to learn more, visit safetyactioncenter.pge.com captioning sponsed by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight... >> i'm here to announce the complete withdrawal from afghanistan and end military mission to evacuate u.s. citizens, third party nationals and vulnerable afghans. >> woodruff: ...out of afghanistan: the final u.s. military flight ends america's longest war. we get an inside look from kabul airport on the exit. >> woodruff: then, a path of destruction-- hurricane ida ravages louisiana with blistering winds and massive storm surges. we get the latest on the damage. and, political stakes-- we ask how president biden is faring in the face of these two major crisis in the midst of the

pandemic. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> well, audrey's expecting... >> twins! >> grandparents. >> we want to put money aside for them, so, change in plans. >> all right, let's see what we can adjust. >> we'd be closer to the twins. >> change in plans. >> okay. >> mom, are you painting again? you could sell these. >> let me guess, change in plans? >> at fidelity, changing plans is always part of the plan.

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thank you. >> woodruff: we have two main stories tonight. we will get the latest on the damage as hurricane ida ravaged louisiana. but first, america's longest war is over. the final flight of american troops has left the country, in the small hours of what is now tuesday, in kabul, after 20 years of war. as of today, the u.s. has airlifted more than 120,000 people from kabul, almost all of them in the last two-plus weeks. but thousands of afghans are left behind, for now. and the deaths of many americans and afghans over the last several days haunt the american exit. again with the support of the pulitzer center, here's jane ferguson.

>> the completion of our withdrawal from afghan, and the end of the mission to evacuate american citizens, and vulnerable afghans, the last c-17 lifted off from hamid karzai airport at 3:29 p.m. east coast time. and the last manned aircraft is clearing the air space above afghanistan. >> reporter: general frank mckenzie, the commander of u.s. central command. >> tonight's withdrawal signifies both the end of the the military component of the evacuation, and also the end of the nearly 20-year mission that began in afghanistan shortly after september 11, 2001. >> we did not get

everybody out that we wanted to get out. i think if we stayed another 10days, we wouldn't have gotten everybody out that we wanted to get out. >> reporter: blood stained the hood of a car destroyed in a kabul neighborhood sunday by a u.s. drone strike. president biden last week promised action against the terror group isis-k after they launched an attack outside kabul airport that killed at least 170 afghans and 13 american servicemembers. american officials said sunday's strike hit suicide bombers bound for the kabul airport. but reports emerged today that it may have actually been a family. at least 10 civilians were reportedly killed, including seven children. in washington today, pentagon press secretary john kirby said the defense department is investigating. >> if we have verifiable information that we did in fact take innocent life here, then we will be transparent about that too, nobody wants to see that happen. >> reporter: in kabul this

morning, thick plumes of black smoke rose from a burning car, the apparent site from which a rocket attack was launched at the airport. a u.s. counter-missile system intercepted at least five rockets early monday morning, thwarting the attack that shook the area. >> ( translated ): i was inside the house with my children and other family members. suddenly there were blasts. we jumped into the house compound and lay on the ground. >> reporter: the islamic state in afghanistan, so-called isis- k, claimed responsibility the attack. the u.s. and 97 countries have agreed to take those fleeing afghanistan after the the group insists it has been granted assurances by the taliban that those people will be able to leave. at dover air force base in delaware on sunday, the remains of the 13 u.s. troops killed in afghanistan last week were returned home. president biden and the first lady watched the flag draped coffins during a dignified transfer ritual, and met with the families of those killed.

they died thursday in that bombing at the airport. the oldest was 31 years old. the rest of those killed were in their early 20's; and many were just 20 years old; dead in the last days of a war that started when they were babies. for the pbs newshour, i'm jane ferguson in washington. >> woodruff: this evening president biden released a statement asking americans to pray for our service members, those who helped evacuations, and those who will welcome our new afghan neighbors. he will address the nation tomorrow. we'll return to jane's reporting on the push >> woodruff: we will return to jane's reporting on the push to evacuate afghanistan in a moment. >> woodruff: our other major story: the devastation of hurricane ida. the category 4 storm cut a path of destruction across southeastern louisiana.

ida tore through cities and towns, flooding streets and ripping apart buildingand homes. at least two people were killed. crews are still trying to assess its full impact. electricity remains out in new orleans and surrounding areas for more than 800,000 customers, and it's not clear when it will be restored. john yang begins our coverage with this report. >> yang: today, louisiana officials began surveying the damage from hurricane ida, one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the united states blasting ashore on sunday as a category 4 hurricane, ida brought winds that reached 150 miles per hour, tearing off roofs from buildings and knocking out power to the entire city of new orleans. ida hit on the 16th anniversary of hurricane katrina, a storm that killed more than 1800 residents in louisiana and mississippi.

new orleans mayor latoya cantrell spoke to reporters this afternoon and said the city had avoided a worst case scenario, but she urged residents who had evacuated not to return yet. >> we did not have another katrina. that's something we should all be grateful for. however, the impact is absolutely significant. while we held the line, no doubt about that, now is not the time for reentry. >> yang: the storm tested a $14.5 billion levee system that had been overhauled in the aftermath of hurricane katrina. many new orleans residents like stephen timphony said they felt lucky. >> this was a lot of wind damage and katrina was more flood. like katrina, we got about two feet of water in here that just stayed for about a week or two. but, this was just a lot of wind damage and no power.

>> yang: but officials worry that the power outage in new orleans could make the city, which relies on pumps to clear storm water from streets, more susceptible to flooding in coming days. in addition, and hundreds of thousands of residents remain without air conditioning or refrigeration. in nearby jefferson parish, residents crawled into attics to escape rising waters. some even took to social media pleading for help, as calls to rescue crews went unanswered. on facebook today, the louisiana state police warned:“ communication is very limited in these areas." if you are stranded, it may be difficult to help to you for quite jefferson parish president cynthia lee sheng spoke this morning about the desperate effort to reach trapped residents. >> our water system is down, our electricity is down. we have roads that are impassable because of water. we have roads that electrical

poles are down, trees are down so the first level of business is trying to get through to communications, so we can work as efficiently as possible and >> yang: the u.s. army corps of engineers said the storm surge was so powerful it temporarily reversed the flow of the mississippi river. louisiana governor john bell edwards told nbc's “today” this morning that the human toll may not be clear for a while. >> i'm certain that as the day goes on we will have more deaths. we were getting calls for help. we know that for example some apartment buildings collapsed partially in certain areas. this happened during the height of the storm and there was no way to go out d respond to those calls. >> yang: president biden met with officials from the federal emergency management agency this afternoon after declaring ida a federal disaster. he said more than 5,000 members of the national guard had been activated for search >> we know hurricane ida had the

potential to cause massive, massive damage, and that's exactly what we saw. we will stand with people in the gulf until you're back on your feet. >> yang: hurricane ida hit as louisiana's hospitals are already stressed from a resurgence of covid-19 because of low vaccination rates and the highly contagious delta variant. after spending 16 hours as a hurricane over land, ida was downgraded to a tropical storm as it churned toward mississippi. ood watches have been posted along the storm's projected path from the northern gulf coast to the tennessee valley. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang >> woodruff: the storm grew in strength and intensity beyond what had been projected just a couple of days ago. scientists say greenhouse gas emissions and climate change are contributing and fueling hurricanes like ida, in part by warming the waters that feed and fuel the storm. we go to one of the hardest hit

areas in hurricane ida's path: louisiana's lafourche parish, west of new orleans, where reports of damage are significant. archie chaisson is the president of lafourche parish. >> woodruff: mr. archie chaisson, thank you very much f joining us. first of all, tell us how padly was lafourche parish hit? >> we got hit by a mac truck over the last 16 hours. it was ever bit the strong category 4 they told us it would be. two-thirds of our parish, and the top third has probably some moderate damage to homes and businesses. two of our local hospitals, both of those facilities are comprised, and we're working on getting patients out of there. our water system to the bottom third of our parish is compromised, and we will try to figure out why that system is leaking, whether we lost a water tower somewhere alone the way or we have a mainline

breach somewhere. it is picking up the pieces. communications are tough. most of the cell phone towers were hard hit. so trying to communicate on radios, dispatch with our sheriff's office is a little difficult at the moment. >> woodruff: it sounds like just about everything was affected. what about peple? injuries? >> so luckily no reported fatalities. we had some minor injuries we were able to deal with with our first responders. there are still some search-and-rescue operations happening as we try to get to people, as we can clear roads and clear power lines and clear trees. and those will continue throughout t day and night, until we can get all of the calls for service we received. during the storm that we were unable to get to due to the high winds. >> woodruff: give us a sense how people are surviving at this moment, if they can't go anywhere, if they need water, if they don't have electricity? what are they doing? how are they getting by? >> it is tough for them

right now, especially in the most southern part of our parish. we are working to get trucks in. we have staged bottled water. lafourche parish is a very parish and long parish, so we have two major roadsmroads.we don't have a lotf paths in and out. we're working very hard to get complies to our people in the most southern part of our parish. >> woodruff: do you have, a archie chaisson what you need? >> a lot of our employees were here because they were essential and road it out in different parts of the parish. we're opening up our field offices and getting field operators and backhoes to start pushing stuff off the roads.

tonight and into tonight, we'll investigate tarps for people who lost roofs, water, and open up the points of distribution so we can help people survive a little bit better. >> woodruff: you mentioned the hospitals. tell us what the situation there is. >> two of our hospitals, the one in the central part of our parish and the one down south had roof damage, and significant water damage to the facilities. all of the patients themselves are safe, and have, by this pointer, been taken out of the facilities to regional hospitals th are not affected. so we're working wth our partner -- with the governors office of homeland security and emergency prepadness, and some temporary hospitals, so we have some people to treat people and triage them should something happen, like a heart attack or a broken bone, to be able to stabilize them or get them airlifted or road to a different facility. it will be a tough battle, but our community is

resilient, and we put our faith in god, and we're going to get through this. >> woodruff: you say a long road, but it sounds like such a massage undertaking. do you have any idea how long it is going to take to put your parish back together? >> i don't at this point. i'm still trying to get some images from the bottom part of our parish to figure out exactly what is left down there. we're getting some stuff ththrough facebook -- social media works out to be a great thing sometimes. it will take us months, if not longer, to put together all of this stuff. we'll be without power for several weeks as we work to rebuild the transmission grid that feeds us here, and the thousands of power poles that are down across the lafourche parish. we have a long road to go. >> woodruff: archie chaisson, president of the lafourche parish, we certainly wish you the very best. we're so glad the casualties weren't worse. but you clearly have your

work cut out. thank you for joining us, and all the best. >> thank u so much. >> woodruff: >> woodruff: congressman troy carter represents louisiana's second district which includ some of the areas hardest hit by hurricane a, including portions of jefferson parish and most of new orleans. he joins us now on the phone. heard the president of the lafourche parish say it is like they've be hit by a mac truck. what would you say is your impression of what this hurricane did? >> i think i would double down on that. he is probably quite right. throughout the state, it has been a pretty hard hit. some places not as hard as others. some have incredibly been devastated. >> woodruff: and what are you seeing? i know your district, we said, is the second district. how are people doing? what is the situation there? >> it's dire. you've got people that are -- sn significantly damaged with property damage to their homes and their

businesses. nearly everyone has been impacted by being out of power, not having access to electricity, access to the internet, and in many cases, access to cell phones, which makes it very difficult to keep people apprised of what is going on and to find out where they are so we can get to them to provide services. >> woodruff: and so how would you describe the efforts to get to them? are you able to -- do you even have access to the people who are most in need? >> well, i think that the efforts have been as good as you can possibly hope for. the federal government stepped in immediately. the president signed off on the declaration of emergency right away, which released and freed lots of money and resources. the national guard is on the ground as we speak, going into those areas wherpeople were able to reach us by 9-1-1, and as well as those areas we suspect people did not get

a chance to get out, to evacuate in time. >> woodruff: congressman carter, of the things that are needed now, what would you say are the priorities? >> i would say right now search-and-rescue, obviously, is number one. saving lives. saving lives is number one. quality of life comes next. making sure that we have secured everyone who is in a dangerous position and gotten them to higher ground. where they are safe and secure and stabilized. and then second, of course, is making sure that we get power back on the grid, make sure that people that are sheltering in place have the comforts of air conditioning. it is very hot in august in louisiana. it is a sweltering heat and very dangerous for senior citizens, as well as children. >> woodruff: and, congressman carter, i know a lot of people are trying to compare this to hurricane katrina.

i assume you were in the area back then. why would you say the destruction has so far not been worse, and certainly loss of life, thankfully? >> i've experienced both. i lived through katrina, and now ida. and i will tell you the most significant difference is 16 years ago we did not have the built-up levy system that we have today. the federal government investing the money to building our levees up to prevent and protect us from a storm like this looks like it has really paid dividends. having the ability to have our communities not as raf ravished as they can be. and they're pretty bad now, but certainly a lot better than they were 16 years ago because we did, in fact, invest in stronger levee protection and we'll continue to build on that. >> woodruff: representative troy carter of louisiana's second

congressional district, we certainly wish you and all of your contingents the very best as you work your way through this. >> thank you. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, the u.s. is now averaging 100,000 covid hospitalizations per day, a level not seen since last winter. hawaii reported nearly 1700 new infections sunday, the most its seen during the entire pandemic. and west virginia recorded its highest number of weekly cases in seven months. meanwhile, the head of the world health organization's european branch warned that infections are also rising across europe. >> this high transmission is deeply worrying, particularly in the light of low vaccination uptake in priority populations in a number of countries. several countries are starting to observe an increased burden on hospitals and more deaths.

>> woodruff: also today, the u.s. department of education announced it's investiting five republican-led states that ban universal indoor masking. it said those policies could discriminate against students th health conditions or disabilities by preventing them from safely attending school. meanwhile, an advisory panel to the c.d.c. unanimously recommended pfizer's covid vaccine for people over the age of 16. the f.d.a. granted full approval last week. the rise in covid cases in the u.s. has prompted the european union to advise its member nations to reinstate travel restrictions for american tourists. the european council today voted to ban non-essential travel from the u.s. the guidance is non-binding, so e.u. countries will ultimately make their own rules. in northern california, the entire city of south lake tahoe is now under an evacuation order tonight as firefighters race to

control the "caldor" fire amid high winds. orange haze filled the sky overnight as the rapidly-moving flames tore through the mountainside. officials warned the fire is becoming more aggressive than anticipated as it nears the resort area. >> there is fire activity happening in california that we have never seen before. said it before, but the thing for you the public to know is evacuate early. early. warning, warning doesn't mean you have to stick around and wait for the order. >> woodruff: the massive "caldor" fire is still only 14% contained. the number of hate crimes in the u.s. hit a 12-year high in 2020. a new report out today from the f.b.i. said that spike was driven by an uptick in assaults targeting blacks and asians. the agency recorded more than 7700 hate crimes last year. that's a 6% increase over 2019,

and the highest level since 2008. the united nations' atomic energy agency today warned there are signs that north korea has restarted its main nuclear reactor. it's located in yongbyon, north of the capital, and is used to produce weapons fuels. that comes as nuclear disarmament talks between the u.s. and north korea remain stalled. three guantanamo bay prisoners finally got their day in court, after being held for 18 years in connection with the 2002 bali nightclub bombings and other terror plots in southeast asia. the bali attack killed 202 people. two malaysian prisoners and another from indonesia were arraigned before a military commission on charges that include murder, conspiracy, and terrorism. that comes as the biden administration plans to close the guantanamo bay detention center.

>> woodruff: in stocks,they wern wall street today. the dow jones industrial average lost 56 points to close at 35,400. but the nasdaq rose 136 points to close at a new record high. and the s&p 500 added 19to notch its own record. still to come on the "newshour," an inside look at the still to come on theewshour: an inside look at e harrowing exit from kabul's airport. plus, the political stakes for president biden in this moment of crisis. >> woodruff: we've all seen the images of people scrambling to escape afghanistan. but not seen nearly so much: a herculean effort by former service members, diplomats and private citizens to help afghans, especially, leave the

country. jane ferguson is back with an inside look at who was at work, and why. >> reporter: the scenes of total disarray at kabul's airport last week shocked the world, as promises made to get america's allies out of afghanistan seemed increasingly impossible. >> we waited for 24 hours outside abby gate. i swear to god i saw kids, i saw women who were stamped, people who run them over, and i don't know if they are alive or not but i saw those things, and people kept pushing to get closer to the gate, and by the me i reached to the u.s. forces, i kept asking em, ”i'm going to die here,” i was about to faint because of the heat, the lack of oxygen because of the crowd. >> reporter: as the crowds of people desperately tried to get through the gates and onto planes, any working system to sort those with a valid case

from the others disappeared. >> i kept asking them to please check my documents because it has been 24 hours and i fought between life and death to get here, just check my documents and if my documents are correct please let me in, if not then i will just turn back and go home. but they didn't even bother to check the documents, they said they were just letting in u.s. passport holders and green card holders. >> my life is in danger. my wife is living in the u.s., that's why i am going in us. that's why i cannot live in my own house. they are searching for me. >> reporter: if you are lucky enough to have someone to vouch for you, the likelihood of getting in is so much higher. the sad reality is that rules have become so blurred that it's very much so about luck and about connections. when it became clear that battlefield allies risked being left behind, non-u.s. government volunteers stepped in, as an army of american veterans and

activists fought to ensure it was american battlefield allies who made it through first. >> i got a call from a friend who was on the ground in kabul and realized just how bad the situation was. and based on that i started reaching out to people to see if i could potentially help or at least convey that word. and realized that there were many people on the ground who had no idea where to go, which gate to go to, how to process their paperwork, how to get through the gate. and i'm not the only one doing this, there are 1,000 other people doing this exact same thing. but i was uniquely positioned because i happened to know some of the marines who were at the abby gate throughout the course of this. and knowing them allowed me to connect them with afghans, american citizens, green card holders on the ground who were trying to get through. >> reporter: captain jeffrey phaneuf is a u.s. marine now studying for a masters in college. he began helping get the names of former interpreters and afghans o other servicemembers vouched for to the marines at the gates, often getting them to write the names of the u.s. soldiers they were to connect to

on a placard, and hold it up above the crowds. other veterans went one step further, flying into kabul in person to help make this happen. >> i had one guy with his family and i said, hey. what are you wearing? i'm wearing this. okay, put on a baseball hat, put the baseball hat on a broomstick and put it over your head and wave it around so i can see you. i didn't end up finding him, but those are the things that we did. i found the family of one pilot and i said, hey, get a piecef cardboard and write big foot on it and hold it up. and that's the only way i found them, because they were holding up a sign that said bigfoot. >> reporter: jariko denman is a former army ranger who served several tours in afghanistan. he spent much of last week helping find former afghan special forces soldiers he and his comrades fought alongside, and plucking their families from the crowds. >> it's indescribable, both at how hard it was, but more so how inconsistent it was, right. so, you know, for example, i

brought i brought some afghans in from the gate, dropped them ofat the line to get screened, left, found out they were on a plane. the documents that they had on them were let less than other documents of guys i brought later who were kicked back off. so for me, it was an inconsistent set of information or an inconsistent set of standards, really. >> reporter: a cruel irony is that many of the most at risk are men who sacrificed the most fighting the taliban-- those who fought to the end didn't have time to apply for visas. >> what's happening now is the people who were most committed to fighting for the country of afghanistan are the people who are the most disadvantaged and escaping now. >> reporter: why? >> because if i'm an afghan commando and i say i'm fighting for my country, i'm not setting myself up a backup plan. i'm not going out and getting a visa. i don't want to go to the united

states. i want to fight for my country. >> reporter: but even getting people into the airport was not always enough. there have been numerous reports of private flights arranged and paid for by volunteers having to leave almost empty amid the confusion and chaos of the evacuations, like this one, apparently organized to fly to uganda where the government had agreed to allow afghans to arrive. >> so this was a very serious frustration for many of us who were focused on getting people through the gate. because getting people through all the taliban checkpoints, all the way to the gate of kabul, checked through by the marines there and then on to the airfield was hard enough. and then we heard th flights were leaving, empty or nearly empty. >> reporter: why were they not being filled up? >> you know jane, i don't know the specifics, and i imagine that the state department officials and the military on the ground were doing everything they can. but obviously there was a disconnect here in planning ahead to make this operation successful. >> reporter: after days of warnings from the u.s. government, an isis suicide bomber eventually waded made their way into the crowds and detonated themselves, taking over 170 afghan lives and killed

13 american troops of the u.s. marines present, still outside the gates trying to help afghans inside, some of them jariko denman had worked with to get people out. >> none of them thought they would have to do that. and most importantly, none of them were trained to do that. they were all just learning as they went and they were impressive. gets me, like, choked up, but just. being good people and watching them have to-- swallow so much frustration and continue to do their job. so i was absolutely just humbled by seeing them work and i can just see it on their faces, the, you know, the 1,000 yard stare. total saturation of emotion d physical exhaustion.

>> reporter: the killings hindered final evacuation efforts of u.s. allies, as the u.s. forces struggle to extract final american citizens before the deadline to leave runs out tomorrow. >> we failed to properly prioritize the people who have really gone literally to combat on behalf of the united states. there is no way we are getting all those s.i.v.s through, there is just no way. >> reporter: to those who can't make it out, the army of people involved in trying to get them out says it won't quit. the ne phase of evacuations will be more dangerous, secretive, and urgent. >> what i will say to our afghan allies who are still on the ground, is that we are not giving up on you. and that's the promise we can make, even if it feels hollow right no, at least to those who are working this issue we promise that we will do everhing in our power to find a way. >> reporter: the u.s. service members who died have been credited with helping over 100,000 afghans make it out of afghanistan and on to new lives in the u.s., and elsewhere. the private army of people who worked with them do that now ask

that people honor those efforts by welcoming the afghans who they helped get here. >> woodruff: and jane joins me now here in studio. before. and we're so glad you are safe. let's talk about what is going on now that this last flight has left. what is security going to be like for the people who are there, with the taliban in control? >> that's going to be the biggest question moving forward: can the taliban maintain control. how far is their grasp over the country. it is a message from isis, they are enemies and rivals in the country, that their control is not unshakeable entirely. we've been hearing reports of some pushback against the taliban, just socially. people, whether or not they're brave enough to step up and say we're going to protest against you or we'll criticize you

in the street. there are so many questions to be asked about whether or not the taliban can actually control the population, whether they can control this massive city. don't forget, they didn't really fight for this city. they didn't win it militarily. they walked into kabul. we watched this walk and drive down the street to take this city. so their ability now to control it will be very much so linked to their ability to provide some semblance of services and security to the people. if they don't, they're likely to get pushback. >> woodruff: that leads to the question: what kind of life can people have with the taliban in charge, in terms of going to work, going to school, going about their daily business. what can people expect for people who live there? >> reporter: people in the city are stilling wondering that themselves. what is life under the taliban going to be like? the taliban invested in this p.r. pushback, where they said it will be taliban friendlier, but it is unsure how

implementable it is going to be, no matter how much their litical leadership is trying to sell themselves to the world. we've heard them say women can go to work but order them back into their homes. they said the media can operate, but we've sen media workers be threatened or beaten. we do know there have been door-to-door searches and some attacks against people associated with the security forces from the former government. there seemed to be at the airport really indicative of how frightened people are that things will go south very quickly. >> woodruff: and speaking of fear, it was isis-k that took responsibility for the terrible bombing that killed so many people and wounded so many last week. what is it that poople think could happen with isis, which clearly they are there in afghanistan? >> reporter: they are there and they've been there for years. it was roundabout 2015 when they first started to show up. and the americans and coalition forces really let a campaign against the

group that massively degraded them. ironically, at the time there was an aerial campaign that involved the taliban fighting the group, and this very loosely, uncoordinated fight where you had american air power and the taliban on the ground fighting the group. since then, it is believed to have been reduced to just a few hundred people. but now year going to have the taliban in an awkward position where they risk losing fighters to isis that they are seen to be too soft, too liberal, too westernnized, if they seem to compromise and rule a country. you'll see that rivalry reignited, for foot soldiers and land and territory. >> woodruff: we know that the biden administration is saying they're looking to the taliban to make sure that people who still want to get out of the country are going to be able to get out. but what is the reality for people still there, who didn't get out who wanted to get out? >> reporter: the

reality, judy, for people there tonight, they now have no functional airport right now. and they don't know when it will reopen. the commercial flights stopped weeks ago, and the airport is not operating or receiving commercial flights. there are attempts to get it up and running, but that could take weeks or even months. there are overland routes out via pakistan, but those are still very dangerous. people would have to travel across -- if you're in hiding, the last thing you want to do is present yourself to any kind of taliban officials at a border post. so this is an extremely difficult position. for anyone trying to get out, it is likely they'll go to ground and hide for a while. >> woodruff: the taliban has said they will let people go? >> they have been saying they won't stop people from leaving, but, again, you'll see them doing the opposite. they will stop people from going to the airport. they have been for several days. it really will depend on whether or not an individual who is leaving is likely to be hunted by the taliban for their

association with the former security services, or whether at person will just face a kind of pressure or a kind of disapproval for leaving. somewhere on that sliding scale people will take their chances and try to leave, or they'll try to hide. >> woodruff: so many questions and so much fear still very much there in afghanistan. jane ferguson, thank you for your extraordinary reporting. >> reporter: thank you, judy. >> woodruff: we return to louisiana and the aftermath of hurricane ida. lieutenant-governor billy nungessor joins you now on the phone. lieutenant-governor, thank you very much for joining us. we know this is a parish that juts out into the gulf of mexico. tell us what the situation

there is. all right. we had hoped to have the lieutenant-governor on the phone. we'll continue to try to get him. and we'll turn now to our next segment, knowing that it is a critical time for president biden facing twin crises: exiting afghanistan and a massive hurricane here at home. all amid a mor covid surge. yamiche alcindor is joid by our politics monday duo. >> thank you, judy. they are amy walter, editor and chief of the political report, and tamara keith, a white house correspondent for n.p.r. thank you both for being here. america's longest war is finally over, and it is by a deadline that president biden set himself. what do you make of this historic moment, given there is some heartbreak about the people we left behind, but also a sense of accomplish. on the biden administration. >> i think that's a good

way to phrase it, you have the success of the air lift, but most of what we've seen for the past two weeks is chaos and carnage. and that, i think, is what is really driving, at least for americans, the way that they're interpreting this moment. now, how we're going to interpret afghanistan a year from now, 10 years from now, really unclear. but i do think that for this moment in time, watching all of these scenes, watching the reporting by jane, what you see is a country that is still in the midst of chaos, but also just the way in which the planning for this operation did not go, shall we say swimmingly. the execution of it -- and when you hear these stories of individuals actually trying to get friends, family, colleagues, people who served in the military out themselves, it raises a lot of questions about the role that government should have played but was unable to do.

>> yamiche: and, tamara, white house officials say they think history is going to judge president biden as having made the right decision. no surprise on their part there. that said, as amy said, there is a lot of criticism about how this all played out. what is you thoughts? >> we will hear from president biden tomorrow, and he will address the nation, and he will inevitably make the case for his decision. he has argued repeatedly there was no other choice. they're highlighting the fact that 120,000 people got out. but, you know, the worst happened. 13 american service members were killed by terrorists. there are still a lot of questions, very serious questions, about whether americans are safer now than they were before, whether the military capacity and intelligence capacity exists to keep americans safe, or whether afghanistan is going to fall apart and become a place that harbors

terrorists once again. and one thing that stood out from today's remarks from the pentagon officials was they were kind of, like, our part is done, but the diplomatic mission continues. and i think the way americans will judge how this all turned out really still is off in the horizon. and there are important questions about those people who were left behind. and there wee people left behind. will they be able to get out somehow, orre we going to hear stories about people who helped america being targeted by the taliban or by isis-k? and we don't know the answers to a lot of these questions right now. but certainly president biden, in his remarks tomorrow, is going to put down another marker to explain what he was thinking and certainly to try to highlight the positives of what has been a very difficult several weeks. >> yamiche: very difficult several weeks, and not swimmingly is one

way to put it. amy, there will be possibly the political consequences of this. what do you think aout this? the mid-terms are a long way away, and foreign policy is not always the top of people's minds, but the stories we hear, and some people saying that afghanistan could become the las vegas of political terrorists. what kind of political consequences could that have? >> we don't know what we'll be talking about a year from now. afghanistan, the fact that our troops are no longer there, there will not be a be a big american presence, it will be unlikely we'll have these stories front and center every day. yes, there will be the stories of people who were left behind, but it is not going to be the thing that will be dring interest among american voters. what i keep hearing about over and over, covid is still top of mind, and the uncertainty about covid is still what is really

fustrating to so many people. the fact we were supposed to turn the corner, the corner has not yet been turned. are our schools going to be safe? what about my job, is it going to be safe? or am i going to get laid off once again? i think those are the sorts of things that are really going to be driving the conversations going forward. but this was a formative moment for so many americans, right? the president had the first six months of his presidency, it was pretty calm. he pretty much did the things he wanted to do. since july, between covid and afghanistan, the growing you can sort of see the questions about his leadership and his abilities are coming under scrutiny from voters. >> yamiche: and you bring up covid, and i want to go to covid, but i want to ask you, tam, really quickly, the g.o.p., part of what is going on in that party is this deep divide over afghan immigrants. anyone who is watching this can see there is going to be this conversation around the corner. what do you make of that?

what does your reporting tell you about what might happen with some having anti-immigrant criticisms, and others saying, let's help these afghan immigrants. >> and you remember when there was the syrian refugees, it was a big fight, a big political touch point, and it worked for republicans, including former president trump, to be anti-refugee, not wanting is syrian refugees to come into the united states. this situations a little bit different -- or maybe a lot different, because ese are people who have a direct connection to the united states, who have connections to amrican service members who they served alongside or who they translated for. so these are families of people who are allies of the united states, which makes this a bit different. but you are already seeing some of the fissures erupt. and you see some republican governors saying we're here with open arms, and others not so much.

and i think that this is likely to be something that does emerge over time because this initial wave is just the beginning. >> yamiche: yes. >> this is going to continue for months and months and months. there are thousands of refugee families in third countries awaiting disposition of their paperwork and resettling them in the u.s. may not be as resettling these first. >> yamiche: jump in and talk about covid, there is so much on the agenda of congress, and all of this took over. there are proxy battles when it comes to the back-to-school arguments over covid. talk about that. >> yeah, so school is back and people are fighting about masks. before they were fighting about masks, they were fighting about reopening schools. but now schools are reopened, and you are seeing in local school board elections, you're seeing a bigger fight. you are seeing local school board elections become a proxy war for

republicans versus democrats. normally school boards are pretty sleepy, and it usually has very little to do with national politics and everything to do with school bus routes. but now it is about critical race theory, it is about school nameings, it's about mask policy, and it will be fascinating. we're going to see a first test of whether sort of the anger in the suburbs is going to become a problem for democrats in the virginia governor's race and the legislative race. >> yamiche: we only have about five seconds left, but amy, is there anything quickly you can say about covid that wasn't said? >> this was the recess that members of congress were supposed to go back and sell the $3.5 trillion social services package. and they're not talking about that all that much now. it is more afghanistan and covid. >> yamiche: yeah. thank you so much amy and tam.

hopefully next time i'll give you a little more time. but i preciate you both coming on. >> you're welcome. >> you're welcome. >> woodruff: we return to louisiana and the aftermath of hurricane ida. lieutenant governor billy nungesser is in plaquemines parish and he joins us now on the phone. mr. lieutenant-governor, remind everyone where backaman is? and what is the situation? >> it is that little finger that sticks 100 miles to the south of mexico, on both sides of the mississippi river, and was devastated... [audio lost] >> it is still many miles that are under water. it looks like a war zone. >> woodruff: well, tell us what you have seen and

what people are saying? to what extent are people in distress, their homes, other buildings and people's lives turned upside down. >> last night, when everyone went to bed, there were frantic calls to evacuate people from the jezuwit bend area, where they were flood-fighting. those efforts failed. luckily it didn't get into all of tose homes, but people were frantically leaving their homes in the middle of the night. and today highway 23 is continually submerged in water. the back levee, the water turned around, and pumping it down will begin. but most of the parish is out of power. it is gointo be a long recovery, as all of coastal louisiana and many miles inland, tibedo, and

the rainfall in laplas and hammond and those areas throughout the metro area, heavy rains flooded those areas from the sky as well. >> woodruff: you say it is going to take a long time. what kinds of things are you going to need in louisiana to get through this? >> well, obviously, the funding and support of the federal government. volunteerlouisianalouisia na.com, we've got 10,000 volunteers that go out a help these communities, can all be done with government money, but obviously fema and their resources are so important. the president did grant the emergency declaration to the governor of our state. so we'll begin the process of assessing the damages to not only homesroads, bridges, and infrastructure, and schools, but getting the power back on because of a major failure in this area

of a line falling in the river. it could be several weeks, if not a month, before we get power to a majority of the people. i believe it is over a million people now who are without power. >> woodruff: oh, it sounds so very difficult. lieutenant-governor billy nungessor from the state of louisiana, thank you so much for joining us. we wish you the very best as you work to make people's lives better at this terrible moment. thank you. >> thank you so much. ♪♪ >> woodruff: we close tonight with an honor roll, remembering the 13 american servicemembers who were among those killed last week in the terror attack in kabul, losing their lives during the effort to help americans and afghan allies flee in the wake of the taliban takeover.

20-year-old marine lance- corporal david l. espinoza, of rio bravo, texas. marine sergeant nicole l. gee, age 23, from sacramento, california. marine staff sergeant darin t. hoover, age 31, from salt lake city. army staff sergeant ryan c. knauss was 23 years old. he was from corryton, tennessee. marine corporal hunteropez of indio, california, was 22. 20-year-old rylee j. mccollum, a marine lance-corporal from jackson, wyoming. marine lance-corporal dylan r. merola of rancho cucamonga, california, was 20. marine lance-corporal kareem m. nikoui of norco, california, was 20. marine corporal deegan w. page, an omaha native, was 23.

25-year-old marine sergeant joanny rosario from lawrence, massachusetts. marine corporal humberto a. sanchez, age 22, of logansport, indiana. marine lance corporal jared m. schmitz, age 20, of sat charles, missouri. and hospitalman maxton w. soviak of the u.s. navy. he was from berlin heights, ohio, and he was 22. >> woodruff: o thanks to each one of these young men and women and the ultimate sacrifice they have made for our country. and that's the newshour for tonit. i'm judy woodruff. thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

>> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

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