microsoft is up 1.2%. that is a rally. quick reminder before we go. president trump will join me tomorrow 9:00 a.m. eastern. we're talking afghanistan. the former president appears on the program sharp at 9:00 tomorrow morning. interesting insights where we go from here on a day when america finally leaves afghanistan. neil cavuto, sir. it is yours. neil: all right, stuart, thank you, very, very much looking forward to that. meantime we're all over the storms that are developing all and you the world. obviously in afghanistan, the fallout from hurricane now, tropical storm ida, how it will impact the oil markets, the energy market, the stock market. so far so good at least when it comes to market reaction to all the developments. we have you covered with grady trimble and casey stegall, jennifer griffin, edward lawrence. let's first go to casey stiegel in baton rouge on the fallout from now a tropical storm that left a lot of messes in its

wake. what can you tell us, casey? reporter: yeah, neil. hurricane ida really did a number on louisiana as it made landfall yesterday. then parked itself, moved very, very slowly, dumping so much rain, bringing so much wind and storm surge. driving around the area just impossible. you see good samaritans at work down there. they have been running chainsaws for the last 45 minutes or so trying to clear a tree that has made the louisiana 73 bridge here between baton rouge into ascension parish impassable. entergy crews, even though they have 20,000 lineman, not just here but all over the country out working to get power restored. they're overwhelmed. good samaritanses doing the job. you can see over to the side here, that power line just

leaning. so many people, more than a million in louisiana without electricity right now. ascension parish is where we are right now. close to prairieville with the only fatality of the storm we know of happened after a tree fell on a man's house crushing him. some heaviest rain fell east of baton rouge in communities like denham springs. new orleans, coastal louisiana was a whole different story. those are definitely the hardest hit. we met this man this morning with his daughter, who was coming back after evacuating the his home. it is fine but his concerns remain. >> i feel okay. i'm just, i'm worried about my family. don't know what to do from here. just trying to, trying to let it all sink in, trying to figure things out. reporter: again the worst of it is around new orleans, particularly south of

new orleans, the coastal areas. this is video from lafuge paris. the new orleans, coastal louisiana. you're looking surveillance video from a house or restaurant before ida hit. then transferring to the same shot afterwards there in port fourchon. you can see all of the water came up very, very quickly from that powerful surge that was driven by winds sustained of more than 100 miles an hour for several hours. so again, this is a search and recovery effort at this point. you have personnel with the coast guard. you have the national guard deployed about 5400 national guard troops working around the state in addition to more than 1000 emergency personnel that are on boats and other special equipment carrying out some rescues of people in the lower lying areas that did not heed

the evacuation orders. but we mentioned a million plus people in louisiana alone without power. neil, the governor says that people need to be prepared to have power in someplace, be prepared to go without for weeks, possibly, until the infrastructure is replaced. back to you. neil: wow, just incredible, my friend, thank you very much. casey stegall touched on it. we'll elaborate in next couple hours. the gulf coast is vital to the chemical industry, the oil industry. so much of that stuff churns from this region. already some oil facilities in that neck of the woods inshoulding shell and phillips 66 have yet to reopen. a fraction of the normal production that would come out of gulf is not coming out of the gulf. you know the drill on that one. no pun intended. the less supply we have available over all demand, not as high as you would think.

oil about $69.95 a barrel. we will keep you posted on that. the other storm brewing for just couple weeks in afghanistan, tomorrow is the deadline, jennifer with that, that is when we pull out. how do things look? >> that's right, neil, tomorrow the deadline 3:30 p.m. eastern, midnight kabul time. the danger to u.s. troops in the next coming hours cannot be overstated. u.s. troops continue to come under attack as we saw several attacks this weekend. last night we reported on five rockets fired at the kabul airport. we just learned at the pentagon briefing that one made it through u.s. defenses and hit the airport. >> you just said one rocket landed with no effect to the mission. you mean it landed inside the airport perimeter? >> it landed inside the perimeter and had no effect whatsoever. >> these isis-k fighters or

planners that you have targeted with drone strikes in the last few days, are any of them, were they released from the bagram prison or the prison where known combatants were inside of those prisons? >> i don't think we have that information. reporter: u.s. forces launched a second drone strike yesterday t destroyed a vehicle that was carrying suicide bombers but the pentagon says it was the secondary explosions from the explosive inside the vehicle may have killed civilians. they're investigating in terms of americans evacuated, the pentagon said 5400 have been evacuated. the secretary of state said about 300 americans may be left. that number may be down to about 100 now. i asked the pentagon press secretary why the u.s. did not evacuate these americans before its forces left bagram airbase in july? >> you were essentially stopped by the state department beginning this evacuation? >> i wouldn't say that i don't think it is important right now

to get into internal deliberations. our expectation was the ghani government would be stay in place. no one could imagine how quickly that government would have literally dissipated almost overnight. there was no way to predict that. reporter: the pentagon says 26 c-17, military transport planes flew out with 100 evac you east, auld indicating that the military is focusing on removing military personnel and the equipment to meet the president and taliban deadline at 3:39 p.m. eastern tomorrow. neil? neil: no chance that is extended? reporter: no chance that is extended, not according to our sources, got it. thank you, jennifer griffin at the pentagon. let's go to edward lawrence how the administration is dealing with the twin storms. talking about ida and of course

the ongoing crisis in afghanistan, with 24 hours to go, doesn't help matters any. edward? reporter: there is certain tension what will happen within the next 24 hours. you heard jennifer griffin talk about the attacks the u.s. made in response to the suicide bomb attacks. the threat is still there on the ground in afghanistan. 122,000 people, allies, as well as american citizens what the u.s. is saying, that they have evacuated out of kabul at this point. so this weekend, again, that drone strike against isis targets in afghanistan, killing two possible isis-k members wounding one more. talk about the money for a second. the legitimate afghan government was supposed to get money from around the globe that. has been frozen now. about $3 billion has been allocated already to help with security in afghanistan for this fiscal year from the united states. representative rob whitman says that that money and three billion more asked for in the next fiscal budget needs to go

to overall counterterrorism instead. listen? >> i think the priority should be to have the resources there to have a robust, counterterrorism operation in south asia. we have abandoned all of that. think about this. think about the equipment that we left behind in the hands of the taliban. that is another opportunity that they have to do harm against us and our friends. reporter: representative whitman says there needs to be a 9/11 style commission report on afghanistan and this botched exit for this. over the weekend the president also going to dover, delaware. he met 13 servicemembers who were killed in the suicide attack in afghanistan. he was there for that. then right after that he visited fema headquarters for a briefing about the second storm the administration is facing right now, hurricane ida, hurricane 4 when it hit the u.s. knocking out power as you heard to a million people. president they having he would get questions about the storm. listen to this. >> mr. president on

afghanistan -- >> i will not answer afghanistan. okay. reporter: officials still calling ida an extremely dangerous storm. as you heard one person has been killed there. back to you, neil. neil: you know viscerally, that is the president doesn't want to go beyond what he said on afghanistan. when it comes up he is not happy about it. i'm just surprised because you know these are twin crises he has to deal with. picking and choosing when it comes to afghanistan, it just gets old, idea of dismissing it. he wants to be on the hurricane. i get that, could show more control on the part of the president but he can't ignore what is going on half a world away. reporter: it could go back to politics in a more cynical view of it. i mean in the hurricane he possibly could have good numbers. his response so far has been good by the federal government in responding to the victims and people in need for the hurricane in afghanistan. the response as you know we

well-documented in the past few weeks botched from beginning to end with this. the president wants to be seen out there on a topic he could possibly poll better in. a topic he polls worse in obviously is the afghanistan, talking about lives lost to the u.s. military as well as threats ongoing before they leave in the next 24 hours. neil: even there you would think he could pivot, say what you will about the clumsy start of all of this, not anticipating the collapse of the government, better than 114,000 people have been airlifted out of the country even there he doesn't want to talk about it. i think it heightens some of the anxieties people are feeling and -- go ahead. finish. reporter: the images to this. you have the president when he is asked about it, turn around, turn his back to you to walk away. we have at least five instances where he has done that. those images are not ones the white house wants to have out there. neil: yeah. i hear you, my friend. edward lawrence following all of

these developments here. we try not to play politics here but presidents don't like being forced to talk about things that were, shall we say unpleasant and then some. ronald reagan after the beirut barracks bombing in october 1983, didn't really relish be questioned on that. why we were not prepared for those attacks or jfk on the bay of pigs. the fact of the matter these questions come up and not addressing them or ignoring them, hoping someone moves on to another subject, generally history shows it doesn't happen. we'll have more after this. as someone who resembles someone else... i appreciate that liberty mutual knows everyone's unique. that's why they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. [ nautical horn blows ] i mean just because you look like someone else doesn't mean you eat off the floor,

or yell at the vacuum, or need flea medication. oh, yeah. that's the spot. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ advil dual action fights pain 2 ways. it's the first and only fda approved combination of advil plus acetaminophen. advil targets pain. acetaminophen blocks it. advil dual action. fast pain relief that lasts 8 hours. that building you're trying to buy, - you should ten-x it. - ten-x it? ten-x is the world's largest online commercial real estate exchange. you see it. you want it. you ten-x it. it's that fast. if i could, i'd ten-x everything. like... uh... these salads. or these sandwiches... ten-x does the same thing, but with buildings. sweet. oh no, he wasn't... oh, actually... that looks pretty good. see it. want it. ten-x it. yum!

that spin class was brutal. well, you can try using the buick's massaging seat. oh. yeah, that's nice. can i use apple carplay to put some music on? sure, it's wireless. what's your buick's wi-fi password? it's buick envision. that's a really tight spot. i used to hate parallel parking. me too! the all-new buick envision. built around you. all of you. pay no interest for 72 months plus current eligible buick owners get $500 purchase allowance on most 2021 buick suv models. buick owners get $500 purchase allowance we did it again. verizon has been named america's most reliable network by rootmetrics. and our customers rated us #1 for network quality in america according to j.d. power. number one in reliability, 16 times in a row. most awarded for network quality, 27 times in a row. proving once again that nobody builds networks like verizon. that's why we're building 5g right, that's why there's only one best network.

(announcer) looking for a better way to lose weight and feel good? how about the one with the 98% success rate and the more affordable weight loss solution? that's golo. there are no monthly fees and it's guaranteed to work or you don't pay. how can golo offer all of that? because it's not like any of those diets you've already tried. it's the new way to lose weight. no stimulants, no starving, just results. results you'll keep for life. no more sacrificing to lose weight only to put it back on. no more sacrificing, period. it improves your lifestyle and delivers incredible results. with over 2 million satisfied customers, golo is the new way to lose weight. this is the only program i have ever done that i have never deprived myself of anything. (announcer) if what you're currently doing to lose weight isn't working,

or you feel like diets don't work, you're right. don't give up. get golo. go to golo.com and get your life back, with golo. (chorus) golo! neil: tropical storm but what a swath of flooding and winds and damage in its wake. now suddenly moving north, promising to bring a lot more of that wind, rain, flooding along with it. let's go to janice dean in the weather center with more. janice, what can we expect now? >> hi, neil it, will be a flooding event. made a landfall at category 4, borderline 5 hurricane. one of the strongest louisiana has seen, 172 mile-an-hour wind gusts yesterday. it is on the move to the north and east. ii want to show you when we categorize these things. this was a very strong cat-4.

they don't happen very often, 150 miles an hour sustained winds, seven miles shy of what would be a category 5. we need to take this seriously even though it's a tropical storm, i don't want you to let your guard down. we have threat of heavy rainfall, tornadoes across parts of mississippi, alabama, florida panhandle. with the landfalling tropical systems we have a chance for tropical tornadoes. typically they are weak but they can cause damage on top of catastrophic damage, we'll see when we see aerial footage of the area affected by this storm. there is the fact we could see tornadoes throughout the day today, across a widespread area. heavy rainfall, we saw on order of 13, 14 inches of rain in a very short period of time. that is rainfall, not storm surge which inundated the area. really the most vulnerable place on the gulf coast is around the new orleans region.

that is exactly where the bull's-eye was. there is the flood advisory. not only parts of louisiana in towards mississippi, alabama, florida, but all the way up to the tennessee and ohio river valley. here are wind gusts. winds will not be the story. it will be a flooding story. it will be widespread because we have flood advisories up for over 30 million people, getting into very heavily populated areas. neil, central tennessee last week received over 17 inches of rain in a matter of hours. that wasn't a tropical system. that was a frondal area that brought all of this moisture. so it doesn't take a named storm to bring incredible damage. that is what i'm afraid of as we go through the next couple of days to some of these highly populated neighborhoods across tennessee, kentucky, up towards the mid atlantic and the northeast as well as new england which got hit hard by henri last weekend. that is my concern heading forward. don't pay attention to the fact this is a weakening tropical

system. we'll still potentially see a lot of heavy rainfall damage because of the flooding concerns. the ground is saturated t can't take anymore rain. all of it will be runoff. there is the flash flood risk not only for the gulf coast, the area which saw a hurricane but up towards the mid-south, mid-atlantic up towards the northeast. i'm afraid right now we'll start to see the pictures right? there is a lag between the forecast of the hurricane and the devastation we see afterwards. so, neil this will go down in the record books as one of the worst hurricanes louisiana has ever seen. neil: just incredible. janice, thank you very much for that, janice dean on all of this. a lot of people when they see coverage of the hurricane go to immediate stress over this sort of stuff what does this have to do with me? my good friend phil flynn has been following this. even if you're not in the path of the storm, you're affected by

this storm. so much oil, chemical and a lot of other things are produced or come out of that region. right now they're all but still shuttered. so phil flynn, the fallout would be what? >> higher gasoline prices and more shortages of products that we're already having a hard time with the supply chain getting so this is a real big blow to all of america, not just to louisiana area. i think it can affect the economy. now, the hope is of course, that impact will be short-lived. that they will be able to bring things back online but we're still just getting reports in just how bad this can be, neil. the good news we're hearing major refineries. shell for example, said that our baton rouge refinery didn't sustain major damage but at the same time we'll shut it down because we can't get feedstock.

so for example, crude oil to run the refinery. they have to shut that down. they may have flaring incidents. other refineries need to restart but you need the whole system to work. there are pipelines that need to shut down. colonial pipeline one and two was shut down for precautionary purposes. if you look at some refineries we don't have reports in yet. as janice dean said there will be a lot of flooding a lot of issues. until we get more answers there will be volatility in price. if you look at gasoline prices when they opened up on sunday night they were up over 10 cents. they came all the way back down three or four cents and part of that is the uncertainty because traders just don't know how bad things are. early reports are it is not going to be as bad as we feared. that doesn't mean we'll get off the hook. neil: still there is this bounce back i don't think many would have expected maybe this could be a lot worse to your earlier point, phil. i'm wondering demand is still

strong. there are other bigger factors how we get out of this pandemic, and all that i get that, but play out the fall energy price situation after labor day and where we stand? >> i think you hit the nail on the head. the biggest unknown is what is going to happen with covid-19 and its offshoot. it is going to shut the economy down. that is the big wild card but based off what we're seeing right now demand for gasoline continues to be incredibly strong. you know almost at record levels for this time of year. so what we would expect is that could continue into the end of the year. now this week opec plus, our favorite guys, you know, opec and their favorite coconspirator russia are going to -- with extra barrels this week, so they promised. kuwait is saying wait a second, maybe opec plus we shouldn't be raising production, we should

pause to see how bad this covid demand destruction may or may not be? looks like opec will go ahead with the expected 400,000-barrel production increase in september but it is not official yet. there still could be some drama in opec this week. neil: phil flynn, thank you very much, my friend. as you can see there, oil a little north of $69 a barrel. for now we have a 10% drop last week, stablizing today. still early, to phil's point anything can and probably will happen. switching over to afghanistan after this, the deadline that is fast approaching, just how many more will get out? if any get out? after this. perfect house. yeah, we couldn't believe the deal we got. just lucky i guess. (sfx: airplane flying overhead) we're a little closer to the airport than we thought... (sfx: airplane grounded outside the house)

at least geico makes bundling our home and car insurance easy. saving us so much money. -hi. -how was your flight? -good. -good. morning, ted. for bundling made easy, go to geico.com.

♪ music playing. ♪ there's an america we build ♪ ♪ and one we explore one that's been paved and one that's forever wild but freedom means you don't have to choose just one adventure ♪ ♪ you get both. introducing the all-new 3-row jeep grand cherokee l

jeep. there's only one.

♪. >> 700 years we felt we should not be begging taliban to let

americans pass their checkpoint. we're talking about the taliban and we're the united states of america. we don't ask anyone permission. we shouldn't ask anyone's permission. neil: all right, tomorrow at this time it will be very close to winding down our operations in and our presence in afghanistan after the better part of two decades as to whether anymore can get out, at least substantial number. latest from trey yingst in doha, qatar. what are you seeing? reporter: pentagon says they have been able to evacuate about 1200 people but the clock is ticking and it is unclear if anymore civilians will be able to make their way out of the country. according to u.s. officials that a core group of diplomatic staff in the u.s. embassy that was operating out of the airport, left afghanistan. that rocket attack overnight

against kabul's airport highlighting dangers that american troops on the ground are facing right now in last hours of country. there are disturbing reports that afghan-american university students are being turned away from the airport. "new york times" said a group of students gathered yesterday at a safe house, then took buses to the kabul airport. after waiting for seven hours they were informed they would not be able to fly out. one student received an email from the university quote, i regret to inform you that the high command in the airport announced there will be no more rescue flights. this comes as hundreds of american citizens remain in afghanistan. now the acting u.s. ambassador took to twitter today tweeting, quote, this is a high-risk operation. claims that american citizens have been turned away or denied access to hqia or staff or embassy sources are false. neil, this time tomorrow will be extremely close hours away from the evacuation mission wrapping up. if there are american citizens or special immigrant visa

holders outside of the gates they will be stuck in afghanistan. neil? neil: trey, thank you very much. my friend trey yingst, thank you very much. chris miller, former acting secretary of defense in the trump administration. secretary, good to have you. it looks like we might finish with 114,000 to 115,000 eventually, evacuated out of, out of afghanistan but still thousands who as things stand now will never be. what do you think of that? >> neil, i can fundamentally disagree with the conjecture, that, i want to talk to the people in afghanistan right now that are listening to this show or watching this show before the taliban cut down the television feeds which will happen soon. that is part of their playbook. don't give up hope. there are tons of americans, international community members dedicated to getting you out. we haven't given up and although the digital dunkirk, aerial

evacuation portion is over, we'll keep working on this. neil, i represent special operations association of america, soaa.org. we have people all over the world right now helping out. i got to give, got to tell you, you had the reporter out of qatar. they have done an unbelievable job. do you realize we had an agreement they were supposed to support 5000 people. they have 45,000 people on the ground. other countries are doing the same. don't give up. we're just getting going. i know it is very, very dark and desperate times. it will be even more chaotic in the next 24 hours. our forces are doing what is called breakout from encirclement. the most complicated and dangerous military operation known. they will do it, they will do it well but it will get really chaotic in the next 24, neil. neil: secretary, do you look back at situation you served, we never know how things would have

been with president trump being in power negotiating with the taliban was a mistake? the very things they promised to they didn't hold to? >> that is a very important question you ask and one you're struggling with. when you're winding down wars, particularly insurgencies-like we did in afghanistan, ultimately you you have to your enemy and opponent to bring it to an end. we definitely had a different plan going forward. i'm pretty confident we would have avoided this chaotic departure. i'm quite confident of that. neil: how do you know, secretary? i know it is difficult, the fact that the government fell so quickly was not even on the horizon. in your negotiations, with the taliban, not you particularly, sir, the administration, i'm wondering if that inability to comprehend of the magnitude of the government's ability to hold

on with something bipartisan in nature there was just, no way anyone appreciated how quickly this collapse would come? >> neil, completely predictable for those of us who have spent our time on the ground, out in the villages in tribes and what not. let me tell you, we took the country down. i was part of that. part of 200 person, 200 people from special operations and the intelligence community brought the taliban regime to an end the first time. i felt very, very confident that the same 200 could have provided support to the afghan national security forces, brought in air support, brought in medical evacuation, brought in logistic support. train how you're going to fight what we talk about in the military. we train the afghan national security forces, the afghan army to have sort of enablers they call, that support, we pulled it away from them and left them hanging. of course they will go, of course, you know, i'm sitting here fighting all the things

thaw trained me to do, taught me to expect are not there we could have continued to provide that with a very, very small foot print. that is what we have special operations for. that is what soaa is about and we have great paramilitary officers in the intelligence community. i fundamentally disagree this was predictable. neil: that might be the case. there is no denying your own personal capacity to do just that but in the prior administration the idea of getting hostages out of there, obviously nothing like we're dealing with today, sir, i granter you, it just wasn't there. it was not part of the taliban settlement. maybe would have been later on had this es indicated, we won't know, but when i hear how president trump and others in the administration how differently it would have been handled under them, i see the negotiations ultimately that were drawn and agreed to i just wonder, this concern now for the

fate of afghanis, was it there with the former president when he was signing off on a deal that would eventually wind down our troops months before his successor ever did and that would have been a very different ending? >> well, special immigrant visa program, our obligations to afghans were always on our mind. you're right, expose facto history cannot really predict that would have happened. we were voted out of office and left the administration on the 20th of january. they had seven months. i can't predict that. going forward we have great americans and great people that will keep working on this and, so it is not over yet. i just hope, thanks for doing the show because what we really need to do the american public needs to continue to pay attention to this. i know britney spears legal court drama is important, don't get me wrong but we can't just shift our attention away like we do so often. you continuing with your show, keeping this, keeping this

visible will be really, really important and again, neil, i'm telling you, we've got capability. we can do this. it's dark, it's kind of a stain on our reputation as americans but we can get out of this and help the people that deserve to get our help. neil: all right. we'll watch it very closely. secretary, thank you for taking the time. christopher miller, former acting secretary of defense, special operations association of america chairman, retired u.s. army officer. we have a lot more coming up including the fallout from a hurricane, now tropical storm eyed today. we're learning how the president will be meeting with fema administration and governors, mayors of regions affected. that will happen about an hour from now. stay with us. you're watching fox business. ♪. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

[sfx: radio being tuned] welcome to allstate. ♪ [band plays] ♪ a place where everyone lives life well-protected. ♪♪ and even when things go a bit wrong, we've got your back. here, things work the way you wish they would. and better protection costs a whole lot less. you're in good hands with allstate. click or call for a lower auto rate today.

neil: they were kicking us around. now it is official the eu set to recommend non-essential travel from the u.s. stops, citing the spike in cases here. they prefer, if you're american, you have proof first of all that you've been vaccinated but if push comes to shove, they don't want you even then unless it is essential travel. let's go to jackie deangelis. she has been following this story very closely. jackie, what can you tell us? reporter: good afternoon, to you, neil. this feels like a little bit after setback because of the increase of coronavirus cases in the united states due to delta variant as you mentioned. the eu is proposing this new travel ban. this action is halting northern essential travel from the united states to the countries in the eu this has been apparently in discussion at high levels for the last month or so as leaders watch the united states infection rate rise surpassing the rate they're seeing in the

eu under eu rules they can consider removing countries from a safe list they have. any country with over 75 new covid cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the previous 14 days. the u.s. infection rate was well above that level earlier in the summer, but they used other factors, mitigating factors, if you will to hold off making a drastic decision sooner. recall the flights from the u.s. and your rob started to rise again when the eu opened doors to u.s. travelers that was beginning of july. spain and portugal were hot destinations for tourism this summer. it will be difficult economically speaking t feels we're taking steps backwards, when we think about the vaccine, helping make strides forward. when we talk about travel, how it started again. there was increased optimism, the badly hurt and still struggling tourism industry would perk up but those hopes are in question again, neil. neil: thank you for that.

jackie deangelis on all of that. meanwhile the great inflation watch, everyone last weekend what's jerome powell will say, what will he do about slowly tapering back the number of treasury securities he buys, a lot of it is based on the view of inflation is transitory. most disagree with this notion that it will be a soon fleeting, pass phenomenon, when you look at lumber, you wonder whether the secretary could be or chairman could be. take a look at lumber prices, they have declined 20% this month alone. they're down 70 plus percent from their highs. and it has a lot of people wondering what is going on here? this is per thousand cubic board feet. phil, maybe it's a one-off but do you think this is something that inflationwise could rub off? in other words what is going on in lumber could be a preview to

something similar with other commodity spikes? >> i don't think that is necessarily the case. if you look at the lumber situation there are a lot of factors that were driving it up. we were in $1400 board feet. people couldn't afford it anymore. they went to alternatives. builders stopped buying lumber. went to steel two-by-fours. we saw the prices crash. we saw a little bit of a slow down in the housing numbers today because of those high prices. you have to keep in perspective, when you look at run-up in lumber, look how fast it went up initially to 1400. everybody says, oh, my goodness, it is great, crashed back down but it is 400% higher than a couple years ago. so we're seeing inflation in cycles. i think we'll see that in a lot of commodities. you know, if you look at, for example, coffee today. coffee is one of my favorites.

i'm personally responsible for driving those markets every day depending on cups. we're pushing $2 on coffee which is a very high price. if you look at the all the commodities we don't go straight up every day. i think they go in cycles. i think the commodity rally across the board is here. commodities are very volatile up and down but over time you will see them continue to move higher. you have the peaks and valleys but i think inflation for commodities is here to stay. neil: all right, phil flynn, thank you very, very much. big open question now that europeans imposed travel restrictions on americans, is whether this further delays the coming out of the pandemic? certainly abroad it could. you're seeing similar efforts to tighten travel along borders with the canada, united states, u.s. and mexico it, goes on region by region. the other sign coming out of this it will be bumpy. you hope fewer bumps but still

bumpy. stick with us. ♪ they guide me with achievable steps that give me confidence. this is my granddaughter...she's cute like her grandpa. voya doesn't just help me get to retirement... ...they're with me all the way through it. voya. be confident to and through retirement. to run a growing business, is to be on a journey. and along the ride, you'll have many questions. challenges. and a few surprises. but wherever you are on your journey. your dell technologies advisor is here for you - with the right tech solutions. so you can stop at nothing for your customers. what makes new salonpas arthritis gel so good for arthritis pain? with the right tech solutions. salonpas contains the most prescribed topical pain relief ingredient. it's clinically proven, reduces inflammation and comes in original prescription strength.

salonpas. it's good medicine. liberty mutual customizes car insurance so you only pay for what you need. how much money can liberty mutual save you? one! two! three! four! five! 72,807! 72,808... dollars. yep... everything hurts. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ 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. it's time for the biggest sale of the year, on the new sleep number 360 smart bed. it helps keep you effortlessly comfortable by sensing your movements and automatically responding to both of you. and, it's temperature balancing to help you stay comfortable all night. it even tracks your circadian rhythm, so you know when you're at your best. in other words, it's the most energy-building, wellness-boosting, parent-powering, proven quality night's sleep we've ever made. don't miss our weekend special where all smart beds are on sale. save 50% on the new sleep number 360 limited edition smart bed. plus, 0% interest for 60 months. ends monday. and there you have it— -woah. wireless on the most reliable network nationwide. wow! -big deal! ...we get unlimited for just $30 bucks. sweet, but mine has 5g included. relax people, my wireless is crushing it. that's because you all have xfinity mobile with your internet.

it's wireless so good, it keeps one upping itself. switch to xfinity mobile and save hundreds on your wireless bill. plus, save up to $400 when you purchase a new samsung phone or upgrade your existing phone. learn more at your local xfinity store today. so many people are overweight now, and asking themselves, "why can't i lose weight?" for most, the reason is insulin resistance, and they don't even know they have it. conventional starvation diets don't address insulin resistance. that's why they don't work. now there's release from golo. it naturally helps reverse insulin resistance, stops sugar cravings, and releases stubborn fat all while controlling stress and emotional eating. at last, a diet pill that actually works. go to golo.com to get yours. ♪. neil: all right. we told you about the roughly 114,000 who have been evacuated out of afghanistan to date. now most of them are afghan

nationals and they go to various airports around the world, most of them in germany to be processed. it's a cumbersome process. ashley webster joins us from germany with the latest how things are going there. hey, ashley? ashley: hey, neil. it is not a easy process at all. there are 14,300 afghan refugees at ramstein airbase all of them will have to be processed. they are given medical aid if they need it. given food and shelter. the most important thing to be vetted which is very difficult, some of these refugees, by some estimates, up to 20% don't have any documentation at all. so how do you vet someone who has no documentation? but i can tell you there has been more than 100 flights into ramstein since august 14th. since left yesterday for the united states and 12 are due to leave today for the u.s. and they will go to various

bases across the united states. those refugees that have spoken to the media, can speak english very well, they say they're just happy to be away from taliban rule. take a listen. >> never, ever. i don't want to live. this no one wants to live there. this is the wish of everybody to leave afghanistan. ashley: but of course as we know the deadline for those evacuations is tomorrow. the clock is ticking down and the question is how many more are trying to get out? certainly from the state department we know somewhere around 300 americans are still hoping to get out ahead of that deadline but in the meantime those refugees, neil, they are being processed here and transported to the united states. it really is all hands on deck in germany as this effort goes on but it will be interesting to see as the mission winds down how it plays out tomorrow. neil? neil: thank you, ashley, very

much. ashley webster. go to sarah nelson, the flight association -- flight attendants association. a good many of them are helping refugees getting safely live out of country to the stops in europe and elsewhere. sarah, good to have you. how is this whole thing going? >> i have to tell you, neil, we talked a lot over the last year-and-a-half about keeping the airline industry intact and keeping all the airline workers in their jobs so we could be responsive when demand returns but another thing we didn't talk about very much, one of those issues, we had to be here to serve the u.s. military when they call. thank goodness congress put in place the payroll support program to keep aviation workers in their jobs. the minute the call went out,

thousands of flight attendants and pilots raised their hand. they are long. treating people with a lot of medical conditions, dehydration, broken bones, severe blisters on feet. not enough diapers on board. there have been a lot of issues on these flights. when they arrive at dulles, there was a huge backlog. sometimes the crews were waiting 10 and 12 hours for people to be deplaned and processed. that has been corrected massively in last couple days. i give a lot of credit for both the airlines and the government working together to speed up that process and open up philadelphia as another processing center. neil: sarah, flights that normally would have gone for commercial travel, you know, retrofitted to handle this. how was that affected bookings if at all? >> so these are planes that are not, have not typically become used in the regular domestic travel. as you know, neil, not the

entire airline industry is back up and running again. now we're starting to see it close down at some of those borders for international travel once again due to coronavirus. so these are planes that were ready and able to be used and they're designated for craft flying, military charter flying. so it is not affecting the domestic travel whatsoever at all. it is pulling crews from the domestic travel crewing but we doesn't see a difference in demand domestically because of this program. neil: you know, i'd like to switch to what is happening there in the industry, dealing with domestic travel around dealing with travel everywhere. you heard, sara, the european union will impose limitations on americans going to europe and only essential travelers will be welcome. wondering what the fallout will be on you guys, long anticipating things would be returning to normal? that might be delayed? >> neil this is a huge concern

and of course it was predicted if we didn't get coronavirus tamped down, get vaccinations distributed around the world quickly enough. and of course we have the rise in the delta variant and many hospitals that were full now. we're seeing results of slow actions to get everyone vaccinated. it is going to have an effect. it is going to have an effect on health and well being on people we know and love and have an effect economically. we did not have the full return to international travel around business travel yet even at this time. there is a lot to do to rebuild the industry and rebuild the entire travel industry in the united states and around the world. neil: all right, sara, keep us posted on that. you have twin high pressure situations to deal with. always good to see you. sara the flight attendants association president. talk about number of storms she had to deal with including

airline industry. we'll keep an eye on that. also an eye on corner of wall and broad. big day for technology stocks. even bigger day for those trying to fine tune, to play what will the jobs number be on friday? that seems to be the focus of attention for market guys after this. ♪ risk and reward, i see one element securing portfolios, time after time. gold. your strategic advantage. that building you're trying to sell, - you should ten-x it. - ten-x it? ten-x is the world's largest online commercial real estate exchange. you can close with more certainty. and twice as fast. if i could, i'd ten-x everything. like a coffee run... or fedora shopping. talk to your broker. ten-x does the same thing, - but with buildings. - so no more waiting. sfx: ding! see how easy...?

don't just sell it. ten-x it. that spin class was brutal. well, you can try using the buick's massaging seat. oh. yeah, that's nice. can i use apple carplay to put some music on? sure, it's wireless. what's your buick's wi-fi password? it's buick envision. that's a really tight spot. i used to hate parallel parking. me too! the all-new buick envision. built around you. all of you. pay no interest for 72 months plus current eligible buick owners get $500 purchase allowance on most 2021 buick suv models. buick owners get $500 purchase allowance we did it again. verizon has been named america's most reliable network by rootmetrics. and our customers rated us #1 for network quality in america according to j.d. power. number one in reliability, 16 times in a row. most awarded for network quality, 27 times in a row. proving once again that nobody builds networks like verizon. that's why we're building 5g right, that's why there's only one best network.

no one likes to choose between safe or sporty. modern or reliable. we want both - we want a hybrid. so do banks. that's why they're going hybrid with ibm. a hybrid cloud approach helps them personalize experiences with watson ai while helping keep data secure. ♪ ♪ ♪ from banking to manufacturing, businesses are going with a smarter hybrid cloud, using the tools, platform and expertise of ibm. ♪ ♪ ♪ at usaa, we've been called too exclusive. because we only serve those who honorably served. all ranks, all branches, and their families. are we still exclusive? absolutely. and that's exactly why you should join.

♪♪ neil: on top of a tale of two to storms. welcome back, everybody, i'm neil cavuto. we are following obviously, the storm in afghanistan, hours away from pulling out of there entirely, and then the fall from hurricane, now-tropical storm ida, its lingering effects could last for days. well beyond our departure in that other country half a world away. let's go to jeff paul right now on the fallout in the big easy which had a big nightmare on its hands and now still does, just in new orleans. jeff. >> reporter: yeah, neil, i can tell you, i've never seen new orleans quite like this when i woke up this morning, not a single light in all of downtown in the french quarter of new orleans. it was incredibly eerie driving around here, but once the sun came up, we started to get a better idea of just the

devastation caused by hurricane ida can. you could see this was a two-story building that was standing yesterday, 24 hours ago, and now you can see it's been reduced to a bunch of bricks and woo also the south coast of louisiana and other low-lying areas. a lot of flood damage, you've got places from the storm surge that are still underwater right now. some of those people who didn't have time to get out because this was such a fast-moving storm are now hoping to get rescued today. we've heard of a lot of reports of the cajun navy, we've got the national guard and just local municipalities and parishes trying to help out and get people out of their homes who are trapped. we even know some parishes kept a list of people who chose to stay, got all their information down, and are now going through the process of going back to those neighborhoods and checking them off one by one.

>> they went house to house with a few dozen officers identifying people's names, their phone number, where they live and the number of people in the house. >> reporter: right now a million people, more than a million people throughout louisiana, are without electricity. and officials say that's going to be the norm for the next couple days if not weeks until they get power fully restored. and they're also telling people to just keep their heads up as far as, you know, falling trees from all that saturated ground and also, if they can,ning stay off the road because a lot of emergency crews, power crews, people that are trying to get new orleans and louisiana back on its feet are trying to use those roads. so faster they can do that the, the faster we can get things back rolling here in new orleans. neil? neil: jeff paul, thank you very much for that. let's go to john warder, what happens to the storm now and

where it's headed. john, what you tell us? >> reporter: neil, this was a devastating storm the, as jeff talked about, across southern louisiana, and we're just starting to get an understanding of the true damage that happened there as crews start to get into some of the most heavily-impacted areas. as you mentioned, this is still a threat. the storm is centered in mississippi right now and is going to be transitioning now into a big rainmaker over the next several days. it's going to be producing several inches of rain along path and, that'll, these are places across the southern appalachians and even up into the northeast that have been very wet from previous tropical storms. they don't need any more rainfall, and we're talking about a big with risk for flash flooding here over the coming days. neil: i'm curious too, when you look at the flooding, i mean, even locally in the northeast area we're hearing talk of 6-8 inch rains later in the week. that seems inconceivable, but

that alone could do a lot of damage, and it's far from a hurricane by that time. >> reporter: neil, that's right, and that's a key point we really have been stressing here at accuweather, for everyone to be prepared in front of ida's path because sometimes people have a tendency to say, well, now the storm's inland are, it's less of a threat. completely the opposite situation here. still going to be a threat for days to come. as you mentioned, several inches of rain in its past. these are places that are going to create the risk for additional flash flooding in the mountains of the carolinas, for example, already hard hit from fred, we're talking about the risk of mudslides once again. and there was so much flash flooding in northern new jersey and the new york city area from henri, intersecting with another storm is a dangerous situation where water can quickly rise. you've got cities and also communities as well. neil: you know, people forget, jon, i guess we're a long way

from the end of the hurricane season, goes until november 1st or thereabouts. how is it looking to you right now? >> reporter: unfortunately, as we've been talking about for months here at act accuweather,s is shaping up to be an active season. not necessarily as active as last year's record-setting year, but still above normal in the number of u.s. impacts. and, neil, i'm afraid as we take a look into the future later into september and october, it looks like conditions could become even more favorable for storms to develop. so it looks like as we head into the peak of the season which is on september 11th and thereafter, it looks like it's going to remain pretty active. so want to remind everybody to keep up-to-date on where all those storms are located and be prepared as it's likely, unfortunately, this is going to be additional impacts. neil: wise words, jon, we need to hear that. jon porter, accuweather vp and general manager. thank you, jon. let's go to afghanistan, the other storm we keep talking

about here and the withdrawal of our forces and whoever is left there, and there aren't a lot or who are getting access to the airport as we pull out officially late tomorrow after 20 years. griff general kins with the latest at the -- jenkins with the latest an the state department. >> reporter: hey, neil. it's just a matter of hours now until we expect that last u.s. flight out of kabul leaving some americans and thousands of afghan allies likely left behind. but secretary of state blinken says he's confident that it doesn't mean the end for them. watch. >> 114 countries have made it very clear that it is their expectation that the taliban will permit freedom of travel going past august 31st. we have very significant leverage to work with over the weeks and months ahead to incentivize the taliban to make good on its commitments. >> reporter: now, that leverage, neil, is heavily

dependent on international funds now frozen that accounted for the bulk of the previous government's budget. mean while, in these frantic final hours, some are claiming americans can't get out at this moment, right now. >> just this morning, literally just a few hours ago, we were in touch with american citizens and their children that were denied access to kabul international, and we're trying to get them through other routes. >> reporter: but earlier today the acting u.s. ambassador to afghanistan tweeting that's not true, saying claims that american citizens have been is turned away or denied access by embassy staff or u.s. forces are false. still complicating matters, the airport is expected to close temporarily on wednesday, september 1st, with no international agreement to keep it open which means evacuations will have to come through overland routes into neighboring countries, but that's a tough

neighborhood. iran to the west, pakistan to the east and making the interior trek through a taliban-controlled, isis-infested afghanistan is a dangerous journey. meanwhile, one final big question right now is the diplomatic presence, what will it look like after tomorrow, neil that's anybody's guess, but for now we know there will be no immediate diplomatic presence left behind. neil? neil: you know, griff, you're more in key to this than i am, but i keep hearing the secretary of state and others in the administration talk about the leverage we have to get people out of the country. well, we've had this leverage, and there's $9.5 billion worth of frozen funds in our, you know, sort of quill here. and the taliban didn't seem, you know, one way or the other moved by it. what's to make them think that that will change when we leave? >> reporter: that's a great question, neil, and i think maybe we'll hear more from the

secretary today when he makes remarks. but the administration and particularly here at the state department, they've been saying really for weeks, well, our relationship with the taliban will depend upon deeds, not words. we have to see how they behave after they take over. but one thing is clear, when the bulk of your government's budget and your country's gdp when the taliban takes over is coming from these international funds, largely u.s. funds, well, they're going to be perhaps more incentivized than ever to give in to our demands. but as critics have pointed out, that sort of looks like a hostage situation, particularly if you're talking about having americans trying to get safe passage in a country where there is no american diplomatic presence. neil: yeah, very good point. griff, thank you very much. griff jenkins. i want to the raise the same question with lieutenant colonel scott mann, former green beret.

always good having you on. what is this leverage we keep talking about, sir? this notion that the taliban will heed our wishes to get more americans out after american troops have left. >> yeah, i just don't see it. i mean, there were dozens of american citizens sitting on a bus yesterday, many of them children, within view of one of the gates. a taliban checkpoint in front of them, the taliban would not let them inside. now, inside the airfield are the 82nding airborne marines and other special operators. that's leverage, and they wouldn't come out and open the gate. they wouldn't come and open it or push out through the taliban checkpoint and bring our americans in. now, if that didn't happen in that proximity, i find it hard to believe that any kind of leverage with no force on the ground is going to yield other results. the reality is we're going to have assets on the ground and afghan allies behind enemy lines in a matter of hours, and we

need to pivot into a private recovery until the government changes how it approaches this. neil: all right. you're quite right to point out if american citizens are having difficulty getting out of the country in this scenario you outlined, i imagine for afghan nationals it's mission ill possible. impossible. >> not only is it mission impossible, neil, they're going to be targeted, right? that's her happening. they're going to be targeted, and they're going to be hunted because of the threat they pose to this draconian regime. and we have to honor the promise. that's what this little informal task force of combat veterans is all about, just honor ago a promise that we made over -- honoring a promise that we made over 20 years. there's so much blame being placed right now, as a veteran, i find it offputting. it's time to focus on getting these folks out of harm's way. we have the skills to do it. we're raising money through a 501(c)(3), and that's are where

we're going to focus. neil: so looking ahead to this post-afghan environment when we're gone, what will it be? we're told the taliban and isis-k, they're not on the same page, it could devolve into civil war or worse. what do you think happens? >> i think you're going to see, you're going to see a descent into chaos, right? if there was such a welcoming reception to taliban rule are, i'm a little curious why people were hanging on to the landing gear of aircraft and standing at a checkpoint allowing their children to be beaten so they could pass through and get through a hole in the wall that we help them get in. there's not a welcoming reception for this thing. i think you're going the see, you know, it spiral into ethnic civil war. it's already starting. this is a resistance forming in the north with massoud and sale. look, they host isis-k. they hostal kited. you're going -- al-qaeda. you're going to see an

unfettered sanctuary of global terror connection, and we're losing our sanctuary on the ground that took us 20 years to build. and that's what i worry about. i hope people will listen to paul wolf wit's recommendation, that president biden make a finding to conduct clandestine operations but with dod support, and let's keep this network alive. neil: but you can't let folks know where you are, right? and that does, it's a lot more efficienting if you have u.s. dod support. but for the time being, and you know far more about this than i do, colonel, it doesn't look like that will be forthcoming. does that worry you? >> it does, for sure, because, you know, with our little group, our little group are combat veteran volunteers. we have day jobs and we're business owners, but we know how to do this, and we've already proven. we've gotten several hundred to safety already, and we're shifting to recovery right now. it's going to happen. we're going to honor this

promise, we're going to move these folks to safety, out of harm's way and, ultimately, we're going to move some of them to freedom. and we need the government to help with the borders, with the embassies and honor the promises of the p1, p2 special immigration visas. you know, this thing's been a private-public partnership, let's keep it going. neil: colonel, you're an amazing fellow. army lieutenant colonel if, retired, scott mann, former green beret, much, much more. he's trying to help people, and all he wants is just some backing from the united states government. we shall see. the dow up 24 points. technology stocks the real story. our own charlie brady is letting us know that a lot of the big tech names like apple and microsoft, you know, are seeing intraday highs being reached here. optimism for steady as she goes fed policy, keep rates kind of where they are, cool it on whatever tapering could happen. technology stocks, you know,

disproportionately benefit in that environment. man, oh, man, are they benefiting today. stay with us. ♪♪

look at this guy. he's really working hard. you know what he will get? muscle pain. you know what he should get? advil. pain says you can't, advil says you can.

as someone who resembles someone else... i appreciate that liberty mutual knows everyone's unique. that's why they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. [ nautical horn blows ] i mean just because you look like someone else doesn't mean you eat off the floor, or yell at the vacuum, or need flea medication. oh, yeah. that's the spot. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ in business, it's never just another day. it's the big sale, or the big presentation. the day where everything goes right. or the one where nothing does. with comcast business

you get the network that can deliver gig speeds to the most businesses and advanced cybersecurity to protect every device on it— all backed by a dedicated team, 24/7. every day in business is a big day. we'll keep you ready for what's next. comcast business powering possibilities. ♪ neil: all right, we're still look at more thanking a million people without power in

louisiana. multiple states are threatened by flash flooding as ida continues to churn north, now as a tropical storm but incredible winds and rain. also we've been monitoring the new orleans mayor, latoya cantrell, who is sort of updating on how things stand in the big easy. things are not easy, says now is not the time for are reentry into the city, urgings strongly against it. also be a good neighbor to other a parishes in assisting where assistance is needed. she also added that we'll advise when it is safe to return home, but visitors here now should stay at home and stay inside. she acknowledged that communications have been compromised with the likes of at&t and energy trying to get everything -- doing everything they can to get their systems back up and operating. she thanked the president for the government response that she termed spot on. let's go to kelly jane torrance on all of this. if you think about it, this is

the bigger domestic storm the president has to address. obviously, we know what's going on in afghanistan, a whole other storm over which for the time being we see things wrap up tomorrow. but the handling of this particular storm and the federal aid was something that he preferred talking about; that is, the president, than anything going on in afghanistan. what do you think of everything going on, kelly jane? >> i think you don't want to say that anybody if wants a disaster, but i'm sure president biden welcomed the change in the headlines and what people are talking about. if yeah, right now, i mean, this disaster is not nearly as bad as katrina which, of course, the an verse arely of, we we had the first hurricane of 2021 touching down there are on that anniversary. but i think that lessons were learned by the feds, by the state and by the localities that are affected. i mean, katrina was a terrible disaster. of course, really hit president george w. bush's presidency. and everybody learned something

from them, you know? really it was mishandled for years by various authorities and, luckily, they've learned their lesson. so far we only know about one fayal the city. -- fatality. we hope it won't go higher tan that, but certainly nowhere near the devastation we saw with katrina. neil: yeah. and the billions of dollars spent to shore up the levees and the infrastructure around new orleans, for example, clearly it paid off. i don't want to go ahead and say they're out of the woods yet, but it could have been a lot, lot worse. but we're waiting to hear from the president himself on this meeting with fema add manufacturers and stop -- administrators and top officials. he chose not to take on the first question of afghanistan yesterday, and then he left. and i yet that to a degree -- i get that to a degree, but he's the president. he's got these twin crises under his watch, can't pick and choose your crises. what'd you think of a that?

>> he's really not taken many questions since the start of the whole afghanistan debacle. one he didn't take any questions, the other, of course, hand-picked questions x. it's really quite incredible when the american president and america seems at a point of great weakness after what happened in kabul the that the president would commit in a way that he's not in control. when he went to take questions, he said they gave me a list are of people i'm supposed to call on, admitting that his team is telling him who to call on and when. i find it highly embarrassing. you know, there's so many unanswered questions that americans have, and they're certainly not being addressed by the president in his speeches in which he sort of repeats the same talking points he's given for the last two weeks now. so we're really waiting for some answers and some tough questions from reporters, not just softballs. neil: yeah. i think what amazed me more

about that acknowledgment on his part that he was going to read from, you know, a list of questions of reporters that his staff had passed along is that he said it. you're meant to think it, not say it. [laughter] it was just a revealing moment. kelly jane torrance, always great talking with you, kelly. i appreciate it. be safe yourself. "the new york post" editorial board member. we are following, right now, the president getting ready to talk with fema about how this overall rescue operation is continuing, as kelly jane pointed out, it could have been a hell of a hot worse. as for afghanistan, it's hard to imagine how it could be with, well, any easier with. after this. welcome to allstate. where you can pay a little less and enjoy the ride a little more. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ now, get new lower auto rates with allstate.

because better protection costs a whole lot less. you're in good hands with allstate. click or call for a lower auto rate today. that building you're trying to buy, you're in good hands - you should ten-x it. - ten-x it? ten-x is the world's largest online commercial real estate exchange. you see it. you want it. you ten-x it. it's that fast. if i could, i'd ten-x everything. like... uh... these salads. or these sandwiches... ten-x does the same thing, but with buildings. sweet. oh no, he wasn't... oh, actually... that looks pretty good. see it. want it. ten-x it. yum! - i'm norm. - i'm szasz. [norm] and we live in columbia, missouri.

we do consulting, but we also write. [szasz] we take care of ourselves constantly; it's important. we walk three to five times a week, a couple miles at a time. - we've both been taking prevagen for a little more than 11 years now. after about 30 days of taking it, we noticed clarity that we didn't notice before. - it's still helping me. i still notice a difference. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

♪ neil: all right, fema's already put out a warning to residents in the new orleans area and along the gulf coast in general, stay alert to the continuing risks from ida. although no longer a hurricane,

a tropical storm, you know, she is able to do a great deal of damage and already has with heavy rains and heavy winds expected. let's go to chad pergram right now because the funds to help those out in harm's way, they're there, but it's draining them pretty quickly. chad, what's the latest? >> reporter: good afternoon, neil. the federal government is poised to help starting with the disaster relief fund, or drf as it's known on capitol hill, with a relatively high balance to respond to immediate needs, $41 billion. fema funds ran dry quickly after hurricane katrina, there was also a problem in 2011 with hurricane irene, but fema shouldn't need an immediate booster shot this time. the long term is another story where congress may need to step in perhaps with the pending infrastructure bill. >> we have $65 billion to harden

the grid as well as $50 billion to improve sewer and water. if anything, points out the importance of hardening the grid, improving sewer and water, flood mitigation and coastal restoration, it is this storm. >> reporter: depending on the severity of the damage, congress could craft a supplemental spending bill just to address hurricane relief. there are three legislative trains leaving the congressional station in september; the infrastructure bill, the social spending plan and congress must fund the government before the end of next month. any of those bills -- many of those bills are ripe for lawmakers to attach emergency spending to help with ida recovery. neil? neil: chad pergram, thank you for all of that. to congressman troy carter, the louisiana congressman joins us on the phone. sir, how are things looking? >> you know, we're still trying to assess that, thank you very much for giving light and attention to this very important discussion. you know, this was the most severe storm we've had hit since

the mid 1800s. some partses of our state -- parts of our state are really, really devastated. we're still trying to assess the damage. neil: you know, it's interesting, i mean, quite a bit of money was spent after katrina on, you know, to fortify so much, the levees and everything else, and it seemed to do the trick. i don't want to get ahead of myself, you know far more than i, congressman. but what's the early read on that? >> you're correct. we're cautiously optimistic. it appears that the investment that was made 16 years ago in the aftermath of katrina and fortifying those levees has, in fact, held up and done their job. we are out as we speak getting a full assessment, but preliminary reports are very favorable that we certainly fared better than we did 16 years ago, proving that the investment in our levee

system was well spent. neil: i'm wondering as well and the mayor is urging folks to stay inside, now is not the time to venture out and assess damage and all of that. do you agree with that, congressman? >> i do. although the sun is. shining in some places and looks like an otherwise normal day, it is not a normal day for many. and we would urge people to, please, stay home. while there's no power in people's homes, many of those power lines that are down could be live, they could be with very dangerous. so we would encourage people to, please, stay at home until there's a clear directive that roads have been cleared for travel and/or checking on loved ones. we know that it's difficult for people to stay in right now, but being home even without power is by far the safest and best thing that we can do. we'd encourage people to continue to monitor their phoneses even though they're not

workerring because we're working with -- working because we're working the try to get a shared use for those service providers that are not working to be able to roam and utilize the service of those towers that are, in fact, working. and then we will have information that will be flowing back and forth to make sure we know where the people are that need help the most. we have rescue teams that are out in force as we speak with the national guard and red cross and others, so help is on the way. neil: you know, congressman, i know the mayor has urged, you know, late last week, you know, it's a good time to evacuate, and a lot of the folks in the area obviously not seeing or appreciating the magnitude of the storm did not. there eventually came a point, i believe on friday, where the mayor said, well, now it's too late to evacuate. do we know, ultimately, how many did, congressman? >> i don't. i don't have that information. we know that the highways were

gridlocked, that it was back to back traffic. i got reports this saturday taking 16 hours to get to houston which would ordinarily be a 4-5 hour drive. so we know the highways, interstate 10 was completely back to back. the danger that comes with that also was the fact that there was a reported shortage of gasoline along many of those routes and, of course, having people stalled out on the highway would be the last thing that we could afford to have happen. neil: and just to update, you mentioned the power outage and we're told better than a million have been affected by that and that it could last a few days at a minimum. is that what you're learning as well, congressman in. >> yes, sir. i would dare say to be a little bit more, to manage people's expectation, i'd say it's probably going to be more than days. some areas may be sooner than to others, but the damage to the

grid is significant. there's some 18,000 linemen that are out as we speak trying to work on those throughout the state. it's a major, major undertaking, and it's probably going to be more than a couple days. neil: all right. congressman, thank you for taking the time. to say you're busy is probably an understatement, so we appreciate you updating us. congressman troy carter, beautiful state of louisiana. it could have been a lot worse. it looks just awful there, but it could have been a lot worse. stay with us, we'll have more after this. and home insurance here. why not... schuuuuzp.. put them together. save even more. some things are just better together, aren't they? like tea and crumpets. but you wouldn't bundle just anything. like, say... a porcupine in a balloon factory. no. that'd be a mess. i mean for starters, porcupines are famously no good in a team setting.

geico. save even more when bundle home and car insurance. geico. save even more we did it again. verizon has been named america's most reliable network by rootmetrics. and our customers rated us #1 for network quality in america according to j.d. power. number one in reliability, 16 times in a row. most awarded for network quality, 27 times in a row. proving once again that nobody builds networks like verizon. that's why we're building 5g right, that's why there's only one best network.

growing up in a little red house, on the edge of a forest in norway, there were three things my family encouraged: kindness, honesty and hard work. over time, i've come to add a fourth: be curious. be curious about the world around us, and then go. go with an open heart, and you will find inspiration anew. viking. exploring the world in comfort.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ ♪ neil: all right, we keep talking about the end of the u.s. troops and americans in general in afghanistan tomorrow. then who picks up the baton, if anyone, to help afghans get to this country and others who call this country home? hillary vaughn has been looking

into that and has run into a group that's doing just that in arlington, virginia. hillary, what's the story there? >> reporter: hey, neil. well, there's been an outpouring nationwide to help these refugees fleeing for their lives start their new life here, and one of the organizations that's leading this effort is catholic charities. we're at window nation dropoff that that they have of 40 -- one donation dropoff that they have of 40 around the country. the hard part really has been finding a home for these refugees to get to. and the last two weeks, over 100,000 people, evacuees, have made it out of afghanistan here to the u.s. thousands more refugees, the pentagon said today, are scheduled the arrive soon at dulles airport, but with housing prices surging, it is a tough market. a lot of them have no credit or job history in the u.s., but they also are having a hard time

finding an apartment to approve them. that's where catholic charities has been helping out. they give these refugees a lifeline. they help them secure housing, pay rent, find a job and acclimate to life here. >> we're watching what's happening in kabul, and we're actually then seeing people arrive three or four days later the our doorstep. our biggest need is for landlords who can help provide, are willing to provide affordable housing to these that families. >> reporter: and landlords and property management companies around the country are stepping up and answering that call. >> the glee and the comfort that tease families show -- these families show in their faces is just, it's beyond any financial compensation that you can imagine imagine if. >> reporter: and, neil, even one large hotel chain is stepping up to help. hilton hotels has been assisting some refugees in the arlington

area, offering them discounted rates until they can find a long-term housing situation. neil? neil: you always see, hillary,ing some remarkable people a rise to a horrific occasion to help out. it never fails in this country. thank you for bringing light to it. hillary vaughn following all of that. my next guest is the center for national interest senior director trying to make sense of this perilous situation right now and help folks underjust how perilous it is. you've seen these incidents build up where private individuals and groups are taking over where the government, no do you doubt, wis a off effectively at the end of tomorrow. how promising are they to get those who haven't been able or will not be able to leave afghanistan out? >> i think they are promising, neil. but i think we have to have very

tapered expectations. i've seen a lot of outpouring of support, particularly from conservative groups. a lot of the think tank community has tried to organize here in washington, d.c. to try and create a lot of private efforts to get people out. i won't get into all the details of that, but you see a lot of e-mail traffic between friends and colleagues of mine from, to be honest, progressive organizations, more center, center-right, center-left all basically trying to share resources, share day, share ways to get out of the country whether it's roads, bridges, pathways that maybe at the moment don't have taliban fighters, trying to share communications equipment whether it's trying to get sat phones to people, cell phones to people. so i've been impressed with this effort really trying to get people out just because of limitations of what the biden administration's trying to do, but let's be honest, there's going to be the people stuck there for a very long time. i think it's important we all try to do our fair share where we can. neil: about a minute or so away from here, the president is at

this event with fema to update us on the hurricane reaction, how the building up is going on. i'm going to go to the president, and then i do want to touch base again with you, harry. the president of the united states. >> good afternoon, everybody. we're waiting for a few more people to get on, but we're going to get started if that's okay with you all. and thanks for joining me. i'm here at the fema director's on, fema director is on, and i'm here with my if senior add visor and, boy -- adviser and boy who knows louisiana very, very well, man, and new orleans. cedric quickman, and what i'm going to do is make a brief statement here and then tell you what we're doing, but then hear from all of you, if that's okay. i know you're busy as the devil.

i know you've got a lot to manage in your states, but the fact is that i want to hear from you, we both want to hear from you. and we know hurricane ida had potential to cause mass if i have, massive -- massive, massive damage, and that's exactly what we saw. we already know there's been at least one con firmed -- confirmed death, and that number's likely to grow. and i've got, we've got a million people in louisiana without power. and for a time, ida caused the mississippi river to literally change its direction. and some folks are still dealing with the storm surge and flash flooding. and there are roads that are impassable due to debris and downed power lines, and we need people to continue to shelter in place if it's safe for them to do so. and for those who have lost their homes, you know, states working with the american red cross have already opened 50

shelters in affected areas across the gulf coast. we've already begun search and rescue efforts, and we give folks out there who need assistance, and we're doing the best we can. more than 5,000 members of the national guard have been activated from louisiana, mississippi, alabama and texas to support search and rescue and recovery efforts. and fema has prepositioned literally millions of meals and liters of water. they're already prepositioned as well as other resources in the immediate area. and and we've deployed more than 200 generators, and we already moved into the region, they've been moved in ahead of time. and the administrator gris orwell and her team at fema is working at getting more of those into the area -- griswell. we're in close contact with local providers to see what they need. they're all private providers. we don't control that, but we're

doing all we can to minimize the amount of time it's going to take to get power back up for everyone in the region. and we've been working with the electric sector throughout the night and all a day today to assess and understand the full extent of the damage. to accelerate the process, i've asked the federal aviation administration to work today with louisiana and mississippi electric companies to authorize use of surveillance drones to assess ida's damage to energy infrastructure while insuring those flights do not disrupt aerial search and rescue operations. and i've also asked the pentagon and the department of homeland security to immediately make available any satellite imagery that can assist in assessing the damage in your states and cities and parishes. hoping utilities are going to soon begin restoration work including prioritizing getting

transmission lines into new orleans and get them back up and running. a lot of them were taken down. more than 25,000 debris crews and linemen from at least 30 states are rolling in to support you, some are already prepositioned and close and, hopefully, are already underway. but we need to be prepared and -- we were about as prepared as we could be for the early stage of this, but there's a lot more to do. we also know a lot of people lost their cell phone service. if a particular carrier tower is down or damaged. so this morning the federal communications commission has worked with the southern providers to initiate their cooperate i have framework agreement. -- cooperative framework agreement. that allows customers on one line, with one provider to go to another provider if that provider's down. so it allows customers to use roaming access carriers that are

up and running. and that means you should be able to get a signal no matter who your carrier was or is. the main thing i want to make clear to all of you is we're providing any help that you're going to need. so, as i said, i've got my senior adviser, cedric richmond, here with me. you all know him, he's a new orleans if native, was a congressman in louisiana's 2nd district for ten years. he knows the area, he knows the people, and he -- who have been affected by ida -- and he knows how to get things done in government. while fema is our lead for on-the-ground response, if there's something you need that needs my attention, cedric is your direct line, direct line to the white house throughout this recovery, and i mean that. whatever you need, go to cedric, he'll get to me, we'll get you what you need if we can. people of louisiana know -- and mississippi -- are resilient,

but in moments like these, we can certainly see the power of government to respond to the needs of the people if government's prepared and if they respond. that's our job if we work the together. -- if we work together. the most important element are, though, is coordinating all the branches of government; state, local and federal. and that's what we're trying to make sure, what we tried to do before this hurricane hit. that's what we're going to stand with you and the people of the gulf as long as it takes for you to recover. and so i'm now going to turn this over to john bel, governor edwards of louisiana are. governor, give us your assessment of what you have, what you're seeing out there. tell me what you're hearing and what your team on the ground and anything you need that we haven't gotten to you. >> thank you very much, mr. president. you couldn't have picked a better person than cedric richmond. we look forward to working with

him as well. first of all, let me thank you for signing my request for a pre-landfall declaration, major disaster declaration. that's going to be very helpful. hurricane ida came onshore with everything that was advertised -- >> yep. >> -- the surge, the rain, the wind. the good news first is all of our levee systems, particularly our federal levee systems and the hurricane risk reduction systems, performed magnificently. they were not overtopped, none of them were breached. each our levee systems that were -- even our levee systems that were paid for with state and local are funding performed extremely well. it would be a different storial together had -- story altogether had any of those levee systems failed. having said that, the damage is still catastrophic. but it was primarily wind-driven. but we know that there were some areas that received tremendous

rainfall as well. but we're going to be dealing with this, with this damage the for quite a while. you mentioned the power outage, that is critical for us. and it's really a million homes and businesses that are out. my best guess is you're getting closer to 2 million people without electricity right now. and, of course, we're trying to prioritize the restoration so that our hospitals come back up first, because while they're on generator power, generators typically, you know, fail after some period of time. so we want to get 'em back up first. and in the meantime, we already have the corps of engineers on the ground identifying additional generators that we can bring to these hospital locations so that should we have a failure before power's restored, we're going to be able to switch them over. they're working extremely hard on that. and we have fema embedded with us here since before the storm. the truth of the matter is

they've been -- they haven't left because of one disaster, emergency after another. but they're doing really well. we look forward to visitinged administrator griswell who i think is going to come down tomorrow, mr. president. but this is going to be a long haul. we know that we're going to need assistance with the housing program. we're putting together preliminary information this week that can potentially drive an appropriation for dbg. we'll -- cdbg. we'll be getting with you all, and i'll work with cedric are richmond on that, mr. president, to make sure we can get the program up and running just as soon as possible. but i want to finish with really the most important thing. we are still in a life-saving mode here doing search and rescue. the roads, the highways into the most affected areas were completely clogged with debris,

downed power lines, trees. we're making really good progress. we actually started our ground search and rescue this morning at daylight. we dispatched those forces and, by the way, we already had search and rescue teams from 16 states in louisiana as of yesterday. they started moving to the affected areas at 3:00 this morning. 6:00 they were actually doing search and rescue, 911 calls that came in over the mic that couldn't be responded -- came in over the night that couldn't be responded to, and by 6:00 this morning we actually were affecting rescues out of the air as well. and the last thing i want to say is that the very first rescues occurred at a hospital in galliano by the u.s. coast guard because they're able to a arrive before any other assets could, and they were able to move about seven a patients from a bottom

down there. you -- hospital down there. you probably saw the hospital that had the roof just completely taken off -- >> yeah. >> -- yesterday. your coast guard rescued and relocated those patients first thing this morning, and we are very appreciative of that. >> well, thank you. well, look, i want to -- we worked real hard with you to get the search and rescue teams in place, but you say they have been able to respond? >> yes, sir. >> in a timely way. >> yes, sir. and i can't tell you they're everywhere we want 'em, but they started responding first thing this morning. and those 16 teams, that doesn't include the national guard -- >> yeah. >> -- or the officers here. you know, i've got all 5,000 of my national guardsmen activated. we're going to end up with about 5,000 more coming in from out of state, and this is important, mr. president. one of the reasons, we've got 2400 of our soldiers in our 256

brigade infantry combat team, they're deployed to the middle east. so we're going to have emac requests i think as early as tomorrow. we're going to have additional soldiers coming from national guards there if sister states, and that's going to be very helpful as well. >> well, good. well, look, if there's anything else you need, you know just call. i mean, you've got the team at the table there, a lot of 'em. >> yes, sir. >> and so just holler. all right. now, cedric, who are we going to next? >> governor rees. >> oh, you are. i understand, governor, you're not on video, but you are on the television. so, gov, fire away. >> well, thank you, mr. president. when we spoke on friday, you assured me that when we asked for the pre-landfall

declaration, that you would immediately sign it, and you did exactly that. and i want to thank you for doing so. we're in a little bit of a different position right now, obviously, than our friends in hah. the storm is, the eye of the storm is currently west of jackson, and so we probably have between 18-22 more hours of the eye of the storm being in the that state of mississippi. we also have, because it's such a large storm, our largest threat in terms of tornadic activity still remains along our coastline and in the counties just north of there. the storm, which really is challenging, has slowed down to about 8 miles an hour, and so that's the reason it's going to stay in the state for so long which leads to more and more rainfall. so the bad news for us is that we're going to get even more rainfall than maybe we originally anticipated. the good news is because it's moving so slow, the wind speeds

have not reached where we thought they would be, in the 65-75 mile-an-hour range here in central mississippi. they're really closer to 30-40 mile-an-hour. still providing some significant challenges, but not to the extent that it otherwise could have been. because of that, we know that our greatest threats here in mississippi are with respect to rising water and power outages. the storm has been in the state for about 8-10 hours now. we've got 135,000 plus mississippi dwellings that have not and cannot receive power right now. we're working on that, but we anticipate that number to significantly increase over the next 20 hours as the storm continues to move north, the move north. of we have determined in meeting with our team, mr. president, as well as your team at fema

earlier today that the sars access, the search and rescue teams from fee that, in our state -- fema are not currently needed. we believe our state and local assets can meet the needs, so we have encouraged our fema counterparts to release those individuals over to louisiana to help with those search as well as every directed general bowles, my advocate general as we progress eight to 10 hours, he reached out to his counterpart in louisiana that we'll be sending men and women in uniform from mississippi to help louisiana because that's who we are. we have got again about 20 hours ahead of us of winds, lots and lots of rain. all things considered, because the storm slowed up so considerably, we're seeing more rain, more water, a lot less wind which is certainly helpful.

>> thanks an awful lot, gov. again thanks for your generosity in sending some of those search-and-rescue teams to louisiana. and is, is mary cantrell on? mary cantrell, are you on? i don't, i don't think she was able to get connected. >> i don't think so, mr. president but we have cynthia lee, parish president from jefferson parish which includes grand isle, one of the places hard hit. >> you weren't hard hit, weren't you madam president, especially grand isle. >> thank you, mr. president, congressman, governor, thank you. we have not had contact with grand isle. congressman you know the mayor, i talked with him yesterday evening. he thought 40 people were on the island. couldn't get them off including firefighters. we have not had contact with them since yesterday. i'm told that the mayor carmel

is in galiano. he is on a helicopter to get him to the island. as long as there is communication we'll know what is going on. it is hard to get any word from the people on the island to this time. in lafite, waters very high to -- charles: you've been watching president biden being briefed on hurricane ida at fema. we'll keep you updated as he makes more news. for now, good afternoon, i'm charles payne. this is "making money." sort of breaking off the monday blues. growth names are popping as the street applauds powell the politician. what happens to small businesses? i tried to tell you buy now pay later phenomena, already sensation in europe and sweep america after