ross: that is antony blinken, u.s.ry of state taking questions about afghanistan, having already made a statement. in that statement, he emphasized the great effort americans are making to ecuate u.s. nationals and afghans who would like to leave within the few days that remain up until the 31st of august deadline. he also emphasized -- and this is something i have not heard said so explicitly -- but over 100 countries have made representations to the taliban insisting that after the 31st of august to those who would like to leave the country are still allowed to do so. he also talked about certain points of leverage. we will have to see what those points are. but he was clear. he expects people beyond that deadline to still be able to leave and said the u.s. will support those who will like to. -- who would like to. the biden administration is still very much emphasizing the ccesses of the evacuation effort. we heard it there and saw it in his tweet. he said approximately 90,000 people were evacuated as of -- approxim

secretary of state antony blinken.that happens we will take you to it live it could be any moment but before we do that, let's talk more about restaurants. >>> as covid continues to spread, some restaurant owners are starting to reconsider closing indoor dining rooms yet again. kate rogers has more >> reporter: last week mcdonald's discussed with franchisees what data should prompt dining rooms to reclose in areas where the delta variant is widely spreading according to internal company materials viewed by cnbc on a recent call with franchisees they said what is different is we have a position of strength and the result of hard work and collaboration. this according to notes from the call viewed by cnbc. in a statement to cnbc mcdonald's said in part, quote, we're monitoring the impact of the delta variant closely and recently convened together with our franchisees to underscore existing safety protocols, reinforce our people first approach and provide updates on the rise in cases in the country. the company added open

it seems the taliban say one thing, antony blinken says anotr thing. tell us what blinken was saying. >> i will add to that line that white house spokesperson also says another thing. it is a little t confusing as what is going on with that. we will continue working and we will get people out after august 31. the taliban will let us get people out. that is what tony blinken said. you mentioned with the taliban have said. they will no longer let afghans get to the airport and especially not let afghans leave the country. it seems there are two different things. one is what is going on with americans. tony blinken confirmed a number of americans who were according to their estimates still in afghanistan. that is 1500 americans. of those, there are 500 with him the u.s. state department has had contact, has told how to get to the airport and to be evacuated. there are 1000 so-called probable americans, possibly still in the country. some may have already left. some may not want to leave. those are people of the state department has yet to be able to contac

here's what antony blinken had to say earlier.s the president said yesterday, we are on track to complete our mission by august 31, provided the taliban continue to cooperate and there are no disruptions to this effort. the president has also asked for contingency plans, in case he determines that we must remain in the country past that date. but let me be crystal—clear about this. there is no deadline on our work to help any remaining american citizens who decide they want to leave to do so, along with the many afghans who have stood by us over these many years and want to leave and have been unable to do so. that was antony blinken you were just listening to. i'm joined now by our bbc washington correspondent, nomia iqbal. nomia, great to have you on newsday. as we have just heard, antony blinken says they have a commitment to keep going after this august 31 deadline, but basically the us is relying on the word of the taliban on this, aren't they?— on this, aren't they? that's right, as ou on this, aren't they? that's right, as

that's| right. -- antony blinken. to talk right. —— antony blinken.ricans still believed to be in afghanistan, how many had been evacuated. he will update us on that, but also speak more broadly about the evacuation operation in general. especially what the americans are doing to try to help allies as well. the state department and the pentagon have publicly said they don't know exactly how many americans are in afghanistan because they don't have to register, so they have been working very hard to get into contact with those who are registered, try and contact those i think are there. then give them directions to get to the airport. they're in the midst of evacuating employees locally at the embassy, and of course, those afghans who helped with the us war efforts. this is something that the administration has been pushing, this narrative that the massive airlift is an exceptional success, to carry out over time. that is true, but that hasn't dampened the criticism here that the evacuations relate to. there's attention potentially between this determi

secretary of state antony blinken shortly to talk about that and more. cnn chief white house correspondent kaitlan collins joins me live. and, kaitlan, four presidents, 20 years, both obama and trump promised to end this war. and now president biden has done it. it may not have been a pretty exit, but it is a very significant moment for the united states. >> reporter: it is, jake. and i do this have it's significant that of course this is driven by a decision that president biden made. but he did not announce this. it was central command of course that made this announcement that one minute before the deadline before the clock in kabul struck midnight for august 31st was the last time that c-17, a military plane, took off from kabul and headed back home. and he is confirming there that not a single u.s. service member is left in afghanistan. however, he did note the heartbreak of this evacuation saying they did not get everyone out of afghanistan, out of kabul that they wanted to evacuate. but general mckenzie saying there he did not think if they had te

antony blinken reiterating that yesterday.o wait from the pentagon to know who is responsible this but there have been worries about isis-k. they are an adversarial group to the taliban for the most part, so we have to wait to see who was responsible for these exclusions. officials leading up to this worried about a potential attack from isis-k. in the middle of the night kabul time, they were telling u.s. citizens to leave the airport. if you are near any of the gates, please evacuate. there was concern of these potential threats. greg: i could think of what they are trying to think about in the situation room. what do you tell the american people considering there is several days to go before the deadline? we know there are people desperate to leave the country. this is only compounding the situation around the airport. annmarie: yesterday, we learned from the state department, at least 1500 american citizens. they say these are blue passport holders. what about those that have green cards or rights to access the u.s.? on to

we heard antony blinken talking about a new beginning.t the significance of the withdrawal of u.s. troops from afghanistan 20 years after they arrived? >> it is worth reminding ourselves, despite the terrible things that happened the past couple weeks, the initial reason for the intervention primarily by the united states but also the united and him and other nato forces, the purpose was to prevent another 9/11-type attack either on the united states or elsewhere in the world. to that extent, it has been a success. the challenge is to make sure that continues in the years to come. mark: what should the international community's priorities be at this stage? >> is going to happen in days, not weeks. the creation of a taliban government. there's a lot of speculation at the moment, but it is only speculation, whether the taliban have changed significantly compared to 20 years ago. like everyone else, i'm skeptical, but there are indication that is what they are intending to do. they recognize afghanistan cannot be governed the way they tried

announcer: coming up at 5:00, secretary of state antony blinken will make a statement on afghanistan. watch live on c-span come online on c-span.org, or listen with the free c-span radio app. pres. biden: i am here with my senior advisor who knows louisiana very well. and new orleans. what i'm going to do is make a brief statement here and then go through and tell you what we are doing and then hear from all of you if that's ok. i know you are as busy as the devil. i know you've got a lot to manage in your state. the fact is, i want to hear from you. we both want to hear from you. we know hurricane ida had potential to cause massive damage and that is exactly what we saw. we already know there has been at least one confirmed death and that number is likely to grow. we've got a million people in louisiana without power. for a time, ida caused the mississippi river to change direction. some parks -- something sir still dealing with flash flooding. there are roads that are impassable due to debris and downed power lines. we need people to shelter-in-place if it is safe for them to do so.

antony blinken there. more on his message over the evacuations, here's our washington correspondent nomia iqbal. mr blinken was defiant, as we heard there, saying there is no deadline to get afghan allies, us citizens and us troops out, but tell that to the taliban, because they are effectively running the show. he went on to say that they promised, the taliban promised, that they will give people safe passage beyond that deadline, but we have heard reports — and obviously we've got our correspondents on the ground there — that, in some cases, the taliban aren't letting people through right now, so it will be like after that deadline? but i think the us is very confident — certainly, that's what came out of mr blinken�*s press conference — that given how well they say the evacuation mission is going so far, they will get everyone out that wants to get out by next tuesday. yeah, nomia, there's been some speculation in the american press, a question i think also asked tojen psaki at the white house, that the

joe biden, antony blinken, they can't share responsibility for this. this was not a military operation. the military was there in support. finally, we have to move forward with the terrible situation we have right now. what i asked this morning was we should inc. about options for the future for counterterrorism and isr capability. the fact is that now that we are out, we have no eyes or ears on what's going on in afghanistan. this over the horizon digestion is ridiculous. if we fly out of qatar, you are looking at flying down to pakistan, seven or eight -- seven or eight hours. it's not effective. that's assuming pakistan will let us continue to fly. we all know that the taliban is nothing but a proxy in we have to have a decent afghanistan. this idea that they are going to allow us in with russia and china, it will never happen. i charge them with coming up with proposals for us. we've got to deal with this vulnerability or we will have another attack on our soul and we can't have that get mr. gallagher, armed services committee? >> on november 20 4,

secretary of state antony blinken insist diplomatic efforts will continue in afghanistan beyond august 31, and told our correspondent that america remains engaged with the taliban, despite not recognizing the growth as legitimate political leadership in the country. >> why should the united states care what they want done at the airport or anywhere else in the country since they are not a legally recognized government in the eyes of the u.s.? >> our focus right now is on getting our citizens, our partners, afghan partners, third country partners who have been working in afghanistan with us out of the country and to safety. for that purpose, first, the taliban, like it or not, is in control of the country. certainly in control of the city of kabul. and it has been important to work with them to try to facilitate an insured the departure of all of those who want to leave. that is something we have been focused on from the beginning of this operation because as a practical matter, it advances our interest. >> he says the international community must persist in engaging with the taliban. >

in a moment we will discuss all this with the secretary of state, antony blinken. first, let's bring in trey yingst with the latest on the situation on the ground be seven. >> an injured child is carried through the crowd as soldiers work to sort through a sea of people. gunfire and scenes of chaos erupted for the sixth straight day outside of kabul's only airport. it's been a week since the taliban took control of the capital in these families lives are changed forever. amid new threats, the state department is now urging u.s. citizens to avoid travel to kabul's airport over fears they could be attacked. the taliban now controls an estimated 600,000 weapons, 75,000 vehicles and 200 aircraft, all formally given to afghan security forces by the united states. to escape the danger, evacuees are being flown to regional countries like pakistan, uae, and qatar. until they can be processed and given homes. hundreds of afghans are sheltering a world away from the turmoil engulfing her homeland. these university students from kabul fear they will never be able to turn and

antony blinken said america tends to remain deeply engaged. how do you remain deeply engaged in a country in which your embassy is no longer operational, has been shut down and moved to another country? so you don't have 4000 personnel. you now have an empty husk an embassy without diplomats doing the hard, labor intensive, person intensive interaction on the ground with the people in that country. . you can't do much. it is going to be a remote control diplomacy, in a sense. they make sure the taliban is standing by its commitments to not become a breeding ground for terrorists. easier said than done when you don't have intelligence on the ground and people to give you read tom -- real-time feedback. if the taliban is sticking to their promises. how you verify it in real-time. and also the humanitarian mission. it is a giant question. perhaps where america could at least semi-live up to its word and a time where there is drought, still covid, economic crisis and meltdown about to happen. and a lot of people suffering malnutrition. how can ame

breaking news, antony blinken will be speaking this hour, the president will address the nation tomorrowat's your reaction to the pentagon saying this is heartbreak, but couldn't get americans out who wanted out. we got news coming in, senator ron johnson, the subcommittee on investigation, hundreds of americansun on a bus tried to gt into kabul airport but diverted away. what do you say to that? >> terrible failure. the first obligation of government is to ensure the safety and security of its citizens. also unable to guarantee the security of afghan partners in the past ten years. it's a moral failure and strategic ramifications. our partners and friends and also our enemies need to understand we are competent andt credible and friends he to trust us and enemies need to fear us. this really shakes that trust. liz: congressman, where is the fire moment for nancy pelosi? why isn't she calling the house back in? every government agency working on afghanistan is now in d.c. but not the house. growing number of republicans, one in ten house republicans, four republican senators going for bi

. -- antony blinken. this debacle happened in afghanistan. it is a leadership and policy failure. calling upon -- calling for the resignation of secretary austin and general milley. this crisis could have been averted if we had had leadership and good policies in place. and ultimately, this comes down to the man himself who always says the buck stops here and then blames everybody but himself, president joe biden. we call upon him to resign immediately. with that, we've got time for a couple questions. >> you've been out spoken -- you've been an outspoken supporter of ending these intractable military policies. given the scenes we are seeing on the ground, did you change your mind? was it a mistake for this and the past administration to withdraw troops this summer? >> a couple things with that. this administration basically scrapped the power-sharing and conditional response withdrawal that president trump put in place. he put in place a system of checks and balances. and they had entered into an agreeme

secretary of state antony blinken. secretary blinken, thanks so much for joining us.e a listen to what president biden was saying less than six weeks ago. >> your own intelligence community has assessed the afghan government will likely collapse. >> that is not true. they did not reach that conclusion. there is going to be no circumstance where you'll see people being lifted off the roof of an embassy. the likelihood there is going to be the taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely. >> secretary blinken, as you know, the taliban has closed in on kabul. we are evacuating the embassy, burning documents, biden increased troops to the country in three days to rescue those there. this is not just about the overall idea of leaving afghanistan. this is about leaving hastily and ineptly. secretary blinken, how did president biden get this so wrong? >> jake, first let's put this in context. as we've discussed before we were in afghanistan for one overriding purpose, to deal with the folks who attacked us on 9/11. that is why we went there

secretary of state antony blinken then said it's actually only 500 americans who definitively need rescuingand there are an additional 1,000 who may or may not need rescuing. and he said that number remains fluid. when asked, blinken acknowledged that he is only talking about u.s. citizens, not including green card holders. so the real number, if you include legal permanent residents, well, that remains a mystery. so far no american troops and no american citizens have been killed since this all began according to the pentagon, which is good news. though an unknown number of afghans have been killed by both the taliban and in the tragic crush at the airport. in the last 11 days, more than 82,000 people have been evacuated from afghanistan. and while these herculean efforts by the pentagon have been historic, the window is narrowing for those remaining americans and afghans who assisted in the war. the taliban's grip on the kabul airport is tightening, our sources say. and the taliban says they're, quote, not allowing the evacuation of afghans anymore. the spokesman also told working women t

secretary of state antony blinken says the u.s.nd its allies are working to reopen the kabul airport as quickly as possible to facilitate more departures. he says between 100 and 200 americans remain in the country. and u.s. president biden will address the nation on afghanistan later today. >>> for thousands of afghans who were able to make it out of the country, one of their first stops is ramstein air base in germany. many there are now living in tents waiting for the next leg of their journey. atika shubert is at ramstein air base now and is joining us now. what is the situation at the air base right now for these ev evacuees waiting for the next leg of their journey? >> reporter: for the base itself, it means that they don't have anymore arrivals coming in, but what it does mean is that you still have roughly 10,000 to 15,000 people in this enormous tent city that has been built on the air base. it just stretches right across the tarmac. and what is happening is that, you know, all of these people were supposed to be here for

it comes as the secretary of state antony blinken has insisted the situation is "patently not saigon"reference to america's humiliating departure from vietnam in 1975. he argued us had succeded in its mission. we can do right by the people who stood with us in afghanistan all these years, including afghans who worked for the embassy, worked for our military. we have a massive effort under way to bring afghans at risk out of the country, if that's what they so desire. and ultimately it is up to the afghans themselves, it is up to the afghan government, the taliban, to decide the way forward for the country, including kabul. this story is moving at a fast pace — so let's just remind ourselves what else we know happenend today. the taliban closed in on kabul this morning — after seizing the eastern city of jalalabad. afghanistan's acting interior minister said they want a peaceful transfer of power to a transitional government. the taliban has told the bbc they want to take power in the next few days but will respect the rights of women. roads out of kabul have been packed with people fl

but secretary of state antony blinken defended how this man gone down calling itlyorderly.keover of the taliban happened much more rapidly than the biden administration expected to. and he twedefended the fact tha biden wanted the u.s. troops out of the country because of the deal that was happened between the u.s. and the taliban for american troops to leave by may 1 during the trump administration. so pointing a finger there at the trump administration. but ultimately there will be questions for the biden administration here about how this withdrawal was sexecuted, why it looks so hasty to many not to mention the afghan people watching america leave after president biden had told them that america would not be leaving even thoughist u.s. tr were leaving the country. kylie atwood, cnn, the state department. >> so the blame game begins. republicans heaping it on the biden administration. "new york times" reporting things got contentious between top members of the administration and lawmakers from both parties during a call sunday night. members of congress questioning how i

secretary of state antony blinken spoke about the real danger to americans who remain in afghanistan. danger of this effort. we're operating in a hostile environment in a city and country now controlled by the taliban with the very real possibility of an isis-k attack. we're taking every precaution but this is very high risk. >> a defense official says the concerns are based on a very specific threat stream from isis-k about attacks against the crowds outside the airport. we are expecting new numbers on yesterday's evacuations any moment. international security editor nick paton walsh back with us. nick, this is winding down quickly. i want to step back for a second here because so much has been happening, you've got these planes leaving every 45 minutes i guess on average here. they are filling the planes with people, warning americans to stay away, they are worried about the threat of isis-k against the taliban their arch rivals. still very chaotic, but amazing what has been done, how many people have been moved out of there. >> reporter: yeah, look, absolutely extraordinary operati

the us secretary of state, antony blinken, told reporters that the taliban could not turn the countryhe afghan government and the taliban with the goal of a political solution, which we believe is the only path to lasting peace. translation: | would - like to point out that we have now a very clear vision and plan for taking back control. our security forces are ready. they have reassembled, know the plan and are getting stronger by the day. we can now speak to vanda felbab—brown who's a senior fellow in the center for security, strategy, and technology in the foreign policy program at brookings. thank you for being with us. how significant are these games by the taliban? unfortunately, they are significant. we have seen over the past several weeks significant advances of the taliban in broader areas and systematic efforts to choke off access to provincial capitals. what we have been seeing, really since thursday, is this push into three provincial capitals, partly through the capitals, partly through the capital of luksika. prior to that, the taliban has made significant advances als

so it's important to remember that antony blinken could well have been representing the situation thentire veracity and now there's 150 left so that is one important element of this. a second number i should tell you is category of citizen who is deeply in the hearts i think american diplomats and that's the local staff at the afghan embassy. at this point, still thugt be 1800 that need to get to the airport and 1,300 have been flown out. but gosh the gates are shut noun. there is an bomb threat outside that's caused that so getting in is either through escort or prior arrangement or through this slightly strange unofficial route that afghan security forces also securing the airport have left open for those that they know. but the window so tight now, john. >> it is incredibly tight. so as you mentioned there are those afghans who are, as you put it, in the hearts of diplomatic folks, they want to get them out. but what about when it comes to legal permanent, residents. for instance, one of the families we talked about on our show, nick, was a family from philadelphia. they lived ther

here's the you assurance from antony blinken that the world is on our side.their expectation that the taliban will permit freedom of travel going past august 31st. we have very significant leverage to incentivize the taliban to make good on its commitments. todd: steve, are you confident in that leverage that antony blinken discusses? >> absolutely not. president biden, the white house gave the taliban leverage. we've got thousands of americans stranded there. could you imagine giving them a list of americans and believing that the taliban's going to escort them to the airport? you handed our enemies exactly what they needed to have leverage over us. antony blinken hasn't -- he just doesn't have a clue and the fact of the matter is is that the taliban now has the upper hand, complements of the white house. todd: there's also the little matter of china and i say that tongue in cheek. all eyes of course over the last couple weeks focused on afghanistan but it does have real world implications for what quite frankly is our main enemy in china. when do you expect

ned price, spokesperson, said that secretary of state antony blinken reviews all the sent memos.e receipt technically he would have reviewed this one and he reviews all of the responses to these memos. and that they value the dissent memo channel. but the fact that there was even a dissent memo is noteworthy in and of itself. it demonstrates that these diplomats were so frustrated that their voices weren't being heard that they had to make their voice heard to the secretary of state in the form of dissent. and we should also note that this comes as the president, president biden himself, has not taken any responsibility for how this all unfolded even when asked in that abc interview if there were problems in the process and planning leading up to the u.s. troop withdrawal, he basically said, no, this chaos was inevitable. these diplomats are saying however there was more that could be done to prevent against the situation we're seeing unfold right now. kylie atwood, cnn, the state department. >>> the u.s. defense department says it is in direct communication with the taliban. adm

he was flanked today by vp kamala harris, secretary of state antony blinken, he came out 49 minutes latesting maybe there was some concern about what the messaging was going to be or some disagreement. he also said things that were just factually inaccurate. let's start with those prepared remarks. he said that we have eradicated al-qaeda from afghanistan. intelligence suggests otherwise. your thoughts. >> well, look, the one thing we can count on in joe biden, president or not, is he has never failed to fail x. since he's failed to listen, he has failed to learn, and now he is failing to lead. the intelligence community told him, at least some in the intelligence community, that this was going to happen. and to suggest that al-qaeda's not present, i'll remind everybody in america that they were or present in the prisons in bagram that were emptied out by the taliban. al-qaeda is present in afghanistan. and when he says we have no interest in afghanistan, we didn't have any interest 20 years ago when they were 7th century goat herders. you know what's happened in 20 years now in we just

any minute now we're expecting to hear from secretary of state antony blinken on the evacuation mission in afghanistan. now, a source tells cnn there are 4,100 americans, u.s. citizens, still actively trying to get out. a u.s. defense official says security concerns around the kabul airport are heightened, with fears of a planned attack against the crowds there. this is based on we're told very specific threat stream from isis-k, a self-proclaimed branch of the terror group that first emerged in syria and iraq. the president acknowledged the threat in his national address and the pentagon reiterated that the mission is to the out as many people as possible as soon as possible. >> every 39 minutes yesterday, a plane departed kabul airport. these numbers are a testament to the hard working and brave service members carrying out this mission. in the past 24 hours, five flights landed at dulles international airport with approximately 1,200 passengers. >> so this is a split screen moment. on the left side of your screen, the success. almost 88,000 people evacuated since july according to th

we're waiting to hear from the secretary of state antony blinken. we will have live coverage of that and we will get to that as soon as he shows up at the state department. >>> other major news we're following right now. at least two people are dead. more than one million, one million customers are without power tonight after hurricane ida slammed into louisiana as a category four storm. now it is a tropical depression. brian todd is on the scene for us just outside of new orleans. brian, tom of the damage we're seeing is really catastrophic. walk us through what you are seeing and hearing. >> a lot of catastrophic damage, wolf. and this area really getting its arms around the total devastation. you mentioned there are power lines down all over the place. people desperate for power and gasoline. check out this line here in louisiana. we have been talking to motorists who have been in line for two and a half, three hours. check it out. this goes way, way down, probably close to a mile down the road. these people will be waiting more than three hours

elizabeth: paul, we've never seen anything like this, breaking news secretary of state antony blinken will be speaking at this hour. the president will address the nation tomorrow. the news coming in. what's your reaction to the pentagon saying this is heartbreak? they couldn't get americans out who wanted to get out. by the way news coming in, senator ron johnson, senate permanent subcommittee on investigations, paul he is saying hundreds of americans on a bus tried to get into kabul airport but they were diverted away. what do you say to that? >> terrible failure. the first obligation of government is to insure the safety and security of its citizens and we were unable to do that. we were also unable to guarranty the security of our afghan partners who worked with us over the past 10 years often at risk to themselves. this is a moral failure. it will also have strategic ramifications. our partners and our friends and also our enemies need to understand we're competent and credible. our friends need to trust us and enemies need to fear us. unfortunately events like these really shake

i spoke with secretary of state antony blinken late yesterday. we'll bring you that interview in a moment, but we begin with the latest. ian pannell joins us now from qat qat qatar. what do we know about the air strike? >> reporter: we're hearing from the u.s. military that it was a targeted drone strike against a vehicle born ied, in other words a suicide car bomb they believe was driving towards the airport where the u.s. troops are based and the evacuation mission is taking place. there was a drone strike on the vehicle. they say they believe it was successful. they say there was a secondary explosion afterwards that gives them confidence it was an ied. at the moment they're saying no reports of civilian casualties, but we have to wait for the full assessment. this underlines the threats to the troops and the enduring threat from isis and other terrorist organizations inside afghanistan as we up stakes and leave. martha? >> the big question now, how does the military evacuate the remaining people while avoiding another catastrophe in the final

diplomats wrote a classified dissent memo to secretary of state antony blinken in mid-july urging the department to take more rapid action to process and evacuate the afghans who worked alongside u.s. troops and u.s. diplomats because they were watching what was unfolding in the country. they predicted that the afghan government would fall by the time the u.s. military completely withdrew in august. and they were frustrated that there wasn't enough being done to mitigate against a chaotic situation when that happened. now, deputy national security adviser john finer spoke with wolf blitzer about this dissent memo and said that they did predict that the afghan government would fall but not as quickly as it did. >> i think that the dabl re cab reflects what we've said all along, nobody had it right that the afghan army would collapse in a matter of days. >> reporter: and certain things that they suggested that the biden administration quickly inch pr implemented. but also things in there that weren't. ned price said that the secretary of state reads all dissent memos, so therefore he wo

we do have americans in afghanistan. >> a few hundred americans, antony blinken said probably closer this is really about the diplomatic effort read you heard from secretary blinken, u.s. military flights have last -- left. what about those americans left behind and thousands of afghans who are desperate to get out of the country? there is no diplomatic presence or american presence left in kabul. everything has to be done through doha. how do you make the airport operational so that if military flights are not there, that's clear, civilian flights can make sure these individuals can get out? i imagine that the president's remarks will be pushed back to the 2:00 hour and this is what he will focus on for the next part of this mission. francine: thank you let's also get perspective from general mark, a retired brigadier general. thank you for joining us. how are the taliban different from 20 years ago? >> i don't think they are. there seems to be a charm offensive going on in believing that the taliban are more secular, open to an inclusive government, less radical than they used to be

secretary of state antony blinken is expected to speak in a couple of hours to layout the specific number of americans evacuated from afghanistan and the number that remain in afghanistan. the president and his national security advisor jake sullivan have committed that every american who wants to leave afghanistan will be evacuated by that august 31st deadline. the numbers have been pretty capab cagey over the last several days. the president yesterday made clear he believes they are on pace to achieve the goals they set out in the evacuation. that is why he's sticking to that august 31st deadline. what that achievement looks like has been somewhat amorphous over the last couple days. the real question right now and i'm hearing this a lot from lawmakers on capitol hill, democrats and republicans, is what that means for afghans. that is what the white house is grappling with and some questions they still need to answer publicly in the hours ahead. >> those desperate crowds outside the kabul airport raising concerns for u.s. authorities. there is a very specific threat stream about planned

secretary of state antony blinken says there are roughly 1500 who have left to leave.

. >> antony blinken announced a new program this week to help relocate afghan interpreters and others in the country who assisted the u.s. military during its operations. he also discussed -- and an attack on the oil tanker in the arabian sea. sec. blinken: we have a special guest with us today. >> he will offer some remarks at the top. you have time for a question or two. we will resume with our regularly scheduled programming. sec. blinken: thank you. good afternoon. good to see everyone here. before i turned to today's announcement. i want to address a few urgent matters. first, i want to condemn again the attack on friday because the commercial ship which was peacefully transiting through the north arabian sea, in international water when it was targeted a drone laden with explosives, killing two people. we have conducted a thorough review. we are confident around carried out this attack --iran carried out this attack. there is no justification for this attack on a peaceful vessel, and a -- on a commercial mission in international water. it is a direct threat to the region -- free

the us secretary of state, antony blinken, has said that the mission in afghanistan was a success.hat would you say to him if he was there in your hallway now? it was a wonderful game they play for 20 years and i guess, right before the end of 20 years, the game is over. and for us afghans, we are the losers, then, we are going to end up paying the price for whatever anybody, both my country's political leaders as well as the international community leaders did in the past 20 years, and i'm now beginning to believe that the disbelief... i'm beginning to believe the rumours that people used to believe that all these political leaders are here for money and power and i kept telling myself that that cannot be true, that i thought and i believed that people still have values, but i think today the entire world proved itself that corrupt government officials end up making corrupt government decisions. the taliban have been, we have been speaking, in the bbc, to a taliban spokesperson at length, who said they will not be violence in kabul and there will not be violence against women. the

clearly that situation is moving fast nevertheless, the secretary of state antony blinken with the decisionwithdraw and calling for a peaceful transition of power. whatever that means. listen in. >> we have been working on the drawdown for months. we began an ordered departure from the embassy at the end of april. as facts have changed, we adjusted to that that is why the president sent in forces at our disposal to make sure to do this in the safest way possible. all of the plans have been in place. it is also true in terms of refugees and bringing people out, the system that we inherited had been disecimated we have been doing that in real-time. chuck, you know, stepping back and that's really important because it is vital we put it in context. here are the facts the president said we went into afghanistan 20 years ago for one mission. that was to deal with the folks who attacked us on 9/11 and bring them to justice and make sure they would not be able to do that from afghanistan osama bin laden was brought to justice a decade ago al qaeda has been diminished its current capacity to attack

thanks very much. >>> joining me now is secretary of state antony blinken. secretary blinken, welcome back to "meet the press," sir. >> thanks for having me on, chuck. >> what is happening right now in kabul? we have reports that the taliban and the afghan government are in negotiations for what the taliban is referring to as a peaceful surrender. there are reports we're going to close the american embassy perhaps as early as monday. what can you tell us? >> well, it's a very fluid situation. here is what i can tell you, chuck. we're focused, and the president is focused first and foremost on the safety and security of our personnel. we're moving personnel to the airport, to a facility there. we've been focused all along on making sure they're safe and secure. the president, as you know, has sent in a significant force to make sure that we can proceed with an orderly move and getting down to a core diplomatic presence in kabul. we're working that very, vsh add sid ousley right now. at the same time we've seen reports of the afghans -- the afghan government an

jonathan karl goes one-on-one with secretary of state antony pl blinken about the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan as the taliban rapidly gains control. >>> and also tonight, we're learning the biden administration is reportedly now planning for the possibility that more americans will need booster shots. the news comes as covid cases surge. new infections up more than 900% just since mid-june. but vaccinations are also on the rise. the white house reporting today nearly a million shots administered in one day. most of the 83,000 now hospitalized with covid are unvaccinated. and unlike previous surges, more children are getting the virus. here's abc's zohreen shah. >> reporter: tonight, with the covid-19 crisis exploding across the country, the biden administration now getting ready to possibly give booster shots to more americans as early as this fall. "the new york times" reporting nursing home residents and health care workers would be first in line, followed by older people, much like the initial rollout. dr. anthony fauci says they are evaluating a potential rollou

homeland secretary mayorkas, we have engaged now in an impeachment effort of secretary of state antony blinkenwe believe he has got culpability for much of the travesty that has gone on here. we have also called for resignation of various leaders. we are joined in our call for resignations of secretaries and the general bite 90 entire generals. we also call upon the person who said the buck stops here, who said more than 20 times we will not leave any american behind, the person who basically orchestrated the july 2 evacuation without telling at denny's, we call upon most somberly -- this president, joe biden. with that, i'm going to the main sponsor, the original bonser of the blinken impeachment resolution, andy harris, i'm going to go to him followed by clay higgins, the architect and drafter of the resolutions for resignation. with that, andy harris. >> thank you very much. now that the afghanistan withdrawal debacle is over, we have to be sure nothing like this will ever happen again. so last friday, a representative from south carolina and i filed a resolution including impeachment artic

tonight we will hear from secretary of state antony blinken.ginning at 8:00 eastern here on c-span. announcer: next, telecom officials talking about efforts to secure 5g networks for house energy and commerce subcommittee. this is a little more than three hours.

dozen state department workers in afghanistan sent in a confidential memo to secretary of state antony blinkennd top officials warning that, yes, afghanistan could collapse after the withdrawal. why did the president and his team keep denying that? there is this, thousands of americans still stranded in afghanistan. this new controversy, the administration doesn't know exactly how many americans are left there and it orders the military only to protect kabul airport, not go elsewhere to rescue trapped americans. the uk is sending in paratroopers to rescue its citizens. the white house triggers an international crisis the outrage overseas as allies also are now trapped behind taliban lines. with us tonight general jack keane, congressman tony gonzalez, former navy seal derrick van or the ton, both served in afghanistan. congresswoman claudia tenney, congressman darrell issa, john katko, former dhs official ken cuccinelli. the remarkably catastrophic white house messaging, they're really taking hits to their credibility. calls for mounting resignations. jake sullivan said stranded americans made

diplomats wrote an internal memo to the secretary of state antony blinken back in mid july calling to get afghans out of the country before the country collapsed. they felt their warnings were being ignored. but this is the face of the evacuation now. this is the face of desperation, an exhausted afghan child sleeping on the floor of a u.s. air force cargo plane draped in a coat from an air force member. that as the president joe biden denies advisers argued for keeping military presence in the country. >> warn against this timeline. they wanted you to keep about 2,500 troops. >> no, they didn't. it was split. that wasn't true. that wasn't true. >> they didn't tell you they wanted troops to stay? >> no, not in terms of whether we were going to get out in a time frame all troops. they didn't argue against that. >> so, no one told your military advisers did not tell you we should just keep 2,500 troops, it's been a stable situation for the last several years, we can do that, we can continue to do that. >> no, no one said that to me that i can recall. >> he's also pushing back on the ide

and that includes susan rice and antony blinken and jake sullivan. on why closing such an important strategically-placed air base was a good idea. that was our eyes and ears to china, to pakistan, and i know that we invested $1 trillion in it. >> it's bagram, it's the embassy, it's every other place because their mantra was withdrawal at any price because of political optics. reach that 9/11 as your strategic objection, that 9/11 ceremony where they can have a celebration and make a to-do about it to say they accomplished something political to get out, not a strategic objective of making america safer, getting our citizens out alive, making our service members in a safer world that they go out there and conduct their operations, making our homeland safer. no strategic objectives met. their only strategy was to say how can we make things politically better optically. that was their objective, and obviously, when they tried to do that, they made every aspect of geopolitics and if safety across the globe in the most dire possible situation. that's what