A bit of a water leak 2001 Jetta

Hello All,
There was a really heavy downpour for about 10 minutes. I went out to hop in my car and noticed that there was a little leak (half and ounce or so) coming from the hood release catch on the driver's side. I pushed the little rubber things in the doorwell and a lot of water came out. Was this the culprit behind the leak? And, by the way, what the hell are those little rubber things anyhow?
Thanks,
Loren

Are you talking about the rubber sunroof drains at the front & center of the door jamb, between the hinges? If clogged the will back up water into the car.

Yeah, I guess that's what those things are. When I opened the end of them up by pinching them, there was some dark liquid (looked like rotted leaves in a gutter) that came out followed by quite a bit of water. I just thought the sunroof drains would be somewhere else. Would these cause water to drip down by the hood release though? Thanks for the help.