Administration about to back boosters. Plus, a desperate and unprecedented surge at the u. S. Mexico Border. We talk to migrants who told us why theyve continued to make this incredibly dangerous journey. Welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper. We start today with our world lead. The White House this afternoon attempting to defend how it handled the u. S. Troop withdrawal from afghanistan as the taliban solidifies its grip on that country, and americans and allies rush to try to safely evacuate. This afternoon national Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the taliban has agreed to give civilians Safe Passage to the Kabul Airport where the u. S. Military is hoping to speed up the pace of evacuation flights within the next 24 hours. This striking image obtained by Defense One shows nearly 650 afghans packed inside a u. S. Military cargo plane. They were safely evacuated on sunday to qatar. The White House estimates that at least 11,000 americans remain in afghanistan. But those figures
Decision. Reporter Biden Hasnt shown any sign he believes his decision to pull most u. S. Troops from afghanistan triggered the current crisis. Instead, shifting blame to afghans. Afghanistan, political leaders gave up and fled the country. The afghan military collapsed sometimes without trying to fight. I inherited a deal that President Trump negotiated with the taliban. Reporter sullivan insisting biden isnt trying to pass the buck. As he said, the buck stops with him. That doesnt change the fact that there are other parties here responsible as well who have taken actions and decisions that helped lead us to where we are. Reporter and at this hour, President Biden remains at Camp David where officials insist he is following the situation in afghanistan by the hour. But one thing that President Biden is not doing is speaking with any foreign leaders. Since the fall of kabul he has not spoken with any foreign leaders. Those conversations have been happening at Sullivans Level as well a
Able to fully withdraw from the country until the end of the month. There are a contingent right now at the airport after 20 years of american Blood And Treasure and sacrifice, Critics Today are slamming the biden administrations handling of this chaotic pullout. Here is Secretary Of State Antony Blinken this morning on the Taliban Takeover. Weve known all along that the taliban was at its strongest position in terms of its strength since 2001 when we came to office, that was the fact. And we said all along including back then that there was a real chance the taliban would make significant gains throughout afghanistan. But on the other hand, i have to tell you that the inability of Afghan Security Forces to defend their country has played a very powerful role in what weve seen over the last few weeks. Eric we have live Fox Coverage for you on the dramatic unfolding developments. Trey yingst with the very latest on whats happening on the ground in afghanistan. First lets go to Kevin Cor
Top biden administration officials insist they knew there would be chaos in afghanistan as americans tried to leave this 20-year war. and that contingency plans were always in place. but as cnn s jeremy diamond reports, growing criticism is coming from all sides, blaming the administration for ignoring intelligence and warnings and for the potential fallout to come. reporter: facing mounting criticism over the chaos in kabul, today president biden staying out of public view, holdup at camp david while his national security advise york trying to contain the fallout. when you conclude 20 years of military action of civil war in another country with the impacts of 20 years of decisions that have piled up, you have to make a lot of hard calls. none with clean outcomes. reporter: even as desperate scenes have unfolded in kabul, sullivan insisting the u.s. planned for every contingency. but he said the administration will conduct a review of what went right and wrong. biden acknowledge
Swiftly kabul would fall. this did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated. reporter: but no one in his administration has explained how the u.s. was caught so flatfooted after nearly two decades at war. sources told cnn it s a question biden put to his team during briefings, answers have been harder to come by, amid internal finger-pointing. sullivan said the taliban have promised safe passage for civilians to the airport. but he refused to commit to evacuating every american in kabul after the planned august 31st withdrawal. so i m not going to comment on hypotheticals. i m going to stay focused on the task at hand which is getting as many people out as rapidly as possible. reporter: behind the scenes a senior white house official acknowledging our competence is being questioned. telling cnn the only way to fix that is to stabilize the airport and safely withdraw americans and our partners to the best of our ability. i stand squarely behind my