Gate to the Kabul Airport. Just hours earlier the u. S. And several other western governments had warned of an imminent islamic State Attack and indeed urged their citizens to stay away from the airport for good reason. A group called isisk has claimed responsibility for the bombings. Late this afternoon at the White House during emotional remarks that the included a Moment Of Silence to remember the victims, the president vowed retribution. 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 to make you pay. I will defend our interests and our people with every measure at my command. This evening the flag atop the White House has been lowered to Half Staff as were the flags over the u. S. Capitol. There are now just five days left to complete the evacuation and military draw down in afghanistan. Earlier this week the president announced the 31 August Deadline would not be extended precisely because of Security Concerns surrounding the operation at the crowded airport. The White House says despite todays bombings neither the End Date nor the mission has changed. I would note that more than 7,000 people were evacuated over the last 12 hours. Those include members from coalition partners, and were working now and this is one of the pieces the president has been focused on is getting as many people out and onto these planes as possible even as were working to address these Security Threats on the ground. Indeed, the Air Bridge Operation has been extraordinary. The administration says since the 14th Of August Over 100,000 souls have been evacuated from afghanistan. Its estimated about 1,000 americans remain. Today the secretary of defense praised those Service Members who lost their lives while affirming the forces on the ground will be, quote, not be dissuaded from the task at hand. And this afternoon his boss indeed backed up that sentiment. I instructed the military whatever they need if they need additional force i will grant it. But the military from the chairman of the joint chiefs, the joint chiefs, commanders in the field have all contact 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. So even with that, and its important that americans know this, our Military Commanders are warning they are still bracing for more attacks. We expect those attacks to continue. And were doing everything we can to be prepared for those attacks. The plan is designed to operate while under stress and under attack, and we will continue to do that. Well coordinate carefully to make sure its safe for american citizens to come to airfield. If its not, well tell them to hold and work other ways to get them to airfield. But i think our mission remains were still committed to pulling people out. Todays attacks were the first u. S. Combat related deaths in afghanistan since february 8 of 2020, 565 days ago. With that lets bring in our Starting Line on this Thursday Night, yamiche alcindor, moderator of Washington Week also on pbs. Jonathan lemire, white House Reporter for the associated press. James luporta, investigative reporter for the associated press, notably a marine Corp Veteran of multiple tours in afghanistan. And clint watts, West Point Army veteran, former fbi Special Agent and distinguished Research Fellow at the foreign policy research institute. Good Evening And Welcome to you all. Jim, id like to start with you. As someone who never misses any of your posts on social media, im an ardent follower of yours. Ill start with my condolences to the corp and military families who lost loved ones. Ill say veteran families of mine had been having such a hard time even before Todays News hit. I know you have. We can stress there are so many souls alive today because these marines and Service Members were there for us and on duty. And to you having served multiple tours, talk about where this happened if you would and talk about the mission from here. Thank you for having me. Theres saying in the marine corp that theres no better friend, and i think thats what were seeing now. What these Service Members have been displaying for weeks now, for days is theres no better friend especially with a humanitarian mission were seeing now. Theyre gates to peace, gates to a better life, and tease are for people who helped us, helped Service Members throughout the time we spent in afghanistan. The Attack Today occurred at what is called the abbey gate. Theres three main gates that people have been going through. The abbey gate, the East Gate and the north gate. This one occurred at the abbey gate. The gates into the Kabul Airport have been constantly opening and closing. It really is depending on how many sivs and people that are inside the airport have to be processed. But, yeah, these are gates to perhaps a better life. And today its just been an overwhelmingly tragic day not just for majors but the toll that the afghan people have taken today is a toll that they not different from any other day in afghanistan, frankly. I mean generation upon generation of afghans who always knew Violence And Theyve grown up in it. Yamiche, to jims point as i said the temple went from chaos to smooth with remarkable speed. Over 100,000 people have been able to start that new life because of this Air Bridge. And then this today. We knew the final Pull Out was going to be rough. Tell us about life in the West Wing today. Well, this is really a devastating day for america. Its a devastating day of course for our Service Members, and its a devastating day for President Biden who started his remarks with that Moment Of Silence, that empathetic yet searing moment, a moment that no president wants to do. Now, of Course President biden, he understands loss having lost Family Members himself, his wife and two children. So he started off by also saying this feels like a Black Hole for these Family Members. So today at the White House there was crisis and then there was catastrophe. There was this feeling yes things are bad but the u. S. Was going to stick to that deadline. We heard the President Saying in the days and days before this at least No One had been killed. And then he knocked on wood in that interview, and now its a Loud Knock On Wood because people understand now that the tragedy the president is having to oversee here. And the President Said today the responsibility for this is with him, and the buck stops with him. And hes going to have to really understand and contend with the idea that under this image of him of the White House and White House officials wanting to say this was an Evacuation Attempt that was going to be going well, he now has dead soldiers and 60 dead afghans, and that obviously is complicating the messaging. And the other thing is there really is this sense inside the West Wing the president is still doubling down on the idea this was a decision he wanted to take, this was a good decision. I heard from White House officials over and over again the president wanted to stick to that August 31st deadline because he had warned a Terrorist Attack like this could happen. Things are risky, theyre volatile, and theyre really more confident than ever that getting out as soon as possible is what needs to happen. And the president i think also sadly said today no war ends with everyone getting out, and thats also an admission from this administration from the president himself there are going to be people who left america, who helped america who are not going to be able to leave to go to america, and theyre going to be stuck there with the taliban and these terrorists. Clint, theres no good news from today, so theres no celebrating anything. Ill say this. What this wasnt was a failure of intelligence. Somebody knew. Somebody talked. Perhaps it would have been worse without that alert that went out what 24 hours ago about the lack of safety, indeed the danger at the airport gates. Im wondering how it could have been better, however, based on that tip we had. Brian, i think we talked on tuesday that this was kind of the worstcase scenario, thered be a Terrorist Attack of some sort either at the airport or against forces as they tried to do extractions outside the airport. Even despite the warnings i think whats remarkable you saw all the allies that were there, the british particularly enforceful. We had the warnings. I think what this shows is this is not a place where we dominate and control the airspace. If you had thought about Bagram Air Force Base, which we had been there for decades, we had setup perimeters, we controlled the outside of the perimeter. It would be in motion and we could extract and control the terrain. That is not the case now. The taliban despite what you hear them taking over the country, theyve only been in kabul for two weeks. They were gone for two decades. So i think sometimes theres this misperception the taliban can control everything going on in this town. They havent been there very long either and weve only been back very recently. So were in a very precarious situation in the remaining days. And the isis, their Time Line has been nationally accelerated, too. Theres ten days essentially of american activity. It allows them to move all the Supply Chain for explosive devices, all their fighters into kabul. I think we have a significant risk here in the remaining four to five days as we try to finish up this operation. Jonathan lemire, here is more of President Biden today. Well discuss on the other side. I bear responsibility for fundamentally all thats happened of late. The reason why there were no attacks on americans as you said from the date until i came into office was because the commitment was made by President Trump i will be out by May 1st. In the meantime you agree not to attack any americans. That was the deal. Thats why no american was attacked. Jonathan, lets say directly we live in the era of gaslighting and there are individuals from trump to pompeo and the like who are eager that we not remember the facts and the past though for his part today, again, biden appeared willing to own his part of this. Thats right. And certainly President Biden has not been shy, brian, to walk away from other agreements, other deals, other decisions President Trump made. This is one that he honored yes delayed from May 1st to August 31st. And certainly theres some truth to what he said there. The Taliban Curbed Attacks against americans because of this deal because they realized the u. S. Was leaving. Theres certainly plenty on the right from trump himself including an interview this evening on another Cable Network who wants to portray him being far tougher in afghanistan, far tougher on the taliban than President Biden is being. Of Course President trump floated the idea of meeting with the taliban at Camp David on the anniversary. Its hard to square that with that tough talk. This is undeniably the darkest day yet of the President S term in office. We saw real sadness there. He was emotional. He gathered himself silently a few times on the podium, overcome with the moment. Hes one of the american President S in afghanistan to leave, to end to avoid situations like this. He know what its like to lose a son like beau biden, a veteran. He was of course deeply upset by what happened. He also backed It Up, though, with real tough talk including the vow to hunt down these alleged isisk terrorists who committed these acts, but thats going to be a tall order particularly with our assets leaving the nation, our Intelligence Ability diminished. And right now the focus of course just getting out as many americans as possible in the next few days before the withdrawal accelerates even further. But he was honest today, brian. He said not everyone. Americans, yes, but not everyone. Not every afghan ally would be able to get out. Thats going to be tough for people to hear. Youre so right, jonathan. Love the guy or not we saw the entire range of his emotions through about a Tenminute Stretch there. From the ultimate in Empathy And Sympathy to his pledge to unleash great vengeance on those who did this. Were thankful these guests have agreed to stay with us through this quick break. Coming up, when we resume our discussion, what to watch for next as this Withdrawal Deadline fast approaches now. And later to the point of our last conversation, a President Sets in motion a deadly chain of events half a world away. Not biden but trump were talking about here. But who will end up paying politically . Does it matter . Well get into it as The 11th Hour is just getting under way on this somber Thursday Night. Welcome to allstate. Where you can pay a little less and enjoy the ride a little more. Now, get new lower Auto Rates with allstate. Because better protection costs a whole lot less. Youre in good hands with allstate. Click or call for a lower Auto Rate today. At pnc bank, we believe in the power of the watch out. The make way, coming through. Great. The storm alert. Dad. 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Xfinity xfi. So powerful, it keeps oneupping itself. Can your internet do that . We are back continuing now our discussion with yamiche alcindor. Jonathan lemire, james Laporta And Clint watts. This was two nights ago on this broadcast. I want to share your comments which were sadly prescient with our audience. They dont really hold Territory And Theyve been reduced but they can execute an attack at the airport or against any sort of Western Target or the taliban and create some sort of a quagmire which would bring the u. S. And the taliban back into conflict. You were talking of course there about isisk, the organization a lot of americans are hearing about for all the wrong reasons for the first time. And clint, talk people through what they need to know about isisk and the taliban, these two Terrorist Organizations far from being affiliated with one another. Thats right, brian. There was some confusion on some other broadcasts i was listening to today. The taliban sheltered alqaeda, Osama Bin ladens alqaeda which led to the 9 11 attacks. Going back about five, six years ago the islamic state then known as isis started to break away from alqaeda. This was principly iraq and syria, but they quickly created also a network of Terrorist Groups known as isis, this one corresponds with the afghanistan, pakistan region which would have been a Splinter And Challenger to alqaeda. By extension that makes them a challenger to the taliban. To think about isisk, theyre younger generally. Theyre more about violence first and ideas second. And theyre trying to create their own separate independent state. Separately, alqaeda is kind of seen as the older generation. Theyre more moderate by Isis Stance which may seem crazy to us by the 9 11 era, but they also see the taliban as very moderate trying to become like a State Negotiating with other states. For them the u. S. At this airport, taliban around the airport, this is a Double Wammy for them, and it puts them on the map. This spectacular Act Today rejuvenates the ranks at a time Isis Hasnt had a chance to retaliate for the last few years. One of the things we should be looking at is does this reunite the young jihadists around the world around this movement such they can replenish their ranks in afghanistan. Thank you for that explanation. Jim, as you know lots of talk of that high Desert Spot at the Bagram Air base mostly on the media and on social media. Im going to play for you the portion of Todays Event where the president was asked about bagram. Did you personally reject a recommendation to hold or to recapture Bagram Air Force Base . They concluded, the military that bagram was not much value added, that it was much wiser to focus on kabul. And so i followed that recommendation. And now here for both jim and members of our audience some of the republican critics on the same topic. I think we should retake more airfields throughout the country. It will take troops on the ground. It will take a complete reassessment of our strategy, but the military can do it. What i personally would like to see, andrea, is the united states take back the airport we never should have abandoned and stay there until we get every afghan and american out. Id get every single american Out And Id start killing bad guys. Jim, you want to give folks a Reality Check on what it would take to retake Bagram Air base at this point . Wed probably have to send in the 75th regiment, and i understand the argument why you would want bagram back. Its got two airfields compared to Hamid Karzais International Airport which only has one. So i understand the reason why youd want to have it. And id also be curious to know who recommended to the president that bagram should be closed and given up to know because ultimately the president decides even though he took the recommendation, thats his decision. But the reality is youd have to surge troops into afghanistan, which could possibly be another risk. You could have even more american casualties on your hands. I mean, how many more innocent afghans will die in that . So i mean thats the risk of going back in and retaking everything. Also, jim, how would it have complicated the Air Bridge and getting people there . You know bagram much better than i do. My memories are of this vast space, and youre right. Were now limited to one major runway. It has nothing but space out there, and it did have a hardened perimeter. I remember the drive out there, the junk yards on the right some of them with turrets of russian tanks. But also i remember it being an Hour North of the city, more than what dulles Gnat National Airport is to New York, more than what Kennedy Airport is to midtown manhattan. Wouldnt that have become its own issue . Correct. And bagram, youre correct. The differences between Hamid Karzai International Airport is its a metropolitan Area And Bagram is sort of more in the desert. But that does not make bagram even less prone to suicide bombers. It was just in 2019 where a Suicide Car Bomb attacked a convoy that was retreating to bagram leading to the deaths of three marines. And i believe it was three or four wounded in that attack. So bagram is no more a better defense at stopping two side attacks than Hamid Karzai is. Yeah, thank you for that. Point taken. No, youre right. Point taken. Yamiche, any reason to think there is any room for Mission Creep here . Or was the lesson of the day watch the President S words, look at his attitude. This if anything hardened his resolve. Based on my conversations with White House officials all day, this deadly attack, this murder of u. S. Soldiers as well as afghans really hardened the idea that President Biden wants to have u. S. Troops and americans out of afghanistan as soon as possible and that that August 31st deadline is the deadline he wants to stick to. The big thing here, though, is is there no deadline for tracking down whos responsible for these attacks today. Its underscored by military officials that america is going to go after these people. As jonathan and others have noted its going to be very, very hard to figure out how to get these to isisk individuals. But when it comes to how the president feels about his decision, White House officials tell me that this was what the president had continued to really think about as the nightmare scenario, that americans would be killed in afghanistan and as a result the president wants more than ever to end this mission. Of course, weve been talking about the last 20 days, but this is a 20year war and the president before he became president was very, very eager to try to get out of afghanistan. And while hes saying, of course, he has responsibility for all of this, the president is also the one responsible for not just the decision to leave afghanistan but also the decision for how it was carried out. And i think jims point about all the different intricacies in terms of why airports were given up, how this perimeter was setup, all of those i think are still Big Questions the president is going to have to contend with. Ive been talking to veterans as well as people trying to get out of afghanistan, and they all are still scratching their heads about how this was executed. So thats still going to be a Big Question the president is going to have to continuously answer while he sticks to the idea he made the right decision. Jonathan lemire, if the planets are aligned the saints are with us. And if the White House does everything right from now on and we have a peaceful evacuation, what are they perhaps hoping we will be talking about on September 1 as we watch a C17 Depart Over Kabul . What are they hoping the situation will be on September 1 . Well, obviously, brian, first and foremost this is a humanitarian crisis and a tragedy. On September 1 the White House would hope were all saying that the last americans are out of the country and that most if not all of our afghan allies are as well and that the last Week Plus of the evacuation went by largely without incident. Because thats the fear here is that today, of course, was a tragedy. It may not be the last one. Theres been a lot of intelligence that u. S. Officials have received in recent days according to senior aides ive spoken to. The point to there being perhaps more attacks like this in the either. Theres real concern it will be very difficult to safeguard passage to the airport for americans and our allies, to safeguard the airport itself including the gate where the blast was today. The other part of this, brian, i think the White House hoping what were not talking about on October 1st or November 1st or december 1st. They hope were not talking about afghanistan at all. That once the american presence ends there, and that hopefully without much more in the way of violence, that well have turned the page. That, yes, of course there will still be stories emanating from the taliban and the crack down on women and young girls there. Yes, of Course Theyll be concerned isisk could be plotting other Terror Attacks there against afghan citizens or the west. That wont fade. But if we move on again to the President S domestic agenda, the battle against the pandemic, we started looking towards next years midterms, hopefully economic recovery, so on and so on. Thats what the white House Hope were talking about, and they keep pointing to as badly as the last few weeks have gone, as tough as today was, most americans per polling still want the u. S. Forces to be out of afghanistan. I feel like the president will eventually receive credit for being the one to end this war and bring our troops home. Obviously, though, todays a dev stating day. Its harder to see that reality at this moment. To our viewers, though, and to pledge i made to jim, lets please remember the number of souls who will get to live out their lives because of the brave souls, the heroes who lost their Lives Today adjacent to that airport. We are beyond grateful to our Starting Line tonight. Jumec alcindor, jonathan lemire, clint watts, greatly appreciate it. Thank you all. Coming up for us, the gop leaders who were quick to criticize the president , one of them accusing him of having blood on his hands. The political finger pointing following Todays Tragedy when we come back. G following Todays Tragy Edwhen we come back you know how some carriers give you so little for your old or busted phone, you just end up living with it . I dont think so. Verizon lets you trade in your broken phone for a shiny new one. You break it. We upgrade it. You dunk it . Crash it . Yikes. Doggy boneit . Haha slam it, wham it, Strawberry Jamit . We upgrade it every customer. Current, new or business. Up to 800 for the 5g Phone you want. Because everyone deserves better. Put my phone in the washer. And the dryer. 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. Before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches, or coughs or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. Nothing is everything. Now is the time to ask your dermatologist about skyrizi. As we said a swift Reaction Today from republicans following a deadly attack in kabul, Minority Leader Kevin Mccarthy has called for the house to return to vote on a Bill Banning The withdrawal of u. S. Troops from afghanistan until all the americans are evacuated. At the same time Republican Lawmakers including senators Josh Holly and Marsha Blackburn have demanded the president resign. Talk about it with two of our friends. Dona edward, former democratic member of congress, now a the Washington Post Columnist and mark mckennen, former advisor to both george w. Bush and john mccain. Also among the cohosts of the circus on show time. Good evening to both of our friends. Thank you for coming on. Dona, we talked to you a few days ago, talked about your four trips to afghanistan as a member of congress. We talked about the fact you were critical at the start of the evacuation but you agreed the pace had Smoothened Out and quickened. What must happen next . Well, i think that the president is right. He needs to he and the military of course need to continue on as quick a pace as they can to get americans out, our allies, our partners, our afghan friends and leaders. I think that is the most important thing at this point. And frankly in my view the Attack Today underscored why it is why we need to be out of afghanistan and also why it is that needs to be done expeditiously by August 31st. And, you know, just such a tragic, tragic loss of life today. Mark, funny thing about some of the republicans. It was stefanik of up state New York said the president had blood on his hands. Mr. Holly calling on the President S resignation. We were reminded today tweeted back on April 13th that by May 1 Joe Biden should have all the troops out of Afghanistan And End americas forever war. What about all these republicans demanding the resignation of the president of the united states . Well, its its reprehensible and indefensible, brian, particular when you think about precedent. I dont recall those voices when Ronald Reagan pulled out of beirut after the marine barriers were blown up then or Bay Of Pigs after Kennedy Or George w. Bush. It just shows, this is a time we should be grieving or uniting. By the way, i thought that Bidens Kind of shift in tone today, i thought he owned it today. He said this is on me. And thats this is time we need to come together to make sure that we have a cooperative effort to save and bring out as many american and afghanis out of that country as we can, and its not a time for politics. And its just so its so it really is sad to see the republicans have clawed their way to the bottom to a point theyre going to make politics out of a situation on a day like today. And dona, to marks point, to the point the Washington Post makes tonight. Ill be reading from it at The End of the broadcast, that having lost these 13 heroic Souls Today that message should mean we could try to get along just for half a second. In your view, dona, what should congress say, and what should congress do right now . Well, i think the tone that the President Struck is the right one. We should be honoring especially today the Service Members who lost their lives and of course the afghan and other civilians who were taken in this attack. You know, i think its rather unseemly for people who call themselves leaders, some of whom are never going to serve a single day in the services to behave in this kind of way on this day. Theres going to be plenty of time for congress to engage in appropriate oversight, to ask questions about the planning and the evacuation and all of those questions that the administration is and should be and will be prepared to answer. But that didnt need to that kind of questioning and recrimination did not need to happen today. It really it broke my heart because i think that, you know, members of congress can at least take a day off to be patriots. And that didnt happen today. Indeed. Both Dona And Mark have agreed to stay with us. Well fit in another break. And coming up, when we resume our conversation with our two guests what the darkest day of this still young presidency means for the biden administration going forward. R administration going forward birds flyin high, you know how i feel. 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Mark, i was reminded the last time we had you on a couple days back you said biden had reached the lowest point of his presidency. No one would have argued with that point, and then of course we were handed today. Lets make clear we as a News Media get stuff wrong constantly, big stuff, small stuff. We got an overblown sense of the destruction of norms under Donald Trump thinking every one of them would be certain political suicide. Is it possible that even with Todays Tragedy for sticking with his convictions, for speaking forthrightly, for seeing the mission as he does and lets hope seeing it through the consequences politically. And it seems uncomfortable to have such a nakedly political discussion on this very day. The consequences politically for biden could be minimal. Well, thats true, brian. I mean, its hard to imagine it could get any worse than this week. I mean, Biden Ran on ending the chaos, getting covid under control and doing so through competency with a steady Hand Internationally. And on all those measures that has collapsed. But if you flash forward a year from now it seems like itd be hard to recover from this. But think about it a year from now if covid is under reasonable control and theres not some other huge Surge Killing Thousands of americans. And if we were out of afghanistan and have gotten out most if not all americans and afghanis who helped us or others who wanted to get out, as people look in the Rearview Mirror and say thats what we elected him to coo. He said he was going to get out of afghanistan, said he was going to get covid under control. And if hes done that a year from now, listen, i dont have much hope for democrats in inmidterms. By 2024 that could be a reasonable narrative for democrats. Dona, theres this from Our Mutual Friend Eugene Robinson at the post. Quote, if we were going to leave eventually, what would have been different if wed waited another year or another five or another ten . Wed have spent a lot more money and sacrificed More American Lives but afghanistan would still be afghanistan. A point, donna, the president made almost word for word for himself today. Well, i absolutely agree. And in fact, you know, ten years ago i called for withdrawal from afghanistan. And so this conversation is a decade old. And i think that the President Today as he has been was very resolute about the decision to leave. And, you know, a year from now im not sure that americans are going to quibble about the how. Right now the administration, the military has evacuated 104,000 people. The majority of them are afghan citizens. And i think that that is going to be the lasting memory. And these tragic the tragic events of today and the souls who were lost today are going to be remembered as the last lives lost in afghanistan after 20 years. Mark mckinnon, you and i have a little age on us between the two of us. I was thinking of as marked a change in tone between backtoback President S as the one were witnessing. Maybe ike to kennedy. Maybe carter to reagan. But trump to biden is extraordinary to watch. Mark mckinnon . We have lostmark mckinner. Either that or hes really good at maintaining one facial expression. Go softly into the night with our thanks to both of our guests. Thank you both so very much. Another break for us. When we come back where they came from and who they are. These Terrorist Murderers with a name both familiar and new and the kind of brutality we sadly have seen before. 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Can your internet do that . As weve been discussing tonight, the president repeatedly insisting hes got to stick to this 31 August Evacuation time Line Deadline because of the threat posed by isisk. Thats this terrorist Group Today claimed responsibility for this attack in kabul that has killed over a dozen u. S. Service members. Nbc news chief foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitch 8 has our Report Tonight on this group and their motivations. Reporter u. S. Officials have been warning for days about the threat from Isisk Cull Mawinating in a Red Alert last night for americans to stay away from the airport gates. A warning that proved all too true today. What is isisk. An offshoot in afghanistan of the islamic state originated in iraq, created six years ago in pakistan, a vowed enemy to the u. S. And rival to the taliban. Isis is extremely real. We saw it actually manifest itself here in the last few hours. Reporter Thousands Of Hard Core commands were released from jail by the tal been in recent weeks. Since the taliban takeover easily melding into the teaming masses in kabul. Only yesterday the Secretary Of State warned it was a threat. Were operating in a Hosal Environment now controlled by the taliban with the very real possibility of an isisk attack. Reporter and isisk isnt the only terror athreat. The taliban is named the leader of its most radical branch to be in charge of security in kabul. Khalil haqqani, a 5 Million u. S. Bounty on his head brazenly showing up at Friday Prayers in kabul last week. And he has strong ties to alqaeda also in the mix. Whats clear is the Taliban Either Couldnt defend against todays bombings or wont. Now the question is how will the president deliver the forceful response hes promised after the u. S. Withdraws . Our thanks to Andrea Mitchell for that Report Tonight. Another break for us. And coming up, for most of us its a Thursday Night. 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Doggy bone it . We upgrade It Up to 800 for the 5g Phone you want. Plus, get 500 when you switch. Because everyone deserves better. All we have witnessed today brings us to the last thing before we go tonight on what is uniformly agreed to be the darkest day of the biden presidency. This is the darkest night in the lives of 13 american families. Todays news means that tonight where its geographically possible an officer will pull up in front of an american Home Or Apartment or barracks to notify the Next Of Kin of their loss. Someday soon theyll be given a folded flag for the mantel on behalf of a grateful nation, and no two families will handle their grief in quite the same way. Please remember in these next few days and god forbid fw there are other attacks, that the dead we mourn tonight were volunteers, every one of them. They raised their hands. They were willing to do more than most americans are. They said, yes, send me. I will serve my country. I will learn how to fight and take on great peril. And in a nation without a draft or a compulsory national service, increasingly the military of today are drawn from whats become a kind of permanent warrior class. Put another way if just anyone could do it, they would, but they dont. They cant. Think of the danger. In a crush of often shrouded people shouting a language at you that you dont understand your job is to pat down desperate individuals so close and intimate as their Commanding General said today, you can feel their breath upon you. Today during that moment one of those individuals blew themselves up. The Washington Post tonight suggests the best way to honor the dead is for us to get along however briefly. As they put it, quote, the extraordinary Men And Women Atika Boule Airport doing their duty for the benefit of their country and for their fellow Human Beings have set an example. And some have paid the ultimate price. The best tribute the nation could pay would be to face whatever comes next with less hatefulness and greater unity. End of quote, end of this dark day. That is our broadcast for this Thursday Night with our thanks for being here with us. On behalf of all of our colleagues at the networks of nbc news, good night. It was just over ten years ago, actually ten years ago almost exactly, and elite u. S. Army Ranger Unit had gone on a mission, in a dangerous part of War Doc province, its just soft west of kabul. Those elite rangers were on a mission to go after a senior figure in the taliban. They were inserted toe insertedt