Counterparts throughout the world and our allies, as has the general or, excuse me, i keep calling him a general but my secretary of defense. The fact of the matter is, i have not seen that. As a matter of fact, the exact opposite, i ve gotten. The exact opposite thing. We re acting with dispatch. We re committing to what we said we would do. Look, let s put this thing in perspective here. What interest do we have in afghanistan at this point with al qaeda gone? we went to afghanistan for the express purpose of getting rid of al qaeda in afghanistan as well as getting osama bin laden, and we did. Imagine just imagine if that attack if bin laden had decided, with al qaeda, to launch an attack from yemen. Would we have gone to afghanistan? would there ever be any reason we would be in afghanistan? controlled by the taliban? what is the national interest of the united states in that circumstance? we went and did the mission. You ve known my position for a long, long time. It s time to end
Checkpoints, and now u. S. Embassy as alert say the gates may open or closed without notice in that americans should use their best judgment when traveling emphasizing the u. S. Government cannot ensure safe passage. We have team box coverage retired fourstar general jack keane. We begin with jennifer griffin life at the pentagon with the latest ahead of the president. We have just received news that an american commander has just ordered plates resumed fro kabul after a nine hour pause. Fox news has also confirmed the u. S. Military does not have permission to leave the airport in carry out rescue operations even though british and french paratroopers are doing so great no american transport planes ha taken off in the past nine hour due to a logistical bottleneck red foxes learn the u. S. Military does not have permission from the white house to play people directly to the u. S. Despite preparations being made at three american bases. Many of the afghans who have been flown out, about
Certain afghanistan will become a safe haven for terrorists. I know you and the president have disputed that. What do you think those officials are getting wrong and can you ensure that americans are safer today because of your actions than we were several months ago? we have to deal with the threat of terrorism in syria and yemen and deal with the threat of terrorism across and deal with isis k and have to do so using a wide variety of tools, intelligence capabilities, defense cavebil capables and tht to provide to local partners to help them deal with the challenge and what we have shown is in many of the countries i mentioned among others, we have been successful to date in suppressing the terrorist threat to the u. S. Homeland in those countries without sustaining a permanent military presence or fighting in a war. And that is what we intend to do with respect to afghanistan, as well. This isn t a question whether we re clear eyed about the terrorist challenge from afghanistan. It
So quickly. Sandra: the desperation of the afghan people to flee can be seen in this photo appeared more than 600 people squeezing into that u. S. Air force cargo plane that left the country late sunday. Trace: 6,000 u. S. Troops are being deployed to secure kabul s airport. The only way out of the country. Runways were cleared of thousands of afghan civilians trying to escape. The story continues to develop, and we have at all. Mike pompeo is here and moments along with former u. N. Ambassador, nikki haley, and her first interview since the fall of kabul. Plus, senator joni ernst, bret baier, charlie hurt, and juan williams will all join us. Sandra: that is a packed up show. Heinrich is with us. And rich edson. Flights have resumed, although they are are major challenges even getting to the airport. Afghans there say there are checkpoints throughout the city. One contact centers videos from outside the airport, showing taliban fighters are resting and kicking a man in the face. He say
Bit later on in this broadcast. Tonight, though, on another front, far from home, the president is under intense criticism after the sudden collapse of the afghan government and military and the chaos that erupted over the weekend as the taliban took over the capital of kabul. This came in the wake of the president s decision to pull u. S. Troops out of the country after two decades and $2 trillion spent. Today, biden spoke to the nation and defended his decision. Our mission in afghanistan was never supposed to have been nationbuilding. I m president of the united states of america. And the buck stops with me. I m deeply saddened by the facts we now face. But i do not regret my decision to end america s warfighting in afghanistan. It is now tuesday morning in kabul. Airport has reopened for military flights to evacuate american citizens and afghan civilians. A photo shows over 600 people, mostly afghans, packed inside a c17 transport late sunday, all of them desperate to get out of a