one reason it's not here yet, it's a remote part of haiti, difficult to get to but a lot of work let to do here in jeremy. >> a lot of work. be careful over there matt rivers reporting. our heart goes out to all, all the folks in haiti and to our viewers, thanks for much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the sit wa -- situation room. erin burnett "outfront" starts now. "outfront" next president biden returning to the white house right now earlier than planned. the white house on defense and still struggling to explain how afghanistan went so wrong, so fast. we're live in kabul and washington tonight. former nfl player and bronze star nate is "outfront". what he wants to say to fellow veterans that sacrificed the on going war in afghanistan. texas governor greg abbott fighting the counties in his state over mask mandates tested positive for covid. let's go "outfront".

good evening. i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, president biden on his way back to the white house. this is the taliban makes their presence known across afghanistan. today holding a press conference. they had a whole press conference and releasing a video of their co-founder arriving. it is the first time he's stepped foot in afghanistan in 20 years. hugely symbolic picture and a huge victory for the taliban. taliban forces are negotiating with the united states to ensure the safety of americans still stuck inside afghanistan. the takeover comes as the white house is mounting a full throated defense of the administration's response to the withdrawal of the few remaining u.s. troops who have been holding afghanistan firmly. national security advisor jake sullivan says the president takes full responsibility for every decision. decisions of course that led to the sobering images we've seen

from kabul like the packed military plane with 700 afghans inside. and the image, of course, the unforgettable image of that plane after takeoff with bodies appearing to fall of people who had gripped to the outside trying to escape. sullivan, though, is insisting that the administration was not surprised that afghanistan fell to the taliban. >> we were clear eyed going in when we made this decision that it was possible that the taliban would end up in control of afghanistan. we were clear eyed about that. >> despite what sullivan says, obviously, administration did not expect the horrific images and chaos that we have seen on the ground. right? that was not part of their expectation and for the taliban ending up in control as sullivan references, administration was actually very clear about that in recent months. they were very clear eyed only they were wrong. >> whatever happens in

afghanistan if there is a significant deterioration in security, that could well happen. we discussed this before. i don't think it's going to be something that happens from a friday to a monday. >> but the likelihood there is going to be the taliban over running everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely. >> the afghan security forces have the capacity to sufficiently fight and defend their country. >> well, obviously, they lacked the will as biden pointed out. those assessments, you look now they were wrong. we don't know whether the wrong statements were the result of an intelligence failure or something else. we don't know. here is what we do know about the intelligence tonight. cnn is learning an intelligence assessment produced within the past month warned the taliban were pursuing a total military victory in afghanistan and "the new york times" reporting tonight one intelligence report in july laid out the grow king

risks to kabul warning that the afghan government was not prepared for an assault by the taliban. the reality is, though, the speed of the taliban takeover actually seemed to takeover everyone by surprise. they warned the capital could be cut off in 30 to 60 days. that was obviously completely off, right? and this is what we heard from administration. >> kabul is not right now in an imminent threat environment. >> administration did not change the tune until afghanistan's provinces started falling and falling fast. wasn't a friday to a monday. it was a friday to a sunday. and that's when it became clear the president and his team were completely caught off guard by how fast afghanistan fell. >> the afghan security forces,

afghan security forces we've invested in, that force proved incapable of defending the country and that did happen more rapidly than we anticipated. >> i always promise the american people that i will be straight with you. the truth is, this did unfold more quickly than we anticipated. >> it's crucial they're being honest but this is an incredible failure. was it an intelligence failure? isn't even 90 hours or did they ignore intelligence? we don't know. the taliban holds that country firmly in its grip. fighters are directing traffic, reportedly preventing looting. many of them actually armed with u.s. weapons. you can see them here and in the streets, inside afghanistan's presidential palace there they are and those are american weapons, and what's more alarming is that the administration has no idea what the u.s. weapons, vehicles and

aircraft may actually be in the hands of taliban. >> we don't have a complete picture of usually of where every article of defense materials has gone but certainly a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the taliban. >> i want to go to the ground in kabul where nick paton walsh is "outfront" at the airport where much of the chaos is centered. nick, what is the situation there tonight? >> reporter: two things, erin. occasionally we've heard bursts of gunfire over the north side of the airport, rare, frankly since i've gotten here but also, too, it's quite empty and i know that's possibly because some of the people escaping here are in a combination. it's a large site. it isn't the sense of crammed evacuation you would normally think for a situation like this. nothing like the scenes of panic that was spilling onto the runway in the civilian side on the days previously.

it is a startling operation here and here is how difficult it simply is for ordinary people outside to get on to this place. around kabul airport lives spared or spoiled. at one gate, i was caught in the crush, shots in the air. afghan soldiers let us in through a hole in the fence. inside, a few lucky afghans still with steps to go and sleepless u.s. marines. some not born before 9/11 whose first glimpse of afghanistan here was the same as so many before them except this time, they were truly encircled by taliban outside and they were leaving. 20 years of trying was everywhere, vehicles that may be

left behind. and then the afghans who won't be, we're blurring their faces to protect them lucky enough to get on a flight but not as huge in number as those two swamped the air field the days before. people. flights picked up as evening fell. urgency but a strange disconnect to the chaos swirling around the airport. people inside the airport simply did not know what was happening outside. and inside, they were headed in one direction. at airport security, the country's new rulers were giving their first press conference on a tv that surely had shown all four of the u.s. presidents that have been at war here. they said wait to be called to a new life in a land of plenty. they will land with only what they can carry.

now, tonight as i said, the enormous task on this base and forgive me for the light here. i'm talking to you on my phone. the enormous task continues. we see streams of people coming in here but one thing, erin, that startles me is the disconnect between those on the base where their lofty goal of getting 22,000 people out of this country in the weeks ahead and the chaos on the streets outside, the taliban blocking the main road up to here, very definitively calmer on the north road as we came in but definitely in presence and that certainly means that for an operation of this size to happen, you're going to have to have some sort of taliban letting thousands of afghans that assisted the u.s. military presence here actually onto the base so they can leave the country. that's a tall order for diplomacy that's pretty bad so far in this country andtious pre

only just beginning. >> thank you very much. live there talking from his phone outside the kabul airport. i want to go to skjeremy diadia. the president returning earlier than expected tonight there are so many questions as to how the president has handled this. what intelligence that the administration got, whether it was good or not good. whether it was listened to. i mean, there is a lot we don't know. what's the view inside the white house and how this is playing out? >> yeah, no question, erin, there are still a lot of unanswered questions but from the white house officials i've spoken to this evening, there is a sense jake sullivan by going out there and answering questions for about 45 minutes did release some of the pressure on administration and perhaps refocus what is to come now, not what happened before and the questions around that but this u.s. mission to evacuate thousands of americans, civilians and afghans, as well. but as you said, erin, there is

still no answer on how exactly the united states was caught so flat footed. jake sullivan today doubling down on this idea administration prepared for all contingencies including the rapid fall of kabul. belied by images of chaos we saw on the grounds at kabul airport but he did argue that chaos was inevitable in someways, that whether -- when -- no matter when the taliban would have entered kabul, at some point or another, you would have seen these images of desperation of people trying to get out. that was a point jake sullivan did try to hammer home. as for the president, we are expecting to hear from him again tomorrow on the situation in afghanistan. he is expected to now return to the white house tonight earlier than initially planned and ultimately we'll see tomorrow if he provides more answers to the questions for which we do in the have answers. >> jeremy, thank you. appreciate it. i want to go to fareed zakaria.

he says the white house was his words clear eyed when they made the decision to get out of afghanistan. that the taliban could take over but of ybviously, if that was cr eyed, we don't want to know what foggy eyed is. >> that's right. there is no question they must have recognized that the taliban were going to at some point probably take over or at least share power. otherwise we wouldn't -- look, the reason the united states gave up on afghanistan was it was not able to defeat the taliban. it was an implicit recognition of the enduring strength the taliban has but it's one thing to decide you're going to withdrawal. what is stunning is the lack of preparation that comes from that. first, did you inform all the nato allies who have been fighting with the united states for 20 years? did you adequately give them

time to think this through and make provisions? we've been negotiating with the tall iban for two years. during that negotiation, did we talk about the need to get americans and afghans out? did we talk to the pakistanis with whom the united states has reasonable relations? did we get lists, did the united states government get lists of americans and afghans it wanted to get out were those people precp precleared for visas. all those things seem to me, should have been done, could have been done and at this point, there can still be a massive evacuation effort. phase one of this is a failure. phase two does not have to be a failure. >> so let me ask you about -- you mentioned the allies and talking to the allies. so tonight, the white house said president biden did finally speak with the british prime minister boris johnson but

earlier today, that just happened because sullivan said today president biden had not spoken with any of his foreign counterparts since kabul fell, even though this was the u.s. led situation in afghanistan. he said other members of the administration were making calls instead. just in contrast here, we know boris johnson, angela merkel from germany and france have been talking to each other over the past few days. is it odd biden took until -- that after jake sullivan's press conference today to even speak to boris johnson? >> it is beyond odd. it's staggering. the person who is likely to replace angela merkel as chancellor of germany said he thought this was the biggest crisis for nato since its founding. that is how seriously the europeans take this. look, they've been fighting with the united states for 20 years. nato invoked article five. that is an attack on one, is an attack on all.

for the first time in its history of nech. t they should have been paid back with better. >> when we get to whether this was an intelligence failure or failure to listen to intelligence or a lot of things we don't know, let me ask you about the now former afghan president. he came to the white house in june. biden tells ghani we'll stick with you. ghani fled afghanistan as it fell. the first one out the door basically. biden blames ghani yesterday. he's clearly really angry, right? ghani is folding and fleeing here is awful, but i guess this is the crucial question, fareed. how did biden not know ghani's weaknesses? how did the united states on a big, crucial level not know that this guy and everybody that he over saw was not going to hold firm? >> i think the fundamental miscalculation was probably political and the second one was

military. the united states did not seem to realize that the afghan government simply did not have legitimacy. remember, the last election in afghanistan, only 1.8 million people took part in the vote. that's out in a country of 39 million people. so narrow legitimacy. the second part is the afghan army was clearly something of a sham, a house of cards. who knows how many ghost soldiers were there, in other words, commanders marketing the pay of people they claimed were soldiers on the books. but all we know is that this was not an army. we were -- the united states was diluting itself with met tricks that made it look like washington was making progress without anyone really examining whether that progress was real or was a progress on paper so that everyone can congratulations themselves they checked the boxes. >> well, it's incredible and your insight always so valuable. biden is so frustrated that u.s.

taxpayers were paying the salaries of all of the afghan military. when you lay it out the way you did how many of these people were real and how much of this was corrupt, it puts a new light on the crucial questions we need answers to. thank you so much. >> pleasure. next, the taliban tonight claiming to be more moderate and inclusive, but is there any truth in this? plus, texas governor greg abbott at this packed event last night maskless announced that he has covid. and it's a race against time for earthquake survivors in haiti. the death toll jumping to nearly 2,000 tonight. we're live in port-au-prince. (upbeat pop music in background throughout)

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pay you on the spot and pick up your car, that's it. so ditch the old way of selling your car, and say hello to the new way at carvana. tonight afghanistan's first female mayor saying she got death threats and waiting to be killed by the taliban as recordings of beatings, check points outside the kabul airport despite quoting to save passage for civilians there. the taliban are promising a new and more tolerant rule but can they be trusted? >> reporter: promises, promises. >> women can continue their educ education. >> reporter: promises. >> we do not want monopoly of

power. >> reporter: taliban 2.0. more moderate inclusive, power sharing. from 1996 to 200 1 the ultra conservative islamists stoned homosexuals and shot female schools as it took over much of afghanistan. women boar the blunt of this medieval ideology. the movement was toppled by nato and afghan allies intent on ending taliban rule and the safe haven it gave to the plots on 9/11. al qaeda was routed, fleeing nato into scattered exile. for the next 20 years, the taliban fought back taking territory slowly and refining its public relations. less effort on oppressing women, more on building trust in localocal e administrations but millions of afghans in the cities were

encouraged to believe in the freedoms and democracy stamped out by the taliban. so when they swept back into the cap capital, fear took hold. >> so we have changed why are they stopping women from going to work? do i have a space here to work for my people in my country or not? so we -- insisted the movement matured and human rights, freedoms and role of women would still be determined by sharia law. the taliban may have little choice in the face of real politics. it will also need help from the international community. it's been burn nishing, and widy shepherding the taliban to victory but the movement has

clearly signalled that it needs to govern rather than rule by force. the question is whether that is something the taliban can or even wants to do. erin, one of the key things in the next few weeks from the taliban perspective is how much, if any, resistance they meet, how much that resistance means that they harden their line and abandon this softer line perhaps public relations, perhaps window dressing but also perhaps a recognition that afghanistan itself moved on in the last 20 years and one last thought, they've also promised to eradicate the poppy trade. $4 billion in afghan overseas exports as a lot of gangsters they have to get rid of to do that. >> a lot of people thought they would eliminate that trade. sam, thank you very much. sam kylie reporting. i want to bring in republican congressman will hurd of texas because he served in afghanistan and pakistan as an undercover

cia agent. appreciate your time. you hear the taliban had a press conference today and the spokesperson promises quote no death will be caused to anyone outside of afghanistan. they say their ideology hasn't changed but there will be positive differences from when they loast ruled. is there any reason for you to believe this is in any way a quote new taliban? >> no, there is no reason to believe that and erin, i hope someone there at cnn goes into the archives. y'all ran a documentary about a week before 9/11 that was highlighting what the taliban was doing many this country and they're in a huge soccer stadium and people are watching folks kill women for doing a variety of things like going out in public. it crazy and mainly folks coming into this that are in this taliban 2.0 as your reporter called it were there during that previous taliban administration. we also couldn't trust them when it came to the so-called peace

negotiations that were happening. they didn't follow through on some of their agreements there so i don't think there is anything that would suggest that we have anything to believe in this new taliban administration. >> congressman, i showed a picture at the beginning of the hour. i don't know if you've seen it but i know you've heard about this, the weapon situation. the u.s. spent $90 billion, taxpayer money equipping the afghan military and police who obviously folded in hours over the weekend. the national security advisor jake sullivan today said a quote fair amount of u.s. arms have now certainly fallen into the taliban's control and i'm just showing some of the images that we have already seen. so how could this have happened and we don't know how much the intelligence was off here or not but the intelligence assessment had been that the taliban wanted to take over the whole country and was intending to do so. how could this have happened

where we don't even know what american weapons they have? >> well, first off, if president biden and his remarks yesterday said they had prepared for all their contingencies, i don't think that is necessarily the case, and in this specific case, and there was a washington post article a few days ago that was talking about how the military and afghan army were in negotiations with the taliban for beweeks and months. i'm confident they would have that information for the men and women still on the ground in afghanistan would understand that. this notion, the beginning of the end was not a week ago. it was when the u.s. government entered into the direct negotiations with the taliban without including the afghan government. ultimately, when it comes to afghanistan, we were seeing as the biggest power in that area and whoever the biggest power was going to be behind, that was who was going to control the

country and beginning those negotiations under the trump administration and president biden following through on some of those agreements is one of the reasons that you saw this collapse. so we know the afghan special forces are good fighting forces but we should have had an accounting of all the resources that we had and still there in this country so we understand. guess what? this happened in the '80s and we didn't learn the lesson from there. >> can i ask you, you're talking about trump entering into the negotiations and biden you heard yesterday say well trump said had signed a deal so i had to go through with it. now how much of that do you buy? i mean, presidents say that it seems like when they want to but when they don't want like a policy that a prior president did, they just throw it away. >> absolutely. i think there is plenty of things that president trump did that on day one president biden turned around and i think what

we have to remember here is eye does all of this matter? yes, you know, the blood, sweat, tears treasure that we're pouring into afghanistan over the last 20 years, the fact that we're a month away from the 20th anniversary of 9/11. we have to remember that 19 terrorists with box cutters killed more americans in one day in new york city shanksville, pennsylvania and arlington, virginia than 353 japanese fighter planes did during pearl harbor, that more americans died in one day on 9/11 than died in afghanistan in the last 20 years. and part of this was making sure there was not a region that a group can train and equip and attack our homeland. folks that disagree with me will say yes, ali qaeda has ma ma fat

to sized to, they don't want to see al qaeda affiliates grow powerful the way the taliban let them happen 20 years ago when they were in the country. and also, this is about a broader issue between america and china and we got to make sure that we have our allies with us because the threats ahead of us will be more complicated than this and the fact you're not talking to your nato allies, these are things that are unacceptable. >> congressman, thank you very much. appreciate your time. >> always. >> all right. next, texas governor greg abbott, he's been on a tear taking on local officials and their mask mandates threatening taking them to court and now he tested positive for covid and for nfl player nate boy erar rid his life. what does he think about the taliban's takeover? as your b, the united states postal service is changing with it. with e-commerce that runs at the speed of now. next day and two-day shipping nationwide,

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how do things look on your end? -perfect! because we're building a better network every single day. breaking news, republican texas governor greg abbott tests positive for coronavirus. abbott's office says he's isolated in the governor's

mansion and being treated with regeneron's monoclonal antibody treatment hours after his campaign posted this video on twitter. you can see yourself. there is abbott in the center at an event in a crowded room of maskless supporters near dallas last night and comes as the governor waged war over masks and vaccine mandates. despite a major surge of the virus in his state. >> there will not be any government imposed shutdowns or mask mandates. it would be inappropriate to require people who already have immunity to wear a mask. >> "outfront" now, a member of the fda's vaccine advisory committee. governor abbott fortunately is fully vaccinated and not experiencing symptoms at this moment and getting the full regeneron treatment but his infection is after months of blocking mandates for masks, covid vaccines. you saw him yesterday at this big event never wearing a mask

around anyone else and we find out he had covid. he's taken his fight against masks and vaccine mandates to the state supreme court. how much does this diagnosis weaken his argumargument? >> i wish governor abbott a speedy recovery but i'm sure he's learning now masks are a lot cheaper than regeneron. why tie the hands of the public health officials behind their back. you have two weapons, one is vaccines and one is masking and for children under 12 that's the only weapon they have. it seriously weakens his argument. >> it's amazing. regeneron is $1500 per dose. he's getting it. ron desantis pushed that as a solution. i guess they think other state taxpayers will pay for it. it's incredible. by far the most expensive option and of course, you can get really sick. so we're also learning the biden administration is preparing to recommend covid booster shots for most adults eight months after they're fully vaccinated.

one source tells our dr. sanjay gupta officials will present the first u.s. data that shows waning immunity among vaccinated amer americans. okay, so that's what we hear but then the cdc experts had a call with doctors today and they actually said this. >> we do want to clarify right away that the need for and timing of a covid-19 booster dose has not been established. >> fully vaccinated individuals do not need an additional dose right now. >> okay. so i'm really confused. the cdc did a call with doctors and said you don't need a booster but the biden administration is about to recommend one. what in the world is going on? >> it's hard to understand. the c didc had a meeting where a was presented and showed protection afforded by the vaccine against the delta variant against serious disease not only in the united states but in canada, israel, the united states was excellent.

the goal is that the vaccine protects us against serious disease. if the cdc has new data showing the data they spented a few days ago wasn't true, we'll see it. it is frustrating. you would like to think the data would come first and then the recommendation second because right now we're all guessing what is going on. >> it does. of course, it creates a lack of confidence. doctor, we look at israel and israel data as part of this. they have booster shots for people over the age of 50. they have been very clear of that and it's not just that. you know, time and time again we hear israel say something. we hear it sort of downplayed by some officials in the united states and then within days or weeks or a month, all of a sudden, the u.s. follows israel. do you -- what is the issue here? is there hesitation, do you think, on trusting what israel's data is or what is going on here? >> well, we have a centers for disease control and prevention

that is generating data and the data they generate, they presented last friday clearly showed that these vaccines protected against serious disease, so again, you would like to see new data if we're going to change the recommendation i would be hard pressed to believe that we're making a change in recommendation solely based on israeli data. tomorrow we'll learn about the data they're looking at. i hope this doesn't happen. what i hope doesn't happen is that we are seeing sort of fading in immunity against asymptomatic infection because that has to happen at some level. the goal is to protect against severe critical disease. to date, it appears vaccines are doing it so dr. dueling said what she said. it made aabundant sense. i hope they're clear because they would have to be to change the recommendation. >> right. it's significant. as you and i both know, you have a lot of people worried and rushing and checking their dates. this is not a small thing. appreciate your perspective and time. i always do. thank you.

>> my pleasure. next, as veterans ask if the war in afghanistan was for nothing, for what? former nfl player and green beret nate boyar has a different message and we're live in haiti tonight where 1900 people are known to have died after a massive earthquake. (man) go on, girl, go on and get help! that's it, girl! [heartwarming music] (man) ah! (burke) smart dog. with farmers crashassist, our signal app can tell when you've been in a crash and can send help, if you want it. it's new and one of many farmers policy perks. also, our signal app could save you up to fifteen percent on your auto insurance. (man) that's really something! (burke) get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. [dog barks] (both) good girl! ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

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new tonight, growing frustration among u.s. veterans after the taliban takeover of afghanistan. one form eer marine captain writing a "new york times" op ed saying i was a marine in afghanistan. we sacrificed lives for a lie. he writes as this unfolds, there is much fanfare over the celebrities at barack obama's 60th birthday party. but he is not alone. there are other commanders in chief bear responsibility for what occurred and no celebrating. for those of us that ache each day wondering how we could have given the best part of our lives to such a lie. "outfront" now bronze star

prrecipient nate boyer. he survived a tour in iraq and an nfl player with the seahawks and merging vets and players that merges combat veterans and pro athletes to transition after their uniforms come off. nate, appreciate your taking your time. your story is you risked your life in afghanistan. you nearly died there. a bullet hit a vehicle inches away from your head. it was that close for you. an afghan captain you fought side by side with and a man you said you loved was killed in that attack. does this taliban takeover and what we're seeing now make you ask yourself if it was all in vain? >> it doesn't. it doesn't. it's extremely frustrating. it's heartbreaking. but i don't feel that way and i hope that, you know, our men and women veterans and those still on active duty don't feel that way, as well. we did what we could. we fight for those who can't fight for themselves and will do

that today and in the future moving forward. it's tough to know that, you know, there is -- to feel there is still hope in a situation that does seem hopeless and then to feel like you're helpless in continuing that fight at this point, but i want everybody to understand that your sark crifi matter. we were fighting for people. people first. and on my left and right i had plenty of brothers in arms that didn't have an american flag on their shoulders. they had an afghan flag on their shoulders and i'm proud of being part of that and doing everything i could. the result, there is only so much we can control and if it's out of our hands, it's out of our hands. knowing what you're part of and what you were willing to die for and some that did die for and then to see it all sort of just disappear in front of your eyes is hard. >> i mean, nate, let me ask you because i know you know you talk about people next to you, right?

you loved and respected these individuals. some of them gave their lives, right, for this cause and they were afghan. so when you, you know, you hear the military say they did over the past month, right, that this afghan military is capable and they are so strong and able to do this and then obviously the whole thing seems to be some sort of a house of cards at this point, i mean, what do you think happened? how do you think they read it so wrong? >> you know, it just comes down to not only the lack of resources that they have over there but they don't have a country like we do in the sense of, like, when i go over and fight, when we go fight, if we don't make it back, we know our families will get taken care of. we know we'll be honored and remembered and remembered as heroes. >> yeah. >> and it's just not the same over there. there is not that -- there is not that level of patriotism. and we can do all that we can to

instill that and try to help and believe and hope for a future and one that can be great. it has got to be up to them. unfortunately, in places like this often they want to keep people oppressed. they want to keep everyone under their thumb and that's the hardest part. it's not that we glimpse at freedom possibility, that's all we're trying to do. >> so you know, you've been speaking out and sending this message that service matters and belief in liberty and it matters and sacrifices matter and you reached out on twitter to veterans struggling, as of course, so many understandably are with the taliban takeover and every human that fought for the people in afghanistan and didn't make it back, your

sacrifice matters, it has to because if yours doesn't, mine doesn't. you have a range of responses some of course very supportive but some really vocal in their disagreement from voets that ar angry and upset right now. one of them writes i feel sick and angry. decisions made by weak men. you know, were you surprised by some of these reactions to these reactions by your tweet? >> no, those feelings were valid. i respect that. we should be there for one another. it's okay to be upset and angry. i don't want people to take it out on themselves. i see that and feel that when you hear those things that sounds like maybe they're saying something about me or the cause, maybe it's really about themself and feeling like they don't belong anymore or like what they did was in vain and, you know, it didn't need to happen at all

they wasted their life to the cause and it's tough. we can't win it all and that's life sometimes but all you can do is try. that's the best you can do and as long as you've got that in your back pocket and know who you are and know the people that you were fighting for and what you were fighting for, you know, like i said earlier, the result sometimes is out of our hands. you got to keep playing. >> yeah, nate, appreciate your time and your thoughts. thank you. >> of course, erin. thank you very much. god bless now nearly 2,000 people. after haiti's devastating earthquake. we'll go to porto prince after this. and an update to the mayor of topeka. she told you about having her gallbladder removed and a pacemaker put in after covid. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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magnitude earthquake. the number of people believed to be impacted by the quake a staggering 1.2 million. and joe johns is there, outside porto prince, about 78 miles west of the epicenter of the quake. joe, a real struggle right now just for the basic things, basic aid, water, shelter. >> that's true, erin. also we did learn today the u.n. world food program does keep food in haiti for about 300,000 people for a month, but it's still difficult to get that food along with shelter, water and other supplies like sanitation because the roads and the bridges have been damaged or completely knocked out due to the earthquake. the wind howled and the rain poured as tropical depression grace rolled ashore in haiti. shell-shocked and weary earthquake survivors took refuge where they could. some lucky enough to have a roof

over their heads but most with their homes destroyed or too badly damaged doing what they could to protect themselves with makeshift tents and tarps as the deluge of rain kept coming. >> translator: the rain fell on top of us. i don't want to go home. i'm in god's hands. >> many of the survivors dealing with injuries as they struggle to cope waiting for aid. that aid is pouring into the capital port au prince but getting aid taking time, leading to frustration. >> translator: i am in a lot of pain. we've been promised medicine. i went to look for it and i was told to wait. yesterday they distributed aid but i wasn't able to get anything. it rained a lot at night. we could not sleep. we have nothing to eat. we have nothing.

>> reporter: still some progress being made. the u.s. coast guard among those agencies already on the ground. >> translator: in the past 24 hours the coast guard has rescued 38 lives and transported 5,500 pounds of aid, medical equipment among others for the affected areas in haiti. we have transported 56 passengers and medical personnel to attend those affected areas. >> reporter: it's been four days since the 7.2 earthquake struck flattening homes and toppling hotels and businesses, killing more than 1,900 people and injuring thousands more. unicef estimates close to 1.2 million people have been affected by the quake including more than 500,000 children. the scope of that devastation and desperation becoming more painfully clear with each passing day. there's also a question as to

whether anyone could be found alive beneath the rubble after both an earthquake and a tropical storm. a spokesman for urban search and rescue said on a conference call today it's not unheard of to find someone alive after 8 to 10 days, but that, too, is a race against time. >> all right, joe, thank you very much. joe johns live in port au prince. next an update on the mayor of topeka. she told us she was about to get a pacemaker after getting her gallbladder removed because of covid.

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an update on a story we brought to you last week about the mayor of topeka who like many suffers from long covid. she was getting a pacemaker imp planted because of serious heart complications because of covid. she tells she's quote, back home tonight and feeling human which is great news. this is not the first surgery she got because of long covid. she's only 45 years old and the vision of health, also a triathlete. here's how she described her symptoms.

>> i had all the pneumonia pneu symptoms. and a few weeks ago i had to leave and i passed out. >> there's so much we don't know about long covid and its effects even the vaccinated. dr. anthony fauci makes this point vaccination is essential but even though who are vaccinated can get long covid. ac 360 starts now. good evening. a lot happening tonight including a look ahead at president biden's planned announcement tomorrow on covid booster shots for most vaccinated americans. we begin, though, with afghanistan. we learn today the president spoke with prime minister boris johnson about the situation there. to that end another 1 240u7b troops have landed in kabul a since we left you last night with another 2,000 or so on the way. according to the white house 700 to 800 americans, afghans and