After hurricane katrina. And hospitals across the south are now running out of oxygen as people who still are not vaccinated Push Icus to the limits. Welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper. And we begin this hour with Breaking News in our World Lead hours before the u. S. Is due to leave afghanistan completely, there are still some 250 American Citizens in the country who want to leave and have not been able to. That is according to a senior State Department Official. The 20yearlong War In Afghanistan, americas longest war, does appear almost over. It is now August 31st In Kabul, and the massive Evacuation Operation is coming to a close. The pentagon claims that the u. S. Has evacuated or aided in the evacuation of more than 116,000 people from afghanistan since august 14th. A huge number. But the danger there remains very real. The u. S. Carried out a Drone Strike In Kabul to eliminate an imminent threat believed to be a suicide bomber. The strike inadvertently killed as many as ten afghan civilians, including six children. The pentagon suggested that the Civilian Casualties are because of secondary blasts because of explosives in the terrorists car. They say they will investigate the matter. Overnight five rockets were fired at the airport In Kabul. Only one made it inside the perimeter. It caused no damage, were told. Isisk has claimed responsibility. We are told there have been no casualties there. The pentagon says the Threat Stream is still real and still active. They say the State Depd is in touch with the americans who are still trying to get out. Cnns Alex Marquardt joins us now. What do we know about the americans who may not make it out before the deadline. Reporter the State Department says they have been in touch with those americans. There are fewer than 250 americans who remain who have expressed some sort of desire to get out. But, jake, thats the same figure that we heard yesterday. So very few have gotten out in the past 24 hours. Now on top of that, there are some 280 americans believed to still be in the country who have not said that they want to leave. That could be for a number of reasons. They may be dual citizens or may have extended families who they want to stay with. But i asked the senior State Department Official if this means americans will be left behind after the u. S. Military and diplomatic presence is gone, and the response was that the military is doing all it can while it still has time to get those americans out. All told, jake, some 6,000 americans have made their way out, whether its on those Evacuation Flights or otherwise like landborders into neighboring countries. That is just a small fraction of the around 120,000 people who have been evacuated. The vast majority of whom are afghans. On top of the americans, of course, weve been talking about those socalled sivs, the special Immigrant Visa either holders or applicants. There is no specific number the State Department says of those people who are left in afghanistan. And then of course there are many, many more who are trying to apply for some sort of Refugee Status who are in danger who will almost certainly be left behind after the u. S. Departs. Now, the State Department and the biden administration have been clear. They say that these efforts to get these people out will not end with the american presence. And we expect Secretary Of State Tony Blinken to address that when he speaks around 5 00 p. M. Eastern time. But what that mechanism will look like for those consular services for an embassy that will no longer be in the country, that remains very much to be seen, jake. All right, Alex Marquardt, thank you so much. The pentagon warned today that this moment is particularly dangerous in afghanistan, this as isisk claims responsibility for an attempted Rocket Attack on the airport In Kabul, as cnns Sam Kiley reports for us now, the u. S. Is promising to meet those threats with force. Reporter the charred remains of the car used as an improvised Rocket Launcher on an attack On Kabul international airport, likely by isisk. A u. S. Defense system intercepted the rockets before they could make impact. And its all in the final hours of the Mass Withdrawal of u. S. Troops. But deaths are still mounting up as the clock ticks down on americas longest war. Ten members of the same family were killed in an earlier u. S. Drone strike against an alleged Isisk Terror Team posing an imminent threat to the airport. Six of them were children. The pentagon saying that there were significant secondary explosions, indicating a substantial amount of explosives in a Vehicle Hit by the drone. We are aware of reports of Civilian Casualties, and we take these reports very seriously. And we are continuing to assess the situation. Reporter just hours left ahead of a deadline to be out by midnight tuesday, evacuations totaling over 122,000 are drastically down to 1,200 in the last 24 hours, as the u. S. Effort focuses on military withdrawal. The taliban for 20 years a Military Force now must figure out how to govern. In central kabul, the economy has ground to a halt, and afghans are struggling to withdraw money from banks. Translator we call on the taliban to announce its government as soon as possible. The situation in afghanistan is very bad. Everyone is confused and goes to the borders to leave the country. Everyone is speechless, and i dont know what the future of the country will be. Reporter the taliban pledged this weekend that even after the coalition is gone, anyone with a passport will be able to leave the country, and the u. N. Says more than half A Million afghans have been displaced this year alone, and warns of a Mass Movement of refugees out of the country by land. That desire to leave is unlikely to wane even with the promises of moderation from the taliban leaders. For now, like the u. S. , the taliban focus is on Airport Security and protecting their former enemies from more radical isisk insurgents so that the bloody cycle of war doesnt carry on into the last day of this conflict. Now, jake, there is also now reports coming in from north of kabul of the sort of cycle of repression that has driven so many afghans to want to leave the country with the reported murder of a famous folk singer. He allegedly was dragged from his home and shot by some taliban fighters. The taliban has said that it will investigate and punish those responsible if they find them. Jake . All right, Sam Kiley, thank you so much. Joining us live from the region, cnn Chief International correspondent clarissa ward. Clarissa, obviously the taliban has been a terrorist and Military Force for 20 years. Now they need to govern. Now they need to protect and provide services for 39 Million people. Does the taliban have the capability to do that . Do they have the capability to thwart terrorist groups such as isisk . Reporter well, i think the taliban, jake, is really getting a sense now of just what theyre up against, because, as you mentioned, its a completely different thing to be an insurgency than it is to be governing. Ill never forget general David Petraeus saying they have to be right once, we have to be right all the time. And now its the taliban that has to be right all the time. Cnn has spoken to a taliban source who said that their primary concern right now is that isisk militants are basically melting into the taliban, pretending to be the taliban. And its incredibly difficult for the taliban to know who is indeed part of their own Fighting Force and who may be militant jihadist elements from isisk. That poses a real threat and a real danger, because as our viewers may not understand, there are so many different taliban fighters from so many different parts of the country under different command who have all descended On Kabul to try to provide security there. So if isis militants can sort of adapt the same dress and the same mannerisms and claim to be from a different part of the country, its actually very easy for them to go about the city with impunity. So, there are real concerns now that the taliban is going to face an uphill battle in trying to provide sustained security when isisk is able to masquerade as them and is intent on causing them as much Embarrassment And Pain and punishment as possible. Is there any chance that the taliban will ultimately end up giving Safe Haven to isisk . Could we be facing a situation in which the taliban partners with both the united states in one Way And Isisk in a different way . Reporter you know, thats a really interesting prospect. And when we interviewed the Isisk Commander who we spoke to about two weeks before the attack, two days before kabul fell to the taliban, he talked to us about the fact that the group had a sort of De Facto deal in place with the government at that time, whereby they agreed to lay low and stay below the radar. And in turn the government agreed for them to have their little fiefdoms. So there is no question that there are dirty deals to create some sort of not peace but at least stability. At this point the taliban is very much intent on saying that isisk is an absolute enemy, they understand that the whole premise of the withdrawal was predicated on the idea that afghanistan could never again become Safe Haven for terrorists. So they dont want to see that happen again, at least publicly. But if isisk continues to launch these types of attacks and project more strength, then its certainly not inconceivable that in some ththe future some a deal would have to be made. Clarissa ward, thank you so much. Will we have eyes on potential Terror Threats after the u. S. Leaves afghanistan . Will the u. S. Have eyes . Well talk about that next. And shocking images showing the power of Hurricane Ida. Search and rescues underway right now as the government warns the Death Toll could shoot up. Stay with us. But we can help get rid of the spots that your acne left behind. Differin dark spot correcting serum has clinically proven dark spot fading power you can get without a prescription. Do things differin. In 2016, i was working at the Amazon Warehouse when my brother passed away. And a couple of years later, my mother passed away. After taking care of them, i knew that i really wanted to become a nurse. Amazon helped me with training and tuition. Today, im a medical assistant and im studying to become a registered nurse. In filipino youll always be in my heart. Finding new routes to reach your customers, and new ways for them to reach you. Is what business is all about. Its what the United States Postal Service has always been about. So as your business changes, were changing with it. With ecommerce that runs at the speed of now. Next Day And Twoday shipping nationwide. Same Day Shipping across town. Returns right from the doorstep, and deliveries seven days a week. Its a whole New World out there. Lets not keep it waiting. This is tmobile, americas leading 5g network. This is Apple Tv . And now only tmobile gives new and existing customers one year of Apple Tv on us. Thats a year of apple originals like Ted Lasso and the morning show. So more people can watch them all in more places with 5g on the largest 5g network. Apple tv on us and americas leading 5g network. Only at tmobile. Its an important time to save. With priceline, you can get up to 60 off amazing hotels. And when you get a big deal. You feel like a big deal. Priceline. Every trip is a big deal. In our World Lead, were back with the Breaking News. The u. S. Has officially hit the August 31st deadline set by the biden administration for withdrawal from afghanistan because it is August 31st in afghanistan right now. So in less than one Hour Secretary of state Antony Blinken will make remarks will the current state of operations. Lets discuss with my panel. General, let me start with you. What is your take on the u. S. Withdrawal, especially this last 24hour Period . Well, you know, jake, i make this analogous to that guy whos going to improve your kitchen floor. Hes going to lay down the wood and hes going to stain it. And where does he depart . He makes thing everythings done. Thats essentially what we have on the airport. Whats different here is that the united states will leave behind, i would guess, unacknowledged capabilities on the ground, Special Ops capabilities to make sure that those very final last departures are done without incident, and then they will exfill themselves or they may stay behind as well. But i wouldnt see any acceleration or any enhanced risk. Theyve achieved an amazing feat of getting over 116,000 afghan nationals and approximately 6,000 u. S. Citizens out. Theyll continue that Pace And Theyll be out of there by The End of this evening in afghanistan. Assuming the war is officially declared over in the next few hours, do you expect any sort of response from the taliban . No. I actually think at this stage they are going to want to lay low. They have to assert control over the country as clarissa and others are noting. Its not even clear that they have control over themselves at this stage. Were hearing about murders going on in other areas of afghanistan that the taliban is condemning. So what youre going to see, i think, in the next lets just say about two to four weeks is an assertion of control, lots of counterisis operations. We will probably be involved with some of them. We will increase our covert capabilities or what the administration is calling overthehorizon capabilities. They are not as good as having troops on the ground, but they really are our only option at this stage. And then the question is longer term is who are we dealing with, with the taliban . Is this a new more sophisticated, more an Organization Or Government that actually wants to play with the international community . That will tell us a lot about whether they will try to stop international terrorism from growing in afghanistan. Because that of course is our concern, not just whats happening in afghanistan but whether there is training and other efforts in afghanistan that then are headed towards western europe, or as we saw 20 years ago, next week here in the united states. General, what are you hearing from veterans, their families, current Service Members, Gold Star families about the withdrawal . Well, obviously there is a tremendous amount of angst, a lot of anger as a result of how this things taking place. I would say at the strategic level is the right decision to retrograde and to leave this country, this war that weve been a part of for 20 years at the tactical level not surprisingly, jake, youve written and reported about this. Our american servicemembers make us proud and make incredible magic occur when given very, very tough missions. But at the Policy Level i see the department of state not talking to the department of defense. So theres a lot of frustration thats taking place. And then you look at whos responsible for the area of operations. Weve got a commander who needs to raise a hand and say i got this, this is a terrible tragedy, and i havent really heard that level of Frustration Or Anger or a sense of how we are going to accomplish this and acknowledgment that that individual owns this, i would say, evacuation that hasnt gone exceptionally well at that operational level. Julia, we keep hearing about over the Horizon Intelligence efforts by the biden administration. Which means from not within the country itself. Will counterterrorism efforts be harder without a u. S. Presence in afghanistan . Yes. We cant deny that. Over the horizon capabilities are good. They are essentially drone and airstrikes or covert operations. But they are different. And so i think the question that remains, and some people are exaggerating the threat, others are saying were going to be able to counter this the same way. Neither is true. The question that we are facing is as the Risk Increases in afghanistan and our capabilities decrease, can we bridge that gap with these over the horizon capabilities . We have a lot of capabilities. And part of that is going to be the motivation of the taliban, the capabilities of Al Qaeda and isis. And then of course our homeland defenses. Lets not forget that. We are not the same country we were 20 years ago. So we have defensive capabilities that are very, very different than they were the morning of 9 11 when none of us had ever heard about terrorism. All right, thanks to both of you. We appreciate it. Were waiting for an update from the pentagon on the Evacuation And Withdrawal of u. S. Service members from afghanistan. Stick around for that. Plus, an entire city without power, entire buildings gone. Were live on the scene after Hurricane Ida pulverizes the gulf coast. Stay with us. In the Romo Household we take things to the max oh yeah honey, you still in bed . Yep bye thats why we love Skechers Max cushioning footwear. Theyve maxed out the cushion for extreme comfort. Its like walking on clouds big, Comfy Ones oh yeah can you be free of Hair Breakage worries . We invited mahault to see for herself that new Dove Breakage Remedy gives damaged hair the strength it needs. Even with repeated combing hair treated with dove shows 97 less breakage. Strong hair with new Dove Breakage Remedy. man my ex is dating a pisces. So im like, screw it. Lets talk manifesting. Lets talk chakras. Lets Talk Self healing my way through the 12th house. woman in van set your intentions. Man Sitting crystals up. woman full moon bath ritual. Cleanse and find your magic. Let it go huh, huh Let It Go word, word, 88 Let It Go Let It Go you need an ecolab scientific clean here. And here. Which is why the scientific expertise that helps Operating Rooms stay clean now helps the places you go too. Look for the Ecolab Science certified seal. In our national lead, new images coming in showing the force of ida, which is now a tropical storm and still on a deadly and destructive path. One person has been killed when a tree fell on a house near baton rouge. The Louisiana Governor expects the Death Toll to go up, quote, considerably as Search Teams Reach other hardhit areas. The primary Energy Company in the region says that more than 2,000 miles of Transmission Lines are down, and ida knocked out power to more than 1 Million customers. Flooding is of course still an issue. More than 24 hours now after landfall. President biden says he has instructed federal agencies to use drones and satellites to assess the damage. More than 5,300 National Guard members have now been activated in the region. Leaders there are asking people to stay put and let first responders do the work. Are most people listening . Reporter a lot of people are, jake. A lot of people staying in their homes. But still some people venturing out. And look at some of the issues that they have to deal with. This house in st. Bernard parish flattened in a matter of minutes yesterday. There are powerlines down around the other side of that house. This is some of the other danger that these people have to navigate around. These trees, this tree snapped in half. This other tree came down completely. And again i mentioned, jake, downed powerlines are a big issue right now. They are all over the place. Officials are warning people not to go back into your neighborhoods. Flooding is also an issue. While the storm has largely passed through this area, the dangers remain. Louisiana reeling tonight from Hurricane Idas brutal impact. Weve just been through a horrendous night with winds, rain, gusts, water coming up, rivers rising, Power Outages. Its incredible. Reporter the Category 4 Storm Brought Pounding Winds and devastating flooding that topped roofs in some places. They say it was 185mileanhour winds, and i believe it. Reporter the storm so powerful it temporarily reversed the flow of the mississippi river. I dont want to mislead anyone. Robust Search And Rescue is happening right now. And i fully expect that that Death Count will go up considerably throughout the day. Reporter local officials deployed boats to conduct Water Rescues for people caught in the quickly rising water. In about a Threehour Period we had probably 5 to 6foot rise in the bayou. And well see another rise in water again we think this afternoon. Reporter Idas Path of destruction widespread. U. S. Coast Yguard Aerials show the impact in southeast louisiana. This is going to be a very long ordeal in terms of getting things cleaned up and getting things repaired. Reporter more than 1 Million people across louisiana are now without power after the storm, including the entire City Of New Orleans. Were already seeing the Power Outages across the area. And the Threat Isnt over. Reporter overnight the city experienced an outage in its 911 Emergency Call System as the storm crossed the state. One major electrical Transmission Tower that supplies power to new orleans crashed into the mississippi river. All eight major Transmission Lines providing power to the new Orleans Area are down. City officials are bracing themselves for what could be weeks without power. I think we have to be realistic at the same time and prepare people for a Worstcase Scenario just like Hurricane Lauren in Lake Charles where it took weeks. Reporter one clinic lost part of its Roof And Generator power in the storm. Another Healthcare System had to evacuate 165 patients from facilities damaged in the storm. Hospital officials in new orleans watching the Power Situation closely. We have fuel for Backup Generators for the next few days, and we think we will be able to get more fuel here at the hospital. But that probably is the number one concern for us at this moment. Reporter and another sign of concern about the hours and days ahead. The New Orleans Police Have said theyre about to deploy antilooting teams inside the city. Were going to be faced with nightfall in just a few hours, jake, so thats a big concern. Lets bring in the mayor of new orleans latoya cantrell. Mayor cantrell, thank you so much for joining us. So Hurricane Ida made landfall 16 years to the day after hurricane katrina. As your Team Survey the damage today, how did new Orleans Fare . You know what, we held the line. The City Of New Orleans made it through this storm. It was definitely a category 4 that was over us for 12 hours. The Worstcase Scenario did not happen. We did not have another katrina. And this is something right now that we are absolutely so grateful for. Although we are, you know, definitely dealing with significant impacts due to the hurricane, of course, the issues of power. That is a big problem here in the City Of New Orleans. Right now were trying to work our best way through that. Where we do have sources of power its generators only. And so that does speak to the need for fuel, and, again, were working through that. The president of the united states, President Biden has been definitely activated immediately on last night, ensuring that the federal government is providing the resources necessary and of course working with state officials. But, you know what, the worst did not happen, and we did not, you know, have to do a major rescue, nor a Poststorm Evacuation at this time. I just want to say the pentagons going to have a briefing at any moment. And if i have to interrupt you, i am apologizing ahead of time for that happening. But that hasnt happened yet. Just next door to new orleans in Jefferson Parish Weve seen growing lines outside stores and gas stations. Is that also the case in new orleans . No. The City Of New Orleans isnt really seeing that much at all. What we are seeing is that residents are adhering all right, madam mayor, i am sorry, i have to interrupt. Thats okay. Our prayers are with the people of the region. Lets listen to the pentagon press briefing. Theres Vice Admiral john kirby. Opening comments and questions. We do have a hard stop at 5 00. So i will not waste up any more time. General, can you hear and see me okay . John, i can hear and see you just fine. Thanks for being here today. And i turn it over to you, sir. Thanks, john. Good afternoon, everyone. Im here to announce the completion of our withdrawal from afghanistan in The End of the Military Mission to evacuate American Citizens, thirdcountry nationals and vulnerable afghans. The last c17 lifted off from Hamid Karzai international airport on August 30th this afternoon at 3 29 p. M. East coast time. And the last manned aircraft is now clearing the Air Space above afghanistan. We will soon release a photo of the last c17 departing afghanistan with major general Chris Donahue and the u. S. Ambassador to afghanistan aboard. While the military evacuation is complete, the Diplomatic Mission to ensure additional u. S. Citizens and eligible afghans who want to leave continues. And i know that you have heard i know that youre going to hear more about that from the State Department shortly. Tonights withdrawal signifies both The End of the Military Component of the evacuation but also The End of the nearly 20year mission that began in afghanistan shortly after september 11th, 2001. Its a mission that brought Osama Bin Laden to a just end, along with many of his Al Qaeda coconspirators. And it was not a cheap mission. The cost was 2,461 u. S. Service members and civilians killed and more than 20,000 who were injured. Sadly, that includes 13 u. S. Service members who were killed last week by an isisk suicide bomber. We honor their Sacrifice Today as we remember their heroic accomplishments. No words from me could possibly capture the full measure of sacrifices and accomplishments of those who served. Nor the emotions they are feeling at this moment. But i will say that i am proud that both my son and i have been a part of it. Before i open it up for questions, i do want to provide some important context to the Evacuation Mission that we just completed. In what was the largest noncombatant evacuation in the u. S. Militarys history. Since august the 14th, over an 18day period, u. S. Military aircraft have evacuated more than 79,000 civilians from Hamid Karzai international airport. That includes 6,000 americans and more than 73 73,500 thirdcountry nationals and afghan civilians. This last category includes special Immigrant Visas, consular staff, atrisk afghans and their families. In total, u. S. And Coalition Aircraft combined to evacuate more than 123,000 civilians, which were all enabled by u. S. Military Service Members who were securing and operating the airfield. On average, we have evacuated more than 7,500 civilians per day over the 18 days of the mission, which includes 16 full days of evacuations, and more than 19,000 on a single day. These numbers do not include the roughly 5,000 Service Members and their equipment that were sent to afghanistan to secure the airfield and who were withdrawn at the conclusion of our mission. The numbers i provided represent a monument accomplishment, but they do not do justice to the determination, the grit, the flexibility and the professionalism of the men and women of the u. S. Military and our Coalition Partners who were able to rapidly combine efforts and evacuate so many under such difficult conditions. As such, i think its important that i provide you with what i hope will be some valuable context. When the president directed the complete withdrawal of u. S. Forces from afghanistan in april, the team at u. S. Central command began to update and refine our existing plan for a potential noncombatant Evacuation Operation or a n. E. O. In afghanistan. We have a framework of plans that included numerous branches and sequels depending on the nature of the security environment. Over time, we continued to refine our plans, which included the interagency, the international community, and other combatant plans. Plans like this are built on facts and assumptions, and facts and assumptions change over time. We continued to update our facts and assumptions. As the Security Situation rapidly devolved in afghanistan, we took a number of actions to position ourselves for a potential n. E. O. We positioned forces in the region and put them on increased alert. We began to preposition supplies, and we began some preparatory work on intermediate facilities in qatar with the support of our gracious host nation. When the evacuation was formally directed on august the 18th, we began to carry out our plan based upon the initial assumption that the Afghan Security Forces would be a willing and able Security Partner In Kabul, defending the capital for a matter of weeks or at least for a few days. Within 24 hours, of course, the afghan military collapsed completely, Opening Kabul up to the Talibans Advance october augu. On october the 15th, i delivered a message on behalf of the president that our mission In Kabul was now the evacuation of americans and our partners that we would not tolerate interference and that we would forcefully defend our forces and the evacuees if necessary. The Talibans Response in that meeting was in line with what they said publicly. Offered to work with us on a Deconfliction Mechanism to prevent miscalculation while our forces operated in close quarters. Finally, they promised not to interfere with our withdrawal. Its important to understand that within 48 hours of the n. E. O. Execution order, the facts on the ground had changed significantly. We had gone from cooperating on security with a longtime Partner And Ally to initiating a pragmatic relationship of necessity with a longtime enemy. And to that environment, individuals of the army deployed their forces and did extraordinary work with the leading elements of the Reinforcement Package to safely close the embassy in one period of darkness or one evening to establish a Deconfliction Mechanism with the taliban, to establish security at the airport and to bring in the rest of our reinforcements into the airport. They accomplished this difficult list of tasks within 48 hours of supporting the transfer of the embassy to the airport. I visited kabul on Tuesday August the 17th to see the work being done to establish security firsthand and to observe the transition to the evacuation. I left on a c17 that brought more than 130 afghans and American Citizens out from karzai international airport to qatar. Our men and women on the ground at the airport quickly embraced the dangerous and methodical work of defending the airport while conducting the Hand Screening of more than 120,000 evacuees from six different Entry Points under the airfield. We also conducted three separate Helicopter Exractions including at least 185 American Citizens and with our german partners, 21 german citizens. Additionally, u. S. Special operations forces reached out to help ring in more than 1,064 American Citizens and 2,017 sivs or afghans at risk, and 127 thirdcountry nationals all via phone calls, vectors, and escorting. We have evacuated more than 6,000 u. S. Civilians, which we believe represents the vast majority of those who wanted to leave at this time. It would be difficult to overestimate the number of unusual challenges and competing demands that our forces on the ground have successfully overcome. The threat to our forces particularly from isisk was very real and tragically resulted in the loss of 13 Service Members and dozens of afghan civilians. Ive said this before, but id like to say it again. We greatly appreciate the contributions of the many Coalition Partners have stood with us on the ground at Hamid Karzai international airport. Im just going to single out One Nation as an example of the many. The norwegians who maintained their hospital at the airport and who were absolutely critical for the immediate care of our wounded after the abbey gate attack. Even after the attack, they agreed to extend the presence of their hospital to provide more coverage for us. Our diplomats have also been with us In Kabul from the beginning, and their work in processing over 120,000 people stands right beside that of their military partners. We were a team on the ground. As i close my remarks, i would like to offer my personal appreciation to the more than 800,000 Service Members and 25,000 civilians who have served in afghanistan and particularly to the families of those whose Loved Ones have been lost or wounded. Your service as well as that of your comrades and Family Members will never be forgotten. My heart is broken over the loss losses we sustained three days ago. The last 18 days have been challenging. Americans can be proud of the men and women of the Armed Forces who met these Challenges Head on. Im now ready to take your questions. Thank you, general. Well start with the lead at a. P. Were limited on time, so please limit your followup so that more people can get questions asked. Go ahead. Thanks for doing this. Can you give us a sense of whether or not there were any American Citizens or other civilians who were taken out on any of those last couple of c17s that flew out this afternoon. And can you give us a picture of what you saw with equipment and other things getting either destroyed or removed at the airport before they left. No American Citizens came out on the last what we call the joint tactical exfilltration, the last of five jets to leave. We maintained the ability to bring them in up until immediately before departure. But we were not able to bring any americans out. That activity ended probably about 12 hours before our exit, although we continued the Outreach And Wouldve been prepared to bring them on until the very last minute. But none of them made it to the airport and were able to be accommodated. We brought some of it out, and we demilitarized some of it. Youre very much aware, of course, of the Rocket Attack that occurred yesterday where five rockets were fired at the airfield. Our crams were very effective in engaging the two rockets from falling on the airfield. We elected to keep those systems in operation up until the very last minute. Its a complex procedure to break down those systems. So we demilitarized those systems so that theyll never be used again. And we felt it was more important to protect our forces than to bring those systems back. We have also demilitarized equipment that we did not bring out of the airport, that included a number of mraps up to 70 mraps that we demilitarized and will never be used again by anyone. 27 humvees that will never be driven again. And additionally on the ramp at hkia, 73 aircraft, they will never be able to be operated by anyone. Most of them were nonmission capable to begin with. But certainly theyll never be able to be flown again. Thank you. General David Martin with cbs. Was there any attempt to interfere with the final flights out either by the taliban or by isis or any other group . And at The End, did americans just vacate the premises, or did they turn it over to the taliban . We know that isisk has worked very, very hard to continue to strike. We feel that the strike we took yesterday In Kabul actually was very disruptive to their Attack Plans and threw them off stride. I think that was one of the significant reasons why they were not able to organize themselves and get after us as we conducted the final withdrawal. I will tell you the taliban had been very pragmatic and very businesslike as we have approached this withdrawal. We did not turn it over to the taliban. General donahue, one of the last things he did before leaving was talk to the taliban commander that he had been coordinating with about the time we were going to leave just to let them know that we were leaving. But there was no discussion of turning anything over of that at all. General, Jennifer Griffin from fox news. If i could just have you reflect personally after 20 years of War Youve served there, youve now watched the last troops leave. Youve lost troops in recent days. How did it feel leaving afghanistan to the very group that you overthrew 20 years ago, the taliban . Well, as i sort of said in my remarks, as you know, ive been there a couple times. My sons been there a couple times. And it was very i was very conflicted. But i was pretty much focused on the task at hand. Ill have days ahead to actually think about that. But we were so completely focused on getting our troops out in the days before getting our citizens out and honorable afghans to the best of our ability that i did not have a lot of time for reflection. Im sure i will do that in the future. But right now im pretty much consumed with the operational task at hand. And i am going to be thinking about that in the days ahead. Message to american allies that were left behind . The diplomatic sequel will now begin. And i believe our department of state is going to work very hard to allow any American Citizens that are left, and we think the citizens that were not brought outnumber in the low, very low hundreds. I believe that we are going to be able to get those people out. I think were also going to negotiate very hard and very aggressively to get our other afghan partners out. The Military Phase is over, but our desire to bring these people out remains as intense as before. And the department of state will now take the lead. Can you tell us how many people were on that final C17 Flight . Can you tell us where that flight is headed . And you mentioned that General Donahue talked to his taliban, essentially his counterpart. Can you give us any role on what the taliban played from a Security Perspective to allow the u. S. To safely depart kabul . Im not going to be able to answer the first two questions because those operations are still concluding as to where those aircraft are going and the exact disposition of our forces on the aircraft. I can tell you about though what the taliban has done. They established a firm perimeter outside of the airfield to prevent people from coming on the airfield during our departure. And weve worked with them for a number of days. They did not have direct knowledge of our time of departure. We chose to keep that information very restricted. But they were actually very helpful and useful to us as we closed down operations. I want to go to the phones. I havent done that yet. Thanks for calling on me. General, can you give us, i guess, a deeper level of detail on what this last day looked like in terms of number of flights, number of people you had on the ground to start with, who mightve been on that last plane, particularly senior leaders, and kind of how this all played out. Ill actually begin with the Back End of your question on the last Airplane Out was general Chris Donahue, the commander of the 82nd Airborne Division and my Ground Force Commander there. And he was accompanied by ambassador ross wilson. The State And Defense team were in fact the last people to step on the airplane. So what has happened over the last 12 or 18 hours is we first of all we were intent on maintaining the ability to bring out americans and other afghans as long as we could. So we kept that capability until just a few hours ago. And we were able to bring ut some people earlier in the day. Although we had to cut it off some time before this operation began. But we were intent on maintaining that capability. We were also intent on maintaining our Force Protection because the threats from isis were very real, very concerning. And so we did a number of things. We had overwhelming u. S. Air Power Overhead should there have been any challenge to our departure. And again, there was absolutely no question we were not going to be challenged by the taliban. If we were going to be challenged, it was going to be by isis. And i think some of the things weve done yesterday, particularly the strike, and other things weve done have disrupted their ability to conduct that attack planning. But they remain a very lethal force, and i think we would assess that probably there are at least 2,000 hardcore isis fighters in afghanistan now. And of course many of those come from the prisons that were opened a few days ago. So that number is up and is probably as high as its ever been in quite a while. And thats going to be a challenge for the taliban i believe in the days ahead. Thank you, general. Two quick questions. There are about 500 afghan soldiers who were protecting the perimeter. Did you evacuate them and their families . And secondly, just on the airport, now that youve departed, do you believe it can take on Civilian Aircraft pretty soon . Or will it require some type of Repair Or Expertise . To the best of my knowledge, which is actually pretty good, i believe we brought out all the afghan Military Forces who partnered with us and their Family Members. I believe that has been accomplished. We need the airport to be operational. And we need the airport to be operational quickly for civilian traffic. So, were going to do everything we can to help with that. Let me give an example. One of the things we did not demilitarize as we left were those pieces of equipment that are necessary for Airport Operations such as fire trucks, some of the frontend loaders. We left that equipment. So that is available to allow that airport to get back and get operating as soon as possible. And it needs to get operating as soon as possible. General, today is August 30th, and the deadline had repeatedly been said that it was going to be August 31st. Do you think that there may be some people who had some false hope that they had at least one more day before this happened . And can you explain the tactical decision as to why you have completed this mission on the 30th as opposed to the 31st . Sure. So its actually the 31st in afghanistan as we take a look at what day of the month it is. Its the 31st in afghanistan. So, we actually went out on the 31st, not the 30th, if you look at afghan time. Theres a lot of heartbreak associated with this departure. We did not get everybody out who we wanted to get out. But if we had stayed another ten days, we still wouldnt have gotten everybody out. Its a tough situation. I want to emphasize that simply because we have left, that doesnt mean the opportunities for both americans that are in afghanistan that want to leave and afghans who want to leave, they will not be denied that opportunity. I think our department of states going to work on that very hard in the days and weeks ahead. Just one clarification, general. So were there any evacuees left at the airport when the last u. S. Military Flight Left . There were no evacuees left at the airport when the last u. S. Flight left. On the taliban, youve talked about their pragmatic ways of operating with the u. S. Military. Do you see a role for the u. S. Military to have open conversations with the taliban, even potential coordination going forward . And particularly with this growing and now accentuated threat from isis . Well, ill tell you, my dealing with the taliban and the dealings of my commanders on the ground with the taliban revolved around our determination to execute this operation and the very flat statement we made to them that if you challenge us, were going to hurt you. And for their own purposes this is something they wanted to have happen, too. I cant foresee the way future coordination between us would go. I would leave that for some future date. I will simply say that they wanted us out, we wanted to get out with our people and with our friends and partners, and so for that short period of time, our view of the world was the same. Finally, i do believe the talibans going to have their hands full with isisk, and they let a lot of those people out of prisons and now theyre going to be able to reap what they sowed. Can you assure the american public that every single u. S. Service member is now out of afghanistan . Every single u. S. Service is now out of afghanistan. I can say it with 100 certainty. So, really quickly just to clarify, you mentioned 123,000 out of afghanistan. Earlier this morning we heard 1 22. So can we assume that there were afghans . We brought about 1,000 afghans, the exact number im sure that computations probably going to change a little bit in the days ahead. I dont think its going to change much. But, yes, we brought a number of afghans out at the very end. 123,000 people got out. On the other hand, of course, you lost 13 marines, more than A Hundred afghans died, and there are still potentially tens of thousands sivs, and others that wanted to get out that did not get out. So how would you characterize this mission . Well, first of all, the 11 marines, the soldier and the sailor that we lost, i will never forget that. That will be with me and i know every other commander involved for the rest of our lives. Weve all lost people before, and its never an easy thing. We would like to bring out everybody that wanted to come out. The Situation Wouldnt allow it. I think we did a very good job of getting everybody that we could get out given the unique challenges of the tactical situation on the ground. The fact that really not all americans wanted to leave. There were americans that for a variety of reasons wanted to stay for a while. I think they will have the opportunity to revisit that and come out if they want. I think its just important to note that we shouldnt look on this as The End of that engagement about people in afghanistan. I am confident that that engagement is going to continue to a variety of venues. And it wont just be the united states thats going to be engaged on this. I think our international partners are also going to be very engaged on this as well going forward. We had two more. Then well go to the phones again. Thanks, general mckenzie. Im kind of curious just how American Citizens are going to be expected to get to the airport and what the continuing Terror Threat will be just in the coming days and what the evacuation pictures going to look like for them. Well, i think the threat is going to be very high and i dont want to minimize that. But i think what well do is we will work with the Taliban And Work with the next government of afghanistan. Whatever is characterization is going to be in order to ensure that our citizens are protected and that they have an opportunity to leave. As you know, we still hold a variety of significant leverage over whatever future government exists In Kabul. And i have No Doubt that the department of state will fully exercise that leverage. Do you have any confidence in their ability to secure the city right now, the taliban . I think theyre going to be challenged to secure the city. I do know this just speaking practically as a professional. They helped us secure the airfield, not perfectly, but they gave it a very good effort, and it was actually significantly helpful to us, particularly here at The End. Last question for today, meghan. Are there any u. S. Aircraft still doing overflights of afghanistan either kabul or otherwise looking out for potential threats . So, as we have said for quite a while, we always reserve the opportunity to go after the Counterterrorism Realm when those targets present themselves. So we will always retain the ability to do that. Okay, thats about all the time we have. General, any concluding thoughts you might want to add . John, its been a long day, and much longer actually for our forces that are coming out. The operations have gone smoothly so far. I just look forward to recovering the force completely, getting everybody home. Thank you, general. Thanks for your time. Thank you, all. Have a nice afternoon. So, that is some Breaking News for you. The War In Afghanistan is over, according to the chairman of the Central Command, general kenneth mckenzie. The last american military planes have left afghanistan after 20 years of war. This marks the first time in 20 years that the u. S. And its allies have not had any troops on the ground, any Service Members in afghanistan. But Hundreds Of Americans who wanted to leave and thousands of lawful, permanent residents of the united states, and countless afghan allies have been left behind. We are waiting to hear from u. S. Secretary of state Antony Blinken shortly to talk about that and more. Cnn chief white House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins joins me live. And, kaitlan, four president s, 20 years, both Obama And Trump promised to end this war. And now President Biden has done it. It may not have been a pretty exit, but it is a very significant moment for the united states. Reporter it is, jake. And i do this have its significant that of course this is driven by a decision that President Biden made. But he did not announce this. It was Central Command of course that made this announcement that one minute before th