in our back-to-school series, the search for three million students nationwide who haven t been to school in a year. in depth: the eviction wave. we will meet a landlord who is homeless, after her tenants stopped paying rent. heat and humidity. the 95 million americans who face extreme temperature. plus, why lake tahoe now has the worst air pollution in the country. williams sisters drop out. why two of tennis top players are skipping the u.s. open. and, the power of determination. how a wounded warrior became a paralympic medalist. this is the cbs evening news with norah o donnell, reporting from the nation s capital. o donnell: good evening to our viewers in the west and thank you for joining us. there is a lot of news tonight out of afghanistan, where the u.s. withdrawal has reached a critical phase. as the evacuation of americans and our afghan allies reaches
we have, through the state department and through our consular officers in the region around afghanistan and elsewhere, been placing phone calls to all virtually all of those who are who have registered with us, to find out, are they still in afghanistan? are they interested in leaving afghanistan? do they need help in leaving? that work has produced a significant additional set of people. o donnell: when the u.s. pulls out, will diplomats stay behind? i m not sure i want to give you a firm answer on that. there are still decisions to be made in washington about the future shape of our presence and our activities here. and, and maybe i will just leave it at that. o donnell: the question has been raised why didn t the u.s. get out americans and our afghani friends before the
touch with would be in the process of being evacuated if they re not already out of afghanistan, and they were still there yesterday. the thousand americans and the sivs and the afghan allies and that all of the others, and the groups that you and i have known for years and the afghan women s groups and the educators and engineers and government leaders and judges and lawyers, that private groups have been trying to get out. are they going to be stranded? andrea, especially after the events of today the increasing worry is yes, that they will be stranded, and i know you and i and so many of us that have served overseas have been receiving and fielding dozens and dozens of calls and requests for help falling to this category which is to say they have siv clearance. they don t have a direct tie to the u.s. government because of their work and their service over the last 20 years. they do consider themselves vulnerable. they do fear for their lives,
republican peter meijer, who flew there yesterday. they certainly took time away from what we had been planning to do that day. reporter: the two congressmen called it oversight. some of their colleagues called it a stunt. it was not, in my view, a good idea. reporter: the secretary of state insisted today that the u.s. will continue to help americans and qualified afghans get out of the country even after the u.s. military departs in six days. but he was intentionally vague, norah, about how the u.s. plans to pull that off once all the troops are gone. o donnell: nancy cordes, thank you. we want to turn now to our exclusive interview with the top u.s. diplomat in afghanistan. earlier today, we spoke with ambassador ross wilson. he s no longer at the embassy in kabul, but instead working out of that airport. we asked him about the americans still in the country. we ve been working our way through through the lists, and through the numbers.
the final days, we have just learned tonight that the u.s. military is secretly rescuing americans stuck outside of the kabul airport, using helicopters and even some ground troops. about 4,500 americans have been flown out of the country so far, and the state department now says it does have a clearer idea of how many remain, and is desperately trying to contact them. in a moment, we will speak with the top u.s. diplomat in afghanistan about what happens to americans who do not get out before the president s august 31 deadline to withdraw u.s. forces. for now, the military flights out of kabul continue. all told, more than 88,000 people have been evacuated since july. but tonight, the biggest threat to this historic evacuation is a real and immediate threat u.s. officials warning the terrorist group isis-k has the ability to attack the airport. cbs s nancy cordes is going to lead us off tonight from the white house. good evening, nancy. reporter: good evening, norah. and tonight, w