our top story now, more than 40 million people across the northeastern united states are under hurricane or tropical storm warnings right now. hurricane henri has been building strength over the atlantic and landfall is expected in the coming hours on either long island or southern new england. we ve got live pictures to show you. this is from columbus circle near central park in new york. mayor bill de blasio declaring a state of emergency ahead of this storm saying in a news conference that heavy wind, rain, and storm surges are expected in the hours ahead. it certainly looks wet there in columbus circle. the mayor is urging everyone to stay indoors if they can. flash flood warnings are in effect for much of the new york city area, including newark and atlantic beach. have a look at what happened a few hours ago in central park. a massive crowd attending the we love new york city concert told to leave, go home. they d been enjoying the show until severe weather moved in,
a very good day to all of you from msnbc world headquarters. welcome to alex witt reports. we ll begin with breaking news. the northeast is bracing for impact from hurricane henri. landfall expected within 24 hours and right now people have new york to new england are wrapping up their preparations as this storm is closing in. hurricane hunters flew into the storm today and reported winds up to 75 miles an hour, on the coast storm surge up to 5 feet is possible, and flooding rainfall expected on already-soaked lands. conditions are going to begin to worsen as soon as tonight. millions will be without power by monday morning. our meteorologist michelle grossman and vanessa webb are watching for us. let s talk about the latest forecast track at this hour. what are you seeing? alex, good to see you. we re seeing changes since the last time we talked. we have an advisory coming out at 2:00. now it s a hurricane category 1 and that s what we expect as it enters into new englan
a dangerous storm now that is gaining strength at this hour. let s go outfront . good evening, everyone. i m kate bolduan in for erin burnett. tonight these powerful images we ll show you capturing the scene inside a c-17 packed mostly with afghan nationals fle fleeing their home country. clarissa ward and vince wells are on that plane now. roughly 400 people making their way to kutar. this comes as president biden takes questions for the first time since afghanistan collapsed to the taliban. biden admitting he does not know how many americans are still in afghanistan, but he promised to get every last one out. let me be clear, any american who wants to come home, we will get you home. will you sign off on sending u.s. troops into kabul to evacuate americans who haven t been able to get to the airport safely? we have no indication they haven t been able to get in kabul through the airport. yet, this afternoon, biden s defense secretary appeared to contradict the pr
troops over a concrete wall and razor wire at the perimeter of the airport. that is the level of desperation people are facing right now. the biden administration said 3,000 people have been evacuate in the past 24 hours on 16 military transport flights. nearly 350 are u.s. citizens they say. but the white house still today said it does not know how many americans are still in afghanistan. cnn s chief correspondent clarissa ward is joining me live on the phone now from the airport in kabul. clarissa, what is the latest? what are you seeing. reporter: well, kate, we ve been at the airport now for 12 hours and on the inner field for eight hours. and during the last eight hours, the time that we ve been waiting here, we have not seen a single u.s. flight evacuate people. and so one u.s. flight took off about half an hour to an hour ago but it was filled with u.s. service men and women. the people who have been sitting on the tarmac for the last ten hours have not been able to
plus, the new spy games. a warning from the fbi about where china and russia are looking to recruit new spies in the united states. welcome to the lead. i m jake tapper. and we start today with our world lead. president biden addressing the crisis in afghanistan this afternoon admitting that he does not know how many americans are left in the country or where they are located, but pledging to use every available resource to get not only u.s. citizens but afghan allies out of afghanistan in what would be one of the biggest airlifts in world history. any american who wants to come home, we will get you home. i cannot promise what the final outcome will be or what it will be or that it will be without risk of loss. but as commander in chief i can assure you i will mobilize every resource necessary. the pentagon says that evacuation flights have now resumed in kabul after being paused for around eight hours today. that s because the biden administration was scrambling