Biden will give White House speech on Afghan fiasco at 1pm today as US scraps plans to charge Kabul evacuees $2k for flights after outrage and Pentagon claims 6,000 are ready to fly

Joe Biden will speak to the nation on Friday at 1pm ET from the White House
He is expected to address ‘the evacuation of American citizens and their families, SIV applicants and their families, and vulnerable Afghans’
A SIV is a Special Immigrant Visa, available for Afghan translators
Biden is coming under intense pressure to address the chaotic scenes this week in Kabul and answer why there was not better preparation
On Thursday night 6,000 people will leave the country on U.S. flights, the Pentagon say – taking the total to 10,000 evacuated
Biden said on Wednesday night they believe there are 15,000 Americans and 50-65,000 Afghans who the U.S. hope to evacuate
The White House say they will extend the deadline for withdrawal beyond August 31 if the evacuation is not complete, but hope to accomplish it by then
On Thursday the State Department was forced to scrap plans to charge each evacuee $2,000 to cover the cost of their transport