0 variant. so you get a dramatic increase in antibody titers when you do a third immunization doze. >> that is tonight's last word, the 11th hour with brian williams starts now. >>s now. >> well good evening once again, day 211 of the biden administration which is racing to put out the firestorm ignited by the debacle of the withdrawal from afghanistan. tonight, the president told abc news that the military mission to get americans out of the country, taliban permitting, could extend past august 31st. >> all troops are supposed to get out by the august 31st, even if americans and our afghan allies are still trying to get, out they're going to leave? >> we are going to do everything in our power to get all americans out and our allies out. >> does that mean troops will stay behind august 31st if necessary? >> it depends on where we are and whether we can grant these numbers up to 5 to 7000 a day coming out. if that's the case, they will all be. out >> so americans should understand the troops may have to be there beyond august 31st? >> americans have to understand that we're gonna try to get it done before august 30. first >> but if we don't, the troops -- >> we will determine at the time who is left. >> and? >> and if our american force -- if american citizens left were gonna stay and get them all out. >> situation on the ground in afghanistan remain tense as the taliban now dig in and assert control over that country. our veteran chief foreign correspondent richard angle is in cabals for us tonight. >> the u.s. led evacuation today is finally moving quickly and smoothly from the military side of kabul airport. planes arriving and departing around the clock. it is a far cry from the bedlam monday, when thousands of afghans broke into the airport, so desperate to escape the taliban. they clung onto departing aircraft. now, more american troops have been brought in for security. today, we watched troops get ready for patrol. they are relaxed. the u.s. forces may be doing this for several more days, or even weeks. as u.s. officials say, up to 15,000 americans were maine in afghanistan. along with tens of thousands of afghans who may be eligible for. asylum this afternoon, we saw hundreds of afghans being processed. waiting to start new but still uncertain lives. while this place is now much more orderly, much more secure. the biggest problem is getting here. because outside the perimeter, the taliban are in control. the u.s. military asked them to keep back the crowds, but the taliban are doing it their way. firing in the air, sometimes beating afghans who tried reproach. in jalalabad, afghans demonstrated, carrying the try colored afghan flag saying it represents them, not the taliban flag. but desist say the taliban opened fire killing at least three demonstrators. overnight, afghanistan's new presumptive leader arrived in the country and moving through the taliban stronghold city of cannibal. he was deputy leader of the taliban when it hosted and protected osama bin laden while he plotted 9/11. former secretary of state mike pompeo signed a peace deal with him under president trump. a deal president biden implemented, rapidly pulling american troops out triggering the rapid collapse of the afghan army and the taliban's rapid takeover. richard engel, nbc news, kabul. >> meanwhile, president biden in that interview with abc news tonight continues to defend his handling of the withdrawal from afghanistan. arguing there was no way to pull out without risking turmoil. >> so you don't think that this could've been handled better in any way, no mistakes? >> no i don't think it could've been handled in a way that -- we are going to go back in hindsight and look but the idea that somehow, there's a way to have gotten out without chaos i'm assuming, i don't know that how that happens. i don't know how the. happens >> so for you there was always pressing into the decision? >> yes. >> earlier today, secretary of defense retired general lloyd austin, and general mark milley, two men who know from afghanistan also defended our straw down strategy. jennifer milley said this about u.s. intelligence leading to the collapse of afghanistan. >> the intelligence clearly indicated multiple scenarios were possible one of those was an outright taliban takeover, following a rapid collapse of the afghan security forces and the government. another, was a civil war. and a third, was a negotiated settlement. however, the timeframe of the rapid collapse that was widely estimated and ranged from weeks to months, and even years. following our departure. there was nothing that i or anyone else saw that indicated a collapse of this army, in this government, in 11 days. >> now congressional leaders are asking the white house for a briefing of the so-called gang of a, top, leadership and some are already planning investigations of what went down and why. this was also the day the administration went public with their plans for booster vaccines. anyone who received a two dose pfizer or moderna vaccine can get a third shot eight months later but. government says that shots will be available september 20th. cdc shows that -- was declining effectiveness push them to make this move. although the fda has had to sign off on. it means meanwhile, an israeli study shows that pfizer's booster can improve immunity in people 60 and older. federal officials say they are also reviewing data on visitors from people who have received that one and done johnson and johnson vaccine. >> right now, the fda is now looking at the j&j, the approval, the eua, and how that would fit. and we are not forgetting at all about the people with j&j. president biden also escalated his confrontation with republican governors over school mask mandates. he was direct about it. president said he has directed the education department to use all means necessary to help local officials enact those measures. with that, let's introduce the starting line on this wednesday night, lisa lerer national political correspondent for the new york times, retired four star u.s. army general barry mccaffrey decorated former battlefield -- former member of the nationally security council. and irwin redlener founding director of a columbia university's the national -- professor of pediatrics at albert einstein college of medicine. good evening and welcome to you all. general given, i would like to begin with you. 15,000 americans left in afghanistan, what do you make of the presidents comments of staying beyond 31 august if necessary, and i don't mean this in any way but seriously, are we asking the taliban or telling the taliban about getting these people through those court to the airport? >> you went right to the heart of the matter. i was shocked at president biden who has more experience got provoked into that answer. by -- get the americans out. we do not want to be putting down red lines in public. maybe genital chris donahue who is going as direct negotiator to the taliban military talks through these. things it could possibly be that the majority of americans will be out by the 31st of august. it sounds highly unlikely that 18,000 interpreters and 20,000 commandoes, and 20 or 30,000 people who worked for the u.s., and ngos, could all get out with their families prior to the end of the month. so this is something really -- that air field, it is now strongly defendant. nobody, but nobody is taking on 's -- marines and paratroopers. but they can close down the interjection any hour they wish and they are going to control who comes in to their perimeter. and we are not going to expand the. footprint so we need to speak privately to the taliban, we have to get out of there without fighting and get out of there with all of the americans and as many afghans as we can feasibly transport. >> lisa lair, this biden administration is getting dragged and roasted in ways and severity that they are not used to. visually, people point to the big mistake over this past weekend and that was showing the president all alone at the conference table at camp david while the world seemingly melted around him. he was on video along with other people, the vice president, the pentagon, and places around the. world but it was reminiscent of that photo of tunnel trump signing a blank piece of paper at walter reed during his hospitalization. let's talk about the communication shock. politico is reporting tonight, they are going to adjust their communication strategy and make it more in line with, you will forgive me, but this botched evacuation that we are all witnessing. >> that's exactly right, brian. the white house's initial approach was to sort of change the timeframe of what they were talking about here. and get people to focus on the 20-year timeframe, which is something that generally americans are supportive, of americans don't want to remain in afghanistan. rather than somewhat disastrous past for five days. that has been very unsuccessful and i suspect that the presidents comments in the interview, that he always anticipated this kind of chaotic withdrawal is not going to help. his public statements in april and july where he's talking about secure an orderly scent transition, that the taliban takeover was simply not possible. to report that. argument and i don't think it's gonna be something much to defy because -- allies abroad, as you mentioned at the top of the, show multiple congressional, committees were up to four right now i believe, we are talking about looking at how this came. to be in the administration recognizes that they really need to bolster their communications outrage and how they are handling the situation. they are making a lot of calls, private calls to allies, they have both abroad and at home. and i think we will see a much more aggressive push from them going forward. the question, is whether this is something at this point that can be particularly undone, with his communications. it seems like congress is on track to dig into this, and they are going to have to be ready for those kinds of hearings. potentially. >> indeed, we've hardly heard the last of. this doctor, over to, you i'm been eager to get you on the record on the topic of booster shots. does eight months seem about right to you as a public health physician and what do the people watching tonight need to know? >> yes, let me try to unpack that brian. but before i, do that i just want to say that this unbelievable, catastrophic military and political crisis in afghanistan is not without its public health ramifications as well. eventually, one where, another this is going to get solved and we will be leaving behind an unbelievable crisis for, especially for the girls and women, 15 million of them, in afghanistan. once the taliban fully takeover. anyway, to get to your question, brian, i think this issue of a booster shot has been a little whips aung here. last, week i was on the air talking about how only people are immunocompromised should be getting a boost fuchsia. if they got the moderna of pfizer. versions of the vaccine. but today i was on a briefing call with the white house earlier, and now we are moving to a different agenda which has to do with this race between the virus and the vaccine. with delta, what we are going to see is increasingly diminishing of the immune response from the original to shocks of multiple people of. done and what the government is trying to do is anticipate appeared in, time roughly eight months after your last shot, when your immune levels from the vaccine may be, and i say may be, diminished enough to leave you more vulnerable. in the meantime, no one is questioning. the fact that all the vaccines currently available in the u.s. are able to protect against hospitalizations and deaths. maybe diminishing prospects of preventing deaths and infections. are contagious. infections but in the meantime, i think the governments trying to get ahead of the curve here and be ready to administer third shots as needed. >> general, back over to you, first of all when we hear from an expert like doctor redlined who is refocusing our attention to include the public health crisis that we are witnessing in afghanistan, that has a way of focusing the mind and getting our attention there. but number two, for our, viewers tell us about the kind of leadership that we can expect. you have general milley and former general milley, now secretary wilson, they -- yoked his name earlier, talk to us about the general in charge of the 82nd airborne. it will be his show to run from now on. >> i think primarily when they want to do is get out there and talk to the taliban fighters who are now ringing the evacuation airfield. he is a remarkable, eerily talented officer. i've known him off and on for years. west point, our harvard fellow, big award college, master degree and nash international degree studies. they made him the personal assistant to secretary of defense. he knows afghanistan and he knows they're more's and customs. i think that's a real plus. i think the airfield operation is going to work just, by what is not gonna work just, fine is getting afghans siv eid or other categories through the taliban perimeter. the u.s. embassy there with 4000 people in it, they could not process this as ivs for over. here for god sakes! now there's a handful of them behind gates being besieged with marine guards that are trying to sort it out. so that's going to be a problem. the focus has to, be get the americans, out get the nato civilians, get the ngos, and see who else we can pick up. this will go on for two, three, five years. they'll be coming out through iran, pakistan, central asian republics, then we can hopefully get them back into the u.s. or another neutral country. but the taliban hold all the cards of the international. airfield by the, way i'm sort of sympathetic to the governments challenge when biden ordered a drawdown starting with the base of only 2500 troops. it is hard to imagine, we could've but told 50,000 americans interpreters and others who are going to sneak you out of here because we think it's going to collapse. and i don't think anybody understand -- understood that it was gonna go down this quickly. the political surrender from village level all the way to the goni government. >> a great point and i'm glad you made. it leaves a, back to you and your beat, is it us or does biden suddenly seem more defiant on the virus and vaccinations being more direct at least in taking on these republican governors who are endangering lives by one way of looking at it to stay on brand? >> he is remarkably defined on both issues, we saw that in the interview today, we saw that on his remarks on covid. this direct blaming of republican and democratic blaming marks a shift. they entered office with a lot of talk of bipartisanship and the administration was reluctant to directly blame republicans for the vaccination rates, clearly that has changed and you see him going directly at people like governor ron desantis in florida. in part, that is because the administration is hoping to pressure private businesses, local jurisdictions, increase mask requirements, vaccination rates rather than having to impose their own kind of mandates. it's also slightly easier approach, by going after republican governors, the administration isn't and authority or a political position of holding funding from states completely, or withholding funding from school districts that say don't impose a mask mandate, something that could put them at cross fires with other political affiliations. so, in some ways republican governors are easier targets for the administration politically, but there is also some truth when you look at what is happening on in those states in terms of hospitalization rates, and vaccine rates and all of that. it's both a political approach and a bit of a policy approach to. >> doctor, our last word goes to you, what are your logistic concerns about getting shot number three in arms, and i'm guessing, you hope that by example the anti-facts community will see people get their third and wonder perhaps again, whether or not they ought to get their first? >> well one would hope, brian. but i don't know. the administration in some ways was caught off guard by the strength of the anti-factors resistance, and secondly, there is an extraordinary combination of breathtaking ignorance and incredible craven politics, opportunistic politics expressed by governors in texas, in florida and elsewhere. i don't know what's going to have to happen to make these people yield to science and to the objective capability that we need to have in order to get this pandemic under control. but it's calling for strategies that we haven't considered sufficiently. the more pressure that president biden can put on these governors who are out of control and helping us lose the fight against the pandemic better. i think you should up the amps on these strategies and keep pushing this as hard and as often as he can in my opinion, brian. >> hard to bully but that's where we are. we could not have had three better guest to start this discussion. we're so appreciative of our starting line tonight lisa lerer, general barry mccaffrey, doctor irwin redlener, our thanks. coming up for us. we will hear more from the president on the collapse of afghanistan, as this white house, again, faces criticisms from both sides of the aisle. later. republican governors, texas, florida, tennessee, arizona -- all trying to keep masks off the faces of kids in the classroom. how the white house plans to further pushback. all of it as the 11th hour is just getting underway on this wednesday night. wednesday night. and now we want to be the first to give everyone the joy of 5g, by giving every customer a new 5g phone. old customers. new customers. families. businesses. every customer. from these bakers to these bakers. hello! new 5g phones when you trade in your old ones. cracked, busted, sticky buttons and all thank you. upgrade your phone. upgrade your network. 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