Hello, everyone. Im alisyn camerota. This is cnn blaking news. Hello, everyone. Many are being treated for their wounds. The pentagon says a number of afghans fell victim to these attacks. A source tells cnn at least one of the blasts was the result of a Suicide Bomber near the main gate of the airport and another was at a nearby Baron Hotel where 169 americans had to be extricated, evacuated from the country there just a few days ago. So we have this new Graphic Video. It includes disturbing audio of the aftermath of one of the blasts. Here it is. It is just Chaos And Carnage there. You see rows of bodies, you see some of them bloody. Some appear lifeless. One man is heard saying he is alive, pull this guy out. Cnns Sam Kiley says he believes it was taken in the Sewage Canal that was just outside of the main gate. U. S. Officials believes isisk was behind these attacks but theyre still working to confirm it. The State Department had been warning for days of possible Terror Threats at the airport, which was escalating the urgency, they said, of the massive evacuations. Just last night the u. S. Embassy put out a warning to americans to stay away from the Kabul Airport. We have a team of reporters standing by with the latest information, so we begin with Oren Lieberman at The Pentagon. Oren, what do we know about the Service Members killed . Reporter at this point The Pentagon confirmed just a short time ago there were u. S. Service members killed in this attack. They havent put a number on it yet, simply saying that a number of Service Members were killed. I will read you this full statement from Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby which came in a short time ago. It says, we can confirm a number of u. S. Service members were killed at the Kabul Airport. A number of other it are being treated for wounds. We know a number of afghans fell victim to this heinous attack. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Loved Ones of those killed and injured. That gives you a sense of the horrific nature of the attack and obviously the ohrivic news u. S. Service members were killed as a part of the twin explosions outside kabul international airport, at the Abbey Gate and a few hundred feet away at the Baron Hotel is where the explosions took place. A u. S. Service Member Hasnt been killed since early february of 2020, shortly before the signing of the Doha Agreement which led to the beginning of the withdrawal which was effectively in its last five days, the last hundred hours with the horrible news these Service Members are killed. Now, of course, there are critical decisions that have to be made not only by president Joe Biden but the State Department and pentagon. First among them, do you send in extra security to try to beef up the security of kabul international airport, to try to secure The Field itself. U. S. Forces were already participating in and leading efforts to try to secure The Field. Is it too late to Add Security or is it time to wrap up the operation as quickly as possible and get out. These are the difficult decisions that have to be made under the pressure of not only still trying to evacuate as many afghans as possible. In a 24hour Span the u. S. Was able to evacuate 13,000 in the last 24 hours along with its coalition partners. Is it time to wrap that up or does that continue until The End . Of course, all of this happens in a War Zone with ongoing threats. Thats another key question. Is this a onetime threat or are there plans and contingencies and operations the u. S. Is seeing intelligence as well that indicate isisk or other groups may try to carry out another attack . It is worth noting that the State Department had warned to stay away from three specific gates, the east gate, the North Gate and the Abbey Gate. It is the last of those gates where this attack took place. Lets go to Kaitlan Collins at the White House. We know that the president was in the Situation Room. When should we expect to hear from the president . What do we know about what is happening there now . Reporter it is not clear yet. The schedule is basically completely in flux right now as they are trying to figure out what it is going to look like given he did have several meetings on his schedule today, including with the israeli Prime Minister who is visiting here in washington. That has been delayed, not cancelled yet. It is not clear if that meeting is still expected to go forward. The president also is supposed to meet slirvirtually with goves to talk about resettling refugees from afghanistan. That has been cancelled. The briefings have been delayed. A lot is fluid as theyre monitoring the situation, monitoring what has happened to Service Members on the ground, what is going on with the afghan allies still standing out sside the gate. President biden spent the morning in the Situation Room monitoring with top aides. Several aides are Calling Lawmakers to talk to them about what they know. Senate Majority Leader schumer said in his first statement since the attack happened that he has spoken with lloyd austin. Essentially a lot of communication is happening right now. It is not clear if we will hear from the president at some point today. I imagine it is on a broad rang of options the White House is considering. But oren is right, what has to come next are decisions in private, which is what are the next steps the u. S. Takes now. Of course, it is a big one weighing on the president now that weve learned several u. S. Service members have been killed in the attack. Lets go to Sam Kiley live for us in doha. We know that you had recently been at the Kabul Airport and you know the whole layout of it very well. Can you explain that Graphic Video that we just played . Why were so many people at the Sewage Canal . Reporter Running North south towards the Abbey Gate is a road, and running alongside that is a Drainage Canal that as you get further north is increasingly full of sewage. By the time it gets close to the Airport Perimeter it is also walled on both sides. Clearly what has happened here is either the explosion has gone off in the canal itself or up On The Road and blown people into the canal. In either eventuality, whether it occurred On The Road or in the canal, the blast would have been magnified by the concrete walls of either the walls On The Road or the canal itself. This i think was just south of the Airport Perimeter where the wounded people are. The reason theyre in this Drainage Ditch or Sewage Canal as it becomes is that that is the Route Theyve been taking up to the Abbey Gate. That is the route that they think is going to take them to inside the Kabul Airport and to freedom. It is on those Blast Walls above the Abbey Gate where american and other Service Members have been engaging with the evacuees, trying to do the last moment of filtration before they come on to the base themselves and then get properly screened and finally put on an Evacuation Flight if theyve got the right papers. So it is a terrible place for service people to be at the best of times because theyre permanently exposed and theyre having to make judgments about the future lives and possibly the Health And Safety of people who are down on the ground. It is clear that if there have been several american casualties including several deaths and more wounded that this must have been the location where this blast occurred, and The Pentagon has said it happened at the Abbey Gate. That is an environment in which soldiers who would normally be in cover are looking out through protected glass or through small slits, or actually leaning over the Gaten Ga engaging with the population, trying to do the right thing, which makes them extremely vulnerable to the Up Blast from one of the devices. The other device was close to the socalled Baron Hotel compound. Thats a compound, a wall, Reenforced Compound designed to keep contractors safe during the last several years, very close to the airport. It is also where british Air Assault Brigade has been doing the same thing, filtering people, in their case actually physically on the Ground Facetoface with them, often yards from taliban fighters, bringing people in and getting them across, again, to the Abbey Gate. This is a very, very vulnerable location, a Real Magnet for evacuees. Over the last several days it has been very clear that as the intelligence that has been coming to the united states and her allies about this imminent attack, it was more and more clear that at least one of these gates was going to be attacked. Frankly, most bets were on the Abbey Gate because it is the most magnetic in many ways to evacuees. Kylie atwood at the State Department, we have heard for several days as sam just referenced there the threats were acute and real and persisted. What do we know now about responsibility, who is responsible for what happened today . Yeah, well, what we have learned is that u. S. Officials in the early thinking here believed that isisk is behind this attack, but it is going to take some time for them to say that a bit more firmly, to understand who exactly in isisk is to blame. But from the perspective of the State Department here, they also have a number of diplomats on the ground there. We know that the u. S. Embassy In Kabul was evacuated about ten days ago, but they have some diplomats on the ground doing consular services, essentially processing these afghans getting on these Evacuation Flights. We are still waiting for an accounting of the u. S. Diplomats. Presumably they were further in on the compound of the airport, not on the outskirts where these explosions happened, but that is an important thing that we are waiting to learn, to learn about from the State Department. The second thing from the State Departments perspective is what about the rest of The Americans still in the country. Yesterday the State Department said there were about 500 to 1,500 americans who may need assistance still getting out of the country, and we heard from the top u. S. Diplomat on the ground there before these explosions earlier this morning who was saying there were other ways that they were working to get americans who needed to get out of the country to the airport because they were telling them not to use these gates because of these threats, these Terrorist Threats around the gates. So what do they do . Can they still get them to the airport in those alternate routes that they had already developed before these explosions happened and how many of them are still on the ground . Those are some of the things they are looking at. We are waiting to learn about. I think the third thing from the perspective of the department here is what does the biden administration say to the taliban now . They have been relying on the taliban to provide safe passage to the airport. That was never a perfect agreement, of course. We saw the excessive violence that the taliban were using, particularly against afghans, but it was a Working Partnership so to speak because the united states was facing a reality. The taliban were in control. So what now do they say . The taliban, of course, as far as we know did not carry out this attack, it was isisk, but they were the ones in charge of the Security Situation on the outskirts of the airport. Oren, what about that . What about evacuating the Hundreds Of Americans that are still there . I mean it was always complicated and it has just gotten much more complicated. Reporter well, it was a solemn promise from president Joe Biden they would do everything to get out every american citizen who wants to leave. It is difficult to see any situation in which he could back out of that promise, even if logistically it becomes far more difficult to do so. Perhaps we see more of the Helicopter Operations that The Pentagon has acknowledged or perhaps those operations, those options become covert, something operated by an Intelligence Agency or something like that. But youre absolutely right that this becomes far more difficult in the current environment. Now not just the threat of a terrorist attack, an actual attack that has killed u. S. Service members as we wait for more information about that. Of course, lets not forget that all of this happened in the middle of a massive Evacuation Effort Right at kabul international airport, an effort to get out not only those u. S. Citizens but afghans who applied for special Immigrant Visas as well as afghans fleeing the country. We have seen the photos of all of those coming out. The latest update from the biden administration is in the past 24hour Span 13,400 people were evacuated from the country, and thats a combination of u. S. Effort and coalition efforts. Of that, there were about 5,100 that left on u. S. Flights. Now, those are certainly still high numbers, well above the 5,000 to 9,000 that The Pentagon was aiming for just about a week ago, but it is not the numbers we saw over the previous periods, numbers above and just about at 20,000 people in a 24hour Span. Thats part of what makes this a critical decision on the part of the administration, whether to continue this until the very last second or is it time to wrap this up either immediately or to start winding it down quickly so there are fewer flights, fewer american Service Members at risk, and fewer american troops on the ground needed to secure that entire operation. But for now as we understand, the evacuation is ongoing. The efforts remain to try to get out as many people as possible. Still, it is absolutely inevitable that very soon this will have to shift from an Evacuation Mission of afghans and u. S. Citizens to a Withdrawal Mission of the remaining u. S. Troops there. Sam, if the u. S. Is intent on continuing to evacuate those siv recipients, the atrisk afghans, is there any plausible way to do that without creating the crowds that were so vulnerable to attacks like the ones we saw . Reporter it may be possible, victor, to do it for The Americans, especially if you get the cooperation of the taliban. It may be possible to run very discrete convoytype operations or even something moroe Covert O that to locations to pick up americans who want to get out. A lot of these are dual nationals in all probability so they also have families with them. Theyre not individual americans stuck there but they are people who have american passport of Afghan Descent who have gone home or caught at home. Indeed, i spoke to somebody like that on the plane i came out of that airport just yesterday. Or, although it gets much more difficult if you want to get the sivs out. There are many, many thousands of them. It is not possible to run convoys, it is not going to be possible or it would be extremely militarily high risk indeed to try to run set up some kind of corridor even with the cooperation of the taliban and then run people down a corridor so to speak. That simply is because you expose youve got much, much more flank to be attacked and it is a much Thinner Level of defense. At the Moment Youve got a secure perimeter, a more or less secure perimeter. There have been, tragically, american casualties, both dead and injured, and a large number of afghans but theres been no penetration of the walls. That is absolutely critical. Were there a penetration attack, then things would have been much more catastrophic. Similarly, if they tried to run a convoy into the town even with the help of the taliban, it would be extremely vulnerable to these sort of Suicide Attacks. It would become a very exciting, frankly, target for groups like isisk. So it is a very serious conundrum really that the u. S. President faces, particularly with regard to u. S. Citizens. He probably could pull that off if they step up the tempo of operations to get american passport holders out, but for the others, for the afghans with the special Immigrant Visas, i think the truth of the matter is theyre going to get left behind and then theyre going to get encouraged to take more or less military routes out, again with the cooperation of the taliban. No cooperation of the taliban and this all looks extremely painful. Victor. Kaitlan, about what President Biden is going to do next, you know, you have been reporting, we have been hearing that he always had a contingency plan. Well, this is the worst Case Scenario now that we know we have u. S. Service members that have been cleared. Do we know if those Contingency Plans included something for retaliation in a worstCase Scenario . Reporter it is not clear. What we had essentially heard from the Pentagon Yesterday after President Biden had been briefed on the Contingency Plans that he asked for and those were plans that revolved really around extending the date for when the u. S. Had to be out of kabul, which, of course, we all know is next tuesday, august 31st. So those Contingency Plans essentially according to John Kirby, The Pentagon spokesman, said what they were looking at broadly was if they stayed, how long would they stay, how many more troops would need to stay, and what is the goal of the mission of staying and extending that deadline. We know it is something that many lawmakers have called for, not just republicans, democrats as well. World leaders had also pushed for it during a virtual call with the president earlier this week, but a large reason that we were told privately was a Driving Factor in when President Biden decided against having an extension earlier this week was primarily because of what we are seeing right now, his concerns about Security Threats on the ground and potential Terrorist Attacks that would put u. S. Troops and these vulnerable afghan allies waiting outside the gates in harms way. Of course, unfortunately, that worst nightmare has been realized outside the Kabul Airport. So it is an urgent decision facing President Biden, and it remains far from clear which way he is going to go. Of course, he has been huddling with his top national security aides all morning. So i think those are the questions about what is going to be the next steps that they take. I think right now they are still very much in the informationgathering mode here at the White House given it is an attack that happened while President Biden was getting a prescheduled meeting with his national Security Team in the Situation Room. They ended up staying far longer than they expected for several hours as they monitored what is actually happening on the ground. Yes, we know how delicate this is. There are no easy decisions to be made. And it just got more complicated. Absolutely. Thank you all very much. We appreciate it. We are getting word theres a 3 00 p. M. Pentagon briefing so perhaps we will know more then. Yes. Our Breaking News continues. These deadly explosions have gone off near the Kabul Airport and we will hear from The Pentagon in the nekxt hour. This is breaking by the minute. Stay with us. Life is full of surprises when you least expect it. woman laughs and open. What happened to all your things . I know you needed a place to study, so. And other times, it pays off knowing what to expect. At university of phoenix, you can count on fixed, affordable tuition from the moment you enroll to the day you graduate from your program. Learn more about our Tuition Guarantee at phoenix. Edu more on the Breaking News out of avenues. Pentagon officials say a number of u. S. Service members were killed in these attacks In Kabul, at least one blast was the result of a Suicide Bomber near the main gate of the Citys Airport where this Evacuation Effort has been going on for several days now. The other blast was at or near a nearby hotel. Lets bring in our analysts. We have general wesley clark, a Cnn Military Analyst and former nato supreme allied commander. David sanger, political and national Security Analyst and white House And Correspondent for the new york times. And we also have with us cnn international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson. Thank you for being here. Bob baer, i want to start with you because of your expertise in Intelligence And Security because we had the intelligence. It was last night that the u. S. Embassy In Kabul did put out the intelligence there was a likely there was a credible Terror Threat and told americans to stay away from the airport, but still we couldnt completely protect our troops. So what do you see thats happened here . Well, the problem is theres no hard line around Kabul Airport. Normally at an embassy you have barriers, sandbags, bulletproof glass, and a Standoff Force like the afghans to keep you know, screen people as they come through. So it was inherently a dangerous situation and, frankly, it was just a matter of time, if it was the islamic state, that they would through to do something like this. What really bothers me is the taliban is not in control of this, and you have these zealots running around. As far as i can see, and i will defer to the Military Experts, but Kabul Airport is indefensible unless we have a lot of troops on the ground. It is time to get up and leave. General clark, lets bring it to you. You are the Military Expert here. What now is the path forward as we have now seen how vulnerable the airport is and just how the lack of control that the taliban actually does have . It is vulnerable. I think you have to look at the people on the ground to tell you what more they need in security, if it can be secured. They may have assets they can put overhead, some unmanned aerial vehicles, they may be able to do more on intelligence. Partly it depends on what the taliban reaction is through official channels with the taliban and ultimately it comes down to the president of the united states. Is he going to stay with it and try to get every last American Out or is he going to come back . You can create all kinds of frightening scenarios based on this, more attacks, mortars, rockets, you name it. All of that could happen. You could also imagine that we could respond to most of that. So not necessarily just with the troops on the ground. So were in a dynamic Hourbyhour Situation here. I think the first thing that you would do is you would talk to the commander on the ground and say, what do you need. And if he needs something more, you get it to him because the mission is to get every American Out, thats what the president said, and i think thats what he is going to do, but well see. David sanger, do we have reporting on which way the president is inclined to go . You know, we had heard that he had Contingency Plans in place. Obviously one would be for the worst Case Scenario. Well, a couple of hours ago we saw the worst Case Scenario. We certainly did, alisyn. His aides have been locked up and so we dont have a real sense of where he is going to go. As you heard from kaitlan there, theyre sort of more in Informationcollection Mode here. Certainly the pattern with President Biden has been very clear. Every time he has had to make a decision here it has been in the direction of lowering our vulnerability to this kind of attack, getting more people out and doing it faster. My guess is, just knowing him and having discussed some of the contingencies before with some of his aides, he is likely to view this incident as backing up his original decision that everybody had to be out by august 31st. I wouldnt be surprised if he moves that date up sooner. Yesterday you heard Secretary Of State Blinken Say that they believe there were only about 500 americans who were perhaps left who may want to leave the country. Im sorry, 1,500 americans, of which we think a group of 500, not all of which were americans, got out overnight. So their universe right now is down to about 1,000 for american citizens. I think the far harder question is going to be what do you do about those who are loyal to the u. S. , who are afghans, interpreters, others who dont have a way to get to that airport and who, while Secretary Blinken said we would continue to get them out even after the u. S. Military leaves, it is getting harder and harder to understand how were going to do that. Certainly not through the airport. Maybe over some of the borders, but that too is dangerous. And the taliban had said even before the attacks that we watched a few hours ago that they were not letting afghans to the airport. They were not going to let them leave. Nic robertson, let me come to you on the capabilities of this Group Isisk. Now, theyve not claimed responsibility. The State Department says that isisk is likely responsible for these attacks. Do they have the capabilities, these surfacetoair capabilities to take out some of the aboveground resources that General Clark is talking about and these flights that are evacuating so many thousands of people . Game changer weapons, which is why we held on the mujahadeen which were Game Changers, targeting the helicopters and bringing them down was part of the strategy. Theres no hard evidence thats in the Public Domain that isisk have a shoulderlaunched weapon in serviceable condition that theyve been able to use. Why do we say why do i say that . Because thats the only thats the only information we have. Are they hiding something out . It would certainly be a Game Changer if they were to decide to bring down an aircraft. Do the taliban have them . Are they available in afghanistan . Well, the taliban were fighting a desperate fight against the afghan government to get to power and there were plenty of afghan helicopters flying around and for a while there were plenty of u. S. Aircraft flying around and aircraft, and at known bases and known times. I think the only Evidence Weve seen in the past few months of a helicopter get shot down in those battles was one shot down by gunfire. So it doesnt appear as if those Man Pads as theyre called by the military, General Clark, correct me if im wrong, but these shoulderlaunched missiles do not appear to be widely available in afghanistan, or they certainly havent been used. Theres that. But that has to be a key concern going forward. You know, i have to look at some of the evidence of what has happened on the ground here as well. The taliban have said that they wouldnt let afghans go through. Their method of letting people get access to the airport has been hugely arbitrary and has contributed to the massive Tail Backs and the mess and the gathering of people. They have a huge level of responsibility here. Theyve come to power in this extraordinary way, essentially because they didnt Tell The Truth when they told us that they would negotiate with the afghan government. Thats why that happened. They promised us that they will keep the united states and other countries safe by making sure that oAl Qaeda and other groups cannot use their territory. They said the same thing to russia, the same thing to china, that these groups cannot use their territory to attack beyond the borders, to attack the united states and others. It does seem that the taliban at the moment are not and it is perhaps beyond the writ of anyone to be able to control afghanistan fully, but the guarantees that theyve given dont hold water. This is a very precarious moment to be leaving the country, which No Doubt we will, but to be leaving it in the hands of the taliban in such a mess with so many dynamic globally affecting consequences that can flow from it. General clark, if one of the Contingency Plans that President Biden decides to go with is retaliation, does the u. S. Military know where Isisks Training camps are . What would be the next move after an attack like this that has killed sufficient Service Member . Well, first of all, i wouldnt know if we know where their camps are. And if i did, i couldnt say it. But, yes, we probably have some general ideas of what is going on. We are probably picking up chatter. Were getting indications from people who talk to us, maybe not even in afghanistan but maybe elsewhere. So, yes, there would be a capability to retaliate. Maybe not immediately. But i would think that the first thing that we would be doing is worried about getting the mission done, and that is the defense of Kabul Airport and finding more secure ways to screen people when they come in. It may take a slightly larger number of people there to do that. That has to be asked. That has to be then considered. It has to be considered in light of how were going to roll up the mission at The End. How quickly can you get out . How many aircraft . Whats the threat to those aircraft. As nic was saying, it is very important whether there are Man Pads there or not. So far as we know theyre not there, but if there was one there, yes, that would be very that would be very tragic if it actually worked and connected to an aircraft. So were looking at the risks. Were looking at what the options are. Retaliation would be one option, but it wouldnt be the first thing. First thing is get the mission done, and that means the airport, locate The Americans, find a way to get them to the airport to get them out of there. General, i just want to be clear about what you are saying here and put it in the broader context, that you are suggesting that there is a plausible scenario in which the u. S. Footprint in afghanistan could grow again for the second time in just a few weeks, right . Im saying it is plausible. Lets say you need some additional, lets say, unmanned aerial vehicle assets to provide greater security around the airport. You might send a team in, maybe 25, 30 men with these assets to be able to give you greater 24hour Coverage of that space outside the airport, lets say from the air. Thats the kind of reinforcement im talking about. I dont think were talking about, you know, another brigade of people to man the walls with rifles to shoot at people, but, you know, thats up to the commander on the ground first. He knows his situation better than anyone. Im sure hes walked it, driven you and worried about it every moment hes been there. So hes going to be talking continuously to the commander at Central Command of the chairman of the joint chiefs, and that will be coming up at the national Security Council and the president. Bob baer, what do you think happens next . I was in beirut in the 80s and watch the marines get hit and i have watched Suicide Bombers, and the problem is these Suicide Vests cost about 150. You can make them at home without a base, and all you need is fanatics. Apparently there are a lot of them in afghanistan, alisyn. Thats what scares me for the marines. I mean it is the best Fighting Force in the world, but someone who is willing to strap on a vest over their robes and blow themselves up when you have the sort of mob at Kabul Airport makes it extremely difficult even for the best army in the world to defend against, and thats what worries me. David sanger, i want to, again, be clear that isisk has not claimed responsibility. The sources at the State Department are saying it is likely isisk and we know thats been the center of the Threat String thats been reported for several days, but we know that this is a blow against the taliban as much as it is the u. S. Could there be a scenario in which the u. S. And the taliban are on the same side of a fight against isisk . I mean is that what were looking toward in the next several days . It is possible. I mean you have seen stranger things happen in the 20 years of this war, especially because, you know, weve had pakistan as a major nonnato ally ostensibly fighting the taliban but secretly in some cases supporting it through their Intelligence Agency. So there are a lot of loyalties that have moved back and forth. But what is clear from this is that the taliban do not have at this Point Control of that area outside of the airport, control in means of real discipline and how they could do this. The fact that the bomber made it through even though there was explicit intelligence suggesting that those gates were particularly vulnerable and isisk may be headed for them tells you something, that they still werent able to stop it. So i dont think we can rely in any way on the sal ban controlling the area outside, and i doubt the president is going to be willing to put american troops on the outside. He certainly hasnt yet, and i think it would be an invitation to more casualties. You heard before a reference from bob to the 1983 marine bombing, marine Barracks Bombing where we lost 241 marines and the french lost more than 50, and it is interesting to think about what President Reagan did under that circumstance. He pulled everybody out and, you know, we he upped and outed the whole bit. Everybody was saying what we are saying now, that this was going to be a big marker on his presidency, and yet he survived it quite nicely. I think that the biden simple view right now is that people will remember that we got out of afghanistan and they expected it would be messy and he was hoping to get out with no american casualties, and it has been a miracle they havent had any until now. Tragically, our luck ran out today. All right. We are about 20 minutes out from a briefing at The Pentagon. Hopefully we get more details about what happened today and about the path forward. David sanger, general wesley clark, Nic Robertson and bob baer, thank you all. Breaking news continues. We will receive an up gate from The Pentagon. We will bring it to you as soon as we have it and we have more details. Stay with us. [swords clashing] had enough . No. Arthritis. Here. New aspercreme arthritis. Full prescriptionstrength . Reduces inflammation . Thank the gods. Dont thank them too soon. Kick pain in the aspercreme. vo how do you know when youve found your team . Whether youre winning, or just doing your best. When youre on the lanes, theyre right behind you. Reunite with your team. Go bowling. Visible is wireless that doesnt play games. Its powered by verizon for as little as 25 a month. But it gets crazier. Bring a friend every month and get every month for 5. Boom 12 months of 5 wireless. Visible, wireless that gets better with friends. Ayy, ayy, ayy yeah, we fancy like applebees on a Date Night got that Bourbon Street Steak with the Oreo Shake get some whipped cream on the top too two straws, one check, girl, i got you bougie like natty in the Styrofoam Squeaksqueakin in the Truck Bed All The Way Home some alabamajamma, she my dixieland delight ayy, thats how we do, how we do, fancy like, oh what makes new Salonpas Arthritis Gel so good for Arthritis Pain . Salonpas contains the most prescribed topical pain relief ingredient. Its clinically proven, reduces inflammation and comes in original prescription strength. Salonpas. Its good medicine. Ok everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. Whoo hoo ensure, with 27 vitamins and minerals, now introducing ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. Were covering Breaking News out of afghanistan, and we do have new video of the aftermath of the Terror Attack just into our newsroom. In a second we will show you the reality of the carnage on the ground, but we do want you to know it is very disturbing. The pentagon says that a number of u. S. Service members were among those killed in these two explosions near the Kabul Airport. Several others were wounded. It is unclear how many afghans were killed or hurt, but it looks like a lot. This Graphic Video from the scene of one of the explosions gives a really de of the extent of what happened there. Again, we have to warn you these pictures are disturbing. This is where one of the blasts happened. You see there just bodies there in what were told was a Sewage Canal, some lifeless, the people trying to respond in any way they can. The crowd here was at one of the entry gates, people trying to get out of the country. U. S. Officials believe the terror Group Isisk is behind the attacks. President biden and The Pentagon had warned for several days about a possible Isis Attack at the airport. The u. S. Embassy put out a warning to americans just last night to stay away from the gates there. Here with us now is cnn producer tim lister. Tim, weve been talking about just the paths forward. There seems to be no clear path forward and no good options here for this administration. Based on what you know and what we just saw, what do you expect we are going to hear . I expect were going to hear perhaps in the next day or so a claim of responsibility, and i expect that will come from Isis Khorason, which is that province of isis that is active in afghanistan. Were not sure, of course. Theres been no claim of responsibility yet, but they had the capability, they had the motivation, and it is their modus operandi. A large number of civilians, static in one place, these are the sort of attacks theyve been carrying out In Kabul for the best part of five years. In the first four months of this year alone, victor, there were 77 attacks by Isis Khorason In Kabul. There was a staged major Suicide Attacks in jalalabad in the south and the east. So this is a group that is wellembedded in afghanistan, and neither the previous government nor the taliban will find it easy to get rid of isisk. I think what it shows you is that this is a brutal We Minder that afghanistan is still very fehr Tile Territory for international terrorism. Remember the prison escapes over the last two, three weeks. A lot of those who escaped were isis members or Al Qaeda members. Theyre now on the lam. You can tell straightaway the taliban may be an effective insurgency, theres not much evidence theyre an effective security force. These are some of the problems going forward that the international community and the united states have to face. Tim, what does isisk want . I mean obviously death and destruction, but do they have any strategic goals . Are they competing with the taliban . Do they want to rule afghanistan . They ultimately would love to see a caliphate in afghanistan. They regard the taliban as betraying islam. Theyve waxed lyrical about how the taliban have been swanning around in luxury hotels in qatar while theyre doing the real fighting. They call them apostates. One opportunity for isis here in afghanistan is that if the taliban does try to be a little bit more moderate towards the west, to deal with the west, its more radical members and some within the haqqani network, which is an ally, may well be tempted to join Isis Khorason. Isis khorason is already making that appeal to the more radical groups in its stronghold which has been in the eastern provinces, but they are much more established now than they were a few years ago In Kabul. They will be very, very difficult to dislodge. Tim, in the short term, you know, were going to hear from The Pentagon in a few moments about what happened and what happens going forward, but for the taliban is it expected that there will be some response from the taliban against isisk . What does that mean for the Evacuation Effort if that starts . Well, theyre sworn enemies. If the taliban can find isisk cells, they will deal with them, theres No Doubt about that. In fact, im told by a regional Counterterrorism Source when the taliban emptied out an area they found some and executed some on the spot. Theres no love lost between the groups. In 2019 the taliban said weve defeated Isis Khorason. It was wishful thinking. This is a very resilient group and they had a resupply of fighters from pakistan, from tajikistan and uzbekistan, and they used to run from 2016 through who came from iraq and syria. So this is not a force that will be eradicated quickly, even though just a couple of years ago the u. S. Dropped a moab, the mother of all bombs, killing over 100. Do they have traditional camps and bases and headquarters, or are they so splintered that it would be difficult to retaliate . They are so splintered in these tiny little encampments deep in the mountains of kandahar. I had been up there. The ravines and gullies and valleys are impossible to navigate. Its almost impossible to find these people in the first place in their camps. Particularly now, i know there are great things said about the over the horizon capabilities of modern defense forces, but theres no substitute for Human Intelligence on the ground. Thats going to be sorely lacking for the u. S. Going forward now. Is it expected this is the beginning of a potential shortterm campaign of attacks or is it their m. O. That they have now made their statement in what happened earlier today . Based on previous experience, they will come back for more. They want to show that the taliban are not fit to govern, that they can challenge them at any Point And Cause mayhem, whether its at a girls school, a shia mosque, a sikh gathering. These are their targets, the police, the media. They will continue. Especially if and heres a tough decision for the west if the western nations decide to maintain embassies and encourage ngos to work in afghanistan, that is additional risk. The taliban were an effective insurgency. Theyre not a good security force. Theyre not necessarily from kabul. Theyre all from the south in kandahar. There are an awful lot of f factors not pointing in the right direction going forward. Thank you for that wealth of information as we try to understand how is responsible and the path forward there in afghanistan. Weve been reaching out to some of the guests that weve had over the last couple of days who have translators, Friends And Family Members in afghanistan, theyve been trying to get out through that airport. You might remember lance corporal Jimmy Hurley who was on with us and his effort to get haji, a translator and his family out. We reached out to him and asked what about his whereabouts. The response we got, how is haji . Not great. He was very close to the explosion this morning. His family is back in hiding in a safe room. We are exploring other routes out of the country. There are so many of these stories. This is just one. Even the communications we were trying to have with some of the women in hiding is very spotty. Obviously this complicated it. Again, these are just our individual contacts. The effort that now the u. S. Has to undertake in terms of finding those Hundreds Of Americans, the Secretary Of State blinken said they were trying to communicate with yesterday,obviously everything has gotten much, much more complicated. Th we remember these are individual people and families too. Our Breaking Coverage continues. Deadly explosions near the Kabul Airport. Well receive an update from The Pentagon shortly. Well bring that to you live. Last things last by the grace of the fire and the flames youre the face of the future, the blood in my veins, ohooh the blood in my veins, ohooh but they never did, ever lived, ebbing and flowing inhibited, limited til it broke open and rained down pain you made me a, you made me a believer, preorder now and get up to 200 in samsung credit. In ways big and small, the world has changed. But our commitment to getting you safely out in it . That never will. 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. Visit your local Mercedesbenz Dealer Today for exceptional Lease And Financing offers. Thanks for staying with us. Im victor blackwell. Im alisyn camerota. Breaking news out of afghanistan, two deadly bombings in Kabul Today that killed an unspecified number of u. S. Service members. We have this disturbing video showing the reality of the K Carnage on the ground in the aftermath of those explosions. That is some of the most horrible video we have seen yet that shows the vast carnage there. In fact, were just getting information from the afghan health minister. They say at least 60 afghans killed, at least 140 wounded. Again, our u. S. Service members also killed in these two explosions near the hamid karzai international airport. Officials believe isisk was behind the attacks, but theyre still working to confirm that. The State Department had been warning for days of a Terror Attack at the airport. We have reporters standing by. Lets start with Barbara Starr at The Pentagon. What do we know about these military members who were killed and what were expected to hear from The Pentagon . In just a very short while we are expecting to hear from general frank mckenzie, the head of the u. S. Central command which oversees Military Operations in the gulf, the middle east, afghanistan. We expect to hear from him. I see John Kirby there. The general will have some brief opening remarks. Well obviously address the events in Kabul Today as well as the Evacuation Mission and where we are and where were going. Well take questions. I will moderate the