and the taliban declared today, afghans cannot leave and ordered the crowds at kabul airport to just go home. a few moments ago, a taliban spokesman said the roads to the airport are only open to foreigners, not afghans. so the pressure to accelerate evacuations is growing now. the pentagon says a plane is departing kabul airport every 45 minutes. the u.s. military and coalition forces evacuated an unprecedented 21,600 people from the kabul airport in the last 24 hours. let s turn now to white house s cnn s kaitlan collins there. kaitlan, we expect the president to speak hours ago, then at 2:00, now it s been pushed back to 4:30. any reason for the delay and what do we expect to hear from him? the white house hasn t given us a reason, but we do know we re still expecting him to explain in part his decision to stick by this august 31st deadline, which is just one week
one the white house acknowledged is a dangerous one. under pressure from the clock, the environment, and the enemy. but it is one that presses on and brings some hope, maybe even some happiness to those who have known days of fear. and that was cnn pentagon correspondent oren liebermann. for the past few weeks, cnn s clarissa ward has been doing some really extraordinary reporting from afghanistan as the taliban steamrolled the sitting government and then took over the country. we are grateful to report that she and her crew are now safely in doha, qatar, after getting aboard a flight packed with afghan men, women, and children, some of them infants. before leaving, she filed this report from kabul airport amid a sea of people desperate to get out. reporter: after three weeks in afghanistan, we joined the crowds at kabul airport.
saberi is e.ther reporter: e, rrolthpee ntagon said today. u.strpsoo have evacuated ndarou 1007,0 people, lepeop, cinluding around 2,5 includinoug arnd,5 200 american citizens sinusce jt stla saturday. ma othf em have flowren he for processileng, avg inbehind tens of thousanf ds ootrshe still trying to afleefgnihastan. troops continue to struggle to control crowds at kabul airport. ong emth, peleop cluhitcng docuntmes and children. if thisps kee gngoi, no one willet g help. rewe a rueeqsting the gomevernno f tixhis. reporteher: t u. .sembassy in bukal today urgeerd amican citizens nottr to av telhere l untith geyet specific inctstruio, nsciting potential curity threautts osi tdehega tes. but thnte peagayon ss there s been no ch iangen atwh ital cls enthe emsiy tuation, addthing at u.s. troops kwilleeprp ocessing ticizens s whohoupw . nato t andalanib officials say atea 1st2 people havene be
telling the truth from the presidency. let me add one thing. real quick. i got to go. real quick. all right. i got to go, hun i can t talk to you anymore. cross fire there. thank you. take a look at this, everyone. this scene on board an air force c-17. cnn s team and root from kabul to qatar with a crowd of some 400 afghan nationals desperate to flee afghanistan. but, the journey began at the airport in kabul where as david was mentioning, clarissa ward filed this report. reporter: after three weeks in afghanistan, we joined the crowds at kabul airport, now the only way out of the country. there is a huge block here. lots of cars. hundreds of people wait in the blistering heat hoping for a flight out. so we just managed to get into
gunshots could be heard, and hundreds of people were seen crowding together, screaming in panic. well, after reporting from afghanistan since the start of the month, our clarissa ward and her team were among those who were able to fly out friday. before leaving, she filed this report on the conditions that thousands are facing as they try to flee taliban rule. reporter: after three weeks in afghanistan, we join the crowds at kabul airport. now, the only way out of the country. there s a huge block here. lots of cars. hundreds of people wait in the blistering heat, hoping for a flight out. so, we just managed to get into the airport compound. and um, have to say it was it was pretty intense. it was just, like, this crush of desperate people and screaming children and women and babies. and um yeah.