come to the gate. gen. taylor: i did not say he should come. what i said was -- our military forces at the gate have the ability to continue to process those that come to the gate. there are multiple gates right now. there are three or four main gates that process evacuees. >> two were open, is that correct? gen. taylor: two additional gates? i don't have that report of two additional gates. >> let me get to the phone a bit more. >> thanks. i want to confirm, over the past 24 hours, how many gates have been closed, and have they been for long periods of time? or short? mr. kirby: to go back, those gates are opened and closed as required. there have been short duration throughout the last 24 will gates have been close. gen. taylor: to go back those gates are opened and closed as required. there have been short duration throughout the last 24 hours where gates have been closed. mr. kirby: anymore in the room, louis? >> can i go back to the 2500 american estimate? that's a very small portion of the 15,000

two additional gates. >> two additional gates? i don't have that report of two additional gates. >> okay. >> let me get to the phone a little bit more. >> john, thanks. just want to confirm, over the past 12, 24 hours, how many gates have been closed? have they been for long periods of time or short? >> just to go back, those gates are open and closed as required. there's been short durations throughout the last 24 where gates have been closed to allow the proper people to come in and out of those gates. >> okay. let's see. kelly from nextstar. okay. anymore in the room? >> can i go back to the 2,500 americans estimate? that's a very small portion of the 15,000 that the president has said may be the top number of americans inside. are you making efforts to try to bring more americans in? i know you're cautioning them to be aware of the threat environment at the gates. at the same time, how do you get all those -- that many americans into the airport if there really are that many americans in country? >> i think you've heard us say

are some of the i gates welded shut? there are gates that are closed _ gates welded shut? there are gates that are closed right _ gates welded shut? there are gates that are closed right now. _ gates welded shut? there are gates that are closed right now. but i gates welded shut? there are gates that are closed right now. but we i gates welded shut? there are gates| that are closed right now. but we do have gates that continue to be open as we coordinate with the department of state to get people in for evacuation. i of state to get people in for evacuation.— of state to get people in for evacuation. , ,, , ., . , evacuation. i express my condolences to the families _ evacuation. i express my condolences to the families of _ evacuation. i express my condolences to the families of lost _ evacuation. i express my condolences to the families of lost loved _ evacuation. i express my condolences to the families of lost loved ones. i to the families of lost loved ones. despite _ to the families of lost loved ones. despite this — to the families of lost loved ones. despite th

get away from the gates. messages went out from the united states, australia, the united kingdom, and others to their citizens saying get away from the dwaets. get away from the gates. there's going to be an attack, or an attack is likely to be imminent, and then there was an attack. the soldiers can't get off the gates. it's their job to stay on the walls to stay and guard the perimeter. it's unlikely the president will accelerate the withdrawal now as a result of this attack. i think sadly, these sorts of casualties are going to be built into the military plan itself anyway. >> sam, there are a number of representatives in congress. i talked to a former congressman mike rogers earlier who talked about the idea of expanding the perimeter around the airport. that seems unlikely at a point like this, because there are blast walls in the perimeter as it is. if you expand the perimeter, you then -- there's not the same blast walls, and you're obviously then exposing u.s. forces at a whole lot of more points to p

there's the abbey gate. then there's a stretch of road bounded by blast walls and then there's an entrance into the baron which historically have been secure, almost bounded within the secure perimeter of the main airport. that's why the british used it as a forward operating base as part of their efforts to get evacuees through. it was easier, slightly easier to get for afghans to the baron gates, sometimes for foreign nationals. they even had a secret entrance being used to exfiltrate a lot of foreign nationals with the help of british special forces around the back. it was a central part of the evacuation. it was a central part of the british parachute regiment, air assault brigade there in force. i saw them in the airport yesterday. the british numbers in the airport going up. that indicated they were winding down their operations there. there's been no reports of british casualties. that's striking. there's a gap. you go from one gate to the other through a sort of area of no man's land, in all project,

the gate. there are multiple gates. there are three or four main ones that are processing evacuations.— ones that are processing evacuations. ., evacuations. overnight two were 0 en. evacuations. overnight two were open- two _ evacuations. overnight two were open. two additional— evacuations. overnight two were open. two additional ones. i evacuations. overnight two were open. two additional ones. you | evacuations. overnight two were i open. two additional ones. you say two additional _ open. two additional ones. you say two additional gates _ open. two additional ones. you say two additional gates i _ open. two additional ones. you say two additional gates i do _ open. two additional ones. you say two additional gates i do not - open. two additional ones. you say two additional gates i do not have l two additional gates i do not have that report. two additional gates i do not have that report-— that report. let's get to the phone a little bit more. _ that report. let's get to the phone

at the abbey gate there have been crowds outside of these gates for the past week or so at times and large and potentially unruly crowds and that's presenting a concern for u.s. officials and they're worried about a threat from isis-k, which is the isis affiliate there in afghanistan. they had specific intelligence that isis was trying to target some of those gates and target americans who may be trying to go through them to get on these evacuation flights. as you mentioned, andrea, there is not a firm sense of who is behind these attacks at this point, but all signs are pointing to isis. >> and isis-k, of course, is as we've been pointing out, also an adversary of the taliban. courtney, do you know whether flights were taking off during the -- or in the aftermath of these explosions? >> that's something else that we're trying to get to. there are some reports that flights were still able to take off in the midst of all of this, but we've been also -- the entire evacuation operation has been hampered by this security threat. there's been an isis threat for about a week now, but it ac

that come to the gate. >> how many gates are there? >> there's multiple gates. right now as we look at-- there's three, four main gates that we're processing evacuees through. >> overnight, the two were opened, is that correct? two additional gates? >> you say two additional gates. i don't have that report of two additional gates. >> okay. >> let me get to the phone a little bit more. >> hey, john, thanks. just wanted to confirm, over the past 12, i guess 24 hours, how many gates have been closed and have they been for long periods of time or short? >> just to go back those gates are open and closed as required. there's been short durations throughout the last 24 where gates have been closed to allow the proper people to come in and out of those gates. >> okay. let's see. kelly from next star. okay. any more in the room? louie. >> can i go back to the 2500 american estimates. that's a very small portion of the 15,000 that the president said may be the top number of americans inside. are you making efforts to try to bring more americans

not just abby gate but gates of camp sullivan, the gates at baron, the north gate. multiple gates. it's crowded. there's squalor. people don't have food, water or shade for their children. last night alone, at least three infants in distress and what i will tell you is that major general don hue and the 82nd airborne were immediate in terms of trying to respond. they're trying to do this while that's a sea of humanity that's out there. the security is really a problem. the marines and the 82nd have a job to do at the gate. but the taliban are really providing the perimeter -- outside the perimeter security. in order for people to get to abby gate they have to pass through at least two taliban checkpoints where this is where they are holding up the afghans, won't let them through. also problematic is they are holding up blue passport carrying americans. i was just on the phone, trying to help two couples where one spouse is blue passport holder and the other pass is an afghan passport holder and the taliban are holding them up. to their credit, officials at the u.s. embassy are doin

they had threats on those gates. they told americans to leave those gates. the marines were responsible for standing on either side of that razor wire that was put around the airport. you have thousands of americans half a mile deep trying to get through these 3 or 4 gates into the kabul airport. it was an unbelievable task trying to screen people and get them inside. what we know right now, there was a trauma medical area at the airport. that was set-up as part of this mission in the event of a mass casualty like we saw this morning. we don't know if those marines have been air lifted out of the country or are still on the ground? it is a terrible, terrible tragedy that it came to this before the august 31st deadline. >> john: john here. it was one that britain had been warning about and now, the taliban tweeting. it took place in an area where us forces are responsible for security and the islamic emer is taking responsibility. this bombing and series of bombing may have been orb straited by the taliban as a strawman to try and humiliate the united states.

there is one called abby gate and northeast gate and northern gates as well. people crowd to them. they're often huge metal doors essentially, i've heard people banging on them. it is an extraordinary noise of desperation and that is where we've seen the stand-off between afghan and u.s. marines and the crowds down below. the traffic is often blocked around there and i've seen video and heard reports that the taliban have been involved in using their presence as a sort of crowd filtration, vetting who is allowed to approach the gates and even more involve further away from the airport, further down the airport road. so it is unclear where this blast has occurred. it is certainly i think the worst news for anybody observing the situation closely. but it is sadly will most likely have fed into an area that is quite heavily populated. we've seen images of thousands, it seems, of afghans despite the news the gates are fully closed. there is at this point no way on unless you are essentially escorted or entry on to the airport is arranged by prior coordination by the taliban and the uni

citizens who are at the abby gate, east gate or north gate should leave immediately. kabul is now under taliban control. >> we're operating in a hostile en vierinement in a city controlled by the taliban with a possibility of an isis k attack. it is very high risk. >> blinken says they are scrambling to get roughly 1500 americans stuck in afghanistan who want to get out, though the secretary believes the number is lower emphasizing the actual number nruk waits but suggests they don't have an exact handle on how many could possibly be left behind with just days to go in the contingency plan to get anyone out past august 31st is wholely dependent on the taliban. as for a diplomatic presence after august 31 they are looking at a series of options. we hope to hear more about those plans at a briefing today as well as the reports of some two dozen california area school children stuck over there. afghans resettled in california trying to travel back over the summer to visit families. we have to learn more about their fate later today. >> dana: for those at the airport hold

one at the gate, the abbey gate and the direct contact is what happens there with u.s. service members, marines in particular in this case and a large number of them in that bombing killed. i think what was eye opening, may jaw-dropping listening to that briefing was the part where he said that they are working with the taliban telling them some of the intelligence that they're getting about possible attacks or suicide bombers or vehicle bombs so that the taliban can help them screen them on the outer ring before they get to the airport. put that in perspective for a second. just a few weeks ago, we were bombing the taliban. in afghanistan. we have considered the taliban enemies. now we're giving them intel to help protect our forces and the afghan allies, this is the same taliban that has been harassing u.s. citizens trying to get to the airport and also preventing afghans from getting through. to the extent that this administration and pentagon is trusting the taliban is something. he went on to say there's no reason to believe that the taliban is somehow tied to this

you take that corridor to go to the abbey gate. that is a big metal gate that goes to the compound. you have to go through this corridor and you get to the gate and if you have the right credentials and connections the u.s. personnel will open that gate for you and let you on. we understand from a source at the security source at the baron hotel it was in that corridor that the explosion took place. and it may sound like a minor detail but it is important. there is a drain an and sewage canal that goes under the road, so it would allow a suicide bomber to infiltrate actually going through the sewage and mud and traindrainage in that canal. there is very disturbing videos that i have just seen being posted that are consistent with the taliban's account of more than a dozen killed. they show bodies floating in the very shallow water of this drainage canal between the gate and the baron hotel. they show injured, but it does not appear to show any military personnel. a lot of afghan civilians, apparently, trying to get into the abbey gate gathered in that area. we have gone there we hav

so they are bringing these gates -- or these crowds around the gates, the taliban are helping to push back those crowds to provide safe passage for the americans. so all that being said, that has been working for the past several days. but with the gates shut down, there is a very real issue for any americans to try to get to those gates and get safely through them. and again, the larger issue here is this isis threat that is persistent, it is very real. we've heard from a number of u.s. allies about their warnings about it as well. >> yeah, more than a complication. so geoff, the administration did to be fair get more than 100,000 people out pretty quickly, but the danger grows as we heard from courtney, unlikely that everyone will get out on time by that 31st dead line. how does the administration plan to pull this off? >> it is a key question that the administration has yet to answer definitively because so much of it depends on events on the ground. so here is what we know. we know this evacuation window is closing quickly. the pentagon has acknowledged that as this operation near

this is one of the gates cobble international airport. it's one of the gates where we've seen the scenes of chaos over the days this week. and also last week we, it was one of the gates that was being used by people who are eligible for evacuation flights. who being going in to get onto flight. but also we've seen people that thronging the gates, people trying to get on some of them that may be legitimately have reason to be on those flights and have been clear to be on those flights. but there's lots of other people who would just desperate to get on any flights they can to get out of afghanistan. we know that there was one explosion, 1st of all, but this was called a what they know. it's called a complex attack. it was planned to be in different stages and it was shortly followed by a 2nd explosion. a colleague from french television who is close by has reported seeing a surge of people coming away from the point of this explosion. a lot of them at the front of this crowd of people carrying injured, injured people, people injured in the

so abbey gate itself like all of the gates, a large heavy metal door. a lot of pressure often against it. a lot of time we've seen in the past security forces firing shots over the heads of people to get them to move back. people rarely listen to that. and added desperation today as well because like yesterday, it seems that abbey gate has been fully closed i was told this morning. so no siv applicants able necessarily to get in. that would have added to the pressure. and on top of that as well, we're at this point seeing some allied military of the united states leaving. we know that the australian and canadians and turkish and others have beginning their withdrawal and if not completed it. britain may have been starting their wrack up today. i'm speculating here, with you the british have to get from the baron hotel into the main compound of the airport proper. so it is unclear which personnel were caught in this. we understand u.s. personnel were there as well. in the video i saw yesterday, you could see u.s. personnel and british walking along the r

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 could. he could not. he claims the taliban beat his wife. he was not able to access it. now with these two attacks and this situation clearly there is a message being sent to those americans and afghan allies to not even try to make it out at this point. now that's important, harris, because we learned from secretary blinken yesterday that any contingency plan to get americans out beyond the august 31st deadline was dependent upon public commitments from the taliban now in control of kabul to insure their safe passage. that clearly is not capa

, abby gate. then we had poc live he said, i am here that gate it impossible to go through because the chaotic situation, we changed the gate, here i am yelling at phone go to this gated. tell me how long it the take you to get there he has to make his way through the crowd with his family back to the car, jump in cargo to other gate. and then from there. -- >> it is chaos. >> and go back through the crowd. >> and every time they made the movement they go through taliban checkpoints, easy for us to say but you have babies, childrens, wives people from not our world. >> they are asking questions, their lives art stake. live are at stake, green bea berets have a special connection. we'll hear from matt goldstein, hey lily, i need a new wireless plan for my business, but all my employees need something different. oh, we can help with that. okay, imagine this... your mover, rob, he's on the scene and needs a plan with a mobile hotspot. we cut to downtown, your sales rep lisa has to send some files, as

the attack occurred at a gate. the gate we have to check people before they get onto the airfield. we have to ep nsure they're not carrying a bomb or weapon. that requires physical screening. you have to get very close to that person. the air base itself is surr surrounded with walls. these gates where people actually come on the airfield, there's no substitute for a young united states man or woman standing up there, conducting a search of that person before we let them on. the taliban have conducted searches before they get to that point and sometimes those searches have been good and sometimes not. i will simply note before this attack we had passed 104,000 people through. this attack is one too many but we'll evaluate what happened. we'll find ways to always get better. but the key thing is you don't want someone on an airplane carrying a bomb because that could result in massive loss of life if an airplane were to be destroyed. you've got to do the searches. we work with our partners on the ground to conduct those searches. ultimately americans have got to be endangered to sec

the attack occurred at the gate and at the gate we have to check people before they get onto the airfield. we have to ensure they are not carrying a bomb or weapon that could make its way onto an aircraft. that requires physical screening. we can't -- we have to get close to that person. while the airbase is surrounded with walls and we are bunker to in, we have done things to protect ourselves, at these dates -- gaetz, there is no substitute for a young man or woman, a young united states man or woman conducting a search of that person. the taliban have conducted service -- searches and sometimes those have been good, sometimes not. before the attack we advanced 104 thousand people through. this attack is one too many but we will evaluate what happens. we will find ways to get better. the key is you don't want to let somebody on a plane carrying a bomb because that could result in a massive loss-of-life. you have to do the searches. we work with our afghan partners to conduct searches. americans have to be in danger to do these searches. there is no other way to do it. i can't tell you h

this is one of the gates around the perimeter of the international airport is one of the gates that has seen many of the people who are eligible for evacuation flights. not those gates, but also as we have seen these chaos exceeds hundreds, if not thousands of other people laugh guns waving pits of bits of paper in the hope of getting on a flight a mixed in amongst them. probably people who are eligible for flights, but try to get through the crowd. so chaotic scenes at this particular gate, these explosions happened within the past few hours about 2 and a half hours ago. now the we colleagues that the bureau, which is a couple of kilometers, is closer to the airport from where we are here. that's the heard the blast go off . it was confirmed by other sources. when they went down to where the blast happened. they were met by literally scores of people rushing towards them. these were people running away amongst them were also taliban. very excitable. agitated state, firing in the air, trying to disperse people the what the fairies with all of these attacks is once you have one bomb or 2

the gates are closed. to the latest at the pentagon, lucas tomlinson is standing by. >> less than 48 hours after the deadly attack that killed 13 service members, the u.s. military has struck back launching a drone strike in eastern afghanistan. they left the headquarters of the isis group which has carried out the attacks. in a statement from the u.s. central command, captain irvin said "initial indications are that we killed the target. we know of no civilian casualties." if you remember president biden said he would hunt down and kill whoever is responsible. it was not clear when they would take place. the u.s. military is preparing to leave the country. breaking news at the pentagon, the u.s. military has struck back and killed an isis planner. i'm told he was killed in a vehicle and killed with an associate with him. an american drone strike killed an isis planner that is responsible for carrying out future attacks. not necessarily was he involved in the tack that killed 13 american service members. >

they put the gates in. the gates were the primary weak spot that we didn't have prior to katrina and the water entered the canals and the secondary levies broke. that's how water got into the interior of the city, and massive work has been done in terms of gates and locks to prevent the surge water from violating the internal levies that would go into the canals that are used for the pumps to pump the water out of the city. and all that is much improved at around $14 billion or $15 billion worth of work was done. so i think there's some confidence by many that having people in the city hunkering in place is a good guidance based on what the parish official is saying if you don't get out by tonight is what i heard them say and should always listen to locals. but we do this in the covid environment, jim, and the area it's going in is very dangerous. it's going between baton rouge and new orleans. a point that hadn't been talked about. 150 chemical and refinery plants between baton rouge and new orleans is com

how many days was he at the gates for or was he going to the gates? >> he was going to the gates for five days. and every day early in the morning because that's when everybody gets there. early in the morning and they leave at night. he told me he took pictures of one of the nights and he was like i was at that gate for 24 hours, and we still didn't get anywhere. and it was because he was an american citizen, but because they were siv applicants, that they were like no, we're not accepting that right now. and if just kind of -- the gates -- as different nations like take over the gate control they also say, okay, no, we're only accepting this person, we're only accepting these people. so it's like the acceptance kind of goes -- it's very fluid and nobody really knows when, so that's why there is this slew of people at the gates i feel, in my personal opinion. >> when i talked to you first earlier today you talked about heart break. and i was thinking about it afterward, and i wanted to ask you about it tonight because in some ways i can imagine your

>> reporter: yeah, well, jim, they warned americans not only to avoid those gates, but to leave the gates immediately if they were there. so that means that any of those americans who were in the country were told basically go elsewhere. we're going to figure out a way to get you to the airport. but we really don't want you in those crowds outside of these specific gates. now notably the top u.s. diplomat in afghanistan said that crowds outside of the airports are dangerous and that is why the united states doesn't want americans in them. he wouldn't specific get into the threat stream that the biden administration is picking up on. but he said that the threats are imminent and obviously based on what we're seeing with the news of this explosion at the airport, they were certainly imminent. there is a reason that the united states, the state department was putting out that information. warning americans to stay away. now as we have said, as of now there are no reports of u.s. casualties among americans or any of the troops or diplomats on the the ground. of course we're monitoring that. b

we can't control the gates. we can't put people on an airplane man fest but have the best information possible. if we can get them connected to people inside the airport to help them get through the taliban gangs policing the roads and entry points to the airport. >> harris: you are still serving. i know your military background. that's military service you are talking about right now helping people on the ground. i look forward to the day we can look back and you can fill us in how you saved americans and how much was necessary during this administration. thank you for your time. i know you have to go. >> thank you, harris. >> harris: for more on this i want to bring in general keith kellogg. former national security advisor to president trump and vice president pence. i wish this was under different circumstances but i will lean on your expertise. as you listened to the pentagon briefing just now what really popped in your mind that is a very urgent matter above all? >> first harris, thank you for having me an

the gate. another one that was about two football fields long serving as a hotel for evacuees, including the americans before they make their way to the airport. you can see the footage shot by richard engel and his team days ago. there the abbey gate and the drainage canal, and the four blast walls that you can see there. this is what the area looked like before the suicide bombings. the information coming in is very fluid, and this is not unusual with the circumstances is like this. but the taliban say that 13 people are dead including children, and dozens more left badly injured and maimed and those numbers could blow. the pentagon is calling it a complex attack, and officials are calling it a strong indication here that it is caused by isis-k which is a break off of the isis group, and also an enemy of the taliban here in washington. here in washington, president biden is being briefed by the top military and officials who sit with him. and we are asking when and if we will hear from him, a

but it was right outside in the vicinity of that gate. and then followed by direct fire from an enemy position that is not exactly known. that is the outside and what we would call north of that gate area also. >> how many assail ants, was it just the suicide bomber or how many people -- >> it goes back to what i said. right now what we know, there was shooters, don't know the exact number. but one with a suicide vest. >> go ahead. >> we've already got you. louie go ahead. >> was anyone killed by that gunfire? >> like i said, we're asking very detailed questions about the fight that that will continue to be collected. i can't answer, you know, numbers. that is just i would say, you know, that could come out. but just knowing the facts, the incredible, you know, devastate that happened there, i think we should just leave it there. >> hang on just a second. >> so, my question, i'm following on leta's earlier. yesterday the president said you will hunt down and get revenge on the isis attackers yesterday. you could explain to the american pu

the attack occurred athe a gate. gate we have to check people before they get on to the airfield. the we have to ensure they're not carrying a bomb or any kind of weapon that can make its way on to an aircraft. that requires physical screening. you can't do that. you have to get very close to that person. so while the air base itself is surrounded with t walls or well bunkered in, we've done a number of things to protect ourselves. at the interface points, the gates where people actually come on the airfield, there is no substitute for a young man or woman, young united states man or woman standing up there conducting a search of that person before you let them on. the taliban conducted searches before they get to that point. and sometimes the searches are good and sometimes not. i'll note that before this attack we passed 104,000 people through. we'll evaluate what happened. but the key thing is you don't want to let somebody on an airplane carrying a bomb because that could result in massive loss of life. if an airplane were to be destroyed. you have to do the searches. we work

you can't get to the abbey gate, can't get to the east gate, you can't get to any gate, so you might as well today home. and what really makes that kind of iffy for you and a bit of a security concern for you is that you know the taliban has separately been going from house to house, maybe your house, and saying do you know the former government, did you work with anyone in the former government, friendly to anyone in the u.s.? we understand you were an interpreter for u.s. soldiers. you know how that goes. and the one thing they would cling to are those little documents, and they'd cling to that and say i have that, i'm gold, i got it, i can get out. now they can't. days are ticking down, and their fate is up in the air. let's go to senator joe lieberman, the former connecticut senator, former democratic vice president, candidate. senator, for those folks, this is about the most depressing development i can imagine. what do you think. >> well, absolutely. it's depressing, it's infuriating. i mean, it comes back to the point that you and i discussed last week, neil, which was that th

, not the abby gate. when they got there that gate was welded shut and they were told the gate is closed permanently. the problem with that is a lot of these people are being funneled and have been funneled for the past few hours to the abby gate and obviously that is where this devastating deadly explosion occurred earlier this morning. we are working on getting some photos from 6 hours ago outside the abby airport. you can see floods if not hundreds of thousands of people outside the abby gate demonstrating the kind of bottleneck people are experiencing but also how crowded and busy it could have been in the hours leading up to this explosion. stuart: it was a target. don't see how you get evacuations out and keep going when they are sealing the gates to the airport shut. let me recap the breaking news out of afghanistan. the pentagon confirming multiple casualties including americans after an explosion outside the abby gate at the airport. pete exit stick around and on the other side of this commercial

we were at abbey gate midday yesterday. this is the real front line here, where american soldiers and marines, diplomats and other troops risk their own lives to help the most vulnerable. these are the final steps that lead to the great. the perimeter wall guarded by marines trying to separate friend from foe. >> abbey gate, follow the water. >> reporter: the last stop is the guard tower, right opposite today's blast site. inside, troops keeping watch on the crowds below. we saw one man wave his blue u.s. passport and the troops responded immediately. >> i can help you get in. abbey gate. >> you have to wait over there. >> reporter: after the tower, it is a handful of steps out into the crowds. through the gates to the ditch that separates thousands of people from their hopes of getting inside the airport to freedom. these are just devastating, heartbreaking scenes here. these people down here are stood in sewage water up to their knees and this is what i've been saying. this is the difference potentially between the life-s

marines were seriously wounded in the attack outside of abbey gate. we have seen the images outside of abby gate and a dozen by my count of women, children, civilian, afghan men who were killed instantly when that suicide bomb went off. i saw the bloodied images, it was scenes of absolute desperation, we are now seeing some of those injuries being brought to the kabul surgical center. reporting that there are at least 30 injured arriving at that surgical center at least six afghan dead. but there was at second explosion at the baron hotel, we don't have images from that hotel at the moment, but this is 200 yards away. this was a complex terror attack. there is no attribution right now as to who is responsible, but the assumption among u.s. officials is that it was an isis case cell. they had intelligence that isis cores on, that group of isis inside afghanistan was trying to threaten those gates at the airport, that's why they were so tight and trying to move so quickly to get as many afghans through the gates before what's really frankly everyone if

only people that were outside the gate, of the gate, afghans. special force of afghans. so they received people, but only from outside the gate, and the gate inside. >> just so our viewers know, the united states has been using afghan special forces, troops, as sort of a buffer between the taliban and them. and they often are the ones dealing with people before they get to the final ring, which is u.s. forces inside. >> i don't know where they have the connection, but from this gate, only people that they get called. therefore, green card holders, we showed them the green card, they said just wait. we wait almost 13 hours. they just ask us wait and wait. and they will take you guys inside. but not half an hour, 45 minutes. they take inside some people, but not from the crowd of people. >> so what happens now? are you going to go again to the airport? or is it -- what are you going to do? >> i mean, we're trying to go back to the airport. i don't know if the airport is open to receive people again. but i'm about to leave, you know, home in about half an hour to go see if

gate, the north gate and the abbey gate. it is the last of those gates where this attack took place. >> let's go to kaitlan collins at the white house. we know that the president was in the situation room. when should we expect to hear from the president? what do we know about what is happening there now? >> reporter: it is not clear yet. the schedule is basically completely in flux right now as they are trying to figure out what it is going to look like given he did have several meetings on his schedule today, including with the israeli prime minister who is visiting here in washington. that has been delayed, not cancelled yet. it is not clear if that meeting is still expected to go forward. the president also is supposed to meet slirvirtually with goves to talk about resettling refugees from afghanistan. that has been cancelled. the briefings have been delayed. a lot is fluid as they're monitoring the situation, monitoring what has happened to service members on the ground, what is going on with the afghan allies still sta

gates. this latest alert comes after president biden responded to questions about security yesterday. >> the military has secured the airport, as you mentioned, but will you sign off on sending troops into kabul to evacuate americans who haven't been able to get to the airport safely? >> we have no indication that they haven't been able to get in kabul through the airport. we've made an agreement with the taliban thus far they've allowed them to go through. it's in their interest for them to go through. >> u.s. military aircraft evacuated at least 13,000 people since the taliban took over kabul last week. now, as the u.s. scrambles to find new evacuation routes for the refugees, the desperation to leave is palpable. this is a baby being passed to u.s. soldiers. the military says that baby has been safely reunited with family after receiving medical care. while outside the walls of the kabul airport, people pleaded at the gates to be let in, and taliban fighters shot into the air to disperse

additionally, the us military has maintained the gate security at major gates and supported our state department colleagues in the processing of individuals to prepare for evacuation flights out of afghanistan. critical to getting americans and afghans at risk out of the dive situation requires additional space at intermediate spaces and safe havens at other locations. this impacts our throughput, as i discussed yesterday. two days ago, if you recall, the us military lifted nearly 6000 evacuees in a single day. in the last 2a hours. six planes and 32 charters departed kabul and through this combined effort, the total passenger count was 3800. also in the past 2a hours, a number of c 17 is a moving, providing critical relief that will increase our input to those intermediate staging venues and finally, in the past 2a hours, three flights landed at an international airport. there are no afghans in just one week, since beginning this operation, have left afghanistan and will be transitioned to fort bliss today for further processing in this process. processing in this let's speak to our

the gates any more, that have got— through the gates any more, that have got notice _ through the gates any more, that have got notice is— through the gates any more, that have got notice is that _ through the gates any more, that have got notice is that the - have got notice is that the evacuation _ have got notice is that the evacuation is _ have got notice is that the evacuation is over. - have got notice is that the evacuation is over. what i have got notice is that the - evacuation is over. what happens next _ evacuation is over. what happens next for _ evacuation is over. what happens next for those _ evacuation is over. what happens next for those that _ evacuation is over. what happens next for those that are _ evacuation is over. what happens next for those that are left - evacuation is over. what happens l next for those that are left behind? will there _ next for those that are left behind? will there he — next for those that are left behind? will there be any— next for those that are left behind? will there be any sort _ next for those that are left behind? will there

the attack occurred at a gate and the gate was checking people before they get onto the airfield. we hope to ensure they are not carrying a bomb or any kind of weapon that could ultimately make its way onto an aircraft. it requires a restraint, we can't do that that means we have to get close to the person. the airbase is a valve is started by two walls, we have a variety of things to protect ourselves. these gates were people come on the airfield, there -- someone conducting a search of that person before we let them in. the taliban conducted searches before they get to that point, sometimes the searches are good sometimes not. i will note that before this attack, we passed 104,000 this attack is one too many, we will evaluate what happens. we will find ways to get better. you don't want to let somebody on an airplane carrying a bomb, that could result in massive off of life if an airplane where to get hit. you have to do the searches. we work with afghan partners on the ground and conduct the search, ultimately americans have got to be in danger to these searches. there is no ot

citizens, but we had gate passes and everything, we went through the gate and went to the gate, through the crowd and went to the gate, but then the taliban and there were three gates, so first we tried the afghan army gates, the -- they looked at our passports and our citizenship and said they would not let us and even though we had gate passes, they were hitting us with the back of a machine gun, some stones and everything so we tried two or three times, a couple of times they would hit women, we saw children die in there and everybody getting on the ground, we saw the air force is that the taliban and the afghan army shooting on the ground, shooting in the air, and they threw up a flash bang, so we tried several days. we tried two or three days to get through the gates, but we were supposed to be the priority because we were u.s. citizens, but i guess apparently they would let people in that they knew, so mainly they target the allies, they would only -- >> sean: you feel lucky you have gotten out, correct? >> yes, i mean, we nearly lost hope, we went three times and cannot get throu

three main gates into it. by one of the gates there's a hotel, the baron hotel, we stayed there, other journalists stay there, we were there a few days ago. that was built primarily for contractors because it is so close to the airport, that way they could get on and off the airport quickly, safely. from the baron hotel, there's a 200 yard corridor that leads to the abbey gate. one of the gates onto the base. that corridor is flanked with high concrete barriers, and within the corridor there's a deep sewage canal, drainage canal. perhaps using that drainage canal a suicide bomber was able to get to the corridor and detonate an explosive. the images we have seen on social media are absolutely horrific, people, bodies thrown into the sewage canal, some dead bodies, some people who are grateful injured, other people pulling them out of the wastewater. and then ambulances coming in to take the wounded away and try to treat them. it will slow down pace of evacuations because one gate, i wouldn't say it is totally t

only people that were outside the gate, of the gate, afghans. special force of afghans. so they received people, but only from outside the gate, and the gate inside. >> just so our viewers know, the united states has been using afghan special forces, troops, as sort of a buffer between the taliban and them. and they often are the ones dealing with people before they get to the final ring, which is u.s. forces inside. >> i don't know where they have the connection, but from this gate, only people that they get called. therefore, green card holders, we showed them the green card, they said just wait. we wait almost 13 hours. they just ask us wait and wait. and they will take you guys inside. but not half an hour, 45 minutes. they take inside some people, but not from the crowd of people. >> so what happens now? are you going to go again to the airport? or is it -- what are you going to do? >> i mean, we're trying to go back to the airport. i don't know if the airport is open to receive people again. but i'm about to leave, you know, home in about half an hour to go see if

could you talk about this new gate that you open, are the taliban outside of that gate? are they letting people, afghans and u.s. citizens through that new gate? have you been able to keep very specifically all of your dates on your side? have you been able to keep them open or have you had to close camp sullivan or any of the gates? >> the gates at the kabul airport are secure. as we continue to throw more forces in, it gives the commander a greater capability to provide security at those dates. it allows greater input into the kabul airport. >> the question is are all of the gates continuously open? have the marines had to close sullivan at various points? do you have the taliban letting people through this gate you are talking about? have you been able to keep them all continuously open? >> as the general said, we have an additional gates now. reporting this morning is they are open. i can't tell you with perfect clarity that there has not been times over the last 72 hours when temporarily because of security incident that they have had to lowe's. i suspect that is tr

i to american saying, stay away from these 3 gates-— these 3 gates. i know it is very difficult, but — these 3 gates. i know it is very difficult, but what _ these 3 gates. i know it is very difficult, but what do - these 3 gates. i know it is very difficult, but what do you - these 3 gates. i know it is veryj difficult, but what do you think these 3 gates. i know it is very i difficult, but what do you think is likely to be under consideration now for the last few days?— for the last few days? well, i think... initially, _ for the last few days? well, i think... initially, the - for the last few days? well, i think... initially, the military| for the last few days? well, i l think... initially, the military is going to be focused on securing, making sure the airport is secure because they will be worried about another tack. they will be questions about the evacuation. already... inaudible not everybody will go talbot wanted to get out perhaps that possibility will increase now and the focus will perhaps be very much making sure the americans get