News digest: Sept. 20, 2001

The day's events | Losses

THE DAY'S EVENTS

• Vice President Dick Cheney will not be in attendance at President Bush's address to Congress tonight. It is customary for one cabinet member to sit out the president's speeches to Congress, and that step will be taken tonight. The decision to except Cheney as well was "a reminder of how serious this is," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

• Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller visited the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93 in rural Pennsylvania. Both men praised the passengers for their heroism. "Our admiration, our respect, for those passengers is shared by virtually everyone in the country," Mueller said. The FBI and the National Transportation Safety Board are still working on transcribing and translating what was captured on the flight's cockpit voice recorder.

• A delegation of 40 U.S. senators visited the World Trade Center wreckage and pledged to help New York City recover and rebuild. "We support you," Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said. "We're here because we recognize this loss must be shared not only by New Yorkers, but by all Americans."

• U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the unofficial name for the Pentagon's response to last week's terrorist attacks, Operation Infinite Justice, will most likely be changed.

• The White House rejected the recommendation of a group of senior Muslim clerics that Saudi exile Osama bin Laden voluntarily leave Afghanistan.

• The stock market continued to plunge today, unable to buck the trend it has set since reopening Monday. As of 11 a.m., the Dow Jones industrial average was down 240 points and the Nasdaq had dropped 28 points.

• President Bush is preparing to address Congress tonight at 9 p.m. about last week's terrorist attacks and the campaign against terrorism. Bush is expected to discuss the administration's efforts to boost the economy, stabilize the airline industry, and improve airline safety. He will also "make the case of why we are entering this long struggle," said his national-security adviser, Condoleezza Rice.

• After a two-day meeting, a group of senior Muslim clerics urged Saudi exile Osama bin Laden to voluntarily leave Afghanistan. The council had been asked by the Taliban to decide whether or not to extradite bin Laden.

• The White House sent Congress an $8 billion package aimed at stabilizing the airline industry. The plan would provide an immediate $5 billion to commercial and cargo carriers; $3 billion would go toward airport security. Airlines have been in a financial tailspin since last week's terrorist attacks. American Airlines and United Airlines announced yesterday they would cut a combined total of 40,000 jobs.

• Yesterday the Pentagon ordered the deployment of combat and supply planes to the Persian Gulf area. The deployment has been dubbed "Operation Infinite Justice." The Pentagon has not disclosed the planes' exact destinations.