and we are waiting on a pentagon press briefing which will happen in about 30 minutes from now. you look at a live picture from the kabul airport, that in recent days and yesterday we reported the u.s. has been very concerned about a credible threat stream about potential terror attacks targeting the gates to the airport and the crowds around those gates. the u.s. believing that terror groups had both the capability and the planning to carry out such attacks. there is still no attribution for these attacks or as we said, any confirmation about casualties. we have our reporters covering the story. let's begin with nick paton

dixieland delight ♪ ♪ ayy, that's how we do, ♪ ♪ how we do, fancy like, oh ♪ so we just spoke to a pentagon pressrtment had stood up department had stood u veteran basic covid patients. late last week we saw the arrival of this first active duty teams. navy personnel, arriving at a hospital in lafayette louisiana, and to help the doctors and nurses. there who have been overrun by way too many, way to sit covid patients. for weeks now. loud sustained standing ovations for those personnel. that was late last week. now we have word of three more active duty uniform military teams deploying. a team of 20 active duty air force medical personnel, headed to baton rouge louisiana, to assist our lady of the lake medical center. we spoke with the hospitals chief medical officer ten days ago's about the very bad situation there. our lady of the lake already got one influx of over 30 federal medical personnel, from the department of health and human services. that was not enough. now they're also getting 20 more doctors and nurses and respiratory therapist, from the united states air force. two more of those

coventry direct, redefining insurance. >>> so we just spoke with pentagon press secretary john kirby.ou may remember last week, it was he who i nounsed from the briefing room of the pentagon that the defense department had stood up five active duty medical teams to help civilian hospitals in the u.s. overrun by sick covid patients. late last week, we saw the arrival of the first of those active duty personnel teams, navy personnel arriving at a hospital in lafayette, louisiana, to help the doctors and nurses there who have been overrun by way too many, way too sick covid patients for weeks now. loud, sustained standing ovation for those navy personnel. that was late last week. now we have word of three more of those active duty uniform military teams deploying. a team of 20 active duty air force medical personnel is headed to baton rouge, louisiana, to assist our lady of the lake medical center. we spoke with that hospital's chief medical officer ten days ago about the very bad situation there. our lady of the lake already got one influx of over 30 federal medical personnel. kniss fro

press twice. two separate pentagon briefings already today.ng from helicopter exfiltrations of afghan evacuees to evacuation flights and their numbers to babies be born onboard those evacuation flights. he's done a lot of work already today, but i still have more questions and he's been kind enough to join us tonight to answer them. admiral kirby, thank you so much. i know it's been a long couple weeks. even a long day today. >> my pleasure, rachel. thank you. >> let me start by asking you not about the most important thing, but something my interest was very piqued by at the second pentagon briefing in which we learned there wasn't just one baby born on one of these flights, one of these evacuation flights this weekend at ramstein in germany, but the general who you were briefing with, actually said there's been three babies born in these circumstances. >> yeah, that's right. he surprised everybody, including me, on that. this is general steve lyons, the commander of u.s. transportation command. we wanted him to come in and talk to our press

and safely. >> shannon: i want to play something else, pentagon press secretary talking about what weld know and what we couldn't have known. here's what he said today. >> plans are not always perfectly predictive. as is a well-known military maxim that plans don't often survive first contact. you have to adjust in real-time. when you look at the images out of kabul, that would have been difficult for anybody to predict. >> shannon: would it? >> when you see what biden said a month ago and you see where we are now. it is stunning but you have to believe joe biden wasn't lying to the american people about the 300,000 plus afghan strong army and how well-trained they were they rely to fight and they were going to maintain if not stability a stalemate against the taliban. they rolled over. there was no real fighting to speak of, no large level military engagement. it raises questions about how could we have known so little? i was in afghanistan a decade ago and it feels like all the same story lines continued on. we kept being told that progress was being made. did biden really know what

chiefs of staff general mark milly, were awaiting more information from both the white house and pentagon press briefings from the white house and the pentagon are supposed to start any moment. now both have been understandably delayed in light of this ongoing situation, but we know that pentagon spokesman and john kirby did confirm in a tweet the explosions at. c the abbey gate entrance to the home id cards. i international airport there. cobble and also the baron hotel, which is a couple 100 meters, basically across the street from the airport, adding that it was a quote unquote complex attack. and as you were mentioning, were also hearing that isis k, which is basically splinter group of isis isis, of the course on may at this point be responsible though that is not confirmed. this is a very fluid situation. as we continue to get updates about the number of dead, the number of injured absolutely a catastrophic and her epic situation. we're also hearing. likewise, you reported that as many as 5 us marines may have been among those injured possibly other americans as well. we're not hearing of

now the pentagon press secretary is maintaining the u. s. is focused on completing evacuations from i've gone this time by the end of the month in the past 24 hours alone, over 10000 people have been lifted from cobble airport. we are well aware.

in a briefing the pentagon press secretaryjohn kirby said there were a number of security concerns inion in the city is fluid and dynamic and you have seen the images over the last 2a, 48 hours yourself of the situation outside the perimeter of the airport and it changes. it changes almost by the hour and it changes in locations around the airport. it is very, very fluid and dynamic. i don't want to speak for the state department, obviously, but like our military commanders, they are going to make decisions in real time about what is in the best interest of innocent civilians that have need to get to the airport and want to get inside the security gates. this will change every day. there will be modifications to our assessment in what we think is in the best interests. we have said from the very beginning of this that we are going to try to do this in a safe and orderly way and that means making sure that nobody gets hurt. what you are seeing is a prudent notification to make sure that whatever movement there is to the jobs from outside the airport is done as safely as possible and th

we are awaiting a press conference from the pentagon in the united states. live at the moment. we are expecting to hear from the pentagon press secretary and also an army major general. we are getting the latest on the situation. they will have more information on what is going on in afghanistan, particularly at kabul airport. we are not sure if they will take questions but they may be questioned about their reaction to what president biden said yesterday in his press briefing. let's discuss what has been said in the united states with our correspondence in washington. barbara, first off, what sort of reaction was there in the united states to what president biden had to say yesterday? i think there was, biden had to say yesterday? i think there was. it _ biden had to say yesterday? i think there was, it was _ biden had to say yesterday? i think there was, it was welcomed - biden had to say yesterday? i think there was, it was welcomed that i biden had to say yesterday? i think| there was, it was welcomed that he was quite strong reassuring people that all p

. >>> next, the pentagon's press secretary joins us live as president biden defends the administration's actions. >>> and dr. sanjay gupta with us live to answer your questions on the news that the biden administration will recommend booster shots for almost all americans starting as soon as next month. i've lost count of how many asthma attacks i've had. but my nunormal with nucala? fewer asthma attacks. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection-site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your doctor about nucala. find your nunormal with nucala. ♪ ♪ life is full of surprises when you least expect it. (woman laughs) and open. what happened to all your things? i know you needed a place to study, so... and other times, it pays off knowing w

they're reporting to this 10:30 pentagon press briefing that was previously scheduled.n that flies. when you heard president biden deliver those remarks early this week, he said every day that u.s. troops remain in this region, in afghanistan, they face a grave and growing threat posed by terror groups in the area. he pointed directly to isis-k, the isis affiliate in afghanistan. we don't yet know who is responsible for this attack. but i will also say that in coming out to speak with you, we saw at least one airplane take off as the white house, the administration tries to continue this evacuation effort, tries to ramp it up, in fact, as we near this august 31st deadline. chris? >> geoff bennett, thank you so much. the president has been briefed. folks are huddling there. there's been an explosion of some type outside the kabul airport. you see the planes on the tarmac at the hamid karzai airport there in afghanistan. we continue our coverage right now. let's toss it over to garrett haake. garrett? >> chris jansing, thank you. i'm garrett haake. there has been an explo

now, two things that the pentagon press secretary said they are looking to. that they hope can increase those numbers. first, they're opening up one gate at the kabul airport that the u.s. military is going to be in charge of. the second thing is rushing u.s. consular officers to the airport. essentially, those are folks who can process the afghans, paperwork and get them on the flights. the afghans who aren't getting out of the country who worked alongside the u.s., troops and diplomats are feeling incredibly demoralized. listen to one of the interpreters told cnn in recent days. >> why are the american soldiers forget tabout us after everythig we did? the sacrifices we made? why are they leaving us behind? i don't want to be killed by the taliban. they're going to cut our heads off if they find my location. please, help. >> honestly, john, it is really hard to hear those stories, but there is no firm commitment as of right now from president biden that he's going to get out all the afghans before the u.s. military ends their operation that's supposed to end

the pentagon press secretary was asked about that earlier. he wouldn't discuss any specifics. jake sullivan was asked about that several times in the white house briefing room. he also wouldn't talk about it in any real specifics. so we are getting -- we're hearing the reports of people trying to get through. we're getting text messages and phone calls. i'm sure you are as well from people on the ground saying they want to get to the airport. they want to get out. they're willing to wait until there is a flight available for them. but they simply can't get there. so, you know, again, the big question right now is i mean aside, it's remarkable a week ago we would have been surprised there are direct conversations going on with u.s. military commanders and taliban commanders that seem to be sort of these military technical talks. really the fact that they're discussing any kind of coordination on the ground at all a week ago would have been pretty big news. now we're trying to figure out what it is they were talking about and if they -- what exactly they were negotiating. >> yea

here's the pentagon press secretary, john kirby, with more on the new mandate. sec. john kirby: hey, guys. a few things off the top. bear with me. i think you've seen by now the secretary's memo to the message of the force about covid vaccines that is public now, so i'm not going to reread it. i think you all get the gist of it. i would just point out, there are sort of three three elements here to it. one is that he will request -- it will request approval from the president for a waiver to make the covid vaccines mandatory by mid-september. to make the request for the waiver by mid-september. i've seen some reporting out there that that means all the troops have to be vaccinated by mid-september. that's not accurate. he will make the request by mid-september. unless or until fda licensure occurs, before that time, at which point, the secretary has the authority he needs, upon fda licensure, to make whatever vaccine is then given that license mandatory. i just want to clear that up. that is point number one. number two, in the meantime, two things are going to happe

moments ago i spoke to pentagon press secretary john kirby on the latest assessment from the pentagone are certainly thousands of americans. we don't have an exact count. i would say somewhere -- best guess between 5 and 10,000 that are near kabul. there was a message put out by the secretary -- sorry, the state department today advising those americans about how to queue up and how to get to the airport so that now security is better, they don't need to necessarily shelter-in-place and they can begin movement to the airport for processing flights out. >> so this does come as the blame game is starting between different factions in the biden administration as to why they didn't act sooner to get the 5 to 10,000 americans out of afghanistan. let's bring in cnn national correspondent kylie atwood and barbara starr. kylie, the finger pointing, what are you learning? >> reporter: john, what we're learning is the biden administration officials have stayed far away from how this all went down. but behind the scenes you're already starting to see officials point the finger at other officials

she had another tense exchange at the briefing with the pentagon press secretary moments ago. >> how can general mckenzie say with such certainly the taliban weren't involved in the bombing? i know you rely on them for protection around the airport but are you ruling them out being involved because you are so dependent on the taliban right now? >> i didn't hear general mckenzie put it that way, jen. in one of the questions he got and i think it was from another reporter, was there a failure? of course there was a failure somewhere obviously. he even alluded to the fact it could have been a taliban checkpoint. so we have not been certain about that. >> harris: hum. didn't feel like a direct answer. 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 thin

it seemed like things got a little chippy there at the pentagon press briefing when one reporter said this is a hard question. and it is a hard question. what exactly did we know of last week's attack? let's watch together and i'll come back to you lieutenant colonel. stand by. >> according to "politico" the u.s. knew where the attack -- roughly where the attack would take place on thursday and when it would take place. why were there u.s. troops at that time that gate at that time? >> jeff, what i can tell you is that we have been monitoring as close as we can intelligence that led us to believe that we were in a very dynamic and specific threat environment. we'll en *r investigate and get to the bottom of what happened last thursday. 13 precious lives were lost. we'll take that siresly. -- seriously. i will absolutely not talk to a press story that was from undisclosed classified information. >> harris: that is a hard question. >> it is. but i can tell you as one who has been in that exact situation where we knew there was a potential enemy attack and yet we still had to go and do t

as with come to you, we are awaiting a press conference at the pentagon. it was at this time yesterday that we learned that 3,000 troops were being deployed to evacuate the u.s. embassy in kabul that is how fast the taliban is tearing across the country like a buzz saw retaking control 20 years after u.s. forces first invaded and weeks since all american troops left. this was president biden on that day a month ago. >> is the taliban takeover in afghanistan now inevitable? >> no, it is not, because you have afghan troops at 300,000 well equipped and as well equipped as any army and the air force and something like 75,000 taliban. it is not inevitable. >> as we await the briefing with the possibility that i may interrupt any of the guests to jump to it, joining me is new york times chief correspondent peter baker, msnbc military analyst, and medal of honor winner jacobs and jeff baker a columnist. now, i will begin with you, jeff, the article in the washington post writes about vietnam, and for president biden, who had hoped for an orderly u.s. withdrawal f

again, the pentagon press secretary went out of his way to talk about the community interest in youristrict and being helpful to those folks at the base right now, so it's good to get your firsthand report, congresswoman escobar. thank you so much. >> thank you, rachel. appreciate it. >>> we'll be right back. stay with us. some carriers give you so little for your old or busted phone, not verizon. you dunk it? crash it? doggy bone it? we upgrade it! up to $800 for the 5g phone you want. plus, get $500 when you switch. because everyone deserves better. do you struggle to fall asleep and stay asleep? qunol sleep formula combines 5 key nutrients that can help you fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and wake up refreshed. the brand i trust is qunol. we've never been before. >> at west side crematory, they're overwhelmed. the area where bodies are stored prior to being cremated is stacked to the ceiling. the staff is working day and night to honor the dead. >> you know, you don't want to turn anybody away, these are their loved ones. they're already mourning. we're at the point where

for the latest on the situation in afghanistan let's bring in pentagon press secretary john kirby.ks for joining us. >> you bet. thank you, bret. >> the president said the administration had planned for every contingency in the interview with george stephanopoulos yesterday. are you aware of any plans that involved several thousand americans left to fend for themselves out of security zones through the taliban to get to the airport in the contingency? >> well, we certainly did plan for a noncombatant evacuation, bret. in fact, planning began for that as far back as early may. now, we didn't know exactly what the conditions were going to be like. and as you heard the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff say yesterday, there was nothing that we had seen that would indicate a total collapse of the government in 11 days. and as fast as it was. but, even two weeks ago, bret, we did a table top exercise at the pentagon to further refine what ended up us executing noncombatant out of harmid karzai airport. >> we have fluid situation. things happened faster than we anticipated they would

. ♪ >> pentagon press secretary john kirby provided an update on the defense department's role in theoval of civilians in afghanistan. this is just shy of 40 minutes.

the pentagon press secretary put out a statement saying a number of u.s. service members were killed in the twin explosions. what he called a complex operation. a complex attack at kabul international airport where there are more than 5,000 u.s. service members at the moment. we now know that a number of those were killed in this attack. this, again, the worst possible news. the press secretary saying the thoughts and prayers of not only him but the pentagon are with the family members of those loved ones. to put this in perspective, a u.s. service member hasn't been killed in afghanistan since february of 2020. shortly before the signing of the agreement that essentially started the wheels rolling in this entire withdrawal process. we're now down to the last 100 hours of what was supposed to be the u.s. military presence in afghanistan. the withdrawal that former donald trump started. that president joe biden was finishing here right at the end of the month. and, of course, this horrible news as the press secretary said a short time ago in a statement, a

according to pentagon press secretary john kirby, at this point there is no talk of that and no military. the 20 years of having a u.s. military mission there ended yesterday and now it's diplomacy going forward. that being said, no one is ruling out the possibility that there could be the potential for the u.s. working to extract americans going forward and that that could involve some sort of military assets, military helicopters for instance or aircraft under the guise of some other u.s. government agency, that being said there is no military role or component to the mission in afghanistan, andrea? jeremy bash, michael leiter under presidents bush and obama. peter baker, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times" first american journalist in afghanistan after nech. >> jeremy, the war is over, a lot of unfinished business and what role will intelligence play going forward trying to help extricate americans or trying to make that happen through some sort of other covert means. >> andrea, after 9/11 the intelligence community was the first into afghanistan and even though t

again, the pentagon press secretary went out of his way to talk about the community interest in yourful to those folks at the base right now, so it's good to get your firsthand report, congresswoman escobar. thank you so much. >> thank you, rachel. appreciate it. >> we'll be right back, stay with us. t back, stay wi th us. i su with ps for so long. it was kind of a shock after i started cosentyx. i'm still clear, five years now. cosentyx works fast to give you clear skin that can last. real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections --some serious-- and the lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, or if you've had a vaccine or plan to. tell your doctor if your crohn's disease symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reactions may occur. i look and feel so much better. see me. ask your dermatologist if cosentyx could help you move past the pain of psoriasis. [relaxed summer themed music playing] ♪ ♪

pentagon press briefing what's unfolding in afghanistan. he only has a couple of minutes so i want to right away go to capitol hill. senator tom cotton, republican from arkansas who sits on the armed services, judiciary and intelligence committees. senator cotton, i'll jump right in. i just tweeted the headline or one of them was when asked whether or not the pentagon knows how many americans are left in afghanistan, there was a one word answer, no. what is your reaction to that? >> the situation around the kabul airport is getting worse by the day. kirby stressed how many lights are landing and control of the tarmac but violent chaos outside of the airport. my office has been in touch with dozens of people on the ground outside the airport where the taliban are beating people and taking their passports. taking their visa papers. all of this is happening just a few yards away from the gates and american soldiers are not allowed to venture beyond that perimeter to try to secure american citizens who are making their way through these crowds

. >> pentagon press secretary john kirby and u.s.entral command commander, general kenneth mckenzie, provided updates on the suicide bombing at an airport in kabul, afghanistan. this is half an hour.

about a half hour pentagon briefing with john kirby, the pentagon press secretary, and major general hank taylor. we got three important headlines out of the briefing. first, not one but two isis-k facilitators and planners, terrorists, were killed in that u.s. drone strike yesterday. one facilitator and planner was wounded. we also learned that the terror threats from the u.s. perspective that remain during these final three days of the u.s. military withdraw and evacuations, the terror threats remain in the words of these pentagon officials, very real, very active, and very dynamic. and we also got an update on the number of individuals who have been evacuated from afghanistan over these past several days since august 14th. a total now of 117,000 u.s. citizens, green card holders, afghan allies, other afghans, third-country individuals. 117,000 have been evacuated over these past couple weeks or so. 5,400 of them, 5,400 of them u.s. citizens. most obviously of the 117,000, afghans. we have a team of reporters and experts covering all of this. cnn's nick paton walsh is joining us fr

pentagon press secretary john kirby tweeted there were reports of u.s. casualties and afghan casualties. remember, in this case the u.s. considers the word casualty could be injured or killed here. we don't know anything beyond that. we are, as richard was saying, seeing media, social media, videos of what appeared to be afghan civilians injured in this, as well. it's important to point out here. what we know so far is this complex attack included at least two explosions. so the one that injured the u.s. marines was over at the abbey gate. there has been a u.s. military presence at that gate for the past week or so. they've been helping to allow -- to keep the crowds back to a certain extent and also to allow people to come through that gate, primarily, third country nationals and afghans. there's also been a consular presence at that gate at times to help the u.s. marines know -- so they know who they can let through or not. the second explosion at the baron hotel which as richard was explaining is v

. >> let's turn to washington because a pentagon press conference has just begun. >> our tros have setive positions around the airport. airport is able to function safely. we don't take this for granted and i continue to be in daily contact with general mackenzie and commanders on the ground to make sure they have with a need to keep it safe. my third area of focus is the pace. increasing the flow of aircraft and people out of kabul. we have flown out several thousand since the fifth of august and our goal is to increase our capacity every day going forward. as we build out this capacity, we are working hand in glove with the state department, which is leading the whole of government effort to notify and process american citizens were leaving. to urgently identify and process afghan applicants as well. we have dispatched small military teams to two of the airport gates to assist state department efforts as they evaluate and process individuals seeking entry. we expect to be able to augment th capability in the coming days. this is truly a team effort across the interagency. throughout

pentagon. john kirby, the press secretary for the pentagon saying...n flights i had of that august 31 deadline. you may remember, a couple of nights ago when president biden gave that a news conference confirming that the us plan was to pull out of kabul airport by the 31st august deadline, one of the reasons he cited for that was the threat of an attack by militants, by extremists. as a just to recap, everything we have been learning in the last couple of moments, the pentagon press secretary, i wonder if we can just pull up that tweet again. john kirby, pentagon press secretary confirming an explosion outside kabul airport. the casualties are unclear at this time. we will provide additional details once we can. he says our correspondent secunder kermani, who is in kabul, saying on his twitter account, reports of a blast near kabul airport. there are reports confirmed by the pentagon. western intelligence services, he reminds us, had been warning of a threat of an is suicide bombing there but we do not have enough detail of exactly what has happened a

earlier on, the pentagon's press secretary said the u.s.ill priming to finish the withdrawal -- planning to finish the withdrawal by august 31. >> 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 siv 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. so, we remain committed to getting any and all americans that want to leave, to get them out. and we still believe, certainly now, that w have been able to increase the capacity and the flow -- certainly now that we have been able to increase the capacity and the flow, we have the ability to get that done by the end of the month. ros: we have more on what the biden administration has been saying. >> they are saying they can do everything they need to do. they can accomplish this mission by the end of the month. that is without confirming, as you said, j

embassy have been told to destroy sensitive materials, and the pentagon was pressed on why they're not calling this a combat mission. you'll hear their answer. here's ian pannell. >> reporter: tonight, with the taliban swiftly closing in on kabul, the first of 3,000 american troops are now there. >> troop movements that we mentioned yesterday are happening as we speak. by the end of weekend, the bulk of the 3,000 that we talked about yesterday will be in place. >> reporter: the taliban taking four more provincial capitals. now just 50 miles from kabul. explosions overnight in kandahar as the militants gained ground in the second largest city. this video released by the taliban purporting to show their triumphant entry. the taliban now controlling more than two-thirds of the country. the pentagon today asked about the militants' rapid takeover. as u.s. troops arrive to evacuate most embassy staff and visa applicants. >> we are certainly concerned by the speed with which the taliban has been moving. clearly from their actions, it appears as if they are trying to get kabul isolated. >> re

we're waiting for the pentagon press briefing and it has been postponed. we don't have a time certain. there has certainly been a lot of movement at the state department, griff. >> that's right, harris, good morning. the state department stressing americans in afghanistan, some 1500 that may be stranded now to heed the latest bulletin, alert put out just in the last hour. we'll put it up so you see it. it is very important at this hour. it says u.s. citizens should avoid traveling to the airport and avoid airport gates at this time. u.s. citizens at the abbey gate, east gate or north gate should leave immediately. that, of course, was the same guidance they were giving some 24 hours ago. but now it has changed. just to give a little context for you, harris. yesterday i have been tracking in realtime an afghan ally who is trying to get his wife and five children out. he is an siv applicant, approved and he was trying to make his way from that barron hotel trey was talking about 200 yards into the abbey gate. he did not make it. he tried to get as far as he

press secretary, john kirby. give an update on the situation in afghanistan at the pentagon. now they've confirmed the 2 high profile i saw k member's was killed and another wounded. and a drone strike as part of the u. s. reprisal mission, and i've got a son. now the pentagon is declining to name them, describes them as one a planner and another as a facilitator for the group. they're saying that these evacuations, we're still seeing, will continue until the end of the month, despite ongoing real and dynamic threats in the couple airport area. well, let's now speak with rob reynolds. he's in washington dc, and he's also across this briefing for us. now, rob, we heard from the white house yesterday that president biden doesn't want those behind thursday's attack to continue walking this up. and it does seem that the u. s. is making good on their promise. well maybe you will notice if you listen carefully to the pentagon press secretary john kirby. while he described the 2 individuals who were killed by this drones dragon one who was injured as high profile members of ice or k

a second explosion as confirmed from the pentagon press secretary. barbara, please stick close. nick paton walsh is live in doha qatar. you were talking about last hour that the second explosion according to the pentagon is at or near the baron hotel? >> this is essentially the same place. and so we are talking about as they said a complex attack. so not just two explosions. there are reports of gunfire. the order nair response to security guards hearing something like that. the abbey gates, this is the main gates over the past few days into which people limb itsed as they were have been trying to get into the airport. it has been often suecured by u.s. military personnel but outside there are intense crowds. i saw a video yesterday of a mix of u.s. and u.k. service men walking up and down razor war and below them were afghans on the bank holding up pieces of paper and proof they had to make their case, that they thought, that they should be allowed to be part of the siv program. and packed together and that increases in density. a very desperate people trying to get in. it is,

pentagon press secretary john kirby and general kenneth mckenzie spoke with reporters. >> general, can you hear and see me ok? gen. mckenzie: good afternoon, everyone. the last aircraft lifted this afternoon at 3:29 p.m. east coast time. the last manned aircraft is clearing the air above afghanistan. we will soon release a photo of the last c-17 aircraft leaving afghanistan with the major and ambassador aboard. while the military evacuation is complete, the diplomatic mission to ensure additional u.s. citizens and eligible afghans who want to leave continues. i know you will hear more about that from the state department shortly. tonight's withdrawal signifies both the end of the military component of the evacuation but also the end of the 20-year mission that began in afghanistan shortly after september 11, 2001. it is a mission that brought osama bin laden to a just end , along with many of his al qaeda co-conspirators. it was not a cheap mission. it was over 2000 service members killed and over 20,000 injured. sadly, that includes 13 killed last week by a an isis-k suicide bomber. w

[reporters clamoring] >> at the pentagon, press

pentagon press secretary john kirby. so defense secretary lloyd austin will seek a vaccine mandate from the president to make the request for the waiver by mid september secretary austin said in a statement, quote, to defend this nation. we need a healthy and ready force. he encouraged all dod military and civilian and contractor personnel to get vaccinated and not wait for the mandate if he needs to move act sooner than this timeline that he will do that. so we're going to watch the and make sure that we're keeping readiness of the force. we should not be mandating this, but wisconsin republican senator ron johnson says he's spoken to many service members against this call as the fda has not yet approved the covid vaccine. they don't want to be forced to take the vaccine that either isn't fully approved. >> or where the full approval process has been short-circuited. any still have confidence the ultimate safety for efficacy of this. >> now kirby said the dod will develop policies and restrictions for those unvaccinated

. >> pentagon press secretary john kirby and army major general hank taylor brief reporters on evacuation and security efforts in afghanistan. this is just over 40 minutes. >> good morning. u.s. military operations in afghanistan continue with our primary focus on the safety and security of the troops who remain in kabul. on sunday, u.s. military forces conducted an unmanned over the horizon air strike on a vehicle known to be in imminent isis threat. the strike successfully hit the target near kabul airport. significant secondary explosions from the targeted vehicle indicated the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material. we are aware of reports of civilian casualties and we take these reports very seriously and we are continuing to assess the situation. separately at approximately 11:00 p.m. eastern time last night, as many as five rockets were fired at the kabul airport. u.s. military forces successfully employed are force protection measures to thwart that attack. u.s. forces retained the inherent right of self-defense and are authorized to meet with a swift and forceful

. >> pentagon press secretary john kirby and army major general hank taylor provided an update on u.ss to evacuate americans and afghans after the fall of the country to the taliban. major general taylor announced approximately 88,000 people have safely departed afghanistan since the end of july. from the pentagon, this briefing is about an hour.

we've just watched the pentagon press, the not much frankly was said about these attacks at the board to confirm the tax with the cobble app or do you have any updates for us now from the afghan capital it will things the things are very tense here in the last 20 minutes we've heard 2 more explosions. one of them powerful is being corroborated by local press, no, no indication as to the source. well, what is happening, though, there is some talk of as strikes. we have cartoon no way of confirming that but there is that. busy going around room was and speculation at this point. nevertheless, nathan activity is over the last 36 hours at this point unprecedented. we've been here for almost 2 days. we haven't seen this sort of intensity as support, evidently. flying overhead. we had heard the united states say that those behind list will be held accountable for their actions once, as it is established, who precisely was, was behind these double bombings. a couple put the claims that claimed the lives of a dozen american service, much more injured. so there, there is definitely a lot of ac

." >> pentagon press six -- secretary announced 3000 troops would be sent to afghanistan temporarily to aid afghan refugees and civilians. removal of civilians and refugees from the country. 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

well, it's a little scary of course, but you need to protect your homeland pentagons press, secretary says f canister must rely on its own armed forces to defend itself against the taliban. these and this movement is seized more territory in the last 2 months. that in the last 2 decades, this is their country, these are their, these are their military forces. these are their provincial capital, their people to defend they, while britain's defendant secretary has criticized washington's agreement with the taliban on the police of us forces the dispute to deal with strict last year and aims to keep terrorist groups such as al qaeda out of the country. the deal was a rotten deal. it is flawed. it saddens me that's a deal picked apart a lot of what had been achieved. and if dennis done over 20 years will probably be back in 10 or 20 years an extraordinary front. so i didn't feel basically to pull out on conditioning. i'm in the very name of the agreement signed in february 2020 was design. talk about an agreement between the islamic camera to the gun on which is not recognized by the unit

. >> pentagon press secretary john kirby and director of regional operations, general hank taylor provide an update on the ongoing evacuation efforts in afghanistan. this is just over half an hour. >> good morning, everybody. we want to give you an update this morning on our operations in afghanistan at the hamid karzai international airport and i'm going to ask general taylor to come back up here. i think i botched his title yesterday. deputy director of the joint staff for regional operations. j i got that wrong yesterday and 35. i apologize. before i ask the general to give you an update, there are a couple of other things i do want to get out there. first on haiti. in support of the u.s. agency for international development, there bureau of international assistance u.s. southern command , is working to assess damage, develop, and operational pictures and provide life-saving support for the people of haiti. they stood up a joint task force, which will be led by a rear admiral keith david's who is special operations commander at south comp. he is going to be operating or is operating fr

now the pentagon press secretary is maintaining the u. s. is focused on completing evacuations from i've gone this time by the end of the month. in the past 24 hours alone, over 10000 people have been lifted from campbell airport. we are well aware of, of, of the stated desire to buy the taliban to have this mission completed by the 31st of august. i would tell you that we 2 are still planning on completing it by the 31st of august. that is the mission that women signed by the commander in chief assigned to us, and that's what we're trying to execute. the thought of on says it will not extend the deadline for western forces to leave afghanistan. us president joe biden is under pressure to keep american troops on the ground beyond august the 31st to continue evacuations. the world health organization says 500 tons of medical supplies for afghan. the stan stuck in the u. a. e, because of the situation not cobble at port, it says critical supplies will run out in 10 days. the pentagon will require all 1400000 members of the us military to be va

during a briefing in the past half hour, the pentagon's press secretary maintains the u. s. is focused on completing evacuation by the end of the month. in the past 24 hours alone, over 10000 people have been listed from top to bottom, says it will not extend the deadline for western forces to leave off. can stand us president joe biden is under pressure to keep american troops on the ground beyond the, on the 31st to continue investigation efforts. well, helpful. that is ation says, 500 tons of medical supplies, rough ganna, sam, l stuck in the u. a because of the situation at cobb lab as critical supplies will run out in 10 days. colleague. so he will also from, i'll just arabic, has been inside cobbles. apple has his account of the ongoing situation. there mendez him about him because we are reporting from inside cobbles, 100 cars. i international airport. and this is the last line separating taliban fighters from the u. s. and foreign forces to my left to the taliban fighter from butter 313 task force, which is assigned to secured the airports parameters. behind me are t

we will hear from pentagon press secretary john kirby and army major general hank taylor.here are six days remaining until the august 31 withdrawal deadline. washington post reports the european countries including france and germany indicated they would wind down efforts to evacuate at risk afghan partners as the u.s. deadline looms. chancellor angela merkel telling the parliament its military airlift wit and "within days, possibly as early as thursday." the re-think getting underway shortly with live coverage here on c-span. you have the opportunity to leave. why did you stay? guest: i reckon they were more people more deserving and much more of a dire threat that i was. i thought they should be prioritized. i have been helping facilitate their evacuation from afghanistan. it was because i grew up in exile and i am an aspiring writer. i wrote a piece. i do not want to leave home and we have done this before. it is my country. i lay claim to the land more than the taliban do. they will have to deal with people like us in this country. mr kirby: are you safe -- host: are y

today, pentagon press secretary john kirby would not say whether the individuals killed in the airstrikehind thursday's attack. and he warned the threat of more attacks at the kabul airport is still active. >> we aren't thinking for a minute tt what happened yesterday gets us in the clear. not a minute. but do we believe that we hit valid targets? bad guys who can do bad things and can plan bad missions, absolutely. and do we think that that will have some impact on their ability going forward, absolutely. >> sreenivasan: in kabul, the taliban now claims it has arrested some isis-k memrs in connection with the attack. at the airport, the pentagon confirmed troops have started their withdrawal. evacuation flights slowed today as the u.s. prepares for a final complete witrawal from afghanistan on tuesday. the u.s. and allies have flown more than 117,000 people out of kabul in the past two weeks, according to the pentagon. this afternoon, the department of defense released the names of the 13 service members killed on thursday, eleven marines, a navy hoitalman and an army staff sergeant. th