thousands of afghan refugees arriving at ramstein air force base in germany. leaving their lives behind. our will reeve is there. >>> news on the pandemic. pediatric hospitalizations skyrocketing. the new alarming record from the deadly summer covid surge. more than 300 children admitted on average every day. >>> and the raging wildfire threatening lake tahoe. the new critical stage in the battle against the flames. >>> good evening. thanks for joining us on this very busy saturday. i'm whit johnson. several major stories as we come on the air. president biden warning that the situation for american forces in afghanistan is extremely dangerous, as we learn more about the u.s. drone strike against isis-k terrorists. team coverage still ahead, but we begin tonight here at home with the urgent evacuations in louisiana. hurricane ida expected to come ashore tomorrow 16 years to the day after hurricane katrina. millions in the danger zone. crowds packing the new orleans airport, and massive traffic jams on the roads. people heeding warnings to get to higher ground.

atika shubert near ramstein air base in germany.nks so much. >>> to find out how you can help afghan refugees, go to cnn.com/impact for assistance. >>> hurricane henri is barreling toward the northeastern u.s. right now with landfall expected in the coming hours. more details on what to expect and how many people could be impacted. please, stick with us. did you know prilosec otc can stop frequent heartburn before it begins? heartburn happens when stomach acid refluxes into the esophagus. prilosec otc uses a unique delayed-release formula that helps it pass through the tough stomach acid. it then works to turn down acid production, blocking heartburn at the source. with just one pill a day, you get 24-hour heartburn protection. prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. 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 ma

flights from doha to ram sign -- ramstein? wide not straight from kabul to ramstein. price: my understanding is it's about fuel efficiency. >> [indiscernible] these countries americans and others will transit through, are they transferred from kabul or from doha? price: in most cases, they will transfer it through a country like cutter bahrain, a -- qatar or bahrain come for efficiency of fuel. from those locations, if they are american citizens, there will be charter options, commercial options, some of you may have seen some state department charters have already arrived in the united states over the past hours. that will continue. >> the president said it was because they didn't have enough people to process the arriving evacuees. do you have enough to process those were coming in? price: this is a complex operation, the likes of which is often attempted. it involves the department of homeland security, department state, department of defense. it is a matter of transporting people from kabul to doha, a matter of having facilities like the one in doha, like the one

now safe at the ramstein u.s.gest outside of the united states, soon capable of taking in up to 7,500 people from this unprecedented airlift explains 521st air mobility wing commander williams. >> it is enormous, huge humanitarian mission. we've gone from 75 passengers on board all the way up to 400. >> reporter: that's a c-17 globe master and these are the flights that have been coming in and out of ramstein air base bringing passengers. one just landed. what happens is, passengers disembark, they're brought here by bus, and the first person they meet is a uso imam. they're given a welcome to germany, to the ramstein air base, then they proceed through medical checks as well as security checks. then they're brought to a holding area where their i.d.s are checked. finally, they'll be able to get to their temporary living quarters here on the base. this is an all hands on deck effort between the u.s. air force, army, as well as more than 1,500 civilian volunteers, including the red cross. but safety and security is

hangar 5 at ramstein air base has become the gateway to a new life for thousands of afghan evacuees.ry airplane hangar has essentially become an international airport terminal and we're standing in what would be the check-in area. and the goal is to get as many evacuees as possible on to those commercial planes to the united states. many are happy to be leaving, but also fearful for family left behind. this man checks in for his flight with his sister and father. >> they remain in there, four sister and two brother. i come here with my one sister. yeah, it is very hard to feel this honestly. >> reporter: while the military has handled the evacuation from kabul, it is the state department and homeland security that are responsible for getting advaevacuees to the u.s. >> the military brings them in, and they stay here for a short period of time, and then we bring them out so that they can go back to the united states. it has been slow moving but now we're getting into a process. flights are leaving. >> reporter: volunteers pack toys, coloring books and snacks in to backpacks for the ki

and arranged in ramstein. if i can get any more details, i certainly will. one last patient i've heard there is a bit of oppertunity now for seeking parssi and speakers for keith player for the key point to be one of the expansion. i don't have any announcements on future possible installations that might might be of use. we will do this in a rolling fashion as if and when we decide we need additional installations, we'll let you guys know as soon as we possibly can. john has the us started preparations to leave in order to leave by august 31st. when does the us military have to begin making those press? when does that decision have to be made? so i'm not going to get into a specific tick tock here. just as when we were talking about the retro grayed out of afghanistan writ large for the military, we were very careful about the details. we provided the threat environment is very real around the airport. so i am going to be equally as judicious about the kind of information that we but roughly speaking, you nee

the first flights landed in ramstein. bahrain has agreed to host and has been playing host to some of those we have transferred from afghanistan. you'll see in a statement from the secretary i would expect later today, a broader universe of countries that have agreed to host either at-risk afghans, be american citizens or third country nationals. >> we're now almost a week into this evacuation effort. as of today, there's one country that is definitively accepting these evacuation flights. what does that say about your process behind this? >> that's not accurate. there's one country where at-risk afghans have been going. we have been at this for some time now. since the security situation in kabul began to deteriorate. among those, we have evacuated in the past week or so have included members of our embassy team, american direct hire employees -- >> at-risk afghans are the majority of the people we're talking about here. if you had one country that up until this date has agreed to accepted the afghans, what happened? >>

now, safe at the ramstein u.s.ny, one of the biggest outside of the united states. soon, capable of taking in up to 7,500 people from this unprecedented airlift, explains 521st air mobility operations wing commander colonel adrian williams. >> it's enormous because it is such a huge humanitarian mission but i can tell you on each of those c-17s, we have gone from 75 passengers onboard all the way up to 400. >> reporter: so as you can see behind me there, that's a c-17 globe master. and these are the flights that have been coming in and out of ramstein air base bringing passengers. one just landed. and what happens is passengers disembark. they're brought here by bus, and the first person they meet is a uso imam. they are given a welcome to germany, to the ramstein air base, and then they proceed through medical checks, as well as security checks. then, they are brought to a holding area, where their i.d.s are checked. then finally, they will be able to get to their temporary living quarters here on the base. >> rep

kim. >> thank you so much, atika shubert at ramstein air base. appreciate it.going to c cnn.com/impact. >>> the man convicted of assassinating rfk could soon be a free man. as the kennedy support the release of their father's killer. stay with us. with skin-strengthening nutrients and moisturizers... ...that help rebuild your skin with every shower. before treating your chronic migraine, 15 or more headache days a month each lasting 4 hours or more, you're not the only one with questions about botox®. botox® prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine before they even start, with about 10 minutes of treatment once every 3 months. so, ask your doctor if botox® is right for you, and if a sample is available. effects of botox® may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away, as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be signs of a life-threatening condition. side effects may include allergic reactions, neck and injection site pain, fatigue, and headache. don't receive

air base in ramstein, germany where afghan refuge hbe first step in starting a new life. will reeve is there giving us an inside look at the base. will, good morning. >> reporter: janai, good morning. over 20,000 afghan evacuees have come through here at ramstein air base, and yesterday we got a tour of the base and an inside look at this extraordinary mission. this morning, a daring rescue mission under way as thousands of afghans arrive at this air force base in germany. ramstein air base, a critical transfer point in one of the largest u.s. air lifts in history. since the mission began, over 111,000 people have been evacuated from afghanistan, including 5,400 americans. this man fled kabul alone in a harrowing journey. >> they attack everybody with the sticks, with guns, with everything that they had on their hands. especially mine, they hit me also they had a gunfire that there was a spot on my hands. >> is that from a bullet? >> yeah, yeah, this is a bullet. >> reporter: distraught families making the impossible decision to flee the place they once called home. >> we

joining me now from ramstein air base in germany is our nbc news correspondent. days now. matt, i know flights carrying afghan and u.s. evacuees have been landing there at ramstein for a couple of days here. set the scene for us. what is the latest that you've been able to observe. >> this is one of several bottle necks in this entire process. it's a logistical nightmare. lots of people are staying here and they have to get processed in ways they're not normally processed like they are in qatar which is between kabul and here in germany. what we're hearing and give you a sense of that bottle neck, aaron, we're hearing about 36 to 39 flights so far the last couple of days have landed here at ramstein air base. that's only a couple miles from where i'm standing right now. only four have taken off and gone on to the united states or other third country locations. they're all being held up by bureaucracy. even though some of them are u.s. passport holders or green card holders, they're not able to just move on to their next destination. so we were able to walk around

ramstein air bass is one of the biggest outside of america, and it's filling up fast.is hoping to get 5,000 to 9,000 people out of the afghanistan a day. they want to land them in various locations around the world, as you mentioned. the capacity of ramstein is for 5,000 people, 5,000 evacuees have already arrived there to date. so far 17 flights have toughed down there. another 14 are expected today. they've been forced to make a makeshift tent city there to feed the people, giving them medical attention if they need it, but the folks at ramstein are only meant to be think between 48 to 72 hours, so they can be properly processed, identified, some that wasn't practical in kabul, and then they'll be moved on to other locations or home if america is their home. it's a massive logistical operation. it takes a lot of people to organize it, a lot of food and goods, but it is carrying on as we speak. >> hence the reason why so many folks are asking is that august 31st deadline even feasible? we wonder if they'll address that at the top of the hour. ali, thanks for your cove

and the main barrier at ramstein is actually bureaucratic, it is processing people. we've spent the past couple of days visiting the base and talking to afghan evacuees and for the most part everybody is satisfied with the conditions there. there is a tent city of about 323 tents set up in a very short period of time. and for all of those people living there, they have almost all of their needs have been met. they are living in these tents a hangars that would normally house airplanes. they have all the access they need to food, water, medical care. what they don't have is information. a lot said that they were distressed because they don't know when they will be leaving or where they will be heading. it is supposed to take no longer than ten days. if you are at ramstein air base for longer than ten days, that might be a violation of protocol. but we've heard that they are trying to get everybody processed in 24 to 72 hours. and that is why there has been this bottleneck. it does seem as though over the last day or two that the numbers have been picking up, the numbe

two born at the hospital shortly after the flight arrived into ramstein. if i can get you more details i will. reporter: one last. there's an opportunity now for farsi speakers at key bases -- mr. kirby: i don't have any announcements on future possible installation that is might be of use. we'll do this in a roll fashion. if and when we decide we need additional installations, we'll let you guys know as soon as we can. reporter: has the u.s. started preparations to leave in order to leave by august 31, when does the u.s. military have to begin making -- when does that decision have to be made? mr. kirby: i'm not going to get into specific tiktok here. just as when we were talking about the retrograde out of afghanistan writ large for the military, we were very careful about the details we provided. the threat environment is very real around the airport. i am going to be equally as judicious about the kind of information we give out. roughly speaking you need at least several days to get the amount of forces and equipment that we have at the airport to get

we had a chance to catch up with her at ramstein air base. listen.air force c-17 carrying afghan evacuees. as the plane landed at ramstein air base, the 86th medical group rushed in to safely deliver her. >> i evaluated the patient, we were past the point of no return. that baby was going to be delivered before we could possibly transfer her to another facility. so, we were just opening our emergency equipment. >> reporter: what was the moment you realized we're going to be okay? >> when the baby came out screaming and we were able to put her directly on mom's chest and get her breast feeding right away. i was like, okay, we're good here. >> reporter: ramstein air base in germany has become the latest hub for evacuation flights out of afghanistan. cnn filmed as some of the first flights arrived. more than 6,000 have been evacuate heerd with 17 flights landing in 24 hours, air base officials say, and more to come. here, there is safety, basic shelter, food and water. but it is only a temporary measure. many here do not know where they will go next or

some of them have families reason ramstein that they can't communicate with. the flights going to the u.s. have more than doubled in the last 24 hours. at last count more than 2,500 evacuees have been delivered to the united states, so that is good news there, jim. >> those are the lucky ones. many more left behind. nick paton walsh, atika shubert, thanks very much. >>> despite calls from both parties to give more time to the evacuation effort, the white house is eager to get u.s. troops away from danger in afghanistan including the turmoil at kabul's airport. the president says he's committed to the mission, but safety concerns, terror concerns mean the 20-year u.s. presence in afghanistan will end in days. >> we are currently on pace to finish by august 31st. the sooner we can finish, the better. each day of operations brings added risk to our troops, but the completion of august 31st depends upon the taliban continuing to cooperate and allow access to the airport for those we're transporting out and no disruptions to our operation. >> cnn's john harwood joi

we'll take you inside the massive operation at ramstein air base when we come back. a time, at the magical everly estate, landscaper larry and his trusty crew... were delayed when the new kid totaled his truck. timber... fortunately, they were covered by progressive, so it was a happy ending... for almost everyone. texas heat miami humidity garnier fructis sleek and shine argan oil plus kera-system 97% humidity protection up to 3 days sleek fructis sleek & shine number one on sleek by garnier, naturally! boost mobile is all about giving you more power. and now, we give you more power over your health. ♪ ♪ boost is the only mobile carrier to give you free 24/7 access to live doctors from your phone. switch and get a free samsung galaxy a32 5g. only on america's largest & fastest 5g network. now that's powerful. more power to stay healthy. boost mobile >>> let's get back to that breaking news out of kabul. a day before the u.s. set to complete its withdrawal from afghanistan a u.s. official telling cnn as many as five rockets were fired at the kabul airport. we're told

team coverage including our report from ramstein air base in germany. >>> hospital struggle. states running out of hospital beds and resources as the u.s. releases a new report about the origins of covid-19. plus, the battle over mask mandates in schools. the latest court ruling. >>> fire threat. flames edging closer to lake tahoe. smoke pushing air quality to hazardous levels. tens of thousands of people under evacuation orders this morning. >>> march on washington. huge crowds expected on the anniversary of dr. king's "i have a dream" speech fighting legislation seen as a threat to voting rights. >>> and climate crisis. "gma" up close at the melting greenland ice sheet. >> this is one of the places on earth where the climate crisis is at its most acute. >> the first of its kind race to raise awareness to some cold facts. >>> good morning, america. dan has the morning off. we are happy to have janai with us on the desk this morning. >> not a bad fill-in for dan, i think. maybe he'll agree. >> a familiar one too because we know you well. >>> we are following a lot of breaking

fewer flights come inning to ramstein. -- fewer flights coming in to ramstein.tan. yes, the tuesday deadline for all of the u.s. to be out of afghanistan, that is coming very fast too. end of one chapter, maybe the beginning of another. back to you. >> jon: greg palkot, live from landstuhl, germany. thank you. for more on afghanistan, let's bring in retired navy seal commander and seal team six member who was deployed twice to afghanistan, also the author of the book "smarter not harder". dave sears. dave, you served. your fellow teammates served. so many thousands of men and women from the united states military have served in afghanistan. is the time and the sacrifice spent there worth it? >> that's a tough question, jon. i think for each individual servicemember, yes, it is. your service is never in [inaudible]. you are not ever going to stop crime. but you are going to do your duty and serve alongside your brother honorably. i don't think any service anywhere in the world, whatever you do, is in vain. >> jon: there's been the suggestion that the united state

so here at ramstein air base there's frustration and also some hope. crush of thousands. desperate to get out. 20 people were killed around the airport in the last week, including one during a deadly fire fight involving u.s. forces. after president biden announced the acceleration of evacuations ahead of the august 31st deadline. the taliban is calling that a red line. saying there will be consequences if troops stay longer. the u.s. embassy, which has moved to the airport, now telling those who aren't eligible for evacuation to stay away. >> if the you do not have approval for a flight, you should leave the area surrounding the airport immediately. >> reporter: the taliban known for its brutality releasing its own images of forces patrolling the streets of kabul and what it says are girls going to school. but the clock is ticking for international troops trying to get people out, 26 countries are helping in the effort, getting evacuees to eight transport hubs including one at germany's ramstein air base. some of these people are very angry, saying th

jacqui: greg talcott at ramstein airbase in germany, they stand for that report.ne ida has made landfall and we will bring you the latest updates from the ground coming up next. ♪ at usaa, we've been called too exclusive. because we were created for officers. but as we've evolved with the military, we've grown to serve all who've honorably served. no matter their rank, or when they were in. a marine just out of basic, or a petty officer from '73. and even his kids. and their kids. usaa is made for all who've honorably served and their families. are we still exclusive? absolutely. and that's exactly why you should join. you founded your kayak company because you love the ocean- not spreadsheets. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire i brought in ensure max protein, with thirty grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks! [sighs wearily] here, i'll take that! woo-hoo! ensure max protein. with thirty grams of protein, o

atika schubert joins me now from ramstein.hat are you hearing about the continued threats and also how -- where these evacuees are going, the stories they must have told, both positive and sad, i imagine. >> reporter: yeah. i think it's really mixed emotions for many of the evacuees getting on those departing flights. the other day we were able to go to hangar five, and that's this giant military airplane hangar which normally houses these huge planes but has been transformed into a kind of international terminal. we were able to speak to a few evacuees. many were happy. they were very excited. they talked about plans to visit families in virginia and los angeles. but there was mixed feelings with many families who had to leave family members behind. one man we spoke to had four sisters. he was only able to bring one m. we heard a lot of stories like that. but having said that, these are the lucky ones who are able to get on a departing flight. there are still thousands more in this huge tent city on the tarmac of the air base

atika shubert is at ramstein air base now and is joining us now.hat is the situation at the air base right now for these ev evacuees waiting for the next leg of their journey? >> reporter: for the base itself, it means that they don't have anymore arrivals coming in, but what it does mean is that you still have roughly 10,000 to 15,000 people in this enormous tent city that has been built on the air base. it just stretches right across the tarmac. and what is happening is that, you know, all of these people were supposed to be here for 48 hours and then moved on. but there has been a backlog and the delays in processing a lot of these evacuees mean that they have been stuck there for anywhere between, you know, 4 to 7 days. maximum that they can stay is 10 days. that is per the agreement between the u.s. and germany. evacuees can only be here in transit for a maximum of 10 days before they have to be moved on to their final destinations. the good news is that lot of the flights have now started, so what we're seeing is up to nine flights a day, tha

think of it ramstein going into qatar. within the last 24 to 72 hours both commands have started building up and going from an initial operating capability to get what we would call smaller satellite areas to insure that with the through-put that we've had, that we can safely keep those people there on their way to the united states. as we look at capabilities, i talked about this a little bit earlier, but a lot of work has been done in the last 48 hours of bringing in more portable hand washing stations, refrigeration trucks to insure there is cool water and the food is there to insure that people have these humanitarian capabilities. >> i will also say as a scheduling note this afternoon's briefing i will be joined by the general of northern command and the general of the european command and they can address some specific questions about the temporary safe havens and you can talk to them directly. >> any of them that want to leave and we have to assume that's all of them, they will be evacuated. yes. >> how many do you

the backlog at some of these holding centers like doha cutter, ramstein air base, is -- it is difficult to describe. there are hundreds of people, maybe thousands of people if you combine them together, who are in rooms, the rooms -- many people are complaining that they don't have had yacht sanitation. in doha, it is extremely hot. and they are in this very uncomfortable limbo. state department officials are overwhelmed. i spoke to a state department official trying to sort this out from the embassy and they were expecting people to arrive with packets, with approvals, practically with badges. instead they are getting plane loads full of people who have no documents at all or documents that don't match, or names that don't match, they don't have enough linguists. so each step of this process is a chain. it seemed to have worked out getting the flights moving. and they are moving fast and they are evacuating the airport and personnel and soon they will have to start evacuating themselves and the last remaining people. and there is a military procedure under way to do that. that is one p

we're talking about 55,000 people who live around here, especially around ramstein air base. all of them have this -- such depth of feeling. such affinity towards their colleagues and uniform and their afghan colleagues but just towards the mission and when all of this, you know, really hit the fan here, they all wanted to be a part of it. and that is what we heard not only at ramstein air base where they set up an enormous tent city. hundreds of tents housing afghan evacuees. everyone wanted to be a part of that and not just uniform soldiers and spouse ands children. that was a really touching story. when the 31 wounded -- not just uniform service members who were wounded in that appalling sue suicide attack, there were ten afghan civilians also airlifted out and treated. you know, everybody wanted to help them. so much and i talked to one of the leaders, there one of the head doctors and here's what he had to say about the feeling about sort of the energy around that movement. >> i can tell you the team here was absolutely phenomenal in terms of response. everybody was aski

be joined by thousands of afghan evacuees now, i spoke with the person who's running the base at ramsteinere. he said the tent is about to reach capacity probably reached it last night now it seems as though the other afghan evacuees, lucky enough to get on flights out of kabul, they're probably going to be sent to bases elsewhere in europe where they will be processed before they're finally sent to the united states. shep. >> matt bradley, thank you so much. >>> after nearly eight months in hiding, the capitol police officer who shot and killed a rioter on january the 6th is revealing his identity, and did so in an exclusive interview with lester holt >> your name has been battered about on the internet, but you have never been officially publicly identified, do you want to tell us who you are >> my name is michael byrd, i'm a lieutenant for the united states capitol police. >> lieutenant byrd shot ashli babbitt, she was a trump supporter and follower of the qanon conspiracy theory. investigators say she was trying to climb through a broken barricaded doorway into the speaker's lobby whe

just after it landed at ramstein air force base, in germany. it is just a crazy story, it puts your heart in your throat, you know, that this woman was this pregnant, this close to deliver when she got herself and her family on board that c-17 and then to have given birth on the tarmac, on board the plane. u.s. servicemen and women racing on board that cargo plane, delivering the baby right than in their on board the plane before they were even able to disembark her. mother and baby are both reportedly doing fine. but i have to tell you, that dramatic situation this weekend led to this question and surprise answer at the pentagon press briefing this afternoon. i don't know if you have seen this footage today, it started one way and then dramatically went off the rails to the surprise of everybody except for one person in the room. it went off the rails not in a bad way, but in a way that definitely makes me want to know more. watch. >> i am -- with news-y, there -- are medics being provided for each flight, i know there is concern about the cap

you're a few miles from the ramstein airbase.awaiting word about their next destination. there is a screening process. do we know how long that takes and where they're all going? >> reporter: yeah. ideally it would only take 48 hours. the reality is many people were there for as long as a week. they are living in basic shelters. these are tents with cots for beds. there are toilets, but no real showers. so it has been very tough for some of the families that are there. the good news is that the commercial flights that are bringing them to the states have picked up. so now we're seeing as many as ten a day going out, and i believe the total number that have been brought from ramstein airbase to the u.s. is now 10,000. but as you point out, there are still 14,000 at the base, so they really need to start processing people more quickly, try to get them out as soon as they can. because remember, the airbase actually has an agreement with germany. they can only keep evacuees here for a maximum of ten days, jim. >> many thousands of af

she had to deliver on the c-17 cargo plane on the tarmac here at ramstein.care was good, she was taken care of. mother and baby are fine. again, they're waiting for the next destination, like more than 7,000 other afghans and american nationals waiting here. >> and all those kids and babies walking in. courtney, president biden said the safe zone around the kabul airport is going to get bigger, they're going to try to deal with stuff that richard engle was talking about. what does it mean for people trying to leave? >> i mean look, every single plan that they have made during the course of this logistics nightmare has been met with an additional problem that they have to deal with. assuming this works, this will allow them to expand the perimeter in a very small way to allow more americans and afghan nationals get to the airport. there are other ways to get to the airport. details are sensitive, they don't want to talk about it. it means they're going to have people, particularly americans and some afghans eligible for the process, meet in small groups at pa

nbc's matt bradley is in germany, overlooking ramstein.you learned about what's going on at ramstein as they are trying to cope with far more refugees than they had ever anticipated? >> reporter: it's huge. it's a massive operation. you mentioned 15,000 are being housed in a sprawling tent city that was set up not just by the uniform members of the military, but also by their spouses, children. everybody here pitched in for this. they're just living their lives, waiting to get out, waiting to cycle on to the next thing. they have to be processed by the state department. i just spoke with a state department official who said that processing takes about four days. that's four days that these people, these evacuees have to just live at this base. ever since this crisis started, it won't surprise you with 15,000 people, there have been five babies born on the base. some of them have already cycled through to the states. we're seeing this backlog sort of like lightening up a little bit. there were four gates allowing people to get onto planes.

two born at landstuhl shortly after the flight arrived into ramstein.et you any more details, i will. >> there's an opportunity now for seek -- for keesler air force base. is that going to be one of the expansions? >> i don't have information on future possible installations that may be of this in a rolli fashion as -- if and when we decide we need additional installations, we'll let you guys know as soon as we possibly can. >> john, has the u.s. started preparations to leave in order to leave by august 31st? when does the u.s. military have to begin making those preps? when does that decision have to be made? >> so i'm not going to get into a specific tick tock here. just as when we were talking about the retrograde out of afghanistan writ large for the military, we were careful about the details we provided. the threat environment is very real around the airport so i'm going to be equally as judicious about the kind of information that we give out. but roughly speaking, you need at least several days to get the amount of forces and equipment that we h

germany's ramstein air base is not only taking in afghans but also americans wounded in yesterday's attackre. >> reporter: yeah, shep, we heard from the pentagon this afternoon that two plane loads carrying those wounded warriors from that terrible attack yesterday in afghanistan around kabul international airport, they arrived here in germany right around ramstein air base this is one of the largest air bases in the world they'll be going to where i am, here that's where there's an american hospital that's treated wounded in afghanistan for the last 20 years of that conflict, so it's no surprise that they're headed here, but they will be joined by thousands of afghan evacuees now, i spoke with the person who's running the base at ramsr ramstein, there's a huge tent city set up there. he said the tenty is about to reach capacity probably reached it last night now it seems as though the other afghan evacuees, lucky enough to get on flights out of kabul, they're probably going to be sent to bases elsewhere in europe where they will be processed before they're finally sent to the united state

i spoke with some of the 6,000 to 7,000 afghan evacuees here at ramstein air base, none came direct fromide of europe before they came here. a lot of them were very angry with how they were treated, many of them were u.s. citizens and they had some serious resentment about the place they're soon to call their main home >> i slept like three nights on a garbage just like a homeless people, man. everybody was just sleeping down -- i was with my kids, among the garbage. there was like no space. there's no -- no humanitarian help. >> reporter: but, shep, by the time they get here they are safe they have food, shelter, water, medical care so there is a sense of relief, even if they don't exactly know where they're going to be going next. >> there is nothing more amazing to watch evacuees come into this process, the smiles, the excitement they're tired, they're exhausted, but then when you see them, you're able to feed them, get them a little bit of shelter and then they're playing soccer. >> reporter: and i want to tell but one really special moment on saturday an afghan woman actually went i

tens of thousands of evacuees have passed through ramstein air base in germany over the last few weeksey wait for the next step in their journey. hurricane ida has cut power throughout new orleans, and while the levees there are holding the same cannot be said in other parts of louisiana. we will have the latest on the storm when we come back in a moment. facts.simple there's only one true lysol. lysol. what it takes to protect. ♪ things you start when you're 45. coaching. new workouts. and screening for colon cancer. yep. the american cancer society recommends screening starting at age 45, instead of 50, since colon cancer is increasing in younger adults. i'm cologuard®. i'm convenient and find 92% of colon cancers... ...even in early stages. i'm for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider if cologuard is right for you. ♪ ♪ for deb, living with constipation with belly pain was the same old story for years. trying this. doing that. spending countless days right here. still came the belly pain, disc

more than 20,000 evacuees have come through the ramstein airport yesterday.l to speak with officials on the air base and see a number of departure flights taking off. those flights you saw taking eswa eva evacuees, most to dulles in virginia. they insisted the evacuation of kabul airport was continuing. despite that, we did not see any flights arriving from either kabul or from doha yesterday. there may have been some overnight, but it does seem that there is at least a pause, if not a tapering, of those flights coming out of kabul. so we'll see how it goes today. we do know that as far as departures, at least eight departure flights expected. this is good news. it means we're seeing an increase in those flights bringing evacuees of those refugees to the united states, kim. >> talking to the folks there, before i let you go. i'm curious. if the prevailing mood there one of hope or of despair? >> reporter: you know, it's a real mix of emotions. i mean, from the evacuees, certainly relief that they are in a safe country. that they're here. that they're on their

what does the traffic look like into ramstein right now?rter: we're actually -- we're still seeing that traffic, obviously. this is still going on at pace. we are still seeing commercial airlines taking off, c-7s, c 17s, c-130s. landing here. what we're hearing now is there are now 15,000 afghan evacuees living at that base. this is a moving target. in the next 12 hours they said they're expecting about 1,700 to arrive, and about 2,000 to leave. notice how that has changed. now they're expecting fewer to arrive in the next 12 hours than will be leaving. it used to be more that they were accepting more and more and more and fewer and fewer were taking off. now it's the opposite. it looks like that evacuation effort is kind of starting to slow down and push more in the direction of people moving on for ramstein towards the united states. most of them to dulles airport in virginia. rather than just more of accepting and accepting and that tent city we were walking through the other day growing larger and larger and larger. still, willie, this

griff: greg palkot live in ramstein, germany. great reporting, greg, thank you.ng through before they finally make it here. i was reporting over the past week there was at one point people were stuck on a plane on the tarmac at dulles for ten hours. instead of the multiple layers of vetting that they have to go through in this process from leaving afghanistan, going to a third country and finally coming here. and, you know, they're a stand ising up, they're not resting, they're not sleeping, they're not getting meals at regular hours. this is tough for them. i didn't have i didn't have and when this is all over, there is kudos to be given to our department of state employees and dod and military folks who are trying to process this massive airlift. jacqui: president biden is fulfilling his promise to retaliate against isis by ordering an airstrike that killed two members in afghanistan, just days after 13 americans were killed in a bombing at the kabul airport. joining us now is former cia covert operations officer and ceo of portman squared group, mike baker. th

instead they will be carrying people from the transport hubs, once they're out to qatar or ramstein inmany to their final destination. that will be the job now of u.s. commercial airliners under the new program. >> that totally makes sense. keep the u.s. military in charge of getting people out of afghanistan to those places and then let the commercial airlines pick it up from there. thank you, josh. appreciate that. >>> let's bring in peter baker, correspondent from "the new york times." those numbers, i will ask adam, our director, to put them back up, the poll numbers, showing 61% don't think the war in afghanistan was worth fighting. as josh said, flip it, you have 25% approving of the way that biden is handling afghanistan. how do you interpret these numbers? >> the calculations the white house is making when it comes to simply politics, americans will eventually forget how messy it was and be glad that the president got out, right? that by the time weeks and months have gone by these images will have faded in the public consciousness and all they will remember is we're no longer

further conversations with the mom and the dad of the baby that was born on the c-17 inbound to ramstein because the call soon of the c-17 aircraft that flew them from qatar to ramstein was reach. so that child's name will forever be reach. and as you can imagine being an air force fighter pilot, it is my dream to watch that young child named reach grow up and fly aninfinite number of miracles that they have pulled off. that little girl in yellow, they had a picture and they went around trying to find her. >> and we remember being the baby being taken over the razor wire last week. people hoping for a way out. >> thanks for joining us. "new day" is next. tes, here are some easy rules. no sugar. no pizza. no foods you love. stressed? no stress. exercise. but no days off! easy, no? no. no. no. no. but with freestyle libre 14 day, you can take the mystery out of your diabetes. now you know. sir, do you know what you want to order? yes. freestyle libre 14 day. try it for free. introducing xfinity rewards. our very own way of thanking you just for being with us. enjoy rewards like movie night

air base in ramstein, germany. many heading to new homes in america.to bear. # atee ka with that story. >> the gateway to a new life for thousands of afghan evacuees. this military airplane hangar has essentially become an international airport terminal and we are standing in what would be the check-in area. and the goal is to get as many evacuees as possible onto those commercial planes to the united states. many are happy to be leaving but also fearful for family left behind. achmed checks in for his flight with his sister and father. >> i have four sister. and two brother. i come here with my one sister. yeah. it's a very hard to feel this, honestly. >> reporter: while the military has handled the evacuation from kabul, it is the state department and homeland security that are responsible for getting evacuees to the u.s. >> the military brings them in, and they stay here for a short period of time. and then, we bring them out so they can go back to the united states. it has been slow moving but now we are getting into a process. flight flights are l

there's about 6,000 afghan evacuees right now at ramstein air base. the occupancy of this enormous air base, the whole community of americans, this is the largest community of americans outside u.s. borders anywhere in the world, they said this community has basically tripled or quadrupled in size in just the last couple of weeks since this crisis started and have come together, ramped up and built up as much capacity as they can. now they have 6,000 evacuees here. they're expecting 10,000 as we speak coming in. they are expecting to reach their capacity of 17,000, around 17,000 evacuees living in a massive tent city, living in these gigantic hangars that are normally meant for huge transport aircraft and repairs. if you walk through that you can see the scale of what they had to build in order to accommodate the influx of these people. so really this was one of the big bottlenecks in this whole rescue effort. now they said they've actually managed to increase the rate of processing people by double in just the last 24 to 48 hours. they've increased t

. >>> for many evacuees, one of the main stop overpoints is the air base in ramstein, germany. thousands are taking shelter there stretching the military base to capacity. atika shubert is there. resources are stretched to say the least. how are the authorities trying to cope with the demands and how are the afghans themselves coping with the challenging conditions there? >> reporter: what they have really done is created a temporary refuge within the air base that involves hundreds of these military tents. it is really a kind of a tent city. every time a c-13 arrives here, the evacuees disembark, get screened, security screened, medical screened, and then they get placed in one of these tents. it is very basic shelter essentially you know, when it rains, it is not that comfortable but it is safe and secure and they are getting three hot meals a day. the most difficult part for evacuees from my understanding is the fact that they have told me that they have to wait and they don't know when they will get on a flight to the united states. and for them, the hardest part is not bei

borders near the base at ramstein. now the nation remembers the 13 men killed, all of them -- most of them very young. some of them were only babies or not even born when september 11th happened, the beginning of the war. one of the fathers of one of the slain servicemen spoke out. here is what he had to say. >> the one thing he always wanted to do, when 9/11 happened, he was only 11 years old. and at that point he had already made up his mind. and by the time he was in high school the recruiters came into the high school. and i don't know what it was about the marine corps, but that's what i want. >> so i mentioned i'm at the hospital here right behind me not far from ramstein base where movingens are continuing to flow in, the afghani evacuees. it really has reached capacity, guys. i spoke with one of the heads of the base. he said that they built this enormous tent city to hold 17,000 people. this is where they have to be processed before being put on commercial flights heading to the states, almost all to dull he i

when i broke off and went into the basic line airbase, ramstein airbase to purchase more supplies, i family moms who asked what we were doing and asked how they could get involved. and they're looking for an opportunity. they're looking for an opportunity to donate, for people that they know need their help. this is what military families have been all about and this is what the american people are all about. >> this is what the american people are all about. captain, asking not how you can help, but how you can help more. appreciate what you've done, appreciate you being with us this morning. >> thank you very much. >>> brianna? >> huge thank you to captain khan. extraordinary story. >>> texas republican house set to hold a final vote after advancing a controversial bill to implement sweeping voter restrictions. the bill passed in a 79-37 vote mostly along party lines, followed hours of debate on dozens of amendments, and moves it close tore the -- closer to the desk of governor greg abbott. it places limits on votesing by mail. it make it harder for people of color to vote. and her

. >>> hundreds of children are among those who arrived in ramstein, germany. >> we've army reaching out, local population reaching out. everybody wants to help, and everybody wants to be part of it. i tell you, if you're not that excited to be here, the first time you see afghan kids playing soccer and smiling and laughing, you're all in. >> medical and psychiatric teams are on happened, they are in surprisingly good spirits. the refugees will only be in germany until they find more permanent accommodations in the u.s. now with the deadline to leave afghanistan one week away, the race to evacuate intensifies. on nightly news with lester holt, an up close look at the crisis in kabul's airport. we show you the effort to load more on planes and get them out as american troops and the taliban are working together yards apart from the airport's perimeter. richard has the tension on the ground and how the taliban are seemingly aiming the american exodus on nightly news at 6:30. >>> vice president kamala harris has arrived in vietnam but landed there three hours late because of suspected cases

for more, i want to bring in matt bradley at ramstein air base in germany where thousands of evacueeske memoli and welcome to all. matt, i want to start with you on this one. i know you're speaking to a lot of folks on the ground, a lot of afghans that have evacuated from kabul. take us through what you're seeing so far. what they've been telling you. >> well, what we have been hearing from the afghans who have evacuated from kabul who have arrived here, they have not come here directly from kabul. some have come from elsewhere in asia where they have come from kabul before. some came from doha where in colleague richard engel is right now. when they get here, you know, they're well taken care of, they're quite safe. health care, food, they're put up in tents or large hangars that are normally used for equipment and airplanes and there is a palpable sense of relief, but at the same time, to get here, to get all the way here is to have run through a horrible gauntlet and that includes a taliban gauntlet at the airport and then we talked to those who slept on the tarmac amidst trash for