mr. kirby: good afternoon, everybody. i am sure you heard from my colleague at the state department, the president ordered the reduction of civilian personnel at our embassy in kabul, and the acceleration of evacuation of special visa applicants from the country. the secretary of defense directed the department to position temporary enabling capabilities to ensure the security of u.s. civilian partners and personnel. i will break this down real quick. the first movement will consist of three infantry italians in the central command area of responsibility. they will move to hamid karzai international airport in kabul within the next 24-48 hours. two of the battalions are u.s. marines and one is an army battalion. the next move will consist of a joint u.s. army-air force support element of around 1000 personnel to facilitate the processing of siv applicants. initial elements of this will arrive in qatar and cutting day -- incoming days. the third movement is to deploy one infantry brigade combat

mr. kirby: the operation has begun, bob. the movement of forces to kabul has begun. that is the military side of it. i cannot speak to the timing of the state department with respect to their production. we wanted to make sure that we were in full support of them and that we were getting on station as quickly as possible and that is what we are focused on. as for when departures will occur and how many on a daily basis, that is my colleagues at the state department for them to speak to. >> as a follow-up, given the events of the last 24 hours with three or four additional cities falling to the taliban, and the taliban apparently moving closer to kabul, i'm wondering -- how likely is it that you will be able to complete the drawdown of forces by august 31 as opposed to staying to ensure the security of the embassy afterward? mr. kirby: we will watch the security situation day by day, bob. and i cannot speak for what that is going to look like, you know, in days to come. i can tell you where we a

mr. kirby: i thought it would be helpful to give you a brief update about where things are with respect to the military supports of the state department in afghanistan. i want to set the outset and should've said this yesterday, you guys know this is a planning organization. that is what we do. planning for these sorts of contingencies is not unusual. it is quite common. and one of the reasons why we have been able to react as quickly as we did in the last day or so's we had plenty of contingency planning in the works and a lot of it complete because, as i said many times from the podium, we are watching consistently the security situation on the ground. so i can give you a brief update of a few additional details, since yesterday. now, as i do this, i think you can understand that i am not going to have every detail that you might want. there is operational security that will be a concern. we are going to observe that here just as we had throughout the entire drawdown process. i can tell you a

mr. kirby: good afternoon. a couple things at the top here. so look, as we headed into the weekend, i thought that it would be helpful to give you a brief update about where things are with respect to the military support to the state department in afghanistan. and i want to say at the outset and i probably should've said this yesterday, you guys know that this is a planning organization. that's what we do here. and pllanning for these sorts of contingencies is not unusual. in fact, it's quite common. i want to say at the outset and should've said this yesterday, you guys know this is a planning organization. that is what we do. planning for these sorts of contingencies is not unusual. it is quite common. and one of the reasons why we have been able to react as quickly as we did in the last day or so is we had plenty of contingency planning in the works and a lot of it complete because, as i said many times from the podium, we are watching consistently the security situation on the ground. so i

mr. kirby: keep going. reporter: the other day the general told us there were about 2500 americans gotten out that. number has increased over the last several days. about how many have gotten out so far. mr. kirby: ok. the deadline-dirnl' going to miss some of these -- dead line, i'm going to miss some of these. you're right, there's been no change to the timeline of the mission, which is to have this completed by the end of the month. we continue to make progress every day in getting americans, as well as s.i.v. applicants, and vulnerable afghans out. you heard the numbers that the general briefed just a minute ago. and the vast majority of these individuals are afghans. we remain committed to getting any and all americans that want to leave to get them out. we still believe certainly now that we have been able to increase the capacity and the flow, we believe that we -- we have the capability, the ability to get that done by the end of the month. you asked for bases here in the united states

mr. kirbys here also. we look forward to that. before i describe the situation in kabul for the past 24 hours, i want to recap the past week and present a holistic view of what has been accomplished. august 14, we began this evacuation operation which is one week ago today. since then, we have rapidly deployed thousands of troops into afghanistan. our footprint continues today to stand at approximately 5800 troops on the ground, continuing to provide and secure the kabul airport to allow for evacuation operations. these trips were both pre-positioned as well as deployed from the united states. as forces steadily flowed in, we successfully secured the kabul airport. if you recall, the situation a week ago was a little different than today. the airport remains secure. u.s. military personnel currently oversee flight operations, both u.s. military contracted aircraft as well as foreign aircraft continue to operate within kabul airport. additionally, the u.s. military has maintained gate security a

mr. kirby: when mr. rby said earlier, as we talked about troop numbers and capability capability has not changed. as we talk about force protection at the gate, i won't get into specific ppps that is junior leaders are taking down other than we continue to learn every day from the day before. we work within the capabilities we have to ensure that one, we can continue people coming in and also stay safe. reporter: is that mean you have had to switch things up? gen. taylor: i would say patterns are things we do that we try not to not to get into. there are always doing things we can to keep us safe and not great patterns. mr. kirby: we still have active threat streams and are taking steps we believe are appropriate to those streams. i will leave it at that. i want to put stomp the boots on the ground number. as the gentleman mentioned in his opening statement, more than 5000 today. we will not have a daily count going forward. it's getting closer to the end of the month and the mission, don't expect daily u

mr. kirbyjust one more note and we will get to questions. i think you may have seen, we have released the secretary's memo with regard to mandatory vaccinations. after consultation, and with the support of the president, mandatory vaccination against the coronavirus is necessary to protect the safety of our servicemembers and our force. mandatory vaccination will only use covid-19 vaccines that receive full licensure from the fda, and according -- in accordance with guidance. it will be implemented consistent with dod immunization program 6205.02. the existing structure and regulations that govern policies and procedures for managing mandatory vaccination. this is consistent with the department's effort to ensure the safety of service members and maintain the readiness of the force. >> regarding afghanistan, can you give us a sense of what the evacuation and game is likely to look like or expected to look like, in terms of the sequence of events, will be u.s. need to have exclusive use of the f

mr. kirby. 7000 evacuees have arrived in the united states so far. they will continue to do so. in the past when four hours, five flights landed at dulles international airport with approximately 1200 passengers. as part of this process these individuals completed biometric vetting and screening and according with the fbi, nctc, and custom and border control standards directed by the department of homeland security. we are working around the clock to provide safe, sanitary appropriate receptions at processing at all of our locations throughout the world. i know you have questions about the current timeline. our mission remains unchanged. for each day of the operation we have carried out the direction of the president and the secretary of defense. until that mission changes we will continue to put forward our maximum effort to safely evacuate as many people as possible. we will keep you updated. i want to give you a short update on haiti. the department of defense and u.s. southern command are c

no exact inventory, l but mr kirby had this hope.ant to see any weapons or- but mr kirby had this hope. we don't want to see any weapons or systems j want to see any weapons or systems to fall into the hands of people that would use them in such a way to harm our interests. the americans may not want that — but what they want and what's happening in afghanistan at the moment are two different things. and the risks were known. injuly, the us completed its withdrawal from bagram airbase. across the country, it took home many of its planes and weapons. but it couldn't take everything. this report by the special inspector general for afghanistan reconstruction found that the afghan military had more than 150 aircraft, including 23 a—29 ground—attack aircraft a5 black hawk helicopters, and 50 md—530 helicopters. it's not clear what has happened to all of them. but here are the taliban with an a29 — this was posted on twitter. also posted on twitter was this video of taliban fighters next to a black hawk — to which the biden administration

as mr. kirby said, as soon as we get all of the forces and, you will have aircraft coming in solely for ramping up evacuations, getting up to the 20, 30 a day and up to the 5000 per day. reporter: right now, it is still in the hundreds? mr. reed: yes. sec. kirby: we talked about that earlier in the day. reporter: can you tell us how the u.s. will keep afghanistan from becoming another terrorist safe haven, since arguably the are in a worse position than we were pre-9/11? sec. kirby: we talked about this , we have robust antiterrorism in the region. can fly from ships at sea, from bases in the region. from the support we were able to give to the afghans just in the air strikes we did in support of them, there were multiple sorties per day, and sometimes several strikes, sometimes as many as 10 to a dozen per day. we've got the capability and the capacity, and we continue to talk to partners in the region to see if we can explore additional options that are closer to afghanistan, but you have heard

and so flights that left as mr. kirby said some of those were going in and plan for the united states. >> when you say flights left, left qatar? >> yes. >> to the u.s. >> so you're saying right now you're at a pace where the incoming and outgoing from qatar is more -- there is some equilibrium. >> getting there. >> you are going -- are they flying to other countries yet? >> i don't have that report. the flight plans yet. i mean that is very, you know, an extremely dynamic piece. but i don't have those flute schedules as of right now. >> okay. follow up. we've seen videos of babies being taken over the barb wire and walls. can you tell us what is going on? are the babies of families that have visas and u.s. pass torts or afghans? are they people with credentials? what is happening? >> okay. >> the video you're talking about, the parent asked the marines to look after the baby because the baby was ill. and so the marine you see reaching over the wall took it to a norwegian hospital at the airport. they treated the child and

>> back to what mr. kirby said earlier, we talk about troop numbers and capability. capability has not changed. for us to secure all the gates, to be able to process evacuees and our ability to rapidly turn aircraft as they arrive, and as we talk about force protection at the gate, i am not going to get into the specific ttp's that those junior leaders are taking, other than we continue to learn every day from the day before, and we will continue to work to ensure that they can continue to come in and also stay safe. i would say patterns, things that we try not to get into. so i would tell you the most simple operational piece, we are always doing things that we can to keep us safe and not create patterns. >> we still have active threat streams, and we are taking steps that we believe are appropriate to those streams, and i think i would leave it at that. the general mentioned over 5000 today. we are not going to get in to -- don't expect daily updates on him any he troops are there at any given point. >> you said that there's going to be an investigation into what h

so flights that left as mr. kirby said, some of those were going in and planned for the united states. >> when you say flights that left, qatar to the u.s.? >> yes. >> so you're saying right now you're at a pace where the incoming and the outgoing in qatar is more -- there's some equilibrium? >> getting there. >> okay. are you going -- are they flying to other countries yet? >> i don't have that report. that's very -- an extremely dynamic piece. i don't have those flight schedules as of right now. >> follow up. we've seen videos of babies being hefted over the barbed wire and walls and u.s. service members taking them on. what is going on? are these families of babies that have see is as of u.s. passports? are they afghans? people with credentials? >> the video you're talking about, the parent asked the marines to look after the baby because the baby was ill. so the marine you see reaching over the wall took it to a norwegian hospital at the airport. they treated the child and returned the child to the chill's father.

>> back what mr. kirby said earliers with we talk about troop numbers and capability. capability has not changed for us to secure all of the gates, to be able to process evacuees and our ability to rapidly turn aircraft as they arrive and get -- as we about forced protection at the gate, i'm not going to get into the specific ttps that those junior leaders are taking down there other than we continue to learn every day from the day before. and we work within all of the capabilities we have to ensure, one, that we could continue people to come in, but also stay safe. >> when you say continue to learn, does that mean you have to switch things up in order to make it more safe. >> i would say patterns are things that we try not to, you know, get into. so, i would just say as the most simple operational piece that we're always doing things that we can to keep us safe and not create patterns. >> i would only add to that, as mentioned, we still have active threat streams and we're taking steps that we believe are appropriate to those streams. and i think i'd leave it at that.

as mr. kirby said, i will get that area >> we were told there was no hostile interactions with the taliban, but someone was stopping the taliban from getting to the gate. was it a tense situation? maj. gen. taylor: i cannot answer your question. >> two questions. if you restarted the flights to and from afghanistan, the people we hear from inside say that the weight is three to five days to get out. are you flying them to another country? sec. kirby: like we said earlier, that kind of constraint , we are ensuring that we have other flights, and increasing our throughput throughout the entire chain of requirements for flights. flights have left, as mr. kirby said, going in for the night stays. >> you are at a pace where the incoming and outgoing from qatar , there is some equilibrium. are they going to other countries yet? maj. gen. taylor: i do not have that report. those flights have not landed yet. that is eight -- an extremely dynamic piece. >> we have seen videos of babies being hafted over ba

and as mr. kirbyaid, our increased interactions with department of state will allow that, as you've seen, the ability to increase more flights a day. reporter: and, kirby, could i ask you just one quick one? is there any update to any efforts or talks with the taliban about allowing afghans to get through some of these checkpoints and get to the airport safely? john: there is not update. i think you heard the secretary talk about this yesterday, we are in communication with the local taliban commander about making sure that those at-risk afghans, special immigrant visa applicants, and additional afghan citizens that we want to move through are able to move through. and it comes down a lot to the credentialing and making sure that they can prove and we can prove that these are appropriate people to move through. and we have indications this morning that that process is working. barbara. reporter: i'm still confused about the f-18s as well. first of all, this is the first time i recall you telling us of

as mr. kirby said, our increased interactions with the department of state will allow that, as you have seen, the ability to increase more flights per day. >> is there any update to any effort with talks with the alabama? -- the taliban? >> there is no update. i think you are the secretary talk about this yesterday. we are in obviously with the local commander about making sure that those at risk afghans, special immigrant visa applicants, and additional afghan citizens that wwant to move through, are able to move. it comes down a lot to the credentialing and making sure that they can prove and we can prove that these are appropriate people to move through. we have indications this morning that that process is working. >> i am still confused about the f-18's as well. first of all, this is the first time i recall you telling us about the overwatch flights since u.s. troops arrived. are these the first armed flights over kabul since u.s. troops arrived? >> no. what you have to remember is that for w

absolutely being passed from the commanders on the ground to the taliban commanders to insure, as mr. kirby said, things like yesterday, we understand what to look for and understand what the threat is to try to prevent it. >> specifically to target isis? >> those isis threats that could come in. >> secondly, there was a secondary explosion later yesterday where u.s. forces were doing controlled detonations of equipment. can you talk about the type of equipment that is being destroyed and the wrote row grade so you don't have to fly it out so it doesn't fall into the wrong hands, either? >> the specifics of what type of equipment was destroyed i don't have that. what we have said is that commander has the authority there to destroy equipment that they feel is responsible. so as we talked about controlled detonations, i think that was your specific question. that's what we call that a controlled detonation that could take place if the commander decided to destroy some type of equipment. >> i will only add as i mentioned earlier, lives will be the priority, tara, there will be -- you can expe

you will likely hear more details today at the press scheduled with mr. kirby later today. several thousand evacuees have arrived in the united states and will continue to do so. in the past 24 hours, five flights landed at dulles with approximately 1200 passengers. as part of this process, these individuals completed biometric vetting and screening in accordance with the fbi, nctc and customs and border control standards, all directed by the department of homeland security. we are working around the clock to provide safe sanitary and appropriate receptions at processing at all of our locations throughout the world. we know you have questions about our current time line and intent for departure. our mission remains unchanged. for each day of this operation, we have carried out the direction of the president and the secretary of defense. until that mission changes, we will continue to put forth our maximum effort to safely evacuate as many people as possible and we will keep you updated. lastly, i want to give you a short update on haiti. the department of defen

you'll likely hear more details today at press scheduled with mr. kirbyve arrived in the united states so far and will continue to do so. in the past 24 hours, five flights landed at dulles international airport with approximately 1,200 passengers. as part of this process, these individuals completed biometric vetting and screening in accordance with the fbi, nctc and customs and border control standards, all directed by the department of homeland security. we are working around the clock to provide safe, sanitary and appropriate receptions and processing at all of our locations throughout the world. we know you have questions about our current timeline and intent for departure. our mission remains unchanged. for each day of this operation, we have carried out the direction of the president and the secretary of defense. until that mission changes, we will continue to put forth our maximum effort to safely evacuate as many people as possible, and we will keep you updated. lastly, i want to give you a short update on haiti. the department of defense and u.s

and as mr. kirbyns with department of state will allow that to -- as you see the ability to increase more flights aday. >> and kirby, could i ask you one quick one. is there sany update about allowing afghans to get through the checkpoints and get there safely. >> there is no update. i think i heard the secretary talk about this yesterday. we're in communication with the local taliban commander about making sure that those at-risk afghans special visa applicants and additional afghan citizens that we want to move through are able to move through and it comes down a lot to the credentialing and making sure that they can prove and we could prove that these are appropriate people to move through. and we have indications this morning that that process is working. >> i'm still confused about the f-18s as well. first of all, this is the first time i recall you telling us of overwatch flights since u.s. troops arrived. so are these the first armed flights over kabul since u.s. troops arrived? >> no. no, and

and as mr. kirbyd, our increased interactions with department of state will allow that to -- as you're seeing the ability to increase more flights a day. >> and kirby, can i ask you one quick one? is there any update of talks to the taliban about allowing aftera afghans to get to the checkpoints and to the airport safely? >> there's no update, court. you heard the secretary talk about this yesterday. we're in communication, obviously, with the local taliban commander about making sure that those at-risk afghans, special immigrant visa applicants and additional afghan citizens that we want to move through are able to move through. and it comes down a lot to the credentialing and making sure that they can prove and we can prove that these are appropriate people to move through. and we have indications this morning that that process is working. barbara? >> i'm still confused about the f-18s as well. first of all, this is the first time i recall you telling us of overwatch flights since u.s. troops arrive

mr. kirby for the opportunity again to give you an operations update of current operations in afghanistan. my goal is to provide you with details from my last time in here to ensure that you have as much information as possible. a number of evacuations occurred overnight which i'll provide you more details here shortly. as we speak, we're continuing air operations and air operations continue throughout the night. i'm tremendously proud of the herculean effort we've seen but the u.s. military so far. the rapid insertion of marines and soefrmds and a number of enabling forces moving from within the sent com aor and from the united states. yesterday the u.s. military foot print in afghanistan started at about roughly 2500. and by the end of today, there will be more than approximately 4,000 troops on the ground in kabul. forces will continue to flow in and reinforce the state department and d.o.d. effort there. the operation is ongoing and i'd like to give you a few more details on that operation.

once again i want to provide an operational update and then as mr. kirby this continues to evolve, the situation. we continue to strive on the ground and what we want to do is to continue to provide you details in a timely manner. as you know, recently the secretary of defense activated the stage 1 of the civil reserve air fleet. right now, that activation includes 18 aircraft from six commercial airlines. this will from the intermediate staging bases to the united states. while we continue to prior tides military aircraft for the transportation of individuals and out of kabul. these flights will not be flying into kabul. as of this morning in the last 24 hours, 25 u.s. military c-17s, three u.s. military c-130s, and 61 charter and other military flights chartered kabul. the total passenger count was approximately 16,000. the u.s. military transported just under 11,000 personnel. our mission remains focused on ensuring a steady flow of evacuees out of kabul and our installations continue to rapidly build out capacity and provide humanitarian assistance. th

once again, i want to provide an operational update and as mr. kirbyeally want to do is continue to provide you details in a timely manner. as you know, recently the secretary of defense activated the stage 1 of the civil reserve air fleet. right now that activation includes 18 aircraft from six commercial airlines. this will increase passenger movement from the intermediate staging bases, temporary safe havens to the united states. while we continue to prioritize military aircraft, for the transportation of individuals out of kabul and out of harm's way. please note, as i said, these craft flights will not be flying into kabul. combination of 61 charter commercial and other military flights departed kabul. the total passenger count for those flights was approximately 16,000. of that number, the u.s. military transported just under 11,000 personnel. our mission remained focussed on ensuring a steady flow of evacuees out of kabul to the intermediate staging bases and safe havens at our insulations continue to rapidly build out capacity as needed to ensu

thank you, mr. kirbyfor the opportunity again to give you an operations update on current operations in afghanistan. michael is to provide you with details for my last time -- my goal is to provide you with details from my last time in here. a number of things have occurred overnight, which i will provide you more details here shortly. as we speak, we are continuing air operations and they continue throughout the night. i am tremendously proud of the herculean effort we have seen by our u.s. military so far. the rapid insertion of marines and soldiers and a number of enabling forces moving from both within the aor and the u.s. yesterday, the u.s. military footprint in afghanistan started at about 2500. by the end of today, there will be more than approximately 4000 troops on the ground in kabul. they will continue to flow into support the state department and dod effort there. the operation is ongoing and i would like to give you more details. -- remains secure. it is open for military flight operations a

mr kirby: are you safe -- host: are you safe right now?uest: with regards to physical safety and security the taliban says there is a certain blanket amnesty for people. yes, there have been individuals who acted on their own accord and went rogan have taken out dissidents. -- went rogue and taken out dissidents. i am safe and i'm hoping it stays that way. host: would you classify yourself as a dissident? guest: the idea is i am a dissident in a way where i will not lay down and let them construct a world of their own accord. i think if the television truly are concerned with what is happening in and really want talented people to feel safe enough to come back and work for it, they have to create an environment that is more sustainable. they have to create a society that is more six -- more in line with modern values. it does not necessarily have to be a completely liberal system. there can be an idea of reconciliation. there is a lot of work obviously. it is not a hopeful time. these are the best of times, the worst of times. in post-conf

to ensure as mr. kirby said, you know, things like yes, we understand what to look for. we understand what the threat is to try to prevented to target isis any those threats yet, those isis threats that could come. and then secondly, there was a secondary explosion later yesterday where us forces were doing control detonation equipment. can you talk about the type of equipment that is being destroyed in the retrograde so you don't have to fly it out but it doesn't fall into the wrong hands either. yeah. so the actual specifics of what type of equipment was destroyed. i don't have that, but you will, we have said is that, you know, the commander that has the authority there to destroy the equipment that they feel is responsible. so as we talked about control detonations, i think that was your specific question. that's what we call that a control detonation that could take place if the commander decided to destroy some type of equipment. i only had that, as i mentioned earlier, lives are going to be the priority tara, so there will be you can expect that there will be othe

back over to mr. kirby don't have a lot of additional detail to offer you about the tack yesterday at the abbey gate . but i can confirm for you that we do not believe that there was a 2nd explosion at or near the baron hotel. and it was one suicide bomber. we're not sure how that report report. busy was provided incorrect, but we do know it's not any surprise that in the confusion of very dynamic events like this can cause information. sometimes to be misreported or garbled. we felt it was important to correct the record with y'all hear you now seeing that we've updated our casualty list to include a 13th service member killed in action. our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to the families and to the teammates that we have lost. this is a devastating time for these goals. tar family's a title. her no one wants to hold, but we absolutely hold in the utmost respect. i can also report that to flight landed at ramstein today, carrying our warned wounded personnel from the attack. these personnel had been transferred to long, still regional medical center and receiving care incapab

in this case, just like mr. kirby said, that this strike prevented a high profile attack against both the, you know, coalition us forces and other afghan siblings. and so as we looked at the information that we had during the time, the strike, we took all those measures in place and the decision was made to strike. and toward that, that attack on the, on the find records. so the us for protection measures engaged goes right, it's one of them or you didn't engage the other ones. you just wanted the 4th one. as we look at just going back, the forest protection, see ram did work, it did engage and had effect on the one. and then one did land in a, in an area, and it was not effective. didn't, didn't interest after that one by correct. we intercepted one and it was effective . ok, see ram was effect 3. now, to clarify the numbers you stated earlier on, so 122000 is the 5400 a part of that number of americans evacuated or is that a separate number from the learned 22000 plus, evacuated over the course of this operation. going back to late july when we started moving as the applicants back

absolutely being passed from the commanders on the ground to the taliban commanders to ensure, as mr. kirby said, we understand what to look for. we understand what the threat is to try to prevent it. >> what about targeting isis, though? >> yeah, those isis threats that could come in. >> secondly there was a secondary explosion later yesterday u.s. forces were doing controlled detonations of quilt. equipment. can you talk about what is being done? >> so the actual specifics of what time of equipment was destroyed, i don't have that, but what we have said is that you know the commander has the authority there to destroy equipment that they feel is responsibility. as we talk about controlled detonations, i think that is your specific question, that is what we call, that is a controlled detonation that could take place if the commander decided to destroy some type of equipment. >> there is other equipment and material thing that's will not be brought back with us. we're going to do this in a judicious way. some stuff will be back with us, but for the aircraft that are departing, as we get clo

in this case like mr. kirby said, this strike so as we looked at the information that we had at the time of the strike, we took all of those measures in place, and we decided to thwart that. >> so the u.s. protection measures engaged those rockets and apparently it hit one of them or you didn't engage the other ones. one did land in an area that was not effective. >> you didn't intercept? >> yeah, we intercepted one and it was effective. >> i just want to clarify the numbers you stated earlier. about 122,000, is 5400 part of that number or is that a separate number? >> 122,000 plus evacuated over the course of this evacuation going back to late july. and when you add in what happened since then, yes, 5400 is included in the 22,000. >> of course i understand that you can't give us a update on the number of troops on the ground, but are you confident that all of the troops will be out by the deadline, but can you clarify when that deadline comes into effect? >> that is fair. to answer your first question, yes, and

mr. kirbyought it would be helpful to give you a brief update about where things are with respect to the military supports of the state department in afghanistan. i want to set the outset and should've said this yesterday, you guys know this is a planning organization. that is what we do.

mr. kirby, a quick question. what might happen if someone -- you can't say what happen if someone gets vaccinated -- refuses to get vaccinated, but you can say how things now stand. what -- [no audio] >> i think i got the gist of the question. >> oh my god. >> can you hear me? >> news hour, you are on. hello, can you hear me? >> jeff, is that you question mark jeff, i got your question. i got it, i got it. -- question? jeff, i got your question. i got it, i got it. i can't speak to every case where an individual member of the armed services or group refuses to take a required vaccine. first of all, we don't have any evidence that suggests this is a widespread problem right now. and i mean i think members of the military understand that when you sign up for the military, there are requirements laid upon you including being fit and healthy and ready to serve and some of that depends on your, our, requirement to make sure you are fit and healthy through an ocular asian and vaccination and a host of other medical tre

again, i want to provide an operational update and as mr. kirby said, we will follow up with questions. as we know, this continues to evolve, the situation, we continue to strive on the ground and what we want to do is to continue to provide you details in a timely manner. recently the secretary defense activated stage one of the civil reserve air fleet. right now that activation includes 18 aircraft from six commercial airlines. this will increase passenger movement from the intermediate staging basis, temporary safe havens, to the united states. while we continue to prioritize military aircraft for the transportation of individuals out of kabul and out of harms way. please note they will not be flying into kabul. in the last 24 hours, 25 military c-130s and a combination of other military flights departed kabul. the total passenger flight -- passenger count for those flights were about 16,000. the u.s. military also transported just under 11,000 personnel. our mission remains focused on ensuring a steady flow of evacuees out of kabul to the stag