Listen, a while ago I said to the American people, our objective is more than bin Laden. But one of the things for certain is we're going to get him running and keep him running, and bring him to justice. And that's what's happening. He's on the run, if he's running at all. So we don't know whether he's in a cave with the door shut, or a cave with the door open — we just don't know.

But Tommy said, this war — the phase of this war is kind of like a baseball game. Of course, my ears perked up.

We're beginning to shut down financial institutions around the world.

As soon as we make definitive conclusions, we'll share it with the American people.

REPORTER: Is Osama bin Laden cornered? And when you weigh the pros and cons of either option, would you rather take him alive so you can question him, or dead so you don't have to deal with him?
DUBYA: I don't care. Dead or alive, either way. I mean, I — it doesn't matter to me.

The American people must understand that I have no timetable in mind. There's no - I don't have a calendar that says, 'Gosh, if he's not gotten by this certain moment, then I'll be disappointed.'

Our intelligence professionals and special forces have cooperated in battle-friendly — with battle-friendly Afghan forces — fighters who know the terrain, who know the Taliban, and who understand the local culture.

They are a movement defined by their hatreds. They hate progress, and freedom, and choice, and culture, and music, and laughter, and women, and Christians, and Jews, and all Muslims who reject their distorted doctrines.

He's so evil that he's willing to send young men to commit suicide while he hides in caves.

And, finally, next Tuesday our nation will play the National Anthem at 8:34 a.m. eastern standard time. We will do so, and we're encouraging other nations to play their anthems and/or appropriate tunes at about the same time or an appropriate time, to send this clear signal to the terrorists.

The Anthem will be played at 8:46 a.m. I wanted to correct the time, so that as we prepare this reminder about the evil, and as we stand fast against terror, that we've got the correct time that we're going to do so.

At the same time, I had also made the decision, or close to made the decision that if we found an airplane that was squawking emergency, that its transponder had showed distress, that I had given the orders to the Secretary of Defense to shoot that airplane down.

The point I make is, by putting our troops in alert, obviously I was in a war mentality.

WALTERS: Although you had said at one point it might take ten years, but it looks as if we're closing in; and you said you wanted Osama bin Laden dead or alive. Which would you prefer: Dead or alive?
DUBYA: I don't care.

We do know that he has no sense of civility about who he kills.

I don't know. We're trying to figure that out. I can't make any news right now because we're in the process of determining what to do with John.

No, the country — this country is a fabulous country. They thought they hurt us, the evil ones. They have made us stronger, more real, and a better land.

Secondly, you need to pray for the good Lord to protect America, provide a shield over our country, to prevent us from harm.

I believe that we're making — taking everything we possibly can to — I know we're doing everything we can to prevent further attacks.

If we get any whiff, or any sniff that somebody is going to harm an American again, we're acting — just the way you would want us to.

That was an important phone call. Because when I was coming up, and a lot of other older-looking people here who were coming up with me — that would never have happened in the past.

I'm trying to absorb that knowledge. I have nobody to talk to. I'm sitting in the midst of a classroom with little kids, listening to a children's story... and I realize I'm the commander in chief and the country has just come under attack.

We're an open society, but we're at war. The enemy has declared war on us and we must not let foreign enemies use the forms of liberty to destroy liberty itself.

I was on Air Force One the day of the attack, working my way back to Washington via Louisiana and Nebraska — making sure that the President was safe and secure.

Secondly, is to make sure that the good hearts of the American people and the Russian people, and people all over the world, are affected. By that I mean that we get the aid to the starving folks in Afghanistan.

I have been — I had spent a lot of time worrying about all eight, particularly the two young ladies. I was worried that — about the reports that perhaps the enemy would put them in a house and then, for whatever reason, would encourage that house to get bombed.

I think it was a — I don't think it was — I think it was, as I understand it — and again, the Secretary of Defense will be briefing, the Defense Department will be briefing — that it was a facilitated rescue.

We value life. The terrorists ruthlessly destroy it. We value education. The terrorists do not believe women should be educated, or should have health care, or should leave their homes. We value the right to speak our minds. For the terrorists, free expression can be grounds for execution.

No group or nation should mistake Americans' intentions. Where terrorist groups exist of global reach, the United States and our friends and allies will seek it out, and we will destroy it.

When we get the facts, we'll share it with the American people.

This is a struggle that's going to take a while.... It's not one of these Kodak moments. There is no moment to this. This is a long struggle and a different kind of war.

And we are fighting evil, and we will continue to fight evil, and we will not stop until we defeat evil.

Well, I wasn't rattled when I went out and threw out the ball at Yankee Stadium.

We're making it harder for the enemy to communicate. We're making it harder for the enemy to protect himself. We're making it harder for the enemy to hide. And we're going to get him, and them.

So if I can sign an airport security bill, airline security bill, it will say to the American people that we are doing everything we possibly can to recover from the aftermath of September the 11th.

This is not an instant gratification war.

And we need to spend money on helping workers who were — lost their job as a result of the attack of September the 11th. I believe we need to expend — extend and expand that unemployment benefits to those workers.

We're united behind the fact that we must rise to this occasion.

On one front is the home front.

And so, the mood of the country is certainly different from what it was on September the 10th, but I find the mood of the country to be incredibly refreshing and strong and powerful.

And how that — what that means to the economy, it means that the — it means that over time, our economy is going to be just as strong as the American spirit. And so I'm very optimistic about the economy. How long it will take to recover to the levels that we hope is just — is beyond my pay grade.

September the 11th taught us an interesting lesson, that while — by far, the vast majority of people who have come to America are really good, decent people, people that we're proud to have here, there are some who are evil.

The press often ask me, well, is this the — is the evil one hiding from us in Afghanistan, the ones who have done this to America? I said, I don't know. We don't know yet. But we do know the evil one who hides thinks in ways that we can't possibly think in America — so destructive, such a low regard for human life. And anybody who puts anthrax, trying to kill American citizens, shares the same set of values. Whoever has done it shares that same value of evil that we saw on September the 11th.

Today I mourned the lives of two who — two postal officers, who lost their life in the line of duty.

Our enemies fear a society which is pluralistic and open to worship an almighty God.

We are not at war with Muslims. We don't have a beef with Muslims. We want to be friends with Muslims and Muslim children.

There's no need to discuss innocence or guilt. We know he's [bin Laden] guilty.

If you see somebody who you don't know getting into a crop duster that doesn't belong to you, report them.

Actually, I will say it again — if you cough him up, and his people, today, that we'll reconsider what we're doing to your country.

We need to counter the shock wave of the evildoer by having individual rate cuts accelerated and by thinking about tax rebates.

And we'll be tough and resolute as we unite, to make sure freedom stands, to rout out evil, to say to our children and grandchildren, we were bold enough to act, without tiring, so that you can live in a great land and in a peaceful world. And there's no doubt in my mind, not one doubt in my mind, that we will fail.

You see, the evildoers like to hit and then they try to hide. And slowly, but surely, we're going to make sure they have no place to hide. Slowly, but surely, we're going to move them out of their holes and what they think is safe havens, and get them on the move... In my speech to the Congress, I said, sometimes the American people aren't going to see exactly what's taking place on their TV screens. But slowly, but surely, the results are coming in... We're beginning to share intelligence amongst our nations. We're finding out members of the Al Qaeda organization, who they are, where they think they can hide. And we're slowly, but surely, bringing them to justice. We're slowly, but surely, calling their hand and reining them in.

You're expressing a firm national commitment that's so important, that we will not surrender our freedom to travel, that we will not surrender our freedoms in America, that while you may think you have struck our soul, you haven't touched it, that we are too strong a nation to be carried down by terrorist activity.

And one of the great goals of this nation's war is to restore public confidence in the airline industry, is to tell the traveling public: "Get on board. Do your business around the country. Fly and enjoy America's great destination spots. Go down to Disney World in Florida, take your families and enjoy life the way we want it to be enjoyed."

The world sees our compassion toward one another, as neighbor helps neighbor, as neighbor grieves with neighbor, as people from all across our country want to hold the families who have been dangered — who have been hurt — in their arms.

And we will look at all kinds of technologies to make sure that our airlines are safe, and for example including technology to enable controllers to take over distressed aircraft and land it by remote control.

Some countries may wanna participate in one way, but not in another. All we ask is that you participate. All we ask is that you use the same amounta effort the United States will to win this war against freedom, to win this battle against global terrorism.

The folks who conducted this act on our country on September 11th made a big mistake. They misunderestimated the fact that we love a neighbor in need. They misunderestimated the compassion of our country. I think they misunderestimated the will and determination of the commander-in-chief, too.

[This is] a war that declares a new declaration, that says if you harbor a terrorist you're just as guilty as the terrorist.

And in order to make sure that we're able to conduct a winning victory, we've got to have the best intelligence we can possibly have. And my report to the nation is we've got the best intelligence we can possibly have.

And I'm here to thank everybody who loves America in this building.

The people who did this act on America and who may be planning further acts are evil people... They're flat evil. All they can think about is evil. And as a nation of good folks, we're going to hunt them down, and we're going to find them, and we will bring them to justice. Ours is a nation that does not seek revenge, but we do seek justice.

Oh, isolating the Taliban? Well, I think most people in the world understand that I was very serious, and they're serious, when we say if you harbor a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the terrorist. That's pretty isolated, it seems like to me.

Or, as I explained to the [Japanese] Prime Minister in Western terms, to smoke them out of their caves, to get them running so we can get them.

When I take action, I'm not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt. It's going to be decisive.

Nobody can threaten this country. Oh, they may be able to bomb a buildings...

REPORTER: Do you want bin Laden dead?
DUBYA: I want justice. There's an old poster out west, as I recall, that said, "Wanted: Dead or Alive."

The American people are going to have to be more patient than ever with the efforts of not just ourselves, but the efforts of our allies, to get them running and to find them and to hunt them down.

Like the good folks standing with me, the American people were appalled and outraged at last Tuesday's attacks, and so were Muslims all across the world.

This is a new kind of, a new kind of evil... And the American people are beginning to understand. This crusade, this war on terrorism, is going to take a while. And American people must be patient.

My administration has a job to do... We will rid the world of evildoers.

I want to let you know there's a quiet anger in America that really is real and also, though, I can't tell you how proud I am of the good citizens of your part of the world and the extraordinary job you all are doing.

I have spoken to the vice president, to the governor of New York, to the director of the FBI, and I've ordered that the full resources of the federal government go to help the victims and their families and to conduct a full-scale investigation to hunt down and to find those folks who committed this act.

I think it's also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long [U.S. troops] will be involved and when they will be withdrawn.

Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is.

CONNIE CHUNG [NBC]: Just a moment ago Tom Brokaw, in an interview with Dan Quayle — uhh, Dan Quayle revealed that he may have made a few phone calls that would help him get into the National Guard instead of serving in Vietnam —
DUBYA: Yeah.
CHUNG: Are you aware of this, and do you think —
DUBYA: No.
CHUNG: — that could be a problem?
DUBYA: I am not, no, and I also think service in the National Guard is a good thing to do. I mean, he could — I, I'm from that era, as you know. As a matter of fact, he happens to be one year younger than I am. He couldda gone to Canada. He decided to serve. I think Dan Quayle oughtta be proud of his National Guard experience, like thousands of others around the country are —
CHUNG: And —
DUBYA: I was in the National Guard.
CHUNG: You were in the —
DUBYA: I flew —
CHUNG: — National Guard?
DUBYA: I flew fighters in the Texas Air National Guard, of which I am very proud.
CHUNG: Now, the problem, though, would be is if indeed he made several phone calls, or some people made phone calls on his behalf to get him into the National Guard. Did that ever, I mean, did that happen to you? Were you —
DUBYA: No, I don't think so. But, uhh, in those days, people were goin' into the service, all different branches, and people — if you wanted to go into the National Guard, I guess sometimes people made calls. I don't see anything wrong with the kind — matter of fact, I'm glad he served this country. And serving in the National Guard is serving in the mili — they probably shouldda called up the National Guard up in those days. Maybe we'd have done better in Vietnam.