Bronx, obviously theyre cle clearing the way for it. It is an amazing thing to see. Its one thing to cover it. But its another thing for it to be happening at your place of work. Reporter and the people that ran in when we ran out. Those lights were switched off. Our mikes were in our ear and our entire staff ran out of the building and these folks ran in and got this device and got it out of the middle of manhattan. Its like th there will be this briefing, the mayor de blasio, and james oneil, theyll be briefing on the Security Situation where you guys are outside the Timewarner Center in new york. Jake, this is a story that, you know, came out of the blue, but there were suspicions for days now that there were some Serious Problems beginning with that suspicious package that was delivered to George Soross residence outside of new york city. In Westchester County, new york, george soros who supports a lot of liberal causes, getting a bomb on monday at his home and now more bombs all over the United States. Im jake tapper, and frankly its been a panic today, suspicious packages containing, what Law EnforcementOfficials Say look like bombs. They were sent to the residents of bill and Hillary Clinton, they were sent to the residence of the obamas. Were expecting a brief from new york citys mayor Bill De Blasio. Cnns poppy harlow and jim sciuto are on the scene, they were on air when they had to evacuate in the Timewarner Center because of the bomb scare. We also have cnn crime and justice reporter tisimone with. Lets start with jim and poppy, tell us, jim, about the scene, what happened, and when you were told you had to evacuate and what you were told . Reporter well, i tell you, jake, its remarkable to have been on the air discussing a state of explosive devices sent a around the country, we were discussing the obama residence, the Clinton Residence, a day or two ago, the soros residence. We heard a fire alarm and my first reaction when i hear a
fire alarm, is this just a drill, can we ignore it and keep doing our job. But it became very clear as all of our colleagues flooded out of the building, that this is one we better listen to. And walked out of the building with Everybody Else. And were met immediately with that tremendous and immediate new York Police Department response,s including The Bomb Squad. Tell us, what was going through your head . Reporter you know, jake, i thought it was a drill at first. And then immediately our crew, jay on set, marillin on set, we wanted to stay reporting the news, they took our mikes off, we went with all of our colleagues in the newsroom, went down these six flights of stairs. And it was when i was walking out the doors on 58th street in
the middle of manhattan, that this was not about a potential fire, but indeed about an explosive device in the building, and within minutes we tried to get back up on the air and continue reporting. As you walk outside, my Colleague Kate whos been with us since the beginning, the new York Police Department took this very seriously from the beginning, it was clearly not a drill and their first concern was the safety of us and the hundreds of others, new yorkers affected by this as they moved us further and further away and moved to act immediately to make the area safe and get that device, which made it inside the cnn building, get that device out and safely. And it was really striking. I have to say, i was struck watching you guys on the air, as the first alert came over the loud system because thats when it indicated to me that something was different. We dont have drills when you guys are on air. And your office is right next to our set. I walked out and saw you guys. And when you came down, i was really struck by jake, you just saw continued increase in Police Presence. It went from a few vehicles outside, with the people on the ground to dozens of, you know, more than a dozen vehicles outside, and then when you saw that, it looks like a cement truck, like a small cement truck, that Containment Vehicle come in and see it get moved into your building, into the building, into where you work. It was a really striking moment, but they took it very seriously at one point, moving us back a block, moving us back even further when they needed to expand what theyre calling the frozen zone, to make sure that that device could get out of the building and get out of manhattan as safely and quickly as possible. I have to tell you, they did it. I mean were in manhattan, people want to get where theyre going. But everyone understood, from the posture that you understood from the police and fdny who
were out here, you could tell this was nothing to mess around with. Then when we got the Emergency Alert on our phones that said shelter in place, that was it for us. In the midst of it, the police will come, and the people of new york, folks listened to the cops. They acted with great composure and i think should be the first responders, you expect them to be, but also the folks affected by this were as well. Well come back to you, i want to go to shimon peres right now to give you the latest on this investigation. First of all, lets talk about a few things here. My understanding is that the device, whatever it was that was delivered to the cnn new york office was addressed to the former cia director john brennan . Yeah, thats exactly right. That package was addressed to the former cia director john brennan. It was received at our mail room in new york, at 10 columbus circle. Thats the address that authorities have fold told us w the package, and then it went through the mail room. There are folks there who noticed Something Weird about it. What im told is that this package is similar in construction and the way it appears to the other devices that authorities had discovered, certainly the one at george soros home, the one that was addressed to former president barack obama and Hillary Clinton. So all of that really had authorities concerned. They knew immediately when they went in and when they looked at this that this was going to be the real deal, based on the way it was constructed, it had similarities to the other devices, the nypd bomb squad had already been briefed on some of these devices, the other devices that had been found so they knew what they were looking at and immediately what im told they
knew they were dealing with a very serious situation here in new york. Shimon, thank you very much. Im going to go to athena jones right now. Were expecting this hour, a briefing from the city officials of the city of new york and the state of new york, what are we expecting . Reporter at 12 45, we expect to hear from new york governor andrew cuomo, and the mayor of new york Bill De Blasio and members of the nypd and also the fire department. This is according to the governors spokespersonell. These are seeming to be the same type of packages that were delivered to im sorry, athena, im sorry, im going to interrupt you, the connection there is spotty, well go back with you athena, when the audio issues get sorted out. I want to go to jeff zell any
at the white house. The president has been briefed and he did tweet as well . Reporter he did receive briefings in the residence of the white house where he spends most of his mornings and he arrived shortly after that. The Vice President said this, we condemn the attempted attacks against former president obama, the clintons, cnn and others, these cowardly actions are despicable and have no place in this country, were grateful for the Swift Response of the Secret Service, the fbi and Law Enforcement. Those responsible will be held responsible. Press secretary Sarah Sanders condemned the suspicious devices earlier in the day. And, jake, as of now, the
president is scheduled to remain on schedule. He has an event here this afternoon at the white house, a bill signing ceremony, im told by one official he is likely to address this at that point if not sooner, and hes still scheduled to go to a Campaign Rally in wisconsin. But certainly a question for the president and the white house, is his rhetoric and his supporters that have been giving out, in these several weeks leading up to the elections, is that connected to any of this. But we do know the president s been briefed and hes in the west wing right now. Let me bring in our Law Enforcement analyst whos on the set. Lets pick up with what jeff was just talking about there, because, look, we dont know who did this, we dont know what their motive was. But its a very obvious threat and maybe its meant as a ruse, but its an obvious threat, the
obamas, the clintons, john brennan, cnn, george soros, these are people and organizations that President Trump continually attacks, demonizes. That will obviously be something that Law Enforcement looks at initially. Yes, thats going to be the key part here, i think, but its also interesting how quickly this information regarding those two devices that wesht nt to th obamas and clintons, how quickly that got out to state and local and Law Enforcement around the country, because when i first heard that those packages ended up at the clintons and the obamas, certainly Law Enforcement and Everybody Else thought who else is going to be receiving packages like this. It struck me that information got out very quickly. Nypd was able to make the connection between the device at the cnn center and the devices that showed up at the obamas and the clintons. Everybody is on edge right now,
whether its at u. S. Capitol buildings, senate and congresss Office Around the country, everybody is looking for these types of devices. One thing we should point out, is Debbie Wasserman schultz, the former head of the dnc, the congresswoman from florida, two things about her, one, her sunrise, florida Congressional Office has been evacuated after a suspicious package was mailed there this morning according to a spokesman of the local Police Department. And according to a federal source, the package to george soros, had her Return Address. We dont think she had anything to do with it. But it had her Return Address. And thats something that Law Enforcement will be looking at. How able are Law Enforcement officials to use the information and the mailing addresses, the envelopes, whatever there is, the devices themselves, to
figure out who did this . Well forensics is going to be a key in this. When you look at these types of devices, its more or less a fingerprint of who the bombmaker is. We have heard these are ruthere strap nell within them. And at the time mall pieces that will cause more damage. All these will be put together and give us an idea of how all these bombs were made and possibly who is making them, but all this goes into evidence, especially if the devices are not exploded. Thats going to be very helpful for Law Enforcement about where these were made and who made them. What will fbi agents and others be looking at right off the bet . These Law Enforcement agencies will be working together, theyll be fusing intelligence, and obviously there are a lot of questions we still have, but from an investigators standpoint, it appears its an attack on democrats, or at least progressives, if you look at the target. At least from initial assessment, as an investigator, you go with what you know, and thats a key factor of who is doing this, what is motivating them . And its the forensics piece here, thwere always talking Abt Intelligence Agencies and them working together. These Law Enforcement agencies need these relationships to quickly share information. I was talking with a Law Enforcement source there just a
short time ago, and he mentioned just that, once these devices started coming in the news, we saw soros, the clintons, the obamas, we saw the fbi and the Police Department monitoring this. So they were already ahead of the game when it comes to knowing these devices and now it comes to looking at that investigation and looking back and bridging the gap between what they dont know and a lot of these questions. Let me just bring you up to speed. Law enforcement agencies are looking into a number of potential bombs, suspicious packages have been sent to michelle and barack obama in washington, d. C. , Hillary Clinton and former president clinton in chappaqua, new york. And john brennan, care of new yorks cnn offices, even though john brennan does not work for
cnn, there was also a bomb scare, we dont know if there was an incendiary device, or a suspicious package still at this date that is suspicious. The office of congresswoman Debby Wasserman Schultz in sun ris sunrise, florida, and a bomb that was sent outside of westchester, new york, a suspicious package arriving at the home of george soros. And art broderick, how confident are you, as a former Law Enforcement official that they will find out who did this . I mean some of these crimes go unsolved. Some of them do, and we all remember how long it took to catch someone like the una disease bomber. We have come a long way since the days of the unabomber, based
on the forensics that they get from these particular bombs is going to be key. And this whole situation of Offsite Scanning of mail coming into federal facilities and also governmental buildings started during the Anthrax Scare after 9 11. So the government established these continuation plans and part of the main ones was the offsite sorting of the mail so it wouldnt interrupt the Governmental Office buildings. And we saw the timewarner building completely shut down. And its the home of not just cnn, but Tnt And Turner and tbs and a lot of wealthy people have condos there. I want to bring in evan perez. Obviously as art noted, one of the things that Law Enforcementofficials all over the country if not the world are going to be looking for is do we have this problem . Have any incendiary devices, suspicious packages been sent to anyone in our area of jurisdiction . Right, jake, that is approximate actually the big concern now. When this first showed up a couple of nights ago with the device that was sent to the home of george soros, people took notice and then this morning, what were hearing from Law Enforcement officials is a big concern that there might be other devices that are en route and that someone, someone could get hurt. These devices were made with chemical devices that could go off. These devices are rudimentarrud
y but theyre functional. Someone handling the packages will be the one that will be hurt. Thats what the concern is now, that there are other devices that are perhaps en route now, we dont know where, that have yet to show up and could hurt someone. Were told that at least one of the questidevices had pieces of shrapnel, essentially pieces of projecti projectiles, shards of glass, designed to increase the harm that would come from the explosion. Whoever is doing this, appears to know a little bit about what theyre doing. They may not have access to the biggest types of chemicals and the types of ingredients to really cause the damage, perhaps, that they want. But they have enough knowhow to know that other things could be happening. One other thing, i think its important to note that Law Enforcement has gotten very good at examining these types of devices. And the key here is the device that was being sent to the bronx. Theyre hoping it Doesnt Go Off so that way they can try to examine it. Every piece of this device is a clue. They hope they might be able to get fingerprints, even the mail label, they can try to identify what kind of printer printed this mail label. All of these things are clues and all of the Law Enforcement officials and the fbi are going to be digging into this in the hours to come, jake. Keep us updated. I want to go back to new york city to jim sciuto and poppy harlow who were anchoring this morning when word got out that there was a suspicious package at the Timewarner Center, and they had to be evacuated along with everyone elsal. Thanks, jake, here with poppy, they took the device away, they took it away from the scene and are now taking this to the facility in the bronx, they did that because they want to glean as much as they can from the device itself. Were in