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Paula Zahn Now

Pope Under Fire Over Islam Quote; Interview With Undersecretary of State For Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes; Crimes Still Unsolved in Anthrax Attacks; Are We Ready for Another Attack?

Aired September 18, 2006 - 20:00   ET

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

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: And hello, everybody. Glad to have you with us tonight.
Our "Top Story" is still developing, as we speak. The growing crisis involving Muslims and Pope Benedict XVI is getting more and more violent. It has also forced an exceedingly rare and public apology from the pope for words the Vatican insists are being taken out of context.

The trouble all got started when the pope quoted a 14th century Christian emperor's complaint that the Prophet Mohammed brought only things that were evil and inhuman. The emperor singled out Mohammed's command to spread Islam by force.

The pope used the quote to argue that leading someone to faith should involve reason, not violence or threats. Yet, tonight, parts of the Muslim world are on fire with violence and threats. In Iraq, the pope is being burned in effigy. Al Qaeda in Iraq is going even further. Its Web site declares holy war against all worshipers of the cross, and says the pope and the West are doomed.

Iran's supreme ayatollah is calling the pope's remarks -- quote -- "the latest chain of the crusade against Islam."

Seven churches were firebombed over the weekend in the West Bank in Gaza.

And, then, moving on to Somalia, a Catholic nun has been shut and killed in an attack officials say has the hallmark of al Qaeda.

We have put together a "Top Story" panel to go in-depth on what can defuse this crisis, faith and values correspondent Delia Gallagher. Colleen Carroll Campbell hosts "Faith and Culture," a program on the religious network EWTN. She's a former speechwriter for President Bush. And Vali Nasr, a professor of Middle East and South Asia politics, he also happens to be the author of "The Shia Revival: How Conflicts Within Islam Will Shape the Future."

Good to see all three of you.

I want to get started with you, Delia.

I'm going to read part of the statement that has incited so much controversy. And this is the pope quoting a 14th century emperor: "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and you will have things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

Has he said stuff like that before? Does this fit a pattern? What was that supposed to mean?

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN FAITH AND VALUES CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is part of a -- of a speech in a much larger context.

And I think, in fact, if you read just one line down from that, you will see what he was trying to get at with that quote. Let's take a look. "Spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God."

So, that's really the crux of what he was trying to get at, at least in this first part. He then goes on to talk about the use of reason in religion and so on. But, in the reference to Islam, what he's trying to just point out is, you know, is this something rational? Is the use of violence a rational way of pleasing God? Is this a good thing?

That's his whole point.

ZAHN: And he has spoken about this before his papacy and has made other comments that you can slice and dice as well since he has become the pope.

GALLAGHER: Well, certainly.

As -- as cardinal, you know, he has dealt with issues of interfaith dialogue and so on. And he is very much of the mind-set that one should talk to other people of different faiths. But you should know very much what you believe in, and there should be a clear understanding, and he thinks there should be a rational dialogue.

ZAHN: Vali, do you think this pope is anti-Muslim?

VALI NASR, AUTHOR, "THE SHIA REVIVAL": Well, his comments come also against the background of having argued that Turkey should not become a member of the European community, because Turkey's religion is incompatible with western values.

But I also think that it was an unfortunate choice of a -- of a quotation by the pope, when you're trying to make a point about rationality of religion, and not using violence to promote it, that you choose a quote from a crusader figure from the 14th century, without clarifying where you personally stand on that issue. And, therefore, it can be -- very easily be read out of context, and lead to the kind of reaction that we see.

ZAHN: Do you think this kind of reaction is justifiable, Vali?

NASR: No, it's not justifiable. But you're -- at a time period where the Muslims believe that West has embarked on a war on Islam -- this, we have been hearing for a number of years. Anti-Westernism and anti-Americanism is at a fever pitch. And Muslims feel a sense of siege. So, when the most important spiritual authority, in their eyes, in the West, the head of the Catholic Church, rather than acting as a bridge-builder, they see, he's adding fuel to fire, they very quickly succumb to the kind of violence -- and there are many political figures and militant forces that try to make hay out of this by taking advantage of it for their own reasons.

ZAHN: Now, Colleen, the -- the pope has made it clear this was not his personal opinion. He was quoting somebody else.

And, yet, why would he choose, at this tenuous time of Islamic- Christian relations, to say what he said?

COLLEEN CARROLL CAMPBELL, HOST, "FAITH AND CULTURE": Well, I think it's important to note, as Delia did, that this is one line within the context of a much larger speech, which was actually aimed at convincing Western academics that faith need not be separated from reason. So, I think it's important to note that.

The other point that is particularly important is that, you know, that the problem that he's identified here, it's not a mystery; it's not a secret to anyone. He's very clear about the fact that violence is not acceptable under any -- of the name of any God in any religion. I think that's common sense. And I think, sadly, the reaction among Islamic radicals has merely proved his point, that there's a need for a serious dialogue that begins with the understanding that we will respect one another and not resort to violence when we disagree.

ZAHN: But, Delia, so many people are troubled by the fact that this pope apologized for the reactions to what he said, and not necessarily for the substance of what he said.

GALLAGHER: Yes, but he's not going to apologize for the substance, because he -- he essentially believes in what he's saying. And, in fact, he's trying to say to others, let's talk about it. We want -- we want this to be the basis of our dialogue.

The problem now, Paula, you have is, it's all -- it has been said and done, and the violence has erupted, and -- and now the Vatican has a very big problem. And the pope does as well. And, so, one has to look to the coming days to hope that this is going to subside and it's going to quell, because, otherwise, there are very, very high stakes.

ZAHN: Of course, no one is too sure at this hour how you defuse all of that.

Delia Gallagher, Colleen Carroll Campbell, Vali Nasr, thank you all.

CARROLL CAMPBELL: Thank you.

NASR: Thank you.

ZAHN: Another "Top Story" we're following tonight: President Bush at the United Nations. It is a rare occasion, of course, when he happens to find himself in the same city, the same building as one of the leaders of what he has called the axis of evil.

And, tonight, the president is getting ready for an address tomorrow before the U.N. General Assembly, which will also hear from Iranian President Ahmadinejad.

Without correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins me now to give us a little preview of what might happen tomorrow and bring us up to date on what happened today -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, a very busy 48 hours for President Bush.

Of course, tomorrow the centerpiece of all of this is going to be the speech before the U.N. General Assembly. He's going to talk about this broader war on terror, essentially what is called his freedom agenda, saying that, look, this is a time that democracy in the Middle East, in particular, is very important.

And he's essentially going to ask the international community, the leaders that are gathered there, to help him support those fledging democracies, those that are having such troubles in Iraq, in Lebanon, as well as the Palestinian Authority.

And, Paula, it really is a chance not only to address an international audience, but, as you know, it's the culmination of a public relations campaign for a domestic audience as well.

We're looking at congressional midterm elections just weeks away. Now, the president has been engaged in a very aggressive public- relations campaign to try to convince voters, pay attention to the larger war on terror, not necessarily this unpopular Iraq war -- Paula.

ZAHN: And what does the president really think he's going to be walking away from the U.N. with, besides getting the message out once again?

MALVEAUX: Well, it's kind of hard to say. I mean, at -- at this point, he's going to be getting the message out. Perhaps there's going to be a sense of greater credibility.

This is a president who has been trying to fight for credibility. We know, when we look at the Iraq situation, a lot of the leaders that he's facing are very critical of this administration. One of the things he's hoping is that there's going to be -- it's not a face-to- face, but certainly an audience, not only of leaders, but the Iranian president, as well, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who's going to be at this speech.

He's going to be listening to President Bush's words -- and President Bush delivering this very stern message to Iran, saying: Look, you need to comply. You need to give up your nuclear -- alleged nuclear weapons program, and -- or face tough sanctions. That's another message that he's going to be delivering, not directly to the president, by the way.

ZAHN: Suzanne Malveaux, thanks so much.

Just a bit earlier on, I spoke with Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes about the president's U.N. visit and the administration's expectations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Both the president of the United States and the president of Iran are expected to speak a couple hours apart tomorrow. Does the president have any intention of speaking with President Ahmadinejad?

KAREN HUGHES, UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS: Well, Paula, I think the president and the administration have made our position on that issue quite clear.

And that is that Iran has agreements that it has made with the international community that it will suspend its enrichment. We're glad to come. We want to sit. We want to talk, but only once Iran has lived up to the -- to the agreements it has already made, previously made, and has now -- and -- and has broken to the -- to the civilized world to -- to agree to suspend enriching uranium.

ZAHN: The president also goes before the U.N. at a time when there seems to be an increasing perception somehow that this war in Iraq and this war in Afghanistan represents the West's war against Islam. And, on top of that now, you have Muslims all over the world outraged by what the pope has said about Islam.

How does that complicate what the president is trying to achieve?

HUGHES: Let me -- let me address the first part of your question first, because that's language of our enemies. And we must not allow it.

The -- the violent extremists are trying to drive a wedge between -- between the Muslim world and the Western world. And, yet, the Muslim world is a part of the Western world. Islam is a part of America.

Secondly, I -- I had lunch today with a group of leaders from various Islamic countries. And I asked their opinion about -- about what the pope said. And several told me that they were very deeply offended by what they felt. And -- and one of them said to me: I am -- I'm -- I'm not an extremist, but I was offended, because I felt that the quote was a -- basically called my faith evil, and he didn't say that he disagreed with that.

ZAHN: Did the president think the pope had made a mistake by using that kind of language?

HUGHES: Well, Paula, I have not specifically -- I would not -- I would not presume to put words in the president's mouth, and nor would I presume to put words in the pope's mouth.

I can only tell you what the pope said. And that is that he is deeply sorry. I think this is an example of -- of the need for all of us to -- to try to choose our words carefully. Obviously, we believe in free speech, but, with that freedom, comes the responsibility to work hard to respect one another, particularly at a time of -- of very heightened tensions across the world.

ZAHN: Karen Hughes, thanks so much. Always good to have you with us. Appreciate your time. Good luck.

HUGHES: Thanks, Paula.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: And, coming up, we have got other top stories we're following, including the controversy tonight over the man the president sees as part of that axis of evil.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN (voice-over): The unwelcome guest, defying the U.S. and the world, vowing to pursue atomic power. Now the president of Iran comes to New York. Should he have been allowed to come here at all?

And the deadly anthrax attacks -- after five years of investigation, no suspects, no arrests, just victims longing for justice. With the killer still out there, could it happen again?

All that and more, as PAULA ZAHN NOW continues.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: And we continue tonight's "Top Story" coverage of the extraordinary confrontation shaping up here in New York tomorrow.

Delegates of the United Nations will hear from President Bush and then from the leader of one of the nations on the president's axis of evil, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Now, it's not going to be the first time an archenemy of the United States has come to the U.N. for a war of words.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN (voice-over): Even though the U.N. is in Midtown Manhattan, it's considered international territory. But getting here still means passing through U.S. territory. And, over the years, the U.S. has had to let in some of its harshest critics.

In 1960, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev interrupted a speech by banging his fists and eventually his shoe on the desk of the General Assembly. Also in 1960, Cuban leader Fidel Castro delivered a marathon, four-hour, 27-minute oration, still the longest in U.N. history. Castro has been back here on a number of occasions. In 1974, when the U.S. officially considered Yasser Arafat a terrorist, he showed up wearing his holster, and told U.N. delegates: "I have come wearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter's gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand."

Getting into the U.N. doesn't always mean getting the red-carpet treatment in the rest of New York. In 1995, Mayor Rudy Giuliani personally ordered Yasser Arafat thrown out of a New York concert hall, which was not international territory.

Last year, Iranian President Ahmadinejad raised eyebrows and U.S. ire by coming to the U.N. and offering to share Iran's nuclear technology with other Islamic states. Now he's ignoring a U.N. deadline to abandon his country's nuclear program, but wants to debate President Bush at the U.N.

SEAN MCCORMACK, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: Somehow, I get the feeling that's not going to happen.

ZAHN: But, several days ago, a U.S. State Department spokesman explained why the U.S. won't prevent the Iranian leader from coming to the U.N.

MCCORMACK: Iran is a member state of the United Nations, and there are certain obligations, as the host country, that we have with respect to -- with -- with respect to the United Nations and visitors to the General Assembly.

ZAHN: Whether the U.S. considers them friends or foes, it seems that international leaders will always have a place to speak their minds.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: So, let's put this debate to a "Top Story" panel.

Joining me now, Katrina Vanden Heuvel, editor of "The Nation." She thinks Iran's president deserves a place at the U.N. this week. And Frank Gaffney, president of the Center For Security Policy and a former Pentagon official in the Reagan administration, who says Ahmadinejad should be barred from the U.S.

Good to see both of you.

So, Frank, we didn't bar Castro from coming, or Yasser Arafat, leaders who are considered villains by some. Why bar Ahmadinejad?

FRANK GAFFNEY, FOUNDER & PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR SECURITY POLICY: Ahmadinejad probably is in a class by himself, in the sense that this is a man who is now repeatedly talking about bringing about a world without America, saying not only that that's desirable, but that it's achievable.

It's a man who's presiding over a regime that's busily working at weaponry with which to effect such genocidal purposes, not only against the United States, but another member nation, Israel.

ZAHN: Katrina, why give him a platform? He has made it very clear he's not going to suspend his nuclear enrichment program. And the administration has made it quite clear there will be no direct talks with him. So, what's the whole point of this exercise?

KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL, EDITOR, "THE NATION": First of -- first of all, Paula, the United States is the host nation of the United Nations. We led the fight to have the host nation responsibilities in 1945, the U.S. Senate. It would be a violation of treaties.

Secondly, short of war crimes or crimes against humanity, the president of Iran's rhetoric has been odious. But the failure to engage in direct talks has only emboldened the hard-liners.

ZAHN: Frank, do you buy that there's a treaty obligation here at all?

GAFFNEY: I -- I believe that we have latitude, as a sovereign power, to determine who's coming in to this country. And if he's threatening genocidal attacks against the United States, that's a basis upon which we ought to be able to act.

ZAHN: So, Frank, if you say there should be no diplomacy here, are you also telling us, then, you support some sort of military solution here?

GAFFNEY: Well, actually, I think Katrina has got this exactly backwards. My feeling...

ZAHN: But -- but answer the question. I mean, if...

GAFFNEY: My feeling...

ZAHN: If you don't think this guy should be here...

GAFFNEY: Paula...

ZAHN: ... and you don't think diplomacy is going to work, what do you think will work?

GAFFNEY: I -- I'm more interested in working with the Iranian people.

And I think that legitimating this regime, by diplomacy with them, or negotiating with them, or trying to appease them, has exactly the opposite effects of what Katrina is talking about.

VANDEN HEUVEL: What Frank calls appeasement, I call vigorous, credible diplomacy. There's obviously...

(CROSSTALK)

VANDEN HEUVEL: ... a philosophical disagreement.

GAFFNEY: The difference... (CROSSTALK)

VANDEN HEUVEL: And I think, by not allowing the Iranian president in, you once again unite, in a nationalist spirit, those in Iran, who may despise this president, but they despise even more that their country is being treated in this way by the United States, which, sadly, has fueled anti-Americanism through the policies of this administration in these last years in a region which is now more unstable.

ZAHN: We have got to leave it there, you two.

I guess, no matter what we say here tonight, it's not going to make any difference. He's on his way here. And we will be following this very carefully over the next couple of days.

Frank Gaffney, Katrina Vanden Heuvel...

GAFFNEY: Thank you, Paula.

ZAHN: ... thank you both.

VANDEN HEUVEL: Thank you.

ZAHN: Good to have you with us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: And we're going to continue our "Top Story" coverage in just a minute, but, right now, our countdown of the day's top 10 stories on CNN.com.

About 22 million of you clicked on to our Web site today.

At number 10: Pat Kennedy Lawford, sister of President John F. Kennedy and Senator Edward Kennedy, has died from complications from pneumonia. She was divorced from British actor Peter Lawford. Pat Lawford was 82.

Number nine: the latest on the E. coli outbreak linked to fresh spinach. Today, the health departments in Illinois and Nebraska also reported cases of illness believed to have been caused by eating fresh spinach. The outbreak has sickened 111 people in some 21 states. One person has died. Federal inspectors have now ruled out tamperings -- or tampering, that is, as a cause.

Number eight: A fatal mistake at an Indianapolis hospital cost two premature babies their lives. They died after receiving an overdose of a common blood thinner. Four other babies were also given overdoses of the same drug. They are in critical condition tonight.

The rest of our countdown is straight ahead.

Also, an urgent "Top Story" "Outside the Law": Who viciously attacked a new mother and stole her days-old baby? Plus: a deadly unsolved mystery. The anthrax letters that terrorized the nation were postmarked five years ago today. Will we ever find out who's behind those attacks? And are we any better protected if it happens again?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: And we move on to our "Top Story" "Outside the Law" tonight.

Right now, there's an urgent search going on in Missouri for a newborn baby apparently taken from the arms of her mother. It happened in a small town in the heart of this country during a vicious attack that the baby's mother somehow miraculously survived. And, as police and federal agents search for the child, people in that town are praying for one more miracle.

Here's Jonathan Freed with tonight's "Outside the Law."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Three days after little Abby Lynn Woods was abducted from her rural Missouri home, finally, a face to put on the suspect -- investigators say the composite sketch shows a woman between 30 and 40 years old, roughly 5'8'', weighing 200 pounds, with dark hair pulled back under a baseball hat.

GARY TOELKE, FRANKLIN COUNTY, MISSOURI, SHERIFF: The victim wasn't completely happy with the sketch, but this is the best that she can come up with at this point. So, you know, it's not 100 percent. And, any time you have a composite sketch like that, you know, you need to be flexible.

FREED: The baby was just a week old when her mother was attacked on Friday in Lonedell, Missouri, about an hour southwest of Saint Louis.

Police say 21-year-old Stephenie Ochsenbine was stabbed with a knife and had her throat slashed by a stranger, who knocked on her door and asked to use the phone. Once inside, she said she was there to take the baby. The mother was unconscious for a short while, and then managed to walk 300 yards to her neighbor's house for help.

Abby's father, who police say was at work at the time of the attack, is helping the mother recover at home. The grandparents are leading the media charge, pleading for Abby's safe return.

RAYLENE OCHSENBINE, GRANDMOTHER: Stephenie's heart is breaking. It's -- she's in agony. She is totally destroyed, totally destroyed. If you have a heart at all, give her back.

KEN OCHSENBINE, GRANDFATHER: You don't want to know this feeling. It's -- you just don't want to know it, because it hurts, and it's -- it's upsetting. It has really messed with our lives.

FREED: Police say family members are cooperating with the investigation, but would not categorically rule them out as suspects.

QUESTION: Do you have any reason to doubt the mother's story at this point?

ROLAND CORVINGTON, FBI: Like any investigation, we seek to corroborate and verify information, wherever we receive it. And since this is such a fluid endeavor, and we get information all the time, it's very difficult for us to say definitively one way or the other.

FREED: Police also released a photo of a scarf found outside the family's home, hoping someone will recognize it. The suspect is believed to have been wearing a scarf.

(on camera): Investigators say the phones have not stopped ringing since the sketch of the suspect was made public. They say they don't have too many strong leads, but insist they're making progress -- Paula.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: And we hope they do.

Jonathan Freed, reporting tonight from Missouri for us.

We're going to continue to follow the search for Abby Lynn Woods, and bring you the -- the very latest information as soon as it becomes available.

More of our "Top Story" coverage in just a moment.

First, we continue our countdown.

We pick up at number seven: the incredible story of a South Carolina teen who was allegedly abducted 10 days ago, and who was finally found after she sent a text-message to let her mother know where she was being held. We are going to have much more on that in just a little bit.

Number six: Country music star Willie Nelson has a run-in with the law, in Louisiana this time. State police say a trooper found marijuana and narcotic mushrooms on Nelson's tour bus during a traffic stop this morning. Nelson was given a misdemeanor citation.

Number five: A second autopsy reveals Anna Nicole Smith's son was on prescription medication, anti-depression medication when he died. But the pathologist who did that autopsy says he doesn't know if that medication played any role in Daniel Smith's death. Smith died September 10 in his mother's hospital room in the Bahamas. Supposedly -- or he was supposed to meet his brand-new baby sister for the first time -- numbers four and three coming up next.

We will also go in-depth on an unsolved mystery that also is a "Top Story" again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ZAHN: Coming up in this half-hour, how a teenage girl got away from a man who she says kidnapped her and held her in a booby-trapped underground bunker. It's one of our top law and order stories of the day. Then coming up at the top of the hour on "LARRY KING LIVE," the woman Oprah calls a super cook. Larry spends the hour with Food Network's Rachael Ray.

Our top story of the security watch tonight, an investigation into a five-year-old mystery that terrorized the U.S. This happens to be the fifth anniversary of the day the first Anthrax letters were postmarked back in 2001. It was just weeks after the 9/11 attacks that people began getting sick and dying because of Anthrax sent through the mail.

Well tonight, the crimes are still unsolved, there's no justice for the dead, for those who are still sick, or for the scientists who say their reputations were ruined by suspicion. Here's justice correspondent Kelli Arena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mary Morris does not know who killed her husband or whether she'll ever close this horrible chapter of her life.

MARY MORRIS, WIDOW OF ANTHRAX VICTIM: I can still see my husband walking down the hall sick. I have to be willing to let it go to its place so that I can live and continue to function.

ARENA: Thomas Morris was one of five people killed in the Anthrax attacks five years ago. Morris, a postal worker, died after inhaling Anthrax from a tainted letter while working at the Brentwood facility in Washington, D.C. The investigation is still open. The FBI says its conducted more than 9,000 interviews, issued more than 6,000 subpoenas, and still has 23 agents and postal inspectors on the case.

Five years later, not one single arrest has been made.

ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: It is one of our top investigations, and my expectation is it will be solved, and we will make arrests.

ARENA: Privately, some agents tell CNN the case is stone cold. Early on, many hoped science would lead them to the killer. The Anthrax was identified as the aim strain commonly used in U.S. government labs.

RONALD ATLAS, AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MICROBIOLOGY: The particular strain used five years ago in the Anthrax biocrimes was limited to a few laboratories. We still have difficulty in pinpointing exactly where it came from and who could have had access to it.

ARENA: One of those labs is located on the Ft. Detrick army base in Maryland. Some scientists who work there say they too became victims of the 2001 Anthrax scare, eyed they say as possible suspects. One of them, Steven Hatfill was described as a person of interest by former Attorney General John Ashcroft. He's now suing the government, alleging officials violated his privacy. Another scientist, Ayaad Assad, who worked at the same army base says he, too, came under suspicion. Both men say they are innocent.

AYAAD ASSAD, SCIENTIST: My children were devastated, my wife was devastated, and that affected our family life to great extent. Basically destroyed my scientific career.

ARENA: Assad is convinced the reason the killer hasn't been identified is because it's someone with connections to the government.

ASSAD: Whoever did that is part of very small handful that can get it very easily get its hands on them.

ARENA: Government officials deny that charge but without a solid lead or suspect, conspiracy theories persist, especially since the killer hasn't struck again.

MORRIS: Until someone is caught and they tell what happened, it's just that. It's a theory. It's a speculation. I can't build my hopes on speculation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: So Kelli, who's really in charge of the investigation and is Congress or the administration really pressing for answers right now?

ARENA: Well, Paula, in a word it's the FBI, specifically the FBI's Washington field office. Interestingly at this point, there seems to be just this overwhelming resignation that officials may never find out who did this, Paula.

ZAHN: And if that's the case, how long will it be before they'll actually declare this a cold case?

ARENA: That may never happen. As you heard from the FBI director, he said that there are still agents actively working this investigation, that it remains a top priority. But as you also heard very privately, some agents are saying this is already a cold case. There are agents who are allegedly assigned to work the Anthrax investigation who are often assigned to other things when Anthrax is going very slowly. So publicly and privately, you're hearing two very different things.

ZAHN: Kelli Arena, thanks for sharing both with us.

Continuing our top story look at the Anthrax attacks, could it happen again? With no suspects and no leads, that certainly is a chilling possibility. Well, after five years, you might be surprised at what we're about to show you. Jeanne Meserve set out to learn just how well prepared we are or not so well prepared for the next round of germ warfare.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): D.C. firefighters test white powder to see if it is Anthrax. This time it's a drill. But they do it for real two or three times a week. Improvements in testing technology allow them to identify this as flour, but a conclusive test for Anthrax still takes 24 hours.

LAWRENCE SCHULTZ, DEPUTY CHIEF, DC FIRE DEPT: It's still not where we need to be that will allow me to walk away from a scene and be able to give some definitive information to the people who may have been exposed.

MESERVE: From detection to response, critics say, there are holes, despite the $23 billion spent on biosecurity since 2001. When a department of homeland security sensor system detected the bacterium tularemia during a protest on the Washington Mall last year, local authorities say they weren't told about it for a week. It turned out to be harmless, but critics say that lapse might indicate what the response to a real Anthrax attack would be like.

TARA O'TOOLE, CTR FOR BIOSECURITY, UNIV OF PITTSBURGH: I don't think it would roll out completely smoothly, and I think there would be a lot of missing parts.

MESERVE: In 2001, Anthrax was sent in the mail. The postal serve has since installed detection systems that screen more than 100 million letters a day.

THOMAS DAY, U.S. POSTAL SERVICE: It's reliable and it's very sensitive.

MESERVE: But because letters sent anonymously from corner mailboxes are believed to pose the greatest threat, large envelopes and packages are still unscreened.

What if a lot of people were exposed to Anthrax? Doctors are now better trained to recognize symptoms, but there's still no rapid test to confirm their diagnosis and experts project it could be five years away.

Public health labs have improved and expanded, but experts say hospitals do not have the beds, equipment, or staff to handle a large influx of patients and critics say the country still doesn't have a system for distributing drugs if they're needed. The Centers for Disease Control has stockpiled antibiotics for 41 million people and aims to eventually have enough for 60 million.

DR. TANJA POPOVIC, CDC: And those are extremely large numbers, and a massive improvement over what we've had several years ago.

MESERVE: The government had planned to have 75 million doses of a new Anthrax vaccine by the end of this year, but because of production delays, it isn't projected to get it until 2009. There are almost two million doses of an old vaccine on hand, but it takes 18 months to be fully effective. Experts say that leaves the nation at serious risk if terrorists strike with a strain of Anthrax resistant to antibiotics.

O'TOOLE: Now we have a really big problem on our hands. There virtually are without effective medical treatment. Though the nation is not completely ready to deal with another Anthrax attack, experts say we are more prepared for Anthrax than we are for almost any other biological agent.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: But there happens to be some hopeful news to talk about tonight. Scientists in Switzerland now say they have made discovery that could lead to a new test for Anthrax, one that would give results back in minutes, not the 24 hours you just heard about.

Still ahead a top story and a big scare, the U.S. capital. Coming up next how an intruder actually got inside the U.S. Capital building. We'll have the very latest on what the police are saying about that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Tonight's top story on Capitol Hill is a pretty scary confrontation that raises a lot of questions about security. An intruder crashed his car through several barricades, and even though police were chasing him, the guy actually got into the Capitol building itself this morning. They finally caught him, but the security breach caused a total lock down and a lot of worry.

Brian Todd has more on exactly what unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Five years after 9/11, eight years after a gunman entered the U.S. Capital and killed two people. Witnesses and workers here say this is an extraordinary breach of security.

A man who law enforcement officials say carried a small loaded handgun and possessed a small amount of crack cocaine ran through the center of the Capitol, just a short distance from leadership offices. The chase triggered a full lock down. It began when the man, driving this stolen SUV, got to within a few feet of the Capitol steps.

(on camera): This is the construction vehicle entrance to the Capitol visitor's center. Now normally this entrance is blocked by police vehicles, but the suspect was able to ram right through those vehicles and enter the construction cite right on the premises.

JILES RICHARDS, WITNESS: He had actually went over a wall and crashed into another wall and got out of the truck and started running. By that time I was trying to take some cover. I thought somebody was going to start shooting or something, and by that time it was like the Capitol police were on him like ants. TODD: The acting Capital Hill police chief then describes how the suspect, identified as 20-year-old Carlos Green, got into the building.

CHRISTOPHER MCGAFFIN, ACTING CAPITAL POLICE CHIEF: The individual who was operating the vehicle, exited the vehicle and ran to the Capitol building and accessed the Capitol through a construction entrance in the area of the third floor of the Capitol itself. After a brief foot chase by officers inside the building, the individual was isolated, contained, and subdued.

TODD: But not before running through the center of the building and nearly out the other side.

CNN congressional producer Deardra Walsh (ph) and I tracked his likely route down a main staircase, probably toward a security checkpoint near a police sub-station. But he wasn't apprehended there, according to police, so we turned down another hallway he could have taken that goes past the Capitol flag office, where he was finally captured.

Police say the suspect than had seizures and was taken to a local hospital. The police chief says the suspect was tracked by cameras and policemen throughout the building, but police are conducting what they call a security assessment to find out how he got as far as he did.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Interesting, but right now we move on to a Biz Break.

(MARKET REPORT)

ZAHN: Meanwhile we have got a visitor in town, "LARRY KING LIVE" coming up in a few minutes. He's landed in New York and he has a very special guest he's landed.

LARRY KING, CNN ANCHOR: We sure do. She's a great lady, Rachel Ray. In fact, she took me shopping yesterday at the Chelsea Market. Have you been to the Chelsea Market?

ZAHN: I have. Do you admit that you like junk food or did you have to do the whole vegetable?

KING: No, I like the whole scene. I like the Italian market. I like the restaurant with the clothes hanging down on the side, the bakery with the cookies and the bread.

Any way, she's going to be here. Her show debuted today, her national TV talk show. She's got everything going for her. Rachel Ray is our special guest.

Bill Clinton on Wednesday night. And now back to the lovely and talented Paula. ZAHN: Why thank you Larry. Have a good show tonight. We'll be watching.

KING: Thanks, dear.

ZAHN: We move on to our countdown. On to number four now. It's a story we told you about just moments ago, a major security breach at the Capital, when an armed man driving an SUV, crashed through a fence, then ran inside.

Number three, you heard about it in our lead, al Qaeda in Iraq warns Pope Benedict that its war against Christianity and the west will continue until Islam is established around the world, that warning comes one day after the Pope said, quote, he was deeply sorry for the reaction to his recent comments about Islam.

Numbers two and one on our list straight ahead. Plus a top story you're not going to forget. A teenage girl who says she was kidnapped and hidden underground. You're going to be amazed at how she got away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: We are following another top story Outside the Law now. Just hours ago a judge in South Carolina denied bond for the suspect in a chilling crime. He is accused of kidnapping a 14-year-old girl and imprisoning her in an underground bunker for ten days. The girl ended up surviving and owes her rescue to her own quick thinking.

Drew Griffin has the latest on the case from Camden, South Carolina tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Her parents heard not one word until last Wednesday evening when Madeline Shoaf saw a blinking message on her cell phone and knew it was her 14-year-old daughter Elizabeth.

MADELINE & DONALD SHOAF, PARENTS: Hey, mom, it's Lizzie. She told me exactly where she was down the road. Which road it was. And it was down where the big trucks come out. Get the police.

She was in a hole.

She was in a hole.

And something about a bomb.

And get the police.

GRIFFIN: Lizzie Shoaf was sending that text message from a stolen cell phone, stolen, she tells police, from her captor Vinson Filyaw, as he fell asleep inside this underground bunker where she was being held. Police traced the phone to Filyaw and with Elizabeth's description, along with cell phone location techniques, found the girl early Saturday morning alone and alive inside the underground bunker where she had been held captive for ten days. It was only a mile from her home.

SHERIFF STEVE MCCASKILL, KERSHAW COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA: We were probably the happiest Twenty something fellows you ever saw Saturday morning when we got a look at that young lady. I know I just felt like the world had been lifted off my shoulders when she walked out of there alive.

GRIFFIN (on camera): The sheriff said, look it, this girl had as much to do with rescuing herself as anybody else did.

SHOAF: That's what she told me. She sat there. She goes, I found the police.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Filyaw was caught a day later, walking along the side of a highway, dressed in camouflage clothing and carrying a pellet gun, allegedly after a failed car jacking. Wanted since last November for the alleged rape of his 12-year-old step- daughter, Filyaw had been running from the law for months, but not very far. According to the Sheriff here, they searched his home, couldn't find him and thought he had fled, but he Filyaw was digging holes in the ground, as many five fully stocked bunkers, the sheriff says, he was using to elude capture.

It was in a heavily stocked bunker he's accused of taking the 14- year-old and sexually assaulting her.

MCCASKILL: Just from what we've been able to gather, she was just living in this hole in this bunker in the ground, sleeping there on a little makeshift cot, a bed that Filyaw had made down there, and, of course, he was feeding her. He had food stuffs that he was feeding her.

GRIFFIN: In yet another bizarre twist the 14-year-old victim and her family were in court this afternoon as Vinson Filyaw was officially charged. A judge would not allow pictures of the girl who sat huddled with her mother behind the man who allegedly held her captive.

He was denied bond. Filyaw appeared with no attorney and his only comment to the court was that his family had nothing to do with his crimes.

VINSON FILYAW, ACCUSED CAPTOR: I would just like to say that nobody in my family is involved in this in any way.

GRIFFIN: Filyaw's girlfriend also has been arrested and charged with aiding and abetting. She is the mother of a 12-year-old girl whom police say Filyaw sexually assaulted last year.

Drew Griffin, CNN, Camden, South Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Even while we're on the air here tonight, South Carolina lawmakers are looking at changing their Amber Alert Law because Lizzie Shoaf's disappearance didn't qualify for an Amber Alert.

We're going to move on to our count down, back to number two. The report of the details just a few minutes ago, the hunt going on in Missouri right now for a missing baby girl who is just one week old. Police have a sketch of a woman suspected of kidnapping the child and viciously attacking her mother.

Number one, the death of teen actor Pablo Santos, who starred in the WB Network series "Greetings from Tucson." He was killed in a plain crash in Mexico late Friday. Santos also appeared in other shows, including "Boston Public," and "Law and Order." He was just 19-years-old.

And we're just minutes away from the top of the hour and "LARRY KING LIVE." Larry's guest is the woman known as the Super-Cook, Rachael Ray, the Food Network's hottest star.

Larry went shopping with her today. Let's see what he bought.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Before we leave you tonight, a top story is developing in Eastern Europe. Check out these pictures in Budapest, Hungary. Some 10,000 protesters are in the streets tonight. Police are using water cannons against them. It's all because of a newly released audiotape of the country's prime minister. On the tape he allegedly admits he and top government officials lied about the country's economy in order to win elections. No telling how long these protests will go on.

And that wraps it up for all of us here tonight. Thanks so much for dropping by. We will back same time, same place tomorrow night. We hope you join us then. Until then have a great night. "LARRY KING LIVE" starts right now.

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