09.12   09.13   09.14   09.15/09.16

09.13.01
0000 NATO is prepared and ready to invoke Article 5 of the NATO Charter, which means that the United States can rely on NATO for any and all support, in any actions that they may make in an attack. 

If an attack is made upon one or more members of the alliance, it is considered an attack on them all. NATO says that if the attack was made from abroad, they WILL invoke Article 5.

This would be the first time in NATO's history that the invocation of Article 5 would take place.
0010 CNN Live - Transcripts of a microphone aboard Flight 93 have been received by CNN. Apparently, the 38 passengers found out about the plane crashing into the World Trade Center, and voted to attack the hijackers. It is almost certain that the hijackers were flying the plane at the time.
0115 Estimated death toll at Pentagon, including people on plane, is set at around 200. They do not expect to find any more survivors, but are continuing to search. Officials are still searching for the black boxes.
0140 FBI sources say there could be as many as 50 people involved, and around 12 hijackers involved. - CNN
0150 Officials vow to crack down on any gas hikes. Bonds to resume trading on Thursday.
0530 Pakistan in talks with United States for use of airspace, should attacks be necessary.
0545 FBI has identified majority of hijackers. 

Japan claiming 200 citizens unaccounted for. Ireland claims 6.

White House negotiations are still ongoing - Bush requesting the option of forceful retaliations - negotiations to be continued today

0600

Updates from CNN

• In New York, the Empire State building and Penn Station were evacuated late Wednesday night but the all clear was given about 20 minutes later at both locations.

• A partial transcript of cockpit comments heard from United Airlines Flight 93 before it crashed in Pennsylvania suggests a scuffle as intruders were taking over and warning, "There is a bomb on board."

• Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld taped a message to U.S. troops, and the reference to an upcoming conflict was almost explicit. "More -- much more -- will be asked of you in the weeks and months ahead. This is especially true of those who are in the field."

• Police in Hamburg, Germany, search an apartment at the request of the FBI, seeking a connection to terrorism attacks in the United States. Although the apartment was empty, a police spokesman said five people of "apparently Arab descent" had been using it until February.

• New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq will remain closed through Thursday. It could reopen Friday, but will reopen no later than Monday, officials said.

• Major League Baseball canceled all games for a second day Wednesday. The National Football League said it would decide Thursday whether to go ahead with games scheduled for Sunday. The PGA Tour canceled two events Wednesday.

• Relatives of a passenger on the plane that crashed in rural Pennsylvania said he related during a phone call that men on board voted to try to overpower the three hijackers. Shortly after that call, the plane went down, as it appeared headed for Washington.

• Police in Coral Springs, Florida, say they accompanied FBI agents to the home of a man authorities believe may have been one of the hijackers involved in Tuesday's attacks.

• The search for survivors continues in the rubble at New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

• The White House and Air Force One may have been targets of the terrorists responsible for the Pentagon attack, according to White House officials. That is why President Bush was flown from Florida to several military bases until his security in Washington could be guaranteed. Officials say the jet that slammed into the Pentagon may have been originally destined for the White House.

• Maine's Department of Public Safety says officials seized a rental car at the Portland jetport, believing two of the hijackers may have used the car to travel between Portland and Boston.

• The Federal Aviation Administration has given clearance for flights diverted after Tuesday's terrorist attacks to continue on to their final destination Wednesday, but ordered all other commercial air traffic to remain grounded.

• Rumsfeld admonished U.S. government officials for revealing classified data because it could "reduce the chances that the U.S. has to track down and deal with the people...who have killed so many Americans."

• A car is seized in Daytona Beach, Florida, with information relating to Osama bin Laden.

• The owners of a flight school in Venice, Florida, say that the FBI is investigating whether two former students were involved in the attacks.

• New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said 82 bodies had been recovered by Wednesday night. He said the number of dead is expected to be in the thousands, but would not say how many thousands. The mayor confirmed that the city has requested 5,000 additional body bags from FEMA.

• Brokerage firm Morgan Stanley reports the "vast majority" of its 3,500 employees at the World Trade Center got out safely.

• The Taliban, who control 90 percent of Afghanistan, appeal to the United States to refrain from attacking their country.

• Intelligence sources tell CNN that at least two phone calls were intercepted between members of an organization connected with suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden. Phone calls mentioned that two targets had been hit.

• Secretary of State Colin Powell says the coalition being formed will not stop at getting the people responsible for the attack, but will go after terrorists wherever they are found.

• The aircraft carrier USS George Washington has moved into New York Harbor.

• New York rescuers are searching for two other people who have been in contact with authorities; six firefighters and three policemen were rescued early Wednesday, two other police officers were rescued Tuesday night.

• Boston's Logan International Airport announces tightening of security. Among them: the airport will discontinue curbside baggage check-in and remove vehicles standing within 300 feet of front entrance. Car found at the airport, where two of the hijacked planes originated, contained a flight manual written in Arabic. Police and FBI investigators are examining the car.

• New York City is closed to the public south of 14th Street.

• New York City airports are open to limited travel.

0655 ABC - Police have detained a Moroccan man in Hamburg who is believed to be linked to the terrorist attacks. It is believed that Hamburg was the primary fund-raising location for terrorist Osama Bin Laden.
0715 ABC - Australia has offered to send a group of 'elite' firefighters and rescue workers to America. The group is highly skilled in rescue situations, having worked extensively during the Thredbo disaster Australia in which an avalanche trapped a man for over 65 hours.
0900 Officials in southwestern Pennsylvania said they have identified and cordoned off a second debris site about 6 to 8 miles away from the crash site of United Flight 93, the fourth hijacked plane in Tuesday's terror attack. Cell phone calls from passengers aboard the plane indicated the hijackers may have had a bomb and also
that they were planning to try to retake the plane from the terrorists.
1230 A flight attendant has been recovered from the rubble with her hands tied behind her back.
1300 ABC - AOL and Earthlink, two of the nation's major Internet Service Providers, have been served with a "surveillance order" by the FBI. Spokesmen for both companies say they "are cooperating fully with authorities" but stopped short of describing just what kind of information the law enforcement agency hoped to glean.

One executive at Earthlink said the FBI wanted any information regarding a particular e-mail address — possibly that was somehow involved with the recent horrific terrorist attacks, according to The Associated Press.

"The Department of Justice is undertaking perhaps the most massive and intensive investigation ever conducted in America," said Attorney General John Ashcroft. And for some security experts it wasn't a surprise that the federal police agency has turned to serving what amounts to electronic search warrants.

1440 The American Express Building at 200 Vesey St is showing the early warning signs that it may be collapsing

Southwest will not resume flights today - Continental and American will only complete diverted flights.

1445 Five rescue workers were just found alive in the WTC rubble
1450 Some rental car companies are offering 1-way trips with their cars for reduced rates to help stranded passengers.
1455 San Diego zoo has been shut down due to a terrorism threat
1500 WGN/WPIX reports that the firefighters which were just uncovered grabbed air and went back to work without going to the hospital

Afghanistan bracing for possible attack. Leaders are in hiding.

1505 4,763 missing according to NY mayor. Pentagon deaths now posted at 190.
Reports of the top 10 stories 
1510 A body was found in the cockpit area of a plane at the WTC, not wearing a pilot's uniform. Believed to be one of the hijackers. 

Families of rescue workers will get $150k from government. 

FAA discusses plans to put Sky Marshals on future flights. 

FBI investigating the theft of American Airlines badges. 

One Liberty Plaza IS in danger of collapsing. 

Several news sites have been hacked and are reporting false information. newyork.com was one of the sites hit. 

Lafayette square in DC being evacuated - no additional info at this time.

1515 Ari Fleischer, White House Press Secretary, gives conference. President has spoken to many world leaders. Tomorrow will be a world day for remembrance. Citizens are asked to take a lunch break tomorrow and go to place of worship to honor victims. National airspace was re-opened this morning, but merely on a case-by-case basis. Security has been beefed up at airports. Department of Health and Human Services will be working to provide counselling to victims and their families.

To find out which airports are open, after following strict new guidlines, visit www.fly.faa.gov

1540 NYSE will resume operations and trading on Monday at 0930.
1545 Oracle Corp. reports 7 people are missing who were working on the 97th floor of the South Tower. Oracle also lost another employee on flight 93. The final employee missing was trained as an emergenct medical tech who was near the WTC when the first plane hit. He ran into the building and has not been heard from since.
1620 Liberty Plaza and Liberty Tower are reportedly closer to coming down - horns are going off to tell everyone to leave the area - source: MSNBC
1645 Amtrak is honoring airline tickets. 
1650 Some collapsing in buildings in New York... no clarification on which building.
1655 Building is American Express Building. It was being used as a temporary morgue and triage center. Has now been evacuated.
1700 3 of the hijackers are believed to have lived in Hamburg, Germany, according to CNN

5 firefighters from today fell down a void in the debris, and were rescued and it was misinterpretted. There was NO rescue from firefighters in an SUV.

many members of the media are posing as rescuers to get better photos, and have been taken into custody

1715 The black box has been found in Flight 93 crash (Pennsylvania), voice recorder has not. 

They are tracking the black box in the Pentagon crash. 

Suspect Mohamed Atta held a UAE passport, had an Egyptian drivers license. Had flight instruction on a Boeing 727 simulator. 

Debris in the PA crash has been found 8 miles away.

1730 Foreign airlines are being allowed to leave the U.S., but are not being allowed to enter. They will be turned back if attempting to enter.
1735 clarification:

There are two boxes on a plane. One is a CVR (cockpit voice recorder) and another flight system recorder, which records all key instrument inputs from t he pilot, as well as status checks for all plane systems and flight system locations (ie, 10 degrees of left rudder) - thanks to taz!

1740 New York area airports have placed a ground stop. No flights are allowed to take off. The FBI is investigating. 
1745 A total of 18 hijackers were on the planes. There were five on each of two planes and four each on the other two. All have been identified, officials said. - Yahoo News

Pictures and names of the hijackers may be available later today.

United States Senate being evacuated. Possible bomb scare. Police came onto the Senate floor and ordered everyone out of the building. 

American University, in D.C., evacuated earlier today.

1750 Bomb-sniffing dogs have "not found anything to lead to a bomb". Clearing the area should take 15 minutes or so. More details to follow.

CBS - 4 people were arrested as they attemped to board a united airlines jet at 5:00 at JFK

1755 Senator John McCain says that people are taking this very seriously. The entire Capitol is being evacuated. This is the first evacuation of the entire Capitol since Tuesday morning. 
1800 V.P. Dick Cheney is at Camp David. President is still in D.C. - President Bush will be at Camp David this weekend, according to CNN.
1810 CBS - In New York, service at John F. Kennedy International Airport was suspended again this evening and police arrested four people trying to board a flight, said an official with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. It was unclear whether the arrests had anything to do with the terror investigation. (thanks to CoLdBooT!)

MSNBC - Bush to visit NYC on Friday 09.14

1815 Investigation in D.C. - Osama Bin Laden is "suspect #1." There may "not be one, but multiple organizations in this." 
1830 U.S. Justice Dept. reports that 3 people, whose names matched a list of people they were looking for, have been detained at JFK Airport in NYC.
1835 Verizon setting up free payphones in lower Manhattan. AT&T giving out free cell phones to rescue workers. Anheiser-Busch donating water, McDonalds donating free food. GE donated 10 million dollars, Cisco donated 4 million, to rescue efforts. bluefly.com is donating 9k of office space to companies homeless and Dominoes offering to send free pizza to the companies who need food.
1845 Capitol all clear. 
1920 Japan confirms 2 of their citizens dead; Germany confirms 4 dead.

Arrest made at JFK of man attempting to use fake pilot credentials.

5 or 6 attempting to board flights, but detained. Security red flags were raised. Unknown why.

1930 The United States has fighter planes on "15 minute flight alert" at many bases around the country. Fighter plane patrols over most metropolitan areas have been discontinued. Considering possibility of activation of military reserves.
2000 18 hijackers identified.
2230 Security perimeter stretched in D.C.; helicopter with a search light patrolling the area. Possible bomb threat.

8 total arrests at JFK. No charges have been made.

2245 Congress is moving towards an agreement to use $40 billion for relief efforts.

People are urged to NOT take action towards Arab-Americans. Please remember that they are NOT personally responsible for the events in New York, D.C., and in Pennsylvania. Violence is not going to solve anything, as we have all learned by this terrible tragedy. Hate leads to more negative actions... so let's all just stay a tight-knit community and support each other, no matter what race, color, creed, or religion.

2340 Fox News has confirmed that 2 weeks ago, American Airlines issued a memo to their employees to be on alert for imposter pilots after burglars broke into flight crews' rooms in Rome, stealing uniforms and ID badges.

The New York Times reported Thursday that a group of five men had set up video cameras aimed at the Twin Towers prior to the attack on Tuesday, and were seen congratulating one another afterwards.

(thanks to Cry_wolf for both of these)