Pride, i will tell them i was an interpreter and did it for my country and my people. and david, there are continuing efforts to try to get abodul an his family out of afghanistan. i know you re going stay in contact with him, martha. thanks for that. as you heard president biden say, he had no indication americans were having trouble getting to the airport. the defense secretary did tell lawmakers there are some reports americans have been beaten. the pentagon also saying there are reports americans have been unable to pass through check points, so there would seem to be a disconnect with what the president said today. our team has been pressing the white house on this. let s bring in stephanie ramos. steph any, any response tonight? reporter: clearly there is a disconnect. we pressed the white house about this, and an official did get back to me, telling me on backgrou background, quote, it is a volatile situation on the ground. we are working to facilitate
Safe passage for americans and siv applicants. there are going to be reports of chaos at the airport. but we are going to get americans into the kabul afrirpt and on planes. not necessarily a direct answer, but bottom line, what congress heard today from the secretary of defense speaks for itself. david. stephanie ramos at the white house. stephanie, thank you. our coverage of afghanistan for tonight. we move on to the tropical storm henri, set to become a hurricane in just hours. hurricane warnings and watches already up across much of the northeast at this hour from new jersey, new york, right up into massachusetts. the storm circulating in the atlantic, wind gusts would hit 75 miles per hour. the track shifting west at this hour. further inland, caught our eye. let s get to senior meteorologist rob marciano with this track tonight. rob is live in connecticut. hey, rob. reporter: hi, david. it s been ten years since southern new england had a hurricane watch. hurricane conditio
Trying to get through to the airport. we ll do whatever needs to be done to see that they get to the airport. reporter: despite the president saying he has no indication there have been difficulties getting to the airport [ gunshots ] for several nights now, we ve reported on the violence and the terror outside kabul airport and americans and afghans who can t get through. and late today, after the president spoke, defense secretary lloyd austin acknowledging with lawmakers that there have been instances of the taliban beating americans trying to get to the airport in kabul, calling the situation unacceptable. and pentagon spokesperson john kirby acknowledging there have been reports of some americans unable to pass through checkpoints. american citizen david fox telling abc news he was unable to make it through the violent crowds to get to the airport safely, even hit by a taliban fighter. i actually got whacked with you know, with one of these, like, fan belts for not
For covid, and we have learned how cal is handling students tonight, breaking news as we come on the air. the hurricane watches and warnings now up across much of the northeast. from new jersey, new york, up into massachusetts, and the major headline tonight on afghanistan. president biden before the american people today promising americans in afghanistan, we will get you home. tonight, the evacuation efforts in kabul unfolding in front of the world. late today, the associated press now reporting u.s. military helicopters have begun flying into taliban held kabul to air lift evacuees to the airport. if so, that would be another major step forward in what the president described today as a dangerous mission already. millions seeing that image of an american marine lifting a baby over the airport wall. the president saying tonight
Taliban would take over so quickly when the americans pulled out. got all kinds of cables, all kinds of advice. i made a decision. the buck stops with me. i took the consensus opinion. the consensus opinion was that in fact it would not occur if it occurred until later in the year. you heard president biden committing to helping abdul and his family, committing to help, before the world today, all those afghan interpreter who is helped the u.s. out. reporter: exactly, david, and abdul said he had a message for america, saying that afghans worked shoulder to shoulder with americans and had done their job with honesty and pride, saying the americans left us behind and left us to those people who are not human and cut our heads off in front of our families. i am a soldier, he said, i am ready to die, but i care about my family. if the taliban captures me, with