cnn's kylie atwood joins us now. ls, but we know how many are still left behind and still in danger? >> reporter: well, alisyn, this is a small sliver of the larger number of afghan interpreters who have applied for these special immigrant visas to the united states. we saw about 200 of them and their families on buses today, heading into ft. lee, which is right behind me here in virginia. they're going to go through some additional screenings here to get their medical clearance. that's essentially the final thing that these folks need to do before they can then be relocated here in the united states. now, the other folks, many of them are in their earlier stages of the process to get their visas. there are about 20,000 who have applied in total. about half of those are in the early stages. the scary thing is it usually takes the united states a couple of years to process these visas. and the state department has tried to surge resources to put into this, to get some of these afghans out more quickly. but we still don

cnn's kylie atwood has more. >> if i don't go out of afghanistan, i'm counting down my end of life. >in afghanistan, the situation grows more deadly for afghan interpreters, who are trying to flee the country after working alongside u.s. troops and diplomats. three interpreters who have applied for special immigrant visas to the united states or sivs, spoke to cnn and described how urgently they must get out of the country. after years of putting their lives on the line, the taliban are hunting them down. >> i need to get out of the country. they are looking after us. >> our future will be dark. they're going to cut our heads, too. >> reporter: he's referring to a recent record of the taliban beheading afghans. they fear for their families as well as themselves. cnn is concealing their identities to keep them safe. one of them is particularly concerned about what will happen to his daughters if the taliban take over. >> they will destroy the schools and prevent my girls to go to school. >> reporter: all three men we spoke with had faced terrifying threats, one of them explained what h

kylie atwood, cnn, new york. >>> fire crews are battling an uphill battle against a massive wildfiren the u.s., and they say that work is not for the faint of heart. >> is there any fear or adrenaline kicks in? >> adrenaline, sure, yeah. if you have fear of this, this isn't the job for you. >> next up, we'll take you to the fire lines and see the dangerous phenomenon that makes their job even harder. we'll be right back. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. tony here from creditrepair.com taking to the streets to talk about credit. can you repair your credit yourself? yes. -great. how? uhhh... how long does credit repair take? i don't know, like 10 years. what? are you insane? what's a good credit score? go. 600. maybe if you're trying to pay thousands extra in interest rates. cut the confusion, get started with a free credit evaluation at creditrepair.com. do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy, even a term policy, for a

. >> so, cnn's kylie atwood who covers the state for us joins us now. i mean, you just heard what biden is saying about the cyberattacks possibly leading to a kinetic war about the russians interfering in the u.s. election 2022. so why have this meeting? >> well, i think the administration is looking at the relationship with russia in buckets. and the nuclear buildup is one where both russia and the u.s. see it as in their interest to sit down and talk. and that's frankly because the other side is doing something that they don't like or they feel intimidated by. so there's a reason that they want to sit at the table. so, on the russian side, they are building up their military in the arctic, they also are working on an unmanned torpedo armed by a nuclear reactor. that's something that the u.s. is looking really closely at. we have no way of knowing their eff -- we have no way of controlling their efforts on that front. both sides are seeing what the other is doing, seeing that they don't have controls in space. they want to sit down and talk about it. t

cnn's kylie atwood joins us now live from the state department. >> reporter: these intelligence assessments increasingly bleak picture of afghanistan as the proud boys continues to make these gains potentially creating a situation where there could be threats to the outer edges of kabul and also to the greater country as a whole. now, we are told that there is no imminent threat to a taliban takeover of kabul itself of that city center of up to 6 million people who live there. but this is a quickly evolving situation, and folks are watching what the proud boys does next. >> on this topic, kylie, former president bush issued a rare public criticism of a fellow president, joe biden. take a listen to his response this week when he was asked if he thinks the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan is a mistake. >> i think it is, yeah. because i think the consequences are going to be unbelievably bad. and i'm sad. i spent -- laura and i spend a lot of time with afghan women, and they're scared. i think about all the interpreters and people that helped, not only u.s. troops but nato troops and it seems

kylie atwood reports. >> i'm counting down my end of life. >> reporter: every day that the taliban controlghanistan, the situation grows more deadly for afghan interpreters who are trying to flee the country after working alongside u.s. troops and diplomats. three interpreters who have applied for special immigrant visas to the u.s. spoke to cnn and described just how urgently they must get out of the country. because after years of putting their lives on the line, next to u.s. soldiers, the taliban are hunting them down. >> we're leaving the country. or our future will be dark, they will cut our head. >> reporter: he is referring to a recent report of a taliban beheading afghans who worked alongside u.s. troops. these afghans fear for their families as well as themselves. and cnn is concealing their identities to keep them safe. one of them, niab, is particularly concerned about what will happen to his daughters if the taliban take over. >> they will destroy the schools and prevent the girls to go to school. >> reporter: all three men we spoke with had faced terrifying threats. one of the

kylie atwood, cnn, ft. lee. >>> well, u.s.en is imposing new sanctions on cuba in response to the cuba government's protests. patrick oppmann has more. president biden after meeting with the cuban-american community announced new sanctions on the cuban government putting the national revolutionary police and some of their leadership on the u.s. sanctions list. it's unclear how much of an impact this will really have. because like previous sanctions issued by the biden administration, unless these individuals travel to the united states or have access to the united states, which is not believed that they do, it really is more of a symbolic gesture. all the same the biden administration putting cuban police force which led the crackdown on notice saying they will continue to look at cuban ascension and how to provide the cuban people with an internet that cannot be blocked, cannot be taken down at the first sign of protest. tellingly on friday, as well, despite the widespread international outcry over the harsh crackdown on prot

kylie atwood is at the state department for us. why are the chinese so upset?was very precise in raising u.s. concerns about things that china has done in these meetings. that's something that the biden administration has clearly said they are going to do in public and in private raise these concerns. now, according to the state department readout, there were some specific topics that she mentioned. on human rights, the ongoing genocide in china. so, clearly, these things that the biden administration is bringing up in these meetings are getting under china's skin even before wendy sherman finished her meetings in china, the chinese foreign ministry was coming out and saying that there appears to be a whole of government, whole of society approach to bring down china. so they are clearly very concerned. now, the biden administration is saying that their approach to china is multipronged. they think that they can come down on them, that they can voice concerns alongside allies over things that china is doing, and then they can simultaneously work with china on a

>> all right, kylie atwood, thanks so much. joining us now to discuss is matt zeller.is in charge of a nonprofit helping set up the lives of these afghanis. and he was given rare access to film, a new documentary he's working on. you were shooting this video earlier today as these families arrived at fort lee. what was it like? show us what we're seeing and what this was like for you. >> sure. what you should be seeing is the first families that came out of a special area of customs to where the united states army had set up some buses to move them to fort lee. i was joined by a gentleman who had not seen his mom, his dad, or his two sisters in 11 years, and he's part of the film that we were making and we were there to try and capture their hopeful first reunion, at least their first glimpses of one another. we had no idea if we'd even see it. somebody who's been working on this for almost now a decade, it felt like seeing a promise kept. this is the best part of doing this work is seeing these people arrive here. but the reality, jake, is that it only represents 0.3%

kylie atwood has details. how long is the wait? >> up to 18 weeks. americans are going to have to wait to get new passports or to renew their existing passports so they have travel abroad. this backlog is upwards of 1 million passports. that is because americans are getting vaccinated and wanting to travel abroad. the state department, which is the entity that processes and goes through and actually gives those passports to the american people, is facing this backlog. they are surging folks who are working on this. there are about 150 people they are adding to this process. but the bottom line is there are these tdelays. 12 weeks is the expedited time that costs $60. but 12 weeks is three months. there are also a lot of scams happening around renewing and getting new passports. that's something the state department is warning folks about. if you go and apply for a new passport, you don't have to actually pay for your appointment, but there are a lot of online folks who are saying that they are going to provide these expedited appointments. those are

. >>> and i'm kylie atwood.inistration is going to maintain existing travel restrictions pointing to the fact that the delta variant is spreading globally and here in the united states. and these existing travel restrictions mean that those who are in the eu, in the uk, in china, and other countries on the prohibited cdc list cannot visit the united states unless they go to one of the countries not on that list for 14 days or unless they are a u.s. citizen. now, this comes as there have been growing concerns, frustrations in europe because a lot of those countries have opened up to american travelers. >> thanks to all our koe corespondents. >>> in a few hours, the house committee will hold the first hearing in the capitol riot, after trump supporters stormed the capitol hoping to stop the certification of the presidential election. sense then, there has been so much political gamesmanship. the hearing today will focus on four officers who were on the front lines that day. here they are in their own words. >> abs

kylie atwood at the state department but let's start with jez jessica in santo domingo.otests this time? >> reporter: that's right? that's what we are used to seeing from haiti did you recollect turmoil. we are talking about a nation that's been under a crisis for quite a long time. right now what we believe is that people are in a state of shock. unexpected. the assassination of president moise around 1:00 in the morning korngt prime minister claude joseph. very unexpected. first lady was may tally injured or injured and is being transported to miami to receive treatment. right outside this embassy here the haitian embassy we spoke to the ambassador. you can see that flag is at half staff. the shock is still -- people are still coming to terms with what happened at the beginning of the morning hours, the wee hours of wednesday. the ambassador smith augustine spoke how this violated the democracy of the state and more information on thing on investigation to the assassination of society moise. >> what is the haitian ambassador to the u.s. saying? >> he told reporter this

. >> kylie atwood is live for us in ft. lee, virginia. are we expecting? >> reporter: yeah, this is the first group of a began interpreters who have applied for visas here to the united states who will be arriving here in ft. lee [today. about 200 and their families are coming here. and president biden said that this is an important milestone as the u.s. works to fulfill their promise to these interpreters who worked shoulder to shoulder with u.s. troops and u.s. kdiplomats. there are some 20,000 interpreters who have applied for these special immigrant visas. so these 200 folks coming here today, they are just one small group in that. and the reason that many of them need to leave afghanistan is because of the threat posed by the taliban. some of them facing death threats. some have been killed in recent days because of their work alongside u.s. troops. and now some are coming here as i said, there are two other locations that they are going to, they will be going to u.s. facilities abroad and also third countries as they wait for their

kylie atwood joins me from the ft. lee army base.reat to see and so important to see because these are people who served side-by-side helping u.s. troops on the ground. >> reporter: that is exactly right. these are folks who u.s. troops and u.s. diplomats say were required to do their jobs on the ground in afghanistan. they couldn't have done it without them. so it is really welcome news that they have arrived here in the united states today. and here at ft. lee they'll be here for about a week. these are a small group of the large total as you said, poppy. and what they're doing here is just going through a number of screenings to secure their medical clearance in order to finally get their special immigrant visa and the opportunity to get the covid-19 vaccine and given the opportunity before they left kabul. but the back drop is that this has been and will be a long and arduous process, both for the united states government as they try to figure out where else to locate the rest of the afghans who worked alongside the united states

kylie atwood here with more. this is a remarkable number of people, right.just talking considered relatively safe from this kind of thing, vienna. >> exactly. you talk to u.s. diplomats who are just hearing about the reported potential incidents through the press and they're concerned about where they can safely serve. so this new news demonstrates that the alleged attacks weren't just happening in one concentrated group in havana, cuba, but also now this other group of u.s. diplomats and intelligence officials an other government u.s. officials in vienna who have already apparently been attacked. they're similar to those that came under the havana attack and i want to remind those what the symptoms are. we don't know what is causing this but these are folks coming down with extreme nausea, they have vertigo after never having vertigo their whole life and t they have some trouble remembering things and some experienced traumatic brain injury. and so this is serious. and with the new cases about two dozen as we said, is that the biden administration has said

kylie atwood joins us now. do we know what is next after her meeting with the u.s.he left the state department yesterday she told my colleague jennifer hansler that the meeting with tony blinken was warm and friendly and they also discussed actions in the nearest future regarding belarus. so that indicates, yes, there were tangible further actions that the united states could take with regard to belarus that were discussed. we don't know the precise nature of any commitments or any promises made. but she is here in washington and she's seeing a number of folks. she's up on capitol hill this week and also visiting the white house. she'll be seeing national security adviser jake sullivan and there are some questions about if she would see president biden, the white house has not committed to that. and she was asked about that yesterday also. would it be something that she would want, to see the president and she said of course it would be. but ultimately she is essentially extremely happy that she's been able to see such a number of senior officials in the biden admin

cnn's kylie atwood is live at ft. lee in virginia. what are you learning about their arrival?tched this morning as about a dozen buses pulled into the gates behind me marked with the words welcome to ft. lee. these are afghan interpreters who worked side-by-side with u.s. diplomats and u.s. soldiers in afghanistan. they put their lives on the line to do that. they are leaving their lives in afghanistan. they are leaving a country where the future is frankly uncertain. there are concerns about a civil war and taliban offenses in that country are surging. they are particularly threatening folks just like those who arrived here in the united states today. because they worked alongside the u.s. over the last 20 years. now president biden welcomed these folks who got here today. he said this is the first of this effort. there are still a lot of work to be done and he had one message for them. welcome home. but there are still some 20,000 afghans who applied for visas and we're waiting to see what the entire process will look like for them as they try to get out of the country and f

and the soviet union during the cold war and kylie atwood is with us now to talk about her brand new is this one for? >> well, i think it's same idea, generally speaking, right? we have seen the chinese military be more aggressive in recent years. this has caught u.s. officials and chinese experts kind of in their back feet right now. there isn't a way to get into direct contact immediately with the top levels of the chinese government in the same way that we have that capability between the u.s. and russia. as you said, that was established during the cold war. so what the biden administration officials are doing right now is examining this possibility. it's in the early stages. and the reason for that is because this has been discussed for years. the discussions date back to the obama administration, but this idea wasn't really formalized until it was put into a national security memo during the trump administration in the final year. and that's what launched u.s. officials to start looking at the technicalities here. could this actually happen? now, my understanding is that the bi

cnn's kylie atwood reports. >> reporter: with just weeks away from a full withdrawal from afghanistaniban making massive gains across the region, the man most responsible for first sending in u.s. troops back in 2001 is now sounding the alarm about pulling out. >> i'm afraid afghan women and girls are going to suffer unspeakable harm. >> reporter: a fear shared by many women and girls being left behind. >> we are going to lose our voices, and we will have no place. >> reporter: a recent u.s. intelligence report finds afghan women's rights would be at risk after coalition withdrawal and that the taliban still had a restrictive approach to women's rights and would roll back much of the last two decades' progress if the group regained national power. >> the overall picture is deeply alarming for women and girls. >> reporter: experts say the taliban is already quickly restricting women's rights in the regions they have taken over, banning women from leaving home without a male escort, rounding up unmarried girls and widows to force them into marriage. even restricting their access to basi

kylie atwood, cnn, washington. >>> and the mask debate is intensifying in florida as the state becomes a hot spot for new covid cases. coming up, the tirdire message e parent. >>> and encommand maengland mak a change in rules to entice tourists to come back. >> and i'll bring you the latest on easing travel restrictions from the eu and u.s. to the uk. i used to pre-rinse because mom did. but i wasted up to 20 gallons of water every time. now, we just scrape and load. finish quantum works without pre-rinsing, cleaning your dishes to a shine. join the millions of americans skipping the rinse to save our water. overwhelmed by the ups and downs of frequent mood swings of bipolar i? ask about vraylar. some medicines only treat the lows or highs. vraylar effectively treats depression, acute manic or mixed episodes of bipolar i in adults. full-spectrum relief for all bipolar i symptoms with just one pill, once a day. elderly patients with dementia-related psychosis have an increased risk of death or stroke. call your doctor about unusual changes in behavior or suicidal thoughts. antidepressan

kylie atwood is here in washington with the latest developments.onstrates that these mysterious attacks we have heard about that started initially in 2016 on u.s. diplomats who were living in cuba are actually continuing and not only just continuing around the world but there's this new cluster of cases we're learning about. as you said, about two dozen u.s. diplomats, u.s. intelligence officials and other government officials in vienna reported they are experiencing symptoms similar to this havana incident. what those symptoms are disneyness, nausea, sudden vertigo and sometimes this piercing noise they're hearing in their ears. and so, the state department says that they are looking into this. i want to read you what they actually said to us about this incident, saying, quote, in coordination with our partners across the u.s. government, we're vigorously investigating reports of possible unexplained health incidents among u.s. embassy vienna community or wherever they are reported. now, there's still questions, though, right? the state department

kylie atwood has more on this story. okay. what is the issue here that he's having? >> okay.ece of russia policy. nordstream 2. he and many others say this is going to harm countries in the region, like ukraine. but the biden administration has already made their policy decision on this front. so, essentially he is fighting over something that is no end in sight, right? this is a fruitless endeavor a lot of folks on the hill said to me. we should note, both republicans and democrats are frustrated by this. and what this is doing is just demonstrating how hyperpartisan the nomination process has become. traditionally it was sort of a pro forma folks got their vote. they had their hearing. that was done. we move on and we debate other things. but what this is doing is really creating a very tense dynamic on the senate foreign relations committee. i want to show you what has erupted in some of these business meetings between senator cruz and the leading democrat on the committee. >> maybe it's your presidential aspirations i don't know but you're turning political purposes you h

and soviet union during the cold war, this is kylie atwood's new reporting.rypted hotline between the u.s. and china. this is in early stages, these discussions. this idea has actually been mentioned by officials dating back to the obama administration, and some informal conversations with chinese officials. but it wasn't actually formalized until this idea was put into a classified flainto a national trump document. they are looking into the possibility and how they could technically do it. sources tell me if they were to integrate this possibility, they would actually do it as part of a grander effort to reduce tensions, to reduce the possibility of conflict between the u.s. and china. now, the key here also is that china would have to buy into this, and there have been tremendous number of troubles getting in touch with chinese officials over the last two years on a number of issues. that's because china is really top down. but what this tool would do is allow president biden if it was set up to exsend encrypted and immediate messages to president xi. this