. welcome, everybody. top of the hour. i'm yasmin vossoughian. if you're still with us, thank you. if you're just joining us, welcome. at any moment we're expecting the president at the white house expected to address the two big stories we're following today. tropical storm henri battering the eastern seaboard. we'll have full coverage of that. the president will also talk about the situation in afghanistan, as his administration continues to come under intention criticism. we expect the president to go into more detail about those. as we wait, i want to bring? josh lederman, at the white house. also joining me is alicia menendez, host of "american voices" right here on msnbc.

josh, walk us there what we are expecting to hear in the president, hopefully beginning any mom. >> reporter: we expect to hear the president, when he speaks, try to change the focus from the rough initial phase of this drawdown and this evacuation, on to the progress that the white house feels they have made over the last 72 hours or so, in ramping up what they are calling one of the largest airlift operations in history. so they are going to be pointing to some of the numbers that show that they're getting more and more people out of afghanistan, including about 3900 people in the most recent 24-hour period, according to the white house, who were airlifted on u.s. military aircraft making for a total of 25,000 since august 14th, who versus airlifted on military as well as commercial flights. the president has a lot of explaining to, as he's under a barrage of criticism, not only from u.s. allies, including nato

and g7 members who the president will meet with virtually on tuesday, but frankly from the american public, with the new poll out today showing 6 in 10 americans now disagree with president biden's handling of the afghanistan withdrawal. those troubling numbers as the president's overall approval rating also falling behon 50% for the first time of his presidency. the president also continues to get a lot of questions from congress about who knew what when and how they not plan better for the possibility of a quick tall of afghanistan. secretary austin was on television this morning, saying nobody expected what we saw in afghanistan. take a look. >> their assessments ranged initially from one to two years to, you know, several months, but it was a wide range of assessments.

it was very difficult to predict with accuracy. this all occurred in the span of about 11 days. nobody predicted that the government would fall any 11 days. >> the president will be speaking from the roosevelt room of the west wing as the president trying to show he is firmly in command of the situation. president biden canceled his trip this weekend to wilmington where he was supposed to spend the weekend at home, opting to stay here in washington to deal with the afghanistan crisis, and also the tropical storm. the president is expected to point to the emergency declarations he's issued for both new jersey and connecticut. >> you look at the poll numbers here, they have slid below 50%. we're seeings now six in ten americans not agrees with the way the president is handling

afghanistan at this moment, the white house saying nobody predicted it will fall this quickly, but we have singh it fall. the stakes are incredibly high. >> and i'm going to give you permission to cut me off the moment the president -- i know it happens when we are mid analysis. i was talking to another colleague, and they described it as it is president needing to appear presidential. they just as easily could have been talking about the dual crises that the president faces at home. there's this pandemic that the administration is still struggling to get under control. that was a big item. those numbers actually being some of the greatest frustration that american voters are

expressing then, of course, this conversation we're having about the withdrawal from afghanistan, and this second component, which is evacuating americans and rule sneshl afghans from afghanistan. this will give the president the opportunity to talk about the plans to set and reset some expectations, which has been one of the challenges around messaging around this crisis, and as our check originally said, to appear presidential. that is particularly relevant, yasmin, it creates a contrast with the previous administration, where in moments of crisis there was a constant desire for someone to communicate clearly what it was that the government was planning, what it was that the government was doing, and that is what i expect we will hear. >> hey, josh, i want you to weigh in and talk about the

evacuations. it was whether or not the president had a plan as to how to deal with all of these thousands of people. some folks at ramstein, some now headed to dulles expo center that will be deployed for various bases in wisconsin and texas, then what? do they have the capacity to deal, the infrastructure to deal with all these people? the last thing we want to see is some of the terrible images at the border between mexico and the united states, with families being held indefinitely. >> that's right if you look at what the administration had been planning. they were expecting a matter of months before kabul would potentially fall, where people could get out on good old commercial air flights off kabul airport. veers, that's not what happened. the administration, including

jake sullivan, pointing out they acted pretty quickly, they were able to get the embassy staff out but they're really putting this airport together while it's in the air, to borrow a phrase here. we saw how they had this backup that emerged in doha, qatar, and there was really nowhere to process them, so now they're finding these other place to say put them or secures arrange for more than two dozen country to say allows both american citizens and afghan refugees to transit through those points. the fact of the matter is, as they're putting that all together in real time, it means that you have thousands of people who are now spending days at a time in a holding pattern, waiting either at the airport in kabul, or in a gymnasium in

doha, or at another air base, oftentimes without proper sanitation, without the kinds of health care, and food and water they might need. so the government is obviously doing everything they can to have their basic needs met, but we've seen image after image how slow that's been coming, and it's difficult to take care of people well when you're putting together all of this when it's happening. >> the president has a major domestic agenda. he was in the midst of a partisan win when he got the infrastructure bill stalled in the house right now. he needs the support of both republicans and democrats to move that legislation forward, some of it hinging on his response in afghanistan. eye specially because they've been very clear there's urgency, and time is of the essence when it comes to those pieces.

you asked me a moment ago about the stakes here. of course, you've been very clear, the stakes are the highest stakes for the americans and afghanistan there are the stakes for this president as his presidency. part of that, as you've said, has to do with his domestic agenda here at home. we have congress coming back. they'll be looking at this bipartisan deal, they'll look at the reconciliation package. as we've reminded our viewers, there has to be action on voting rights. congress has a very full plate. we know the president expected to use the power of the office, that they will would be going out across the country selling various pieces of this to the american public. this, of course, comes as this crisis is unfolding. josh, alicia, stand by, guys.

i will bring you back to help us all walk through it. i do want to pivot back to henri, which has made landfall around the connecticut border. i want to go to kathy park, who is standing by with us the latest. we checked in with you last hour. things had calmed down the last couple hours. what are you seeing there this hour? >> reporter: hey, yasmin. things have calmed down considerably, compared to what we saw in the noon hour, when hinds were really start to go pick up it's still gusty out here. earlier today, just hours ago, it was splashing over the wall. ocean road is stick blocked off to traffic, but folks are meandering around. a lot of them are locals, and a

lot of them have lost power. we're told further inland a lot of trees and powish lines are down. we're told close to 80,000 are without power. right now the governor is briefing us with the latest numbers, and latest assessment as far as the damage goes. we'll bring you that information as soon as it's available. as far as coastal flooding, it was a potentially with algery. just a lot of the storm damage, more inland, and the power outage. once again, gusty conditions, we noticed a dip in the system, but it looks like the brunt is out of here. we want to bring in bill karins, tracking the path of the storm. bill, where are we? >> we're in the final stage, the final concern was the heavy rain

we've been a band of very heavy rain that's falling, and now that rain mass shifted all the way from landfall, all the way into areas of the hudson valley, into the catskills. when you start to get to heavy rain bands in the mountainous areas, that's when you get concerned form areas in the maroon, have the possibility of flash flooding. the majority of new york city area is under the flash wood warning, and hartford and new haven. additional rainfall, as much as 2 to 4 inches. in some areas of new york city, they've already had already 6 inches of rain. look at the winds. they're not that bad. the trees can handle that just fine. the power outage numbers were

125,000, now 115,000, so some people are getting their power back on already. that's fantastic news. hopefully those without power they'll get it on in the next 24 to 48 hours. with all line crews that are on standby, they were knock that out in a hurry. again, as far as the past goes, just north of heartd for. it kind of stalls out tonight and stops. that's the concern. when it does that button hook and stalls, that heavy rainband may drift, and that will be a problem if it does that all night long over that hillary terrain. our computer models, some do stop and turn the storm around. and our final predictions, that bright red and yellow, that's

the tore referenceally rate from now right through 10z p.m. tonight. now how it doesn't move much. that's the problem. we'll wait and see. for landfalling tropical storm, if that's the worst of it? thank you. >> always better to overestimate and under-deliver. bill,s a always thank you for a the coverage. we'll come back to you throughout the hour, but thanks for now. we are waiting for the president to speak. the moment it comes, i'm going to bring it to you. stay tuned. stay right in your seats as we await that.

i also have a parnell joining me to talk through everything the president will be talking about. a power panel the folks standing by. all of that coming up next. we'll be right back. that comint we'll be right back. someone once told me, that i should get used to people staring. so i did. it's okay, you can stare. when you're a two-time gold medalist, it comes with the territory. [music: "i swear"] jaycee tried gain flings for the first time the other day... and forgot where she was. you can always spot a first time gain flings user. ♪ i'm still wowed by what's next. even with higher stroke risk due to afib not caused by a heart valve problem.

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condolences for the sudden and tragic life due to this flash flood. we stand ready to offer them support. i have asked the administrator to speak to governor lee of tennessee right away. we'll offer any assistance they need for this terrible moment. let me also say a few words what is now tropical storm, not hurricane, henri, which made landfall at problemly 12:15 all read is exacting -- and i want to talk about our effort to prepare for this storm. we are taking it seriously.

it's also impacting an area of the company, and already experienced heavy rainfall over the past several days. wile new englanders are used to dealing with tough weather, this storm has potential for widespread consequences across the region, with significant flooding, power outages that could affect hundreds of thousands of people. so we're doing everything we can now to help those states prepared, respond and recover. i can't think of anyone better to lead this operation than chris well. fema. before she headed up fema, she led the emergency response in new york city. she was one of the key federal officials in response to super storm sandy. she nose this area very, very well yesterday i talked with the administrator, and each of the

governors are most likely to be -- i urged them to take advantage of for a family what can offer in advance and will do everything we can to support. fema as preof had positioned. thousands of additional line crews and vegetation, are already heading toward the impacted states really to serve and move in as soon as is feasible. they'll clean up fallen trees, help local utilities repair

damaged lines and restore service as fast as possible. i want to thank these crews for helping in the time of need. i have already approved emergency declare aces for rhode island, connecticut and -- which activates funds as soon as this extreme weather has -- we're acting to prepare for and prevent damage as much as possible, and to speed help to affected communities. some places have already had heavy rains and storage surges. henri will continue to move across much of the northeast. so it's important to be prepared in your home. make sure you have the supplies for your entire household and

don't forget you may need to seek shelter while battles covid-19, so wear a mask and try to observe social distancing. everyone across the country, don't get caught by the next storm. get vaccinated. get vaccinated now. protect yourself and your family against covid-19. it's going to be a vital part of emergency preparedness for the remainder of this year. now let me turn to afghanistan. i have continued to make progress since we spoke on friday. we have moved thousands of people each day by u.s. military aircraft and civilian charter flights. alternates over 30 house -- in a little over 30 hours this weekend we evacuated an extraordinary number of people, as i will detail in a minute.

about 11,000 individuals. that number will change day to day as the air and ground operations vary. our first priority in kabul is getting american citizens out of the country as quickly and as safely as possible. amy direction, the state department continue to say reach out to the remains americans we have identified by phone, e-mail and other needs to ascertain their plans. execute ago plan to move groups of these americans to safety and to safely and effectively move them to the airport compound any american who wants to get home will get home. we've also been evacuating the citizens of our nato allies and partners, including their diplomats, embassy staff, who remain in afghanistan, and to

get them back to their homes as well e we're also working to move our allies and other vulnerable afghans out of the country. as of this morning we evacated near 28,000 people since august 14th, on both u.s. and coalition aircraft, including civilian charters, bringing in the total number of people to approximately 33,000 persons in one 24-hour period this weekend 23 u.s. military flights including 14 c-17s, nine c-130 flights level kabul carries 3,900 passengers. we see no reason why this tempo cannot be kept up. during the same pertain, another 35 charter flights carrying an additional 4,000 evacuees

through other countries that are taking them out. all together, we lifted approximately 11,000 people out of kabul in less than 36 hour. it's an incredible operation. let me be clear. the evacuation of thousands from kabul will be hard and painful, no matter when it start, when we began. it would have been true if we started a month ago, or a month from now. there's no way to evacuate this many people without pain and loss of heartbreaking images you see on television. it's just a fact my heart aches for those people you see. we are proving we can move, though, thousands of people out of the kabul every day. we're bringing our citizens, nato allies, afghanis who in fact helped us in the war effort, but we have a long way to go, and a lot could still go wrong. to move out 30,000 people in just over a week, that's a great

testament to the men and women olympic. it also reflects a tireless diplomatic effort. in order to keep a steady flow of planes out of kabul, and maximize our capacity we quickly stood up an unprecedented global effort and established processing stations in third countries. in short we're not flying directly to a country, we're flying to the processing stations, we're working with more than two dozen countries across four consequence nents. we have secured agreements across the gulf, in central asia, in europe, including processing center in qatar, germany, kuwait i. spain and elsewhere that allows us to sort these refugees. they provide safe places to complete their paperwork while

we conduct security screenings and background checks before they continue on to the final destination in the united states or in another country. were our nato allies as well. so from asia to africa, from europe to the western mem sphere, nations are making generous offers to support resubtlement efforts. i've been in personal contact with many leaders, including qatar, germany, spain, italy, the uae and others. they're making vital contributions to thank them for their support and to discuss how we continue to coordinator -- is the reason why i continue in contact with them. i want to, again, thank all of our partners for their continues to stand together. we've also activated the first stage of what's referred to as the civil reserve air fleet, to help with the onward movement of evac week from these transit

centers. then we're going to get to the civil reserve fleet, as the parliament is designed -- was designed in the wake of the berlin airlift after world war ii, to use commercial aircraft to augment or airlift capacity. it's a voluntary program for our commercial airlines, and we're grateful for the airlines that are supporting us. it will only use three or four planes from each of the carry es, so there should be no effect or minute -- minimal impact. it will help facilitate the safe move of people like qatar and germany to the united states or to a third country. none of them will be landing in kabul. the american aircraft will not be going to anyone country but the united states. as this effort unfolds, i want

to be clear about three things. one, planes taking off from kabul are not flying directly to the united states, but are landing at u.s. military bases and transit centers around the world. number two, at these sites where they're landing, we are conducting thorough screenings, security screenings for everyone who is not a u.s. citizen or a lawful permanent resident. anyone arrives in the united states will have undergone background check. number three, once screened and cleared, we will welcome these afghans who helped news the war efforts over the last 20 year to a new home in the united states of america, because that's who we are. that's what america is. you know, i've been touched by the outpouring of support that we have seen in communities, organizations across america, mobilizing to support these efforts. so many of these afghans stood

bravely by u.s. troops in afghanistan, and now, the united states including veterans groups, refugees, religious organizations are standing with our afghan allies, it exemplifies the best of america. i want to say again just how difficult this mission is, and the dangers it poses to our troops on the ground form the security environment is changing rapidly. there are civilians crowded at the airport, though we have cleared thousands of them. we know that terrorists may seek to exploit the situation and target innocent afghans or american troops. they're maintaining constant vigilance -- we are maintaining constant vigilance to monitor and disrupt threats from any source, including the likely source of being isis-k, the afghan affiliation, but we're

under no illusions about the threat. i want on friday, isis-k is a sworn enemy of the taliban. even though we're moving back the perimeter we still fay a threat. we're working hard and as fast as we can to get people out. that's our miss. that's our goal. sour determination to get every american citizen home and evacuate our afghan allies is unwavering. we continue to see not only the enormous scope and scale of the effort, we will see the individual lives that are affected. the families that are desperate to get home to their loved ones in america, the communities of vet advance who mobilized, trying to help their former sxwernters get to safety.

frightened afghans who aren't sure what to do. this is heartbreaking. the women and men much the united states armed forces are acting bravely, and with professionalism. i want to offer my profound thanks to our service members on the ground in kabul, and all of those around u.s. bases around the world who are welcoming and caring for these evacuees. in all the diplomats and civil servants working around the clock to rescues american citizens, citizens of our allies, vulnerable afghans. what we are doing is extraordinary. you have to think of the -- all they're doing, thanks to the people from all over the world who are helping this effort. i want to thank you and i will

keep you informed every day as we move forward. goode protect our troops and our diplomats and those serving in harm's way. i will take a few questions. darlene from the associated press. >> reporter: mr. president, thank you. will you extend that august 31st deadline? what is your thought process on extending the evacuation? >> there's discussion going on among us and the military. our hope is we will not have to extend, but there will be discussions, i suspect, on how far along we are in the process. mario parker, bloomberg. >> reporter: thank you, mr. president just to piggyback on that, the g7 -- promised support back in june. if they asked for a larger or longer american presence past the august 31st deadline, who

will you tell them? >> i'll temperaturele tell them we can see what we can do. we are working rolely with the g7. i'll have a conference with them, i think tuesday, i'm not certain. we already have helped get out diplomats from other countries. we've already helped get out citizens from other countries and we'll continue to do that. >> reporter: mr. president, it sounded like the stercht of operations of kabul has been extended outside the airport. >> i'm not going to talk about the tactical changes we're making to maintain as much security as we can. we have constantly -- how can i say it? -- increased rational access to the airport where more folk can get there more safely. it's still a dangerous operation, but i don't want to go into the detail how we're doing that.

andrew from "wall street journal." >> reporter: thank you, mr. president, our reporting ocean says afghans with proper paperwork are still having trouble getting to the airport. u.s. embassy -- some staff are -- haven't -- [ inaudible question ] why isn't the u.s. doing more to allow after goon into the airport? are you still opposed to an extended perimeter ash the airport? >> number one, i think you're going to get they're going to get out. number two, we have made a number of changes including extending access around the airport and the safe zone, and we've done a number of things i don't want to get into detail about, but the fact is more and more of the groups we urgently want to get out of afghanistan, starting with american citizens, and the folks who worked in the

embassies and personnel with our allies, as well as the afghans who helped them and worked in those embassies, as well as those who helped on the battlefield as well, we are working diligently to make sure we have increased the ability to get them out. we have changed the gate operations and a whole range of things, and that's why we have significantly increased the number of people we're getting out. [ inaudible question ] >> we've discussed a lot with the taliban. that remains to be seen whether we, ed, fire away. >> reporter: because the united states is not negotiating with taliban over airport access and such, do you now trust them? a question on the public response, a poll shows -- drop in afghanistan, but disapproves

of the way you've handle it, and based in part on what transpired the last week -- forgive me, i'm just the message -- no longer consider you to be competent, focused or effective. >> i haven't seen that poll. >> reporter: it was cbs this morning. [ laughter ] >> reporter: what would you say to the americans who no longer -- >> look, i had a basic decision to make i either withdraw america from a 20-year war, depending on the analysis, cost is $300 million a day. even though i carry this card with me every day and who in fact where we lost 2,448 americans dead, 20,722 wounded. either increase the number of forces we keep there and keep

that going, or i end the war. i decided to end the war. as i said the other day, you know, the only reason we're in afghanistan is this is a place from which bin laden attacked the united states of america. had this been in another middle eastern country, where he could have easily move from, we never would have gone to afghanistan. so the question is, when is the right time to leave? where are our national interests? where do they lie? the idea we are in a situation where we cannot recognize that terrorism that is metastasized around the world and the need for us to focus on other parts of the world that's created an even another danger can't be ignored. we are, as you well know, we are in a number of places we're doing that without permanent basing american forces there. so i think when this is over,

the american people have a clear understanding of what i did, why we did it, but look, that's the job. my job is to make judgments. my job is to make judgments no one else can or will make. i made them. i'm convinced i'm absolutely correct in not deciding so tense more young women and men in for a war that's no longer warranted. >> reporter: do you trust them now? >> i don't trust anybody, including you. i love you, but there's not a lot of people i trust. look, the taliban has a -- taliban has to make a fundamental decision. is the taliban going to attempt to be able to unite and provide for the well-being of the people of afghanistan, which no one group has ever done since before, you know, for hundreds of years?

and if it does, it's going to need everything from additional help in terms of economic assistance, trade -- a whole range of things. the taliban has said -- we'll see whether they immediate it or not -- they're seeking legitimacy. they're seeking legitimacy to determine whether or not they'll be recognized by other countries. they have told other countries as well as us, they don't want us to move you're diplomatic brents completely. so all of this is just talk now, all of this is talk now. and so, so far the taliban has not taken action against u.s. forces. so far, they have, by and large, followed through on what at the time in allowing americans to pass through and the like. i'm sure they don't control all of their forces. it's a ragtag force. we'll see whether or not what they say turns out to be true,

but the bottom line is this, folks. at the end of the day, if we didn't leave afghanistan now, when do we leave? another ten years this another five years? another year? i'm not about to send your son or your daughter to fight in afghanistan. i don't see where that is in our overall interest. the talk about our interests going to be impacted, let me tell you. you're sitting in beijing or sitting in moscow, are you happy we left? they love nothing better for us to continue to be bogged down there, totally occupied with what's going on. so the idea this is -- i think history will record this was the logical, rational and right decision to make. so thank you all so very much. thank you. >> reporter: the british are calling for sanctions by tuesday. would you support sanctioning

against the taliban under certain conditions? >> the answer is yes. it depends on the conduct. all right. so there you have it, the president speaking from the white house today, talking about the response to tropical storm henri, the deaths in tennessee, 18 lives lost so far, 51 missing, and then the evacuation. i just want to take folks through what we heard, and then i'm going to bring in my panel. i'm going to look at my notes to do that. so the president walked through the numbers of folks that have been evacuated from afc so far, he says it's been a total of 33,000 people that have been evacuated from afghanistan. he talked about the priority

list of people that are currently being evacuated, which was very telling. he said the first priority was american citizens, and said, and i quote, any american who wants to get home will in fact get home. he also went down the list they are assisting nato allies. he said we are looking to move afghan allies as well, and a total number of 28,000 people have been evacuated since august 14th. he went on to say the evacuation will be hard and painful. he said his heart aches for all the images he's been seeing. talk about the processing stations which i've been talking about the last hour or so, what is the plan once these afghans leave afghanistan? where do they go? and then where do they go from there? there's a couple stops. there are processing centers in

the gulf states, central asia, europe as well. a lot of these people are being flown to the processing centers, back 46 ground checked as well, and then deployed and sent on to their next location. some of those locations being bases right here in the united states. as we were reporting earlier, texas and wisconsin are included in that. 9 president was asked about the august 31st deadline that we've been talking about repeat think. he says they're in discussions about extendsing the deadline. they don't want to do it, but they are in discussions to extend that deadline. mentioning they are negotiating with the taliban, speaking with it is taliban. he said with the taliban negotiations we've been able to extend those borders, was asked specifically if in fact he

trusts the taliban. he called it a ragtag group, and said i don't trust anybody. and i want to bring in my panel. welcome to you all, guys. i kind of want to go around the horn here and get your gut reaction first. tyler, i will start with you, as to what we just heard from the president. >> i think what he was trying to do here is continues to defend his decision to withdraw american troops and outline why the evacuations was going to be different, no matter when they did it. obviously they have been under a lot of criticism for the images

we saw. he tried to use empathy, saying my heart aches for those people struggling to get to the airport to leave the country, but also defended it, saying the military is working day and night to get people out. and it was striking how many times he referred to the numbers. i think he's really trying to make the point that this effort has been a success, and despite struggles to get everyone to the airport, he vows every american that wants to leave the country will be able to, and they'll continue to work through the night to get as many people out. i think that was the takeaway from the speech. >> charlie in. >> look, obviously the president has had problems, a competency gap, a credibility gap. some of the things he's said before don't line up with the reality on the ground. and he's had an empathy gap. i will be interested to hear

what matt zeller has to say about the reality. what the president has to hope for is that you have some kind of an operation dunkirk that gets all the americans out and the vast majority of our afghan allies, and then we can look back and say it started out badly, but turned out to be one of our finest hours. we have to wait and sigh if the reporting on the ground lines up with what the president just said. on friday he made statements that frankly didn't hold up under that reporting. i think that's a real test for this administration going forward. >> amanda this. >> i think it was critical he came out today to have this conversation. it was his able to show what he knows around the world, to show credibility around foreign policy, but also walk a fine line. sharing enough so people feel

comfortable, but not sharing too much that we actually harm ourselves as we're trying to get people out he now and how this continues to move in a process where you can educate the people at large, but also the international conversation so i want you to expansion -- i know you've got in tough with afghanis, and then talk to us, and also this kind of moment that the president spoke to. should i have stayed there? i had a choice, either withdraw us from the war or send more of your sons and daughters to afghanistan. i made the choice to withdraw. had we withdrawn a month ago or a month from now, we would have been seeing the same thing.

>> i think the most important thing is this, he argued that the effort is ongoing and hopefully it will continue unti. the leadership really screwed up and they're going to need to be held to account for this. but the people conducting this operation, the folks at the state department, the department of defense, those marines on point who have to stand 50 meters from the taliban beating u.s. citizens and they can do nothing, these people are heroic and they should be given every single accommodation for their heroism. they are working around the clock along with veterans all over the world who are in this digital dunkirk moment. but let me be clear. i don't know who's advising the president but our afghan allies are not getting through the gate. there are -- i've lost track of the accounts of the number of people who have waited in line three days in that hell. they have been shot at. they have been beaten. they have been stabbed. they have been trampled. some of them have died. and they finally get to the

gate. they somehow get in. they get to an inner checkpoint. and that's when they're told i'm sorry, your special immigration visa has not been processed yet, you're not eligible to go forward, we're only taking u.s. citizens right now and green card holders. and then they're sent back out. back into that hell. how we ask them to continue to keep doing this is beyond me. we're going to have to come up with a better way. so look, i'm glad that you're talking about through-put, which is all of the open processing centers. but why haven't we gone to guam? guam has over 10,000 hotel rooms sitting vacant right now. they have two military bases waiting to be used. the governor as of june requested that the government use the island for this evacuation. why aren't we sending people to where we have open runways and open hotel rooms and an entire island who knew how to do this and have been doing it for a very long time? let's be clear. i think everyone's right. this is going to come to define the biden presidency based on how we do this. so the president needs to understand that the veteran community in particular will

never forgive them for this, if they don't get all of our afghan wartime allies and their family members out. that means we have to commit to mission complete, not some date in the future, and it cannot be determined by the taliban. >> i want you to weigh in on something that matt just said there, and he said a lot so i think we have a lot to sift through. but who is in fact advising the president as to what's actually happening on the ground there? because there is a disconnect as to what the president said, which he said by and large it seems as if the taliban is allowing americans to get through the border at the airport, whereas the reality on the ground that we are hearing not only from afghans that we are interviewing here on msnbc but also from folks like matt and other folks that appear on our air that are in touch with afghanis, that that is not the reality. so where is the disconnect? what is happening here? >> yeah, i think that's a great question and something that we didn't get a lot of clarity on today from the president when he was asked about, you know, what is happening in terms of american forces trying to get beyond the airport and extend the perimeter.

obviously, there are national security concerns there about not revealing too much about what's going on. but it's a question. and from colleagues on the ground we see that it is not a smooth transit from kabul to the airport. and so that is an ongoing question that the president and his team will need to answer for. but to your question about who's advising the president, you know, the advisers who have spoken out, national security adviser jake sullivan, secretary of state tony blinken, defense secretary lloyd austin, general millie, ron klain, the chief of staff, they've all made it clear that this was president's decision. and he said that today and reminded americans that he was elected to make these sorts of decisions and they are backing him up. you know, the reporting that we have when he made this decision was that the overruled the military officials who wanted to keep troops on the ground. this was something the president has long been opposed to, the ongoing war in afghanistan, and he wanted to pull troops out, and that's what he did. i think another point that is important to make is that he emphasized that no matter when they pulled the -- you know,

began the evacuation efforts it was going to be hard and painful. i think there are some people that would disagree with that. as we've seen it unfold over the past two days. >> and i keep going back, charlie, right? to the conversation that was reported between ashraf ghani and the president in which ghani pleaded with the president to not pull people out of afghanistan for the sake of the afghani people. right? and there you have ashraf ghani abandoning his country essentially on day one as the taliban took over kabul, whereas the president could have very well made the decision to say you know what, my priority is the american people right now and it is not what you're asking. >> no. and early in the week the president, you know, made no secret of his frustration with the afghan president. but again, going back to this whole point about the president wants -- president biden wants to keep talking about the decision to withdraw, but the logistics and the way it was done actually matter. the decision, for example, to

shut down bagram air field, which i think needs to be examined. the decision to withdraw some of the logistical support from the afghan military. the failure of intelligence here. and then apparently the president's just long-standing desire to be done with this to the point where he was going to override and overrule his advisers on all of this. look, i'm torn between wanting to sort of relitigate all of that, including the role of the trump administration's abject surrender, but matt zeller is right. what happens going forward is what will define this presidency. >> and i want to get into that but i do want to bring in hasina sayed, an afghan national who was able to get out of kabul. before we do i just want to play a little bit of the president. >> let me be clear. the evacuation of thousands of people from kabul is going to be hard and painful, no matter when

it started, when we began. it would have been true if we had started a month ago or a month from now. there is no way to evacuate this many people without pain and loss of heartbreaking images you see on television. >> hasina, i know you just heard the president there talking about the evacuation efforts. what did you make of what he had to say? >> still i'm a bit baffled and confused. i don't know why american necessity was not coming to afghanistan to pull out all the troops. it was about the building community, building afghanistan. so this was the strategy of what afghan things was america but i don't know -- yes, we do want to pull out and for security and everything. but i think we have to think

about what has to be done next because now we are in a very sensitive time, we are in a very chaotic time. so we need to think about what has to be done next. everybody's concentrating on pulling out the people. so who is going to be left in afghanistan? so that's the question. and why this scenario has happened, this is all afghan people. we have a question from biden administration. we really like -- we thank for the help which they have done in afghanistan. but why too soon pulling out the troops? it was not necessary. after all, you can see the result of pulling out so soon. this is a disaster. this is like chaotic. this is it looked like somebody's dreaming a horrified -- a horror film. it's like amazing still we are so baffled about asking this question from biden administration. >> how were you able to get out,

hassina? >> for me it was also a bit difficult, but fortunately i knew a little bit some of my foreign friends. also i was a bit fortunate because it was in the first days which i came out. it was not as much chaotic. but so the things which i can see right now in front of me, it's like heartbreaking. >> and where do you plan to go next? do you have a plan for where you're going to settle now that you have left afghanistan? >> right now i'm in -- because my kids are here, i'm a mother of three daughters. so that's why i have to be with them in this critical time. >> and how are you feeling today? what is it like to see all of your countrymen still suffering so much back in afghanistan? >> it's so much heartbreaking.

that's why we are really in a heartbreaking way. and we don't understand this question why. there is a big why and somebody has to answer this. even everybody knew it, even afghan people they knew it. so how would the biden administration and all sort of people helping advising them, and why it happened. >> all right. hassina syed, we appreciate you standing by and speaking to us this afternoon. i can't imagine the harrowing experience you have been through and what you continue to experience. i'm happy to know, though, that you are with your children. children always put a smile on your face, don't they? and help you through the hard times. thank you so much. i want to thank my panel as well for sticking with me. tyler pager, white house reporter tort "washington post." charlie sykes, editor at large at bulwark. amanda renteria and matt zeller as well. as matt mentioned, i think the conversation now goes to what happens next, what happens next to all these thousands of folks that are leaving afghanistan. where do they go?

where do they start their life? thank you all, guys. appreciate it. that wraps up the hour for me, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian. i'll be back next saturday at 3:00 p.m. eastern. going to turn it now to al sharpton and "politics nation." good evening and welcome to "politics nation," where we have breaking news. moments ago president biden just finished addressing the nation on the deteriorating conditions in afghanistan. one week after the taliban's dramatic reconquest of the country handed biden his first foreign crisis as president. >> our first priority in kabul is getting american citizens out of the country as quickly and as safely as possible. let me be clear. the evacuation of thousands of