Sec. Austin: ‘We Planned to Execute ... Evacuate Between 70,000 and 80,000 People’

EXCERPT:

AUSTIN: “Our soldiers, airmen and marines in partnership with allies, our partners and our State Department colleagues secured the gates, took control of the airport operations and set up a processing system for the tens of thousands of people that they would be manifesting onto airplanes. They and our commanders exceeded all expectations. We planned to execute -- we planned to evacuate between 70,000 and 80,000 people.”