CNN Politics

CNN's Jake Tapper speaks with US veterans about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and subsequent Taliban takeover.

Defending the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, President Joe Biden said at the White House on Friday: "Look, let's put this thing in perspective. What interest do we have in Afghanistan at this point, with al Qaeda gone? We went to Afghanistan for the express purpose of getting rid of al Qaeda in Afghanistan as well as -- as well as -- getting Osama bin Laden. And we did."

The US military used helicopters to evacuate a group of Americans from a hotel near Kabul's airport, according to a Pentagon spokesman who provided new details about the mission that was first revealed by President Joe Biden in his speech on Friday.

On Capitol Hill, congressional offices have transformed their constituent services into a desperate attempt to get vulnerable Afghans and US citizens into the Kabul airport.

Chaotic scenes played out around Kabul airport again on Friday as thousands desperate to leave Afghanistan sought to reach evacuation flights.

A federal appeals court on Friday said that it would not block the Biden administration's latest eviction moratorium.

A North Carolina man who was taken into custody after allegedly threatening to detonate a bomb near the US Capitol on Thursday is expected in court Friday for his initial appearance, the Justice Department said.

The US military cargo plane whose hold filled with Afghans evacuating their country captured in a now famous photo flew more than 800 people on board, far more than originally confirmed by the US Air Force, according to the crew who flew the mission.

As the number of new coronavirus cases in his state soars, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is betting that an aggressive campaign against mandatory mask-wearing in schools will harden the Republican base ahead of his expected re-election bid next year -- and make him a GOP star nationwide as the party's 2024 presidential primary comes into view.

A Tennessee man who was a deputy sheriff on January 6 and wore his sheriff's vest to the US Capitol is now behind bars after being charged in one of the most notorious police assaults from the insurrection.

"Glass ceiling? Ha! What glass ceiling? Women, women exaggerate the problem of sexism," radio host Larry Elder said in a 1996 ad for his radio show.

The US is extending non-essential travel restrictions at its land borders with Canada and Mexico through at least September 21, the Department of Homeland Security announced Friday, citing the Delta variant of the coronavirus.

Vice President Kamala Harris faces a steep challenge next week when she travels to Singapore and Vietnam, as a once-low-risk trip to friendly nations comes at the same time as a bungled US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Some Republicans see the fallout over the US exit from Afghanistan as their new Benghazi -- a foreign policy blunder ripe for investigation that could provide just the political ammunition they need to dent a popular Democratic President.

America's kids, more vulnerable than ever to Covid-19 and in the crossfire of a political war over masks, are going back to class in a timeless rite transformed into a moment of fear by the pandemic that interrupted their childhood.

A former Trump administration official said Thursday evening that the Biden administration's decision to stick with the US' 2020 agreement with the Taliban is "why we are where we are now" and that the US has "literally pulled the rug out from under the Afghans."

A suspect who claimed to have an explosive device in a truck near the US Capitol has surrendered to authorities, two law enforcement sources tell CNN.

Texas House Democrats have ended their historic quorum break, undertaken to block restrictive voting legislation, which now paves the way for a Republican-backed election overhaul bill to pass in the Lone Star State.

A group of US diplomats wrote a classified cable to Secretary of State Antony Blinken in mid-July warning that swift action needed to be taken because they believed the situation in Afghanistan could rapidly deteriorate and they feared a catastrophe.

The US Education Department announced Thursday it will cancel $5.8 billion in outstanding student loans for borrowers who are unable to work because of permanent disabilities.