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Two High-Profile ISIS Targets Killed In U.S. Drone Strike; Ida Likely To Be "Extremely Dangerous" Hurricane When It Hits Louisiana; U.S. Embassy Issues Security Alert At Kabul Airport Due To A "Specific, Credible Threat" At Multiple Areas; Biden: Another Kabul Attack "Highly Likely In Next 24-36 Hours"; Nurses In Mississippi Battle Burnout, Staffing Shortages. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired August 28, 2021 - 21:00   ET

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

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[21:00:27]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN HOST: Good evening. You're live in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Right now, we are following major developments on two significant fronts, first hurricane either rapidly intensifying in the Gulf barreling toward the Louisiana coast expected to make landfall tomorrow as an extremely dangerous category four hurricane, 16 years to the day that Hurricane Katrina hit that state.

The National Hurricane Center warning some areas could see storm surges of up to 15 feet. Louisiana's governor warns that Ida will be one of the strongest hurricanes to hit that date since at least the 1850s. And the clock is ticking. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS (D-LA): What we're telling people is you just have a few more hours really to prepare because early tomorrow morning, we're going to have the weather degrade rather rapidly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: And this news breaking just in to CNN, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan has just moments ago, issued a security threat telling all U.S. citizens in the vicinity of the Kabul airport to leave the area immediately. This is due to a specific and credible threat.

And it comes just hours after a troubling new warning from President Biden on that front, the president saying his commanders are telling him that another terrorist attack in the Kabul airport is quote highly likely in the next 24 to 36 hours.

And this follows the Pentagon confirming that two high profile ISIS-K targets were killed in a drone strike overnight, retaliation for Thursday's suicide attack that killed 13 U.S. servicemembers and at least 170 others. The deadline for U.S. forces to leave the country rapidly approaches as evacuations continue through all of this. So clearly, there's a lot of breaking news to get to tonight, war in Afghanistan in a moment.

Let's get the latest on hurricane Ida in the path. Tom Sater joins us from the CNN weather center, a cat four tomorrow.

TOM SATER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Very possible and looking like that, Poppy. In fact, it's still a category two, but we're getting valuable data right now that's coming in from reconnaissance aircraft that are in the system now. The National Hurricane Center will decipher that information and give it to us in the 11:00 p.m. advisory. Hurricane force winds only extend outward from the center at 30 miles.

The tropical storm force winds extend outward 125. That's pretty much like we had with Henri last week. However, we are finding that the data coming in, the pressure is dropping, which means the winds are going to pick up and we are looking intensification. Landfall around midday tomorrow expected as a category four. But the angle approach means everything, it's going to drop a lot of rainfall possibly slow in its movement, and then pick up and by Wednesday, it's in West Virginia.

Tropical storm force winds move in around 5:00 in the morning, it'll continue through the parish in Louisiana, and then by the afternoon spreading across several states in the southeast. The circulation of this is very important where this eye is according to where we're going to find it in reference to New Orleans, and that all important corridor between New Orleans and up toward Baton Rouge.

This could give us catastrophic wind damage where the winds could be even stronger than Katrina when it moved in as a category three. We've got the warnings for surge that go well inland, we're talking several miles inland. And of course, with that high surge, we're also going to be finding that heavy rain trying to flow outward through the rivers and that it is going to impede its process. So the water is just going to build up. And these rain totals are, you know, 10, 15, even over 20 inches.

HARLOW: Can I ask you though, Tom, I mean, it's just remarkable and tragic that this is happening 16 years to the day that Katrina hit.

SATER: Yes.

HARLOW: Can you talk about the similarities, maybe differences of the two storms, but also how much better prepared the region is now, right?

SATER: Yes, I'm glad you brought that up because we've had some graphics prepare to talk about this. Now, I think what Katrina did for all of us as well as Superstorm Sandy is really just unveil our vulnerabilities.

HARLOW: Yes.

SATER: You know, the sea walls, the levees, the pumping systems. You know, Ida, before it was even named tropical storm, the National Hurricane Center had a beat on this. Where it was going Louisiana and the intensity, Katrina had a much longer life cycle. And at one point, Katrina got to a category five, which means it had a lot more water underneath it and it carried that wall of water all the way into New Orleans.

Also, the wind field was much broader than Ida like four and five times. But when it comes to landfall, if we have a category four compared to a category three, there are differences. And this one's mainly with the winds. And again, it could knock out power for weeks. And that's not including all the inundation of the surge and of course, the floodwaters with the heavy rainfall and the hours that will proceed.

HARLOW: Tom Sater, thank you to you and your team for staying on top of this. We'll get back to you in just a moment.

[21:05:03]

Now let's go to Jason Carroll. He's in Houma, Louisiana near where Ida is expected to make landfall. Again, Jason, tomorrow as a category four and look the warning from state officials has been if you're going to get out, you've got to get out really in the next three, four hours.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right absolutely, Poppy, because time is running out. And if you look at where we are right now here in Houma, Houma, according to many emergency officials expected to be ground zero of this hurricane. And basically, right now it's pretty much of a ghost town. We've seen a number of boarded of that building, some buildings with sandbags in front of the front doors, and that's exactly what our emergency officials want to see out here.

Houma is under a mandatory evacuation. Some 34,000 residents live in Houma. They are telling these residents it is for your own safety to get out. I spoke to the sheriff a little while ago, he predicts that anywhere between 60 and he says perhaps maybe as high as 80 percent of the people who live in Houma and in the surrounding area have more than likely evacuated. Certainly 80 percent would be a high number but certainly not all of the people that we have found said they want to leave.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: And so you're not going to it. You're not going to evacuate. Do you have any concerns about stay?

JESSICA DUPRE, HOUMA, LOUISIANA RESIDENT: Tornadoes and the wind damage. I'm more worried about what we're going to come home to wanting to go down that way. Because we probably -- if they have any bad damage here, we have nothing.

CARROLL: Is there anything that anyone can say to convince you to evacuate?

DUPRE: Are you trying me now? Because I ain't going to go any state, I'm scared.

CARROLL: You're more scared of the -- DUPRE: I'm more scared in the interstate than staying in a house right here?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: So again, Poppy, emergency officials say this is going to be a severe wind event. This is going to be a severe flooding event, severe water event. That's why you've got the governor, you've got the sheriff saying, time is running out if you're going to leave the time is now. Poppy?

HARLOW: I hope people heed this warning. Jason, thank you so, so much. Well, New Orleans, it's about 50 miles east of Houma, where Jason is. Hurricane Ida not expected to hit the city directly. But look, it's so close. Officials are urging residents to take this threat seriously as anticipate big flooding, damaging winds up to 110 miles an hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR LATOYA CANTRELL (D), NEW ORLEANS: What I'm told is that this storm in no way will be weakening. There will be and there are no signs, again, that this storm will weaken. And there's always an opportunity for the storm to strengthen. As you know, this continues to remain a very fluid situation. And we know again, the time is not on our side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Let me bring in Collin Arnold, the director of the New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. Thank you, Sir, for being with me. I know how busy you are tonight. And I'd like -- I'd like to start with what you would say to someone like Jessica, who you just heard being interviewed by Dr. Jason Carroll, who said, look, I'm more scared of the interstate than I am of staying in my home unless someone comes and gets me I'm staying here.

COLLIN ARNOLD, DIRECTOR, NEW ORLEANS OFFICE OF HOMELAND SECURITY & EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS: I mean, that's a difficult call. Everyone has to make a decision, you know, based on what they believe there is the most responsible thing to do. OK. We have given the option as a voluntary evacuation.

If in your situation, you think that, especially if you're medically dependent, if you have medical issues, if you think that moving out of here, going out away from the city is a better place for you and yours, I think that's a wise decision.

We also think and we have confidence based on what we're hearing from the state from our levee board partners from the Army Corps of Engineers and from the weather service that, you know, our hurricane storm damage risk reduction system has been heavily invested in since Katrina. And that, you know, in this storm, given the circumstances and the timeline that we were given this sheltering in place is an alternative.

But if you're going to do that, you need to be prepared. You need to do it now. You need to be in your homes by midnight.

HARLOW: And how do you prepare for what the National Weather Service just worn today could be a situation where for weeks or months, that's actually what they said, you know, some areas of your state could be uninhabitable.

ARNOLD: Certainly, it's an issue. My main concern for the city is power outages and longer-term power outages, damage to the power infrastructure. We also, you know, have a unique relationship with water in this city.

You know, given that our geography is below sea level, you know, I think that, you know, we can sustain the drainage for the amount of rain that is being projected unless that rain is occurring within a very short time period, but I don't think there's system design that can do that. So, we're going to fight this as best we can.

[21:10:05]

HARLOW: What has changed structurally, since Katrina is it makes you more able to handle storms like this.

ARNOLD: I mean, obviously, the investment made by the American taxpayer in the hurricane and storm risk reduction system $15 billion in just the flood control structures that are unlike any other structures in the United States and really rival in some of the world. We have protection that we did not have in 2005. But I would say that people have asked me a lot about August 29th. And what it means to me I was here. The city has changed in its way of being resilient and its way of being prepared.

You know, people take this seriously. We saw people out getting sandbags. We've seen people in the store, stocking up getting their 72 hours-worth of supplies. You know, the streets are extremely quiet right now, there was a lot of people on the roads moving out, people, you know, they'll always remember August 29th. But they'll also take lessons from that, I believe, moving on into the future and including tomorrow.

HARLOW: One thing we always are warned of as we cover hurricanes is that there becomes a point where emergency personnel can't go out. If you have stayed or you have not heated evacuation warnings, they can't come. And I just wonder if you'd like to reiterate that to people who think I don't need to listen to some of these warnings because someone will come for me if I need it.

ARNOLD: It's the toughest thing for a first responder to be told not to go help someone because that's what they're trained to do. But it's exactly what happens when those winds are sustained at 30, 40 miles an hour. It is not safe. It's not safe to be in a vehicle. It's not safe to be in a fire truck or an ambulance in particular because of the size of those vehicles that we can't come to you.

And so there will be a point and it may be six hours, eight hours where right it will be very difficult to get to you and people need to remember that. HARLOW: Collin Arnold, director of the New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, thank you and good luck to your team tonight, tomorrow, and the coming days.

ARNOLD: Thank you.

HARLOW: Also, the current President Biden warns another terror attack on the Kabul airport is highly likely in the next 24 to 36 hours, this as U.S. servicemembers remain there on the ground. Plus, two high profile ISIS targets were killed in a retaliatory strike by the United States. The President says that will not be the last one, a live update ahead.

We're also keeping a very close eye on Hurricane Ida all night. The governor of Louisiana says it will be the most powerful storm to hit his state since the 1850s. Stay with us.

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[21:16:24]

HARLOW: Breaking just moments ago, a new security alert from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. It is warning all U.S. citizens in the vicinity of the Kabul airport to leave immediately. This is due to what they are calling a quote specific and credible threat.

Our team is following the latest developments in Washington and overseas. Let's begin with CNN senior international correspondent Sam Kiley, in Doha, Qatar. Tell us more about why the embassy is saying that's just again minutes ago.

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But once again, the embassy have put out this message to U.S. citizens but more broadly to anybody who might be able to receive the information that they have a specific threat, a clear and present danger, if you like, a threat against the passenger terminals at the airport.

This follows warnings from the U.S. President and earlier on in the day from the intelligence community more widely, essentially they're saying, get away from the airport, we believe that somebody is coming to do something bad, very, very bad at the airport. So this is the sort of pressure that U.S. forces have been working under anyway. But it is now narrowed down to a much more dangerous more immediate emergency message coming out from the U.S. Embassy, Poppy.

And this of course going on at a time when they're still trying to get people into the airport mostly by covert means because the gates have all been officially closed, the passenger gates to allow people in. There have been large, not -- much fewer people arriving at the airport but still getting out in relatively large numbers 2,600 in the previous 24-hour reporting period. Since then, they've been a few 100. I'm not exactly sure yet, of the figures. But more than 1,000 British troops have been moved out.

The Brits have shut down their operation. Taliban resorting to shooting in the air and quite violent means of crowd control, all of this coming at a time when the U.S. forces as they withdraw are at their most vulnerable because their numbers are falling as they pack up and get their personnel and material onto aircraft and flying them out, Poppy.

HARLOW: Just remembering they're still on the ground to protect people as they evacuated Afghanistan despite the attack and despite this threat. Sam Kiley, thank you for your reporting in Doha.

As the Tuesday deadline to withdraw approaches, President Biden is vowing Friday's drone attack targeting ISIS-K is quote, not the last. Let's go to the White House. Our John Harwood is there. John, good evening to you. How imminent, do you have a sense of how imminent more U.S. strikes maybe?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, the President of the United States couldn't have been more direct today, put out a statement saying that his commanders have advised him, it is highly likely that there will be another attack within the next 24 to 36 hours. Of course, you just heard from Sam about the more specific credible threat tonight that's led to an immediate depart from the airport request from the U.S. Embassy.

Now while this is going on, evacuations have slowed, but they haven't stopped, 2,000 in the last 12 hours according to White House officials, a total of 113,000 since August 14th. That's an astounding number. And what we've seen from the President in the last 24 hours since that suicide attack is an attempt to communicate two qualities. One is resolved to complete this mission on Tuesday. And the second is determination to hit back on those who hit U.S. forces, took the lives of 13 U.S. troops injured many others and killed tens of thousands of Afghans.

[21:20:02]

Here's the President of the United States statement this afternoon. I said we would go after the group responsible for the attack on our troops and innocent civilians in Kabul, and we have. This strike will not be the last. We will 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. That will never be in doubt.

Bottom line, Poppy, we've got a very, very tense couple of days ahead of us before that August 31st deadline, if in fact, U.S. troops are able to pack up and leave complete their mission by then and depart on schedule.

HARLOW: Yes, we hope so. John Harwood, thank you very much. The White House says from 3:00 in the morning to 3 o'clock this afternoon, 2,000 people were evacuated from Kabul. Let's get to our Oren Liebermann. He's at the Pentagon for more on the evacuation mission. I think the latest number I saw Oren was about 350 Americans remaining in Afghanistan. Is that the case still? And is there a sense there going, anyone who wants to leave is going to be able to still?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: About 300, 350 American citizens who want to get out and that is a key qualifier, because the administration has said there are some who have chosen to stay in Afghanistan. Look, they're only three days left of evacuation efforts here. If the U.S. doesn't wind up even sooner, that would be Sunday.

And it's already Sunday morning in Afghanistan, Monday and Tuesday, as Sam pointed out, look, this may involve at some point covert operations or helicopters going out into Kabul, perhaps even beyond though, that's incredibly dangerous to bring American citizens to the airport, where it's the evacuation point.

I've been tracking flights on some flight tracking website. And you can see the effort continues. There's a C17 that's on the ground now at Kabul airport, at least one that just arrived as well as two that were in the air around Kabul airport. That's not only the effort of the Afghanistan evacuation that's winding down, but also the troop withdrawal that must now scale up to get all U.S. forces and equipment that are going to come home.

There's also the question of is some equipment going to be destroyed? Depending on I said, that's very much a possibility. There were as many as 5,800 U.S. troops at the airport. We know several 100 have already left. And there will be some, that was quite a few days ago at this point already.

The last numbers coming out depending on isn't expected give an update because security is key. And they're not about the broadcast, how many troops are left there given what is a very dangerous environment around the airport.

HARLOW: Given what just happened to them. Oren, thank you very much for the reporting. And on that note tonight, the families of 13 Americans serving in Afghanistan are suffering deeply. They are mourning the loss of their loved ones killed in the Kabul airport attack. They were sons, they were daughters, they were brothers and sisters, and they were all so young, all of them putting their lives on the line to save the lives of others leaving behind a legacy of selflessness.

Tonight, we learned their names and we remember who they were in and out of uniform. Marine Lance Corporal Rylee McCollum was just 20 years old. He was from Jackson, Wyoming. He was going to become a dad for the first time in a matter of weeks.

Rylee's sister tells us he wanted to be a marine his whole life so much so that even as a toddler in diapers carried around a toy rifle, and cowboy boots. His father tells the New York Times Rylee was a beautiful soul, tough as nails with a heart of gold, someone who could not stand injustice, someone who would stand up for those bullied in his class.

Corporal Daegan Page wanted to be alignment once his marine enlistment was over. His family says the 23-year-old was also an animal lover with a soft spot in his heart for dogs. Navy hospitalman Maxton Soviak was just 22. According to his parents when Maxton was telling them goodbye, his mom Rachel, told him to be safe. And he said, don't worry, mom. My guys got me they won't let anything happen to me. Maxton has survived by his parents and 12 brothers and sisters.

Twenty-two-year-old Marine Corporal Hunter Lopez grew up in Southern California both of his parents worked for the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. Lopez reportedly planned on following in his parents footsteps and becoming a Riverside County Sheriff's deputy after he got home.

Marine Corps Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz was just 20 years old. His father says his whole world was the Marine Corps. Jared's dad also says he was particularly close to his nine-year-old special needs sister who quote, worshipped the ground that Jared walked on.

Marine Corps Sergeant Nicole Gee was a 23-year-old. She was from Sacramento, California. And just six days before the deadly attack the attack that took her life, the Defense Department posted this photo on social media that was taken from her Instagram count, look at that. There she is holding a little baby. And the caption from her, I love my job.

[21:25:07]

Thirty-one-year-old Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Darin Hoover of Salt Lake City, Utah. He actually went by his middle name Taylor. Just tonight his father told CNN he remembers his son, as quote the best son that two parents could ever ask for describing him as someone who always stepped up to defend the little guy. His sister Tory says I'd give anything to speak with him one more time.

These are the other service members who lost their lives and as we wait to learn more about them and we will share more about them with you as soon as we know more, we want to recognize their sacrifice, 25- year-old Marine Corps Sergeant Johanny Rosariopichardo of Lawrence Massachusetts, 20-year-old Marine Corps Lance Corporal David Espinoza of Rio Bravo, Texas, 20-year-old Marine Corps Lance Corporal Dylan Merola of Rancho Cucamonga, California, 20-year-old Marine Corps Lance Corporal Kareem Nikoui of Norco, California, 23-year-old Army Staff Sergeant Ryan Knauss of Corryton, Tennessee, and finally 22-year-old Marine Corporal Humberto Sanchez of Logansport, Indiana. They were all so young. We remember them. We honor them. And we grieve with their families tonight.

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[21:30:16]

HARLOW: Back to our continuing coverage of Hurricane Ida, which is gaining a lot of strength by the hour and powering toward the Gulf Coast. The governor of Louisiana warns Ida will be one of the strongest storms to hit anywhere in the state going back to the 1850s. And the National Weather Service says that this storm could make some places in southeastern Louisiana uninhabitable for weeks or even months.

Tom Sater joins us from the CNN Weather Center. Tom, what is the forecast? And then also, can you explain how that wouldn't be possible weeks or months of places made uninhabitable by this storm? TOM SATER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, if we get these winds at the core that are sustained at 130, Poppy, those are just the sustained winds and then you toss in the wind gusts. So power outage just from the winds alone. We're talking roofs blown off buildings, we're talking windows have been blown out uprooted trees, power lines. I mean, yes, we could be without power for weeks. And we're not even talking about all the debris from inundation.

Now, we're going to see this landfall as a hurricane, that would means four of the last five hurricanes in the U.S. have hit Louisiana. This is also most likely, as expected, is going to be a major hurricane once it gets a category 3. The last two major hurricanes where else, Louisiana. We had Laura and we had Zeta. Together, $20 billion in economic losses. This is going to be a multi, multi-billion-dollar disaster.

We just want everybody safe. I hope they've left areas such as the south and Plaquemines Parish. I'm concerned about Grand Isle. And now we're moving the system into the some of the warmest waters on our planet, it's going from regular, you know, unleaded fuel to the highest octane that you can get. Sometimes these smaller compact storms can provide more of a punch like a real Cannonball than some of the larger ones.

But we're going to watch this wind profile. We're getting data now and at 11:00 p.m. advisory, we'll be able to share better track where landfall will be still looking at midday. But that puts the strongest winds on that eastern flank for areas such as New Orleans up toward Baton Rouge.

Let's hope on the western side, even though they'll be slightly less still, you know, good 100 miles per hour, it stays away from Lake Charles. So many, so many vulnerable homes with a tarp still on thousands of homes in many stolen FEMA trailers.

It's still going to be quite strong as it makes its way all the way up into the border. In fact, into areas of Tennessee, we could still have a tropical storm and then it makes its way over West Central Tennessee. We don't want any more flooding there. That's west of Nashville. So a lot to talk about. Tornado watches most likely will be posted probably by morning, but we'll have much more coming up in the next half hour, Poppy.

HARLOW: OK, Tom, thank you so much for staying on it. We'll get back to very soon.

Let me bring in Jennifer Pipa, she is the Vice President of Disaster Programming for the American Red Cross. Thank you so much for being here tonight. But even more so far what your teams are doing right now to help prepare, what is your key message to anyone in the path of the storm tonight?

JENNIFER PIPA, V.P. OF DISASTER PROGRAMS, AMERICAN RED CROSS: So the key message is, if your local officials have told you to evacuate, you should be evacuating. The window for leaving safely and getting to a place where you can ride out the storm in a safe and secure environment is closing quickly. And so, if you choose to evacuate, call 211, go to redcross.org or download our emergency app, find the nearest shelter locations and seek refuge there.

And if you're going to go, bring some comfort items, bring your pillow, your blankets and toys for your children, but also make sure that you're taking care of your pets. You're bringing your medication and any important documentation along with that. But evacuate now, and don't wait any longer.

HARLOW: You were active in the Red Cross aid and assistance and recovery in the wake of Katrina. And it's just -- it is just a tragic irony that this storm is hitting on the 16th anniversary of Katrina, which is tomorrow. What are the lessons learned from that? I mean, obviously, because of the big investment, a lot of the infrastructure is now different. Better to handle a storm like this. But what are the lessons from then?

PIPA: So I think some of the complexities we saw with Katrina, when you evacuate a major metropolitan city and fly clients all over the U.S. to make sure that they're taken care of, that is a massive undertaking. And we've spent the last 16 years learning every single time we respond, how we can do something better, how we can do it quicker, how we work in collaboration with local and government partners.

And what we've learned is this is a whole community that has to respond. The Red Cross plays a critical role, but so does everybody else and there's enough space at the table for everybody to step forward and help these impacted communities.

HARLOW: The warning from the National Weather Service is what really struck me most tonight. I think that isn't that they said, look, because you've got up to 15 feet of storm surge up to 150 mile per hour winds projected, there are parts of -- the eastern parts of the state that they say could be uninhabitable for weeks, maybe months.

[21:35:07]

So if that turns out to be the case, let's hope it's not but that means that the work of the Red Cross is going to persist here for a long time after this storm.

PIPA: Absolutely, Poppy. And unfortunately, it's something we have a lot of experience with, even with Hurricane Laura last year. We kept folks in shelters for months afterwards because it wasn't safe to return. There isn't an infrastructure there for them to go back to. So we know already. We're going to be there for the next three to six months most likely, post-landfall making sure that these communities are being taken care of.

HARLOW: Any final messages to anyone listening tonight? I mean, I know we've already heard from people in the state really torn. Do I stay in my house? Do I go on the interstate? I'm nervous to leave, what do I do?

PIPA: Yes. I think if you can evacuate, do so. If you can't, there's some really important things, use flashlights not candles. One of the other things we see is do not bring in outdoor cooking appliances. Do not bring in propane grills or heaters. Leave those on the patio, secure them during the storm, but then move them out to your driveway to cook. It's something we see happen a lot, people bring items in and it's quite dangerous.

And then if you do evacuate, wait until the officials tell you it's safe to come back. There's power lines down, there'll be sewage and floodwaters. It is not safe to return until local officials tell you it is.

HARLOW: Jennifer Pipa with the American Red Cross, thank you so much.

PIPA: Thanks, Poppy.

HARLOW: We are following significant breaking news tonight. Out of Afghanistan, a security alert just issued at the Kabul airport due to a specific and credible threat. President Biden continuing to be brief tonight. What will this mean for those final few hundred Americans who want to be evacuated? We will get insights from a retired lieutenant general next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:40:34]

HARLOW: The U.S. Embassy has issued a security alert just moments ago for the Kabul airport, quote, due to a specific credible threat at multiple areas. They have told Americans to leave the Kabul airport immediately. The President tonight again being briefed on the developments in Afghanistan. The White House posted this photo of the President's national security team briefing him on Afghanistan earlier today.

Officials say he's receiving regular briefings on the mission. In the Instagram posts, President Biden writes, "The situation on the ground continues to be extremely dangerous and the threat of terror attacks on the airport remains high. Our commanders inform me that an attack is highly likely in the next 24 to 36 hours".

Let me bring in CNN Military Analyst, Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling. He is the former Army Commanding General of Europe and the Seventh Army. Good evening. Thank you for being here.

General, a couple what the President said highly likely that there's an attack on the airport in Kabul in the next 24 to 36 hours with what the U.S. Embassy in Kabul just said, which is essentially Americans get out there is a, quote, specific, credible threat. How do you handle that on the ground when all of those Americans and our Afghan allies are desperate to get out, now they're being told to leave and our troops are there are trying to facilitate their evacuation?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, it's extremely difficult, Poppy, especially in the final phases of what is being conducted, the mission, which is a non-combatant evacuation operation, a NEO. What I think we're probably seeing, I'm going to guess on this because I've had this experience many times in combat, is after the strike last night, a lot of chatter came up within the ISIS-K network.

And because of that chatter, whether it was signals intelligence that picked it up, or satellite intelligence, you could see the movement around after that planner had been struck with the UAV targeting, that others are thinking we've got to get the Americans before they get out, we got to execute a toll against them.

But right now, what you're talking about is there's limited -- there are limited numbers of evacuees going in the airport. That's what happens at this phase of the NEO operation. Because we're reducing the number of evacuees, the Afghans, the American citizens, and we're increasing the outflow of military equipment and the military to end the NEO by the 31st of August. You're going to see that probably change again tomorrow, where it's almost going to be -- almost exclusively military outflow.

And even that has some really dangerous situations involved because you're getting, you know, you're transporting the military out, and at the same time trying to secure the airfield. So while there won't be the crushed to the gates, because I would bet the gates were all closed right now --

HARLOW: Yes, they are.

HERTLING: -- and their special entries -- a special entry through buses, a terrorist attack could certainly go against those buses, bringing in evacuees as well, if they get the right intelligence of when they're moving and where they're coming in. So it is certainly the most dangerous time of this evacuation. I've been saying that from the beginning. The last three days are the toughest time of any kind of NEO operation.

HARLOW: We just saw overnight for the first time, the first test of what President Biden is calling this new over the horizon strategy and capability, which is we're getting off the ground, and we're going to attack those like ISIS-K, who claimed responsibility for the attack on our troops there, from the air with drones with our missiles, et cetera.

How effective can that be in preventing Afghanistan from coming -- becoming once again and breeding ground for terrorists on a much larger scale when you don't have the intelligence on the ground anymore?

HERTLING: Well, there will still be some intelligence on the ground. I won't talk about where that is or how --

HARLOW: Right.

HERTLING: -- it's operating. But certainly there are going to be some human intelligence continuing to work the ground in Afghanistan. Additionally, though, you have the overhead platforms, the satellites, the aeroplanes, the kinds of things that search for target and listen to signals that come about. [21:45:03]

But make no mistake about it, the -- over the horizon capability is going to be limited against key targets. You know, it's not something that you can mass 20 attacks a day or even 10 attacks a day, you're going to have to look for the key targets like a planner, like a leader, like a financial network kingpin, something like that. But, you know, when you're talking about over the horizon, it just takes looking at a map of Afghanistan --

HARLOW: Yes.

HERTLING: -- seeing the countries around it. Russia, China, Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, the Gulf of Oman, it's tough to get any kind of --

HARLOW: Yes.

HERTLING: -- overhead platform and to get a strike. And that's what makes an over the horizon capability very difficult.

HARLOW: Yes. What is also striking to me, and I think a lot of people is that ISIS-K is an enemy of the United States, obviously, but also of the Taliban.

HERTLING: Yes.

HARLOW: Does this present a scenario where the U.S. and the Taliban coordinate against ISIS-K? And how would that work?

HERTLING: You know, that's the key question today. But it's not just ISIS-K, there are several other terrorist groups. There's TTP, there's Islamic Jihad. There's all sorts of terrorist gangs, if you will, throughout Afghanistan, all battling not only the Taliban, but also some of the local warlords who were also battling the Taliban. So it is just a Star Wars bar scene of a lot of people wanting to fight each other.

Will we establish some kind of diplomatic effort with the Taliban? I don't see that happening yet. But I certainly see the potential for gaining intelligence through the Taliban or agents of the Taliban. It's too complex to talk about how that might work. But I think some of the engagements and the cooperation we've had with the Taliban at the gates could lead, could lead -- I'm not saying it should or will -- but could lead to increased dynamics of cooperation.

HARLOW: Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, thank you for your expertise, especially in a night like this.

HERTLING: Yes, thank you, Poppy.

HARLOW: I had a life or death situation in parts of the South hospitals already pushing capacity limits from treating COVID patients, you know, bracing for a storm that could cut critical life support from some. We'll talk about it next.

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[21:51:16]

HARLOW: Mississippi is also seeing potentially deadly threats on two fronts tonight from a possible category 4 hurricane on the outside and from COVID-19 on the inside. Mississippi is one of the least vaccinated states when you look at the total population. And the raging Delta variant is keeping its hospitals full, too full.

Hospitalizations are hitting new highs. Just a few ICU beds left in the state and now another shortage. The stress of the deadly pandemic has driven many nurses to quit.

Our Erica Hill introduces us to a Mississippi ICU nurse who has hit her breaking point and resigned only to go right back into the battle.

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ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Ocean Springs, Mississippi, the ICU is full.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need tubing and another call for you.

HILL (voice-over): Every patient here battling COVID, every one of them on the ventilator. 15 miles east, it's the same story. The nursing staff at a breaking point.

NICOLE ATHERTON, NURSE, SINGING RIVER OCEAN SPRINGS: I come in here and it's war. It's sometimes chaos.

HILL (voice-over): Just 38 percent of Mississippi's population is fully vaccinated. Along the Gulf Coast, it's even worse, hovering around 30 percent, pushing new cases and hospitalizations higher. Officials warned there aren't enough beds. But on the front lines, the focus isn't space, it's staff.

LEE BOND, CEO, SINGING RIVER HEALTH SYSTEM: There's not a bad shortage. There's a nursing shortage.

ATHERTON: We have had situations in here with COVID, with people this critical where two people start to go bad at once. And you have to decide which room you run to. That's a hard decision to make.

HILL (voice-over): The stress of those decisions of the growing number of young COVID patients and preventable death brought Nicole to a breaking point earlier this month.

HILL (on-camera): You made the decision to resign. Why?

ATHERTON: Sometimes it feels like we're fighting a losing battle.

HILL (voice-over): Yet a week after that conversation, Nicole was still in the ICU.

ATHERTON: I realized as I was saying goodbye to these nurses here that I couldn't leave them in the middle of this. HILL (voice-over): Nicole is cutting back her hours. But for now, her resignation is on hold.

BUDDY GAGER, NURSING MANAGER FOR PERSONAL CARE, SINGING RIVER OCEAN SPRINGS HOSPITAL: That's where a nurse's heart comes in, you know. You don't want to see your co-worker suffering as much as you don't want to see a patient suffer.

HILL (voice-over): While it helps, one nurse choosing to stay isn't enough. Mississippi has at least 2,000 fewer nurses than it did at the beginning of the year.

ATHERTON: It looks heroic and it looks -- but that's not what it is. It's sweaty, and hard and chaotic and bloody.

MELISSA DAVIS, NURSE, SINGING RIVER PASCAGOULA: I didn't even know really what burnout meant as a nurse until I hit COVID.

HILL (voice-over): Melissa Davis has worked in the ICU for 17 years. It's never been this bad.

DAVIS: I've seen a turnover nurses I never would have thought would have turned over because they can't take anymore.

HILL (on-camera): Do you feel that you're close to a breaking point?

GAGER: I think we're already broke.

HILL (voice-over): Burnout, stress, gruelling hours. There are multiple reasons career nurses are choosing to leave.

DR. RANDY ROTH, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, SINGING RIVER HEALTH SYSTEM: We've been seeing it probably hit a peak recently. We have over 120 nursing vacancies open right now.

HILL (voice-over): When they do, that experience is also lost.

DR. SYED ABDULLAH WAHEED, SINGING RIVER OCEAN SPRINGS: It takes years of training to get to the point where you can actually take care of a COVID patient. This is nothing like we've seen before.

HILL (voice-over): The head of Singing River Hospital System is now urging the state to use some of its $1.8 billion in COVID relief funding for retention bonuses.

[21:55:07]

BOND: We need to give them an incentive to want to stay and continue to be a nurse.

ROTH: I think every little bit helps. Do I think it's going to fix the problem? A lot of nurses have told me it's not about the money at this point. It's about, I need to recharge my battery.

HILL (voice-over): Yet with fewer staff and a surge in patients, that chance to recharge increasingly difficult to find. DAVIS: It's hard to see a 34-year-old, the family not make it. You can't describe that.

ATHERTON: To have friends, colleagues who understand that it's the only way we're all getting through this, is because we have each other.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: What a story. That was our own Erica Hill reporting.

And earlier this week, Governor Tate Reeves announced a thousand healthcare personnel will be coming to Mississippi to help fill that gap. Singing River Health System's confirm the state has committed 59 nurses both ICU and med-surge nurses and 18 respiratory therapists to its three hospitals. They're on 60-day contracts.

Hurricane Ida getting stronger as it moves closer to the Louisiana coast. People across the area evacuating ahead of the storm. We'll have all the details next.

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