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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Interview with Tom Harkin; Serious Security Breach at O'Hare Airport; House and Senate Negotiators Begin Work on Compromise Airport Security Bill Later this Week.
Aired November 05, 2001 - 19:00 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.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Today on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS: "America Strikes Back."
Armed to the teeth at the airport. Security missed his mace, a stun gun and most of his knives. Hear how the authorities nearly missed him as well.
The Pentagon on edge, again. What investigators found, and where they found it.
A quick way to spot a killer bacteria. The Mayo Clinic announces a breakthrough.
And bioterror in America: are we ready for the worst? One senator's answer, as "America Strikes Back."
Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting from Washington, where the House and Senate are trying to reach a compromise on how to make the skies safer. In just a moment, an embarrassing example of how much more needs to be done: The story of man who waltzed through security with weapons.
But first, Kyra Phillips with today's latest developments -- Kyra.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Wolf, good to see you tonight.
Well, there's been another serious security breach at one of the nation's major airports. A man allegedly tried to board a plane at Chicago's O'Hare airport with nine knives, a can of mace and a stun gun. He was arrested by the FBI on federal weapons charges. Seven security workers have been suspended.
A New Jersey postal worker suffering from inhalation anthrax is out of the hospital. Norma Wallace spent 18 days in the hospital and was near death at one point. She worked at the Trenton distribution center, where officials think three anthrax-laced letters were processed.
Scientists at the Mayo Clinic have developed a new, faster test for anthrax. They say the DNA test takes less than an hour, rather than days, to determine if someone has been exposed to the anthrax bacteria.
On Capitol Hill, most lawmakers are again working in the Longworth House office building. Only three offices where traces of anthrax were found remain closed. The building was sealed off 10 days ago after being contaminated with anthrax.
U.S. airstrikes intensified today in Afghanistan. Warplanes pounded Taliban front line positions just north of the capital of Kabul, and the southern Taliban stronghold of Kandahar.
A Pentagon spokesperson says the bombing has virtually destroyed the Al Qaeda terrorist organization's known infrastructure.
Despite the round-the-clock U.S. bombing, forces of the opposition Northern Alliance still have not launched a major offensive against the Taliban. But today alliance troops took part in a show of force. Many of the fighters were wearing uniforms for the first time. Tanks and other weapons fired practice rounds into the hillsides.
Wolf, back to you.
BLITZER: Thank you very much, Kyra. Airport security, hotly debated between Republicans and Democrats here in Washington, is now back in the spotlight. The FBI says a man at Chicago's O'Hare airport, armed with knives and other weapons, tried to board a United flight, was arrested, released and then arrested.
Just how did this security breach happen and what's the fallout? CNN's Chicago bureau chief Jeff Flock is covering the story for us. He joins us now live, Jeff, live with the latest.
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Wolf. Just got back from the federal court here in Chicago. And it may be, as bad as this all sounds, that it is less than meets eye. Take you to Chicago's O'Hare airport --over the weekend, 27-year-old Nepalese student, Subash Gurung is the man's name. He was arrested out there on Saturday after attempting to board a flight from Chicago to Omaha with what turned out to be nine knives in his possession.
We attempted to go through the initial security checkpoint. Two of the knives were confiscated at this point. But despite that fact, he was allowed to proceed on to the gate. At that point it was determined that he had seven additional knives in his bag. He was taken into custody, questioned by both the FBI as well as local authorities here, arrested on local charges. And then the FBI came back and rearrested him on a federal charge.
And we talk about federal charges. It's actually just one federal charge, of attempting to conceal a weapon onboard an aircraft. In terms of the seriousness of all this, clearly the headline is that it was a serious security breach. But as to Mr. Gurung himself, according to Ross Rice, a spokesman for the FBI, as well as Randy Sandborn, who speaks for the U.S. attorney here, in their words now, no nefarious or suspicious purpose is inferred from this.
And according to an FBI press release, they went so far as to out put out a press release which says this incident involves no suspected terrorist activity. So it appears that Mr. Gurung -- he says by his own admission, mistakenly, put guns in his possession, instead of the putting them in his checked backed. And that was the problem.
He will be in court again on Thursday for a preliminary hearing. He is being held in custody, no bond, because he is in the country, apparently, on an expired student visa. Clearly, Wolf, a serious breach of security, and that something that local authorities are looking at closely right now.
BLITZER: Jeff, weren't alarm bells raised because of his address, the similar address, or same address as some other suspects who have been picked up by federal authorities in recent weeks?
FLOCK: Well, that didn't set off the alarm bells initially. In fact, what they're very upset about is the fact that he had a passport, a one-way ticket, and he had two of the knives confiscated at the first checkpoint, that no security bells got set off there. Certainly all of those factors should have set off security bells before he made it all the way to the gate.
On the issue of the address, there is some conflict now about -- it appears that Mr. Gurung did reside at that address on West Hollywood Avenue here in Chicago, and the FBI still being somewhat sketchy about whether these other men that were arrested in Texas, whether in fact they had a connection to that address or not.
It appears clear now, they did not live at that address. But whether there is some connection, that's still being looked at.
BLITZER: But clearly, authorities at O'Hare were embarrassed by the fact that this man did get through security with those weapons.
FLOCK: You bet. And in fact, we believe now a total of seven of those security workers have been suspended. We thought earlier they had been fired. It appears now, seven suspended.
BLITZER: Jeff Flock, our bureau chief in Chicago. Thank you very much.
And it didn't take very long for Democrats to jump on the O'Hare breach to plug their version of an air security bill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD), MAJORITY LEADER: So if that kind of thing is still happening, with all of the additional alert and attention that we are supposed to be giving to this, something has to be done. The sooner the better. We really can't delay.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: House and Senate negotiators begin work on compromise airport security bill later this week. Largely along partisan lines, the House last week narrowly rejected a unanimous Senate bill that would have made airport security workers federal employees. If you have questions or concerns about airline security, then log on to cnn.com for our special, "Flight Risk." Take an interactive look at security measures and breaches in U.S. airports, and how they compare to other countries. The AOL keyword is CNN.
There was a time when the O'Hare airport incident may have been just a dot on the media radar screen. September 11th, of course, changed all that, changed our perception of security in general, airport security, in particular. Now we have a man who's job it is to keep the country save Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge. It's a huge job. The number of people reporting to him is also huge.
This is the flow chart. We'll put it up. There are lots of boxes and lines, going mostly in a top-down fashion. We want to focus on this top third of this chart. We invited someone with expertise in making companies more efficient to critique it. Chris Goldsmith of Creative Reality in Boston joins us now live.
Thank you very much for joining us, Chris. As we look at this chart -- and you've studied it a little bit -- wouldn't it be better to simplify it somehow? Because it does look like an amazing chart. Some in Washington have said that it makes Hillary Clinton's health care chart in 1993 look almost simple.
CHRIS GOLDSMITH, CREATIVE REALITIES, INC.: That would certainly be the first temptation, just let's simplify it, and that's the solution. But I think the issue here is that the organization chart is really not the problem. It's really more a symptom of a problem that exists.
BLITZER: What is the problem with this chart and the authority going from top to bottom, and all these lines in between?
GOLDSMITH: Well, I think we need to start by looking at the fact that the government is a system. The system is designed on operating in a particular way. What we are seeing is business as usual. We are seeing a structure set up in order to provide a solution a problem, as if it were any other problem that the government was facing. But this is not ordinary problem.
BLITZER: What about Tom Ridge himself? He's trying to do a lot. He's in charge of day-to-day planning. He is also in charge of strategic planning, in terms of long-term planning. How would you fix this chain of command?
GOLDSMITH: Wolf, that's a really got point and I think herein lies the problem. You have to be able to deal with the issues as they come on a day-to-day basis. The coordination of activities, whether it's the threats from anthrax or any other threats that we view in the homeland.
At the same time, almost independently, you need to be able to think about issues in terms of planning, where we're going. You can't do both well together. It's like trying to fly a plane while trying to make repairs at the same time. So I think Mr. Ridge's positions -- he's in an untenable position. BLITZER: All right, Chris Goldsmith, thanks for joining us. We appreciate it.
Of course, before September 11 most Americans probably never gave smallpox a passing thought. That's changed, of course. Right now officials say smallpox, as a bioterrorist weapon, could cause widespread death in this country. Now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is beginning to take some steps to protect the nation from a possible smallpox attack.
CNN medical correspondent Rhonda Rowland is in Atlanta and she has details -- Rhonda.
RHONDA ROWLAND, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the CDC is taking a number of steps to prepare for a possible -- and I'd like to stress, possible -- attack with smallpox. One of the first things they're doing is vaccinating 200 CDC employees. And these individuals will be the first to go in the field to contain an outbreak if one were to occur.
These individuals include epidemiologists, also known as disease detectives, public health managers, laboratory technicians, communications staff, information technologists. Also this week, former CDC doctors who were involved in eradicating smallpox globally in the 1970s, and now called out of retirement, will teach the new teams about smallpox.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. WALTER ORENSTEIN, NATL. IMMUNIZATION PROGRAM: These employees will help in transmitting the clinical picture of smallpox, how contagious it is or it isn't, how it can be recognized, and what they learned from their experiences in eradicating the disease, to really transmit it to a number of people who have had no experience with smallpox since the last naturally occurring case, was in 1977.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLAND: Wolf, there will indeed be a second wave of health experts who will come here to the CDC over the next two weeks to be vaccinated and also learn about smallpox. These individuals are health experts at the local level, health officials across the country -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Rhonda, I spoke with Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, the head of the CDC, only yesterday. He told me that he wasn't ready yet to determine that the vaccine, smallpox vaccine should be made available across the board to all of us. In fact, although I get the sense, and correct me if I'm wrong, that they're preparing for that contingency?
ROWLAND: That's right, Wolf. And as you said, right now they would not even be ready to vaccinate everyone if there was a problem. In the government's drug stockpile, there are only 15 million doses of the vaccine, but right now, today, a study began at four U.S. medical centers to see if they could diluted and stretch the vaccine so more people could be protected. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SHARON FREY, ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY: We're going to look at undiluted vaccine -- vaccine that's been diluted five times, and vaccine that's been diluted 10 times. If we are able to multiply the available doses five times, we may have as much as 75 million doses available.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLAND: And health officials are indeed working on a new second generation vaccine so they could perhaps have 300 million doses, enough for everyone. And, Wolf, they hope this newer vaccine would be safer than the old one.
BLITZER: Rhonda Rowland in Atlanta, thank you very much.
And joining me now from Capitol Hill, Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa. He's the chairman of the Senate agriculture committee. He's also chairman of a subcommittee that deals with bioterrorism.
I watched your hearing last week, Senator Harkin, and it was pretty alarming. What was the most concerning part about the smallpox threat that you learned?
SEN. TOM HARKIN (D), IOWA: I think most alarming thing, Wolf, is that if smallpox were to break out in more than one location, which would be possible under a terrorist attack, we simply don't have enough vaccine right now to stop the kind of rapid kind of spread that would happen.
I think the second most important thing is that a lot of our health care professionals in the field out there are poorly trained to deal with this kind of a threat. I heard testimony that many of our health care professionals out there today couldn't tell the difference between smallpox and chicken pox, for example.
BLITZER: Do you have any sense when the country is going to be ready for this, God forbid, smallpox threat, bioterrorist attack? When will there be enough vaccine? When will the doctors and the health care professionals be ready to deal with it?
HARKIN: Well, taking the second part first, we are getting our health alert network up and established throughout the United States, ensuring that every state has 24 hours a day, seven days a week response teams ready to go. Some states don't have that. We have some local health departments in the country that don't even have a fax machine. They aren't even hooked up to the Internet, in order to get that kind of rapid information that they need.
But on the vaccine side, as you heard right before I came on, we have 15 -- roughly 15 million doses right now. Dr. Fauci at NIH believes we can dilute that five to one and still protect well over 90 percent of the people, vaccinated. So we have about 75 million dose right now. That would be enough to contain an outbreak in one area, but as I said, not enough to cover everyone if there were multiple outbreaks.
BLITZER: Do you think it will be necessary, Senator Harkin, for all of us in the United States to start receiving that smallpox vaccine?
HARKIN: I do not believe that would be advisable right now, because obviously there are dangers inherent in that. It's estimated that if you vaccinate everyone in the United States, that probably somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000 people will die because of that, because of adverse reactions.
I think the most important thing is to ramp up the production of vaccines immediately so that we have 300 million doses, that we have them around the United States, so that if any smallpox were to break out we can contain it and then vaccinate everyone.
BLITZER: When you were holding that hearing I also learned something that was pretty shocking to me: that there are many local health authorities around the country, in local states even, that really have no specialists dealing with infectious diseases whatsoever.
HARKIN: They have not been trained in that. They lack them. We don't even have them onboard in many states. A lot of states, we are without -- not even one, not trained infectious disease specialist. That's alarming. And that's why we need to get more resources for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
I think, as you said, Wolf, there's no dark cloud that has a silver lining, and maybe the silver lining that's going to come out of this, is we will recognize that our public health departments are our first line of defense in this country. We have ignored them for far too long. I think now is the time to make sure that we have a strong public health system in America.
BLITZER: Senator Tom Harkin, good hearing last week. I learned a lot, and thanks for joining us. Appreciate it very much.
HARKIN: Thanks, Wolf.
BLITZER: And up next, the war in Afghanistan. We'll go live to the Pentagon and get some analysis from retired General Wesley Clark. We'll also see the Northern Alliance like no one's ever seen them before. Will new uniforms help turn their fortunes around?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Hold on. All right. This just in: CBS News just confirming that I have anthrax.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: And taking a moment to laugh at ourselves. That's later on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. In the skies over Afghanistan, no letup today in U.S. airstrikes against Taliban targets. On the ground, a show of force by rebel fighters of the Northern Alliance, but still no sign of a major Northern Alliance offensive.
CNN military affairs correspondent Jamie McIntyre is over at the Pentagon. He has more -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the Pentagon says that the airstrikes are designed to set the conditions for those Northern Alliance troops to move against Mazar-e- Sharif and the Afghan capital of Kabul. At this point, the Pentagon can't say how many Taliban troops it has killed, but it says at the very least, it's keeping the Taliban forces pinned down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REAR ADM. JOHN STUFFLEBEEM, JOINT STAFF DEPUTY OPS. DIRECTOR: It's been a matter of days in some areas where the Taliban have responded to opposition with fire. My guess is that would be because they're either hunkered down and not coming out, or they're not able to fire. So I think that that's a very positive sign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: And take a look at this video released by the Pentagon of a B-52 strike Friday north of Kabul, again, Taliban positions. You can why the Pentagon says this kind of carpet bombing is not the same as the carpet bombing done during the Vietnam war. That string of bombs going along a very precise line where Taliban troops are believed to be dug in.
The U.S. is looking for some new bases in the area, specifically three bases in Tajikistan, which is right over the border to the north. From there, the U.S. would be able to launch much quicker strikes and react much more quickly to conditions on the ground. But survey engineers have to decide whether those air fields from the old Soviet Union era are worthy at this point, and report back to the Pentagon -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jamie, while I have you, there were some traces of anthrax that were found in some post office boxes at the Pentagon postal facilities, that I'm sure you've used on many occasions. I used to use them myself when I had your job, before it was yours. What are the details?
MCINTYRE: Well, this post office branch, which is located on the Pentagon concourse, where the shopping area is, in the Pentagon, did test -- two spots came back positive for anthrax after tests last week. The entire post office has been decontaminated. The people who work there have been given antibiotics as a precaution.
They believe that these traces of anthrax again came from the same Brentwood facility that handles mail in the area. There is no evidence of any anthrax contamination in the main Pentagon mail handling facility, which is in a separate location.
BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, thank you very much.
And a spokesman for the Northern Alliance says the alliance is planning a new offensive against the Taliban. And if the rebels can claim some victories, it might alleviate pressure for a massive commitment of U.S. ground troops.
As CNN's Matthew Chance reports, the alliance's hopes are brighter than its record.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They fought the Taliban for years, and lost. But this once ragtag force suddenly looks more professional, more serious. De facto allies of the United States, these Northern Alliance fighters have new uniforms, a new swing in their step. Their sights are set on the Afghan capital.
Repressing the troops, President Rabbani told them they're the only Afghans battling terrorism, that they must continue to fight the Taliban. He also paid tribute to their assassinated military commander, Ahmed Shah Massud. His name is now a battle cry for these men.
They have the United States behind them, quite literally. Through the black smoke in the distance, the morale boosting airstrike on the Taliban front lines. The new commander told us these fighters will sweep to Kabul, push the Taliban from power.
GEN. MOHAMMAD FAHIM, NORTHERN ALLIANCE (through translator): This parade is intended to demonstrate the military power of the Islamic state of Afghanistan. If the order for an attack is given, we are confident these troops would achieve their mission.
CHANCE: Live fire exercise, for the benefit of those in command. There's been no timetable set for an advance on Kabul, but this is the kind of rocket and tank firepower these troops have at their disposal. They look formidable. But here, there's no one firing back.
(on camera): This is the biggest show of force we've seen the Northern Alliance stage. These troops say they're fired up and ready for a fight. The question is though, whether the Taliban have been weakened enough for these forces to advance and to take the capital.
(voice-over): Their intended message at this military show is that they are. The real test still ahead.
Matthew Chance, CNN, northern Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: For more perspective on the campaign in Afghanistan, we're joined now by CNN military analyst General Wesley Clark, who served as the NATO supreme allied commander. He also commanded Operation Allied Force during the Kosovo crisis and wrote about his experiences in his book, "Waging Modern War."
General Clark, thanks again for joining us. And before we start, let me just go to our map and use our telestrator to show our viewers what we are talking about, as far as the Northern Alliance is concerned. They are all around here in this area, that is red. Up in here they have been trying to see if they can get down to this area, around Mazar-e-Sharif, as well as around Kabul. But so far they've been unsuccessful in moving very far along that way.
How effective, General Clark, is the Northern Alliance as a fighting force?
GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET), FMR. NATO SUPREME COMMANDER: Well, we're not going to know that until they actually commit to battle and we've got some qualified observers there to see them. But the odds are that they are marginally effective. This is a force of survivors. They have been pushed back over the years, away from the rest of Afghanistan. They are clinging to their footholds.
They are being resupplied, but they haven't done a full training regimen. They're going to be shaky at first, and they're going to depend very heavily on U.S. air sport to advance. There's no doubt about that.
BLITZER: We also heard today, General Clark -- you may have heard his report, Kamal Hyder, our reporter on the scene in Kandahar in the southern part of Afghanistan, saying he's getting indications that the Taliban forces are beginning to disperse away from concentrations, sort of smaller units so they'll be less vulnerable to U.S. attack.
That sounds like smart military tactics.
CLARK: Well, it sounds to me like they're caught in a dilemma that our strategy would put them in. Namely, if they stay masked and capable of offering effective defense to the ground advance of the Northern Alliance, they they're going to be vulnerable to air power. If they disperse and break up in small groups to escape the weight of the air power, then they're vulnerable to a ground attack by the Northern Alliance.
That's the dilemma that they're in because of the overwhelming combat power that the United States can bring to bear. Now it's up to Northern Alliance to take advantage of it.
BLITZER: As you know, some commentators have been recommending that the U.S. no longer rely simply on air power, but begin massive ground -- in effect, a massive ground invasion of Afghanistan to deal with this problem. I don't know, A, how realistic that is, or if it's even feasible in the short term. But those who are calling for a lot of U.S. ground troops right now, what's your sense?
CLARK: I think it's unrealistic right now. I don't think we're anywhere near that stage. I think, first, that we've got to be realistic in terms of our expectations of what air power can do. It does work. It takes a lot of time. It is working now, I'm convinced of it. But it will take time.
Secondly, we've got to be realistic in terms of what the Northern Alliance can accomplish in a brief period of time. It may take six months to arm and train and get ready with the Northern Alliance. Remember in the Gulf War, the United States sent its forces to Saudi Arabia, and we trained and equipped for six months before we attacked.
And so before we would do something like that in Afghanistan, there are a number of preconditions that have to be met, and there are a number of military options, between what we are doing now and a massive ground force invasion, that I'm sure will be tried.
I'm still concerned about the situation in Pakistan. I'm concerned about the reinforcements that we hear coming across the border from Pakistan into the Taliban. And that reinforcement stream needs to be shut off. If it is shut off effectively, then the outcome is inevitable, once the weight of air power takes hold.
BLITZER: And finally, General Clark, you heard Jamie McIntyre report that the U.S. is probably going to get access to about three air bases, former Soviet air bases, in Tajikistan, just north of Afghanistan. How significant a development is that?
CLARK: I think it could be very useful, because as we put more special forces teams on the ground and we get more confidence in working closely with the members of the Northern Alliance, we'll be able to call airstrikes in more and more frequently, closer and closer to the front lines. And so we'll want more and more air to respond to these calls of the troops on the ground, and those air bases would be critical in that respect.
BLITZER: General Clark, once again, thank you very much. We always appreciate your expertise.
Meanwhile, the Navy Secretary Gordon England is among the guests tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE." That, of course, is at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, 6:00 Pacific.
Elsewhere overseas on America's new war. The Taliban says the United States destroyed a downed American helicopter to conceal American casualties. But the Pentagon said again today, the action was taken to prevent enemy forces from taking sensitive equipment. The Pentagon spokesman says the chopper suffered a hard landing due to icing during an attempted rescue. The crew of the chopper was rescued, as was the target of the original rescue mission.
A man investigated for possible ties to some of the September 11th hijackers pleaded not guilty today to fraud charges. The charges against Mohammed Abdi are not directly related to the hijackings, but Abdi's name and phone number were written on a map that was found in a car rented by one of the hijackers.
The Philippine group accused of having ties to Osama bin Laden has freed a hostage, but continues to hold two American missionaries and a number of other captives. The Philippine government says there are growing signs of weakness among the rebel group, known as Abu Sayyaf. But a military spokesman says his country still needs and expects to receive the United States' help in combating the rebels.
Three former presidential advisers join me in the "War Room" to discuss how America is striking back. That's at 7:00 Eastern, 4:00 Pacific on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. And you can participate in "the War Room." Go to CNN.com/wolf and click on "send questions." And I will try to get our experts to answer them.
Next, today's developments in America's new war and the political battles that will be fought this week from both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. Our Senior White House Correspondent John King is standing by at the White House and Congressional Correspondent Kate Snow standing by on Capitol Hill. We will get to them in just a moment, but first the latest developments. Once again, here's Kyra Phillips.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, thanks so much. We're going to begin in Chicago. Airport security allowed this man, armed with knives, a can of mace and a stun gun to pass through a checkpoint.
As it happens, the man shares an address with another man held as a material witness in connection with the September 11th hijackings. He was prevented from boarding by United Airlines gate employees, and is presently in custody. Seven security guards have been suspended.
At the Pentagon, a public post office branch is closed today. Traces of anthrax were found at the branch over the weekend. Six employees are taking antibiotics just as a precaution. The branch does not handle official Pentagon mail.
On Capitol Hill, a hundred -- more than hundred members of Congress, plus staff, are back in their places of business today. The Longworth buildings re-opened today. The building was closed after anthrax was found in three Congressional offices there. Those three offices still are sealed off.
In Afghanistan, a heavy day of bombing, and a CNN reporter says the Taliban are on the run from their southern stronghold, Kandahar. CNN's Kamal Hyder reports the Taliban fleeing in groups of five or fewer, for fear of being detected and attacked. Once again, back to you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Thank you, Kyra.
Both the Bush administration and Capitol Hill are gearing up for the tasks ahead this week. A lot of activity expected. CNN Congressional Correspondent Kate Snow is going to update us on what's ahead. But first, let's check in with CNN Senior White House Correspondent John King.
John, the president has a lot of speeches, a lot of meetings scheduled this week. What is his strategy?
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The strategy, Wolf, as this campaign goes on is to make sure he can maintain to the best of his ability support overseas and political support here in the United States.
Most of the president's focus this week will be on the international front. He met with the president of Algeria today.
He delivers a speech very early tomorrow morning here in Washington because he is speaking to an audience via satellite in Warsaw, Poland. Seventeen countries there gathering to discuss the war on terrorism.
Several international leaders coming to the White House this week: the leaders of Great Britain, France, India, Brazil and Ireland. And the president closes with week with a speech to the United Nations General Assembly and a meeting with the Pakistani president there.
Also, though, one speech Thursday night of important domestic note here. The president will update the country on the government's homeland security efforts.
So a very sustained public presentation from the president this week. The goal is to maintain the international coalition to fight terrorism and to maintain his very high political standing support here in the United States as well.
BLITZER: All right, John. Stand by. I want to bring in Kate Snow on Capitol Hill.
Kate, are they going to be able this week -- a lot of people are going to be focusing on the aviation security conference committee effort to try to work out a compromise. Does it look like they are going to be able to work out some sort of deal on aviation security?
KATE SNOW, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, if you are optimist you will say that they might be able to do it before Thanksgiving. That's what a lot of people are hoping for, include House Speaker Dennis Hastert. He has set that line in the sand, Thanksgiving, as a deadline.
Democrats have been pointing today to what you just reported a few minutes ago, about O'Hare airport and the person that was able to get through security with many arms, many knives on his person. Democrats saying that that points to the fact that they have to get this done soon in order to improve security. A lot of pressure coming also from the White House.
And Republicans say they don't like the current situation. They want to get this done, too. So there is certainly an impetus to work together on this.
But as you mentioned, Wolf, they have got a conference committee. That means they have got to work out very different views of aviation security between what passed the Senate and what the passed House.
And the biggest sticking point is who should do the screening: should it be federal employees or not? Right now it's being discussed -- particularly among Republicans -- that perhaps they could propose just having a certain percentage of people that do the security screening work be federal employees and the rest of them perhaps be private contractors.
That's not likely to sit very well, though, with some of those on other side, notably John McCain on the Senate side and many of the senators that voted for a different version that wouldn't allow any private companies be involved at all.
BLITZER: John King, back at White House. How much is the president going to weigh in on this conference committee effort to work out a deal?
KING: Well, the White House did work very aggressively on the House side, Wolf.
There's been criticism, though, from both Democrats and Republicans that in their view the president should do more on a sustained basis publicly -- from Democrats on the airline security issue.
Republicans mad at the president on the stimulus package. They say he should be taking more of leadership role. The White House says the president is acting through his staff behind the scenes, but they also say it is important for the president not to appear too political at a time like this, so there is a tug of war: the first really sharp signs of partisanship in the weeks since September 11.
The president has his weekly breakfast with congressional leaders again tomorrow. Those sessions not as productive in recent weeks as they had been at the beginning. The president obviously is involved, but some in Congress believe he should be more involved, especially on a day-to-day basis. But the White House says that won't happen.
BLITZER: Kate, while I have you, any progress being made over there in cleaning up some of those House and Senate office buildings, as far as anthrax is concerned?
SNOW: Yes. As a matter of fact, one of the main buildings -- the Hart Senate office building is where Senator Tom Daschle's office is actually located, it's where that letter was opened that contained anthrax.
That building, we understand tonight, will begin having a process done on at least two locations in the building, a process involving anti-bacterial foam. It's almost like carpet cleaner. They put this foam down and then it sort of disintegrates into a powdery substance. That will take about an hour, we're told. They are going to be working on two different spots inside the Hart building.
Still looking at whether long term if they should use chloride dioxide gas, but there have been some questions raised about that, Wolf, about the size of the building. Nothing has ever been tried with that kind of gas on this scale. Wolf.
BLITZER: Kate Snow on Capitol Hill and John King over at the White House. Two excellent reporters. Thanks for joining us.
A renowned medical center says it has come up with a faster way to detect anthrax, but will that test be available to the general public? Our medical correspondent joins us with that information right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. The Mayo Clinic says it has developed a new test to rapidly detect anthrax in humans and in the environment. CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is covering that story. Elizabeth, sounds like a very important story. But first of all, is this a new technology?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know what, Wolf? In many ways it's not a completely new technology. What it does is it looks for the DNA that is in anthrax naturally. That's already done at a handful of labs, for example, the CDC that has very complicated testing. What the Mayo Clinic hopes to do is to take this very high- tech test and put it in the hands of hundreds of hospitals across the country.
BLITZER: It -- it does sound encouraging, Elizabeth. But what is the catch?
COHEN: Well, the catch is that it's a little bit unclear whether or not this test could catch the bacteria at a time where you would need to catch it.
Let's talk a little bit. I want to show you something here. Right here. These are anthrax spores. And somebody breathes them in and they go down here down here down here and then they just kind of hang out.
You can see the closeup here. They just kind of hang out in tissues of your body, like the lungs. So you see them hanging out there. This is the bacteria in here. It hasn't even come out of the spore yet. It's just kind of there. And then it sprouts. So that process can take anywhere from a couple days to a couple of weeks.
So I could have -- I could open up a letter, be exposed to anthrax, breathe it in. And they could test my blood the next day or even the next week or perhaps even longer, and they would say, "well, we didn't find it." Well, they didn't find it because the bacteria hasn't made it to the bloodstream yet. That doesn't mean I don't have the disease, it just means it hasn't made it to the bloodstream. And that's a concern for many doctors I have spoken to.
BLITZER: I know there is going to be some -- some trials, but how will you know in the end if this test really does work?
COHEN: Well, really what they have to do is try it in a real- life situation. They haven't tested this test, Wolf, on a single infected person yet. They've just done it in the lab. They took clean human blood, spiked it with anthrax, and the test worked. They haven't gone out to an infected person yet to see if it works, and that is really the next step.
BLITZER: Elizabeth Cohen in Atlanta. Thank you very much.
Meanwhile, a new poll just released is giving us fresh insight on many Americans' concerns over personal safety in the face of terrorism, as well as their hopes for the economy. CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider of course joins us to take a look at these poll numbers. First of all, when it comes on fear of terrorism, what did we learn?
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: What we learned is that over the past month, fear of terrorist attacks has actually begun to decline.
In early October, nearly 60 percent of Americans said they felt someone in their family would become the victim of a terrorist attack. That number, we can see here, has dropped steadily. Now 40 percent. A whole lot of people, but public anxiety has been diminishing despite the anthrax scare and despite people's shakier confidence that the government would be able to protect them from anthrax.
If people are feeling less fearful, it's because the threat seems to be more limited, not because they have gotten more confidence in the government.
BLITZER: And people are also fearful, obviously, still, because of the economy. But how fearful are they?
SCHNEIDER: Well, economic fear actually may be rising. President Bush's job rating on handling the economy -- while very high -- are lower than confidence in his ability to handle the war or even homeland security. And there is a fight brewing in Congress over the economic stimulus plan.
Take a look. It's a choice between more tax cuts and more spending. So we asked, "Do you think most of the money should be spent on tax cuts or in increased government spending on things like benefits for recently unemployed workers and new construction projects?"
Most people say spend. We need the money now -- which is of course what the Democrats in Congress have been arguing. So what does this mean? Well, who said the era of big government is over?
BLITZER: So in the two months -- almost two months since September 11th, in this new poll, what was the biggest surprise that you learned?
SCHNEIDER: Well, that people seemed to be more reassured about their own security. Their confidence in government still pretty high. Their fear of being physically harmed has diminished. But concern about the economy been rising quite steadily and now may overtake fear of terrorism as the major issue. BLITZER: OK. Bill Schneider. Thanks for joining us.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
BLITZER: And check in on how politics has changed since September 11th tonight on the debut edition of "Newsnight" with Aaron Brown. That's at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, 7:00 Pacific.
Can the government's high-tech ways of monitoring e-mail for signs of terrorism come at the expense of our personal liberties? A "Time" magazine colleague joins us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. The U.S. government has been using high- tech devices to monitor America's e-mail as it hunts for terrorists. But the use of Carnivore and other monitoring programs has created concerns about people's privacy.
Adam Cohen, "Time" magazine's technology editor, has written an article about this very subject. He joins us now with more on the controversy. What is the controversy? How does government search the e-mail of individuals searching for terrorists, if you will?
ADAM COHEN, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, we were hearing reports right after the September 11th attacks the FBI was going around to Internet service providers around the country and asking them to install what is called Carnivore. It's a little computer device that has Windows NT, powered by Intel. But it has software that the FBI has written that allows it to collect e-mail of all kinds and Internet activity, and basically go through searches looking for various words and wants and basically keep track of who is sending e-mail to who.
BLITZER: So there is no way that the individuals whose e-mail is being searched knows that their e-mail has been read, perhaps, long before they'd even sent it to other people?
COHEN: That's correct, because it's picking it up at a hub that the ISP has, so there is no way for the individual to know that their e-mail has been read. Also, when the FBI does this, it requires the ISPs not to talk about it. They are under court order not to speak about it. So there is probably a fair amount of this going on. We may all be affected and just not know about it.
BLITZER: There's -- well, there's Carnivore. There is also Echelon. Tell our viewers what Echelon is.
COHEN: Sure. Echelon is like Carnivore, but it's -- it's overseas. It's run by the National Security Agency. Very top secret. We believe that the Brits, the Canadians, other countries are in on this with us.
It allows the NSA to read e-mail but also to collect cell phone information, faxes, other communications -- and the constraints on the NSA are even less than they are on the FBI because it's overseas activity, not protected by the Constitution. BLITZER: The NSA being the National Security Agency, which does this electronic intercepting as all of us -- all of us of course know.
The legislation that the president signed into law the other day giving the Justice Department, the FBI all this new authority to go in and take a look at e-mail -- has this specifically enhanced their -- law enforcement authority's ability to us this weapon in searching for terrorists?
COHEN: It has given them more authority in a variety of areas, including making it easier to intercept cell phone communications that people may make on a variety of different. But in fact it didn't go as far as the civil liberties community was concerned at the -- at the start.
Right after September 11th, there were some very radical calls for clamping down on privacy in a lot of areas. There were senators who were speaking out in favor of prohibiting the use of anonymizers, which is how you can send anonymous e-mail or search the web anonymously. There were attempts to try to make it harder to encrypt e-mail, which is something that we, you know, all have the right to do. Those things were not included in the final terrorism legislation.
BLITZER: So the big concern right now is what? That these law enforcement authorities, searching for terrorists, are going to read your e-mail or my e-mail or private individuals' e-mail inappropriately?
COHEN: That's correct. And if they follow letter of law, it shouldn't be so big a concern, because the kind of court order that they normally get -- at least to use Carnivore -- does limit them to looking at the to and from lines on an e-mail, so they can see who is sending an e-mail to who. They should not be able to look at the content under that court order.
But civil liberties groups that I have talked to said that they are just not -- they're not secure in feeling that the FBI is being that careful, that they're being that surgical.
They worry that once they hook up this Carnivore to the ISP line, they can actually look at anything they want and get into the content. We basically have to take FBI's word on this.
BLITZER: All right. Adam Cohen. I guess if you're smart you are going to be careful what you put in your e-mail if you are a terrorist out there. I just assume that. But thanks for joining us.
COHEN: Sure.
BLITZER: And have a laugh or two at my expense. First, some other stories making today's newswire.
Hurricane Michelle is moving across the Bahamas after battering Cuba overnight. The movement over land also weakened Michelle to Category One strength. It had been a Category Four before the storm hit Cuba. Authorities there evacuated more than 600,000 people from low-lying areas, but Michelle is still blamed for five deaths in that country.
Phoenix is planning a parade on Wednesday to honor the Arizona Diamondbacks. They certainly do deserve it, winning the World Series in only their fourth year of existence. They beat the New York Yankees of course last night, 3-2, in an amazing game.
The third time was the charm for television's Emmy Awards. The ceremony was twice delayed following the events of September 11th and the start of the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan. But the Emmys finally got on the air last night, amid tight security and a very patriotic theme.
Moviegoers got their first taste of the latest "Star Wars" epic over the weekend, even though the film itself is months away from release. CNN's Paul Vercammen explains the hoopla and the hype behind the trailer for "Star Wars: Episode Two."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The menacing respiration of Darth Vader fills a new trailer to "Star Wars: Episode Two." In the midst of Harry Potter mania, fans are getting their first glimpse at "Attack of the Clones."
The snapshots hint at the continuing metamorphosis of Annikin Skywalker into Lord Vader. Newcomer Hayden Christensen is the teenage Annikin.
HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN, ACTOR: It's interesting, you know, playing a character who also makes a pretty miraculous transformation, unfortunately to the dark side.
VERCAMMEN: George Lucas struck deal an unusual deal with Pixar to pair the trailer with Monsters Inc., an arrangement that paid off when the animated movie opened to huge business; a shrewd move. But Lucas claims to be taking a more relaxed approach to promoting episode two.
GEORGE LUCAS, DIRECTOR: We managed to keep the first film under wraps pretty well. But then on this one we kind of just decided to let it go and let fans do whatever they wanted, so we are much more open now.
VERCAMMEN: The first trailer may be finished, but "Attack of the Clones" itself is very much a work in progress.
LUCAS: We're doing extremely well. We're finished shooting, we're doing the animation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're about to go back to London and do some pickup shots on "Star Wars."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, great.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're still working on it. We want to make it good.
VERCAMMEN: But what about that title? Many Star Wars fans still don't like it. Costar Ewan MacGregor, who returns as Obi Wan Kenobi, giggled when he first found out.
EWAN MACGREGOR, ACTOR: I just heard the new "Star Wars" film is called "Attack of the Clones."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
MACGREGOR: Yes. Is that better than "Phantom Menace?" I don't know.
VERCAMMEN: Episode two hits theaters in May of 2002. Paul Vercammen, CNN Entertainment News, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Are we ready to laugh at ourselves? Apparently so, as you know if you watched "Saturday Night Live" poking fun at the media's coverage of the anthrax scare, as well as some other targets closer to home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh oh. Hold on to your hats, folks. In perhaps the biggest surprise of the night, CBS News now projecting that down at CNN, anchor Wolf Blitzer has both anthrax and rabies. Details are sketchy at this time, but apparently the highly-regarded newsman was bitten by a squirrel caught in his the attic vent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: To calm everyone's fears, there are no squirrels in my attic. I do not have rabies, nor do I have anthrax. And I of course had no idea I had this kind of effect on people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't be any more alert than I already am. OK. I'm opening my mail with salad tongs, I take my passport in the shower with me. OK? I'm watch so much CNN I'm having sex dreams about Wolf Blitzer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: I have nothing to say about that. But I'll be back in one hour with more coverage, including our free-wheeling "War Room" exchange with three former top officials who've advised presidents. Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. CNN's coverage of America's new war continues with "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE," which begins right now.
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