Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Homeland Security: America's Cities Being Vigilant in New War on Terrorism

Aired October 15, 2001 - 10:46   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: America's cities, big and small, being vigilant in this new war on terrorism. Homeland defense a top priority as the threat of biological terrorism becomes a real concern. A look now at the safety precautions under way around the country. We have three different correspondents in three different parts, and with us now, CNN's Bill Delaney is live in Boston, and Natalie Pawelski is live in Forsyth County here in Georgia. And CNN's Rea Blakey is on a farm in Dickerson, Maryland.

We'll begin with Bill Delaney in Boston. Bill, good morning.

BILL DELANEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Bill.

You know, another thing we took for granted before September 11th, the U.S. mail. There is reason now to be cautious of your mail, by no means too cautious or too worried about it; 208 billion pieces of mail pass through the U.S. postal system every year, and most of it of course is absolutely safe, but U.S. postal offices are on high alert.

Here's an example of the kind of memo being sent out to postal employees. Management instruction, emergency response to mail allegedly containing anthrax. Now while this information about anthrax and how to deal with it being sent to postal employees, very much also from U.S. postal officials, urging Americans not to be too nervous about all this. They have sent out guidelines as to how you should look out and manage the mail that comes to your home.

For example, what to be weary of: receiving something unexpected from someone you don't know, receiving something addressed to someone who no longer works where you do, no return address can be a tipoff, be wary of packages of unusual weight or shape, be cautious about packages marked personal or confidential if there doesn't seem any reason for them to be, strange odors, stains, protruding wires -- common sense there -- a city or state postmark that doesn't match the return address.

Now should you find a suspicious package or letter in your mail, what to do about it? Again, common sense: don't open it, isolate it, evacuate the area, and get in touch with police or postal inspectors.

Now we are here with Bob Cannon, who is the public affairs manager for the eastern Massachusetts area for the postal service, a longtime postal employee.

Bobs, we are hearing reports from some union officials that they are urging some postal employees to wear protective gear. What are you hearing about that, and what is the general mood in post office like this one here?

BOB CANNON, U.S. POSTAL SERVICE: I would agree. Certain postal employees wear some protective gear all the time because of nature of their job. The dock workers that we see here on the dock behind us are what we call mail handlers, and they wear gloves all the time to protect themselves from injury. Basically, we made those gloves available to just about any postal employee who chooses to wear them, whether or not they're involved in heavily lifting.

DELANEY: Generally, the mood in there seem to be pretty relaxed, though.

CANNON: Yes, the mood in there is a basic workday.

DELANEY: And that's what...

CANNON: I spent the morning in there. The work is getting done, the usual casual conversation and occasional joking and so forth is going on.

DELANEY: And indeed the U.S. postal system across the country urging you to be cautious about your mail, but not too worried about it.

Now we go over to Natalie Pawelski in Georgia.

NATALIE PAWELSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, law enforcement agencies say they know of no specific credible threat to nation's water supply system, but they concede it could be an attractive target for terrorists. At dams and reservoirs across the country, security measures are being beefed up.

Today, we're here at Buford Dam, which holds back Lake Lanier. That's the drinking water supply source for the city of Atlanta. There is a road that goes over the top of the dam, and for now, at least, it is closed to the public, as officials install additional security measures. Now security experts say it's probably not too likely that a band of terrorist could blow up a damn like this one, one of these large urban dams, and they don't think it's likely that they could poison an entire lake-sized reservoir.

They are, however, worried about things further downstream. One potential target might be, for example, a water treatment plant. That's one reason water systems across the country are asking Congress for five billion to boost security and to boost testing to make sure that our drinking water supply stays safe.

Turning from water to the safety of food, here's my colleague Rea Blakey.

REA BLAKEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Natalie. You should know that the congressionally mandated Gilmore Commission indicates that agroterrorism is a significant potential problem. In fact, the commission said attacks against agriculture target offer terrorist a virtually risk-free assault with high probability of success -- end of quote. Now for the average consumer, what that means is that you yourself should make sure that any foods you prepare should be prepared properly, foods should be heated through thoroughly, meats should be cooked at least 160 degrees; that goes for poultry and eggs as well. You want to make sure that any foods that are consumed raw are thoroughly washed before they are eaten.

Beyond that, we really do have to depend on farmers and the system of agriculture that we have in this country. But keep in mind, there are some 76 million food-borne illnesses each year in the United States, 5,000 deaths as a result of that, and so it really does come down to a question of each and every individual being diligent along the way.

We are told, sources tell us, that the level of biosecurity at most U.S. farms and agriculture ranches is extremely low. Here, for example, at Louis Orchards in Dickerson, Maryland, the security system is pretty much a telephone system. People who live and work around the farm contact one another or the authorities if they see something suspicious. That's not a great deal of security. That exists at many farms across the United States. And many of those ranch circumstances, for example, there may be some 10,000 herd of cattle, and if in fact, there is some weapon of mass destruction used against agriculture and animals in particular, that could be devastating.

Bill, back to you.

HEMMER: All right, very interesting reports, and something to watch on all three fronts.

Rea, Natalie and Bill, thanks to all of you, in different posts throughout the country here.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com