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CNN Live Event/Special

America's New War: Grounded Economy

Aired September 27, 2001 - 05:07   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: That's a slowdown in travel is not going to be totally voluntary by citizens out there. We've been getting word this morning that some are being warned to not travel to certain places.

Let's check in now with our Jonathan Akin. He's at the Pentagon this morning -- good morning, John.

JONATHAN AIKIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Leon.

You know, the skies in America may be safer, because of all the security. Where the planes are going to -- well, that's another story.

Americans are being alerted to some problems as they travel around the world. The State Department has issued three travel warnings for Americans, in particular they warn Americans against going to Indonesia, where they say the attacks in the United States have raised, what they call, significantly raised concerns about the safety of Americans there.

And there's another warning out, too, for the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. The State Department says the U.S. Embassy in Georgia has credible evidence of a plot to kidnap Americans in that country.

And the third place on the avoid list is Bangladesh, and that's not so much because of the terrorist attacks, but more because that country has parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for next week.

Well, meanwhile back here at the Pentagon, we're anticipating a briefing at the noontime with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and also the chairman of the joints chiefs of staff, General Henry Shelton.

And administration officials meanwhile say they are continuing to plan some form of military response to the events of September 11. Military planners admit that this has become a real challenge, and it's also going to be a challenge for the public too, because the Pentagon has said from the beginning that whatever happens will not be their grandfather's Pearl Harbor, it will not be their brother's Desert Storm. And if the definition of warfare is hard to come by right now, so too is the definition of victory. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. DONALD SEHPPERD, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): The exit strategy from this, what victory is defined as is going to be very, very difficult to define for the American people. The American people's patience is going to be tested, and world opinion and American opinion is going to be a big factor on this war on terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AIKEN: Otherwise, Leon, pretty quiet here as Washington gets up this morning. Administration officials say that there was a modest increase Wednesday in the number of reservists that were called up -- about 600, mostly dealing in the issues of law enforcement and security. And I know that you guys are going to be talking about the reservist issue in just a few minutes, so we'll leave it at that -- Leon, back to you.

HARRIS: All right. Good deal, John. Before we let you go, though, any late word now on the clean-up there at the Pentagon?

AIKEN: No. The clean-up continues, though they have done an amazing job in getting some of that debris away from that site. And across the Pentagon -- across the way, you can see all night long under floodlights, there have been teams of people in white suits as they sift through the evidence -- the material that has been trucked away from that site to a location across the street. And investigators and scientists are sifting through it to see what they can find.

HARRIS: All right. Good deal. Jonathan Aiken...

AIKEN: All right.

HARRIS: ... at the Pentagon this morning -- thank you. We'll get back to you later on.

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