desperate to leave. several thousand came storming in. the marines didn t know who was coming at them, according to witnesses i have spoken to. they thought maybe it was taliban. they rushed out in small numbers then larger numbers to push them back, things escalated. there were clashes. marines took out weapons. they were firing in the air, trying to disburse crowds. but crowds did not disburse. some hung on to the bottom of the c-17 transport, and according to witnesses, as it took off, at least two people fell to their deaths, fell from about 400 feet. richard engle. nbc news, kabul. i want to bring in nbc s chief white house correspondent peter alexander. courtney kube who covers the pentagon for us, and ronald newman, former u.s. ambassador to afghanistan and president of the american academy of diplomacy as well as peter baker, chief white house correspondent for new york