the news continues now with victor blackwell. >>> i'm victor blackwell, good to be with you. so you just heard from president biden making the case there for his historic jobs and infrastructure agenda. his remarks of course come after senate democrats advanced a $3.5 trillion budget outline overnight. it's the framework that calls for historic expansion of the nation's social safety net, including free pre-k and community college, ambitious proposals on climate and immigration. but giant obstacles are ahead in both the house and in the senate. let's bring in john avlon. lauren fox also with us. john, let me start with you. the president of course trying to put this in the context of this is good for the job market, this is good for families. as we watch the numbers, the inflation numbers, the cost of living, calling it fiscally responsible, he has a huge sales job to do here to the american people. >> he does indeed. that said, i think there's more of an appetite for government spending than there has been in some administrations past, republicans having lost some moral auth

the news continues now with victor blackwell. >>> i'm victor blackwell, good to be with you. so you just heard from president biden making the case there for his historic jobs and infrastructure agenda. his remarks of course come after senate democrats advanced a $3.5 trillion budget outline overnight. it's the framework that calls for historic expansion of the nation's social safety net, including free pre-k and community college, ambitious proposals on climate and immigration. but giant obstacles are ahead in both the house and in the se

i'm victor blackwell. thank you for joining me. alisyn is on off. we are now more than 500 days into this pandemic and the spread of the coronavirus is accelerating. the seven-day average of new infections is closing in on 100,000. the cdc just reported 103,000 new cases on tuesday alone. now, just six weeks ago the average daily case count was under 12,000, and now states with lower vaccination rates are running out of beds in their intensive care units. there are just six icu beds left in all of mississippi. that's not a percentage. that's the actual number of beds. but as cases surge, vaccinations are also ticking higher. a short time ago the white house covid response team said the unvaccinated are getting the message to get

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i'm victor blackwell. vaccinations against covid are at the highest level seen in a month. at this current pace it will take six months to get all eligible americans at least one dose. that's according to cnn's analysis of data from the cdc. in the meantime the delta variant continues to spread across the u.s. almost all of the new cases shall among the unvaccinated. what you're looking at is a cdc time lapse. it shows over the course of a month it has taken over. the red areas are areas of high transmission. >> the cdc says delta now makes up more than 90% of u.s. cases. in late may, that number was about 3% of cases. so today for the third day in a row, the average number of infections has increased by double digits compared to last week. cnn's lucy kafanov has all of the recent developments including a big jump in cases among children. >> reporter: with the delta variant now accounting for more than 93% of all new covid-19 cases in america, the numbers are trending in the wrong direction. >> you're not

i'm victor blackwell in new york. thank you for being with me. "the lead" with jake tapper starts right now. >>> it's the repeat of a horror show in the nation's hospitals. "the lead" starts right now. zero icu beds for kids, not enough ambulances. that is the situation across the country as covid surges once again. >>> and then cnn gets exclusive access to the taliban as they rapidly gain ground in afghanistan. >>> plus, could the delta variant be a problem for delta airlines? with covid surging, the new fear is the travel boom might turn into a bust. >>> welcome to "the lead." i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper. and we start this hour in the health lead and the beginning of a new round of covid shots in the u.s. this afternoon a cdc advisory panel voted to recommend a third round of vaccines for people with weakened immune systems. meanwhile, some of those suffering from the worst of covid have a message for americans yet to receive even their first covid shot. take a listen. >> i think everybody ought to try to get it, yeah. if it'll help pre

. >> i'm victor blackwell. we are following fast-breaking news out of new york. a defiant governor andrew cuomo spoke a short time ago in a recorded message. he is pushing back against an investigation by new york's attorney general that found that he sexually harassed multiple women. >> i want you to know directly from me that i never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances. i am 63 years old. i have lived my entire adult life in public view. that is just not who i am, and that's not who i have ever been. >> well, that is in stark contrast to the findings by new york's attorney general, letitia james, who says cuomo sexually harassed current and former employees, creating a toxic workplace and violated state and federal law. >> the independent investigation found that governor cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, many of whom were young women, by engaging in unwanted groping, kisses, hugging and by making inappropriate comments. >> investigators went on to detail the governor's alleged conduct. >> some suffered through unwanted to

. >> i'm victor blackwell. you've been watching the white house press briefing. he heard from jake sullivan, jen psaki there on the situation in afghanistan. they are addressing the potential for terror threats, the of ptics and chaos of the withdrawal and humanitarian crisis also while continuing to defend the president's decision to withdrawal from the region. >> okay. let's discuss this. with us now we have a retired general in the u.s. army and cnn security analyst and john harwood who covers the white house and cnn's barbara starr at the pentagon. great to have all of you. general, i want to start with you. i'm sure you were listening in as a national security advisor. jake sullivan was talking there. i'm still confused about the number of afghan helpers, translators, fixers, et cetera still trapped in afghanistan that fear for their lives and that are trying to get out. and i found, frankly, jen psaki and the national security advisor noncommittal if you can't get them all out at this rate by august 31st, can you guarantee them safe passage? you were on the

ends monday. >>> coming up, i'm victor blackwell. the cdc voted to recommend a booster shot of the covid-19 vaccine for certain people who are immuno compromised. the group we're talking about, organ transplant patients. people with certain cancers. others taking certain medications. the recommendation is not for people with some chronic conditions like heart disease or diabetes. cnn chief medical correspondent is here. did they explain why not all all immuno compromised people. just the group we're discussing. >> they did describe this to some extent. it's still confusing. t they're looking at moderate or severe immuno compromised people. people who may be vulnerable because of chronic conditions. this is really talking about people who because of their weakened immune systems, the vaccine did not generate an immune response in the first place. keep in mind, this population of people we're talking about, the ones we just listed on that graphic there, if they are vaccinated compared to the general population who is vaccinated

. >> and i'm victor blackwell. any minute now we're expecting to hear from secretary of state antony blinken on the evacuation mission in afghanistan. now, a source tells cnn there are 4,100 americans, u.s. citizens, still actively trying to get out. a u.s. defense official says security concerns around the kabul airport are heightened, with fears of a planned attack against the crowds there. this is based on we're told very specific threat stream from isis-k, a self-proclaimed branch of the terror group that first

i'm victor blackwell. >> biden administration again defending the decision to withdraw troops from afghanistan. national security adviser jake sullivan said last hour that president biden takes full responsibility but he also placed blame on the actions of his predecessor. sgla s >> what has unfolded that it would have taken a significant american troop presence, multiple times greater than what president biden was handed to stop a taliban onslaught. we would have taken casualties. >> talk about the evacuation. sullivan says it's ongoing and the u.s. deployed more c-17 military planes to transport almost 800 people overnight, including 165 americans. pentagon spokesman estimates there are 5 to 10,000 americans still many the region. the pentagon says they are kplun indicating with the taliban to keep the evacuations going. >> this picture is incredible. seeing people packed onto this, we think, c-17 plane. it's incredible. we don't know completely the back story but we will get to that. our reporter has found out some more information about what was going on here in this incredible picture. cn

. >> i'm victor blackwell. vaccinations against covid are at the highest level seen in a month. at this current pace it will take six months to get all eligible americans at least one dose. that's according to cnn's analysis of data from the cdc. in the meantime the delta variant continues to spread across the u.s. almost all of the new cases shall among the unvaccinated. what you're looking at is a cdc time lapse. it shows over the course of a month it has taken over. the red areas are areas of high transmission. >> the cdc says delta now makes up more than 90% of u.s. cases. in late may, that number was about 3% of cases. so today for the third day in a row, the average number of infections has increased by double digits compared t

. >> i'm victor blackwell. next hour america's top military officials will brief the press about the urgent humanitarian crisis in afghanistan. we'll bring that to you live. now, this is video of defense secretary lloyd austin and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general mark milley

i'm victor blackwell. alisyn is off today. we are beginning with breaking news. new york governor andrew cuomo has announced he is resigning. >> and i love new york and i love you, and everything i have ever done has been motivated by that love. i would never want to be unhelpful in any way. i think that given the circumstances, the best way i can help now some if i step aside and let government get back to governing. >> his resignation takes effect in 14 days. that announcement comes exactly a week after the new york attorney general released her report that alleges he sexually harassed 11 women. the governor though is still defiant. he says the most serious allegations have no credible factual basis in that report, and we're getting some reactions now as you would expect. the white house says that the governor's resignation is what president biden has called and advocated for, and new york mayor big de blasio issued a statement. here is part of it. make no mistake, this is the result of survivors bravely telling their stories. it was past time for andrew cuomo

i'm victor blackwell. >> i'm alisyn camerota. there are 6,000 people at the airport in kabul who have been fully processed and will soon board evacuation flights. the u.s. has only been able to evacuate 7,000 people since sunday. >> getting to the airport is dangerous. taliban fighters are intimidatinintimidate ing people with gunfire and violence. 12 people have been killed in that area since the taliban took control of the capital. nick paton walsh is in doha. you've penned a new op-ed for cnn.com. you write, in the end, i -- >> reporter: the real tragic fact is we are in this situation because we stopped paying attention to afghanistan for really the best part of the last five, six, even ten years. it's a war that so few americans have fought in. it's a war that had been bogged down by fatigue, by endless promises that we're leaving, starting with barack obama in 2014. i can't tell you the number of speeches i heard from him where he essentially said therapy getting out. i think too there's been a serious problem in terms of h

victor takes over from here. >>> hello. i'm victor blackwell. we are starting with more proof of just how well vaccines work, even with the delta variant. a new cnn analysis of cdc data reaffirms that more than 99.99% of people who are fully vaccinated against covid-19 have not had

i'm victor blackwell. "the lead" with jake tapper starts now. >>> the new warning about variants even worse than delta. "the lead" starts right now. 95% of the country is now seeing a substantial amount of covid spread as the delta variant takes over, but there is some good news. then, within two hours our town was gone. a whole community essentially wiped out by a wildfire. we are live on the ground. plus, five days straight of cancelled flights leaving passengers stranded and angry. how long will it

i'm victor blackwell. california became the first state in the country to mandate vaccines for teachers. if they don't get their shot, they must submit to regular testing instead. sources tell cnn most districts and unions have been supportive of this health order and it's the latest move to keep schools safer as classes begin and coronavirus continues to surge across the country. the average is now above 116,000, more than 73,000 people are hospitalized. and take a look another this map. mostly red and orange here. 99% of us live in a county that the cdc says has either substantial or high transmission and the cdc now forecasts there will be as many as 662,000 american deaths from covid by september 4th. as of today, the u.s. death toll stands at 618,457. that more than 40,000 people can die from covid in a month. cnn's jacqueline howard is here. how strained are the hospitals, the medical facilities across this country? >> victor, it feels like deja vu, because we are hearing of hospitals and health syst

victor takes over from here. >>> hello. i'm victor blackwell. we are starting with more proof of just how well vaccines work, even with the delta variant. a new cnn analysis of cdc data reaffirms that more than 99.99% of people who are fully vaccinated against covid-19 have not had a break-through case resulting in hospitalization or death. now, this data includes cases up to august 2nd, after the delta variant took over the majority of u.s. infections. that is the good news. here's the troubling news. for the third day in a row, the u.s. is averaging more than 100,000 new cases of covid a day. we've not seen that level of transmission since february. remember, that's when just 3% of the country was fully vaccinated. now, as the cases add up, so do the hospitalizations and the deaths. today more than 66,000 people are in hospitals sick with covid. the nation's top infectious disease experts are concerned that additional variants, more dangerous than delta could form. lucy is following the latest developments including what the latest surge will

i'm victor blackwell in new york. thank you for being with me. "the lead" with jake tapper starts right now. >>> it's the repeat of a horror show in the nation's hospitals. "the lead" starts right now. zero icu beds for kids, not enough ambulances. that is the situation across the country as covid surges once again. >>> and then cnn gets exclusive access to the taliban as they rapidly gain ground in afghanistan. >>> plus, could the delta variant be a problem for delta airlines? with covid surging, the new fear is the travel boom might turn into a bust.

i'm victor blackwell. u.s. is reaching major milestone today. half of the u.s. population is vaccinated against the coronavirus. the average u.s. daily case count is above 98,000. covid wards are getting close to capacity. the delta variant is continuing to surge across this country. predominantly preying on the unva unvaccinated. republican governors are low vaccination rates are urging people to get the shot before it's too late. >> there's more and more concern about getting yourself vak si f -- vak si city nated and we're returning out of time. >> we live in state with two group of people. those who are vaccinated and those who are not. two groups of people. those vaccinated, who are safe and sadly those who are not vaccinated, who are not safe. >> in florida the national epicenter the crisis is deepening. it counts for one fifth of all cases in the u.s. the state also leads the flags in number of adults and children hospitalized. look at that chart. yet republican governor is adamant he will not allow any local mask or vaccine mandates. cnn is in miami. whe

. >> i'm victor blackwell. good to be with you. >> at any moment the state department will give an update on the evacuation process in afghanistan. we will bring it to you live. >>> today we learned the u.s. is using overwatch flights to protect those stationed at the airport. the kabul airport, remember this detail in all of the conversations we are having. the kabul airport is

. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com ♪ >>> hello, i'm victor blackwell. alisyn is off. the taliban's rapid takeover continues. they are making some key gains across afghanistan. at least 17 now, at least 17 of the nation's provincial capitals have been overrun. afghanistan's second largest city, kandahar, fell overnight and a senior u.s. official fears the capital city of kabul could fall in just 30 days. take a look at this. this is a time lapse from the long war journal and the spreading red color shows just how fast the taliban gained control since mid-april, when president biden announced the u.s. exit. yesterday, the u.s. announced the deployment of more than 3,000 troops to help u.s. personnel get out of afghanistan. any moment, the pentagon will brief reporters with the latest developments. of course, we'll bring you the news headlines out of that.

. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> hello, i'm victor blackwell. thank you for joining me. alisyn is off today. so, if you need any more proof that the covid vaccine is saving lives, the cdc is offering more evidence about how well these vaccines work. the agency crunched the numbers and found that 99.99% of fully vaccinated americans have not had a breakthrough infection that's resulted in death or hospitalization. again, 99.99 -- i think there's an additional 9 there,

." >> i'm victor blackwell. soon we expect the president to speak from the white house a few minutes from now. he will explain his critical decision on afghanistan. the u.s. troops will withdraw by august 31st. also breaking this hour, the president told world leaders that the threat to u.s. troops is the key reason for sticking to the initial date set in this agreement with the taliban. the president has asked for contingency plans though in case he decides the u.s. needs to stay in the country a little longer. >>> also, the taliban reinforced their hard line today. they will not, they say, accept any extension of a u.s. presence beyond that date, which is just one week away. on top of that, the taliban

but here's what he told my colleague, victor blackwell, this afternoon. >> i had to get out of there. all i want to do is go home to my family and my kids. i'm a parent. i'm not a doctor. i work as a data analyst in the health care profession. i'm just a parent who wanted to have his say why masks were important for children, all children under the age of 12. board meetings are for parents and concerned community members to have peaceful discourse with one another. board members should not be sitting on a board being threatened with their lives. parents shouldn't feel threatened for their lives walk into a parking lot. that is not the america i know. >> but it is the america that we are becoming. too many parents ignoring the science about the importance of wearing masks. there was another meeting in another state, indiana. a doctor there spoke with conviction about covid and masks and vaccines. he sounded like he knew what he was talking about. the problem is the things he said, they weren't accurate. and the bigger problem is they've gone viral. more on that in a minute. but i want

." >>> i'm victor blackwell. we are beginning with the breaking news out of washington and the sense of urgency at the white house because of the rapidly deteriorating situation in afghanistan. the u.s. embassy is urging all americans to leave the country

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com ♪ >>> hello, i'm victor blackwell. thank you for joining me. alisyn is off. the u.s. has now reached a major milestone in this fight against covid. half of the country is now fully vaccinated. the cdc reports that more than 165 million people have received their shots. but the delta variant is swarming this country. the average daily case count is above 98,000 now. hospitals are filling up with patients. almost all of them, unvaccinated. and now the white house is thinking about withholding federal funding to get places like nursing homes to mandate vaccinations. the president continued his full court press to get more shots in arms just a short time ago. >> yes, cases are going to go up before they come back down. it's the pandemic of the unvaccinated. i know i've said that constantly, and others have as well. the pandemic of the unvaccinated. it's needless -- taking a needless toll on our country. about 400 people will die because of the delta variant in this country. a tragedy. because virtually all of these deaths were preventable if people

i'm victor blackwell. >> and i'm alisyn camerota. >>> this, as the highly contagious delta variant continues to rip across the u.s. and hit unvaccinated people. >> today the country is seeing hospitalizations and daily new infections at levels we've not seen since february. that's when the vaccine shots were limited. the white house says a third of new infections are coming from either florida or texas. the city of new york is taking unprecedented step of requiring now proof of vaccination for indoor activities. we're talking restaurants to eat indoors, fitness center, entertainment venues. new york's governor is calling it the key to new york's best. a lot of people looking forward to it, some not so much. >> sure. this is a big deal, though. it's the farthest we've seen any america go when it comes to mandates. you'll have to show proof of vaccination to go any places, eat inside, workout inside or seek any entertainment inside. the proof of vaccination can be the vaccination cards you get when you get your vaccination. in new york state there's an excelsior app that shows you made your va

i'm victor blackwell. >> i'm alisyn camerota. the white house convened a meeting today for all living former surgeon generals to tackle the pandemic. particularly the every ffort to more people vaccinated. the current surgeon general said they also talked about combating misinformation. right now, vaccinations against covid are at the highest level that have been seen in a month. that's the good news. but at the current pace, it would still take six months from now to get all eligible americans at least one dose. this is according to cnn's analysis of the cdc data. >> in the meantime, the delta variant continues to spread across the u.s. almost all of the new cases are among the unvaccinated. look at the screen. this is a cdc timelapse. it shows how in one month, it has taken over. these red areas indicate parts of the country that see the highest transmission. the cdc says delta now makes up more than 90% of u.s. cases. late may, it was about 3% of cases. today, for the third day in a row, the average number of infections increa

. >> i'm victor blackwell. we are following fast-breaking news out of new york. a defiant governor andrew cuomo spoke a short time ago in a recorded message. he is pushing back against an investigation by new york's attorney general that found that he sexually harassed multiple women. >> i want you to know directly from me that i never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual

i'm victor blackwell. >> i'm allison camerota. jen psaki said the u.s. is committed to the mission in afghanistan until the job is done. whatever that means. but the urgency is growing. the president's national security team warns that another terror attack in kabul is likely. as the mission enters the quote most dangerous period. the u.s. marines confirm 11 of their own died on thursday when that suicide bomb tore through the crowd outside a navy sailor and u.s. army member were killed. flags are at half staff at the white house and the capitol in tribute to those killed. at the white house this afternoon, president biden spoke about the bravery of the u.s. troops who gave their lives trying to save others. >> losing a son, daughter, a husband, a wife is like being sucked into a big black hole. it's now come with significant loss of american personnel. it was a worthy mission. >> as the u.s. presses on, we're told that security has been increased at the kabul airport. >> afghan and foreign forces set off flash bangs to reduce the crowd risking their liv

. >>> hello, i'm victor blackwell. thank you for joining us. >> i'm alisyn camerota. president biden plans to address the nation this hour on the end of the war in afghanistan. for the first time in two decades and after a chaotic and deadly two weeks u.s. forces have ceased all military operations in 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 co

i'm victor blackwell. "the lead" with jake tapper starts now. >>> the new warning about variants even worse than delta. "the lead" starts right now. 95% of the country is now seeing a substantial amount of covid spread as the delta variant takes over, but there is some good news. then, within two hours our town was gone. a whole community essentially wiped out by a wildfire. we are live on the ground. plus, five days straight of cancelled flights leaving passengers stranded and angry. how long will it last? welcome to "the lead." i'm pamela brown, and we begin this hour with our health lead. momentum is building for a vaccine requirement as we learn sobering new details about the pandemic. more than 103,000 people were diagnosed with covid-19 just yesterday. dr. anthony fauci has warned that number could double soon if americans don't take action. hospitalizations have spiked more than 40%. the spikes in cases and hospitalizations being seen across all age groups, not just the elderly or the frail. the bid

. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com ♪ >>> hello, i'm victor blackwell. thank you for joining me. alisyn is off. the u.s. has now reached a major milestone in this fight against covid. half of the country is now fully vaccinated. the cdc reports that more than 165 million people have received their shots. but the delta variant is swarming this country. the average daily case count is above 98,000 now. hospitals are fillin

i'm victor blackwell in new york. "the lead" with the jake tapper starts right now. >>> america's longest war not over yet. "the lead" starts right now. breaking news in afghanistan. the taliban seized more cities. the u.s. is sending thousands of troops evacuating staff and telling any u.s. citizen to get out immediately. we're live in kabul. then, it's happening again. hospitals running out of beds, and now some people may soon get a above thor shot. are you included? plus, how little known congressman was privately helping former president trump and the efforts to overturn the election. >>> welcome to "the lead." i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper. we start with breaking news. afghanistan on the brink of collapse and moments ago the pentagon announcing 3,000 u.s. troops are headed back there. >> three infantry battalions currently in the central command area of responsibility. they will move to hamid karzai international airport and the battalions will comprise 3,000 person well. their mission to get americans out

. >>> hello, i'm victor blackwell. thank you for joining us. >> i'm alisyn camerota. president biden plans to address the nation this hour on the end of the war in afghanistan. for the first time in two decades and after a chaotic and deadly two weeks u.s. forces have ceased all military operations in afghan

. >> i'm victor blackwell. next hour america's top military officials will brief the press about the urgent humanitarian crisis in afghanistan. we'll bring that to you live. now, this is video of defense secretary lloyd austin and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general mark milley arriving at the white house today. we understand that they met with president biden. >> the administration is aiming to evacuate tens of thousands of people from afghanistan by august 31st. but there appears to be a major disconnect between the stated u.s. evacuation plan and what's actually happening on the streets of kabul. okay, so what you're hearing are these pops of gunfire used to control the crowds. these are crowds of civilians trying to get inside the airport in kabul. >> a warning, these pictures we're about to show you are graphic. a photographer for "the l.a. times" captured this. you see these are children, one of them at least, people being beaten with whips and sticks and what that photographer described as tali

." >> i'm victor blackwell. soon we expect the president to speak from the white house a few minutes from now. he will explain his critical decision on afghanistan. the u.s. troops will withdraw by august 31st. also breaking this hour, the president told world leaders that the threat to u.s. troops is the key reason for sticking to the initial date set in this agreement with the taliban. the president has asked for contingency plans though in case he decides the u.s. needs to stay in the country a little longer. >>> also, the taliban reinforced their hard line today. they will not, they say, accept any extension of a u.s. presence beyond that date, which is just one week away. on top of that, the taliban will not allow afghans to leave. members of the group are telling the thousands of afghans at kabul airport to go home. >> here is what a taliban spokesman said today. quote, the afghans leaving, we are not going to allow that and we are not even happy about it, end quote. so the pressure is on to accelerate tho

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> hello, i'm victor blackwell. thank you for joining me. alisyn is off today. so, if you need any more proof that the covid vaccine is saving lives, the cdc is offering more evidence about how well these vaccines work. the agency crunched the numbers and found that 99.99% of fully vaccinated americans have not had a breakthrough infection that's resulted in death or hospitalization. again, 99.99 -- i think there's an additional 9 there, 0.001%. but cases of coronavirus mainly driven by the unvaccinated continues to grow. the u.s. is now averaging more than 79,000 new infections a day. and more than 4 out of 5 americans live in an area with substantial or high transmission. the pressure campaign to get vaccinated appears to be working, because for nearly a week, the u.s. has seen increases in vaccine doses administered. cnn's lucy kauchb has been following the trend. >> reporter: more than 700,000 doses administered daily for five days straight. the good news, health experts say rising vaccination rates could help avoid winter lockdowns. the

i'm victor blackwell in new york. "the lead" with the jake tapper starts right now. >>> america's longest war not over yet. "the lead" starts right now. breaking news in afghanistan. the taliban seized more cities. the u.s. is sending thousands of troops evacuating staff and telling any u.s. citizen to get out immediately. we're live in kabul. th

. >> i'm victor blackwell. good to be with you. >> at any moment the state department will give an update on the evacuation process in afghanistan. we will bring it to you live. >>> today we learned the u.s. is using overwatch flights to protect those stationed at the airport. the kabul airport, remember this detail in all of the conversations we are having. the kabul airport is the only way out, but the state department has reiterated it cannot ensure safe passage for americans trying to get there and the pentagon says u.s. troops will not go out to retrieve them. >> here is a look at the gauntlet where thousands of americans and afghans are risking confrontation with the taliban and the taliban's gunfire just to get close to that airport. according to reuters, 12 people have been killed in that area since the taliban took control of the capital. this video was taken outside of the kabul airport and it shows a woman pushing her way through, ultimately being pulled over the wall to safety by american soldiers.

." >>> i'm victor blackwell. we are beginning with the breaking news out of washington and the sense of urgency at the white house because of the rapidly deteriorating situation in afghanistan. the u.s. embassy is urging all americans to leave the country immediately. cnn has learned the u.s. is considering relocating the embassy to the kabul airport. the taliban, as you know, is tightening its grip across the nation and they've now claimed their 11 provincial capital. it is igniting a growing humanitarian crisis. any minute now the state department is expected to address the crisis. we, of course, will take you there live. with me chief national affairs correspondent jeff zelle evene, oren lieberman, correspondent clarissa ward in kabul and major general james "spider" marks. let me start with you in the new reporting, oren. fill out for us what is creating the sense of urgency in the administration? >> it comes directly from the advances the taliban has made in the course of the last few days. it is a 12th prov

i'm victor blackwell. >> and i'm alisyn camerota. we have just learned that president obama will speak from the white house at 4:30 p.m. eastern time. and that will be to explain his critical decision on afghanistan, that u.s. troops will withdraw by that august 31st deadline. the president told world leaders today that the threat to u.s. troops is the key reason for sticking to that initial date that was set in the agreement with the taliban. president biden, though, has asked for contingency plans in case he decides that the u.s. needs to stay in the country longer. and the taliban, meanwhile, have reinforced their hard line today. they say they will not accept any extension of a u.s. presence beyond that date, which is now one week away. >> and the taliban declared today, afghans cannot leave and ordered the crowds at kabul airport to just go home. a few moments ago, a taliban spokesman said the roads to the airport are only open to foreigners, not afghans. so the pressure to accelerate evacuations is growing now. the pentagon say

. >>> brand new hour, same victor blackwell. good to be with you. moments ago the nation met the president's july 4th vaccine goal about a month late. the cdc just reported 70% of adults in the u.s. have received at least one dose of covid vaccination. overall, 49.7% of the population is fully vaccinated. and the milestone comes as the cdc releases data showing how lifesaving vaccinations are. the cdc found that 99.99% of vuly vaccinated americans have not had a breakthrough infection that's resulted in death or hospitalization. again, 99.99%. and for any kind of breakthrough infection, not just severe, under 1% of the vaccinated are impacted, according to the kaiser family foundation. but cases of coronavirus mainly driven by the unvaccinated continue to grow. the u.s. is now averaging more than 79,000 new infections a day. that's a 54% jump from last week. 88% of americans live in an area with substantial or high transmission. the pressure campaign to get vaccinated appears to be working. the u.s. is seeing increases in vaccination numbers, and th

i'm victor blackwell. thank you for joining me. alisyn is on off. we are now more than 500 days into this pandemic and the spread of the coronavirus is accelerating. the seven-day average of new infections is closing in on 100,000. the cdc just reported 103,000 new cases on tuesday alone. now, just six weeks ago the average daily case count was under 12,000, and now states with lower vaccination rates are running out of beds in their intensive care units. there are just six icu beds left in all of mississippi. that's not a percentage. that's the actual number of beds. but as cases surge, vaccinations are also ticking higher. a short time ago the white house covid response team said the unvaccinated are getting the message to get their shots and the pace of vaccinations in these six states you see highlighted have gone up to levels we have not seen since the spring. >> tennessee has seen a 90% increase in first shots over the past two weeks. oklahoma, an 82% increase. georgia, a 66% increase in first shots over the past two weeks. clearly americans a

i'm victor blackwell. >> i'm alisyn camerota. breaking news out of afghanistan, two deadly bombings in kabul today that killed an unspecified number of u.s. service members. we have this disturbing video showing the reality of the k carnage on the ground in the aftermath of those explosions. that is some of the most horrible video we have seen yet that shows the vast carnage there. in fact, we're just getting information from the afghan health minister. they say at least 60 afghans killed, at least 140 wounded. again, our u.s. service members also killed in these two explosions near the hamid karzai international airport. >> officials believe isis-k was behind the attacks, but they're still working to confirm that. the state department had been warning for days of a terror attack at the airport. we have reporters standing by. let's start with barbara starr at the pentagon. what do we know about these military members who were killed and what we're expected to hear from the pentagon? >> in just a very short while we are expecting

. >> and i'm victor blackwell. any minute now we're expecting to hear from secretary of state antony blinken on the evacuation mission in afghanistan. now, a source tells cnn there are 4,100 americans, u.s. citizens, still actively trying to get out. a u.s. defense official says security concerns around the kabul airport are heightened, with fears of a planned attack against the crowds there. this is based on we're told very specific threat stream from isis-k, a self-proclaimed branch of the terror group that first emerged in syria and iraq. the president acknowledged the threat in his national address and the pentagon reiterated that the mission is to the out as many people as possible as soon as possible. >> every 39 minutes yesterday, a plane departed kabul airport. these numbers are a testament to the hard working and brave service members carrying out this mission. in the past 24 hours, five flights landed at dulles international airport with approximately 1,200 passengers. >> so this is a split screen moment.

." >> i'm victor blackwell. obviously had a bit of an audio problem there, but you have been listening to the fema briefing on the response to what was hurricane ida. ida, as we know now, one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the u.s. one official in louisiana says it's the worst case scenario that seems to have happened. we're starting to see, look at this, some of the severe damage. we know a fallen tree killed one man, but louisiana's governor expects the death toll to rise, in his words, considerably. and now, hundreds of search and rescue crews are out. 5,200 national guard troops have been deployed to help louisiana and texas and other states in the southeast. also, emergency officials are now on the watch for what will be -- what the storm surge will bring. we know ida made landfall as a category 4 hurricane sunday. 16 years to the day since katrina hit. >> okay, so, this is what 150-mile-per-hour winds sounded like in the port. >> it's like the world just stopped. >> cnn films presents "9/11" sunda