can t get to kabul and feel left behind. what is the advice the pentagon is giving them. what i tell you is largely speaking, we know we have an obligation to help these individuals and their families who helped us so much over the last 20 years. and we have been focused on this for quite sometime. there is a process by which they could apply for these visas. and the state department has now opened up the umbrella for other, what they call p-1 and p-2 opportunities. so i m not i m not an expert on that process, carla. but there is there is a process to follow and i highly encourage if they aren t already in the system to get themselves into the system. and i understand if i think i understand the second gist of your question, is are we going to be able to physically move someone from somewhere else in the country into the airport and right now our focus is on the airport itself and making sure
american journalism outlets. you re looking at safely well over 100,000 people. is there any safe passage for them or the taliban layoff that s what i was hoping to hear from our commander in chief yesterday. how long will we hold this air bridge? are we going to establish corridors? the state department has to stop giving people death sentences over typos and paperwork and the wrong forms filled out. they expanded the program, it s called p-1 and p-2. if you weren t necessarily an interpreter but you fit all those other categories, you stood for democracy and freedom publicly and against the taliban, you still have to get to a third country to then to pakistan or, or iran. we could eliminate that program. the state department could drastically streamline the bureaucracy like they did for the south vietnamese so many years ago. and then what are the rules of engagement for the military?
the airport. exactly. there s no way to get these afghans who desperately need to get out to get to the airport so there s even a chance of them getting out. kylie atwood, thank you for your reporting. national security analyst rebecca grant and new yorker columnist and distinguished fellow robin wright with us. to you first, rebecca. let s deal with there s a blame game that s being played. let s deal first with the people who are being trapped? this is the acute situation here. you have americans, afghan a allies, highly skilled and educated afghans who are particularly vulnerable to taliban reprisal. they may be eligible for p-1, p-2 visas. what happens to them if they are holed up in kabul? this may be as many as 60,000 people who are being told to shelter in place. job one is for the military to clear the ramp at kabul s international airport and resume
immigrant veisa, p-1 or p-2 vis and they can t get to the airport. we heard from john finer, national dispute security adviser last hour that there is no way to provide safe passage to the airport for these folks. what do you think of that? well, i think john finer was probably accurately describing the situation. this is what happens when a government collapses so quickly and so comprehensively across the board, both the security side and the political side. it leaves this very uncertain, unpredictable and dangerous outcome. it is terrible what we re watching unfold. sir, we certainly appreciate you giving us your expertise on it this morning. lieutenant general douglas lute, thank you. up next, will terrorists be able to take refuge in afghanistan again now that it has fallen so quickly to the taliban? search for survivors in haiti