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American Morning
Anthrax Investigation
Aired May 12, 2003 - 09:11 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: Other important story to check in on today, a pond in Maryland is once again at the center of the anthrax investigation. A trace of anthrax found in an item recovered from the pond in Frederick, Maryland.
Our Kelli Arena is Kelli Arena is live with more on this from Washington.
Kelli, good morning.
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
Well, the FBI obviously thinks that it may find answers in its anthrax investigation in that pond. It's in Frederick, Maryland. The mayor of that Washington suburb says that city officials are in talks with the FBI about possibly draining the pond, which the FBI has searched at least four times since December.
The FBI had received a tip back then about someone allegedly dumping laboratory equipment into the pond. Sources say that among the items that were found was a large plastic tub with two openings in the side. They described it as similar to the tubs that are used to limit exposure to avoid exposure while performing scientific tests.
As we all know, the FBI has come up empty so far in its investigation of those anthrax attacks. If you'll remember, they killed five people over a year ago.
The FBI at one time had a list of at least 20 people that it was looking closely at, but Attorney General John Ashcroft publicly named only one as person of interest, and that's former researcher Stephen Hatfill.
Government sources say that interest in him remains very high. Hatfill has repeatedly said quite publicly that he is innocent.
And, Daryn, Just a follow up on what you said leading into me, you said there were traces of anthrax found on an item. Actually in the preliminary testing of this item, they thought that it was anthrax, but subsequent testing of that to proved that be negative.
So while there were people saying that, well, maybe we have an anthrax connection here, our officials have said subsequent to that that testing proved negative, that sometimes early tests come up positive. In this case, it was negative, but they still have high interest in this pond, want to get in there and see what they find.
KAGAN: Thanks for straightening that out, and thanks for the update. Kelli Arena in Washington.
KAGAN: You're welcome. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 12, 2003 - 09:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Other important story to check in on today, a pond in Maryland is once again at the center of the anthrax investigation. A trace of anthrax found in an item recovered from the pond in Frederick, Maryland.
Our Kelli Arena is Kelli Arena is live with more on this from Washington.
Kelli, good morning.
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
Well, the FBI obviously thinks that it may find answers in its anthrax investigation in that pond. It's in Frederick, Maryland. The mayor of that Washington suburb says that city officials are in talks with the FBI about possibly draining the pond, which the FBI has searched at least four times since December.
The FBI had received a tip back then about someone allegedly dumping laboratory equipment into the pond. Sources say that among the items that were found was a large plastic tub with two openings in the side. They described it as similar to the tubs that are used to limit exposure to avoid exposure while performing scientific tests.
As we all know, the FBI has come up empty so far in its investigation of those anthrax attacks. If you'll remember, they killed five people over a year ago.
The FBI at one time had a list of at least 20 people that it was looking closely at, but Attorney General John Ashcroft publicly named only one as person of interest, and that's former researcher Stephen Hatfill.
Government sources say that interest in him remains very high. Hatfill has repeatedly said quite publicly that he is innocent.
And, Daryn, Just a follow up on what you said leading into me, you said there were traces of anthrax found on an item. Actually in the preliminary testing of this item, they thought that it was anthrax, but subsequent testing of that to proved that be negative.
So while there were people saying that, well, maybe we have an anthrax connection here, our officials have said subsequent to that that testing proved negative, that sometimes early tests come up positive. In this case, it was negative, but they still have high interest in this pond, want to get in there and see what they find.
KAGAN: Thanks for straightening that out, and thanks for the update. Kelli Arena in Washington.
KAGAN: You're welcome. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
