jennifer griffin, i'm also joined by my cohost kayleigh mcenany who has a quick question for you. >> ifer, i heard you earlier describe it as a "sea of humanity outside those gates, 5,000 people trying to evacuate, and just so jarring to think of these. and men and women trying to escape this and now the scenes we are seeing outside the gates, of course there are americans still in the country, how many are left to right now in afghanistan? do we have accounts and what is their hope for getting out at the hour? >> it's very difficult to say, kayleigh. as of the reporting yesterday and the reason it is difficult is that some of these americans who are dual passport holders, they are out in remote places, some of them have been contacted repeatedly by the state department and asked if they want to be evacuated. and some of those people it's safer frankly for them to stay where they are. inside kabul it's a different story. the estimate was that there may be 500 americans who needed to get out of afghanistan altogether. overnights we understand that a few hundred more were brought into t

to quote jennifer griffin, the incomparable jennifer griffin, she said we were in afghanistan to start to stop terrorism from brewing from growing, and our partners have now been abandoned , they are in hiding. we don't have eyes in ears on the ground. and we will talk about later th over the horizon cap ability it's laughable. all go into it in the next block , but they are going to be flying drones bite that by the time they get to afghanistan from the persian gulf they have little time to do any work. i keep hearing this word humiliating. this has been a humiliating week . no, not for america. not for our service members, those who served in sacrificed, those who were there, those are who are going into afghanistan now. it is infuriating in frightening . every american listening to thi garbage from this garbage president has every right to be mad the only humiliating thing is the only humiliation is on joe biden in the people that work for joe biden in the white house in the administration. ella democrats should be humiliated. all the media grifters, in the hucksters, in the swindle

marines wounded, jennifer griffin is

jennifer griffin as life right now at the pentagon. ennifer, that is certainly not what we've seen, in fact they called the fall of kabul catastrophe in criticized the president for withdrawing u.s. troops. french parliamentarian we thought america was back commit angola merkel is questioning hi motives very calling for accountability on perhaps on behalf of the united states saying the u.s. bears the main responsibility for the current situation. we can't fact check it fast enough because there were so many wrist representations of what is happening on the ground to hear the president talk abou still having an over the rising capability. and even the taliban, that woul have required partners on the ground. what we seen in recent days is those partners on the ground have been abandoned, they are i hiding, they are fearing for their lives. they fled the country, we don't have partners, we don't have eyes in ears, the reason the u.s. military can't leave the airport to go rescue any americans out in kabul when british and french special f

and jennifer griffin telling us that ten u.s. icemembers were killed in that attack outside of the kabul airport. >> john: this is a devastating day and we hope that number doesn't continue to rise. but as jennifer mentions, it is likely to as the threat from attacks is built up. sometimes these attacks come in waves. and sometimes the first attack is a signal to another attack. i have been to that airport and in a normal time is a sea of humanity and at this time, thousands and thousands of people outside those blast walls with the marines on the inside and making decisions and life and death decisions as mothers are pleading for their children to be handed over the wall to get to safety inside. think for one second here, the last u.s. service people to die happened back in february of 2020 in afghanistan. the last two. now, in the last two hours, confirmation of ten u.s. marines and dozens injured. and the numbers are increasing on the afghan side. at least, 60 and 2 dozen wounded. the question is, who was this? was it isis-k, t

thanks, jennifer griffin. more on the explosions here and the taliban trying to explain what's going on. make of this what you will. they were heard outside kabul airport a few minutes ago. the explosions the taliban said were carried out by american forces to destroy their equipment. so the citizens of kabul do not need to worry. i think it's an understatement to say they're a tad worried. let's go to peter doocy at the white house waiting to hear from the president in 53 minutes from now. any indication where he's leaning and what he might be saying? >> not yet. complete silence since the pentagon went public with the explosion in kabul. what we're listening for is what jen psaki said would be a possibility. the president was presented by the national security adviser and the defense secretary and the chairman of the joint chiefs that he wanted contingencies in case the u.s. needed to stay longer. we have no indication that that will happen. so far as things have gone haywire in afghanistan, the president ha

but first, jennifer griffin's life at the pentagon with the breaking details. what did you just learn from the everything that happened at the pentagon a short time ago? >> that briefing just ended, but i received a very credible first hand report from those on the ground and kabul saying that the taliban are going door to door, looking for those who have worked with and fought alongside the americans, and they are looking already for retribution. there are terrified people in their houses, trying to destroy any evidence that they have worked with the americans feared what we learn from john kirby, the press secretary here at the pentagon, authorized another battalion from the 82nd airborne which has been on standby inchoate to go to kabul. that should bring the number of troops authorized to 6,000. as of now, there are 2500 at the kabul airport. another 500 are expected to land by tomorrow. once flights resume at the international airport if you are no flights are taking up right now according to kirby, as u.s. troops try to regain control after thousands of a

mike: let's go back to a colleague jennifer griffin at the pentagon, jennifer final thought from you after being with us through this got wrenching ceremony? >> words fail me right now but it's notable that you have not only members of the cabinet, the secretary of the state defense secretary the entire joint chief as well as the cia director and we saw chris coons along with the first lady and the president on the tarmac there, very, very difficult scenes as we have mentioned and for those families, their lives are changed forever. mike: jennifer griffin at the pentagon, thank you very much. we'll be right back in a moment. oh my, with chase freedom unlimited, i earn all this cash back? oh, i gotta tell everyone. hey rita, you can earn 3% on dining, including takeout! bon appetit. hey kim, you earn 5% on travel purchased through chase! way ahead of you. hey neal, you can earn 3% at drug stores!!! buddy, i'm right here. why are you yelling? because that's what i do! you're always earning with 5% cash back on travel purchased through chase, 3% at drugstores, 3% on dining including tak

jennifer griffin thank you for joining us late at night on this topic, we appreciate it. >> thank you former naval intelligence officer. john, if you heard jennifer now she said the 5 rockets they were fired at kabul international. moments ago that was around 11:45 you know local time. what is your response to that, what do you take away from what happened this last 30 minutes. >> hardly surprising, we had warnings that would happen, that were public. the c-ram system is an area defense system, in a strange way related to israel iron dome, what is happening now, 31 is deadline, but how this unfolds afterwards is with the next chapter. and there is a great untruth propagated. >> that there is a clear line of differentiation between the taliban and isis-k. history, says something different. bagram airbase was built by soviets during their incursion to afghanistan. and when we left bagram in middle of night, we left thousands of so-called isis, ice kfighters behind. -- who were then liberated by taliban, and taliban say they are their enemy, and not known that isis k group was founded by

let's bring in jennifer griffin. jennifer, good afternoon to you. what are you learning? >> good afternoon, martha. the threat to troops at the airport will increase in the coming days we're told. the president has been told that u.s. forces on the ground in kabul face another imminent terrorist attack. that message being delivered at the pentagon as well. >> we're monitoring these threats virtually around real time. i won't get into more detail than that. >> i want to warn you the following video is graphic and disturbing. if you have children, might want them to step out of the room. what i can tell you is this video shows the aftermath of yesterday's attack. the pentagon corrected reports from yet of two suicide bombers adding there was no explosion at the baron hotel, about 200 years from that gate. the pentagon could not say if any u.s. troops were killed by gun fire. the death toll among afghans rose to 130. >> how can you say with certainty that the taliban were not involved in this suicide bombing? i understand that you're reliant on them for protection around the

we can tell joe biden else has gone to afghanistan. >> from the hill, chad pergram. >> dana: jennifer griffinhat we have just learned is that it was three u.s. marines who were injured in this complex suicide bombing attack. as we've been reporting all morning we can confirm two explosions, one at the abbey gate, one near the barron hotel. those marines were not outside the airport, they were along that barbed wire we've been seeing and helping the state department as they check papers and kept the security at the gate. last night at abbey gate there was a crush, a sea of humanity described to me. 5,000 people, many, many layers deep trying to get in. they knew, the state department knew, the pentagon knew, everyone knew that was a race against the clock. that isis had threatened to set off these kinds of explosions at the airport, near the airport targeting afghan civilians as well as u.s. forces at the airport. they knew that. it's one of the reasons they were not sending u.s. forces out willy-nilly to make rescues inside kabul. it was not safe. the taliban had told them as much because rem

>> bret: jennifer griffin at the pentagon. thanks. facebook is reiterating its band on accounts praising supporting representing the taliban. the social media giant says it employs a team of experts tasked with identifying emerging issues on the subject. other social media companies like twitter say they are remaining village talent enforcing bands on content that promote violence however you at least one taliban spokesman currently has an active unverified account with more than 347,000 followers. we should point out former president trump is still not allowed back on twitter. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell has been an outspoken critic of president biden's afghanistan evacuation calling it a, quote, botched exit. the senate minority leader joins us now. senator mcconnell, thanks for being here. >> glad to be with you, bret. >> bret: what are your thoughts? you saw the president's speech yesterday. you have seen the administration's efforts to talk about how they said they were prepared for every contingency and have you seen

let's check in with jennifer griffin. jennifer, those were tough questions all around today and you pressed on that and the prisoner release at bagram. that was our airfield and we handed the prisoners off to the afghan national army and then they got out because the taliban let them out. you had a lot of tough stuff. what can you tell us we should take away from that questioning? >> i think what was interesting, there was another portion of that questioning that we can play in a moment, but what was interesting was the first time i've heard the pentagon say the number of isis-k who were at that prison at bagram and at another prison where prisoners were released after the government fell to the taliban. and those prisoners, the numbers of prisoners released of isis-k now out there regrouping and attacking u.s. forces was surprising. here is what john kirby said. >> how many isis-k prisoners were left at bagram and are believed to have been released from the prison there and why weren't they removed before the u.s. moved

we're getting word from our jennifer griffin that there are 14,000 afghans inside the kabul international airport grounds. pending flights that were supposed to take off to qatar, they're not taking anymore for the time being. so you have a situation where many are seated on the tarmac in idol c-17s. we don't know what the status is, what is behind the significance of this delay. there was a word that qatar, which is processing a lot of the paperwork for those that ultimately make their way out of the country were overwhelmed and they're taking about reinforcing that with more people. separately we're hearing two house makers on a call with the defense secretary, lloyd austin, have passed along reports that americans in the country have been beaten by the taliban in kabul. this would be contrary to what the president had said about 45 minutes ago when he smoke to the nation about this. jacqui heinrich is on that story. what do we know about this, jacqui? >> i know from the lawmakers that i talked to that the defense secretary said there were reports that the americans had been beaten by t

jennifer griffin was just in that room and she had questions for general mckenzie. she joins us now. jennifer, your reaction to what we just learned in there. >> what was significant, martha, we heard the mission continues and that already they have brought more buses of afghan evacuees in to the airport. they're still letting people through the gates. they're still have several thousand people on the tarmac that they are evacuating. planes are taking off. if you listen to general mckenzie, the most significant thing he said is the threat streams, he described them as very real, tactical, imminent. he said the attackers would like to carry out a rocket attack on planes. in fact, he confirmed that some of the planes taking off in the last week had been shot at, had been fired at. they were not successful. they described the protection measures at the airport. he said the reason the death toll was so high is that the suicide bomber, one suicide bomber got so close to the marines that it was apparently at the gate that the bomb was detonated and these marines were in fa

i want to go to jennifer griffin at the pentagon to update us on news regarding afghanistan. jennifer? >> neil, we just heard from sources on the ground in afghanistan that taliban guards at the airport are saying that the last american war planes have left kabul airport. there's no more u.s. war planes at that airport. the american presence is gone from the airport. i can confirm with multiple u.s. officials that i've spoken to in recent moments that american's longest war is officially over. in fact, the last military transport plan took off and is almost out of afghan airspace. it's at the border as we speak. what we can say is america's longest war is over. we expect a briefing any minute. if we look back on the cost of this war, neil, 2,461 americans killed in action. 13 of them in just the last week as they were carrying out this humanitarian mission to bring humanitarians and allies to safety. 6,000 evacuated since august 14. more than 20 american service members were wounded fighting against the taliban. the very same group that harbored the al-quaida terrorists that

jennifer griffin with the latest from the pentagon. jennifer what if it goes beyond the 31st? reporter: that will be up to the taliban. it is not clear the president will authorize it. that is were why markets always surprise me how they don't reflect what is really happening on the ground. i just came out of the pentagon briefing where we were told the u.s. military has flown out 25 c-1s, three c-130s. flights the last 24 hours. 16,000 afghan evacuees were brought out the last 24 hours. that is good news but there is a massive choke point at the kabul international airport. here is my question to john kirby why don't they open up other airbases? >> why not use the pakistanis and at the qataris and you're jt bringing out people from kabul and it's a cheek point. >> i'm not, i don't think it would be a useful except toured of our time to monday morning the quarterback the whole issue with bagram. it was called down as retrograde. >> monday morning quarterbacking? i'm talking about the situation now you need airfields to get people out. i asked major general taylor. >> let me tr

listen to what fox news national security correspondent jennifer griffin had to say. >> i was shocked the president released a paper statement, he said he would speak to the nation tomorrow but a paper statement i find very strange. the secretary of state's statement which was videotaped looks like a hostage video. not the production values you would expect from such a moment in time. >> now we look ahead. what comes next. this is a disaster for american credibility, a disaster for counterterrorism. we had a private discussion, that's what i am concerned about, 330 million of us in the united states, they club med for terrorism in afghanistan, terrorists can come from all over the world, join up, coordinate, figure things out. a special ops guy, always around the area, this could affect this at home and in the greater issue of american credibility, american strength the world. if you have relied on this notion of american strength do you have it on august 31st? >> i've listened to numerous goldstar families talking over the last 24 hours, can't imagine the strength it takes to be able

pete: you and jennifer griffin have been doing humans work on this. ultimately do we have any sense how many isis k fighters there are? when you talk about making them pay, what's the scope of that? >> intelligences hundreds of fighters remain. in 2016 there were 4000. about three months after donald trump took office he dropped the mother of all bombs on isis k in eastern afghanistan in the same province, which devastated isis at the time so based on because of joint special operations command launching those raids isis had been devastated in afghanistan. because those raids were so successful a lot of isis k leadership has gone underground in urban areas so any airstrikes in and around kabul or more populated cities very tough because as you saw from the statement from central command they don't want civilian casualties. any isis leaders in more urban areas much tougher to get to them but this isis planner out for a drive, his last one. pete: they changed their tactics to shield themselves. the mother of all bombs, i have not recalled that was isis

it is kind of pitting the stomach piggybacking on what jennifer griffin said today. what in the world is basically her question. your final thoughts, sir. >> i don't know why so many soldiers so close together that they were killed. we had the military capability to get more americans out but i have to tell you, biden will not send forces end. the afghan will not help americans get out. those americans over a thousand and may be more than a thousand will be left behind after the 31st of august. >> trace: i'm sure those 1,000 americans and thousands of americans helping their name does not appear on a taliban list. fred fleitz good to have a late night, early morning on the west coast, east coast, thank you, sir. >> good to be here. >> trace: coming up the taliban rise to power and clear threat from isis k commit is not just afghanistan. we will have want that next. announcer 1: as they head toward the finish, warren has built a substantial lead and headed for her fourth gold medal! announcer 2: she's ahead of the world record pace by at least half a second and she -

bret: thanks for that jennifer griffin griffin live from the pentagon. thank you. the biden administration can't get its messaging all sorted out different places on potential they new terror threats especially coming out of afghanistan. >> the contradictions over the past few days raising red flags for lawmakers. white house correspondent peter doocy has that part of the story tonight. >> the story keeps changing. >> are there al-qaeda members and remnants in afghanistan? yes. >> but two days earlier the president said the opposite. >> look, let's put this thing in perspective here. what interest do we have in afghanistan at this point with al-qaeda gone? >> the confusion is concerning for critics. >> i'm absolutely concerned about it. clearly he is either senile or just in denial about what's going on. >> the national security adviser claims there's nothing to see here. >> are you presenting the president with the full picture or is he just misapplying the intelligence when he makes these public statements? >> the president was referring to al-qaeda's capability

ainsley: john kirby said about the bagram air base to jennifer griffin. i'm not going to monday morning quarterback. she said what are you talking about go back in there. he said it would be expenditure of resources and personnel and increase the threat it would get americans out. last night ollie north he was telling sean his strategy. number one, number two, number three. all the things he would do. all the things he said there are nearly a dozen built u.s. airfields in afghanistan. one of these must be open and put under military control. we have the runways there to help get our people out. steve: we just have to go borrow them. hey, just going to be like a timeshare until we get everybody out. apparently the president said yesterday the reason he does not want to send the troops outside of the airport perimeter is to rescue americans who are stranded is because he did not want a black hawk down situation like the movie which completely went south. although it has been revealed apparently the u.s. military and they're not publicizing this have made a

knows what that means a lot of questions in kabul and afghanistan right now. >> let's bring in jennifer griffin my ears up when you asked the question at the briefing you asked john kirby how many evacuees have shown up on the terror watch list and he didn't have a numbe for you. why did you asked a question? >> i asked that question becaus there we're reserve reports and defense one from a very reliabl reporter suggesting that there has been one person flagged fro the terror watch list of who is with isis, somebody that landed in qatar. there were 100 others that were flagged according to this defense, so we are trying to ge some clarification. what we did learn from some u.s officials is sometimes these names when they go through the system, they might trigger something in that they are pointing to the fact that they are using biometric information they are trying to screen peopl in a very chaotic setting. they are taking off from kabul under duress in they are landin in qatar and they are trying to screen them before they take them onward to the u.s. it is very difficult to get clarification

>> bret: jen griffin at the pentagon. jennifer, thank you. let's bring in thomas jocelyn, senior fellow at the foundation of defense of democracies and a senior editor at fdd's long war journal and norman rule a former will expert. i want to start with you. big picture, you look at this day, the past few days and the president's speech, what does this mean? >> good evening, i think the united states faces two primary challenges. our national resolve will now be open to question. china has already announced in its press that taiwan should look at this as an example of lack of u.s. support in a dime of crisis. chinese press has spoken to hong kong activists saying this is how the united states will stand with you. russia, china and iran will tell their allies we stick with you, but america doesn't. and there will be some in the middle east and elsewhere who will wonder about that. secondly, the prisons of the taliban have emptied, have allowed militants, thousands of them to return to the afghan battle space along with al-qaeda, isis and anothe

earlier today jennifer griffin asked john kirby asked how many isis fighters were sprung from prisons around afghanistan when the taliban took over. john kirby said thousands. isis and the taliban have fought against one another. for years joint special operations command were launches raids in eastern afghanistan in nangarhar where isis branch in afghanistan is based. so in recent years, because of the isis fighting the taliban, they were also a defactor alliance. the u.s. was launching drone strikes. but you cannot rule out the suicide attack that killed 13, you cannot rule out taliban involvement. this isis bombers did manage to slip through taliban network. some are run by the haqqani network. there's a history of animosity. >> you and jennifer griffin have been doing yeomans work do we have any sense of isis-k fighters there are? when you take about make them pay what is the scope of that? >> there's hundreds of isis-k fighters. in 2016, there were 3 to 4,000. after president trumptook office, he dropped the mother of all bombs on isis-k in this province. devastated isis at the t

>> bret: jennifer griffin at the pentagon. jennifer, thank you.ow here to the home front to the devastation in the wake of hurricane ida. hundreds of thousands of people in and around new orleans are without power tonight. officials say they do not know when the electricity will come back on and that is a big problem. it's just one of the problems though. senior correspondent mike tobin is in louisiana tonight with the latest. good evening, mike. >> good evening, bret. and behind me is one of the eight transmission towers that are at the heart of the power problem here in new orleans. losing this tower is essentially losing a main power source and then you lose the seven backups but that twisted rusted wreckage is a visual example of why governor john bel edwards said recovery will be long. >> the misery caused by hurricane ida has only begun. >> debris everywhere. poles are down. no power. >> people emerge, view the damage, and try to resume normal life. >> now is really the most dangerous time over the next week, a couple of weeks. >> louisiana

jennifer griffin and i were just talking about. the problem is even the pentagon can see, it can take us 20 years to round those same guys back up. that's a whole other america's longest war. i mean, all of it deserves to be looked at. and then the politics. >> absolutely. very close investigation is warranted. there are many americans stranded. not to mention our afghan allies who are essentially left for dead. how do you think this will all end up? >> the administration keeps making some kind of demarkated point where they say americans with dual citizenship, they are hesitant to leave. maybe they have, quote, projects that they left undone. they also have repeated with confidence this reliance on the taliban to honor who we have extended sid's to, who we have extended paperwork to, an anecdote a lot of americans feel strongly about. charlotte maxwell jones, she founded kabul small animal rescue. this animal rescue is responsible for two-thirds of service member dogs that are shipped back to the states. they are also responsible

fox news' jennifer griffin reporting there has been a second explosion near the kabul airport in afghanistanuters is reporting that the u.s. conducted this military strike against suspected isis-k militants. black smoke can be seen rising into the sky near the airport. there are reports that a child was hit. two witnesses said the blast appeared to have been caused by a rocket that hit a house in an area to the northern side of the airport. but there was no immediate confirmation on that. we will cover this this morning and bring you the very latest as we get it. meanwhile, coming up as well, mission accomplished by president obama and his former national security team. if closing bagram air base has been a priority for the obama administration and his colleagues for nearly a decade. coming up, two afghanistan veterans on who directed joe biden to shut the very fortified, very expensive and very strategically-located bagram air base on july 5th, tearing the rug out from underneath our military, leading to the death of 13 of our heroes. this morning florida congressman michael walz and brian

jennifer griffin is live at the pentagon with more. ifer if, good to see you. >> reporter: good evening, liz. following a 6 to 7-hour pause today, u.s. air force evacuation flight aboard c-17 transport planes have now resumed but not to qatar where they had been going. instead, they are flying to ramstein air base. >> the site at qatar was just at capacity. there was just no room to throw in additional people. >> reporter: this as u.s. air force evacuation flight continue to ramp up. nearly 6,000 people were evacuated in the past 4 hours with over 300 people per flight, a much higher capacity than two days ago. earlier today we learned that a marine from the 24th expeditionary unit off the uss i who gee a ma rescued this afghan baby after his family pleaded with the american marine to take him. we have just learned the baby has been reunited with his father after receiving medical care can. earlier today president biden said one of the reasons he was leaving afghanistan is that al-qaeda no longer has a presence in the country. >> look,

ahead of that, to jennifer griffin at the pentagon on where this stands right now. jennifer? >> neil, a somber briefing with very few answers. a defensive posture from the defense secretary and chairman of the joint chiefs that said now is not the time for after action reports or discussion of regrets. the picture that they painted was bleak and dependent on the taliban. the bottom line is afghans and americans can not get to the airport due to taliban checkpoints. u.s. military planes are leaving halfful due to bureaucratic bottle necks. people told that their paperwork is not in order around turned away. the defense secretary said there were limit tos the u.s. forces on the ground and offered this frank admission. >> we don't have the capability to collect large numbers of people. >> the time frame of a rapid collapse was widely estimated and ranged from weeks and months to years following our departure. there was nothing that i or anyone else say that indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days. >> we just received these photos from the defense departm

we've got team coverage with david spunt at the white house and jennifer griffin live at the pentagoner: there were initial unconfirmed reports of multiple suicide bombers inside that vehicle. that may not be true after all. here's what we can say for certain. the u.s. military carried out an unmanned drone strike against a vehicle filled with explosives that it said posed an imminent threat from kabul airport. official said it was a defensive strike on a vehicle in kabul to eliminate an imminent isis-k threat. the secondary explosions from the vehicle indicated the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material. the u.s. military used unmanned over-the-horizon capabilities which means the american drone likely flew from a military base in the united arab emirates about eight hours flying time. this official added we are confident we hit the target we were aiming for. the timing of the drone strike is notable. it follows a specific warning from the u.s. embassy for american citizens and others to leave the gate of the kabul airport due to an imminent threat to the airport. u.s

to leave the airport officials say they don't want to repeat a black hawk down. >> thank you jennifer griffint's good to see you were staying on the subject ready we now former afghan interpreter, california congressman and navy veteran. thank you both for joining us your reaction to the president a lot of rhetoric does not match the action on the ground, what do youou think. >> we are having trouble with your sound were gonna come back as soon as we fix a technical difficulty we have abandoned americans and allies to terrorist, this is worse than saigon and does not make sense to take out military personnel when you need the military personnel to get them out now putting military personnel back in but the president said we will not do special force evacuation by france and the uk, what do you say that. >> is amazing you must have an amazing intelligence to come to those conclusions this is something that the average american can see coming for months in our commander-in-chief could not i don't know why this is predictable and preventable and these are not just contradictions and this is not

national security correspondent jennifer griffin has been following this situation very closely. she joins me now. jennifer, you watched this statement by blinken. right? i'm worried about now as we are out as fahim noted we won't be actually seeing what's happening in afghanistan and on the street. what's your take this evening with everything that's transpired? >> tammy, it's really first, let me say i was shocked that the president released a paper statement on the end of the afghan war. he says he is going to speak to the nation tomorrow but a paper statement i find that very strange. i thought that the secretary of state statement's which was vaped and he was looking slightly off camera it looked like a hostage video. it was not the kind of production values that you would expect for such moment in time. what he said is interesting in the sense that they have now regrouped. they are going to regroup back to doha, qatar. they're -- qatar obviously is the nation that's closest to the taliban. they are going to try to use the qatary leverage with the taliban to try to get these

jennifer griffin, great job at the pentagon, jen, thanks. president biden insists u.s.d stabbing in our allies regarding his decision to exit afghanistan. still, concerns are growing tonight that the withdrawal is being seen as abandonment of our partners. state department correspondent rich edson examines how that perception is affecting our global relations. >> i have seen no question of our credibility from our allies around the world. >> for days the white house and state department have highlighted international coordination on afghanistan. >> i have spoken with our a nato allies. i have spoken with nato allies. >> yet many american partners and allies are now questionable american credibility. >> we just feel that we have to follow the united states and hopes that on a wing and prayer it would be all right. >> the european union say kabul's fall a catastrophe and that, quote: president biden said the other day it has never beens the purpose, state building was not the purpose? well this is arguable. in germany angela merkel says her country and other european alli

jennifer griffin reporting from the pentagon. joining me now, general jack keane, former vice chief of staff for the army. good to have you with us. a lot has happened over the last several days. i want to go backwards from what we just heard from jen psaki with regard to a future presence of al-quaida, terrorist organizations, isis in afghanistan. listen to this. >> we're not going to do anything that will allow terrorists to grow or prosper in afghanistan or any terrorist organization. that continues to be the president's commitment and his order to the u.s. military the last several days show that he will deliver on that promise. >> martha: general, before you answer that, i'd like to play this from jake sullivan, the national security adviser on this topic. then your thoughts. watch. >> we have to be attuned to the possibility that isis-k or any other group in afghanistan would look to extends its reach beyond afghanistan itself. the intelligence community has briefed us over time that their current capability to threaten the

>> bret: jennifer griffin live at the pentagon. thank you. let's bring in our panel early ari fleischer, mollie hemingway, and harold ford jr., ceo of empowerment and inclusion capital. ari, i want to start with you, a lot of times in washington it comes down to processing and messaging. today we you a a speech that evolved as far as time when it was going to happen and then when the president came out, it was a lot of time spent on domestic agenda before dealing with the elephant in the room foreign policy wise. >> yeah, you know, his speech was delayed. but, unfortunately his abandonment of the afghan people, our friends and maybe americans is not delayed and that's core problem that joe biden has. look, when he says today twheefer on track for an august 31st withdrawal, getting out all the americans, here is my problem with that stants. >> how recently was it that joe biden stood before the american people and said americans aren't having trouble getting to the airport, when they were? he says al-qaeda doesn't have a presence in afghanista

jennifer griffin, thank you very much for that update. eric. eric: as jennifer just said, president biden is at dover air force base right now, taking part in what is one of any president's most solemn duties, receiving the bodies of americans killed in combat overseas. in this case, the 13 american soldier whose died at the kabul airport suicide bombing in afghanistan. among them, the president and the first lady meeting those families. president biden calling them heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice in service of our highest american ideals while saving the lives of others. david spunt at the white house with more on this. david. >> reporter: well, eric, first of all, there's no question that there is a lot of somber mood at the white house because of what happened, those 13 fallen heroes and also, eric, there is a lot of concern and a lot of pressure that the president's senior national security team is feeling based on the timeline here of the next 48 or so hours to get people out of here. yesterday as arthel mentioned to jennifer, the pr

our own jennifer griffin pressed the issue later right here at the pentagon. >> look, let's put this in perspective here. what interest do we have in afghanistan at this point with al-qaeda gone? >> reporter: military intelligence estimates about how many al-qaeda remain in afghanistan. >> we know that al-qaeda is a presence as well as isis in afghanistan, and we've talked about that for quite some time. >> reporter: there are now 6,000 u.s. troops on the ground in afghanistan. president biden also said there's no intelligence that suggests that americans are having trouble getting to the gate, but we've heard from reports on the ground that americans are having trouble, some not getting in and some left still stranded. one of the reasons the u.s. military is not leaving the base is they're under strict orders, those 6,000ing troops, not to leave the base because the officials fear another mogadishu. jackie. jackie: so much to break down here. here now, republican congressman scott perry from pennsylvania, member of the house foreign affairs committee. congressman, good to see you. i

. >> sandra: but we begin with jennifer griffin live from the pentagon. hi, jennifer.speak of last plane carrying u.s. troops took off at 3:29 yesterday, one minute before midnight local time. president biden's august 31st deadline, the top general overseeing the operation admitted some americans and afghans were left behind. >> 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 that if we stayed another ten days we would not get everybody out that we wanted to get out and there still would be people disappointed in that. >> here is a bit of background on the major general chris donahue, general of the 82nd airborne division shown in this iconic almost ghostly photoperiod of the last american soldier or to leave after 20 years. working in the pentagon and his fourth deployment to afghanistan leading a delta full squadrons and was head of special operation forces last year. last night secretary of state antony blinken explained who some of these american citizens are who were left behind. >> t

national security correspondent jennifer griffin at the pentagon with a look at that. if you've been putting out a lot of hours as you look at the flag at half-staff at the white hous. for all the service members in the 12 marines, one navy medic killed. amazing to work with you and talking to all your sources, can you explain the apparent catch-22 regarding the taliban and relying on it to protect u.s. troops at the airport? >> bret, the sickening feeling that i feel and experienced by everybody walking the halls today, they knew it was going to happen. they knew, the u.s. military new that when they were given a strict timeline to pullouts, that they would be going back in. they would be going back in possibly under fire. for 20 years, they've tried to stop every suicide bomber and every terror group in the country. if they couldn't do it. the notion now that they are going to hunt down isis and they are going to stop those who carried out the attack boggles the mind. the people they would have relied on to do that kind of work, hunt down the terrorists, they are now

>> bret: jennifer griffin live at the pentagon. jennifer, thanks. let's bring in michigan republican representative peter meijer who serves on the house foreign affairs committee. congressman meyer is also an iraq war veteran and just returned from afghanistan. congressman, thank you so much for joining us. i want to talk about how this trip came to be. you traveled there with congressman seth moulton from massachusetts. how did it come to pass? >> thank you, bret. both seth and myself have been actively engaged on what's called the special immigrant visa issue. those were visas in a program for individuals who had loyally served the united states in places like iraq and afghanistan. there have been tremendous backlog of these cases and in april, when president biden announced that he was continuing the initial plan for withdrawal, that started under president trump. we urged the administration to address this backlog. we had to know what was going on on the ground in kabul. and we have not had information we need from the administration and realize

jennifer griffin and greg palkot who together have decades of experience reporting from the region on the ground. chief national security correspondent jennifer griffin having first traveled there in 1993 and reported from that multiple times over the last decade. senior foreign affairs correspondent greg palkot who was embedded with the early battles with the taliban. we're hearing these reports of what's going on on the ground and what may be the beginning of the closing of doors. a lot of people thought they were on this list, people that worked with the afghan national government to build democracy in that country are learning that they're to stay home. don't come. >> martha, we have just learned from sources that the u.s. military has begun withdrawing already from the kabul airport. the key operation will continue for the next few days with an eye toward the august 31 deadline. some of those american troops have already been pulled out to lessen the footprint in kabul knowing that there's a great deal of danger from isis threats and others. there's a very complicated negotiation

joining us from the pentagon with the latest details and reflections on covering the war, is jennifer griffin. what's the latest on this new strike? >> reporter: the u.s. military carried out an unmanned drone strike. u.s. military officials tell us that it was a, quote, defensive strike on a vehicle in kabul to eliminate an imminent isis-k threat. a spokesman, captain bill irvin, adds there were significant secondary explosions from the vehicle which indicated a presence of a substantial amount of explosives. this official said there were no indications of civilian casualties at this time but that assessment could change, we're told. the air strike took place in a crowded kabul neighborhood outside the airport. we're told the u.s. military used this over-the-horizon capability and unmanned drone which means the drone likely flew from a military base in the gulf like the one on friday. i think it's notable the timing of this military strike, it was just as the president chairman of the joint chiefs general mark mille and defense secretary lloyd austin met with families of the fallen at the do

here's jennifer griffin pressing the pentagon on the presence of al-quaida, which the president said they're gone. the president said there's no al-quaida in afghanistan. watch this. >> the president just stayed there's no al-quaida presence in afghanistan. that does not seem to be correct. >> what we don't think is -- what we believe is there isn't a presence that is significant enough to merit a threat to our homeland as there was back on 9-11 20 years ago. >> the president said there's no national interests in afghanistan. i'm confused by that. can you explain why there's no national interest in afghanistan? why did we have troops there for 20 years if there's no national interest in afghanistan. >> we had a significant interest of being there 20 years ago. >> our national security and the pentagon reporter jennifer griffin joining me now on the phone. general jack keane, fox news strategic analyst. general, good to have you with us. as i said earlier, this is an opportunity at the pentagon for reporters to continue to press. it was pretty quick with the president about 17 minutes

fox news jennifer griffin has more now from the pentagon. the u. military does not have permission to leave the airport in kabul and carry out rescue operations even though british, french and german paratroopers are doing so. but one brave american unit did rescue 169 americans. stuck just outside the airport at a taliban checkpoint. we've also learned that a marine from the 24th marine expeditionary group lifted this afghan baby to safety, delivering the child to medical personnel. the baby was reunited with his father. new details are also emerging about this evacuation flight from sunday. 823 afghans, not 640 were squeezed onto this rescue flight due to the quick thinking of airman first class nicholas baron, the load mass. and lieutenant colonel eric cote, who flew the plane, they said there was no time to worry about seatbelts. we saw what needed to be done to deliver hope and freedom. we knew the capability of our aircraft and what we need to do do it safely and effectively with all the crew members i had i had the utmost trust in them to ge

fox's jennifer griffin is reporting this, an explosion reported near the baron hotel, i believe that an explosion at ha hotel. sean, we're being run out of town. whatever deal we have with the taliban and terrorists we can go freely, that has been broken. you can't negotiate terrorists because they have bean whatever word they had. last word to you. >> the mission dictates the timeline. we still have american citizens on the ground. we don't leave our people behind. we should not be leaving that country until all of our citizens are safe from the terrorist threat there and safely evacuated, period, end of story. there can be no negotiation with these terrorists, our commander-in-chief, secretary of defense, general milley, they should know better. stuart: sean parnell, very good stuff at an appropriate moment. we appreciate that, sean. i want to tell everyone a pentagon briefing will be at 10:30. it was postponed. just canceled just like that. they're trying to deal with the explosion at the gate to the airport and our reporting of an explosion at the baron hotel in kabul. my opinion

reporter: jennifer griffin with fox news. i want to go back to numbers. what percentage would you say of the people for processing onto these bases are siv holders or applicants, or are you also housing people who apply for refugee status? just trying to understand the breakdown of who is on the spaces -- on these bases. there are reports from dulles that some of the commercial flights have had to keep people on the tarmac on board planes for up to 10 hours while screeners come aboard. is anything being done to rectify that? is that a dhs issue? are you aware of the issue at dulles? gen. vanherck: on the siv numbers, i defer to the state department. i do not have that number in front of me. the siv numbers have not been in excess of 50%. i don't have the details right now. with regards to the problems at dulles, i'm aware of the longer waits that you described. we work very hard over the last couple days to make the process is efficient and effective -- when i say we, dod works with the process owner, dhs to streamline this, specifically customs and borde

. >> jennifer griffin, fox news.ou say, where there one or two suicide bombers and can you say for certain that it was a mail bomber and can you give us more details about the second explosion that occurred at baron hotel? was that a c bomb or also a suicide bomber? finally, there are state department employees that were side-by-side there. were there any other u.s. citizens killed in the attack? why were the marines so close together that so many were killed in one strike? >> we think it was one suicide bomb at abbey gate. don't know if they were male or female, just don't have that information. the baron hotel, as you are aware, is a deeply conquered structure and as you know, there were no you u.k. military casualties as a of that. i'm sure that there were afghan casualties, but it will take us time to learn how many. we took some of them aboard the installation. many of them were taken to hospitals out in time. what i see comes from open social reporting. we are trying to gather more information about it. last po