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| Happy Tuesday, Daily Briefing readers! America's longest war officially ended Monday when the final U.S. soldiers left Afghanistan. President Joe Biden will address the nation Tuesday afternoon to discuss the historic event. In the South, the Gulf Coast has been left to assess the devastation of Hurricane Ida. It could be weeks until we get a scope of the destruction and damage. |
| Steve is here with Tuesday's news. |
| 🌎 New this morning: Ahead of the deadly condo collapse in Surfside, Florida, records revealed a chronically strapped code compliance division responsible for working with an outdated, unorganized building department. |
| 🏫 Five state superintendents get letters from the Biden administration: The Education Department is investigating states with bans on school mask mandates. |
| ✈ Are you traveling to Honolulu any time soon? If you are, get ready to show a COVID-19 vaccine card or a negative test at restaurants, bars and other attractions. |
| 📻 "I'm not taking it." Marc Bernier, a conservative talk radio host in Florida who opposed vaccinations, has died after a three-week fight against COVID-19. |
| 🎾 Updates from the U.S. Open in New York City: Andy Murray got angry over his opponent's excessively long bathroom break – then lost the first-round match. On the women's side, Naomi Osaka began her title defense with an impressive first-round win. |
| 🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, hear what happens next after the U.S. exit from Afghanistan. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker. |
| What else is happening today: |
Biden to address the nation after U.S. forces depart from Afghanistan |
| President Joe Biden said he will address Americans on the United States' completion of its military withdrawal from Afghanistan Tuesday afternoon as he commended the military for executing the "largest airlift in U.S. history" on Monday. "They have done it with unmatched courage, professionalism, and resolve," Biden said in a statement. "Now, our 20-year military presence in Afghanistan has ended." Twenty years after George W. Bush ordered the first B-52s to bomb al-Qaida strongholds in Afghanistan, the final C-17 cargo jet carrying troops and equipment lifted off from the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul Monday, meeting an Aug. 31 deadline to have U.S. military out of the country. |
More on the end of the war in Afghanistan |
| 🌏 "We have no illusion that any of this will be easy": With all of the soldiers now gone, security for the remaining Americans in Afghanistan will depend on diplomacy. |
| 🌏 What happened to the U.S. military equipment left behind in Afghanistan? One official said some items had been "de-militarized," essentially rendered inoperable. |
| 🌏 "This is the enjoyable moment of victory": Hours after the last U.S. military plane departed Kabul's airport, Taliban officials walked across the sole runway in a symbolic gesture of victory. |
| 🌏 Attempting to look ahead: What happens next in Afghanistan now that it is being led by the Taliban? |
| 🌏 Goodbye, Afghanistan: From George W. Bush to Joe Biden, there is no celebration as America's longest war ends, Susan Page writes. |
📸 Photo of the day: The final US soldier leaves Afghanistan 📸 |
 | | Major General Chris Donahue, commander of the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division, XVIII Airborne Corps, boards a C-17 cargo plane at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Maj. Gen. Donahue is the final American service member to depart Afghanistan; his departure closes the U.S. mission to evacuate American citizens, Afghan Special Immigrant Visa applicants, and vulnerable Afghans. | | Jack Holt, U.S. Central Command Public Affairs | |
| Maj. Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, XVIII Airborne Corps, based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was the final soldier to leave Afghanistan as U.S. troops boarded a C-17 aircraft at the Kabul airport. In the photo, Donahue is alone and stone-faced, carrying his firearm. The photo is shot through a night-vision lens, giving the scene an eerie green tint. |
| Click here for more photos from Afghanistan as the Taliban takes over. |
Ida weakens as it moves northeast; Gulf Coast left to assess devastation |
| The National Hurricane Center said Monday night Ida had weakened to a tropical depression. But the storm is still forecast to dump considerable amounts of rainfall on the Tennessee and Ohio River valleys Tuesday as it continues to move northeast. "Considerable" flash flooding in those areas and the Central/Southern Appalachians, and into the Mid-Atlantic is possible this week, the Hurricane Center reported. Meanwhile, millions in Louisiana and Mississippi have been left to deal with the devastation in Ida's destructive path. Fleets of boats and helicopters rescued hundreds trapped in southern Louisiana Monday, and repair crews rushed in to restore the power grid. More than 1 million homes and businesses were without power in Louisiana and another 90,000 in Mississippi. Two deaths have been confirmed, but Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards warned the death toll is likely to rise as search and rescue efforts expand. |
Additional coverage of Hurricane Ida |
| 🌐 "This is an area that has a lot of swampland, alligators, very dangerous conditions": A man was attacked by alligator in the flooded Louisiana waters after Ida. |
| 🌐 Hurricane Ida's strength may have seemed surprising. But it wasn't to forecasters. |
| 🌐 Catastrophic photos and video: Click here to see Hurricane Ida's path of destruction across the Gulf Coast. |
| 🌐 Going backwards: Hurricane Ida was so powerful, it reversed the flow of the Mississippi River. |
| 🌐 Want to donate or volunteer to assist those affected by Hurricane Ida? Here's how to help. |
Newsmakers in their own words: Louisiana officials fear a COVID-19 spike |
 | | Louisiana officials, including those in the office of Gov. John Bel Edwards, fear a COVID-19 spike after Ida. | | USA TODAY graphic | |
| Experts worry Hurricane Ida's impact will worsen the COVID-19 spread in Louisiana's low-lying parishes, where vaccination rates are low – in some only about a third of the population – and cases have surged to all-time highs. |
| Crowded shelters, delayed treatments and inundated hospitals and intensive care units are a recipe that put under-vaccinated communities at dire risk for more infections, experts said. As of Sunday, there were more than 2,400 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Louisiana, Gov. John Bel Edwards told The Associated Press. |
Most of South Lake Tahoe ordered to evacuate as Caldor Fire spreads |
| Flames from the growing Caldor Fire are expected to continue churning east toward the resort town of South Lake Tahoe, California, on Tuesday, a day after the city was placed under an unusual evacuation order. The popular vacation haven normally filled with summer tourists emptied out Monday as vehicles loaded with bikes and camping gear and hauling boats were stuck in gridlock traffic. The evacuation order covers almost the entire city of South Lake Tahoe and the surrounding area as the fire containment line was about 10 miles south from the lake. The Caldor Fire started Aug. 14 and has burned more than 290 square miles. It is only 15% contained and more than 600 structures have been destroyed, according to Cal Fire. |
What else people are reading: |
| 🔴 Who is Bishop Sycamore? This is what we know about the mysterious high school football team that played on ESPN over the weekend. |
| 🔵 Can Americans visit Europe this fall after EU decision? It's complicated. This is what potential international travelers need to know. |
| 🔴 "It's just a really freak, tragic accident": Rider Amadeu Campos Silva, 22, has died from injuries suffered when he was stomped on by a bull at a Professional Bull Rider's event. |
| 🔵 The latest from USA TODAY Opinion contributor Daniel Darling: I wrote about why I got a COVID vaccination. Then I was fired from my job. |
| 🔵 "This case is effectively at a standstill": Cases against 17 people charged in Jan. 6 Capitol riot are now on hold after their lawyer went missing. |
 | | John Pierce, attorney for Kyle Rittenhouse, talking about the case on Fox News | | Bruce Vielmetti / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | |
EU recommends travel restrictions tighten for Americans |
| International travelers and the travel industry on Tuesday will continue to feel the ripple effect of the European Union's decision to no longer recommend its members ease restriction on nonessential travel for Americans . The EU, reversing its guidance on the United States as the nation faces its fourth wave of COVID-19, removed the U.S. from its safe travel list Monday. However, the EU's recommendation is nonbinding and does not mean an end to European travel for American travelers. Vaccinated tourists should still be allowed to visit member states that allow vaccinated visitors. Also, individual EU members could decide to allow unvaccinated visitors. To qualify for the safe travel list again, the U.S. would need to, among other requirements, have "a stable or decreasing trend of new COVID cases" over the previous two weeks, according to the European Council. |
NFL roster cutdown day has arrived |
| It's the end of the line for many rookies and veterans, as all 32 National Football League teams must cut their rosters down to 53 players by 4 p.m. ET Tuesday. The deadline could leave as many as 27 players per team looking for work ahead of the regular season, which officially begins Thursday, Sept. 9. And while teams are sure to continue shuffling their rosters in the coming days, opportunities will be scarce as coaches and general managers set their outlook for Week 1 and beyond. Several teams have already begun cutting or releasing players, with the Detroit Lions' split from wide receiver Breshad Perriman among the most notable moves. |
ICYMI: Some of our top stories published Monday |
| ⚖ "He has no other options": An Ohio judge ordered a hospital to treat a COVID-19 patient with Ivermectin despite warnings from the CDC. |
| 🏀 "Honored you chose my face": NBA legend Reggie Miller's son marks his eighth birthday with a 'choke sign' cake. |
| 🏈 NFL preseason winners and losers: Who helped themselves the most in the league's final tune-ups before the start of the regular season? |
| The Daily Briefing is free, but several stories we link to in this edition are subscriber-only. Please support our journalism and become a USA TODAY digital subscriber today. |
| Contributing: The Associated Press |
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