Lebanese Hezbollah-owned satellite channel Al-Manar comes out with a news piece arguing that the Israeli secret services and Zionist supporters of them were most likely responsible, and claiming that 4,000 Israelis had stayed away from work at the World Trade Center that day. This false claim would soon become the most widespread of the 9/11 conspiracy claims regarding Jews or Israel. David Letterman returns to the air on CBS with a heartfelt monologue giving his own personal thoughts and condolences about the attacks. Letterman is not censored when he asks out loud if the motivation for the attacks "makes any goddamned sense." Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien also return to the air on NBC, and Jon Stewart would return to the air on Comedy Central three nights later. Unknown time: Senator John McCain honors Mark Bingham, Todd Beamer, Tom Burnett and Jeremy Glick, passengers on board United Airlines Flight 93, who risked their own lives to bring the Boeing 757 down, just to make sure the hijackers—mainly the pilot Ziad Jarrah—do not reach their target, the United States Capitol, and kill more civilians. Tuesday, September 18 12:30 PM Rudy Giuliani press briefing: 49,553 tons removed to Fresh Kills Landfill in 3,788 trucks. 218 confirmed dead, 152 identified. 37 uniformed officers, 32 firefighters, 2 E.M.T.'s, 2 Port Authority Police officers and one New Jersey Fire Department firefighter. 2:30 PM Ari Fleischer press briefing. The U.S. intends to go after terrorism whenever it threatens the United States, not all terrorism. 2:50 PM US Attorney General John Ashcroft press briefing: 96,000 tips. There may have been more than four planes targeted for hijacking. INS will have 48 hours (or unlimited time under emergencies) instead of the previous 24 in which to decide whether to charge detained individuals. This will allow them to detain the 75 individuals held in connection with the investigation indefinitely. Permanent anti-terrorism task forces under the US Attorney General and FBI will be established to blur the lines between local and federal law enforcement and the federal intelligence agencies. In Karachi, Pakistan more than 5,000 radical Islamist students mount the largest demonstration yet against possible US military action against Afghanistan. By the standards of Karachi politics, where rallies of over fifty thousand people are common, this is regarded as unexpectedly small. Hundreds of police and paramilitary troops prevent the protesters from marching on the US consulate. An effigy of George