more detail than that. alex? >> you make a very good point. i should say, we reported yesterday on the broadcast that the cia, there was some sort of an outpost. and in order to prevent any information from falling into the hands of the taliban or any other terrorist group, like isis-k, they actually detonated a charge there and destroyed anything that could have been left behind. do you know of any specific plans to do something similar to date? you said that was a possibility. was that certainly in it the works? >> alex, when we think about it, the u.s. military withdrawing from afghanistan left an enormous amount of military hardware ranging from small arms, rifles, uniforms, night vision goggles, all the way up

to blackhawk helicopters. that equipment is in the hands of the taliban now. the concern that it could end up with isis, al qaeda, other factions operating in the region. so it would not at all be a surprise if given the high concentration of troops and material at kabul airport, the u.s. is looking around saying what is it that we cannot take with us? that we do not want to fall into the hands of the enemy. so we'll destroy it ourselves. we know at the u.s. embassy in kabul diplomats burning sensitive files. they did not want them to obtain for propaganda purposes. we heard the british defense secretary saying, listen, we left humvees and various bits of equipment left behind in al qaeda to make the maximum amount of room on our transport planes to get people out.

we haven't been told that anything was scheduled for destruction at kabul airport. it is a possibility as we wait to learn more about this explosion in kabul. >> okay. thank you so much for that. and for all of you just joining us here, we are at the top of the hour of can a.m. i'm alex witt. but breaking news, we heard about an explosion. we have an nbc news freelance producer who is confirming there has been one in kabul. we don't know the context under which this explosion happened. nor where it is located. whether it was a controlled explosion, the kinds that ralph sanchez is just referring to or whether this some sort of an attack. we're working hard to get that information. let's go to tehran and the bureau chief there.

have you got more about this explosion? >> we heard about the explosion. we looked at details. they're very raw at this stage on social media. the we're hearing of a large blast. there have been images of a plume of smoke around the airport area. they confirmed there was a blast outside the airport. at this stage, dwoent know what the cause was. this could have been equipment and materials that the u.s. was burning. there have been fresh warnings from the state department urging all americans in the vicinity of kabul airport to leave the area immediately because of a specific and credible threat stream. and this could just be that.

this is the most dangerous period in afghanistan. as troops start to withdraw and we're seeing basically a military withdraw now. most of the civilians that they could get out have got now so this would be the closing windows for isis-k or other jihadists to strike at american troops which is a fairly soft target for them. they're all con find with the perimeters of the airport. they're warning americans to avoid the south gate and the northwest gate of the airport. president biden said the commanders told them an attack could happen as soon as today. people geared up for attack in the final phases of the evacuation. as the day goes on, our producer

in kabul and other contacts we have will will fill us in:we don't know if it was just equipment being burnt by the americans or a rocket attack or something more serious than that. and as soon as we hear, we'll bring it to you, alex. >> okay. i appreciate that so much. initial reports is that the smoke is situated near the airport. we're trying to pin down as many details as we can and get the facts to you as soon as we can. thank you, ali. thank you. we'll come back to you. give us a heads up if you get any information. of course, it is a two front that we're covering here in breaking news today. we have hurricane ida churning toward the gulf coast. our team on the ground there in louisiana tracking all the preparations for the land fall. let's go to al roker. he is joining us from if new

orleans where you present quite a picture there, my friend. how bad do you think this is going to get? >> i got to tell you, alex, it is increasing our biggest fear is the intensification of this system. that's what we're seeing. we have 150 mile-per-hour winds. with this just in, it looks like it is going to be 155 miles per hour making land fall. it is picking up steam. and so there is only been one -- only been four category five land falls in this country. with this right now is category four. category five is 157 miles per hour.

this right now is at 155. to give you an idea, we talk about don't worry about the category. but a category one storm damage with a five, the difference between a four and one is about 250 times more destructive than a category one. this thing rapid lyn tensefied. it is generally 35 miles per hour within 24 hours. alex, this thing intensified with 65 mile per hours within 24 hours. the storm is about to make land fall. this area, not just new orleans, but about 100 miles either side of new orleans is going to be in this danger zone. not only do we have to worry

about these catastrophic winds, but storm surge is going to be a big deal. this could be higher dependenting on when land fall makes. it may actually happen during in it between low and high tide. the that would be devastating. if you look here now, you can start to see in this parking lot we are looking at the storm surge. when we first started this morning, this parking lot was dry. and now you can see just how wet it is. how much water is accumulating and that's going to be happening all over louisiana coastline. especially i had areas not protected by a levee. you see that mound there, that green hill? that is a levee. and there's a gate that shuts that off from the rest of the

low lying area. this is above sea level. and our winds are really picking up now, alex. so this is a very dangerous situation. plus, you also got to figure out we're talking about a lot of rain with this system. we're talking about upwards of 20 inches of rain in areas that have already seen the top july either first, second, or third wettest julys on record. and so with all this rain, all this water -- [ no audio ] situation, alex. that's why people have been evacuated. people have heeded the evacuations. when we flew in, people were waiting in droves to get out. now, of course, airlines canceled all the flutes when we picked up our rental car at hertz. the line was out the door with people trying to get out, trying to rent cars. again this is a tough situation. this will be the strongest land fall ever in louisiana at this

point. if it makes 155 miles per hour. within more than a year, 367 days, two category four storms landing in louisiana. we had ida this year and the problem when you think about it, 16 years ago katrina made land fall. so a devastating day in the gulf coast. by the way, once this makes land fall, we're not done with it. it probably will slow down. there are flash flood watches up as you get up into the appalachians. so we're going to be looking at three to five inches of rain as we make our way into north atlantic, northeast and ohio and mississippi river valleys. even if you don't live on the gulf, this is going to be a big impact system. >> 100%.

i have to tell you, al, i'm spellbound watching. this as you speak, sort of the increasing strength of this storm. we can see evidence of it. it's hard for you to talk. it is hard to hear through the winds. you know, your voice and the rain and the flooding. those waves have come up even further to you. how much longer do you think you're going to be able to stay out there? >> we moved our trucks away from the water. listen, we're not going to risk anything here. as of right now, we're staying put bringing this to you. but, you know, it's one of these things. i haven't been out in a while. and this is to watch this storm, it's for we have to give props to the national hurricane center.

they have been very accurate. this system is performing as advertised. and the biggest problem is the rapid intensification. the gulf waters are so warm. we're talking almost 90 degrees. and that 90 degrees, the warm waters go way deep. so normally we get upwelling to bring colder water up and that shuts off the energy source. well that water goes deep. and so it's allowing a lot of energy to ida and that is kree oughting this intense, this rapid intensification. >> okay. al roker, certainly this is not your first rodeo. and i know you'll stay safe. i'm very grateful for you for providing us a reality check on the power of ida. this is not to be taken lightly by anybody watching here. >> alex? by the way, if anybody doubts climate change and its effects, look at what's happening here

along the gulf coast. this is really climate change personified. >> amen to that. i was thinking the same thing as you were reporting. i'm so glad you said it. the voice of reason and truth there, al roker and experience. thank you so much, my friend. stay safe. we'll check in with you again as long as we can get a signal. >> all right. right now let's move a little bit away from new orleans and i'm joined by the mayor of baton rouge, louisiana. mayor, what do you think of what you were seeing al roker having to battle there and brave the elements right on the edge there of lake pontchartrain? >> indeed, it confirms this is a very serious situation that we're dealing with here in south louisiana. we certainly need everyone to be prepared. >> let's talk about that. there the are folks in baton rouge that talk about evacuations were they mandatory, strongly urged? what extent do you you this people followed the orders? >> we did not implement

mandatory evacuations. but we certainly encouraged our people to have a plan. and if that plan meant going away to a family member, out of town, or if it meant making sure that you were prepared with three days worth of materials and you secured your home or your business, the key word is plan and prepare. i believe that our folks have adhered to. that. >> talk about your gravest concerns for baton rouge and the neighboring communities there? you heard al roker say if this gets to 155 miles per hour, it has the time to do so. it has increasing strength to the coastline there. that this is -- it grows. it is 250 times more powerful. that is frightening. put that in perspective and the

greatest concerns for baton rouge. >> baton rouge has been through a number of storms, flooding experiences, even recently this year and great flood of 2016. and so we have become more resilient. my greatest concern is making sure that people are safe and sound and listening to the messages that we have been communicating with them. that is my greatest concern with people adhering to that. as we say here in baton rouge, that they are prepared and ready to deal with this tropical storm ida or hurricane ida. >> you know, madam mayor, it's not as if it's the only thing of to you right now. let me show viewers something that you tweeted yesterday. you're dealing with two asults really when you think about it. you wrote that baton rouge is facing two emergencies and major hurricanes and a pandemic. please prepare for both. we don't want to lose any of you

to either threat and we need to work together to stay safe. when you think about potential injury from a storm like this, add that to the hospital loads already filling up with covid-19. how concerned are you about that and the status of your hospitals and ability to deal with anything that happens their way because of ida and the covid-19 pandemic? >> i'm concerned. right now, we're inundated with emergency situations here. our homents are pretty much at capacity. and we're opening up shelters, one shelter this morning and increased storm shelter. and even within their confines of that shelter, we have to isolate and have a place of isolation for those individuals that may be covid-19 positive. making sure that our residents are safe in mitigating covid-19

and this hurricane are our top priorities. >> all right. mayor of baton rouge, louisiana, best of luck as you ride out both of these continuing storms. we'll be keeping an eye on things and wish you the very best. louisiana's surge in the covid-19 cases that, certainly is going to complicate the hurricane response. hospitals are bracing for duel public health emergencies and joining me now is dr. mark klein. dr. klein, talk about your biggest concerns not only with your patient occupancy filling up due to covid-19 but the fact that ida may bring more people who need medical assistance. >> we've been hut with one-two punches. we were dealing with another respiratory virus, rsv, that filled our hospital. and then, of course, last six weeks we have seen this onslaught of the delta variant of covid-19. and about the last thing in the world we wanted to see or have hit us is a category four

hurricane. but here we are. we're pulling together as a team. we have 20 physicians and health care professionals locked down in the hospital here in new orleans. and we're here for the duration. we have about 120 children in the hospital right now. and these are the kids who need us most. many of whoem are in the intensive care units. and some on mechanical ventilation. we're going to take care of them to the best of our ability and be here throughout this to do our best. and then when the storm passes and clears, we'll be dealing with the after effects. we'll be seeing children with injuries and the usual illnesses and we'll be admitting those. >> it is a grim and heartbreaking picture you paint

there at the children's hospital in new orleans. talk about the kids and the treatments you're having to provide for them. these are kids, children that are unable to be vaccinated at this point. are they 12 and under? do you also have adolescent patient that's might have had a vaccination but were unable to get one yet. >> yeah. if we talk specifically about the children admitted to the hospital with covid-19, they're across the age range. we have seen babies as young as seven weeks in our intensive care unit with covid-19. and then as old as late teens. and everything in between. about half are under age 12. and therefore, they're not eligible for vaccination just yet. among those that are over 12 and eligible for vaccination, almost none have had the vaccine. i'm ware of only one child in that age-group who was fully vaccinated and represented a breakthrough infection. so, you know, the message here

is that we've got to continue to do the things we know we can do to bring this pandemic under control. and that's to wear masks and indoor spaces and when we're around crowds and schools. we need masks for children and teachers and staff. but also vaccination. louisiana has one of the lowest rauts of vaccination for covid-19 in the united states. and we have a long way to go. we have a little improvement over the past few weeks as this has hit us. we have to do better. we need to these vulnerable children with adults that did the right thing and got the vaccine. >> dr. mark klein from the new orleans children hospital. very grateful heart. i bid you farewell and godspeed in the job you have ahead of you, saving the lives of children suffering from covid-19. and all of you, don't go anywhere. we're continuing to follow the

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a freelance producer has confirmed there was another explosion heard. i was near the kabul airport. it happened just moments ago. this happened hours at the white house warned of another attack in the city. that very hour, president biden expected to meet with the familiar lives the 13 u.s. service members who were killed in thursday's attack on the kabul airport. before participating in the remains at dover air force base. his first as commander in chief. a very solemn occasion for our president. let's bring in matthew aikens. you're hearing the reports that we just chronicled for our

viewers. have you heard this explosion? you have seen anything? what can you tell us? >> it appears the rocket hit a home north of the airport. >> okay. is there any indication of who would have the capability to launch such a rocket? and in your estimation, you think this was aimed at the airport itself? they have the capability to launch these attacks. tfz no the a complicated attack to launch. you just need to get a rocket somewhere within range and fire it. it would have been done sort of with the intent of disrupting

the evacuation. it also appears there very little usair craft remaining at the airport. we're in the final stages of the evacuation. >> is there any indication other than this home was hit? is there anything about the airport that you believe security wise breached? >> to my knowledge, no. of there are videos right now of this home on fire. of civilian people running in panic from the area. so another sad incident for the people of afghanistan. to that end, you have been talking to family aekt philadelphia by the bombing. what do they face trying to get out of the country or stay there and stay alive? >> yeah. well, i spent the whole day on friday with this family. at their fun rachlt you really felt like we were burying the

army, a police force which was -- police family, you know, they're working for. the brother who was killed was a police officer. he had a brother in the army. another one worked for an american ngo. they've been trying to get to the airport. they've been in the crowds. and tragically one of the brothers was killed when a bomb went off. among the 200 afghans killed in this crowd. devastating attack. they were left hund by so many others. they face an uncertain future like so many millions of afghans. >> a tragic story that sadly will be repeating itself across that country. matthew aikens. thank you so much. do stay safe. i appreciate your insight. we'll have more on this for you in just a moment. let's turn to hurricane ida. a monster category 4 storm.

it closes in on louisiana. ken graham is joining us, of course, director of the national hurricane center. ken, where is it now? how fast is it moving? where is it going to hit? >> we've got aircraft in there now with the hurricane hunters. i'm listening to the conferences. 150 miles per hour winds. right now looks like we're about 50 miles south-southeast of grand isle, louisiana. getting closer and closer to the coastline. already seeing some of those impacts with some of the high ones reaching the mouth of the mississippi river. but alex, look at these rain bands. anywhere in these areas on that right front quadrant, you can get tornadoes in these areas. tornadoes possible from looking at alabama, panhandle and the mississippi coast and the north shore lake pontchartrain. >> so winds are a big concern. but it's the flooding that will be the initial prime arie concern. we saw al roker a short while ago, ken. i mean, he had water at the beginning of our report with him

kind of around his ankles and got to his knees. this thing is coming in fast and furious with the flood surge. >> it really is. we get the rainfall. we think about this. we're putting 10 to 20 inches of rain on top of that wind and on top of of this storm surge here. does every one of these impacts is life threatening. this is a catastrophic event. an extreme wind warning was just issued. they're making sure they get information tout everybody. the values, alex, 12 to 16 feet of storm surge from here to the mouth of the mississippi river and from the mouth of the river river to st. louis. that is water up your pantleg, up your shirt, up a ceiling, 8 to 10 feet. think about the values. it's a life threatening situation w all the hazards associated with it, storm surge is the leading cause of fatalities in the tropical systems. >> last question to you, ken. if anybody has not gotten out at

this point, is it not safe to try to still evacuate? >> looking at the winds, they're starting to reach the coastline. looking at the radar, there is the extreme portion of the center. but important the hurricane-force winds, we don't want to just look at this center, alex. the hurricane-force winds are stretching out 50 miles from the center. it is time to really, if you can get out, that is the time. the real thing is shelter in place. it's time to have a safe place to be. ride out the storm. think about the rain. you need to have height off the ground. but the wind as well. have a safe structure. time to really buckle down. >> really hunker down. you're right, if if you step in the winds, anything can happen. trees can come down, block your way, light poles, power lines and the like. it is a very dangerous time. i know you're so busy. we'll see you again throughout this day as we cover hurricane ida. thank you so much. don't go anywhere, everyone. we'll be right back with more hurricane coverage as well as the very latest from

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33 past the hour. we're following the breaking news, hurricane ida is getting stronger by the hour. this storm is also quickly intensified to a very dangerous category 4 hurricane. it has sustained winds right now of 150 miles per hour. however, category five status may not be very far off. the storm is only 7 miles an hour away from that

classification as it continues to gain strength from the warm open waters of the gulf. notably this potentially catastrophic storm comes on the 16th anniversary of hurricane katrina. another devastating natural disaster that left that state of louisiana reeling. let's go to nbc today show al roker who is joining me once again from new orleans. let me go to the waters. it's apparent this storm surge is coming in powerfully, al. how are you withstanding things? what is it like where you are? >> well, i'm down on the ground. my crew is up on a deck at a restaurant. and so they are more out of harm's way. trust me, alex, i don't feel in any danger. i feel very water logged. i don't feel like i'm in any danger right now. this is lake pontchartrain as you mentioned. and the winds are picking up. the storm surge here is expected to be about 9 feet. in fact, as you look over this

parking lot, when we came in this morning, this thing was bone dry. and now the water in some spots is knee deep. so we're watching this come in. this storm, alex, as you said, right now is -- there's sustained winds at 150 miles per hour. but with the rapid intensification, we're expecting this to make land fall probably with 155 mile-per-hour wind gusts. and it's not out of the realm of possibility that it could get to 157. again, we always caution people. don't be concerned whether it's a 3 or a 4, 4 or a 5. but when it's a category 1 storm and then you get to winds of 155 miles per hour, the destructive force of those winds multiply by over 330 times.

when you go from a category 1 storm's winds to a category 4 storm winds. the other thing we have to worry about as this system comes on shore and, by the way, alex, we were thinking around 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, it's probably going to be within the next two hours. as this system comes in, we already have tornado watches up. there have been tornado warnings. because whenever you get a vigorous system like this, tornadoes are sure to spin off. so despite everything else, folks here not just along the coast but inland as well, especially inland, will have to worry about tornadoes with this system. storm surge a big deal here at lake pontchartrain about 9 feet or so. but you go south like homa and morgan city, that's more like 11 to 15 feet. could be higher.

and rainfall, we're talking 20 inches of rain in some spots. the no matter how you slice this storm, it's a dangerous storm that still has room to strengthen because of these extremely warm waters. above average warm waters for the gulf coast. we're talking water temperatures 88 to 90 degrees. and those temperatures go way down deep. normally we get something that is called upwelling. the system pulls up water, it brings up colder water from down below. there is not that much cold water to bring up. so there's no cutoff mechanism for all that warmth and all that energy. this system is a beast. it still has room to grow. and we're going to continue to monitor it. alex? >> okay. al roker monitoring very ably so it is extraordinary what you're experiencing. thank you for sharing it with us and giving us the dire warnings.

we're going to heed them. stay safe, my friend. we'll check back in with you. again, everyone, we're following what is happening in kabul, afghanistan. the breaking news that we can now confirm a rocket landed in a home near the kabul airport. we do not know where that rocket was launched. who was claiming responsibility at this point. but we might get some more details right now from tehran. i understand you have a few more details to share? >> that's right. the details are coming through slowly. what we're learning from the ground right now is that as you said, it was a rocket attack on a residential building. three miles northwest of kabul airport. and the initial reports are saying that three people have been injured and one person has been killed. the kabul police chief we're seeing on social media is saying that one person that was killed was a child.

the initial reports suggest this is outside the perimeter of where u.s. forces are guarding the airport. it seems to have struck civilians, presumably afghan civilian that's live near or in that three mile radius of the airport. so, yet, another tragedy for the afghan people as that exodus of foreign forces is going on right now. alex, i have to point these are still very early reports that we're hearing on social media from the kabul police chief and reporters on the ground. so we can't entirely confirm it. but just to reiterate, it was an attack three miles southwest of kabul airport. possibly a child killed. at this stage, it doesn't seem to have targeted any u.s. servicemen or other forces that are protecting the airport or the airport gates. but we have been expecting this for days now.

there were fresh warnings today from the state department urging all americans to stay way from the vicinity of the airport. if they're there, leave it immediately. they have given very specific warnings about where to avoid, what gates of the airport to avoid because they are saying there say credible threat for on going probably from isis-k. president biden said that that could happen as early as today. sunday. it did happen. now thankfully it doesn't seem to have been that massive sort of attack we saw the other day that cost the lives of 13 service members. but nonetheless, it's still an attack near the airport underscoring just how dangerous and volatile the situation still is on the ground there. >> absolutely. st before i let you go to gather more information, is there any indication that this attack slowed down the evacuation process by the u.s. military? do we know if any planes were

delayed? are we still trying to get that information? >> we're still trying to get that information. it's unlikely that it's going to slow it down if it does, it's going to be a very minor delay. it wasn't within the perimeter of the airport. so you have -- it hasn't affected any of the gates of the airport or any of the security around them. and also we have to keep in mind that these last phases is a military evacuation. less than a civilian evacuation. and the troops want to get out of there as safely and as quickly as possible. but as soon as we get any more information on whether it has slowed down the evacuation, we'll get that to you as soon as possible. >> okay. thank you in tehran. development on this breaking news. let's bring back former u.s. translator in afghanistan. ahmed, what you are hearing about this rocket attack? again to reiterate for anyone joining us, it happened and struck a residential home or

building. it pears to be three miles or so away from the kabul airport. notably, outside the perimeter that is as best it can be secured for anybody trying to still get into kabul and leave the karzai international airport. what do you know about this? >> i was literally talking to a family i was helping that sent me the videos and pictures that hit a house. so she was telling me she was leaving the house, people were gathered in that neighborhood and they were saying about 60 confirmed. but before that, i was talking to a journalist. so that rocket was launched from the west of kabul. you know, a couple weeks ago, the similar attacks have been launched in the palace and rocket head near the former afghan president. so it's not three miles. it is literally less than a mile to the military side of the airport. we're talking about the north side of the airport. this is a gate -- north gate. it is controlled by the -- it has been controlled by the afghans in the past.

but right now the military has control. the area that it landed, the house over there in that community has been destroyed. so according to the woman and the family i was helping. >> okay. so this is an explosion. but we don't know specifically ahmad exactly the derivation. there are reports of rockets. is there anything else in your mind that could have contributed to this? is there anything that woman with whom you were speaking that would suggest anything other than a rocket? i mean, there is so much still yet to be confirmed. we just don't want to jump ahead of ourselves and identify it in one way when it's not been confirmed by the u.s. military. >> well, my journalist when first this happened, i tweeted. we heard the rocket passing through our house on the eastern kabul. and near the airport. he said we heard the noise and we heard the explosion. >> and what would that be? is would that be like a whistling sound if you heard a

rocket? >> yes. >> is it a kbloert? >> yes. >> okay. >> it's worth saying for the viewers because kabul has been surrounded by the mountains. it's like a wall. it's like a castle. during the wars in 1980s, and 1992 and even late 2000s, kabul has been attacked by rockets, by different groups. isis, taliban. so the train -- the location is at a strategic location for the groups to hide in the mountain and launch the rockets. it's no the something new. and so one of the reasons why the rocket did not hit the airport because of the lack of coordination or technology. the taliban has everything american forces have given to afghan government. they can have accurate coordination of the rockets to launch anywhere. it could be a threat to our allies in the region. so isis does not have that much capability to have a better coordinate to head the airport but they're close. you're not three miles away. they're really close.

>> okay. thank you so much for bringing us the latest intelligence that you're gathering. i appreciate you very much. for all of you, we're going just sneak in a very quick break and have a lot more hurricane coverage on the other side of it. other side of it ♪ ♪ and one we explore one that's been paved and one that's forever wild but freedom means you don't have to choose just one adventure ♪ ♪ you get both. introducing the all-new 3-row jeep grand cherokee l jeep. there's only one. [swords clashing] - had enough? - no... arthritis. here. new aspercreme arthritis. full prescription-strength? reduces inflammation? thank the gods. don't thank them too soon. kick pain in the aspercreme.

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hurricane ida is barrelling toward the louisiana coast. it is gaughaning strength by the hour in not by the minute. michelle grossman, it's been

pretty extraordinary satellite pictures that we've been able to see the enormity of hurricane ida. let's talk about first of all the speed. how quickly is it moving, michelle? >> it's moving at 15 miles per hour. and it's at 150 mile-per-hour winds. it is moving quickly. we're going to see that land falling earlier than we thought, probably within the next two to three hours. we're watching this very closely. you mentioned hours and minutes. we saw al's live shot. how quickly it's changing as we're watching him, you know, on every half hour. this is what looks like on satellite and raid ar. very strong storms along the florida panhandle. it's not just the ones. its not just the storm surge. it's not just the rainfall. we're looking at severe weather on the northeast quadrant. along the florida panhandle. we have a tornado warning. parts of mississippi all along the coast, you can see the darker colors here's on this radar. of that's indicating where the heavy rain is falling. so that's what we're seeing for the immediate future. then we're seeing that land fall within the next two to three

hours. winds starting to customer. we saw that also in al's shot with that water rising and it was hard to talk at some points. winds at 40e miles per hour. we're going to see them going up from there. so let's track this for you. much it's a category 4 storm. a category 4 storm, a very strong category 4 storm. that's at the upper threshold. you only need 157 mile per hour winds for it to be a category 5 storm. the expectation right now, we will see landfall at 155 mile per hour. we could say cat 5. we're going to watch that. right now 150. it's moving north county west at 15 miles per hour. it's getting very close. we're starting to see the impacts. with the water rising the winds are picking up. we're going to watch that landfall very closely. and then it's going to slow down. once it makes that landfall, when you have a landfalling hurricane you have friction with that land. it's going to turn those winds. we could see severe weather. we're certainly going to see very, very strong winds. so when you have those strong winds, you want to seek shelter almost like a tornado. you want to get to the lowest

level, a bathroom where you could be protected from those winds. and then it's going to move ever so slowly as we go throughout the next four to five days. so by monday, still in mississippi. still dropping a lot of rain. we're going to include parts of tennessee in this, and remember just a week ago they had 17 inches of rain in just four hours. we're going to add to those totals today. and then by thursday it's in the mid-atlantic. we could see severe weather with ida thursday. this is going to be a week long story we're talking about. let's talk about the storm surge. that's that wall of water. that's why we have the levees in place. we do expect those levees to come through and hold back the water. still, they have to hold backs 12 to 16 feet of water. it's that ocean water being pushed by wind and it's fast and it's powerful and it's dangerous and it's life-threatening. so that's why those evacuations were made especially along the coast. rainfall totals are adding to what's saturating the ground in july and august. we could see scary amounts, up to 20 inches of rain in some

spots. notice where you see that maroon color. that's going to be the highest amounts of rainfall. but again, it's not going to take much to see flooding. that includes the tennessee valley, appalachian, mid-atlantic, northeast. we talked about the winds. we talked about those where we could see significant damage to homes and buildings. we could certainly see downed trees because we're looking at really soggy land. so those trees are going to come down quickly. in addition to power lines and passable roads. new orleans put out a statement, it could be in habitable for a couple weeks to come. it's not just going to be the 24 thing and we do the clean-up. it could be weeks where we're doing the clean-up. the last thing i'll end with is destructive winds. we're looking at power outages across the wide area. the wind is extending, will extend, the hurricane as it gets closer it's going to stretch and breathe. 250 miles in some spots. alex, this is worst case scenario. it's what we didn't want to see.

the national hurricane center did a really excellent job with the track, with the winds, with the message of how powerful this is going to be. if it makes landfall at this wind speed, it will tie the record for the strongest hurricane ever to hit louisiana. but if it does make it at the predicted 155 miles per hour, it's going to be the strongest hurricane to cross louisiana's land. so this is really dangerous and we're going to be watching it very, very closely. >> for which we thank you so much, michelle grossman. it's important to be well informed what is heading their way. we appreciate that. we're going to take you back to the details happening in afghanistan. stay with us here on msnbc's velshi. velshi visibly diminish wrinkled skin in... crepe corrector lotion... only from gold bond. you need an ecolab scientific clean here. and you need it here.

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so when their windshield got a chip, they wanted it fixed fast. they drove to safelite autoglass for a guaranteed, same-day, in-shop repair. we repaired the chip before it could crack. and with their insurance, it was no cost to them. >> woman: really? >> tech: that's service you can trust, when you need it most. ♪ pop rock music ♪ >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ that delicious omelet was microwaved? get outta here. everybody's a skeptic. paper money. it's the future! get outta here. i'm leaving with my gold. it's not crazy. help me, mother. it's an omelet. just crack an egg. we continue to follow that breaking news out of afghanistan where an explosion has been heard near kabul. local sources say that a rocket landed in a residential neighborhood. on the heels of that i want to bring in zora aziz. she's an afghan woman who has been trying to get her husband

out of afghanistan. i know this is a difficult time. i'm glad you're with us to talk about your experience there. first of all, have you heard from anybody there in kabul about this particular explosion that we've been reporting for the last hour or so? >> i haven't talked to my husband in a whole day. i talked to my father-in-law. they knew people that passed during the explosion and it's devastating. they're all really going through it right now. can you imagine, almost 200 civilians and 13 troop members. it's devastating. >> it is devastating. it is gut wrenching for all of us. i know you feel particularly close to this. help me to understand what your husband has been going through. he has a u.s. visa. so he is free and clear to get back to the united states and get back to you. the issue has been what, physically getting to the airport for security reasons? for organizational, logistic reasons? what has been the problem?

>> well, here's the thing. the last time that -- i'm not sure if it's the last time we spoke, but he made it. he made it to the americans, and they denied him. he had everything. he had his visa, his airport pass. he had his passport, his paperwork, everything, and they flat-out denied him. so i told him, i said, please just don't go back to the airport. and the worst part is every single time he was going back to the airport, it was at abby gates. so thankfully he wasn't there during the explosion. and at this point he told me, he said, zora, the last time we spoke, which was a whole day ago, he said, zora, i'm working on a plan. unfortunately this is the situation right now, and you're just going to have to trust me. we may not talk for a day or two, but i promise i'm going to

get to you. and apparently, even the taliban are taking bribes to even let people into the airport at this point. people who have documents, people who have their passports, everything. so it's chaos out there. even with proper planning, it's still not working out. they had everything, all their documents. why are they not allowing them to come in? >> i wish i had an answer for you. you've got to wonder whether they felt something was incomplete despite everything you're giving, the testimony that it was not, whether there was actually space. and we are not going to ask you about the plans that your husband may or may not have revealed to you for safety sake, but -- >> i don't even know what it is. >> it's probably better you don't know all the details. but, zora, how is this on you right now? i mean, i'm nearly tearing up on you listening because it's tough. >> honestly, i was in the hospital saturday night. i just couldn't handle it any

more. my mom, my mom's broken. my people, they're broken. everybody is just mourning right now. there's nothing we can do. >> zora, in times like this, you hold onto something. what are you holding onto for hope? >> i'm just hoping that, you know, i'm going to be honest. i'm hoping biden fixes it because he really messed this up. he needs to go in there and fix it now. at the end of the day, there's going to be a war whether it's a civil war or a war between two countries. but if you're not going to do it for our people, for the almost 200 lives that we lost, at least do it for our troops. go back in there and fix this before we lose more lives. this is where we're at right now. >> zora, i hope you hear from your husband very soon. nazir. is there anybody you expect to

travel with him? >> no, nobody right now. >> one and only. >> it's dangerous as well. i told him, you focus on trying to get out right now. we'll go back for them. we will go back for them, and i guarantee you this, we will go back for them. >> i hope you see him very soon and have him in your arms. zora, thank you. >> thank you so much. >> good luck. okay, that's it from me this hour. i'll be back at noon eastern and i will be much more pulled together. it's tough. we've got hurricane coverage coming your way as well. ali velshi will be back, a steely ali velshi at 8:00 a.m. he's landing in new orleans gearing up for hurricane coverage. i apologize to my colleague jonathan capehart who is taking over right now, about 20 seconds late. hurricane ida a monster category 4 storm is bearing down on louisiana.