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CNN Live At Daybreak
Senate Office Buildings Begin Reopening Today
Aired February 05, 2004 - 06:33 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: On Capitol Hill this morning, the ricin scare is dying down. Closed Senate office buildings will start re-opening today, though. Officials say no one has reported symptoms related to the substance.
CNN's Kathleen Koch is live on the phone with us for an update on the ricin investigation.
Any progress -- Kathleen?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, at this point, they still don't know if this ricin arrived in the mailroom of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in a package, in a letter, when it arrived, who sent it, why.
The good news, as you just mentioned, is that life on Capitol Hill will very slowly begin getting back to normal this afternoon. The Russell Senate Office Building will re-open today at noon, then the Hart Office Building tomorrow, and then finally the Dirksen building, where the ricin was found, will re-opeon on Monday.
They had, here in Washington, also shut down a U.S. mail facility on V Street that handles mail that's bound for Capitol Hill. That facility reopened last night. Authorities carefully checked it to make sure that there was no threat to the health of any postal officials. Obviously, they were some of the fatalities back in 2001 when we had the anthrax attacks here in Washington.
So, things are gradually getting back to normal, and obviously police are exploring any possible connection to these ricin-filled letters that were sent, one in October, it was found in Greenville, South Carolina. And then another one that was bound for the White House that was discovered in November, though it never made it here. It was intercepted at an off-site facility, and both of them signed "fallen angel."
But, again, no word yet on whether there is any connection between the three, but authorities are certainly looking into it.
COSTELLO: Interesting. I know President Bush is on his way to South Carolina. Will he mention this in his speech, do you think?
KOCH: Unclear whether he will. He is going to be talking about terrorism, the war on terrorism. He's going to be talking about the steps the administration is taking to help keep dangerous cargo out of the country. We're also hearing that he may be previewing the remarks that we could be hearing as soon as tomorrow that will lay out the makeup of this commission that will be looking into pre-war intelligence failures when it comes to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. The president obviously this week changing his stand on that and saying he did want to appoint an independent commission.
But not clear whether he will mention the ricin attacks, likely not something he'll speak to directly -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Probably so. Kathleen Koch reporting live from D.C., on the phone with us 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 5, 2004 - 06:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: On Capitol Hill this morning, the ricin scare is dying down. Closed Senate office buildings will start re-opening today, though. Officials say no one has reported symptoms related to the substance.
CNN's Kathleen Koch is live on the phone with us for an update on the ricin investigation.
Any progress -- Kathleen?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, at this point, they still don't know if this ricin arrived in the mailroom of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in a package, in a letter, when it arrived, who sent it, why.
The good news, as you just mentioned, is that life on Capitol Hill will very slowly begin getting back to normal this afternoon. The Russell Senate Office Building will re-open today at noon, then the Hart Office Building tomorrow, and then finally the Dirksen building, where the ricin was found, will re-opeon on Monday.
They had, here in Washington, also shut down a U.S. mail facility on V Street that handles mail that's bound for Capitol Hill. That facility reopened last night. Authorities carefully checked it to make sure that there was no threat to the health of any postal officials. Obviously, they were some of the fatalities back in 2001 when we had the anthrax attacks here in Washington.
So, things are gradually getting back to normal, and obviously police are exploring any possible connection to these ricin-filled letters that were sent, one in October, it was found in Greenville, South Carolina. And then another one that was bound for the White House that was discovered in November, though it never made it here. It was intercepted at an off-site facility, and both of them signed "fallen angel."
But, again, no word yet on whether there is any connection between the three, but authorities are certainly looking into it.
COSTELLO: Interesting. I know President Bush is on his way to South Carolina. Will he mention this in his speech, do you think?
KOCH: Unclear whether he will. He is going to be talking about terrorism, the war on terrorism. He's going to be talking about the steps the administration is taking to help keep dangerous cargo out of the country. We're also hearing that he may be previewing the remarks that we could be hearing as soon as tomorrow that will lay out the makeup of this commission that will be looking into pre-war intelligence failures when it comes to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. The president obviously this week changing his stand on that and saying he did want to appoint an independent commission.
But not clear whether he will mention the ricin attacks, likely not something he'll speak to directly -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Probably so. Kathleen Koch reporting live from D.C., on the phone with us 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.
