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Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary Gives Press Briefing On Afghanistan. Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired August 25, 2021 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:30:00]
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: And the president has spoken, I would say to this issue. Peter, as you know, you've been attended a number of these multiple times over the last several days. And he has also highlighted the fact that we are closely watching, closely following the threats from ISIS-K which he also received a briefing on this morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In his remarks last night he gave a lot of time on the domestic agenda. Does he think that the Build Back Better Plan is as urgent and as time sensitive as this evacuation of Americans and Afghan friendlies from Kabul?
PSAKI: Well, first of all, I think it's important to the American people who care deeply about whether they are going have jobs, whether they are going to have child care, whether they are -- whether we will be able to compete with China and countries around the world to understand we have to do multiple things at the same time. That's exactly what any president of the United States has to do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The next one, as these negotiations about safe passage for Americans and SIV holder continue, why haven't we heard the president say the United States does not negotiate with terrorists? Is that still the U.S. policy?
PSAKI: Well, of course, it is, Peter. But I would also say that there's a reality that the Taliban is currently controlling, large swaths of Afghanistan. That is a reality on the ground. And right now, our focus and our priority is getting American citizens evacuated and our Afghan partners evacuated. And I would say given the numbers that we've outlined and briefed for you, that we have had -- made a great deal of progress in doing that. OK, go ahead, Justin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks, I had a couple but actually would kind of follow up on the question that Peter just asked.
PSAKI: Sure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You've talked about coordination with the Taliban and that there's the president's obviously made this threat of the severe response if they disrupt the effort to get Americans out. But I'm wondering if the U.S. offer Taliban anything in terms of cash or supplies to help facilitate this coordination? PSAKI: No, this is not a quid pro quo. We have laid out clearly what
our expectations are about moving American citizens and our Afghan partners, allies out of the country, and that's what we're working to deliver on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fed has their big meeting in Jackson Hole this week, or a virtual (INAUDIBLE). I'm wondering if the president is spoken to the Chairman Powell ahead of that meeting (INAUDIBLE)?
PSAKI: No, I don't have updates or previews or readouts of meetings or engagements with Chairman Powell. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks. A question about lawmakers who traveled to Afghanistan. Was the White House aware of those members of Congress that traveled to Kabul?
PSAKI: We were not aware when they were in enroute, no.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's the White House's reaction to that trip? Was this not official or -- what's the White House's reaction?
PSAKI: Well, our guidance continues to be to all American citizens including elected officials, this is not the time to travel to Afghanistan. And our focus, our objectives, our resources need to be laser focused on evacuating Afghan partners, evacuating American citizens and that's best done in the hands of the Department of Defense and State Department professionals who are on the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One more. The 31 of course is the deadline for the draw down. But when do the gears shift from evacuation initiative to withdrawing troops?
PSAKI: Well, I noted a little bit earlier that the president was briefed this morning on contingency plans and continues to have optionality should he decide to change plans even as we are on track to complete our mission by August 31st. I would also note that my DoD colleagues have put out some information about steps that are being taken.
So, as we've made consistently clear commanders on the ground are empowered to make any adjustments as they see fit, when they see fit. That includes changes to the footprint to that end. They confirmed last night, I believe it was, of the departure from Afghanistan of several hundred U.S. troops. These troops represent a mix of headquarters staff, maintenance and other enabling functions that were scheduled to leave and whose mission at the airport was complete. It does not have an impact on our mission at hand. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Follow-up about Afghanistan --
PSAKI: Sure
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- and people traveling as the LA Times saying that a group of students and their parents are in Afghanistan. Do you have any more information on that or is that a --?
PSAKI: I do not. Who are stranded in Afghanistan?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who are apparently stranded in Afghanistan and who are in trouble there. I don't know for certain that this is --
PSAKI: I certainly don't have additional information on that. I know as our Secretary of State just noted when he went through a thorough summary of American citizens and our contacts and our focus over the last several days. He gave an update. I'm happy to take their information if there's something more detailed you have.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then just on another issue. We're all waiting for some news about fed appointments. Can you give us any timeline for a decision on that? Can you give us any guidance?
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PSAKI: I don't have any guidance for you on the timeline. Go ahead. Go ahead, go ahead
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On Afghanistan, we just heard from Antony Blinken that 45 to 46 percent of those evacuated have been women. There's been a lot of consternation about the plight of Afghan women going forward, I know this is an issue of concern to you as well.
PSAKI: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But can you say what provisions you're making to ensure that women are actually sort of an equal part of that population that is being evacuated? It's not quite representative of the population.
PSAKI: Sure. Well, I know that our Secretary of State spoke to this just a few minutes ago. But what I can reiterate or add to I suppose, is one, we are going to continue work with United Nations and our allies and partners around the world to continue to provide humanitarian assistance and range of assistance to Afghanistan even when we don't have a presence on the ground.
There are also messages we've made clear to the Taliban. And I think that Secretary Blinken also reiterated this about what our expectations are and what the global community expects once we depart Afghanistan. I don't have additional details beyond that. But I will tell you that our commitment to the incredibly brave women and leaders and population Afghanistan that has fought alongside us, that has bravely stood up, does not change, does not diminish even after our military is departing from the ground.
Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anthony Blinken today gave us numbers for the numbers of Americans that that are believed to still be in Afghanistan but yesterday during the briefing we asked questions about how many Afghans and Americans have arrived in the United States.
PSAKI: We provided details on Americans yesterday. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But not on the number of Afghans that have
arrived at these military bases. Do you have a specific break down on the numbers of people?
PSAKI: First, I confirmed yesterday that it was 4,000 American who is had been evacuated. Obviously, that number increased. And the Secretary of State gave an updated number this morning. I would remind you that the U.S. military is overseeing the evacuation of individuals out of Afghanistan and the State Department oversees the visa processing. Hence the update was provided the Secretary of State.
During his briefing that he just gave, he also noted that he would work to provide additional numbers of Afghans. But I would note, since we provided a detailed number of Americans and we have also provided on a day-to-day basis, twice day, the number of people coming out. The vast majority of those are Afghans by numbers. Go ahead.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The Secretary gave us some specificity in terms of what the president may consider, completing the mission for achieving the objectives as it pertains to Americans. Do you guys have a specific threshold or number when it comes to Afghans about what would define completing the mission or your objectives by August 31st in terms of evacuations?
PSAKI: We've never put cap on the number of special immigrant visa applicants. The number of individuals who can apply for our variety of programs that are overseen by the State Department. I'm not going to put a cap on that today. I'd also note that as the Secretary of State said, we will continue and we are continuing to look at a range of options to provide support and to provide a means for departing Afghanistan even after we our U.S. military departs.
MATTINGLY: So, here's nothing more you guys are looking at getting the existing SIV backlog August 14th and say we want all 18,000 --
PSAKI: We are not putting cap on the number. We're continuing to work every day to get as many people evacuated as we can.
MATTINGLY: You have been clear in stating the number of Americans who want to leave. There are clearly Americans who are duel citizens that are also choosing not want to leave.
PSAKI: Yes.
MATTINGLY: What is the level of concern inside the administration about duel citizens for various citizens who choose to stay in the country at this point?
PSAKI: Well, I know this is very hard to understand for many people sitting here. And I think this is why you're asking this question. You're not sitting here even, I should say. People who watch your shows for our read your newspaper. But many, many of the people we suspect, many of the people of these 1,000 contacts are duel citizens.
Some as Secretary Blinken noted are people who may not be ready to leave for a variety of reasons. Maybe they have an extended family, extended family there. Maybe they spent their entire lives in Afghanistan and they have not yet made the decision to depart. Maybe that are working on a range of projects they are not ready the leave. I know that's hard for us to understand as were looking at the images, but for many of these Afghans, this is their home. And yes, they are duel citizens.
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Yes, it is absolutely our responsibility to make sure we are reaching out to them multiple times. We are providing opportunity. We are finding ways to get them to airport and evacuate them. But it is also their personal decision on whether they want to depart.
Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could I just follow up a bit on some refugees. So first, you talk about the vetting that's going on outside of the United States after they leave Iraq -- I'm sorry --.
PSAKI: Oh, I didn't mean to imply outside of -- well some of it is happening in Qatar, but some of it is happening here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, but I mean is before the people come to the United States --
PSAKI: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right, it's happening before they arrive. So, a lot of that vetting -- some of the pace of that vetting is within your control. You can add more people. You can add more interviewers.
PSAKI: And we have done that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But a lot of it is not in your control. Right? Like somebody comes to you with no documents, you know, it takes time to figure out where is the actual birth certificate. It takes time to find documents that prove ten years of residency. It takes time to get the kind of proof that the FBI and some of these agencies like to use.
So, does that all add up to refugee camps in these transit centers across the globe with tens of thousands of Afghans sitting for months, years, whatever? I mean, it doesn't sort of add up to those of us who have seen that process. Back in 2015, when you were in a previous administration, one of the things that you guys argued was that the refugee community in particular was the most vetted --
PSAKI: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- community of people entering the United States. And you pointed to the fact that it takes a year or two for the typical refugee to meet that burden. So, I guess the question is, how can you possibly not have this, and where are you going to put these people?
PSAKI: So, OK. There was a lot of questions wrapped up in there. Let me do the best I can here. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
PSAKI: No, it's OK. I mean, all good questions. First, I would say even prior to the last month or two we took steps to expedite processing in the SIV pipeline. And I would remind you that for quite some time it was a program that was frozen in March of 2020 and hardly anything was done. For policy reasons, in part, by the prior administration, it wasn't a program they necessarily supported and also because of COVID.
So, we worked to expedite and actually had some success over the course of the few months in the spring even before evacuation flights took place to do exactly that. As Jake Sullivan said the other day, it was also not a program, to your point, that was planned for speed, because of all of the requirements. Because what American's should also be assured of is that there is no one coming in through any of these programs who has not gone through a background check process and has been vetted.
That is our responsibility to the American people and one we will abide by. Hence, we are incredibly grateful to these third countries who are providing a place for a number of, many, tens of thousands of people to be for this period of time. And we have put a wide range of staff, personnel and others on the vetting process from a range of agencies to ensure that we can take steps to expedite it as quickly as possible.
You're right, that some of this is dependent on documents and is dependent on information being available. But I will just close with, and then I may have missed some of your questions, but this is incredibly difficult. We're very clear-eyed about that.
And these Afghans, many of them who are departing who are still in process, made the decision and we made the decision too, that evacuating them because they are vulnerable, because their lives are at risk and moving them to a third country, even if they are in transition for a period of time, is preferable to their lives being threatened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have one more question here.
PSAKI: Sure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, so assume that the people that are vetted, once they're vetted, they come to the United States. Is it the commitment of this administration that all of those people, 100 percent of the people who have gotten through the vetting screens, obviously there might be some that fail and won't come to United States, but that all the people that come are going to be granted legal, permanent residency and a path to citizenship in the United States? Or is it possible that some of those people will have to apply through other programs and could be deported back to Afghanistan?
PSAKI: Well, once individuals arrive in the United States, they will be eligible to apply for asylum or other available immigration pathways which have, as a condition, additional screening processes and procedures. So, no, we can't guarantee anyone anything. But certainly, we are also working with a range of countries around the world to ensure there are safe places for individuals who are fleeing from Afghanistan have safe places to be.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You wouldn't see a situation where you might reject somebody's asylum application and send them back to Afghanistan?
PSAKI: I don't anticipate that being the plan. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks, Jen. Is the White House aware of any other members of Congress who are planning to make a trip to Afghanistan at this time?
PSAKI: I don't have any more information on that, no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And have you learned anything about how they made this trip, how they
were able to get into the country? Did they show up on any manifests or anything? Do you guys have any more information on that?
PSAKI: I think you should ask their offices that question.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I ask you a question on cyber security --
PSAKI: Sure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- in light of today's summit? Does the White House believe that the private sector can make sufficient cybersecurity improvements without government mandates? Or do you believe that Congress needs to pass legislation mandating reports of cybersecurity incidents to sort of better address this situation?
PSAKI: We certainly have made clear that we expect private sector companies to report when they have experienced a cyber breach. We have worked in partnership with some to address these cyber breaches. And also, there is an impact on the American public in many cases.
There is congressional legislation that some are considering, and there are a range of options of that could be taken by Congress and we'll look at those as they move forward and if they move forward. But our view has long been that it is a combined responsibility of the federal government to put in place clear guidelines, clear best practices, and the private sector to take steps to harden their own cybersecurity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And one last question. Has the White House learned anything more about these possible cases of Havana Syndrome in Vietnam?
PSAKI: I don't have any more information, no. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not to belabor the point, I know that the Secretary of State talked about this and I know that you've answered some questions on this, but I really just want to kind of drill down on how confident is the administration that all Americans who want to get out will be out by August 31st? I know that you've put out the contacts, you've been text messaging, all the message through your contacts to people.
Is there any concern that there could be people who have somehow fallen through the cracks, haven't been able to get in contact and they want to get out? How will the administration determine, on August 31st or whatever day the military pulls out, that all of the Americans who wanted to get out have been able to get out?
PSAKI: Well, first I think the reason the Secretary of State gave such a detailed overview is because it's not as simple as you've just laid it out. Certainly, there could be American citizens, duel citizens, individuals who may want to depart who have not yet decided to depart by August 31st. We know that is a potential, and therefore we want to ensure we are looking at a range of options for how we can allow them to depart and enable them to depart after that date and time.
It is also true that there may be individuals who we're not yet in contact with, they have not contacted us and we want to leave optionality for that as well. But he also provided the specific information on the numbers to give you an understanding, all of you, everybody an understanding that while we started with a population of as many as 6,000 Americans in Afghanistan, over the last 10 days alone, 4,500 of those Americans have been safely evacuated. In the last 24 hours, we've been in contact with approximately 500, so we're looking at a relatively small population left, right?
We also believe that there are individuals in that set of 1,000 who may not want to depart for a range of reasons, as we've also outlined. I would also note that a big factor on the President's mind and the Secretary of State noted this as well is the real threat of ISIS-K, which is the reason why, and the President again, received a briefing on that as he does regularly from his national security team.
That is why we are concerned about numbers around the airport. That is why we are in direct contact through a range of means with individuals about how and when to come to the airport. And that is something we have to evaluate each day as well, because putting our service men and women at risk is something that weighs heavily on the President's mind.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And a question on the Supreme Court decision as well, the Supreme Court basically kicked them back on the, "Remain in Mexico." What is the White House response to that?
PSAKI: Oh, well I know the Department of Homeland Security put out a statement on this last evening, so let me reiterate some of those points. We respectfully disagree with the district court's decision, and we regret that the Supreme Court has declined to issue this stay. DHS has appealed the district court's order and will continue to vigorously challenge it.
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We are also, though, in the same vein, compelled by law, to now proceed with means by which we abide by the ruling. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does that then mean that negotiations are now underway between the U.S. and Mexico on the returning to the migrant protection protocol?
PSAKI: Well, the Department of State, with DHS support is engaging in diplomatic discussions with the government of Mexico as part of our efforts to implement the court's order. And I would just note, I should have said this a little earlier, I mean, our point of view continues to be that this program was not implemented in a moral way. It was inefficient. It used CBP resources. It led to a backlog in the system, and it fundamentally a program we have opposed, but we are also abiding by a court order.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I ask you a threshold question about the range of assistance that the U.S. is now promising to offer to Afghanistan after August 30th?
PSAKI: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You talked about consular services, is it the President's expectation that the Taliban will continue to allow safe passage for Afghans to the airport after the US leaves?
PSAKI: Again, this is part of an active discussion, and I understand certainly why you're asking the question. But we continue to believe that there will be American -- there could be -- I should say -- American citizens, there could be Afghans who would be eligible for special immigrant visas, or would be individuals eligible for a range of our programs, who would want to depart. That would require a means of departing, and that's what we're working through now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, there's no guarantee yet from the Taliban to continue to allow safe passage for the people that the US is helping-
PSAKI: Again, these are ongoing discussions, and that is our expectation and what we're working toward. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Couple quick questions; yesterday, the President and you, I think said that he had asked the Pentagon and state department for all contingency plans, has he received all the contingency plans, or is there a full set that he's still waiting for more of?
PSAKI: Yes, he received the brief a briefing this morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, he has received in totality, all the contingency plans that they're providing?
PSAKI: Again, this is an ongoing discussion, right? And as you well know, and the President has lengthy meetings sometimes more than once a day with his National Security Team, but yes, the contingency plans he requested, he received a briefing on this morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Perfect, that helps. Earlier, we heard from the Secretary of State saying that there are as many as 1,500 Americans by my math, who still want to get out, who are in Afghanistan right now. Is it possible that they could be evacuated before? Could this -- could these evacuations end before that day? Could it finish before August 31st?
PSAKI: Well, it could Peter, and I would just note by the numbers, right? 4,500 Americans were evacuated over the last 10 days. That doesn't even count their family members, whether it's a spouse, or a spouse and children, or a combination.
And that we've also been in contact with an additional 500, so it's actually more like a pool of 1,000 who we are reaching out to multiple times a day, through multiple communication channels; phone, texts, email, WhatsApp, et cetera. As I noted a little bit earlier, we also have an expectation that there are a number of these individuals, dual nationals, people who may have expansive extended family, who may not have made the decision to part at this point in time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And let me ask you, earlier, one of my colleagues asked you, and you said you didn't want to provide a cap. As it relates to Afghan allies -- vulnerable Afghan allies who were still seeking to leave the country right now. Recognizing you don't want to provide a cap, can you provide us a baseline? What is the stated goal as provided to the President, of the number you estimate it is at least as many as? So, there's some context for these numbers of 80 plus thousand people who have now been evacuated?
PSAKI: That is similar to me in giving a cap. And there are people who are not yet through the process, who may not count as an SIV at this point in time or may be eligible for a range of programs. Our objective, as you've seen by the numbers over the past several days, is to evacuate as many people as possible who qualify for any of these programs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why can't the White House or the administration say what that stated goal is, even as a baseline, so people get a sense of what we're shooting for in this process? What's the harm in saying that?
PSAKI: Because I don't think there's a benefit in giving a cap. That's not our objective.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It gives context to when you say 80,000. 80,000 is a lot, but --
PSAKI: Fair. I think important context though, is that we've now evacuated, again, 88,000 people -- well, 82.000 people on U.S. military and coalition flights. You know, just a week ago, some people were saying we couldn't do 50,000. We've done 82,000. And so just to put into context, again, that's a flight yesterday, every 39 minutes.
That is thousands and thousands of people coming through the airport every single day. 19,000 people yesterday. I think these numbers do provide context, and we're going to continue to press every single day to get more people who are eligible out of the country.
[15:55:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course, we don't know, of those 80,000, how many are SIV eligible applicants, right? Some may just be those who wanted to evacuate the country, which is part of why I asked --
PSAKI: Well, I think that what's important to note here is that the people who we are prioritizing are American citizens, are SIV applicants, and others who might be eligible for a variety of programs. And in order to prevent a mass crowding at the airport, those are the people we are in direct contact with.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then let me ask lastly, about the two congressmen who went over there. I know in the statement you've put out about: "They shouldn't be doing this," that this was the wrong decision to be made. About the merits of what they said though, having now returned, they said that because the evacuations started so late, there's no way that US will be able to get all those necessary evacuees out, even by September 11th. What does the White House say to that criticism that those two lawmakers were saying, based on their firsthand experience?
PSAKI: Well, I would say first that we're on track to have the largest U.S. airlift in history, and I think that speaks for itself. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, can you speak to what a colleague's reporting, that the administration plans to recommend vaccine boosters at six months? Not eight.
PSAKI: I have not seen that report, but I would note we just put out the guidance, the CDC just put out the guidance a couple of weeks ago or last week. It's all running together, two weeks ago? On eight months, and if they update that guidance, it would certainly come directly from them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that under consideration?
PSAKI: I would point you to the CDC?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then secondly, what is President Biden prepared to do to push the Chinese on the Wuhan lab investigation? There's been reporting that the Chinese are not being cooperative, they're pushing back at the U.S. on that. What does he prepare to do to free up more information on that?
PSAKI: Well, I think it's well-known, they haven't been cooperative, right? Through your reporting, other reporting, and just the fact that they obviously have not, in a publicly available way, provided the data and the information that we have been requesting. In terms of an assessment of what steps we might take, I don't have anything to preview for you on that front. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks Jen. I know you don't want to get into the details of the COVID origins report assessment --
PSAKI: Yes. I will be happy to when there is an unclassified summary for all of you. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. But of course, the purpose of the 90-day review was to put a focus on this question. So, if at the end of the question, we don't have clarity, or a smoking gun, or high confidence what's the next step?
PSAKI: We'll talk about that once the summary is out in public. Oh, go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, if you can update us on the White House's role in responding to the crisis in Haiti, I know USAID, and (INAUDIBLE) are giving us updates, but what has the White House been doing?
PSAKI: Yes, this is something I think as you know, and you've been following closely, we've been deeply engaged with and involved with, under the leadership of Samantha Power, who is the Director of USAID. In terms of, are you looking for specific assistance, and specific what we're getting to the ground? Let me get you updated numbers that we have provided as of today. I think the last information I have is about a day old, but it's an ongoing process. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks, Jen. I just wanted a review on the President's upcoming meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister, and if we can expect any announcements on the reopening of Palestinian offices in Washington, and the consulate (INAUDIBLE)? And if not, what's the status of those projects?
PSAKI: Sure. I know we did a briefing call to provide a preview of that last night, or I believe, yesterday, at some point in time. I will say that the President's looking forward to welcoming the Prime Minister, who was already in town, as you know, having a variety of meetings today.
We expect their conversation to be wide ranging, to cover a range of topics of mutual interest, everything from COVID-19, and our efforts to address the global pandemic, to regional security issues, which could include a range of topics, including security within Israel, as well as Iran, and other issues of mutual concern. And I expect we'll have a readout once the meeting ...
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: All right, you've been listening to Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary there, answering from several different angles here the question of what will happen to those Americans and the Afghans who want to leave after the U.S. leaves on Tuesday on August 31st. And she says that they're looking at a range of options as to how to secure that safe passage. The Taliban says that that is allowed, that they will allow people to leave the country. The question is if that argument, if that promise should be given much credence.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: That seems to be the burning question right now. I think we've learned a lot in the past couple hours because we also listened to the Secretary of State Tony Blinken give a press conference. We know that there are now 1,500 U.S. citizens still in Afghanistan. And they are U.S. officials say they are working aggressively to try to get them out in the next six days. BLACKWELL: Yes, still reaching out through text messages, phone calls
to those who may want to leave. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.
