September 29, 2001 Diary: America Responds

Trade center cleanup tab put at $7 billion
Saturday, September 29, 2001
Cleaning up the estimated 1.2 million tons of rubble left by the destruction of the World Trade Center could take up to a year and cost $7 billion, officials said Friday. The unprecedented work will require the removal of pieces of the trade center and other buildings that were hammered into the ground by the force of the falling twin 110-story towers on Sept. 11, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said.

Terrorist probe reveals well-funded foreign plot
Saturday, September 29, 2001
The 19 terrorists suspected in the Sept. 11 attacks spent about $500,000 preparing an operation that was planned and launched from overseas, beginning several years ago in Germany with support in Britain, the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan, senior government officials have tentatively concluded.

Bush condemns Taliban for harboring Osama bin Laden as diplomatic efforts fail to move Afghan rulers
Saturday, September 29, 2001
(Web Posted Saturday at 1:39 p.m.) President Bush condemned Afghanistan's Taliban rulers for harboring Osama bin Laden and his followers on Saturday and the United States pressed its military and diplomatic campaign against terror.

Washington seeks $25 billion more for spending bills
Saturday, September 29, 2001
The White House and top lawmakers were poised to announce an agreement to boost next year's spending bills to $686 billion, officials from both sides said Friday. That's $25 billion more than what President Bush initially proposed. Holding up a formal announcement, members of both parties agreed, was a Democratic demand that Bush request extra spending in writing, either as a formal budget amendment or perhaps by letter.

Letter offers 'shocking' look at terrorists
Saturday, September 29, 2001
An impassioned letter left by hijackers on three of the four doomed Sept. 11 flights offers "a disturbing and shocking view into the mind-set of these terrorists," Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft said Friday.

Jesse Jackson says will not go to Afghanistan to mediate in terror attacks
Saturday, September 29, 2001
(Web Posted Saturday at 3:51 p.m.) Jesse Jackson said Saturday he will not travel to Afghanistan to mediate its dispute with America, but will appeal for the handover of suspected terrorists and the release of aid workers being held there.

U.S. forces on ground in Afghanistan
Saturday, September 29, 2001
American reconnaissance and intelligence gathering teams have been on the ground in Afghanistan for at least 10 days as a prelude to any effort to go after Saudi exile Osama bin Laden and members of his terrorist network, an intelligence source said Friday.

Airline security
Saturday, September 29, 2001
Journal-World Editorial

Successful airline security programs must be studied and emulated by Americans. Airlines such as those based in Israel have shown how commercial flights can be made safe and secure. United States carriers have no choice but to emulate them, taking the best of their prevention and reaction measures.

Dow extends advance
Saturday, September 29, 2001
Wall Street followed one of its worst weeks with one of its best on a strong rally Friday that helped the Dow Jones industrials recover nearly half their losses from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Lawrence reservists called up for service
Saturday, September 29, 2001
By Mike Belt

Steve and Lavana Smith said their goodbyes Friday. It may be awhile before they see each other again. Steve Smith, a Lawrence firefighter, is now on active duty under President Bush's latest call-up of military reserves.

Pakistan's talks with Taliban fail; aid workers' trial postponed
Saturday, September 29, 2001
(Updated Saturday at 1:39 p.m.) Hopes were fading for a diplomatic solution to the standoff in Afghanistan after a Pakistani delegation returned home empty-handed from a mission to persuade the Taliban to hand over accused terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.

City's tallest building--the Empire State--open to tourists
Saturday, September 29, 2001
(Updated Saturday at 3:19 p.m.) Once again the tallest structure in New York, the Empire State Building reopened its 86th floor observation deck Saturday to tourists who looked south with disbelief at a ravaged skyline.

Attack alters America's political climate
Saturday, September 29, 2001
By Mark Shields
Creators Syndicate

A political philosopher friend of mine, Ralph Whitehead, points out one mostly overlooked change brought about by the terrorists' atrocity of Sept. 11: By capitalizing on (and contributing to) the tidal wave of national unity, "George W. Bush has fulfilled his most appealing campaign promise — to change the tone in Washington."

U.S., Russia forge new alliance out of terrorist strikes as Bush builds coalition of strange bedfellows
Saturday, September 29, 2001
(Web Posted Saturday at 11:49 a.m.) The terrorist attacks on America have transformed relations with Russia, thrusting the Cold War rivals into into an alliance against terrorism.

War on terror beginning with a hunt in the mountains
Saturday, September 29, 2001
(Web Posted Saturday at 12:29 p.m.) It's being called a war on terrorism, but so far it's shaping up as a hunt, one where high-tech hounds search for a scent, the hunting grounds are the size of Texas, and the foxes shoot back.

Clinton, Dole join to raise millions in scholarships for families of victims of terrorist attacks
Saturday, September 29, 2001
(Web Posted Saturday at 1:43 p.m.) Former President Clinton joined his former rival Bob Dole Saturday in launching a nationwide effort to raise $100 million to make sure scholarships are available for children of people killed or disabled in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Hundreds flock to Queens courthouse to wed and obtain marriage licenses after attacks
Saturday, September 29, 2001
(Web Posted Saturday at 2:21 p.m.) Hundreds of couples have flocked to the only City Clerk's office open since the terrorist attacks to wed or get marriage licenses, with many saying the tragedy moved them to act.

Sanctions on Sudan are lifted
Saturday, September 29, 2001
The U.N. Security Council on Friday lifted sanctions imposed against Sudan for sponsoring terrorism after the United States withdrew its opposition. The United States abstained from the 14-0 vote lifting a travel ban imposed because of Sudan's alleged role in organizing a 1995 assassination attempt on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Ethiopia.

Heightened security stems drug trafficking
Saturday, September 29, 2001
Heightened security along the U.S.-Mexico border since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States has dramatically reduced the flow of drugs and illegal immigrants and led to the arrests of scores of fugitives wanted in both countries.

Attacks provoke trucking probe
Saturday, September 29, 2001
With trucks crisscrossing Kansas daily by the thousands, state inspectors are keeping a closer eye on them because of national concerns about terrorists using 18-wheelers for future attacks.

Russians pledge to share intelligence on Afghanistan
Saturday, September 29, 2001
Maj. Gen. Alexander Popov was prepared for the high mountains, bitter winter cold and blistering summer heat. But when the Soviet army crossed into Afghanistan in 1979, he didn't know the caves would be so deep, the tunnels so long or the Afghans so clever at hiding in the daunting terrain that defied so many invaders in the past.

Landing by remote doesn't fly with pilots
Saturday, September 29, 2001
The military has been flying planes and landing them safely by remote control for years, but airline pilots say questions about security must be answered before that technology is used aboard commercial jetliners to thwart hijackers the way President Bush suggested Thursday during a speech in Chicago.

Pilots gain support for onboard stun guns
Saturday, September 29, 2001
The Air Line Pilots Assn. is easing off its request to let pilots carry firearms in cockpits in favor of stun guns after getting a lukewarm reception from Congress. "We've had pretty wide support for" stun guns, Duane Woerth, the union's president, said Friday. "I haven't had too many arguments about getting that ... at least (in) the cockpit."

FAA issues warning on planes entering restricted airspace
Saturday, September 29, 2001
The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday warned pilots that they could be forced to land — or even shot down — if they enter restricted airspace. The FAA also allowed some news helicopters and blimps back in the skies, but not near 28 major urban centers.

Broadway seeks audiences' return
Saturday, September 29, 2001
Some of the biggest names in the entertainment world gathered Friday in Times Square to help launch an advertising campaign aimed at bringing audiences back to Broadway.

Taliban 'inflexible' on bin Laden
Saturday, September 29, 2001
Pakistan tried and failed Friday to persuade Afghanistan's hard-line Taliban rulers to surrender Osama bin Laden and avert a possible U.S.-led military strike against their war-battered country.

Attack on America:
Saturday, September 29, 2001
When hijacked airlines crashed Sept. 11 into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, children around the country put crayons and markers to work to express their fears, grief and feelings about being an American. Here is a sampling.

Decision to down civilian planes rests with former fighter pilot
Saturday, September 29, 2001
The awesome responsibility of deciding whether to shoot down hijacked civilian planes over the continental United States could fall to a Vietnam War fighter pilot, Maj. Gen. Larry Arnold, commander of the Florida Panhandle-based First Air Force.

National Guard soldiers take to nation's airports in attempt to keep the skies safe
Saturday, September 29, 2001
(Web Posted Saturday at 9:34 a.m.) Airline passengers encountered National Guard soldiers at airports across the country as states followed a presidential request to call up troops to fend off potential terrorism threats.

World Trade Center recovery could top $30 billion, take years to complete
Saturday, September 29, 2001
(Updated Saturday at 10:27 a.m.) The price tag of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center will be nearly $40 billion, an early estimate of what it will cost to remove debris, pay overtime and rebuild subways and skyscrapers, officials say.

Protesters march on Washington to oppose war and racism after the terrorist attacks
Saturday, September 29, 2001
(Updated Saturday at 12:23 p.m.) Activists and anarchists chanted "no war" as they took to the streets Saturday, their anti-globalization cause transformed by the terrorist attacks into a call for peace.

HHS secretary says U.S. prepared for bioterrorism; public not so sure
Saturday, September 29, 2001
(Web Posted Saturday at 2:19 p.m.) Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson says the United States is prepared to take care of any kind of biological attack, but the public is not so sure.

More than 100,000 leads pursued in hijack investigation
Saturday, September 29, 2001
(Web Posted Saturday at 3:22 p.m.) The FBI is pursuing more than 100,000 leads as agents narrowed their overseas search for masterminds of the Sept. 11 attacks. In the U.S., more than 100 investigations were under way into alleged hate crimes against Arab-Americans, the FBI said Saturday.

Economists say recession unavoidable
Saturday, September 29, 2001
The economy came to a virtual standstill in the second quarter, the government said Friday, another ominous sign that the Sept. 11 terror attacks probably pushed the country into recession.

It's hard to admit we don't know
Saturday, September 29, 2001
By Leonard Pitts Jr.
Miami Herald

Standing uneasily at the altar, the minister explained that he had come to a conclusion, one he didn't expect us to like. Maybe, he said, God allowed the planes to be stolen, and the people to die, because He was helpless to stop it. Maybe He didn't have the power.

Events can define presidents
Saturday, September 29, 2001
By Jack Anderson and Douglas Cohn
United Feature Syndicate

Great events make great presidents, and George W. Bush has his event. The terrorist attack on the United States is the most horrific tragedy to unfold on American soil since the Civil War. The Bush administration will be tested and defined by this terrible act.

World Briefs
Saturday, September 29, 2001
• UNITED NATIONS: Resolution takes aim at state-aided terrorism
• WASHINGTON: Regulators ease rules for airline, insurance stocks
• LONDON: Prince Charles makes call on east London mosque
• WASHINGTON: 'Worldwide caution' urged

6News report: News from around the world
Saturday, September 29, 2001
Kim Hall reports on news from around the world in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks.

Beauty prevails
Saturday, September 29, 2001