Thursday, August 19, 2021: President ‘Would Change Nothing About Afghanistan Withdrawal’

President Biden said there was "no consensus" in intelligence reports on Afghanistan when he claimed in June it was "highly unlikely" the Taliban would take over the country after U.S. forces departed, later saying that it had happened much quicker than he anticipated. The President maintains there is nothing he would change about the American withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The Pentagon today admits the evacuation effort in Afghanistan is not going fast enough. They are to open up one gate at Hamid Karzai airport which the U.S. Military will oversee and also rush U.S. Consular Officers to the airport to process the Afghans’ paperwork to get them onto flights.

Along with 45 of her Senate Colleagues, Senator Hirono has signed onto a bipartisan letter urging the Biden Administration to protect Afghan women leaders in the wake of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.

As the Government rolls out the booster shot plan saying every American vaccinated eight months ago should get a booster shot, the CDC reports that people in states with low vaccination rates are four times more likely to be hospitalized and six times more likely to die from coronavirus.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says it is the parents’ choice to quarantine a "healthy kid" after possible coronavirus exposure in school. The statement is a continuation of weeks of tension between the White House and Governor DeSantis, as the state grapples with one of the worst outbreaks of Covid-19 in the Nation.

BREAKING NEWS IN WASHINGTON: The United States Capitol Police are investigating an active bomb threat after reports of an explosive device in a truck near the Library of Congress.

On today’s panel: CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr, Washington Bureau Chief Julie Pace, The New York Times’ Jonathan Martin, The Wall Street Journal’s Vivian Salama, CNN National Security Correspondent Kylie Atwood, Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono, CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner, and Afghanistan Veteran Kristen Rouse.

Hosted by John King.

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