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CNN Live At Daybreak

White House and Bayer Agree on Low Price For Cipro Antibiotic

Aired October 25, 2001 - 06:01   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: Ninety-five million dollars for medicine. Now it might not sound like much of a bargain to you, but the White House thinks it's a pretty good deal for anthrax antibiotics.

CNN's Senior White House Correspondent John King has the details on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The new deal clears the way for the government to dramatically expand its supply of the anthrax antibiotic Cipro, a stockpile the White House says is critical for the war on terrorism.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: On September the 11th this great land came under attack and it's still under attack as we speak. Anybody who puts poison in mail is a terrorist. Anybody who tries to affect the lives of our good citizens is evil.

KING: Suspicions, but still no evidence linking anthrax letters to Osama bin Laden or any international terrorist group.

BUSH: We've got thousands of FBI agents scouring information and asking questions, following up leads, all aimed to raise the risk of someone who would harm our citizens.

KING: The government currently has enough Cipro on hand to treat two million for anthrax. The new deal with drugmaker Bayer is aimed at buying enough to treat 10 million more. One hundred million tablets for $95 million, meaning 95 cents a table, down from the $1.77 the government paid previously.

Two hundred more government workers were tested for anthrax exposure after trace amounts were found Tuesday at a remote site that screens all mail sent to the White House. None of the first 120 to get preliminary results tested positive. And sources tell CNN a new round of tests inside the White House complex turned up no evidence of anthrax.

Still workers at the remote White House site and some other government mailrooms are getting Cipro as a precaution. All part of an evolving response the administration hopes will quite criticism it was slow to understand the scope of the threat. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remember we have never had cases of anthrax attacks in the manner before. It is a new challenge that we're all facing as a country. And we need to do more.

KING: Administration officials say they have no choice but to assume there will be more anthrax attacks through the mail. And investigators say their work is being complicated by a rash of false alarms and hoaxes, 2500 involving anthrax in just the past three weeks. The FBI director says anyone pulling such a prank won't find it funny if caught.

John King, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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