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and bastard, jeff gast and ross wilson board. while the military evacuation is complete, the diplomatic mission to ensure additional us citizens and eligible afghans we want to leave continues. or more than a 100000 people have left on us flying in the past 2 weeks. but thousands of afghans hoping to leave the country now on the taliban control being left behind, including many who worked as u. s. allies were world bright, is live from cobble, rob, when we spoke to earlier, you said you thought it would happen that the wheels were up on the final c. 17 and now it has bringing historic close, at least for now to us his involvement. and i've got a son that's why we've had to finally the confirmation that the american military involvement in afghanistan has ended after 20 years. and the celebration in cobble are underway for the past hour or so. the whole skyline around the city here is being completely lit up with burst of gunfire. it has died off in the last few minutes or so, but we've had terrific burst. the automatic gunfire wi

and he was accompanied by our, our charge ambassador ross wilson. so they came out together so the state defense team came out on the last aircraft and were in fact the last people to stand on the ground step on the airplane. so what is happening over the last 12 or 18 hours is we, 1st of all, we were intent on maintaining the ability to bring out americans and other and other africans as long as we could. so we kept that capability. and so just a few hours ago and we were able to bring out some people earlier in the day. although i've noted earlier, we had to cut it off sometime before this operation began. but we were intent on maintaining that capability. we're also a check or maintaining our force protection because of the, the threats from isis, we're very real, very, very concerning. and so we did a number of things we had overwhelming u. s. air power. overhead. should there been any challenge to our departure? and again, there was absolutely no question. we were not going to be challenged by the taliban . we were, if we're going to be challen

ambassador to afghanistan, ross wilson aboard. the military evacuation is complete, the diplomatic mission to enemy sure citizens and afghans who wants to leave continues. >> thousandses of afghans hoping to leave the country now under taliban control are being left behind, including many who worked as u.s. -- rob is joining us from kabul. it's been a historic moment but also a roll emmoment. rob: absolutely. there was some incredible scenes here in kabul. what is a historic night, finally the ending of 20 years of military involvement by the united states in the country. word started to spread quickly just after midnight local time so we were already into the 31st of august, a date which is very important which will be noted in history books in years to come. this. the date, the deadline set as the departure of the u.s. and the u.s. was good to its words, it left on the 31st when you just after midnight into this day tuesday and word started to spread on social media that the wheels were on the last aircraft taking off from the k

earlier today, we spoke with ambassador ross wilson.ger at the embassy in kabul, but instead working out of that airport. we asked him about the americans still in the country. >> we've been working our way through-- through the lists, and through the numbers. we have, through the state department and through our consular officers in the region around afghanistan and elsewhere, been placing phone calls to all-- virtually all of those who are-- who have registered with us, to find out, are they still in afghanistan? are they interested in leaving afghanistan? do they need help in leaving? that work has produced a significant additional set of people. >> o'donnell: when the u.s. pulls out, will diplomats stay behind? >> i'm not sure i want to give you a firm answer on that. there are still decisions to be made in washington about the future shape of our presence and our activities here. and, and maybe i will just leave it at that. >> o'donnell: the question has been raised-- why didn't the u.s. get out americans and our afghani friends be

and let me take this opportunity to thank our outstanding charge, charitable investor, ross wilson, who came out of retirement of january 2020, to lead our embassy and half against him, and has done exceptional courageous work during a highly challenging time for the time being. we will use this posting dog to manage our diplomacy that can span, including consular affairs, administering humanitarian assistance, and working with allies, partners, and regional international stakeholders to coordinate our engagement and messaging to the top of our team. there will be lead by in mcarthur, who serve as our deputy chiefs mission afghan to stand for this past year. no one's better prepared to do the job. second, we will continue our relentless efforts to help americans foreign nationals and afghans leave afghanistan if they choose. let me talk briefly about the americans remain and again, we made extraordinary efforts to give americans every opportunity to depart the country. in many cases, talking and sometimes walking them into the airport. of those who self identified as americans in afghan

jeff gast and ross wilson board, while the military evacuation is complete, the diplomatic mission to ensure additional us citizens and eligible afghans who want to leave continues. well, more than a 100000 people have left on us flights in just the past 2 weeks, but thousands of afghans hoping to leave the country now under taliban control of being left behind, including many who worked with us allies. robert bryant is joining us now. live from call bull rob. it's been a historic moment, but also a solar moment. absolutely, i mean this was some incredible scenes here in cobble. what is very historic nights of the, the finally the ending of 20 years of military involvement by the united states in the country. words started to spread here very quickly just after midnight local time. so we were already into the 31st of august dates, which is very important, which will be noted in history books, you need to come, this was the date, the deadline set as the departure of the u. s. and the u. s. was good to it's wooded left on the 31st, but just after midnight into this day, tuesday and woul

ambassador ross wilson is on the ground in kabul for the mission.ed and many people have no idea they even have it. our dr. ashton is here with more on that. >>> and then how to refresh your look with 2021's hottest hair trends. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ come in for superfoods, leave feeling mighty. what we value most, shouldn't cost more. stop! clearing breakouts doesn't have to be harsh on your sensitive skin. new cetaphil gentle clear contains balanced formulas that gently clear breakouts and soothe sensitive skin. cetaphil. complete acne care for sensitive skin. now in the acne aisle. i'm still wowed by what's next. even with higher stroke risk due to afib not caused by a heart valve problem. so if there's a better treatment than warfarin,... i want that. eliquis. eliquis reduces stroke risk better than warfarin. and has less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis has both. don't stop taking eliquis without talking to your doctor as this may increase your risk of stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take el

is ross wilson, u.s. ambassador to ah fan stan this. is what he said this morning on good morning america. >> there are safeways to get here. there are relatively safeways to access the airport. we're doing everything we can to facilitate that. >> greg. >> he's like the news anchor saying it's a holiday weekend. leave extra time getting to the airport. there maybe suicide bombers. watch out for kidnapping and murder. i go back to the internal question. how can everybody but the people in charge get this so long. i'm a english grad from berkeley. a magazine editor turned class clown. i saw this coming. we all saw this coming. how did they not see this coming. it makes you think they saw it coming and underestimated the risk. there would be problems and could handle it. boy, were they wrong. knock on wood, that was the strategy. knock on wood. president biden has a lot of wood to knock on so far, 12 could of inns. we gave a list of american citizens to the taliban to grant entry. we gave control of the perimeter to taliban this. is a tell

ross wilson is speaking on good morning america today and says americans who are still in the countryre being contacted directly with instructions on how to get out. >> for american citizens, we are working on other ways to assist them in getting to the airport in a safe manner. being part of huge crowds that remain around the gates, the entrances to the airport, is dangerous. we are concerned about our own people. kumasi: you can catch this entire interview coming up on gma at 7:00. reggie: san francisco's millennium tower is sinking again. the latest problems have forced repair work to stop. workers discovered the building had dropped another inch. that means the tower in fremont is leaning five inches on the top. as of february of last year, the high-rise had already sank 17 inches. the former mayor lives in that building. he is not worried and not losing sleep. >> no trouble at all. i will be sleeping better because i know it is not going to be long. reggie: representatives say there is no material harm to the building despite the sinking and the structure remains safe. kumasi: if

the last two americans to leave were ross wilson and major general christopher donahue of the 82nd airbornedivision who spoke to taliban commanders just before the u.s. left. the pentagon sent out a photograph of him as he left the tarmac. earlier today, the taliban held a news conference at the kabul airport declaring the defeat of america. supporters of the taliban celebrated last night in kabul setting off fireworks and firing tracer bullets into the night sky. but for many afghans, the country is entering a period of deep uncertainty as the taliban return to power amid a devastating humanitarian and economic crisis. in washington, congresswoman pramila jayapal praised the end of the u.s. war, writing on twitter -- "america's longest war is finally over. as we continue working to help our allies and welcome afghan refugees with open arms, let's also commit to stopping endless wars once and for all." according to the costs of war project, the u.s. spent over $2.2 trillion in afghanistan and pakistan. by one count, over 170,000 people died in the fighting. just hours before the u.s. left,

also on that plane, the other man left as the last man beside him was ross wilson, the top u.s. diplomat in kabul. tonight secretary of state antony blinken gave extended remarks on the end of the military mission in afghanistan and the start of what he called the new diplomatic mission in that country, including efforts to continue to get more people out of that country, even without kabul airport as a bridgehead for doing so. one of the first concrete signs of the end of the mission today was an faa notice to airmen, which is a notice to pilots worldwide, and it was blunt as all get-out in case it was not clear before. quote, effective immediately hamid karzai international airport is uncontrolled. no air traffic control or airport services are available. aircraft operating into, out of or through kabul should use extreme caution. the taliban now controls the airport. over the past 17 days, the u.s. airlift brought more than 122,000 people out of afghanistan through that single runway airfield, single largest noncombatant evacuation in the history of u.s. military by a lot. pr

diplomat in kabul, in charge of the affairs, ross wilson. and general chris donahue, commander of the 82nd airborne division. the last soldier to leave afghanistan. officially ending the 20-year war. president biden set to address the american people tomorrow afternoon putting out a statement saying, and i quote, it was a unanimous recommendation of the joint chiefs and of all of our commanders on the ground to end our air lift mission as planned. their view was that ending our military mission was the best way to protect the lives of our troops and secure the prospects of civilian departures for those who want to leave afghanistan in the weeks and months ahead. the secretary of state antony blinken vowing the united states will continue its commitment to americans who still want to leave. >> we believe there are still a small number of americans, under 200, and likely closer to 100, who remain in afghanistan and want to leave. we're trying to determine exactly how many. our commitment to them and to all americans in afghanistan and everywhe

that took off, just at that time, the last two americans in country at the airport top ambassador ross wilson largely taken over operations. when their r-17c-17 left, that the end of the u.s. presence. there were no americans on those flights. that is because the ability to bring americans into the airport had ended 12 hours earlier because of the need to wrap up and the process around those final flights. there were some 6,000 american citizens brought out as part of this evacuation within the last 18 days. the pentagon and the state department acknowledging that there are between 100 and 200 americans who still want to get out. >> there is a lot of heartbreak associated with this departure. we did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out. but i think if we'd stayed another 10 days we wouldn't have gotten everybody out that we wanted to get out and there still would have been people disappointed with that. it is a tough situation. but i want to emphasize again that simply because we have left, that doesn't mean the opportunities for both americans that are in afghanistan that want to

and let me take this opportunity to thank our outstanding it charge ambassador ross wilson who came out of retirement in january 2020 to lead our embassy in afghanistan and done exceptional courageous work during a highly challenging time. for the time being, we will use this post in doha to manage our diplomacy with afghanistan including counselor affairs, administering humanitarian systems and working with allies, partners and regional international stakeholders to coordinate our engagement and messaging to the call ban. our team there will be led by it who served as deputy chief of mission in afghanistan for this past year. no one better prepared to do the job. we will continue our relentless efforts to help americans, foreign nationals and afghans leave afghanistan if they choose. let me talk briefly about the americans who remain in afghanistan. we made extraordinary efforts to give americans every opportunity to depart the country in many cases talking and some times walking them into the airport. of those who self-identified as americans in afghanistan who were considering leavin

and let me take this opportunity to thank our outstanding ambassador ross wilson who came out of retirement in january 2020 to lead the embassy in afghanistan and has done exceptional, courageous work during a highly challenging time. for the time being, we will use this post to administer humanitarian assistance and work a law allies and partners to coordinate engagement and messaging to the taliban. our team there will be led who served by our deputy chief admission in afghanistan this past year. nobody is better to do the job. second, we will continue our relentless efforts to help americans, foreign nationals and afghans leave afghanistan if they choose. let me talk briefly about the americans who remain in afghanistan. we made extraordinary efforts to give americans every opportunity to depart the country. in many cases, talking and sometimes walking them into the airport. of those who self-identified as americans in afghanistan who are considering leaving the country, we've thus far received confirmation about 6,000 have been evacuated or otherwise departed. this number will likely co

it includes ross wilson, the acting u.s. ambassador to afghanistan. your reaction to that?maybe even more, we don't know americans now stranded. there could be a hostage crisis. your reaction to the thought they chose to stay there? >> i don't want anyone to think i'm mincing my words. they all need to be fired immediately. they're trying to cop out, make excuses for americans being left behind in afghanistan, specifically against exactly what the president of the united states said would not happen. here is the problem. i am 100% with certainty understand there are people that can replace the secretary of state, secretary of defense, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and national security advisor. i know that we have depth on that bench. the problem is we do not have that when it comes to president biden. so i'm calling for just about everybody underneath him to step aside and we need to see what happens with president biden in the near future if he continues to fail at an epic scale. elizabeth: growing criticism from democrats too. democrat lawmakers. republicans

and he was accompanied by ambassador ross wilson.eam were in fact the last people to step on the airplane. so what has happened over the last 12 or 18 hours is we first of all we were intent on maintaining the ability to bring out americans and other afghans as long as we could. so we kept that capability until just a few hours ago. and we were able to bring ut some people earlier in the day. although we had to cut it off some time before this operation began. but we were intent on maintaining that capability. we were also intent on maintaining our force protection because the threats from isis were very real, very concerning. and so we did a number of things. we had overwhelming u.s. air power overhead should there have been any challenge to our departure. and again, there was absolutely no question we were not going to be challenged by the taliban. if we were going to be challenged, it was going to be by isis. and i think some of the things we've done yesterday, particularly the strike, and other things we've done have disrupted th

we will soon release a photo of the last c-17 departing with major general chris donahue and ross wilson aboard. while the military evacuation is complete, the diplomatic mission to ensure additional u.s. citizens and eligible afghans that want to leave continues. i know that you're going to hear more about that from the state department shortly. tonight's withdrawal signifies both the end of the military component of the evacuation and also the end of the 20-year mission that began in afghanistan shortly after september 11th, 2001. it's a mission that obama osama bin laden to a just end along with his conspirators. it was not a cheap mission. the cost was 2,461 service members and more than 20,000. sadly that includes 13 u.s. members that were killed last week by an isis bomber. we honor their service today. no words from me could possibly capture the full measure of sacrifices and accomplishments of those that served and nor the emotions that they feel. i'm proud that both my son and i have been a part of it. before i opened it up for questions, i do want to provide some important cont

vetting process is taking place because our sources have said the president has instructed ambassador ross wilson to be more permissive to get as many people on the planes first and vet later. can you confirm that and then i have another one. >> i don't think that's a secret. that's something we've conveyed clearly and that's also one of the reasons why we're so grateful to several dozen countries out there, some of whom are serving as lilly pad countries where individuals are going as for many of them their screening process is continuing before they proceed to the united states. >> reporter: can you respond to allegations from groups assisting evacuations that it's very difficult to get deserving afghans out because procedures that were given to the marines on the ground and officers on the ground change constantly sometimes even daily. >> i would first say that it's an incredibly difficult and challenging security situation on the ground as evidence by the fact that 13 men and women gave their lives on thursday and we dealt with rocket attacks overnight. of course, for protection of our troops

let me take this opportunity to thank our outstanding ambassador ross wilson who came out of retirement in january 2020 to lead our embassy in afghanistan and who has done an exceptional, courageous work during a highly challenging time. for the time being, we will use the post in doha to manage diplomacy with afghanistan, including humanitarian assistance, working with regional and international stakeholders to coordinate our engagement. our team will be led by our debbie chief of mission in afghanistan for this past year. no one is better paired to do the job. we will continue our relentless efforts to help americans, foreign nationals and afghans leave afghanistan. haidi: that is antony blinken, the u.s. secretary of state as the u.s. and 20 years of involvement of afghanistan. bloomberg subscribers can continue watching it live go. some of the events you may have missed earlier. now we are joined by bloomberg national security reporter larry ebert. what's the important point the u.s. has reached with afghanistan. we are out, but many people are looking at an area that is unstable, w

of course it was sent back in to afghanistan once the taliban overran the sitting government and ross wilson states officials to be removed from afghanistan. that's it. the kabul airport is now under no control at some point soon, they hope, they say, it will be under control of the taliban and some degree of professionals. there's been discussed the possibility that turkey might get involved that qatar might get involved in flight operations there. let's take a live look now at the state department where we're told blinken will speak next we're expecting to hear from him how our commitment to afghanistan does not end of course, there are many thousands of afghans who had been promised safe passage out of afghanistan once the taliban took over. many thousands of them were not able to get out. it's the latest reporting of nbc news that there are about 250 americans inside afghanistan who had expressed an, who had wanted to get out of afghanistan but ha

ambassador to afghanistan ross wilson aboard. while the military evacuation is complete, the diplomatic mission to ensure additional u.s. citizens and eligible afghans who want to leave continues. and i know that you have heard -- i know that you are going to hear more about that from the state department shortly. tonight's withdrawal signifies both the end of the military component of the evacuation but also the end of the nearly 20-year mission that began in afghanistan shortly after september 11, 2001. it's a mission that brought osama bin laden to a just end along with many of his al qaeda co-conspirators and it was not a cheap mission. the cost was 2,461 u.s. service members and civilians killed and more than 20,000 who were injured. sadly that includes 13 u.s. service members who were killed last week by an isis-k suicide bomber. we honor their sacrifice today as we remember their heroic accomplishments. no words from me could possibly capture the full measure of sacrifices and accomplishments of those who served nor the em

we will soon release a photo of the last c-17 departing with major general chris donahue and ross wilsonard. while the military evacuation is complete, the diplomatic mission to ensure additional u.s. citizens and eligible afghans who want to leave continues. i know that you are going to hear more about that from the state department shortly. tonight's withdrawal signifies the end of the military component of the evacuation and the end of the nearly 20 year mission that began in afghanistan shortly after september 11, 2001. a mission that brought osama bin laden to a just end along with many of his co-conspirators. it was not a cheap mission. it was 2461 u.s. at risk members and civilians killed with 20,000 injured and sadly that includes 13 u.s. service members killed last week by an isis-k suicide bomber and we honor their sacrifice today as we remember their heroic accomplishments. no words from me could possibly capture the full measure of sacrifices and accomplishments of those who served, nor the emotions they are feeling at this moment. i will say that i am proud that both my son

ambassador ross wilson which said, quote: this is a high risk operation.ied access to harmid karzai international airport by embassy staff or u.s. forces are false. brett, is that true or false? >> >> well, as of about 3:00 eastern time this morning it was definitely false. i have family of four that were outside the gate. we were networking furiously. every channel that we knew, some with folks had channels into centcom and other operations. and these folks were not allowed in the base. the base is shut down. so there is americans who are being left behind. and this is not political for me. there is a lot of stupidity that's gone around. i think everybody who is a citizen of this country should in and that we bring our people home and that includes our afghan allies. we need to honor the promise that we made. steve: absolutely. 100 percent. bret, thank you very much for your service and updating us. pete, thank you very much for joining us as well and your good work over the weekend. thank you, sir. pete: appreciate it. >> thank you. steve: all right. 7:3