hello and welcome to the lead. i m jake tapper. topping our world lead this hour, president biden grappling with the fallout from the way the u.s. withdrew from afghanistan. a senior state department official telling cnn that the majority of afghans who worked for the u.s. and applied for those special immigrant visas or sivs, well, they were likely left behind. pentagon officials saying that the siv program was never meant to be used in a hurried evacuation. the siv program is obviously not designed to accommodate what we just did in evacuating over 100,000 people. and so perhaps this program should be looked at going forward. it is designed to be a slow process. indeed it has been a historically slow process, one that a former trump administration official claims that the trump administration, quote, sabotaged. but that said, president biden took office in january, and his administration failed to expedite the process to get these afghan allies out, despite months of
extending a forever exit. in afghanistan, the taliban declaring victory, holding a press conference on the tarmac of the kabul airport with their own special forces. of course, now carrying american weapons captured from the collapsed afghan army, and in a remote province, the taliban even holding a mock funeral, parading coffins draped with american and nato flags. a speaker praising the isis suicide bomber who killed 13 u.s. service members and 200 afghans. at least 200 americans are still stranded in the country and countless afghan allies who helped u.s. troops over 20 years of conflict left behind. we re also keeping a close eye on ida as it brings torrential rain and wind leaving a path of destruction in its wake. millions across louisiana and mississippi are really suffering, dealing with the blustering heat and no power. a new law outlawing all abortions in the state went into effect at midnight, following all of the stories for you and let s begin with afghanistan
leaving the taliban in full control of one of the most vulnerable countries in the middle east. moments after the u.s. departed, taliban fighters were seen celebrating. here is the video. entering a hangar and checking out helicopters and other equipment the u.s. military left behind. today they showed off their new convoy of military suvs and aircraft as well. now, i should say the commander of central command says the dozens of u.s. vehicles and planes left at the airport have been demilitarized, which means that they re inoperable. right. but these are operable, whatever they re driving around in here. yes, we don t know if they commandeered these from the afghan military. we will get into that. let s bring in phil mattingly, senior white house correspondent. what is the message that the white house wants to relay through this address from the president today? reporter: victor, i think you will see the president start off by highlighting what has transpired over th
right now. welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world, it is thursday, august 26th, i m john berman with brianna keilar. 36 hours left. that is the breaking news. sources tell cnn the evacuation effort in afghanistan will end in the next 36 hours. remember, the deadline for u.s. withdrawal is actually august 31st. this news means the end of direct efforts to get people out days before that deadline. we know there are american citizens still trying to get out. for thousands of green card holders, legal permanent residents, that hope is faint or all but gone. u.s. efforts are under way to help 2,000 local embassy staff get out. we did just learn that 13,000 people were evacuated from afghanistan in the last 24 hours. that is still a very large number but you can see that number getting smaller and smaller less than the 20,000 we had seen the previous two days. huge security risks complicating this evacuation over the next 36 hours. overnight, the
one uk minister describing it as imminent and lethal. in just minutes president biden will meet with his national security team about this rapidly escalating situation. so far the u.s. has evacuated more than 101,000 people including 13,000 over just the last 24 hours. as for american citizens, the state department says 1500 are still in the country, including a third who have been in contact with our government. the white house says they are on track to wrap this up by the president s august 31 deadline. and the taliban is speeding things up, keeping crowds away from the airport. their spokesman telling nbc news that they will stay out of the way for now. translator: we don t want our countrymen to go to america. whatever they have done in the past, we have given them amnesty. we need young educated professionals for our nation. but if they want to leave, it is their choice. keep in mind an isis affiliate still poses an immediate threat to people in and around the airpor