Welcome back to 10 Things in Politics. Sign up here to receive this newsletter. Send tips to [email protected] or tweet me at @BrentGriffiths.
Here's what we're talking about:
- Biden blames Afghan leadership in his first public comments since Kabul fell to the Taliban
- A Republican lawmaker's war on big tech doesn't apply to his portfolio
- Most Americans will soon be advised to get COVID boosters
With Phil Rosen.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
1. POTUS SPEAKS: President Biden says the buck stops with him. But his first comments since the Taliban retook Kabul included plenty of finger-pointing. Biden is correct to spread some blame for a two-decade conflict led by four different presidents – but he has repeatedly said that it was his call to be the final commander in chief to oversee troops in Afghanistan. Not to mention, Biden and his top national security team also made confident predictions that have aged incredibly poorly.
- Here's what the administration was saying just weeks, even days ago: In July, Biden told reporters it was "highly unlikely" that the Taliban would overrun the country. Secretary of State Antony Blinken testified to lawmakers a month earlier that he wouldn't equate a US withdrawal "with some kind of immediate deterioration in the situation." Just last week, the State Department was promising that the US embassy in Kabul would remain open and "our diplomatic mission will endure."
- The White House has argued these predictions were so wrong because the Afghan security forces failed to put up a fight, and President Ashraf Ghani deserted his people. But needless to say, it's not going according to plan when a withdrawal ends with more troops than it began with.
WATCH: Thousands of people try to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban takes control
Biden remains defiant about his decision: "After 20 years, I've learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw US forces," he said in his Monday speech. He conceded that the Taliban's advance "did unfold more quickly" than expected.
- As for the blame: The American people have often not been given the full truth about what became its longest war. The Washington Post documented this in detail with its bombshell Afghanistan Papers. These lies extended to the very Afghan security force Biden blames for failing to put up a fight. The Post reports that top military officials long harbored doubts about a force the US invested $85 billion in arming and training.
- As for the end of the war, the Trump administration brokered the initial agreement with the Taliban that promised a complete US withdrawal, a deal paved with the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners - some so heinous that Ghani initially refused to let them go.
- Even fellow Democrats are taking the White House to task for the chaos: "If they had planned for every contingency, they would have gotten our friends and allies out a long time ago," Rep. Seth Moulton told CNN. Meanwhile, Sen. Mark Warner, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, pledged to "ask tough but necessary questions about why we weren't better prepared for a worst-case scenario."
Harrowing images show just how desperate Afghans are to leave: Some latched onto the outside of a plane that was taking off. People appeared to later fall to their deaths as a result. One military cargo plane, a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III, squeezed so many people on board that it nearly set a record for how much it was over capacity, Defense One reports. Some 640 Afghans were on board.
- Meanwhile, some Taliban fighters are celebrating by riding bumper cars.
Follow along for our latest coverage.
2. More than 1,400 are dead after Haiti earthquake: Haitians scrambled to find survivors as a tropical storm threatened to make matters worse, The Post reports. "Schools, medical centers, churches, bridges, and more than 84,000 homes collapsed or were damaged in the temblor, which struck a region already battered by Hurricane Matthew in 2016." Officials are worried about flash floods and mudslides.
- Local officials had to negotiate with gangs to get help: Pain medication and other medical supplies are running low, according to doctors on the ground.
3. Most Americans will soon be advised to get COVID boosters: The Biden administration has decided that most Americans should get a booster shot eight months after they received their second shot, a change that could come as soon as next month, The New York Times reports. Officials could announce the guidance as soon as next week, but it would still require FDA sign-off. How the Delta variant is changing the White House's approach, including why officials are concerned about data from Israel.
4. Republican lawmaker's war on big tech doesn't apply to his portfolio: Rep. Madison Cawthorn has positioned himself as a leader in the GOP's fight against major tech companies. But he's also recently made up to $100,200 in capital gains and dividends from personal stock investments in Amazon.com, Apple Inc., and Comcast Corp. Cawthorn's office declined to comment. He's far from the only lawmaker whose stock trades contradict their public positions.
John Locher/AP Photo
5. Water cuts are coming to Arizona and Nevada after historic shortage: The federal government has declared a water shortage on the Colorado River. That's because Lake Mead, the nation's largest reservoir, is lower than it's ever been. This means the two states will face mandatory water cutbacks in January. Here's why the drought problems are just beginning.
6. NY lawmakers reverse course on Cuomo impeachment: Top Democrats in the New York state legislature will complete their impeachment investigation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, reversing an earlier decision to halt the probe after he announced his resignation. The impeachment investigation also covers more than the attorney general's report that found credible evidence that Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women. More on Cuomo's problems.
7. Food stamps are about to receive their biggest boost ever: The Biden administration is overhauling the program once known as food stamps, providing a 27% bump in aid that marks the biggest-ever increase for the program, CBS News reports. The boost will go into effect October 1.
8. Bob Dylan accused of grooming and sexually abusing 12-year-old girl in 1965: The music legend was accused of giving the girl drugs and alcohol before sexually abusing her at his Chelsea Hotel apartment, according to a new lawsuit filed in Manhattan. A spokesperson for Dylan vowed to fight the suit. More on the news.
9. Tesla faces federal investigation over its autopilot system: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the US regulator for auto safety, said it's investigating the carmaker's system after identifying ten deaths tied to Tesla crashes. The probe will dig into claims that Autopilot sometimes struggles to identify parked emergency vehicles. Nearly 800,000 Teslas will be examined. So far, 11 Tesla crashes have been identified.
10. Americans are looking to live near nature - nearly half of adults want to move somewhere with easy access to camping or fishing. The trend marks a fundamental change that has transpired amid the pandemic, said Dick's CEO. Outdoor-retail sales have surged and trickled down into sectors from fashion to real estate. See why the outdoors boom is here to stay.
Today's trivia question: Today marks the anniversary of the conclusion of the Woodstock festival. Before it hosted the famous concert, what was the land used for? Email your guess and a suggested question to me at [email protected].
- Friday's answer: The Natural was written by former Census Bureau worker Bernard Malamud and later made into an acclaimed movie. Here are some other famous people who worked on the census.