Pentagon asks commercial airlines to assist Afghanistan evacuation efforts
22 August 2021
The Pentagon said Sunday it is formally seeking assistance from commercial airlines to help relocate evacuees from Afghanistan.
Driving the news: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has activated the first stage of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF), asking 18 commercial aircraft from several airlines to support the U.S. military in its efforts to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies. It's the third time a CRAF was activated in the program's history.
The big picture: The Biden administration has vowed to use "every means" to evacuate at-risk individuals amid reports of a deteriorating situation at Kabul's airport.
- The Pentagon had issued a warning order to commercial airlines Saturday.
Details: The activation formally requests three aircraft each from American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines and Omni Air; two from Hawaiian Airlines and four from United airlines.
- The commercial aircraft would not fly into Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, but instead solely focus on evacuees who have already gotten out of the country, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in an emailed statement.
- Kirby added that that the department does not anticipate a major impact on commercial flights.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.