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American Morning
Latest Anthrax Case Involves Postal Worker Diagnosed With Most Deadly Form of Exposure; Discussion of Threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction
Aired October 22, 2001 - 10:34 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Concerns loom as close as the mailbox, as we have mentioned, anthrax-laced letters have been blamed for cases in New York, Florida and Washington thus far. And the latest case involves a postal worker diagnosed with the most deadly form of exposure.
Kathleen Koch, more now on one man's illness, and an epidemic of fear in parts of the country.
Kathleen, good morning.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well, the 57-year-old postal worker remains hospitalized here in serious condition. He checked himself into Inova Fairfax Hospital Friday afternoon after suffering from flu-like symptoms for several days, chest discomfort, aches and pains, and a fever, and it was yesterday that the diagnosis came through that yes, he was suffering from inhalation anthrax, which is of course the most lethal form of the infection, much more dangerous than the cutaneous anthrax that the other postal workers in the New Jersey and New York area have been diagnosed with.
The gentleman worked at two different mail facilities in the area, the central processing facility in Washington, called Brentwood, and also an airmail center near Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Both of those facilities were immediately shut down and testing was begun on the 2,200-plus employees who worked at both facilities. They are being bussed this morning, as a matter of fact, to one of the local hospitals, C.C. General Hospital for nasal swabs and a precautionary 10-day supply of Cipro.
The news this morning is that D.C. health officials say that they are also following the cases of five different patients with suspicious symptoms, one of whom does have a connection with the Brentwood facility.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. IVAN WALKS, D.C. HEALTH OFFICER: These people are being treated as is clinically appropriate. What that means is, when you walk in, your doctor looks at you, makes an initial assessment, and begins treatment based on how you present. That's exactly what good health care is all about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: The infected man's job was to handle express mail. He did not handle government mail. So the question is, if he didn't handle that anthrax-tainted letter that was mailed to Senator Daschle, is there perhaps a another source -- Bill.
HEMMER: Kathleen Koch. Thanks you very much. Stay with us next hour, Washington's Mayor Anthony Williams with talk about that city response and citizen reaction to the latest anthrax scare. We'll have that for you again next hour.
But also in Washington, the U.S. capitol building opened for legislative business. Here is a live picture now. House and Senate office buildings will remain closed until more testing for anthrax can be completed. The closures ere prompted by last week's discovery again of an anthrax-laced letter at the office of Tom Daschle, the Senate majority leader; 28 Capitol Hill workers have tested positive for exposure, all though reported to be in good health, and that, again, is good news.
A closer look at anthrax a bit later and the public health policies designed to protect against it.
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher and the Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson the guest later today on "TALKBACK LIVE." You will see here on CNN. In the meantime, though, that threat of anthrax underlines the insidious nature of nation's war on terrorism.
By most assessments, this war is unlike any other, in the sense that virtually any weapon could be utilized, be it biological, chemical, or even nuclear.
Our next guest, Mohamed El-Baradei, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA.
Sir, hello to you, and good morning.
MOHAMED EL-BARADEI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, INTL. ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY: Hello. Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: As you look at the scope of the world and take in a map future, what parts of the world do you point to first when concerns you about the possible use of these weapons I just mentioned?
EL-BARADEI: Well, clearly, areas when there are tension, and there are areas of tension. Of course, the Middle East is an area of tension, South Asia is an area of tension and we need to forecast on areas when tension exist to make sure that these weapons will not be resulted to.
HEMMER: So many times point the finger at Saddam Hussein and Iraq. How legitimate is that? And what do we know knowing that investigators have not been on the ground. They're Baghdad for three years' time.
EL-BARADEI: Yes, I can speak on nuclear issue. When we have an oversight over Iraq's program. Until 1997, we were able to say that we have neutralized the nuclear program of Iraq. However, as you rightly said, we have been away for three years, and we cannot at this time provide any assurance as to the status of Iraq's program. So we need to go back, and we need to go back as soon as we can.
HEMMER: I would imagine that Saddam Hussein talks to somebody out his country. And if that's the case, has intelligence revealed any sources with whom he has had contact and any progress they have made in Baghdad in the meantime?
EL-BARADEI: I think there are concern, of course in, the intelligence community, particularly about biological and chemical weapons. We work closely with all members states, with all governments, and we are tracking all intelligence report. We use satellite imagery again to see whether there are any changes in nuclear the infrastructure in Iraq.
But this is no substitute for going in and doing actual inspection on the ground.
HEMMER: And prior to the three-year-ago cutoff, what evidence did you have? What facts on the ground did you have to indicate that Saddam Hussein may possibly be moving in this direction?
EL-BARADEI: Well, we had indication that he was trying to produce nuclear weapon material. We had indication that he was looking -- or Iraq was looking into weaponization of a nuclear device. And luckily, at that time, we were able to neutralize all his programs, and we were able to ship out and destroy all infrastructure that were related to nuclear weapons.
But again, we are out and we cannot at this stage say what's happening there.
HEMMER: Do you think it's a distraction when we have the air war against Taliban targets in Afghanistan. There is the distraction possibly for people like Saddam Hussein to move forward? Do you fear that?
EL-BARADEI: Well, I mean when you have tension anywhere, and when you have international community focused on a particular issue, of course this is not a good sign for -- to be complacent. Therefore, while we are focusing on Afghanistan, we have to continue to have eyes open on all other areas of the world, when we fear that there are development in the area of weapons of mass destruction.
HEMMER: What you know on the evidence you discussed, and so many people, appears growing by the week now, talk of military action in Iraq. Would you support that?
EL-BARADEI: I can't really say anything on that. That's not -- that's out of my jurisdiction. But my feeling that we need to continue to work with countries of concern and make sure that we map out and neutralize their weapon programs, and that's complicated issue. We need to do inspection. But we also need to work on the roots of insecurity, which makes develop these weapons. Iraq is one example, but there are so many others, and I think it's a long-term problem, as we have learned with terrorist. We need also to root out the feelings of insecurity that make countries go for this kind of weapons.
HEMMER: Mohamed El-Baradei, thanks for talking. There's a lot more to discuss. We focused chiefly on Iraq. Come on back and we'll do it again.
EL-BARADEI: Thank you very much.
HEMMER: Much appreciated.
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