elorde and music from ash. "nightline" is next. thank you for watching. good night! [ cheers and applause ] tonight -- afghanistan falls. the stunning taliban takeover as the country descends into chaos. we're with the u.s. marine on a new mission, evacuating his comrade in combat. >> he wasn't just my translator. he was a brother. he's basically one of my marines. >> one of thousands of afghans left behind. searching for a lifeline. >> this is the situation. the taliban just come to kabul. plus, president biden du doubling down on his decision to withdraw. >> we'll end america's longest war after 20 long years of bloodshed. >> and as america's global influence comes under fire, what

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usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. get a quote today. ♪ thanks for joinin us. tonight, chaos in kabul as the taliban takeover of afghanistan unfolds with lightning speed. a small contingent of u.s.

forces moves to secure the airport there. scenes of utter mayhem erupting on the tarmac with people clinging for their lives. for the very latest on the fall of the city we go to abc's ian pannell reporting from the capital. ian? >> reporter: juju, this is really a tale of two cities. here in the main part of the city things are fairly calm. the taliban has taken up position on various checkpoints. we see heavily armed fighters driving around the city in pickup trucks and humvees. they are maintaining law and order. they've even taken over security here in the hotel, telling the guards to go away. out on the streets i didn't see any women at all. they are voting with their feet, staying behind closed doors. the other city is the chaos, the desperation at the airport. we're now hearing that the airport has reopened. there's going to be a real test for the americans whether they can keep it open and running, keep the crowds back. but overall, can they get those afghans who fear for their

lives, who fought alongside us, get them to the airport and get them out to safety? we're going to find out in the next 24 hours. juju? >> thanks, ian. and now to the race against time to relocate our afghan allies left behind. >> i don't anticipate the security situation getting better in the morning. i anticipate it getting worse. >> reporter: a world apart from afghanistan on a quiet street in i ry marine corps major thomas schuman remains steadfast in his mission. >> i have two points of contact at the abby gate. >> reporter: as taliban forces overtook kabul yesterday, he was desperately trying to find a way out of the country for his friend and former interpreter, zack. >> i can't go to airport. i'm far away from the trappe in th t cpsed around them. >> this is the situation.

the taliban just come to kabul. >> he wasn't just my translator. he was a brother. he was basically one of my marines. and i have a lifelong commitment to the people that i serve and leave. >> reporter: their hope, to get zack and his young family to the airport and to safety. major schueman on call after call after the hours tick by. >> those near where zack's staying or are they near the airport? >> how much time is left? i think the time has expired. there is no time left. >> reporter: it's been a stunning failure. within a few short weeks of american troops leaving the country afghanistan has fallen to the taliban. this footage from al jazeera purports to show taliban fighters inside the presidential palace on sunday declaring the islamic emirate of afghanistan. this after two decades of fighting and 2 trillion u.s. dollars spent.

nearly 2,400 american and 50,000 afghan lives lost. >> it's a failure of intelligence. it was a failure of diplomacy. >> reporter: for those who served and for a generation of afghans who saw the promise of progress many now wondering if their sacrifices were in vain. with those left behind poised to pay the highest price. >> i have gotten so many texts and communications from veterans, from families who are horrified looking at these images and what has happened, and asking themselves what was this for? >> reporter: the situation in kabul grows more urgent by the minute. disturbing videos show people desperate to board departing planes. here a child clings to a rope, trying to climb to safety. local reports said people could be seen falling from this plane as it took off. crowds of people running next to a u.s. military aircraft, some

clinging to the plane, all in a desperate attempt to flee. >> there was no real plan in place to get these people out of there. we have known for a long time that if the taliban ever moved in those people would probably be killed. >> reporter: 6,000 american troops have now been ordered to head directly to kabul to assist in the evacuation of u.s. personnel and afghans who assisted the u.s. mission. images of chinook helicopters evacuating u.s. personnel from the country eerily reminiscent of the fall of saigon. just five weekends ago president biden, who back in april announced that he'd make good on the trump administration's negotiated treaty with the taliban to withdraw all troops from afghanistan, was adamant that what we'd seen in the past few days would not happen. >> theikihrengthtalin owning t country is highly unlikely. >> reporter: today amidst

growing criticism the president defiant, admitting the taliban retook the country more quickly than anticipated but standing behind his decision to leave afghanistan. >> if anything, the developments of the past week reinforced that any u.s. military involvement in afghanistan now was the right decision. american troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves. >> you talk to a lot of people on capitol hill there they are criticizing him, and many democrats as well. he seemed to skirt what the real problem was, and that is there was really no plan after u.s. troops left. i think inside the white house people are starting to point fingers at one another. i think it is going to be something that the u.s. government as a whole and probably on the hill looks at to see what went wrong.

>> reporter: afghanistan's fall happening less than one month away from the 20th year anniversary of the september 11th terrorist attacks, after which the u.s. invaded the country. dubbed "operation enduring freedom," it led to nearly two roughly 800,000 u.s. troops. major schueman was one of them. no stranger to the sacrifices of war, he earned a purple heart while serving, and like too many soldiers he lost friends. in 2010 he met a young interpreter who we're identifying as zack who he says would save his life many times. major schueman has spent the last five years trying to help zack get a u.s. visa. >> i think it's a very simple transaction. you serve with the u.s. forces and we will provide you a visa.

he served with u.s. forces. we did not provide the visa. i think that's a betrayal. >> reporter: as the taliban took province by province, zack spent ulorki to get four children, al under the age of 5. >> i just turned back from post office with my papers. >> reporter: while major schueman worked from the u.s. to devise an exit strategy. >> we've got a couple people willing to move him in the morning. >> if he does not make it to the airport, he is the taliban's terms an infidel is what they call him because he's worked with the americans. what the taliban does to people who worked with u.s. forces, they execute them. this is not a what if kind of

scenario. i think this is what will happen if we cannot get zack to the airport and on a flight. >> yep, that's all fine. if you're able to find a refined position, please let me know. >> everything is frustrating. everything is so close. and now here we are allegedly all we need to do is get zack a ride and now the ride is there and they've called him ten times and he's not answering. >> reporter: it's become a nightmare reality for afghan refugees. one call, one day, one moment could mean the difference between life and death. >> the peace, the calm, you're free, you can go anywhere, you can do anything, you enjoy your life. >> reporter: it's a fleeting peace that afghan immigrant

ahmad knows all too well. ahmad and his family live in california. but just tep dan days ago they living in kabul, the only home they've ever known. >> i just miss what's happening in afghanistan. this week i came here and then next friday it was under the taliban control. >> reporter: for years ahmad worked in logistics, supplying aircraft equipment for u.s. and afghan forces in kabul. but his association with the west made him a target for the taliban. despite their assurances that those who worked with the u.s. would not be harmed. >> we don't believe that they will not do it again. they did it before and they are going to do it again and again. >> reporter: ahmad spent more than a year and a half processing his application for a special immigrant visa, or s.i.v., which was finally approved. >> for me, for my family, for my children there were no future. we couldn't make it. so that's why i decided to move.

>> what was the situation today in kabul? >> reporter: still most of their family is trapped back home. their lives at risk. >> so what do you think will happen to them? >> god save them. they should save themselves. they should hide themselves. >> so you guys have him walking there? yeah, i don't know if that's the right answer, but he's walking. >> reporter: after hours of back and forth major schueman got the call that zack and his family were finally beginning the long walk toward the airport. >> it's an hour 20-minute walk from his location in kabul. >> reporter: but that glimmer of hope is dashed when hours later zack leaves this voice message. >> we just returned back to our apartment because there was gunshots fire everywhere. that's why we are returned back to our house. >> we've exhausted every course of action that i could think of. so it's about midnight.

i'll stay with him throughout the night here and pray for him. >> reporter: despite the setback major schueman is still focused on finding a way out for zack and his family. the u.s. has now approved transport for 30,000 at-risk individuals including interpreters and their families out of kabul. but the logistics remain daunting. >> until i know zack has his ass in a seat on an airplane, i have to continue to believe that that is going to be what happens. >> it doesn't make me angry but it makes me sad. american came for a purpose. they achieved their purpose. we cannot force them to stay in afghanistan and fight on our behalf. >> do you think you and your family will ever go back to

afghanistan? >> in this situation, obviously not. but if this regime is changed or there is peace in afghanistan, i will go back. and coming up -- after two decades of u.s. intervention in afghanistan the taliban takes power. what went wrong? truthfully, it's frustrating to see how fast dust reappears. but dusting with a cloth is a pain. and dealing with a bulky vacuum.. . is such a hassle. uchhh!!! so now we use our swiffer sweeper and dusters. the fluffy fibers? they pick up dust easily. grabbing it in all those hard-to-reach places. gotcha!!! and for our floors, sweeper's textured cloths lock all kinds of dirt, dust and pet hair. unlike my vacuum, it sneaks under and around places. look at that!! dust free and hassle free. stop cleaning and start swiffering. people everywhere living with type 2 diabetes are waking up to what's possible

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♪ the swift taliban takeover in afghanistan raising mounting questions about t co

future, especially for the millions of women and girls left behind. so how did it go so wrong so quickly? earlier this evening i spoke with galement is imach lemon i senior fellow on the council of foreign relations and retired lubt general douglas lute who oversaw afghan policy for presidents george w. bush and barack obama. >> gale and lieutenant general lute thank you both for joining us. general lute, let me start with you. the world has watched helplessly today as chaos unfolds at kabul at the airport we've seen desperate people breaching runways, climbing onto planes. ambassador lute, you helped oversee afghan policy for two presidents. what is the security situation now and how does the military gain control? >> well, after some very bad days and very bad hours because of the sort of unexpected sweep of the taliban across afghanistan culminating in its taking of kabul, and the chaos and the desperation that you cite at the kabul airport, i think what we can expect today

is a settling down and in coming days an improvement in those conditions. why do i say that? first of all, we have self-thousand american troops now securing the airport itself. that is, they literally surround the airport, the outer fence, the perimeter. and then inside that perimeter they'll establish order and discipline and a sense of routine. as flights come in, get manifested, and take off. so i think what we'll see in place of the chaos and desperation that we've seen today, more of a situation of order and discipline in the coming days. >> and gale, you wrote an impassioned op-ed we all read about messages you're receiving from women and girls that you've worked with over the years. and we know how oppressive taliban rule was for women. what are you hearing from the women and girls? >> in kabul you talk to young women and the concern is what lies ahead. in a country that is 2/3 under the age of 25.

the question is when you've never lived under taliban rule how do you prepare? one young woman wrote me and said we're just waiting for a knock on the door and we have absolutely no idea what to prepare for. this in a country where so many young women i know had been working to become teachers and doctors and engineers and really being partners in the hunt for stability and security in afghanistan which has been elusive. >> right. and general lute, president biden said today that the buck stops with him but then went on to place blame on afghan political leadership and military leadership. how fair is that criticism and what responsibility ultimately does president biden himself have to bear? >> we always demanded, and we've been saying for years, that there was no military solution to the clinonflict in afghanist. it turns out we got a political solution but the political solution took place inside afghanistan. as city after city fell because of compromises and deals. so there is a heavy responsibility here among afghan

government officials, but in effect and at the end of the day this was a very afghan political solution. >> and gayle, over the past 20 years we know afghan women have gained more independence, more rights, attending schools, holding jobs. how do their lives change starting today? >> i had a young person who wrote me and said, "i honestly think that we would be better off dead." and the question is we don't know what comes next. is there room to say women are not just collateral damage on the way to whatever kind of political settlement arrives? does half the population get reduced to zero in terms of participation as students, as entrepreneurs, as politicians? all these things that they have gained. so it is the world's loss if we go back to 1996. but the country is very different than it was and we will wait to see what happens both from the international community, which has largely looked away, and young people who are fighting for their own future. >> and general lute, just five

weeks ago the president insisted the military could hold off the taliban. how did we get so wrong? was it a failure of intelligence? >> i think there was an estimate that was more optimistic than what played out. that's not unusual in intelligence assessments. >> gayle, lieutenant general, thank you both for your time. >> thank you. and we'll be right back with a final note. laque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. with skyrizi, 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months, after just 2 doses. skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches, or coughs or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. ♪ nothing is everything ♪ for people who are a little intense about hydration. neutrogena® hydro boost lightweight. fragrance-free.

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"nightline" will have continuing coverage of the crisis unfolding in afghanistan in the coming days. that's if for us this evening. you can watch all of our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america.