they're part of a great noble company of american heroes. to those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes america harm, know this. we will not forgive. we will not forget. we will hunt you down and make you pay. i'll defend our interests and our people with every measure at my command. >> president biden vowing the united states will retaliate against the terrorists responsible for yesterday's attacks in afghanistan in what was the deadliest day for the u.s. military in more than a decade. good morning welcome to "morning joe" i'm willie geist. it's friday, august 27th. 13 u.s. service members and according to the associated press at least 95 afghans are dead following the terror attacks in kabul. more than 140 people were wounded in the last, including

18 u.s. service members. gunmen and two suicide bombers targeted the thousands waited near the airport yesterday who were hoping to escape afghanistan and the taliban's rule. the first blast came outside the gates and then another attack at a nearby hotel where people were waiting. isis-k, the islamic state terror group's afghanistan affiliate has claimed responsibility for the blast. earlier in the day the u.s. embassy warned americans to stay away from the airport, citing an attack. as we showed you, president biden spoke at the white house yesterday where he condemned the attacks and vowed to make the terrorists pay. chief white house correspondent peter alexander has more. >> reporter: days after

president biden's deadline to end america's longest war, the commander in chief addressing what is one of the deadliest days for u.s. troops in the entire 20-year conflict. >> these american service members that gave their lives -- it's an overused word but it's appropriate here -- were heroes. heroes engaged in a selfless mission to save the lives of others. >> reporter: the president blaming the attack on the group isis-k. a group he's been warning about for days. >> we were made aware by our intelligence community that the isis-k, an arch enemy of the taliban has been planning a complex set of attacks on the united states personnel and others. >> reporter: and saying this about whether he'll stick with his august 31st timeline to get all american forces out. >> we will not be deterred by terrorists. we will not let them stop our mission, we'll continue the

evacuation. >> reporter: it's a nightmare scenario for the president whose exit has faced criticism. there's calls for change including the u.s.'s reliance on the taliban for security at the airport. bob menendez saying we can't trust the taliban for american security. and the republicans blasting the president for sticking with a strategy that they believe has failed. >> that's impossible at this point. >> reporter: the president making this vow. >> to those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes america harm, know this. we will not forgive. we will not forget. we will hunt you down and make you pay. >> peter alexander reporting there. you heard the president say the evacuation mission will continue despite yesterday's attack and this morning it does continue. the state department says at

least 500 americans were air lifted out of the country yesterday and 1,000 remain. since the taliban entered kabul on august 14th, officials say more than 5,000 americans and roughly 100,000 people have been evacuated in total. of the u.s. citizens still there, the state department says it has been in contact with most if not all of them. politico also reporting the u.s. officials gave the taliban a list of american and afghan names to evacuate in hopes of expediting the process. this, as you can imagine, has prompted outrage from defense officials one telling politico, they just put all those afghans on a kill list. let's bring in josh letterman at the white house, correspondent courtney kube and correspondent matt bradley at ramstein air base in germany, the destination

for almost all evacuation flights out of afghanistan. >> i want to bring with you courtney, yesterday a warning that more attacks could still come. listen. >> right now our focus really we have other active threat streams, extremely active threat streams against the airfield we want to take the steps we need to to protect ourselves there. we expect the attacks to continue and we're doing everything we can to be prepared for those attacks. >> how has the american posture changed there around the airport? you have 13 u.s. service members killed yesterday, 18 injured. we're hearing more attacks could be imminent now. what does it look like at the airport right now? >> so, overall, the posture has not really changed that much. there's still about 5,400, 5,500 u.s. troops there securing the airport. they are continuing to screen civilians as they come into the airport. that's what happened here, willie.

there was a group of, primarily marines, they were at the abbey gate, on the southeast corner of the airport, a place where a lot of americans and some afghan civilians and other third country nationals, the british, have been coming through that gate over the last 10 days or so. the marines were there screening individuals as they were coming through when someone exploded some sort of an explosive device, the assumption is it may have been a suicide vest and then there was an ensuing gun battle. the marines and u.s. military are still conducting these searches even today as we speak despite there. and there still are evacuation flights coming and going. general mckenzie and others are stressing to us, despite this horrible attack and deadly attack, despite that the evacuation mission continues. and, you know, it -- there's -- something else. you played a little bit of the sound from president biden vowing to retaliate here.

that's something that i've been talking to defense officials, of course, ever since this happened because one of the big questions immediately after an attack like this is the u.s. going to respond? i think that our viewers may be surprised to find out that ever since the u.s. military began the withdrawal, which really began in april or may of this year, with the military withdrawal comes a withdrawal of a lot of intelligence assets. so the u.s. military has much less of a clear picture of where some of these fighters, potential isis fighters may be and the potential to strike back is clouder now than it was six months or a year ago, and it will only get worse as the u.s. is gone. since this evacuation mission began on august 14th, most of those efforts are fixed on kabul and, particularly, on the airport. because the biggest concern is

making sure that where the american military and civilians are headed that that is the area that's secure. it doesn't mean that the u.s. military doesn't have the capability, the capacity to carry out a strike, the question is, will they have the intelligence to actually go after some of the people who may have carried out this attack yesterday. >> so what does this mean for the august 31st deadline from the pentagon perspective, which is now four days away. people say we have to get out on the 31st and this is why, because of the imminent threat of terrorist groups moving close to the airport now, on the other hand others say we have to get every last american and our afghan wartime partners out of there because of the threats in the country, what is the pentagon's thinking right now on the deadline? >> they are still full steam ahead for a complete withdrawal by august 31st, willie. there has not been any change to the timeline at this point.

i was struck yesterday by what we kept hearing out of officials, primarily at the white house, but someone at the pentagon as well. about how after the august 31st deadline, they would continue to work to get more people out who wanted to get out, particularly get americans out. i would be interested to know exactly how that's going to happen. i can only imagine that the state department and the white house are working on some diplomatic means to try to make that happen. the u.s. has been working with these negotiations and the talks with the taliban, the qataris have a strong presence and they have been helping in some diplomatic cases already. so i imagine they will have a role here. according to all signs and defense officials i speak with, they are still working to the august 31st deadline and this attack has not made any impact on that. you have to look at the military situation they're faced with right now. so kabul airport, it's surrounded by the city. it's surrounded by a lot of

civilians and surrounded by thousands of taliban fighters. most of these fighters are the most -- the strongest, most capable, they're almost their more elite like special forces kind of forces in the taliban. that was a strategic decision it seems on the part of the taliban to put them there. they wanted to have their best people who would listen to the taliban leadership about what they would be doing to maintain the perimeter around the airport. the 5,400 or so u.s. troops at that airport are completely surrounded. so -- and they're almost in a fishbowl. there's mountains surrounding them. the taliban have rocket propelled grenades ways of shooting down helicopters and other aircraft. a strong amount of fire power. they are controlling some of those gates. if the u.s. decides to stay past august 31st, against any sort of agreement that they have with the taliban right now, it would be -- the u.s. would have to

flow in more forces and it would potentially be a very ugly fight and i think that's one thing that military planners are looking at right now is the reality of what that -- of just how potentially bloody and how difficult a battle that would be if they decided to stay against any agreement with the taliban. >> the clock is ticking toward that deadline. courtney, thanks so much. matt bradley, let's go to you in germany where the evacuation flights continue to land. the president vowed the evacuations would continue. incredible work by the united states military even as it mourns 13 of its own, 18 more wounded. what are you seeing on your side of things and what does this mean for the evacuation now with just four days left? >>, you know, willie, it's a good question. i don't think it means anything for the evacuation. i think it means the whole thing has to go just as fast. it adds to the imperative to get these people out. what we've seen all night here, and i've spoken with people who live around here they've heard

planes landing, coming and going here at ramstein. this is one of the largest air bases in the world and it's an unusual sight here, seeing civilian aircraft, delta, united, atlas air landing here, mixed among the c-17s, c-130 transport aircraft, they're all part of the enormous operation. you can see a huge tent city also that houses as many as 17,000 afghan evacuees. this was a tent city built in a matter of days by u.s. soldiers but also their family members, spouses, and their children. they pitched in to bring together this huge evacuation effort. this base has been at capacity, i was told yesterday, by the man who runs it, brigadier general olson that the population of the base has tripled or quadrupled in just the last week or two.

and now, as of yesterday, they're at capacity. they really can't take anymore. there's now just about 17,000 people who are living at this base. now they've tried to ramp up the processing here, they've tried to increase the speed at which they're getting people going, but it's unclear how they can do that anymore. they have to start routing planes to bases in italy and elsewhere in europe. >> let's talk about isis-k, the group that claimed responsibility for the bombings yesterday. you've done a lot of work covering isis over the years. what is isis-k? i think it's new to most people, who are they and what are their objectives? >> yeah, isis-k. the k comes from khorasan, a province in afghanistan. they've been active in the east of afghanistan. that's where most of the fire fighting was.

the taliban are enemies of isis-k they had a lot of fire fights since isis-k showed itself back in 2015 and that was a little bit after he saw isis sprouting up in iraq and syria, remember that conflict. they used to have, in iraq and syria, a caliphate that was about the size of britain at its height, it's been beaten back in that region, but now we're seeing isis once again in afghanistan. it was only a little bit ago that the taliban said that they too had extinguished isis in afghanistan. isis-k in afghanistan, it's more austere in terms of its islamic outlook than the taliban if you can believe that. they're more conservative, more violent. whether they came from other taliban fighters, it's clear they have a lot of people in common. it seems it's a lot of disgruntled taliban fighters who

joined isis-k because the taliban wasn't extreme enough for some reason and they decided they are looking at more of a global outlook. the taliban's view is more rooted in afghanistan itself. they want to create -- they want to govern afghanistan. whereas isis has a more global perspective. that's why you saw affiliates throughout the middle east, throughout africa and, of course, now in afghanistan. so isis-k, sounds like they're goeg to continue fighting. but this is a small target. they're thought to have 2,000, 3,000 fighters and they're going to be beaten back by the taliban themselves for the most part. >> matt bradley, thanks so much. we appreciate it. let's go to the white house now, josh letterman, obviously the nightmare scenario for the country, for this president losing 13 u.s. service members, 18 more injured yesterday, scores of afghans killed, many more injured as well.

the president holding fast to his decision to pull out of the country, is there any reconsideration now from the white house point of view of the august 31st deadline? >> none whatsoever. we talked to officials who say what took place yesterday, while devastating and deadly for american troops serving there only resolidified the president's belief we have to get out of afghanistan and we have to do it now. the situation there in kabul are reinforcing for president biden, according to his aides, the fact that no matter how long we stayed in afghanistan we were still going to end up with this mix of extremist groups with an afghan military that was clearly not going to be able to stand up and defend the country against taliban insurgents but also even the taliban now punta lively in control of kabul and afghanistan unable to prevent attacks from other groups, rival groups.

the white house press secretary jen psaki said this was maybe the worst day of president biden's young presidency so far. and certainly i can tell you that has been the mood here at the white house. in light of the americans that died and also true chaos as the white house is scrambling to figure out exactly what the situation is on the ground there, what the continuing threat is for potential additional attacks in the coming days while trying to do everything else on president biden's agenda, including meeting with the israeli leader, that was supposed to be yesterday, it was quickly scrapped and moved to today. we'll see that later today after the president starts his day at the white house at about 8:30 in the morning in the situation room with the national security advisers and according to officials we're speaking to, the key mission set again every single last american in the country out by that august 31st, the s.i.v.s, afghan allies,

that's all important but in the few hours we have left on the ground in kabul, they're trying to get these americans out. according to the state department there's about 1,000 americans they're in touch with still in afghanistan although the state department says information is hard to get up-to-the-minute data on, it's possible they've gotten out of the country in a sign of true desperation on the ground in kabul, the state department also says in had the last 24 hours, they heard from another 500 people in afghanistan who say they're americans and want to get out. but the u.s. government saying based on their experience they believe many, if not most, are not american citizens, they're simply afghans desperate for any way to get out of the country. >> the white house sticking to the deadline but saying it will continue to extract americans after the deadline, which becomes difficult and complicated.

josh letterman, thanks so much. joining us now retired four star navy admiral, chief international security and diplomacy analyst for nbc news. and also with us, elise jordan and mike barnicle. good morning to you all. admiral you were with us two days ago you and joe were talking about the fear of exactly the kind of attack we saw against american troops yesterday. here's part of your conversation with joe. >> i certainly want to get every last american out of there, but it seems to me, if we stayed past the end of the month, we would just be inviting an attack by isis, inviting an attack by, let's say, an even more radical element of the taliban. this is the sort of thing i would not want our troops sitting there indefinitely in this sort of situation. >> i am very worried we are one c-17 crash, one big bomb, one

fire fight at the kai corral away from this thing turning sideways. so bottom line, let's get this thing done. let's get out of here. if we still have people on the ground, we ought to try and extend that deadline, but i think it's like covid diminishing returns kicking in p here, let's get what we can. >> that was wednesday morning. admiral your worst fears came true in horrific fashion yesterday. how did it happen and how concerned are you about today and tomorrow and attacks we've been told could be imminent? >> as i talked about, willie, it's kind of the big three, one of which has occurred, a big bomb. and potentially you have to reserve the thought of a truck bomb, which is what, of course, struck the marines in beirut in 1983, killing 300 of them. second is a c-17 going down.

perhaps to a shoulder fired weapon. there's no intel indication that the isis-k have such weapons, you just never know. those borders are pourous, there are other groups around the world would love to see that happen. and a fire fight break out if isis-k try a main move. all of those nightmare scenarios. let's start by saying there are 13 families today who are having the worst day of their life, american families and we ought to remember them. and then let's think about what comes next. assuming we can get through what we just talked about and get out of here. i think the president is absolutely right to say we will not forgive, we will not forget. he's kind of echoing the renaissance there. let's also remember another famous saying from that era, which is revenge is a dish best

eaten cold. what i mean by that is, let's stay focussed on this mission. let's get as many people out as we can. let's create mechanisms for after we depart continuing through diplomatic means, clandestine means, an underground railroad, whatever we need and then let's find isis-k, probably in or the a bora where bin laden was and sooner or later we'll find them and they can join bin laden at the bottom of the indian ocean. >> admiral many people said in the last 12 to 24 hours this is why the united states needs to get out in the next four days because of the security risks to our troops because of the security risks to afghan civilians trying to get out of there. do you believe the events of yesterday, the tragic, terrible events and you're right we are thinking about those 13 families in america today getting the worst phone call of their life,

do you believe this should change the calculus at all, we should make sure that everyone gets out or does this make the case in your eyes to leave on august 31st? >> i think there is a tactical case that is strengthened in terms of getting out, because the situation has become essentially untenable. you have 6,000 troops, masked people trying to get out. it's just a bull's eye on a huge target. so tactically we've got to disengage from this situation. i think strategically, a jury is out in the sense that this does show us the potential for afghanistan becoming an ungoverned space. it makes you question the taliban's ability to contain the islam state k and other groups, including al qaeda. so i think the bottom line is tactically, finish this mission, get out, operationally,

strategically we need to think about what are our over-the-horizon capabilities, long range insertion of power, cia clan den stein operations, coming in from a variety of ways. we need to think through those options because i think there is trouble ahead in afghanistan, unfortunately. >> elise, you worked in afghanistan you know the country well, you know people inside the country now. after yesterday's horrific attack, what does it mean for the afghan people on september 1st once the american troops leave and what does it mean for what looks like now, we'll have to go back in from time to time as the admiral says to chase groups like isis-k? >> it's a more grim outlook for our afghan allies hoping to get out who had gone through the visa process, the labor-intensive, bureaucratic sometimes years long process

that the state department under the trump administration was unwilling because they stopped processing visas of our allies, and then didn't ramp up just to handle the capacity, the sheer volume in the six months that joe biden has been president. i guess now my question for the admiral is, how do we prosecute isis-k if we have no presence in afghanistan? we aren't even going to have an embassy and a marine presence at the embassy per the usual. how are we going to do this in eastern afghanistan without any kind of on the ground presence at all or any base? >> we're going to begin by looking at assets regionally, elise. so working from the inside out. unfortunately we have no bases on the borders of afghanistan itself. your point. however, we have friendly arab nations in the gulf under a

thousand miles away, that's a long distance operation but we can fly not only drones but in moments of real targeting we can bring in man strikes from that distance, as well we have our british allies and friends who have the south about 1,200 miles away. so there are bases long distance. it's not mission impossible. it's mission really hard. we're going to use our overhead sensors to generate the intelligence. cyber will play a part here, both the taliban and islamic state are active on social media, cyber, we have capabilities to collect intelligence as you know well through a variety of means and then third and finally, despite the fact there won't be a big visible u.s. presence there, i'm quite confident the cia will be able to maintain networks, they will gather intelligence, they have assets on the ground, i'm

absolutely certain who will continue on. look, we gather intelligence in north korea, cuba, venezuelan, iran in other places we don't have embassies. we can do it here as well. it won't be as crisp as the operation that killed bin laden, which was launched from afghanistan we lost those bases. >> this is the nightmare that president biden was trying to avoid, hoping to avoid by getting out august 31st, with 13 americans killed. 13 phone calls he'll have to make to new gold star families. but he did stick yesterday that it is time to get out of afghanistan despite everything we've been seeing the last two weeks. here's what he said. >> i said 100 times terrorism is metastasized around the world we have greater threats coming out of other countries a heck of a lot closer to the united states, we don't have military

encampments there, we don't keep people there, we have over-the-horizon capability to keep them from going after us. ladies and gentlemen, it was time to end a 20 year war. >> what did you think as you heard the president yesterday? he was asked repeatedly about the deadline, but didn't waiver off his argument despite the horror of yesterday. >> willie, i was thinking, i think the same thing that many people in the pentagon, many people who have had their hands on afghanistan policy over the 20 years past were thinking, and that is, it was always going to end this way. it was always going to end in chaos and death. i think the important thing for us, as americans, to consider today and we've all referenced it this morning, the admiral just mentioned it as well, as you did.

today there are casualty officers of the united states military visiting 13 homes in this country. today, this morning, there's a plane in the air, somewhere in the world coming across the pacific with 13 bodies in that plane. the plane will land at dover air force base in delaware. the families will be fractured forever. the families of the fallen. this is history's long list of casualties that's arriving at dover air force base. we are there on a mission to save people to help people. that mission will continue until august 31st. but this mission in afghanistan for us, as a country, is over, as well as it ought to be. and the admiral is correct. i think probably right now, as we're speaking here, ongoing as we're speaking here, there are intelligence efforts under way,

i think probably the pakistani intelligence service is going to have to be twisted into finally helping america instead of turning their back on us, we will get justice here and justice will mean death for those who tried to do this and did this -- accomplished this horrific act yesterday. but this mission is over because the capacity of the enemy on the ground there, this is not walking through an airport through metal detectors, this is an enormous crowd of danger, filled with danger. if they start rocketing the runway at the kabul airport making it impossible for planes to leave or takeoff then we're in a truly horrific position. but sadly, this was always the way it was going to end. >> admiral we heard that from

president biden as well, this was inevitable, that's been rejected by some people who said, yes, there might have been chaos but we wouldn't have seen the level of chaos we've seen around the airport in the last couple days, live pictures at 3:00 in the afternoon, by the way, from kabul airport as the evacuations continue. as your point of view as a commander, did it have to be this way? was this really inevitable? >> the tactical situation you see unfolding was not inevitable. i think strategically, mike barnicle is exactly right. the handwriting has been on the wall here for quite some time. tactically, look, we say in the navy, the mark of a great ship handler is never getting in a situation that requires great ship handling. and a number of factors contributed to where we are in this punch bowl at karzai international airport, including the collapse of will and leadership on the part of the

afghans, as well missteps by the u.s. military, i include myself in that number, in how we trained the afghan security forces. our intelligence did not indicate we'd see this massive, sudden collapse and the taliban overperformed. i don't think anybody thought they could step up their game so swiftly. all those factors came together, willie, to create a very difficult tactical situation on the ground. unfortunately, as mike and i were talking just a few days ago, i would have scored it well better than even we were going to see something like this. let us all pray we can get this thing done and get out of there over the next few days. >> i want to read a tweet from a friend of mine, marine sniper jake wood who started a veteran's relief organization. he wrote those marines stood at the wall despite knowing a suicide attack was imminent.

they did it because the men, women and children needed to reach safety. that's from a marine sniper, jake wood, talking about what those americans did, what they risked knowing what was coming to help fellow americans and afghans get out of that country. admiral, thank you -- >> and let me say one more thing, which is simply to all afghan veterans, to all who served in this war, over 20 years, each of them stood on that wall in one way or another and guarded this country. so for the question was it all worth it? i would say, there was no terror attack during those 20 years, you can take some measure of satisfaction in that, because you served and stood on that wall and protected the country. thanks for reading that quote. >> and that mission ends in four days. admiral, thank you very much. mike and elise, stay with us. we have much more ahead on the

deadly attack against service members in this afghanistan. we'll be joined by seth moulton who earlier this week made a controversial trip to kabul to see the evacuation effort firsthand. we'll speak with him live. plus the latest on the pandemic across the country. more than 100,000 people are hospitalized with coronavirus, numbers not seen since january. also this morning, states along the gulf coast bracing for a possible hurricane this weekend. we'll give you the latest track on that storm. a busy morning when "morning joe" comes right back. without my medication, my small tremors would be extreme. i was diagnosed with parkinson's. i had to retire from law enforcement. it was devastating. one of my medications is three thousand dollars per month. prescription drugs do not work if you cannot afford them. aarp is fighting for americans like larry,

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welcome back to "morning joe." beautiful friday morning, 6:38 a.m. in new york city, not so beautiful along the gulf coast as tropical storm ida could become a powerful hurricane this

weekend threatening several states along the coast. the national hurricane center issued hurricane and storm surge watches for louisiana, mississippi and alabama. let's bring in bill karins. good morning, bill. how bad is this one going to be? >> as bad as any we had in a while, we're talking a major hurricane landfall in the northern gulf coast and pinpointing louisiana. 45 mile per hour winds, so the storm has slowly increased. we think as we go through saturday into sunday it could really intensify, maybe even rapid intensifintensification. here's the landfall forecast. this is just in from the hurricane center. they're saying category 3, major hurricane, just south of new orleans, somewhere making

landfall north to morgan city. storm surge is a huge issue along with rainfall and possibility of even some strong winds as far east as new orleans. but the wind threat could go through baton rouge and rain out as we go sunday night into monday. how confident are we? we're 60 hours away from landfall. the black line is the hurricane center all the other lines are the computer models excellent agreement where the storm is going, the only question how strong will it be? rapid intensification is possible and expected saturday into sunday. hurricane watches extend through the mississippi coastline, the new orleans area back to louisiana and this is the huge issue, water. there's going to be a ton of water headed for southeastern louisiana, storm surge, and then on top of that, at the same

exact time we think there's a possibility of up to 20 inches of rain in southeast louisiana. you can imagine the stress on the pumps to keep that water out of new orleans as we go sunday night into monday. this could be anywhere from a category 2 to a category 4 at landfall. it's not the winds i'm most concerned with, it's all the water headed for southeast louisiana, water by far kills the most people in hurricanes and this is a dangerous situation. >> talking about almost two feet of rain in some parts. we'll keep a close eye on that. bill, thanks so much. to the littest developments in the fight against coronavirus. right now more than 100,000 people are hospitalized in the country with covid-19. that's the highest number of hospitalizations in america since january. in alabama, florida, louisiana and the state of washington, new admissions of covid-19 patients are at the highest levels since

the pandemic began. across the country more children are hospitalized with covid-19 than any other point in the pandemic. joining us now, president and ceo of university hospital in newark, new jersey. doctor, it's great to have you back on the show. i want to talk about what you're doing at your hospital and how things look there. but let's start with what's happening in the country, more than 100,000 hospitalizations and we're seeing record highs for the pandemic in a number of states. is this all about the unvaccinated? >> it's the primary reason, thanks so much for having me. of course, the unvaccinated throughout the country are the main vectors now for the spread of this disease. as we see vaccine effectiveness waning over time for folks who did take the right step and get vaccinated over the last eight, nine, ten months, breakthrough infections increasing, spreading to family members who may be vulnerable. this is a big problem and the problem really centers on folks

who are unvaccinated. we're doing as much as we can in our community here, participating in forums across the country to encourage vaccination, there are boosters are on the horizon, but it's still better to get the vaccine by far than to not and we're really trying to spread that message as much as possible. >> doctor, what's going on with kids? we were told a year ago at the height of this, that kids were relatively safe, schools were the safest place kids could be, they tolerated the virus very well but now we're seeing, as you know, i think in your own hospital, too, an uptick in young patients. what is going on with children? is it just the fact that they are the only group of people not eligible for a vaccine, 11 and younger? >> one thing i'll say, it's concerning that it still seems to be a debate in this country about whether kids are vulnerable to the virus. we averaged over 1,200 hospitalizations for children with covid-19 in the country for

the last couple of weeks. we're seeing more kids in our emergency room and these debates are even in places you wouldn't expect like here in new jersey we have a gubernatorial candidate who said that children are not vulnerable to the virus recently. it's inexcusable and false information that clinicians that see kids in our hospital, the family members of kids with covid-19 wouldn't agree with that and it's against science and the truth. we have to make sure folks are aware about everything related to school safety, the need to wear masks and vaccinate the minors who are eligible so we can stop what everyone expects which is even more of an increase in pediatric hospitalizations. >> it's time for people in this country, as new as the vaccine is, to get a booster shot. how soon should people start getting them? >> the most recent news is that

pfizer and moderna have submitted ed that seems to suggest that six months after the initial round of vaccination would be the right time to get a booster. that's an update. and also, that there's a consideration of simultaneously authorizing boosters for folks who got j&j as well. i think there's ample evidence that vaccine effectiveness wains over time, certainly less than a year, from six to eight months and boosters can't come soon enough. compromised people, reaching out to folks who are particularly immunocompromised and we're administering those boosters already. >> we've talked about how you handled this inside your own hospital to get your own people vaccinated. you put in a mandate at your hospital. you went from 55% vaccination

rate among employees, now up to 93% after that mandate went in. how has that been going since the mandate and what's the response from your employees? >> as you mentioned, willie, the vaccination effort has been successful. we're well over 90% of people coming to this campus to work, the rest have a religious or medical exemption. we only had to terminate just a couple of employees for noncompliance with the policy because ultimately people realized we can't abide by the risk of spreading this deadly disease to the most vulnerable people in the community, those with a poor outcome to covid-19. we have, overall, broad acceptance among our employees they understand the rational. and every institution and employers should be mandating the vaccine. >> we're starting to see that

across the country. doctor, thank you for your time we appreciate it. coming up what we know about the group that claimed responsibility for yesterday's attack in kabul that killed 13 u.s. service members and injured 18 more. andrea mitchell joins us with her latest reporting. plus president biden's explanation for why the united states abandoned bagram air base a decision that's come under heavy criticism. and congressman and marine veteran seth moulton joins the table after seeing the situation in kabul firsthand earlier this week. he joins us next on "morning joe." n "morning joe. ♪ music playing. ♪ there's an america we build ♪ ♪ and one we explore one that's been paved and one that's forever wild but freedom means you don't have to choose just one adventure ♪ ♪

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imagine where we'd be if i had indicated, on may the 1st, i was not going to renegotiate an evacuation date. we were going to stay there. i'd have only one alternative, pour thousands of more troops back into afghanistan. to fight a war that we had already won relative to the reason we went in the first place. i have never been of the view that we should be sacrifiing american lives to try to establish a democratic government in afghanistan if osama bin laden, as well as al qaeda, had chosen to launch an

attack when they left saudi arabia out of yemen, would we have ever gone to afghanistan? even though the taliban completely controlled afghanistan at the time, would we have ever gone? >> president biden speaking at the white house yesterday. joining us now, marine veteran and member of the house armed services committee, seth moulton of massachusetts. he and republican congressman peter meijer of mission made an unapproved trip this week to witness the evacuations on the grounds. great to have you with us. couldn't have a better voice, a marine, a sitting congressman someone who saw with his own eyes what is happening in kabul. what did you see there? >> the most extraordinary thing i have ever seen in my life was happening at abby gate where these troops were killed.

it's an impossible task we've given them to sift through a sea of humanity, thousands of afghans to try to pluck out our allies, our friends and their families, their husbands, their wives, their little girls and boys. and put their kids on their back and hold their hands and literally pull them to freedom. so this -- i expected to see a gate with marines on one side and afghans on the other. but that's not the way this can work, because we waited so long to start this evacuation, we have to go out in the crowd. so these marines were out there. feet from taliban with their horse whips. at tremendous risk, literally saving lives. so there are a lot of service men and women who die protecting our country and saving lives in

the abstract. every one of these marines who gave their lives, the legacy that they leave is thousands, thousands of afghans, friends of ours, people who trusted us, who are alive today. i've seen a lot, i've never been more proud to be an american than i was that day at abby gate. >> i think that's an important point to make because as we talk about americans standing on the wall, that implies they're just providing security. but the picture you painted is united states marines wading out into the crowd, relying on the taliban for security, the very people they've been fighting for 20 years. what was that like for you to see as a veteran of several tours to see united states relying on the taliban and effectively working with the terrorist group? >> it was the most bizarre thing i could ever imagine. and these marines who grew up knowing that the taliban harbored the people who attacked

us on 9/11 were now asked to work with these terrorists, but we have to to save lives and one of the most important things we learned by being there on the ground is that that crazy relationship with the taliban is actually going to be really important going forward. because even if we extend the deadline to september 11th, the negotiated original date with the taliban, we cannot possibly save all these people. there will be tens of thousands that we leave behind and the only way to get them out in the future is if we have a productive relationship with the taliban. we thought that being there would give us the best place on earth to advocate, like most veterans across the country believe in extending the deadline. what we learned from being on the ground is that, sadly, we got to stick with it. and we have to figure out how to get people out in the future. >> you talked about evacuations and how they should have started

earlier, that's been a central criticism from republicans and democrats, which is lets get the people out before the guys with guns get out. do you think we've gone about this backwards? >> yes. but it's not a time to have political debates about this. there are people who -- a lot of troops we have to get home safely. that's going to be hard. the next few days are going to be really hard. we'll have to rely on the taliban just to get out of there safely. and then we have to figure out how to get all the people out that we left behind. so we have a lot of work to get ahead of us. we went to see the refugee camps afterwards, where we're sending all these families, these many young families that we're literally pulling to freedom. and now they're in places where we don't have enough food and water to stay alive. so there's a lot of work that we still have to do on the ground

to save people. we have to be firmly focused on that. >> the white house and the president said again yesterday we're sticking to the august 31st deadline, we're getting out. but we're committed to getting americans out after that date. what does september 1st look like? based on what you saw yesterday, american fighting forces have left, but we still want to get americans out, we want to get some afghan wartime allies out, how do we go about that? >> here's the blunt answer, willie, i don't know because we don't have a plan. everything that's happening right now, these extraordinary numbers of people that we're bringing out, it's because of these heroic efforts by our troops and our state department diplomats, young consulate officers trying to sort through immigration paperwork. it's because of their heroism on the ground we're saving so many people not because anyone in washington gave them a plan. and, you know, look, this sadly reminds me of when i was a

marine in iraq. and felt completely abandoned by washington because so many people in washington were making decisions that affected our lives and they had no clue what was going on on the ground. and i just vowed if if i ever get to congress i'm not going to repeat that mistake. i'm here for the troops. i'm here for the people we're trying to save. that's what matters, not what people in washington say. >> so what do we do? you have four days left to get american troops out, what would a good plan look like? it's late in the game but what would a good plan look like that would secure american troops so we don't see anymore marines killed outside the gates of that airport and so that afghan allies and the families you're telling me about are not brutalized by the taliban? >> again this is a ridiculous situation to be in, but we have to negotiate with the taliban.

we have to keep communication with them to ensure a safe withdraw and get people out when we go. so the president is right, we need to kill the people who organized the attack who killed these u.s. service men and women. but we also have to work with this other group, this other terrorist organization to get home. so we've got to take care of all these people that we got out. the airmen on the ground in qatar, where thousands upon thousands of these refugees are coming every day are also about to get thousands of troops on top of that, and they literally don't have enough water to give people. the state department officials said that administration lawyers were preventing donations we're trying to get to the bottom of that but that has to stop because more people are going to

die. >> congressman, stay with us. we're at the top of the hour, 13 u.s. service members and according to the associated press at least 95 afghans are dead following the terror attacks we've been talking about in kabul. richard engel reports on what happened on the ground. >> reporter: it was every soldier and marine in kabul's worst fear, an attack where they're most exposed. as troops were patting down an evacuee at a kabul airport gate searching for a bomb, he or she, that's still unclear, detonated one. >> the breath of the person you are searching is upon you. we have to touch the clothes of the person coming in. americans have got to be in danger to do the searches. there's no other way to do it. >> reporter: another bomb exploded a few hundred yards from the first. as fighters sprayed gun fire. we drove through this exact spot

a few days ago, a corridor that leads right to an airport gate. the u.s. is relying on the taliban to prescreen the crowds pushing to get into the airport hoping for a flight out of afghanistan, patting them down before they're checked again by u.s. troops. this new and bizarre security cooperation broke down. >> clearly, if they're able to get up to the marines that did the screening at the entry point of the base there's a failure somewhere. it was a failure by -- taliban operate with varying degrees of competence some of the guys are good, some are not. >> reporter: just a few weeks ago the u.s. was bombing the taliban, but when the troops pulled out, now there's no one left but the taliban to protect american forces as they leave. isis-k claimed responsibility. many of their fighters and other extremists including al qaeda

members were in jails but when forces melted away, the prisoners escaped and for the past few weeks have been on the loose. they have one clear target, the kabul airport where nearly all the americans in afghanistan are gathered and are still gathering, until they leave. >> richard engel reporting for us. we're continuing with congressman seth moulton here in new york. there's been a question that some people asked, was it worth it? i heard from veteran friends who wondered the same thing from time to time, were the last two decades worth it as you watch the way we're leaving the country and watching more americans die, 13 of them, and 18 injured. as you pause to think about it, pause to think about what you've seen on the ground in the last few days, what are your thoughts about the last two decades? >> willie, i'm not going to sit here and try to argue that it was worth it. the hardest question that i ever

got as a young, 20-something marine officer in iraq was, hey, sir, why are we here? it's a haunting question. and the only good answer i could come up with was, so no one has to be here in our place. that's not an adequate answer. it's true. and i -- i think that applies to those marines who are out there today. we can debate for a long time how they got into that place. but when i say i've never been prouder to be an american, it's because these young men and women are out there willing to do it for all the rest of us, and for these afghan kids. you know, when you see a u.s. marine grab a little girl by the hand that reminds you of your own daughter, that's what america is all about.

they respect the absolute best of america. >> and we've seen so many images in the last couple of weeks of united states marines, service members holding afghan children, carrying them over the wall to hopefully freedom and a better life and that's the honor and sacrifice, sadly, that we saw yesterday. congressman, mike barnicle is here with a question for you. mike? >> congressman, as we sit here today, 13 marines are on their way to dover air force base, casualty officers are knocking at the doors of their homes and strangely enough, impossibly enough, the miracle continues because those marines, those dead marines have been replaced by other marines who are doing the same thing today that cost those 13 their lives two days ago. so my question to you is, we

live in a country with no draft, the marines you spoke of just a few seconds ago in iraq, the marines and the airborne who are there at kia, kabul airport, are there because they volunteered to be there. you were on the ground for a very brief period of time a few days ago, so did that change your view of what's going on? what did you learn? did it change anything in your thinking about what's going on? >> it changed a lot, mike. let's start with the fact that washington put them in this place. put them in this impossible place, in this impossible situation, with a nearly impossible mission. yet the marines on the ground are so committed to saving these afghan friends because they know that america made them a promise that they want to stay there as long as it takes. you wouldn't believe how many

marines said, sir we have to find a way to extend the deadline so we can keep doing this because there's more people we can save. that's how committed they are. as soon as those marines were killed, there were other marines who said, send me out there, let me go, i'll go next. one of the most important things i learned from being there, though, was that we can't extend this deadline because we have to bring people home after we leave and without getting into the details of the negotiations that's not a tenable position if we stay beyond august 31st. we've tried to negotiate that with the taliban. and it's not going to work. we've put ourself -- people in washington have put these troops in the place where they need the taliban's help. i learned that one of the most difficult things the organizers of this evacuation on the ground are dealing with is actually members of congress and members of the administration who are

beating down their doors trying to get their particular friends out. that's one of the friends distracting them from the mission because there's been no system, no plan. i had been trying to -- we have a list of about 2,000 afghans just in my office that we've been trying to get out. and one night last week i stayed up all night just focused on four families. just four families, sending hundreds and hundreds of texts and whatsapp message. i know your kids are starving and crying, stay a little bit longer because there's someone coming to get you, trying to get there. and at the end of the night i saved one, one out of four families. but when i saw a picture of them on the other side of the gate, a heroic journalist, his wife and two little girls about the same age as mine, i said, you know what, it was worth it.

and if i can get on a plane and figure out how to save a few more, you better bet i'll do that. >> congressman, what does that process look like right now if you're a family in kabul or way outside kabul, which is a whole other situation, what does it look like right now? how do you get to the airport? how many checkpoints are you going through? the four families you're talking about, what does that process look like? it looks chaotic. is it as chaotic as it seems? is it hopeful to get through the checkpoints especially going through the taliban and having worked with america sometime in the last 20 years. what is the process if someone like you tries to get a family to safety? >> let me describe it for a family i know well. they are out in a city well outside of kabul. and first they had to make the decision whether to even leave

their house, to travel all these roads with taliban checkpoints knowing they were on the target list to get to kabul. and i convinced them, i don't know, you could die on the way but my instinct is go, try to get to the airport. so they planned to leave in the morning. that night the taliban came to their house and made them serve dinner to them. so this family is literally making dinner for taliban soldiers before they leave the next morning to try to escape them. they got to kabul. they somehow made it to the airport by showing some semblance of paperwork that convinced the taliban we qualify to get out. and then they sat for days at the airport gate without food and water, watching their kids wither in the sun. while i was on the phone with them trying to convince them, stay a little longer because i have someone who can come. we finally got a heroic airman

to come and literally pull them over the wall in the middle of the night because i showed them exactly pictures and grids where this family was. and carried them to safety. now they're in a refugee camp. they're in a refugee camp where they still don't have enough food and water. >> you literally reached out to someone you knew, an active duty service member said here's where these people are, that's not a process, that's a favor for a buddy and pulled them over the wall? >> yeah. that's the only reason this one family is safe. >> we've been watching, as we've been talking the evacuation continue, the work of the united states military goes on. flight after flight today, 3:41 in the afternoon, despite the trauma the united states military, the tragedy, the horror suffered yesterday, 13 service members killed, 18 injured. congressman i know you have to get back to work. we're grateful to your service

to the country and grateful you have given us witness to what's happening on the ground and for the work you continue to do. thanks for being here this morning. >> thank you, willie. joining us now, peter baker, john hudson and chief foreign affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell. andrea has new reporting on what we know about isis-k, the group claiming responsibility for the attacks in kabul. >> u.s. officials have been warning for days about the threat from isis-k. culminating in a red alert for americans to stay away from the airport gates. a warning that proved all too true. what is isis-k? an offshoot in afghanistan of the islamic state that originated in iraq. created six years ago in many pakistan, a vowed enemy of the u.s. and taliban. >> we've been talking about this

for several days we saw it manifest itself here in the last few hours. >> thousands were released from jails across afghanistan by the taliban in recent weeks since the taliban takeover in kabul. the secretary of state warned it was a high risk threat. >> we're operating in a high risk environment in a city and country now controlled by the taliban with the very really possibility of an isis-k attack. >> and isis-k isn't the only terror threat. the taliban named the leader of the hokani network, a with a $5 million u.s. bounty on his head and the hokanis have strong tied to al qaeda. >> as you report one of the dynamics on the ground inside afghanistan is taliban and isis-k are sworn enemies part of the reason we saw the bombing

yesterday. >> but the fact that the taliban have brought this leader of the hokani network in to do security in kabul is really troubling. it's alarming because you have the rivals of, of course, the taliban and isis-k, isis-k is far more radical than the taliban. they view the taliban as heretics for having gone to doha and negotiated with the west. but, of course, the taliban is hardly an accommodating group. what we're hearing from kabul and outside kabul in the provinces, what i'm hearing from women and from lawyers and judges and people that i've known, educators, is that they're going door to door and already taking young girls from if their mothers. this is hardly a moderate group, as i say, but isis-k is far more ideological, far more brutal if you can be, they are generally younger so there's a generation gap. and willie, now you've got this

unholy mix, this stew of jihadists, according to a u.n. report from june, there are 8 to 10,000 extremists flocking to afghanistan from all over the region. it's becoming a hot bed and it's the kind of haven for terrorists that the u.s. for 20 years fought against permitting to happen. >> as you talk to officials at the pentagon and state department, what's the sense of what afghanistan looks like on september 1st? president biden made very clear that august 31st will hold as the deadline, american troops will leave and now you have this stew frankly of terrorist groups running the country. >> i'm struck by the fact that the president was so determined, we will not forgive, we will not forget. it did remind me of george w. bush after 9/11. that was a promise of a forceful response. how are we going to track these people down after after we leave? bagram is closed, the military

contractors are gone, most of the cia will be gone other than probably a few covert people on the ground but we won't have people on the ground, they say they can do this from over the horizon, that means drone attacks from 1,200 miles away, that's the nearest base. we're not getting basing rights from russia. so we're going to be flying and the intelligence, that takes time and a lot of fuel to get there. so we're not going to have real time, eyes on the ground. we'll be doing it from overhead and whatever intel we get could be dated. that's how we missed bin laden for ten years. >> it's going to be a difficult pursuit without question. andrea mitchell thanks so much. john hudson you were first to report about a secret meeting the cia director and the leader of the taliban, a negotiation of some kind, what is the cia's position now on this august 31st deadline and the role the taliban has currently with security and the role it will

have in the country as the leadership on september 1st? the. >> well, the cia has entered this debate on the withdrawal, on the skeptical side. that manifested itself in the cia director burn's testimony to congress earlier this year saying that our intelligence capabilities would be diminished to some extent by our presence on the ground drawing back. and so, you know, there was a number of things that could have come out of the cia director's secret trip to meet with the taliban leadership. now when it comes to the relationship between the united states and the taliban, i think what we have seen play out in recent days has been a fascinating turn of events for two entities that have been at war with each other for the last 20 years, the united states and the taliban. the taliban is essentially our tsa right now at the airport,

checking people, we're coordinating with them, asking them to close off roads. there is an incredible level of exchange happening right now. general mckenzie laid that out in his briefing yesterday. this is very unusual strange bedfellows situation. there's a mutual threat from isis-k between the united states and the taliban. so in this limited amount of time left before the u.s. military withdrawal picks up and the evacuation ends, they're going to be working together very closely so that the united states gets as many people out. obviously there is not a lot of trust. the president spoke to that yesterday. no one likes the image, especially at the pentagon, especially at the white house, of working hand-in-glove with the taliban but this is out of necessity.

that's why they're doing it. >> and seth moulton even said off camera, the marines have to stand by and watch the taliban do what it does because they're now partners. peter baker we know the president spent the better part of the day in the situation room assessing this horrific series of events that killed 13 service members, injured 18 more, killed 95 afghans by the estimate of the associated press. did we have any moment of consideration about the deadline? he certainly didn't seem to have any second thoughts as he came out and spoke in the east room yesterday. >> no, there's no indication of that. this was a tough day for president biden as it had been for every american. let's hope the toughest of his presidency and we don't have worse to come. but he's been firm about this decision, even to the point of

being defensive and firm about the deadline. i think if anything, this tragic event reinforces his view there's no going beyond august 31st. the sooner we finish this and the sooner we pull those last troops out the better. they'll no longer be a risk that congressman moulton described. so i think he's pretty dug in at this point. we have to see how the next few days ago until tuesday, that's the period of maximum danger at this point. >> the criticism we've heard of president biden and the military which was that it abandoned bagram air base, the president was asked about that pointedly yesterday here's what he said. >> on the questions of how to conduct an evacuation or a war, i gather up all the major military personnel that are in afghanistan, the commanders, as

well as the pentagon. and i ask for their best military judgment. what would be the most efficient way to accomplish this mission? they concluded, the military, that bagram was not much value added. that it was much wiser to focus on kabul. and so i followed that recommendation. >> john, does that square with your reporting that military leadership thought it was a good idea to leave bagram? >> well, this is -- in part, because this is really the tragedy of the entire withdrawal. whether you love the withdrawal, whether you hate the withdrawal, biden's own metric for success that drove the decision making was preventing the loss of life of military personnel. that's why you saw our allies stunned by the lack of air

capability they had. that's why you saw us leave bagram in the middle of the night. extracting yourself from war can be very dangerous, it can be deadly. that's why they pursued it so rapidly, arguably at the cost of afghans' capability of fighting the taliban. but that's the ultimate tragedy of what happened here because the historic loss, the biggest loss of u.s. forces since 2011, it happened despite the fact their main mission was to try to prevent that from happening. so it became full circle in a tragic way. >> we heard congressman moulton say the evacuation should have started months ago and that would have included using bagram as a base to hopefully prevent some of the scenes we're seeing there now. >> well, willie, the picture is always clearer in the rear view

mirror but nothing is more dangerous than a withdrawal from a war zone. it's a war zone right now today as we speak, it's late afternoon in kabul but it is a war zone there. and peter baker, i was struck yesterday watching and listening to the president of the united states who had spent most of the day in the situation room in the white house making decisions going forward. and yet, i got the sense from listening to him yesterday, when he appeared on tv that uniquely, he is uniquely, i think, feeling that the greatest decisions are being made in 13 households around america. where do we bury our loved one, arlington national cemetery? locally? i just felt it was a unique american presidency, because he is so touched by grief throughout his life, throughout most of his adult life. i was wondering what your feelings were when you saw the

president as a human being? as an individual, apart from being president? >> i think that's right. of the four presidents who presided over this war in afghanistan, you know, president biden is the only one who had a son who served in the military overseas in combat. his son, beau, of course, was in iraq, and died not of combat, not of service overseas, unfortunately of a brain tumor back here at home, but it still drives a lot of what joe biden does and thinks when it comes to the militaries, the wars. his views of the war is the perspective of a father of a service member, even though the service member has now passed away. i think he can relate in a way that others can't, the pain that these 13 families are feeling. i think you're right. it's exactly what he was trying to avoid. what he made this decision to withdraw to not have happen. so for it to play out this way

is doubly tragic in that sense. and i think that you saw that, you know, very human reaction yesterday on the part of a president, but especially this one who has seen it upclose. >> the deadliest day for the american military in a decade in afghanistan yet the planes where taking off and landing from the very airport that 13 service members were killed. peter baker and john hudson, thank you both. still ahead on "morning joe." the capital police officer who shot and killed a woman during the january 6th insurrection, explains for the first time why he opened fire. we continue to follow the aftermath of the attack in kabul. the flag at the white house is flying at half staff honoring the 13 service members killed.

you're watching "morning joe" we'll be right back. jill and i, our hearts ache for all those afghan families who lost loved ones, including small children, or who were wounded in this vicious attack. and we're outraged as well as heart broken. being the father of an army major who served for a year in iraq and before that was in kosovo as a u.s. attorney for the better part of six months, when he came home after a year in iraq, he was diagnosed, like many, many coming home with an aggressive and lethal cancer of the brain. we lost. we have some sense, like many of you do, what the families of these brave heroes are feeling today. you get this feeling like you're

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across the nation. the supreme court yesterday rejected the biden administration's latest moratorium on evictions, removing two additional months of protections for millions at risk of losing their housing. it said the centers for disease control and prevention had exceeded its authority. it would be one thing if congress had specifically authorized the action that the cdc has taken but that's not happened. the cdc has imposed a nationwide moratorium on evictions in reliance on a decades old statue that authorizes it. it strains credulity to believe the cdc has the authority it asserts. white house press secretary jen psaki said in a statement the decision will have a painful

impact on families and create a greater risk of covid exposure. but the decision was hailed by real estate organizations in georgia, alabama and others, who sued arguing it cost landlords billions of dollars since it was authorized by congress last year. coming up we'll read from "the washington post's" latest piece on the attack in kabul and the sacrifice of u.s. service members overseas. reverend al sharpton joins us on that and more when "morning joe" comes right back. "morning joe" comes right back

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it's moving day. and while her friends are doing the heavy lifting, jess is busy moving her xfinity internet and tv services. it only takes about a minute. wait, a minute? but what have you been doing for the last two hours? ...delegating? oh, good one. move your xfinity services without breaking a sweat. xfinity makes moving easy. go online to transfer your services in about a minute. get started today. . the issue of being able to vote, being able to participate in a democratic process shouldn't be a partisan issue. >> right. >> the right to vote, the right to participate, to cast a vote, as i said before and so many

times, it's precious. almost sacred. people died for this right. >> the country misses that voice. that was the late civil rights icon congressman john lewis of georgia speaking on a panel in 2012 after several states passed restrictive id laws, legislation which carries his name was passed in the house this week. joining us now the host of msnbc "politics nation" which celebrates ten years this sunday, reverend al sharpton, tomorrow he'll lead a multi-city right for voting rights. congratulations on ten years, it's hards to make it ten days in this business, a decade is no joke. >> thank you. i'm excited about that. >> you're commemorating that anniversary with a nationwide march for voting rights.

why is this issue so central right now? >> martin luther king iii and his wife andrea have revived his group and partnered with national action network and i and others the call is march because we're seeing all over the country, since the 2020 election, states changing voting laws, we saw it in texas, we see it in georgia, we see it in florida. over 40 states. and this really is undermining basic tenant this country professes to stand for. that's one man, one vote. one woman, one vote. and it's particularly been a problem in terms of people of color, particularly black people. when you see in georgia we can take out the fulton county board, which is the fulton county is the majority black district in atlanta. we're back to where john lewis

and martin luther king and others fought for. it's our responsibility to say the other way to supersede state laws is a federal law so the congresswoman from alabama put before the house, and it passed, the john lewis voting advancement act. tomorrow we meet 8:00 in the morning, pushing off from mcpherson park in washington and march to the mall. we're going to pass the white house, black lives matter, we're not going to the lincoln memorial. we're going to the capitol. to say the senate must pass this john lewis bill. terry sewell will be there. the senate must do a carve out around the filibuster and pass federal law.

otherwise we will be subjected to state laws everywhere. so we're doing this on a saturday, people are not working, we already have thousands of people taking buses. we want people to come. covid conscience. we're doing it with masks. we're doing it right. but we cannot afford for the federal government not to interfere now. >> just last night, texas legislature passed its law, the one that democrats had flown to washington to protest. it was a symbolic gesture in the end because it's gone through. as you look at a federal law that you say is important because of the state laws and you talk about a carve out around the filibuster. do you have enough hope to get enough senators on board for it's something that joe manchin and kyrsten sinema, among others, have been reluctant to entertain. they said we would listen to the john lewis bill. s-1 is too much. what's your hope it'll make it through the senate? >> when martin iii and i met

with manchin and others in the senate they said we'll see about john lewis. and i would challenge them. and when civil rights leaders and me met with the president we challenged him on the filibuster and the carveout. the key is the carveout. the one thing they all said is public sentiment. we want to see where the public is. that's why it's important that people show up tomorrow and march. how did we get the voting rights act in '65? it is because people marched in selma, people marched around the country. it came from the bottom up, lyndon johnson signed the voter rights act he didn't lead the moment. people say what is joe biden going to do? i say what are we going to do? that's why we want to focus on the capitol rather than remember what happened 58 years ago, let's look at what's happening right now, this senate must act.

>> you'll be in washington putting the pressure on. i wanted to ask about the supreme court decision about the moratorium on evictions. the supreme court saying the cdc doesn't have the authority to put on that rule. saying if you want to do something about eviction moratoriums it has to come from the congress. what are the real-world implications of this decision and did they make the wrong call here? >> they made the wrong call. you're talking about 3.5 million people facing eviction. people who thought they had gotten some kind of reprieve on being evicted are looking this morning at possible homelessness. this is a heartless and, in my opinion, ruthless decision to come, which is why voting would come. the reason why it was a 6-3 vote in the supreme court is that

donald trump was able to put these -- stack the court and they did a carve out to confirm some of those justices on the supreme court. >> they're basically saying, there are a lot of landlords in this country as well who are put out by this moratorium and just that the cdc doesn't have the authority to do it, if you want to do it put it through congress. rove, "the washington post" has a piece this morning titled a dark day reminds us thousands of americans are risking everything for this rescue mission. the board writes this, quote, the shadow cast at thursday's attack at hamid kabul airport is deep but it cannot obscure the brilliance and sacrifice of u.s. military and diplomatic personnel and those of allied nations who have moved more than 100,000 people out of harm's way. their achievement shines through what the moment decidedly does not call for is partisan finger pointing and point scoring. the internal divisions have done enough harm already.

our inability to debate rationally and in good faith is part of what brought if united states to this painful moment. the extraordinary men and women at the kabul airport doing their duty for the benefit of their country and fellow human beings have set an example and some have paid the ultimate price. the best tribute the nation could pay would be to face whatever comes next with less hatefulness and greater unity. i know you sent out a message yesterday suggesting we think about the family, the 13 service members killed. congressman seth moulton was here saying he didn't want to get into the politics, yes, we could talk about the deadline but we should think of the 13 families who lost somebody they love. >> we cannot. we that consider ourselves progressive, we cannot become like the people we fight, to where we reduce everything to a

political analysis, or taking shots at the right or left, there are some things that we should be able to rise above the partisanship and the ideological split. when you see people dead from an explosion that they had nothing to do with, their families are mourning dead. american lives lost. afghan lives lost. trying to seek a way out of what is going on in afghanistan. and your immediate reaction is some political analysis, no matter how brilliant it may be, it shows you're becoming as insensitive as those we claim to fight. this is the time to put our arms around the families that are suffering and for us to deal with people trying to heal the wounds that survive and make sure others are brought to safety. we can deal with the analysis and the division later right now

this is a critical situation that we all ought to rise above our differences and embrace. >> mike barnicle, a lot of people with itchy twitter fingers even as 13 u.s. service members lay dead. >> willie, i can remember a country when after the beirut bombing when nearly 300 marines were killed, i can remember a country when after 9/11, when so many died in new york and in washington d.c., i can remember a country when violent things occurred and politicians on both sides of the aisle came together on behalf of the country moving forward. what's happened in the last 12 hours, the press releases, the twitter messages from members of the republican party, from kevin mccarthy, the house minority leader on down, despoiling what happened by their utter -- it's

beneath contempt what they're doing. this is not the america that we ought to be. this is the america that's been created through polarization over the past 10, 15, 20-odd years. but it is truly, deeply upsetting that we can't stand together in a moment of true crisis, true sadness. we've lost 13 members of the united states marine corps, perhaps more will die because several others were wounded and lie in hospitals today. the families of the bereaved deserve a country that is together on this, behind them and behind the effort that only has four more days to go. the numbers that you just cited are miraculous, over 100,000 people have been evacuated from afghanistan in two weeks' time. that is an extraordinary effort. and the idea that it's reduced to contemptible political acts, i don't know you just shrug your

shoulders and wonder, what's in store for us. >> members of the republican party fund raiseing off this yesterday. 13 american service members killed hit this button to donate to me. reverend al we'll be watching tomorrow's march for voting rights and sunday's 10th anniversary of "politics nation". we won't miss it. great to see you, congratulations again. >> thank you. still ahead, evacuation flights out of kabul resumed overnight just hours after two suicide bombers targeted thousands of people trying to get out of the country. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel joins us live with the latest. "morning joe" is coming right back as those evacuation flights continue out of kabul as we speak.

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. mr. president, there had not been a u.s. service member killed in combat in afghanistan since february of 2020. you said a debt line. you pulled troops out. you sent troops back in, now 12 marines are dead. you said the buck stops with you. do you bear any responsibility for the way that things have unfolded in the last two weeks? >> i bear responsibility for fundamentally all that's happened of late. but here's the deal, you know i am wishing one day say these things, you know as well as i do that the former president made a deal with the taliban, that he could get all american forces out of average by may 1. in return, the commitment was made, that was a year before. in return he was given a

commitment that the taliban would continue to attack others but would not attack any american forces. do you remember that? i'm being serious. now, i'm asking you a question, because -- no, no, no, wait a minute, i'm asking you a question, is that accurate, to the best of your knowledge? , to the best of your knowledge . >> i think they have an issue that people are likely to get hurt, some as we've seen have gotten killed and that it is messy. the reason why whether my fans will acknowledge it, who have reported it, the reason why there were no attacks from the date until i came into office

was because the commitment was made by president trump. i will be out by may 1st. in the meantime, you agree not to attack any americans. that was the deal. that's why no american was attacked. >> president biden's exchange with white house correspondent at yesterday's news conference at the white house. the president, of course, is correct, president trump struck a deal in late february of 20s 20 with the taliban saying he believed there were shared interests, common interests that the taliban also wanted to see an end to the violence. we will play much more what the president had to say in response to the deadly terrorist attacks at the gates at the airport in kabul. the latest from the pentagon when "morning joe" comes right back. the pentonag when "morning joe" comes right back ing new routes to reach your customers, and new ways for them to reach you... is what business is all about. it's what the united states postal service has always been about.

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attack as well as anyone and wishes america harm, know this, we will not forgive. we will not forget. we will hunt you down and make you pay. i will defend our interests and our people with every measure at my command. >> president biden vowing the united states will retaliate against the terrorists responsible for yesterday's attacks in afghanistan, which was the deadliest day in more than a decade, good morning, i'm willie geist, it is august 27th. 13 u.s. service members and according to associated press at least 90 afghans are dead in kabul. more than 140 people were wounded including 18 u.s. service members. gunmen and two suicide bombers targeted the thousands of people waiting near hamid karzai

international airport yesterday who were hoping to escape afghanistan and the taliban's rule. the first blast ga came outside the airport's gates and was found at another explosion at a hotel where would be evacuees were waiting. gunmen opened fewer on those gathered near the airport. isis-k, the afghanistan affiliate claimed responsibility for the plasts. earlier in the day, the u.s. embassy warned americans to stay away from the airport citing a potential attack. as we showed you, president biden spoke at the white house yesterday where he condemned the attacks and vowed to make the terrorists pay. nbc news chief white house correspondent peter alexander has more. >> reporter: days before president biden's deadline to end america's longest war, the commander-in-chief addressing what is one of the deadliest days for u.s. troops in the

entire 20-year conflict. >> these american service members who gave their lives, it's an overused word. it's totally appropriate, but were heroes. heroes who had been engaged in the dangerous selfless mission to save the lives of other. >> reporter: the president blaming the carnage on the terror group isis-k he has been warning about foreign days. >> we have been made aware, our intelligence community that the isis-k the arch enemy of taliban has been planning a complex set of attacks on the united states and others. >> reporter: he is saying he will stay to the august 31st deadline to get the people out. >> we will not stop our mission. we will continue the evacuation. >> reporter: it's a nightmare. they have faced criticism. there are bipartisan demand for

change, including the reliance on the taliban for security at the airport. top senate democrat bob menendez saying we can't trust the taliban for american security. >> were they pretending like this could be a success? but that's impossible at this point. >> reporter: the president making this vow. >> to those that carried out this attack, as well as anyone wishing america harm, know this, we will not forgive. we will not forget. we will hunt you down and make you pay. >> peter alexander reporting there. you heard the president saying the evacuation mission will continue despite yesterday's attack, this morning, it does continue. the state department says at least 500 americans were airlifted out of the country yesterday and 1,000. remavenlt since the taliban

entered kabul, officials say more than 500 americans and roughly 100,000 people have been evacuated in total. of the u.s. citizens still there, the state department says it has been in contact with most if not all of them. politico also reporting u.s. officials gave the taliban a list of american and afghan names to evacuate in hopes of expediting the process. this has prompted outrage with one telling politico, quote, they just put all those afghans on a kill list. let's bring in our reporters, nbc correspondent josh letterman, nbc correspondent covering national security and the military courtney ku bee and the destination for all evacuation flights. courtney, i want to begin with you and set-com general

mackenzie warning attack also still could come. listen. >> right now our focus really, we have other extremely active threat streams against the air field. we want to make sure we take the steps to protect ourselves there. we believe it is the desire to continue those attacks. we expect those atax to continue. we are doing everything we can to prepare for those attacks. >> how has the american posture changed around the airport the you have 13 u.s. service members killed yesterday, 18 injuredp we're hearing more attacks could be imminent. what does it look like at the airport now? >> so overall the posture has not really changeded that much. there is still about 5400/5500 u.s. troops that are there securing the airport. and they are continuing to screen civilians as they come into the airport. that's what happened here, willie, is there was a group of primarily marines. they were at the aabby gate,

where third country nationals, the british, have been coming through that gate over the last ten days or so the marines were there screening individuals as they were coming through when someone exploded some sort of an explosive device. the assumption it may have been a suicide vest and a gun battle ensued. they are conducting searches. there are still evacuation flights coming and going. that's one of the things that general mackenzie, he played sound, despite this horrible attack and very deadly attack, despite that, the evacuation mission continues. there is something else, you played a little of the sound from president biden vowing to retaliate here. that's something that i have been talking to defense officials of course ever since this happened. one of the big questions immediately after an attack like

this is, was the u.s. going to respond? i think that our viewers may be surprised to find out that ever since the u.s. military began the withdraw, which really began in april or may of this year, with the military withdraw comes a withdraw of a lot of intelligence assets. so the u.s. military has much less of a clear picture of where some of these fighters, potential isis fighters may be. and the ability to strike back at them is cloudier now than it was six months or a year ago. it will only get cloudier and cloudier as the u.s. presence there is completely gone. the u.s. still maintains some overhead drones, intelligence assets that are there. since this evacuation mission began on august 14th, most of those efforts are fixed on kabul and particularly on the airport. because the biggest concern is making sure the american military and civilians are headed, that that is the area

that's security. so it doesn't mean they have the capacity to carry out a strike. the question is, will they have the intelligence to actually go after some of the people who may have carried out this attack yesterday? >> so, courtney from the pentagon's perspective, what does all this mean for the august 31st deadline, which is now only four days away? on the one hand, many who say, yes, we do have to get out on the 31st say this shexactly why, because of this imminent threat of terrorist groups. on the other hand, others say, well, we have to stay long enough to get every american and our afghan war partners out of there. what is the pentagon's thinking right now on the deadline? >> so they are still boasting ahead for a complete withdrawal by august 31st, willie. there has not been any change to the time line at this point. i was struck yesterday by what we kept hearing out of official itself, primarily at the white house but the pentagon as well,

how half-the august 31st deadline, that they would continue to get more people out that wanted to get out, particularly americans out. i would be interested to know how that's going to happen. i can only imagine they are working on diplomatic means. they have been working through the qatarries. they have a strong presence on the ground there in kabul. they have been helping in some diplomatic cases here. i imagine they will have some sort of a role herele according to all science and people i speak with, they are still working towards that august 31st deadline this attack has not made any impact on that you have to look at the military situation that they are faced with right now. so kabul airport is surrounded by the city. it's surrounded by a lot of civilians. it's surrounded by thousands of taliban fighters. most of the fighters are the most, strongest, most capable.

they're almost elite like special elite force, in the tal badge. that was a strategic decision, it seems, to put them there. they wanted to make sure they had their best people who would listen to the taliban leadership about what they would be doing to maintain the perimeter around the airport. the 5400 or so u.s. troops there at that airport are completely surrounded. they're almost in a fishbowl. there is mountains surrounding them. the taliban have rocket-propelled grenade, ways of shooting down helicopters and other aircraft. they are a strong enough fire power. if the u.s. decides to stay past august 31st against any sort of agreement they have with the taliban right now, it would be, the u.s. would have to flow in more forces and it would potentially be a very ugly fight and i think that's one thing that military planners are

looking at right now, is the reality of just how potentially bloody and how difficult a battle that would be if they decided to stay against any deadline with the taliban. >> courtney, thank you so much. matt bradley, let's go to you in germany, the evacuation flights continue to land. the president vowed they would continue. incredible work by the united states military as it mourns 13 of its own, 18 more wounded. what are you seeing on your side of things? what does this mean with the evacuation now just four days left? >> reporter: you know, willie, it's a good question, i don't think it means anything. i think it means the whole thing has to go just as fast. it adds to the imperative. what we've seen all night here. i have spoken with people, they have been hearing planes landing, coming and going here at ramstein, you can see behind my, it's one of the largest

bases in the world. it's an unusual site. you can't see it, i can. civilian acre, dell that united, atlas air landing here mixed among the c-7s, c-130 aircraft. they're a part of this enormous operation. another thing you can see is a huge tent city that houses as many as 17,000 afghan evacway wees. -- evacuees. they all pitched in to bring together this huge evacuation effort. and this base has been at capacity. i was told yesterday by the man that runs it, brigadier olsen, the number tripled or quadrupled in just the last week or two. now as of yesterday, they're at capacity. they really can't take any more. there is just about 17,000

people who are living at this base. now they've tried to ramp up the processing here. they've tried to increase the speed at which they're going here. they are going to have to try to route planes to italy and europe. >> let's talk about isis-k. the group that claimed the two bombings yesterday. have you done a lot of work covering isis over the years. what is isis-k? i think it's new to most people. who are they? and what are their objectives? lot. the k. comes from khorason, a province, rugged remote province. they have been active actually in the east of afghanistan. that's where most of the fear fighting was. the taliban are enemies of isis-k. they've had a lot of fights since isis-k showed itself in

2015. that was a little after we saw isis sprouting up in iraq and syria. you remember that conflict. they used to have in iraq and syria a caliphate about the size of britain at its height. it has since been beaten back, thanks to mostly kurdish arab fighters. now we see isis once again in afghanistan. it was only a little ago, the taliban said they, too, have extinguished isis. isis-k in afghanistan is more austere in terms of the taliban outlook. they are more conservative, more violent. whether they came from other tam ban fighters, it's pretty clear they have a lot of people in common. it's seems it's a lot of disgruntled isis fighters. because the taliban wasn't extreme enough for some reason. they've decided they are looking at more of a global oublg.

the taliban's view is more rooted in afghanistan, itself. they want to create, govern afghanistan. whereas isis has a more global perspective. you saw affiliates throughout the middle east and now in afghanistan. isis-k, it sounds like they will continue fighting. this the a small target. they are supposed to have 3,000 fighters. they will be beaten back by the taliban, themselves. >> thanks so much, matt. we appreciate it. let's go to the white house now. josh letterman, obviously, the nightmare scenario for the country. the nightmare scenario lose 13 service members, 18 injured, scores of afghans, many more injured as well. the president, though, holding fast to his decision to pull out of the kentucky senior there any

white house point of view? >> reporter: none whatsoever. officials say what took place yesterday while devastating and deadly for american troops serving there, only re-solidified the president's belief we have the get out of yoochg, we have -- afghanistan. we veto et now. according to his aids, no matter how long we stayed in afghanistan, we were going to ends one this mech of extremist groups, with an afghan military clearly not able to stand up and defend against taliban insurgents. even now the taliban in control of kabul and afghanistan. unable to prevent extremist attacks from rival groups like the khorason group. jen psaki said this was maybe the worst day of president

biden's young presidency so far. certainly, that has been the move at the white house in light of these americans who have died and true chaos's thigh sfrugle to figure out what if continuing threat for potential additional attacks while trying to to everything else on biden's again da, including a meeting with an israeli leader. it was scrapped and moved to today. we will see that after the president starts his day at about 8:30. according to officials we are speaking to, get every americans still in the country out by that august 31st deadline. that is really the goal here. the afghan allies. that is all important. really in these few hours we have left on the ground in kabul, they're trying to get these americans out.

according to state department, there is about a thousand americans they're in touch with that are still in afghanistan. although the state department says since information is hard to get up to the minute data on, it's possible they may have gotten out of the country in a sign of the true desperation on the ground there in kabul, willie, the state department also says in the last 24, they heard from another 500 people in afghanistan who say they're americans and want to get,000 they believe many if fought most of those are american citizens. they're afghans destined to get out. >> thinking of the deadline, saying we will continue to extract after the deadline. josh, thanks so much. coming up,ed mueller james

stavridis says it could go sideways. the supreme allied commander with joins us next. biden

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oh, good one. move your xfinity services without breaking a sweat. xfinity makes moving easy. go online to transfer your services in about a minute. get started today. . joining us now nato allied commander retired four star admiral james stavridis. also with us a former aide to the george w. bush state house alice jordan and msnbc contributor mike barnicle. good morning to you all. two days ago you and joe were talking about the fear of exactly the kind of attack we saw against american troops yesterday. here's a part of your conversation with joe. >> i certainly want to get every last american out of there, but it seems to pe if we stayed past the end of the month, we would

just be inviting an attack by isis, inviting an attack by let's say an even more radical element of the taliban. this is the sort of thing i would not want our troops sitting there indefinitely in this sort of situation. >> i am very worried we are one c-17 crash, one big bomb, one firefight at the kia corral of this turning the sideways. bottom line, let's get this thing done, let's get out of here. if we still have people on the ground, we ought to try to extend that deadline. i think it's like covid diminishing returns kicking in here. let's get what we can. >> that was on bones morning. admiral, how did it happen? how concerned are you about today and tomorrow? and attacks we have been told from sent com that could be

imminent. >> as i talked about, willie, it's kind of the big three, one of which occurred, a big bomb and potentially you have to reserve the thought of a truck bomb, which is what, of course, struck the marines in beirut in 1993 killing 300 of them. second is a c-17 going down. there is no ill tell or indication that the isis-k have such weapons. you just never know. those borders are porous. there are other groups around the world that would love to see that happen. boy, is that a dark thought and then a firefight breaking out if the isis-k try a main move. all of those remain just nightmare scenarios. let's start by just saying there are 13 families today who are having the worst day of their life, american families. we ought to remember them. let's think about what comes next.

assuming we can get through what we've just talked about and get out of here, i think the president is absolutely right to say, we will fought forgive. we will not forget. he's kind of echoing the borger family from the renaissance there. let's also remember another famous saying from that era, which is revenge is a dish best eaten cold. what i mean by that is, let's stay focused on this mission, get as many people out and mechanisms after we depart, continuing through diplomatic means, clandestine means, underground railroad. then let's finds isis-k and they are probably in bora bora and sooner or later they can find bin ladin at the bottom of the ocean. coming up, the u.s. capitol

police officer responsible for shooting and killing a woman while defending the house chamber january 6. what he is saying now about that day and the after math. plus, richard engle joins us from the pleeft with the deadly attacks that killed 13 u.s. service moebs. morning show is coming right back. sand dollars p er month. prescription drugs do not work if you cannot afford them. aarp is fighting for americans like larry, and we won't stop. that's why we're calling on congress

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. >> the most extraordinary thing i have seen in my life, willie, is what was happening at abbey gate where these troops were killed. it is an impossible task we have given them to literally sift through a sea of humanity thousands the of afghans too pluck out our families, their husbands, wives, their little girls and boys and put tear kids in the back, hold their hands and literally pull them to freedom. so i expected to see a gate with marines on one side and afghans on the other. but that's not the way this can work. because we waited so long to

start this evacuation, we have to go out in the crowd. so these marines were out there feet from their moulton speaking powerfully in our last injured in yesterday's attack. sources in the afghan health ministry tell nbc news at least 113 people were killed, 180 were injured. that's in addition to the 13 u.s. service members killed and the 18 jumped. richard engel was on the ground in kabul a few days ago. he joins us from dohar, qatar. richard, you were at that very gate. have you done a on the of reporting in and around the

airport. did you sense sense the phenixs that led to the moment yesterday? >> i didn't sense the tensions that led up to the attack, itself. there was an alitter, there was a potential for some sort of isis attack on the airport. it have been very tense for a long time. the reason the talibanaggressivs just described, pushing people back. firing in the air was because they were is large. think of it as a military base, not just an airport. there are three key gates, afghans have been screaming, pushing to that gate.

some with paperwork, who see the planes coming if, taking off. it's like a magnet, a lure. they've go to them to think they request get out of the country. among these crowds of people who have paperwork around others don't came this suicide bomber as he was getting a pat-down detonated his device and killed those marines and so many afghans around him. it seems this was a dual attack. near gate, there is another building, we talk about it. it's a hotel, not exactly a home. more of almost a little military compound that is often used by contractors, called the baron hotel. that was also attacked unsuccessfully. the british are there. so this seems like it was a dual attack with at least two bombers and other militants firing into the area. one attacking the americans, the

other british force,. isis claimed the responsibility. it's clear why, isis is trying to latch onto the taliban's victory, steal the taliban's victory. if you imagine almost like a boxing match, they did 20 rounds with the u.s. now it's facing the end. they want the united states to leave venlg isis, their fighters have broken out of prince trying at the very last minute to give it a sucker punch to claim it was they, not the taliban, who pushed the united states out of the area. they pushed back their security perimeter. that all means, that's good news if you are in the u.s. and are you on that base it is a little more safe. it also means it's that much more complicated for afghans two are in kaunl trying to get to the base. at this statement unless are you on a bus and you have special coordination, are you arranging

it with an embassy and the taliban, your window to get back on the base has probably will be closed. >> you have been covering this war for the better part of two decades. we see the desperation on the faces of so many afghan people trying as you say to get into the airport. to get on to one of those planes. if they don't, what does wednesday look like? what does september 1st look like in afghanistan? >> well, the taliban are trying to daum people down. they have gone on a media offensive, doing press conferences. the taliban never used to give press conferences, their spokesmen were in hiding. the taliban didn't do these kind of things. we got a written statement from a moala brother. they want an understanding and

reach out and build afghanistan better. they are using similar mantra, build back better. that's what they want to do. that's what they're saying. but a lot of after gangs don't trust them. they don't take them at their words. they saw what they did in power 20 years ago. they are trying to escape the country. the taliban are making assurance, they want this air panic to dissipate. they think at this time will once americans leave. at the end. taliban leaders have made assurances to me and others, they want civilian airport opened. they want them to get passports. if they want to leave, they can go. they will not be checking people at the airport and stopping people gestapo style as they leave the airport. >> do you believe any of that?

you've seen it with your own eyes? >> reporter: i believe it they are going to try this for a little while. i think we really need to wait and see what kabul looks like in a week or two. i think we need to see what kabul and afghanistan look like in december, january, february, once they've settled in, once they've faced some charges see how they react to those challenges, in this interim when they're trying to maintain calm, stop the exodus of people. they want to round up isis. i think they will continue this tone. they are being advised by governments, like qatar, hey, you got to engage with the world. times have changed over 20 years. i think they will stay at that for some months. let's see if they have changed.

it's historic. it's a beginning. there is a new start post-the american presence. around a lot of questions of what that post in afghanistan will be. but -- >> are they changed? >> i taungd to the spokesman. he doesn't believe osama bin laden carried out the 9/11 attacks him they still say that every right has to confirm with sharia law. they are not being extremely clear how long the limits of shariah law extends. i think the proof will be evident in the next several mondays. >> they are showing their brutality. hitched, thank you, as always. joinings now two other reporters, long-time foreign journalist charlie senate. in the after math of the september 11th attacks anded a

jingt senior fellow, gail see mack le mans and a breeze winning columnist, eugene robinson writes about latest attack. charlie, let me start with you, as someone was there literally at the beginning, some 20 years ago, now seeing the end of the war on tuesday, what are your thoughts in the attacks and now we can report well over 100,000 outside the airport. >> good morning, i would say like everyone, i think i wake up thinking about these 20 years of war with a heavy heart. my head goes out to the families, fallen families as well. this is a really extraordinary end to a long war, our longest war in our history.

i just was there at the end of zwrul. my last reporting trip covered it all the way through. i think about first casualty. i was there in november of 2009, mike spann was the first casualty. when i think of that falaise, the first casualty of the war is truth. i think the truth has been a casualty of this war i think we have to reflect on how we got to this terrible day. and the idea that we have not actually had the truth. we haven't been told the truthp we as journalists mate be good as well. he is one of those journalist, that has worked at this so hard. he put himself at risk. but journalism is not as strong as it used to be. i think we have to think about that in what kind of failure and

inability to hold power accountable has no deal with it. the ground truth project. that's kind of our mission. that's why i was there on the last noted trip. >> let me ask you about dohar. he has been in afghanistan the last few days about the taliban and this strange bed fellow. congressman bolton referred to me upsetting scenes the witnesses are standing by because they're security partners for five my skepticism. but is there any chance the taliban is different, that they mean a word they say? or are they getting through and resouth to who they are and have always been.

>> there is enormous concern by the afghan people. imagine a woman spending her entire career and figure it out. however, i think we have a moment where we can see what is about to come. we're about to see several clashes. the first is the clash between isis and the tal basketball. isis and the taliban are not offerings or friendly. there is trash talking going on, online, according to those that monitor such things. that's why the islamic state would like to do anything by rest. when they are in the form of governments, it keeps and meets some of the rate. two-thirds of afghanistan is under 25. that means they do not have any memory of differenting under the taliban. they are deeply connected.

you have a young early, more moment, more education populationing that has poured into cities. now it will be living under a government that is really never known goemping the city it has no able to. but it is said it is going to try. the one thing that is absolutely critical is that the u.n. establishes a humanitarian corridor and get out. there are many people with paper who can get out. if the united nations is serious, it should absolutely say, listen, you want to be in the international community. you want that u.n. seat in new york? that was the first thing they wanted. give us freedom of ability and help us evacuate safely. thousands were at the airport being to rest, if there is a

moment they have not governed and they have faced world bank, imf and i'd all freezing their assets. if they want that money, they have to be credible partners that allows mobility. >> vote moulton zrien distributeing not describing the situation. he said calling a buddy identifying where the family was outside the gate and his buddy literally pulling them physically over the wall to freedom. >> yeah, willie, i mean the ultimate casualties of war are truth as charlie sen itch pointed out, also the victims of war, the people trying to leave the country they were borne into, gene, a couple of days ago, i was talking to a very

significant figure in american politics. he is intimately familiar with the history of afghanistan and our role in afghanistan. he said something that really struck me. this was prior to the catastrophe yesterday at the gate that killed 13 marines. he said it was always going to end this way. do you believe that? >> yeah, i do. fundamentally, i do. i mean, what happened yesterday was a tragedy, mike. but it's a tragedy that's been 20 years in the writing. i don't believe there is anyway to lose a war to withdraw from a war on foreign soil other than in a tragic way. so who knew it would be a bomb at the abbey gate? who knew it would happen exactly

the way it happened. but this whole several weeks since the afghan government began collapsing and we began withdrawing is tragic. and i think that was inevitable. i think the lesson we don't learn, we never seem to learn as the united states is a bit of humility. a bit of perspective, a little humility about our effort to shape events for others halfway around the world? what happens now. willie was asking all the questions. what is afghanistan gentleman to be going to be now for those young, educated, urban afghans who really weren't around the

last time they were charged? what is this going to be like in. >> the answer is it's real le up to the tom taliban and afghan people. they are going to work it out in some way. but, yes, i do believe, mike, that this was never going to end in are a way other than messy, tragic, stunningly sad. that that's the way they sent them in. >> charlie, you were on the ground during week, of course, through the month of july. we are talking today about the casualties of war open the same ground that you memged in a long piece you wrote about your latest and last visit to afghanistan that you newsed oknow. apt a small group of girls, do you know what has happened to

them? where are they? what their status is right now. >> it's an interesting school. peter goodrip september 11, 2001, got on a flight out of logan to california. it was united airlines flight that crashed into the south tower. his family, mother, school teacher, father and lawyer wanted to honor him. they built a girls school that's amazing. i had a great on or to get to know the school and principal. she and her family, husband and five children are out of the country in germany. they just landed yesterday. we worked hard with the goodrich family and many others. as part of what has been described at every turn about the harrowing journey to get people out, we had a couple people we succeeded getting out, we had some we encouraged to

pull back, that felt too dangerous and threats were mounting. there's the family. an extraordinary educator, someone that believed in the idea girls education would transform afghanistan. when i saw her recently, she was filled with confidence and courage and the idea that they're going to stay with it. now when i got to her on the phone, having fractured conversations with her every step of the way, the school was attacked, surrounded by the taliban, she was fleeing for her life under taliban threat. really extraordinary harrowing journey out. we're thankful to all involved, but particularly the goodrich family for making sure she got out. the question is what happens to all of the girls, what happens to the other teacher. that's the hard part, that's the hard question. >> good to hear the success stories. as you say, so many are waiting for that outcome. we'll be talking more in coming

days. thank you all. finally, this morning, for the first time we are hearing from the capitol police officer that shot and killed a woman defending the capitol january 6th in an exclusive interview with "nbc nightly news" anchor lester holt, the man breaks his silence, reveals his identity, and shares what happened that day. >> your name has been battered about on the internet, you've never been officially publicly identified. do you want to tell us who you are? >> my name is michael byrd, i am a lieutenant for the united states capitol police. >> for months he lived in hiding he says over this moment. his decision to use deadly force against a rioter as she climbed through a barricaded door that leads to the house chamber. in the months since, he has been the target of threats. >> can you give us the nature of some of the threats? >> talked about killing me, cutting off my head, very

vicious and cruel things. >> racist things? >> there were some racist attacks as well, that's all disheartening because i know i was doing my job. >> given the nature of the threats you describe, do you have any concern about showing your face and identifying yourself in. >> of course i do. that is a vital point and it's something that is frightening. i believe i showed the utmost courage january 6th and it is time to do that now. >> responsible that day for securing the house chambers, byrd couldn't see what americans were witnessing but could hear it and pleas from other officers. were you afraid that day? >> very afraid. >> what are you hearing on the radio? >> hearing about breaches of different barricaded areas, officers being overrun, officers

being down. >> did you ever hear a call or report of shots fired during any of this? >> as a matter of fact i did. there were reports of shots fired through the house main door onto the floor of the chamber. >> later, those reports would prove to be false. this video captured byrd instructing members of congress to don gas masks. >> tear gas on the rotunda. there are masks under your seats. >> he says officers barricaded the door, what he considered the last line of defense. >> i think yelling and screaming as loud as i was, please stop, get back, stop. we had weapons drawn. >> byrd, only his hand and gun visible targeted a figure trying to climb through a window. he fired a single fatal shot hitting ashli babbitt. she was 35 years old, an air force veteran, trump supporter, qanon follower.

>> we see your arm out there for considerable amount of time. were you wavering? >> i was taking a tactical stance. you are hoping your commands will be complied with and unfortunately they were not. >> when you fired, where were you aiming? >> you're taught to aim center mass. the subject was sideways and i could not see her full motion of her hands or anything. so i guess her movement, you know, caused the discharge to fall where it did. >> what did you think this individual was doing at that moment? >> she was posing a threat to the united states house of representatives. >> but an attorney for ashli babbitt's family disputes that. he did not respond to our request for comment but in a previous statement said babbitt was not brandishing a weapon,

not in close proximity to members of congress, was not imminent threat of death or serious injury to anyone. her family points out she was not armed. >> that's correct. >> the fact that you weren't aware whether she was armed or not, did that alter the decision making? >> it did not. >> what should we make of the fact that there were other officers in other potentially life-threatening situations who didn't use their service weapons that day? >> i'm sure it was a terrifying situation. i can only control my reaction, my training, my level of expertise. that would be upon them to speak for themselves. >> former president trump talked about you and this incident, he says she was murdered. what does it feel like to hear that from a former president? >> well, it is disheartening. if he was in the room or anywhere and i am responsible

for him, i was prepared to do the same thing for him and his family. >> would you have his back today if you were so assigned in. >> i sure would because it's my job. >> as i said, your name has been on the internet for some time in an unofficial way, rumors, accusations, one of which that you had some sort of political motive, you were a political operative. >> i do my job for republican, for democrat, for white, for black, red, blue, green. >> few years ago you were investigated for leaving your service weapon in a bathroom. >> yes. >> and that's been brought up by those who were questioning your competency. do you want to respond to that? >> sure. it was a terrible mistake. i acknowledged it. i owned up to it. i accepted the responsibility. i was penalized for it. and i moved on. >> multiple investigations have now upheld byrd's actions on

january 6th. capitol police in their press release after exonerating you say your actions potentially saved members of staff from serious injury and possible death. what was it like to hear those words, to see those words? >> those words meant a lot because that's exactly what i did on that day. that was my mission. that was what i prepared for and it's rewarding and refreshing to hear that. >> veteran capitol police officer, lieutenant michael byrd speaking exclusively with lester holt. that does it for us this morning. thoughts headed into this weekend are with the families of all those killed outside the gate of the airport in kabul, particularly the 13 u.s. service members. and we're thinking about the 18

service members wounded in the terrorist attack. chris jansing picks up coverage after a final quick break. up co after a final quick break. atd too exclusive. because we only serve those who honorably served. all ranks, all branches, and their families. are we still exclusive? absolutely. and that's exactly why you should join.

hi there, i am chris jansing in for stephanie ruhle. it is friday, august 27th. we begin with more news from afghanistan. a lot of fast moving developments to tell you about this morning. evacuation flights resuming with