9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
After three weeks in Afghanistan,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
we join the crowds at Kabul Airport.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Now, the only way [br]out of the country.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
There is a huge block here.[br]Lots of cars.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Hundreds of people wait[br]in the blistering heat,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
hoping for a flight out.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So, we just managed[br]to get into the airport compound,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and uh, I have to say,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
it was pretty intense.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It was just, like, [br]this crush of desperate people,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and screaming children,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and women and babies,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and um, yeah.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's not often you see[br]desperation like that.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The few people that do make it

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
are exhausted and scared.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But, they are the lucky ones.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They've made it past[br]the Taliban checkpoints,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Afghan security guards,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and, finally, the airport gate.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But, they can't forget those[br]who they left behind.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We are getting out.[br]We are happy for that.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But we are heartbroken[br]for our country,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
especially those who can't get out,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
those who are stuck here.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We are really heartbroken.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Our heart bleeds for them.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
What do you feel for all the mothers,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
with young daughters who will now

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
be growing up under Taliban rule?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Pain. Lots of pain.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
[Airplane engine roars.]

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The back of a pretty long line now.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Uh, transportation is under strain,[br]they said.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Obviously, the priority

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is getting children and babies[br]out, as soon as possible.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But, I think we will probably[br]be here quite a while.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Do you work for the U. S. military?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Not military, but we are

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
working with the Ministry of Defense[br]in Afghanistan.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But we also work with[br]foreign people, too.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So you have a visa?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Yes. We have documents,[br]and a visa, too.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
As we interview this couple,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
suddenly (there are)[br]shouts behind us.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
A vehicle speeds through.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
[Car engine sputters past.]

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
That's a newborn baby.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
That just flew past,[br]in that vehicle.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
That was a newborn.[br]Did you see the baby?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It was this big.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The baby, we find out,[br]has heat stroke,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and needs treatment.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
A reminder, for these families,[br]that they are close to safety,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but not there, yet.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We stand in the blazing hot sun[br]for hours,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
everyone seeking what shelter they can.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
[Child screaming, crying.]

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Patience wearing thin.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's an agonizingly slow process,[br]but finally, we're allowed inside.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Out on the tarmac, now safe,[br]but the chaos continues.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I have been waiting for two days.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Yesterday, since 3 a. m.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Yesterday since 3 a. m.?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Yes.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Tell me what the situation was like,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
trying to get in to the airport.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It was really busy, and a lot of people

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
were just fighting, and trying to [br]make way for themselves.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But, we pushed through.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We are certainly some of[br]the very lucky ones, here.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Others, as you heard[br]from that young man,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
have been waiting for two days.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Others we saw getting turned around,[br]sent back.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Told, "you don't have the[br]appropriate paperwork."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
There is no question: [br]everybody here is doing their best.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But, it's not clear[br]if it's fast enough.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
If enough people can get out.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And how much longer they have,[br]to finish this massive operation.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I want to bring in CNN's[br]Clarissa Ward.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
She is on the phone,[br]inside the Kabul airport.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Clarissa, the Pentagon, today,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
put out several images

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that really get at the humanity,[br]the sea of humanity there,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and the compassion of

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the U. S. service members[br]at the airport.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
You saw, of course, the Marine[br]holding the baby.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Another, 'fist bumping' the child[br]going through processing.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The lines of Marines on guard,[br]directing a woman and child

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
where to go for processing.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Obviously, everyone doing[br]the best they can, as you noted.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The scene inside the perimeter,[br]strikingly different

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
than the one outside the gates.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Yeah, Jake. I mean, there is no question

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that everybody here is just [br]doing their level best

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to try to mitigate the [br]suffering and misery

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of the situation.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We also saw, I saw,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a young female soldier

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
carrying an Afghan toddler boy.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I've seen people [br]helping those in wheelchairs.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
All sorts of acts of kindness[br]and gentleness.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But, the reality is[br]that this situation

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is horrifying.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I'm looking around now,[br]at a sea of people

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
lying on the floor.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They are lying outside[br]on the gravel.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
There is nowhere [br]for them to sleep

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
other than a cardboard box.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They are cold. It's very chilly.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
There is no blanket.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The bathrooms here are [br]in a very bad state indeed.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And there is no sense[br]of how long these people

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
are going to be here.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
For over eight hours today,[br]no U. S. planes even left.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So, there is now [br]even more of a backlog,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and a bottleneck, than there was.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Is there any sense of order,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
when it comes to[br]the effort to determine

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
who gets to come into the gates,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that last perimeter[br]where the U. S. is?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And who does not?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I think, in the initial process...

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
you know, there is so many[br]nodes, along this chain...

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
initially, it's sort of like,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
who can flash a document[br]In the air,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and who can push the hardest.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Who has a young baby,[br]and something like that.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Or (who) is vulnerable,[br]and at immediate risk.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Then, as you get further[br]along the chain,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and closer to the air field,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
you go to State Department[br]processing.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And you really do have to show[br]the appropriate paperwork.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And that is where we saw

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
quite a few people[br]being turned around.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They are all sort of manually[br]escorted off the base.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It does break your heart[br]a little bit, to see that.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Because, you can imagine,[br]you know,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
you don't have all your paperwork[br]in order,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but you are still petrified [br]of the situation.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Ugh! To get that far, [br]and get in,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and still not be able to get out[br]of the country,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
after all of that.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's a heartbreak.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Jake, I'm walking outside now,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
because I am being told[br]that our birds, our flights,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
are taking off soon.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So, forgive me if I'm a little loud.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Okay. That certainly takes priority,[br]Clarissa.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We have seen images[br]of armed U. S. forces,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
along the perimeter of the airport,[br]and all week,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the Pentagon has said,[br]that U. S. troops

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
have not been involved in[br]any hostile interactions at the airport.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But, of course, any wrong move[br]could quickly change the situation.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I have to believe

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that that is one of the considerations,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
as to why U. S. service members have been

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
basically told to stay where they are,[br]within the perimeter,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
because of the real, legitimate risk[br]to service members,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
from not just the Taliban,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but any one of[br]the terrorist groups in the area.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
[Clarissa] There are so many[br]different threats, here.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So many different[br]potential scenarios,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
where things could rapidly escalate[br]to a very, very bad place.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
That's why there is[br]a lot of tension in the air.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Because everybody knows[br]that this moment cannot last.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It is going to be short-lived.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And they have got to get it right.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And they have got to get out[br]as many people as they possibly can.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Because they can't just[br]go outside the wire,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and start bringing people in manually.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
This is why the negotiations with[br]the Taliban are so important.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But the Taliban has a limit[br]to how much they will tolerate.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And a limit to how much those[br]surly, surly fighters

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
on the outer perimeter [br]will tolerate.