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gate to the kabul airport. just hours earlier the u.s. and several other western governments had warned of an imminent islamic state attack and indeed urged their citizens to stay away from the airport for good reason. a group called isis-k has claimed responsibility for the bombings. late this afternoon at the white house during emotional remarks that the included a moment of silence to remember the victims, the president vowed retribution. for those who carried out this attack as well as anyone who wishes america harm know this, we will not forgive. we will not forget. we will hunt you down to make you pay. i will defend our interests and our people with every measure at my command. this evening the flag atop the white house has been lowered to half staff as were the flags over the u.s. capitol. there are now just five days left to complete the evacuation and military draw down in afghanistan. earlier this week the president announced the 31 august deadline would ....
message of the u.s. government, the evacuations are continuing, and the harsh reality for many afghans on the ground. they cannot reach the airport that is the country s only emergency exit. this morning all access points to the airport in kabul have effectively been cut off. a source tells cnn there are about 150 american citizens remaining in afghanistan. those people need military escorts to the airport, and u.s. forces are now racing against the clock to get them out safely. complicating all of this, credible reports of an imminent terror attack just outside the airport gates. in the last 24 hours, a total of 13,400 people have been evacuated from the country, some 5,100 by the u.s. this is down from the 19,000 evacuated in total yesterday. this is new video obtained by cnn. it captures the desperation outside the kabul airport. some afghans have been waiting for days and nights on end, hoping for a slim chance to get through those taliban checkpoints and the threat ....
a nearby hotel. earlier today the u.s. embassy in afghanistan had told americans to leave the area. now remember, they ve been told to get to the airport. many of them are standing outside of the airport. that gate. last night there were some 5,000 afghans crowded outside that same gate. it is the abbey gate. the pentagon says it is still unclear on how many people were hurt or worse. there are reports of multiple fatalities, though. listen to one witness describe the horror as it unfolded. i m an afghan worked for the united states marine corp. i was over here to go and get close to the airport and get on a plane and get out of here. there was an explosion that happened inside the crowd. a lot of people got hurt and i got a baby girl she was 5 years old and she died right in my hands. i don t know what exactly i think some of the americans got hurt, too. and so people are running around. right now i have some casualties with me in my vehicle and i m taking them to ....
announcer: this is cnn breaking news. good monday morning to you, i m jim sciutto. good news this morning, breaking news, the fda has granted full approval to the pfizer covid-19 vaccine. this is a key step in getting more americans vaccinated. it comes more than nine months after the first dose of the pfizer vaccine was administered in this country. the decision could motivate millions of americans who still have not received a vaccine to finally get the shot. the data is behind it. it saves lives. it keeps people out of the hospital. according to the surgeon general, this could also open the door for businesses, universities, other institutions to impose or enforce vaccine requirements. this breaking news about the pfizer vaccine comes as vaccination rates are slowly starting to tick up. again, three days in a row of more than a million vaccines in a day. let s start with cnn s senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen as well as dr. paul sax, clinical direct ....
erupted at the kabul airport between u.s., german and afghan forces guarding the airport and a group of unknown assailants. according to a white house official, the u.s. has evacuated 10,400 people on sunday alone. that, the most in a 24-hour period to date. a source close to the situation on the ground tells cnn the numbers at the airport, those waiting there, still remain close to 13,000 this morning. we ll have more on that in a moment. we are also following an imminent and major milestone in the race to vaccinate americans. two biden administration officials say full fda approval of the pfizer vaccine could come as early as today. once that happens, surgeon general says more businesses and institutions will likely begin to mandate vaccinations. another key step in the race to stem the surging delta variant. we re going to get to that in a moment. let s begin, though, with the violence in afghanistan. evacuations there, our team is tracking all the latest development ....