up the coverage. hey, steph. hi there. i'm stephanie ruhle. it's wednesday, september 1st. we are here in new york city and this morning following several major stories across the country and the world. in texas, the most restrictive abortion law in the nation going into effect overnight, banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and cutting off access to millions. also this morning, ida continuing to make its way north as louisiana begins its long road to recovery. more than 1 million people still without power, now facing brutal heat, as rescue efforts continue in some of the hardest-hit areas. one community entirely damaged or destroyed. and one day after the deadline, most americans are out of afghanistan, but who is left

behind and what comes next? we'll be talking to one of the only lawmakers who actually witnessed the chaotic evacuation firsthand and that is where we start, with the fallout from the end of our nation's longest war. president biden defending the troop withdrawal in afghanistan, saying in a very fiery speech it was the right thing to do. >> that was the choice, the real choice, between leaving or escalating. i was not going to extend this forever war and i was not extending a forever exit. >> he also called the evacuation a major success, but it comes as he faces bipartisan criticism with up to 200 americans still stranded in afghanistan. in kabul, the taliban claimed victory, taking control of the airport and looking here at unusable military equipment that was left behind. this morning, we also have exclusive new details about how

the taliban worked with the u.s. so we could get out. i want to go deeper and bring in peter alexander at the white house, courtney kube at the pentagon and raf sanchez on the ground in doha, qatar. peter, president biden clearly wants this war behind him. he did not come out and say mission accomplished, but it sure sounded like his message was, we're done. >> reporter: well, i think in speaking to aides at the white house, it's no longer about deployments, but diplomacy, and helping to get out 200 americans who remain in the country. there has been a collective exhale since the war officially ended, the last troops safely departing. the president using the opportunity yesterday to reject the criticism. he touted the extraordinary airlift, saying it was an extraordinary success, more than 120,000 people having safely been evacuated from that

country. he also noted, as you said, that he was left with bad options, basically, after the deal that president trump made in 2020, saying that we could have left as we did or we could have escalated, effectively saying he was put in that position by his predecessor. most notably, this was an opportunity for him to say this is the end of an era where military power is king, that there had to be a different way to go about this. the white house believes in spite of the loss of 13 american service members lives over the course of the last week that americans do support the president's decision and poll numbers show that as well. new numbers showing that 54% of americans believe that the president made the right decision, about 42% of americans saying it was the wrong decision. however, they have a different view of the execution, the handling of the withdrawal. 71% saying it was either done poorly or a fair job in executing the withdrawal, as

opposed to i think the number was 27% who said he did an excellent or good job at that. >> the american people saying even if it was chaotic, they still wanted us out of there. i want to play a bit more of president biden's speech. watch this. >> there's nothing china or russia would rather have, would want more in this competition, for the united states to be bogged down another decade in afghanistan. this decision about afghanistan is not just about afghanistan. it's about ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries. >> he's basically saying nation building is over. what could this mean for foreign policy going forward? that's far beyond afghanistan. >> reporter: he did lay out his vision for the future of american foreign policy and effectively said that was the end of ground wars, that the u.s. should rely on its military capabilities, its technology, to

target and to strike terrorists like isis-k, the example being how they used drones to target isis-k planners in the last several days. one of those strikes taking place in kabul as well. and beyond that, the president says he's always going to put america's national security interests first, and he says ultimately that requires looking to what the real challenges are today. they include the threats that have spread around the world from terrorists, but also the cybersecurity challenges and the economic challenges that are posed from america's rivals around the globe in russia and china. >> raf, let's talk about those threats, because for americans we're scared. september 11th, it's a little more than a week away. how big of a threat are we facing? >> reporter: so, steph, frank mckenzie, the head of u.s. central command, said isis-k, the group that carried out that suicide attack at kabul airport,

has about 2,000 hardened fighters in afghanistan. that's a larger number than we heard previously. their ranks may have swelled by the taliban's habit of just throwing the doors open of various afghan prisons, as they crossed through the country. but the feeling among u.s. officials is that, for now, isis-k is more of a local jihadist group. they are not yet capable of launching attacks on the united states mainland in the way that al qaeda was from afghanistan before 2001. but in terms of the threat they do pose, as peter was just saying, there are still 100 to 200 americans in afghanistan. that could be a target for isis-k. if kabul airport eventually reopens to civilian flights, we could see them attempting another attack. now, in terms of how to assess how dangerous afghanistan is now that it's under taliban control, one metric is looking at which

terrorist groups are in the country, how much freedom do they have to operate, how many fighters do they have, but there's also the much broader inspirational question. as far as these jihadist groups are concerned from isis to al qaeda to hamas, the united states has just been defeated by a group of local insurgents at the end of a 20-year war and these terrorist groups who don't always agree with each other, are all celebrating the taliban's victory. they are very encouraged by what they saw on the battlefield in afghanistan and there is a real fear that that will embolden them going forward, steph. >> courtney, they are celebrating. taliban is in control. and you've got reporting on how they actually helped the u.s. with the evacuation efforts. tell us about it. >> reporter: that's right. so we knew that the u.s. military was coordinating with who are essentially their taliban counterparts on the ground in kabul throughout much of this evacuation mission. what we didn't know were some of the specific details and we're

learning according to defense officials that there were cases where the taliban were not only allowing americans through their checkpoints that were surrounding kabul airport, but they were actually, in effect, processing americans as they were coming through. they had copies of passes that americans would bring to these checkpoints, that the u.s. state department had provided to the taliban, and they had names of people that were coming through. once the americans would get to the checkpoint, the taliban would check them against the list and then in some cases they would clear the road. they would actually provide them safe passage from the checkpoint to the gate. that was an issue for many days when there were large crowds around some of those gates, making it potentially unsafe for people to pass through. in some cases defense officials told us, they even carried the americans' bags to the airport. in addition to that, we heard during one of the briefings from general frank mckenzie that there were cases where the taliban had actually thwarted

attacks. one of those cases we learned about was actually on sunday. 24 hours before the u.s. was completely out of kabul. there was a case, according to an american who was on a bus that was making its way to kabul airport, they were stopped at a gas station right outside the airport. the taliban told everyone to get off. the american and his six daughters got off the bus. the taliban fighters there saying that there was a potential explosive device on the bus and two possible suicide attackers. this american citizen and his daughters hid in a drainage ditch until the taliban said that it was clear for them to get through. so this is a case. we don't know others at this point. again, general mckenzie said the taliban were helping, coordinating with the americans, with the united states to help get americans through. but, steph, i have to point out, there are also many cases that we've heard of that the taliban did not let people through those checkpoints. we've heard about people being beaten, particularly afghans, and when i asked the defense

officials, look, is this an opportunity for the u.s. to potentially work with the taliban or have some sort of a military to military coordination, there was skepticism all across the board. there is not a lot of optimism that this is a new and different taliban that we've seen from their brutal ways in the past. >> to that point, why would they work with us now? sure, they're going to pack our bags and get us on the plane because they want us out of there and now they do have control. and now that they do, why would there be any diplomacy? these are terrorists. it's the taliban. >> reporter: there's one big reason and you hit the nail on the head, the reason they were helping americans was most likely because they wanted the u.s. out. there's a second reason, though, and that was the threat from isis-k. the taliban in many cases are an enemy of isis. they fought them pretty tough in eastern afghanistan for several years. so they did not want an attack on the kabul airport any more than the united states did. but there is one big incentive that the taliban has going

forward to potentially continue some sort of diplomatic effort with the united states, and that's economic. it's money. the afghan government has been heavily reliant on foreign money for years now. if the taliban are going to take over that country, they're going to need that foreign money if they want to keep the country afloat. that is the one piece of leverage the u.s. has. each side has some leverage over the other one. >> it is always about money. courtney, raf, peter, thank you. i want to bring in congressman moulton, a marine veteran and member of the armed services committee. he traveled to kabul last week and saw the evacuation and all the chaos firsthand. i want to start with the 100 to 200 americans we keep hearing about who are still there. who are they? why are they there? >> well, we don't know all the details, stephanie. i heard a report of a teacher who was there to help educate

afghans, didn't find a way to the airport. as you said, it was incredibly chaotic. there are great stories of the taliban letting people through. there are also many tragic stories i have heard of the taliban stopping people from getting to the airport. that's what happened to this teacher. so he's stuck there and he doesn't know how we're going to get him out. and our responsibility in washington is to have a plane for that. it's to have a plan for where we go forward and the number one first step is to get these americans and the afghan allies that we left behind out to freedom and safety, because many of them have a price on their heads. >> congressman, a plan with whom? you've said we need to have a working relationship with the taliban, but white house chief of staff said last night that this administration might not ever recognize the taliban as a serious government. given that, how do you work together? >> stephanie, this is an incredibly difficult challenge and it's almost absurd that we find ourselves in this position

20 years after we went to war with the taliban for harboring the attackers of 9/11. now we're beholden to them to keep americans safe on the other side of the globe. but nonetheless, that's where we are. and although there's a lot to celebrate about having the troops out of afghanistan, we have to have a plan going forward. we've got to have a plan to contain terrorism, we've got to have a plan to get these americans and our allies to safety. we've got to have a plan to simply take care of the over 120,000 refugees we evacuate that are stuck in refugee camps, in many cases without food and water to survive. that's another anything that representative mejer and i saw. we've got a humanitarian crisis on the ground. there's a lot of work still to do. we can't forget and put the war behind us. >> the last time you were here you said the august 31st deadline needed to be extended.

it wasn't. to your point, you just went to kabul with peter meijer. when you guys were there, he said that the white house was lying about details around the withdrawal. you're saying we need a plan. do we have one? we did get 120,000 people out. what's your take now? >> we got 124,000 people out because of the incredible heroism of these marines, sailers, airmen, soldiers on the ground. it was extraordinary to witness what they were doing, stephanie. wading out into the crowd, feet from the taliban, our sworn enemies, to literally carry people to safety, to put afghan boys and girls on their backs and bring them in. that's why this was successful. so don't let the people at the pentagon take credit for this. it's because of the troops on this ground this was successful. but there is so much more work to do. we've got to get the people out we left behind. that requires a sophisticated diplomatic relationship with the

taliban going forward. we've got to take care of all these folks in refugee camps. highly talented, educated afghans that are stuck in aircraft hangars and no air-conditioning for their kids. i want these people to be my neighbors and welcomed across america. we've got to get them the food and water they need, first. and as you said earlier, we still have terrorists in the world, including in afghanistan. they want to attack the united states, whether we like it or not. it's not enough just to give up fighting this war. we've got to have a way to take care of this going forward. >> i've got to get your take on this, the "washington post" was reporting that gop congressman markwayne mullin, not a veteran, didn't serve, he threatened embassy staff when he was trying to get into afghanistan. the "washington post" doesn't even know where he is right now. i know you got a lot of heat for going there. what's your take on what we're

learning? >> i just don't know, stephanie. i know markwayne and i've been asking some of my friends and connections about him because i'm concerned for his safety. what peter and i witnessed when we went on the ground in a very carefully coordinated trip was that the consulate officials, state department officials, and all the troops that we met were overwhelmingly welcoming and supportive of our visit because we need to understand what's going on on the ground. when i was a marine in afghanistan, i felt forgotten by congress. i felt that the people in washington making decisions that affected our lives on the ground, and led to the deaths of american servicemen often had no idea what was actually happening. so there's a role for congressional oversight in these wars. there's a role for us going forward. but we've obviously got to be very careful about how we conduct that oversight, especially in places like

afghanistan. >> we certainly do. congressman, thank you for joining me this morning. i appreciate it. >> thanks, stephanie. we've got breaking news overnight. down in the state of texas one of the nation's strictest abortion laws just took effect. it comes after the supreme court decided not to act on an emergency petition filed by abortion clinics in the state. the law bans abortions after six weeks, which is well before many women even know they're pregnant, and with no exception for pregnancies from rape or incest. it allows private citizens to sue anyone, anyone who performs an abortion or who, quote, aids and abets it, anyone, meaning someone who has nothing to do with it. i want to bring in ben russell, our reporter for our affiliate and nbc justice correspondent, julia ainsley. how are people in texas reacting to this? >> reporter: in terms of a reaction, there are two ways that we can speak to reaction. there's reaction in the clinics

and reaction in the courts. as for the clinics, we know that two major providers of abortions here in the state of texas, they are already complying with this new law, despite their vocal and legal opposition to it. we know planned parenthood of texas and whole women's health, they are complying and no longer providing abortions for women who meet that category, so to speak, who are beyond that six-week point in their pregnancy. they are no longer providing abortions to women who need that effectively, as you say, outlawing all abortions in the state of texas. now, that's the clinics. in terms of the courts we know there have been multiple lawsuits filed in multiple jurisdictions on many points, one of which is what you highlighted, stephanie, the idea that anyone who assists in a woman getting an abortion beyond that six-week point, they could potentially be sued and the argument is that's too broad of a category. because that lawsuit would make someone liable for up to $10,000

in damages. anyone could sue anyone, essentially, not just the provider or the clinic, the staff clinic, but they could also sue me, if someone were to drive someone to the clinic, that could potentially count as assisting, aiding and abetting. the legal argument is it's way too broad and it would potentially make a lot of people liable to up to $10,000 in damages. >> on what grounds -- julia, help me. i don't get this. maybe i'm misunderstanding. this actually lets private citizens who have zero connection to the person getting an abortion take legal action? how does this even work? why? >> reporter: that's right, it means someone with no connection at all could be able to get $10,000 just as we pointed out. it even means you could sue an uber driver who drives someone to an abortion clinic. these are laws stricter than we have in place for someone who would drive someone who is about

to commit an act of terrorism to the place where they commit the act. right now the supreme court could act on a piece of this if they take up what would be an emergency application from several of those texas abortion providers. but they did not overnight, so it does go into effect. it would not effect the woman herself. and why would they not act on this overnight? they have many opportunities coming up in the next term to act on abortion and it may be that they decided they wanted to wait until that point. a big one that we've all been waiting for is what they're going to do about a mississippi law that bans abortion at 15 weeks. that was seen as the chance for this supreme court, this bench, which is definitely more conservative than it had been just five years ago, to weigh in on how rowe v wade would be upheld. if you think about the fact that you had brett kavanaugh, someone who is a known person who is very anti-abortion rights, coming in to take over kennedy,

the court has really shifted. so we've been keeping an eye on what they might do about rowe v wade and they have chosen not to act, perhaps because we're waiting for the next case to come to them. >> this is extraordinary, these clinics will already turning women away today. stunning. thank you both. we're going to leave it there, but we are obviously going to stay on this story. coming up next, more than a million across louisiana and mississippi still without power, and facing dangerous, possibly deadly heat as we get our first look at some of the most catastrophic damage. we're going to go to one of the hardest-hit areas next. plus, hospitals on the brink. we've been saying this for a year and a half, but here we are, some places worse than ever as covid surges with nearly 130,000 americans now hospitalized.

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developing this morning, residents in louisiana are facing a triple threat in the aftermath of hurricane ida. no power, no water, no gasoline. at this hour more than a million customers remain without power across the entire region. look at the calendar. it is september 1st. sweltering heat down there. at the very same time, officials say louisiana's grand isle is

now uninhabitable with 100% of structures completely destroyed or damaged. in alabama, two deaths have been reported. two electrical workers died while working on restoration, bringing the deaths to six. sam brock is live in hard-hit laplace. how is the effort going? >> reporter: it's brutal, stephanie. the temperatures already are sitting in the 80s. it was almost 100 yesterday. none of the people have electricity or air-conditioning. what i've seen in the last 45 minutes is hard to describe. it's hard to see them now. there are two gentlemen with a pickup truck. you can see one next to the police vehicle through the electrical lines. they're pushing that pickup truck down the street. they have been for about the last hour as far as i can tell. they're almost out of gas and i asked them, why are you doing this right now? do you need to get your own

vehicle gassed up? they said, no, we need to get fuel so we can go back to our community to bring food and water to everybody because we have elderly folks and we're worried about them. that is one snapshot of what we're seeing. this gas line goes for blocks. i can't see the end of it. one other tale to tell you, there's still around 1 million customers without power throughout the entire state of louisiana. i just interviewed a retired nurse who went back into duty to go to a local nursing home to try to help people. the roof of the nursing home caved in. everyone is already, but this morning she found out her brother who has a heart condition needs help, she went to charge her phone to call 911, she locked her keys in her car and walked a mile to where i'm standing. we just called the sheriff's office and we're going to get someone to go back down there. it was an emotional interview. we're hoping they can reach him in time to get him help. those are the stories that are

permeating communities here in laplace and all over louisiana. it is gripping and incredibly upsetting to think people are enduring these conditions. the woman said she survived katrina, she rescued her in a boat from the hospital. she said i'm never going to do this again. now here they are in brutal heat after the second flooding in this area trying to figure out how they are going to get through it. >> i can't believe i'm using these words, but i feel like she's even a lucky one or her brother is, because she is a nurse and if she can get to him, she'll know what to do. they don't have any power. is there any idea when it's going to be restored? if this is her situation, he's not a one-off. there are scores of other people in danger. >> reporter: such an excellent point. entergy, the main utility provider for the area, tweeted overnight that the first light shined this morning in new orleans east. that is a symbolic boost right now for people who are struggling. what they did say, it's a

marathon but the hope is by the end of today, according to the mayor of new orleans, there could be more power back online but it will be in the range of seven to ten days before more folks have power. they're trying to restore critical transmission lines and building an island grid specifically for the greater new orleans area and getting that back up and running as soon as possible. >> my gosh. sam, thank you so much for being there. we've got to report on these stories and give them attention. another major problem in the aftermath of hurricane ida, food security. one group helping to provide free hot meals to those displaced by the hurricane is world central kitchen. joining us, the ceo. nate, let me just start with thank you. you are extraordinary. every time there's a crisis it's like there's a world kitchen bat phone and you are there. tell us about your operation and what's going on. >> yeah, thank you, stephanie. great to be with you this morning. as sam said, it's hard to overstate the severity of the

issues that residents of louisiana are facing right now. we're on generator power here at our kitchen. our teams are working, preparing tens of thousands of meals today. we have a two-pronged approach. one is focusing here in new orleans, as mentioned close to 200,000 people here in the city without power. the heat is sweltering. there's no food. we are working closely with the city setting up about a dozen or more food pickup locations. many of them will be at city rec centers that serve as cooling centers. folks are coming and bringing their pets as well. they're setting up city buses for pets to keep them cool during meals at these locations. we are also working to get outside of new orleans. every day we're going down to locations that were really hit hard, for example, where sam is

in laplace. these are areas where folks are still living right now, even though there are very few services and still a lot of floodwaters. we're trying to get it to people that need it most in this critical time. >> nate, a few moments ago were photographs of josé. what is the face of an american patriot? it's josé, it's nate. thank you so much for what you're doing. you are extraordinary. coming up, as covid cases rise, here is good news. so do vaccinations, proving that mandates may be working. how far should states and companies go? that's next. that's why inside every miracle-ear store, you'll find a better life. it all starts with the most innovative technology. like the new miracle-earmini, available exclusively at miracle-ear. so small that no one will see it, but you'll notice the difference.

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now to the latest on the coronavirus pandemic. something startling we're seeing, new numbers. hospitals across the country being pushed to the brink again with an average of 129,000 covid patients hospitalized every day. that is higher than at any point since last winter. remember, before we had the vaccine. the rural communities are getting hit especially hard. here is erin mclaughlin with more. >> reporter: here at marshall hospital outside sacramento, this physician assistant faces a record surge of covid patients, many struggling to breathe. >> three patients have arrived within the span of 15 minutes? >> yes. >> and you're already out of

beds? >> yes. >> reporter: the lives she's trying to save often those of her own friends and neighbors. antoinette simms has had symptoms for six weeks. her two sons had covid and her best friend died from it, yet she still refuses to get the vaccine. >> i just want to be sure, what if i am that small minute number that actually dies from it. >> what do you tell someone like antoinette? she's your friend. >> i have lost sleep over that. i am trying to help folks trust in medicine. >> holy cow, what if you're the small minute number that dies from the vaccine? what if you're the big number that dies from not getting it and getting covid? erin joins us from outside sacramento, california, and dr. jha, the dean of brown university school of public health. the government is sending 700 medical personnel, at this point i don't know where they're getting them from, to help states overwhelmed by the surge.

how is that going to help rural areas? they are suffering. >> reporter: yeah, well, in the case of this hospital, i was speaking to a spokesperson who was telling me it's unclear at this point if any of that assistance will make it to this hospital outside of sacramento, and medical personnel here are absolutely overwhelmed. now, the spokesperson telling me they have been successful in recruiting additional medical staff, but still they're absolutely exhausted because not only are they fighting covid-19, but there's also the caldor fire, which is ferociously burning just miles away from where i am standing, compounding the situation. thousands of people in this area have been forced into evacuation shelters. there are a growing number of covid-19 outbreaks in those shelters, and the hospital staff here are having to go into those shelters to help screen for covid symptoms. so this is really a desperate

situation and i have to tell you during my tour of this hospital yesterday, it was absolutely shocking to see that in the span of some 15 minutes, three additional covid patients arrived. the emergency room running out of beds. it's a great illustration of just how easily these rural hospitals are overwhelmed by the virus. >> doctor jha, we're always going to have some people who don't want to get vaccinated, but i want to share what the white house covid response team said just yesterday about how vaccine mandates are working and how they're changing the numbers. watch this. >> these requirements are already working to get more people vaccinated. in washington state the weekly vaccination rate jumped 34% after the state announced vaccination requirements for state employees, teachers and school staff, health care workers and colleges and universities. >> the evidence is right there. vaccine mandates are working. people are getting the shots.

how far would you like to see these mandates go? >> steph, first of all, thanks for having me back. we need to do a lot more. more than one in four adults still hasn't gotten a single shot. a little over half of the country is fully vaccinated. we've got a lot more work to do on this. i want to see mandates from all the major employers, certainly government should be man dating it for their own employees, teachers. still there are hospitals in this country that have not mandated it for doctors and nurses. i think that's uncon shenable. we've got to keep pushing to get people vaccinated. >> we are seeing more mandates and people get vaccinated. if we keep on this track, especially now that there is full fda approval for pfizer, which means we'll get more businesses mandating it, do you think that's going to change the covid trajectory this winter? >> i do and i think two things are going to happen.

i think all of the mandates are going to help. second, i think if we do other things this winter, ramp up testing. we've been talking about testing for a year and a half, if we can ramp that back up, we can have a pretty okay winter. we don't have to have a catastrophically bad winter. it is up to us. >> here's a number that is crazy to me. we are less than two weeks before kids, students in the nation's largest school district are going back to in-person school here in new york city. but the numbers, the vaccine rate for eligible, 13-17 year olds, the ones who can get the vaccine. it's under 40%. how do we change that? how do we incentivize parents? these are parents who want their kids in school. how do we change their minds? >> yeah, so obviously these parents love their kids, they want to do the right thing. they have been fed a lot of misinformation about vaccines and the people probably most well suited, best suited to change minds are pediatricians,

people that people trust with their kids' well-being. the american academy of pediatrics has been a really important voice in this space. we've got to plug away at it because we've got to help parents understand the best thing they can do for their kids is get them vaccinated. >> dr. jha, erin, thank you both so much. i appreciate you joining us. coming up, the war with afghanistan is officially over, but what does it mean for the nearly 800,000 men and women who served there over the last 20 years? what's the legacy of that war? the new struggles facing veterans across the country next. skin, we switched to tide hygienic clean free. it's gentle on her skin, and out cleans our old free detergent. tide hygienic clean free. hypoallergenic and safe for sensitive skin. i don't feel sick why should i cure my hepatitis c? how can i handle one more thing?

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- stand up if you are first generation college student. (crowd cheering) stand up if you're a mother. if you are actively deployed, a veteran, or you're in a military family, please stand. the world in which we live equally distributes talent, but it doesn't equally distribute opportunity, and paths are not always the same. - i'm so proud of you dad. - [man] i will tell you this, southern new hampshire university can change the whole trajectory of your life. (uplifting music) will affect us for years to come, but this week it has been special hard for veterans. the war ended the same way it

began, the taliban in control. it has led to a rare show of bipartisanship on capitol hill, with 35 senators calling on the v.a. to help veterans who are struggling right now and 159 house members introducing a bill to recognize the service members who were killed in kabul last week. joining me now to discuss, afghanistan combat veteran, who runs the veterans community project. he's also the former missouri secretary of state. jason, i want to start by playing a bit more of what president biden had to say yesterday. this part stuck with me. >> when i hear that we could have, should have continued the so-called low-grade effort in afghanistan at low risk to our service members, at low cost, i don't think enough people understand how much we have asked of the 1% of this country who put that uniform on. >> you know, yesterday morning,

jason, when the headlines crossed, the war is over, i was about to walk into my 15-year-old son's bedroom and tell him -- he had two friends sleeping over and i stopped myself, because i was afraid when i went in and said, hey, the war is over, that they might say to me, what war? and i was embarrassed by that. i was sad by it. but it's the truth. there are so many young people who were not born 9/11 and seth moulton said it in the last hour when he was serving in afghanistan, he felt forgotten. how do we make sure that's not the case? what do you want people to know, especially the next generation? >> yeah, no, the line you just played of the president stuck with me, too. and i appreciated him speaking to that, because i think part of what has been so upsetting over the last week, for a long time, but especially over the last week or two, has been this feeling that americans have discovered that we're at war in

afghanistan and they're kind of upset about it. and it does make you feel somewhat forgotten. i remember when you first came home, it was in 2007, i remember i went out with my wife here in kansas city, we went to a bar with friends, and somebody said to me, oh, you were in afghanistan. well, at least you're not in iraq. nothing is happening in afghanistan now, right? so this has been a continual theme for a long time. and, i don't know, i guess in terms of what i want people to know, i suppose it's that you can't group all wars together. the president is absolutely right, there's no such thing as low grade or a safe war, and at the same time you can't group them altogether. afghanistan is not iraq, afghanistan is not vietnam. afghanistan really was two wars. there was the war against al qaeda to kill and to degrade the capabilities of the people who attacked us, and then there was a second war, the war to nation build in afghanistan. we were successful in that first war. we weren't successful in the

second. but that doesn't mean that trying wasn't important, and also, by the way, when i say that, it doesn't mean that i think we should stay. i don't. it doesn't mean that i think we should have been there over the last several years. i don't. but the fact is there are young women who are educated, there are people who had freedoms, there are people who will now, thanks to this airlift, spread across the world and contribute to it because of what happened in afghanistan over the last 20 years. >> can i ask how you're feeling? i know august was an especially brutal month, not just for you, but for veterans across the country. the evacuation has ended. here we are september 1st. is this a new day, a new dawn? >> yes and no. it is new in that there is finality to the war in terms of america's participation in it. and that's a good thing. it's a bit of a strange feeling, but, you know, objectively

intellectually, i, and i think others, understand it's a good thing. what people should know is i felt like two weeks ago as things just began to unfold, i felt like that was kind of triggering for a lot of afghanistan veterans, but there's a lot of us, including myself, that have been living o living on kabul time the last week and a half trying to get people out on a deployment off-tempo, i think there's a line where triggering becomes knewly traumatic and i think, i want veterans who have participated in this inspiring sort of volunteer airlift that the president also mentioned, which i appreciate, to recognize -- well i'll just say i have an employment with my va therapist on friday, and that's important. like when you've been through something, check in on it. get some guidance. that's what i'm doing. >> we do know, though, that over the last two weeks, we have seen thousands and thousands of people be evacuated.

we've seen this extraordinary mobilization. is that inspiring for vets like you? >> yeah, absolutely. the last couple weeks, what the military has done to go in and, i mean, the president said it well, that there has not been over the last couple weeks a vital national interest at stake. this is purely american soldiers and sailors and marines and airmen saying we're going to put our lives on the line purely to get out our fellow american citizens and to get out afghans, our afghan allies, and citizens of other nations that helped. that's a big deal. i mean, it does mean a lot to me that my country still does that, and it makes me really proud to have worn the uniform to see the feat that was accomplished in kabul over the last week and a half. obviously, you know, there's so many critics who say did it have

to be this chaotic and every critic who asks whether chaos should have been a part of this or whether chaos could have been avoided to me may as well just be saying i've never been to a combat zone. chaos is baked in. it's part of it. >> jason, every single time you are here, you make us better, you make us smarter and you make us grateful. jason candor, the face of a true patriot. that's what we saw over the last two weeks, true patriot im. thanks again. if you are a veteran struggling with your mental health, please, please know you're appreciated and not alone. call the veterans crisis to the line at 1-800-273-8255, press 1 or text 838255 or visit veteranscrisisline.net. we'll be right back. with home and auto to help people save more! [ laughs ]

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now to california, where the fast-moving caldor fire forced tens of thousands from their homes in lake tahoe. some are seeking shelter across state lines. the fire already ravaged 200,000 acres and there are new fears it could join with another fire just to its east. jacob ward is in south lake tahoe. officials were prepared for this thing. they had firefighters and supplies in place and still they could not stop the fire from spreading.

help us understand what they're doing and how many firefighters are there, where are the first responders from? they are extraordinary. >> stephanie, it is extraordinary to see the range of responses that this fire has drawn in. as i'm standing right now, there is ash falling between me and you at the moment and that is because just six and a half miles down the road is actual flame. we were standing there a moment ago and it would be a first in modern history if that flame came this far. if you look behind me, it looks like morning fog here but that is not what this is. if you think about air quality indexes at about 60 is where you can begin to taste it in your mouth. right now, the air quality is about 500, so we're looking at just an extraordinary, you know, the feeling of impending flame. the worry here of course is that these two fires that basically form the threat here right under lake tahoe are reaching out

toward one another, and firefighters in between those two areas are trying desperately to keep them from joining hands and then coming as far as where i am standing. if it were to reach here, the shores of lake tahoe, it would be a first in modern history, and the incredible density you have here, you know, after over a century of extraordinary tourist development, this is really one of the highlights of the state, to see all of this under threat is a very new thing, even in this era of climate change. >> goodness, jake, stay safe where you are. thank you for the excellent reporting and please, thank those first responders if you get to talk to any. that wraps us up this hour. i'm stephanie ruehl. hallie jackson picks up coverage on the other side of the break. , your clothes can repel pet hair. one bounce mega sheet has 3x the hair fighting ingredients of the leading dryer sheet. simply toss into the dryer to bounce out hair & lint.

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