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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

America's New War: Military Options

Aired September 16, 2001 - 20:00   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.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Tonight on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS: Military options. As America counts the dead, it's preparing to respond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: If we have to take this battle, this war, to the terrorists, where they are, and the best defense is an effective offensive in this case, and that means they have to be rooted out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: How will the U.S. strike back? Where? Against whom? Who is on board? Should there be any rules in a war against terror?

We will go live to our correspondents. I will speak with Secretary of State Colin Powell, one of the architects of the Gulf War, who stresses this war will be different.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We should see this as a long- term campaign and do apply decisive force to it. And that force is not just military force, it's all the elements of national power that are at our disposal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: As the Pentagon braces for a difficult conflict, we will look at how it is emerging from its first painful battle.

Good evening. I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting tonight from Washington.

For the next half hour, we will be discussing America's military options as it prepares to respond to terror. But first, a look at some of today's development. Dramatic and painful views of the World Trade Center ruins, where more than 5,000 people are now listed as missing. Rescue crews still hold out hope for survivors.

Throughout the country, people have gathered for prayer and remembrance, even as President Bush talks of moving forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have got a job to do. Just like the farmers and ranchers and business owners and factory workers has a job to do, my administration has a job to do, and we are going to do it. We will rid the world of the evil doers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: While planes are now back in the skies, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta says he has appointed two task forces to come up with ways to protect airliners and airports from terrorists.

As the terrorists last week began crashing hijacked planes into their targets, the military scrambled to mount some sort of defense. Now the Pentagon's focus has shifted, as it considers ways of striking back.

Let's go live to CNN's military affairs correspondent Jamie McIntyre. He is at the Pentagon. Jamie, take us back first to last Tuesday -- was the U.S. prepared to shoot down one of those hijacked airliners?

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, Pentagon sources tell us that after the plane crashed into the Pentagon, President Bush made the agonizing decision to authorize the shoot down of United Airlines flight 93 with 45 people on board if it threatened Washington. Vice President Dick Cheney today said it was the toughest decision of the day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The president made the decision on my recommendation, as well I wholeheartedly concurred with the decision made that if the plane would not divert, if they wouldn't pay any attention to instructions to move away from the city, as a last resort our pilots were authorized to take them out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: That Boeing 757 crashed in Pennsylvania, apparently after the male members of the crew tried to overpower the hijackers, so those grim orders never had to be carried out. In the case of the plane coming into the Pentagon, there were a couple -- three F-16s, racing up here from Langley Air Force base in Virginia. They were flying at supersonic speed, covered that distance of 130 miles in just 14 minutes, but they still got here 10 minutes after the plane crashed into the building. There was nothing they could do at that point except circle the skies and wait to see if there were any other planes coming -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jamie, what military options are being considered seriously at the Pentagon right now?

MCINTYRE: Well, you know, the key word here is unconventional. You are going to hear that a lot. They say, don't think of this as a conventional war, don't think of conventional targets or even conventional weapons and tactics. This is an unconventional war that will be in many ways an intelligence war, in many ways will be a war that will have to be fought diplomatically and economically.

So, the options that they are looking at are things that will involve surgical strikes, targets of opportunity and a lot of other things that would fall into the non-military category, things that law enforcement and others would do. So, we can't tell you the specific plans obviously, but I can tell you to think of this as an unconventional war, not anything like the war we saw in Yugoslavia or even in 1991 Persian Gulf War.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, thank you very much.

And as Jamie points out, this new war may be fought largely in the shadows that may call for new rules or perhaps even no rules. I'm joined now by CNN's national security correspondent David Ensor. What are they thinking about, David?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, as we've been saying, this is a different kind of war. And people look for military retaliation, it may just not be that simple this time. For now, the people on the frontlines are diplomats and spies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BUSH: We are at war.

ENSOR (voice-over): The talk is of war, retaliation for the attack Tuesday. But the secretary of state said, for now at least, a war using different kinds of weapons.

POWELL: It's more of an intelligence war. We have got a great intelligence community.

ENSOR: But the Bush administration wants the CIA and other intelligence agencies to have sharper weapons for the fight. It is even considering whether to abandon the 1976 ban on political assassinations.

POWELL: It's still on the books, and as part of our campaign plan we are examining everything.

ENSOR: Years ago, the CIA did try to kill Cuba's Fidel Castro, unsuccessfully. Critics of lifting the ban say it would America's image and could lead to greater danger of foreign governments might try to kill U.S. leaders.

But since the carnage of Tuesday, a number of experts who supported the ban on assassinations say they are reconsidering.

JAMES WOOLSEY, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: There could well be use, for example, of weapons of mass destruction against us of some kind -- chemical or might even bacteriological. And I think when one is fighting against a threat of that sort, you have to not just take some of the gloves off, you may have to take all of the gloves off. ENSOR: Another change in CIA rules -- and this one appears likely -- in order to try to get spies on the U.S. payroll who are close to bin Laden, administration officials say they will scrap 1995 rules that any informant first be vetted for his criminal and human rights record.

CHENEY: You need to have on the payroll some very unsavory characters if in fact you're going to be able to learn all that needs to be learned in order to forestall these kinds of activities.

ENSOR: The rules were put in after the husband of an American, Jennifer Haerberry (ph), was murdered, allegedly by a paid CIA informant, in Guatemala's military.

Even some key Democrats now favor scrapping them.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: When you're trying the devil, you don't go to heaven for your witnesses.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: CIA officials say that even if all that is done, it will still remain the case that the most difficult thing a spy agency can do is get into one of these bin Laden groups. So they don't think these particular steps are going to make all that much difference.

BLITZER: No guarantee of success. What is the feeling at the CIA, though? You speak to those officials all the time, about the possible removal of that ban, that prohibition against assassination?

ENSOR: They have mixed feelings about it, Wolf. I mean, they are not convinced that you couldn't -- if this is considered a war, you can shoot at your enemy. If this is considered a law enforcement matter, you can shoot at someone who resists arrest, so they don't really feel that it is a huge problem. But if it would make everyone feel like there's progress, they are not opposed to it.

What one veteran said to me, though, is, you know, "one of the best things you could do is give us some more money, and one of the things we can do is raise the reward for bin Laden's life, from five million to, say, 50 million or 100 million. That might get people interested."

BLITZER: OK. David Ensor, thank you very much.

And another weapon in the U.S. arsenal is diplomatic pressure. Let's go live to CNN State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel. The diplomacy obviously could be critical to these military options, Andrea?

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Wolf. In fact, tomorrow a high-level Pakistani delegation is going to travel to Kandahar, Afghanistan to meet with the head of the ruling Taliban militia. It's a last-ditch diplomatic effort by Islamabad to keep the situation, the war of words, really, between Washington and the Taliban from escalating any further. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL (voice-over): All eyes are on Pakistan, as it prepares to deliver the Taliban an ultimatum: Turn over Osama bin Laden and shut down Afghanistan's terrorist training camps immediately, or face the consequences. United by religion and geography, Pakistan is the Taliban's closest ally and a critical link between Afghanistan and the outside world.

BUSH: The leader of Pakistan has been very cooperative. He has agreed with our requests to aid our nation, to hunt down, to find, to smoke out of their holes the terrorist organization that is the prime suspect.

KOPPEL: Landlocked, caught between Iran and Central Asia and diplomatically isolated from the international community, the Taliban rely on Pakistan for just about everything, but now Pakistan says that support will end.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We will do whatever it takes to ensure that we stand with the international community to do what is necessary.

KOPPEL: President Pervez Musharraf has told the Bush administration he is ready to cut off the Taliban from fuel, food, supplies, technical advice and transit points along the border. As the U.S. prepares for a possible military campaign, Pakistan is fast becoming an essential partner. U.S. warplanes would need to fly through Pakistan's airspace, possibly from Pakistani air bases, to reach Afghanistan.

If U.S. ground troops are needed, Pakistan would be a good staging ground from which to launch attacks. And Pakistani intelligence could prove invaluable.

STEPHEN PHILLIP COHEN, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: The Pakistanis have been there. They know the terrain, their intelligence services know more of Afghanistan than we do, and in particularly they know the Taliban quite well.

KOPPEL: But for Pakistan's president, it's a gamble. The Taliban's extreme brand of Islam is popular among the Pakistani people, the government and the military.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: But it's a gamble the Bush administration says Pakistan must take, and that message will be reinforced in coming days, Wolf, when a high-level U.S. delegation, many of representatives of which will be coming from this building, travels to Pakistan to give more specifics as to exactly what the U.S. is planning and how Pakistan can help -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Andrea, do you have any indication what the Pakistani government will want from the Bush administration in exchange for that cooperation? KOPPEL: Well, publicly of course the Pakistanis say that they are just doing this because it's the right thing to do internationally, to fight terrorism. But privately, diplomatic sources tell us that in fact Pakistan would very much appreciate having those sanctions that the U.S. and the international community have had in place for a number of years lifted. Pakistan of course desperately needing its economy to improve, and that would certainly give a boost to Pervez Musharraf, the president of Pakistan, Wolf.

BLITZER: Andrea Koppel, once again, at the State Department, thank you very much.

And the Bush administration was out in force today, gathering public support as it takes more steps toward military action. We check in now with CNN White House correspondent Kelly Wallace for details.

Kelly, first of all, what's the administration's strategy in trying to generate that kind of public support for the military option?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the administration's strategy is really what we saw today: The president and his advisers mounting really a full-court offensive, making the case over and over again that this campaign against terrorists and those who harbor them, the political, economic and military campaign, will take time, and will not be solved overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: This war on terrorism is going to take a while. And the American people must be patient. I'm going to be patient. But I can assure the American people, I am determined. I'm not going to be distracted. I will keep my focus to make sure that not only are these brought to justice, but anybody who has been associated with them will be brought to justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: The president, though, facing a bit of a delicate balancing act, because on the one hand he is gearing the country up for what could be a very long and difficult conflict; and on the other hand, he is urging Americans to go back to work tomorrow and get on with their lives.

And Wolf, one issue the White House will be watching very closely is the economy. The New York Stock Exchange opening up tomorrow. the president conceding today that these deadly attacks have definitely affected the economy, but when asked if he was worried that these tragedies might plunge the country into a recession, the president said he had great confidence in the markets and great faith in the resiliency of the U.S. economy -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Kelly, the president is asking everyone to be patient, but his top aides are saying this could be years in the making. Is there concern at the White House, in that building behind you right now, that if there are a lot more U.S. casualties in any upcoming military campaign, that that kind of public support for his policies could go away?

WALLACE: Well, Wolf, you know, the president was asked today if he is preparing the American people for the possibility of U.S. casualties. He said that the American people should know that this administration is determined to do what it takes to win this war. And if you look at the polls, the magnitude of this tragedy really seems to have the public united, even if some U.S. troops lose their lives.

Take a look at this "CNN-USA Today"-Gallup poll -- 80 percent saying they support using military action if ground troops are used, and 65 percent, almost two-thirds, said they support military action even if it means about 1,000 deaths of Americans. So, Wolf, as you see, the public quite united. Even if more Americans lose their lives, the public very obviously concerned about this tragedy, and many people of course wanting something to be done very soon. Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: Kelly Wallace, working hard at the White House, thank you very much.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Colin Powell spent much of this weekend at Camp David, discussing the U.S. response with President Bush and the national security team. Earlier today, I asked Secretary Powell what lies ahead for the Bush administration in its battle against terrorism?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: When you say long-term, how long?

POWELL: We're probably going to be in the counterterrorism business at a very high level of intensity for as long as anyone can imagine. As long as there are people out there who are willing to do the kinds of things those terrorists did this week, then we are going to have to be on guard and constantly looking for them, trying to penetrate them and trying to stop them. And not just respond to them, but to stop them, get ahead of them, get inside their decision cycle.

BLITZER: This is not weeks or months, but this is years?

POWELL: No, in the near term, we will go after the specific organization responsible for what happened at the World Trade Center and at the Pentagon. And we will get the evidence and we will the goods on them, and we will go after them. We have already started that. You have seen the diplomatic effort that we've made over the last four or five days, which has produced results already.

And then, we will do whatever is necessary to take care of this organization and make sure they are not able to commit this kind of offense against us again and against the civilized world. It's important to remember, it's not just U.S. citizens who were lost here. Some 40 countries lost people in the World Trade Center. And they are all outraged. The whole world is outraged over this kind of terrorist incident. And it has to be a worldwide response, a worldwide campaign, using all the tools that are available to the United States and are available to like-minded nations around the world who see this as a scourge on the face of the earth to do something about it.

BLITZER: As you know, Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, his organization, have operated within Afghanistan, supported, if you will, by the Taliban regime over there. The United States occasionally talks to the Taliban leadership. What are you saying to them right now?

POWELL: Well, we are not talking to them right now, but I expect we will be, in the days ahead. And we are going to make it clear to them that they must comply with previous directions they received from the United Nations and other organizations to stop this, to expel this organization, to destroy this organization or to help us to destroy this organization.

And they will be held accountable for the support they have given to this organization, if that's who we finally determine is responsible, and we will be going after them. They will have to make their choice, whether they want to be on the receiving end of the full wrath of the United States and others, or whether they want to get rid of this curse that they have within their country.

BLITZER: Do you have any expectation that they will change their policy and cooperate now with the U.S. and the West and arrest, if you will, Osama bin Laden?

POWELL: I'm not carrying an expectation, the only thing I'm looking for is results. They either do or they don't -- it's binary, yes or no. You either respond to this crisis, this tragedy, this horrible thing that was perpetrated by perhaps Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden and all, all the indications point in that direction -- you either respond and rip them up, help us rip them up, get rid of them, or you will suffer consequences.

BLITZER: Specifically, what does that mean to the Taliban, who may be watching right now. What kind of consequences will they suffer?

POWELL: They will suffer consequences. We have a variety of means at our disposal, which are political, diplomatic, international, military, intelligence -- lots of things that are available to us. All the elements of national power will be brought to bear on this problem.

And the Taliban have a problem right now in hosting this kind of regime in the form of Al Qaeda network and those who support the Al Qaeda network. And they will have to make a choice as to whether or not they are willing to pay the price that they may have to pay to continue to support this kind of activity.

BLITZER: As you well know, there have been reports over the years that this organization, Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden's troops and forces, have also operated in Yemen, in Sudan and other countries. Are you giving them the same warning?

POWELL: Yes, we are talking to all of our friends and partners in this coalition. And what we are saying to them -- not necessarily a warning -- but saying to them, look, this is the time to end this. Whatever host support you have been providing to this network, stop it. There are U.N. resolutions and there are other directions from international communities that these things should be ejected from your country, these kinds of cells, this kind of activity.

And we are just going to remind them of their responsibilities and let them know it will be a means by which we measure our relationship with them in the future. Not necessarily a warning, it's just a clear statement of fact and principle, that we are going after them and you can either help us go after them -- and if you chose not to help us go after them, this will have an affect on the relationship that we have with you.

BLITZER: There are reports this morning that the government of Pakistan is now about to send a delegation into Afghanistan and demand the arrest of Osama bin Laden. Did you ask Pakistan to do that?

POWELL: We have asked Pakistan for a number of things. I have seen that report, and our ambassador in Islamabad is in touch with Pakistani authorities. And I know the Pakistani ambassador will be on your show a little later this morning, but I cannot confirm yet exactly what the Pakistanis might be doing tomorrow.

I know that there is a movement in such a direction, and I know that the Pakistanis have made some contacts in the U.N. on such a move, but we will wait to see. But I'm not in a position right now to confirm it.

BLITZER: Have you been in direct touch -- I know the president has spoken to President Musharraf, Pervez Musharraf, the leader of Pakistan. What specifically has the United States asked Pakistan to do?

POWELL: Well, as you know, the president did speak to him yesterday. I spoke to President Musharraf several days earlier, and Deputy Secretary . Armitage spoke to some associates of the president who were in town. And we give them a list of things that we thought they should be responsive to, and we would be giving them greater specificity with respect to what we wanted off that list in due course.

But since that is matter of, as you can imagine, sensitive diplomatic discussions between the two sides, I think it's best that we follow up on that list. They have come forward with a very supportive statement. They have said yes, and President Musharraf said that to President Bush again last night.

And so, what we now have to do is send a team to Islamabad as soon as we have a better idea of what we will need and what kind of support might be required, and talk directly to our Pakistani friends.

BLITZER: When will that team leave and who will head the delegation?

POWELL: Not yet been decided, but I'm sure it will not be in the distant future. I would expect in the very near future, in the next several days. And we will put the team together and determine who the head will be, and when they go over, they will also be working with our ambassador, Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin, who has been doing such a great job over the last four days.

BLITZER: Is -- one of the statements issued by the government of Pakistan is that they will cooperate, as long as you don't get the Israelis and the Indians, the government of Israel, the government of India involved in this, because presumably they would be embarrassed. What is your reaction to that?

POWELL: Well, we will see what their position is. We will talk to them. And right now, you know, we are not planning -- we do not have a multinational force going anywhere yet. And so, we understand the sensitivities that would be involved in anything that might involve India or Israel, and we will take those sensitivities into account, but at the end of the day we will do what we think is appropriate and necessary.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Secretary of State Colin Powell earlier today.

Meanwhile, President Bush is pledging to do what it takes to, quote, "rock terrorism out of the world." But hunting down terrorists and smoking them out of their holes is much easier said than done. Joining me now, CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen, an authority on Osama bin Laden. You are one of the few Western journalists who has actually interviewed Osama bin Laden, spent some time with him. How difficult would a military operation into Afghanistan to find Osama bin Laden -- how difficult of an operation would that be?

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: I think it would be very difficult for the following reasons, Wolf: Afghanistan is a country which the Taliban have actually been fighting on and off, between seven and five years, depending on how you look at it (UNINTELLIGIBLE) taken most of the country.

We are dealing with a group of people who are reasonably well armed. I think the estimates of total Taliban forces are somewhere up to 40,000 troops. You can imagine a situation where they might be getting more recruits if they thought they needed a requirement drive. So, the people within the Taliban are well armed and they are pretty motivated.

Now, the question is, will they perhaps see reason and just hand Osama bin Laden over and save a lot of bloodshed.

BLITZER: Now, I know you believe that Osama bin Laden right now is still in Afghanistan, but what's to say he's not going to try to leave, go to Uzbekistan or one of the neighboring Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union? BERGEN: Well, in a lot of those former Soviet republics there's still quite a lot of Russian troops, for instance in Tajikistan there are 20,000 Russian troops. And Russia takes a pretty dim view of both bin Laden and the Taliban, because it has concerns of Islamic militant movements within the former Soviet Union. So I think that it would be extremely unlikely that he would do that.

BLITZER: How much influence does Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda organization have within Pakistan, especially within the Pakistani military?

BERGEN: Well, the Pakistani military is actually full of people who are A, pro-Taliban; and B, pretty pro-bin Laden. And there are also groups of religious parties which have the same kind of world view. So, it's not like the Pakistani government is sort of monolithic entity. There are factions within it that may be more pro- Taliban or more pro-bin Laden, there are fractions, for instance I think Ambassador Lodhi represents a more (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and more Westernized faction that would like to see this problem go away.

BLITZER: Ambassador Lodhi, the Pakistani ambassador here in the United States. Osama bin Laden has been an elusive figure. The Clinton administration couldn't find him. Is there a sense that you have that the Bush administration will succeed at this moment in finding him?

BERGEN: Well, I guess the stakes -- on Tuesday, all the rules changed. I mean, I guess they have to find him.

BLITZER: And if they don't, this is going to continue. Peter Bergen -- you just completed a book now on Osama bin Laden. We'll look forward to reading that, thanks for joining us.

Recovery efforts continue today at the Pentagon, and while fire officials say hopes are fading for finding anymore survivors, recovery crews and families of the missing are not giving up yet. The story now from CNN national correspondent Bob Franken.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): So many of the strategic decisions about how to wage war have been made within the walls of this massive, five-sided building. But now, a new kind of war has arrived at the Pentagon. A plane piloted by hijackers shattered the section of the nation's military nerve center and shattered hundreds of lives.

TERESA RUSSELL, VICTIM'S WIFE: The head of our family is gone, and our lives will never be the same.

FRANKEN: Every day since the crash, Teresa Russell and her large family meet at a hotel near the Pentagon, wait for word from the Defense Department. Robert Russell, a budget analyst and Teresa's husband of 30 years is buried somewhere near his office, right where the 757 crashed through the wall.

TERESA RUSSELL: Although we haven't given up hope, we have to face the reality that he may not come back.

FRANKEN (on camera): In fact, Robert Russell's section of the Pentagon had just been remodeled, reinforced. So reinforced that many people near the site of the crash escaped.

(voice-over): Navy Petty Officer Charles Lewis was rushed to the hospital and treated for smoke inhalation. He was able to get out.

CHARLES LEWIS, NAVY PETTY OFFICER: The wall was like Swiss cheese where we were at. And I mean, we could hear people yelling at us, we were yelling back, trying to bang and beat on stuff to let them know where we were at.

FRANKEN: But Teresa Russell, her children and grandchildren have heard nothing yet from Robert Russell. So, they gained strength from each other to deal with a variety of feelings.

TANYA RUSSELL, VICTIM'S GRANDDAUGHTER: Sad. Wish he could come back. It wasn't fair.

TERESA RUSSELL: Life isn't fair. But be strong. We will be here for you. We are all together. Grand daddy wouldn't want us to be sad, would he? Would he?

TANYA RUSSELL: No.

TERESA RUSSELL: No.

FRANKEN: The Pentagon believes the death toll will reach 188, but until they know for sure that Robert Russell is one of them, members of his family will return to the hotel every day.

Bob Franken, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And please stay with CNN throughout the night. Up next, Greta Van Susteren. She's standing by at the Pentagon to tell us what she has -- Greta.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST, "THE POINT WITH GRETA VAN SUSTEREN": Wolf, behind me the Pentagon, where American Airlines went right into the building, just right behind me, and cruelly claiming 188 lives. The investigation in the ruins continues. And in New York, authorities say almost 5,100 people are unaccounted for. You are looking at a live picture as thousands of rescue workers continue to team up on around-the-clock shifts, still holding hope that they can find someone alive.

And then there is this: CNN was the first to shoot these surreal pictures from what has become known as ground zero. You can see the devastation and the crater that remains and the smoke that continues to billow. The FBI is calling this the largest crime scene ever on domestic soil, and today Attorney General John Ashcroft took this a step further. BLITZER: OK, Greta, we'll be watching, of course, and thank you very much. Tomorrow night, of course, more on America's military options, but until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "THE POINT WITH GRETA VAN SUSTEREN" begins right now.

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