Thousands are holding out home stuck outside of the walls of Kabul Airport waiting with no Guarantee Theyll be able to be safely evacuated, in a new interview, he is defending his call to pull off troops from afghanistan. You dont think this could have been handled better in any way, no mistakes . No. I dont think it could have been handled in a way that were going to go back in Hindsight And Look and to think that there is a way to get out without chaosen chaosenuing, you dont know how that happens. Even if americans and our afghan allies are still trying to get out, theyre going to leave. Were going to do everything in our power to get all americans and our allies out. Does that means troops will stay beyond August 31st if necessary. If depends on where we are and whether we could ramp the numbers up to 5,000 to 7,000 a day coming out. If that is the case, theyll all be out. Because we have like 10 to 15,000 americans in the country right now, right . And are you committed to making sure that the troops stay until every american who wans to be out is out. Yes. Yes. How about our afghan allies, does the Commitment Hold for them as well. It holds to get everyone out that should come out and that is the objective. That is what were doing now. That is the path were on. An i think well get there. This hour were expecting an update from the pentagon for all developments out of afghanistan and including the Rate And Pace of evacuations and well bring that to you live when it begins. Were covering it all. Lets begin with John Harwood at the White House. John, the president is standing by his stition and defiant and defensive at times in this interview. How does the White House believe he is messaging this . Reporter well, look, he is defiant because it is pretty clear that President Biden believes for all of the incoming hes taking, from allies, from democrats, from republicans on Capitol Hill, he believe thats hes fundamentally correct about his decision. Hes acknowledged that the collapse of the Afghan Security Forces and government occurred much faster than he had anticipated, that Mark Milley had anticipated and our Colleague Clarissa Ward had an tis pated. But having said that, he thinks there is no good time to do it and it was going to be messy in any event. He told George Stephanopoulos in the interview, that the withdrawal has not failed despite the declarations that it has because they are ramping up the evacuations, weve not lost american troops and the test is in front of him. That is can they Ramp Up to the level, five to 9,000 a day, that the pentagon has said theyre aiming for and get over the next two weeks the 65,000 or so that the president estimated that theyre going to try to get out. American citizens and afghan allies. About 6,000 so far. The pentagon said yesterday theyre processing about 500 people an hour at the Air Base. Big questions as to whether they could get people from the countryside to kabul. Theyre doing this at the sufferance of the taliban. They think theyve got some leverage over the taliban. Very difficult process, but The End of this story has not yet been written. And President Biden is counting on his military troops on the ground, 6,000 that hes getting to afghanistan to get this job done over the next couple of wee weeks. And he said he would go past August 31st if the Process Proceeding and they think they could get more people out. And kylie, to you, what do you know and what does the State Department say about the president s pledge to keep troops in country past the August 31st deadline. It was clear, i think, from listening to that, whatever it takes to get americans out, what was less clear, if it is September 1st and all of The Americans are out, but our afghan allies and interpreters arent all out, will we stay . Reporter yeah, i mean no firm commitment there from the president as to if the u. S. Will maintain that troop presence, that Military Presence at the airport which is enabling these large scale evacuations if these afghans arent out in large numbers, right. And that is key. Because what were watching from our reporters on ground is that folks who appear to be western, who are american and heading to the airport, are getting through these taliban checkpoints. Those who arent getting through and facing the attacks by the taliban may not deathly be very violent are able to get there, right. And so we did hear from President Biden for the first time putting an estimate on what his administration thinks is the total number, between 50 and 65,000 afghans that theyre going to try to get out of the country. But he didnt say that united States Military will stay there until the number is out of the country and it is important to note we dont know where he got that number from, because you have some refugee organizations, Refugees International saying that the biden administration should actually be resettling close to 200,000 afghans here in the u. S. We cant resettle them here unless they get out of the country. We did a fact check yesterday that some estimate up to 300,000 that served the u. S. In some capacity. Nick Paton Walsh is where they are being taken. You were in kabul on the other side of this. What is required for someone in afghanistan to get on one of those planes to get to dohar where i aunderstand there is additional vetting that goes on. Reporter yeah, i have to say, it is a little tough to understand exactly how the system works. Because i was in the crush of hundreds of afghans trying to get to the gates. The key gates in the north. There is much less taliban presence, in the south of the airport in the main Artery Report as we saw in clarissas reporting yesterday. There have been a lot of taliban simply turning anybody away trying to get to the main entrance. Around the north people have seen this success but there were so many afghans, like The Americans were there too and European Passport holders all crushing to get to the gate itself. But when i put my head over the Gate And Somebody lifted me up to about the chance of getting in. The u. S. Marine said very cleanly, absolutely not. We cant let anybody in and i think the logic was you start seeing one person get pushed over the fence, everybody tries it and then how to the marine react. Well theyll have to find some way of using force to stop them from doing that, i heard shots fired in the air while i was standing there. It was a very volatile scene. Where any system in place, waving your passport and saying you have the right paperwork is very hard for the marines to legislate for because you have this potential of a rush of people simply trying to do the same thing as they see a successful person do. And here is one or two other important things to remember. If you have a successful crossing, the person who does that will tell their family how to get in and how they did it and then words traveled fast in a community desperate to get out and that area is flooded. The way i got foot airport, i was beaten been by an afghan Security Guard on the way of wire and that was sealed off. The big problem too is for americans on the the base, a lot of what they say and think is systematic, it feels orderly. They think they have a process. But you think some of them wonder why there arent any afghans on that particular base. Youre imagining a scene of people stprawling all over the airport desperate to get out. When i was there, there werent that many. The major thing so far is that as they Ramp Up the numbers, they need to get people in the airport not to get the planes off. So there is a huge disconnect as youve seen. A lot through the Afghan 20 Year American experience and what happens on base and what is happening off the base. Off the base, it is chaos and a very dangerous thing for people to endure simply to get on to the airport. But what theyre willing to endure to get out of the country. Thank you very much. Lets talk about all of it with the lieutenant general mark hertling. Thank you very much for being here. There is a lot to get to with you on the issue of the chaos at and within the Kabul Airport. There is a big question and that is why did they not keep Bagram Open with multiple runways with all of the facilities of a u. S. Operation going on there. During the Press Conference Yesterday we heard from Mark Milley and Blade Austin and here is what Secretary Austin said. I want your response on the other side. We will continue to coordinate and deconflict with the taliban and make sure that those folks, those people that need to get to the airfield have the right to credentials to ensure passage and the taliban will has been checking those credentials and if they have them, they have allowed them to pass. We dont have the capability to go out and collect up large numbers of people. That is a big deal. Relying on taliban to check the paperwork and we dont have enough resources to get it done. Was it a mistake . Was there a lesson learned from Closing Bagram when they did. When you talk about a operation like this, poppy, you very much attempt to centralize things primarily because of the force requirements. Had we kept bagram, kandahar, sharif, you could go on and on and the number of air fields that were available that could potentially be hubs for evacuations, youre talking about an requirement for Force Protection, processing and troops available. 2500 troops were in afghanistan when this operation started as a result of the earlier drawdown. That many forces, even deploying Tens Of Thousands of more is contrary to the desire to withdraw from the country. That is why kabul is stated as the hub and the centralized location based on their certain assumptions, circumstances that the government would continue to hold for months or weeks and more than it has now. Which could happen now. So you have a new reality. That is a fact. And ive spoken and ive been in touch personally with afghans who serviced the u. S. Who cannot get to the airport. They say theyre in danger. And this is from kabul, right. Just traveling a couple of miles because theyre worried about danger. So the circumstances are new and different. How does the president keep his promise to get out afghans who worked with the u. S. , if they cant get to the airport, right. I mean general austin said yesterday they dont have the forces to extract folks even from within kabul, do they have to change so that they have the capability . Because otherwise you cant fulfill your promise. I dont know how you change that. And how you increase the flow outside of the gate. I would like to point out, as all of us are thinking the taliban right now is large and in charge of the government, there is still an active civil war going on. Weve seen new movements crop up. So it is not as if the taliban even though we all believe theyre in the middle of Kabul And Everything is going smoothly because theyre now in charge, they dont have a Government Up and operational. So it is still a sporty situation everywhere within afghanistan not just in kabul. So trying to say, hey, we have to clear the roads to get people with free access to the kabul neo site, that is going to be challenging. It is going to be difficult. And that is why i said yesterday, before the president did, that i think they would have to extend the opportunity for folks to get out, how long is that going to be extended . I dont know. But im sure the taliban are going to have a say in that and there is going to have to be some diplomatic Back And Forth between the u. S. Government and the military and the taliban who are patrolling around the and. Neo stands for noncombatant evacuation order. General mark hertling. If i do give you one more acronym and that is one that most people dont know and that is dots. It is stands for depends on the situation. The situation is going to continue to change in this. Were in day four of this or day three or four of this right now. It is going to continue to evolve. There will be some good things and likely some bad things that will evolve out of this. General said similar last year. We have to watch how it develops. Thanks very much. Pleasure, jim. Thanks. Still to come this hour, were going to put a face to these numbers. Were going to be joined by a Army Translator desperate now to get his wife out of kabul. As we await a briefing at the pentagon and well bring that to you the moment it starts. Way for you to sell your car. Whether its a year old or a few years old. We wanna buy your car. So go to carvana and enter your License Plate Answer a few questions. And our Techno Wizardry calculates your Cars Value and gives you a real offer in seconds. When youre ready, well come to you, pay you on the spot and pick up your car, thats it. So ditch the old way of selling your car, and say hello to the new way at carvana. 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Police are now investigating a claim of an explosive device in a truck near the Congress'>Library Of Congress at the u. S. Capitol. Kpop police tweeted that they are responding, a source tells cnn that negotiators are being sent to negotiate with the man in the truck. Staffers have been asked to shelter in offices. Well bring you updates on this immediately as we get them. We certainly will. Well right now some Congressional democrats are pressing the White House for answers about what has turned out to be a very chaotic withdrawal from afghanistan. Theyre preparing to hold hearings on what all happened as soon as next week. Lets talk what with you know with Gerald Garamendi and has traveled to afghanistan multiple times and you see him here in 2019 and said that a 2011 trip to afghanistan solidified in his words his believe that there was no military victory to be had there. Thank you, Congressman, for joining me. Good morning. Good morning, poppy. Id like to begin with the president s interview. You stood firmly by him. You said hes made essentially in reading your statement all of the right calls. Id like you to respond to this exchange that he just had with George Stephanopoulos. You dont think this could have been handled better in any way . No mistakes . No. I dont think it would have been handled in a way that were going to go back in Hindsight And Look. But the idea that somehow there is a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, i dont how that happened. I dont know how that happens. Do you agree given the chaos that unfolded . Reports of 12 people killed trying to get to the airport. Did you agree there were no mistakes, meaning there is a lesson to be learned for america here . Well a moment ago, poppy, had you a general on that gave us all the most important acronym we could have and that is dos, d. O. S. , dependences on situation. We have a very rapidly evolving situation in afghanistan. While the intelligence said that, well, because the government could last for some days or some weeks or some years, the situation rapidly evolved where president ghani simply picked up and left and the government collapsed, disappeared. That is dos, depends on situation. So whatever the plan was before that, and there was a well laid out plan for the u. S. Military to withdraw, leaving some 2500 troops there and centered around the Kabul Airport. The reality is nobody expected a total collapse and immediate total collapse of the afghan government. Now what are we going to do from here and the president is quite correct with what he said, chaos ensued as people desperately tried to get out of town. But know, the instability in the Country And Part of the reason why the u. S. Has been there for 20 years backing up those troops, you have colleagues in Congress like republican senator tom cotton, an afghan War Veteran who said no one in their right mient would have closed bagram Air Base while leaving behind thousands of civilians. I understand there is a lot of Monday Morning quarterbacking, but i think we should learn from situations even as we develop and change. Does he have an important point . Should bagram have been closed seeing what has unfolded at the one remaining open airport there . With 2500 troops and 6,000 more in. But respectfully, now you have to send more in. Yes, that is correct. But if you want to keep Bagram Open, which is a very, very large base, youre going to have to have several thousand troops just to keep that one base open. The reality was that the american drawdown was underway. And that drawdown made it impossible to have Bagram Open. Now, the situation rapidly evolved and the president and the military are responding to the situation as it evolves. The collapse of the afghan government was not anticipated. And the afghan people less than a month ago, i was at a Luncheon Meeting with Ghani And Abdullah and both of them said that they did not want afghans to leave and that they were not going to make it easy for afghans to leave. That was the situation a month ago. Were now we now have a different situation. I understand that. And respect your point on that. But i do want you to respond to the counter points on it. Let me ask you about something that can change now. And this is the discussion we had with your democratic Congressman-seth'>Colleague Congressman Seth Moulton Yesterday and that is what we did for the afghans, that stood by our side, once again the president has not fully publicly committed to keeping american troops there past August 31st if all of the afghan allies and interpreters are not out. Listen to what Congressman-moulton'>Congressman Moulton is asking for from the biden administration. It is absolutely imperative, they must make that commitment and they must follow through. And this is a commitment ive been asking them to make for months now. When i told them to start the evacuation before we get to a point like this. Were the united states of america, if we could put a man on the the moon, we could figure out how to get people out of afghanistan. Do you agree that is an imperative commitment President Biden needs to make . Well, i suspect that he will in fact do that. But once again, he does not want to make an ironclad commitment right now to an unknown situation that will be facing him and america as well as the afghans at The End of this month. Hes made a commitment to keep troops there until all of the american citizens are removed and will do the best can. Now there is one more thing to keep in mind and that is his hands are tied by the laws. The Congress passed a piece of legislation that gave the authority to the president to bring into the united states afghan citizens and those who helped us. That bill is sitting in the u. S. They could unanimous consent put that on the the president s desk this morning and he would have full authority. He doesnt have that now. Were out of time. To clarify, that does not tie his hands with the ability to stay past the 31st Of August and to take them to a place like dohar, qatar where others are going right now. But i hear you on the legislation, Congressman. That is correct. That is correct. And that will evolve as we get closer to The End of the month and well see what the situation is. Okay. Thank you. Im sorry were pressed for time but do come back. Thats okay. Thank you. Thank you. Well a different story all week long. New yorkers have been enjoying a celebration of sorts for free Hiphop Con certainties and being dubbed home coming week. 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We are following Breaking News out of washington. The Nations Capitol right now, police have vesting a claim of a explosive device in a truck near the Congress'>Library Of Congress. They are taking this seriously. Congressional staffers have been asked to shelter in their offices. Lauren fox on Capitol Hill and were hearing that police are negotiating or sending negotiators to the man in the truck making the threat. What is latest. Reporter the latest that im hearing from sources that are on the side of Capitol Hill, theyre being asked near the Congress'>Library Of Congress to evacuate. An alert went out to the Cannon Office Building as well as the jefferson Office Building and i want to read you a piece of that alert. Basically telling individuals to go ahead and evacuate if theyre in cannon, saying that cannon, due to a suspicious vehicle located in the unot block of first Street Southeast occupants should remain calm and relocate to the long worth using tunnels, closed doors behind them but do not lock and proceed immediately to their designated assembly area. This showing the elevated risk up here on Capitol Hill with everybody taking this seriously and trying to instruct staff very clearly and pretty constantly i should say, i have had staff that are in the rooms telling me they are getting constant updates from capitol police. Thank you so much. Were taking you live to the pentagon now. The spokesperson for the Pentagon John Kirby about to brief an update on the vaccinations from afghanistan. Lets listen in. Good morning, everybody. It is good to be here to continue to give you an operational update. As you know, were getting into a rhythm here so ill continue to try to focus on key operational highlights, our focus and our priorities. Weve been writing detailed through the past 24 hour snapshots and ill provide the details with respect to a few areas today. Further, im prepared to give a cumulative update on the the total number of people evacuate from afghanistan so far. First, the u. S. Military Foot Print in kabul has now more than 5,200 total troops on the the ground. Kabul airport remains secure and open for flight operations. There is now multiple gates that have access for entry into the airfield which will help expedite processing in a safe and orderly manner. In the past 24 hours, 13 c17s arrived with additional troops and equipment. Also 12 c17s departed. The flights contain more than 2,000 passengers. The flights arrived at designated Safe Havens in the Cent Com Area of operation. Since the start of operations on august 14th, we have Airlift Add proximately 7,000 total evacuees. This increase is reflective of both a Ramp Up of Aircraft And Airlift capability, faster processing of evacuees an greater Information And Fidelity in reporting. If we go back to when the Department Of Defense began supporting the State Department with movement of sivs at The End of july, the cumulative number of people moved out of afghanistan is somewhere near 12,000. That number includes american citizens, u. S. Embassy personnel, individuals designated by the State Department as siv applicants and other evacuees in coordination with the State Department. Were ready to increase throughput and have scheduled Aircraft Departure as cordingly. We intend to maximize each planes capacity, were prioritizing people above all else. And were Feocused On Doing Thi as safely as possible with absolute urgency. We have not experienced any Security Incidents nor interference since my last update. We continue to recognize the inherent danger of operating in this environment but our Service Members in kabul remain agile, professional, and are postured to continue mission and to respond if required. On this topic, as we look at the last 24 hours, f18s from the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group Throughed Armed watch flights over kabul to ensure enhanced security. We maintain a watchful high and are continuously conducting indepth assessments to protect the safety of americans. Well use all of the tools in our arsenal to achieve this goal. I want to reinforce that we are absolutely focused on this mission of national importance. We are committed to the safe evacuation of as many people as quickly and as safely as possible. In haiti yesterday, eight united States Army helicopters, three ch47 chinooks and five blackhawks from South Com out of Honduras Repositioned To Launch Support Operations In support of haiti earthquake operations. Those assets have already started moving, Disaster Relieve personnel and supplies and supported Jtf Haiti Assessment of airfields and roads throughout the area. A ch 47 completed a partial move of about 60 of a Field Hospital had ch we believe the rest will be airlifted today. The u. S. Coast guard continues Life Saving missions and all of the helicopters are on airlift missions to ease the suffering and to get people and capabilities where they need to be. As you know, the Uss Arlington is now under way and expected to arrive later in week to provide additional lift and medical capabilities and serve as another resource for the people of haiti. Finally special tactics airmen assigned special Operations Wing are augmenting the Life Saving and humanitarian aid efforts in haiti and are responsible for conducting various airfield surveys to determine suitability for bringing in follow on humanitarian aid via airlift. Thank you very much. Just a couple of Schedule Items to go over. So, here in washington, Secretary Austin did have a Phone Conversation with his counterpart in bahrain. His royal Highness Prince Salman khalifa and Prime Minister and this afternoon the secretary will be welcoming his excellency, the state of Defense Affairs for the state of qatar here in the building. Well issue a read out for each of those events later today. And with that well start taking questions. I think, bob, youre on the phone. Yes, thank you, john. General taylor said that there 12 C17 Aircraft departed with evacyus over the last 24 hours which is a smaller number than the previous 24 hours, i believe. My question is regarding with the clock running down toward August 31st, does Secretary Austin believe it will be necessary to extend the deadline. I know that it is not his call. But has he recommended that the deadline of August 31st be extended . Bob, you heard the Secretary Yesterday say that were very focused on making sure that we get as many people out as possible and as fast as possible. And were working on that very diligently. As you heard The Generals update. And you also heard the president say that if he believes that there is a need to alter the timeline that he would revisit that at the appropriate time. What were Focus Ed on right no, bob, is head down, shoulder to the wheel trying to get as many people out as possible as quickly as possible and i think ill leave it at that. Tara. Thank you. To follow up on bobs question, since the president has left the door open to troops possibly staying past August 31st, has the admiral begun conversation with his taliban counterpart to make sure if troops stay they will not come under attack. Dont know that level of details what conversations the admiral is having with his counterpart out in town. Again, our focus right now, there has been no decision to change the deadline. And we are focused on doing everything we can inside of that deadline to move as many people out as possible. And if and when there is a decision to change that, then obviously that would require additional conversations with the taliban as well. But i dont believe that those conversations have happened at this point. And as a follow up on the low pass flights by the f18s, do they have authorization to fire if u. S. Troops or allies come under attack . These are not low pass flights. Theyre at altitude. As general briefed, their overwatch. And in this case The General believed f18 flights but there are other aircraft that The Generals have at their disposal to provide this kind of Over Ca watch. And they are not lo passes. And i would say as always we have the right to defend ourselves and our people and our operations. How many f18s are there and i guess were there a specific reason or see something that led to you move them or it is we have them or why not. Good question. Just going back, these were not low passes, these are providing Air Support and this is isnt anything new. As we know, the Ronald Reagan has been there providing support. Though seize f18s are flying more than just yesterday. These were continuously in Support And Part of the assets that i briefed early on that were always available to the Cent Com commander. So youve mentioned them today because just to give an update of specifically the type of capability that the commanders on ground continue to have to do just ensure that we provide that selfdefense and assets to commander. And there had been some reporting out there that there were low passes and that there was some sort of shows of force and i think we felt it was important for The General to provide some context about what is happening in the air and why and that is why we mentioned it today. I dont think youre going to get a daily update from us about every aircraft and every flight plan. But we felt that given the context of some of the eronus reporting out there yesterday, that we wanted to clear that up. Jen. John, are you receiving credible thet threats against u. S. Forces at the airport if you dont leave by a certain date that Al Qaeda or other groups will begin attacking the airport . Wont speak to intelligence assessments one way or another, jen. Force protection is a high priority. You heard that in The Generals opening comments as well. Were always evaluating the threat. It is not only a Day By day, but a hourbyhour thing. It is still a perilous environment and all i could tell you is that were going to do everything that we can to make sure that we could protect our force, protect the people that were trying to move on to the airport, and protect their movement out of kabul and as well as protect the entire operation at the air force. You heard the Secretary Talk about the need to defend the airport so it is something were looking at literally hourbyhour. And british paratroopers are leaving the airport going into kabul so rescue and evacuate some of their citizens who are trapped, cant get to the airport because of the taliban. Why isnt the u. S. Doing that . At this time, it is our main mission is to Sec Hkai to be processed at airfield. And how are you feeling your planes, the c17s that are going out. Are you now in a position that you have to buy fuel from the taliban . The assets on hkai are what we need to maintain the operations, all operations to support the mission. So that is a no, youre not buying fuel from the taliban . There is there is plenty of Fuel Sustainment Capability at Hamid Kaai and we have our ability to fuel our aircraft as needed. Courtney. Im still a little unclear about the f18s and why do you have armed f18s and you could explain more about what overwatch means, what they are doing or providing. Sure. Ill let The General talk to that. But sure. Um, the ability to provide close Air Support is something that needs to be immediate if they condition on the ground ever required that. So, as prudent military operations, we ensure there are always assets available so that the commander if required can ensure the time and space of reaction is as little as possible. So if you need to do Air Strikes over kabul. Were there to ensure that she could support the commander on the ground. And also you mentioned that there have been about 7,000 people taken out since the 14th. And your hoping to increase that or 12,000 total out since The End of july. How many more do you anticipate having to move . So as i said, the Military Capacity continues to be five to 9,000 a day and were ready to do that. And as mr. Kirby said, our increased interactions with department of state will allow that to as you see the ability to increase more flights aday. And kirby, could i ask you one quick one. Is there sany update about allowing afghans to get through the checkpoints and get there safely. There is no update. I think i heard the Secretary Talk about this yesterday. Were in communication with the local Taliban Commander about making sure that those atrisk afghans special Visa Applicants and additional afghan citizens that we want to move through are able to move through and it comes down a lot to the credentialing and making sure that they can prove and we could prove that these are appropriate people to move through. And we have indications this morning that that process is working. Im still confused about the f18s as well. First of all, this is the first time i recall you telling us of Overwatch Flights since u. S. Troops arrived. So are these the first armed flights over kabul since u. S. Troops arrived . No. No, and barb, you have to remember, before we began noncombatant evacuation operation, we had been in the midst of drawing down our forces. But im asking, im sorry im asking specifically since operations with u. S. Forces began at the airport. Since the noncombat ant evacuation. Since it began at the airport, are these the first armed over watch over kabul. They are not. And you say close Air Support. But to be clear, what you are saying is you are prepared now to conduct Air Strikes over kabul . Barbara, i wont talk about potential future operations so i do think it is important to level set here. Even throughout the Draw Droun we had over watch capabilities. Throughout the drawdown we have had over watch capabilities. The fact that were flying over watch now and have been since the 14th, we were doing it before the 14th as you would think we would. And to my previous answer, Force Protection is a high priority. And were going to have it at our disposal all of the assets and resources necessary to make sure that we could accomplish this mission safely and f efficiently. So this is a continuum. It is not something that is new. The reason we decided to talk about it today and i dont think youre going to expect to see us talking about it every day, but we felt it was important today given there had been some reporting out there that we were flying low passes over the city or some kind of shows of force. That is not what this is. This is just an added layer of Force Protection. This is the prudent thing to do. On your decision discussions with the taliban, now does the u. S. Military, does the Defense Department feel it would at least need taliban acquiescence if you were to stay beyond the 15th . Do you want, if not their agreement, at least their acquiescence to stay . I think it is just a fundamental fact of the reality of where we are that communications and a certain measure of agreement with the taliban on what were trying to accomplish has to continue to occur. And again, im not going to speculate past August 31st. I havent gotten to anybody on the the phone so if youll just forgive me. Carla bab. Thanks for doing this, john. Can you just briefly kind of update us on the policy of nationals trying to get into the airport for evacuation by other countries and ive mentioned what the brits were doing but we heard about the dutch plane that left without any afghan nationals. How exactly is that process being done and how are the u. S. Troops helping with that process . And then one other question quickly, if i may, there has been reports of Resittance Outside in the pasture and possibly in parron. Is there anything to do to stop the Afghan Troopsing to make a resistance and pull back. On your first question, we are and you heard the Secretary Talk about this yesterday, willing to support the movement, Safe Movement of citizens of our allies and partners. In fact, we have already done that and some of the numbers that The General briefed that got out of the country were obviously sis of other countries, allies and partners. So we are doing that. And well continue to do that. As far the exact process, im afraid im not qualified to speak to that. Thats a better question put to our State Colleagues in terms of how it works from a process perspective. Were in full support of that. But our main mission is security and safe operation of the airfield and continuing to get people out. On your second question, weve seen reports the same as you of potential pockets of resistance but our Military Mission in afghanistan right now is to conduct this noncombatant evacuation in a safe and orderly way and that is what were doing. Thank you. So you mentioned the Phone Call between the Secretary Today and his Counter Part that hes going to meet the Quartar Defense Minister later today. You could talk about the role these nations in general are playing in facilitating this operation and are they putting assets in this operation to evacuate some of the afghanis or u. S. Citizens . I think that those Nation States speak for themselves and what theyre doing. And as i said, well have a read out of both conversations later today. So i dont want to get ahead of that. But obviously both countries are key partners in the region. As you know, bahrain hosts the u. S. Fifth Fleet Headquarters and is a key partner and maritime partner in the Gulf Region and qatar as well and in many different ways. So were always, always interested in having good conversations with these key partners in the region. But i dont think im going to speak to specifics with respect to afghanistan. Ill let those Nation States speak for themselves. Thank you so much. Kelly meyer with next tar media group. There is any retaliation from afghans trying to reach the airport, that means that u. S. Troops have about protect them. Have any red lines been communicated to the taliban. Weve made it very clear to the taliban that any attack upon our people and our operations at the airport will be met with a forceful response. There has been, as The General noted in his opening statement, there has been no hostile interactions between the taliban and our forces or of american citizens getting through. Now we have seen reports of the taliban harassing and physically so some afghans that were trying to move to the airport. We are in constant communication with them as my answer to courtney indicated to make sure that the that they have the same visibility on the the people that we want to see get through as we do. And some of that has to do with a common Site Picture on the credentialing. And so those conversations continue. What about americans outside of the airport . No, i said, we havent seen any any hostile interactions between the taliban and our people and we certainly havent seen them impede or harass or obstruct the movement of american citizens from the environment into the airport. And obviously we want to see that continue. Two things. When general taylor, could you discuss the nonamerican flights going in and out of the airport, how many, and how many people have been evacuated and what countries are still seeking to take people out . And if you have a follow up on the taliban. Okay. Ill let The General take this. So what i would will say is that when we talk about all flights going in and out of Kabul Airport, are being synchronized and work through Cent Com, so that coordination is being done. So when i talk, as the numbers, we are starting to include those numbers of everybody that is leaving from other countries. I dont have the details right now of which countries left within the last 24. But all of those type of flights, anything coming in and out of ab yKabul Airport is bei controlled through Cent Com. And could we get any details of who later. And i have say follow up on the taliban. So, is there anything the taliban is, in this cooperation, is there anything they arent doing or anything the u. S. Is not happy with in terms of how they are involved in the Airport Operations and have they asked or demanded access to the airport . I have no requests or interest by Taliban Commanders to access the airport now. It is our understanding that they understand why were there and what were doing. And again, as the secretary said, weve been able to have that kind of communication with them. I wont detail every conversation that were having with the taliban. Again, i think it is important to let the results speak for themselves and as you and i are talking here today, we have an understanding and they are helping to facilitate Safe Passage for those that were trying to get into the airport. I think i just leave it at that. Let me go back to the phone. Hi, john, has united States Confidence in the ablts to carry out changed since the fall of kabul given the coordination between the Taliban And Pakistan whose Air Space the u. S. Needs to access . No. The short answer to your question, paul, is no. We still remain robust over the Counterterrorism Capability in the region and we will still have the Authority And Capability to use that Counterterrorism Capability should we need it. Megan. I just want to verify that the Evacuation Capacity has reached the 5,000 to 9,000 goal and i wanted to ask whether the limited factor is the State Departments ability to process or the ability of people to physically get inside of the airport as we understand theyre lined up outside. So lets talk first about the movement, the air capacity. It is set. And as i briefed a couple of times before, so that ability to air move up to 5,000 to 9,000 a day has been set and continues. As i think youve seen in the Reports Today of the increased numbers, we continue to see the ability to build those ready to fly on Kabul Airport to increase to allow us to fly those out. With the ability to continue obviously as mr. Kirby said, we want that to continue to increase as we continue to bring more people and more american citizens and sivs and those on to the airfield so that they could be processed and ready to fly. And have there been any requests from