after hammering cuba, hurricane ida is heading toward the united states. it could become a monster category-four storm before making landfall. the u.s. strikes back. we'll look at how the american military took aim at the group behind the kabul airport bombing. and the fight over face masks. american courts are weighing in. live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, welcome to all of you watching in the united states, canada, and around the

world. this is "cnn newsroom." hurricane ida is barreling toward the united states, gaining strength as it churns through the gulf of mexico. the storm was a category-one hurricane on friday, and it's expected to become a dangerous car category three or four this weekend. hurricane warnings are posted for the louisiana and mississippi coasts, and evacuations are under way. forecasters say ida likely will slam into new orleans on the anniversary of hurricane katrina. joining me is meteorologist karen maginnis. you've been tracking this. what's the latest? >> a frightening situation developing over about the next

36 hours from now. if you haven't made plans and you live in that coastal region of louisiana and perhaps in regions of mississippi, this is a time when you should be making solid plans to leave that area because this is a very frightening situation. right now, category one. i've noticed the deeper convection is developing along the western edge. but as ida moves into the gulf of mexico, it's going to be over the open waters of the gulf of mexico. it was situated down here in the caribbean. not looking like anything, but computer models were in really good agreement that this was really going to come together. there you see the spaghetti models. if it changes just a little bit, those will have huge impacts. it's already going to have huge impacts because look at these forecast winds. we are expecting winds in ex-sets of 130 miles per hour.

we're expecting a category four, maybe just before or right at landfall. a major hurricane is anything a category three and above. it goes to category five. but we're not finished. even as we go into tuesday, still looking at gusty winds into that lower mississippi valley and then pushing into the tennessee river valley. it's going to be weaker then, but the damage is still possible, still in its wake. we could see downed trees and power lines. the storm surge is going to be the big problem in some of those southeastern and south central parishes of louisiana. it's not going to be exclusive there, but we could see storm surge on the order of 15 feet or so. this is one of the computer models, brings it in about 1:00 central time. but kim, i think we're going today a lot of these variances. it could be midday sunday, it could be in the eechvening on

sunda sunday. either way plans need to be out of the way of ida. >> absolutely frightening. the winds other 15-foot storm surge. listen, we'll keep a track of this all weekend. thank you so much. appreciate it. the u.s. is beginning to make good on its promise to strike back against isis-k as tuesday's deadline to exit the country nears. the u.s. military says it struck and killed a member of the terror group in an eastern province. isis-k is believed to be behind the airport attack that killed at least 170 afghans, 13 american troops, and two british citizens. new terror threats are complicating the final days of evacuations. the u.s. embassy is warning that all americans waiting out the gates should leave immediately. the white house says another attack in kabul is likely. meanwhile, france is the latest nato member to announce its evacuation efforts have already come to an end. friday it airlifted about 4,500 people out of afghanistan including some before the

taliban took kabul. cnn's nick paton walsh joins me from doha, qatar. let's start with the u.s. air strike. what more can you tell us? >> reporter: there is very limited information at this point. in fact, the statement refers to an over-the-horizon, unmanned strike, that suggests a drone flying at some distance that hit an isis-k planner. not the isis-k. this is what was anticipated in the days after the attack on the airport. attacks, strikes like this against isis figures, something the u.s. has been doing over the past years on opportunity that the tempo has varied at times. this appears to have hit somewhere in the mangahar region to the east. isis have been known to have a signature the past years. they've faced pressure from the

former afghan government, pressure from the taliban, as well. more details may emerge on the ground as to what the target was. it's believed they killed the person they were trying to hurt, and there were no civilian casualties as a result. this is essentially who president biden said would occur, and it comes at a taime f heightened threat around the airport. citizens told to leave immediately because of the continued threat from possibly another isis-k attack. the satellite images we saw taken yesterday suggested a significant drop in the number of people around the airport, kim. so this is obviously a fast moving situation. we reported yesterday that as of this weekend at some point there would be a significant drop in the number of u.s. diplomats on that airfield moving forward. that will significantly change their ability to process the thousands of evacuationis that we've -- evacuees that we've seen coming to the airport in the past days. we're waiting for the latest update as to how many were taken

away yesterday. the task is changing the evacuation it seems. the local embassy, afghan staff, who were priority for them to remove, we're told by a su suspectsat the state department that the majority were taken away. they were supposed to get almost a all. it is extremely hard to know what the 500 americans are still doing in afghanistan if they have not taken advantage of the opportunity of the last ten days to leave. that figure may alter depending on their desire to leave, dependepend ing on circumstances. we are looking at the clock. i think it's fair to say to shift from the mass scale of evacuations to more about the military withdrawal. the security situation makes two things harder -- the act of getting people on to the airport to evacuate them and the capacity, too, for operations to

continue at scale in safety, as well. the u.s. head been -- pains to point out they will evacuate until the last minute. but we will obviously have to wait and see high viable that is given the dltifficulty of getti people to the airport and how the capacity to get them will drop over time. yesterday's major problem was trying to get the remaining special access groups, people who have an arrangement with the taliban and the u.s., to get themselves on to the airport. there were buses, buses, people circulating around the eric unable to find a slot to get in. that may or may not have been resolved, but we are looking at operations, racing against the clock with the background threat of isis still there. >> so many moving pieces, and the clock ticking as you say. thank you so much. cnn military analyst and former nato supreme allied retire d general wesically cla with us. what more can you tell us about the reprisal attack and the

intelligence needed to carry it out so quickly? >> well, we must have tracking the threat. and something, a threat like this doesn't just emerge out of nowhere, there has to be communications. i'm sure this isis-k group has been tracked for a while by u.s. intelligence. it may be that we're pretty close to having targeting information on some members of the group before, and maybe there was a sent that, okay, let's not strike and restart military actions there until we're finished with the evacuation. once they struck us, yeah, the gloves come off. there is no point in holding back. now what we don't know is whether the isis-k group that we struck or an individual that we struck had anything to do with the attack on the airfield yesterday. and we don't know whether it will prevent future attacks. but we've got to take the intelligence we have that's available and use it.

>> what does it say about our capabilities for these over-the-horizon attacks after the u.s. troops leave? >> we've always had these capabilities for the last 20 years, really since we armed the predators. the question is not can we strike, the question is do we have the actionable intelligence to be able to strike and strike accurately. in this case, it seems that we do. and one thing's for sure -- we spent 20 years learning about terrorists, their networks, how they communicate, and building our ability not only to defend but to strike back. so we're a lot different force than we were when we went into afghanistan 20 years ago. i think this strike might show some of that. >> well, there's been another warning about an imminent attack at the airport, similar to the one we saw before the first attack. do you think the reprisal attack by the u.s. will mean possibly more danger for the troops that are still there, from a revenge

attack? >> i don't think so. i don't think that isis-k, if it thought it could come after the u.s. troops at the airport, would hold back in hopes that we wouldn't strike them. they will come at us with everything they've got because we're the best target they've got, the most accessible target they've got for the next three days. so if they've got the ability to strike again, they'll certainly do it. our best hope for security is to strike them with as much as we have, the best intelligent we can gather -- intelligence we can gather, as rapidly as we can during this period. that will increase the security for our troops. in addition to whatever defense it measures we may take, possibly in coordination with the taliban. >> let me jump in and ask you about those defensive capabilities because the white house had said u.s. forces are, quote, taking maximum protections at the airport. does that mean that they're doing anything differently now than they were before? if they are, why went that done

before the first attack when they had extensive warnings? >> i think it's always a balance between mission accomplishment and risk. there were so many people trying to get in. we were working so hard to do the evacuations that is seemed the only way we could do this was to go out with the crowds and do the final inspections both of the physical security and also of the documents. and that's what was being done. it seems now that we've pulled back we're not admitting the same numbers of people. we've slowed the pace. we've in coordination with the taliban spread out with the defensive perimeter around the airport. we're opening and closing the gates apparently at random, rather than keeping them open. so there's a lot of changes. it's a balance between getting the job done and minimizing risks. and we've waited more toward force protection at this point. >> well, finally, i want to end

on this as we're learning more about the service members who gave their lives in the service of their country in that attack. i wanted to get your reflections on the sacrifices of these brave americans who has been said were in the act of helping others gain their freedom. >> it was a noble mission. it was a dangerous mission. they knew it was dangerous. they probably didn't know exactly how dangerous it was. the ones who were left behind still working, they now know. so it's even tougher on them. but i want to talk about the families because the families are the ones who support these men and women in uniform. those who were at the airfield, those who were in the gulf, those who were in training in bases at the united states, all those families understand that there are risks when their sons and daughters go into the service. and yet, they're there.

they're sacrificing their most precious, beloved possessions, their most beloved people on behalf of this country if necessary. i think it's the families that deserve special recognition at this time. my heart goes out to them. deepest sympathy and greatest respect. >> well said, general. and our prayers go toward those families. thank you so much for being with us, cnn military analyst and retired army general wesley clark. appreciate it. all right. want to take you to washington now. cnn's jasmine wright joins us. jasmine, we just heard about the human cost of this attack there. let's pitch on the now to the political -- pivot now to the political cost. president biden had been facing employment of criticism on both sides of the aisle after the disastrous drawdown which grew even louder after that suicide attack, some republicans even

calling for his resignation. will the fact that biden acted so quickly on his promise to hunt down those responsible, will that calm some of the criticism that's been aimed at him in the wake of this tragedy? >> reporter: we don't know yet what the political impact of this strike will be, but you're right, it is no coincidence that president biden acted so quickly as he tries to send a message to folks abroad on the ground in afghanistan but also potentially to critics at home that his administration will not stop at taking action, trying to defend the troops and retaliate against anyone who comes in their way. but there are a few things that we don't know about this mission as nick and the general were just talking about, including whether or not the target that was killed by the strike on friday night is actually the person directly responsible for -- who actually perpetrated that attack that left 13 service members dead. one thing that we can deduce is

if the strike is successful, that over-the-horizon strike that they said potentially more that will follow, if those are successful, this will be a model for the biden administration. remember, president biden says that one of the reasons why they felt comfortable about withdrawing from afghanistan is because of their over-the-horizon capabilities which would say that they can attack, keep their pulse on any threats coming out of afghanistan from abroad, and stop them from hurting anything here in the homeland. but listen, this puts the president and the administrations and those on the ground in kind of a precarious situation as we know that things on the ground there are not necessarily stable. and after president biden and the vice president received that national security briefing on friday that said that there were likely more attacks coming in kabul and saying that this was the most dangerous part of the

mission. still about 5,000 troops on the ground, and they were working with 500 americans trying to get them out by that august 31st deadline. so we will see what happens in the next few days. and any additional attack on americans could potentially have dire consequences for the president. but he said that though this is a dangerous mission, on afriday he called it a worthy mission. >> jasmine wright in washington. thank you so much. hurricane ida is gaining strength over the gulf of mexico. later we'll look at what may be in store for the u.s. gulf coast. and the governor of florida is facing a new challenge to enforcing his mask ban in schools. we'll explain why a judge acted to block it. it's a simple fact: nothing kills more germs on more surfaces than lysol spray. it's a simple fact: it even kills the covid-19 virus. science supports these simple facts. there's only one true lysol. lysol. what it takes to protect.

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pushing back. >> reporter: these school districts are saying -- >> reporter: a slap to the often unmasked face of governor ron desantis. a florida judge just ruled his office cannot outlaw school mask mandates. >> they simply do not have that authority. >> reporter: many districts were defying the ban and forcing mask mandates as nationwide a record number of children are in the hospital with covid-19. >> we have seen outbreaks in schools that are occurring now in the context of not following these layered prevention strategies. >> reporter: like masks. this week, missouri's attorney general sued a school district over its mask requirement. the lawsuit states "the cure should not be worse than the disease." it's not. 1,292 people were reported killed by covid-19 yesterday. no one reported killed by a mask. in san antonio, texas, the school district wants a mask mandate. the governor does not.

that state's supreme court just backed him. just outside austin at a school board meeting this week, this happened -- >> at work they make you wear this jacket. i hate it. >> reporter: a parent got nearly naked to make a pro-mask mandate point. here go his pants. >> it's simple protocol, people. [ cheers ] we follow certain rules for a very good reason. >> reporter: pants for decency, masks for safety. >> thank you. we appreciate that. >> reporter: in florida, governor ron desantis called the judge's ruling incoherent and said he will appeal immediately. meantime, more than 16,000 floridians are in the hospital fighting covid-19. that's near an all-time record high. and over in alabama, they're deploying freezer trucks to morgues for the first time in the pandemic. in texas, they're deploying an extra 2,500 staff to hospitals and nursing homes. but there is a ray of sunshine, of hope from here in california where officials tell us that

after a delta-driven surge, they are hopeful that cases are now plateauing in certain regions. nick watt, cnn, los angeles. all right. let's look at the covid situation around the world. norway is seeing a dramatic spike in cases in recent weeks. for the third day in a row the country reported more than 1,000 cases. they've been surging there since mid july when norway was only reporting about 200 per day. canadian authorities have authorized the use of the moderna shot in children ages 12 to 17. the vaccine was previously authorized only for adults. and in australia, new south wales is reporting more than 1,000 new community cases. that's the state's highest caseload so far in the pandemic. it comes as sydney has spent nine weeks in lockdown. a long-awaited report from the u.s. intelligence community is shedding little light on the origins of the covid-19 virus. cnn with more on the

unclassified findings that were just released. >> reporter: the u.s. intelligence community says that has not come to a conclusion about the origins of the covid-19 virus. on friday the office of the director of national intelligence released a brief summary of the key findings of a classified report that was ordered back in may by president joe biden. the intelligence community had 90 days to pour over all the intelligence they could find, as well as work with outside experts and foreign partners to try to answer the vital question of where the virus originated. but they came to no conclusion, instead saying only that they all agree that there are two possibilities -- that the virus leaked from the lab in wuhan, china, or that it naturally jumped from an animal to a human in the wild. four u.s. agencies supported the hypothesis with a low level of confidence that it was naturally occurring in the wild, the report says. while one in intelligence agency had a moderate level of confidence that it leaked from the lab. other agencies felt they didn't have enough information. what we got on friday from the

intelligence community was barely two pages of an unclassified summary of those key findings of the classified report. one thing they did assess was that the virus was not a chinese bioweapon and that most of the u.s. intelligence agencies agree that the virus had not been genetically modified. but they said without more cooperation from china and more information from beijing the intelligence community says it won't be able to provide a more definitive explanation. cnn, washington. well, as you can imagine, this isn't going over well in china. so for more let's bring in david culver, joining us from beijing. david, already before the report was even made public, china was discounting and criticizing it. so what's china saying now? >> reporter: same thing, kim. yeah. and that's been going on now for several months. they've been trying to craft this narrative and push it relentlessly through propaganda efforts that likewise have

ramped up and are continuing at this hour. it's interesting that alex points out there that the full declassified version of that report, the unclassified of what came out from the review, a page and maybe a third, the rebuttal from the chinese embassy in washington, well over two pages. so nay had a lot to say and pushed back quite i would say with a lot of determination to say that china really has done everything they can to be open and transparent. but what you have to look at here are those two likely possibilities. the one that it jumped from animals to humans, the so-called natural origins, and then you have the lab leak theory. given that they couldn't come to a conclusive, definitive answer as to what exactly sparked covid-19, experts point out to me that this does not totally vindicate the chinese. take a listen. >> setting aside any conspiracy theaters about labs in wuhan, the fact that china will not

allow a second w.h.o. investigation to find out how the virus likely jumped from animals to humans if problematic. >> reporter: and that is exactly the point that is brought up in this intelligence community review and even the unclassified version of that. it's the lack of transparency here. for its part, i want to read a portion of what the chinese embassy in washington had to say. they say since the outbreak of covid-19, china has taken an open, transparent, and responsible attitude. we have released information, shared the genome sequencing of the virus, and carried out international cooperation to fight the disease, all done at the earliest possible time. kim, the problem with that is that's not entirely true. in our early reporting, it pokes a lot of holes in this. we saw cover-up, the silencing of whistle blowers and have seen the delays in allowing international experts to come in. yeah, the w.h.o. had a field

team come in this past january. that was 12 months after the initial outbreak. and so experts who even were on the team have told us that they didn't get access to several pieces of clinical data, some of the early epidemiological reports, things that they believe to be crucial in determining how this virus started and that it's very unlikely they're going to get that going forward especially given, kim, china has said as recently as the past few weeks that they will not allow a second phase two, as they put it, of the w.h.o. field studies to come back into the people's republic of china. >> there you have it. thank you so much, david companier in beijing. appreciate it -- companier in beijing. appreciate it. there's a bull's-eye on louisiana on the anniversary of hurricane katrina. we'll have the latest from our cnn weather center after a quick break. we'll look at what the taliban's interpretation of islam could mean for women in afghanistan. that's ahead. stay with us.

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category-one hurricane ida is now gaining strength in the gulf of mexico. it's expected to become a dangerous category three or four before it hits the u.s. later in the weekend. hurricane warnings are posted for much of coastal louisiana and mississippi, including new orleans. emergency officials are already preparing by prepositioning crews and supplies in the region. let's check back in with meteorologist karen maginnis. karen, what's the latest? >> yes, we are looking at what will be a frightening sunday for coastal residents of louisiana. but not exclusive to there because as the system moves on shore, it's going to bring that surge of water on shore,

flooding rainfall, high winds, and you could see the devastating effects of this for weeks if, in fact, not months. here's the latest information. 80 mile-per-hour winds, some higher gusts when it moved over cuba. estimates were of between two and four inches of rainfall. in the forecast, it will continue its trek across the very warm waters of the gulf of mexico. they're at their height just about this time of year. that will add fuel to this fire. there's nothing impeding this, but our computer models still bring it in right across that central coast of louisiana just about midday or perhaps early evening on sunday. so now ape's the time to prepar. one other thing, coming up at just about the top of the hour, we should have another update from the national hurricane center. i'll bring you details then. >> all right. sounds good, thank you so muchm. now we want to go back to afghanistan and a promise of

payback made good by the united states. the u.s. says it conducted an air strike against isis-k in an area east of kabul killing the intended target. the group claimed responsibility for the airport bombing that killed 13 u.s. service members. it comes as the u.s. embassy in kabul is once again warning its citizens to stay away from the airport and its gates. on friday, president joe biden was warned by his national security that another terror attack is necessary. the u.s. and nato allies have evacuated more than 100,000 people from afghanistan over the past two weeks, but those evacuations are winding down ahead of america's august 31st deadline with france and italy now saying they've ended their evacuation efforts. so when the taliban took control of afghanistan, the group said their government would respect women's rights within the limits of sharia or islamic law, except sharia isn't a set of codified laws, and it

varies greatly across the diverse communities of the muslim world. we have more now from london. selma, so much talk of implementing sharia law, as i said. it means different things to different people. you've been looking into this. what can you tell us? >> reporter: absolutely. and as we approach the august 31st deadline, kim, the taliban is going to shift their focus from one of evacuation efforts, one of an emergency situation, to actually forming a government in afghanistan. that is a massive task. i think a lot of analysts, observers will tell you that the taliban took control of the country quicker than expected. so there's going to be a lot of questions about what kind of government will be formed. going back to the fact of their first press conference, the taliban saying they will form a government based on sharia. but sharia is human interpretation of divine law, human interpretation there being the key parts that ultimately means what that looks like is up

to the taliban themselves. take a look. after takeover, the taliban vowed to govern afghanistan by sharia. when asked how that would differ from the group's rule two decades ago, this was the answer -- "if the this question is based on thoughts, idealogy, beliefs, then there is no difference. we have the same beliefs," the group's spokesman said. the taliban says it's forming an inclusive government that will ensure women's rights within an islamic framework. but because sharia is not a codified system of laws, what that means is entirely up to the taliban themselves, says a professor -- >> when we talk about sharia in a public context, then again interpretations for how that is applied as islamic law, they differ tremendously across the board. >> reporter: the group's record is bleak.

the taliban's draconian regime from 1996 to 2001 was widely criticized by muslims and non-muslims alike. and modern legislative applications of sharia by other muslim majority states provide little comfort. take, for example, iran, a country ruled by strict shia interpretation of islam. there the morality police subject women and girls to daily harassment and violent attacks, says amnesty international. in qatar, women are denied their right to make key decisions about their lives, from marriage to work, without a male relative. human rights watch reports. and under saudi's male guardianship, women deputy have basic rights. men can file for civil disobedience, rights groups say. there's been a shift in the kingdom. a driving ban was reversed, and travel restrictions on females eased in recent years.

>> there is certainly interpretation that's are held up and others that are equally valid in islamic law that are not. why? that's a public policy decision. >> reporter: and that's exactly where the taliban say they are changing. they want to engage on a global stage. >> they also have to take into account relationships that they have with powerful actors outside of the country. >> reporter: that leaves the u.s. and its allies with one key piece of leverage -- international recognition and legitimacy. hanging in the balance, the 20 years of gains and rights and liberties for the women and girls of afghanistan. kim, as you know, this is not just about what women are allowed to wear, how thick the hijab is, or what type of veil is required. these laws and rules, whatever is formed, will affect women and girls from cradle to grave. it will cover everything from

education, but not just are they going to school to learn koran and islamic studies, or will girls be allowed to learn science and math and literature, will they be allowed higher education? it will impact who you can marry, what the marriage rules are. how you have access to children, what financial rights and obligations there are. and i want to point out the taliban is not a monolith, kim. will the taliban in the central government actually impose these rules on its own fighters in other districts, what rules will there be for fighters who don't respect those results? i'll give an example now. the taliban has called on women, working women, not to go to their jobs. they say there are not security measures in place and went so far as to say their fighters are not trained to allow women to go to work. and they were concerned about the possibility that fighters could disrespect women or engage with women in a way that would harass them on the streets. so already indications there that trying to trickle down

these rules from the very top of government to the bottom, that's going to be a challenge. what do these rules look like for women and girls in afghanistan, and how will they affect them from cradle to grave, again, and regardless i think we can all agree that path of progress now is cut if not reversed. kim? >> yeah. as you say, so much at stake, and so little known yet. we'll have to see how it plays out. reporting from london, thank you so much. all right. coming up, the refugee crisis that's fast approaching in afghanistan. why the u.n. is urging countries to keep their borders open. stay with us. for your best back to school smile, crest has you covered. nice smile, brad! nice! thanks!? crest, the #1 toothpaste brand in america.

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can your internet do that? new terror threats are complicating the final days of the u.s. evacuation of afghanistan. the u.s. embassy is warning that all americans waiting outside the gates should leave immediately. the white house says another attack in kabul is likely.

from that massive airlift, it will end tuesday with the final u.s. military withdrawal. after that, afghans who want to leave will have to look for other ways out. the u.n. says more than half a million people could flee to neighboring ing countries by thd of this year. michael holmes with the story. >> reporter: carrying all they have left, weary afghans walk across the border into neighboring pakistan. "we went to the kabul airport," says one refugee who had hoped to leave in the u.s.-led airlift out of the afghan capital. "we stayed there for two, three days, but the situations worsened," he says. finally he left in search of another way out before thursday's twin bombings added to the panic while evacuations draw to a close. b as the security situation deteeters, more afghan refugees are fleeing to the main border crossings since the taliban

takeover. soon their numbers may swell. >> we have not seen large outflows of afghans at this point. the situation inside afghanistan was evolved more rapidly than anyone expected. in terms of numbers, we are preparing for around 500,000 new refugees in the region. this is a worst case scenario. >> reporter: so far, the u.s. and allies have evacuated more than 100,000 people from afghanistan since august 14th. but as they scramble to help those desperate to leave, an august 31 deadline fast approaches. in the months that follow, the u.n. h.e.r. believes refugees will flow into neighboring iran, pakistan, and other nations in central asia. the refugee agency urging them to keep borders open, but some may have little bandwidth for the influx. in particular, pakistan, where an estimated 2.4 million afghan refugees already reside

according to the center for global development. thousands more may soon arrive, desperately searching for safety as the crisis in afghanistan continues to unfold. michael holmes, cnn. let's bring in la tika schubert in germany which has seen nearly 2,000 evacuees from afghanistan. what's the latest on the conditions in the massive tent city? >> reporter: well, the tent city continues to grow. with each new planeload, they have to add more tent. it's a huge operation. it spread across the tarmac at the airbase. hundreds of tents. 40 people to a tent. men live on the side with the tents, and women and children sleep in cots inside those giant airplane hangars. the conditions are very basic. you know, it's simply a shelter. there are toilets and washing stations, but really no showers. three hot meals a day are served, and there is very

intermittent connection for phones. this is when i speak to evacuatevacuees is they miss communicating with family, the thing they want most of all. the other thing they want is getting on a flight to the united states. and there is some positive news there. what we are seeing is that more of these departing commercial flights are heading to the united states. so i believe more than 5,000 by now should have already departed for the united states. they usually board commercial airliners such as delta airlines, we had a chance to talk to one crew who was flying them out. and the process is now picking up. as you point out, still more expected to come. so the base has been incredibly busy dealing with all that. and while that's happening, they've received a number of those wounded in the -- at the airport attack in kabul. so ramstein air base has become really a critical point for this entire evacuation, kim. >> all right, atika schubert,

thank you so much. you can learn how you can help refugees by going to a special section of our website, cnn.com/impact. coming up on "cnn newsroom," the man convicted of assassinatesing rfk could sooning a free man. how some of kennedy's own children support the least their father's killer. stay with us. hey, i just got a text from my sister. you remember rick, her neighbor? sure, he's the 76-year-old guy who still runs marathons, right? sadly, not anymore. wow. so sudden. um, we're not about to have the "we need life insurance" conversation again, are we? no, we're having the "we're getting coverage so we don't have to worry about it" conversation. so you're calling about the $9.95 a month plan -from colonial penn? -i am. we put it off long enough. we are getting that $9.95 plan, today. (jonathan) is it time for you to call about the $9.95 plan? i'm jonathan from colonial penn life insurance company.

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a former manchester united great is returning to the club. cristiano ronaldo has agreed to sign with the team after expressing interest in leaving his current italian club uventis. the 36-year-old striker played for man u from 2003 to 2009, scoring more than 100 goals in that -- in spain. he was rumored to be signing with rival manchester city before agreeing to return . the man convicted of assassinating robert f. kennedy in 1968 was recommended for parole on friday. sirhan sirhan spent the past 53

years in prison and had some unlikely supporters for his release. cnn's natasha chen has details. >> reporter: this was the 16th time sirhan sirhan had been considered for parole. this time was different because the los angeles county prosecutor elected late last year has a new directive for his office not to attend parole hearings. in talking with prosecutor george gascon's office we learned this is an effort to allow the parole board to make an objective decision based on the inmate's actions since the crime, not just on the facts of the crime itself. the parole board did spend time asking sirhan about his remorse, his rehabilitation, and seeing whether and how he had changed over the course of 53 years in prison. sirhan said he does take responsibility for what happened, saying, quote, every day that i'm alive, that's all i think about. his original death sentence was commuted to life in prison in the early '70s when the california supreme court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional. two children of robert f.

kennedy also openly supported his release. douglas kennedy was present for the hearing, and robert f. kennedy jr. wrote a letter saying in part that sirhan should be released, and he'd offer to be a guiding friend for him, quote, while nobody can speak definitively on behalf of my father, i firmly believe that based on his own consuming commitment to fairness and justice that he would strongly encourage this board to release mr. sir man. because of sirhan's impressive record of rehabilitation. si sirhan's attorney said the panel made the right decision by keeping the politics out and following the law. this proposed grant of release now goes through a review process. ultimate lily the governor has -- ultimately the governor has the power to reverse the decision if it chooses to do so but did not offer a statement on the decision. back to you. >> a few hours ago, six of robert kennedy's other children issued a blistering statement about the parole board's recommendation and wrote, "today's decision by a two might have member parole board has

inflicted enormous pain. beyond just us, sirhan sirhan committed a crime against our nation and its people. we are in disbelief that this man would be recommended for release. tractor it is a recommendation we plan to challenge every step of the way." i'm kim brunhuber. i'll have a new update on hurricane ida and the latest from afghanistan in just a moment. "cnn newsroom" continues. please do stay with us.

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♪ after hammering cuba, hurricane ida is now heading towards the united states. we'll tell you just how strong it could get before making landfall. the u.s. military strikes back. and the fight over face masks, american courts are weighing in, live from cnn headquarters in atlanta. welcome to all o