Hannity: Biden's Afghanistan 'disaster' proves he's unfit to lead
'Hannity' host analyzes the president's 'full scale retreat' of Afghanistan
This is a rush transcript of "Hannity" on September 3, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: And welcome to the special edition of
"Hannity": Biden's Afghanistan Disaster.
Now, for the hour, we're going to review Joe Biden's catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan leaving Americans behind enemy lines. We'll cover the idiotic planning, the poor decision-making, the moral cowardice from a president who is clearly not fit to lead this country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If there's American citizens left, we're going to stay, we'll get them all out.
RON KLAIN, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: It's easy to second guess.
BIDEN: We do take care of our own, and we leave nobody behind.
KLAIN: The Biden administration has managed that as well as it can be managed under the circumstances we were placed in.
BIDEN: It's what America is all about, it's about pulling together, leaving nobody behind.
Couldn't this that be done and be done in a more orderly manner?
I respectfully disagree.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Americans Held Hostage Abandoned Behind Enemy Lines, Day 20.
HANNITY: All right. Day 20, Americans held hostage, held behind enemy lines of the Taliban terrorists. And tonight, we begin in May, one month before the Taliban's fighting season. Now, this was President Trump's deadline for withdrawal.
Now, if -- and it's a big if -- the Taliban, if they follow through with all of their promises, because they knew if they broke any rules harmed any Americans killed any of our allies, they knew under Donald Trump the consequences they would be dire. And according to President Trump, no matter what, the United States would maintain control of Bagram Air Force Base in perpetuity. We built it, we paid for it, we own it, we're keeping it.
But then came Joe Biden. The self-proclaimed foreign policy expert and his clueless advisors arbitrarily pushing the withdrawal date to August, okay, during the peak Taliban fighting season. And Biden did nothing as the Taliban terrorists began what was a full-scale assault on our Afghan allies and they began their march that led them to taking control of Kabul. And that started in April, and then May and then June and July and then August.
And instead of fighting back at any point and pushing back on the Taliban and holding them accountable as Donald Trump said he would, and stopped their advance Biden ordered a full-scale retreat, abandoning base after base in the middle of the night, leaving weapons and aircraft and military gear, important biometrics data behind all for the Taliban's taking. He's now armed them, completely.
In private, Joe Biden knew that his Afghanistan policies -- well, they were rapidly collapsing. But instead of being honest with we, the American people, instead of warning Americans that were there while we had control of Kabul, warning our allies while we had control and telling them we're going to up -- we're going to speed up this withdrawal, leave immediately, he goes on national TV and said, no, everything is great, one of the best trained armies in the world.
He promised that the Afghan army was more than capable of defending the country. That's what he said, in July, the same month that he's going to tell -- oh, that's right, the president of Afghanistan to lie. Look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Is the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan now inevitable?
BIDEN: No, it is not.
REPORTER: Why?
BIDEN: Because you have the Afghan troops have 300,000 well-equipped -- as well-equipped as any army in the world, and an air force, against something like 75,000 Taliban. It is not inevitable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: None of that was true and we now know Joe Biden knew it wasn't true. Joe Biden lied to you the American people right there, and we have the proof to show you.
And now, according to a leaked phone call conversation and transcript from July, courtesy of "Reuters", we know that Joe Biden also encouraged the Afghan president to lie as well and change the perception whether it's true or not, you need to just project a different picture that all is great. Joe needed a political win, so perception was more important than the reality that we all know, Joe knew and the rest of the world know.
And so, in July, while engaging and encouraging Ghani to change perceptions, Biden abandoned Bagram Air Base in the middle of the night. In doing so, he left every American and every one of our Afghan allies in Kabul totally completely defenseless and in one month, the Taliban easily marched to the outskirts of Afghanistan's capital city. Not prepared to take control of such a large city -- well, "Washington Post" is now telling us the Taliban actually offered not to invade Kabul, to let Joe Biden keep it. Joe Biden according to their report said, no, no, thanks. The city is all yours. We'll just retreat, just let us have the airport.
And guess what? The perimeter around the airport, that's yours, too. But don't worry, Biden was telling us the American people, he planned for every contingency. He promised the United States would not leave any American behind. He -- well, he said that over and over and over again, but you might remember this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: The commitment holds to get everyone out that in fact we can get out and everyone should come out and that's the objective. That's what we're doing now. That's the path we're on, and I think we'll get --
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: So Americans should understand that troops might have to be there beyond August 31st?
BIDEN: No, Americans should understand that we're going to try to get it done before August 31st.
But if we don't, we'll determine at the time who's left.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And?
BIDEN: And there are American force -- if there's American citizens left, we're going to stay to get them all out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: We're going to stay until we get them all out.
Joe Biden once again lying to the American people. The scene around the airport, it was horrific, thousands of people rushing to get in, many trampled to death, many were beaten and gassed at Taliban checkpoints.
There were scenes of babies being passed to U.S. soldiers mothers and fathers literally even throwing them over walls with barbed wire and razor wire.
It took hours sometimes days for anyone to even get to the airport gates and American citizens those with American visas, they were all left to fend for themselves all other countries like France, the U.K., the Dutch, they were sending special forces behind enemy lines they were extracting their citizens U.S. forces were under strict instructions not to leave the airport walls. As a result, many Americans turned to private security agencies spending tens of thousands of dollars to secure safe passage to the airport.
Make no mistake: there was no safe passage. Matter of fact, State Department memos to people in Afghanistan said: we cannot guarantee your safety but you might want to make your way to the airport. How comforting.
On Thursday, August the 26th, a suicide bomber detonated a massive bomb at the gates of the airport. That killed brave U.S. servicemen and women and more than 150 others. Yes, their blood is on Joe Biden's hands, because all of this could easily have been prevented.
Just four days later, all U.S. forces were gone. Well, now, we have no diplomatic presence on the ground in Afghanistan. We have no embassy there.
We have limited intel capabilities. No security forces whatsoever, but there are still hundreds maybe more than a thousand -- they don't know the exact number of Americans trapped behind enemy lines hostages to the whims of the Taliban and probably soon ISIS-K and al Qaeda.
Thousands more of our Afghan allies -- yeah, he signed their death certificates, and they remain hopelessly trapped. There is no way out and now they're at the mercy of the terrorists in the Taliban and worse. It is the single worst foreign policy failure in my lifetime one of the worst in American history.
But this week, Joe Biden, he had to congratulate himself mission accomplished, job well done, and goes on to say it is an extraordinary success, the right -- why is the best decision. Really? Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: The extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill, bravely and selfless courage of the United States military and our diplomats and intelligence professionals. Now, some say we should have started mass evacuation sooner and couldn't this have been done -- have been done in a more orderly manner. I respectfully disagree.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Joe Biden has failed this country and we will never forget it.
Here with reaction, former CIA station chief, FOX News contributor Dan Hoffman, FOX News contributor Jason Chaffetz, and FOX Nation host, Lara Logan.
Lara, I will start with you. Like Dan, like Jason Chaffetz, all of you to your credit have been hearing from people now caught behind enemy lines. We can't get an exact number, but the numbers that the administration are giving us, Lara, I am told by almost everybody are much higher than they're saying. What are you hearing?
LARA LOGAN, FOX NATION HOST: Oh, without a doubt, Sean. I mean, day by day, officials who were involved, Americans who were involved in the evacuations, I mean they kept reaching out to me and saying, like when Biden said there were seven thousand, they said we didn't even have seven thousand people on the tarmac that day. We didn't have seven thousand people in the facilities. We didn't have places to process seven thousand.
We didn't have facilities to receive them when they landed.
I mean, they said it's just not even a fraction of that is actually the real number. And there's a lot buried in there too because they weren't letting people in the gates of that airport were closed, Sean.
And when Biden said we're not leaving anyone behind enemy lines, outside of the airport was all enemy lines. The Taliban controlled it all, except for the Panjshir the Afghan president and the Afghan special operations forces and resistance are still fighting now. And what was just so extraordinary is that you could have American women, there was one woman who was three months pregnant with a small child, she was at the gates begging for help.
It was the third day that she'd been at that gate.
And I really want people to understand that there were American citizens, approved visa holders, green card holders -- you know, a mother with her three American children, she and her husband were green card holders denied access, all of these people were left behind.
And the Biden administration State Department has blocked every effort at every turn, and what I've heard from multiple sources is that they've been going to all the neighboring countries and blocking their refugees, blocking the rescue efforts. They're furious that there's an armada of veterans and concerned Americans who are saying enough is enough, Sean.
They're not going to be misrepresented by this administration that does not represent the heart of the American people.
HANNITY: Yeah.
LOGAN: And this is a mark of shame that they refuse to carry.
HANNITY: Jason Chaffetz, Joe Biden said he would leave no American behind and he also promised our allies that we would get them out too. Not necessarily they'd come here, we'd get them the hell out of there.
Okay, Joe Biden, he didn't act. He didn't move sooner than he could have.
He claims though that he has leverage here. Jen Psaki claims she has -- we have leverage. I argue we don't have any leverage. They have Americans -- they're called hostages, where I grew up we call them hostages. When we talk about financial aid, where I grew up we call that ransom. So that's the only -- that's the only option we seem to have.
What if it's Mogadishu, Congressman? What if it becomes ISIS beheading people? We have seen those videos, all of us have watched them. I don't urge people at home to see the things all four of us have seen.
JASON CHAFFETZ, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: No, it's -- it's inevitable. I think it's uh it's probably playing itself out right now, and can you imagine the horror of being a woman with an American passport there in Afghanistan. You heard the president of the United States promise that you know what, the Taliban is not going to overtake Afghanistan. They have 300,000 people. We have billions of dollars of equipment there and pallets of cash, and he -- not only was he wrong, but he lied.
And that's why I think July 23rd is going to be that pivotal moment when the Democrats have got to come to the table here and be honest about the principle, the president United States lied to the Afghan president. He lied to the American people. He created a facade that wasn't there and people made life or death decisions about whether or not to depart and leave the country based on what Joe Biden and Kamala Harris told them to do, and it was a death sentence.
HANNITY: Dan Hoffman, you've been in the intelligence community for a long time. One thing that I know for sure from every source, this was not in any way an intelligence failure. My two-part question, one, do you agree with what people are telling me that the CIA pulled out like seven weeks earlier, and that they told Biden in no uncertain terms -- and one day I assume these papers will be released and Jason will be giving them to us.
Number one, I want to ask you about what they knew, when they knew it, and do we have any options here short of the ransom that Joe Biden is kind of telegraphing he's willing to go for?
DAN HOFFMAN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: You know, the CIA still has the same mission that they've always had which is to detect threats and preempt them before they're visited on our shores and the mission also includes taking care of our own. You know nothing says mission not quite accomplished like the plus American citizens still sitting on the X inside Afghanistan, and the Afghan SIV holders, including the translator who helped save President Biden -- then-Senator Biden's life back in 2008 when his Black Hawk helicopter went down, that we don't have an embassy anymore. As you mentioned, we don't have the military capability anymore.
We'll -- you know, I think that the intelligence community, CIA in particular is going to figure out a way to get there, but it's not going to be the same, we won't have military bases and we won't have the leverage to extract our people. And I don't think the Taliban needs our money.
They've got China. They've got Russia and Pakistan, all benefactors, and they've had relationship with Iran which has provided the Taliban with material assistance.
So we're in a very bad place. We had leverage. We had Bagram Air Base. We had military -- we had all of that.
(CROSSTALK)
HOFFMAN: If we hadn't --
HANNITY: Oh, we had left, OK.
HOFFMAN: If we had -- that was our leverage, if we had evacuated our civilians then when we had the military in country, we'd be fine. But we reversed it instead, and that's the key takeaway I think from the President Biden's conversation with Ghani, which is President Biden realized back then that that the Afghan national army wasn't going to make it, and that was the time to hold and keep our military in country until we got our civilians out.
HANNITY: I want to thank all three of you not just for being a guest but for your efforts behind the scenes to help our fellow Americans now behind enemy lines. I know all three of you have done a lot that nobody probably will ever know about. Thank you.
When we come back my interview with two Gold Star fathers, they lost their sons at the Karzai International Airport. That attack, that terror attack and their message to President Biden.
Stay with us as this special edition of "Hannity" continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Now earlier this week, I spoke to two Gold Star fathers about their sons paying the ultimate sacrifice at Karzai international airport in Kabul, and they had a message for Joe Biden about his administration's botched exit from Afghanistan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANNITY: And tonight, we're continuing to remember the American heroes lost in last week's terror attack at Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
Thirteen brave men and women from all across the country as young as 20 years old made the ultimate sacrifice, serving their country with honor, bravery, distinction, dignity.
Remember, we have an all-volunteer military. These brave souls, they took on this challenge. These were America's finest, our national treasure. They rose to the occasion, met the moment represented the best, the very best our country has to offer.
And quite frankly, they deserve so much better than this and better than to have Joe Biden, you know, look down and check his watch during the dignified transfer of remains over the weekend.
Joining me now, the two Gold Star fathers, they lost their sons in last week's attack. Mark Schmitz, he's the father of Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz. And Darin Hoover, the father of Staff Sergeant Darin Hoover Jr., who went by the name of Taylor.
Let me start with you Mark, if I may.
Your son was sent back to Afghanistan to assist with the evacuation efforts. He said it's something you always wanted to do. I never have seen a young man train as hard as he did to be the best soldier he could be. He went back just for this mission, explain.
MARK SCHMITZ, FATHER OF FALLEN MARINE LANCE CORPORAL JARED SCHMITZ: Yes, he did. First, I just want to say that that Jared has exemplified so much that any man could ever strive for and made me so proud to watch him undertake this endeavor and going into the Marine Corps, and he completed his boot camp, went to Jordan, was excited about that, and was constantly looking to do more and was given that opportunity.
HANNITY: Yeah, first, I want to say to both of you if I may, as a parent, you know, I -- nobody can understand the loss that both of you have gone through. I can't imagine the pain that both of you are living through and I'm very sorry about that.
Mark, you met with Biden over the weekend, how did that go?
SCHMITZ: Well, initially, I wasn't going to meet with him. But then I felt I owed it to my son to at least have some words with him about how I felt.
And it didn't go well.
He talked a bit more about his own son than we did my son, and that didn't sit well with me.
HANNITY: Your son was a hero. I can't imagine the pain. I really can't.
Darin, you said about your son, he had the biggest heart in the world and no parent and I as a parent I think every parent watching right now understands -- this no parent should have to bury their sons or daughter, it's not supposed to work that way. He was scheduled to return home on September the 15th and retire and marry his fiancee Nicole. I can't imagine how you're feeling today.
DARIN HOOVER, FATHER OF FALLEN MARINE STAFF SGT. TAYLOR HOOVER: You know, it's the absolute worst feeling in the world. Having them be away for so long and doing the job that they all love, there's no doubt about it. Being a marine to these guys is everything, and having this happened to these heroes, every one of them a hero, there's no doubt every last one of them.
They -- they died with their brothers and their sisters right next to him doing exactly what they all wanted to do and that is defending this country.
HANNITY: America's national treasure, that's how I refer to them.
HOOVER: Yeah.
HANNITY: You chose not to meet with President Biden. I don't know if you want to comment on that, and I'd like to know -- when I saw Biden look at his watch, I literally was like, you got to be kidding me, because all of this to me was preventable, because we saw them on the march. You know, we had April, May, June, July to extradite everybody, and our equipment, we didn't do it. There's no excuse to me for this. Why did you choose not to meet with the president, Darrin?
HOOVER: For exactly the reasons you just gave. We said absolutely not. We didn't want to -- we didn't want to deal with him. We didn't want to -- we didn't want him anywhere near us. We as a family decided that that was the way it was going to be.
In reference to the checking of his watch, that didn't happen just once.
That happened on every single one that came out of that airplane. It happened on every single one of them. They would release the salute and he looked down his watch on every last one, all 13, he looked down at his watch.
And as a father, you know, seeing that and the disrespect and hearing from his former leaders, one of his master sergeants said exactly what you just said. That this was avoidable, that they left them over there. They had them over there, and let them down, and that -- we can't have that. It can't happen ever again.
HANNITY: We also abandoned Americans. Americans now are on their own. We left them behind.
Mark, you want to comment on the watch incident? Did you notice the same thing?
SCHMITZ: Yes, I did. I actually leaned into my son's mother's ear and I said I swear to God, if he checks his watch one more time, and that was only probably four times in, I couldn't -- I couldn't look at him anymore after that, just considering especially the time and why we were there. It was -- I found to be the most disrespectful thing I've ever seen.
HANNITY: I know there are no words that any commentator or host could express that's going to take your pain away, but I can tell you this audience shares in your anger and shares in a deep appreciation and thankfulness and sadness had an unnecessary loss of life I believe in this case. And we'll be praying for all of you, your families, these incredible young men that you raised that made this country the greatest country on earth. They make the country great.
There are some leaders that don't make the country great. They did. Our thoughts and prayers are with you both. Thank you, Mark. Thank you, Darin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANNITY: And coming up, former President Donald Trump reacts to the horrific terrorist attack in Afghanistan that killed U.S. service members as we continue.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNTY: Now, last week, former President Donald Trump was a guest on this program on the night of that devastating attack on our troops in Kabul at Karzai International airport, that's the one that killed U.S. service members.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANNITY: I want to first to get reaction to the events of today. And I have got a lot of questions I want to ask you.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (via telephone): Well, it's so sad.
It's probably, from the standpoint of military tactics and just embarrassment, the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to our country. We look like fools all over the world. We are weak. We are pathetic.
We are being led by people that have no idea what they are doing. They take the military out, and then they say, now we will bring out the people. And, all of a sudden, the Taliban walks in.
We had the Taliban so under control, they wouldn't have moved without getting our approval. We had an incredible agreement. They weren't killing our soldiers. You know that. And it was part of their -- in fact, Biden actually said that today. He said they weren't killing them because of the agreement that we had, that we did.
And they hadn't killed one of our soldiers in many, many, many months, and they weren't going to, because they were afraid to. And we had them totally in control.
All of a sudden, Biden administration takes over, and they say, we are taking the military out. They didn't say they are taking the people. First, you take the people out, and then you take the equipment out. We left $80 billion worth of equipment.
And I want to tell you, I think our soldiers -- forgetting about even civilians, I think our soldiers are in tremendous danger. I think airplanes flying in and out of the airport are in tremendous danger. They have the best equipment, best rockets, the best tanks, and helicopters, Apache helicopters, a lot of them, that are immensely valuable.
And, by the way, Russia wants them because they want to examine them, because we have far superior technology. And China wants them.
This is the dumbest thing. I think it was the dumbest move anybody has ever made perhaps in the history of our country, allowing this to happen, taking the military out and then say, oh, we hope to get the people out.
And then, when I hear General McKenzie say that the Taliban is going to protect us, the Taliban is the enemy. I dealt with the leader of the Taliban. This is not -- this is not a very simple man. This is not a Boy Scout, to put it another way.
This is a tough, hardened person that has been fighting us for many years.
And we are using them now to protect us?
Look what happened with their protection; 100 people -- much more, they say, than 100 people were killed, and 13 of our incredible military were killed. And that's just the beginning, because there are many of our military in the hospital right now very badly wounded and hurt.
HANNITY: Mr. President, let me ask you and get your reaction to President Biden's presser today, where he is sticking to this artificial deadline, and clearly accepting and acknowledging that -- the idea that Americans will be left behind, and the allies that, they now have the database.
They even handed over a list of people that we wanted to get through to the airport, that those people will be left behind, when promises were made, not necessarily where we would take them, but we would get them the hell out of there, pretty much a death sentence for all of them.
The Taliban has already been going door to door, and we have reports of it.
But what is your reaction to sticking to this artificial deadline, and your reaction to the idea of accepting a notion that we leave Americans behind?
TRUMP: So, they gave this list of Americans to the Taliban, who we have been fighting for many, many years.
And they are tough fighters. They are good fighters. But now they can be much better because they have the best equipment in the world, and so much of it, they don't know what to do. They will be selling it on the open market.
But we gave that to these people. And ISIS-X (sic), as you know, I knocked out 100 percent of the ISIS caliphate. I knocked it out in Syria, Iraq. We knocked it out. So, now they have a new ISIS called ISIS-X (sic).
And that's members of the Taliban that are far more vicious, because they don't like the way the Taliban is behaving, because they are not vicious enough. So, this is Taliban fighters that are much more vicious.
And we are using the Taliban and giving lists of Americans to the Taliban.
So, now you just knock on the door and grab them and take them out.
This country has never seen stupidity like this. And our country is really in trouble. Our country is really in trouble. And it's only going to get worse. What you are watching now is only going to get worse. It can only go one way.
We had something where they didn't get near us. They were petrified of us.
I let them know that, if they do anything, we hit them right where it hurts, which is their homes. And they know it. And they were waiting for us. They would have been very happy to let us go and take every American and anybody else we wanted, take our equipment. And, for some reason, he botched the plan and took the military out first.
No, it is a very sad day for our country and a great embarrassment. Beyond embarrassment, it is a very dangerous day for our country.
HANNITY: Mr. President, let me go, because Joe Biden brought it up in his exchange with Peter -- our own Peter Doocy today, and that is that he inherited your plan.
And I want to go over it, because I had both Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, also former CIA director, and I had your chief of staff, Mark Meadows, on my radio show. They have both been on this television show.
And they went into great detail about what your plan was. And maybe the Biden administration, the Democrats love to release transcripts of calls. I would love this one to be released, that, in no uncertain terms, not once, but on numerous occasions, but before any negotiation began, that you got on the phone with the leader of the Taliban, and you made it as clear as day.
You reminded them about killing Baghdadi and his associates, and you reminded them about killing Soleimani, and you reminded him about the caliphate that you destroyed. You reminded him about killing the Al Qaeda leader in Yemen, and that you said that, if they didn't follow -- these are there words -- every I -- every T crossed, every I dotted, every comma and period, that you would obliterate them and use every means available to you to do that.
And you brought this up at the beginning and numerous times throughout the process, also that your deal was conditions-on-the-ground-based, and it included you keeping control of Bagram Air Force Base.
Can you tell us first about the call and then the deal?
TRUMP: Well, it was a tough call.
And it started out by saying that they will be hit harder than any country has ever been hit in the history of the world if they do anything, and, in particular, kill our soldiers or even try to kill our soldiers.
And even Biden admitted today that the reason they didn't kill any soldiers and we haven't lost soldiers in many, many months because of the agreement that we signed, because I wanted to get out. I wish we never went in.
The biggest mistake we made in the history of our country was going into the Middle East. I call it quicksand. And we went into the Middle East, and we shouldn't have been there. We blew it to pieces. And now we are leaving.
And because of what they are doing, we are leaving in disgrace.
We could have left with great dignity. We could have left with safety. We could have taken everybody with us that we wanted, all of the great American citizens and people that helped us, whether it's interpreters or others. But we could have taken them out very easily, and we wouldn't have had a rush, because the Taliban was not going anywhere.
We had them totally under control. Every time we saw movement, we would hit them with an F-18, and the movement stopped. But we had very little of that, because, Abdul, who I spoke to, who turns out to be the leader, Abdul would not let anybody do anything.
And I can tell you what happened, in my opinion. They went to him and the other leaders, and they said, the American military is leaving. They are pulling out.
And they were probably -- looked at the people who said it and said, you have got to be -- there's no way that's happening. There's absolutely -- I'm telling you, they are leaving.
They couldn't believe it. And then they sent some fighters in, and there was zero in the resistance. Before, they got blown away. Zero resistance.
And then they sent the whole group in, and you had thousands, tens of thousands of Taliban.
And then, on top of it, they went into the warehouses, and they saw all this equipment, and they took it. You see them marching down the streets now with brand-new, the best rifles, better than our soldiers have.
It is a disgrace. And it is about the withdrawal. It is not about getting out, because getting out is something I have wanted to do for a long time.
And they are right when they say a lot of generals didn't.
And we have -- by the way, we have great generals in our military, but not the television generals, not the guys you see on television.
You look at what I did with ISIS and how we beat them, we beat them with great generals. We had great, great leadership. We have the greatest military in the world, but we look like a bunch of fools. What happened, what they have done is incredible.
So they walked in without a bullet being shot, without a bullet being fired. They walked in and they took over Kabul and they took over everything else.
And if you look back at a timeline, we held them totally steady. But I wanted to get out. But we had to get out with dignity. We had to take our
$80 billion worth of equipment. We had to do all of the things that you know we had to do.
And then I would have blown up all the air bases, but I would have kept Bagram, because Bagram is located right next to China, right near China and Iran. And it is in Afghanistan. So, we had the whole group covered.
They spent $10 billion building it. And we handed out the keys. It's the craziest thing I have ever seen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANNITY: And coming up, my interview with several people who escaped Afghanistan after the Taliban take over. Stay with us as this special edition of "Hannity" continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: I recently spoke with several people who managed to escape Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover and here are their personal stories.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANNITY: Two individuals who did escape Afghanistan with the help of Senator Cotton. That's Syed, is a college student who was brutally attacked by the Taliban while trying to get to the airport, and Mohammad whose identity we are keeping hidden is an interpreter and an American citizen who fled with his family.
Syed, tell us about your story.
SYED MOSAVY, STUDENT WHO ESCAPED AFGHANISTAN: Yes, so my story is that I tried to go to the airport as I was -- I got an email from the embassy that said that I had to make my way to the Karzai Airport. And as I made my way there, there was already thousand people there. I mean, people that were there from the first day, that was inside the airport, they stayed outside when they were even kicked out. A lot of people that was not documented and a lot of U.S. citizens.
But we had gate passes and everything, we went through the gates, we went to the gates -- we went through the crowd and went to the gates, but then the Taliban and there was three gates.
So, first, we tried the U.S. Afghan -- the Afghan army gate. They looked at our passports, they looked at our, you know, citizenship and gate passed they still wouldn't let us in even though we had gate passes. They would hit us with the back of a machine gun. They would hit us with some stones and everything.
So we tried two, three times, couple times, that would hit women. I mean, we saw children die in there. We saw everybody getting on the ground. We saw the air forces, the Taliban and the U.S., the Afghan army shooting on the ground, shooting on the air. They even used to throw a flash bang. So we tried several days we tried two, three days to get through the gates.
But we were supposed to be the priority because we were the U.S. citizens, but I guess apparently, they would let people in that they knew. So, mainly, they target Hazaras, which they you know the way they speak, the dialogue and everything they would only -- yeah?
HANNITY: So you feel lucky that you have gotten out, correct?
MOSAVY: Yes. I mean, we literally lost hope. We went three times. We still couldn't get through the crowd and it was just impossible for us to get out with the women and children that we had.
HANNITY: Let me go to Mohammad.
Mohammad, you were an interpreter. You'd gone back for a funeral of a family member that and -- in Afghanistan, then you were stranded there. You still have family there. You help the Americans out.
Now all of that data that would probably identify you and connect you to your family is in the hands of the Taliban. That's got to concern you tonight.
MOHAMMAD, FORMER AFGHAN INTERPRETER WHO ESCAPED AFGHANISTAN: Yeah, actually sir most people are worried about his family, about those friends and family which they are stuck in the gates and they can't enter the gate.
Yeah, we really worry about our family and most -- my relatives are still waiting to enter the gates with complete documents. But most people are waiting and try to enter the gate without any documents. That's why they make problem for everyone.
HANNITY: Yeah, and the odds are getting less every hour as I'm sure you're aware and which I feel terrible for.
Syed, thank you. Mohammad, thank you for sharing your stories.
Two individuals from Afghanistan now in the United States, Admad worked with the U.S. for two years as a translator and his wife is currently trapped in Kabul. We are disguising his name and identity for her safety.
Admad, let me -- will you tell us your story?
ADMAD, WIFE STRANDED IN AFGHANISTAN: Yeah, actually, so my wife, she just made her way to the airport like on Wednesday, last Wednesday. She couldn't make it inside there because there are Talibans that don't let the Afghans get into the airport, they don't even get -- let the U.S. citizen to get into the airport, but she made it to the airport and she was stuck like almost for three days in there.
And then after three days, she couldn't manage to get on the -- to get on the board to the plane. So she had to come back home but I'm still worrying about her that she is if the deadline of the 31st, I guess --
HANNITY: Admad, I didn't hear you, let me ask you. Did she leave the airport? Did I hear you correctly?
ADMAD: Yeah, she had to -- she was just returned home back because she couldn't make it to the airplane --
HANNITY: You do know now -- Admad, you do know now that the Taliban is saying they won't let any Afghanis go to the airport. Are you aware of that?
ADMAD: Yes, yes, they just block everybody, including the citizens. I have heard many times from the news that the Taliban won't let anyone to get into the airport because of their own -- whatever they have. But we are just worrying about our own families, about our own Americans, and those who are stuck in Afghanistan now. We are really like --
HANNITY: Last question, does the -- does the Taliban, have they identified you -- do they know that you work with the United States? Do they know that your wife was married to you and you helped the U.S.?
ADMAD: Yes, they actually know each and every one of us that are stuck there in Afghanistan. We have many of the service interpreters that worked with the U.S. troops in Afghanistan. They helped them. They served the country. They served the U.S. Army but now we are all left behind in Afghanistan and they all know each and every one of us.
And as I heard that they are now trying to go door by door and look for those people and they are trying to kill them and if the U.S. leave them behind that county, so that would be a big threat to Afghans.
HANNITY: As of today, the Taliban says Afghans can't get to the airport.
Our prayers are with you and your family. But we'll keep -- we'll monitor your case very closely.
Mohammad is joining us. He recently traveled to Afghanistan to visit his sick father. He tried to leave several times but he was denied. He finally got out last week.
Can you tell us how you got out?
MOHAMMAD, ESCAPED AFGHANISTAN LAST WEEK: Yes, sir, it was really hard to get out. All the ways to the airport was blocked by the crowd and by the Taliban. So I went there on Monday to get out, but it was really crowded.
Finally, I met in the tarmac behind the terminal, I met key surgeons there, showed them my green card but because of the crowd, they couldn't help me and they told us to go to the north gate. We came back from the airport and find my way all the way to the north gate and there was too much crowd and I could not even get to the airport. I came back home for the next day.
And the next day, I received an email from the embassy to go to the north gate again. I went there again and finally, a soldier took my hand, pulled me from the gate and my father pushed me from the bottom, and I jumped inside the airport and I find my way to return back home.
It was really hard, really tough, and you cannot even imagine how hard.
HANNITY: Our prayers are with those who can't get out and I don't know if they are going to get out tonight and Joe Biden doesn't seem committed to getting them out.
MOHAMMAD: Yes.
HANNITY: But thank you, sir, for joining us. We appreciate it. We'll continue to keep you and your families on our prayers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANNITY: More "Hannity" right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: All right. That ends our special edition of "Hannity". That is unfortunately all the time we have left. We hope you'll set your DVR so you never miss an episode, 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific Time. We hope you have a great weekend, great Labor Day.
And stay tuned and let not your heart be troubled because "The Ingraham Angle" is next.
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