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American Morning
Target: Terrorism: Authorities Call Latest Terrorist Threat Credible
Aired October 30, 2001 - 09:05 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: We are going to start with this latest terrorist threat, the second so far this month. Authorities to call it credible, and they have put law enforcement agencies across the country on high alert.
White House correspondent Major Garrett has the latest.
All right, Major, we talk a lot this morning about some Americans being frustrated not knowing exactly where this attack might occur. Is there any new information that would help narrow the possibility?
MAJOR GARRETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: None whatsoever, Paula. Information from the federal government is that all 18,000 law enforcement agencies across the country, from the smallest county sheriffs department to the largest metropolitan police force should remain on high alert. They are not the only ones. The federal government is also asking people who do things like carry out mall security at shopping malls, or who are responsible for security at energy plants or major water treatment facilities, all of them, to be on a high level alert. Even everyday American citizens, if you see or hear anything you deem suspicious, call your local state or federal law enforcement authorities. That is the word from the federal government.
As you said, it is a very, very fine line the federal government tries to draw deciding when exactly to put out this kind of warning. The president every day when gets his briefing from the FBI and Central Intelligence Agency and other federal government agencies reviews what is called a threat matrix. There are threats on it every day, and have been since September 11. Yesterday, the threat index was so high the president believed this warning had to be issued. A grim faced attorney general told reporters yesterday exactly why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: The administration has concluded based on information developed that there may be additional terrorist attacks within the United States and against the United States interests over the next week. The administration views this information as credible, but unfortunately, it does not contain specific information as to the type of attack or specific targets.
(END VIDEO CLIP) GARRETT: Paula, last week in a speech to Republican governors, Vice President Cheney described what he called the new normalcy, something he said would have to be a permanent way of life in America for the foreseeable future. Part of that way of life the vice president said was remaining on a high sense of alert, understanding that the terrorist threat against United States remains almost ever present -- Paula.
ZAHN: Major, I know some of this polling is very new. "The New York Times".CBS poll showing that a dramatic increase in the number of Americans who don't have confidence that the government will protect them from a terrorist attack. Any initial reaction to that poll from there yet this morning?
GARRETT: Well, the White House understands, that they are not going to have a very high level index on that, because terror by very nature is a surprise, targets civilians. In a country as vast as the United States with 290 million Americans, the White House doesn't expect people who are reasonable rational adults to answer a poll question, are you absolutely sure the government can protect you from every eventuality? The answer to that question, the White House believes quite rationally, will be no.
What are they hoping to do is build a higher level of confidence as this campaign pushes forward, and remind people even though these warnings are issued and nothing happens, it doesn't mean the threat wasn't credible or real in the first place. And that higher level of attention paid by law enforcement, everyone else, to potential threats, does in fact provide more security for the United States. That I think is what Vice president Cheney was referring to, describing this new normalcy.
ZAHN: All right, Major, there was also some confusion surrounding something that FBI director Robert Mueller said about his belief that the last alert potentially could have thwarted a terrorist attack. Tom Ridge essentially saying the same thing this morning. Do we know?
GARRETT: Well, we don't know as far as hard evidence. We can't and the federal government cannot point to two or three people who are arrested or detained, who were going to do something. But what they do believe and what they strongly hope is that higher level of attention paid to even the smallest detail by law enforcement, by people handling even more mundane things, like protecting power plants, or major water treatment facilities. With everyone on a higher level of alert, they are seeing things, reporting things, and also, by the public warning terrorists who may be concocting some type strike are thinking maybe we shouldn't strike now because everyone is paying a little bit closer attention. At that level, they believe, this could be a deterrent -- Paula.
ZAHN: Major Garrett, thanks so much for the update.
And earlier today, I spoke with Robert McFarlane, former national security adviser to Ronald Reagan, about this new warning from the attorney general. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT MCFARLANE, FMR. NATL. SECURITY ADVISER: So far in line to walk for the government to try to demonstrate that it truly is based on alarming circumstance, but I think you have to consider that they may go so far to compromise a source or how they collected this information. I have no doubt that Attorney General Ashcroft had very solid information, and unfortunately we are going to have to live in this climate of periodic threat for a long time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Also earlier this morning, homeland security director Tom Ridge told us right here on this show about the second alert in a month. He described the public's need to know.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY DIRECTOR: We have the alert almost a month ago. We will never know whether or not that thwarted any terrorist attempts, but again, we are dealing with an unknown, we are dealing with "without a lot of specific information, but we also know since September 11th, the environment is different, and America has to continue to be on guard, while the government is as well as private sector continues to work every day to better protect America against attack and be in a better position to respond to it if it occurs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Obviously, the governor making it quite clear, that warning Americans is a result of this changed environment since the September 11th attacks.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the spread of anthrax.
For the first time since the current contamination began, there are apparent victims with no direct connection to either the Postal Service or the news media. The most serious case involves a New York woman with suspected inhalation anthrax. She is in critical condition this morning. The 61-year-old woman works at a Manhattan eye, ear and nose hospital. The hospital has been closed to patients for the day. There are two new anthrax cases in New Jersey.
CNN's Michael Okwu has that part of the anthrax story -- Michael.
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, good morning.
More sobering news in New Jersey. A 51-year-old woman who works at an at an accounting firm just behind me here in Hamilton Township has tested positive for skin anthrax. Now as you mentioned, she is the first person in New Jersey to test positive for skin anthrax who is not a postal worker, and she is the first person to come down with anthrax in the country who doesn't either work for the government or in the media.
Now she says that she does open some mail in her office. But she has told health officials that she does not recall seeing anything that was suspicious. She said that she noticed on October 17th a pimple or a lesion on her forehead. The next day it grew somewhat larger, and that's when she decided to contact her physician.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE DIFERNANDO, NEW JERSEY DEPT. OF HEALTH: Local physician placed her on oral ciprofloxacin, and cultured the lesion, and it was negative; it had no growth. On the 20th, she still was experiencing symptoms, including facial swelling, and some drainage, but she did not have fever. So on 22nd, with the ulcer still open, she visited emergency room and had a diagnosis of celllitis. She was admitted to hospital and placed on intravenous ciprofloxacin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OKWU: Now she has been released from the hospital, we are told, and responding well to antibiotics. She is the sixth person in the state of New Jersey who either has anthrax, or is suspected of having anthrax. Just several days ago, we learned of a postal worker who has come down with inhalation anthrax.
In the meantime, acting governor Donald DeFrancesco has ordered anthrax testing at 44 postal offices in seven counties across the state. All send their mail to the Hamilton Township facility, which is the source of at least three contaminated letters.
Investigators are looking at a possibility of a link between this particular case and the Hamilton Township facility. They are very concerned about cross-contamination.
In the meantime, the office -- some of the offices here are in fact open, but her office, which has some 14 to 20 other coworkers, will be closed for environmental testing, and we are told that also the office of Congressman Chris Smith will be closed for environmental testing as well. His office is just several doors down -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Michael Okwu, thank you very much.
The list of anthrax-tainted government buildings in Washington is growing almost daily. New traces have been found in the capitol police office of the Ford House building.
The latest from congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl.
Good morning, Jon.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
The latest development here actually has to do with the very first place where anthrax was discovered here on Capitol Hill, the Hart Senate office building. Unlike the buildings, like the Ford billing, where only trace amounts of anthrax have been found, it was Hart that was essentially ground zero of the anthrax attack, the place where that letter to Senator Daschle was first opened, and now officials are facing the challenge of how to decontaminate the Hart building and make it safe to once again reopen.
Now they've got a proposal from Environmental Protection Agency to use chlorine gas. The good news about this for the senators and staff up here is that it is considered safe, and it is considered effective. The bad news that is procedure will be time consuming, taking more than two weeks to complete. The Senate's number two Democrat says that is process, that although major inconvenience for Senate is one that they simply have to go through.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID (D), NEVADA: This has been a very difficult time for everyone, but the work of the Senate has continued. We had a very productive week on the Senate floor last week. Senators and staffs are working in temporary office spaces in the Capitol, and all nearby buildings. They will continue to do so until we can safely move back into the Hart building. As much as we want to do this quickly, it is more important that we do it safely. That is what the EPA is asking us to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KARL: Because all Senate office building in the Capitol itself are connected with tunnels here, most of the time will be spent sealing off the Hart building. It will take about nine days to completely seal the Hart build off from the outside, and then only a couple of days to actually do the decontamination and the retesting.
But while this all going on, Miles, you can imagine 50 senators have offices in that Hart building. They are essentially remaining nomads, they and staff having to beg, borrow and steal to find places to work in capitol building and the surrounding buildings. A major inconvenience, but as heard Senator Reid say, there is really not much of a choice.
ZAHN: Suddenly, they are appreciating wireless communications ever more.
CNN's Jonathan Karl on Capitol Hill, we appreciate it -- Paula.
ZAHN: In just a minute, two firefighters and their tale two of cities. We are going to see how spending time at ground zero has made two Phoenix firefighters a little less angry at the Yankees.
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