OK, now back to your regularly scheduled Afghanistan programming. EVACUATION FLIGHTS NOT GUARANTEED TO BE FREE: Even though U.S. officials tell NatSec Daily and others that evacuation flights from Kabul will be free, people trying to catch a plane in the Afghan capital say differently. One person said State Department staff were seeking large payments — up to $2,000 — from American passengers and even more from non-U.S. citizens. When we relayed what this person told us to the State Department, a spokesperson didn’t deny that this is happening. “U.S. law requires that evacuation assistance to private U.S. citizens or third country nationals be provided ‘on a reimbursable basis to the maximum extent practicable.’ The situation is extremely fluid, and we are working to overcome obstacles as they arise,” the spokesperson said. In other words, the Biden administration may request payments for evacuation flights. JOE AND GEORGE ON THE WITHDRAWAL: If you haven’t watched or read Biden’s interview with ABC News’ GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS from last night and this morning, then here are the highlights. Biden would have withdrawn from Afghanistan without the Trump-Taliban deal. Stephanopoulos: “So would you have withdrawn troops like this even if President Trump had not made that deal with the Taliban?” Biden: “I would’ve tried to figure out how to withdraw those troops, yes. Because look, George, there is no good time to leave Afghanistan. Fifteen years ago would’ve been a problem. Fifteen years from now. The basic choice is, am I going to send your sons and your daughters to war in Afghanistan in perpetuity?” Biden says U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan until all Americans are out. Biden: “We’re going to do everything in our power to get all Americans out and our allies out.” Stephanopoulos: “Does that mean troops will stay beyond Aug. 31 if necessary?” Biden: “It depends on where we are and whether we can get — ramp these numbers up to 5,000 to 7,000 a day coming out. If that’s the case, they’ll all be out.” Stephanopoulos: “Because we’ve got, like, 10,000 to 15,000 Americans in the country right now, right? And are you committed to making sure that the troops stay until every American who wants to be out…” Biden: “Yes.” Stephanopoulos: “… is out?” Biden: “Yes.” Biden says some military aides didn't advise him to keep troops in Afghanistan. Stephanopoulos: “But your top military advisers warned against withdrawing on this timeline. They wanted you to keep about 2,500 troops.” Biden: “No, they didn’t. It was split. That wasn’t true. That wasn’t true.” Stephanopoulos: “They didn’t tell you that they wanted troops to stay?” Biden: “No. Not in terms of whether we were going to get out, in a timeframe, all troops. They didn’t argue against that.” Stephanopoulos: “So no one told — your military advisers did not tell you, ‘No, we should just keep 2,500 troops. It’s been a stable situation for the last several years. We can do that. We can continue to do that.’” Biden: “No. No one said that to me, that I can recall.” AMERICANS NOT IN KABUL CURRENTLY S.O.L.: When Biden and administration officials say U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan until all Americans are evacuated, what they really mean is, as of this moment, they will stay until all Americans in Kabul are evacuated. Multiple officials NatSec Daily spoke to are enraged there’s no effort right now to rescue Americans who can’t make it to the capital for an evacuation flight. An alert sent yesterday by the U.S. Embassy in Kabul stated emphatically: “THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT CANNOT ENSURE SAFE PASSAGE TO THE HAMID KARZAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.” There are multiple reports of Americans and Afghans struggling to get past the Taliban and beyond the barbed wire surrounding militants’ checkpoints. Some even detail attacks by the Taliban on people trying to get in. The administration’s defenders point to a tweet by national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN, in which he states that getting “all Americans out of Afghanistan” is “exactly what we’ll do.” But so far, no one can or will detail such a plan, including other top administration officials. “The forces that we have are focused on the security of the airfield,” Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN said during a Wednesday news briefing. “I don’t have the capability to go out and extend operations currently into Kabul. And where do you take that? I mean, how far can you extend into Kabul, you know? And how long does it take to flow those forces in to be able to do that?” However, Gen. MARK MILLEY, the Joint Chiefs chair, did say immediately after that “there’ll be another time when we can discuss future operations.” In the meantime, Maj. Gen. WILLIAM TAYLOR announced Thursday that U.S. warplanes are flying over Kabul to ensure the security of those rushing to the airport. “The F-18 jets are flying continuously in support of the U.S. efforts to evacuate Americans and allies from Afghanistan,” he said. IT’S THURSDAY: Thanks for tuning in to POLITICO’s newsletter on the national security politics roiling Washington. NatSec Daily is for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Please share this subscription link with a colleague or friend. 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