they have been responsible for laying cia operations up until 911 running and managing cia's responsean. it was responsible at war from the cia standpoint. that could still cause confliction in that regard. they were still very important i do not once and anyway went to underestimate or under describe what the role was for the station. they played a huge important role. but they were not in charge any longer, so was. there was friction even before he got out to pakistan there'd been plenty of communications back and forth in the friction was evidence. that there is a a lot of friction different ideas how we should proceed in the war, that kind of thing. and so when i went out there along with a colleague of mine and arrived at their we are pretty much seen as almost the enemy by certain members of the station. >> central figure in afghanistan at the time, he turned into a bit of a controversial figure because his rise to power was seen as a huge win for the united states and everybody against the taliban. his actual reign in charge of afghanistan was seen as less successful. you know

for the cia it was carry out your plan, i want you first in. that is when we initiated the formation and movement of our teams into afghanistan. that was the beginning of all of this. host: our guests, the former acting director of the central intelligence agency. he was deputy on 9/11. we want your calls, your thoughts. we go to don, celina, california. republican. caller: the question of whether we spent 20 years in afghanistan and was it worth it was rendered moot. by president biden with the callous, incompetent way that they abandon and fled the country. we did not withdraw, we fled. we are still fleeing. we have the american version of dunkirk. this is the most ridiculous thing i have ever seen in that -- in my life. whatever morale there was in the afghan government and afghan forces, completely the materialized. they collapsed because of president biden. host: do you agree with our viewer? guest: i might not put it exactly in those words. i would agree with the sentiment that the afghan government probably lost its spine if you will. he

>> la cia usaba un rancho para entrenar a contranicaragÜenses, almacenar armas contra andinistas >>sÉ de quÉ me hablan >> preguntan quiÉn interrogÓ a camarena >> el mismo de la cia que matÓ a che guevara y le cortÓ las manos >> le pidieron que no investigara mÁs, aÑos mÁs tarde se retirÓ como uno de los agentes mÁs condecorados de la administraciÓn para el control de drogas. noticias telemundo. >> ♪ [música] ♪ >> y todavÍa ni la cia ni la administraciÓn para el control de drogas han comentado esta versiÓn de los hechos. la investigaciÓn sigue abierta. >> ♪ [música] ♪ >> hablamos ahora de la pandemia que una imagen viral en las redes sociales muestra hasta quÉ punto estÁ colapsada la tensiÓn de pacientes en florida. personas infectadas esperando tratamiento tiradas en el piso de la biblioteca de jacksonville. es tal el flujo de infectados que ya no hay espacio para ubicar a tanto paciente >> tenemos que pensar dÓnde pondremos estos pacientes. son oficinas pero ahora cuartos para paciente. eso hacemos los hospitales, pensando cÓmopodemos abrir camas >> el estado de la florida en estad

unusual for a cia officer to be in that position and a cia director, but that's what he was using himor. it does really go to his strengths over so many years of service. >> there aren't many other people who can call on the kind of experience he has for having that kind of bizarre sort of a suhey generous meeting. john, let me also just ask you about some reporting you and your colleagues published in the last hour or so. a democrat, congressman seth moulton and peter myer made an unauthorized trip to afghanistan. now, both of these congressmen are combat veterans. a spokesman for them says the point of the trip was to gather information about the withdrawal efforts to increase their ability to provide oversight as members of congress, but the criticism of them is just damning. i have to put this quote to you. one senior white house official telling you their trip is as moronic as selfish. they're taking seats away from americans and afghans so they can have another moment in front of the cameras. another diplomat telling you, quote, it's one of the most irresponsible things i've hea

that same year in 1979 jimmy carter on july 3 had a fighting offering the cia in afghanistan. in an attempt to provoke the soviets into invading that country in the words of the carter administration the purpose of this was to give the soviets their own vietnam a hopeless long term no-win war that breaks the bank to destabilize the country. we did that. through the reagan years this policy continued on include not just back in the afghan tens of thousands of what were called the arab afghans. the army not just arabs but muslims from the philippines, the united states, especially the middle east who all traveled to afghanistan to help fight against the soviet union. then went america permanently occupied saudi arabia and preparation for iraq or one and then permanently throughout the 1990s and the rest of the 20th century and continued to bomb iraq from those in saudi arabia, that is what caused osama bin laden and their group to turn against their former patrons, the united states of america. it was first and for monthly basis in salary while used to bomb iraq in the 1990s pre

he was denied a visa and worked to work with afghanistan's cia intelligence agency. he rose to command any unit called unit 03, the premier commando unit in southern afghanistan. his troops were the last guys fighting in kandahar city thursday with every intention of fighting to the last man when the governor called them and explained that in negotiations he had left them in the dark about, he had surrendered the city and they had no choice but to retreat to kandahar's airfield. as josh rodriguez and i spoke with him whenever he could get a chance, he was surrounded at the airfield, seemed like there were low odds of any type of airlift. eventually, any afghan air force plane came and managed to get many men out. he actually went out and came back to stay with his remaining men who did not want to leave while any of them were still in danger. kind of miraculously two nights ago, another plane came through and got them out to kabul airport. but of course two nights ago, kabul airport looks like the safe route out. now kabul is a very chaotic place. it is not really a

what do we know about the cia meeting? >> sources tell me that the cia director welcome burns met face to face with the taliban de facto leader in what amounts to the highest level contact between the biden administration and the taliban. the irony is that he is a man the cia helped to capture and jail in 2010, he was kept in pakistan eight years. during that time, they refused to let the cia talk to him. intelligence sources say he was seen as a reasonable alternative to many taliban figures on the scene. now he is the leader. cia director burns, long time diplomat was likely negotiating all the issues around the exit, including access to the airport and status of americans and allies, and figuring out how to get there without being harmed by the taliban. there's a lot of frustration in the cia about the fact the united states left many afghan allies essentially stranded. it remains to be seen whether the burns meeting will help solve that problem. >> the question, what are we going to do about it. president biden, we und

former cia director john brennan joins us next. stay with us. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. 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) 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. your mission: stand up to moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. and take. it. on... with rinvoq. rinvoq a once-daily pill can dramatically improve sy

how did you happen to get in the cia?had a sense of service to my nation, and it seemed a good place for me. so much in life, as you and i have talked about before, is finding place. and the agency was opening its doors to women, so it was a good opportunity for me. and i really enjoyed the service i was able to provide. david: how long were you in the cia? phebe: about four or five years. david: were you a cia agent, a spy, undercover, or you cannot say even today? phebe: so, we were what were called case officers. you might in the common parlance think about those as spies. david: when you were doing that could you tell anybody what you were doing? what did you tell people you were doing as a career? phebe: we had various stories that we told, approved stories and i think we will leave it at that. david: your parents, did they even know? phebe: my parents knew. david: after that, you decided to go, where, business school? phebe: the cold war was winding down, so i decided to go to business school. david: so you went to

former cia director leon panetta joining us next. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. ok everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. whoo hoo! ensure, with 27 vitamins and minerals, now introducing ensure complete! with 30 grams of protein. i'm still drawn to what's next. even with higher stroke risk due to afib not caused by a heart valve problem. so if there's a better treatment than warfarin that's a trail i want to take. eliquis. eliquis reduces stroke risk better than warfarin. and has less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis has both. don't stop taking eliquis without talking to your doctor as this may increase your risk of stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking, you may bruise more easily or take longer for bleeding to stop. get help right away for unexpected bleeding, or unusual bruising. it may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical

why else would the cia director be there? >> that's my hope. it's very clear. we did the math, at the current rate of actions, it's going to take until mid september to move everybody, even if we're moving 20,000 people a day. we need to be moving 30,000 a day to meet an august 31st deadline. as impressive as that number is, they need to increase it by a third to hit august 31st, and i don't think they can do that. i think they have probably maximized the runway capability at kabul, so the reality is we do need more time. the president has to keep that beachhead open or it's going to come down to this. we're going to end up probably leaving not just behind a lot of our afghans, which is a guarantee at this point, we still do not have an evacuation plan for anyone outside of kabul, and that could be up to an another 50,000 people we could be leaving behind. if we don't do this well past august 31st, we don't get a time that -- an additional time to do this, there's a significant chance we'll end up leaving americans behind in afghanistan to be under the taliban'

today we learned that president biden cia director met with him as well. it's almost impossible to imagine, but it happened. we will have more and that story coming up this hour. as well as news about the republican and democratic members of congress, a bipartisan duo who unexpectedly caught flights and turned up in afghanistan. outside official channels in a way that seems to have very much angered people involved in evacuation efforts. they say had the unexpected presence in the evacuation zone led to a huge distraction, and a diversion of resources that was not needed at this crucial time. again, member of congress, who's a democrat, and a member who's a republican, each of whom is an afghanistan veteran from a former life, from their previous, their pre-congress careers. that story just breaking tonight. we will have more on that coming up. here at home, national guard troops are being dispatched domestically, by two more governors. in tennessee and in georgia. as the unrelenting rise of sikh covid patients continues to swap more and more hospitals, pa

is a vulnerable position, and there's great frustration in the cia about the fact that it looks like we are not going to be getting out all the afghans that helped the cia and state department during this 20-year war in afghanistan, and many are spread across the country and have no way to get to the airport. we are running out of time and space. we are hoping to get out all the americans but it really looks like this deadline is going to be really difficult to extend it, and there are going to be afghans, special immigrant visa applicants who are stranded and at risks to their lives as the taliban tries to figure out who was helping the americans. that's a source of deep frustration among the people that work for cia director, william burns, craig. >> mr. memoli, before i let you go here, i want to ask you quickly about the vice president. she just landed in vietnam but she was delayed because of a so-called, quote, anomalous healths in department. what does that mean? >> yeah, craig, absent these developments to the story we are following with regard to afghanistan, this will be a

how quickly, you are a general, ou know cia. how quickly, you are a general, you know how— cia.e a general, you know how these _ cia. how quickly, you are a general, you know how these things - cia. how quickly, you are a general, you know how these things work, i you know how these things work, tactical withdrawal, how long do you need to do that and when will they start beginning the process? be start beginning the process? ea planning is start beginning the process? ej: planning is going on right now but there's no doubt about it. in terms of how quickly it takes obviously that sort of tactics techniques and procedures that i don't want to get into. but it would certainly be the case that there is not a lot to leave behind in the way of equipment. what you are really talking about is large numbers of troops and getting on aeroplanes and the aeroplanes that we have in the british army have are quite large. i think you could do the maths on that but i don't think it's going to be the diplomatic equivalent of helicopters flying to the top of the embassy. i've seen these done bef

the cia declined to comment about the substance of the discussions as it does whenever the cia directorvels outside the country. but it is clear that they are -- this is weighing on them, trying to find a way that gets all of these u.s. citizens, all of these western partners, all of these afghan partners out is critical. there's so much pressure because they know they're not going to be able to get everybody out by the 31st. and so this was really quite the tete-a-tete between two titans in their own worlds, bill burns, decorated diplomat and abdul ghani baradar who has climbed to the top ranks of the taliban. >> you write this meeting with baradar comes with a tinge of irony. can you explain that? >> it's an incredible situation to imagine those two men across the table from each other. 11 years ago, before this meeting with the cia director, baradar was actually captured in an arrest by the cia and pakistan in pakistan. that wound him up being a pakistani pao for years. they are sitting across the table as counterparts after, you know, after the taliban was ousted in 2001 and now he'

>> it is not part of the cia that is a myth.he received support from groups themselves were receiving support from the cia. that is kind of the kernel of truth there. but on the broader point that afghans have been sold out by their leaders, i think it's pretty hard to argue with that. >> out of chicago this is rob on that line. >> i am a veteran. but i was not in afghanistan. >> go ahead with your comment or question. good morning mr. morgan. i'm going to remind all of those that are against what president biden is doing and remember if it was not for george w. bush, dick cheney, condoleezza rice, colin powell we would not be in the situation right now. thank you. >> i think there's a lot of blame to go around in the united states in afghanistan. going for different political parties. playing for different elements of national security element from the military to the intelligence community. look at events in afghanistan without doing so only primarily through a lens of american domestic politics. i think to care about afghanis

>> it is not part of the cia that is a myth.he received support from groups themselves were receiving support from the cia. that is kind of the kernel of truth there. but on the broader point that afghans have been sold out by their leaders, i think it's pretty hard to argue with that. >> out of chicago this is rob on that line. >> i am a veteran. but i was not in afghanistan. >> go ahead with your comment or question. good morning mr. morgan. i'm going to remind all of those that are against what president biden is doing and remember if it was not for george w. bush, dick cheney, condoleezza rice, colin powell we would not be in the situation right now. thank you. >> i think there's a lot of blame to go around in the united states in afghanistan. going for different political parties. playing for different elements of national security element from the military to the intelligence community. look at events in afghanistan without doing so only primarily through a lens of american domestic politics. i think to care about afghanis

military and the coalition militaries withdraw. >> bret: cia director. harold ford jr.t where we are now and where we are going. >> well, there is this interesting argument about how after 20 years in afghanistan we have a investigation where the taliban is largely in operational control of the country. our military equipment, sometimes really important weaponry and other assets are in the hands of people in that country, now people are saying well, we should maybe stay longer in order to deal with this. clearly we do not manage the situation there very well. and there are very serious threats in other places that we need to get a handle on. so we do need to get out of the country. we need to get out of the country in a very proper manner. that's not what's happening. i think that's what everyone is so frustrated about. president biden spends all this time talking about this infrastructure or the $3.5 trillion spending bill that's not really going to happen. it's a bit of kabuki theater and he doesn't spend time answering all of these questions people have about why thi

that director of the cia traveled to kabul and met with that guy. is it such a big deal that the cia director, our most decorated diplomat, is sitting down with a leader of the taliban? joe: it certainly tells us how the world has changed. in afghanistan, he was arrested by the cia years ago. now they are meeting in the same room. it all has to do with the deadline that is one week from today. we have thousands more to evacuate. there is not pushed to extend that deadline. orest johnson is going to ask -- apparently going to ask joe biden to do that. the virtual g7 is where this comes to ahead. can we get everybody out? we are getting better at this. 11,000 were evacuated in 12 hours yesterday. tom: joe is working a six-hour date. i do not know what it is about washington. just six hour days. joe: it is august. tom: joe, do we know the taliban now? joe: i do not know that that is true. i do not think we know what is going on on the ground by minute. this is such a tenuous situation. we are talking about a lot of stuff that we do not necessarily know

cia director over the issue of whether the u.s. presence at the airport could be extended by a few days and the taliban was unwilling to budge. as a result, the biden administration backed down. as a result of that, thousands of our afghan allies will not be able to be evacuated, aaron. we shouldn't lose sight of that. this decision, even though biden was in really a no-win situation militarily, the result of this is going to be many afghans will be stranded. the they're not able to get to the airport. we're going to leave without getting everyone out, aaron. >> i want to bring you in on this, general. we talk about dead line and such. at the end of the day, what will define the u.s. operation as finished there? and what option zz the military have if it's not finished by the 31st? >> most of the options remain. once military troops withdraw, they're not military. most of the options then revert to diplomacy and here we have some leverage. but not a lot. i this i it's important that cia director burns represented the president's vi

you mentioned cia director burns going to meet with the taliban and. they are so demoralized that a cia director would go to kiss the ring of the taliban two weeks from the twentieth anniversary of the most somber anniversary in recent history when 3000 americans died and the taliban helped facilitate that we are sending the cia director over asking for their health, it is outrageous and frustrating and i will tell you i don't think anyone questions the resolve of the united states and the long-term but everyone is questioning the resolve of the united states in a short-term. jillian: you think we should have resignations or firings given the calamity that is unfolding or should we let these people continue to wreak havoc on foreign policy and national security? >> there should be accountability. of president biden after narrative -- laura: everyone talks around this issue. he should lose their job after this calamity unfolding? >> if someone came up with the biden plan that said we will withdraw the military before we get our civilians out and lead $8

biden has asked the secretary of state to have an exact number for him by tomorrow, today we learned cia director william burns, held a secret face to face meeting yesterday, with the taliban's de facto leader, nbc news confirming this report from the washington post. they put it this, way biden dispatched his top spy, a veteran of the foreign service, and is the most decorated diplomat in his cabinet. amid a frantic effort to evacuate people from kabul international airport. taliban has said it will not budge on that deadline, calling in a effort to extend it crossing a red line. they are now also reportedly blocking afghans who are trying to leave their own country, from traveling to the airport, raising new concerns about the ability to evacuate those who are allied with us. tonight came word that two members of congress, seth mullen of massachusetts, and republican peter meijer of michigan, both previously served tours of duty in the military and iraq, well they had both flown unannounced in the kabul airport, in the middle of this ongoing evacuation. both have been critical, of the

star army general david petraeus who commanded during the 2010 surge in afghanistan and then led the cia. what do general hr mcmaster and david petraeus say now. >> "firing line" with margaret hoover is made possible in part by robert greinere. the fair weather foundation. the family foundation. corporate funding is provided by stevens inc. and morgan stanley. >> general hr mcmaster, welcome back to "firing line" and thank you for your service. >> great to be with you, even at this difficult time. >> president biden has been warning about threats from isis-k for days. what is your reaction to the kabul airport? >> it's heartbreaking to see the loss of ourourageous servicemen, but also the loss of innocent life outside among afghans who are desperately trying to escape. and, you know, i think this is obviously predicted and even though it was predicted, of course, it wasn't prevented, in large measure, because i think the difficulty of that tactical problem, that we are in this airport, that is right in the middle of an urban area. it's very difficult to defend when you only have a perime

former cia counterterror official phil mudd what do you think? >> boy, i look at this and say if you're on the ground you have a difficult choice if you are the americans. the americans are talking about specific threats. if you get specific threats in you have no choice. no choice. except what we used to call in government duty to warn. you have to tell the people on the ground. you have to move away because there is a risk. i'm just assuming here but there is a risk of something like a back bomb or suicide bomber with a truck. the reasons why the american government would tell americans to leave is if they can't afford not to tell people not to congregate around the entrances to the air field. what else are they supposed to say? the challenge to close, chris, the challenge for people on the ground is you have the americans saying there is a potential physical threat at the airport but if i go home there is a potential threat from the taliban coming after my family. people at the airport have no good options nor do we. >> why isn't the good opti

. >> that is happening as we're learning the cia director secretly met face-to-face with the taliban's defactor leader. the highest level meeting since the taliban took control of kabul. if that name sounds familiar, it is because we have talked about him before. let's remember it was the former guy who secretly planned to meet with the taliban at camp david before the anniversary of 9/11. it was the former guy who signed a peace treaty with the taliban and bragged about his phone call with you guessed it, released from prison at the request of the former administration, whose secretary of state met with him last fall. and that is who is running the show in afghanistan now. we got news tonight on the p pandemic, the white house making progress grto get more american vaccinated. 6 million shots in the arms. the highest seven-day total in a month and a half. that news coming on the day after the fda gave full aprvl to the pfizer vaccine. those who said they didn't want to get the shot until fully approved, guess what? now you have no more excuses. here is why it's important, the delta va

i don't think that's the cia area. that is so nacvewilliam burns is saying that . weare in a world of trouble . number two is don't expect the taliban to do anything . they got their own university. there affiliated with al qaeda. al qaeda will be in our embassy on 9/11 celebrating 20 years since the attack so what were going to find out is we cannotpossibly get all our people out by the 31st . if joe biden's reputation is destroyed forever already, leaving thousands of americans in the country you said would not fall in any period of time that you said it was, you are beyond the worst president in the history of this nation and number two, our allies. our allies can't get anywhere without us and they need more time. the french foreign minister, nato representatives in the g-7 will say august 31 cannot stand. if you hear where getting out august 31 know we have sentenced thousands of americans to death. >> ollie north was on sean hannity's show and he said we need to obviously evacuate our american citizens but he said

he's a former cia operative. bob, the degree to which the taliban has now controlled major elements of this. they have said that we will not allow afghans to leave after the 31st. in fact, we're not going to allow them to pass through the road. what does that mean for the evacuation, for all the people who are hiding out in cities across that country, trying to get to that airport? >> well, victor, there's nothing we can do about it. since the taliban run the country, at any moment, we have to understand, they could close kabul airport. all they would need to do is put a couple of mortars in the middle of it, c-17ss would turn around and have to leave. that's their protocol, so the taliban are calling the shots. and there's nothing we can do. if they say we have to be out by the 31st, that's what we're going to have to do. unless we were to re-invade afghanistan, which i don't see coming. >> bob, that's so hard for americans to hear, because we're the -- america that has the biggest, greatest military in the worl

did not, did not apply to the capture detainees by the attorneys at the cia. and so i don't think i thought about geneva convention may became what i often refer to as a modern day equivalent, a snake oil salesman. these 2 psychologist were awarded $183000000.00 contract to run a program of torture. ah, you don't to camera sensory deprivation overland. along with the cold war thea program, to create a mix of torture techniques. social change has almost entirely taken place in consequence on something else. it has not been controlled. we need to protect society from those that can bring it once more into kills. the strong must protect others and these people are the whole. the american psychological association is the world's largest organization of psychologists, and probably has the most influence over the community of psychologists around the world. ah, secretly b a p a and make it my colleges working in the torture program to override the ethical code of you know, home if the military and ca required it a program of abusive interrogations. the program of to

dan hoffman joins us, former cia region chief for the region and that included afghanistan.y you're station chief. you take the facts, you know them on the ground. what is your unvarnished clear-eyed report on the terrorist threat and afghanistan's future under the taliban? >> well, if i were briefing the director of cia on the threats in afghanistan, which start with this. we're facing a three pronged assault from three terrorist groups. first from al-qaida, which is still active in that region. secondly from isis, which the u.s. military successfully struck today and a couple of days ago as well and then the third is from the taliban. let's not forget we've been at war with the taliban for 20 years and right now they are in control of the country and that means that afghanistan is morphing before our eyes into a terrorist state and that coupled with the fact that our embassy is closed and our intelligence footprint at least from what it was is greatly diminished and recall director cia burns' own words when he testified before the withdrawal, that we would be degrading our

did the cia director push to get the august 31st deadline extended? did he ask of many americans were being held against their will, or did he demand their immediate release and safe passage? if so, presumably he said something like that, why did we give up for that guarantee? hard to believe that the taliban just did this, promise anything come out of the goodness of their hearts. come on. this entire scenario has been so fraught with lies and mishandling, misrepresentation -- we frankly don't know what to think. but one thing we do know is after making a cold political calculation, president biden announced today that he was, in fact, bowing to the taliban's wishes and sticking to the august 31st troop withdrawal date. >> the sooner we can finish, the better. each day of operation brings added risk to our troops. but the completion by august 31st depends upon the taliban continuing to cooperate, and allow access to the airport for those who are transporting out, and no disruptions to our operations. >> laura: always good to hear the president of the

. >> a cia analyst who served three tours in iraq. now, elissa slotkin represents michigan in congress, the only democrat to win a district carriedy republican esidential candidates three elections in a row. but that didn't stop h from voting to impeach donald trump twice. >> obviously, i know and i can hear that this is a very controversial decision. >> she was at the capitol january 6th and says the attack revealed a seismic shift. >> the single greatest natial security threat right now is our internal division. >> with debate across the country over voting rights, a scramble in washington to deliver an infrastructure package, and divisions in her own party over how and whether to compromise, what does representative elissa slotkin say now? >> "firing line with margaret hoover" is made possle in part by... corporate funding is provided by... >> congresswoman elissa slotkin, welcome to "firing line." >> thanks for having me. >> before you were elected to congress, you began your career as a cia analyst who served three tours in iraq,