On Thursday morning, a North Carolina man officials identified as Floyd Ray Roseberry drove a truck onto the sidewalk outside the Library of Congress and claimed to have explosive devices in his vehicle. In a Facebook live stream, Roseberry ranted about the state of the country, demanded to speak with President Biden and declared “the revolution is on, it’s here, it’s today.”

Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/08/19/lawmakers-denounce-gop-rep-brooks-appearing-sympathetic-capitol-bomb-threat-suspect/

President Joe Biden ignored British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s attempts to contact him for approximately 36 hours as the Taliban cemented its control over Afghanistan, a report said.

Johnson tried to reach Biden on Monday morning, UK time, but wasn’t able to get him on the phone until 10 p.m. Tuesday (5 p.m. Washington time), according to The Daily Telegraph.

The lengthy wait took place as desperate Afghans swarmed Kabul’s international airport in the hope of catching evacuation flights out.

The White House had no immediate comment on the report, but on Tuesday afternoon, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that the president had “not yet spoken with any other world leaders” about the Afghanistan catastrophe.

“Myself, Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken, several other senior members of the team have been engaged on a regular basis with foreign counterparts, and we intend to do so in the coming days,” Sullivan added.

Once Johnson got Biden on the phone, the Telegraph reported, the British PM urged the American president not to throw away “gains made in Afghanistan,” an apparent response to Biden’s insistence in remarks from the White House Monday that the US “mission in Afghanistan was never supposed to have been nation-building.”

Johnson and Biden weren’t able to talk to each other until Tuesday night.
Photo by Daniel Leal-Olivas – WPA Pool/Getty Images

A White House readout of the call states that Biden and Johnson “discussed the need for continued close coordination among allies and democratic partners on Afghanistan policy going forward” and agreed to hold a virtual meeting with other leaders of the G7 nations next week.

On Wednesday, British lawmakers united across party lines to condemn the botched withdrawal as well as Biden’s remarks defending it, using some of the strongest parliamentary language toward an American president in memory.

Tom Tugendhat, a Conservative MP and former British Army officer, went viral for his remarks in which he called the US president’s impugning of Afghan security forces and their will to fight “shameful.”

“Those who have never fought for the colors they fly should be careful about criticizing those who have,” said Tugendhat, who concluded by telling his colleagues: “This doesn’t need to be defeat, but at the moment, it damn well feels like it.”

Labour Party MP Dan Jarvis, another veteran of the Afghan War, called Biden’s comments “particularly distasteful and dishonoring,” while Ed Davey, leader of the center-left Liberal Democrats, described the US withdrawal from Afghanistan as “not just a mistake [but] an avoidable mistake, from President Trump’s flawed deal with the Taliban to President Biden’s decision to proceed, and to proceed in such a disastrous way.”

Johnson also came in for criticism, with his fellow Tory and predecessor as prime minister, Theresa May, recalling that he and Biden had said as recently as last month “that they did not think that the Taliban were ready or able to take over control of the country.”

Armed Taliban militants in Mehtarlam, Afghanistan on August 15, 2021.
ZUMA24.com

“Was our intelligence really so poor?” she asked. “Was our understanding of the Afghan government so weak? Was our knowledge of the position on the ground so inadequate? Did we really believe that, or did we just feel that we had to follow the United States and hope that, on a wing and a prayer, it would be all right on the night?”

Johnson, who had called lawmakers back from their August recess to attend the emergency session, insisted that the UK could not continue its Afghan mission “without American logistics, without US air power and without American might.”

“I really think that it is an illusion to believe that there is appetite amongst any of our partners for a continued military presence or for a military solution imposed by NATO in Afghanistan,” the prime minister added.

With the Taliban now in charge of Afghanistan, the immediate priority of the British government is to evacuate the 4,000 or so UK citizens still in Afghanistan and the thousands of Afghans who have helped the UK over the past 20 years.

Johnson said a new “generous” refugee settlement program would allow up to 20,000 vulnerable Afghans, primarily women and children, to seek sanctuary in the UK in the next few years, including 5,000 this year. The total for this year is in addition to the 5,000 or so Afghan allies that the UK is now trying to evacuate from Kabul’s international airport.

With Post wires

Source Article from https://nypost.com/2021/08/19/biden-ignored-boris-johnson-as-afghan-chaos-grew-report/

Source Article from https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/19/texas-schools-covid-19-cases/

Tropical Storm Henri, currently located about 490 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, is forecast to intensify into a hurricane Friday and may pass close to or make landfall in southern New England late this weekend.

Why it matters: A slow-moving Category 1 hurricane or strong tropical storm spinning near Cape Cod could pound the region with high surf and coastal flooding in particular, which could be heightened by rising sea levels from long-term climate change.

Driving the news: Tropical Storm Henri may be moving slowly to the west-southwest now, but forecasters anticipate it will get pulled north, toward New England, by the weekend. If it makes landfall in southern New England as a hurricane, it would be the first hurricane to make landfall at such an intensity (Category 1 or greater) since Hurricane Bob in 1991.

Details: Tropical storms and hurricanes are extremely powerful weather systems, but they don’t drive themselves. Instead, they are steered by atmospheric features around them, such as cold fronts and low-pressure areas.

  • In this case, a strong area of high pressure is located to the north-northeast of Henri, and the circulation around this high is pushing the storm to the west-southwest.
  • By Friday and Saturday, however, the storm — by then forecast as a Category 1 hurricane — is expected to make a sharp turn to the north as a cold front digs southeastward toward the East Coast, instigating winds blowing from south to north over the warm waters of the Gulf Stream.
  • Depending on the timing of this turn, and a subsequent pivot to the northeast, Henri could make landfall somewhere in southern New England or skirt the coastline.
Combined computer model projections from the European and American models for Tropical Storm Henri. Graphic: Tomer Burg

Threat level: In either scenario, significant impacts in the form of heavy rain, strong winds and coastal flooding look increasingly likely, particularly on Long Island, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket as well as Cape Cod. However, given a high degree of uncertainty in the track forecast, it’s possible that Providence and Boston could also be affected.

  • The timing on these threats is Sunday through Monday, as the storm slowly spins its way northeast, back out to sea.
  • The National Hurricane Center plans to issue tropical storm and/or hurricane watches for southern New England on Friday.
  • “The risks of storm surge, wind, and rain impacts in portions of southern New England and eastern Long Island are increasing,” the Hurricane Center wrote in a forecast discussion posted to its website Thursday morning.
  • “Right now, it is advisable to begin preparing for a possible landfalling storm in [southern New England] a good reference is ready.gov/hurricanes. Onset of tropical storm force winds is most likely first thing Sunday morning, so that is when preparations need to be complete. Having extra cash on hand, gas in vehicles and nonperishable food are recommended if power is lost for a time,” the Weather Service forecast office in Boston stated.

Yes, but: Henri is currently battling wind shear, which occurs when winds blow in different directions and/or at different speeds with height, and this is impeding intensification on Thursday.

  • The shear is expected to diminish Friday, but intensity forecasts have a higher amount of uncertainty compared to storm track projections. The intensity of the storm will play a role in determining its path, with a weaker tropical storm more likely to track further to the east, away from land.

Source Article from https://www.axios.com/tropical-storm-henri-new-england-threat-d802508c-ee24-4fec-a302-0806bf3595e8.html

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had threatened to block paychecks to state House Democrats who fled the state to block votes on new election laws. Enough Democrats have returned that Republicans can go back to the legislation.

Eric Gay/AP


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Eric Gay/AP

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had threatened to block paychecks to state House Democrats who fled the state to block votes on new election laws. Enough Democrats have returned that Republicans can go back to the legislation.

Eric Gay/AP

AUSTIN, Texas — A standoff in Texas over new voting restrictions that gridlocked the state Capitol for 38 consecutive days ended Thursday when some Democrats who fled to Washington, D.C., dropped their holdout, paving the way for Republicans to resume pushing an elections overhaul.

It abruptly and messily drew to a close one of the few — and lengthiest — quorum breaks in modern Texas history.

Instead of a unified and celebratory return by Democrats, some members lashed out at their colleagues over what they criticized as breaking ranks. Many of the proposed changes to Texas voting that Democrats have railed against for months remain in a bill that already passed the state Senate, and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott could now sign the legislation in a matter of weeks, if not sooner.

Only three new Democrats showed up Thursday, and the vast majority of the more than 50 Democrats who bolted for the nation’s capital in July continue to stay away from the Texas Capitol. Still, Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan said enough were there to achieve a quorum, which in the House is normally 100 present legislators. Growing impatience among Republicans had led to escalating threats that missing lawmakers could face arrest, but officers never appeared to do more than leaving warrants at Democrats’ homes.

“It’s been a very long summer. Been through a lot. I appreciate you all being here,” Phelan said. “It’s time to get back to the business of the people of Texas.”

Not all Democrats joined in the holdout, and the newest to come back to the Texas House defended their decision, saying they had successfully pushed Congress on voting rights legislation while pointing to the growing urgency of surging COVID-19 caseloads in Texas. One of them, Democrat Garnet Coleman of Houston, did not go to Washington because he was recovering from having a leg amputation brought on by an infection.

“One of the things in life is that we have to know what our responsibilities are and we have to work to move something in the direction we want it to be,” Coleman said from a wheelchair while delivering the prayer on the House floor.

But other Democrats who remained absent did not hide their frustration.

“This is how Texas Democrats lose elections,” state Rep. Michelle Beckley tweeted.

Abbott now has an opening to divert attention back to the Capitol and away from criticism and defiance by Texas’ largest cities and school districts over his handling of worsening COVID-19 numbers. Abbott, who is up for reelection in 2022, had also jammed the agenda of this latest 30-day special session — which is nearly half over — with other hot-button conservative issues including border security and how race is taught in public schools.

Abbott this week tested positive for COVID-19, although his office had said the 63-year-old governor did not have symptoms.

It leaves Democrats much in the same position as when the holdout started: unable to permanently stop the GOP-controlled Legislature from putting new limits and rules over how more that 16 million registered voters can cast a ballot. And federal voting rights protections that Texas Democrats lobbied for while in Washington still face long odds of getting around GOP opposition in Congress.

For months, Texas Republicans have tried to pass measures that would prohibit 24-hour polling sites, ban drive-through voting and give partisan poll watchers more access. One version of the bill that was just hours from reaching Abbott’s desk in May also would have banned Sunday morning early voting — when many Black churchgoers go to the polls — and made it easier for a judge to overturn an election. Democrats’ first walkout wound up permanently scuttled those two provisions, but Republicans have kept intact other contested measures.

Abbott vetoed paychecks for about 2,100 legislative staffers after Democrats walked out the first time in a move that was aimed at pressuring Democrats to return in order to restore that funding.

The full House quickly adjourned Thursday, but Republicans worked fast to schedule a hearing on the elections bill for Saturday.

“People want to get to work. They’re relieved that after all this time that we’ve been held hostage in Austin that we can finally get down to business,” said state Rep. Jim Murphy, chairman of the House Republican Caucus.

Months of protests had put Texas Democrats at the center of a new national battle over voting. Republicans around the U.S. have rushed to enact new voting restrictions in response to former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

Republicans are now back on a path to pass new elections laws in Texas before the current special session ends on Sept. 5.

Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2021/08/19/1029509510/texas-democrats-end-holdout-voting-bill

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has undergone COVID-19 antibody treatment following his breakthrough positive diagnosis. 

“Governor Abbott’s doctor prescribed Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody therapy treatment, which is available at no cost to all Texans who get a doctor’s referral,” Abbott’s office said in a statement Thursday. “It is recommended that Texans testing positive for COVID-19 seek this antibody therapeutic drug because of its effectiveness to help keep people out of hospitals.” 

Abbott’s office also shared that the governor has expanded the COVID-19 Antibody Infusion Centers across the state, as well. 

This comes as Abbott announced on Tuesday that he has tested positive for the virus, even though he’s been fully vaccinated. COVID-19 cases have surged across the nation due to the highly contagious delta variant. 

Multiple schools districts in the state have defied Abbott’s executive order by implementing mask mandates for their schools.

Source Article from https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/568683-greg-abbott-undergoes-antibody-covid-19-treatment-following-diagnosis

“They came up to the door, rang the doorbell,” said Jon Rosenthal, a Houston representative, describing surveillance video of the sergeant-at-arms official delivering the warrant to his home on Tuesday. “Nobody answered so he folded it in half and stuck it in the doorjamb.”

The voting bills in Texas, part of a nationwide effort by Republican-led state legislatures to tighten rules around ballot access, would roll back changes made during the 2020 election to make voting easier during the coronavirus pandemic. The proposed changes would also expand the authority of partisan poll watchers, which voting rights groups and Democrats say could lead to voter intimidation and suppression.

Mr. Abbott, in calling the special sessions, also included on the agenda priorities of his Republican base, such as rules on how race could be taught in schools and restrictions on transgender athletes. He also added several that have broader appeal, such as more money for retired teachers.

The standoff prompted calls for vigilante groups to help track down the Democrats. Outside groups offered rewards up to $2,500 for information leading to the arrest of the Democrats, garnering support from some Republican representatives.

“If you know the whereabouts of a missing lawmaker, submit a tip,” Briscoe Cain, a Houston-area Republican who chairs the House Elections Committee, said in a TikTok video this week, a semiautomatic rifle mounted on the wall behind him.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/19/us/texas-voting-rights.html

CABELL COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) – Masks will not be required in Cabell County Schools.

The school board voted 3-2 Thursday evening not to require face coverings, deciding to stick with their original plan. Board members Mary Neely, Skip Parsons, and Alyssa Bond voted against the mask mandate. Rhonda Smalley and Bishop Charles Shaw voted for the mask mandate.

Dozens of concerned parents packed the emergency meeting, which was called earlier this week after parents voiced their concerns.

Cabell County BOE calls emergency meeting regarding masks

We have a crew at the meeting and will have more on this developing story.

Keep checking the WSAZ app for the latest information.

Copyright 2021 WSAZ. All rights reserved.

Source Article from https://www.wsaz.com/2021/08/19/school-board-votes-against-requiring-masks/

President Joe Biden will cancel more than $5.8 billion in federal student loan debt for over 323,000 borrowers with permanent disabilities in the single largest cancellation of debt in his presidency the Department of Education announced on Thursday.

For a second day in a row, the Biden administration announced an initiative with no connection to the ongoing Afghanistan crisis, where an unknown number of American civilians remain.

On Wednesday, the president pushed for COVID-19 vaccines and rallied against anti-maskers while refusing to answer questions about the situation in Afghanistan.

The debt cancellation is for those with total or permanent disabilities, or TPD.

The DOE said it will continue to stop asking borrowers with TPD for information on their earnings to qualify for loan cancelation. even after the pandemic. It will pursue the elimination of the three year monitoring period in which a borrower’s loans can be unforgiven based on income.

“Today’s action removes a major barrier that prevented far too many borrowers with disabilities from receiving the total and permanent disability discharges they are entitled to under the law,” Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said.

 “From day one, I’ve stressed that the Department of Education is a service agency. We serve students, educators, and families across the country to ensure that educational opportunity is available to all. We’ve heard loud and clear from borrowers with disabilities and advocates about the need for this change and we are excited to follow through on it. This change reduces red tape with the aim of making processes as simple as possible for borrowers who need support.”

On Aug. 6, the DOE announced that it would extend its pause on student loan payments until January 2022. President Biden had extended the payment pause in August.

The Department of Education said that will be its “final extension of the pause on student loan repayment, interest, and collections,” stating they feel it’s a necessary move to allow borrowers more time to plan to begin repayments to avoid defaults and delinquency. 

In Thursday’s announcement, the DOE said that the cancellations will occur automatically for borrowers with TPD who have been identified through administrative data, ending a long application process previously required for loan forgiveness.

According to the DOE, the Trump administration had removed the application process in 2019, but only identified eligible TPD borrowers through data with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Their information will now also be matched through the Social Security Agency.

The Biden Administration has, so far, approved approximately $8.7 billion in student loan forgiveness for roughly 455,000 borrowers.

Source Article from https://nypost.com/2021/08/19/biden-cancels-student-loan-debt-for-the-disabled/

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/08/19/three-u-s-senators-test-positive-breakthrough-covid-19-cases/8201110002/

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, called Brooks’ statement “evil” in a Twitter post. Kinzinger was one of a handful of Republicans to vote for former President Donald Trump’s impeachment over the Capitol invasion.

The bomb-threat suspect, 49-year-old Floyd Ray Roseberry, surrendered and was taken into custody by police after an hourslong standoff outside the Library of Congress, where he claimed he had explosives in his truck.

In social media videos posted to Facebook, Roseberry repeatedly referenced a “revolution” and called on Biden to send someone to talk to him.

Brooks in his statement said that “although this terrorist’s motivation is not yet publicly known … generally speaking, I understand citizenry anger directed at dictatorial Socialism and its threat to liberty, freedom and the very fabric of American society.”

He added that the way to stop socialism is for “patriotic Americans to fight back” in upcoming election cycles.

“I strongly encourage patriotic Americans to do exactly that more so than ever before. Bluntly stated, America’s future is at risk,” Brooks’ statement said.

Brooks, a House member from Alabama since 2011 who is running for Senate, had plotted in late 2020 with Trump about ways to overturn Biden’s Electoral College victory.

On Jan. 6, when Congress was set to convene at the Capitol to confirm Biden’s win, Brooks spoke nearby at a rally organized by Trump, who called on Republicans to reject the election results.

Brooks at the “Stop the Steal” rally told crowds of Trump’s supporters to “start taking down names and kicking ass.” Trump in his own speech told the crowd to march to the Capitol: “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” he said.

Shortly after Congress convened to confirm Biden’s win, a mob of Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol, derailing the proceedings and forcing lawmakers to flee their chambers and hide. More than 500 arrests have since been made in relation to the Capitol riot.

Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/19/after-capitol-hill-bomb-threat-gop-lawmaker-expresses-sympathy-for-citizenry-anger.html

Severe weather swept through the Front Range on Thursday afternoon, with several tornado warnings issued in areas surrounding the Denver area.

As of 4:10 p.m., no tornado warnings are in effect, according to the National Weather Service in Boulder. Previous warnings were issued in Douglas and Elbert counties, Thornton, Denver, Westminster, Arvada, Brighton, Frederick, Fort Lupton, Broomfield, Parker and Frankton. These have expired.

Pea- to quarter-sized hail up to an inch in diameter were reported north of Denver. The metro area and 11 counties remain under a severe thunderstorm watch until 8 p.m. Thursday. A funnel was spotted in the Front Range, but there were no reports of one touching down.

At left, pea-sized hail blankets the front yard and driveway of a Westminster home Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. At right, Hail that fell in Westminster on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021, is measured for scale against a quarter.

The weather service said to expect several rounds of showers and thunderstorms throughout the afternoon. NWS meteorologist Jim Kalina said Thursday more storms are on the way for the Denver area. “It’s hard to say how severe” the approaching storms will be, Kalina said.

This is a breaking story. More updates will arrive.


Source Article from https://www.denverpost.com/2021/08/19/colorado-weather-tornado-warning-issued-in-arvada-westminster/

Read the full transcript of President Joe Biden’s exclusive interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Wednesday.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Mr. President, thank you for doing this.

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Thank you for doin’ it.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Let’s get right to it. Back in July, you said a Taliban takeover was highly unlikely. Was the intelligence wrong, or did you downplay it?

BIDEN: I think — there was no consensus. If you go back and look at the intelligence reports, they said that it’s more likely to be sometime by the end of the year. The idea that the tal — and then it goes further on, even as late as August. I think you’re gonna see — the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and others speaking about this later today.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But you didn’t put a timeline on it when you said it was highly unlikely. You just said flat out, “It’s highly unlikely the Taliban would take over.”

BIDEN: Yeah. Well, the question was whether or not it w– the idea that the Taliban would take over was premised on the notion that the — that somehow, the 300,000 troops we had trained and equipped was gonna just collapse, they were gonna give up. I don’t think anybody anticipated that.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But you know that Senator McConnell, others say this was not only predictable, it was predicted, including by him, based on intelligence briefings he was getting.

BIDEN: What — what did he say was predicted?

STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator McConnell said it was predictable that the Taliban was gonna take over.

BIDEN: Well, by the end of the year, I said that’s that was — that was a real possibility. But no one said it was gonna take over then when it was bein’ asked.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So when you look at what’s happened over the last week, was it a failure of intelligence, planning, execution or judgment?

BIDEN: Look, I don’t think it was a fa– look, it was a simple choice, George. When the– when the Taliban — let me back — put it another way. When you had the government of Afghanistan, the leader of that government get in a plane and taking off and going to another country, when you saw the significant collapse of the ta– of the– Afghan troops we had trained — up to 300,000 of them just leaving their equipment and taking off, that was — you know, I’m not– this — that — that’s what happened.

That’s simply what happened. So the question was in the beginning the– the threshold question was, do we commit to leave within the timeframe we’ve set? We extended it to September 1st. Or do we put significantly more troops in? I hear people say, “Well, you had 2,500 folks in there and nothin’ was happening. You know, there wasn’t any war.”

But guess what? The fact was that the reason it wasn’t happening is the last president negotiated a year earlier that he’d be out by May 1st and that– in return, there’d be no attack on American forces. That’s what was done. That’s why nothing was happening. But the idea if I had said — I had a simple choice. If I had said, “We’re gonna stay,” then we’d better prepare to put a whole hell of a lot more troops in —

STEPHANOPOULOS: But your top military advisors warned against withdrawing on this timeline. They wanted you to keep about 2,500 troops.

BIDEN: No, they didn’t. It was split. Tha– that wasn’t true. That wasn’t true.

STEPHANOPOULOS: They didn’t tell you that they wanted troops to stay?

BIDEN: No. Not at — not in terms of whether we were going to get out in a timeframe all troops. They didn’t argue against that.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So no one told — your military advisors did not tell you, “No, we should just keep 2,500 troops. It’s been a stable situation for the last several years. We can do that. We can continue to do that”?

BIDEN: No. No one said that to me that I can recall. Look, George, the reason why it’s been stable for a year is because the last president said, “We’re leaving. And here’s the deal I wanna make with you, Taliban. We’re agreeing to leave if you agree not to attack us between now and the time we leave on May the 1st.”

I got into office, George. Less than two months after I elected to office, I was sworn in, all of a sudden, I have a May 1 deadline. I have a May 1 deadline. I got one of two choices. Do I say we’re staying? And do you think we would not have to put a hell of a lot more troops? B– you know, we had hundreds– we had tens of thousands of troops there before. Tens of thousands.

Do you think we woulda — that we would’ve just said, “No problem. Don’t worry about it, we’re not gonna attack anybody. We’re okay”? In the meantime, the Taliban was takin’ territory all throughout the country in the north and down in the south, in the Pasthtun area.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So would you have withdrawn troops like this even if President Trump had not made that deal with the Taliban?

BIDEN: I would’ve tried to figure out how to withdraw those troops, yes, because look, George. There is no good time to leave Afghanistan. Fifteen years ago would’ve been a problem, 15 years from now. The basic choice is am I gonna send your sons and your daughters to war in Afghanistan in perpetuity?

STEPHANOPOULOS: That’s–

BIDEN: No one can name for me a time when this would end. And what– wha– wha– what– what constitutes defeat of the Taliban? What constitutes defeat? Would we have left then? Let’s say they surrender like before. OK. Do we leave then? Do you think anybody– the same people who think we should stay would’ve said, “No, good time to go”? We spent over $1 trillion, George, 20 years. There was no good time to leave.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But if there’s no good time, if you know you’re gonna have to leave eventually, why not have th– everything in place to make sure Americans could get out, to make sure our Afghan allies get out, so we don’t have these chaotic scenes in Kabul?

BIDEN: Number one, as you know, the intelligence community did not say back in June or July that, in fact, this was gonna collapse like it did. Number one.

STEPHANOPOULOS: They thought the Taliban would take over, but not this quickly?

BIDEN: But not this quickly. Not even close. We had already issued several thousand passports to the– the SIVs, the people– the– the– the translators when I came into office before we had negotiated getting out at the end of s– August.

Secondly, we’re in a position where what we did was took precautions. That’s why I authorized that there be 6,000 American troops to flow in to accommodate this exit, number one. And number two, provided all that aircraft in the Gulf to get people out. We pre-positioned all that, anticipated that. Now, granted, it took two days to take control of the airport. We have control of the airport now.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Still a lotta pandemonium outside the airport.

BIDEN: Oh, there is. But, look, b– but no one’s being killed right now, God forgive me if I’m wrong about that, but no one’s being killed right now. People are– we got 1,000-somewhat, 1,200 out, yesterday, a couple thousand today. And it’s increasing. We’re gonna get those people out.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But we’ve all seen the pictures. We’ve seen those hundreds of people packed into a C-17. You’ve seen Afghans falling–

BIDEN: That was four days ago, five days ago.

STEPHANOPOULOS: What did you think when you first saw those pictures?

BIDEN: What I thought was we ha– we have to gain control of this. We have to move this more quickly. We have to move in a way in which we can take control of that airport. And we did.

STEPHANOPOULOS: I– I think a lot of– a lot of Americans, and a l– even a lot of veterans who served in Afghanistan agree with you on the big, strategic picture. They believe we had to get out. But I wonder how you respond to an Army Special Forces officer, Javier McKay (PH). He did seven tours. He was shot twice. He agrees with you. He says, “We have to cut our losses in Afghanistan.” But he adds, “I just wish we could’ve left with honor.”

BIDEN: Look, that’s like askin’ my deceased son Beau, who spent six months in Kosovo and a year in Iraq as a Navy captain and then major– I mean, as an Army major. And, you know, I’m sure h– he had regrets comin’ out of Afganista– I mean, out of Iraq.

He had regrets to what’s– how– how it’s going. But the idea– what’s the alternative? The alternative is why are we staying in Afghanistan? Why are we there? Don’t you think that the one– you know who’s most disappointed in us getting out? Russia and China. They’d love us to continue to have to–

STEPHANOPOULOS: So you don’t think this could’ve been handled, this exit could’ve been handled better in any way? No mistakes?

BIDEN: No. I– I don’t think it could’ve been handled in a way that there– we– we’re gonna go back in hindsight and look, but the idea that somehow there’s a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, I don’t know how that happens. I don’t know how that happened.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So for you, that was always priced into the decision?

BIDEN: Yes. Now, exactly what happened– is not priced in. But I knew that they’re gonna have an enormous, enorm– look, one of the things we didn’t know is what the Taliban would do in terms of trying to keep people from getting out, what they would do.What are they doing now? They’re cooperating, letting American citizens get out, American personnel get out, embassies get out, et cetera. But they’re having– we’re having some more difficulty in having those who helped us when we were in there–

STEPHANOPOULOS: And we don’t really know what’s happening outside of Kabul.

BIDEN: Pardon me?

STEPHANOPOULOS: We don’t really know what’s happening outside of Kabul.

BIDEN: Well– we do know generically and in some specificity what’s happening outside of Kabul. We don’t know it in great detail. But we do know. And guess what? The Taliban knows if they take on American citizens or American military, we will strike them back like hell won’t have it.

STEPHANOPOULOS: All troops are supposed to be out by August 31st. Even if Americans and our Afghan allies are still trying to get out, they’re gonna leave?

BIDEN: We’re gonna do everything in our power to get all Americans out and our allies out.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Does that mean troops will stay beyond August 31st if necessary?

BIDEN: It depends on where we are and whether we can get– ramp these numbers up to 5,000 to 7,000 a day coming out. If that’s the case, we’ll be– they’ll all be out.

STEPHANOPOULOS: ‘Cause we’ve got, like, 10,000 to 15,000 Americans in the country right now, right? And are you committed to making sure that the troops stay until every American who wants to be out–

BIDEN: Yes.

STEPHANOPOULOS: — is out?

BIDEN: Yes.

STEPHANOPOULOS: How about our Afghan allies? We have about 80,000 people–

BIDEN: Well, that’s not the s–

STEPHANOPOULOS: Is that too high?

BIDEN: That’s too high.

STEPHANOPOULOS: How many–

BIDEN: The estimate we’re giving is somewhere between 50,000 and 65,000 folks total, counting their families.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Does the commitment hold for them as well?

BIDEN: The commitment holds to get everyone out that, in fact, we can get out and everyone that should come out. And that’s the objective. That’s what we’re doing now, that’s the path we’re on. And I think we’ll get there.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So Americans should understand that troops might have to be there beyond August 31st?

BIDEN: No. Americans should understand that we’re gonna try to get it done before August 31st.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But if we don’t, the troops will stay–

BIDEN: If — if we don’t, we’ll determine at the time who’s left.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And?

BIDEN: And if you’re American force — if there’s American citizens left, we’re gonna stay to get them all out.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You talked about our adversaries, China and Russia. You already see China telling Taiwan, “See? You can’t count on the Americans.” (LAUGH)

BIDEN: Sh– why wouldn’t China say that? Look, George, the idea that w– there’s a fundamental difference between– between Taiwan, South Korea, NATO. We are in a situation where they are in– entities we’ve made agreements with based on not a civil war they’re having on that island or in South Korea, but on an agreement where they have a unity government that, in fact, is trying to keep bad guys from doin’ bad things to them.

We have made– kept every commitment. We made a sacred commitment to Article Five that if in fact anyone were to invade or take action against our NATO allies, we would respond. Same with Japan, same with South Korea, same with– Taiwan. It’s not even comparable to talk about that.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Yeah, but those–

BIDEN: It’s not comparable to t–

STEPHANOPOULOS: –who say, “Look, America cannot be trusted now, America does not keep its promises–“

BIDEN: Who– who’s gonna say that? Look, before I made this decision, I met with all our allies, our NATO allies in Europe. They agreed. We should be getting out.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Did they have a choice?

BIDEN: Sure, they had a choice. Look, the one thing I promise you in private, NATO allies are not quiet. You remember from your old days. They’re not gonna be quiet. And so– and by the way, you know, what we’re gonna be doing is we’re gonna be putting together a group of the G-7, the folks that we work with the most– to– I was on the phone with– with Angela Merkel today. I was on the phone with the British prime minister. I’m gonna be talking to Macron in France to make sure we have a coherent view of how we’re gonna deal from this point on.

STEPHANOPOULOS: What happens now in Afghanistan? Do you believe the Taliban have changed?

BIDEN: No. I think– let me put it this way. I think they’re going through sort of an existential crisis about do they want to be recognized by the international community as being a legitimate government. I’m not sure they do. But look, they have–

STEPHANOPOULOS: They care about their beliefs more?

BIDEN: Well, they do. But they also care about whether they have food to eat, whether they have an income that they can provide for their f– that they can make any money and run an economy. They care about whether or not they can hold together the society that they in fact say they care so much about.

I’m not counting on any of that. I’m not cou– but that is part of what I think is going on right now in terms of I– I’m not sure I would’ve predicted, George, nor would you or anyone else, that when we decided to leave, that they’d provide safe passage for Americans to get out.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Beyond Americans, what do we owe the Afghans who are left behind, particularly Afghan women who are facing the prospect of subjugation again?

BIDEN: As many as we can get out, we should. For example, I had a meeting today for a couple hours in the Situation Room just below here. There are Afghan women outside the gate. I told ’em, “Get ’em on the planes. Get them out. Get them out. Get their families out if you can.”

But here’s the deal, George. The idea that we’re able to deal with the rights of women around the world by military force is not rational. Not rational. Look what’s happened to the Uighurs in western China. Look what’s happening in other parts of the world.

Look what’s happenin’ in, you know, in– in the Congo. I mean, there are a lotta places where women are being subjugated. The way to deal with that is not with a military invasion. The way to deal with that is putting economic, diplomatic, and national pre– international pressure on them to change their behavior.

STEPHANOPOULOS: How about the threat to the United States? Most intelligence analysis has predicted that Al Qaeda would come back 18 to 24 months after a withdrawal of American troops. Is that analysis now being revised? Could it be sooner?

BIDEN: It could be. But George, look, here’s the deal. Al Qaeda, ISIS, they metastasize. There’s a significantly greater threat to the United States from Syria. There’s a significantly greater threat from East Africa. There’s significant greater threat to other places in the world than it is from the mountains of Afghanistan. And we have maintained the ability to have an over-the-horizon capability to take them out. We’re– we don’t have military in Syria to make sure that we’re gonna be protected–

STEPHANOPOULOS: And you’re confident we’re gonna have that in Afghanistan?

BIDEN: Yeah. I’m confident we’re gonna have the overriding capability, yes. Look, George, it’s like asking me, you know, am I confident that people are gonna act even remotely rationally. Here’s the deal. The deal is the threat from Al Qaeda and their associate organizations is greater in other parts of the world to the United States than it is from Afghanistan.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And th– that tells you that you’re– it’s safe to leave?

BIDEN: No. That tells me that– my dad used to have an expression, George. If everything’s equally important to you, nothing’s important to you. We should be focusing on where the threat is the greatest. And the threat– the idea– we can continue to spend $1 trillion and have tens of thousands of American forces in Afghanistan when we have what’s going on around the world, in the Middle East and North Africa and west– I mean, excuse me– yeah, North Africa and Western Africa. The idea we can do that and ignore those– those looming problems, growing problems, is not– not rational.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Final question on this. You know, in a couple weeks, we’re all gonna commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11. The Taliban are gonna be ruling Afghanistan, just l– like they were when our country was attacked. How do you explain that to the American people?

BIDEN: Not true. It’s not true. They’re not gonna look just like they were we were attacked. There was a guy named Osama bin Laden that was still alive and well. They were organized in a big way, that they had significant help from arou– from other parts of the world.

We went there for two reasons, George. Two reasons. One, to get Bin Laden, and two, to wipe out as best we could, and we did, the Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. We did it. Then what happened? Began to morph into the notion that, instead of having a counterterrorism capability to have small forces there in– or in the region to be able to take on Al Qaeda if it tried to reconstitute, we decided to engage in nation building. In nation building. That never made any sense to me.

STEPHANOPOULOS: It sounds like you think we shoulda gotten out a long time ago–

BIDEN: We should’ve.

STEPHANOPOULOS: –and– and accept the idea that it was gonna be messy no matter what.

BIDEN: Well, by the– what would be messy?

STEPHANOPOULOS: The exit–

BIDEN: If we had gotten out a long time ago– getting out would be messy no matter when it occurred. I ask you, you want me to stay, you want us to stay and send your kids back to Afghanistan? How about it? Are you g– if you had a son or daughter, would you send them in Afghanistan now? Or later?

STEPHANOPOULOS: Would be hard, but a lot of families have done it.

BIDEN: They’ve done it because, in fact, there was a circumstance that was different when we started. We were there for two reasons, George. And we accomplished both ten years ago. We got Osama bin Laden. As I said and got criticized for saying at the time, we’re gonna follow him to the gates of hell. Hell, we did–

STEPHANOPOULOS: How will history judge the United States’ experience in Afghanistan?

BIDEN: One that we overextended what we needed to do to deal with our national interest. That’s like my sayin’ they– they’re– they– they b– b– the border of Tajikistan– and– other– what– does it matter? Are we gonna go to war because of what’s goin’ on in Tajikistan? What do you think?

Tell me what– where in that isolated country that has never, never, never in all of history been united, all the way back to Alexander the Great, straight through the British Empire and the Russians, what is the idea? Are we gonna s– continue to lose thousands of Americans to injury and death to try to unite that country? What do you think? I think not.

I think the American people are with me. And when you unite that country, what do you have? They’re surrounded by Russia in the north or the Stans in the north. You have– to the west, they have Iran. To the south, they have Pakistan, who’s supporting them. And to the– and– actually, the east, they have Pakistan and China. Tell me. Tell me. Is that worth our national interest to continue to spend another $1 trillion and lose thousands more American lives? For what?

STEPHANOPOULOS: I know we’re outta time. I have two quick questions on COVID. I know you’re gonna make– be makin’ an announcement on booster shots today. Have you and the first lady gotten your booster shots yet?

BIDEN: We’re gonna get the booster shots. And– it’s somethin’ that I think– you know, because we g– w– we got our shots all the way back in I think December. So it’s– it’s– it’s past time. And so the idea (NOISE) that the recommendation– that’s my wife calling. (LAUGH) No. (LAUGH) But all kiddin’ aside, yes, we will get the booster shots.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And– and finally– are you comfortable with Americans getting a third shot when so many millions around the world haven’t had their first?

BIDEN: Absolutely because we’re providing more to the rest of the world than all the rest of the world combined. We got enough for everybody American, plus before this year is– before we get to the middle of next year, we’re gonna provide a half a billion shots to the rest of the world. We’re keepin’ our part of the bargain. We’re doin’ more than anybody.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Mr. President, thanks for your time.

BIDEN: Thank you.

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