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Afghanistan updates: US, Taliban hold first direct talks since withdrawal
State Dept. spokesperson Ned Price called the talks "candid and professional."
It's been more than a month since the U.S. withdrew all U.S. troops from Afghanistan on President Joe Biden's order to leave by Aug. 31, ending a chaotic evacuation operation after the Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban seized control of the country.
In testimony to Congress last month, their first since the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Afghanistan -- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley and Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, candidly admitted that they had recommended to Biden that the U.S. should keep a troop presence there, appearing to contradict his assertions to ABC News' George Stephanopoulos.
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ABC: Biden says he did not see a way to withdraw from Afghanistan without 'chaos ensuing'
In an exclusive interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, and the president's first since the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, Biden stood firm in his defense of the United States' withdrawal, but asserted for the first time that he believes the chaos was unavoidable.
"So you don't think this could have been handled -- this exit could have been handled better in any way, no mistakes?" Stephanopoulos asked Biden.
"No, I don't think it could have been handled in a way that, we're gonna go back in hindsight and look -- but the idea that somehow, there's a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, I don't know how that happens. I don't know how that happened," Biden replied.
"So for you, that was always priced into the decision?" Stephanopoulos asked.
"Yes," Biden replied, but then amended his answer.
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-ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky
American denied entry at airport: Afghan official
An Afghan government official told ABC News they were contacted by several Americans Wednesday after citizens received an email alert from the State Department directing them to go to Hamid Karzai International Airport for evacuations -- and that the agency "cannot ensure safe passage."
But at least one American passport holder and one green card holder were denied entry by U.S. personnel, even with an official access pass, apparently issued by the State Department.
It comes after Deputy Secretary Wendy Sherman said in a State Department briefing she had not personally heard of Americans being unable to access the airport.
-ABC News' Cindy Smith
Defense officials not expanding airport perimeter in Kabul
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reiterated that the U.S. military is still focused on the airport in Kabul when asked at a Pentagon briefing whether there is a plan to secure the areas outside of the airfield to allow safe passage for evacuees, implying such a move might take away from needed security at the airport.
"In terms of whether or not we intend to send forces outside of the airfield to collect up American citizens or Afghans who are Special Immigrant Visa applicants, the forces that we have are focused on security of the airfield," he said. "I don't want to detract from that area."
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said it would be a "policy decision" whether to send troops to go into town to escort evacuees to the airport but that the military does have the capabilities.
But Austin said that such capabilities only apply to narrow missions, adding, "I don't have the capability to go out and extend operations currently into Kabul."
In the meantime, Austin said more military assistance is being pushed to the entry points to help get more people processed, saying, "It's obvious we're not close to where we want to be in terms of getting the numbers through."
"We're going to get everyone that we can possibly be evacuated, evacuated, and I'll do that as long as we possibly can, until the clock runs out or we run out of capability," Austin said.
The defense secretary said Pentagon officials "have been pretty prudent in terms of thinking ahead and planning for contingencies, and we're executing one of those plans right now."
Austin also said, in prepared remarks at the top of the briefing, the U.S. has "a moral obligation to help those who helped us -- and I feel the urgency deeply."
Top Pentagon officials give update on unfolding crisis
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters during a press conference at the Pentagon on Wednesday there have been "no hostile interactions with the Taliban" and confirmed the U.S. military is still in contact with Taliban commanders as the U.S. races to evacuates thousands of Americans and Afghans from the country.
Austin also addressed the strong concerns surrounding the military withdrawal that U.S. veterans of the war have recently expressed.
"Afghan war veterans aren't some monolith. I'm hearing strong views from all sides on this issue. And that's probably the way that it should be. What's important is that each of us will work our way through this in our own way," Austin said.
America's top general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, took the podium after Austin, and said that while members of the Taliban are in and around Kabul, they are not interfering with U.S. operations.
Milley said it's not the time for after-action reports and said he knew of no intelligence reports warning of a collapse at the speed seen.
"There was nothing that I or anyone else saw that indicated a collapse of this army in this government in 11 days," he said.
There are about 4,500 U.S. troops at the airport and about 5,000 people have been evacuated, Milley said.