fight. tonight, we remember their sacrifice. the news continues. i want to hand it over to chris for cuomo primetime. >> thank you. i'm chris cuomo, and welcome to primetime. let's look again at that picture of the last service member to leave afghanistan earlier today. this will be in history books. the pentagon just put it out. they say the war has ended. army major general chris donohue, commanding general of the 82nd airborne, boarding a c-17 to depart kabul, lifted off at 11:59 p.m. local, just before the clock struck midnight. so that means it's august 31st in afghanistan right now. right? remember that date. arbitrary. set by the biden administration. it's about 5:30 in the morning there now. the taliban knows the united states is gone and is celebrating with gunfire. >> now, the government can tell

us that the war has ended. and they can put out the picture of the last soldier. they say. but we all know it isn't over. okay. two reasons. now, what we do know that is true is that america has lost the last clear chance to cut a different deal. or to maintain a force in afghanistan until everyone is out or to reclaim the bagram air base to secure exits and to keep an eye on one of the most if not the most fertile terror spots in the world. so you can say this has ended, but it certainly is not over. two reasons. first, the immediate. as many as 200 americans are still there, and look, i have never trusted the numbers, not because i'm cynical. i'm just being skeptical from a practical perspective. i don't know how they know how many people there are on the

ground. and they have said themselves, even at the white house level, that they can't be sure. so they say 200. 100, 200. americans are still on the ground who want today get out and couldn't. an unknown number of families who believed america when they were told that they would be saved if they worked with u.s. troops are also still there. the concept of no man left behind is centuries old, and it is a concrete commitment that inspires loyalty. do we still believe in that commitment? the president and his secretary of state say yes. they point to an unprecedented evacuation that freed over 120,000. and that was something. and it was something impressive, we have never done anything like it before. yet why did it have to happen? that's something that must be in the analysis as well. and on top of what the president says, the secretary of state

says those who were left behind will still get out even without u.s. troops being there. even with them being in the grip of one of the most barbaric groups in the world. here's the secretary of state. >> if an american in afghanistan tells us they want to stay for now, and then in a week or a month or a year they reach out and say, i have changed my mind, we will help them leave. we have worked intensely to evacuate and relocate afghans who worked alongside us and are at risk of reprisal. we have gotten many out, but many are still there. we will keep working to help them. our commitment to them has no deadline. we will hold the taliban to its pledge to let people freely depart afghanistan. the taliban has committed to let anyone with proper documents leave the country in a safe and orderly manner. >> you know, you learn in this

business that things have to be repeated. can't just say things once. so for the record, biden didn't get us into this situation. okay. many presidents have a hand in what should be blame if you want to look at afghanistan as a failure. certainly, the most recent iteration was trump deciding to negotiate with the taliban. okay, that absolutely undercut the confidence of the government and hastened the decline. and there is no question that while biden was dealt a bad hand, he played his cards poorly as well. so that's how we got here. but going forward is going to be the true tale of the tape. and the idea of what the secretary of state just said is just hard to believe. why? because the taliban's not our friend. it is an oppressive regime. it's not about cooperating. they are in control, and now thanks to you, they are much

better equipped. how much of what america left behind or for the afghans does the taliban now have? how many of the half a million assault rifles, machine guns, and pistols? the tens of thousands of armored vehicles? the dozens of planes and choppers? how much of that stuff are they going to be using now to spread their perverse form of religion? here's them. look at them, checking out a hangar at the airport after we left. and the choppers left behind. america can't count on these people any more than those left behind can right now count on america. so that's the first reason it's not over. because we have people still there. the second reason is because this war is not over. the war is a war against terror. terror is not one group in one place. it is an idea.

and terrorism exists, and afghanistan will likely be a breeding ground once again. so how safe will we be at home now that the war is over? does anyone think about why we haven't had another 9/11 in 20 years? do you really believe that being on the ground in afghanistan wasn't part of why we didn't have another 9/11? the white house said today, we're not going to allow terrorists to grow and prosper in afghanistan. easy to say. but how? how, if you're not there? targeted air strikes. we just saw it. went after that guy from isis-k. okay, but is that what safety is about? what about intel? with no boots on the ground and the rise of isis-k and who knows what else and who else, how will america know what she needs to know? listen to what a senior isis-k

commander told cnn a little over two weeks ago, just days before kabul fell. >> with u.s. forces out of the country and the taliban potentially in control, do you think that will make it easier for you to expand? >> yes, this exists in our plan. instead of currently operating, we have turned to recruiting only to utilize the opportunity and to do our recruitment, but when the foreigners and people of the world leave afghanistan, we can restart our operations. >> think the next time you see that cat, he'll be in a shadow? remember, that group attacked last week and killed 13 american heroes. president biden will address the nation tomorrow. he cannot really be expected to tell you how they're going to get the rest of the americans and the allies out of afghanistan. but here's the question for him. can president biden reassure you that you will be just as safe here at home without america being in afghanistan? to the better minds, former cia

counterterror official phil mudd, and retired army lieutenant colonel daniel davis, who served two combat tours in afghanistan and is now a senior fellow with defense priorities. welcome to both of you. good to have you. >> thanks. >> momentous occasion, to be sure. what it means is what we will discuss. so phil, let me start with you. what does the day mean, and can president biden say to america tomorrow, we can keep you just as safe here at home without being in afghanistan? >> no, he can't say that, but i have also heard people talk about this in intelligence terms as a disaster. i would disagree with that heartily as well. you have seen some of the collection in the past few days, when there are strikes both outside kabul and inside kabul. i'm going to bet that a lot of the collection that led to those strikes will continue afterwards. some of that is remote, that is stuff like drones and intercepted communications. i expect drone operations to continue. i do not believe you will see an absence of u.s. intelligence

officers in afghanistan in the coming months and years. i expect cooperation from some of our friends there, some of the contacts we had when the soviets were around. some of those war lords are still around, i guarantee you they want to talk to the americans because the war lords don't like the taliban. another clue, the americans are moving to doha gutter. it's one of the countries with the closest relationship to the taliban. we're going to use them diplomatically to gain access to afghanistan. it's friends, it's overflights, it's things like visits to people who are closetuse. i'm not saying it's going to be easy. it will be harder. i don't think you can argue we're safe, but i don't think it's a disaster. we'll figure something out. >> adjust because it's not a disaster, phil, doesn't mean this was the right move and was done the right way. you do pick up on a good point. a couple, actually, which is just because they say no boots on the ground, colonel, doesn't mean no shoes either, right?

you can have intel people there, you can have different operatives. just because it's not an official u.s. military presence doesn't mean the u.s. is not going to be there, so the government is having a little bit both ways. sir, thank you for being on the show. what does today mean to you? >> well, i tell you, just on a personal level at first, it's a really sobering time because all of these places, whether it was bagram or kabul or a number of these other places, i spent a lot of time on the ground, and now to see the taliban is in complete control of all of that and everything that we did, all the investments we made, all the blood we spilled is literally for nothing. and the reason why that's so egregious to me is because i have been trying to tell people for well over a decade, since 2010, i said if we don't make these significant changes, we will lose the war. none of those changes were made. but the worst part is that our senior leaders at various levels knew it wasn't working and instead of being honest about the situation to the american people, they hid it so that we

continued thinking it was working. but all that did is lay the foundation for this disaster that has unfolded here now. >> one more point for each of you. first, colonel, is it fair to say that it has come to nothing when we haven't had another major foreign terrorist attack since 9/11? and one part has to be the presence in afghanistan. >> well, see, i actually argue pretty vehemently it had nothing to do with the troops in afghanistan. look, i was there when there were 150,000 u.s. and nato troops, and there were vast section of the country in 2011 that we had no acknowledgment in at all. we had no power, no influence in. so if the taliban owning a piece of terrain was going to open it up to the taliban or al qaeda or any other group, it would have already happened years ago, and then what about syria? what about iraq, what about pakistan? all these other places, somalia, where there's plenty of opportunity, but we have to defend against those places as well, and we do for the very reason you pointed out there,

because we have intelligence capabilities and we have kept ourselves safe. i don't think this makes us any less safe. >> phil, what is your take on what the colonel just said, and what do you make of the suggestion that the united states should have kept bagram? they should have kept a force there, should have kept that site and they could have used it for the exits, obviously, and could have used it as a position in control of a place that could get very deadly very quickly? >> i'm going to say i love the u.s. army. i was at cia, i was deputy director of counterterrorism, and we couldn't have done it without them. in the beginning, we did mentd know everywhere al qaeda was, and without the taking of geography, i'm not sure you could have just used the special forces and cia to move into afghanistan and eliminate the networks that were there quickly enough. we thought the next 9/11 was happening. i thought we were losing, chris, until about 2004, 2005. i thought we were losing. so i would agree with this assessment today, but in terms of taking us back to when we started, we were in deep

trouble. in terms of bagram, i don't buy it. i have flown into bagram. it's a long way to kabul. there's a lot of territory. when you're driving along the road, what the territory moans is every time you get in a car, you might get hit by an rpg, by something else or someone else, some rogue taliban element or isis-k has thrown at you. every scenario, why don't we have a stay-behind force? the taliban took the country over. where are you going to put that thing? every scenario people come up with, including bagram, i'll tell them let's have a conversation because there's a different scenario. i'm going to tell you it's worse, chris. >> let me end it with this. on 9/11, i lived it. i lost people there. 11 days later, i got engaged because i was so convinced that this was the new normal. and nothing was guaranteed. and the next day could be horrible. and if anybody had told me it wouldn't happen again for 20 years, i would have thought they were off their meds. but phil, on the intel side, colonel on the military side,

whether you want to take credit or not, as an american, i am very grateful that guys like you and the women and all the staff and all the people and the allies, 20 years, there hasn't been another major attack x i think the gratitude has to come first, even though i know there's a lot of disappointment. stop shaking your head, phil. just take it. >> thank you, u.s. army. they saved us. >> he won't even take a thanks. this is why i need you on the show more. this guy can't even take a thank you. >> i'm looking at you dressed in the chris cuomo cadaver collection. i have to get off. >> i only dress this way because it's how i feel on the inside. phil mudd, thank you. colonel davis, daniel davis, thank you for being with us. thank you for your service to the country. and i hope we get to continue having you and your perspective on the show. god bless and be well. >> look forward to more of this. >> absolutely. be well, colonel. >> look, one, i believe that you should see today, you know, you don't have to care what i say,

but don't forget how safe we have been and for how long. okay. who knows how it's going to pan out with us not being there. who knows if we can even stay out. who knows? but 20 years. okay. nobody -- look, i'm old enough to remember, i lived it in real time. nobody in the city, nobody in this country would have ever believed something like that would never happen again. and it hasn't happened for 20 years. that has to mean something. all the blood, all the treasure. that didn't come for free. now, what's the rest of the story? the people who haven't gotten out. i have one of them. she didn't want to leave when we talked to her last week. why? because there were too many people she felt she couldn't live if she didn't try to help these other people have a life as well. what is her situation now? she's on the phone. hear it for yourself next.

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we believe there are still a small number of americans under 200 and likely closer to 100 who remain in afghanistan and want to leave. we're trying to determine exactly how many. we're going through manifests and calling and texting through our lists. and we'll have more details to share as soon as possible. >> so from the theoretical and political to the reality. i want you to meet our guest, you have heard her on the show before. sarah, we're calling her, not her real name. one of the many left behind. a u.s. citizen, a former interpreter for the u.s. military, and someone who is still committed to helping the people who have been left behind by the u.s. military and government to get out. she has been trying to leave, but only if she can get these families out who have begged for her help. just to remind you of how she got to where she is today, listen to this.

>> just very sad to see them, the women, they have to kiss my feet. it's heartbreaking and i can't leave them behind. i have 19 kids in my house and two of them are disabled. i feed them. i take care of them. i can't leave this country. chris, i can't leave. i can't leave these families. they were there with us. they worked just like i did. and i can't leave them behind. >> now, sarah is joining us from the phone in kabul. sarah, do i still have you? >> yes, sir. hello, chris. >> hi. now, we were talking before we came back out of the commercial, but let's pretend we weren't so everybody can hear the same details you already relay tid t me. how do you feel on the ground there now that the united states is gone? is the mood shifting? >> i just found out that they left, and i was just silent for a while. and i just went and rocked around the rooms, and i saw the

kids are sleeping and they have no clue what happened this morning, that the last flight is gone and we're left behind. it's heartbreaking to see that, with all this, what's going on, no one heard us, that we are in danger and we need to be safe. it's heartbreaking. i just don't even know what to say to you. whoever was trying to help me and support me, even they did not tell me that the flight, this was the last flight. so i still had hope that we would leave. if not all of them, at least some kids and some mother who had disabled kids. i had hope for them, at least they could leave. but for the past 48 hours, we were all, 37 of us, were on the street going from gate to gate because the state department was giving me the instructions to follow. and i was doing that. we went gate to gate, place to place, i failed to do that

because yesterday, i was in front of moi, and we had a chance to get in. but it was a lot of people there. but i started controlling the whole crowd. i asked the crowd, if you guys want to go to the states, you guys have to allow me to talk to the military. so all the crowd pushed back, and i was the only person i was in front. i also sent a video, you can show that to the world, what i did. and i just went there by myself, and i took six of the siv kids with me, with one of the guys who pretended he is my husband. in my house, and i went by myself to the airport to see if i can make it out of here so i can go to the states. maybe i can start working and help those people who are left behind, but i went with six kids, and there's three checkpoints. the taliban ask me who are they,

so my pretend husband told them she's my wife and these are my kids and we're trying to go home. we didn't tell them we're going to the airport because as soon as we tell them we're going to the airport, they wouldn't allow us to go anywhere. we just told them our house is on the other side, and this is the only road that we can take there. so we made it -- to the gate that the state department told me to go to. i went there and they told me that make sure you have your umbrella with you. they will recognize you. make sure you have a secret code. i said okay, that's fine. i'll have that, and just get to the gate. i said okay. i got close to the gate, and they just throw a gas, i don't know how to say, the tear gas or whatever, they put that. and then i keep messaging them. hey, if they are putting this gas, i cannot get in. they're like, they're putting the gas for you so you can get close to the gate. i said fine. so i got close to the gate and i

knocked on the door and used the secret word they asked me to give. i had the umbrella really high up high so they know it's me. but nothing worked. and then i finally got closer to the gate, and i saw the tower filled up with all of the american soldiers and some civilians who had that civilian clothes on. and i start shouting, hey, i'm an american. please. they throw another gas, scand i was knocked out for maybe 15 minutes. i lost all of the kids, and i have a picture of one of the bullets, the gas bullet hit one of the kids, and a hole was ripped. so that did not help. >> so what happens now, sarah? now that they're gone, they say we'll keep working with people there, that the taliban has said that people can leave if they want to leave, and the airport will be open.

do you believe any of that? >> because they have been fooling me for past ten days back and forth, back and forth. stories after stories. i know i have a group of people who are supporting me and helping me. and they're working very hard for me to leave this country, but the only thing is i don't have one specific word to say, okay, sarah, you're clear. go. and i have been doing this. and i don't know what to believe anymore. i am completely, like, speechless. i don't know what to say, but i just can't believe no one told me this was the last flight. >> what is your biggest fear now? look, all i control is what we do on the show and thenone calls we can make. as i said to you, you know, more off television than on, i will keep telling your story. i will call anybody who you tell us you're working with to help understand the logistics of how

you get out and the other people. that isn't going anywhere, that commitment, but that's all we control. and until we figure out how you're going to get out of there, what is your biggest fear now? >> am i safe? now the question is my life. am i safe? are these people safe? i don't even think they're safe because they are in my house. because now there are more targets than ever before, because they are living in my house, and i am an american, i'm a former interpreter. i worked for 14 years, and what is next for us? we just smell the death. i'm afraid to let them go out or myself to go out. there's 37 of them in my house right now. and what is next move for me? i have no idea. but i never felt like this. i went to so many different missions with military, so many different missions and different provinces. i never had that heartbeat like i have it today, this morning, when they told me the americans

left. they left us to whom? to those people who they were always wanting to kill us? and now i am by myself here with 37 people. this is my fear, that if american could not help me when they were on the ground, how will they help me now when no one is here? that's my question. >> well, that's our question also. and the president is supposed to speak on it. >> the president is supposed to speak about it yesterday. tomorrow, but sarah, listen, i don't want to keep you on the phone because i understand that, you know, you don't have all the time to be on the phone. i know you have a lot of different things going on. we'll stay in touch. i will talk to you every day. and we will figure out what's going on. and obviously, i'll reach out, not on television, but i'll reach out. >> chris. >> yes. >> last word to you. >> please allow me to mention one more thing. i know it's short time. a few of my friends went to qatar, and they are reporting to

me about what's going on there. they told me 7,000 people are right now undocumented. they never worked with u.s. military, and they made it to qatar. and those people who are really qualified, screaming day and night for them, fighting for them, showing them their approval of siv, and they're still here with me. this is what breaks my heart. >> sarah. >> our government system is so broke that they put so many people on aircraft. >> shoot. listen, we have been hearing, by the way, who did they get out, were they the right people, were they not? we're going to hear these stories. sarah, your connection is breaking up. i'll call you after the show, and we'll loop back with each other and figure out what the next step is for you. stay safe. you understand that place. and how to keep yourself safe as well as anyone.

so i'll talk to you right after the show. thank you for talking to me. and please keep up your hope, okay. >> thank you. you too. >> thank you. >> we need prayers. >> you need more than prayers. you need help with logistics and a way out. we'll do whatever we can. god bless, stay safe. but i'm going to domore than pray. >> now, look, sarah is not the only person like that there. okay. people stayed. they took risks to help others. and now they're stuck. that's the reality. would you let her stay there? would you have left? this is a hard time. i want to turn to one of the heroes of a secret evacuation effort that helped save hundreds of afghans. the so-called pineapple express. have you heard about this? next. e that scuff-free life. honey, i'm home! honey! scuff defense. right now, get incredible savings

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all right. did you hear about this dangerous secret mission last wednesday in the cover of night? 500 afghan allies and their families brought to safety at the kabul airport through an underground network called the pineapple express. so-called shepherds or former special ops forces and cia comrades worked with military inside the airfield who defied

orders by leaving airport perimeters to pull in people flashing pineapples on their phones. jason redman was part of the mission. good to have you on primetime. i appreciate you, brother. tell people why you had to do this. >> chris, thanks for having me on. and you know, the reality is this administration, this government made a promise to not only the american people but made a promise to the amazing afghan allies that we work with. these individuals who had worked side by side with us, who had sacrificed, who had placed themselves in harm's way, who for 20 years had frequently saved our lives. and when the government made this abrupt pullout, there were so many of them, just like sarah talked about, everything she talks about we can validate. we were wincing it, not on the ground, but virtually through all of these individuals, we were seeing it.

and stopman is the founder of the pineapple and came up with this idea to bring out one guy and they successfully did it. and then everybody else said, you know what, we have individuals, and we said this isn't right. we need to honor this promise. honor the promise that this administration made to these people. and that's what we're doing. we're now committed to this. we have gotten out over 650 americans, afghan veterans, allies, interpreters, numerous vips, and we're continuing to do it. we had to make a shift with the u.s. government pulling out, this is going to get much more difficult. >> so what is your biggest concern going forward? >> you know, it's just like sarah talked about. we have a lot of individuals. we know for a fact that there's at least, you know, from what the state department is putting out, over 200 american citizens. we're in a contact with a lot of them, so they're our highest priority, to figure out how to get them out. next to them, we have thousands

upon thousands of amazing afghans. i mean, individuals who were promised, who were promised that, you know, through our special immigrant visas that we would bring them to the united states and give them a new life. i mean, many of these individuals are more americans than some of the american citizens we have. they have done so much for us, and that's why we said we're going to honor that promise. so moving forward, we really need the support. we need the support of the american people. we need you to go lean on your political leaders. you know, for us, there will be a time to point fingers, but task force pineapple, wee not interested in that. we're focused on getting these people out. it doesn't matter. it's not a right issue, not a left issue. it's we're not going to leave anyone behind. that is our goal. this situation on the ground is incredibly dynamic. we already know there are atrocities occurring. we have gotten reports from families of rapes. we have gotten reports from our families of assassinations and killings. and now we're up against the clock. and we have to work and figure

out how can we do this? so i really hope we lean on our political leaders. we want to work with you, we want to try to help get these people out. >> let's do this. first of all, thank you. second, in the break, i'll give you my number. you tell me what information you want me to give people about how they can help. how they can help with your efforts. if you want, i can hook you up with sarah. and see if there's something you guys can do on your side to help her. former navy s.e.a.l., i would expect no less of someone like you, but i know there are a lot of people involved in this, and you're just one. but i appreciate you for doing it, jason redman, and all i control is my word, and this platform, and i promise i'll do what i can to help. and i'll be with you. i'll be with you in the break to talk to you about it, jason, but everybody else, let's take a quick break and when we come back, i want to update you on what's happening with ida. we're just starting to learn how much pain there is in this country. you'll see for yourself right after this.

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two crises. first, i know you guys were moved by what jason is doing and

how scared sarah is. i feel you. thank you. operation recovery.org. operationrecovery.org. that's how you can help what they're doing with the pineapple express. as i get information, i'll give it to you. a crisis abroad. i can't believe it either. i can't believe that's where we are left in terms of how to get people out of the country. i can't believe it but that's where we are and we'll see who steps up and who doesn't. >> now the crisis at home. hurricane ida. we're just starting to learn how horrible it's going to be down there. forget about the anniversary of katrina. it's about what's happening right now and what it's going to be like for weeks and months for people in louisiana. and elsewhere. jefferson parish, specifically, evacuees are being told to stay away while rescues go on. you can see why. take a look. i mean, look. remember, you know, you have learned this but we have to reacclimate ourselves each time. this water goes away but everything that was wet is now

ruined. and homes under water, some fortunately are built up there. in fact, a lot of them are. but they can still get wet. things still have to be done before they can be habitable. a woman handing over a baby to rescue teams. this is the reality there again. we're hearing the reports. i'm sure you are, too. people trapped in attics. people trapped on roofs. power could be out for weeks in hot, humid, wet conditions. cynthia lee shang is the president of jefferson parish. she's joining us now. i know you were out all day surveying. what do you want people to know? first, let's start at home. how are you? how is your family? is everybody okay? >> thank you. thanks for asking, chris. yeah, i got my family out early. i was warning and telling everybody to get their families out, and my family got out as well. it's good to be able to work knowing your family is safe and everybody here who is working got their family out.

>> what are you seeing? >> so two things. you know, well, lots of things going on. i was able to get to the lafitte area, the area where the mayor called me and said i think water is rising. we knew people were stuck all night in their attics, as the water was rising. so our teams, i'm so proud of our first responder teams, our jefferson parish's office, they went out as soon as day break happened. i mean, as soon as they had any light, they had a strategy. last night, they rescued 27 people. tonight, over 100 people. and it's not an easy rescue. it's way into liken it to a swamp. you have to go in way deep. the water comes out of that area for about a mile. it is, i hope we can get some cameras on there and the footage on there because you can't appreciate how much water it is if you don't know what it looked like before to see how far the water has come out of that area. >> how much of that community is in and around the parish do you

think have still not been contacted? >> well, i think the people who were able to get out of their house and ask for help, they got out. believe it or not, there's a lot of people still in there. the boats were going back and forth, and they were just waving to us. and they're going to stay. so you know, it's going to be another dark night for them, but they didn't want to leave their home prestorm, and now they don't want to leave their home either. the teams stopped for the night. it's evening, and they're going to resume again tomorrow. they were able to get out a lot of people and anybody definitely asking for help. >> do you have a handle on how many people didn't make it? >> no, i know there was one fatality. and then i'm hoping that number stays the same, but you know, chris, i think until the water recedes and until they go into every home, we're not going to know where we are. i'm hoping it stays with one fatality. >> right now, is there anything you need that i can put out the word out for? >> well, the state is working for us. we need to get the people out of

here. obviously, you know, we're telling our people not to come home. and then the people here, it's not modern day amenities we have. we have no electricity. we have very little to no telecommunications. we have low water pressure so we don't have clean drinking water. our sewer system is going to be very vulnerable. we're going to start having sewer backups. so we're having a lot of issues. it's hot, there's no air conditioning. the stores are closed. so we're surviving now, but it's going to be a rough time. so we don't want our citizens to come back, and actually, some of the people who rode out the storm here are probably going to leave. >> you know how to get us. you let us know what you need. you let us know if you're not getting the resources from the state, what the federal is supposed to do and whatever it is. and we'll get after anybody that you need us to. cynthia, be safe. thank you for what you're doing for your people. >> thank you. >> all right, we'll be right back with lieutenant general russel honore. you know him very well from katrina. he understands the situation.

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i shouldn't have been so quick to say forget about the katrina thing. of course that matters. 16 years ago to the day i like many people were on the ground in louisiana after katrina. i was there for rita. i think the biggest thing to remind you of is it wasn't horrible right away. okay? remember, the levees broke down there. then it was time and saturation and people can't get out and it was looting and disease and horrible and about dirty water and having to get people out. people being forgotten. this time td levees held up but there is still a long road.

there are more than a million customers in the dark tonight and it is hot and humid and water all over the place. people get so sick so fast in these conditions. keep in mind this is a state that is already sick. it's been hit very hard by covid. in louisiana 88% of the icu beds are already full. nearly half of them are full with covid patients. mississippi, florida have the highest covid case rates over the past week. more than 5,000 national guard members are working the search and rescue. we know we got the best of people. we know that the best of ourselves come out in this situation. but remember, we don't even know how bad this is going to be. it is going to be weeks and months. you know lieutenant general russell honore from leading the first army's response back then. he joins us now. always a pleasure, sir. >> good evening. >> just quickly give people a sense of why they have to keep their eyes on that part of the country for days and weeks to come. >> well, right now the focus has

to be on, i think, the fact that the grid is broke. it was broke by mother nature. no electricity to critical infrastructure, trying to put generators in there that require fuel. most of the fuel supply is drained. in a couple days even the police department is going to have trouble getting gas. so that is a key denominator with the grid broke, the major internet provider at&t is broke, and people can't communicate. if you can't communicate you can't coordinate. several of the 911 systems were down because the storm broke it. the network is down. that being said, i heard more people talking today about looting than an evacuation. we need to plan an evacuation of this area. you can't maintain a million people without clean drinking

water and sewage systems working and with streets flooded in some cases. we need to be getting the word out because fema will have the capability where you can get a hotel voucher. that message needs to get out. you know what, chris? the people who really need to be hearing this don't have electricity. many of them don't have a way to power their phones up. if they're lucky they might have an old time radio that they might get this message but the people who really need to know what is going on are not listening to this message. so i hope the leadership is listening. and they are able to pass information to people as they rescue them or pass them in the street and tell them, hey. >> they got to do the job but they have to have the infrastructure. we'll stay on the story and i'll come back to you for help on this. i appreciate you. russell honore. stay safe. >> good evening. >> we'll be right back. how much you'll need,

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they say the lord doesn't give you more than you can handle. we're sure testing that right now. just got off the phone with one of my pals stuck in louisiana trying to keep his wife from coming back home. a lot of trouble. and you are very lucky to have don lemon tonight on his big show because he understands that part of the country as well as anybody. so, d, they're saying we got to push our leaders to make good with the hotel vouchers as soon as possible because with no power assuming they can find hotels in places with power, you know, with no power, sewage on the fritz, water is going to get dirty fast and people won't have anything to drink. another great tip i just got is if you're stuck but your car has on star, on star is working. this guy is able to communicate