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Speaker 1: Live from our nation's capital. This is Bloomberg Sound On.

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Speaker 1: We have to have this debating conference about whether we

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Speaker 1: should be in places like Afghanic death. This how that

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Speaker 1: has changed. We've got a hold of accountable Bookie, how

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Speaker 1: they governed? Floomberg Sound On, Politics, Policy and perspective from

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Speaker 1: DC's top names. The infrastructural bill or create jobs that

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Speaker 1: we desperately need in this country, good paying jobs. We

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Speaker 1: need to go all out through a green, renewable economy

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Speaker 1: and all of the infrastructures to make that happen. Bloomberg

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Speaker 1: Sound On with Joe Maview on Bloomberg Radio, a special

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Speaker 1: edition of Sound On Live from Washington, where President Biden

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Speaker 1: is set to address the nation this hour, following a

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Speaker 1: tragic day in Afghanistan where twelve American service members were

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Speaker 1: killed and dozens more injured in two blasts outside of

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Speaker 1: the Kabbal Airport, where thousands of US troops or of course,

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Speaker 1: working to evacuate thousands of Americans and Afghans before a

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Speaker 1: complete withdrawal next week. We have yet to see or

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Speaker 1: hear from President Biden today. We did receive a briefing

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Speaker 1: a little while ago from Sentcom Commander General Kenneth Mackenzie.

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Speaker 1: It's a hard day to day, as you know, to

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Speaker 1: suicide bombers assessed to have been ISIS spiders detonated in

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Speaker 1: the vicinity of the Abbey gate at Hammad Carza International

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Speaker 1: Airport and in the vicinity of the Barren Hotel, which

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Speaker 1: is immediately adjacent. And as we wait to hear from

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Speaker 1: the President's we turned to our top guest, Congressman Mike Gallagher,

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Speaker 1: Republican from Wisconsin and marine who served in Iraq. Congressman,

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Speaker 1: welcome to Bloomberg Radio. We've been looking forward to speaking

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Speaker 1: with you because your name has been in the air

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Speaker 1: for the balance of the day. As the House, Republican

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Speaker 1: Leader Kevin McCarthy calls on Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring

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Speaker 1: back members of Congress before August thirty one for a

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Speaker 1: briefing and for a vote on your legislation that would

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Speaker 1: prohibit the withdrawal of our troops until every amount is

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Speaker 1: out of Afghanistan. Do you have a sense of when

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Speaker 1: that would be Well, no, and I've sat through multiple

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Speaker 1: classified briefings now and ask these questions from everybody, to

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Speaker 1: the Secretary of Defense, to the head of Policy and

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Speaker 1: depending on down and you know, I can't even get

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Speaker 1: a clear definition of what they think the mission is,

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Speaker 1: and we don't even have a good estimate of how

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Speaker 1: many Americans are there right now. But I think the

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Speaker 1: principle behind which we should all unite is that as Americans,

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Speaker 1: we don't leave American citizens behind and too cut and run,

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Speaker 1: knowing that we're going to be not only leaving American

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Speaker 1: citizens behind, but effectively condemning thousands of our Afghan allies

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Speaker 1: to death, just because we want to stick to some

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Speaker 1: arbitrary August thirty one days so the President can claim

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Speaker 1: he ended the war by September eleven, there by handing

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Speaker 1: the Talibana massive propaganda victory. Makes no sense to me.

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Speaker 1: Uh And I've been surprised by the amount of bipartisan

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Speaker 1: pushbacks that the administration has been getting. But at the

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Speaker 1: same time, when it came time to vote on my legislation,

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Speaker 1: all of the Democrats hold it because they didn't want

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Speaker 1: to jeopardize the Bernie Sanders budget going through. So I

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Speaker 1: hope we can learn from this. I hope we can reconvene.

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Speaker 1: I hope we can all stand up for the basic

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Speaker 1: idea that we don't cut and run and leave our

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Speaker 1: people in harm's way. And I fear this situation could

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Speaker 1: get worse. I mean, today is the day that's going

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Speaker 1: to live in infamy, uh certainly for Marine Corps history.

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Speaker 1: And it's all the more tragic because it was avoidable.

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Speaker 1: Eleven marines died today that did not need to die.

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Speaker 1: But that's where we are. Congressman, is noteworthy as a marine,

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Speaker 1: you're more comfortable with the Congress making these decisions than

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Speaker 1: the commander in chief. Well, I think part of the

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Speaker 1: problem we have here with US foreign policy is Congress

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Speaker 1: has completely ab cages its constitutional role, whether it's authorizations

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Speaker 1: for war, but also involving itself an oversight for war termination.

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Speaker 1: Interestingly enough, I supported an amendment. It was a bipartisan amendment,

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Speaker 1: working with a Congressman Jason Crowe uh in the UH

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Speaker 1: in last year's Defense built that would have prevented the

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Speaker 1: Trumpet then Trump administration from withdrawing below four thousand troops

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Speaker 1: until they had done a proper risk assessment. The Biden

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Speaker 1: administration then came in and waives the requirement for a

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Speaker 1: risk assessment. So here we had Congress trying to reassert

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Speaker 1: itself in oversight of war operations and military planning. And

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Speaker 1: yet the executive branch, being thoroughly over empowered, has ignored

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Speaker 1: our impulses. And I think without a healthy given take

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Speaker 1: from you know, the first and second branch of our government,

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Speaker 1: you're going to get more fiasco's like this. But the

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Speaker 1: President seems insensitive to criticism. He seems to be doubling

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Speaker 1: down on his position. And we're watching one of the

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Speaker 1: biggest fiasco's in modern military history unfold the fair before

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Speaker 1: our eyes. It's gonna long lasting, damaging consequences for the

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Speaker 1: credibility of our military deterrent around the world. Well, how

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Speaker 1: does that qualify Congress them to be making tactical decisions

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Speaker 1: like this for the U. S. Military should it not

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Speaker 1: come back to a new authorization of forces. I wouldn't

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Speaker 1: call it a tactical decision. I mean Congress is not saying, hey,

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Speaker 1: put your your LP here, or put your perimeter X

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Speaker 1: number of feet away from this part of the airport.

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Speaker 1: We're actually trying to involve ourselves in a strategic decision

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Speaker 1: of when and how to withdraw from the country. Now,

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Speaker 1: I understand that those of us who wanted a small,

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Speaker 1: enduring force to remain in Afghanistan, as I did and

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Speaker 1: some of my Republican Democratic colleagues did. Lost the argument.

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Speaker 1: We lost the argument with the previous administration. We lost

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Speaker 1: the argument. This administration got it. Uh. But at a minimum,

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Speaker 1: I think we should all work together on how to

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Speaker 1: make this, you know, uh, make sure that all Americans

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Speaker 1: get home. And I feel like I have a responsibility

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Speaker 1: to my constituents, many of whom have concerns. Many of

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Speaker 1: them know people that are still trapped in Afghanistans as

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Speaker 1: well as do the men and women that I served

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Speaker 1: with in uniform, to do whatever I can to make

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Speaker 1: sure we don't leave anybody behind. So I think Congress

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Speaker 1: is engaged in a good space effort to try and

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Speaker 1: make sure we don't abandon people to their debt, to

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Speaker 1: make sure this doesn't get any worse. But I understand

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Speaker 1: that the broader decision to withdraw has been made by

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Speaker 1: the Commander in chief and it's going to be difficult,

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Speaker 1: as not impossible, to reverse that decision. And so we

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Speaker 1: are therefore going to be left with just mitigating the

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Speaker 1: fallout and the increase and terror threats, as well as

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Speaker 1: the decrease in credibility among our allies talking with Congress

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Speaker 1: from Mike Alaga, Republican from Wisconsin, who authored legislation that

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Speaker 1: would prohibit the withdrawal of American troops until all Americans

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Speaker 1: are out of Afghanistan, and we understand that we're down

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Speaker 1: to about a thousand. Another five Americans were lifted out

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Speaker 1: of the country today. Congress from before we get further

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Speaker 1: or or without pushing further into politics, I'm curious to

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Speaker 1: hear your ideas about what's happening on the ground right now. Apparently,

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Speaker 1: the US military, according to General Mackenzie, is in talks

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Speaker 1: with the Taliban to expand the perimeter, extend the perimeter

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Speaker 1: around the airport, and also closed roads in some cases

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Speaker 1: that are leading that way. Is that the right move now?

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Speaker 1: And what else needs to happen? Well, it's still remarkable

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Speaker 1: to me that we find ourselves almost entirely dependent upon

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Speaker 1: the generosity and goodwill of the Taliban, an entity that

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Speaker 1: can't be trusted. We've also had reports today that the

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Speaker 1: administration provided a Taliban with a list of all the

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Speaker 1: Americans and scan allies we wanted out. If that is true,

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Speaker 1: it is a monumentally stupid decision, effectively providing, you know,

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Speaker 1: an al Qaeda affiliate with a kill lift. And you know,

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Speaker 1: as much as I'd like to see the security perimeter extended,

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Speaker 1: I like us to figure out some better system for uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, preventing things like this from happening. I just

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Speaker 1: can't help but despair knowing that we are so dependent

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Speaker 1: on the goodwill of the Taliban, and and scratch my

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Speaker 1: head thinking how we found ourselves yea position, And I

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Speaker 1: think it really illustrates the flaw in the logic here

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Speaker 1: that somehow, you know, we could rely it on the

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Speaker 1: Taliban as security partner and they wouldn't turn crack down

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Speaker 1: on Al Qaeda or ISIS or other terrorist groups. That's

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Speaker 1: that's just a fantasy. But sure, are you quoting? Are

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Speaker 1: you quoting a report? Are you telling us that the

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Speaker 1: Biden administration has handed over the names of all Americans

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Speaker 1: in Afghanistan at the talent? I'm quoting a political report

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Speaker 1: that came out couple of hours ago. Again, we are

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Speaker 1: now since Congress is not in session, we are back

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Speaker 1: in our districts. So it's not based on anything that

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Speaker 1: I have personally been briefed on. I have asked via

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Speaker 1: the Armed Services Committee as a ranking member on the

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Speaker 1: Military Personnel Subcommittee. Uh foreign answer from the Pentagon, But

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Speaker 1: I would tell you uh that I ask um high

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Speaker 1: level Pentagon officials yesterday in a brief thing. I said, please,

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Speaker 1: do you keep talking about these assurances we've gotten from

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Speaker 1: the Taliban. The Taliban have assured us they're gonna guarantee

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Speaker 1: save passage of our people to the airport. What assurances

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Speaker 1: have we given them? Can you tell me that I'm

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Speaker 1: not going to pick up a newspaper a week from now,

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Speaker 1: two months ago, two years from now and learn that

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Speaker 1: we have some secret deal with the Taliban. And they

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Speaker 1: assured me, no, there's no secret side deal. But you know,

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Speaker 1: this report maybe the first of many shoes to drop

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Speaker 1: that suggests more to the administration's arrangement with the Taliban

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Speaker 1: than we understand, which would be very, very, very troubling. Indeed,

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Speaker 1: this report, the Congressman refers to buy. Politico reads that

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Speaker 1: US officials in Cobbal gave the Taliban a list of

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Speaker 1: names of American citizens, Green card holders and Afghan allies

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Speaker 1: to grant entry into the outer perimeter of the city's airport,

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Speaker 1: a choice, as I read from Politico, that has prompted

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Speaker 1: outrage behind the scenes from lawmakers and military officials. Congressman

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Speaker 1: Gallagher clearly one of them. A Congressman, you've been critical

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Speaker 1: of President Biden. What do you want to hear him

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Speaker 1: say when he speaks this hour? You know, in in

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Speaker 1: the president's previous addresses to the nation, he seems to

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Speaker 1: have expressed no humility or or a willingness to say, hey,

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Speaker 1: this the situation has gotten out of control. Um, And

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Speaker 1: instead he seems to be casting the blame on a

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Speaker 1: lot of other people. I just would like him to

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Speaker 1: to own up to this obviously expressed sympathies in the

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Speaker 1: appropriate level of of heartbreak, given that we've lost the

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Speaker 1: leven Marines and and one sailor, and by the way,

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Speaker 1: that that body counts could go up as we learn

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Speaker 1: learn more because there were a lot of wounded in

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Speaker 1: action as well. Um. But I just would like the

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Speaker 1: President to look America in the eye and say, we're

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Speaker 1: gonna do whatever it takes to get our citizens out

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Speaker 1: of there and to keep our people's states. You know,

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Speaker 1: I don't expect that he's gonna say, well, I'm reversing

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Speaker 1: my decision to get out, and we're gonna retake Bodrom

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Speaker 1: and this and that and all the other things I'd

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Speaker 1: like to see happen. But at a minimum, I think

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Speaker 1: he needs to own up to this. And maybe it's

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Speaker 1: too soon right now, just because all our focus needs

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Speaker 1: to be on getting our people out safely. But at

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Speaker 1: some point somebody or a group of people needs to

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Speaker 1: be held accountable for this massive failure UH and military

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Speaker 1: operational failure, a judgment failure in terms of the overall decision,

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Speaker 1: and strategic failure in terms of the logic that was

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Speaker 1: deployed to justify this. I think the American people are

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Speaker 1: crying out for accountability, and I think the President should

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Speaker 1: take advantage of that too. UM not only hold members

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Speaker 1: of his NAPS security team accountable to demand the resignation,

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Speaker 1: but then perhaps rebuild that team in a bipartisan fashion. UM,

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Speaker 1: maybe abide by the old adage that politics stopped at

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Speaker 1: the water's edge. You know, That's what I would like

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Speaker 1: to see in my my fantasy world, but I'm not

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Speaker 1: sure I'm hopeful that's what's gonna happen. As we wait

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Speaker 1: to hear from the President, and we understand that could

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Speaker 1: happen in any moment. He'll be speaking from the East Room.

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Speaker 1: We've been told that retaking Bogram would lead to a

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Speaker 1: blood bath. Do you think that that is true, that

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Speaker 1: that would be a deadly battle? And if we kept

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Speaker 1: troops in Afghanistan and cob Will beyond the deadline, could

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Speaker 1: that lead to more loss of American troops? It's certainly good, um.

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Speaker 1: And you know, I am not I'm not sanguine about this,

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Speaker 1: and I'm not naive as to the corner that we've

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Speaker 1: we've painted ourselves into. And the reality is we're very

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Speaker 1: few options right now and may be too late to

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Speaker 1: do some of these things. But I do think at

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Speaker 1: a minimum, at a minimum, we have a moral responsibility

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Speaker 1: to get our people out of that country. And even

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Speaker 1: if it entails some risk, even if it requires patrolling

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Speaker 1: outside the wire, it's what we're gonna have to do.

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Speaker 1: We just don't leave Americans behind. Um. You know. As

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Speaker 1: for some of these more ambitious plans like taking Bography,

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Speaker 1: eyes that this ship, the ship may have sailed just

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Speaker 1: because we've we've painted ourselves into this corner. And certainly

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Speaker 1: regarding the thirty first deadline, the Taliban has threatened us

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Speaker 1: that if we stay one second longer, uh, there will

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Speaker 1: be consequences. But you know, at the end of the day,

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Speaker 1: we're the United States of America, with the most powerful

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Speaker 1: country in the history of the world, and when it

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Speaker 1: comes to protecting our own citizens, we shouldn't take orders

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Speaker 1: from terris um. So that's that's kind of how I

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Speaker 1: feel about the whole thing. Conference with Mike Gallagher, Republican

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Speaker 1: from Wisconsin, a marine who served in Iraq. We thank

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Speaker 1: you for being with us today on Bloomberg Sound On.

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Speaker 1: I'm Joe Matt you in Washington, and we do have

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Speaker 1: eyes on the East Room of the White House as

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Speaker 1: we wait to hear from President Biden. I can tell

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Speaker 1: you that the press pool is being ushered into the

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Speaker 1: room right now, and that tends to happen a couple

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Speaker 1: of minutes before the President speaks, so we will likely

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Speaker 1: be hearing from him shortly. Like to hear from our panel,

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Speaker 1: if that's possible. Genie She and Zano, Bloomberg Politics contributor,

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Speaker 1: joined today by Lester months in the Principle at Government

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Speaker 1: Relations from b g Our, former staff director for the

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Speaker 1: Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Genie and Lester, thank you. The

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Speaker 1: President could speak at any time, so I'll just warn

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Speaker 1: you in advance that we could be headed to the

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Speaker 1: White House. But Genie, I'll start with you here. You've

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Speaker 1: been critical as a Democrat of President Biden. Is there

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Speaker 1: anything that he could say today that would make you

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Speaker 1: feel better about this trajectory of this withdrawal? You know,

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Speaker 1: I don't think there's anything he could say make people

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Speaker 1: feel better. What I think we will hear is a

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Speaker 1: lot in the expression of sympathy, and what we heard

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Speaker 1: today earlier in the briefing that this mission will continue.

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Speaker 1: They are not going to be deterred. What I would

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Speaker 1: like to hear from him in addition to that is

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Speaker 1: I would like to hear if we are going to

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Speaker 1: respond to this attack, how they're going to ensure that

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Speaker 1: they get all Americans and allies out. And then also

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Speaker 1: this stunning piece that you were just talking to the

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Speaker 1: congressman about. Is it true as Politico is reporting that

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Speaker 1: they handed over the names of Americans, Green card holders

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Speaker 1: and Afghan allies to the Taliban and what people are

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Speaker 1: describing essentially as a kill list. Did that actually occur?

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Speaker 1: And so those are the things I would hope he

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Speaker 1: would address in addition to expressions of sympathy and the

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Speaker 1: mission continuing. Lester, I'd like to hear from you as

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Speaker 1: well on this and your expectations, maybe your hopes on

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Speaker 1: what you would like to hear from the president. Could

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Speaker 1: he say anything now that would give you more confidence

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Speaker 1: in where we're going? Well, I agree with you any completely.

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Speaker 1: I would add it would be nice to hear from him,

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Speaker 1: more than nice to hear from him a determination to

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Speaker 1: bring out all Americans who remain trapped at the airport

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Speaker 1: and cobble. And it would also, I think, who the

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Speaker 1: president to describe the steps he is taking to make

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Speaker 1: sure we don't see another attack like the one we

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Speaker 1: saw today. So I'll just add those to the list

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Speaker 1: of things that Genie had mentioned. How should this work, Genie?

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Speaker 1: Some have suggested the president may not take questions. He

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Speaker 1: has not taken questions and all of these events most

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Speaker 1: recently and we are now hearing sound from the east

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Speaker 1: room where cameras are pointed at the green room door

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Speaker 1: waiting for him to enter. Does he need to have

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Speaker 1: an exchange, Genie with reporters following what I presume will

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Speaker 1: be a relatively brief address. We haven't heard an exchange

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Speaker 1: like that, as you just mentioned, I would hope we would.

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Speaker 1: I thought that what General mackenzie and you were talking

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Speaker 1: about this earlier. I thought he gave a stunning press conference.

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Speaker 1: He answered a lot of questions and it was very,

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Speaker 1: very detailed as he explained what these troops are going through.

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Speaker 1: I would hope the President would do some of the

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Speaker 1: same tonight, but again, he hasn't taken questions. I'm not

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Speaker 1: convinced he will, but but I have my fingers used

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Speaker 1: on that one. Lester Monson, do you want to see

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Speaker 1: the US stay longer in Cobble as Congressman Gallagher's legislation

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Speaker 1: would call for, or does this mean that US forces

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Speaker 1: should leave earlier? I'm in complete agreement with the Congressman.

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Speaker 1: I think America doesn't leave people behind. We should be

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Speaker 1: staying until all Americans are out. I don't I don't

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Speaker 1: really thinks that's negotiable. Um it's going to Today has

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Speaker 1: been a pretty rough day for the country for obvious reasons.

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Speaker 1: Things things would get worse if we were to leave

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Speaker 1: Cobble with with any number of Americans remaining on the ground.

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Speaker 1: I just think that would be a huge mistake. Understood

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Speaker 1: the panel here on Bloomberg Sound On, Jennie she and

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Speaker 1: say no. Lester Monthson stay with us. They'll be around

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Speaker 1: for the hour. I want to speak with General David Deptula,

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Speaker 1: who is also with us today. We have lined up

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Speaker 1: some of the smartest people we know to talk about

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Speaker 1: this too. Understand what has happened and where we might

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Speaker 1: be going. Former director of the Combined Air Operations Center

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Speaker 1: for Operation Enduring Freedom, where the General orchestrated air operations

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Speaker 1: over Afghanistan and the outset of this mission some twenty

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Speaker 1: years ago, a fighter pilot and an organizing general. General Deptula,

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Speaker 1: welcome back to Bloomberg Sound. We had a chance to

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Speaker 1: talk just a couple of days ago. I didn't think

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Speaker 1: we'd be having this conversation today. Yeah, it's unfortunate. Uh,

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Speaker 1: but let me jump in in front of your question,

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Speaker 1: just by making it clear that we all owe the

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Speaker 1: US military addict gratitude uh in our unwavering support for

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Speaker 1: their dedication, commitment, and professionalism. Uh. They've just been doing

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Speaker 1: a magnificent job an unfortunately military pace of price for

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Speaker 1: this effort. So gonces to the families of the twelve

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Speaker 1: service members who lost their lives today executing their mission. General,

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Speaker 1: thank you for saying that. We heard from General Kenneth

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Speaker 1: Mackenzie earlier today in a Pentagon briefing, and he spoke

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Speaker 1: to the work that our men and women in uniform

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Speaker 1: are up to, and I want everybody to hear this.

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Speaker 1: This is close up work. The breath of the person

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Speaker 1: you are searching is upon you. While we have overwatching place,

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Speaker 1: we still have to touch the close of the person

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Speaker 1: that's coming in. I think you all can appreciate the

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Speaker 1: courage and the dedication that is necessary to do this job,

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Speaker 1: and to do it time after time. Please remember that

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Speaker 1: we have screened over one and four thousand people. Think

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Speaker 1: about that. The breath of the person you are screening

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Speaker 1: is upon you. You're touching the clothing of that individual. General,

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Speaker 1: today we saw suicide bombers infiltrate the system that we

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Speaker 1: have around the airport. What is your first thought as

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Speaker 1: as a military strategist here in preventing this from happening

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Speaker 1: once again? Is it expanding the perimeter around the airport?

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Speaker 1: Is it freezing evacuations for an how or something else? Well, um,

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Speaker 1: you know it's an appropriate question, But first I tell

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Speaker 1: you security is degrading so fast that there's no way

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Speaker 1: UH to get all the Americans out by thirty feet

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Speaker 1: of August, So we should not adhere to that arbitrary deadline.

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Speaker 1: The deadline needs to be conditions based. In other words,

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Speaker 1: we only leave when the missions accomplished, that being the

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Speaker 1: withdrawal of all US citizens who want to leave and

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Speaker 1: the friends of the US who have appropriate credentials. Now,

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Speaker 1: the second part is I believe the civilian airport at

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Speaker 1: Kabul should be abandoned and the operations shifted to Bagram

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Speaker 1: air Base because yeah, as Gjenal mackenzie talked about, yeah,

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Speaker 1: you have to inspect everybody, but the fact of the

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Speaker 1: matter is that the location in which you do that

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Speaker 1: inspection is important. It was an absolutely irresponsible decision to

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Speaker 1: abandon Bogram Airfield in the first place. Bogram's defendable, Kabul

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Speaker 1: is not. Bogram has two runways first as Kabul's one,

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Speaker 1: so through throughput could be doubled. Uh. And then finally,

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Speaker 1: in third and most important is our asymmetric advantage in

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Speaker 1: Afghanistan was and remains air power. So why we withdrew

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Speaker 1: our air power from Bogram prior to the complete evacuation

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Speaker 1: of Americans was unconscionable. So you know, I gotta tell

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Speaker 1: you the Taliban only understand and respect force. So the

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Speaker 1: US force needs to get back into the equation of

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Speaker 1: ground forces but with air power. You know Bogram better

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Speaker 1: than most people. What would it take to retake that base?

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Speaker 1: How deadly would that mission be? Well, it's a good question.

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Speaker 1: And I don't know what the what the current conditions

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Speaker 1: are on the ground, um, and and who is occupying Bogram,

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Speaker 1: But I'm sure that that's an option that's being considered

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Speaker 1: by Central Command. And it's not a matter of if

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Speaker 1: it could be done, it's a matter of when. But

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Speaker 1: all of that kind of ties back to everything I've

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Speaker 1: said so far. It kind of depends on what people

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Speaker 1: need to understand is the military is not operating independently.

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Speaker 1: They're operating under the guidance of the commander in chief,

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Speaker 1: our president. So uh, that's part of the issue. Uh. Well, Um,

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Speaker 1: what I mean is that it's been very obvious that he,

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Speaker 1: the President of the United States, has been overseeing a

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Speaker 1: serious case of misplanning and lack of foresight by his

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Speaker 1: National Security training team. Uh. And and so uh he

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Speaker 1: needs to start listening to the options presented by the military,

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Speaker 1: his combatant commanders uh and realizing things like setting an

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Speaker 1: arbitrary date versus uh, waiting until the missions actually accomplished

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Speaker 1: before we leave. I mean that's kind of that's a

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Speaker 1: fundamental decision that were is. Uh, you know, I don't

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Speaker 1: know what he made the basis of it on, but

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Speaker 1: it sounds like, you know, the Taliban have taken that

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Speaker 1: thirty one August planning date and turned it into a

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Speaker 1: red line, and it sounds like the President's basically capitulating

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Speaker 1: to that line of thought, and he shouldn't be doing that. General,

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Speaker 1: I didn't want to pull you into politics, but you

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Speaker 1: went there, so I'll ask you. Would you support Congressman

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Speaker 1: Mike Gallagher's legislation that would require American forces to stay

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Speaker 1: in Cobble until all Americans are evacuated. Uh. We shouldn't

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Speaker 1: have to legislate common sense to the executive branch of government.

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Speaker 1: So I'd have reservations, not because I disagree with his intent, um,

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Speaker 1: but we should have an executive branch that should be

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Speaker 1: able to make that common sense decision themselves. That David Depla, Yes, indeed,

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Speaker 1: and I appreciate your answering that question. Speaking emotionally from

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Speaker 1: the White House, where he invokes his late son Bo Biden,

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Speaker 1: who served in Iraq and of course died of cancer

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Speaker 1: after he came home. You heard the President live as

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Speaker 1: he issued a warning to the people who orchestrated the

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Speaker 1: attacks today in Cobble. To those who carried out this attack,

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Speaker 1: as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this,

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Speaker 1: we will not forgive. We will not forget. We will

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Speaker 1: hunt you down and make you pay. We're joined again

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Speaker 1: by Bloomberg Politics contributor Jeanie she and Zano, along with

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Speaker 1: Lester Munthson principle that government relations from b g Our,

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Speaker 1: former staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I'd

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Speaker 1: like to get the instant reaction from both of you. Genie,

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Speaker 1: we talked going into this address. I don't know what

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Speaker 1: exactly that was. The way that that hole back and

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Speaker 1: forth with the press was cording aided. But in terms

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Speaker 1: of the speech itself, how about we separate these the

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Speaker 1: prepared remarks from President Biden. How did that strike you?

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Speaker 1: Did he say enough? I think he said what we expected.

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Speaker 1: As you mentioned, he expressed a good deal of sympathy

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Speaker 1: and empathy for the families. Um he you know, obviously

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Speaker 1: talked about his son. He also said that we will

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Speaker 1: not forgive. We will hunt down those attackers, and I

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Speaker 1: thought most importantly in his prepared remarks, he said, we

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Speaker 1: will rescue the Americans and any Allies who want to

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Speaker 1: get out. Our mission will continue after the thirty first.

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00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:35,639
Speaker 1: Is how I heard this. But we're still withdrawing the

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Speaker 1: troops by the thirty first, So I'm a bit confused

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Speaker 1: if I can say that. As to how we would

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Speaker 1: get Americans and allies out after that deadline, he said,

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Speaker 1: there is a way to do that. He said it

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Speaker 1: also in the questions to the press. If I understood

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Speaker 1: this correctly, and yet I wasn't clear on how he

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00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:59,040
Speaker 1: would actually facilitate that once we get out. Lester, how

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00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:05,960
Speaker 1: did you uh consider his tone and tenor? He sounded sad, somber,

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Speaker 1: There was a moment of silence, sounded tired speaking personally

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Speaker 1: about his son. Was that the right approach to address

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00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:19,280
Speaker 1: the nation? Do we have less? All? Right? Go ahead?

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00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:22,840
Speaker 1: I'm not sure that's the approach I would have taken.

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00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:26,199
Speaker 1: I think he had a nice response on what to

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00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:30,240
Speaker 1: do about isis Chorussan, But I agree with Jeanie there's

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00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:34,439
Speaker 1: this fundamental confusion here about what exactly the mission is

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Speaker 1: In his prepared remarks, he said, we will get every

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Speaker 1: American out who wants to get out. Later, in response

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Speaker 1: to a question, he said, we'll get out as many

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Speaker 1: people as possible before the deadline, and then later at

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Speaker 1: the near the end. To an in response or another question,

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00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:56,880
Speaker 1: he said, after we leave, we will work to get

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Speaker 1: people out, and there was an implication that some of

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Speaker 1: those would be a Ricans by working with the Taliban. Um.

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00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:07,960
Speaker 1: I don't really think that's a coherent policy that is

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00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:11,280
Speaker 1: going to be doable or make any sense, and so

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Speaker 1: I think this confusion about the overall mission remains. I

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00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:18,960
Speaker 1: think a lot of the things he said to express

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Speaker 1: empathy were very appropriate. The moment of science is appropriate.

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Speaker 1: The tough line on I's course and was appropriate, But

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Speaker 1: there remains this fundamental confusion from him about the mission

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Speaker 1: and how we're going to accomplish it. Genie. He did

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Speaker 1: go on to say that he's listening to his military

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00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:38,720
Speaker 1: advisors and prepared to respond, listen to Joe Biden, the

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00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:43,280
Speaker 1: military whatever they need. If they need additional force, I

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00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:48,720
Speaker 1: will granted, but the military from the Chairman of the

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00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:53,600
Speaker 1: Joint Chiefs, the Joint Chiefs, commanders in the fields have

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00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:56,640
Speaker 1: all contacted me one way or another, usually by letter,

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Speaker 1: saying they subscribe to the mission is designed to get

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Speaker 1: as many people out as we can within the timeframe.

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Speaker 1: That's a lot of what do you make of that, genie,

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00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:11,280
Speaker 1: He's essentially handing things over to the military. If you

477
00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:13,600
Speaker 1: ask me for more, I will give you more. And

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Speaker 1: we know already according to General Kenneth Mackenzie, that we're

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Speaker 1: in talks with the Talibans to expand the perimeter, close

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00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:22,520
Speaker 1: some roads. Maybe there's more to this. What do you

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00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:25,280
Speaker 1: think the military asks for here? The President apparently is

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00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:27,920
Speaker 1: prepared to say yes. I think it's important that he

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00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:30,760
Speaker 1: does listen to the military on the ground, and I

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00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:34,040
Speaker 1: don't think he's been doing that prior to this. Hence,

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00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:38,280
Speaker 1: are you know this hard withdraw deadline that is based on,

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00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:42,080
Speaker 1: you know, some sort of deadline political deadline versus what's

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Speaker 1: going on operationally. So I think it's important he listened.

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00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:48,640
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna maybe walk himself into an issue though,

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Speaker 1: you know, as as he was saying he will listen,

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00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:55,720
Speaker 1: they will likely request more troops. For example, does he

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Speaker 1: then send in those troops when he's prepared to get

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Speaker 1: out now I'm thinking it's about hundred hours or so

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Speaker 1: before we're supposed to get out of there. So again,

494
00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:07,880
Speaker 1: it's sort of this mixed message I kept hearing here. Um,

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00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:10,800
Speaker 1: you know, you were talking to General Deptula right before

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00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:14,000
Speaker 1: the President spoke, and he was very critical about why

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Speaker 1: we would withdraw air power, why pull out of Bagram.

498
00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:20,200
Speaker 1: And we also heard the President say he had listened

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00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:24,120
Speaker 1: to his advisors and the military on that. Um, that's

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00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:27,280
Speaker 1: not what I understood prior. So I think there's a

501
00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:29,520
Speaker 1: lot to be squared here, and I think people are

502
00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:31,600
Speaker 1: going to be going through what he had to say

503
00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:34,280
Speaker 1: because it doesn't always, in my mind, line up with

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00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:36,440
Speaker 1: what we've heard prior and what I think we might

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Speaker 1: hear since. Genie she Inzano, Bloomberg Politics contributor, thanks for

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00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:42,200
Speaker 1: all your hard work today. We've spent quite a bit

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Speaker 1: of time together both on TV and radio with regard

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Speaker 1: to this story. And Lester Months and b GR Group

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00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:50,880
Speaker 1: and former staff director the Senate Form Relations Committee, We

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00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:54,000
Speaker 1: thank you for your analysis. You're on Bloomberg Radio. I'm

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Speaker 1: Joe Matthew and Washington. We heard the President speak. We

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Speaker 1: also heard from the congressman who wrote the legislation that

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Speaker 1: would keep our troops in Afghanistan until all Americans are out.

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Speaker 1: It is unclear if that will get a vote. As

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Speaker 1: President Biden says, quote, we will respond with force and

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Speaker 1: precision at our time, at the place we choose, in

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Speaker 1: the moment of our choosing. We'll be following this throughout

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Speaker 1: the evening and of course straight through tomorrow here on

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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Radio. So do stay with us and we'll meet

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Speaker 1: you back here for the Friday edition of Sound on Daybreak.

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Speaker 1: Asia is next. Stay right here for the latest. I'm

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Speaker 1: Joe Matthew. This is Bloomberg