Biden set to speak on evacuations as situation in Afghanistan grows desperate
CNN
By Kate Sullivan, CNN
President Joe Biden will deliver remarks on Friday about the ongoing US military evacuations of American citizens and vulnerable Afghans as chaos ensues at and around Kabul’s international airport.
Prior to his remarks, the President and Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with their national security team in the Situation Room to hear intelligence, security and diplomatic updates on the situation in Afghanistan, according to the White House.
The President’s speech will focus on the evacuation of American citizens and their families, Special Immigrant Visa applicants and their families and vulnerable Afghans, the White House says.
Afghans in Kabul are battling massive crowds and violence to make it to the airport gates, and have to wait hours to enter once they’ve arrived.
Tents are needed for the thousands of Afghans standing out in the blazing sun for hours at Kabul airport, CNN’s Clarissa Ward reports. Mothers of children are particularly struggling in the sweltering heat. CNN has met people at the airport who have been waiting there for two days
The US Embassy warned Friday morning of continuing safety concerns over getting to the Kabul airport, and said that — due to large crowds and security worries — “gates may open or close without notice.”
White House communications director Kate Bedingfield told CNN Friday that the White House does not have a precise number of Americans who are still in Afghanistan, saying the administration is still trying to account for Americans who may have left the country prior to August 14 without notifying the US embassy.
Bedingfield was short on answers when repeatedly pressed by CNN’s Brianna Keilar on what concrete steps the administration was taking to reduce the chaos, referring logistics questions to the Defense Department.
“Those are on the ground logistical questions that the Department of Defense is better equipped to handle but what I can tell you is the President is driving his team towards this,” she said. “We are working every day to do everything we can to ensure that we’re able to get more people into the airport in an orderly manner. Of course the images that we’re seeing are heartbreaking.”
The Pentagon said Thursday that the US military had increased the pace of evacuations. The US evacuated approximately 3,000 people from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Thursday, and approximately 14,000 people since end of July, according to a White House official.
Biden, who met with senior staff in the Situation Room on Wednesday, made clear he wants every flight leaving the airport filled to capacity. An official cautioned that, given the chaotic nature of the evacuation, the presidential directive doesn’t always mean it will happen for every flight.
The US military hopes to move 5,000 to 9,000 people a day, but they have not been able to meet that goal since the evacuation process started.
Biden suggested in an ABC interview this week that he’s willing to keep US forces in Afghanistan until all American citizens who want to leave are out of the country, but stopped short of making the same commitment to the United States’ Afghan partners.
The President said Americans should expect for all US citizens in Afghanistan to be evacuated by August 31, the deadline the administration has set for ending the nation’s longest war.
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CNN’s Allie Malloy contributed to this report.
