President Biden Singing collapses unlikely. John theres been no new information from the State Department on american stranded in afghanistan. As far as we know, the taliban still refusing to allow planes ready to evacuate americans from taking off. Jacqui Florida Congressman standing by. You will have a chance to question blinken. First, to congressional correspondent aishah hasnie. Hi, jacqui. Good afternoon. We could expect some Fireworks Today during the hearing. Ranking Member Michael Mccaul told me he is ready to hold blinkens feet to the fire that he will be bringing up prior previous testimony to this hearing. Secretary of state is set to appear virtually in front of the house foreign Affairs Committee at 2 00 this afternoon. You would expect some sharp questioning from republicans and democrats over the role the State Department played in this chaotic withdrawal including questions about the about the State Department Email Fox obtained showing the department denying approval for charter planes to land at Department Of Defense faces. The last time blinken testified before this committee, that was in june. He told mccall the u. S. Was not withdrawing. The embassy was staying. That he didnt think any significant Deterioration And Security would happen over weekend. Certainly going to bring of his prior testimony. Everything he said turned out not to be true. The Secretary Of State. State department is in charge over all of the evacuation. All the decisions made about the airport word, how down the troops. What happened with the 13 servicemen and women who died. Thats all on the State Department, its on their hands. I have often said Theres Blood on their hands. Democrat frustration over the evacuations have been bubbling over in recent days but watch their Strategy Today during this hearing. Last week we heard from Senator Chris Murphy and chris van hollen, members of the senate foreign relations committee. They want their hearing, tuesday, to focus on the past 20 years rather than the events that happened in august, with murphy going as far as to say he hopes republicans dont turn this into a circus. A hard Time Out is 5 00. Lawmakers getting 5 minutes each task both questions. Jacqui a lot of questions. Thank you. John lets bring in florida republican congressman brian mast. Hes a retired Army Ranger and will be in that hearing expected to start in the next hour or so. Congressman mast, like so many other american service members and thank you for your service, you lost so much in afghanistan. Both of your legs when improvised explosive device. What do you want to ask Secretary Blinken when you have the chance to question him in the next hour. What i lost was a scratch compared to so many who lost their lives. What i want to know, is he simply too arrogant to resign over all the mistakes that occurred come over believing terrorists werent going to let terrorists into the country. Over Jumping Hall high the taliban tells them to jump. Get out of the embassy, get out of bagram. So many questions need to be asked. They all revolve around the lies the administration has been telling us. John wouldnt Secretary Blinken testify before your committee in june, he indicated there was nothing in the cards it would predict a precipitous collapse of the afghan military and government. Listen to what he said back then. We are not withdrawing. We are staying. The embassy is staying. If theres a significant Deterioration And Security, and that could well happen. I dont think its going to be something that happens from friday to monday. John when you hear that in retrospect, congressman, do you have a sense that the secretary had a Firm Grasp on the situation . I am sensitive to things. Number one, he knew exactly what was happening but he didnt know exactly how to phrase it. Very likely at the exact same time young people like president Joe Biden claimed were with exiled president of afghanistan trying to manipulate the intelligence Coming Up through the ranks of what was happening in in afghanistan, i dont think he knew which line to go out there and do. The manipulated intelligence or the truth. John as we heard when it comes to the Senate And House senate foreign relations committee, tomorrow, they are looking to not just focus on the last six weeks. They are looking to focus on the last 20 years. When you specifically want to focus on in terms of timeline with the Secretary Today . Specifically on the timeline we need to know when did they decide to leave bagram . Why . How many Troops Wouldnt have taken is secured . When the day decide to leave the embassy . Working with the taliban to say they were going to get people out of the country but not doing so creating a situation where they werent able to vent the trying to get out there were afghani nationals. So many times line to this the need to be answered. John more more people are talking about this issue of accountability. He suggested to the top you want to hear why they havent resigned. Do you think anybodys going to resign over this . Will anybody really be held accountable . They are too arrogant to resign. They dont see as though theres any problems they created on the globe or domestically or anywhere else. Number one, arrogance is not going to allow them to accept any responsibility whatsoever. Do i think they should . Absolutely. Do i think pelosi, schumer, biden, harris will work to have accountability . Absolutely not. John when the White House and the State Department and the pentagon talked about the pullout from afghanistan there was a suggestion we are going to have is a country a lot of leverage over the taliban after the pullout in order to get the americans and eligible afghans were still left in the country i rode and to at least a safe third country if not here to the united states. The fact they are all these aircraft sitting on the ground and the taliban are saying no, they cant leave, what is that say about this idea of leverage. They were exercising no leverage when we still had service members on the ground. They didnt even have enough leverage of the time to get people that were held by the taliban, navy men mark freese, to get him out of afghanistan, couldnt get him. They couldnt get americans out. They didnt have the leverage to do it. They were under this misconception that the taliban wants all this money they are holding up in banks. The taliban took control. Without any of that money. What made them think that was going to be a giant Leverage Point . Give them an invitation to the u. N. . They were living in a pipe dream. John certainly china is willing to give them a lot of money as wealth and economic agreement. Congressman brian mast, look forward to the hearing this afternoon. We have got a lot more Coming Up. Mark meadows will join us, Morgan Ortagus, general kellogg. Jacqui curious to see what kind of commitments were going to hear from blinken about the regional implications, commitments to allies. Taiwan, ukraine in vulnerable positions. John how many are left behind . Its going to be a virtual hearing on his part, which is a shame. It would be good to seem in the committee room. Jacqui it would. Hopefully he gets some solid answers. A new Report Calling into doubt a 2020 letter about the origins of coronavirus, whether or not it started and i Wuhan Lab. Cited an investigation that said 26 experts and benefactors have tied to the lab. David spunt In Washington. Speak of this investigation is coming out weeks after the Intelligence Community here In Washington, d. C. , put out a report to the White House that says basically we dont know the origins of covid19. Thats leaving many people around the world frustrated. This all centers around a February 2020 letter with a 27 scientists, well respected from around the globe, signed this Open Letter in the Lancet Medical Journal that effectively shut down any notion that covid19 began in the Wuhan Lab of riley, arguing it had natural origins. The daily telegraph in london published this investigation that 26 of those 27 have even loose ties to the Wuhan Lab. Whatever the case, all 27 of these people were absolutely wrong by making an assertion in February 2020 that they essentially knew there was a natural, quoteunquote natural origins of the pandemic that wasnt connected to a lab incident. The telegraph does not suggests that the 26 served on the regular payroll but they had some ties to researchers, colleagues, benefactors. Only one who does not is a microbiologist from Boston University named dr. Ronald corley. An advisor there to the World Health Organization is calling on the World Health Organization to open up its books, opened up an audit, Pressure China to go ahead and find the origins of covid19 but as many know right now almost a Year And Half into it thats really putting a lot of faith in china to play ball and it doesnt look like that country is going to do so. Jacqui thank you. John the Gulf Coast bracing for tropical storm nicholas. Significant Flooding Threat to texas and parts of louisiana. Still dealing with the aftermath of the horrible hurricane that hit more than a week ago. The storm inspected to make landfall today. Nicholas could bring eight to 1s Storm surges and the threat of potential tornadoes. Youve got to ask yourself, one is going to end for folks in the Gulf Coast . Jacqui theyve had five named storms. Theyve been hammered. John we wish them the best. Jacqui six planes grounded at Mazarisharif Airport in afghanistan, critics slamming the biden administration saying it crated a Hostage Situation as americans are left are left stranded. Former white House Chief of staff Mark Meadows is calling at a disgrace. Hes Coming Up along with california republican congressman. John President Biden Campaigning with California Governor Gavin newsom on the eve of Tomorrows Recall is leading republican Larry Elder hopes for an upset. Martha maccallum live from los angeles. She joins us Coming Up next. This recall is an extension. We shut down the state and the more severe way, any of the other 49 states. People everywhere living with Type 2 Diabetes are waking up to whats possible with rybelsus®. You are my sunshine my only sunshine. 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Make the most of it with the network that can deliver Gig Speeds to the most businesses. And get the advanced Cybersecurity Solutions you need with Comcast Business Securityedge. Ask how to get Comcast Business Securityedge to help protect all your connected devices. And get started with a great offer on fast and reliable Internet And Voice for just 64. 99 a month. Plus, ask how to get a prepaid card up to 500. Call or go online today to learn more. Comcast business. Powering possibilities. John could california elect a republican Governor Tomorrow . Martha maccallum weighs in on why Gavin Newsoms Recall Election is being seen as a Litmus Test. Raising the top corporate tax rate. The House Ways And Means Committee says they will debate the proposed change this week. It comes as some democratic Lawmakers Bar among themselves over President Bidens economic agenda and how to pay for it. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders calling out west Virginia Senator Joe Manchin after the democrats had he would not support a Tax And Spending bill as large as 3. 5 trillion. Listen here. No, it is absolutely not acceptable to me. I dont think its acceptable to the president , for the american people or the overwhelming majority of people in the democratic caucus. John Joe Manchin, coming from conservative west virginia, hes looking at his future reelection chances and say if i pass this monstrosity of a bill which a lot of people could say four or 5 trillion, not going to get reelected again. Jacqui you have people whove known Joe Manchin for a long time saying that he says a lot of things but at The End of the day he often sides with the party so how much of it can you take seriously . John he said no three times yesterday. Jacqui President Biden still seems to think hell be on his side at The End of the day. Election day is tomorrow and the california recall. President biden heading to campaign with Governor Gavin Newsom later today. Top g. O. P. Challenger Larry Elder continuing his campaign against governor brevets bring in martha mccallum, anchor of the story. Straight from los angeles. Shes there for special coverage. Hey, martha. Hey, jacqui. Jacqui the president is trying to save newsom seat. What you see is the biggest causes of the recall . How likely is it that newsom hangs on given some of the recent polling that shows republicans are pretty much directly in support of this. Democrats not so much. Deeply blue state. This has been, it was once seen as a long shot coming to pa. Its so fascinating. As you say, jacqui, Democrats Outnumber Republicans in the state of california 21. Nevertheless there was this shocking sort of groundswell, about 2 Million people signed petitions to recall governor newsom. That all happened during the heat of covid, during his evening out at the french laundry. People started to get ticked off feeling that there were rules for the but not for me. Enormous Numbers of small businesses, many of them owned by minority, black latino, Store Owners in california. Its an interesting Litmus Test in terms of what we see in turnout, we see in terms of how aggravated people are with all that. Its an uphill battle. Theres 46 republican or 46 candidates running against Gavin Newsom, not all of them republicans. He is bringing in the big guns come President Biden coming in for a speech this afternoon. Kamala harris was here on friday. 26 by the most recent poll. One of the interesting things for people to keep in mind is that Gavin Newsom needs to cross the 50 plus Vote Threshold and to hang on in the governors seat. If he loses that gets 49 of the vote, someone on the other side, Larry Elder or caitlyn jenner, they could win devote with just 20 without Parole Plurality of the remaining. Thats what youre hearing from coven newsom. Just dont know. Leave, walk out after he put the ballot in the Ballot Box because he doesnt want people going to the second part of the question which is if not Gavin Newsom, who would you like to see replace him. Jacqui so much of this is a referendum of newsoms handling on covid. Larry Elders Opposition to that fueling energy around the recall . I think you nailed it. Gavin newsom wants people to forget about his handling of covid. The situation has improved in terms of cases. He is saying this is a republican recall. He is saying this is an antivaxx, antiabortion. Theres a growing number of independent voters in california. Growing momentum in latino voters. Youve seen Larry Elder saying hes trying to convince latino voters to vote to recall Gavin Newsom. Those are interesting areas to keep my own, independent voters, latino voters. Do they show, even if they dont succeed in recalling newsom, what are they showing terms of momentum overall . A lot of people are really fed up with the direction of this absolutely beautiful state, music history. They have got a Homeless Problem through the roof. Crime is increasing. Businesses are having trouble functioning given the Structure And Lack of enticements to begin an open and grow companies here. Jacqui going out to a birdseye view, whats at stake. Vice president harris said its about sending a message that democrats who keep control of both chambers had of the midterm, shes claimed that the results would reverberate down and impact reproductive rights and immigration. Anyone who replaces newsom have to contend with the democratic Super Majority state legislator. Could it send a message . I think thats why you see such big firepower coming out here to back Gavin Newsom. President , Vice President , former President Obama put in a video message. I think theres a little bit of concern. I think they are a little bit worried as they look towards the midterm. This enormous bill moved into the house. 3. 5 trillion. Taxation is been through the roof. You see a lot of businesses moving to places like austin and nashville, leaving california. Theyve had a decline in their population here for the first time in the states history. This is where people wanted to come, there was Independence And Freedom to start your own life, start your business. Have the western future and outlook. Thats changed here in california. The spirit has really altered over the last 25 years. Its going to be very interesting to see the underlying dynamics of the vote as it starts getting counted tomorrow and how much turnout is tomorrow. How many people are waiting to put ballots in the box . We are putting up close eye on it. Jacqui martha, thank you so much. Appreciate your time. Its the one we will see martha at 3 00 this afternoon eastern time. There is also that hearing in the house foreign Affairs Committee. Antony blinken. We will see if martha gets much of her program into may. The tomorrow. It will be turnout on the day that determines whether or not Gavin Newsom survives or a republican gets elected. Jacqui you have to wonder how many democrats are likely to turn out when its republicans fired up about it. Are democrats thinking, this is not something we have to worry about . Given that there is a democratic supermajority in the legislature. The Executive Powers of the governor are significant. John i know a number of democrats, not necessarily a significant number, saying that they would vote for kevin faulconer. Results tomorrow. The first hearing in Prince Andrews shocking case. Jacqui Secretary Blinken preparing to testify. Potential Hostage Crisis in afghanistan with american still stranded. Mark meadows on that Coming Up straight ahead. Speak we have to make a decision about the taliban. Do you recognize them as the legitimate government of afghanistan . 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Jacqui Capitol Police arresting a California Man with a bayonet and a machete near the democratic committee headquarters. The man was driving a Pickup Truck with a swastika and other white supremacist symbols painted on it. More stories on the fox news app. John we await Secretary Of State Antony Blinkens testimony to Congress On Afghanistan Coming Up in a little more than half an hour, the State Department reporting there are about 100 american still stranded there. Critics are slamming the biden administration for potentially creating a massive Hostage Crisis. The Wall Street Journal writing an editorial though still left behind in afghanistan, the u. S. Isnt doing nearly enough to free those who are trapped. I spring and former white House Chief of Staff And Congressman park meadows to talk more about this. Congressman, good to see you. Are you concerned that the situation with americans who are lingering in afghanistan, maybe to some Degree Afghans who worked for the united states during the past 20 years could become hostages under the taliban . They are de facto hostages right now. Part of the problem is this could all have been avoided. We are going to get here from Secretary Blinken in his testimony here in just a few minutes. He ought to start with a four word opening line. I submit my resignation. We are two weeks into this and probably perhaps the worst foreign Policy Debacle that ive witnessed in modern history. Yet No One has been fired. No one has resigned. We do have a Hostage Situation but the State Department can claim they know theres only 100 americans left behind. Its just not factually accurate. They know that. There are a number of people in harms way. Quite frankly they dont have a good plan to get them out. John marks, on that four word so you want to hear from Antony Blinken, i have another four. Dont hold your breath. This administration seems to be doing everything to avoid accountability. They have done everything to avoid accountability but its interesting. Secretary blinken is no stranger to congressional hearings, having appeared in his previous capacity under the previous Obama Administration a number of times. Im not holding my breath. But i will say when he comes under oath, the questions he needs to be asked is what did you know, when did you know it and why did you make the decisions . I can tell you based on intel that we had, this was knocked in Intelligence Failure based on my time in the White House. This was highly predictable. They made a conscious decision to leave State Department employees and americans and american allies and american interests in harms way. Sadly, 13 soldiers had to pay the ultimate price for this very, very poor decision. John in terms of the americans and others left behind, the Wall Street Journal really took it on in an editorial. We read a quote at the beginning as we introduce to you. Heres another part of it. The Wall Street Journal writing the united states has pulled every lever available to us to facilitate the departure of these charter flights from mazarisharif, adding we are very clear they should be allowed to leave. This helplessness is humiliating. Across afghanistan, massive tragedy is unfolding. In the u. S. Military, and the one in the White House was getting ready to pull the u. S. Military out, they assured us that we were going to have the leverage over the taliban to get the remaining americans out. What happened to that leverage . What happened to the leverage is that they believed bunch of terrorists. You cant be fighting the taliban one day and trusting them as an ally the next day. When we start to see this, we knew that based on the aggressive nature of the taliban that happened after January 21 President Trump left the White House, we didnt see this kind of aggression during the last year of the Trump Administration. What we did see is aggressively they sound weak leadership. They continued to go in. We had the State Department and candidly the military tried to negotiate with someone who would seek to kill us. I do see it any other way is just, just not looking at the facts. John you had a tweet last week that caught my attention about the biden White House concerned about the lack of diversity in the interim taliban government. This administration created the largest Hostage Crisis in american history, still ongoing, they are worried about the talibans diversity quota. What a disgrace. Obviously diversity in government is a good thing. A question you can ask this administration is how it would they expect the taliban to even think about the word diversity. You seem to be saying theyre missing the bigger picture . Its not one of the top ten priorities that americans are interested in, how diverse the taliban government should be. To even recognize them . Candidly, it was supposed to be a Coalition Government between them and the afghan government that existed before. Yet we are looking at diversity. We know they have a Track Record on how they treat women. Gail already seen the Human Right Abuses on many of the videos that have come out of there. To suggest they are going to be an inclusive government is missing the point. John former chief of Staff And Congressman Mark Meadows, good to catch up with you ahead of the hearing this afternoon. Im sure youll be watching it. We will. Thank you so much. John i was stunned when i saw that statement from the State Department about lack of diversity in the taliban. As of the taliban would ever have an inclusive government. You handed them over the keys to the country. Jacqui youre not the only person who had that reaction. Im looking at Secretary Blinkens opening remarks. Im surprised. Its a lot of what we have already heard about the choice President Biden faced, how former president put them in this position. He could either ramp It Up or pull out. Basically saying he had one choice and he executed it perfectly. Didnt touch on any of the questions people have about whats happening right now. John the four words Mark Meadows was looking for, not in that opening statement. Jacqui the first Hearing Set for today in a civil case filed by woman against Prince Andrew. The accuser claimed she was forced to have with Prince Andrew when she was 17 years old on the order of Jeffrey Epstein. Bryan llenas with details. Its scandal the Royal Family cannot shake. Lawyers representing Virginia Giuffre, claiming Prince Andrew sexually assaulted her as a minor, says legal documents were served to the prince and his Windsor Home on august 27. Today at 4 00 p. M. A judge in new york will hold a pretrial Telephone Conference with both sides. The civil lawsuit claims that between 2,000 and 2002, virginia was sex trafficked and abused by a convicted Sex Offender Jeffrey Epstein and that Epstein Traffic Turner Prince Andrew who sexually abused her in london, in epsteins new york mansion, and his private island. This civil lawsuit is big. Having to answer the question about whether Prince Andrew sexually abused Virginia Giuffre under oath. There is whats called an adverse interest. Meaning that in the civil sense probably did commit the crime. But he chooses not to disclose. This photo is said to show Prince Andrew, giuffre, and epstein in a 2019 in their with the Bbc Print sanders that he never met Sue 24 and deny the allegations, adding this about the photo. You think that photo has been faked . Nobody can prove whether or not that photograph has been doctored. I dont recollect that photograph ever being taken. You dont recollect having your hand no. Giuffres lawyers claim they will present new evidence. Prince andrews lawyers are challenging the jurisdiction of the u. S. Courts and plan to contest if he was even properly served. Jacqui all right, bryan llenas. Thanks so much. John secretary of State Anthony Flick and getting ready to face tough questions on Capitol Hill and have a chaotic u. S. Withdraw from afghanistan played out. Well be there. Jacqui americans are still trying to escape the talibancontrolled country. A Congressman Work to get his constituents home. He will bleed in the hearing with blinken enjoins us next. The journey is why they ride. When the road is all you need, there is no destination. Uh, iim actually just going to get an iced coffee. Well, she may have a destination this one time, but usually no, ii usually have a destination. Yeah, but most of the time, her destination is freedom. Nope, just the coffee shop. 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Less than 20 minutes from now members of the house foreign Affairs Committee will question Secretary Of State Antony Blinken on the caliph with goal s congressman, thank for joining us. I know the world wants answers that we have the worst congress, the worst withdraw from country at least since vietnam and perhaps youve outdone that because there were so many americans left behind as we speak. Jacqui congressman, what are your biggest questions. Part of that is what do you want to know . What do you think everybody wants to know . Aside from that, what do you specifically want answers on that others might not be thinking about in terms of this hearing. Obviously we all want to know what is going to be done to get americans out. I have constituents that are still trapped. Did everything they were supposed to do and still found a gate locked and they could get out. Having said that, for me the biggest question is one of the public confidence in the outright misinformation which is another term sometimes for live by the secretary, by the president and others who in the days leading up told the world on my constituents who happen to be in afghanistan that the government wouldnt collapse. We wouldnt withdraw. It was safe. And then in fact both classified and unclassified information now helps us to know, they knew not only was it not that way but that the united states planned to abandon the country. Thats the question that i think is going to have to be asked. If you plan to abandon the country, if you knew the government was going to fall, how could you do it . How could you execute so poorly and be dishonest to American Citizens . By the way, what are the rights of 37 Million people who counted on america to give them opportunity to be free and now have basically handed them over to the same terrorists who dominated them in the years before we came. Jacqui you touched on so many important questions but another aspect is we are only beginning to see the regional impacts of this withdrawal. How important do you think it is that Secretary Blinken delivers a clear message about the biden Administrations Commitment to our allies like Taiwan And Ukraine . When you have key positions where you can defend people and help them be free and you can know about those who would deny them that, you usually dont give them up. We still maintain strategic positions in japan, in guam, and in south korea. Far more than we ever considered having in afghanistan. When we left afghanistan, we lost much of our visibility on iran, china, other players in the region and we did so for the lack of basically 2500 soldiers. We maintain 25,000 in south korea. Youre exactly right, the people of taiwan are living in terror that they are next. Those 23 Million people. 80 of the ships we count on to run our modern economy, the people of ukraine equally but it goes around the globe to people that are now looking, thinking they have to cut deals with the devil because theyd rather cut a deal like chamberlain then be absorbed without a deal. Jacqui how big of a risk is it that china takes bagram . It is a great risk that china will take over positions that we spent billions of dollars on and now use them in reverse to increase their reach. With their alliance with iran, increase the ability to allow iran and others to conduct the kind of Terrorist Attacks that they do. Not because its in Chinas Interest but because its to our detriment and of no particular interest to china. Thats the reason the alliance between china and iran, iran and the taliban and so on is so strong. We are their common enemy and they are willing to let each of them do something as long as it makes our life miserable. This is why iran operates around the world, how russia operates, more and more how china operates. Weve got to change it. Weve got to change very quickly or the South China straits, the whole region including japan will find itself living under the thumb, the iron thumb, of china. Jacqui congressman darrell issa. Appreciate your time here will be watching that hearing. Hope to talk to you again soon. John amid rising violence the fate of the Minneapolis Police department up in the air. Willow judge let the vote happen . I live report Coming Up next tei, with thirty grams of protein. Those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks [sighs wearily] here, ill take that woohoo ensure max protein. With thirty grams of protein, one gram of sugar, and now with two new flavors judith in this market, Youll Find Fisher investments is different than other Money Managers. 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Is your family ready for an emergency . You can prepare by mapping out two ways to escape your home, creating a supply kit, and including your whole family in practice drills. For help creating an emergency plan, visit safetyactioncenter. Pge. Com a little preparation will make you and your family safer in an emergency. A Weeks Worth of food and water, radio, flashlight, batteries and first Aid Kit are a good start to learn more, visit safetyactioncenter. Pge. Com Jacqui Fans of the university of Miami Football Team turning their attention from the game to a cat on saturday dangling off the upper deck at the hard Rock Stadium holding on for dear life as fans looked on. The feline would eventually fall on to an american flag. One fan grabbed the cat, showed it to the crowd, drawing a loud cheer. It lived. It was later taken away by Stadium Security workers. Im sure there are a number of jokes you can make about nine lives. Interesting that the flag was the rescue device. John thats the best Cat Rescue Story ive ever seen. It still leaves the question, how the cat got up there in the first place . Jacqui who brings a cat to a Football Game . John nice touch. The fate of the Minneapolis Police department up in the air. A judge to rule on a measure the cost for replacing the department with a new public safety department. Garrett tenney with more and this raises a lot of emotions on both sides. It really does. We are expecting a ruling on this decision are in this Case Either Today or tomorrow because as he mentioned early voting starts friday and the ballots have already gone to the printer. To be clear, this is the latest effort to defund the Minneapolis Police department. The political Action Committee Yes for minneapolis gather enough signatures for this Ballot Measure which if passed would clear the way for the City Council to replace mpd with the new public safety department. For the last month of group of folks have been waging a legal battle over the exact wording voters will see in the argue the current freezing is intentionally misleading and doesnt make it clear for voters what will happen if the measures passed. Previous efforts to dismantle the citys Police Department have stalled, as minneapolis is experiencing some of the worst violence its seen in decades. Overall violent crime is up 21 year to date compared to 2019. Homicides have more than doubled and are on track for the highest total in 20 years. Aggravated assaults up 22 . Its important to note that the Ballot Measure could have national implications. Theres a lot of money outside money and resources coming in for this election because activists believe if they are successful in getting rid of Minneapolis Police department, it could be the first step in doing the same thing in other cities across the country. John Garrett Tenney in chicago with the latest. Will keep watching. Jacqui we are standing by for Secretary Of State Antony Blinken. He will testify minutes from now on the chaotic withdrawal from afghanistan. We have questions about whats being done to get the americans out. Live coverage in moments. Morgan ortagus and general keith kellogg. Limu, youre an animal only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. 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. What are you wearing, dog . Theyre pants, dog. No, these are pants, dog. No way. My pants are pants, dog. Pizza on a bagel we can all agree with that. Uhm whatever those are, theyre not pants. [ ding ] joint pain, swelling, tenderness. My psoriasis. Cosentyx® works on all of this. 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So many questions that remain unanswered. How many americans are stranded under taliban control and what about our afghan allies we promised to evacuate but do not . In june Secretary Blinken told the same committee the u. S. With using every option to help afghan allies and gave this assessment of the situation in afghanistan. I dont think the fact that our forces are withdrawing, we are not withdrawing. We are mistaken. The mc staying. I dont think its going to be something that happens from a friday till monday. I wouldnt necessarily equate the departure of our forces in july, august or by early september with some kind of immediate deterioration. John the secretary turned out to be wrong. Kabul fell in a matter of hours after the telegram into the country even President Biden signed in july that a Collapse N Government was unlikely. We will bring you what could be a Blockbuster Hearing when the Secretary Of State is facetoface with furious lawmakers. First we are joined by former State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus and former national Security Advisor to President Trump and Vice President pence, general keith kellogg. Also fox news contributor. Morgan, general, great to see you. We have gone through secretary bieguns opening statement. Its a lot of President Bidens hands were tied. Donald trump negotiated this. Had no other choice. To get out and reiterating nobody saw this catastrophic collapse of the afghan government and military. Morgan, lets start with you. What do you want to hear from Secretary Biegun Today . Well, i think a lot of people in the Intelligence Committee would disagree with those lines that you just read from Secretary Blinkens testimony. Theres a lot of key things that should have happened at the State Department, beginning in april when President Biden decided that he was going to fully withdraw all troops without any conditions. You have things like, its been reported in the media by the free beacon that the Crisis Response Unit at the State Department thats responsible for evacuating americans in Crisis Situations, that was reporting directly to the undersecretary and to the secretary under mike pompeo. Under blinken that was moved back to the bureaucracy so there is no single point of failure or responsibility. When you have a Crisis Situation to get americans out. This is the kind of arcane questions that have to be answered that lead up to the type of disaster that we have seen. I would also want to know if i was a member of congress why is he still not named Counterterrorism Coordinator at the State Department . That was an incredibly important position especially when we are looking at the potential reemergence of Al Qaeda and isis in afghanistan. Finally i would want to know, why has there been no Asylum Agreements announced question rick this is one of the main things that the State Permit should have done before the military left, there was a situn the ground for afghans needed to be evacuated. We should have had thirdparty countries and place where it would have been safe for afghans to seek asylum instead of trying these heroic feats to get over the Border Or Jump on charter airplanes as we have tragically seen over the past month. Jacqui general kellogg, this is jacqui. We have heard that this Initiation Plan for every contingency but there were so many examples that seemed like surprises. The Communication Method that the State Department used to reach out to what were supposed to be priority groups became ubiquitous. To the point where people who were supposed to come to the Gate Couldnt get to The Gates because everyone had a Qr Code or whatever it was. Also reports about this isis bomb, shaky intelligence. What would you ask the secretary if you are in this Hearing Today . Great question. Thanks for having me today. The first question not necessarily the people that we have left behind but theres a bigger question. I would ask right at the start, why did you move away from the 29 February 2020 agreement made between the united states and the taliban, conditions face. One of the conditions we had was intraafghan talks between the taliban and the ghani government. If those agreements and stipulations did not occur, then the agreement fell apart and we had no obligation to leave on one main, 30 may, one september, or any other day. The second question that i would ask tony blinkens who was negotiating for us that the most senior levels . Who was talking to the taliban . President trump on two occasions talk to the taliban leadership, talked to them and made it very clear about the conditions for success going forward. The consequences if they didnt follow through. Did they talk to the taliban leadership . What did they say . The third question i would ask is what kind of requirements should you put on them as negotiators . What kind of agreements with the taliban . When you went to nato in june, what did you tell the alliance . What kind of agreement did you make with the alliance . Were we going to talk to them before we left afghanistan . Those are hard questions to ask and i think we need to have those answers is we lost a war, a 20 Year War. We lost it. John one person who should have a pretty good sense of where this is going is someone who was one time the secretary of defense, prior to that the Cia Director and also Chief Of Staff of the president of the united states. Talking about Leon Panetta. Listen to what he said yesterday about the reconstitution of Al Qaeda and potential taliban support for a reconstituted Al Qaeda in afghanistan. Its clear to me that they are going to continue to support Al Qaeda and allow Al Qaeda to basically continue to develop and expand and i think they will plan additional attacks on our country, as well as elsewhere. John morgan, back to you. Thats a pretty dire warning for a person whos got an awful lot of expertise in international affairs and intelligence. Yeah. Its important to note that isis just conducted a successful attack against american troops. We just saw them murdered in afghanistan a few weeks ago. Clearly there is capabilities. The situation is very applicable, as the general will no, to what President Trump had to deal with in Syria And Iraq whenever he took office. There was actually a physical caliphate of isis. One thing thats important to note, when you hear people in the military and other leaders talking about these over the horizon capabilities, i have talked about this on your show before. Counterterrorism strakes, these drone strikes, quoteunquote over the horizon strikes, thats not a Counterterrorism Strategy and thats what would we need to hear from Secretary Blinken today because isis will try to emerge. Al qaeda will try to get the taliban to let them continue to have a safe haven in afghanistan. These are all facts. If you take it back to the situation in Syria And Iraq when isis emerge there, President Trump had a comprehensive strategy, including some Special Forces boots on the ground to destroy the physical caliphate. Of course we remain in Iraq And Syria today in and advise, train, and equipped mission. We need to understand its possible to make sure that you keep the thread in check. Youll never stamp out an ideology. Crazy people will always believe in Al Qaeda and isis. You can destroy the physical caliphate that they tried to set up in afghanistan similar to what they set up in Syria And Iraq when President Trump took office. Jacqui general, one more question. My observation, seems our reporters have been able to get pretty good answers from the pentagon. Weve had press conferences. Weve had interviews. With respect to the State Department, we have been getting more information on background from a source with knowledge and fewer instances where the leadership is getting out and saying the things that the pentagon is giving access to in comparison. Do you see evidence of friction between the State Department and the Department Of Defense in terms of how they, their messaging, shining a light on whether there was any Conflict between them . Theres always a little bit of friction. You always see that between the Defense Department and the State Department. I saw that in the early years of the Iraq War when you had the friction between Donald Rumsfeld and the State Department. Under colin powell. Let me go back a second. What has happened with Leon Panetta is a pretty interesting comment because you have the agreement we had with the taliban that they would not allow Al Qaeda into their country or any other organization. That was part of the agreement. Now when you look at what you see now, you look with on the left side, you look at a map. You have iran, afghanistan, pakistan. Talk about and isis caliphate. You have got a huge amount of territory that is now controlled by basically to meet a Rogue State on the left with iran, afghanistan and supported by pakistan that has nuclear weapons. Enormous potential for a huge Terrorist State in the Middle East thats bigger than weve ever seen before. I think we have to be aware of that. I want to close by saying we have the original agreement and the agreement with the taliban was they would not allow Al Qaeda, Isis K or anybody to operate in the country once we signed an agreement. That agreement was not signed so there shouldnt have been any need for leaving the country until an agreement was made. Its sort of like we are where we are. Ask tony blinken those hard questions. John looks like we are getting pretty close to this hearing. This hearing will be virtual at least in part while we have the members of the committee there. They have assembled in the hearing room. Secretary blinken is going to be coming via virtual appearance. As the chairman get set to take his seat, will be starting in just a second. Morgan, let me ask you this question. The President Said in his speech in shanksville, pennsylvania, on saturday that you cant have u. S. Military everywhere that there is Al Qaeda. Basically said, are you kidding me, come on, man. Clearly you can have troops everywhere there is an Al Qaeda cell. When you could make a credible and potentially compelling case, the place from which 9 11 was launched. If you cannot trust the taliban to go back to where was 20 years ago. Its also just not true with the President Said. We do have Special Forces in almost every place around the world where there is a counterterrorism thread. That goes from Iraq And Syria to africa. One of the reasons that we are global superpowers because we have the capability to stomp out any threats to us. Theres nobody in the country that im aware of thats arguing for 100,000 troops anywhere. What we do want to do is to be able to have intelligence on the ground to be able to stop the sort of threats. The general just brought up iran. One of the questions that should be asked of Secretary Blinken today is the fact that iran still harbors Al Qaeda senior leadership. Are they, is iran going to allow Al Qaeda senior leadership to go back into afghanistan . That would be a huge threat. Are we going to give iran billions of dollars in Sanctions Release . Theres a lot of tough questions not only about afghanistan but also about the diplomacy so to speak that Secretary Blinken and his team are trying to have with the largest Terrorist State in the world, the islamic republic of iran. John we are looking at chairman meeks from the state of new york. Looks like hes just about set to gavel in the hearing. Not sure what they are waiting for elicits to make sure that the secretary of States Signal is good and strong. He looked like he was ready to go. Lets listen in. Speak of the committee on foreign affairs will come to order. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess of the committee at any point in all members will have five days to submit statements. Extraneous material and questions for the record. Subject to the limitation of the rules. To insert something into the record, please have your Staff Email the previously mentioned Address Or Contact full committee staff. As a reminder to all members, please keep your Video Function on at all times. Even when you are not recognized by the chair. Members are responsible for muting and on muting themselves. Consistent with House Rules, staff will only mute members as appropriate when they are not eliminating background noise. They are now waiting to bring up the secretary. Im here, mr. Chairman. Thank you, mr. Secretary. Before i make my opening remarks, mr. Secretary, thank you, number one, for being here. Given this topic and the importance of this topic and this committees constitutional responsibility of oversight, i wanted to ask you whether or not you would be willing to stay to answer all member questions. We want all members have the opportunity, knowing that this is the first time we are having some testimony regards to pulling out since August 31st of this year. Would you have the ability to stay to answer all members questions . Mr. Chairman, i am prepared to stay until every member has had an opportunity to ask a question, yes. Thank you, mr. Secretary. I see that we have a quorum. I now will recognize myself for opening remarks. Pursuant to notice, we meet today to evaluate the united states withdraw from afghanistan and the series of policies from the past 20 years that led to the events of augus. Mr. Secretary, it is good to have you back here before our committee a third time since you have been secretary. Thank you and we appreciate your recognition of the important role of this legislative body in conducting oversight of the executive. I want to start off by citing some Numbers. 800,000. Thats number of americans who served with the u. S. Military in afghanistan since 2001. 2,461. Thats the number of American Military Personnel who died in afghanistan, including the 13 Brave Americans who were killed facilitating the evacuation of 124,000 people over the course of 17 days. 66,000, the number of Afghan National Security Forces killed in the Conflict. 47,245. Thats number of afghan civilians killed since 2001. 20. Thats the number of years weve been fighting in afghanistan, a war that has gone on for almost 20 years is a disaster. Disentangling ourselves from the War In Afghanistan was never going to be easy. For my friends who presume a clean solution for the withdrawal, i would welcome hearing what exactly is smoothed withdrawal from a messy, chaotic 20 Year War looks like. I have yet to hear the clean Withdrawal Option because i dont believe one exists. Are there things the administration could have done differently . Absolutely yes, as always. Foremost for me is for the State Department to evaluate how we can better evacuate americans when events unravel quickly. I look forward to hearing from the secretary how the State Department tends to complete its evacuation of the 100 to 200 americans remaining in afghanistan who want to come home. As well as for evacuating those afghans who worked alongside us during the past 20 years. However, it is important to separate their criticism from criticism that isnt made in good faith and divorced from the realities on the ground in afghanistan. We have heard some criticized the decision to close bagram which they claim would have been better suited for evacuations. As though it would have been easier to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people from an airfield 40 miles outside of kabul. Others criticize the decision to not keep a small counterterrorism force. I asked where would this where was this protest when the Trump Administration sidelined the afghan government in order to cut a deal with alabama one month after the abduction of a navy veteran. Where were the protests when then President Trump and Secretary Pompeo agreed to withdraw all troops by May 21st . Let me remind everyone trumps deal forced the afghan government to release 5,000 prisoners. And offered international legitimacy to the taliban. It with a deal that failed to require the taliban to separate from Al Qaeda terrorist i do not require the taliban to stop attacking the afghan government. The deal alter the political order of the country. Some may say trumps was conditions based. It was different that it came with a strong, stronger conditions. Thats simply not true. The choice before President Biden was between a full withdrawal and thousands of americans in afghanistan for an undefined time. To argue that there was a third option, limited President S for the safety of our personnel could be preserved in my mind is a fantasy. Had we not removed american troops from afghanistan, we would have left them in the middle of a rapidly deteriorating War Zone with no assurances they would be spared by the taliban. It strikes me that many of those critical of the Administrations Evacuation efforts are really just angry that the president made good on his plans to end americans involvement in the War In Afghanistan. They are masking their displeasure with criticism but failed to offer feasible alternatives. Once again, you are seeing domestic politics injected into foreign policy. The talibans quick takeover of provinces provinces, afghan security forces laying down their arms and president ghanis abrupt departure, watching 20 years of effort crumble in a matter of days has made it all the more clear that we could no longer occupy afghanistan that the President S decision to bring our Troops Home was the right one. For me, as i close, closing this chapter of the u. S. Afghanistan book is a difficult one. I voted to authorize the war back in 2001. After the Terrorist Attacks on september 11th. The 20 years since, i have seen how this Conflict cost the lives of countless americans, afghans, and our nato partners. What makes this all the more difficult is this is a war that should have ended 19 years ago with a different outcome. But our hubris, our desire to remake afghanistan, our willingness to negotiate got in the way. These are hard truths but only by examining these hard truths will we be able to understand what went wrong in his hand. The task before us on this committee, one that im committed to making, will explore the past 20 years. We will be talking to individuals from the bush administration, the Obama Administration, the Trump Administration, as well as the biden administration. I recognized mr. Mccall for his opening statements. I want to thank the secretary for agreeing to stay until every member has been heard. Every member has a right to ask questions on such an important topic. Over the last several weeks we have witnessed afghanistan rapidly fall to the taliban and they chaotic aftermath that followed. This didnt have to happen but the president refused to listen to his own generals and the Intelligence Community. They warned him precisely what would happen when we withdrew. This was an unmitigated disaster of epic proportions. I never thought in my lifetime that i would see an unconditional surrender to the taliban. For weeks, our office is flooded with requests to help people get out of afghanistan, request that were coming to us because the State Department failed to provide help. And then the unimaginable happened, august 26. 13 american servicemen and women were brutally murdered by isisk trying to help americans escape from the taliban. Two days ago we commemorated the 20th Anniversary of 9 11. What will he mourn the loss of almost 3,000 innocent people, the taliban celebrated by raising their flag over the president ial palace. Days before, their flag on the wall of our united States Embassy, proclaiming the defeat of the united states of america. Shockingly, the White House is described the Taliban Regime as businesslike and professional. Lets meet a few of these professionals, socalled new and improved taliban. The acting prime minister. One of the talibans founding leaders. Hes also sanctioned by the united nations and sheltered Usama Bin Laden for years. The infamous members of the taliban five release from guantanamo under the Obama Administration, also all hold senior positions in the new government. Finally, the worst. The acting interior minister. He is responsible for overseeing policing and counterterrorism. He is also wanted by the fbi. He is the head of the brutal Haqqani Network with close ties to Al Qaeda and is currently sanctioned by the united states. Most of the new and improved taliban leaders hold the same or similar positions they held prior to 9 11. We are now at the mercy of the Talibans Reign of terror. All while a dark veil of Sharia Law covers afghanistan. The freedoms our troop to help secure for women and girls have been stripped away in a matter of weeks. This in my judgment is not only disgraceful. It also dishonors the men and women who served our nation so bravely. Mr. Secretary, the american people dont like to lose. Especially not to the terrorists. That is exactly what has happened. This has emboldened the taliban and our adversaries. The taliban, designated terrorist group, now equipped with american weapons that most countries in the world just a few weeks ago, thousands of terrorists, the worst of the worst were all released from prisons as the taliban overran the country. The situation we find ourselves in is far worse in my judgment is a former chairman of homeland security committee, far worse than pre9 11. To make matters worse, we abandoned americans Behind Enemy Lines. We left behind the interpreters who you, mr. Secretary, and the president both promised to protect. I can summarize this in one word. Betrayal. The america i know keeps its promises. The most important promise in our military is no man left behind. No one left behind. But you broke his promise. Unfortunately it wasnt the only promise this administration broke. In april, President Biden promised will not conduct a hasty rush to the exit, and we will do it responsibly, deliberately, and safely. With that promise was broken. That in july the President Said theres going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of the united States Embassy in afghanistan. That promise was also broken. Our standing on the World Stage has been greatly diminished. Our enemies no longer fear us and our allies no longer trust us. Our afghan veterans are questioning if their sacrifice was worth it. For those veterans who are watching this today, i have a message for you. Your service was not in vain. It is because of your heroism that we have not witnessed a largescale attack by the terrorists since 9 11 in the last 20 years. For that i say to all of you, thank you. So we are here today to better understand how this administration got it so wrong. I hope you will directly answer our questions, mr. Secretary. We have quite a few. With that, mr. Chairman, i yield back. The chairman yields back. To the chair of the subcommittee on asia, the pacific, central Asia And Nonproliferation for one minute. Think you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, mr. Secretary for coming before the subcommittee. Obviously its not going to be an easy hearing. There will be a lot of questions back and forth. Ensure that over the next few months in the subcommittee and full committee level, we will do some more oversight on that information and so forth. I want to focus on the mission still at hand. In my district, a large afghan refugee population. We submitted over 10,000 names of u. S. Citizens, Visa Holders, family members, et cetera. That mission still remains. I have got close to 30 schoolaged kids that are still in afghanistan. U. S. Citizens, Visa Holders and their parents. Weve got to do everything we can to get those folks to safety. I look forward to working with you, your staff, and others to make sure we dont leave folks behind and we get them out. I look forward to the testimony and with that i yield back. Thank you. I turned to the Ranking Member for one minute. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, this Administrations Pullout from afghanistan may be the worst foreign Affairs Disaster in american history. Youve essentially surrender their country and its people to the good graces of the taliban. The taliban doesnt have good graces. Afghanistan is once again a haven for terrorists. Those terrorists now have our weapons and equipment to use against us. As mr. Mccall correctly stated, our allies may well not trust us as much and our enemies may not hear us as much. The majority of the american people wanted to leave afghanistan but not like this. Pulling our troops out before civilians. Abandoning americans Behind Enemy Lines as well as thousands of afghans who have worked with us and fought with us and their families. Leaving half the population, about 20 Million women and girls, to be brutalized once again by the taliban. This is a disgrace. I yield back. Thank you. Now i will introduce our witness. Secretary of State Anthony james lincoln was sworn in as the united States Secretary of state. Antony blinken. This will be the third time Secretary Lincoln testifies before the committee and we are grateful for his appearance before us today. I will now recognize the witness for his testimony which i understand will be longer than s going to be here for all of our questions, i think its important for his statements to be heard in its entirety. Secretary blinken, i now recognize you. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member mccall, thank you for today. I welcome this opportunity to discuss our in afghanistan including where we are and where we are going in the weeks and months ahead. For 20 years, congress has conducted oversight and provided funding for the mission in afghanistan. I know from my own time as a Staff Member for then Senator Biden how invaluable it is. As i said when i was nominated, i believe strongly that congress is a traditional Role And Partner in policymaking. Im committed to working with you on the path forward in afghanistan and the behalf of the interests of the american people. On the 20th Anniversary of 9 11 as we honor the nearly 3,000 men, women and children who lost their lives, we are reminded why he went to afghanistan in the first place. To bring justice to those who attacked us and to ensure it would not happen again. Reaching those objectives long ago. Usama Bin Laden was killed in 2011, a decade ago. Al Qaedas Capabilities were degraded significantly, including its ability to plan and conduct external operations. After 20 years, 2,641 american lives lost, 20,000 injuries, a trillions vent. Time to end americas longest war. When President Biden took office in january, he inherited an agreement that the predecessor made with the taliban to remove all forces by may 1st. As part of that agreement the previous administration agreed to release, negotiated to release prisoners. And to reduce our troop presence. In return, the taliban agreed to stop attacking u. S. And partner forces and refrain from threatening afghanistans major cities. The taliban continued guerrillas marginal remote outposts, checkpoints and villages, districts as well as major roads. By January 2021 the taliban was in the strongest Military Position it had been in since 9 11 and we have the smallest number of troops on the ground since 2001. As a result upon taking office, President Biden immediately face the choice between ending the war or escalating it. Had he not follow through on his predecessors commitment, tax on our forces and those of our allies would have resumed and the talibans nationwide assault on afghanistans major cities would have commenced. That wouldve required substantially more u. S. Forces in afghanistan to prevent the taliban takeover. Taking casualties, and with at best restoring a stalemate and remaining in afghanistan Under Fire indefinitely. There is no evidence that staying longer would have made the afghan security forces were the afghan government anymore resilient or selfsustaining. 20 years and hundreds of billions of dollars in support, Equipment And Training did not suffice, why would another year, another five . Another ten . Conversely, there is nothing that our strategic partners or adversaries wouldve liked more than for the united states reup a 20 Year War and remained bogged down in afghanistan for another decade. I was in constant contact with our allies and partners to hear their views and factor them into our thinking. The president announced, nato immediately and unanimously embraced it. We all decided together on the drawdown. Similarly we were intently focused on the safety of americans in afghanistan. In march, we began urging them to leave the country. In total, between march and august, we sent 19 specific messages without warning and with offers to help including financial assistance to pay for plane tickets. Despite this effort, at the time the evacuation began, there were still thousands of American Citizens in afghanistan, almost all of them we evacuated by August 31st. Many were dual citizens living in afghanistan for years, decades, generations. Deciding whether or not to leave the place they know as home was an incredibly wrenching decision. In april, we began drawing down our embassy, ordering nonessential personnel to depart. We also used this time to significantly speed up the processing of the special Immigrant Visas for afghans who had worked for us and by our side these past 20 years. When we took office, we inherited a program with a 14 Step Process based on a statutory framework enacted by congress and involving multiple Government Agencies and a backlog of more than 17,000 applicants. They had not been a single interview in the Siv Program in kabul for nine months going back to march of 2020. The program was basically stalled. Within two weeks of taking office, we restarted the Interview Process in kabul. On february 4th, 1 of the very first Executive Orders issued by President Biden directed us to immediately review the Siv Program, identify delays and find ways to process applications more quickly. This spring i directed significant additional resources of the program, expanding the team In Washington People Processing Applications from 10 to 50, and doubling the number of adjudicators in kabul. As many Embassy Personnel returned to the united states under order departure, we sent more officers to kabul to Process Siv applications. As a result of these and other steps including working with congress, by may we had reduce the average price for special Immigrant Visas by more than a year. Even amid a surge in kabul in june, we continue to issue visas. One from issuing about 100 special Immigrant Visas of the in march to more than 1,000 in august on our Evaluation And Relocation efforts. That Emergency Evacuation was sparked by the collapse of the afghan security forces and government. Throughout the year, we were constantly assessing their Staying Power and considering multiple scenarios. Even the most pessimistic assessments did not predict that Government Forces in kabul would collapse while u. S. Forces were made. As general milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff has said, nothing i or anyone else saw indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days. Nonetheless, we planned and exercised a wide range of contingencies. Because of that plan, we were able to draw down our embassy and move our remaining personnel to the airport within 48 hours. And the military, placed on standby, able to secure the airport and start the evacuation. Within 72 hours. The evacuation itself was an extra near effort under the most difficult conditions imaginable. By our diplomats, our military, our intelligence professionals. They worked aroundtheclock to get American Citizens, afghans who helped us, citizens of our allies and partners and at risk afghans on planes out of the country and off to the united states or to transit locations that are diplomats had arranged and negotiated multiple countries. A consular team worked to Reach Out To Americans who could still be in the country, making 55,000 phone calls, sending 33,000 emails. They are still at it. In the midst of this effort, and Isis K attack killed 13 service members working The Gates. Killing and wounding scores of afghans. These american service members gave their lives so that other lives could continue. In The End, we completed one of the biggest Air Lifts in history with 124,000 people evacuated to safety. On August 31st in kabul, the Military Mission in afghanistan officially ended in a new Diplomatic Mission began. I want to acknowledge the more than two dozen countries that have helped with the relocation effort. Some served as transit hubs, some welcoming afghan evacuees. I want to recognize the extraordinary efforts by congress as well. To name just a few examples. Congressman fitzpatrick worked with the State Department to reunite an afghan family in new jersey. Congressman keating work with folks on the ground to help a voice of America Reporter and his family get to the airport. Congresswoman jacobson. Congressman issa worked across party lines. Please note your emails, your calls made a real difference in getting people out and we continue to use the information that youre providing the next phase of the mission. Let me briefly outline what the State Department has done over the last couple weeks and where we are going in the days and weeks ahead. First we moved our diplomatic operations from kabul. The new team is hard at work. Key partners have joined us. Second, we are continuing our lot less effort help any remaining americans. As well as citizens of partner countries. This past thursday, the qatar Airways Charter flights departed kabul and landed in doha. On friday a second flight departed. These fights were the result of a coordinated effort by the united states, qatar, and turkey to reopen the airport and intense diplomacy is to start the fights. Half dozen American Citizens, dozen permanent residents of the united states, have also left afghanistan via an Overland Route with our help. We are in constant contact with American Citizen still in afghanistan whove told us they wish to leave. Each has been designed to case Management Team to offer specific guidance and instruction. Some declined to be on the first flight for reasons including more time for arrangements, being with extended family or medical issues. We will continue to help them and help any american who still wants to leave and afghans to whom we have a special commitment. Just as we have done in other countries where we have evacuated our embassy and hundreds or even thousands of americans remained behind. For example, in libya, syria, venezuela, yemen, somalia. There is no deadline for this mission. Third, we are focused on counterterrorism. The taliban is committed to prevent terrorist groups from using afghanistan as of these for external operations that could threaten the united states or allies including Al Qaeda and isisk. We will hold them accountable for that. That does not mean we will rely on it. We will remain vigil impaired will maintain robust counterterrorism capabilities. Neutralize those threats if necessary. We do that in places around the world where we do not have Military Force on the ground. Fourth, we continue our intensive diplomacy with allies and partners. We initiated a statement joined by more than half the worlds countries, over 100 countries, as well as the united Nations Security Council resolution setting out the International Communitys expectations of a telegram led government. We expect the taliban to ensure freedom of travel, to make good on its commitments on counterterrorism, to uphold the basic rights of the afghan people including women, girls, and minorities. To name a broadly representative permanent government. The legitimacy and support, the taliban seeks from the International Community will depend on its conduct. We have organize Contact Groups and key countries to ensure the International Community continues to speak with one voice on afghanistan and to leverage our combined influence. Last week i led a meeting of 22 countries, neato, the e. U. , united nations to continue to a. It will continue to support humanitarian aid to the afghan people. Consistent with sanctions that the aid will not flow through the government rather through independent organizations like ngos. Today we announced the united states is providing nearly 64 Million in new humanitarian assistance the people of afghanistan to meet critical needs, dress the protection concerns of women, children and minorities, to help more children including girls, go back to school. This additional funding means the united states has provided nearly 330 Million in assistance to the afghan people this fiscal year. In doha and ramstein, i toured the facilities where afghans are being processed. Here at home i spent some time at the center where more than 45,000 afghans have been processed after arriving in the united states. Its remarkable. Remarkable to see what our diplomats, our military and employees from other civilian agencies across the u. S. Government have been able to achieve in a very short time. They have met in a normas human need. They coordinated food, water, sanitation. Tens of thousands of people. They are arranging medical care including the delivery of babies. Reuniting families separated and caring for unaccompanied minors. Its an extraordinary Interagency Effort and a powerful testament to the skill, the compassion, and the dedication for people. We should all be proud of what they are doing. As we have done throughout our history, americans are no welcoming families from afghanistan into our communities and helping them resettle if they start their new lives. Thats something to be proud of as well. Thanks for much for listening. With that, mr. Chairman, Ranking Member, i look forward to your questions. Thank you, Secretary Blinken, for your testimony. I would now recognize members for 5 minutes and pursuant to House Rules all time yielded is for the purposes of questioning our witness. Our Committee Seniority alternating between democrats and republicans. Please note i will be strict and enforcing the five minute time limitation for questioner. I dont want members to ask questions for 5 minutes and then not leave the secretary time to respond. So window dressing your questions, please keep in mind that the 5 minutes is for questions and answers. Ill start by recognizing myself. Mr. Secretary, youve mentioned an area of concern that i know is shared by all, the status of American Citizens, green card holders, and our siv heroes who have yet to be evacuated. Can you tell us how many of them remain in country and what is our plan to facilitate their evacuation . Thank you, mr. Chairman. As of The End of last week, we had about 100 American Citizens in afghanistan who had told us they wish to leave the country. I want to emphasize that this is a snapshot in time. Its more accurately a moving picture, as you know. Stepping back from it. To know precisely at any given moment in time exactly how many American Citizens or in any country is something we cant and dont know. Americans are not required to register when they go to a foreign country or if they reside there. So from the start of this effort, we have been engaged in an intense effort to identify every american simpson that we could in afghanistan to be in touch and be in Contact And Work with them if they wanted to leave. We have also benefited greatly from information provided by congress to help us fill out the picture. As of last week, there were about 100 that we were in contact with and will continue to express an interest to leave. We offered seats on the planes that got out last week to about 60. 30 came forward and use those seats. What happens in any given moment is people are making Decisions Hour by hour, if not day by day about whether to leave or not. As i said earlier, these are incredibly wrenching decisions because for the most part, this is a community of people who have been living, residing in afghanistan for all their lives. Afghanistan is their home. They have extended families and its very, very hard for them to make that decision. Thats the group we are working with. What also happens is, people will identify themselves, including since The End of the evacuation, as American Citizens in afghanistan who wish to leave. So they get added to the picture. We get information from you, ngos, other groups, veterans groups about people reporting to be americans in afghanistan. We seek to contact them and engage and find out if they are in afghanistan and if they want to leave. This is a picture that will continue to change over time. Thats the rough population of that we are working with right now. Thank you. Next question. I know the Trump Administration, that there were 2500 troops remaining with less than five months to complete the withdrawal. At any time did the biden administration consider whether to renegotiate the deal with taliban . The taliban made abundantly clear in many public statements, private statements to us, to others around the world that it was going to hold us to the deadline that the previous administration negotiated in terms of withdrawing the remaining american forces. Its made very clear that if we moved past that deadline, it would resume the attacks that it had stopped on our forces and on our allies and partners as well as to commence the onslaught on the cities that we have seen in recent months. So that was exactly the choice for President Biden faced. Whether to go forward with the agreement and the commitments that his predecessor had made in terms of withdrawing all forces by may 1st. Or return to war with the taliban and escalated, not end it. You know what the president did do was to take some risk in extending past me first the time we would use to actually withdraw our forces so that we could do it in the safest and most orderly way possible. One more question. Extended that deadline until september. Also we know that there was a point recently in the government hardliners, the new taliban commitment to share power with other afghan political or social groups, excludes women and minorities. How does the appointment of his new Government Factor into the Administration Strategy to engage with the taliban or assumptions that the taliban may have changed . The interim government named by the taliban falls very short of the mark that was had by the International Community. For inclusivity, to have a government broadly representative of the afghan people, not just the taliban. To include women, which this interim government does not. As has been noted, it includes many key members who have very challenging Track Records. We have been very clear that when it comes to engaging with that government or any government to be named on a more permanent basis, we are going to do so on the basis of whether or not it advances our interests. Those interests are very clear. Expectations that we set and that the International Community has set. Ongoing freedom of travel. For a government that makes good on cannot allowing afghanistan as a place to launch attacks. Support the rights of afghan people. And to allow humanitarian assistance to get to people who so desperately needed. That will be the basis upon which we engage any taliban led government whether its this interim government or one they may name in the days and weeks ahead. I yield of her questions. Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary. In the weeks before the fall of kabul, the surrender to the taliban, i was on the phone with highranking officials at state, dod, White House trying to save lives. We had americans that couldnt get out. We had interpreters who couldnt get through the perimeter of the taliban. They were left behind. They will be executed. They have a bullseye on their back. We had four buses of afghan girls, orphans that the american University School of music that sat there for 17 hours when i was finally told the State Department would not let them into safety even though they had an aircraft waiting period will view guaranteed to this committee was to mark now we are at the mercy of the tali. Can you guarantee to this committee that we will get them out . First, thank you for every effort you made as well as other members of the committee to help people in need, try to help them get out. Those are deeply appreciated and going forward, we continue to look to them. I have men and women in my department, State Department, who raise their hands from around the world and ran into the building. They went from posts around the world into that airport to help people out. They were serving at The Gates right alongside our brothers and sisters in uniform including the 13 who gave their lives literally trying to pull people in as necessary or to walk them in, talk them and, to do everything they possibly could to bring American Citizens, afghans at risk, citizens of nationals. Its important for you to recognize. We also thank the service of people who worked in Operation Pineapple at dunkirk. I would ask that the State Department worked with them. They are heroes as well. My last question, very important. Bagram went down. The embassy went down, and we went dark. We have no eyes and ears on the ground. We have lost Intelligence Capability in the region. That includes russia, china, and iran. This is a national Security Threat as china moves in. For all i know, they may take over bagram airbase. This over the Horizon Capability i believe is exaggerated. Its not viable option. Its too far away. Did you negotiate with countries like uzbekistan to put capabilities there . Is it true President Putin threatened the president of the united states, saying he could not build intelligence capabilities in the region . This is an important Question And One that in its Detail And Substance i think we need to take up in another setting for reasons i know that you very much appreciate. Let me say this mary bluntly let me say this very bluntly. Its metastasized dramatically over the last 20 years. Places like yemen, somalia. We have greater and different capabilities than we did 20 years ago terms of dealing with the threat. In many countries around the world we deal with it effectively with no u. S. Boots on the ground. We lost some capacity for sure and not having those boots on the ground in afghanistan. But we have ways, and we are actively working on it. To make up for that, to mitigate, make sure we have eyes on the problem, see if it reemerges in afghanistan and to do something about it. When i would propose. I would like to work with you. If we cant see whats happening on the ground, we cant see the threat and respond to it. The threat will only grow, get worse, not better. We have to have that capability. You know, let me ask you one last question. We had these planes grounded. The taliban seems to be holding these planes up. Are you negotiating with the taliban with respect to these americans that are trying to get out on these planes and also, are you negotiating with that taliban on the issue of legitimizing them as a real government . Not only us but virtually the entire International Community has made clear what we expect and insist on from the taliban. If they want to seek any legitimacy or support. It starts with freedom of travel. Weve been intensely engaged with Turkey And Qatar to get the airport in kabul up and running again, which is now the case. We started to get flights out last week with American Citizens on board. With regard to masari shareef. Theres been charter flights there for some time that have not been allowed to leave. We want to see the flights leave. We need to so a process put in place to all