blinken: no. sen. murphy: much has been made of the are breaking is he's the airport where 5000 -- were 5000 troops enough to stop the afghan people from merging to the airport -- rushing to the airport? a way to prevent individuals from rushing to the airport? sec. blinken: no, they could control the airport. they could establish a basic perimeter around the airport as we did. where they could not control what happened beyond the perimeter. sen. murphy: we should have controlled a bigger perimeter. have taken back over parts of kabul to secure the passage of americans and afghans to the airport. let us say you have ordered it -- quadrupled the number of troops. without the afghan military or functioning government with that have been enough to retake kabul to secure the passage of everyone to the airport? sec. blinken: i would defer to my colleagues at the pentagon on that. it would have taken a substantial number of forces to try to retake the city or establish a much broader perimeter. if that was o

blinken: mr. secretary, one of my colleagues claimed earlier that the last administrations agreement with the taliban was unconditional. that was false. in fact, you started to outline some of those conditions and you are stopped. to recap, the last administrations agreement with the taliban was conditions base, correct? sec. blinken: the conditions you refer to included a commitment to not allow afghanistan to harbor outwardly directed terrorists. let me be clear. >> the questions is was it a conditions based agreement? sec. blinken: they were so loose, with particular to these -- >> be aware that the president said in the transcripts of his george stephanopoulos interview that he would have withdrawn from afghanistan regardless of that prior agreement? sec. blinken: yes, that is right. not necessarily in the time, place, and minute which we did which was close -- put on us. >> the president said the likelihood that there would be the taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is

greg stuebe fact checked blinken misleading america in blinken's opening statement.ch this. >> mr. blinken, even in your opening statement you can't be honest with the american people. you stated, and i quote, that by january 2021 the taliban was in its strongest military position since 9/11. i'm pretty sure their strongest military position has been during your entire administration, not prior to it. in fact their strongest military position since the towers were hit in 2001 was this past septemberth 11th, 20th anniversary which happened on your watch, not your predecessors. elizabeth: what do you say about that, kt? >> i'm past caring about the politics of this. i'm caring about my country. i think the united states has been put in a horrible position. the world is looking at us, our allies are doubting us. our adversaries are dancing on the grave, liz. we have president lying to us. secretary of state lying to us. a media letting him get away with it. this is really dark day in american history. elizabeth: kt, reaction to a separate story. bob woodward coauthored

blinken: as in every case. decisions that have to be made by the president are made by the president. now of course, to be specific, senator, there are hundreds and thousands of decisions every single day that go into a situation as complex as this one. the big strategic decisions are decided by the president. the tactical and operational decisions are made by different agencies, agency heads and agency officials. sen. risch: i am more concerned about the top decision-making. we have all seen this. we have seen it as recently as yesterday. somebody in the white house has the authority to press the button and to cut off the president's speaking ability. who is that person? sec. blinken: i think anyone who knows the president, including members of this committee, knows that he speaks very clearly and very deliberately for himself. no one else does. sen. risch: are you saying that there is no one in the white house who can cut him off? because yesterday, it happened, and it has happened in number of times before t

blinken: that is correct. sen. risch: so this did not happen yesterday at, nor on other occasions where the media showed the american people that his sentence was cut off midsentence? are you saying that did not happen? sec. blinken: senator, i really do not know what you are referring to. all i can tell you is, having worked with the my own experiene

carley: blinken admitting there were 100 americans stranded in afghanistan. president biden issue sweeping vaccine mandates, a tweet from vice president kamala harris, by vaccinating the unvaccinated, increasing testing and masking and protecting the vaccinated, we can end this pandemic, that is what we are committed to doing. president biden talking about getting vaccinated, issuing the sweeping vaccine mandate with businesses with 100 employees and the vice president saying the opposite. we have to protect vaccinated people. a lot of focus, why get vaccinated in the first place. >> this is and even a written response, and it to protect the vaccinated, still hesitant with more cost to get the shop which is what you are trying to avoid. doctor j explains it now. >> the vaccines are incredibly effective, and they still do that. to undermine confidence, and is dangerous, should retract. >> it is so true. all of this does boil down, it is a power grab to have businesses struggling to figure out how to implement to follow the vaccine mandate and a lot of business

this is what antony blinken has been saying. susecretary blinken: bin laden was killed in 2011.l-qaeda's activits were degraded significantly, including its ability to plan operations. 2000 461 american lives lost, 20,000 injuries, $2 trillion spent, it was time to end america's long-term more. tom: for more, less bring in our correspondent, who is covering developments for us for a second day on capitol hill. for two days now, rooms in congress have echoed to the sound of often noisy exchanges between lawmakers and mr. blinken. in this tuesday, the u.s. secretary of state very much stuck to the script, stressing that this pullout was the right thing to do. reporter: yes, secreta blinken repeating some of what he had said yesterday in front of the house, but also repeating the message of the biden administration over the past few weeks and months about what it was the right thing to do to pullout the troops from afghanistan. but also defending the execution of the pullout, explaining why the biden administration stock to that self-imposed deadline of august 31, despite the worse

antony blinken. gets much of her program into may. the tomorrow. it will be turnout on the day that determines whether or not gavin newsom survives or a republican gets elected. >> jacqui: you have to wonder how many democrats are likely to turn out when it's republicans fired up about it. are democrats thinking, this is not something we have to worry about? given that there is a democratic supermajority in the legislature. the executive powers of the governor are significant. >> john: i know a number of democrats, not necessarily a significant number, saying that they would vote for kevin faulconer. results tomorrow. the first hearing in prince andrews shocking case. >> jacqui: secretary blinken preparing to testify. potential hostage crisis in afghanistan with american still stranded. mark meadows on that coming up straight ahead. speak we have to make a decision about the taliban. do you recognize them as the legitimate government of afghanistan? if you do, you set in motion or disaster throughout

according to blinken they didn't see it coming. they were still bragging about the trained afghan army in july. the taliban already had 60% of the country. take a look. >> i think china and russia and iran, they look at this botched withdrawal. they think i can exploit this. i think the europeans, our allies who got little say over the timing and execution of this, they are wondering about our liability and the credibility of our defense agreements with them. >> we didn't say the collapse would be likely to occur within a matter of days. you referenced chairman milley. nothing we saw suggested that this government and security force would collapse in 11 days. >> sean: my sources tell me that the cia and our intelligence community bailed out 7 weeks early and warned you every day. let's release all of that intel you were handed every day. you didn't see it coming in april, may, june, july? ine though they were on the march. that's the taliban on the move. the intel community warned them daily. the world watched the taliban on the mo

tony blinken is that dumb and a complete fool, no clue about the real world, no clue or understanding at all about the enemy that is the taliban. he expects terrorists to uphold antiterrorism commitment, lectures them on woke nest, inclusiveness, expect sharia loving telling to protect the rights of women and girls, you are not seeing any of the beatings we are showing almost nightly? >> blinken himself has admitted salad and are blocking afghan rescue flights potentially carrying american citizens. >> florida governor on the sentence cracking down on cities and counties pushing vaccine mandates in his state, the governor announcing a $5,000 fine for infraction could add up to millions in penalties for some leaders aiming to mandate the vaccine. >> i don't support mandates at all but if you're doing mandates, if you're really following science you would acknowledge natural immunity and instead they ignore it. ashley: besides of gop governors in an attempt to increase vaccinations. carley: as vaccine mandates, the vice president is getting a lot of attention. she says by vaccinating th

yet, secretary blinken insisted today the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan was an extraordinary success. blinken was grilled by republicans on the house foreign affairs committee this afternoon. that grilling has continued late into the day. congressional correspondent aishah hasnie starts us off tonight live from capitol hill. good evening, aishah. >> bret, good evening to you. democrats tore into republican questioning tonight as republicans tore into blinken's decision-making calling for him to resign at one point and even questioning why he didn't show up to this hearing in person. >> can you tell us where you are today? >> yes, i'm at the state department. >> couldn't be bothered to come down here and see congress. all right. that's great. >> the first oversight hearing over the chaotic withdrawal of afghanistan got off to a contentious start as members of the house foreign affairs committee grilled secretary of state antony blinken. questions range from the basic how many americans and afghan allies are still left. >> as of

secretary blinken is expected to call the u.s. evacuation effort of more than 124,000 people a, quote, historic success. and the largest military evacuation in american history. >> with us is cnn anchor and chief national affairs analyst, casey hunt, cnn national correspondent kylie atwood, cnn editor nic robertson and zac geler who founded an organization that's been helping to rescue afghan families. let me start with what we should expect to hear from secretary blinken right at the top. >> reporter: he's going to defend the conduct of this evacuation from afghanistan. of course, it has faced much criticism, but he will call this evacuation extraordinary, and he will discuss the preplanning that went into making sure that this could happen. of course, as you guys said, he's going to point to the fact that no one predicted that the collapse of afghanistan was going to happen as quickly as it did, and he will say the reason that that happened is because the afghan government and the afghan security forces collapsed much more rapid

and anthony blinken's own opening statement. >> anthony blinken in your opening statement you can beonest with you mike andta peop. you stated by january 2021 the taliban was in its strongest military position since 9/11. i'm pretty sure the strongest military position was during your entire administration not prior to it. in fact the strongest military position since the towers were hit in 2001 was this past september 11, the 20th anniversary all of which happened on your watch, not your predecessors. elizabeth: what do you say that kt. >> on past caring about the politics of this i'm caring about my country and i think thh united states has been put in a horrible position the world is looking at us, our allies are doubting us, adversaries, their dancing on the grave and we have a president who is h lying to u, secretary state was lying in a media that's letting them get awayet with it this is a really dark day in i american history. elizabeth: your reaction, separate story bob woodward co-author of the book reporting that nancy pelosi called the joint chief of staff mark milley and

blinken: sec. blinken: good afternoon. good to see everyone. i would like to give you an update on the ongoing efforts across the state department regarding afghanistan. i'm happy to take your questions after that. earlier this week, a few hours after the military mission in afghanistan ended, and a new diplomatic mission began, i laid out some of the main elements of our plan for this next chapter. here is where we are as of today. our new team in doha is up and running. we are in constant contact with americans who remain in afghanistan and may still wish to leave. we have assigned case management teams to each remaining american citizen who has expressed an interest in leaving. as you know, starting in march, we sent 19 separate notices to american citizens in afghanistan, encouraging, then urging them to leave. most of the remaining american citizens are dual nationals whose home is afghanistan, and whose extended family lives there. it is no surprise that deciding whether or not to leave the place they call home is a wrenching decision. we

secretary of state anthony blinken is being questioned only capitol hill.ork is holding a free trial hearing in a civil case by a woman who claims prince andrew sexual assaulted her when she was 17. last week lawyers for her seen her here on the right with successfully presented him with papers. prince andrew said he's never met the woman. we're joinedded from new york. can you help me understand the legal process now playing out? >> sure, this is the first hearing in this case and really it always is the case that they were very procedural at this point but this case is a bit more complex because here you have a disagreement over mr. prince andrew has, in fact, been served papers. that's the first september. a -- step. a d. has to know what the allegation are against him before a case can get underway so we are looking to the judge to make that decision. whether he makes that decision today or takes his time and issues an opinion, we don't know confinement quiet -- yet but he'll be hearing from both sides here. the court just heard -- today that prince and

jillian: do you think we get those answers from blinken?k we're going to get more lies. what i'm curious to see today is are democrats who served in iraq or afghanistan, who served in the war on terror, going to be willing to stand up against their own party for the american people today and ask tough questions and say tough things about the complete debacle that occurred in afghanistan and that we don't leave americans behind enemy lines. that's not what we do and that's absolutely what this administration is doing and now it's trying to push our government to negotiate with the taliban. jillian: well, speaking of tough questions, our peter doocy as you know always asks tough questions of the administration, specifically jen psaki. take a listen to one of the questions he had about what's going on at the southern border, this is about the vaccine, compared to the mandates on americans. >> it's a requirement for a business for more than 100 people, it's not a requirement for migrants at the southern border. why? >> that's correct. jillian:

did blinken answer those questions fully? >> we have seen since inauguration, the biden administration seek to unravel everything they could from the previous administration. they won the election, that is their option, of course. when it come to this, they suggested they were stuck and there were other options and i think antony blinken pushed past them, option of leaving certain number of military on the ground as peacekeepers, stabilizers. the other question, whether or not holding bagram would have been a better way to go, another option in terms of handling it. they go back to this sort of choice of either/or in administration rather than focus on the thing they were questioned about aggressively today, with the method under which they evacuated the country, method they evacuated the country. there is work under secretary of state purview to put into that either/or question and i'm not sure he handled that question particularly well today, john. >> sandra: martha, you are on the west coast, reporting from california toda

blinken is a master at dodging questions.e didn't get many answers, however, one thing did happen. congressman scott perry went off script and and asked secretary of state about biden. >> how long was your recent interview with the fbi and was it a deposition? >> i'm sorry, i don't know what you are referring. >> are you saying that you have not had a recent interview with the fbi since becoming secretary of state? >> i'm, -- i -- i'm not sure what you are referring to and i'm happy to take that up with you off line. >> did the state department turn over documents to the fbi related to hunter biden, burisma and/or the blue state strategies corporation? >> um, you will have to, um,. >> so have you no knowledge of this? are you saying you have not had an interview with the fbi since. >> it would not be appropriate for me to comment in a public forum on any legal proceedings that the department. >> i'm not asking you to comment on the legal proceedings. i'm just asking if you have been interviewed by the fbi since becoming secre

he was there grilling secretary blinken at today's hearing. georgia governor brian kemp, congressman byron donalds. representative dan newser was there as well at today's hearing. sean duffy. and muslim reformer. the president criticized going golfing this weekend as a former top cia officials warns that biden has created quote jihadist central in afghanistan. we have democrat congressman jerry connelly is making news saying he is not confident in the president's counterterrorism plan. the growing backlash to the vaccine mandates. white house exempts giving waivers to members of congress, federal courts but not the private sector. we have a powerful consumer brand trade group for general mills, coca-cola, kellogg's are in uproar. we will explain it. governor of florida with new actions against the biden mandate. we have positives joining government worker unions in opposition to this. former president trump says the white house is to blame for vaccine hesitancy as the former president, he is saying looks like he will run again in 2024. more on

blinken suggesting the trump administration share blame as republicans pounce.

blinken: senator, i really

secretary blinken, thank you for being with us today. thank you for almost the daily briefings you had for the members of the united states senate and keeping us totally informed as to the events unfolding. i contrast that to what happened during the trump years where we were not kept informed at all about the negotiations between the trump administration and the taliban, that we had no briefings or information at all in regards to the summit meetings between the united states and north korea or the united states and russia. our committee could not conduct oversight that is so important, as you have pointed out, while working with the executive branch in a check and balance for the unity of our country, so i thank you very much for the way that you have kept us engaged and informed as decisions have been made. as you pointed out, the biden administration was dealt a very difficult hand on the withdrawal from afghanistan. we all recognize we needed to withdrawal and the options were extremely limited. the mistakes made by previous adminis

. -- antony blinken. this debacle happened in afghanistan. it is a leadership and policy failure. calling upon -- calling for the resignation of secretary austin and general milley. this crisis could have been averted if we had had leadership and good policies in place. and ultimately, this comes down to the man himself who always says the buck stops here and then blames everybody but himself, president joe biden. we call upon him to resign immediately. with that, we've got time for a couple questions. >> you've been out spoken -- you've been an outspoken supporter of ending these intractable military policies. given the scenes we are seeing on the ground, did you change your mind? was it a mistake for this and the past administration to withdraw troops this summer? >> a couple things with that. this administration basically scrapped the power-sharing and conditional response withdrawal that president trump put in place. he put in place a system of checks and balances. and they had entered into an agreeme

antony blinken wants to do a deal with the taliban. it's a common theme from democrats leading in the white house. it is unacceptable. we won't tolerate it. i yields to mr. banks. >> i want to thank the leader for doing with the speaker of the house refuses to do, bring us here today and focus on everything we can do as members of congress to provide oversight and support to bring every american home. that is my question today. where is nancy pelosi? why isn't she here? each and every one of us changed our plans so we can be here today, yesterday, and the days to come to do everything we can to safely bring every american home. we just had a moment of silence for the 12 american heroes we lost in afghanistan, not a single democrat joined us on the floor of the house. that is a shame. perhaps i should not be surprised. this morning, the head of the democratic national committee sent out a press release claiming victory, saying this president did what no other president could do as if he is some kind of hero. democrats have politicized t

blinken: that assessment came in july. equipment -- and again, i will defer to my colleagues at the pentagon who are more expert than i am at this -- much of that equipment was me in operable. other pieces of equipment will become inoperable because there is no ability on the part of the talin to maintain it. none of it, to the best of my knowledge, poses a threat to us or any of afghanistan's neighbors. anchor: many people are concerned about what a taliban government could mean for global security and whether afghanistan could become a base for terrorists again. on that issue, here is mitt romney. sen. romney: in your view, mr. secretary, has the taliban abandoned their sympathy and collaboration with groups like alaeda and the haqqani network? did they continue to have the same payment and are they in the lights. -- the like spirit, or has that relationship been severed? sec. blinken: the relationship has not been severed and it is a very open question as to whether their views and the relationship has changed in a defi

brent: blinken was also asked about the frenzied evacuation of u.s. citizens but also afghan citizens. i want you to listen to part of what he had to say. >> that emergency evacuation was sparked by the collapse of the afghan security forces and government. throughout the year, we were constantly assessing our staying power and considering multiple scenarios. even the most pessimistic assessments did not predict that the government forces in kabul would collapse while u.s. forces remained. they were focused on what would happen after the united states was through, from september onward. as the general chiefs of staff has said, "nothing i or anyone else saw indicated the collapse of this army and this government in 11 days." brent: the secretary of state basically saying it was impossible to predict the rapid collapse of the afghan military and government. that is one way of looking at it, but if you have been in the country for 20 years, is it possible that your intelligence could be so wrong? >> one of the characteristics of this 20 year war, we have

blinken's preparation for this evacuation.ow well they didn't plan. i want to get to the bottom of those. and we will see what those questions proof out in the long run. brian: his answer is going to be blame trump that's the plan i inherited and that's not acceptable. he didn't take any other plans from president trump. in fact he upended all of them. senator tom cotton, thank. ainsley: thanks, senator. >> thank you all. brian: you got it meanwhile fox news alert now. utah police confirmed to fox that officers were called for an incident involving missing 22-year-old gabby petito. ainsley: this would weeks before she went silent on social media and her boyfriend drove home to florida without her. steve: carley shimkus is here with more as the petito's boyfriend breaks his silence through his lawyer. carley: that's right, good morning. here's what we know on this so far today. gabby's petito set off with her boyfriend and former fiance brian laundrie on a cross-country road trip in early july. after the 22-year-old stopped mak

jillian: new calls for anthony blinken

blinken defending himself?ra: basically, he is just deflecting these allegations of unpreparedness and failure. he is saying, for example, the administration inherited a deal for mr. trump with the taliban that gave him a deadline for withdrawal but not a plan. he said he inhibited a visa program for the allies that would help with the war effort that was basically stalled, so they tried to get it up to speed, but then they were faced with this crisis. nobody had predicted he said that the afghan government and army would also quickly but once it did, the state department and military were able to move quickly to carry out quite an expert in every airlift of afghans and american citizens and that they would continue to try to get those who have been left behind out. he was very calm usually in giving this sort of administration never did, although he did face some personal accusations. one congresswoman said to him, you are calling a surrender and success. this is an outrage, you need to take responsibility. he

some even demanded that blinken resign. >> this was an un mitmitigated disaster of epic proportions. i never thought in my lifetime that i would see an unconditional surrender to the taliban. >> blinken laid blame squarely with the trump administration which struck a deal with the taliban and excluded the afghan government. he said the u.s. was locked into a deadline for the withdrawal without a plan to make it happen. >> when president biden took office in january, he inherited an agreement that his predecessor had reached with the taliban to remove all remaining forces from afghanistan by may 1 of this year. as part of that agreement, the previous administration pressed the afghan government to release 5,000 taliban presumptive nominee they ares including top war commanders. even the most pessimistic assessments did not predict that government forces in kabul would collapse while u.s. forces remain. as general milley said, nothing i or anyone else saw indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days. >> the biden administration is also under pressure to get the rema

dana, blinken will appear at this hearing in person. he got a lot of tough love yesterday from republicans for appearing virtually for their hearing. dana. >> dana: i actually -- i thought it would be a better hearing if they were in person. today i think that will happen. >> bill: blinken testified yesterday about 100 americans still stranded in afghanistan. this amid new questions on whether a u.s. drone strike took out any isis-k terrorist as the white house claims. peter doocy is on that. >> lots of questions about that. not many answers. the pentagon told us they took out two isis-k planners with an unmanned drone strike near kabul a few weeks ago. since, no further details like names. >> they've either lied or may be that wrong. understand that when they completely withdrew the state department and the central intelligence people and the soft people, they lost all their ability to be accurate. so i would like to give them the benefit of the doubt. i suspect they didn't know and made something up. >> "the new york times" is reporti

house republicans grilling secretary of state antony blinken. it's still going on right now over the biden administration's rush to chaotic withdrawal from afghanistan. three republicans said to antony blinken, you've got to step down, you have to resign. they're calling it, quote, a disaster of epic proportions. americans still stranded there as the world watches in stunned horror over the birth of a terror nation.n. the white house breaking what obama officials and even then-vice president biden had said not to do, do not violate america's, quote, sacred rule, leave no americans behind. joining me tonight, congressman darrell issa was there at today's hearing. also georgia governor brian kemp, congressman byron donald, meuser, heive dan was there as well at today's hearing. alsoe sean duffy. the president criticized for going golfing this weekend as the former top cia official warned that biden has created, quote, jihadist central in afghanistan. we've got democrat congressman gerry connolly making news today saying he is not confident in this

us secretary of state antony blinken defends america's withdrawal from the country, saying staying longer would not have improved anything. if 20 years and hundreds of billions of dollars of support, equipment and training did not suffice, why would another year? another five, another ten? the uk will offer covid jabs to all 12—15—year—olds. top doctors say the benefits for education outweigh the tiny risks to health. and surfing china—style. we'll reveal why catching a wave there has never been so popular. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it's news day. —— it's newsday. it's 6am in singapore, and midnight in geneva — where, at an emergency aid conference, more than $1 billion has been pledged to help afghanistan. the country is facing a major humanitarian crisis, with the impact of fighting and drought made worse by instability following the taliban's takeover last month. the un secretary general, antonio guterres, said its people faced perhaps their most perilous hour, with one in three afghans not knowing where their next meal would come from. the people of afghanis

in our nation's capital, tony blinken back in the hot seat. the secretary of state set to testify before the senate in the next hour after a day of grilling from house members over the chaotic exit from afghanistan. the congressman who led that hearing will be here soon. >>> and moments ago, we got the latest report on inflation, the rise in prices may be starting to cool down. hallelujah, praise the lord. we have to start in the state of california where today is election day. 40 million people are waking up to a rare recall and they have until 8:00 p.m. local time to cast ballots, deciding whether their democratic governor gavin newsom should stay or go. if he is voted out, there's a chance a republican could take over. last night, newsom called him the biggest political gun he could, president biden, to make sure he doesn't lose his seat. watch this. >> i'm not sure you know it, but if you didn't know it, you should. the eyes of the nation, this is not hyperbole, the eyes of the nation are on california. the decision you're going to make do

minutes from now secretary of state anthony blinken back in the hot seat.et to be a second tough day of questioning from lawmakers over the biden administration's handling of the chaotic withdrawal from afghanistan and ongoing efforts to evacuate americans and afghan allies who remain in the country. blinken repeatedly clashing with republicans on day one, defending the administration's decision making and placing much of the blame on president trump's deal with the taliban. take a listen. >> did we have a plan to gather americans from all over afghanistan to kabul and out in an orderly way? how meticulous was the planning for the trump administration declared may 1st withdrawal? >> thank you, congressman. we inherited -- >> acknowledgment of any shortcomings in the administration response, but also this morning a two-week long cnn investigation is now raising serious questions about the u.s. military's final drone strike on a car in kabul just hours before u.s. troops left the country. the u.s. military has claimed from the beginning that it hit a legitima

and blinken acknowledging at least 100 americans are still trapped there. richard engel is back inside the country, where the taliban is rolling back women's rights. >> reporter: secretary of state tony blinken again facing a barrage of bipartisan criticism, slamming president biden's pullout from afghanistan. >> mr. secretary, the execution of the u.s. withdrawal was clearly and fatally flawed >> president biden has described the evacuation from afghanistan as an extraordinary success. this has to be the lie of the 21st century. >> reporter: blinken insisting president biden inherited a deal with the taliban and its may 1st withdrawal deadline >> when president biden took office in january, he inherited an agreement >> reporter: but he was pressed why president biden, who postponed that withdrawal date to august, didn't delay it again to get all americans and afghan allies out >> you didn't inherit the date the date was may 1st, and you pushed it to august 31st. why didn't you push it much later >> we took some risk in terms of what the taliban would do or

. >>> tonight, secretary of state antony blinken defending the operation in afghanistan, saying, quote, we inherited a deadline, we did not inherit a plan. >>> will california's governor survive a recall on the eve of the high stakes recall election there? president biden campaigning for governor gavin newsom in these final hours. the leading republican candidate, conservative radio host larry elder, railing against newsom's mask mandates. so tonight, what does early voting indicate so far? matt gutman in california. >>> tonight, actor jeff bridges revealing his battle with both cancer and covid and how he compares the two. >>> and america strong tonight. this evening, the story of a high school coach, his devoted players and the big surprise from the indianapolis colts. >>> good evening and it's great to have you with us as we start another week together here. we are following several developing stories as we come on tonight. a major tropical storm, nicholas, and it cold become a hurricane, now bearing down on the gulf coast tonight. several states bracing for potential life-threateni

raking tonight round 2 for antony blinken begins in a few hours. secretary of state testified before a's senate committee. plenty of fireworks as republicans last administration's handling of the afghanistan withdrawal. and sitting by the live to break it down as there is still on crime. and now, begins in california, as embattled governor gavin newsom two bites to save his job. what you need to know penn new york hospital plans to stop delivering babies after numerous nurses quit over vaccine mandate. and staffing at hospitals across the country could play out. we begin with ongoing fallout and chaos in afghanistan is the secretary of state faces the music over botched u.s. withdrawal. white house correspondent kevin corke taking a closer look. >> good evening, shannon, this was ripped out of the biden administration playbook. all else fails, blame the trump administration and usually speak in the media will give you a pass. arguably secretary of state antony blinken beginning of this fiasco in afghanistan happen. and frankly it didn't change awfu

secretary state anthony blinken is expected to speak in the hour. after reports of the taliban carrying out mass killings of officials. white house press secretary jen psaki saying that the taliban will be judged. >> we are going to stay in close coordination with the international community with any steps that we may take moving forward. >> sandra: mr. secretary, thank you for being here. obviously an important day in all of this. we are going to hear from secretary blinken at the top of the hour. how can we judge the white house today on the mass killings and if they are able to confirm that, how should biden respond? >> first, thanks for having me on. this is indicative of the failed withdrawal plan. if we don't have adequate plans for knowing what is going on in these places, that means that we are in tubal for the months and the years ahead. i can't see what the leverage is. i see that we abandoned all of that leverage when we left the ground. and how much resources the taliban is going to provide to get the americans out. we know how the talib

let's get straight to cnn, we see secretary blinken walking in here. again arriving as he's set to testify before the senate. we're going to go straight to congressional correspondent lauren fox joining us now from capitol hill. as the sect gets settled there. you know more information on what the plan is from lawmakers today in terms of questions for the secretary. >> reporter: well that is right, erica. look, everyone is just entering the room preparing for this high-staking hearing on capitol hill this morning. where this is going to be senators first opportunity to get to the bottom of what transpired in afghanistan in those waning days as the u.s. was preparing to leave the country after a 20-year conflict. and what you're hearing from democrats going into the hearing is they're going to have tough and pointed questions for the secretary of state even though they are perceived as being, of course, working with the president closely on this policy in afghanistan. but you could expect that it is not just going to be republicans going after blinken.

although that last one with congressman darryl issa is that darryl issa did pause for secretary blinken actually answer. >> and when he was criticized for not coming to capitol hill, congressman issa stepped in and said, let's be clear, he did nothing wrong. coverage continues now with jake tapper. >>> so if voluntary vaccines don't work on skeptics and mandates don't either, what will? "the lead" starts right now. >>> new cnn polling reveals a majority of americans support the new covid vaccine mandates, but could the new mandates force skeptical americans further away from the vaccine. >>> and then, president biden goes west young man in hopes of boasti i ing gavin newsom. bracing for violence, but hoping for the best. the fencing around the u.s. capitol is about to go back up, days before a right-wing rally, as police today arrest an armed neo-nazi blocks from the capitol. >>> welcome to the lead, i'm jake tapper. we begin today with our health lead. while president biden's new covid vaccine or testing mandate on businesses continue to face fierce opposition from some republican gove