First Photos of Pentagon Attack; Operation Anaconda Continues
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Now on</s>WOLF BLITZER REPORTS: deadly impact. The first photographs of the September 11th attack on the Pentagon. How much is enough for victims of September 11th? I'll ask Kenneth Feinberg of the government compensation fund why he's boosting the pay-out. Operation Anaconda: the aerial pounding goes on, despite high winds and swirling dust. And weather's bad boy is back, with drought and flooding in his bag of tricks. Should you be afraid of the forecast? I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. Topping our news alert: never- before-seen photos of a day Americans will never forget. Dramatic new pictures taken at the very moment a hijacked airliner slammed into the Pentagon, erupting into a huge ball of fire. These pictures, obtained by CNN, were taken by a security camera at the west side of the building. We will have more on this in a moment. U.S. -- these are new images coming into CNN only moments ago as well, of the war in Afghanistan. U.S. warplanes pounded al Qaeda and Taliban forces in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan earlier today. Officials say it was some of the heaviest bombing in Operation Anaconda. More troops and helicopter gunships are being rushed to the front lines as bad weather moves in. Much more on the fighting as well, in just a few minutes. And with no end in sight to the violence and killing in the Middle East, President Bush has just announced that he's sending his special envoy back to the troubled region. Mr. Bush says retired General Anthony Zinni's mission will be to try to help end the escalating violence. The move comes amid fresh attacks by both Israel and the Palestinians today. A videotape was released today of an American missionary couple held hostage for months in the jungles of the Philippines. Martin and Gracia Burnham were seized last year by a Muslim rebel group the United States says is linked to al Qaeda. In the tape, obtained by the Reuters news agency, Martin Burnham is seen reading a rebel statement.</s>MARTIN BURNHAM, HOSTAGE: I, Martin Burnham, and my wife, Gracia, both U.S. citizens, were taken as captives on May 27, 2001 at the Dos Palmas beach resort, in Palawan, by the al-Hayda Khitol Islamia (ph), or the Abu Sayyaf group.</s>BLITZER: More now on a new series of incredible pictures of the attack on the Pentagon in September. They were taken at the very second a hijacked American Airlines jet crashed into the building. Our military affairs correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, is over at the Pentagon, with the pictures as well as the story behind them -- Jamie.</s>JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, witnesses told me the day that this happened that the plane, the American Airlines plane flight 77, came in extremely low. But I'm not sure I realized how low it was until I saw these sequence of pictures that CNN obtained from a -- that were taken by a Pentagon security camera. The sequence shows the plane coming in so low, it can't be seen in the sky, and then erupting into a huge fireball on impact, just the way the witnesses described it to us. But -- it's hard to see, but if we can go back to the first frame, we might be able to take a look and see precisely where the plane is on the ground. Right in this area that has been circled -- it's difficult to see. But it's so close it looks like it's right on the ground, just a few feet off the ground. That's not inconsistent with some witnesses who told us that day that a car antenna had been snapped off, by the plane coming in so low. So, this sequence of pictures, again, taken from a security camera. The Pentagon had them. They were turned over to the FBI, but we have obtained them today. And they're the first time we've seen publicly what, up until now, had only been described by eyewitnesses. Now, the plane also came in at a kind of 45-degree angle. Much of it was reduced to just small fragments by the force of the impact. There were only a few large pieces of wreckage that could be seen outside the Pentagon the day this took place. And again, just to remind people, there were 189 people killed. That was 125 on the ground at the Pentagon. There were 64 people on the plane, including the crew and the five hijackers -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Jamie, you were at the Pentagon that day on September 11th. What time did you get there? Did you see any of this yourself?</s>MCINTYRE: I didn't. My first realization that this had taken place was when I actually saw it on CNN. My producer, Chris Plant, had just arrived at the Pentagon, moments after this had happened, and was filing by cell phone. And I looked up on our own monitor as I was making calls about the World Trade Center and saw the report that something had hit the Pentagon. It was at that point I ran out to check for myself. I didn't see it, I didn't feel it.</s>BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, thanks for getting those pictures. Appreciate it very much, as do our viewers. And let's turn now to the war in Afghanistan -- the war that resulted as a result of those September 11th attacks. U.S. warplanes today carried out some of the heaviest airstrikes in Operation Anaconda, the allied offensive against al Qaeda and Taliban forces, in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan. CNN's Martin Savidge is near the front lines and he has the latest developments.</s>MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, U.S. and coalition forces may have a new enemy on the horizon, and it has nothing to do with al Qaeda or Taliban forces. It is the weather. It is turning bad, and turning bad in a hurry. Here in the Bagram area, it is expected to bring freezing rain, the possibility of even snow and high winds. In the upper elevations, for Operation Anaconda, where it's being waged in eastern Afghanistan, that is going to mean snow. They already have snow on the ground. That you seen. More snow is going to make it difficult not only for the troops that are maneuvering on the ground, but especially for any sort of air reinforcement. And all of this operation is being reinforced from the air, whether it be supplies, new troops coming in. And then there is the CAS, the close air support, that has been a vital backbone of the military operations, and supporting those soldiers that are on the ground. The bad weather expected to last about 36 hours -- perhaps up to three days. Meanwhile, Operation Anaconda did push forward, according to military officials here. They say that in the last 24 hours, coalition forces have killed another 100 Taliban or al Qaeda fighters. They also say that on their side there have been no casualties, unless you -- except a sprained ankle and several cases of altitude illness. They also claim that they have captured a number of al Qaeda and Taliban fighters. They won't say exactly how many, or whether they surrendered. But they will say that they are under interrogation. Keep in mind, they have said that over the past few days since this operation began, several hundred Taliban and al Qaeda fighters have been killed. Meanwhile, they have upped the number of fighters they believe that they were originally up against, now saying it was over 1,000 -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Martin Savidge, thank you very much. On the scene in Afghanistan. More assessment of the war at 7:00 p.m. Eastern tonight in the "CNN WAR ROOM." Our focus: Can al Qaeda regroup in Afghanistan and attack U.S. forces? Please join me then. And you can participate by going to my Web page, cnn.com/wolf. Click on "send questions." I'll try to ask those questions to our panel. For the first time in a year, Iraq held talks with the United Nations today on the possible resumption of weapons inspections. The move comes as the Bush administration continues to debate whether Iraq should be the next target in the war on terror. Our senior U.N. correspondent, Richard Roth, is covering the talks.</s>RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iraq and the United Nations aren't often on the same page, even when it comes to the location of an arriving foreign minister. Choosing a different entrance than some expected, Naji Sabri, Iraq's foreign minister, made his way to the first face-to-face meeting between Iraq and the U.N. Secretary-General in more than a year. Sabri is relatively new in the job, but his prior media experience in Baghdad produced a more cordial photo opportunity to the world than other traditional tense U.N. encounters. During their talks, the U.N. leader had only one priority:</s>KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: We will be pressing for the return of the inspectors.</s>ROTH: And U.N. officials said the Iraqi delegation focused on disarmament with Secretary Annan. Baghdad has said it wanted to talk, after being branded part of an axis of evil by President Bush.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think these talks with the secretary- general are serious. And they're serious because they don't really have any place else to go.</s>ROTH: As an indication both sides were ready to get down to arms business, for the first time, the U.N.'s chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, was at the table. And so was Hussam Amin, a senior Iraqi disarmament expert. For more than three years, weapons inspectors have been unable to probe whether Iraq might be rebuilding a program of weapons of mass destruction. After the morning session, some optimistic words.</s>NAJI SABRI, IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER: We started our discussions with the secretary-general within a positive and constructive atmosphere.</s>ANNAN: So far, so good.</s>ROTH: Many U.N. diplomats and analysts question Iraq's sudden interest in talking with the U.N. again. In Washington, the U.S. secretary of state.</s>COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: They say, "trust us." No, we're not going to trust them. They agreed to have inspectors come and verify this. They agreed to this 10 years ago.</s>ROTH: The secretary-general said he prefers a diplomatic solution instead of widening the conflict in Iraq.</s>BLITZER: Richard Roth, covering the situation involving Iraq at the United Nations, which he does so well. Thanks for joining us. A new shift in U.S. policy toward the Middle East, announced just a short while ago by President Bush. After months of watching the violence escalate day by day, the president said he's sending his envoy, Anthony Zinni, back to the region in a new bid to try to stop the fighting between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Here's what the president had to say.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm deeply concerned about the tragic loss of life and escalating violence in the Middle East. This is a matter of great interest to the United States and all who want peace in the region and the world.</s>BLITZER: Earlier today, Israeli forces took aim at an office where Yasser Arafat had been using just moments before it was hit. Meanwhile, in the West Bank, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up near a Jewish settlement. Our Jerusalem bureau chief, Mike Hanna, has been tracking the violence. He filed this report just a short while ago.</s>MIKE HANNA, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: This massive Israeli offensive is continuing from dusk till dawn and in between, using F-16 fighter aircraft, combat helicopters, tanks. The government of Ariel Sharon is making good his words that he will hit the Palestinians hard. In the course of the day, Israeli forces have struck at a number of Palestinian targets, both in the West Bank and in Gaza. In the West Bank city of Tulkarem, the Israeli forces there have reoccupied the city, conducting house-to-house searches. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat says that the Palestinians will not stop what they want to achieve, and that is an independent Palestinian state. This, despite the fact that a missile came very close to Yasser Arafat's offices in the West Bank city of Ramallah. This, while he was meeting an envoy from the European Union. Palestinian attacks too, continue against Israeli targets. In the West Bank settlement of Ario (ph), a Palestinian suicide bomber killed himself and injured nine Israelis. And another would-be bomber was detained before he could detonate the explosives he was carrying in a Jerusalem neighborhood. Palestinians remain defiant. They say they will continue their attacks against Israeli targets, while the Israeli attacks themselves continue. Voices from the outside, from the European Union, from the United Nations, from the U.S., for both sides to tamper down this conflict. But neither side apparently, prepared to hear. Mike Hannah, CNN, Jerusalem.</s>BLITZER: And joining now us with their insight on the crisis in the Middle East, Ken Adelman. He's the host of Defensecentral.com, former director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. And former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Richard Murphy, also a former ambassador to Syria, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs. Thanks to both of you for joining us. Ken Adelman, first to you. This new, more even-handed approach we're seeing the past couple days from the Bush administration toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- Secretary of State Colin Powell coming down hard on Ariel Sharon, the prime minister of Israel, in addition to Yasser Arafat. Now sending the envoy, Anthony Zinni, back to the region, even though Yasser Arafat, presumably, has not done what the administration earlier wanted -- what do you make of it?</s>KEN ADELMAN, FMR. DIR. U.S. ARMS CONTROL AND DISARMAMENT: Well, I generally support the Bush administration, as you know. But I don't understand what bashing Sharon at this point would really do. What would they want Sharon to do? Sharon cannot stand there and watch his country being attacked any more than we can stand there and watch our country being attacked, without doing something. Israel lives in a sea of hatred, hostility and trouble, that are fostered by the Arab countries all around them. And they continue -- even our friends, the Egyptians and the Saudis, our so-called friends -- continue to fuel that hate. So they really hold up as heroes these martyrs, who aren't martyrs at all. They are suicidal maniacs.</s>BLITZER: Ambassador Murphy, what's your take on what the administration is now doing?</s>RICHARD MURPHY, COUNCIL ON FOR. RELATIONS: It's a wise decision to send Zinni back. If he gets back in the next few days, it would be about the same time as the vice president arrives in the region. And the Arab interlocutors he'll be talking to, presumably about Iraq, and what we're going to do about Iraq -- are going to come right back at him. What are you going to do about the Arab-Israeli situation? What are you doing to tamp down the fighting between the Israelis and the Palestinians? So, it's a wise, tactical decision.</s>BLITZER: Speaking of Iraq, you know, there's a big debate going on inside the government, outside the government -- should the U.S. target Saddam Hussein? Richard Pearl, the former assistant secretary of defense, quoted in the new issue of "The New Yorker," as saying, "The moment Saddam Hussein is challenged effectively, he's history." Do you agree with that?</s>MURPHY: I just don't know. And I'd be surprised if anyone knows that. That's an assumption which simply can't be made at this point in time.</s>BLITZER: Well, Ken Adelman has made an assumption that that's true, because I've seen the articles you've written.</s>ADELMAN: Right. And it's quite clear that what we saw in 1991, at the Gulf War, is that the Iraqi soldiers are not willing to die for Saddam Hussein. And that was before the Iraqis got much weaker. We got so much stronger, and we announced that we're playing for keeps. So, I don't see the kind of fighting that we didn't see, even in the Gulf War, in the first place.</s>BLITZER: But Ambassador Murphy, can the U.S. effectively fight on two fronts in Afghanistan, as well as Iraq -- not only militarily, but diplomatically, and keep that coalition together?</s>MURPHY: Militarily, I think we're posing this at a time when it's not clear how long it's going to take us with al Qaeda. So it may well be that this is a sequential involvement. First you finish off al Qaeda, then you think seriously about Baghdad. But, that said, we are presumably looking for a way to foster opposition inside Iraq, to build up the opposition that's outside Iraq, or up in Kurdistan. And both those jobs are going to take some time to accomplish. So it's not a matter of fighting a two-front war.</s>BLITZER: It's not going to be easy, also, logistically. We'll put up a map and show our viewers the region that we're talking about. There's the war going on in Afghanistan, over here. But in Iraq, limited air facilities that might be available. Saudi Arabia may or may not, Kuwait may or may not. Turkey may, or may not, be anxious to help the United States in this kind of a war.</s>ADELMAN: Well, I would say No. 1, that the United States has 1.4 million men under arms, OK?</s>BLITZER: And women, too.</s>ADELMAN: And women, under arms, but the men in combat. We have a gigantic military force. We are using, at the most, 1,000 in Afghanistan right now. We have lots more. No. 2, I do not think we're going to need an enormous force to go and eliminate Saddam Hussein. I don't think the Iraqis like Saddam Hussein any more than we like him. No. 3...</s>BLITZER: Some have suggested, Ambassador Murphy, 200,000 U.S. troops for a full-scale frontal invasion.</s>MURPHY: What I know is in '91, we never encountered the really trained Iraqi forces. They were kept back to defend the regime.</s>BLITZER: The so-called Republican Guard.</s>MURPHY: Still in existence. How effective they'd be, I don't know. But they know they're doomed along with Saddam Hussein, so I don't expect them to just raise the white flag and walk away, as some of the al Qaeda have done.</s>ADELMAN: But Ambassador Murphy makes a very good point. They are not necessarily doomed, unless they fight for this man. So, if you announce right ahead, we are playing for keeps this time. If you want to lose your life to fight for Saddam Hussein, go right ahead. But if you don't, you can surrender, just like the armed forces of Iraq surrendered in the Gulf War.</s>BLITZER: We have to leave it, unfortunately, right there. Ken Adelman, Richard Murphy, always good to have both of you on the program. Thank you very much. And our Web question of the day is this: can the United States military conduct a war in Afghanistan and a war in Iraq at the same time? You can vote. Go to cnn.com/wolf. While you're there, let me know what you're thinking. There's a "click here" icon on the left side of my Web page. Send me your comments, and I'll read some of them on the air each day. Also, that's where you can read my daily on-line column, cnn.com/wolf. He stayed silent after a legal loss. Now a victim sodomized by a policeman speaks out.</s>ABNER LOUIMA, VICTIM OF NYPD: I had hoped, after all these years, I would have been able to go on with my life.</s>BLITZER: Learn why Abner Louima's life is on hold once again. And later, the man with surprising news for September 11th victims. Learn about it when Ken Feinberg joins me here, live. An unprecedented transplant: will it lead to barren women having babies? And keep an eye on the long-term forecast. El Nino's back. First, the news quiz. Who gave El Nino its name? Scientists at the National Weather Service? Peruvian fishermen, Christopher Columbus or the explorer Balboa? The answer, coming up.