I know everybody misses home, but it is no time to come back right now. In afghanistan, the Withdrawal Deadline is imminent as the final evacuation of americans and afghans winds down. Isisk claiming responsibility for a Rocket Attack on the kabul airport. This, after the u. S. Conducted a Drone Strike against an Isisk Target on sunday. A vehicle that posed an imminent threat to the airport. Up to ten civilians were reportedly killed as a result of the strike. At Dover Airport Sunday President biden and the First Lady attending the dignified transfer for the fallen suicide members killed in the Suicide Bomb on thursday. Well start with the latest on tropical Storm Ida with todays Show Cohost Al Roker in New Orleans, and correspondent Sam Brock in louisiana. Al, first to you. New orleans is in the dark. A rare sight. How are things looking . Al roker, i think we have a Problem Reporter thank you very much. Thank you. Reporter yeah, andrea, we are here. This is South Rampart and the damage you see behind me, its sad in this is a little bit of history. This is a Tailor Shop and a very young Louie Armstrong worked for the family that owned this and he started to learn to play a little Tin Horn during all of this. This building is on the national registry of historic buildings and it is now destroyed. It survived all these countless hurricanes, including katrina, that hit here yesterday 16 years ago. But it has now been toppled, completely destroyed. In the back you can kind of see theres a car next to a pizzeria where the outer wall of that collapsed. And then there was another Building Right over here that had a mural of fantastic jazz artists. This area was known as the harlem of New Orleans, and that Brick Wall just collapsed there. So it gives you an idea of the power of this storm, andrea. Were talking about a hurricane that brought gusts here in New Orleans up to 87 miles per hour and they could have been higher. When it came onshore, actually, there were Wind Gusts recorded of 175 miles per hour. And the big problem, andrea, is all of a sudden, this thing just kind of slowed down. We saw the Eye Wall redevelop, recycle, and we had two Eye Walls, that made for a giant Eye Wall in a sense. It created a 15 mile, if you will, ef3 tornado, where the winds were 150 miles per hour. So the destruction actually could have been a lot worse. But what we have behind here is a catastrophic failure of the electrical grid. There is no power anywhere within the City Limits of New Orleans, other than that thats being generated by outside generators. And its a real mess. The Communications Grid has been knocked down, cellular service. At t completely knocked out. Tmobile has been crippled. Verizon seems to be holding on okay. But its been a real tough time. Weve been driving around. Lots of trees down, lots of branches. Damage like this not so widespread, but you go to the south and west, and the Storm Surge was as predicted and caused big problems. And when you say theres A Million people, A Million customers without power, we had the governor on earlier from louisiana on today, and he said those are just accounts, so that if you really figure it out for people, its probably 2 Million people without power. And we had people coming up to us during our remote and asking, had we heard anything, did we know anything. Were hearing that the power the folks were saying we hear the power could be out for a month, which is mindboggling when you think about it. So this storm is going to continue to wreak havoc in the area that it struck, and as it makes its way to the north and east, its going to be bringing in a ton of rain over already saturated ground. There are Flood Washes and Flash Flood washes and warnings stretching from the Gulf Coast all the way to New York and new jersey. So as this makes its way up, its going to be dropping another 5 to 7 inches locally, could be upwards of 12 inches of rain, andrea. Al, i know you have roots in New Orleans and you know that area so well. The tragic loss of so much history there, with that location, is just its just a terrible blow. Reporter it really is. I mean, look, the French Quarter, we were headquartered down there and theres some damage, mostly palm fronds. Theres some damage to signs, awnings, things like that. Some structural damage to buildings, but nothing like this. They seem to have weathered it fairly well. But its eery to be in the French Quarter. We were there Yesterday And Nobody there. And then The Sun Comes Up and, in the French Quarter as least, other than, as i said, some damage to trees and Sand Bags hanging around, you wouldnt know that a category 4 hurricane had come in. So in some ways its been fairly benign, but you get down, like grand Isle And Houma and places like that, and the devastation is incalculable. New orleans was spared that direct hit, but it is going to be suffering for a long time, especially when it comes to this power grid. Al, if i can ask you, you know, compared to katrina, the strength was so intense, but how would you compare this to katrina, and of course to the fact that the levees seem to have held because they did so much work, billions of dollars of reconstruction and preventative work since . Reporter well, katrina was a category 3 and the greatest damage was done after the hurricane went kind of to the north and then the winds swung around and pushed all that water from Lake Pontchartrain into those areas. This was a category 4, almost a 5, and while its almost apples to oranges. On the face of it, it doesnt look so bad here in New Orleans, you go to the south and to the west, and its a lot worse. There youve got not just power failures, but there are some levee overtoppings, there are failures of water systems, sewage systems. So for those folks, this is far worse than katrina, and in fact a number of people, our colleagues like Matt Brock and Sam Brock and Morgan Mess Chesky said when theyve talked to Law Enforcement and first responders, they said its the worst theyve ever seen. So while katrina was a benchmark for a lot of folks, i have a feeling when all is said and done, ida is going to be really a devastating storm. And when you think about it, louisiana now is the first state to have Backtoback Category 4 hurricanes within a year. They had im forgetting the name of the storm now just a year ago, the l storm, and now this one. And so its just been brutal for this region. Laura, im sorry, hurricane laura. You know, al, and i was watching yesterday, all day yesterday, just incredible reporting. Thank you so much for everything youre doing down there. Thanks for taking the time for us today. I know its not easy. Reporter andrea, one last thing. I just want to say we are looking at the results of Climate Change. Those Gulf Waters were about 3 to 5 degrees above average, 88 to 90 degrees, and that is purely Climate Change and thats what created this monster storm. We saw this Rapid Intensification happen. I mean, this thing Rapid Intensification is 35 miles per hour in 24 hours. This thing increased by over 60 miles per hour in less than 24 hours. And that, again, the result of Climate Change, andrea. Such an important note. Thank you, Al Roker. Thanks for all youre doing down there. Sam brock is on the phone from louisiana. Sam, that was closer to a direct hit . Reporter it was. We thought for a period of time, andrea, that it was going to go, hurricane ida, directly over baton rouge, which would have been the largest Population Center to be affected. It was a little east to that and very close to where i am. Its unfortunate, we cant show you the Cell Towers would be fluctuating as they try to stabilize and restore power. Its spotty at the moment so it keeps dropping out. I am looking right now at an 18wheeler truck, a Walmart Truck that is flipped on its belly. Its not the only one, either. If you go down the Parking Lot, i was going to show you two or three others that look just like it. The Gas Station on the corner of the street where im at has had the roof removed and theres pieces of vinyl Sitting In pools of water next to the highway and really where a lot of these floods came pouring in. I talked to some of the folks that worked at the Gas Station here that said they saw water rushing inside and up to the windows of the cars in the lots. Thats how high the water was. The Wind Damage, of course, was so extensive as well. We are very close to laplace, 30 miles from where i am, maybe 20 miles. There was concern, there have been reports of potentially hundreds or thousands of people that have called in to say that they were stranded. We spoke with the cajun navy in louisiana and were getting updates throughout the day. The most recent one is when they arrived at 7 00 this morning, a lot of the Flood Water had actually receded from the area and folks who were trapped in their homes were able to walk out. Others did actually need a rescue by a high water vehicle. We captured some of that Video Today of people being escorted by the national guard and cajun navy from their home to dry land. Certainly people that live there are terrified by the ordeal they just experienced. Theres been one confirmed death from prairieville, when a tree toppled and hit a mans house. 60 years old. The governor of the state, john bel edwards, says he is expecting the Death Toll to rise. There are 1,600 Search And Rescue crews out right now going through the neighborhoods by Ground And Air to see if Theres Anyone else that may be stranded or perhaps was not able to escape. Were following that very closely. This is an evolving situation and a Power Struggle right now in terms of trying to get power restored. It seems like its going to be a marathon. I know al was talking about this earlier, but we have heard a councilman say it will be five days before there will be working water and at least three weeks before constituents will see power restored. Its going to be the a very difficult next several weeks for the natives of New Orleans and surrounding areas as they try to cope with the crises of water, electricity and certainly the trauma of what they have just experienced. Sam brock, thank you so much for managing to get that report out. Joining us now, nbc News Meteorologist Bill karins. Bill, flooding is now a major concern. We just heard from al and sam. Give us a sense of where this now tropical Storm Ida is headed. Andrea, these storms have three prongs to them. You get the Storm Surge, the Wind Damage, and then you have to deal with the flooding. So two of those three are done with. Were not going to see any more Wind Damage. The Storm Surge is for the most part all over with. Now we see who gets the worst flooding and how that is. Today, tomorrow, all the way into thursday morning. Let me show you what my concerns are with the storm. We havent had any reports tornadoes. We have a Tornado Watch to 5 00 for mississippi, alabama, pensacola. The bright red bands coming off the coast mean business and they are definitely capable of Wind Damage as they move onshore. We still have Flash Flood emergencies. Ive seen at least one levee that is breached around john lafayette. We have 18 inches of rain estimated to the northwest of New Orleans. All those other red Maroon Areas is where we have Flash Flood warnings. There were water rescues in mobile this morning, highways were flooded. This storm is not just a problem for southeast louisiana. Thats where the most extreme Wind Damage is. When the pictures come in later today your heart is going to sink because youre going to see homes that have been torn apart because this is what the winds were like at landfall. Incredible that that ship in Port Fourchon had a gauge that survived and registered that 172 mile per Hour Wind gusts. Thats one of the strongest ever measured in any hurricane. Typically the Wind Gusts fail before they get that high. This is the fifth strongest Landfall And Backtoback 150 mile per hour hurricanes, and we already talked about the Rapid Intensification. The Hurricane Center takes the storm the rest of the day north through mississippi and this is tracking Heavy Rain shown in the yellow and red. Tupelo, nashville, lexington, maybe as far north as cincinnati. Pittsburgh, wash out, through central portions of pennsylvania around state college, scranton, Dc Area wednesday evening, and then philadelphia, New York, hartford and the same areas that were hit eight days ago by Tropical Storm Henri are going to have to deal with ida three days from now. In anticipation, we have 51 Million people that are under Flash Flood watches and you can see some of those warnings down on the Gulf Coast. This is how much rain we are talking about. Were going to track the rain the next couple of days, but the other human Interest Story with this is the people without power. All the people that had the means, most of them, they decided to get out. And now that people are without power, people with the money and means are going to get out again. So the privileged people can escape this. This story is going to turn into all the people left behind in New Orleans and some of the other parishes that dont have the money or means to get out, they could go weeks without power. It is 90 degrees during the day, 80 at night. Theyre going to need assistance. Everybody is going to have to come to the rescue of these people, especially the elderly, the shutins, those who cant make a move. Thank you, bill karins. Much more on ida in a moment. Final countdown, the withdrawal from afghanistan just hours from now. The Final Push amid isis Rocket Attacks as theyre focused on getting troops and critical equipment out. Marine corps veteran, a member of the house armed Services Committee joining next. Youre watching Andrew Mitchell reports on msnbc. Outdoor vehicl with Home And Auto to help people save more [ laughs ] [ humming ] [ Door Creaks ] oh. [ soft Music Playing ] what are you all doing in my daydream . Its better than that presentation. A lot better. 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Evacuating americans and afghan allies from the airport in kabul, the u. S. Intercepted a barrage of rockets isisk claims to have fired at the airport earlier today. This after a u. S. Drone struck a Vehicle Carrying Explosives targeting the airport on sunday. Heres what remains of the car bomb. The taliban disputes the account, claiming the u. S. Hit a house, killing civilians, including children. The Secretary Of State said that u. S. Diplomats are also leaving. They will all be out soon, claiming the taliban have promised to keep letting the evacuation of targeted u. S. Citizens and afghans continue after the u. S. Forces are gone. This despite reports that amnesty is already being broken by taliban fighters who are arresting and executing people around the country. Nbcs chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel is in doha, qatar. This is a critical time to get u. S. Personnel and equipment out of afghanistan, blow up the equipment thats left. What is the latest, what happens after the deadline if the u. S. Cannot get every afghan who wants to leave out, which is obviously now going to happen . Were talking about thousands of people. Reporter theres no possible way at this stage that the u. S. Is going to get everyone out who wants to leave or who may have changed their mind and decided that they now want to go and dont want to ride it out with the taliban. Were in the final hours now. There is quite a bit of activity over kabul, according to witnesses, with drones and Fighter Jets in the air. The smaller the footprint gets, the more dangerous it is, and isis has made it clear that it wants to get its Parting Shot. Isis was not really a major factor in the war in afghanistan. It arrived late to the battle and it was always a secondary threat. Isis carried out some spectacular, i hate that word, spectacular attacks, high profile, gruesome attacks killing many civilians, including on hospitals and wedding halls. But they never had a Ground Force like the taliban. And now isis is trying to go for the historical record and get a Parting Shot against the americans so that it can redeem its terrible name and say that it was responsible for helping to drive out or responsible for driving out u. S. Troops. But i think in a few hours were going to get some sort of statement. Dont know exactly how its going to come. That will come from washington in one form or the other saying that its done. But these last this last period is secret, this last period is very sensitive because the troops have all pretty much evacuated themselves. So the last group, someone has to be the last fighter, some plane has to be the last aircraft to leave and that would by definition be the most vulnerable. How do people get out from here . Theres going to be a huge dispute about who qualifies and who wanted to leave and who is an siv and who is a contractor and how far does this go . Because people who have been living in afghanistan arent just translators. They were in many cases extended Family Members of translators, extended families of contractors, people who knew journalists or others who had contact with the State Department, for example. So there will be many people who are frustrated, many people who become desperate. It sounds like the State Department is still trying to reach out to specific individuals and work out individual exit plans. But once the taliban is in control of the airport, theyre going to have to exit via land or wait until the civilian airport is open and thats going to be some sort of agreement, according to multiple reports, including ones im hearing between qatar and turkey. But reopening the airport in afghanistan is not the easiest thing, you need to put in Ground Traffic and make sure theyre coordinating internationally. You want to make sure the pilots and the Air Systems are confident enough to land and take off from there. Yeah, and richard, you know, the airport, all of the Airport Personnel are also being taken out, we understand. So the ground crews and the others are also going out on rc17s, and we also, of course, have the repelling of those rpg attacks. We dont know if there will be any final in the next couple of hours as theyre getting out. Some last blasts. But basically the Airport Gates are closed, theres no one going in there. So people are now going to try over land . Reporter the Airport Gates are closed. Right. Reporter the Airport Gates are closed unless there is some Arrangement Being worked out in the 11th Hour and 59 minutes to get a few named individuals out. The gates have been closed for several days. After the devastating bombing that killed the 13 u. S. Service members, it was almost impossible to get out. It took specific coordination through the good offices of qatar or other countries, coordinating with the taliban, to get specific convoys in and get them received at the gate. It wasnt that they were opening the gates anymore and doing the patdowns and allowing walkins. Its become increasingly difficult and now, according to the Pentagon Spokesman kirby just a short while ago, there is still some opportunity, he said, but even that seems like its were really at the end of this. And then, yes, theyre going to have to go on land or wait for the airport to reopen. To reopen, it would probably be the turks bringing in Airport Staff so they would control it themselves. They would bring in the equipment, the personnel, and sort of operate it as a contractor. Richard engel, youve been there from the beginning. Thank you so much. Joining us now is democratic congresswoman reuben gallago. Use a congressman im sure youre hearing from people, and im hearing from people, theres been a desperate attempt which many argue didnt start soon enough. I know fellow veterans are working just around the clock trying to get people out. Have you been hearing from people . Are you trying to get people out . Ive been trying to get people out for quite a while and i was successful in some regard and, unfortunately, i wasnt successful in my most recent attempt. Look, this is a horrible situation. Theres no denying that. It was always going to, unfortunately, end in a horrible manner. There was no way this was going to be a clean exit. Thats what happens when youre in war for 20 years, a war that only americans really actually only started paying attention to in the last two weeks. Lets be honest, this war was only really being fought by maybe one tenth of one percent of this country, and hidden from the rest of the country, so the people that want to stay in war could continue this ongoing war and the american public could just be in denial. Well, now this is reality. This is what happens. This is what happens after 20 years of war and we have to move on and really realign our interests. Theres going to be opportunities for us. Im not giving up on the people that i was not able to get out. But this is the consequences of ongoing wars and i find it ironic and i just have to say, because its driving me and many other veterans nuts that were seeing people like general petraeus, mcmaster, coming on and really talking as if they arent part of the problem, as if they didnt cause this. This was a tragedy that was started under bush and carried all the way through, at least to give credit to president biden, were getting out. But what im hearing from veterans is this is horrible, but they are also mad. Lets be clear, they are mad at a lot of the generals that kept us in there for a long time and the fact that the media brings them back and doesnt challenge them when, in fact, when they are many of the reasons we are still there and we probably lost thousands of more men and tens of thousands more afghans than we had to. And Donald Trump negotiated with the taliban, Mike Pompeo did and set the May 1st Deadline, which Joe Biden inherited. And all the prisoners. Some of the worst of the worst. The criticism, and its been from all sides, has been that that May 1st Deadline didnt have to be observed, it could have been delayed until the winter season, when the Fighting Season was over. Thats a valid statement. But at the same time, the reason the taliban werent fighting our men, the reason you didnt see more Suicide Bombs, because there was a core that had taken over for a year. So when it comes to war, unfortunately your enemy gets to decide also. Its not just a onesided thing. So i think we could all play Monday Morning quarterback and i think the evacuation certainly could have gone better. But the tendency that the united states has when it comes to these types of actions is that we just for some reason, especially our military personnel, our officers, our generals, the dod and the Think Tanks will always look for an excuse for us to stay longer. Theyre looking for an excuse to say this could just be like korea or germany. Its not. Thats not how this works. Were not getting Suicide Bombs in korea and having our soldiers that we train turn on us and shoot us in the back. Thats what was happening in afghanistan for quite a while. Let me ask quickly, what do you think can happen for the people still left behind . Are there other Exit Strategies . Can we possibly trust the taliban for amnesty when theres already retaliation going on in the provinces . So, yes, there are overland routes that some of us are working and trying to find secure passages for our friends and allies. In terms of trusting the taliban, no, you cannot trust the taliban. Will they let some people through . They will let some people through because they need international cooperation. Afghanistan has changed so much, the taliban needs to govern. They cant be operating like they did in the past. So there is going to be some leverage that were going to have with them, and so will other countries. But it is going to be a scary time. I would not trust the taliban. Im going to try to get my friends out that i dont believe the taliban will give amnesty to. This is the consequence of 20 years of war. Reuben gallego, thank you very much. We are following Breaking News from wilmington, North Carolina, there is a report of a shooting at new hanover high school. We dont have details other than police are responding to the scene. Students are being evacuated. Well keep a close eye on the Situation And Update you throughout the hour. And the Storm Ida, residents from louisiana had a direct hit from landfall and theyre now surveying the destruction. Youre watching Andrew Mitchell reports. More on the storm coming up. M c. With live better u, my What Ifs were erased. vo this is more than glass and steel. And stone. Its awe. Beauty. The measure of progress. Its where people meet people. Where cultures and bonds are made between us. Where we create things together. Open each others minds. Raise each others ambitions. And do together, what we cant do apart. This is space for dreams. Loopnet. The most popular place to find a space. Start your day with Crest 3d white and from mochaccinos to merlot, your smile will always be brilliant. Crest 3d white brilliance. 100 stain removal, 24 Hour Stain Resistance to lock in your whitest smile. Crest. The 1 Toothpaste Brand in america. This is a hero, walking his youngest down the aisle, which to his bladder, feels like a mile. Yet he stands strong, dry, keeping the leaks only to his eyes. Depend. The only thing stronger than us, is you. Tropical Storm Ida is now hitting mississippi with Heavy Rain, winds already cutting power to thousands of residents. Joining me is nbc News Correspondent Ron Allen from jackson, mississippi. I can see the rain is already starting. How are they preparing there . Reporter well, andrea, its been raining since the early morning hours and everyone knew this was coming and theyre hunkered down. Everything is shut. The airport is closed down, schools are closed, businesses are closed. Theres very little traffic on the roadways. These are crucial hours because the center of the storm is almost parallel to jackson and the Heavy Rain is really just it just keeps coming. Its steady. The winds right now have died down for the most part. We have been getting some gusts, but most of those were earlier in the morning. As much as 40 or 50 miles per hour, but now the winds are not the problem so much as the rain. Its relentless and its unclear how long this is going to last. When you look at the radar system, it seems to show most of the Heavy Rain is moving to the east of us. However, when youre standing here, it just keeps raining. Were at a hotel where there are hundreds of evacuees from the louisiana area. Every car in this Parking Lot has a Louisiana License Plate and people weve been talking to are trying to figure out when they might be able to go back. Communications are really bad, trying to contact friends, relatives, neighbors who may have stayed behind. At this moment a lot of folks are trying to extend their plans were told by hotel management, trying to stay here for another day or two, after they hoped they might be able to go back tomorrow. That does not seem likely because the situation is so uncertain. Again, several hours now are critical, into the early afternoon and evening, to see just how much rain falls, whether the storm continues to break up. Its slow moving, sitting over this area, and of course this concern about Flash Flooding in areas where theres often flooding. This area, like so much of the rest of the u. S. , has just been deluged by rain so the ground is saturated and soaked. Everyone is hunkered Down Waiting to see what the next few hours bring. Critical time, area. Thank you so much, Ron Allen, stay safe down there as the storm approaches and the aftereffects, of course, are going to be bad as well. Meanwhile, evacuation anguish, a former marines desperate attempts to save his afghan translator and his family. The sacred bonds between our veterans and the afghans who served at their side. Stay with us. This is Andrew Mitchell reports on msnbc. Workforce ovei out of convenience, or necessity. We can explore uncharted waters, and not only make new discoveries, but get there faster, with better outcomes. 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One of them is former marine Captain Andrew darlington who was trying to evacuate his Translator And Family to the airport for a flight on thursday. Darlington was texting with him, trying to get them through the crowd at the Abbey Gate where one of his active marine buddies was standing by ready to pull them through the gate. Darlington texting get to Abbey Gate now, i have u. S. Marines ready for you. He sent back a picture writing, stay there, do you see the marine. But before they could reach his friend, the bomb went off. He and his wife were killed. His two young sons were further back with a relative. They survived. Darlingtons Marine Friend was injured, but was later safely evacuated and over the weekend arrived at Walter Reed for treatment. Joining me is Andrew Darlingtonwho served in afghanistan and is a purple heart recipient. Andrew, this is heartbreaking, obviously. I dont know how to convey our condolences. Tell us about his family, your relationship to them and how the boys are doing. Sure. Thanks for having me. I first met him in 2012. I was deployed with first battalion marine regimen. At the time he was not my interpreter. I just got to know him. Truthfully, interpreters had the best food, so i hung out with them a lot. I got to know him and i did get to observe him working with marines and our afghan army partners. He was always very motivated, very happy to serve in whatever capacity. He was constantly going on patrol, Sitting In, assisting marines to the fullest abilities, working day and night. Going on operations when we would insert into Enemy Strongholds and try to disrupt Enemy Networks or narcotics. Overall he was a phenomenal asset for our unit. I kept in touch with him. I did deploy again in 2014. Unfortunately, i didnt have the opportunity to work with him. I did remain in touch with him. And then Fast Forward through the last six, seven years, ive kept in touch with my buddy. He had sense gotten married and had two kids. I was able to see a picture of every life event. I kind of talked to him virtually along the way. Sometime around 2015 is when we started the Siv Process. We were unsuccessful there, and then Fast Forward to the last few weeks where myself and three other marines were doing everything we could to get our friend out. And, i mean, you said you started the Siv Process with them, so they were part of that Backlog Weve all been talking about. This puts a Human Face on it. This family, they were at the gate. They were maybe yards away from where they could have gotten through with the help of your buddy, and gotten on a plane. Correct. And just to clarify, he wasnt just part of the backlog. He was denied. He was denied, in part, Due To, quote, lack of valuable and faithful service, as well he was denied in part because of derogatory information. I wrote letters, emails, i called friends to see if we could get in touch with the embassy. All i wanted to know is what they were basing their decisions on. I wholeheartedly disagree with both assertions, but i never found the proper answers. All i got were summaries of the events i already knew. We filed an appeal. We were unsuccessful. And since that time we have been scrambling to get them out. Fast forward to, again, the past week, and you said it best. At this point i was just relying on a Classmate And Friend of mine to help me out in this lastditch effort. We got to the 5 Yard Line and were unsuccessful. Whats going to happen to the children . All i can say is right now we are doing everything we can to keep them safe. And what about your buddy, your marine, who was evacuated, medevaced . Hes doing well. I talked to him again yesterday. Hes doing just fine. Hes at this point in recovery from surgery. Hes going to be all right. Hes being well taken care of. Well, andrew darlington, your valiant efforts, and i cant imagine the emotions that are surrounding all of this. Thank you very much for sharing your story today. Its just one illustration, one story of so many thousands. And the u. S. Air bass in ramstein is where so many of the evacuated are with temporary housing. More than 15,000 evacuees airlifted out of kabul. Its overwhelming, the base. Nbcs Matt Bradley is in germany, overlooking ramstein. What have you learned about whats going on At Ramstein as they are trying to cope with far more refugees than they had ever anticipated . Reporter its huge. Its a massive operation. You mentioned 15,000 are being housed in a sprawling Tent City that was set up not just by the uniform members of the military, but also by their spouses, children. Everybody here pitched in for this. Theyre just living their lives, waiting to get out, waiting to cycle on to the next thing. They have to be processed by the State Department. I just spoke with a State Department official who said that processing takes about four days. Thats four days that these people, these evacuees have to just live at this base. Ever since this crisis started, it wont surprise you with 15,000 people, there have been five babies born on the base. Some of them have already cycled through to the states. Were seeing this Backlog Sort of like lightening up a little bit. There were four gates allowing people to get onto planes. Now there are eight gates. The bureaucracy has shrunk a little bit and that allows them to cycle through a lot faster. Ive been speaking with people who are trying to get here who are still in kabul and their hope is dwindling and they are looking at the chance that they might just have to exit under taliban rule. Now, the taliban has gotten together and given guarantees to several western nations saying that they will allow people to come out, but its hard to know whether thats going to actually happen, andrea. Matt bradley, and that is a graphic illustration of what the White House is dealing with. Already dealing, of course, with the raging pandemic, the chaotic evacuation from afghanistan and now the devastating hurricane hitting the Gulf Coast. President biden has approved a major Disaster Declaration for louisiana and federal agencies are mobilizing rapidly to respond to the storm. Joining me is nbc News Chief White House correspondent, and coanchor, Peter Alexander and former deputy national security adviser, ben rhodes. Were expecting the president to have a virtual meeting with the fema officials, the Fema Director coming up. How is the White House responding to this latest crisis . Reporter thats exactly right, the president , we just learned, he had nothing on his schedule until a matter of minutes ago. We are told he will invite reporters in for this virtual briefing thats going to take place with the Fema Director, as well as those mayors and governors in states that have been impacted by the crisis in Louisiana And Mississippi and along the Gulf Coast right now. Just to give you a sense of the confluence of intensifying crises, this weekend the president went from Dover Air bores where he was greeting the families of those who lost their lives, american Service Members who lost their lives in afghanistan, and from that went directly to fema. In that circumstance he had to deal with another crisis that is happening back at home right now. The president saying the u. S. Will put its full might into this effort as it tries to deal with the crisis associated with the hurricane taking place. We have the international challenges, the domestic challenges as it relates to the hurricane, and beyond all of that, of course, you have covid19, the delta variant, which has become so problematic in so much of the country. And even just this Weekend Dr. Fauci was among those leading officials who acknowledged the potential for 100,000 more american lives to be lost Due To the coronavirus by december 1st. So its not just the two major crises that this White House is dealing with, but also a third thats so significant. And ultimately could be the one that affects one that affects most americans. To that the deputy national security advisor, what the biden administration is confronting now. So far in the Polls Covid has been the biggest determinant. Afghanistan, the way this is unfolding, and now a hurricane with more impact than katrina. As it goes up the coast and first across the south this is challenging for any White House. And i tried to think about any similar time. They are dealing with isis and its attackd on american citizens. An ebola outbreak, but almost nothing compares to this. So think about it this way, andrea, the people thinking about the evacuations are simultaneously having to focus on a hurricane hitting the Gulf Coast, recognizing that those are states that dealt with Series Covid outbreaks, have little room to take in those affected by the hurricane. And it is a situation where were reminds that the White House sometimes selects it for you and there is a Lismed Amount of people there to manage it. And the challenge there is to get the various crisis, and you set up a process for the refugees, and that will be with us for months or years and you have to manage the situation where the rest of the government is able to take the ball and run with it. It is a big season for the Biden Domestic Resolution in the fall. They are expected in the afternoon 3 00 meeting that is confirming that the taliban will keep its commitments. I think the thing that were going to have watch very closely, andrea, as we have seen the taliban in the coming days. We will be able to see in the Talibans Behavior whether or not there is mass Reprisal Attacks against people that worked with the united states. If theyre permitting afghans to leave, if their taking action against isis. Well know in a matter of weeks that were dealing with the taliban. I think well also recognize that it is not just limited to the afghans getting out. Youre also going to have potentially hundreds of thousands of afghan refugees trying to make it by land to pakistan and iran. This will resettle refugees in a way to see those back home. They will not necessarily open the door in afghanistan. Exactly right, ben rhodes. Lets remember the 13 americans that gave their lives in kabul last week. President biden went to the Air Force Base to pay respects as the remains of 13 volunteer Service Members were brought home. They were all young, some of them just infants when the u. S. Forces first deployed to afghan. One of them posted this picture of her cradling an afghan baby just three days before the attack that took her advice posting then Jury Trial i love my job. Her Father Folk to nbc. As her father, what do you see . Thats my baby. My baby. It broke me for awhile. It hit me hard. 25 Yard Yearold Sergeant that was killed and her hometown case oum. Jared Schmitzs Father said he was one of the coolest individuals you would have ever met. Staff Sergeant Taylor saying the 31yearold was a natural leader and respected by fellow marines. Maxton soviak was called intelligent, beautiful, and someone that beat to the sound of his own drum. David Lee Espinoza was in kabul for only a week before the last. His mother said he was a great kid. Ryan knauss always want today be a marine. He loved to laugh, build things, and help his wife in her garden. Hunter lopez was a former explorer scout, the son of two police officers. Marine corporate Daegan Page was a boyscout and he enjoyed hunting and hockey. You could always count on him. The 22yearold marine humberto sanchez. And Dylan Merola was supposed to come home in just a few weeks according to his family. His mother said he was one of the best kids ever. We will remember them all. Think of their families in this very difficult time. Updating the Breaking News we mentioned earlier from wilmington, North Carolina high school. It is not an active shooting at the time. Well keep you updated as we learn more details. That does it for Todays Edition of Andrea Mitchell reports. Follow the show on facebook and on twitter. Think of our military, think of the caregivers, Garrett Haake is in next for Chuck Todd on Mtp Daily only on msnbc. This is how you become the best youre the best by Joe Esposito [triumphantly yells] [ding] dont get mad. Get e trade. Oh. Oh. Whats going on . 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