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American Morning
Ricin Scare
Aired February 03, 2004 - 07:04 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: All Senate offices are closed today on Capitol Hill after the discovery of the deadly toxin, ricin, in the mailroom of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. Frist calls that action a terrorist activity.
Kathleen Koch is working the story early this morning for us.
Kathleen -- what have we learned since last evening?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, right now we're waiting for the test results from the ninth and final test conducted on this white powdery substance. It was found about 3:00 yesterday afternoon in the mailroom of Senator Bill Frist -- that's Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist -- in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Police say they don't know if this substance actually came out of a package, actually came out of an envelope. They're working under that assumption.
The ventilation system in the building was shut down after the discovery. Some 16 people had to be decontaminated as a precaution.
Senator Frist himself normally works out of his Capitol office. He was not in the building at the time, and he gave reporters an initial read on the findings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: At this juncture, from a scientific standpoint, this is ricin, and it is in all likelihood sent with the intent to harm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: Now, the Dirksen Senate Office Building is attached to the Hart Senate Office Building, where those anthrax-laden letters were sent back in 2001 to then Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and to Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy.
Now, at this point, again, we are still waiting for the final results. The Senate will be in session today in the U.S. Capitol. But for now, all of the Senate office buildings are shut down for further testing -- Bill.
HEMMER: Kathleen, I imagine that mailroom is quite busy for the majority leader. Do they still test mail on Capitol Hill going back to the anthrax scare of two years ago? KOCH: They certainly do. Since that point in time, they have irradiated all mail coming to Capitol Hill. However, anthrax, which can be killed by irradiation -- it is a spore, it is a living organism -- whereas ricin is a manufactured toxin, and it cannot be affected. It is not -- it does not deteriorate in any way when it's irradiated. So, it is still very deadly.
HEMMER: Kathleen, thanks. Kathleen Koch there in D.C.
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 February 3, 2004 - 07:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: All Senate offices are closed today on Capitol Hill after the discovery of the deadly toxin, ricin, in the mailroom of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. Frist calls that action a terrorist activity.
Kathleen Koch is working the story early this morning for us.
Kathleen -- what have we learned since last evening?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, right now we're waiting for the test results from the ninth and final test conducted on this white powdery substance. It was found about 3:00 yesterday afternoon in the mailroom of Senator Bill Frist -- that's Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist -- in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Police say they don't know if this substance actually came out of a package, actually came out of an envelope. They're working under that assumption.
The ventilation system in the building was shut down after the discovery. Some 16 people had to be decontaminated as a precaution.
Senator Frist himself normally works out of his Capitol office. He was not in the building at the time, and he gave reporters an initial read on the findings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: At this juncture, from a scientific standpoint, this is ricin, and it is in all likelihood sent with the intent to harm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: Now, the Dirksen Senate Office Building is attached to the Hart Senate Office Building, where those anthrax-laden letters were sent back in 2001 to then Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and to Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy.
Now, at this point, again, we are still waiting for the final results. The Senate will be in session today in the U.S. Capitol. But for now, all of the Senate office buildings are shut down for further testing -- Bill.
HEMMER: Kathleen, I imagine that mailroom is quite busy for the majority leader. Do they still test mail on Capitol Hill going back to the anthrax scare of two years ago? KOCH: They certainly do. Since that point in time, they have irradiated all mail coming to Capitol Hill. However, anthrax, which can be killed by irradiation -- it is a spore, it is a living organism -- whereas ricin is a manufactured toxin, and it cannot be affected. It is not -- it does not deteriorate in any way when it's irradiated. So, it is still very deadly.
HEMMER: Kathleen, thanks. Kathleen Koch there in D.C.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
