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Bird Flu Update; U.N. Report Implicates Syrian Officials in Assassination Plot

Aired October 21, 2005 - 13:38   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Fresh measures against bird flu in Europe and Asia. In Brussels, the European Union votes to ban to live birds from markets or exhibitions without permission, and completely banning imports of pet birds and feather from many regions in Russia.
In Germany, no more free-range birds. Farmers are being told to keep chicken flocks indoors.

And in Hungary, health officials say a bird flu vaccine tested on 100 human volunteers may help against the H5N1 strain. Hungary now plans to make vaccines for its citizens and sell them abroad. The development would have to start off over if a virus strain other than H5N1 were to affect humans.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong won't take chances if bird flu acquired the ability to pass from human to human. Local media reports say that Hong Kong officials are prepared to seal off borders with mainland China if such an outbreak occurs.

And this hour, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt held a press conference in Washington. Leavitt and other U.S. health officials have just been in Southeast Asia to assess the current bird flu situation, and he's outlining how the federal government now is moving to address a global pandemic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE LEAVITT, HHS SECY.: Person-to-person transmission occurs anywhere. There is risk everywhere. And that's well characterized by the Southeast Asian area. There, of course, is there microbes, no borders. And they are no respecter of sovereignty. And so our purpose is to help that region of the country, and that region of the world, achieve surveillance in a fashion that they can determine quickly when it occurs so they can get to the site and contain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And don't forget, we're staying on Hurricane Wilma, also, as it's crushing into Cozumel. We've got that and much more news, right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Anger is gathering over a stunning United Nations report that implicates the brother-in-law of the Syria's president, Bashar Al Assad, in the assassination of former Lebanese president Rafik Hariri. That killing happened last February, shortly after the U.N. called on Syria to pull its troops from Lebanon. It was a move that Hariri had pushed ahead, but the public outcry is only part of the story. Diplomatic fire storm threatens to erupt over what's called converging evidence of high-level Syrian and Lebanese involvement in the assassination plot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BOLTON, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: This report is obviously very significant. It finds probable cause to believe that the assassination could not have been undertaken without the knowledge of senior figures in Syrian intelligence. It refers to lack of cooperation by Syria with the investigation, which is diplo-speak for obstruction of justice. It's a very hard-hitting report.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Syria's president told CNN any Syrian involved in the plot would be considered as a traitor and most severely punished. It is treason, he said.

CNN U.N. producer Liz Neisloss joins us now with the latest. And Liz, maybe you can put it in perspective about what was so stunning in this report, and why we're talking about it to the extent we are today.

LIZ NEISLOSS, CNN U.N. PRODUCER: Well, it's really not just a report about two countries. As the U.S. see its, this is a report that implicates Syria, it implicates officials in Lebanon. And what that spells is problems for the entire Middle East region.

The U.S. is hoping to be able to use this report to push Syria, to push Syria to stop its support for Palestinian militias, to stop allowing insurgents and fighters through their borders into Iraq. So it has much greater implications than just for two countries.

And the report truly is stunning, because it really says that a probable cause has been found to show that none of this could have taken place without Syrian officials complicit at the highest levels -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So, could we finding -- could we find out more about individuals that we wouldn't expect, high-ranking political individuals, others in these countries, that are supporting the insurgency, supporting terrorism?

NEISLOSS: I think we're going to hear more and more. And, certainly, this report indicates that there is a lot more to learn. There's corruption, there's fraud, there's money laundering. All those trails need to be followed.

The prosecutor who did this report has been described by some as a mythic figure now in the region. He had become practically a household name. He had almost unprecedented access in a sovereign country. This was very unusual for the U.N. to be able to put in place an investigation like this. But the report had all sorts of amazing details, chilling in some ways.

It quoted a senior Lebanese security officer, talking to a witness, saying, we are going to send him on a trip. Bye-bye, Hariri. So some very damning evidence. A suspicious phone call made to the current president of Lebanon moments before the assassination. It describes wire-tapping, surveillance, individuals who provided money, cars, fake IDs. So quite a long trail that will have to be further followed -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And it was just -- wasn't it just last week, Liz, Syria's President Bashar Al Assad gave our Christiane Amanpour an exclusive interview? They sat down, he talked about how he was against terrorism, that he's not a dictator?

NEISLOSS: Absolutely. And this continues to be the line here. this week, we've heard it this week from Damascus. We hear it here. They consider this report a big lie. And, yet, they also repeat that anyone involved will be considered a traitor. So, it will be very interesting, Kyra, to see how that will play out. But the U.S. is certainly already verbally ratcheting up the pressure on Syria.

PHILLIPS: Our U.N. producer, Liz Neisloss. Thanks, Liz.

We're also expecting a news conference any moment from the Capitol police regarding that suspicious vehicle that was not far from the Capitol, where the HAZMAT team moved in and took care of a suspicious package. They didn't blow it up, but they used a safe rendering procedure. So it's no longer a threat.

We'll have more, right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. JESSICA GISSUBEL, CAPITOL POLICE: Again, the package that was in the vehicle in question has been disrupted. We are going to continue to investigate this matter to determine if there's anything further we need to concern ourselves with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: That was just moments ago, Sergeant Jessica Gissubel, the spokeswoman for the U.S. Capitol police. She was talking about that suspicious package that was in this rental car, this Impala, that as you can see, courtesy of the hazmat team there, was taken care of. It was taken care of by a render safe procedure, which, in other words, it's not an explosion. It's a safer way to basically take care of that package.

They weren't sure if there was an explosive inside there or not. We hope to find that out soon, but we're now being told this area, the 100 block of 1st Street Northwest is going to be reopened shortly. No buildings on Capitol Hill were evacuated. It looked like the situation was able to be contained. The two men that are responsible that were driving this car, and told police about the possible explosive in that car, are still being questioned by law enforcement officials and the FBI.

Well, as you may have heard, Hurricane Wilma set the record for lowest pressure in an Atlanta hurricane, 882 millibars. We were wondering what exactly that means, so here's what we found out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The low pressure in a hurricane is measured in the eye of the storm. While the average barometric pressure on earth's surface is 1,013 millibars, the pressure at the center of the hurricane is 100 to 120 millibars lower. That low pressure point is what determines the storm's strength.

It acts like a vacuum, pulling the storm system inward all around it. This does two things. First, it holds the hurricane together, keeping the storm bands from straying away and dissipating. And second, the harder the pull inward, the faster the storm's rotation and stronger the winds.

Of course, the pull gets stronger as you get closer to the eye of the storm. That's why the winds in the so-called eyewall are the hurricane's strongest. It's those winds that is can cause the most devastation when the storm makes landfall.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Coming up in the second hour of LIVE FROM, watching and waiting for Wilma. As the Category 4 storm bashes the Yucatan Peninsula, we'll go live to Washington for a FEMA briefing as the U.S. braces for yet another hit from yet another major hurricane.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Quick live look with live pictures there, a salute to Ronald Reagan. President Bush is helping dedicate a new Air Force One exhibit right there at the former president's library. But his appearance at a GOP fundraiser while here is upsetting some California Republicans. As a matter of fact, the governor isn't even going to meet with the president. But we'll talk more about this dedication and the controversy straight ahead.

Meanwhile, there's a duck-napper on the loose in London. It's not a joke. Somebody abducted Daphne (ph), the top billed star of the West End stage comedy. The trained duck performs tricks on cue and bows to the audience. Scotland Yard is on the case. And yes, we beat you to it. Police do expect fowl play.

If that wasn't cheesy enough, we have got more. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hurricane Wilma, lashing out in Mexico. Will the storm by this strong as it moves toward Florida? We're tracking the hurricane and expecting a live briefing from FEMA and how the U.S. is preparing. We'll bring it to you when it happens.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

Live pictures now, a president and his airplane, near inseparable in modern times, immortalized as we speak at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. President Bush is dedicating a glittering shrine to the 707 that served as Air Force One to Mr. Reagan and six other commanders-in-chief.

The new pavilion also houses a former Marine One helicopter, a presidential limo, even a replica of an Irish pub. Mr. Bush and the first lady will fly their own Air Force One back to D.C. right after the lunch. As soon as the president steps up the podium, we'll take it live.

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