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A Terrorist Targets Civilians in New York; The Psychology of Terrorism; Poison Supper Club Helped Lead to FDA Regulations

Aired November 02, 2017 - 04:00   ET

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

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hi. I`m Carl Azuz. Thank you for taking 10 minutes for CNN 10.

We resume our daily news coverage today, but our first story appears to be related to yesterday`s special edition concerning the ISIS terrorist group.

A U.S. law enforcement official says a terrorist attack in New York City on Tuesday was done in the name of ISIS. It involved a man who apparently

drove a rented pickup truck onto a popular bike path. Eight people were killed and more than 12 others are trying to recover from their injuries.

After crashing the truck into a school bus, the suspect then reportedly stepped out, holding imitation firearms, a pellet gun and a paintball gun.

A police officer then shot him in the abdomen. He survived and was taken to the hospital.

This was the deadliest terrorist attack in New York City since the assaults of September 11th, 2001. It happened just blocks away from the World Trade

Center, which was a target 16 years ago.

The suspect is a 29-year-old man named Sayfullo Saipov. He`s from the Central Asian country of Uzbekistan. Officials say he came to the U.S.

legally in 2010 and that he learned about ISIS and radical Islamic tactics afterward. Police say he`d been planning Tuesday`s terrorist attack for

months and then a note found near the scene was written in Arabic and had the general message that Islamic state, another name for ISIS, would endure

forever.

The use of vehicles as weapons has become increasingly common among terrorists. Since 2014, there had been 15 jihadist attacks using cars or

trucks in western countries, killing more than 140 people. That`s according to New America, a nonpartisan research group.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUBTITLE: The one thing: ISIS-inspired attacks.

PHILIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: The one thing you need to know about the evolution of terrorism is that even as we see the ISIS

organization degraded in countries like Syria and Iraq, we will see individuals who pick up the ISIS message for months or years to come

through social media.

ISIS is being degraded, as al Qaeda was before. If you compare this to the highlight of ISIS roughly mid-2015, fewer leaders, less money, obviously,

fewer recruits from North America and Western Europe, little ability to confront the armies in Syria, the Russian army as well, and the Iraqi army.

But in the age of social media, ISIS has been able to propagate their ideas. The fact that their message still lives and will leave for years on

social media means that we will get isolated individuals, sometimes mentally disturbed individuals who decide in their own minds to take action

based on an ISIS message, even when the ISIS organization is dying.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Another terrorist attack took place in the Asian country of Afghanistan. A local spokesperson says an explosive was placed on a fuel

tanker. It went off next to a passenger bus, killing at least eight people and injuring dozens of others.

So, besides murders, what`s the purpose of these attacks whether they`re carried out by a vehicle, an explosive or firearms?

Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores the psychology of terrorism.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Make no mistake: terrorism is a strategic war against our minds. Its weapons,

fear, panic, and most importantly, an overwhelming feeling of vulnerability.

SUBTITLE: The psychology of terrorism.

GUPTA (on camera): If we feel vulnerable, we`ll be in constant fear. And that`s exactly what they`re trying to achieve.

Bombs are set off in places where we gather. The message: we will find you where you work and play.

Shooting unsuspecting innocent people. The message: there is nowhere to hide.

Videos revealing the horrors of rape, mass murder, and beheadings. The message: no one is immune.

In fact, following a terrorist attack, studies show it`s the most vulnerable of us who will suffer longest, especially those with personal

histories of trauma.

But while most everyone may be fearful or anxious for a few weeks, the vast majority of us will prove resilient. And in this regard, experts say

terrorism is failed strategy because research shows that terror often backfires, making nations stronger as citizens band together and angry

countries join ranks to fight back.

But history has also proven terrorism only works if we allow ourselves to be terrorized.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: A couple of days ago, we reported on an extraordinary rescue at sea. It involved two American women and their two dogs who said they were adrift

for months in the Pacific. But since then, some questions had been raised about their story.

For one thing, U.S. Coast Guard says the sailors had an emergency beacon on their ship that was registered and working but that the women didn`t

activate it during their five months at sea. They say their boat was still sea-worthy, that they thought they could find a place to make repairs and

that they were not in imminent peril.

The sailors also said that at the beginning for their journey, they were hit by a violent storm near Hawaii, on or shortly after May 3rd. But the

National Weather Service says while there were some strong trade winds on May 3rd, there were not any organized storm systems or storm warnings at

that time.

The Coast Guard and some scientists say there were additional inconsistencies with the women`s story. According to CBS News, sailing

experts who know the route from Hawaii to Tahiti, which the two women had planned to take say it was a bad idea to attempt making a trip like that

with fewer than three sailors aboard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:

Which of these U.S. government agencies was established first?

Food and Drug Administration, Federal Trade Commission, National Park Service, or Federal Communications Commission?

The FDA was established in 1906, making it the oldest agency on this list.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: It`s also the oldest consumer protection agency in the government and today, the FDA is responsible for making sure that everything, from

drugs and medical devices, to food and cosmetics, are safe for people to use. It was created with the help of something called the Poison Supper

Club, which probably wasn`t a group folks were hungry to join.

Their studies helped determine that while compounds like borax, hydrated sodium borate, are effective at cleaning, adding minerals to the soil,

repealing pests and manufacturing glass and porcelain, they`re less savory as a food preservative.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REPORTER: Until about 1902, legal food preservatives included chemicals like formaldehyde, borax and copper sulfate. That is until one guy

organized a poison supper club to stop it and became the father of the FDA.

SUBTITLE: The Nation`s Poison Squad.

REPORTER: OK, here`s the story.

In order to keep food looking fresh, food manufacturers used a slew of chemicals, cooper sulfate, a common pesticide, made canned peas bright

green. Borax and formaldehyde were packed with meat to make it appear fresher. At this time in our history, there were no true food regulations.

You didn`t need to label your ingredients. There is no safety testing, no monitoring.

Cue, Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, a chemist with the crazy idea that these chemicals had no place in our food. He started some hygienic lab trials

where he could officially test the effects of these poisons on the body. It was easy to get the chemicals, but he needed the bodies. And that`s

where the poison squad came in.

The first 12 members of the poison squad were volunteers from the Department of Agriculture. And they volunteered to eat his poison food for

six months so he could track the effects it had on them.

Each day, the menus would change and Wiley`s volunteers never knew which poison they were consuming.

A dinner at the poison supper club might look like this: applesauce, soup, turkey, can string beans, sweet potato, white potato, chip beet, red and

butter, coffee, rice pudding, and a little borax.

Throughout the trials, Wylie noted signs of acute poisoning, including upset stomachs, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, kidney damage, you know, things

that happen when you get poisoned.

And this did not stay hidden. The press caught on and in 1906, the first food regulations were passed. This ultimately led to the creation of the

FDA. So, thanks, Dr. Wylie, our food is so much better without all that borax.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: For "10 Out of 10" this Thursday, 4.59. That`s how many seconds it took this 23-year-old competitor to solve a Rubik`s cube. He knows it was

fast, he quickly gets the attention of the other cubists, and it appears a new record has been set for solving the puzzle in 4.59 seconds.

Previous record, 4.69. Some folks have been trying to solve this puzzle since it was invented in 1974.

It may not be Picasso`s brand of cubism but it`s still a square deal. The young man knew all the angles. He was a sticker for accuracy, his talent

is multi-faceted and it`s clear he`s an expert in gleaming the cube.

I`m Carl Azuz and that`s CNN 10.

END