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Ship With Traces of Radiation Remains Offshore in New Jersey

Aired September 12, 2002 - 14:15   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, saying that we owe it to the victims of the September 11 attacks, President Bush wants Americans to remain vigilant about security. Right now, the nationwide state of alert is at level orange, and it looks like it could stay there for a while.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve joins us now from Washington with the latest on that -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, we just don't know how long it is going to last. As you know, a lot of the intelligence that this threat level was based on was keyed to September 11, but I was told by a government official yesterday, it was a mistake to think that because the date changed the threat level was going to change, and indeed, it stayed on orange today. This government official tells me that intelligence is being evaluated constantly, and when the threat assessment changes, that is when the threat level will change.

Meanwhile, at the state and local level, people say they are sticking with the program, most of them keeping up patrols. In the state of Ohio, for example, most trucks on the highways are being inspected. In California, they beefed up patrols around things like aqueducts, and also bridges -- back to you.

PHILLIPS: Jeanne, the latest on the ship -- matter of fact, you reported on this yesterday, that was checked for traces of radiation. What's the status of that?

MESERVE: Status quo. They are still trying to check this out. They have sent a Navy team out there today with some equipment, to try and get a better handle. We knew that the Department of Energy had sent some out yesterday. They are trying to figure out exactly what caused that positive radiation reading. They haven't figured it out yet, so they are still looking into that. The ship remains offshore, off the state of New Jersey -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jeanne Meserve. Thanks, Jeanne.

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