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CNN Live Today
Tomorrow, International Spy Museum Opens in Washington
Aired July 18, 2002 - 10:34 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Remember all of those cool gadgets that agents used in TV shows like "Get Smart" and "I Spy?" Well, tomorrow, you'll be able to see the real ones, when the International Spy Museum opens in Washington.
CNN's national security correspondent David Ensor joins us now with a sneak peak -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Leon, I'm standing in the middle of the International Spy Museum, in front of an Aston Martin DB-5, which is the type of car that was used by James Bond in the 1964 movie "Gold Finger." This is not just about facts, the history of espionage, but also about the Hollywood version.
I have got with me executive director Peter Earnest, who had long, distinguished career at the Central Intelligence Agency, and then decided to become head of this museum.
Why fact and fiction mixed?
PETER EARNEST, EXEC. DIR., SPY MUSEUM: I think it's important. If you're going to read about intelligence or look at movies about it, a lot of that is fiction, isn't it? So let's show them some of the reality. But we do here take about 5 percent of museum and cover pop culture, how it looks in Hollywood, in the movies, in the novel, and this is part of that.
ENSOR: If we can role the tape is what it looks like here in the museum when car goes through its paces. You can see, the license plate changes. There's a way of getting rid of cars coming up alongside of you. And there is also a way of stopping people from getting at you with bullets from behind. And there is also a way of getting rid of people in front of you.
Now, Peter, we've also got a lot of very interesting artifacts from the history of espionage. If we can look over now at the display case just across the way.
EARNEST: That's a tobacco pipe pistol that the British made before. It's made by the British and used by the British SOE, equivalent of the OSS in WWII. It was defensive weapon. That actually looks like a pipe, smokes like a pipe, but contains a pistol.
OVER: Panning over, we have some other weapons of not mass destruction, but this stuff can kill. Flashlight?
EARNEST: This stuff can kill and has killed. If you look just to the left of the flashlight here, you've got a weapon that killed at least two dissident that we know of. Soviet Union and East European allies very hard on dissidents. That sets off a cyanide gas. The victim inhales it, and death is pretty instantaneous.
ENSOR: And down at the bottom, the famous umbrella, tells about that.
EARNEST: That was used in London in 1978 to kill yet another dissident, Geredy Markof (ph). Fortunately, he lived long enough to be able to describe his attackers, and they able to identify who it was and the weapon that was used to kill him.
ENSOR: How does an umbrella kill him?
EARNEST: It actually fired a small pellet from the bottom, which then entered his leg and caused death.
ENSOR: What are you hoping to achieve with this museum?
EARNEST: We're hoping people will come here, go through this immersive experience, and have a greater sense of the pervasiveness of intelligence, espionage and spies since the beginning of history and all around the world.
ENSOR: But the Cold War is over.
EARNEST: Right, the Cold War was one war. Intelligence has been used in all wars. You go back to Greek and ancient times, back to writings of Sun Tsu. And I don't know what our next war will be, but you can bet it's going to involve a lot of intelligence.
ENSOR: And the war on terrorism is also involving a lot of intelligence. That's what I cover for CNN, and it's a pleasure and a privilege to see some of the history here at the International Spy Museum. It's probably going to become a rather major attraction here in Washington -- Leon.
HARRIS: But, you know, David, the main thing I want to know is, have you been inside the car. Will he let you in?
EARNEST: No. I have not been allowed inside the car. I might ask, though. I'll see what they think.
HARRIS: You work on that for next hour. We'll check back with you next hour. David at the International Spy Museum in Washington.
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