The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

JIM LEHRER: Good evening. I'm Jim Lehrer. On the NewsHour tonight: A rundown of the day's developments (Focus - War on Terrorism), a look at President Bush's plan to tighten the security of air travel (Focus - Airport Security), an update on the investigation (Update - Investigation), a report on how Canada is feeling the pain of September 11 (Focus - Northern Exposure), an interview with the foreign minister of Turkey (Focus - Forging a Coalition), and the story of what's happening to the New York economy (Finally - Economic Shock).

FOCUS - WAR ON TERRORISM

JIM LEHRER: President Bush moved today to make air travel more secure. Speaking at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, he asked governors to deploy the National Guard at airports, at federal expense. That's until permanent measures can begin. Those include putting federal marshals on more commercial flights, spending $500 million for stronger cockpit doors and other technology, and placing airport security under federal supervision. At the White House, a spokesman confirmed two Air Force generals are now authorized to have hijacked airliners shot down if they threaten cities, and if there's no time to consult the President. At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said the rules come with "a lot of safeguards." The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said fighter pilots will not have "a loose trigger finger." In Afghanistan, the leader of the Taliban warned opposition forces against trying to seize power with U.S. Help. The Taliban ambassador to Pakistan said Osama bin Laden had received a message by Afghan clerics asking him to leave the country. He's the prime suspect in the attacks on New York City and Washington. In the investigation, Attorney General Ashcroft released photographs of the 19 hijackers. He urged anyone who had seen or spoken to them to contact the FBI. 18 people were arrested across the country for falsely obtaining licenses to transport hazardous materials. But FBI Director Mueller said it appeared they had no links to the hijackings. And on the economic front, the Labor Department reported new claims for unemployment insurance rose sharply last week to 450,000, the most since July, 1992. It was due in part to layoffs since the September 11 attacks.

FOCUS - AIRPORT SECURITY

JIM LEHRER: We go first tonight to the airline security issue, and the measures President Bush laid out today. Ray Suarez has the story.

RAY SUAREZ: 6,000 airline workers-- among them pilots, flight attendants, and ticket agents-- cheered and waved flags to greet President Bush at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, many travelers have been leery of flying. This morning, the President offered a plan to make Americans feel safer in the air.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: We must address the issue of airline safety in a constructive, smart way. For the sake of every passenger, every crew member, and every pilot, we are going to make our airline security stronger and more reliable. Last week I reserved $3 billion in funding to achieve this goal.

RAY SUAREZ: The President's proposal would put the federal government in charge of airport security, but private security guards would still man checkpoints; increase the number of armed plainclothes federal air marshals on commercial flights; and spend $500 million to strengthen cockpit doors and put surveillance devices in passenger cabins. Because it will take time for Congress to act on the President's plan, Mr. Bush asked the nation's governors to deploy National Guard units to airports for now. And the President urged Americans to take to the skies again and not surrender their freedom to terrorists.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: When they struck, they wanted to create an atmosphere of fear. And one of the great goals of this nation's war is to restore public confidence in the airline industry. It's to tell the traveling public, "get onboard. Do your business around the country. Fly and enjoy America's great destination spots. Get down to Disney World in Florida. Take your families and enjoy life the way we want it to be enjoyed."

RAY SUAREZ: The President's pep talk came in the wake of massive layoffs in the airline industry. More than 100,000 airline employees have lost their jobs since September 11. On the military front, reports today indicate that certain generals could authorize military planes to shoot down hijacked commercial jets. At the Pentagon today, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Henry Shelton said combat pilots take several precautions before firing.

GENERAL HENRY SHELTON: The last thing they want to do is engage in a commercial aircraft. So don't get the impression that anyone that is flying around out there has a loose trigger finger. That's not the case. My concern is exactly the opposite. All these pilots have sworn to uphold and protect the great citizens of this nation. It's not in their makeup to want to go out and shoot anything that could possibly hurt one of our own civilians.

RAY SUAREZ: The new National Guard units will be called up as early as this weekend. Meanwhile, new training for air marshals is already under way.

RAY SUAREZ: And we get reactions to the President's plans and proposals now from four men closely watching developments in airline safety. James Oberstar of Minnesota is the ranking Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. John Mica is a Republican from Florida and chair of the House Aviation Subcommittee. Michael Levine is an adjunct professor of law at the Harvard Law School; he's worked as an executive at three of the nation's airlines. And Paul Stephen Dempsey is director of the transportation law program at the University of Denver.

Representative Mica, the President said today he wanted his package to be constructive and smart. Did he meet his goal?

REP. JOHN MICA: Well, I think he's incorporated many of the items we agree upon. First of all, security onboard the aircraft so the flying public has a confidence that we have again law enforcement onboard with the sky marshals. The second thing is deploying new technology, better cockpit security and, again, the best technology onboard. And then thirdly, the question of federalization of the process for airport security.

RAY SUAREZ: Did that go far enough, in your view?

REP. JOHN MICA: I think it covered the bases. And there's wide agreement at least on the first two items. I think everyone also sees that the process is flawed, as far as screening. It's been under the control of the airlines to date, sort of gone to the low-cost bidder. Federalizing the process, getting in place a standards, qualifications, background testing, making that a federal responsibility is extremely important. And I think most of us agree on it. The only question is whether we put uniforms on everybody that's conducting the screening and make them all, some 27,000 federal employees.

RAY SUAREZ: Representative Oberstar, was the President's package everything you hoped it would be?

REP. JAMES OBERSTAR: I applaud the President's initiatives. He's made a bold stroke. It's a good step forward. It's not comprehensive enough. We don't have all of the details yet, but the idea of federalization is a move in the right direction. I served on the Presidential Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism after Pan Am103. One of our objectives was to raise the bar of security. We have an opportunity now to raise the bar far higher than we did in 1990. And federalization of the security workforce at airports, I think, is that step that we must take to engender confidence in the traveling public that everything has been done to assure the highest possible level of security. Putting airport security screeners on the same level as our customs personnel, our immigration naturalization service, other law enforcement people, wearing a badge of the United States, sworn to up hold the law and the constitution of the United States will give travelers confidence that they have the best trained, best prepared, committed security workforce to assure safe air travel.

RAY SUAREZ: But following up on that, I believe the White House package contemplates federal oversight but not a federal employment of these personnel at the screening points. Is that an important distinction?

REP. JAMES OBERSTAR: It's an extremely important distinction, and I have proposed, and we're having a good discussion with Chairman Mica, who's been most cooperative, but I propose that we pay for this screener service with a $2.50 one-way surcharge for security as a fee on airline tickets. That's about the price of a Starbucks Cappuccino Grande, and raise the necessary money, put it in a trust fund, establish the security workforce with different standards than we have for other workers in the federal service; that is, easier to fire, easier to move people around, easier to apply discipline. This workforce has to be treated in a much different fashion than any others. And I think with that framework, we can have the kind of control, discipline, attention to duty and reduce the now average 126% turnover nationwide that we experience in today's security workforce.

RAY SUAREZ: Well, Professor Levine, let me turn to you at that point. What do you think of what Representative Oberstar just said and also of the Bush package overall?

MICHAEL LEVINE: Well, I think the President has it closer to right on this particular issue than Congressman Oberstar does. I think that federal oversight and federal standards, including the requirement that we reduce turnover, is I think the right way to go. After all, the folks flying the planes aren't federal employees, and the folks fixing the planes aren't federal employees. We do need a higher level federal or police presence at the airport to take care of problems, but I think actually we need to go at this a little differently. I think we are trying to screen the entire haystack every day to find a needle. And then we're trying to make sure we have enough back-ups in place that, when the needle inevitably gets through, it can't do too much damage. And I think we really need to start much earlier on this problem. And what I would suggest is that we allow people to basically sign up to be profiled, much in the same way they can sign up to get an easy pass and go through tolls without waiting and under circumstances where the government gets information about them, but they get convenience in return. I think that what we need to do is to have some sort of a card like the INS pass that people would apply for in advance and that would allow very thorough background checks, with much more database linking than we do today, and people who voluntary to do that could go through one level of screening, and people who did not wish to have that much information in advance in the hands of the government could decide that they would take much more screening than they get now. And you might have sort of Israeli-level screening for them. Let people choose between convenience and privacy, and I think you will get a situation in which the very large majority of people going through the airport will have been identified positively and will be seen to be no threat and we can focus much more resources on the relatively small number of people who are likely to present a problem. Obviously, I think in the process, you would also get a lot more people whose visas had expired or who had been engaged in suspicious activities and who ought to have been on a watch list or even were on a watch list and wouldn't be caught up in the present process.

RAY SUAREZ: Paul Stephen Dempsey, it sounds a little bit like a flier's license. Are we ready for, that and do you contemplate that, given the set of measures outlined today by the President?

PAUL STEPHEN DEMPSEY: What the President has done today is very positive in terms of trying to reassure the American public so that they fly. This sector is extremely important to the success of the national economy as a whole and pulling us out of recession is going to be imminently more difficult if people stay away from air travel the way that they are now. In terms of having an identification card for all passengers, I think that would be a positive step. I think all passengers and all airport employees, all airline employees and related professions that converge at the airport ought to have an identity card that ought to have a picture on it, it ought to have the thumb on the print on it, and it ought to have a magnetic strip on the back so that it can be read the way passports are read. And this way, law enforcement can go forward. I realize there's a trade-off here between privacy, civil liberty to some extent and security and safety. But you know, if people don't want to fly, they wouldn't have to get a card like this. They would have the choice of going by some alternative mode of transportation.

RAY SUAREZ: Some of the things that you and the other guests have mentioned also involve a lot of increased costs. Who would pay that cost?

PAUL STEPHEN DEMPSEY: Well, this is where I disagree with Congressman Oberstar. I think that all of the people who are involved in the security function at airports ought to be federal employees, they ought to be professionals, and it ought to be a law enforcement function. However, this is the wrong time to talk about laying any kind of an additional tax on the airline industry. The airline industry financially has been crippled by the events preceding September 11 and certainly by the events since September 11. What we need to be talking about is rolling back the excise tax and the fuel tax, at least for a temporary period, to help restore the economic health of this industry.

MICHAEL LEVINE: Can I say something here?

RAY SUAREZ: Who's that trying to jump in?

MICHAEL LEVINE: This is Mike Levine. We don't charge people a little tax to pay for the hay highway patrol and the people who keep them safe on the streets. We understand that protection is a function of government, and obviously, to the extent that the airlines are engaged in particular special activities that might make people more vulnerable, that might be one thing. But flying has become something that almost everyone does, and where everyone expects the government to provide a certain level of protection. I happen to disagree with the other speakers. I think the President has it right that some functions can be performed privately, some by the government. But the government needs to take control of it and set standards and take responsibility for it. But one other thing I'd like to add: To the extent that one is concerned about civil liberties, and I am, I don't see any reason why you can't make this card voluntary. I think the result would be that almost everyone would sign up for it, and people who didn't sign up for it would be subjected to a very high level of interrogation and security, not by the folks watching the scanners, but by professional interrogators and trained agents. And then they could choose whether they wanted to have privacy or convenience.

RAY SUAREZ: Representative Mica, you wanted to get in here?

REP. JOHN MICA: Well, they've tried to fix this before. And even today, we do not have regulations for certifications for screeners in place, for example. If you look at what took place last... or on Tuesday, the 11th, you had first of all, a failure of the system. First of all, the screeners had no standards in place for screening. We had been trying to do that since 1987, another directive by Congress in '96 and one in 2001. We had no one who stopped box cutters. No one made a rule as far as stopping box cutters. No one made a rule to put in place the best technology we have. We have equipment that will detect plastic: Plastic guns, plastic knives. And that is not being allowed to be deployed. And the point about a national identity card, passports are forged, ID's are forged, and you can get access to almost any airport today even with the security systems that are in place. We need to go back and pass the attorney general's package and catch these people, these terrorists, before they ever get to the airport.

RAY SUAREZ: Representative Oberstar?

REP. JAMES OBERSTAR: I'd like to join with Chairman Mica on the concern, his concern, which I share, about the ability to forge such identity cards and bypass security in that manner. I think we need to move the perimeter of security much farther afield, however. As the Presidential Commission recommended in 1990, we should create a counter terrorism entity that would be the focal point for all counter terrorism, intelligence activities of the U.S. Government and with our allies, to gather information on terrorist activities abroad. If that had been done, as the Commission recommended 11 years ago, we'd have had such an intelligence-gathering entity and the ability to send to airlines names of known participants in terrorist organizations, enter those names in their computer reservation database, and filter those people out when they attempt to buy a ticket -- and do that passenger profiling well in advance. That's the perimeter for security. But come back to the matter of airport screeners, France, Germany, all impose a surcharge for security to pay for their security systems, which are run by the governments in those cases. I think we have an opportunity to raise the bar of security very substantially here. We ought not to let it pass.

RAY SUAREZ: Paul Stephen Dempsey, there is a mix in today's announced plan of things that are going to be done right away and things that are going to be phased in over many years. But for the flying public, let's talk a little bit about how the experience of flying, just the act of heading over to the airport and flying somewhere else in the United States, will change.

PAUL STEPHEN DEMPSEY: Well, it will change. "Newsweek" earlier this year had a cover story. The thing that distressed passengers most were delays. Delays obviously are going to get worse for the passengers. Whether they slow down and clog and constipate the system and raise costs and reduce productivity for the airlines is as yet unclear. But clearly the business of flying, at least for some time, will become less convenient. But I think the American people understand that their security and safety is far more important than the time that they will save if these procedures go away.

MICHAEL LEVINE: But we have to preserve the usefulness of the flying system, and we have to find ways to use it conveniently even as we're reassured. We can find non-forgeable ways, retinal scans, hand scans -- we use that for the INS pass now. We need to find a way to get most of the people through the system safely but conveniently enough to make the airlines worth using.

REP. JAMES OBERSTAR: I think a greater challenge for all of us is the experience in the aftermath of Pan Am 103, when we all believed that the nature of aviation security had been changed forever and people would adapt and would accept any burden. It wasn't a year afterward, after the new legislation had been enacted that airlines, airports, other interest groups were lobbying against tougher regulations, keeping public acceptance of inconvenience, intrusiveness into their lives at a high level is the challenge for an open democratic society. Maybe this time, maybe if we call the surcharge fund the September 11 Fund and remind people every day that our vigilance can never be lowered, that we'll be able to sustain a high level of acceptance and participation and willingness by the public to continue to travel and accept the inconveniences.

RAY SUAREZ: Well, gentlemen, I have to stop it there. Thank you all for joining us.

UPDATE - INVESTIGATION

JIM LEHRER: Still to come on the NewsHour tonight: The investigation, the fallout in Canada, the foreign minister of Turkey, and the hurting New York economy.

JIM LEHRER: An update of the investigation, and to Margaret Warner.

MARGARET WARNER: The American public had seen some pictures of the alleged September 11 hijackers, but all 19 photographs were not made public until today, when Attorney General John Ashcroft released them at the Justice Department.

JOHN ASHCROFT: Today we are releasing the photographs of 19 hijackers of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center Towers, into the Pentagon, and into the rural area in Pennsylvania. This is another step in what in effect is part of a national "neighborhood watch."

MARGARET WARNER: Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller said they hoped the photographs would prompt more Americans to come forward with information about the hijackers and their associates.

ROBERT MUELLER: We encourage anyone with information based on photos to contact the FBI immediately, either through our toll free hotline, which is: 1-866-483-5137 - or through our web site, which is at: WWW.IFCC.FBI.GOV. I will tell you that our primary focus, in addition to bringing to justice those responsible for the attacks on September 11... that our primary focus is on preventing potential future attacks. We are working hard to identify and locate associates of the hijackers who may pose a threat to this nation. But I want to ask and urge every American to join us in heading off any possible terrorist attacks in the future. We greatly appreciate the many Americans who have stepped forward with information, and we call upon any citizen who has information that may be helpful to contact your local FBI office.

MARGARET WARNER: Referring to reports that some of the hijackers had operated under false or stolen identities while in the United States, reporters asked Mueller if he was certain the names under the photographs were correct.

ROBERT MUELLER: The photographs that will be passed out to you, and you see behind us, are photographs identified with the names on the manifest, and those names on the manifest we've identified as being the hijackers. These photographs are photographs that may come from passports, a driver's license obtained in the United States, or other identification documents. Consequently these photographs we've identified with the individuals whose names appear on the manifests. What we are currently doing is determining whether, when these individuals came to the United States, these were their real names, or they changed their names for use with false identification in the United States-- that false identification being utilized up to and on the day of September 11, and that false identification used to purchase the tickets, and thereby being the name on the manifests of the planes that went down. Our investigation has reached out to a number of countries to determine whether or not these individuals definitively-- and the photographs we have here, and the names associated with these photographs-- are the actual identities of the individuals prior to the time they came to the United States.

REPORTER: Have you been able to identify whether any of these people are connected to terrorist groups, including Osama bin Laden?

ROBERT MUELLER: We believe that one or more of them do have contacts with Al-Qaeda.

MARGARET WARNER: Mueller was also asked whether ten Middle Eastern men arrested this week for fraudulently obtaining licenses to transport hazardous material were connected to the hijackings.

ROBERT MUELLER: It is our preliminary belief that those arrests do not relate in any way, or the individuals arrested pursuant to that investigation do not relate the occurrences of September 11 of this month.

MARGARET WARNER: In the overall investigation, Mueller said, the FBI is still looking into more than 200,000 leads.

FOCUS - NORTHERN EXPOSURE

JIM LEHRER: Now, efforts to build an antiterrorist barrier along the U.S./Canadian border. Lee Hochberg of Oregon Public Television reports.

LEE HOCHBERG: It was two years ago that Algerian terrorist Ahmed Ressam tried to enter the U.S. from Canada with a trunk full of explosives and plans to bomb a major airport. He was captured and convicted. But his near-success at getting into the U.S. showed the two countries face a formidable challenge of keeping terrorists out of Canada, and keeping those in Canada out of the U.S. Today the FBI is investigating if any of the September 11 hijackers came through Canada.

MARTIN COLLACOTT: Canada is a convenient staging ground because it's relatively easy to get in here and relatively easy to move around even after you've been identified.

LEE HOCHBERG: Martin Collacott says the problem starts with Canada's liberal immigration policy. A former Canadian ambassador, and director for security in Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs, Collacott says the Canadian government has identified at least 50 international terrorist groups operating in Canada.

MARTIN COLLACOTT: Unless you make fundamental changes to the way in which we let people in the country so easily, you're not going to solve the problem. If you're a terrorist or a criminal and you want to settle somewhere in the West, this is the place to come.

LEE HOCHBERG: Critics like Collacott fault Canada's program for accepting refugees, people seeking political asylum or escaping war torn nations. Canada accepts more refugees per capita than any country in the world; 40,000 may enter this year. Critics say some of them are not refugees but terrorists taking advantage of lax refugee entrance requirements.

MARTIN COLLACOTT: Once they arrive at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, with no document or with a forged document, or at the American border, we say, "well, you got us; you're in our territory; you're into the system." This is a perfect way for terrorists to come in.

LEE HOCHBERG: Refugees are required to appear at a hearing weeks later, after a background check, but Collacott says many instead scatter across the country. If they're found, Canada puts few resources into deporting them. Ahmad Ressam, for example, was denied refugee status in Canada because he had a criminal background, but he was allowed to stay in the country because of Algeria's unstable climate. He later left Canada and went to Afghanistan, and got back into Canada using a fake passport.

MARTIN COLLACOTT: We've got all sorts of humanitarian, compassionate considerations and risk considerations that, even if someone's a terrorist, we don't want to put them at risk, so we don't send them back.

LEE HOCHBERG: Collacott and others argue Canada should hold refugee claimants in detention long enough to complete an extensive background check. But immigration lawyers and refugee advocates say that would punish desperate refugees, and be expensive for Canadians. Vancouver lawyer Catherine Sas:

CATHERINE SAS: Where's the money going to come from to do that? And who are we going to detain? Are we only going to detain refugee claimants? Or are we going to detain everybody who comes in? How are we going to effect the commerce that needs to be done in our nation if we're going to detain everybody?

LEE HOCHBERG: The Canadian parliament is debating legislation to streamline the deportation process. The bill has passed the House of Commons, but awaits the Senate.

SPOKESMAN: Who's Lena? So, when you heading back to the Philippines?

LEE HOCHBERG: While debate continues on refugee policy, people continue to stream across the U.S./Canadian border, the longest unguarded border in the world. Immigration agents at the Blaine, Washington, crossing, are looking under hoods and inside suitcases. But some agents are working 16- hour shifts. Washington Congressman Rick Larsen, whose district includes the border, has visited it several times since September 11 and says some of the $20 billion Congress passed to fight terrorism should go to beef up border staff.

REP. RICK LARSEN: It's an incredible amount of pressure that they're under to maintain security. But you can't put in a 16-hour day and be as sharp as you need to be.

LEE HOCHBERG: Larsen wants 170 new Immigration and Customs agents at the Washington border. But the problem is not just a matter of personnel. INS Inspector Ernest McGeachy told the Congressman the computer system he uses to check backgrounds on suspicious drivers often doesn't work.

ERNEST McGEACHY: I would say about 20%-30% it is down, so we don't have information to anything.

REP. RICK LARSEN: 20%-30% of the time, the system itself is down?

ERNEST McGEACHY: That's correct.

REP. RICK LARSEN: So you can't even check your own database?

ERNEST McGEACHY: That's correct. We don't know if that individual is a terrorist; we don't know anything.

LEE HOCHBERG: Even when it works, the system requires McGeachy to access ten to twelve separate INS databases, and then it doesn't provide him all of the information other law enforcement agencies know about the driver.

ERNEST McGEACHY: We don't have access to a lot of FBI databases. We don't have access to lot of state department databases that we need to identify people who are on the watch list. When we encounter them at the border here, the system we have right now doesn't identify terrorists.

LEE HOCHBERG: Ahmed Ressam was caught only because Customs inspectors thought he looked nervous, not because of any information that appeared on databases. Larsen says the system reflects turf battles between U.S. law enforcement agencies.

REP. RICK LARSEN: Agencies want to hold on to the information that they have, but they've got to rethink what they're doing with that information. If we're going to fight the war on terrorism, we have to be sure to win the war within the bureaucracies, and tear down these walls and share this information.

LEE HOCHBERG: Better coordination may be needed between the two nations as well. For several years they've discussed synchronizing U.S. and Canadian policies on immigration. Since September 11, the U.S. has intensified pressure on Canada to create a perimeter around the two countries. But the concept has stirred resistance in Canada. Last week, Prime Minister Jean Chretien said: "We will allow no one to force us to sacrifice our values and traditions under the pressure of urgent circumstances. We will continue to welcome people from the whole world." Meeting at the White House this week both Prime Minister Chretien and President Bush said their countries are united in the campaign to fight terrorism.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: We discussed the need for us to continue to work peacefully along a huge border. Border relations between Canada and Mexico have never been better. And there's no doubt in my mind that the prime minister and the Canadian people will work hard to make sure that Canada is secure from any terrorist activity that takes place, just like i can assure the prime minister we're doing the same. We both have a mutual responsibility in our hemisphere to find and disrupt terrorist organizations.

LEE HOCHBERG: Both leaders also said their countries would continue their discussions in the weeks ahead.

FOCUS - FORGING A COALITION

JIM LEHRER: And the Bush administration's coalition building continued today. Kwame Holman reports on that.

KWAME HOLMAN: During his Chicago speech today, President Bush gave thanks to the nations supporting the antiterrorism coalition, and offered his view of their role.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: There is a broad coalition of nations that understand what's at stake that have come rallying to our side. And I want to thank the nations of the world that have stood side by side with our country to defend freedom. It's heartening to know that we stand not alone in the world. It's a coalition that will require different efforts from different countries. Some countries many want to participate in one way, but not in another. All we ask is that you participate. All we ask is that you use the same amount of effort the United States will to win this war against freedom, to win this battle against global terrorism.

KWAME HOLMAN: Meanwhile, Secretary of State Colin Powell kept up his daily meetings with foreign emissaries. So far, nearly two dozen have come to Washington and offered at least verbal support for the campaign against terrorism.

COLIN POWELL: Well, good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

KWAME HOLMAN: Today, for example, Powell met with a NATO ally, the foreign minister of Turkey.

COLIN POWELL: I was also pleased to express my appreciation tothe minister for the other support they have provided to us in this time of crisis-- over-flight support and the support they have given to us in the United Nations and within NATO councils. We do have a strong relationship with Turkey, and i know that in the days ahead, as our campaign against terrorism unfolds, we will be able to count on the support and active assistance of our Turkish friends.

KWAME HOLMAN: Earlier, he met with King Abdullah of Jordan. Islamic leaders in Jordan have warned of a backlash from the war on terrorism. Powell and Abdullah met for 45 minutes, but afterward declined to speak with reporters. Instead, State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher described the meeting.

RICHARD BOUCHER: Part of the discussion was about the aspirations, the views of moderate Arabs and people who believe in Islam as a religion of peace. We also discussed the close coordination between the United States and Jordan in the crisis, and the type of cooperation that we might have in the future.

KWAME HOLMAN: The U.S. also welcomed the effort announced today by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to raise $1/2 billion to help millions of Afghans fleeing their homes.

KOFI ANNAN: I am today launching an alert to donors, which is intended to cover the projected needs of up to 7.5 million Afghan civilians over the next six months, both within Afghanistan and in neighboring countries. Innocent civilians should not be punished for the actions of their government. The world is united against terrorism; let it be equally united in protecting and assisting the victims of emergencies and disasters.

KWAME HOLMAN: Tomorrow, Secretary Powell is scheduled to meet with another NATO ally, Spain's

foreign minister, the latest to join the diplomatic visitors' list in Washington.

JIM LEHRER: Now, to one of today's Washington visitors, the foreign minister of Turkey, Ismail Cem. Turkey is a key country in the U.S. Coalition efforts. It is a predominately Muslim nation, a member of the NATO alliance, a bridge between Europe and the Middle East. Mr. Minister, welcome.

ISMAIL CEM, Foreign Minister, Turkey: Thank you.

JIM LEHRER: You met today with Secretary Powell. You also met with Secretary Rumsfeld and with Condoleezza Rice, the National Security Advisor, as well as King Abdullah. On the U.S. part, are you comfortable with what you heard today about what the United States is planning as a way... In the way of a reaction to the September 11 attacks?

ISMAIL CEM: Yes. Through all those meetings, and also I had a chance to have a meeting with Vice President Cheney in Ms. Rice's office. Well, I found all my colleagues a lot calmer. They were calm, they were cautious, and I said, well, there could have been a lot more emotion and justifiably so, after the tragedy that they went through. But I found them calm, resolute, determined and unemotional. And I think that's very positive. And that's a relief in a way to see that they're doing their job very cautiously.

JIM LEHRER: Now, Secretary Powell said Turkey has pledged to allow U.S. flights, U.S. planes flyover right...

ISMAIL CEM: Yes.

JIM LEHRER: Use of bases? What else is Turkey prepared to do?

ISMAIL CEM: Well, it will depend on the needs. It will depend on the environment. What I can say is that we will do whatever we can within our own realities and possibilities. And I'm rather cautious in speaking on that subject because I think the damage, the worse damage that one can give to the United States administration at the present is to be misleading, is to speak in big words and then not delivering what they speak about. So therefore, I follow a cautious line in that.

JIM LEHRER: Well, let me be specific in a general way.

ISMAIL CEM: Yes.

JIM LEHRER: Is there anything that's been mentioned thus far by the United States, any request that has been mentioned either in real time or say, "hey we may ask you down the line to do a certain thing," that Turkey would have a problem with?

ISMAIL CEM: No, because... Well, another aspect that was interesting was to see that my American colleagues were not, you know, really demanding and putting pressure. On the contrary, their discourse was one which said, "well, this will be a floating coalition," in Rumsfeld's article today, a floating coalition. And everyone will contribute as to his possibilities. And therefore, there wasn't specific demands. But they know that, as Turkey, as Turks, we shall do whatever is possible because, first, this is a fight which does not belong to U.S. alone. I mean Turkey have suffered from terrorists for a decade. We lost thousands of lives to terrorism, and we're threatened by terrorists. So we understand the situation in U.S., the feelings very well. Plus, I have to say that, in some very critical moments, junctures of our fight against terrorists, U.S. really did come to our assistance, and for this we are grateful and we shall do our best. And the administration knows that we shall do our best.

JIM LEHRER: Your Prime Minister is reportedly in favor of the United States, or the coalition led by the United States, while they're at it, go ahead and eliminating the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Did you deliver that message today to the U.S. officials?

ISMAIL CEM: No, I did not really speak on that particular point. But of course Taliban regime represents exactly the opposite of what we do represent as Turkey, because we're a secular country with a predominantly Muslim population. We're a country which is a democracy, like several democracies we have some problems in our system as well, but we're a secular democracy, and then of course a modern one with gender equality, upward mobility and everything. So we are the anti-thesis of what the Taliban represents.

JIM LEHRER: So if they go away as a result of whatever happens, that would be fine with Turkey?

ISMAIL CEM: If they wither away you mean?

JIM LEHRER: Yes.

ISMAIL CEM: Well, yes, of course, because well, in fact we have a long story... A long history with Afghanistan. In the early '30s, there was a leadership in Afghanistan which was progressist. And at that time Atta Turk thought that we --

JIM LEHRER: Who was leader of Turkey?

ISMAIL CEM: -- of Turkey - we could be allies with Afghanistan and there were numerous professors from Turkey going to Afghanistan - students came over Turkey -- military cadets came from Afghanistan to Turkey to participate in our military academies. So we always felt ourselves very close to Afghanistan, and even today, we -- we have a very important insight to what goes on in Afghanistan, and we're sharing that information with the United States.

JIM LEHRER: But you consider the Taliban your enemy?

ISMAIL CEM: Well, we don't use that terminology, but they are the enemy of what we represent as Turkey.

JIM LEHRER: Are you concerned... It was mentioned in the piece just now about the concern over backlash among the Muslim population in some of the Arab states. Are you concerned about that in Turkey -- once a military action begins?

ISMAIL CEM: Well, I'm not concerned about this in Turkey, but I think we should move very cautiously. And this is what the Administration, I'm very happy to have observed that. This is exactly what the Administration is doing. But this rhetoric about Muslim, Muslim, and terrorism and so on, I think this is absurd. And I'm, again, glad to say that the American Administration, as well as some other administrations, are very cautious in their wording, in their discourse. Whereas, in the media, we are not as cautious, even in the Turkish media, we see Islamic terrorism, Islamic terrorists, whereas, terrorism does not have a justification, whatever justification. But terrorism does not have a religion. Terrorism does not have a geography. I think these are points that we should be very careful about in order to really create that strong coalition. This is to say when we... Well, they're Islamic terrorists, Islam is terrorism, as I said, it's absurd because if we are to discover tomorrow that the ones that financed the terror in New York and in Washington were Christians, Christian bankers, shall we call this whole event a Christian terrorism? So I think we should refrain from that.

JIM LEHRER: What about the other part of the discussion about what to do in this campaign against terrorism? It has to do with not just going after the people who were responsible for these attacks in New York and Washington, but also go after the nation states that may have sponsored them, may have helped finance them, may have harbored them and whatever. What's Turkey's view of that?

ISMAIL CEM: Well, our view is... as I try to state...our view is that terrorism does not have a geography, and it wouldn't be correct to say that that there is there was Afghanistan, there is the Middle Eastern region and these are the terrorists or the supporters of terrorism. It might very well be so, but terrorism is well represented in Europe. What about the terrorists that killed just about a week or so ago some innocent two policemen who were just doing their job, you know, a terrorist bomber, suicidal bomber who killed them? I mean...

JIM LEHRER: What was that? You mean in Istanbul?

ISMAIL CEM: In Istanbul. And all that kind of terror is encouraged, is directed even from some European capitals. I don't mean European countries themselves, but countries that tolerate, tolerate those kinds of manipulation, those kinds of finance, those kinds of encouragement to take place in their countries. So it doesn't have a... This is what I mean when I say terrorism doesn't have a geography, and we shouldn't discriminate about the places where these terrorist acts are planned, are encouraged and financed.

JIM LEHRER: But for instance, Iraq has been mentioned as a possible...

ISMAIL CEM: Any. I don't mention the name of one particular country, but I think if that particular country is harboring terrorism, of course we'll act against that. That may be a country in Africa, in Europe or in Asia.

JIM LEHRER: You say you came away from your meetings today feeling good about the calmness and the steadiness of it. Are you going to leave here with some concerns? What are the concerns? What bothers you the most about what lies ahead?

ISMAIL CEM: Well, one concern is the peace process between the Palestinians and the Israelis because so far, we have done quite well, and we have worked, as Turkey, and I have worked in order to... With the two parties to encourage them to meet and to make a cease-fire declaration. I think this is capital because if we do not consolidate this cease-fire, that will have a negative effect on the composition of the coalition and on the effectiveness of thecoalition. Therefore, one of my major concerns is to keep up that rather positive process, hopeful process that was initiated. That's the first concern. The second one is for us all to know that terrorism does not have a pre-fix, there isn't a religion with terrorism, there isn't a geography with terrorism.

JIM LEHRER: All right. Mr. Minister, thank you very much.

ISMAIL CEM: I thank you very much. It's a pleasure.

FINALLY - ECONOMIC SHOCK

JIM LEHRER: Finally, tonight, the September 11 economic toll on New York. Betty Ann Bowser reports.

(Singing)

BETTY ANN BOWSER: The producers and cast of "Rent" had it made-- an award-winning hit musical, full houses every night, a secure financial future... Then came the morning of September 11.

OWEN JOHNSTON II, Actor, "Rent:" When I saw the towers falling, i had no idea the ramifications it meant for the economy, for Broadway, for everything that we do here. I had no idea that i was watching my career potentially just falling with them.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Now the theater is half-full, and producer Kevin McCollum is worried.

KEVIN McCOLLUM, Producer, "Rent:" Last week we looked at the possibility of closing because of the unknown. A reporter asked me, well, you know, "should you lose money?" And I said, "absolutely, I'm prepared to lose lots of money, but you need to tell me how many weeks." Because if I lose $200 a week for four weeks, that's different that losing $100 a week for eight weeks.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Let's clarify. We're talking about thousands here.

KEVIN McCOLLUM: Thousands, yes.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Five Broadway shows have closed since the World Trade Center attacks, and there is a very real possibility that more curtains may come down.

JED BERNSTEIN, President, League of American Theatres and Producers: Shows lost between three and five million in the performances that were missed last week, and going forward-- at least we think for the next month-- the bigger musicals are going to be looking at $200,000 to $300,000 a week in losses, so that's a million dollars a show.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: But it isn't just Broadway. New York City's $25 billion a year tourist industry is also in trouble.

SPOKESPERSON: And that will be on your Diner's Club?

MAN: Yes.

SPOKESPERSON: Have you had a good stay with us?

MAN: Yeah.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Hotels are losing between $6 million and $10 million a day. This normally busy midtown Hilton has closed off entire floors and laid off a third of the staff-- maids, bellmen, and maintenance workers. John Tisch's company owns two properties in New York, and like almost everybody in the business, he's had to lay off employees, too.

JOHN TISCH, Chairman and CEO, Loews Hotels: Our industry in New York through our local six-- our trade council-- employs about 25,000 people. Sadly, there have been 4,000 layoffs so far. We are working together with our union to try to lessen the impact of the economic dislocation. Many of the companies that were affected directly are extending employee benefits.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: New York City restaurants are losing $20 million a day. At Tavern on the Green, a New York City landmark with reservations usually booked weeks in advance, business is off almost 20%. So far, a few kitchen workers have been laid off. Alan Kurtz is the general manager.

ALAN KURTZ, Manager, Tavern on the Green: My date, really, that i'm looking at is Columbus Day. That's my mental date where if things don't improve by Columbus Day, i am going to have to make some serious cutbacks.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: It's the low wage earners who're being hurt the most-- the dishwashers, the waiters, the busboys-- so those who still have their jobs are obviously concerned.

DARREN WRIGHT, Waiter: I am a new employee and we are the first to be laid off. I mainly work a lot of lunches. Lunches are anywhere between $70 and $100.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: And what is it like now?

DARREN WRIGHT: Well, it's, like, turning out that you'd be lucky if you get five, four tables. It's pretty devastating.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Effects of the slowdown reach far out beyond hotels and restaurants. Cab drivers say they're barely making ends meet. This cabbie used to make $150 a day; now he takes home $50.

RONY MANOLY, Cab Driver: We are the ones really who are being hurt by those situations.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Can you survive on $50 a day?

RONY MANOLY: Definitely not, because you know, about 40%, 50% of our business was taken away by this whole terror attack. ( Horn honks )

BETTY ANN BOWSER: The carriage drivers, who normally give four to five rides a day at this time of the year, sit idle near Central Park, and hotel owner Tisch, who also wears another hat as chairman of the Travel Business Roundtable, a national tourism organization, says the country's second largest service industry is hurting everywhere.

TISCH: When you look at the rental cars that are not being rented, when you look at the meals that are not being consumed at restaurants, when you think about the individuals that are not going to the theme parks, when you think about all the conventions that have been cancelled to date... and the ripple effect will just be enormous throughout the country. A sad statistic may be that a million hotel workers could be laid off in the coming weeks if we don't turn this industry around.

( Singing )

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Actors and theater staff of the five longest- running shows on broadway have taken a 25% pay cut for the next four weeks in hopes it will ease the financial hardship, but it may not be enough, and actor Owen Johnston knows all too well what that would mean.

OWEN JOHNSTON II: I have a family, you know, and New York is not a friendly place to be when you're an unemployed actor. And it's scary because this is supposed to be a secure job for a long time.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: And-- irony of ironies-- it was also supposed to pay the rent.

RECAP

JIM LEHRER: We'll see you online and again here tomorrow evening with our ongoing coverage of the September 11 aftermath. That will include tomorrow night Shields and Brooks, among others. I'm Jim Lehrer. Thank you and good night.