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CNN Live At Daybreak

Terror Test: Simulating Disasters

Aired May 12, 2003 - 06:11   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A very serious game will be played in Chicago and Seattle this week, the most extensive terrorism drill in the nation's history will get under way today.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve tells us what it hopes to accomplish.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Behind me, the city of Seattle, Washington, and just a couple of miles from downtown, a vacant lot that's been filled with props for the simulated disaster scenario.

Here at 3:00 p.m. Eastern, the scenario calls for a dirty bomb to explode spewing radioactivity. First responders will flow in from the city, the surrounding jurisdictions and the state, and eventually the federal government. The goal is to find out if the plans they have in place for handling such an emergency actually work. And if not, why not, where did they break down so gaps can be filled and friction points can be addressed.

Now there was a similar exercise involving officials from the federal level on down three years ago. It was called Top Off One and it did expose problems with command and control, communications, chain of command. It also exposed weaknesses in the public health system and even pointed out that not enough planning had been done for dealing with human remains that had been contaminated with radioactivity.

The goal of this exercise is to find out whether some of those problems have been fixed and to what degree. And it's possible that this exercise will expose a whole new set of vulnerabilities.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Seattle, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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






Aired May 12, 2003 - 06:11   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A very serious game will be played in Chicago and Seattle this week, the most extensive terrorism drill in the nation's history will get under way today.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve tells us what it hopes to accomplish.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Behind me, the city of Seattle, Washington, and just a couple of miles from downtown, a vacant lot that's been filled with props for the simulated disaster scenario.

Here at 3:00 p.m. Eastern, the scenario calls for a dirty bomb to explode spewing radioactivity. First responders will flow in from the city, the surrounding jurisdictions and the state, and eventually the federal government. The goal is to find out if the plans they have in place for handling such an emergency actually work. And if not, why not, where did they break down so gaps can be filled and friction points can be addressed.

Now there was a similar exercise involving officials from the federal level on down three years ago. It was called Top Off One and it did expose problems with command and control, communications, chain of command. It also exposed weaknesses in the public health system and even pointed out that not enough planning had been done for dealing with human remains that had been contaminated with radioactivity.

The goal of this exercise is to find out whether some of those problems have been fixed and to what degree. And it's possible that this exercise will expose a whole new set of vulnerabilities.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Seattle, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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