Hurricane Ida. Afghanistan withdrawal. Covid-19 surge. Here's what you need to know.

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Sunday 08.29.21

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by Paul LeBlanc and Zachary B. Wolf

: Ida makes landfall in Louisiana

The extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane made landfall near Louisiana's Port Fourchon Sunday afternoon with winds of 150 mph.

Ida struck on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. It's tied as the state's most powerful storm ever with Laura from last year and the Last Island Hurricane of 1856.

Latest developments. Get real-time updates from CNN here.
Track the storm. You can follow Ida's path here.
Are you in Ida's path? Bookmark CNN's lite site for faster connectivity.
Live video. Watch this live stream of New Orleans as conditions deteriorate.

"The storm is a life-threatening storm. ... And its devastation is likely to be immense. We shouldn't kid ourselves," President Joe Biden said Sunday while getting a briefing at Federal Emergency Management Agency offices.

"And so the most important thing I can say right now is that everyone, everyone should listen to the instructions from local and state officials, just how dangerous this is. And take it seriously."

: The last days of the US in Afghanistan

This week is also poised to bring a stilted end to America's 20-year war in Afghanistan with Biden administration officials sticking to the August 31 deadline for US troop withdrawal.

The latest in Kabul. The United States carried out a defensive airstrike in the Afghan capital targeting a suspected ISIS-K suicide bomber who posed an "imminent" threat to the airport, US Central Command said Sunday.

Nine members of one family, including six children, were killed in the drone strike, a brother of one of those killed told a local journalist working with CNN. US Central Command said earlier they were assessing the possibility of civilian casualties.

The drone strike on a vehicle is the second by US forces targeting the ISIS-K terror group in the space of three days. On Saturday, the Pentagon said two "high profile" ISIS targets had been killed and another injured in a US drone strike late Friday in Jalalabad, in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, in a retaliatory strike for Thursday's attack.

Evacuations are ongoing. Roughly 250 Americans who are attempting to leave Afghanistan remain in the country, according to new figures from a State Department spokesperson on Sunday. About 50 evacuations have taken place in the last day, bringing the total number of American citizens evacuated to 5,500.

What happens after August 31? The Biden administration is committed to a "safe passage" of Americans and Afghans who helped the US government after the withdrawal deadline from Afghanistan, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday.

"August 31 is not a cliff. After August 31st, we believe that we have substantial leverage to hold the Taliban to its commitments to allow safe passage for American citizens, legal permanent residents and the Afghan allies who have travel documentation to come to the United States," Sullivan told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union."

"We will use that leverage to the maximum extent and we will work with the rest of the international community to make sure the Taliban does not falter on these commitments."

Dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base. The President watched stoically as flag-draped cases carrying the remains of American service members killed in Afghanistan returned Sunday to the United States.

In a statement on Saturday, Biden called the slain troops "heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice in service of our highest American ideals and while saving the lives of others."

"Their bravery and selflessness has enabled more than 117,000 people at risk to reach safety thus far," he said, referring to the number of people airlifted from Kabul. "May God protect our troops and all those standing watch in these dangerous days."

: Covid-19 snapshot

It's still getting worse. In 14 states, Covid-19 deaths increased by more than 50% over the past week, while another 28 states saw an uptick of at least 10%, data from Johns Hopkins University on Friday shows.

Hospitals are running out of oxygen. With the continued uptick in Covid-19 cases, there has been more demand on the oxygen supply, and hospitals cannot keep up the pace to meet those needs.

But vaccine rates are ticking up. Nationally, 52.1% of the population is fully vaccinated as of Saturday, CDC data shows.

Still, only half of US states -- plus Washington, DC -- have fully vaccinated at least 50% of their residents.
And roughly 32% of people ages 12 to 17 are fully vaccinated.
But more than 86% of those ages 12 to 17 who received a first dose would later complete their vaccinations, which is necessary for optimal protection against the Delta variant.

School mask debate rages on. Local officials, noting the spikes in Covid-19 case rates in their areas, say they're less interested in the political debate than in protecting students. As the dog days of summer transition into a new school year, these school systems are having to take on powerful GOP executives for the ability to keep their doors open.

Pandemic jobless benefits expire this week. But CNN's Tami Luhby reports why you shouldn't expect to see millions of available jobs to be filled quickly.

: What are we doing here?

We're trying to connect the dots at a time of political, cultural and economic upheaval.