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Hurricane Ida Upgraded To Category 2 Storm; Louisiana Governor Holds Briefing As Hurricane Ida Approaches; President Biden Says Situation In Kabul Still Extremely Dangerous; Pentagon: Two "High Profile" ISIS-K Members Killed, One Wounded In Retaliation Strike; Interview With Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD); China Not Happy With U.S. Intel Report On COVID-19 Origins; Judge Strikes Down FL Governor's Mask Mandate Ban. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired August 28, 2021 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:00:43]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. We are standing by for Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards who is set to give an update any minute now as Hurricane Ida barrels toward the Gulf Coast. The storm which is projected to reach category 4 strength is expected to pummel Louisiana tomorrow, the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

The National Weather Service urgently warning residents to complete their preparations today adding some locations might be, and this is a quote, "uninhabitable for weeks or months." Devastating storm surge of 10 to 15 feet is expected along with winds as strong as 150 miles an hour. The mayor of New Orleans says if you're going to evacuate, now is the time to leave. Evacuation orders are in effect across the state.

And as you can see right there, look at this video. Highways in New Orleans look more like parking lots as people try to evacuate.

We're tracking this hurricane from all angles. CNN's Derek Van Dam and Nadia Romero are on the ground in Louisiana for us but let's begin with Tom Sater in the CNN Weather Center.

Tom, what's the latest forecast? This thing is strengthening, no doubt about it.

TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, no doubt about it, Jim. In fact what we've been watching is a well-defined eye now, really starting to pop up. That means inside the eye, columns of very warm air shooting upwards and they're cooling at the top. So we've got a lot of lightning activity, so it is strengthening. Now we're going to get a 5:00 p.m. update in a little while and that will let us know what the National Weather Center is thinking, but typically we're going to see that pressure drop.

When the pressure drops, then the winds respond and they really pick up. So, again, we're at 100-mile-per-hour sustained storm. We're about 290 miles from the mouth of the Mississippi. But I want to point something out. Four out of five hurricanes last year made landfall in Louisiana. We are looking at a multibillion-dollar disaster ahead of us for landfall tomorrow. Laura, which made its way of course over Lake Charles, $17.5 billion in damage.

There are thousands of homes that are still covered in blue tarp, still a lot of damage, a lot of repairs. We've got thousands that are living in FEMA trailers. But also you toss Zeta in there, category 3, Laura was a category 4, this was another $1.5 billion. So again if you're going to have a landfall, if there's anywhere that you may want it, you want it to make landfall in the least populated area.

So we're getting close in that region. Yes, some live there, but it's not as bad as it is if you go to the west or even east toward New Orleans, Slidell, and even up toward Baton Rouge. But again this track could shift just a little bit eastward. And that would put the strongest eye wall winds in toward metro New Orleans. So again, we're watching the storm surge. This is going to be bad enough.

Remember when Harvey made landfall --

ACOSTA: Tom, we're going to go to the governor of Louisiana right now. Here's the governor of Louisiana.

GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS (D), LOUISIANA: So we're still looking at a very strong category 4 hurricane making landfall likely in Terrebonne Parish tomorrow, afternoon, or evening. Now the forecasted landfall is for 7:00 p.m. What I want to make sure people understand is that's the point at which the leading edge of the eye wall will cross from the Gulf onto land. At that point in time, about half of the storm is already over land.

So don't listen to that and think you have until 7:00 tomorrow evening, but before the storm itself is going to be over land, that is not so. The wind speed at landfall is projected to be sustained in the neighborhood of 140 miles per hour. This is a very strong storm. Ben Schott of the National Weather Service is not here today. He is in New Orleans. He is working extremely hard. But I do have some of the most recent slides to put up and share with you.

One of the things that you're going to see is just about the entire state is under some type of warning or watch. And so everybody out there needs to be very careful. I don't want folks who are further inland to be caught off guard because there's a potential for 110- mile-per-hour sustained winds as far north as the Louisiana- Mississippi line, but also from Lafayette through Baton Rouge to New Orleans and all points south, including the river parishes.

[15:05:16]

And I would point out that 110-mile-per-hour wind, that's like -- that is category 2 strength winds. So that's a cat 2 hurricane there. And so while the storm will weaken after it makes landfall, it is such a strong -- strong at the outset that it's going to be extremely powerful as far north as Baton Rouge and even further.

We expect storm surge of 10 to 15 feet between Morgan City and the mouth of the Mississippi River, from seven to 11 feet from the mouth of the river to Ocean Springs, Mississippi. And so if you just look at that geographic, the storm surge will impact St. Mary Parish, Terrebonne Parish, Lafourche Parish, Jefferson Parish the most, but there will be impacts well away from that, and certainly Plaquemines Parish and St. Bernard will be challenged with storm surge as well.

Eight to 16 inches of rain with locally higher amounts possible. The higher amount could be 20 or more inches, and that's Sunday through Tuesday. And as a result, and, by the way, there's a bit confluence of all these areas. But again, stretching from Lafayette through Baton Rouge over to New Orleans and points south, that's where they're expecting the heaviest rainfall.

And you hate to make comparisons with other storms because every storm is different, but remember that last year with Laura we had very strong winds extending through most of the state because of how strong it was and how large that storm was. But we're going to see something very similar with Hurricane Ida.

With the rain amounts that I just mentioned, flash flooding is a very real concern. And this is a very large storm. One of the things the National Weather Service told us that from the center of the storm extending eastward it could be up to 160 miles, and then another 130 miles over to the west. So you're looking at something that could be 300 miles long. River flooding is also possible, especially on the Northshore area.

Now, we're catching a little bit of a break here because the rivers don't start off at flood stage and we haven't had as much rainfall over the last couple of weeks as we have been experiencing earlier in the year. But it doesn't take many hours of rain that's falling at the rate that they're talking about before those rivers could be at flood stage.

One of the things that we were told today by the National Weather Service during our unified command group meeting is that they are extremely confident in the current track and the intensity as forecasted for Hurricane Ida. And you really don't hear them speaking very often about that level of confidence. So we can sum it up by saying this will be one of the strongest hurricanes to hit anywhere in Louisiana since at least the 1850s.

We can also tell you that your window of time is closing. It is rapidly closing. And just like we said yesterday, by the time you go to bed tonight, you need to be where you intend to ride the storm out, and you need to be as prepared as you can be because weather will start to deteriorate very quickly tomorrow. By 8:00 a.m. we expect tropical storm force winds to start to move into the inland across southern Louisiana.

And while you've been preparing, so has the state, so has local government. And we have certainly had assistance from our federal partners. And I'll just give you some updates from state agencies at this time. I can tell you that the Department of Transportation has waived the hours of service for truckers responding to Hurricane Ida.

I've been watching the traffic cameras across the interstate systems of Louisiana for much of the day, and part of the good news is many, many people are heeding the evacuation orders, both mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders, and they are evacuating.

[15:10:03]

This is causing some areas with high congestion. We just ask people to be patient. This is going to be part of the process. Everyone can do themselves a little favor by checking with 511LA.org or you can go to the 511 LA app for traffic information, find out if roads are closed, if detours are in effect, and if alternate routes are needed.

At the present time we have 137 coach buses in place in Louisiana spread from Lafayette across east towards the New Orleans area and multiple vehicle staging areas. The vast majority of these resources will be focused on southeast Louisiana. We also have 19 paratransit buses, and they've already been assisting in the evacuation of a number of nursing homes. We will have another 37, 38 more coaches on hand by Monday.

It is important to note the debris on the roadway and how water can occur at any time during the storm because of the impact of the wind and flood waters, DOTD crews may not be able to get to these locations to erect signs and barricades and provide warning before motorists experience these things. So please be mindful of this. Don't drive unless you have to once the weather gets bad.

When there's water on the road and you're not 100 percent certain you know exactly how deep it is and what the current is, do not drive through it. Turn around. Don't drown. You should treat every downed power line as if it's live and deadly. I can tell you that the CPRA is tracking 692 gates across the coastal zone. As of this morning's briefing, 246 of those gates were closed. And that's up considerably from yesterday's report.

But just the second time in the history of the hurricane risk reduction system in New Orleans, we fully activate that system tomorrow morning. Coastal parishes across southeast Louisiana have been working extremely hard to shore up certain areas and their protection systems. For example, Terrebonne Parish is performing super sack operations to shore up low-lying areas and lower DuLarge.

Lafourche Parish completed sandbag operations to shore up low areas on Reach K of its system in the Morganza-to-the-Gulf levees. The National Guard currently has 4,013 National Guard soldiers and airmen activated in support of emergency operations.

We will get to more than 5,000 guardsmen available to respond to the storm. In fact, the entirety of the Louisiana National Guard has been activated and coordination for possible assistance with sister states for assets that we may or may not have in Louisiana is ongoing.

But just in terms of National Guard, the search and rescue -- currently across 14 parishes. They have 164 high-water vehicles, 62 boats, and 34 helicopters ready to support and assist in search and rescue operations. 650 state EMAC and FEMA USAR personnel. Now, EMAC, that's when we request assistance from another state. FEMA is when we receive, obviously, search and rescue individuals directly from the federal government.

We have a total of 650 of these that will be in place by tonight. And the number of boats there just with the Louisiana (INAUDIBLE) office for example is 150 that are staged across south Louisiana. We have the potential to get to 900 such search and rescue people by Monday if needed. The Louisiana Sheriff's Association and the Alcohol and Tobacco Control have also committed their personnel and assets to search and rescue efforts.

And the fire marshal's office is -- I'm sorry, is also working with two volunteer boat search and rescue organizations as well as state partners, including the National Guard and Wildlife and Fisheries.

[15:15:01]

And Wildlife and Fisheries currently has 169 agents with trucks and boats prepared, staged, and ready for movement. I have an update for you on the number of linemen in the state prepared to respond to power outages. We now have 10,000 linemen staged in the state of Louisiana. And that number will get up to 20,000 very quickly with out-of-state linemen who have already been contracted. They will be called in as necessary and when necessary.

Tomorrow, state offices will be closed in the same 38 parishes that we mentioned yesterday. And we've also made the additional determination that on Monday all state offices will be closed across the state of Louisiana. I gave you a break. I didn't want to read through 38 parishes. As of 6:00 a.m. today, shelters began to open across the state of Louisiana. We have just a few dozen people in state shelters at the time.

Right now any individual looking for shelter in the parishes called for an evacuation, look first to the shelters in your parish. So contact your office of emergency preparedness. And you can also text LAshelter to 898211 or you can just dial 211 to get shelter information. If you need to find out how to contact your parish office of emergency preparedness, you can get that information under contacts at getagameplan.org.

You can also get that information by going through the 211 system, as I just mentioned. So you can text LAshelter to 898211 or call 211. If you can stay with friends or family outside of your area if you're evacuating, that's wonderful. You need to have conversations about that process and any COVID-related concerns ahead of time.

I would urge people that if you're evacuating perhaps from coastal Louisiana, don't have as your destination, if at all possible, a location in the Baton Rouge or Lafayette areas. The storm intensity, the amount of rain that we expect to get, the wind, as I mentioned earlier is just too strong in these areas. So please evacuate further west, further north than the Lafayette, Baton Rouge area if at all possible.

When you evacuate, evacuate with essential items you're going to need. If you're away from home from extended period of time, including food, water, PPE, medicine, your pets. If you have questions about what you need to do to prepare to evacuate, to include any oxygen needs that you might have because of a health issue, you can call 211.

I don't have all the COVID numbers for you today because it's a Saturday. We don't typically report them. What I can say is currently we have 2,450 individuals hospitalized across the state of Louisiana with COVID-19. And I'm very thankful that that's a drop. That's a drop of about 20 percent in the last 10 days. And that's very --

ACOSTA: And that's Governor Edwards of Louisiana holding a news conference there on the developments regarding Hurricane Ida, urging people in the area in the path of the storm to start making preparations now to either evacuate or if they have to stay in place, that they understand what they need to do in order to survive.

I want to bring in our reporters who are on the ground covering the storm. CNN's Derek van Dam is in Houma, Louisiana, and CNN's Nadia Romero is in New Orleans.

Derek, Houma is right there in the storm's forecasted bull's eye. What are you seeing there?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, people are getting out, and especially when you hear ominous words and sentences from the governor of Louisiana saying that this could be one of the strongest storms to strike Louisiana since the 1850s. That really was quite profound when he said that. Of course we had four named tropical storms just last year, and you got to remember what those storms, including Hurricane Laura, did to the coastline here.

[15:20:04]

It completely altered the geography, meaning that they don't have the build-up natural barrier for coastal storm surge within this area. Terrebonne Parish, where I'm located, under a mandatory evacuation order starting at 6:00 a.m. Curfew starting at 6:00 p.m. this evening. People are doing their last-minute preps. If they've decided to stay, they're trying to protect their life and trying to protect their property and their assets.

Check out these individuals sandbagging. And let me just give you some context here. It is extremely hot. It is extremely humid. We've got women, children, and, of course, men who are out here working tirelessly to fill these sandbags so they can indeed protect their homes.

Of course, this impending disaster for southern Louisiana is all unfolding amongst the backdrop of a global pandemic. The governor was mentioning it just now. Louisiana has been hit particularly hard with this pandemic. We have a low vaccination rate, around 41 percent of adults vaccinated within the state and a high level of hospitalizations within this area. So that is going to complicate matters.

We have several threats here. I'm only 10 feet above sea level where I'm standing. So storm surge is going to be a concern. Even though I'm 10, 15 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, that water has the ability to funnel up the bayous that you see behind me. We have nearly 100 levees or I should say gates that are currently closing right now to help protect this particular area.

The Morganza levee system here is a leave lock and floodgate protection system that was built in 2013 to protect the Terrebonne Parish and its residents as well. It's designed to provide up to one and 100-year storm surge events. So that's up to a category 3.

And Jim, we know this is forecast to be a powerful category 4. So it will be testing the limits of that system. Back to you.

ACOSTA: It is certainly a dangerous storm. Let me go to Nadia Romero who is in New Orleans.

Nadia, how are things looking there? Obviously -- I see the sun hitting you right there. That is obviously not how things are going to be in about, what, hours from now.

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, you're right, Jim. And we had an outer band that came through about an hour and a half or so ago. And this area just cleared out with people realizing, oh, wow, there really is a hurricane coming through. Now we have the sun out, which gives people this false sense of security that they have more time to prepare.

But we just heard Governor Edwards there from Louisiana telling people now is the time to prepare, to move out if you can, saying that wherever you sleep tonight is where you better ride out the storm because we're not sending emergency crews to your house to help you in the middle of that have storm.

And we're seeing people prepare. So this is obviously a tourist destination. We've seen a lot of people with their luggage getting kicked out of their hotels trying to make their way to the airport or on the roads so they can get out back home or to higher ground.

Take a look at businesses here in the French Quarter. They have all just boarded up their shops, just like this. They're used to doing this every storm that rose through from Rita to Katrina to now Ida. Boarding up, trying to make sure that debris doesn't break through that glass. But listen to one man I spoke with. His name is Jesse. He's lived in this area for a long time. We saw him out boarding up businesses. He says he has some 20 businesses that have hired him to put up plywood over the windows. And here's why he says this storm has him worried.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSE, RESIDENT: Katrina obviously was the worst. But what does concern me about this one isn't the winds. It's the rain and the storm surge because our levee system still isn't 100 percent. I mean, it could top -- that's my biggest concern.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: And so this area here in the French Quarter is a little bit higher than some of the other areas that I know, Jim, you remember from Hurricane Katrina, like the Lower Ninth Ward that was decimated during that storm. We're a little bit higher ground, but Jesse tells me even when you just have a thunderstorm roll through, you can still have flooding. So they're especially concerned about that storm surge and the flooding that could happen in this area.

Now, the governor mentioned that they have about 4,000 National Guard troops that are on the ready. But remember, they're coming after the storm. So if you choose to stay in your house, you're doing so on your own. They'll come out, clear the debris, especially those roads around the hospitals. That's going to be their first priority -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Derek Van Dam, Nadia Romero, thanks for those reports.

Coming up next, we're going to be going to Afghanistan. The Pentagon says too high-profile ISIS targets were killed in a U.S. drone strike overnight. CNN has an exclusive look at all this, next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:28:45]

ACOSTA: The Pentagon says two high-profile ISIS-K militants were killed in a drone strike Friday in Afghanistan. You're seeing exclusive footage showing the aftermath at the site of that air strike which President Biden authorized in response to Thursday's deadly terrorist attack at the Kabul airport. President Biden received a national security briefing a short time ago.

Our CNN chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins is live for us at the White House.

Kaitlan, I understand there's a brand-new statement that just came in from the president.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim. And it's summing up essentially what he heard from that national security team during that briefing in the situation room this morning. And talking about there are just three days left in this timeline before the president hits his deadline for all U.S. forces to be out of Kabul on Tuesday, the 31st.

He says that they have told him that the situation on the ground continues to be extremely dangerous and that his commanders informed him that, quote, "an attack is highly likely in the next 24 to 36 hours," meaning some of these last few hours where there are troops on the ground could be some of the most dangerous of this entire evacuation mission, Jim.

[15:30:00]

He goes on to say that he directed him to "take every possible measure to prioritize force protection and ensure that they have all of the authority, resources and plans to protect our men and women on the ground." Of course, Jim, this is a threat that we've been hearing about for

weeks from White House officials, for several days before this attack this week that killed 13 U.S. servicemembers, some of them so incredibly young, just ranging from ages 20 to 31, all of them.

Obviously, that came to fruition this week with that suicide blast that happened at the gates to the Kabul airport. And the concern inside the White House is that there could be another attack like that or that they are planning another.

And that is, in part, why you saw that drone strike last night that the Pentagon has confirmed did kill two ISIS-K planners, two high- profile members, they say.

And it did wound a third, though it's not clear completely if they were involved in the planning of that last attack this week on the airport or if they were involved in a future planning.

But what President Biden also said in his statement today, Jim, which, we should note, is the first time he's commented on the drone strike, he says it will not be the last.

He said, "We'll continue to hunt down any person involved in that heinous attack and make them pay. Whenever anyone seeks to harm the United States or attack our troops, we will respond and that will never be in doubt."

Of course, that is of high concern here at the White House as these few days are winding down.

Because what the Pentagon confirmed this morning is that they are in the retrograde period, which essentially means they're starting to draw down those thousands of troops who remained on the ground as of Friday, also their resources, Jim.

That's why they're worried that the next few days could be the most dangerous as they're still trying to evacuate people, something we've seen other nations, France and the United Kingdom, bring the evacuations to a halt given the situation on the ground.

ACOSTA: All right, Kaitlan Collins, at the White House for us, thank you so much for that update.

Democratic Senator Ben Cardin joins me now. He's a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Senator, President Biden says his commanders have informed him that an attack is highly likely, he says, quote, "In the next 24 to 36 hours in Kabul."

How worried are you that we might see another attack before Tuesday?

SEN. BEN CARDIN (D-MD): Well, Jim, we know it's a very dangerous situation at the airport, around the airport. We have control of the airport, but outside it's dangerous. We know that we rely a lot on the Taliban on who can get close to the

airport. That's not an area of comfort to us. So I think it's extremely dangerous.

I think the president's right. Our first priority is force protection, to protect our men and women who are serving in Kabul.

We also are going to try to get out as many as we possibly can in the last couple days.

The third issue will be to set up a continuing effort to get people out of Kabul that could in harm's way after August 31st.

And I know the president and his administration is working on that as well.

ACOSTA: The Taliban, we are understanding, in the last several minutes, that they've condemned this U.S. retaliatory strike on ISIS-K members.

Senator, does the Taliban's opinion matter at this point when it comes to these retaliatory strikes? You know, I don't give a damn, why should we give a damn what they think about that?

CARDIN: Right. Well, you're exactly right, Jim. We really don't concern ourselves about how the Taliban will respond.

We do know that we have leverage over the Taliban. We control a lot of the resources of Afghanistan.

We know the Taliban is going to try to seek some international legitimacy. And that will depend on what the United States recommends to our allies. So I think it's in their interest to cooperate with us.

But make no mistake about it, the Taliban is a brutal organization from the point of view of protecting human rights of the citizens of Afghanistan.

And we know there's a lot of people in Afghanistan, Afghans, who are at risk if they remain in that country.

ACOSTA: Do you want to see more strikes like the one that happened overnight? The president is indicating that that is coming.

CARDIN: Well, ISIS-K is an extremely dangerous terrorist organization. Anytime that we can compromise their effectiveness, we could take advantage of that.

So if we have intelligence information that can lead us to minimizing the risk factor of that terrorist group, we should take those actions.

ACOSTA: And according to local people in the area -- and this is just reporting coming into us -- at least one woman and a child were killed.

The Pentagon has said it knows of no civilian casualties, but that is what we're hearing.

I suppose that is -- that is the expectation in some of these situations that there might be civilian casualties.

CARDIN: There's always risk factors. We know that we take extreme precautions to avoid those types of casualties.

And we also cannot trust the information in which the -- being made available, particularly by the terrorist groups themselves. So their claims may not prove to be correct.

We do know we take those precautions against collateral losses, civilian losses, and that we try to have as much transparency as possible to recognize our responsibility.

[15:35:09]

ACOSTA: Senator, I guess Senators were briefed on Afghanistan yesterday. What questions did you have? What did you learn in the briefing? Any new information come up?

CARDIN: Well, first, Jim, of course, our condolences to the families of the soldiers who were killed. That was a good part of our briefing to express our collective sorrow.

Secondly, we want the mission to be successful as possible. That means protect our troops, but also get out as many people as possible.

We still have a few hundred American citizens that are in Afghanistan. We think most of them probably have made a decision to stay.

But we still want to make efforts to make sure we can get every American evacuated from Afghanistan before the 31st.

Secondly, there's a lot of others who are at risk because of their relationship to the United States or to our mission in Afghanistan. We recognize that many of these people will not be evacuated by August 31st.

So the questions that we asked is, what steps will be taken, and we received certain assurances that the United States is working on plans to help people leave Afghanistan after August 31st.

So I know some of that will be with some diplomatic presence, either directly or indirectly, and some accommodations we expect from the Taliban. Although, as we said before, we cannot rely upon their word.

ACOSTA: Are we just going to have to trust the Taliban after all our forces are out that they're going to help us get any remaining Americans out of the country?

CARDIN: We're not going to trust the Taliban, I can assure of that.

But we know we hold leverage over the Taliban, and I can tell you we'll use every tool in our tool kit to try to help those who are at risk as a result of the Taliban government. ACOSTA: Senator Cardin, thank you so much for joining us for this very

important conversation. We'll stay in touch with you in the days ahead weapon. Appreciate your time.

CARDIN: Thanks, Jim.

ACOSTA: Thank you, sir.

The Department of Defense has just released the names of the 13 U.S. servicemembers who were killed in Thursday's attack in Kabul. As we go to break, let's take a moment to recognize their sacrifice.

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[15:42:44]

ACOSTA: After 20 long years in Afghanistan, the U.S. is on the verge of withdrawing all of its forces from their country, bridging an end to this nation's longest war.

For weeks, the brave men and women of the U.S. military have been heroically evacuating their fellow Americans and Afghan allies by the tens of thousands.

There were so many hopes that our troops would make it home without any more casualties.

And then, Thursday happened. In an act of pure cowardice and evil, the terrorist group ISIS-K set off an explosion that killed 13 U.S. servicemembers and as many as 170 Afghans.

The terrorists exploited what was an obvious soft target outside of the airport in Kabul, U.S. Marines who were courageously providing security for what has been an overwhelming evacuation process.

As military commanders explained, the Marines were clearly vulnerable as they were placing their hands upon the evacuees one by one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. KENNETH F. MCKENZIE JR, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: This is close-up war. The breath of the person you are searching is upon you. While we have overwatch in place, we still have to touch the clothes of the person that's coming in.

I think you all can appreciate the courage and the dedication that is necessary to do this job and to do it time after time. Please remember that we have screened over 104,000 people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Just for a moment, imagine the courage it takes to do that job. It is impossible to describe the pain and suffering unleashed by the

terrorist both at the site of the attack and the homes of those fallen. So many lives will never be the same.

It is often said that war is hell. But Thursday felt like one of the darkest corners of that hell.

These fallen U.S. servicemembers gave their lives evacuating women and children. They were on a mission to end America's engagement in Afghanistan with some measure of compassion and dignity. They represented the best of this country.

If there were ever a moment for some sense of national unity, this was it.

And yet, in the hours that followed, the divisions in this country were all too apparent.

[15:44:56]

Appearing on FOX, former President Donald Trump immediately pounced on the attack in Kabul, boasting his administration killed bigger terrorists than Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader behind 9/11.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (voice-over): If you look at al Baghdadi, he was the founder of ISIS. We took him out. Nobody could find him for 15 years. Far bigger than Osama bin Laden, far bigger.

Osama bin Laden, bad, and he hit the World Trade Center. It was a horrible thing. But al Baghdadi was the founder of ISIS.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Trump, who once bragged he had eliminated ISIS, at times, referred to ISIS-K, the group the U.S. is likely behind the Kabul attacks, as ISIS-X.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP (voice-over): There's great danger right now. They have unbelievable weapons. They have people, as I said, that broke away because the Taliban wasn't mean enough and vicious enough.

And that's the new ISIS-X, where they broke away, or ISIS-K. They'll have an ISIS-X pretty soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Trump's son, Don Jr, tweeted a photo of President Biden hanging his head during his remarks Thursday and accused the president of weakness.

Other Republican leaders insisted Biden should resign or be removed from office using the 25th Amendment.

Tennessee Senator Marcia Blackburn tweeted that Biden and other top administration officials should step down.

It should be noted, back in 2019, she said the American people were ready to end the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCIA BLACKBURN (R-TN): The American people are war weary. They want this settled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Missouri Senator Josh Hawley also called on Biden to resign.

Last April, he tweeted that the president should pull troops out of Afghanistan by May 1st of this year, as if it would have been less chaotic back in May.

President Biden should expect some of this criticism. That is politics. But it's the knee-jerk immediacy of this political attacks that stands out.

This wasn't Monday morning quarterbacking. That would have meant waiting until the next morning. No, this is Monday morning exploitation, and it's shameful.

Much has been written about President Biden's handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and whether there was adequate planning for this exit from America's longest war.

Or whether it was a good idea to work with the Taliban or whether it was smart to go through with the peace deal brokered by the Trump administration. All important questions.

As Biden said, the buck stops with him. He's the president.

But there used to be a time and place for politics after so much blood shed.

So many times, we hear politicians simply offer thoughts and prayers. Well, if there ever was a moment for just thoughts and prayers, this was it.

The tweets, the statements, this time should've been about putting the troops first with thoughts and prayers.

Thoughts and prayers for the Marines and other servicemembers who died Thursday. Thoughts and prayers for their families. Thoughts and prayers for the troops leaving Afghanistan as we speak. Thoughts and prayers for the Afghan people and for this country.

Just imagine, just this once, if we simply offered our thoughts and prayers.

Give it some thought. Pray on it.

And now, meet CNN's Hero this week, Jeff Feingold.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF FEINGOLD, CNN HERO: Food stamps cannot be used to purchase basic items like soap and toothpaste and other items. These things are so simple, they're not always things that you think about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have shampoo. Lots of deodorant.

FEINGOLD: These items not only keep one clean and healthy and safe, but they also keep one confident and feeling dignified. So that they can go out there and be their best selves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've always been a worker since I was 14. So I feel food that someone's finally taking care of me. I'm feeling valued. I feel like someone knows I'm worth it.

I'm a little emotional right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: To see Jeff's full story and how he's helping those in need, go to CNNheroes.com.

[15:49:26]

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: China is not happy with the U.S. intelligence report on the origins of COVID-19. The Chinese embassy in Washington says the inconclusive report is, quote, "fabricated" and, quote, "not scientifically credible."

CNN's Alex Marquardt explains what was in that report.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Jim, the U.S. Intelligence Community says that it has not come to a conclusion about the origins of COVID-19.

On Friday, the office of the director of National Intelligence released a brief summary of the key findings of a classified report ordered back in May by President Joe Biden.

The Intelligence Community had 90 days to pore over all the intelligence they could find as well as work with outside experts and foreign partners to answer this question of where the virus originated.

But they came to no conclusion and said only that they all agree there are two possibilities. That the virus leaked from the Wuhan lab or jumped naturally from an animal to a human in the wild. Four U.S. agencies supported the hypothesis with a low level of

confidence that it was naturally occurring in the wild, the report says.

[15:55:04]

While one intelligence agency has a moderate level of confidence that it leaked from the Wuhan lab.

Other agencies felt they didn't have enough information to make a good assessment.

Now, what we got on Friday from the Intelligence Community was barely two pages, those key findings of that classified report.

And one thing they did assess was that the virus was not a Chinese bioweapon. And most agencies agree that the virus has not been genetically modified.

But they say, without more cooperation from China and more information from the Chinese and Beijing, the Intelligence Community won't be able to provide a more definitive explanation -- Jim?

ACOSTA: Thank you, Alex.

Now to Florida and a critical decision in the debate over masks in Florida schools.

A judge has struck down Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' ban on mask mandate in schools, saying the state did not have the constitutional authority to issue a blanket mandatory ban.

This, as Florida reported over 151,000 new infections this week, the most in any seven-day period since the pandemic began.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is in Tallahassee, the state capital.

Polo, how has the governor responded there?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He is vowing that he will be filing an appeal after this order that was issued by a judge here that effectively blocks him from preventing these mask mandates from going into place at various school districts.

We've heard from superintendents throughout the state here in Florida who say that this decision that we got just yesterday from a judge reaffirms these protocols that they put in place that are only meant to protect students and staff and try to prevent the spread of the virus.

But the governor and his team issuing a response after yesterday's ruling saying that it was, quote, "made with incoherent justifications, not based in science and facts, frankly, not even remotely focused on the merits of the case presented."

The office goes on to write they will continue to defend the law and parents' rights in Florida and will immediately appeal that ruling.

But, Jim, you just shared some of those numbers, some of those facts on the ground, 151,000 new COVID cases in the last seven days, greater than any other seven-day terms since the pandemic begin in the state of Florida.

And they just consider the hospital, behind me, Tallahassee Memorial Health Care, right now seeing the most patients they have seen in a very long time.

It's really a heartbreaking situation here. Just yesterday, they lost three patients. In January, they saw maybe roughly 41 COVID patients. Now that number is about 135 on average.

And I do want to share this conversation that I had with a hospital official here just today, Jim.

The situation so heartbreaking right now that many of those doctors, many of those nurses are referring to some of these patients that are the sickest of the sick as the, quote, "The talking dead."

I asked why? And the answer is also really heartbreaking here. That's because that refers to some of those patients whose lungs are so heavily damaged by this virus that they can no longer breathe on their own.

But here's the thing. Those are patients who are still awake right now, who are still conscious.

So they are having these very difficult conversations with their doctors and their nurses and facing that very tough reality that, if that life-sustaining equipment that's breathing for them is removed, as this hospital official described it for me, they could be dead in a matter of minutes.

That really does speak to the heartbreak of what's happening in many of these hospitals throughout the Sunshine State.

ACOSTA: Yes, it's a devastating situation, what we're seeing there in Florida right now. Very interesting developments.

Polo Sandoval, thanks so much for that reporting. We appreciate it.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ACOSTA: And you are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

She is already getting stronger. We're talking about Hurricane Ida. Hurricane Ida is now a category 2 hurricane with winds of 100 miles per hour.

Expected to slam into the Louisiana coast as a major category 4 storm tomorrow. That's right, category 4 storm tomorrow. That's the exact same date Hurricane Katrina made landfall 16 years ago. The National Weather Service warns Ida could pack a storm surge up to

15 feet and winds as strong as 150 miles per hour, which could leave some locations, quote, "uninhabitable" for weeks or even months. A situation all too familiar for Katrina survivors.

Even though New Orleans' infrastructure, officials say, is better this time around and more prepared than it was for Hurricane Katrina, don't get complacent. This storm could be stronger than Katrina, which made landfall as a category 3 storm.

The urgent messages from officials are loud and clear: This is going to be serious.

If you're leaving, they say, do it before the clock strikes midnight. As you can see in this video right here, traffic is already backing up on the way out of the New Orleans.

[15:59:54]

And if you're staying, officials are saying prepare for the fact that first responders can't help for the first -- get this -- 72 hours. They are saying you are on your for 72 hours potentially if you hunker down and ride out this storm.

CNN's Derek Van Dam is on the ground for us in Louisiana.