♪ ♪>>: wecome back to "face the nation." i'm weijia jiang. texas now has the strictest anti-abortion law in the country. it bans the procedure after the sixth week of pregnancy and provides a $10,000 incentive to the public to police abortion. last week in a 5-4 decision, the u.s. supreme court declined to block that law from taking affect, and now lawmakers in at least six states are considering enacting similar laws. texas congresswoman veronica escobar condemned the supreme court's decision. she joins us now from el paso, texas. good morning, congresswoman. >> good morning, a pleasure to be with you. >> jiang: it is great to have you. you called the new law one of the most draconian state laws to date.

have you heard from constituents and health care providers about any immediate impacts? >> i have, weijia. people are shocked, horrified, outraged. we knew it was coming down the pike because it was debated in our state legislature, but actually having it become law on september 1st has been pretty horrifying because of two really awful consequences. the first is the fact that neighbors and friends and family members are being incentivized to be bounty hunters. it is incredible that we live in a state that is going to incentivize that. and there are other real life consequences happening right now, deadly consequences. there are folks who want t believe you can eliminate abortion, but what this law and other laws like it will do is simply make it deadlier, more dangerous. women are going to take their health into liar own their own hands. it will impact young

women, poor women, and women of color. i'm afraid of the lives that will be lost as a result. >> jiang: and to help handle those immconces at you're talking about, women seeking care, is there anything you're asking from the biden administration that they can provide? whether that is transportation to another state or funds for a trip like that, what are you asking from the president? >> well, i'm grateful that the president wants to fight for women's health care, wants to protect women from a state, and frankly a party, that is not pro life, but are willing to put women's lives on the line. so the biden administration is looking at a whole of government approach, asking if agencies can take action, so i'm grateful for that. but congress needs to act as well. we are going to bring to the floor the women's health protection act, which will put into law the protections that women

need and require, that we've had for decades under "roe vs. wade," but in the meantime, weijia, i'm afraid of what will be happening to women who are desperate right now, especially women who suffered traumatic experiences, such as incest or sexual assault, who are trapped in the state of texas. >> jiang: house speaker nancy pelosi said she would bring a vote on that act, which you are a co-sponsor of, but this week you also tweeted: expand the court, abolish the filibuster. do you think that's the only way the bill stands a chance of passing? >> i'm really afraid because of the senate's desire to hang on to a relic of the past, a jim crow relic, the filibuster, that while the house will move expeditiously to protect women from states like texas, and from a supreme court that is an activist court, my fear is that some members of the senate will use the filibuster as

an excuse to not take action. and in the state of inaction, we will see more deaths in texas. texas is now a very dangerous place for women and children. we're going to see more states basically import this law and do everything possible to create the most hostile conditions for women in our country. and i do believe -- i'm a supporter of eliminating the filibuster so that the american people will be able to see progress in government. and i believe the filibuster, which voters never voted for, which is not in the constitution, and which is a relic of the past, it needs to be eliminated. but i do think we also need to expand the court. we have now seen scotus basically engage in late-night decisions through their shadow dockets. we've seen them become an activist court. we need to restore integrity to the court. >> jiang: earlier you mentioned the way that this law is written, in

the way it out sources enforcement to private citizens. are you worried that because of the way it is structured, that is going to make it really hard to challenge in court? >> it really will. and the consequences -- i don't think that folks really understand the legal legal consequences involved because it is so new to the american public. but basically here is what can happen: if, for example, i had a young daughter who was the victim of a sexual assault and i was taking my young daughter to a clinic, the person who perpetrated the assault could take me to court, incentivized by that $10,000, and let's say my young daughter was not pregnant, but i still had to defend myself in court, i can't even recover legal fees. there are layer upon layer upon layer of injustices

written into this law, intended to really send the most severe chilling affect on women and women's productive rights in the state of texas. >> jiang: congresswoman, you represent a state where 41% of people oppose abortion. now they are celebrating. how do you find common ground with those constituents on such a clearly emotional issue? >> and it really is a tough issue to discuss because each side is equally as dug in, and it is very hard to find common ground. but what i have long talked about is if we want to lower the number of abortions taking place in our country, we have to do more for young women and men in terms of sex education, in terms of access to contraceptives, in terms of legal

protections for women. instead what we're seeing is an elimination of those things. and so it should be no surprise that more young women end up pregnant, but then we have a government that wants to limit their options once they are. it is a very backward way of addressing what is the concern. that's why i say there is no law that you can create that will eliminate abortion. all that is happening is that you're eliminating safe, legal abortion, causing women significant harm. >> jiang: we're going to have to leave it there, congresswoman, but thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> thank you, weijia. >> jiang: we'll be right back.

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>> jiang: with american troops now out of afghanistan, the taliban is working on securing its leadership to govern the country. cbs news' charlie d'agata has the details from dohquar >> reporter: good morning. government officials here in doha say they've been working very closely with the taliban in kabul to

try to get that airport up and running again. it could mean a resumption of humanitarian flights for americans and afghan civilians holding special visas who are still trying to get out. [yelling] >> reporter: in kabul, the taliban broke up a demonstration by dozens of women demanding rights under taliban rule. eye witnesses say shots were fired into the air. and it showed one woman bleeding from her forehead, in the latest of a series of protest after the taliban said women would not hold any cabinet positions in the new government. they have yet to announce that new government, likely to be led, anyway, by muela abdul baragar. the cl delay is apparently down to different factions jockeying for power under this new leadership. in tangier valley, the taliban surrounded the last region. the taliban say they're

making progress in that place north of kabul. those resisting inside continue to hold on. in the capital, they're kind of getting used to a new life under the taliban. the taliban is literally white-washing the capitol, repainting the walls of kabul, as the taliban put it, getting it clean and ready for the new government. and some surreal scenes few would have predicted under the extremist a cricket tournament over the weekend. u.s. secretary of state anthony blinken is en route to doha, partly in thanks to the government for helping to evacuate tens of thousands of afghans and others over the past couple of weeks. as we understand it, there are no intentions to meet with the taliban delegation here in doha.

weijia? >> jiang: charlie, thank you. here with us now is sue on, former deputy director of national intelligence. >> great to see you. >> jiang: as we heard from charlie, there are americans and afghans still trying to get out. the biden administration has repeatedly said that their ability to carry out an attack like the one we saw at the airport is very didifferent from their capability of striking the homeland. is that true? >> it is. i think one of the things to understand is the 20 years of our counterterrorism efforts, including that time in afghanistan, has seriously degraded the ability of extremist forces to rally, gather their resources, and then to operate at distance. that does not mean that they can't create havoc within afghanistan, disrupt the formation of any new kind of

government, and over time reconstitute themselves in a way that could be problematic for us. >> jiang: so 20 years later, can you answer if we are safer or not? >> oh, i think from a counterterrorism perspective, we are decidedly safer. we have collectively, with the help of allies and partners, waged great effort to disrupt the networks, to stake away the geography, and to improve our efforts to detect things going on. that doesn't mean that holds forever if you don't continue to invest, and now in the partnerships that are going to do the work in regions where we have decided to step away. >> jiang: the president's critics has said this withdrawal has set the stage for another 9/11 attack. do you share any concerns that terrorists will use

afghanistan once again as a hub to breed more? >> i think you have to be concerned about that. almost no matter what government the taliban is able to put into effect, they aren't a government and the way we think about it, in terms of absolute control. remember, they are the extremists we went in originally to fought. you have tribal and extremist influences, so it is worrisome. i think the biden administration now, when present isn't the advantage we have, when intelligence isn't going to be as good because you don't have that presence, is really going to have to double down on the regional partnerships. and you're going to have to rely on non-traditional partners, like russia and china and pakistan, to really do that work in the region to try and influence the stability that is necessary to keep

that threat from reemerging. >> jiang: you just said the intelligence not being as good. president biden has insisted that the "over the horizon" capabilities are enough to monitor these threats. i wonder if you think that is true, and what we miss out on by not being on the ground. >> so truth in advertising, i have, over the course of my career, seen this nation develop amazing capability to discover nfghts t information tt we needed to have, that we typically didn't have access to. but especially in remote regions, where the data you want is not held in neat serving rooms, and physical presence allows you to deal with the humans that have the information, you get a considerable amount from the interaction with those humans, the information they have, and the intention that comes with human intelligence. so i no not going to say we

can't develop "over the horizon" capabilities that are expanding on what we have today, but i will say that intelligence with presence is really important as well. >> jiang: i want to turn to the intelligence that we may have had before the chaotic withdrawal. reuters published a report that includes excerpts of a phone call between president biden and the former president of afghanistan, ashraf ghani, dated on july 23rd, so three weeks before the takeover. the president reportedly said, as you know, and i may not tell you the perception around the world and in parts of afghanistan, i believe, is that things aren't going well in terms of the fight against the taliban. and there is a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture." the president is reportedly characterizing this threat as a perception, when clearly it was also the reality on the ground. was that a failure

intelligence? >> i think any time lives are lost, and if you look at our withdrawal, there is a collective responsibility between the policy operational intelligence communities for that outcome. i would not characterize this as an intelligence failure. for a couple of reasons. number one, i think of our 20-year history involvement, the intelligence community has been pretty clear-eyed in terms of what the on the ground situation was and what the likelihood of pepersistence of the government if the u.s. withdrew. i think you have to acknowledge they apparently didn't have precision in their estimate on the speed -- >> jiang: i'm glad you mentioned that. because later on in that same conversation,

president ghani said, "mr. president, we are facing a full-scale invasion, composed of taliban, full pakistani planning and logistical support." that does not match with what he said, "we had no idea the collapse was going to happen so fast." is this another idea of the president's claims changing the perception from the reality? >> i think a couple of things are clear to me with the caveat i don't know what other decisions were made, and it seems clear to me that he uns that the situation was fraught, as least we could have foreseen the outcome, if not the speed. i stop short of having a problem with him telling ghani that he needed to project strength. regardless of what the situation is, i think it is a reasonable comment he needs to project strength.

but it seems clear from that conversation he knew the situation was fraught. i think his challenge is how he will speak to the american people as more and more of these facts become est. >> jiang: sue, i could talk to you for another hour, but we are out of time. we'll be rwe'll be back in a mo.

>> jiang: saturday marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11. the attack that started the war in afghanistan. and for the first time since then, there will be no u.s. troops in the country. senior national security correspondent david martin was at the pentagon on the day of the attack. he and his long-time producer, mary walsh, have brought cbs news' viewers every development in the war on terror since that devastating day. they covered the war through four administrations and eight defense secretaries, and most po poignantly, they brought us the stories of the american forces fighting that war in person. here is david and mary's look back. >> reporter: with the pentagon still burning and bodies trapped in the rubble, it was a small

victory near the end of the day on 9/11 for defense secretary donald rumsfeld simply to hold a press conference. >> the briefing here is taking place in the pentagon. the pentagon is functioning. it will be in business tomorrow. >> reporter: behind him, in a show of undivided political support stood the heads of the senate armed services committee. three days later, congress passed a resolution authorizing the use of force. the u.s. unleashed its fire power, and by december, rumsfeld was taking his first trip to afghanistan. >> they're after the number of al-qaeda, they've killed a number of al-qaeda. >> reporter: u.s. military looked invincible, until march of 2002, when seven americans were killed in the battle of robert's ridge. one can be seen charging across a snow field directly at an al-qaeda

machine gun position. american troops were tough and they were brave, but so was the enemy, fighting under the constant threat of being annihilated by airstrikes. army capital will swenson put his wounded sergeant on a medevac and gave him a kiss. >> we had a moment we looked at each other. he almost had a smile on his face. >> reporter: did you ever see him again? >> i never saw him again. one month later he passed away at walter reed. >> reporter: osama bin laden was killed in 2011, but the war ground on. in 2012, we visited the wounded at walter reed, where amputations, many of them multiple, were running at more than 20 a month. what was the damage? >> both legs amputated. >> reporter: staff sargeant eric myers was on his third tour in afghanistan when he

stepped on a booby-trap. most of the people here think the war is winding down. >> if you're on the ground, it is not winding down. it is still just as intense as it was. >> reporter: the hard truth at walter reed is that afghanistan changed them more than they changed afghanistan. now the war has come full circle. major-general chris donahue, the last man out of afghanistan, was a junior officer serving in the pentagon on 9/11. >> america's longest war has come to a close. >> reporter: except no politicians were standing behind defense secretary lloyd austin and mark milley when they appeared in the pentagon briefing room. >> this is tough stuff. war is hard. it is vicious, brutal, unforgiving. and, yes, we all have pain and anger. >> i need something, please. it hurts. >> reporter: war is the dying cries of specialist chaz ray clark, bleeding to death waiting for a medevac to come to him,

and the heartbreak of his young widow. >> my husband laid there wondering why nobody is coming to get him -- for how long? 40 minutes? an hour? >> reporter: a 20-year war is wo one in some of the last to die, those marines killed by a suicide bomber at kabul airport were infants on 9/11, with no idea what was happening. >> david and mary, plus all of the cbs news personnel who have been to afghanistan and iraq over the years, and those who have covered it here in washington and new york, we thank you for your work. online u.s. stocks and etfs. work. we'll be right back.or and a commitment to get you the best price on every trade, that's decision tech. only from fidelity. it's like a pancake. okay, don't roll it too thin. this is a perfect thickness. is that a tattoo?!

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>> jiang: that's it for us today. thanks for watching. margaret is winding up her last weekend off of maternity leave, and we're so excited for her return next sunday. for "face the nation," i'm weijia jiang. ♪ captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org shot starting

september 20th, and if approved by the fda the moderna booster shot may follow soon after. jericka? >> all right, lilia luciano, we'll see what happens. thank you. federal funds meant to ease the economic shock of the pandemic are coming to an end tomorrow. debra alferon is at the white house with how this will impact millions of americans. debra, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, jericka. it looks like there will be no last-minute save for these pandemic benefits at the white house here. as we roll into the end of summer, the unofficial end, that is. it's only because of the delta variant that's erasing gains and hope. less money, more problems. >> this is me yelling and screaming like, what i'm going to do, what i'm going to do,

what i'm going to do? >> reporter: on lab d