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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Biocommand Center Prepared for Defense of U.S. in Case of Bioattack; Bush Offers Exile as Alternative to Saddam, Underlings

Aired January 30, 2003 - 17:00   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.


ANNOUNCER: Now, a special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, a CNN exclusive, live from the government's new Emergency Command Center.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Anthrax, smallpox, plague, they could kill millions. This high tech nerve center called the most modern in the world will play a vital role in bioterror defense.

Last chance to peace a proposal for the president and Saddam Hussein.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Should he choose to leave the country along with along with the other henchmen who have tortured the Iraqi people, we would welcome that of course.

BLITZER: Is Iraq going nuclear? CNN's David Ensor learns of new evidence.

Looking for Laci, her husband shares more details.

SCOTT PETERSON: I know I cut my knuckle that day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On what day?

PETERSON: On Christmas Eve.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Doing what?

BLITZER: And he was abandoned. Jacob's stepfather is in custody. Now his mother is missing. Police fear the worst.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: It's Thursday, January 30, 2003. Welcome to the Biocommand Center here in Washington at the Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Wolf Blitzer.

We're about to show you how this country is prepared to meet the terrifying threat of bioterrorism. It's an exclusive unveiling you're only going to see here. Starting with this room, you'll witness how your life could be saved.

But first, there are major developments in the showdown with Iraq. Can war still be avoided while President Bush warns little time is left? He is still listening, listening to a last minute proposal. For more on this day of diplomacy, let's go live to our Senior White House Correspondent John King -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf, a very busy day for the administration on the Iraq front, selling the administration's policy to Congress, also aggressive diplomacy, coalition building by the president, and the day has included some interesting thoughts from the president on how this crisis might be resolved peacefully.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KING (voice-over): The president for the first time publicly embraced exile as a possible way of resolving the showdown with Iraq.

BUSH: Hopefully, the pressure of the free world will convince Mr. Saddam Hussein to relinquish power and should he choose to leave the country along with a lot of the other henchmen who have tortured the Iraqi people, we would welcome that of course.

KING: But Mr. Bush added exile would not entirely solve the problem.

BUSH: The goal of disarming Iraq still stays the same regardless of who is in charge of the government.

KING: And top Bush envoys told Congress they see no signs that Saddam Hussein is ready to step aside or ready to meet demands that he account for his chemical and biological weapons.

RICHARD ARMITAGE, DEP. SECRETARY OF STATE: I don't see one single sign that he's gotten the message. I don't see one single sign of cooperation.

KING: So, enlisting allies is the president's top priority. This fireside chat in the Oval Office with Italy's prime minister billed by the White House as proof the coalition is growing, despite resistance at the United Nations Security Council from France, Germany, and others.

SILVIO BERLUSCONI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I'm here today to help my friend, President Bush.

KING: The leaders of Italy, Britain, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Poland, Denmark, and the Czech Republic released an open letter voicing solidarity with the White House, saying, "our governments have a common responsibility to face this threat."

The leaders, Britain's Blair and Spain's Asnar among them also echoed Mr. Bush in warning, "the Security Council will lose its credibility if it does not challenge Iraq's defiance of disarmament demands." TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It is a test of the seriousness with which we are treating this issue of weapons of mass destruction.

KING: Saudi Arabia's foreign minister made an urgent visit to the White House, urging more time for diplomacy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: Now, Saudi Arabia among the countries, among the Arab countries pushing Saddam Hussein, trying to persuade him to step down, officials telling us that that subject, exile, did not come up at least directly in the foreign minister's meeting with President Bush.

And, Wolf, the White House also openly dismissive of a new invitation from Iraq for the top weapons inspectors to return to Baghdad before they next brief the United Nations Security Council. White House officials saying it sounds like Iraq wants to talk instead of taking action, the White House saying there's nothing to negotiate -- Wolf.

BLITZER: John King at the White House, John, thanks very much for that report.

And despite the diplomacy, there's fresh concerns about Iraq's potential for some sort of nuclear capability. Our National Security Correspondent David Ensor has new details on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Iraqis say these are the aluminum tubes they tried to buy tens of thousands more of for use with conventional short range rockets, the Iraqis say, but Bush administration officials insist the tubes may have been for a nuclear weapons program, and now there's more detail from U.S. intelligence officials about why they are so convinced.

First, officials say U.S. intelligence knows high level Iraqi officials took a great interest in this purchase. Second, officials say, they made a major effort for the purchase to be secret. Third, they were willing to pay a very high price, far above the market rate for the tubes.

And finally, officials say, they specified a precise size in millimeters that would have been perfect for centrifuges used to enrich uranium in order to make a nuclear bomb.

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY.: The preponderance of evidence is that Iraq attempted to procure high strength aluminum tubes for uranium enrichment. We stand by that statement.

ENSOR: President Bush raised the issue of the aluminum tubes in his State of the Union address, even though just the day before the U.N.'s top nuclear arms inspector had said the International Atomic Energy Agency is inclined to believe the Iraqi version on this one. MOHAMED ELBARADEI, IAEA DIRECTOR GENERAL: It appears that aluminum tubes would be consistent with the purpose stated by Iraq and unless modified would not be suitable for manufacturing centrifuges.

ENSOR: A former nuclear inspector says in fact with some cutting down to size, they could be used.

DAVID ALBRIGHT, FORMER NUCLEAR INSPECTOR: The aluminum tubes could be used in a centrifuge, a very old style centrifuge, and you can't exclude that possibility.

ENSOR: But Albright says he too believes the tubes were meant for rockets, not bombs.

ALBRIGHT: I'm skeptical that these tubes are for centrifuges because Iraq can do much better. It doesn't need these -- this kind of simple material. It can use much more advanced material, materials that in fact it was using to make centrifuges and is comfortable with.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: Some in Congress who have seen the intelligence evidence are also skeptical but U.S. intelligence officials are sticking to their guns. Based on the evidence they have, they insist the tubes could, could have been intended for use making bombs -- Wolf.

BLITZER: David Ensor, thanks for that report.

And there's another major development now breaking at the United Nations. Our Richard Roth is standing by. He has some exclusive information -- Richard.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Iraq has again invited Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei, the lead international weapons inspectors on Iraq, to come back to Baghdad by February 10. Hans Blix has not received this invitation yet. He would review it with ElBaradei but the timing is interesting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: It is evident that the interest on their part is that we should have some input from their side before we go with our report to the Security Council.

ROTH: You said before what you want to hear, but what would you want to hear from them if you do go back? What do they need to do?

BLIX: What we have said we need all the time is presentation of more evidence that they must be taking, take the questions seriously which were posed in the reports with which they are familiar and we would like to have responses to those questions.

ROTH: Have they changed their views on anything since your report, scientist interviews, U-2 reconnaissance flights? Have they compromised in any way?

BLIX: Not yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei were going to listen to Colin Powell on February 5, changing their plans to go to Germany. They haven't thus decided whether they're going to go to Iraq because they need the invitation first, but it's all the checkmate continuing, the chess game.

BLITZER: Richard Roth at the United Nations, Richard, thanks again for that good reporting.

Harsh words today from a human rights hero. The former South African President Nelson Mandela today blasted President Bush's tough stance on Iraq saying this, and I'm quoting: "If there is one country that has committed unspeakable atrocities, it's the United States." Mandela accused the president of wanting to "plunder the world."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NELSON MANDELA, FMR. SOUTH AFRICAN PRES.: All that he wants is Iraqi oil. That is all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: In the Persian Gulf, a U.S. Marine amphibious ready group is on patrol and poised for action. Marines could be delivered deep inland by helicopter or brought onto a beach aboard a hovercraft. The unit also carries its own air support for Harrier jump jets. Live fire drills take place day and night.

Turning now to the threat of bioterrorism, in a "CNN Exclusive," we're coming to you now live from the new Biocommand Center, the Department of Health and Human Services. This is the so-called war room where the federal government would fight any bioterrorism attack against the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): When a major medical emergency happens anyplace in the United States, this is where the federal government will call the shots. This is the first time it's being shown to the public. The Emergency Command Center is often quiet but, at a moments notice, it comes to life if a virus breaks out or a bioterror attack hits.

Remember the West Nile Virus? So far, 263 people have died. Secretary Tommy Thompson has waged his war from this room using these nine 60 inch plasma screens to track the virus, call up the locations of hospitals, and keep track of stockpiles of critical drugs.

Remember the deadly cases of those anthrax-laced letters? The news cameras around Washington may have focused on press conferences.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have submitted 600 samples of mailboxes... BLITZER: But inside this command center, officials could coordinate with everyone from the FBI to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with a multi-screen video wall that stretches seven feet high and 24 feet long.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are several vials, up to 35 vials, of bubonic plague samples.

BLITZER: And remember the case of the missing vials of plague virus at Texas Tech University two weeks ago? This is where contingency plans were made. If there's a bioterror attack, this is where the medical response decisions will be made.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Here's your chance right now to weigh in on this story. Our "Web Question of the Day" is this: is the United States prepared for a bioterror attack? We'll have the results later in this broadcast.

Vote at cnn.com/wolf. While you're there, I'd love to hear from you. Send me your comments. I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also, of course, where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf.

The man in charge of keeping you safe from bioterrorism, Tommy Thompson joins me live when we return. I'll ask him if the United States is indeed prepared for an attack.

Plus, is Scott Peterson raising more questions the more he answers?

And, an abandoned boy and a missing mom, why police are concerned about her safety, but first today's "News Quiz."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER (voice-over): Which country has the largest stockpile of chemical and biological weapons? United States, China, Russia, Iraq? The answer coming up?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're back now at the new Bioterror Command Center, here at the Department of Health and Human Services. Joining me now live is the Secretary Tommy Thompson. Mr. Secretary, thanks for showing us this command center.

Tell us what we're seeing. I want to go through some of these panels because God forbid there's a bioterrorism attack, you'll be in this room monitoring what's going on. For example, what are we seeing here?

TOMMY THOMPSON, HHS SECRETARY: That is correct. Here is Buffalo, New York, and I know that's where you grew up. We're predicting here, projecting here a train derailment. This is an example of chlorine gas release. This is the -- the plume is developing over 15 minutes, 45 minutes, and over an hour and a half.

And while we're doing this, we have the mayor of Buffalo on. This has got to be the evacuation area. These are the hospitals in the area, which we would have to evacuate and take care of the people and get them to different hospitals.

BLITZER: Anyone in this area would be in danger from Lake Erie all the way out to the Buffalo Airport?

THOMPSON: Out to the airport if that was -- if that really happened. This is an example and we would have people up there that would take care of them, medical doctors, nurses, and so on. We would also be able to take care of the people in the hospital to make sure that they are moved properly and safely. And then, of course, we could have the FBI, the CDC, the NIH, the president, the mayor, and the governor all on these interactive television screens.

BLITZER: Now, let's look at this next screen because yesterday we saw this huge pharmaceutical explosion at a plant in North Carolina, and this was actually what you were doing here.

THOMPSON: This is absolutely true. We were able to check out how the plume developed and how the fire started and so on, and we were all able to move people to the hospitals around the area and make sure that they were well protected and be able to develop a message as well as a plan of response.

And that's what this command center allows us to do, be able to respond to any kind of a bioterrorism attack, any kind of a chemical outburst, any kind of a fire or a kind of a weather hazard, whether it be a typhoon or a hurricane or a tornado. We're able to respond.

BLITZER: And you have secure videoconferencing with all agencies in the federal government. Let's move over to the next panel. Tell our viewers what we're seeing here.

THOMPSON: Now, this is the CDC. Now they're in Atlanta right now and they're watching.

BLITZER: That's the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

THOMPSON: And they have a control center just like we do here, so we can get as much up to date information from them and we can give it back and so on.

After the anthrax, we never had a real central location in which we could disseminate the information, have the information come in, and be able to develop a responsive plan.

Now, with this command center we're able to do that. We're able to martial all of our assets, get our resources ready to go into a particular area, help the people, whether it be an infectious disease, whether it be a biological attack, a chemical attack, a radiological attack. We can -- we can...

BLITZER: And you can talk to anyone on these lines, the White House, the Pentagon, anyplace else.

THOMPSON: We have ten interactive screens which we can talk to the FBI, the White House, the governor, the mayor, CDC, NIH.

BLITZER: This is your baby because you were frustrated after those anthrax attacks. Tell our viewers why.

THOMPSON: Absolutely. We never had a way to really respond, get the information out to the people, be able to disseminate a plan, and this gives me the capabilities of having all the information come in here centrally and be able to develop a way in which we can respond quickly, effectively, and be able to save as many lives as we possibly could, be able to protect the citizens. That's our utmost mission here at this center.

BLITZER: All right, Mr. Secretary stand by because we have some more details we want to go through.

THOMPSON: OK.

BLITZER: We have to take a quick break. We want our viewers to know, our web question of the day is this, and go to our website, cnn.com/wolf. You can vote. Is the United States prepared for a bioterror attack?

We'll start bringing the results of your opinions to the secretary and his aides, a lot more coming from here. Tommy Thompson, the secretary, will continue to stay with us on our special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

We're also monitoring other developments right now, including this. Where is the mother of a boy abandoned in Utah? We'll have the latest on that investigation.

And up in flames after a plunge, but first let's take a look at some other news making "Headlines Around the World."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Getting out. Thais are being evacuated from Cambodia following yesterday's mob attack that destroyed Thailand's embassy in Phnom Pen. Rioters set the embassy ablaze to protest alleged anti-Cambodian remarks by a Thai actress. Once again today the actress denied ever making those comments.

More flames. wildfires continue to plague Australia. At least seven home have been gutted by the latest fires, and at least ten villages have been evacuated.

Without warning. A landslide in Indonesia's West Java Province has killed at least 22 people and 25 others are still missing. The avalanche hit two villages in the middle of the night while people were asleep.

After 60 days, the general strike in Venezuela may be losing momentum. Many stores are reopening. The National Banking Council plans to return to normal hours Monday, and even the hard hit oil industry appears to be making a slow recovery.

The moon's the limit. Lunar New Year celebrations are underway in China. The Year of the Goat doesn't begin officially until Saturday, but festivities already are underway in Beijing. Millions of Chinese are heading home to share the holiday with loved ones.

And that's our look "Around the World."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to our special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. I'm live here from the new Bio Command Center at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington.

More of our conversation with the Secretary Tommy Thompson in just a moment, but first lessons learned from the anthrax attacks of 2001. Here's CNN's Jeanne Meserve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Five anthrax deaths let Americans know that something theoretical could actually happen.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIR., NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INFECTOUS DISEASES: The important thing that has now really sunk in is that bioterrorism is a real threat.

MESERVE: A real threat that in the autumn of 2001 the country was not ready to cope with.

THOMPSON: It appears that it's an isolated case.

MESERVE: In the confusing first days, government officials put out what turned out to be bad information. That taught a big lesson.

JEROME HAUER, ASST. SECY. FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PREPAREDNESS: We have to get information out quickly. We have to get it out accurately and we have to tell the public what we don't know.

MESERVE: When the country's laboratories were swamped with thousands of samples of suspected anthrax, the decaying state of the nation's public health infrastructure was laid bare.

As a result, more than a billion dollars was pumped into the system. In a recent survey, 84 percent of counties said they were better prepared for a biological attack, but only three percent said they were fully prepared.

Laboratory security also became an issue when the FBI tried to track where the anthrax might have come from.

JOHN PARACHINI, RAND CORP BIOTERRORISM EXPERT: Procedures that have been followed in the past of the absent minded professor not keeping careful track of the vials that were in his or her laboratory refrigerator that needs to end.

MESERVE: The research community learned things that textbooks didn't teach, that anthrax could aerosolize and disperse widely, that early use of antibiotics could prevent death.

But the attacks made doctors realize they needed to educate themselves about a range of potential bioweapons and made hospitals face the fact that they needed to do more planning. Have they done enough?

HAUER: No. I think they have some work to do. I don't think there's any question that we have to continue pushing to grow the surge capacity so that if we have 5,000 or 10,000 casualties a region can handle it.

MESERVE: Some experts say we could learn other important lessons if we could learn who sent the anthrax.

PARACHINI: We've now been working this investigation for almost 18 months and we still don't have a perpetrator.

MESERVE (on camera): Though everyone acknowledges there is more to be done, bioweapons preparedness has come a long way, and ironically the anthrax attacks are one reason why. Jeanne Meserve CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And we're back with the Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson. Let's follow-up on Jeanne's report for us just for a brief second, the anthrax attacks, any progress at all in determining who was responsible for killing those five people?

THOMPSON: The FBI is doing a thorough investigation but so far they've not had the breakthrough that they're looking for. They're trying to compile the evidence but so far they haven't been able to make any arrests. We're hoping every day that they're going to be able to have that breakthrough but so far they haven't been able to.

BLITZER: We got some immediate results from our web question of the day, is the American -- are the American people responding, do they think that the federal government is doing a good job responding in the potential area of bioterrorism?

Look at this 11 percent say yes, 89 percent so far, this is not a scientific poll, 89 percent don't think the U.S. is yet ready to deal with bioterrorism.

THOMPSON: Well, I hope after we get done with this interview they'll feel much more comfortable.

BLITZER: Well, tell us why. For example, tell us what this is.

THOMPSON: We have the country broken into ten regions and we have over 7,000 medical teams, veterinarian teams, mortuary teams, to be able to deploy them to any community in America within five, six, seven hours, and we have this map here. We have 7,000 to 8,000 people divided up in those teams.

Then, of course, we have this here. We have 50 tons of medical supplies and equipment, over 600 tons totally, but in 12 strategic locations. I can call up into a particular area and have delivered 50 tons of medical supplies, antibiotics, anecdotes, medical equipment, masks and so on to any city in America within seven hours, and we're able to do that from this command headquarters, which really helps.

And then, of course, here we have the hospitals. We have all the hospitals listed. We have the capacity they have and we can determine in a particular area where we would have to send individuals that may be afflicted with an infection, smallpox virus, a bioterrorism or so on. And these are the hospitals and we can find out, you know, if they're filled up and where we should send an overflow or so on.

BLITZER: These smallpox vaccines that you've started giving, a lot of people are reluctant, nervous about it. You understand why?

THOMPSON: Well, because there's no compensation for it. The Nurses Association, the Service Employees Union, have indicated that they don't want their members to have it until there's some compensation. We're working on that and hopefully we'll have a very good response.

BLITZER: Is this money well spent, the notion of a smallpox attack? How remote is that?

THOMPSON: Well, it is remote but we want to be prepared and that's what we want to make Americans feel comfortable about that we're getting America prepared for a biological, a smallpox, any kind of an attack.

We can respond and that's what his headquarters was set up to do, to be able to allow us to respond very effectively with the kind of information necessary.

This one here is also -- this here is a food poison. This is an example of how fast we can react. Here's a food poison in which people have been affected in Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, Seattle, Miami...

BLITZER: Like E. coli or something?

THOMPSON: E. coli or any kind of pathogen in the food or water and we have been able to determine through our research and our technology at the Food and Drug Administration that it all came from a farm in Yuma, Arizona.

BLITZER: And so you're moving quickly on that?

THOMPSON: So we can attract that and be able to get down there, be able to control it, and be able to limit the kind of spread. And so this just shows you the technology and the example of how fast we can move.

BLITZER: You're moving up into the new century. Mr. Secretary, we have to leave it right there but we have a lot more to talk about.

THOMPSON: Thank you.

BLITZER: Some of your top aides are going to be with us later this hour.

THOMPSON: Thank you.

BLITZER: We're going to continue this conversation.

THOMPSON: Thank you for coming.

BLITZER: We're also going to find out how vulnerable all of us might be to smallpox. Tommy Thompson, always good to talk to you, thanks. Good luck to you.

THOMPSON: Thank you very much. Thank you.

BLITZER: We have a lot more news coming up, including some other headlines. A plunge, a plunge off a freeway ends in a fireball. Look at these pictures.

Also, what's on his hand? Scott Peterson offers an explanation.

And, he was allegedly abandoned by his stepfather. Now his mother is nowhere to be found. We'll have the latest in the investigation, all that plus more from the Biocommand Center here in Washington. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to this special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. Coming up, Scott Peterson explains why he had blood on his hands the day his wife disappeared. But first, let's look at some other stories making news right now in our CNN "News Alert."

(NEWSBREAK)

BLITZER: In California, the husband of a pregnant woman missing since Christmas Eve is going on a media offensive. CNN's David Mattingly is in Modesto, California, with the latest on the Laci Peterson case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) we apologize, Scott.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Outside the Peterson Modesto home Wednesday, police were called in to keep the peace, after radio deejays began shouting questions at Scott Peterson with a bullhorn. Inside, Peterson, under intense public suspicion, talked to selected local reporters, saying he wanted to turn the focus of the case back to finding his wife Laci.

SCOTT PETERSON, HUSBAND OF MISSING WOMAN: I had nothing to do with Laci's disappearance. Even if you think I did, think about Laci. MATTINGLY: The search for Laci Peterson, the 27-year-old mother- to-be, now in its 38th day. Police have searched the Peterson home and vehicles, as well as Scott's boat and the warehouse he uses for business. What evidence they have collected, a closely guarded secret. But Peterson himself now confirms his blood could be found inside his truck, saying he scraped his hand the day Laci disappeared.

PETERSON: Well, take a look at my hand. You can see cuts here on my knuckles. My scars. I work on farms. I work with machinery. I know I cut my knuckle that day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On what day?

PETERSON: On Christmas Eve.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Doing what?

PETERSON: Reaching in the toolbox of my truck and then into the pocket on the door. I cut open my knuckle. There's blood stain on the door.

MATTINGLY: Modesto police, who have not officially named Peterson as a suspect, releasing only a one-line statement. "We would love to eliminate Scott Peterson from this investigation, and would encourage him to cooperate with us to that end."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: David Mattingly reporting from Modesto, California. David Mattingly, thanks very much for that report.

Major developments, by the way, in the case of that little boy who was abandoned in a Salt Lake City store over the weekend. CNN's Rusty Dornin is following that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After a nationwide search for the man who abandoned 3-year-old Jacob Corpuz in a Salt Lake City department store, police found Lyle Montgomery, the boy's stepfather at home in Reno, Nevada, but Montgomery refused to come to the door.

LT. RON HOLLADAY, RENO POLICE: We want to give person the benefit of the doubt. Certainly he could say that he didn't hear us. There could be any one of a number of things that might have gone wrong to prevent him from either hearing us or acknowledging our presence. So no, he won't be facing any charges regarding not letting us in the house.

DORNIN: A little more than 12 hours after Lyle Montgomery was taken in for questioning, he was treated at a Reno hospital for what police say was a reaction to drugs and alcohol. They also say he's being given a psychiatric evaluation. His attorney says he overdosed.

Still missing is Jeanette Corpuz, Jacob's mother and Montgomery's wife. Montgomery and Corpuz had a history of domestic violence. Montgomery was scheduled to appear this week in court on charges of assault with a deadly weapon against Corpuz. Corpuz has not been seen for at least a week, something investigators find deeply disturbing.

LT. JIM JENSEN, SALT LAKE CITY POLICE: I think it's very important that we find her. The circumstances, as we understand them, cause us great alarm. Concern for her safety. And we're anxiously hoping that we can locate her.

DORNIN: Lyle Montgomery and his wife, Jeanette, worked at this discount store in Reno. Fellow employees says Jeanette Corpuz has not been to work for nearly two weeks.

(on camera): Police here in Salt Lake City plan to take the case of child abandonment against Montgomery to prosecutors, but they say they don't really expect to extradite him here to Utah, because the charges against him in Reno, Nevada, are much more serious.

(voice-over): Jacob Corpuz is still with a foster family in Salt Lake City. He could be released to his biological father, if it's determined it's in the best interests of the little boy.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Salt Lake City, Utah.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Ebola, anthrax, smallpox -- deadly viruses that could devastate our nation. Coming up on this special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, how prepared is the United States for an attack? I'll ask the people responsible.

Plus, a judge throws the book at the wannabe shoe bomber, Richard Reid. Find out why they had to drag him screaming out of the courtroom. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER (voice-over): Earlier we asked -- Which country has the largest stockpile of chemical and biological weapons? The answer, Russia. The United States has the second largest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Welcome back to our special coverage. We're here at the Biocommand -- Bioterror Command Center here at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C. There's been a lot of talk about the possibility of terrorists using smallpox to attack Americans. Our Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been looking into how deadly this disease really is and how quickly it can spread.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: If there's one place in America where you think a smallpox attack could kill a huge number of people, it's right here in New York City. You, see, smallpox is transmitted by person to person contact. In New York City, you simply can't avoid that.

(voice-over): So why doesn't this man, New York City's health commissioner, seem all that concerned?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the one hand it's a terrible disease. On the other hand, we do have an effective vaccine and we would be able to control it if it came back.

GUPTA: And history agrees with him. New York had to deal with smallpox in 1947. An infected tourist returning from Mexico brought it here. The city mobilized and vaccinated over 6 million people. When all was said and done, only 11 people were infected and two people died.

(on camera): Of course, the 1947 case was a natural occurrence and intentional attempt designed to infect as many people as possible could be much more difficult to contain.

(voice-over): And New York is much more complicated today. Thousands of commuters come here every day. Experts think each infected individual could spread smallpox to five other people, and so on, and so son.

The numbers are based, in part, on a Brookings Institute model. Here is a single case of smallpox being introduced into two neighboring, unvaccinated towns. Six weeks later, 11 weeks later.

But Dr. Frieden (ph) remains undaunted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... so that if there were an outbreak, we could rapidly activate and vaccinate.

GUPTA: To be sure, most individuals would not be contagious unless they are very sick. And if they are very sick, they will not likely be out spreading the disease. Additionally, many first responders are choosing to get the vaccine.

(on camera): Are you going to get vaccinated?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I plan to get vaccinated, in all likelihood.

GUPTA (voice-over): So that they might also stem the spread. The vaccine can be effective if given within four days of being exposed to smallpox. Dr. Frieden is convinced they could get it here fast.

(on camera): Can we get it here how fast?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fast.

GUPTA (voice-over): New York, like many cities around the country, is preparing, and preparing again so that these citizens will never ever know the scourge of smallpox. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, the streets of New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Let's check the results so far of our "Web Question of the Day." Is the U.S. prepared for a bioterror attack? We've been posting that on cnn.com/wolf. So far the results, 13 percent of those voting say, yes, the U.S. is prepared; 87 percent so far say that no, the U.S. is not prepared.

Let's speak to four individuals directly responsible in dealing with this threat of bioterrorism. Joining me here from the Bioterror Command Center the commissioner of the Federal Food and Drug Administration, Mark McClellan. Mark, thanks very much.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is with us as well. He's the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Julie Gerberding, she's director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, here in Washington today. And Jerry Hauer is here as well, the assistant secretary for Public Health Policy.

Let me begin with you, Jerry. You brought some equipment with you in the case of a bioterror attack. Show us what you have.

HAUER: Well, most of what we have, and again some of our concerns, Wolf, have been dealing with biological agents like anthrax. And this is an anthrax simulant (ph) that you see in the bottle here. One of the things that we've focused on is making sure we have adequate supplies of antibiotics.

As the secretary said earlier, we have built up millions of doses. We now have 12 million doses of antibiotics. We can treat 12 people for 60 days.

BLITZER: Show us -- what is that...

HAUER: We also not just focus on biological terrorism, but we have to focus on things like radiological and chemical terrorism. So we have been funding states and local governments to ensure they have the right equipment, whether it's a chemical detector or radiological detector or whether it's the right antidote for dealing with chemical or biological incidents. We have been aggressively getting money out...

BLITZER: To the first responders?

HAUER: ... to the medical community, to the first responders...

BLITZER: Let me bring in Dr. Gerberding of the CDC. A lot of people are nervous about getting these smallpox vaccines right now. You decided to go ahead and do it, at least for the first responders. What's the reaction so far?

DR. JULIE GERBERDING, CDC DIRECTOR: Well so far we're just getting the program up and running but we had requests for 2,000 doses from the states. So the program is getting started and we're confident we're going to be able to get the kind protection we need, so that if we did have an attack, we could protect the American people.

BLITZER: How long will it take to protect 250, 280 million Americans if necessary?

GERBERDING: Well, every state has submitted to us a plan that would indicate how they could vaccinate their population in a very short period of time. We've looked at those plans, we've approved those plans and now we're getting into the stage where we're immunizing with the smallpox vaccine to get protectors ready to go, the vaccinators and the first line of defense so we'll have the confidence we need to be able to do the job, if we had to.

BLITZER: Doctor Fauci, nobody knows more about infectious diseases than you do. What's your worst case scenario? Your worst nightmare, your fear?

FAUCI: Well the worst case scenario is to have a massive bioterrorist attack with (UNINTELLIGIBLE) number of microbes. It could be, for example, smallpox, which we're hearing a lot about right now. It could also be something like botulism toxin or it could be another anthrax attack but only on a much larger scale than what we saw a year ago last fall.

We need to prepare against all of these contingencies. We need to have what we call counter measures in the form of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines. That's what we at the NIH's part of the Department of Health and Human Service team work on, the research endeavors that bring you from the concept of how we can prepare up through and including delivering for the American public a product that can be used to protect them.

BLITZER: Mark McClellan, you have enough drugs available to protect all Americans?

MARK MCCLELLAN, FDA COMMISSIONER: We have been making a lot of progress and getting more treatments available. But we think we need to do more. The FDA is taking steps to develop drugs more quickly through animal testing and other kinds of models.

In addition, we support the president's proposal in his State of the Union address for Project Bioshield, which will provide unprecedented financial incentives to develop valuable new treatments and way to make sure that the FDA can get those treatments available to people that need them.

BLITZER: I think it's fair -- all of us agree, we're a lot better prepared as a country today than we were a year and a half ago. But if you were -- I am going to go through all of you and ask this question that we're asking our viewers right now, is the U.S. prepared to deal with the threat of bioterrorism? Yes or no. If you were voting on our Web site what would you say?

MCCLELLAN: I wouldn't say yes or no. We're doing a lot and we need to do more... BLITZER: Dr. Fauci, he's ducking the question.

FAUCI: No, he's not. We can never be totally 100 percent prepared. But we're making extraordinary progress over the past year.

BLITZER: Not ready yet. What about that Dr. Gerberding?

GERBERDING: I'm going to say yes because I think preparedness is a process.

BLITZER: So you think we're ready?

GERBERDING: I'm saying we're in the process and taking steps on it on a day to day basis.

BLITZER: Jerry Hauer?

HAUER: No, I think we're -- I agree with Julie. I think we are better prepared than we have ever been in this country. We have some things we have to do to continue to get prepared. But I don't think anybody would ever sit here, stand here and say we're 100 percent prepared. You never get to -- preparedness is an on going process and we continue to work that through.

BLITZER: All right. Let's hope one of these days we'll 100 percent prepared. That's what we have to strive for. Thanks very much to all of you for joining us.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Appreciate it very much.

We have is a lot more news coming up, including the sentencing of the wannabee shoe bomber, Richard Reid gets his justice. We'll have a live report from Boston when we come back.

Plus, other news as well. And continue to vote, by the way, on our Web site, cnn.com/wolf. Is the U.S. prepared for a bioterror attack? We'll have additional results, later this hour. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: There was a sentencing hearing in Boston today for Richard Reid, the al Qaeda disciple who's admitted to trying to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner with a shoe bomb. CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena's standing by in Boston with details -- Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Richard Reid not a happy man when he left the courtroom. He literally had to be wrestled out by at least half a dozen very heavily armed federal marshals. In his statement before he was sentenced, he said, "I am at war with your country, not for personal reasons but because the U.S. has killed so many innocents."

But there was no remorse, Wolf. There were no apologies. It was after that statement that the judge sentenced him to life in prison with no parole, plus 110 years. We heard from prosecutors after the hearing. Here is a little bit of what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SULLIVAN, U.S. ATTORNEY: Reid will now spend the rest of his life in prison, unable to fulfill his delusional quest to destroy democracy in the United States of America in the name of religion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: There was unbelievable drama in the courtroom, Wolf. Reid referred to himself as a soldier; the judge bluntly telling him, "you are not a soldier, you are a terrorist. The United States does not negotiate with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one, and we bring them to justice."

Now, all of this took place in front of passengers and crew members from that American Airlines flight that Richard Reid tried to take down, tried to blow up. They stood there, sometimes in shock, mouths open during his statement, and other times they broke out crying when they heard what he had to say, when they heard the judge's sentence. Really an emotional day, Wolf.

BLITZER: Kelli Arena in Boston with the report live. Thanks, Kelli, very much for that report.

And time's running out for your turn to weigh in on our Web question of the day. Is the United States prepared for a bioterror attack? Log on to cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results immediately when this special edition or our program continues. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Our picture of the day includes music, soft of.

(MUSIC)

BLITZER: When you're the mayor of a city that's synonymous with gambling, you need to cover your bets. So when Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman lost his Super Bowl bet with local radio personalities, he made good on his wager. He performed the Village People hit "YMCA" on a Las Vegas street corner, providing his constituents with a good laugh, and us with our picture of the day. He's a good sport.

Now here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day. Remember, we've been asking you all this hour, is the United States prepared for a bioterror attack? Look at this -- 13 percent of you say yes, 87 percent of you say no. Remember, this is not a scientific poll. You can find the exact vote tally and continue to vote, by the way, on our Web site, cnn.com/wolf. They have a lot of work to do to convince you that the federal government is ready for a bioterror attack.

Time to hear from you, some of our e-mail. We're getting flooded with e-mail. Nick is writing this: "Our president rants and raves about how dangerous Saddam is to us and the world, how he is a mass murderer who tortures and rapes, and now Bush thinks it's just fine to let this guy walk away to some retirement community, as long as he leaves the oil, that is."

But Cathy has a very different opinion: "People seem to think that if by doing nothing we'll be safe. If we do nothing, more people will die. If we do nothing, bin Laden will come after us again and again, and Saddam will continue to amass weapons to take over the region."

That's all the time we have today for our special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. Please join me again tomorrow, 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Among my guests, Michael Savage, the radio talk show host. He is the author of the new number one, "New York Times" best seller, "Savage Nation." Don't forget, "SHOWDOWN: IRAQ" weekdays, noon Eastern.

Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer, at the biocommand center in Washington. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" up next.

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





Bioattack; Bush Offers Exile as Alternative to Saddam, Underlings>


Aired January 30, 2003 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: Now, a special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, a CNN exclusive, live from the government's new Emergency Command Center.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Anthrax, smallpox, plague, they could kill millions. This high tech nerve center called the most modern in the world will play a vital role in bioterror defense.

Last chance to peace a proposal for the president and Saddam Hussein.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Should he choose to leave the country along with along with the other henchmen who have tortured the Iraqi people, we would welcome that of course.

BLITZER: Is Iraq going nuclear? CNN's David Ensor learns of new evidence.

Looking for Laci, her husband shares more details.

SCOTT PETERSON: I know I cut my knuckle that day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On what day?

PETERSON: On Christmas Eve.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Doing what?

BLITZER: And he was abandoned. Jacob's stepfather is in custody. Now his mother is missing. Police fear the worst.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: It's Thursday, January 30, 2003. Welcome to the Biocommand Center here in Washington at the Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Wolf Blitzer.

We're about to show you how this country is prepared to meet the terrifying threat of bioterrorism. It's an exclusive unveiling you're only going to see here. Starting with this room, you'll witness how your life could be saved.

But first, there are major developments in the showdown with Iraq. Can war still be avoided while President Bush warns little time is left? He is still listening, listening to a last minute proposal. For more on this day of diplomacy, let's go live to our Senior White House Correspondent John King -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf, a very busy day for the administration on the Iraq front, selling the administration's policy to Congress, also aggressive diplomacy, coalition building by the president, and the day has included some interesting thoughts from the president on how this crisis might be resolved peacefully.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KING (voice-over): The president for the first time publicly embraced exile as a possible way of resolving the showdown with Iraq.

BUSH: Hopefully, the pressure of the free world will convince Mr. Saddam Hussein to relinquish power and should he choose to leave the country along with a lot of the other henchmen who have tortured the Iraqi people, we would welcome that of course.

KING: But Mr. Bush added exile would not entirely solve the problem.

BUSH: The goal of disarming Iraq still stays the same regardless of who is in charge of the government.

KING: And top Bush envoys told Congress they see no signs that Saddam Hussein is ready to step aside or ready to meet demands that he account for his chemical and biological weapons.

RICHARD ARMITAGE, DEP. SECRETARY OF STATE: I don't see one single sign that he's gotten the message. I don't see one single sign of cooperation.

KING: So, enlisting allies is the president's top priority. This fireside chat in the Oval Office with Italy's prime minister billed by the White House as proof the coalition is growing, despite resistance at the United Nations Security Council from France, Germany, and others.

SILVIO BERLUSCONI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I'm here today to help my friend, President Bush.

KING: The leaders of Italy, Britain, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Poland, Denmark, and the Czech Republic released an open letter voicing solidarity with the White House, saying, "our governments have a common responsibility to face this threat."

The leaders, Britain's Blair and Spain's Asnar among them also echoed Mr. Bush in warning, "the Security Council will lose its credibility if it does not challenge Iraq's defiance of disarmament demands." TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It is a test of the seriousness with which we are treating this issue of weapons of mass destruction.

KING: Saudi Arabia's foreign minister made an urgent visit to the White House, urging more time for diplomacy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: Now, Saudi Arabia among the countries, among the Arab countries pushing Saddam Hussein, trying to persuade him to step down, officials telling us that that subject, exile, did not come up at least directly in the foreign minister's meeting with President Bush.

And, Wolf, the White House also openly dismissive of a new invitation from Iraq for the top weapons inspectors to return to Baghdad before they next brief the United Nations Security Council. White House officials saying it sounds like Iraq wants to talk instead of taking action, the White House saying there's nothing to negotiate -- Wolf.

BLITZER: John King at the White House, John, thanks very much for that report.

And despite the diplomacy, there's fresh concerns about Iraq's potential for some sort of nuclear capability. Our National Security Correspondent David Ensor has new details on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Iraqis say these are the aluminum tubes they tried to buy tens of thousands more of for use with conventional short range rockets, the Iraqis say, but Bush administration officials insist the tubes may have been for a nuclear weapons program, and now there's more detail from U.S. intelligence officials about why they are so convinced.

First, officials say U.S. intelligence knows high level Iraqi officials took a great interest in this purchase. Second, officials say, they made a major effort for the purchase to be secret. Third, they were willing to pay a very high price, far above the market rate for the tubes.

And finally, officials say, they specified a precise size in millimeters that would have been perfect for centrifuges used to enrich uranium in order to make a nuclear bomb.

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY.: The preponderance of evidence is that Iraq attempted to procure high strength aluminum tubes for uranium enrichment. We stand by that statement.

ENSOR: President Bush raised the issue of the aluminum tubes in his State of the Union address, even though just the day before the U.N.'s top nuclear arms inspector had said the International Atomic Energy Agency is inclined to believe the Iraqi version on this one. MOHAMED ELBARADEI, IAEA DIRECTOR GENERAL: It appears that aluminum tubes would be consistent with the purpose stated by Iraq and unless modified would not be suitable for manufacturing centrifuges.

ENSOR: A former nuclear inspector says in fact with some cutting down to size, they could be used.

DAVID ALBRIGHT, FORMER NUCLEAR INSPECTOR: The aluminum tubes could be used in a centrifuge, a very old style centrifuge, and you can't exclude that possibility.

ENSOR: But Albright says he too believes the tubes were meant for rockets, not bombs.

ALBRIGHT: I'm skeptical that these tubes are for centrifuges because Iraq can do much better. It doesn't need these -- this kind of simple material. It can use much more advanced material, materials that in fact it was using to make centrifuges and is comfortable with.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: Some in Congress who have seen the intelligence evidence are also skeptical but U.S. intelligence officials are sticking to their guns. Based on the evidence they have, they insist the tubes could, could have been intended for use making bombs -- Wolf.

BLITZER: David Ensor, thanks for that report.

And there's another major development now breaking at the United Nations. Our Richard Roth is standing by. He has some exclusive information -- Richard.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Iraq has again invited Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei, the lead international weapons inspectors on Iraq, to come back to Baghdad by February 10. Hans Blix has not received this invitation yet. He would review it with ElBaradei but the timing is interesting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: It is evident that the interest on their part is that we should have some input from their side before we go with our report to the Security Council.

ROTH: You said before what you want to hear, but what would you want to hear from them if you do go back? What do they need to do?

BLIX: What we have said we need all the time is presentation of more evidence that they must be taking, take the questions seriously which were posed in the reports with which they are familiar and we would like to have responses to those questions.

ROTH: Have they changed their views on anything since your report, scientist interviews, U-2 reconnaissance flights? Have they compromised in any way?

BLIX: Not yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei were going to listen to Colin Powell on February 5, changing their plans to go to Germany. They haven't thus decided whether they're going to go to Iraq because they need the invitation first, but it's all the checkmate continuing, the chess game.

BLITZER: Richard Roth at the United Nations, Richard, thanks again for that good reporting.

Harsh words today from a human rights hero. The former South African President Nelson Mandela today blasted President Bush's tough stance on Iraq saying this, and I'm quoting: "If there is one country that has committed unspeakable atrocities, it's the United States." Mandela accused the president of wanting to "plunder the world."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NELSON MANDELA, FMR. SOUTH AFRICAN PRES.: All that he wants is Iraqi oil. That is all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: In the Persian Gulf, a U.S. Marine amphibious ready group is on patrol and poised for action. Marines could be delivered deep inland by helicopter or brought onto a beach aboard a hovercraft. The unit also carries its own air support for Harrier jump jets. Live fire drills take place day and night.

Turning now to the threat of bioterrorism, in a "CNN Exclusive," we're coming to you now live from the new Biocommand Center, the Department of Health and Human Services. This is the so-called war room where the federal government would fight any bioterrorism attack against the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): When a major medical emergency happens anyplace in the United States, this is where the federal government will call the shots. This is the first time it's being shown to the public. The Emergency Command Center is often quiet but, at a moments notice, it comes to life if a virus breaks out or a bioterror attack hits.

Remember the West Nile Virus? So far, 263 people have died. Secretary Tommy Thompson has waged his war from this room using these nine 60 inch plasma screens to track the virus, call up the locations of hospitals, and keep track of stockpiles of critical drugs.

Remember the deadly cases of those anthrax-laced letters? The news cameras around Washington may have focused on press conferences.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have submitted 600 samples of mailboxes... BLITZER: But inside this command center, officials could coordinate with everyone from the FBI to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with a multi-screen video wall that stretches seven feet high and 24 feet long.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are several vials, up to 35 vials, of bubonic plague samples.

BLITZER: And remember the case of the missing vials of plague virus at Texas Tech University two weeks ago? This is where contingency plans were made. If there's a bioterror attack, this is where the medical response decisions will be made.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Here's your chance right now to weigh in on this story. Our "Web Question of the Day" is this: is the United States prepared for a bioterror attack? We'll have the results later in this broadcast.

Vote at cnn.com/wolf. While you're there, I'd love to hear from you. Send me your comments. I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also, of course, where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf.

The man in charge of keeping you safe from bioterrorism, Tommy Thompson joins me live when we return. I'll ask him if the United States is indeed prepared for an attack.

Plus, is Scott Peterson raising more questions the more he answers?

And, an abandoned boy and a missing mom, why police are concerned about her safety, but first today's "News Quiz."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER (voice-over): Which country has the largest stockpile of chemical and biological weapons? United States, China, Russia, Iraq? The answer coming up?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're back now at the new Bioterror Command Center, here at the Department of Health and Human Services. Joining me now live is the Secretary Tommy Thompson. Mr. Secretary, thanks for showing us this command center.

Tell us what we're seeing. I want to go through some of these panels because God forbid there's a bioterrorism attack, you'll be in this room monitoring what's going on. For example, what are we seeing here?

TOMMY THOMPSON, HHS SECRETARY: That is correct. Here is Buffalo, New York, and I know that's where you grew up. We're predicting here, projecting here a train derailment. This is an example of chlorine gas release. This is the -- the plume is developing over 15 minutes, 45 minutes, and over an hour and a half.

And while we're doing this, we have the mayor of Buffalo on. This has got to be the evacuation area. These are the hospitals in the area, which we would have to evacuate and take care of the people and get them to different hospitals.

BLITZER: Anyone in this area would be in danger from Lake Erie all the way out to the Buffalo Airport?

THOMPSON: Out to the airport if that was -- if that really happened. This is an example and we would have people up there that would take care of them, medical doctors, nurses, and so on. We would also be able to take care of the people in the hospital to make sure that they are moved properly and safely. And then, of course, we could have the FBI, the CDC, the NIH, the president, the mayor, and the governor all on these interactive television screens.

BLITZER: Now, let's look at this next screen because yesterday we saw this huge pharmaceutical explosion at a plant in North Carolina, and this was actually what you were doing here.

THOMPSON: This is absolutely true. We were able to check out how the plume developed and how the fire started and so on, and we were all able to move people to the hospitals around the area and make sure that they were well protected and be able to develop a message as well as a plan of response.

And that's what this command center allows us to do, be able to respond to any kind of a bioterrorism attack, any kind of a chemical outburst, any kind of a fire or a kind of a weather hazard, whether it be a typhoon or a hurricane or a tornado. We're able to respond.

BLITZER: And you have secure videoconferencing with all agencies in the federal government. Let's move over to the next panel. Tell our viewers what we're seeing here.

THOMPSON: Now, this is the CDC. Now they're in Atlanta right now and they're watching.

BLITZER: That's the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

THOMPSON: And they have a control center just like we do here, so we can get as much up to date information from them and we can give it back and so on.

After the anthrax, we never had a real central location in which we could disseminate the information, have the information come in, and be able to develop a responsive plan.

Now, with this command center we're able to do that. We're able to martial all of our assets, get our resources ready to go into a particular area, help the people, whether it be an infectious disease, whether it be a biological attack, a chemical attack, a radiological attack. We can -- we can...

BLITZER: And you can talk to anyone on these lines, the White House, the Pentagon, anyplace else.

THOMPSON: We have ten interactive screens which we can talk to the FBI, the White House, the governor, the mayor, CDC, NIH.

BLITZER: This is your baby because you were frustrated after those anthrax attacks. Tell our viewers why.

THOMPSON: Absolutely. We never had a way to really respond, get the information out to the people, be able to disseminate a plan, and this gives me the capabilities of having all the information come in here centrally and be able to develop a way in which we can respond quickly, effectively, and be able to save as many lives as we possibly could, be able to protect the citizens. That's our utmost mission here at this center.

BLITZER: All right, Mr. Secretary stand by because we have some more details we want to go through.

THOMPSON: OK.

BLITZER: We have to take a quick break. We want our viewers to know, our web question of the day is this, and go to our website, cnn.com/wolf. You can vote. Is the United States prepared for a bioterror attack?

We'll start bringing the results of your opinions to the secretary and his aides, a lot more coming from here. Tommy Thompson, the secretary, will continue to stay with us on our special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

We're also monitoring other developments right now, including this. Where is the mother of a boy abandoned in Utah? We'll have the latest on that investigation.

And up in flames after a plunge, but first let's take a look at some other news making "Headlines Around the World."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Getting out. Thais are being evacuated from Cambodia following yesterday's mob attack that destroyed Thailand's embassy in Phnom Pen. Rioters set the embassy ablaze to protest alleged anti-Cambodian remarks by a Thai actress. Once again today the actress denied ever making those comments.

More flames. wildfires continue to plague Australia. At least seven home have been gutted by the latest fires, and at least ten villages have been evacuated.

Without warning. A landslide in Indonesia's West Java Province has killed at least 22 people and 25 others are still missing. The avalanche hit two villages in the middle of the night while people were asleep.

After 60 days, the general strike in Venezuela may be losing momentum. Many stores are reopening. The National Banking Council plans to return to normal hours Monday, and even the hard hit oil industry appears to be making a slow recovery.

The moon's the limit. Lunar New Year celebrations are underway in China. The Year of the Goat doesn't begin officially until Saturday, but festivities already are underway in Beijing. Millions of Chinese are heading home to share the holiday with loved ones.

And that's our look "Around the World."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to our special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. I'm live here from the new Bio Command Center at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington.

More of our conversation with the Secretary Tommy Thompson in just a moment, but first lessons learned from the anthrax attacks of 2001. Here's CNN's Jeanne Meserve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Five anthrax deaths let Americans know that something theoretical could actually happen.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIR., NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INFECTOUS DISEASES: The important thing that has now really sunk in is that bioterrorism is a real threat.

MESERVE: A real threat that in the autumn of 2001 the country was not ready to cope with.

THOMPSON: It appears that it's an isolated case.

MESERVE: In the confusing first days, government officials put out what turned out to be bad information. That taught a big lesson.

JEROME HAUER, ASST. SECY. FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PREPAREDNESS: We have to get information out quickly. We have to get it out accurately and we have to tell the public what we don't know.

MESERVE: When the country's laboratories were swamped with thousands of samples of suspected anthrax, the decaying state of the nation's public health infrastructure was laid bare.

As a result, more than a billion dollars was pumped into the system. In a recent survey, 84 percent of counties said they were better prepared for a biological attack, but only three percent said they were fully prepared.

Laboratory security also became an issue when the FBI tried to track where the anthrax might have come from.

JOHN PARACHINI, RAND CORP BIOTERRORISM EXPERT: Procedures that have been followed in the past of the absent minded professor not keeping careful track of the vials that were in his or her laboratory refrigerator that needs to end.

MESERVE: The research community learned things that textbooks didn't teach, that anthrax could aerosolize and disperse widely, that early use of antibiotics could prevent death.

But the attacks made doctors realize they needed to educate themselves about a range of potential bioweapons and made hospitals face the fact that they needed to do more planning. Have they done enough?

HAUER: No. I think they have some work to do. I don't think there's any question that we have to continue pushing to grow the surge capacity so that if we have 5,000 or 10,000 casualties a region can handle it.

MESERVE: Some experts say we could learn other important lessons if we could learn who sent the anthrax.

PARACHINI: We've now been working this investigation for almost 18 months and we still don't have a perpetrator.

MESERVE (on camera): Though everyone acknowledges there is more to be done, bioweapons preparedness has come a long way, and ironically the anthrax attacks are one reason why. Jeanne Meserve CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And we're back with the Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson. Let's follow-up on Jeanne's report for us just for a brief second, the anthrax attacks, any progress at all in determining who was responsible for killing those five people?

THOMPSON: The FBI is doing a thorough investigation but so far they've not had the breakthrough that they're looking for. They're trying to compile the evidence but so far they haven't been able to make any arrests. We're hoping every day that they're going to be able to have that breakthrough but so far they haven't been able to.

BLITZER: We got some immediate results from our web question of the day, is the American -- are the American people responding, do they think that the federal government is doing a good job responding in the potential area of bioterrorism?

Look at this 11 percent say yes, 89 percent so far, this is not a scientific poll, 89 percent don't think the U.S. is yet ready to deal with bioterrorism.

THOMPSON: Well, I hope after we get done with this interview they'll feel much more comfortable.

BLITZER: Well, tell us why. For example, tell us what this is.

THOMPSON: We have the country broken into ten regions and we have over 7,000 medical teams, veterinarian teams, mortuary teams, to be able to deploy them to any community in America within five, six, seven hours, and we have this map here. We have 7,000 to 8,000 people divided up in those teams.

Then, of course, we have this here. We have 50 tons of medical supplies and equipment, over 600 tons totally, but in 12 strategic locations. I can call up into a particular area and have delivered 50 tons of medical supplies, antibiotics, anecdotes, medical equipment, masks and so on to any city in America within seven hours, and we're able to do that from this command headquarters, which really helps.

And then, of course, here we have the hospitals. We have all the hospitals listed. We have the capacity they have and we can determine in a particular area where we would have to send individuals that may be afflicted with an infection, smallpox virus, a bioterrorism or so on. And these are the hospitals and we can find out, you know, if they're filled up and where we should send an overflow or so on.

BLITZER: These smallpox vaccines that you've started giving, a lot of people are reluctant, nervous about it. You understand why?

THOMPSON: Well, because there's no compensation for it. The Nurses Association, the Service Employees Union, have indicated that they don't want their members to have it until there's some compensation. We're working on that and hopefully we'll have a very good response.

BLITZER: Is this money well spent, the notion of a smallpox attack? How remote is that?

THOMPSON: Well, it is remote but we want to be prepared and that's what we want to make Americans feel comfortable about that we're getting America prepared for a biological, a smallpox, any kind of an attack.

We can respond and that's what his headquarters was set up to do, to be able to allow us to respond very effectively with the kind of information necessary.

This one here is also -- this here is a food poison. This is an example of how fast we can react. Here's a food poison in which people have been affected in Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, Seattle, Miami...

BLITZER: Like E. coli or something?

THOMPSON: E. coli or any kind of pathogen in the food or water and we have been able to determine through our research and our technology at the Food and Drug Administration that it all came from a farm in Yuma, Arizona.

BLITZER: And so you're moving quickly on that?

THOMPSON: So we can attract that and be able to get down there, be able to control it, and be able to limit the kind of spread. And so this just shows you the technology and the example of how fast we can move.

BLITZER: You're moving up into the new century. Mr. Secretary, we have to leave it right there but we have a lot more to talk about.

THOMPSON: Thank you.

BLITZER: Some of your top aides are going to be with us later this hour.

THOMPSON: Thank you.

BLITZER: We're going to continue this conversation.

THOMPSON: Thank you for coming.

BLITZER: We're also going to find out how vulnerable all of us might be to smallpox. Tommy Thompson, always good to talk to you, thanks. Good luck to you.

THOMPSON: Thank you very much. Thank you.

BLITZER: We have a lot more news coming up, including some other headlines. A plunge, a plunge off a freeway ends in a fireball. Look at these pictures.

Also, what's on his hand? Scott Peterson offers an explanation.

And, he was allegedly abandoned by his stepfather. Now his mother is nowhere to be found. We'll have the latest in the investigation, all that plus more from the Biocommand Center here in Washington. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to this special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. Coming up, Scott Peterson explains why he had blood on his hands the day his wife disappeared. But first, let's look at some other stories making news right now in our CNN "News Alert."

(NEWSBREAK)

BLITZER: In California, the husband of a pregnant woman missing since Christmas Eve is going on a media offensive. CNN's David Mattingly is in Modesto, California, with the latest on the Laci Peterson case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) we apologize, Scott.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Outside the Peterson Modesto home Wednesday, police were called in to keep the peace, after radio deejays began shouting questions at Scott Peterson with a bullhorn. Inside, Peterson, under intense public suspicion, talked to selected local reporters, saying he wanted to turn the focus of the case back to finding his wife Laci.

SCOTT PETERSON, HUSBAND OF MISSING WOMAN: I had nothing to do with Laci's disappearance. Even if you think I did, think about Laci. MATTINGLY: The search for Laci Peterson, the 27-year-old mother- to-be, now in its 38th day. Police have searched the Peterson home and vehicles, as well as Scott's boat and the warehouse he uses for business. What evidence they have collected, a closely guarded secret. But Peterson himself now confirms his blood could be found inside his truck, saying he scraped his hand the day Laci disappeared.

PETERSON: Well, take a look at my hand. You can see cuts here on my knuckles. My scars. I work on farms. I work with machinery. I know I cut my knuckle that day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On what day?

PETERSON: On Christmas Eve.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Doing what?

PETERSON: Reaching in the toolbox of my truck and then into the pocket on the door. I cut open my knuckle. There's blood stain on the door.

MATTINGLY: Modesto police, who have not officially named Peterson as a suspect, releasing only a one-line statement. "We would love to eliminate Scott Peterson from this investigation, and would encourage him to cooperate with us to that end."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: David Mattingly reporting from Modesto, California. David Mattingly, thanks very much for that report.

Major developments, by the way, in the case of that little boy who was abandoned in a Salt Lake City store over the weekend. CNN's Rusty Dornin is following that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After a nationwide search for the man who abandoned 3-year-old Jacob Corpuz in a Salt Lake City department store, police found Lyle Montgomery, the boy's stepfather at home in Reno, Nevada, but Montgomery refused to come to the door.

LT. RON HOLLADAY, RENO POLICE: We want to give person the benefit of the doubt. Certainly he could say that he didn't hear us. There could be any one of a number of things that might have gone wrong to prevent him from either hearing us or acknowledging our presence. So no, he won't be facing any charges regarding not letting us in the house.

DORNIN: A little more than 12 hours after Lyle Montgomery was taken in for questioning, he was treated at a Reno hospital for what police say was a reaction to drugs and alcohol. They also say he's being given a psychiatric evaluation. His attorney says he overdosed.

Still missing is Jeanette Corpuz, Jacob's mother and Montgomery's wife. Montgomery and Corpuz had a history of domestic violence. Montgomery was scheduled to appear this week in court on charges of assault with a deadly weapon against Corpuz. Corpuz has not been seen for at least a week, something investigators find deeply disturbing.

LT. JIM JENSEN, SALT LAKE CITY POLICE: I think it's very important that we find her. The circumstances, as we understand them, cause us great alarm. Concern for her safety. And we're anxiously hoping that we can locate her.

DORNIN: Lyle Montgomery and his wife, Jeanette, worked at this discount store in Reno. Fellow employees says Jeanette Corpuz has not been to work for nearly two weeks.

(on camera): Police here in Salt Lake City plan to take the case of child abandonment against Montgomery to prosecutors, but they say they don't really expect to extradite him here to Utah, because the charges against him in Reno, Nevada, are much more serious.

(voice-over): Jacob Corpuz is still with a foster family in Salt Lake City. He could be released to his biological father, if it's determined it's in the best interests of the little boy.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Salt Lake City, Utah.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Ebola, anthrax, smallpox -- deadly viruses that could devastate our nation. Coming up on this special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, how prepared is the United States for an attack? I'll ask the people responsible.

Plus, a judge throws the book at the wannabe shoe bomber, Richard Reid. Find out why they had to drag him screaming out of the courtroom. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER (voice-over): Earlier we asked -- Which country has the largest stockpile of chemical and biological weapons? The answer, Russia. The United States has the second largest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Welcome back to our special coverage. We're here at the Biocommand -- Bioterror Command Center here at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C. There's been a lot of talk about the possibility of terrorists using smallpox to attack Americans. Our Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been looking into how deadly this disease really is and how quickly it can spread.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: If there's one place in America where you think a smallpox attack could kill a huge number of people, it's right here in New York City. You, see, smallpox is transmitted by person to person contact. In New York City, you simply can't avoid that.

(voice-over): So why doesn't this man, New York City's health commissioner, seem all that concerned?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the one hand it's a terrible disease. On the other hand, we do have an effective vaccine and we would be able to control it if it came back.

GUPTA: And history agrees with him. New York had to deal with smallpox in 1947. An infected tourist returning from Mexico brought it here. The city mobilized and vaccinated over 6 million people. When all was said and done, only 11 people were infected and two people died.

(on camera): Of course, the 1947 case was a natural occurrence and intentional attempt designed to infect as many people as possible could be much more difficult to contain.

(voice-over): And New York is much more complicated today. Thousands of commuters come here every day. Experts think each infected individual could spread smallpox to five other people, and so on, and so son.

The numbers are based, in part, on a Brookings Institute model. Here is a single case of smallpox being introduced into two neighboring, unvaccinated towns. Six weeks later, 11 weeks later.

But Dr. Frieden (ph) remains undaunted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... so that if there were an outbreak, we could rapidly activate and vaccinate.

GUPTA: To be sure, most individuals would not be contagious unless they are very sick. And if they are very sick, they will not likely be out spreading the disease. Additionally, many first responders are choosing to get the vaccine.

(on camera): Are you going to get vaccinated?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I plan to get vaccinated, in all likelihood.

GUPTA (voice-over): So that they might also stem the spread. The vaccine can be effective if given within four days of being exposed to smallpox. Dr. Frieden is convinced they could get it here fast.

(on camera): Can we get it here how fast?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fast.

GUPTA (voice-over): New York, like many cities around the country, is preparing, and preparing again so that these citizens will never ever know the scourge of smallpox. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, the streets of New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Let's check the results so far of our "Web Question of the Day." Is the U.S. prepared for a bioterror attack? We've been posting that on cnn.com/wolf. So far the results, 13 percent of those voting say, yes, the U.S. is prepared; 87 percent so far say that no, the U.S. is not prepared.

Let's speak to four individuals directly responsible in dealing with this threat of bioterrorism. Joining me here from the Bioterror Command Center the commissioner of the Federal Food and Drug Administration, Mark McClellan. Mark, thanks very much.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is with us as well. He's the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Julie Gerberding, she's director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, here in Washington today. And Jerry Hauer is here as well, the assistant secretary for Public Health Policy.

Let me begin with you, Jerry. You brought some equipment with you in the case of a bioterror attack. Show us what you have.

HAUER: Well, most of what we have, and again some of our concerns, Wolf, have been dealing with biological agents like anthrax. And this is an anthrax simulant (ph) that you see in the bottle here. One of the things that we've focused on is making sure we have adequate supplies of antibiotics.

As the secretary said earlier, we have built up millions of doses. We now have 12 million doses of antibiotics. We can treat 12 people for 60 days.

BLITZER: Show us -- what is that...

HAUER: We also not just focus on biological terrorism, but we have to focus on things like radiological and chemical terrorism. So we have been funding states and local governments to ensure they have the right equipment, whether it's a chemical detector or radiological detector or whether it's the right antidote for dealing with chemical or biological incidents. We have been aggressively getting money out...

BLITZER: To the first responders?

HAUER: ... to the medical community, to the first responders...

BLITZER: Let me bring in Dr. Gerberding of the CDC. A lot of people are nervous about getting these smallpox vaccines right now. You decided to go ahead and do it, at least for the first responders. What's the reaction so far?

DR. JULIE GERBERDING, CDC DIRECTOR: Well so far we're just getting the program up and running but we had requests for 2,000 doses from the states. So the program is getting started and we're confident we're going to be able to get the kind protection we need, so that if we did have an attack, we could protect the American people.

BLITZER: How long will it take to protect 250, 280 million Americans if necessary?

GERBERDING: Well, every state has submitted to us a plan that would indicate how they could vaccinate their population in a very short period of time. We've looked at those plans, we've approved those plans and now we're getting into the stage where we're immunizing with the smallpox vaccine to get protectors ready to go, the vaccinators and the first line of defense so we'll have the confidence we need to be able to do the job, if we had to.

BLITZER: Doctor Fauci, nobody knows more about infectious diseases than you do. What's your worst case scenario? Your worst nightmare, your fear?

FAUCI: Well the worst case scenario is to have a massive bioterrorist attack with (UNINTELLIGIBLE) number of microbes. It could be, for example, smallpox, which we're hearing a lot about right now. It could also be something like botulism toxin or it could be another anthrax attack but only on a much larger scale than what we saw a year ago last fall.

We need to prepare against all of these contingencies. We need to have what we call counter measures in the form of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines. That's what we at the NIH's part of the Department of Health and Human Service team work on, the research endeavors that bring you from the concept of how we can prepare up through and including delivering for the American public a product that can be used to protect them.

BLITZER: Mark McClellan, you have enough drugs available to protect all Americans?

MARK MCCLELLAN, FDA COMMISSIONER: We have been making a lot of progress and getting more treatments available. But we think we need to do more. The FDA is taking steps to develop drugs more quickly through animal testing and other kinds of models.

In addition, we support the president's proposal in his State of the Union address for Project Bioshield, which will provide unprecedented financial incentives to develop valuable new treatments and way to make sure that the FDA can get those treatments available to people that need them.

BLITZER: I think it's fair -- all of us agree, we're a lot better prepared as a country today than we were a year and a half ago. But if you were -- I am going to go through all of you and ask this question that we're asking our viewers right now, is the U.S. prepared to deal with the threat of bioterrorism? Yes or no. If you were voting on our Web site what would you say?

MCCLELLAN: I wouldn't say yes or no. We're doing a lot and we need to do more... BLITZER: Dr. Fauci, he's ducking the question.

FAUCI: No, he's not. We can never be totally 100 percent prepared. But we're making extraordinary progress over the past year.

BLITZER: Not ready yet. What about that Dr. Gerberding?

GERBERDING: I'm going to say yes because I think preparedness is a process.

BLITZER: So you think we're ready?

GERBERDING: I'm saying we're in the process and taking steps on it on a day to day basis.

BLITZER: Jerry Hauer?

HAUER: No, I think we're -- I agree with Julie. I think we are better prepared than we have ever been in this country. We have some things we have to do to continue to get prepared. But I don't think anybody would ever sit here, stand here and say we're 100 percent prepared. You never get to -- preparedness is an on going process and we continue to work that through.

BLITZER: All right. Let's hope one of these days we'll 100 percent prepared. That's what we have to strive for. Thanks very much to all of you for joining us.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Appreciate it very much.

We have is a lot more news coming up, including the sentencing of the wannabee shoe bomber, Richard Reid gets his justice. We'll have a live report from Boston when we come back.

Plus, other news as well. And continue to vote, by the way, on our Web site, cnn.com/wolf. Is the U.S. prepared for a bioterror attack? We'll have additional results, later this hour. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: There was a sentencing hearing in Boston today for Richard Reid, the al Qaeda disciple who's admitted to trying to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner with a shoe bomb. CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena's standing by in Boston with details -- Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Richard Reid not a happy man when he left the courtroom. He literally had to be wrestled out by at least half a dozen very heavily armed federal marshals. In his statement before he was sentenced, he said, "I am at war with your country, not for personal reasons but because the U.S. has killed so many innocents."

But there was no remorse, Wolf. There were no apologies. It was after that statement that the judge sentenced him to life in prison with no parole, plus 110 years. We heard from prosecutors after the hearing. Here is a little bit of what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SULLIVAN, U.S. ATTORNEY: Reid will now spend the rest of his life in prison, unable to fulfill his delusional quest to destroy democracy in the United States of America in the name of religion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: There was unbelievable drama in the courtroom, Wolf. Reid referred to himself as a soldier; the judge bluntly telling him, "you are not a soldier, you are a terrorist. The United States does not negotiate with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one, and we bring them to justice."

Now, all of this took place in front of passengers and crew members from that American Airlines flight that Richard Reid tried to take down, tried to blow up. They stood there, sometimes in shock, mouths open during his statement, and other times they broke out crying when they heard what he had to say, when they heard the judge's sentence. Really an emotional day, Wolf.

BLITZER: Kelli Arena in Boston with the report live. Thanks, Kelli, very much for that report.

And time's running out for your turn to weigh in on our Web question of the day. Is the United States prepared for a bioterror attack? Log on to cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results immediately when this special edition or our program continues. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Our picture of the day includes music, soft of.

(MUSIC)

BLITZER: When you're the mayor of a city that's synonymous with gambling, you need to cover your bets. So when Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman lost his Super Bowl bet with local radio personalities, he made good on his wager. He performed the Village People hit "YMCA" on a Las Vegas street corner, providing his constituents with a good laugh, and us with our picture of the day. He's a good sport.

Now here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day. Remember, we've been asking you all this hour, is the United States prepared for a bioterror attack? Look at this -- 13 percent of you say yes, 87 percent of you say no. Remember, this is not a scientific poll. You can find the exact vote tally and continue to vote, by the way, on our Web site, cnn.com/wolf. They have a lot of work to do to convince you that the federal government is ready for a bioterror attack.

Time to hear from you, some of our e-mail. We're getting flooded with e-mail. Nick is writing this: "Our president rants and raves about how dangerous Saddam is to us and the world, how he is a mass murderer who tortures and rapes, and now Bush thinks it's just fine to let this guy walk away to some retirement community, as long as he leaves the oil, that is."

But Cathy has a very different opinion: "People seem to think that if by doing nothing we'll be safe. If we do nothing, more people will die. If we do nothing, bin Laden will come after us again and again, and Saddam will continue to amass weapons to take over the region."

That's all the time we have today for our special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. Please join me again tomorrow, 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Among my guests, Michael Savage, the radio talk show host. He is the author of the new number one, "New York Times" best seller, "Savage Nation." Don't forget, "SHOWDOWN: IRAQ" weekdays, noon Eastern.

Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer, at the biocommand center in Washington. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" up next.

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Bioattack; Bush Offers Exile as Alternative to Saddam, Underlings>