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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown
Northern Alliance Continue to Negotiate a Taliban Surrender of Kunduz; No New Answers in the Connecticut Anthrax Death
Aired November 24, 2001 - 22:00 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.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: I am Judy Woodruff and I am in for Aaron Brown. Well, we celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday yesterday, but today has its own traditions as well.
Many Americans travel in a triangle from the couch to the kitchen to the mall. In the news business, there's a tradition as well. There doesn't seem to be a lot going on, but we did get some news today, an alert from the State Department that you may want to check your itinerary and maybe cancel that two-week deluxe stay.
The State Department is strongly warning Americans against traveling to Afghanistan, the reasons?
WOODRUFF: Bandit, land mines, an acute food shortage, and as if you didn't know it, a war.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOODRUFF (VOICE OVER): But we don't want to make light of that war, where the fighting continued in the northern city of Kunduz and the Northern Alliance vowed to take its fight south to the areas that the Taliban still controls.
Back here in the United States, investigators struggle to trace the movements, apparently not a lot of them, of a 94-year-old anthrax victim, the most baffling anthrax case yet.
One story and a picture that's a given for the day after Thanksgiving, except there's a real reason why we're covering the holiday shopping season. The U.S. is facing its first recession in a decade, and very likely the worst recession since the early 1980's.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOODRUFF: Tonight on News Night, we will look at how much people are shopping and how much they're giving, two important parts of recovering after 9/11.
We'll also look at one of the biggest lessons of that day, not knowing the culture and languages of the Arab world. Not clear yet if we've actually learned that lesson.
Before we get around to all that, a whip around the world to get some headlines from our reporters. Let's start with CNN's Brian Cabell, the latest on the anthrax story. Hello, Brian.
BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Judy. There's some good news from Connecticut tonight. There's also some bad news. The good news is they found no new anthrax spores here today. The bad news is they found no new anthrax spores here today, so it's very difficult for them to determine exactly how Ottilie Lundgren contracted the disease.
They are swabbing all over town. They are swabbing her home. They're swabbing a beauty salon, post offices, town hall, a library, a restaurant. So far, nothing. Investigators remain baffled here -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: Thanks, Brian. We'll be back to you. An economy on the brink, an economy that needs help fast, what the White House is doing, CNN's Kelly Wallace with that.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, good evening to you. President Bush continues to monitor the military campaign and also enjoy some R & R with his family at Camp David.
But as you noted, he's also gearing up for next week when aides say he will call on Congress to pass a measure to give a boost to the sagging economy and republicans say it is time the President start using his near 90 percent approval rating to get what he wants -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: All right, Kelly, and we will talk about the economy in just a moment. But we begin with anthrax, and the puzzling case of 94-year-old Ottilie Lundgren. Today we got the answer to a number of questions, without really chipping away at the big question, a frustrating day to be sure, but intriguing just the same. So it's back now to CNN's Brian Cabell in Oxford, Connecticut. Brian.
CABELL: Judy, the word today in Connecticut is frustration, frustration after four days of investigation, investigators from the CDC, about two dozen of them, along with the FBI, along with the state police, along with postal authorities and other agencies.
They have been focusing on her home, but they're not fanning out all over town, but they have not found a single spore of anthrax.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CABELL (VOICE OVER): Friday, CDC investigators took swabs from the beauty salon that Ottilie Lundgren visited about ten days before her death.
They took swabs as well from the town hall and library, which they believe she visited.
Samples taken with gloves, but not with masks, investigators say frankly they aren't expecting to find anthrax spores here.
More samples taken from a restaurant where Lundgren dined about ten days before her death. The CDC's already checked for anthrax at her home. So far, nothing unusual has turned up. And at two postal facilities that handle her mail, again the results have shown no anthrax spores. And they've swabbed the noses of 400 postal workers, neighbors and friends. Again, nothing.
So the mystery continues. How did 94-year-old Ottilie Lundgren, who didn't move around all that much in the last weeks of her life, contract anthrax?
GOVERNOR JOHN ROWLAND (R), CONNECTICUT: I've got a lot of confidence in the FBI and the CDC, but this is tough to find and tough to track. So I'm cautiously optimistic.
CABELL: Optimistic but mystified, as are so many residents here, including the mail carriers who had been concerned they might have been handling contaminated mail.
LARRY KELLAN, MAIL CARRIER: Inwardly, yes but like all of the employees here, we just work in a professional manner and just hope for the best.
PAM MILLER, MAIL CARRIER: Oh, I'm just going to go about my daily business and do my work. I got to go guys. We're running behind.
CABELL: Running behind perhaps, but the community is still running, more or less normally. Four days into a crisis that provides many more questions than answers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CABELL (ON CAMERA): And a sign of the times here in Oxford, Connecticut, earlier this afternoon we were at the beauty parlor that Mrs. Lundgren visited about eleven days before she died. A woman had just had her hair done inside. She came out with a surgical mask over her mouth.
Life is a little bit changed here, but it continues here in Oxford. A meeting tonight just a couple miles from here, about 200 people showed up to hear health officials explain what anthrax is all about, and the degree of danger here.
We heard some people that were concerned certainly, a little bit of alarm, a little bit of anger, but certainly no degree of panic. And what we heard from some people frankly was relief that no new cases of anthrax have shown up in the last four days. Judy.
WOODRUFF: Brian, why do you think more people aren't panicked? Is it just that they've learned more about anthrax and what is it, and what it means and so forth?
CABELL: Well, I think number one, they haven't found any other signs of anthrax here. Number two, no other people have come up with anthrax. I think if we have another case of anthrax here, Judy, that will change. Certainly we had some panic, some degree of alarm that first night here, but it's been four days now. Things have calmed down considerably and people don't seem as concerned as they were a few nights ago.
WOODRUFF: All right, Brian Cabell, at least that part of it is good to know, people are at least thinking now about how to deal with this whole issue. Thanks, Brian.
Well even before September the 11th, the economy in the United States was heading south and people were calling on President Bush to do something about it.
After September the 11th, things got worse and the President called on Congress to come up with an economic stimulus package. But politics being politics, things are bogging down.
Not wanting a repeat of the airline security bill, the White House is trying to break the deadlock, easier said than done.
President Bush is at Camp David. Our Kelly Wallace is nearby in Hagerstown, Maryland. Good evening again, Kelly.
WALLACE: Good evening again, Judy. You are exactly right, easier said than done. But still, next week aides say President Bush will meet with Congressional leaders and also deliver a speech. His message will be that Congress should get a bill to his desk in days to give a boost to the economy.
Now Republicans say the President has plenty of political capital to get the tax cuts he wants, but using some of that capital is not without its risks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE (VOICE OVER): President Bush, out of sight since arriving at Camp David Wednesday afternoon, will try to step up the pressure on Congress next week to stimulate the economy.
That's welcome news to republican leaders who believe the administration needs to spell out what's acceptable and what's not.
SENATOR TRENT LOTT, MINORITY LEADER: I have encouraged the White House officials this past Friday to get more aggressive in that area. I believe they will.
WALLACE: Congressional republicans are pressing the President not to give in to democrats who want more Federal spending, and fewer tax breaks for businesses, republicans saying Mr. Bush should start using the clout that comes with an approval rating of 87 percent, according to the most recent Gallup Poll.
STUART ROTHENBERG, POLITICAL ANALYST: Conservatives are certainly whining about the President's behavior and I think they're trying to convey to the White House that they think that he should be more aggressive in pursuing a conservative agenda.
WALLACE: Conservatives don't want to see a repeat of the airline security debate. Some believe the President's Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, undermined House republicans when he said the President if necessary would sign the Senate measure, even though it calls for a complete Federal takeover of airport baggage and passenger screeners, which he opposed.
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Obviously, the Chief of Staff spoke accurately for the President when he said that. The President just signed it.
WALLACE: That bill, viewed as a victory for democrats, requires that airport screeners become Federal employees for at least three years. In the weeks ahead, the President will also push Congress on education, his faith-based agenda, and a plan to boost domestic oil production.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE (ON CAMERA): And the delicate balancing act he faces, how much negotiating and how much demanding to do. Mr. Bush knows he needs to keep conservatives happy, but he also knows if he appears too partisan, his sky high approval ratings stemming from the War against Terrorism will begin to fade. Judy.
WOODRUFF: Kelly, this is a President who's pointed a finger so often at his predecessor for being too conscious of politics, is this an instance where they are at least conscious of the politics underway here?
WALLACE: Well certainly conscious of those very, very high approval ratings, in which case they think it may give the President a little room to be a little tougher, Judy.
You've heard the President already say that he would veto any additions above the $680 billion plus budget that he has already called for. So he's already drawing the line in the sand in some cases.
Aides say he's going to do the same with his economic stimulus package. So they're very conscious of the poll numbers, but definitely looking to see if the two sides can work together, not so easy. Back to you, Judy.
WOODRUFF: All right, Kelly Wallace, in Hagerstown, not too far from Camp David.
To the war now, it is Saturday in Afghanistan, on the eve of what could be a very bloody Sunday. Taliban fighters in the town of Kunduz have until then to surrender under the terms of a truce that today showed little sign of holding.
There is fighting in Kunduz, troops moving southward to Kandahar, and a number of hard-line Taliban mercenaries in both places saying they're ready to die fighting. This could get uglier in a hurry.
It is already confusing enough as it is, and to help cut through the confusion, let's turn once again to our CNN Christiane Amanpour. She is in Kabul. Hello again, Christiane.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, developments as you mentioned both on the war front, but also at the peace table. First let's stay to the battleground. Here about an hour away from Kabul, there has been another fierce pocket of Taliban resistance, putting up a fight over the last two days.
Northern Alliance forces have gone down to that areas, it's called Maidan Shah (ph), as I say about southwest of Kabul, and they've been trying to dislodge some very fierce resistance and stubborn resistance by Taliban, backed up they are saying by many hundreds of Afghan Arab fighters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR (VOICE OVER): Those Arab mercenaries who've come from all over the world to fight with the Taliban, and indeed some who are linked with the al Qaeda network.
Now in Kunduz, in the north, we've been seeing over the last week a huge battle develop there between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance, and over the last couple of days, there's been heavy bombing by the U.S. forces on those Taliban and Arab frontlines.
There's been much speculation and talk about a peace deal, a ceasefire deal and terms of surrender. So far, that hasn't materialized. It appears the sticking point is the fate of those Arab fighters with the Afghan Taliban.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: The Northern Alliance does not want to see them escape. They apparently are trying to negotiate free passage out of Afghanistan and failing that, they say they're going to fight to the bitter end.
As I say, U.S. forces have been bombing from the sky over the last couple of days. Northern Alliance commanders say they believe, despite the evidence on the ground, that the Taliban there will turn in their weapons and stop the fight by Sunday.
Now in Kandahar, a warlord in the west which took the town of Herat from the Taliban, his name is Ismael Hann (ph), is now saying that he is going to push his forces south towards the Kandahar and Helmand regions of Afghanistan. These are two critical positions held by the Taliban.
Also, we understand the United States, according to officials in Washington, have been heavily bombing areas around Kandahar and Jalalabad, going for caves and tunnels suspected of belonging to the al Qaeda network and Osama bin Laden, and dropping, for the third time we are told, one of their very heavy and big, big bombs called the Daisy Cutter, around Kandahar.
In the meantime, there are positive signs of potential developments. On Tuesday in Germany, political talks will begin amongst the different factions. Today we heard from Dr. Abdullah, the Northern Alliance Foreign Minister. The Northern Alliance now controls most of Afghanistan, and he insisted that the Northern Alliance was ready to enter a power-sharing arrangement.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. ABDULLAH ABDULLAH, NORTHERN ALLIANCE FOREIGN MINISTER: What I can assure our people in the international community is that the United Front, our leadership, is truly aware of the urgency of such a situation, a transition into a peaceful process or a political settlement, which will bring about ultimately a full representative, multi-ethnic broad-based government.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: Dr. Abdullah said that there would be women representing the United Front and other delegations at the talks in Bonn, and President Rabbani of the Northern Alliance has assured CNN this week, that if there was to be another leader chosen, he would step down and abide by that decision -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: But, Christiane, somewhat mixed signals from the Northern Alliance. At one point, a few days ago, they were saying this meeting in Germany really wouldn't mean very much. Now they are suggesting something more than that.
AMANPOUR: Well, it depends on who you talk to. President Rabbani told CNN that it would be symbolic but a first step. but all the real meaningful political decisions would have to take place in Afghanistan. They're still saying that, but Dr. Abdullah told us today that it would be more than symbolic, the meeting in Bonn, that they would, he expected, come up with a road map for the political future and they did expect to make concrete steps in Bonn.
We will have to obviously wait and see and history has been unkind really to the idea of broad-based alliances here in Afghanistan. But Dr. Abdullah basically said that they all know that this is the moment when the international attention is focused on Afghanistan, and the international community is ready to help, that perhaps they could have a success this time.
WOODRUFF: All right, CNN's Christiane Amanpour near Kabul, where it is now early Sunday morning. Thanks, Christiane.
Coming up on News Night, it is back to Afghanistan for a ride with young men barely old enough to drive or carry the weapons they do.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOODRUFF: There's a scene in the movie "Apocalypse Now" that rings rather true today. Captain Willard is making his way through a fire fight when he runs into an enlisted man. "Who's in charge here" he wants to know. The soldier replies "I thought you were."
Well flash ahead 30 years to Afghanistan, few people there know the answer either. We do know this. There is a power vacuum in the making, with a lot of highly-armed young men wanting to fill it. CNN's Jason Bellini met a few of them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (VOICE OVER): Joy riding through Jalalabad, the Mujahaddin soldiers I'm with act as if they own the place, but for the moment it's not clear who's in charge here.
At least four factions hope to be and each one of them is armed to the teeth. I went in to assess the seriousness of the situation, the danger level, as men with rocket-propelled grenades and high- caliber assault rifles cruise the streets, seemingly having a good time.
Was this a celebration or more sabre-rattling? I began by inquiring about the pickup trucks that they were using. Hasra Ali, one of the commanders hoping to be boss here, confirmed my suspicions.
"All these cars that you see here, they belong to the Taliban" he says. "The trucks were a Taliban symbol of power, used for patrols by the Ministry of Virtue and Vice. Some of these vehicles were commandeered from the NGOs the Taliban booted from the country."
I wondered who these alliance soldiers were. Where to they come from? Do they plan to occupy Jalalabad, or eventually go home?
EZWAN (ph): My name is Ezwan. I am from Afghanistan. I live in Peshawar.
BELLINI: This soldier, a 20-year-old, grew up in a refugee camp in Pakistan. Now he says he plans to make Jalalabad his home.
In a country where two generations of war kept many Afghans perpetually on the move, home is where your tribe faction or ethnic group is for now.
"When the Americans started bombing and the Taliban left, this was an open space we came and occupied" this man says. "And now we're getting set up here."
But what could they possibly be setting up when they're so busy racing around?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BELLINI (ON CAMERA): I'm doing a little road-tripping with the Mujahaddin. They're actually helping me to hold the camera right now. I don't know where we're going, what the purpose of this trip is. I'm wondering whether they do either.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BELLINI (VOICE OVER): So I asked someone. What are you guys doing here?
"I wait for the commander to tell us what to do" this man tells me. "Then we do accordingly."
But most of the time, these men are without orders, other than to remain loyal to their particular commander.
"Right now, everything is out of order" this deputy commander admits. "Maybe later when things get a little bit more organized, we'll take all the weapons and then we'll sit together and find out who is the chief."
Without a common enemy to oppose, the commanders may have a limited time to organize and prevent a return of the factional fighting of the past. Still Commander Haji Zaman expresses optimism.
There won't be fighting between any of you?
COMMANDER HAJI ZAMAN: No. No. No. No.
BELLINI: Because it used to be there in the country in the past.
ZAMAN: We don't want to do what we did in the past. We already received the dessert of the past. For this (inaudible) we don't want to repeat it.
BELLINI: But it's unclear how much control the commanders themselves have. As we road along together, one of Haji Zaman's soldiers yelled out "we don't care about Haji Zaman." I don't ask him why.
The gray area between peace and war in Jalalabad isn't something anyone here can explain. But it's clear the race against time to prevent more war will be no joy ride. Jason Bellini, CNN, Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
WOODRUFF: Now that's a take on the war we have not seen before. Ahead on News Night, charity in the wake of 9/11. Are we giving what it takes and where it's needed?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOODRUFF: This is not only the big shopping season, it is also the giving season. This season, it is so much more complicated than usual. You have an economy slowing, meaning people have less money to spread around, and you have one cause, 9/11, that's naturally drawing in so much attention and so many dollars.
So no surprise then that a few other charities are suffering and so are the people who depend on them. Here's CNN's Mark Potter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (VOICE OVER): A gospel serenade in the Florida sun, as hundreds of homeless and poor are given Thanksgiving meals at the Miami Rescue Mission.
For nearly 80 years, the rescue mission has been helping the needy, relying solely on charity to keep its doors open. But since September 11th, cash and food donations have dropped, about 15 percent from last year. Many donors say they suffer from charity fatigue and are tapped out. It's a problem nationwide.
FRANK JACOB, MIAMI RESCUE MISSION: For example, a person that gave $50 during Thanksgiving season last year, might have just put $25 in with a little note "this is the best I can do. I'm helping out with the New York tragedy or the national needs" and that sort of thing.
POTTER: The economy, the stock market, and rising unemployment have also taken their tolls. Some who used to give generously are now themselves barely holding on.
And there is another important reason for the downturn in donations here. It seems strange to say, but it is the fear of anthrax.
The Miami Rescue Mission solicits donations by mail, but this year, thousands of residents through the envelopes away without ever opening them, as a precaution against bioterrorism. The mission now plans to use the phones more.
The mission provides food, shelter and counseling for hundreds of men, women, and children a day. It's computer classrooms teach job hunting skills and basic reading.
The men serenading the Thanksgiving crowd are the Regeneration Singers, all formerly homeless, all residents of the mission, all been officiaries of charity, which they and others here hope will soon resume in full. Mark Potter, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOODRUFF: Well many charities are having problems, but it's not all charities and not all areas. We want to get a different take on what's happening. Joining us now from Columbus, Ohio, Brian Gallagher. He is President and CEO elect of the United Way of America.
Mr. Gallagher, have the events of 9/11 affected the United Way's ability to raise money?
BRIAN A. GALLAGHER, UNITED WAY OF AMERICA: You know, Judy, not so far. Right after the 11th, United Way campaigns had just kicked off around the country and what happened was, we were kind of on hold for a week or ten days because we really weren't sure, you know, what was the appropriate action. Should we still keep asking people for money? What should the message be?
But since then, after we've gotten the campaigns up and running, actually the response has been great.
WOODRUFF: Tell me what your fund raising schedule is like. At this time of year, would you normally have raised most of the money you expected to, or do you collect more in this last month of the year as people think about tax deduction? GALLAGHER: It's really, the United Way Campaign is primarily a fall campaign, from Labor Day to Thanksgiving. It's probably fair to say that this campaign's a little later than Thanksgiving, again primarily because campaigns got put off and delayed for a couple of weeks.
But a lot of campaigns go through the end of the year, and there is a lot of giving that happens at year end, as people think about tax consequences and so forth.
WOODRUFF: Well, I want to ask you about the economy, because there's a survey done by a group called independent sector. It's a, I guess sort of a coalition of non-profits that showed most people they asked said "yes, I plan to give at least as much as I gave to a 9/11 cause if I was asked, to other charities. But if the economy gets worse, now that would affect my giving."
How much has the economy affected what you're seeing people give to United Way?
GALLAGHER: Well you know, in fact I think the economy is much more a factor than September 11th. That independent sector survey that you reference, the survey found that 58 percent of the people that responded said they made some gift in response to September the 11th, 73 percent of those people said that they would continue to give or give more, 26 percent said that they would probably give less or not at all because they gave to immediate relief efforts to the 11th.
But when you ask them about the economy, and then at United Way when we ask folks about the economy, 50 percent of the people said if the economy were a factor and got worse and it changed their personal situation, that it would negatively affect their giving. So the economy, for us, has been much more challenging than September the 11th.
WOODRUFF: We heard in Mark Potter's piece about some concern about the mail and people maybe not wanting to open the mail because of the anthrax threat out there. How much of an issue is that for you?
GALLAGHER: You know it's - United Way doesn't raise a lot of money through the mail, but there is a lot of direct mail that happens and it's critically important, especially around the holidays.
You know, you'll notice at home and at work, you'll see a lot of mailers and I think people are really being very cautious about what they receive in the mail, and if something looks like junk mail or coming from someone that they don't know, I think they are more likely to discard it.
I think the other challenge in -- in charity right now is that if you're a small organization, a small non-profit, and you really don't have the resources to get out there and ask, and that's really tough. Because if you're United Way or Salvation Army or a big non-profit, you do have the resources to try to get your message out. And just like your report mentioned, the small soup kitchens and homeless shelters and so forth, I think, are really challenged right now.
WOODRUFF: Well, is there anything that a big group like United Way can do to help these smaller organizations that may be having a hard time getting the word out?
GALLAGHER: Absolutely we can. And in fact I think it's incumbent on United Way and leadership organizations like United Way that deal with issues that -- that directly relate to, you know, emergency relief, that we work with homeless shelters and daycare and Meals On Wheels and so forth.
We have to get that word out. We have to use our platform to tell that story, that if you -- if felt strongly about an organization before the 11th and you thought they were effective, they probably need your support now more than ever -- especially given the economy.
You know, the other thing that would be really helpful is that -- for instance, if Mayor Giuliani, if the president -- President Bush, if leaders in this country were to say, "You know what? We are starting to see this trend, and especially as we look at the needs in our country, we need for Americans to do even more than what they did in response to the attacks on the 11th."
WOODRUFF: And in fact we saw President Bush visiting a soup kitchen in Washington just a few days ago. All right. Brian Gallagher.
GALLAGHER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
WOODRUFF: I'm sorry. Go ahead and finish your thought.
GALLAGHER: No, thank you Judy. It was a pleasure to be here. Just a great example of the leadership platform he can use.
WOODRUFF: Well, we appreciate you joining us. It's good to see you. Brian Gallagher. He is the president and ceo-elect of United Way of America. Thank you for joining us.
Coming up next on NEWSNIGHT, you already know about Operation Enduring Freedom. When we come back, the enduring spirit behind it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOODRUFF: It is the beginning of the holiday season. And for many families, they are looking at an empty seat at the table.
There are the families who lost someone on September 11th. There are also military families, who said goodbye to a loved one for now. Often don't know where they've gone or when they're coming back.
The U.S. called the mission "Enduring Freedom" for a reason: this is an open-ended engagement. Not an easy thing for service men and women and for their families. But one of the efforts underway to boost morale for the war effort is the Citizen Patriot Tour and it includes the help of some celebrities.
Joining us now, the woman behind the tour: former journalist, former U.S.O. board member, former U.S.O First Lady, Janet Langhart Cohen. Janet Cohen, thank you for being with us.
JANET LANGHART COHEN, CITIZENS PATRIOT FOUNDER: Well, Judy, thank you very much for having us on.
WOODRUFF: Now you have been on a tour recently with troops. Tell us where you were.
COHEN: Yes. It's called the Citizen Patriot Tour and we're about to go away again. But we went over exactly two days after the bombing began -- actually, two weeks after the bombing began in Afghanistan. And we went to Ramstein, where we have our Air Force there, and they were doing...
WOODRUFF: In Germany.
COHEN: Yes. They were doing the great humanitarian effort there. We went to Macedonia, to Kosovo, to Tuzla, Bosnia, and then we went down to Cicanella (ph) which is the largest fueling station in the world. It's the naval air station down there.
WOODRUFF: Now, you went two days after the bombing began. How much...
COHEN: Actually, no, I'm sorry. Two weeks. Two weeks after.
WOODRUFF: Two weeks. How much time did you have to put this -- you didn't have much time. Was this already in the works?
COHEN: No, not a lot of time. It was an inspiration I'd had from the previous tours we'd been going on when my husband was secretary of defense.
WOODRUFF: Your husband of course is...
COHEN: Bill Cohen.
WOODRUFF: Former Defense Secretary Bill Cohen -- which everyone knows.
COHEN: Well, well, he certainly is known by the troops and loved by them. Everyone wanted to say hello to him when I was there.
But we had gone over to lift the morale becuase during that time was the first threats of anthrax. And knowing the troops and their families the way I do, I knew that they were ready from their mission over there. But they might be worried about us back home. And in addition to going over, just showing our support for them, I wanted them to know that we're OK back home and the home front is safe.
WOODRUFF: Did these tours really cheer these people? Do they really give them a meaningful lift?
COHEN: It -- yes, it does. First of all, the morale is always good, because we have the best-trained and the best-led military. And hopefully we'll have the best equipped as we go through this enduring freedom operation.
But yes, it does give them a lift. We bring them a little touch of home. They're homesick, they're young. Some of them -- particularly in Kosovo -- they were in what we call lockdown. They can't leave base. And if they did leave base it could be dangerous because there are land means within a couple of feet of where they are stationed.
So yes, they do. And everywhere I would go with bill when he was secretary of defense, I'd say to the troops, "who do you want us to bring this time?" Big star? Cheerleaders? And they would say, "Anybody, ma'am. Just anybody." They were so grateful.
WOODRUFF: Tell us who has gone on these tours, and who you would like -- who's is coming up. Who have you gotten commitments to go?
COHEN: We are getting ready to go next month close to Christmas. We can't say where. We can't say when, exactly. And for security reasons we don't want to say who. But as soon as we come back, we'll be glad to tell you about that.
WOODRUFF: Tell us who has already done this. You can tell us that.
COHEN: Clint Black -- country singer Clint Black. John Carroll, who was just on the air with Mary Chapin Carpenter here on the "LARRY KING" show. He's gone.
In the past days, we've had Shane Minor (ph), Downtown Julie Brown. Mary Chapin Carpenter actually went, as I said. But...
WOODRUFF: Is it easer to talk to -- to get celebrities to do this? Or did they -- were they always willing to go?
COHEN: It's easier now, because of this rebirth of patriotism. People are saying yes. And the only reason they say no is because of schedules, and they're working them out, maybe for the springtime.
But what I want to say about our Citizen Patriot organization is we are seeing this rebirth of freedom. But we're also seeing an overwhelming sense of fear. And I think through service -- as your previous piece talked about charity and the challenges -- give of self. Give of service. That's what we're all about at the Citizen Patriot organization.
WOODRUFF: Well, when Janet Langhart Cohen asks, I don't know of anybody who says no.
COHEN: Judy, thanks.
WOODRUFF: Thank you very much. It's very good to see you. COHEN: Happy holidays.
WOODRUFF: You too. Thanks for stopping by.
COHEN: Thank you.
WOODRUFF: We appreciate it. Just ahead, the abc's of learning Arabic. Why it's badly needed, and why so few people seem to be answering the call.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOODRUFF: Long before September 11th, the experts had a warning. This country, they said, has a blind spot when it comes to the Arab world. Not enough Americans understand the politics, the culture or even the language. This, they worried, would leave the United States ill-prepared for what one day they knew would come. Well, that day came. And as CNN's Garrick Utley reports, we are still in the dark.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
GARRICK UTLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are the few, the determined. Young Americans learning the speak Arabic.
How many Americans can understand this language spoken by 300 million people? Understand their land? Their faith? Their culture? Their hopes and the anger of an Osama Bin Laden?
When that anger reached the United States, so ill prepared was the nation that the FBI made an urgent appeal for help for linguists who could speak Arabic and other languages used by the terrorists and those who back them.
Why the shortage of linguists? Simple. The number of students at American universities who are studying Arabic runs between five and six thousand. Five times that number are studying Latin. Three times that number are studying ancient Greek. And twice that number are studying American Sign Language. Worthy goals all.
At New York university, Kristen Sands has devoted her professional life to mastering a very difficult language and passing that knowledge on.
KRISTEN SANDS, ARABIC PROFESSOR: OK?
The most refreshing thing about teaching Arabic is their intense desire to learn the language and so many of them fall in love with it and want to just keep working and working harder.
UTLEY: So why aren't more doing it? Perhaps it's because aside from oil, there are few opportunities for outsiders to make money in Arab lands compared to other parts of world.
In Saudi Arabia, home of 15 of the 19 September 11 terrorists, American oil workers have lived in their own "little America" communities. Pumping oil does not require a knowledge of Arab language and culture.
Many Americans see the Middle East through the lens of the conflict between Israel -- a Westernized, modern democracy -- and an Arab world, which is not.
And then there is the power of popularized images: books and movies like Lawrence of Arabia have molded Western attitudes toward Arab life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it that you think we are something you can play with because we are little people? A silly people. Greedy, barbarous, and cruel.
ZACHARY LOCKMAN, CHAIR, NYU DEPARTMENT OF MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES: By and large, Americans as a people have been able to get away without knowing much about the rest of the world, and have also had a great deal of historical amnesia, so that if it happened more than a couple of weeks ago it's ancient history.
UTLEY: Then there's the other side of the story of what Americans don't know about the Arab world. Once they acknowledge it, they catch up quickly. For example, walk into most any bookstore in the United States and you'll find a wide choice of bestselling works ranging from Islam and the Koran to books on Osama Bin Laden, the clash of civilizations. Even books on biological terrorism.
NANCY BASS, THE STRAND BOOKSTORE: I might as well just make this our best-seller table. It's huge.
UTLEY: It sells?
BASS: Yes. It flies out of here.
UTLEY: Increased book sales are matched by rising university enrollment in classes on Arab language and culture. That's encouraging -- if turns out to be a sustained trend rather than a momentary fad in the face of a challenge that is not momentary. Garrick Utley, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
WOODRUFF: The American spirit. Coming up: tomorrow's news tonight. The front page from Honolulu and Indianapolis.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOODRUFF: It's awfully easy to get tunnel vision on the news when you live in New York or Washington. And that's why we try to look for stories -- at least Aaron's program does -- outside the biggest cities to see what the rest of the nation is talking about.
In Honolulu, Rod Antone. He is the city desk reporter for the Honolulu "Star-Bulletin." And from Indianapolis, Indiana, Ted Daniels, associate editor at the "Indianapolis Star."
Let me start with you, Ted Antone. What are the kinds of stories you've been running on your front page since September 11?
ROD ANTONE, REPORTER, "HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN:" I'm sorry. Are you talking to Ted or myself?
WOODRUFF: To Ted Daniels.
TED DANIELS, EDITOR, "INDIANAPOLIS STAR:" OK.
WOODRUFF: I'm sorry. I switched the city and the name. Let me get it right. Ted Daniels in Indiananapolis, you're first.
DANIEL: OK. As you can imagine, you know, the terror attacks and the -- the following war has pretty much dominated our front page for most of that time, although here in the last couple weeks things have seemed to return a little bit more to normal. And we have a state financial crisis that has been in the headlines a lot the last couple weeks and it's kind of taken some of the spotlight away from the war.
WOODRUFF: Rod Antone, what about in Honolulu? What kinds of stories since September 11?
ANTONE: Actually, it sounds very similar to Ted's situation. Except this financial crisis he's talking about. We've had that since mid-September. I mean, as soon as the September 11 happened, the aftermath with the major airlines cutting back flights to Hawaii, people not coming here.
We're so dependent on tourism. Tourism numbers were down about 20 to 30 percent. We've had about 30,000 people laid off since mid- September. The governor has declared a state of financial emergency. That's dominated most of the news here in the past couple of weeks.
Tomorrow is actually one of the first days that I've seen that we haven't -- we aren't going to see any anthrax or terrorist-related headlines on our front page.
WOODRUFF: Well, I want to ask about that in a moment. But Ted Daniels, do you get the sense that the national media are aware of what's going on in your part of the country?
DANIELS: I think so. But I think, you know, the focus is -- even here, our readers -- this story has had a lot of legs with our readers. The terror war.
They've understood the nuances of our coverage a little bit better and they have been more likely to call up and, you know, be critical of headlines and particular stories that they don't think are quite accurate or -- or quite on the mark. At the same time they also call...
WOODRUFF: Go ahead. Finish your thought.
DANIELS: I'm sorry. Also at the same time they have called us to say they appreciate our, you know, responsible coverage, particularly some of the, you know, anthrax scares and -- and some of the smallpox.
Or we had a story, you know, about what the real possibilities were, you know, of a smallpox outbreak. And they've been said that we've been more responsible, think, in many ways than the national media on those types of stories.
WOODRUFF: Rod Antone, what about your readers? What are -- what are you hearing from them?
ANTONE: Well, there been some criticism that we might be blowing up the anthrax scare in Hawaii. For a while people were calling 911 if someone dropped a cup of sugar. Anything white on the ground, someone would call. It was anthrax, or possible anthrax.
But other than that, you know, same thing. As Ted was saying, they've said we've been pretty responsible. There of course is more focus on national and international events. Anything that happens in Afghanistan, of course, makes the front page.
WOODRUFF: You mean, more -- more so than before September 11.
ANTONE: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Especially here in Hawaii, we try to concentrate on local news and put it on the front page. Of course we still do, but now we're not hiding all the international news on page A-15. I guess.
WOODRUFF: Well, subject for another interview. But let me finally ask you. You said -- you said earlier that tomorrow is the first day that you won't have anthrax or the state's financial problems on the front page. What -- what will you have on the front page tomorrow?
ANTONE: Well, we actually have an actual medical problem that's been going. Dengue fever has been pretty bad. We've had about 87 cases over the past several months, although the state says we've been -- we've seen the worst of it.
Also, the Kaui police commission continues its investigation into the Kaui police chief and if he hindered prosecution -- the prosecution investigation of one of his officers.
And oddly enough, we've got a CNN story. CNN International News anchor Dalton Tananaka has announced that he's going to run for lieutenant governor. So there you go.
WOODRUFF: There's a piece of news. All the way around, from politics to -- to health.
Well, we thank very much for joining us, Rod Antone with the "Honolulu Star-Bulletin." And I also want to thank from Indianapolis, Ted Daniels with the "Indianapolis Star." We lost that satellite but we still want to thank you. Thank you both for giving a sense of what the news is like outside of the New York-Washington axis.
Next on NEWSNIGHT, the heroes overlooked in any disaster, especially the disasters that have hit -- hit New York over the past few months. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOODRUFF: In so many places you see people wearing NYPD caps and NYFD t-shirts. Even celebrities wearing them to honor the police and the firefighters who died in the World Trade Center.
You haven't seen the letters EMT around too much -- emergency medical technician -- the people who also played a key role not just on September 11th, but also November 12th, when Flight 587 crashed in Queens.
One EMT remembers lives saved and more lost in both disasters.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
KERRY AALBUE, NEW YORK CITY EMT: That's (UNINTELLIGIBLE). He was all of -- all of 33. He was going to be 34. He left a 2-year-old daughter, Amanda. Wife. They have only been married five years.
This is Carlos Willow. This is the last patient he treated before going back into the tower. I'm missing about dear friends of mine, but one friend in particular.
I have been on the lookout for his name trying to get news for, you know, for the family and for my own closure. And out of 6,000 people missing, his body was one of the bodies that came down that Sunday. I knew it was him when we brought him down off the pile.
There's -- I mean, there's nothing to do. You have a job to do. And -- and you kind of swallow it and you think to yourself, well, I have a wake and a funeral. I can cry then. But I've got work to do right now. And you just sort of just -- you shove it down deep into your toes do it doesn't escape.
And then what you do is you end up collecting his obituary and you end up collecting, you know, the newspaper clippings of him. You have to find a coping mechanism.
And after a while it starts to become very surreal and -- and you kind of forget the reality of it, only because you have to build that wall in order to keep your sanity.
This is our little gator over here. We've had nights where are there no hitters and you just, you know, you sit and you stare at each other for 16 hours and that's how you become extremly close with your partner.
What, no marshmallows?
Or you're working your tail and the time goes expediently by.
Six (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Charlie, did you call me?
We're basically waiting for word that they found a pocket of bodies or a pocket of parts or something. Then they bring them out. And when they bring them out, it's -- you know that they're bringing someone out and everybody just sort of stops and stares. And then they finally get the body and bring the respects basket up. And it's a show of respect to bring a member of the service down in the star staff with the flag.
This is a family saying good-bye. We usually have the wakes and the funerals to say goodbye to our brethren. We don't have it we do it here as best we can. And that's what you just saw. It's a corridor of honor.
Ah, Christ. Here we go again. I came to work, and then when I signed on they were, OK, you're going down to the Rockaway. It was very reminiscent of the World Trade Center.
It's a job. We're -- we're getting extremely proficient at it lately. But it's just -- it's almost like an assembly line with the buckets going back and forth and everybody very intent.
Every now and then you'd just see a fireman like lay a hand on a friend's shoulder, you know, basically to say, "Hey, you know, we got through the World Trade Center. We can get through this."
We come in now expecting to work 911 to send the help the sick and injured. Yet I think just the world we're living in now we expect not to expect anything anymore. What's the expression? To expect the unexpected? It becomes norm.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
WOODRUFF: EMT. Emergency medical technican. We won't forget you. Well, that's NEWSNIGHT for this evening. I'm Judy Woodruff. Thanks for joining us. Aaron Brown returns on Monday. Good night.
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