00:12Good evening.
00:13As you know, CNN has been following the developing scandal
00:17dubbed the Capitol Hill Conspiracy throughout the week.
00:20In the latest development, several key members of Congress
00:24have accused the White House administration
00:25of secretly funding Soldiers of Fortune,
00:29working for a covert operation known only as the SHOP.
00:33Congressional reports claim this organization engages in missions
00:37that even the CIA will consider.
00:39Speaking purely in hypotheticals,
00:42these members of Congress claim today
00:44they're not necessarily opposed to such an organization
00:47shouldn't exist.
00:48They have unconfirmed reports suggesting SHOP operatives
00:51recently thwarted a terrorist plot involving stolen nuclear weapons
00:55and that they have extracted defectors from foreign countries in the past.
01:00The chief complaint of these congressmen lies not in the existence of the organization,
01:05but in the fact that they have not been given the chance to review their actions
01:09as part of their oversight responsibilities.
01:11The White House press office told CNN to expect an official statement
01:16in the next 30 minutes.
01:18While we wait for this story to unfold,
01:20we turn to our ongoing focus series on biological warfare.
01:26Tonight, Andrea Warren reveals the origins of this deadly threat
01:29and the men and women who still work on these frightening projects.
01:34Andrea?
01:35Communism has fallen...
01:36You trying to intimidate me?
01:37...along with the Berlin Wall,
01:39but the shadows of the Cold War still linger.
01:41Spectres of a time now pass.
01:42Hey, man, you want some trouble?
01:43You want some real piece of cool assholes?
01:45...the fractionate lands of the former Soviet Union
01:46can no longer house the dark secrets of the biopreporate.
01:49A biological weapons program disguised as a state-owned pharmaceutical organization
01:54designed to inflict mass destruction on the enemies of communism.
01:57Young, rich, and cute.
01:59A legion of Soviet scientists dedicated their lives to perfecting weaponry
02:03based on the horrifying effects of infectious diseases.
02:07Anthrax, smallpox, plague, and other deadly microbes.
02:11I'm sorry, my fault!
02:11In the 1970s, as Western nations were signing treaties banning germ warfare,
02:16the Soviet Union...
02:17This is why I stay inside!
02:19...to span more than 100 laboratories,
02:21employing nearly 50,000 workers...
02:23Anyway, my friend!
02:24...and some of the best biologists and biochemists in the world.
02:28U.S. intelligence estimates that even the smallest amounts of these deadly agents
02:32could decimate urban populations.
02:34Death tolls in a population center such as New York City
02:37could rise to the millions,
02:39with mortality rates as high as 60%.
02:41Watch where you're treading!
02:42Even more startling is the realization
02:44that the sheer number of bioagents in development
02:46by the former Soviet Union
02:48would make inoculation and the immunization
02:50against such an attack impossible.
02:52Sorry to interrupt our focus series.
02:54This just in, I'm told we're going live to the White House
02:57for their reaction to today's congressional accusations
03:00regarding the shop.
03:02Here now, Assistant Press Secretary Jillian Hayden.
03:08The President has asked me to issue a brief statement
03:11in response to Senator Lindisky's
03:13and Representative Stewart's accusations
03:15regarding this mythical shop.
03:18The President denies that this administration
03:20acknowledges, funds, or condones such activities.
03:24The President regularly consults with the FBI,
03:27CIA, and other government agencies
03:30regarding issues of national security.
03:31But such activities are done
03:33within the boundaries outlined in the Constitution
03:35and as set forth by Congress
03:37through its review process.
03:39Furthermore, the President requests
03:42that in this time of world turmoil
03:44that Congress and the White House
03:46work together for the safety of the country
03:48and the good of its people.
03:49This is not a time for division or diversion.
03:52That is all.
04:00Well, there you have it.
04:01That was Assistant Press Secretary Jillian Hayden
04:05live from the White House.
04:07Ms. Hayden didn't mince words
04:08in debasing these accusations.
04:10In fact, that's about the strongest
04:12congressional rebuke we've heard
04:14from this administration.
04:15Ms. Hayden left little doubt
04:17of what the President thinks
04:18of the claims brought forth today.
04:21All right.
04:23I'm told we're going to continue
04:24with our focus series.
04:26So let's go back to Andrea Warren.
04:29The biopreparate was largely dissolved
04:31with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1992.
04:34So where are the...
04:35Hey, man, you want some trouble?
04:36You want some real piece of cool asshole?
04:37...may shock you.
04:38Many of these scientists
04:39were recruited by the KGB
04:41and continued to work
04:42for the biopreparate in Russia.
04:44Those who refused were killed.
04:46In the late 1980s,
04:48some biopreparate scientists
04:49successfully protected
04:51from their homeland,
04:52exchanging information
04:53for asylum in the United States.
04:55It is rumored that
04:56some of the men and women
04:57were extracted from the former Soviet Union
04:59by Western nations
05:01to ensure that their valuable knowledge
05:03was never unleashed on the world.
05:04My fault!
05:05Government officials from both sides
05:07deny these allegations.
05:09Perhaps the most disturbing of all
05:10This is why I stay inside!
05:11...of the men and women
05:12of the biopreparate
05:13who now work as guns for hire,
05:15selling their knowledge
05:16and expertise
05:17to the highest bidder.
05:18In a world where terrorism
05:20is on the rise
05:20and terrorist leaders
05:22are willing to pay top dollar,
05:24no one is safe
05:25from the very real threat
05:26of germ warfare.
05:28Our special series
05:29on biological weapons
05:31will continue throughout the week.
05:32Until tomorrow,
05:33for TNM News,
05:35I'm Andrea Warren.
05:36Good night.
05:38Absolutely chilling.
05:40Thank you, Andrea.
05:42I'm not talking to you, fuzzy.
05:43After hearing that report,
05:44it stands to reason
05:45that we might just need
05:47soldiers of fortune
05:48and operations like the shop
05:50protecting our freedom.
05:52It was me!
05:53We hope you tune in tomorrow
05:54for part four
05:55of Andrea's continuing series
05:56and more on the
05:58Capitol Hill conspiracy
05:59as the story develops.
06:01Until then,
06:02this is Miles Stanford
06:03thanking you for listening
06:05to TNM News.
06:07Good night.
06:08Good night.
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