es for family members, you'll get great value on america's most reliable 5g network. like 2 lines of unlimited for just $27.50 a line. only at t-mobile. breaking news from louisiana this morning, as we come on the air, that huge search and rescue operation just beginning now for hundreds, possibly thousands of people trapped by massive flooding from ida, which is now a tropical storm. you've got millions of people without power right now, including the entire city of new orleans. 911 systems are down, too, making it impossible to call for help. 20 miles southeast of new orleans a levee failure means the city of alliance, louisiana, is being evacuated. the damage from ida catastrophic. at least one death is tied to the storm. on the 16th anniversary of katrina, ida making landfall less than 24 hours ago as a

powerful category 4 hurricane, 150-mile-an-hour winds making it the fifth strongest hurricane to ever hit the continental u.s. those winds, check out this video, ripping off roofs like this one at a hospital near the coast, easily toppling trees in houma, louisiana. i'm hallie jackson in washington along with our team on the ground, shaq brewster in gulfport and meteorologist bill karins. a curfew is still in place for folks there? >> reporter: that's right, still in place. the mayor saying they will assess that in the coming hours once they get an assessment of the damage out here. hallie, let me step behind this wall, we're protecting from the wind. you're still feeling wind, getting the rain. it's obviously not what we experienced last night but gives you a sense of here in gulfport, mississippi, it was never that hurricane warning that we had to

deal with here. always a tropical storm warning and you know ida is a tropical storm gives you a sense of what a tropical storm can do. officials says because you don't have the sustained winds in the hundreds anymore does not mean it's not dangerous. you see debris there, result and impact of the storm surge that since receded as the tide has gone back down. one thing officials have been watching was storm surge and river flooding in this area, and also the threat of tornadoes. our team didn't get much sleep not only because of the reporting we were doing but because of the alarms that kept going off on the phones, the tornado warning and another a half hour later and the extension is something that folks are concerned about, watching and waiting for. the rain is picking up, officials point the fact that conditions can change quickly even if it's just those tropical storm force winds.

you can go from a period you see the sun coming out and another period with wind and rain picking up aggressively. officials advising wait until the storm is completely out. we are a couple hours away in gulfport. there are reports of downed power lines. by and large, this was not the direct hit and people here who experienced hurricane katrina battered by that storm losing thousands of homes, claiming more than 100 lives, they are grateful they didn't have a repeat of what they saw 16 years ago here with hurricane ida. hallie? >> shaq live in gulfport, thank you. meteorologist bill karins, before we get the latest on ida, you're following developments from alliance and the levee failure there. what are you seeing? >> we've only had a couple levee failures. the one was in alliance and another john lafitte areas, had

about 200 people bravely at risk and needed to get them out of there. the alliance area is where the fill phillips 66 oil refinery highway 23 along the mississippi river, that's a grave concern not just for anyone left there, hopefully everyone evacuated but start worrying about the environmental impacts of all of the storm surge and levee breaks and everything else. we'll see the aerials and pictures throughout the morning. the sun is coming out. the coast guard are out there trying to assess and rescue people if necessary.

we had 18 inches of rain near hammond and down to laplace and we have emergencies also for those locations, so yeah, we have our hands full still. even though the storm weakened significantly, it still can produce tornadoes this afternoon and not fun from biloxi to mobile to pensacola. those bands are still spiraling in and they'll be with you throughout much of the day and even into the afternoon. we may see the tornado threat going further north.

the storm is making its way to the northeast wednesday night into thursday. flash flooding say big story, it is right now and it will continue to be a story for the next two to three days and flash flooding is what kills most people in weather. more than tornadoes, more than hurricanes, so flash flooding, even from a weakened tropical system can be very dangerous. >> thank you, bill. i want to go to somebody who has been covering that closely who knows about this, sam brock in louisiana. you obviously are ware of some of the damage. tell me what you've been seeing. i don't know if that's me who is not hearing sam's audio or the entire audience but we'll work to get that fixed. sounds like you cannot hear him either. this is live tv, what happens when folks are out there, very few coms, no power, very little

cell phone service for some folks in these parts of louisiana, the search and rescue operations are continuing and somebody who knows about that is captain christopher hustler with the u.s. coast guard. can you hear me okay? >> yes, ma'am, i have you loud and clear. >> good morning. i know it's been a long night for you and long morning. you can give us an update on the search and rescue push at this point? what's the latest? >> yes, ma'am. we started a couple days ago forces into the gulf coast region. we started last night and this morning an air crew briefing at 3:30 and launches between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m. the goal was to get to the areas west of new orleans before sunrise and we had several aircraft that did that. so they are searching over top of the area. they're looking for any signs of

distress, active search and rescue as well as checking out the waterways so we can quickly return the ports back up with congress. >> two follow-up questions. how many people have you been able to get the rescuers to and to get them to safety? >> we're only two or three hours into it right now. we're still looking at what the initial helicopters out there working. we're not trying to get the air crews to send us back tallies or things like that. we're getting them to get on scene and be effective. we transferred some patients away from hospitals that have been damaged, moved them to safer places. we've not gotten reports of hoists. the hoists we've seen like katrina we've not gotten any reports of that. >> you talked about assessing the waterways at this point. what reports have you gotten back from your pilots in the air about what they're seeing so far? >> that same thing.

two fixed wing aircraft flying the navigal waterways in the approaches to new orleans. that's an important port for the united states. right now some damage to the port but by the afternoon, we'll be able to offer a better assessment and start talking about port reopening. >> does this present hurricane ida different challenges to the coast guard than previous storms because of how intense ida was making landfall, one of the strongest storms louisiana has seen in a couple of centuries? >> yes, ma'am. we were very concerned about this, ever since it popped up on the radar. we've been planning for it, for a couple days. any hurricane is something that we go all in on. we've got nearly 25% of the coast guard's air assets in the gulf coast ready to respond. >> you mentioned getting some people at hospitals to some safer locations. can you talk to me more about that? how much of a concern is that to you at the moment? >> so right now, one of our biggest concerns is any of the people that are in hospitals

that might need a high level of care, for instance, things like oxygen, medication, places that they would need electricity to sustain life, so we identify those hospitals and any of those that become damaged and they can't support their patients, we try to get them out of there to a higher level of care as soon as we can and we have done that a couple times already today. >> captain christopher, thank you for being with us. i know you have a lot on your plate. we'll check more for updates this afternoon. appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> i want to go back to sam brock from grand mercy, louisiana. sam i hope we can hear you. tell us what you're seeing and up to as the power truck or cleanup truck goes by. >> reporter: it's all coming together right now, hallie. one of the biggest problems is lack of communication specifically the telecommunication infrastructure that's gone down, so difficult for people to get phone calls out, electricity, seeing all the

utility vehicles driving around here. we saw about 12 of them as you were talking trying to get power restored, highway 61, where the damage is so extensive in one block a street light where the light is dangling, the cement base is straddling highway 61 and if you follow me, you'll see over my shoulder not just downed power lines but trees that endured such a strong force of wind. they were snapped in half. that is a power pole right there at a 45-degree angle bent over and on the other side a home with no roof or section of the roof off of it. the damage was extensive. as we were discussing a serious search and rescue operation going on right now 30 miles west of me in that direction, we were seeing folks coming out and telling us about the horrors of last night, one gentleman described it as brutal the amount of wind they sustained at laplace, ground zero for the search and rescue efforts and the water just coming on in.

we've seen a couple of things this morning. one of them are low shallow boats driven by the cajun navy going in and louisiana national guard with the high water vehicles, also we saw about a dozen or so of those vehicles going off in that direction, too. i spoke with one gentleman who lives in laplace. here's what he experienced last night. >> the water i got was from the roof collapsing, ceiling. i have three rooms that are totally -- >> demolished. >> -- demolished. >> reporter: sorry, man. that's tough. >> i'm insured. >> reporter: the communication was so strong many were forced to social media to flag down to authorities they were trapped in their aticks. one was successful reaching the nbc station in new orleans describe how they were hanging on to beams as water was rising in their home. when i spoke with the captain fleet for the cajun navy he said he started about 10:00 at night, really didn't stop until 1:00 or

2:00 in the morning. some families 6 to 12 feet of water in their home, had nowhere to call. it is those folks right now that are going in, trying to rescue. >> sam brock live in louisiana, thank you for your reporting today, throughout the night here for msnbc. we have a lot more ahead from the hurricane zone. we'll talk to the president of one parish that's already received 250 calls for rescues now, with parts of the area without power or cell services, plus we're just about 15 minutes away from a pentagon briefing on afghanistan with the deadline for u.s. withdrawal hours away. we'll take you live with who could get out of afghanistan and how after the deadline with the secretary of state alluding to just that as he gets ready to speak in a few hours.

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right now we're about 13 minutes away from a pentagon briefing on afghanistan, that's on the left side of your screen

right now. we'll bring it to you live when it starts. it may be significant now, the first time on the record on camera about the second strike in afghanistan. the white house president biden and national security team set to be meeting on this topic as we speak that mooting was scheduled to begin about 15 minutes ago with less than a day until the withdrawal deadline really hours away, hours since other attempted atack in kabul. attackers five rockets at the airport the u.s. using a missile defense system to intercept them with an official telling nbc news no reports of anybody killed or hurt. the white house saying president biden reconfirmed his command to redouble efforts to protect forces on the ground. new numbers on evacuations out of the country, another 1,200 people out in just the last day or so, but no update on how many americans are still trying to

leave. the state department in the last 24 hours putting that number around 250. courtney kube is at the pentagon for us. talk us through what your biggest questions are for defense officials here when they brief in about ten minutes. >> reporter: the biggest is what is going on at the kabul airport. we heard saturday morning from john kirby that the withdrawal what they call the military retrograde has begun. the deadline, if we are looking at midnight tonight from august 30th into the 31st in kabul, that deadline is only a few hours away, hallie. it's not clear if that means that all u.s. troops will be out by then or not but we are talking the final hours no matter what, until the time line or the deadline for the u.s. military and u.s. diplomatic services to be completely out of afghanistan. the question is, where is the u.s. military in that process,

and what about the continuing equipment that's still there? the u.s. had the counter rocket and mortar system employed over the weekend. the u.s. has a series of crams there, essentially fire off something that intercepts an incoming rocket or our missile or mortar. those systems are still at the airport, we have heard the military will be prioritizing lives and equipment. over the last hours will we see equipment being blown up with the military call a controlled detonation as the u.s. is leaving and finally what will happen in those last hours at that airport. the u.s. military and the turkish military and afghans, last remnants of the afghan military have been providing security at the airport. in the last hours as the u.s. numbers dwindle, the taliban who

have control of kabul, they will be in control of the airport of the security at the perimeter. what happens in those hours is a very, very tense time in these last few hours of the u.s. military presence there, hallie. >> there's another question that relates to this, courtney. as we look ahead to the sec stare of state tony blinken expected to make remarks this afternoon, questions what he described saying there was going to be mechanisms, quote/unquote, for more evacuations after the withdrawal deadline, no specifics on that front. any idea of any kind of clarity around that when we might get clarity around what that means? >> the way my understanding is they are looking at two potential lines ever effort for continuing to get americans out left in afghanistan after the 31st. one is diplomatic, what secretary blinken was touching on and that is working through u.s. lies and partners in particular in this case the qataris and potentially the turks. they will use these intermediaries as they have with

the taliban in the past to help them work with the taliban to get any americans out. the second one is economic, and that's exactly what it sounds like here and if the u.s. were to go that route, remember the u.s. has frozen millions of dollars in taliban assets. is it possible there would be some sort of agreement to unfreeze them, it's unclear. what is very clear as the taliban have taken over the government in afghanistan, that is a country very reliant on foreign money, on foreign assistance and assuming all that money dries up, now that the taliban are in charge, they are going to be needing money, they're going to need revenue sources so it's possible that that could be another way that the u.s. would work to get americans out but again, as you mentioned, secretary blinken providing no specifics on it, we're not getting a lot of specifics here. those are the two according to defense officials i've spoken with that they're considering or looking at exploring. >> courtney kube live at the

pentagon. we'll see you in the briefing? you're headed that way? >> i am, right ac ross the hall. >> we'll take it live when it happens. thank you. keeping our eye on that room. you can see a little bit of activity around the podium. we expect to hear from admiral kirby and others coming up in a couple of minutes. next up, we're going back to the other huge story of the morning, slow moving storm threatening flash floods. we'll take you back live to the storm zone with the latest, after the break. ♪♪

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right now in louisiana we're starting to get some of our first looks at how bad the destruction is from hurricane ida, with search and rescue teams fanning out across the state. right now officials say they still don't know how many people need to be rescued. you heard one of the coast guard captains tell us that on the broadcast, within the last half an hour or so that they are still assessing what exactly is happening on the ground. you know what's making things a lot harder? there's no cell service in many parts of the state. there's no 911 service in some parts of the state. there is no power in a lot of the state. 1 million people in louisiana don't have the lights on. here's what the governor said on msnbc in the last hour. >> we have one confirmed death,

but i don't want to mislead anyone. robust search and rescue is happening right now and i fully expect that death count will go up considerably throughout the day. it is a grim warning from him. i want to go to ron allen posted up in jackson, mississippi. ida is moving inland towards where you as a tropical storm. talk about the biggest threat where you are. >> reporter: right now it's rain and it's been raining pretty heavily since the overnight hours. the worst of the storm hitting here is in the next couple hours. as a matter of fact, beginning now and into the next few hours is when everyone is watching very carefully to see if the storm stays together or breaks apart. there could be some heavier rain coming and there could be some stronger winds. so far gusts of wind in the range of 40 miles per hour, some up to 50 but not much stronger

than that. if that continues, the power outage problem, the damage problems here could be less severe. there is some damage around the state to the south and 135,000 customers without power. the number is the examined to go up higher. everything else is closed, the airport is closed, businesses are closed, schools are closed in this area and that's what we're dealing with now. unpredictability of the storm, the hope as it moves further inland it will break apart. there seem to be indications that's happening. nothing like in new orleans. there is power here, lights, cell service. the hotel, the parking lot every car is from louisiana, hundreds of people who have come to this part of mississippi, about a three or four-hour drive from new orleans for shelter.

all the hotels in this part of the state and the hope is the storm will break up as it passes through and won't be as huge a disaster as feared. watching this hour by hour to see how it goes hunkering down. >> ron allen live in jacksonville. the president of jefferson parish, cynthia lee shang. we appreciate your time this morning. how are you doing? >> we're fine. we're hanging in there. >> you got about 200 to 250 search and rescue calls. give us an update 10:30 eastern time, what is the latest? >> we have two critical areas in jefferson parish, the lower, the southernmost tip of our parish is the community called grand isle on the gulf of mexico. we lost contact with them late afternoon yesterday and we have still not had contact with them. i was able to speak with mayor

carmodelle, he got out yesterday and he's nearby. he was probably one of the last people to leave and he is trying to get back in but as you can see from the pictures the roadways are filled with water. in the lafitte area water started riding yesterday afternoon. i toke with mayor tim carter. he was concerned the water was rising in the lower lafitte area, barataria area. we have extensive search and rescue operations with our jefferson parish sheriff's office, firefighters and louisiana national guard, the coast guard, bringing boats in and out of that area. it's deep in, not something that we can access easily. we believe people were in their attacks overnight, the water was rising, they were having to find higher ground within their

house. so very difficult 24 hours for us. >> incredibly intense and scary. picking up where you left off, do you know how many people are left who are seeking rescue at this point? can you put a number on that? if it was 200 this morning, what is the number as we speak? >> the night before the storm came our sheriff officer went in with a couple dozen of his officers not door to door in lafitte, not grand isle, the lafitte area and found out who was staying, how many people, their phone numbers and address. that was about 400 to 480 people then. we got calls for rescue and actual calls to 911 into the emergency operations center for about 200 calls but of course communication is down so that's sort of the ball park of the number of people we're talking

about, 400 in lafitte, 40 in grand isle, 200 calls rescued, that is big numbers but that's the ball park we're looking at, that is the sort of numbers. >> you answered another question i had, how many people remained on grand isle. it is chilling to people when you hear nobody's been able to have any contact with folks on grand isle because cell service is out. and we're looking at a map of sort of where this is. do you have any sense, you said about 40 people remained on the island. any sense of when you might be able to get folks back in to see who is left, how they're doing, what the status is? >> in grand isle, the mayor thought there was about 40 people on grand isle, that was including firefighters. the mayor is going to get back. we're trying to get helicopter service for him, i think the first reconnaissance is going to be by air, because there is so much water there, we're not going to be able to get in.

i know the mayor is down there. i was able to talk to him this morning. we are trying to get him up in the air but that area is a two-hour drive from us, it is part of our parish but the southernmost tip of our state. >> cynthia, thank you so much. we wish you the best of luck. a lot of folks around the country thinking of you and folks in your parish this morning, holding you in our thoughts and prayers, thank you. we turn to the pentagon where officials are holding a briefing on afghanistan right now. we're going to listen in. >> -- operation. over the weekend and into today evacuation operations continued. yesterday 26 u.s. military aircraft all c-17s departed with approximately 1,200 evacuees. in total, there were 28 flights out of kabul airport in the last 24 hours, which included the remaining coalition departures. as of today, more than 122,000,

including 5,400 americans, have been evacuated from afghanistan. u.s. military troops have shown tremendous bravery and compassion as they put themselves in harm's way to evacuate as many american citizens and afghans as possible during this operation. that work by u.s. servicemembers continues across the globe at a number of intermediate staging bases in dod installations centcom, more than 27,000 passengers await follow-on movement. in ucom 22,000 passengers and today 17 flights will transport about 3,700 passengers to dulles international airport with approximately 11 flights and philadelphia international airport with six flights. in north com, there are nearly

13,000 passengers that remain at five different u.s. installations. these numbers are a snapshot in time and movement of personnel is fluid. we do not expect passenger totals to match the total number of evacuees from afghanistan nor will they match the total afghans arriving to the united states. the mission of the evacuation operation was to help as many people as possible leave afghanistan. some of these evacuees included american citizens, third country nationals or afghans whose predenials permitted them to part without processing at a military installation. military civilian and contract personnel continue to work closely with government and non-governmental agencies to meet requirements and provide capabilities for families as they continue their transition. while operations will conclude

soon, the dod effort to support the inner agency is ongoing. the department of defense continues to support humanitarian relief operations in response to national disasters here closer to home. in haiti, the u.s. military assets have flown 560 sorties, providing rapid logistical and airlift support including delivery of more than 348,000 pounds of aid. on the gulf coast with hurricane ida north com, activated more than 5,200 personnel in louisiana, mississippi, texas and alabama in response to the hurricane. they bring a variety of assets, including high-water vehicles, rotary lift and other transportation capability to support recovery efforts. the u.s. army corps of engineers is operational in new orleans and is assessing the storm's

impact. dod stands ready to assist as requested by fema. thank you. >> i don't have anything to add so we'll go to questions. lena? >> general, one quick follow-up and then a question. the crams, are there no casualties? >> the reporting from last night's rocket attack we assessed that, five rockets were in the air and three landed off the air field, were no effect and c.r.a.m. was able to effect and thwart the attack of one and the other rocket landed with no effect to the mission or any danger to our personnel. >> and then secondly on evacuees, does the u.s. and the

u.s. military assess that the number of americans still in the country are only the ones that no longer want to leave, are they largely out now and it's our understanding the evacuation of afghans is largely complete also. so are you solely concentrating on just getting u.s. troops out and equipment? >> just go back total, 122,000 were evacuated, approximately 5,000400 americans. we continue to have the capability to evacuate and fly out those until the very end. as you talk about active working with the department of state on that and continue evacuation and military operations. >> refer to the state department on the numbers of americans still in contact with us, that's something for them to speak to. >> could you both speak to the continuing rocket threat to the

final planes that are leaving and the control the c-ram is playing. will the c-ram be left behind since it's vital to protect the planes leaving. what happens to the c-ram after it goes? >> we assess as the general said that there's still an active threat in various ways we have to are prepared for. what i will tell you without getting into specific systems and their availability which i think you can understand why we wouldn't, we'll maintain the capability to protect ourselves and defend ourselves as we continue to complete the retrograde. i think that's probably the best place to pout it. >> one follow-up if i may. a number of us have gotten reports from american citizens, vulnerable afghans on the ground, can't get through the gates, getting notices the evacuation is over.

what happens next for those that are left behind? will there be military operation to get them out of the country? >> secretary blinken talked about this, for americans and other countries that want to be able to leave afghanistan after our adrawl is complete that the state department is going to continue to work across many different levels to facilitate that transportation. as i said earlier, right now we do not anticipate a military role in that effort. jen? >> general taylor, you just said that one rocket landed with no effect to the mission. you mean it landed inside the airport perimeter? >> it landed inside the perimeter and this no effect whatsoever. >> the isis-k fighters or planners you targeted with drone

strikes in the last few days, are any of them, were they released from the bagram prison or from holy turkey prisons? were they known combat ants? >> i don't think we have that information. >> if americans were left in afghanistan at the end of july, when he pulled out of bagram, why did the u.s. military not begin evacuations of americans before pulling out of the country? >> jen, we've talked about this quite some time ago and i'm happy to revisit it. we were already baked into the retrograde plan, way back was the possibility for noncombatant evacuations and helping people get out and we were in constant conversations with the ghani government as well as colleagues across the inner agency about what that would look like and when would the right time to do that. in anticipation of it, well

before the provincial capital started topple toward the middle of august, secretary austin prepositioned to take the entire marine batal union off of the "uss iwo jima" and moving them to kuwait so they'd be ready. this was planning and preparing. the timing is always delicate. >> essentially stopped by the state department from beginning those evacuations? >> i wouldn't say that and i don't think it's important right now to get into internal deliberations. we were still in close contact with the ghani government which was still he was still the president of the country. you have to have, you have to be able to have those conversations, too. our expect was that the ghani government would stay in place. nobody could have imagined how quickly that government would have literally just dissipated almost overnight.

there was no way to predict that. >> are any of the gates still open and any of the gates under taliban control? >> right now as we get into, this has always been a dangerous operation but a dangerous time idris, we're not detailing the status of any particular gate right now. as the general said we still have the ability and capability to conduct evacuation operations even while we are completing and working to complete the retrograde of u.s. forces. >> follow-up, two incidents, one on thursday and one on sunday where there may have been casualties or reports of it. beyond investigating it, do you have any indications those reports may be accurate? >> we are not in a position to dispute it right now, idris. as the general said we're assessing and investigating.

make no mistake, no military on the face of the earth works harder to avoid civilian casualties than the united states military and nobody wants to see innocent life taken. we take it seriously and when we know that we have caused innocent live to be lost in the conduct of our operations we're transparent about it. we're investigating this. i'm not going to get ahead of it but if we have verifiable information we did take innocent life, then we will be transparent about that, too. nobody wants to see that happen. what else we didn't want to see happen what we believe to be a very real, very specific and a very imminent threat to the hamid karzai international airport and to our troops operating at that airport, as well as civilians around it and in it.

that was another thing that we were very, very concerned about. over here, david. >> the president had said that the likely road of an attack within the next 24 to 36 hours was highly likely. told that by his military commanders that after that, there was the strike on this vehicle. after that strike, is another attack still considered highly likely? >> we are operating under the assumption that we need to be prepared for future potential threats and as the general detailed for you in his oepgs statement, there was, in fact, after we took this air strike against this vehicle, there were rocket attacks, indirect rocket attacks on the airport. the threat stream is real and active and many cases still specific and we take it seriously and we will right up until the end.

>> you didn't specifically answer the question about whether the taliban, you said you weren't going to talk about it who was at what gate. the taliban on here? >> not to my knowledge they aren't no. >> thank you. i have a few today, sorry. you mentioned 1 2,000 have been evacuated. how many of those are sivs and their families. >> i don't have a breakdown how many are sivs and families. that's a better question for the state department. we know roughly 5,400 of the 122,000 are american citizens and the vast majority are afghan and i don't have a breakdown of that. >> there are about 7,000 of the 88,000 so that leaves more than 80,000 sivs and family members left behind. does the pentagon see that as a success leaving 80,000 sivs who

worked alongside our troops behind? >> carla, i can't verify the math and what the breakdown is between the more than 112,000, maybe more afghans that we were able to evacuate in the course of less than a couple of weeks, i can't give you the breakdown right now. i honestly can't. what i will tell you is that obviously we wanted to get as many people out as we could, and in the course of a very short order of time, 122,000, the largest airlift the u.s. military has conducted got 122,000 people to safety. now, there will be a time when this is complete, that the state department can do the math and figure this out, but i think we're all focused right now on continuing the mission that the general described as doing and making sure that right up until the end that we can get people

out safely, including evacuees. >> secondly, we have sources that say marines guarding the airport allowed relatives and extended members of kabul local embassy staff despite not having documentation but meanwhile spouses and afghans who hold american citizenship and legal permanent resident status were turned away. have you heard this as well and can you confirm that? >> i have not heard those reports and cannot verify them. i will tell you without speaking to these reports the marines and soldiers that have for the last couple of weeks been helping consular officers man these gates and help process people in, did heroic work and they had to make decisions in real time, about trying to help people get out, and the numbers speak for themselves, 122,000 plus, that is significant, and a lot of lives were saved, and a lot of lives are now in a better place,

and they're going to have opportunities they couldn't have had before thanks to the work these troops did in concert with their state department colleagues at these dangerous gates. >> one more if i may, not on afghanistan. beijing has come out with a south china sea policy which wi forces people to self identify. it goes into effect on wednesday. >> i have not seen this so i will not take it from the podium right now. you're hitting me up with a statement that i have not seen and i'm not going to speculate at this time. >> there is a question that i was asked to ask you. any of the u.s. suicide or afghan allies are kept from that departure, their leadership would be targeted just like isis was targeted.

>> thank you for the question. i think the president has been very clear what our expectations are once this retrograde is complete. i think we have been very clear about that and as you heard secretary blinken say, we will continue to heb people that want to get out to get out. >> we talked about flights, can you tell us how many people are on those flights and the break down of afghans? >> i can't tell you by the manifest. the majority of those are afghans.

as a priority, they get the american citizens their first and other green card holders. >> i understand the people are being prooefed that you're starting to destroy munitions and request you give us the they have the cape about to remove or destroy equipment and keps. >> are we going to get an accounting? >> i think when the time is right we will be able to better help flush that out. it is not decided yet, tom. >> on the vehicle, the central

command talked about secondary munitions. are you certain there was secondary explosions? >> yes. >> i just have a follow up, can you say how you're sure? >> no. >> and we inevitably come down to the final hours. what advice or thoughts for those trying to get to the airport and get through, is there still time for them? >> there is still time and the state department is in touch, we know, with additional american

citizens. again, given the tense security. >> after the u.s. is out on the 31st, will you coordinate with the taliban or give them oats? >> i don't think it is a good idea to get into the future operations, but the president made it clear, it is the kinds of capabilities you have seen us use, and we'll have the ability to be packed in ways with our

national security interests. >> are you going to continue to coordinate with them after august 31st? >> i think your question is entirely hypothetical compared to something we have been coordinating. i don't think it is helpful for us to talk about what the capability will look like going forward. we have the capability, we demonstrated that in the last couple days we have that ability to go forward. >> does the u.s. or the pentagon

have the authority to continue to conduct attacks or does that have to go to the president on a case by case basis. . >> the commander has the authorities that he needs now. i will say this, i oent talk about how the polt is going forward, but to say that the entire military chain of command understands the existence of this threat and the possibilities of this threat to continue to exist over time and we have the capability to deal with it. >> following up on the contacts with the taliban, has there been contacts with the withdrawal to ensure there is no miss interpretation of what is going

on? >> short answer is yes. our smand eres are trying to deconflict and prevent miscalculations and misunderstandings. >> does that apply to what is going on right now? >> in the initial read out on the strike over the weekend on the car bomb and the suspects in it, the u.s. said the initial assessment was that there was no casualties, what is that basis? >> it is that we were assessing and that we had no casualties. that was true when we said, we also put in there that we are assessing. and that we continue to access. >> so on what basis are you making assessments on civilian

casualties. >> we're looking at a variety and means of information and we're collecting open press reporting and we're doing the best that we can to try to understand the service locally as best as we can and that includes discussions with the taliban about what they might be sighing. so there is a vartt of ways we're trying to do this assessment. >> why can't we know the names of the isis superintendents on thursday. they were described as high profile planners and facilitators, the president said we'll hunt you down, why can't we know who it is. >> there will probably be a time, but there is very real ongoing threats. and i think we're doing what we believe to be the prudent thing with respect to the release of

the information. i can't give you everything. and we talked about that a couple days ago when we talked about the beginning. that there would be a more judicious approach about information release. there is probably a time we can be more forth coming, but it's not the time. let's go to the phones, alex workman. we'll come back to you. according to politico, the u.s. knew where the attack would take place on thursday, and when it would take place. why was there u.s. troops at that gate at that time?

>> jeff, what i can tell you is that we had been monitoring as close as we can intelligence that led us to believe that we were in a very dynamic and in some cases specific threat environment. number two, as general mckenzie said we will investigate and get to the bottom of what happened. we're not going to investigate it in public. number three i'm absolutely not going to speak to a press story that was informed by the unlawful disclosure of information. i'm just not going to do it.