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CNN Live At Daybreak

America's New War: News From the Nation's Capitol

Aired September 20, 2001 - 07:06   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's check in with John King, who joins us from Washington. Lots to talk about on his front. The president, of course, addressing a joint session of Congress.

But John, before you get to that, I have a quick question to ask you about something Christiane just reported. She was saying that it's her understanding and that folks who have actually seen the statement's understanding that the religious leaders have asked the political leaders to ask Osama bin Laden to voluntarily leave the country in "a suitable period of time."

In your estimation, what is that suitable period of time?

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESP.: Well, the administration, Paula, would say there is no suitable period of time, that Mr. Bin Laden should be turned over immediately. There is, however, just the fact that at the same time those developments taking place in Afghanistan, the U.S. military is conducting its buildup and moving its troops. So certainly U.S. officials telling us no military action is imminent, in their view.

At the same time, they do not want to get into bargaining with the Taliban or with the bin Laden organization. Mr. Bush saying if he is to be turned over, he should be turned over immediately and the United States will dictate the timetable for the action to come.

And as you mentioned, a very important day for the president, yet another defining day in this crisis. Mr. Bush to go before a joint meeting of the Congress tonight to explain to law makers, but more importantly, to the American people and an audience around the world the status of the investigation, the status of the military buildup, officials saying no military action imminent just yet.

But what an administration says, just as important and just as closely watched, is what an administration does at this moment in such a crisis. Listen here to how the president's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, equates terrorism to disease.

Apparently we don't have that sound for you. We'll try to bring it to you a little bit later.

For more now on the president's preparations and the challenge facing him tonight, I want to bring in my colleague over at the White House, Kelly Wallace -- Kelly, every day we say is a defining day, a testing day for this president. What should we look for tonight?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, as you know, a big message from the president this evening is urging patience, urging the American people to be patient, saying this campaign, this political, economic and military campaign against those responsible for last week's deadly attacks and those who harbor terrorists will take time, that it won't just be days, it won't just be weeks, it won't just be months, that it will be years.

And as you know, John, the administration very much well aware that the American people are angry and are anxious for some type of swift retaliation. So you'll have the president out there tonight. He's not going to be specifying exactly when he will respond in any military type of way. What he'll try to do is sort of lay out the case about what he is trying to do here, who he believes is responsible, how this is not just a campaign to go after those responsible for these attacks, but also those organizations and those countries to harbor these terrorists. And the big message, really, John, is for patience, for the American people to stand with him.

He'll also, though, of course talk about how there will be costs to this campaign, how there could be military and civilian casualties. So he's going to encourage the people to stick with him, that this will be a long struggle, I believe the words of Condoleezza Rice, a long campaign ahead -- John.

KING: Well, Kelly, Condoleezza Rice also said the American people need to realize this is a time of sacrifice and the president yesterday in discussing the economy very urgent tones, called this an emergency, said the government would do all it takes, spend all it takes to get the economy out of the slump right now. Describe what's going on behind-the-scenes there as the president works with the Congress on the economic front.

WALLACE: As you know, urgent meetings, the president meeting with congressional leaders late yesterday afternoon, a big focus, trying to put together some possible economic stimulus package, increased government spending, talk of additional tax cuts, maybe a capital gains tax cut, also working on trying to help the struggling airline industry. The White House is proposing about $5 billion in direct cash payments to the airlines to compensate the airlines for airports being closed down several days last week and for consumers who are very worried about airline safety, consumers who are choosing not to get on planes at this point in time. And then maybe putting off till later other questions such as loan guarantees to the airlines and questions over liability.

So big, big focus on the economy, John. Definitely this White House concerned even before these deadly attacks about the economy and slow growth, concerned now, as well. Although, as you know, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan kind of trying to encourage Congress and the president to sort of hold back a little bit for a couple of weeks before putting together any economic stimulus package to have a better sense of where the economy is, what the figures are and what damage these attacks might have on the economy a couple of weeks from now -- John. KING: All right, Kelly Wallace at the White House, thank you very much.

Let's shift gears now to across the Potomac River to the Pentagon, where we have seen in the past 24 hours major progress as the president deploys troops overseas for a military operation, still undetermined the exact mission -- Bob Franken, what can you tell us?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we can say that the sea armada that we've been watching as it's deployed is now being followed by an air armada. We are seeing the deployment of some F-16ss and F- 15s that are on their way already to the Persian Gulf area. There are going to be other planes that are going to be going. They're going to be fanning out in areas, using a British base, for instance, at Diego Garcia. They're going to be concentrating on the Persian Gulf. They're going, in other words, to that region of the world which is considered the hotbed of activity in connection with the World Trade Center and the Pentagon bombings.

You can see where various military setups are. There are now three battle groups that are going to be in position in that part of the world, the Carl Vincent has gone into the Persian Gulf, in the Arabian Sea is the USS Enterprise. That's the notable one. It was on its way back when, in fact, the decision was made for it to stay in the region and the one that was going to replace it is also going. That's the one that left from Norfolk, Virginia yesterday, the USS Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt. That puts a massive amount of firepower in that region.

Now, as far as the planes are concerned, there is a wide variety of airplanes in addition to the F-15s and the F-16s, which were pretty much sent over there to help supplement the jets that are patrolling the no fly zone in Iraq. That frees up some of these jets for other missions, to be announced.

There are also b52 bombers, the classic b52 bombers with their capability to fire cruise missiles, AWACS planes. Those are the extremely high tech observer planes that go overhead using their radar and computers and whatnot to try and spy on the entire area. And, of course, you need refueling aircraft. They're on the way also to provide what is called an airborne bridge. So as planes go to the region, they can be refueled in midair. And of course there are a variety of other surveillance aircraft.

In other words, what you're seeing is that the ships and the planes are being put into place for what could be some sort of significant combat operation. The question, of course, is what kind of combat operation -- John.

KING: That dramatic military buildup, Bob, one of the reasons the president will address the American people tonight. Thank you for standing watch at the Pentagon. We will continue to monitor the president's preparations and, of course, the military developments throughout the day here in Washington -- for now back to Paula in New York.

ZAHN: Thanks, John.

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