impact of afghanistan and the taliban takeover, hosted by the taliban -- press club. you can watch on c-span.org. you can also listen on the c-span radio app. >> c-span is your view of government, funded by these television companies and more, including media,. >> media, support c-span along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> coming up this morning, the president for the alliance of justice and the mosher institute president discussed that

abortion law and roby raid -- roe v. wade. the chief of staff to former first lady laura bush talks about the rights of girls. host: as the week ends, there are no more u.s. troops in afghanistan following tuesday's historic pullout. the rampage of hurricane ida has left dozens dead and millions without power. in texas, a new state law virtually eliminating most abortions is temporarily okayed i the u.s. supreme court. good morning. it is friday, the third of september, 2021. welcome to "washington journal." a few stories we are talking about and asking you about your top story of the week.

the afghanistan withdrawal, the supreme court decision on the texas abortion law, and the continuing effects of hurricane ida through much of the eastern half of the united states. here are the lines. (202)-748-8000 for democrats. (202)-748-8001 for republicans. independents and others, it is (202)-748-8002. send us a text, include your name and where you are texting from, at (202)-748-8003. we will look for your post on facebook and welcome your comments on twitter and instagram, the sign is, @cspanwj . you can start calling. we will catch you up on stories we talk about during the week and hear from people involved, including president biden in a moment. this is from "politico." they are reporting on the storm overnight. more than 45 dead after ida's

remnants blindside the northeast. they write that the northeast coast faces a rising death toll, river rising and ida walloped the region with record-breaking rain, drowning at least 46 in their homes and cars in a region that have been warned about potentially deadly flash flooding but had not braced for such a blow from the no longer hurricane. killed people from maryland to connecticut wednesday night to thursday morning. at least 23 died in new jersey. , craddick governor phil murphy said at least 13 were killed in new york city. -- democratic governor phil murphy said at least 13 were killed in new york city. 11 of them and flooded basement apartments. the house armed services committee met this week to look at the 2022 spending for the pentagon. this is the headline for military times.

defense spending increase. afghanistan withdrawal dominate debate in a bipartisan vote on thursday and the key house panel approved plans to boost defense spending by nearly 24 billion dollars above white house plans for fiscal 2022, setting up a showdown later this year between progressive democrats and moderates in the party on how much defense spending is too much. the vote was included in the annual daylong markup of the annual defense authorization bill. a marathon, which included additional fights over the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan, issues of extremism in the ranks, and whether to add women to future military drafts. as an update on the texas abortion law, which went into effect on wednesday. the supreme court failing -- did not block that law from going into effect and a decision late wednesday evening. this is from "reuters," and their headline "texas abortion

ban opens up wild west of enforcement." they write that the new restriction band hands over the empowered to private citizens and offers them cash payments to do so in a unique construction that makes the law harder to block in court. structure has alarmed abortion providers, who now feel like they have isis on their heads, and legal experts, who say citizen enforcement would have broad repercussions if it was used across the united states to address other contentious social issues. get your top stories -- we will get to your top stories of the week. the president yesterday commented on the damage and death in the wake of hurricane ida. here he is. [video clip] president biden: the past few days of hurricane ida, the wildfires in the west, the unprecedented flash floods in new york and new jersey is yet another reminder of extreme storms and the climate crisis is

here. we need to do more to prepare. we need to act. when congress returns this month, i am going up press further action on my build back better plan that is going to make historic investments in electrical infrastructure, modernizing our roads, bridges, water systems, sewer, and drainage systems, electric grids, transmission lines, and make them more resilient in these super storms and wildfires. with increasing frequency of ferocity, we are reminded that this is not about politics. hurricane ida does not care if you are a democrat or republican , rural or urban. this destruction is everywhere. it is a matter of life and death that we are all in this together. this is one of the great challenges of our time, but i am confident we will meet it.

we are the united states of america, and there is simply nothing -- you have heard me say it before -- there is nothing beyond our capacity when we work together. for all of those who are still in harm's way and struggling to deal with the aftermath of the storms and fires, god bless you. keep the faith. everyone working day and night to look out for their fellow americans is what this is about, and we are going to get this done. [end video clip] host: echoing some of what the president said in "the new york times," overlapping disasters expose harsh climate reality. the u.s. is not ready. deadly flooding in the northeast on the heels of destruction from louisiana and california, show the limits of adapting climate change. experts say it will only get worse. your top news story of the week, (202)-748-8000 the line for democrats. (202)-748-8001 four republicans. for all others, (202)-748-8002.

you can also send us a text. this is from sherry in mississippi saying, "top stories afghanistan withdrawal and the government cover-up. my top story would be 10 inches of rain and three hours in new york," says jeremy in afghanistan. russ, " the afghanistan departure was a disaster. biden takes attention away from his debacle, no matter what you think." we hear first from joe, good morning, democrat's line. caller: hello there. my comment is that the gop is no better than the telegram as farce concerning women's rights. it is a shame that the gop republicans want to have a say over a woman's body. i think it is disgraceful. if they win on this point, they will have something else to take away from women.

thank you. host: the independent line is next, patrick, go ahead. caller: two stories. you talked about the legacy of the afghan war, and i do not think or thought anyone on your program talk about all the afghan heroin that came into the usa. how did it get from afghanistan all the way to the usa? the fellow government, instead of dealing with wounded troops, basically turn them into a bunch of junkies and oxycontin. and this texas abortion, i do not know if c-span or anybody brought it up, do you know if texas is a lights state? i don't know if you know what that is, but that allows a sexual abuser to come back to the woman and say, i want to see

my kid. 14 states have that law. i don't know if states up the law against that abuse or make vigilantes of people who force these deadbeat dads to pay for their own kids. i know texas is probably going to rely on settlement money like they rely on federal money for everything else. you never talk about socialization of settled money for all of these red states. keep up a good job as usual, c-span. host: in new york city, good morning to rob on a democrat's line. caller: good morning. thank you for your good work and c-span. i guess my top story is has to do with this texas abortion law that are just ridiculous and medieval. it is so bizarre that the red

states are against abortion. they are against wearing masks to prevent the virus. they are against, it seems not everyone in a red state, they are against vaccinations. that we have the highest rate of covid-19 in the red states. you would think that the voters of those states would, you know, rise above the pressures of the church. i am a believer, by the way. i am not a woman's liberationist. i do not think we should be telling women what to do with their bodies. it seems so backward. in some of these states, the thinking. i hope the voters in those

states will stand up. i hope the republican friends who don't believe in the mandating a what a woman should or should not do, that seems uncivilized, backwards. a fetus is not a baby. a fetus is not a child. someone argued a fetus is not even human because what it means to be human is to create human meaning. in the early stages, the first trimester, the second trimester, there is no human meaning being created in the fetus. host: ok, rob. we will go to kathy next on the republican line in montgomery, texas. top stories of the week. caller: i just cannot believe this man who is just speaking. sir, i am so proud of our local

government passing the heartbeat law. abortion is the most evil act a mother could do to her own baby, and that is to murder her own baby. also, i am so happy trump initiated the controlled withdrawal from afghanistan. unfortunately, biden and his cabinet left in shame and chaos, murdering so many of our own. the military does not like to look weak, and they believe and honor, something joe biden is missing. by the way, general, stop calling our soldiers white supremacists. it is very sad. most of our soldiers who died last week were white. biden will go down his history as the man who murdered his own citizens. host: here's political fallout from the withdrawal, from a poll released this morning. biden's approval drops to 44% amid broad criticism. 36% of americans say the war was

worth fighting. 77% support withdrawal. the minority leader in the senate, mitch mcconnell, was on a radio show and asked about the president's decision to withdraw troops from by august 31. >> i will start by saying the war has not ended. it has become more difficult for us to prosecute. the terrorist threat in afghanistan is already greater than it was before this rash decision to withdraw. it will continue to grow, and our capacity to counter it has been dramatically diminished. we failed to get all americans and afghan partners out. hundreds of americans and thousands of our afghan partners are now taliban hostages. and if that were not enough, we have shredded our credibility as

a reliable partner. host: comments in a text saying "afghanistan, how the republicans are so upset i joe biden for not bringing muslims to america, when they cheered a muslims ban abortion. now a bounty on americans." " hurricane ida and forest fire destroying the country but republicans refused and infrastructure built. americans just hate americans." in florida. jamie in beaufort, north carolina, independent," man is so brash they think they can control whether. it will be another loss to the world to spend money we do not have to try and control the weather." back to calls in rome, georgia. eric is next. caller: since you just brought it up, not really what i wanted

to speak about, i have a couple of issues that the afghan war is over. we are proud biden brought it to an end. trump should be charged with treason hiding a surrender dealing withdrawal date. that could be treason during time of war. also, the republicans, why do they always talk about [indiscernible] republicans got everything in the stimulus deals. ask every republican to come down, where they opt out like obamacare where they would not get the deal or the earned income tax credit, they would not get those unemployment checks? so what did they do? they pivot to abortion and things. the number one threat, the number one issue that was bothering me is this domestic terrorism threat. the fbi came out and said this themselves that the domestic flight terrorism, and they could have another rally at the

capitol. i would like to end with this, you like to contrast what happens afghanistan with saigon. i was in the military intelligence in the 1980's under reagan. listen to what happened under reagan. the marine bear squad i was over there with was bombed. and in beirut, thousands of marines were killed and wounded. you know what reagan did? he tucked his tail and ran back to the united states. thousands were killed. you know what the democrats did? they were not political about this. a 9/11 they were not political with it. host: we will go to texas next. donald on the independent line. caller: my name is donald w. johnson. i served as a medic in vietnam, 1968-1969. i was 200 and our medic class. i graduated april 4. got there april 7.

hundred and four of the 200 were dead in three months. i am ashamed of what our president has brought about and the way we left. we needed to get out of afghanistan, no problem with that, but the way it was done, and i believe this was like in china trying to seize taiwan like russia did with crimea. it destabilized our allies and belief in our resolve and everything. i don't know. also, our southern border is wide open. nobody seems to be worried about that. the number of people they are bringing in without proper vetting and all, i want to stop

the blame, but i want our government to have a bipartisan investigation. there has got to be accountability. our president, biden and those generals, they lie on the same day. one is just pressing the other, and you can see on the news what is going on. host: appreciate your call and your service, donald, in vietnam. he was the moment earlier this week that general frank mckenzie announced the end of u.s. involvement in afghanistan. [video clip] >> i am here to announce the completion of our withdrawal from afghanistan and the end of the military mission to evacuate

american citizens, third country nationals, and vulnerable afghans. the last c-17 lifted out from the international airport on august 30 this afternoon at 3:29 p.m. east coast time, and the last man aircraft is now clearing the airspace above afghanistan. we will soon release a photo of the last c-17 departing afghanistan with major general chris donahue, u.s. ambassador to afghanistan ross wilson. now the military evacuation is complete, the diplomatic mission to ensure additional u.s. citizens and legible afghans who want to leave continues, and i know you are going to hear more about that from the state department shortly. tonight's withdrawal signifies both the end of the military component of the evacuation, but also the end of the nearly 20 year mission that began in afghanistan shortly after september 11, 2001. it is a mission that brought osama bin laden into a just and,

along with his al qaeda co-conspirators. it was not a cheap mission. the cost was hundreds of thousands of u.s. members -- u.s. service members killed and injured, including 13 who were killed last week dionysus-k suicide bomber -- by an isis-k suicide bomber. we remember their heroic accomplishments. no words for me could possibly capture the full measure of sacrifices and accomplishments of those who served, nor the emotions they are feeling at this moment. but i will say that i am proud of myself and my son and that we have been a part of it. host: here is the lead opinion piece from "the wall street journal," by senator joe manchin. "why i will not support another 3.5 trillion." he writes that they face an unprecedented array of challenges and will encounter additional crises in the future. some in congress have a strange

belief there is an infinite supply of money to deal with current or future crisis, and that spending trillions upon trillions will have no negative consequences for the future. i disagree, he says. instead of rushing to spend trillions on additional stimulus funding, congress should hit a strategic pause on the budget reconciliation legislation. a pauses warranted, he writes, because it will provide more clarity on the trajectory of the pandemic and allow us to determine whether inflation is transitory or not. while some have said it needs to be passed now, i believe making budgetary decisions and artificial political deadlines never leads to good policy or sound decisions. i have always said if i cannot explain it, i cannot vote for it. i cannot explain why my democratic colleagues are rushing to spend $3.5 trillion. here is what johnny and san antonio says is his top story, the biden call is the story of

the week, totally impeachable, according to democrat standards. news of ida and the continuing failure of the usa to take seriously its need for significant improvement and replacement in its infrastructure. i am a registered powered engineer. trillions are needed to be spent now to say grade station -- safeguard our power networks and make sure they will work in difficult circumstances. from tennessee, i am not the sharpest tool in the shed, but sides the texas law circumventing the poor the way it was written, a leading neighbors turning neighbors does not break hit below, isn't that an arrestable offense -- does not break hippa law, isn't that an arrestable defense? denise in california. caller: we have a wide range of topics here. first, i would like to say anybody who is listening to this, have you seen the young men who have come through our southern border? can i please finish? the young man that have come

through our boulder are shoulder material to invade our country. afghanistan was a total disgrace. you think the biden administration just let them have those $68 billion of weapons? all of our soldiers' uniforms they are wearing, the democrats, the flooded states and california, they are robbing us blind for disaster relief. most of the fires have been by arsonists, and yet, they want to talk climate change b.s.? and the floods, i know some of the people in those areas. yeah, it was a hurricane, but some of those floods look like water was let out in a lot of places. more money they are robbing our grandchildren for. every citizen who can hear this, we need to go to the southern borders. i am an old woman now. i don't care. we need to block these people from coming in. afghanistan, they left our american citizens.

the democrats do not care about american citizens. they left them there. over 100,000 afghan people over our american citizens, ok? and they cannot even tell us who these people are. and there are more to come. anytime they want to come, they are going to let anybody else come. you remember this. and i see you are smiling now. i want to say every time somebody downs the democrats, you have to say something derogatory regarding the trump administration or anything else. host: i am going a follow-up with a point you made on the people who have been evacuated afghanistan, denise. this is a story from "the hill." majority of afghan evacuees left in limbo abroad. nearly 40,000 afghans are scattered at sites across the globe for an indeterminate amount of time as they the weight the u.s. following a swift taliban take over. the military rushed thousands of

people out of kabul, creating bottlenecks at lily pad sites were evacuees were brought. flights were even briefly suspended in qatar as the facility reached capacity. as the evacuation ended tuesday, only 31,000 people have been processed into the u.s., including roughly 20,000 afghans, leaving tens of thousands in limbo elsewhere. to roy on the republican line in woodstock, georgia. go ahead. caller: the threat against america comes even greater. you have to say more than just the people who were left behind. we have to think about over 15,000 sets of night goggles, thousands and thousands of small weapons. we have a local police that has been defunded. and our local communities are at risk of destruction because some of these people could be coming across the border. who can guarantee that a

military convoy traveling down a u.s. highway did not originate south of the border with jihadists? highly armed with u.s.-made weapons with the intent to bring destruction to our cities. they have thousands of vehicles in the hands of extremists. antifa, black lives matter destroy city blocks, communities , and unless our borders are closed, this exists. a perfect storm for the jihadists. host: next, eric in hammond, louisiana, go ahead. caller: yes. host: eric in louisiana, go ahead. caller: yes, sir. i had two things to talk about. one is the pro-life in the pro-choice, ok? i am a little on the fence of the pro-life or pro-choice. my body, my choice, but then

whenever it comes to the vaccination, why are they mandating my body, my choice? they are not putting that into the equation. people should be able to choose what they put into their body. also, i am not going to stay on the line too long. i am from hammond, louisiana. we got devastated by this hurricane. right now, i am in port arthur. i evacuated from the storm. host: when do you think you can go back? caller: sir, to be honest with you, i stayed for the storm and it was unreal. i have never seen anything like it. i have been through katrina. katrina was bad for my area, but we do not get flooded. but as far as the wind damage, i have four trees down at my house. luckily, my house was not hit, but infrastructure of my house

is completely tore up. host: i assume that houses without power? caller: of course. sorry, yes, sir. it is without power. host: go ahead. caller: the reason we had to leave, sir, is we basically ran out of food. host: wow. caller: i have my son with me. he is five years old. he just started kindergarten. i had to get food for him. he has to eat. [laughter] you know? i mean, we basically out of necessity, we had a generator, but you can have life, but you have got to have food, you know? host: hope you are able to get back to your house and straighten things out soon. thanks for that update, eric. this is from nola.com, on day four ida recovery, the company

energy still cannot say when most of new orleans will get power restored. in salem, illinois, good morning to john. democrat line. caller: the morning. i think the biggest issue is that abortion law. it is unconstitutional. it is shocking -- they have an abortion case coming up in a month, the mississippi one at 15 weeks, but it is unconstitutional, and it could make it worse. they allow people on the street to sue other folks. for example, a state could pass a law saying, you know, interracial marriage is a legal, even though it is legal. right now it is legal. same-sex marriages illegal, even

though it is legal. for an marriage is legal, but the state could pass a law and say it is illegal and they deputize people to sue people who participate in the marriage of those folks. at 10,000 a pop, there is going to be an issue because some joe schmoe on the street is not going to be personally injured by this, but it is the most unconstitutional thing i have ever seen written and it could give rise to these copycat states, right wing copycat states. host: thanks for your call. this was the response, a statement from the president following that decision, that ruling from the supreme court, which did not block the texas law from going into effect. the president saying, "i am directing the gender policy council and the white house counsel to launch a whole of government effort to respond to this decision, looking specifically to the department

of health and human services, the department of justice to see what steps the federal government can take to ensure women in texas have access to safe and legal abortions as protected by roe and what legal tools we have to insulate women and providers from the impact of texas' bizarre scheme of outsourced enforcement to private parties." at the white house greasing, jen psaki was asked about the number of questions of the supreme court decision, and in particular, the president's view on abortion. the headline here at "fox news," jen psaki snaps at mail reporter over abortion, haydn's faith, and here's what the press secretary had to say. [video clip] >> why does the president support abortion when his own catholic face teaches abortion is [indiscernible] >> he believes it is a woman's right, a woman's body, and it is her choice. >> who does the president believe should look out for the unborn child? >> he believes it is up to a

woman to make those decisions. i know you have never faced those choices nor have you ever been pregnant, but rohan who face these choices, this is a difficult thinker the president believes there right should be respected. you have had plenty of time today. i think we have to move on. host: it is your top news story of the weekend here's the comment from annette in new york, who says the top story is abortion. family planning with options is more humane, but why should we have to pay for a grown man in texas terrorizing our family with harassment, talking about his mother, father, exquisite behaviors? the biggest way for me is the lack of leadership by governors during the latest surge of covid-19. no mask mandates. no stopping the large gathering of people, assist him in ohio -- says came in ohio. ask quotes are families of what their biggest story of the week is, incompetent and criminal disregard for american lives thanks to biden.

the most deaths and injuries to american soldiers and one day that has happened in years. that is vicki in wichita, kansas. in alabama, this is joe on the republican line. caller: i think the biggest story is the biden administration sending american taxpayer money to pakistan to help them build a border wall. host: ok. next up, joe on the independent line. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. i do not know if it is the biggest story, but it is more of the same nonsense. you hear the republican screen that biden did not do this, did not do that. he has done something. the republicans were in charge for four years and did nothing about immigration or daca. they built a wall, chewing it

was baloney. they did not build a wall. it was 100 miles or whatever the nonsense is. trump lied 30,000 times. it is nonsense. you look now, trump screamed all four years, i am going to end wars and bring the serviceman home. look at the real wreckage of what happened, ok? i will not go any further on that. mitch mcconnell said all bills will die with me. i am the grim reaper for the democratic party. nothing got done on infrastructure. absolutely nothing. we are going to do it next week, two weeks, three weeks. and every congressman and republican senator should just be embarrassed. they are the ones who should resign. they did absolutely nothing. now, republican party is coming

out here screaming. mitch mcconnell, when biden got elected, i ain't going to do nothing, we are going to kill everything. then they come out there and scream now, i want to protect the american soldiers and the democrats are unpatriotic. joe biden in with the taliban. a month ago, joe biden was in with the chinese. a week before that, he was in with this one. now he is in with pakistan because he is putting a wall up. it is baloney. the republicans have done nothing except scream to fund the police, which is baloney, too. host: democrat's line. what is your top story of the week? caller: it is the abortion issue. my statement is, there should be data presented to the public before changing laws.

i went online and i researched and found that with the abortion that by race, there is more black americans using the abortion than hispanics or whites. i would like to know when they change laws not on an emotional basis, what data are they using that this roe v. wade is not a good law for women in america? we should have the right over our bodies, but is it affecting a certain group? because if -- and there was a caller yesterday, and she was from planned parenthood, and she

mentioned the portion of how emotional and women have to go through and have counseling after they have done this. so is all of this being considered when we are speaking of abortion? host: thanks for your call. as we head into the labor day weekend, this is the latest from gallup. approval of labor unions at highest point since 1965. 68% of americans approve of labor unions. statistically similar to last year, 65%. it is the highest gallup has measured since 71% in 1965. to john in wilmington, north carolina, on the republican line, good morning. caller: hello. host: go ahead, just mute your volume and go ahead with your comment. caller: ok. my comment is, you know, some pulling -- poll came out and

biden is around 43%. i want to know where in the hell these people live who think he is doing a good job? this is ridiculous. everything has been a complete disaster. that is my comment. host: the president and first lady were at walter reed yesterday. this is "huffington post" reporting on that. biden -- the president and first lady visiting the troops at walter reed medical center thursday night. there are 50 marines at the hospital in bethesda, maryland, who were wounded in august 26 suicide bombing at the kabul airport. the attack occurred at the u.s. government -- as the u.s. government arranged evacuations before the nearly two decade worn afghanistan. in rome, new york, randy on the independent line. caller: good morning, john.

my news topic of the day -- i'm not sure it is a news topic because the news has suppressed it. all the major networks, abc, nbc, abs, thank god for newsmax. my subject is about the biden phone call where he knew in july that the government was going to run, and jen psaki, who, as a citizen, needed to know about the trump call with the whistleblower and everything, and now as the press secretary, she does not want to know anything. she cannot comment on a personal phone call. really? have a good day, america. god bless texas. host: next up is sean on the independent line. key west, florida. caller: the texas taliban have released the religious belief on women and girls.

and florida has declared a law against school administrators. i agree with representative mccarthy. these people and their ideas should go back to afghanistan. have a very pleasant good morning. host: this is a headline from "the washington post." "isis militant admits involvement in torture, killing of american hostages, seven years after the islamic state horrified people around the world by beheading hostages and using their deaths and propaganda videos. one former member admitted to his involvement in the killing of four americans. he pleaded guilty thursday in federal court in alexandria to playing a role in the kidnapping and deaths of journalists james foley and stephen sotloff. the men were beheaded in videos posted online. the circumstances of one death remain unclear." one afghanistan war veteran, a congressman from texas, and

other republican members and former service members gathered this week to talk about the withdrawal of u.s. troops from afghanistan. here is what dan crenshaw had to say. [video clip] >> there is no elation that the "war" has ended. the war has not ended. they know, especially goldstar families. i had a meeting with a bunch of goldstar families from the seal teams last week. the goal of that meeting was to see where everybody is at, how are you guys feeling? it turned out there was no existential questions about whether their son or husband had died in vain. that was the worry, that people feel like our sacrifices were made in vain. but nobody actually has that opinion. everybody knew. what do we get for 20 years? we got no more 9/11. we got no attacks on the homeland from this threat that caused 9/11 into thousand one. it is worth noting -- in 2001.

it is worth noting we were not at war in 2001. we are were not at war in 1998 when our embassies were bombed. we were not at war in 1993 when the world trade center was bombed. somebody was at war with us. we were just pretending they were not. after september 11, we stop pretending. unfortunately, today, we began pretending again. we began pretending like we ended a war. i hope nobody is writing a headline that is saying we ended america's longest war. we ended. the wars but we did give up a strategic position in that war, in that fight. it will now be externally difficult to deter or deny terrorist safe havens. we just cannot do it. we do not have airfields nearby. we do not have the resources. taliban will most likely close off cellular networks and

internet, making it impossible to target. we do not have eyes and ears on the ground anymore, and the homeland is now at more risk than it has been in 20 years. [end video clip] host: a couple people brought the story up. reporting from reuters, before afghan collapsed, and the last call between president joe biden and his afghanistan counterpart before the taliban seized control of the country, the leaders discussed with terry eight, vertical strategy and messaging tactics, but neither biden nor ghani appeared prepared for the immediate danger of the entire country falling to the insurgents. the men spoke for roughly 14 minutes on july 23. on august 15, ghani fled the presidential palace and a taliban entered kabul. since then, 13 u.s. troops and

scores of afghan civilians were killed in a suicide bombing at the kabul airport during the frenetic u.s. military evacuation. reuters reviewed a transcript of the presidential phone call and listen to the audio, who authenticate the conversation. the materials provided on condition of an amenity by a source -- on anonymity up by a source, in the call, biden offered eight if ghani could publicly reject he had a plan to control the spiraling situation in afghanistan. "we will continue to provide close air support if we know what the plan is," biden says. the u.s. carried out airstrikes to support afghan forces, whom the taliban said was in violation of the doha peace agreement. the u.s. president also advised ghani to get buy-in from powerful afghans for a military strategy going forward and then put a warrior in charge of the effort, a reference to defense minister general, holiday -- to the defense minister.

armed forces were trained and funded by the u.s. government, "you clearly have the best military," he told ghani. part of that call, and the tape listen to, apparently by the reporters at reuters. to gary, next up, your top new story. gary is in jacksonville, florida. caller: good morning, john. it is so funny that they are threatening these phone companies for records. mccarthy is scared to death of what is going to come out for the republican involvement for the january 6 attack. every step along the way they are fighting because they are afraid when the truth comes out, it is going to be so devastating to the republican party. have a great weekend, john. host: in massachusetts, and around the republican line -- andrew on the republican line. caller: thanks for taking my call. i would like to speak on the

abortion issue that fathers of foreign-born children are still not --unborn children are still not respected. they are forced to pay child support and maybe they did not want the child in the world. if you have not watched a girl take pills for an abortion, then you should actually learn about what happens to a girl's body and understand that men go through a grieving process after this, as well. we should have a right and say. i watched it. it is terrifying. it is disgusting. you do not want to see the blood, involvement, and other things that come out of the girl's body when they do that. thank god the lord works in mysterious ways because she had a baby boy with somebody else may be a year later. thank you, god. maybe should be borne -- babies

should be born. host: the text line is (202)-748-8003. this one says, very bad flooding from louisiana to new york, but i plan well. i live above the floodplain very tough conditions withdrawing from afghanistan, but my grandsons will not be dying there. january 6 capital attack, prosecutions are slowly getting through the legal system with usually a slap on the hand. long prison time should be imposed. texas abortion laws unconstitutional as written. it is old people trying to impose their religious police on everyone says stephen ohio. janet from washington state, israel is now the world's covert hotspot, despite being one of the most vaccinated countries. this one says there is no other issue more important than south carolina taking away a woman's economy. -- autonomuy. in illinois robert is on the line. go ahead.

illinois, hello, you there? we will go to lawrence, kentucky -- florence, new york, i'm sorry. -- florence, new york. i'm sorry. lawrence, new york, you are on the air. going once. are you there? caller: yes. host: go ahead with your comment. caller: what i want to say is everybody -- i am talking. host: yes, turn down your volume on your set. mute your volume and then go ahead with your comment. caller: everybody talks about abortion. host: it is a little confusing. make sure when you get through, you mute the volume on your television and listen on the

telephone. cassondra is next. caller: hi, good morning. thank you for taking my call. this was a call from a woman from texas, i guess she believes in insistent rape of children and women -- incest and rape of children and women peered echo she does not realize when women are raped, a lot of them are murdered. that is wrong for her to even say and criticize. i do not agree with the texas law at all. i do not think it is right for them to tell a woman what to do with her body. that is between her and jesus christ. he is the judge. not them. i just wanted to make that statement. thank you for taking my call. host: one of the stories on that texas law and the supreme court

decision from "the wall street journal" this morning. the supreme court rulings raises doubts and the justices court. it raised new uncertainty about reproductive rights, but one point was clear, it is another sign that chief justice john roberts is struggling to steer the roberts court at a time when an even bigger abortion cases looming. a conservative chief justice who prizes jurisprudence once again found himself out of step with five colleagues further to his right. instead, chief justice roberts landed in an increasingly familiar place on the court, he leads, descending along three liberals, who share his disagreement with the newly expanded conservative majority. "the wall street journal" writing that wednesday's case was the fourth time his term that chief justice roberts join liberals to dissent from

emergency orders issued by the court. let's hear from paul in flint, michigan. independent line. caller: hello. you got me? host: we do. go ahead. caller: a lot of this has got to do with planned parenthood is aborting children to sell their body organs, and they have got democrats that admitted to delivering babies, knowing they are still alive and wanting to put them to death after they have been delivered alive. and they still have got this kind virginia. host: kathy and saint martinville, louisiana. republican line. caller: good morning. i have a big problem with the abortion issue that is going on because they decided that -- host: kathy, go ahead.

do not listen to the television. caller: i am sorry, i did not mute it. anyway, they are using it just for birth control. it is ok to have a choice with what to do with your body, but you can use birth control as your choice, and it is not a choice when you are destroying some buddy else's body, considering your body alone. there are news stories that are very concerning to me that are not being heard about the immigrants that are coming in from afghanistan. some of them are not even involved with helping the soldiers, and they are ordering specific food for them. it has been planned since april. they are putting them in republican cities to try and destroy their voting for republicans.

there are so many things. you don't even know what to believe anymore. host: here is further comment on the abortion law in texas. this is a comment from bob in rhode island who says, if texas can pass an abortion law that can be enforced by citizens, can a federal law be passed that requires gun owners to pass a background check quarterly? the government takes owners rights, not owners guns, and the informant gets $10,000? this and says, why are folks so concerned with afghanistan? there is more between masks versus no masks, vaccine versus no backs in, and now abortion versus pro-life, says greg and cleveland. and in orlando, the top stories the floods. will they now see the need for infrastructure, social and funding? we hear from gil on the democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning, sir. thanks for the forum c-span

offers to hear many opinions. the stories that you are going to cover most importantly for weeks to come will be pandemic and climate change, but i do want to comment on the abortion law that was just passed in texas. i agree with two callers on opposite sides, if you will. the one gentleman called and said another citizen can violate a person's hipaa law, and another who said men will grieve when a woman decides to have an abortion and the life, but what i wanted to say in agreement with the gentleman who talked about violating hipaa law, the most horrendous thing and terrific thing that can happen to a woman, this is a very tough decision a woman has to make, is that if a woman is raped, and if a child is conceived through

incest, can the person who raped the woman, father or uncle who caused the incest, can they then file a civil charge against that woman when she says i wanted to abort the child? this is the most oxymoronic thing, and i do not know how that will stand in court when a victim of rape or incest and then a person can violate civil claim when that woman says, oh, i do not want to have that child. that to me is the worst thing that can happen to a woman, and it just baffles me why people think that rape and incest is going to be, you know, a

position where people and men who just have sex with women to claim, oh, i had sex with any women, 40 women, and do not care about the life of the child for the whole life. be pro-life for the whole extent of the human being and not for just a 15 minute fling. host: another view from north carolina on the republican line in burlington is freddie. go ahead. caller: joe biden has lost 4500 children from the border. bbc says the taliban is going around and executing people door-to-door. host: ok, to william in mississippi. independent line. your top news story of the week. caller: yes. it is about war. my advice to any president

before they put the united states into a war, be prepared to do whatever it takes to win the war and as quick as possible. october 7, 2001 we went to war. it should have been finished at least by february of 2002. thank you. host: we will hear from kathy in keith, ohio, on our democrat's line. good morning. caller: good morning. i would just like to say the new abortion law in texas is just like the salem witch hunt. thank you. host: all right. wake forest, north carolina, this time. we will hear from jay on the republican line. your top new story of the week. caller: yes sir, good morning. my biggest story is the democrat trees in his trash that think it

is ok to leave americans to die in afghanistan that called the show every morning. that is ok, but they also have the right to murder children. anytime they choose because it is their body, their choice. while the same democrats call in here every morning and say, i have no right to not get vaccinated because i'm going to put them in danger. i do not care what a damn democrat thinks at all. i do not care what the media things at all. they are just a bunch of traders and they can burn in hell. thank you. host: this is the front page of "the wall street journal." neighbors close off afghan's exit path. they write that afghanistan's neighbors have closed land borders to people trying to flee the new taliban rulers, prepping tens of thousands of people who are ready to resettle in the countries but were unable to enter the airport and kabul for the international airlift ended. none of afghanistan's airports are currently open, and qatar has began to restore operations

in kabul. this means few at-risk afghans who managed to leave overland were trafficked out or used leaked documents. the u.s. estimates that the majority of afghan interpreters and others who apply for visas to flee the country were left behind after the international evacuation effort transported more than 120,000 people from kabul, according to a senior state department official. let's hear from luke next up in columbus, ohio. luke on our democrat's line, good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i want to say all these republicans who are running around, supporting abortion law, why are they not supporting gun control? do you know how many people die in america every year of gun control? life is life. america is the only culture in the world where anybody can just buy a gun.

it is not the case here in america. people die every day from gunshots. why are they not supporting gun control? thank you. host: more call on the top story of the week. for this segment, we will go to baton rouge, louisiana. cj. good morning. caller: good morning. more and more failures by this administration. a top story like foreign policy. china and russia love biden. the border debacle, covid, crime, inflation, drugs coming over the border by the tons. fit know and heroin -- fit in all -- fetynyl and heroin.

we cannot get gas because of the pipeline being closed but putin has his pipeline to germany courtesy of mr. biden. the former defense secretary for president obama, just great. biden has been wrong in every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades. how terrible. host: there is more ahead here. up next, will be joined by nan aron from the alliance for justice campaign and chuck donovan from the charlotte lozier institute. they will be here to talk about the texas abortion law and the future of the roe v. wade decision. later, we will turn to the future of women and girls in the

aftermath of the taliban takeover. that conversation with anita mcbride, a leader of the u.s.-afghan's women's council. ♪ >> sunday night on q&a, a conversation with washington bureau chief susan page about her biography, "madam speaker." >> not many people knew this, but she was planning, once hillary clinton was elected, nancy pelosi was making plans to step down. she was 76 years old. she had nine grandchildren. she had other things she wanted to do. that election night was a shock for her and many others. she said once she realized donald trump was going to win

the election, it was like a mule was kicking her. she said she felt like a mule was kicking her over again. by the end of that night, she decided she was not going to go anywhere. she was going to stay, try to stand up to donald trump and also to protect democrat priorities. >> susan page, sunday night at 8:00 eastern on q&a. you can find q&a interviews wherever you get your podcasts. ♪ >> this year marks the 20th anniversary of the september 11

attacks. join us for live. listen on the free c-span radio app. >> "washington journal" continues. host: a texas abortion law went into effect on wednesday. here to talk about it with us is nan aron who is president of the alliance for justice action campaign and charles donovan who is president of the charlotte lozier institute. good morning to you both. nan aron, let me start with you first. your organization's mission and funding. guest: thank you for having me. alliance for justice is a national association of civil rights, women's rights, environmental, consumer, lgbtq organizations.

it has been in existence now for 42 years. one of its major programs is a focus on the federal judiciary and we have been reviewing, commenting on federal judges since the early 1980's. host: charles donovan, the charlotte lozier institute. tell us about your mission and funding. guest: a relatively young nonprofit. we are a small staff of 10 and 65 associated dollars, two thirds of whom are women. they tend to be aestheticians. we are funded compared to our opponents on some issues. host: you both have different views on this legislation and that is why we have you on to speak with our listeners and viewers this morning. nan aron, let me ask you two

things. one about the action taken by the supreme court wednesday evening and two, more broadly about this new texas law. what do you think it means for the future of roe v. wade. >> certainly it means that in texas, roe v. wade is no longer applicable. it will make it impossible, nearly impossible for women in that state to access abortion. it will ban abortion after six weeks. equally reprehensible, it will encourage anyone in the state or out of the state to sue a doctor, an abortion provider, anyone who lends money to a woman to get an abortion, an uber driver, encourage them to

sue those people with a cash prize of $10,000. this was an act by the supreme court, which was incredibly cowardly. it was made in the dead of night. no lengthy substantive opinion. no oral argument. it was simply an order handed down by the court, which will affect the lives of millions of women and, make no mistake, women will die because of this, because of this action. i will also say that while texas is certainly the target today, other states, south dakota, florida, arkansas are also considering enacting similar laws. this has huge implications for

women in this country, the likes of which we have not seen in decades. host: charles donovan, your take on the effect of the law on roe v. wade down the road and the action taken by the supreme court on wednesday evening. mr. donovan: it is almost exactly the opposite. i respect the legal expertise on the other side. the court acted in the middle of the night because the petitioners in this case, the abortion clinics about their action to the supreme court two days before the deadline. the supreme court did not act because it had no prominence to act. there was no controversy. there was no hearing. there was no oral argument. when i hear that, i think of roe v. wade itself, which was a dead of night decision by the supreme court without oral argument, without significant greased

back-and-forth to the court. the court did not rule on the substate. -- substance. we do not know where the court is going to go. it is going to say the new law brings controversy. none of them have done anything to effectuate the statute. i think it is premature to judge it. mississippi and his 15 week limit which is a liberal limit on abortion. i think we've got some distractions going on. host: let me ask you both to explore the enforcement provisions. there is an opinion piece this morning in "the wall street journal" that headlines and says the court was right not to interfere, but the statute will not survive. they say the law says an awful president that conservatives should hate. but california allow private individuals to sue individuals for hate speeds -- hate speech?

nan aron? ms. aron: just imagine the repercussions from this law. they could sue individuals who are not wearing masks and deceive a beautiful cash prize. they could sue gunowners and states around the country. the examples are huge. in fact, it is so egregious that i have been surprised to see how few republicans have actually spoken out in support of what the supreme court did. i think they know in their heart of hearts they can. i know they know how reprehensible this law is. in fact, it was not just the dead of night. the law was constructed as a trick to allow the states to be

vented from coverage, but to put the onus of responsibility and accountability on anyone. i think people across the political aisle are going to see just how dangerous this law is. i think it is important to note, the supreme court did act. it did not just pull away from action here. they made a decision. they allowed this law banning abortion in texas to go forward. this is not at all surprising from the five justices who were appointed to the supreme court, specifically with the idea of overturning roe v. wade. this is something that we expected. i should also mention that

justice sotomayor, it is stunning. host: charles donovan, on the enforcement provisions, do you think those will hold up under supreme court scrutiny and do you see them as being a model for other states? mr. donovan: texas is unique. it may remain that way. it may be that now that we are moving toward chemical abortion, a parent finds that their child has been given an abortion pill by an abortion provider or someone who was inactive it -- advocate or someone from overseas, which is now a policy. i think there are just uses of this statute. we will have to wait and see. here is the problem. the supreme court attempted to resolve a national abortion

policy in 1973. they did it out of the blue. it was not briefed. it was not argued. they reconsidered it. they timed it politically after the 1972 election and they created a law that allows abortion to occur where one of seven countries, maybe 8 worldwide that allow elective abortion until birth. the real drama is probably in mississippi which has said 15 weeks is 20. let's protect babies at mid trimester. most americans support that. here we are at "washington journal" and i'm debating with nan aron. we do not agree on much. americans should debate and confirm the issues, defend them, and come back in the next session if something goes amiss. we have gotten away from that. it is part of the reason why we are a polarized country. host: nan aron, in terms of the case the court will hear, tell us about that and do you think that will further muddy the

issue on where roe v. wade stands or clarify it? ms. aron: that is a case that will be heard next turn involving 15 weeks outlawing abortion. after that, it is a direct attack on roe v. wade. i think we saw a few days ago where the supreme court is heading and certainly if that supreme court upholds the mississippi law, we will have effectively overturned roe v. wade for the entire country. i should also make a point that has not been mentioned. this law in texas affects everyone. it will fall most heavily on those women without the financial means to go to new york, california, or another nearby state.

it will fall heavily on black women, latinos, lgbtq women, indigenous women. this law is going to punish women at the margin without the finances to be able to get on a plane, drive a car, to get an abortion. it is that people -- evil. host: the law is called the texas fetal heartbeat law. it went into effect on wednesday. it will ban abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected. there are no exceptions in the cases of rape and incensed. we welcome your questions for nan aron and charles donovan. (202) 748-8000 is the line for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans.

for independents and others, (202) 748-8002. charles donovan, a previous caller raised the issue, this law prevents abortions in the cases of rape and incensed and raised the issue if what if a rapist filed a civil suit against the abortion provider of the person he has raped. does that exists under this texas law? mr. donovan: i think that is an extremely remote situation. it is the exact application that would lead to litigation. i do not expected to go very far. i think it is a bit of a bogus extremism. we are asking the court, the court was asked to speculate, to

make up its own case is about what might have been under the statute. it is more likely to be applied by a mother who learns her 14-year-old daughter was given abortion pills without her knowledge and finds her hemorrhaging at home. who knows how that would work. at the end of the day, the american people can debate these differences. we do not want this as a national issue forever. we do not want abortion all the way to birth. we do not want sex selection abortion. all the things that the alliance for justice advocates, those are the real issues. not texas's gambit with the supreme court, which i think is inclusive. host: nan aron, work on some cases abortion laws have been fast-tracked through the federal system to the supreme court. but that will not be the case with this texas law. it has to work its way through the system by civil lawsuit. ms. aron: that's right.

how ironic. republicans for years have been criticizing federal lawsuits. every time there is a statute proposed to congress allowing for civil rights plaintiffs, republicans are up there saying, this is a lawsuit. now what this action has proposed and will certainly come to pass are hundreds, thousands may be of so-called frivolous lawsuits filed not just by people of texas, but by anyone in the country. i do not think we can downplay what happens in the court. this is something that we expected. this is what donald trump told us was going to happen with the

appointment of his three justices, all of home had a record of opposition to roe v. wade. clarence thomas, samuel alito, likewise. very strong views about abortion. this is the day that these five justices, and imagine, it is only five justices, have been waiting for. that day came and we on the other side are going to meet this moment. we will organize a full-scale mobilization. women will speak up and speak out, and men, around and across the country. the supreme court has spoken. yes, in an incredibly cowardly way.

but we now see what they said, what they think, what they do. it is a sign of what they will do in a few months in mississippi. host: let's get to callers. george in bloomington, illinois. good morning. caller: good morning. i have been calling your program with interest this morning. in response to ms. aron, her comment that the supreme court has spoken in an incredibly cowardly way is outrageous and she ought to be ashamed of herself having said that. i would say professor jonathan turley, a highly regarded law professor of george washington university who was on television just yesterday about this new ruling from the supreme court. mr. turley is recognized as a

fully informed legal analyst, though he is a democrat from chicago. he is not partisan. he follows the law, unlike ms. aron. he made it clear that this case is not conclusive and that the extreme statements about it are out of line and premature. it was simply a decision not to act in a hasty fashion without even time to brief the issues or have an oral argument. he is absolutely correct. we should be hollering fire when there is no fire. host: i will give you a chance to respond. ms. aron: to get jonathan turley

to say this on national tv, try saying it to the women of texas who have lost access to get an abortion in that state. try telling them. it is really not much, you can ignore it, the supreme court has not spoken. try telling that to the governors in florida, south dakota, arkansas, who are ready to work with their state legislatures to enact laws. and to the other states in the country who will do similar things. i would say this is a momentous event in the history of the country and certainly one that is going to have disastrous consequences for women certainly in that state and others. host: we will go to anne in wisconsin. democrats line. caller: i have a question. i am a mother of seven. i would like to know -- the

republicans normally do not want to pay medicaid expansion, foodstamps. who is going to support the children when a mother has a child that is unwanted and normally when we see the child, they do not give it up for adoption. there is also abuse that happens over the years and frustration with income. who is going to help these mothers? host: charles donovan, we will start with you. mr. donovan: i think there was consensus on amplifying support for women. in texas along with this legislation, they passed $100 million new appropriation for alternatives to abortion. there is agreement on child tax credit. agreement can be achieved. there are republican bills on family leave. i think we will see a lot more

this. it is an outlook that says if you are a poor woman, we are worried about you not having enough flight money to new york. let's worry about getting support to those women. these babies have a heartbeat. that is the commonality in the statute. all of the babies have a heartbeat. they are children. they are beautiful, they are precious. they are not precious because they are from michigan. they are prescient because they have human ties in the united states. i think if there is a fresh effort to support these women as there is in texas, we can help. in america, we can support seven kids. i am glad you are doing it in wisconsin. host: nan aron, a response? ms. aron: i wish the republican party would put its energy into supporting and not opposing childcare, healthcare, medicaid expansion, and the like.

the last time i looked at the state of play on national legislation, the republican party was opposed to expanding those very programs that are the safety valve for women and men to raise healthy children in this country. i would like to see republicans cut the hypocrisy and focus on providing a healthy environment, a safe environment for children. host: let's hear from john in ann arbor, michigan on the independent line. caller: good morning. what bothers me most about this is this enforcement provision. it seems like it is vigilante-ism. it is state sanctioned vigilante-ism. my impression is that the abortion activist groups are going to be bringing lawsuits.

the other thing about it is the hipaa violation is another big problem with this enforcement provision. thank you. host: charles donovan? mr. donovan: there are no controversies yet. we do not know how this will be implemented. in the event a parent finds their daughter bleeding from a chemical abortion at home because she thought she was seven weeks of pregnancy, it turns out she is 10 or 11. i am not worried that that parent is going to bring some litigation that would be problematic. we are going to have to wait and see. the focus of all of the efforts of pro-life is to test this proposition whether the supreme court should control this issue top to bottom. it is clear from all of the statutes that have been passed within the last year, over 100. we have more than 40 states that want to legislate. we want debates. we are fine with this agreement

-- disagreement. we are fine with compromise. we are fine with supporting women in ways that will be helpful. if you repeal the amendment, medicaid will fund abortion. it is what the left would like to do. common ground would be hard to get, if that is the terms of it. there is progress to be made. we have radical law in the united states at times and the american people, 30% of home are women, want change as well. host: nan aron, let me ask you about the enforcement provision. the washingtons post -- "the washington post", the headline, they write that not all are as pessimistic. the courts order was based on legal procedure and it went out of its way to say abortion providers and civil rights groups "raise serious questions

about regarding the constitutionality of the texas law at issue." do you think that signals the court is also concerned about enforcement provisions? ms. aron: i do not think any of us know the answer to that. the one thing we do know is that these five ultraconservative, radical justices were put on the supreme court with the goal of overturning roe v. wade. but i wanted to get back to your last question and that is, it is a concern that this law will be enforced, not by the state, but by private vigilantes. texas actually constructed the statute so that it could -- it could not be struck down. it removed the state from the enforcement mechanism, making private citizens the plaintiffs.

that is how the texas legislature went around the law and allowed it to be upheld for now. it was a trick. it was a con. very dangerous. what is most scary is that other states will simply copycat and do the exact same. allowing private vigilantes to put forth this reprehensible law. host: on that enforcement mechanism, "the houston chronicle," texans are trolling an anonymous tip line for suspected abortions. david is next on the republican line. caller: i just want to say a couple of things. first of all, the founder of

planned parenthood was one of the biggest racists of all time and the liberals continue to support this stuff. margaret sanger made it very clear that she wanted abortions to be a way to control the number of black folks in this country. in new york city, more black babies are aborted than they are born. this has been a trend for several years. liberals, we are in favor of minorities. you are really not. i don't agree with what this law says in terms of no exception for rape or insets, but abortion is not listed in the constitution. they are citizens, and it shows you what happens when you stay in washington, d.c. too long. you are totally, totally out of

touch with average people. host: can we get a response? guest: i would say look at the words of the statute. that tells you everything. the only thing i could say, if you look at the makeup of planned parenthood, the center for reproductive rights, and other pro-abortion organizations , you see a very rich diversity. many, many viewpoints. many women and men from all walks of, races. i think it is one of the most diverse constituencies in this country, and certainly an issue that overwhelming majorities of women from all corners of the country agree with.

i think at the moment it is a very wide, diverse constituency. and in fact, importantly, it makes up a majority of people in this country. the right to abortion, that is what is so important. host: shouldn't the $10,000 reward be given to children's aid and not the informants? is this taxpayer money? how is it funded, by increasing local taxes? guest: they are not paid under the statute. it would be paid by well-funded abortion providers, a lucrative business. i think it might be a good thing to do with the statute. the personal reward -- some statutes allow enforcement of campaign law through personal intervention. i think it might not actually be a bad idea.

but look, at the end of the day, we are going to be having a debate whether this law protects babies from 12 weeks, from 15 weeks, from 20 weeks. the born alive statute in congress was stymied by the democratic party, even though 90% of the american public wants it. i don't think this should be a partisan issue. i don't think the legislature should be free to debate it. we should come to what we agree on. host: let's hear from emma in stockton, california, democrats line. caller: how you doing? good morning. yes, basically i'm really pistol because i don't understand why a man thinks he can rule a woman's you know, choice, or whatever, because he would not even be here if he hadn't came from a woman's womb, you know?

and now he's trying to -- i mean, it is not right. you've got a mother. making these choices, but if your mother was subject to the choices you are making right now. you might not have been here, you know what i mean? basically, men need to go ahead and do things about the infrastructure, get things on track about what is happening to us in the climate and everything. we are your mothers. caller: i'm a black american, a descendant of stolen africans brought to this country against their will and forced into slavery. it's so ironic, when you look at

the arguments, those that were four and those that were against , it's just like the arguments made today for those that approved of apportions and those that are against abortions. it sounds ironically the same. another thing i wanted to say that i do not like the bait and switch that is used by miss nance and others like her to talk about what is best for poor black women. the only thing they care about poor black women is whether they can kill their babies. i want to tell you that the poor black women -- as a poor black woman myself that there is a lot of other things we would like, like we would like to be able to afford for our children the best education to live in some of the best places, to be able to take our children on some very good vacations that rich white women get to do.

so stop using us as a bait and switch method in order to put forth your ideas. there is a lot of us black women africans that struggle every day to take care of our children that are against abortion. and i have had two children, and i know when life is. host: do you care to comment? guest: i agree that certain programs ought to be available to everyone. i do think at the end of the day that every woman, regardless of race, should have the ability to make her own decisions. i'm not telling you what decision to make. i'm saying that i think everyone, including black women, poor women, ought to be able to have the same choice that everyone else in society does, and that choice is yours, not mine to make. it is yours to make.

but it is yours to make, and not the government's to make. or in this case some private vigilante. host: i want to ask you how the texas law will change, or will it change the messaging you have for your supporters on both sides in terms of what is ahead? charles donovan, you first. guest: let's be honest, what the states are doing is amplifying and passing laws that bar discriminatory abortions, against children with down syndrome, on the basis of race, sex selection abortions, trying to protect the right of conscience so americans are not forced to participate in abortion. those are the main things. to some extent legally, a bit of

a red herring. the court has agreed to consider whether a pre-viability baby has any rights. that pre-viability baby can be operated on. it can be transfused. it can receive stem cells. it could be saved in utero. it has a heartbeat. at six weeks, it beats at 98 beats per second. i spent nine months in the wound -- in the womb and my heart was beating at six weeks. it's the same when that failed me three months ago, and i was well treated and survived. host: how does this change your messaging at the campaign? guest: i would say the court has really laid down the gauntlet here. in texas, women will have far

less access to abortion. other states as well. i know that members of the house here in d.c., they are codifying roe v. wade. we will be working hard for them. we will be helping women around the country who are embattled in the states, to preserve access to abortion. i think the messaging is now very clear. the assault on abortion has happened. women are going to speak up. just listen to women in the 2022 elections coming up in the senate. women will be there in full force. look at what happened after clarence thomas was confirmed to a seat in the supreme court.

women and men got women elected to the house of representatives, to the senate, and got a democrat in the white house. women are energized. we will be there at the ballot box. we will be there at the state legislature. we will be there in conference. it is a full on effort to reverse what happened. host: as you touched on, the house to vote on a bill guaranteeing reproductive access in response to the texas law. the speaker making that announcement on thursday. the hussle come back in the next couple of weeks. rock island, illinois is next up. caller: i am 50 years old and i have lived in illinois my whole life. i know women that have been able to go over to iowa and get

abortions in the first trimester. a couple years ago, my governor passed a bill saying that women in illinois could have an abortion up until the day they give birth. even after that. it's called infanticide. anybody in texas, just come on up to illinois, because you can have an abortion all day, every day. host: do either of you have a response to that? guest: it is true. a number of states have basically done what they call codify roe. it will allow no legal protections for babies. the baby is a nonentity. it is said that some states have taken that route. they want to protect those kids, support those moms.

host: next up, susie is on our democrats line. rich. caller: i'm kind of split on this. i do believe that if men carried babies there would be an abortion clinic everywhere there was a starbucks. i really believe that. but on the other side, i was talking to my sister in law, who delivers babies, and in this state, there is, i think they said, seven reasons why a woman could have an abortion in this particular clinic, and one of them is if the baby is downs. she was telling me that it was her turn to be next to support this procedure for an abortion, and she said the baby was five

months old. they were at the five month point. the baby was born alive during the abortion. and for an hour and a half, it lived. the young couple that were having this abortion were wondering, did they make a mistake? i had an employee in 2001 -- a couple hundred people at my organization that worked for me -- one of my employees' daughter was having an abortion at eight month. i offered her $50,000 if she would not have the abortion and would let me and my spouse adopt the child. i want to tell you at what point do you not abort a child? you know? so that is all i want to say. guest: look, abortion is one of the most difficult issues that

any woman can face in life. there is no question about it. as difficult, complicated, and chilling as that decision is, it has got to be made by the woman who is going to have to raise the child and provide a healthy environment and a life. that decision, as difficult as it is, belongs to that woman. and that woman only. host: one more call and then final thoughts from the both of you. to ken in spokane, washington. caller: i just wanted to ask nan a question. she said in her opening statement that this texas abortion law would chill women. i would like her to give me five examples how this law is going to kill women. guest: the most important example is that after six weeks,

a woman will not be able to get an abortion in the state of texas. i think that really says it all. and if she does attempt to go elsewhere, there will be bounty hunters, vigilantes, watching everyone's moves, the abortion clinics, doctors, people who help women pay for abortion. it's going to turn our state, our counties, our country into a very chilling space. if that is not chilling enough, i really don't know what is. the fact that other states are going to pick up on the same thing and enact similar laws -- we will be encouraging people to

take the law into their own hands. that is a phenomenon in this country that to me is incredibly dangerous. host: charles donovan, some thoughts from you? guest: look, we hear about the role of men. i think legal abortion until men -- until birth, publicly funded, is the perfect out for men who don't want to care for kids. we have no higher responsibility as men, to care for the vulnerable in our midst, to raise them well, to support their lives, and to protect them when their little heartbeats start. i don't think that is something we can afford to get away from. we have gotten away from it in america. going full force on abortion on request, it is terrible for men, and it has been demeaning for men. but we need to do as men and women is come together to

support the next generation, care for our offspring, have a heart, and not ignore that little heartbeat. host: chartres -- charles donovan and nan, thanks so much for joining us. for august, this is the headline. we will show you this from the u.s. unemployment from the labor department, giving the figures for august. the unemployment rate dropped to 5.2%. more "washington journal" at hand. we will turn our attention to the future of women and girls in afghanistan in the aftermath of the tele-takeover. a conversation with the former chief of staff of first lady laura bush and a member of the u.s. afghan women's council.

>> weekends on c-span2, being the best in american history and nonfiction books. saturday at 2:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv, the presidency will feature two programs on gerald ford, the only white house occupant who was never elected vice president or president. next, we visit the ford presidential museum. next, a profile of his wife, who was on for her life's work. a special focus on the white house grounds and gardens. and the author of "a garden for the president." at 9:25 eastern, the heirs of prominent political families talk about the strategy and tactics used by suffragists

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so let your voice be heard. documentary that answers the question "how does the federal government impact your life." c-span's studentcam competition is $100,000 in total cash prizes, and you have a shot at a grand prize of $500,000. entries for the competition will begin to be received wednesday, september 8. for tips and more information about how to get started, go to the website. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we will turn next to the fate of children -- women and girls in afghanistan. anita mcbride was the chief of staff with first lady laura bush from 2005 through 2009, and has

been a member of the u.s. afghan women's council. guest: thank you for having me. host: tell us about the council. when was it formed, and what happened to its mission? guest: thank you for the opportunity to talk about the u.s.-afghan women's council which was formed in 2002 as a public eye from private partnership and a bilateral partnership between the government of afghanistan and the government of the united states of america. with president bush, all eyes of the world were turned to women of afghanistan, the brutal treatment they had lived under, under the taliban, for too many years. when laura bush gave the historic radio address in november of 2001 as first lady, really it demonstrated, through her very poignant words, what

women have been facing in afghanistan -- the nile -- the denial of education, the participation in the country, the brutal horrific treatment. and with that not only were the eyes of the world with the eyes of american women, who wanted to do something to help their afghan sisters -- the council was formed in 2002 under the leadership of a senior member of the state department team, the undersecretary for global affairs, who was the architect of developing the council, how it would work as a public-private partnership. american companies, american businesswomen, businessmen, joined eagerly to find a way to address the most urgent need. the most urgent needs for him for categories -- education of course because women had been denied a generation of education, unable to go to school. there was not one girl in school

in afghanistan in 20 -- in 2001. the other was health care. the maternal mortality rate was the second highest in the world, next to sierra leone. it was terrible conditions for health care for women, nonexistent essentially. the other was economic empowerment, a way for women to support themselves. the taliban would not let women leave their home to earn money. many of them were war widows, raising family, sending their children out on the street to try and get food or scraps or something to sustain themselves. taking what they had, skills, and turning them into financial resources for them. the fourth area of great need was women's political participation, leadership. and leadership in all sectors, building up the capacity to be

part of a civil society and rebuild their country. here we are, 20 years later, and 16 million women have been put back in the same place they were 20 years ago, after so many years of hope and progress. we need to understand the progress that women made their. -- there. host: give us a sense of the progress in terms of the numbers the council was able to affect over the past almost 20 years. guest: in one area is women's leadership. there is so much invested in leadership training for women, not only through the council, but with our partners. like the artemis program at the university of arizona. they are doing economic empowerment training and leadership for women. also, the ability to work to be

educated and to go into law, to be judges, to be parliamentarians. some of the most brave and bold young women that were now educated and becoming parliamentarians, writing the laws of their country. we provided not only our country but other countries around the world training in law enforcement. one of my trips with laura bush to afghanistan in 2008, the final trip she made as first lady, we met with the only female governor in afghanistan. she was a big supporter of training women for the local police force. every sector of society had women now working in it. from law enforcement to legal affairs to political participation, and entrepreneurship. host: how much of you been in

touch with the women you have been involved with, in terms of the afghanistan counsel there in afghanistan, and those who may have made it to the united states? guest: we have never, for 20 years -- and this is really an important thing for americans to hear about what we have done. our generosity has helped to give hope and opportunity to the women of afghanistan, and they were doing it for themselves. they wanted to stay and build their country. we have consistently supported them for 20 years, through four administrations, to support the afghan women's council, which thankfully, georgetown university -- when the bush administration left in 2008, we wanted to be sure the council could continue. a mechanism was devised for the council to be houston georgetown, which really took on a great deal of help and support

in the leadership program that we were able to do. a senior member of the state department team was detailed to the council, so that we could keep the bridge open between the public and private side. the global women's issues office at the state department was deeply engaged with us. we had access on the ground to our embassy and ambassadors. the fulbright program was a shining light for afghanistan. president bush put me on the board. president obama reappointed me. i oversaw the afghan program specifically. when we started it, there was three afghans who were qualified, had the education and training to make it through the rigor of fulbright. three. not one of them were women. by the time that i left the

program 11 years later, we had dozens of fulbright or's qualifying, and half of them were women. we continue to work with them. host: our guest is anita mcbride. women and girls in afghanistan, we welcome your calls and comments. mountain and pacific, (202) 748-2001. how arlie did you start to become concerned what life would be like for women and girls in afghanistan after the u.s. withdrawal? guest: it started before the u.s. withdrawal. one of the women i have been working with consistently, was her mentor -- she is now here on political asylum because it was such great risk for her to live in afghanistan, and she came

here about five years ago. she tells this very poignantly. she said the golden years for children in afghanistan were 2001 through 2014. it was consistent support. coalition forces were on the ground, providing security. not only the united states, although of course we bore the greatest burden. there was the international community was really operating well together and supporting all sectors of society. those were the golden years. 2000 -- 2014, things began to change for afghan women. we started engaging in dialogue with the taliban. the office was opened in qatar. the obama administration began to have dialogue. probably the big chain -- game changer was the prisoner swap,

when president obama exchanged five taliban prisoners for the army soldier who had really, many would say now, really went so that was the beginning where things started to change. host: what was it about that moment that made things change in your view? guest: people in leadership in the taliban are back in afghanistan or on their way back to afghanistan. leading the charge in villages and communities. maybe not necessarily kabul, but other places of the country where this started to get some control. women began to worry about their rights being protected.

and then in these last weeks. and then also what was coupled by the fact that americans were more wary. at that point after 14, 15, 16 years, they were war weary and we could feel it and we continued our work and continued growing partners, both in afghanistan and the united states to work on these areas of concern. we could feel the weariness by americans, that it was time to leave afghanistan. the women of afghanistan worried about that. and then with this last year and last months and weeks, with dizzying speed come overnight, 16 million afghan women at a

risk. host: we take the phone close to look at some of the progress that has made, about 3.5 of the 9 million afghans enrolled in schools were female. the number of schools rose tenfold after 2001. in 2003, fewer than 10% of afghan girls were enrolled in school and into thousand three, they had been shattered by rising insecurity. by 2020, 21% of afghan civil servants were women compared to almost none during the taliban years. women's life expectancy grew to 66 years in 2017. mortality during child meant -- childbirth declined from 1100 to 396 and 2015. guest: those numbers are

incredible. it tells the story. that was the hope of afghanistan. that progress was continuing. i appreciate that you shared those statistics. we really want your viewers and people to hear that. i want our american military, veterans, goldstar families, and of the wounded to know that their efforts were not in vain. they gave hope and opportunity. there were the best of our opportunities that we tried to bring to afghanistan. host: what is your biggest fear today with no military presence and no diplomatic residence on the ground in afghanistan? guest: that if he goes back to the way it was before 2001 when the taliban first entered. nothing to base it on that they will be any different, because

we know they already are terrorizing women, keeping them from getting to the gates at the airport, keeping them from checkpoints. now fanning out to the borders as people are trying to make yet again a daring cross. they couldn't do it by plane and they will try to do it by a car or over land and by foot. these stories are coming in and people are risking their lives to try to share this with us so they know what we are facing. a young female journalist went on afghan tv two weeks before everything broke down this august and interviewed a member of the taliban and directly said, we want our rights and we will not give up our rights. she then went into hiding and

has since left the country. she wanted the world to know this is a different generation of afghan women who don't know anything other than access to education, being able to work, access to health care, functioning and participants in their society. it is not going to be easy for them. they are resilient. i don't know how much people will fight back and what fear does to people, in their hearts, they know we had their back for so many years, and now of course they are worried and we are too. host: from some of your headlines, no possible life under taliban rule. as gran -- afghan women fear murder after u.s. withdraw. our first call from maryland. good morning. caller: my question is -- what

about the young afghan men aged 20, 25, who have grown up seeing their mothers engage in society, be educated, growing up with their sisters who went to school with them? what role can they play in supporting the women of afghanistan today? guest: that is a brilliant question and gives me an opportunity to tell you a story, without giving any names, of an evacuation that we tried to do three times in the last week of a family, of which a mother and father, two sisters, two brothers. the two brothers are exactly the age you are talking about, about 20, 21. their entire lives they grew up seeing their mother working, their sisters being educated.

in the perilous attempts to try and get out of the country, they were defending their family and trying to help as much as they could. without giving too many details, it was disappointing it didn't work to get them out. they were right there defending their family's honor, defending their sisters, defending their mother. and they function like any family here they were working hard. they were trying to make a living. they were being educated. they had aspirations, hopes, and dreams, along with their sisters. and you worry because they are at the age to be taken by the taliban and forced in supporting

their efforts, which are dark and evil efforts. i just don't know. host: to gordon calling from laramie, wyoming. go ahead. caller: thanks for your efforts, ms. mcbride, with the afghan women. you already addressed the comments i was going to make about thinking the veterans. so many men and women have died trying to protect the rights of these women and the people who have sanity in afghanistan. you know, all the c-17's that were heading into the airport in kabul, they were empty going in and they should have been full of troops, tanks, and artillery. the only way to win a war is by overrunning force, as we did in world war ii and desert storm.

korea, vietnam, iraq, afghanistan, they were destined to lose because of the strategy. that's all i have to say. thank you again for your effort. we will keep praying for these men and women in afghanistan that have any sense at all. host: anita mcbride? guest: i think you bring up an important point on just what our military did to help liberate this country, give them a chance to build their nation for themselves. i think you saw so many veterans and nonactive duty, retired military that went back in, and these incredible ways to help facilitate the departure of afghans.

many of them who they knew whether they were translators or afghans they had met during their deployment. these underground railroads, how brave and our official efforts and military were helped by those. the way these people were communicating and trying to get people out, particularly our special immigrant visa applicants, especially those who risked their lives to work with us and thought we would be with them and help them. i am glad that you mentioned that, because our military are absolutely amazing, active duty and retired, and they found ways to get in. i was getting facebook messages from women veterans who had served in afghanistan and were

so worried about the women they had met in their years of deployment and trying to figure out ways to help them, get messages to them, try and get them out. this is a band of brothers and sisters in our military that are just the best of our nation, and they weren't going to give up. host: in what ways with the rights of women codified by the afghan parliament between 2002 and present day, and is it your concern all of that will go away under taliban rule? guest: it is interesting that you say that. there was a comment hillary clinton used to make when she was in the senate, and then also as secretary of state said you can have laws on the books but if they aren't on the streets, than they are not effective. one of the major areas of focus that we all had through several

administrations, and especially in the bush administration, was putting together a team of lawyers and judges to work with afghan parliament in writing those laws. and then there were ngos on the ground and women's groups, founded by hillary clinton and headed by my predecessor. wheat worked hand in hand with these organizations -- we worked hand in hand with these organizations to help write the laws and help women get an opportunity to be a part of the political process and legal process. when hillary clinton was secretary of state and was meeting with afghan delegations, she refused to meet with any afghan delegations if that were not women in it.

we were helping them in subtle ways and not-so-subtle ways to be full participants in writing the laws of the country and enforcing them. host: let's hear from curtis in apopka, florida. good morning. host: go ahead, you are on the air. caller: se people -- i see people serving in the military. he should be removed. for him to be speaking. host: let's go to howard in salisbury, north carolina. go ahead. caller: i just heard that how we tried to go over there and write a constitution for the afghan

and how we are concerned about the women's rights and about terrorists. but it is so ironic how people, especially european americans, feel like biden did something wrong by pulling out and how it was pulled out. can we just look at what is happening in america today? the same thing. people not having the right to vote, no democracy. right now, we are worried about terrorists from over there. we have terrorists right here. i am glad we pulled out of afghanistan so we can concentrate on us. guest: i would like to respond to that, and i do understand that. 77% of americans wanted us to leave afghanistan, our military presence.

we are certainly not denying that. almost an equal number don't like the way that we did it and the weight we left and the cast we left behind. you are absolutely right. -- and the way we left and what we left behind. you are absolutely right. we can protect our own safety and security because we have to understand what happens in a faraway country in afghanistan can affect us here. we know it did. next week is the anniversary of 9/11. it is 20 years. nobody on september 10 knew attorney think about afghanistan -- knew a darn thing about afghanistan. we can't support impact of terrorism. we are a global, open border

world. we have problems here at home and we have to focus on them. that is what our elected leadership should be doing, protecting our security. host: i have a question from jacksonville, florida. she said american values are not islamic values. the limit of afghanistan believe there are no rates for women. guest: the thousands of afghan women i met over 20 years of course respect their religion, but they also want to be participants in their country. i will give you an example of a imprisoned who studied at one of our western universities. she was given an opportunity several years ago to apply for asylum here, and she didn't want

to leave her country. she said fulbright invested so much in me, i am making contributions in my country. afghan women can have a right to a life, to participate in our country. it doesn't divorce her from the fact that her religion is islam, not at all. i think people like her and her family worried that their religion gets perverted in that way, that doesn't allow women to participate in the life of the country or they just don't accept that. host: i want to ask you your reaction to stories like this and the headline of the washington post is "women in western afghanistan protest taliban rule despite the dangers. dozens took to the street on thursday and a rare public mensuration against taliban restrictions on the right -- in

a rare public demonstration against taliban restrictions on their rights. the group enforce an extreme interpretation of sharia law, forcing women to wear burqas, beating women who went out in public and accompanied her coat -- accompanied." guest: this is a different generation of afghan women. they don't know anything other than the opportunities they had to be educated, to work, to contribute to their communities, to their family, to their country. there amongst, the afghan women i meant -- i met over 20 years, including those who lived under taliban role, they are the most determined women i had ever met. and that is at great risk for them to go out in the streets and be identified as challenging

the taliban rule. when it happened, the first couple of days after the beginning of the withdrawal, after president ghani fled the country, there were a group of women that stood outside the -- and said we demand our rights. that was at great risk to them. i don't know who they are, those women specifically, and i don't know where they are. host: let me get your reaction to a taliban spokesperson reacting to the criticism. he said the islamic emirate is committed to the rights of women within the framework of sharia law. our sisters and men have the same rights and will benefit from their rights.

there will not be any discrimination against women, that within the framework we have we will allow women to work and study within certain frameworks. guest: we will have to see. does that mean, is it something as simple as women will be able to continue to be educated but educated separately from the men ? that would be the most mild interpretation of that. we already know one of the best examples of our soft power in our diplomacy was helping the afghans establish a university, the american university of afghanistan which has now been completely taken over by the taliban. i don't know if women have access to it right now. they probably don't. we will have to see what that means. it is the old adage, action, not

words. we don't have anything positive to base those words on yet. i am not sure when or what we are going to see. guest: we will go to deborah calling from maryland. good morning. caller: i would like to ask the young lady. if you are so supportive of women's rights in the middle east, why are you so supportive of saudi arabia and why did you skedaddle so fast out of syria, abandoning kurdish women to the tender mercies of isis. guest: that was horrible. you are saying me specifically. certainly i did not make those decisions and i wasn't proud of my government for having done that. the kurds fought alongside us,

trying to keep out these horrible elements. isis wreaked havoc on not only people of syria but other countries. all of us remember seeing that jordanian pilot being burned to death on worldwide tv. i don't condone those kinds of actions. we do get weary of it being involved in conflict. our military is mighty, but we also are a country of political leadership and different political leaders have different opinions of how our military should or should not engage. it is one thing about our country, we don't often play the long game. that is part of being in a free society of differing opinions and when differing opinions are in leadership they get to make different decisions.

it breaks my heart that happened to people who worked alongside us and we are doing the same thing to the afghan translators and those working alongside our military. i don't know how -- were going to have a tough time getting over this as a nation and have other nations trust us as a partner. i do fear that. host: let's hear from robert in maryland. good morning. caller: how are you this morning? host: fine, thank you. caller: what concerns me is i see we care about the women's rights over in afghanistan, yet in texas we don't care about women's rights. another thing is, what i can't believe is the people, we worry about democracy in afghanistan, it texas they are trying to take the minority civil rights away.

it is kind of hypocritical. when people sit back and objectively evaluate that we call that hypocrisy. host: anita mcbride, any comments? guest: going back to the, we made earlier, we have big challenges and issues in our own country to face. we are a country of laws and so in a country of elected leadership, you have to fight back on policies that are made that aren't serving the american people. i totally get that. we have our own set of problems that we have to work on, and we put people in elected positions to make good decisions for our lives area we also -- lives. we also put people in elected positions, the president of the united states has the

responsibility for our safety and security, to really have our eyes out on the world where we have threats to challenge our way of life. we saw that happen to us 20 years ago. that did not go away. we have to remain ever vigilant to keep what's happening overseas, which is acts of terror everywhere to keep it from our homeland. i will repeat what happened in afghanistan mattered to us here. it took the lives of 3000 americans 20 years ago. now 2700 of our military. we can't divorce ourselves from both problems come outside our borders and in our own. host: a question from russ in texas, he says we had excess with women in afghan and that is fine, but going forward do you have any strategies to help

those educated in afghanistan? guest: that is a great question. we have a 20 year track record working with women. it is going to be challenging with access on the ground. believe it or not, there are still people working on the ground and ngos not pulling out. assistance is probably the most critical. people are hiding in their homes. they don't have access to food, to services. there are so many challenges that are there that the humanitarian crisis is real. the international community is trying to negotiate with the forces that are now running the country to allow humanitarian aid but to get it into the hands of the people and not be corrected, which is -- has

certainly played afghanistan for many years. we are continuing to operate, to be their voice. it is harder to be an advocate and a voice when people are in hiding, but we are finding ways to do it and we are finding ways to try and get some people out. but the reality is, the majority will not get out and they will be there and we don't exactly know what their lives will be like yet. we haven't seen the action us -- actions of those ruling the country. we are finding a way to get aid and keep being the international community that turning their eyes and back on the mentoring crisis that is happening. host: let's hear from leo in el cajon, california. caller: good morning. this is difficult for me. if you care about the women and girls in afghanistan, shouldn't

we have stayed in afghanistan and try to solidify that country instead of moving into iraq and trying to topple saddam hussein? saddam hussein was not a good guy, but he did fight iran and there was no ices in afghanistan or in iraq at the time. so the expansion of the war into iraq has abandoned afghanistan and under the circumstances, if we had stayed there, afghanistan could have been made a more solid country and you would've had more ability to take care of the women and girls in afghanistan. host: thanks for your call, leo. guest: the reality is we never really did leave afghanistan. our footprint was being reduced,

but we had a presence. we had a force there. and that was helping and providing security and stability and training the afghan forces. we were all disappointed to see what happened this august with the afghan forces. but the reality is, so many afghan military lost their lives in these years trying to protect their country. we did have a presence. and i think someone argue even a small footprint remaining on the ground there would have prevented this chaos from happening. we look at countries where we have been for 70 years. in korea where we have a footprint, it has kept peace between north korea and south korea.

there is going to be a lot of monday morning quarterbacking, examining the decisions over the last 20 years and certainly examining the decisions over these last few weeks to pull out so precipitously with no real plan, shutting down our secure airfield. people just don't understand that. and i really hope and this is starting, a real examination by the congress of the decision-making process that went into pulling out entirely and so precipitously. host: karen is calling from new port richey, florida. caller: good morning. first of all, i loved the texas caller. he was right on. it has been an unstable nation since and before 2001. i am wondering why they

continued in a war-torn, unstable environment to continue to have somebody children. and i am wondering how many of those babies belong to american soldiers and why do we think we can continue to change this nation or any other nation. guest: i will answer your last question because that is the only one i can speak to. i think there was a real belief and a hope, certainly by afghan women, that they can be the force for change in their country. there is not one country in the world where women aren't marginalized and fully participating that is anything other than a failed nation. the afghan women felt they could help change the tide of their country. we were helping them, because remember what i said earlier as well we knew that the instability and the terror they

are its way to our shores and if women felt they could help change their country and we could help them do that and ultimately be a connection to our own safety and security, then we had to try. our veterans that were there believed they were doing that and met some of the bravest afghan women and men in the world trying to change it. that is the only way i think i know how to answer you is to say there was hope and opportunity that it could be different. host: it is the u.s.-afghan women's council and anita bride, -- and anita mcbride, thank you for joining us. we will open the phones for open forum and some of the top news stories for the day. the king to hear from you on the things we have been talking about, including the afghan was

straw, the texas abortion law and the continuing effects in the aftermath of hurricane ida. your top news story of the week, democrats, (202) 748-8000 is the line to call. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents and others, (202) 748-8002. ♪ >> this monday, labor day, on c-span, a congressional hearing on workers' rights with business and economic experts testifying before the senate banking housing and affairs on the government's role. and as we approach the 20's anniversary of the september 11 attack, watch as a security official, authors and scholars testify before the homeland security on the causes, responses, and consequences of

the terrorist attacks. watch monday, labor day on online at c-span.org, or listen c-span, with the free c-span radio app. >> weekends on c-span two are an intellectual feast aired on saturday, inside the events and people -- feast. saturday, inside the events and people. we bring you nonfiction book authors. learn, discover, explore, weekends on c-span two. >> "washington journal" continues. host: i am interested in hearing from you on the top news stories. the lines are (202) 748-8000 four democrats, (202) 748-8001 four republicans, and for all

others, (202) 748-8002. we spent time talking about the new texas abortion law. a tweet on what the judiciary committee is going to do, nothing it will hold a hearing examining the supreme court' abuse of a docket, the order permitting texas new abortion restrictions. and following up on the afghan withdraw and the treatment of women and girls in afghanistan. this is from usa today, the headline, biden gets a list of questions on withdraw. a group of 26 senate republicans pressuring president joe biden to release information accounted for the number of americans, green cardholders, and special immigrant visa applicants that remain in afghanistan after u.s. troops withdrew from the nation monday. the coalition, led by senator tom cotton, quested answers to the questions they raised by

5:00 p.m. september 7. they also requested the unclassified information be released to the public. the news was first were -- first reported i politico. the lawmakers wrote, among several questions they demanded answers for, how many u.s. citizens, green cardholders and special immigrant applicants are still in afghanistan? how many of them want to be repatriated to the u.s. are have been in contact with the state department? your top news stories. the president is expected to speak after 10:00 this morning on the monthly jobs numbers. the jobs report, we will show that to you. let's hear from christopher on our democrats line in daytona beach, florida. caller: hello, c-span. simply put, in my humble

opinion, speaking to the importance of the three stories that are grabbing the world and the united states by the throat, the withdraw from afghanistan, the storms, and this texas abortion law that has just come about and the supreme court deciding not to look at it. i sincerely feel it is an absolute dead heat. the severity is a 10 all across the board. it is terrible that they have such a awful effect on the united states and the world. host: do any of those stories affect you personally? caller: that is a profound

question. standing here, affecting the personally, i think, i guess that is the best way to look at it. i am in florida right now, so i dodged a bullet. they are getting hammered out there as well. but i am a former soldier but i did not serve in afghanistan. my heart is broken into pieces for the women and girls and the general population of that wicked so-called leadership last week the abortion law, i am for the longest i can remember, i think the women's choice supersedes the decision-making.

i think the woman has the ultimate choice in that. it is a long answer. host: i appreciate you responding and letting us know aired after the president's comments this morning is headed to louisiana. the headline is biden to survey the storm damage in louisiana on friday, visiting to survey the aftermath and talk to state and local leaders. fort myers florida, next up, susan is on our independent line. go ahead. caller: good morning. i know everyone is talking about the latest angst. i would like to bring a couple things up no one is talking about. first of all, we have so much violence in our country.

it is just frightening. i don't understand why the entertainment industry doesn't produce anything better than what they are doing. all they produce is violence, sadism, and sex and even advertisers bring sex into it. this is just inexcusable. they are talented and they can do better than this. it is really nasty. the other thing is the climate situation. it is too late, because it is not just our car emissions. every time bezos goes up, there are emissions. when we send something up to the space station, there is a mission. when we drop bombs on anybody, it is all destructive.

the thing is, and also with all of these horrible fires, and those are global. it is not just in the united states paid with that is doing to our environment is really scary, if you think about it. the thing that also makes me sad, not one news media mentions the millions of poor innocent wildlife from the tiniest to the biggest who have died. everybody talks about religion and god, god created them and we need to respect god's creations and i do appreciate your allowing me to voice my opinion. thank you. george -- host: georges in hillsboro, ohio. you are on. caller: i am really upset about

some of the decisions that biden has made on the border, open our border to possibly terrorists and the decision on withdrawing so fast out of afghanistan without any preparations, just leaving like that. but i have noticed he seems to be suffering from dementia. a president with dementia is really not able to lead. so at this point, we are actually leaderless and kamala is out to lunch. since he decided not to take a cognitive test, which people with dementia often do, they get

very defensive. he should be made to take a physical. host: we expect to hear from the president shortly after 10:00 on the economy and the jobs number appeared the headline in usa today, economy added 200,000 jobs in august amid covid delta variant surge. worker shortage as unemployment fell to 5.2%. charles is in oregon on the democrats line. charles, go ahead. caller: i was in the marine corps from 2001 to 2004. i went to afghanistan in 2004. we had a major from the marine corps who is supposed to be getting blankets and medicine to

the villages of afghanistan or jalalabad. the seeds were late, blankets weren't adequate enough. that was in the winter of 2005. that type of relationship fueled the opium trade and that the taliban everything they needed to support the local villages. and also, i got my interpreter out in 2008. host: how were you able to do that? caller: my interpreter took it upon himself to stay in contact with myself and a couple other great marines and my second tour of afghanistan, i reconnected with them to try to get them another job, but it did not work out.

they wouldn't hire him as an interpreter. but i kept in contact with him and he did his paperwork and he got his family out of the country way before this happened. i told him that america honors its treaties and we didn't say we wanted to be there forever and we did everything we told afghanistan we would do. so it was up to them. host: how is he doing today? caller: he is supposed to be doing fantastic, just like every other american in nebraska, he can't get a job to support his family. it is difficult for him and a guy like that where he is at, he is dealing with the aftermath of the storms. i know his religion, he does not leave in any abortion law, he

would support what is going on in texas. even as a democrat, i support the laws. in oregon, we had the fires, but they are doing more good than bad. like the lady from florida said, the emissions. but over here in the agriculture, we need the central americans to assist with the agriculture industry here, and that is what a lot of people who are against the border don't realize, although it up oregon to washington, we have to use those workers, otherwise we are not owing to have much of an economy. host: to pennsylvania, pat is on the independent line. caller: i just want to make a

comment about the abortion in texas. it is absurd that along with this, we need to offer support for working people who simply are in no position to add more children to their lives. why can't we offer free contraception. basically that is all i want to say. host: to pennsylvania, next up. john, good morning. in the last -- caller: in the last seven days, there has been a top story. it went from louisiana and afghanistan. every day there was a news

story. if you go back to 1790, the first year of george washington's administration, there was a discussion on national debt. the secretary of state, thomas jefferson, said that a national debt was simply a fraud on future generations. the secretary of treasury, alexander hamilton, said that a national debt was a blessing. i believe it can be either. when this entry was founded, there were no roads, bridges, sewers, lighting. if you are improving the lives of the people here in america by building that structure, a debt was a blessing. but in my generation, these

wars, for trains of dollars for these wars in vietnam, iraq, afghanistan and other places, to be borrowing between some of dollars is clearly a fraud on the future generations. i believe we are $2820 in debt. -- $28 trillion in debt. if you go back to russia and the united states, the difference in afghanistan with russia, russia went bankrupt in 10 years. it took america 20 years. we spent from 2001 to 2011, george butch said we will smoke out every cape in afghanistan to find bin laden. he was right in the heart of the pakistani military, and we were giving pakistan $10 million a year and they are just making

complete full of the american taxpayer. i believe it is said we are spending over $300 million a year in afghanistan, and i think the best example i would have of the afghan army is dick cheney and donald trump paid when i was drafted in 1970, them were the two that would not -- trump. when i was drafted in 1970, they were the two who would not serve. when trump got his papers, he said my bone spurs, my bone spurs. he could dance all night long. host: from the new york times, and the federal jobs a cuts lifeline to millions.

she has a masters degree and is applying for a receptionist job. one is considering giving up his visit career. amanda reinhardt is considering borrowing money from her grandmother or selling blood plasma to feed herself and son. unemployment has staved off -- for millions. an estimated seven point 5 million people will lose their benefits with federally funded emergency unemployment programs ending and millions more will see their checks cut by $300 a week. democrat line, margaret in mansfield, wisconsin. good morning. caller: good morning. there are so many stories almost every day of important things in the united states, but the one that has bothered me most is the

fact that in the texas law, the third line of that that allows a citizen to sue another citizen for helping someone get an abortion. it just struck terror in my heart to think that we would advocate, people telling on each other to the government to gain money. that is striking the very basis of our democracy. it really bothered me. i thank you so much for allowing me to voice my opinion. host: connie is up next in illinois on the independent line. caller: my topic is the debate over the abortions. i find it so disturbing. i keep asking, how did we come to this disregard for human life. if a woman with herself first

and says i can't love this ab because i was raped or i can't afford it or it will disrupt my life, will that same woman say it, can't afford to take care of my elderly parents. let's euthanize. how did we become so mercifully uncaring. and where is the outrage over the late-term abortion bill here in illinois? i just find it disturbing. host: another economic story, this one from the washington times, gm, ford holt production as chip shortage worship -- worsens, forcing temporary closing of factories, including those that build popular pickup trucks. general motors will pause production in eight plants, including two that make the

top-selling silverado pickup. for will stop making pickup trucks and chips cut at two more plants in dearborn, michigan and louisville, kentucky. the cuts will compound an already short supply of cars, trucks, and suvs on dealer lots nationwide that have pushed prices to record levels. automakers report that u.s. dealers have under one million new vehicles on their lots in august, 72% lower than the 3.58 million. jackie on the independent line. caller: good morning. a couple of the ladies have already stolen my subject, but the abortion law in texas is abhorrent. it is adding to the divisiveness in the nation. now it is taking divisiveness from neighbor to neighbor,

family member to family member. it is a little bit like nazi germany in the 1930's, tell on your neighbor and get them arrested. only now you are going to tell on your neighbor and sue your neighbor and gain $10,000. how wrong is this? i just can't believe that there is so little compassion in this country for women's rights that we have to go to a divisive nature of this law that is going to pit neighbor against neighbor, family member against family member. host: in the hill, an opinion piece, the texas abortion law could haunt gop. he writes activists celebrated thursday after the supreme court declined to halt the texas law that effectively prohibits almost all pregnancy terminations in the state. democrats believe it is republicans who could prove to be on the losing side

politically now that abortion has been forced back to the center stage. he said the law enables private individuals to sue almost anyone who helps a woman get an abortion after a futile harper -- heartbeat -- a fetal heartbeat can be detected. in marion, iowa, this is joe, on the republican line. form. caller: three quick points i will make. i want to say about the unemployment, half of the state, approximately republicans, don't receive unemployment anymore and we are struggling and weary of the delta variant. something should be looked at all of the things we are hearing about the unemployment benefit ending. half of the country doesn't

receive it because of the republican states. as far as the abortion law in texas goes, do what they may. it is wrong to reverse that, but now we should maybe focus and put thought into giving 50 years to life to rapists, pedophiles, and molesters. in the final point on afghanistan, let not forget that joe biden did what he had to do and at the last moment there, there could have been we more deaths and destruction -- way more deaths and distractions from bombers and so forth. they already took out 200 people and he was trying to do the best he could to get everyone out there as soon as he could. it was the last 20 years that put him in that position to begin with. host: next to al in warren,

ohio. good morning. caller: good morning. if i'm not mistaken, i do believe we let an illegal immigrant -- i don't think we need any more than that. host: thanks, al. caller: i am talking about the borders. biden let 30,000. host: to george in texas, democrat line. top news story of the week? what is it? caller: i have two points i would like to make. the republicans are always talking about they don't want the democrats, don't want women

to have abortions, which women's rights. and telling women what they can do with their bodies. republicans don't want people to have abortions, when your kids grow up, when something happens when they grow up. host: in your part of texas, what has been the reaction to the law so far? caller: too many people -- if you not have the right to say what you do with your own body, what right do you have? what i am saying, why is it that

they care so much about kids for their born, but when kids grow up and get into their 20's, kids getting killed by police officers, they have nothing to say. and the big mega churches that are so holy, they don't have anything to say about it or tell me what is wrong with that. host: to beverly in casper, wyoming, democrat line. caller: i want to give a shout out to my sisters, the ones who put up with krapp from their men, the bad ones, the good ones. we have to get together and stay together. i don't care how dirty you get, you have to get your gear on. these men are just -- we need to put

host: what will it take to do that? caller: all of us get together and talk, the differences, and the men don't have to beat down the women just because they have a thing. it is a free country. they say they have liberties and everything, for what, to rape women, to be on them if they don't get their way? come on. host: this is russell in south carolina. caller: i wanted to talk about abortion. i have a hypothetical, if a surgeon had a pregnant wife or girlfriend, and he gave her a sedative and then took her in and gave her an abortion, we have the same rights to kill that baby as a woman does? host: we will let you go as we

wrap up our program for today. i hope you are back here tomorrow morning at 7:00 eastern come and have a great day ahead. we will take you live next to a discussion on the role of iran that the u.s. has withdrawn from afghanistan, coming from the middle east institute, and it has just gotten underway. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2021] >> immediately, they have to decide what kind of assistance if any they will provide and expect in return. iran will be looking at how the new regime treats its minority, and we will see countries in the region -- whether countries in the region will be working together to ensure a stable afghanistan which is in all of their interest, or