hi there. i'm stephanie ruehl. it's wednesday, august 18th and we start this morning with a frantic round the clock push to get as many people out of afghanistan as fast as possible. this is video just in from dull less international airport, outside washington, d.c., and these are our first pictures of u.s. and afghan evacuees arriving safely in this country and there are plenty more on the way. we saw proof of that earlier this week, when more than 600 people packed on to a c17 military transport plane. so for more than 5,000 americans, families and afghan refugees have been evacuated or relocated. our new reporting finds as many as 15,000 americans are still in afghanistan as we speak and it's not clear how we're going to get them all out. on tuesday, the administration told senate staffers they do not have a plan to evacuate u.s. citizens outside kabul, because of taliban checkpoints.

the taliban has said they would give safe passage to americans and afghans that want to leave, but we've already heard reports about afghans being beaten as they try to make their way to the airport. for those who have already made it there, the pentagon is hoping to start running flights every hour, eventually evacuating up to 9,000 people a day. but remember, there is a time line here, the united states is supposed to complete its withdrawal by august 31st. that's two weeks from now, and it is not clear if that deadline is going to hold. i want to bring in peter alexander at the white house, courtney kube, who covers the pentagon, and we are joined by retired army lieutenant general douglas absolute, former u.s. permanent representative to nato. he directed afghan strategy in the bush and obama administrations. we need his expertise today. courtney, what can you tell us about the evacuation? what is happening on the afghan side and the evacuees here,

where are they going? >> it's now moving. after being pretty stalled monday, flights are coming and leaving with americans and afghans, so that is a significant and positive development from where we were just 48 hours ago, steph. the numbers keep changing, about how many have gone out in the past literally every couple of hours the numbers change. so we know many americans have gotten out. the big problem as you mentioned is the bottleneck of both americans and particularly afghans getting to the airport. the u.s. military on the ground there began negotiating or talking to the taliban to allow for safe passage of americans to get to the airport. the taliban have set up checkpoints all around there and it simply was not safe for them to get there but that still leaves the issue of afghans who need to get there and it is a desperate situation. reports of taliban stopping people at the checkpoints of afghans, reports of them beating people, a dangerous situation if you try to make your way through

and as of now, this is one of the questions that we've been posing to both the state department and to the pentagon, what can you do, if anything, to help afghans. as of now it's a dangerous situation there. when the afghans can make their way to the airport and get out on one of the military flights, the u.s. has designated two additional military bases here in the united states, camp mccoy and ft. bliss, as locations where they will be able to take them and house them once they get here. they can take upwards of 22,000 total people at those two locations, but what we saw early this morning, some of these afghans siv, special immigrant visa candidates, not all of them are coming in and being housed at these two new locations or ft. lee, virginia. some of them actually because they've been in this process for so long, some of them are able to arrive here in the u.s. and go off to other destinations where they have other arrangements to live. as we said, steph, it is a desperate situation for thousands of afghans trying to

get to the airport still to get on these flights. >> then general, do you believe this taliban promise of a safe passage, this idea that they say is going to be more inclusive government? you heard those reports. people are being beaten, trying to make their way to the airport, and why would the taliban be more inclusive? right now, they're more powerful than they've ever been. >> look, we don't know what the next chapter of afghanistan is going to look like. i certainly wouldn't believe a wholesale taliban promises of this or that. so far the signs are actually mixed. there are some signs that this taliban, this version of the taliban 20 years after they ruled is different. they're certainly more media savvy, more politically savvy, more alert to what's happening internationally than their predecessors 20 years ago, but what's going to happen on the ground now is very unclear and i think that's reflected in the

anxiety of the afghan people. >> i want to bring in our chief foreign correspondent richard engel, on the phone, still in kabul. richard, what is it like on the ground where you are? >> reporter: so going back to what you were just talking about, about the airport and access to the airport, it's quite significant and one perspective, the taliban has been giving mixed messages because the u.s. military is telling them don't haar ross the flights and obstruct the process and since they are the government, keep people back. because it was two days ago that this airport was overrun, so i'm on the airport now, it was overrun by people who were civilians who were desperate to leave, some of them worked with the u.s. military, some of them didn't. some of them were just afraid to stay under taliban rule, so one message is for the taliban, keep

people back and the taliban have been aggressive doing that, firing in the air, they have pushing people, in some cases beating people, but they are now also being told to allow certain afghans to come through and americans to come through, so that they can be processed but the afghans who are going to come through are the very afghans who are afraid of the taliban, so are they expected to show their documentation? how are they expected to approach the taliban, who are firing in the air to tell them to stay back. so there is not a clear message and not a clear system for afghans to get here, there's not a way for them to get there, because they don't know how to approach the taliban and people are being told what instructions that they should have, which gate they should go to, how they should get to the gate. an american i know just got a message today from the state department on his phone finally

and said if you're in kabul, in a sense, you should get to the airport, make your own way there. that's it. so it's almost meaningless, dangerous. how are you supposed to get there? go through which gate, which taliban, present documents to the taliban? so there is i don't want to call it a bottleneck, it's real confusion. >> richard, you have been in this region covering this beat for years and years. put into perspective how dangerous, how scary this is right now. >> reporter: you have these universes right now. you have this island, an american military base, which is the military side of the airport, where they're trying to do the evacuations. they control that. they control the air above it. then you have this very hostile, confused perimeter which the taliban is trying to control it

and the most hostile part of the taliban now and the rest of the city, where afghans are trying to figure out the new reality where the taliban is firmly in control and not gunfire. the only place you see gunfire are most of the taliban shooting in the air to try and keep people back from the airport which also prevents people from getting into the airport. so you have these multiple universes all colliding at the same time while the taliban is trying to present itself to the world, say that it's going to go into the coalition government, they're in meetings right now hamid karzai, the first president, abdullah abdullah meeting with members of the hakani network, the most aggressive arm of the taliban, a figurehead, a coalition government in name but trying to come up with a government that is led by the taliban but have

some sort of legitimacy and packaging around it that makes it seem more presentable to the afghan people. it is very, i can't think of a comparable situation. >> all of this is happening on the world stage while world leaders are trying to figure out what their next move is. peter, president biden has started speaking with other world leaders. i cannot imagine these conversations are going very well. what can you tell us about these conversations? >> reporter: at least one took place late yesterday, president biden speaking to the british prime minister boris johnson. a lot of the foreign leaders are bystanders to this decision by the u.s. to withdraw by the end of this month. johnson told by ten downing street emphasizing he hopes they could focus on an effort not to give up the gains made over the last 20 years. that is an impossibility. boris johnson is facing pressure at home. there is criticism the united states from overseas, includes

britain the parliament recalled, johnson faced parliament members who were angry, filled with rage and with grief and we heard from that country's head of its foreign affairs committee today with sharp words about president biden. this happened early this morning. take a listen. >> to see their commander in chief call into question the men i fought with, to claim that they ran, shameful. >> here, here. >> those who have never fought for the colors they fly should be careful about criticizing those who have. >> here, here. >> britain suffered the second most casualty of any allied country in the 20-year war in afghanistan. the president we don't know if he's spoke on it any foreign leaders yesterday when pressed during the briefing.

jake sullivan said he hadn't spoken before he called. the immediate priority were the airlifts, the efforts to evacuate as many individuals as they could. britain trying to ramp up the number of allies and british nationals they can allow in. obviously the numbers pale in comparison to the thousands who were there and need evacuation now. >> general, the set time line we would be out by august 31st, why do we have to stick to it? can't we just move it? >> it's not clear whether the administration will stick to that time line or not. it was a self-imposed time line. more important right now is the pace of the evacuations. so let's forget for now the calendar and focus on sustaining the pace shown over the last couple of days, reports of 5,000 evacuees just recently. that pace needs to be sustained.

as richard described the sort of concentric circles around the u.s. perimeter, and then the air force or airport proper, and then the rest of kabul, i'd offer one circle beyond that, that's the rest of afghanistan, where there are still many afghans who work in support of the u.s. effort, who are unable to even make it to the city of kabul. this will be a complicated i think sustained effort but i would also note, stephanie, that the pictures today are distinctly different than just 48 hours ago, where we had desperation and chaos at the airport, no flights leaving because of that situation, and now the u.s. military perimeter has begun to establish a sense of order and discipline and routine, which is exactly what this kind of operation requires. >> then general, is it too early for us to judge how this whole thing has been handled? we knew it was going to be messy no matter what. six months from now, could we look back on this time and judge

it in a different way than we are in real time? >> it's never smart to begin to draw absolute lessones in the face of a crisis. the immediate task today is to deal with the crisis, so the crisis centers around evacuees and i would offer in addition to simply evacuating people who must be evacuated inflowing humanitarian assistance to other afghans not evacuated but in desperate need of humanitarian assistance. let's deal with the crisis. there will be plenty of time for us to do the forensics on what's happened here. >> richard engel, still with us, you know, when we read, when we hear that the afghan president stepped down, when the afghan military is stepping aside and doing nothing, where do they go? where is the president? >> reporter: so at this stage, the taliban is saying there will be amnesty and they are not

chasing down people. they are entering some homes. they are looking for weapons. a home in kabul i know very well, taliban visited, seized some of the weapons. they are allowing people to keep private weapons. they have been seizing some government cars but they are not going house to house rounding up people. there is still one province, the panchir valley holding out and the armed opposition of the taliban is storming but it is very small. it is not in a position to take on the taliban in any way. it's quite, the geography is remote, deep valleys, so they might be able to hold out there for a long time. but the taliban has generally taken over and trying to show that they are tolerant, for now. the question is, will people believe this, will they continue to act like this?

the next stage for the taliban is storming this government and their leader momar barada, arrived in kandahar with an armed convoy expected to come to kabul perhaps tomorrow or the next day and once he arrives he'll probably make an announcement of the formation of a new government led by the taliban, i assume they'll make comments that they have making which is that this is a new chapter, a new day, a new taliban that is bracing openness. the taliban is saying women can go to school and work but with islamic law. people leaving are afraid that they're not being marched out at the end of a bayonnet. >>richard, please stay safe, richard engel, general, peter, courtney, thank you. coming up next, the pressure on u.s. veterans with the

afghans they worked alongside fearing for their lives. >> my two friends still stuck in kabul are, i am the only hope that they have to survive right now. i'm like literally their last hope. >> we'll hear from two combat veterans what this week has been like for them. first this morning, the white house is expected to make a major announcement on covid vaccine booster shots. that would impact every single american. you don't want to miss this. stick around. big news. pay for clean. it's got to be tide. ♪ ♪ even if you had to miss your quince. there's always your quince plus one.

♪ (upbeat music) - [narrator] this is kate. she always wanted her smile to shine. now, she uses a capful of therabreath healthy smile oral rinse to give her the healthy, sparkly smile she always wanted. (crowd cheering) therabreath, it's a better mouthwash. at walmart, target and other fine stores. to make my vision a reality

my varilux progressive lenses provide seamlessly transition from near to far. with every detail in sharp focus. that's seeing no limits. varilux lenses by essilor. introducing xfinity rewards. our very own way of thanking you just for being with us. enjoy rewards like movie night specials. xfinity mobile benefits. ...and exclusive experiences, like the chance to win tickets to see watch what happens live. hey! it's me. the longer you've been with us... the more rewards you can get. like sharpening your cooking skills with a top chef. join for free on the xfinity app and watch all the rewards float in. our thanks. your rewards.

now to the latest on the coronavirus pandemic, following a ton of breaking developments. in the state of texas, republican governor greg abbott has tested positive for the coronavirus despite being fully vaccinated. this is the same governor who issued an executive order banning vaccination and mask mandates as cases rise, big time, across the state. two sources telling nbc news the governor has told people already that he received a third booster dose of the vaccine. in chicago, the city is convenient stating and indoor mask mandate citywide starting friday for everyone ages 2 and older, regardless of vaccination status. the move comes as the average number of new cases there has climbed to more than 400 a day, a ten-fold increase from the lowest point back in june and less than to two-hours from now, the white house covid-19

response team will hold a news conference, where we're expected an official announcement on the rollout of vaccine booster shots. morgan chesky is in texas, dasha burns and sam in florida. and peter hotez, from texas children's hospital. morgan it was my reporting two weeks ago i heard from two different sources in texas that governor abbott hadn't just received his first two vaccine shots but he received a third booster two weeks ago and now testing positive. what can you tell us? >> reporter: steph, his office refusing to acknowledge that third shot as of this moment in time but what's very interesting is the governor's office did admit he is receiving regeneron the antibody treatment given to people who test positive for covid and given to those on the onset of symptoms, in hopes of preventing worse symptoms from covid-19 and/or hospitalization but you heard from the governor in a video statement yesterday that despite testing positive,

he is asymptomatic at this point in time, exhibits no symptoms whatsoever. he did say that may be because he has been vaccinated, although we still don't know just exactly how many times the governor has, deprice sources saying he did indeed receive a third shot. now on top of that, he's self-isolating in the governor's mansion today. he says he's in constant communication with state leaders in this ongoing situation. what's important to note, however, is that he's also requested five mobile morgues in anticipation of a surge in deaths from covid-19 here in texas. the seven-day average is 80 deaths, that's the highest we've seen since mid march, and unfortunately, that number may only be going up. right now, the governor is saying that he is stable. he's continuing to work and so as far as treatment goes, that's the nature of it as it stands right now. his wife did test negative,

despite being in close proximity with him and i don't know if we have the video here, but there has been video widely circulated of a fund-raising event held north of dallas on monday evening, showing the governor in what he called a standing room only event with hundreds of people, very few wearing masks, and very close proximity, since that video has been circulated, we know that people were told if they did have direct contact with the governor at that event, that they should take the precaution of getting tested, but obviously a very concerning sight with the governor now testing positive. steph? >> okay, so first, let's point out again, so the governor's office isn't acknowledging yes or no whether or not he had that third booster two weeks ago, but they are communicating with the media. they are saying he's doing well and he's on regeneron. pretty peculiar. dr. hotez, how do you explain this? he tested positive after at least two, maybe a third vaccine

dose? >> honestly, stephanie, i can't really explain any of it. first of all, if he did get a third immunization, why is he being tested on a daily basis? i don't really understand that. if he did test positive, could it be a false positive, and if he's asymptomatic, why is he getting monoclonal antibodies? there's pieces missing here. hard to speculate. we're not getting a lot of information and all i can say is i wish the governor well. sounds like he's doing well and i'm glad for that, but we do have an incredible humanitarian tragedy unfolding here in texas and i think that's where the emphasis has to be. >> it's also a reminder to those who are saying they don't want to take the vaccine because it's not fully fda approved, neither is regeneron, which is what the governor is on right now. sam, we're expecting to hear more from the biden administration today on boosters. what do you know? >> yes, steph, good morning. what's interesting is to hear jen psaki from the white house

talking about the issue yesterday and the fact that they've been preparing on the supply side of things for months now, and that's despite the fact that public health officials have said the vaccine is effective against the delta variant and other mutations but clearly the white house and the covid-19 team has had contingency plans in place. what we are expecting today is some sort of justification for why an eight-month time line for getting a booster shot after that second dose. we know there's been some red flags certainly in terms of studies internationally. israel for example would be one thing to look at where we saw 65 and older, those individuals who got their dose second dose in january see an efficacy rate of 55% for preventing severe disease. that was alarming to many folks including those in the nih. of course, there was a mayo clinic study recently that showed that pfizer was down to 42% effectiveness against the delta variant, but experts tell us, today, steph, it is very likely if not a slam dunk that the cdc will be presenting new information about the waning efficacy of the vaccines and

certainly as it affects the delta variant and older populations like those in nursing homes, there should be updated data on that so we can understand why there's a conversation right now over boosters. the bottom line, steph, there is no question that getting a shot is still your best bet at preventing optizations and preventing deaths. stephanie? >> peter that phrase "the waning efficacy of the vaccines" doesn't sound good. does this recommended booster point to any sort of failure of the vaccines in any way? >> well, not really, stephanie. i think the whole, this whole arg -- discussion needs to be reframed. here's why. when these vaccines were rolled out in december and january, they were given with a three to four-week interval between the first and second immunization. that would not be the schedule you would recommend if you want to create longlasting, durable protection. it was done for, to get as many

people protected as against covid-19 as possible in a quick time frame as possible because if you remember at that time, 3,000 americans were losing their lives every day. so the fact that they were three to four weeks apart, the minute i saw that and a number of my colleagues saw that, we said, hmm, this is going to give you some short term protection, but if you're serious about long-term protection, we're going to need a boost whether it's a year from the last dose, from the second dose or eight months or six months. this was predicted and predictable. i hope in the white house discussion today there's some framing of that and so people don't think that's something bad happened or something unexpected happened, at least from my perspective, it was, this was what we should be seeing. now, what's going on, adding to the frustration, there is not a lot of publicly available data. we have little snippets from the mayo clinic, med archive preprint paper, we have some information being put up on websites and the israeli

ministry of health. we have a powerpoint slide coming from pfizer shareholder meeting. this is not the way to do science. we're getting it from press releases, so hopefully we'll get some clarity. what the publicly available data show is that there has been a decline in the protection against infection, meaning it went over from 90%, 95% to 40% to 50% for the pfizer vaccine, a significant decline. what we haven't seen is evidence of a lot of breakthrough hospitalizations, and maybe that's going to be the new information that's coming forward, and you know, one of the other problems that's compounding this, we're just not getting vaccine effectiveness data coming outof the u.s. government, relying over and over again on israel and the uk and i don't quite understand that part either. >> that makes absolutely no sense. dasha, you have some governors requesting morgue trailers, icu beds are running out. in florida, where you are broward county the big battle is over wearing face masks for

school. what in the world is going on? this battle seems so ridiculous given what we're going through. >> reporter: yes, stephanie, the sixth largest school district in the nation is in the middle of a political tug-of-war as kids go back to school today. broward county school district has issued a mask mandate. the students, the educators in classrooms today will be required to wear masks but that flies in the face of the executive order from governor ron desantis who has banned mask mandates in schools and steph, that tension exploded at a school board meeting last night, an emergency state school board meeting where the superintendent here in broward and another district issuing a mask mandate were questioned. politics was in the spotlight multiple times. the superintendent here was asked about a phone call from president biden, giving support to the district, and public comments were volatile from folks on both sides of the debate, one person calling in, in favor of mask mandates, state

leaders should be investigated for murder and another person calling in against mask mandates saying the superintendents should be brought up on charges of tyranny, and ultimately broward and another district issuing a mask mandate were sanctioned in the first punitive measures taken by the state, but here in broward, they're not budging. take a listen. >> i think that we've allowed this to become political on the backs of our kids, on the backs of our staff, and that's why our board is standing steadfast with our concerns about our citizens, and mandating masks for everyone that's entering a school building. >> reporter: steph, it's not yet clear what the sanctions will entail but the school board chair says they've been threatened with about $700,000 taken from the school budget or roughly the equivalent of the salary superintendent and school

board members. it would come out of the school budget. president biden offered support if the state does indeed take funding. steph? >> threatening to punish people for protecting public health. dr. peter hoe tess, dasha burns, sam brock, morgan chesky, thank you. we'll leave it there. coming up next, they put their lives on the line and now they have watched the country they fought in fall. with many, many people asking, with many vets asking, what was all of this for? we're going to hear from two combat veterans who served in afghanistan, next. and enjoy fresher smelling laundry for up to 12-weeks.

the former missouri secretary of state, jason, i want to start just by asking how are you feeling this week? >> thanks, stephanie, i appreciate it. today's a little better that be the last couple of days, but this week has well sucked to be

honest. a lot of anger and helplessness and lack of control over a situation i'm sure wes feels this feeling, a desire to control the situation to exercise some control over it. i've reached out to my battle buddies and my translator and the opportunity to be of value to other people helped me a lot. >> where is your translator now? >> lives in the united states. because of the high-level intelligence we did, frequently we had translators who had to have top secret security clearances and often were

american citizens. it's a long story but he was actually an american citizen while we were over there. there were ranz lators we worked with that were not, i don't know their situation but my translator is here in the united states. >> wes moore, how are you feeling? >> unfortunately that feels about right, and unfortunately it feels about right because i think jayson is right. we reached out to old battle buddies, we served with checking on each other and all is not good. i think people are, i think there's a bitterness, i think there's a frustration. i think for a lot of people, we all understood why the mission in afghanistan began. the mission in afghanistan began because it was a mission to

prevent the terrorism, 9/11 and the growth of al qaeda and the heart of al qaeda, but for so many of us, it was the work that we did in a country the training of the afghan national army, the protection of parliamentary elections, watching young women who proudly showed off their purple ink on their fingertips after they voted, seeing women legislators taking their place in the legislative process, watching young girls go to school for the first time, that's the thing we're remembering this week. it was the work we did with our battle buddies. for a lot of people the ability to separate the intellectual the war needed to come to an end and the numbers that we all have and frankly have left over there as well. >> jason, we talked a lot about

this week the money and effort spent training the afghan military and a lot of criticism, where are they? why didn't they put up a fight but it's no the that simple. explain it to us. >> sure. first of all, i like to remind people that when they're asking the question of why didn't the afghans fight for their country, it's important to remember that while around 2,500 americans gave their lives for 66,000 afghan soldiers have given their life in this war, so you can't question whether or not they fought for their country. the questions are much more difficult for them. look, i'm a soldier from missouri, wes is a soldier from maryland. if we would have been in the same unit, it's not as if we would have had trouble relating to one another. if you're a soldier from helmand province and serving with masri sharif, from uzbek, tajik, the

lines for the country were drawn by not you and not your parents, not your grandparents, they were drawn by others, and on to have of that, when we have pulled out and intelligence support is gone, technological advantages are gone and the way we trained you to fight is side by side with us or with our level of technology and air superiority and the government of afghanistan is not in a position to pay you or feed you. the taliban has momentum coming toward you and not a question of will i fight to the end, will i give my life for my country. it's if i fight, then not only am i likely to be killed, but they're going to know who i am and they're on their way to my hometown, where they're going to kill my wife, my children, and my parents. that's a different question wes and i faced over there. it's not if we were to fall to

the taliban they were coming to missouri or maryland to retaliate against our families. it's a very different question set for them. >> holy cow, that's a lot. wes, you're a democrat running for maryland governor but you praised the current republican governor of your state for accepting refugees. how much did these people help you and why do we need to return the favor? we all see on tv those saying we've got to protect our own. we don't need to bring them here. explain to us why we do. >> i did and i don't agree with our current governor on everything but i do commend him for accepting afghan refugees and the willingness to accept more because we have to do more. one of the core values that we learned in the military is that we don't leave people behind. we learned that in basic training, and it was fortified in the way we thought about every single mission, every single operation that we did,

and the reality is, when we think about these, our interpreters and the afghans and jason's exactly right. they risk their lives every single day and the difference was, was that when they went back home, they would go home to night letters, basically letters that were being left on their door saying we know you are working with the americans and we're going to kill you and your entire family. they showed up to work the next day. these are people who went on missions and difference was between us and them is we had weapons and they did not. but they're the ones helping to guide us and helping to protect us on every single mission we went on, and so as we're having this conversation about refugees and about how we need to protect the afghans, i just ask people to remember how they protected us, how they cared for us, how they made sure that we were able to get home because the reality is, i got back home, jason got back home, all of our brothers and sisters got back home because there were afghans willing to risk their lives to make sure that we did and so now in this moment, at a bare

minimum, the bare minimum is we need to extend that same courtesy back. because we do not leave people behind. >> jason, eventually after you got back home, you had to walk away from public life because of the ptsd you suffered. what is your message to veterans right now who are struggling this week? >> on a what regular basis i have people reach out, i might be struggling, what should i do? you mentioned at the beginning of the segment the va crisis line has seen an up j tick. my personal crisis line has seen an uptick and i've talked to some people and what i told them is that and i think this is important because what we hear often, and it's good that we hear this often, it's not weakness, it's strength to reach out for help but at this point, most veterans understand that. that is something that we know now.

it's been ground into us, that's a good thing, but what most people don't know is that you can get better, and that's really my message now, is that ptsd is not a terminal illnessness. it doesn't mean it ends in suicide. it doesn't mean you don't do any job you want to do. i could run for office, heck, maybe i'm more sane than wes because -- sorry, wes, just kidding -- but i mean, my point is that you can get better, and you know, the therapy and the treatment for ptsd is very effective and if you commit to it, you can live a much different and more fulfilling life, and so that's what i've been telling people and that's what i want, anybody watching this right now thinking maybe they need help, it's not just that it's strong to go get help, it's that it works. i am experiencing a chapter of my life i refer to as post traumatic growth and i can tell

you that it's much better than what i was experiencing before. >> gentlemen, i did not think it would be possible to end this segment feeling optimistic and positive, but thanks to both of you, we have. so good to see you both and if you at home are a veteran or know a veteran struggling with mental health, you're not alone. you can call the veteran's crisis line at 1-800-273-8255, press 1, or text 838255 or visit veteranscrisisline.net. we'll be right back with more. recommends screening starting at age 45, instead of 50, since colon cancer is increasing in younger adults. i'm cologuard®. i'm convenient and find 92% of colon cancers... ...even in early stages. i'm for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider if cologuard is right for you. get ready. it's time for the savings event of the year.

the homeandautobundle xtravafestasaveathon! at this homeandautobundle xtravafestasaveathon, there's no telling what we might bundle! homeandautobundle xtravafestasaveathon! bundle cars, trucks, colonials, bungalows, and that weird hut your uncle lives in. so strike up the homeandautobundle xtravafestasaveathon band for the deal that started forever ago and will probably never end. homeandautobundle xtravafestasaveathon. -say it with me. -homeandautobundle-- no one's leaving till you say it right. homeandauto... 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. for psoriasis, 75% clearer skin is achievable, with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. for psoriatic arthritis, otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. and the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring.

don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you. this morning, an international rescue effort that includes americans is intensifying in haiti, as the death toll is now more than 1,900 after that massive earthquake. my colleague gabe gutierrez in haiti and joined the u.s. coast guard on a rescue mission. >> the u.s. coast guard is on

the move bringing supplies and medical personnel to some of the hardest-hit regions and evacuating critically ill medical patients, getting set to land behind me. we traveled on a mission yesterday, moments after tropical storm grace added insult to injury. on the ground in haiti an urgent rescue mission. thousands injured in this earthquake, desperate for medical attention. the u.s. ghost guard landing in hard hit lakhai before trans grace. lashed the region. this is what survival looks like in haiti, the coast guard loaded up seven patients, some of them very young. they're air lifted to the capital, port-au-prince after waiting days for help. >> we hope we can get as many as possible some of the kids that we've seen they've had buildings

come down on their parents and all alone and it really is heartbreaking. >> reporter: the haitian government says the death toll soared to nearly 2,000 people, almost 10,000 have been injured. unicef estimates the quake damage or destroyed 84,000 homes. one of the toughest parts about this relief operation is getting supplies to the people that most need it. many roads are shut down cutting off entire communities. for a country that's already seen so much tragedy, hope is in short supply, which is why retired flight paramedic teresa gray heard about the quake, she flew in from alaska, one of many american volunteers rushing in to help. >> always an urgent need when haiti is in trouble. always. that's why we've been here a number of times. when haiti gets in trouble, they get in trouble badly and we need to be here as soon as possible to help as much as we can. >> reporter: unicef estimates the earthquake impacted 1.2 million people here in haiti,

half of them children. stephanie? >> haiti needs our help. this story is not going away. i am grateful that gabe is there. coming up, a record number of americans quitting their jobs, some calling it the great resignation. coming up next, we are looking at the post-pandemic power shift that could impact your salary, your hours and where you work. try 9 elements, its vinegar powered deep clean dissolves soap scum build up and removes hard water spots and grease. made with never more than 9 ingredients. 9 elements, more than a clean, a cleanse.

it takes a certain kind of person to change the world. my great-great-grandmother, my great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather was that kind of person. he looked after his community. she built an empire. he protected this nation. they lived their lives in extraordinary ways. with ancestry, i learned the story of peter vaughters... william lacy... madam c.j.walker. they are the heroes in my family. who are the heroes in yours? this morning a surging delta

variant could be threatening many company's return to work plans with some americans say they would actually pay up to avoid going back to the office. in a new poll workers are less engaged with their jobs compared to before covid with nearly half of them looking for a new job. all of this shifting the employer/employee dynamic and who holds the power. we've been all over this story and now tom costello is digging in. what's driving all this? >> reporter: stephanie, good morning. so many companies are right now pushing back their return to work date, october, november, into the new year, that's coming as a new survey finds that 40% of workers say in 2020 during the pandemic, during the lockdown working from home, 40% say they hit burnout. it's being called the great resignation prompted by the pandemic, millions of americans reevaluating their lives and moving on. in april and june record numbers quit their jobs. in san antonio, claire barnett

left her consulting job for more work flexibility and time with her kids. >> being home gave me that opportunity to think about it from a family/life balance perspective. >> reporter: nationwide employers report a staggering 10.1 million job openings, even in picturesque boseman, montana, soaring home prices made it difficult for software company zoot enterprise to attract employees. it offers day care, cafeteria, physical therapists and flexible working options. >> we're seeing employees outside of work they don't want to be at work. we're seeing a pretty significant shift in that. work is something that we do but it's know the only thing we do anymore and their lives really do matter. >> that change of mindset is forcing companies big and small to change their return to work approach as a new study finds 38% of employees are seeking new jobs right now.

>> we're seeing more perks around flexibility, different kinds of schedules but in the end what many people care about is compensation, higher wages, bonuses. >> reporter: a pandemic forced power shift, employees gaining the upper hand and making lifestyle demands with employers hoping to keep them happy. a new survey found that 62% of employees are hoping for, looking for a new work/life balance when all of this gets back to normal. and listen to this. 65% would take a pay cut of 5% or more if they could work remotely fully from home. stephanie, back to you. >> tom costello, thank you. let's bring in andrew ross sorkin founder of new york tiles dealbook and co-anchor of "squawk box" on cnbc. workers would take a 5% pay cut if they could work from home,

aren't they saving more, you factor in the hours, the money we spend day in and day out commuting, staying home, not needing to live near an urban center, are those people doing the calculation and saying taking a 5% pay cut is nothing compared to how much they save by staying home? >> exactly. you could probably -- i mean, depending on how you do the math, it may turn out to be 10% or 15% that maybe some people would be able to take a reduction in their salary depending on what it is and the costs of commuting and the costs of all the other issues that go along with it. right now, there is an imbalance. the power for the first time in a very long time is in the, really in the hands of employees, not employers. that's because we have this sort of unique, tight job market, even though there are still so many people that are looking for work, but there are more jobs than there are people, and so right now, that's where the balance of power is. of course, depending which way

the economy turns in the future, this could all change. >> ceos out there, they're obviously what they say publicly is different from what they say privately. how concerned are they that if we go remote in such a big way, it's going to really hurt productivity for their companies. productivity for our companies isn't what employees think about. it's what ceos do. >> i think there's a real concern about productivity, about building a culture of a company, doing something for the long-term. it's one thing to live through this pandemic for a year or two, and i think a lot of ceos and senior managers would say that everybody's treading a little bit of water. there's not huge new innovations and they're only going to get that, getting people back into the office, so while i think there are going to be employers who will allow a more hybrid work style, i still seem to think long-term those who are going to truly excel at their jobs and get to the heights and climb the corporate ladders and

the like are probably going to do it in the office. >> and unless you're a professional water polo player, treading water sucks. andrew ross sorkin, always good to see you. i appreciate you joining us on this busy hour. i'm stephanie ruehl. hallie jackson picks up breaking news coverage on the other side of the break. potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergen-c. age is just a number. and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein. water? why?! ahhhh! incoming! ahhhahh! i'm saved! water tastes like, water. so we fixed it. mio. it's the biggest sale of the year, on the new sleep number 360 smart bed. it's the most comfortable, water tastes like, water. dually-adjustable, foot-warming,

temperature-balancing proven quality night sleep we've ever made. save 50% on the new sleep number 360 limited edition smart bed. plus, 0% interest for 24 months. only for a limited time.

introducing xfinity rewards. our very own way of thanking you just for being with us. enjoy rewards like movie night specials. xfinity mobile benefits. ...and exclusive experiences, like the chance to win tickets to see watch what happens live. hey! it's me. the longer you've been with us... the more rewards you can get. like sharpening your cooking skills with a top chef. join for free on the xfinity app and watch all the rewards float in. our thanks. your rewards.

we gave new zzzquil pure zzzs restorative herbal sleep to people who were tired of being tired. i've never slept like this before. i've never woken up like this before. crafted with clinically studied plant-based ingredients that work naturally with your body. for restorative sleep like never before. breaking news on a couple of fronts this morning. out of afghanistan,