secondly, who are still just in this process which is a bureaucratic process understandably, and thered have to be checks and there have to be Background Checks and references and stuff, but it doesnt seem like this is the time when that can actually really take place. Yeah, anderson. You know, the taliban respect power. And the united states has it. Now, granted, they control the government now, but we have the power and the capability, the Combat Power and the resources to actually accomplish this mission. But we have to have the will to do it and we have to make the commitment to do it. Thats why these arbitrary deadlines of August 31st i dont believe in that. I think we should say we will do this until its done, we will accomplish this mission because we have the resources to do it. The taliban have never defeated us on The Field Of Battle and they know that. They might have won in the longterm battle here, but thats different from the ability to take us on facetoface. We have the ability to make sure we secure that airport and open lines of communication, lines of movement to that airport, establish safe zones and do it as long as we need to get everybody out. We have the Ability And Capability to do it. We just have to do it. Thats why ive been calling on the administration to make that commitment. The other thing is how long i guess theres different sides to this. The taliban could be motivated to allow the u. S. To evacuate the afghans it hopes to evacuate because they may want foreign aid in the future or foreign relations in the future. The Flip Side of that is do they really want, you know, educated afghans leaving the country because, you know, somebodys got to make the everything run. Yeah, im not really concerned about what the taliban want. I think they could care less at this point. This is what we need to do, and we have an obligation, a moral one. We have a national security obligation. We have an obligation to provide the same level of Security And Commitment to our afghan partners as theyve provided to us over the last 20 years. We also have the resources and capability to follow through on that commitment over the next couple of weeks. I think we say what were going to do and work with the taliban to the extent that we can or are able to. But they understand that we have a mission that we have to accomplish and that we have the ability and resources to accomplish that. And i think if we show that power and will i would be surprised if they tried to prevent us from doing so. I want to warn our viewers about some disturbing photos. Weve shown them earlier. If you have kids you might want to send them out of the room for a bit. These are taken by Los Angeles times journalist In Kabul showing what he says are taliban using gunfire, whips, sticks, sharp objects against afghans waiting outside the airport on the Airport Road trying to get to the Airport Or Kind of milling around. How i mean, to see these images, it gives you a sense of the you know, the freedom the taliban certainly feels to do whatever they want to people, to beat people, to i dont flow if this lady was shot. I relieve the photographer said she was shot. She survived as far as he knew. A child was hit as well. I mean, if this is what theyre doing now as theyre trying to establish control, theres no telling what they will do, and its pretty clear what we know from the past, what theyll do when they do establish control. Yeah, thats right. I know the taliban well. I fought them during both my Combat Tours in afghanistan as an Army Ranger. Theyre obviously an extremely brutal and immoral group of folks. Thats why we have to make sure were doing whats necessary to flow the troops and combat resources in, take total control of that airport, extend the Security Perimeter beyond the airport, establish some corridors to allow safe K Passage and make sure were transporting american citizens first and foremost but also our afghan partners and allies and get them out. We have Tens Of Thousands of folks that we need to get out. Thats not going to happen overnight. But we have to make the commitment to do that. And i dont think we set a calendar deadline. I think we do it as long as we need to do it to get it done. You said establish corridors, though. But unless you are in control of the city itself p doesnt the taliban control who gets access to those corridors . Well, you have to establish lines of communication and open up some roads. To the extent to which we expand those out to the city, how far we expand those out obviously will be a consequence of the Security Situation and how many troops we have on the ground. Im not saying this is easy. Im saying that we have to do it but i know the operational challenge. I know the complexity of doing this. I know how dangerous and complicated it is. And im certainly very upset that were in this position because we actually didnt need to be in this position had the administration started the Evacuation Back in april when i and others were starting to call for it. You could have had most of these folks out. This would be a very different situation. But thats not going to help us now. What we need to do is be singularly focused on the mission of getting folks out. We have the ability to do it. I dont think 5,000, 6,000 troops is going to do the job. I think well have to send in some more as well as additional assets to make sure were extending that perimeter out. But also i just got a video actually five minutes before coming on here sent by a friend of mine of the line trying to get into the Airport And Gunfire and the chaos and the taliban checkpoints and the things that you described and showed pictures of. We cant allow that to happen. We have to extend that perimeter out. Open up some mechanism for folks to get to the airport. Yeah, congressman jason crow, i appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you. Just ahead, the governor of texas has fought Mask Mandates for his state. The fallout from that decision for him next. To allergens all season long. Psst psst all good why choose proven Quality Sleep from Sleep Number . Because every new day starts the night before. And a quality Nights Sleep is scientifically proven to help boost performance. The new Sleep Number 360 Smart Bed is temperature balancing. And it helps keep you asleep by sensing your movement and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. The Sleep Number 360 Smart Bed is on sale now during our biggest sale of the year. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has tested positive For Covid according to a statement from his office. He is vaccinated, has no symptoms and is receiving regenerons monoclonal antibody treatment. The governor has banned Mask And Vaccine mandates in his state as you know. This was him last night at a republican fundraiser. The original video was posted by his campaign on his twitter feed. It shows him maskless and posing for pictures with attendees, who are also maskless. Hospitalizations as you know in texas are spiking. Houstons mayor says hospitalizations at Texas Medical Center are the highest since july of last year. On Monday Texas officials told Cnn Theyd requested five mortuary trailers, quote in case they need them. This follows separate Breaking News according to sources the tsa plans to extend the federal Mask Mandate for places like airports and trains through at least January 18th. Its scheduled to expire next month. All of this as we mentioned as President Biden tomorrow is expected to speak from the White House on Booster Shots for most americans and as the cdc reports today that the Delta Variant now accounts for nearly 99 of all new cases. I want to get perspective now from our chief medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupt Sxa Dr. Peter hotez, codirector for the center for Vaccine Development at Houston Texas Childrens Hospital and author preventing the next pan democratic Vaccine Diplomacy in a time of antiscience. Dr. Hotez, texas leads the nation with the most children hospitalized with covid. Your reaction to the Governor Testing positive. Well, i certainly hope he does okay. I understand right now he has no symptoms. And i wish him and his family all the best. And as we say in yiddish, you should live to be 120, so i hope he does well. But it is really concerning whats going on in texas right now. The level of transmission is just screaming. I just didnt think wed get to this level, the highest that weve seen since the summer of last year which was so horrible. And its not just cases, anderson. Its hospitalizations and a lot of young people by some accounts the median age in our Texas Medical Center are people in their 30s and 40s. And that really worries me and upsets me. And as you reported a lot of kids now are getting sick. And heres the really bad news. School hasnt even started yet. So we are opening schools across texas, many without masks. And i dont see how those numbers dont just keep climbing in terms of young people and adolescents and kids. We learned today the governor is tested every day for the virus. Most people, you know, arent tested weekly or even monthly for that matter. This regeneron that hes taking, is that something most people would be treated with . Well, where to begin here, anderson . First of all, i wish the governor does well as peter was saying. So you have a situation here where the governor is railing against masks but he himself we learned is not wearing a mask in that setting even though he should have been, is getting tested on a daily basis instead of wearing a mask, and then goes and gets regeneron while hes asymptomatic after having been vaccinated. Its really theres not a lot of logic here. Instead of wearing a mask, Daily Testing, 1,500 worth of antibodies and still not wearing a mask after that. Im not quite sure what the message is here. What the cdc says, to your question specifically, is if youve been vaccinated, you have a known exposure, you should get tested within three to five days after that exposure and wear a mask for 14 days or until you test negative. But this is a situation were hearing over and over again. Were hearing this in florida as well. Were not going to talk about masks, but instead were going to advocate for these very expensive, effective but very expensive monoclonal antibody treatments. So thats the situation unfolding with the governor. Again, no masks but Daily Testing, regeneron, all of that. The hypocritical thing about it, too, is hes preaching no masks and hes not wearing a mask in that room full of people. Im not sure if theyre aware hes being tested daily and also then has access to regeneron even though hes asymptomatic. I dont know how many people in that room have the ability to be tested daily or have access to that sort of treatment. But it does seem like its clearly he doesnt want to be seen wearing a mask because of the, you know, rhetoric hes been using and yet he has all this backup that, you know, we didnt know about before. Right. I mean, thats exactly it. Look, this is going to sound familiar, right . This happened with President Trump as well. No masks but getting regularly tested and then having access to all these sorts of treatments, which its great. Like dr. Hotez said, if these treatments exist maybe theyll provide him benefit. Im not sure theres a lot of data in using regeneron in a vaccinated person whos also asymptomatic. But regardless, it can potentially be an effective treatment. What is befuddling i think is a Dollar Mask is not being advocated for. Instead Daily Testing and 1,500 antibody treatments. This cant be the way this goes. Most people do not have access to that. It defies what the cdcs guidelines are. And thats youve gotten a glimpse to you into what exactly is happening. Dr. Hotez, telling people not to wear masks or promoting not having a Mask Mandate, not encouraging people to wear masks and yet they dont have access to the same kind of stuff this guy does. So just moving on from that, the fact the tsa is expanding its Mask Mandate until January 18th not much of a surprise given it encompasses the holiday travel season. Do you think once the vaccines receive full Fda Approval there could be vaccine mandates to travel as well, doctor . I would certainly hope so. Again, when you have this level of transmission especially here in the south i mean, right now in texas were averaging about 14,000 new cases a day. What are our two best tools . Our two best tools are vaccines, Number One, and masks are right up there. So we have to use every tool at our disposal when youve got a Virus Agent this transmissible and not just focus on the airlines and the businesses. Look whats going to be happening with schools right now. Were already hearing about schools opening and shuttering because of so many Breakthrough Covid cases. And again, with this level of virus accelerating, we havent even begun to do whats really needed. I mean, The Truth is, anderson, as schools start to open so here in houston an independent School District were opening august 23rd, next week. If youre really serious about protecting the kids that means every person who goes into that school has to have a mask. Maybe a possible exception some of the Special Needs kids who cant do that. And everybody over the age of 12 has to be vaccinated. Thats the only way. Otherwise the whole thing is going to fall apart. And you know what, i can prove it. Its already starting to happen. Sanjay, i know you spoke with a senior federal Health Official Today about tomorrows white House Announcement about Booster Shots. What did you learn . I learned that this is not a slam dunk. I mean, theres a lot of back and forth here. Youve heard just last week from the cdc that the data that they were talking about last week, and i talked to some of these officials myself last week, the data here in the united states looked good in the sense that the vaccines were working well and there wasnt discussion or a plan for boosters. Just last week out of the cdc. What they say tomorrow, this announcement, anderson, is that there will be more data presented, some of it u. S. Based data. Not just data from either israel or the uk. And they say its going to make the case that there is evidence of the Vaccine Effectiveness waning, people becoming seriously ill despite having been vaccinated. So far as you know the vaccines have been very protective against hospitalizations and death. They say theyre going to present some evidence to make the case that boosters are necessary about eight months after someones been initially vaccinated. Sanjay, dr. Peter hotez, appreciate it. Thanks. Still to come, more on the Breaking News out of afghanistan. Filmmaker and journalist Sebastian Junger joins me to talk about the veterans of the afghan war hes chronicled for more than a decade and how theyre reacting to how the Afghanistan War ended. As your business changes, the United States Postal Service is changing with it. With ecommerce that runs at the speed of now. Next Day And Twoday shipping nationwide, and returns right from the doorstep. Its a whole New World out there. Lets not keep it waiting. Every single day, were all getting a little bit better. Were better cooks. Better neighbors. Hi. Ive got this until you get back. Better parents. And better friends. No no thats why comcast works around the clock constantly improving americas largest gigspeed broadband network. And just doubled the capacity here. How do things look on your end . Perfect because were building a better network every single day. Matt zeller is an afghanistan veteran. Hes worked to help get afghan allies out the country and tells cnn about his frustration about the end of the war. Saying all the friends i lost in afghanistan, what were their deaths for, what was their sacrifice for if this was the End State . Hundreds of thousands were deployed there over two decades. Their sacrifices perhaps most memorably recorded in the 2010 documentary restrepo, which spent one year with one battalion in an isolated outpost in afghanistan. I want to show you a clip and then spend some time with one of the codirectors, Sebastian Junger. Its intense and violent but we want you to see it to understand the emotions so many are now experiencing. Ied. Keep going keep going [ gunfire ] what are we doing . Hey. Weve got to get out. Weve got to get out. Getting out extraordinary look at the war in afghanistan. Joined now by Journalist And Filmmaker sebastian younger who directed and produced the award winning film and also the author of the book freedom. Sebastian, thanks so much for joining us. As someone who spent a lot of time in afghanistan how do you when you look at the images of whats happening, when you see whats happening on the ground, what do you think . You know, i think it must be very confusing for soldiers and veterans as like it is for journalists who have worked over there. I mean you establish relations with afghans and some feelings with that country, and its very confusing. I think it would be hard to generalize about veterans and soldiers. I think some are like, you know, its gone on long enough, No One Else should die over there, the afghans arent appreciating us, whatever, time to leave. Theres a lot of that. But then theres a lot of what was it all for . I think theres some tentative answers hut it was all for. But those answers im not sure will emotionally satisfy people that have, you know, suffered in combat. The you know, the marines who were fighting so long there, and it was so tough and that notion of trying to get afghans off the fence and try to convince them that the u. S. Was there for the long haul, which the u. S. Was longer than just about anybody else has been there, it really was Nation Building even though the u. S. Wasnt saying it was nation bidding. Building. Well, yeah, and i think there was some pretty clear logic to that, right . I mean alqaeda formed a base in afghanistan because it was a failed state. And they did not have Extradition Treaties with other countries, International Terror Groups could form there basically in safety. So the idea was if you rebuild afghanistan so that it can be part of the community of nations that cant happen again. The problem is we really went about it wrong. We left 15,000 troops thereafter we defeated the taliban, a drop in the bucket. We ignored the corruption in the government. It was just a government that was not worth fighting and dying for, and the afghan soldiers clearly felt that way because they basically did not fight the taliban in this last surge that wound up with the taliban In Kabul. Were you surprised the speed with which things things fell apart . No. I mean i was there in 1996 when the taliban took over initially, and, you know, it was in jilalabad and the taliban delegation was across the Breakfast Room glaring at me suspiciously. There wasnt any fighting and it happened it happened very quickly. And so the taliban didnt fight their way across afghanistan, except for a few locations. It was all negotiated and the afghan soldiers who werent supplied with ammunition, food or salaries, because all of that stuff was getting stolen by commanders, they were told by the taliban, if you give up, we wont kill you. Of course they did. It makes sense. I didnt surprise me at all. Once they were outside kabul, there was Rioting And Looting and the taliban went in to keep order. People said they took kabul. It wasnt being defended. They didnt really take it in that sense. It is remarkable when you look at over the years going to kabul, you would see mansions popping up and you would ask about who owned this and its some afghan general. The amount of corruption is something that i dont think was there was a lot of reporting done on it. But it certainly contributes, as you said, to a lack of desire to fight for a government thats siphoning money instead of paying to give you bullets or food. Yeah. It was a completely corrupt criminal cartel, basically. When i was there in 96, i was In Kabul in july, and the taliban Front Lines were right on the edge of town. And we got shot at. And the afghan i was with said, we hate those guys. They were trained and backed by pakistan. Its a foreign invasion of this country and we hate them, but were going to let them in because they promised to clean up corruption. And indeed they did in their brutal way. We didnt remember that lesson. We went in with a huge amount of cash and just dumped it all over the place without any oversight at all. We basically ramped Up Corruption Enormously by bringing in that much money without oversight. Those u. S. Policies doomed this war from the beginning no matter how hard the american soldiers fought. And they fought very hard, as you know. When you hear the taliban now saying theyve changed, theyve learned from the mistakes of the past, you know, We Saw the pictures from the l. A. Times, the taliban fighters beating people with whips and sticks and firing at people standing around on the Airport Road, what do you think happens now . I mean, listen, plenty of western countries use physical force against demonstrators. It has to get a little worse for me to think i loathe the taliban. Lets be real here. They werent Opening Fire with Machine Guns like many u. S. Allies have done against protests. So what i would say is theyre brilliant strategic thinkers or they wouldnt have won this war and of course they learned from their mistakes. And im guessing they dont want to cycle back into 20 years of conflict with the u. S. Or with other insurgent groups in afghanistan that are protesting them. I think they probably dont want to cycle into another 20 years of that. And im guessing that theyre going to try to give the appearance of playing nice. I know someone who knows about this stuff and is involved in it and he said they really want good relations with the international community. And they know exactly what that means. There are certain red lines, if they cross them, they will be a pariah state. And my guess is theyre going to see if they can have an islamic state, like iran is, and maintain some kind of normalized relations with the rest of the world. Thats really what theyre shooting for. I appreciate you being with us. Thanks very much. Still ahead tonight, theres Breaking News from haiti on the rising Death Toll from the quake and the punishing tropical storm that followed. I had to retire from law enforcement. It was devastating. One of my medications is Three Thousand Dollars per month. Prescription drugs do not work if you cannot afford them. Aarp is fighting for americans like larry, and we wont stop. Thats why were calling on congress to let medicare negotiate lower Prescription Drug prices. Hey lily, i need a new Wireless Plan for my business, but all my employees need something different. Oh, we can help with that. Okay, imagine this. Your mover, rob, hes on the scene and needs a plan with a mobile hotspot. We cut to downtown, your Sales Rep Lisa has to send some files, asap so basically i can pick the right plan for each employee. Yeah i shouldve just led with that. With at t business. You can pick the best plan for each employee and only pay for the features they need. Woman 5, 6, 7, 8. [band playing] a new School Year begins. In the classrooms weve prepared. With the students we are devoted to. In concert with the parents and families we partner with every day. We cant do it without you. Were ready to teach. Our Number One priority is student safety. Were determined to keep everyone safe. And excited to help all students succeed. Woman because we know quality public schools make a better california. More Breaking News, the Death Toll has climbed higher in haiti after the 7. 2 Magnitude Earthquake over the weekend. Authorities say 2,000 people have died and nearly 10,000 others are injured. Adding to the misery, tropical storm grace. Dumped heavy rains on th