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U.S. Military Officials Update Evacuation Efforts in Afghanistan. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired August 18, 2021 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:00:00]

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: So, that is important as well.

There is also a need for law and order in some places, because there is this historic problem in Haiti of gangs on the roads making it difficult for people to pass, even rescuers. There have been at times some attempts to negotiate with them to allow aid to get inside.

So, all of those things are needed. The one good sign so far is 34 people have been rescued alive in the rubble -- back to you.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Some good news there.

Joe Johns from Port-au-Prince, thank you.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLACKWELL: Top of a new hour. I'm Victor Blackwell.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: And I'm Alisyn Camerota.

Any moment now, we expect to hear from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley. They will be at the Pentagon, you see there, getting ready. They will be giving an update about the administration's plan to evacuate tens of thousands of people, Americans and Afghans, out of Afghanistan by August 31.

BLACKWELL: And there is chaos outside of the airport in Kabul. You see here crowds of people. They're coming to the airport, desperate to get a flight out on a U.S. military plane.

But last hour, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, which has now moved to the airport, sent out a security alert to American citizens, saying the U.S. cannot ensure safe passage to the airport.

CAMEROTA: With us now, we have CNN White House reporter Natasha Bertrand and CNN Pentagon correspondent Oren Liebermann.

So, Natasha, what are we learning about this security alert from the U.S. Embassy?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Alisyn, so this just out within the last hour.

The State Department is now telling U.S. citizens that they should consider traveling to Kabul Airport, this coming after, yesterday, officials were signaling that they should actually shelter in place, so a bit of a reversal there.

But they are saying now that, even if they do come to the airport, it's going to be first come first serve, and they cannot ensure Americans' safety and safe passage to the airport, again, despite the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, telling reporters yesterday that the Taliban had committed to allowing Americans to have that safe passage to the airport, and those Afghans that are trying to get out of the country as well.

Now, we have seen reports -- and the State Department as well has acknowledged these reports -- of the Taliban setting up checkpoints, preventing individuals from getting to the airport that want to leave. And also, in the last hour State Department, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said that they are making clear to Taliban officials that they cannot interfere or harass U.S. citizens trying to get to the airport here, that that is part of the deal.

But it remains unclear whether or not they're going to be able to get through to them on that. It seems like U.S. citizens and foreigners are being allowed to get to the airport at this point for the most part. But if you're Afghan, you're really not going to have the same kind of luck.

BLACKWELL: Oren, we know that Secretary Austin, General Milley, they met with the president today. We're going to hear from them in a moment. But what do you anticipate they're going to lay out in this briefing?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Look, first, we want an update on details. How many troops are in? We got an update this morning, some 4, 500 or so. So that's most of the 6,000 that are expected.

When are the rest expected to get in? And then how fast can visas and the people be processed here to get them on flights? We got an update this morning that some 18 C-17 cargo aircraft have left the airport with about 2,000 people. But that's not a fast pace.

The Pentagon was aiming for between 5,000 and 9,000 people. At the lower end of that, they're only moving about 40 percent of those numbers, at least on average. Those planes are departing with about 110 people. That's simply not enough to move the tens of thousands of people that the U.S. is trying to move before what appears to be an August 31 deadline.

But that also gets it another question here. Is that deadline negotiable with the Taliban either in the talks at a somewhat higher level in Doha or on the ground in Kabul between U.S. forces and the Taliban there that are setting up these roadblocks?

Is there more time here? Or is it really ticking down in the last 13 days for the U.S. to withdraw as many people as possible? Meanwhile, how stable, how secure is the--

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: Oren, I have got to interrupt you here.

We have got Secretary Austin and General Milley.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: I will pass it right over to the secretary for opening comments.

I will be moderating. Please limit follow-ups, if you can.

Mr. Secretary.

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Thanks, John.

I'm going to speak briefly and then turn it over to the chairman for an operational update.

Let me start by saying that we remain laser-focused right now on Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul and on doing everything that we can to continue evacuating Americans, allies, Afghans who have worked alongside us and also other courageous Afghans at special risk.

And to that end, I'm prioritizing three key concerns, first, the safety and security of our people and the people that we're trying to evacuate.

[15:05:05]

As the chairman will brief you, the final elements of additional military forces continue to flow into Kabul, with about 4, 500 in place as we speak. They are trained and equipped to defend themselves and their operations.

There have been no hostile interactions with the Taliban. And our lines of communication with Taliban commanders remain open, as they should be.

My second focus is maintaining security at the airport itself. In concert with forces from our allies, our troops have set up defensive positions around the airport, and the airport is able to function safely.

Now, we don't take this for granted. And I continue to be in daily contact with General McKenzie and commanders on the ground to make sure that they have what they need to keep it safe.

My third area of focus, of course, is the pace, increasing the flow of aircraft and people out of Kabul. We have flown out several thousand since the 15th of August, and our goal is to be able to increase our capacity every day going forward.

And 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 who are leaving and to urgently identify and process Afghan applicants as well.

We have dispatched small military teams to two of the airport's gates to assist State -- the State Department consular efforts as they evaluate and process individuals seeking entry.

And we expect to be able to augment that capability in the coming days. This is truly a team effort across the interagency. And throughout all of this, our U.S. service members are making exceptional efforts under challenging circumstances, and showing their humanity and their compassion.

So, I want to thank them for their skill and their professionalism. It's not lost on me that, even as we conduct this very important mission, we also continue to help our fellow Americans deal with a new surge in the pandemic and the citizens of Haiti deal with an aftermath -- the aftermath of an earthquake.

Let me also thank General McKenzie and Rear Admiral Vasely, who is a commander of U.S. Forces Forward, and Major General Donahue of the 82nd Airborne Division, and Brigadier General Sullivan for their leadership at this critical time.

It is making an enormous difference. And they know, as I do, that there's a lot of work to be done yet. Now, all of this is very personal for me. This is a war that I fought in and led. I know the country, I know the people, and I know those who fought alongside me.

And, as I said, we have, we have a moral obligation to help those who helped us. And I feel the urgency deeply.

So, I want to end with a word for the force and our military. I know that these are difficult days for those who lost loved ones in Afghanistan and for those who carry the wounds of war. Especially now, we mourn those who made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan.

And let me say to their families and loved ones, our hearts are with you. And the U.S. military stands as one to honor those we have lost.

Now, Afghan war veterans aren't some monolith. I'm hearing strong views from all sides on this issue. And that's probably the way that it should be.

What's important is that each of us will work our way through this in our own way. And we need to respect that. And we need to give one another the time and space to help do it.

Our greatest asset as a nation is the extraordinary men and women who volunteer to keep us all safe and their families. We honor your service. We understand your sacrifice, and we will never forget it.

And so, with that, I'm going to turn it over to General Milley, who can talk about where we stand operationally.

GEN. MARK MILLEY, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Good afternoon, everyone.

And thank you, Mr. Secretary.

What I'd like to do is give you an overall situation update as of today and what our next steps are. Currently, the United States military is focused on the specific mission of conducting a noncombatant evacuation operation from Afghanistan.

[15:10:08]

This is likely to be probably the second largest NEO conducted by the United States. Our key tasks are to establish and maintain security at the Kabul International Airport, defend the airport from attack, evacuate all American citizens from Afghanistan who desire to leave this country, evacuate any third country national or allies and partners as designated by the secretary of state, evacuate personnel with State Department-designated Special Immigrant Visas, and evacuate any other evacuees that the State Department designates.

The president of the United States made a decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan on April 14. Since that date, we conducted a deliberate and responsible drawdown of U.S. forces to less than 1,000, with a specific task of securing the U.S. Embassy and our diplomatic presence in Afghanistan.

Since then, the security situation rapidly degraded. Today, the situation is still very dangerous, very dynamic, and very fluid. And all of us can be proud for the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who are executing this mission.

They are currently in harm's way. That needs to be our focus. There will be plenty of time to do AARs. But, right now, our mission is to secure that airfield, defend that airfield, and evacuate all those who have been faithful to us. There will be many postmortems on this topic. But right now is not that time.

Right now, there are troops at risk. And we are the United States military. And we fully intend to successfully evacuate all American citizens who want to get out of Afghanistan, all American citizens who want to get out of Afghanistan. They are our priority number one.

In addition, we intend to evacuate those who have been supporting us for years, and we're not going to leave them behind. And we will get out as many as possible.

Our troops in Kabul are taking high risk to accomplish that mission. Every minute, these troops are on the ground, making difficult decisions with incredible skill, incredible bravery, and incredible valor. Currently, the security situation at the airport is stable. However, there are threats, and we're closely monitoring those. At any moment, they could happen.

We can identify them. If we identify them, we will take immediate military action without hesitation, in accordance with our rules of engagement. And the Taliban and every other organization in that country knows it.

The Taliban are in and around Kabul right now. But they are not interfering with our operations. Through the State Department, the Taliban are facilitating the safe passage to the airport for American citizens. That is U.S. passport holders.

We also have a risk, as you saw the other day, of unarmed innocent civilians massing on the airfield, where they became a safety hazard to our airplanes, our air crews, and also to themselves. And we currently have that situation under control inside the airfield.

There's many other risks out there, and the troops are dealing with those every single day in this volatile environment, which can and likely will change rapidly.

Let me make one comment on the intelligence, because I'm seeing all over the news that there were warnings of a rapid collapse. I have previously said from this podium and in sworn testimony before Congress that the intelligence clearly indicated multiple scenarios were possible.

One of those was an outright Taliban takeover following a rapid collapse of the Afghan security forces and the government. Another was a civil war. And a third was a negotiated settlement.

However, the time frame of rapid collapse, that was widely estimated and ranged from weeks to months and even years following our departure.

There was nothing that I or anyone else saw that indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days. Central Command submitted a variety of plans that were briefed and approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the secretary of defense and the president.

These plans are coordinated, synchronized and rehearsed to deal with these various scenarios. One of those contingencies is what we are executing right now.

As I said before, there's plenty of time to do AARs and key lessons learned and to delve into these questions with great detail, but right now is not that time. Right now, we have to focus on this mission because we have soldiers at risk.

[15:15:10]

And we also have American citizens and Afghans who supported us for 20 years also at risk. This is personal, and we're going to get them out. And we in uniform have a deep commitment to this mission.

Now, let me give you an operational update.

The security situation, as I said, is currently secure at this time. And since 12 August, we have deployed 12 -- or -- correction -- two United States Marine battalions, one battalion from the Minnesota National Guard. All three of those were prepositioned in theater, CENTCOM AOR, as part of the contingency planning.

In addition to that, we alerted, marshaled and deployed the 82nd Airborne Division headquarters and a brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division, consisting of three airborne infantry battalions and associated enablers.

And, finally, there was an infantry battalion from the 10th Mountain Division securing the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. In addition, we are operating on the ground with a variety of special operations forces. That, in combination with our ground forces, we have some of the best soldiers and Marines the world has ever seen.

In total, there are 20 U.S. maneuver companies currently on the ground, with about 4, 500 troops, and the flow continues. The president has authorized, as you all know, up to 6,000.

On top of them is the United States Navy and Air Force. We have multiple squadrons of F-18s, AV-8s, aviator, F-16s, AC-130s, B-52s, and MQ-9. We have a significant amount of rotary wing and aviation on the ground, including attack and lift helicopters.

In addition, we are working with our allies and partners. There are British infantry rifle companies, along with British Special Forces on the ground working with us. There's also Turkish security force, and there are other international special operations forces.

This force is capable of extracting a significant amount of people on U.S. Air Force aircraft. Right now, we're averaging about 20 sorties of C-17s every 24 hours. We have the capability to significantly increase that throughput, as the Department of State makes evacuees available.

As the secretary said, we have already evacuated approximately 5,000 people, and we intend to increase it. In addition to the military air flow, there's a variety of commercial and charter flights taking out evacuees on behalf of various other countries and NGOs.

The military side of the airfield is open, and the civilian side of the airfield is also open. And we intend to keep them both open for military, commercial and charter flights.

One caveat on the civilian side, however, is that the airframes have to come in by visual flight rules only. And a NOTAM has gone out to all the air crews.

The State Department is working to rapidly increase the flow of passengers available to get out on the aircraft. And we are fully supporting them with our military personnel at the entrance gates.

In this highly dynamic environment, there's a number of unexpected challenges that can and likely will continue to occur. And we rely heavily on the talent, skill and training of our troops. We have got great people across all the ranks and services out there right now on this mission.

In addition to Afghanistan, which is clearly our main effort, we're also conducting humanitarian assistance operations in Haiti in the aftermath of a 7.2-magnitude earthquake with a significant loss of life.

And on the West Coast, we're fighting wildfires. And we continue to conduct COVID support and other operations around the world.

As we reflect on these difficult and challenging times, every soldier, sailor, airman, Marine, Coast Guardsman who has fought or conducted an operation in Afghanistan, almost 800,000, should hold their head high. For more than 20 years, we have prevented an attack on the U.S. homeland; 2, 448 lost our lives, 20, 722 were wounded in action, and many others suffered the unseen wounds of war.

To each of them, I want you to know personally that your service matter. As the secretary said, for both he and I, this is personal. And I know it's personal for each and every one of you.

Thank you.

KIRBY: OK, we will go to questions.

Bob.

QUESTION: Thank you, John.

I have a question for each of the gentlemen, if I may.

Mr. Secretary, you mentioned the urgency of ramping up the pace of the evacuation. So, you have a safe passage agreement with the Taliban. But, in fact, in some cases, American citizens, Afghans who are at risk are -- who are being advised to go to the airport are unable to get into the airport because of Taliban checkpoints and so forth.

[15:20:12]

So, are you considering other ways that you can get around that problem by, for example, sending forces out beyond the airport to collect people and bring them, escort them into the airport?

If I may ask General Milley, with the rapid collapse of the Afghan forces, there's large amounts of weaponry that are kind of out there now that were either surrendered or abandoned by the Afghan forces or otherwise captured by the Taliban.

Are there ways you can -- are you considering ways that you might destroy some of that equipment to avoid it falling into the Taliban's hands?

AUSTIN: Thanks, Bob.

In terms of whether or not we intend to send forces outside of the airfield to collect up American citizens or Afghans who are Special Immigrant Visa applicants, the forces that we have are focused on security of the airfield. And you know how important that is. And you know what happens if we lose the ability to provide that security. And so I don't want to detract from that. And we have to make sure

that we can not only secure the airfield, but, as the chairman said, defend it as well, because there are a number of threats still in the environment.

I certainly don't want to do anything to make the airfield less safe, and we won't do that. But we will continue to coordinate and deconflict with the Taliban and make sure that those folk -- those people that need to get to the airfield have the right credentials to ensure passage.

And the Taliban has been checking those credentials, and, if they have them, they have allowed them to pass. So--

MILLEY: And on the equipment, Bob, we obviously have capabilities, but I'd prefer not to discuss any operations, other than what we're doing right now in order to get the evacuation out and get that complete.

And then there will be another time when we can discuss future operations with you.

KIRBY: Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I would like to press both of you on the same points.

General Milley, you say in your statement that one of your tasks is to evacuated all American citizens from Afghanistan who desire to leave. There are Americans clearly all over Kabul. There may be Americans in other parts of the country.

How can the U.S., the Pentagon live up to that task of evacuating all Americans? Because we continue to see the violence just outside the airport. And how would you get them in what -- around the country unless you go get them?

MILLEY: Well, two things, Barbara.

One is, the State Department, as you know, as I have said, is working with the Taliban to facilitate safe passage of American citizens, U.S. passport holders, to the airport. And that's the primary means. And under the current conditions, that's the primary effort.

We have capability to do other things if necessary.

STARR: Well, can I ask you what that means? Because you also said there were international special forces there that have a capability to extract. And those words suggest very clearly, in the military realm, you would go get people.

MILLEY: Well, that'd be a policy decision. And if directed, we have capabilities that can execute whatever we're directed.

STARR: Thank you.

KIRBY: Louis (ph).

AUSTIN: And I would draw a distinction, Barb, between extracting someone in an in extremis condition or circumstance vs. going out and collecting up large numbers of American citizens.

STARR: Do you have the capability to go out and collect Americans?

AUSTIN: We don't have the capability to go out and collect up large numbers of people, Barb.

KIRBY: Louis, go ahead.

QUESTION: For both of you, if I could.

You have 5,000 U.S. military personnel on the ground securing the area. You have small groups, potentially, of Taliban fighters outside there who are holding up potentially the second largest NEO that could be undertaken. You have the capability to get there.

But how do you get those people inside, so that they can actually get on those planes? And both of you have served in major command roles inside Afghanistan. Did you not see the possibility that the Afghan security forces were not up to this fight?

AUSTIN: We continue to work with the State Department and officials on the ground to improve the procedures at the entry points to make sure that we can speed up the process of getting people in and move them onward.

[15:25:14]

And so State is deploying more consular officers to be able to help with that. As we stated earlier, as I stated earlier, we're going to push more military assistance down to the entry points to facilitate these efforts.

But we're really working hard to get as many people through as possible. And, quite frankly, we're not -- it's obvious we're not close to where we want to be in terms of getting the number through. So we're going to work that 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and we're going to get everyone that we can possibly evacuate evacuated.

And I will do that as long as we possibly can, until the clock runs out, or we run out of capability about.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: And also about the Afghan security forces, did you feel that they were ever up to this fight? Or did you not see this coming that they were not up to the fight?

MILLEY: Well, I stood behind this podium and said that the Afghan security forces had the capacity. And, by that, I mean they had the training, the size, the capability to defend their country.

This comes down to an issue of will and leadership. And, no, I did not, nor did anyone else, see a collapse of an army that size in 11 days.

KIRBY: Adrise (ph).

QUESTION: Thank you.

So, if August 31st is the end date, at what point is the military need to start thinking about and carrying out its own retrograde to meet that deadline?

And, secondly, do you believe -- or do you regret not starting the evacuation a bit earlier, even by a day or two, to sort of get ahead of the curve?

AUSTIN: So, that's a great question.

At what point do we start thinking about having to retrograde our own capabilities? That's actually the point before we put them in there. We know that we got to have the right mix of capabilities on the ground. We don't want to put excessive materials on the ground that are not relevant to what we're doing.

And we have to develop a detailed plan and -- to retrograde our equipment and our people and synchronize that plan with our efforts to get as many people out as fast as we can with the time that we have available.

So, that work is something that we started thinking about very early on. And that's something that we will continue to think about and develop detailed plans for.

QUESTION: And regretting not starting the evacuation even a few days earlier?

KIRBY: Who is that for, Adrise?

QUESTION: Either one.

AUSTIN: We make plans for a number of things.

And, clearly, as the chairman pointed out, we -- as we did detailed planning throughout, we recognized that there might be a point in time when you have to conduct the NEO.

So, we positioned all the right forces in theater to be able to do that. We put forces on standby in the United States to support that. And, of course, we also did -- we're in support of the State-led SIV process, SIV applicant process throughout.

So, in terms of doing everything that we could at the right time, I think we have been pretty prudent in terms of thinking ahead and planning for contingencies. And we're executing a -- one of those plans right now.

KIRBY: Helene (ph).

QUESTION: This question is for both of you. And I would like the both of you to answer. It seems like -- I know we

keep harping on the same thing, but it feels like the video is not matching the audio right now. If -- barring -- it seems to me like, barring a lobotomy by the Taliban, you have three pathways ahead of you.

One, you can expand the perimeter and establish a corridor into Kabul to get our Afghan allies out. Two, you could extend the August 31 deadline of withdrawing. Or, three, you can just leave the tens of thousands of Afghans who've helped us over the past 20 years behind.

Which one is it going to be?

AUSTIN: First of all, as I have said, Helene, we're going to evacuate everybody that we can physically possibly evacuate. And we will conduct these -- this process for as long as we possibly can.

We will continue to deconflict issues with the Taliban. And we will stay focused on securing the airfield. We cannot afford to either not defend that airfield or not have an airfield that is secure.