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CNN Live Today

Anthrax Probe Has Led FBI Back to American Media Building

Aired August 26, 2002 - 12:05   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Today, the anthrax probe has led the FBI back to the American Media Building in Boca Raton, Florida. Agents are once again searching for clues in that first deadly case of anthrax.
CNN's Mark Potter joins us with the latest.

Hi, Mark.

MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. A short while ago, the FBI completed a news conference in which they announced that indeed they will be taking over the AMI building here in Boca Raton, where the anthrax attacks began. They say they are going back in to search once again for anthrax in furtherance of their criminal investigation. This has nothing to do with health concerns, a search related to health. This is purely in furtherance of the criminal case, and the reason for the new search, they say, is in the months since the original search, they have developed new technologies for searching, and cataloging and analyzing large amounts of anthrax, and they want to use that technology once again as they try to search for the person responsible for the anthrax attacks.

And FBI lab supervisors said there are four specific reasons for being back inside that building.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DWIGHT ADAMS, FBI: One, we hope to do a very comprehensive detailed assessment of the spore contamination throughout the entire building. Number two, a very detailed assessment with regard to the mailroom in particular. Both of these efforts are to generate new leads in the criminal investigation. Number three, we're looking for a dissemination device, such as a letter or letters, again to generate new leads for the investigation, and then finally, we're looking for large quantities of spores, in order to chemically characterize those spores and compare them against the spores found in the Senator Leahy and Daschle letters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POTTER: The FBI says that although it will be taking over the AMI building today, it agents probably will not begin going through the building until Tuesday or Wednesday. They have to set up the premises, seal it off, and that could take a little bit of time, and they will be assisted in this by officials from the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Also people from the agency for toxic substances and disease registry. Now the Florida Secretary of health says that this can all be done safely, and he assured the public there would be no danger to them from reopening the building, a point underscored by the Boca Raton mayor and the police chief. The AMI company is cooperating fully with the FBI on this, and a point made by the FBI is that this has nothing to do, this search, has nothing to do specifically with the controversy over Dr. Steven Hatfill.

We were told that this was underway for quite some time. The plan for this, and that this is another look at the building in furtherance of the criminal case, which covers not just Florida, but also the cases in the northeast.

Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: Mark, since the building has been closed down, where did the business actually move to, and the employees? Did they all stay within the company? Did they keep working someplace else?

POTTER: Yes, they moved across the street. That building is sealed off. In fact, somebody said that inside, it's like the twilight zone, much as they left it, with coffee cups, and fish tanks and everything, the way it was when they fled from the building. Now, they're across the street, they're publishing their newspapers at other facilities, they're still in business, they're going strong, but they have not gone back in the building. The big question is, what happens to that building, ultimately? And there is talk -- at least there's an effort down here to get Washington to buy it.

PHILLIPS: That would be interesting. All right, Mark Potter, thank you so much.

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