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CNN Live Today
Bush Hosts King Abdullah at White House; Anthrax Scare at Pentagon
Aired March 15, 2005 - 11:30 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're just past the half hour. Good morning once again, I'm Daryn Kagan. Let's take a look at what's happening "Now in the News."
Martha Stewart confined to her home, but that didn't stop her from throwing a virtual party for her fans. Stewart hosted an online web chat last night via the Internet. She described her ankle bracelet, life in prison and what is next for her company.
Chief justice William Rehnquist is leading a closed-door meeting of senior federal judges this hour. Security is expected to be a primary topic. Rehnquist hasn't been on the bench since October, when he disclosed he had thyroid cancer.
A House panel looking into the ChoicePoint debacle at this hour. Identity thieves managed to wrangle some 140,000 consumer files from the data collection company. As we look at live pictures from Capitol Hill.
And speaking of Capitol Hill, ex-Congressman Gary Condit has settled a libel lawsuit against "Vanity Fair" writer Dominick Dunne. Condit says Dunne wrongly implicated him in the disappearance of the former intern Chandra Levy.
Keeping you informed, CNN is the most trusted name in news.
Democracy and Middle East reforms. Major topics this hour as Jordan's King Abdullah calls on the White House. Our Suzanne Malveaux joins us from the White House. Suzanne, good morning.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Daryn.
That meeting is taking place at the White House as we speak. As you know, King Abdullah, a key ally to the United States. It's been quite some time since the two leaders met since last December. Very significant events that have taken place. As you know, of course, the successful Iraqi elections, also President Bush's very public recommitment to the Middle East peace process. We have also seen, as well, the Lebanese opposition movement take hold and increase pressure on Syria to withdraw all of its troops there.
Now the White House says that the two leaders will sit down and discuss a number of topics. The broad ones being, of course, bilateral relations. They are important partners when it comes to trade. The broader Middle East initiative, the global war on terror, as well as the future of the elections and the Lebanese opposition movement.
Now more specifically, the Bush administration is interested in Jordan's own internal reforms, Democratic reforms that are taking hold there. Very recently King Abdullah appointed two royal commissions. One of them how to study to establish these regional assemblies. The other one, establish to try to bring together groups from civil society toe try to help and adopt and actually form and establish the national agenda there.
Very interesting, Daryn. There is a debate that is taking place within Jordan on the pace of how these reforms really should play out. It was just recently as last month one of King Abdullah's top advisers, who was disheartened by the pace, was saying it was too slow, had resigned. This, of course, we are going to hear from President Bush and the king very positive words from both of them.
The president, we expect, of course, will praise King Abdullah for the types of reforms that have been made so far from King Abdullah, of course. We expect that he will talk about the need for the United States and Jordan to work together when it comes to pushing forward of what they believe is the greater phenomenon that's taking place in the Middle East. That is the push for democracy -- Daryn.
KAGAN: All right, Suzanne Malveaux at the White House. Thank you. We want to go back to this story, this live story we've been following out of Miami. The standoff continues. It looks like it's kind of -- the stakes are getting a little bit higher here. Now this is what we know about this man. Police say he is a home invasion suspect. They say he broke into the house next door, demanded water and then left and then climbed up on the roof of this house next door.
Now he's refusing to get down. He's not wearing any pants, just in shorts. The police have been talking to him. We've been following this for about a half hour right now. so no reports of any injuries. Seems like they're trying to talk to him to get him to come down. And we will continue to monitor that.
Meanwhile, let's move on to our "World Wrap."
Syrian intelligence officers leaving Beirut today. According to the Lebanese army, this amid pressure to the U.S., Europe and many in Lebanon. Pressure for Syria to withdraw. Those demands fueled Monday's massive demonstrations in central Beirut. The one month mark since the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri.
Philippine police stormed a prison in Manila to stop an uprising among al Qaeda-linked members. Some of country's most hardened terrorist suspects were killed in a barrage of bullets. The revolt started with an inmate taking a guard's gun. At least 21 inmates and three guards are among the dead.
The opening of a Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem drew leaders and dignitaries from some 40 countries. The exhibit focuses on personal tragedies of the 6 million Jews who perished in the Nazi genocide. The $56 million museum took more than ten years to complete. Dirty needles -- they are not the only thing you have to worry about when you're getting a tattoo. A new health warning about tattoos coming up on our "Daily Dose." Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: In our "Daily Dose" of health news this morning, promising results for lung cancer patients who were given a new drug. It's called Avastin. Along with standard chemotherapy, the National Cancer Institute says patients who were given the treatment combination lived a median of 12 1/2 months. That's about two months longer than those undergoing just chemotherapy.
If you want to live longer and have a lower risk of heart disease, you might head for the hills, actually the mountains. In Greece, research showing that some people living at higher altitudes have lower odds of dying of heart ailments than those closer to sea level.
And a warning for anyone thinking about getting a tattoo. Be careful, dirty needles already a hazard, but preliminary research suggests there's another potential problem, heavy metals. An analysis of 17 tattoo inks found evidence of metals such as nickel and copper, not to mention what your mother will say when you come home from that thing. To get your Daily Dose of health news online. Log on to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address is CNN.com/health.
So speaking of CNN.com, we were wondering which stories were getting the most attention to the Web site.
Christina Park has the scoop on CNN.com.
CHRISTINA PARK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, CNN.com's most popular stories are kind of like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get.
KAGAN: I'm telling you. What do we get today?
PARK: Well, just last hour was the same story that CNN was covering, the Atlanta shooting suspect, Brian Nichols denied bail. Well, now it's "American Idol."
KAGAN: Makes sense to me, I was one of the people who clicked on that story.
PARK: Oh, excellent.
KAGAN: I was one of your hits. What's the deal? Why did he drop out?
PARK: Well, he's insisting that he's dropping out for personal reasons, and dispelling rumors he has skeletons in his closet. He says none of that, no contractual disputes, anything from that.
KAGAN: So he's gone. PARK: He's gone.
KAGAN: And Niko Smith is in. Can you tell I'm watching the story very carefully.
PARK: Oh, yes, son of Ozzie Smith, baseball hall-of-famer.
KAGAN: Baseball hall-of-famer, and looks a lot like his father, and adorable, and deserves to be in the final 12. OK, I've had my say. At least on "American Idol." What else do you have?
PARK: All right, well, we're tracking all of the most popular stories on CNN.com. To get there, all you have to do is just log on to our site, and click on "most popular." You can get to the top 10 most clicked-on stories by going on to CNN.com/mostpopular.
KAGAN: Christina, hold that thought, we'll get back to you.
I want to go to this live picture we've been following out of Miami. They're taking this guy into custody in Miami. He's been up on this roof for it looks like about an hour right now. I think it appears to be a man that who has some kind of troubles. He was a home-invasion suspect, broke into the house next door, demanded some water, left there, came next door here, and has been up on this roof and refusing to get down. Police talking to him for a long time, and they finally have gotten him, and it appears that they've secured him with some type of rope, and it doesn't look like he's going voluntarily, but he is going nonetheless. Let's bring in the Miami Police Department, Lieutenant Bill Schwartz joining me now -- Lieutenant.
LT. BILL SCHWARTZ, MIAMI POLICE DEPT.: Yes?
KAGAN: Can you fill us in on what we've been watching here? A very unusual picture to watch, a man not wearing pants, shorts, on the roof of this Miami home.
SCHWARTZ: As far as his wardrobe is concerned, I'm sure he's enjoying the beautiful South Florida weather.
But shortly after 10:00 this morning, this guy broke into a house at 479 Northeast 56th (ph) Street by climbing up to the second-floor balcony, smashing through the window with his bare fists and climbing. He was chased out by the homeowner, and then when he saw that the cops were around the house, he leaped like a Neo in "The Matrix" to the very next house, which was easily 10 or 12 feet away. And he's been on the roof of that house ever since. We've been talking with him with our crisis-intervention people. We hour SWAT up there. We're trying to convince him that we mean him no harm, we just want him to come down.
KAGAN: And it looks like you're officers are using some ropes to up there to secure him just in case this doesn't go so peacefully.
SCHWARTZ: Right, yes they have to be prepared in case he decides to take another "Matrix"-type leap. KAGAN: Absolutely. But it looks like a step closer to bringing this one to a peaceful resolution.
SCHWARTZ: I'm sorry, I missed that.
KAGAN: It looks like your department is a step closer to bringing this to a peaceful resolution.
SCHWARTZ: Oh, yes. Definitely. We have all of the time in the world. The main thing is not to force him to do anything rash. We just want to let him know that we're there to help him, because clearly, he needs help.
KAGAN: Yes, apparently that would be the case. Lieutenant Bill Schwartz, from the Miami Police Department. Thank you for that. We will continue to track that. All right, let's bring Christina Park from CNN.com back in.
Sorry to interrupt. You were in the middle of the most popular stories, the hits on CNN.com.
PARK: Exactly. And You never know what you're going to get. Another top story we have at the list right now, news from the Pentagon some mail received there initially tested positive for anthrax. Two Pentagon mail facilities were closed Monday and nearly 300 workers tested for exposure. Officials warn that the results are preliminary, and further testing is needed for confirmation.
Now another story that users are clicking on, the testimony from Michael Jackson's teenage accuser. He is back on the stand today. On Monday, he admitted that he told a school official that nothing sexual happened between him and the pop star. So, Daryn, we've got an interesting mix of stories at CNN.com/mostpopular. These are the stories that users are clicking on the most, updated every 20 minutes.
KAGAN: And people clicking on from all over the world.
PARK: Absolutely.
KAGAN: Good service indeed.
Christina, thank you for that.
PARK: Thanks, Daryn.
KAGAN: Well, just like Christina said, there is another anthrax scare at a federal building. We're going to have a live report for you on the latest secure threat from Washington D.C. And you've heard about the recent laser beams aimed into cockpits. We're going to hear from one pilot who was hit by a laser, saying it's affected his eyesight. That's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Let's check in on our CNN Security Watch now. An anthrax scare at the Pentagon. Mailroom sensors picked up the bacteria. More conclusive tests are under way this morning.
Let's bring in our Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre with more on that.
Jamie, good morning.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, good morning. We still don't know if we're dealing with an anthrax scare or thwarted anthrax attack. The mail that comes into the Pentagon's remote-delivery facility is irradiated twice before it gets to the sensor that detected possible anthrax last week. Those were tests that were gathered here and sent away to be analyzed. The results came back Monday, resulting in the closing of the facility. You can see it's a huge facility. It looks like grass there, but it's really all underneath there. Was specifically designed to make sure after September 11th that anything that came into the Pentagon was first screened; it didn't come directly into the building. So that appears to have worked.
Now again, they're waiting for the final tests from Fort Detrich, Maryland to confirm whether or not these positive results are in fact anthrax, or possibly a false positive.
Meanwhile, the word -- watchword around here is an abundance of caution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. GREGG PAYNE, DIR., D.C. DEPT. OF HEALTH: The level of concern now is just that we're trying to find out more about this situation. We don't know the extent of where this anthrax may have come from, but the extent the district could have been involved we think this is the proper first steps. I don't think it's a prudent course of action. I don't think there's cause for alarm, or panic or undue worry, but we are following test results and we're in close contact with people at the Department of Defense, Health and Human Services, and the CDC, who are all involved in managing this response.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: That's the chief medical officer of the District of Columbia. They have a facility in downtown Washington, also closed, that handled mail that came to the Pentagon. In addition, there's a facility in northern Virginia that handled some mail and also the Pentagon's own post office, operated by the postal service, here in Pentagon, also been closed as precaution. But so far the only people tested or swabbed for possible anthrax exposure are about 263 people who work at that remote delivery facility just adjacent to the Pentagon.
So far they've found no evidence of anthrax exposure, but again, since the mail is irradiated, that may account for that. There's about 8,000 pieces of mail that could have possibly gone through at this time. They're right now trying to trace those, see if any of them were delivered to anyone in the building. They don't think so. They might have gotten to other distribution points, but they're going back to try to track those down now.
So they're taking this very seriously, Daryn, even as they're hoping that in the end, maybe it will turn out that simply these very sensitive tests might have registered something that wasn't perhaps anthrax. But again, if the Pentagon gets information, they're planning to make an announcement later today about those test results and of course you'll hear it here on CNN.
KAGAN: Absolutely. Better to err on the side of caution. Thank you for that. Jamie McIntyre.
Other "Security Watch" news for you now. The recent incidents of lasers being beamed into the cockpits of commercial airplanes -- that issue is being examined at a congressional hearing that began about two hours ago. One pilot for Delta Airlines had a laser beam into his eye while he was flying and he talks about the effect.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PARRY WINDER, DELTA AIRLINES: We determined that we were tracked in the cockpit for approximately six seconds, With the laser moving around, coming through what we call the R2, my right number two window, at an angle we estimate to be approximately 30 to 40 degrees down, approximately 2:00 position. My altitude was approximately 2,400 feet above the ground. So we estimated range of approximately 4,000 to 4,500 feet, line of sight for point of origin.
We concluded our business that night at the airport and since it was the end of our rotation, I was driving home. I have about an hour or so drive to my home north of the airport. While driving home, I was starting to get a dull headache in the back of my head and I noticed black spots appearing in my vision of my right eye.
By the time I got home, the headache had intensified. I mentioned to my wife and she said well, what do you think we ought to do? Do you have to go to the hospital? I said I think I'll be OK, let's just go to sleep. I took a Motrin. I woke up the next morning in intense pain. It felt like someone had actually pricked me in the eye with ice pic, as it were.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: The Congressional hearing is looking at what the FAA is doing to resolve the problem of lasers in the cockpit and whether the military has ever simulated such problems.
Want to show you breaking news that's taking place in Southern California, just east of Los Angeles on Interstate 10. This is an accident -- a vehicle accident involving a casino tour bus and a fire truck. It took place on Interstate 10, just east of Los Angeles in Ontario. Officials say one person, at least one person, was killed in this accident this morning.
Investigators saying the fire truck parked in the center median responding to an earlier accident, then the eastbound tour bus hit the engine from the Upland Fire Department. Once again, at least one person killed on the this Fantasy Springs Casino tour bus, eastbound on Interstate 10. Of course, that's going to a big problem with the bad accident as well, with the morning commute heading out of Los Angeles.
We'll take a break. More news ahead after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: And that's going to do it for me. I'm Daryn Kagan. Wolf Blitzer taking over from Washington, D.C. Hi, Wolf.
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 March 15, 2005 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're just past the half hour. Good morning once again, I'm Daryn Kagan. Let's take a look at what's happening "Now in the News."
Martha Stewart confined to her home, but that didn't stop her from throwing a virtual party for her fans. Stewart hosted an online web chat last night via the Internet. She described her ankle bracelet, life in prison and what is next for her company.
Chief justice William Rehnquist is leading a closed-door meeting of senior federal judges this hour. Security is expected to be a primary topic. Rehnquist hasn't been on the bench since October, when he disclosed he had thyroid cancer.
A House panel looking into the ChoicePoint debacle at this hour. Identity thieves managed to wrangle some 140,000 consumer files from the data collection company. As we look at live pictures from Capitol Hill.
And speaking of Capitol Hill, ex-Congressman Gary Condit has settled a libel lawsuit against "Vanity Fair" writer Dominick Dunne. Condit says Dunne wrongly implicated him in the disappearance of the former intern Chandra Levy.
Keeping you informed, CNN is the most trusted name in news.
Democracy and Middle East reforms. Major topics this hour as Jordan's King Abdullah calls on the White House. Our Suzanne Malveaux joins us from the White House. Suzanne, good morning.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Daryn.
That meeting is taking place at the White House as we speak. As you know, King Abdullah, a key ally to the United States. It's been quite some time since the two leaders met since last December. Very significant events that have taken place. As you know, of course, the successful Iraqi elections, also President Bush's very public recommitment to the Middle East peace process. We have also seen, as well, the Lebanese opposition movement take hold and increase pressure on Syria to withdraw all of its troops there.
Now the White House says that the two leaders will sit down and discuss a number of topics. The broad ones being, of course, bilateral relations. They are important partners when it comes to trade. The broader Middle East initiative, the global war on terror, as well as the future of the elections and the Lebanese opposition movement.
Now more specifically, the Bush administration is interested in Jordan's own internal reforms, Democratic reforms that are taking hold there. Very recently King Abdullah appointed two royal commissions. One of them how to study to establish these regional assemblies. The other one, establish to try to bring together groups from civil society toe try to help and adopt and actually form and establish the national agenda there.
Very interesting, Daryn. There is a debate that is taking place within Jordan on the pace of how these reforms really should play out. It was just recently as last month one of King Abdullah's top advisers, who was disheartened by the pace, was saying it was too slow, had resigned. This, of course, we are going to hear from President Bush and the king very positive words from both of them.
The president, we expect, of course, will praise King Abdullah for the types of reforms that have been made so far from King Abdullah, of course. We expect that he will talk about the need for the United States and Jordan to work together when it comes to pushing forward of what they believe is the greater phenomenon that's taking place in the Middle East. That is the push for democracy -- Daryn.
KAGAN: All right, Suzanne Malveaux at the White House. Thank you. We want to go back to this story, this live story we've been following out of Miami. The standoff continues. It looks like it's kind of -- the stakes are getting a little bit higher here. Now this is what we know about this man. Police say he is a home invasion suspect. They say he broke into the house next door, demanded water and then left and then climbed up on the roof of this house next door.
Now he's refusing to get down. He's not wearing any pants, just in shorts. The police have been talking to him. We've been following this for about a half hour right now. so no reports of any injuries. Seems like they're trying to talk to him to get him to come down. And we will continue to monitor that.
Meanwhile, let's move on to our "World Wrap."
Syrian intelligence officers leaving Beirut today. According to the Lebanese army, this amid pressure to the U.S., Europe and many in Lebanon. Pressure for Syria to withdraw. Those demands fueled Monday's massive demonstrations in central Beirut. The one month mark since the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri.
Philippine police stormed a prison in Manila to stop an uprising among al Qaeda-linked members. Some of country's most hardened terrorist suspects were killed in a barrage of bullets. The revolt started with an inmate taking a guard's gun. At least 21 inmates and three guards are among the dead.
The opening of a Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem drew leaders and dignitaries from some 40 countries. The exhibit focuses on personal tragedies of the 6 million Jews who perished in the Nazi genocide. The $56 million museum took more than ten years to complete. Dirty needles -- they are not the only thing you have to worry about when you're getting a tattoo. A new health warning about tattoos coming up on our "Daily Dose." Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: In our "Daily Dose" of health news this morning, promising results for lung cancer patients who were given a new drug. It's called Avastin. Along with standard chemotherapy, the National Cancer Institute says patients who were given the treatment combination lived a median of 12 1/2 months. That's about two months longer than those undergoing just chemotherapy.
If you want to live longer and have a lower risk of heart disease, you might head for the hills, actually the mountains. In Greece, research showing that some people living at higher altitudes have lower odds of dying of heart ailments than those closer to sea level.
And a warning for anyone thinking about getting a tattoo. Be careful, dirty needles already a hazard, but preliminary research suggests there's another potential problem, heavy metals. An analysis of 17 tattoo inks found evidence of metals such as nickel and copper, not to mention what your mother will say when you come home from that thing. To get your Daily Dose of health news online. Log on to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address is CNN.com/health.
So speaking of CNN.com, we were wondering which stories were getting the most attention to the Web site.
Christina Park has the scoop on CNN.com.
CHRISTINA PARK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, CNN.com's most popular stories are kind of like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get.
KAGAN: I'm telling you. What do we get today?
PARK: Well, just last hour was the same story that CNN was covering, the Atlanta shooting suspect, Brian Nichols denied bail. Well, now it's "American Idol."
KAGAN: Makes sense to me, I was one of the people who clicked on that story.
PARK: Oh, excellent.
KAGAN: I was one of your hits. What's the deal? Why did he drop out?
PARK: Well, he's insisting that he's dropping out for personal reasons, and dispelling rumors he has skeletons in his closet. He says none of that, no contractual disputes, anything from that.
KAGAN: So he's gone. PARK: He's gone.
KAGAN: And Niko Smith is in. Can you tell I'm watching the story very carefully.
PARK: Oh, yes, son of Ozzie Smith, baseball hall-of-famer.
KAGAN: Baseball hall-of-famer, and looks a lot like his father, and adorable, and deserves to be in the final 12. OK, I've had my say. At least on "American Idol." What else do you have?
PARK: All right, well, we're tracking all of the most popular stories on CNN.com. To get there, all you have to do is just log on to our site, and click on "most popular." You can get to the top 10 most clicked-on stories by going on to CNN.com/mostpopular.
KAGAN: Christina, hold that thought, we'll get back to you.
I want to go to this live picture we've been following out of Miami. They're taking this guy into custody in Miami. He's been up on this roof for it looks like about an hour right now. I think it appears to be a man that who has some kind of troubles. He was a home-invasion suspect, broke into the house next door, demanded some water, left there, came next door here, and has been up on this roof and refusing to get down. Police talking to him for a long time, and they finally have gotten him, and it appears that they've secured him with some type of rope, and it doesn't look like he's going voluntarily, but he is going nonetheless. Let's bring in the Miami Police Department, Lieutenant Bill Schwartz joining me now -- Lieutenant.
LT. BILL SCHWARTZ, MIAMI POLICE DEPT.: Yes?
KAGAN: Can you fill us in on what we've been watching here? A very unusual picture to watch, a man not wearing pants, shorts, on the roof of this Miami home.
SCHWARTZ: As far as his wardrobe is concerned, I'm sure he's enjoying the beautiful South Florida weather.
But shortly after 10:00 this morning, this guy broke into a house at 479 Northeast 56th (ph) Street by climbing up to the second-floor balcony, smashing through the window with his bare fists and climbing. He was chased out by the homeowner, and then when he saw that the cops were around the house, he leaped like a Neo in "The Matrix" to the very next house, which was easily 10 or 12 feet away. And he's been on the roof of that house ever since. We've been talking with him with our crisis-intervention people. We hour SWAT up there. We're trying to convince him that we mean him no harm, we just want him to come down.
KAGAN: And it looks like you're officers are using some ropes to up there to secure him just in case this doesn't go so peacefully.
SCHWARTZ: Right, yes they have to be prepared in case he decides to take another "Matrix"-type leap. KAGAN: Absolutely. But it looks like a step closer to bringing this one to a peaceful resolution.
SCHWARTZ: I'm sorry, I missed that.
KAGAN: It looks like your department is a step closer to bringing this to a peaceful resolution.
SCHWARTZ: Oh, yes. Definitely. We have all of the time in the world. The main thing is not to force him to do anything rash. We just want to let him know that we're there to help him, because clearly, he needs help.
KAGAN: Yes, apparently that would be the case. Lieutenant Bill Schwartz, from the Miami Police Department. Thank you for that. We will continue to track that. All right, let's bring Christina Park from CNN.com back in.
Sorry to interrupt. You were in the middle of the most popular stories, the hits on CNN.com.
PARK: Exactly. And You never know what you're going to get. Another top story we have at the list right now, news from the Pentagon some mail received there initially tested positive for anthrax. Two Pentagon mail facilities were closed Monday and nearly 300 workers tested for exposure. Officials warn that the results are preliminary, and further testing is needed for confirmation.
Now another story that users are clicking on, the testimony from Michael Jackson's teenage accuser. He is back on the stand today. On Monday, he admitted that he told a school official that nothing sexual happened between him and the pop star. So, Daryn, we've got an interesting mix of stories at CNN.com/mostpopular. These are the stories that users are clicking on the most, updated every 20 minutes.
KAGAN: And people clicking on from all over the world.
PARK: Absolutely.
KAGAN: Good service indeed.
Christina, thank you for that.
PARK: Thanks, Daryn.
KAGAN: Well, just like Christina said, there is another anthrax scare at a federal building. We're going to have a live report for you on the latest secure threat from Washington D.C. And you've heard about the recent laser beams aimed into cockpits. We're going to hear from one pilot who was hit by a laser, saying it's affected his eyesight. That's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Let's check in on our CNN Security Watch now. An anthrax scare at the Pentagon. Mailroom sensors picked up the bacteria. More conclusive tests are under way this morning.
Let's bring in our Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre with more on that.
Jamie, good morning.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, good morning. We still don't know if we're dealing with an anthrax scare or thwarted anthrax attack. The mail that comes into the Pentagon's remote-delivery facility is irradiated twice before it gets to the sensor that detected possible anthrax last week. Those were tests that were gathered here and sent away to be analyzed. The results came back Monday, resulting in the closing of the facility. You can see it's a huge facility. It looks like grass there, but it's really all underneath there. Was specifically designed to make sure after September 11th that anything that came into the Pentagon was first screened; it didn't come directly into the building. So that appears to have worked.
Now again, they're waiting for the final tests from Fort Detrich, Maryland to confirm whether or not these positive results are in fact anthrax, or possibly a false positive.
Meanwhile, the word -- watchword around here is an abundance of caution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. GREGG PAYNE, DIR., D.C. DEPT. OF HEALTH: The level of concern now is just that we're trying to find out more about this situation. We don't know the extent of where this anthrax may have come from, but the extent the district could have been involved we think this is the proper first steps. I don't think it's a prudent course of action. I don't think there's cause for alarm, or panic or undue worry, but we are following test results and we're in close contact with people at the Department of Defense, Health and Human Services, and the CDC, who are all involved in managing this response.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: That's the chief medical officer of the District of Columbia. They have a facility in downtown Washington, also closed, that handled mail that came to the Pentagon. In addition, there's a facility in northern Virginia that handled some mail and also the Pentagon's own post office, operated by the postal service, here in Pentagon, also been closed as precaution. But so far the only people tested or swabbed for possible anthrax exposure are about 263 people who work at that remote delivery facility just adjacent to the Pentagon.
So far they've found no evidence of anthrax exposure, but again, since the mail is irradiated, that may account for that. There's about 8,000 pieces of mail that could have possibly gone through at this time. They're right now trying to trace those, see if any of them were delivered to anyone in the building. They don't think so. They might have gotten to other distribution points, but they're going back to try to track those down now.
So they're taking this very seriously, Daryn, even as they're hoping that in the end, maybe it will turn out that simply these very sensitive tests might have registered something that wasn't perhaps anthrax. But again, if the Pentagon gets information, they're planning to make an announcement later today about those test results and of course you'll hear it here on CNN.
KAGAN: Absolutely. Better to err on the side of caution. Thank you for that. Jamie McIntyre.
Other "Security Watch" news for you now. The recent incidents of lasers being beamed into the cockpits of commercial airplanes -- that issue is being examined at a congressional hearing that began about two hours ago. One pilot for Delta Airlines had a laser beam into his eye while he was flying and he talks about the effect.
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PARRY WINDER, DELTA AIRLINES: We determined that we were tracked in the cockpit for approximately six seconds, With the laser moving around, coming through what we call the R2, my right number two window, at an angle we estimate to be approximately 30 to 40 degrees down, approximately 2:00 position. My altitude was approximately 2,400 feet above the ground. So we estimated range of approximately 4,000 to 4,500 feet, line of sight for point of origin.
We concluded our business that night at the airport and since it was the end of our rotation, I was driving home. I have about an hour or so drive to my home north of the airport. While driving home, I was starting to get a dull headache in the back of my head and I noticed black spots appearing in my vision of my right eye.
By the time I got home, the headache had intensified. I mentioned to my wife and she said well, what do you think we ought to do? Do you have to go to the hospital? I said I think I'll be OK, let's just go to sleep. I took a Motrin. I woke up the next morning in intense pain. It felt like someone had actually pricked me in the eye with ice pic, as it were.
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KAGAN: The Congressional hearing is looking at what the FAA is doing to resolve the problem of lasers in the cockpit and whether the military has ever simulated such problems.
Want to show you breaking news that's taking place in Southern California, just east of Los Angeles on Interstate 10. This is an accident -- a vehicle accident involving a casino tour bus and a fire truck. It took place on Interstate 10, just east of Los Angeles in Ontario. Officials say one person, at least one person, was killed in this accident this morning.
Investigators saying the fire truck parked in the center median responding to an earlier accident, then the eastbound tour bus hit the engine from the Upland Fire Department. Once again, at least one person killed on the this Fantasy Springs Casino tour bus, eastbound on Interstate 10. Of course, that's going to a big problem with the bad accident as well, with the morning commute heading out of Los Angeles.
We'll take a break. More news ahead after this.
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KAGAN: And that's going to do it for me. I'm Daryn Kagan. Wolf Blitzer taking over from Washington, D.C. Hi, Wolf.
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