congrats to them. download the app to your cell phone or con cted it's wednesday, august 18th, 2021. this is the "cbs morning news." a race to evacuate. thousands of americans remain in afghanistan after the taliban takes control. how militant fighters are reportedly blocking the departure of some people. town decimated. a new wildfire largely destroys a small community in california. how firefighters saved a photojournalist from the raging flames. breakthrough infections. texas governor greg abbott, who's fully vaccinated, tests positive for covid. the recent event where he went the recent event where he went maskless surrounded by others. captioning funded by cbs good morning.

i'm tom hanson in for anne-marie green. this morning, the biden administration is facing pressure to get americans out of afghanistan after the taliban seized control of the country. around 11,000 americans are still there. and national security leaders aren't sure how long it will take to safely evacuate everyone. bradley blackburn is in new york tracking the latest information. bradley, good morning to you. >> reporter: tom, good morning. american military leaders say they're picking up the pace of those evacuation flights. they could transport up to 9,000 evacuees per day. and they're negotiating directly with the taliban to allow for safe passage. the taliban is taking steps to form a new government after reclaiming control of afghanistan. yesterday, a spokesman for the group announced an amnesty program for officials of the country's previous administration and anyone who worked with the u.s. he also said the taliban would allow women and girls to work

and go to school. he said females will have rights as defined by islamic law. >> ultimately it's going to be up to the taliban to show the rest of the world who they are and how they intend to proceed. the track record has not been good. >> reporter: u.s. officials say their immediate priority is the evacuation of american citizens and allies from the country. u.s. troops have secured a section of the kabul airport, but there have been reports of gunmen blocking the roads leading to it. >> we have received assurances from the taliban that they will allow safe passage to civilians transiting to the airport. let me just be very clear about this. we take it for what it is. these are the words of the taliban. >> reporter: last night president biden returned to the white house after cutting short a vacation at camp david. >> this is an unforced error, and if we -- it is a painful lesson that we've learned that what happens in afghanistan does not stay in afghanistan.

>> reporter: the biden administration has already announced it will conduct an internal review of the decisions leading up to the military aw t resurgence. it promised to make the results of that review public. up to 22,000 afghan allies and their family members could be brought here to the u.s. facilities are being set up to house them at three different army installations, tom, in wisconsin, texas, and virginia. >> lots of critical work to be done still. bradley blackburn in new york. thank you. developing this morning, crews are struggling to contain a raging wildfire that's devastated a small town in northern california. the caldor fire erupted in the northern sierra. it has torched more than 30,000 acres and is 0% contained. it got so dangerous firefighters had to escort a news photographer out of a danger zone navigating through thick smoke and flames. the wind-fueled fire raced through the town of grisly flats east of sacramento. dozens of homes, businesses, and

other structures were burned to the ground leaving many people without anything at all. >> i physically saw my home which is a pile of ash, which is on an acre of property in a 1,300, 1,600-foot home. it's a pile of ash. everybody on my block is a pile of ash. >> power has been cut to about 51,000 customers in northern california to prevent the threat of more wildfires. texas governor greg abbott has tested positive for the coronavirus. a spokesman said the republican governor is experiencing no symptoms. he's isolated at home in austin and receiving monoclonal antibody treatment. abbott recently attended an event speaking indoors to gop supporters while not wearing a mask. he says he's feeling okay and crediting the fact that he was vaccinated. >> also want you to know that i have received the covid-19 vaccine, and then maybe one reason why i'm not feeling any

symptoms right now. i have no fever, no aches and pains, no other types of symptoms. >> abbott's positive test comes as new covid cases continue to surge due to the highly contagious delta variant. airline passengers will have to wear face coverings through next year as covid cases continue to spike. the tsa is extending its mask mandate until january 18th. the controversial rule was initially set to expire next month. it has led to many confrontations between passengers who don't want to wear masks and flight attendants who have been asked to enforce the mandate. in haiti, the death toll jumped to almost 2,000 people following the powerful earthquake on saturday. and some villages that badly need help are now cut off by debris and swollen rivers. vlad duthiers traveled by helicopter to get a look at the devastation. >> reporter: more misery fell on haiti as the remnants of tropical depression grace battered the country with heavy rain.

we flew to the hardest hit arear blocd by mides from t air, thoude it's only when you get on the ground that the full scope of the devastation becomes clear. in one of haiti's largest cities rcing survivors to camp out in the open. this is the village of maniche. the mayor david brinard says 98% of the town has been obliterated. they need tents to rebuild their homes. when you get up close you can see the full scale and destruction of the earthquake. this car was completely flattened by the collapsing building. if you look across the street here, this church has stood in the town of maniche for over 110 years. utterly destroyed. this woman says she lost her home and her sister in the quake. she says she's traumatized now and doesn't have anywhere to go.

the people in maniche tell us while needs are urgent the villages are in dire straits. the roads are completely cut off because of rubble and swollen rivers. and they tell us the only way those villages can get medical attention is when someone carries the injured by foot which can take up to two days. vlad duthiers, cbs news, port-au-prince, haiti. coming up, tackling covid. fans of this nfl team will need to be vaccinated before they head to the stadium. and reviving supersonic travel. a new startup wants to fly you from new york to london in a few short hours. this is the "cbs morning news." " people with moderate to severe psoriasis, or psoriatic arthritis, are rethinking the choices they make like the splash they create the way they exaggerate the surprises they initiate. otezla. it's a choice you can make. otezla is not an injection or a cream it's a pill that treats differently.

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show proof of covid-19 vaccinations this season at allegiant stadium. fans who show proof will be able to enter the stadium without masks if they're fully vaccinated. the raiders are the first nfl team to announce a vaccine no-mask policy. >> we're excited about the opportunity to have consistency this season. and i would say that if people are concerned about taking the shot or whatever, that we will refund their money for the season for the nine games. >> the team will offer shots to unvaccinated fans at the stadium, but they have to wear a mask to get in. and the "associated press" says transportation secretary pete buttigieg announced that he and his husband, chasten, are parents. he posted the news on his personal twitter account. he's the first openly gay cabinet secretary confirmed by the senate. the 39-year-old has talked publicly about his desire to become a father since last year's campaign for the

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♪ here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ ♪ an aerospace startup is aiming to revive faster than the speed of sound commercial air travel across the atlantic. boom supersonic is expected to fly 65 passengers from new york to london in just over 3.5 hours.

the company is hoping to begin test flights of its aircraft called the xb1 starting next year. on the cbs "money watch", facebook continues to ban taliban content, and the girl scouts unveiled a new cookie. elise preston is at the new york stock exchange with that and more. good morning, elise. good to see you. >> reporter: good morning, tom. great to see you. stock futures are indicating a lower open after a dismal day on wall street. the three major indices sunk after a disappointing u.s. retail sales report from the commerce department. the dow slid 282 points, the nasdaq dropped 137 points, and the s&p 500 fell 31 points, ending a five-session winning streak and posting its biggest decline in a month. facebook says it will keep its ban on taliban content after the militant group regained control of afghanistan. the social media company says it won't allow accounts across all its platforms that praise

support or represent the taliban. it made the decision based on the group's decision as a sanctioned terrorist organization under u.s. law. facebook says it has a dedicated team of afghanistan experts who are tasked with identifying and alerting the platform of emerging issues. listen up, you may want to check your pantry. hostess is recalling some of its hot dog and hamburger buns due to possible listeria and salmonella contamination. the affected products have best buy dates that run through september 30th. if you've purchased these buns, hostess is urging you to throw them away or return them to the store where you bought them for a full refund. no illnesses have been reported. and there's a new girl scout cookie coming to town. the organization revealed the new adventurefuls cookie. it will join its national lineup for the 2022 season. it's inspired by a brownie with carmel flavored cream and a hint of sea salt. girl scouts say it has smooth and crispy textures for, quote,

an incredible taste of adventure in every bite. it sounds good, tom, but i am a thin mint fanatic. >> yeah. you know what, that's an adventure i want to be on personally. but you wonder what the real adventure flavor is, elise -- can you guess? >> i have no idea. >> the mac and cheese ice cream or, worse, the mystery jelly bellies, do you remember those? we're talking concrete, lawn clippings, and booger flavors. those are the real adventure flavors in my humble opinion. >> i don't want any of that. absolutely not. i want to know what i'm eating. >> i'll leave those in the past, as well. elise preston, thank you so much. all right. up next a giant leap in robotics. why researchers are doing back flips over the newest moves by the robot. doing back flips over the newest moves by the robot. this may look like a regular movie night. but if you're a kid with diabetes, it's more.

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here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ glorious -- >> oh, no, he didn't!ht reel. the blazers' greg brown pulled off an amazing dunk between the legs during yesterday's summer

league game against the rockets. but it wasn't enough for the victory. they lost 95-92. tim tebow's attempt at an nfl comeback appears to be over. the 34-year-old former quarterback was released by the jacksonville jaguars after trying to make the team as a tight end. he was drafted in the first round by the denver broncos in 2010 and played quarterback for several teams. he spent the last five years playing minor league baseball for the new york mets. tebow tweeted, "thankful for the highs and even the lows, the opportunity and setbacks. i'm grateful for the chance to have pursued a dream." and check out the impressive moves by the humanoid robot atlas. boston dynamics showed off the robot's latest moves in a new video. atlas runs, leaps over the video. there are two. but there were also some missteps. >> it can be frustrating sometimes.

the robots crash a lot. it's not the robot just magically deciding to do pa utinlio or parcour video where it's an athlete that's practiced moves hundreds or dozens of times even to get to the high level, that exciting capability. >> incredible to watch. boston dynamics says atlas has evolved over the last decade and is now able to adapt movements on its own based on what its cameras see. coming up on "cbs this morning," actor and bestselling author ethan hawke tells us about his new graphic novel "meadowlark." i'm tom hanson. this is the "cbs morning news." "

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our top stories this morning -- the biden administration is facing pressure to get americans out of afghanistan after the taliban seized control of the country.

over 11,000 americans are still there. meanwhile, the biden administration announced it will conduct an internal review of the decisions leading up to the military withdrawal from afghanistan. and crews are struggling to contain the caldor fire that's devastated a small town in northern california. it erupted saturday. the fire ravaged the town of grisly flats east of sacramento. the flames have torched more than 30,000 acres and is 0% contained. it was the ride of a lifetime. a father and son on a cross-country trip on bicycles. cbs news met up with them in june, but now the dedicated duo reached the finish line. nikki battiste has the update. to new york! >>s rit. [ cheers ] >> reporter: shepherd culver had dreamed of seeing the statue of liberty for 3,300 miles, pedaling every single one of them. it took 18 weeks, but he made it. what do you think of the statue of liberty right there? was it worth it?

>> it was definitely worth it, yeah. it's pretty cool. >> reporter: he convinced his dad james to make the trip starting from their home in washington state and across all of america, even though shepherd is only 9 years old. are your legs tired? >> you know, i'm a kid. i got a lot of energy. they don't hurt as bad as my dad do when we're done. >> true. >> reporter: they started this adventure in 2019 but had to stop when shep kept getting headaches and was diagnosed with diabetes. nothing stopped them this time. dad, how was the journey for you? >> it was a wonderful bonding experience. i feel like i invested my time as his dad really well here. >> reporter: would you rather be going back to school or still riding your bike? >> still riding. >> reporter: shepherd is home now, reunited with his mom, but he's still riding high from his summer with dad. >> sparkling cider. [ applause ] >> reporter: nikki battiste, cbs news, new york.

coming up on "cbs this morning," the latest on a child custody battle involving an "american idol" star. plus, the fight against covid. david begnaud rides along with emergency medics in louisiana to show us the challenges they face. and actor and bestselling author ethan hawke tells us about his new graphic novel "meadowlark." that's the cbs news for this wednesday. thank you so much for watching. i'm tom hanson. have a great day. ♪

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