thing will stop me from vacation. no canceling. flexible cancellation. kayak. search one and done. ♪♪ ♪♪ good day. this is "andrea mitchell reports" from washington where president biden is vehemently defending his decision to end america's longest war. >> 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. >> in afghanistan, the taliban declaring victory, holding a press conference on the tarmac of the kabul airport with their own special forces. of course, now carrying american weapons captured from the collapsed afghan army, and in a remote province, the taliban even holding a mock funeral, parading coffins draped with american and nato flags. a speaker praising the isis suicide bomber who killed 13 u.s. service members and 200 afghans. at least 200 americans are still stranded in the country and countless afghan allies who helped u.s. troops over 20 years of conflict left behind. we're also keeping a close eye on ida as it brings torrential rain and wind leaving a path of destruction in its wake. millions across louisiana and mississippi are really suffering, dealing with the blustering heat and no power. a new law outlawing all abortions in the state went into effect at midnight, following

all of the stories for you and let's begin with afghanistan and joining me now is nbc chief peter alexander and courtney kube and nbc foreign correspondent raf sanchez in doha, qatar. you saw a defiant, sometimes defensive president yesterday and facing criticism about the americans still in afghanistan. what is the white house's plan to get them out and what about our afghan allies? >> andrea, that's exactly right. the president yesterday touting this airlift mission as an extraordinary success. they're getting out more than 124,000 americans and afghan allies and other nationals, but obviously, that's a source of criticism, as well because there are now 100 to 200 americans believed to still be in the country and you remember, president biden less than two weeks ago said that if there were americans still there the u.s. would stay until they got them all out. the u.s. had to leave, sticking to that deadline because it was safest to protect the american troops and to protect their

prospect, the ability to get them out going forward. so how will they do it? the president's national security adviser saying among the items they're working on right now to execute those evacuations would be getting charter flights in there from other countries in the region and working with other countries in the region to allow for the ground passage or for others to get into the neighboring countries to get evacuated from there. all of this relies on continued cooperation from the taliban. the taliban has made public commitments that it would allow those americans to leave and the white house believes that it has economic leverage over the taliban as it relates to this issue. the taliban certainly needs western money in order to keep afghanistan standing, and the u.s. believes that's a place they can really push the taliban, but critics, certainly as you know, andrea, noted with u.s. troops no longer there, relying on the cooperation and the diplomatic effort with one of america's adversaries and enemies here is asking for a lot.

>> and courtney, you have some new reporting about how the taliban worked with the u.s. at least in one instance, if not more, to get americans out. with the taliban celebrating and having mock coffins and a mock funeral with nato and u.s. flags, but this was a different instance. talk us through it. >> as you well know, we had many cases and many reports over the course of this evacuation mission of the taliban mistreating people at checkpoint, particularly afghan citizens and beating them in some cases, but what we are learning now, defense officials are speaking about the areas where the taliban are cooperating with the u.s. on the ground there. we knew there was a coordination and we didn't know about the extent until now. what would happen is american citizens would get a text message telling them to go to a couple of different locations and one is the ministry of the

interior and the taliban command and control location on the west side of the airport. they would go there. the taliban would essentially process these people. they had their names. they had a piece of paper, the americans would have a piece of paper from the state department that was like a pass to get them through the checkpoints and into the gates. the taliban would check them and make sure they were the correct people and then in some cases if the roadways weren't clear, if there were afghans that were gathered between the muster locations and the gates. the taliban would actually clear out the roads to make it safe for americans to pass and according to these defense officials at times they were even carrying americans' luggage. the level of coordination and cooperation to help the -- with the taliban help the americans get out in some cases was really remarkable especially when you consider the fact that this was a group that the u.s. was battling for 20 years in afghanistan, and only a couple of weeks before the u.s. was conducting air strikes against the very same group, but again,

andrea. all of this being said, this level of cooperation and the level of coordination between the military and the taliban in kabul during a short period of time, the defense officials still, there is a lot of skepticism that this will lead to an ongoing or enduring, military to military relationship here. i asked general frank mckenzie earlier this week and he said it still remains to be seen, but he did talk about how the taliban would have their hands full going forward. they led thousands of fighters out of prisons as they rolled through the country over the last few weeks. there are now 2,000 isis-k fighters, hard core isis fighters in afghanistan. general mckenzie saying the taliban will have a tough time and they will reap what they sow by letting them out of their prisons, andrea. >> we just had a briefing from a senior state department official and i want to give more context to this explaining how the taliban had this external perimeter. so the u.s. military is

communicating with them, but the fact is that hour to hour, the decisions would be changed as to what criteria they would be using as to whom they would let in and who would not and place to place, it would change. moment to moment, practically. plus the communications that the u.s. had with approved people to come in. they would have communications, email communications and in the contact, particularly with the afghan crowds, within an hour they would be communicated to a crowd of hundreds and hundreds of people, desperate people, almost a mob scene so they would have to change the passwords again. explaining now that some of these officials are back and are being debriefed and there is a lot of complications that does explain the chaos in a war zone especially dealing with the taliban. >> exactly. exactly. and the fact that the u.s. was having to coordinate this with the taliban.

it's not a monolithic group. the taliban group that was providing that perimeter or that had the checkpoints around kabul airport, they were among the more elite taliban fighters. some of them were almost the equivalent of what the u.s. would think as the special operators of the taliban fighters and a lot of them were listening to the big taliban leadership in that they were telling them to, you know, to let the americans pass through, get the americans out of the country, but the reality is not every one of those checkpoints was manned by the more capable fighters or by the people that were more necessarily listening. as i was saying at the beginning, there were a lot of cases where afghans were mistreaten and beaten and they were not allowed through and there were cases where americans were not allowed through. it was not a foolproof plan and there was any coordination on this level at all after all of those years fighting and there is skepticism that this will

continue or that this is a new taliban. >> exactly right, courtney. raf, you are there in doha where a qatari team has landed and they're trying to get the airport here in kabul back online so the qatari team landing in kabul and they have an airport that's not been destroyed and there's so much equipment and all of the people have been eliminated, have been removed, evacuated, i should say. the air traffic controllers, the mechanics. how quickly do they think that they can get the kabul airport going? >> andrea, that is the question for the taliban and the biden administration. right now there is no time line on how long it would take to get hamid karzai international airport up and running again. a source familiar tells us a qatar technical team did fly in today for talks with the taliban on exactly that question, and as you mentioned, there are a lot of issues here. some of them are technical.

how can you get the taliban to safely operate a very complex air traffic control system, but the big question is security. civilian airlines do not want to fly into kabul until they know that it's safe to do so. our understanding is the qataris are pushing the taliban to accept some kind of international presence at the airport, to make sure that security protocols are being followed, but the taliban are very resistant to that. as far as they're concerned, they are the new ruler of afghanistan ask it would be a violation of their sovereignty. as peter and courtney were just talking about, we're in this interesting position wrts taliban and enemies for 20 years have been finding areas to cooperate and it could well be that the airport is one of those issues. the u.s. wants the airport open to get americans out. the taliban wants it open so

they can claim to be the rulers of a functioning country. >> thank you so much. joining us now is william cohen from the clinton administration and former senator from maine. thank you for being with us. >> we have seen this extraordinary evacuation being praised by the president and a lot of criticism from all sides. white house chief of staff ron clain last night toldous msnbc he doesn't know if the u.s. will ever recognize the taliban. the cia have been securing security there, what relationship should we have with the taliban going forward? >> i think the relationship should be one very arm's length. the taliban is not going to convert into a civilized nation, certainly not overnight or in the foreseeable future. so i think we have to keep them at arm's length and we have to maintain communication with them from a military point of view to the extent we can, but also our intelligence community will have lines of communication open, and i hope that our own military

intelligence operations will work very closely with people who served in afg because the soldiers and the the marines and airmen and air force all of whom have ties to people in afghanistan now. they feel strongly about not only the american citizens who are there, but those translators, those who helped them and the reason they feel so strongly is those translators are simply not conveying words. they have to be correct in what they say. they have to be brave and they have to be loyal and that loyalty runs as part of the military intelligence and the community. i think we have to coordinate with that. we have multiple groups keeping the lines of communication open and as long as they're open, our government can coordinate with our digital dunker and all of the groups that are under one

umbrella, hopefully to get those individuals out and the war is not going to be over until they're out. >> how do we hold them accountable for providing other americans if they do want to leave and most importantly, as well, the afghan allies, how do we get them out? >> i've speculated on this, andrea. a lot of speculation. i think the taliban will need our help. they are economically unsure and they may come under attack by al qaeda or isis. they may need intelligence that they don't have that we may be able to provide them under certain conditions. so it may be ironic that the very people that have been fighting us will need us in order to stay safe and in power themselves. you know, it's possible that these groups may all meld

together and all be one pot of toxic terrorism. that's a possibility, but if the taliban hopes to have any opportunity to govern as a -- as a society which is probably very unlikely since they're still made up of lots of provinces and warlords and they don't want any centralized government as such, so it depends on what kind of government the taliban is going to formulate, but i still believe in my heart of heart, they're going to need us, and if they need us we want something very much in return. we want our citizens out, passport holders and those who are special immigrant visa holders and to the extent we don't, then the money will never be forthcoming and any intelligence they need for their own safety, and i think they're

in a position it call upon us, and we don't answer the phone anymore. >> the counter argument, of course, is that there are as many as 2,000, maybe more as general mckenzie said isis-k fighters released from the prisons from the taliban. the taliban acknowledging that that was a big mistake. so there are those terrorist, plus the haqqani network. kalil haqqani with a bounty on his head by the state department and wanted by the fbi is now in charge of security in kabul for the taliban. the overlapping of these terror groups creates an unholy stew there in afghanistan, and secretary panetta just told me yesterday that he doesn't think we've made afghanistan safe from becoming another haven for terrorist as the president claims and as was the original goal after 9/11. >> i agree. i think that more terrorists

will find a homeland there. they'll come from various parts from either pakistan or other neighboring countries that span areas and they may come in there and present a real threat, a gathering storm and such which the united states will be called upon to go after. so we talk about no forever wars, but there's no forever peace. the history of mankind has not been one of peace. it's been of war. of the last 3,000 to 4,000 years, i think, only 300 years have been those eras of peace. so we have to be honest with ourselves and know who we are as the human race, competitive, aggressive, greedy, warlike and our higher -- the angels of our nature surface only periodically and that's what we aspire to do is to raise the level of humanity in our souls. we haven't been able to do it historically. we may not be able to do it

going forward, but that's the goal and the aspiration, and i think when you see the kind of people who are serving us, the ones who conducted that evacuation, and i think the biden administration, president biden himself was right to praise him and we need to keep praising them and when you see people like that who have had influence on people in afghanistan, i think there's hope and one final point, but when you talk about leverage, look at the countries who now have a stake in afghanistan. you have the chinese saying the united states should be more forthcoming with economic aid. i said no, you should be more forthcoming with economic aid. you poured aid into pakistan. pakistan has poured aid into the taliban and others and how about you take a little bit of the load here instead of building your -- your road, how about putting money and helping develop afghan. you have an interest in doing that because you have a muslim population in china itself, the uighurs. russia hassa i stake in this.

russia has its own muslim population. they don't want to see a terrorist state on its border either. not just the united states. we have a real interest in making sure that afghanistan doesn't become a launching pad for sending terrorists into our country as bin laden did, but we are not in this alone. our allies joined us. they knew we are not in alone, so i think there are a lot of issues here with other countries that can be helpful. in the meantime, we have to dedicate ourselves. president biden said they'll never be forgotten. we won't forgive the taliban, but we have to get them out, and i think we have enough people in the country, in the congress, in our private sector, former soldiers who have networks that we can call upon and send the message very clearly to the taliban. you want to take power? you're in power? good luck because you won't be able to survive if you don't have the kind of competence and the kind of intelligence and the

military capability that you don't have now. you may celebrate and fire your guns in the air. that is not going to help you deliver food, water and services to the afghan people. so good luck. you can celebrate now and on 11, and you will upon need us and the world community and you will be on your own. secretary william cohen, as always, thank you very much for your expertise and wisdom. we appreciate it. >> good to be with you. >> and ida's aftermath. search teams still trying to reach stranded survivors three days after ida made landfall. the latest on the ground in hard-hit louisiana and texas abortion clinics turning patients away as the highly restrictive abortion law goes into effect outlawing all abortions. why isn't the supreme court getting involved? this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc.

power, we can harness the energy of the tiny electron. we can create new ways to connect. rethinking how we communicate to be more inclusive than ever. with app, cloud and anywhere workspace solutions, vmware helps companies navigate change. faster. vmware. welcome change. get ready. it's time for the savings event of the year. the homeandautobundle xtravafestasaveathon! at this homeandautobundle xtravafestasaveathon, there's no telling what we might bundle! homeandautobundle xtravafestasaveathon! bundle cars, trucks, colonials, bungalows, and that weird hut your uncle lives in. so strike up the homeandautobundle xtravafestasaveathon band for the deal that started forever ago and will probably never end. homeandautobundle xtravafestasaveathon. -say it with me. -homeandautobundle-- no one's leaving till you say it right. homeandauto...

so, you have diabetes, here are some easy rules. no sugar. no pizza. no foods you love. stressed? no stress. exercise. but no days off! easy, no? no. no. no. no. but with freestyle libre 14 day, you can take the mystery out of your diabetes. now you know. sir, do you know what you want to order? yes. freestyle libre 14 day. try it for free. another day, another chance. yes. make the most of it with the network that can deliver gig speeds to the most businesses.

and get the advanced cybersecurity solutions you need with comcast business securityedge. ask how to get comcast business securityedge to help protect all your connected devices. and get started with a great offer on fast and reliable internet and voice for just $64.99 a month. plus, ask how to get a prepaid card up to $500. call or go online today to learn more. comcast business. powering possibilities.

law that would for practical purposes restrict all abortions has gone into effect. the new law bans abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy before many women know they are pregnant. president biden has just released a statement saying in part the new law blatantly violates the constitutional rights established under roe v. wade and the administration will continue to fight and protect

and defend that right. abortion providers are seeking to block the measure. no word if the justices will step in. joining us now is nbc's julia ainsley. she covers the justice department and the supreme court. this is the most dramatic -- already, there's a court case argued in the court on the 15 weeks in mississippi, but this is six weeks. >> that's right. so the mississippi case that's coming before the supreme court in the next term, this fall. that they end abortion at 15 weeks. what this does is it takes it all of the way to six weeks before some women even know that they're pregnant and it would make defendants out of anyone involved and that could be an uber driver, someone who takes a woman to a clinic and someone with a very loose connection to a woman that would act as bounty hunters and get $10,000 through a lawsuit by suing those individuals who may have a connection to an abortion. >> texas, of course, the

distances in texas. already there were few clinics in texas and people have to travel such long distances and it's always the women who have fewer resources who don't have the ability to have child care, to travel to pay for a motel or a hotel to get to a clinic. >> as we understand, the abortion clinics in texas were effectively just shut down at midnight when this went into effect and many states that are smaller, a woman may be able to cross state lines and that may not be possible for a lot of women and you are seeing significant pushback from the legal advocates all over the country as well as in texas where they're asking the supreme court to weigh in on an emergency application which they may still do, but i think the silence last night meant something and it may tee up what we could see in the fall when they weigh in on that mississippi case, as well. >> the supreme court normally, there is one duty justice overnight, and they usually act

rather quickly on a case like this. >> in this case it's alito who we know is more conservative on these issues, but usually something that would happen is he would kick it to the entire bench and they could put in an emergency stay that would stop it until they have the opportunity to hear more. that didn't happen in this case, but we could still hear more because they have that pending emergency application before them. so it's certainly something to watch, but it could really tee up what it means for roe v. wade in this new environment of a more conservative bench. >> and in the case of texas, you could have women going over the border to mexico. >> that's true -- >> which could lead to other medical complications. >> yes. absolutely. there's a lot that's concerning here to healthcare providers, to medical experts and it also could be a road map for other states that are seeking to restrict their abortion access if they can use this similar template of trying to allow for more civil lawsuits against those who are involved in

abortions which is very different from what we've seen in the past when it's been holding people like the doctors themselves criminally responsible. >> this could become a bigger issue in the midterm elections, as well. >> absolutely. julia ainsley, thank you so much. >> thank you, andrea. breaking news out of colorado in the case of elijah mcclain, the 23-year-old black man who died at the hands of aurora, colorado, police and paramedics two years ago. attorney general phil weiser in colorado announcing the results of a grand jury investigation this hour which recommended 32 indictments against the three officers and two paramedics involved. mcclain was walking to a convenience store when someone reported him as looking suspicious. police tackled him and used a choke hold that was later outlawed. paramedics injected with the anesthetic ketamine and he suffered cardiac arrest before later being declared brain dead. today flash flood warnings through the atlantic and the

northeast as hurricane ida soaks the regions with heavy rains. in louisiana it's a mad scramble to bring power. joining me from laplace, louisiana, sam brock. you've been there since the beginning. what are you seeing in terms of the rescue and recovery effort? >> the rescue efforts are over at this point. there were 800 rescues. it happened here and it may sound cliche and it does look like a war zone right now. over my shoulder you'll see a power line and this goes on for blocks and blocks. i want to show you something. there were cars out here before the sun rose this morning. all along here they're gone because they're out of gas and this went on for blocks and blocks, a procession of vehicles and people so desperate just to get fuel for their cars and for generators to power homes. we saw these two gentlemen who were pushing their old truck by hand down the highway because it

was their only option to try to get some fuel. i talked to them, one gentleman told me if i have to drive from here to timbuktu i will just to get that bass and he wants to help other people with it. here's what he told me. >> we're just trying to help our families, friends, neighbors, whoever we can get some gas in the truck so we can find some ice, water, food, suv like that. louisiana strong. louisiana pride, and i was taught by my mother and father to look after one another. the human race is all we have. >> reporter: that's a good message obviously for everybody, andry. entergy engineers were out here earlier looking at this damage trying to assess the priorities and there will be 911 call centers and hospitals and pumping stations and they were hopeful to get power back to residents very soon. andrea, back to you. >> sam, thank you so much for being there in just a moment. senator jeanne shaheen on the situation we left behind in

afghanistan and the americans still trying to get out. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. coverage customizer tool? sorry? well, since you asked. it finds discounts and policy recommendations, so you only pay for what you need. limu, you're an animal! who's got the bird legs now? only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ the live better u program basically just provides the answer to the question: what if? with live better u, my 'what ifs' were erased. ♪ ♪

- [narrator] this is steve. he used to have gum problems. now, he uses therabreath healthy gums oral rinse with clinically-proven ingredients and his gum problems have vanished. (crowd applauding) therabreath, it's a better mouthwash. at walmart, target and other fine stores. this is how you become the best! [music: “you're the best” by joe esposito] [music: “you're the best” by joe esposito] [triumphantly yells] [ding] don't get mad. get e*trade and take charge of your finances today. don't get mad. it only takes a second for an everyday item to become dangerous. tide pods child-guard pack helps keep your laundry pacs in a safe place and your child safer. to close, twist until it clicks.

tide pods child-guard packaging. woman: from our classrooms... man: ...to the playing fields. maybe more than ever before, we are ready for this school year. i'm so excited to see all of my students. we're doing all we can to make sure our schools are safe... woman: ...to make sure our schools are safe. i want to thank parents and families for working with us. and continuing to be our partners. thank you so much. we can't do it without you. we can't do it without you. woman: because we know quality public schools make a better california...

the president forcefully rejected criticism of his afghan withdrawal saying he faced a choice between leaving and escalating and saying that staying longer is no longer in the national interest, but what happens now in a country where more than 2400 americans lost their lives along with 66,000 afghan troops and 20,000

additional american service members who were injured? left behind also more than 100 american citizens and thousands and thousands of afghan allies and millions of afghan women and girls whose rights are in jeopardy. joining me now is new hampshire senator jeanne shaheen who serves on the house arms and services committee and working on the challenge for those women and girls. thank you for being with us. thank you, senator. >> nice to be with you under difficult circumstances. >> difficult, indeed, because the president framed this withdrawal as a choice between leaving or escalating the conflict. do you see it the same way? >> well, as i said when he announced the withdrawal back in april i was disappointed to hear the plan to withdraw by september the 1st because of the visa applicants and because of the challenges with women and girls. so i think it's been a

remarkable operation to get over 20,000 afghans and american citizens out of the country, those people who helped us, but clearly, we are leaving behind some american citizens. many of the men and women who helped us are military over the 20 years and an uncertain future for the women and girls of afghanistan. what we have seen already is the taliban telling them not to go to work. we are not seeing reassurances that schools are going to be open everywhere in afghanistan. we are not seeing that women are going to be secure if they go out by themselves and walk around. so there are real challenges, and i hope the international community is going to continue to keep a focus on what's happening in afghanistan and make any humanitarian and economic and diplomatic assistance conditional on how the taliban is responding.

>> he's still saying we can get people out. how can we get people out with no consular diplomats on the ground, you know, we don't have a protecting power like the swiss who work with us in north korea and other countries. what can we do from doha 1200 miles away? >> well, fortunately, there are a number of countries who have been really helpful to us. qatar is one of those countries and there are a number of european countries who have been willing to serve as weigh stations for people who -- while they're being processed to move on to some place else, north macedonia, albania, germany, so many other countries and that's really important, but we continue to have lines of communication that allow us to move people out of afghanistan who still want to leave. many of those routes now that the airport is closed and it is not clear when it will re-open will be over land and so we will

be looking for some of the adjoining countries. i hope to be willing to help take refugees as they flee the taliban. >> if they can even get through the taliban checkpoints. how much can we trust the taliban given that they're holding mock funerals with flags draped with the coffins draped in american and nato flags? >> i don't think we can trust the taliban, but unfortunately, we are in a situation where we will have to work with them. you know, andrea, this was predictable from the time former president trump signed a peace agreement that did not protect afghan women and girls despite efforts to try and get former secretary pompeo and ambassador khalilzad to make that a priority because we have in place an act that requires that we try to have women at the negotiating table in conflict areas and yet they refuse to include women and girls. so this was predictable.

sadly, we were given a peace agreement that did not do what it set out to do. >> and the president also said that our mission is no longer. we have learned the lesson. we can't do nation building and we have the interest of the united states at stake. does that mean that for 20 years in bringing literacy to afghanistan and to half its population in educating girls and women and letting them become engineers and robot makers and lawyers and judges and teachers and scientists, soccer players, that that was all for not? that we shouldn't invest that in countries that are repressing these large populations? >>. >> i certainly don't think so, and i don't think most of the men and women who served in afghanistan believe that. they were there to do a mission and to not only try and prevent terrorism, but to look at trying to support uplifting the

country. one of the things we know is when men and women are empowered in their country, it's better for their communities and better for their families and ultimately it's better for the country and we know, again, when women are at the table with negotiations, that those negotiations that end conflicts tend to last 35% better than when women are not at the table. so there are data-driven reasons why it makes sense for us to support the empowerment of women and girls and that's one of our missions in afghanistan that i personally am very proud of. >> it also holds true for women being in the senate. thank you very much, senator jeanne shaheen. appreciate it. and lesson plans as students head back to class some parents are refusing mask mandates and it's overtaking school board meetings in the north as well as in the south. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc.

growing up in a little red house, on the edge of a forest in norway, there were three things my family encouraged: kindness, honesty and hard work. over time, i've come to add a fourth: be curious. be curious about the world around us, and then go. go with an open heart, and you will find inspiration anew. viking. exploring the world in comfort. 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, and we won't stop. that's why we're calling on congress to let medicare negotiate lower prescription drug prices. [grunts] ♪ ♪ [grunts] pnc bank believes that if a pair of goggles can help your backhand get better... yeah! ...then your bank should help you budget even better. (laughing) virtual wallet® is so much more than a checking account. its low cash mode feature gives you at least 24 hours of extra time to help you avoid an overdraft fee. you see that? virtual wallet® with low cash mode from pnc bank. one way we're making a difference. (chimes)

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ i thought i was managing my moderate to severe crohn's disease. then i realized something was missing... ...me. my symptoms were keeping me from being there for her. so, i talked to my doctor and learned humira is the #1 prescribed biologic for people with crohn's disease. the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief in as little as 4 weeks. and many achieved remission that can last. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. be there for you, and them. ask your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, remission is possible. ♪♪

spiking dramatically as schools open back up across the country. nearly a quarter of the new cases reported last week were in children. now the debate over masks and schools is getting even more contentious. nbc news correspondent heidi presbola is in bucks county, pennsylvania where covid cases in children under 18 have risen from july to august. the governor has announced a mask mandate starting next week and we've been speaking to parents. what are you hearing? >> andrea, the community here does listen to the weather experts. when there was a tornado forecast they immediately evacuated and yet the boards here are not listening to the pediatricians and they're not listening to the cdc and not going on with what's going on

with covid positivity. we also reached out to the members of the board including those who support masks and those who don't, nobody wanted to talk. however, we did talk with some of the parents who support masking. they say that they are the silent majority and that the impact that this debate is having on the community, andrea is really poisonous. the bullying of not only parents against parents and children on children against children. we spoke for instance it a mother with a daughter who survived cancer. she is very well known in the community and prior to covid she got a lot of support and now she feels kind of shunned. take a listen to what some of the parents had to say. >> there's a school board member in central buck's who has had death threats and students are bullying each other and people are enraged on both sides of the issue and it's completely tearing this community apart. >> we all know that the kids that are actually wearing masks are protecting the kids without the masks and so the kids without the masks are putting

the teachers, staff and students at risk. >> reporter: and the question now, andrea, is how they're going to enforce this with so many parents telling their children not to comply, andrea? >> and is this a recommendation from the governor? is it mandatory and -- >> reporter: no, it is a mandate. >> right. >> reporter: it is a mandate from the health secretary, andrea, and it really will be up to the principals and they say it's temporary until they can get the kids vaccinated, but these parents just aren't having it even though these are the same rules they had last year. they came to school masked. >> and many are under 12. it's a mixed area politically. it's an area in one of the five counties surrounding philadelphia. so, you know, it is not some kind of a really hard-edged area. it's very surprising to see that there. thank you very much, heidi, for your reporting. dr. ben gupta who is a pulmonologist and professor at

the university of washington joins me now. bucks county, an upscale area in pennsylvania, not some rural with some sort of suburban. very surprising reaction. your reaction to this, the patchwork quilt of how these rules are affecting schools around the country. >> andrea, good afternoon. it's deeply concerning because what we are seeing both in pennsylvania and then across the country is we are seeing hospitals across the country surged as a result of covid and non-covid regions and people needing an icu bed landing kids in the hospital. of course, there is that daily death toll of 100 or more covid patients rising. now we're expecting the daily death toll to exceed 1,000 through the end of november. there's a lot going on here both covid and non-covid, through the

end of the fall well into cold and flu season. >> we are seeing on average of 129,000 people testing for covid daily and we don't know what the real number is. that's higher than at any point, and the icu near capacity to say nothing of what they've been suffering with ida. >> that's right, andrea, and the big limitation here is not ventilators. it's not do we have a bed. staffing shortages. we speak to icus across the country. they are lacking icu nurses and that is the big limitation there. even if you have a bed or ventilator, we don't have trained staff to use at capacity. so that is the big issue here. if you want care wherever you are in the country, you may not be able to access it. >> i'm sorry, dr. gupta. have we lost your audio? i didn't hear what you fully

said. >> andrea, the concern here is if you want care you may not be able to access it across the country given staffing shortages in hospital across the country. >> dr. gupta, what about the fact that they've now acknowledged that 15 million doses of vaccines were wasted? how can we explain that? >> i think this is to be expected. unfortunately, we have multiple vaccine doses -- the -- we have this one dose per vial and 15 doses in some cases, and we lost 15 million doses of the 440 million administered. this is, unfortunately, to be expected given the way we're distributing the vaccine. >> all concerning especially considering the needs around the world. thank you so very much, dr. ben gupta. apologies for the confusion there on the audio. in just a few moments we will

hear from defense secretary lloyd austin and the chairman of the joint chiefs general mark milley. the president standing by his decision to end america's longest war defiantly. what's the political impact on the president? stay with us. this is "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. safe drivers can save using snapshot? -what's snapshot? -what the commercial was about. -i tune commercials out. -me too. they're always like blah, blah blah. tell me about it. i'm going to a silent retreat next weekend. my niece got kicked out of one of those. -for talking? -grand larceny. how about we get back to the savings? [ everyone agreeing ]

age is just a number. and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients you need an ecolab scientific clean here. and you need it here. and here. and here. which is why the scientific expertise that helps operating rooms stay clean is now helping the places you go every day too. seek a commitment to clean. look for the ecolab science certified seal.

>> tech: every customer has their own safelite story. this couple was on a camping trip... ...when their windshield got a chip. they drove to safelite for a same-day repair. and with their insurance, it was no cost to them. >> woman: really? >> tech: that's service you can trust. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ this is a gamechanger, who dares to be fearless even when her bladder leaks. our softest, smoothest fabric keeping her comfortable, protected, and undeniably sleek. depend. the only thing stronger than us, is you. the president's speech last night was perhaps his most defensive explanation of the

withdrawal of troops from afghanistan. >> for those who would say we should have stayed indefinitely for years on end, they ask why don't we just keep doing what we were doing? why do we have to change anything? the fact is, everything had changed. my predecessor had made a deal with the taliban. when i came into office, we faced a deadline, may 1. >> joining me now are craig whitlock investigative reporter for "washington post." new book "afghanistan papers." and also with us atia from our bureau chief and washington post ann. you are writing a less a mission of mission accomplished than

eulogy. >> over the handling of the withdrawal and that people will remember he is the president who did a hard thing and finally ended the war. that is politically popular and that's basically what they're counting on here that the problems of who got left behind, the chaotic scenes at the airport, those things will fade in people's memories and his bravery, in their view, and actually pulling the plug when so many people had advised against it will be the thing that people remember. >> and, atia, what about the american plan to get the remaining americans, those who chose to leave and the allies out of the country to say nothing of all the women, the women journalists we failed to get out. what are you hearing from people on the ground? >> it's not good, andrea, from the people on the ground.

i'm hearing men crying on the phone, females crying on the phone. one woman had her house sprayed with bullets by the taliban because she was a female lawyer and her father was a colonel who died two months ago. and they're all terrified. right now the only hope that they have is that someone is still talking to them. and i can't tell them what's going on because we don't really know. and i don't think the administration knows either. i think they have plans, but that is under the impression that the taliban will accept these plans. and, unfortunately, what we quo from the taliban they know they have won and they have the upper hand. we do talk about them possibly needing western money but they also know they have money in deals that can be made with other countries, for instance, china, for instance even iran and russia. so, we don't know what the taliban will actually follow through with. >> and, craig, you interviewed more than 1,000 people for your

book the afghanistan papers. you write about how senior military officials admitted they're not clearly defined goals in afghanistan. so, sometimes they didn't know who the bad guy was supposed to be. >> that's right. it's sort of shocking when you read these documents obtained for the "afghanistan papers" book. they have known for a long time the war wasn't going well. the fact that it dragged on for 20 years is a sign that you aren't winning. always an assumption that the people in charge had some kind of plan. in the documents we obtained generals and ambassadors confessing, they'd say we didn't know what we were doing. one of the early commanders under president bush said there was no campaign plan. i was just told to go kill terrorists. so it's sort of a real shock to read these documents over time through three presidents in which people who are in charge of the war just admitted they fundamentally didn't understand

aghanistan very well ask they knew their approach wasn't going to work. >> when the president said we completed the mission ten years ago when we got bin laden, was that really the mission all along and should that have remained the mission? >> initially the mission was very limited. it was to attack al qaeda and prevent another september 11th-style attack. to essentially defend the united states. it was a war that was seen as a just cause in the u.s. but the limited objective at first was really to try and destroy al qaeda. that was largely accomplished within the first six months of the war. by the spring of 2002, al qaeda's leadership in afghanistan had been killed, captured or fled to other countries like when osama bin laden went to pakistan. but from that point forward the mission really became blurry and became unclear exactly what we're trying to achieve. so, yes, that initial mission you can argue was achieved, but

what we've been doing there since is really unclear. >> atia, what i'm kind of thinking of is the biden doctrine which he enumerated in the speech that we don't do nation building any more. we only do things in our national interest. i asked this, does that mean all those years spent bringing the human rights to women and girls so that they can be educated and participate in society should not be done in the future situations by the u.s.? >> i mean, i think time will tell and different administrations might make different choices. i do, i will say that all my time on the ground when i was with diplomats, when i was with the military and with the international community, a phrase that was reiterated over and over again to the afghan people was we will never abandon you. we're here for the long run. this is why there is a sense of betrayal that many afghans feel. and it's not that they wanted an

enduring war. no one wants war. american families suffered, international families have suffered but afghan families have suffered, too. they didn't want an enduring war but they did think they had an enduring friendship and they thought they'd have these allies. >> atia, thank you so much. thanks to anne and craig. that does it for "andrea mitchell reports." chuck todd is up next with "mtp daily." welcome to "meet the press daily." i'm chuck todd. we'll take you live to the pentagon where we expect to hear defense secretary lloyd austin and mark milley to deliver remarks about the end of the military mission in afghanistan and those gentlemen do have a lot of questions. the question is, how many questions will they take?

all comes after president biden delivered both his decision to leave afghanistan and his administration's execution of the withdrawal. there are many questions, as i said at the top, that are left unanswered after the president's remarks that the pentagon might have to address. we'll see if they do. chief among them, what is this military mission going forward? what is the plan to address the threat posed by isis-k? the goal is to dismantle. what does that mean? the group that claimed responsibility for the attack outside the kabul airport that claimed, the lives of 13 american service members. we want to seek retribution. what does that look like? what is the plan with regards to the taliban the u.s. had to depend upon for security during this massive airlift evacuation. new reporting from nbc news and u.s. defense officials suggest a level of coordination with the taliban that went well beyond what pentagon officials wanted to admit publicly. members of the taliban assisted u.s.