WASHINGTON -- We just heard some sobering words from another witness, Nils Daulaire, President of the Global Health Council.

Daulaire said, "I'd rather have a diagnosis of cancer than a diagnosis of XDR-TB." XDR-TB, he said, is only curable at a 30 percent rate. And, he added, "cancer isn't contagious."

We also just heard an interesting tidbit from Andrew Speaker. When asked how he contracted TB, Speaker said he likely caught it in Vietnam, where he had recently visited an orphanage.

Speaker likely doesn't hear the buzzers that are now sounding in the room. Those buzzers signify a series of Senate votes. Chairman Harkin was about to adjourn the hearing to tend to those votes, but before doing so he asked Speaker to explain why he moved up the date of his trip to Greece.

Speaker then explained the series of events that led to the schedule change - turns out, it was a suggestion from his bride-to-be who'd noticed his stress about his health.

Speaker said, "I'm sorry for the stress I caused people. But I hope it changes the policies of how (the government) handles these things.". He then thanked the Senator stopped speaking

Sen. Harkin is again expressing his frustration about the CDC's decision *not* to send one of its planes to pick up Speaker. He said the CDCs explanation of that decision, "doesn't hold a lot of water. That's where this thing fell apart".

Sen. Harkin said CDC leaders will be asked to return to the Senate in the future for more questions.

For much more about todays hearing, tune in to my reports tonight at 5 and 6 on Channel 2 Action News. What an interesting -- and unorthodox -- day in the US Senate.

*******************************************************************

Fulton County Health Dept. District Director Steven Katkowsky is now testifying. He began by deflecting some attention back to the CDC, asking rhetorically about the Speaker case, "What did they know and when did they know it?"

"Mister Speaker was put on a regimen of drugs. But a local health department doesn't have means to do the specialized tests needed to show the degree of (his) resistance to drugs," Katkowsky said. He then indicated that the CDC does have those tests.

Katkowsky said Speaker did not refuse treatment or testing from the county. He later said Fulton County's Health Department was also caught in a "catch 22", because current law prevents the department from taking action to stop Speaker from traveling until *after* he'd actually begun traveling. Katkowsky said those laws are "reactionary", not "anticipatory".

One footnote: there are several tv cameras in the room, dozens of reporters, 100 or so spectators (many of whom are fanning themselves with their notebooks because of the rising temperature in the room), plus dozens of staffers. *BUT*, there is only 1 Senator. (The Subcommittee Chairman Tom Harkin of Iowa). Other Senators are tending to the controversial immigration bill on the Senate floor.

********************************************************************

Andrew Speaker's voice is steadily rising during this telephone Q-and-A with Senators. Though, he's following proper Congressional protocol - regularly referring to Chairman Tom Harkin as "Sir". (While addressing members of Congress, one is expected to use their title or "sir" or "maam")

Speaker just said "No one at CDC told me that I was a threat to anyone. I wasn't walking around thinking I was a threat."

Speaker also seemed to express frustration that he remains in quarantine.

******************************************************************************

Andrew Speaker is now addressing the Senate Committee by "speakerphone". (Don't bother making jokes about the pun - trust me, they've already been made 100 times by spectators here)

Speaker said numerous officials with the CDC, Fulton County, and other agencies were well aware of his condition and his travel plans. Speaker suggested his travel plans simply, "might not have made it up the chain of command at CDC".

Speaker said he understands why the public "was fearful" about his condition. But he said health officials repeatedly told him he was "not contagious" and that those officials were not wearing masks while sitting with him. "Nobody told me I was a threat to my wife and my daughter.". "I wouldn't have wanted to be around my wife and my daughter. My Dad wouldn't have let me be near my mother," Speaker added.

****************************************************************************

Someone needed to tell Andrew Speaker to mute his telephone. Something sounding similar to the noise of a flushing toilet just bellowed through the speakerphone - and through the Senate Hearing room.

Laughter filled the room, though witnesses and Senators kept a straight face.

One network TV producer sitting across from me just remarked, "Is that what I thought it was?"

The 2nd panel, featuring Speaker and a Fulton County health official is about to begin.

*********************************************************************

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown has taken over the questioning. Yesterday, Brown proposed a major, new initiative to stop the spread of TB (including a $300 million program to help create new testing and treatment.)

Brown told CDC Director Gerberding, "We need to do much better at CDC," dealing with multiple-drug-resistant TB.

Dr. Gerberding showed a slight smile on her face during Sen. Brown's questions and was wringing her hands beneath the table. Then, as soon as Sen. Brown finished speaking, Gerberding thanked the first-term Democrat for his words and his desire to increase TB programs. Gerberding said, "We have a situation in the US where our TB programs are receiving the same amount of money ... But the costs of treating and testing (are rising).".

Give Dr. Gerberding credit for demonstrating remarkable concentration. Her testimony is occasionally being drowned out by the noise from the speakerphone. Committee staffers failed to get Andrew Speaker to mute his telephone in Denver. His coughing and exhaling is quite loud - and overpowering the other sound in the room. But Gerberding is still plowing ahead, ignoring the distraction.

*************************************************************************

Dr Gerberding, Director of the CDC, hasn't departed just yet. So, Senator Tom Harkin just ask a pointed question of her - about the CDCs decision not to send a plane for Andrew Speaker. (Gerberding previously testified that CDC couldn't send a plane to Speaker because none has an isolation unit for patients with drug-resistant TB.)

Sen. Harkin said to Gerberding, "It seems to me to be odd that CDC has aircraft, but that you couldn't send one because none has an isolation-unit. Yet, you allowed him to fly back on a commerical plane with 300 other passengers.".

Gerberding later responded to the series of questions asked of her, by saying "In retrospect, we might have made different decisions." By the way, Chairman Harkin just announced that Andrew Speaker has finally been connected by telephone. (80 minutes after committee staffers first tried establishing the call). His voice was loud and strong - and echoed through the room. A radio reporter sitting next to me wondered aloud - so that many could hear her - "What's so difficult for these Senators about using a speaker phone?"

***********************************************************************

Border Protection Deputy Commissioner Deb Spero is being grilled by Senators now. Spero said Andrew Speaker and his wife *did* show passports to the border agent in Champlain, NY. Under questioning by Subcommittee Chairman Tom Harkin, Spero said the warning information about Speaker did appear on the agent's computer screen, but wasn't "followed (by the agent)."

As the questioning continues, Senators are quickly coming and going from the hearing room.

Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter briefly stopped by to speak about the importance of having the Senate investigate the implications of the Andrew Speaker case. Sen. Specter then - almost immediately - walked out of the room. Sen. Specter told the crowd he need to leave to help stop "a filibuster of the immigration bill that's making headlines in all the papers." At that moment, Sen Specter traded one headline-grabbing story for another.

***************************************************************************************

Say goodbye to CDC Director Gerberding. Senators haven't had the opportunitý to ask her any questions yet, but Gerberding will soon be checking out of today's Senate Committee Hearing. Why? She has to testify at yet another Congressional hearing today about the Andrew Speaker incident. (It's being held by the US House Homeland Security Committee.)

The Commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection is also testifying at that "other hearing in the US House. So, that means, the Deputy Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, Deb Spero, has been given the plum assignment of testifying -- and offering a mea culpa -- here in the Senate.

Spero began by saying, "We had an opportunity to stop (Mr Speaker) at the border, and we missed it."

Spero also told Senators that Customs and Border Protection leaders have been subjected to harsh criticism for the mistake - from both inside and outside the agency in recent days.

Spero said the Andrew Speaker incident has "overshadowed the good work" done by Border Protection agents. She then rattled off a list of statistics to describe the workload US Customs and Border Protection handles each day.

But Spero then told the Committee "there's no excuse" for the mistakes made by the agents who allowed Speaker back into the U.S in Champlain, NY. She also said, "I can't promise 100 percent success. I can't promise human mistakes won't be made again."

Senators will question her later.

*****************************************************************************

CDC Director Gerberding just told Senators how her office responded once it discovered Andrew Speaker had traveled to Greece. Gerberding said CDC staffers tried to track down Speaker's family by searching for phone numbers and addresses on the internet -- to no avail. Gerberding said Speaker ultimately called the CDC himself. During that call, she said the Department's staffers warned him about the risks to his health of missing treatment.

Gerberding also told Senators the CDC discussed sending an "ambulatory-aircraft" to bring Speaker home -- and even called Speaker's health insurance company (Kaiser Insurance) to determine if they'd help pay for the flight. But it was a "no go".

Gerberding also said the CDC considered sending its own aircraft to pick up Speaker. Those plans were called off, she said, because CDC discovered its planes aren't equipped to carry drug-resistant TB patients.

"We gave the patient the benefit of the doubt" Gerberding testified. She then told the Committee the CDC didn't take the most aggressive (action) it could have.

Gerberding is testifying beneath some very hot spotlights, which are set up for the benefit of TV cameras. Those lights have raised the temperature in the small room to uncomfortable levels. Thankfully, Committee staffers have placed large bottles of Deer Park water in front of each of the witnesses. Each of the witnesses, Gerberding included, has already taken advantage of them.

Again...... Andrew Speaker might be more comfortable in his hotel room.

********************************************************************************

CDC Director Julie Gerberding is the first to testify today. Well, I should say, she's *attempting* to testify. 30 seconds into her opening statement, the loud noise from the speakerphone once again blasted through the hearing room. Staffers are again still trying to connect with Andrew Speaker. The interruption lasted several minutes.

Dr. Gerberding smiled slightly during the episode. Others did not. Chairman Harkin scolded his staffers who were working the phone, snapping "we don't have a lot of time". Sen. Harkin's remarks were, no doubt, heared by those watching the hearing on TV. Meanwhile, several people in the crowd, including a photographer standing next to me, began to amuse each other by making the same joke: "They can't reach Speaker by 'speakerphone'!!!!".

************************************************

Andrew Speaker might be more comfortable in his hospital room, after all.

Speaker is set to testify to a US Senate Committee later this morning via telephone from his patient room in Denver. The Senate hearing room in Washington --- a second-story, wood-paneled, windowless room --- is packed like a sardine can. Hundreds of spectators and about a dozen reporters, including me, have filled the room to hear Speaker's telephone testimony in person. None of us is comfortable. To accommodate the crowd, all of us are pressed up against walls, tables, and each other. A radio reporter next to me called this hearing room "a cigar box". Perhaps, the Committee underestimated just how many people are interested in the Andrew Speaker case.

The Senate Committee's Chairman is trying to connect with Speaker by telephone, but he's struggling. At one point, the Chairman, Iowa's Tom Harkin, reached Speaker by speakerphone, but Speaker didn't seem to understand why he was being called -- or who was calling. Sen. Harkin tried repeatedly to explain who he was -- and why he was calling -- but eventually Speaker hung up. Sen. Harkin says his staffers will now try to "work out the kinks". You couldn't see it on TV, but many in the room, including other Senators on the Committee, were noticeably laughing during the telephone exchange. Junior staffers literally ran back into the Committee offices to start their "kink-working"

Speaker is scheduled to testify at the end of today's panel, which also features testimony from Centers for Disease Control Director Julie Gerberding and Steven Katkowsky, Fulton County District Health Office Director.

The Committee, the Senate Appropriations's Subcommittee on Health and Human Services says today's hearing is investigating whether there are "cracks in the (health) system", which allowed the recent TB scare.