"the washington post" reports that cia director william burns held a secret meeting with the de factorofile encounter between the biden administration and the taliban. joining us now is democratic congressman and a member of the house intelligence committee jim himes, congressman, you were part of a classified briefing on afghanistan yesterday, which means, i know, you can't tell me exactly what you were told behind closed doors there. let me ask you about "the washington post" report, if william burns, the cia director was meeting with the de facto leader of the taliban, what's your take away, what would that tell you? >> it's probably a good thing, we're obviously in a situation that is very very tough on the ground there, and at the epd of the -- end of the day holds a lot of cards. bill burns before he became director of the cia was one of the nation's most seasoned diplomats, and if anybody knows how to negotiate, how to establish relationships, how to get good outcomes internationally, it's bill burns. my guess is that, and i'm just speculating, my guess is there's two things at

the president sent america's top spy, the head of the cia william burns to go meet with the taliban in kabul. they spoke privately and then they spoke privately as taliban fighters are threatening americans who stay past the end of august. burns reported back and the president decided it's best just to leave by next week. >> the sooner we can finish the better. each day of operations brings added risk to our troops. but, the completion of august 31st depends upon the taliban continuing to cooperate and allow access to the airport. >> peter: republican senator ben sasse says damn the deadline. the american people are not going to surrender our fellow citizens to the taliban. top biden administration officials briefed top republicans today. >> either joe biden is lying to us or he is not in touch with the team who just briefed us in the room. >> peter: house minority leader kevin mccarthy was there, too. >> there is no possible way that we can get every american that's still in afghanistan out in the next seven days. >> peter: the white house's position has been they will get everyone ou

and tonight, we're learning about an extraordinary secret meeting between cia director william burns and de facto taliban leader mullah baradar in kabul on monday. it's the highest level face-to-face talks between the administration and the taliban since the militants seized control. but it's unclear how productive the talks were. at a press conference today, the taliban announcing it's now blocking afghans trying to leave the country from the airport, telling them to go home and claiming they want to protect people from terrorist threats at the airfield. the taliban also rejecting any plans to extend the u.s. troop withdrawal. the announcement making the race to evacuate americans and afghan allies all the more urgent. more than 75,000 people evacuated from the country in the past ten days,lung erans. on leaving ever 45 minutes. u.s. military helicopters conducting a second mission outside the airport, reportedly rescuing 16 americans monday, just days after crews airlifted 169 americans from a hotel outside the airfield last week. the escape from kabul is perilous. threats lie arou

. >> that is happening as we're learning the cia director william burns secretly met face to face with the taliban's de facto leader, mullah abdul ghani baradar. 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 right 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, mullah baradar, who was released from prison at the request of the former administration. whose secretary of state met with baradar last fall. and that is who is running the show in afghanistan now. we've also got news tonight on the pandemic. the white house making progress in the race to get more americans vaccinated. 6 million shots in arms in the last seven days. the highest seven-day holt in more than a month and a half. that news coming on the day after the fda gave full approval to the pfizer vaccine. so now all those folks who

steve: this as we learn cia director william burns met with the guy screen left right there, met withface to face encounter between the taliban and the biden administration since militants seized kabul. brian: by the way, the ca was the one that arrested him 11 years ago and made sure he got jail time which was 8 years but we sprung him. members of the house intel committee including congressman brad wenstrup who is an officer in the military attended their first briefing yesterday and joins us now. brad, walls it pure politics or were you guys actually getting to the bottom of what happened and whose decision it was to mess this thing up? >> well, you ask the right questions there, brian. certainly i'm not going to discuss classified information in this setting, but i will tell you that i really left with more questions than i had answers. and let's look at why and why we still have questions you know. the president said there was always going to be kay office. you can't help chaos i can understand that to a degree. you are definitely going to have chaos when things are done in the r

what the secretary is talking about william burns met with the taliban in kabul on monday.the withdrawal and this is what the pentagon spokesperson john kirby was asked today and we'll get the secretary's response. >> the public statements by the taliban the same as the private statements being made to u.s. officials about the deadline and when u.s. should leave? >> what i can tell you is that the taliban have been very clear about what their expectations are, as well. >> what the public and private statements are the same? >> without getting into details, i'm not seeing much dissonance. >> you were speaking about that issue. taliban calling the shots here, please go on, sorry for interrupting but i wanted to play that for you. >> they are calling the shots but we have some leverage with them. after we leave we'll certainly have an intelligence capability, not as great as it has been but nonetheless, i won't predict this but speculate about it. the taliban may be calling upon our intelligence services to help save them from isis k and from alibi da. they will be in trouble

coming up including the news today about the reported meeting between the director of the cia, william burns, and a senior taliban official. this is the taliban co-founder who the trump administration got sprung from prison in 2018. they arranged for his release from prison in 2018. this is the guy who trump had his secretary of state mike pompeo meet with in person last year. today we learned that president biden's cia director met with him as well. it's almost impossible to imagine and news about the republican and democratic members of congress, a bipartisan duo who unexpectedly caught flights and turned up in afghanistan outside sort of official channels in a way that seems to have very much angered people involved in evacuation efforts who say that their unexpected presence in the evacuation zone led to a huge distraction and divergence of we'll have more on that coming up. >>> here at home national guard troops are being dispatched domestically by two more governors in tennessee and georgia as the unrelenting rise of sick covid patients continues to swamp more hospitals particularly in

john, congratulations for you on this breaking news, and it is super important, the news that william burns, the cia director met with the de facto leader of the taliban. why did this meeting take place and what do you know about what they discussed? >> yeah, john, it is a fascinating meeting of the minds. the most important issue looming over the taliban and the united states' biden administration is this august 31st deadline. so the meeting could not come at a more important time to hash out differences. in the near term, these two men need to figure out a way forward. obviously there are still tens of thousands of people who want to get out of afghanistan. the taliban has said staying, keeping u.s. forces in afghanistan beyond the 31st is a red line, and there will be consequence. biden has sent his top spy master to broker some sort of an agreement that can manage this issue. and in the longer term, you just have an amazing chance to size up this new de facto leader of the taliban, someone who is coming in with a massive amount of leverage to determine the fate of this country after a s

nbc news confirming today that cia director william burns met with the taliban leader baradar in kabul as first reported by "the washington post." mr. biden has been meeting with his national security council along with g7 on a secure video line this morning and we are following breaking news from capitol hill. the house is back in session and now moving towards a procedural vote this afternoon to begin debate on a massive budget bill, the first step towards the democratic leadership's goal of trying to pass the budget before getting to the smaller bipartisan infrastructure bill and on the coronavirus, dr. anthony fauci saying today that the fda's full approval of the pfizer vaccine will bring new national enthusiasm for vaccine mandates and already today lsu announcing that the school will require fans 12 and older to provide proof of vaccination or a negative covid test before attending lsu football games, but let's begin with nbc chief foreign correspondent richard engel in kabul, nbc news correspondent courtney kube and kelly o'donnell. back in kabul, a big change from when you fir

. >> can you confirm this morning that the cia director, william burns, he held a secret meeting with the leader of the taliban monday in kabul, the same man the cia once helped to capture and put in jail. what more can you tell us about that secret meeting? >> we believe, craig, that all of the issues that we're discussing right now in terms of the deadline and the circumstances around getting americans and afghans to the airport, that cia director, bill burns, was pressing and negotiating with the defact yo leader of the taliban, and it symbolizes the incredible change of circumstances we find ourselves in. not only did the cia help capture this man and he was in prison in afghanistan, and before that the taliban was a spent force and defeated in part by the cia which went into afghanistan after 9/11, and now the taliban holds most of the cards. as courtney made clear, they have incredible leverage as to whether or not this deadline is enforced, because if they decide to attack, the u.s. is a vulnerable position, and there's great frustration in the cia about the fact that it looks

there's a very complicated negotiation taking place with cia director william burns meeting with the head of the taliban. from what we understand, there's been briefings on the hill and the u.s. military is saying that if they have to rescue americans after august 31, they will do so. but they also are saying that president biden has taken a decision that the u.s. will stick to the august 31 deadline. we've seen the public statements by the taliban saying that the u.s. must be out by august 31. we understand there are some very tricky negotiations behind the scenes to make sure that all americans that want to get out can. >> martha: yes. i want to keep you with us for a minute. greg pga cot, it's hard to interpret that in any other way when you look at this meeting that william burnes had with the head of the taliban. that he was told we're not going to let anymore people out of here. we're done letting people go to the airport. afghans need to stay home. is there any other way to read that, what came out of that meet something. >> absolutely. seems that the taliban is calling the sh

coming up including the news today, about the reported meeting between the director of the cia, william burns, in a senior taliban officials, this is the taliban cofounder, who the trump administration got sprung from prison, in 2018. they arranged for his release from prison in 2018. this is a guy who trump had his secretary of state mike pompeo met with an in-person last year. 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 for

. >> reporter: it follows a secret meeting monday in afghanistan betwee cia director william burns and a top taliban leader who previously spent eight years in prison after being arrested by the cia. after the meeting the taliban declares the u.s. must leave by the end of the month as promised, threatening consequences if not. the president today saying he's asked for contingency plans to stay longer if needed, but that he's worried about a terror attack there. >> i'm also mindful of the increasing risk that i have been briefed on every day we're on the ground is another day we know that isis-k is seeking to target the airport. >> reporter: officials tell nbc news 4,000 americans and their families have been evacuated from afghanistan, but thousands more remain trapped. the u.s. is still relying on the taliban to allow safe passage for americans to the airport, that the state department warns is a dangerous trip, and the taliban is now vowing to block afghans from leaving the white house says evacuations have accelerated -- 12,000 people in the last 12 hours but a top democrat argues i

. >> these interesting reports that cia director william burns met with the taliban in kabul, what has been the reaction to that? is it fueling criticism that the president is giving into the taliban? >> there is an understanding that the taliban now control afghanistan. they control kabul. they control access roads to the airport. if you want to do anything there, you have to speak to the people in control. inconveniently to the u.s., that is the taliban. the fact they put their shows they are not willing to put the secretary of state there. pictures of -- shaking hands with the taliban when they negotiated the peace deal meant to avoid these scenes, this is realpolitik. if you want to get this going, someone with the ear of the president really has to sit down with senior figures of the taliban. the guy who was in the seat when the music stopped was the cia director. it would be understandable that he would be in the region because this is a huge security operation for the united states. joe biden also made a point i thought was poignant, he said we know there is risk to americans th

fox news confirming that cia director william burn held secret face to face meeting with the talibanaliban to allow free passage to kabul airport. meanwhile in washington, house democrats in house stance of their own to advance president biden's 3 and a half trillion dollar budget plan. they had plan to vote on the plan last night but the vote was canceled. there was yelling in the room according to politico. moderate democrats refuse to go vote on it until the house passes the 1 trillion-dollar infrastructure bill first. that's their priority. but others have a different priority. they are vowing to squash the bipartisan measure unless they pass the bigger 3 and a half trillion that we reported more like $5 trillion in cost. the food and drug administration giving full approval of pfizer covid-19 vaccine for people 16 years or older in the review, fda says it finds vaccine to be safe and effective in preventing covid-19 as well as severe disease, hospitalization and death. news coming as the delta variant continues to spread and the government considers making booster shot. moderna

director william burns met with taliban officials.ers today are secretary of state tony blinken. defense secretary lloyd austin, mark milley and director of national intelligence haines. >> dana: we'll keep in touch with you today. americans trapped in afghanistan behind taliban lines are begging for help to get to the airport in kabul. the white house, however, is pushing back on the notion that any americans are stranded. watch. >> first of all, i think it's irresponsible to say americans are stranded. they are not. we're committed to bringing americans who want to come holmstrom. >> there are no americans stranded is the white house official position on what's happening in afghanistan? >> i'm calling you out for saying we're stranding americans in afghanistan. >> dana: let's bring in karl rove. to put on screen for everyone to see headlines a couple hours after that briefing here is one. pentagon confirms latest mission to rescue americans stranded in kabul. "new york times" also talking about needing to go into kabul to extract st

many americans as we can as fast as we can on monday by then dispatch his top spy, ca, director william burns to meet with taliban officials about a possible deadline extension. the proposal was rejected. the firm august 31st half ganeth stan withdrawl has led to bi partisan and global criticism of the us president. we need at least a couple more weeks 3 to 4 more weeks. i find a hard believe that the taliban will not give in. on this point. they're making statements to the contrary, but they're going to be in need of financial assistance. and the critical issue of recognition following discussions with nato b, u n e u, and she, 7 leaders biden says the international community is committed to ensuring the taliban keeps his word and won't allow afghan a sound to once again become a training ground for attacks on the united states or its allies, we agree that none of those are going to take the tale bonds, word for it will judge them by their actions. the u. s. military could begin withdrawing some of the 6000 currently securing the cobble airport by the end of the week. but the broader evacuat

director william burns has been negotiating in kabul with the taliban's de facto leader as the u.s.ary picks up the pace, evacuating 20,000 people a day from kabul's airport, the flights taking off every 45 minutes. that brings the total number of evacuees since mid-month to more than 70,000. >> we are currently on a pace to finish by august 31st. i've asked the pentagon and state department for contingency plans to adjust the timetable, should that become necessary. >> o'donnell: and, nancy, u.s. officials have been reluctant to give us a breakdown of how many of these tens of thousands of evacuees are american. but that really changed today. tell us what you know. >> reporter: that's right. a pentagon spokesman revealed for the first time that only american passport holders. that means the vast majority are afghan nationals, people who worked with the u.s. over the past 20 years and their family members. what we still don't know exactly, norah, is how many americans are left in afghanistan who are still trying to get out. the president said today his secretary of state will have s

and because the director william burns talked about with the telephone leaders and we could go or so, but apparently the telephone no better. they cannot from me to keep everyone under the auspices it will. they think the time you've ever, especially not seen the conditions now 3 fairly around the co signed the most possible to sort out who's the best guy who's did the good guy who's neutral and the result. he's such terrible terror acts as we have seen late last week, as well as today. please forgive me. this is, sounds terribly cynical, but it's kind of borne of experience at the moment. will media public attention? very much focused on gone, largely because it's a lot of the talk of the foreign nationals with the europeans, the u. s. once they've all withdrawn, will external nations, the international communities we're often referring to them. will they cast so much when it's an internal fight between isis k and the taliban? and it's not foreigners, but it's only going through a dying. well, neil, you phrase your remark was a question mark at the end. but actually it's an exclamati

written and france to extend that august. 31st deadline, so that meeting with the ca director william burns. and how about leaders taking place? we understand in the last day what that discussion was about was whether or not there would be any sort of leeway to extend that deadline. you remember that initially when the us president announced the withdrawal, he says that this would happen by september 11th then move the date back. so there was this exploration to see if there was any room beyond august 31st, but what we're being told, well, the ca is not commenting. what we're being told is that right now the taliban giving the united states the indication that there is no movement on that august 31st deadline. in other words, that it's a red line for the taliban. now the reason this is so important is the united states has about 6000 troops that are working to assist in this evacuation effort. and there will need to be time to get those troops out. and that's what makes today so significant. that's why the us president is talking to these g 7 leaders and will be making remarks following tha

in fact, we know that the director william burns met with taliban officials in recent days to discuss this withdrawal deadline the taliban saying it's a red line august 31st is a firm date. and as a result, there is a question about just how much coordination the taliban will provide to the united states for these evacuations moving forward. so we know that there is a message from the pentagon, but in fact, the 6000 troops that are securing the cobble airport will need to begin with running as early as the end of the week. but once again, the urgent need and rather be sort of a process that is taking place is moving rapidly in order to meet the deadline, which many a capitol hill fear will not be enough time to get everyone who was out out of the country. thank you. kimberly, i'll get from the white house. thanks. kimberly you k prime minister bars johnson chad a g 7 meeting with of the european leaders and the last president earlier today. he says the taliban will need to offer people a safe way out of the country after the deadline. the number one condition was sitting as g 7 is the

and these interesting reports allen, that the i direct william burns met with the taliban in kabul. is that sort of, what's been the reactions out there in washington? is it fueling criticism that the president is giving into the town of bonds? demands well i think there's an understanding that the taliban know control afghan is done. they know control, cabal, and they know control the access roads to the airport. so if you want to do anything there, you're going to have to speak to the people that are in control. and perhaps inconveniently for the united states, that is the taliban. the fact that the ca director there shows that they're not ready to put the secretary of state and, and remember with the pictures that might compare during the trump presidency shaking hands with the taliban. when he agreed that the piece deal with them that was meant to avoid the scenes that we're seeing now. i think there is either an element of. busy this is real politic if you want to get this operation going. someone at a very senior level with the ear of the president. and the national security t

and so what we know is that the ca director william burns was meeting with taliban leaders to discuss the possibility of an extension beyond august 31st in order to allow the evacuation to continue. and we should point out that just the last 24 hours, another 21000 civilians have been evacuated, some tens of thousands since mid august. but what we are understanding from the outcome of that meeting and as we have been discussing is the taliban says that august 31st is a red line. in other words, those evacuations cannot continue past that point. now, the reason that the deadline for discussion is today is because there are some 6000 us troops working on these evacuation. and in order for them to meet that deadline, they will have to begin with drawing as early as friday. so this is why the us president is weighing all of these considerations and we're watching very carefully, as we know, he's getting a lot of pressure from allies like france and britain in order to extend that deadline. so the u. s. president will be making comments about what his decision is . we expect in the coming

and i'm going to done by coordinating with the polygon and we did say the, the head of the william burns meeting with the laser of the bad. and i think that the duster that the, the state supposed to be considering that passing the poly barn as well as they have an interesting showing that they will be successful in establishing security, instability in the country. so i think given this common interest, yes, i think that we, it is likely very likely we will see some kind of cooperation between displacement poly about well, thank you so much for bringing us your insight into what is clearly a very complex issue that was on risk contributes for a monitor coming on to or western countries and had upon officials had given warning dot a severe terror attack was imminent. many people desperate to free, the country appeared to be either unaware, unafraid or the consequences of bodies have now been lined up in the streets with grieving families trying to identify their loved ones, or where i got to have a couple incentives update about the situation on the ground but with scott days left until

has now been a disclosure by a number of media outlets here in the united states that the top by william burns, of the ca, the director meeting with the taliban. discussing that timeline the taliban saying that in fact, it will not extend it even as joe biden had initially said, this withdrawal can take place that pembert eleven's when it would be completed. then pushing that back to august 31st. so the u. s. taking all kinds of opportunities to explore whether or not this could be extended the taliban remaining firm. the question becoming for many in the united states is what type of coordination will there be with the taliban? following august 31st, the pentagon, spokes person john kirby saying that he would not speculate on that only that, that coordination remain in place as it stands right now. and that the evacuations are being done with a sense of urgency. we've also got the issue of that g 7 meeting. what kind of message was the us president? is he giving to some of the allies who are keen for an extension of that deadline? well, that is what we're waiting to hear from the us president

the attack was three days after the director william burns met secretly and problem with taliban leader a former cia counterterrorism and former fbi special agent, tracy, thank you for joining us. how week will our intelligence be in the immediate aftermath and what kind of intelligence have we done? >> thank you for having me, i appreciate the opportunity to be here. i think this over the horizon technology we are looking at and monitoring intelligence not going to work to give a case study and that, in 2000 we had what we believed to be osama bin laden that was reported at that time to president clinton and the cia said it takes three to seven hours for fighter jets to get the, the check technology clearly evolved over that time. however, that's in essence over the horizon monitoring will look like briefly intelligence we are giving up is our human intelligence. we've been discussing about signal intelligence capabilities and their intelligence capabilities but the reality is what works best in afghanistan human intelligence capabilities. arthel: human intelligence and afghanistan, th

taliban to ask for safe passage of americans her present bite and did not realize when he said william burns to meet with abdulla gunny. we're our dar is that florida has been 8 years. any prison filing a joint ca pakistani operation. therefore, the irony of having the director of the ca now asking a favor to the head of the taliban and expressing a positive response is laughable. and of course, the deadline of august 31st remains in place to discuss are joined by merely veteran and founder of the american veterans polish network. chris and i, we can see with the withdrawal, there was no preparation. there were logistical errors. it's just absolutely ridiculous. and now we're seeing continued sorta variation and strategy differential between intelligence agencies. the white house is just the ultimate lead from behind strategy. it's truly embarrassing and it's really got real life consequences. so it's more than just criticizing a, a goofy president. what a goofy president, who's causing some serious problems for american citizen, jack, in interpreters, in our allies around the globe. okay, s

very on and when word leaked that president biden's cia director william burns met with the top taliban leader monday we weren't surprised. relying on the good graces of albania they can deal with the television we don't know about or we are making another disastrous calculation. this raises lots of questions, first wives and the cia director and not a state department official and what were the parameters of the talks, the cia director push to get the august 30 first deadline extended, did he ask if any americans were held against their will or did he demand their immediate release? of so presumably something like that, what did we give up for that guarantee? hard to believe the televangelist promised anything out of the goodness of their hearts. this entire scenario has been so fraught with lies and mishandling, misrepresentation we don't know what to think. 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 30 first troop withdrawal date. >> this in we can fini

the cia director william burns reportedly held a secret meeting with the leader of the taliban.ccording to the washington post, the two met yesterday in kabul. no comment from the cia. this might clear the discussions involved pending the august 31 deadline. the usa sees a rushing into companies security vetting of thousands of afghan citizens chaos at the kabul airport means some have been put on planes before their background checks are complete. lawmakers are pointing out there's a risk of terrorists and criminals that could slip through -- that could slip through. but president kamala harris reassured countries in southeast asia that they would not be conflict between the two biggest countries. she spoke about the vision for a region built on human rights and unimpeded commerce. in new york, kathy hochul was sworn in as governor overnight. hochul takes over after andrew cuomo resigned from a sexual harassment scandal. shares of best buy are higher today. the consumer-electronics chain raised its outlook for products and services. same-store sales were up 21% in the quarter,

one day after william burns made a secret visit to kabul to meet with taliban leaders.that hour, new york governor hochul is giving her inaugural address 15 hours after she was sworn in as the first female chief executive. we'll bring you more on what she has to say. we are also keeping a very close eye on what is happening on capitol hill right now. the house about to take a final vote on a budget resolution that provides that blueprint for the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill. this follows a standoff with the group of ten moderate democrats who wanted to vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill first. one of them florida democratic congresswoman

. >> i have to get your reaction to the cia director, william burns, meeting face to face in kabul yesterday. what was the up side of that for the u.s. right now? >> well, the upside of having that meeting? is that what you meant? >> what's the upside for the u.s. meeting with the head of the taliban? >> well, in a sense, of course, this continues the recognition, if you will -- >> the question is really, why do it, right? why would he be meeting? >> well, i think, well i think the feeling must have been that there had to be an intent of the u.s. government in the form of a senior person in an attempt to have a direct face to face meeting in person with the taliban leadership to determine for sure whether there was any latitude here on our departure. i gather most of the contacts have been low level, tactical type with military commanders, our military commanders at kabul with lower level tactical operators of the taliban. so, this is an intent to have more of a strategic dialog and apparently, didn't go so well. >> yeah. c t cnn is reporting that the is trying to fill the intelligence vacuu

. >> this comes among word that william burns secretly met face-to-face with the taliban's leader on monday in kabul. pentagon officials reported at least one flight is departing from kabul every 45 minutes. john kirby said they expect to build on that momentum. >> we still believe that we have been able to increase the capacity and flow. we have the capability, the ability to get that done. our plan is to continue this case as aggressively as we can. >> the desperation grows as the clock ticks down. thousands of people are temping to flee. their positions reduced to what they can carry or will around. while the evacuation numbers are higher, they are only allowing in people with passports and green cards. not to many more who were promised to be considered. >> the situation at the airport is really bad. because of the rush of people, women and children are in miserable condition. quite the situation is unclear and we don't know who will come and who will run the country. there is unlimited and there is no source of income and we have food insecurity issues. >> also today, the taliba

and when word leaked last night that joe biden's cia director, william burns, had met with a top taliban on monday, we weren't surprised. relying on the good graces of the taliban. either they have cut some deal with the taliban we don't know about, lord knows what we paid for that, or we are making a really -- another disastrous calculation. now, this raises lots of questions. first, why send the cia director and not a state department official? and what were the parameters of the talks? 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 ann

cia director william burns reportedly held a secret meeting with the leader of the taliban. two met yesterday in kabul. there's no comment from the cia. "the post" says the discussion likely involved the impending deadline for u.s. troops to leave afghanistan. pret a manger transaction volume in the heathrow airport was close to 3/4 of pre-covid levels. families flew for one last holiday before the summer term begins. the covid resurgence has hit airlines. they blended out a variant for a slowdown in demand. chinese airlines are offering the fewest seats in six months. the bright spot in the industry, europe, the only place where so-called vaccine passports are used. european carriers are now adding more flights. global news 24 hours a day, on air and on bloomberg quicktake, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. i'm ritika gupta. this is bloomberg. alix: thanks so much. it is a very different story in europe. you have airlines advancing. easyjet, wizz air doing really well, as we also await updated covid travel guidelines from within

cia director william burns in israel holding talks today, burns met with israeli prime minister nifongl aviv, with much of their discussion focusing on iran, israeli officials say the burns also met with the new head of israel's intelligence agency, david burnett to discuss iran's nuclear program and other regional challenge. yes. the taliban offensive is accelerating hour by our and the cia says they could retake the entire country in just a matter of months. foxes benjamin hall with more now from london. after 20 years of fighting, afghanistan could be headed right back to where it was before american troops arrived. the taliban making major gains in the past 48 hours now controlling about two thirds of the country, and their offensive is intensifying. the militants say they've taken over a prison in kandahar and freed hundreds a big blow to afn security forces as they fight to protect the country's second biggest city, despite the deteriorating situation, there are no plans, though, for american troops to join the fight the afghan national security defence forces has the equipment n

intelligence has been wrong about the taliban under william burns leadership. wonder how wrong they could be about iranian atomic bomb. perhaps the iranians are much closer to building a bomb or they may even have it. the second point, there's a lot of talk about iranians regime had been training taliban. similar to how they negotiated jcpoa and they were teaching taliban what to say. guest: very familiar with iran's support of the taliban. the evidence is undeniable. it comes from iranian officials themselves who admitted, just a slew of information. when it comes to support for the tele-band, iranians pale in comparison to what the pakistanis -- for them taliban, iranians pale in comparison to what the pakistanis have done. the pakistani state has a lot of ideological agreement with the taliban where there is differences between the iran and pakistan views on islam. the end of the day, they iranians support the taliban to help drive the u.s. out. iranians did not like the united states on its border. it is always happy to see the united states defeated. this

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 administration's handli

it is seen within the biden administration that if anyone can negotiate with the taliban, it is william burns. of course, he's a very seasoned diplomat, formerary, now heads the c.i.a.. the c.i.a. is viewed by the taliban is a very credible i interlocutor with the united states. they are trying to get a read of whether they will permit any extension on the ground. >> natasha bertrand, thank you very much. >>> the question on many parents minds perhaps you as well is when can children under 12 get vaccinated. dr. anthony fauci gave an important update on that. you'll want to hear it. >>> plus, a house divided. house democrats holding a key meeting as moderates within the party threaten to derail president biden's economic agenda. we're going to be live on the hill for an update. >>> and the governor of kentucky imploring the national guard as hospitals in that state are overwhelmed by covid patients. the governor will join us. usaa is made for the safe pilots. like mac. who can come to a stop with barely a bobble. with usaa safepilot, when you drive safe... ...you can save up to 30% on your au

meanwhile, "the washington post" reports cia director william burns held a secret meeting in kabul monday with the taliban's de facto leader abdul ghani baradar. it was reportedly the highest level face-to-face meeting between the taliban and the biden administration since the taliban takeover. after headlines, we will speak to that head of the u.n. humanitarian office in afghanistan. the world health organization is calling on wealthy countries to impose a moratorium on covid-19 booster shots until poorer nations can inoculate their most vulnerable residents. who director-general tedros adhanom ghebreyesus said monday that global vaccine inequity was not only unfair, but could lead to new, more dangerous coronavirus variants spreading around the globe. in the united states come the food and drug administration has fully authorized the pfizer-biontech covid-19 vaccine for u.s. residents age 16 and over. the vaccine still has emergency use authorization for children aged 12 to 15. president joe biden said the fda's move should convince vaccine holdouts to get inoculated. pres. biden: if yo

today we learned the 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 hit the way. biden dispatched his top spy, a veteran of foreign service and the most decorated diplomat in his cabinet amid a frantic effort to evacuate people from kabul international airport. the taliban are reported to be blocking afghans who are trying to leave their own country from the airport raising new concerns about the ability to evacuate those allied with us. tonight came word that two members of congress, seth moulton of massachusetts, republican peter meier of michigan, both of them previously served tours of duty in the military in iraq. while they both have flown into the kabul airport in the middle of this evacuation, both have been critical of the administration's handling of this withdrawal thus far. earlier this evening nancy pelosi expressly asked members not to make such a trim. i know what this crisis in elephants, the white house trying to stop the relentless virus a