Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Target Terrorism: Anthrax in America

Aired October 15, 2001 - 19:00   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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD), MAJORITY LEADER: Well, I'm concerned deeply for my staff. I feel so badly for each of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: A positive test for anthrax in a letter opened today in the office of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. We'll go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for an update on the wave of anthrax attacks across America. Is there an Al Qaeda connection?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have no hard data yet, but it's clear that Mr. bin Laden is a man who's an evil man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We'll go to Pakistan where CNN's Nic Robertson will tell us about his face-to-face meeting with al Qaeda members inside Afghanistan and their latest threats.

And we'll go live to Capitol Hill, the White House and the Pentagon as "America Targets Terrorism."

Good evening. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting tonight from Washington, where anthrax has now hit Capitol Hill right behind me. We'll get to that anthrax investigation in just a moment, but first we begin with a look at the latest development.

The Pentagon says today's air strikes over Afghanistan should be the most intense attacks of the U.S. campaign yet. Taliban troops and leadership were the primary targets of more than 50 U.S. warplanes. Sources tell CNN there was intense air activity over Kandahar, in fact, in Afghanistan tonight. They report hearing helicopters over the Taliban stronghold and gunfire both from the air and return ground fire.

Postal Service workers in Boca Raton, Florida are being treated with antibiotics after small amounts of anthrax were found in a mail sorting facility. The building is one of three mail facilities tested after a tabloid newspaper photo editor was infected by anthrax contained in a letter. He later died.

There were worries in the air after a flight attendant reported finding a white powder in the lavatory of a Continental Airlines jet traveling from Las Vegas to Cleveland: 155 people were on board the Boeing 737, which was quarantined after it landed in Ohio. No word yet on what the substance is.

Now to the anthrax scare, which has reached the nation's capital. A letter testing positive for anthrax was received in the office of the Senate majority leader, Tom Daschle. Let's go live to Capitol Hill and CNN congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl for details. Jon.

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, according to an FBI official familiar with this case, familiar with the investigation, that letter was sent to Senator Daschle's office on Friday and not opened until Monday morning, until this morning. We're also told by that official that the postmark on the letter was Trenton, New Jersey just like the postmarks of that letter, the anthrax letter that was sent to NBC's Tom Brokaw. But other than that, officials saying very little about the specifics of this letter other than it was heavily taped.

And they also caution that the final lab results will not be in probably until tomorrow, and they caution that the preliminary lab results that showed, the preliminary field results that showed that this tested positive for anthrax are simply preliminary, that they will not have a final determination until they actually see those lab results that are much more reliable.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL (voice-over): The incident turned Senator Daschle's personal office into a crime scene. Forty staffers initially quarantined inside for several hours. Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, all mail deliveries were halted and mail already delivered returned to be examined for hazardous material. But the majority leader urged calm.

DASCHLE: I will say that the antibiotic is so effective that it's 100 percent successful killing the bacteria once that bacteria has been released. And so we are supremely confident of our ability to deal with circumstances like this.

KARL: Daschle was not in the office when the letter was opened. Some but not all of the 40 people who were are being treated with antibiotics. So are several mail room workers and police officers who were first called to the scene.

The attack didn't come as a complete surprise on Capitol Hill. Just five days earlier, the Senate sergeant at arms sent out a lengthy memo to all Senate offices warning staff about the recent threats and providing tips on identifying and handling suspicious packages and letters. But the presence of anthrax in Daschle's office made an already jittery capital even more nervous. Senator Frank Murkowski reported to Capitol Police a suspicious package in his office. He wasn't the only one.

SEN. FRANK MURKOWSKI (R), ALASKA: We were advised at the time that we were the 12th on the list.

KARL: Capitol Police spent much of the day chasing down suspicious packages, none of which have been reported to test positive for biological agents. But in a sign of the heightened state of alert, all public tours of the Capitol were suspended indefinitely.

DASCHLE: We are taking every step and we will take additional steps as we become more aware of what can be done in a preventative way to deal with these circumstances in the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KARL: One of those steps being taken, in fact something that was already in the works before this news today is a new screening system in the Capitol mail rooms that will help screen mail for possible biological agents. Wolf.

BLITZER: Jon, talk about the atmosphere a little bit on Capitol Hill. How nervous are they?

KARL: Well, it's been a jittery scene up here, Wolf, and I'll tell you even before this happened a little vignette of something that took place up here just last week. In an elevator over in the Senate side of the Capitol, somebody thought they saw some powder on one of the buttons in the elevator. The police were called in. The elevator was sealed. They checked it and it turned out that there was nothing going on.

But while that was happening, there was an alarm that had been accidentally tripped in a window in the office of Senate -- the deputy leader in the Senate, Harry Reid. That prompted Capitol Police to run into his office. There was a sense like there was really something going on. It turned out that both reports were completely false.

So now you have this happening, an actual real report apparently of anthrax being present in the office, being present in the office of Tom Daschle, and it really contributes to make this place a little bit even more nervous than it was before. It was already an extremely high state of alert up here at the Capitol.

BLITZER: Jonathan Karl on Capitol Hill, thank you very much.

And for reaction from the Bush administration, which has its own suspicions about who may be behind the attacks, let's go live to our senior White House Correspondent, John King.

How are they reacting at the White House, John?

JOHN KING, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the president reacted very quickly today, Wolf. He was in the Oval Office with the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. The two leaders discussing the coalition-building in the international war on terrorism. Mr. Bush got word of this case at the Capitol. He spoke to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle.

Then he came out in public and in the Rose Garden, the president made clear the investigation was just beginning, but that he had instant suspicions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: There may be some possible link. We have no hard data yet, but it's clear that Mr. bin Laden is a man who's an evil man. He and his spokesmen are openly bragging about how they hope to inflict more pain on our country. So we're watching every piece of evidence. We are making sure that we connect any dots that we have to find out who is doing this. And I wouldn't put it past him, but we don't have hard evidence yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: And beyond any of the specific cases of the investigations that are under way in Florida, in New York, in Nevada, now here in Washington, D.C., what the administration fears most of all is what one aide called the "fear factor." That Americans will get the jitters, the word Jon Karl just used, about this and be afraid to open the mail. The president's national security adviser today, Condoleezza Rice, saying: "Americans should be concerned. They should be very careful." But she urged them not to panic. Wolf.

BLITZER: John, I understand you have some news on a new legislative initiative the president is planning to introduce to fight, to deal with bioterrorism?

KING: There is a concern, Wolf, at the highest levels of the administration that it is just, the government is not as prepared as it needs to be. We are told the administration will ask for about $3 billion in new spending to fight bioterrorism. Half of that would be for the Department of Health and Human Services.

Right now, the government has on hand a 60-day supply for 2 million people of anthrax antibiotics. It wants to go to 60-day supply for 12 million people. It also wants to accelerate and increase the production of the smallpox vaccine and notably wants to improve security at all those health labs around the country and research labs that might have strains of anthrax and other items, other strains that might be of use to bioterrorists. Wolf.

BLITZER: John King at the White House, thank you very much. And at least one sample from Senator Daschle's office is being sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta for analysis.

CNN medical correspondent Rhonda Rowland is at the CDC and joins us now live for an update.

Rhonda, first of all, we understand two preliminary field tests did show positive, but that is not necessarily the final word, is it? RHONDA ROWLAND, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. We asked the CDC officials here what they knew about these tests and they said that they were not intimately familiar with them because they are newer tests being used by the FBI.

So we asked, until we get the conclusive results, which, if they're positive, could come within a day. So in the meantime, while we wait we asked the CDC official how the public should interpret this information.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DAVID FLEMING, CDC DEPUTY DIRECTOR: Our understanding is that these tests are quite preliminary. So the public needs to wait until these results are confirmed before forming an opinion one way or the other. In the meantime, though the appropriate public health actions will be taken to protect people in this particular situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLAND: In the meantime, on another front, we've been waiting for conclusive results from a tainted letter that was obtained in Reno, Nevada. We've been hearing all day that the final test in this series should be done and Nevada health officials should be alerted, and again those samples have been tested here. They've been here since Saturday evening, so we're awaiting those results as well. Wolf.

BLITZER: Rhonda, there are now four separate criminal, FBI investigations in Florida, in New York, in Nevada, and now here in Washington, D.C. What will the CDC be looking for specifically to see if there are any links, any connections between these four separate investigations?

ROWLAND: Well, what the CDC can do is look at the strain, the strain of anthrax. All anthrax is the same as far as being able to cause disease, but they all have their own genetic type fingerprint. So if they can get cultures from the more sophisticated tests from all these locations, it's possible then that they can see if there are similarities, see if they're the same.

But the CDC keeps telling us all the time that their primary focus is looking at the public health, that it's interested in the investigation, but first and foremost they want to protect the public health.

BLITZER: Rhonda, I've received some e-mail from our viewers who have some specific questions. I want to read a couple of them for you. One is from Gordon in Michigan. He writes this: "Is it possible for a person to get anthrax and survive without treatment?"

ROWLAND: Well, it depends on the type of anthrax. You may recall that the very first victim had the inhalation form. This is a very serious type and once you have symptoms it's about 90 percent fatal. Of course, the first person did die from this disease. But if you get the cutaneous form, the skin form, which is what the NBC employee has, even without treatment only about 20 percent die from it. With treatment it's about 99 percent, you can survive it, so it's much less serious.

So I think that's pretty encouraging: if it is a skin form of anthrax involved, that it is highly, highly treatable.

BLITZER: And the second question from our viewer flows from that. Andy from Washington, D.C. writes this: "How different is the treatment of inhalation anthrax from the treatment of cutaneous anthrax?"

ROWLAND: Well, whenever you suspect anthrax, no matter what type of anthrax it is, you would start somebody on antibiotics. And that's what the situation is now in all of these locations. If there's any suspected exposures, people are started immediately on the antibiotics. But if you have the inhalation form, the more serious type once you have symptoms, once they begin, it's very difficult to really treat them. Then you just give people the best medical care you can.

But with the skin form, even as symptoms develop, as in the case of the NBC employee -- she has a rash. She got the antibiotic. She's responding very well and expected to do very well.

BLITZER: Rhonda Rowland in Atlanta, thank you very much. And for more on the anthrax scare, you can read my online column. Just go to cnn.com/wolf.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is strongly disputing Taliban claims that U.S.-led attacks on Afghanistan have killed hundreds of civilians. CNN military affairs correspondent Jamie McIntyre is live at the Pentagon with more on the latest U.S. military efforts. Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, today there were more claims, more bombs, more targets, more daylight attacks as the Pentagon shifted its war against the Taliban and the al Qaeda network into high gear.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (voice-over): Pentagon sources say on day nine the pace of bombing more than doubled over recent days as Navy strike aircraft and Air Force B-52 bombers concentrated on killing as many Taliban troops as possible. Pentagon officials scoffed at reports that the U.S. planes were avoiding the front lines and Taliban fighters were fleeing to forward positions for safety.

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: My comment might be that I suspect that in the period ahead that's not going to be a very safe place to be.

MCINTYRE: The U.S. began psychological warfare as well, dropping leaflets over the weekend that urged Afghans to listen to U.S. broadcasts from a blind radio station, and promised that, quote, "The partnership of nations is here to help." The Pentagon continues to say it's not targeting civilians and disputed Taliban claims that U.S. bombing had killed 200 people in Karam, a village in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan.

RUMSFELD: We know with certain knowledge that the Taliban leadership and al Qaeda are accomplished liars, that they go on television and they say things that we know are absolutely not true.

MCINTYRE: The Pentagon speculated that if there was any truth to the high death toll, it was the result of secondary explosions that occurred after two caves were hit with penetrating bombs.

RUMSFELD: They were not cooking cookies inside those tunnels. I mean, let's face it. You do not spend that kind of money and dig that far in and store that many weapons and ammunitions that it would cause that kind of sustained secondary explosions unless you have very serious purposes for doing it. And the people in the vicinity clearly were connected to those activities.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: And no explanation tonight of reports from CNN from the scene that reported that there was helicopter activity in the skies over Kandahar. U.S. officials telling CNN privately, though, that there were no U.S. attack helicopters in today's battle plan, which involved more than 50 aircraft. But other than that, they would neither confirm nor deny those reports of helicopters over Kandahar. Wolf.

BLITZER: Jamie, our CNN people are hearing that from their sources in Kandahar in Afghanistan, people there are hearing helicopters flying there. Do you have any additional information beyond what the Pentagon is saying right there?

MCINTYRE: Well, you know, the only thing is the Pentagon will neither confirm nor deny those reports. Now that's their standard procedure about all things military these days, but no one is denying that the United States has the capability to launch special operations missions in helicopters, that those kinds of missions might not even be acknowledged, even after the fact.

The Pentagon keeps making reference to visible parts of their operation and invisible parts. But at this hour, we have no idea whether, what those helicopters that were heard over Kandahar, whether they were U.S. helicopters, helicopters from somewhere else or whether they were in fact the Taliban's own helicopters that were up at the same time that they were also firing at U.S. planes. It's just not clear.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre, thanks at least for clarifying what we do know. Thank you very much.

And as the U.S. air strikes continue in Afghanistan, Secretary of State Colin Powell is now in the neighborhood. General Powell arrived today in Islamabad for talks with Pakistani leaders. He's to meet tomorrow with President Pervez Musharraf and will travel to New Delhi for talks Wednesday with the Indian prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Complicating Powell's job is fresh tension in the Kashmir region, which has long been a flashpoint for the two nuclear powers. India announced that its troops had fired on Pakistani posts across the cease-fire line. Pakistan says its forces have returned fire.

The Pakistani government is already hardpressed at home. Thousands of shops were closed nationwide today as the government's support for the U.S. anti-terror campaign led to a call for a general strike. More violent protests, now a daily occurrence, took place in several areas, with anti-U.S. sentiment especially strong in the border city of Quetta, which has a large Afghan-refugee population.

For the latest on what's happening on the ground in Afghanistan after another day of air strikes, we go live to CNN's John Vause. He's reporting of course from Islamabad.

First of all, John, what about Secretary Powell's talks with the Pakistani government? How is he likely to do over there?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's a very good question. Obviously tensions between India and Pakistan will be high on the agenda. That was high on the agenda before the skirmishes on the border, before the end of that 10-month cease-fire, which happened just a few hours ago.

Also on the agenda, trying to keep President Musharraf in line as far as the anti-terrorism coalition. President Musharraf is very keen to find out how long these air strikes will continue. He's under increasing pressure here.

You've just seen the demonstration, as you say, almost an increasingly daily event here now. He wants to know how long these strikes will go, how much longer he has to try to keep this tight lid on those demonstrations.

Important to note, though, that those demonstrations (UNINTELLIGIBLE) very, very small. Militant, yes, violent, yes. And the rhetoric is being ratcheted up day by day, but still a very small amount of the population taking to the streets: thousands as opposed to hundreds of thousands.

BLITZER: And John, what about the situation involving Afghan refugees? Already hundreds of thousands have been crossing over the borders over these recent years. What's the latest on that front?

VAUSE: Well, as we know, we've had a buildup of refugees in those towns of Quetta and Peshawar.

Also the situation on the other side, at the Iranian border. Iran closed its borders to millions of refugees as well.

The situation now, there are supplies coming in from the United States and from Britain to try and deal with the situation. What the United Nations is proposing is to set up refugee camps inside Afghanistan to try and accommodate the refugees who are obviously fleeing the cities, trying to get to some kind of safety away from these U.S.-led strikes.

Pakistan is fairly adamant that they do not want anymore refugees. They say it simply can't cope with the numbers, even though there has been quite substantial aid committed to Pakistan from the United States, from the European Union and also from Japan.

But let's just say the situation is growing day by day. It does seem to be in hand at the moment, but as the strikes continue and more Afghans head for the border, obviously that's a situation which is adding to the problems here for President Musharraf.

BLITZER: John Vause, reporting live from Islamabad. Thank you once again.

And coming up, he met face to face with members of Al Qaeda and heard their latest threats. We'll hear from CNN's Nic Robertson, who paid a visit to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and witnessed scenes of destruction there. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. His weekend getaway wasn't what most people would have in mind: a Taliban-escorted tour of Afghanistan under siege.

CNN's Nic Robinson is now safely back in Pakistan and has this report from Peshawar.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just before leaving Afghanistan, we had an exclusive meeting with two representatives of al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden's organization. I asked them what was the situation with Osama bin Laden following the air attacks aimed at him. They said he was well. The representative told me that he'd seen Osama bin Laden just two days previously.

I asked him what Osama bin Laden's view was on the current situation. He said that Osama bin Laden believes that they are winning this war. He believes that they have successfully defined the terms of this war on their terms and that is that this is a fight against Islam. He also said that they believe that just one of their fighters, one of their representatives, is equivalent to one corps of a modern Army. I asked him what he meant by that, and he said that just one of their fighters by blowing themselves up could destroy a large number of people or building. And in their opinion it would take one corps of a modern army to do that.

They also said that Osama bin Laden said that even if he is killed, the fight will go on.

Now Osama bin Laden, he said, did have a special message at this time, and that special message he said was that if the United States and allied forces continued bombing innocent civilian houses they said inside Afghanistan, destroying those civilian homes, he said that there would be serious consequences.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Peshawar, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And for our North American viewers, "CROSSFIRE" comes your way at the bottom of the hour. Here's Bob Novak with a preview. Bob.

ROBERT NOVAK, CO-HOST, CNN'S "CROSSFIRE": Wolf, thank you.

Anthrax is busting out all over, or at least threats of anthrax are. Senate Majority Tom Daschle's main office here was quarantined. Other potential sightings of anthrax in Ohio, Florida and New Jersey. Does this spell real danger or just panic? An expert on terrorism debates an expert on health scares next in the "CROSSFIRE" -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you very much, Bob. We'll be watching.

And an update on the anthrax attack against the Senate majority leader plus some of the other latest developments when we come back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We have late word on what may have been heard over the skies of Kandahar in Afghanistan earlier today. CNN's military affairs correspondent Jamie McIntyre joins us once again live from the Pentagon. Jamie.

MCINTYRE: Well, Wolf, this just in from a senior Pentagon official. What CNN sources heard over Kandahar, according to this official, was not helicopters, not a helicopter assault, but a punishing attack from an AC-130 gunship. This is a specially modified C-130 airplane that has a huge cannon that fires out one side as it circles over the target. It was used in devastating attacks in Vietnam, also used in Mogadishu.

But that's what the Pentagon officials say attacked the ground positions in Kandahar today, an AC-130 Specter Gunship.

No helicopter assault according to that official. Wolf.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre, thanks for that update.

And that's all the time we have tonight. Please join me again tomorrow, twice at both 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. eastern as "America Targets Terrorism." Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "CROSSFIRE" begins right now.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR U.S.E OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com