general milley, on bagram, in your professional opinion, which facility, hkai or bagram, would be the better one to facilitate this action with. >> hkai. we directed the embassy open and also the international zone for the other allied nations, so we had to do it out of hkai. bagram would have been a possibility but it would have required exceptional resources to do that. >> i think all of you testified yesterday that it wasn't a matter of if the afghan army would fail and the taliban would take over as a matter of when. you were all shocked by the rate at which it happened. the billions of dollars in equipment that was left behind has been under much scrutiny. knowing that they were going to fail, why weren't more steps taken to secure that military equipment or destroy it, knowing that now it's a well-equipped taliban army? >> the number is a big number, so let me unpack that a little bit. >> let's cut to all the equipment left behind. why was so much left behind? why was that left there when you knew it was going to fail? >> all the equipment that we had that we were using, as i st

we have 5,000 bad guys in bagram and in jail at bagram rishgts? am i right? >> yes. >> and then we go down 650, we can't hold them so we split around july 1st i think we left. >> july 12th. >> and it fell august 15th, correct? they got out then? >> august 16th. >> then we have an attack on our troops a couple weeks later. can any of you guarantee the american people that of those 5,000 bad guys none of them were directly responsible for killing our troops? >> no, i cannot. >> i cannot guarantee that, no. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. secretary and to the generals, i'll be brief. i have several questions. appreciate your concise response. general mckenzie, on august 30th, you told the media that while you maun taken the ability to bring american citizens and civilians out until immediately before the departure of the final flight, no civilians were on the aircraft. and that mission ended approximately 12 hours before the exit. so to clarify, when did the last american citizen successfully pass through taliban perimeter into the gate? >> that's a v

military forces, the withdrawal from bagram as part of that drawdown of u.s. military forces was a very sensible approach to get to the full withdrawal. again, the idea was the full withdrawal of u.s. military forces by the end of the summer, september of this year, and bagram had to be part of that withdrawal. to secure bagram over the long term would have been the opposite of the u.s. withdrawing forces. then, i think there is a second issue that has been raised by those who are concerned about the noncombatant evacuation operation that was begun in august and whether the united states should have come back in and secured bagram as an exit point for u.s. citizens and afghans. i think, again, the issue there is pretty self-explanatory. bagram is far removed, relatively speaking, from kabul. the vast majority of u.s. citizens that we wanted and, of course, embassy personnel that needed to come out in that neo, probably 70%-plus were in the kabul area. it's right there in the city. much harder to secure, for sure. logistically much easier to get folks out. of c

, just i'm sure bagram over the long term would be the opposite of the u.s. withdrawing forces. then i think there is a second that has been raised by those who were concerned about and non combatant evacuation operations that was begun in august, and whether the united states should have come back in, and secured bagram as an exit point for u.s. citizens and afghans. the i -- think again, the issue there is pretty soft color explanatory. bagram as far removed, relatively speaking, from kabul. the vast majority of u.s. citizens that we wanted and of course embassy personnel that needed to come out in of course on your planning is did have [inaudible] the backdrop, that's the only consideration, but i think backdrops that there would be afghan national security forces president for that withdrawal. and of course that is one of those pieces that changed overnight. but it's bagram an alternative, i think there will be lots of opportunity for us to look at that. i'm not concerned that [inaudible] it will actually be a lot of momentum behind the view that that was

we would have had to reseize bagram and the road in between. that would have taken a significant amount of force. we probably would have had significant amounts killed and wounded. impact numbers, u.s. military killed and wounded and the remaining citizens would have been at greater risk. >> you mentioned we don't have to retake in kabul. they had 6,000 troops. as i remember discussions in this committee when we were talking about retaking mosul, the general rule of thumb it takes ten troops to dislodge one in a city. dislodging troops in a city is very difficult and takes a large number of attacking troops. is that correct? >> it is but the composition of taliban was not the same. mosul is a prepared defense. they were it dug in and ready to go. the taliban had just moved in, so it would have been thot that level of fight you saw in mosul, but it still would have been significant. you're in an urban area. it would have been a significant level of effort and resulted in significant casualties. >> thank you. i want to be clear on this. there was

force froms bagram airfield?when the president decided that we would withdraw from afghanistan we were always going to leave bagram as a consequence of leaving afghanistan. >> so, it was the president's decision? >> president directed that we leave afghanistan and general miller executed a retrograde leaving bagram airfield. >> so the president. who specifically is responsible for the decision to leave terrorist prisoners in bagram despite the impending advance of the taliban forces? >> so par one prison the prison you're speaking of at the airfield, it's off airfield and transferred to afghans, it had been transferred eight years prior. so you're saying that leaving bagram had no impact at all on the prisoners being freed. is that the position of this administration that you had nothing to do with this? >> i think that people of good character and good judgment can disagree. i think that the afghan national security forces had control of the prison and they were handed control of bagram airfield so when the tali

we would have had to reseize bagram in the 30 miles of road in between bagram, and kabul. that would have taken a significant force, core operation. we probably, my guess, we would have had significant amounts killed and wounded. exact numbers are inprecise. the remaining american citizens would have been at greater risk. >> you mentioned we would have had to retaken kabul. they had 6,000 troops. as i remember discussions in the committee when we were talking about retaking mosul, the generally accepted rule of thumb is it takes ten troops to dislodge one in a city. dislodging troops in a city is very difficult, and takes a large number of attacks troops. is that correct? >> it is, but the disposition and composition was not the same as isis and mosul. they were ready to go. the taliban had just moved in. it would have been not that level of fight that you saw in mosul but still would have been significant, 6,006,000. it would have resulted in significant u.s. casualties. >> thank you. do you know and i want to be clear on this, there was a deadline in the doha agreement o

bagram is removed from kabul, the vast majority of u.s. citizens we waned and embassy personnel that needed to come out, probably 70% plus were in the kabul area. much harder to secure for sure but logistically much easier to get folks out. of course our neoplanning did have as the backdrop, not the only consideration, but as a backdrop that there would be afghan national security forces present for that withdrawal. and of course that is one of those pieces that changed overnight. but bagram as an alternative, i think there'll be lots of opportunity for folks to look at that. i'm not concerned that there'll actually be a lot of momentum behind the view that that was a viable alternative for the neo. nina: enough forcing you to back seat drive. let's move forward. a lot of questions about the over the horizon campaign against al qaeda, isis-k and other threats from afghanistan. bottom line, for your average american, how is the military poised to protect us from terrorist attacks? can you give us some -- what is that over the horizon strate

conditions on a ground-based withdrawal, included america keeping bagram airbase forever. strategically important location. and that in fact it was said over and over again, what happened to the caliphate soleimani, al-baghdadi and associates, the al qaeda leader in yemen will happen to you. do you understand? did you hear those calls? >> i was standing across the resolute desk from president trump when he talked on the speakerphone to the taliban in february 2020. he said we all want to end the violence. i share the conviction that the vast majority of americansns believe that we wanted to get our troops home. but we wanted to do it with honor. we wanted to do it in an orderly way and we wanted to leave behind the kind of conditions that would be reflective of the enormous service w and sacrifice of our troops over the last 20 years. the president made it clear. he said if you break this deal we are going to hit you harder than we've ever hit you before. he said i don't like saying that but he said, i just want you to know.an i could hear in the voice of mullah abdul ghan

he was maintaining bagram air force base. he sent a powerful message to the taliban that we would not complete the withdrawal until they reached an accommodation with the afghan government. that is what biden completely reversed. they went from a conditional withdrawal to unconditional surrender. we are going to be dealing with results of that for many years to come. with respect to the debt limit, when i have voted for spending that exceeded revenues, i voted for the debt limit. in this case it was the democrats who have blown the lid off our spending. it is their responsibility to increase the debt limit. i am not going to do that because i will not accommodate this reckless spending that is running up a debt that americans will never be able to repay and will follow us for generations in the future and rob our children of the american dream. host: back to the migration crisis comment on twitter. how is the illegal immigrant problem going to be resolved when none of the illegal employers like donald trump are arrested for h

cnn learned the isis-k bomber who carried out the attack had been released from the abandoned bagram.s. officials say that happened when the taliban took control of the area. we heard this morning the taliban are conducting raids against isis-k in kabul. >> cnn international correspondent clarissa ward joining us from kabul. we know many thousands of people were released from prison going back to trump's original deal with the taliban. now you have the reality of the taliban policing a terror group like isis-k. i wonder what kind of future that portends there. >> reporter: i think the first question this raises that everyone in washington will be talking about is the issue of whether the u.s. should have handed over bagram or whether there was a way to hand it over with some kind of guarantee that the more dangerous terrorists -- there were hundreds of very dangerous terrorists being held in bagram at the prison in the air base, whether they could have been moved to a different facility or whatever the case may be. we did hear from the defense secretary lloyd austin, listen, if we wa

handing over bagram air base to the afghan national army. that took place on july 1st. we now understanding from this new cnn reporting that abdul rehman al loghri, the terrorist from isis k responsible for killing 13 american service members and dozens of afghan civilians trying to get out of the country, that he had been held at parwan prison in bagram air base. when the taliban took power on that sunday, the first thing they did before coming into kabul was essentially to empty the prisons at parwan prison in bagram and also pul-e-charkhi. i remember that very well because there were very real security concerns across the whole capital that this could lead to a huge spike in crime and also terrorist activity. parwan prison at bagram held thousands of prisoners, but also specific lip hundreds of very dangerous terrorists. the taliban was obviously trying to release their own people from the prison. in the process they did release these isis-k members. that has real ramifications in terms of the security situation here on the ground. there was a large terrorist attack

we saw that in capitol hill hearings for the way they turned over pack r-- bagram.was like they vanished in the middle of the night, allowing looters onto the air base. this goes to underscore the risks and dangers in how they played out, john. >> the ramifications as well. oren liebermann, thank you so much for that report. appreciate it. >>> developing overnight, the "new york times" reports that the cia has circulated an unusual top secret memo rising the alarm of number of u.s. informants overseas that have been captured or killed. phil, this is very alarm to go learn of. give us a sense of how frequently this must be happening of american adversaries mying off u.s. in informants in order for a memo to be issued about it. >> it has to be pretty frequent. in the 25 years i did this business, i don't remember a memo like this. the most significant part, it's not focused on a specific country. not like we have a traitor selling secrets to the russians, chinese or others. by reading the memo from the outside, it suggests there are problems with u.s. intelligence aga

retaining bagram would have put as many as 5,000 u.s. troops in harm's way o just to operate and defend it. and would have contributed little to the mission we assigned which is to protect and defend the embassy some 30 miles away. the distance from kabul also rendered bagram of little value in the evacuation. staying at bagram meant staying at war in afghanistan, something that the president made clear that he would not do. >> over the horizon --. outside the country. just days ago we conducted one such strike in syria, eliminating a senior al qaeda figure. over the horizon populations are difficult but absolutely possible and the intelligence that supports them comes from a variety of sources and not just u.s. boots on the ground. as for when we started evacuations, we offered input to the state department's decision. mindful of their concerns that moving too soon might actually cause the very collapse of the afghan government that we all wanted to do avoid. and that moving too late would put our people and operations at greater risk.

a prison next to bagram air base, the same air base the u.s. abandoned in july.s around the final days of the withdrawal from afghanistan and as cnn's oren liebermann reports, the struggle that u.s. troops had in their need to rely on the taliban for security in the area. >> reporter: just hours before the taliban took control of kabul, they emptied out two major prisons around the capital of afghanistan. thousands of prisoners released into a city in disarray. the taliban's supreme leader called the prisoners political detainees. but they were members of the taliban, al qaeda and isis-k. one of those prisoners was abdul rahman, an isis-k member. 11 days later it was he who carried out the suicide bombing at abbey gate killing 13 u.s. service members and about 170 afghans. officials say he had been released from the prison near bagram air base under u.s. control until it was given to the afghan military this summer and then fell to the taliban. the afghans have run the prison since 2013. the attack underscores the chaotic final days of the end of america's longes

retaining bagram would've required putting as many as 5,000 u.s. troops in harm's way just to operate and defend it. and it would've contributed little to the mission that we'd been assigned. and that was to protect and defend the embassy, which was some 30 miles away. that distance from kabul also rendered bagram of little value in the evacuation. even more counterterrorism purposes meant staying at war in afghanistan, something that the president made clear that he would not do. as for over-the-horizon operations, when we use that term, we refer to assets and target analysis that come from outside the country in which the operation occurs. these are effective and fairly common operations. indeed, just days ago we conducted one such strike in syria, eliminating a senior al qaeda figure. over-the-horizon operations are difficult but absolutely possible. and the intelligence that supports them comes from a variety of sources and not just u.s. boots on the ground. as for when we started evacuations, we offered input to the state department's decision

general, with bagram in your professional militaryla baopinion, which facility bagram airfield wouldfficient of the evacuation? >> there is a reason for that. the vast majority of those personnel we expected were located in kabul. point number two, we were directed to maintain an embassy open also the international zone for the others we have to do it because bagram would have been a prospect require exceptional levels of resources to do that. >> all of you testified yesterday it wasn't a matter of if the afghan army would taliban would take over but a matter of when. so billions of dollars in equipment to be left behind has been under much scrutiny. knowing they would fail why were more steps not taken to secure that military equipment or destroy it? now it is a well-equipped taliban army. >> theli number is a big number 84 billion included. >> i understand that let's go to the equipment left behind. aircraft, am wrap, weapons when you knew they would fail? >> the other type thing i would say all of the equipment that we hado and we were using that was evacuated by general miller. t

i understand chain of command and discipline this guy saying you gave up bagram airport.ew 20 years in the streets. you embarrassed us with an evacuation and you left americans to die. and you jail him? >> yeah. and all of that is true. right, brian? so what they are really doing is jailing him for speaking the truth. and, you know, i listened to the parents. and i want them to know and i want everyone in america to know that i stand 100 percent with their son because he did something that everyone in america has been waiting for for years, brian. you know it, and i know it, right? and when i watched his videos, do you know what was extraordinary? he said he thought about everything that he was giving up. and it was enormous. >> right? his -- all those years in the marine corps. his family stability, everything. and he said that he realized if he wasn't giving up a lot, then it wouldn't say much about what he was, you know, why he was doing this and so that's what his message is really to every american. is that the more you risk, the more you fear losing, the more import

turned into billions in american equipment handed over to the taliban, our most valuable airfield, bagram, maybe one of the most valuable in the world, abandoned in the dead of the night, americans left behind in enemy lines that are still there, and a complete abandonment of our allies. -- in afghanistan. what a disaster. president biden was more concerned about a good september 11 headline than a great strategy, more concerned about his press than saving american lives. the president's withdrawal will continue to be a stain on his legacy. joe biden created the worst american military foreign policy disaster in recent history. and the united states will be haunted by this decision for many years to come. another fact about this is biden's america. president biden's policies have undercut economic growth and derailed rapid recovery that was taking place under the trump administration. and this was even during a pandemic. now prices are skyrocketing, businesses can't find people to work, and the u.s. is facing an unprecedented disruption in the supply chains. and this is administration did

statute and therefore, all the acts which may or may not be criminal that occurred, for example at bagrambeen investigated. that's a serious problem. well, you say it's a serious problem. if you accept the glaring sort of failings of the internationaljustice framework at the moment, why on earth are you now seeking to push the notion of internationaljustice even further and take on the concept of what you are calling �*ecocide' — to have the international criminal system take on the notion that those responsible for the most egregious acts against the planet's welfare should be criminally prosecuted? it's not — it's not conceivably going to happen. let me separate — it is actually going to happen — but let me just separate out the two issues. the first issue is international justice generally. am i in favour of developing the existing system? absolutely? it's a long game. you can't expect humankind to exist for millennia and then, in 1945, to create rules on bits of paper which say "you can't commit genocide, you can't commit crimes against humanity", you create an international criminal

. >> did they think it's a bad idea to evacuate bagram air base before we get everyone out.enior leaders that own up and raise their hand and say we did not do this well in the end. demand accountability. >> scheller is in the bringing. his hearing is delayed. he's not charged yet. he could face cheese charges. conduct unbecome an officer. and disobeying a senior officer. and advance corp rall clark who was credited with saving a baby. that -- that guy is under investigation because he went to a trump rally in georgia. trump intow diewsd him as the guy -- trump introduced him as the guy who pulled the baby over the wall. now he's being investigated. joining us is j.d. advance. do you think these charges are legit senate. >> no, i don't. the people who preside over afghanistan, lloyd, milley, austin, are receiving no consequences. and the guy who speaks out is in the bringing. the fact that they are throwing him in the brig i think makes him a political prisoner. if you actually tell the honest story about what happened in afghanistan, we'll come you have a. that message is l

i asked you about the capability of obtaining bagram is an airbase. hope you do see today ignoring questions that might come up from civilian oversight sometimes backfires on you a little bit. you apologize for being late in your statement today. you've just got to understand the pattern here. i heard senator clyburn say you've got to see how dismissive it looks to congress that you've had time to interview and do all these interviews but questions are not answered so i'm just troubled by some of those things and also on august 182 said quotee there's nothing that i or anyone else so that indicated the collapse of the army and this government quote i find it unbelievable if a staff of 3200 people in the budget of 419 million taxpayer dollars that we didn't see the obvious but i do think you sought to cut as july 11th 2019 the said quote i think pulling out prematurely would be up at strategic mistake end quote and you sit here today and you also said that here today. do you agree? may i comment? two points. on the intel peace i stay with what i said.

had he had bagram not abandoned in july they might still be alive.in the us republicans are demanding answers through dhs about resettling afghan refugees demanding the administration answer a few simple questions. what are the total numbers of afghans being resettled, what is the definition of vulnerable afghans. were all vulnerable afghans paroled in the us, his parole granted before or after vetting is completed, are the vetting procedures adequate to ensure that actors do not make it into the united states? and more on lieutenant scheller who was locked up for criticizing the evacuation. he has formally been charged with 6 violations. 's lawyer hit out yesterday. >> claiming this man who is married with 3 children, who lives in north carolina was a flight risk. absolutely ridiculous. here is a man who spent 17 years of his life, multiple deployments as an infantry officer who has taught young marines who had the guts to say what he said. somebody needs to be held accountable. somebody needs -- >> the point is there are so many questions about afg

fighting season, incredibly -- encumbrance of leasing on september 11th, the idea that we abandoned bagram airbase in the middle of the night without telling our allies, and worst of all that we left americans and american allies behind was unconscionable. >> there is some glimmer of hope, that small pocket of resistance released a statement saying they were still continuing to fight, the taliban had not been victorious against them and they will continue to do so as long as there's one of them standing. >> senior legal advisor to the state department resigning in protest of president biden's use a title 42 saying that from your a policy which allows officials to deport migrants during public health emergencies is according to him illegal and inhumane. he will stay with the department in a consulting role. he served under president obama and clinton. >> doctor anthony fauci is backtracking after saying it is too soon for americans together in person for christmas. >> that was misinterpreted as my saying we can't spend christmas with our families, that was not the case. i will be spending c

then we are going to bomb five airfields and we're going to take bagram because it's right next to china. right next to the nuclear facility. it be great to keep it because $10 million to build it that we left. they left the lights on, the dogs there, they didn't destroy the equipment, they didn't take the equipment. they said they destroyed some because they were so embarrassed they left without it. $85 billion worth of equipment. the entire budget military budget of russia for a year is $50 billion. we left $85 billion worth of equipment in the hands of the taliban. >> sean: you would obliterate them if they didn't follow every dotted i and crossed t. okay. there was going to be a condition spaced withdrawal only if conditions were suitable. you would keep a gratuity the air base which we for and billed. can you explain to me when joe biden had the months of march, april, may, june, july, all control of kabul to end airport. the taliban was south of kabul, the taliban was south of kabul, why didn't he evacuate? if it wasn't too obliterate them and push them back? why didn't he move eve

. >> top republican, and urgent terror threat after the taliban released thousands from bagram airbase in afghanistan including the suicide bomber that killed 13 us servicemembers. congressman tom mcclintock telling alejandro mayorkas he is concerned the newly freed individuals would attempt to enter the country through the southern border. it comes as americans and our allies remain trapped behind enemy lines. the former combat interpreter who is desperate to flee afghanistan told us last hour he is losing hope. >> the government - to the airport. through the chaos i tried to contact different private organizations. >> the wall street journal is reporting the state department is planning to resume regular flights from afghanistan before the end of the year but that hinges on multiple factors including taliban cooperation. former defense secretary robert gates speaking out on the biden administration's actions during withdrawal. >> he was tough, not feeling very well, so low about the way it had ended. >> i spoke with mike pompeo who told me the singular greatest mistake was made by th

. >> and the last thing, bagram air base. why did he close that?gure out what was going on behind-the-scenes. >> vaccine mandate showdown. thousands ever police officers in america's biggest city facing the possibility of losing their job for refusing to get vaccinated for covid. the city is hit with a record surge in violent crimes. what this means for public safety. some things are good to know. like where to find the cheapest gas in town, and which supermarket gives you the most bang for your buck. something else that's good to know? if you have medicare and medicaid, you may be able to get more healthcare benefits through a humana medicare advantage plan. call the number on your screen now and speak to a licensed humana sales agent to see if you qualify. learn about plans that could give you more healthcare benefits than you have today. depending on the plan you choose, you could have your doctor, hospital, and prescription drug coverage in one convenient plan. from humana, a company with 60 years of experience in the healthcare industry. you'l

we cannot see the threats from china and iran as well as we could before the fall of bagram. but i want to go back to the border that was discussed. these haitians, 14,000 of them, in addition to the million that have come in this year, this has caused a crisis. it's unsustainable. and border patrol agents have been told that we are going to lose. i agree with that. i have also obtained emails from cbp agents in del rio, texas, warning and asking for more resources. and the foreign minister of panama warned on june 3rd, about this influx that was coming up through its border. did you foresee this threat coming? and if so, what if anything, did you do? >> if i may, congressman, i know again we worked closely for a number of years. i did not say that we are going to lose. that is false. number one. number two, we have not seen before such a rapid migration, regular migration of individuals as we have observed an experienced with respect to haitians across the border indelibly, texas. that has been unprecedented in speed. >> did you have a warning? when the secretary is being wa

he said nobody said you need to keep the bagram airfield, and we know now that all of that was false.an extraordinary success. that is all spin coming from the white house and jen psaki. so that is probably what people looked at. and here you have these three generals and finally after we pound them for a while, they say, hey, wait a minute, we said they needed to keep 2500 troops. so biden was wrong in his interview with stephanopoulos, he was wrong in saying nobody said august 31st wouldn't work. but, maria, he wanted to take that victory lap on september 11th so badly that he was willing to sacrifice our relationship with our nato allies, with our partners in the region, the afghan government. thirteen troops lost their lives and thousands -- we don't even know the number yet of americans, of afghan allies, siv holders and their families, applicants and their families that are left stranded, behind taliban lines. maria: well, jen psaki also said that biden got advice from the generals and he got advice from others. who were those others, and who is really running the show in the wh