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CNN Live At Daybreak

Deadly Poison Found in Mailroom on Capitol

Aired February 03, 2004 - 06:00   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It looks like a hostile mailing sealed with a single menacing message: terror. That's what officials are saying after finding what's believed to be the deadly poison, ricin, in the mailroom of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. Investigators found a white powdery substance in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, and they consider it terrorist activity.
Kathleen Koch is following developments. She joins us live once again from the Capitol.

And this is very confusing, because they don't know for sure that this is indeed ricin, right?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly. We don't know for certain that this is ricin. We're still waiting for one final round of tests to come back from a military lab in Fort Detrick, Maryland.

We also don't know for certain if this substance was indeed mailed to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. The substance was found in his mailroom yesterday -- his mailroom in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on the fourth floor. It was room 454 on the south side of the Dirksen Office Building.

But at this point, police are only telling us the material was found there by a mail handler, but they don't know if it came from a letter. They don't know if it came from a package. There were some roughly 16 people who were exposed, who were decontaminated as a precaution.

And there was a press conference last night, where police Chief Terrance Gainer -- Capitol Hill Police Chief Terrance Gainer, and then Senator Majority Leader Bill Frist, described the testing and the potential danger that ricin presents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF TERRANCE GAINER, CAPITOL HILL POLICE: They conducted two tests. One test came back positive for ricin, but the operators of that thought it was a false positive. They then did a second test, which came back negative. Following standard police protocol, they took the samples of that to another facility we have on the campus, where three more tests were done. Each one of those tests indicated positive for ricin.

SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: We are most concerned about the inhaled. The powder that was found could theoretically have been inhaled. There has been no evidence of that by any of the people in the office or on the floor. The symptoms typically would appear from anywhere four to eight hours, and we're beyond the eight hours of exposure. And, again, everybody is just fine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: They are taking this threat obviously very seriously, because ricin is so potent, so powerful. One milligram alone if inhaled or ingested can kill an adult, and there is no known antidote for ricin.

If this is indeed ricin, this would be the second bioterror attack on Capitol Hill -- that since the anthrax attacks back in 2001, when anthrax-laden letters were sent to then Senator Majority Leader Tom Daschle and also Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont.

Now, this building -- the Dirksen Building is just immediately west of the Hart Building, where those attacks occurred. Of course, all of those buildings -- the Hart, the Dirksen and the Senate Russell Building -- were shut down for several days during that anthrax attack. And in the Hart Building itself, many portions of it were closed for a period of months while that was cleaned up.

But at this point, the buildings all do remain closed -- the Senate office buildings today -- for more testing of all of the mailrooms in all of those buildings. The Capitol will be open. The Senate will be in session, but there will be no tours. It will be closed to the public today -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I was just going to ask about the 16 people that were tested, and we don't know exactly what was done when they were tested in that van last night by, what, hazardous materials teams. Is the Homeland Security Department or the FBI involved in this investigation, too?

KOCH: As far as we know, the Homeland Security Department is investigating this. They haven't plunged in full force at this point. They are still waiting to find out indeed what this material is, but they are peripherally involved.

COSTELLO: OK, I'm going to ask you a technical question that you may not know. Why do they need to do so many tests on this substance to find out if it is indeed ricin?

KOCH: I believe, Carol, that it's very much like these false alarms that we've had in the past for anthrax. You don't rely on just one, just two tests. And what they do is they take lots of samples of the material from various places in the room where it's found, trying to get the best read. And then they conduct numerous tests.

They want to be very cautious. They want to make certain if it is that deadly poison or if it was anthrax, as is in the case of past false alarms we've had, that then they react properly. But they just don't want to take any chances, and they want to be very cautious.

COSTELLO: So, we are awaiting the results of the eighth and final test, and then finally we will know, right? KOCH: Quite so. And, again, that's being tested at a military lab in Fort Detrick, Maryland. We were told we would have those results at 5:00 a.m. this morning, but still no word. So, hopefully, though, we'll be getting it soon, and we'll let you know as soon as we do.

COSTELLO: All right, we'll do. Kathleen Koch live from Capitol Hill this morning.

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






Aired February 3, 2004 - 06:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It looks like a hostile mailing sealed with a single menacing message: terror. That's what officials are saying after finding what's believed to be the deadly poison, ricin, in the mailroom of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. Investigators found a white powdery substance in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, and they consider it terrorist activity.
Kathleen Koch is following developments. She joins us live once again from the Capitol.

And this is very confusing, because they don't know for sure that this is indeed ricin, right?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly. We don't know for certain that this is ricin. We're still waiting for one final round of tests to come back from a military lab in Fort Detrick, Maryland.

We also don't know for certain if this substance was indeed mailed to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. The substance was found in his mailroom yesterday -- his mailroom in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on the fourth floor. It was room 454 on the south side of the Dirksen Office Building.

But at this point, police are only telling us the material was found there by a mail handler, but they don't know if it came from a letter. They don't know if it came from a package. There were some roughly 16 people who were exposed, who were decontaminated as a precaution.

And there was a press conference last night, where police Chief Terrance Gainer -- Capitol Hill Police Chief Terrance Gainer, and then Senator Majority Leader Bill Frist, described the testing and the potential danger that ricin presents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF TERRANCE GAINER, CAPITOL HILL POLICE: They conducted two tests. One test came back positive for ricin, but the operators of that thought it was a false positive. They then did a second test, which came back negative. Following standard police protocol, they took the samples of that to another facility we have on the campus, where three more tests were done. Each one of those tests indicated positive for ricin.

SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: We are most concerned about the inhaled. The powder that was found could theoretically have been inhaled. There has been no evidence of that by any of the people in the office or on the floor. The symptoms typically would appear from anywhere four to eight hours, and we're beyond the eight hours of exposure. And, again, everybody is just fine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: They are taking this threat obviously very seriously, because ricin is so potent, so powerful. One milligram alone if inhaled or ingested can kill an adult, and there is no known antidote for ricin.

If this is indeed ricin, this would be the second bioterror attack on Capitol Hill -- that since the anthrax attacks back in 2001, when anthrax-laden letters were sent to then Senator Majority Leader Tom Daschle and also Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont.

Now, this building -- the Dirksen Building is just immediately west of the Hart Building, where those attacks occurred. Of course, all of those buildings -- the Hart, the Dirksen and the Senate Russell Building -- were shut down for several days during that anthrax attack. And in the Hart Building itself, many portions of it were closed for a period of months while that was cleaned up.

But at this point, the buildings all do remain closed -- the Senate office buildings today -- for more testing of all of the mailrooms in all of those buildings. The Capitol will be open. The Senate will be in session, but there will be no tours. It will be closed to the public today -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I was just going to ask about the 16 people that were tested, and we don't know exactly what was done when they were tested in that van last night by, what, hazardous materials teams. Is the Homeland Security Department or the FBI involved in this investigation, too?

KOCH: As far as we know, the Homeland Security Department is investigating this. They haven't plunged in full force at this point. They are still waiting to find out indeed what this material is, but they are peripherally involved.

COSTELLO: OK, I'm going to ask you a technical question that you may not know. Why do they need to do so many tests on this substance to find out if it is indeed ricin?

KOCH: I believe, Carol, that it's very much like these false alarms that we've had in the past for anthrax. You don't rely on just one, just two tests. And what they do is they take lots of samples of the material from various places in the room where it's found, trying to get the best read. And then they conduct numerous tests.

They want to be very cautious. They want to make certain if it is that deadly poison or if it was anthrax, as is in the case of past false alarms we've had, that then they react properly. But they just don't want to take any chances, and they want to be very cautious.

COSTELLO: So, we are awaiting the results of the eighth and final test, and then finally we will know, right? KOCH: Quite so. And, again, that's being tested at a military lab in Fort Detrick, Maryland. We were told we would have those results at 5:00 a.m. this morning, but still no word. So, hopefully, though, we'll be getting it soon, and we'll let you know as soon as we do.

COSTELLO: All right, we'll do. Kathleen Koch live from Capitol Hill this morning.

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