were we have no idea out of ned price's most. this coverage will continue on the fox news channel. thanks for joining us here on "america reports," a appreciate that i'm sandra smith. >> john: i'm trace gallagher. "the story" with martha maccallum starts right now. >> martha: all right. thank you, sandra and trace. good afternoon. i'm martha maccallum in new york. breaking right now on "the story." terrifying video that has been obtained by fox news. if you watch what is playing out here, you can see how frightened these people are. afghans are taking cover after shots rang out. they were protesting the taliban, waving the afghani flag in defiance as the terrorist organization has retaken their country and declaring it the islamic emirate of afghanistan.

thousands of americans and afghans are still desperately trying to get out while movement at the airport has picked up. that is good news. this is still the message from our state department and all caps warning in an e-mail, "safe passage to the airport is not assured." now after saying the taliban was not going to take over the country and any sort of short order, was biden now saying in an interview that this was pretty much inevitable. >> the idea that somehow there's a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, i don't know how that happens. >> general jack keane is standing by with us. first, an update from lucas tomlinson live at the pentagon. lucas? >> martha, there's now more than 5,000 u.s. troops on the ground right now at the airport in kabul, including special operations forces. another 1,000 troops are due in any day now and the pentagon is

concerned about their safety. >> isis and al-qaeda is a planning factor. you wouldn't expect it to be otherwise. i'm not going to talk about specific force protection measures against terrorist threats. i think clearly we're mindful that that threat could persist. >> the u.s. air force has evacuated 2,000 people in the past 24 hours. far less than the 5,000 to 9,000 a day that is the stated goal. each c-17 transport place had 180 people but can carry 300. insurgented pockets over $85 billion worth of arms. 600,000 weapons, 75,000 vehicles and 200 aircraft including helicopter gun ships. lloyd austin welcomed qatar.

he said qatar always answers when the u.s. needs support. yesterday austin made in frank admission about the limits of the u.s. military's ability to rescue americans trapped in downtown kabul. >> we don't have the ability to get large numbers of people. >> so sounds like you're saying this depends on diplomacy with the taliban? that's the only option of getting them to agree to do this? >> let me add something here. we have a couple of entry control points set up, a north one, east one and a third one at the abby gate. >> right now there's 5,000 troops sleeping on the ground at the kabul airport. the only thing that they have to eat is what is in their backpacks. >> martha: thanks, lucas. joining me now senior strategic analyst, retired four-star general jack keane. so much to talk about with each passing hour we're learning more here. let's start with the military situation. you heard lucas talking about

the troops, sleeping on the floor at the afghan airport with whatever they had hahn their backs. how do you think this is going today? >> well, there's some improvements. they got some troops, aircraft, more people getting out of the country. it appears there's huge impediments and obstacles out there we had an awkward moment in the press conference that you highlighted here yesterday with secretary austin and general milley when the question was asked, would you be willing to go outside of the airport and remove those obstacles and impediments so the people could get through. the obviously don't have any authorization to do that. nor do they have any authorization to increase resources or possibly open up another air field. so that was very awkward moment. i'm hopeful that they -- this team, the national security team has come together and gotten the president's authority. he seemed to imply in the interview with george

stephanopoulos, it's like he made a decision in front of george stephanopoulos, he was probing him on the date certain, if there's people still here after 31 august, what are you going to do? he kept pushing him. he seemed to say we'll make certain we get them out. obviously as of yesterday, they didn't have that decision. they may still not have that decision. so this should be a conditions-based evacuation. what do i mean by that? one, you make a declaration, the president makes the declaration to his own people, the taliban that we're going to stay as long as it takes, period. the second thing is authorize the pentagon, i want you to use all the resources that you have available to do what you need to do to make this action go faster and make it go safer. if you have to move outside the airport and use -- establish

safe corridors, establish pick-up hubs for people to gather, open up another air field, just let me know what it is you're going to do. you have the authority to do it. if you need the resources to facilitate the conditions-based evacuation, you got them. use the resources that you need. give them carte blanche to do that. i don't think that has happened yesterday. that should have happened day one. >> martha: doesn't sound like it. it's interesting when john kirby was asked about changing the deadline today, he said if there's a decision to change the deadline, additional conversations with the taliban would be had. in other words, we're going to have to basically establish some kind of open communication with them in order to say gee, we might be here longer than august 31 is. that going to be okay with you. i didn't hear anything from president biden today in that interview that suggested that he wants to go outside the airport. i would just sort of bring

everybody's attention back to something that he said in a book that was written by richard holbrook when they talked about leaving afghanistan and the way he felt about the obligation that we had to the afghan people. he used salty language. he said f that, we don't have to worry about that. we did it in vietnam. nixon and kissinger got away with it. >> i don't like making this comment but there's a callous indifference that president biden has when it comes to the afghan people. a lack of a moral compass and empathy for the suffering taking place here and the obligation, we were fighting side by side here against radical islam. we were here because america was attacked. the taliban is complicit in being the host for the al-quaida who attacked us. the afghans have sacrificed 66,000 soldiers over 50,000

civilians in this fight. they're allies in this fight. there's all sorts of issues as we know in terms of how things could have been better, mistakes were made. there's no denies the fact that for 20 years they stood up against radical islamic movement for their own self-interests but also for the security of the american people and our nato allies. for some reason, he hasn't been able to embrace that. he made a flippant statement in 1975 dealing with the south vietnamese. he said we have no obligation to evacuate one or 100,000 south vietnamese. it's a terrible statement. his predecessors evacuated over 100,000 of them. >> martha: is he reading the polls? is he assessing this number from the a.p. poll today? 2/3s of americans say afghanistan war was not worth fighting. maybe he's just looking at that and saying let's get out, everybody will forget about this

in a few months. is that what you think is happen something. >> i don't know. i don't know what his motivation is. when it comes to polling on afghanistan, i understand the polling 20 years is a long time. if you asked a person a question, you think it's worth while to keep a couple thousand americans in afghanistan to continue to protect the american people so they don't get attacked a again, i think you'll get a different answer. i don't know what his motivation is. this has been one of the worst foreign policy episodes of my lifetime. i mean, we have done real damage to the image of the united states and this world. it's going to be consequential for years to come. president biden embraced the strategic objective of working with our allies as sort of a seminole objective of his what

has he done? so our audience understands, we were going to leave 2,500. our nato partners wanted to leave 8,000. we were attacked or 9-11. not the europeans. they believe it was in their national interests to protest their citizens from the radicals in afghanistan. they wanted to stay. >> martha: i'm going to play this sound bite and then take a quick break and come back with general keane's answer to this. listen to this exchange, general and everybody at home about the warning from the military advisers, the advice that was given to president biden and then we'll be back with more after this. watch this. >> your top military advisers warned against this timeline. >> no, they didn't. it was split. that wasn't true. >> your military advisers say we should keep 2,500 troops? we can do that? we can continue to do that? >> nobody said that to me that i

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>> did your advisers say no, we should keep 2,500 troops. it's been stable. we can do that, continue to do that? >> no, no one said that to me that i can recall. >> martha: back now with fox news senior strategic analyst, four-star general jack keane. that's a surprising answer given what we've heard. they all didn't want to leave 2,500 troops there. he sensed that yesterday in the news conference. then he says he doesn't remember if anybody said that. >> that makes no sense based on everything that i know in terms of the advice that he received. the military advice was clear unequivocal. they all wanted to maintain the

2,500 forces. they also told the president that if we did pull out, it's likely the taliban will take over. nobody expected in 11 days but likely they would take over. it's indisputable that the al-quaida that were already present there will reemerge and be able to operate in the open and expand because now they have nothing to stop them from doing that. that would be a threat to american security. the director of the cia in testimony before the congress said that if we left afghanistan, there would be significant risk to the american people because it's likely that the al-quaida will reemerge. remember, the cia had a presence in afghanistan. it's now publicly disclosed because it was classified for a time, that we had a couple of bases there. from those bases their job was to stay focused on the al-quaida. it was from there that, remember in afghanistan, that we killed

osama bin laden. so we have pulled all of that out. that's why director burns, who is. biden's cia director, made that comment. there were also members of civilian members of his foreign policy team that also had concerns. jake sullivan and secretary blinken i'm told did support the withdrawal. to say the military and the intelligence community did not bring up these objections doesn't jive with the -- >> martha: blinken was on his side. that's what he means when there was a split. he's talking state versus defense. you know, the one thing that he hasn't been pressed on is what he thinks will happen now in this country. what does he think will replace that void? a chess piece has been moved. we have left. the taliban has moved in. i'd love to know what the president thinks will happen now. >> given the fact that the

taliban have now achieved this premier status as the number 1 radical islamic organization in the world, they have defeated the united states and they are in charge of an entire country. no one else in the world has ever achieved that status in modern history. they have it. as a result of it, people are going to be drawn to them, foreign terrorists will be likely an epicenter for radical islamic movements much as we saw the boom that took place after isis established a caliphate. helped them with recruiting and financing. this will help the worldwide jihadist movement. the region will be a more dangerous place because we'll have an assembly of radical islamists that have designs not in afghanistan and used afghanistan as a safe haven to operate in europe or against the

united states. that is a very dangerous situation. the consequences it has on our allies is quite significant as we already mentioned. >> how would you deal with the taliban if you were in the president's seat? >> i would be telling him right now we have to move. we have to move one to talk to our allies and even deal with our adversaries that you should not give this country, the taliban, legitimacy. don't recognize them as a legitimate government. that's number 1. with that comes trade and also other economic benefits. we should put some real pressure on people about consequences if you do recognize them to include iran, china and possibly pakistan, which will have a tendency to do that. the second thing is declare them a foreign terrorist organization. let's get it off the table. gets it on the table in terms of who they really are.

let's make them the international pariah that they are. the world will support us on that declaration. we may want to wait until this evacuation is completed. i understand that. then the third thing, make certain that any capitol, let's move it into afghanistan as a result of the international monetary fund, the u.n., anything is frozen in place. dry up that capitol. we this country to be isolated, we want it to be an international pariah. we don't want other countries conducting made you're trade agreements with them. for our audience to know, because of the united states and a geological surveys that we have done in afghanistan, they are rich in minerals. copper, lithium, uranium, gold, et cetera. china has huge interests in that as do other countries. actually am some point could become a wealthy country.

>> martha: we've seen china's moves in africa with regard to similar situations. general, thanks very much. talking with you a lot in the coming days about all of, this another briefing from the state department moments ago. not from secretary blinken. we have not heard from him since the taliban's takeover. the late senator john mccain warmed about secretary state blinken's track record. >> this is why i'm so sorried about him being in the position that he's in. because if they stick to that timetable, i'm telling my colleagues that we will see the replay of iraq all over again. we must leave a stabilizing force behind of a few thousand troops or we'll see what we saw in iraq. liberty mutual customizes car insurance so you only pay for what you need. how much money can liberty mutual save you?

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hasn't spoken publicly to the american people about afghanistan since sunday. rich edson has more from the state department. rich? >> good afternoon, martha. net price also did say we expect to hear from the secretary of state soon but gave no specific details on when we will actually hear from him. state department says since saturday, the u.s. has evacuated 7,000 people from kabul. the administration refuses to give a breakdown on that number. we do know from sources who have been briefed on this that 1,800 of those 7,000 are american citizens or permanent residents. officials say the problem in kabul, massive crowds at the airport forcing the government to temporarily shut one of the gates today. on top of that, officials say the former u.s. ambassador john bass will try to negotiate with the taliban to allow americans safe passage out of the country. >> we have a relatively large

codra of counselors on the ground right now. they're in regular and constant contact with american citizens. they have received as of a couple of hours ago a handful of reports from american citizens that were not able to reach the air fort for whoever run. >> by tomorrow the state department will have doubled its original staff that have processed people out of kabul. the administration refuses to give that number. officials say there were about 20 officers in kabul doing this work. there's growing criticism of the state department's handling of this withdraw. dan crenshaw says when the dust settles, it's hart to see how secretary blinken should still have a job. 6,000 people, many of who americans and many will be leaving on 20 flights scheduled

for tonight. martha? >> martha: marc thiessen joins me now, fox news contributor. he says president biden has a long history of foreign policy missteps that marc has written about in his pieces. marc, i want to start with this fuller sound bite from former senate -- late senator john mccain. watch this. >> blinken is not only unqualified but in my view one of the worst selections that -- of a very bad lot that this president has chosen. mr. blinken said we've been very clear, the war will be concluded by the end of 2014. we have a timetable and that timetable will not change. >> martha: marc, you know, i think most of the country is still getting to know anthony blinken as secretary of state but he does have a long history.

he worked in the state department under the obama administration as well. we see a lot of the same themes playing out. iraq then, afghanistan now. >> yeah, 100%. what john mccain was saying in that speech opposing blinken's nomination to be deputy secretary of state was that one, he was one of the authors of the disastrous withdrawal from iraq, which he would not acknowledge and if you watch that whole speech and i commend it to you, he quotes saying denying there was a disaster in iraq. john mccain said that he was unqualified because he had terrible judgment and that if we did what we did in afghanistan what we did in iraq, there would be a disaster. flash forward seven years. joe biden is president. tony blinken is secretary of state and john mccain is right. >> martha: in question of accountability, we heard dan crenshaw's tweet saying he thought an tony blinken should

be fired for the handling of this. decades ago, that happened routinely. if someone messed up or if something went horribly wrong or the advice that they gave turned out to be really not good, there would be consequences. that's something that americans feel so frustrated by over the past decades at least. there don't seem to be consequences for messing up in your job. >> yeah, you know what? blinken should go. joe biden should go quite frankly. this is disqualifying. the reality is that joe biden has surrounded himself instead of a team ofry -- of rivals, they're enablers. look at that interview that biden did with george stephanopoulos. he said nobody pushed back. if that is true, then that is an indictment of his entire national security team. jim mattis put his starring on the table and resigned when donald trump wanted to pull

troops out of afghanistan. where is lloyd austin, general milley? how come nobody said you can't do this. this is a disaster. it's going to unleash a cataclysm and burn us with terrorism attacks here at home. nobody has stood up to this president's worth instincts. when donald trump was president, everybody celebrated the adults in the room. trump hired people that disagreed with him into his administration. sometimes he listened to them, sometimes he didn't. at least he got people that pushed back. nobody is pushing back on joe biden's worst instincts. it's a disaster. >> martha: there was tension in the room. sometimes people won, sometimes they lost. some walked because he wouldn't listen to what they had to say. it doesn't appear that is the situation right now. thanks, marc. good to see you. >> thanks, martha. >> martha: these videos tell the story. afghans beg u.s. troops to save

their children from the taliban. geraldo rivera has called this a chaotic horror that is playing out. he joins me next. veteran homeowners, great news the lowest mortgage rates you've been waiting for are here. the newday two and a quarter refi has the company's lowest rate in history. 2.25% with an apr of 2.48. save thousands every year. plus there's no money out of pocket and no up front fees. newday is holding the line on interest rates so every veteran family can save. call now. we did it again. verizon has been named america's most reliable network by rootmetrics. and our customers rated us #1 for network quality in america according to j.d. power. number one in reliability, 16 times in a row. most awarded for network quality, 27 times in a row. proving once again that nobody builds networks like verizon.

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at usaa, we've been called too exclusive. because we were created for officers. but as we've evolved with the military, we've grown to serve all who've honorably served. no matter their rank, or when they were in. a marine just out of basic, or a petty officer from '73.

and even his kids. and their kids. usaa is made for all who've honorably served and their families. are we still exclusive? absolutely. and that's exactly why you should join. >> martha: new images of desperation playing out near the kabul airport. look at this video of a baby being passed over the wall and into the hands of american soldiers. another woman standing at the gates pleading for her own safety. [crying]. >> martha: in moments, geraldo rivera. first, trey yingst in jerusalem. trey? >> good afternoon. the situation on the ground in afghanistan simply not matching up to what white house officials

are describing. while there's on going evacuations from the airport in kabul, the scene outside remains chaotic. the heart wrenching videos with people handing children over the walls, desperate to get them to safety. a group of afghan refugees that arrived in germany described what it was like getting to the airport with taliban fighters hitting people with sticks and firing rifles. nato officials say 12 people have been killed since sunday in an around the airport. protests continue. a report of 200 people gathered in kabul to mark afghanistan's independence day. the protest was violently disbursed by the taliban. several people were also killed during a similar demonstration after taliban fighters fired into the crowd. there's reports today that say that a military opposition is forming in afghanistan. it's led by the son of a former afghan gorilla fighter and the former vice president of the

country. martha? >> martha: fox news contributor news correspondent at large geraldo rivera. we've seen the images of the families. every time i see the american military on the wall and the way they're treating the children and the people with such care, i'm so proud of them and the work that they're doing. it's really -- they're in a very, very dangerous position. >> i have the same feeling. i thought that once the g.i. grabbed the child, i knew the child would be okay. that's the story of our men and women in uniform. they're so magnificent. we are a compassionate country. we're a caring country. we didn't want this to happen. it's awful. >> martha: here's president biden when he was asked about the future and the fate of the afghan women. watch this. >> what do we owe the afghans left behind, particularly the women facing the danger.

>> i said get them out. get their families out if you can. the idea that we're able to deal with the rights of women around the world by military force is not rationale. >> martha: yeah. but then i want to play one more sound bite here, this is wendy sherman talking about how the united states is going to help these women and handle this situation. she's also at the state department. watch this. >> the united states and the international community will be vigilant in monitoring how any future government in afghanistan ensures the rights and freedoms that women and girls in that country have come to expect. the united states joined 20 other nations in jointly affirming that commitment. it's personal for me. >> martha: i'm sure that makes the talibans shake in their boots.

20 countries determined to sign a piece of paper. >> i don't know deputy sherman. i'm looking for the secretary state. where is secretary blinken now. why is he not being forthcoming. why isn't he front and center? i can't believe this. you know, i like president biden. he's a decent person. i totally relate to what he's saying about you can't give women their rights through a military force. that is not going to happen. however, the secretary part of what he said, i hope americans hear that and remember it. he said i hope we get as many women and girls out as we possibly can. that i hope becomes policy. because the only way you can save the afghan women and girls now is to get them out of afghanistan. this is a very rigid sharia law, which it -- even now, i've been to afghanistan so many times.

when you go to kabul, aside from the swell spots, women are covered from head to toe and they can't even see their eyes. the burqas have the net in front. it's the most burqaized country i've ever been to. so it's really a regressive place. a primitive and will remain a primitive and brutal place especially hard on woman and i hope our state department and military and the people doing the evacuations now including western europeans heed what the president said about women and girls as get as many out as we can. >> martha: what do you think about this narrative that softening -- china softening the taliban? >> we started this negotiation under the trump administration. they also suggested that you know, we think we can work with them. i listened to general keane. he says we need to condemn them in the strongest way. we can't recognize them as a

government. which is it going to be? >> i agree with general keane. we can't recognize them as a government. there's a situation where afghanistan is totally broke. there's nobody making the lights go on. there's no one making the water flow. the banks are absolutely empty. they've been looted by the crooks that ran the country and the united states has cut off all credit to afghanistan. they've occupied one of the most remote and savage places on earth. totally on the periphery of every place. nobody goes unless they have to. i think they have rare leverage here. they have an opportunity -- if the taliban wants to survive other than dealing opium, which is how they're doing to do it anyway, i fear, they need to play ball. if they want to be part of the international institutions, the united nations, all of these other groups, if they want any access to the international monetary system, they have to

play ball and now there's -- there's a moment -- >> martha: they have to reach down deep to the guys with machine guns outside the airport and let them know that they'll be abiding by the rules to be recognized by the international community. it's going to be very rocky as you know. >> very. >> martha: thanks, geraldo. this is one of the most sickening sort of small stories within the big story here. the obama era release of this gitmo prisoner who is now a leader of the taliban, he was released in exchange for bow bergdahl. you remember this story. he was later dishonorably discharged for desertion. former sergeant matt veracamp is a member of bergdahl's platoon and he calls this a jake. disgraceful. he says it's no surprise. veteran homeowners, newday's rates have dropped again. it's time to refinance.

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>> martha: this story breaking right now. russian president putin rejected any role for u.s. troops in countries bordering afghanistan. putin told biden that at the summit in june. that complicated u.s. plans to deploy drones and forces in countries surrounding afghanistan and that challenge will become worse with the collapse of afghanistan. more on that as it unfolds today. now to the stunning revolution that among the leaders of the taliban's brutal takeover of afghanistan is one of these five gitmo detainees that president obama released in 2014 in exchange for bowe bergdahl, the u.s. soldier that deserted his post in 2009 and was captured by the taliban and afghan and spend

five years there in captivity. my next guest was a team leader in bergdahl's platoon. matt veracamp join me now. thanks for your service and thanks for talking with us today. good to have you with us. >> thanks for having me. >> it shocked everybody to see this man's photo and to remember that story and all the discussion that surrounded the release of those members of the taliban. how disturbing it was and now to find that he is in a leadership position at this point. this is president obama defending the swap for bowe bergdahl. watch. >> the release of the taliban who were being held in guantanamo was conditioned on the qataris keeping eyes on them. is there a possibility of some of them trying to return to activities that are detrimental to us? absolutely.

>> martha: your thoughts on this story and the statement from president. >> there's no question that if not one or all of these would all go back to leadership role. all they had to do is wait a couple years. who know what's they've been doing during that time. obviously this guy was instrumental in coming back. what they didn't mention is he was also at the peace talks last year in moscow talking with the united states. so i think we have a real issue with both left and right being held accountable and smoke and mirrors and speaking out of the side of their mouth. >> martha: there were 1,000 prisoners released in the prior administration when they were doing deal with the taliban trying to get some sort of agreement put together. so this goes on for the last two administrations. some of these people have ended up in leadership positions. looking back at bowe bergdahl and looking back at that exchange.

talk to us about your platoon, about what it was like to go out searching for him. >> you know, it was just shocking. disbelief. we went through hell and back searching for him. obviously it came to a point that he was captured. there's no way that any of the forces could get him back. we spent countless hours, millions of dollars to try to find him. then he did walk out on his own. it was a little bit disgusting to see. commanders just traded because of an agenda -- after the trade, it was ruled by the armed forces committee it was illegal. so what happens to these politicians that make these illegal trades? nothing. not a slap on the wrist. >> martha: the accountability is something that rushes through a

lot of this entire afghanistan story. matt, thanks very much for your service. thanks for being here today, sir. >> one more thing. biden will have a harder time with the taliban than he did with old corn pop. these are very bad dudes. >> martha: i'm not sure i know what you mean by that. we'll leave it there. thanks, matt. an emotional fine farewell to slain chicago police officer ella french. that's next. >> i have two children, ella and andrew. they're my heart. today i'm here with half of my heart. efinanced yet, get in on record low rates now. the newday two and a quarter refi is the lowest rate in newday's history. two and a quarter percent. just 2.48 apr. just one call, and you can save thousands every year.

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>> i especially want to say to all the members of law enforcement present, ella was so proud to be a member of your

family. every day you leave home to serve and protect, family, friends and people you will never meet. >> martha: incredible composure there from ella french's mother who was speaking at her daughter's funeral today in chicago. the 29-year-old was shot and killed during a traffic stop which left her partner critically wounded. garrett tenney reports live from chicago. >> those that knew ella french described her as a superstar. the kind of officer who had all of the qualities that you would want in a police officer today. it was a really moving ceremony with ella's adopted mother, sharing what it was like the first time that they met when she was just a year old. >> we sat and played and talked, at least i did, awhile to get to know each other. then you smiled.

it was the smile that lit up your face, my home and captured my heart. i knew then that god willing you would be my daughter forever. >> we also heard from one of officer french's partners that shot the man accused of killing her. the officer talked about ella's love for animals and she would yell out while they saw a stray dog on a patrol to take it to a shelter. >> ella, you're the best friend and partner. thanks for the great memories. i miss you. >> their other partner that remains hospitalized after being shot three times speaks out for the first time since the shooting from. his hospital room, he made this short video giving thanks. >> thank you for your support, your donations, your prayers.

i love you all. >> the officer's family says he has a long road to go. he has two bullets in his brain that the doctors can't remove. he could have life-long disability. his father said that they're so grateful that he's still alive. martha? >> thanks very much, garrett. on our new up set of the untold story podcast, i talked with raymond lopez and pete keller to dig in to the underlying cause of gang violence in america. it's an interesting conversation with those gentlemen. i hope you download it and listen to it. for the first time since the pandemic, an honor flight brought veterans to washington to see the memorials to their service and sacrifice. watch what happened in their very first by it is back to the world war ii memorial.

♪♪ ♪♪ >> martha: more than 100 veterans that served in vietnam, korea and world war ii sang our national anthem and we salute them all. thanks for joining us on "the story." we'll see you back here tomorrow. >> neil: thank you, martha. we're focusing on who is getting through those checkpoints in kabul right now as we get reports of protesters outside the airport and taliban forces firing on them. so much we don't know. this much we're getting to know. a story in the "wall street journal" that vladimir putin had rejected a role for u.s. forces near afghanistan after that recent summit with president biden. the argument at the time and the pitch for the president at the time was to see if he could estah