saad mohseni. _ have for criticism? saad mohseni, the _ have for criticism?iking turn of phrase. he describes afghanistan as a different neighbourhood. you will both have what have working relationships with the taliban. clearly so, help me understand how you engage with them. ~ �* , understand how you engage with them. . �* , ., them. we've been engaging with them. we've been engaging with them for a _ them. we've been engaging with them for a couple _ them. we've been engaging with them for a couple of _ them. we've been engaging with them for a couple of years - them. we've been engaging with them for a couple of years now. | them for a couple of years now. i did a story in the north of the country injanuary of 2019, which entailed spending time in their territory, getting permission from them, and one thing i will give them credit for, which i think saad touches on there, is there was a process. you did have the from the taliban and you could be reasonably secure knowing that you weren't at risk of being kidnapped on a trip and you would be given access t

saad: i agree with kathy. for example, while it was a democracy, i think certain things worked out well. as far as civil society is concerned, we have great organizations an -- great people and organizations. even parts of eastern europe, if you look, there is a free market. dangerous, but free, in afghanistan. it has been an extraordinary journey for us and other players in the media sector. that has been a success. i think this backward country, seventh century sinking -- seventh century bc thinking developed quickly in two decades. >> let me just question you about that. i'm so surprised when i hear the optimism because the reporting around afghanistan has been in itself chaotic and dramatic and i hear from -- i'm hearing like this little thing about optimism -- thing of optimism from you and kathy about the future of afghanistan. can we talk a little bit about -- >> i'm not talking about the future, i'm talking about as things stand right now. >> even as things stand right now -- >> you can't put the genie

saad: thanks to everyone for the words of encouragement. we have been so lucky to have allies and friends like atia, kathy, and tom. and so many others. just in the last few weeks, we realized how many friends we have around the world who have reached out to us to help us. it has been an extraordinary journey and i hope one that continues. we have paid a heavy price. we have lost 13 colleagues since 2016. many injured, many handicapped permanently. it has really scarred us but at the same time, the institution itself continues, and we have lost 120 individuals who have left the company over the last two weeks, which is extraordinary. some of the on camera individuals, behind the scenes, production people, editors, technical people. the biggest threat for us was not the taliban, it was because we do not have people in the controls. there are there at 9:00, 10:00 at the airport on the flight to get out. which we had to secure for them. because that is what they wanted to do. but then, we admire the people who have worked for us. many of them

to understand how that works, i got in touch with a man called saad mohseni. mobi group, which owns tolonews. to understand asking a client, you have to look at tolonews. it began in 2003. it's grown into a formidable operation. it has millions of viewers and listeners across afghanistan i want to understand how saad mohseni manages that relationship. it has always been professional. - we had an incident- where they attacked one of our buses in 2016, i resulting in the killing of seven of our employees. the haqqani network took responsibility. i the relationship has i been fairly professional other than that. they're always l available online. in areas they control, they i provide us with safe passage. we were embedded| with the taliban unit when they took on isis. which was an extraordinary documentary we prepared. | i think they've always . been more media savvy than the former president. they wouldn't get back to us. whereas, the taliban were professional. i so we had a better relationship towards the taliban _ than the previous team. despite the haqqani ne

one of them is saad mohseni.2016, which resulted in the killing of seven of our employees. the network took responsibility for it. other than that, the relationship has been fairly professional. they�*re always on the phone, they�*re always are available online. in areas they control, they provide us with safe passage. we were even embedded with the taliban red force, a special unit, when they took on isis. i think that they�*ve always been perhaps more media savvy savvy than the president, the former president�*s team. they had 150 employees in the palace. they were not responsive. they wouldn�*t get back to us. they lied to us. whereas the taliban were responsive, they were professional. so, we, in a lot of ways, we had a better relationship towards the end with the taliban than the previous government�*s communications team. that�*s one experience. here�*s another. bbc news correspondent secunder kermani has been a big part of our coverage. i asked him to tell us about dealing with the taliban. i think there's

. >> saad, an afghan-born investment banker rushed home as soon as the taliban were toppled. >> i don't they were hanging tv sets from treetops. >> saud launched a tv and radio network, the first in the country. >> streets were empty, not too many cars in the city of kabul. it was good. they were a wonderful couple of years, actually. >> afghanistan flourished and began a cultural renaissance. but just as afghans were embracing a new life without the taliban, the united states decided one war wasn't enough. president bush launched a new war against an old enemy of the u.s. and of the bush family, even though iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. >> my fellow citizens, at this hour, american and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations. >> the iraq war soon took up all of the u.s.' attention. 90% of u.s. military assets in the middle east were dedicated to iraq. afghanistan got whatever was left over. with washington focussed on baghdad, the taliban slipped back into afghanistan. they'd been hiding over the border in pakistan, waiting for just this kind of opportunity.

the word courage that saad just mentioned is in each of you and here at the national press club, we wish you continued peace and safety. thank you for joining us. tom: thank you. kathy: thank you very much. >> we of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives -- the speaker's room, washington, d.c., september 3, 2021. i hereby appoint the honorable quasi-mfume -- kwase mfume to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the prayer will be offered by chapl