With the Biden administration abandoning hundreds of Americans and our allies to be victimized in Afghanistan and reports that the State Department was hampering efforts to get them out, they desperately needed some good press. And ABC’s World News Tonight was more than willing to help them steal credit for getting a Texas mother and her three kids over the border to a neighboring country. But the surprising tag team of Fox News and CNN Prime Time host Chris Cuomo shot down the State Department.
“Secretary [of State] Blinken joining Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Qatar, promising he will work around the clock to assure Americans are able to leave,” boasted ABC chief global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz.
Adding: “And tonight, more details on this Texas mother and her three children who escaped Afghanistan overland with help from the State Department and a nonprofit. Oklahoma Congressman Markwayne Mullin says they traveled 300 miles, through 20 Taliban checkpoints, at each one, paying $500 to $4,000 per person.”
But while Raddatz tried to use Congressman Mullin (R) to support the State Department’s suggestion they deserved credit, Cuomo played a soundbite of him tearing them apart for making it harder for the family.
“We, we were negotiating back and forth. The State Department was actually told at one time, actually told the embassy in the country not to assist us in any way,” Mullin said. “For them to take credit and say they negotiated with the Taliban (…) it is absolutely a lie.”
And while Raddatz was touting Blinken for saying they’re trying to get Americans home, she also omitted how he was denying the fact Americans were being held hostage by the Taliban at Mazar-i-Sharif Airport.
That fact was mentioned on Fox News Channel’s Special Report by correspondent David Spunt. He also highlighted Republican congressional candidate Cory Mills, who personally went into Afghanistan to save the family. “This idea that, oh if you just show your passport we’ve gotten this great coordination with the Taliban, they're just letting you right through. Well, I can tell with you absolute certainty that's not the case,” Mills said.
Mills also made an appearance on CNN where Cuomo gave him the floor to tell the tale of how the State Department stood in the way of getting the family to safety, even threatening to have an F-16 blow their jet out of the sky (Click “expand”):
We had the ability to go in in the beginning days to land an aircraft that would have evacuated 25 Americans out that we had already identified, we had already coordinated with, and we had already had a crew of PPR, flyover approvals, I mean everything necessary to have put the aircraft on the ground, had an hour's time on the ground, could have loaded our staff that were just -- our team, excuse me, that were just outside the gates, got them in, got them on and got them out. And that was the original plan.
That was thwarted by the State Department and the DOD where they essentially tried to deny our PPR, put us in pattern for 15 minutes and then even said, “if you land this aircraft that we are going to take the aircraft certificate, we’re going to ground the pilots, and even have an F-16 go ahead.”
Look, the bottom line is, that would have been 25 Americans. So, this land bordering crossing wouldn't have been necessary if they could have let us land at that time. On the second occasion, where we finally had to get those families out of Kabul and into a different location, they were manifested on another aircraft, that aircraft approved by the Taliban, had been approved by the DOD, had been approved by the State Department.
And right before the nth-hour when it was ready to fly, the State Department went ahead and canceled that flight or disapproved that flight because they wanted to “vet” [finger quotes] the manifest. Which I can understand and appreciate, but these are Americans who are basically being left behind.
“We actually received some of that support when we were in this bordering country once we were kind of on that 99-yard line,” he noted.
Mills noted the only people from the State Department that were helping him were the lower-level people in the bordering country, and the problem was with “D.C. and State Department and the swamp.”
He went on to argue that what they were able to pull off was “the proof of concept that with a little bit of help from the U.S. government I think it's joint kind of public/private partnership that could help these Americans to get out.”
ABC aiding the State Department in trying to steal credit for getting an American family out of Afghanistan was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from WeatherTech and Fidelity. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they fund.
The relevant portion of the transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s World News Tonight
September 7, 2021
6:41:52 p.m. Eastern(…)
MARTHA RADDATZ: Secretary [of State] Blinken joining Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Qatar, promising he will work around the clock to assure Americans are able to leave.
In Kabul, the Taliban firing shots into the air to disperse mostly female protesters demanding their rights be protected.
And tonight, more details on this Texas mother and her three children who escaped Afghanistan overland with help from the State Department and a nonprofit. Oklahoma Congressman Markwayne Mullin says they traveled 300 miles, through 20 Taliban checkpoints, at each one, paying $500 to $4,000 per person.
(…)
CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time
September 7, 2021
9:04:27 p.m. Eastern(…)
CHRIS CUOMO: Now look, I get that it's a tough spot. I get that they're in control, the Taliban, but this is a dangerous game. And by the way, a Republican on the House Intel Committee has a very different account. Markwayne Mullin, you’ve seen him on the show, he identifies this family as an American named Miriam and her three kids. He says they’re from Amarillo, Texas. Listen to him.
REP. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): We had her at the gate multiple times, multiple times we was on the phone with the State Department the last two weeks trying to get her out, and they wouldn't even open the gate for us. [Transition]
We had her there for 24 hours before the State Department was even aware she was there. They didn't show up until a few hours after we -- before we got her across. And for them to say they facilitated it, is absolutely a lie. We had to go through 20 checkpoints. [Transition]
We, we were negotiating back and forth. The State Department was actually told at one time, actually told the embassy in the country not to assist us in any way. [Transition]
For them to take credit and say they negotiated with the Taliban [Transition] it is absolutely a lie.
CUOMO: Now look, could he be wrong? Yeah. But he could also be right. How? Listen, you are going to hear from other people tonight who are veterans, who are trying to do the right thing and they are encountering either silence or resistance with the State Department. I am not ascribing animus. I am not saying that the State Department is trying to hurt people, Americans in Afghanistan, but that doesn't mean that they are doing the job as well as they can and being straight about it.
(…)
9:29:44 p.m. Eastern
CUOMO: What is the truth about the State Department knowledge and role in your extraction?
CORY MILLS (R-FL): Well, Chris, thanks so much for having me. Yeah, I apologize for the backlighting. This is about as good as I could get.
CUOMO: It's fine.
MILLS: So, bottom line is, is that I think that when it comes to the amazing guys who are here in country that I'm operating out of, I think the State Department has been very helpful and supportive. I think the issue is that D.C. and State Department and the swamp, they are really where the problem has existed.
We had the ability to go in in the beginning days to land an aircraft that would have evacuated 25 Americans out that we had already identified, we had already coordinated with, and we had already had a crew of PPR, flyover approvals, I mean everything necessary to have put the aircraft on the ground, had an hour's time on the ground, could have loaded our staff that were just -- our team, excuse me, that were just outside the gates, got them in, got them on and got them out. And that was the original plan.
That was thwarted by the State Department and the DOD where they essentially tried to deny our PPR, put us in pattern for 15 minutes and then even said, “if you land this aircraft that we are going to take the aircraft certificate, we’re going to ground the pilots, and even have an F-16 go ahead.”
Look, the bottom line is, that would have been 25 Americans. So, this land bordering crossing wouldn't have been necessary if they could have let us land at that time. On the second occasion, where we finally had to get those families out of Kabul and into a different location, they were manifested on another aircraft, that aircraft approved by the Taliban, had been approved by the DOD, had been approved by the State Department.
And right before the nth-hour when it was ready to fly, the State Department went ahead and canceled that flight or disapproved that flight because they wanted to “vet” [finger quotes] the manifest. Which I can understand and appreciate, but these are Americans who are basically being left behind.
Now, again, one of the statements that you made which I completely agree with, this isn't a time to throw mud and be a political animal that says, “Okay, the left did this or right did that.” We welcome the State Department's support. We actually received some of that support when we were in this bordering country once we were kind of on that 99-yard line.
I think the amazing guys I have been able to be on this team with -- I don't lead this team. I am not the organizer but I am a member of this team. And what we have been able to do here I think sets the white paper, the proof of concept that with a little bit of help from the U.S. government I think it's joint kind of public/private partnership that could help these Americans to get out.
(…)
Fox News Channel’s Special Report
September 7, 2021
6:02:03 p.m. Eastern(…)
DAVID SPUNT: More than 1,000 miles away, Secretary of State Tony Blinken in Doha, Qatar responded to accusation that Americans sitting on airplanes at Mazar-i-Sharif Airport are being held hostage.
SEC. OF STATE ANTONY BLINKEN: We are not aware of anyone being held on an aircraft or any hostage-like situation in Mazar-i-Sharif.
SPUNT: A mother and her three children, American citizens escaped by land yesterday. A veteran-run group helping facilitate the escape claims the State Department is wrongly taking credit. Cory Mills is part of the group and running for Congress.CORY MILLS (R-FL): This idea that, oh if you just show your passport we’ve gotten this great coordination with the Taliban, they're just letting you right through. Well I can tell with you absolute certainty that's not the case.
(…)
