right now on "america this morning," president biden holding firm in his first interview since the withdrawal, biden saying troops will remain in afghanistan until all americans have safely left as the secretary of defense says the evacuations aren't happening fast enough. this as chaos still unfolds at the airport in kabul. our crew on the ground forced back by taliban fighters. >> stop filming. stop flipping. >> we have the latest from the region. breaking overnight, a new wildfire in california already destroying dozens of homes and forcing more evacuations and the fire threat remaining high today. breaking down, the school resource officer accused of hiding during a parkland shooting getting emotional outside court. >> and never for a second would

i sit there and allow anyone to die knowing that animal was up in that building, never. >> his plea as he faces neglect charges connected to the mass shooting. plus, job in jeopardy? the new controversy surrounding the person set to take over for alex trebek. the giant rubber duck that has people in maine quacking up. and the pope's new toy that had the pontiff grinning from ear to ear. good thursday morning, everyone. we begin with the slow, treacherous evacuation effort in afghanistan and our abc news exclusive, president biden's first interview since the taliban takeover. >> the president telling george stephanopoulos he's prepared to keep u.s. troops in kabul until every american is out. that statement coming as dangerous scenes play out near kabul airport. abc's julia macfarlane joins us from london with the latest. good morning, julia. >> reporter: mona, andrew, good

morning. president biden is standing firm in his defense of withdrawing troops from afghanistan despite te chaotic scenes at kabul airport. and now there are reports of the taliban showing their trademark brutality. in his first interview since the taliban takeover in afghanistan, president biden defiant in the face of criticism over the handling of the u.s. withdrawal. >> you just said flat out it's highly unlikely the taliban would take over. >> the idea that the taliban would take over was premised on the notion that the -- that somehow the 300,000 troops we had trained and equipped was going to just collapse, they were going to give up. i don't think anybody anticipated that. >> you don't think this could have been handled better in any way, no mistakes? >> no, i don't think it could have been handled in a way that there -- we're going to go back in hindsight and look but the idea that somehow there's a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, i don't know how that

happens. >> reporter:s president also telling abc's george stephanopoulos that u.s. troops will remain in afghanistan until every american is evacuated. and while u.s. officials claim inside of the airport is secure, just outside the gates is a completely different picture as thousands of desperate afghans try to leave. members of the taliban trying to control the crowds firing shots over people's heads, beating men, women and children. abc's ian pannell and his crew confronted by taliban fighters ignoring the accreditation issued by their own commanders forcing the crew back to their cars. >> stop filming. stop filming. we're foreigners. we got an armored vehicle, we can get out of here, but those people desperate to leave the country, they have to face that just to get through to the military side of the airport even if they have permission to leave, and they've got to run the gauntlet of some of the scariest people you could ever

meet. >> reporter: as many as 15,000 americans and at least 65,000 afghans desperately trying to get out. but an email to u.s. nationals saying, the united states government cannot ensure safe passage to the airport, and despite estimates that up to 9,000 people per day could be evacuated, only 1,800 were evacuated in the last 24 hours. yesterday defense secretary lloyd austin acknowledging the evacuation isn't going fast enough. >> it's obvious we're not close to where we want to be in terms of getting the numbers through so we're going to work that 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. >> reporter: and questions still remain about how the taliban captured the country so quickly. the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff is denying reports that there was intelligence saying the takeover could be so swift. mona, andrew. >> julia, thank you. now to the breaking news in northern california where a

new wind-driven wildfire is raging through the city of clear lake. within just a few hours after the fire erupted, they moved quickly residents had just minutes to escape. overnight dozens of homes burning and people injured as wildfires in northern california intensify. in lake county, the cache fire putting 1,600 under evacuation orders. the speed of the blaze taking residents by surprise. >> i didn't have any warning. it was just like it was a flash fire. saw the flames right behind me coming up, just loaded up my dogs and my family and got out of there. >> reporter: in el dorado county, the caldor fire is burning out of control now roughly twice the size of san francisco. the fire burning in hard to reach forest areas forcing firefighters to wait until smoke clears for their aerial attack. abc's kayna whitworth is there. >> reporter: you've seen this pilot just pick up that bucket of water right here from the river. that way they can quickly take it into the forest in areas that are inaccessible to hand

crews. >> reporter: at least two people have been injured in the caldor fire airlifted to safety as flames swallowed the forrest gumping roads and the town of grizzly flats leveled by flames. >> i physically saw my home which is a pile of ash. it's a pile of issue. everybody on my block is a pile of ash. >> reporter: so far this year wildfires have burned 1.3 million acres in california. a more than 50% increase from this time last year. >> every acre in california can and will burn someday, just make sure that you're ready when it does. >> and the dixie fire has been burning for more than a month in california. it's now the largest in the state's history scorching over 635,000 acres. breaking overnight, two women are dead after a workplace shooting in indiana. a 62-year-old woman and her 21-year-old granddaughter died after a gunman opened fire as they arrived for work at an automotive plant. the suspected gunman, also an

employee at the plant fled but was taken into custody after a pursuit. no word yet on a possible motive. a shootout between police and a gunman in california ended with two officers hit by bullets and the suspect dead. police say he opened fire on them when they moved in to arrest him accused of shooting and injurying a sheriff's deputy on tuesday. all three injured officers are expected to recover. the biden administration is raising the stakes in the battle against the surging covid delta variant. all eligible americans will be offered booster shots eight months after their second dose of the pfizer or moderna vaccine. abc's ike ejiochi is in washington with the latest. ike, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, now, president biden and the white house said the booster shots will be for fully vaccinated adults ages 18 and up and will begin on september 20th. this morning, a new weapon against the coronavirus. >> we are planning for americans to receive booster shots starting next month to maximize vaccine induced protection. >> reporter: pending fda approval, the free shots will be made available starting

september 20th. > show your vaccination card and you'll get a booster. >> reporter: all fully vaccinated americans 18 and up are urged to get a third booster shot eight months after receiving their second moderna or pfizer dose. no guidance yet for those who received johnson & johnson's single-shot vaccine. dr. fauciing telling cnn -- >> you want to stay ahead of the game. >> all right. >> that's why the decision was to boost people. >> reporter: this comes as the cdc releases new data showing reduced protection against mild and moderate covid illness in vaccinated adults over time. getting a booster mrna shot dramatically increases the number of antibodies strengthening one's protection against the virus. >> it will help us end the pandemic faster. >> as the delta variant maintains its grip, the u.s. case average now surging to more than 128,000 new daily cases. hospitalizations are now at their highest point in over six months. in alabama, icu beds are overflowing. >> we have opened our third covid unit. our hospitalizations are going up.

the cases are going up and the deaths are going up. >> reporter: this as mask mandates continue to be a point of contention. president biden warning legal action against governors who block schools on mask policies. the parish, texas, school district found a loophole by adding mask requirements to the dress code. >> based upon where we stand on the law and what the governor has done so far, we're acting consistent with the law. >> reporter: now, president biden also announcing a vaccine mandate for nursing home staff. now, if disobeyed, the facility could risk losing federal funding, andrew. >> ike, thank you. turning now to weather at least 35 people are missing after remnants of tropical storm fred caused catastrophic flooding in north carolina. one of the hardest hit areas was hayward county. the storm washing out bridges and roads, swamping homes and causing mudslides. the governor declared a state of emergency. nearly a foot of rain has fallen over the past three days.

and with that let's take a look at your thursday morning weather. the national weather service calling this a suspected tornado. it's spawned by a storm rolling through eastern pennsylvania. there's no serious reports of damage. further north what's left of fred is bringing heavy rain to new england today and storms are expected this afternoon in the southeast as well as the western plains. and checking today's high temperatures, 91 degrees today in minneapolis. around 80s around the great lakes and cooling off in the rockies, 65 degrees in salt lake city. 90 in miami, 92 in new orleans. coming up, a broadcaster suspended for his comments about a japanese baseball player. that player is now speaking out. also ahead, r. kelly in court for his sex abuse trial. what prosecutors revealed about his marriage to the late singer, aaliyah.

and the former officer

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we're back with r. kelly sexual abuse trial getting under way. prosecutors labeled the singer a predator. who lured young girls with his fame. and shed more light on his marriage to the late singer aly ya. >> prosecutors accusing the singer of running a three decade long scream. recruiting women and under age girls. the indictment stemming from the account of six women. the first witness in the trial telling the jury he knew she was 16. when they had a relationship in 2009. and claimed he controlled who she could call.

whether she could eat or not and when to use the bathroom. prosecutors also revealing new details about his relationship with the late singer claiming he bought her a fake id and forced her to marry him when she was 15. to avoid prosecution. after she thought she was pregnant. >> the trial is a devastating known for hits like i believe i can fly. prosecutors repeatedly describe him as predator. who dominated victims sexually and psychologically. the prosecution is going to be looking to show that these are not isolated events. it's not one woman. >> defense painting a different picture. saying many of the women enjoyed being able to tell friends they were with a super-star. and himself denying charges inclooding in this interview in

2019. >> i didn't do this stuff. i'm fighting for my life. this is not me. you're killing me with this. >> the trial is expected to last a month. if convicted, he could spend between ten years and the rest of his life in prison. >> thank you. now to the former resource officer in florida getting emotional during a court hearing. he is charged with neglect stemming from the 2018 shooting. prosecutors accuse him of hiding as gunman opened fire killing 17 people. he broke down after his attorney asked the charges to be dropped. >> i didn't do anything there to try it hurt any child on the scene. i did the best i could with the information. i'll never forget the day. kids died. friends died. i never for a second would i sit there and allow anyone to die. knowing an animal was in that

building. never. >> a judge will decide whether to drop the charges. >> something you may not know about the pope. >> the new job in jeopardy the host taking over apologizing for past comments. what he's saying. tackling tough messes can take more time than you have, but mr. clean clean freak delivers the power of a deep clean in minutes unlike bleach sprays, ...clean freak starts deep cleaning on contact with three times the cleaning power to break down tough messes in seconds it quickly cleans your home's toughest messes so, for a deep clean in minutes, get mr. clean clean freak available in easy to switch refills and now get the cleaning power of mr. clean in a wipe to kill 99.9% of bacteria and viruses. ♪ thousands of women with metastatic breast cancer are living in the moment and taking ibrance. ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for postmenopausal women or for men with hr+,

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for skin that never holds you back don't settle for silver #1 for diabetic dry skin* #1 for psoriasis symptom relief* and #1 for eczema symptom relief* gold bond champion your skin a broadcaster in major league baseball is under fire for using a mocking accent. jack morris is the longtime tv commentator for the detroit tigers. he's also a hall of fame pitcher.

on tuesday morris used an asian action when talking about shohei ohtani who is from japan. morris has been suspended indefinitelily and last night ohtani was asked about the comment through an interpreter, he said he wasn't offended. >> personally i'm not offended. i didn't take anything personally and i have no say to what the tigers want to do or what they did, and he's a hall of famer. he has a big influence on the baseball world, so i'm kind of in a tough spot. >> during that same game morris did apologize on air before the game was over. the tigers, meanwhile, released a statement saying they are disappointed by the remark. the new host of "jeopardy!" is under fire again. mike richards is apologizing for derogatory comments he made about women on a podcast while also serving as executive producer of "the price is right," the latest in a string of controversies. abc's will ganss has more. >> reporter: this morning, new "jeopardy!" host mike richards

facing backlash yet again. this time for sexist remarks resurfacing from a 2014 podcast he hosted. >> beth got a job being a booth [ bleep ]. >> what is a booth babe or whatever? >> a booth [ bleep ] is someone who dresses up in very provocative clothes. >> let me check the rules on that. no, we can't do it. >> reporter: in a new article "the ringer," unearthing several claims from "the randumb show." in one the soon-to-be host commenting on how women look in one-piece bathing suits versus bikinis. >> but they all look terrible in the picture. they look fat and not good in the picture. it's bad. >> oh, my god. >> you look great. >> reporter: richards also under fire for a 2010 lawsuit when he was the executive producer of "the price is right," one of that show's models claiming she faced discrimination from richards and other producers after she became pregnant. richards denying the claim. the suit settled later out of court. richards addressing that controversy in a memo obtained by deadline saying to

"jeopardy!" staffers, i want you all to know the way in which my comments and actions have been characterized in these complaints does not reflect the reality of who i am. >> morale at "jeopardy!" is very low right now, but i think the reception to richards as ep and especially now as a host has not necessarily been a positive one. >> reporter: overnight richards apologizing for "the randumb show" podcast episodes telling abc news, it is humbling to confront a terribly embarrassing moment of misjudgment. looking back now there is no excuse, of course, for the comments i made on this podcast and i am deeply sorry. all episodes of "the randumb show" have been taken offline. following the ringer's publication. richards saying even with the passage of time, it's more than clear my attempts to be funny and provocative were not acceptable and i have removed the episodes. mona, andrew. >> all right, thanks, will. >> coming up, the big baby news from a hollywood power couple. also ahead, the giant rubber duck mystery in maine.

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♪ time to check "the pulse" and a special delivery for scarlett johansson and husband colin jost. >> the couple welcomed their first baby together, a baby boy named cosmo, the "saturday night live" comedian confirmed the news on instagram. johansson has a 7-year-old daughter from a previous relationship. >> they married back in october of 2020 after meeting on "snl." and next the pope getting his soccer fix. >> it's all thanks to a gift francis was just given. he received a foosball table after his weekly audience at the vatican. >> the soccer loving pope even played a game before carrying on with his day. francis has been a soccer fan since his youth in argentina. finally the rubber duck mystery. >> it's playing out in belfast, maine. it just showed up in the city's

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announcer: building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc 7 news. >> good morning.

had to get out. had to load up my dogs, family, get out of there. >> it fast moving fire leaving residents little time to get out. dozens of homes destroyed and when witness describing the first sign of trouble. >> the wildfire smoke has drifted into the bay area. concern about the health of kids now that they are back in the classroom. >> we spent over a trillion dollars, 20 years. there was no good time. >> an exclusive one-on-one with president biden. since the taliban regain control of afghanistan's capital. >> also, say goodbye to fast pass. it is a new day for disneyland and disney world. disney says this will help improve your experience at the parks. it is controversial. good morning on this wednesday, august 19.