More of This Feature • Most Recent Events

Special Team Coverage • World Trade Center Destroyed: America Under Attack

Important Web Sites • The White House  • Report Information to FBI • American Red Cross - New York City • New York Blood Center • American Airlines Call: 1-800-245-0999 • United Airlines Call: 1-800-932-8555 • Family Member Information Lines (MSNBC) • New York Emergency Information (NYC.gov) • Nationwide Emergency and Contact Information (USnews.com) • Joint Chiefs of Staff • Defense Department • State Department • Justice Department • FBI • Transportation Dept. • Federal Emergency Management Agency • USAMA BIN LADEN - FBI Ten Most-Wanted poster

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

Monday, October 15, 2001

NOTE: Reports from news sources involving movements or operations of United States military personnel NOT confirmed by named U.S. government officials will be labeled as such.

Maps Detailing Allied Attacks (CNN)
Map of Coalition Bases of Operation (CNN)
Detailed Afghanistan Maps and Information (About Geography)
Most Wanted Terrorist List (FBI)

Also Today: Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat meets in London with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Blair will try to convince Arafat to reject Osama bin Laden's view of Islam and support the coalition.

• Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, announced that New York Mayor Giuliani would be knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. "Just call me Rudy," asked Sir Rudolph. [Details on CNN]
• The Taliban's deputy ambassador to Pakistan Sohail Shaheen stated that both Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar had survived allied attacks.
• President Bush is expected to recommend that Congress approve spending an additional $1.5 billion to counter bioterrorism.
• A poll showed that 83-percent of the citizens of Pakistan back Afghanistan's Taliban regime and considered Osama bin Laden to be a "Mujahid," or holy warrior, rather than a terrorist.

NOT confirmed: 9:30 pm - CNN reported that an unidentified Pentagon official stated an AC-130 "Spectre" gunship had been used by U.S. forces in an attack on Kandahar late Monday. What witnesses at the attack had first described as the sound of a helicopter was the AC-130, according to the Pentagon official. The Spectre is considered a special operations aircraft capable of laying down withering fire from either a 40mm or 105mm high rate of fire, side-firing cannon. It was first used for close ground support in Vietnam. [See: Pentagon: Cannon-firing airplane used over Kandahar (CNN)]

8:45 pm - President of ABC News Dave Westin confirmed that the baby boy of an employee of ABC News had contracted the less-dangerous cutaneous anthrax. Westin stated that the baby may have been exposed to the bacteria at the offices of ABC News and that a full investigation was underway. According to Westin, the child was responding well to treatment and was expected to recover fully. The child's name and age were being withheld at the requests of the family. [See: Another Case of Anthrax Hits New York (Reuters)]

8:00 pm - A second worker from the American Media building in Boca Raton, Florida was reported to have contracted  inhaled anthrax. The worker, 73 Ernesto Blanco is reported to be responding to treatment. Another worker at American Media, 63-year old Robert Stevens died of inhaled anthrax on October 5.

7:00 pm - CNN reported that 90 Planned Parenthood Offices and 80 National Abortion Federation clinics around the U.S. had received letters containing unidentified white powder and letters with threatening messages. An investigation is underway.

6:30 pm - The white powder found by a flight attendant on board a Continental airlines flight was found to be harmless. The 155 passengers were allowed to deplane while the powder was investigated. After a three-hour delay, the flight continued.

4:30 pm - Associated Press reported that a small quantity of anthrax spores had been found in the mail-handling area of the Boca Raton post office where mail for the American Media building was handled. One man died and a few other workers at American Media tested positive for exposure to anthrax over the last two weeks. The mail-handling section of the Boca Raton post office had been closed.

4:30 pm - CNN reported that a flight attendant aboard a Continental airlines flight from Las Vegas, Nevada to Ohio had found a white powdery substance. The plane landed in Cleveland, Ohio and has been quarantined with 155 passengers on board as testing was conducted.

3:45 pm - Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld stated that allied forces were dropping leaflets along with bombs and humanitarian rations on Afghanistan. The leaflets state "The partnership of nations is here to assist the people of Afghanistan," and display a photograph of a Western soldier shaking hands with an Afghan citizen. "We're working to make clear to the Afghan people that we support them, and we're working to free them from the Taliban and their foreign terrorist allies," stated Rumsfeld at a press conference. [See: U.S. drops leaflets along with bombs (CNN)]

12:15 pm - At a press conference, President Bush confirmed that a letter received in the office of Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle of South Dakota had field-tested positive as containing anthrax bacteria. CNN reported that the letter was never handled by Sen. Daschle. Sen. Daschle and his entire Washington staff were undergoing testing, according to the president. [See: Bush: Daschle's office received letter with anthrax (CNN)]

10:30 am - Secretary of State Collin Powell arrived in Pakistan hoping to ease tensions between coalition countries caused by the sustained allied bombing campaign in Afghanistan. Later in the week, Powell will travel to Indian and Shanghai. Anti-American protests have been growing in frequency in Pakistan where President Musharraf has been working to deal with growing anger from the Muslim community. [See: Powell in Pakistan as anti-U.S. protests heat up (CNN)]

9:00 am - Allied airstrikes against some 13 targets including Taliban troop concentrations entered a second week. The U.S. aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) joined the Carl Vinson (CVN 70), Independence (CVA 62) and Kitty Hawk (CV 63) in the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean near Afghanistan. [See: U.S. Afghan Raids in 2nd Week; 4th Carrier Nears (Reuters)]

7:00 am - Secretary of Health Tommy Thompson told CNN news that recent cases of attempted anthrax exposure through the mail were definitely acts of bioterrorism, but could not be tied directly to Al Qaeda or the the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

5:30 am - The total number of persons either infected with or exposed to anthrax stood at 12. [See: N.Y. Anthrax Cases Bring Total to 12 (Reuters)]

3:25 am - Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf, in a CBS radio interview stated he would advise U.S. Secretary of State Collin Powell to "take out" leaders of the Taliban before concentrating on Osama bin Laden. Musharraf stated that he doubted the Taliban could ever defeat U.S. troops should a ground assault be launched. Pakistan is the only country that still recognizes the Taliban as the official government of Afghansitan. [See: Pakistan Says U.S. Should 'Take Out' Taliban Leader (Reuters)]

Previous Days of the Crisis
A daily record of events since Sept. 11, 2001.