'What stood out to me': Wolf Blitzer challenges State Department official on Mideast plans
CNN's Wolf Blitzer suggested multiple options to a State Department spokesman for evacuating Americans from the Middle East.
The State Department ordered nonemergency personnel and their families to leave six countries in the region and urged other Americans to depart as soon as possible as Iranian drones retaliate against U.S. bombing raids, but many have found limited options for getting back home during the military operation.
"Well, the president has spoken to this" said department spokesman Tommy Pigott. "We've seen updated travel guidance in terms of the security situation we have seen and the security challenges are part of what we are overcoming in order to help the American people. The secretary talking about the airport being hit, the secretary talking about certain airspace closures we are constantly identifying those additional options to help the Americans who need it."
Pigott encouraged stranded Americans to "proactively reach out for help" and provided the address to the State Department website, but the well-traveled Blitzer offered some suggestions drawn from his own reporting and his experience covering warzones.
"I mentioned yesterday, Tommy, that the British government has been activating military personnel, military aircraft to go into some of these countries to land at various military bases and evacuate their citizens," Blitzer said. "But so far, the U.S. government, I haven't seen any evidence that you have authorized the U.S. military to deploy cargo planes, other huge aircraft, for example, to Israel or Kuwait or Saudi Arabia to evacuate U.S. citizens, even if the airspace is closed, there are military air bases where they could land, and you could inform U.S. citizens, go to these bases and you'll get on a military plane and come back to the United States. Why hasn't that happened?"
Pigott could offer few specifics.
"Well, what I can say is that we've seen the assisted departure of hundreds of Americans from Israel, for example," Pigott said. "Those numbers are continuing to grow. The secretary [is] talking about how we are looking at options, including military flights. I'm not going to get into operational details or preview what those might be for the security concerns that are evident in this, but rest assured, when you call, we will proactively reach out."
"That's also why that advice is so important: Be ready to go, be ready to move when able so that we can overcome the security challenges," he added. "But we are looking at every single option."
National security correspondent Kylie Atwood noticed the same problem that Blitzer had in the spokesman's assurances.
"Well, what stood out to me from what the spokesperson, Tommy Pigott, just told you guys is that there are U.S. operations that are ongoing to get these Americans out, but he didn't cite any planes, any flights that have evacuated from the countries in the region today," Atwood said. "He said, he noted that there are some busses running. That is one thing that we are watching incredibly closely, because the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said yesterday when he was on the Hill, that one of the challenges that the U.S. government is facing right now is that their airspace closures, obviously in the region because it's kinetic activity that is happening, so some of the flights have tried to go in. They haven't been able to land and get these Americans on board. We're watching to see how they're going to deal with that challenge. It's a stark one, obviously because it could be dangerous for these flights to go in, but these Americans really do want to get out."
"I think it's important to note, however, that he told Americans," she added, "and this is a key thing, that they need to be ready to go so that, when they do get these messages from the State Department, that they have an option for them ... He didn't give an indication that Americans who have already reached out to the State Department now need to reach out again. He indicated that they are already, you know, they have that working list of the Americans that want to get out, but we still don't fundamentally know how many of the Americans in the region who want to leave have received assistance to do so from the U.S. government."
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