Arriving at the White House today. We understand that they met with President Biden. The administration is aiming to evacuate Tens Of Thousands of people from afghanistan by august 31st. But there appears to be a major disconnect between the stated u. S. Evacuation plan and whats actually happening on the streets of kabul. Okay, so what youre hearing are these pops of gunfire used to control the crowds. These are crowds of civilians trying to get inside the airport In Kabul. A warning, these pictures were about to show you are graphic. A photographer for the l. A. Times captured this. You see these are children, one of them at least, people being beaten with whips and sticks and what that photographer described as taliban violence. The pentagon says that it is aware of this, quote, harassment and that u. S. Military leaders are communicating with the taliban In Kabul. Now, the pentagon says in the last 24 hours, 18 military planes have flown roughly 2,000 passengers out of kabul. 325 of those passengers were american citizens. Now, Today Cnn Thief international Correspondent Clarissa Ward was right outside of the Kabul Airport. In the middle of her live shot, a crowd began to gather around her and they wanted her to tell their stories. Whats your message to america right now . Our message, we helped the american people, so its their jobs to help right now here. Its a very bad situation. Somebody that you worked with im just going to thank you, sir. Can i bring you in. You have a Green Card . This is my Green Card. Hes showing me a picture of his Green Card. Thats his Green Card. So you have a Green Card. Yeah. And i have flight on 20, this friday. I fill out the application for the u. S. Embassy and this is the email that i got from the u. S. Embassy. And so did you try to get into the airport. Yeah, i did. What did the taliban say . The taliban say we dont know, just go. We dont want to try to let you in. Cnns Cally Atwood covers the State Department and oren lieberman. Do we know what the plan is to get the Tens Of Thousands of afghan helpers out of there . The challenge now is the administration is having some trouble answering these basic questions over whether if theyre able to successfully get out all these americans, all these afghans who worked alongside the united states. Now, of course there are two major problems right now. First of all, the sheer numbers, right . We know that about 2,000 of these afghan interpreters have been brought to the u. S. , relocated to the u. S. Since the end of july. There are some 20,000 of them who actually could be who have applied for these special immigrant visas. And then theres somewhere close to 100,000 who could also apply for other programs, refugee status, plus their family members. So youre talking major numbers here. Then you watch whats happening on the streets there. As clarissa was seeing, it is not peaceful right now. There are major problems for the afghans who are trying to get to the airport. And so that is front and center right now. The administration is saying that they are relying on the taliban to provide Safe Passage for these afghans. As far as we can see, the taliban are killing people ins arent killing people Inskrim Nantly but they havent making it Safe Passage. Some of the afghans, some of the passports at the u. S. Embassy were destroyed, were burned while the u. S. Officials were getting out of that embassy just late last week. Now, the State Department says that those folks are not going to have a problem getting out of the country when they go to do so. Theyre not going to be prohibited from flying out. But youve got to imagine that its pretty challenging for those aftghans who are worried right now. Not only are they scared about getting to the airport, they dont have their passports in hand and its really unclear when folks are going to the airport where they go. If they dont have a passport in hand, its unclear if theres a u. S. Consular officer whos clearly marked as the person they can go to to get on these evacuation flights. Hopefully Secretary Austin and general milley will be able to answer some of those questions at the top of the next hour. Oren, what do we know about this meeting between milley, austin and the president . What did they discuss today . Were hoping to learn more when we hear from Defense Secretary Lloyd austin and general Mark Milley in right about an hour in a Press Briefing where well be able to ask questions. Key among those, what does it look like at the airport . Weve seen the pictures. The Security Situation is better than it was, say, 48, 72 hours ago. But its clearly not at a point where everyone is safe, everyone is secure, and the processing can move forward at a rate where it seems like it needs to, to move all of these people. John kirby says u. S. Troops did Fire Warning shots overnight, nonlethal but dont know much more about that incident. There have been other Security Incidents in and around the airport. There are now 4,500 troops working to secure the airport. Thats still short of the 6,000 that are approved so there are more troops expected to go into the airport in the next couple of days. In terms of the flight, 18 c17s which appears to be the main plane that will move people out of kabul, moving 2,000 people simply isnt enough. The pentagon is aiming for 5,000 to 9,000, so 2,000 is just 40 of where they hope to be and crucially time is ticking away. Were now 13 days away from the end of the month. So theres an urgent need here to process people faster and move them faster out of the airport especially if were looking at moving something like 80,000 or 100,000 people. That number is very far away right now. Oren linerman, Kylie Atwood, thank you very much. Lets bring in Cofousnder F No One left behind, matt zeller. Hes been urging the biden administration to do more to help those workers in the region. Matt, thank you for being with us. I know that you are frustrated, you are angry. There are a lot of emotions that youre feeling. As you are communicating with people In Kabul, what are you hearing . Chaos. Absolute chaos. Pandemonium. There is Tens Of Thousands of people who have surrounded the airport desperate to get in. There are taliban checkpoints within A Hundred meters of u. S. Marines, and youre right, theyre beating people in the crowds. I had a friend in the crowd who got beaten by taliban soldiers with chains. And the americans just have to Stabbe Stand there and do nothing. The americans are being forced to use tear gas, to Fire Warning shots. By the way, every time i hear that gunfire go off, all i think of is those bullets have to come down somewhere. People could be inadvertently being killed by the gunfire. This is the exact chaotic exit that the biden administration was warned about and they were desperate to avoid. So heres what they need to do. They need to expand the perimeter at the airport. Its clear that this isnt working. We need to reopen Air Bases like bagram where we can more effectively move people. We need to open up Air Bases all throughout the rest of afghanistan. What youre only talking about is kabul. Your reporter mentioned theres some 80,000 people that might be able to go. What shes talking about is the afghan interpreters and their families who have already registered for visas. Some of whom are being notified they have flights, but theyre in cities that are completely controlled by the taliban. Matt, i mean you this is your personal story, that an afghan interpreter saved your life when you were serving there in 2008, i believe. It was so interesting to hear former Senior Advisor to president trump, Stephen Miller, Last Night say the u. S. Doesnt owe these people anything. Listen to him. The united states of america never, ever made a Promise Written or unwritten to the people of afghanistan that if after 20 years they were unable to secure their own country that we would take them to ours. What do you say to that . That man has been my personal nemesis now for almost eight years. Ive been fighting him since he was Jeff Sessions senate staffer. As far as im concerned, he personally is as complicit as the taliban in these peoples deaths. He should be held accountable for war crimes. He spent the entirety of the Trump Administration purposely trying to prevent these people from coming here. Ive had meetings with him and his ilk. I brought the interpreter who saved my life to some of those meetings. We met with a lady by the name of andrea loving, the Deputy Counsel for the House Judiciary Committee for the gop. Janice and i were sitting in a meeting with her, she is stephens counterpart at the time in congress. We were debating about whether or not congress should allocate more visas for these people. She then articulated what his platform was. I pointed to janice and said this is the gentleman who saved my life. Maybe youve never met an afghan. They looked at me and they said, youre doing nothing but letting islamic fundamentalists, terrorists into our country and its our job to stop you. Wrong. These are our people. There is no us and them. Theres just an us. You know what . Stephen miller never wore a uniform a day in his life. Hes a privileged little brat. He ought to be held for war crimes. I cant stand that man. I cant believe that youre giving him any more air time. Thats the reason that guys views continue to get publicized because the media keeps putting it out there. That guy doesnt represent america, he represents the worst of us. Whats going on is the best of us. Im currently involved with a massive Airlift Planning Operation from my living room. There are veterans all over the country who are organizing a digital dunkirk. We are not getting any sleep. We are determined to see our people get out. Were not going to rest until we do it effectively and efficiently and most importantly in we take them all. People like Stephen Miller need to just sit down and shut up because he has been part of the problem for too long. Matt, youve given some suggestions about how to expand this operation. I know that you have been waving your arms in front of this administration since the beginning, since january. Have you gotten a response . And do you expect that there will be this expansion . Were hoping to have a meeting soon with the administration. What were going to be pushing for is exactly that. We have a beachhead In Kabul. Its not a very effective beachhead as we can clearly see. There are scenes of chaos at the airport. What we need is for the u. S. Military to expand that perimeter so its more effective for people to get in. We need to tell the taliban they need to shut down their checkpoints in the city because theyre actively taking peoples passports. I have had u. S. Citizens who had their u. S. Passports taken from them, Green Cards taken from them. Afghans are having their documentation stolen in an intent to prevent them from getting into the air base. So enough of this. Were the united states military. We have the most powerful military on the planet. We should use it for good. We should establish a humanitarian corridor In Kabul and provide Safe Passage for whoever needs to get to the airport for as long as this takes. The only person who can do that is the president of the united states. So i really hope somebody who works for him or himself is watching because thats what we need. Hes the one person who can save these peoples lives. Matt, youve shared with us some video. I want to show everyone, this is at the airport. I mean just heartbreaking scene after heartbreaking scene. This one is gripping. Its people passing their children away from themselves and up to the front of the line i assume to save these babies and these children . Whats happening in this video . That was taken by a relative of mine at the North Gate of the airport In Kabul. Exactly what youre seeing. People are so desperate to get away from the taliban. As a parent, I Cant believe thats what theyre having to do. Theyre handing their children off to complete strangers and Bucket Brigade Style theyre passing them to the front of the line in the hopes to convince the u. S. Military to at least take their kids. If you didnt i dont think we need any other argument than that. These people have no future in afghanistan. Stephen miller is wrong. We made them a promise. People like him have been spending the last four years of the Trump Administration purposely trying to prevent these people from getting here. I want to go on one more point about this. This is critical. The reason all these people are stuck in afghanistan right now is because the Visa Program created to get them here, it was purposely shut down by the Trump Administration for the last four years. Now, the Obama Administration has plenty to blame on that. They were not an effective processor for the first four years that they held office. But the latter four years of the Obama Administration, the second term, they got the Program Functioning pretty well. The Trump Administration came in and purposely destroyed it. The reason why all of these afghans were stuck in afghanistan for as long as they were in the first place is because those people made sure they couldnt get out. As i said before, theyre as complicit as the taliban are in these peoples deaths. Matt, we hear you. I mean does the united states want to stand as the land of broken promises for people when we go into their countries and ask for their help and they save lives as they saved yours. Matt zeller, thank you for your service and all youre doing now. We really appreciate it and well talk to you again. Talk to you soon. Thanks. Joining us now is national Security Analyst David Sanger, also a Security Correspondent for the new york times. Just jaw dropping, david, to see whats happening there In Kabul, to hear from matt, to try to understand how the united states thinks theyre going to get 80,000 people out in the next 13 days when yesterday was 2,000 people. David, where do we begin . Its hard to know where to begin. The administration is a little bit behind the eight ball on this because having decided in midapril that we were leaving by a date certain, september 11th, obviously the military got out a bit earlier even than that. The processing of these special visas for those who were translators and others who worked for the u. S. , worked for ngos, worked for news organizations, including cnn, the times, others, all of that suggested that they needed to be moving people starting in april or may or june in large numbers. And the fact that were moving so many of them now tells you it can be done, but the Urgency Wasnt there. The question is why was that, and was there an overreliance on this assumption that kabul would remain free of taliban for 18 months or 6 months or whatever the moving target of the intelligence was. David, you talked about four miscalculations that you believe this administration made. One of them is the assumption of the luxury of time. You talked about it a bit there. I wonder if this administration in your opinion is still making that miscalculation . We know that the meeting between the president and british prime Minister Boris Johnson about strategy is happening next week. There is still world leaders who still have not heard from President Biden. Is that miscalculation continuing . Well, President Biden talked today, earlier today with Chancellor Merkel of germany, and i think all of the g7 members are meeting virtually next week. But at this point the really interesting question, its really only the united states that has the Airlift Power to get these folks out. The hard Problem Isnt once theyre in the gate. The hard problem is getting them to kabul and getting them inside that gate. And you saw from clarissas reporting and what you just heard in the subsequent interviews that thats the key part. Obviously if youre in an occupied part of afghanistan and that is now all of afghanistan, youre not going to venture out to make it to the capital. If youre in the capital, its clearly pretty dangerous to make it to the airport. And this is what happens when we were all overtaken by the surprise on the timing. There were other assumptions that they needed to make their way through. They didnt really have fully in place a basing plan for where you would base the u. S. Outside u. S. Forces outside of afghanistan that would be able to reach in and do those overthehorizon strikes. And we didnt really have a financial plan to make sure that the taliban were Cut Off, although it now looks like the fed is stepping in to make sure that any assets that the afghan government had outside in the united states do not go to the benefit of the taliban. David, Stand By for us because weve got some Breaking News on a point you just made about trying to get to the airport In Kabul. The u. S. Embassy now says that it cannot guarantee Safe Passage to the Kabul Airport. Lets go back to Kylie Atwood. Were just getting a new Security Alert for Americans In Afghanistan from the State Department. Previously the State Department has been telling those americans to shelter in place. Now it is telling them to consider going to the airport In Kabul. But what theyre also telling these americans is that they cannot assure that they will have Safe Passage on the way to the airport. That is significant because the biden administration just yesterday, national Security Advisor Jake sullivan, said the united states is relying on the taliban to ensure Safe Passage for americans and for the afghans who have worked alongside the u. S. Getting to the airport. But of course what we have seen in the reporting from Clarissa Ward on the ground there is that there hasnt been Safe Passage. This Security Alert is clear in saying that the united states cannot tell these americans who are in the country right now that if they head to the airport that they are going to be able to ensure Safe Passage. But theyre still telling them to go. That in and of itself is significant, its different. Now numbers here. We are told that there are somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 americans still in afghanistan. That is a significant number, right, especially given weve only seen about A Thousand people fly out of the airport. We know that the military is trying to get those numbers up every day between 5,000 and 9,000, but they havent been able to. But the bottom line here is that theyre telling these americans to go to the airport but theyre not telling them that they will necessarily get their safely. Kylie, thats huge Breaking News and it is obviously a setback and not what anybody wanted to hear. It doesnt sound like its going in the right direction. Thank you very much for bringing us from the State Department. Come back whenever you have anything else. We want to go back to David Sanger to react to that. Just yesterday as kylie said, national Security Advisor Jake sullivan said that the taliban had guaranteed Safe Passage. We saw with our own eyes that wasnt necessarily happening but it sounded like the biden administration was trusting the taliban yesterday. Now what does this mean, its broken down . Well, im not sure it was ever really there. What mr. Sullivan said in the course of that was that the taliban leadership had offered a guarantee. Im not sure anybody thought from the first moment that that would apply or how disciplined the taliban leadership was at command over the people who are working for it. This is the key problem that grows out of the assumption that we have more time than we did. A week ago the united states still had the ability to sort of make its way around the city some because the city was in the hands of a friendly government. At this moment we dont have that liberty so we cant send people out to help Pluck Americans from wherever they may be. The guarantees of the taliban, as Kylies Report suggests, arent worth very much. So we dont have a whole lot of leverage here. Now, the administration will say accurately that two weeks ago they sent out a warning urging all Americans In Afghanistan to depart immediately on commercial flights. And clearly 10,000 to 15,000 people decided not to go do that. I think one of the big questions is going to be was that warning urgent enough, did there have to be a order that they have got to get out. You know, im sure they for all sorts of reasons didnt want to leave thinking that they were probably safe. Again, weve got that News Conference happening at the top of the hour. Were hoping to get some clarity there from the White House. David sanger, thank you so much. Weve got Breaking News out of the White House. The biden administration is threatening to withhold funds to get more people vaccinated. Plus a major announcement about Covid Booster shots. What you need to know about that rollout. What it means for you. To make my vision a reality. I have to take every perspective, and see clearly from every point of view. With my varilux Progressive Lenses i seamlessly transition from near to far. And see every detail in sharp focus. When you see no limits, there are no limits. Book now at your local essilor experts to push the limits of your vision. Varilux lenses by essilor. Weve got you taken care of, sgt. Houston. Thank you. That was fast one call to usaa got her a tow, her claim paid. And even her Grandpas Dog tags back. Get a quote. So, you have diabetes, here are some easy rules. No sugar. No pizza. No foods you love. Stressed . No stress. Exercise. But no days off easy, no . No. No. No. No. But with Freestyle Libre 14 day, you can take the mystery out of your diabetes. Now you know. Sir, do you know what you want to order . Yes. Freestyle libre 14 day. Try it for free. The White House is taking a new Hard Line with Nursing Homes. Here are their options. Vaccinate your staff or losing federal funding. The administration says that medicare dollars will be Cut Off to those facilities if they do not comply. Jeremy diamond has the details. Jeremy, tell us about the timing here. Reporter well, listen, this is a pretty significant escalation of President Bidens campaign to get americans vaccinated and it shows that hes willing to use far more muscular tools to actually boost those vaccination rates. Beginning as soon as potentially next month, this new regulation is expected to go into effect and essentially it will tell these Nursing Homes that if you want to continue to participate in medicare and medicaid, which makes up the bulk of the funding for many of these 15,000 Nursing Homes across the country, you need to get your staff vaccinated. And what we know is that right now about 60 of the 1. 3 million workers in these facilities are vaccinated, but that means that as many as half A Million people who work in these Nursing Homes are not vaccinated. The reason why were seeing this happening now, according to the officials who i spoke with today, is because of the Delta Variant. They have watched as Nursing Homes where staff is not vaccinated or fewer staff are vaccinated, they are seeing surging covid cases among the resi residents, the elderly people in those Nursing Homes. Carol johnson told me that were on a War Time Footing here. Delta is not waiting and so neither are we. Were expecting President Biden to make this announcement today, saying that hes directing the Department Of Health And Human Services to create this regulation. Before this goes into effect as early as next month, the centers for Medicaid And Medicare services is going to be working with these Nursing Homes with the workers and the unions to try to get people vaccinated even before those regulations go into effect. Jeremy diamond, thank you. So today top Government Health officials announcing the plan to administer Covid Booster shots to nearly all american adults. Once the fda gives its authorization, the rollout should start September 20th with seniors and frontline medical workers among the first in line. So this booster should happen eight months after the second dose. For now, it will be available for those 18 years and older. For the first time the white House Covid Team told us why they are now backing this added shot. The booster Mrna Immunization increases antibody titers by at least tenfold. You want to stay ahead of the virus. And if you look at the indications that weve had, including with what dr. Walensky just mentioned, you dont want to find yourself behind, playing catchup. Cnn chief medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay gupta is with us now. So, sanjay, What Ado The number tell us . Why are boosters recommended . Well, they did presenting some new data. We had been primarily relying on data from other countries but there were three separate Data Sets they showed showing that the effectiveness against infections from coronavirus was going down, all infections. Whether it was asymptomatic, meaning people didnt have any symptoms at all or people getting sick. They aggregated all of that data. They were looking at Health Care providers and frontline workers. Heres what happened when you predelta and then delta the majority. And the Bar Graph on the right is Nursing Homes specifically, which is a significant concern. As you remember, nearly a third of people who got sick and died of covid in the early days were in Nursing Homes. So seeing that kind of decrease in protection is i think what really triggered their concerns. They sort of summarized it by saying were seeing some evidence that overall the protection is going down over time, but its pretty clear that delta has accelerated the level of protection going down. I want to point out, its been a little confusing because people heard even just yesterday that Booster Shots were not necessarily being recommended. They heard that from the cdc. Today obviously a very different tune. At the same time, theyre saying, hey, boosters are probably going to be necessity because we think this is going to continue to wane in terms of effectiveness. At the same time, theyre saying, hey, the overall protection of these vaccines against Hospitalization And Death remains high. So its two messages. Theyre not necessarily in any way in conflict with each other but it does get a little confusing to people. Yeah. It does, sanjay, and im glad you addressed that because not everybody is singing the same tune. The World Health Organization says theres no evidence that a booster is needed. Why arent they looking at the same numbers that you just showed us . Well, i think that they may be looking at the same data. Heres the difference. What the united states is basically saying is that we recognize that the data shows that the vaccine still remains very protective against Hospitalization And Death, but because its less effective against mild or moderate disease, the concern is over the next couple of months it may also start to wane in effectiveness against Hospitalization And Death. So its sort of trying to anticipate here. That hasnt really happened yet. Were not seeing a significant decrease in the protectiveness against Hospitalization And Death yet, but it may come. Theyre saying we want to be ahead of the ball here. Thats what dr. Fauci said in that Opening Clip you showed. What the World Health Organization is saying, ability theyre saying it in a strong way. Theyre saying this is like giving a Life Jacket to somebody who already has a Life Jacket while other people are drowning. Thats what Mike Ryan said of the w. H. O. If people are getting mildly ill and youre giving them an extra dose of vaccine, might it be taking away from people in other parts of the world who havent been able to receive even that first dose of vaccine. Sanjay, we appreciate you always helping us understand all of the sometimes everchanging guidance and all of the Breaking News. We really appreciate the context. Thank you so much. So President Biden is under fire from even members of his own party over his handling of afghanistan, including our next guest who calls the crisis another shame on the administration. And a Programming Note now, to be sure to join us for we love new york city, the homecoming concert. This Once In A Lifetime event starts saturday at 5 00 p. M. Eastern exclusively on cnn. Its a wishlist on wheels. A choice that requires no explanation. Its where safe and daring seamlessly intersect. Its understated, yet overdelivers. It is truly the mercedesbenz of sports sedans. 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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing next week to find out what is going wrong there. The secretary of State And Defense secretary are invited to testify. Dozens of lawmakers from both parties pressing the White House for answers. My next guest has been very vocal in his frustration. He is a democrat from texas and serves on the foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman, thanks for being here. I want to get your reaction to Kylie Atwood who just crossed this urgent bulletin, Breaking News. The u. S. Embassy In Kabul warns that the u. S. Government cannot ensure Safe Passage to the Kabul Airport for americans or for our afghan friends. The whole Message Yesterday from national Security Advisor Jake sullivan, one of the messages, was that the taliban had agreed to allow Safe Passage. What does this mean for the Tens Of Thousands of people trying to get out . Well, clearly its those are sad words to hear. First of all, i want to begin by thanking our men and women who served in uniform and continue to serve in afghanistan. They accomplished their objectives. They ran off al qaeda. We killed osama bin laden. And i dont think most americans feel i think most americans feel there was time to withdraw from afghanistan. It was the execution that has been a huge disappointment for myself and i think for most americans and our friends and allies around the world. I think we could have done a better job in withdrawing. At this point theres no sense over crying whats happened the past few days. We need to focus on getting americans and american personnel out safely and our friends and allies still on the ground and assure their safety. Agreed. But do you think in the next 13 days well get the 10,000 to 15,000 americans and the estimates of up to 80,000 helpers and translators out . Well, i never gamble against american resolve. I think we need to do more, we need to step up our efforts and ask our friends and allies who have been helpful in the past to help us in this endeavor and assure that we get everyone out safely. We also need to keep talking to taliban and tell them that if they dare pull the trigger on an american citizen on our friends and allies that there will be overwhelming repercussions. Theyre already blocking Safe Passage. What repercussions are there going to be . Well, i think that they know we are still committed in an effort to bring everyone out safely, to bring our allies on the ground safely and i hope that their commitment stands as well to allow everybody out. I think if you see american casualties or casualties of our friends and allies on the ground, i think youll see a Military Response. But do you trust the taliban . Theyre already blocking Safe Passage. Do you trust them to allow Safe Passage now . Of course not. But they know the military threat. I dont think they want to go back to having an overwhelming presence of americans there now. I think they have accomplished a lot, unfortunately. I think that theyre going to be calculating. At the end of the day i hope that they dont dare come through with any of those threats and certainly harm an american or any of our allies. Do you think that friends of the u. S. And allies on the ground in afghanistan should trust the u. S. Today . I think they should. I think weve committed to people around the world, weve fulfilled our obligations. Clearly there was a slipup on our withdrawal and we could have done better. But i do believe that america is still the leader of the free world and i think that we are people can rely on us. I think countries around the world can continue to rely on us. This wasnt our best day or best hour and were going to have to work through this. Look, were still in this bad hour. How are thats right. What do you think the u. S. Is going to do today to ensure Safe Passage for those americans and our allies . Well, clearly send a message to the taliban that if they dare harm an american or our allies that there will be overwhelming repercussions. That needs to be a clear message and also assure that we can back that up militarily if we have to. I hope it doesnt come to that but we have to be ready for it. When you hold these hearings next week, what is the big question that you want answered . Well, how did we plan this withdrawal . It seems like we needed to downsize our military a little at a time. What Communication Failure was there from six weeks ago when we heard the president say that there was not a Possibility Or Wasnt likely the taliban would take over the entire country. What changed so much in just six weeks . And also there was very little Military Response on behalf of the afghanistan army in response to the push forward from the taliban. I think we should get to the bottom of that as well. I think there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. At this point i am more focused on assuring that we get every single american safely out of afghanistan and we also get Safe Passage for all of our friends and allies and people on the ground, sbinterpreters, pilots, people we trained. We need to assure their safety. We have a responsibility. For sure, this is not over. We are in the middle of this and we supposedly have 13 days left to do it. Congressman gonzalez, thank you for your time. Thank you. One Florida County has more than 10,000 students in quarantine. The School Board is holding an Emergency Meeting right now over whether to mandate masks. Well bring you the latest, next. vo when you are shopping for a new vehicle, how do you know which brand you can trust . With subaru, you get kelley blue books most trusted brand in fact, subaru has won most Wtrusted Brandars in a row. For moreonsecutive years than any other brand. 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The country now averaging more than 137,000 new cases a day with nearly 90,000 people now hospitalized. In the hardest hit states, alabama, texas, florida, mississippi and georgia, Intensive Care Units are more than 90 full. Losing within a week three patients under the age of 40, just very heartbreaking. Of course ill get emotional talking about this, which i think a lot of people would understand. But it was a very hard week here at the hospital. Reporter alabama reporting it is out of icu beds. We are truly now in unchartered territory in terms of our icu bed capacity. Reporter new cases in texas rising nearly 40 over the past two weeks. Hospitals in houston flooded with covid patients. Meanwhile Governor Greg Abbott is isolating in the Governors Mansion after contracting covid. Also want you to know that i have received the Covid19 Vaccine and that may be one reason why im really not feeling any symptoms right now. Reporter his positive test coming a day after he intended a crowded indoor event where most were not wearing masks. And with more than 121,000 new Child Covid cases reported in the u. S. Last week, texas and florida lead the nation in new pediatric cases. The new School Year is just starting in many places, yet thousands of students and staff are already quarantined due to covid cases in districts across the country. Experts warning this is just the beginning even as the debate over masking in schools rages on. We wish more than anything that there could be better Safety Protocols and procedures in Placeen Unvaccinated students safe and our staff safe. I dont want masks to be forced on my children. Reporter and the debate over masking in schools isnt just continuing, it seems to be heating up in a lot of places. Were seeing reports of teachers being assaulted by parents who dont want their child to be forced to wear a mask. And in louisiana, a board voted to adjourn because the meeting became so disruptive and the members of the audience refused to put on masks. Just horrible. Athena jones for us there, thank you so much. Now to florida, there is this heated emergency School Board meeting under way in Hillsborough County right now, where more than 10,000 students are quarantine and another thousand tested positive so the board is considering a mask mandate. This is the worst covid has ever been and at this rate, there will be No One left to teach our children because they will all be sick. Im tired of hearing that this is a divisive issue because only 14 of students opted out of mask use. Our state has taken the stand for the freedom of parents to choose what is best for their children. If you take that away, you are in effect saying to every parent here that you know what is better for our children than we do. Now, Mask Mandates are as a reminder banned in florida. Governor Ron Desantis has even threatened to withhold funding from any schools that move to require masks. How is it better to have kids out of school in quarantine than in school in masks . And is that the argument that some of these people will have to sell those parents who are there saying we need masks to keep schools open, they will have to sell that. Also, once schools close for a lot of these community, those parents have to go back home, that shuts down a lot of communities. All part parented wanted the kids in school and what allows that, masks. And to haiti, a race to get Food And Water to survivors of the deadly earthquake. Were live in portauprince next. A brandnew way for you to sell your car. Whether its a year old oror a few years old. We wanna buy your car. So g Go To Carvana and enter your License Plate Answer a few questions. And our Techno Wizardry calculates your Cars Value and gives you a real offer in seconds. 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In haiti, humanitarian efforts are in full swing after tropical Storm Grace reeked havoc and that was after saturdays earthquake. An estimated 40 of the Countrys Population is in need of emergency aid. Cnns Joe Johns is in portauprince. The pentagon announced a joint Task Force to help in Disaster Relief efforts. What are the most urgent needs there now . Reporter the very basics. Food, water, medicine, some type of shelter that would include tarps or tents to shield people from this brutal haiti sun. A couple days ago of course it was that tropical storm that moved through. But not every community needs the same thing. For example, there are reports that one of the better rowheoro affected area needs water because all of the Fresh Water veefshs reserves were destroyed during the earthquake. And there is also a need for Road Clearing because some of the roads are completely impassable due to rocks and mudslides that occurred during and after the earthquake. So that is important as well. There is also a need for Law And Order in some places because there is this historic problem in haiti of gangs on the roads making it difficult for people to pass. Even rescuers. There have been at times some attempts to negotiate with them to allow aid to get inside. So all of those things are needed. The one good sign so far is 34 people have been rescued alive in the rubble. Back to you. Some good news there. Joe johns, thank you. Top of a new ew hour, and a moment now, we expect to hear from Defense Secretary Lloyd