Against the pandemic. Millions of School Children head back into the classroom just as the Virus Rages back. Well talk about the mixed messaging coming from the same people who should be setting an example good Morning And Welcome to Morning Joe, it is monday, august 16th. Joe is traveling this morning. Big news this morning. Complete collapse. 20 years after the united states toppled the Taliban Regime in afghanistan. The group is on the verge of retaking political power. Taliban forces entered the capital of kabul On Saturday continuing a blitz that has seen Insurgence Capture more than half of afghanistans 34 provincial capitals. The group overtook Police Posts and gained control of the Bagram Airfield yesterday. Afghans pled the airport looking to escape the violence only to find flights suspended over reported Gun Fire. One person able to escape was the Countrys President who said he left to, quote, prevent a flood of bloodshed. We know the embassy In Kabul has been evacuated. The States Department Spokesman said last night we can confirm a safe evacuation of all Embassy Personnel is now complete. All Embassy Personnel are now located on the premises of Hamid Karzai International Airport. Smoke could be seen rising over the u. S. Embassy Compound Yesterday as officials work to keep sensitive material from falling into taliban hands. Nbc news has confirmed The American flag was lowered and securely removed by embassy staff. Were going to get to the reporting from afghanistan in just a moment. But first, weve got to frame out just how significant a moment this is for u. S. Policy and Americas Presence on the World Stage. There wasnt a lot of room for error, after four years of Donald Trump, four u. S. President s, though, have had a role in bringing this moment to bear. Leaving american troops who lost life and limb, wondering what their sacrifice was all about. And then there are the afghan people left behind. As George Packer writes for the atlantic, quote, Bidens Betrayal of afghans will live in infamy. He says our abandonment of the afghans who helped us, staked their lives on us, is a final shame that we could have avoided. Were going to hear from all sides on this straight ahead. But first, joining us now from on the ground In Kabul, Nbc News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel. What is the latest there . Reporter so, we are very close to the airport right now. You can probably hear some Gun Fire in the background. You can also hear helicopters that are in the air. Theres an Apache Helicopter Circling over the airport right now. The airport is divided into two sections, i think thats an important dynamic that people understand when they look at the situation unfolding here and many are comparing this to saigon, when the u. S. Left vietnam and people were december were desperate to get out and refugees were clinging to the bottom of the helicopters. Were also seeing desperation at the airport here. Thousands of afghans are trying to break into the airport, rush in. The taliban is securing the perimeter of the airport, moved into the airport. This is the civilian side of the airport and there have been horrible scenes where thousands of people without any Security Checks, without any controls, went onto the tarmac with their families, luggage, some of them climbed onto aircraft. The aircraft were so full the pilots refused to take off. The people refused to get off the planes, the taliban have been trying to fire Warning Shots in the air to disperse the crowds. Theres reports of people being killed. Its unsure if its by Gun Fire or stampedes. People are still there in desperation hoping to get out of this country any way possible. Thats the civilian side of the airport. Just a few hundreds yards away, separated by Barbed Wire is the Military Side of the airport and thats where the evacuation of u. S. Personnel is taking place. So on one side, scenes of utter desperation. On the other side, you have american troops there, guns at the ready, supervising the evacuation of personnel. All of the personnel have been removed from the embassy, which is in the center of kabul and now its in a Holding Area on this Military Side of the airport. Thats just in the airport. Across kabul in general, the taliban are spreading out, they are setting up more and more checkpoints, including with much of the weapons, some of them including tanks that they seized from the Afghan Security Forces when the Afghan Security Forces melted away and handed their supplies to the taliban. Richard, Id Love to pull you back in here for some Context And Analysis, given how deeply you have covered this and youve expressed some concerns about this announcement by the president from the get go. We had about 350 0 troops there, a small amount, relatively, not a death in 18 months. Was there anyOne On the ground there who thought this would go well . That this was a good idea . Reporter no. Military commanders i spoke to here in afghanistan predicted that the government would collapse, other analysts, experts, afghans that i spoke to in the government and out, predicted that this would happen. We did numerous reports saying that this would happen, the Afghan Security Forces werent ready when the decision was made to pull the plug, to evacuate Bagram Air Base overnight and to leave this country in a with a great deal of secrecy, sometimes not informing their afghan partners they were leaving, that this country would start to collapse and it did collapse and the Afghan Security Forces collapsed in city after city until just Yesterday Kabul fell and initially a trickle of taliban fighters entered the city and set up checkpoints now they have spread out all across the city. Theyre going to media organizations, ngos, telling people that the taliban are in charge, they have set up position inside the president ial palace after the president here fled the country yesterday. So the taliban are in control but there is no really control on the streets. Theres a great deal of lawlessness, looting, and now there are these horrific desperate scenes, emblematic scenes of the chaos the u. S. Is leaving behind at the airport where you have on one side the u. S. Evacuating personnel and the other, the afghans trying to get on any flight. And there is anger by the afghans that theyre being abandoned, the u. S. Is only concerned about bringing out american citizens and the people here are left to fight with the taliban. And among here stuck are thousands of translators. The process to get translators, people who work for the u. S. Military, has been extraordinarily slow and now those Trance Laters as well, many of them are left to hide and deal with a future of under taliban rule. Afghans who were helping the American Forces being left to die, to be on their own there, to what is left behind. Richard engel, thank you very much for your reporting this morning. As we heard at the top of the show, Congresswoman Liz Cheney is among the Republicans Criticiing former President Trumps deal with the taliban in 2020 which promised reduced American Forces and a prisoner swap. This is its a devastating set of circumstances, but the Delegit Mization of the afghan government the notion in the Trump Administration, the suggestion that at one point they were going to invite the taliban to Camp David on september 11th. Yeah. That they this disaster certainly began, and look, the notion of were going to end endless wars, what were watching right now in afghanistan is what happens when america withdraws from the world. Now listen to this. Its important you listen carefully, its incredible. Heres what then President Trump said at the time. We had a very good conversation with the leader of the Taliban Today. And theyre looking to get this ended and were looking to get it ended. I think we all have a common interest. But the country has to get this end ed. Weave been there 20 years. Other president s have tried and theyve been unable to get an agreement. The relationship is good that i have with them, and we had a good, long conversation today. And they want to cease the violence. Theyd like to cease violence also. As the ap reported last year, trump was the first u. S. President believed to have ever spoken with the group responsible for the deaths of thousands of u. S. Troops. In November Of 2020, then Secretary Of State, Mike Pompeo, met with the taliban delegation hours after morer shells slammed into afghanistan. It came after the Trump Administration signed an agreement with the taliban to promote a negotiated end to the conflict. Yesterday the former Secretary Of State was pressed on his own record of legitimizing the terror group. He insisted that recent events would have unfolded differently if trump was president. I doubt it. In some way, shape or form, you could see it going worse. Although i dont know whats worse than this. Ill quote George Packer from the atlantic again. This betrayal will live in infamy, the burden of shame falling on president Joe Biden, all of this was foreseeable. All of it was foreseen. For months members of congress and advocates and Refugee And Veteran and Human Rights Organizations. Had been urging the biden administration to evacuate americas afghan allies on an emergency basis. For months dire warnings have appeared in the press, the administrations answers were never adequate. Lets bring in white House Reporter for the associated press, Jonathan Lemire. Columnist and editor for the Washington Post, David Ignatius. Pentagon correspondent, helen cooper. Author, richard hass. And former Chief Of Staff to the dccc adrienne. Richard, ill start with you, because all of this was so foreseen, what was the gain here politically, strategically, geopolitically, geo strategically, what was the gain for the united states . Absolutely none. Whats so interesting, mika, unless i missed it, i didnt notice people voting in 2020 based On Afghanistan and where people were going into the streets protested, it was about Police And George floyd not The American involvement in afghanistan. So i didnt see the pressure to come out. Whats so ironic, when Joe Biden became president , he inherited a situation in which the united states had a modest investment in afghanistan. We had come down from 100,000 troops to 3,000 troops. Our role had been severely circumscribed. There hadnt been a fatally the since February Of 2020. So why was it this president and the previous president both felt so compelled to leave afghanistan. Thats a Big Question. What isnt debatable is how we did it. A big part of life is execution and impliation, this is malpractice, this is a fiasco by any measure. The bigger Policy Questions for today is why was it we were unwilling to sustain a small presence that seemed to provide an anchor or foundation, not for winning a war, bringing piece, but avoiding what were seeing on our screens. Why was that considered untenable . I think down the road, mika, its useful to have a bigger conversation about the last 20 years, what did the united states try to accomplish in afghanistan, did We Overreach, go about it the wrong way, perhaps we underreached at times. But the question is why two administrations in a row felt compelled to leave. Its enough to make you question the value of bipartisanship. I would think the agreement we signed with the taliban in February Of 2020 was a disaster, it undermined the afghan government, asked for nothing from the taliban for our withdrawal, and mr. Biden, why was he unwilling to change this policy . Well get to what went on in the White House leading up to this decision in just a moment. But helen, youve been covering the years of u. S. Miscalculation has it pertains to afghanistan. Why, why does our engagement there continue to vex the united states and its decisions . Its a really good question, mika. And it has a long, complicated answer. But one is that as richard just mentioned, Joe Biden for 20 years has sort of thought that he knew more about afghanistan about anybody else. He was in the senate foreign relations committee. He was in the obama White House where he argued strongly in favor of a much reduced american footprint in afghanistan. And he was overruled by his president. And he finally gets this chance now, as president , to do things the way he thought things should have been done all alodge. So in so many ways this is completely on President Biden. And to his credit, the has been owning it. He has not backed away from the decision hes made. But as we can see, the catastrophic results are sort of on display right now. A big part of that is, you know, the united states spent 83 Billion just on training, advising and equipping, building up the afghan military, war planes on sending advisers to not show them how to fight but instill in them the whole command, Control Structure and the allegiance to the command, Control Structure that governs The American military and successful militaries. And you saw that the afghan military largely melted away in the last few days, catastrophically, its not necessarily a question of them not of afghan troops being unable to fight. What ended up happening is that you have a military where the political leadership in afghan was so corrupt, you have soldiers who havent been paid, who were sent to the front without bullets, without food. And theres this lack of will that we saw that you its very hard to instill as a foreign i dont want to i dont want to say foreign occupier, but as a foreign presence, you can teach people how to execute a war plan. You Cant Teach Somebody how to love their flag. You Cant Teach Somebody to respect a government that they dont respect. And when you have corrupt political leadership at the helm, its hard to imagine whats in it for the troops themselves to put their lives on the line for leaders as you can see fled yesterday as soon as the taliban got to the gates of the city. All right. Jonathan lemire were going to get to Adrienne Elrod on the politics of this in a moment. But for your inside inside the White House, the White House released a picture of President Biden alone at a table looking at everything that was going on, including probably coverage of this, and i have to ask you, from your reporting, from everybody that youre talking, all the insiders, who in the White House was for this . Who in the White House thought this was an effective geopolitical move on the World Stage . The person most for it was President Biden. And his top aides who thought this was a longheld belief of the president , he thought the mission in afghanistan should be wound down. They could not have a permanent presence there. Yes, there was expectations that the taliban would, of course, advance as soon as u. S. Troops started to leave. But officials i talked to have reported on the associated Press Today were stunned by the speed of this, how quickly the afghan government collapsed. That immediately the afghan forces would, in many cases, not fight at all. But there is no Course Correction plans. Yes, troops were sent there for the weekend to help with the evacuation. But many sources are saying this proves it was right. Others have said, if you feel like you want to get out of afghanistan you should have had a better plan for the exit. There is something there is some second guessing going on here. We will be hearing from the president at some point, aides i talked to say discussions are under way for a speech from the president , not clear on the timing, today, tomorrow, it will be this week. When it happens hell likely return from Camp David and deliver the speech from the White House. Theres growing fear we heard yesterday to leadership on congress and the administration that the Americas Mission in afghanistan which was to prevent it from being a Safe Harbor for terrorists, they fear with the taliban moving back into control there is a greater possibility that afghanistan could be used as a Launching Pad against for Terror Attacks against the west, the united states. And we Cant Stress how important that is given were just weeks away from the September Terror attacks. David, i know youre going to speak of the women who are going to be raped and tortured in the wake of u. S. Troops leaving them behind. Youll speak of the afghans who worked Side By side with The American troops, the translators, fixers, the troops themselves who will be executed and tortured. And Youll Speak of our soldiers over the last 20 years who lost life and limb for this mission who feel betrayed this morning. But if i could jump, if i could cut to the chase, to the president s next move, and it may be counter intuitive, something no president has done, but does biden say i messed up were sending 10,000 Troops In, does he turn this around . What would be a better option . Mika, I Cant imagine him turning a policy like this around. It would produce greater chaos, possibly greater bloodshed. One thing you can say is the allout Battle For Kabul seems to have been avoided. People were fearing there would be thousands killed in such a battle. The image that sticks for me is the one that Richard Engel described from on the scene a few minutes ago, the two sides of the airport. And are one side are The American evacuees protected by our troops. And on the other side of the Barb Wire Fence is absolute chaos as the people who depended on us, believed in us, worked with us for a decade, two decades, struggle desperately to find a place on an airplane, to find some way out. Why have they come to the airport . Because thats where The Americans are, where they think safety might still lie. I was reminded, listening to Richards Report of something that was said Yesterday Afternoon by a vet named Christen Ruse on an Msnbc Show i appeared on, talking about this strategy with great emotion in her voice. Its like the titanic has sunk and only the crew has survived. Thats the thing i think President Biden needs to take deep into his heart today. And he needs to think about how, as this war ends, painfully, he holds onto a measure of american dignity, and the only way i see he can do that is to make saving the afghans who fought with us our absolute priority. Yes, well get The Americans out but well stay at that airport until every afghan who helped us in this war has a chance at safety. I think that will redeem the administration, a measure of dignity. I admire Liz Cheney yesterday in calling out both sides equally. And not making this the usual political blame game. As i go over my notes, mika, for the last 12, 15 years, these themes are there every other month. Every other month im reading a Sergeant Or Lieutenant say, you know, these afghans cant fight, theyre not getting it done. Yet every month the senior commanders keep telling the boss, its going to be okay. Well stick with the mission. Everyone is inside this bubble. That happened again clearly in this final withdrawal. The senior leadership could not tell biden, if they knew this was going to go bad, they could not tell biden the dangers and get him to stop. So Richard Haass, the same question for you. Since you consider this to be malpractice and what i heard from David Ignatius was no solutions, nothing that has a positive outcome, why not go back in . Going back in would be military stunningly difficult and costly. And i dont think at this point its politically on or military or strategically on. The moment for that has passed, sorry having technical problems. Thats all right. We hear you. I dont think thats a realistic option to go back in. I think the real question is, can you, in some ways, do what david is talking about, which i think is the immediate issue. Beyond that not a lot. We have to tend to the rest of american Foreign Policy to avoid this becoming a larger Turning Point to try to reassure people around the world that what happened here is not a precedent for what will happen elsewhere. We still can be counted on. Were still involved in the world. Dont conclude from afghanistan more than should. I think that might be the most important thing in addition to dealing with the local tragedies. So keep this from defining who we are and that this is the biden Foreign Policy could be difficult with some of the pictures that will be coming out of afghanistan in the weeks and months to come. Im not sure how you keep this from defining who we are. At this point it seems a little bleak, richard. Look, we have all sorts of alliance relationships around the world, with japan, korea, nato. We have other commitments. As bizarre as it sounds we have to deal with this but compartmentalize it, its not going to be easy, i hear you, the images are terrible, the reality is terrible, but if youre asking what the biden administration needs to do, it needs to tend to the rest of the world. So there are many more illustrations of Donald Trump and his supporters buying into the talibans pledges for a Peace Deal as the Washington Post Dave Weigel points out. A section touted, the historic Peace Agreement with the taliban in afghanistan. Which described the administrations promise to withdraw 5,000 troops from the country in exchange for an agreement to not allow afghanistan to be used tr transnational terrorism. If you click on that Site Today you get an error message. The republicans knowing this is not a winner. Adrian elrod lets get to you. For four years we had a president that lacked empathy, we just heard from two top experts we cant go back in, the best we can do is try not to let this define us. How dangerous is this for the Biden Presidency and democratic politics moving forward . Well, mika, you know, first of all, as all of the experts on this panel made clear today, this is something going on for a while. Four president s have been involved in this, its been an ongoing situation for 20 years and at the same time President Biden during the campaign trail, when he was Vice President and, of course, as we know today, has made it very clear that he wanted a withdrawal. This is not a secret, this is not something that should come as a surprise to anybody. Now at the same time, i dont think any sitting president would expect these images that we are seeing now to have taken place. This is certainly not something the chaos at the airport, the afghan government completely disbanding and not taking any responsibility for governing their citizens over the last 36 to 48 hours. That is not anything that i think this administration could have foreseen. So all that being said, think its important this country, our nation and the world hear from President Biden. I think youll be hearing from him very soon. But i think from this administrations standpoint, just like Jonathan Lemire said, theyre going to continue to stay the course, make clear this was something a Policy Position that President Biden has been reiterating for a long time and, you know, how the politics of this play out, we dont know yet. Its too early to tell. But what matters the most is that we get our american citizens out. It would be wonderful if we could also prioritize those afghan citizens who have been supporting us for 20 years, who applied for visas, many who had their visas accepted. I think Thats Something youll continue to hear from the administration as well. Politically its too early to tell how this plays out. Ive been hearing from my contacts deep within the Democratic Party and im hearing a lot of concern, what are you hearing and what are they saying . What is the concern . Well, i think, look, again, no sitting president wants to have the images youre seeing right now play out. That is not something that, you know, again i think the State Department was expecting. The concerns are, first of all, i think a lot of people are saying President Biden has been in office for six months. President trump negotiated with the taliban, as you just showed in the Rnc Website was touting that. So the question becomes, how do we solve this situation . We have to remind folks that this is something that was negotiated by President Trump. He boxed us in many respects. You know, President Biden was merely carrying out what his predecessor had negotiated. And i think that is something that this administration will continue to reiterate. No surprise that biden wanted to get out and at the same time also the fact that President Trump had negotiated this with the taliban, with secretary pompeo. There wasnt a lot of options left at this point. So I Cant you know, Jonathan Lemire i know you want to jump in. I dont disagree about trumps involvement with this and that his dealings with the taliban will be downright disgusting and treasonous whatever word you want to use, antidemocratic, not conducive to a good outcome. However you want to describe it. But this is Joe Bidens. He made this decision. I worry a little bit about the what aboutism, putting it back on trump. You can do it, he owns a lot of it, but Joe Biden made this decision. Right. No question that a lot of the republicans who are criticizing President Biden now supported the decision to withdraw when it was President Trump. So we shouldnt lose sight of that. Certainly questions can be raised about all of the president s involvement in afghanistan and missteps along the way. As a senior analyst put it to me last night, there were a lot of president s that could have the failure of afghanistan but Joe Biden is the face of the failure of the withdraw. Just a little over a month ago, on July 8th when he defended the decision in afghanistan, ill quote, he talked about how theres no Circumstance Youll see people lifted off the roof of an embassy in afghanistan. We are seeing seens like that, terrible footage from the Airports Hundreds of citizens trying to cling to american jets as theyre taking off. Footage this morning after the planes take off people falling back to the tarmac, the streets below, really difficult to watch. That is something now that President Biden, that is what they have to address and get The Americans to safety, yes, but also the Hundreds And Thousands of afghans who helped The American presence there for over 20 years. There isnt going to be, mika, a change in plan right now from the White House, the administration but they believe, aides i talked to last night believe over the next few days theyll be able to get people out. They need to hurry. The scenes are deteriorating by the hour there. David ignatius to johns point. U. S. Intelligence if officials are pushing back on the claim there was a failure on the intelligence part. Two sources tell Nbc News, the worse Case Scenario Prediction was that the taliban would be in control of the country by september 11th. But no written assessment said their forces would move this fast. Responding to the accusation, former acting cia director, Michael Morell tweeted whats happening is not the result of intelligence failure, its the result of numerous Policy Failures by multiple administrations over the years. David, what can you add to that . Whats your reaction to this . Mika, two comments. First, i think morell is basically right. For more than a decade, the cia has been the most skeptical about this mission. Year after year the generals in the field would say, sir, we got this done we can make it work. We have problems. And cia analysts would say, i dont think so. I remember talking to the general when he came from Gung Ho command In Kabul, trying to motivate forces to win to become cia director, i remember a conversation with him, saying how are you going to work with the analysts who have been saying all these years that your dreams of Victory Or Battlefield Success Arent going to work . So i think the cia is the least guilty here. One thing that ive learned this last week, really, is the psychological dimension of warfare is so important. You have numbers on paper and you have an Order Of Battle but as Command And Control begin to dissint grate, as people panic they have a sense their protectors are leaving, its like a bridge cracking, you have a few strains, cracks and then boom, the whole bridge goes. Thats what weve watched. We watched a war that lasted 20 years seem to end in a day. Thats not to say the forces havent been built up all that time but there is this sudden psychological discontinuity. So i would say both are true. The cia has done better than most getting this right but theres something they couldnt see, maybe its not in our nature to detect these deep psychological traumas that lead to sudden convulsive change which is what we watched. As we closed this discussion for now, the Coverage And Analysis so far of this news is stinging. This is David Sanger in the new york times. Mr. Biden will go down in history as the president who presided over a long, brewing, humiliating final act in The American experiment in afghanistan. After seven months in which his administration seemed to exude, getting the country vaccinated, Job Growth and an infrastructure bill, everything about americas last days in afghanistan shattered the imagery. Our thanks to the panel for now for this important conversation. Still ahead on Morning Joe, theres been a scramble overnight to find any survivors in the collapsed rubble after an earthquake in haiti. A new warning from top u. S. Health officials as covid cases surge. The u. S. Could soon hit more than 200,000 new cases per day thanks to the unvaccinated. Youre watching Morning Joe. Well be right back. Youre watching Morning Joe. Well be right back. Discover card i just got my Cashback Match is this for real . Yup we match all the cash back new Card Members earn at the end of their first year automatically woo i got my money its hard to contain yourself isnt it . Uh huh well let it go woooo get a dollar for Dollar Match at the end of your first year. Only from discover. Mmm, licorice records. Get a dollar for Dollar Match at the end of your first year. Wonka, digital workflows for it tell us this machine needs updating. Kids dont really have records anymore. But it tastes better on vinyl. Servicenow. Weve got you taken care of, sgt. Houston. Thank you. That was fast one call to usaa got her a tow, her claim paid. And even her Grandpas Dog tags back. Get a quote. Ive lost count of how many Asthma Attacks ive had. But my nunormal with nucala . Fewer Asthma Attacks. Nucala is a oncemonthly addon injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. Not for sudden breathing problems. Allergic reactions can occur. Get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. Infections that can cause shingles have occurred. Dont stop steroids unless told by your doctor. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. May cause headache, injectionsite reactions, back pain, and fatigue. Ask your doctor about nucala. Find your nunormal with nucala. Every day in business brings something new. So get the flexibility of the new mobile service designed for your small business. Introducing Comcast Business mobile. You get the most reliable network with Nationwide 5g included. And you can get unlimited data for just 30 per line per month when you get four lines or Mix And Match data options. Available now for Comcast Business Internet customers with no lineactivation fees or Term Contract required. See if you can save by switching today. Comcast business. Powering possibilities. All we can say is that this is going steeply upward with no signs of having peaked out, id be surprised if we dont cross 200,000 cases a day in the next couple of weeks. Thats heartbreaking considering we never thought wed be back in that space again, that was january, february. That shouldnt be august. Here we are with Delta Variant which is so contagious and the heartbreaking situation where 90-million'>90 Million people are still unvaccinated who are sitting ducks for this virus, thats the mess were in. Were in a world of hurt and its a critical juncture to try to do everything we can to turn it around. That was the director of the national institutes of health, dr. Frances collins warning about the possibility of the u. S. Hitting 200,000 covid cases per day. The countrys fights against the surging Delta Variant is overwhelming hospitals. It comes as a major u. S. City gears up to require proof of vaccination for some indoor activities. Nbc News Correspondent Kathy Park has the latest. Reporter the Covid Crisis overwhelming hospitals out west. In utah the states largest Health Care System is struggling to keep up. Stretched thin, treating mostly unvaccinated patients. Were full. Completely full. This is not a place we want to be. Reporter and nationwide, pediatric cases are growing at an alarming rate too. Nearly 94,000 new infections in a week, roughly a 400 increase in a month as more kids head Back To School. Recent outbreaks in georgia now forcing several counties to suspend inperson learning. Teachers Cant Plan. They have to teach facetoface students and students in guarantee. Reporter in kentucky protests over Vaccine Requirements for Health Care workers. In Los Angeles one person stabbed in a clash outside City Hall between pro and antivaccination demonstrators. In new York City, protesters blocking roads outside the mayors residence, before the city becomes the first to require vaccines indoors. The rule applies to customers and workers who can show their Vaccination Status through an app or card. If youre unvaccinated, unfortunately you will not be able to participate in things. Reporter few details are shared on how to follow the newman designate. Restaurant owners hit hard by the pandemic say its adding more to their plate. The Hospitality Industry consistently becomes the scapegoat for everything covid. Reporter joining us now dr. Nahid bhadelia, an Nbc And Msnbc medical contributor. Doctor, lets start with the surges in the south. Where are the hot spots and if you could explain any concerns about kids headed Back To Schools during this time. Yeah. Youre seeing mika, i think youre seeing some states starting to level off, missouri and some of the ones with earlier surges. Still high Case Numbers. But no end to states like florida and texas who have this upward trajectory of cases and theyre already seeing their Health Systems overwhelmed. If youre in a community where your hospital has to send patients from their hospital to an icu somewhere else, youre in a crisis. If youre in a community where ambulances are not able to respond in time, you are in a crisis. If youre in a community where Health Care workers are getting shipped in, which is whats happening in texas, youre in a crisis. Even though Vaccination Rates are starting to inch up. The impact of those may not be seen for a while and whats needed in those Communities Today is Mask Mandates. Some level of public Health Emergency that helps stem cases. To your point about children, we need to do that now because as children have headed Back To School you have seen the Delta Variant causing problems in states like georgia that may delay Inschool Learning, which is what All Of Us want for our kids. The stories coming out of florida and the hot spots are hard to imagine. A 30yearold Mom dying ten days after giving birth. And yet i speak to parents who Are Unvaccinated, who are upset because their child has to go get a Covid Test because theyre not sure whether or not symptoms the child has are covid or not when you look at stories like this. But isnt it the unvaccinated which has us in this situation which is creating us causing us to be upset for our children undergoing this stress . Majority i mean, even when you look at states like the numbers coming out of texas and florida, 90 of the people in the hospital Are Unvaccinated. Delta has caused an increase of Breakthrough Infections but if you compare it to how many hospitalizations it reduces when compared to unvaccinated youre right. Its not just the not being unvaccinated. I think youre seeing a segment of the population where throughout this entire pandemic they just, despite now seeing communities being heavily infected, theyre not seeing the importance of the whole packet, the mask, vaccine, the recognition that your actions are affecting those around you, theyre affecting children, people who are older, and now were seeing young healthy people ending up in the hospital. Your actions are making a difference, the pandemic is real, the communities are overwhelmed. Good morning, its Jonathan Lemire. Thanks for being here. I wanted to ask you about boosters. We know a few days ago, the government signed off on giving Booster Shots to the immunocompromised. I wanted to ask you, how important is that . Would you recommend your patients do that . And what sort of timetable do you think we have for the next wave of people to be told you should get a booster shot, particularly the first responders and Health Care workers who got Their First Dose Last December or january, so eight, nine, ten months ago. Im in that pot. I got my first dose last december. I want to start by saying for the immunocompromised, the data was clear, these folks about 3 of the population, the data was clear if you gave them a third dose it helped increase the antibodies to give more protection. The next group of people we have the data on, coming from israel and the uk is those over 65 people who have their immune systems, even though they may not have as many medical conditions as they get older you may need the booster because youre seeing hospitalizations in that group. Evidence is unclear on when you need the booster in the other groups. The next group you probably will hear about are people who are older and hospitalized. The larger effort is we have to balance the booster for healthy individual overall population with getting first doses to those around here and globally because thats whats also going to stem infection. We also have this sort of Side Note to this disaster playing out across the united states. A totally preventable disaster. I keep going back to the Surgeon General who says, every single death from covid that we are experiencing right now is preventable. Which is stunning. Were watching young mothers die, young people die. Young people. Old people. All people being put on ventilators and dying. And hospitals being overwhelmed and Health Care workers being traumatized. It continues and its preventable. Maureen dowds latest oped is putting a spotlight on this. She writes its hard to stop thinking about the overthetop that the former president held at his Marthas Vin Guard manse for his 60th birthday. As president he didnt try hard enough on things we needed. He was a Deb Tenant with a Days Taste for politics. Post presidency hes trying too hard on things we dont need. The culture is swimming in netflix deals, celebrity worship, displays of wealth, not to mention podcasts. Did the world really need renegades his duet with bruce springsteen. This is cheap shot stuff, she has the zingers but the Big Thing was the party and being cool and having beyonce there and people flying in on private jets. And there are some covid numbers going up on marthas vineyard, hard to tell if its a cluster yet. What was the talk in democratic circles about this party . I know there was frustration because actually real friends were disinvited but more, in covid, in the Emergence And Reemergence Of Covid and the Delta Variant, really . Yeah. I mean, first of all, mika, i guess im glad to see Maureen Dowd writing about a different politician than the clintons. But i think this could have been handled i think this certainly could have been handled a little bit better. Were seeing surges in Delta Variant. When President Obama was planning the party we werent seeing the surges. But we have to be careful right now. We have midterm elections coming up, we have a Republican Party looking for anything they can to call us out. So i you know, i think that in The Grand Scheme of things, Focussing On President Obamas Birthday Party is not a huge priority but given the fact that we have a surge in the Delta Variant and that, you know, the optics i think probably could have been a little bit better. I mean, i ill go back to the doctor with this, i think the optics are terrible and the reality is terrible. A party can be cancelled. Doctor, if someone is planning a massive party with people flying from around the country, what would your advice be . Please dont. You heard dr. Collins say at the beginning of the segment our cases are going up. Whether youre a democrat, republican or independent, the Public Health is the same advice, yes, vaccinations can help reduce infections but Money None of us are immune. Hopefully the end is near sight as we get more people vaccinated. Dr. Nahid bhadelia, thank you. Adrienne elrod, thank you as well. Coming up, this morning the taliban is on the brink of power in afghanistan after 20 years of war and thousands of lives lost. Many americans are now asking what was it all for . Theyre feeling betrayed. Well talk to national Security Adviser Jon Finer about whats next for american Foreign Policy in the middle east. Morning joe is coming right back. Iddle east Morning Joe is coming right back without my medication, my small tremors would be extreme. I was diagnosed with parkinsons. I had to retire from law enforcement. It was devastating. One of my medications is Three Thousand Dollars per month. Prescription drugs do not work if you cannot afford them. Aarp is fighting for americans like larry, and we wont stop. Thats why were calling on congress to let medicare negotiate lower Prescription Drug prices. Washed your hands a Lot Today . Probably like 40 times. Hands feel dry . Like sandpaper. Introducing new dove handwash, with 5 x moisturizer blend. Removes germs in seconds, moisturizes for hours. Soft, smooth. New dove handwash. Find your rhythm. Your happy place. Soft, smooth. Find your breaking point. Then break it. Every emergenc gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergenc. After my car accident, i wondered what my case was worth. So i called the Barnes Firm. When that car hit my motorcycle, insurance wasnt fair. So i called the Barnes Firm. It was the best call i couldve made. Atat t bararnefirmrm, our R Inry a Attneysys Wk Hahard i couldve made. Atat t bararnefirmrm, to get you the best result possible. Call us now and find out what your case could be worth. You u Mit Bebe Sprisised the Barnes Firm injury attorneys call one eight hundred, Eight Million i have to tell you that the inability of Afghan Security Forces to defend their country has played a very powerful role in what weve seen over the last few weeks. The fact is we invested, the international community invested, over 20 years, billions of dollars in these forces, 300,000 of them, with an air force, something the taliban didnt have, with the most modern sophisticated equipment and unfortunately, tragically, they have not been able to defend the country. Secretary of state, Tony Blinken, welcome back to Morning Joe. The aps Jonathan Lemire is still with us. Some are asking this Morning Isnt this presidency supposed to be different . Isnt this president supposed to be humble, empathic, isnt he supposed to listen to his advisers . If biden really was the only one who wanted to do this, if there was no one else in the White House wanted to do this and everyone was saying it would be a disaster, the question some are asking this morning is, was he too stubborn to listen . Well get more inside reporting from the White House and how this decision came about from Jonathan Lemire in just a moment. But 20 years after the united states toppled the Taliban Regime in afghanistan, the group is on the verge of retaking political power. Taliban forces entered the capital of kabul On Saturday, continuing a recent blitz that has seen insurgents capture more than half of afghanistans 34 provincial capitals. The group overtook abandoned Police Posts and reportedly gained control of the Bagram Air Base yesterday that the u. S. Turned over to afghan forces last month. Afghans fled to the airport looking to escape the violence only to find commercial flights suspended over reported Gun Fire. President biden is standing by his decision to withdraw troops from afghanistan despite a rapidly devolving situation on the ground. He released a Statement Yesterday writing in part this, one more year or five more years of u. S. Military presence would not have made a difference if the afghan Military Cannot or will not hold its own. And an endless american presence in the middle of another countrys civil conflict was not acceptable to me. Meanwhile, the associated press is reporting that biden and other top u. S. Officials have been surprised by the pace of the talibans nearly complete takeover of afghanistan. The president has been watching events unfold from Camp David, where he is receiving regular briefings and holding Conference Calls with members of his National Security team. The a. P. Notes that the next several days could be critical in determining whether the u. S. Is able to regain some level of control over the situation. Lets bring in white House Reporter for the Washington Post, ann gearan, also an msnbc contributor. Ann, changing course ive been told many times in the past hour would be disastrous, but whats more disastrous than what is happening right now . Mika, its hard to really imagine a more disastrous couple of days in terms of images and the potential that those images have to undermine the message that the president has been trying to send about afghanistan and more broadly about competence and his being on top of things after having so many years to prepare to be president. This is a thing that he has wanted to do for a long time. He entered the Office Resolute in wanting to end the War In Afghanistan and he had an opening in the deal, as flawed as it was, in the deal the former president has made. They never looked back for that, they are surprised at the White House, less so the pentagon, over what has transpired over the last two weeks but the end here was always clear, americans would leave, leaving a diplomatic presence behind, thats now in question, but the American Forces would leave and take with them as many of afghans who helped us as possible but whatever came after that, which was likely to be some measure of taliban control, was going to be up to the afghan government and the afghan military to negotiate. Basically none of that last part has happened and thats what has surprised the speed with which that happened is really what has surprised the White House and left them scrambling to figure out what theyre going to do next. Jonathan lemire, you can take it to ann but first i want to ask you about what was going on inside the White House, who was for this, if anyone . Was anyone trying to advise the president perhaps this was not a good idea right now . Did anyone try and get him to change his course of thinking . Or was this a Team Effort . Who was for this . To echo anns point, this is largely from the president himself. This is the belief that he has had for years and years now. That he felt like it was time to bring american troops home from afghanistan there shouldnt be a permanent presence there. Theres great frustration at the pentagon, the White House, how quickly the afghan forces folded and how the afghan president fled the country. Certainly there was expectation that the taliban would surge but as noted the surprise here was just how quickly it happened. Ann we reported earlier today, expecting to hear from the president likely Today Or Tomorrow about this. Have you got a sense in your reporting, what is his public message going to be . More of what we heard from the weekend about how this is still the right thing to do . How the additional troops sent are there to make sure that american personnel get out of the country . Do we expect any slight tact at all in terms of Strategy Or Tone from the president as afghanistan seems to devolve by the hour. I can tell you the president is getting a lot of pressure to say something and do so fairly quickly. While there is really little to no chance that the strategy itself would change that the way the president talked about it would change. We havent heard from him directly since last tuesday on this subject. And that was really before everything it was clear the trajectory, but it hasnt happened yet. And then the next thing we heard was the statement issued late Saturday Night that mika read a portion of at the top and that statement was largely sort of defensive and defiant. And saying, look, we are doing this because we have to. No, it would not matter militarily and strategically if we left troops there for another year or five years. And doing so would put americans at risk. That is the bottom line that the president is going to stress whenever we hear from him directly, that he actions he is taking are, in his view in service of Keeping Americans safe and Leaving Americans in afghanistan, as awful as the pictures are that result from our not being there, that Leaving Americans there was a larger risk. He is certainly also going to be under heavy Criticism And Pressure to address the potential follow on effects from The American departure here. Will the taliban allow Al Qaeda to recruit, will this be a Jihad Recruiting Tool and all the other potential things that neither he nor anyone else can fully foresee right now. But theyre on the table now and that is also going to be on the president s head to address what were going to do about that if it comes to pass. Jonathan lemire, let me just ask the same question i asked you, but differently, was anyone against this . Who high up in the administration or at the pentagon had deep concerns about this . Because from what im hearing, the president actually stood alone here. Is that possible . Certainly there were concerns voiced by the Intelligence Community, particularly the cia, about how quickly the afghan forces could collapse. Thats reporting weve put out in the last day or so, there was a difference of opinion, the Pentagon And Cia felt like, hey, the afghan government may not be able to hold as long as the White House thought it would. Remember, it was just a few weeks ago we heard from President Biden, mika, that he believed the future of afghan would be divided into a few different territories, the taliban could take part of it but the afghan government would take kabul and others. But the Inner Circle was unified on this. As there might have been voices concerning the speed of this would happen. They thought it was the right thing to do. Again, how it was done, theres real subject for debate here. I think thats how hes going to get second guessed here, how could this happen so quickly. How is there not a better plan to get the thousands of afghans out who helped American Forces, how is there not a better plan to safeguard the embassy and if needed get those americans out in a far more orderly and safe fashion than the chaos we seeing now. But President Biden came into office with this plan. He campaigned on it, was for it long before he ran for president in 2020. He believed it was time to get American Forces out of afghanistan. And he wasnt going to be deterred from that. He was honoring President Trumps agreement with the taliban, this was his plan too. The questions are, should it have been done differently . But members of his Inner Circle that i talked to last night echoed, this is what ann said, this is proof it was time to get out. That 20 years got us this. What would another year or two have done . So the War In Afghanistan is americas longest ever with more than 2 Trillion spent and thousands of lives lost and now many americans are asking, what was it all for . Nbc News Correspondent Megan Fitzgerald has more. Reporter more than 2,400 Flag Draped Coffins returned home from afghanistan. The nation honoring our heroes who sacrificed it all in americas longest War Starting in many 2001 when the World Trade towers were attacked. We will stay until the mission is done. The mission to defeat Al Qaeda and kill its leader, ultimately accomplished. Driving out the taliban and building an afghan government that can survive on its own. We will stand with you. Reporter it was the commitment lasting 20 years, costing the u. S. More than 2 Trillion. Americans commitment to you and to a secure, stable and unified afghanistan, that remains firm. Afghans will secure and build their own nation. And define their own future. We have trained and equipped a Standing Force of over 300,000 afghan personnel today. More than 600,000 troops deployed multiple times working to train the Afghan Army as american military leaders promised they would one day be ready. The bulk of this Country Today is permissive, secure. We are building Afghan Security Forces on track to take the lead for securing the entire country. They have capable ground, air and special operations forces. Reporter but only weeks after most u. S. Troops pulled out of the country, defeat. How do you feel about whats happening in afghanistan right now . Im broken hearted about it. I hate to think that everything we did out there was in vein. Reporter denises son was a medic who served four years in afghanistan and was killed on the front lines. Her son and his comrades will always be heroes. They fought to help a country unable to help themselves. Joining us now from abu dhabi, dan murphy. If you can talk about the wider region and what the implications are to what is happening right now . Mika, the immediate concern is one of security. Its widely seen out here in this part of the world that a win for the taliban is a win for insurgents and a win for terrorists globally and regionally. The immediate concern now is whether or not afghanistan is going to become a hot bed of terrorism but i wanted to update you on the situation as it stands at Kabul Airport. This is important because it appears the situation there is continuing to deteriorate. Over the past few hours weve seen reports of mass gatherings at Kabul Airport with afghan citizens desperate to escape now as the situation there continues to get worse. As a matter of fact we know flights have been cancelled weve seen vision of people climbing on bridges and equipment in attempt to board the last remaining flights. And vision on Social Media in the past hour or so show scenes of total desperation. People clammering around a moving u. S. Air Force Jet some holding on in desperation and others running alongside. Earlier we Saw Reports of shots being fired at Kabul Airport. Clearly a worsening situation there in the Capital Kabul which is now effectively under taliban control. I know youve been reporting in the past 24 hours weve seen extraordinary scenes coming out of the capital with taliban insurgents effectively taking over the president ial palace and that came after cnbc was able to confirm that the afghan president fled the country. What happens next remains to be seen. We know the united states has been continuing to deploy resources, 6,000 more troops on the ground now in order to protect and evacuate staff members at the u. S. Embassy In Kabul. We know its mostly been cleared out by now but No Doubt President Biden monitoring that situation there. Some describing this as an embarrassing end to the u. S. s near two Decade Engagement in the region. We heard Tony Blinken continuing to defend the mission in afghanistan and the widespread decision to withdraw. Initially a trump era decision, executed by the biden administration while also calling the Secretary Of State for a peaceful resolution and a peaceful transition of power. Of course, what that looks like remains to be seen. One other thing to update you on, the Emergency Session of the United Nations which is starting in three hours time, No Doubt well hear more from world powers about next steps when it comes to resolving the situation to ground in afghanistan right now. Dan murphy, thank you. Joining us from the White House is deputy national Security Adviser Jon Finer. Getting reports in from some of my friends who know people who are about to be taken prisoner at the Kabul Airport. So i want to sort of put it all on the table here. We had 3,500 Troops In afghanistan, not a death in 18 months for context, we have right now 50,000 Troops In japan, 76 years later, 35,000 in germany, my understanding is the secretary of defense was against it, the chairman of the joint chiefs was against this, top Military Brass all opposed. Why didnt our Troops Stay in place in afghanistan . So i want to start by saying what youre seeing at the airport is the situation involving desperate people who are not to blame for what is going on in their country and we are going to be spending most of the rest of the day trying to make sure we have the security at the airport we need to be able to execute the evacuation flights the president has ordered and that have gotten 2,000 people that worked with us and their families out of afghanistan and to the united states in the last week or two. I want to go to your larger point which goes to the question of whether the Status Quo in afghanistan. The reason the troops were not taking casualties is there was a deal in place with the taliban, a deal the previous administration had made. We knew, i think everybody knew, we can see it unfolding in front of our eyes, after May 1st when that agreement expired there was going to be significant combat that returned to afghanistan. The main question was whether to put u. S. Forces in the middle of that conflict between afghan parties or whether after 20 years, it was up to the afghan forces with our support to defend their country for themselves. The president was not willing to make the decision to increase u. S. Troops, which obviously would have been required just given the Security Situation you see now, with 3,500 troops on the ground it is hard to see how 2,500 american troops would have been able to provide security for the country without escalate and the President Wasnt ready to do that. Lets look at the situation at hand. At the airport its chaos. And there are a lot of people there who i am having contact with who are risking being imprisoned by the taliban tomorrow or leaving and dying on The Way Home from the airport. Children are suffering from severe dehydration at the airport. My question is whether the united states will be able to secure the Kabul Airport today and stop what is happening there right now . Were going to be spending our time today focused on exactly that question. There will be additional u. S. Forces flowing into kabul International Airport over the course of today and tomorrow. There should be sufficient forces to be able to provide security for the airport so again we can return to those civilian evacuation flights. For american citizens who happen to be in afghanistan for afghans who worked alongside of us for 20 years and for the activists and others that you talked about, all of that requires the airport to be secure and thats the main line of Effort Today to get the airport back up and running. Is the fact that its not secure a failure . We have fathers being risking being imprisoned in front of their children at the airport right now or leaving the airport and getting killed on The Way Home. Was there a plan to secure the airport . Did it fail or was there no plan . Absolutely theres a plan to secure the airport, thats why weve been able to flow additional forces into afghanistan without fighting their way in, theres Contingency Planning for months. We believe there are forces in if place to provide security for the airport particularly with the additional forces arriving again today, tomorrow and the coming days and the main focus is getting the airports back up and running so the flights can continue. Jon, good morning its Jonathan Lemire. When will The American people hear from President Biden . I expect the coming days. The president has spoken to this issue quite extensively and i know hell have more to say. Also the afghan president has fled the country in the midst of the devolving situation there. The images from the airport are horrific with afghan citizens trying to clam more onto jets some hanging onto the wings of the Plane Or Landing gear until its Airborne And Theyve fallen to their death. What contact has there been from Afghans President , do you know where he is, what sort of communication has there been so far, if any, between the u. S. Government and taliban representatives . Again, we remain engaged in diplomatic conversations with the taliban in doha, which is where the representatives have been present. Those conversations are continuing about the future of afghan and the governance. In terms of the situation you describe and the scenes we have all witnessed, these involve desperate people who are understandably desperate and want to get out of their country or find safe refuge amid a difficult situation. This is not a situation that involves the taliban in direct conflict with the united states. And we are making clear to the taliban should they choose to engage us in a more hostile way they will suffer for that decision and they need to enable and allow the airport to function, people to get access to the airport and flights to evacuate afghans and americans and others vulnerable to proceed. So far they have done that and we have been clear that needs to continue. Ann gearen has the next question. Go ahead. Good morning, jon. We have heard quite a bit of bipartisan Concern And Criticism of what might happen next. I understand a good bit of that came up on the all members call that the administration did yesterday morning. What is your answer to what is the potential here for either a regrouping of Al Qaeda within afghanistan or for the collapse of kabul in such stunning fashion to be used as a jihadi Recruiting Tool around the world . How worried are you and what are you telling certainly democrats as part of the criticism about what might happen next. Weve been laser focused on the potential for Terrorist Threats from afghanistan for months now. But its important to provide context. The u. S. Faces terror threats from countries around the world. 20 years ago, afghanistan might have been at the top of the list, the Intelligence Community assesses now there are other countries that present a more severe threat than afghanistan does. Weve been able to continue to address those threats without significant u. S. Forces on the ground. We are going to take that approach in afghanistan, we already are. We have built an over the Horizon Capability to address the terrorist threat, we are monitoring it closely. And that includes, by the way, dealing with any potential reconstitution of the threats we have faced over recent years. We believe were well postured and were going to focus on protecting the country as we have for the last 20 years against threats from afghanistan. I appreciate youre defending the president s picture here and its tough given the pictures were seeing coming out of the airport. But there is an all going as planned tone to what youre saying here and i have to ask you, people hanging from airplanes and falling to their deaths, people running around the airport in chaos, afghans who worked with The Americans, afghans left without equipment to work with, was this what were seeing before our eyes the plan . I dont want to give you any impression that what were seeing at the airport is not a serious situation. One that we need to work throughout the course of the day to address in order to restore security. As the situation deteriorated in afghanistan faster than was anticipated and expected not just by us but broadly . I think the answer to that question is, yes. I think we did expect after investing 80. 20 years in training the Afghan Security Forces there would be more of a fight for the country. It would not this fight against the taliban would not collapse in the course of essentially a week. But at this point we are focused on doing what we can control and that is the security at the airport so we can enable flights to continue and vulnerable people to be evacuated. That is the main line of Effort Today. Deputy national Security Adviser Jon Finer. Thank you very much for coming on the show this morning. Still ahead on Morning Joe. As Pediatric Coronavirus cases rise across the country, at least two of the biggest School Districts in the nation are issuing some of the strongest Vaccine Mandates for teachers to date. Plus well be following the developments out of afghanistan all morning. Well be joined by afghanistan War Veteran Congressman jason crow. Youre watching Morning Joe. Well be right back. G morning well be right back. Oh are you using liberty Mutuals Coverage Customizer tool . So you only pay for what you need. Sorry . Limu, youre an animal only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. If you have this. Consider adding this. An Aarp Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan from unitedhealthcare. Medicare supplement plans help by paying some of what medicare doesnt. And let you see any doctor. Any specialist. Anywhere in the u. S. Who accepts medicare patients. So if you have this. Consider adding this. Call Unitedhealthcare Today for your free decision guide. Welcome back. Its 29 past the hour. The nation just saw its biggest two day covid19 Vaccine Surge in over a month. On saturday, nearly 1 Million doses were administered nationwide. Thats more than double a low point of less than 400,000 reached in mid july. And at least 918,000 doses were administered the day before. According to the cdc, almost 60 of americans have received at least one dose and nearly 51 are fully vaccinated. As coronavirus cases continue to soar, Los Angeles and chicago have announced some of the strongest Vaccine Mandates for teachers. The second and third largest School Districts in the nation will require full Vaccination Status for all School Staff by October 15th with an Exemption Program for those with medical conditions or deeply held religious beliefs. In Los Angeles there is mandated weekly testing for all staff regardless of Vaccination Status while chicago will have testing until the vaccine deadline. Both School Districts have Mask Mandates in place. Theyre not fooling around with this. Joining us now, director of the Vaccine Education Center and physician in the division of infectious diseases at Childrens Hospital of philadelphia dr. Paul offit. Hes also a member of the vaccine advisory panel. Doctor, what are your biggest concerns as we launch into the school year, especially for the hot spots where the Delta Variant appears to be surging and filling up Emergency Rooms . Its a worrisome event. The Delta Variant changes and our position has changed. Last year we didnt have a vaccine, so we were good about masking, social distancing, were not so good about that this year plus were heading into Fall And Winter where the virus spreads more easily and you have a group of susceptible children, thats a recipe for a problem and i worry about it. So for those in hot spots and areas where there are record numbers like florida who are waiting for fda approval, how dangerous could those few weeks of waiting be if they dont get the vaccine . First of all, its silly to wait. When a Drug Or Vaccine is approved by the fda under emergency use authorization, technically what that means is the company has the right to distribute an investigational new drug. Theres nothing to investigate here, its been given to half the population. You know everything about the vaccine. Whether the fda approves it, this is more psychological than anything else. You can mandate vaccines well before their licensed as many groups already have. So in florida, louisiana, mississippi, if youre a young parent and youre sending a child to school and you are not vaccinated and obviously if the child is under a certain age, that child is not vaccinated, what are the risks of your Daytoday Life with the Delta Variant . Its an unnecessary risk. Youre right, in communities where spread is high, that puts these children at risk. For children less than 12 years of age, they cant get a vaccine. So its important that the people around them get the vaccine. Theres no good reason not to get a vaccine, just a lot of bad ones. Doctor, its Jonathan Lemire, good morning. I want to followup with something you said, obviously your area of expertise, children, what is the latest you have heard in terms of when a vaccine will be available to those 12 and under, and correct me if im wrong, but wont it come in two categories, ages say 2 to 12 and another one for really young children and babies . Thats right. I think whats going to happen is were working our way down. You have a vaccine available for the 12 to 17yearold. I think next is the 5 to 12yearold and then 6 month to 5yearold. In terms of when thats going to happen, i dont know. Im reading the Tea Leaves like you are. Hopefully it happens no later than late fall because the clock is ticking. This virus is a winter virus. Look what happened last winter. Look at the first when it first came into the country in February Of 2020, it took off, right. You had A Thousand deaths a day, 1,500, 2,000 then it came down, april, may, june, last year the number of cases and deaths decreased. This is when we had a fully susceptible population and no vaccine. The reason it happened, its basically a winter virus. I worry about children in as communities where theres a lot of spread who are now going to be unvaccinated or vaccinated and, you know, the Delta Variant, winter months, its a recipe for disaster. Doctor, if you could continue on with the concept of this virus really speeding up its spread in the winter. If we stay on course right now with the people who are refusing to get vaccinated, where does this go . What does it look like . Thats the critical question, thats where we are now. You have 25 to 30 of the population saying no thanks. Not interested in a vaccine, i dont care how safe or effective youre telling me, i dont believe you and im not going to get it. So theyre saying were going to allow for fertile ground for this virus to spread, continue to create variants that become resistant to vaccines. What do you do to that group . You can say thats your right as an american citizen to catch and transmit a fatal infection, which it isnt, so you can mandate and compel people to do the right thing. We want to stay on the issue of kids and covid, amid another surge in covid cases, Health Officials say there are no more pediatric Icu Beds available In Dallas, texas. Our next guest had this message to parents. If your child has a heart congenital Heart Defect something, needs an Icu Bed or more than likely if they have covid and need an Icu Bed, we dont have one. Your child will wait for another child to do. And Dallas County Judge jenkins joins us now. An Icu Bed shortage, totally preventable, from covid. What are the concerns about what we do with the shortage, where do we put the children that need the help . Its getting worse every day and we have to transfer those children to other regions or other states but the problem is, its dire in all of our urban areas here in texas. And thats why School Districts and County Executives like myself have put in Place Mask requirements at schools and businesses. This is a battle between Human Kind and the virus. Democrats and republicans, unfortunately our governor is trying to block us at every Turn And End this battle against the virus. We wish he would join our side. Im looking at some of the things that youve said to really try and crystallize this problem. And again, across the south, across the country, if you have Family Members or friends who are not vaccinated, please beg them to get vaccinated. Look at whats happening here where In Dallas if a child wants a bed in the Pediatric Icu they have to wait for another child to die. Thats where were at. And at this point, judge, the u. S. Surgeon general says every death is preventable with the vaccine. What is happening in your country, in your area, in your city . Why are people not getting vaccinated. Why are you dealing with a pediatric Bed Shortage . You know, i talked to a Man Yesterday who told me that its just not clear what to do. That the governor says one thing and i say another and what i asked that man to do is listen to what the doctors say because every doctor in america, every hospital in the cdc Tell You Two things. They tell you to get vaccinated just as soon as possible. Theres no good reason to wait. They tell you to wear a mask when youre indoors and outside your home. If well do that, together we can defeat covid. We are going doortodoor every day in about 30 minutes my team will start, and they go doortodoor, knock on those doors and have those One On one conversations. We have Advertising Campaigns im on shows like this and others every day and talking to people and encouraging them and were making real progress, but not fast enough because as the doctor pointed out, the virus is mutating. It doesnt care what your politics are, what you read on the internet, its just looking for a host when it finds enough, it will mutate into something that will defeat not only the vaccines that we have now, but potentially could leave us in a situation where were back to square one and we dont want that to happen. Whether you care about the economy only, you think this is a hoax but you care about your Stock Portfolio or your business, lets Get Covid Over with. Lets work together as americans, its our patriotic duty to defeat covid and listen to the generals and the generals are not politicians, they are the doctors that have trained their entire adult lives to study this, advise us, listen to what theyre saying, do what theyre saying. If youve already been vaccinated talk to your loved one in a spirit of grace, listen to what they have to say, get the facts and get them vaccinated. Judge, i love hearing that youre going doortodoor and trying to personally appeal to people to get vaccinated and do their part. Im curious, though, what are they saying to you, those who are holding out, why . Where are they getting their information . You begged them to go to their doctor. Theyre obviously not hearing their information from the doctor, what do they say to you . People get information from different places. I heard a person say well, until its fully fda approved, they called It Operation Warp speed, im afraid it was rushed. Now 168 Million americans are fully vaccinated. Theres no reason to wait. If there was a problem we would have already found it by now. There are rumors on the internet that are completely unfounded by any medical science, fictitious side effects. Theres just no reason to wait. There are some people that this has worked its way unfortunately into a culture war. Where if you feel youre on one team you cant wear a mask. Its a sign of weakness and admitting your fear. You cant get vaccinated if if youre on one team. But again, there arent two teams. There is one team and that is team Human Being and the enemy is not each ore, its the virus. So those rumors on the internet Fester On Facebook and have deadly consequences. And anne gearen, i wish i was overstating it but im not. You have the next question. Judge, what would be the one thing that you would like the White House to do on behalf of the argument youve been making, theres no reason to wait and were not two teams . We hear a lot, of course, from the president and many of his aides on that subject, but obviously they have stepped way back from any idea of a mandatory national mandate. What would you like to see them do and how realistic do you think it would be that that decision about a national mandate might change . Well, the realistic thing that im working on with them right now thats most pressing is im trying to get them to send staffing directly to our hospitals because our governor has stopped for a time the temporary Staffing Contract for hospitals and left us woefully under staffed and thats why we have no beds. Talking about beds were talking about a staff unit, we dont have the people to staff those beds so working with them directly on that. Ultimately i think the doctor is right. We have to find a way to get people vaccinated. And over time, eventually, in years perhaps, everyone will get vaccinated. But by then the virus will have jumped into another variant and it may be too late for our current vaccines. So we need to work together. I know there are very serious conversations and those need to continue, about what do we do to require and incentivize people to get the vaccine. Perhaps that is in businesses and industries and perhaps that is through a broader mandate, but im engaged in those conversations and will continue to be. Dallas county judge, clay jenkins, thank you so much for everything youre doing. And thank you for coming on the show this morning. Coming up, the latest on the search are Rescue Efforts going on in haiti after saturdays earthquake. And now a tropical storm is threatening the area. Morning joe is coming right back with much more. Ore. Your Skin Isnt just skin, its a beautiful reflection of everything youve been through. Thats why dove renews your skins ceramides and strengthens it against dryness for softer, smoother skin you can lovingly embrace. Renew the love for your skin with dove body wash. Vo the Climate Crisis is here. Berardelli these temperatures are almost unbelievable renew the love for your skin even for a meteorologist. Vo and the solution is here too clean energy. Like Wind Turbines and solar panels. Now, congress has to invest in it and the millions of workers ready to install it across the country. Because in america, we dont hide from problems like climate change. We take them on. We innovate. We lead. Because if we invest in these workers, and their future at this moment, thats how we build back better. Why choose proven Quality Sleep from Sleep Number . Because a quality Nights Sleep is scientifically proven to help boost performance. The new Sleep Number 360 smart Bed Senses and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. The Sleep Number 360 smart bed is on sale now. 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. Before nexium 24hr, anna could only imagine a comfortable Nights Sleep without frequent heartburn waking her up. Now, that dream. Is her reality. Nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts, for allday, allnight protection. Can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn . We want to turn to another big overseas story in haiti. Where Search And Rescue efforts following the devastating earthquake are being slowed by powerful aftershocks. The Death Toll already well into the thousands. Nbc News Correspondent Gabe Gutierrez is on the ground there. Reporter a Frantic Search for survivors is under way after the mass i have earthquake that ravaged haiti, the race against time is more urgent with tropical Storm Grace barrelling towards the country. A lot of damages. A lot of dead and injured people and for the moment, you know, its really hard for the haitian people. Reporter u. S. Search and rescue teams and the Coast Guard are rushing in supplies as the government declares a state of emergency. A lot of help is needed this Aide Worker says as he flies out victims. Haiti was already reeling from the assassination of its president last month, out of Control Pandemic and a spiraling economic crisis. The 7. 2 Magnitude Quake Saturday Morning was stronger than the quake that struck the one that struck in 2010. But this Quakes Epicenter was in a less populated area. It was unbelievable and then people just started screaming everywhere. On the streets, just out of panic and fear. Betty lives near the epicenter with the impending tropical storm the situation is more dire. People with limited resources, houses not well constructed, and knowing full well there was a tropical storm coming in the next three days. The Death Toll has surpassed at least 1200. 5700 more have been injured. We want to turn to some other stories now, the economy here at home, House Speaker Nancy pelosi is trying to keep her party together as progressives and moderates demand separate actions on structure. He proposed a single procedural vote later this month. Progressives want the 3. 5 trillion Reconciliation Deal passed. But the group from the moderate faction are saying they will oppose the Budget Resolution until the bipartisan bill is passed. Democrats have a razor thin margin in the house and they need nearly their entire caucus to vote in favor. We talked about it last week. The bipartisan Infrastructure Plan passing the senate. Now comes the hart part. Keeping the democrats in line. You need the house that has a wide variant of moderates and real progressives on board to vote yes for that bipartisan deal. And then you have Senate And House that need to be in line for the reconciliation bill. They will need to, again, address the concerns of moderates like Senators Manchin and sinema. And there is progressives that think it is not big enough. It will be an extraordinary balancing act. We said we dont bet against speaker pelosi, but this will be very challenging in the months and weeks ahead. This will stretch into september or october before these come to a vote. Before we reset for the top of the hour we want to turn back to afghanistan. It is an utterly desperate situation at the International Airport In Kabul. They scaled walls, rushed the tarmac, surrounded passenger jets, and attempted to force themselves on to a play overnight as Panic Spread after the taliban took control of the capitol 20 years after being toppled by u. S. Forces. Meanwhile on the other side of the airport separated by a row of Bipartisaned Wire, the u. S. Rushed to evacuate american diplomats from the country. And amid all of the chaos, american rivals are attempting to fill the void and capitalize on the situation. China said theyre willing to forge friendly relations with the militants while russia said theyre not planning to evacuate their embassy In Kabul and would now be talking to the taliban political office in doja. This is a disaster. I dont. I dont know what else to ask you about moving forward. Every expert that we have spoken to this morning said there is no turning back from this. There is no changing course. There is no decision to go back in because that would be catastrophic, but what is more catastrophic than this . These pictures are just heartbreaking. And really as far from anything that this administration, you know, wants to see as possible. What they want today see here was an orderly departure of the united states. Were seeing a chaotic departure, and all of the ramifications from that. There is nothing that the president that the White House or the pentagon can do about these devastating humanitarian and personal costs that theyre leaving behind. John finer said in your interview just a short while ago that the pentagon would spend a good bit of today trying to secure the airport and restore order. That will all happen in the next few days and the planes will leave, the rest of The Americans will leave, and the civilian thats can be carried lout be carried out. Karen, thank you, up next, much more. Richard engel joins us from the ground in afghanistan. Morning joe is coming right back. G right back tech every customer has their own safelite story. This couple loves Camping Adventures and their suv is always there with them. So when their windshield got a chip, they wanted it fixed fast. They drove to Safelite Autoglass for a guaranteed, sameday, inshop repair. We repaired the chip before it could crack. And with their insurance, it was no cost to them. Woman really . Tech thats service you can trust, when you need it most. Pop Rock Music singers safelite repair, safelite replace. At this stage in my life to be able to be here as a part of newday usa, everything that we do is centered around how can we help that veteran . How can we help that Veteran Family . Well help anyone we possibly can. Well get them in that home. Well help them do a refi. Well help them to get cash out of their home. Whatever it is thats going to help that individual. And if its not going to help them, we dont do it. I think absolutely President Biden Bears Responsibility for making this decision, but there is no question that President Trump, his administration, secretary pompeo, they also have responsibility for this. They perpetuated this fantasy that the taliban was a partner for piece. One of what they said would happen has happened. That is Congresswoman Liz Cheney holding the president and his predecessor to account for what is happening in afghanistan right now. It is a devastating situation there as the taliban eases control. We have a team of reporters, experts, and elected officials standing by including one congressman that served in that war zone. Plus the battle here at home against a pandemic. Millions of School Children go back into the classroom just as the Virus Rages back. Well talk about the mixed messaing coming from the same people that should be setting an example. Good Morning And Welcome to Morning Joe. Joe is traveling this morning. Big news this morning, complete collapse. 20 years after the united states toppled the Taliban Regime in afghanistan, the group is on the verge of retaking political power. Taliban forces reentered kabul continuing a recent blitz that has even insurgents capture half of the 34 provincial capitals. They overtook former Police Posts. Afghans fled the airport In Kabul looking to escape the violence only to find commercial flights suspended over gunfire. One person able to escape was the Countrys President who says he left to prevent a flood of bloodshed. We know the embassy In Kabul has been evacuated. State Department Spokesman ned price said we can confirm the safe evacuation of all Embassy Personnel is now complete. All Embassy Personnel are located on the premises of Hamid Karzai International Airport who is securitied by the u. S. Military. Oust officials worked to keep sensitive material from falling into taliban hands. Nbc news confirmed The American flag was lowered and securely removed by embassy staff. Were going to get to the reporting from afghanistan in just a moment. First we have to frame out how significant of a moment this is for u. S. Policy and Americas Presence on the World Stage. There wasnt a lot of room for error after four years of trump. Four u. S. President s had a role in bringing this moment to bear. Leaving american troops that lost life and limb wondering what their sacrifice was all about, and then there are the afghan people left behind. As George Packer writes, Bidens Betrayal of afghans will live in infamy. He says these counted on us and staked their lives on rus a final gratuitous shame. Were going to hear from all sides on this but first, joining us now from on the ground In Kabul, Richard Engel. What is going on . So, we are very close to the airport right now. You can probably hear some gunfire in the background. You can also hear helicopters that are in the air. There is an Apache Circling over the airport right now if is divided into two sections and i think that is an important dynamic that people understand when they look at the situation here. Are comparing this to ssaigon. Here were also seeing desperation. Thousands of afghans have been trying to break in, run in, the taliban is securing the perimeter of the airport. This is the civilian side of the airport, and there are horrible scenes where thousands of people without any Security Checks or controls went on to the tarmac with their families, with their luggage. Some climbed on and it was so full that the pilots refused to take off. The people refused to get off of the planes. The taliban were trying to fire Warning Shots in the air to disburse the crowds. There are reports of several people having been killed. Its unclear if they were killed by gunfire or in the crush of a stampede. The airport is no officially closed but the people are still there out of desperation hoping they can get out of this country by any way possible. Thats on the civilian side of the airport. Just a few hundred yards away separated by Barbed Wire is the Military Side and thats where the evacuation of military personnel is taking place. Bedlam and chaos on one side. Across the Bipartisaned Wire american troops there arms, guns at thesupervising the evacuation of american personnel. Theyre now in this Holding Area on the Military Side of the airport as the evacuation continues nap is just in the airport. Then across kabul in general the taliban are spreading out. They are setting up more and more check points including much of the weapons. Some of them including tanks that they seized from the Afghan Security Forces when they melted away and handed over their supplies to the taliban. Richard, i would love to pull you back in here for some Context And Analysis given how deeply you have covered this and do you express some concerns about this announcement by the president from the get go. We had about 3500 troops there, a small amount relatively, not a death in 18 months, was there anyOne On the ground there that thought this would go well . That thought this was a good idea . No, military commanders that i spoke to here in afghanistan predicted that the government would collapse. Other analysts, experts, afghans that i spoke to in the government and out predicted this would happen. We did numerous reports saying this could happen. When the decision was made to pull the plug, to evacuate the airbase overnight and to leave this country in a great deal of secrecy. Sometimes not informing their afghan partners they were leaving. That the country would start to collapse. And it did collapse, and the Afghan Security Forces collapsed in city after city after city until just yesterday. Kabul fell and initially a trickle of taliban fighters entered the city and set up check points and now they spread out all across the city. Theyre going to media organizations. Theyre going to ngos. Theyre telling people that the taliban are in charge. They have set up position in the president ial palace after the government, after the president here fled the country after going yesterday. The taliban are in control but there is not really controlling the streets. There is some emblematic scenes that theyre leaving behind. The afghans trying to get on to any flight possible and there is a lot of anger among afghans that feel abandoned, that the u. S. Is only concerned about bringing out american citizens, and that the people here are being left to fend for themselves and left to fight for the taliban and among the people stuck here are thousands and thousands of translators. That process to get translators and people that worked for the u. S. Military has been extraordinarily slow and now those translators, as well, many of them are being left to hide and deal with a future of taliban rule. Afghans helping the American Forces being left to die. Left to be on their own there to what is left behind. Richard engel, thank you very much for your reporting this morning. Still ahead, Richard Haas joins us next on his thoughts with the potential consequences of the poorly executed military withdrawal. Youre watching Morning Joe well be right back. Morning jo well be right back. I had the nightmare again maxine. The world was out of wonka bars. Relax. You just need digital workflows. They help keep everyone supplied and happy, proactively. Lets workflow it. Then you can stop having those nightmares. No, i would miss them too much. Whatever you business is facing. Lets workflow it. Servicenow. To be a thriver with metastatic Breast Cancer means. Grabbing a hold of what matters. Asking for what we want. And need. And we need more time. So, we want kisqali. Living longer is possible and proven with kisqali when taken with fulvestrant or a nonsteroidal Aromatase Inhibitor in hr , her2 metastatic Breast Cancer. Kisqali is approved for both pre and postmenopausal women, and has extended lives in multiple clinical trials. Kisqali is a pill thats significantly more effective at delaying Disease Progression versus a nonsteroidal Aromatase Inhibitor or fulvestrant alone. Kisqali can cause lung problems, or an abnormal heartbeat, which can lead to death. It can cause serious skin reactions, liver problems, and low white Blood Cell counts that may result in severe infections. Tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including breathing problems, cough, chest pain, a change in your heartbeat, dizziness, yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, tiredness, loss of appetite, abdomen pain, bleeding, bruising, fever, chills, or other symptoms of an infection, a severe or worsening rash, are or plan to become pregnant, or breastfeeding. Avoid grapefruit during treatment. Kisqali is not approved for use with tamoxifen. Its our time. For more time. We asked for kisqali. Ask your doctor about living longer with kisqali. At usaa, weve been called too exclusive. Because we only serve those who honorably served. All ranks, all branches, and their families. Are we still exclusive . Absolutely. And thats exactly why you should join. Discover card i just got my Cashback Match is this for real . Yup we match all the cash back new Card Members earn at the end of their first year automatically woo i got my money its hard to contain yourself isnt it . Uh huh well let it go woooo get a dollar for Dollar Match at the end of your first year. Only from discover. Facing leaks takes strength. Get a dollar for Dollar Match at the end of your first year. So heres to the strong, who trust in our performance and comfortable longlasting protection. Because your strength is supported by ours. Depend. The only thing stronger than us, is you. Every day in business brings something new. So get the flexibility of the new mobile service designed for your small business. Introducing Comcast Business mobile. You get the most reliable network with Nationwide 5g included. And you can get unlimited data for just 30 per line per month when you get four lines or Mix And Match data options. Available now for Comcast Business Internet customers with no lineactivation fees or Term Contract required. See if you can save by switching today. Comcast business. Powering possibilities. Liz whenny is among the republicans criticizing the deal with the taliban from 2020 that included less forces and a prisoner swap. It is a devastating set of circumstances. The notion that the Trump Administration, at one time they would invite the taliban to Camp David on september 11, this disaster certainly began and look, the notion of were going to end wars, what were watching now in afghanistan is what happens when america withdraws from the world. If you listen, it is incredible. Here is what then President Trump said at the time. We had a very good conversation with the leader of the Taliban Today they have a very common interest, well find out about the country itself. We have been there for 20 years. The president s have tried and they have been unable to get an agreement. The relationship that i have with them is very good. We had a good conversation, they want to cease the violence. They would like to cease violence also. As the ap reported last Year Trump was the first u. S. President believed to have ever spoken directly with the militant group responsible for the deaths of thousands of u. S. Troops. In November Of 2020 Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo met with a taliban delegation hours after mortar shells slammed into parts of afghanistans capital. It came after they signed an agreement with the taliban to promote an negotiated end to the conflict. Yesterday the former Secretary Of State was pressed on his own record of legitimatizing the group. He insisted that events would have unfolded differently if trump was president. I dont know what is worse than this. I will quote George Packer again. This will live in infamy, this was all foreseen. For months Human Rights Organizations have been urging the biden administration to evacuate americas afghan allies on an emergency basis. For months warnings appeared in the press, the administrations answers were never adequate. The world, a brief introduction. Because all of this was so foreseen, what was gain here politically . Strategically, geopolitically, geostrategically. What was the gain for the united states . Absolutely none. Unless i missed it i didnt notice people voting in 2020 based On Afghanistan, and people going into the streets protesting it was about Police And George floyd, not about The American involvement in afghanistan. I didnt see pressure to come out. And what is so ironic is joe inherited a situation in which The Americans had a moderate investment in afghanistan. We came down from 100,000 troops to 3,000 troops. Our role was circumscribed. There had not been a Combat Fatality since may of 2020. Why did the previous president and this president felt so compelled to leave afghanistan . That to me is one of the Big Questions. What i dont think is debatable is how we did it. This is a fiasco. A big part of life is execution or execution, and this is just malpractice. I think the bigger policy Questions Today are why it was that we were unwilling to sustain a small presence that seemed to provide an anchor or foundation. Not for winning a ward or bringing peace, but for avoiding what were now seeing on the streets. Why was that considered untenable. I think it is important to have a bigger conversation about the last 20 years. What did we try to establish . Did We Overreach . We under reached at times perhaps. I think right now the Big Question is why two administrations in a row felt compelled to leave. It is enough to make you question the value of bipartisanship. I would think the agreement that we signed with the taliban was a disaster. Te asked virtually nothing of the taliban, and mr. Biden has not been shy about changing all sorts of other policies he inherited. Why was he unwilling to change this. Andrea mitchell has been covering this since the beginning and well talk to her. Morning joe is coming back. Oek baaam. Internet that doesnt miss a beat. Thats cute, but my internet streams to my ride. Pshh, mines so fast, no one can catch me. Thats because you both have the same internet. Xfinity xfi. So powerful, it keeps oneupping itself. Can your internet do that . My plaque psoriasis. The itching. The burning. The stinging. My skin was no longer mine. My psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen. Painful. Emerge tremfyant™. With tremfya®, adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Can uncover clearer skin and improve symptoms at 16 weeks. Tremfya® is the only medication of its kind also approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis. Serious allergic reactions may occur. Tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a Vaccine Or Plan to. Tremfya®. Emerge tremfyant™. Janssen can help you explore Cost Support options. Every day in business brings something new. Tremfya®. Emerge tremfyant™. So get the flexibility of the new mobile service designed for your small business. Introducing Comcast Business mobile. You get the most reliable network with Nationwide 5g included. And you can get unlimited data for just 30 per line per month when you get four lines or Mix And Match data options. Available now for Comcast Business Internet customers with no lineactivation fees or Term Contract required. See if you can save by switching today. Comcast business. Powering possibilities. As we can say is this is going very stiffly upward. I will be surprised if we dont cross 200,000 cases a day in the next few weeks and that is heartbreaking. That is january and february. That should not be august. But here we are with Delta Variant which is so contagious and this heartbreaking situation where 90-million'>90 Million people are still unvaccinated. Who are sitting ducks for this virus and thats the mess that were in. Were in a world of hurt and it is a critical junture to do everything we can to turn it around. That was a warning about the ugs hitting 200,000 covid cases per day. It comes as a major u. S. City winds up to prove proof of vaccination for some indoor cities, Katy Park has the latest. Overwhelming hospitals out west, in utah the states largest Health Care System is struggling to keep up. This is not a place that we want to be. Nationwide pediatric cases are growing at an alarming rate, too. Roughly a 400 increase in a month, as more kids head Back To School. Recent outbreaks in georgia now forcing several counties to suspend inperson learning. They Cant Plan for teaching the face to face kids and those in quarantine. And the debate over Vaccine Mandates boiling over. One person was staffed in a clash outside of City Hall. And in new York City protestors blocking roads outside of the mayors residence. It is about saving human live, not money in the short term. It applied to customers and workers that can show their Vaccination Status through an app or a card. If youre not vaccinated you will not be able to participate in many things, thats the point that were trying to get across. Restaurant owners say it is adding more to their plait. The Hospitality Industry continues to become the skap gone for everything covid. Dr. Nahid bedellia. Lets start with the surges in the south. Where are the hot spots, and can you explain concerns over kids going Back To Schools . I think youre seeing tom states start to level off. It is still very high Case Numbers but youre seeing no end to states like Florida And Text that have a upward trajectory and theyre already seeing their Health Systems overwhelmed. If youre in a community where they are sending people somewhere else, if youre not able to respond in time, youre in a crisis. If Health Care workers are getting shipped in from outside, which is happening in a few counties in texas, then youre in a cross. Youre not seeing even though Vaccination Rates are now starting to inch up, the impact of those may not be seen for awhile and what is needed in those Communities Today is Mask Mandates. It is a level of public Health Energy and to your point about children, right . We have seen the outbreaks in states like georgia and clusters that delay Inschool Learning which is what All Of Us want for our kids. The stories that are coming out of florida and some of the hotspots are really hard to imagine. A 30yearold Mom dieing ten days after giving birth. And yet i speak to parents Are Unvaccinated but theyre upset because theyre child has to go get a Covid Test. You look at stories like this, but isnt it the unvaccinated that has us in this situation which is creating, causing us to be upset for our children who are undergoing this stress . Yeah, the majorities over 90 of people hospitalized Are Unvaccinated. You hear about Breakthrough Infections and there is a cause of Breakthrough Infections, but nowhere i think theyre exactly right. Youre seeing them not just being unvaccinated. Youre seeing a segment of the population throughout the entire pandemic. They are not seeing the importance of the whole mask, vaccines, the recognition that your actions are affecting those around you. People older, people immuno compromised, and young healthy people ending up in the hospitals. The communities are overwhelmed. Coming up, a former Army Ranger that served in afghanistan is standing by and he is next on Morning Joe. Discover card i just got my Cashback Match is this for real . Yup we match all the cash back new Card Members earn at the end of their first year automatically woo i got my money its hard to contain yourself isnt it . Uh huh well let it go woooo get a dollar for Dollar Match at the end of your first year. Only from discover. Get a dollar for Dollar Match at the end of your first year. Oh, son of a poppyseed ah, theres no place like panera. Enjoy the cool, refreshing strawberry poppyseed salad. Panera. Order on the app today. Music playing. Theres an america we build and one we explore one thats been paved and one thats forever wild but freedom means you dont have to choose just one adventure you get both. Introducing the Allnew 3row Jeep grand Cherokee L jeep. Theres only one. As i observe investors balance risk and reward, jeep grand Cherokee L i see one element securing portfolios, time after time. Gold. Your strategic advantage. Your Skin Isnt just skin, its a beautiful reflection of everything youve been through. Thats why dove renews your skins ceramides and strengthens it against dryness for softer, smoother skin you can lovingly embrace. Renew the love for your skin with dove body wash. Welcome back, we have been covering the scenes from afghanistan as the situation spirals out of control. New video thousands pure chaos at Kabuls Airport as afghans try to board planes out of the country. Joining us now, democratic member of the house armed Services Committee and u. S. Army Veteran Congressman Jason crowe of colorado. He served two tours ofduh duty. Also joining us Andrea Mitchell reports. Good to have you both. We referenced a piece this morning by George Packer in the Plank Entitled Bidens betrayal of afghans that will live in infamy. The author references your work leading the effort to save the afghan interpreters. Are they being betrayed right now . Hi, micah, thank you for having me on. Were going to have plenty of time in the years and decades to come. Im sure there will be plenty of papers on this, Monday Morning quarterbacking. Members of congress have plenty of issues on this issue who for decades refused to pay attention to afghanistan, refused to authorize military force. We have to continue to hold that airport and get as many friends and partners as we can out in the coming days. On the Today Show the national Security Advisor says the speed of afghan cities fall boils down to the Afghans Unwillingness to fight. How would you describe what is happening right now . I think it is a complete failure of anticipation. We had seen all of the signs that the afghans would not fight. The expectation that they would fight, i think, is a fantasy. And the fact is that as they began to move just a week ago it was already too late to plan the proper departure for the afghan interpreters and translators and others. And this doesnt even begin to include all of the civilian nonmilitary related human rights organizers, the educators, the women. We have been seeing videos that we have not authenticated, but videos horrifying of what is happening already to women in the last few days. Women and girls, being taken and grabbed by taliban soldiers, grabbing girls from their mothers arms. Its not defensible. And one keeps asking why we could not leave a residual force to keep the president s commitment for the original mission. The mission he says that was to prevent afghanistan from begin becoming an haven. I have not seen any reporting on which taliban are in charge. Are they the worst of the people, are they people we think we can deal with, and what do we know about thousands released from prisons as they go city to city where the hardest Al Qaeda prisoners were being held, are now being absorbed into the taliban forces. Congressman crowe, wasnt this a residual force, 3500 Troops In afghanistan. We have forces around the world, many more in japan, in germany, there wasnt a death in afghanistan, i believe, in the past 18 months. I didnt see protests in the streets saying get us out of afghanistan. I didnt see mourning the deaths of american troops. I saw a residual force doing its job. Do you think this should have happened . That the president should have made this decision . Well, mika, i did agree with the president s and i do agree with the decision to withdraw from afghanistan. By definition, it was all done in a textbook way. We withdrew a 20 Year Footprint and we had zero american casualties. So you know we will have a chance to debate whether or not we should have left a residual force. I think it was time to end The American Combat Mission to afghanistan. After 20 years there was no solution and i think it is clear after the last couple days and weeks that another five years, ten years, would not have made the difference. Now what is messed up is the noncombatant evacuation. I see the images of the afghanis on the tarmac on the c17, that didnt need to happen. Many of us have been warning the administration for months, since the day the president made the withdrawal, they have been banging the drums. They are talking to anyone that will listen to us saying start the evacuation now. We could have got these folks out months ago. Now we have citizens stranded but thousands of partners stranded, and we didnt need to be here today. Congressman crow, good morning. What we have seen in the last few days, the situation in afghanistan deteriorating so rapidly, is a number of your fellow veterans given interviews and taking to Social Media not just to criticize the decision but questions their own service wondering if it was worth it. Did i sacrifice in vein. I lost my friends overseas for this. Do you feel that way . Secondly what do you tell what do you tell veterans that feel that way . This is extremely important. Im glad you asked the question. Every Serviceman And Woman that stepped up after 911 that raidsed their right hand to serve our country should be honored. They answered the call of our country. They stood in line like generations of americans before, they answered the call, they did what their country asked them to do. They made a Difference Finish for afghans and they made their life better and they should always be extremely proud of that. Do not confuse your individual service with the policy decisions, the politics, that happen in washington dc. Those are two very different things. Thank you, i want to ask the congressman about the security at the airport. We have yet to see the full 5000 Forces Flow in, theyre still en route, and what do you think about the security at the airport for the remaining americans there and for some of our afghan colleague whos are there and desperate to get out. How long can that hold . Andrea, i have been to that airport. I know you have been as well. Its at the center of the city. Its a very large complex. My message has been send in the Combat Power and the troops necessary to secure that airport. Not just operations there in the perimeter. There is tens of thousands of afghans coming there. Well have to do crowd control. Well have to extend the patrol. That is a large operation. If there is ever a time for overkill, ever a time to send in more than you think you might need, and we have capability, we have rapid reaction forces, send in what we need. Andrea mitchell, well see you for Andrea Mitchell reports here at 12 00 noon for more on the chaos of afghanistan. Particularly the afghan women particularly vulnerable fearing for their lives as the taliban Gains Power in the country. In afghanistan, girls are used to dreaming big. Doctor, dentist. For them, going to school is normal. You many students, and coping with a constant threat from men that dont want them to learn. They say you might die, but i try to keep the girls motivated to study. Under the taliban in the 1990s women and girls were banned from work and education. Shrouded and kept out of public life. But for 20 years they lived out in the open many free to make their own choices. They have seen huge gains in education, equal rights, politics, things like shopping alone. All now at risk as the country could plunge back into the darkness of taliban rule. Politician and activist ku i survived two assassination attempts and still sat across the table from the taliban to negotiate. What is most at Danger And Risk of the country is those upset with women for becoming popular in the last 20 years. I dont know whose false this is, this is the tragedy of afghanistan. One woman fled to pakistan, her daughter is 19 now. Would you leave the country again . Absolutely, its like you cant breathe. But there is some hope these women, same, in a younger generation not willing to give up what they have gained. Nbc news, kabul. Next were going to take a brief break from the afghanistan coverage, the developing news there, and also to honor the visionary women making up the latest chapter of the 50 over 50 project. Keep it here on Morning Joe. E. Keep it here on Morning Joe. Your Skin Isnt just skin, its a beautiful reflection of everything youve been through. Thats why dove renews your skins ceramides and strengthens it against dryness for softer, smoother skin you can lovingly embrace. Renew the love for your skin with dove body wash. One, two one, two, three only pay for what you need with customized Car Insurance from Liberty Mutual renew the love for your Skin Nothing rhymes with Liberty Mutual. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Finding new routes to reach your customers, and new ways for them to reach you. Is what business is all about. Its what the united states postal service has always been about. So as your business changes, were changing with it. With ecommerce that runs at the speed of now. Next Day And Twoday shipping nationwide. Same Day Shipping across town. Returns right from the doorstep, and deliveries seven days a week. Its a whole new world out there. Lets not keep it waiting. Ii had the nightmareld again maxine. The world was out of wonka bars. Relax. You just need digital workflows. They help keep everyone supplied and happy, proactively. Lets workflow it. Then you can stop having those nightmares. No, i would miss them too much. Whatever you business is facing. Lets workflow it. Servicenow. Vo a clean energy future. Its finally within our reach if congress passes the president s build back better plan which creates millions of clean energy jobs. The plan is paid for entirely by making big corporations and the superrich pay their fair share in taxes. Americans making under 400k wont pay a dime. A clean energy future. Its about good paying jobs for us and protecting our planet for them. Congress lets get this done. Welcome back to Morning Joe. Well have the latest On Afghanistan in a moment, including new video from the airport In Kabul which is utter chaos this morning. We want to get to the latest chapter of the 50 over 50 project, the visionaries list, armed with brilliant ideas, experience, and determination to disrupt, these 50 women are making impact on Society And Culture through Health Care, robotics, music, dance, and so much more. Here to explain how the latest one of a Kind List came together, forbes Women Editor Maggie mcgrath, chief constant officer of forbes media, editor of forbes, randall lane. First, how did this list come about . To reflect what you were talking about all morning, it is a sad day for afghanistan, particularly for women as we saw in the last segment. This is inspiration, reminder of what women can accomplish if given the opportunity. So i think what we looked at with this list with women over 50 having the best years of their life, this is a visionary list, art, science, women with ideas that are executing those ideas. You talk about women over 50 having the best years of their life, maggie. I want to say on our little list, 71 years old, 74 years old, 82 years old. Were talking about 50 and well beyond, doing amazing things. Start with Eileen Fisher. Tell us about her. Shes 71 years old, a Designer And Founder of Eileen Fisher clothing brand. She started it in 1984 with just 350 in her pocket. Her Backup Plan was to waitress, but she didnt need that Backup Plan. Her simple designs with beautiful fabric have sold and are ahead of their time as we look to go back to the office and wear comfortable clothing, she stands to benefit. She also has had some of the most innovative ideas over the age of 50. She started a renew program where she buys back old clothes from customers for 5 a piece, investing in suppliers that regenerate the land, buying wool from farmers that want to make it better than she found it. Wally funk, 82 years old, absolutely going strong. People are talking about her as the oldest woman to go to space. She was the oldest person ever to go to space when she went up with Jeff Bezos on the blue origin flight. This is a woman that had her Pilots License from 17. 65 years. She taught more than 3,000 people how to fly, thats what women do. They teach and mentor. She is one of the 13 trained to speak out to the idea how can women be in space, but were never given the opportunity. She took what was a Publicity Stunt and made it inspirational. To see her achieve a lifelong dream at the age of 82, how can you not be inspired by that. Absolutely. Maggie, tell us about 74yearold carlotta flores. Thats the founder of flores concepts. A Restaurant Empire but it didnt start that way. It started with one restaurant founded by her aunts in 1922. And she never intended to take it over, was doing a walk through of the restaurant getting ready to sell it. She looked around and thought hey, i can do this. Now has six restaurants, eight airport restaurants, and catering business. She said when she walks around tuesday on and sees empty buildings thinks what can i put there. She opened a grab and go concept this year, two years ago got a james beard nomination, so she, i am curious to see what she does next. Youve got to check out our visionaries list, forbes. Com. Thank you both for coming on. Thank you for doing the lists with me. We have a lot more ahead and I Cant wait to tell viewers whats in store for 50 over 50. Thank you very much. As we round out the show, a recap of fast moving developments in afghanistan. Already the indelible image of helicopters airlifting them from the embassy In Kabul. Drawing comparisons to the withdrawal from vietnam decades ago. With this Troop Surge to airlift americans out of afghanistan, arent we already in the midst of a sigh gone moment . No, were not. Remember, this is not sigh on. We went there with one mission and that was to deal with folks that attacked us on 9 11. We succeeded in that mission, the objective we set, bringing those that attacked us to justice, making sure they couldnt attack us again from afghanistan. We succeeded in that mission and in fact succeeded awhile ago. And at the same time remaining in afghanistan for another one, five, ten years is not in the national interest. British were there a long time in 19th century, russians in the 20th century. We have been there twice as long as the russians. How thats in our national interest i dont see. Then theres this. Afghans literally chasing massive planes on the airport tarmac. Trying for any chance to escape the taliban. Hearing reports from people on the ground at the airport there that they are frightened, that they will be executed and tortured if they leave the airport, and yet they cant get out. Some frightened they will be executed or taken in front of their children. And again, George Packers piece in the atlantic. Bidens betrayal of afghans will live in infamy. The Administrations Position now is that they are holding firm on this withdrawal. 3500 Troops In afghanistan, over 18 months, no deaths of american troops. Residual force that many say could have stayed for years just like in many other countries, but biden was firm on getting out of afghanistan and this morning, the administration is holding firm to that, saying it is the Afghans Unwillingness to fight and many are taking issue not just with that statement by the national Security Adviser on the Today Show but by the fact that this evacuation, this departure from the Kabul Airport has been nothing less than botched, to have people desperately holding on to planes for their life and falling from the planes to their deaths in a desperate attempt to somehow get out of kabul. This is not going well at all. And this part the administration concedes was not planned. The way theyre leaving the airport this morning is not going well. Jonathan lemire, final thoughts . Mika, obviously the primary Concern Today is the airport. The americans still there, the afghans still there, can be evacuated safely. Two final points, we heard about the mission being accomplished to get those that committed the 9 11 attacks. Security officials feel the situation could lenld itself to be being home again to terrorists launching attacks. Theyre wanting biden to speak today to address the situation. We are hearing from the administration that he may speak in the coming days. I dont know if they can wait that long. That does it for us this morning. Stephanie ruhle picks up coverage right now. Hi there, i am stephanie ruhle. Monday, august 16th. We start with breaking news out of afghanistan for the socalled forever war coming to a messy, chaotic, heartbreaking end. Sunday, the taliban seized the capital of kabul, effectively taking control of the country, making headlines around the world. After nearly 20 years of trying to hold afghanistan together, the united states is just trying to get out. But theyre not alone. Look at the pictures. Crowds of desperate afghans descended on the airport In Kabul. People flooding the tarmac, climbing onto planes, trying to get out any way they can. To make matters worse, you can hear gunfire breaking out