Were going to stay until we get them all out. He did not fully extend that same commitment to afghan nationals when he said thats the objective. Its unclear how many americans remain in afghanistan. Yesterday u. S. Officials gave differing answers. They said it was 5 to 10,000. Yesterday afternoon Jen Psaki said it was in fact 11,000 and congressional aides were told by State Department and pentagon officials the number was between 10 and 15,000 according to three sources familiar with those briefings. That is the number the president said tonight. He also answered questions about the execution of the pullout. Sir, you dont think this could have been handled better in any way . No mistakes . No. I dont think it could have been handled in a way that there were going to go back in hindsight and look, but the idea that somehow theres a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, i dont know how that happens. I dont know how that happened. So for you that was always priced into the decision . Yes. He went on to say in remarks that Air Tomorrow that he did not price into the decision the taliban keeping afghans who cooperated with the united states from leaving the country. He was also asked about his earlier rosier predictions about The End game. Back in july you said a Taliban Takeover was highly unlikely. Was the Intelligence Wrong or did you downplay it . I think there was no consensus. You go back and look at the intelligence reports. They said it was more likely to be sometime by The End of the year. You didnt put a Time Line out when you said it was highly unlikely. You said flat out it was highly unlikely the taliban would take over. The time frame of a rapid collapse, that was widely estimated and ranged from to months and even years following our departure. There was nothing that i or anyone else saw that indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days. With congressional hearings planned to start as soon as next week, expect to hear a lot more on this including from a number of democrats. Some of them saw multiple tours of duty in afghanistan. Last Night Congressman Jason crow talked about the need for Safe Corridors to Kabul Airport so people could leave safely. Today the u. S. Embassy posted this warning reading the united States Government cannot guarantee Safe Passage to the airport. Afghan nationals likely need no such warning. Theyre already learning it firsthand. More from what that Reality Looks like from Clarissa Ward doing remarkable reporting from kabul over the entire crisis. Clarissa, i want to get your thoughts that this was not a failure, how do you square that with what youve been seeing and hearing from americans and afghans . Reporter yeah, i mean, if this isnt a failure, i dont really know what a failure looks like. And i think there will be a lot of people on the ground here in afghanistan who will be, you know, a little troubled by the tone of President Biden, not that they necessarily expected an apology but maybe at least a recognition of the fact that whats happening is horrendous, is awful and that these people very much do feel that theyve been cast aside. There was a glimmer certainly of hope there in terms of President Biden, as you mentioned, appearing to commit to get afghans out who worked with the u. S. Military or the u. S. Embassy or other u. S. International organizations. So Thats Something positive, but he wouldnt be drawn on the sort of specifics of when that might happen by, if that would happen when u. S. Troops are still on the ground or maybe afterwards. So i think theres still a lot of Anxiety And Nothing that President Biden said today would really be giving most afghans a huge amount of security going forward, anderson. Yeah. What did you see today In Kabul . Well, what We Saw is that, you know, even if you got all of your paperwork, which is a big if, the reality is trying to get into the airport is extremely difficult. There are scenes of chaos. Taliban fighters outside with whips, with guns. We tried to sort of do it ourselves, to get a sense of what was possible, and we found that it is not for the feint of heart. Take a look. Americas last foothold in afghanistan is now guarded by the taliban. See the taliban moving in. They dont allow anyone. Reporter weve come to kabuls airport to see the gauntlet people must pass through to fly out. You could hear gunshots every couple of minutes. Cnn. Cnn. Cnn. Reporter quickly we are accosted by an angry taliban fighter. Can i ask you a question . Excuse me. Cover my face . Okay. Covering my face. What is this . Whats that . He told me to cover my face but he doesnt want to comment on that that hes carrying. The fighter tells us these chaotic scenes are the fault of america. The cause of all of this is america in afghanistan. Look at these people, he says. Americas really acting unfairly towards them. Why are they lying and telling them that they can go to america . Why dont they let them stay and help their country . Okay. Doesnt want to talk to me. All right. We keep walking to avoid confrontation. A man follows us asking for advice. How you can enter the base . Reporter how you can enter the base . Do you have paperwork to enter . To enter, no. But we have been calling me. Reporter was this an italian company . Yeah, italian company. Reporter i dont want this guy to whip me. Thank you. Reporter others crowd around us to show their documents. Camp phoenix. Translator. Reporter you were a translator. Can you see this . You all worked at american camps as translators for the americans and they cant get into that airport. Taliban fighters are a little upset with us. We decide to leave and head for our car. The fighter takes the safety of his ak47 and pushes through the crowd. Stay behind him. Stay behind him. Reporter you can see some of the Taliban Fighters, theyre just hopped up on adrenaline, i dont know what. Its a very dicey situation. Suddenly two other taliban charge towards us. You can see their Rifle Butts. When they are told we have permission to report, no other weapons left hands. Okay. Now were going. Get in the car. I mean, its terrifying to watch. Thats as close as you were able to get to the airport. This is what people are dealing with just trying to get there. Reporter yeah. Anderson, keep in mind, were a western film crew. Were a western news organization. We get special treatment. What we experienced there, sort of running the gauntlet to try to get near the airport, thats like a very different version from what afghans are experiencing and thats why youve seen some of those images, youve aired some of them on the show last night. People actually being hurt, seriously hurt, bleeding, women, children getting shot. You can see theres no real discipline with these Taliban Fighters and the way that they are trying to restrain the crowds there. I do want to make one point because i think its important, anderson, while the scenes at the airport are incredibly distressing and chaotic, the rest of The City is largely calm. We saw more people on The Streets today, more shops open, more cars on the road. Fewer taliban checkpoints in many areas. They are trying to provide Law And Order but the situation at the airport is so tense that i worry it becomes a Powder Keg and one thing goes wrong and it could escalate into a very bad situation, President Biden. President biden is saying to americans, they should be given Safe Passage out. It seems like, you know, the taliban are cooperating, that member of the taliban who was, you know, randomly telling you to put on your Face Covering and, you know, had a device to whip people with, i mean, is there any kind of hierarchy within it. Is there an officer one on the scene. Can any of these guys do whatever they want . They can just choose who to whip, who to strike with their Rifle Butts . They have impunity . Yeah. Yeah. Its a really good question. To be honest, im not exactly sure of how theyre organizing the sort of security around the airport. To be honest, it doesnt feel really organized. It sounds chaotic. The fighter who sort of accosted us, was very aggressive with us and telling us to cover my face, he did say, oh, okay, you want to leave the country, ill take you to the airport and was sort of drawing us in even closer to where the sort of shots were being fired from. Another important thing, i dont think youve called that Safe Passage just to be clear, anderson, another important thing i want to emphasize as well, its not only the taliban who are firing, its just that the taliban are firing with absolutely no discipline, whereas, the u. S. Military is firing trying to disperse the crowd. There have been volleys of Tear Gas but theyre doing it in a slightly more disciplined manner that might be more familiar to us with sort of traditional mechanisms of dispersing crowds and very tense riotlike situations. What beggars believe, anderson, against all of this are these people who are still out there every day, every night coming along, gathering their papers. Yeah. Doing it again and you just think to yourself, how desperate do you have to be that even with, you know, whips and guns and having to sort of run this gauntlet, youre still out there. Youre still trying. Youre still hoping. You know, the tragedy of somebody showing you their certificate of appreciation given to them, you know, for some employment that they had on a u. S. Base or with the u. S. Military, a person like that, if they can they get to the airport . Will those taliban just roaming around stop them . I mean, if they go to the airport and they show a certificate of appreciation, theyre not going to get into the airport, are they . No, not without someone to help them. You know who else isnt getting into the airport, anderson . When we were doing a live shot earlier on, a young man came up to us. He has a Green Card. He has a Green Card and he cant get into the airport because the minute the taliban sees that its afghans who are coming up to try to approach the airport, they just shoe them away. Its chaotic, there is communication with the u. S. And they are trying to provide some modicum of security, but theres another side to it too. They know how bad these scenes look. They know its not good for their image that theres this crush of humanity desperately willing to risk their own life and limb to get out of the country because they dont want to live under the taliban rule. They want people to stay here. You heard them say it. Why are you americans lying telling people they can get out of the country and go to america . Why dont you let them stay here and build their country . Of course the reality is, for so many people here, especially in a city like kabul, a lot of afghans just are desperate to get out and theyre not interested in staying here and rebuilding their country because theyre too afraid, anderson. If youre an afghan who has a Green Card, theres no way you would show that Green Card to that Guy Carrying around a whip on The Street who could just take it and then you no longer have your Green Card and if you can get to the airport, you tell the soldier, i have a Green Card but you dont have it on you, youre not going to get in. President biden said between 10 and 15,000. Hardly a precise number. The u. S. Just doesnt know exactly what americans are there . And i think that just speaks, again, to this sense, as much as President Biden said theres been no failure, you couldnt possibly have planned for this. Well, okay, but are there some things that perhaps the u. S. Should know, like how many americans are in afghanistan . You would think that might be something that they would be able to track and monitor pretty effectively, but then again when youre on the ground, as we were today, and youre looking at those scenes and it is chaotic and Tear Gas is flying, bullets are flying, whips are being brandished, you understand that its very difficult to have some kind of semblance of checks and balance and orderly lines and its almost impossible to keep track of whos going through and how many people. I know a lot of Western Journalists who are desperately trying to get their staff out of the country, and the only way they can do it is to physically go to the airport with them and evacuate them. But if theyre not there, then your afghan staff or your afghan translator or your afghan friend, colleague, whatever it might be is probably not going to be able to get out. Clarissa ward In Kabul. Thank you very much for what you and your team are doing. We appreciate it. Joining us now, ryan crocker. Former u. S. Ambassador. Cracker, thank you so much for joining us. Chaos ensuing was unavoidable. It doesnt square with past statements that he made about a safe and orderly withdrawal but im wondering what you made of what the president said . The president s comments, anderson, not just this evening but going back several days are deeply disappointing to say the least. He seems to be blaming everything thats happened on everybody but him starting with afghan national security forces, Belittling The Fight they have for months and years, the 70,000 dead for their country. They deserve a little bit better than theyre getting. The irony here of course is listening to clarissas reporting, that this may be the good moment. Who are the afghans trying to get to the airport . They are special immigrant visas. They need to flee because they fear taliban retaliation. And, again, its a horrific irony that they the only way to get to the airport is to pass through a taliban checkpoint or checkpoints. What are they saying . Yeah, i got a flight out because i served Air Forces and if i dont get out of here, youre going to kill me. So, again, disorganizes, maybe a few people will get through that way. What happens if they get organized and realize who they are . If you have the documents, what are you going to do, present it to that taliban guy on The Street and angry about america, people who work for them. The idea that youre going to show your documents to some fighter because you have served the you states. For those who got to the airport days ago, that was the smartest thing they could do to get up, i mean, is there any other brokering. It doesnt seem likely, does it . Well, it certainly doesnt. Particularly in this chaos. Whos in charge here . We dont know. I dont think the taliban knows. You put your finger on the awful irony here, that of people trying to get to the airport before the taliban kill them and when you get there you have to explain that to the taliban. Well, good luck with that. Its been put out there a Safe Corridor where the taliban would not be checking documents coming thr through, that marines would do it. That looks a little like mission cree. Any of the marines can tell you what happened to the marines in beirut when they had an illdefined mission and they got blown up. We are between a rock and a hard place here. Weve already seen, you know, the taliban in The New York Times piece the other day about whats happening in kunduz where the taliban took over days ago, weeks ago and they are now trying to get civil servants to come back to the job and theyre starting out by doing it nicely, then they start to threaten and force them back because they know they need people to, you know, run the garbage collection, to make the water come out of the taps. At a certain point as the taliban Gains Control In Kabul and figures out whats going on, arent they going to realize or i assume theyre going to realize if they havent already that all the people who want to leave know how to do stuff. Theyre the people who have been running things and are educated and weve seen them pass mubutu throughout haitian civil servants who have come into the country to help run the country after the belgians left. It doesnt work when your educated class leaves the country. Well, thats thats exactly it. Again, its irony piled on top of irony. These are exactly the people that want to get out because theyve got alternatives. Theyve got the means reasonably to get out or more difficult. And the stakes. I cant see anymore to explain that. Thank you. Coming up next, how this may play out politically. Mr. Business. Millions of vulnerable americans struggle to get reliable transportation to their medical appointments. Thats why i started medhaul. Citi launched the Impact Fund to invest in both women and entrepreneurs of color like me, so i can realize my vision and give everything ive got to my company, and my community. I got you. For the love of people. For the love of community. For the love of progress. Citi. Truthful stay. So americans should understand troops may have to be there beyond August 31st . No, americans understand were going to try to get it done before August 31st. But if we dont the troops will stay. If we dont, well determine at the time whos left. And . And if there are american forces if theres american citizens left, were going to stay until we get them all out. The president also defending his execution of powellout saying theres no way it couldnt happen without chaos ensuing. David axlerod, former Kahne Adviser to President Obama and dana bash, currently Senior Adviser to us. Dana, what do you make of what we just heard from the president and is it a moving goalpost . Well, its almost as if the goalpost that he set up himself didnt exist in the interview. And that really is the biggest problem that he has politically, never mind actually getting things calm and the chaos under control, if thats even possible on the ground. But politically speaking he has that statement, the fact that there are 300,000 troops and he was confident that they would be fighting and there was nothing in between there and him now saying O Well we i have no regrets and Theres Nothing we could have done differently. That is a huge gulf. And it is pretty clear from the president s body language, from his cadence that hes hes on the defense and this is a new phenomenon for him in his eight months that hes been in the office and pretty, pretty Big One considering the fact that he is the guy who and stands by this, but he is the guy who says im going to end the 20 year war. The way its ending is certainly not how he planned and not the kind of incoming, especially from some fellow democrats that hes getting that he expected. David, thats also interesting because there hasnt been a lot of Public Interest in the u. S. Presence in afghanistan over the last number of years. They just dropped off the radar. People didnt want to hear about it, didnt want to think about it, were tired of it. Clearly seeing these images, now people are engaged. Theyre watching it and i dont know if Thats Something President Biden didnt expect, but its certainly the situation hes facing right now for him to claim that chaos was always going to be a factor in afghanistan, i want to play what we heard weeks ago in july. But its a rational draw down with our allies and its making it so Theres Nothing unusual about it. The Military Mission in afghanistan will conclude on August 31st. The draw down is proceeding in a secure and orderly way for our ties and the safety of our troops as they depart. Theres going to be no circumstance where you see people lifted off the roof of an embassy of the united states from afghanistan. It is not at all comfortable. I mean, you know, okay. Maybe the Helicopter Wasnt off the roof but its pictures were pretty bad. Yeah. And theres no way to reconcile those statements and then say Theres Nothing we could have done. Obviously one thing you could have done was get the intelligence right. There were clearly screwups here. Theyre not his personal screwups, but theyre on his watch and so as i said the other night when he made his original speech, sometimes you just have to say we screwed up and were going to fix it and were going to figure out why this happened and its my responsibility. That is i think people would respond well to that. For some reason i thought he was taking another bite at the Apple Today in this interview and that hed come back and hed do the piece he didnt do the other night. Instead owe dug in more. I dont understand it. I think he has a pretty strong argument on why it was time for the united states to withdraw. I think those people you talked about earlier, the vast or the majority of americans agreed with him on that, but these images have been very, very striking and discouraging and sobering and i do think its changed peoples opinions. Its hurting him. You can see it in polling. The Polling Averages for the president over the last week have taken a pretty significant drop and i think it would be less bad if he owned up to the fact that, no, this hasnt gone the way we expected and were going to do were accelerating now. Were going to try to make up for lost time. Dana, im wondering what you think of that. He ran on supposedly being straight with the american people, not Sugar Coating things. If he had said, you know what, it breaks my heart to see those pictures. This is not obviously what we wanted. Things didnt go the way we thought they would but you know what nothing has in afghanistan over the last 20 years, thats why were pulling out. Well do the best we can. Well get americans out and try to get out everybody who helped us, would that have been enough . Reporter it wouldnt have been enough, but it would have been different than the tone and the tact that he took in this interview. And my sense is that that was the plan, as david said, and hes obviously been in these meetings many times, these kinds of meetings to take another bite of the apple. I actually think one of the other reasons why it was so jarring to see President Biden as defensive as he was in this new interview because it stood in contrast to even how he was two days ago. Maybe he didnt own it as much as david would have recommended but he did say the buck stops with me. He did say things didnt happen it happened more quickly than we anticipated. He was more candid then then he was today which was quite striking. It was an odd brand. It wasnt the kind of thing as you said, anderson, that he promised you would get from President Biden. The one thing i do think is important that he did say that August 31st deadline is now no longer relally a deadline. Theyre going to stay and get out allamericans and theyll do it as long as it takes. Lets see what the taliban says about that. David axlerod, dana bash, appreciate it. Yeah, they do. While all of this is happening President Biden is trying to address the other growing problem, covid. Why he and u. S. Health administrators are recommending a third shot. Frances collins joins us when we come back. 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. Comcast nbcuniversal is investing in entrepreneurs to bring whats next for Sports Technology to athletes, teams, and fans. Thats why we created the sportstech accelerator, to invest in and develop the next generation of technology that will change the way we experience sports. Weve already invested in entrepreneurs like ane swim, who develops products that provide Hair Protection so that everyone can enjoy the freedom of swimming. Like the athletes competing in tokyo, these entrepreneurs have a fierce Work Ethic and drive to achieve to change the game and inspire the team of tomorrow. Breaking news stories. President biden announced the value of booster shots. They would be initially for those who received the Pfizer And Moderna vaccines. Late this Evening Jimmie J said would get one vaccine. The reason for a third shot is while vaccines are still highly effective, multiple studies indicate they are less effective against milder cases caused by the delta variant. The w. H. O. , World Health Organization pushed back on the announcement saying it was unnecessary particularly as poorer countries struggled to vaccinate their people. They will take care of america and help the world at the time. Can you talk about the new data and whats changed. Its some of whats published the data especially from israel. They do have infections they call symptoms. Theyre not ending up in the hospital. Theyre not ending up severely ill. You can kind of see the trajectory. I think putting all of that together, those of us looking at it and trying not to wait until the last Minute Sort of said lets work on this over the course of the last minute. I think this is just a safe way for more trouble for delta. How do they figure out when they should get a booster . So the way it looks from what were seeing in terms of the data. It looks like its time to rev that back up again. Raise your Antibody Levels so that means if you were immunized sometime by January The 20th you would then be lined up to get a booster around september 20th. If you got your then you should be ready for a booster. Just going by the clock. This seems to be what the data is telling us to do. Its a little bit of a goldilocks thing here. Who is a strong supporter of the vaccines, his hesitancy was only about the booster. I totally understand that because this is sort of a clinical Judgment Situation but from my perspective having looked at all of the data, i think the case is going to be there in about a month. Anderson, think about this. Like its sort of like youre in your car and youre driving for a long time and you check and notice the Gas Gauge is getting low. Its time to do something about that, Thats Kind of where it is for people who got the first doses back in january. Theyre not in a crisis right now. Its time to start making a plan. Thats all were trying to do here. The likelihood that the boosters are going to cause severe Side Effects dont have evidence to suggest that. Israels been doing that for more than a month. They have not seen much more what you saw for the first and second dose. Some got a Sore Arm and some were feverish. Nothing outside of that has been reported. When you try to balance benefits and risk, especially when youre thinking about people in Nursing Homes, people who are elderly and with medical conditions who are coming up to that eightmonth period pretty soon, it seems like the wisest thing. The Surgeon General said the data on a booster for the 13 Million or more people who received the J J, thats expected in the next few weeks. Some doctors, however, are already recommending patients who got the J J receive a dose of Pfizer Or Moderna vaccine. San Franciscos Health department is allowing people who got the J J vaccine to do that. What do you say about that . I think we need to see more data. Youre not surprised to hear me say that, are you . There is more data coming. They announced that in a press release. We are at Nih Running A Number of trials to see what happens when you Mix And Match if you start with J J and boost with moderna and pfizer. Well have a lot more information about that in the coming weeks. Dont lets rush into a play until we have good evidence to know whats going to make sense. Briefly, is there any danger . Someone watching this, if its good at eight months, maybe ill just do it now even though its been five months since i got the other. What do you say to that person . Well, we know there are people who have already been doing that before today. I would say theres pretty good evidence from other vaccines, probably this will be true for covid19, that you want to leave a pretty good interval between your initial immunization and the initial booster. You want to give it a chance to mature its potential and generate new antibodies. That means going quicker than six months might give you six months and wait at least six, better yet eight. Really appreciate it. Thank you. Want to get perspective from dr. Sanjay gupta, dr. Lena wen and author of life line, a doctors journey. What do you make of what the doctor said . Even up until yesterday there was a lot of back and forth on this. Not a slam dunk decision, so to speak, because as the cdc was telling clinicians there was no Basis Forg getting booster shot. The other thing that strikes me, youre hearing a rationale for anticipating what may come and trying to get ahead of that. Theres not the data showing a decrease really in the effectiveness of these vaccines for hospitalizations and people dying of this disease. There may have been more people who are getting mild and moderate illness. What theyre saying and what hes saying all day long today is that there may be a connection there. People are more likely to get mild or moderate illness now, that may mean people are more likely to get hospitalized or die later. They want to get ahead of it. Its interesting but i think as weve all talked about the vast majority of the problem is the 85 or 90 Million people who are not vaccinated. When it comes to hospitalizations, the 90 Million are unvaccinated, transmission among the unvaccinated. This is bolstering up for people who have a good deal of problems. Dr. Wen, i know youre one of 13 Million people who got the J J vaccine. Was that answer satisfactory to you . No, it wasnt, although i like the rest of dr. Collinss answer. I think its good the biden administration is being proactive. During this entire pandemic, we have been behind. We have not been anticipating what is ahead. Im glad theyre laying out this general booster plan. This plan still applies to people who got the mrna vaccines. So far the people who got the J J vaccine were feeling increasingly left behind. Many were told get the first vaccine that you have access to. Now they feel like they are being punished. The advice is not being offered to them. At this point we have enough data from other countries. There are Mix And Match studies for Astrazeneca And Mixing that and pfizer. Germany allowed the Mix And Match. It was recommended. You have a better immune response with that approach. I think theres enough to say people who got the one dose should at least consider getting a booster. I dont need a federal official to say we recommend it, i want them to say we allow it. That way they can make the decision. It allows people not to sneak around. Do you think people who dont choose to get a Booster Dose will be at greater risk for a worse break through case . Thats an interesting question. I dont think we know the answer to this. I think were going to see two groups of people. There are some people who will say it was hard enough for me to get the vaccine in the first place, i dont want to get a booster shot. I think thats a reasonable decision. Its also reasonable for somebody else to say, im older, i have chronic medical conditions, if i land in the hospital because i have a break through infection or if i get a break through infection, ill land in the hospital so i should get a Booster Dose. This is how we should shift how we think about risk. We should be calibrating whether somebody wants to get a Booster Dose based on the circumstances. Sanjay, you have ae been following infections in Nursing Homes. Today the president said hes requiring Nursing Homes to get vaccinated in order to receive Medicare And Medicaid funding. Seems reasonable if you want to get everybody vaccinated. How much of an impact do you think that will have . Thats the Thing Everybody agrees on when i talk to these health officials. We remember back to last spring the vast majority of the bad outcomes is at Nursing Homes. 1 3 of all deaths. We can show you here, the Vaccination Rates among residents of Nursing Homes, among the staff and compare that to the u. S. Population. Its definitely higher. When it comes to staff, thats an average number. If the staff average rates are closer to the general population, Nursing Homes are really at high risk of significant outbreaks. Much higher than the surrounding community. In some cases it can be 12 to 18 times the rate of new infections. This is where people are the most vulnerable. That makes absolute sense. The way the president is approaching it saying were going to tie it into federal reimbursements makes sense. Im stunned that its 60 Vaccination Rates among nurses in Nursing Homes. Thats amazing to me. Sanjay, dr. Leane wen. Still Breaking News over wearing masks. Today President Biden promised to support local School Districts in fights over the mandates. Some politicians are trying to turn public safety measures, that is children wearing masks in school, into political disputes for their own political game. Some are trying to take power away by banning masks in school. Theyre setting a dangerous tone. Paulo santiago joins us with the latest. What is the latest in the debate over the mandates in miamidade county. Reporter anderson, i just spoke to the superintendent in miamidade. He knew if he made the decision he made tonight, he could have some consequences and a back and forth but ultimately thought he was on the right side of the issue in supporting the board that voted 71 to implement a mask mandate. That is something the governor says violates the law and it eventually bans that type of mandate. This is for the largest School Districts in this state. They are not alone. Tonight hillsboro implemented a simple mask. When they have thousands of students in isolation and quarantine, these School Districts are insisting that its not about politics, its not about decisions, its being made on medical advice as well as science. I did check in with the Governors Office this evening. Its the violation of the law. Its not consistent with the parents rights. We should also mention that the Board Of Education has said that this is a violation of law and they will move forward with the investigation and all legal means possible, which could include punishment like Withholding Salaries and funds from School Districts. So big Night Tonight with two School Districts making this decision. Want to return to Breaking News in afghanistan. Tens of thousands of americans still waiting to figure out exactly what they should do about getting out, or i should say thousands, the exact number still not quite known. Thousands of afghan allies still want to escape. Gary tuchman spoke with one afghan woman who got out days ago. She worries about her family she left behind. Thats next. struggling Vehicle Sounds think Premium Cant be capable . Think again. energetic music introducing the first ever at4 lineup. Premium and capable. Thats professional grade from gmc. Heyyy steins breaking your cousin. From boston. It means, oktobeerfest. Another Sam Octoberfest . Nein. Make it ten i like this guy. Cheers Emergency Planning for kids. We Cant Edict when an emergency will happen. So thats why its important to make a plan with your parents. Here are a few tips to stay safe. Know how to get in touch with your family. Write down Phone Numbers for your parents, siblings and neighbors. Pick a place to meet your family if you are not together and cant go home. Remind your parents to pack an emergency supply kit. Making a plan might feel like homework, but it will help you and your family stay safe during an emergency. Afghanistan. As we mentioned, President Biden told Cnn News tonight that between 50,000 and 65,000 of afghans want to get out of the country. Images of desperate afghans at the airport trying to get on military planes. It is impossible to forget the sight of that one u. S. Air F Force [ no audio ] Gary Tuchman talked with two brave afghan women who live with that stress of day. Heres garys report. Reporter 30yearold Tomina lived her entire life in afghanistan until this past friday when she flew to washington after receiving a special immigrant visa allowing her to move to the united states. How did you feel when you landed in the capitolal of the united states . What went through your mind . I said im not dreaming. Reporter she worked in afghanistan for usaid, the foreign aid organizations are an independent agency of the u. S. Government. She applied for a visa four yearsat ago. You felt your life was threatened if you stayed there . Yes, of course, yes. Reporter her mother has passed away but her father, three brothers and two sisters are still there and she prays they wont be targeted because of her. How worried are you because of your family still being there . Believe me, i cannot sleep every night that im thinking about my family. What should i do . Reporter she and many other afghan refugees are being supported by a group called Lutheran Services of the capitol area, where boxes of donations are arriving by the hundreds to help the expected huge Inflexion Influx of afghans expected to in the days to come. Reporter what did you do in afghanistan . You was working as an interpreter for the u. S. Army. Reporter this 29yearold arrived in the united states when she was 24, all by herself. Her parents, two sisters and one brother remain In Kabul. She now works for the social Services Group and continues to financially support her family with her american salary. Taliban always say that we are against foreigner countries to be in afghanistan, especially united states. And we will kill anybody that help them, anyone that works for them. Reporter so you feared for your life. Yes. Reporter the takeover by the Taliban And Thein suing chaos have profoundly affected afghans who have been fortunate enough to receive visas. Their anxiety has dramatically increased. This may be a painful question but are you concerned because people know what you did working for the u. S. Government that your family could be in danger . Yes. Actually, the other day i told my sister that burn all the certificates that i had from u. S. Government because i had a lot of certificates, and my mom hanged one of them on the wall actually. Reporter because shes proud of you. Yes, she was. And i told them just destroy it because i was scared if taliban goes to our house because i hear they are searching some houses. I told them just destroy them. Reporter tamana is now looking for a job, a permanent place to live and not allowing herself to look back. You know that it may be a long time before you see your family again. Yes. Reporter but you felt that your life was in danger and you needed to be here. Yes. Reporter and you had no choice. I dont have any choice. Reporter anderson, i asked both these women what their parents think about this and they say their parents felt the same thing, theyre proud of both the girls, they also believe that the girls need to be safe so theyre happy that theyre here in the united states. They want their daughters to be smart, they want their daughters to be educated, they want their daughters to be ambitious, they want their daughters to be strong women. The taliban, of course, has the exact opposite viewpoint. Gary, appreciate it. Thanks very much. Well be right back. Introducing xfinity rewards. Our very own way of thanking you just for being with us. Enjoy rewards like Movie Night specials. Xfinity mobile benefits. And exclusive experiences, like the chance to win tickets to see watch what happens live. Hey its me. The longer youve been with us. The more rewards you can get. Like sharpening your Cooking Skills with a top chef. Join for free on the Xfinity App and watch all the rewards float in. Our thanks. Your rewards. As youve seen in our reporting tonight, the pandemic is far from over. New York City has come a long way in the fight. This saturday on cnn The City is celebrating, we love nyc, the homecoming concert. Youll see it saturday on cnn at 5 p. M. Eastern time. Im going to hand it over to chris for cuomo primetime. Thanks. We have Tony Fauci to make on the Vaccine Confusion and mask madness. But first, of afghanistan. You Havinee Iseen our reporting others. You know the desperation on the ground, its youobvious. You know the americans are not sure if theyll bring them home. The question is what will our government do about that reality . That is our focus here. And the answers so far, frankly, are too slow and too little. How can you accept the state