December 14, 2001

New York City Fire Dept begins effort to address mental health needs of its members in aftermath of Sept 11 terrorist attacks that caused deaths of 343 fellow firefighters; firefighters are undergoing mandatory physical examinations at which they are also being asked questions to assess their mental state; retired firefighters and other counselors are making rounds to firehouses to see if anyone wants to talk; Fire Dept's counseling unit is offering private meetings that can be privately arranged; Fire Dept officials say Police Dept's approach, ordering all employees to attend sessions on psychololgical distress, would not work in firehouse culture; hope quieter approach helps those who are suffering excessively from feelings of guilt, sorrow and anger; photo (M)

Article in series Watching Movies With talks with producer Brian Grazer about influences on his filmmaking, notably 1974 Mel Brooks movie Blazing Saddles; his own latest project is A Beautiful Mind; photos (M)

NBC decides to accept commercials for distilled spirits, provided they meet long list of stipulations; commercials will appear only after 9 pm, must use actors that are over 30 years of age and cannot be aired until liquor makers run four months of ads on subjects like designated drivers and drinking moderately; critics of NBC's move, first by one of four television networks, are concerned that commercial can still be easily watched by youngsters (M)

United States releases videotape showing Osama bin Laden laughing and boasting about Sept 11 attacks that killed more than 3,000 people; on tape, bin Laden describes how planes flown in suicide missions into World Trade Center towers did far more damage than he imagined they would; Bush administration officials say amateur videotape, which they believe was filmed on Nov 9 at guest house in Kandahar, Afghanistan, is proof that bin Laden was guilty in Sept 11 attacks; say tape was found in late November in house in Jalalabad, and turned over to CIA; will not say if US paid for tape; on tape, bin Laden, speaking in Arabic, indicates that men who carried out plot knew they were on 'martyrdom operation' but did not know details of mission until last minute; says one who knew details was Mohamed Atta, leader of attack, who he says was from Al Qaeda Egyptian group; hourlong tape, with English subtitles provided by US government, shows smiling and relaxed bin Laden paying call on man referred to as 'sheik,' who flatters bin Laden about success of attacks; senior Saudi official identifies man as Sheik al-Ghamdi and describes him as militant cleric; says several of suicide hijackers were members of his tribe; Saudi government moves quickly to condemn bin Laden and others referred to on tape; photos (L)

More than 300 people crowd Westchester County, New York, hearing on emergency procedures at Indian Point nuclear power plant, most saying plant is vulnerable to terrorism attack and should be shut down; hearing follows protest outside; photo; state security official James Kallstrom and FBI officials visit plant earlier to reassure public (M)