Above, you see hundreds of desperate Afghans running alongside a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane as it took off from Kabul yesterday.

• The amateur video played around the world, and this photo is atop front pages across America, making it a defining image of the exit debacle — and, many Democrats fear, Joe Biden's presidency.

A legendary Democratic operative, and strong Biden supporter, told me: "Americans also wanted the Vietnam War to end. But its ending was traumatic and scarring, and definitely contributed to the impression that [President] Ford was bumbling and not in control of events."

• Leon Panetta, SecDef and CIA director under President Obama, told CNN's John King: "I think of John Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs [botched Cuba invasion in 1961]. It unfolded quickly and the president thought that everything would be fine. And that was not the case." 
• David Axelrod tweeted after Biden's speech yesterday that the president "made a compelling case for WHY we are leaving Afghanistan ... He didn’t do as well taking responsibility for HOW we got out, and the obvious failure to anticipate events."

A senior national security official expressed deep frustration to Axios' Hans Nichols about withdrawal plans left behind by President Trump.

• "There was no [Trump] plan to evacuate our diplomats to the airport," the official said. "When we got in, on Jan. 20, we saw that the cupboard was bare." Keep reading.

Some House and Senate Democrats want part of their $3.5 trillion budget plan to go to refugee resettlement for those fleeing Afghanistan, Axios' Sarah Mucha, Alexi McCammond and Hans Nichols report.

• Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) called for the U.S. to "marshal an international coalition to evacuate every Afghan citizen who is fleeing for their lives." Keep reading.

📺 Coming attractions: President Biden sits down tomorrow with ABC's George Stephanopoulos. Tonight at 9 p.m. ET, Fox News' Sean Hannity interviews former President Trump on Afghanistan and other topics.

• Catch up quick: Biden's speech yesterday, which led Axios PM.

The Biden administration is expected to recommend as soon as this week that most Americans get a booster shot eight months after their second Pfizer or Moderna dose, Axios' Caitlin Owens reports.

• Officials also expect to recommend an additional dose of the single-shot J&J, but are still waiting for more data.
• The first boosters would likely be prioritized for those vaccinated early in the initial rollout, including nursing home residents, people 65 and older, and health care workers.

Most Americans support mandating masks in schools, and vaccinations to return to the workplace — and oppose state bans on either, managing editor Margaret Talev writes from the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

• But Republicans go against that grain so disproportionately that it helps explain the defiant postures of many red-state governors.

57% of Republicans support state prohibitions against local mask mandates, like those in Florida and Texas, compared to 16% of Democrats.

• Midwesterners are most critical of mandates.

Keep reading.

This stunning photo shows 640 passengers crammed into a U.S. Air Force C-17 that safely evacuated them from Kabul on Sunday, after the panicked Afghans rushed the massive cargo plane's half-open ramp.

• Instead of trying to force the refugees off, "the crew made the decision to go," a defense official told Defense One.

God bless that crew — and these Afghans abroad!

Former President George W. Bush, who began the 20-year war in Afghanistan, said in an overnight statement with Laura Bush: "Our hearts are heavy for both the Afghan people who have suffered so much and for the Americans and NATO allies who have sacrificed so much."

• "The Afghans now at greatest risk are the same ones who have been on the forefront of progress inside their nation," they continued.
• "The United States government has the legal authority to cut the red tape for refugees during urgent humanitarian crises. And we have the responsibility and the resources to secure safe passage for them now, without bureaucratic delay. "

Speaking to the military and veterans, the Bushes said:

Many of you deal with wounds of war, both visible and invisible. ... You kept America safe from further terror attacks, provided two decades of security and opportunity for millions, and made America proud. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Read the statement.

In season two of our hit investigative podcast, "How it Happened," Axios space reporter Miriam Kramer will take listeners inside the story of the Inspiration4 mission — the first space flight to orbit without professional astronauts.

• The podcast will chronicle the selection of four civilians and their training at SpaceX headquarters, ahead of a planned launch date of Sept. 15.
• Kramer brings listeners into conversations with the crew as they grapple with the risks of space travel and prepare their families for a mission that will shape the future of private space travel.

Listen now to the prologue, and subscribe to hear the new season when it launches on Aug. 31.

• Sign up to receive an email alert when the first episode drops.

These are satellite images of Boulder Harbor Launch Ramp at Lake Mead in Boulder City, Nev., on May 18, 2020, and on July 17 this year.

• See more pics.

CNN's Chris Cuomo told viewers in his first show back from vacation that "when the time came," he urged his brother, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to resign over his sexual harassment scandal.

• Why it matters: Cuomo took part in a series of calls with the governor's team strategizing how to respond.

Cuomo said during last night's close: "I'm not an adviser. I'm a brother. I wasn't in control of anything."

• "[M]y advice to my brother was simple and consistent: Own what you did, tell people what you'll do to be better, be contrite, and finally, accept that it doesn't matter what you intended."

For "Peril," coming Sept. 21, Bob Woodward and Washington Post colleague Robert Costa interviewed 200+ people at the center of the transition from President Trump to President Biden, which the authors call "one of the most dangerous periods in American history."

• "'Peril' is supplemented throughout with never-before-seen material from secret orders, transcripts of confidential phone calls, diaries, emails, meeting notes and other personal and government records," Simon & Schuster says in its announcement.

The title comes from Biden's inaugural address, which referred to "this winter of peril and possibility."

High Christmas demand is expected to clog already backed-up shipping channels, Linh Ta of Axios Des Moines reports.

• Why it matters: This year, procrastination could leave you giftless.

Companies will suffer bottleneck supply and demand through 2021 as they scrounge for raw materials, shipping containers and labor, says Jennifer Blackhurst, University of Iowa professor of business analytics.

• Nintendo Switch is among the "at risk" items.