reporting from the capital i'm ben tracy. ns." defending the drawdown. president biden makes the case for withdrawing u.s. troops from afghanistan, ending america's longest war. why he's speeding up the exit. summer soaker. tropical storm elsa races up the east coast bringing flash flooding and tornadoes. where it's headed and how much rain to expect in areas already drenched by storms. m-u-r-r-a-y-a. >> that is correct. [ applause ] >> letter perfect. how this year's scripps national spelling bee champion is making spelling bee champion is making history.

captioning funded by cbs well, good morning. good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. we begin with the president vigorously defending his decision to move u up u. drawdown of troops in afghanistan. the withdrawal will be completed by august 31st, earlier than initially announced. president biden insisted the u.s. has done more than enough to empower afghan authorities, and he's not willing to risk any more american lives. laura podesta is tracking the latest developments. laura, what else did the president say? >> reporter: good morning, anne-marie. so the president said that once he made the decision to end the war he was advised by military commanders to move forward with the withdrawal swiftly. a slower approach would put u.s. troops at greater risk. the u.s. is speeding up its exit from afghanistan after nearly two decades of fighting. president biden said it's time

to end the conflict. >> i will not send another generation of americans to war in afghanistan with no reasonable expectation of achieving a different outcome. >> reporter: yesterday the white house said the pentagon is aiming to have most personnel out of the country by the end of august. the deadline had been september 11th. >> the united states did what we went to do in afghanistan -- to get the terrorists who attacked on 9/11 and get justice for bin -- and deliver justice to osama bin laden. we did not go to nation build. >> reporter: the military withdrawal of the u.s. and its allies comes amid resurgence. it currently controls about a third of afghanistan's provinces and is pushing to expand its terr risks of pulling out. >> the worst case, civil war breakdown, fracturing of the government, fracturing of the army, that's possible. >> reporter: republican senator lindsey graham called the decision to leave afghanistan a, quote, disaster in the making and predicted it would lead to the re-emergence of groups like

isis and al qaeda. the u.s.' longest war has claimed nearly 2,500 american lives and wounded more than 20,000. after the drawdown, around 1,000 u.s. troops will remain are aigned to protect the u.s. embassy in kabul. anne-marie? >> laura podesta in new york. thank you so much, laura. well, ahead on "cbs this morning," charlie d'agata is in kabul where he spoke with the top u.s. diplomat in afghanistan about the future of the american diplomatic mission there after u.s. troops withdraw. so back at home, tropical storm elsa is expected to spread heavy rain and gusty winds in the northeast today. right now the tropical storm warnings extend to portions of new england. half a foot of rain is possible in some areas. elsa is blamed for spawning multiple tornadoes after making landfall in florida earlier this week.

a tornado was confirmed in jacksonville where one person died.wher, low-lying areas were flooded making roads unpassable. some people were urged to evacuate. as new york city braces for tropical storm elsa, a separate storm system slammed the region yesterday evening. check out the water pouring down these steps at a subway station. the storm hit at the height of rush hour prompting flash flood warnings. above ground, roads were also under water. our new york city station wcbs reports dozens of people had to be rescued from their cars. now to surfside, florida. four more bodies were pulled from the rubble of that deadly condo collapse. the death toll now stands at 64. officials say 76 people are still potentially unaccounted for. authorities have shifted the search effort from rescue to recovery. >> we are working around the clock to recover victims and to bring closure to the families as fast as we possibly can.

>> officials remain about the condsiildi which is v identical. there are no mandatory evacuations, but officials are testing samples of concrete there to see if salt corrosion may be an issue. two americans are among the suspects arrrrested in the assassination of haiti's president. the men have been identified as james solages and joseph vincent, both from florida. they are more than a dozen people now who have been detained in the last 24 hours with at least three others killed. authorities are still trying to determine why a hit squad of roughly two dozen men murdered president moise. his wife was shot three times and remains in the hospital. their daughter escaped after hiding in a bedroom. pfizer says it's seeking emergency approval to create a booster covid shot. but america's two top federal agencies are not on board. the drugmaker says the shot is intended to target the delta

variant which is now the most common strain in the u.s. pfizer wants to start clinical trials in august saying based on its data a third dose may be needed within six to 12 months after getting a shot in the arm. the fda and cdc both issued joint statements saying americans don't need booster shots yet. this morning, olympic athletes are disappointed that spectators have been banned from the games in tokyo which are exactly two weeks away. as tina kraus reports, the ban comes after an ongoing surge in covid cases. >> reporter: olympic athletes from around the world are converging on tokyo, and the delta variant is outrunning organizers' plans to keep the games on track. with a rapid rise of covid infections in the capital, japan's prime minister is putting tokyo in a state of emergency throughout the games. he said the six-week lockdown was crucial to stopping the spread of the virus.

the restrictions mean no fans allowed. sports psychologists say that could hurt the athletes. >> for most top performers, it will feel strange and it may make them more concerned that they may not deliver their best performances. >> reporter: a covid surge already forced the olympic torch relay to detour away from the capital. runners have ferried the blame -- the flame on boats and trains on its journey toward tokyo for the july 23rd opening ceremony. more than 80% of the japanese public don't want the games to go ahead. this woman even used a water gun to try to put out the flame, shouting "stop the olympics" before police arrested her. many residents are angry they're being ordered to stay home as the world's biggest sporting event unfolds around them. it's the fourth time japan has declared a state of emergency since the pandemic began. tina kraus, cbs news.

coming up, speaking out. tennis champ naomi osaka opens up about mental health and why she says it's okay not to be okay. and dramatic body camera video of police rescuing a little girl from an alleged kidnapper. this is the "cbs morning news." kidnapper. this is the "cbs morning news." (dog vo) mmmm, this beneful grain free... ... is so healthy. aahh - farm raised chicken! it's good chicken. mmm, here come the accents, blueberries and pumpkin, wow. and spinach! that was my favorite bite so far. (vo) try beneful grain free... and our other beneful recipes. healthful. flavorful. beneful. [swords clashing] - had enough? - no... arthritis. here. new aspercreme arthritis. full prescription-strength? reduces inflammation? thank the gods. don't thank them too soon. kick pain with aspercreme. does scrubbing feel like a workout? scrub less with dawn platinum. don't thank them too soon. its superior formula breaks down and removes up to 99% of tough grease and food residue faster. so you scrub less. tackle grease wherever it shows up.

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in women and men, urinary tract infections, and low blood sugar. stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of ketoacidosis which is serious and may lead to death. more time with her? sounds good to me. ♪far-xi-ga♪ if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. aftershocks are reported after an earthquake in northern california, and police rescued a kidnapped girl. those are some of the headlines on the "morning newsstand." our louisville affiliate wlky reports newly released police camera video shows officers rescuing a kidnapped 6-year-old girl. in the video from last week, police removed the scared girl from the 40-year-old kidnapping suspect's car as she is crying. the girl can be heard saying that she wants her daddy. investigators say a witness saw the girl being abducted from her bicycle a short while earlier. they called 911 with a vehicle description and license plate number. the suspect was arrested and

charged with kidnapping a minor. the "los angeles times" says a magnitude six earthquake was felt across northern california. yesterday's quake was centered south of lake tahoe near the rural community of walker. it jolted both sides of the california/nevada border. cars had to be -- had to, rather, maneuver around boulders after a rock slide. a 40-mile section of interstate 395 was closed to traffic. the quake was felt as far away as san francisco and las vegas. there were no reports of major damage or injuries, though. and aftershocks are expected for days. "the new york times" says the fda reversed course and decided to put limits on who can receive a controversial new alzheimer's drug. last month the agency approved with mild memory or thinking problems should receive it. the move is likely to reduce thu x llion

to 1.5 million people. and tennis star naomi osaka wrote an essay for "time" magazine about her decision to withdraw from last month's french open to take a mental health break. osaka withdrew after being fined and threatened with disqualification for saying that she did not want to speak to the media during the tournament. she said some questions create doubt for her on the court. she also said that she has dealt with depression. in the essay, she wrote, "i am naturally introverted and do not court the spotlight. i always try to push myself to speak up for what i believe to be right, but that often comes at a cost of great anxiety. i do hope that people can relate and understand. it's okay not to be okay, and it's okay to talk about it." still ahead, saying yes to fresh. why sales of this candy are making a comeback as we go mask free.

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here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ can you handle this extra cuteness right here on your screen? this all-american baby giraffe made her debut yesterday at the dallas zoo. the calf who hasn't been named yet was born five days ago on july 4th. even though she's just a few days old, she's 5'6" tall. taller than me. on the cbs "money watch" now, weekly jobless claims rose unexpectedly, and fresh breath is making a return. diane king hall is at the new york stock exchange with those stories and more. good morning, diane. >> reporter: good morning, anne-marie. well, stock futures are flip-flopping after a dismal day during yesterday's session. the three major indices suffered their worst daily performance in

nearly three weeks as investors began to fret over the spread of the delta variant of the virus. the dow skidded 259. the nasdaq dropped 105, and the s&p 500 fell 37. the number of people filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week even as the economy and the job market appears to be rebounding. according to the labor department, first-time filings for weekly jobless claims jumped by 2,000 to 373,000 last week. despite the increase, the number of initial jobless claims is more than half this year. speaking of jobs, tiktok is testing out a pilot program called tiktok resumes. it lets users create a video resume posted to tiktok and send it to to recruiters through the app. more than 30 companies are signed up including chipotle,

target, and shopify. the program runs through the end of the month. chewing gum is making a comeback as more people unmask. new data shows gum sales across the u.s. has started rising as restrictions ease and vaccination rates increase. americans bought nearly 15 million more packs of gum in may compared to sales in january. demand for gum decreased during the pandemic due to less socialized and masks and social distancing made customers more in need of that minty fresh breath. now they need it. anne-marie? >> well, i'm surprised. i think many of us got a rude awakening when we put the masks on and we were forced to smell our own breath all day long. you'd think sales would have doubled. >> i know. now mask off. >> diane king hall. >> gums ready. >> reporter: gums ready. i like that first slogan. diane king hall at the new york stock exchange. have a great weekend. >> all right. you, too. so up nex, child's play. how these two men right here are seesawing their way into a new

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here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ they're trying to break the

50-year-old record for the longest continuous teeter totter ride. one of the men set the record of nine days. that was back in 1971 when he was rers on sunday. a 14-year-old louisiana girl is this year's scripps national spelling bee champion. >> m-u-r-r-a-y-a. >> that is correct. [ cheers ] >> with that correct spelling, zaila avant-garde became the first african-american winner in the competition's 96-year history. she's not only good at spelling. the teenager holds three guinness world records for dribbling multiple basketballs simultaneously. ahead on "cbs this morning," we will talk with zaila. an illinois student is being

praised for his joyful reaction to being accepted to college. >> i'm in! yeah! [ cheers ] >> the video showing the moment kurt kinley read his acceptance letter to heartland community college's halo program has been viewed on twitter more than 200,000 times. it was posted by his brother. the halo program offers a higher education experience for special-needs students. and a small sketch of a bear's head by leonardo da vinci has sold for a big price at auction. it fetched $12.2 million yesterday at christie's. a record for a da vinci drawing at auction. the sketch is the size of a post-it note. it is thought to be from the 1480s, and the buyer has not been identified. coming up on "cbs this morning," the new space race. we're going to show how two billionaires, richard branson

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our top stories this morning -- tropical storm elsa is expected to unleash heavy rain and gusty winds in the northeast today. right now, tropical storm warnings extend north to portions of new england. meantime, a separate storm hit new york city during the height of rush hour yesterday evening. subway stations and busy roads were flooded. our new york city station wcbs reports dozens of people had to be rescued from their cars. and the president is defending his decision to withdraw u.s. troops from afghanistan. mr. biden said the drawdown will be completed by august 31st, earlier than initially announced. he said the u.s. cannot afford to risk more american lives.

mr. biden said our troops had gone there to deliver justice to osama bin laden, adding we did not go there to nation build. the action comes as the taliban makes gains in afghanistan. there's troubling new medical problems for long-haul covid patients. some are coming down with neurological conditions. dr. jon lapook has details. >> reporter: when covid overwhelmed new york city last march, it found 51-year-old sam rafferty, a wildlife educator and animal lover. >> i wasn't able to breathe. i just coughed so much that it hurt. had a fever, aches. >> reporter: those symptoms subsided, but then rafferty developed what's become known as long covid with symptoms like heart palpitations, low blood pressure, and abnormal body temperature. >> my legs felt cold. the beginning i was terrified. i was convinced i was dying. your heart's racing and you can't feel your feet. you're like what the hell is going on? >> reporter: covid begins as a respiratory illness.

experts are researching how thev rvous system. in rafferty's case it was a neurological condition called dysautonomia, a disruption of the part of the nervous system that controls processes like temperature regulation, breathing, and blood pressure. >> it looks like a lot of the neurological symptoms that we're seeing are probably more relating to sort of inflammation from the infection. >> reporter: what is it that makes this so mysterious, so difficult to understand and treat? >> i think the biggest thing is that most of the diagnostic tests come back normal, so there isn't anything on the mri that might explain the cognitive changes. that's the most challenging thing. >> reporter: dr. jon lapook, cbs news, new york. well coming up on "cbs this morning," a closer look at the growing number of domestic militias following a standoff last weekend between heavily armed militia members and police in massachusetts. catherine herridge has the details. plus, the new space race. we'll show you how two

billionaires, richard branson and jeff bezos, plan separate missions to space. and we'll speak with this year's scripps national spelling bee champion zaila avant-garde. that's the "cbs morning news" for this friday. thanks for watching. i'm anne-marie green. have a great weekend. ♪