Live Breaking News & Updates on The chuck todd cast
Stay updated with breaking news from The chuck todd cast. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
uncomfortable, but for a lot of people, it is not safe to be here in the heat, and they don't have anywhere else to go. chuck. >> ellison, has entergy given an update on the estimation? as you pointed out four days, and at this point, the assessing should be done. >> right. so they said it could take up to three days to do the damage assessment, and what they could do for new orleans is looking at the options, and the first option is to salvaging the powerlines that weren't overly damaged. remember some that a transmission, an entire transmission that collapsed tone the river, but some in new orleans to tie them into the larger grid to make new orleans an island and their own power grid. so they say that they are making some progress and gotten some lights on in eastern new orleans, but it is a long way from normal or comfortable for most people. >> ellison barber on the ground for u and ellison, thank you,
chuck. i was struck by the fact that both of them in their opening comments and then in the question and answer period, both of them talked about how these been very difficult and emotional days. both men served in afghanistan and secretary austin or general austin was the head of u.s. central command, the overall commander of that entire region. so, they have a personal tie, personal ties to the war in afghanistan. but a very real concern right now about the men and women who served in afghanistan because of the tumulltuous last couple of weeks. not just the picture of afghans trying to get out of the country the last couple days of the evacuation mission but the fact that 13 men and women were killed in that attack last week. this has been an emotional time for people who have dedicated lives and blood and treasure to the war in afghanistan. we heard that from both of them here today. but also i was struck by the talk about the potential for the u.s. to work with the taliban. specifically by something that general milley said.
sunlight and oxygen. >> that's for sure. general hodges, really appreciate you coming on and sharing your perspective with us. juan, i'm short on time but if you give me one thing you wish you had done differently or wrong in afghanistan. i'll give you 30 seconds. >> chuck, we made lots of mistakes. i know these jobs are hard and i think the idea that you can create a central government, central afghan security forces and not have a plan for sustainability long term i think was the big mistake. all sorts of other problems with corruption, not pushing pakistan further and other issues at play. but i think the design was wrong or at least faulty and we didn't have a plan or a political program to think about what an enduring presence could look like at an affordable level and in a way that manage risk. that was really the problem and i'm afraid we're now facing
out of aafghanistan, but it cam at a high cost. dozens of afghan civilians were injured in killed in an attack at kabul airport last week. we should hear them say today that they are proud of the men and women who served in this mission and recognize the fact that after two decades in afghanistan the u.s. military mission there has ended, chuck. >> and, courtney, what do you think, what are the questions they're going to try to duck and not deal with even though we need answers to? >> so, i mean, among the questions are exactly what you were talking about in the intro, chuck. what will the u.s. relationship, if any, be with the taliban going forward? there are some people who are calling for a continuing diplomatic relationship with the taliban because there is a u.s., the u.s. has, is still interested in getting more americans and more afghans out of afghanistan. but the defense officials who i'm speaking with are skeptical about the idea that this is a new and changed taliban.
work with the taliban to deal with isis-k, we worked with the iranians to deal with isis. there are times you work with somebody who is mostly an adversary if you do have something in common. that's been american foreign policy for decades, is it not? >> it is, chuck. i think in the counterterrorism world you sometimes do have strange bed fellows. but the taliban really hasn't cut its ties with al qaeda and connections with the network that are deep and enduring a rival to isis-k but ideologically aligned and you saw them grappling with this on the stage and the intelligence community is trying to grapple with what do we do next? what is the aftermath not only what is the nature of the taliban but how do we treat them now moving forward? designated terrorist group by law, by u.s., u.n. sanctions. so that has to be contended with. and you've got the realities on
different tone that secretary austin and general milley took from what the president did yesterday afternoon in his remarks. there were things that secretary austin and general milley said that i thought would have been nice to hear from the president, including a lot of mistakes were made over 20 years. we'll learn from this and figure this out. it had more humility today than the president did, who seemed to be participating in a political, he wanted -- it sounded to me he was trying to participate in a political debate and maybe that was his intended audience, not the general public at large. >> well, first of all, chuck, based on the conversations i have been having here at the white house we should see today's event as part of a larger package that started with what we saw just a few days ago at the pentagon itself with secretary of state blinken that night and then the president yesterday. this is all sort of to the extent that they have been able to carefully chorograph any of the last 18 days part of how
the country in the gulf that has hosted the talks with the taliban in doha, absolutely. there has been communications. certainly hostage situations and discussions and there's been discussions through the hakani network to move people and get people out. obviously, to try to cooperate against isis if possible. that's always been in the mix. but it's not clear cut, chuck. the taliban is, you know, not really an ally and may see moments of convenience to work with us perhaps at the airport is a good example with evacuations, but it's going to be a difficult question for the u.s. as to how to treat the taliban which has been an enemy force and been designated as a terrorist group and has alliances with groups that we technically are still fighting and want to prevent terrorist attacks from emanating from. >> i want to bring in general hodges here. one of the reasons we wanted to
withdrawal that looks like defeat. >> well, both of you may become guest lecturers at war colleges in the future when we study these 20 years. general hodges, again, juan zarate, thank you. we have a lot more about the end of this military mission and the future of afghanistan on the newest episode of "the chuck todd cast." i have a 30-minute conversation with my good friend richard engel. he's covered the withdrawal of two wars this century. we get into both of them and a little bit of world war history. up next we'll head to louisiana where hundreds of thousands still remain without power, adequate drinking water, sweltering temperatures. but there are some signs that the lights may be coming on in new orleans.
have you on is you're doing something i had a hard time getting people to do. policy planning, implementation in various form some part of the war in afghanistan and i've asked various people and, juan, i'll ask you in a moment. what did you get wrong? what did you miscalculate. in what theory were you wrong about? most of the time, general, the answer is somebody else saying somebody else didn't do x. there has been people owning up to mistakes. you took it head on. why are you in the minority? >> well, chuck, thank you. you know, i believe that accepting responsibility is the first principle of leadership and i had bosses that did that and expected that. i was a general and everything from kandahar, helman and, you