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American Morning
Ricin Investigation Expanding
Aired February 04, 2004 - 08:18 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The ricin investigation is expanding to see if there might be links between the current Senate case and two other ricin incidents this fall. One involves a letter addressed to the White House, the other a letter in South Carolina. Is it just a coincidence?
Well, joining us this morning is Marilyn Thompson.
She is the author of "The Killer Strain: Anthrax and A Government Exposed."
She's live from Washington, D.C. this morning.
Nice to see you.
Thanks for being with us.
MARILYN THOMPSON, AUTHOR, "THE KILLER STRAIN": Thank you.
O'BRIEN: How unusual do you think it is that it's ricin that we're talking about as opposed to some other kind of toxin?
THOMPSON: Well, it's certainly a different toxin, although ricin has long been considered a likely target for bioterrorism. It's easy to make and it's easy to distribute. So it's not that unusual to find it surfacing in the new age of bioterror.
O'BRIEN: Do you think that there is a link, potentially, between what was found on Capitol Hill and what was mailed to the White House?
THOMPSON: The reports are very disturbing that the letter which showed up at the White House apparently contained a reference to something called fallen angel, which is a name that was used in the Greeneville, South Carolina incident back in October. That's a very distressing link. This person who sent the letter was obviously a very aggrieved trucker who was worried about some legislation on Capitol Hill.
I don't think they have any idea yet whether there is a letter associated with the Capitol Hill matter. They simply found the powder in the mailroom.
O'BRIEN: The letter that was sent, apparently, to the White House, apparently there was this lengthy delay before it was known to the public, and even known to federal authorities, which could have actually taken steps to do something to maybe protect the public.
Does that surprise you at all?
THOMPSON: It, I wish it did surprise me. Unfortunately, it doesn't surprise me and it's just another sign of how little we learned from the 2001 anthrax letters. One of the key principles that came out of the anthrax episode was simply that the public needs to know what's going on and that more public information is better and will help a crisis like this rather than less.
The fact that this was kept secret for that prolonged period of time is very distressing.
O'BRIEN: This time around in the Senate, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has essentially said that the swift reaction is to be commended.
Do you agree with that? Do you think it's been a swift reaction this time around?
THOMPSON: Well, I think, if you look at what happened in the Senate, there were some things that went right. The protocol was followed. The worker who found the powder quickly alerted the Capitol police, who have been undergoing extensive training in bioterrorism response. And they did, in fact, shut down the heating and air conditioning system very promptly, which prevented the spread of the material, something that didn't happen during the anthrax event.
So, yes, there were some things that went right here and there were some things that went wrong.
O'BRIEN: Marilyn Thompson joining us this morning, the author of "The Killer Strain."
Thanks for being with us.
THOMPSON: Thank you.
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 4, 2004 - 08:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The ricin investigation is expanding to see if there might be links between the current Senate case and two other ricin incidents this fall. One involves a letter addressed to the White House, the other a letter in South Carolina. Is it just a coincidence?
Well, joining us this morning is Marilyn Thompson.
She is the author of "The Killer Strain: Anthrax and A Government Exposed."
She's live from Washington, D.C. this morning.
Nice to see you.
Thanks for being with us.
MARILYN THOMPSON, AUTHOR, "THE KILLER STRAIN": Thank you.
O'BRIEN: How unusual do you think it is that it's ricin that we're talking about as opposed to some other kind of toxin?
THOMPSON: Well, it's certainly a different toxin, although ricin has long been considered a likely target for bioterrorism. It's easy to make and it's easy to distribute. So it's not that unusual to find it surfacing in the new age of bioterror.
O'BRIEN: Do you think that there is a link, potentially, between what was found on Capitol Hill and what was mailed to the White House?
THOMPSON: The reports are very disturbing that the letter which showed up at the White House apparently contained a reference to something called fallen angel, which is a name that was used in the Greeneville, South Carolina incident back in October. That's a very distressing link. This person who sent the letter was obviously a very aggrieved trucker who was worried about some legislation on Capitol Hill.
I don't think they have any idea yet whether there is a letter associated with the Capitol Hill matter. They simply found the powder in the mailroom.
O'BRIEN: The letter that was sent, apparently, to the White House, apparently there was this lengthy delay before it was known to the public, and even known to federal authorities, which could have actually taken steps to do something to maybe protect the public.
Does that surprise you at all?
THOMPSON: It, I wish it did surprise me. Unfortunately, it doesn't surprise me and it's just another sign of how little we learned from the 2001 anthrax letters. One of the key principles that came out of the anthrax episode was simply that the public needs to know what's going on and that more public information is better and will help a crisis like this rather than less.
The fact that this was kept secret for that prolonged period of time is very distressing.
O'BRIEN: This time around in the Senate, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has essentially said that the swift reaction is to be commended.
Do you agree with that? Do you think it's been a swift reaction this time around?
THOMPSON: Well, I think, if you look at what happened in the Senate, there were some things that went right. The protocol was followed. The worker who found the powder quickly alerted the Capitol police, who have been undergoing extensive training in bioterrorism response. And they did, in fact, shut down the heating and air conditioning system very promptly, which prevented the spread of the material, something that didn't happen during the anthrax event.
So, yes, there were some things that went right here and there were some things that went wrong.
O'BRIEN: Marilyn Thompson joining us this morning, the author of "The Killer Strain."
Thanks for being with us.
THOMPSON: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
