The U.S. incarceration rate in 2019 dropped to its lowest since 1995, according to new data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Why it matters: Mass incarceration has gained prominence as a criminal and racial justice issue in recent years, with activists and lawmakers calling it a "stain on our democracy." Black people are vastly overrepresented in U.S. prisons.
Amid roiling fear and pleas for help from Afghanistan, Afghan journalist Nazira Karimi demanded answers from the White House at a press briefing Monday.
What she's saying: "I'm very upset today, because Afghan women didn't expect that overnight all the Taliban came. They took off my flag," she said, motioning to a face mask with the Afghanistan flag's design. "And they put their flag. ... Afghan people, they don't know what to do."
The National Park Service announced on Monday that all visitors and employees will be required to wear a mask inside NPS buildings and in crowded outdoor spaces, regardless of vaccination status.
The big picture: Coronavirus restrictions in the parks were relaxed earlier this year but the new policy will go immediately into effect.
Three major news organizations on Monday urged the White House to help evacuate more than 200 journalists and staff members in Afghanistan after the country's government collapsed.
Driving the news: The publishers of the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times asked President Biden to have journalists moved to the safer military side of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul as they prepare to board flights.
Amid rising fear and chaos in Afghanistan, President Biden staunchly stood by the decision to leave the country on Monday afternoon, saying the U.S. mission there was always “narrowly focused on counterterrorism, not counterinsurgency or nation-building."
Why it matters: Speaking from the White House's East Room, Biden said he will not pass on the conflict to a fifth U.S. president and that the U.S. would no longer fight a war that is "not in our national security interest."
FormerRepublican Rep. Paul Mitchell has died at age 64 after a battle with renal cancer, his family said in a statement provided to CNN on Monday.
The big picture: Mitchell, who hailed from Michigan, left the GOP in 2020 due to efforts to overturn the election and former President Donald Trump's false election fraud claims.
A Tennessee investigation found evidence that the state's fired vaccine chief, Michelle Fiscus, purchased a dog muzzle that she previously claimed someone had mailed in an attempt to intimidate her.
Why it matters: Fiscus, who denied sending herself the muzzle in a Monday tweet, has characterized her firing as a political move driven by Republican state officials after she shared a memo citing state law about whether adolescents can seek medical care, including a COVID vaccine, without their parents' permission.
The Biden administration on Monday announced a major permanent increase to food assistance benefits, providing additional aid to low-income families.
Why it matters: It's the largest increase in the history of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), with average monthly benefits set to rise by around $36 per person.
Why it matters: The U.S.'s exit from the country was the opposite of the orderly withdrawal that President Biden had promised when he announced the full military withdrawal earlier this year.
The latest: At least seven people were killed during the chaos, including several people who plunged to their deaths after clinging on to a U.S. military jet that took off from the runway. The U.S. temporarily suspended evacuations to secure the airfield.
President Biden will return to the White House from Camp David and deliver an address on the crisis in Afghanistan at 3:45pm ET on Monday,following the collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban's declaration of victory.
Why it matters: Biden has faced intense criticism for his silence as the Taliban captured Kabul and chaos erupted at the city's international airport, where the U.S. is attempting to evacuate thousands of Afghans who assisted the military during the 20-year war.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a formal investigation into Tesla's Autopilot function after a series of crashes involving emergency vehicles.
The big picture: The probe will cover all of Tesla's current models, an estimated 765,000 vehicles. The agency has identified 11 crashes since 2018, where Tesla vehicles on Autopilot struck first responders who had used flashing lights, flares or road cones. At least 17 people were injured and one person died in the crashes, according to NHTSA.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday that President Biden did not believe it was "inevitable" that the Taliban would take control of Afghanistan, laying the blame at the feet of the Afghan security forces who "decided not to step up and fight for their country."
Why it matters: Biden is under fire for comments he made just over a month ago, when he dismissed comparisons to the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam and said it was "highly unlikely" that the Taliban would control the entire country.
The Taliban's lightning seizureof Afghanistan's capital yesterday exposed stunning failures of American intelligence, imagination and execution that will be studied as long as people study history.
The big picture: The United States was literally run out of town after 20 years, $1 trillion and 2,448 service members' lives lost.
Taliban leaders declared Monday "the war is over," after taking control of Afghanistannearly 20 years on from the militant group fleeing a U.S.-led coalition march into Kabul.
Driving the news: The declaration to Al Jazeera came after the Taliban seized the presidential palace in Kabul on Sunday, and following the U.S. evacuation of the American Embassy on Monday. The U.S. was taking over air traffic control at Kabul's airport, where chaotic scenes were reported Monday, as foreigners and Afghan citizens attempted to flee.
The Texas Supreme Court granted an emergency stay to the state's Republican governor, Greg Abbott, over his ban on face mask mandates on Sunday.
Why it matters: The stay overrides lower court rulings in favor of local authorities in the counties of Dallas and Bexar, which includes San Antonio, to temporarily impose mask mandates despite Abbott's May executive order.
The U.S. and over 60 countries issued a joint statement Sunday saying Afghans and international citizens who wish to leave the country should be allowed to do so, with airports and border crossings remaining open.
Driving the news: The statement was issued as the U.S. completed its evacuation of American Embassy staff and prepared to take over Kabul airport's air traffic control to fly personnel out of Afghanistan after the Taliban swept into the capital earlier in the day.
