kabul. and we are grateful for their commitment and dedication to the united states. i can confirm the vast majority of our staff and the immediate family members have been evacuated or are currently on the grounds of the karzai international airport. we're actively working to evacuate remaining staff and we have been in direct contact with them. these employees have served the united states. they have not only worked for us, they have worked with us. they are our colleagues as you heard us say before, our embassies around the world simply could not function without locally employed staff. and we will continue to do everything we can to bring them to safety. with that, matt? >>. >> so before you came out here, your colleague had a number of questions to you.

you can thank her that for later, some of which involved the -- some of the numbers you just went through. she gave some of those as well. but there are three things that i want to ask. can you be extremely brief in the answers. the i don't need long answers. do you have numbers after you just given us the asset numbers, do you have numbers or do those include nprs? do you have numbers for remaining siv snz do you have number for p-1, p-2 applicants? and in terms of the broader universe of at risk afghans, do you have numbers for those? secondly, she punted on the idea of a diplomatic presence post august 31st. i presume they did that because there isn't any decision. so can you bring us up to date if there is or is not? and what the negotiations are

like? and then the last one on that and i got one more after this quick is the airport. and the negotiations on who would run if anyone would. >> great. let me take those in order. i know there is untense interest in the numbers. as you heard today as you heard from the secretary over the past couple days, we have committed to providing all of you and in turn the american people with as precise figures we can. we're going to continue in repatriating the citizens. when it comes to sivs, what i can say is we have reached over the course of the past couple weeks since august 14th to thousands of upon thousands of

sivs, those are principle applicants, siv principle applicants as well as their families members. they can bring as many people to safety as quickly as possible. so in many cases, we are going to be in a better position to provide you fidelity on numbers in the coming days and the coming weeks. it's on as many planes as we k the counting we'll be able to do in more detail in the coming days. sivs, we reached out to thousands upon thousands. when it comes lawful permanent

residents. we have message in lprs since august 14th. west provided instructions to american citizens and also provided an opportunity for lprs to indicate their in in relocating to the united states. so again, we don't have precise figures to provide on that right now. >> are negotiations over both a possible on going continuing dup diplomatic presence and the airport? is there anything new there on either? >> i'll say a couple things on the diplomatic presence. there are a number of issues

implicated in a decision like this. first and foremost, this is always the case but acutely the cause after yesterday. is the safety, is the security of the americans who would be part of that mission, the secretary of state, the president of the united states and this full team wants to be confident that our people serving overseas, diplomats, service members, others are in a position to operate as safely and securely as possible. so that is a big piece of business. we're also discussing these broader issues with a range of our international partners. again this is not just a question that the united states will have to decide for itself. every country around the world will need to make a sovereign decision about any diplomatic

presence in kabul, in afghanistan going forward. >> but i'm telling you, we are coordinating with our international partners. again, to share ideas, to ensure that we're sending the appropriate signals and messages to the taliban. the taliban -- who by the way, have been quite clear and quut open in the fact that they would like other countries to retaun retain their diplomatic missions. we appreciate the embassies that remain open and didn't close, we assure them of safety and protection. this gets back to the point that the taliban have self interests here as well. >> the chinese and russians are not exactly -- anyway, there is

notization. >> it is something we're actively discussing with our partners and thinking about here as well. >> and the airport, those discussions still continue? >> well, i know there's been intense interest in the airport. so let me just spend a moment on that. maybe if someone else wants to hear all that, i just want to know if there is a decision. yes or no? >> excuse me. >> on who if anyone is going to run it afterward? >> matt, i -- >> i don't want to hear the whole thing, they can x. >> i assume as a journalist you would be interested in hearing the context here. upon our departure, we'll guf the airport back to the afghan people. this is not for us to decide. >> that's what i'm asking. i'm asking if there is another decision, that you're aware of and who is going to run the airport, if anyone after the 31st. then the last thing, i won't ask

another question at all. there was a briefing that was given to hill staffers and members of congress a little while ago in which a senior pentagon official, maybe misspoke, maybe people misheard it, but said, apparently, that the u.s. does not believe that isis is not a threat to the united states. is that correct? is that the administration's position? >> matt, i don't -- i have not heard that comment. so i couldn't -- >> regardless whether you heard it or not, is that -- is the administration's position now that isis and al qaeda do not present a threat to the united states? >> i would need to know more about the context of that specific quote. let me be clear this president has made certain and he has maud clear in no ambiguous terms that we will continue to confront using every appropriate tool,

groups like al qaeda, groups like isis, any group around the world wherever it is that would potentially pose a threat to the united states and our people. yes? >> only airports, i don't know if you've seen but just now there are a number of pictures and reports on twitter from various accounts that taliban units are moving into -- or towards -- into the kabul airport. have you seen that? has the united states military seen that? >> so my colleague at the white house was just asked about this as well. what dod has spoken to is retro grade planning, the fact that we certainly intend to complete our mission by august 31st. i'm just -- >> did you speak about the pictures were not -- this is just happening like the past half an hour. >> yep. i don't have any response to that. but if there is any change in

dod retro grade operations or timing, they need to be the ones to speak to that. >> u.s. forces would not be at the airport through the end of the day on august 31st? >> again, any timing operation when it comes to retro grade operations, the department of defense would need to speak to. that our people, those under chief of mission authority on the ground will leave the country as part of those operations. ultimately, dod will need to speak to the timing of those operations. >> wouldn't that affect the remaining evacuations of any remaining u.s. citizens or afghans who have permission to leave under the auspices? >> what i'll say generally, and this is the point that dod made, is that retro grade is not like turning a light switch. it is not off at one minute and on the next. this is a transition from a full scale evacuation to a retro

grade and departure. as for the mechanics of that, i need to refer to dod. >> i want to continue a little bit on recognition and aid. so there is -- we're seeing the reality sinking in it europe about taliban and they're accepting all that have to deal with the group. where is the united states on that? i know the focus is on the evacuation. the urgent element of that is providing humanitarian aid. since there is quite a butt of uncertainty about the airport as well, do you have express through commitment to provide that. so how exactly are you going to do it? >> in that it is something that

we are in regular, constant contact with our allies and partners around the world to discuss. you referenced some statements from unnamed european countries. there have been actual formal communications from including some of our closest allies in the world in the context of the g-7 and the context of nato in the context of other groupings. >> what you're referring to is a separate question from recognition. a separate question from conferring legitimacy. but what i will say is that these are questions that we're discussing with our european partners and beyond. as i believe you heard, our dpu it you secretary, every other day convenes a group of nearly

30 countries including nato allies and in the pacific region to discuss issues that are tactical and operational and also strategic in terms of what any relationship with the future government of afghanistan will look like. are not questions we're prepared to answer today because we have heard a range of statements from the taliban, some of them have been positive, some of them have been constructive. but ultimately, what we will be looking for, what our international partners will be looking for are deeds, not words. what we are going to be focused on and questions of any future diplomat uk presence, any questions of recognition, any questions of assistance is follow-through. again, deeds not words. humanitarian assistance is a

separate issue. and we have proven in context that are varied and really encompass the globe that we can maintain a humanitarian commitment to in this case the afghan people in ways that does not have any funding or assistance past through the coffers of the general government. i think the united states will be a generous donor to the afghan people over the past 20 years. it's nearly $4 billion. it is a quarter of a million -- excuse me, a quarter of a billion dollars we allocated just this summer and the president just a few days ago allocated another $500 million to support internally displaced persons inside afghanistan, afghan refugees and afghans around the world that need

assistance. yes? >> diplomatic presence, has the taliban directly, explicitly asked the u.s. in your conversations to keep the diplomatic presence? and if yes, what assurances have they provided for this security, et cetera? and also on the locally employed staff, vast majority out, can you talk about that? and how many are still not out or about to be out? >> in terms of diplomatic recognition and what we heard from the taliban, we have heard the -- >> excuse me, presence. we have heard the same thing from the taliban privately that they have been saying publicly. the i referred a moment ago to a public taliban statement that they want to remain open. they made very clear to us in our communication they would like to see an american diplomatic presence remain. ultimately, of course, it's not up to taliban. it's a determination that we

will need to make consistent with the overriding prerogative and that is the safety and security of american officials. it is a decision we plan to discuss and confer with our allies and partners as well. we assure them of the safety and froection. those are the same assurances we received in private. i can tell you, we don't put all that great value on, again, words. what we're going to be looking for is an indication that there is substance that, there is merit to those statements. an indication that there will be follow-through before we make any such decisions. remind me of the second question? >> the number of -- >> on the number of locally engaged staff, there have been hundreds moved to safety in

recent days. that is the vast majority of our locally engaged staff and family members. we don't have numbers. the vast majority are now safely out of afghanistan or at the airport compound. >> evacuated -- evacuation related questions. first off, there are reports that private planes are trying to fly into the airport to evacuate afghans but were turned away and told by the united states to not land. do you know if those reports are true? >> i would need to refer to the u.s. military to speak to those reports. what i can say is this has been a highly effective operation when it comes to the evacuation. you need look no further than, again, the metric that matters. that is 110,600 people through u.s. military and coalition flights since august 14th.

this is an operation that requires great deal of coordination. it is an operation that requires a great deal of choreography. any airport around the world, especially one as busy as this, look, karzai international airport know it is not chicago o'hare. it is the size of an airport of a fairly small town. so the orchestration and he could and coordination to have mult charter other aircraft to be able to take off every 45, every half hour -- every 45 minutes, every half hour, that is indeed a pretty sophisticated bit of business that i need to refer to dod on that front. >> the other part of that, some reports is that united states is telling other countries to not accept any planes of afghans at this pount s that true? >> that we're telling other kun truz not to accept planes?

>> yes? >> we're very warmly welcoming countries around the world who have opened their doors, who opened their borders, who put forward offers to accept afghan refugees. the united states has demonstrated incredible generosity as we often do in these times. but this will need to be a global effort. and we've been gratified that countries around the world have indicated a willingness to host afghan refugees and we continue to urge additional countries to do even more. >> and then one more kind of broader question. you said that some of the american citizens that actively decided not to leave afghanistan. i think we talked here -- maybe we have -- about reasons why they may not want to leave. specifically that they might not want to leave family members who don't have visas or are american citizens or don't have passports to get out. so i wonder if it this is

something that state department is looking at addressing more broadly, changing some of the visa requirements or citizenship requirements or that the ability to allow more people, family members, to come out so these american citizens don't have to make the choice between their safety and leaving their parents, loved ones, children behind. >> let me mach a couple broad points. number one, the number of individuals with whom we've been in contact who say that they don't wish to leave because they don't wish to leave their extended family behind. it is relatively small. especially when you look at the universe of american citizens that we repatriated, it is a relatively small number. but number two, when we talk about this this is important to understand the context around these numbers. the people we're in touch with, the individuals we believe to be

american citizens we're in touch with, that number will fluctuate. it will be dynamic. precisely because, especially as we get to a smaller and smaller universe of american citizens, they are making these decisions and sometimes reversing the decisions multiple times a day. so when we say that we're in regular contact, we mean regular contact. multiple times a day. sometimes hearing one answer. other times hearing another. as the remaining americans make these decisions. look, i'm not aware of any plans to change eligibility for visa requirements. we have a special commitment to american citizens. that special commitment is spelled out very clearly in 22 u.s. code section 4802 to american citizens. what i will say and the pount that is relevant to this is that

our military operation will come to an end by august 31st. what does not have an expiration date is our commitment to any american who for whatever reason decides not to take us up on to say i want help. i want assistance. now the tactics that may be available to us depending on where we are given all the questions you've asked about, they may be different. in fact, they almost certainly will be different. at least in the near term. but our kmutment to american citizens will not change. and american citizens who has extended family, those extended family members may be eligible to travel to united states. and we talked about the forms of eligibility. so again, august 31st is the end of the u.s. military operation.

it is not the end of our commitment. you couple that with what we heard from the taliban about their commitment to safe passage, not only on august 31st. they have not again that, is something we have to continue to press with the international community. this is about the follow-through. one point i make on this. one thing i did see just as i was coming down. again, put this into the category of for what it is worth. but on luf television, they said afghan orders are willing to travel in and out of afghanistan. that is the it rags of the commitment we have seen. what matters to us is that that

rhetoric is transformed into reality. that is something we're working on behind the scenes with our allies and partners around the world. >> are you aware of any u.s. citizens who were killed in yesterday's attacks that were not mult or any, you know, civilians? that accountability was complete shortly after we received word of the attacks. >> what is the state department's position on the opposition force that's cropped up across afghanistan? you are supportive of these? >> so our position is the same position that we had yesterday

for august 14th. before august 1st going back. this is what we have sought to facilitate and to support for quite a while now. this is the effort in doja. it is still the effort that is on going. and now it is an effort that has that is personnel on the ground in kabul or actually working on this as well. this is one we have to work with. it needs to be inclusive. ultimately, it needs to be a government that respects and upholds the rights of its

citizens. importantly, that includes the many market gains that afghanistan's women and girls, minorities have made with the help of the united states over the past 20 years. that's what we're looking for. you said amany people will be evacuated before august 31st. that implies that some people are not going to be on a plane leaving the country. what is the u.s. government's best estimate of how many people will still need help leaving afghanistan after august 31st? we have always sought to be clear about this. and sought not to sugar-coat what will be a time of great uncertainty and a time of great

fear, a time of concern for many afghans. and most of those afghans will not fall within the categories that we have been talking about. american citizens, green card holders, sivs, les, p-1, p-2. the rise of the taliban is of great concern to many afghans. well beyond the categories. really astounding numbers when it comes to evacuation. the commitment to help those in need and that includes american citizens who for whatever reason decide to stay behind to sivs who were not in a position to evacuate before august 31st to others who fall within the categories. but others who may not yet be in

those categories. that commitment will remain firm after august 31st. this is a commitment the united states has. it is a similar commitment we heard from our allies and partners. one important piece to this are these commitments on the part of the taliban to safe passage. another piece, another important piece is this business of the airport. and our interests, the interests of the international community, but also the professed self interest on the part of the taliban to have a civil -- a civilian airport that is open that, is functioning, that can be provide opportunity for afghan who's may wish to leave the country. that is important to us. that is why we're so focused on this and these questions right now. knowing that our commitment will not end and knowing the shear

vast quantity of the number of afghans who may seek to depart the country. >> for those who have not for any number of reasons not been able to get on to the airport campus and to know that at some point the next 24 to 48 hours that they will be on a plane, what guarantee can the u.s. government give to them at this point? they're very concerned that their targets, that the families are targeted and no matter what the u.s. is able to work out with the taliban, they may be killed in the interim waiting for someone to help them leave the country. >> again, we have brought to safety together with our partners more than 100,000 individuals. many of these individuals were precisely in that position. fearing that were they to have stayed behind, they could be subject to intimidation,

violence or worse for what they've done, for the causes of the espouse, the places they work or their gender. that is why we worked so hard together with our partners to affect this evacuation. but you're right. and there will be many more afghans who may wish to leave. again, we have a special responsibility to a subset of those individuals to american citizens who or duel nationals who want to stay behind and sivs who for whatever reason are unable to come to the airport at this time. to potential p-1 and p-2

referrals. consistent with everything we have said and the safe pass ablg and seeking to reinforce with our partners in the context of civilian airport that we're doing everything we can to see to it that with our partners it remains open and a avenue of refuge for those who seek to leave. but it is not just about beyond those -- >> you've been watching the state department briefing. we want to take you now to the pentagon where a briefing is about to gun with the spokesperson john kirby and an air force general in charge of north american command. >> lost their lives yesterday. the our thoughts and prayers along families and those serving around our globe doing our nation's business. we should keep them in our thoughts and prayers. less than a month ago i was with

you there in the room talking about our global information dominance is experiment three and today i'm here to discuss northern command support to allies refuge. in addition to our no fail mission of defending the homeland, united states northern command provides defense support of civil authorities or disca. today the dsca operations are relieving pressure on the overburden medical systems in louisiana, mississippi, and alabama currently. while simultaneously supporting wild land fire fighting in the western united states. additionally we're providing support to the department of homeland security and the u.s. customs and border protection by conducting detection and monitoring and transportation support for the southwest mission. we're also ready to conduct hurricane relief effort it's required. and, of course, u.s. northern command is providing support within the continental united states for operation allies refuge. on july 14th, the white house announced operation allies

refuge which provides he will jubl afghan nationals and their immediate families with support of the u.s. government the opportunity to relocate to the united states. the department of state subsequently activated the afghanistan coordination task force and requested the department of defense provide temporary support for up to 3,500 afghan special immigrant applicants. on august 15th, the department of state requested and the secretary of defense approved additional support for afghan special immigrant visa applicants and other vulnerable afghans. in response to this request, the u.s. northern command we're providing temporary housing, medical screening, transportation, and other services for both afghan special immigrant visa applicants and at risk afghans. u.s. northern command has been tasked to build capacities to support up to 50,000 afghans to do that, the department of defense under u.s. northern command establishes task forces at for the lee in virginia, ft.

bliss in texas, ft. mccoy in texas and mcguire dix in new jersey. on august 25th, the secretary of defense authorized three additional military installations to provide support inside the united states for afghan special immigrant visa applicants, families and other at risk individuals. this includes marine corps base quantico and ft. picket in virginia and the air force base in new mexico. as to have day, ft. picket has 1,000 afghans and working with the other two installations to finalize the final respective capacity. while not a task force, u.s. northern command is supporting operation allies refuge with services and additional forces including assisting with managing the flow of evacuees aat dulles airport and the philadelphia international airport in pennsylvania. that airport is opening up today. additional sites are possible. here's the snapshot real quickly of some of the numbers that

you'll see at the task force. task force eagle at ft. lee virginia stood up in july and has capacity for 1,750. today task force eagle at ft. lee supported 1,647 afghan special immigrant visa applicants and their families. half of whom have completed the process and have moved on with the support of the department of state, nongovernmental, intergovernmental organizations and volunteer organizations. task force bliss at ft. bliss, texas, currently has capacity of 5,000. and received first flights with vulnerable afghans on saturday, august 21st. the base supported to date 2,160 afghans. housed in a mix of hard and soft structures. final capacities expected to be at least 10,000. task force mccoy, wisconsin, currently has capacity of 10,000 and received first flights with at risk afghans on sunday, august 22nd.

to date, task force mccoy supported 2,383 afghans who are being housed in hard structures with shower and bathroom facilities in each building. task force liberty at joint base mcguire dix new jersey currently has a capacity of 3,500 and received us first group of afghans wednesday august 25th. to date, task force liberty supported 1,192 afghans who are being housed in a mix of hard and soft sided structures. final capacity at task force liberty is expected to be at least 10,000. so today our total capacity at these four installations is 21,000 and work being. we're working to increase capacity to the 50,000 number by september 15th. the number of military inste lagss supporting this effort could increase in the future. the request for assistance from the state department sefkly requested that the department of

defense provide culturally appropriate food, water, bedding, religious services, recreation and other services such as transportation from the port of entry to the location of the accommodations and some medical services as well. my team of military civilian and contract personnel are working closely with the numerous agencies both government and nongovernment to ensure further requirements and additional capabilities are available for vulnerable afghans. in addition, the department of homeland security is working to conduct the screening and security vetting for all special immigrant visa applicants and other vulnerable afghans in the fastest way possible consistent with the duel goals of protecting national security and providing protection for vulnerable afghan who's supported the united states. that process involves biomet rick and guy bio graphic screens conducted by untell jens, law enforcement, and counter-terrorism professionals from the interagency community. we're working around the clock

to vet all afghans being evacuated before allowing them into the united states. during recent visits to ft. lee, ft. mccoy and bliss, i saw the operation firsthand. i watched our personnel operating with kmags compassion as they help the afghans and their families who have done s much for our united states and allies through two deck audz of conflict. i talked to the afghans in each location. during a conversation i had with one afghan family, i asked if they had what they needed. if they were doing okay. getting enough to eat? getting enough to sleep? the father thanked me saying they had what they needed. and that it was the first time in a long time he has slept without being afraid for his family's safety. so thousands of soldiers, sailors and airmen, marines are working across the united states to complete this mission to provide our afghan colleagues a safe harbor while they finalize

the immigration process. i'm grateful for the support of the community surrounding each of our bases and for the volunteers and others who are aiding in all of the efforts. together, we're honoring our commitment to our afghan partners families. i look forward to taking your questions. thank you. >> thank you, general. start with you. >> hi, general. can you tell us how many evacuees have gone through dulles? the governor said today the numbers are 14,000. we were told earlier there was about 7,000 siv. can you square those numbers for us? and then i have a follow up. >> i don't have a specific number for you. state department would be best to answer that. i can tell what you has come to us and that's 6,578 at four separate locations. i will tell you what we're seeing is of those that do

arrive at dulles, about 40% or so have been coming to us. others have been in other status such as having a green card already where they can move on from dulles. >> thank you. and my follow up is can you give us an assessment of both the security risks as well as the covid-19 risks? as you're doing -- everyone is doing the screenings, what security risks are you seeing? you are seeing a number of people showing up on lists and then what about covid? how is that testing going? what are the threats at the bases for covid-19? >> thanks. so for security. i would defer to dhs that runs that operation. i'm very comfortable. we've worked the streamline that operation. as i said in my opening comments, we're doing buy graphical and biomet rick testing across the various agencies of the interagency to include our counter-terrorism and intelligence communities. what we're seeing is folks

coming across cleared by that process which i'm comfortable with. with regards to covid, the afghans coming from the middle east into our locations that we have stood up are all being tested. actually multiple times. we test them 100% upon arrival at each location. they're getting tested at dulles as well. and en route they get tested. i'll give you some numbers. we are seeing so far to date when i was at ft. mccoy only three out of more than 1,300 had tested positive. when i went to ft. bliss, the same day, 1 out of more than 1200 had tested positive for covid-19. i hope that helps. >> one out of 1200. jim? >> hi, general. jennifer griffin with fox news. i want to go back a little bit to numbers. what percentage would you say of the people who are processing on

to these bases are siv holders or applicants? or are you also housing people who apply for refugee status? just trying to understand the breakdown who have is on these bases and then secondly, there are frorts dulles that some of those commercial flights that have come in had to keep people on the tarmac for ten hours while screeners come onboard. is anything being done to rectify that? is that a dhs issue? are you aware of that issue at dulles? >> i don't have the siv noub in front of me. what i would tell you is the siv numbers have not been in excess of 50%. i don't have the detall right now. with regards to the problems you're describing at dulles, i'm aware that longer waits that you describe. we work very hard over the last

couple days to make the process as efficient an effective. when i say, dod worked with the process owner, dhs, to streamline this. specifically customs and border protection along with tsa who owns that process if you will. some of the challenges were being use of the proper vetting authorities, if you will, to ensure that we looked at the same ones and that they were coming across we knew exactly who was certifying that. and that is customs that was certifying across to the other side. what was happening is if the improper system was utilized, they were being flagged as red on the receiving end at dulles. that should give you comfort that we're not leaning towards conservative and pushing them out but ensuring verification. that led to the delays that you're talking about. when i took the brief this morning, we had no airplanes on the ramp waiting at dulles for

processing through customs. and i don't have an update for you right now. i believe we're in a good position, jennifer. >> thank you. >> thank you. general, following up on jen's question, can you talk about the challenges that you've had with the dod and dhs systems, the biometrics systems being able to pass that information in a timely manner? explain more about how the different flagging red that you've seen because names are passed through different systems. >> i can't answer that question. that's a question for dhs. i apologize. i just don't have that information. >> and to follow up a little bit more. nument, with all of the thousands of afghans that are going on to these bases, you know, many of them left their country with very little and

have different means to start life over here. how long is dod prepared to house and feed these refugees? i agree with you. they're coming here starting over with what they bring with them. we've been incredibly well supported you about the local communities, the nongovernmental organizations, et cetera, that have jumped in in to help these families with the things of need such as diapers, formula, clothing, you name it. you see the gamut when you talk the large numbers and we have been tremendously blessed to have great support. >> are you willing to host as they go through the process, what do you mean by the process? if they don't have a place to go, how long can they stay on base?

>> they'll stay on base until they complete the special immigrant visa process which is owned by the state department with the support we provide medical support. we provide contract medical support as part of that. so each of the applicants will go through a screening process such as screening for diseases, vaccinations. st if they need vaccinated. we'll have the international mi graduation organization come in towards the end of the process. and work with them on where they need to be relocated. many of them have family already here in the united states. or they'll be relocated to places where there is already afghan populations, et cetera. what we saw at ft. lee with those that already had some type of a special immigrant visa processing was that was taken five to seven days. won't know exactly how long that's going to take until the state department and everybody is on the ground full up and we're ready to begin processing. remember, we only have been at this for a few days.

we're going to spun up here and begin that application for the process for a special immigrant status. >> the siv application process, the screen prague ses is a long process. what happens if at some point while somebody is on a military base they fail that screening? are they going back to afghanistan? what is the plan there? you are also taking questions? >> i would defer you to the department of state for that. that's really their area of expertise. we want to continue the support until we get through this process. >> if somebody fails a screening process is on a military facility? >> so let me go back. they went through the screening process before putting feet on

the continental united states from a security perspective. they are paroled into the united states of america. p and if they have relatives they can go with the relatives. we're helping them get through the screening process. so we're providing all the governmental organizations to support that. the medical process, et cetera. we're not doing security screening for the state bept. i theep clarifies. >> do you have a breakdown by gender roughly how many women, boys, girls, and men have been processed by dod and a lot of questions in terms of separate facilities. and then a second question about culturally appropriate food. are we talking mres or humanitarian mres or local kitchens being hired up?

>> so we're seeing 50/50 male and female. we're seeing 15% with children. we're seeing a lot of females that are pregnant. i don't have a specific detail for what you asked about for the total number with children, male, female, et cetera. but that gives you an idea. we're seeing right now 513 children at one location for a total of about 30% of the location. with regards to your second question, we contract to provide support, you know, meals, multiple meals for lashlg windows. so, for example, we'll provide a breakfast meal for the culturally appropriate for three hour window. we'll shut down for a second. and when i say we, the contract support at each location. then we spin for a lunch meal and the same for dinner. most locations i believe will have -- or do have a 24-hour

grab and go culturally for the afghans as well. i hope that answers your food question. >> hi, thank you for taking >> thanks for taking my question. i wanted to ask, first of all, ned price earlier said that he didn't know how many sivs have been evacuated. can you square that, general, with the numbers that you gave earlier? is there a discrepancy between the ones that have been evacuated and the total number of people that have come to the united states? what is the difference there, and what is it that we're missing? >> laura, you need to ask the state department. i don't have that data for you. that's a question for them. >> and, as a follow-up, are there -- how many sivs and other

afghans do you estimate are still at the kabul airport awaiting a flight out? >> i'll defer to general mckenzie. i don't know that answer. the state department or centcom may have that answer for you, laura. >> it was about between 3,000 and 5,000 earlier today, but as we have talked about before, this is a snapshot in time. and it literally changes by the hour. the last thing that i saw was somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000. but, again, it changes hour to hour. courtney? >> general, i have a couple of clarifications. so when you talk about how these individuals have already gone through the screening process before they even set foot here in the united states, does that mean their names have already been run through the national counterterrorism datadatabase? >> courtney, thanks. it is my understand their names

and biodata has been run through the established databases. >> second, you also mentioned some of the medical support the military is providing including vaccinations. does that include covid vaccines at the bases? are those mandatory or optional? >> the vaccines are offered to them. they're offered at dulles. we offer them as well as the task force locations. they are not mandatory. we see many are taking the vaccine if they've not already had it. >> on the paperwork that they are getting assistance for siv paperwork, any u.s. military component? do you have any military members who are assisting with that paperwork? >> so the paperwork on our end for accountability purposes where they arrive at the task force, we absolutely are part of that paper work process to ensure accountability, to provide security, et cetera, for them at each of those locations. prior to arriving at our task

force locations, we are not directly involved with the paperwork process. i don't know the role in centcom of their forces. i refer you to general mckenzie on questions for any dod members forward. >> thank you. >> general, i wanted to ask why these particular bases were chosen for sivs. was it because of space reasons, hard and soft, buildings, or was it because of proximity to afghan communities in the area where some of them might end up being resettled? >> it was not necessarily for the specific location to an afghan community. the department took a look at each location to ensure they had sufficient capacity, that there was capability in the region to support that. the limits of readiness and training for the local infrastructure on the bases was also a consideration.

those were all provided by the services. the services provided within the recommendations for the department, they took a look at each location and offered up those installations for approval by the department. >> we'll take one more and we'll let the general close it out. terese? >> general, for the children that are on base, are there any educational classes being provided for them? if not, are those children able to go to the cdcs on base to help with babysitting and educating them on american ways and what not? >> that's a great question. to answer the last part first, currently i'm not aware of any of them using cdcs on base. what i would tell you there's an outpouring of support from the local areas, local communities, organizations, nongovernmental, that have shown up at each location to provide coloring

books, books to read, educational opportunities, sports. at ft. bliss when i was down there the soldiers had built soccer goals and set up soccer areas for them to practice and play soccer to keep them occupied. that's a great news story. >> general, sir, i'm going to turn it over to you for any closing thoughts you might have. >> thanks, john. and for everybody in the room and on the phones, it's a privilege to talk to you today, and it's really a privilege to be executing this mission. for those that have helped us for oftentimes a couple of decades, we continue to look forward to supporting them. we're prepared to do this for as long as it takes to ensure we get them settled here in the united states of america. i'm really proud of the soldiers, airmen and marines, coasties -- i have coasties here working for us, guardians, you name it. we're working very hard. every time i look them in the eye and i talk to them, you

cannot imagine how proud and privileged they are to support this mission, and they tell me that all the time when i've been out on circulation. i feel the same way and we look forward to continuing to make this a successful operation. so thanks for letting me tell the story. >> general, appreciate your time this afternoon. okay, i have time to take a few on my own. [ inaudible question ] >> first, have the taliban entered or taken control of any parts of the military section that you're aware of? >> the taliban are not in control of any part of hamid karzai airport. i saw that report, too. it's false. >> including the gates? >> they are not in charge of any of the gates, not in charge of any of the airport operations. that is still under u.s. military control. lita? >> can you give us any further

details on the attack at this point? anything about whether the marines noticed the attacker coming, anything about the firing of the shots, has any of that been kind of cleared up at this point? >> i don't have any additional details from what general mckenzie laid out yesterday. again, we'll do the forensics on this and try to learn as much as we can. and when we have some verifiable context to be able to talk to you about that, we'll do it. we're still digging into it. >> do you have any timing when you believe the aircraft with the remains will arrive at dover? >> i don't. and, as you might imagine, we're -- the services are in contact with the families, and they'll notify the families through the casualty assistance case officers, and i think i want to respect that process.

as you know, sadly, from covering this for so long, lita, usually the process doesn't take that long. >> will the president and secretary go to dover to meet the families of the fallen? >> i don't have any schedule announcements to make, but we're all mindful of the importance of any return of fallen members and certainly these included but i don't have any things to announce. tony? >> any on the 17 that landed in landstuhl? >> i don't have an update on the wounded. the last count i had was 20 of them had gone to landstuhl. the remaining, there were some additional wounded but they were treated on site and returned to duty. as you know, we don't usually get into the details of wounded

even anonymously. we don't talk about that. >> whether most are stable -- >> we just don't talk about the status of wounded, as i think you can understand. there's real privacy issues there we want to be mindful of. okay. thanks. i'm planning to do this again tomorrow morning. i'm shooting for around 11:00 tomorrow with general taylor and we'll see what the rest of the weekend looks like. thank you. >> and that wraps it up for us this hour and for me this week. i'll see you again monday on nbc news now starting at noon eastern. i'm aaron gilchrist. and "deadline white house" starts right now. hi, everyone. it is 4:00 in the east. i'm alicia menendez in for nicolle wallace. there is new urgency in the mission to evacuate americans and allies from afghanistan.

just a day after a devastating bombing by isis that killed 13 u.s. service members and more than 100 afghan civilians, national security officials have reportedly told the president another terror attack in kabul is likely. the pentagon today warning of, quote, specific credible threats while clarifying that yesterday's attack involved a single suicide bomber and one or more gunman at a gate to the kabul airport and there was not a second explosion at the hotel nearby as was originally reported. with just a few days to go before u.s. forces leave evacuation flights are still under way. more than 12,000 people were flown out in the last 24 hours. the state department believes the number of americans looking to leave afghanistan now in the hundreds. crowds are still gathering near kabul airport, a scene here in satellite photos not far from the site of yesterday's attack. "the new york times" describing the scene this way, quote, at the airport and inhe