0 admiral and the general aren't working in in a very personal way with taliban authorities outside the airport. let me go another one on the phone. tara. >> thank you for doing this, john. yesterday the president mentioned also that he was calling upon the department to create contingency plans in case the number of americans and afghans haven't gotten out by the 31st. can you just explain kind of what the department is thinking about what its options might be to continue to get americans out after the 31st if they haven't made it to the airport by then? and then just to follow on jeff's question with afghans that aren't getting through, for those -- have discussions gone on with the taliban to maybe find some negotiation space for they've said no more afghans can clear but there are 10,000 at the airport. something is happening behind the scenes helping some people get through. can you talk about that to some extent? >> i'll start with the last question first. kind of comes off of some things that mr. kirby just said with that constant communication. you know, i know the most senior commanders on the ground are out and discussing with the taliban leaders that are manning these checkpoints exactly what the documentation needs to look like, times in coordination, details of that. as we know, though, there are reports of -- that some aren't able to get through there. i can tell you that the department of state, the consular affairs officers that are there are working with our commanders there to insure that documentation, names and those things as often as required are being communicated to the taliban that are out those checkpoints to allow transition in there to get into the gates. >> tara, on contingency plans. i'm not going to get ahead of the planning proper se.s we are a planning organization. our -- one of our main jobs is to make sure that the president has options and as he made clear yesterday, he wants to see this mission complete by the end of the month. we're still working towards that goal but we will be drafting up potential what we call in the military branches and sequels if we believe a conversation needs to be had later on in the month that the timeline might need to be extended. for what purpose, for what number, for how long, all of that is baked into the planning process. i'm just not going to get ahead of what the planners are doing. >> so i'm still unclear at the very end of this, the 30th, 31st who will be doing security at the airport. you are saying the taliban will be responsible. >> the taliban will be responsible for running an airport in a city that they are the heads of government there. >> running the airport and security, right? >> according to -- when we are gone, the airport will no longer be secured by american forces. what that security looks like after we're gone i can't speak to that. >> before the u.s. leaves, though. you will be doing it -- the last couple aircraft leave with americans who is running security keeping those aircraft and runway safe? >> you are asking a very good tactical question, right? security, which we would call commanders inherent responsibility throughout every phase of the operation, we are continuing to secure ours efs to the very last requirement of that. so when you say who is securing the last flight and all those things, we will have that ability to secure ourselves through multiple means to insure flights are able to take off. >> while you have you up there. you said the most senior commanders on the ground are out and discussing things with the taliban. you mean the admiral and general are going to the checkpoints? >> i don't want to give names and things going on. commanders that have authority at echelon to be able to communicate. as we said the most important thing is to be able to coordinate with the taliban to get the right people through. we've seen there has been reports of not the right folks being able to get through. every day we're insuring that we can get as many people in as possible so that we can fly them to safety. >> if i could ask one more, john, on the equipment you were talking about earlier. when you talk about transitioning towards getting military assets out. obviously getting the people out, american military out. will there be a point where you will have a decision or general whoever it is will have a decision about putting people on these aircraft or putting some of the equipment, artillery, all the equipment still at the airport and has there been a decision made to prioritize lives over military equipment? >> lives are always going to be the priority, period. but as we get closer to the end there will be some equipment and systems that we will probably take with us as we leave. and the disposition of what we aren't taking with us will be up to the admiral to determine how that stuff is handled. but lives will always be the chief priority throughout this entire process. >> all nationalities? >> lives will always be the priority throughout this process. >> you said 4,000 americans were evacuated yesterday. is there an updated number. the base number of how many have to be evacuated? >> north of 4400 today. i don't have a specific number of total americans that are still in need of leaving. i don't have that. >> the secretary and the department at large have -- do you find lawmakers for them to be there? >> we were not aware of this visit. and we are obviously not encouraging v.i.p. visits to a very tense, dangerous and dynamic situation at that airport and inside kabul generally. and the secretary i think would have appreciated the opportunity to have had a conversation before the visit took place. >> they got a chance to talk to commanders, as i understand and got a chance to talk to troops. but to say that there wasn't a need to flex and to alter the day's flow, including the need to have protection for these members of congress, that wouldn't be a genuine thing for me to assert. there was certainly -- there was certainly a pull-off of the kinds of missions we were trying to do to be table accommodate that visit. >> bill: to be clear the two congressmen took seats that would have been for refugees leaving and took time away from the mission. >> they certainly took time away from what we had been planning to do that day. and i don't know on the aircraft, they did fly out on a military aircraft. i honestly don't know what the seat capacity was on that aircraft but they are out of the country now. >> just one more question on withdrawal in the coming days. since the president has said setting contingency planning aside that everyone will be out by august 31st. my question is do you have in hand all the authorities, approvals, signed orders, whatever is necessary to just move ahead and carry that out, or does the president, the secretary, general mckenzie, general milley, does somebody still have to sign an order to have that formal withdrawal begin? >> barb, without making it sound like i'm trying to gloss over your question, obviously we are tracking the end of the mission at the end of the month and so of course general mckenzie has retrograde plans in -- on the shelf and ready to go. i can assure you that before that effort is undertaken in earnest, there will be a conversation with the secretary of defense and secretary austin will have a chance to provide his guidance and direction with respect to retrograde. i think i will leave it at that. >> i guess i don't understand. the president made the decision to stick to the deadline of august 31st for all intents and purposes. and you have that from the commander-in-chief. so what is it that -- i just don't get it. what is it that still has to happen to have the formal official withdrawal begin? >> the president also said that he wanted the pentagon to come up with contingency plans should there be a need to have a conversation about altering the timeline. so we are tracking towards the 31st. there are retrograde plans that have been drafted up and the secretary has seen them and is aware of them. but i think you would expect that in these final days, the secretary will want to have the opportunity to issue specific direction to general mckenzie about going forward with those retrograde plans. we're focused on that date but also focused keenly making sure we get as many people out as fast as we can for as long as we can. if there has to be alterations for that secretary austin will want to issue his guidance and direction to the commanders on the ground. >> can you confirm that no americans have been killed since august 14th? and if there is any american killed through august 31st, how would that be announced? >> are you talking about american soldiers, troops? >> any american. >> there have been no u.s. troops killed since the 14th and we only know of one minor injury. i know of no american citizens who have been killed. i don't know of any. now we don't have perfect visibility into everything going on in kabul but we know of no american casualties. >> one more question. when exactly does the august 31st deadline take effect? is that august 31st midnight or september 1st midnight? >> august 31st. >> a couple points you made earlier. you mentioned at some point the u.s. will prioritize getting military personnel out of the international airport. is there a point where afghan nationals and u.s. citizens will not be allowed to get into the airport compound? supposition being you would have to have some sort of cut-off before you could then fly the final troops out. if so, when is that? >> i just want to go back to something i said earlier about airflow, right? and as you've seen the capability over the last three days you know over 90 aircraft total yesterday. and a lot focused on evacuation. so the way to answer that question is the commanders who will go forward with the plan will have options, you know, to make decisions on a daily, sometimes hourly basis of what loads are ready, what aircraft are ready. can i put something else on that bird? that is how fluid and we're able to do at that level of planning. it goes back to the overall mission here is continue to be able to get as many out as possible. >> one reason i'm a little confused it seems part is contingent about the taliban and how they secure the area around the airport and who they let in. who makes the final determination of security outside the airport? you mentioned there are communications happening. for example, if the u.s. wanted some kind of national in and the taliban didn't want to let them in, who makes that determination and how is it sorted out? >> right now the airfield is secure to allow full operations and do not assess that will change now. that is our current planning and we'll continue to go forward with that. >> to sort of revisit what i said before. we have been very clear with taliban leaders about what credentials we want them to accept. remember, american citizens, siv applicants and vulnerable afghans. and we have shared what the proper credentials are and by and large not saying it has been perfect but by and large the people that we have made clear to the taliban that we want to have access through the checkpoints have been able to get through by and large. again, with caveats. so it hasn't been a big problem to date. as the general said earlier, we also have other means to go out and get people in if we need to. we have now done three rotary wing lifts. so we have that option available to us as well. did that answer your question? >> i don't mean to be thinking about this i'm trying to understand how the communication happens. let's say they aren't letting in a certain credential that should be let in. how is that resolved? >> good question. what would happen is commanders on the ground would -- if that was brought to their attention. this has actually happened. when we have reports that somebody who is properly credentialed is not being let in or maybe their family members, but they have proper credentials, we're making that clear to the taliban leaders that no, they are appropriate, you do need to let them in. there has been a little give and take. i think it was mentioned earlier. not every checkpoint is manned in the same way and by the same individuals as every other one and so there are variances at some of the checkpoints in terms of how the word has gotten down and how much the taliban manning the checkpoint are following the dictates of their commanders. so that's why it is a constant communication on the ground with them to keep that flow going as much as possible. but yes, there are stops and starts, there are hurdles that have to be overcome almost on any given day but really it is a credit to the commanders on the ground that they are continuing to have these conversations. now, did that get at it? >> yes. >> thank you. the government is operating on military aircraft since operation to receive afghanistan -- [inaudible] and you know that north korea sponsor the taliban and we know that in the past the north korean taliban conducted special trainings together. what kind of united states monitoring of north korea can we see -- [inaudible]? >> first of all, as we talk about the republic of korea's support to airlift, as i said earlier, we are extremely grateful for their contribution to increase our outflow. you know, throughout the world as you know we talk about north korea, and all of our commands, pay com are always diligent in, you know, watching in their mission of insuring, you know, keeping awareness of any type of thing north korea is doing. so once again we're very grateful and thankful for the republic of korea support in helping us. >> any contingent plans for anything happening on the korean peninsula, including -- >> the mission remains unchanged and steadfast. >> thank you. >> i need to go to the phones. tony. >> two quick questions. jen psaki yesterday said this evacuation is on track to be the largest in u.s. history. largest airlift in u.s. history. the numbers you applied so far, 88,000 i think you've said have been evacuated. so are you pretty confident that you will be able to best the operation frequent win 1975 saigon evacuation where 131,000 people were evacuated by air and sea? >> we're not competing with history. we're trying to get as many people out as we can as fast as we can. and when it's all said and done we will take a look at what we were able to accomplish. this isn't about trying to beat some sort of historical record. i will only add that 88,000 in the course of just a week, week and a half, is no small feat. and you have seen us over the last three days alone exceed what we thought was going to be a maximum capacity. we certainly would like to keep that going for as long as possible. let me go back to the phones. sylvia then i'll get to you. >> steven. >> yes, thank you. can you tell me if all siv holders who made it onto the airport grounds with valid papers will be able to make it onto flights? i ask because an interpreter with an siv i have been in contact with made it onto the ground and was almost put out of the gate. that appears to have been now corrected. but will this interpreter and other siv holders who are on the ground be able to fly out before the deadline is gone, is over? >> yes. >> thank you. i have two small questions. first about the numbers. you said that 88,000 depart evidence since the 14th of august. is it only u.s. flights? if it's not only u.s. flights, how many were evacuated by u.s. flights? >> the total number? right at around 58,000 to 60,000. >> thank you. and the second question was about the president mentioned the isis threat and i wanted to know if you received new threats. if there was any danger at the gates or if -- [inaudible] >> we won't go into specific intelligence collection. we know as previously reported there is a threat. it has been a dangerous place that has had threats by isis and we continue to insure that we collect force protection to the highest levels possible to insure that we're able to continue evacuation operations. >> any new threats? >> we won't talk about the intelligence environment, you know that. as the general said, these are credible threats and we are mindful of that but we won't talk about it in great detail. >> i want to clarify your remarks about the vaccine memo. is this to say that the secretary is not going to request a waiver from the president and d.o.d. will just give vaccines on a mandatory basis as they become fully licensed? >> that's not at all. we'll have to see where the other vaccines end up. that's not at all what i meant to say. it is just that the only ones that will be made mandatory right now are the -- are the ones that are licensed by the fda. as you -- as the memo says, we are only going to make mandatory only those that have fda licensure. press reporting alone would indicate that the other vaccines are getting close. >> one more question. the relationship between the u.s. and taliban. do you think that pakistan should play a role to make good relationship because as long as i heard from taliban spokesperson, you guys have no good relationship, right? because they prevented civilians to leave afghanistan. do you think that pakistan has a role and what role? >> all of afghanistan's neighbors can play a role here and we hope they do, constructive role in afghanistan's future and pakistan certainly i would think would figure largely into that calculus as we talked about. there is safe havens across -- along that border remain a problem. we have been very honest and candid with pakistani leaders about the importance of not allowing that. and you would want to believe they also share that sense of urgency because they, too, are the victims of terrorist attacks that emanate from there. they should and i suspect they will want to play a significant role going forward and we would just ask for them and for any country, any neighboring country to ma that as constructive as possible. >> what percentage of forces aren't vaccinated yet and when will they have to be vaccinated by? >> so on the active duty force, 68% are fully vaccinated. we estimate that just over 76% have at services. this would include guard and reserves in the figures. the army 40% fully vaccinated. with 57% with one dose. for the marine corps 53% fully vaccinated, 60% with one dose. for the navy 73%, fully vaccinated, 79% with at least one dose and for the air force, which includes space force, that's 57% fully vaccinated, 64% with one dose. the secretary has made clear his expectation to the military departments that he wants them to move with some -- and get the force vaccinated as quickly as possible. he tasked them regularly update the deputy secretary on a very frequent basis on how they are moving out to achieve those goals. right now this mandatory vaccine will just be pfizer and then we'll see where it goes with the other licensures. >> will you be mandating vaccines for any of the afghan refugees who come into the united states and are brought here by the u.s. military? >> i will leave that question to the state department. there is covid screening being done at each stop along the way. and again i think that's a better question for the state department. >> you just said that any siv holders that come to the gate would be let onto a flight but we're getting realtime reports from abby gate that marines are turning away siv holders and turning them away. can you clarify are marines supposed to be turning away those are siv papers or with authorization to come onto the airport? have they closed down abby gate? >> i will let the general take that question. the question that was posed to me by i think it was steven was if you are -- if you have siv credentials and you're on the airport and the answer is yes, they will get off. >> i can't speak to that absolute realtime to the second report. the guidance still remains those that have the proper paperwork and are safely at the gates is to bring them in and process them. i can't speak to that specific report there. but what i do know is that whether it's our marines or soldiers that are at those gates working with the consular officers that are there is as people are there and present the proper siv paperwork we're to get them as quickly as possible in, process them for evacuation flights. >> can you make sure that message gets down to the marines at abby gate? this is a legitimate report that just came in. >> we appreciate those reports, right? and i just know as i have talked to the commanders they are using a lot of time and it is good and we'll report to get this information and put it out throughout the entire force. >> again without speaking to this case, sometimes gates traffic is halted at the gate to manage flow on the airport. it is a physics issue. but again i appreciate that and if you share with us after the briefing the details of this we'll certainly pass it on. >> absolutely. >> can i ask one more question. now there has been several weeks since the decision to make this mandatory, what is the secretary's policy or decision on any troops who refuse to get the vaccine? >> great question. what the secretary has communicated to the military departments is to execute this mandatory vaccination program with skill and professionalism which we always do but with a measure of compassion. so for a member who still objects. obviously you can ask for an exemption on religious grounds and you can be exempt if you have a pre-existing condition that your doctor advises you not to get it obviously. but if it's an objection outside those two frameworks, the individual will be offered a chance to sit down with a physician and have that physician communicate to them the risks that they are taking by continuing to not want to take the vaccine. they will also be offered a chance to sit down with their chain of command and their leadership to talk about the risks that their objection will impose on the unit and on the force and on their teammates. and the point is, court, the commanders have a wide range of tools available to them to help their teammates make the right decision for themselves, for their families, and for their units. we expect and the secretary expects that commanders will use those tools having to short of using the -- >> if they don't have a religious objection and refuses to get the vaccine they will be proper sellsed? >> commanders -- short of using the ucmj. we'll trust the commanders will make the right decision going forward. >> an ijp. >> i can't give you an exact answer to every hypothetical situation. there are -- it is -- once you mandate it, as we've done, it is a lawful order. it's a lawful order and we fully anticipate that our troops will follow lawful orders. when you raise your right hand. >> harris: we've been watching the pentagon daily briefing right now and we have automatic reaction coming from capitol hill with three republican lawmakers that we want to get to. they have now gotten to the point where they are going back to reporters and there is a lot of repetition. we'll keep our eye on it and monitor it. after 45 minutes we want to make sure that we drill down on the headlines that really affect the people on the ground trying to get home. american citizens behind enemy lines. i'm harris faulkner. this continuing coverage of the breaking news story of americans making their way home we pray on "the faulkner focus". let's bring in focus now michael waltz, republican congressman from florida who sits on house armed services committee and is an army national guard colonel today. mike mccaul, republican from texas and ranking member of the house foreign affairs committee. you just got out of a briefing on the crisis in afghanistan and also nicole malliotakis from new york. congressman mccaul you have the unique position to try to take efforts on the hill bipartisan. i will get to that in a moment. i want to come to you first. you will have to exit us to go there. first of all, your top line thoughts on what we just learned on this day from the pentagon. >> there has been a lot of confusion. we need clarity, we need the truth. there has been a lack of planning coordination that led to the culmination of what you are seeing on television right now. the ic warned us all summer long this was going to happen. the white house, politicos and president chose to ignore the dire warnings what would happen. now it is a mad scramble at the airport. we are getting reports on the ground ourselves because my committee, the foreign affairs committee is a clearinghouse for thousands of requests for these siv applicants, for american citizens and now with the president deciding august 31st is the date where the military will be completely out, i always say there will be -- people will die as a result of this decisionwe get all thos trapped in afghanistan and the . >> harris: you know, congressman waltz, i want to remind everybody of your service. the first green beret to be elected to congress. why do i say that? we saw gop congressmen gather yesterday and brought to tears by some of what you told us. what is it that you are watching the pentagon do right now that has you up awake at night at all hours just worried that this is going which way? your thoughts. >> there is just such an ongoing disconnect, harris, between the happy talk that we're seeing out of the white house, from political appointees, from the president himself, from kirby, that things are fine and dandy. they may be a little bumpy but they're going as planned and then what our own staffs and offices are seeing on the ground. we had to go operational out of the united states congress talking to airport managers, gate guards, helping american citizens avoid taliban checkpoints. just before coming here one of my team told me that an siv applicant with visa in hand had their phone taken from them and smashed from the taliban and told to be turned around. the reason retired special forces officers and intelligence officials are taking matters into their own hands because it is not going well because of such a lack of leadership and clarity from this administration that we're having to do whatever it takes to get americans out and to save those that stood with us. so we're on the cusp, harris, of having the biggest mass hostage situation in american history. it will make 1979 in tehran look like a sleep over. you'll have thousands of americans left behind that the taliban will then have for leverage when they want international recognition. they want money, they want economic assistance, and they have a gun to the head of american citizens because joe biden left them. the pentagon has been clear to us they could stay and they could get them out. you have to weigh that, there is an ongoing terrorist risk to the folks there but americans don't leave americans behind period. >> harris: there is an ongoing terrorist risk here on american soil. congressman mccaul if you want to say one of your, you know, specialty areas is protecting the homeland and the american people. we have a porous border situation going on now and that complicates thing. i want to get to congresswoman malliotakis on this part of it. senator lindsey graham tore into president biden's handling of the crisis and demanded he be held accountable. let's watch and congresswoman, i'll get your response. >> the most dishonorable thing a commander-in-chief has done. he should have impeached. dereliction of duty. it makes it harder to fight future wars. who will help us in the future after we abandon our friends in afghanistan who fought bravely. the likelihood of a 9/11 is through the roof. al qaeda and isis are coming after us. if you believe we left afghanistan and ended the war between the u.s. and radical islam, you are a fool. >> harris: they're trying to sell it like everything will be okay. you heard the two congressmen saying that. what's the truth, congresswoman malliotakis? >> we will absolutely be having hearings and getting to the bottom of this. there needs to be accountability. right now the members of congress are very focused on helping every american be returned safely. when you look at the stats, less than 10%. the percentage keeps getting lower and lower of americans being evacuated. the number of overall figures that were being provided. last i checked the pentagon just said 4400. there have been 58,000 the united states has evacuated. 6500 at least americans still remaining and no way you will get them out by august 31st. so let's stop the stampedes. let's stop putting people incle the taliban that we are going to not leave. we aren't playing mother may i with the taliban? we'll stay until we get every american and afghan partners who put their life on the line helping american troops and interpreters and other capacities over the years. right now we're assisting people that worked with u.s. aid, worked as interpreters, just as my colleagues waltz and mccaul have. that's number one. number two i am concerned about the risk of another attack. as was mentioned 5,000 individuals were just released from a prison by the taliban including isis fighters, al qaeda. we have open borders. just people streaming over our border and there already have been people in the last several months on the f.b.i. terrorist watch list. there is a grave concern here coupled with defunding the police and reducing tools for our law enforcement in cities all across america. this is a recipe for disaster. >> harris: so congressman mccaul two things for you. you just came out of a briefing. we're hearing they are taking and reporting because we can confirm it, they're taking american troops out of there because you have to start to move people if your deadline is the 31st, less than a week away now. we rescued out but sent home 400 or so troops. what did you learn about how many are going to be left behind to fight their way out? it certainly looks like somebody is going to have to protect us with the last few people off the ground. >> that's right. and as michael notes it takes time to retrograde. we have six days left. most of that will be devoted to retroe graingd and very little time to get the americans left there out. interpreters processing them out. we are hearing horror stories of the taliban. they have a perimeter around the airport controlling the checkpoints and when they see american citizens they get through. it's the afghan interpreters. when they see afghans they view them with high suspicion. we hear horror stories of afghan interpreter and their families sent back home and being decapitated in front of the interpreter and the interpreter himself is decapitated. this is not -- this is real stuff on the ground right now. it is horrific. i blame the president for this happening and lastly, i chaired homeland security for three terms. i've seen the threat coming out of the region. external operations. we're going back to pre-9/11 now and we'll see it happen again. with a wide open border and we had terrorist watch list caught at the border, that's a real threat to the homeland. >> harris: congressman mccaul, waltz and congresswoman malliotakis, i have to pull away. minority leader of the house is speaking now, kevin mccarthy. i will bring you all back. thank you. let's watch. >> he made us wait a number of hours and touted $5 trillion liberal wish list that will increase greater inflation and transform our country in the worst way possible. then he delivered a few minutes worth of remarks on the evacuation efforts. but did not say how many americans are still stranded. the most embarrassing part, though, is that he refused to take questions. and he turned his back and walked away. an image that has come to define him and his presidency. he turned his back on our own citizens stranded in afghanistan, he turned his back on our allies and partners, he has turned his back on his duties as a commander-in-chief. we have a democrat majority that is following the same path. speaker pelosi called an emergency session just this week. we weren't the only country to do so. in the u.k. we called the parliament back. the difference in the u.k. the focus was on their citizens in afghanistan and getting them out. pelosi worked late into the night while we were here but nothing to do with afghanistan. speaker pelosi asked the help of the president to make phone calls not to pass any bills to put resource evers to get more americans out of afghanistan. it was to pass close to $5 trillion, not to debate it but to deem it. every single democrat voted for that and every single democrat voted against congressman gallagher's pq that would ask we could get the number on a daily basis of how many americans are in afghanistan and to stay until the mission is done that all americans are out. the $5 trillion, not one cent will be used on the situation of afghanistan. it's complete failure of leadership. if you listened to speaker pelosi's speech yesterday, a great day of pride for america and democrats. a great day of pride for american democrats? that's what speaker pelosi said on the floor. not mentioned any gold star families, not mentioning the veterans, even those who serve in our own conference who had she stayed the whole hearing could have heard the comments they made inside the briefing, the frustration that they felt as well. i can't imagine the amount of pain being caused to our veterans. we are less than just three weeks away from the 20th anniversary. i want to take a moment and speak directly to them. to the gold star families and the veterans. you did everything your country asked of you. you should be proud that you helped take the fight to the enemy and you prevented the major terrorist attack from happening on our own soil. for those veterans who understandably need extra support during this time, know that you are not alone. please do not hesitate to reach out for help. contact for the veterans crisis line call 1-800-273-8255. 1-800-273-8255. or text 838255. the website is veterans crisis line.net. we a grateful for your service and never forget the sacrifices each and every one made. you deserve a government who will not stop until all americans are out of afghanistan. we will continue to hold them accountable and that is what our mission is. i know there has been a great deal amount of mistakes and one of the greatest tragedies this country has seen on a foreign policy level. right now our whole focus should be just getting americans out. but there has to be accountability in the future that this mistake can never happen again. there are many places we'll have to look. not just from the state department, the intel, to the decisions being made, but even in congress itself. this democrat majority and adam schiff shifted the entire intel committee to be one of impeachment and political. what did we miss? devin nunes warned us before the number of hearings they wanted to look on international basis of what's the threats out there. we now have a border that is open. when i traveled to it earlier this year, it was then that we found we had been arresting people on the terrorist watch list from yemen. when i brought forth that on a press conference, i was criticized by democrats. congressman said i was not telling the trooufmgt i was lying. he have has not apologized for that. we now have 5,000 prisoners that were released in afghanistan. more than 100 different countries of individuals coming across our southern border. we have a president that opened it up. now is the time to close it. this country is less safe today than we were 20 years ago based upon the actions that have just taken place. allowing taliban to control our foreign policy, weaponizing them, reports now they have more blackhawks than australia. from the aircraft, to the drones, to the weaponry, they have more support than they had before just from their own military build-up of the weapons that they've taken from america. now a border that is open and the fear of what the future holds. this has all got to change and the president has to change his foreign policy as well. let's open it up for questions. >> those two members have gone to afghanistan yesterday, can i get your reaction to their trip? what are you advising members who are interested in going to afghanistan and neighboring countries at this time? >> not to go. we need the military all their effort used on bringing people back home. these are twro two* individuals who i didn't no transpired they went until after they were there. they're both veterans. they are both frustrated. they have an administration that won't tell them the answers to how many americans are left or those afghans that probably worked with them and helped them. they feel frustrated. they come back into special session and no time is spent. yesterday we were allowed 90 minutes to have a briefing. while people were still lined up, a number of members, the democrats shut it down and said no, we have to have a hard break to go back and debate the $5 trillion bill. i objected. i thought this was more important. but they would not allow them to even be able to talk to the secretary of state. secretary of defense and others, lined up republicans and democrats alike. that's what they chose the time to do. it is not the best idea to go there but i understand their frustration by the lack of any answers from this administration, from a speaker who spent late into the night. >> harris: we have been watching together the house minority leader kevin mccarthy and told us some jarring things. some things we knew, some things we didn't as things were unfolding at the airport in kabul, afghanistan. and i want to now go to someone who has a special understanding of what representative mccarthy is talking about. so we pull away and we'll continue to watch that as we're also watching the pentagon. a lot to get to this hour that's breaking. we are bringing you as much as possible. i want to bring you this now. among the horrifying store eefs from afghan citizens who helped the united states. some for many years. taliban is hunting down collaborators and their families and blocking access for afghans trying to reach the airport and tearing up paperwork. still the white house and you heard congressman waltz say this a couple of minutes ago. the white house is putting a rosie pick our out there for us. >> we have been in direct contact with american citizens and siv applicants and afghans whose departure we are facilitating how and went to come to the airport. the expectation that we've conveyed to the taliban they should be able to get to the airport. >> harris: my next guest is a former translator for a high-ranking army ranger and we will not name him to protect his family still trapped in afghanistan. he joins the focus now by phone. we have him with us. can you hear me? >> yes, i can. >> harris: great. thank you so much. i want to get an idea what happens when american troops pull out of the airport. the pentagon told us moments ago we're leaving on that august 31st deadline as of now and that the taliban will be running things. what does that mean? >> that means a really bad news for my family and for a lot of afghans that helped the u.s. military. and taliban they are not doing really bad stuff in kabul right now because there a lot of media focus on kabul but they have already started public execution in other provinces where a lot of media is not available or covering it. so they started hunting down people in other provinces and they just executed a police officer yesterday and they did a public hanging of four officers last week. they are retaliating against people who sided with the u.s. and now the u.s. is leaving them behind. >> harris: let me ask you about your family because your family is in the same position as we understand potentially thousands of american citizens. we're waiting later for the secretary of state blinken to tell us what that number looks like. right now your family, american citizens, all behind enemy lines and what awaits them? >> so i don't know what they are talking about when they get on these briefings and tell people that if you show up and you have paperwork and stuff you will come inside. that's not happening. my family spent two nights there with kids and elderly people. they could not stay there any longer because they were risking their life at the gates. they could have been stepped on and died right there. they had to go back home and things are not great and people are not listening to us there. i am trying and knocking on every door and reaching out to senators, representatives, and my military contacts. they are just saying we cannot do anything. it's out of our control. i don't know who has the control. i'm talking to the national visa center and they are telling us we cannot do anything. i'm like there is only one way for my family to get out is through the airport. after that shuts down they don't have any way out of afghanistan. so they are not giving me any hope. >> harris: you know, i want to get an idea how you helped our military and the kind of relationship that you had with our american troops. you had such value to us and we want to understand all of that. >> so i was there working with the rangers for almost five years. and we were going after these people supposedly now the legitimate government of afghanistan, but back then they were terrorist people and we were going after them like every night and i was involved on hundreds of those missions. and the people that they were just talking about earlier that they released 5,000 of them. i was involved in a lot of them and like those investigations. they were put in prison and i was involved with those investigations. and my family is in great danger. and for some reason they are not looking at them as the terrorist group anymore and that is very hard to understand what changed. instead of -- instead of -- >> harris: i'm sorry to cut in. we will run out of time and i want to get this question in. i want to try to understand the kind of damage that has been done with this type of exit. would you or others like you, have you talked about whether you would help us in the future? how damaging has this exit been for american relations with the people like yourself that we rely on? >> it didn't paint a good picture of the u.s. in the end. the whole time there were terrorist groups and now they are just -- every problem you bring to them we are communicating with the taliban leaders. it sounds like they are invincible and we're at their mers east not the u.s.'s mercy. everything has to be run and controlled by them. instead of them evacuating afghans who helped them, they are getting flights, providing flights for the taliban leaders from doha to kabul. that is not acceptable. instead of helping their own people, citizens, they are flying taliban leaders from doha to kabul in u.s. military planes. the u.s. is not siding with the people who sided with the u.s. >> harris: wow. we pray that your family in afghanistan and all of those people who can get to the airport can do so and get out safely. this is beyond our imagination. it is just so surreal for us to watch from afar. thank you for joining us in focus and bringing in focus for us what you are dealing with right now and we pray that the state department can do what senator joni ernst of iowa has been saying. pick up the phone, hire for people and help these people in afghanistan. "the faulkner focus" is over. thank you for watching. "outnumbered" is next. is eligibility for a va loan for up to 100% of your home's value. so if you need money for your family, call newday usa. with automatic authority from the va, we can say yes when banks say no. veteran homeowners. three reasons to do a cash out refi right now. home values are high while rates are low. newday lets you borrow all of your home's value. and you could take out $50,000 dollars or more.