0 these are known passport holders. >> okay. but have -- have lprs also been contacted? >> yes. >> and what about siv applicants, people who are -- we're in contact -- >> will we get -- >> i'm sorry. >> i don't expect you to have all of it, but then, you know, since this whole thing began there's been a lot of criticism of the administration over how it handled it and there's been a lot of pushback from people within the administration about the hand that you were basically dealt or what you say you were dealt by the previous to deal with the taliban in terms of the siv program in terms of the broader refugee program. you guys have been in office for eight months. it's been five months since the president's decision was made. is there anything about the shortcomings have about been so readily identified by all sorts of people that you are actually willing to take responsibility for yourselves? >> thanks, matt. let me say two things. with regards to numbers in these different categories, as you've seen by as how i get to a number of americans, this is both incredibly complicated and incredibly fluid. any number i give you right now is likely to be out of date by the time we leave this briefing room so what we're doing is very carefully tabulating everything that we have and cross-checking it and using different databases. we'll have numbers for all the different categories in the days ahead and after this initial phase and effort to bring people out of afghanistan, and with regard to the second part of the question about taking responsibility. i take responsibility. the president said he takes responsibility and i know all my colleagues across government feel the same way and i can tell you that there will be plenty of time to -- to look back at the last six or seven months, to look back at the last 20 years and to look to see what we might have done differently, what we might have done sooner what, we might have done more effectively, but i have to tell you that right now my entire focus is on the mission at hand, and there's going to be, as i said, plenty of time to do an accounting of this when we get through that mission. >> thank, mr. secretary. could you speak today about the future of the u.s. embassy in kabul, whether it will remain or american diplomats will remain in kabul after the military withdrawal on 391st and also more broadly we're already seeing women being repressed by the taliban and people being attacked and intimidated and being kept from getting to the airport. i'm wondering if you can give us any concrete examples of steps that the united states is going to take to assure siv applicants and other high-value -- high-target and high-risk afghans, that they are not going to be forgotten when the united states. regard to our diplomatic engagement we're look at a series of options and i'm sure we'll have more on that in the coming days and weeks, but we're looking at a variety of options, and as i said earlier, particularly because the effort to bring out of afghanistan those who want to leave does not end with the military evacuation plan on the 31st, we are very focused on what we need to do to facilitate the further departure of people who wish to leave afghanistan, and that is primarily going to be a diplomatic effort, a consular effort and international effort because other countries feel exactly -- exactly the same way, and the second part of your question. >> will there any concrete steps about whether they will be for then, left behind and disappeared once the united states withdraws their military and can no longer ensure their safe passage to the airports and other livelihoods. >> the short answer is they will not be forgotten, and as i said we will use every diplomatic, economic and assistance tool at our disposal working hand in hand with the international community first and foremost to ensure that those who want to leave afghanistan after 391st are able to do so as well as to deal with other issues that we need to be focused on, including counterterrorism and humanitarian assistance and expectations of a future afghan government. i mentioned a few moments ago that we got 114 countries around the world to make clear to the taliban, the international expectation that people will continue to be able to leave the country after the military evacuation effort ends, and we certainly have points of incentive and points of leverage with a future afghan government to help make sure that that happens, but i can tell you, again, from -- from my perspective and from the president's perspective this effort does not end on august 31st. it will continue for as long as it takes to help get people out of afghanistan who wish to leave. >> what's your level of confidence today that the taliban will actually abide by some of these, you know, requirements and expectations that the international community has put on it? >> i'm not going to put a percentage on it. i'm telling you the taliban have made their own commitments and made them publicly and made them privately and, again, i think they have a -- a very strong self-interest in acting with a modicum of responsibility going forward, but they will make their own determinations. >> mr. secretary, thank you. but the taliban right now focusing on the mission right now are not living up to their commitments. people are being stopped trying to get into the airport. i'm talking about, you know, women, sivs, others, afghans, people with papers and they are being stopped outside the airport now. there are total bottlenecks which rise to the level of what the president said were the contingencies if the taliban is not complying if the flow can't continue. we're loading planes but some planes are leaving without and some people who have private planes are waiting for them with landing rights but can't get into the airport as well as beyond the sivs there are law, there are judges, women lawyers, judges, educators. we told them for 20 years you can live up to your potential and now they feel abandoned and i would finally like to ask you about the local hires. we evacuated our embassy and there have been abilities back that i know you must be fwam or your teams are of people who feel completely betrayed, and these are thousand of people that we rely on in embassies around the world. the message is going forward that we will not be loyal. they were not told about the evacuation. they were not put on those choppers with our american staff, and they were forced, many of them, to find their own way through the taliban checkpoints and get turned away at the airport. some even got turned away once they were inside. so what is the message to people working for the u.s. government, veterans groups are angry the sivs and there's the millions of a gan women who have told their daughters who have been raised under this promise of a future which the taliban alreadyings according to the ambassador today, are denying. there are horrifying examples from provinces and from inside kabul of people being targeted door to door, people in safe houses being sought out, and all this promise of you will be safe, the taliban spokesman said, you know, stay in your homes because we haven't told all of our people how to treat women. how to respect women. they also say you can go to school. can you work as long as you comply with sharia law which under their interpretation is the most extreme example of the islamic code that is seen anywhere in the world. >> andrea, a few things. of the 82,000 people who have so far been evacuated, about 45%, 46% have been women and children and we've been intensely focused particularly on making sure that we can get women at risk out of harm's way. second, with regard to women and other afghans at risk going forward, we will use, i will use every diplomatic, economic, political and assistance tool at my disposal working closely with allies and partners who feel very much same way to do everything possible to uphold their basic rights and that's going to be a relentless focus of our actions going forward. locally employed staff, along with american citizens, nothing is more important to me as secretary of state than to do right by the people who have been working side by side with american diplomats in our embassy and i can tell you, andrea, that we are relentlessly focused on getting the locally employed staff out of afghanistan and out of harm's way and let me leave it at that for now. >> mr. secretary, thank you. i want to ask a more fundamental question about the taliban. your spokesperson indicated in recent days that de facto the taliban are in charge in kabul, but but there is no legal recognized government by the united states at this moment. and it kind of begs the question why does the united states even have to pay attention to what the taliban want? it's an segt. it's sanctioned by many organizations. it's already losing access to afghan government resources because of its past and current behavior. why should the united states even care what the taliban wants to be done at the airport or frankly anywhere else in the country since they are not in the u.s.' eyes a legally recognized government? thank you. >> thank you. >> our focus right now is getting our citizens, our afghan partners, third country partners who have been working in afghanistan with us out of the country and to safety, and for that purpose, first, the taliban whether we like it or not is in control, largely in control of the country, certainly in control of the city of kabul and it's been important to work with them to try to facilitate and ensure the departure of all those who want to leave, and that has actually been something that we've been foege yusd on for -- from the beginning of this operation because as a practical matter it advances our interests. second, we've been engaged diplomatically sometimes years and trying to have a settlement of the conflict in afghanistan. there are still talks and conversations under way even now between the taliban and former members of the afghan government with regard, for example, to a transfer of power and some inclusivity in a future government, and i think it's in our interest where possible to -- to support those efforts. going forward. we will judge our engagement with any taliban-led government in afghanistan based on one simple proposition, our interests and does it help us advance them or not. if engagement with the government can advance the enduring interests we'll have in counterterrorism, the enduring interests we'll have in trying to help the afghan people who need humanitarian assistance and the enduring interest we have in seeing that the rights of all afghans, especially women and girls are upheld, then we'll do it. but fundamentally the nature of the relationships depends on the action of the taliban. if a future government upholds the basic rights of the afghan people, if it makes good on its commitments to ensure that afghanistan cannot be used as a -- as a launching pad for terrorist attacks directed against us and our allies and partners and in the first instance if it makes good on its commitments to allow people who want to leave afghanistan to leave, that's a government we can work with. if it doesn't, we will make sure that we use every appropriate tool at our disposal to isolate that government and as i said before afghanistan will be a pariah. >> what will happen on september 1st? will the u.s. keep any diplomatic and/or any other kind of presence in kabul at all and who will run the airport? is there any discussions with the turkz or any other measures being taken? >> there are active efforts under way on the part of regional countries to -- to see whether they can play a role in keeping the airport open once our military mission leaves or as necessary reopening it if it closes for some period of time and that's happening very actively right now. the taliban have made clear that they have a strong interest in having a functioning airport. we and the rest of the international community certainly have a strong interest in that, primarily for the purpose of making sure anyone who wants to leave can leave past the 31st using -- use an airport and so that's a very active effort that's under way as we speak, and, again, with regard to our own potential presence going forward after 39 -- after the 31st, we're looking at a number of options. thank you all investment. >> good afternoon, everybody. i'm aaron gill grist crist in for ayman mohyeldin. we just heard an update from secretary of state tony blinken on the evacuation effort in afghanistan. also this hour, we do expect to get more updates on the situation in that region. any moment now the white house press secretary jen saccy will do her daily briefing. we'll dip in when she takes questions on afghanistan and the p pentagon press secretary john kirby set to hold another briefing as well. we'll bring you that when it begins. here to start this hour, pbs newshour national correspondent and colonel christopher colenda who negotiated with the taliban in peace talks and the author of "sero sum victory, what we're getting wrong with war" and hopefully joining us in a moment here as well nbc chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. amma want to start with you at this point. we're seeing -- we heard a lot of detail from the secretary of state in that briefing. we're also at the same time seeing a lot of frustration in the cia and the pentagon and congress about the thousands potentially of a gains who could be left behind when this operation is finished in its -- in its -- in its most earnest forms. what were your takeaways from the secretary's briefing today? >> credit to the administration for regularly coming out and providing the information that they do have but there is a bit of a disconnect between the messaging that they are going and many of us in contact with people on the ground who are inundated every day with requests and desperate pleas with people trying to flee and what we are hearing is unfolding there. i do have to say what we heard from the secretary of state there was probably the most conciliatory we've heard any white house official so far in terms of acknowledging that there are many people who will not be helped in the days ahead, these final days before the u.s. final withdrawal. the important number i know a lot of people were looking for is how many americans remain. we now know that the u.s. governments estimates there were around 6,000 total americans in afghanistan, about 4,500 evacuated so far and 500, they have made contact with, that leaves about 1,000 or so they are still trying to find. the big question, of course, is along these categories of people who are trying to leave, there are in the priority list american citizens, passport holders. you heard that from the secretary of state there. after that there are the local staff that people who have been working with them, but there are many, many tens of thousands more, people who are applying for what is called p-1 or p-2, priority 1 or 2 protection status and many more without protection status. not in the pipeline but are considered at risk because of their work tesh airlie with the u.s. government. the u.s. thought the taliban won't come back into power and now they have no way out and with a few days left before the u.s. withdrawal i think it's fair to said vast majority of them will be left behind. >> i want to ask you to pick up from that point, courtney. the evacuation pace has increased in the past couple of days. 82,000 taken out since the 14th of this month. what's the calculus here? give us a reality check given what we've just heard from the secretary about how many people could potentially be left behind here successfully think ama hit the nail on the head here. it depends on what category you're talking about. if there are americans who want to get out, they have the capacity, the u.s. military, has the capacity to get them all out. the question is do they have the ability to actually get to these people and i'm talking specifically about the ones not inside of kabul and that's what we still don't have a good sense of, aaron, are there actually going to be efforts to go outside of kabul to pick some people up? we know there are people not in the capital, but the larger question remains what about these many afghans? so we're hearing about cases, people who are in these special immigrant visa process, so these are people who have worked for the state department or the military during these two decades. they are in the process but they haven't yet been approved and they may not be very far along in it. they seem tonight ones most vulnerable and have the most difficult time getting through, the taliban checkpoints getting into the gate at the airport and getting on the evacuation flights and there are potentially thousand of them and that doesn't even speak to the ones that ama is mentioning, the ones who may be at risk because what have they have been doing, because of the efforts and the work they have been doing over the last 20 years that will make them a target for the taliban going forward. they may not have any real place, like a diplomatic place with the united states that they would have a reason for the u.s. to be taking them out. so that's one of the questions and i think, again, this all comes in the backdrop of the u.s. is still working towards this august 31st deadline. that's just in one week, and when you backtrack that from what it will take to get the u.s. military out, we're only talking a couple of days left here. if the u.s. can maintain this pace that they have set the last three days or so which in the last 24 hours there was a flight, more than one every sickle hour taking evacuees out, if they can maintain that pace they will get tens of thousands more people out before friday or saturday when the flights slow down but the reality is there still will be many more afghans who won't be able to get out who will want to, aaron. >> i'm going ask you all to stand by, if we can. we want to go to the white house and the daily press briefing has started. here's jen psaki. >> to ensure that state and local grantees can further accelerate the distribution of e.r.a. funds to struggling landlords and renters at risk of eviction. they are providing specific permission for grantees to use self-attestation without further documentation of their economic circumstances in order to speed the delivery of assistance to households in need during the public health emergency. there are also a number of steps that are being taken by usd a, hud, the va and hhs, including the usd a is working with owners of 400,000 rental usd a gkd properties. hud will maintain evictions in public housing and have the rental assistance money before facing eviction and hud lex tend the notification period for 14 to 40 days and the va will expand rental support to at-risk veterans and their families from just seven states to now all 50 states and the u.s. territories. so this is just some of the examples of steps that we're taking. go ahead. >> on afghanistan, there seems to be a disconnect from what advocates are saying that afghans with visas are risk death and taking beatings at the airport and i hope i'm framing this right but there's been the sense that i've heard i think from you and others in this administration that the taliban is by and large met its commitment to allow people with the right papers on to the airport. can you try to help americans that are seeing and what seems to be a disconnect between these two different statements of what is happening there. >> well, first let me say i wouldn't see it as a disconnect and let me explain to you why. i noted earlier that we put out earlier today that 19,000 people were evacuated. the vast majority -- in a 24-hour period. the vast majority of those were afghans as you know by the numbers that the secretary of state just put out. that does mean that a great number of people are making their way into the airport and on to flights to evacuate from the country. there are certainly cases and incidents and we have heard, have you reported where individuals are not getting through that should get through and we're approaching those and addressing those on a case-by-case basis as those are raised but would i note that, again, 19,000 people in a period of time, the vast majority of them afghans, siv am gantz, individuals who are -- who have the appropriate paperwork to evacuate and that was just in a 24-hour period. >> can you give us an update on where things stand with the president and the coronavirus origins review. >> sure. >> i understand that he's gotten a cope of a 90-day report. was there any conclusions that -- that the ic was able to come up with? >> he did not just receive a cope. he received a briefing yesterday on the 90-day origins report, a classified briefing so, of course, that's not information we would provide publicly because of the prioritization that we've given to this and the importance of the information for the public, the intelligence community has been simultaneously working on an unclassified version -- a summary version to provide publically. i don't have a timeline for you on when that will be provided but they have been work expeditiously to prepare that and we've been also doing classified briefings but until that unclassified version is available i won't be able to provide any more details of the assessment. >> without getting into the details, the broad upshot of the report, is there a better understanding of what was the ultimate origin? >> again, i can't obviously speak to a classified briefing. i know you're eager to receive an unclassified summary. that's something that the intelligence community has been working to produce and as soon as that is available it will be put out publicly from the intelligence community, from odni and we'll ensure you all have access to it. >> go ahead. secretary blinken just said and jake sullivan said the other day that even after august 31st that the u.s. government is committed to helping americans and afghans who are still in the country eligible to get out to get out safely. how do you do that if the military is sghon how do you safeguard these people and get them where they need to go without the u.s. military in the country? >> well, i know, nancy, as you mentioned, that the secretary was asked that. he he didn't go into detail for a reason because we're currently having those discussions through diplomatic channels but what he assured the public of and what i can reiterate from here we're looking at a range of options how we can continue to provide consular support and facil patient support for those who wish to leave after august 31st and our pecks pectation of the international community is that people who want to leave afghanistan after the u.s. military departs should be able to do that. we're working on that and as soon as we have more information to provide to you we'll do that. >> based on the thumbs that you've provided of americans who have been evacuate it had sounds like there are at least 70,000 afghans who have been evacuated. how do you possibly vet all of those people in a timely fwhags it's clearly the -- the customs and border patrol and relevant officials must be completely overloaded. >> they are, and i will say this is a reflection of the fact that we have hundreds of employees, of our intelligence community working 24 hours a day to -- to do the vetting necessary and reviews necessary to move people into the united states. now, i would remind you that there are a number of people, tens of thousands of people who are departing afghanistan who are going to third countries, lily pads as we've been calling them where additional vet considering take place because they only completed certain steps of the immigrant visa process or because the vetting process has not yet been completed. i can give you more detail on the vetting process if that is helpful. so the screening and security vetting is conducted by a combination of the intelligence, law enforcement and counterterrorism professionals from across the government so the department of homeland security, department of defense, the fbi, state department and the nct, the national counterterrorism center and the additional counterintelligence community partners. what they are doing is conducting screening security vetting for all siv applicants and other vulnerable afghans before they are allowed into the united states this. includes reviews of both biographic and biometric data and if an individual is not through that vetting process they are not coming into the united states. >> any estimates for how long it will take to work through that backsflog could these people be going through the system for months or years? >> people who are in third countries? >> well, what i tell you it typically takes months to go through this process, and what this is a signal of is the fact that this is a top priority for the president and the intelligence community and the individuals who oversee this investigate process who have massively expedited the process in order to move through the necessary steps, thorough steps in order to process individuals and get them moving through the system. >> go ahead. >> thanks, jen. at the tail end of the president's remarks today about cyber security he was asked about afghanistan and he made a joke. >> peter asked him that question. >> the other peter did, and he made a joke, so what's so fun? >> well, i think the question he was asked, if i remember correctly, was about when he'll provide information about a decision on august 31st? i don't want to paraphrase the question. if that's -- >> very important question because a lot of people are watching. >> what he conveyed is that he has not -- what i can convey from here is that as he stated yesterday and as the secretary of state just stated we're on track to complete our mission by august 31st. obviously there are discussions and the president received a briefing just this morning. as i noted he asked yesterday for contingency plans and received a briefing on them this morning. these are incredibly serious issues and they are discussions that are happening internally and i would note that in addition to the contingency plans that he requested he also, i will reiterate, as we stated yesterday, that this is all contingent on us achieving our objectives and the continued coordination with the taliban, and the president has spoken i would say to this issue, peter, is as you know, you've attended number of these multiple times over the last several days and he's also high light the fact we are closely watching, closely following the threats from isis-k which he also received a briefing on. >> in his remarks last night he gave a lot on the domestic agenda. does he think that the build back better plan is as time sensitive and urgent as the evacuation of americans and afghan friendlies from kabul? >> first of all, think it's important to the american people who care deeply about whether they are going have jobs, whether they are going to have child care, whether they are going -- whether we are going to be able to compete with china and countries around the world to understand that we have to do multiple things at the same time. that's exactly what any president of the united states has toss do. >> the next one, these negotiations about safe passage for americans and siv holders continue, why haven't we heard the president say the united states is not -- does not negotiate with terrorists? is that still the u.s. policy? >> of course it is, peter, but i would also say that there's a reality that the taliban is currently controlling large swaths of afghanistan. that's a reality on the ground and right now our focus and our priority is getting american citizens evacuatinged and our afghan partners evacuated and would i say given the numbers that we're outlined and briefed for you that we've made a great deal in progress in doing just that. >> go ahead, just. >> thanks. i have a couple but actually to follow-up on the question peter just asked. >> you've talked about the coordination with the taliban and the president has obviously made this threat as they disrupt the efforts to get americans out. has the u.s. offered the taliban anything in terms of cash or supplies to help facilitate this coordination? >> this is not a quit quo pro. we've laid out clearly what our expectations are about moving american citizens and our afghan partners, allies out of the country and that's what we're working to deliver on. >> [ inaudible question ]. >> i don't have any updates or previews or readouts of engagement with chairman powell. >> a question about lawmakers who traveled to afghanistan. >> sure. >> was the white house aware of the members of congress who traveled to kabul? >> we were not aware when they were en route. >> what's the reaction to the trip? was that official or what's the reaction? >> well, our guidance continues to be to all american citizens, including elected officials, this is not the time to travel to afghanistan and our focus, our objectives, our resources need to be laser focused on evacuating afghan partners, evacuating american citizens and that's -- that's best done in the department of defense and state department professionals who are on the ground. >> the 31st is close for the drawdown. who do the gears shift to evacuation to withdrawing troops? >> i noted a little bit earlier that the president was briefed this morning on contingency plans and continues to have optionality should he decide to change plans even as we were on track to complete our mission by august 31st. i would also note that my dod colleagues have put out some information about steps that are being taken, so as we've made consistently clear, commanders on the ground are looking for changes to the foot they confirmed last night of the departure of several hundred u.s. trips. this represents headquarter staffs, maintenance and others who were scheduled to leave. it does not have an impact on our mission at hand. >> just to foul on afghanistan. >> sure. >> the "l.a. times" has a story saying that a group of students and their parents are in afghanistan. do you have any more information on that, or is that a -- >> who have recently traveled in afghanistan. >> who are currently stranded in afghanistan. i don't know for certain. >> i certainly don't have additional information on that. i know as our secretary of state just noted when he went through a thorough summary of american citizens and our contacts and our focus over the last several days he gave an update on i'm happy to take their information if there's something more detailed that you have. >> and just issue you've said that,ahead. >> on -- on afghanistan and we just heard from antony blinken that 45%, 46% of the people evacuated have been women. there's been a lot of questions and concerns issued to you as well but can you say what provisions you're making to ensure that, you know, women are actually an equal part of the population being evacuated? >> sure. i know that our secretary of state spoke to this just a few minutes ago, but what i can reiterate or add toy suppose is one, we're going to continue to work with the united nations and -- and our allies and partners around the world to continue to provide humanitarian assistance to a range of assistance even though we don't have a presence on the ground. there are also messages we've made clear to the taliban and i think that secretary blinken also reit rated this about what our expectations are and what the global community expects have additional details beyond that but i'll till the commitment to the incredibly brave women and leaders and -- and population in afghanistan that has fought alongside us, that has bravely stood up does not change, does not diminish even after our military is fro >>n the united states -- >> he provided details on americans yet. >> but not on the number of a gains that have relied on the military basis. do you have a specific breakdown of the numbers of people. >> first of all, i confirmed yesterday it was 4,000 americans who had been evacuated. that number increased and the secretary of state gave an updated number this morning. i would remind you that the u.s. military is overseeing the evacuation of individuals out of afghanistan and the state department oversees the waitza processing, hence the update was provided by the secretary of state. during the briefing he just gave he noted that he would work to provide additional numbers of a gains, but i would note that since we've provided a detailed number of americans and we have also provided on a day-to-day basis twice a day the numbers of people come out, the vast majority of those are afghans by numbers. go ahead. >> there was specificity on what the president said is an achieved mission pertaining to americans. do you have a specific number or threshold when it comes to afghans about what would definet 31st. >> we've never put a cap on the number of special immigrant visa applications or the number of individuals who can apply for our variety of programs that are overseen by the state department. i'm not going to put a cap on that today. i would also note that as the secretary of state said we will continue and we are continuing to look at a range of options to provide support and to provide a means for departing afghanistan even after we -- after our u.s. military desglarts there's a way that you can look at the siv backlog on august 14th and say we want -- >> we're not putting cap on the new. we're working every day to get as many people evacuated as we can. >> you've been very clear in stating that there's a number of americans that want to leave. there are clearly americans with dual citizens who are choosing not to leave. what's the level of concern inside the administration about american citizens that choose to stay in the country at this point? >> i know this is very hard to understand for many people sitting here, and i think this is why you're asking this question. not sitting here, people who watch, watch your shows or read your newspaper, but the many, many of the people we suspect, many boost of these 1,000 contacts are -- are dual citizens. some as secretary blinken noted are people who may not be ready to leave for a variety of reasons. maybe they have an extended family, extended family. maybe they have spent their entire lives in afghanistan and they have not yet made the decision to depart. maybe they are working on a range of projects that they are not ready to leave. i know that's hard for us to understand as we're looking at the images but for many of these afghans this is their home and, yes, they are dual citizens. yes, it is absolutely our responsibility to make sure we are reaching out to them multiple times. we're providing opportunity. we are finding ways to get them to the airport and evacuate them, but it is also their personal decision on whether they want to depart. go ahead. >> could i just follow up a little bit on some of nancy's questions about the refugees. >> sure, yeah. >> first, you talked about the vetting that's going on outside of the united states after they leave iraq -- >> not -- i didn't mean to imply outside -- well, some of it is happening in qatar but some of it is happening here. >> it's happening before the people come to the united states. >> yes, yeah. >> some of that piece of that vetting is within your control. you can add more people and add more interviewers. >> we've donna. >> a lot is not in your control. somebody comes to you with no documents, you know it. takes time to figure out where is the actual birth certificate and takes time to find documents that prove ten years of residency. it takes time to get the kind of proof that the fbi and some of these agencies like to use. >> sure. >> so, you know, does that all add up to refugee camps in these transit centers across the globe with tens of thousands of a gains sitting for months, years, whatever? i mean, it doesn't -- it doesn't sort of add up to those who have sort of seep that process, but, you know, back in 2015 when you were in a previous administration, one of the things that you guys argued was that the refugee community in particular was the most vetted community of people entering the united states and you pointed to the fact that it takes a year or two for the typical refugee to sort of meet that bud, so i guess the question is how can you possibly not have this and where are you going to put these people? >> there's a lot of questions wrapped up in there. let me do the best i can here. no, it's okay. all good questions. first, i would say even prior to the last month or two we took steps to expedite processing in the siv pipeline, and i would remind you that for quite some time it was a program that was frozen in march of 2020 and hardly anything was done for policy reasons in part by the prior administration. it wasn't a program they necessarily supported and also because of covid so we work to expedite and actually had some success over the course of the few months in the spring even before evacuation flights took place to do exactly that. as jake sullivan said the other day it was also not a program. to your point, that was -- that was planned for speed because of all of the requirements. what americans should be assured of is that there is no one coming in through any of these programs that is coming through not gone through a background process, a program that we'll abide by. hence we're incredibly grateful to the third kun twlois are providing a place for a number, tens of thousands of people to be for this period of time and we have put a wide range of staff, personnel and others on the vetting process from a range of agencies to ensure that we can take steps to expedite as quickly as possible. you're right. that some of this is dependant on documents and it's dependant on information being available, but i will just close with and then i may have missed some of your questions, but this is incredibly difficult. we're not -- we're very clear-eyed about that, and these afghans, many of them who are departing who are still in process made the decision and we made the decision, too, that evacuating them because they are vulnerable, because their lives are at risk and moving them to a third country, fine they are in transition for a period of time is preferable to their lives being threatened. >> one more question here. >> sure. >> okay. so assume that the people that are vetted, once they are vetted. >> yeah. >> they come to the united states. >> ya. >> is it all of the people who have gotten through the vetting screens, some might have failed but that all of the people that come are going to be granted legal permanent residence to and a path to citizenship in the united states or is it possible that some of those people will have to apply through other programs and could be deported back to afghanistan? >> well, once -- once individuals arrive in the united states they will be eligible to apply for asylum or other available immigration pathways which have -- which have as a condition additional screening processes and procedures, so, no, we can't guarantee anyone anything but certainly we are also working with a range of countries around the world to ensure there are safe places for individuals who are fleeing from afghanistan and have safe places to be. >> do you foresee a situation where you might reject someone's as limb application and send them back to afghanistan? >> i don't anticipate that being the plan. >> thanks, jen is. the white house aware of any other members of congress planning to take a trip to afghanistan? >> i don't have any more information on that no. >> have you learned about how they made this trip, how they were able to get into the country? did they show up on any manifests or anything? >> you should ask their offices that question. >> and a question on cyber security in light of today's summit. does the white house believe that the private sector can make sufficient cyber security improvements without government mandate, or do you believe that congress needs to pass legislation mandating reports of cyber security to better address this situation? >> well, we certainly have made clear that we expect private sector continues to report when they have experienced a cyber breach. we have worked in partnership with some to address the cyber breeches, and also there's an impact on the american public. there is legislation that some are considering and there are a range of options that -- that could be taken by congress an we will look at those as they move forward and if they move forward but our view has long been that it's a combined responsibility of the federal government to put in place clear guidelines, clear best practices and the private sector to take steps to harden their own cyber security. >> one last question. has the white house learned anything more about the possible cases of havana syndrome in vietnam? >> i don't have any more information, no. go ahead. >> not to belabor the point, i know that the secretary of state talked about this and i know that you've answered questions on this but i want to drill down on how confident is the administration that all americans who want to get out will be out by august 31st? i know you've put out the context, you've been text messaging and all the messages and contacts to people. are there concerns that there be people somehow who have fallen through the cracks, vice president been able to get in contact and haven't gotten out? how will the administration determine on august 31st or whatever the -- the military pulls out, that all of the americans who wanted to get out have been able to get out? >> well, first, i think the reason the secretary of state gave such a detailed overview is because it's not as simple as you've just laid it out. certainly there could be american citizens, dual citizens, individuals who may want to depart who have not yet decided to depart by august 31st. we know that is a potential and, therefore, we want to ensure that we're looking at a range of options for how we can allow them to depart and enable them to depart after that date and time. it is also true that there may be individuals who were not yet in contact with. they have not contacted us and we want to leave optionality for that as well, but he also provided the specific information on the numbers to give you an understanding, all of you, everybody an understanding that while we started with as many as 6,000 -- population of as many as 6,000 afghanistans in afghanistan, over the last ten days alone 4,500 of those americans have been safely evacuated. in the last 24 hours we've been in contact with approximately 500 so we're looking at a relatively small population. left, right? we also believe that there are individuals in that set of a thousand who may not want to depart for a range of reasons as we've also outlifnltd i would also note that a big factor on the president's mind and the secretary of state noted this as well is the real threat of isis-k which is the reason why and the president again received a briefing on that as he does regularly from his national security team. that is why we're concerned about numbers around the airport. that is why we are in direct contact through a range of means of individuals on when and how to come to the airport and that is something that we have to evaluate each day as well because putting our service men and women at risk is something that weighs heavily on the president's mind. >> and a question on the supreme court. >> sure. >> the supreme court basically kicking back on the remain in mexico. what's the white house response to that? >> i know the department of homeland security put out a statement on this last evening so let me reiterate some of those points. we respectfully disagree with the district court's decision and regret that the supreme court has declined to issue this stay. dhs has appealed the district court's order and will continue to vigorously challenge it. we are also though in the to, b proceed with means by which we abide by the ruling. >> does that then mean negotiations are under way on returning to the migrant protection protocol? >> the department of state, with dhs support, is engaging in diplomatic discussions with the government of mexico as part of our efforts to implement the court's order, and i would note, i should have said this earlier. our point of view continues to be that this program was not implemented in a moral way. it was inefficient. it used resources by cbp resources, it led to a backlog in the system and it is fundamentally a program we have opposed, but we are also abiding by a court order. >> can i ask you a personal question about the range of assistance that the u.s. is now promising to offer to afghanistans. you talk about consular services. is it the president's expectation the taliban will continue to allow safe passage or afghans to the airport after the u.s. leaves? >> again this is part of an active discussion, and i understand certainly why you are asking the question, but we continue to believe that there will be -- there could be, i should say, american citizens. there could be afghans who would be eligible for special immigrant visas or for a range of our programs who would want to depart that would require a means of departing. that's what we're working through now. >> there's no guarantee from the taliban to continue to allow safe passage from the people -- >> again, these are ongoing discussions and that is our expectation and what we're working toward. >> yesterday the president and you, i think, said he had asked the pentagon, the state department, for all contingency plans. has he received all the contingency plans or is there a set he's waiting for more on? >> yes, he received a briefing this morning. >> so he has received all the contingency plans they're providing? >> again, this is an ongoing discussion, as you well know, and the president has lengthy meetings sometimes more than once a day with his national security team. yes, the plans he requested he received this morning. >> we heard from the secretary of state saying there are as many as 1,500 americans, by my math, who still want to get out who are in afghanistan right now. could these evacuations end before that date, before august 31st? >> well, it could, peter. and i would note by the numbers, 4,500 americans were evacuated over the last ten days. that doesn't even count their family members whether it's a spouse or spouse and children or a combination, and that we've also been in contact with an additional 500. so it's more like a pool of 1,000 who we are reaching out to multiple times a day through multiple communication channels -- phone, text, email, whatsapp, et cetera. as i noted earlier we also have an expectation there are a number of these individuals, dual nationals, people who may have extended family, who may not have made the decision to part at this point in time. >> one of my colleagues asked you and you said you didn't want to provide a cap as it relates to afghan allies who are still seeking to leave the country right now. recognizing you don't want to provide a cap can you provide us a baseline? what is the stated goal as provided to the president of the number you estimate it is at least as many as so there's some context for these numbers of 80,000-plus people evacuated? >> that is similar to me giving a cap. there are people not yet through the process who may not count as an siv applicant at this point in time or may be eligible for a range of programs. our objective, as you've seen by the numbers, is to evacuate as many people as possible who qualify for any of these programs. >> why can't the white house or the administration say what that stated goal is even as a baseline so people get a sense of what we're shooting for in this process? what's the harm in saying that? >> because i don't think there's a benefit in giving a cap. that's not our objective. >> it gives context to when you say 80,000. >> fair. i think important context, though, is that we've now evacuated, again, 88,000 people -- well, 82,000 people on u.s. military and coalition flights. just a week ago some people were saying we couldn't do 50,000. we've done 82,000. and just to put into context, again, that's a flight yesterday every 39 minutes. that is that's and thousands of people coming through the airport every day, 19,000 people yesterday. i think these numbers provide context and we will press every single day to get more people who are eligible out of the country. >> of course we don't know of those 80,000 how many are siv eligible applicants, right? some may be just those who wanted to evacuate the country which is why i asked -- >> i think what's important to note here is the people we are prioritizing are american citizens, are siv applicants, and others who might be eligible for a variety of programs. and in order to prevent a mass crowding at the airport those are the people we are in direct contact with. >> let me ask lastly about the could congressmen. >> sure. >> you put out a statement they shouldn't be doing this. this was the wrong decision to be made. about the merits of what they said, though, having now returned, they said because the evacuations started so late, there's no way the u.s. will be able to get those necessary evacuees out even by september 11th. what does the white house say to that criticism that those two lawmakers are saying based on their firsthand experience? >> i would say first that we're on track to have the u.s. largest airlift in history and i think that speaks for itself. >> can you speak to reporting the administration plans to recommend vaccine boosters at six months not eight? >> i have not seen that report but i would note we just put out the guidance -- the cdc put out the guidance a couple weeks ago or last week. it's all running together. two weeks ago on eight months. if they update the guidance it would come directly from them. >> is that under consideration? >> i would point you to the cdc. >> what is president biden preparing to do to push the chinese on the wuhan lab investigation? there's been reporting that the chinese are not being cooperative, they're pushing back at the u.s. on that. what is he prepared to do to free up more information on that? >> i think it's well known they haven't been cooperative through your reporting and others reporting and they have not provided the data and the information we have been requesting. in terms of an assessment what is it epps we might take, i don't have anything to preview for you on that front. >> i know you don't want to get into the origins -- >> i will be happy when there is an unclassified summary for all of you. >> of course the purpose of the 90-day review was to put a focus on the question. if at the end of the question we don't have clarity or a smoking gun or high confidence, what's the next step? >> we'll talk about that once the summary is out in public. >> if you can update us on the role to the crisis in haiti with usaid and centcom. >> yeah, this is something i think as you know and you've been following closely, we've been deeply engaged with and involved with under the leadership of our samantha power who is the director of usaid. in terms of specific assistance and specific -- what we're -- let me get you updated numbers that we have provided as of today. i think the information i have is a day old. it's an ongoing process. >> thanks, jen. i wondered if you could give us a preview of the upcoming meeting with the israeli prime minister and if we can expect any announcements of the reopening. if not what's the status of those projects? >> sure. i know we did a briefing call to provide a call of that last night or i believe yesterday at some point in time. i will say that the president is looking forward to welcoming the prime minister who is already in town having a variety of meetings today. we would expect it to cover topics ranging from covid-19 and our efforts to address the global pandemic to regional security issues which could include a range of topics including security within israel and iran and other issues of mutual concern. and i expect we'll have a readout once the meeting concludes of anything coming out of the meeting. we'll have more to say once the meeting conclusion. go ahead. >> to follow up, stephanie asked about the gear shift that might be taking place and you talked about the contingency plans. can you say today when the last flight will leave to get the drawdown done? >> i don't think that's something we will provide publicly. >> how would we know then? >> once it's complete we'll provide that to you. >> this is it, this is the last update we're going to give on the numbers? >> again, we're in direct contact with people departing and evacuating from afghanistan whether they are sivs, whether they are eligible -- >> the white house press briefing will continue there and we'll continue to monitor that for you. i'll see you tomorrow on nbc news now starting at noon eastern and back here at 3:00 p.m. "deadline white house" starts right now. hi, everyone. it is 4:00 in the east. i'm in for nicolle wallace. make no mistake the bipartisan january 6 select committee is dead serious about getting to the bottom of the capitol insurrection. the committee took its first big step in its investigation since that dramatic hearing back in july featuring four first responders. the committee issuing a sweeping request for records from the justice department to the fbi to the department of defense, all the way to the united states park service touching on practically every aspect of