‘Most certainly’: Expert says Russia’s response to lab death is deeply concerning

T. THESE UNIVERSITIES. >> Will: FIGHTING FOR AMERICAN. JOBS, FOR AMERICANS. NOW THOSE, A MYSTERIOUS DEATH AT. A RUSSIAN ANTI-PLAGUE LAB HAS. CAUGHT THE ATTENTION OF THE. WORLD, NOW THE MOTHER OF THE. DEAD SCIENTIST IS REPORTEDLY. CHALLENGING THE STORY. THE TELEGRAPH REPORTS THE. WORKER'S MOTHER TOLD RUSSIAN. MEDIA SHE DOESN'T BELIEVE HER. DAUGHTER BROKE A TEST TUBE. CONTAINING PLAGUED BACTERIA, AND. ACCUSES RUSSIAN OFFICIALS OF. LETTING HER DAUGHTER DIE. HERE'S WHAT WE KNOW,

SEPTEMBER 25TH, A LAB WORKER. REPORTEDLY BREAKS THE TEST TUBE. CONTAINING PLAGUE BACTERIA, FOUR. DAYS LATER SHE WAS HOSPITALIZED. WITH SEVERE PNEUMONIA SYMPTOMS. OCTOBER SECOND SHE DIES. NEARLY 200 PEOPLE ARE THEN. REPORTEDLY PLACED UNDER MEDICAL. OBSERVATION, NOW THE WORLD. HEALTH ORGANIZATION AND THE U.S. ARE SEEKING ANSWERS WITH. UNCONFIRMED REPORTS OF A SECOND. DEATH. BUT RUSSIA SAYS THERE IS NO. EVIDENCE OF A LAB ACCIDENT AND. HAS NOT CONFIRMED A PLAGUE AS. THE CAUSE OF DEATH. SO COULD THERE BE SOMETHING MORE. TO THIS STORY?

THAT WAS ASKED YESTERDAY IF. PRESIDENT TRUMP. >> A BIOWEAPON? >> President Trump: WE DON'T. THINK SO, WE WILL FIND OUT SOON. ENOUGH BUT WE DON'T THINK SO. AND IF YOU LISTEN TO THEM --. >> ARE YOU GETTING THE SAME INFO. THAT YOU GOT FROM CHINA AT THE. START OF COVID? >> President Trump: CHINA DID. NOT SAY MUCH BUT RUSSIA ISN'T. SAYING MUCH EITHER BUT THEY SAID. THEY HAVE IT UNDER CONTROL. >> Will: THERE IS NO CONFIRMED. EVIDENCE THAT THIS INVOLVED A. BIOWEAPON BUT HERE'S WHY THAT.

QUESTION IS IMPORTANT -- 1973. THE SOVIET UNION WAS. ESTABLISHING AN AGENCY THAT HAD. BIOWEAPONS RESEARCH BEHIND. CIVILIAN LABS. ANTHRAX PLAGUE SMALLPOX. 1979, AND ANTHRAX RELEASED AT A. SOVIET FACILITY KILLED OVER 100. PEPEOPLE. 1992, THE SOVIET UNION ADMITTED. TO RUNNING AN OFFENSIVE. BIOWEAPONS PROGRAM. LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THESE. QUESTIONS WHO IS THE AUTHOR OF.

BIOLOGICAL WAR A SCENARIO. WHICH EXPLORES WHAT WOULD HAPPEN. IF A GENETICALLY ENGINEERED. PLAGUE ESCAPED FROM A RUSSIAN. LABORATORY, INVESTIGATIVE. JOURNALISM ANDY JACOBSON IS WITH. ME NOW. I'M CURIOUS YOU HAVE WRITTEN. THIS BOOK, ARE YOU CONCERNED. IT'S NOW PLAYING OUT IN REAL. LIFE? >> WELL I ACTUALLY THINK YOU. KNOW, ONE OF THE PHRASES THAT. COMES TO MIND IS SUNLIGHT IS A. GREAT DISINFECTANT, THANKS FOR. THAT -- THOSE GRAPHICS YOU PUT. UP FRONT BECAUSE THE WHOLE WORLD. HAS BEEN WATCHING THIS STORY,

AND I THINK WHAT IS REMARKABLE. ABOUT IT IS PEOPLE ARE COMING TO. UNDERSTAND THAT RUSSIA HAS HAD A. BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS PROGRAM IN. THE PAST, A VERY ROBUST KIND OF. DANGEROUS, MALEVOLENT ONE. AND THE CURRENT STATE DEPARTMENT. AND A FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT, NOT A PARTIZAN ISSUE, BELIEVE. THAT THAT ILLEGAL BIOLOGICAL. WEAPONS PROGRAM HAS BEEN. ABSORBED INTO A CURRENT ONE.

THAT IS A VERY BIG DEAL AMONG. SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS THAT ARE. WORRIED ABOUT GENETICALLY. MODIFIED PATHOGENS CAUSING A. CATASTROPHE. SO SEPARATE FROM THE FACTS ON. THE GROUND ABOUT WHAT'S GOINGG. ON, AND OF COURSE THERE'S A LOT. OF DISCREPANCIES, AGAIN I THINK. IT IS TERRIFIC SO MANY PEOPLE. ARE ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS. AND WANTING TO KNOW WHAT ON. EARTH IS GOING ON? WHAT EVEN IS AN ILLEGAL. BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS PROGRAM? >> Will: A PART OF WHAT GETS. EVERYBODY'S ATTENTION IS THE.

PLAGUE. EVERYBODY IS FAMILIAR FROM THE. HISTORY BOOKS WHAT HAPPENED WAS. A PROBLEM IN THE MID-CENTURY, THE 1300s. I HAVE SEEN WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN. WRITING, AND WHAT YOU ARE. POINTING OUT SHOULD BE JUST AS. CONCERNING AS THE WORD PLAGUE. BECAUSE THE RUSSIANS ARE. RESPONDING. THEIR ACTIONS ARE NOT MEETING. THEIR WORDS. THEY ARE SAYING NO BIG DEAL BUT. THE WAY THEY RESPOND DOES NOT. COMMUNICATE NO BIG DEAL. >> ABSOLUTELY. I WROTE A BOOK CALLED THE. BIOLOGICAL WAR, A SCENARIO.

NOT A BIOLOGICAL WAR, THE ONLY. SCENARIO. MY REPORTING IS BASED ON. INTERVIEWS WITH THE TOP SUBJECT. MATTER EXPERTS, PEOPLE THAT. ADVISE THE PRESIDENT, THE. INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY, DHS, AND. ALL OF THEM ARE VERY SERIOUSLY. CONCERNED ABOUT GENETIC. MODIFICATIONS TO MOTHER NATURE'S. PATHOGEN, THE PLAGUE YOU ARE. TALKING ABOUT, IT IS SUCH A. DANGEROUS PATHOGEN.

NOW IT CAN BE TAKEN CARE OF WITH. ANTIBIOTICS. HOWEVER A MAJOR COMPONENT TO. BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS PROGRAMS WITH. THE SOVIETS HAVING LED THIS. CHARGE, IS TO CREATE PATHOGENS. THAT ARE RESISTANT TO. ANTIBIOTICS. SO THAT'S THE REAL NIGHTMARE. SCENARIO, THAT IS THE ONE I. WRITE ABOUT IN MY BOOK, PNEUMONIC PLAGUE MODIFIED FOR. GREATER TRANSMISSIBILITY, AND.

ABLE TO DEFEAT MEDICAL. COUNTERMEASURES. THAT IS CALLED A TIER ONE SELECT. AGENT, AND THAT IS WHAT THE. MILITARY AND INTELLIGENCE. COMMUNITY IS MOST CONCERNED. ABOUT. >> Will: JUST TO BE CLEAR YOU. THINK THE WAY THE RUSSIANS ARE. RESPONDING, THE FSB HAS BEEN. INVOLVED, QUARANTINED OVER 200. PEOPLE, THAT SUGGESTS SOMETHING. DANGEROUS? >> MOST CERTAINLY. IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING I HAVE. BEEN LOOKING AT T THIS SINCE. OCTOBER FIRST WHEN IT FIRST. HAPPENED, AND OF COURSE SIBERIA.

IS LIKE A WHOLE -- IT'S HOURS. AWAY FROM WHERE WE ARE, IS FSB. WAS ON THE SPOT VERY QUICKLY. AFTER THIS WORKER GOT SICK AND. WAS HOSPITALIZED. IF YOU BELIEVE THOSE REPORTS. EITHER WAY TALKING FSB IS SORT. OF FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS TO BE. KGB. AND THESE ARE ARMED FEDERAL. LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS, THEY. ESCORTED INDIVIDUALS TO. QUARANTINE, QUARANTINE IS NOT A.

VOLUNTARY. YOU ARE ESSENTIALLY LOCKED UP. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ANY OF. THOSE 200 INDIVIDUALS WHO WERE. REPORTEDLY UNDER QUARANTINE? WE HAVE NO IDEA. >> Wil.