Hello!
Welcome to the program.
My name is Jon Stewart.
And, man, there's a lot going on in the world.
There's Fascism on the march in Italy.
North Korea lobbing missiles over Japan.
From what I understand,
people in Europe are very nervous about what's going on in Russia.
Apparently Ukraine wants to join NATO, and they don't know where to turn…
I don't know what to tell you.
But, I'm-- I'm sure them joining NATO is okay, right?
If Ukraine joins NATO, that means world war.
Millions die.
Okay. So things are good.
But speaking of international conflict,
tonight, oddly enough, we return to Afghanistan.
I'm sorry to say, you've been drafted. No, I'm just kidding about that.
As you know, we were in Afghanistan for 20 years.
But we were only there to kill Bin Laden, which we did.
In Pakistan.
But of course, we stayed in Afghanistan for ten more years
because we had already paid for parking.
Not to worry!
Our two decades in Afghanistan were long, but they were not lonely.
We rode into Operation Enduring Freedom 42 allied countries strong,
each contributing to the mission.
Norway threw in a few missiles.
Australia offered some planes.
England…
gave us Prince Harry.
And we decided to keep him.
Because he smells like clotted cream.
But there was a slight problem.
None of those friends and allies spoke Pashto or Dari or Urdu
or any of the 40 languages and 200 dialects
that tend to populate a country drawn by the Ottoman Empire
and then the British Empire
and then the Soviet-- whatever they are now.
And so it was kind of a group project, the drawing of Afghanistan.
So what we really needed were interpreters,
Afghans willing to defy the Taliban.
And we needed thousands of them.
My capability of survival really relies on their interpretation.
They were more important to our survival on the battlefield than our weapons.
I feel he's done more for this country than I have personally,
and I got a Purple Heart.
Without that asset,
I was-- you know, I was basically deaf and in many ways culturally blind.
Basically deaf and culturally blind is the house band at the Pentagon.
But--
We're--
They know all the hits.
But we're the US of, let's say, A.
What possible downside could there be
for Afghans to hitch their local, primitive means of conveyance to our--
I'm being told it's cars. Mostly they drive cars.
Toyota Corollas apparently.
But the point is this, why wouldn't you wanna ride with us?
The Talibans, they call all the Afghan interpreters the American spy.
And they call us the infidel.
And there's no forgiveness for us.
They will torture us, and after that they will behead us.
Holy shit.
With the risk that these folks are taking,
the United States better be ready to stand by our Afghan allies.
Their country will never be abandoned to terrorists and killers.
As Afghans stand up, they will not stand alone.
Our message to those women and men is clear.
There is a home for you in the United States, if you so choose,
and we will stand with you just as you stood with us.
Oh, my God. This is-- This is unbelievable.
Not only are we standing by you, our beloved Afghan allies,
we are offering you sanctuary in our home.
In our home. Mi casa es su casa.
For people who actually do speak Spanish, that does not apply to you.
It's an expression.
But they had bipartisan assurance that we would have their backs.
So I'm sure even when we did leave after 20 years of--
I think we can all agree, it was a positive geopolitical home makeover.
There was an orderly process to protect our Afghan allies, who had worked--
Holy fuck. That's-- Okay, that's chaotic. That does not--
Is that a withdrawal?
Oh, they're in a hurry to get out. They just-- That's not how you-- Okay.
That's-- They're-- Okay.
Probably time for a little history lesson here.
America has a bit of a toxic, international fuckboy, hit it and quit it…
reputation.
I think the Vietnamese would attest, the Kurds in Iraq and Syria.
I mean, as far back as the Marquis de Lafayette.
That's the actual picture, by the way, from 1776.
Aside from World War 2, America tends to leave its adventures a bit messy.
And thus…
"The Problem with Allies."
Geopolitical relationships are tricky when the power imbalance is so pronounced.
And that can reveal itself in many ways.
Trade imbalance, natural resource exploitation,
the occasional redrawing of borders.
But the international game is especially fraught
when it involves the military-industrial complex
and you happen to be the host country.
See, more powerful countries tend to come on pretty strong.
Hey, baby.
I know you wanna go halfsies on a democracy, baby. Come on.
Freedom is forever, baby.
Oh, shit. Is that my pager? I gotta run.
And when we pull the rug out, and we will,
bad shit can happen.
Economic collapse, purges, lower placement on our vaunted newscasts.
But that's the old us, baby.
We're working on our shit.
This time, we got you.
There's a program.
It's 12 steps.
It's called the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa program.
And it provides a path to US citizenship
to many of those who put themselves at risk by assisting the United States.
You just do a little paperwork, submit it to the State Department,
and soon you'll be at the Rock & Roll Museum
with a pocket full of Kohl's Cash.
Since 2009, the SIV program has brought in
more than 80,000 Afghan allies and their families.
So, to borrow a phrase of the era,
mission accomplished.
I'm in my hiding place somewhere in Kabul, and I'm living in panic.
Now, I'm not asking for the US visa.
I'm just asking for a safe place. Please get me out of here.
Please expedite our process.
Expedite our process.
You know, we are almost getting killed, man.
Fuck!
We didn't get everybody?
Yes, apparently, since our orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan,
over 100,000 SIVs, as well as their families, are stuck.
And the processing of applications is piling up denials and delays.
To give you a sense of what's keeping our treasured allies from joining us,
what's getting them denied for the visa program,
it's time to play America's favorite game show:
Shit Outta Luck.
Will our Afghan friends make it safely to the land of Cinnabon and Mountain Dew,
or will they be…
say it with me…
Shit Outta Luck!
We probably should have rehearsed that earlier.
You got the whole audience going,
"I did not know
that this was a participatory…"
The goal of Shit Outta Luck is simple.
Land on a national treasure and score that big visa,
or land on Torchie, and you're shit outta luck.
Bring up the board, Pauly.
All right. Here we go!
First up.
He's nearly completed his application. He should be all set.
Let's go, big visa, big visa, big visa, no Torchie.
Stop!
Oh, fuck.
Apparently the application was denied, these are true,
because the Afghan SIV
didn't have access to a scanner in Afghanistan.
Hey, you expect me to process a paper application?
What am I, fucking Fred Flintstone over here?
Denied. You're shit outta luck. Bring the board back up.
Interpreter number two, all he needs is an interview with the US embassy
to complete his SIV application.
Let's go!
Big visa, big visa, no Torchie. And stop!
Fuck!
This is true.
The interview that you do for your SIV application
has to be at the US embassy.
Which is really hard because it no longer exists.
Now you participate.
Denied. Board.
One last contestant.
He had all his shit together.
His application had been in for six years.
Remember, these are real people.
Let's go!
All right, Torchie. Come on, baby. Don't come up. Big visa!
Can't verify service. Can't verify service.
Torchie, you're--
You're fucking-- No, don't even--
Come on.
It turns out, for many interpreters,
their service with the United States cannot be verified.
Because on our way out of Afghanistan,
we burned all the records.
In our defense,
we do keep identifying data about our Afghan allies
on biometric storage devices.
In our non-defense, we left those behind,
and they are now in the hands of the Taliban,
who can use those data devices to retaliate against our Afghan allies.
So, I guess we're helping some Afghans,
just not the ones we thought.
This is an outrage, and we need to speed this shit up.
The Taliban has their data.
Look, we are moving just as quickly as we can.
We have mobilized significant resources
to do all we can to make a dent in the applicants.
Fuck that paper-pushing, pencil-neck geek wearing his dad's suit motherfucker!
This isn't time for some bureaucratic--
We need presidential intervention, executive action.
Put out the signal.
Save us, Dark Brandon.
Oh, save us, Dark Brandon.
You're our only hope.
President Biden announced today
that the United States will take in as many as 100,000 refugees.
It worked. Lord Biden has risen.
Tell us, great one.
This program will be fast.
It needs to be fast.
It will be streamlined.
Streamlining would be very helpful to the process.
And will ensure the United States honors its commitment to go to--
to the people of Ukraine.
What the fuck?
Did you just say Ukraine?
I mean, I'm all for helping Ukraine.
I mean, they're in a terrible humanitarian crisis,
and they're the reason the East Village has such good diners. But…
how in God's name did we admit more than 100,000 Ukrainians in under 5 months
while 100,000 SIV applicants have been in limbo for years?
Why would we fast-track one group over another?
Why would the--
Why would the Ukrainian people have an easier time
getting into the United States than Afgh--
I can't figure it out.
Per--
Perhaps it's as simple as pierogi, yes, kebab, no.
That's probably it.
But there is hope on the hill.
President Biden could do more to expedite the process.
And there is a bill called the Afghan Adjustment Act
that would alleviate at least some of the obstacles facing our Afghan allies.
It has bipartisan support.
But it has hit some snags.
And whenever we talk about Afghanistan, the snag it hits is always the same.
They need to be thoroughly and completely vetted for security concerns.
We must ensure that they are properly and thoroughly vetted.
The vetting and interview process must be strengthened and enforced.
It's not just interpreters who worked with US forces.
They have to have been loyal interpreters,
and of course there has to be vetting of all those people as well.
Vetting. No, I get you.
Is there anyone that could put that a little more directly and ignorantly?
Child brides. They have a child bride. Thirteen, 14 years old.
And we're gonna resettle them, I guess, with a child bride.
Are they doing that? With a child bride.
Is it me, or did he sound more jealous than angry?
What? Anyway.
I'm sure our Afghan allies will understand.
It's not like our actions in this war would affect
their ability to, you know, work with us again
if we needed them to, right?
I was in combat, standing shoulder to shoulder
with American soldiers at every step.
I saved their lives in many ways.
But in the end, they forgot me.
If I had known this is how I would be left,
I would never have chosen to work with them.
Well, that does sound extreme… ly rational.
Take a look at this.
-We have those beautiful words… -…that define our country…
…carved into the base of the Statue of Liberty.
Give me your tired…
-…but not… -…too tired.
Your poor…
…but not stupid.
-Your huddled masses… -…unless…
-…they are… -…Muslim…
-…Arab or… -…Kurds…
…people who may have a brown complexion and dark hair…
-…and helped us… -…in a war…
…that we started.
We don't want them.
Do you have any…
-…Swedes or… -…Norwegians?
-And by the way… -…we are…
-…thinking of invading… -…Brazil…
-…Italy, Switzerland… -…and maybe…
…Greenland.
Would you help us?
-We have a lot of weapons… -…and we don't want them to…
…go bad.
-We're good. -We're great.
Listen, we're the best in the world.
Right? Right?
We're America.
You maniacs!
Welcome back.
Well, it's evidently clear
that our elected officials have failed our Afghan allies.
But the American veterans who fought next to them have not.
Veterans have formed advocacy groups, lobbied Congress,
and, in some cases, set up their own operations
to try and get their interpreters out of Afghanistan.
To hear more about these efforts
and the efforts to make it here through SIV or humanitarian parole,
we have Matt Watters,
a US Special Forces sergeant who served in Afghanistan,
and Shafiullah Sahil,
a former Afghan interpreter for the US Special forces.
Guys, welcome very much.
Thank you for having us.
Matt, I'm gonna start with you.
How did you get involved with--
Was-- Was Shafiullah Sahil--
-And you go by Sahil? -Yes, last name is Sahil.
Was Sahil your interpreter?
And is that how you got involved with this?
Well, so, I deployed to Afghanistan in 2020.
And we were part of a counterterrorism force.
Afghan Special Forces was working with US Special Forces.
And, you know, I speak as much Pashto or Dari as they spoke English.
And so we needed Sahil and other interpreters
to make sure that the mission could actually happen.
And Sahil actually saved my life on that deployment,
as well as other members of our team.
-So we got to know him really well, and-- -No, no, no.
Sahil…
Look at you.
What happened?
So, once in-- in one compound,
I was just speaking with the kids of the village.
And I was trying to get some important information from them.
So, one of the kids said, like,
"The Taliban told us they had some mines, IEDs on the way."
So they told the villagers not to walk that way
because they knew that the team is coming here.
So Matt was standing, and I just told--
"Hey, sir, this kid is saying these things."
So after that, we just became best friends and…
That'll do it.
I once helped a friend of mine move.
It's so interesting to hear the government talk about, "We must vet these people."
The level of trust-- You've just met.
That information was crucial to you.
Yeah, we hadn't asked him to talk to the local kids.
And so it was kind of an eye-opening experience
about how seriously he took his job
and also how vital he was to our survival while we were there.
Are you nervous at this point
that the US is going to withdraw and you're going to be left vulnerable?
So at that time, we didn't know that the US will be leaving.
That's why the missions were stopped.
And after, like, few months, the threats started from the Taliban.
So they said, like,
"We found out who you are. You have killed our brothers."
Or, like, mujahideen. "And you were involved on those missions."
So, they were about to find my place, and they wanna find me and…
-You have a family. -…and kill me. I have a family.
And finally after that I got a phone call, and that phone call,
the guy was asking me, "Are you Shafi?"
I said, "Yes. Who are you?"
He said, "Okay, don't ask who I am.
I found you, and I will show you who I am once I catch you."
-And then you see-- -Sahil, you have got to get caller ID.
Let me explain something.
This is fright-- Do you have any idea that this is now happening to Sahil?
Yeah, so Sahil and I stayed in touch after the deployment.
-Okay. -And we texted back and forth.
And, I mean, for myself and for other members of my team,
it was nerve-racking because this guy had saved our lives,
and now we're basically sacrificing him to be targeted by the enemy
that we had all targeted together.
And it didn't sit right, and so, we knew about the SIV program.
We helped him fill out the paperwork.
We gave him some money, told him to go into hiding.
And then we had to wait about two months,
and then we found out that he was denied.
Yeah.
Why were you denied?
So, I was just like 17 days short of the work--
the minimum work requirement that they want for the SIV.
Yeah, and we thought that he would be grandfathered in
because he didn't choose to stop working.
The United States government terminated his contract.
And so, it wasn't like this was something due to bad performance
or any issue like that.
In that moment, do you feel like there's no recourse for you?
Do you feel hopeless?
So, I was just hiding at home
on the 15th of August when the Taliban took over the country.
So then Matt and the other team members,
they just told me to have your kids and wife and go to the Kabul airport.
And we went because we had no other choice.
You go to the airport in Kabul.
You're there with your children, who are how old?
My oldest son is five years,
and my daughter, she's three years.
And my wife, she was pregnant at that time.
Did they just wave you in? How did-- What happened?
Thousands of people were trying to get into the airport.
There was a lot of shooting and firing, you know?
And the people just were-- They were just running toward us.
And at that time, my wife, she just tripped.
She tripped over, and the people were running over.
So-- And I had my both kids.
And I also didn't want the people to run over my kids.
And I was trying to block the people and also save my wife.
And then she collapsed.
And finally, I mean, because of the very hot weather,
my kids were about to-- I was thinking that they are going to die.
And the water that we had with us for drinking,
I was just pouring that water on my kids' heads.
I didn't want to lose them.
So, after three days, struggling to get into the airport,
Matt told-- spoke to some soldiers inside the airport.
And he told me to have my daughter, Mina.
She had a red dress.
And I put her on my shoulder that the soldier can identify me
-and they can let me in. -Wow.
After that, we landed in Washington on 26th August last year.
When-- When were you-- Please.
When were you able to reconnect?
I think it was sometime in September.
I got a text from a USCIS officer.
So, US Citizen and Immigration Services.
And they said that this guy named Sahil is in New Jersey,
and he wants to see you.
And, I was pretty blown away 'cause I live in New Jersey.
-So I drove there as-- -So-- Just--
I mean, New Jersey's a big place. You're not gonna just run into each other.
-Yeah. -And he was able to--
And at that point, what--
Did the government set you up somewhere?
How-- What happened?
So, they took us to the hotel,
and then Matt and-- His father, actually.
His father came to the hotel, and he took me to their house.
So, we are still living with them in that house.
Oh, really?
-Yeah. -And they have helped us.
Remarkable.
A US veteran fighting the anger of moral injury,
having to go above and beyond to pull the man who saved his life,
whose life is now under threat.
And this is the best-case scenario that this country has to offer right now.
Wasn't there something called the Afghan Adjustment Act
which was gaining some momentum in a bipartisan fashion?
And what happened to that?
Well, so, I think there's two groups of people.
There's basically the Afghans who are here in the United States
under humanitarian parole.
-That grants 'em two years legal status. -Right. Two years--
For those people, like Sahil, they're basically in their second year.
So they're nervous that they're gonna be deported after that time period is up.
And so they need the Afghan Adjustment Act,
which will basically grant them a path to getting a green card.
For the second group of people,
which is 100,000-plus people who have applied for an SIV
and are still stuck in Afghanistan--
So the State Department, right now, flies out about 150 a week.
-If you just do the math-- -150?
150.
And there's 100,000-- 150,000 there?
It's gonna take decades with that.
We're never getting it done.
They're not gonna be around by the time--
-Right. That's insane. -Yeah.
And so, they need more flights.
We also have a gentleman right now in Afghanistan
who is joining us.
We're obviously going to blur his face.
And we will call him "Mosa."
He also worked for the United States.
Mosa, you are in Afghanistan at this moment.
Yes, I am. I am, Jon.
Mosa, I wanna ask you a question. Was there an implied agreement
between you and who you were working with, the United States,
that you would have safe passage?
Yeah, Jon, when--
when the Taliban took control of the country,
I was pretty sure that I am among the evacuees
because I managed my job very well,
and beside that I was also an SIV applicant,
which means that the Department of State have my data.
But, unfortunately, I failed to get inside the airport.
What has your life been like since those chaotic days,
waiting for some bureaucratic progress from the United States?
I live in hiding since I'm left behind.
And I change my appearance when I go outside for any needs
or to buy any groceries for home, and it's very difficult.
And beside that I have two children, Jon.
One is six years old, and another-- my daughter is three years old.
I'm not able to send them to school because I'm scared.
I'm also very-- in a criti-- facing a very critical financial situation as well.
And it's very difficult right now, the life is very difficult here.
I need the United States government
to expedite the process and get me out of the country.
Well, Mosa, I can't thank you enough for risking your life
on behalf of the American people.
I truly hope that--
that we're able to break through whatever political impasse there is.
And thank you so much for joining us, and please stay safe.
Thank you, Jon. Thank you.
Thank you, Mosa.
Thank you, Sahil. Thank you, Matt.
It's certainly the least that we can do as a country,
and we appreciate you being here to share your stories.
Take a look at this.
Hey there, other country.
Has American foreign policy let you down?
Did the support we promised disappear in a puff?
Have you been fucked in the name of freedom?
Why don't you… enjoy a Happy Meal?
Yeah, America did that too, and you're loving it.
So when our regular imperialism lets you down,
our cultural imperialism will be there to pick you up.
Drone attack?
Yummy!
Secret coup?
Hello.
Illegal arms sale?
Delicious.
More illegal arms sales?
We just can't stop selling guns to bad people.
The point is, wars may come and go.
And presidents change every four to eight years.
But you know who will never let you down?
Freedom ain't free but McDonald's has a dollar menu,
which is super almost free.
Offer not good in countries that invaded Ukraine.
All right.
Now…
For any meaningful bill to get passed in the Senate
that could help our Afghan allies,
it must go through the bipartisan Judiciary Committee.
So we went down to DC to speak with the chair of that committee
and see what the holdup is.
Senator Durbin, you are the chair of the Judiciary Committee,
powerful committee that has jurisdiction over immigration policy in America.
So, in terms of the Afghan translators,
there's humanitarian parole,
there's the Special Immigration Visa program, SIV,
and there's just applying for standard refugee status.
So, is SIV-- Is that the best avenue
for those Afghans who are looking to come here
and escape the Taliban and escape that situation?
A lot of people here are on humanitarian parole.
I describe it as the new rule in baseball
that says, a tie game and extra innings, you put somebody on second base,
in the hopes that the game will end sooner.
Well, humanitarian parole puts that person on second base
but never guarantees that a batter's coming up.
So they may turn the lights out in the stadium,
and you're still sitting there on second base, saying, "I'm going nowhere."
-SIV-- -Although…
second base might be better than the dugout, which is being bombed.
That's right. I concede that point.
-Right. -When it gets down to SIV,
these are people who have a legitimate claim that,
"We were there for you. Now be there for us."
The problem is that their numbers are large.
And the system that Biden inherited from Trump
was in shambles, intentionally.
And what we're doing is vetting.
We're asking hard questions about who these people are.
And they're saying, "The documents that prove what we did are gone.
We left them behind. In fact we were told to.
Don't take anything incriminating
to a spot where the Afghans-- Taliban can use it against you."
And so there are all sorts of hurdles.
The administration is working toward the same-- the same goal, which we share.
Right.
It's just a massive undertaking.
Let's get to the vetting 'cause this is--
Right now, I was looking at the SIV program, and…
So, if you want to apply for SIV--
Let's say they were a translator,
and now they're in hiding from the Taliban and they're living in Afghanistan.
And--
So, the first thing they need to do is get a one-year employment verification letter.
Then they'd get a recommendation letter from a direct supervisor.
You have to complete the Form DS-157.
That's your Supplemental Nonimmigrant Visa Application.
I'm only going through this 'cause I'm helping my son apply to college.
It's a very similar process.
Here's one that I thought was interesting.
"A scanned copy of Afghan electronic passport."
And then a scanned copy of your employee badge.
Well, then what you would do is, you would scan your documents
and then upload them, submit them.
So…
are we insane?
They're living in a country where they're on the run from the Taliban.
They worked for us.
Why are we asking them to submit letters of recommendation
when they worked for us?
We've already got all that from them.
The premise is sound.
We never want to allow a dangerous person, knowingly…
Right.
…to come into this country or to stay here if they're a danger to Americans.
Sure. But this is even--
I mean, even if you get that done and you get approved…
you have to go to the embassy.
-You need an interview. -Yes.
Do we have an embassy there?
I'm not sure it's a functioning embassy.
-In the consulate-- -It's a building.
So, we're talking about the need for a lily pad.
And that may mean leaving Afghanistan to go to a third country in the meantime.
But why are we treating allied workers,
those who risked their lives on behalf of the United States of America in a war--
Why are we putting them through a process as though they were an unknown entity--
-Doesn't make sense. No. -It doesn't make sense.
So, what we have is this Afghan Adjustment Act,
which Senator Klobuchar, Democrat, Graham, Republican,
are cosponsoring with other Democrats and Republicans,
which basically said, "Okay, you want more vetting?
We're for vetting. Let's do it."
On a scale of reparations for African Americans to PACT Act,
how close are we to getting that done?
On that continuum.
There are bipartisan--
There is a bipartisan group supporting this bill.
-Right. -It's good.
But we need that critical number of ten Republicans who will support us.
We wanna get it on a bill that has to pass.
I won't try and explain what's wrong with the Senate.
It'd take too long. But--
You want to attach it to, like, an omnibus
or the defense spending NDAA so that they can sneak it in there.
You-- They wouldn't do it as a stand-alone.
Not sneak it in, but put it on a bill that is destined to pass.
And…
-You say potato. -I say po-tah-to.
Now, if it-- If it passes, what changes?
We create this pathway for many of these Afghan refugees
to eventually get the ticket to ride, a green card.
Graham and Klobuchar have said,
"If you wanna vet, keep vetting.
But get it done quickly,
because there are so many people that deserve our help."
Well, look-- Let's take a different tack for a moment.
Ukraine is having, obviously--
They're at war with-- You know, Russia has invaded them.
And they have a humanitarian crisis.
And so we create a program for Ukraine and Ukrainians who wish to come here.
And within a couple of months,
I think 100,000 Ukrainians have come here on humanitarian status.
Ukraine has a difficult time, even in their own country,
determining who might be helping the war effort for Russia.
And for Afghans, we throw up our hands and say,
"Look, we're trying, but you just have to be able to get a scanner."
-Consider the contrast. -Yeah.
When it comes to governments, we trust the Ukrainian government,
and we are working with them.
Taxpayers are supporting them in massive amounts to defeat Putin.
I'm not suggesting that
that program for humanitarian parole for Ukrainians is wrong.
I'm only suggesting that Afghans have certainly earned something
much more robust than what they're getting.
-But the point I was trying to get to is… -Yeah.
…Ukraine is a government that works with the United States.
The same can't be said for the Taliban.
-In terms of-- -But these people worked for us.
-Do we trust us? -They worked for--
They worked for us, but the folks who are resisting this in Congress…
-Yes. -…on the Republican side--
Some of them don't want any immigrants from anywhere.
-I mean, that is a closely-- -Right.
Not a closely guarded secret.
And secondly,
when you're dealing with non-white, non-Christian immigrants,
the record suggests that they're going to be more skeptical
as to whether they should be allowed.
Why won't the administration, then, create a humanitarian relief program?
I mean, basically,
the Ukrainian humanitarian parole was not a legislative act.
It was an executive act.
It seems convenient to be able to say,
"Republicans won't vote for the Adjustment Act,"
or, "It will be difficult to convince them."
But there's not a lot of evidence
that the Democrats have the stomach to push it,
to put it on the floor,
or that the executive has the stomach to issue an order.
-Well, I can tell you this. -Yeah.
This room where I chair this committee--
By the way, beautiful.
Thank you.
We have confrontation here.
-And I'm not afraid of that at all. -Sure.
I think the president's on board for all of that.
I don't think he's resisting any of it.
As for the timing of it,
I haven't noticed anything that says we're going slow for some political reason.
He's moving as quickly as he can.
The veterans who fought for America in Afghanistan.
They feel a great debt of gratitude
to all those in Afghanistan who risked their lives on their behalf,
and they feel that we've betrayed them.
Not just the Afghans, but the veterans as well.
That we've betrayed their sacrifice.
I think they're right.
When it gets right down to it.
I think we should've given special consideration to those SIVs--
or those that really risked their lives and their families' lives
to help us and to keep our troops safe.
I mean, for God's sake.
God forbid we're ever in a similar situation in the future,
we want the native population to say,
"These people are not bad people.
The Americans are here for the right reason. Let's help 'em."
How could we possibly make that case?
Well, we can't make the case
when you look back at how we treated these folks.
We had provided support for Afghans in a fight against Russia.
And when the Russians withdrew, we withdrew our support.
And that radicalized a good portion.
That's what created Al Qaeda.
How are we not committing the same sin, making the same mistake?
You are guilty of linear rational thinking.
-We're in the capital of the US. -Yes.
Election is just weeks away.
And this is not the best moment for linear rational thinking.
What we're trying to do is to beg, borrow, whatever it takes
to get as many of these Afghans who helped us into the United States.
This Adjustment Act, it can pass.
I believe it will pass this year.
Final question, then, would be-- And thank you so much for taking the time.
I know it's an uncomfortable conversation.
If it doesn't find its way into another bill that is sure to pass,
and we don't make it through in the midterms,
would you support the kind of executive action
that we would need to take to get these folks out of harm's way
and to the United States where they could be vetted
but finally be given some safe haven on second base?
Yes.
All right, sir. Much appreciated.
-Thank you -Thank you.
All right.
You believe him, right?
A senator wouldn't lie.
Would a senator lie to your face? No!
Of course we're gonna believe him. That's our show.
But clearly, we're not done with this issue.
For more information, please check out these resources.
Or you can always find them at our website,
which I have never visited.
Never logged onto it. Not even sure.
Don't know if it's a password. I don't even know what's on it.
Have heard the podcast. In passing.
Didn't care for it.
All right, everybody,
it's time for the only thing that would make this episode worse for Afghans,
Ted Cruz sharing his opinion.
Here it is, your moment of Cruz.
You know, we just saw a citizen blogger dressed as Osama bin Laden
cross the Rio Grande.
-Now, nobody stopped him. -Wow.
It suggests to you, gosh, if one person dressed as Osama bin Laden were to cross,
how many other Osama bin Ladens could cross?