berlin. against the clock and the taliban, evacuation efforts take on new urgency with the u.s. plan to wrap up itsithdrawal in a matter of days. afghans stuck in limbo. the u.s. and its allies have

flown thousands out, but many more remain. germany also ramping up evacuations, overwhelmingly backing the army's rescue efforts today. chancellor merkel says she is open to talks with the taliban, adding they are now a reality in afghanistan. plus, legendary rolling stones drummer charlie watts has died. fans and fellow musicians are paying tribute to a fellow rock icon. i'm brent goff. reviewers on pbs in the united states and all of you around the world, welcome. there's less than a week to go before the u.s.' self-imposed deadline to withdraw from afghanistan. the scale of the operation washington still asis is becoming clear. thousands of u.s. troops and hundreds of shows need to get out of the country by august 31.

the german defense minister says german forces will be withdrawn before the last americans. what is not so where is how many afghans will be able to escape their own country now that the taliban are in charge. >> with time running out to evacuate people, these are among the wild flights out of the afghan capital. those who are able to leave no they may never see their homeland again. -- those who are able to leave know they may never see their homeland again. >> it was always so hard, and it is so hard. >> hard rake, and yet a luxury for those able to flee -- heart rate -- heartbreak and yet a luxury for those able to flee.

>> in the last couple of days, we will begin to prioritize military capabilities and military resources. that does not mean that if you are an evacuee and you need to get out that we are not going to try to get you out. >> not all who want to leave will be able to. the taliban say foreigners can go but citizens cannot. standing knee-deep in sewage water, they plead with soldiers guarding the airport, knowing time is running out. this may be where their difficult journey ends. >> for others, august 31 is just a date, but for us, it is if you go or stay. >> stay and live under taliban

that afghans know all too well. they try to escape with little chance of returning. brent: let's get more from our journalist. what is the situation in kabul? are planes taking off and landing at the airport? >> yes, planes are taking off and landing. i can hear the hum of planes in the sky more or less all the time, day and night. in the airport, many gates were completely closed or practically closed. the taliban have been saying they would only let afghans through with documentation, which makes sense. however, there have also been reports that the taliban walked

away for taliban -- for afghans who had documentation. this seems to be some commotion, some problem at one gate. not clear yet what it is. brent: do we know yet what is happening to the afghans outside the airport who want to leave the country? >> many feel that time is running out. a friend of mine is on the evacuation list but cannot get to the airport. the are otr cases like this. it is unlikely that everyone who wants to get out beyond the list will get out. that said, german officials said it is possible people will be able to leave in some form or another after august 31, so it

is not like all is lost, but how easy, how difficult it will be, this is hard to predict. brent: what about any sense of a normal, daily life right now? what is the situation with banks, phone networks, gas, electricity? >> the situation at the airport contracts starkly with the situation in the city. the situation on the street is pretty normal. shops are open. electricity is there. the taliban have said this much will continue as usual. oh networks work. -- phone networks work. thanks, this is a problem many have still been closed despite taliban assurance they will open again, but given that most people here rely on cash, it has not yet become completely

precarious, but if banks don't open soon, this will cause a problem and has aeady given trouble to the economy, but otherwise, life seems pretty normal inside the city. bring -- brent: as always, thank you. after august 31, the crisis in afghanistan is certainly not going to go away for the international community. i'm joined by the former united nations envoy to afghanistan and region ambassador to nato. ambassador, it is good to have you on the program. with the taliban being back in power, what will be left of the foreign involvement in afghanistan beginning september 1? quickset is a good question. -- >> it is a good question.

it all depends on how the taliban behaves and if th match their action on the ground with what they have said. they have released statements that are not necessarily reflected on the ground. brent: you are the best person to ask about the mentality of the taliban. spoke with the taliban yourself as a member of the united nations envoy comes the country. do you believe the taliban and when they say that they have changed, when they say that the future will not be, you know, 2001 all over again? >> i met with them in my home in

oslo. i met with them in dubai. what they wanted to do is to sound reassuring and in a rather convincing way, i must say. what we are seeing now is that they have used temer and terrorized the community -- they have used temer -- they have used terror and terrorized the community. but then we have seen reassuring statements after that. not so reassuring action on the ground, so that is a big question, around if they will be able to form a government. that is going to be hard.

brent: there is so much that is uncertain moving forward. you write this week in "the new york times" that now is the time for the united nations to fill this new influence vacuum in afghanistan. how confident are you that can work? >> that was three weeks ago and we still hoped negotiations would get under way. that time has passed, i think. one of the reasons is the rivalry between big powers. we have tried to do the best

they possibly can, not least on the humanitarian side because you can see it is a disaster. brent: you see the world bank, the international monetary fund having possibly strong influence over the taliban because the taliban will need money, investment, capital moving forward, and they will have to get it from outside the country. >> they understand that. thquestion is -- will they be able to put together a government thacan be reassuring to the outside world? so far, they have not succeeded. i think if they had left the country earlier than they did, it would have been possie, but

instead, they clung to power until thlast moment. brent: we appreciate your time and your insights tonight. thank you. meanwhile, germany is continuing to evacuate citizens and at risk afghans. in a sign of support, the german government retroactively gave the government its back. chancellor angela merkel said she is open to talks with the taliban, calling them a better -- bitter reality. >> chancellor merkel acknowledged there had been earlier to understand what was happening on the ground in afghanistan, but she said now there was a new bitter reality

which had to be faced. >> our goal must be to safeguard as much as possible what has been achieved in afghanistan in the past 20 years. the international community must also address this issue with the taliban. however, there cannot be and must not be any unconditional agreements. opposition parties called for an inquiry into intelligence failures at the chaotic evacuations. the leader of the green party said the government had acted too slowly because it wanted to continue deporting migrants to afghanistan. "if we want to live up to our responsibility as the german parliament, even to the smallest extent, then we have to explain why this disaster happened and not gloss over it." leader of the left party accused the government of wanting to pick and choose who it will

save. "do you believe that when the taliban take their revenge on people, they will stick to our your credit rules? there needs to be a fair rescue for everyone." germany has already evacuated more than 4000 people from bul, but the fear now is the window to do that is closing. the defense minister set on wednesday the rescue effort would continue. those who have been promised they could come can rely on that promise. it still applies. it applies indefinitely. we will apply all necessary help to get them out of the country." as germany discusses what assistance it should have given and should yet give, time is running out. brent: i'm joined now by our political correspondent simon young. merkel admitted that she was wrong about the speed of the taliban's offensive, but that's

really as far as she was willing to go in her speech today, wasn't it? >> yes, she was somewhat contrite. she admitted that mistakes have been made, especially in the analysis of what was happening in afghanistan in the last few weeks, and she also promised an investigation, not just into the pullout phase and what has clearly gone wrong there, but also into germany's whole involvement in afghanistan over the last 20 years, the good and the bad, but she did push back a little bit. she was saying it is not just germany who have made these mistakes. many of the international partners also got it wrong, as it were, on how quickly the taliban would advance. she also reportedly said it was easy to be wise after the fact. it is difficult to get precise information from afghanistan at the best of times.

but experts have been warning for at least 10 years that after the west pulled out, the taliban was likely to return. the second point -- it was always clear that a good plan would be needed to rescue those who worked closely with germany and other western nations, so the question remains -- why wasn't it in place? brent: merkel says the world needs to engage with the taliban rather than cut ties. that is the typical view we expect from her, isn't it? >> yes, she called it a bitter reality, but when she had to face. she said it was important to try to exert some sort of and ovens over them, not undo all the achievements, the positives of the last 20 years. they may find themselves, western governments that is,

talking to themselves more about who is allowed to leave, and some opposition parties in parliament today were saying we may be facing a high-priced demanded by the taliban for individuals. it may not come to negotiations specifically, but i think it's clear once the americans have left and the taliban have full jurisdiction, these extractions just will not be possible anymore. rent: we will be talking to you later in the day about the crisis in afghanistan and the possible impact it could have on elections here in germany next month. we will be talking to you in about half an hour. here's a look at stories making headlines around the world -- a new story conducted in the u.k. suggests protection against coronavirus infection for people who have seen two vaccine shots significantly declines over time. the study looked at more than one million people who have had two jobs, the pfizer or

astrazeneca shots. experts say the study confirmed their expectations. algeria has cut diplomatic relations with morocco. morocco responded, calling the move unjustified. tensions between the countries have long been high with each accusing the other backing opposition movements. crews in russia's central regions are battling extreme wildfires. take a look at these pictures -- fueled by an unusual heat wave. nearly 2000 square kilometers have been ravaged nationwide. at least 12 people have died in an explosion in a mine shaft in central columbia -- central c olombia. rescuers are working to retrieve the bodies, but the mine collapse is hampering efforts.

officials say the cause was a methane buildup. spencer eldon, who is now 30 years old, says he has suffered lifelong harm from the image -- you can see it right there -- that helped sell 30 million copies of the record "never mind" worldwide. he says the image amounts to child pornography. just five years ago, though, he re-created the iconic image as an adult. the music world is mourning rolling stones drummer charlie watts, who died in london on tuesday at the age of 80. lead singer mick jagger shared an image online of watts smiling behind his drum kit. charlie watts was one of the core members of the band along with jagger and guitarist keith richards and was a rolling stone for almost six decades.

>> the rolling stones! >> he was the quiet drummer whose beats drove the biggest and arguably best rock 'n' roll band of all time. charlie watts played on every single rolling stones record, 30 in all, and kept time through the band's drug-fueled chaos through the 1960's and 1970's. keith richards revered him, saying he wove the band together with his backbeat rhythms, and stones guitarist ronni woods said he was the engine of the band. without charlie, they weren't going anywhere, he said. with watts gone, that poignant observation has new meaning, and is one and noted, the loss could mean the end of the stones. >> i think mick has been widely quoted as saying the band would not continue to exist without

charlie, so, yeah, it is the end of a massive chapter in all of our lives. >> watts had a unique, subtle style born out of his love jazz. his aim, he said, was to make rock 'n' roll something you could dance to. his debt has affected everyone from -- his death has affected everyone from emotional fans to celebrities and rock 'n' roll friends such as elton john, who simply called him the ultimate drummer. and ringo starr, his counterpart in a one time band. another former beatle, who with john lennon, wrote one of the rolling stones' early singles gave a very sincere tribute. >> condolences to the stones. charlie was a rock.

fantastic drummer, study as a rock. anyway, so, love you, charlie. always love you. great condolences and sympathies to his family. >> in his active years, watts was the active drummer dripping with a sartorial dress sense, but he kept time through the decades to achieve a serenity few can match. rent: -- brent: we are joined now by a pianist who played with charlie watts because they had a band together. talk to me a little bit about charlie watts. you started a band 12 years ago. what was it like playing with him?

>> it was just great. we totally enjoyed producing this rolling kind of swing that is present in boogie-woogie. we had two pianos, and dave rain with crlie on drums. the whole thi was about celebrating this form of music which charlie watts described as one of the founding sounds of the rolling stones' music, so we were watching to do over 80 concerts within three years between 2009 and 2012. we toured europe and also did some concerts in the united states. it was a huge honor. rent: -- brent: a lot of people

are wondering, with charlie watts' passing, does this mean the end of the rolling snes and the end of the abc and d of you would be? >> it is certainly the end of the abc and d of boogie-woogie because your names gave the initials -- our names gave the initials for the band. with the passing of charlie, this is gone. on the other hand, we will continue making music together, but it won't be the abc and d of boogie-woogie anymore. brent: we understand that brent

-- that charlie once said i love playing jazz, but i'm not a jazzman. would you say that blues and jazz were charlie's most beloved kind of music? >> what i can say is that he tremendously enjoyed it and was so fond of it. even in his backstage area, the stones played jazz mic, so certainly had real deep love for, and think he loved to live inoth worlds. the world of the rolling stones was the big stadiums, big shows, e entertainment,nd he loved doing that, and the jazz world was a rather intimate thing for producing subtle grooves, that

kind of making music, and he told us that playi with th stones for him was work and playing with us was like holidays. brent: that is a compliment in itself. we appreciate you taking the time to share your memories with us tonight. in tennis, another injury shock has hit the u.s. open after serena williams pulled out of the tournament. the six-time winner says a hamstring injury will keep her out of action for the rest of the summer, which means her hopes up a record-beating 24th grand slam are on hold. here is a remier ofhe top stories we are following for you -- afghans continue to flock to the airport in kabul, hoping to

flee the taliban. time is running out for the airlift dr. washington confirms it will withdraw from afghanistan by midnight next tuesday. angela merkel has defended the government's handling of its withdrawal him afghanistan. critics they she badly underestimated the speed of the taliban advance. your watching dw news live from berlin. after a short break, i will be back to take you through "the day." tonight, the taliban in kabul and pornography on only fans. ♪

>> welcome to live from paris. world news and analysis from fines 24. these are the headlines. a breakthrough in kabul. the taliban will allow americans and alfresco afghans to leave after august 31. -- and at risk afghans to leave after august 31. this comes after the taliban telling afghans not to try to leave the country. israel's prime minister is in washington. the perceived threat of iran is the main subject.