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Mhm . Okay . Good morning everybody . 

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General Gerhardt , can you , can you 

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hear me okay ? I have you loud and 

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clear john How many horrific sir ? Okay . 

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This morning . General Van Herck is 

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joining us again to talk about North 

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Korea's contributions to Africa . A 

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Operation Allies . Welcome . And I 

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think he also has some other updates to 

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provide on things that north Korea are 

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doing around the country . Excuse me . 

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So without any more delay I'm going to 

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turn it over to the general . He'll 

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have some opening comments for you then 

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we'll get the questions just like 

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before I will moderate uh the Q and A . 

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Um I'd ask you to please identify 

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yourself and who you're with before you 

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ask your question and keep the follow 

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ups to a minimum so we can get around 

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to as many people as we can over the 

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course of 30 minutes and then we'll 

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toss it back to the general for any 

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closing comments . So with that . 

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Generally the floor is yours sir . 

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Thank you john and good morning it's 

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great to be with you again today . I'm 

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here to update you on US North . Um 

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Support to Operation Allies . Welcome 

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And I'm also going to provide you with 

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an update on our other ongoing efforts 

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as john mentioned in addition to our 

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mission of defending the homeland . Us 

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North com continues to provide covid 

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medical assistance in Louisiana 

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Mississippi Alabama and now , beginning 

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today in Idaho while supporting wild 

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land firefighting in the Western United 

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States . Currently there are 

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approximately 200 soldiers deployed to 

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fight the fire . The Dixie Fire in 

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northern California And our maths 

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equipped C130s have dropped more than 

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22 million gallons of fire retardant . 

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We're also conducting hurricane IDa 

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relief efforts , assisting fema , the 

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lead federal agency by providing high 

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water vehicles and road clearing 

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capabilities . Us North com continues 

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its support . The Department of Defense 

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is as a lead combatant command for 

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Operation Allies welcome in the 

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Continental United States , US North um 

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is providing oversight and support of 

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the lead federal agency , the 

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Department of Homeland Security . North 

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Koreans working around the clock 

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building capacity to support Afghan 

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personnel today are total capacity at 

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eight different installations is 

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approximately 36,000 And our Afghan 

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evacuee population is approximately 

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25,600 . We're working to increase 

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capacity to at least 50,000 . We 

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continue to provide culturally 

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appropriate food , water betting , 

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religious services , recreational 

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activities and other services such as 

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transportation from the port of entry 

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to the location of accommodations and 

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some medical services . My team of 

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military , civilian and contract 

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personnel continue working closely with 

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numerous agencies , both government and 

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non government to ensure further 

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requirements and additional 

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capabilities are available for these 

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afghan personnel . I visited four of 

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the eight task forces operating at D . 

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O . D . Locations across the US . 

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Yesterday I visited Task Force Liberty 

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at Joint Base McGuire Dix Lakehurst . I 

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saw the amazing commitment and pride 

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from our service members and inter 

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agency partners working together to 

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support our afghan guests . Our 

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nation's dedicated and talented 

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soldiers , sailors , airmen , marines , 

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guardians and Coast guardsmen continue 

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to provide afghan personnel a safe 

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harbor so that the Department of 

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Homeland Security can continue their 

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immigration process . Since the 

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beginning of this mission , our most 

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pressing priority was to quickly 

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construct safe accommodations , arrange 

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transportation and provide meals for 

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afghan guests . That capacity building 

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effort continues our team of 

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interagency partners , contractors and 

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the D . O . D . Has not wavered in its 

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commitment to temporarily house our 

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guests in the safest conditions . This 

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is an unprecedented effort along with 

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many partners were identifying 

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challenges , resolving issues and 

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implementing change where needed . I'm 

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grateful for the support of the States 

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and the local community surrounding our 

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installations and for the volunteers 

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and others who are aiding our efforts . 

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Our top priority remains providing a 

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safe and secure environment for our 

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guests to continue their immigration 

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process in order to transition into 

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their new lives in the United States . 

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This has been a massive military 

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diplomatic and humanitarian undertaking , 

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one of the most difficult in our 

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nation's history and an extraordinary 

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feat of logistics and global 

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coordination under some of the most 

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challenging circumstances imaginable . 

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We're honored and proud to assist these 

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afghan personnel . I'm not ready to 

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take any questions , john thank you 

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general . We'll start with the leader . 

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She's on the phone . General . Thanks a 

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lot for for doing this . Um just a 

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couple of things you're talking about a 

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capacity of 50,000 . Can you say , do 

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you expect ? How many more bases you 

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will need to tap in order to meet that 

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expectation . And secondly , can you 

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just give us a , your thoughts and what 

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you've seen on security challenges any 

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violence , any um security vetting 

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issues that you've seen or heard about 

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it ? Any of the camps . Have there been 

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any uh any problems of that 

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regard ? Thank you . Thanks Lena . As 

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far as bases , we currently have eight 

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task forces at eight different 

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locations ready to expand if needed . 

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At this time , I do not anticipate 

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Needing any additional basis uh to 

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reach the capacity we need of at least 

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50,000 as far as security . I'm not 

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aware of any incidents that have made 

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it to my level on the task forces . I 

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believe that's the question that you're 

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asking . I would tell you that we're 

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partnering with not only our military 

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folks , but our federal law enforcement 

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and other agencies to ensure a safe and 

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secure environment for the afghans were 

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also working closely with afghans uh to 

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put a command and control construct in 

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place yesterday at Fort Dix at McGuire 

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Dix Lakehurst Task Force Liberty . I 

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was very impressed to see that we put a 

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mayor cell in place where we have 

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military officers and afghan 

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counterparts in the village . If you 

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will working together to solve the 

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issues that you're talking about , But 

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no security issues have risen to my 

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level . Mhm . Do you have a question . 

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Hi General Van Herck . It's Megan Myers 

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from Military times . I wanted to ask 

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how many afghans north Korea has 

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received , How many have been resettled 

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and moved off of installations um and 

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about how long that process is taking 

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in which final processes are taking 

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place on bases here . 

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Okay , Megan . So more than 

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25,600 are currently 

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with the United States North North um 

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Task forces As far as how long and how 

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many have processed through its more 

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than 800 task force Eagle at Fort lee . 

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Uh and then at the other locations were 

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beginning to ramp up . So I would say 

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approximately 1000 . Uh but I don't 

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have a specific number to give you that 

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would be best handled by DHS and 

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Department of State who are responsible 

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for that as far as the duration . Again , 

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that's really DHS and Department of 

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State , I will tell you that right now . 

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They're in the policy planning mode for 

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exactly the procedure for that will be 

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utilized for either asylum processing 

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or special immigrant visa processing . 

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Uh We look forward to finalizing that . 

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I talked with Mr bob Fenton yesterday 

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while at joint base ah Dicks 

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McGuire Dix Lakehurst bob Fenton is the 

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DHS lead for Operation Allies . Welcome . 

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And he's working closely with our team 

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so that we become as efficient and 

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effective as possible in the outflow 

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process , do it . Hi , thanks for 

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taking this question . Travis triton 

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with military dot com . Could you 

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describe your role in covid testing and 

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tell us what positivity rate you're 

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seeing among the afghan evacuees . 

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Thank you . Yeah thank you . Travis , 

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our our role at the Task Forces is to 

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test every single afghan personnel that 

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comes in there also tested at Dulles as 

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well . But that is not done under 

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United States Northern Command . So 

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we're testing all of them . Last week 

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during my trip we visited Bliss and 

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McCoy and we saw one location , three 

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positive covid tests out of more than 

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1300 One at another location out of 

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1200 and yesterday during my visit to 

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task force liberty . There was no 

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concern expressed by the commanders or 

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any of the medical professionals about 

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COVID positivity rates are tested . 

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Yeah . Okay . We'll go back to the 

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phones , dan them off . Hey , good 

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morning . Thanks for your time today . 

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Uh wanted to ask uh seen a couple 

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advertisements asking internally for 

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half pack hands types . Uh military 

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personnel assumedly that have some 

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familiar familiarity with Dari pashto , 

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that kind of thing . Can you speak at 

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all to what you need in terms of U . S . 

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Military personnel that can speak to 

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afghans who don't speak english and 

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where you are right now handling that ? 

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Thanks . Hey dan . That's a great 

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question . So during my visit yesterday , 

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two outstanding officers who are afpak 

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hands . Uh One of them was a Space 

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Force officer who recently transitioned 

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to the Space Force from the Air Force 

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and the other was an Air Force officer 

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who both volunteered to do this mission 

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once they saw the importance of it . Uh 

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Both of them are fluent in the 

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languages and very helpful . In 

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addition to that , the headquarters Air 

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Force has provided a cultural adviser 

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again fluent in the languages to help 

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with the cultural challenges that 

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everybody needs to understand with 

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regards to interpreters , linguist , 

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those kinds of things to support . 

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Those are challenges . Were seeking uh 

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as many as we can through the 

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interagency process . We've also had a 

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request for forces out to D . O . D . 

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For additional support . I'm confident 

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that we're going to get that support as 

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we go forward . Great people 

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volunteering to help us out . That's 

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what , okay jenny , I'm back with 

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us general Korea and 

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I just want to ask you about not 

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related with Afghanistan . Different 

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issues General . You know that the I . 

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E . Has released the report on the 

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restart of North Korea's nuclear 

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reactors agent says it's a matter 

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of serious uh concerned . What are 

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you concerned and the countermeasure 

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against the north Korea nuclear and 

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missile test . Thank you . Hey , 

277
00:11:00,110 --> 00:11:02,050
thanks for your question . United 

278
00:11:02,050 --> 00:11:05,590
States Northern Command and NORAD stand 

279
00:11:05,590 --> 00:11:07,830
ready to provide our mission 

280
00:11:07,830 --> 00:11:10,050
capabilities for NORAD . That's threat 

281
00:11:10,050 --> 00:11:12,272
warning and attack assessment for north 

282
00:11:12,272 --> 00:11:14,606
um ballistic missile defense capability . 

283
00:11:14,690 --> 00:11:18,210
I'm ready 24 7 365 if 

284
00:11:18,220 --> 00:11:20,060
North Korea decides to launch a 

285
00:11:20,060 --> 00:11:22,116
ballistic missile . I'm confident in 

286
00:11:22,116 --> 00:11:24,116
our capabilities . I'm aware of the 

287
00:11:24,116 --> 00:11:26,227
report that you're talking about that 

288
00:11:26,227 --> 00:11:28,004
does not change my posture . We 

289
00:11:28,004 --> 00:11:30,171
continue to be ready to respond should 

290
00:11:30,171 --> 00:11:32,393
North Korea elect to launch a missile ? 

291
00:11:32,393 --> 00:11:34,520
Thank you . Car . General Van heard a 

292
00:11:34,530 --> 00:11:36,820
couple of follow ups , you talked about 

293
00:11:36,830 --> 00:11:40,220
this Mayer's cell , Can you tell us a 

294
00:11:40,220 --> 00:11:42,770
little bit more ? Is this something 

295
00:11:42,770 --> 00:11:45,560
that's going to happen at all the other 

296
00:11:46,140 --> 00:11:49,540
site ? How are you trying to give 

297
00:11:49,550 --> 00:11:52,760
afghans more of a voice in 

298
00:11:53,540 --> 00:11:57,200
their conditions Right now . My second 

299
00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:00,730
follow up to that is you mentioned a 

300
00:12:00,730 --> 00:12:02,820
couple of times things not coming to 

301
00:12:02,830 --> 00:12:05,052
your level of attention . I'm wondering 

302
00:12:05,340 --> 00:12:07,460
how you're ensuring 

303
00:12:08,140 --> 00:12:11,600
that any problems 

304
00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:14,820
regarding food , sanitation 

305
00:12:15,340 --> 00:12:18,950
care , standardizing care , how these 

306
00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:21,238
do come to your attention . So you can , 

307
00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:23,662
you know , so you make sure people tell 

308
00:12:23,662 --> 00:12:25,718
you when there are problems , what's 

309
00:12:25,718 --> 00:12:27,940
what's that level you set when you want 

310
00:12:27,940 --> 00:12:30,051
something brought to your attention ? 

311
00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:33,510
Thanks Barb . Uh , great opportunity to 

312
00:12:33,510 --> 00:12:35,566
talk about the Mayor cell and it has 

313
00:12:35,566 --> 00:12:37,920
been perpetuated across all of the task 

314
00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:39,920
force is I'm really encouraged with 

315
00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:41,864
what I see at the task forces with 

316
00:12:41,864 --> 00:12:43,587
sharing lessons and continuous 

317
00:12:43,587 --> 00:12:45,753
improvement processes . The Mayor cell 

318
00:12:45,753 --> 00:12:48,950
is a great idea . We take our military 

319
00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:51,160
leaders . We put them into the mayor 

320
00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:53,540
sell , they're responsible for a 

321
00:12:53,540 --> 00:12:56,710
specific location , maybe a few dorms , 

322
00:12:56,720 --> 00:12:59,990
dorm or two and they have a counterpart 

323
00:12:59,990 --> 00:13:02,040
on the afghan side that would 

324
00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:04,220
essentially be their equal if you will 

325
00:13:04,220 --> 00:13:06,510
and rank . This is great because not 

326
00:13:06,510 --> 00:13:08,399
only does it allow the afghans to 

327
00:13:08,399 --> 00:13:11,660
express their concerns or challenges or 

328
00:13:11,660 --> 00:13:14,530
where they need resources or help , it 

329
00:13:14,530 --> 00:13:17,160
allows us to also communicate with them 

330
00:13:17,540 --> 00:13:20,550
through the same process and they can 

331
00:13:20,560 --> 00:13:23,110
perpetuate that information across the 

332
00:13:23,110 --> 00:13:25,710
entire task force and across all of the 

333
00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:28,170
afghan population . So so for example , 

334
00:13:28,170 --> 00:13:30,337
the second part of your question where 

335
00:13:30,337 --> 00:13:32,003
you may have concerns such as 

336
00:13:32,003 --> 00:13:34,114
sanitization or something like that , 

337
00:13:34,114 --> 00:13:36,337
this is a great venue in a method to be 

338
00:13:36,337 --> 00:13:38,448
able to express that we have cultural 

339
00:13:38,448 --> 00:13:40,559
differences . Uh and those are things 

340
00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:42,781
that we're working on educating uh both 

341
00:13:42,781 --> 00:13:44,670
the afghans and our people on the 

342
00:13:44,670 --> 00:13:46,892
challenges that we face from a cultural 

343
00:13:46,892 --> 00:13:48,392
perspective and understand 

344
00:13:48,392 --> 00:13:50,690
understanding that we each understand 

345
00:13:50,690 --> 00:13:52,857
each , each person's perspective . And 

346
00:13:52,857 --> 00:13:55,023
so this , this process of of the mayor 

347
00:13:55,023 --> 00:13:56,920
cell has been very , very uh 

348
00:13:56,930 --> 00:13:58,930
influential in helping us get after 

349
00:13:58,930 --> 00:14:01,041
that with regards to information that 

350
00:14:01,041 --> 00:14:03,110
flows to my level . Barb . There are 

351
00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:05,370
things called Commander's critical 

352
00:14:05,380 --> 00:14:07,590
information requirements and I lay 

353
00:14:07,590 --> 00:14:09,812
those out specifically on things that I 

354
00:14:09,812 --> 00:14:11,868
want to be notified about and then I 

355
00:14:11,868 --> 00:14:14,034
empower the commanders that worked for 

356
00:14:14,034 --> 00:14:16,090
me for multiple levels , all the way 

357
00:14:16,090 --> 00:14:18,201
down to the lowest level to when they 

358
00:14:18,201 --> 00:14:20,368
deem necessary that something is going 

359
00:14:20,368 --> 00:14:22,590
to get attention uh that they are going 

360
00:14:22,590 --> 00:14:24,812
to contact me . I'm very confident that 

361
00:14:24,812 --> 00:14:26,812
if there was an incident of serious 

362
00:14:26,812 --> 00:14:29,034
nature , that I would be in the loop at 

363
00:14:29,034 --> 00:14:30,868
this point . And so when I say I 

364
00:14:30,868 --> 00:14:32,923
haven't been made aware of any , I'm 

365
00:14:32,923 --> 00:14:35,146
confident that we're in a good position 

366
00:14:35,146 --> 00:14:34,730
there . I can tell you there hasn't 

367
00:14:34,730 --> 00:14:37,060
been any incidents at all but they 

368
00:14:37,060 --> 00:14:38,949
haven't been serious enough to be 

369
00:14:38,949 --> 00:14:41,080
addressed at my level . Can I just 

370
00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:44,410
follow up ? Um well , 

371
00:14:44,940 --> 00:14:47,360
so just to make sure I understand 

372
00:14:47,740 --> 00:14:49,930
nothing has been reported to you , 

373
00:14:49,940 --> 00:14:53,010
correct me if I'm wrong and I am still 

374
00:14:53,010 --> 00:14:56,230
wondering there have been sporadic um 

375
00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:59,860
reports I grant absolutely sporadic 

376
00:14:59,870 --> 00:15:03,490
of problems of sanitation and food and 

377
00:15:03,490 --> 00:15:06,960
that sort of thing . Is there anything 

378
00:15:07,340 --> 00:15:10,860
that um you maybe just hearing about in 

379
00:15:10,860 --> 00:15:13,520
your travels around that they're doing 

380
00:15:13,530 --> 00:15:16,310
to ensure there's a standardized 

381
00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:19,410
process . So at all these basis where 

382
00:15:19,410 --> 00:15:21,950
so many people are located , the local 

383
00:15:21,950 --> 00:15:24,920
commanders have some standardization 

384
00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:27,142
and and know what they need to look for 

385
00:15:27,340 --> 00:15:29,410
but nothing . I just wanna make sure 

386
00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:32,930
nothing has come to your level . Barb 

387
00:15:32,930 --> 00:15:35,263
nothing has come to my level to address . 

388
00:15:35,263 --> 00:15:37,430
I'm aware of the sanitization issues . 

389
00:15:37,430 --> 00:15:40,200
You talk about a text that was Posted 

390
00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:43,090
on Social Media on August 29 . I 

391
00:15:43,090 --> 00:15:45,370
believe that text was referring to some 

392
00:15:45,370 --> 00:15:48,270
conditions at Donna anna at Fort Bliss 

393
00:15:48,270 --> 00:15:52,260
task Force Bliss . Ah the there 

394
00:15:52,740 --> 00:15:54,851
the reason I became aware was through 

395
00:15:54,851 --> 00:15:57,190
that text process that allowed me to 

396
00:15:57,190 --> 00:15:59,610
become aware the mayor sell process 

397
00:15:59,610 --> 00:16:01,740
that we were just talking about has 

398
00:16:01,740 --> 00:16:04,470
been influential in helping educate and 

399
00:16:04,470 --> 00:16:07,710
understand uh the expectations for our 

400
00:16:07,710 --> 00:16:11,110
visitors , helping to understand for 

401
00:16:11,110 --> 00:16:13,166
our contractors who provide a lot of 

402
00:16:13,166 --> 00:16:17,080
the sensitization support as well . And 

403
00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:19,810
so we continue to improve now . Barb I 

404
00:16:19,810 --> 00:16:22,260
would tell you I'm building eight small 

405
00:16:22,260 --> 00:16:24,410
cities . Okay . We're gonna have 

406
00:16:24,410 --> 00:16:26,910
challenges just like you do across the 

407
00:16:26,910 --> 00:16:30,290
nation in various locations . And so 

408
00:16:30,300 --> 00:16:32,570
I'm comfortable , comfortable and 

409
00:16:32,570 --> 00:16:35,260
confident uh that we have processes in 

410
00:16:35,260 --> 00:16:37,320
place to continue to address any of 

411
00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:39,500
these challenges uh moving forward . 

412
00:16:39,510 --> 00:16:42,170
And so I look forward to showing you at 

413
00:16:42,170 --> 00:16:44,760
some point in the future when we can . 

414
00:16:44,770 --> 00:16:46,937
I think you'll be incredibly impressed 

415
00:16:46,937 --> 00:16:49,260
with what we're doing . Tell me . 

416
00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:53,062
Hello , General Sylvie , long term from 

417
00:16:53,062 --> 00:16:56,020
A . F . P . We heard reports 

418
00:16:56,020 --> 00:16:59,570
about Children separated from their 

419
00:16:59,570 --> 00:17:02,700
families during the evacuation . Do you 

420
00:17:02,700 --> 00:17:06,370
have any case of Children traveling 

421
00:17:06,380 --> 00:17:08,700
alone ? And what , how do you deal with 

422
00:17:08,700 --> 00:17:12,210
them ? Thank you . Great questions . So 

423
00:17:12,210 --> 00:17:14,210
we've had a couple of unaccompanied 

424
00:17:14,210 --> 00:17:17,420
Children arrive at our task forces uh 

425
00:17:17,430 --> 00:17:20,140
there immediately identified and Health 

426
00:17:20,140 --> 00:17:22,340
and human services is the lead agency 

427
00:17:22,340 --> 00:17:24,230
to take responsibility for any 

428
00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:27,370
unaccompanied Children . In each case , 

429
00:17:27,370 --> 00:17:29,314
they have quickly adapted and take 

430
00:17:29,314 --> 00:17:31,314
responsibility for those Children . 

431
00:17:31,314 --> 00:17:33,590
Each of their personnel are certified 

432
00:17:33,590 --> 00:17:36,360
trained very experienced to handle 

433
00:17:36,360 --> 00:17:38,960
these cases . We do not retain 

434
00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:41,016
responsibility for those , but we do 

435
00:17:41,016 --> 00:17:42,904
identify them and pass them on to 

436
00:17:42,904 --> 00:17:44,960
health and human services . Where do 

437
00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:47,970
they go ? I would defer to health and 

438
00:17:47,970 --> 00:17:50,200
human services for that . Health and 

439
00:17:50,210 --> 00:17:52,432
human services I believe has facilities 

440
00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:55,220
in Washington D . C . Near Dulles where 

441
00:17:55,220 --> 00:17:56,887
they're currently housing any 

442
00:17:56,887 --> 00:17:59,200
unaccompanied Children . Uh What what 

443
00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,330
I've seen is there incredibly fast and 

444
00:18:02,330 --> 00:18:04,386
trying to work to identify where the 

445
00:18:04,386 --> 00:18:06,880
families are and get them reunited with 

446
00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:09,260
their families . Do you have a number ? 

447
00:18:10,140 --> 00:18:12,362
I do not . Health and human services as 

448
00:18:12,362 --> 00:18:15,410
the POC and I'd refer you to them . Let 

449
00:18:15,410 --> 00:18:18,920
me get back to the phones . Jack ditch 

450
00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:21,940
foreign policy . Hey , thanks for doing 

451
00:18:21,940 --> 00:18:24,107
this general . I'm curious if you have 

452
00:18:24,107 --> 00:18:26,218
an outlay or a ballpark figure of how 

453
00:18:26,218 --> 00:18:28,290
much it's going to cost to house um 

454
00:18:28,300 --> 00:18:30,380
afghan refugees at U . S . Bases . 

455
00:18:30,380 --> 00:18:34,050
Thanks . I don't have that figure . I 

456
00:18:34,050 --> 00:18:36,640
would refer you to the for D . O . D . 

457
00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:38,862
Purposes to OsD and the comptroller but 

458
00:18:38,862 --> 00:18:40,751
more broadly probably to the lead 

459
00:18:40,751 --> 00:18:42,862
federal agency apologize I don't have 

460
00:18:42,862 --> 00:18:44,973
that data . Okay , no problem john if 

461
00:18:44,973 --> 00:18:47,084
you could take that , that'd be great 

462
00:18:47,084 --> 00:18:49,251
Jack . I will take it . I suspect that 

463
00:18:49,251 --> 00:18:51,473
we don't have a firm estimate right now 

464
00:18:51,473 --> 00:18:53,640
as we are really just in the middle of 

465
00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:55,696
this operation . But Jack , that's a 

466
00:18:55,696 --> 00:18:57,862
fair question . We'll see what kind of 

467
00:18:57,862 --> 00:19:00,029
context in terms of cost we can get to 

468
00:19:00,029 --> 00:19:03,620
you . Thanks . Yes ma'am . Um General . 

469
00:19:03,620 --> 00:19:05,731
I'm wondering if Christina Anderson A 

470
00:19:05,731 --> 00:19:09,190
WPS News . Um I'm wondering if you have 

471
00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:12,530
at this early stage demographics among 

472
00:19:12,530 --> 00:19:14,850
the task force groups , these tiny 

473
00:19:14,850 --> 00:19:17,540
cities and in particular about Children 

474
00:19:17,540 --> 00:19:19,651
with school starting here in the US . 

475
00:19:19,651 --> 00:19:23,530
What kinds of organizational 

476
00:19:23,530 --> 00:19:25,530
things are happening to try to make 

477
00:19:25,530 --> 00:19:27,419
sure that Children continue their 

478
00:19:27,419 --> 00:19:29,530
education and anyone who is ready for 

479
00:19:29,530 --> 00:19:31,752
university is able to kind of plug into 

480
00:19:31,752 --> 00:19:34,820
that . Thank you . Mhm . Thanks 

481
00:19:34,830 --> 00:19:36,997
Christina first I'll have to defer you 

482
00:19:36,997 --> 00:19:38,719
to the lead for that as far as 

483
00:19:38,719 --> 00:19:40,810
demographics . I think I talked a 

484
00:19:40,810 --> 00:19:42,950
little bit about that last time . Um 

485
00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:45,540
you know we're seeing close to 5050 

486
00:19:45,550 --> 00:19:48,500
male female with a large percentage of 

487
00:19:48,500 --> 00:19:50,278
Children . But I don't have the 

488
00:19:50,278 --> 00:19:52,500
specifics as far as education . Again , 

489
00:19:52,500 --> 00:19:54,722
the D . O . D . Is not the lead there . 

490
00:19:54,722 --> 00:19:56,444
I would refer you to the state 

491
00:19:56,444 --> 00:19:59,430
department Health and Human Services uh 

492
00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:01,440
in the lead federal agency for that 

493
00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:03,662
information . What I will tell you . It 

494
00:20:03,662 --> 00:20:05,773
was incredibly heartwarming yesterday 

495
00:20:05,773 --> 00:20:08,140
during my visit to Task Force Liberty . 

496
00:20:08,150 --> 00:20:10,261
We were walking through the village , 

497
00:20:10,261 --> 00:20:12,900
there's hundreds of kids out . Uh they 

498
00:20:12,900 --> 00:20:15,122
have coloring books , they have toys uh 

499
00:20:15,122 --> 00:20:17,289
there with their families , their with 

500
00:20:17,289 --> 00:20:19,067
their friends , they're playing 

501
00:20:19,067 --> 00:20:21,178
hundreds of them playing soccer . And 

502
00:20:21,178 --> 00:20:23,233
they even got to watch a congressman 

503
00:20:23,233 --> 00:20:25,178
play hopscotch with a young female 

504
00:20:25,178 --> 00:20:27,850
afghan uh person that was there and her 

505
00:20:27,850 --> 00:20:29,760
heart was warmed and she smiled 

506
00:20:29,770 --> 00:20:32,280
continuously . So it's uh it's not like 

507
00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:34,336
they're not doing anything , they're 

508
00:20:34,336 --> 00:20:36,560
staying incredibly busy . Thank you 

509
00:20:36,940 --> 00:20:40,210
louis general luis Martinez with abc 

510
00:20:40,210 --> 00:20:44,160
news . Um It seems like a population um 

511
00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:47,190
has quadrupled since you're here you 

512
00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:49,367
were with us last week in terms of the 

513
00:20:49,367 --> 00:20:51,700
people that you had at these facilities . 

514
00:20:52,140 --> 00:20:54,251
Um And I know that at fort lee it was 

515
00:20:54,251 --> 00:20:56,473
initially for people who are in the S . 

516
00:20:56,473 --> 00:20:58,584
I . V . Pipeline . So they were going 

517
00:20:58,584 --> 00:21:01,930
through rather quickly . Um Are the 

518
00:21:01,930 --> 00:21:04,170
majority now these individuals who are 

519
00:21:04,540 --> 00:21:07,170
in your camps are they S . Ivs ? And if 

520
00:21:07,170 --> 00:21:10,110
they're not how much time do you 

521
00:21:10,110 --> 00:21:12,740
anticipate that they'll spend their if 

522
00:21:12,750 --> 00:21:14,639
there is a certain process that's 

523
00:21:14,639 --> 00:21:17,730
involved um in terms of not being days 

524
00:21:17,730 --> 00:21:21,160
but maybe weeks or months . Hey thanks 

525
00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:24,380
Louie you're right . Lee was primarily 

526
00:21:24,390 --> 00:21:26,620
an S . I . V . Event . And today the 

527
00:21:26,620 --> 00:21:30,280
vast majority of the Afghan population 

528
00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:32,502
at lee are in the S . I . V . Process . 

529
00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:35,410
As far as the total number , I don't 

530
00:21:35,410 --> 00:21:37,632
have a specific , I'd have to defer you 

531
00:21:37,632 --> 00:21:40,770
to DHS and state department of exactly 

532
00:21:40,780 --> 00:21:44,000
the break out between S . I . V . And 

533
00:21:44,010 --> 00:21:47,160
uh other asylum seekers . But uh I 

534
00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:50,120
would venture I'm speculating a little 

535
00:21:50,120 --> 00:21:53,510
bit that the vast majority are not S . 

536
00:21:53,510 --> 00:21:55,950
I . V . S . At this time . Their asylum 

537
00:21:55,950 --> 00:21:57,950
seekers that will be determined how 

538
00:21:57,950 --> 00:22:00,006
we're going to work them through the 

539
00:22:00,006 --> 00:22:01,950
process by DHS is the lead federal 

540
00:22:01,950 --> 00:22:04,006
agency . And if I could follow up so 

541
00:22:04,006 --> 00:22:06,270
does that mean that they will remain at 

542
00:22:06,270 --> 00:22:09,490
those facilities until they get asylum 

543
00:22:09,500 --> 00:22:12,110
or like the other individuals in the 

544
00:22:12,220 --> 00:22:14,387
pipeline ? Do they get transferred out 

545
00:22:14,740 --> 00:22:17,460
to Ngos that then find housing for them 

546
00:22:18,540 --> 00:22:21,670
louis what I expect in talking with mr 

547
00:22:21,670 --> 00:22:23,503
bob Fenton yesterday and they're 

548
00:22:23,503 --> 00:22:25,614
currently working through the process 

549
00:22:25,614 --> 00:22:28,680
for how we're gonna onward move them is 

550
00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:30,930
that each of them will at a minimum go 

551
00:22:30,930 --> 00:22:33,860
through the medical screening . Covid 

552
00:22:33,860 --> 00:22:36,780
vaccination . That's a requirement now 

553
00:22:36,780 --> 00:22:39,800
for parole parole being a term that the 

554
00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:42,800
state uses when you release them into 

555
00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:45,990
the United States as part of the either 

556
00:22:45,990 --> 00:22:48,270
special immigrant process or DHS as 

557
00:22:48,270 --> 00:22:50,340
part of an asylum process for the 

558
00:22:50,340 --> 00:22:52,980
duration . That really depends on the 

559
00:22:52,990 --> 00:22:55,046
capacity we're going to have at each 

560
00:22:55,046 --> 00:22:57,470
location . And the policy decision that 

561
00:22:57,470 --> 00:23:00,230
is currently being made right now on 

562
00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:02,810
what the processing is going to look 

563
00:23:02,810 --> 00:23:04,977
like . That does not mean they will be 

564
00:23:04,977 --> 00:23:07,199
on D . O . D . Installations until they 

565
00:23:07,199 --> 00:23:09,150
complete that process once they go 

566
00:23:09,150 --> 00:23:11,094
through their screening , once the 

567
00:23:11,094 --> 00:23:13,050
policy is decided then they may be 

568
00:23:13,060 --> 00:23:16,860
released likely uh in uh to our country 

569
00:23:16,870 --> 00:23:19,110
and go through the asylum process as 

570
00:23:19,110 --> 00:23:21,166
guests of our country until they get 

571
00:23:21,166 --> 00:23:23,277
their uh either U . S . Citizenship , 

572
00:23:23,277 --> 00:23:25,890
green card etcetera . Thank you . Okay 

573
00:23:25,890 --> 00:23:28,057
we got time for just one more and then 

574
00:23:28,057 --> 00:23:30,223
I'm gonna let the general close things 

575
00:23:30,223 --> 00:23:32,168
out . Sam Lagrone , did you have a 

576
00:23:32,168 --> 00:23:34,610
question ? Uh Yeah . Hi um General 

577
00:23:34,610 --> 00:23:36,721
thanks for being here . Can we get an 

578
00:23:36,721 --> 00:23:39,860
update on the relief operations in 

579
00:23:39,860 --> 00:23:42,290
Haiti uh and how those are going and 

580
00:23:42,290 --> 00:23:44,346
what the U . S . Participation is at 

581
00:23:44,346 --> 00:23:46,568
the moment ? Hey Sam I'll have to defer 

582
00:23:46,568 --> 00:23:48,734
to Admiral Faller at South . Um That's 

583
00:23:48,734 --> 00:23:51,850
it in his A . R . Maybe john Kirby has 

584
00:23:51,850 --> 00:23:53,739
more but that's not something I'm 

585
00:23:53,739 --> 00:23:55,794
responsible for . Yeah SAm we'll get 

586
00:23:55,794 --> 00:23:57,961
you something , I don't have an update 

587
00:23:57,961 --> 00:24:00,183
ready for today on that , but we'll get 

588
00:24:00,183 --> 00:24:02,406
you something one last one . Go ahead . 

589
00:24:02,406 --> 00:24:04,572
Barbara , talk about a quick follow up 

590
00:24:04,572 --> 00:24:06,739
to louis . So what is your , what have 

591
00:24:06,739 --> 00:24:08,794
you been told ? What you're planning 

592
00:24:08,794 --> 00:24:11,490
factor if you will on how long you have 

593
00:24:11,490 --> 00:24:14,230
to have these military bases 

594
00:24:14,230 --> 00:24:18,220
prepared and ready capable to house 

595
00:24:18,230 --> 00:24:21,700
afghans because given what you're doing , 

596
00:24:21,700 --> 00:24:23,880
you would have , somebody would have 

597
00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:26,080
given you some kind of planning 

598
00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:29,960
scenario be ready for as long as 

599
00:24:30,340 --> 00:24:32,600
and when you talked about these 

600
00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:36,270
locations as villages , our family's 

601
00:24:36,270 --> 00:24:38,890
given separate housing . Are they 

602
00:24:38,900 --> 00:24:42,640
together ? Okay , sense of family 

603
00:24:42,650 --> 00:24:46,150
or our families in larger dormitories , 

604
00:24:46,150 --> 00:24:49,410
how is the housing working also for 

605
00:24:49,430 --> 00:24:51,560
single females and single males . 

606
00:24:52,540 --> 00:24:54,651
Thanks Barb . Great question . Let me 

607
00:24:54,651 --> 00:24:57,560
answer that Last portion 1st . So , 

608
00:24:57,560 --> 00:24:59,880
single males will have a single male 

609
00:24:59,890 --> 00:25:01,946
housing and living facilities . They 

610
00:25:01,946 --> 00:25:04,001
will not be intermixed with Children 

611
00:25:04,020 --> 00:25:06,360
and the families . Families do have 

612
00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:09,520
separated areas where we try to put the 

613
00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:11,576
families together . So some of these 

614
00:25:11,576 --> 00:25:13,742
areas that are open . What we do is we 

615
00:25:13,742 --> 00:25:16,060
put temporary walls up uh to give 

616
00:25:16,060 --> 00:25:17,893
privacy in accordance with their 

617
00:25:17,893 --> 00:25:20,560
culture for for the families uh , and 

618
00:25:20,570 --> 00:25:23,130
single females as well will be allowed 

619
00:25:23,130 --> 00:25:25,550
the opportunity to have a single female 

620
00:25:25,940 --> 00:25:27,996
housing for them as well . The first 

621
00:25:27,996 --> 00:25:30,107
part of your question . Barb , let me 

622
00:25:30,107 --> 00:25:32,218
make sure I understood that . Can you 

623
00:25:32,218 --> 00:25:34,273
go back to that just to follow up on 

624
00:25:34,273 --> 00:25:36,440
what louis was asking , uh , what have 

625
00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:39,150
you , somebody would have said to you 

626
00:25:39,150 --> 00:25:41,940
or the military as you construct these , 

627
00:25:42,940 --> 00:25:46,260
these base locations to be 

628
00:25:46,260 --> 00:25:49,360
prepared to conduct this mission for as 

629
00:25:49,370 --> 00:25:52,760
long as , and what would that have been ? 

630
00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:54,816
What planning guidance have you been 

631
00:25:54,816 --> 00:25:57,260
given ? Even if it does , if it's more 

632
00:25:57,260 --> 00:25:59,427
or less , what's the guidance you have 

633
00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:02,520
on how long to be prepared to conduct 

634
00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:04,970
this mission ? Barb ? We're prepared to 

635
00:26:04,970 --> 00:26:07,137
conduct the mission until completion , 

636
00:26:07,540 --> 00:26:10,140
which will be determined by DHS as far 

637
00:26:10,140 --> 00:26:12,420
as the processing . I would defer to 

638
00:26:12,420 --> 00:26:14,198
john Kirby if he has additional 

639
00:26:14,198 --> 00:26:16,960
information uh , that maybe oh and be 

640
00:26:16,970 --> 00:26:19,192
or another agency is planning for . But 

641
00:26:19,192 --> 00:26:21,510
for me , I'm prepared to execute until 

642
00:26:21,510 --> 00:26:23,621
told otherwise our mission complete . 

643
00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:25,918
Thank you . Okay with that general sir . 

644
00:26:25,918 --> 00:26:27,807
I appreciate your time today on a 

645
00:26:27,807 --> 00:26:29,973
friday . I'd like to turn it back over 

646
00:26:29,973 --> 00:26:31,973
to you for any closing thoughts you 

647
00:26:31,973 --> 00:26:34,196
might have , sir . Uh , thanks john and 

648
00:26:34,196 --> 00:26:36,362
thanks to the press corps there , it's 

649
00:26:36,362 --> 00:26:38,696
a great opportunity to share this story . 

650
00:26:38,696 --> 00:26:37,770
I think there's some incredibly 

651
00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:41,010
positive stories that can come out of 

652
00:26:41,020 --> 00:26:43,470
the ongoing mission of Operation Allies . 

653
00:26:43,470 --> 00:26:45,748
Welcome and I've been able to see this . 

654
00:26:45,748 --> 00:26:47,859
It's a herculean effort . Let's start 

655
00:26:47,859 --> 00:26:50,026
it all the way in Afghanistan uh , and 

656
00:26:50,026 --> 00:26:52,192
is working its way all the way here to 

657
00:26:52,192 --> 00:26:54,359
the United States of America . I can't 

658
00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:56,581
tell you how impressed I really am with 

659
00:26:56,581 --> 00:26:58,414
our Joint force , our soldiers , 

660
00:26:58,414 --> 00:27:00,581
sailors , Airmen , Marines Guardians , 

661
00:27:00,581 --> 00:27:02,526
Coast Guardsmen partnered with the 

662
00:27:02,526 --> 00:27:04,581
inter agency and volunteers that are 

663
00:27:04,581 --> 00:27:06,526
making this mission happened . The 

664
00:27:06,526 --> 00:27:08,770
pride is simply amazing that I see when 

665
00:27:08,770 --> 00:27:11,410
I go out and do this and the smiles and 

666
00:27:11,410 --> 00:27:13,466
the gratitude of the graciousness of 

667
00:27:13,466 --> 00:27:16,330
our guest , you cannot overstate how 

668
00:27:16,330 --> 00:27:18,770
much they appreciate what our teams are 

669
00:27:18,770 --> 00:27:21,250
doing . The States , the local 

670
00:27:21,250 --> 00:27:23,550
communities volunteers that are coming 

671
00:27:23,550 --> 00:27:25,880
out . It's just amazing . And that's a 

672
00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:28,158
story that we have to continue to tell . 

673
00:27:28,190 --> 00:27:30,246
I will tell you . The mission is not 

674
00:27:30,246 --> 00:27:32,301
over and for us , it's actually just 

675
00:27:32,301 --> 00:27:34,301
beginning much to accomplish in the 

676
00:27:34,301 --> 00:27:36,301
coming days and weeks . And we look 

677
00:27:36,301 --> 00:27:38,468
forward to continuing to work with the 

678
00:27:38,468 --> 00:27:38,120
Department of Homeland Security and the 

679
00:27:38,120 --> 00:27:40,530
rest of the inter agency to accomplish 

680
00:27:40,530 --> 00:27:42,900
this mission . You know , I know that D . 

681
00:27:42,900 --> 00:27:44,956
O . D . And our interagency partners 

682
00:27:44,956 --> 00:27:47,178
are up to this task . That's what we do 

683
00:27:47,178 --> 00:27:49,344
and the department , that's what we do 

684
00:27:49,344 --> 00:27:51,511
as americans and it's great to be part 

685
00:27:51,511 --> 00:27:53,733
of this mission . Thank you very much . 

686
00:27:53,733 --> 00:27:53,330
Thank you General , appreciate your 

687
00:27:53,330 --> 00:27:56,160
time today . Okay , I do have a couple 

688
00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:58,216
of things at the top here and then I 

689
00:27:58,216 --> 00:28:00,382
can stick around . Take some questions 

690
00:28:00,382 --> 00:28:02,600
if you have them uh to piggyback onto 

691
00:28:02,610 --> 00:28:05,320
the general's comments about wild wild 

692
00:28:05,330 --> 00:28:07,860
fire support with the continuing 

693
00:28:07,860 --> 00:28:10,680
significant fire fires in the Western 

694
00:28:10,690 --> 00:28:12,579
United States . The Department of 

695
00:28:12,579 --> 00:28:14,440
Defense is delivering requested 

696
00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:16,830
personnel equipment and facilities to 

697
00:28:16,830 --> 00:28:19,052
assist federal state and local partners 

698
00:28:19,052 --> 00:28:21,219
as they fight these wildfires . One of 

699
00:28:21,219 --> 00:28:23,441
the tools provided by the department is 

700
00:28:23,441 --> 00:28:25,663
the firefly system pilot program . It's 

701
00:28:25,663 --> 00:28:27,386
a capability from the National 

702
00:28:27,386 --> 00:28:29,552
Geospatial Intelligence Agency and G . 

703
00:28:29,552 --> 00:28:31,770
A . Firefly provides imagery 

704
00:28:31,770 --> 00:28:33,937
information from satellites , drones , 

705
00:28:33,937 --> 00:28:36,180
ground sensors and cameras giving 

706
00:28:36,180 --> 00:28:38,230
wildfire agencies the location and 

707
00:28:38,230 --> 00:28:40,720
shape of probable fires . It assists 

708
00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:42,942
with fire mapping and tactical decision 

709
00:28:42,942 --> 00:28:45,160
support . Firefly offers regular 

710
00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:47,216
updates up to 15 minute intervals on 

711
00:28:47,216 --> 00:28:49,104
areas of fire growth and activity 

712
00:28:49,104 --> 00:28:51,270
without cost or exposure of aircraft 

713
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:54,050
recognizing the continuing value of 

714
00:28:54,050 --> 00:28:56,050
this pilot program . The department 

715
00:28:56,050 --> 00:28:57,939
recently approved an extension of 

716
00:28:57,939 --> 00:28:59,994
firefly support through september of 

717
00:28:59,994 --> 00:29:02,420
2022 . This extension will provide time 

718
00:29:02,430 --> 00:29:04,319
for the National Interagency Fire 

719
00:29:04,319 --> 00:29:06,097
Center in consultation with the 

720
00:29:06,097 --> 00:29:08,041
Department of Defense to develop a 

721
00:29:08,041 --> 00:29:10,097
viable long term solution for future 

722
00:29:10,097 --> 00:29:12,041
funding and operation of firefly . 

723
00:29:12,041 --> 00:29:13,819
Finally , I think you heard the 

724
00:29:13,819 --> 00:29:16,230
secretary mentioned the other day that 

725
00:29:16,230 --> 00:29:18,280
will be going to the gulf region uh 

726
00:29:18,290 --> 00:29:22,130
here next week . Um We we we depart on 

727
00:29:22,140 --> 00:29:24,880
sunday september 5th to visit Qatar 

728
00:29:24,890 --> 00:29:27,260
bahrain kuwait and the Kingdom of Saudi 

729
00:29:27,260 --> 00:29:29,038
Arabia . Throughout this trip , 

730
00:29:29,038 --> 00:29:31,260
Secretary will be meeting with regional 

731
00:29:31,260 --> 00:29:33,320
partners and uh military leaders as 

732
00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:35,630
well . Us military leaders as well to 

733
00:29:35,630 --> 00:29:37,741
thank them for their cooperation with 

734
00:29:37,741 --> 00:29:39,630
the United States as we evacuated 

735
00:29:39,630 --> 00:29:41,630
americans afghans and citizens from 

736
00:29:41,630 --> 00:29:43,630
other nations from Afghanistan . He 

737
00:29:43,630 --> 00:29:45,574
will of course reaffirm our strong 

738
00:29:45,574 --> 00:29:47,686
defense relationships in the region . 

739
00:29:47,686 --> 00:29:49,574
Uh And again thank them for their 

740
00:29:49,574 --> 00:29:51,797
superb support . He'll have a chance to 

741
00:29:51,797 --> 00:29:53,852
talk to us service members and other 

742
00:29:53,852 --> 00:29:55,741
government personnel to including 

743
00:29:55,741 --> 00:29:57,797
including our diplomat colleagues to 

744
00:29:57,797 --> 00:29:59,741
thank them for again the skill and 

745
00:29:59,741 --> 00:30:01,797
professionalism with which they have 

746
00:30:01,797 --> 00:30:03,963
conducted and continue to conduct this 

747
00:30:03,963 --> 00:30:07,010
this onward movement of people . So 

748
00:30:07,020 --> 00:30:09,131
with that I can take some questions . 

749
00:30:09,131 --> 00:30:11,980
Travis john I want to piggyback on the 

750
00:30:11,990 --> 00:30:14,157
previous questions on what the general 

751
00:30:14,157 --> 00:30:16,379
said about the length of time that they 

752
00:30:16,379 --> 00:30:18,379
may be housing the afghans . And it 

753
00:30:18,379 --> 00:30:20,760
sounds like from what he said it could 

754
00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:22,482
be indefinitely . And I'm just 

755
00:30:22,482 --> 00:30:24,482
wondering if you could give us some 

756
00:30:24,482 --> 00:30:26,704
more clarity on that . I mean is it the 

757
00:30:26,704 --> 00:30:28,760
plan to do this through october with 

758
00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:30,816
the possibility of an extension ? Or 

759
00:30:30,816 --> 00:30:32,982
can you give us some more clarity ? So 

760
00:30:32,982 --> 00:30:32,420
it just doesn't sound like this is 

761
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:34,551
indefinitely . Yeah . I wouldn't want 

762
00:30:34,551 --> 00:30:36,551
to get confused . I don't think the 

763
00:30:36,551 --> 00:30:38,773
gentlemen to indicate that the that the 

764
00:30:38,773 --> 00:30:40,440
stay at a base is going to be 

765
00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:42,440
indefinite . That is not the plan . 

766
00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:44,880
These are temporary housing locations 

767
00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:47,010
to help these individuals as they 

768
00:30:47,010 --> 00:30:49,690
complete their process . And many of 

769
00:30:49,690 --> 00:30:51,468
them to louise questions are on 

770
00:30:51,468 --> 00:30:53,560
different process timelines . Um if 

771
00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:55,616
you're an S . I . V . And you're far 

772
00:30:55,616 --> 00:30:57,850
farther in the process , then obviously 

773
00:30:57,860 --> 00:30:59,971
it won't be as long as somebody who's 

774
00:30:59,971 --> 00:31:02,082
not in that in that program . So it's 

775
00:31:02,082 --> 00:31:04,193
gonna vary case by case , what he was 

776
00:31:04,193 --> 00:31:06,360
talking about was the mission itself . 

777
00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:09,220
The general support by D . O . D . Two 

778
00:31:09,220 --> 00:31:11,387
are inter agency partners . Uh there's 

779
00:31:11,387 --> 00:31:14,910
not a deadline on that Were as he said , 

780
00:31:14,910 --> 00:31:17,021
we're just at the beginning of this . 

781
00:31:17,021 --> 00:31:19,188
And so we'll support our energy Agency 

782
00:31:19,188 --> 00:31:21,243
partners with the housing function , 

783
00:31:21,243 --> 00:31:23,243
we're providing for as long as they 

784
00:31:23,243 --> 00:31:25,354
needed . That's different than saying 

785
00:31:25,354 --> 00:31:27,299
an individual family or individual 

786
00:31:27,299 --> 00:31:29,466
afghan is going to be on a base for an 

787
00:31:29,466 --> 00:31:31,577
indefinite period of time . There's a 

788
00:31:31,577 --> 00:31:33,743
there's a process but each one will be 

789
00:31:33,743 --> 00:31:36,021
different based on the individual case . 

790
00:31:36,021 --> 00:31:35,410
That answer your question . Thanks . So 

791
00:31:35,410 --> 00:31:38,460
thank you . Okay , back there . Thanks . 

792
00:31:38,460 --> 00:31:40,238
Mike breast with the Washington 

793
00:31:40,238 --> 00:31:42,770
examiner . Uh D . O . D . Still hasn't 

794
00:31:42,770 --> 00:31:44,937
said who the targets of the airstrikes 

795
00:31:44,937 --> 00:31:47,103
were . Can you tell us who the targets 

796
00:31:47,103 --> 00:31:49,103
were ? And if not why not ? I don't 

797
00:31:49,103 --> 00:31:51,214
believe we've refused to say who they 

798
00:31:51,214 --> 00:31:53,381
are . We haven't given you any names . 

799
00:31:53,381 --> 00:31:55,260
But we we absolutely had solid 

800
00:31:55,260 --> 00:31:58,080
intelligence that this was that this 

801
00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:02,010
was ISIS individuals who were in the in 

802
00:32:02,010 --> 00:32:05,660
the act of imminently carrying out a 

803
00:32:05,660 --> 00:32:08,540
direct threat to the airport and to our 

804
00:32:08,540 --> 00:32:11,700
people and potentially two innocent 

805
00:32:11,700 --> 00:32:13,630
lives outside the airport . The 

806
00:32:13,630 --> 00:32:16,550
intelligence was very good . Uh And we 

807
00:32:16,550 --> 00:32:18,740
took the strike in as timely a fashion 

808
00:32:18,740 --> 00:32:20,796
as we could to prevent this imminent 

809
00:32:20,796 --> 00:32:23,018
threat . There's uh there's no question 

810
00:32:23,018 --> 00:32:25,184
on the department's mind that it was a 

811
00:32:25,184 --> 00:32:27,380
valid threat valid target uh and 

812
00:32:27,380 --> 00:32:30,860
related to to ISIS K . Okay , Louis 

813
00:32:31,540 --> 00:32:33,707
Yesterday . General Walter spoke about 

814
00:32:33,707 --> 00:32:37,660
a 10 day limit for individuals in 

815
00:32:37,670 --> 00:32:40,970
you club . What exactly is that ? And 

816
00:32:40,980 --> 00:32:43,202
is there a limit for the individuals in 

817
00:32:43,202 --> 00:32:45,330
the same home countries ? Uh , let me 

818
00:32:45,330 --> 00:32:47,274
get back to you on the centcom . I 

819
00:32:47,274 --> 00:32:49,441
don't know , I'd have to get that from 

820
00:32:49,441 --> 00:32:51,608
Central Command louis what the general 

821
00:32:51,608 --> 00:32:53,552
was talking about in europe . Uh , 

822
00:32:53,552 --> 00:32:55,774
these countries have asked that we keep 

823
00:32:55,774 --> 00:32:57,941
people no longer than 10 days at these 

824
00:32:57,941 --> 00:32:59,997
at these facilities . And I think he 

825
00:32:59,997 --> 00:33:02,219
talked about how we're working with the 

826
00:33:02,219 --> 00:33:04,274
countries . Generally we're grateful 

827
00:33:04,274 --> 00:33:06,441
for their generosity and we're working 

828
00:33:06,441 --> 00:33:08,552
very hard to meet those guidelines as 

829
00:33:08,552 --> 00:33:10,552
best we can . I'll have to take the 

830
00:33:10,552 --> 00:33:10,260
question on centcom . I don't know if 

831
00:33:10,260 --> 00:33:12,427
there's similar limits on time frame . 

832
00:33:12,427 --> 00:33:14,520
Obviously there's different capacity 

833
00:33:15,140 --> 00:33:18,570
Capabilities at each of the countries 

834
00:33:18,570 --> 00:33:20,792
in the region , in central command that 

835
00:33:20,792 --> 00:33:22,681
are helping us host some of these 

836
00:33:22,681 --> 00:33:24,681
individuals . But I'm not sure that 

837
00:33:24,681 --> 00:33:26,792
there's a time limit thing on each of 

838
00:33:26,792 --> 00:33:28,737
those . I think these numbers said 

839
00:33:28,737 --> 00:33:28,590
yesterday was like 20,000 people . 

840
00:33:28,590 --> 00:33:31,020
23,000 people are . And you're still in 

841
00:33:31,020 --> 00:33:33,242
you come are going to the United States 

842
00:33:33,242 --> 00:33:35,409
or they're going to be housed in other 

843
00:33:35,409 --> 00:33:37,600
countries . That that most of we 

844
00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:39,711
anticipate most will be coming to the 

845
00:33:39,711 --> 00:33:42,470
United States , but not all . Uh , 

846
00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:44,920
that's a again , to some degree that 

847
00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:47,031
will , that will be determined by the 

848
00:33:47,031 --> 00:33:49,309
individual family members and you know , 

849
00:33:49,309 --> 00:33:51,531
people that left Afghanistan , we can't 

850
00:33:51,531 --> 00:33:53,642
assume that each and every single one 

851
00:33:53,642 --> 00:33:55,698
of them want the United States to be 

852
00:33:55,698 --> 00:33:57,753
their final destination . So if that 

853
00:33:57,753 --> 00:33:59,920
clock pulls , I mean , I think it's by 

854
00:33:59,920 --> 00:34:02,430
next Wednesday , you would have to have 

855
00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:04,496
all of those individuals back to the 

856
00:34:04,496 --> 00:34:08,120
United States , well or or or or not at 

857
00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:10,550
the not at the basis where they're at 

858
00:34:10,550 --> 00:34:12,772
right now , not necessarily all back to 

859
00:34:12,772 --> 00:34:14,772
the United States . And again , the 

860
00:34:14,772 --> 00:34:16,828
general's better to talk to that . I 

861
00:34:16,828 --> 00:34:16,400
think you mentioned , he talked about 

862
00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:18,980
that yesterday . Thank you . Two 

863
00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:22,460
questions first . The Secretary said in 

864
00:34:22,460 --> 00:34:24,660
the past , in the past week is a 

865
00:34:24,660 --> 00:34:27,190
priority theater in the face of the 

866
00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:30,050
pacing threat of china . Does he still 

867
00:34:30,050 --> 00:34:32,690
stand by his area statement now that 

868
00:34:32,690 --> 00:34:35,340
the Taliban took over Afghanistan and 

869
00:34:35,340 --> 00:34:37,770
the threat of terrorism could increase 

870
00:34:37,780 --> 00:34:40,190
in the near future . The secretary 

871
00:34:40,190 --> 00:34:42,300
still intends to prioritize the indo 

872
00:34:42,300 --> 00:34:44,890
pacific region . Absolutely nothing has 

873
00:34:44,890 --> 00:34:47,080
changed about that . Um , and you've 

874
00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:50,550
heard us talk before that uh in many 

875
00:34:50,550 --> 00:34:52,450
ways that the terrorist threat , 

876
00:34:52,460 --> 00:34:54,404
certainly to our interests and the 

877
00:34:54,404 --> 00:34:56,460
interests of our allies and partners 

878
00:34:56,460 --> 00:34:58,516
has metastasized outside Afghanistan 

879
00:34:58,516 --> 00:35:00,793
and we're not gonna lose focus on that . 

880
00:35:00,793 --> 00:35:00,050
You heard him say that just the other 

881
00:35:00,050 --> 00:35:02,272
day , we're gonna stay laser focused on 

882
00:35:02,272 --> 00:35:04,494
making sure we have the capabilities we 

883
00:35:04,494 --> 00:35:06,661
need to uh to conduct over the rise in 

884
00:35:06,661 --> 00:35:08,661
counterterrorism capabilities , not 

885
00:35:08,661 --> 00:35:10,883
just in Afghanistan , but but elsewhere 

886
00:35:10,883 --> 00:35:12,717
around the world , but nothing's 

887
00:35:12,717 --> 00:35:14,939
changed about our our focus on the indo 

888
00:35:14,939 --> 00:35:17,217
pacific region . It's no accident that , 

889
00:35:17,217 --> 00:35:17,000
you know , his first trip was to that 

890
00:35:17,010 --> 00:35:19,343
to that part of the world . And in fact , 

891
00:35:19,343 --> 00:35:21,399
he went just recently again to uh to 

892
00:35:21,399 --> 00:35:23,670
Southeast Asia . Uh this trip next week 

893
00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:26,140
will be his first trip to the Middle 

894
00:35:26,140 --> 00:35:27,973
East since becoming Secretary of 

895
00:35:27,973 --> 00:35:31,030
defense . And obviously a very 

896
00:35:31,030 --> 00:35:33,197
opportune moment for him to be able to 

897
00:35:33,197 --> 00:35:35,530
thank these countries for their support . 

898
00:35:35,530 --> 00:35:37,530
Okay , your separate question . The 

899
00:35:37,530 --> 00:35:39,419
duty was supposed to complete the 

900
00:35:39,419 --> 00:35:41,641
global force posture review by as early 

901
00:35:41,641 --> 00:35:43,970
as rates summer . Are you still on 

902
00:35:43,970 --> 00:35:46,660
track to meet that timeline 

903
00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:49,760
after the recent events in Afghan ? 

904
00:35:49,770 --> 00:35:51,770
Yeah , the team is still working on 

905
00:35:51,770 --> 00:35:53,937
this and I think we're still basically 

906
00:35:53,937 --> 00:35:55,937
where we need to be in terms of the 

907
00:35:55,937 --> 00:35:59,120
timeline . Yeah john are on the quiz . 

908
00:35:59,130 --> 00:36:01,700
Can you tell us if there if there are 

909
00:36:01,700 --> 00:36:04,390
any military Afghan military members , 

910
00:36:04,390 --> 00:36:06,557
service members among the evacuation ? 

911
00:36:06,930 --> 00:36:10,850
Yes there are some and also on the 

912
00:36:10,860 --> 00:36:13,910
strike in Nangahar . You can you , why 

913
00:36:13,910 --> 00:36:17,350
did you name those high level 

914
00:36:17,830 --> 00:36:20,880
high profile ISIS officials yet ? You 

915
00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:23,180
don't have the names . We know who they 

916
00:36:23,180 --> 00:36:25,810
are . I think at the time we didn't 

917
00:36:25,810 --> 00:36:28,050
release the names because we were being 

918
00:36:29,030 --> 00:36:31,141
we were in the middle of a very fluid 

919
00:36:31,141 --> 00:36:33,760
uh threat environment . Let me see if 

920
00:36:33,770 --> 00:36:35,937
uh you know if that's information that 

921
00:36:35,937 --> 00:36:38,103
can be provided . Now , I don't know , 

922
00:36:38,103 --> 00:36:40,214
I mean we know who they are . I don't 

923
00:36:40,214 --> 00:36:42,326
know if it's information that uh that 

924
00:36:42,326 --> 00:36:41,800
we're gonna be able to provide right 

925
00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:45,460
now Christine . So back to 

926
00:36:45,670 --> 00:36:49,470
these these task force bases um 

927
00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:51,760
here in the U . S . On the longer term 

928
00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:54,700
stays , uh will there be plans to 

929
00:36:54,700 --> 00:36:56,756
include among the activities for the 

930
00:36:56,756 --> 00:36:58,533
Children , educational types of 

931
00:36:58,533 --> 00:37:00,422
activities ? You know , beginning 

932
00:37:00,422 --> 00:37:02,644
english some of those kinds of things . 

933
00:37:02,644 --> 00:37:04,867
Perhaps I don't know how long the state 

934
00:37:04,867 --> 00:37:07,033
would be , but it seems to me that you 

935
00:37:07,033 --> 00:37:09,256
know , just having them play day by day 

936
00:37:09,256 --> 00:37:11,367
is a good thing . But you know , some 

937
00:37:11,367 --> 00:37:13,589
educational activity when I would refer 

938
00:37:13,589 --> 00:37:15,700
you to HHS that's really their goal . 

939
00:37:15,700 --> 00:37:18,460
Again , I think it's to remind our job 

940
00:37:18,460 --> 00:37:21,220
is to provide temporary housing , space , 

941
00:37:21,240 --> 00:37:24,260
food , water , sustenance , shelter , a 

942
00:37:24,270 --> 00:37:27,700
religious accommodations obviously to 

943
00:37:27,700 --> 00:37:29,811
make these individuals as comfortable 

944
00:37:29,811 --> 00:37:31,978
as possible while they go through this 

945
00:37:31,978 --> 00:37:34,089
process . But but you're asking , you 

946
00:37:34,089 --> 00:37:36,311
know , those kinds of questions are are 

947
00:37:36,311 --> 00:37:37,978
better put to HHS and not the 

948
00:37:37,978 --> 00:37:41,880
Department of Defense Kourtney , I 

949
00:37:41,890 --> 00:37:43,779
just want to know that there is a 

950
00:37:43,779 --> 00:37:46,001
little bit of time that the U . S . Has 

951
00:37:46,001 --> 00:37:48,440
been out . Is there a more clarity on 

952
00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:50,662
what the Ct strikes ? Like who could be 

953
00:37:50,662 --> 00:37:52,440
targeted under the cT strikes ? 

954
00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:54,607
Obviously , IsIS K . We've heard about 

955
00:37:54,607 --> 00:37:56,607
that . I'm assuming Al Qaeda , what 

956
00:37:56,607 --> 00:37:58,718
about Haqqani ? Are they legitimate a 

957
00:37:58,718 --> 00:38:00,980
target that the US will be could 

958
00:38:00,980 --> 00:38:03,091
potentially be targeting with counter 

959
00:38:03,091 --> 00:38:05,091
terror strikes in Afghanistan going 

960
00:38:05,091 --> 00:38:07,202
forward . I don't want to hypothesize 

961
00:38:07,202 --> 00:38:09,202
about potential future operations , 

962
00:38:09,202 --> 00:38:11,424
Courtney , what I will tell you is that 

963
00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:15,240
we maintain the capability um 

964
00:38:15,770 --> 00:38:19,340
in the responsibility to conduct 

965
00:38:19,820 --> 00:38:21,890
counterterrorism strikes that we 

966
00:38:21,890 --> 00:38:23,946
believe are in the best interests of 

967
00:38:23,946 --> 00:38:26,001
the United States of America and the 

968
00:38:26,001 --> 00:38:28,168
american people that we defend ? And I 

969
00:38:28,168 --> 00:38:28,060
think I just leave it at that because 

970
00:38:28,060 --> 00:38:30,227
there is at least one Haqqani leader , 

971
00:38:30,227 --> 00:38:33,040
Sooraj akani , who there's a $5 million 

972
00:38:34,720 --> 00:38:36,776
What's the term against him ? By the 

973
00:38:36,776 --> 00:38:38,998
FBI ? The FBI have offered five million 

974
00:38:38,998 --> 00:38:40,720
for information about him . So 

975
00:38:41,020 --> 00:38:43,820
theoretically he's wanted in the United 

976
00:38:43,820 --> 00:38:47,420
States , would he be a legitimate 

977
00:38:47,420 --> 00:38:50,540
counter terror target for us military 

978
00:38:50,540 --> 00:38:52,762
operation for us military there we will 

979
00:38:52,762 --> 00:38:54,762
conduct counterterrorism operations 

980
00:38:54,762 --> 00:38:57,840
that we believe are in the interest of 

981
00:38:57,840 --> 00:39:00,062
protecting our interests and uh and the 

982
00:39:00,062 --> 00:39:03,530
American people . Uh And when there is , 

983
00:39:04,020 --> 00:39:06,590
you know , the credible threat that 

984
00:39:06,590 --> 00:39:08,646
needs to be dealt with . And I don't 

985
00:39:08,646 --> 00:39:10,812
want to speculate about each and every 

986
00:39:10,812 --> 00:39:13,034
possible circumstance or each and every 

987
00:39:13,034 --> 00:39:14,923
possible target . I think you can 

988
00:39:14,923 --> 00:39:17,034
understand why we wouldn't want to do 

989
00:39:17,034 --> 00:39:16,510
that right now and then one more on 

990
00:39:16,510 --> 00:39:18,880
that . How now that there's no U . S . 

991
00:39:18,880 --> 00:39:21,440
Military presence there who has the 

992
00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:23,607
authority ? So does that have to every 

993
00:39:23,607 --> 00:39:25,773
single time that now General Mackenzie 

994
00:39:25,773 --> 00:39:27,884
has a potential target ? Does he have 

995
00:39:27,884 --> 00:39:30,051
to get permission from the White House 

996
00:39:30,051 --> 00:39:32,273
or from Secretary of Defense to conduct 

997
00:39:32,273 --> 00:39:34,440
strikes in Afghanistan going forward ? 

998
00:39:34,720 --> 00:39:36,942
And I know I've asked this before , but 

999
00:39:36,942 --> 00:39:38,776
I'll ask it again just to see if 

1000
00:39:38,776 --> 00:39:40,664
there's more clarity now that the 

1001
00:39:40,664 --> 00:39:42,776
Taliban are running the government in 

1002
00:39:42,776 --> 00:39:44,950
Afghanistan , will will the U . S . 

1003
00:39:46,020 --> 00:39:49,190
Go to them in advance of strikes , not 

1004
00:39:49,190 --> 00:39:51,079
for necessarily approval , but as 

1005
00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:54,190
coordination or Yeah , I think both the 

1006
00:39:54,190 --> 00:39:56,412
Secretary and the chairman talked about 

1007
00:39:56,412 --> 00:39:58,634
this just the other day . They didn't , 

1008
00:39:58,634 --> 00:40:01,820
you know , they didn't want to uh 

1009
00:40:02,510 --> 00:40:04,820
leave anybody with the notion that we 

1010
00:40:04,820 --> 00:40:06,931
were somehow going to be in some long 

1011
00:40:06,931 --> 00:40:10,150
term enduring manufactured 

1012
00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:12,640
cooperation agreement with the taliban . 

1013
00:40:14,510 --> 00:40:18,230
But to your last question , I mean , 

1014
00:40:18,240 --> 00:40:21,330
each each case is going to be dealt 

1015
00:40:21,330 --> 00:40:23,386
with specifically to that case , and 

1016
00:40:23,386 --> 00:40:26,990
that includes , you know , issues of uh 

1017
00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:29,056
of authorities . Obviously , General 

1018
00:40:29,056 --> 00:40:31,111
Mackenzie has authorities to conduct 

1019
00:40:31,111 --> 00:40:33,278
counterterrorism operations inside his 

1020
00:40:33,278 --> 00:40:35,389
area of responsibility . And we leave 

1021
00:40:35,389 --> 00:40:37,500
it to him and his good judgment uh to 

1022
00:40:37,500 --> 00:40:40,750
determine um how much beyond his own 

1023
00:40:40,750 --> 00:40:42,972
authorities does he want ? Does he need 

1024
00:40:42,972 --> 00:40:45,830
does he want to act or or consult ? Um 

1025
00:40:46,210 --> 00:40:49,650
but every case is going to be dealt 

1026
00:40:49,650 --> 00:40:51,880
with differently . So again , I think 

1027
00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:54,180
the secretary of the Chairman laid it 

1028
00:40:54,180 --> 00:40:56,513
out pretty clear , we're not , you know , 

1029
00:40:56,513 --> 00:40:58,624
nobody's trying to think some sort of 

1030
00:40:58,624 --> 00:41:02,060
uh military cooperation agreement with 

1031
00:41:02,060 --> 00:41:05,000
the taliban . Uh they wouldn't rule out 

1032
00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:06,944
that there might be occasions when 

1033
00:41:07,010 --> 00:41:10,930
there might need to be um some 

1034
00:41:10,930 --> 00:41:13,097
informational component there with the 

1035
00:41:13,097 --> 00:41:16,130
taliban going forward . I don't you 

1036
00:41:16,130 --> 00:41:18,297
shouldn't get lost , nothing should be 

1037
00:41:18,297 --> 00:41:20,910
lost about the fact that , well , we 

1038
00:41:20,910 --> 00:41:22,640
have a robust over the horizon 

1039
00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:24,640
counterterrorism capability . We're 

1040
00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:26,584
gonna try to make it more robust , 

1041
00:41:26,584 --> 00:41:28,807
We're still in discussions with partner 

1042
00:41:28,807 --> 00:41:30,807
nations about being able to make it 

1043
00:41:30,807 --> 00:41:33,029
more robust . Um and and we're going to 

1044
00:41:33,029 --> 00:41:35,140
continue to explore options . Again , 

1045
00:41:35,140 --> 00:41:37,307
it's about defending our interests and 

1046
00:41:37,307 --> 00:41:39,196
our people and and uh an american 

1047
00:41:39,196 --> 00:41:38,970
homeland and making sure that places 

1048
00:41:38,970 --> 00:41:42,130
like Afghanistan can't become A place 

1049
00:41:42,130 --> 00:41:44,352
where that kind of a threat , like what 

1050
00:41:44,352 --> 00:41:46,352
happened on 9-11 can happen again . 

1051
00:41:46,352 --> 00:41:48,463
Barbara , I want to clarify something 

1052
00:41:48,463 --> 00:41:50,980
you just said to Courtney , please . Um , 

1053
00:41:51,260 --> 00:41:53,260
I think I heard you correctly , you 

1054
00:41:53,260 --> 00:41:55,427
said you leave it to General Mackenzie 

1055
00:41:55,427 --> 00:41:58,740
to decide when he needs to consult . 

1056
00:41:58,750 --> 00:42:01,930
Right ? I know there is a fascination 

1057
00:42:01,930 --> 00:42:04,500
here about Barb . Hang on , just second . 

1058
00:42:04,510 --> 00:42:06,732
Its fascination here over authorities . 

1059
00:42:06,732 --> 00:42:10,210
And uh and the cases when a commander 

1060
00:42:10,220 --> 00:42:12,331
can do something on his or her own or 

1061
00:42:12,331 --> 00:42:14,442
they have to float it up the chain of 

1062
00:42:14,442 --> 00:42:16,609
command . I am not going to get into a 

1063
00:42:16,609 --> 00:42:18,387
detailed discussion today about 

1064
00:42:18,387 --> 00:42:20,442
authorities for strikes that haven't 

1065
00:42:20,442 --> 00:42:22,498
happened yet and for operations that 

1066
00:42:22,498 --> 00:42:24,720
aren't planned and aren't aren't on the 

1067
00:42:24,720 --> 00:42:26,942
calendar yet . Uh , we with the whole , 

1068
00:42:26,942 --> 00:42:29,053
hang on , please , the whole national 

1069
00:42:29,053 --> 00:42:31,276
security team is involved in monitoring 

1070
00:42:31,276 --> 00:42:33,410
the threat streams and and the 

1071
00:42:33,410 --> 00:42:37,180
intelligence , uh and there is in 

1072
00:42:37,190 --> 00:42:40,650
many cases , uh , frequent dialogue 

1073
00:42:40,660 --> 00:42:43,270
across the chain of command about 

1074
00:42:43,270 --> 00:42:45,910
taking the appropriate action . And and 

1075
00:42:46,170 --> 00:42:49,410
it yeah , the interesting authorities 

1076
00:42:49,420 --> 00:42:51,900
is interesting . It's not necessarily 

1077
00:42:51,900 --> 00:42:54,122
relevant to the overall mission , which 

1078
00:42:54,122 --> 00:42:56,122
is to prevent our nation from being 

1079
00:42:56,122 --> 00:42:58,350
attacked again . So , my question 

1080
00:42:58,350 --> 00:43:01,210
actually is uh , well , that's a very 

1081
00:43:01,210 --> 00:43:04,050
good explanation . My question is you 

1082
00:43:04,050 --> 00:43:08,020
said if I and repeating this accurately , 

1083
00:43:08,400 --> 00:43:11,050
it is up to General Mackenzie to decide 

1084
00:43:11,050 --> 00:43:13,360
when he needs to consult . I'm 

1085
00:43:13,360 --> 00:43:15,920
wondering , given everything , maybe I 

1086
00:43:15,920 --> 00:43:18,930
just misunderstood . You There are 

1087
00:43:18,930 --> 00:43:21,620
processes and procedures , a four star 

1088
00:43:22,100 --> 00:43:25,480
one in chargeable operations in a 

1089
00:43:25,480 --> 00:43:27,430
particular part of the world . It 

1090
00:43:27,430 --> 00:43:29,374
wouldn't just be left up to him to 

1091
00:43:29,374 --> 00:43:31,430
decide whether he thinks he needs to 

1092
00:43:31,430 --> 00:43:33,541
tell the president or the White House 

1093
00:43:33,541 --> 00:43:35,652
or the secretary or the chairman . Um 

1094
00:43:35,750 --> 00:43:39,200
I'm not trying to ask about 

1095
00:43:39,200 --> 00:43:41,478
hypotheticals . I'm just trying to ask , 

1096
00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:43,970
is that really the case that General 

1097
00:43:43,970 --> 00:43:46,810
Mackenzie gets to decide ? Or did I 

1098
00:43:46,810 --> 00:43:49,090
misunderstand you ? There will be he 

1099
00:43:49,090 --> 00:43:51,257
has authorities barb and there will be 

1100
00:43:51,257 --> 00:43:53,201
times when he'll be able to act on 

1101
00:43:53,201 --> 00:43:55,257
those authorities . Um There will be 

1102
00:43:55,257 --> 00:43:57,610
other occasions potentially , uh where 

1103
00:43:57,610 --> 00:43:59,332
they will need to be a broader 

1104
00:43:59,332 --> 00:44:01,388
discussion uh about the intelligence 

1105
00:44:01,388 --> 00:44:03,610
we're seeing and about the uh about the 

1106
00:44:03,610 --> 00:44:05,710
capabilities we can bring to bear to 

1107
00:44:05,710 --> 00:44:08,670
deal with that particular threat . And 

1108
00:44:08,670 --> 00:44:11,720
General Mackenzie , what i if I I have 

1109
00:44:11,720 --> 00:44:13,831
to go back and look at exactly what I 

1110
00:44:13,831 --> 00:44:16,550
said , but General Mackenzie 

1111
00:44:16,560 --> 00:44:20,350
understands uh how to do this . 

1112
00:44:20,360 --> 00:44:22,430
And as do all the other combatant 

1113
00:44:22,430 --> 00:44:24,541
commanders . Quite frankly , it's not 

1114
00:44:24,541 --> 00:44:26,486
just in central command , uh other 

1115
00:44:26,486 --> 00:44:28,374
geographic combatant commands are 

1116
00:44:28,374 --> 00:44:30,263
dealing with terrorist threats in 

1117
00:44:30,263 --> 00:44:32,374
africa . And even in the indo pacific 

1118
00:44:32,374 --> 00:44:34,780
they um they understand um the 

1119
00:44:34,780 --> 00:44:36,780
authorities that they have and they 

1120
00:44:36,780 --> 00:44:38,947
also understand that even within those 

1121
00:44:38,947 --> 00:44:41,169
authorities , there might be times when 

1122
00:44:41,169 --> 00:44:43,260
a broader discussion uh is uh is 

1123
00:44:43,260 --> 00:44:46,920
warranted . And I think again , uh 

1124
00:44:47,590 --> 00:44:49,510
it's not a useful exercise to go 

1125
00:44:49,510 --> 00:44:51,600
through the authorities on each and 

1126
00:44:51,610 --> 00:44:55,130
every possible strike . What matters 

1127
00:44:55,130 --> 00:44:58,230
is that the american people know a we 

1128
00:44:58,230 --> 00:45:00,230
have the capability And we're gonna 

1129
00:45:00,230 --> 00:45:02,452
keep the capability and we're gonna try 

1130
00:45:02,452 --> 00:45:04,619
to make it more robust and B we're not 

1131
00:45:04,619 --> 00:45:06,674
gonna lose sight on the threat going 

1132
00:45:06,674 --> 00:45:08,841
forward . And it's difficult for me on 

1133
00:45:08,841 --> 00:45:10,841
three September to tell you exactly 

1134
00:45:10,841 --> 00:45:13,008
what that threat is gonna look like in 

1135
00:45:13,008 --> 00:45:12,570
any part of the world on any particular 

1136
00:45:12,570 --> 00:45:14,630
day . Except to say that I come back 

1137
00:45:14,630 --> 00:45:16,741
and commanders know the authorities , 

1138
00:45:16,741 --> 00:45:16,430
they have , they know the 

1139
00:45:16,430 --> 00:45:18,780
responsibilities they have and they 

1140
00:45:18,780 --> 00:45:20,900
will they will act accordingly . I 

1141
00:45:20,910 --> 00:45:23,132
think the reason that I'm glad that the 

1142
00:45:23,132 --> 00:45:25,188
combatant commanders have no they're 

1143
00:45:25,188 --> 00:45:27,299
authorities that would be troubled if 

1144
00:45:27,299 --> 00:45:29,354
they didn't . But I think the reason 

1145
00:45:29,354 --> 00:45:29,210
that we're asking here is because now 

1146
00:45:29,210 --> 00:45:31,210
the situation has changed . There's 

1147
00:45:31,210 --> 00:45:33,377
been 20 years that we've been covering 

1148
00:45:33,377 --> 00:45:33,370
this war . and now the situation on the 

1149
00:45:33,370 --> 00:45:35,148
ground has changed . There's no 

1150
00:45:35,148 --> 00:45:37,259
military there and it's not and we're 

1151
00:45:37,259 --> 00:45:39,426
trying to understand to inform our own 

1152
00:45:39,426 --> 00:45:41,648
reporting how things go going forward . 

1153
00:45:41,648 --> 00:45:41,200
I don't think we're asking you 

1154
00:45:41,200 --> 00:45:43,311
specifically can give us the date and 

1155
00:45:43,311 --> 00:45:45,533
time of each strike and who is going to 

1156
00:45:45,533 --> 00:45:47,700
be targeting and where , but just more 

1157
00:45:47,700 --> 00:45:49,867
broadly how this process is gonna work 

1158
00:45:49,867 --> 00:45:49,570
going forward and I think that that 

1159
00:45:49,570 --> 00:45:51,860
kind of process stuff , you know , call 

1160
00:45:51,860 --> 00:45:53,916
us Wonky wouldn't be the worst thing 

1161
00:45:53,916 --> 00:45:56,249
that press corps has been called before , 

1162
00:45:56,249 --> 00:45:58,360
but I think that only informs our own 

1163
00:45:58,360 --> 00:46:00,527
reporting to understand how , how it's 

1164
00:46:00,527 --> 00:46:00,280
gonna work . So if it's possible that 

1165
00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:02,224
anyone can explain that that going 

1166
00:46:02,224 --> 00:46:04,410
forward , even in Bronson again , uh , 

1167
00:46:04,890 --> 00:46:07,700
I think maybe I failed , perhaps I 

1168
00:46:07,710 --> 00:46:09,840
utterly failed here to try to explain 

1169
00:46:09,840 --> 00:46:12,810
it going forward , but , but uh , 

1170
00:46:13,990 --> 00:46:16,046
but uh , I I just don't think it's a 

1171
00:46:16,046 --> 00:46:18,620
useful exercise to talk about every 

1172
00:46:18,630 --> 00:46:20,940
authority process for every potential 

1173
00:46:20,940 --> 00:46:23,340
strike we're going to take . Um , uh , 

1174
00:46:23,350 --> 00:46:25,500
just rest assured that our combatant 

1175
00:46:25,500 --> 00:46:27,556
commanders have the authorities they 

1176
00:46:27,556 --> 00:46:29,611
need . Uh , and if there's a need to 

1177
00:46:29,611 --> 00:46:31,667
have a broader discussion inside the 

1178
00:46:31,667 --> 00:46:33,889
inside the national security team about 

1179
00:46:33,889 --> 00:46:36,222
a potential target , we'll do that . Um , 

1180
00:46:36,222 --> 00:46:36,840
It is not .