Top Stories this AM: Ted Cruz's book bamboozle; Trump calls the Taliban 'good fighters'; the ballad of Darth Gator

Good morning and welcome to your weekday morning roundup of the top stories you need to know.

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What's going on today:

• Taliban promises safe passage. The White House says the Taliban has pledged to allow civilians safe passage out of Afghanistan. Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander of US troops in Kabul, told Taliban leaders that interference in the evacuation would be met with "overwhelming force."
• Trump praises the Taliban. Trump calls the Taliban 'good fighters' who are 'really smart,' and erroneously claims the group has been around for 1,000 years. Trump also told Fox News host Sean Hannity the Taliban had been fighting for "1,000 years," but the group was only formed in1994 in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
• Oh, Ted. Ted Cruz's campaign purchased $153,000 in books from an online bookseller in the 2 months after his latest book came out. The senator received a $320,000 advance for his book from the book's publisher, Regnery Publishing.
• "Alarming" injuries in Bauer case. Forensic nurse who examined Trevor Bauer's accuser after alleged sexual assault: "I had never seen that before." The nurse, Kelly Valencia, described the bruising on the woman's genitals as "red and purple." Valencia said on Tuesday: "It was frankly alarming."
• SIGH. Florida officials vote to punish school districts that defied Gov. DeSantis' ban on mask mandates. Members of the state's Board of Education, who are appointed by the governor, voted to penalize two school districts that kept mask mandates.
• Don't try this at home, kids. A Utah man wrestled with an 8-foot alligator named 'Darth Gator' to rescue the handler who was caught in its jaws. "I told my buddies that now Darth and I are literally one because he's got my blood running through his veins," handler Lindsay Bull said.
• That's all for now. See you tomorrow.