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The Situation Room

Taliban Making Comeback in Afghanistan; President Bush Prepares to Address Nation

Aired September 11, 2006 - 19:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much, Lou. And to our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM where new pictures and information are arriving all the time. Standing by CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you tonight's top stories.
Happening now, five years after 9/11 Osama bin Laden's trail has gone cold. The Taliban are making a fierce comeback. It's 3:30 a.m. Tuesday in Kabul, Afghanistan. We're going to go there live. It's a CNN exclusive.

It's 7:00 p.m. here in Washington where President Bush is preparing to address the nation. Has the war in Iraq taken precious resources away from the war on terror? I'll ask Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

And why do they hate us? As America's image takes a hit on the Arab street, I'll ask Karen Hughes if the president has made matters worse.

I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

President Bush goes before the camera just two hours from now. He'll speak to the loss, the fears and the hopes of all Americans five years after we saw the face of evil. He'll cap a day of memorials and tributes with a stark reminder that the war on terror is not over yet. It's a message Osama bin Laden also is sending.

The al Qaeda leader is still a fugitive. The failure to catch him though is hanging over this Bush presidency along with the mission in Iraq. On this the fifth anniversary of 9/11 attacks renewed questions about one war's impact on another.

Standing by is CNN's Ed Henry. He's got excerpts from the president's speech, Brian Todd with the hunt for al Qaeda. First, though, let's go to CNN's Anderson Cooper. He's on the scene in Afghanistan for us, with what's happening on the ground. You're along the border, Anderson, between Afghanistan and Pakistan. This Taliban seems to be making a major comeback.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: No doubt about it, Wolf. The enemy that these soldiers are facing, soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division from this forward operating base and we are very close to the Pakistan border, I can't give you the exact location, but it's within sight. Every day in this forward operating base they're taking incoming fire. The enemy they say is diverse.

On the one hand it is Taliban, a newly resurgent Taliban adopting al Qaeda style tactics. It's not just rockets and mortars that the Taliban is firing. Those are the old tactics. The new tactics are suicide attacks, vehicle-born IEDs. They've had two suicide attacks attempts on this base. They also see IEDs nearly every day out on these roads.

Also they are seeing al Qaeda fighters, foreign jihadists, the men -- the kind of men who blew up the World Trade Center on 9/11, Uzbeks, Arabs. They're seeing Chechens out here. They can hear them. They can see them and they have killed them. They're also seeing a rise because of narcotrafficking in just common criminality here, people who don't want the government of Hamid Karzai to be able to extend its influence in this region.

As you know, Wolf, the poppy harvest in Afghanistan this year has gone up 49 percent over the last year. We're talking about billions of dollars that are pouring in to the hands of narco traffickers and also the Taliban who are receiving money, who are taxing the poppy trade, who get protection money from the farmers for watching over the crops.

So it is a very diverse enemy here and it is an enemy that they make contact with virtually every day. Today we got a prime example of that. We came back from patrol, they were -- all of the soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division had gathered here to commemorate 9/11 and just as the ceremony began, we were broadcasting live, a rocket landed.

You get a sense that the enemy is watching the movements on this base. The soldiers made sure, even though they ran to bunkers they returned fire also with howitzers. You're watching some of the video from when the rocket came incoming. They ended up taking six rockets in all. But by the end of the day, they did go ahead, commemorate the 9/11 anniversary, a very simple but very somber ceremony. The soldiers here have a real sense of mission and a real sense of what they're doing every day now is linked directly to what happened on 9/11 -- Wolf.

BLITZER: What are hearing from troops on ground, Anderson, where you are, about the hunt for Osama bin Laden?

COOPER: You know I think there's a lot frustration, Wolf, about what's happening on the Pakistan side of the border. I think most of the troops here will tell you that they think Osama bin Laden is hiding somewhere in Pakistan. And as you know, Wolf, you have done a lot of interviews on this, a lot of focus on this, Pakistan has now signed cease-fire deal with Taliban militants on the Pakistan side of the border.

Pakistan soldiers have left their checkpoints and have gone back to their barracks, basically allowing Taliban militants to retake those checkpoints. And intelligence sources that we have been talking to say they have always seen an up-tick in violence on the Afghan side of the border that they can relate to this cease-fire. There are a lot of U.S. soldiers, they won't necessarily say it on camera because of the delicate relationship with Pakistan, but privately a lot of soldiers, a lot of intelligence sources are very concerned about what this means for the hunt for Osama bin Laden and that's what we're going to be focusing on tonight -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Anderson, thanks very much. Be careful out there. This note to our viewers, at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Anderson is going to be live on the ground in Afghanistan. He'll have an exclusive look at what's happening in the war on terror five years after 9/11.

Al Qaeda is marking this fifth anniversary of 9/11 with chilling new threats and a warning of new targets. Let's bring in CNN's Brian Todd -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, al Qaeda's second in command appears in new tape tonight, warning of a shifting battlefront in the war on terror.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): Al Qaeda's number two leader puts his own spin on the September 11 anniversary with a new warning to the West.

AYMAN AL-ZAWAHIRI, AL QAEDA SECOND IN COMMAND (through translator): Your leaders are hiding from you the true extent of the disaster that will shock you.

TODD: Former CIA officers we spoke to who tracked al Qaeda in the Middle East believe that when Ayman al-Zawahiri is warning of a shock, he means a non-conventional attack.

GARY BERNTSEN, FORMER CIA OFFICER: You know they have stated their intention to conduct catastrophic attacks on us. They have stated their intention to eventually use WMD against us.

TODD: Al-Zawahiri also warns the West the battlefield will shift away from Afghanistan and Iraq to two new fronts.

AL-ZAWAHIRI (through translator): The first is (inaudible), from where you will be expelled, Allah willing, at which point your economic ruin will be achieved.

TODD: The second front Israel where Al-Zawahiri says jihadi reinforcements are getting closer. Former CIA officers say al Qaeda's aim is twofold to demonstrate Israel's military can be beaten and to overthrow regimes in the Persian Gulf.

BERNTSEN: Without a doubt they're going to come after us in the Persian Gulf, in the Gulf states and in Saudi Arabia. I mean it is significant to us for economic reasons. It is where most of the world's oil comes from.

TODD: How would those regimes be targeted? Former CIA officers tell CNN many of al Qaeda fighters in Iraq and Afghanistan are Saudis and that when the U.S. leaves, those fighters will head home for attacks on oil facilities, shipping, or... JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Compounds were Westerners live, hotels that are frequented by Westerners, truck bombs against military installations. These are all the natural things that they have trained to do and probably carried out contingency casings (ph) to do. They could for example, mount assassination attacks on key leaders.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: For those operations intelligence experts say al Qaeda will need new recruits and that they believe is a key strategy behind these recent messages from Ayman al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Brian. Thank you very much. After a day of honoring 9/11 victims, in silence, President Bush is preparing to address the nation and the greatest challenges of his tenure in office beginning with that fateful day five years ago. Let's go to our White House correspondent Ed Henry -- Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN SR. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, just yesterday the president said he was approaching this anniversary with a heavy heart and sure enough he was fighting back tears today at the Pentagon, the final of three events that he visited today, all three of the sites of the terrorist killings back five years ago. The president did not speak at any of these events, saving it for tonight when he'll have a much bitter megaphone and Oval Office address 9:00 Eastern Time.

Tony Snow, the White House press secretary saying this will be somewhere between 16 and 18 minutes in length, relatively short for an Oval Office address, and that it will not be political, instead taking a look at where we are, how the United States, how the world has changed since 9/11.

One excerpt, the president saying, quote, "We face an enemy determined to bring death and suffering into our homes. America did not ask for this war and every American wishes it were over. So do I, but the war is not over and it will not be over until either we or the extremists emerge victorious. If we do not defeat these enemies now, we'll leave our children to face a Middle East overrun by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons."

You can hear the tough rhetoric from the president there. Mirroring what he has said in recent days in this series of speeches on the war on terror, right on the eve of the midterm elections. The president clearly trying to recapture some of that political glow he had shortly after 9/11, but certainly the fact that he has not caught Osama bin Laden and the fact that as Anderson Cooper was pointing out, the war in Afghanistan is raging anew. Those are some tough political difficulties for the president -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Ed Henry at the White House. Thanks very much. And remember the president addresses the nation from the Oval Office 9:00 p.m. Eastern. We'll have special live coverage here in THE SITUATION ROOM, 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

It was a day when the world we knew changed forever. The World Trade Center was reduced to rubble with thousands of lives lost. The Pentagon, symbol of the American military might, suffered a staggering blow. But there was heroism as hijacked passengers fought back aboard flight 93. Today Americans remember at New York's ground zero, at the Pentagon, and at Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Let's watch and listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(BELL RINGING)

(MUSIC AND SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remember where we were that day, what we doing we of course recall our president who stood in rubble in lower Manhattan with a bullhorn vowing justice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alan Anthony Bevan (ph). Sandra Bradshaw (ph). Joseph Cashman (ph). Joseph DeLuca (ph).

(BELL RINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And our heart goes out to all of those family members who lost loved ones five years ago. Let's go to Jack Cafferty. He's in New York with "The Cafferty File" -- Jack.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Almost half of Americans still think Saddam Hussein had a hand in 9/11. According to a recent CNN poll conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation, 43 percent of Americans says Saddam was personally involved in the 9/11 terror attacks. Fifty-two percent say he was not. The poll also found 45 percent of Americans say Iraq is part of a broader war on terrorism that began on September 11.

Fifty-three percent say it's a separate military action. Meanwhile, a Senate report out last week found that Saddam was distrustful with al Qaeda, had no relationship with Abu Musab al- Zarqawi and even thought that Islamic regimists (ph) were a threat to his own regime. Go figure.

Here's the question this hour. Why do almost half of Americans still think Saddam Hussein was personally involved in 9/11? E-mail your thoughts to CaffertyFile@CNN.com or go to CNN.com/CaffertyFile. We'll read some of your answers in about a half hour -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jack, thank you. Jack Cafferty with "The Cafferty File".

Coming up -- a grim view from Iraq on this the fifth anniversary of 9/11. There's a new secret report that offers a very sobering take on the situation on the ground. We're going to go live to Baghdad. Our Michael Ware is standing by.

Plus, fixing America's image in the Middle East, we're going to talk to the woman whose job it is to try to make it better, Karen Hughes.

And Senator Hillary Clinton on Iraq, Afghanistan, 9/11, she's at ground zero. She's also here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A classified U.S. military intelligence report -- reportedly paints a very dire picture of the situation in Iraq's western Anbar province. "The Washington Post" cites sources as saying the report being very pessimistic and says there's almost nothing the United States can do to improve the political and social situation there.

CNN's Michael Ware just came back from an embed. He was with U.S. forces in Ramadi. Michael, how bad is the situation out there?

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it's absolutely nightmarish and "The Washington Post" story is an old one. U.S. military intelligence has been saying this about Ramadi for a year and a half. I've been going out there since 2003. I've watched the steady decline.

Quite frankly, America is not committed to the fight. It is known -- it is a stated fact that this is the headquarters of al Qaeda in Iraq, yet American commanders privately off camera will tell you that we only have a third of the troops there that are needed to even begin to make a dent in al Qaeda -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Sounds like militarily if the U.S. devoted a much greater number of troops they might be able to make some progress, but this "Washington Post" report suggests that politically the situation already is lost even if it isn't lost perhaps militarily.

WARE: Well, it's not losing military. The boys out there are just simply holding the line. But they've been put into the meat grinder for the sake of concentrating troops in Baghdad. Politically it's an absolute disaster out there. The potential American allies out there are essentially the Baath Party and the Sunnis. Now these Sunnis -- I spoke to one of these insurgents this morning. I spoke to some Ramadi sheiks, and I spoke to Iraqi police in Ramadi, as well as American commanders.

What's happening is they see that in Baghdad America is impairing their old enemy, Iran, through it's Iranian proxies who are now in government. They see that they've been herded towards al Qaeda because they have no other choice.

We they do try to break free, the Americans and the Iraqi army are not strong enough to inhibit al Qaeda's intimidation and assassination campaigns. So al Qaeda has got the discipline and they are saying that no matter what the commanders on the ground say, the Americans in Ramadi, in Baghdad central government is being given to Iran. Baghdad had cut off sugar supplies to al-Anbar and no one can explain it, Wolf.

BLITZER: So is al-Anbar, which is a huge province, as you know, Michael, is al-Anbar province now effectively becoming a place where the insurgents have free rein, if you will. They can create their own state within a state.

WARE: It's not quite to that degree, but I mean Anbar is the barometer for the Sunni insurgency war. You want to know where it's going, you want to know its shifting mood, then you dip your toe in al-Anbar. Now what I can tell you, for example, is that there is an area north of Ramadi, just across the Euphrates River called Jazeera (ph), now military intelligence knows that's where al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi would hide, would meet, would rest, would have his planning sessions.

His replacement now does the same. That is their central headquarters. But al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's number two to Osama bin Laden said it's from there that we will build the caliphate. Well in this area about the size of New Hampshire, you've only got a couple of hundred troops, maybe 300, less than a battalion and the commanders here on the ground admit we can only do so much. We are not disrupting them, even though we know that this is their headquarters -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Michael Ware on the scene for us. He's going to be having a lot more of these reports, exclusive reports. He just came back from an embed in Ramadi. Michael, thanks very much. Please be careful out there.

We'll less than two hours away from President Bush's address to the nation. We'll be coving that. That starts 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

And coming up, Senator Clinton, we'll hear what she has to say about Osama bin Laden and the war in Iraq on this, the fifth anniversary of 9/11. So join us in THE SITUATION ROOM.

And we're also waiting for a tribute in light in New York. Shortly lights will go on. You're looking at a live picture of Lower Manhattan as the sun sets. There will be a special display. We expect it live this hour.

Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: It's a statement millions make that 9/11 changed their lives forever. The life of the man in our next story was changed forever for the worst, but also perhaps for the better. Our Mary Snow has more from New York -- Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, here at ground zero, the lives of so many New Yorkers have changed. And for one man, in particular, it has meant a life dedicated to public service.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

SNOW (voice-over): As the world publicly remembers 9/11, Peter Regan privately never forgets. He chose to mark this day like many others and not attend a ceremony at ground zero where victims' names were read including the name of his father.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donald J. Regan.

SNOW: For the 25-year-old Regan, his life has become in large part a tribute to his father Donald. He works in the Brooklyn firehouse where his father once worked. There are reminders of September 11 everywhere. Regan says anniversaries aren't much different.

PETER REGAN, SON OF FALLEN FIREFIGHTER: It's a whole -- a bigger flashback because every day I'm thinking of that day and every day I'm thinking of the last time I saw him, so I think every day's an anniversary for me. Every day is a reliving.

SNOW: That day 47-year-old firefighter Donald Regan rushed to the World Trade Center. It's not known what happened to him. The young Regan went to ground zero for several weeks.

REGAN: I just went down and got a pair of gloves and helmet and just started working. (INAUDIBLE) just hands and knees and garden shovels. I just wanted to find anything like the smallest remain basically.

SNOW: No remains were ever found. Regan returned to his Marine unit and was later sent to Iraq, where he took the fight personally.

REGAN: I definitely took it to heart. I mean it was definitely a huge piece that came across with me and I think anyone that came across -- along with me they took September 11 over there with them. I'm not really you know into the politics of it, but as far as the mission, something had to get done over there.

SNOW: Regan returned to follow his in father's footsteps and become a fireman, but had to delay a start for a second tour in Iraq. Five years after 9/11, Regan says he hopes others will remember what he thinks of every day.

REGAN: Just remember the sacrifices of the firemen and what they did. They looked at a building that was hit by two planes and it didn't even stop them. They went right to the top.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: Just one of the memories -- many memories here in New York on a very somber day, that day being capped out now by a tribute in light that is now just beginning with towering lights into the sky to commemorate the World Trade Center -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Mary, what a day, what a story. Thank you very much for that Mary.

Just ahead, she's been -- she had been New York's state senator for less than a year when 9/11 happened, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. I'll speak with her. She's at ground zero. I'll ask her about lessons learned from that day.

And why do so many around the world hate the United States? I'll ask the woman responsible for trying to put a positive face on America's image in the Middle East and around the world, Karen Hughes. She's one of the president's most trusted advisers. I'll speak with her one on one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: To our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM where new pictures and information are arriving all the time. Happening now, President Bush set to honor the victims and the heroes of 9/11 and warn Americans that the war on terror will be long and difficult. Mr. Bush speaks to the nation in about hour and a half.

Osama bin Laden's number two man is warning of new attacks on Israel and western targets in the Gulf region. Ayman al-Zawahiri appears in a newly released video, timed to coincide with this 9/11 anniversary.

Americans are marking five years since the terror attacks with tears and tributes. Ceremonies were held today at the site where 2,973 people were killed.

I'm Wolf Blitzer, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Five years after 9/11, there's a continuing threat from al Qaeda at home and a Taliban comeback, major one happening right now in Afghanistan. As the war grinds on in Iraq, critics say the Bush administration has lost focus in the fight against terrorism.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Joining us now from ground zero is Senator Hillary Clinton.

Senator Clinton, on this fifth anniversary of 9/11, a very somber day, are you among those Democrats who believe that too many U.S. military resources were diverted after 9/11 to fight the war in Iraq and, as a result, the U.S. is not safer today?

U.S. SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY): Well, Wolf, I think we are safer, but we're not safe enough. I think that we know that our borders and our ports and our mass transit and rail systems, our bridges, our tunnels, our chemical, nuclear plants are just not yet where they need to be and we're not following the recommendations of all the experts, including the 9/11 commission, that we distribute money here at home based on what the risk is.

So my primary focus today, as I spent time with family members and, you know, reflected back the last five years, is whether we've done everything we know to do to protect our citizens here in New York and across America and I think, unfortunately, the answer is not yet.

BLITZER: I ask the question because of what your Democratic colleague, Senator John Rockefeller of West Virginia, said over the weekend. He is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, as you know.

He said, "Saddam wasn't going to attack us. He would have been isolated there. He would have been in control of that country, but we wouldn't have depleted our resources preventing us from prosecuting a war on terror, which is what this is all about."

He's suggesting that we'd be better off today if the U.S. had not gone to war and removed Saddam Hussein.

CLINTON: Well, I have the highest regard for him and he has been at the forefront of an effort to try to get the facts out.

I mean, one of the challenges we've had, frankly, the last five years in making policy and assessing risks and threats and figuring out what we need to do in a united way on behalf of our security, is the real difficulty in getting the facts out and having a system that is based on evidence as opposed to ideology or wishful thinking or whatever other brand of decision-making is going on.

So I think that for many of us, the fact that the Taliban is resurgent, that al-Qaeda is still present in Afghanistan, that the government that has been valiantly try to pull that country together there is under tremendous pressure, is deeply concerning.

After all, the attacks against us that destroyed the towers behind me came from al-Qaeda, in safe haven from the Taliban in Afghanistan. And there is no doubt, no one with a straight face can doubt that we diverted resources away from our primary mission.

Now, there may be other missions in this global war against terror, but the primary mission was to defeat and destroy those who attacked us and we still haven't finished the job.

BLITZER: So knowing what you know now, had you known that before the vote authorizing the president to go to war, would you have voted for that resolution?

CLINTON: Well, Wolf, I've answered that a million times. You know, you don't get do-overs in life. You have to make decisions based on the information that you are given and, unfortunately, the authority given the president that could have usefully been employed to send in inspectors and keep them there and make sure that, you know, Saddam didn't go off on some wild tangent was not followed through on and we know the results.

But we've got to deal with the facts as we face them today. We have a very dangerous situation in Iraq. We have a dangerous situation in Afghanistan. We have a dangerous situation in the Middle East.

We have a deteriorating set of situations in Africa. You can go around the globe. And, you know, my duty as a Senator, especially representing New York, is to try to figure out what we need to be doing with our resources, with our young men and women in uniform, with our law enforcement capacity, with the many different elements of our power, not just military, but also diplomatic, economic, and political, to make us safer and to try to work hand-in-hand with like- minded people around our globe.

And I think we have a lot of work to do and it would be my hope that we would get back to a sense of unity that would come together, look at the evidence, be honest about the risks we face, frankly, the lessons that we should have learned in the last five years, the mistakes that have been made, and try to have a smart strategy that will be effective in protecting our country and defeating our enemy.

BLITZER: We're almost out of time, Senator, but what about this "ABC" movie that began airing last night, part one? I don't know if you have had a chance to see the revisions, the final cuts that were made given the concern that several of former President Clinton's advisers, including the former president and yourself, had made that they weren't being accurate as far as the 9/11 commission report.

Did you have a chance to see the film last night?

CLINTON: No, I didn't. I have no intention of doing so. You know, the facts are, you know, very well-developed in the 9/11 commission. This is a serious matter.

This is historically important that we get it right. There's no need to embroider, to make things up. We ought to be looking at the facts and then we ought to be determining what we should do as a nation in order to make our country safer.

BLITZER: One final political question, Senator, before I let you go.

You said the other day two words that intrigued a lot of people, the words "stay tuned" when asked about if you are running for president down the road.

I know you have to first get re-elected in New York state, but it doesn't look like you have a very tough contest coming up.

How long should we stay tuned for your answer?

CLINTON: Well, that was totally taken out of context and, you know, I've responded to that.

But the important thing today is, you know, not to get into politics. I've suspended my campaign.

I want to keep the focus where it needs to be, on the solemn, sober moment that we have today to reflect and remember and I hope people across the country are joining us in doing that.

BLITZER: What's the most important thing all of us should look back and remember on this day, looking back five years ago, Senator?

CLINTON: Well, at a personal level, to really cherish your relationships and love those that are in your family and your friends and just don't take anything for granted in life.

And on a more global or national level, you know, let's just resolve that we're going to be united as a country in the face of the threats that we confront and let's try to get beyond politics. Let's try to, you know, have that same spirit renewed that we had in the days and weeks immediately following 9/11.

That's what we owe our children.

BLITZER: Senator Clinton, thanks very much for spending a few moments with us on this fifth anniversary of 9/11.

CLINTON: Thank you, Wolf.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And from one powerful woman to another, up ahead tonight, America as the nation they love to hate. With so much good done abroad by the United States, why do so many people consider America evil. I'll ask the woman responsible for trying to put a positive face on America's image around the world, the Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Live picture of Manhattan, the tribute in light remembering what happened five years ago today. On this day five years ago, we were forced, all Americans to face some very harsh realities. Harsh realities that are still haunting all of us today about the nation's image around the world, also. Let's bring in Zain Verjee. Zain?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, the U.S. has spent millions of dollars to try and improve its image abroad, but perceptions of the U.S. in the Middle East appear to be getting worse.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE (voice over): The stars and stripes in flames in Pakistan, often accompanied by a vicious, but all too common chant -- "Death to America".

Since 9/11, America's image in the world has sunk. According to a recent report by the Pew Research Center, the war in the Iraq erodes the image and opinion of the U.S. "not just in predominantly Muslim countries... but in Europe and Asia as well".

This Iraq war never won worldwide support. Many Arabs and Muslims say, for the past five years they feel under siege.

REZA ASLAN, AUTHOR: That this is not some kind of war on terror but a war on Islam.

VERJEE: The Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse in Iraq and reports of abuse of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay has angered and humiliated Arabs.

The Israeli/Palestinian conflict is a major source of Arab and Muslim resentment toward the U.S. and its perceived unconditional support for Israel, reinforced by many in the region by the latest bloody battle between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

And remember the cartoon controversy depicting the Muslim prophet Muhammed as a terrorist? It drew violent street violence against the West, including America, even though it was not responsible for the cartoon.

There have been positive signs, too. The Pew Research Center says a year ago anti-Americanism in the world showed signs of declining, "in part, because of the positive feelings generated by U.S. aid for tsunami victims in Indonesia and elsewhere."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: But that was a year ago. Regional experts now say America still has a lot of work to do if it's to improve its image among Arabs and Muslims -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you very much for that, Zain Verjee reporting.

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the president's long-time adviser Karen Hughes was given a new job over at the State Department repairing America's global image.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Karen Hughes is the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs. She's with us here in the SITUATION ROOM. Karen, thanks for coming in.

KAREN HUGHES, UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS: Great to be here.

BLITZER: When the president or the vice president or the secretary of defense speak of Islamic fascist, that to many Muslims out there looks like they are almost baiting Muslims. Is that an appropriate way to speaking of this problem, Islamo fascism, or Islamic fascists?

HUGHES: Well Wolf, there has been a lot of debate within the administration and, as you know, different phrases can mean different things to different people. I, for one, typically don't use religious terms because I'm afraid that people do hear them wrongly around the world. On the other hand, there are those who would argue that people have to understand that this is essentially a cult within Islam, a perversion of Islam. And I think that is the important thing.

You heard, in the previous report, a young man saying this is somehow the west versus Islam. That is the language of our enemies and we have to challenge that because Islam is a part of America. An estimated 6 to 7 million Muslims live here in America and I represent them as a government official.

BLITZER: Which is a good point because when you go out on Arabic language television stations, whether Al-Jazeera or Al-Arabiya or any of these other stations, you, yourself, don't speak about Islamic fascists? HUGHES: Well, I remember a woman in Egypt looking at me and saying to me, you think we're all terrorists and I said, no, we don't think you're all terrorists. We understand that this is a perversion of Islam and my Muslim friends, and I try to quote Muslims when he speak about their faith because they have far more credibility to deal with issues of their faith than I do.

My Muslim friends remind me that Islam, like Christianity and Judaism, believes that life is precious and that no one should take an innocent life, even their own life. And I think it's important that we make that case, but again different audiences hear different things and that's one of the challenges of today's very different communications world, where messages go around the world in an instant on the Internet.

BLITZER: Here is what I don't understand, because I've covered all of the U.S. military operations going back to the first Gulf War when I was a Pentagon correspondent. Almost every single time the United States deploys troops around the world, it's designed to help a Muslim country or Muslim people, whether liberating Kuwait or in Kosovo or in Bosnia or in Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan. Why is it, therefore, and this is your mission, that the U.S. image in the Muslim world, in the Arab world, has plummeted over these years?

HUGHES: Well there are a couple of things. First of all, there's a lot of propaganda out there, a lot of it very negative about us. We don't hear the full story a lot of times and that's one of the reasons in my office --

BLITZER: But we're supposed to be best country in the world when it comes to communications. We have the resources. Why is it that these people, at least a lot of them, hate us.

HUGHES: Well, I don't know, I think the picture is much more mixed than that. First of all, we've had to do a lot of hard things that people have not necessarily agreed with. On the other hand, as you point out, look at us, for example, I mentioned Darfur. We're the number one provider of aid in the world to people in Darfur.

We are the number one bilateral donor of assistance to the Palestinian people, and yet as I travel the world, people tell me they are angry with us about the Palestinians and I remind them that we both strongly support Israeli's right to exist and support a Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and freedom. But if you watch television in the Middle East, you never hear the second part of that story. You don't hear on those outlets about our support for a Palestinian state and its right to exist side-by-side.

BLITZER: President Bush was the first president to support a two-state solution, if you will, an independent Palestine.

HUGHES: And I say that around the world, but you don't hear that much on media around the world.

BLITZER: But let's take a country, a Muslim country, like Turkey. A NATO ally. A close friend to the United States. The Pew Global Attitude's Project did surveys among the people of Turkey. Back in 1999, 2000, 52 percent of them, 52 percent had a favorable image of the United States. Not as high as I would like but still more than half. Today, 2006, in their most recent survey, only 23 percent of the people of Turkey, a NATO ally, have a favorable image of the United States. How do you explain that?

HUGHES: Well, again, we've had to make some decisions that are very hard. When I was in Turkey they were very concerned about Iraq and the news they hear from Iraq. And what they hear is they hear the reports of terrible violence and bloodshed. So Turkey was very concerned about that on its border and that is very concerning to them. And I can understand that concern. I met with a group of women there who are very concerned. At the same time a young man there asked me, he said does the Statue of Liberty still face out? In other words, is America still a welcoming country? Can I still come to America?

So, I think, again, the picture is mixed. There are concerns and when we acted in Iraq, we did so because we thought it was in our own security interest, but also the broader interests of peace and security in the world. At a time of war, that's a difficult message and people are uncomfortable. No one likes war.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Karen Hughes speaking with me earlier here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Up ahead, as the country remembers 9/11, Jack Cafferty is wondering why almost half of Americans think Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the attacks.

Also coming up: a look at tribute in light on this September 11th.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Let's go back to New York and Jack Cafferty -- Jack.

CAFFERTY: Wolf, the question this hour is why do almost half of Americans think Saddam Hussein was personally involved in 9/11? Our intelligence community has concluded he had nothing to do with it, but almost 50 percent of us still believe he did.

M. writes from Arizona -- "What counts is that 50 percent of educated, well-read Americans are ruled by facts. Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11. The other 50 percent, their school system failed them."

Jeffrey in California: "For some reason, people listen to idiots like Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney. As long as those morons continue to speak, there will always be a following. Those same people believe that Iraq is a success story and there is no civil war."

James in Montreal -- "I see two reasons. The first being the media, present company included, was too busy playing cheerleader during the buildup to the war. Therefore, you swallowed everything the White House was offering up with no questions asked. The second reason, which should come as no surprise to anyone is that John Q. Public is as dumb as wood."

Chuck in Missouri writes -- "If you look at the educational demographics in this poll, the higher education level the people have, the lower the percentages of those who believe that Saddam was involved. Perhaps that's why this administration had done so little to promote higher education."

Ray writes -- "An instructor once asked my class, how many reindeer do you have to throw off a roof before a true believer will admit that reindeer can't fly? His answer was, it doesn't matter how many you throw off the roof. There are a lot of true believers out there, and I suspect many of them are the good people of faith this administration uses to win elections, for whom believing in something you cannot prove only comes naturally."

And finally, Linda writes -- "Because we are, as I have always suspected, a nation of idiots, more interested in 'American Idol' and JonBenet Ramsey than our country being destroyed. Where is the outrage over what they have done to us? We are still too politically correct to start profiling the potential terrorists, and instead placidly give up our toothpaste and hair gel when flying."

If you didn't see your e-mail here, you can go to CNN.com/caffertyfile and read a few more of them online -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jack, thank you. See you tomorrow.

When it comes to 9/11, the Internet offers a historic archive unlike anything we have seen before. Jacki Schechner has more -- Jacki.

JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Wolf, this is a tin of melted money that was recovered from the Pentagon after September 11th, and this is the door of a New York Police Department patrol car that was crushed by falling debris at the World Trade Center.

These are just two of the 130 physical artifacts collected by the Smithsonian, and the only place you can see the entire collection is online.

Another collection online is the September 11th digital archive. Two universities have come together to put more than 150,000 digital items online. Today, they've superimposed images over a map of Lower Manhattan to give you an idea of who saw what from where. And perhaps the largest collection that tells the story of the leadup to 9/11 is the evidence from the trial of Zacarias Moussauoi, like this still from Portland Airport of hijacker Mohammed Atta on the morning of September 11th -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jacki, thank you very much. Let's check in with Paula Zahn. She's in New York. What's coming up at the top of the hour, Paula?

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Wolf. Thanks so much. Well, coming up, the many ways our country has changed and will change even more as the result of 9/11 attacks. A CNN investigation is raising some very troubling questions about whether all the extra security at our airports is really making us any safer. We're also going to see why many New Yorkers who helped with the rescue and cleanup efforts are still getting sick and may never get better.

All that and a whole lot more coming up live from ground zero, for a special program we're calling "The 9/11 Effect." That's coming up in just about four minutes from now -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you very much, Paula, we'll be watching. Paula coming up shortly.

Still ahead here in "THE SITUATION ROOM," a look at the tribute in light, both in New York and here in Washington.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We close this hour with remembering what happened exactly five years ago in New York, at the Pentagon, in Shanksville. There is a tribute in light right now. You see those two beams of light going over Lower Manhattan, remembering the Twin Towers. It's called tribute in light. Lights are going to remain on throughout the night in New York.

Over at the Pentagon right now, 184 beams of light, one for each life lost at the Pentagon on this day five years ago.

And in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, they are also remembering what happened on this awful day.

We'll be back in one hour to anchor the coverage around the president's address. Let's go to Paula in New York -- Paula.

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