Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Details of Economic Stimulus Package Emerging; Investigators Look For Answers to the Buffalo Plane Crash; Tough Economy Hurting the Young and Old Alike for Jobs; The Making of a Radical

Aired February 14, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the country gets back to work now that the stimulus package has passed and near Buffalo, investigators look for answers to that horrible plane crash.

And then this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALIKA EL AROUD: (INAUDIBLE) to live in humiliation, right? Maybe you don't share that feeling. But we have that feeling, we the Muslims.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Nic Robertson has an inside look at one woman's war, life inside a terror organization. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM where the news unfolds live this Saturday, February 14th. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

President Obama calls the newly approved economic stimulus bill a major milestone on the road to recovery. He says he'll sign it shortly. Final approval of the $787 billion package came late last night with a 60-38 vote in the Senate.

CNN's senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over) Democrats are delivering President Obama's economic plan with the warp speed that he demanded. But that meant little time for lawmakers to actually review it.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: I don't know how you can read 1,100 pages between midnight and now. Not one member has read this.

BASH: Across the capitol lawmakers and staff pored through pounds of paper trying to determine exactly what's in the bill before approving an unprecedented $787 billion. What's at the heart of those 1,000 plus pages are some $280 billion in tax cuts and more than $500 billion in government spending. Supporters insist the goal of this economic plan is simple.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jobs, jobs, jobs. BASH: First for people who don't have jobs, here's what's in it, $24.7 billion to subsidize health insurance for nine months for most laid off workers, up to 33 weeks of extended unemployment benefits and an additional $25 a week. But creating jobs is what Democrats insist the hundreds of billions in spending will do by investing in infrastructure projects like energy efficient buildings, roads, bridges and mass transit.

For example, $27.5 billion for highways, $1.1 billion for airports that prove they can start construction work now, $8 billion for high speed rail, a big funding boost thanks to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada who's pushing for a grant to build a train from Las Vegas to southern California. But there are also programs like $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, which critics argue will not stimulate the economy.

REP. ERIC CANTOR (R), MINORITY WHIP: This bill is loaded with wasteful deficit spending on the majority's favorite government programs. We need jobs, not mountains of debt to be paid by our children. We can do better.

BASH: No Republican voted for this in the House and only three moderate Republicans voted for it in the Senate. In fact it was so close in the Senate, Democrats held the vote open for more than five hours until nearly 11:00 at night so that the White House could send a government plane to Ohio to pick up Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown and bring him back from his mother's wake so he could cast the final vote for President Obama's stimulus plan.

Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: A bit more now on what the economic stimulus package includes, $40 billion for extended unemployment benefits through December 31st, $86.6 billion to help state fund their Medicaid programs, $48 billion for transportation projects including roads, bridges and mass transit and $44.5 billion in aid to local school districts. The plan also calls for $116 billion in worker tax credits.

In order to finance all of this, the stimulus legislation increases the national debt limit to $12.1 trillion. So we want to hear from you on how you're coping with this economy. Beginning at 4:00 Eastern, we'll focus on the full hour on your short and long-term money issues. We have two experts on board to answer your questions and our Josh Levs will be taking your e-mails at weekend@cnn.com.

CNN's Mary Snow is in Clarence Center, New York, close to where Continental connection flight 3407 crashed. Mary, how is everyone coping?

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, we're seeing (INAUDIBLE) is this community turning to each other. Several memorials have already been held in memory of the people who were on board that plane and people here. This is a very tight knit community still learning about who was killed in Thursday night's tragedy. Continental Airlines has still not released a full list of the people who were on board that plane. Of course we know some of the victims, but not all. And people here are still learning about who was killed.

And also with the investigation continuing, the NTSB saying about 14 investigators are on the scene today. They are recovering the charred remains of flight 3407 and they were able, as we now know to recover the flight data recorders but they have been able to piece together, of course they're still poring through all this analysis, but the NTSB saying that there did appear to be a significant buildup of ice.

Whether or not that was the cause of the crash is still too early to determine. But the NTSB said that the landing gear and also the wing flaps had been activated. They were able to determine that about one minute before the end of the record.

And so far, this is what officials are saying about what they know.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE CHEALANDER, NTSB: A significant ice buildup is an aerodynamic impediment if you will. Airplanes are built with wings that are shaped a certain way and if you've got too much ice, the shape of the wing could change, requiring different air speeds and so forth. So that's about all I will say with that, the aerodynamics of it changes as ice is significantly built up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: The ice build up was reported on the windshield and also the wings, the de-icing system was activated. The question is, was it working properly? The NTSB is saying that the ice conditions, one of several things that are being looked at and we are expecting to get more information at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. That's the next scheduled NTSB briefing. Also Fredricka there are members of the medical examiner's office on the scene today and they have the grim job of recovering remains. That is expected to take several days -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks very much, Mary Snow and of course we're going to cover that live at 4:00 in that hour when the NTSB briefing does occur. Thanks so much.

Meantime, overseas delays of up to three hours at London city airport today, a day after a hard landing. A jet's nose wheel collapsed when the plane touched down last night. All 72 people on board the British Airways plane scampered down emergency slides as the cabin filled with smoke. Nobody was hurt.

The tough economy is hurting young and older alike. Do you know where to go for help? Gerri Willis up next with answers. And in a couple of hours, your money questions answered by our experts. Also share with us what you're doing to save a buck. Our e-mail address, weekends@cnn.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Friday the 13th was an unlucky day for financial institutions. Four more banks folded. That brings the total for this year to 13 and they're all over the country. Cornbelt Bank and Trust company is in Pittsfield, Illinois. Pinnacle Banks in Beaverton, Oregon, Sherman County bank is in Loup City, Nebraska and Riverside Bank of the Gulf Coast is in Cap Coral, Florida. The accounts of all four banks will be taken over by other more stable banks.

For more on the economy, let's talk about jobs. We all know that it's tough out there right now. And if you're a teenager or perhaps you're a more seasoned worker, you might be having an even more difficult time than most.

Earlier this week, I talked to our personal finance editor Gerri Willis to get some advice.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: If you're a teen or if you're an older job seeker, getting hired might seem especially challenging. CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis join uses with some tools out there to help you. All right, best advice for teens. Let's begin with that.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hi Fred, good to see you.

Well, you know, teens are really hit hard with this crisis and this past summer was one of the worst for teen unemployment. Kids are also finding a lot of job competition especially from folks who have been recently displaced in their own jobs. But there are Web sites out there that specialize in part-time or hourly work. Here's a few of them, snagajob.com, teens4hire.com and groovejob.com, also take a look at college recruiter.com. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right and if you're a little bit more seasoned, perhaps you want to go back to school or maybe not, what are the options?

WILLIS: If you're an older worker, according to the AARP, 9 percent of folks over the age of 50 have lost their jobs during the past 12 months and that's nearly double the rate from April 2008. There's a new Web site out there that will help you figure out if your family qualifies for public benefit programs. Plus you can also get tax assistance, information on job training and search for scholarships if you're looking for retraining. The Web site address is aap.org/realrelief.

Now on that site, you'll also find a link to the companies that want to hire older workers. Check out retirement.com. This service lets you search for opportunities, job opportunities with companies that have age friendly hiring practices and I'm not just talking about being a greeter at a big retailer.

WHITFIELD: Next time hopefully we'll talk about that gap in between the teens and over 50. There's a big gap in between there looking for jobs as well. All right, Gerri Willis, thanks so much, appreciate it.

WILLIS: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And of course, we want to hear from you about how you're coping with this economy. Beginning in the 4:00 Eastern hour, we'll focus the full hour on your short and long-term money issues. We have two experts on board to answer some of your questions as well. Our Josh Levs will be taking your e-mails at weekends@cnn.com. So again, we're going to be fielding your questions and giving them to the experts as well as we want to hear from you about how you're stretching that dollar or that penny.

All right, the FEMA fiasco in New Orleans, Barack Obama promised the government as a candidate that the government would be there when disaster strikes. Well, now that he's president, why hasn't he delivered a new FEMA chief?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: When disaster strikes, will the government be there to help? Barack Obama as a candidate promised to address what he called deficiencies in the government's response to hurricane Katrina. So why has he as president not chosen a new FEMA chief?

CNN's Jim Acosta takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the first disaster on President Obama's watch, an ice storm hit parts of the south, it was a holdover from the Bush administration on the scene for FEMA. The agency got good marks from state officials.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eliminate the peanut butter portion of the meal.

ACOSTA: But in its response, FEMA may have mistakenly sent salmonella tainted peanut butter in its meal kits to evacuees. Nobody got sick, but it was a reminder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: FEMA is under the spotlight. It's under scrutiny.

ACOSTA: The Bush administration's bungled response to hurricane Katrina was one of the Obama campaign's favorite targets.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You can talk about levees that couldn't hold, about a FEMA that seemed not just incompetent but paralyzed and powerless, about a president who only saw the people from the window of an airplane instead of down here on the ground.

ACOSTA: He promised to fix FEMA, saying as president, the head of the agency would report to him and have real emergency experience. FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: And Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job.

ACOSTA: Translation: no more Brownies. Today former FEMA chief Michael Brown says the one thing he learned from the Katrina debacle is that the agency should have a direct line to the president, something Brown claims he did not have.

MICHAEL BROWN, FORMER FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: You simply cannot have that in a crisis situation. You can't have that on the battlefield. And a disaster is like a battlefield. Somebody has to be in charge.

ACOSTA: Another Katrina veteran argues leadership is what counts.

KATHLEEN BLANCO, FORMER LOUISIANA GOVERNOR: I would hope that the next FEMA administrator is someone who has had direct experience with managing a very large disaster.

ACOSTA: A Democratic official says the names being mentioned include Florida's emergency management director Craig Fugate.

PROFESSOR RICHARD SYLVES, UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE: You need a FEMA director that can go toe to toe with screaming governors, with governors who are saying we need help now.

ACOSTA (on-camera): Another name that's floated out is a former emergency manager in Iowa. In this third week of the Obama administration, officials tell us they are making progress in their search and a Democratic official points out the cabinet secretary in charge of FEMA, Homeland Security's Janet Napolitano did make it to Kentucky just yesterday and is promising more help for storm victims there.

Jim Acosta, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, beautiful Bonnie has joined us this Valentine's weekend, lady in red. Good to see you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Look forward to that. Thanks so much, Bonnie.

The making of a terrorist, inside the life of a woman known as a living al Qaeda legend. We're taking you along on her trail from college to prison.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In Pakistan today, at least 20 people were killed by an unmanned drone in a suspected U.S. air strike. That's according to Pakistani intelligence officials. They say the drone dropped two missiles on a home near the Afghan border, killing followers of Pakistan's top Taliban leader. The U.S. is the only country operating in the region known to have the capability to launch missiles from remotely controlled drones. The U.S. military in Afghanistan doesn't usually offer any comment on reported cross border strikes.

So we're going to do something a little unique this next half hour. We're going to focus on this woman, a living al Qaeda legend. She's now jailed for plotting terror attacks in Europe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALIKA EL AROUD: It's better to die than to live in humiliation, right? Maybe you don't share that feeling, but we have that feeling, we, the Muslims.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: She didn't always feel that way. We're following her path from college to marriage to prison.

Also in about an hour and a half from now, a special hour on your money concerns. What are you doing to save money or stretch the dollar? What do you want to ask our experts? Send us an e-mail, weekends@cnn.com. We'll get them on the air.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The making of a radical, how does someone go from disgruntled to suicide bomber? We're going to spend much of the next half hour looking for answers to that very question.

CNN's Nic Robertson traces one woman's journey from Brussels student to the woman European authorities call an al Qaeda living legend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Out of this seedy Brussels nightclub scene, a terror threat has emerged tied directly to Osama bin Laden. Last December, police arrested 14 people, charging six with participating in a terror group. Among them, was this woman led away by police. Malika el Aroud, 49- year-old Belgian Moroccan woman who Belgian authorities refer to simply as Malika and describe her as an al Qaeda living legend.

In the winter of 2006, long before her arrest, Malika gave us an exclusive interview. Now we are telling her story. It is a story of love, how Malika became a radical and ultimately of war, Malika's war.

MALIKA EL AROUD (through translator): People resist, people fight, people are ready to die. That obviously every day you see. They're human bombs. It's better to die than to live in humiliation, right? Maybe you don't share that feeling, but we have that feeling, we the Muslims. We prefer to die than to live humiliated like this.

GLENN AUDENAERT, DIRECTOR, BRUSSELS FEDERAL POLICY: Mr. bid Laden is always in debt to Malika. That has to be the relation between both of them. Because she of course made the ultimate offer through the death of her husband for the jihad.

ROBERTSON: We begin when she is five. Her parents, like hundreds of thousands of other poor Moroccans sought a better life in Europe. It is a path that took Malika from average child to party girl, to radical activist, to accused terrorist.

EL AROUD: A foreigner in Belgium, a foreigner in Morocco and you're treated like a dirty foreigner wherever you go, so it wasn't exactly a gift our parents gave us.

ROBERTSON: Malika's family have never talked on camera before, but are afraid if they show their faces, they will be targeted by right wing racist groups. They are not like Malika, not driven by religious ideals. Saida, her younger sister runs a business in Brussels, never covers her head.

SAIDA, SISTER (through translator): We went out together, we walked around together. We ate together. We did lots of things. Holidays together. She was totally normal.

ROBERTSON: Mohammed is three years younger than Malika, quiet spoken.

MOHAMMED, BROTHER (through translator): When we were young, she gave me pocket money and she always supported me when I had a problem with my father.

ROBERTSON: This is where Malika went to school. She excelled, but after attacking a teacher over a racial slur, she was expelled. Her father wanted a more traditional, domesticated role for his daughter, didn't support her efforts to be readmitted.

MOHAMMED: Our father was a bit strict. She was still young, so she rarely had the chance to go out. So it must have been very difficult for her, that's for sure.

ROBERTSON: As soon as she could, she broke free of her father's control, began going out to bars, nightclubs and discos. Sometimes her brother went with her.

MOHAMMED: We used to go out together to night clubs, have a drink, dance, normal things.

ROBERTSON: But Malika took her newfound freedoms to excess, her own writings describe how. Quote, "I got involved in the worst things, alcohol and hashish. I hung out in nightclubs and around bad people. I ended up becoming so disgusted with myself, I wanted to die."

So disgusted she tried to kill herself, but failed. There was a failed relationship with a cousin and a baby and then she says, a new beginning.

EL AROUD: Turning on the radio looking for a station, I heard the Arabic call to prayer and then I felt something very strong in my heart. ROBERTSON: Malika says she was on a path of discovery. In her search for answers, she began hanging out at number 41 avenue Vanderduschen (ph). At the time, it was the headquarters of the Centre Islamique Belge. That's where she learned to wear a veil. She didn't know then that the center was so radical, it would come under inspection by Belgian intelligence service. Soon, Malika would embrace the center's teachings.

SAIDA: You have to know my sister has a pretty strong personality, so when she went into religion, she invested herself more than someone else might.

ROBERTSON: At the center, she married twice and quickly divorced twice.

EL AROUD: It was a difficult time. First I was sick and then I was coming out of an experience that had become very bad with my last husband.

ROBERTSON: She was about to meet the man who was to change her life forever at the Centre Dimana (ph).

EL AROUD: I was lucky to meet him. He knew how to heal me and I recovered quickly thanks to God. I needed a man like that to recover for my health, for my morale, I needed a man like Abdessater al- Sattar. He had a nice manner, his gestures, his words, his looks. He was the personification of gentleness.

ROBERTSON: Gentle is not how Belgian intelligence saw him.

ALAIN WINANTSM, BELGIAN STATE SECURITY: This is Mr. Dahmane in a...

ROBERTSON: After Abedsatter Dahmane, the man Malika had fallen in love with was under surveillance. This is the first time this picture has been seen outside intelligence circles.

WINANTS: We were a network of individuals, traveling to Britain to be from there on directed to the war zones in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

ROBERTSON: Malika wasn't worried, she was smitten. They married in 1999, setting her on track to becoming an icon of the global jihadist movement.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Up next, the making of a jihadist star. And why Malika loves Osama bin Laden.

And then later on at 4:00 Eastern Time, your money questions answered by our experts. Also what are you doing to save money? How are you stretching that dollar? E-mail us at weekends@CNN.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right, we're giving you a rare glimpse this half hour into the making of a jihadist. CNN's Nic Robertson follows the trail of a woman considered to be an al Qaeda living legend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: Malika El Aroud's marriage to Abdesattar Dahmane would take far away from Brussels and her family to Afghanistan. She became radicalized. Soon, she was to be catapulted to jihadist stardom. Her husband Abdessater al-Sattar was religious and intolerant to the extreme. Malika's sister saw it first hand one night at dinner.

SAIDA: When he realized my husband was a Shia not a Sunni like him, he got up and left. That was the reason I stopped seeing Malika.

ROBERTSON: Malika says she was consumed with her love for Abdessater al-Sattar. And both of them, with a passion for Osama bin Laden, whom they saw on TV one night.

EL AROUD: He was watching, he was transfixed, he was listening. I didn't want to bother him at that moment because there was a fascination, a love. It was very clear. You could see love in his eyes and an expression on his face. I shared the same.

ROBERTSON: It was at this moment, she says, he decided to go on a jihad. He left for Afghanistan in the spring of 2000. In January 2001, Malika followed him to Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan. They lived in this compound with other al Qaeda families. After Sattar trained at this camp, the infamous camp Darunta camp where al Qaeda had tested poison gas on dogs. Al Qaeda commanders taught Malika's husband to fight for Osama bin Laden.

EL AROUD: Abdesster dreamed of being under his orders. He dreamed of pledging allegiance to him. His dream was to meet Osama, to shake his hand and to put himself under his orders.

ROBERTSON: At the time, bin Laden lived in the south of Afghanistan near Kandahar, but made regular journeys to Jalalabad to meet his devotees.

EL AROUD: It's very easy to describe the love that he felt, because I felt it myself. It was identical. Most Muslims love Osama like I love him myself.

ROBERTSON: Malika says she was reveling in her new life, but it was about to change. In early August, Abdesatter left on a trip. Unknown to her, bin Laden had sent him on a secret suicide mission. He was on his way to kill this man, war lord Ahmed Shah Massoud. It was to be bin Laden's gift to the Taliban, kill off the only commander blocking their domination of the country. On September 9, 2001, Abdesatter posed as a TV reporter, helped kill Massoud. The killing of Massoud turned Malika into an al Qaeda hero.

EL AROUD: People came from far away to congratulate me, to embrace me in their arms. They were happy for me because it's the pinnacle in Islam to be the widow of a martyr. For a woman, it's extraordinary.

ROBERTSON: Back in Belgium, the sudden realization, the authorities knew Massoud's killer. This picture given to us by Belgian intelligence was the link.

WINANTS: I think that the photo was published on a certain time on television and one of our numerous sources identified on this television production the photo of Abdesatter, the man.

ROBERTSON: Two days after Massoud was killed, al Qaeda attacked the U.S. By the end of that day, 9/11, more than 3,000 people were killed. U.S. special forces were sent to team up with Massoud's fighters and soon inside Afghanistan. Malika El Aroud was in shock. Abdesatter Dahmane, the man she loved, was dead. Leaving her a suicide attacker's message on an audiotape.

EL AROUD: When I listened to the recording, he tells me, when you have this, know that I'm on the other side. It is he that announces, that prepares me gently to hear that he's no longer here, that he has been killed, that he is dead.

ROBERTSON: But she didn't have time to reflect. War was breaking out. Al Qaeda fighters took her to escape Afghanistan as American B-52 bombers pounded the Tora Bora caves where bin Laden was hiding. She showed up at the Belgium Embassy in Pakistan's leafy capital Islamabad. When she was taken back to Belgium, where she refused to answer questions, police were forced to let her go. But not out of sight.

GLENN AUDENAERT, BRUSSELS FEDERAL POLICE: We developed a position of intelligence around Malika, thinking we have enough elements to prove that there was possibility a terrorist organization in our territory. We held an inquiry with all the possibilities that gives us to enhance her intelligence position and to gather elements to prove actually that in our territory, a terrorist organization, part of al Qaeda was present.

ROBERTSON: She moved in with her younger sister Saida.

SAIDA: There was a whole period where she was very sad. Whenever she thought about him, she started crying.

ROBERTSON: Malika barely left the house. She developed a strict interpretation of Islam, pushed it on friends. Over the Internet, she found love again. Moez Garsallaoui, a Tunisian radical living in Switzerland. She moved to Switzerland, married him and joined his online jihad. It's where in 2006, she agreed to meet CNN and show us how she runs her Web site, a Web site Swiss police say was aimed at radicalizing others.

EL AROUD: Here I am going to the al Qaeda section of my Web site.

ROBERTSON: She explains how a site carries full uncut versions of bin Laden's speeches. Her dead husband, Abdesattar Dahmane's image, a reminder of what motivates her. Malika was taking her war to the next level.

WINANTS: She is one of the leading jihadists person on Internet. Her interests attract very much interest from other persons and that's the reason why, of course, she is a target for intelligence services.

ROBERTSON: Using her status as the widow of an al Qaeda killer, Belgian state security says Malika El Aroud effectively became a standard bearer for al Qaeda recruiting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: This rare glimpse inside the life of an al Qaeda legend continues. We'll hear why European authorities see her as a clear and present danger.

And then coming up in the 4:00 Eastern hour, what are you doing to save money? How is the nation's economy impacting the way you spend money, or perhaps even save? How is it changing your ways? What kind of questions do you have for some of the experts that are going to be joining us in that hour? Send us your e-mails at weekends@CNN.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We turn again to CNN's Nic Robertson who's following the trail of a woman considered to be an al Qaeda living legend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: Malika El Aroud and her husband Moez Garsallaoui seen here on their way to court in Switzerland. Their online radicalizing had led to this, a conviction for running a Web site promoting terrorism. But the punishment was light. Police feared they would turn to actual recruitment.

AUDENAERT: Malika El Aroud would interest every police service and every intelligent service of the accident if and when she would be on their territory because wherever she goes, she touches people. And whenever people are touched by this radical message, the danger is as clear and present and that starts a process of radicalization, hence a process of thinking about the terrorist acts or preparing to terrorist acts.

ROBERTSON: When Malika and her husband Moez Garsallaoui moved back to Belgium in 2007, police say their fears were realized. In the tough districts of Brussels, Garsallaoui recruited a young Belgium Morroccan, Kisham Bayayo (ph). Bayayo's lawyer says he was attracted to Malika's Web site. At the time, she was posting these views about U.S. troops. Quote, "I intensely hope and pray every day our fighters massacre those American pigs and their allies."

Bayayo's lawyer admits his client wanted to fight American troops too. Helped with Malika's Web site and was indeed recruited by her husband.

CRISTOPHE MARCHAND, BAYAYO LAWYER: He explains that he was approached by this man, Moez Garsallaoui and that he was charmed, let's say, but he was saying that he was knowing a lot about religion, that he had an answer to every question.

ROBERTSON: According to his defense lawyer of Bayayo, he said that Garsallaoui recruited him and as we know, Bayayo was an active participant on the Minbar-SOS Web site.

AUDENAERT: You might say that. I couldn't possibly say comment.

ROBERTSON: But these are accurate elements?

AUDENAERT: These are accurate elements, of course.

ROBERTSON: So Garsallaoui was involved in recruiting people?

AUDENAERT: We think that. We think he is. But it's still up to us to prove it.

ROBERTSON: When we go to Bayayo's neighborhood looking for answers, we learn firsthand what makes recruitment here easy. There is anger, a sense of alienation. Along with my producer, Paul Cruickshank, we are told we're in danger.

Why is it dangerous? You have made your point.

It's clear, we have to leave. We are later told even police avoid the area. They know the anger over perceived injustices against Muslims as the currency radical recruiters deal in.

AUDENAERT: Within that climate, Malika functions like a magnet.

ROBERTSON: The way that they're operating, here is a woman. Tell me if I'm wrong, here is this woman that's running this Web site, and then the other part of the team, the husband is going out to talk to these people. Is that how it's working?

AUDENAERT: This is true. What are you putting forward is an organization. So it is up to us to prove.

ROBERTSON: As the police build evidence, Garsallaoui slipped out of Belgium. Under his instruction, Bayayo and two others followed him to the Afghan/Pakistan border. Malika and her new husband, Garsalui, stayed in touch. Incredibly, he risked sending her this intercepted picture that CNN obtained. He seems to want to convince her he was as dedicated as her last husband.

MARCHAND: When he sent the picture, then you have this e-mailed response and she's saying, you are beautiful.

ROBERTSON: Garsallaoui even bragged it killed five Americans. Malika congratulated him, telling him, "I wish I was with you."

But he didn't just send her e-mails. Malika's husband, Garsallaoui, actually urged attacks inside Europe. CNN discovered this posting, buried on Malika's Web site, saying, you know well my brothers and sisters, the solution is not Fatwa, it's booms. Chilling words that put Belgium's counter terrorism forces on high alert.

AUDENAERT: People are coming back from those war scenes. When they come back in our country, they present a potential danger. We want to know what they do, what they intend to do.

ROBERTSON: When Malika's online associate Hisham Bayayo (ph) returns, the authorities didn't have long to wait. According to his lawyer, Bayayo posted in an e-mail to an ex-girlfriend he had been cleared from operation.

MARCHAND: When he came back, he wanted to re-seduce this woman. He tries to impress her by sending her an e-mail saying the organization told him that he could make an operation in Belgium.

ROBERTSON: But the e-mail was intercepted. Acting quickly, in December last year, Belgian police arrested 14 suspects, charging six, Malika El Around and Hisham Bayayo (ph) among them, with participation in a terrorist group.

Bayayo's lawyer said his client has never hurt anyone and isn't in a terror group. The Belgian Police said they broke up a terror cell, the type Western intelligence services say poses the greatest threat today, recruits trained in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

AUDENAERT: We knew we were in the presence of an organization that is part of al Qaeda. We knew that these people were contacted with the highest levels of al Qaeda in Afghanistan. So we considered it sufficiently serious as to deploy what forces were necessary to apprehend these people.

ROBERTSON: But the man they most want, Malika's husband Moez Garsallaoui was safe from arrest in the tribal areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Counter terrorism sources tell CNN Garsallaoui had ties to a top al Qaeda operative, who planned the 2006 airline plot to blow up planes flying to the United States. Malika's family says that while they may not agree with all her writings, they understand the anger that motivates her.

HAYAT, MALIKA'S NIECE: She dares to say what we all feel deep down, she speaks out about what's going on in Gaza, Afghanistan and Iraq.

ROBERTSON: In 2006, Malika was clear, that given the chance, she would continue her war.

EL AROUD: It's an obligation, God doesn't like cowards. God says in the Koran, whoever turns their back in combat, I think receives a very serious punishment. God doesn't forgive cowards, he doesn't forgive.

ROBERTSON: In this court, the Pale De Justice (ph) in the heart of Brussels, Malika is unlikely to ask for forgiveness. She believes she has done nothing wrong, neither a terrorist, nor responsible for what people do after reading her Web site. For now, with Malika in jail, her online jihad has been halted, but she already has a far-reaching legacy. One husband dead, an al Qaeda hero, another allegedly a vital link in al Qaeda's battle to bring terror to Europe. And an unknown number of young people, radicalized and energized by her words.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That was Nic Robertson reporting. And a postscript to this story yesterday in Iraq, a female suicide bomber detonated in a crowd. Most of the victims were women and children. They were on their way to a religious festival. At least 38 people were killed, another 50 wounded.