Hey, this is Raleo. I'm six years old and my mommy just picked me up from the first day

of summer camp where I saw a rattlesnake-hole hiking. You're listening to the NPR Politics

podcast which was recorded at 12.03 pm Eastern time on Friday, August 13th.

Things may have changed by the time you hear this. Okay, enjoy the show!

I don't know if that is like so cute or absolutely so scary because my kids right now are at camp

and I'm a little bit nervous, you know, where they're walking.

He sounded a lot cooler about seeing a rattlesnake than I would have been if I was out.

Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm a smah离, I cover the White House.

I'm Franco Ordeniaz, I also cover the White House. And I'm Susan Davis, I cover Congress.

And as of Friday morning, the Taliban now have control of at least a dozen provincial

capitals in Afghanistan, effectively putting them in control of two-thirds of the country.

In other words, the very power the US ousted some 20 years ago when it invaded Afghanistan

is now on the brink of taking over the country again. This comes alongside news that the US

will be sending back about 3,000 troops to help evacuate the embassy.

So Franco, let's start with President Biden and his White House.

How are they all defending what is going on in Afghanistan, I mean, frankly, under the

watch?

Yeah, I mean, no question that this has put President Biden and the White House in a very

difficult situation. There have been a lot of late-night meetings between Biden and his

national security adviser in a Secretary of State and his Pentagon, Secretary of Defense,

Secretary, about what is the right course of action? You know, the speed that the Taliban

has taken over so much of the country, you know, frankly, took the White House a bit

...