. president joe biden saying tonight that the united states is on pace to finish its evacuation mission in afghanistan by the august 31st deadline as long as the taliban cooperates. but he'll have contingency plans at the ready if the timetable needs to be adjusted. the president saying more than 70,000 people have been air lifted out of kabul's airport since august 14th and that the sooner the u.s. can finish its mission, the better because of increasing threats of attacks by isis terrorists. also tonight, the taliban moving to block any more afghans from leaving the country as the first group of u.s. troops at the airport have started pulling out. meanwhile here at home, two big wins tonight for the president's domestic agenda on capitol hill. joining me now, cnn's white

house correspondent john harwood, senior political analyst ron brownstein. gentlemen, so happy to have you. good evening to both of you. it's the top of the hour now. we're glad that you're here. john, two big wins for the biden administration today. the house voting to move forward on this massive $3.5 trillion budget and the john lewis voting rights act. the president also talking about the economic plan before the afghanistan announcement. does this show you where he thinks americans are focusing? >> it's not only where he thinks americans are focused, will be focused, but it's also what he thinks will be the best way he has to counter some of the political damage that he has sustained over afghanistan. joe biden has centered his presidency around trying to bring material changes to people's lives, trying to get the coronavirus pandemic under control, trying to deliver

concrete benefits to people in the form of physical infrastructure, in the form of human benefits, child tax credits, expanded medicare benefits, free community college, a whole range of things in the budget bill that was advanced today in the house of representatives. he's facing tremendous resistance from republicans legislatively on covid in the states, on voting rights, and he thinks that going into 2022 and 2024, his best chance of surviving the democratic majority and also winning a second term is by acting, not talking about what you want to do for people, talking about what you have done for people. today was a step on that path. >> mr. brownstein, the budget package is huge. it could transform american lives. but you're not convinced that it's going to actually help biden or democrats politically. why is that?

>> in the near term, yeah. look, i think this is a split screen moment for the biden presidency. on one screen is exactly what john is talking about. i mean they are moving toward the most significant legislative victories for democrats since the great society in the 1960s. if you look at everything that's included in this reconciliation bill, it probably is the biggest expansion of not only the safety net but government efforts to expand opportunity since that 1965-1966 congress. on the other screen, i think biden is facing a reality that a growing number of americans are uneasy about conditions in the here and now, about the direction of covid, about what's happening in afghanistan even though they are recovering it, about inflation, about the border, about crime. i think everything that he's passing will be a significant asset for him in 2024. but if you look at history, don, it's not clear to me that it's going to outweigh the verdict on the here and now if voters are still negative on it in 2022. after that great society

congress in 1965-66, the most productive arguably ever except for the new deal, democrats lost 47 seats in the house. ronald reagan lost 26 seats in the house after he passed his tax cuts in 1981. so i think in terms of the democrats' more immediate problem, getting covid under control, having a more positive outcome in afghanistan, rebutting the republican claims on crime and the border, that is the immediate problem. but all of this definitely will be a positive for democrats by 2024 if they can move it through. >> such a debbie downer there, ron brownstein. >> just a little history there. >> but you bring it back, so we have to listen. think about this. just 24 hours ago, this deal seemed to be in trouble in getting the ten moderates onboard was tricky. do you think biden is going to have the same success with moderate senators like manchin, sinema possibly? >> right. we talk about split screen. i mean, you know, anything that can be, i think, shoe horned

into reconciliation, they will ultimately get done. you know, it may not be $3.5 trillion. you know, the pound of flesh that manchin and sinema and the house moderates demand may require it to be scaled back somewhat. but it's still going to be, to use john's word, transformative. i mean we're going from, you know, what, 13 to 17 years of publicly funded education, universal pre-k and free community college, expansion of medicare, expansion of medicaid to cover all of those in the states that refuse to expand under the affordable care act. i mean this is an enormous piece of legislation. but beyond that, everything that can't be included in this does remain subject to the republican filibuster in the senate, and i think one thing that today made very clear, don, no republicans voted for the extension of the voting rights act after it had massive bipartisan support in its previous iterations. and that really puts the focus on manchin and sinema because they are arguing that the senate

should only act if ten republicans agree to undo what their republican colleagues in the states are doing. and i think what today may very clear in the house is that is not even a fig leaf. it's not even a pipe dream. there is no chance there are ten republicans in the senate that are going to act. so the only question is whether democrats, you know, unilaterally disarm in the face of what republicans are doing in the states, or whether they act to create a nationwide voting rights on their own. >> we'll definitely see what's going to happen. john, i want to turn to afghanistan now because president biden is standing by a decision to withdraw u.s. troops by -- in one week's time, august 31st. what are you hearing from the white house? do they really think they'll be able to get everyone out by then? >> well, it depends on how you define "everyone." i think they're pretty confident that they can get pretty much every american who they can find in afghanistan who wants to get

out. that is the minimum that they want to do. beyond that, the question is how many of the afghan allies, people who worked alongside american forces during this 20-year war, can they get out, and they're acknowledging that they cannot get all those people out. the evacuation has reached a tremendous volume now, 21,000 people. yesterday, 70,000 people in the last ten days. remember, president biden defined the universe of afghan allies he wanted to get out as 50,000 to 65,000. however, some people were aligned with coalition forces. they're allies of european forces, not necessarily all of ours. i talked to a senior administration official tonight who said there are a lot of deserving people who are not going to get out. that would have happened whenever we left, whenever the taliban took over, and so i think they're beginning to brace the american people for that

possibility. i think the chance for the deadline getting extended beyond august 31st, president biden said today he wanted to adhere to that deadline. the chances of that rest on whether or not they find pockets of americans who after that deadline, they think they've got to go get. i think in that circumstance, president biden would extend the deadline. otherwise, i think they're going to say, we've done the best we could and then pack up american forces and try to sustain what they've achieved so far, which is zero american casualties on the way out. >> and we'll know by the 31st. thank you, gentlemen. appreciate it. i want to turn now to the former director of national intelligence, james clapper. he's now a cnn national security analyst. director, it's been a minute. it's good to see you. i hope you're doing well and thank you for joining us. >> thanks, don. >> president biden says his decision to leave afghanistan by august 31st was driven by the security risks. was this the right call? >> well, it may well have been the only call that he could

make. i drew from the trip that cia director bill burns took, which apparently was intended to get a direct read from the taliban leadership about the potential for extending the deadline. and i don't know, but i infer that there was no such extension granted or even conceded. so i think the president's still going to have more tough decisions to make as the 31st approaches, and i think john harwood laid it out about what the rank/order probabilities are of getting everyone out that we might like to get out and who deserved to get out. and we're probably not going to be able to do that by the 31st. >> you know the white house is saying that this august 31st deadline depends on the taliban cooperating. you're saying you don't think they're going to be able to do that by the 31st. but today the taliban is saying they're no longer going to let

afghans leave the country or even reach the airport. does that mean the situation on the ground has already shifted? >> i think so. that's actually, you know, very disturbing, and to me is a breach in faith by the taliban, which is certainly, you know, consistent with their pattern. so that's a very worrisome development. i gather -- i would surmise there are many other ways -- or some other ways, covert probably, of spiriting people out or going out and getting them. but that's going to get increasingly dicey and risky both for the people they're attempting to rescue as well as the rescuers. so this is a -- it's a tough situation. >> the president specifically acknowledging the threat from isis-k today. tell us about that and about

them. >> well, this is one of the franchises of isis. they have at least six or seven around the world. and reportedly the isis-k don't get along with the taliban. i'm not completely convinced of that. i'm more concerned about al qaeda and its reconstitution and resurgence because there's been a long and intimate relationship, historical relationship, between al qaeda and the taliban. so i worry more about them at this point than isis. >> i've got to get your reaction to the cia director william burns meeting face to face in kabul yesterday with the taliban's co-founder. what would the upside of that be for the u.s. right now? >> the upside of having that meeting? is that what you meant? >> what's the upside for the u.s. meeting with the head of the taliban?

>> well, in a sense, of course this continues, you know, the recognition, if you will -- >> the question is why do it, right? why would he be meeting with them? >> i think -- well, i think the feeling must have been that there had to be an attempt by u.s. government in the form of a senior personage to attempt to have a direct face-to-face meeting in person with the taliban leadership to determine for sure whether there was any latitude here on our departure. i gather that most of the contacts with the taliban have been low-level, tactical type with military commanders, our military commanders at kabul with lower level tactical operators of the taliban. so this is an intent to have more of a strategic dialogue,

and apparently it didn't go so well. >> yeah. cnn has been reporting that the u.s. is scrambling to fill the intelligence vacuum created by afghanistan's sudden collapse. how big of a problem is that? is that a big deal? >> it is a big deal. there's simply no substitute for the on-the-ground presence our intelligence services have had and built up over some 20 years. and that's going to -- i'll just say this. you can't replicate that from afar. there's a lot we can do to observe from over the horizon, but others have pointed this out. we're going to take a hit here as far as our on the ground intelligence capability. i'm sure we'll have some contacts, some assets and some other technical means for trying to monitor what's going on in-country, but it's not going to be the same and not as robust as what we've had. >> director clapper, always a

pleasure. thank you, sir. really appreciate it. >> thanks, don, for having me. what happened to that normal summer we thought we were going to have? well, yeah, covid happened. can we get enough people vaccinated to turn this around? >> we're not throwing in any towels now. we have got to try to get this safe and effective vaccine in all the places where it needs to be. of fast. he's a fast talker. a fast walker. thanks, gary. and for unexpected heartburn... frank is a fan of pepcid. it works in minutes. nexium 24 hour and prilosec otc can take one to four days to fully work. pepcid. strong relief for fans of fast. tony here from creditrepair.com taking to the streets to talk about credit. can you repair your credit yourself? yes. -great. how? uhhh... how long does credit repair take? i don't know, like 10 years. what? are you insane? what's a good credit score? go. 600. maybe if you're trying to pay thousands extra

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spring if a majority of americans get vaccinated. but tens of millions are still refusing the shot. the daily count of new cases rising to more than 150,000, the highest since january. florida and mississippi setting

records for covid-related deaths. arkansas running out of icu beds and thousands of students and teachers quarantined in florida's largest school distri writer for the atlantic. thank you for joining us. really appreciate it. we were all planning for a normal summer, normal fall. but clearly the delta variant has other plans. dr. fauci is now saying spring 2022 if all eligible people get vaccinated. the timelines keep getting pushed back. what do you think of his estimate? is this magical thinking, or do you agree with it? >> i think it's very hard to predict as we have already seen the path of the pandemic. i think a lot of experts were looking to a fairly normal summer and were concerned about the fall. obviously the fall is yet to befall us, and the summer looks pretty terrible. whether this is going to be the final surge of the pandemic or

whether there will be more to come, i think is really hard to say. but one thing to me is very clear. delta is so transmissible that it can't be controlled through vaccination alone, which means we're always going to need some of the other measures that the u.s. seems to have been so quick to abandon. and i'm not just talking about d distancing. other measures that have never been fully implemented like widespread rapid testing, better ventilation, better social support for people who might need to isolate, things beyond just getting vaccinated. i think the dilemma of the pandemic right now is that for individuals, for everyone watching this, your best option for protecting yourself is still to get vaccinated. but society, america as a whole, cannot rely on vaccination as our sole line of defense against

the delta variant. >> well, since you said that, a quarter of eligible people in this country still aren't vaccinated. i mean look at these people, you know, some of these people that haven't gotten the shop because of access or time or job and money worries. the fact is there's a group of people in this country who aren't doing what they need to do to protect themselves and their community, like getting vaccinated, like wearing masks. how do we deal with people who just won't get onboard with these public health guidelines? >> it's -- it's hard, and i don't think there is an easy solution to that. i do think as you've said, that there are groups of people who still are struggling with access issues. i think it's right that we do not lump all unvaccinated people in the same bucket, and there are still huge gains to be made in persuading people who are holding out for whatever reason. but you're right that there is

going to be this intractable proportion of people. regardless of whether that existed or not, my point is still that the u.s. has been foolish in putting all its eggs on a vaccine-only strategy. that seems to have been what it has done for the last several months. i think that was ill-advised in an era before delta, and it is simply unworkable in an era with delta. >> is it vaccine-only, or would you say it is vaccine-heavy because they are asking people to wear masks, especially when indoors. but you're right, it's focused on vaccinations. >> they are doing that now, but the cdc obviously famously and controversially changed its mask guidance for fully vaccinated people several months ago in a way that led to the lifting of mask mandates across the country

and the imposition of certain laws that prevented local governments from issuing mask mandates, which adds to the confusion and the sticky situation that we're now in. i think america really did go all in on vaccines and almost traded them off against other layers of defense. the rhetoric that we got from the cdc and the white house was almost as if taking off your masks and dispensing with other precautions was a reward for getting vaccinated. they can't be treated in that way. they have to work together, and we still need to remind the country -- we've done a very bad job of this so far, but i think we still need to remind the country that we are all in this together. it is an infectious disease, and our choices influence each other. even fully vaccinated people can't tap out of the pandemic problem yet because of the complications of the delta variant and how transmissible it is proving to zbe.

>> and it seems like a cycle we're going to keep repeating and repeating. ed yong, appreciate your perspective. we love having you. thank you so much. >> thanks for having me. schools reopening and with that comes anger. tensions turning to violence over what should be a simple public health measure -- masks.

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it's moving day. and while her friends are doing the heavy lifting, jess is busy moving her xfinity internet and tv services. it only takes about a minute. wait, a minute? but what have you been doing for the last two hours?

...delegating? oh, good one. move your xfinity services without breaking a sweat. xfinity makes moving easy. go online to transfer your services in about a minute. get started today. the mask wars refusing to go a away. it's something that we have seen across the country. shouting at school boards, confrontations in parking lots. and in one case, an elementary teacher ending up with stitches. here's cnn's rosa flores. >> reporter: when it comes to masks in schools, it's some parents who are behaving badly, having face-to-face

confrontations and even burning masks. the tension and division mostly fueled by misinformation. >> let them breathe! >> reporter: in texas, a parent ripping off a teacher's face mask at school last week according to the school district's superintendent. >> i don't want these mask wars being fought in our schools. i don't care right now what you believe. >> reporter: in northern california, an elementary schoolteacher had to get stitches for cuts and lacerations to his face when an argument with a parent over masks turned physical. >> the female principal intervened to say, hey, it's time to go. like you stop. >> reporter: now the parent facing multiple charges, including battery on a school employee according to the district attorney. the rage spilling into school board meetings for months now, like this one in utah. >> so i taught junior high school, and you don't scare me. >> reporter: in pennsylvania -- >> stop, stop, please. >> reporter: tennessee and

wisconsin too. >> enough. this is inappropriate. these folks are your neighbors. >> reporter: with some meetings abruptly ending in the midst of screaming protests. >> no more masks! no more masks! >> i move that we adjourn this meeting. >> reporter: and public officials openly threatened. >> we know who you are. no more masks! >> reporter: how to combat this war over masks? this dad, who says his 5-year-old understands the concept of wearing face coverings -- >> and it's disappointing that more adults around here can't seem to grasp it. >> reporter: is pleading for civility in the national conversation. rosa flores, cnn, houston. >> rosa, thank you very much. i want to bring in now cnn political commentators ana navarro and scott jennings. they're always feisty and opinionated. ana, it is crazy these battles over masks in schools. they're not letting up even as

cases and deaths are rising. why is it so hard for people to realize that this is the best way to keep our kids safe now? >> don, because, you know, they're in this zone where they think it's a crusade for personal freedom, and they just can't get themselves away from that. so instead of looking at the numbers, instead of looking at the statistics, instead of looking at the rise in cases, the rise in hospitalizations, and the rise in deaths, they're doing things like listening to politicians, to craven politicians who are exploiting this subject matter for political gain, which is, i frankly think, immoral. and we are seeing more and more that cruise lines, like disney today, are saying, no, regardless of what you're telling us, politicians, we're going to require vaccinations and masks. and airlines are extending -- the faa extended the mask mandate. and the biggest school districts in places like florida, my state, are imposing mask

mandates for their schools. and i say, let us allow the experts, let's allow the educators, the scientists to set the standards, not some governor or not some politician running for re-election or for the republican nomination. >> well, you mentioned that because there's this new quinnipiac poll, scott, that shows 60% of florida residents support requiring masks for students, teachers, and staff in schools. so, you know, when desantis says that florida parents want to choose for themselves, he's wrong. most of them support mandates. >> well, i think, you know, if you're a republican politician, though, right now one of the clearest sort of battle lines that we have in this country where you're trying to show the most committed, conservative activists that you're one of them is on this mask issue. i think as it relates to the parents who are upset, i think it's far more complicated than simple politics. i was reading this article in new york magazine this weekend about this cdc data that came out. you know, this article is called

"the science of masking remains uncertain at school," and it makes a pretty compelling case that there are real questions about whether this is as effective as people have been led to believe. and you have this group of parents who are repeatedly saying, i have questions, and they're being told to sit down and shut up. so that's no way to bring anybody along. so i think violence is wrong. these stories where people are hitting each other and they're having altercations, i mean that's crazy, and it shouldn't be occurring. but at the same time, i don't think schools and people who are in charge in these areas should be telling parents, whose kids are in the schools, sit down and shut up. you're not allowed to express an opinion or ask a question. there has to be some kind of middle ground here where questions can be asked that, by the way in this case, are based on cdc data, without parents feeling like they're being told, you're opinion isn't valid here. >> well, i don't know what data you're talking about in new york magazine, but every data from every expert shows that masks

are effective in cutting down the transmission of the virus, especially if two people are wearing it. if one person is wearing it, not so much because the other person obviously can spread it. but if both people are wearing it or everyone is wearing it, it shows that it's actually quite effective. so i'm not sure what you're -- i just don't want to give people fake information. >> i would encourage you to read it. i mean it says -- i mean it -- >> i will read it, but i have seen the studies from not just magazine articles but from experts who actually -- it's their job to study that. and the people who actually work in hospitals, they wear masks for a reason. it's because they work. surgeons where masks. the frontline workers wear masks. >> i've spoken to doctors who work in children's hospitals, and i can tell you that in the first variant, there wasn't the level of children affected that there is right now. you know my best friend, lee schrager. his husband works at miami

children's hospital. they are full with covid cases right now in a way that they weren't before. we all know this. we hear it from places like arkansas. we hear it from all over the country that this is happening. these are not fake cases, and so i don't understand how we as adults are acting like animals instead of trying to protect those that are under 12 who are depending on us to protect them because they can't protect themselves. >> look, scott, if you say "as effective," let's say it has some percentage of effectiveness. then what's the point? even if it has 20% or 30% or 40%, it still helps. so why wouldn't you want to protect the least of these, especially children who are vulnerable, who can't get a vaccine? i don't understand that. i don't even understand why the whole questioning of it, especially -- >> well, yeah, i think that -- first of all, as you know, we've discussed it. i've been a rule follower the

entire time. i sort of believe that -- >> except you haven't been doing what all of us have been doing, and that is gaining weight. so i don't trust you on -- >> that's right. i'm going the other way. >> he's doing intermittent fasting, don. we're doing intermittent eating. >> go on, scott. >> yeah. but there have been some medical professionals who have raised -- and i think some parents have latched onto this -- have raised the questions about what are the long-term impacts of sort of enforced masking of these young children in schools. what is the impact on their learning? what is the impact on their language development, et cetera, et cetera? i know there are a lot of opinions and some doctors say no and some doctors say yes. i think the point is some parents have looked at some of this and have said, i'm concerned about that. then if you layer on top of that maybe some of their political views and you layer on top of that some school administrator telling them to sit down and shut up at a pta meeting, you can see how this is a recipe for

all this stuff boiling over. i do think we need more dialogue on this, and i do think we need more collaboration. and i think part of the issue here is people feeling like their voices are not being heard and that -- >> i feel you. i understand what -- >> how can you say that the voices aren't being heard when we see meeting after meeting where both sides of this issue are airing out their opinions? look, you and i grew up in a republican party where local control was a central bastion of being republican and allowing businesses to make their own decisions was also a bastion of being republican. and today we have governors, republican governors, who act as if they are on mount olympus and telling everybody else how to act. for them to be using the governorship as a platform to bully local school boards is simply wrong, and it is against the republican tenets that you and i grew up with of local control. >> i've got to go, scott. i know you probably want to

respond. here's what i have to say before you respond. i understand the whole thing about, yes, all those points that you mentioned, you should be able to discuss how it affects children or however. but if the child is no longer there, you can't correct that in the future? they're gone. so there are issues that you can deal with? is my child behind in reading? there's ways to correct that. we can do all of those other things if your child is with you. but if your child is no longer with you because someone didn't want to wear a mask to protect them, there's no amount of correcting. there's nothing you can do beyond that point. >> i totally agree with you for the most part, people that want to do the masks in schools are doing it because they think it's the right thing to do by public health, and i'm not disputing anyone's motives. i do think more collaboration with these parents and less making them feel like they're being talked to might help de-escalate some of these situations. that's my only point. >> thank you, both. i appreciate it. weeks away from california's recall election and mail-in ballots are already showing up at voters' doors. this story is crazy.

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countdown is on in california where voters will cast ballots in a special election on september 14th to decide if they want to recall their democratic governor, gavin newsom. the leading republican candidate who wants to replace newsom is larry elder, a conservative radio talk show host who is a big supporter of the former president. so let's discuss now with california's lieutenant governor eleni kounalakis, who is a democrat. governor, we had you on during the pandemic. i remember having you on, and we

discussed that. it's good to have you on right now. this is crazy. the more i read about this, the more i'm like, whoa, i don't -- whatever. we're legislatiss than a month from the recall election. californians already starting to receive their mail-in ballots. what's at the root of this, and what is this process? >> don, first of all, it's great to be back. that's right, i was on at the very beginning of the pandemic, and i remember we were talking about the test kits and donald trump was sending california test kits that didn't have the right material in it to actually conduct the test. so we've come a long way in california, and we're very proud of the governor's leadership in our state in combating covid-19 and the economic crisis that's followed. so you're right. here we are in what is kind of the land of absurdity with a recall effort. and here's what i think is important for your viewers across the country outside of california to know.

we only have about 24% of registered voters in california who are registered republicans. so what the recall process really does is give an opportunity in the republicans' mind of sort of gaming the system and trying to elect a republican governor in a state that only has 24% registered republicans. so that's what they see in this process, which is kind of quirky at best. but many people think might actually even be undemocratic because far more people can vote to keep governor gavin newsom in office than actually vote for any of these people on the ballot. but one of those people could very well win if we don't get 50 plus one of california's voters to reject the republican recall. so that's what we're trying to

do. >> so there is a little-known -- what's his name? larry elder, leading republican candidate in this recall election. he is vowing to repeal any mask and vaccine mandates. he spent years promoting global warming as a myth though his campaign says that he evolved on that issue. he talked about abolishing the minimum wage. i think he's, you know, does kind of a trolling on twitter or whatever, is very active on twitter. when it comes to race and gender, he's always been controversial. what is on the line in this race? >> you know, don, i have read some of the things that this guy has said. i find them odious. but it isn't just me. a democrat who's lieutenant governor of california, who disagrees with him. 24% of californians are registered republicans. so how could this guy even have

the possibility of a chance of beating gavin newsom, who really has done an excellent job in our state in holding faithful to the values that so many californians hold? >> then why is it so close, then? >> because the process is so quirky. because if the governor loses by one vote, if 50% of voters minus one vote to recall him, then a guy like elder, who right now is polling at 18%, could actually become the governor. it's a process that is illogical in many ways, might even be undemocratic. there's a lawsuit that's challenging this. and one of the parts of this that makes it sort of quirky is that the governor, under the statute, governor newsom cannot put his name on the ballot as an

alternative should he be recalled. so, for instance, if slightly less than 50% vote against the recall and the recall passes, if he could just put his name on the ballot, he would just win as the top vote-getting alternative. but the way that the statute is written, he can't. and so anytime you have a confusing thing like this -- and it is confusing to people -- then the republicans -- and this is why newt gingrich and others spent millions of dollars to collect signatures through paid signature gatherers. they see an opportunity to create chaos, and now it's costing taxpayers, by the way, $270 million to do a recall election a year before the governor will be back up on the ballot for re-election in a regular election that a republican, by the way, could never win. >> oh, my gosh. my head's going to pop off. lieutenant governor, we'll have you back. thank you for coming on and

explaining this too our viewers, but it is a little wacky. >> can i just -- >> real quick because i'm out of time. >> don, everything you've just been talking about about mask mandates, all these republicans who are trying to take out governor newsom, they're all going to repeal all our mask mandates and send us into a tailspin. and right now we're doing a great job in keeping covid rates down. any of these people would be a disaster from a health standpoint. so we're going to beat the republican recall. >> thank you, lieutenant governor. we appreciate it. we'll see you. thank you so much. a rock legend dying today. we're going to take a look at the rolling stones' charlie watts right after this. ♪ touch after touch bacteria in your home never stops . that's why microban 24 doesn't just sanitize and stop.

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oh, boy. really sad news tonight. charlie watts, the iconic drummer for the rolling stones, has died. a spokesperson announcing he passed away in a london hospital today surrounded by his family. he was 80 years old. watts is part of the stones' longtime foursome. watts anchored the bands blues rock sound for more than 50 years. wow, what a career. keith richards offering his tribute to his former bandmate. a closed drum set. musicians paul mccartney, ringo starr, elton john and more,

expressed condolences. mccartney saying this. >> condolences to the stones. a huge blow to them because charlie was a rock and a fantastic drummer. steady as a rock. ♪ ♪ you make a grown man cry ♪ >> it was charlie watts who kept the beat going on hits like "start me up." ♪ ♪ you can't always get what you want ♪ >> and with his help, the rolling stones would always bring the house down with "you can't always get what you want." ♪ you can't always get what you want ♪ ♪ and if you try sometimes ♪ ♪ you just might find ♪ ♪ you get what you need ♪ ♪ you get what you need ♪

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welcome to our viewers joining us in the united states and around the world. just ahead on cnn newsroom -- >> we're currently on a pace to finish by august 31. >> to protect these most vulnerable is clearly a matter for global cooperation. >> deadline confirmed, president biden says the u.s