Biden leaves behind US-sponsored journalists he promised to evacuate from Afghanistan: LIVE UPDATES
The United States was unable to evacuate U.S.-sponsored journalists from Afghanistan despite the Biden administration promising to get them out of the country.
Coverage for this event has ended.
Over 31,000 people have arrived in the US from Afghanistan since August 17
A Department of Homeland Security Spokesperson told Fox News that 31,107 people have arrived in the United States from Afghanistan since Aug. 17.
Of those, 4,446 (14%) are U.S. Citizens. Another 2,785 (9%) are U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents, while 23,876 (77%) are other Afghans at Risk.
The Afghans at risk include SIV and other visa holders, SIV applicants, and P-1 and P-2 referrals.
"This group includes a small number of third country nationals that were also evacuated and processed," the spokesperson said. "This breakdown will change as early flights were more heavily weighted towards U.S. Citizens."
CBS completely avoids Biden-Afghanistan fallout on evening broadcast, talks TX abortion law
The turmoil in Afghanistan appears to be yesterday's news, at least according to Wednesday night's installment of "CBS Evening News."
The CBS program completely ignored the latest developments surrounding President Biden's military withdrawal from Afghanistan and the fallout since he took a victory lap from the White House.
Among several controversies plaguing the Biden administration include the hundreds of U.S. citizens who were left stranded in the Taliban-controlled country following the Aug. 31 deadline and the controversial phone call Biden reportedly had with then-Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in July, suggesting the president knowingly misled the country about the stability of Afghanistan ahead of the troop withdrawal.
Effort underway to rescue girls soccer team from Afghanistan
They move from place to place at a moment's notice in a desperate bid to evade the Taliban — girls whose lives are in danger simply because they chose to play a sport they loved.
An international effort to evacuate members of the Afghanistan national girls soccer team, along with dozens of family members and soccer federation staff, suffered a crushing setback last week after a suicide bombing at the Kabul airport killed 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members during a harrowing airlift.
Cain: From Afghanistan to left-wing riots, Democrats 'create a silver lining' Americans must ignore
Democrats and liberals have a penchant for ignoring the empirical facts of various crises and instead inventing – rather than simply alluding to – a "silver lining" to absolve them of any responsibility and deflect from the truth, "The Five" host Will Cain said Tuesday.
With the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan that left 13 military servicemembers dead and untold numbers of American citizens stranded with a terrorist regime running the country, President Joe Biden and his administration sought to underline the fact the U.S. was leaving the country after a 20-year war:
Nikki Haley slams 'softball' questions asked to Milley, Austin
Former U.S. ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley joined "America Reports" to react to the press conference with the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on the crisis in Afghanistan.
NIKKI HALEY: I was really disturbed by that press conference because all they did was talk about was how they closed this out. It was like they wanted a pat on the back. It’s like they wanted to say that this book was closed. The book is not closed because you have hundreds of thousands of Americans still sitting there in Afghanistan that need to get out, so this book is not closed and it goes against the moral code of the military, which is you leave no American behind. So, Austin and Milley know that. They know that every military veteran, combat veteran like my husband, is still thinking about the Americans that were left behind, still thinking about the Afghan allies that are behind so to imply that this book is closed, to say that you’re going to a diplomatic operation, is implying that you’re going to a hostage situation. There’s nothing comforting about that.
People stranded in Afghanistan will be provided 'tailored' evacuation routes: State Department
The State Department on Wednesday sought to reassure those stuck in Afghanistan, saying they it will provide "tailored" evacuation plans to get them out of the Taliban-controlled nation.
"These efforts did not end on Aug. 31 and they will not end until we have secured the evacuation of any American citizen and LPRs [Legal Permanent Resident] and folks who worked with us and served the American people and want to get out," State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters.
MSNBC's Chris Hayes downplays Biden's phone call with Ghani: 'Not a scandal'
MSNBC host Chris Hayes is appearing to minimize the controversial leaked phone call President Biden had with then-Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, which suggested the president knowingly perpetuated a false narrative amid the military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
According to a transcript of the July 23 presidential call reviewed by Reuters, Biden didn’t anticipate the Taliban’s rapid advance across Afghanistan, which ended when they stormed Kabul on Aug. 15 and Ghani fled the presidential palace. Instead, Biden focused much of the 14-minute call on the Afghan government’s "perception" problem, Reuters reported.
"I need not tell you the perception around the world and in parts of Afghanistan, I believe, is that things are not going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban," Biden said. "And there is a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture."
AOC defends Biden as president takes criticism for stranding Americans in Afghanistan
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday defended President Biden for his "courageous decision" to withdraw from Afghanistan.
The Democratic congresswoman's defense of Biden comes amid intense criticism of the president's handling of the withdrawal, which resulted in hundreds of Americans being stranded in Afghanistan.
Ocasio-Cortez shared a video of past remarks in which she blasted a military contractor over the profit margins of a certain type of vehicular disc, suggesting that critics of the botched withdrawal are motivated by Department of Defense contracts.
Retired military leaders demand mass resignation of Biden team: Milley, Austin, Blinken, Sullivan
Three retired military leaders – including two generals – have called for the resignations of President Biden's top military and diplomatic officials, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, and national security advisor Jake Sullivan, in the wake of the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal.
"I think it’s a leadership failure in the White House, as well as in the State Department, as well as in the DOD," Lt. Gen. (Ret.) William "Jerry" Boykin told Fox News in an interview Wednesday. "I think we need to recognize it as such. I think the president has been a miserable failure on this."
Biden's Afghanistan speech written poorly with even worse delivery, experts say
Former government speechwriters and messaging experts are slamming President Biden over his address to the nation Tuesday, criticizing the president for his defensive delivery and contradictory statements, while the nation mourns the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and while Americans remain stranded in Afghanistan.
Biden delivered a fiery speech a day after U.S. troops fully exited from Afghanistan, taking full "responsibility" for the decision to remove troops, while also shifting blame onto former President Donald Trump and the Afghan security forces for the chaos and death that unfolded.
Biden's speech was poorly written and even more poorly delivered, communications experts told Fox News.
Clay Travis: Biden lying about Afghanistan mission being 'successful'
President Joe Biden isn’t being honest when he talks about Afghanistan, OutKick founder Clay Travis insisted.
"Biden labeled it an extraordinarily successful mission. That is a lie," Travis said in his latest video. "This was not an extraordinarily successful mission. This was the biggest American foreign policy failure of my life."
Psaki dodges questions about Biden pressing Afghan president to change 'perception'
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday dodged questions about a leaked phone call in which President Biden pressed former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to change the "perception" of the Taliban’s advancement in Afghanistan, "whether it is true or not," less than four weeks before Kabul fell to the terror group.
Asked during her daily press briefing to confirm the contents of the call, Psaki refused.
"Well, I'm not going to get into private, diplomatic conversations or leaked transcripts of phone calls," she said. "But what I can reiterate for you is that we have stated many times that no one anticipated … that the Taliban would be able to take over the country as quickly as they did or that the Afghan National Security Forces would fold as quickly as they did."
Austin, Milley hail military heroism in Afghanistan
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley hailed military heroism in Afghanistan, in the top Pentagon officials’ first public remarks since the complete withdrawal of U.S. military assets from the region.
"It's been a busy time for all of us in this department, a proud one and a solemn one, too," Austin said. "We have concluded our historic evacuation operation and ended the last mission of the U.S. war in Afghanistan."
Afghanistan on verge of humanitarian ‘catastrophe,’ World Food Programme warns
DOHA, Qatar - One-third of Afghanistan is facing food insecurity amid the Taliban takeover, according to the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP).
In an effort to address the impending crisis, WFP executive director David Beasley told Fox News his organization is looking to raise $200 million by the end of 2021.
"If we don’t preposition the food we need in those difficult areas that you can’t reach once winter sets in ... we could have a catastrophe," Beasley said.
The U.S. spent $278.4 million on Humvees for the Afghan National Army since January 2020. Many of them are now in Taliban hands.
Pentagon: 'Possible' US will work with Taliban against ISIS-K
Top Pentagon officials Wednesday said it is "possible" the United States will work with the Taliban against ISIS-K in Afghanistan, while warning that the Taliban are a "ruthless group from the past."
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley on Wednesday made their first public remarks since the complete withdrawal of U.S. military assets from Afghanistan.
Ex-CBS anchor Dan Rather crushed for tweet comparing pro-lifers to Taliban: 'Sheer stupidity'
Disgraced ex-CBS anchor Dan Rather was crushed by critics over a tweet attacking pro-life Americans who've also criticized the Biden administration for abandoning vulnerable women in Afghanistan amid its takeover by the Taliban.
"It’s worth noting that many of the same people attacking the Biden Administration for leaving women’s rights behind in Afghanistan are eager to control women’s bodies and choices in the United States," Rather tweeted Tuesday, in a clear comparison of pro-life Americans to the radical Taliban.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price holds a briefing
Click here to watch on Fox News at 2:45 p.m. ET.