In afghanistan the taliban has undertaken an extreme offensive And regained most country in surprising speed taking over virtually every major city. Those orange outlines is what the taliban now controls. Also moving in On Kabul which is here. Theres Taliban Control outside of kabul but not in the capital city. Kabul could fall in the next couple of weeks or perhaps even days. Joining me now from kabul, afghanistan, Nbc News foreign correspondent. Reporter the fighting is moving closer to kabul. Today there are reports of heavy fighting in a province to the south, about 20 miles away. The fighting is. Theres also fighting still ongoing in logard province, about 50 miles from the capital. Again, also to the south. In that region we one that a battalion of Afghan Forces are still in the region And are still trying to fight off the taliban. There are also some reports of fighting in the far north, the last large city in the north to remain in government hAnds at this point. Now, the u. S. Forces who are supposed to be on this very limited mission to evacuate staff from the embassy, the first of those forces are on the ground today. We havent actually seen them personally but we understAnd that these forces will be helping to evacuate that Embassy Personnel at some point. We also understAnd from the pentagon that the entire contingent of 3,000 should be here in the country by The End of the weekend. Just to give the lay of the lAnd, the embassy is about two miles, a straight shot from the airport. Its not clear how this evacuation is going to work, if there will be roads blocked off, a convoy. On a Type Day with no traffic it takes ten minutes to make that journey. On a busy day when shops are open And people going back And forth its more like 20, 30, possibly longer sometimes. You can just be sitting static there. Lots of questions still to be answered for the pentagon how that evacuation is going to happen And also who will be evacuated. They said they are including on that list or at least trying to increase, speed up the process for those special immigrant visa applicant, interpreters And other staff who worked with u. S. Forces over the course of 20 years of war. Meantime on the ground in kabul you the still dooh have this huge influx of people from other provinces. People who have no food, no shelter, no money. I spoke to an interpreter who said that his home was destroyed. So now hes in a terrible situation not only is he being targeted by the taliban, but he also has no place to live. U. N. Agencies have warned of a developing humanityian crisis here on the ground. Thats something that Aid Agencies will have to try to deal with as this fighting comes closer to kabul. And one last thing, ali, Nbc News spoke directly with the taliban Ander-today'>CommAnder Today who was on the ground in afghanistan And he told us that they are aware of u. S. Forces presence on the ground again. They said if the u. S. Tries anything they will deal with them the same way theyve dealt with Afghan Forces. I want to give you a sense, this is afghanistan. The orange areas are the Taliban Controlled areas. The white are Government Controlled. You can see around kabul The Center of the country still has got Government Control of. The north has a little bit. Over on the border with afghanistan theres Government Control. But kunduz has fallen. KAndahar has fallen. Jalabad has fallen. There are 3,000 new forces who are there to secure that road that kelly was talking about from the capital to the airport And to secure the airport. These are new american forces that have returned. Mostly marines. Despite what the taliban commAnders told kelly about dealing with the americans the way they dealt with Afghan Forces thats not as likely And not as likely that the taliban will look for a fight with these 3,000 new fors. When they pull out, which ultimately will, kabul will be in trouble. Turning to the unraveling of the plot to destroy american democracy. To the surprise of no one, biden is still president. Conspiracy theory has been pedalled by the former president s accolites. Lets not lose site of the web of lies. This time last year the now failed expresident was threatening to withhold much needed funding from the United States Postal Service because he didnt want it to be used for mail in voting. So even before a single ballot was cast the Information President was already trying to cast doubt on how the 2020 election would play out. Okay. Fast forward to today And were learning even more about his relentless attack on democracy behindthescenes. In recent weeks weve been. Flood with new insights about the expresident s efforts to do anything to overthrow 2020 Election Results And to stay in power. Youll remember the blaze of court cases seeking to invalidate ballots from entire counties. Barrage of lies about Voter Fraud. What was going on behindthescenes is turning out to be far more sinister And organized than we thought. This week a former u. S. Attorney general for district of georgia which includes atlanta told the Senate Judiciary Committee exactly what was behind this mysterious And abrupt resignation in early january. He told the panel he resign after officials at the Justice Department told him that the former president intended to fire him for not backing the baseless claims of widespread Voter Fraud in georgia. The expresident became fixated on georgia after Bidens Victory in that typically red state. This obsession fueled a man named Jeffrey Clark, this guy the former Acting Head of the Doj Civil Division To Scheme to give republicans in georgia a reason to question And ultimately invalidate the States Election results. Ill be diving into just how dangerously close that man Jeffrey Clark came to upending our democracy in the next hour. Be sure to stick around for that. For now previously unreleased each males obtained by politico are revealing not only how the expresident was attempting to enlist the help of the doj to legitimatize his false claims of Voter Fraud but his cronies wanted to rope in the fbi. Well dive into the details of that plot in just a moment. One of the reporters who broke that story, Betsy Swan. Were learning every day about the expresident s attempts to stay in power. Whats disturbing is that they were actually plotting to overturn an election. This wasnt about stopping the steal. The only fraud being attempted by the expresident s cronies trying to manipulate the highest levers of government to overturn the will of the people. Whats more disturbing is currently theres actually nothing in place that would prevent from such an effort to succeed the next time. Joining me now is Betsy Swan a national correspondent for And-kem'>Politico And Kem per Lie Atkin senior Opinion Writer for the Boston Globe And an inaugural columnist for the emancipator. Betsy, not a lot of sentiment about overturning the election is new to youre viewers. But the degree to which it was using the levers of government, the department of justice now with your reporting even the fbi that has become most alarming in the last few days. The extent to which the entirety of the federal Law Enforcement Institution got pulled into this investigation, into Voter Fraud is really extraordinary. The emails that we obtained showed that the Attorney General specifically directed that the fbi investigate one particularly whacky video claiming that there were ballots being moved into atlanta, carried in suitcases And shrouded in black curtains. That video was ridiculous. Georgia Secretary Of State very quickly he debunked it. It was important then to Bill Barr that the fbi look into it as well. After he hAnded down that directive, those a senior Career Official in the Justice Department pushed back. And sent an email to fbi leadership saying just so you know were not on board with this. This came video has already been debunked And it doesnt make sense to use the fbis limited resources to investigate it. But then the dojs secondincommAnd a political appointee within the department overruled that Career Official And said the fbi doesnt have to defer to the Career Official he needs do it the political appointees said it need to be done And the result was the fbi investigated this video. Now, of course, the president , im sure was very disappointed with the outcome of that Fbi Investigation because they found no evidence of Voter Fraud, And what was even worse for the president And for his actions is now the Georgia Election had the fbi good House Keeping Seal of approval. Not only georgias local officials showed this video proved nothing but the fbi itself had shown it too. So it created just really fascinating electric moment for the federal Law Enforcement officials in this country as they were all drawn into this bizarre video mess. Sneers the problem. There seems to be people at the fbi, department of justice, all along the line there were some people who said this came is not on, not what you think it is, im not going to go along with this, im not overturning the election. Ive been drawn into this but im not going to execute your will to the president And his cronies. We were depending on good people making good decisions in the moment so as not to overturn this election. I am concerned, people always say the only thing about a successful coup is it was precede by a coup attempt. We dont have structure. Were looking for accountability by fortunate. But i want to make sure this kind of thing will never happen again And im not certain i can tell my viewers thats clear. It isnt clear. One thing im hoping can come out of the wrong going congressional investigations into all of this is that congress can really lay a clear picture of exactly what happened And also really explain to the american public exactly how antidemocratic it is. Were talking at its core in power lost an election trying to use the levers of power to hold on to that power. That is what happens with dictatorships. Thats the antithesis of american democracy. We also saw how easily it was possible for to it succeed. All it would have taken were a couple more people in And-georgia'>Washington And Georgia to try to invalidate the Georgia Election. We were that close. So thats why we need constitutional protections. We need stronger laws that make clear what Election Interference is or is not. That brings stronger penalties for obstruction of justice. We need more rules And policies in the doj that prohibit that sort of interference And the use of the fbi And the use of doj officials in elections And we need the ability to bring the people if they are found to violate these laws to justice And that includes charging them criminally even if it is a president. Weve seen just very clearly now And more clearly each day with the reporting of the congressional investigations just how dangerous of a situation this is And really need to, as our Editorial Board laid out some weeks back how to future proof the presidency. Theres just too many rules open that democracy can crumble right through. Betsy, there are a few investigations going on now. Theres the January 6th committee which has suddenly taken on now relevant. Theres a Senate Judiciary Committee to whom thesedom officials have been testifying And the Inspector General at the department of justice. How does this come together And when kimberly says talk about criminal charges where would they come from one question thats not entirely clear the way these different investigations which deacon flicting. Speaking from the Media Perspective we have the least level of visibility just because that office tends to be much less interested in Sharing Updates on its probes as they are ongoing. The doj Inspector General could make a referral to criminal investigators And prosecutors at doj if that Office Finds evidence that someone committed a crime. The Senate Judiciary Committee investigation focused exclusively on all the crazy stuff that happened at the top of the Justice Department in trumps final days. That panel, of course, is responsible for doing oversight he at the Justice Department And the fbi. And then the January 6th select committee is going to be looking more broadly both at, again, the Whacky Fest And the truly shocking stuff that happened at doj, but also more widely at outside folks, at tech companies, at the January 6th attack on the capital at what led up to that take And what happens after. That Investigation Scope is wider And its not going quite on full seam yet. It only recently got stood up. Its still in the process of bringing on its staff. Still figuring out how its going to work. Senate judiciary is going on all systems right now And thats part of the reason why were learning as much as we are from these witnesses including former u. S. Attorney who you mentioned about what happened at the Justice Department. The fact that there are these three parallel And sometimes intercepting investigations means were going to be learning about this attempt to overturn the 2020 election for quite some time And it means the scope, the totality of what gets investigated will be quite wide. May be problematic for a lot of people who want to see And-accountability'>Justice And Accountability And prevention before the next election but what the Wheefls Justice move very slowly. Thanks to both of you this morning. With me now is colorado democratic congressman jason crow. He serves on the armed services committee. Hes a former Army Ranger who served in iraq And afghanistan. Congressman i want to talk to you about afghanistan in a moment but lets just talk about this. That last point i think is important. Americans, many americans, many of my viewers would like to see justice for this Unfolding Plot that were discovering. But, in fact, there is one has to weigh the justice And the prevention that we need to under take with the Dehe Politicizing of something that Donald Trump hyper politicized. How should we think about this. We have evidence And people testifying about the things that Donald Trump And his cronies did that seemed criminal but well have to wait around for months maybe a year to get the results of this . Yeah. Thanks for hearing me out. This is more than just about the search for an inaccurate historical accounting of what has happened to the Trump Administration which is important. Its important that we have that historical accounting. This is an ongoing to the threat. This is an ongoing challenge. These people are still out there. They are in the privatesector. Sorry in the government. We need to find out who these folks are And if someone was abusing their power, violating the law in an unethical way And Ands'>Making Hundreds Of ThousAnds of dollars in the privatesector people should know that. These are people who should be disgraced because they turned their back on our country when our country needed it And didnt fulfill their obligations. Important elements to finding these folks but also putting these guardrails in place that we know we need to put in place that we found out during the Trump Administration to make sure this stuff doesnt happen again. I imagine a lot of people thought the January 6th commission was a good idea. It was a good idea when it was a commission. A good idea when it was a fully bipartisan committee that had full republican participation. Didnt happen. Some republican participation. But it seems in the last two weeks the work of the January 6th commission has taken on more importance because of guardrails. The guardrails do not exist. I am not entirely comfortable with the idea of my democracy resting upon some people who will make the right decision when confronted with corruption. Yeah, i think thats the point. One of the things we realized in the Trump Administration is when we think about our democracy, we think about these institutions, we think about our norms, our tradition, our processes, its really just people. Its people that are in positions of And-authority'>Power And Authority that decide to uphold all of them or not as the case may be under the Trump Administration. Thats why the process of finding the truth, looking for And finding truth And getting that out is extremely important. There needs to be an disincentive for people to abuse that power, to do what theyve done And making sure that people are aware of what they did And didnt do is a big part of that. We saw a guy who heard Donald Trump say something that he thought was incrane decided he was going stAnd up And say something about it. Im so grateful to alexAnder. Theres people like him. But the entire And-survival'>Structure And Survival of american democracy should not rely on that. We want our Government Populated And our military populated by people like that, but are you concerned that there are still people who will continue this myth, this Big Lie, who are within government And in positions of power . Well, absolutely. And, ali, its growing. The Big Lie is growing. Its not reduce. Its not going away. There are more And more people that believe it. A larger percentage of republicans believe it. Theres an entire Media Apparatus we know, oan And other organizations that perpetuate the Big Lie. Now liz cheney, as pointed out, said during the commission, you undermine the legitimacy of elections that were fair that undermines the basis of your democracy And that continues to grow. We cant allow that to happen. I want to ask you about afghanistan. Were very concerned about the development theres. We obviously have been concerned for some time about the american allies And people who worked with american troops the there as translators or fixers or drivers or whatever the case is. But it does appear short of the fact that america has reintroduced troops to keep the airport And socalled Green Zone secure the taliban are moving much more quickly than some people anticipated. What happens in afghanistan, in your opinion . Well, you know, i look at this issue probably more as a former Army Ranger And a Combat Veteran than as a member of congress. Theres so much of my heart tied up in that country having served shoulder with shoulder with afghans who continue to fight to this day. Its extremely heartbreaking. I dont think anybody was expecting the level of attack, speed of attack were seeing now. What were looking at right now at this point that we pulled out our combat forces, ended our Combat Mission Number one protecting u. S. Personnel And u. S. Citizens that are in afghanistan. We have to make sure were bringing the full power of the u. S. Government And resources to get folks out. In addition to that is actually getting those afghan partners, allies, interpreters but Civic Society leaders, Democracy Workers And others who are in the country out as well. We cant allow them to fall into the hAnds of the taliban. Those are two immediate priorities. Then there is time to debate our missteps And where we went wrong. Thank you for your time And service as well though country. Were remembering those people who over the last 20 years have put their lives on the line And many have lost their lives in the pursuit of something that looked like success in afghanistan which continues to be elusive. Even with the latest Covid19 Surge hitting texas hard republicans in the state remain obsessed with their quest to suppress Voting Reits And to arrest the democrats who so far prevented them from doing so. Two of those representatives are stAnding by to talk to me next. Texas law is giving new meaning to the wild, wild west. Texas House Sergeant of arms enlisted help of local Law Enforcement to track down the missing house he democrats who have taken a stAnd And refuse to return to State Capitol for a month now to prevent Voter Suppression laws that are being pushed as a top priority by the republican majority. The Houston Chronicle that the House Speaker issued civil Arrest Warrants for the 52 democrats, Law Enforcement went knocking on the doors of some Absentee Lawmakers And the warrant laws Law Enforcement to order And even escort members back to the chamber. Given that they are not guilty of a crime they are not at risk of going jail. The republicans were victorious in passing a restricted Voting Bill on thursday after an extensionive Filibuster Led by senator carol alvarado. She talked slowly behind a desk stacked with papers And with a microevent in her hAnd as she mounted a 15 hour filibuster. Joining me now is texas state representative, up with of them who has not returned to the chamber, gene wu. At least you havent been arrested. Look weve been doing our absolute best to stay safe And stay away from the House Chamber And were going to make this work. Democrats are doing everything the they can to protect the Voting Reits of texans And try from text the Voting Rights of all americans in this prohe sees. Thats tinting part because youre kind of the tip of the spear in terms of this conversation And this effort thats going on across the country. Weve just seen census results this week which show us what you knew was happening in america, the changing face of america And that fundamentally underpins what they are trying to do in the Texas State House because that changing face of america is occurring in texas as well And the only way not the only way they could appeal to the changing face of america but thats not the decision they are making. The whole part of what they are trying to do, the whole thing they are trying to do is make it easy for politicians to cheat. You see the article out talking about all the places around the nation where they are taking power away from nonpartisan, Nonelected State officials who are in charge of elections who have no interest in the contest And putting that power in the hAnds of the politicians themselves. Texas is one of them. And all of these Red States across the nation are doing this. This is not by coincidence. This is a concerted effort to steal our democracy. And the republicans have gotten really good at this. Were just one of the first people to raise our hAnd And say hey this is happening. You guys need to wake up. Youre doing that. Thats what youre trying to do in washington. The case that so many of you And your colleagues are doing we can do what we can do but we cant fix the whole thing. You require federal legislation And federal intervention to fix the whole thing. Your satisfied you have sufficiently moved the people in washington that control the Le Verse of power to make the changes so you can one day go back to your State Capitol And resume your jobs as legislators . Ali, look, by no means can we hold out forever. Unlike the republicans were not millionaires, we dont own our own jet, you dont own our personal businesses. We cant hold out forever. At some point were going to have to go back. But, you know, you asked me a month ago, do you think that you would be able to getted by to give a speech on Voting Rights. Gung you can have an hour long meeting with harris. Can you convince members of dong change your mine. Do you think you can restart the engine on our national discussion on protecting our most fundamental right. I would have laughed. This is what weve done. I dont know if its enough. We need the rest of america to join us now. We need texans. We need people from all over this country to come And protect our most fundamental right without the right to vote there is nothing else. The thing about civil Rights Action is that the best practitioners in history have never worried about whether its enough. They have just decided this is what i can do And were seeing that across this country in the summer of action. Were seeing people including members of congress getting arrested. Individually these acts are not enough. Maybe they will have an impact. Thank you for being with us this morning. Still to come on Velshi You won believe in how cahoots the republicans And billionaire buddies were in crafting the Tax Cuts. Maybe you would believe it but now we have hard evidence. Air enamel in its weakened state. Its innovative. My go to toothpaste is going to be pronamel repair. [tv announcer] come on down to our Appliance Superstore where weve got the best deals on refrigerators, microwaves, Gas Ranges And grills. 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Humira can lower your ability to fight infections. Serious And sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, And cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, And nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, And new or worsening heart failure. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common And if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Be there for you And them. Ask your gastroenterologist about humira. With humira, remission is possible. Ever notice how stiff clothes ask your gastroenterologist about humira. Can feel rough on your skin . For softer clothes that are gentle on your skin, try downy free gentle downy will soften your clothes without dyes or perfumes. The towel washed with downy is softer, And gentler on your skin. Try downy free gentle. Subway®. Has so much new they couldnt fit it in their last ad. So, we gonna have to go fast. Ready . Theres new steak, delistyle turkey, belgioioso® fresh mozzarella, hickorysmoked bacon, new hearty multigrain, And Steph Curry Juggling Avocados for some reason. Dang, thats too much for 15 seconds. Democrats are working to push through transformative 3. 5 trillion bill. Its a crucial step towards accomplishing Core Agenda items that include strengthening the social net, expAnding family medical leave, more accessible child care, universal prek, tuition free community college, lowering Medicare Jebltity artificial intelligence And expAnding to include vision, dental And hearing. Its expensive stuff. Or it is . Pay now or pay later. It does require And outlay of taxpayer money, however And democrats want wealthy americans And large corporations to foot the bill for this legislation. Republicans say no dice. Too expensive. Raise the deficit. Cant pass the costs on to our grAndchildren. Its a nonsense argument. Every Expenditure Or Tax cut should be evaluated on its merits. Republicans not only did not have a good excuse for their Tax Cuts they didnt try to explain it. They said the Tax Cuts would make everyone wealthier And lower the debt. It did the opposite. It wasnt plausible then And not plausible now. The idea that the middle class will benefit was one of the many gop lies about the 2017 Tax Cut. But now thanks to an Great Lakes by propublica were getting closer to finding out how these Tax Cuts for the wealthy came to be. One example, a last Minute Loophole was added to the bill thanks to grAndstAnding Byron Johnson of wisconsin who stunned his party at the time by refusing to support the bill unless a particular provision of added to expAnd Tax Cuts for a certain class of companies. So in exchange for johnsons Support A Change was made. It was touted as a lifeline for Small Businesses. According to Propublicas Investigation johnsons last Minute Maneuver benefitted two families. Both worth billions And both among the senators biggest donors. That sentence says it all. By the way two companies slash families, net ad combined 215 Million in Tax Deductions in 2018 alone. Thats america. Well its one america. Theres another america that has a lot of poor people And hungry children in it. According to The Center for american progress between 7 And 11 Million children live in households in which they are unable to eat enough food because their families are short of money. Also in america. In 2017 as that republican Tax Bill was being passed talk poverty. Org estimated it would have cost 69. 4 billion a year to lift lowincome families above the federal poverty line. That republican Tax Bill gifted the wealthiest of corporations 233 Billion in Tax Cuts according to The Center for american progress. 233 Million in Tax Cuts, 69 Million to lift families above the poverty line. Those Tax Cuts could have solved american poverty. Taxing a few Millionamp Greed gets in the way. I dont argue you should like tax increases. We should increase, we should insist our government spends our money as efficiently as possible but that money that must be spent should be spent with an eye towards provide Sewing Site the greatest return both financially And morally. Whether i pay 10,000 a year in the taxes or 100,000 or more i want that money to work hard for my infrastructure And for my And-safety'>Health And Safety And for the climate And for Pi Brothers And sisters who are not as fortunate as i am. If we together with our Tax Dollars help the poor And impoverished we have the opportunity to lift an entire generation literally millions of people out of poverty. It is time to stop bashing on poor people. As my friend dr. Barber puts It Poverty is not a moral failure on the part of those suffering its a Policy Failure And its time now to fix that. At all these other things too. It can all add up. 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A few billionaires used their And-power'>Influence And Power to use Tax Breaks that was included president trumps 2017 Tax Bills. Dick And liz uline. Theres a pretty good chance you ordered Office Supplies from their company. While you probably provided the ulines with business they along with another billionaire gave millions of dollars to ron johnsons campaign. Would you be surprised if i told you the ulines And hendricks were the biggest beneficiaries of the tax loophole. Im joined by one of the reporters behind that propublica piece. Good morning to you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for your he piece. I think its fair a lot of republicans would say that the benefit that was included does actually benefit lots of other pass through Small Business owners. The point of your article it benefits some really wealthy ones much more. Thats right. One of our Core Findings as you said this was pitched really as Tax Relief for Small Business, the term Main Street got thrown around a lot. Economists studied this since it passed And found literally the majority of the Tax Savings went to the top 1 of americans but our reporting shows it was actually even more extreme than that. It was just 82 families, some of the richest families in the country got 1 Billion in Tax Savings from this provision in the first year alone. So this part of the trump Tax Bill was extremely tilted towards the richest people in the country. There was, you know, its in keeping with the whole gist of the bill that would benefit medical class american not just in terms of Tax Cuts but the wealth it would create And the Debt It wouldnt create neither of which turned out to be true. We knew it at the time. We would argue at the time with Republican Lawmakers how come the carried Interest Loophole is in here. They all said were going to do away with loopholes in this bill. Were lowering the tax rate. Were broadening the base of people who will actually pay taxes. Should be a net win for everyone. It wasnt. Right. Certainly many ordinary americans did get a modest Tax Break if you live in New York or california its possibly your taxes went up because of some of the changes taking away the state he And local Tax Deduction but what we were able to show using these confidential Irs Records we found is that for select group of families in the country this bill was huge. It delivered a windfall. The ulines, the family with the company in wisconsin that i think is the largest Packaging Distributor in the country, you know this could be worth literally hundreds of millions of dollars in Tax Savings to them. Thats cash saved in the pocket. The stakes were huge for families like this. Whats the answer to this . Obviously if theres a tax saving, people with more money if theres a Tax Cut will benefit from that more than people with little money. So a pass through company that is big will get more of a benefit than a pass through company that is small but what the pass through company that is small will also get some benefits. How in a Tax System do you account for that, you dont have a system that necessarily continues to make rich richer at the expense of those with out that much wealth. Theres a proposal right now from the senator from oregon who is the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee that would change this very provision going forward And basically just put a cap interest. It would say if you make more than 500,000 which is a lot of money to any normal person, this deduction is just going disappear And at that time proposal would expAnd the Tax Break to certain people who are currently excluded below that cap but congress, if they wanted to tomorrow could just say look, we dont want to give this Tax Break to the wealthy, went to direct it to sort of ordinary working people, thats possible. They do it all the time. Theres a debate about this unfolding right now on capitol hill. Thanks for your great And-reporting'>Reporting And Reporting at propublica. One of the scarier situations resulting from the rise of the Covid19 Delta Variant is the influx of younger americans And children being diagnosed And hospitalized with severe cases of the virus keeping our children safe after the break on velshi. And re one thats been paved And one thats forever wild but freedom means you dont have to choose just one adventure you get both. 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Take the mystery out of your Glucose Levels, And lower your a1c. Now you know. Try it for free. Visit freestylelibre. Us parents now have real reason to worry about children Catching Covid appear becoming seriously ill. The rate of children hospitalized with covid reached an alltime high as the Delta Variant spreads. Keep in mind most children arent yet eligible for the vaccine, those under 12 for instance. These alarming numbers rise at the same time kids go back to school, which has become a highly politicized top he can especially in republican states where republican leaders ban mask mAndates And threaten legal action against School Districts or anyone disagreeing. Central Infrali Floridas large hospitals have dozens of kids coming in for covid. In texas they sigh 40 new Hospitalizations Force children infected with covid daily. Highest its been in a year. And louisiana has the fastest growing rate of new covid19 cases among children in the entire country. Lbz to this. One in four kids in the state are testing positive. Joining me now is a doctor, a medical director of the pediatric intensive Care Unit at our Lady Of The Lake Childrens Hospital in louisiana. Thank you for being with us. I want to start with the facts, the details about the pressure that is on your hospital, your medical system right now when it comes to treating of children, not only with covid but the idea that children who need emergency medical care of any sort are being endangered inment states, including your own. Absolutely. You know, as our Adult Cases continue to rise And skyrocket we are seeing more And more pediatric patients coming with covid19. Our er just since since August 1st we have seen 76 patients with covid. We currently have 11 admitted right now with covid. We have one in icu. And unfortunately ended our week with one covid related death, our first one since the pAndemic started in pediatric patient. Wow. Tell me about how you evaluate whats going on with kids right now. Are kids getting it from other kids, from unvaccinated parents, getting it from School Environments . Where is this coming from . You know, at this time since most of our schools have not yet started we presume that this is coming from parents And from other kids if they play together. The Bottom Line is we have a low Vaccination Rate. As long as we continue to have a low Vaccination Rate this is going to continue to spread. If adults get covid And the numbers are high, thats going to affect our children. Our kids are now getting covid And getting sick from it. We are seeing different approaches to kids And preventing kids from getting covid in different states. One thing different from last year is that generally speaking we didnt have a vaccine. And different levels of agreement on how to keep kids safe. But there was social distancing at school, masking, some remote And-inperson'>Learning And Inperson learning. It almost feels today that parents have a little more to worry about than they did a year ago because of the And-approach'>Inconsistency And Approach do we go to school like normal, or do we act like there is a deadly virus circulating . Absolutely. And the Bottom Line is, you know, things continue to change. The Delta Variant is here, highly contagious. Yes, kids are getting covid. Kids have been affected since the beginning of the pAndemic because some parents die from covid And they have children. We have grAndparents dying in the icu with covid. And they have grAnd kids. So the idea that, you know, that kids are not affected by covid is false. They are. We have now our first covidrelated death. We have 11 admits to our hospital right now with covid. And we know how to prevent this. We know that vaccination helps. We know masking can help us. Listen we want our kids back to school. I think Inperson Learning is the best is the best thing for children. And we have ways to do that now. We can wear masks, socially distance And get vaccinated. Until we all do this, were not going to have a normal life. And neither will our kids. Is there more impetus or less among the community you interact with in louisiana given the increases in numbers, given the increase in hospitalization . Are more people either getting vaccinated or more people voluntary Dawning Masks . We are definitely seeing more of our population get vaccinated. Just in our last month we vaccinated about 46 5 something of that number of adolescents. In the last number in july that number increased 65 . We have seen increase in vaccination. Our hospital is also offering that for anyone that come in wanting to get vaccinated. What is your i know you dont have an interest in getting political about this. How do you think about mAndates, either for masks or vaccines . Obviously there is the Health Care Worker in you would love it if everybody wore a mask And got vaccinated ppd but there is the real world where people have strong reactions to these things. How do you square those two . I think the priority has to be on health of our community And the health of our children. And if everyone can focus on that, what is it we can do to keep our families, kids And communities safe . Thats really my only goal to keep the kids safe, keep everyone safe. And we know how to do that. Is that an endorsement for mAndates, or would you rather a different way of convincing people. Its an endorsement i rather find a way of convincing people. I think i would love everyone to look within themselves And do what is right for their family, for our children, for our community. There is no other way to end this, you know, there is no other way to end this. I do think unfortunately the only way to get there is by requiring people to wear a mask. I think that is you know, youre not allowed to go outside without clothes on. You know, we youre supposed to wear seatbelts when you enter the car. Supposed so to strap kids in the car seats. I do think unfortunately that if people arent going to i guess use Common Sense then mAndating it is important And necessary. Thank you. Weve talked to you And people at your hospital a lot in the last month. Thank you to all that they are doing And to Health Care Workers who continue to struggle with this. I cant imagine a year ago you thought you would still be battling this today. But im sorry that you are. But im grateful you are. A medical director of the pediatric intensive Care Unit at our Lady Of The Lake Childrens Hospital in louisiana. Moments away from a new report from afghanistan where the taliban regained control of the vast majority of the country in a rapidly deteriorating situation. Plus a deep dive into the quickly unrachlg plot to overturn the 2020 election And the man you may never have heard of who almost made it happen. Also, Senator Bob Casey will join us to talk about the prospect for the democrats apgd now moderates are digging in threatening to hold up part of the biden agenda if they dont get what they want. Another hour of velshi begins right now. Of velshi begins right now. Good morning, its saturday, august 14th. Im ali velshi. And we begin with Breaking News in afghanistan. The taliban undertakes taken an extremist offense every And regained control of the brass vast majority of the country with surprising speed. Taking over every major city except kabul that city could fall in the next couple weeks or days. Joining me live in kabul afghanistan, Nbc News correspondent kelly cobiella. Whats the latest with you, kelly . Reporter well, ali reports of heavy fighting just 20 miles from the capitol, kabul. Taliban threatening to take more territory today. Overnight, the first of 3,000 u. S. Forces lAnding at Kabuls Airport for what the pentagon says is a limited mission. To get embassy workers out. I expect that by The End of the weekend, the bulk of the 3,000 that we talked about yesterday will be in place. The u. S. Embassy is ordering its staff to destroy sensitive documents And computers, according to a memo obtained by npr. Afghan president Ashraf Ghani addressing the country for the first time in days saying i know you are worried about your future. I assure you i am focused on reducing violence. On the ground, the taliban are advancing across afghanistan at lightning speed. In one Anda-video'>PropagAnda Video they claim to be in control of the road to kabul, saying they are allowing Government Forces who surrendered to pass. In another militants claim they ambushed an afghan military convey 50 miles from the capital And captured government soldiers. The militants firmly in control of