BOB EDWARDS, host: CBS News said this morning that an employee in Dan Rather's
office has tested
positive for the skin form of anthrax. The national anxiety about anthrax
increased yesterday as several House and Senate office buildings were closed so
they could be checked for the presence of anthrax spores. A potent form of the
powder was found in a letter mailed to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. Many
Capitol Hill workers are being tested for exposure. New York's governor, George
Pataki, also has ordered testing for his staff after a suspicious letter was
received at his office.

Recovery work continues at the site of the September 11th destruction of the
World Trade Center in New York City. Senator Hillary Clinton is a Democrat from
New York.

Senator, good morning.

Senator HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (Democrat, New York): Good morning, Bob.

EDWARDS: You've urged the Bush administration to provide more information to
the public about anthrax and bioterrorism. What should be done?

Sen. CLINTON: Well, we have a lot of work to do, but one of the ideas that I
have talked to Secretary Thompson about is to have a national teach-in. I don't
know, a town hall meeting perhaps, however it could be structured, in which we
could replace some of the fears that people legitimately have and their
unanswered questions with the facts that, you know, many of us on the Hill have
been educating ourselves about in a very rapid way.

EDWARDS: Did senators receive any official warning from the FBI or the Justice
Department that anthrax mailings might occur?

Sen. CLINTON: I did not, and I haven't heard any of my colleagues refer to
that, Bob. I think that many of us have worried about terrorist attacks within
our country ever since Oklahoma City, but I think we're all on uncharted ground
right now.

 EDWARDS: And yet we were all so unprepared, not just for September 11th, but
for bioterrorism scares that we now see in your state in New York and in
Washington, Florida and Nevada.

Sen. CLINTON: Well, I think that's understandable to some extent. We have such
a history of freedom and a sense of, you know, our invulnerability. I believe
that many Americans have, you know, kind of had a false sense of security, even
while we've seen terrorism stalk a lot of other countries from, you know,
Northern Ireland to the Middle East, to Asia. So it's clear that what was
happening elsewhere could and has been brought home to us.

EDWARDS: Is New York getting the assistance it needs in the wake of the attacks
on the World Trade Center?

Sen. CLINTON: Well, we are, and I'm sure that we will. There, you know, are
some efforts going right now to determine exactly how much money the city and
the state need now, but we know that whatever the first installment is will
have to be added to in the future. The human need is not only enormous--we have
an estimate of probably 10,000 children who have lost one or both parents. I
just believe we've got to be prepared for the long haul here and I so
appreciate all of the help that people around the country have provided.

EDWARDS: In the past, you've been able to watch White House operations up close.
In your view, is President Bush handling the current crisis and response
against Afghanistan well?

Sen. CLINTON: Yes. I am very supportive of what the president has done and very
supportive of our, you know, military leadership, some of whom I've known for a
number of years. And I think that they're a continuing reminder to us about the
patience that's required and the long-term commitment that we have to make is
extremely important. You know, we're not a very patient people, and I think
Americans have to be reminded that what we're engaged in to root out these
terrorist networks is not easy, it's extremely difficult, but if we stick with
it and if we do have the coalition support from countries around the world, we
will be successful.

We do, however, have to work to make sure our message gets out, not just here
at home. We have to have such an effort worldwide, and particularly in the Arab

 and Muslim world. I'm hopeful that we'll have a fairer hearing in some parts of
the world that, you know, frankly don't know very much about us, don't even
remember that the last time we put our men and women at risk was on behalf of
Muslims. You know, we fought to end ethnic cleansing, we fought to end the
horror of Bosnia, we went to war in the Persian Gulf. So we do have our work
cut out for us there, but I'm very supportive and very confident about what
we're doing.

EDWARDS: This is not what you might have expected for your freshman year in the
Senate.

Sen. CLINTON: You know, Bob, we never know what to expect in our lives, but I
don't think if we'd sat down and written a thousand scenarios what was going to
happen in New York or America, any of us would have predicted this. But just
as, you know, we've learned in other situations, whether it's been matters of
great national military challenge or a public health challenge, you know, we're
gonna be prepared and ready to deal with this as well.

EDWARDS: Thank you.

Sen. CLINTON: Thank you very much.

EDWARDS: Senator Hillary Clinton is a Democrat from New York.

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