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Arrests made at New York airports

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Investigators inspect the scene of the Flight 93 crash in western Pennsylvania.  

(CNN) -- At least eight people were arrested Thursday at airports in New York because of new security measures -- including four people who were seen at one airport before Tuesday's terrorist attacks.

One U.S. official told CNN, "Certainly this is being looked at -- that a hijacking was thwarted. There is concern in our office that this may have been another attempt." (Full story)

In Washington, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday night that any future U.S. military action against those individuals, groups or nations involved in Tuesday's terrorist attacks would be "self-defense."

"I don't think of it as retaliation. I don't think of it as punishment," Rumsfeld said on CNN's "Larry King Live." "The United States has every right to defend itself."

Rumsfeld spoke as at least eight people - including one who allegedly was posing as a pilot -- were arrested at two New York-area airports. One official said there was concern that another hijacking, similar to the four that occurred on Tuesday, might be attempted.

Rumsfeld also said the White House had yet to decide if exiled millionaire and longtime American adversary Osama bin Laden was behind the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.

Earlier in the day, Secretary of State Colin Powell had identified bin Laden as the "primary suspect."

"There is no question that Osama bin Laden has been -- for many years now, by his own pronouncements -- anti-West, anti-U.S., anti- a number of regimes in the Arab world," Rumsfeld said.

 CORRECTION
We would like to correct a report that appeared on CNN. Based on information from multiple law enforcement sources, CNN reported that Adnan Bukhari and Ameer Bukhari of Vero Beach Florida, were suspected to be two of the pilots who crashed planes into the World Trade Center. CNN later learned that Adnan Bukhari is still in Florida, where he was questioned by the FBI. We are sorry for the misinformation. A federal law enforcement source now tells CNN that Bukhari passed an FBI polygraph and is not considered a suspect. Through his attorney, Bukhari says that he is helping authorities. Ameer Bukhari died in a small plane crash last year.

"At the right moment, the president and the U.S. government will decide what it intends to do by way of characterizing countries or characterizing individuals like Osama bin Laden and whether or not, in our judgment, they have or do not have a direct relationship to this activity. But that time has not come."

At least eight people were arrested Thursday at JFK and LaGuardia airports for carrying fake documentation, including one man posing as a pilot, and for immigration issues. Four of the suspects had been at one of the airports the day of the terrorist attacks but fled when challenged about identification at the ticket counter. They are being questioned by FBI agents on the joint terrorism task force.

One U.S. official told CNN, "Certainly this is being looked at -- that a hijacking was thwarted. There is concern in our office that this may have been another attempt."

A fire flared up again Thursday night at the Pentagon, the flames shooting out of the top of the section that crumpled after a hijacked jet plowed into it Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Congress considered a $40 billion measure to fund recovery efforts and combat terrorism -- twice the amount originally requested by the White House.

The Pentagon is working on a plan to call up several thousand military reservists to back up the crews supporting the fighter jets that are on "strip alert," which means the warplanes could take to the air within 15 minutes, sources tell CNN.

Only the president can order this action. But governors in 31 states have already called up 10,000 National Guard troops.

Latest developments

• The Capitol building was evacuated Thursday evening, reportedly because of a bomb threat. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer announced that security around the presidential residence had been expanded.

• Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said he has discontinued most of the combat air patrols by fighter jets over most metropolitan areas. However, those patrols continue in the New York-to-Washington corridor.

• Northwest Airlines has canceled all its Thursday evening flights across the country, a spokeswoman said, adding that information indicates "it is not prudent to fly this evening."

• The Federal Aviation Administration said John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark, New Jersey, airports were shut down "due to FBI activity" - activity led to the arrest of at least one man and the questioning of seven others.

• Meanwhile, with security at its highest level, vehicles entering the United States from Canada faced reported delays of up to 15 hours at some border crossings Thursday. Delays are not as long at the U.S./Mexican border.

• Investigators pressed their manhunt for those involved in the hijacking and crashes of four commercial jets -- two that destroyed the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center and a third that slammed into the western wall of the Pentagon in Washington.

• Searchers found one of the so-called "black boxes" from United Airlines Flight 93, the hijacked airliner that crashed in western Pennsylvania, according to the FBI.

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• In Washington, signals are being picked up from a flight data recorder from American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon, according to one of the search and rescue leaders.

• In New York, hopes of a miraculous rescue were dashed. Fire department officials said initial reports that indicated five firefighters had been rescued were false. Despite earlier confirmation from police and hospital officials, fire department officials said the confusion began after rescuers on Thursday fell down a steep pile of debris from the collapsed twin towers of the World Trade Center and landed underground. When they were rescued, others at the scene misinterpreted the event.

• An Office of Emergency Management official said the World Trade Center attacks destroyed five buildings. In addition to the twin towers, buildings 5 and 7 of the complex and the Marriott Hotel either collapsed or are destroyed, said Frank McCarton.

• President Bush told New York Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Rudy Giuliani that he would visit New York City on Friday to view the devastation from Tuesday's terror attacks. (Transcript)

• Bush met Thursday afternoon with his security advisers to discuss possible military responses to the attacks, according to senior White House aides.

• As a "purely precautionary measure" in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, Vice President Cheney was moved to Camp David, according to his spokeswoman. He is expected to return to Washington this weekend.

• Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf issued a statement that his country is providing all of its resources in an effort coordinated with the United States to punish those involved in the acts of terrorism. (Full story)

• Turkish military sources said the United States has bolstered its presence at an air base near the Iraqi border.

• FBI Director Robert Mueller said a preliminary investigation indicated 18 hijackers were on the four planes -- five on each of the two planes that crashed into the World Trade Center, and four each on the planes that crashed into the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania.

• New York Gov. Pataki issued an executive order Thursday suspending statutes of limitations on civil and criminal judicial proceedings and deadlines for filing appeals in the State of New York in the wake of the terrorist attacks, his office said.

• U.S. stock markets will resume trading at 9:30 a.m. on Monday. (Full story)

• Major League Baseball has postponed all games until Monday, a total of 91 games. NFL also canceled weekend play. Four golf tournaments have been canceled. Some college football teams will play, some won't. (Full story)

• American Airlines uniforms and a pilot's key card -- which grants access to the holder to any American Airlines facility in the world -- were taken from a hotel in Rome, Italy, earlier this year, police said Thursday.

• Officials in southwestern Pennsylvania said they have identified and cordoned off a second debris site about 2 to 6 miles away from the crash site of United Flight 93, the fourth hijacked plane in Tuesday's terror attack. An FBI official said the debris consisted of light material such as paper or thin nylon. 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. (Full story)

• The Pentagon says that an estimated 190 people died in the Pentagon attack; the highest-ranking victim was a three-star army general. The figure included the 64 passengers and crewmembers on the plane. (Full story)

• Giuliani says that the number of missing in New York has now topped 4,760. The mayor said that 94 bodies have been recovered, 46 of them identified.

• The Department of Housing and Urban Development will direct all FHA lenders to provide flexibility and delay any threats of foreclosure actions for 90 days to all families holding FHA-insured mortgages who were affected by the terrorist attacks, according to White House spokesman Fleischer.

•Attorney General John Ashcroft ordered the Justice Department to streamline the process to provide emergency benefits to the families of law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical personnel and ambulance crews who died in the line of duty.

• The House of Representatives passed a resolution Thursday, calling on all Americans to fly the national flag.

• One of two brothers who had been identified by federal authorities as possible hijackers involved in the terrorist attacks is alive and cooperating with the FBI, sources said. Federal sources initially had identified Adnan Bukhari and Ameer Bukhari as possible hijackers who had boarded one of the planes that originated in Boston. Bukhari's attorney, however, said that Adnan Bukhari was not involved and that Ameer Bukhari died in a small plane crash last year. The attorney said that the brothers' identification had been stolen. (Full story)

• Authorities shut down New York's Staten Island at 8 a.m. on Thursday to begin a "grid search" for a vehicle.

Vigil
The car was charred in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers.  

• Schools in New York City reopened doors on Thursday with the exception of those schools below 14th Street in Manhattan.

• Workers returned to the Pentagon on Thursday. (Full story)

• German police said they had detained a male airport worker and have brought in a woman for questioning. (Full story)

• Pushing aside all other business Thursday, Congress continued working on a strong and united response to the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. (Full story)

• Network executives have started to comb through their fall fare, hoping to erase anything considered tasteless in light of Tuesday's tragedy, Variety reports. (Full story)

• Countries around the world are sharing the grief of the United States as it becomes clear that hundreds of their citizens were caught in the terrorist attacks in New York. (Full story)


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