Donahue. He is pictured here boarding an american jet. When all was said and done, 122,000 people were evacuated in just the last few weeks. Really an incredible number. The State Department has suspended diplomatic operations in kabul and will now operate out of qatar. And that is where we find Nick Paton Walsh at an Air Base used in evacuations. Nick, good morning. Overnight the taliban celebrating the u. S. Withdrawal. Tell us what is actually happening in afghanistan now and can the taliban hold this control . Reporter yeah, that will be the ultimate question for them in the weeks ahead frankly. They are already seeing a Security Threat from isisk. The question is how that sustains once the american presence has gone, which it now has finished. And it is extraordinary after 20 years to think of the american presence in afghanistan in the past tense. So many of the final aircraft which were involved in Yesterdays Departure landed in the distance behind me over there at the Air Base
Right decision. A wise decision and the best decision for america. I was not going to extend this forever war. This assumption that the afghan government would hold on for a period of time beyond Military Draw down turned out not to be accurate. Let me be clear. Leaving August 31 is not due to an arbitrary deadline. It was designed to save american lives. President biden making this bold declaration on how the 20year ended. Extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill, bravery and selfless courage of the United States Military and our diplomat its and intelligence professionals. Pete, lets get your thoughts first. I know you watched the speech up there. You can hear me. A little bit. I will say he ended by saying we have a future that is safer. Anyone that is looking what is happening right now knows this is not true. If you walk back from that the last half was a strawman. As if we were debating about whether we should get out or not. That litigation has been
Many people they are expecting to bring out of la fitte. Weve talked to a few of the vol volunteers, it turns out these are people who know someone that is stuck there. They have a fear that theyre in their attic, they havent been able to communicate with them overnight. All of those people trying to save lives. It is just remarkable. The Death Toll at this Point Stands at one confirmed dead. And this morning the louisiana interNational Guard has begun their Search And Rescue efforts. More than A Million customers in louisiana and mississippi are without lek risity. Customers that could be a House Hold and lot more people in one house than one person. The Power Company in louisiana say, quote, it will likely take d days do determine the extent of the damage to the grid. It was drown graded to a tropical this morning. But there is a threat because the storm is sitting there. It is crawling through parts of the state and dumping several inches of rain. The biggest hazard is Flash Floodin
Cant guarantee safe passage to kabul. The pentagon saying it has not dispatched troops to retrieve them, despite reports of beatings at taliban check points. At least a dozen people are reported killed in and around the airport in the four days since the taliban takeover. The u. S. Is ramping up the Evacuation Efforts but the numbers fall short in the race to safety. And heres the Human Face of the stakes involved. Small afghan child asleep on the floor of a military Cargo Plane as it leaves kabul. That child draped in a coat from a u. S. Air force member. What happens to those still trapped . Those terrified to the taliban now ruling the country. Denial of a Wall Street Journal report that he ignored advice to leave behind enough troops to prevent the chaos. Your top military advisers wanted you to keep about 2500 troops. No, it was split. That wasnt true. That wasnt true. They didnt tell you they wanted troops to stay . No. Not in terms of whether we were going to get out in a timefr
This is all in an effort to capture what happened on the ground that day and show the Afacts Attempt to whitewash what happened that day from many of the forces of allegiance to former President Trump. Our potential of experts is here with me standing by to discuss what we expect to haeshgs the politics of it all and more. Lets start on Capitol Hill. What more do we know about the Opening Statements . The Opening Statements are expected to set the tone for an emotional and dramatic day of testimony from the four Police Officers, two Capitol Police officers, two d. C. Police officers who defended the building that day throughout the days testimony will be neverbeforeseen footage, Body Camera Footage of what the officers experienced and this is all part of an effort of what the democrats say and the two remembers who are a part of the committee saying in an effort to tell the truth about what happened that day. Pushed back on the conspiracies about were hearing from a lot of folks on the