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CNN Saturday Morning News

The Various Fronts of the War on America

Aired September 15, 2001 - 07:14   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: Right now we're going to check in with Miles O'Brien, who joins us from the investigation desk in Atlanta. What's the very latest from there this morning -- Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, the first arrest, that's the big news. Authorities have made their first arrest in connection with Tuesday's attacks. The unidentified man was one of the people detained at New York's JFK Airport on Thursday. You recall our reporting about that.

He is said to be a material witness to the investigation. And meanwhile, the Defense Department is looking into the possibility that two of the alleged terrorists in Tuesday's attacks may have attended schools run by the military, specifically the Defense Language Academy at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, the Air War College in Montgomery, Alabama.

Two others are in INS custody today on their way to New York. They were arrested on an Amtrak train in Texas and are said to be cooperative with authorities. They were arrested in the possession of box cutters, and perhaps most ominously were on a flight from Newark to San Antonio on Tuesday morning. That flight had to be diverted to St. Louis when the FAA grounded all aircraft.

And they are said to be helping out the investigation quite a bit. It raises the possibility that investigators have been repeating time and again, that there is the possibility of many other terrorists in the U.S., perhaps ready to commit other acts.

And one other note, on the black boxes, let's talk about that for just a moment. The black boxes in the World Trade Center crashes, the two aircraft that went into the World Trade Centers, all four of those, the two cockpit voice recorders, the two flight data recorders, have not been recovered, for obvious reasons, difficult to ascertain where they might be.

But the other two crashes, Pennsylvania and the Pentagon, the four black boxes have been found. In Pennsylvania, the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder are said to be in good condition. At the Pentagon, the cockpit voice recorder was seriously damaged. It's unclear how much, you know, information investigators may be able to glean from it.

Finally, on the investigation front, the government is calling its probe into the attacks PENTTBOM. That's P-E-N-T-T-B-O-M. That stands for Pentagon-Twin Towers Bomb.

We'll keep you posted on all the latest developments.

Let's send it now to Bill Hemmer on the streets of Manhattan -- Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, thank you. Again, we're on Manhattan's West Side, and this truly has to be a frustrating experience for so many right now. So many people have descended upon New York City, trying to offer whatever help they can offer.

The line here of volunteers goes clear down the block here and around. I mean, upwards of 1,000, possibly more than that, and it's only a bit past 7:00 in the morning here. If you come this way, you can see the line that continues up here to the convention center area.

We were just told moments ago that the volunteers here -- what are they saying? Excuse me.

Let's talk with Sal (ph) and Brendan (ph) here. We were just given a word a moment ago that a number of volunteers will have no chance...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Mom.

HEMMER: ... of getting in today. How you doing? What did they tell you over there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No more volunteers, they're just contracting out the work. It's going to be like a regular job now.

HEMMER: Why did you guys get in line today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been on line -- we were on line for four and a half hours yesterday, and we've been here since 5:30 this morning.

HEMMER: When you say they're going to contract the work, what does that mean?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's four separate contractors that have the contract.

HEMMER: These are contractors?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we went over there, and there was a list, and if you're not on the list, you know, you can't volunteer.

HEMMER: Yes. Have you tried to get in earlier this week, or not?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yesterday we were here for four hours.

HEMMER: And did you get in then, or not? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

HEMMER: You didn't. How do you feel today? Not knowing that you'll be able to go -- actually, knowing at this point...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll tell you, the food at water's great, you know? I mean...

HEMMER: Got it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... it's nice.

HEMMER: Hey, good luck today, men. Thanks a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

HEMMER: We were talking earlier today with Anthony Pisano (ph). I don't know if Anthony's still around here or not. But he was indicating that he was able to get in earlier this week, and -- Anthony, do you have a second? Come over a second here.

We're live on CNN here. When you were in there, even though today has got to be somewhat frustrating, not getting in...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

HEMMER: ... when you were in there, what were you able to do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yesterday, well, I'm an iron worker, but I didn't do iron worker -- you know, things equivalent to an iron worker. But I did help with the fire department. We moved boxes, we shift their locations from the lower floor in the World Financial Center to the upper deck...

HEMMER: You were doing whatever you could, weren't you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything. Anything you had to do. We moved equipment, we moved boxes, we moved debris. It was raining outside, so they didn't allow people going outside, I think it was dangerous. But they had to have the equipment moved, big stuff. Then they moved more, you know, for getting closer to the building, you only had the fire department.

HEMMER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So they dug out the immediate -- right next to the wreckage, right by the overpass that connected the World Financial Center to the World Trade Center.

HEMMER: Anthony, tell me this. You will not be able to get back in there today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

HEMMER: Frustrating or not? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, not for me, because there's other ways to help, there's other ways to volunteer. And from what I understand, from what I heard, the blood supply is plentiful. So in -- everybody from two, three weeks from now supplied blood, donate.

HEMMER: Are the people in line here, Anthony, are they wasting their time at this point?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Without a doubt they're wasting their time on this line.

HEMMER: And there must be upwards...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unless they're police department...

HEMMER: ... of 1,000.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... fire department, or anybody with a medical background to help in that aspect.

HEMMER: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, all civilians, from what I understand, from what I heard, all civilian volunteers, they don't need.

HEMMER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it's not a bad thing, it's a good thing, because they have to be under control. God forbid someone else gets hurt. You don't want the volunteers to get hurt.

HEMMER: Yes. Anthony, thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No problem.

HEMMER: Best of luck to you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My pleasure. Good luck.

HEMMER: OK.

We're also hearing from a number of firefighters who came in late last night from the state of Michigan. We heard from people from Wisconsin, Arizona, who have descended here on Manhattan. Also a group of firefighters from France came in earlier this week. They too are trying to get closer to the site, which is many, many blocks south from where we are here.

Now back to Washington and CNN's John King -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Bill.

Obviously this is a defining time of the nation, a defining time as well for the president, Mr. Bush up in New York surveying the deepest of the devastation yesterday. We have an aerial photograph taken by a White House photographer showing the president as he was up there inspecting the damage near the World Trade Towers. I think we must be having a problem showing you that photo.

Mr. Bush saying he was taken aback not only by the devastation -- here's a photo of the president looking down at the devastation from a helicopter -- the president taken aback not only by the devastation, we are told, but also by the anger as he shook hands with the firefighters and other relief workers, many urging him to retaliate immediately.

Now, while the president was up in New York, the Congress acting on a resolution authorizing him to use appropriate and necessary force to retaliate for this. It cleared the Senate unanimously. It cleared the House on a vote of 420 to 1, the dissenting voice, Democrat Barbara Lee of California. In a statement, she said, "September 11 changed the world. Our deepest fears now haunt us. Yet I am convinced that military action will not prevent further acts of international terrorism against the United States. This resolution will pass, although we all know that the president can wage a war even without it. However difficult this vote may be, some of us must urge the use of restraint."

"I have agonized over this vote," Congressman Lee said, "but I came to grips with opposing this resolution during the very painful memorial service today. As a member of the clergy so eloquently said, `As we act, let us not become the evil that we deplore.'"

Now, Mr. Bush up at the Camp David presidential retreat this weekend, Vice President Dick Cheney with him as well. A national security council meeting later today. CNN is told by senior administration officials that in that discussion, the president will not only receive an update on the investigation, and an update on the recovery efforts, but increasingly, these discussions, we are told, turning to both immediate and long-term military options.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): A firsthand look at the worst of the devastation and a pep talk that included a promise to those pulling the dead from the rubble.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I can hear you. I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who -- And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.

- UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

KING: After his emotional tour of New York, Mr. Bush was asked if he knew who was responsible.

BUSH: We know we got a suspect.

KING: But lead suspect Osama bin Laden is an elusive target, and aides way one of the president's greatest challenges is convincing an angry nation to be patient.

BUSH: This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others. It will end in a way and at an hour of our choosing.

KING: Mr. Bush declared a national emergency and authorized a call-up of the National Guard and reservists, and Congress passed a resolution authorizing the president to use "all necessary and appropriate force" to retaliate.

Senior officials say they do not rule out a first wave of military strikes in the near future. But Mr. Bush is asking his national security team and other world leaders to develop a long-range plan.

For example, sources tell CNN the president is asking the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Britain, and other nations to do more to break up terrorist cells in their countries, and asking Saudi Arabia and other moderate Arab nations to crack down on bin Laden's financial supporters and to take a tougher line with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: In our response, we will have to take into account not only the perpetrators but those who provide haven, support, inspiration, financial and other assets to the perpetrators.

KING: Mr. Bush also led the nation in a day of prayer and remembrance with former presidents, the cabinet, and the Congress joining in.

BUSH: Grief and tragedy and hatred are only for a time. Goodness, remembrance, and love have no end. And the Lord of life holds all who die and all who mourn.

KING: Consoling the nation is another role for a president at times of crisis, and a father who knows the strains of the job well gave his son a supportive tap.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: We have a live picture for you now of the recovery effort still under way at the Pentagon. Obviously you see there from this picture the devastation at the Pentagon, part of the building collapsing. One of the challenges to the relief and recovery workers, we are told, are continuing fears that additional parts of the building may collapse because of the damage caused when that plane struck the Pentagon back on Tuesday.

Obviously the U.S. military nerve center there sustaining some significant damage.

Now, as the president is up at Camp David this weekend, increasingly, we are told, discussing military options, I want to bring into our discussion here Colonel William Taylor, retired of the U.S. Army, a military analyst that woks for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Sir, one significant breakthrough, U.S. officials reported to CNN yesterday, saying that Pakistan has now promised to fully cooperate with any U.S. operations, including, we are told, the use of its air space, if the United States requests to have U.S. war planes go through Pakistani air space. Pakistan, of course, borders Afghanistan, which is where Mr. bin Laden is given safe harbor.

How significant could that be?

COL. WILLIAM TAYLOR (RET), U.S. ARMY: If the corrective's accurate, it's very important, not just the use of air space, because Pakistan has a very long border with Afghanistan. Will they let us use their bases for staging areas, if we need to put in ground troops as a military option?

But, you know, there's -- at this time of emotionalism, very cool heads have to prevail when you talk about military options. It doesn't do any good to say the United States has the best-trained, best-equipped troops in the world, which is probably true. We've heard our chairman of the Joint Chiefs say several times this year, our forces are underfunded, overstretched, our forces are (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Doesn't do any good to count 12 aircraft carrier battle groups or 10 ground divisions.

You can't bring them all to bear at the same time. We have other threats around the world that we have to be prepared for. Don't forget that Saddam Hussein is still around, he can cause damage. Do not forget the North Korean threat on the Korean Peninsula. And we could go on and on.

So all our great forces will not be available. We need to think about this thing like a prizefight. Are we in for this thing for 15 rounds, or for 10 to 15 years? Is there a knockout punch? The terrorists won -- well, one -- round one. Now military capability analysis has to start. That's complicated.

KING: Well, let's start there. In 1998, the bombing of the embassies in Africa, President Clinton responded, said that he was going to eradicate terrorism, launched cruise missiles against suspected bin Laden bases in Afghanistan. Mr. bin Laden obviously is still with us.

As the president mulls his military options, ground troops necessary, in your view?

TAYLOR: They may be. The number one thing we've got to keep out there in the front is intelligence, with a big I. When you talk about military options, we have got to be working carefully with the CIA, with the FBI, with the intelligence services of our friends and allies in NATO, maybe with President Musharraf of Pakistan, if he's willing to share intelligence.

That's number one. This push to go kill somebody, do something, can be very wrong, like it was in 1998. Tomahawk cruise missiles against Afghanistan, they were ineffectual, took out a bunch of tanks. Fired Tomahawk cruise missiles at a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan because it was producing weapons of mass destruction, we found out later, no, it wasn't.

It was a misguided operation with bad intelligence. We've got cool heads on the National Security Council. They're meeting now. We've got cool heads working in the Pentagon at the national military command center. They're going around the clock trying to tell the president what it takes, what kind of packages we can put together.

And we probably shouldn't talk about military options, we probably ought to talk about national security options that brings all the elements together. And the -- what we tell the president, a capability analysis, is like a one-way train ticket. It's good for one time, one place only. And you have to look at time, situation, what allies we might have or not have, what intelligence we might or might not have.

And we have to think about how many carrier battle groups might be involved under certain options. We've got two carrier battle groups right now, fortunately, the USS Carl Vinson and the Enterprise, in the Persian Gulf. We've got bases in Saudi Arabia. Are the Saudis going to continue to support us?

All these things have to be considered. But we've got good people working around the clock on this stuff right now.

KING: Colonel Taylor, we need to stop there for time purposes. We'll continue to talk to you in the days and weeks ahead.

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