Friday, July 18, 2014


News Clips For The Day


http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/07/17/malaysia-airlines-passenger-jet-shot-down-over-ukraine/

Malaysia Airlines passenger jet shot down over Ukraine, 295 dead
Published July 17, 2014
FoxNews.com

"It wasn't the separatists, although Russia will try to blame them, or blame the Ukrainians."
- Retired Army Lt. Col Ralph Peters

A Malaysia Airlines passenger plane with 295 aboard was shot down by a surface-to-air missile in Ukraine near the Russian border a day after a Ukrainian military jet was downed, Fox News has confirmed.

The Boeing 777 bound for Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam was shot down at cruising altitude about 35 miles from the border, according to Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to Ukraine's Interior Minister. He said all 280 passengers and 15 crew members were killed. A Reuters correspondent near the scene reported seeing burning wreckage and bodies strewn across a nine-mile debris field. A Ukrainian Emergency official told the news agency body parts and at least 100 bodies were seen in the area.

The flight manifest reportedly included the names of 23 Americans, though State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said at a briefing Thursday, "we don't have any additional details at this point on American citizens" aboard the plane.

"Obviously, we're seeking that information as we speak," Psaki said.

An AFP journalist at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport – where the plane had taken off – said distraught family members were in tears, according to The Telegraph.

The incident touched off immediate finger-pointing between Russian separatists and the Ukrainian government. Eastern Ukraine separatist leader Alexander Borodai told Reuters that Ukrainian military forces shot the jet down, but Kiev denied involvement and labeled the incident a "terrorist act."

"The President of Ukraine on behalf of the State expresses its deepest and most sincere condolences to the families and relatives of those killed in this terrible tragedy," said a statement released by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's office. "Every possible search and rescue effort is being made."

The missile was believed to have been fired from a Russian Buk launcher, and the Malaysia Airlines plane appeared to be at least the third aircraft downed in the area since Monday, when a Ukrainian An-26 cargo plane was shot down. Late Wednesday, a  Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jet crashed, though it could not be confirmed if it was shot down.

Separatist leader Igor Girkin boasted on Facebook at about the same time the plane went down claiming to have downed a transport plane, but the post was quickly deleted after it became clear the plane was a passenger aircraft.

“In Torez An-26 was shot down, its crashes are lying somewhere near the coal mine “Progress,” read the tweet, obtained by FoxNews.com and translated into English. "We have warned everyone: do not fly in our skies.”

The self-titled "Self-defence forces of the Donetsk People's Republic" boasted in a June 29 press release of having taken control of Buk missile defense systems. The Buk, or SA-11 missile launchers, have a range of up to 72,000 feet.  

Separatist groups reportedly blocked Ukrainian officials from the scene, and later said the "black box," or flight data recorder, had been sent to Moscow. But The Associated Press reported that the rebels intend to call a three-day cease-fire to allow a probe of the incident.

KT McFarland, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense under President Ronald Reagan and a Fox News national security analyst, said the attack was most likely the work of Russian separatists, not the Russian or Ukrainian armies.

"I think it’s far more likely it was rebel forces in eastern Ukraine trying to get the Russian back involved," McFarland said.

But retired Army Lt. Col Ralph Peters, also a Fox News contributor, said it is unlikely the Russian military would have put missile batteries capable of knocking a plane out of the sky at such an altitude in the hands of rebels.

"It wasn't the separatists, although Russia will try to blame them, or blame the Ukrainians," Peters said. "The Russians have not given the separatists complex, high-altitude air-defense systems. If this airliner was flying at 34,000 feet or any altitude close to that, it was shot down by Russian military air-defense systems perched on the Ukrainian border."

Peters said the Russian military has been shooting down Ukrainian military aircraft in recent weeks, and most likely mistook the airliner for a Ukrainian military aircraft.

"Russia has a small number of elite forces, but most of the Russian military is ill-trained, sloppy and marginally disciplined.," he said. "With no Western response to them shooting down Ukrainian aircraft, they just got trigger happy."

The airline, which saw one of its fleet disappear over the Indian Ocean in March, confirmed only that "an incident" had occurred involving the Boeing 777.

"Malaysia Airlines has lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam," read a tweet from the airline. "The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace. More details to follow,” read a tweet from Malaysia Airlines’ account.

Malaysia Prime Minister Mohd Najib Tun Razak wrote in a post on his Twitter page that, "I am shocked by reports that an MH plane crashed."

"We are launching an immediate investigation," he said.

The Donetsk region government said Thursday's plane crashed near a village called Grabovo, which it said is currently under the control of armed pro-Russian separatists. The area has been a flashpoint to the larger dispute between Ukraine and ethnic Russian separatists. Fighting has intensified in recent months in the region.

President Obama said the incident appeared to "be a terrible tragedy" and that the administration is working to determine whether American citizens were on board. He noted the national security team is in close contact with the Ukrainian government.

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said whether it was intentional or accidental it is an "international incident" when a passenger jet is shot down. McCaul said he believed only a military grade weapon could have downed the plane.

The Boeing jets are equipped with twin Rolls-Royce Trent engines, typically cruising at 35,000 feet and at speeds up to 639 miles per hour.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with those on board the Malaysia Airlines airplane lost over Ukrainian airspace, as well as their families and loved ones," Boeing said in a statement. "Boeing stands ready to provide whatever assistance is requested by authorities."

On March 8, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, also a Boeing 777 and carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew on a route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, disappeared somewhere over the ocean. It has not been found despite expansive searches over land and water. 

Fox News' Jennifer Griffin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.




“Separatist leader Igor Girkin boasted on Facebook at about the same time the plane went down claiming to have downed a transport plane, but the post was quickly deleted after it became clear the plane was a passenger aircraft.... The self-titled "Self-defence forces of the Donetsk People's Republic" boasted in a June 29 press release of having taken control of Buk missile defense systems.... NPR's report on this same story said “NPR's Corey Flintoff notes that a rebel military commander, Igor Girkin, had tweeted that his forces had shot down a Ukrainian cargo plane at about the same time the Malaysian airliner disappeared. The tweet was subsequently deleted.” So this is the same comment, but instead of saying it was on Facebook, NPR said it's a tweet. NBC TV played an excerpt between two parties on the incident and the comment “It's a F***up” was recorded. Maybe there will be a transcription of that conversation in the Net news later.

Retired Army Lt. Col Ralph Peters has expressed the belief that the Russians wouldn't have given the Ukrainian rebels sufficiently powerful rockets to shoot down a plane at 30,000 feet, continuing that the Russians themselves shot the plane down from across the border. The rebels, however, have declared that they have “taken control of” Buk missile defense systems. That doesn't say that the Russians gave it to them, but they probably did. Peters said, “'Russia has a small number of elite forces, but most of the Russian military is ill-trained, sloppy and marginally disciplined,' he said. 'With no Western response to them shooting down Ukrainian aircraft, they just got trigger happy.'"

If it is proven that Igor Girkin indeed boasted about shooting down a transport plane and then quickly deleted his comment, I think it is clear who shot this plane down. It is also clear, however, that he didn't realize his mistake until it was too late. They should accept the blame and apologize profusely. I wonder what Russia will have to say about this. A lawsuit by the Malaysian airline or the Malaysian government wouldn't surprise me.





Pro-Russian Ukrainian rebel leader warned of flying over Ukraine air space
CBS NEWS July 17, 2014

A rebel leader for the pro-Russian insurgency fighting against the Ukraine government claims responsibility for the shooting down a plane at about the same time that the Malaysia Flight 17 went down over Ukraine.

"We warned you not to fly in our skies," said a web posting, subsequently taken down, purported to be from Igor Girkin, widely known by his nom de guerre Igor Strelkov.

Girkin is the defense minister of the separatist republic that it is battling to enforce Russia's hold on the Ukraine. He is one of the most well-known faces of the pro-Russia insurgency in the Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities identify him as a veteran of the Russian military intelligence agency.

In a cached web version of a social web site page obtained by CBS News, Girkin quoted his militia's claims that they had shot down a military plane. The time stamp on the initial post was 5:50 Moscow time July 17, 2014.

On Monday, a Ukrainian military transport plane was shot down along the country's eastern border with Russia, the defense minister said. Rebels in conflict-wracked eastern Ukraine immediately claimed responsibility for downing the Antonov AN-26.

The leader of the military wing of the insurgency, Girkin, had over the weekend predicted a bitter fight for Luhansk, a city of 400,000, and estimated that Ukrainian forces had deployed up to 70 tanks in the offensive.

Correction: An earlier version of this story said the rebel leader was claiming responsibility for shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight #17; He was claiming to have shot down a plane at about the same time.




"'We warned you not to fly in our skies,' said a web posting, subsequently taken down, purported to be from Igor Girkin, widely known by his nom de guerre Igor Strelkov.... Girkin is the defense minister of the separatist republic that it is battling to enforce Russia's hold on the Ukraine. He is one of the most well-known faces of the pro-Russia insurgency in the Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities identify him as a veteran of the Russian military intelligence agency.... Girkin quoted his militia's claims that they had shot down a military plane. The time stamp on the initial post was 5:50 Moscow time July 17, 2014.”

There seems to be no doubt who shot the plane down. One TV news report yesterday said that the rebels have access to a technology that will identify an incoming plane so they won't make a mistake like this. They apparently didn't use it. I think Russia should be held responsible along with the insurgents, because they have given these rockets to the rebels and supposedly trained them. This has been a brutal onslaught against Ukraine's pro-Western government which amounts to a “land grab” by Russia from the start, with Russia-allied armed gangs committing assaults and murder all over Eastern Ukraine. I have no sympathy with them.






In immigration battle, Republicans step up border demands
By STEPHANIE CONDON CBS NEWS July 18, 2014

Congress has just about two weeks to produce some kind of legislative response to the influx of unaccompanied minors at the U.S.-Mexico border. Lawmakers are mulling over President Obama's $3.7 billion plan to address the humanitarian crisis, but a handful of Republicans this week upped the ante with different pieces of legislation they want to prioritize. Chances that Democrats will sign onto the Republican bills seem low.

The partisan divide over the border crisis is not that unexpected, given the failed efforts at passing comprehensive immigration reform. Still, immigration advocates say this situation is different and deserves quick action.

"I think doing nothing before August is not an option," Kevin Appleby, director of migration policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told CBS News. "Both sides cannot afford to play politics with this issue, as Americans expect Congress to work together to address it. In the end, I think the side which blocks the funding bill for changes to the law will be viewed as obstructionist."

Republicans have offered up various conditions for passing Mr. Obama's spending bill following months of attacks against the president's immigration and border policies, suggesting he can't be trusted on the issue. Those arguments were tinged with election-year motivations, and the current debate may be stalled by midterm concerns as well.

"The administration's in a tough spot -- they have a crisis on their hands that's getting a lot of publicity, and they need money to deal with that crisis," Kamal Essaheb, an attorney for the National Immigration Law Center, told CBS News. However, "Congress controls the purse, and we're seeing Congress basically using that power right now to try to put the administration in as bad as a position as possible."

Essaheb and Appleby both said Congress needs to put politics aside and think of the children at the center of the crisis. "Here we have a humanitarian situation -- children fleeing violence from a couple countries," Essaheb said.

Here's a look at some of the bills released recently:

Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz.: The Expedited Family Reunification Act

Salmon's short piece of legislation would amend the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 -- a law that's been at the center of the current crisis. That law, which passed with strong bipartisan support, makes it easier to deport children from Mexico or Canada than from non-contiguous countries.

Salmon's legislation would change the law so that all unaccompanied children, from any country, could be returned to their home country in an expedited manner, without immigration court proceedings. The congressman said in a statement that he wants to ensure the U.S. can "quickly reunite these children with their families."

Democrats in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus are adamantly opposed to changing the 2008 law, arguing that the children arriving from Central America deserve their day in court. "Republicans will have the Hispanic Congressional Caucus to contend with" should they try to reverse the law, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., said last week. He added that the CHC would not sit silently by while "children are being demonized... when their legal rights are being questioned."

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas: The Helping Unaccompanied Minors and Alleviating National Emergency (Humane) Act

The bipartisan duo from Texas -- both critical of Mr. Obama's response to the border crisis -- teamed up to produce their own bill to amend the Wilberforce law.

Like Salmon's bill, the legislation would treat all unaccompanied migrant children crossing the border equally. If a child intends to stay in the U.S., he or she would get an initial court hearing within a week of their arrival. Then, a judge would have 72 hours to determine whether or not the child has a legal claim to stay in the U.S. If not, the minor would be sent to his or her home country immediately.

The bill would also send about 40 immigration judges to the border to speed up immigration court proceedings for the youngsters.

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., dismissed the Cornyn-Cuellar bill as "too broad."

Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.:The Children Returning on an Expedited and Safe Timeline (CREST) Act

Once again, this bill would amend the 2008 law to allow for any unaccompanied minors -- regardless of their country of origin -- the chance for an expedited return home. The legislation would also require unaccompanied minors to stay in the custody of Health and Human Services or Customs and Border Protection until they are sent home or their immigration cases have arrived at an outcome.

Additionally, the bill would increase the number of refugee applications by up to 5,000 each for the countries of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. It also funds more resources for processing immigration cases, including 100 temporary immigration judges and 150 new immigration litigation attorneys.

Rep. John Carter, R-Texas: The Protection of Children Act of 2014

Carter's bill, like the others, amends the 2008 law to treat all unaccompanied minors equally. It would also require the children to stay in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement longer.

Once the government finds family sponsors to take care of the children while their immigration court cases are pending, Carter's bill would require the government to investigate the immigration status of those sponsors.

The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., and Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.: The Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act

This legislation would put all unaccompanied minors in "expedited removal proceedings," according to a release from the lawmakers, unless the children have a "legitimate credible fear of persecution in their home country."

The bill also tightens the standards for asylum seekers, in party by denying the unaccompanied minors the border preferred access to asylum.

Additionally, Chaffetz and Goodlatte want to give Border Patrol access to federal lands and explicitly prohibit the use of taxpayer dollars to pay for lawyers for unlawful immigrants. The bill also provides a temporary allotment of immigration judges and ICE prosecutors.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas: Stop Obama's Amnesty Act

Cruz is taking the most aggressive attack against Mr. Obama's policies, filing legislation to prevent the expansion of the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program. The program, which Mr. Obama enacted in 2012, allows certain undocumented youths to stay in the country legally (temporarily) if they meet certain requirements.

Reid on Thursday railed against Cruz's idea. "The deferred action plan is a positive step forward and we should not go back, especially not as a ransom for helping our border personnel care for desperate children," the majority leader said.




Republicans, rather than drawing up a plan that they all can agree on, have proposed a total of six new plans each of which would have to be examined before any agreement was reached, and they have had no cooperation with House Democrats except for the Cornyn and Cuellar plan. To me, the Cornyn/Cuellar plan and the McCain/Flake plan are the best. Both try to find out whether a child has a legal claim to stay before sending him home. McCain's creates 5,000 more chances at legal refugee status and sets up 250 more legal professional positions to handle the cases. Salmon's on the other hand, would take away all rights to a hearing and have the children be sent back to their home countries immediately. Chafette and Goodlette would allow the children to plead a case of imminent danger if they are returned.

I do agree that, given the flood of immigrants since the 2008 law was enacted, the way it is written has flaws that could be causing the problem. I would recommend the McCain plan, as it goes to greater lengths to give the children a chance to stay while attempting to solve the delay in proceedings caused by too few judges and lawyers. The plan by Chaffetz and Goodlatte would give the Border Patrol access to Federal lands, – the purpose of this is not explained, but if it gives them places where the children can be housed without going into potentially hostile towns across the country it would be useful. Unfortunately it would prevent the use of tax dollars to pay for lawyers for the children. I can see the complaint to that, but somebody has to pay the lawyers and the children can't. So, it's a complicated mishmash and not likely to result in a bill by the time Congress goes on vacation. Meanwhile, more children pour in from Central America and towns across the country are meeting them with hostility.





Pregnant at work: How you're protected – CBS
By SUZANNE LUCAS MONEYWATCH July 18, 2014

Discriminating against a pregnant woman at work has been illegal since 1978, but what is and is not allowed hasn't always been clear. To help end the confusion, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently issued new guidelines to help businesses understand the law. While these are guidelines and not statutory law, employers would be wise to follow them. The complete guidelines give detailed instructions, but here are some of the key points.

You don't have to officially disclose your pregnancy to be protected. Lack of knowledge is a defense against discrimination (after all, they can't discriminate against you for being pregnant when they don't know), but if others in the office know, or you look obviously pregnant, that will be taken into consideration. Still, the best guarantee of protection is to let your boss know you're pregnant before the rumors get there first.

Stereotyping prohibited. If an employer terminates you, refuses to hire you or treats you poorly because the employer assumes that you'll leave after the baby comes or need excessive time off, that's not allowed.

Pregnancy discrimination protection doesn't end when the baby is born. Past pregnancy, potential to become pregnant again, intent to become pregnant again and fertility/infertility status are all taken into account. That is, a boss can't say, "I'm not firing you because you're pregnant, I'm firing you because you just had a baby, and I suspect you want to have another one soon." Not allowed.

Lactation and breastfeeding are covered under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. Companies have previously been required to offer space to pump breast milk for nonexempt moms, but any form of discrimination based on breastfeeding/pumping is illegal.

Pregnant women don't get additional medical leave rights. The EEOC clarified that there's a difference between firing a pregnant woman and firing a woman because she was pregnant. It provided this example:

Sherry went on medical leave due to a pregnancy-related condition. The employer's policy provided four weeks of medical leave to employees who had worked less than a year. Sherry had worked for the employer for only six months and was discharged when she did not return to work after four weeks. Although Sherry claims the employer discharged her due to her pregnancy, the evidence showed that the employer applied its leave policy uniformly, regardless of medical condition or sex and, therefore, did not engage in unlawful disparate treatment.

Abortion protection. Employers cannot discriminate against a woman who has an abortion, nor can a manager pressure an employee to have an abortion or not have an abortion in order to be promoted or put into a favorable condition. Employers are not, however, required to have health insurance that covers elective abortion.

Employers must treat pregnancy accommodations the same as other temporary accommodations. If a company allows light duty for someone with a back injury, it cannot deny light duty to a pregnant woman whose doctor says she needs that accommodation.




This is a big improvement over my early work days when I was married and wanted a baby. Many employers would fire you if you became pregnant, especially if you were pregnant but not “showing” when you took the job and failed to notify them. That was considered a very sneaky trick, and grounds for dismissal. I remember when it began to be discussed that women who are lactating needed a place to go and use their breast pump. It was “embarrassing,” and therefore not welcomed. I have never heard of an employer trying to pressure a woman to get an abortion, as mentioned in this article. That would be shameful indeed. The need to abide by the employer's paid medical leave plan is predictable, as there is no discrimination involved in the matter, but it's also fair, it seems to me. Four weeks of paid medical leave would have been a lot when I was that age. I notice the article didn't mention maternity leave at all, which even men have now begun to use. That's another step forward. Now if they would only pay women as well as they pay men it would be wonderful.






First case of chikungunya virus contracted in U.S.
By JESSICA FIRGER CBS NEWS July 17, 2014

U.S. health officials today announced the first locally acquired case of chikungunya, a mosquito-borne virus that's become prevalent in the Caribbean in recent months.

The CDC reports a male patient in Florida was diagnosed with the virus, and had not recently traveled outside the country. Federal and Florida state health officials are investigating how the man could have contracted the virus domestically. They're also working to monitor the region in an effort to prevent additional infections and educate residents on ways to prevent mosquito bites. Local transmission occurs when the insect bites a person with the infection and then transmits the virus by biting others.

Chikungunya -- an African word that loosely translates as "contorted with pain" -- is most commonly found in Asia and Africa, and began appearing in the Caribbean last winter. Between 2006 and 2013, there were approximately 28 reported cases of the virus each year in travelers returning to the U.S. This year, travel-related chikungunya has been diagnosed in patients who have recently visited to the Caribbean.

As of July 15, there were a total of 357 cases of chikungunya reported by the U.S. and other territories to ArboNET, a national surveillance system that keeps track of mosquito-borne illnesses. Of that number, 123 cases were reported from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the remaining cases were detected in people who had recently returned from the Caribbean or South America.

The first locally transmitted case of chikungunya in the Caribbean was confirmed in December in French St. Martin. Since then the number of reported cases in the Caribbean has continued to rise. In April, for example, health officials in the Dominican Republic said there were 3,500 suspected cases since the virus was first discovered on the island, just the month before.

In the last few months the CDC and other health agencies have issued travel warnings for the Dominican Republic, St. Martin and other popular vacation destinations.

Chikungunya is a virus transmitted to people through two species of mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Both species are found in the southeastern U.S., and in limited areas throughout other parts of the country.

The CDC is uncertain what course the virus will take in the U.S., though epidemiologists say it's unlikely to trigger outbreaks. However, West Nile virus, another mosquito-borne virus, is making itspresence felt this season.

Symptoms of chikungunya include fever, muscle and joint pain, headaches and rash. Though rarely fatal, the virus can be extremely painful and debilitating. Currently, there is no vaccine for chikungunya. Patients typically recover from infection in about a week, though pain can persist for longer. According to the CDC, an infection is believed to provide lifelong immunity to the virus.




“The first locally acquired case of chikungunya” – brother is that word a mouthful! So here we have another mosquito-borne disease, though it doesn't seem to be as dangerous as malaria. The word means roughly “contorted with pain,” describes a virus “transmitted to people through two species of mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Both species are found in the southeastern U.S., and in limited areas throughout other parts of the country.”

“The first locally transmitted case of chikungunya in the Caribbean was confirmed in December ... In April, for example, health officials in the Dominican Republic said there were 3,500 suspected cases since the virus was first discovered on the island, just the month before.” This increase in such a short time is hard to explain. The disease is not expected to occur at epidemic proportions in the US, however, and does not tend to be fatal, though it is “debilitating” with a great deal of pain, a fever, headache and rash. Once the patient has recovered he tends to be immune to further infections.






Head Scientist At CDC Weighs Costs Of Recent Lab Safety Breaches – NPR
by KARA MANKE
July 18, 2014

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is on the hot seat.

It all started in mid-June, when the CDC announced that dozens of its scientists might have accidentally been exposed to anthrax.

Since then, a number of other security risks in and via national laboratories have come to light: Ordinary flu virus was unknowingly contaminated with the deadly bird fluvirus (sent from a CDC lab); vials of smallpox virus were found forgotten in a National Institutes of Health storage room; and just this week the FDA revealed that forgotten vials of other potential bioterrorism agents were discovered in the same storage room where the smallpox samples turned up.

These lapses, occurring in some of the nation's top government-run facilities, left many to wonder whether the CDC, which is charged with protecting the public from natural and man-made health threats, is capable of shielding Americans from the risks posed by its own research.

Under questioning by lawmakers on Wednesday, the CDC's director, Dr. Tom Frieden, testified that these errors represent a larger pattern of unsafe practices in government laboratories that must change.

This week Frieden sat down with NPR's Morning Edition host David Greene to discuss these breaches, and find out what new steps are being taken to ensure the safety of lab workers and the public. Following are highlights of the conversation.

On the CDC's response to the anthrax and bird flu incidents
I've imposed a moratorium on transfer of all infectious or potentially infectious material out of all of our high containment labs until we trust but verify that they're changing their protocols; ... I've closed the individual labs associated with the two incidents and they won't reopen until we are certain that they can reopen safely. I've appointed a senior scientist to be the single point of accountability and we're going to work at every level of CDC to increase the culture of safety here.

On how the CDC is working to improve the safety of its labs
One of the things that we want to ensure in the strengthening of the culture of safety is that people understand that anytime there might be a problem — or there is a problem — report it, rather than try to figure it out first and then report it. CDC scientists are rightly famous around the world for being the top in the world in their field, and that same rigor that we've been applying to finding and stopping outbreaks — that's the rigor we are now applying to improving safety at CDC.

On how the CDC currently regulates labs that work with dangerous pathogens
Scientists don't regulate themselves. We currently have a select agent program run by both a separate division of CDC and the Agriculture Department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. These two agencies ... oversee all entities that work with select agents. We make unannounced site visits; we have detailed reviews. We'll look at whether these incidents suggest that we should do other things in addition at those.

On whether we should establish an independent oversight team to regulate CDC facilities
We're certainly open to anything that will improve lab safety. One of the things that I will be doing this week is inviting an external advisory group that has no prior employment with CDC to ... look at what we are doing on lab safety and biosecurity and suggest any ways that we can improve that process.

One thing that all three of these incidents suggest is that we need to take a hard look at the risks and the benefits of the different types of research that are being done and make sure in every case that the benefits justify ... potential risks.






Since the 1960s and 70s there have been rumors of “germ warfare” being conducted by the US government, and likewise by the Russians. I hope they have come to the conclusion that germ warfare is as dangerous if not more dangerous than dropping an atomic bomb, in that there is no controlling whether the dangerous bug is transmitted to your enemies alone, or possibly to a large proportion of the human population by its “going wild” and causing massive outbreaks in an uncontrolled manner. Two recommended books to read: The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crighton, though that virus was of extraterrestrial origin, but it involved mismanagement by a government lab. The second is an excitingly written account of a true case called The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. Circling back around to my original point, I hope and pray that the “research” the CDC is performing is not “germ warfare” related, and I would feel better if they would disclose their purposes to the press and make it clear that what they're doing is useful.