CIA director secretly met with Taliban leader
24 August 2021
CIA Director William Burns secretly met with Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban's de-facto leader, in Kabul on Monday, the Washington Post first reported.
Why it matters: Though the contents of the meeting are not known, Burns is the highest-ranking Biden administration official to meet with Taliban leadership as the U.S. races to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies from the country before the official withdrawal date of Aug. 31.
- Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid on Tuesday didn't confirm or deny reports that Baradar met with Burns.
Between the lines: The U.S. is coordinating regularly with the Taliban to ensure Americans and eligible Afghans can be evacuated, but Monday's meeting is the first sign of engagement at such a high level.
The big picture: President Biden suggested Sunday that troops could remain in the country beyond the Aug. 31 withdrawal date to help evacuation efforts, though he continues to insist the plan is to complete the operation by that date.
- Some U.S. allies plan to push Biden to extend the Kabul airlift operation in order to ensure that all Afghans who worked with NATO troops are evacuated from the country.
- A Taliban official in response said there would be "consequences" if U.S. troops remained in the country beyond the date.
Go deeper..."A living hell": Leaked email describes Afghan refugee conditions
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.