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Chronology: All time shown below are approximate Eastern Daylight Times.

Thursday, October 4, 2001

The Investigation (CNN)
Stories dealing with the investigation of the Sept. 11 attacks from CNN.

Also Today: Pakistani officials stated that evidence presented against Osama bin Laden would be sufficient to convict the terrorist in a court of law. [Details from CNN]

• British Prime Minister Tony Blair told a special session of Parliament that 3 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers were definitely tied to Osama bin Laden. [Details from CNN]
• The New York City comptroller's office stated the recovery and cleanup process at the World Trade Center site would cost the City at least $105 billion over the next two years.
• The Pentagon confirmed the U.S. would sell the country of Oman 12 F-16 fighter jets, along with weapons and associated equipment for some $1.2 billion.
• NATO announced it was ready to deploy troops in support of the United States. [Details from CNN]

Not Confirmed: 6:50 pm -  CNN reported that a "senior defense official" accompanying Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld on his Mid East trip had indicated the U.S. may conduct air strikes against Taliban anti-aircraft installations in order to insure the safety of aircraft making air drops of food and medicine to the Afghan people. Secretary Rumsfeld refused to comment on the report. [See: U.S. eyes pre-emptive strikes on Afghan defenses (CNN)]

3:45 pm - Secretary of Health Thompson stated that the CDC had confirmed a 63-year old male patient in Florida was being treated for non-contagious, inhaled anthrax. Thompson stated that the CDC was in the process of investigating neighborhoods in North Carolina through which the patient had traveled on his way to Florida. The patient was described as an "outdoorsman." Thompson stressed that this was an isolated case of the disease and presented no evidence of being related to bio-terrorism. Shortly after Thompson's statement, the FBI confirmed that the case did not involve an act of bio-terrorism.

1:45 pm - Speaking to the Department of Labor, President Bush outlined details of his proposed $65- $75 billion economic recovery and stimulus package. The president stated he would ask Congress to approve the expenditure of federal funds needed to extend unemployment compensation by 13 weeks in those states most affected by the September 11 terrorist attacks. He also proposed the expenditure of an additional $3 billion in federal emergency grants to the states to be distributed as they feel appropriate. Congressional Democrats favor extending unemployment compensation time in all states.

1:30 pm - Differing theories were being put forward concerning the explosion and crash into the Black Sea of a Russian airliner carrying at least 77 people from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel to Novosibirsk in Siberia. Russian President Vladimir Putin told the European Union that the explosion and crash could have been the result of terrorism. U.S. officials, however stated the incident may have resulted from the accidental firing of a Russian SA-12 surface-to-air missile launched during a major Ukrainian military training exercise. Russian officials were investigating and attempting to recover the flight recorders from the Siberian airlines TU-154, now resting some 3,000 feet below the surface to the Black Sea. [See: Russian jet hit by missile: theory (CNN)]

10:30 am - President Bush, speaking at the State Department, announced the U.S. government would provide an additional $320 million in aid to Afghanistan to provide humanitarian needs including food and medicine. The president stated that the funds would be used to help the Afghan people get through the coming winter and to aid the thousands of refugees now fleeing Afghanistan. "We oppose the Taliban, but we are the friends of the Afghan people," stated President Bush, who summarize the war against terrorism as being "not a war between our world and their world, but a war to save the world."

9:45 am - The Israeli government halted all takeoffs from Ben Gurion Airport in response to the crash of a Russian jetliner into the Black Sea. The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed that an explosion had occurred on board the Siberian airlines TU-154, which had been flying from Ben Gurion to Siberia and were attempting to collect further information. All passengers of the plane were listed as citizens of Israel. [See: Russian plane 'exploded' before crash (CNN)]

7:50 am - A Russian TU-154 commercial jetliner carrying 77 people crashed into the Black Sea some 110 miles off the coast of Russia. The Siberian airlines plane was flying from Ben-Gurion airport in Israel to Novosibirsk in Siberia. Unconfirmed reports indicated the three-engine aircraft had exploded before hitting the water. [See: Russian plane crashes in Black Sea (CNN)]

7:00 am - Washington's Reagan National Airport reopened for the first time since the September 11 terrorist attacks. Armed federal Air Marshals will travel on all flights into and out of the airport.

5:45 am - Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld arrived in Oman after completing a 15 hour stop in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Rumsfeld will also visit Egypt and Uzbekistan today. The Secretary has issued no comments on his diplomatic efforts to drum up support for U.S. efforts against terrorism in the region. As Rumsfeld visits Oman, British troops were training with Oman forces. [See: Rumsfeld Arrives in Oman as UK Forces Exercise (Reuters)]