Americas longest war. President biden described scenes In Kabul as gut wrenching. Citizens taking desperate and dangerous measures at the airport to try to free the taliban. Lets begin over at the White House. Jeremy is standing by. Jeremy, the president had little choice but to address the nation just a little while ago. As this crisis continues to explode on his watch. Reporter no doubt, wolf. From the moment that the world witnessed the stunning collapse of the u. S. Backed government In Kabul, it was clear that this was a moment that President Biden was going to need to explain what exactly happened and how this rushed u. S. Exit ha chaotically at the airport In Kabul. The president admitted he was caught off guard, but the president ultimately making clear that he stands by his decision. He has no regrets and he did not want to hand this u. S. War effort to a fifth president. I am president of the United States of america. And the buck stops with me. Reporter tonight President Biden acknowledging he was caught off guard by the talibans rapid takeover of afghanistan. The truth is this did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated. Reporter but standing by his decision to end americas nearly 20year war. Im deeply saddened by the facts we now face. But i do not regret my decision to end Americas War Fighting in afghanistan. Reporter even as biden accepted some responsibility, he also pointed fingers, blaming his predecessors deal with the taliban and a collapse of Will Power in afghanistan. Reporter afghanistan political leaders gave up and fled the country. The Afghan Military collapsed. Some time without trying to fight. If anything, the developments of the past week reinforced that any u. S. Military involvement in afghanistan now was the right decision. American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan Forces are not willing to fight for themselves. Reporter the countrys stunning by swift collapse came less than a month before the 20th Anniversary of 9 11, which will see the taliban back in power after a multitrillion dollar War Effort and the deaths of 2,448 american troops. Biden didnt address how his administration failed to anticipate the debacle In Kabul, which he dismissed as improbable six weeks ago. There is no circumstance where you will see people lifted off the roof of an embassy. The likelihood will be the Taliban Overrunning Everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely. Reporter the chaotic evacuations now unfolding evoking the Fall Of Saigon in 1975. Only worse with desperate afghans clinging to the hulls of u. S. Military planes. Some even appearing to fall to their deaths after one plane took off. Amid the chaos, biden now pinning some of the blame on his predecessor. When i came into office, i inherited a deal that President Trump negotiated with the taliban. The choice i had to make as your president was either to follow through on that agreement or be prepared to go back to fighting the taliban in the middle of the spring fighting season. Reporter President Biden has showed no problem with tearing up Trump Administration deals, whether it was north stream, whether it was keystone, whether it was the iran policy, israel and palestine. So to say you Cant Pivot from your predecessor, i think is frankly a bad excuse. Look, i think absolutely President Biden Bears Responsibility for making this decision, but there is no question that President Trump, his administration, secretary Mike Pompeo, they also bear very significant responsibility for this. Reporter biden also taking heat from democratic lawmakers, who said it would be dishonest to say that today is anything short of a disaster. Biden says the u. S. Will continue evacuating vulnerable. If they attack our personnel or disrupt our operation, the u. S. Presence will be swift and the response will be swift and forceful. We will defend our people with devastating force if necessary. Reporter and, wolf, it was clear that while President Biden acknowledged that he didnt anticipate the speed of the taliban advance, he really failed to answer the critical question of how exactly that could have happened. I have talked to White House officials who have insisted this was not an intelligence failure. And, yet, the president still insisting that he had plans for all contingencies, despite the fact that several thousands of those 6,000 troops will be In Kabul to secure that airport are actually flying in from the u. S. , not from the region. But President Biden was clearly trying to refrain this decision around his decision to leave afghanistan and not exactly how it unfolded. Wolf . All right, jeremy. Jeremy diamond at the White House, thank you. Lets go to afghanistan right now. Clarissa ward is on the scene for us In Kabul. President biden acknowledged being caught off guard by the speed of the Taliban Takeover of the entire country. What are you seeing on the ground . Reporter well, wolf, i dont think anyone could have possibly imagined that things would move this quickly. Even some of the Taliban Fighters who have i been talking to on the streets of kabul say they were surprised by how quickly the afghan army simply melted away. The president fled the country. And without Firing A Shot in a matter of hours, the taliban were in power. Everyone in this city, wolf, In Kabul, woke up this morning i think in a state of shock. Some people were horrified, terrified, desperate. We were out on the streets to see who we could find, who we could talk to and to try to get a sense of what the taliban sees things looking like going forward. Take a look. As soon as we leave our compound, its clear who is now in charge. Taliban fighters have flooded the capital. Smiling and victorious, they took the city of Six Million people in a matter of hours, barely Firing A Shot. This is a site i honestly thought i would never see. Scores of Taliban Fighters and just behind us the u. S. Embassy compound. Some carry american weapons. They tell us theyre here to maintain Law And Order. Everything is under control. Everything will be fine, the commander says. Nobody should worry. What is your message to america right now . America already spent enough time in afghanistan. They need to leave, he tells us. They already lost lots of lives and lots of money. People come up to them to pose for photographs. Theyre just chanting death to america, but they seem friendly at the same time. It is utterly bizarre. Almost everywhere we go, it seems the taliban want to talk. A lot of people are very frightened that you might engage in revenge attacks against Security Forces. Since yesterday, we have proved that nothing will happen, and we give assurance to everyone that they will be safe, he tells us. And we follow our leaders. Once we make a promise, we stick to it. Maintaining Law And Order is top of that list of promises. At the president ial palace, the taliban are now guarding the gate. They say theyre here to fill the vacuum left when the government fled. But the welcoming spirit only extends so far. And my presence soon creates tension. They just told me to stand to the side because im a woman. The taliban have left to implement their version of islamic law, but many are already preparing for it. You can see this Beauty Salon actually painted over images of their store fronts of uncovered women. The taliban commander said islamic rule will be implemented gradually. How will you protect women . Because many women are afraid they will not be allowed to go to school. They will not be allowed to work. The woman with continue their lives. They can go to the school. They can get their scertificate. Covering their faces. Cover the face . Yes. Why do they have to cover their face. Because thats the rule of islam. Is it in islam that you have to wear that . Of course. It is in islam. Most ordinary afghans we meet are in a state of shock, struggling to process the last 24 hours. He tells us his father was in the afghan army and was killed this summer. Now he doesnt know what to do. Yesterday i have lost everything. I dont feel safe here. You are afraid . Yeah. Im afraid because i lost my dad. I lost my mom. Reporter im sorry to hear that. Just thats why im afraid for everything. Just i am with my little sister. This is a big problem for us. Reporter it is a feeling shared by so many. Walking along, one has a sense that the real story may be the people who are not on the streets, those too afraid to leave their homes, waiting to see what tomorrow will bring. And i have to say, wolf, you know, speaking for those people who were not out on the streets, the people who were in hiding, the people who are fearful for their life, i dont think anything in President Bidens speech earlier will really be offering them much in the form of consolation when he says that the u. S. Will continue to speak out on behalf of afghan women and girls. There is a very real sense of bitterness here, of anger. Not that the u. S. Had to end its war here. I think most people understand that. But the way it was done, the way it was executed, the chaos, the complete lack of dignity. A huge amount of resentment, bitterness and also just desperation as you saw in those images. Those people desperately trying to get on those airplanes, hoping to just get out of here. Were going to have more on the horror awaiting women and girls in afghanistan with you. But i also know that were seeing, as you point out, these truly desperate, desperate scenes at the airport there In Kabul. First of all, what are you hearing directly from afghans who are simply trying to flee the country and so many of them wont be able to do so . Reporter listen, its chaos. And whenever you have a situation where there is a lot of rumors being spread, where fears are high, you have situations like this. You have pandemonium. You have this crush of Humanity Dissending on a runway. People reaching out and grabbing on to the Fugue Lack of a u. S. Air Force Carrier because they are so desperate to leave the country. And some of the images have been incredibly hard to watch. What appear to be a couple of bodies dropping from that plane as It Ascends towards altitude. One can only begin to fathom what is going on in peoples minds when they are willing to make a decision like that, to make a risk like that, when they are so fearful and when there is so little clarity about the situation, particularly, wolf, for people who have worked with the u. S. In some capacity. Many of them are being taken care of, and we have heard that from the Department Of State and from the department of defense. But many others, theyre calling me all the time, wolf. I worked as a translator for two years. I applied for my civ card. It hasnt come through. I was rejected. I cant tell you how many cases there are like this of people waiting for a knock on the door that they fear could bring the worst. Wolf . I want you to standby. I want you to also be obviously very, very careful. We will get back to you in just a moment as the collapse of afghanistan is playing out in horror. The u. S. Military deployment there continues with a relatively narrow focus right now. Lets go to our pentagon correspondent. Oren, were getting new images of the truly desperate, desperate evacuation from afghanistan. Share this image. Look at what is going on in this Cargo Plane. Reporter wolf, this is on board a plane that left in the desperation, the panic. The incredible effort to get out of the country through the only international gateway. 640 people onboard that plane, men, women and children. And as you look, take a closer look at the faces, the horror, the fear of what they were escaping. This, they felt, was their only option for trying to get out of the country. These were the people who were lucky enough to make it on to an aircraft to get out of the country. There are plenty more at the airport causing a very difficult situation, a chaotic situation as they, too, try to find some way to get onboard the flight. They are aware of what is critical here, and that is kabul international airport. It is the international gateway. It is where 6,000 troops are going in with the specific mission of securing the airport because it is so critical. Thats how the u. S. Intends to gets its personnel out and afghan interpreters and their families out. But it hasnt been stabilized and completely secured. There have been Security Situations at the airport over the course of the past day or two. There was a threat to u. S. Troops and u. S. Troops opened fire killing two people. The key question here has there been engagement between the taliban and u. S. Forces . So far, wolf, that answer appears to be, no, there has not. U. S. Forces have not engaged the taliban. That is one of the critical issues in making sure the airport can continue to function and that there is no rapid deterioration of the situation. Wolf, the worst Case Scenario is if the airport falls. Then to get anyone out, it requires retaking the airport. Yeah. The contingencies are enormous right now and awful all around. Thank you so much, over at the pentagon. Lets get more on all of this. Jim sciutto is with us, cnn military analyst, retired Lieutenant General is with us. Cnn political Analyst David and Clarissa Ward is also back. Shes back on the ground In Kabul. Jim sciutto, did President Biden really say the buck stops with me while at the same time pointing the finger at a very long list of other players . Listen, it is a fact that President Trump initiated this withdrawal. Signed an agreement saying u. S. Forces would leave by may 1st. But the fact is commanders in chief cannot pass the buck because biden is the Commander In Chief today, and he could reverse that decision, frankly. And by the way, as we supported, he overruled his own senior Military Advisers who recommended keeping a force in afghanistan, not just to back up Afghan Forces but to maintain an Intelligence Gathering and also a Counter Terror Presence on the ground in afghanistan, which u. S. Officials acknowledge is now compromised because those forces will have to be outside the country where they dont have nearly the capability. So he can point to a shared responsibility, which is a rare consistency between the Trump And Biden administrations to withdraw from afghanistan. But the fact is, as president , he could have done differently. The sad fact is, wolf, i have spoken to a number of u. S. Military officials and a number of afghans on the ground there who say that afghan Security Forces took the removal of that u. S. Force and the telegraphing of that removal as, in effect, a message that it was lost, that the Taliban Takeover was inevitable and they gave up. Of course, they share responsibility for that, but that message reverberated throughout the country. He came back to the white House Today to give this speech. Clearly he needed to do something, say something to the american people, but did he really do himself any favors with this speech . Good question. The answer is i dont think so. I think much the other way around. Much of the speech, along with his Input Today have been totally mistifying to me. Up until now the biden administration has been working well. They plan ahead. They work with the departments. Yet, now comes along this botch, it seems to be, to cover everybody. Its made them very defensive. That speech was defensive. It did have a lot of Finger Pointing. And you have to contrast it with commanders in chief of the past who have been strong leaders. You were there, wolf, in 1993 when the u. S. Marine barracks were blown up in Beirut And President reagan got a report of what went wrong. A report came back and said the generals and admirals really screwed that up. I was there in the office when that report came in. He picked it up, looked at the conclusion and said, i dont accept this. He walked out to the microphones and said if there is any blame here, it rests with me. Im the Commander In Chief. And he took the hit. The same thing happened in 1961 with john f. Kennedy and the bay of pigs. He went out and took the hit. And guess what . In kennedys case, he went up 10 in the gallup polls. So i think president s help themselves when they stand up straight and theyre strans parent. In this case, for some reason, President Biden just doesnt seem himself. He just seems to be so surprising. And i think its extremely it now plays in to the Rise And Spike in cases in the covid and other areas of our public life, you know, the storms and everything else. There is a sense, i think, that plays into a narrative that were losing control of events. Were losing control of the narrative. Yeah. Those are excellent points you make. And, general, President Biden was adamant. He doesnt want to pass this War On to yet another american president , another generation of servicemen and women. But that doesnt explain the total chaos of this withdrawal over the past 48, 72 hours. Not only what we saw on the tarmac at kabul, people trying to climb aboard u. S. Military Cargo Planes, but that image of 600 afghans inside that military Cargo Plane as its attempting to flee. I used to be a pentagon correspondent. Have you ever seen an image like this inside a c17 or any military Cargo Plane, more than 600 people trying to escape . I have not, wolf. But it just shows the techniques of the great Air Force personnel that were running that Cargo Plane. Every time a pilot says we can take one more, i think they got a dose of what that one more looks like today. But going back to your question, does this explain the chaos of the withdrawal, it doesnt. In my view, the decision to withdraw is a good one. But the planning and the coordination within the administration between state, the defense department, the Combatant Command in afghanistan all had huge execution shortcomings. I have done an operation during my career. I know there are planning assumptions that go into conducting these evacuation operations, which is what were seeing. In this environment or a contested one. I think we went into this thinking it was going to be per missive but found it was going to be contested. There is no Host Government now, so theyre not providing support. Will Host Nation troops provide defensive techniques for the u. S. Forces going in . Again, there are no Host Nation troops anymore. The Afghan National Army has disbanded. Where we control the Time Line for deployment, again, The American Planning Factors thought that kabul was going to be a much longer time so they could get this on time. Will the State Department who support the operation execute at the right time . There seems to have been a delay on this, whether thats because of the Sid Program or trying to get the most amount of afghans on these flights, i dont know. But it seems like there was hesitation. So we have turned what might be a most likely situation in planning into the most dangerous one. And thats why we saw a whole lot of chaos today. The enemy got a vote, and we were on the wrong side of that vote. Yeah. How do you think it goes over in afghanistan for President Biden to blame afghans, the Afghan Military for simply refusing to fight the afghan leadership, for escaping the country after two decades of american involvement. How is this plane on the ground In Kabul and elsewhere in afghanistan . Well, you know whats interesting, wolf . I interviewed a very brave and brilliant woman just the other day who is the head of the human Rights Commission here. And i asked her about this. You know, whether she felt angry at the u. S. And she said, yes, shes very angry with the u. S. But shes also angry with the afghan government. Shes also angry with the Afghan Military. Shes also angry with the political elites, with the corruption. A lot of afghans do understand their role in precipitating this crisis. They do understand the problems of corruption, the, you know, lack of cohesion with the Afghan Forces, the speed with which they melted away and surroundered. So of course they accept their responsibility in this as well, most of them. At the same time, in this moment of absolute crisis and desperation, when you have much of a nation on its kneecaps, i think this kind of Finger Pointing probably will feel a little galling to a lot of people because there are many here who would like some kind of an apology. And i dont think that they saw that in Todays Speech from President Biden. And, again, just to keep stressing it, it is not an apology for withdrawing. Its an apology for the way in which the withdrawal has been executed. And for the way in which so many people feel that they have simply been cast aside as america washes its hands of this war. I want you to standby. I want everyone to standby. Right now i want to bring in Adam Kinzinger of illinois, a member of the foreign affairs committee. Hes a Combat Veteran in the u. S. Air and National Guard who served over there. Congressman, President Biden said he stands by his decision that there was never going to be a good time to withdraw from afghanistan. He wasnt willing to force this War On another generation. What was your reaction to his Speech Today . He spoke for about 18 minutes. You know, i thought it was a terrible speech. It was a speech that, to me, seemed like it was focussed on stiming the upcoming political fallout from his decision and from this disaster. Wolf, we are being inundated with people pointing the fingers at who is to blame on this. The republicans have failed you and the democrats have failed you. The last president failed you on afghanistan, and this one is failing you on afghanistan because the last one cut a terrible deal when the Secretary Of State stood with the now president of afghanistan under the taliban and released 5,000 taliban prisoners. President biden had an opportunity to right that wrong. President biden should understand that the chaos you are seeing now is just the beginning of what afghanistan is going to be and that the vast majority of combat operations, all these people that are saying the Afghan Military melted away, they were doing all of the fighting. In 2014, we basically said well do the logistics and the Air Support if you do the ground combat. And the afghans were fighting on the ground. But the second the United States abandoned them, even faster than our European Allies who are like, you are leaving right now . Wait a second. When my military loses logistics and it loses Air Support, you cant expect them to necessarily stay and fight. I wish they would have fought more. But the president s Speech Today was aimed at Stiming Political Bleeding and it is not the kind of leadership we need in a president that has been lacking both in the last administration and now this one. President biden did admit this unfolded a lot more quickly than he had anticipated. I assume hes referring to u. S. Intelligence as well. How hard is it, congressman, for veterans like yourself to see those desperate seens at the Kabul Airport. Let me show that picture of more than 600 afghans inside that u. S. Military c17 Cargo Plane. Youre in the air and National Guard. Have you ever seen a Cargo Plane filled with so many hundreds of desperate people simply seeking to save their lives . No. I certainly havent. I think i hope there is awards that will go to the crew of that c17 because they violated basically every Air Force regulation in packing that many people in there. In the longrun that will end up saving a lot of peoples lives. How did this get so mismanaged i dont understand. We shut down an Air Force base that was a secure Military Installation with a gigantic airfield. Can you imagine if we still had that . We vacated that in the middle of the night. We surprised the afghans when they woke up and we were gone. If we had that and we could be processing the applicants through that or the thousands of americans, by the way, that are stuck behind taliban lines and cant even get to the airport, United States citizens that are stuck behind the lines being told to shelter in place because they have no way to get to the airport at this moment, this could be very different. So, look, the decision to withdraw, i disagree with. But regardless where we are at the moment, the president needs to make it very clear to the taliban that they have never defeated us on the battlefield once. They will never defeat us on the battlefield. And they will allow us to extricate every american and every afghan that was deserving of American Visa now and they will not challenge us. Thats the kind of leadership. Because trust me, wolf, the taliban knows they cannot match us. They did, however, crush our will to fight. Thats the only way they won. Americans have been told, congressman, as you well know, for nearly 20 years that the u. S. Could build a nation, build a military in afghanistan, but only to see the Country Collapse in about a week, in a few hours, if you will, in the capital of kabul. How do you grapple with that . Well, look, it is certainly devastating. There is a lot of, you know, points in the past where we have been misled or we thought we had a much larger optimistic outlook of what afghanistan was. But before we look and say it was totally failed, i saw h. R. Mcmasters earlier say look at the freedom that is being deprived from the afghan people as the taliban move into parts of afghanistan now and you know how much freedom they had. Look at the number of women that are out there making careers, that thought leaders, academics that never would have happened under the taliban leadership. Look at the fact that there were 300,000 Afghan Military that were fighting the taliban hard on the battlefield simply with u. S. Intelligence and Air Power to support them. Yes, there were a lot of challenges, and, yes, we might have needed to be there for longer. Were in a lot of countries, look, particularly even in places like koes voe. But the devastation you are seeing today is why a small footprint of 2,500 u. S. Troops was so important, because we have dozens of Jihadist Groups in afghanistan anyway. Now they will thrive, grow, plan. What is this saying to our allies right now and to our enemies . Because america does not look very strong right now. And when we look weak, thats when people challenge us . The taliban is immediately doing as they take over the capital is going to the prisons, opening the doors and releasing thousands of Taliban Fighters and fighter terrorists who have been held in those prisons. They are free and potentially capable of getting a lot of u. S. Weaponry that has been left there on the ground because the Afghan Military simply walked away and collapsed. Congressman Adam Kinzinger, thanks as usual for joining us. As i always tell you, thanks for your service to the u. S. Military and to the american people. Appreciate it very much. Thank you, wolf. All right. More Breaking News were following. We will continue to take a closer look at the frightening implications for women and girls in afghanistan now that the country has fallen completely to the taliban. Ives you the options and extra time needed to help you avoid an overdraft fee. Its one way were making a difference. 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Only from carvana. The new way to buy a car. Breaking news tonight. President biden saying he stands, and im quoting him now, squarery, squarely behind his decision to withdraw u. S. Forces from afghanistan, despite the shocking scenes of Chaos And Desperation as the country fell in a matter of only few hours under taliban control and the Groups Extremist Ideology has tremendous and extremely disturbing implications for everyone in afghanistan, but especially the women and girls. Lets dig deeper with our senior international correspondent. Covered afghanistan for many years and our Chief Correspondent Clarissa Ward. One taliban fighter told you afghan women, and im quoting now, can continue their lives. How do you explain the massive disconnect between the taliban messaging right now and the reality of Life Under Taliban Rule . Well, the taliban wants to project this image that they are a more mature, thoughtful, diplomatic political force and that they have learned from the mistakes of their past. In the late 90s and early 2000s, they took a lot of heat. They refused to allow women to be educated. They say they have learned from that, that women can be educated. I asked the Tabel Today if he would allow him to continue to work as journalists, and he said provided they wear a full facial covering and gloves and dont interact with men that they could continue their work. Obviously realistically on the ground, it will be difficult to sort of compromise those two ideas or reconcile those two ideas, i should say. So i think a lot of women will clearly find themselves in the position of not being able to work or not being able to go to school. This was the same trick that was played before. Yes, girls can go to school. But once they hit puberty they need to go to a separate school. But there are no Girl Schools. So we have to wait until they build the Girl Schools and so on and so forth. Before you know it, you find a generation of girls and young women who are completely disenfranchised, wolf. When you think about what happened 20 years ago and what is about to happen presumably right now, afghan women journalists, as pointed out, they are already getting threatening phone calls, home visits from the taliban. Thousands are at risk of taliban revenge right now. Does that explain this Frantic Rush, at least in part out of the country . Well, i think, wolf, it not only explains the Frantic Rush out of the country, it also explains why people are so desperate to leave, because so many people do not want to live under taliban rule. They do not want to subject their children to what it is what they went through. But the big issue right now, wolf, is that were not seeing this massive flood of people leaving afghanistan. Theyre not crossing the borders because the borders are largely closed or the roads to the borders are closed. Theyre not leaving because the u. S. Military has shut it down and is only allowing Military Aircrafts to land and depart from there. And, you know, wolf, i was talking to this young afghan woman, a student who i had interviewed at the beginning of covid, and she was part of this Electronics Technology Group with a bunch of other young female students called the dreamers, and they were putting together a Makeshift Ventilator using Toyota Car parts. And i was messages her, and i ached for her and for all the other young women who dont know what life is like under the taliban, who dont necessarily know what is coming. She just messaged me back one sentence saying, it is all very painful. So painful. And my great fear is whats going to happen to these afghan, the little girls and the Women In Afghanistan in the coming days and weeks and months. Thank you very, very much. Be safe over there. Were praying for you, hoping the best. Be very, very careful. Meanwhile also tonight, cnns Brian Todd is getting reaction from veterans of this 20year war in afghanistan. Americans lost huge amounts of blood to see the taliban take over afghanistan again. What are you hearing, first of all, from the veterans who are going through a very painful, difficult experience watching all of this unfold . They are, wolf. We were speaking today with several veterans of the war in afghanistan, many trying to make some sense of whats going on there. But the refrain is mostly one of Heart Break. As they watch scenes of chaos from the Kabul Airport and Taliban Fighters walking through what was once a u. S. Base, manning american heavy armor, as they watch President Biden acknowledge their hardship the scenes were seeing in afghanistan, theyre gut wrenching, particularly for our veterans. U. S. Veterans are speaking out tonight about the collapse in afghanistan. Many with a common refrain. Im so angry. I dont i dont understand the why now of it. And thats the thing that i think makes me even angrier. Is there has been no real reason other than its time. My sense from the veterans who fought so hard over there in afghanistan is that theyre just heart broken by this. Right now theyre out of the military, and they are having to answer the question of afghanistan individually for themselves, ask themselves that question, what did it all mean. And i dont think were anywhere even close to being able to answer that question yet. Cnn has spoken to several american veterans of the afghanistan war as the country has gone into anarchy in the last few days. The Afghan Forces they helped train have melted away. It is really hard. It is really hard to watch this. What should have been done differently here, do you think . I think that there was a lot of trouble with afghanistan as far as america never fully committing to one part or the other. Never fully committed to the Nation Building of the building up the national army. We never fully committed to routing the taliban completely. With more than 2,400 of their fellow american service members dead, more than 20,000 wounded in afghanistan, some veterans are expressing not only Heart Break and anger, theyre also putting this in the context of another long, horrific vietnam war. Six of his soldiers were killed in afghanistan. And the policy that we had in afghanistan in many ways was in vain or many of the policies are in vain. But they didnt die in vain. They died serving fighting next to their comrades. Kevin who lost both legs and part of an arm in afghan says the withdrawal is botched, but he does not think america is making a mistake with this withdrawal. I really think we should have left earlier. Personally i think we have been there too long. But travis who works with other veterans has a concern about some of his comrades who are watching some of what they fought for disintegrate. There is a concern for Suicide Ideation with news like this. It is always a big concern when were talking about this and if veterans are thinking what was it all for, that can lead to some pretty dark thoughts. While many veterans voice frustration, anger and Heart Break and others try to come to grips with how they feel about the collapse in afghanistan, one veteran looks at it in the starkest and simplest terms. Isaiah james told the l. A. Times a that have Osama Bin Laden was killed, my mission was getting back to america alive. That was it, he said, wolf. Brian todd reporting for us. Thank you very much. Lets dig deeper into this. Mike hall of texas is joining us. Hes the ranking member, a member of the Homeland Security Committee as well. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. We have lots to discuss. But lets start with President Bidens remarks today. His 18minute speech. He said the buck stops with him. But did that Speech Sound like hes taking ownership of this crisis . You know, to me, it did not. I mentioned that on your Sunday Show yesterday, the buck stops here. He Cant Blame this on anybody else but his own decision. And he tends to blame the Afghan Military. He made this decision. He owns it. I thought it was poorly executed. I think it is going to taint this presidency to a large degree on national security, particularly and tever since the decision was made, we were getting intelligence on the ground deteriorating rapidly. It was a grim assessment. Yet, they went with this Rosie Picture in the White House that somehow they were going to pull a deal at the 11th hour. And not really it was sort of devoid of reality. And so now the consequences are were seeing the taliban completely take over the country. We were seeing our Intelligence Capability going dark. No isr capability. Our embassy now being taken over and the visual of the taliban flag being hoisted above our embassy, thats a visual and an image that i think will be very damaging to a lot of americans and the american people and the afghan people are the losers and the winners are russia, china and iran. You were in Yesterdays Briefing by the defense secretary, the Secretary Of State, the chairman of the joint chiefs for house members. Did you get any answers on why the u. S. Was clearly blind sided by this quick, speedy, hours only Taliban Takeover . Not particularly. It was on an open line. But i can tell you without divulging Classified Information that this was not a surprise. It was not a surprise to me at all. I think it actually went faster than the Intelligence Community thought so. But they were on pretty much a sixmonth track through the fall. Then they talked about 90 days out. And the assessment again was very grim and the afghan sources without Air Support with residual force are a light footprint. I just think it is so sad your piece on women and the veterans and what this means to them. It is just a nightmare unfolding. The president certainly Bears Responsibility as the Commander In Chief. But it was the Trump Administration, remember, that made that initial socalled Peace Deal with the taliban, the former Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo sat down with taliban leaders. Were showing video of that september 2020. Clearly many of the administrations share the blame here, dont they . Well, you know, i would meet with special enjoy colleagues. He was the u. S. The u. S. Special envoy . Yeah. Precisely. He was the one setting up these Peace Negotiations with the taliban. I always thought he was a little bit naive. Hes a smart man. But the idea we could negotiate with the taliban, i think the only reason they did Sit Down is they thought they would necessarily have to be a part of the transitional government. But obviously it didnt work. And that agreement, wolf, its important to point out, was conditional. And the conditions on the ground were such, and they were being violated by the taliban by not cutting their ties with alqaeda, by invading the Capital Province cities and, so, i you know, we could all hypothetically imagine what happened. The best evidence i have is talking to Robert Obrian when he was talking to then President Trump, his comments were, i will not allow another saigon to happen under my watch. We could talk about hypotheticals. The fact is this Commander In Chief made this decision. He owns it. And i think it will put a stain on this presidency. As all of us remember, back on september 11th, 2001, the taliban controlled afghanistan. We know what happened on that day. And now as were approaching the 20th Anniversary of 9 11 next month, the taliban again controls afghanistan. After all this sacrifice, congressman, was it worth it . Thats the question every veteran is asking themselves. And it is so sad that they are saying this. And the idea that the 20th Anniversary of 9 11 is coming up and Guess Who the winner is . The taliban. Now they are the strongest Terrorist Organization in the world. And radical Islamic Terror will be on the rise. Dont think for a second that its not going to be a Safe Haven again and we will have to deal with it. Many times on your show we talk about these external operations to kill americans in the United States when i was chairman of homeland security. I fear that were going to go back to that time. Yeah, thousands of taliban prisoners have just been released from all these jails inside afghanistan, including alqaeda and taliban terrorists and god only knows what we can all anticipate. Thanks so much for joining us. Thanks, wolf. Thanks for having me. Thank you. There is more Breaking News were following. Haiti now facing a powerful climbs. Water . hey you catch mio. Thank you water tastes like, well. Water. So we fixed it. Mio. Trading isnt just a hobby. Its your future. So you dont lose sight of the big picture, even when youre focused on whats happening right now. And thinkorswim trading™ is right there with you. To help you become a smarter investor. With an innovative Trading Platform full of customizable tools. Dedicated Trade Desk pros and a passionate Trader Community Sharing strategies right on the platform. Because we take trading as seriously as you do. Thinkorswim trading™ from td ameritrade. At pnc bank, we believe in the power of the watch out. Thats why we created low Cash Mode, the financial watch out that gives you the options and extra time needed to help you avoid an overdraft fee. Its one way were making a difference. 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Sweet, i get that too and mine has 5g included. Thats cool, but ours save us serious clamaroonies. Relax people, my wireless is crushing it. Thats because you all have Xfinity Mobile with your internet. Its wireless so good, it keeps one upping itself. Were following multiple breaking stories including the rising Death Toll in haiti from a 7. 2 earthquake. Officials just announced the Death Toll topped 1,400 people, 1400 people and now the country is facing heavy rains and flooding from a storm named grace. Cnns Matt Rivers is on the scene for us in Port O Prince now. How devastatiing will This Stor be . How much worse is it going to get because of This Storm . Reporter yeah, wolf, i just got word from the Cnn Weather Team we were talking about potentially devastating effect the from this tropical Depression Grace that is clearly moving into this area and will continue about 100 miles west to the main epicenter of where this earthquake was throughout the next few hours. Rainfall 5, 10, 15 Inches Wolf overnight tonight in some of the hardest hit areas. When you talk about haiti as a whole, the place that will get the most rain over the next 12 hours or so will very likely be the same place where the epicenter of this earthquake was. That is very bad news for people not only for Search And Rest key Rescue Efforts making it hard to find survivors but consider this, nearly 14,000 structures have collapsed as a result of this earthquake. That has displaced thousands and thousands and thousands of people now outdoors sleeping outdoors, in many cases in makeshift tents that will have to deal with this rain, which of course brings this risk of flash flooding, mudslides making it harder for Healthcaemergency Re and before the rain started, we got a chance to take a helicopter to the epicenter and see this Damage Fur ourselves before the rain started. You can see it was bad. We went to a hotel, a multiple Story Hotel that collapsed in on itself and told multiple bodies were inside. Search and Rescue Efforts were difficult before. Horrible Situation Matt rivers on the ground. Thank you very much. Joining us now, the haitian ambassador to the United States. Mr. Ambassador, thank you for joining us. Our heart goes out to all the people in haiti for this horrible situation. What is the latest you could tell us . Are you hearing from authorities on the ground . The situation is dire one. Dire situation because many thousands of families are now without any shelter and efforts to see if they can put them to some public facilities and in the meantime, before we have some makeshift for them. The situation is really difficult one, and we do hope that very soon we can alleviate the frequency of the families. This tropical storm grace, its looming and will make Search And Rescue operations, Recovery Operations even more painful even more difficult. Are you getting help from outside of haiti . Are people coming in international organizations to help you . Indeed. We are getting help from our international partners, particularly from the United States so from Dominican Republic and then other places, i believe israel is coming tomorrow, and all those certainly what we need to do, we need to make sure that those international assistance will be much better coordinated than 2010, and to make sure that the victims are the one who benefit from that and at the same time, we are trying to make sure that how we can get access to them because some of them are libertarians and the u. S. Coast guard are using helicopters to bring those people out from places to the hospitals, to the cities where they can get some medical attention. But right now, the most important means are the medical supplies. You need the medical supplies when it comes as covid is still causing enormous problems in haiti right now. Absolutely because thats why hospitals were before overwhelmed with the covid cases but now, having to add this on the current situation, you know, it puts more pressure on the hospitals and nurses and doctors and thats why we are wanting medical supplies and i believe its very important to have them to save lives and to make sure they can be treated properly. It follows the assassination of your president only a month or so ago and we even before the earthquake, we heard about gang violence. It an awful situation thats unfolding right now on the streets. Yeah, but the national police is doing a really great effort to try to put something, particularly the public order and those areas where gangs are fighting, but the issue is at the same time, we need to do something. We need to intervene. We need to put order on the streets but at the same time, we need to work together with our partners. Please pass along our best, all the people of haiti, i know youre going through a horrible situation. Thank you very much. Thank you for coming in. Appreciate it. Thats it for me. Thanks for watching. Erin Burnett Outfront starts right now. Outfront next biden says the buck stops with him but says there is plenty of blame to go around. The President Tonight trying to explain afghanistans free fall to the american people and ill talk to an Army Sergeant a met nearly a decade ago. Was his sacrifice worth it . A cardinal Vaccine Skeptic asking for prayers of Testing Positive for covid and now on a ventilator, lets go outfront. Good evening