7. Close-up Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan seated between U.S. Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary of Defence Paul Wolfowitz
8. Pan close-up as President Bush shakes their hands
9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Ari Fliescher, White House spokesman.
"Routine preliminary tests at the Federal Reserve, which were administered late Tuesday and Wednesday have detected anthrax spores in small batches of mail. The affected mail was routine commercial and business mail and did not have any of the characteristics identified by the F-B-I as suspicious, so as a result as has happened previously from time to time unfortunately. Swabs were sent additional testing. These are preliminary, this has happened before. The source of the possible contamination is not known. Subsequent tests of the mail room surfaces and mail distribution points within the Board's buildings have all been negative. (Q: Suggest there could be potentially another anthrax ...?) No Kelly this is new information, this is based on this preliminary report from the federal reserve and so I think the lesson that everyone has learnt from the anthrax episodes of last is that preliminary information is often incorrect information."
APTN
October 25, 2001 - Washington, DC
10. Various views of letters sent containing anthrax to Senator Tom Daschle and NBC Anchorman Tom Brokaw
The U-S Federal Reserve reported Thursday that about 20 pieces of mail tested positive for traces of anthrax in an initial screening.
The tainted mail was discovered as part of routine mail testing by the Federal Reserve in a mobile trailer stationed in a courtyard at the Federal Reserve's main buildings in downtown Washington.
The test results were preliminary.
The mail did not contain powder like substances or handwritten addresses. Such preliminary tests often are inaccurate and further tests are being conducted.
In a written statement, the Federal Reserve said: "The affected mail was routine commercial and business mail and did not have any of the characteristics identified by the FBI as suspicious."
Fed spokesman David Skidmore said some of the mail was addressed to Chairman Alan Greenspan as well as other officials.
Swabs that produced the positive readings will be sent to a laboratory for additional testing.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said it is important not to jump to conclusions.
The Fed also had positive initial test readings for a batch of mail received in December. However extensive follow-up tests never found any new letters containing anthrax. The Fed said Thursday it believes those initial positive readings were "the result of cross-contamination."
