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CNN Saturday Morning News

Capitol Closes Two Buildings After Discovery of Leahy Letter

Aired November 17, 2001 - 09:15   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We want to bring you the latest on the new anthrax threat on Capitol Hill. Two Senate office buildings are being checked for contamination today after another letter tested positive for anthrax.

For the latest, we go to CNN congressional correspondent Kate Snow in Washington. Hi, Kate.

KATE SNOW, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, good morning, Kyra.

Well, they're closing those two buildings down just as a precaution so they can do another round of environmental testing up here. It is possible that this letter never even made it to Capitol Hill. It was found within tons of congressional mail that the FBI had gathered up from locations all across the Capitol complex, from congressional mail facilities and offices.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): The suspicious letter, addressed to another Democrat on Capitol Hill. Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. In a statement, the FBI said the letter appears to contain anthrax. The as-yet-unopened letter has an October 9, 2001, Trenton, New Jersey, postmark and appears in every respect to be similar to the other anthrax-laced letters.

Senate sources say the handwriting on the letter addressed to Senator Leahy is strikingly similar to the writing on the letter sent to Majority Leader Tom Daschle. The two letters are postmarked from the same Trenton post office on the same day.

The new letter was found at a warehouse in northern Virginia, where investigators this week began sifting through 250 barrels of unopened congressional mail. It's unclear whether the letter was ever actually delivered to Senator Leahy's office in the Russell Senate Office Building. Congressional mail was gathered and handed over to the FBI after the letter containing anthrax was opened last month in Senator Daschle's office.

In a statement Friday, Senator Leahy said of authorities, "I am confident they are taking the appropriate steps and that eventually they will find this person. Our Senate leaders and officers did the right thing in isolating the Senate's mail." A spokesman for Leahy says no one in the office has been ill nearly five weeks after the letter was removed from Capitol Hill. Public health officials are confident there's little risk.

DR. GREG MARTIN, CAPITOL PHYSICIAN'S OFFICE: The first two weeks are our most dangerous period, and we're well beyond that now. We've seen no evidence of cutaneous or inhalation disease in any of our patients at the Capitol, and we are quite confident that we will not see any because of this letter.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: Yes, and three other cases of inhalation -- there have, though, been two deaths and three other cases of inhalation anthrax here in Washington, D.C. And all along, investigators have suspected that perhaps there could be at least one other contaminated letter somewhere out there to blame.

Now, this particular letter to Senator Leahy may be a bit of a blessing in a strange way, because this may offer more clues about the authors of these letters.

Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: So Kate, how much more mail is there to go through? And could there be other letters to be discovered?

SNOW: There could be, Kyra. Postal investigators telling us that they think they're almost through going through those 250 barrels of mail. That's a lot of mail they've gone through. They started earlier this week. They're almost done doing it, but again, there could be letters out there as well -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Kate Snow, we'll continue to check in with you. Thanks so much.

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