All-Star panel breaks down authors of Afghanistan failure
Mollie Hemingway, Harold Ford Jr. and Ari Fleishcher weigh in on the Biden administration's efforts to bring Americans home from Afghanistan
This is a rush transcript from "Special Report with Bret Baier," August 24, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
BRET BAIER, ANCHOR: Let's bring our panel early. Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, Mollie Hemingway, senior editor at The Federalist. And Harold Ford, Jr., foreign Tennessee congressman, CEO of Empowerment and Inclusion Capital.
Ari, I want to start with you. A lot of times in Washington, it comes down to process and messaging. Today, we saw kind of a speech that evolved as far as time when it was going to happen. And then when the President came out, it was a lot of time spent on domestic agenda before dealing with the elephant in the room, foreign policy-wise.
ARI FLEISCHER, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR (on camera): Yes, you know, his speech was delayed, but unfortunately, his abandonment of the Afghan people, our friends, and maybe Americans is not delayed. And that's the core problem that Joe Biden has.
Look, when he said today that we're on track for an August 31st withdrawal and getting out all the Americans, here is my problem with that statement. How recently was it that Joe Biden stood before the American people and said, Americans aren't having trouble getting to the airport when they were?
He said al-Qaeda doesn't have a presence in Afghanistan when they do. And he said foreign leaders weren't criticizing him over this, of course, they were. And so today, he adds another element; we're on track.
Every time he said something important, it was contradicted on the ground immediately after the words left his lips. We think the same thing is happening today, based on the intelligence briefing on Capitol Hill. We're not on track.
BAIER: Yes. This August 31st deadline, Harold, has been talked about differently. Remember, at first, it was May 1st with the original negotiation with the Taliban, then it was September 11th, and then August 31st.
And then you remember in the George Stephanopoulos interview, as the President was pressed about that. Take a listen in his comment today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Americans should understand that we're going to try to get it done before August 31st.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, CHIEF ANCHOR, ABC NEWS: But If we don't, the troops will stay.
BIDEN: If we don't, we'll determine at the time who's left.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And?
BIDEN: And if you're American force -- if there's American citizens left, we're going to stay until we get them all out.
The completion by August 31st depends upon the Taliban continuing to cooperate.
I've asked the Pentagon and the State Department for contingency plans to adjust the timetable should that become necessary.
Every day we're on the ground is another day we know that ISIS-K is seeking to target the airport.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: Saying the ISIS-K is a different branch of ISIS could target -- also not a fan of the Taliban, I should point out, but you could target U.S. troops on the ground. Your thoughts on this and how he phrased it today as opposed to how he's talked about it before?
HAROLD FORD J.R., FOX NEWS CHANNEL POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR (on camera): Well, first, good to be with you.
Number one, the polling today shows that this president, because of Afghanistan and COVID, but I would argue Afghanistan perhaps more because of the press domination and the media domination and the pictures have caused his numbers to drop.
Two, I'm curious and disappointed and slightly encouraged by some of the things that have happened today. Curious that we still don't know the number, at least no one is released to reveal to America how many Americans are still in Afghanistan.
I'm disappointed that it still doesn't seem that we are confronting and controlling the dialogue with the Taliban. I'm encouraged slightly because the Burns summit, which I'm going to -- I'm going to call it, we've not learned all the details to that. And I'm hopeful that indeed, the CIA director was able to extract some concessions.
And it appears that there's been some bipartisanship in Congress. The Republicans express it more aggressively, but even Democrats don't believe the August 31 deadline is a realistic one.
I'm hopeful that this language perhaps it's opaque that President Biden is using. I'm hopeful that they're willing to go beyond that. And if we need to commit troops to it. The one encouraging thing other is that it appears that NATO and the E.U. at least are willing to engage in its counterterrorism strategy, or at least, willingness to embark upon a strategy to not allow terrorists to go back as -- and allow the Taliban rather to be a haven for terrorists.
But overall, this is not the day the president won on foreign policy. He got a one on domestic policy, but with this was not the day we wanted on foreign policy.
BAIER: Well, a couple of things. One is just talking to any military person or Intel person, when you lose the ability of having ground contacts of any number just to have contact on the ground, you lose a lot of intelligence capability, and that over the horizon thing, you know, they talk about it, but it's really tough to pull off to stop terrorists from popping up.
And two, is that -- Harold, just to go back. You think it's the media obsession with this and not the policy decision or indecision that is making the president's polling drop?
FORD JR.: No, by no means. What I meant, Bret, was that the Afghan pictures are more dominant on the press than the COVID news is that -- by no means, am I suggesting that.
BAIER: Fair enough. Mollie, this is -- we obtained this. This is from the Kabul Embassy. And we confirm with the State Department, it was sent out to American citizens in Afghanistan today, from the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan. This is the final message for American citizens who wish to depart Kabul, they should -- if they choose to remain, they should be prepared to arrange their own departure. And it gives instructions about where to go, don't go here. But this is the final message.
Well, it was pulled back according to the State Department today for what they called a technical glitch, and another message went out. But this is chaotic however you describe it, Mollie.
MOLLIE HEMINGWAY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR: I was really struck by his -- by President Biden's most recent press conference where he talked about how many tens of thousands of people had been airlifted out in the last few days versus the rest of the month. It really shows how they didn't have a good plan leading up to this August 31st deadline.
And it also, he didn't explain how many of these tens of thousands of people who've been airlifted out are American citizens versus non-American citizens.
The American people clearly want American citizens prioritized for departure. And they're very upset that that was not part of the plan.
I was also struck by how President Biden his physical response to that Peter Doocy question that was just mentioned. Peter asked about what the plan was for all the Americans getting them out and he just turned around and walked away. This is not the visual that people care about.
But it's not surprising that the departure has been mismanaged because much of this war has been mismanaged. And it's one thing for our woke generals and the politicians who support them to mismanage a war with the Taliban. It's entirely another with our more serious national security threats like China, which actually knows what it's doing and that is very disconcerting to the American people as well.
BAIER: There have been some headlines Ari, that the GOP essentially is pouncing on this Afghanistan situation politically, and using different words instead of pounce, focusing, laser-focused to make political points. But here are some Democrats who have been expressing publicly concern about this deadline.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): The deadline is when the mission is accomplished, then we bring our people home. Full stop.
REP. ANDY KIM (D-NJ): Our office alone has received over 6,000 requests. Many of these requests are from families with multiple people seeking support.
REP. MIKIE SHERRILL (D-NJ): I do not believe that this can be accomplished by August 31st. And I've requested that the SecDef and SecState encourage the president in the strongest possible terms to reconsider that deadline.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: These are Democrats speaking out publicly, but there are a lot of Democrats we've talked to privately who say this has really gone South.
ARI FLEISCHER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, of course it has, because it's the truth. And you know, in this political world of shiny objects, the simple fact is there are major issues that breakthrough still.
In the withdrawal from a nation where we have been in some level of high level and then low level war for some 20 years, you would hope that American policymakers led by the president could get it right and know how to withdraw our troops, which is something the American people have been calling for.
So, when you see it unfold like this from a humanitarian point of view, from a just a pure heartbreaking point of view, let alone a national pride point of view that we could fulfill our mission, bring out the civilians, bring out the troops, destroy the equipment and withdraw with honor at that stage, it was all dashed by Joe Biden trying to make a show of September 11th of all dates.
Now, why didn't he say this withdrawal will be complete by October 7th when we launched the counter attack into Afghanistan. But he's tarnished the memory, the sacredness of September 11th by making this about that. And yes, the American people are noticing.
BAIER: All right, panel, we'll come back, talk a little bit more about different elements of this. Thank you.
(BREAK)
BAIER: Before I bring in the panel, the CIA director, as we said, met with the Taliban leader on the ground in Kabul yesterday, a secret meeting. Actually, it wasn't briefed on Capitol Hill at the House Intelligence Committee hearing, but it did happen. That same CIA director, William Burns, testified just four months ago on Capitol Hill about the terrorist threat emanating from Afghanistan, especially after U.S. troops withdraw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM BURNS, CIA DIRECTOR: Both Al-Qaeda and ISIS in Afghanistan remain intent on recovering the ability attack U.S. targets. When the time comes for the U.S. military to withdraw, the U.S. government's ability to collect and act on threats will diminish. That's simply a fact.
There is a significant risk once the U.S. military and the coalition militaries withdraw.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: CIA Director William Burns. With that, we're back with our panel, Ari Fleischer, Mollie Hemingway, Harold Ford Jr. We're waiting on Ari to come back, reestablish that shot. Mollie, you hear all of that, and what do you think about where we are now and where we're going?
MOLLIE HEMINGWAY, SENIOR EDITOR, "THE FEDERALIST": Well, there is this interesting argument about how after 20 years in Afghanistan we have a situation investigation where the Taliban is largely in operational control of the country. Our military equipment, sometimes really important weaponry and other assets, are in the hands of people in that country.
Now people are saying, well, we should maybe stay longer in order to deal with this. Clearly, we do not manage the situation there very well. And there are very serious threats in other places that we need to get a handle on. So we do need to get out of the country. We need to get out of the country in a very proper manner. That's not what's happening.
I think that's what everyone is so frustrated about. President Biden spends all this time talking about this infrastructure, or the $3.5 trillion spending bill that's not really going to happen. It's a bit of kabuki theater. And he doesn't spend time answering all of these questions people have about why this was such a mismanaged process. The Republicans want to blame Biden, and that's fine. He is the commander-in-chief. There are a lot of authors of this failure and been a lot of authors of this failure going back decades, and they also need to be held responsible.
BAIER: We are going to put up pictures of the airport, Harold, as I read this just coming in at this second John Kirby, the Pentagon press person, spokesperson, saying that because the president said this, the mission remains the same, and it remains on the same timeline. We are focused, quote, on evacuating as many people as we can before the end of the month. The secretary and military leader are drawing up contingency plans should there be a need to reconsider this timeline. No such decision has been made. As we have made consistently clear, commanders on the ground are empowered to make any adjustments they see fit when they see fit. That includes changes to the footprint. To say that end, we can confirm reports of the departure from Afghanistan of several hundred U.S. troops. These troops represent a mix of headquarter staff, maintenance, and other enabling functions that were scheduled to leave and whose mission at the airport was complete. Their departure represents prudent and efficient force management. It will have no impact on the mission at hand.
Essentially confirming what our Pentagon team had confirmed earlier today, that several hundred troops were moving out before, well before the August 31st deadline.
HAROLD FORD JR., FORMER TENNESSEE REPRESENTATIVE: One of the things that is clear, you mentioned the Burns summit. It will be clear -- it will be interesting to hears as we get clarity around actually what came out of that.
But I think Mollie's frame is about right. There are a lot of authors of this failure here, although President Biden is batting cleanup here, so he has got to get this right. But one thing he should be fully aware of, and I certain they're clear about it at the White House tonight is that there is bipartisan support for extending the August 31 deadline. It's an artificial date. Jason Crow in your comment and your footage said it very well, and obviously Leader McCarthy said it well. Whatever that takes to complete the mission is what we should be about.
And it appears that the Congress may have a question before them in the coming days. If, indeed, we don't have all the Americans out and our Afghan allies out, are we willing to send more troops in? And how many troops are we willing to send in to complete the mission?
BAIER: Ari, we have got you back, I think, somewhere in the -- there we go. Final thoughts here?
ARI FLEISCHER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: When I look at this, and I look to the future now, and I hear the president keep talking about our over the horizon capabilities, Bret, people need dig in to how limited that really is. It is such an exaggerated phrase. We have barely any abilities left in Afghanistan. When you withdraw from the ground and we no longer control any airports whatsoever, for a landlocked country like Afghanistan, our best troops, our Navy and our Air Force are 500 to 1,000 miles and more away. Over the horizon equals very, very limited.
BAIER: OK. Stand by, panel. When we come back, tomorrow's headlines.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: Finally tonight, a look at tomorrow's headlines with the panel. Mollie, first to you.
HEMINGWAY: Yes, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the nine states with the worst unemployment are all led by Democrats.
BAIER: Quick headline. Ari?
FLEISCHER: Pelosi outmaneuvers so-called Democratic moderates. Moderates sacrificed leverage, support massive spending bill.
BAIER: And Harold?
FORD: My headline, the world cheers the safe evacuation of the Afghan women's soccer team. Can't wait to see them play again.
BAIER: Good stuff. Panel, thank you.
Thank you for inviting us into your home again tonight. That's it for this SPECIAL REPORT, fair, balanced, and still unafraid. Thanks for trusting us with this big story.
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