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Lou Dobbs Moneyline

America's New War: Dow Declines 144.27 to 8,759.13; Nasdaq Falls 27.28 to 1,527.80

Aired September 19, 2001 - 18:03   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everyone. An incredible comeback today on Wall Street. Investors cheered by news that more than 100 U.S. aircraft have been deployed to the Gulf region in America's new war.

The Dow Jones Industrials, which, at one point, had plunged more than 400 points, cutting its losses on that news to 144 points, remarkable turnaround in a day of almost record levels of trading. The Nasdaq down more than 100, closing just 27 points lower. The S&P 500 down 16 points on the day. For the day, the markets losing almost $200 billion of market value, nonetheless.

Investors still struggling with the economic fallout from the terrorist attacks. Boeing, among several companies today, announcing that it may lay off up to 30,000 workers. And worries about the economy prompting an extraordinary meeting in Washington today: Alan Greenspan. Robert Ruben, Lawrence Lindsey. Those three gathering to craft a package that might pump some much-needed life back into the economy.

Also tonight, we'll be talking with Kuwait's foreign minister about his country's position on the search for Osama bin Laden's financing, and we'll be joined by Ivan Seidenberg, the CEO of telephone company Verizon, on his company's incredible task of rewiring and restoring Wall Street.

America is scrambling today and deploying more than 100 aircraft headed for the Gulf region. Wolf Blitzer joins us now and has the latest developments -- Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you very much, Lou. The latest developments in America's new war include these. Today, the Pentagon is ordering dozens of combat aircraft deployed to the Persian Gulf region. It's the first visible movement of military forces concretely linked to the terrorist attacks last week.A top Pentagon official says more such movements will follow. The name of the mission: Operation Infinite Justice.

President Bush tomorrow will address a joint session of Congress. He made the announcement late this afternoon at the start of a meeting with the Congressional leadership. Mr. Bush said he will explain in his speech just who is behind the recent attacks against New York and Washington. American Airlines announced today it will cut at least 20,000 jobs. The airline is blaming a sharp drop in passenger service since the terror attacks, plus the cost of a new security procedure. United, Continental, U.S. Airways all have announced similar cuts.

With tens of thousands of Afghans fleeing in fear of military action, an Islamic Council meeting has broken for the evening without deciding whether or not to hand over Osama bin Laden, as demanded by Washington. A possible military strike on targets in Afghanistan has thousands of people there on the run.

Up to 15,000 Afghan refugees have arrived in the town of Quetta, Pakistan, just across the border with Afghanistan. United Nations is moving relief supplies toward the region.Inside Afghanistan, thousands of additional refugees have fled the cities for the countryside.

There's growing concern in the United States about hate crimes fueled by last week's terrorist attacks. In New York today, leaders of Jewish, Arab and community groups came together to call for an end to the backlash against Muslim, south Asian and Arab Americans.

IMAN TALIB ABDUR-RASHID, ISLAMIC LEADERSHIP COUNCIL: These attacks which, a week ago were small and sporadic, have now begun to spread. They are being visited upon those of us in the Muslim community, and those in other faith communities. Sikhs have suffered attacks, Arabs Christians have suffered attacks, and Hindus have suffered attacks, all here in New York City and in other states.

BLITZER: The FBI is investigating at least 40 hate crimes believed to be related to the terrorist attacks.

Breaking news anytime. Now back to Lou Dobbs and MONEYLINE in New York -- Lou.

DOBBS: Wolf, thank you. Wolf Blitzer.

And we have just learned Leo Mullins, the CEO of Delta Airlines, saying that Delta Airlines is the next airline to consider layoffs. Worries about this economy sending the Dow Jones Industrials today down more than 400 points in the session. News that the United States is deploying aircraft to the Persian Gulf region cutting that loss by the close to 144 points.

Christine Romans has the story from the New York Stock Exchange -- Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, a dramatic sell-off in the Dow, and then a dramatic snap-back rally, but in the end, the Dow still closing at a lowest level since late 1998, down 400-plus points at its worst, unnerved by worries about a global recession, then snapping back sharply in bargain hunting late in the day.

Profit warnings, though, hard for this market to put behind them. Eastman Kodak, falling to the lowest level since 1993, Honeywell, also down sharply here today. Hilton Hotels down another 65 cents -- the hospitality stocks hammered all week. And Viacom, the owner of CBS, saying its forfeited ad dollars for coverage in the past week or so, and that it was warning. "New York Times," EW Scripts (ph), Dow Jones, it's joining the ranks of other media companies as well -- Lou.

DOBBS: Christine, thank you.

The Nasdaq falling 27 points today, but it had been down as much as 100.

Greg Clarkin at the Nasdaq marketsite with the story -- Greg?

GREG CLARKIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Lou, it was a harrowing and nerve-racking day for Nasdaq traders as well. Again, we saw a steep sell-off by about 2:30 or so, the Nasdaq was down better than 100 points, closing in on 6 percent loss on the day. Then a sharp snap-back, right about the same time that the blue chips bounced as well. But the volume on the upside, not as strong as the volume on the downside.

What's really worrying folks again, amongst the political, economic backdrop, are profit warnings. We saw Adobe Systems today, coming out and saying the fourth quarter will be weaker than expected. That stock was off sharply. There are some other movers for you. Dell Computer staging a late-session comeback, and halving its losses. Oracle finished on the downside and 3Com, a couple pennies higher, before its earnings report.

Lou, back to you.

DOBBS: Greg, thank you very much. Understand the way some investors concerned about our slowing economy. The Federal Reserve today reporting more sluggishness in the economy, our trade deficit declining yet again on a record drop in exports.

That news, and other concerns, prompting an extraordinary gathering on Capitol Hill today. Alan Greenspan, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, and the president's chief economic adviser, Larry Lindsay -- all three coming together to find a way to jump-start a slowing economy.

Tim O'Brien has the report.

TIM O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, a number of important meetings in Washington today. After meeting with Congressional leaders, President Bush invited reporters into the Oval Office, where he acknowledged the country's economic problems have deepened, but expressed confidence that his administration will get the economy back on track.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going work with Congress to send a clear message to America, American workers, American business people, that this government will respond to this emergency.

(END VIDEO CLIP) O'BRIEN: Earlier, Congressional leaders got some insights into the country's economic problems, and a road map out of them, from an exceptional bipartisan panel of experts. Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan. Robert Rubin, the treasury secretary under President Clinton, and Lawrence Lindsey, President Bush's chief economic adviser.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who arranged the meeting, was asked whether the stimulus package will feature tax cuts or increased government spending.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R-IL), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We have not made that decision yet. We have gotten together. I've talk to various economists and people that are familiar and deal with this on a daily basis. We plan to continue that discussion and come up with a prudent plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: A plan that will likely feature both increased spending and tax cuts. Hastert himself is pushing to cut the capital gains to 15 percent. Democrats who oppose that would prefer to cut Social Security payroll taxes, or expand the president's tax rebate program to those who didn't earn enough income to benefit the first time around -- Lou.

DOBBS: Let me ask you, Tim, one name and person, conspicuous by absence, and that is Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill. Where was he in this meeting?

O'BRIEN: He was not at the meeting, and quite honestly, I can't tell you where he was. But he is going to be active in some negotiations tomorrow and we're going to be hearing from him. He will testifying on Capitol Hill.

DOBBS: And the reason for the former treasury secretary?

O'BRIEN: I think they want an appearance of bipartisanship. It's going to be critical, because there are some issues here that have been very controversial for a long time. And if they're going to get an economic stimulus package through Congress, they're going to have to have both Democrats and Republicans onboard. And Secretary Rubin could help accomplish that.

DOBBS: Certainly. Tim, thank you very much. Tim O'Brien from Washington.

Well, just one day before the terrorist attacks last week, one airline contributor, Lakshman Achuthan warned that our economy is in recession. Now, with an increase in earnings warnings and more layoffs, the picture is worsening. Lakshman Achuthan, from the Economic Cycle Research, joins us now.

Good to have you with us.

LAKSHMAN ACHUTHAN, ECONOMIC CYCLE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: Good evening.

DOBBS: Let's first start with the government bailout for the airline industry, the prospect of further stimulus from the federal government. Is the bailout appropriate?

ACHUTHAN: Well, if you have spending that happens quickly, then it will help to mitigate the downturn. I mean, I think that's the key. The difficulty with fiscal stimulus is that sometimes it takes longer than monetary policy, where you have an interest rate cut and it's immediate.

DOBBS: When you say quickly, and it sounds as though Congress and the White House are talking about quickly, what does that mean, quickly? Is that a matter of weeks? Months?

ACHUTHAN: That would be good. Seriously, weeks or months, to mitigate the downturn. We're in the recession that began sometime in the first or second quarter. And I think this is a very important point, because some of the commentary almost gives credit to this terrorist attack for putting us in recession, and that's patently wrong.

DOBBS: And I think there may be some rationalization on the part of some forecasters, as well, perhaps in this environment.

But the fact is, there is empirically no question that as a result of these attacks, our airports were shut down, in some cases for several days, one remains closed. Air travel has slowed to an unbelievable level. We have seen, obviously, great concern about the airline industry, the insurance industry. These are real and empirical links to a slowdown.

ACHUTHAN: These are real hits. The measures that we look at to define official recessions were recessionary before the attack. Now what you're just talking about is going to kick us down a little bit further. But we have a lot of policy already in the pipeline, in additional, that they're talking about now today, that are going to kick us up as well. So I think if you step back, we're in a cyclical downturn and it will turn up.

DOBBS: Give us your best judgment. With eight rate counts, with the discount rate at the lowest level in 39 years, with the tax rebates, with further stimulus from the federal government, in whatever form we're talking about, whether it be military spending or help for the airline industry in a very direct fashion, how soon can that have an effect, and can we expect a significant rebound in a reasonably quick order?

ACHUTHAN: Well, I think that it's not a matter of years. I'd say that, right patently, it's a matter of months. So I'd be looking to the first half of next year as the earliest time when we could see the economy itself going up. But we should see clear signs of that ahead of it, in the leading indicators, and we'll be watching this.

DOBBS: OK, thanks very much.

ACHUTHAN: You're welcome.

DOBBS: Coming up next, we'll be joined by Kuwait's foreign minister. I'll be talking to him about charges that his country has funneled money related to terrorists, and concerns about Middle East reaction, should the United States attack Afghanistan, or another nation, Islamic in religion.

In New York City, the search goes on for survivors amid rubble that was the World Trade Center. Hope for finding survivors has diminished. We'll be going live downtown for the latest.

And we'll be talking to the to the head of telephone company Verizon. His company has the monumental task of restoring the markets and now rewiring Wall Street, and a good part of lower Manhattan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: Last night, we reported to you about the worldwide search that is intensifying for terrorist money, and the channels through which it flows. In Kuwait, there are literally hundreds of charities that raise billions of dollars. Some Kuwaiti analysts, as well as Western officials, fear that some of those funds could be ending up in the hands of terrorists.

Joining me now to talk about that and the region and the impact of all of this is Mohammed Al Sabah. He is Kuwait's minister of foreign affairs.

Minister, it is good to have you with us. The charges that much of the money that has been raised in Kuwait, some billion dollars a year, has ended up in the hands of terrorists. How goes your investigation?

MOHAMMED AL SABAH, MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS, KUWAIT: Well, Lou, in Kuwait we are -- the philanthropy and charitable institution is as important in Kuwait as it is in the United States. We are very generous when it comes to helping out the poor and the needy, not only in the Arab world, but all over the world, in Africa and Asia, and in very remote places. We think this is a very important job, to fight ignorance and extremism. I think that charity, it has proved to be a very effective way in upbringing the standard of living in these societies.

Now, saying that doesn't mean that there might be some elements who try to derail this process by funneling the funds to terrorist activities. We are keen to protect our nongovernmental organizations and our charitable institutions.

DOBBS: And you are investigating the possibility and fully investigating each of the charities that are licensed by the Kuwaiti government?

AL SABAH: Transparency, accountability and public disclosure is the thing that we are stressing at this moment. I think that it's important that Kuwaitis, first, should know exactly how their charity is used and where their money is going to.

So this is something that we are making sure -- we are working very closely with these charitable institutions, and they are eager to open their accounts for auditors and recognized accounting firms, to just make sure that they are -- the transparency is apparent to everybody.

DOBBS: The U.S. Treasury Department, as you know, has said it will follow the money whenever it leads. Is the government of Kuwait cooperating fully with the new task force to account for the capital flows? Are you opening your books, if you will, to those investigations, cooperating fully with the United States authorities?

AL SABAH: Lou, as you know, Kuwait has suffered from terrorist attacks as well, and our region has seen some terrorist attacks. So we are as much a victim of these terrorist activities as the rest of the world, and the United States as well. We are eager to cooperate, not only with the American, but all the law enforcement agencies around the world.

DOBBS: Let me ask you, in a related and obviously fundamental area: Kuwait sits in a very precarious position in the Gulf region. Three countries, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, recognize the Taliban. How will this region, in your judgment, react with the entry of U.S. force into the region to prosecute the terrorists, if it does turn out to be in that specific region?

AL SABAH: Lou, we do not recognize Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. And we think that the legitimate government is not in power at this moment.

Saying that, we think that investigation is still going on. We are eager to hear the last verdict, and we are going to cooperate fully with international effort to fight terrorism, wherever it resides.

DOBBS: OK. Mr. Minister, Mr. Mohammed Al Sabah, thank you very much for being with us here on MONEYLINE.

AL SABAH: Thank you.

DOBBS: Well, a week after four of its aircraft were used in those terrible terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, and a crash in Pennsylvania, Boeing is simply a company in trouble. If the economic slowdown continues, if the slowdown in air travel persists for several more months, Boeing's business is certain to suffer. And the company has announced it will lay off as many as 30,000 of its workers -- distressing news for those employees and a company whose business had been growing.

Katharine Barrett joins us now live from Renton, Washington.

KATHARINE BARRETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Lou. Right behind me here you have Boeing final assembly plant for its 737 and 757 aircraft. Some of those very aircraft were, as you said, unwitting weapons in last week's horror. Judging from the flags flying on cars in the plant parking lots and pinned to workers' sleeves as they go into the factory, folks here have shared survivors' patriotism and their pain. And that pain could be hitting Boeing's payrolls as soon as next week, when layoff notices could go out. But with US Airlines slashing schedules, losing billions of dollars and cutting jobs, Boeing says it expects its own plane deliveries to fall sharply over the next two years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAN MULALLY, CEO, BOEING COMMERCIAL AIR: What we're going to plan to now is to deliver around 400 airplanes, which is considerably less, fewer airplanes than 510 to 520. Now, this has a tremendous impact on the Boeing team and all of our suppliers and partners around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARRETT: Those numbers mean that a third to a quarter, perhaps, of Boeing's commercial aircraft work force simply will not be needed. Still, plant workers here did take the news in stride. They've been through other layoffs before, certainly, and they hope that federal airline relief may help, as might the award of a very important military contract that Boeing is hoping for.

Now, the company is also keeping a close eye on its competition. Europe's Airbus Industries is holding a press conference in Amsterdam tomorrow to update the world on its earnings outlooks and how its aircraft orders may have suffered in the wake of all of this. Lufthansa saying today that it would be canceling orders for 15 Airbus jets. It's also canceling orders for four Boeing jets. That's the latest from here -- Lou.

DOBBS: Not good news, Katharine. Thank you very much. Katharine Barrett from Washington.

Well, since last week's attack on the United States, more than 90,000 layoffs have been announced in the airline industry. American and United Airlines announcing cuts of 20,000 each today. And, as we reported to you earlier, Leo Mullins, the CEO of Delta, announcing that that airline is also considering layoffs.

Domestic flights are no longer more than half full. Airline stocks have plummeted, and Europe, as Katharine Barrett just reported, not very much better. The airlines there won't say how much their business is off. We'll have an indication, as Katharine said, tomorrow, when Airbus holds its conference.

But several carriers are seeking financial aid here at home, with losses mounting. The airlines are pushing for a bailout package that could well top $15 billion.

Kitty Pilgrim is here and has the latest for us on that part of the story -- Kitty.

KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, the pleading came early and often. Airline executives were meeting with U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta before most Americans had breakfast, and then headed to the House transportation committee to plead their case, saying, "Give us help, or we won't make it."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PILGRIM (voice-over): The arguments were compelling.

LEO MULLIN, CHAIRMAN & CEO, DELTA AIRLINES: For many airlines, there are no private sources of capital available. Financial liquidity in the industry is poor. Already, airlines have announced layoffs of 51,000 airline employees, and that number is expected to grow.

PILGRIM: Few on the committee offered a dissenting opinion.

REP. JAMES OBERSTAR (D), MINNESOTA: Aviation, 10 percent of the gross domestic product, is the cornerstone upon which all other elements of our society rely for economic growth.

PILGRIM: Although some emphasize it will not be a blank check.

REP. ROBERT MENENDEZ (D), NEW JERSEY: I hope at some point you'll respond to executive positions, as it relates to what the industry is willing to do to tighten its belt.

PILGRIM: Some airlines are in better cash positions than others. USAir says it has less than $1.2 billion in cash, saying they are burning through that at an alarming rate, having to lay off 11,000 workers.

America West, which laid off 2,000 workers, said without help, the would have to file for bankruptcy. Moody's credit rating agency cut its rating on Continental, which in turn, has cut 12,000 jobs.

Stocks sold off again today, on fears the flying public won't be flying much anymore. Analysts argued not only for financial help, but for new criteria for the industry.

JULIUS MALDUTIS, CIBC WORLD MARKETS: I think you're going to have to have the government step in and provide financial aid, and permit mergers in the industry.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PILGRIM: One of the big unknowns in the industry is how full will the planes be from here on out. Even if airlines meet their flight schedules and get the planes off the ground, they won't be solvent until they can fill a good portion of those seats. And so far, more seats are empty than full, Lou.

DOBBS: Kitty, thank you very much.

Well, in lower Manhattan tonight, rescue crews are still removing some of the millions of tons of rubble in the hope of still finding survivors, while admitting that that hope is a very, very small one. For more now on the rescue effort we go to Gary Tuchman in lower Manhattan -- Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, the American Red Cross is handing out flyers all throughout New York City, because so many people are suffering from anxiety. It talks about experiences that would be considered normal reactions: disorientation, headaches, pacing the floor, agitation, anger. And then it has suggestions to help people cope, and this isn't just for New Yorkers. This is for people all over the country who are suffering some of these symptoms. It says: "Try to take care of yourself. Make time for yourself. Eat well-balanced meals, and try to get plenty of rest."

A lot more tips, very easy phone number to remember for them: 877 -- the area code, toll-free -- 877-RED-CROS.

Now, there are more than 5,400 people who are still missing behind me, three blocks behind me where the World Trade Center used to stand. And the search for bodies is going excruciatingly slow. Over the last 24 hours, they have only found 15 bodies, 233. Yesterday, it was 218.

Today, the president of France, Jacques Chirac, met with Rudy Giuliani. They toured the area. France has pledged to support the war against terrorism.

Lou, back to you.

DOBBS: Gary, thank you. Gary Tuchman.

Hundreds of business offices were partially or completely destroyed, of course, by those attacks on the World Trade Center. Many of them picked up and moved on to new locations. One such company has been working around the clock to make certain that they all stay in business.

Joining me now is Ivan Seidenberg. He's the president and the CEO of Verizon, the company that has had one of the biggest jobs in all of this.

Ivan, good to see you.

IVAN SEIDENBERG, CHAIRMAN & CEO, VERIZON: Good to see you, Lou.

DOBBS: I know that your company also shared in the tragedy and the loss of life. How many employees did Verizon lose in this?

SEIDENBERG: Lou, we have six employees missing. Three are confirmed at this point that they were fatalities of the tragedy. But the broader effect, of course, is we have so many of our employees who had cousins and nieces and and nephews and brothers and sisters involved in the -- in the World Trade Center bombing.

DOBBS: Well, the tragedy that this city has suffered, it's almost impossible to describe no matter how we -- how hard we try to do so. But certainly uplifting to everyone is the effort, the work that a number of companies and their employees have put in to restore the area, at least at the margin in that area, and certainly to restore the New York Stock Exchange.

Just how difficult was that task?

SEIDENBERG: Well, let me start out by saying that our employees have performed valiantly. To them this was a call to duty, and our people got to work right away.

The first task was to get the stock exchange back up, as you said. We've, in effect, provisioned something in the vicinity of 2 million circuits, rearranged almost all of the capacity of the 4,000 trading partners of the exchange. And frankly, the entire industry has worked with us to make this happen. It was nothing short of a miracle to get the stock exchange back up and running the other day.

DOBBS: Well, watching -- and I should not do this, but I'm going to -- the two companies, ConEd and Verizon, working in that area when I was down there earlier this week is just extraordinary.

Are your people, I guess -- how would you describe the people that you've got down there? What is -- who are they? What are they made up of?

SEIDENBERG: Well, they're all patriots and they're all dedicated to our business. Maybe an anecdote might help you describe that: Do you know that the people who operate our West Street building, which was the main switching center impacted when 7 World Trade Center fell down...

DOBBS: When you say impacted, Ivan, you mean lost, right?

SEIDENBERG: Well, it's virtually -- it's still standing, by the way. The building was built in 1929, but there's significant damage there. But the point I'd like to make is our people were up and down the stairways, making sure they brought the equipment down, helping people get out of the building.

I was there this afternoon with people from both the FCC and the Public Service Commission as well as Governor Pataki. But the thing that's amazing is how charged up people are to get this fixed and to get to the next phase and the phase after that, and never to allow anybody to do anything to us like this in New York or any place in this country again.

DOBBS: I'm going to ask you a very difficult question here as we wrap up, Ivan. We don't even know how long it's going to take to clean this up, but I'd like your judgment as to how long it's going to take to restore this now-devastated area to a semblance of normality.

SEIDENBERG: Well, I think -- I'll answer that in two quick parts. I think in terms of getting people back their essential services, we'll do that over the next 2 to 3 weeks. But I think the longer job is going to take many years, because many of us will have to rebuild the entire area.

DOBBS: Ivan Seidenberg, CEO of Verizon, thanks for being with us.

SEIDENBERG: Thank you.

DOBBS: Still ahead here tonight, after last week's attacks on New York City and Washington, the major airlines are losing business. But private jet carriers are busier than ever. We'll have a report for you.

And despite this slowing economy, the auto industry has been on track to record its third best year ever. We'll tell you how the situation is changing.

And if you're just tuning in, Wall Street staging an incredible comeback today. And our next guest says it's possible this could be the break that investors have been waiting for.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: Joining me now from Washington, Wolf Blitzer with the latest for us. Wolf, where do things stand?

BLITZER: Well, right now, the Bush administration is very, very busy, as you know, Lou, trying to put together this international coalition. President Bush trying to do what his father did during the Gulf War, the build-up to the Gulf War more than 10 years ago, assemble a coalition. Very critical in this coalition are the Muslim nations, the Arab nations.

Secretary of State Colin Powell just -- only a few minutes ago met with Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Saud Al-Faisal. Here's what the Saudi foreign minister said upon emerging from the State Department.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAUD AL-FAISAL, SAUDI FOREIGN MINISTER: ... what we are. We can't fight terrorism by becoming vengeful. We can fight terrorism by being clear-headed, identify the guilty and pursue their mercilessly until we bring them to justice.

So it is not vengeance that the world wants. It is justice that the world wants. And we hope that we can achieve this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Saudi Arabia's foreign minister standing with Prince Bandar, the Saudi ambassador here in Washington, who was also a key player in the build-up to he Gulf War, as you remember, Lou, more than 10 years ago.

Saudi Arabia's position, like other Arab nations in the Gulf, will be critical as potential staging points in any U.S.-led operation -- Lou.

DOBBS: OK. Wolf, let me ask you this question very quickly. Saudi Arabia, one of three countries that recognizes the Taliban. Obviously, very important, critical to the U.S. policy in the region. How difficult is this going to be for the -- for the Saudis to negotiate through?

BLITZER: Well, the Saudis are with the Bush administration on this. Pakistan is another country that recognizes the Taliban, and the United Arab Emirates. Those are the three countries that officially recognize the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

All of them appear to be strongly on board. As we heard from President Musharraf, the leader of Pakistan earlier today, that he's ready to cooperate with the U.S. and to work to try to get Osama bin Laden and his supporters out of Afghanistan.

DOBBS: OK. Wolf, thanks very much. Wolf Blitzer from Washington.

Well, Richard McCabe says that the stock market will continue to tumble until there is a change in all of that, a big rally to break the fall.

Dick McCabe joins us now. Dick, good to have you with us.

RICHARD MCCABE, MERRILL LYNCH: Good evening, Lou. Thank you.

DOBBS: We saw a relatively strong sell-off here around 2:30, things reversed themselves. The Nasdaq recovered as did the S&P 500. All the major indexes, the Dow recovering. Is this -- is this in point of fact, the beginning of something better in these markets?

MCCABE: Well, this may be what's called a benchmark or a climatic low, where the volatility on the downside turns to the upside, as we had this afternoon. To get good, hard evidence of that, though, we need two more things in coming days. One would be that tomorrow and Friday should be strong up days, not just in Dow Jones average terms or in Nasdaq terms, but in advance-decline and upside- downside volume figures.

DOBBS: The breadth was not there today, the up-volume swamped by down volume. So what can we take from these averages?

MCCABE: Well, the thing is usually, in an intraday reversal, as we had today, down to up in the averages, the advance-decline figures and up-down volume figures don't have a chance to change. That's why tomorrow is so key.

If we have figures tomorrow where the advance-decline figures were 3 to 1, advancing issues over declining issues, or up volume, down volume 5 to 1 or better, it should say this is a benchmark low. But there undoubtedly will be a retest of this low in these next few weeks to make a bottom, and then a durable advance could follow.

DOBBS: Are you -- are you surprised -- we are talking now, in terms of the Dow since the beginning of the year, about a 20 percent decline, just under, and about, just almost half of that coming in the last three trading sessions. What is your outlook for the rest of the year given all that is occurring? MCCABE: Well, this sorts of downside volatility, the tremendous accelerated drop we've had in recent days usually occurs at the end of a decline. The market's been down now for a year and a half, down since May in this recent step. This is that ending phase, I think, that will lead to a bottom.

My suspicion then is that if we bottom out, the rally, the retest in these next few weeks, we'll get a good fourth-quarter recovery. We'll see what it looks like next year.

I think we're going to start a new bull market in 2002. Whether it's in the first quarter, though, remains to be seen.

DOBBS: You're supporting Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, who said he believes we're going to see some records set here.

MCCABE: I think we will. We may see some records next year as well.

It's interesting that the markets tend to make its major lows every four years. The last one was 1998. The prior one was 1994. So on that calendar basis, 2002 could be the big upturn point for the following two or three years.

DOBBS: Well, Dick, I don't know how to put this. I guess the only way to say it is I can hardly wait.

MCCABE: Yeah, that's my case too.

(LAUGHTER)

DOBBS: OK, Dick McCabe, thank you for being with us.

Coming up next here, as many commercial aircraft across the nation sit idle tonight, the demand for private jets is surging. We'll have that story for you next. And in the wake of the terrorist attacks last week, the support from corporate America has been simply overwhelming: from cash to computers to motorcycles to volunteerism. MONEYLINE will have hat story for you and we'll be right back.

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DOBBS: Major airlines are laying off employees, canceling flights, and facing financial challenges that were unimaginable more than a week ago. But one segment of the aviation industry is managing in these days to thrive. Companies offering charter flights now have exception demand, more business than they can handle, in fact.

Casey Wian with a report from Los Angeles.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning, Petersen Aviation.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The phones ring almost nonstop at Petersen Aviation at Los Angeles's Van Nuys Airport. The business jet charter company used to average five calls an hour. Since the FAA allowed it to resume service Thursday, the company says call volume has more than doubled.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can fly to orange county and pick you up, and we can fly to Denver or to the East Coast.

WIAN: Nationwide, air charter services say business is brisk. Petersen says its typical customer wants to avoid hassles and security concerns at the nation's big commercial airports.

TOM MANGUM, PETERSEN AVIATION: He could literally drive his vehicle right up to this locale, and he can get on board the aircraft from his -- his personal transport to the aircraft. And likewise when we reach our destination, we have security. They meet the vehicle. They can get right off the aircraft on to their car. They do not go through terminal areas, so the security is the best that you can achieve really.

WIAN: But it's not cheap. At Petersen, flights range from $1,600 to $5,000 an hour, plus service charges. A cross-country roundtrip can easily exceed $50,000.

(on camera): Since 1991, the number of companies in the business jet charter industry has jumped more than 40 percent, and the number of planes they operate is up nearly 50 percent. New restrictions on commercial air travel could accelerate that growth.

(voice-over): Private jets are no longer the exclusive domain of celebrities and CEOs.

JACK OLCOTT, NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION: About 50 percent of the passengers on business aviation are middle managers. Another 20 percent are professional or technical people. The key element is that they are all known to the company.

WIAN: What's not know, even by people in the business charter industry, is whether the current rush is sustainable.

Casey Wian, CNN Financial News, Los Angeles.

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DOBBS: Just ahead on MONEYLINE, the automobile industry on the road to recovery. Now it could be in for a very troubled time. We'll tell you about that next here on MONEYLINE.

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DOBBS: A top focus for the Bush administration today, to send a message that industrial America will not be slowed by these attacks. The administration today chose to make that point at an unprecedented meeting in Detroit.

Peter Viles has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Detroit, another of those events that would have been hard to imagine 10 days ago: The men who run the big three automakers joining labor leaders and the secretaries of labor and commerce in a show of unity.

ELAINE CHAO, LABOR SECRETARY: We are a country strong in our determination, strong in our national resolve to keep America going, to keep our economy going.

SEN. DEBBIE STABENOW (D), MICHIGAN: People want to do something. And everywhere I go I say, after you're done donating blood and making a contribution to the victims and their families, go buy American.

VILES: Behind the unity, serious concern that a break in consumer confidence may slam the brakes on auto sales. Ford didn't help when it slashed production last week, blaming what now appear to have been temporary delays of parts at border crossings.

Analyst John Casesa is bracing for a drop of up to 20 percent from last year's sales levels.

JOHN CASESA, MERRILL LYNCH: It will mean plant closings, thousands of layoffs, big restructurings of these companies, probably a lot of tense times with the union, and tense times also for auto dealers. So these companies will go through a major tear up, just as they did during the oil crisis in the early '80s and the early '70s.

VILES: For now the evidence is anecdotal and not all bad at this dealership just outside of New York.

MARK HERRMANN, MARK BUICK PONTIAC GMC: Yesterday was a fairly -- fairly good sales day for us, even though it's with some feeling of guilt. I admit that. We had a New York City Police officer, who happens to be on detail down at the scene of the disaster, who said he, you know, he was looking for an automobile and there was no reason why he shouldn't buy a car now.

VILES: General Motors making clear Wednesday it will fight hard to keep production and sales moving. The company announcing zero percent financing on all U.S. models, an incentive program GM is calling its "keep America rolling program."

Peter Viles, CNN Financial News, New York.

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DOBBS: Coming up next, many expressing anger about the possibility that Osama bin Laden profited from the World Trade Center attacks and the attacks on the Pentagon. We'll have your thoughts next.

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DOBBS: We're going to take a look at our viewer e-mail in just a moment, but first, let's go to Bill Press and Tucker Carlson with what is coming up now on "CROSSFIRE" tonight. BILL PRESS, CO-HOST, CNN'S "CROSSFIRE": Thank you, Lou.

We're back at George Washington University for another "CROSSFIRE" special town meeting. And you know, since last Tuesday's terrorist attacks against the United States, there have been a lot of strong statements made. Here's one of the strongest made last Wednesday morning on the floor of the United States Senate.

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SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I say to our enemies we are coming. God may show you mercy. We will not.

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TUCKER CARLSON, CO-HOST, CNN'S "CROSSFIRE": The man who uttered those words is with us tonight at George Washington University, Senator John McCain of Arizona.

DOBBS: "CROSSFIRE" and John McCain coming right up.

Time now to take a look at some of your views, many of whom are angry about the possibility that the terrorists profited from those attacks last week. Paul Lum in Vancouver, Canada writes in to say: "It is quite possible that terrorist organizations responsible for the World Trade Center attack established extensive short positions to capitalize on a sell-off. This would allow those groups to finance further terrorist activities in the future."

Many, many, including Troy Bearden, wrote in to say: "Not only does Osama bin Laden get to instill fear in the American people, but he will get their money, too."

As we've reported the prospect of profiting from these attacks is being investigated worldwide by U.S. authorities and others. Securities regulators here in the United States and around the world are looking into the flurry of options to sell stocks, particularly those hardest-hit this week, namely airlines and insurance companies. The SEC tonight saying that they will vigorously pursue all credible leads. But that's only one part of the investigation into the money trail.

The FBI today calculating -- circulating rather the list of 19 hijackers, asking banks all around the country for help in locating accounts possibly held by those terrorists.

Robert Arnold is critical of those who say putting in a sell order is unpatriotic. He writes to say: "They should be encouraging people to do what they think is best for their own future and for their own portfolio."

And you are exactly right, Robert Arnold. Self-interest is what makes these markets work.

Please send us your comments, your thoughts. E-mail us at moneyline@cnn.com. And that is MONEYLINE for this Wednesday. We thank you for being with us. Good night from New York. A special "CROSSFIRE" town meeting coming right up.

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