despite the country seeing its highest case count of the pandemic. hello and welcome to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. appreciate your company. i m michael holmes, and this is cnn newsroom. u.s. president joe biden vowing to bring every american home from afghanistan if they want to leave. one problem, though. nobody knows how many u.s. citizens are in the country or their situation. the u.s. state department says it is actively trying to track down as many as possible. on friday, the pentagon confirming it had evacuated 169 americans by helicopter from a hotel near the airport after large crowds blocked the group s access. it s the first-known rescue operation of americans outside the airport perimeter. meanwhile, the taliban showing off the spoils of war. they published photographs showing their fighters armed with u.s. weapons seized from the afghan national army. now, after reporting from inside afghanistan since the beginning of the
live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, welcome to all of the viewers here in the united states, canada and around the world. i m kim brunhuber. this is cnn newsroom. u.s. president joe biden is vowing to bring every american home from afghanistan if they want to leave. but nobody knows how many u.s. citizens are in the country. the state department says it s trying to track down as many as possible. meanwhile, the taliban published photos showing their fighters armed with u.s. weapons seized from the afghan national army. while it s menacing images like these and the taliban s history of brutality that makes many afghans scared to stay in the country. on friday, the pentagon confirmed it had flown 160 helicopters from the hotel to the airport, after the taliban blocked the gatesing it s the first known rescue of americans outside the airport perimeter. the first flights of evacuees have begun arriving in the united states. now, we don t know how many americans wer
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
over barbed wire, over the wall of the kabul airport to u.s. forces. this morning we re learning details about a classified cable u.s. diplomat sent to the state department last month warning about the catastrophe that is unfolding right now in afghanistan. we do expect to hear from president biden a few hours from now when he addresses the nation about what is happening in afghanistan. we re covering all of this from all angles from the white house to the pentagon to the state department. let s begin with the pentagon with barbara starr. what is the latest you could share with us on the evacuations, the pace of them and any further commitments from the united states in terms of how long it will stay. reporter: well, we are expecting an update here at the pentagon later this afternoon. after president biden talks. all of those questions are going to be asked, whether there are answers is a completely different proposition. right now the pentagon is holding fast to the pre
waiting in heat, chaos, and gunfire, threatened by taliban whips they fear worse awaits them if they stay. the german broadcaster says that taliban fighters searching for one of their journalists killed a member of his family, and artists are fleeing in fear, too. as a human being you should have a value. but under taliban rules, okay you live a miserable life. life is not about just eating. it is about creativity. reporter: the taliban is dismissing allegations of reprisal attacks against those who fought them or worked for nato as fake news. 20 years of fighting by the u.s. and its allies has resulted in a taliban triumph and an evacuation of local foreigners that looks more like a route. many european allies of the u.s. are rattled by the sudden withdrawal of american forces and the taliban victory. the president defiant. there s a greater danger from isis and al qaeda and all these affiliates in other countries by far than there is from afghanistan. and we re going