been motivated by the increasing threat that the u.s. is seeing on the ground from isis-k, the offshoot of isis that operates in afghanistan, as well as the possibility for any confrontation with the taliban. what we heard from the pentagon to take is miking clear that that is the plan right now. they re still drafting those contingency plans that the president asked for if, in deed, there s a need to go past that august 31st deadline. interesting, john kirby, reiterated what the president said, every afghan interpreter, siv applicant who is at the airport will be able to get on the plane. he made that commitment. that s something we ll have to watch. kirby also said that 4,400 americans have been evacuated so far. we re waiting to hear from secretary of state anthony blinker next hour who is expected to give a projection of how many americans still remain to be withdrawn.
the united states congress talking to airport managers, gate guards, helping american citizens avoid taliban checkpoints. just before coming here one of my team told me that an siv applicant with visa in hand had their phone taken from them and smashed from the taliban and told to be turned around. the reason retired special forces officers and intelligence officials are taking matters into their own hands because it is not going well because of such a lack of leadership and clarity from this administration that we re having to do whatever it takes to get americans out and to save those that stood with us. so we re on the cusp, harris, of having the biggest mass hostage situation in american history. it will make 1979 in tehran look like a sleep over. you ll have thousands of americans left behind that the taliban will then have for leverage when they want international recognition.
making that day a big day, so he backed it up to august 31st. it wasn t based on any necessary issue except that they picked that. i look at this and i go, that needs to be the commitment. we re going to leave when every player khan that wants to get out is out, when every afghan siv applicant is out. we re not going to be kowtowed to what the taliban want us to do. by the way, the isis threat doesn t necessarily increase after august 31st. it is a persistent and real threat. but very have a commitment to make. our military, by the way, is fully capable of really doing good stuff like this and also defending these people as well. there s an important question from a reporter in this briefing who asked about vulnerable afghans who are afraid for their lives under taliban rule, though they are not the siv applicants, not p1, not p2 they re not in the line that the
also been in contact with an additional 500. so it s more like a pool of 1,000 who we are reaching out to multiple times a day through multiple communication channels phone, text, email, whatsapp, et cetera. as i noted earlier we also have an expectation there are a number of these individuals, dual nationals, people who may have extended family, who may not have made the decision to part at this point in time. one of my colleagues asked you and you said you didn t want to provide a cap as it relates to afghan allies who are still seeking to leave the country right now. recognizing you don t want to provide a cap can you provide us a baseline? what is the stated goal as provided to the president of the number you estimate it is at least as many as so there s some context for these numbers of 80,000-plus people evacuated? that is similar to me giving a cap. there are people not yet through the process who may not count as an siv applicant at this point in time or may be eligible f
0 these are known passport holders. okay. but have have lprs also been contacted? yes. and what about siv applicants, people who are we re in contact will we get i m sorry. i don t expect you to have all of it, but then, you know, since this whole thing began there s been a lot of criticism of the administration over how it handled it and there s been a lot of pushback from people within the administration about the hand that you were basically dealt or what you say you were dealt by the previous to deal with the taliban in terms of the siv program in terms of the broader refugee program. you guys have been in office for eight months. it s been five months since the president s decision was made. is there anything about the shortcomings have about been so readily identified by all sorts of people that you are actually willing to take responsibility for yourselves? thanks, matt. let me say two things. with regards to numbers in these different categories, as you ve