if it's tuesday, president biden will address the nation this afternoon. the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan is officially complete. what about the americans that are left behind? the longest war may be over, but fallout from the last few weeks may be just beginning. here at home, hundreds of thousands are in the dark after hurricane ida slams new orleans. an update as the cleanup and rescue efforts continue. later, at the worst news we could want, a new variant detected in south africa. what we know and what we don't.

cases continue the surge in the united states. hospitals being pushed once again to the breaking point. welcome to "mtp daily." we expect to hear from president biden on the issue of afghanistan in the next hour, trying to put a period on the withdrawal from america's longest war. the president is scheduled to speak at 2:45 this afternoon on the east coast as he faces a range of questions about the road ahead, strategically, diplomatically, and eventually politically. this comes one day after the last flight carrying u.s. troops left kabul, just about 20 years from the day the troops first set foot in afghanistan. u.s. central command released this photo. the last u.s. soldier to leave. major general chris done a few,

commander of the 82nd airborne division. this is the last group, including ambassador holding the american flag. minutes after american troops left, the taliban assumed control of the airport. exclusive video shows fighters inspecting what was left behind. pentagon said they made weapons and equipment in operable before completing withdrawal. despite evacuating more than 120,000 since august 14th in what the president called the largest airlift in american history, officials did concede between 100 and 200 americans that wanted to leave do remain in the country. the seconds addressed that late this afternoon. >> we will continue our relentless efforts to help americans, foreign nationals and afghans leave afghanistan if they choose. we believe there are still a small number of americans, under 200, and likely closer to 100,

who remain in afghanistan and want to leave. we're trying to determine exactly how many. we're going through manifests and calling and texting through our lists. we'll have more details to share as soon as possible. >> as that last u.s. military flight left kabul, the taliban celebrated completion of the u.s. withdrawal, fireworks, nonetheless. the spokesperson said they were celebrating independence. a charter of american history that began more than 20 years ago. cost more than 2400 service members, among them 13 killed in last week's attack on the kabul airport. our chief white house correspondent peter alexander at the white house, courtney kube at the pentagon and david ignatius. peter, i am curious what the white house thinks the

president, he may have something to say, i'm not sure whether the public is still listening now on afghanistan but what does the president hope to accomplish with his remarks today? >> reporter: we're hearing from his press secretary, jen psaki, previewing remarks to take place the next couple of hours, saying he will thank those military commanders and service members for helping successfully evacuate more than 124,000 americans and afghan allies to safety over the course of the last several weeks, volunteers and veterans for efforts they put into the process as well. he'll detail his decision to epidemic the war and some tough decisions he had to make in the course of the last seven months to get to this point. just yesterday in a statement, we heard him note it was unanimous decision of u.s. military leaders, that the president stick to the august 31st date. the president saying that was the best solution to help protect american troops and preserve prospects of getting

out remaining americans and other allies in the future. beyond that, the president is going to sort of detail according to jen psaki the way he views foreign policy through the prism of what is in america's national interest, that he would always put safety of americans first. the president facing a lot of criticism that the u.s. is less safe. you've seen the weaponry that's in the hands of the taliban, in spite of the pentagon saying much of it was rendered inoperable. chuck, to give a sense of a window into the way the white house views this, in the past couple hours, heard from ron klain who put a tweet out, sharing a "new york times" article that noted a majority of americans support the president on his desire to take the troops out of afghanistan, to bring them home. there's a lot of political consequences that they face in the long and short term as well.

>> i am curious, peter, wondering how the president is handling criticism from parents of the dead soldiers. it seems like the meeting at dover, the meetings did not go very well. perhaps that should be expected. we saw there were some, these are grieving parents, these are angry parents, especially when it is supposed to be a war we're not fighting any more. from what you hear, how is the president handling that criticism? >> well, i think clearly this was an uncomfortable conversation that happened behind closed doors at dover air force base as would be expected. so many of the families losing loved ones there. some of their words were heated to the president, saying to him he needs to remember these names, remember these faces, expressing frustration when he brought up the loss of his own son. they said this isn't about your family, this is about ours here. white house officials we speak to even publicly said there is nothing that a president, that

this president, any commander in chief can say to the families to help assuage the heartbreak they're experiencing right now, but they say they remain committed to help comfort them, do whatever they can for those families going forward. it is notable that one of the parents did say even though he was very frustrated with the president, there was one thing he gave president biden cudos, the fact he carries with him in his pocket the list that identifies the number of american lives lost, 2461 the tally at this point. beneath that number said plus 13 for 13 that lost their lives the last several days. >> yeah. i saw that. it was almost the one thing reporters could find that seemed to have positive interaction with the president. peter alexander at the white house. thank you. courtney kube, i want to first get an update on our mission against isis-k. it is not done.

that we know. but how to they conduct it now? >> reporter: we had a very stark reminder about how the mission against isis-k is not over. yesterday we heard the first time from general frank mckenzie new numbers about the presence of isis-k in afghanistan. he is now saying there are at least 2,000 hardcore, hardened isis fighters as he called them in afghanistan. that's up from the most recent estimates we had from united nations earlier this summer, somewhere in the neighborhood of 500, up to 1200 total isis fighters in afghanistan. general mckenzie explaining the reason the number has gone up in large part is due to the fact that the taliban as they were rolling through parts of the country earlier this summer, they were emptying prisons, releasing many of those fighters. general mckenzie saying the taliban, now that they're in charge of security for the country are going to have a rough time dealing with these isis fighters, saying that they let them out of the prisons,

they will reap what they sew. the threat from isis is still real, even now that the u.s. military is out of the country. the u.s. will continue to carry out strikes, to try to target isis in afghanistan, defense officials explaining president biden made it clear to them that he wanted to dismantle that network that was responsible for the attack last week at kabul airport, but their mission will be more and more difficult now that there aren't u.s. troops on the ground. they used to rely significantly on human intelligence there. they relied on the afghan military that's now been dismantled for intelligence. the u.s. has the ability with overhead and other ways of gathering information, but the reality is what was once a clear picture on the ground of the intelligence of the isis presence is now much murkier without u.s. military there. >> courtney, you were telling us

sunday on "meet the press" about this with isis-k. what is that definition of dismantling the network, the cell or the -- >> the goal is both. they started with this specific cell. the two individuals first targeted friday with a drone strike, one of them was specifically known for helping, teaching with this magnetic explosive capability. that was what was used at the abbey gate last thursday. that was an attempt, specific attempt to stop these kinds of attacks in the future going forward, but beyond that defense officials say there's still a real interest and effort to go after larger isis-k. now that the taliban are in charge there, they will theoretically as enemy of isis-k will be going after them as

well, but the major isis prepsz is in the ungoverned areas. the taliban will have a difficult time going after them, especially and while trying to govern. i was trying to get the press secretary john kirby and later with general mckenzie, will the u.s. coordinate as we have seen them do with the taliban, will they coordinate going forward in the fight against isis-k. i didn't get real answers to that. we don't know what's going to happen with that going forward. >> what if the taliban ask for our help? >> reporter: exactly. what if the taliban have intelligence to provide the united states to use to go after isis. we don't know how it will look going forward. >> we'll try to find somebody that can give us some idea. david ignatius, as well sourced as anybody outside our friends

there. the likelihood we're going to have some uneasy semi positive diplomatic relationship with the taliban in the next year, what's that likelihood? >> so i wouldn't use the word diplomatic, chuck. i think the u.s. deliberately withholding that idea of diplomatic recognition, the ideas to watch and see what the cobb does, create an inclusive government, i void the civil war that may be looming by taking in other ethnic groups. what we already are seeing and i think the u.s. would very much like to continue is a kind of security cooperation. it's been extraordinary since the initial contacts between general frank mckenzie, centcom commanders as kabul was falling, that there was a sort of informal, i don't want to call

it partnership, certainly cooperation about security. messages were exchanged about isis-k threats. i can remember two years ago being in kabul with then commander scottie miller, u.s. general who talked then about his hopes that there would be at least a de facto alliance between the taliban and the united states going forward, going after isis-k. talked about a number of provinces where it was in effect cooperation. we would bomb, they would go in after. will that happen going forward, the idea we would share intelligence with them through some channel that would help them take action, that's something you can imagine. what we've seen in these initial days is that our ability to do so-called over the horizon counterterrorism strikes is stronger than you might have thought, the ability to act against planners in the far east

of afghanistan to target the suicide bombers coming toward the airport two days ago, shows those capabilities are pretty robust. >> it is. although we were still on the ground in afghanistan. but i take your point on that. let's take a step back. i am trying to figure out what the president can say today that will at all be heard in a way that moves us forward. so we went back into archives. here is president ford after the pictures in saigon. he said among statements he made was this, this action closes a chapter in the american experience. i ask all americans to close ranks, avoid recrimination about the past, look ahead to many goals we share and work together on the great tasks that remain to be accomplished. if there's a difference between afghanistan and vietnam, no one can agree should we have gone in the first place. there's almost universal agreement we had to go into

afghanistan. where it fell apart was what was the ultimate goal after we met our near term objectives. how should the president frame afghanistan for the american public and history books? >> i think the first thing that he is certain to say is to express relief that our rescue mission, real courage shown by u.s. military and other personnel in kabul the last two weeks, that that's ended. when the last plane left, terrible sense we felt of jeopardy, another attack that might kill 13 more americans, but that's over. second thing i'm sure he will say is we need to keep faith with the people of afghanistan, we have been deeply involved in our lives, women of afghanistan, people yearning for more modern life, in what ways we can, we want to keep faith with them. and finally he is going to say what presidents do, you see the anguish on his face every time

he has spoken about afghanistan, withdrawal since it went bad. he is going to say i did what i felt was right. i did what i felt the american people wanted. i felt it was time to end this war. it's over. i think we all feel this way, it is over. the last plane left, chapter in american life is ending, and now need to recover self confidence and sense of balance and move forward. >> all right. but let me ask you this one. what do you say to our allies who feel a bit snake bit. i want to quote senior diplomat, eu chief diplomat. what he told the italian newspaper. this has been above all a at that tas tropical storm florence ee for the afghan people, a failure of the western world and game changer for international relations. the eu must be able to intervene to protect when the americans don't want to be involved. what does he have to say to

reassure the europeans? >> if the europeans want to jump back into afghanistan, i would be surprised. they're pulling out of countries where they have been involved. i think the simple answer to that, chuck, is we will now depend in a special way on the intelligence sharing, security cooperation that characterizes the western alliance. we'll do that sharing intelligence i expect with countries not part of nato or western alliance. russia will be mighty worried about terrorism on its borders, the stans that border afghanistan to the north are going to be worried. we'll be exchanging a lot of information. that really in the end is america's abiding power. we are the only country that has this global intelligence capability, global counterterrorism capability. people around the world will need it, it is up to the united states and president biden to make it available, to say whatever mistakes we made getting out of afghanistan, we all need to be safe together. i think he will have responsive

ear to that because people are worried. >> probably frustrates the europeans, they can mudder and complain, end of the day they probably need us more than they want to admit. david, thank you. much appreciated. coming up, with the u.s. military gone, there won't be diplomatic presence in afghanistan. i speak with a former ambassador about what the new mission could look like and future of u.s. relations with the taliban, that's next. later, as we are in the midst of the delta variant, scientists found a new covid variant, one that can be more dangerous than delta. details are ahead. ous than delta details are ahead. (vo) this is more than glass and steel... and stone. it's awe. beauty. the measure of progress. it's where people meet people. where cultures and bonds are made between us. where we create things together. open each other's minds.

raise each other's ambitions. and do together, what we can't do apart. this is space for dreams. loopnet. the most popular place to find a space. well, would ya look at that! it was an accident. i was— speaking of accidents, we accidentally left you off the insurance policy during enrollment, and you're not covered. not even a little bit? mm-mmm. no insurance. no. when employees can't enter and manage their own benefits enrollment information, it can be a real pain.

not even— nope! with paycom, employees enter and manage their own hr data in a single, easy-to-use software. visit paycom.com and schedule a demo today. when you really need to sleep you reach for the really good stuff. new zzzquil ultra helps you sleep better and longer when you need it most. it's non habit forming and powered by the makers of nyquil. new zzzquil ultra. when you really really need to sleep. ♪ ♪ life can be a lot to handle. ♪this magic moment,♪ but there's plenty of magic in all that chaos. ♪so different and so new.♪ ♪was like any other...♪

now, u.s. military flights have ended and our troops departed afghanistan. a new chapter of america's engagement with afghanistan has

begun. it is one in which we will lead with our diplomacy. the military mission is over. a new diplomatic mission has begun. >> welcome back. that was the secretary of state, tony blinken yesterday, saying a new diplomatic mission in afghanistan is under way. at least for now that mission is not in the country, it will begin in qatar, where the u.s. moved personnel with the military withdrawal from kabul. with the taliban in control, dozens of americans reportedly left behind, what will the new diplomatic mission look like? joining me, ronald newman, u.s. ambassador to afghanistan under george w. bush. ambassador newman, appreciate you taking a few minutes with me. so we don't have a diplomatic mission in country but we have one sort of working on things out of country. reminds me, recently you could argue robert ford when he was ambassador to syria was sort of, that was kind of how we dealt with syria, outside the country. how does this work and how long

can you really have a mission that isn't in the actual country? >> well, you can have it almost indefinitely. we had no relations with china for what, 20 or 30 years after world war ii. that's a pretty big country. how will it work? there are two different models here. one is when you still have relations with the country, you're just not resident in the country. the other is when, there are three models, when the relationship is completely broken and you don't even deal with them. and the third is when you don't have formal relations but you have another country that acts, protecting power. and in that case sometimes you may have those in there, we can deliver messages to the iran government through the swiss embassy. all these have the ability, tend

to be slow and cumbersome. we've had situations like china where we had no relations at all. we also had arrangements to passage of people with countries where we didn't have relationships. so there's quite a spectrum. >> the swiss embassy in havana, it was always how the americans sent and received messages there as well. let me ask you, ambassador, it seems that we are tip toeing toward some sort of relationship with the taliban. i guess there are two ways of looking at it. we have no choice or it's worth at least seeing how far we can take this before we pull up stakes. how would you walk this line with the taliban? >> well, i think you walk it as

you do so many other things from a starting point of american interests. what is it you want to achieve. we have a batch of things we want to achieve in afghanistan. we have a lot of residual responsibility first of all to the people that worked with us, special immigrant visas, women's activists, others, who i think we have a real responsibility to. we have not discharged that responsibility. we ended the mission more quickly than i think we had to, more quickly than our nato allies wanted us to, but that's where we are. we still have that residual responsibility. we have long term things. there's the problem with narcotics in afghanistan, there's a huge question of potential instability, al qaeda is still there, islamic state is still there, i don't know, a dozen other or maybe more

independent terrorist insurgent organizations. we have an interest in instability radiating out every direction. there are plenty of things we want to work on. the question is do the taliban want to work on any of them. things there were effectively, may be things we both want to work on, there may be things where we are prepared to trade something they want like some measure of aid for some things they want. so all of this, you explore those things and then you see where you can get. then the question of whether you have official relations, how much you deal with them, this is what your interests are and when you can achieve them. >> look, getting isis-k, getting the terror network could be an interesting test between talk about something that maybe both the taliban and united states would like to see happen and see how it works. let me ask you a question i have been asking everybody involved

in some part of 20 years of afghanistan. i asked the former secretary of defense, leon panetta, john bolton, former national security adviser general mcmaster. i'll ask the same to you. what was your biggest miscalculation with afghanistan, what in hindsight did we get very long that you didn't see in the moment? >> that's interesting. there were things we wanted but didn't get like more economic aid. well, when gates took over secretary of defense and came out with general pace and general eikenberry what we needed in troops, i think we underrated what was still needed or what we were about -- when i left, i said we were not losing yet but could be in a year. i don't know that there were so

many -- a lot of things in the field where you can argue this or that was a mistake, some of them are things where the mistake is not to learn from what you're doing rather than to condemn everything was a mistake. >> sometimes there's a broad brash, it was all wrong or all right. >> that's one of the issues that everybody is talking about almost universally wrongly, that we morphed into building a modern democracy. what you had is, we had three administrations in succession trying to find how do you get enough stability to take your hands off this thing and get out. and by exaggerating what we tried to do, i don't think you're going to get a lot of

understanding for either the problem of the past or the next problem. >> well, we could discuss this for a lot more time. i think you just put your finger on something. we had a succession f administrations looking for enough stability to get out. >> by my count, we had ten policies in 20 years. >> and that's probably being generous. >> that's specific changes of policy. when you say why can't you see we couldn't get it right in 20 years, we couldn't stick to one plan for two. >> right. right. ambassador, really appreciate your time. thanks for coming on and sharing. >> thanks, my pleasure. up next, we're getting a fuller picture of destruction brought by hurricane ida.

hundreds of thousands are without power. the question is how long are they without power. live in new orleans where it could be weeks, not days for the lights to come back on. t days fe lights to come back on we did it again. verizon has been named america's most reliable network by rootmetrics. and our customers rated us #1 for network quality in america according to j.d. power. number one in reliability, 16 times in a row. most awarded for network quality, 27 times in a row.

proving once again that nobody builds networks like verizon. that's why we're building 5g right, that's why there's only one best network. are you one of the millions of americans who experience occasional bloating, gas or abdominal discomfort? taking align every day can help. align contains a quality probiotic developed by gastroenterologists. it adds more good bacteria to your gut to naturally help soothe your occasional bloating, gas and abdominal discomfort. support your digestive health with align, the #1 doctor recommended probiotic. try align today. and try new align fast acting biotic gummies. helps soothe occasional digestive upsets in as little as 7 days. andrea: you see things as a parent-- what your expectations are for your kid growing up, the milestones going to school, graduating and getting married, having kids. and cancer was never one of those milestones in my head. st. jude has given us hope, love, a home away from home. and it feels like home.

you're more than just a patient or just another family here at st. jude. - [narrator] at southern new hampshire university, we're committed to making college more accessible by making it more affordable. that's why we're keeping our tuition the same for all online and campus programs through the year 2022. - i knew snhu was the place for me when i saw how affordable it was, i ran to my husband with my computer and i said, "look, we can do this." - [narrator] take advantage of some of the lowest online tuition rates in the nation. find your degree at snhu.edu. i don't feel sick why should i cure my hepatitis c? how can i handle one more thing? you can stay on track and be cured in only 8 weeks with mavyret. you can keep your momentum with mavyret. before starting mavyret your doctor will test if you've had hepatitis b which may flare up

and cause serious liver problems during and after treatment. tell your doctor if you've had hepatitis b, a liver or kidney transplant, other liver problems, hiv-1, or other medical conditions, and all medicines you take. don't take mavyret with atazanavir or rifampin, or if you've had certain liver problems. if you've had or have serious liver problems other than hep c, there's a rare chance they may worsen. signs of serious liver problems may include yellowing of the skin, abdominal pain or swelling, confusion, and unexplained bleeding or bruising. tell your doctor if you develop symptoms of liver disease. common side effects include headache and tiredness. now, i can live life cured and feel free. 8 weeks was faster than i thought. now, it's your turn to keep your momentum with mavyret. talk to your doctor about mavyret. welcome back. the death toll has risen to four after hurricane ida battered louisiana. it is one of the strongest

hurricanes to hit with winds over 170 miles per hour. search and rescue continues today. jefferson parish president told nbc news earlier today, her community is simply broke. >> we're just a broken community now. we don't have any electricity in the parish, communication is down, sometimes you can't get through. none of the grocery stores are open, nothing is open. >> and emergency teams are only just beginning to assess damage in remote areas of the state. as you can see in this aerial footage, buildings were destroyed. after grim expectations yesterday, so far officials have yet to report deaths on the island. in new orleans itself, energy company entergy reported that all eight transformer lines that ply the city's power were knocked out in the storm and have yet to be restored. it caused over 800,000 outages. ellison barber is on the ground

in new orleans and has the latest. ellison, this is, obviously, one backup system never worked, natural gas power plant. how much of this is just the storm was too powerful and how much are people wondering whether entergy wasn't prepared enough for the storm? >> reporter: you know, honestly, the question most people we have spoken to now, what they have is how are they going to get help, how quickly can they get it. we are at a distribution site setting up charging stations, bringing food and water. i want to show you real life impact. when power is out, it is not just uncomfortable and hot, this is three days without power. they're running out of food. even if grocery stores and restaurants were open, many don't have cash on no way to get cash. atms are down. banks not open. people are lined up. everyone in these cars are

waiting for help. it goes around the block, around the block again, around the block again. you can look here, you see people waiting on this side. literally more cars over there. everyone waiting for some assistance, assistance they have not set up. one tent is all that's set up here so far. entergy is out doing damage assessments to try to get a sense how long it will take to restore power. they also said damage assessments could take up to three days. then they can give customers a better time frame when they'll have power back on. one person we spoke to, her father is on dialysis. she's worried about getting across the river to get him assistance. she's running low on gas, she's leaving him outside the house instead of inside. questions they're asking is when will people help us.

they have no way to figure out where there's help because people's phones are dead. one person said it was through word of mouth in the neighborhood. they came as quickly as they could to wait and hope for help. chuck? >> ellison barber with a grim picture of the current situation now in louisiana. i will have more on this in a minute. ellison, thank you. by the way, i speak with a fema official about ongoing recovery efforts, state of the power grid, how they're prepared to help residents that could be powerless for weeks. we'll be right back. powerless for weeks. we'll be right back. gillette proglide. five blades and a pivoting flexball designed to get virtually every hair on the first stroke. so you're ready for the day with a fresh face for a fresh start. for a limited time get a 5th cartridge free. ♪ ayy, ayy, ayy ♪ ♪ yeah, we fancy like applebee's on a date night ♪ ♪ got that bourbon street steak with the oreo shake ♪ ♪ get some whipped cream on the top too ♪ ♪ two straws, one check, girl, i got you ♪

♪ bougie like natty in the styrofoam ♪ ♪ squeak-squeakin' in the truck bed all the way home ♪ ♪ some alabama-jamma, she my dixieland delight ♪ ♪ ayy, that's how we do, ♪ ♪ how we do, fancy like, oh ♪ this isn't just a walk up the stairs. when you have an irregular heartbeat, it's more. it's dignity. the freedom to go where you want, knowing your doctor can watch over your heart. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

as someone who resembles someone else... ♪♪ i appreciate that liberty mutual knows everyone's unique. that's why they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. [ nautical horn blows ] i mean just because you look like someone else doesn't mean you eat off the floor, or yell at the vacuum, or need flea medication. oh, yeah. that's the spot. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪

welcome back. moment ago, louisiana governor john bel edwards gave an update. the governor evacuated residents to continue to stay away. widespread power outages could continue for days or weeks. in dallas, houston, st. louis,

atlanta, you could be there awhile. new aerial footage shows the extent of the damage from the category four storm. houses were destroyed, trees uprooted, power lines down. teams have been deployed to help with search and rescue as well as long term recovery efforts. joint by the assistant administrator that helps run the response efforts. currently working on the efforts in louisiana. let me start with the issue of power and our friends at entergy. we heard that it may be three days that they have to make assessment, which then sounds to me like three days before they start to work on repairs. what is the situation, is there any way to speed it up? >> first, thanks for having me to talk about our coordination here for louisiana for the impacts from hurricane ida. as you pointed out, power is a critical issue. it will be critical for the response efforts overall.

it is going to be a challenge. a category four storm, stayed a category four significant time as it moved inland. there's damage to transmission lines and to distribution. the main transmission lines as you pointed out in new orleans are down. it is a complicated situation. we are well sinked up, ensuring whatever support we provide through the restoration we'll do so. the other important part is while power is out, we are working hard to bring in generators with partners at the army core of engineers for critical facilities, hospitals, water treatment plans, so they continue to operate while the restoration effort continues. >> want to ask about the levees. we know they held in new orleans, that's good news, water did go over the top of some in la place and jefferson parish.

is there anything in hindsight, was there not enough focus on other places, too much focus on new orleans or this is just what happens? >> well, there will be time for questions at some point. today we are focused on life-saving efforts, it is an active and fluid situation. as i heard earlier in reporting, it is not necessarily safe for survivors to come back to the area at this point. we are focused on ensuring that folks stay safe, that they have food and water and supplies needed and there will be time for damage assessments and other assessments at a later point. >> you heard the other report from ellison barber. people have power issues, they've got cash issues, they're looking for money, the atms aren't working. how quickly is fema able to start handing out some checks, some supplies in some places? >> well, first off, say the

president did declare major disaster declaration. individual assistance is available. those that are displaced can register with fema for assistance. go to disaster assistance.gov or the fema mobile app. we also recognize that folks don't have power. don't have communication. we'll have folks, staff on the ground, going door to door to identify where there are needs, ensuring survivors have a chance to register for assistance. in addition, working closely with partners at the state and local level for points of distribution where individuals can go, get food and water, understand, communicate what their needs are, find assistance. >> and finally, there are places that right now you get drone footage, having trouble getting people there, talking about

grand isle and other island areas of louisiana. how soon can you get people out there and how extensive is the damage you have been able to survey? >> yeah, it is pretty extensive. as you mentioned, those areas on the southern coast, lower portion of the parishes got the direct hit from a category four storm, very strong storm. folks are working their way out there, state and local folks have lead on search and rescue. we have over ten search and rescue teams in the area helping with that, with those efforts. we expect damage to be significant. it will be a long road to recovery. it will be a long process. we'll be with folks the whole time. today, our focus is on life-saving and sustaining efforts. making sure everyone is safe and stays safe. >> how soon before we get a more accurate picture of the power situation, is that going to take the rest of the week or do you think by end of the week you can

give some reasonable forecast for when lights come on? >> i think the state of louisiana and energy company has the lead on that. we're going to stay with them. each day we'll get more clarity what it looks like. we know it will be a long process. even as progress is made, there will be pockets of areas that may take longer. it will take patience. we'll stay synched up and make sure the supplies and commodities and support they need while the power is out is available to them. >> keith turi, assistant administrator of fema. thanks for coming on. >> thank you. >> letting us know what you're up to. appreciate it. up ahead, we turn to the coronavirus surge that shows no sign of letting up. the fear of what's to come with the new variant. 's to come with the new variant. es, it's important to have confidence in the nutritional drink you choose. try boost glucose control. it's clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels

and contains high quality protein to help manage hunger and support muscle health. try boost today.

growing up in a little red house, on the edge of a forest in norway, there were three things my family encouraged: kindness, honesty and hard work.

over time, i've come to add a fourth: be curious. be curious about the world around us, and then go. go with an open heart, and you will find inspiration anew. viking. exploring the world in comfort. open talenti and raise the jar. to gelato made from scratch. raise the jar to all five layers. raise the jar to the best gelato... you've ever tasted. talenti. raise the jar.

welcome back. the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage and, yes, mutate. south african researchers have identified a new variant that's been identified in at least seven countries. more than 100,000 patients are hospitalized with covid. deaths are increasing in every

single state. we haven't had a streak like that since mid march. all of these key metrics, cases, deaths and hospitalizations are dramatically worse than they were on this day one year ago despite the fact that we now have safe and effective vaccines. joining me is the director of the university of minnesota center for infectious disease research and policy. i want to start with the news of this new variant. every variant obviously a concern for epidemiologists like yourself. how concerned are you about it? >> we have a number of variants that come forward literally by the month just because of the mutations occurring with this virus around the world. occasionally some of them become variants of concern, which the one from south africa is.

everything i see supports the fact that delta is the number one variant on the block and will stay that way. it is highly infectious. while we're watching closely south africa, i had to suggest like real estate, location, location, location, this pandemic is about delta, delta, delta. >> i'm curious how we should take this. if you look at our case counts, it looks like we're beginning to plateau. are we? or are we starting to reach peaks? >> we are definitely hitting a plateau in the southern states up through arkansas that were hit so hard over the past six weeks. they only make up about 12.5% of the u.s. population.

while those case numbers are surely important in how the surge got to where it's at, we're beginning to see regional activity in the southeast, georgia, north carolina, south carolina, kentucky, illinois, tennessee, indiana, wyoming, oregon, washington, idaho and wisconsin and iowa to michigan. are they all going to continue to see the increases they've seen while the southern areas go down? the number of cases could continue to rise for some time. what happens after we hit this peak and come down? if we follow the scenario of what's happened in the united kingdom, they started out at 1,000 to 2,000 cases reported,

and now today we're at about 32,000 cases a day. will the surge drop as quickly and as deep as it was when it first started or will we see somewhere in between which is a possibility? >> any correlation with the opening of school? is this a coincidence of timing or a direct correlation? >> clearly the pandemic cases in much of the united states in terms of schools in the southern states did coincide with the increase in cases there, but i can't say it was from schools that were responsible for this big increase. if you look at the northern states, many haven't even started school yet. schools are going to be a very important part of this pandemic . we in public health have done a

disservice to the education community because we've continued to put out documents saying we can do school safe. this virus is a very different virus than the one we dealt with a year ago when many of those studies were done that are now being used were done in a time when delta didn't exist. delta is a very different virus. it is transmitted very readily. as you're seeing in the southern states right now, they are in many instances back to distance learning because of the large number of cases in their schools. that could surely have another impact on the surge that we just talked for how long it lasts and how bad it might get. >> i have this recurring fear that we're going to look back and wonder why we didn't at least delay the start of school two weeks maybe. i get we didn't want to go to remote school, but i wonder

that. last question has to do with the third shot for the vaccine. we know president biden met with the prime minister of israel and he's thinking, hey, let's do five months rather than eight months. that's because of the research we've seen out of israel. where do you expect fda and cdc to come down on this third shot? >> let me tell you where i'm at on it. we've painted that third shot as a booster dose, meaning it was an add-on as just an additional comfort level for us. we have to understand that when we put these vaccines together as quickly as we did, we did it with the idea of getting results as quickly as we could so we could save millions of lives. at this point i would say we are going to need three shots and it's going to be the prime series, whether it's five or

eight months for the third dose, it's going to occur not just as a booster but as part of the series. >> thank you all for being with us this hour. we'll be back tomorrow. in the next hour we expect to hear from president biden again marking the end of the 20-year war in afghanistan. e end of ther war in afghanistan this is how you become the best! [music: “you're the best” by joe esposito] [music: “you're the best” by joe esposito] [triumphantly yells] [ding] don't get mad. get e*trade and take charge of your finances today. dayquil severe for you...

don't get mad. and daily vicks super c for me. introducing new vicks super c and dayquil severe convenience pack. vicks super c is a daily supplement to help energize and replenish your body with vitamin c and b vitamins. dayquil severe is a max strength medicine for cold and flu relief. someone is feeling better. get your shoes. alright! try the new vicks convenience pack. there were letters, calls, bills, i didn't know where to start. i submitted an application and within two days had $30,000 in my account. we built this house behind us with a sofi personal loan for $100,000 our most important sofi loan was actually to pay for this guy here. through my experience with sofi, it's lifted kind of that shame of debt. and it's lifted the debt, which has also helped immensely. ♪ ♪ hi, i'm debra. and i'm from colorado.bt, which has also helped immensely.

i've been married to my high school sweetheart for 35 years. i'm a mother of four-- always busy. i was starting to feel a little foggy. just didn't feel like things were as sharp as i knew they once were. i heard about prevagen and then i started taking it about two years now. started noticing things a little sharper, a little clearer. i feel like it's kept me on my game. i'm able to remember things. i'd say give it a try. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

it is good to be with you. i'm jeff bennett. we are awaiting an address to the nation from president biden about the end of the war in afghanistan and what comes next. and this isn't just any other speech. what we're about to hear will be replayed and scrutinized for years to come. it's a marker in