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CNN Live At Daybreak

Anthrax Investigation: Interview of William Smith, New York Metro Postal Union President

Aired October 24, 2001 - 08:02   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 ANCHOR: Our live coverage begins at the Brentwood postal facility in northeast Washington.

Jeanne Meserve brings us up to date now on some of the latest developments from there.

Good morning, Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

The number of people hospitalized and suspected of having anthrax has now grown. The number is now eight, all of these people associated with this Brentwood mail processing facility.

Here are the latest numbers as we know them: Two people have died; D.C. officials confirmed yesterday that they have died of inhalation anthrax. Two remain hospitalized in Virginia; they have confirmed cases of inhalation anthrax. And six are hospitalized in Maryland. That is where we've seen the change: The number yesterday two; it's now gone up to six.

Again, all of these are suspected cases of anthrax. Five of these people are hospitalized at Holy Cross Hospital, in suburban Washington. They are all described as being stable with good vital signs. They are all being treated with the antibiotic Cipro. One is at Greater Baltimore Medical Center, in Baltimore.

Meanwhile, trace amounts of anthrax have been found at a remote White House mail processing facility, and officials believe there could be a link.

Let's show you a map that's going to explain why. Brentwood is the central mail processing facility for the city of Washington. Some mail, including that anthrax-tainted letter that went to Tom Daschle, are processed through here. It went from here to Capitol Hill.

Other mail goes from here to that remote mail processing facility, that at a military installation. From there, it would go on to the White House.

The operating theory is that that White House machine at that remote operating facility became contaminated because of some cross- contamination of mail here at this Brentwood facility. The mail workers at that remote mail processing facility and at the White House itself are all being swabbed and tested for anthrax, but the president was unequivocal last night. He said he does not have anthrax, and he does not believe it is anywhere in the White House complex.

Paula, back to you.

ZAHN: Jeanne Meserve, thanks so much. I know you've been working on this around the clock. I look forward to your reports all day long.

Now on to the issue of what's going on in Trenton, where, for the first time, there has been a warning for some postal customers.

Michael Okwu now joins us to give us a better perspective now on what this warning means.

It's a pretty broad one, isn't it, Michael?

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It sure is. I can tell you first that New Jersey health officials are asking doctors and hospitals to review past sicknesses and perhaps suspicious deaths to try to determine whether they may have been anthrax related.

In the meantime, the U.S. Postal Service here and health officials are urging those people who mailed bulk business mail at this Hamilton Township facility to go in right away to try to receive a 10-day regimen of antibiotics.

Now, as you know, health officials believe that a middle-aged woman who works at this Hamilton Township facility has come down with inhalation anthrax. She is a mail handler here. As of yesterday, she was in serious, but stable, condition, taking a number of antibiotics, and in the words of health officials, holding her own.

Between this facility and a post office in Ewing Township, some 15 miles from here, two people have come down with cutaneous anthrax, and a third likely has also come down. And of course, this woman makes a total of four total cases of anthrax.

Now, at this point, more than 1,000 postal workers have been tested and are receiving antibiotics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. GEORGE DIFERDINANDO, NEW JERSEY HEALTH COMMISSIONER: The most important message, I believe, of this conference is that given this suspected case of inhalation anthrax, those workers who have not seen a physician or a nurse so far absolutely need to see a physician or a nurse, to receive this preventative prescription.

For those who have received this prescription who have not begun to take it, they definitely need to begin taking this medication.

(END VIDEO CLIP) OKWU: At this point, most of the mail is being sorted in tents that have been erected outside of this facility, and we are told that there are two hot zones here totaling some 8,500 square feet, and they're going to be looking into trying to clear that up in the coming days.

Back to you, Paula.

ZAHN: Michael, I know this morning is very fresh. Have there been any signs of these customers coming to this facility, or at least trying to get some advice from postal officials about antibiotics?

OKWU: We haven't seen signs, at this point, about that, Paula. It's interesting. I've been here for the better part of this week so far, and today, they were very, very tight about how close you can actually get to the facility. I think that they are probably expecting some of those people to come in, and I think they're expecting that there's going to be so much more attention in this particular facility. And they're trying to be as careful and secure about it as possible.

ZAHN: That would make sense. Michael Okwu, thanks so much -- see you a little bit later on.

The postmaster general says there are no guarantees that mail is safe, but he adds post offices should not be shut down across the country for a security inventory.

A few moments ago, Postmaster General John Potter told me that he followed the best medical advice available in treating exposed workers. Postal workers never thought they would be on the front lines of this battle, but many of them feel like they've been last in line for tests and treatments.

New York Metro Postal Union President William Smith is here to talk a little bit about that.

Good morning. How are you doing this morning, sir?

WILLIAM SMITH, PRESIDENT, NEW YORK METRO POSTAL UNION: Fine. How are you doing?

ZAHN: I'm doing fine.

So a moment ago when I spoke with the postmaster general, I actually used a quote of yours where you were highly critical of the federal government for not providing the proper materials and protective devices to your workers, and he adamantly said it was not a cost issue, that, basically, we're all in this learning process together, and they're still trying to address what the best way is to protect your workers. Do you buy that?

SMITH: No, I do not. The reason why I do not buy that is because at every meeting we have had with labor management and upper management -- David Solomon, Paul Detagli (ph), other regional area management in New York City -- they clearly state economic cost: the amount of money they paid on gloves, the amount of money they paid on respirator masks, the amount of money it costs for getting a proper vacuum cleaner to vacuum these machines out.

They talked about dollars and cents at every meeting we have had. They are not concerned about the safety of these workers, and the American people know that nationwide now, that they are not concerned.

If they were concerned, they would have tested those employees before they died in Washington, D.C. It's clear on that. Our Congress talks about it. CDC made a mistake underestimating the reaction from this bacteria in the mail system. It's clear that a lot of people did not do their job, and the postal workers were sitting ducks.

ZAHN: I asked the postmaster general many of the same things you just brought up now, and I asked him quite pointedly whether he felt he was at the mercy of the CDC, and he explained that they were given guidance that a sealed letter couldn't infect anybody. So clearly, there is an acknowledgement that there was a bad assumption made, but you don't believe that the federal government is intentionally trying to harm your workers, do you?

SMITH: No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying that I have in my right hand guidelines that CDC gave the postal service in 1998 and 1999. They knew that this bacteria was a possibility, was in the mail system, in 1998 and 1999. It was signed by the ex-postmaster general, Marvin Runyon. Now, CDC gave them guidelines of, if this was true, if it takes place, the things that they must do, and it clearly states that they must treat the employees, they must run tests in their facility, on the machines, and if it's necessary, they must close these facilities down and make sure the workers are protected. They did not do that.

The postal service was told back in September 18 or 17 that they had problems in the mail system with this bacteria. They waited...

ZAHN: Mr. Smith, let me ask you this, because I asked the postmaster general about exactly what you're saying. And I asked, why don't you just shut down the post office system for a couple of days and do what the airline industry did, and he said it's absolutely not necessary. He claimed that the contamination is at four defined sites. And then he posed the question if you shut it down, how do you start it back up again? Does he have a point there?

SMITH: It's very simple, according to the guidelines. They check the areas out. If the areas come back negative, they know they can open the system back up. If it comes back positive, they've got to get the right proper people to clean the area and then open the system back up.

We are not talking about shutting the post offices down nationwide. We're talking about the areas that might have been contaminated, such as in Trenton, Washington, D.C., or the seven facilities right here in my area in New York City. That's what we are talking about, the areas that they target, not me, the areas they said they might a problem here.

That's what we are saying. Go into those areas, do what they're supposed to do, protect the workers -- put the workers' safety as first interest; they did not do that. What they did was they waited until the condition got worse and then two employees died before they started doing random testing and then started treating.

Now, they are...

ZAHN: Once again -- and I'm not sitting here to defend the postal service -- but the postmaster general said the CDC didn't realize you could get infected from an unsealed letter.

I just have time for you for one more question. Testing is being done on a random basis now in the New York metro area. You are very concerned that people will fall through the cracks. Why are you so convinced that random testing doesn't work?

SMITH: Because random testing automatically does not test everyone. You know that and I know that. They are just systematically testing people who they think might have been exposed to the bacteria.

Let's suppose there are employees that were exposed to it, but not tested. Then they have got to come down with a serious illness, and then if we come to find out, it might be too late. That is the problem I've found with random testing.

The postal service is worried about dollars and cents, not safety. They are worried about saving money, not preventing people from coming down with this bacteria. What they should do, again -- I repeat -- is test the employees, find out what the test results are, and if it is a problem, treat the employees and hope that that will resolve the problem. That's what they're supposed to do.

ZAHN: William Smith, you've given us an awful lot to think about this morning -- the post office, of course, maintaining that it is doing many of the things you're asking for this morning, in fact, the postmaster general saying they're starting to hand out masks. But I'm sure this debate will continue to be fierce.

And we look forward to having you back, to keep us updated on what's going on in the New York metro area.

Thank you for your time this morning.

SMITH: Thank you, and God bless you.

ZAHN: Thank you.

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