Many people they are expecting to bring out of la fitte. Weve talked to a few of the vol volunteers, it turns out these are people who know someone that is stuck there. They have a fear that theyre in their attic, they havent been able to communicate with them overnight. All of those people trying to save lives. It is just remarkable. The Death Toll at this Point Stands at one confirmed dead. And this morning the louisiana interNational Guard has begun their Search And Rescue efforts. More than A Million customers in louisiana and mississippi are without lek risity. Customers that could be a House Hold and lot more people in one house than one person. The Power Company in louisiana say, quote, it will likely take d days do determine the extent of the damage to the grid. It was drown graded to a tropical this morning. But there is a threat because the storm is sitting there. It is crawling through parts of the state and dumping several inches of rain. The biggest hazard is Flash Flooding and rising waters and extreme danger due to Storm Surge and high winds and tornados. Governor John Bel edwards urging residents to stay where they are. Let the rescuers come to you. Lets begin with kirk le marine, the president of plaquemines parish, reporting a Levee Failure and told anyone to evacuate. It is good to have you on. Thank you. First, could you tell us what happened with this this levee broke and how many people that put in danger . It was a levee that we tried to connect from the levee to our back levee. It is a makeshift levee. We built i small bridge over the road for access for people. It breached Last Night. And around 11 00, midnight, so we had to round up some of our constituents that are in that who were left in that area. That is a mandatory evacuation area. So we had to get those people to high ground. We were able to seal it Last Night. We continue to work on it today. Dropping more sandbags. So we are now in the process of putting Air Boats out and getting the helicopter up to check out the levee and put up drones to assess what is going on. It is hard, i know, to assess. And i know youre in that process right now. Do you have any estimate, any sense of how many people may still be trapped in the waters in their homes and any sense . This area where the water is, is pretty desolate. Were pretty confident there is not a lot of people there. We know that people heeded our warning and got out. So we have not received one 911 Distress Call yet. So that is a promising that is a promising day. So, but, we dont know. And like i said, this is the time that we try to find out and make an assessment of how bad it really is. For sure. And listen, it is good to hear that people heeded those warnings because so often in the storms they dont. They say i want to stay home and protect my home. You have another challenge going on right now. That is the covid outbreak. And i wonder in shelters and so on, how dou you mitigate that spread as you try to keep people safe from the storm. We have a multipurpose center. It is 33,000 square feet. We sheltered people there during the covid time. Because we prepared for eight storms last year. So we were able to socially distance people. This year we have a point to Point Contact with West Monroe so we were able to move those people to West Monroe in a safe place. So that was five hours away from us. So we did have about 40 evacuees that we put on buses on saturday and got them to a safe place. Well, were showing pictures now as we speak to you of just how high the waters are, vehicles trapped and so on. Are you getting all of the help that you need now . It is a disaster area. That means a lot of federal aid. Do you have the resources to get to anybody who remains in danger . We have reached out to federal partners. They have been pretty good, our State Partners have been phenomenal. They have been great with resources. So, yes, look, everybody is spread thin. This is not just hit our parish, it hit many other parishes. I know resources are limited but they are helping a great deal. Well listen we know you still have a lot of work to do kirk le pine, Plaquemines President Parish and we wish you and the people the best of luck. Thank you. Cnns Nadia Romo on the ground in New Orleans where there is no power right now. Nadia, tell us the extent of the damage youre seeing there. Reporter yeah, there is damage all across the city. And you could see why. We dont have power. And why A Million people in louisiana are without power and the entire city of New Orleans without power. Take a look behind me. You could see this transformer that fell on top of this car during the storm. And i mean that speaks to the wrath of Hurricane Ida. At the height of the storm. Aptd it is a big reason why there is no power for anyone around here. We have people who were at home in this neighborhood at the time that this transformer fell over and the power went out. And they say theyre a tight Knit Community and they are still here and woke up bright and early and some never went to sleep because the pouter went out. The a. C. Went out and they needed to clean up. Were joined by judy and tron. You have a fun name for this neighborhood . Yeah, we actually, were in the Marinade Triangle and we call ourselves team toro. Were a tight knit family and we help each other an that is what we do. And when we driving through we saw all of your neighbors with their brooms out on their hands and Knees Pir picking u the debris. What was it like for you. There was a lot of wind. It doesnt get exciting until 6 00 when the Power Pole broke and we could hear the Glass Break from inside of the house and we looked out and that is when the power went out. And a lot of wind. A lot of wind. Reporter were you nervous. You decided to shelter in place. We did. Were you nervous when the storm came in . I wasnt nervous about the wind. I was more concerned about the rain. Because Roofs Leak and so inside of our house we have Water Damage and inside of our house. I know tron has Water Damage inside of his house. And were just going to pull together and do what we gotta do. Reporter you guys are pulling together. I know, tron, you told me your roof is open. It is exposed right now. What does it look like inside . You could see daylight from inside of the attic space. So on both sides of the house. We live in the same building, so reporter so it is a duplex. You left on the the left side and you live on the right side. So you sis tained some of the same damage. Yes, we did. Reporter and youve been through other storms, how would you compare Hurricane Ida to other storms youve lived there. Last year we had Zedda And Electricity was out for five days but it was nothing compared to this. The winds and gusts and shingles and debris flying everywhere. As long as we could, we were texting with neighbors to make sure everybody was okay. Nobody had anything broken into, do we need any help. That is what we did. So it was the gust of winds was the worst part of it all. Reporter and you didnt sleep Last Night because you were so worried. Tron, what do you do next and how do you pick up if you were without power for five days, how long do you think youll be without power this time in your cleanup effort. It seems like the power will be out for a while. There is a lot of Infrastructure Damage on the the Power Lines. Im not sure where but ive heard. We dont have a lot of news at the moment because Cell Phones are down and we have no communication. First thing we be to establish communication and let Everybody Know were safe and stuff. Reporter let Everybody Know that you are safe. You survived the storm. You at least have each other and your neighborhood. That is reekt right. Everything else could be replaced. Reporter thank you both for talking with us. And that is really what you see throughout New Orleans. People coming out and Picking Up The Pieces as a community, as a family together. Because they know that Emergency Response crews are on the the way but they are doing as much as they can now in the meantime. Jim. People doing their best to help each other out. Thank you very much. Well people in several states are feeling the impact of ida. Right now the storm is moving northward over southwestern mississippi. You could see there on the radar. And it is still having a dangerous risk to mississippi and alabama. Here is video this morning out of mobile. A causeway closed and completely flooded over. It gives you a sense of how high the Storm Surge. This is wpmi on the the scene. Reporter the water continues to rise. It was not like this this morning when we got here around 4 00 a. M. We are between baldwin and Mobile County on the the Causeway Right off this offramped. But the causeway is closed. They let us come down here to get some the shots. The eastbound lanes are flooded but those as extreme as the eastbound lanes. The Bay Lake continues to stay open but of causeway is closed and the Bank Head Tunnel closed yesterday around 7 00 p. M. No word on when the causeway or the tunnel will reopen. But just stay safe. Make sure that you turn around, dont drown. Because it doesnt seem like the Rain And Wind is going to stop any time soon. Risks still there. Still ahead this hour, a Breaking News Exclusive to cnn. Cnn is learning that the congressional committee investigating the January 6 Violent insurrection is now seeking to preserve the Phone Records of key republican lawmakers an the trump family, calls that day and leading up to it. Well have the detailsing up. Plus a series of rockets fired overnight in kabul toward the airport just as the final u. S. Troops are preparing to leave. Is isisk ready to move in. Were going to have an update ahead. All of that plus our live special coverage of the Devastation Left by ida continues just ahead. Today lets paint with behr Ultra Scuff defense®. So that you can live that scufffree life. Honey, im Home Honey Scuff defense. Right now, get incredible savings on select behr ultra® paints, starting at 29. 98 life is full of surprises when you least expect it. woman laughs and open. What happened to all your things . I know you needed a place to study, so. And other times, it pays off knowing what to expect. At university of phoenix, you can count on fixed, affordable tuition from the moment you enroll to the day you graduate from your program. Learn more about our Tuition Guarantee at phoenix. Edu your Shipping Manager left to find themself. leaving you lost. You need to hire. I need indeed. Indeed you do. Indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. 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Liberty, liberty, liberty, Liberty Louisiana State troopers tell cnn this morning theyre urging people to stay ahome while they work to clear roads across the strait. There are trees and Power Lines down. This is when the danger is. A lieutenant from the Louisiana State police joins us on the phone. Lieutenant, first tell me, how many people do you believe are in need right now of rescue. What are you seeing. Thanks for having us. We dont have a number on that right now. We have a lot of 911 Call Centers that are gone down and int mittently going down and those will be rerouted in the parishes and we have troopers and other Law Enforcement and personnel embedded in the eocs and theyre trying to get out. So right now we are seeing some people moving about. And were asking people to make sure they shelter in place and just stay put. Were getting a lot of messages an and inundated with people that have evacuate from this area and then also Family Members from other areas of the country. So we are seeing definitely some communication issues. So just please be patient. As soon as those communications come back up im sure your Loved Ones will get back in touch with you. But were asking people to stay Put And Shelter in place. A lot of downed Power Lines and downed trees and roads that are blocked and a lot of those wires that are down are live. Yeah. We know that after storms, a lot of times we see a number of injuries and deaths following the storms and all of those types of injuries and deaths are definitely preventible. So just please stay put and let us know if you need help and well try to get out there. You hear the stories so often. People think they could drive through a flooded road and the water is above and theyre wash add way. It is an important message. I wonder what the Communications Options are if Cell Towers are down and that Mareans Wifi is down. And as theyre staying put, what do people do and how do they get their messages out . Well, i mean, were going through you guys. I think it is one of the most important things for us to do and that is what were trying to do, to get that message out. I know our social media, were posting on there and im in the Baton Rouge Area at the moment and we have intermittent capabilities on wifi and even through our Email System and things like that. So were working as best we can. There is multiple different Cell Providers that are down right now. So even when on a Troop Level to communicate with them, it is through specific cell sites and Cell Providers. Understood. Well, we appreciate the work youre doing. Folks, please listen to the lieutenant and stay put and dont take Matter News your own hands. It is dangerous out there into this morning officials in st. Tammany parish are warning people not to get out and similar message saying if you are planning on sightseeing, dont. You would be amazed. Some people do it. They want to take pictures. Joining us now slidell, louisiana mayor greg comber. Good to have you on. I understand your emergency crews, theyve been doing some rescues. Tell us what theyve seen . Good morning, jim. We have it was a long night Last Night and i finally got off the streets about 12 30. Everything looked fairly decent. Some trees and some Power Lines down. And i went to sleep, i guess on the the couch about 2 00 and 4 00 my Police Chief came in and turned the light on and said you need to get up. We have water in every neighborhood in town. In about a three hour period, we had probably five to six Foot Rise in the bayou and the Lake Estuary System that pushed water into a number of peoples homes on the South Side of our community. And we had to deploy boats at 4 00 this morning and do water rescues. We took about 15 people off their roofs of their homes. Within three to four hours the water was starting to recede and we had to pull the boats out because we would have been stranded and now were in with high water vehicles an taking people out of the neighborhood on the lower side of town. The images of people rescued from rooftops makes you think of katrina and that is how a lot of lives were lost in that storm. And now the water in your area seem to be receding . In the bayou area, yes, sir. But we dont think that is the height of it yet. We were talking to the Mayor President La Pine a minute ago. Hes on the the West End of lake pontchartrain. As this storm goes north and the winds shift out of the southeasterly direction, to a southwesterly direction, it will start taking and pushing all of the water that is in the lake and it begins to stack up on our side, our end of the lake and well see another rise in water again. We think this afternoon. Wow, that is good to keep in mind. Folks might think that the danger is passed, but youre saying it could get worse once again. I wonder, with Power Lines down, as well as a lot of Cell Towers down and so on, how are you finding people . How are you getting in touch with people . Or are you just out there looking . Sporadically people have been able to get through on the the 911 system. That is been up and down all evening and into this morning. Ive been receive texts quite a bit. But i find that i cant respond. Ill get a Phone Call and i could hear a voice but when i speak, they cant hear me. So our service is very sporadic right now. Weve had some people that walked out of these neighborhoods that waded out waist deep in Police Officers and flagged Police Officers down and told us what was going on and we were able to get in there and find these folks. But it is a long morning for our first responders, our Police Officers and some of our firemen. Final question, people like to take Matter News their own hands and like to take snaps of the Storm Damage and so on. Im going to give you a platform here to speak to folks now about what to do and what not to do. Look, weve already got people in our community, were very resilient. People are out picking up limbs and debris and taking i saw a couple of gentlemen with Chainsaws On Roofs of their homes, and cleaning up and taking trees off their properties. That is fine. That is all good and fine and dandy. But stay off the streets right now. We still have teams that are out assessing damage for Power Outages and the electric company and the gas company, finding broken lines from where trees have been uprooted and broken lines. We need to stay out of those folks way right now so they could assess the damage and get in here tomorrow and start cleaning up. That is something that we could probably have our Electric Grid back up within three to five days which would be much quicker than the two weeks it took during and after katrina. So take care of yourself, take care of your property and stay close to home, dont venture out into the streets. Give us a day or two to catch our breath and get our feet under us. Mayor of slidell, louisiana, thank you very much. And best of luck to you. Thank you, jim. Well the deadline is coming for all u. S. Troops to Leave Afghanistan. By tomorrow. What happens once their gone, what is the danger . Were discuss with someone who knows next. But first here is what else to watch for today. upbeat music [announcer] introducing the grubhub guarantee, our promise to deliver your order on time within the Delivery Window and for the lowest price compared to other apps, or youll get back at least 5 in perks. Frequent heartburn . Not anymore. 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Check it out pressure created by whats in your air makes the bottle spray. Which means Freshness Everyone will love. Tech every customer has their own safelite story. This couple was on a camping trip. When their windshield got a chip. They drove to safelite for a sameday repair. And with their insurance, it was no cost to them. Woman really . Tech thats service you can trust. Singers safelite repair, safelite replace. In minutes the pentagon will brief reporters there at the pentagon on the latest from afghanistan. This is as we saw images overnight of a Rocket Attack targeting Kabul Airport. A sign of the danger there. Cnn obtained video showing the burned out car that was apparently used as a rocket launcher. U. S. Officials tell cnn at least five rockets were fired at the airport. They were intercepted by a u. S. Antirocket system. Im joined by Arian Cherif from the afghan national security council. Good to have you on this morning. Hi, jim, good to be here, thank you. I want to begin with something that weve heard a lot from the biden administration about how theyve been working with the taliban on security around the airport. Theyre discussing with the taliban plans for evacuations following the u. S. Withdrawal. Can you the u. S. Trust the talibans word on any of this given your experience with the taliban . I mean, it is difficult to say, really. I mean, the taliban has been signaling a lot of positive things to the world, to the afghan people. But i think the actual ultimate test of what theyre saying and what theyre promising is very near, it is very close. As soon as the u. S. Forces completely withdraw, well actually see the real actions and see what theyre going to do. But i think it is also important to, trust aside, i think it is important for the united states to clearly communicate to the taliban right now that they cannot go around shooting and persecuting people just randomly. I think the united States Government still has quite a lot of leverage left with the taliban because what im hearing is one of the main things that the taliban are concerned with is the potential lack of Fund And Support from the created to them that individuals addressed should not and cannot be persecuted. There are reports already though of exactly the kind of attacks youre saying the u. S. Should be warning against and preventing. Stories of for instance a wellknown Comedian And Entertainer kidnapped and killed. Ive heard from afghans who worked for the u. S. Government or military in some ways about the taliban coming to their house every day looking for them. So my question is, does the u. S. Have real leverage with the taliban . Do they actually listen to those kind of demands . I mean, the thing is, one is sort of Ad Hoc Activity that have been happening over the past two months as taliban were advanced through the cities across the country. They have persecuted people. They have killed people. What im really worried about is more of a systematic approach. And that systematic approach, we saw it in the past at various times. That is what im afraid of. And i think with the leverage that i talked about, i think the united States Government can at least prevent that systematic approach. Beside that, i think it is important to continue the evacuation in a different way. To face what theyre talking about. At least providing and making it apologies. Hold that thought. Pentagon briefing starting. Lets listen in. Conducted an over the Horizon Air Strike on a vehicle known to be an imminent strike threat. Successfully hit the target near Kabul Airport. Significant secondary explosions from the targeted vehicle indicated that the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material. We are aware of reports of Civilian Casualties an we take these reports very seriously. And we are continuing to assess the situation. Separately, at approximately 11 00 p. M. , Eastern Time Last Night, as many saz five rockets were fired at the Kabul Airport. U. S. Military forces successfully employed our Force Protection measures to thwart that attack. U. S. Forces retained the inherent right of Self Defense and are authorized to meet threats with a swift and forceful response. Force protection is paramount in this phase of the operation. Over the weekend, and in today, Evacuation Operations continue. Yesterday 26 u. S. Military aircraft all c17s departed with approximately 1,200 evacuees. In total, there were 28 flights out of Kabul Airport in the last 24 hours which included the remaining coalition departures. As of today, more than 122,000, including 5,400 americans, have been evacuated from afghanistan. U. S. Military troops have shown tremendous Bravery And Compassion as they put themselves in Harms Way to evacuate as many american citizens and afghans as possible during this operation. That work by u. S. Service members continues across the globe at a number of intermediate stages and d. O. D. Instillizations in Cent Com, 28,000 passengers await follow on movement from six active locations. In ucom, three active locations have more than 22,000 passengers and today 17 flights will transport about 3,700 passengers to both Dulles International Airport with approximately 11 flights and Philadelphia International Airport with six flights. In North Com, there are nearly 13,000 passengers that remain at five different u. S. Installations. These numbers are a snapshot in time and movement of personnel is very fluid. We did not expect these Passenger Totals to match the total number of evacuees from afghanistan nor will they match the total afghan as riving to the united states. The mission of the Evacuation Operation was to help as many people as possible Leave Afghanistan. Some of these evacuees include american citizens, third country nationals or afghans whose credentials permitted them to other wise depart without processing at a military installation. Military Civilian And Contract personnel continue to work closely with both government and nongovernmental agencies to provide additional capabilities for families as they continue their transition. While operations in afghanistan will conclude soon, the d. O. D. Efforts to support the Inner Agency is ongoing. Additionally, the department of defense continues to support humanitarian relief operations and in response to national disasters here closer to home. In haiti, the u. S. Military assets have flown 560 sorties, providing rapid logistical and Airlift Support including delivery of more than 348,000 pounds of aid. On the the gulf coast, with Hurricane Ida, North Com as of this morning in coordination with fema and National Guard has activated 5200 personnel in louisiana, mississippi, texas and alabama in response to the hurricane. They bring a variety of assets including high water vehicles, Rotary Lift and other Transportation Capability to support recovery efforts. The u. S. Army corp of engineers is operational in New Orleans and assessing the storms impact. D. O. D. Stands ready to assess as requested by fema. Thank you. Okay. Dont have anything to add so were go to questions. Lena. General, one quick follow up and then a question. The did they strike and hit all of the five rockets or did some land in areas where there is no casualties . So we could assess the reporting from Last Nights Rocket Attack, we assessed that five rockets were in the air and went, three landed off the airfield, were no Effect And Cram was able to effect and thwart the attack of one of the other Rockets Landing with no effect to the mission or any danger to our personnel. And then secondly, on evacuees, are does the u. S. And the u. S. Military assess that the number of americans still in the country are only the ones that no longer want to leave or the ones who want to leave, are they largely out now and it is our understanding that the evacuation of afghans is largely complete also. So are you now solely concentrating on just getting u. S. Troops out and equipment . So just go to go back, total, 122,000 were evacuated. Approximately 5,400 americans. We continue to have the capability to evacuate and fly out those until the very end. But as you talk about active peace, well continue to work with Department Of State on that and continue evacuation in Military Operations. But are you ill refer you to the State Department on the the numbers of americans that are still in contact with. That is something for them to speak to. Tara. You could both speak to the continuing Rocket Threat to the final planes that are leaving and the role of the cram is playing. Will the cram be left behind or since it is so vital to protecting the planes, is there leaving and what will happen to the cram after it goes. We certainly assess that there is a there is still an active threat in various ways that we have to be prepared for. And whatly tell you without getting into the specific systems and theyre availability, which i think you could understand why we wont, we continue to have and will maintain the capability to protect ourselves and defend ourselves as we continue to complete the retrograde. And i think that is probably the best place to put it. One follow up if i may. A number of us have gotten reports from american citizens or vulnerable afghans still on the ground and [ no audio ] for those that are left behind. Will there be any sort of Military Operation to help get them out of the country . I think you heard Secretary Blinken Talk about this. That for americans and other individuals that want to be able to Leave Afghanistan after our withdrawal is complete, that the State Department is going to continue to work across many different levers to facilitate that transportation. And as i said earlier, right now we do not anticipate a Military Role in that effort. Jen. John, general taylor, you just said that one rocket landed with no effect to the mission. You mean it landed inside of the Airport Perimeter . But it did not affect the mission. It landed inside of the perimeter and had no effect whatsoever. And these isisk fighters or planners that you have targeted with Drone Strikes in the last few days, are any of them, were they released from the Bagram Prison or from the prison, were they known Combat Ants inside of those prisons. I dont think we have that information. If 5800 americans were left in afghanistan when you pulled out of bagram at The End of july, why did the u. S. Military not begin evacuations of americans before pulling out of the country . Jen, we talked about this quite some time ago. Im happy to revisit it. We were already baked into the retrograde Plan Way back in the spring was the possibility for noncombatant evacuations and helping people get out and we were in constant conversations with the ghani government as well as our colleagues across the Inner Agency about what that would look like and when would be the right time to do that. And in anticipation of it, well before the capital started toppling in august, they propositioned forces to the degree of taking an entire marine battalion off of The Uss Iwo Jima so they would be ready. So this is something that weve been planning for and preparing for. Time is the timing is very delicate. But you were stopped by the State Department to begin their evacuations. I wouldnt say that. And i dont think it is important to get into intern deliberations. We were obviously still in close contact with the ghani government which was still he was still president of the country. And you have to have you have to be able to have those conversations too because our expectation was that the ghani government would stay in place. Nobody could have imagined how quickly that government would have literally just dissipated, almost overnight. There was simply flo way to predict that. I have questions on the gates. Are any of the gates still open and are any of the Gates Under Taliban control. I think right now as we get into the this is always a dangerous operation. But were in a particularly dangerous time right now. I think you could understand. That were not going to be detailing the status of any particular gate right now. As the general said, we still have the ability and the capability to conduct Evacuation Operations even while we are completing and working to complete the retrograde of u. S. Forces. Quick follow up. Youve now two incidents, one on thursday and one on sunday where there may have been some casualties or reports of it. Beyond investigating it, do you have any indications that those reports may be accurate . We are in not in a position to dispute it right now. And as the general said, were assessing and investigating. Look, make no mistake, no military on the the face of earth works harder to avoid Civilian Casualties than the united states military. And nobody wants to see innocent life taken. We take it very, very seriously. And when we know that we have caused innocent life to be lost in the conduct of our operations, were transparent about it. Were investigating this. Im not going to get ahead of it. But if we have significant verifiable information that we did take innocent life here, then we will be transparent about that, too. Nobody wants to see that happen. But you know what else we didnt want to see happen. We didnt want to see happen what we believe to be a very real, a very specific and a very imminent threat to the Hamid Karzai International Airport and to our troops operating at the airport as well as civilians around it and in it and that is another thing that we were very concerned about. David. The president had said that the likelihood of an attack within the next 24 to 36 hours was highly likely. He had been told that by his military commanders, and after that there was the strike on this vehicle. After that strike, is another attack still considered highly likely . We are operating under the assumption that we need to be prepared for future potential threats. And as the general detailed for you in his opening statement, there was, in fact, after we took this Air Strike against this vehicle, there were Rocket Attacks. Indirect fire Rocket Attacks on the the airport. So the Threat Steam is still real and it is still active and in some cases it still specific and well take it very seriously and we will right up to The End. You didnt specifically answer the question about whether the taliban you said you werent going to talk about who was at what gate. But are the taliban on the airport . Not to my knowledge, they are not. No. Thank you. I have a few today. Sorry. You mentioned 122,000 have been evacuated. How many of those are sivs and their families . I dont have a good breakdown of how many in the 122,000 are sivs and their families. That is a better question for the State Department. We know that roughly 5,400 of the 122,000 are american citizens. And the vast majority are afghan and i just dont have a break down of that. Well, our reporting is saying that there are about 7,000 of the 88,000 so that leaves more than 80,000 sivs and their Family Members left behind. Does the pentagon see that as a success, leaving 80,000 people, sieves who worked alongside our troops behind. I cant verify that number, the math you just gave me and i cant tell you the break down now between the more than 100 and 112,000 afghans that we were able to evacuate in less than a couple of weeks. I cant give you the break down right now. I honestly cant. And what i would tell you is that obviously we wanted to get as many people out as we could. And in the course of a very short order of time, 122,000, the largest airlift that the u. S. Military has conducted, got 122,000 people to safety. Now, there will be a time when this is complete that the State Department can do the Math And Figure this out. But i think were all focused right now on continuing the mission that the general described us doing and making sure that right up knoll The End that we could get people out safely, including evacuees. And then secondly, we have sources that say marines guarding the Airport Allowed Relatives an extended Family Members of Kabul Embassy local staff, despite having not having documentation, but spouses and children of afghans who Hold American Citizenship were turned away there some cases. Have you heard this as well and can you confirm this. I have not heard those reports and i cannot verify them. I will tell you that, without speaking to these reports, the Mari Marines and the soldiers that for the last couple of weeks have been helping Counselor Officers man the gates and process them did heroic work. And they had to make decisions in realtime about trying to help people get out. And the numbers speak for themselves. 122,000 plus is that is significant. And a lot lives were saved and a lot of lives are now in a better place and theyre going to have opportunities they cant have had before Thank Ys to the troo at these very dangerous gates. Beijing has come out in a new South Kline Sea policy which forces people to selfidentify while approaching the maritime territories, this policy goes into effect on wednesday. Does d. O. D. Plan on following that policy. I havent seep this report so im not going to take it from the report. Ly take the question back and try to get you a better answer. But youre getting a statement from the chinese that i have not seen and im not going to speculate at this time. Thank you. There is a question that many afghans ask me to want me to ask you. They said why president biden not warning the taliban that there is any citizens or afghan allies are killed [ no audio ] thanks for the question. I think the president has been very clear that what our expectations are, once this retrograde is complete with respect to the Safety And Security of american citizens. I mean, i think weve been very clear about that. And as you heard Secretary Blinken say, were going to continue to pursue a variety of means to help those americans who want to get out after we are gone, get out. You talked about flighting heading to dulles and philly. You could give us a sense of how many people are on the the flights an the break down of afghans and u. S. . I cant give you the by manifest. Ballpark. So, what we think is of today 17 flights, 3,700. The majority of those are afghans. Now, as priority at these lilly pads that are done immediately to get the american citizens there first and then other Green Card holders and the majority of the flights, of those 17, are afghans. I understand congressional people are being briefed that youre starting to destroy ammunitions as well as equipment. You could give us a sense of that effort. At kabul . Yeah. You know, what i go back to is commanders on the ground retain that authority. And the capability to remove or destroy equipment and weapons to ensure that those dont fall into the hands of anybody else. Are we going to get an accounting of what has been destroyed . Say blackhawks or other acquisition. I think when the time is right well be able to help better flush that out. Time is not right for that right now, tom. Two quick questions. If i may. On the the strike against the vehicle, the Central Command talks about secondary explosions in that. But do you have visual evidence that there were secondary explosions and are you convinced that there were because that is a potential Contributing Factors to Civilian Casualties. So are you are you certain there were secondary explosions . Yes. I have just a follow up. You could say how youre sure . No. My other question is this. As we come down to the final hours, what advice or thoughts for american Passport Holders or Green Card holders Wouldho Migh trying to get to the airport and get through, is there still time for them . There is still time. And the State Department is in touch, we know, with additional american citizens. Again, given the tense Security Environment that were dealing with, i think im just going to, i think it is would be better not to talk about it much more than that. But they are in contact. Flights will continue tomorrow on the 31st. Im not going to get ahead of the actual operational Schedule C , courtney. Im not going to do that. And more on the continuing strike from isisk. After the u. S. Is out on the 31st, will you coordinate with the taliban or give them notice if you plan to conduct more strikes against isis. I think dont it is useful to get into hypothetical future operations one way or the other. The only thing i would tell you is that the president has made it clear that well maintain over the horizon capabilities, the kind of capabilities used in the last 24, 36 hours and well have the ability to act in ways that are in keeping with our national Security Interest and help prevent attacks on the homeland. We still have that capability. We will use that capability. What is not hypothetical is the fact that the u. S. Military has been Corridor Nafti coordinating on the the ground. If you are going to continue coordinating with them in this case against isisk is a hypothetical. Will you continue to coordinate with the taliban after August 31st. I beg to differ. I think your question is entirely hypothetical but something that is entirely different than what weve been coordinating over the last two weeks which is to help us get as many people on to that airport as possible. I do appreciate the sense of the question, im not trying to mock it. It is just that i dont think it is helpful for us to talk about what over the Horizon Counterterrorism Capability is going to look like going forward and how were going to execute it. We have the capability. We demonstrated that over the last couple of days in strikes that were not coordinated with the taliban and we have that ability to go forward. And then does the u. S. Does the pentagon or Cent Com or whoever it would be have the authority to continue to conduct strikes against isisk after August 31st or do those decisions have to go to the president on Casebycase Basis . The commander on the ground has the authorities he needs ri right. Im not going to talk about authority going forward. I know what youre asking, specific Approval Authority for each and every strike. I wont talk about Policy Decisions going forward. Except to say that the entire Inner Agency, certainly the entire Military Chain of command understands the existence of this threat and the possibility of this threat to continue to exist over time and we have the capability to deal with it. In talking to follow up on the contacts with taliban, have there been contacts with the taliban about the u. S. Withdrawal that is taking place right now and over the coming days to ensure that there are no misinterpretations of what is going on. The short answer to your question is yes. Without getting into detail, our commanders on the ground remain in communication with taliban leaders around the airfield to [ no audio ] over the weekend on the Car Bomb and the suspects and the u. S. Said that initially, the initial assessment was there were no Civilian Casualties. On what basis does the u. S. Make that statement. Were asession and we have no indications at this time of Civilian Casualties. If i remember the statement exactly. And that was true when it was said. We also put in there or the Cent Come put in there that we are assessing. And we continue to assess. On what basis in the over the Horizon Capability are you making assessments on Civilian Casualties, how is that being done . Because were certainly, were looking at a variety of means of information and were obviously collecting open Press Reporting and that would include discussions with the taliban about what they might be seeing. Can i get more clarity on why we cant get the names of the isisk suspects that were hit on thursday. Im having a hard time understanding. They were described as planners and facilitator and the president said we can hunt you down, why cant we know who the who is. That is not the time now. Were still dealing with as we saw from Last Nights Rocket Attacks very real ongoing threats and i think were doing what we believe to be the Prude Ents thing with respect to the release of information. Were giving you as much information in as close to realtime as we can but we cant give you everything. We talked about that a couple of days ago when we talked about the retrograde beginning that there was going to be a more judicious approach about information release. There will come a time when they we could be more forthcoming. Now is not that time. Let me go to the phones here. Alex horton. Okay. Well come back to you, alex. Jeff shogle. Thank you. I have a question and it is difficult but i hope you could entertain it. According to politico, the u. S. New knew knew when it would take place on thursday and when it could take place. Why were there u. S. Troops at that gate at that time . Jeff, what i could tell you is that we have been monitoring as closely as we can intelligence that led us to believe that we are in a very design dynamic environment. And number one. And number two. As general mckenzie said, were going to investigate and get to the blottom of what happened lat thursday. 13 precious lives were lost. Were going to take that seriously and were not going to investigate it in public. Number three, im actually absolutely not going to speak to a Press Story that was informed by the unlawful disclosure of Classified Information and sensitive deliberations here at the pentagon. Just not going to do it. John, given this strike, this drone strike