The course of during covid ive been saying we cant use the Word Plan for anything were talking about in our future. Its an idea i might do, X Or Y. I think in this News Environment its the same thing, and as long as this evacuation is going on in afghanistan, we can guess what were talking about tomorrow night, but were not going to know. It is true and it is humbling. But i am going to try. Im going to try and thats all i can say. I think youll get it done. I think thats the night for it. Good night, rachel. Good night, lawrence. Weve been through this only once before in our history. Before the evacuation in afghanistan, The Americans had carried out only one evacuation from a war that we lost. That was from vietnam in 1975, and when the airport we were using came under Rocket Fire from the North Vietnamese army and two marines were killed, the final two soldiers killed in combat in vietnam, republican President Gerald Ford immediately ordered the abandonment of the airport and the switch to helicopters dangerously taking people from the tops of buildings to finish the evacuation. President ford immediately ordered the evacuation speeded up. The president never gave a thought to trying to avenge the deaths of those two marines or in any way expanding the evacuation or extending the deadline from vietnam. President ford speeded it up. But President Ford did not tell us any of that at the time. President ford did not say a public word about the evacuation while it was going on or immediately after its end. Not one word. And not one word about the deaths of those marines in the evacuation of vietnam. Today when tragedy struck in afghanistan and 13 marines were killed, 18 marines were injured, President Biden said this. I bear responsibility for fundamentally all thats happened of late. The pentagon estimates that at least 60 afghans were killed in the Suicide Bombing outside the airport in kabul. President bidens first Message Today was one of Con Dolly Ens to the families and to the Loved Ones of the marines who were killed. My Heart Aches for you. I know this. We have a continued obligation, a sacred obligation to all of you, families of those heroes. That obligation is not temporary, it lasts forever. The lives we Lost Today are lives given in the service of liberty, the service of security, the service of others and the service of america. The president s second message was to the people who carried out the attack. For those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes america harm, know this. We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay. Ill defend our interests and our people with every measure at my command. The president then explained what happens next. We will not be deterred by terrorists. We will not let them stop our mission. We will continue the evacuation. Ive also ordered my commanders to develop operational plans to strike isisk assets, leadership and facilities. We will respond with Force And Precision at our time at the place we choose in a moment of our choosing. Heres what you need to know. These isis terrorists will not win. We will rescue The Americans in there. We will get our afghan allies out. And our mission will Go On. America will not be intimidated. I have the utmost confidence in our brave Service Members who continue to execute this mission with Courage And Honor to save lives and get americans, our partners, our afghan allies out of afghanistan. The first question to the President Today was from nbcs kelly odonnell. Reporter do you believe you will authorize additional forces to respond to that attack inside afghanistan, and are you prepared to add additional forces to protect those americans who remain on the ground carrying out the Evacuation Operation . Ive instructed the military whatever they need, if they need additional force, i will grant it. But the military from chairman of joint chiefs, the joint chiefs, the commanders in the field have all contacted me one way or another, usually by letter, saying they subscribe to the mission as designed to get as many people out as we can within the time frame that is allotted. That is the best way, they believe, to get as many americans out as possible and others. And with regard to finding, tracking down the isis leaders who ordered this, we have some reason to believe we know who they are not certain and we will find ways of choosing our large Military Operations to get them. The president made a point that every student of history, as he called himself, knows is true. Look, i know of no conflict as a student of history, no conflict where, when a war was ended, one side was able to guarantee that everyone they wanted to be extracted from that country would get out. As a point of historical comparison, after the Last American Helicopter Left vietnam, secretary of State Henry Kissinger was asked, quote, do you have any idea of the number of americans who remained behind . Secretary kissinger answered, quote, i have no idea the number of americans that remain behind. The united states left hundreds of thousands of people behind in vietnam who wanted to leave and come to this country. Today the president suggested that the number of people who might want to leave afghanistan now could number in the millions. Millions of afghani citizens who are not taliban, who did not actively cooperate with us as sivs, who, if given a chance, may be on board a plane tomorrow. Leading off our discussion tonight, joe cincioni, national Security Expert and distinguished fellow at the Quincy Institute for responsible spacecraft. Timothy kudo, a marine who served in iraq and afghanistan, and adam weinstein, a former marine who served in afghanistan. He is now at the Quincy Institute for responsible spacecraft. I want to begin with the Marines Tonight because these were your Brothers In Arms who were Lost Today. Timothy, let me begin with you and just your feelings of what happened today. I mean, its an entirely tragic day for the marine corps but also the war in afghanistan. Ive been over there, and i think many people who have been over there, i heard the screams of parents of afghans who had their children killed, and then i came home and heard those same screams from both widows and families. Its an utter tragedy, yet as i look today at the loss of life, i realize this has been happening in afghanistan for 20 years, and more than 2,000 american soldiers have been killed in this war, so im glad this is coming to an end, but its also who will be the last soldier to die in afghanistan . Adam, your reaction to the events of the day . Obviously todays events were dismal and all americans, i think, are mourning the loss of our Service Members, but my fellow marine said it perfectly. This is an extension of the loss of Life Weve seen over the last 20 years, and its a consequence of a failed u. S. Military strategy. We cannot look at this evacuation in a vacuum. Whenever you have u. S. Troops in a country where nonstate actors are able to blend in with the civilian population, the events we saw today, that we witnessed today, can happen. Thats been the story of this war for the past 20 years, and its precisely why the u. S. Military could not offer a sustainable solution for the conflict in afghanistan. Joe, i was struck today by looking once again at a Press Conference that Henry Kissinger participated in after the last helicopter left vietnam. Most of the press questions were about the futility of the war itself. They werent tactical questions about exactly what happened yesterday and how did you lose control of the airport, and Henry Kissinger was there talking about what he thought was the Cease Fire he had negotiated with the North Vietnamese which did not work and where they were actively, you know, sending Rocket Fire against this evacuation. And when you look at what happened then compared to what happened now, the biden administration has achieved much more, but its suddenly marginal. Its just a marginal improvement over the first time we tried to do this. And the lesson seems to be, we simply do not know how to, and No One knows how, to run an organized, Safe Evacuation from a war they lose. Thats exactly right, lawrence. A retreat under fire is one of the most difficult Military Missions to execute. Napoleon lost far more troops in his retreat from moscow than he lost in the invasion in russia in the first place. We are not used to this kind of action. Weve lost the memory of what happened in laos and cambodia and vietnam. You put it right. We have lost this war and what were seeing is The End of 20 years of failed strategy, of failed Military Operations, of failed nation building, and yet the discussion in washington is exactly the opposite of what you described with Henry Kissinger. In washington we are focused on whats been going on for the last 20 days instead of looking at the last 20 years. This must not be the focus of our attention. There needs to be a reckoning of what happened to bring us to this tragic point. We do apparently have some effective communication with the other side in this evacuation that we did not have in vietnam. Lets listen to what the president said today about some of the effective communication with the taliban on this evacuation. With regard to there are certain circumstances where weve gotten information, and quite frankly, sometimes from some of you saying you know of such and such a group of people are trying to get out, theyre on a bus, theyre moving from other people. And this is their location. And there have been occasions when our military has contacted their military counterparts in the taliban and said, for example, this bus is coming through with X Number of people on it made up of the following group of people. We want you to let that bus or that group through. So, yes, there have been occasions like that. To the best of my knowledge, in those cases, the bulk of that has occurred have been let through. Timothy, with your experience in afghanistan, are you surprised that the american military is having some successful communications like that with the taliban . Not entirely. When we were over there, the Afghan Police and afghan army we were with would regularly speak with the taliban and other commanders. You could jump on the phone with them as well if you wanted to with your interpreter and communicate. It wasnt productive communication. It was basically them taunting us and us just kind of listening to what they were saying. This is very common over there, and i think as the taliban has shifted to becoming the government of afghanistan, it makes a lot of sense for us to be in communication with them. We find some way to work together which is a common goal for both of us, which is the withdrawal of presence in afghanistan. Listen to what Gerald Mckenzie said about where we go from here. Thats not something we just started doing, weve been doing that all along. The general talking about the way the evacuation will continue. General mckenzie seemed to be processing today as a day in battle where you have casualties, you have losses and that doesnt change your objective. Yeah. I mean, i think what we need to look at now is, as we shift from a Military Position to diplomacy, and thats going to be the inevitable outcome with where were at with this No Matter how this ends, that we need to find a way to the taliban and the united states forces have done terrible things to each other over the course of the past 20 years of work, and thats created a huge amount of bad blood on both sides, which i think were seeing in large part with the people who want to keep us in afghanistan. Its an ability to move beyond that. I dont know how well create that kind of reproachment, but we have to, because when we look at the american citizens there, we have a short deadline to do this, but we have to think how to do it after the deadline ends, using diplomacy and working with the taliban to work it out, continuing with a program to hopefully continue getting people out. Adam, was there something you wanted to hear from the President Today or the Military Today that you didnt hear . No, not really. I think the president gave a message that was directed at the american people that might not have gotten into the specifics. Thats what some policymakers or analysts wanted to hear. Thats not the point of this message. We have to remember the folks who are castigating the president for the casualties today, some said a dozen casualties is perfectly sustainable if it meant staying in afghanistan indefinitely. I think its important we dont hold President Biden to two different standards whether or not its Collateral Damage as a result of a withdrawal or Collateral Damage remaining committed to a failed policy that has occurred over the past 20 years. I think President Biden today showed empathy, which was needed in this moment, both for afghans and the Service Members that lost their lives from the united states, and i think he expressed a commitment to think outside of the box to get the rest of these people out. Thats what its going to take. Thats why diplomacy in some form with the taliban is going to be essential for making sure that we can get our partners and americans out of the country in the days going forward. I think we should remember that Diplomacy And Communication with the taliban is not the same as granting legitimacy to the taliban. Those things shouldnt be conflated. We can talk to the taliban just as we are talking to the taliban without recognizing their action of taking the government by force. Well take a break here. Everyone please stay with us, and after this break we will hear what President Biden said today about the Policy Mistake of the last 20 years in afghanistan. Mistake of the last 20 years in afghanistan. Ive got moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Now, theres skyrizi. Things are getting clearer. I feel free to bare my skin yeah, thats all me. Nothing and me go Hand In Hand Nothing on my skin, thats my new plan. Nothing is everything. Achieve clearer skin with skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90 clearer skin at 4 months. Of those, nearly 9 out of 10 sustained it through 1 year. And skyrizi is 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. I see nothing in a different way its my moment so i just gotta say. Nothing is everything. Skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. 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I have never been of the view that we should be sacrificing american lives to try to establish a democratic government in afghanistan, a country that has never once in its entire history been a united country, and is made up i dont mean this in a derogatory way made up of different tribes who have never, ever, ever gotten along with one another. And back with us, joe cirincione, tim Kudo And Adam weinstein. Lets talk about the history of afghanistan and how it relates to tonight. Those were strong words by the president , and you may disagree with the way he conducted this evacuation, but hes telling the truth. Hes explaining it the way he sees it, and i think accurately. Hes getting to the heart of the issue. This was a flawed strategy from the beginning, going in, getting osama bin laden, getting Al Qaeda, yes, check, we did that. But to stay and have a continuous occupation of this country to conduct a centralized government which they never had in their entire history, as the president pointed out, and all for what . For what purpose . To try to use Military American power to shape the prospects of the middle east. This is what the president is taking issue with. In washington you see a determined Cya Operation going on in the washington establishment, a cover your butt operation, where all of those who have been responsible for the wars in the past 20 years are now on tv saying these wars were just and noble, that if we just listened to them, everything would work out okay, that we could keep 2,000 troops in afghanistan indefinitely, and oh, by the way, were being stabbed in the back by Joe Biden this is a very dangerous moment in the Foreign Policy. We have to be honest about how we got here and not salvage past reputations and prestige. Lets listen to the president reminding the white House Press Corps and the american people about why the military went into afghanistan 20 years ago. Our interests in going was to prevent Al Qaeda from reemerging, first to get bin laden, wipe out Al Qaeda and afghanistan, prevent that from happening again. Adam weinstein, you could think thats a statement of the obvious, but it actually isnt these days. That fact has gotten lost in so much of the discussion of whats been happening in this evacuation. Well, i think washington engaged in so much gaslighting over the years that it actually began to believe its own message, which oftentimes was detached from reality. Look at isisk, as an example. This is a group that killed 90 school children this last may. U. S. Troops were still in the country. This is a group that the may before that engaged in an attack on a maternity ward. So isisk is a group that has terrorized Afghan Society even when we had upwards of 8,000plus u. S. Troops in the country. Its precisely the kind of nonstate actor that u. S. Troops were not able to deal with, and its the reason why it didnt make sense to apply an openended Military Strategy here. What did we achieve in afghanistan . We did degrade Al Qaeda, we didnt defeat Al Qaeda, and the president s job is to take these risks that still exist and prioritize them. I think he rightfully made the assessment that it just didnt make sense to stay in afghanistan indefinitely. Its very easy to go around, like the h. R. Mcmasters of the world are doing, and say, we have a risk here, and we have a risk there and say that we should just chase them with permanent u. S. Military intervention in perpetuity. But that simply is not a strategy. Tim kudo, i was thinking today about 1983, and im sure as all marines think about, when the marine barracks in beirut was blown up by a terrorist, 231 american deaths, i think 20 or so marines in that group, and President Reagan did absolutely nothing other than completely retreat and remove all marines from harms way. Compare that to where we are tonight. Yeah, so my old unit was first Battalion 8th marines which is one of the units on the ground in kabul right now, may even be the unit that took the casualties today, and we were that unit in beirut. We were the beirut battalion. I look at the actions that have happened in the past day, and it is mindblowing just how much not only do people completely ignore whats happened in the past 20 years and the attacks that have just been mentioned that have happened over and over in kabul and other parts of the country, but also just the reality of what it is to be at war and to try and accomplish a mission in a hostile territory to face the risk of casualties, injuries and death. But Thats Part of what it is to be a marine and go over there and do this. In the past couple weeks, theyve evacuated more than 100,000 afghans, americans and reporters, and i think as tragic as the Deaths Today were, it certainly wasnt in vain. Joe, jen psaki, the press secretary, had to deal with a Question Today about two republican senators calling for President Biden to resign over what happened today. Of course, no republican senators called on Ronald Reagan to resign when that happened in beirut to the 220 marines, 241 military personnel. And so we are in a zone here where we were not going to be getting through this together, were going to be getting through this in a contentious way with republicans trying to make the most of it. That is one of the saddest things about this, a time when we should be mourning together, we should be expressing our sympathies together. You see this caught up in the maw of this disinformation partisan Hyperattack Mode that is washington these days, and its used to call for resignations, as h. R. Mcmaster did, to say this is just a matter of political will and to imply that Joe Biden doesnt have the manliness to go after them and spread the kind of disinformation hes been spreading all over the airwaves today. Its sad, its tragic, and while people like me get to pontificate about this, my thanks go out to people like tim and to adam who served in uniform, who were on the front lines, who did the right thing in afghanistan and implemented a strategy that they had no role in creating, but they did, to the best of their ability. We owe you, tim and adam, some thanks, and lawrence, thank you for having them on to share their experiences tonight. Adam, one of my fears about the way this has been discussed the past two weeks is there is in the air, or certainly was until today and maybe will continue, this kind of mythologizing about the policies of america, and it is a machine that there is no reason why it couldnt have run a more proper retreat from afghanistan. That kind of Magical Thinking to me is the kind of Magical Thinking that will lead you into a war like this that you are unable to get out of. If we look at some of the dysfunction that was inherent with this evacuation and youre honest about it with yourself, how can you possibly think the united states could remake afghanistan Oren Gauge in a Nationbuilding Exercise thats successful . But when folks in Washington Talk about the capabilities of u. S. Military, they always imagine a perfect scenario that has no Human Error and that foresight rather than hindsight is going to be 20 20. Of course, a ceo of a corporation could never tell his investors, by the way, everything would have been okay, the Business Wouldnt be bankrupt if we had made precisely perfect decisions at every juncture and there was no Human Error. Thats not how you approach risk. I think the experience of the last 20 years, which this evacuation is but an extension of that, should give us all pause as americans and give us a little bit of humility to recognize that our military and our political system and the constant change in Foreign Policy that happens from administration to administration is not able to intervene in countries abroad and remake those societies. Its simply a crazy proposition. And i know that when you talk to the average american outside of washington, d. C. And you ask them, do you think its normal to stay in a country militarily for 20 years, the answer is almost always no. Adam weinstein, timothy kudo, joe cirincione, thank you all very much for joining us on this important night. Thank you. Coming up, at this very hour tonight, the Texas State House is debating the latest edition of the republican bill that restricts voters rights in that state. The Texas Congressman and former Election Law Lawyer Collin Ireland will join us next. 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The bill would ban drivethrough voting, ban overnight voting, restrict vote by mail, add new requirements to people who assist voters, impose criminal penalties on workers and give more power to partisan poll watchers, among other things. Any action by the Texas Legislature could in effect be overruled by congress with the passage of the for the people act and the John Lewis Voting rights advancement act. On Saturday Thousands are expected to march on the National Mall in washington for the anniversary of dr. Martin Luther King jr. s i have a Dream Speech there. Organized groups are organizing similar marches across the country, including texas. All marches will be in support of federal Voting Rights legislation. Joining us now is Congressman Collin allred of texas. He is a voting attorney. Thank you for joining us as an Expert And Member of congress. I think we can assume, unless there is some other stunt thats possible with the texas democrats, that the republicans are going to pass something, and the question will then become, what can you and congress do about it . Youre right, it is likely going to pass. Let me just briefly say, lawrence, i appreciate your discussion of the attack in kabul earlier today, and i just want to say that President Biden said it well when he said those marines died before defending our vision and our values. I think our vision and our values are at risk in whats happening in texas right now, because we have an effort, as you know, you covered it well, to try and specifically target types of voting that has allowed minority communities to have easier access to the ballot. It is not based on trying to vet any type of fraud. There was no fraud in the texas election. With 11 Million texans voting, they still won, yet theyre still trying to pursue these divisions. I think its unamerican and we have to do something in congress to stop it. Lets listen to the debate in the Texas House where the issue of racism came up and that seemed to bother the republicans a lot. Lets listen to this. Courts have pointed out over and over and over again intentional discrimination against africanamericans, intentional discrimination against latinos, intentional discrimination against people of color. These are not my words, these are three federal courts across this country making ten findings of that intentional discrimination. Intentional discrimination against people of a certain race, is that racism . That is those words intentional discrimination, i think, can be fairly characterized in that manner. We can talk about racial impacts at this legislation without accusing members of this body of being racist. Your reaction to that, congressman. Well, you know, obviously as a lawyer, i look for what we can prove in a court of law. We can prove, and we have proven multiple times, that whenever this legislation gets a chance, they try to pass intentionally discriminatory laws in texas. We soon have latinos being the largest Minority Group in our state, that we are with a lot of nonwhite. So how do we stand up and say stop, try to prevent sort of what we all know is coming as representatives of the state of texas, and we have these efforts going on while we are diversifying so rapidly. Its coming to a head. And we have to understand that as a democracy, for us to continue as a democracy, we have to allow the people to vote and let it come out as it will. You will win some, you will lose some, you have to change your policies, but that is how democracy works. That is whats so sad about watching whats happening in texas as weve continued to diversify these efforts to try and stop that progress and try and maintain this old Power Structure that really isnt representative of our state anymore. Texas Congressman Colin allred, thank you very much for joining us tonight. We always appreciate it. Thanks, lawrence. Coming up, Judge Lena Hidalgo and Harris County, texas has dramatically increased the Vaccination Rate in her county and is now in a legal fight with texas republican Governor Greg Abbott who is trying to stop the Mask Mandate that hidalgo has proposed. S proposed ow that . naj because as a fiduciary, its our responsibility to always put clients first. other Money Manager so you do it because you have to . naj no, we do it because its the right thing to do. We help clients enjoy a comfortable retirement. other Money Manager sounds like a big responsibility. naj one that we dont take lightly. Its why our fees are structured so we do better when our clients do better. Fisher investments is clearly different. Trelegy for copd. Birds flyin high you know how i feel breeze drifting on by you know how i feel [man coughing] its a new dawn, its a new day. 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So today i am announcing that if you come by a Harris County public Health Site and get your first shot of the Covid19 Vaccine, you will get 100, no strings attached. That is our next guest, Judge Lena Hidalgo, last week. Today the judge announced that the number of people getting the first dose of the Covid19 Vaccine in Harris County, texas increased by 706 since she announced the 100 cash incentive. Yesterday texas republican Governor Greg Abbott, who has issued an Order Banning Mask Mandates issued a new Executive Order banning vaccine mandates, even if the vaccine has been fully approved by the fda like the pfizer vaccine. Judge hidalgo has issued a Mask Mandate for schools in Harris County. Joining us now is Harris County judge, lena hidalgo. Thank you very much for joining us tonight, i really appreciate it. Thank you. Lets begin with what youre doing on the vaccine with those 100 bills. Has it surprised you how effective its been . Well, absolutely. It exceeded our wildest expectations, and i have to credit the biden administration for highlighting that 100 figure and the incentives. Yes, we launched the program. This tuesday we had over 3,400 people get the vaccine out of Harris County sites. On average before we started the initiative, it was about 430 people a day. So its continued to increase, and it just shows you you can be creative, it can be bold, you can mao the needle on this virus even in a state that is hostile toward actions to try and mitigate this crisis. Were thrilled, and whatever it takes we need to get those Vaccination Rates up. Were not done. About 50 of our elderly population is fully vaccinated, so we have a ways to go, but were doing everything we can, this and so much more to try to get people vaccinated. Texas has a very low Vaccination Rate compared to other states. Has the governor done anything to try to stop your 100 Incentive Program . Not the 100 Incentive Program, but certainly the state is doing a lot to facilitate, i would say, the spread of the virus. You know, we know that the masks work, work very well. We know that children under the age of 12 dont qualify for the vaccine, and they tried to forbid masking in schools, Mask Requirements in schools. And that is the fight that we fought. We have won a temporary victory in the courts, but, you know, there is that, what you mentioned about the vaccination requirements. Every time the governor issues these orders, these edicts, prohibitions, he suspends the Health Code. The order literally says i am suspending the Health Code in order to prevent us from responding to this crisis. It is so ironic, you know, that each time we get a new tool like the fda approval, the tool is taken away from us. Im not giving up, my community is not giving up, but it surely is very sad and weve been doing this from the very beginning of the pandemic. So what is the Status Tonight for masks for kids going to school in your county . In Harris County it is the law. We have issued an order requiring it, and the courts have upheld it for mow. The Texas Education Agency has said while Theres Litigation the orders stand. So im relying on parents in this community to make sure that the School Districts are doing the right thing, and we need to because of our children. You know, all these School Administrators have a responsibility for the safety and the health of the children under their care. And so we need them to enforce it just as they enforce any other kind of dress code, any other kind of requirement. And were going to continue doing our part to try and get those vaccinations up. If you had a chance to talk to the governor directly about this privately just as a concerned someone whos concerned about these kids, what would you say to them . Well, were in touch, our teams are in touch. And i always make very clear, you know, the priority. Whenever theres a crisis and we deal with fires under emergency management, i deal with floods and ive dealt with this pandemic. We need to put politics aside, and we need to get the work done. But it seems like with this pandemic it is a competition amongst republican governors to see who can be the first to politicize things. I mean, how does it make sense from a health standpoint, from a medical standpoint to rush to say an fda approved Vaccine Cant be required when so many vaccines are required in different kinds of settings. And so i hope that as these hospitalizations climb, you know, right here in harris count a, we have people waiting hours and hours and for a hospital bed. Right now as we speak, and its a real problem. These are real problem, real deaths that somehow we can get past the politics. But until then we all have to keep pushing in the right direction. Thank you very much for joining us tonight. Thank you. Thank you. And coming up, a day like today has happened only once before in our history, in 1975 at The End of the american evacuation from vietnam. And then the republican President Of The United States unlike Joe Biden did not take responsibility for anything and did not say a word about the marines who were Killed In Action during the vietnam evacuation. Thats next. M evactiuaon thats next. 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. Im greg, im 68 years old. I do motivational speaking jeep grand Cherokee L in addition to the substitute teaching. I honestly feel that thats my calling to give back to younger people. I think most adults will start realizing that they dont recall things as quickly as they used to or they dont remember things as vividly as they once did. 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Can your internet do that . The last time we did this the President Of The United States did not say a word. When the Last American Helicopter Left vietnam in April 1975 Republican President Gerald Ford did not address the nation the way President Biden did today and has done several times during the evacuation. President ford simply issued a Written Statement that was read aloud by his press secretary. It said in part, quote, during the day on monday washington Time The Airport at saigon came under persistent rocket as well as Artillery Fire and was effectively closed. The Military Situation in the area deteriorated rapidly. I therefore ordered the evacuation of all american personnel remaining in south vietnam. The evacuation has been completed. I commend the personnel of the Armed Forces who accomplish it as well as Ambassador Graham Martin and his staff and his mission who served so well under difficult conditions. This closes a chapter in the american experience. I ask all americans to look ahead to the many goals we share and to work together on the great tasks that remain to be accomplished. The president did not mention the marines who were killed in the Rocket Attack on the airport. The president might not have even known about that. The bodies of the two marines who were killed were left behind by mistake in a hospital in saigon. President fords reaction to the Rocket Attack on the airport was to switch the evacuation from airplanes to helicopters and speed it up and use those helicopters to pick up people on the tops of buildings in very dangerous maneuvers. One of those marine helicopters crashed in the south China Sea killing the pilot and his Copilot Lieutenant michael shay. Their bodies were never recovered. They were running low on fuel and repeatedly tried to land an Aircraft Carrier already too crowded with other helicopter. President ford was told about their deaths, but he didnt say a word about them in his Written Statement. President ford said nothing about taking responsibility for anything that happened in the evacuation from vietnam. I bear responsibility for fundamentally all thats happened of late. Ladies and gentlemen, it was time to end a 20year war. Thank you so much. President biden gets tonights last word. The 11th hour with Brian Williams starts now. Well, good evening once again. Day 219 of the biden administration, a devastating day for this still young presidency but mostly for our military families and those of afghan civilians, of course, as u. S. Forces in afghanistan suffer their heaviest losses in years just days before they themselves are due to leave the country. At least 13 Service Members that includes ten u. S. Marines killed in two bombings near the kabul airport. 18 other Service Members were wounded, some of them critically. At least 60 afghans were killed. Close to 150 injured. Todays attack took place as u. S. Forces were helping thousands of americans and afghans evacuate from the country while also preparing to leave themselves. At least one of the attacks believed to be carried out by a Suicide Bomber during a Pat Down Search during a crowded