HEADLINE: Anthrax case takes a final twist

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CAPTION: Anthrax-laced letters that killed five people and severely rattled the post-9/11 nation may have been part of an Army scientist's warped plan to test his cure for the deadly toxin, officials said Friday. (Aug. 1)

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[Notes:ANCHOR VOICE]

Bruce Ivins...a brilliant microbiologist...and a suspected multiple murderer.

(hazmat suits)

the man believed to be behind the 2001 anthrax attacks was an Army researcher

(Red Cross shot)

who killed himself this week as the government moved toward indicting him -- and seeking the death penalty

(graphics of Brokaw and Daschle letters)

a bizarre turn for the probe into the anthrax-laced letters that killed 5 and chilled the nation a few weeks after Nine-Eleven

(Hatfill file)

for years, the only known suspect was Steven Hatfill

(Fort Detrick sign or water tower)

an Ivins colleague at Fort Detrick, the Army's biodefense labs in Maryland...who was exonerated just weeks ago

STANDUP: Officials say authorities were investigating whether Ivins released anthrax as a way of testing the vaccine he was developing here at Fort Detrick...just down the block from his home.

(wife sticking head out door with cops)

as police checked on Ivins' family

(people walking around, various of house -- perhaps the closeup of number and then pullout

MD AP IVANS

neighbors said the FBI had been a constant presence nearby for a year, conducting surveillance...they just didn't know the target

SOT: Natalie Duggan, neighbor (one of the first SOTs from her MD AP IVANS)

"We never suspected Bruce...decent guy"

(Duggan walking dog MD AP IVANS)

but while she had no suspicions..

(wide of Bonnie Duggan MD AP IVANS)

her mother said it might make sense

SOT: Bonnie Duggan, neighbor 140125 MD AP IVANS

"we knew that they were looking.... it does not take a rocket scientist that they were looking at him."

(repeat Daschle letter)

but some targeted in the attacks want more

SOT: Tom Daschle, former Senate majority leader DC DASCHLE ANTHRAX 15:03:00

"we need to know exactly how Mr. Ivins was involved, if he was involved, how this relates to the case"

AP-APTN-1830: ++US Anthrax)

Officials say prosecutors haven't yet closed the investigation..leaving open the possibility Ivins is not the only suspect.

SM, The AP

HEADLINE: Officials: Anthrax suspect obsessed with sorority

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CAPTION: The top suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks was obsessed with a sorority that sat less than 100 yards away from a New Jersey mailbox where the toxin-laced letters were sent. Multiple U.S. officials told The Associated Press that former Army scientist Bruce Ivins was long obsessed with the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma. (Aug. 4)

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[Notes:ANCHOR VOICE]

NB. THIS IS A VOICEOVER TRANSCRIPT, NOT A FULL SHOT LIST.

Another bizarre twist in the 2001 anthrax attacks.

The top suspect in those attacks was said to be --- obsessed with *this* sorority --- Kappa Kappa Gamma. [Notes:show hallway..building sign]

The Princeton chapter of the sisterhood --is located here-----just a 100 yards away from this New Jersey mailbox --where toxin laced letters were dropped off... [Notes:show building --and then graphic to mailbox]

Multiple U.S. officials tell The AP -- that former Army scientist Bruce Ivins ---had a decades-long interest in the sorority since his own days in college... [Notes:file photos]

And now---investigators say ---it's becoming clear WHY anthrax was mailed from Princeton in 2001-----an issue that has been--- one of the biggest mysteries surrounding the case.... [Notes:show letter]

Still, authorities acknowledge they cannot place Ivins in Princeton the day the anthrax was mailed. [Notes:file photos]

So what is the connection between the army scientist and Kappa Kappa Gamma? [Notes:kappa kappa gamma logo]

Government officials say---one possible motive ----- Ivins was apparently rebuffed by a woman in the sorority when he was in college. [Notes:photo of ivins--split screen with other woman (darked out)]

Ivins --who was 62, killed himself last week as the Justice Department prepared to indict him on capital murder charges for the deaths of five people poisoned by the anthrax in the weeks following NINE-ELEVEN.

His attorney maintains Ivins would have been proven innocent were he still alive.

HEADLINE: 100-plus accidents at labs handling deadliest toxins

CAPTION: Since 2003, there have been more than 100 incidents at U.S. labs handling the world's deadliest germs and toxins. The Associated Press has obtained confidential reports detailing the incidents. (Oct.2)

[Notes:ANCHOR VOICE]

[Notes:file of anthrax attacks]

2001 - a series of anthrax attacks across the U-S reveals just how unprepared the nation is for a bioterror attack.

[Notes:President Bush file]

President Bush creates the "Select Agent Program", pouring 2-billion dollars into improving bio-warfare defense.

[Notes:lab broll]

Laboratories across the country are built and expanded to work with the most dangerous germs and toxins - among them anthrax, ebola and avian flu.

[Notes:video of reports]

Since 2003, those labs have sent the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 105 confidential reports of accidents, exposures, and missing shipments.

The Associated Press has obtained 77 reports for incidents in which the investigations have been closed, and a complete index that includes incidents still under investigation.

The reports have never been released by the CDC, which oversees most of the labs.

SOT

Rep. Bart Stupak/D-Michigan

"I think the American people would be shocked to know the degree and depth of the problems within these level three and level four labs. I think they'll be surprised to know what agents are in this country."

[Notes:Stupak cutaway, dissolve into lab broll]

Representative Bart Stupak chairs a congressional committee investigating oversight and security breaches at high level labs.

[Notes:graphic with map of incidents]

Incidents at these facilities include a lab worker in Georgia who became ill after handling the Brucella bacteria without taking high-level precautions....

A technician at a Maryland facility bitten by a ferret inoculated by Avian flu....

And three leaks of contaminated waste in an Ames, Iowa facility.

[Notes:Ft. Detrick broll]

The deadliest potential exposure was at the biological defense facility in Fort Detrick, Maryland.

An employee grazed a needle that had come in contact with a Ebola-infected mouse.

The employee was placed in isolation and did not become ill.

The CDC says the sensitive nature of the work at these labs justifies the limits it places on public disclosure.

SOT

Dr. Besser

there is a need for open and honest communication and a degree of trust, but it's essential that we have trust with verification"

The C-D-C says the incidents have never put the public at risk.

[Notes:lab broll]

However, critics say the secrecy surrounding the labs makes it hard to know what's really going on inside.

[Notes:UT graphic]

Texas A & M's laboratory failed to report one lab worker's infection from Brucella and three others' exposure to Q fever.

SOT

Edward Hammond/Sunshine Project

"if labs aren't accountable, and if when they screw up, no one finds out what is happening is that secrecy is being used to cover up problems and those problems are and can be a public health threat"

[Notes:Hammond cutaway]

Edward Hammond has been tracking lab incidents for years and exposed the failures at Texas A & M.

He says that while the likelihood of a catastrophic accident is low, the consequences would be very high.

SOT

Ed Hammond/Sunshine Project

"We may make our worse fears about bioterrorism come true through our own program to study biological weapons agents."

C-D-C officials contend the "Select Agent" program is still relatively new and say they are continuing to evaluate their security and monitoring procedures.