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Name Released of T.B. Traveler; Helicopter Downed in Afghanistan; Convertibles as Safe as Regular Cars, Study Says; Traders Disappearing from NYSE Floor

Aired May 31, 2007 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Hello, everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
ROB MARCIANO, CO-HOST: And I'm Rob Marciano in for Don Lemon, who's on assignment.

A very sick man infected with a deadly form of T.B. He's now in the hands of specialists in Denver, and we now know his name, Andrew Speaker. He's 31 years old and a lawyer in Atlanta. He knew he had T.B. and traveled back and forth to Europe after being urged not to.

We'll go live to Jeanne Meserve in a moment.

PHILLIPS: In our developing story right now at the Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C., we're getting word of a suspicious package. There have been evacuations. We don't know exactly what happened. What type -- what is believed to be inside that package.

Obviously, bomb squad responding, as well as the Capitol police. We'll keep you updated on what's happening there.

Once again, the Department of Transportation being evacuated. Some type of threat with a suspicious package. We'll let you know as soon as we get details now.

MARCIANO: Straight to Denver now where specialists are very interested in Andrew Speaker and his unique illness. CNN's Ed Lavandera is there.

Ed, what have we learned today?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, Andrew Speaker is here at the National Jewish Medical Research Center in Denver. And we understand he's already undergoing a battery of tests that will last a good portion of the day. He's already been placed, we understand, under two antibiotics.

Officials here said he arrived, walked in, said he was feeling fine. But doctors here say that battling this incredibly rare form of tuberculosis will be a challenge.

And they talked a little bit this morning about the challenges they face and what kinds of things Andrew Speaker will be undergoing today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM ALLSTETTER, NATIONAL JEWISH MEDICAL CENTER: He is expected to go on two antibiotics today: one oral and one intravenous. And as I said, those are guided by some of the info from CDC.

We will do further tests on other drugs that they haven't tested to see if we can find more that he will be treated for.

Late in the day, he will get a CAT scan, C.T. scan and a lung X- ray. So today is really evaluation and just beginning treatment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Now, Andrew Speaker is in a room where he is isolated. Any time the medical staff here at the hospital have contact with him, they're wearing a mask.

The room that he's in is actually a special room that has a special air filtration system that essentially only allows air to come in. The air that is breathed there in the room does not go back anywhere into the hospital. There's also an ultraviolet system that helps kill some of the infectious -- the infections that might be floating around in the room. So this is a specially created room for these types of situations, and that's where he will be throughout the day.

We understand that he will probably leave the room at one point today when he undergoes a C.T. scan. And we understand that he will be required to wear a mask as he's walking through the hallways.

And as I mentioned, all of the medical personnel that treat him, come in contact with him, will always be wearing a mask, as well -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Ed Lavandera, thanks so much. We'll talk to you again.

Also, the news that tuberculosis patient flew to Europe, then returned to the United States, well, it's not only raised public health concern; it's also raised questions about border controls.

CNN homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve now joins us from Washington with more on that angle -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, a lot of questions about how this man who was known to have this drug resistant form of T.B. came across the U.S. border. We now have more details.

A homeland security official said that his passport was put through an electronic reading machine when he came across the border at Champlain, New York. It happened on the -- at 6:17 p.m. on the 24th of May. It was Andrew Speaker, we now know, coming through with his wife. They were at that border crossing for less than two minutes.

What's significant about this is that, when that passport was swiped, information came up on the screen of the customs and Border patrol Agent that was handling that transaction, information that had been passed on by the CDC to CDP earlier on the 22nd of May.

The CDC had informed CDP that they expected this man to be coming back on a flight that would come into Atlanta on June 5. But out of an abundance of caution, the information was pumped out to every single port of entry in the United States, including Champlain. It advised that this man should be isolated, that he should be detained and that public health authorities should be contacted.

This information would seem to indicate that we could be dealing here with a case of human error. But the case is still being investigated by internal affairs at the Department of Homeland Security and that department's inspector general for the time being.

The agent who was involved in this transaction is -- has been placed on administrative duties and is not manning a checkpoint.

Back to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Has quite the domino effect. Jeanne Meserve, appreciate it.

And here's the part that has health officials the most concerned. Andrew Speaker flew all over Europe and across the Atlantic twice, not only aware that he was infected with tuberculosis, but urged to not travel for fear of spreading the disease.

Two young people from one of his long flights came in and actually joined us earlier today to talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: What have the doctors told you about your risk of infection and the risk to people who are around you, as well?

LANEY WIGGINS, PASSENGER OF FLIGHT WITH SPEAKER: Well, they told me that if I do test positive that I'm not contagious and that it's just the infection which can be treated. It doesn't become the full- blown disease until it's not treated.

So if I test positive, then I'm OK for now. And then if I test negative, then in two months I'll go back and be tested again.

COLLINS: All right. So Sanjay, what does all of that mean?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, there's still a lot of confusion here, you know, because people -- there are some people who are very panicked about this, doctors even who are immediately saying, well, maybe people should be quarantined, not be quarantined.

The reality is if someone is not sick and if they're not actually having any of the bacteria in their sputum, they're not infectious. They're not contagious. So these guys are not contagious to us right now. Shaking their hands, doing anything is not going to spread the illness.

But it doesn't take away some of the panic that still some people are experiencing.

COLLINS: Did you hear that, Mom? Hopefully, she heard that. So -- and there's also, isn't there, an incubation period that we should maybe mention?

GUPTA: Yes, so the testing is actually pretty good. Once you get tested you're going to know within a few days whether or not you're positive or not. But as far as symptoms go, that can take a long time to develop. So someone who never got tested, for example, then years later began to get sick, it could have been from exposure many years before.

COLLINS: All right. So have they placed you on any sort of travel restrictions or anything?

JASON VIK, PASSENGER ON FLIGHT WITH SPEAKER: Not at all.

WIGGINS: No.

GUPTA: You had an interesting experience, though, in the hospital yesterday. What happened?

VIK: Well, you know, I go to a military hospital. I grew up with military parents. So most people go to the health department when they get their shot and ten minute, 15 minute they're in and out. Whereas I went to a military hospital, what I was used to, in Fort Jackson.

And when I walked in, they were very alarmed, like you guys were saying. They weren't sure if I was contagious. So they give you a mask, and they put me in an isolation room where my doctor was getting in touch with CDC and the Department of Health and the Department of Health and Environmental Control, trying to figure out what they should do and how to handle the situation.

So I was there for about six hours, and I went through chest x- rays and then eventually the tuberculosis skin test. I should get back on Friday.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Officials are still trying to track down all of the people possibly exposed to T.B. on one of those two long flights taken by Andrew Speaker.

MARCIANO: Well, Barbara takes aim at Mexico, and Florida could benefit from what now is just a big blob in the Caribbean. Bonnie Schneider tracking both of those systems from the CNN weather center.

Hi, Bonnie.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Rob. You're right: Barbara now is in the Pacific. Pacific hurricane season actually began May 15, whereas the Atlantic season begins tomorrow.

This does look impressive in our satellite perspective, but don't let it fool you. Actually, Barbara has weakened. And now we're saying that it looks like this storm may never become a hurricane, which is good news for folks in Acapulco.

We are expecting some heavy rain from Barbara, especially towards the latter part of the weekend as it makes landfall as a tropical depression or just an area of low pressure, particularly as it interacts here with the land on the coastline of Mexico sometime Monday into Tuesday.

So some good news with Barbara, but we have a long way to go. The Atlantic season, as I mentioned, begins tomorrow. Here's the latest outlook from Colorado State University: 17 named storms, nine hurricanes and five major hurricanes. That means Category 3 or higher.

These numbers are above average. And part of the reason is because we have what we call a neutral year in terms of El Nino or La Nina. And neutral years certainly can produce very strong storms. When they're putting together these predictions, they actually look at conditions with what we have right now and compare them to prior years.

As we get into June, we're going to start talking about tropical cyclones getting started. And this is really the region that we tend to see them get going. Because in the Gulf of Mexico through the Bay of Campeche (ph) and areas to the south, that's where we tend to see the warmest water this time of year. The water temperature here is already above 80 degrees.

What's happening right now in this particular region is we're watching an area of low pressure get organized here just off the Yucatan peninsula. It just looks like a disturbed area of weather right now.

But what we're watching for is enhanced moisture, possibly tropical moisture, to come into Florida and maybe to Georgia, hopefully, and give us some beneficial rainfall over the next 48 hours. We could really use the rain in both Florida and Georgia. Most of the computer models are pushing the system further south. But we'll see how things develop over the next couple of days -- Rob.

MARCIANO: A little bit of good news, in that Barbara doesn't look like she's going to become a hurricane. And we'll try to get some of that moisture from this thing in the Caribbean up to where we need it the most.

SCHNEIDER: That would be great.

MARCIANO: All right, Bonnie. We'll check back with you in a little bit. Thanks.

PHILLIPS: A U.S. Chinook is gone. NATO forces racing to the rescue come under attack. It's been a deadly 24 hours in southern Afghanistan. With the latest, Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The U.S. Army CH- 47 helicopter went down in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, where NATO and U.S. troops have been battling Taliban fighters for weeks in the rugged terrain.

Initial reports indicate the transport helicopter, similar to this one, was brought down by a rocket-propelled grenade. The entire five-man crew was killed, as well as two other military passengers.

The helicopter had just dropped off other U.S. Army troops on the ground.

According to a NATO statement, another unit responded to the scene of the crash but was ambushed by enemy fighters. An air strike was then called in to stop the attackers.

Chinook helicopters are the Army's work horse, used daily to ferry equipment and troops. Helicopters flying in Afghanistan are particularly vulnerable when they travel through steep mountain passes or when they operate low to the ground in open areas.

(on camera) The insurgent tactic of attacking rescuers to a crash site has already been seen in Iraq. Now it's appearing in Afghanistan, and U.S. military officials say they are very concerned.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIANO: The president of the United States, the president of Iraq, there is no shortage of issues for these two men to discuss. They're getting their chance this afternoon at the White House.

Iraqi president Jalal Talabani is in the United States for a few weeks. This is file video from Talabani's trip to the U.S. last fall. The Iraqi leader is taking care of some health issues, along the way with his political business trip.

PHILLIPS: Nothing says summer like a convertible, but before you take off with the top down, better see what Greg Hunter found out in the latest convertible crash test. That's straight ahead from the CNN NEWSROOM.

MARCIANO: And a national bird looking for a home. Peacocks pushed out by overcrowding. And they're finding a new nest. Find out where in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Update you now on the developing news out of Washington, D.C. The Department of Transportation partially evacuated, we are being told, due to a suspicious package. Not quite sure where exactly it's located or how many people have been asked to evacuate from the building. We just know that investigators are on the scene. There is a suspicious package that has been found, and the Department of Transportation has been partially evacuated.

We'll follow it and bring you more information as we get it.

MARCIANO: It is 3:15 Eastern Time. Here are three of the stories we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM this hour.

The tuberculosis patient who touched off an international health scare has been transferred to a Denver hospital. Thirty-one-year-old Andrew Speaker, an Atlanta lawyer, flew between the U.S. and Europe, raising concerns he could have infected fellow passengers.

And President Bush is scheduled to meet in about an hour with Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani. Talabani is on a three-week visit to the U.S.

And the governor of New Hampshire today signed legislation allowing gay couples to join in civil unions starting next year.

PHILLIPS: Well, they're a staple of summer: convertible cars. But how safe are they? Consumer reporter Greg Hunter takes a look at the latest convertible crash tests.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Despite conventional wisdom, most convertibles built today are pretty safe.

DAVID ZUBY, INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY: These vehicles in general are offering as good a protection as their full- roofed counterparts.

HUNTER: The Insurance Institute bought 20 brand-new convertibles, two copies of each: one to crash in the front and one to crash in the side, all to find out how well they protect you in an accident.

Overall, the cars performed well in frontal crash tests. Eight of the ten cars scored good, the institute's highest rating. The top safety picks, the Saab 9-3 and the Volvo C-70.

ZUBY: The Saab is rated good in all three tests, the front, side and rear whiplash tests.

HUNTER (on camera): Volvo?

ZUBY: The Volvo C-70 is rated good in all three tests: the front, the side and the rear whiplash test.

HUNTER (voice-over): Both vehicles have roll bars to protect you in the event of a rollover. Five of the ten convertibles tested make this standard equipment.

Not included in the study is a rollover crash test. That's because the institute hasn't come up with a way to repeat the same rollover crash over and over.

So for now, it's pushing automakers to include electronic stability control as standard equipment, because it greatly reduces the chance for rollover.

The lowest rated car in the study is the Pontiac G6.

ZUBY: There are a number of problems. The first obvious one is that there's no inflatable protection for the driver's head.

HUNTER (on camera): So your arm gets protected but not your head.

ZUBY: Right.

HUNTER (voice-over): Pontiac says their car meets or exceeds all applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards and is moving to equip all applicable passenger cars with head protection by '09.

The institute says it was disappointed in the BMW 3 series, the most expensive convertible tested. Even though it's a brand-new design with side air bags, the vehicle scored only marginal in the side crash tests.

In an e-mail response, BMW wrote, "We are confident that, on the road in the real world, BMW vehicles are among the safest. This conclusion is supported by real-world crash data, not only in the U.S. but worldwide."

If you can't afford the more expensive models, the moderately priced Mitsubishi Eclipse also scored well on the institute's front and side crash test tests.

(on camera) The Insurance Institute says when you lose the roof, you do lose some safety and if you don't have your seat belts on in crash, all bets are off. For complete test results, go to CNN.com.

Back to you guys in the NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIANO: Kyra Phillips' moms no stranger to driving with the top down, proud as a peacock, speaking of. This national bird is looking for a home. Peacocks are being pushed out from overcrowding in India. They're finding a new place. We'll tell you about it in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARCIANO: Well, it may be the most recognizable image of capitalism in the world. But even the mighty New York Stock Exchange is vulnerable to market pressures. And now the landmark at corner -- at the corner of Broad and Wall Street is making some painful changes just to stay competitive.

Susan Lisovicz reports from the NYSE trading floor. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tradition is as much a part of the New York Stock Exchange as its flag-covered columns. The bell ringing that opens and closes each session is a celebrated fixture, attracting rock star CEOs and actual rock stars themselves.

And the greatest tradition of all, the NYSE's vast trading floor, where buyers and sellers have haggled over stock prices for 215 years.

STEVE GRASSO, NYSE TRADER: From the minute I stepped on the floor, it was like stepping onto the New York Yankees' lawn. I thought it was something where I was excited to be down here at the NYSE. I felt like we were always on the cutting edge.

TEDDY WEISBERG, SEAPORT SECURITIES: There's a whole energy, and it's kind of the honey that gets me to come in the door every day. And I suspect it works that way for everybody else that comes here.

LISOVICZ: But the floor is much quieter these days because of a new trading system that favors automation. Eighty percent of the average daily volume at the NYSE is now executed electrically, four times more than just a year and a half ago.

Hundreds of people have been let go. So many that the NYSE recently closed one of its five trading rooms.

The new executive in charge of trading at the NYSE came from Goldman Sachs' trading desk. He spoke to CNN exclusively.

DUNCAN NIEDERAUER, NYSE PRESIDENT & CO-COO: Well, a lot of the market is interested in getting executed as fast as they can. What we're really trying to balance is, does that always get you the best price? And it's not clear to me that it does. So I think you'll see us endeavoring to try to marry the two.

LISOVICZ: The average speed of a trade executed by a broker is nine seconds. Compare that to an automated trade, which takes less than 300 milliseconds.

MIKE RUTIGLIANO, WJB CAPITAL GROUP: I don't ever try to compete with a machine. I, on the other hand, want to try to add some human element, some decision-making, some discretion, some intuition that, frankly, is very hard to program into computers.

LISOVICZ: But speed is vital to the NYSE, which merged in April with Euronext. Like the world's other major stock exchanges, Euronext is completely automated.

KENNY POLCARI, ICAP EQUITIES: You start to get the global economy and the ability for brokers to interact, you know, in London, in South America, in Asia. Then I think what you'll see is that the world will come together, and it will settle down, albeit different than what it is, but it will settle in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LISOVICZ: Traders say the computers are fast, but they can't think, that they can often times get their customers a better price and that they can also reduce the volatility that comes with the hyper speed of electronic trading.

Nonetheless, Rob, the downsizing here continues. Lehman Brothers today laid off all of its clerks on the floor at NYSE. And earlier this month, Sanford Bernstein, another brokerage firm, shocked traders when it completely eliminated its entire presence at the New York Stock Exchange trading floor.

And this, of course, coming when the stock market hitting all- time highs. The Dow, modest gains today. The S&P 500, modest gains, but could close at new all-time highs -- Rob.

MARCIANO: Susan, they've seen this coming a long time. And I worked in Wall Street briefly over ten years ago. And it was called the DOT, the computer system then, and they cursed it then. And obviously, the changes are happening now.

But the mystique of the New York Stock Exchange, your friends down there, the traders: getting in the crowd, working an order. It's sad to hear that may be going away.

LISOVICZ: It's irreplaceable. And even the new executive in charge of it says that his counterparts in Europe, where it is completely automated, say that they regret that they do not have some sort of physical presence, human element, involved in trading.

MARCIANO: Well, let's hope it all doesn't totally go away. Thanks, Susan.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: Well, straight ahead, an American teenager on a trip to Africa. She didn't make it home alive. Anguish and the search for answers from the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

MARCIANO: And I'm Rob Marciano in for Don Lemon. He's on assignment.

One more trip for the man who's sparked an international health scare. And it's likely it will be his last trip for a long time to come.

PHILLIPS: Lawyer Andrew Speaker flies from Atlanta to Denver to be treated for extensively drug resistant tuberculosis. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We're monitoring a potential threat right now in Washington, D.C. You're seeing video just fed in of the units responding to the Department of Transportation. We are told they have discovered a suspicious package, a live picture now coming to us from D.C., not sure what it is.

Bomb squad is there, so is the capitol police and various units from the fire department, partially evacuated. That's what we're being told, the Department of Transportation. They're trying to figure out what that suspicious package is. As soon as we know more details, we'll let you know.

MARCIANO: Our top story continues to be a very sick man infected with a very deadly form of TB. He's now in the hands of specialists in Denver. Just in the past few minutes, we've learned his name. He name is Andrew Speaker. He's 31-years-old and he's a lawyer in Atlanta. He knew he had TB and traveled back and forth to Europe after being urged not to. Here are some big questions. Is it too late for Andrew Speaker? And how many other people were exposed and don't even know it yet?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. HENRY BLUMBERG, GRADY HOSPITAL, ATLANTA: The issue with extensively drug resistant TB or XTR TB is that the TB isolate is resistant to almost all the drugs we have so it makes it incredibly challenging and difficult to treat. And so the approach is usually trying to use whatever remaining drugs there are. And also surgery is also sometimes involved in patients who have highly resistant TB.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARCIANO: This man, Andrew Speaker, infected with TB, is not your ordinary patient and moving him across town or across the country will remind you of a scene from the movie "Outbreak." Here's CNN medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the ambulance that was used to transport the man with the extensively drug resistant tuberculosis just on Monday. And I'm here with Dr. Alex Isakov and you're the head of the bio-safety transport team here at Grady Memorial hospital.

DR. ALEX ISAKOV: I am.

COHEN: Most ambulances aren't draped in blue.

ISAKOV: You're right. This is the Grady EMS bio-safety transport unit. And it's draped out and prepared in a way so that it can be easily cleaned if we have to transport another patient who doesn't have a serious contagious disease.

COHEN: So if you have a patient who has some terrible disease and they cough, the droplets hit the blue drapes.

ISAKOV: That's right. The whole idea behind draping the ambulance out in this manner so if someone coughs, if someone vomits and they have a serious contagious disease, it can be easily cleaned up.

COHEN: (INAUDIBLE) You've got material, you've got machines back here. Let's take a look at what you're protecting. You don't want those droplets to get into this machine and later infect somebody else who touches the machine.

ISAKOV: Typical ambulances in this country are designed in a way that really make them difficult to be cleaned. They have a lot of exposed equipment, drawers and shelves and so we try to protect all of that equipment, make it easy to decontaminate the ambulance after we transport someone with a serious disease.

COHEN: And now behind this wall right here is the driver. Talk about how you protected the driver.

ISAKOV: We follow CDC guidelines to try and protect the driver compartment from the passenger compartment. So we've sealed it so that there's no mixing of air between the driver and passenger compartment and the drape is there of course to just help clean the ambulance.

COHEN So you've rigged the air conditioning system so the air in here does not get to him.

ISAKOV: That's right. There's no mixing of air between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment.

COHEN: This ambulance itself is not just special. The people who work in this ambulance are also special. We're going to have Jeff come up here. Jeff is a medic here. And you can see that he's wearing quite a suit. Tell me about the suit.

ISAKOV: Yeah, let me actually -- it's important to emphasize that the individual who was transported with extensively drug resistant TB did not require this level of protection. This is the level of protection our bio safety transport team can go to. He's wearing a PAFER (ph), which is a powered or purifying respirator and (INAUDIBLE). It prevents him from contracting a contagious disease by breathing in droplets or getting it in on his skin and getting it in his mouth or in his eyes.

COHEN: Every centimeter of him covered.

ISAKOV: Absolutely right and that allows for him with the proper training to take off that garb and not get contaminated.

COHEN: And this tube right here, tell me about this tube and what it does.

ISAKOV: Jeff (INAUDIBLE) is breathing filtered air through a HEPA (ph) filter. That tube is providing that filtrated air to his face so that he can breathe.

(END VIDEOTAPE) MARCIANO: Fascinating and scary at the same time. Andrew Speaker was transported to Atlanta's airport in such an ambulance. He's now at the national Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, Colorado.

PHILLIPS: We're continuing to follow that situation at the Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. We're now being told possibly four suspicious packages in addition to some new information that we're getting from our Kathleen Koch. She joins us now live from Washington to tell us what is going on. Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, as soon as we began getting these reports in the noon hour, I deal a lot with the Department of Transportation so I started calling all my contacts over there. Not surprisingly, not a single person was answering their phone.

So, I got in touch with Brian Turmeil (ph). He's a spokesperson for the Transportation Department and he said it was just shortly after 11:00 a.m. that they were all evacuated from the building because of what was initially thought to be then one suspicious package according to Allen Eder (ph), a spokesperson for D.C. fire. They say there are now four suspicious packages.

However, I just got off the phone with Brian Turmeil just about three minutes ago. He said they were told in five minutes they were going to be given the all-clear to return to the building. So apparently whatever these packages were or are, they have been determined not to be harmful and the employees are going to be let back in.

Now unclear about this one package that apparently is still somewhere near the Department of Energy where at least we believe some people have been evacuated. And there's also a section of Independence Avenue, one block between Ninth and Tenth Streets, that has been shut down as well. So we're still keeping an eye on that situation. But it looks like at least at the Department of Transportation, near the L'Enfant Plaza area that they will be very shortly given the all-clear.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll continue to stay in touch, Kathleen Koch, to follow up with you, appreciate it.

MARCIANO: A twist worthy of a John LeCarre novel -- did I say that right? It's about the murder of a former Russian spy, Alexander Litvenenko. In a dramatic news conference today in Moscow, former KGB agent Andre Lugovoi said the British government had more reason to kill Litvenenko than he did. Lugovoi speculated that Litvenenko had become a British agent and British intelligence was unhappy with him for boasting about his contacts and spilling secrets. Lugovoi said he had no reason and did not want to kill Litvenenko.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDRE LUGOVOI, FORMER KGB AGENT (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): You do not have to be a law expert to understand that -- carry out such crimes. You must have a motive. Alexander was not my enemy. There was no love lost between us, what kind of books he wrote -- I've been in business longer and I was not interested in such activity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARCIANO: British authorities say they cannot prove Litvenenko met with Lugovoi just hours before Litvenenko began showing signs he'd been poisoned. Russian authorities refused to extradite Lugovoi to Britain, saying he can't stand trial, he can stand trial in Russia instead. Britain's foreign ministry says her government expects full cooperation in bringing Litvenenko's killer to justice.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, an American teenager on a trip to Africa. She didn't make it home alive, anguish and a search for answers straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARCIANO: Well, it was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime, teenagers travel to Africa on a goodwill mission but one would not return home and her parents say she was murdered. A story of heartbreak and mystery from CNN's Randi Kaye.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That's Phylicia Moore in the pink on her way to the airport in April with students from her high school, headed to the African nation of Ghana on a goodwill tour, one of the last times Phylicia was seen alive.

PHYLICIA MOORE: I feel good. I'm meeting my parents. I'm excited. I'm scared I forgot something.

KAYE: The 18-year-old would never have the chance to spread the good will. She was dead before she even left her hotel. What do you think happened?

LOLA MOORE, PHYLICIA'S MOTHER: She encountered someone or something and she was held until the following morning and put in the pool when -- when they thought that they couldn't know -- or he or she or whoever thought that they wouldn't be -- they wouldn't be seen.

DOUGLAS MOORE, PHYLICIA'S FATHER: She was murdered. I know she was murdered. Someone got my daughter, held her, murdered her. She probably took her last little breath in the pool.

KAYE: If Douglas and Lola Moore are right, why would anyone murder their daughter? How would they have been able to get so close? Her body was found in this hotel pool the day after she arrived, still wearing her bathing suit, tank top and shorts. Her parents say they've been told there were no obvious injuries. She didn't like to swim, they say, and would not have gone to the pool alone.

This was the third time students from Teaneck High school had made the trip to Ghana. That gave Lola Moore confidence her daughter would be OK. She says the school also told her there would be chaperones on the trip. Lola says she remembers the last words one of the chaperones said to her as her daughter boarded the plane, we'll take care of her; we'll take care of her.

How was it, then, on the first night students say Phylicia left this gathering at the pool at 10:30 p.m. alone, even though chaperones were there? Her parents say she was headed for her room, but never made it and her roommate never reported her missing. It wasn't until the next morning that her body was found, 11 hours after she left the pool party.

One chaperone told us she and the other chaperones stayed at the pool until all of the students had left the pool area. And, she says, the students had all signed agreements not to go anywhere alone. But she admits they didn't do bed checks.

LOLA MOORE: They would have discovered that she was missing within -- within less than an hour of her being missing.

KAYE: Students Ali and Alliyah Banks were on the trip, too. Did you feel like the chaperones were keeping an eye on all of you?

ALLIYAH BANKS, WENT ON GHANA TRIP: No, not that night. We had chaperones on our floor, but they all went to sleep so -- probably really should have checked on us, though.

ALI BANKS, WENT ON GHANA TRIP: There was like so many people, I don't think they noticed one person walking off.

KAYE: Both told us there wasn't any alcohol or drugs on the trip. The school district didn't want to talk on camera or address specific questions about the trip, but said in a statement, our thoughts and prayers remain with the Moore family and we will continue to offer help to the Moore's, but we can make no further comment. Officials in Ghana are still waiting for autopsy results to determine cause of death. A second autopsy done in the U.S. may hold clues about the time of death.

LOLA MOORE: He's told us that she -- had to have been placed in the pool shortly before she was found, by the condition of her skin.

KAYE: What was it about her skin that ...

LOLA MOORE: Just the condition of the skin there was no pruning or wrinkling of the skin that would indicate that she was in the pool for any length of time.

KAYE: That means Phylicia may not have been in the pool overnight. So where was she? The Moore's want answers. But will they get them? They say the U.S. consulate in Ghana told them the clothes Phylicia was wearing when she died were thrown out and the blood sample taken from her body was not saved. Ghana's an ambassador to the U.S. told us that isn't true. He sent this letter to the Moore's promising to solve the mystery. Until then Douglas and Lola Moore will hang on to what their daughter left behind, this journal.

DOUGLAS MOORE: Saturday we arrived (INAUDIBLE). KAYE: Phylicia dreamed of becoming a journalist and started taking notes on her trip, just two entries. It ends the day she arrived.

DOUGLAS MOORE: I want her back. I do want her back. That is my daughter. You know? She should have come back. She wanted to come back. I just can't understand that she's -- it's just destroyed us.

KAYE: Their only daughter, taken from them while trying to spread good will a world away. How could it be no one saw a thing?

Randi Kaye, CNN, Teaneck, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Hard to treat, potentially fatal case of TB, a Denver hospital specializes in just this kind of challenge. The head of the National Jewish Medical and Research Center join us live ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARCIANO: Live pictures and sound from the dedication of the Billy Graham library, $27 million project. It's a -- supposed to be a private dedication, 1,500 people. Of course, our camera is there to show you a little slice of it. Billy Graham's religious crusade spanned the globe for generations.

Now this new multimillion-dollar library will carry on his work. Ceremony's under way as you can see in Charlotte, North Carolina. Former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush are among those expected to attend. Graham, who's 88 and ended his crusade two years ago because of failing health, his son Franklin says his father will be at the dedication. His mother, Ruth, will not. She remains bedridden within degenerative osteoarthritis.

PHILLIPS: India, the nation teeming with people and bustling with commotion and the overcrowding is endangering the lifestyle of one of its most majestic creatures, the peacock.

CNN's Don Lemon is traveling in India.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The distinct call of India's national bird could be a cry for help. The president of India's World Pheasant Association says its beloved peacock is being crowded out of big city parks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gardens are not meant for human beings alone. Let's have a look.

LEMON: So instead of the usual egg laying spots ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're known to lay eggs in this kind of situation. LEMON: Some would-be mama pea hens are getting creative by not nesting on the ground and taking to the skies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is where the eggs were laid.

LEMON: On a second floor balcony twice, then a third floor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was the third ledge, about 35, 36 feet from the ground.

LEMON: Yeah, this is really high. Two birds abandoned their eggs. But one is still nesting. Workers and members of New Delhi's Haudi (ph) international center are going out of their way to make their newest resident comfortable. The gardener collected soft twigs to spruce up the nest. What do you do if the crows come, you make them go away?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to open the window. If they don't, we have to hush them away.

LEMON: They even established a quiet zone around the ledge. The drapes are ordered shut.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not one peep.

LEMON: OK, all right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you see?

LEMON: So while mommy rules the roost for at least two more weeks, the eggs from the abandoned nests incubate at the Delhi zoo.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sure the architect never realized that he's creating a place for the pea hen to nest. So I think they should be called peacock (ph) ledges.

LEMON: Now that's good architecture.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.

LEMON: Don Lemon, CNN, New Delhi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Leave it to our Don Lemon to find the peacock story in India.

MARCIANO: He could make a pretty good spy, the way he snuck up on that bird.

PHILLIPS: It's like Frank Lloyd Wright of India.

MARCIANO: Thanks, Don Lemon.

Four years of military school and all people remember about you is this -- the dancing cadet. Video seen around the world, coming up in the NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: And if you're going to send up a helium balloon in hopes of finding a pen pal, you could do worse than the queen of England. We'll have that story straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

First, I want to take a quick break -- before we go to break actually, take a look at the big board there, Dow industrials down 24 points. Susan Lisovicz watching it all for us from the stock exchange in New York. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARCIANO: A little disco for the audience. Kyra's loving it. A dancing cadet caught the attention of the secretary of defense at the Air Force academy graduation. CNN's Jeanne Moos has this most unusual look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On graduation day at the Air Force academy, you think this would be the climax for every cadet. But for one cadet, now 2nd lieutenant this was the climax. Even the secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, brought it up in his commencement address.

ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: To learn about the dangers of dancing alone in your dorm room. And yes, I've seen the video.

MOOS: This would be this video.

Just about every day it seems like I walk into this room and catch my roommate dancing to some retarded song.

MOOS: Back when they were sophomores, Brian Stoops installed a hidden camera in his dorm room to capture his roommate's gyrations while he was all alone. Jeff Pelehac boogied his way to Air Force academy immortality. Everybody said to him.

JEFF PELEHAC: You're the dancing cadet.

MOOS: He became a smash hit on YouTube. He made the news repeatedly, even made it on to the "Maury Povich" show. The audience loved him. No need to blur his face anymore. Jeff is practically famous.

PELEHAC: It's two years later and I'm still having fun of it.

MOOS: The head of the joint chiefs even gave Jeff and Brian little medallions for improving academy morale. The tape was named best viral (ph) video of 2005 by salon.com. For some, the best part was when the jig was up. One viral video breeds another. This is the Air Force academy's mascot. While most of the graduates Wednesday were jumping for joy and enjoying cigars, 2nd lieutenant Jeff Pelehac was taking no offense to the words of the defense secretary ...

GATES: Don't give up your day job. MOOS: Yeah, well, on YouTube his moves are appreciated. White boy actually ain't bad is a typical comment. So the next time your mirror beckons you to bust a move, remember the dancing cadet. Jeff plans to be a civil engineer, so while he may never be a top gun, he'll forever be top fun. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIANO: Not bad.

PHILLIPS: A four-year old boy who lives about 20 miles from Windsor Castle has a new pen pal, the queen. According to the "Daily Mail," it all began when the boy sent a helium balloon into the air with a note seeking a pen pal. He had hoped it would fly to France or beyond. Well, it only made it as far as the castle gardens, but the royal family must have been amused because Queen Elizabeth ordered her secretary to reply to the lad. The "Daily Mail" says the queen and the boy have since exchanged a number of letters.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

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