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CNN Live At Daybreak
Anthrax Scare: Common Thread in Anthrax Cases is Mail Sorting Center Near Trenton; Mayor Giuliani Now Urging Residents Not to Panic Over Anthrax Letters
Aired October 16, 2001 - 07:30 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN NEWS: And welcome back at 25 minutes before the hour.
A common thread in two of these anthrax cases is a U.S. mail sorting center near Trenton, New Jersey. Anthrax-contaminated letters postmarked Trenton were sent to NBC's Tom Brokaw and Senator Tom Daschle's Capitol Hill office.
Our Maria Hinojosa is at that sorting facility, which is in Hamilton Township, New Jersey. Good morning. What's going on there this morning.
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN NEWS: Good morning, Paula. Well, this is the processing plant where two letters that have been confirmed to have traces of anthrax were processed, touched, postmarked here and on September 18th.
What we do know now is that two postal employees from this place here, this site here, have been tested for anthrax. One is a female letter carrier, who has symptoms of the flu. Another one, a male maintenance worker, who had symptoms similar to poison ivy.
Now, the woman had been sick for weeks and had been given some medication but didn't respond to it. It was only once she was given Cipro, that her symptoms began to clear up.
Now, usually at this site there are five postal inspectors located at this processing plant. We know that, as of this morning, there are at least four more who have come here. They are all taking part in the latest investigation on tracing the anthrax-laced letters that were sent from here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's safe to say that through the automated equipment that's available at the Trenton PNDC, we can pretty much pinpoint when the item was handled at our postmarking equipment, and from that point determine when it was brought into the facility.
HINOJOSA: Now, Paula, we have been told by one of these postal inspectors that they're here to try to take part in the investigation, but also to make sure that we in the media don't take up all of the parking spaces.
Their intention is to keep this processing plant open and functioning to the public as normally as they can - Paula.
ZAHN: Well, I know that you don't take those kind of chances. You're heading that warning, right, and parked far away?
HINOJOSA: We did. We saw the postal inspector badges and we said, we got you. We're parking on the grass instead.
ZAHN: Good. I knew that you would respect that. Thanks so much, Maria.
With anthrax turning up at various media outlets, CNN is taking no chances.
The Georgia National Guard conducted tests for anthrax at the CNN Center in Atlanta overnight. Authorities tell us the tests were an environmental review performed as a precaution. Testing has also been done here at CNN in New York.
He has been in this position before. New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is now urging president -- residents, that is -- not to panic over the latest anthrax letters.
Meanwhile, the city is taking steps to try and guard against more cases. Mayor Giuliani joins me from his offices this morning.
Good morning, sir.
RUDY GIULIANI, MAYOR, NEW YORK CITY: Good morning, Paula. How are you?
ZAHN: Good, thanks. Can you shed any more light as to what happened at ABC last night? We all watched the news conference. Is it ...
GIULIANI: (INAUDIBLE)
ZAHN: ... is it any clearer this morning how that anthrax was contracted by a seven-month-old?
GIULIANI: No. We know basically the same things on September 28th. The baby was taken to ABC, was there about two or three hours.
Last night we tried to retrace, as best we could, all of the steps of where the baby was taken, so that we can try to limit it to certain areas.
The police and the FBI interviewed a large number of people. So far no conclusions, except no one else has symptoms, which is very, very good news. This, you know, all happened almost (ph) 17 days ago, and no one has developed any symptoms.
So, whatever might have been going on there does not appear to be going on there now, although the environmental tests aren't completely back yet. That'll still take another day to do, to be really sure ...
ZAHN: And I have ... GIULIANI: ... of that.
ZAHN: ... yeah. And I've been told ABC News employees haven't requested any antibiotics as a precaution.
Does that surprise you given the fact that no one really knows the source of what this anthrax was?
GIULIANI: No. I would say that probably was a wise decision. We don't know yet what - where the agent was released, if it was at all at ABC. There are no symptoms at ABC. In other words, there aren't any - people that are describing symptoms.
If people had contracted cutaneous anthrax as a result of something happening on September 28th, we would be seeing, we'd be seeing evidence of that at this point. So, I - from what I was told by the CDC and the health people, that was a very wise decision.
I'm not a doctor, so I can't give advice to anyone else, but that's what the doctors told us.
ZAHN: All right. And if you would, sir, comment on the differences you saw this time around in this investigation, ABC versus what you saw at NBC last week.
There have been a number of governor official - of government officials - who have been highly critical of what they described as a very slow response by the FBI with the NBC matters. Has anything changed?
GIULIANI: Well, I - the difference is, I mean, in the NBC situation, there was an original letter that was thought to be the letter that contained the anthrax. That letter was tested twice, and it turned out to be negative.
It turned out that there was an earlier letter that had been filed away that was discovered on Friday that contained the anthrax.
So, I think the - that whole situation had to do with the fact that several negative tests came back. So I don't know that you could really fault anybody for that.
And also, I think we have to understand that everybody, the - all the networks, the police, the FBI, the Mayor's Office, everyone - we're learning in this situation. And I think we've all learned, now, a lot more than we would ever want to know about anthrax.
ZAHN: And what have you learned to make the environment any safer for your police detectives who are among the first to go in to investigate these threats?
GIULIANI: I mean, they - they're going to have to be careful about the way they handle it. The laboratory procedures are that you wear masks, you wear gloves. Even with that, you might have some situations where people will get some spores on them, or get them in their nose. The main thing is they've got to be tested. And if they're tested, and they're given antibiotics as a preventative, as a prophylactic, then there shouldn't be any danger to them at all.
And, in the case of the three people that handled it, where some spores were found, I should emphasize, that does not mean they have anthrax.
The number of spores that were found were so minuscule, that they would really ultimately pose no real danger.
ZAHN: Can you give us an idea of how many New York police officers are currently being treated as a precautionary measure, because they've walked into, to these environments where, you know, particularly at NBC, where anthrax was found?
GIULIANI: Well, actually an - where antibiotics is actually being given?
ZAHN: Yeah, are any, any ...
GIULIANI: I, (INAUDIBLE) ...
ZAHN: ... police officers taking as a precautionary measure.
GIULIANI: I think - I know of only one. There may be more, but I'll check on that. I'm not absolutely sure. I know of one situation in which a police officer's being given antibiotics as a preventative, and several lab technicians.
They're -- in case of the lab technicians, it may be more than that, but I'll have to find out.
ZAHN: And I know last night you said rather lightheartedly that you wouldn't have gone into the ABC News headquarters if you didn't they were secure and safe, but have you - has anybody advised you, because of your involvement with the story, to take antibiotics as a precautionary measure?
GIULIANI: No. I'm doing. I'm doing OK. I ...
ZAHN: All right.
GIULIANI: ... I wanted to make sure I could go to the Yankee game last night, so ...
ZAHN: And they won. You ...
GIULIANI: ... I ended up wearing (ph) ...
ZAHN: ... must be very happy this morning.
GIULIANI: ... go along (ph) with your life. Everybody should go on with their life.
ZAHN: Everybody's attempting to, but in the meantime, there is so much concern, and particularly about the amount of volume of mail that comes into New York City.
Can you give us some insights this morning as to the precautions that are being taken - taking place in various postal offices around the city, to ensure ...
GIULIANI: (INAUDIBLE)
ZAHN: ... that the public is safe?
GIULIANI: The mail is safe. The number of cases that we've had, both - either in New York or nationally, are an infinitesimal amount of mail that moves, so that, on a statistical basis, you know, your mail's going to be fine.
And if you're worried about any particular piece of mail, then leave the package there. Don't carry it around your office or your home. Call the police. They'll come, they'll test it, and we'll handle it that way.
And remember, if any symptoms emerge, there's a full and complete cure for this, so people should not overreact. They should remain calm. This is, this is all able to be handled by the health systems that are out there right now.
ZAHN: And yet, public opinion polls suggest the majority of Americans are very frightened by this.
What are you encountering ...
GIULIANI: They are.
ZAHN: ... on the streets, when you run into New Yorkers? Or particularly in a, in a - where you were last night, in Yankee Stadium, ...
GIULIANI: At Yankee Stadium ...
ZAHN: ... it was packed full with people.
GIULIANI: At Yankee Stadium, all I detected were a bunch of wild and crazy fans who are delighted that the Yankees made the come back that they made.
And then some Oakland fans who were disappointed, as you would expect. If it happened the other way, we would be disappointed.
But, those baseball fans ...
ZAHN: But people in general ...
GIULIANI: ... were out there in large numbers.
ZAHN: ... but people in general, are you finding are nervous about this in New York City?
GIULIANI: There are some people that are nervous. People react to this very differently. And some people that are taking it in their stride.
And I would urge as many people as possible to take it within their stride and to listen carefully to the facts rather than over - become overly emotional about.
Listen to the facts. This is treatable, detectable, curable and it is happening - although the cases get a great deal of attention, as you would expect they would - this is happening in a minuscule number of cases.
So, believe me, everybody in New York and everybody in the United States faces more risk of something else happening than anything having to do with this.
ZAHN: All right. Well, I don't know that you could see the bottom quarter of our screen, but we have made it clear that you have been granted an honorary knighthood ...
GIULIANI: Right (ph).
ZAHN: ... by Queen Elizabeth.
Now, what does that mean? How do we have to address you these days, Mr. Mayor?
GIULIANI: (INAUDIBLE) ...
ZAHN: Will sir do?
GIULIANI: Just Rudy is great.
ZAHN: Rudy is great.
GIULIANI: Rudy, Rudy is pretty (ph) good. And yet (ph), and sometimes at the ballpark, like when I go to Shea Stadium, I'm addressed as, you bum, go back to the Bronx.
So, Rudy, Rudy wouldn't be bad.
ZAHN: Well, it's a good thing the Yankees won last night, that's all I can ...
GIULIANI: (INAUDIBLE) ...
ZAHN: ... didn't look good at the beginning of that game, I'll tell you that. Well, ...
GIULIANI: (INAUDIBLE) ...
ZAHN: ... Mr. Mayor, thank you.
GIULIANI: I know, but great, great for the spirit of the city.
ZAHN: Thanks so much for joining us ...
GIULIANI: Thank you. ZAHN: ... this morning. We appreciate it.
In just a few minutes, keeping your family safe. Some things you need to know about anthrax and your children. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be filling us in. We'll be right back.
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