congress approved money for this offsite facility back in 2006. that was as fears were growing about the threat of bioterrorism and the potential target being the white house itself. >> peter alexander for us from the white house. thanks. all of this coming weeks after that suspect was arrested for allegedly mailing ricin-laced letters to president obama and members of congress as well. the other big story that we are following today, the weather. another afternoon and evening of severe weather is expected to bear down on a large part of this country. the midwest, the tornado threat continues from north texas all the way north into iowa. besides the potential tornadoes expected today and tomorrow, we're also at the chance for some damaging winds and hail. 19 tornadoes. over five states were record yesterday including this massive twister in york, nebraska, that was caught on tape. heavy rains from the storms are causing some dangerous flooding like this surge in illinois yesterday. four inches of rain in less than an hour created a huge wave that

so that was not sent to an offsite facility. no one handled it except the man it was intended for.ly that's going to be closely watched as well, michael, suzanne. >> all right. i want to bring in tom fuentes, who's on the phone -- joins us on the phone here to talk a little about the analysis and national security implications of this. what do you make of the fact that the language is similar that this kind of threatening language to the mayor, mayor bloomberg, as well as the president. >> yeah. ithink we've lost him. so we're going to try to get him back. tom fuentes, we'll get him back. and we will continue to follow this. he is back. tom is back. tom. >> yes. i'm here. >> oh, you do hear us. >> tom, quick question for you here. what do you make of the fact that the language is similar? the language that we heard to the president in that letter and then also the language that was sent to the mayor, mayor bloomberg of new york, very threatening language, but also ricin found in the mayor's letter? >> well, first of all, if the letters were mailed at approximately the same time, th

they desperately want offsite to do it. we did not think it was evil, but we just thought it was tacky. and we stayed true to that sort of thing. it would be too much to expect, we are going to make it not commercial. that is how people are going to bond to our brand. not even rupert murdoch would come up with that. we just did that because it is what made us feel good. now we are thinking, with the burning man project -- it is interesting. my partners and i are thinking beyond our lifetimes. it is a bit of a legacy project. which is really interesting, an interesting exercise. that makes you feel differently about the present. so what would make something that durable? what would keep it alive that long? we have been alive and have grown for a quarter-century. it may not be hard to imagine an entire century at all. now we are found in an institution that will house and generate culture, and function as a community. wondering how we can be sure that it is not perverted, subject to internal divisions, will not perish. and th

the third found today at the offsite white house mail processing facility, only the one letter sent to the gun control group was actually opened by the intendsed target. president obama and new york city's mayor never in any immediate danger. suzanne. >> and, deb, real quick here. do we have a sense of whether those responsible for these letters, are they in custody? do we know anything about the individuals or the organization? >> no, we don't. we know the jttf, the joint terrorism task force, is investigatoring. we're told they are on their way to shreveport, louisiana, where the postmarks are. otherwise i don't know. i've been inquiring to try to find out whether any one of interest has been questioned, not just sort of random people but somebody maybe at the center of all this. but right not not getting any information on that, suzanne. >> deb, we'll get back to you as soon as you have more information on that. obviously a developing breaking news story out of washington. deb, jim, thanks very much. we're also keeping a close eye on the stock market. it really has been on a roll. t

mayor michael bloomberg and his antigun group was addressed to president obama, intercepted at an offsitecreening facility and is being tested. authorities say the letters to bloomberg, one of the country's most outspoken supporters of gun control andj>(!=iñ background c, contains threats about the nation's ongoing gun debate. >> the letter, in essence, complains about gun control, says that anyone who comes from for my gun will be shot my face. >> three police officers were treated for minor symptoms. bloomberg's washington, d.c. nonprofit, mayors against illegal guns. it was open on sunday by its director, who suffered no effects. the american postal workers union says the letters were mailed may 20th and postmarked in shreveport, louisiana, where the postal center handles mail from louisiana, arkaísm and texas, meaning the letters could have come from any one of those states. bloomberg, a billionaire, has spent $12 million fighting various officials, republican and democrat, who have blocked stricter gun laws. he said the ricin threat will not deter his campaign against gun violence.

these letters were stopped at offsite screening locations well in advance.ecret service, fbi, all say no one was in any danger. although the lobbyist, he did open the letter because it was sent to him at his private consulting office. the letter did get through. again, we are told he is not offering from any illness. >> many, many thanks. jonathan dietz. we appreciate it as always. >> larry, thank you. >>> president bashar al-assad announced today syria received its first shipment of advanced missiles and said he was confident he would win the civil war. i centered out he would retaliate on his territory. so what is israeli's next move going to be? here now my great friend, john bachelor, first of all, reekd afternoon late accounts of this thing. do we know the russians shipped these s-300s? >> excellent, larry. there is no confirm. it looks as if the president of syria is boasting ahead of the facts. russia is very good at making promises, not delivering. for example, i am told iran has paid $2 million for this same system. it hasn't shown up yet. we can on

>> first of all, in terms of the offsite screening, how that third letter to the lobbyist got throughas sent to his private office. he works as a consultant in a private firm and that's how that letter got through. in terms of illnesses, there are no civilian illnesses. the police department reported a couple of nypd officers had some upset stomachs. unclear if that's related. they were checked out as a precaution but we're told they are doing fine. again, no one injured. but again the concern is real. ricin, if ground up and made inhaleable could be deadly by anyone who opens a letter of that kind. >> jonathan dienst, great work, sir. thanks for joining us. >>> take a look at this. we talk about a lot of weather issues going on but flash flooding like you've never seen. 4 inches of rain fell in less than an hour and that sent a five-foot torrent of water blowing through the lobby doors of a student services building, straight into the foyer, destroying thousands of dollars in computers and furniture. fortunately, no students were inside. classes have been cancelled until friday. >>>

a third similar letter was addressed to president obama and intercepted at an offsite screening facilityfederal authorities are questioning an army veteran in texas who may have information about the letters. all of which were mailed from shreveport, louisiana. late yesterday, the white house confirmed that earlier this month, it had received another letter containing ricin which came from spokane, washington, the orjen of several other ricin-laced letters, mailed to a c.i.a. building in d.c., as well as a judge, a military base and a post office in spokane. law enforcement does not believe the spokane letters are connected to the shreveport letters and warned that coverage of the plots may be spawning copy cats. the big question is why, the letter sent to mayor bloomberg and the director of the ill lien guns reads in part, you will have to kill mend my family before you get my guns. anyone who wants to come to my house will get shot in the face. the right to bear arms is my constitutional god-given right and i will exercise that right until the day i die. the dark, threatening language

on his radio show, that he'd be more likely to be hitly lightning, because it's screened somewhere offsite. in terms of the letters, the authorities are questioning a man in texas to see if he has any information about this most recent round of letters sent to the mayor and addressed to the white house and also an official here in washington, who runs the mayor's nonprofit gun control group. the authorities are not saying much about it. they're moving very slowly and cautiously. you may recall that the wrong person was accused in april of sending a ricin letter to the president and the member of the congress and a judge in mississippi. and i think authorities are very eager not to make sure, to make sure that that doesn't happen again. so unless there's a confession, i think this is going to move very slowly and very deliberately. and as for spokane, a man was arrested there last week. matthew buquett. accused of sending a threatening letter to the judge fbi analysis did contain ricin and he sent a letter to the white house that was intercepted, in addition to letters elsewhere. including

ith important to point out, these letter were detected in an offsite facility, and they never got to included in the note, ominous messages sent and included in those letters that talked about gun right and that sort of thing, and a lot of people asking here this morning, christine and john, whether this ricin letter incident has anything to do with the gun control debate. christine, john. >> such an interesting story. thank you, ed. >>> also, the persistent and dangerous threat of tornadoes moving slowly to the east. oklahoma up to the great lakes, bracing for severe storms today. one tornado tore through odon, arkansas, yesterday, ripping off roofs. inra petersons is showing us how much of the country this covers. >> unbelievable. usually at this hour. this is usually when we get a break. you can see the instability we have although this hour. lightning, strong showers pushing through st. louis. here is the severe outlook today. slight risk moving all the way from the great lakes down again through the panhandle of texas. notice where the bull's-eye is, one more type. talking norma

both intercepted at separate offsite mail facilities where herself screened. jay carney emphasized in this the past when other letters are sent to the president. >> the mail sent here is screened and tests undertaken at remote sites to mitigate risk to the recipients and general population. >> reporter: the fbi is testing the letters sent to president obama, and meanwhile, the new york cityolice department says initial testing on the bloomberg letters came back positive for ricin. a potentially deadly poison made from castor beans. the third letter sent to washington, d.c., the office of mayors against illegal guns was opened by the director. the police report says that letter contained a whitish/orange substance and contained an ominous message. you will have to kill me and my family before you get my guns it read. anyone wants to come to my house will be shot in the face. the right to bear arms is my constitutional god-given right, and i had exercise that right until the day i die. what's in this letter is nothing compared to what i've got planned for you. i

letters to the president and mayor were intercepted at offsite sorting facilities, with mail workers friends saying he's fine and can't comment. the mayor's letter was opened friday. on-site tests prove negative. it was not sent to the national lab until wednesday, when ricin tests came back positive. >> they were transported, the material to the police lab. he said that he had some symptoms with his eyes watering. >> now, the mayor's office says that the envelope found in new york was put in a special biochemical containment box, it was then removed by special hazmat units. the mail facility is now being cleaned, scrubbed down. but clearly, very frightening as investigators try to sort out who sent these letters. >> very frightening indeed. deb, thank you. authorities, they are clearly scrambling to figure out who sent those ricin tainted letters. brian todd has more on this part of the story. >> wolf, there's no return atress, no name on these letters. but according to law enforcement officials and experts, there are some clues to start with, that authorities can use to start track

bloomberg's letter was intercepted on friday at an offsite mail facility before it could reach him.an organization that bloomberg supports. he did not get sick. two new york city police officers who responded to the bloomberg letter scare reported short, minor illnesses over the weekend. >>> the nasdaq stock exchange has agreed to pay a record $10 million federal fine for bungling facebook's initial public stock offering last year. the new launch was plagued by delays and other problems. nasdaq has already agreed to pay $62 million to brokers who lost money. >>> four young children and three adults were killed last night when a tractor-trailer collided with their minivan in upstate new york. police say the trailer separated from the truck and hit the minivan traveling in the opposite direction. >>> police have arrested the disneyland employee for that small explosion that forced a partial evacuation at the california theme park on tuesday. 22-year-old christian barns worked as an outdoor vendor at the resort. detectives believe he's the one that placed ice inside a plastic bottle an

or maybe it's a small yard where the owner is but he picks up his work to and from the yard, their offsite location to sometimes not just day-to-day but our to a. and, unfortunately, it becomes a real challenge spent my time has expired. thank you, mr. chairman. >> franco-german from virginia. the chair will not recognize ms. lofgren. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i would like to follow up with chairman goodlatte's line of inquiry, mr. mondi, if i can. because if i'm hearing you correctly, there's an important goal that i think all of us woulwageshares, which is everyby complied with the same rules so that it's a level playing field. no breaches and gets ahead. but there's an additional element i think and this is really my question, which is if there's not enough people to actually higher to do the job, then what? so you're in new jersey with the landscape association. in the last congress, you know, some people actually said that it wouldn't be so bad if people in landscaping and agriculture were denied access to needed workers, then they would go to mechanized efforts and they would fill