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CNN Live Today
FBI to Resume Anthrax Investigation in Florida
Aired August 26, 2002 - 11:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now, the ongoing anthrax investigation. The FBI plans to take another look inside the Florida media company that was hit first in last fall's anthrax attacks.
Our Mark Potter joins us now this morning from Boca Raton, Florida.
And Mark, was there at a press conference the FBI was hosting just a few moments ago -- Mark.
MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Leon, as you said, just a short while ago at a news conference, the FBI announced that it is going to, once again, take over the AMI building here in Boca Raton, where the anthrax attacks first occurred in this country. They are searching once again for anthrax throughout the building. They say that theyre going to be in there for a couple of weeks. This is in furtherance of the criminal investigation; this has nothing to do with health concerns this time. They are only going in because of the criminal investigation.
And they say the reason for the search this time is that since October, when this first erupted here in Boca Raton, they have learned new technology, they have developed new abilities to personalize and to search for large amounts of anthrax, and they want to apply that knowledge this time in a new search to try to help find, for sure, who it is who was responsible for this attack and perhaps other attacks in the northeast.
An FBI lab supervisor said that there are four reasons the FBI wants to go back in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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 mail room, in particular. Both of these efforts are to generate new leads in the criminal investigation. Number three, we are looking for a dissemination device, such as a letter or letters, again, to generate new leads for the investigation, and then finally, we are 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: Now, the FBI says that even though it will be taking over the building today, there will be some period of assessment that will be needed. And they probably won't be going in until Tuesday or Wednesday to begin the actual search. The Secretary of Health for the State of Florida says that the public does not need to be worried about this. There is no health concern. He says that this is being taken care of, that the criminal investigation can be done without concerns for spreading anthrax out into the public. And that was a point that was underscored, also, by the mayor of Boca Raton and by the police chief.
So again, the FBI will be going back into the AMI building, searching once again for anthrax and the patterns of anthrax to see if they can figure out who is responsible for the attack here which led to the death of a photo editor and also a mail room employee became very ill. He came critically close and had to be hospitalized, but he is fine now. One other worker was exposed to anthrax. The FBI supervisor here in Miami says they are still going to find out who is responsible for his murder and that is the reason that they are trying to go -- that they are going back in this week for a search that could take two weeks -- Leon.
HARRIS: Mark Potter, reporting live for us this morning from Boca Raton, Florida -- thanks.
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