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
Recording its worst day in nearly seven months. nearly 158,000 new covid cases in 24 hours. tonight from florida to mississippi to oregon, what they re now seeing. the accident on the tarmac two passenger planes clipping their wings. and the new jeopardy host stepping down just nine days after getting the job. good evening, and it s great to have you with us as we near the end of another week together here. we will get to those hurricane warnings and watches in the northeast at this hour in just a moment. rob marciano with the new track. and when it hits this weekend. but we are going to begin tonight with that news coming in from afghanistan right now, the evacuation efforts under way, both at the airport, and tonight the a.p. is now reporting that u.s. military helicopters have
Capacity. the u.s. urgently looking for other places to bring evacuees. flights resuming hours later. the state department saying those flights are being diverted to several other countries. president biden, as i mentioned, before the cameras today, announcing this an evacuation is dangerous, and those words, saying he, quote, cannot promise what the final outcome will be or that it will be without risk. abc s senior foreign correspondent ian pannell leading us off again tonight from the kabul. reporter: tonight, the desperation in kabul captured in a single shocking image of a baby being lifted over razor wire, handed to a u.s. marine. officials now confirming the baby s been safely reunited with his father at the airport. this as a young girl begs u.s. troops to let her in. the taliban is coming! reporter: thousands still waiting outside the gates. where taliban fighters rule the streets.
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