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CNN Saturday Morning News

Largest Investigation in U.S. History Continues

Aired September 22, 2001 - 11:30   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.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm John King in Washington.

Here are the latest developments in America's new war.

President Bush is plotting strategy from Camp David this morning. A short time ago, Mr. Bush held a teleconference meeting with his national security team.

In Louisiana, B-52 bombers called into action at Barksdale Air Force Base left base last night, but officials will not say where they are heading.

And as the recovery effort continues at the World Trade Center in New York, the number of missing and presumed dead stands at 6,333, 252 people are confirmed dead.

Now what the attorney general calls the largest investigation in U.S. history continues. Tracking the latest developments, CNN's Mike Boettcher standing by in Atlanta -- Mike.

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, the latest news in the investigation is breaking out of Europe, where in Brussels, Belgium, authorities report they have found a cache of chemicals, a large cache of chemicals, in an apartment that was linked to a Tunisian man who has been under arrest there for suspicion of plotting attacks against U.S. interests in Europe. That apartment was above a snack bar in Brussels, in central Brussels.

Now, found in the apartment were 220 pounds of sulfur and 13 gallons of acetone. And investigators say, however, that they have no specific link with the September 11 attacks in the United States, although a Brussels prosecutor says, and I'll read it to you, "At face value, it is suspect," she said. It is rare to have 100 kilos of sulfur and acetone at home, especially in a snack bar."

Now, those two chemicals can be used as precursors to build various kinds of bombs. That investigation is continuing.

Also on the United States front, officials are looking at the role of Abdul Aziz al-Amari (ph), who is shown here highlighted, the second man in the photograph there. He's coming through airport security at Portland International Airport in Maine. This was about 5:13 in the morning in the Portland, Maine, airport. He is suspected of having a key leadership role. They derive this evidence from e- mails, telephone calls, and a large number of airline tickets he booked.

The man in the foreground is Mohamed Atta, another man who's receiving special attention from U.S. authorities as they investigate this case. He had many, many travels across the Atlantic and up and down the coast of the United States, the East Coast. He is also suspected of playing a key role.

So we have information moving on several fronts this morning, and as the day progresses, we'll keep you advised exactly where this investigation is heading.

John?

KING: All right, stand by one second. The information at the top of your report about those arrests overseas, a reminder, the U.S. government here has asked for unprecedented cooperation from nations around the world in this investigation.

In your contacts with sources, can you describe for us the level of that cooperation? And I guess even more importantly, any indication at all from your sources that there are governments out there refusing to cooperate?

BOETTCHER: The investigation is at a high level of cooperation, agency to agency, intelligence agencies in the U.S. receiving great cooperation, I'm told by sources, from intelligence agencies in Europe. Investigators here are getting great cooperation from investigators in Europe and throughout the Middle East.

And there have been several Middle East countries who have provided good, key links in this investigation. So it's not just our NATO allies, John, it's allies and friends, who publicly don't call themselves that in the Middle East, who are helping as well.

KING: Mike Boettcher in Atlanta keeping track, a very difficult job, keeping track of law enforcement and intelligence sources not only here in the United States but around the world. Thank you, Mike.

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