not rule out the possibility that the u.s. military could be brought in, into ukraine, in advance of an invasion for the purpose of helping americans get out. he didn t say it would happen, but he didn t rule it out. and that brings back, of course, only months ago the evacuation of americans and afghans out of afghanistan when we saw the 82nd airborne and other u.s. military forces brought in to kabul airport to help americans get out. again, secretary general milley did not announce that but they did leave open the possibility that could happen. we also heard more specificity from general milley, chairman of the joint chiefs, about what exactly it is russia has around ukraine. among the things he mentioned are more than 100,000 ground forces, air, naval, special forces, cyber warfare, electronic warfare, command and control, logistics and engineers. why that s important to point out is that he was laying the
ferrying people inside to the airport. birashk was met by afghan special forces and then americans, including the american guiding her. i said, is that you? he said, yes, that s me. there was a sigh of relief at that point. i knew we had made it. there s no more checkpoints. reporter: on the base, their phones were taken away. they were asked not to reveal the base s location. the next day, they were flown to kabul airport and out of the country to safety. what do your friends and family still in kabul, in afghanistan, say about what the future will look like? they continuously say life afghanistan is now a body without a soul. seeing the way that everything that they had worked for the past 20 years has been shattered in front of their own eyes. the promises of the international community never leaving them behind, and now they re left with nothing. reporter: birashk says she and others like her are now suffering from significant survivor s guilt. to this day, i m still
milley, and defense secretary lloyd austin, as well as the head of centcom, general mckenzie. this is the first appearance since the withdrawal of u.s. troops from afghanistan. all three will be facing tough questions, not only about the terror attack at kabul s airport that killed 13 american service members, but also the drone strike in the final days of the evacuation that killed ten civilians, including seven children. general milley is expected to be questioned about his attempts to prevent former president trump from starting a war to stay in office. certainly his concerns about that and what he told his chinese counterpart in the final days of the trump administration. now, just days after the taliban took control in afghanistan, there was a secret u.s. mission. it was orchestrated in part by the cia, aimed to rescue an afghan-american woman from kabul. cnn s alex marquardt is joining
processing the reality on the ground. it just feels like it s an ongoing nightmare that, you know, i haven t been woken up from. birashk felt privileged to have gotten out the way she did, as she said, without a scratch. she knows that is not the case for so many who went out through the airport. of course, there are many others still trying to get out. the state department said on monday that there are around 100 americans and legal permanent residents who are ready to get out. of course, you know that there are many more, including at-risk afghans still stuck inside the country. a senior state department official said the biggest obstacle to getting those americans out who want to is the unpredictability of the taliban and their decision on who is allowed to leave. it s really throwing a wrench into the works for so many americans who are trying to leave. alex, amazing story. thank you for sharing it with us. we appreciate it. donald trump s pick to challenge liz cheney was onc
her. an afghan-american who worked for the afghan government and on a u.s.-funded project. she was born in afghanistan and moved to the u.s. at 13 years old. she returned as an adult, spending most of the past four years working with local organizations. now, she s back in denver after taking part in one of the most secretive operations in the entire evacuation. a u.s. official tells cnn it was in part run by the cia. the airport was absolute chaos. it was as if you would have had to go through death valley in order to make it and survive. reporter: birashk was in her apartment when she got a call from an american. i said, who is this? he said, i m a u.s. government official. no details who he worked for? reporter: no. the american wanted birashk to leave, and she wanted to take afghans with her. he said, my priority is you. i understand you feel this responsibility toward the people you worked with, but