safe passage for those who want to come out. but this poses a risk. it is the taliban who ultimately is deciding this deadline, because the group says the us and allied forces have to leave by the end of the month or face consequences. the biden administration is confident it can make the deadline and that whoever wants to leave will be able to. since august the 14th, he says, more than 70,000 people, including afghan allies, have been flown out of harm's way. the us has already begun to leave and, as hundreds of soldiers fly back home, the numbers of desperate people arriving at kabul airport keeps increasing. just under a week is all they have to get out, as the taliban tightens its grip on afghanistan. nomia iqbal, bbc news, washington.