Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

The Aftermath of September 11

Aired September 22, 2001 - 09:43   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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Want you to take part in our discussion about the terrorist attacks here in the U.S. We are taking e-mails this morning. We'll be here in my location in New York City, John King also back in Washington, and Michael Okwu down in the streets of Manhattan, the checkpoint leading into the site of the recovery operations.

Gentlemen, good morning once again to all -- to both of you.

All right, let's go online. The first one, Harry Mills wants to know, "What can we do as citizens of this great country? What can we do in this time of crisis?"

Michael, you're down there in the street. You talk with many rescuers who come in and out and many volunteers. What reaction do you gather related to this point?

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the first point I want to make to that viewer is that so many Americans have stepped forward, they've come forward, and they've shown incredible spirit. But what all the rescue workers say and some of the officials here at the site say is, give blood. They need blood, they need clothes, and they need that kind of support.

It's interesting, so many people have come down here that there's so many doctors here, I think part of the reason for that is not because, just because they want to see the site. It's not some sort of, you know, sick, twisted, I think, mentality there. It's because they want to show some sort of support. And Americans have stepped forward and done that.

HEMMER: About a week ago, the donations were coming in, flooding in, the food and the water and the clothing, almost too much. And later last Saturday, a week ago today, the officials came out for the city and said, Don't send any more. If you want to help, send money. That's the best way to help at this point.

But it's curious to note on that point, two days ago down there around ground zero, Michael, that a woman with the Red Cross came out and said, We need the simplest things. What we need -- and she held up Dr. Scholl's insoles. She said, We need hundreds of these, because the men are on their feet for 12, 15 hours a day, stepping on that steel and metal and rubble. And they need to protect their feet, because once they get blisters, she says, they're rendered almost helpless.

Another e-mail. John King, why don't you take this one? "OK, so we continue to refer to our retaliation as justice instead of vengeance, and most everyone in America will be OK with that. What stops them from regrouping elsewhere and surprise-attacking us again down the road with entirely different methods at that?" Has the Pentagon or the administration addressed that, John?

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, John's question there, Bill, reflects the fear and the anxiety, if you will, I think that we're seeing across the country, not only in New York and here in the Washington area, the targets of the strikes. That is what the president was trying to address in his speech to the American people. And the point he is trying to make in saying he has decided now that this is a transforming moment, excuse me, that this is not just about whether it's retaliation or bringing to justice, if you can apprehend the suspects for these specific assaults.

Mr. Bush saying the government and governments around the world, and implicit in that the American people, there will be some sacrifice here, must commit themselves to what he promises will be a much broader, much longer, much more complicated, and much more expensive war on terrorism, going after the financial assets of terrorist groups. Mr. Bush said they operate in 60 countries. Going after governments that sponsor terrorists. He said quite simply, "You're either with us, or you're with the terrorists," in his speech, promising any nation that does not help him will be viewed as a hostile nation.

Now, looking ahead politically, Mr. Bush has promised to make this the focus of his administration. The question will be in the months and the years ahead, whether he can sustain that effort, not only through his own personal commitment but whether he will continue to have the support of the American people, and perhaps most importantly, whether other governments around the world will continue to help him. That is the only way, U.S. officials say, to keep these terrorist cells from spreading and to crack down on the ones that exist.

HEMMER: Another e-mail this morning, M.J. Jewel writes this question, one that I wondered about earlier in the week. "Has anyone tracked the families of the hijackers that were in the U.S. with them?" John, if my memory serves me here, some of the reports we are getting about the investigation led officials down to the state of Florida. It was reported at the time that some living with family members say the families left the weekend before the Tuesday attack. Do we know more about this, or what became of them?

KING: We don't know specifically what became of them, but we do know that U.S. officials interviewed not only family members they could find here in this country, but mostly associates, and that that is, again, one of the things Mr. Bush is asking when he calls other world leaders, and when the attorney general calls other law enforcement officials around the world, asking for cooperation in the investigation. Use as an example the U.S.S. "Cole" explosion, some initial frustration trying to win cooperation from the government of Yemen. Eventually much of that was worked out, still some bumps in the road. The U.S. government says it is now critical that governments like Saudi Arabia and elsewhere cooperate with this investigation. Our own Brett Sadler earlier in the week went into Lebanon and interviewed the family members of one of the suspects. So journalists reaching out to try to find these family members as well.

HEMMER: All right. It should be pointed out, Michael Okwu, down there near ground zero, had to run away for us for a moment, again, as the story continues develop throughout the morning. Michael's going to get some more information and check back shortly.

In the meantime, though, John, you and I can continue our e-mail discussion here. Back online from Fanny, she wants to know, "I just wanted to ask if it can be possible that Egyptian-based terrorist group was connected to the SwissAir plane crash, the one that went off the city of New York. If I am not mistaken, one of the pilots was Egyptian, and there were some suggestions from the investigation officials that the plane crash was because the Egyptian pilot was committing suicide."

Again, John, if we think back to the crash of SwissAir, we do know at this time investigators thought that he had broken into the cockpit and taken that plane down on somewhat what was considered a suicide mission. But I'm wondering, because Fanny brings up an interesting point, is this something that they would go back and look at for the possibility of that, that scenario could have been different than earlier thought?

KING: Don't know that they are going back to look at this one specific incident that the viewer writes about.

We do know, though, from our sources and from our correspondents covering the investigation most closely that because of this event, U.S. officials are going back to the embassy bombings in Africa, to the USS Cole explosion, back to other terrorist events, some officials saying back perhaps even as far as the bombings on those Marine barracks in Beirut during the Reagan administration and on the Al- Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia during the Clinton administration, trying to look at all the documents, all the records, all the names of the suspects to match them up against the names, the documents, the history they have in this case, trying to connect the dots of what they say is a very dramatic and obviously very well-thought-out international conspiracy.

HEMMER: And that extension goes so deep and so complicated and so long, it could take a long, long time on this.

John, thanks. We'll be back with you shortly, OK? -- in Washington, D.C. Also our thanks to Michael Okwu, who had to run on the streets of Manhattan just a short time ago.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com