'Flights plural?' CNN host presses Trump official for specifics on evacuation plan

CNN's John Berman pressed a State Department spokesman for specific details about the Trump administration's plan to evacuate Americans from the Middle East.

The government encouraged Americans to return home as Iran retaliates to joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes that have killed hundreds, including the country's senior leadership, but many Americans have complained they cannot find transportation or assistance.

"Any update on the number of flights that are out?" Berman asked. "Because all we've been told is a single chartered evacuation flight has taken off. Any more than that at this point?"

State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott declined to offer specifics, saying that could pose a security risk to the operations.

"Well, I can say charter flights are underway, but for operational reasons, we're limited by what we can say in terms of specifics," Pigott said. "We'll be continually updating people on those numbers throughout the day going forward in the days ahead. Our main priority is getting that information out about step.state.gov, the [phone] number I just mentioned to make sure that people are getting the information they need that are in the region. So we'll be updating those continually. But I can say, like you mentioned, the 20,000 Americans that have been able to return to the United States and the provision of direct assistance to nearly 10,000 Americans since this began because of that 24/7 task force."

Berman asked him to confirm at least one detail.

"But it's flights plural?" he asked. "It's flights with an S at this point, not just one? The reason I'm asking, Tommy, is because one of the questions has been other countries or countries were having multiple charter flights. They had a string of charter flights out, in some cases a day or two days before the United States, which is the one that launched this conflict. So why were other countries able to get this started more quickly?"

Pigott disagreed that the U.S. operation had been lacking in comparison to other countries.

"I don't accept that characterization of what we've been able to do here," Pigott said. "We saw the implementation of this task force immediately, and we also saw the assistance of Americans from the very beginning. That's why that 10,000 number is so important. Each one of these countries, of course, with a different situation that people are working with, people are actively overcoming in order to provide those security options where able. But we have seen Americans be able to return to United States since the beginning, we've been providing that direct security, that direct travel guidance from the very beginning."

He added that hundreds of Americans have already reached out proactively seeking assistance, but Berman pressed him again.

"Got it, but it is flights, plural with an S, just to be clear at this point?" Berman said.

"Yes, flights plural," Pigott agreed. "Again, for operational security reasons, I can't get into more details than that."

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