Morning. So thats the latest here. The nypd bomb squad is inside our offices at Columbus Circle. The package was addressed to 10 Columbus Circle. We dont know who specifically it was addressed to. It did arrive. It was received in the mail room of the building. The staff there alerted authorities, alerted Building Security to the device, and thats when the nypd responded. Obviously they became really concerned almost immediately. Shimon, just very briefly, what do we know about the package that was delivered to the Time Warner Center . Why was it suspicious . What raised the alarm bells . Right, wolf. So what raised the alarm bell is when they xrayed the package, they found what looked like metal material, perhaps a pipe bomb. Weve talked about other pipe bombs or other bombs inside Metal Construction that have
been delivered to other locations. That immediately had everyone concerned. Then also were being told that there were wires, what appeared to be wires inside this package. That also concerned authorities. Obviously thats what an xray showed. Once they get inside it, once they feel safe enough, The Bomb Squad does, that they can go in it and unpack it and see whats inside, we may hear a different story. But given the response here by the nypd and the fbi, also the atf on scene, this is a pretty serious situation. They do believe that theyre dealing with what looks like a real explosive. So thats why were seeing this kind of response. Obviously the nypd bomb squad probably one of the best in the world. The other thing to keep in mind is that the nypd, their bomb squad is so good at this in that they get briefed in realtime in situations in other cities. Lets say theres a suspicious package, a bomb found somewhere else like we know of these other
three locations. The nypd and their Intelligence Division and The Bomb Squad gets briefed almost immediately on what to look for, on what these other packages contained. So going into this, you can be assured for sure that the nypd, along with the fbi bomb squad in new york, probably knew immediately what they were dealing with given what they had to deal with in the other situations, really since monday night. So thats the latest, wolf. Were just waiting on word that theyve actually contained this, that they actually have this device and know what theyre dealing with and that its okay for people to go inside. It could be just a little more time before people are allowed inside here, wolf. They want to certainly air on the side of caution right now given the nature of this suspicious package, presumeably containing projectiles, metal. Ka
kate, youve also been evacuated. Tell us what youre hearing. Im on the corner of 58th and 9th right now. What weve been seeing is increased Police Presence, fdny, what looks like an explosion Containment Device. From our perspective, its been more Law Enforcement vehicles coming into the area around the Time Warner Center than leaving. At one point, there was some confusion on the ground how far away you could be from the building, how close we could all be. We cleared the block as fdny and nypd were pushing us back. Probably about ten minutes ago, they wanted to push us back a half a block further. I have not been able to get a good read on exactly what that indicates, if that indicates anything at this point. Right now i can show you im going to try to walk a little closer, get as close as we can. What weve been seeing in the last minute is fdny setting up a
command post past this metal stand. Were standing here waiting. Ive been trying to get updates from fdny, from the nypd on the ground. What they say is right now the situation is serious, it is active. No someone getting anywhere, in or out. Let me show you right here, wolf, if we can. These are Construction Crews who are stuck in the middle of this because this is how this all went down today. Everyone is still waiting to find out whats been happening. What happened this morning, you knew it was something unusual. We all have these drills. Every Major Company does, of course. The Fire Alarm System goes off, but it happened during my colleagues show. Jim sciutto, poppy harlow on air. You know that it was something different. We were all told to evacuate. Everyone very orderly came down
the five, six flights of stairs we were on and left the building. When you saw the Police Presence thats been out here, wolf i mean, im telling you, theyre taking it very seriously. You can see the looks on their faces. We now know from the great reporting of Shimon Prokupecz what the Time Warner Center is dealing with. Theyre taking this situation very seriously. Its been quite a sight to see. You can see the men and women of the nypd and fdny and how quickly they can lock down this block. It is locked down, no question. Command posts being set up right behind me as were speaking, wolf. I want to get some updates from some of my colleagues that are also in the same situation. Athena jones, if you can hear me, where are you . I havent been able to see you yet. Hi, kate. Im at the other end of the block from where you are. Im at 58th and 8th avenue on the corner here. You can see behind me the policemen. Im not sure you can make it out now. Were seeing the other end of that Containment Truck you mentioned. It looks like a cement truck, a Concrete Truck Mixer thats been cut off at one end. That is called a Containment Truck. Thats where they will put this device and most likely take it to a place called rodmans neck. Thats a facility in the bronx that The Bomb Squad uses to handle these sort of potential explosives. Thats what were seeing. As you can see, theres this huge Police Presence. Were in the heart of new york. Were in midtown new york, a very, very busy area. The Time Warner Center, the entire center next to me has been evacuated. This is not just Office Buildings containing your cnn, time warner media, the offices of tnt and turner. Theres also an entire Shopping Mall here and a whole Foods Grocery store in the basement. Were talking about dozens and dozens of stores and business
establishments, all of which have been evacuated. All right, athena. Thank you so much. Im trying to get a sense let me just find out. Is there any plan for my any briefing . Have you heard anything yet . Just trying to get a sense if theres any plans for briefings. Im standing here near this command post. This doesnt look like this is going to be ending any time soon. Let me turn around and show you the roadblocks were looking at. We cannot get any closer, as ive told you. This is 58th and 9th. This is the heart of new york city. This is closed off. This was closed off. Theyre still trying to let traffic go Down 9th Avenue, but as you can see, its intense right now. There are apartment buildings, hotels all along this block. Theyre all trying to get in Parking Garages. Everyone has been asking to go
in. Obviously no one is going anywhere any time soon. This is where we are right now, outside the Time Warner Center. I want to go back over to washington and bring in Shimon Prokupecz. Shimon, i have not been able to get a sense of timing here. Obviously they have this under control. You dont sense anything is out of control. But i havent been able to get a sense yet of the timing, where they are in terms of disposing of this device, clearing the area, clearing the building. What sense are you getting, shimon . Yeah, im talking to nypd officials there on the ground. The sense im getting is they believe they do obviously have this under control. They dont think anything is about to explode. Theyre dealing with a very real situation, what they believe is explosives in this package. Were told that one of the things thats concerning
authorities is this device theyre looking at in new york is similar to other devices that authorities have been investigating. Really right now we dont have a sense of when this is going to wrap up. This could go on for hours. This could be over any minute. We dont know. How The Bomb Squad works is theyre meticulous. Theyre obviously extremely careful. They do this in teams. Sometimes, you know, weve seen those kind of moon suits that The Bomb Squad, Police Officers, and fbi agents wear, these technicians. It gets very hot in those suits. So sometimes what happens is you have to move people in and out so that one may work on something for 20 minutes, you then move him out, and bring in another person. So they do this in teams. They do this slow. Theres no reason to rush here because they dont believe that theres anything about to explode. Theres no imminent danger. Obviously theyre dealing with a very dangerous situation, but they dont believe anything is about to explode. Also, its important to point
out that earlier we had been getting some information, certainly our Cnn Evan Perez was getting information there was a package that had been intercepted that may have been going to the white house. Were being told by the Secret Service thats not the case. There was some confusion over that. Weve now cleared that up. It was not a device or a suspicious package that was being sent to the white house. Just to recap, we know of at least three other devices which authorities believe are linked to this device. One was sent to the home of george soros in new york, Hillary Clinton and bill clinton, and then obviously the one that was sent to former president barack obama. So now authorities i can tell you the Fbis Joint Terrorism Task force, along with the nypd, the atf, police, and fbi here in washington, d. C. , along with the Secret Service are all the working this extremely hard. Theyre trying to figure out who is sending this. The other thing very, very
important to point out, kate, is there could be other device out there. Thats whats got authorities really concerned. Police across the country now looking at this carefully, studying to make sure there are no other devices being sent to anyone else. Obviously the big thing here is this seems to be someone thats targeting political folks. That has authorities concerned. Theyre looking at other people in the political world who may be targeted, sending out word to be cautious. The nypd in new york stepping up security at certain areas. Certainly the police here in washington, d. C. , the Secret Service. So this is going to go on for quite some time. Its an ongoing situation, really an ongoing threat that were all really under at this point and that authorities need to work through and figure out exactly who is sending these pipe bombs. On everyones cell phone here
in new york, we all received the same alert. An Emergency Alert talking about the situation here outside the Time Warner Center. It says police activity, on 58th Street Between Columbus and 8th avenue, shelter in place immediately. One of those alerts we all get on our phone like amber alerts, weather alerts. This one very different, as you can see. You can see it on my phone. Also seeing i want to go to jim sciutto in one second, but im seeing police dogs about. I havent gotten a read on if theyre being used or how theyre being used, but were seeing that as well. Again, more vehicles, more Law Enforcement coming into this area, not leaving this area. Something i think is important to note. The presence is building, its not diminishing right now. Let me get over to jim sciutto. Im told you have new news. Youve been talking to police. Hi. Just to get a sense of this, this is an all Hands On Deck
response from new york authorities. You saw The Bomb Squad here right away, of course. New york police, Strategic Response unit. Firemen here as well. Just as a measure of how seriously they take this, they were just checking this fire hydrant to make sure it had Water Pressure in case it would be needed. Theres no indication they do need it now. Theyre responding inside the building. On the righthand side of your screen, you see that device that looks sort of like the back end of a cement truck. Thats the Containment Device where once they feel secure, theyre going to move the explosive device into that for transport. Poppy was learning they take it to a place for Precaution Up in the bronx, well outside the city. Thats where theyll take it to examine it further. This is very much an all Hands On Deck response by the new York Police Department. Were hearing from the nypd that The Bomb Squad will transport whatever the device is to a place called rodmans neck,
where it will be detonated if it cannot be defused on scene. It would typically be transported to rodmans neck, well away from this area, if they cannot defuse it here. The one thing we keep hearing, and i know my colleagues in washington are hearing the same, but the new York Police Department telling me this device so far, based on what they know, is similar to the devices theyve seen sent to the other locations that we were reporting on, on the air, as we got taken off the air because of the alert inside cnn. So thats the operating assumption, that theres some connection. I have also been trying to reach the Mayors Office for comment. We believe he may be on his way here. Of course, well try to bring you whatever we can from mayor de blasio as soon as possible. All right, guys. Thanks so much. Im going to go back to washington, d. C. Shimon, i think you have any
reporting coming in. What do you have . Yeah, kate. Obviously youre asking questions of whether or not the police are going to do any kind of briefing there. We dont know yet, but a little update here. Im told by officials in new york that they do expect to move this package within the hour. So it looks like theyre pretty optimistic theyll be close to a point where its safe enough to remove this package. Im told were probably going to see people either pushed further back or more street closures. Im told that the entire area is going to be frozen once they move this package and place it where we believe will be in this Containment Truck and driven to the bronx where The Bomb Squad is located. Then theyll probably detonate it there and start their investigation into really trying to figure out what this is. So just a small update there for folks that are out there and for our viewers so theyre aware we could see some movement here within the hour. Well see it here first, but
i will tell you from the angle were at, shimon, everyone is being kept far away for very good reason. I saw more vehicles go in just a short time ago. Unclear what it can tell us. I want to bring in josh gamble right now, former fbi agent. Can you hear me . Yeah, kate, ive got you loud and clear. Were here at the los angeles bureau. Theres obviously been a Security Presence at news outlets around the country. I just came in. There was a presence here of lapd officers. No indication of any threat, but it shows you how Law Enforcement around the country monitors these types of situations. They will provide resources as a precaution. As we look at our screen here, obviously weve seen a number of Police Officers that have been coming and going. Lets talk about what you see and what you dont see, kate. What were seeing on our screen right now is the threat mitigation phase. This is officers setting up a perimeter. Theyre attempting to obviously
mitigate any potential threat here. We saw earlier this bomb Disposal Chamber brought in by the new York City Police bomb squad, which will attempt to either render this device with safe or move it to a location where they can do so outside the vicinity of a large population. While thats going on, Behind The Scenes theres also the investigation thats going on right now. Obviously we know now of a number of events that are likely connected based on some of the reports were getting, at least reports suggest that. So that will be taking place right now also, while the Pointy End Of The Spear is on the screen trying to render this device safe. These Law Enforcement sources are trying to determine what clues they can find in these different crime scenes to figure out if they all point back to each other. Then obviously move to that phase to try to apprehend whoever the person or persons that are responsible for this. The last phase of this investigation is something that officers both in new york and around the country will be looking at. That is taking precautions to preempt any type of copycats. Unfortunately weve seen in these types of scenarios there are depraved individuals that will try to capitalize on the panic were seeing in order to create more panic. Thats something Law Enforcement officers will be looking to tamp down. As weve heard from our colleagues, the new york city Police Department trains for this every single day. They have a massive intelligence bureau, resources that are dedicated to monitoring threats all over the world. Right on scene there will be a command post, a Forward Deployed command post where nypd leadership will be working out of to quarterback whats going on there, in order to direct resources. Back at Lower Manhattan at 1 police plaza, theres also a larger command post thats fusing together, sharing intelligence with various Law Enforcement agencies, monitoring developments all in realtime. Again, the goal is to determine what theyre dealing with, to gather as much information as they can, to push that information out to the people who need it, in order to ensure this investigation is done properly and they find and apprehend whoever is responsible, kate. Im going to see if we can
show you phil, come here. Can you see it right here . Way down there is that cement truck device, the explosive Containment Device we all saw coming in earlier. I think jim sciutto had a picture we showed. They have just repositioned it. Right next to the entrance of the Time Warner Center there is a Parking Garage where a lot of my colleagues where we all park. It s it appears from this angle they have repositioned that truck to back it in, as if that device is heading somehow into the building. Josh, if you can hear me, can you tell me what the next step is with that device . Shimon says they want to move the package, if you will. They want to move it out within the hour is what shimon told me. What are the next steps here as im looking at them repositioning this vehicle and that Containment Device into the building . So kate, the first step wherever officers arrive on the scene is do that initial assessment to identify what it is theyre dealing with. Obviously weve heard some of the reporting about what this device, what it appears to contain and the size. Again, these bomb squad experts, you know, will arrive. Theyll do that initial assessment. The goal is to determine what is the potential blast radius here of any potential device. Are we dealing with a large explosive that would spread to a large area . Is this something likely to remain contained . Thats the first initial assessment. That helps them determine how large their perimeter needs to be. All of this is very mechanical. Its something that these officers train for every day. So theyll actually set their perimeter based on how much standoff distance they think they need in order to keep the public safe. What were seeing now on the screen is this Containment Chamber actually rolling back into the loading dock there. It looks like were starting to see that next step where they will actually be moving the device. They have two options. Officers, you know, they can render a device safe on site. A lot of times well see them shooting a device in order to render it safe to determine theres no potential threat. We see that all the time, in fact, with suspicious devices. It appears in this case, as the vehicle moves in, that this is something they will want to move, at least to a safe enough distance. Weve talked about some of the facilities in and around new york city. Theyll try to get that out it of a highly populated area. It appears from Police Presence that you have officers Walking Around the truck there obviously. It doesnt appear theres an urgent situation. But taking every single precaution in order to ensure that they get this device out of the cnn center there in new york and then to a safe place where they can then render it safe but also try to ensure to the extent they can that they can preserve any type of evidence that may be helpful in order to proving their case here and again in order to determining were there
any connections with other devices. Guys, i want to give you updates. Were getting moved back even further. I was told by one Police Officer it appears theyre going to be moving the device out. Then another officer just told me not yet, but that appears to be Whats Happening right now. From our position where we were, as you can see behind me, right where the command post was, were being pushed back once again. We saw that explosive device the Containment Device moving into cnn. Let me just ask sir . Okay, were going to keep moving back. Im going to try to get one of these guys to give me an answer on exactly why were moving back right now. Captain . Captain, are we moving the device out . Thats what i was told. Sorry, sir. Were going to keep moving back,
everybody. All right. Theres definite movement happening right now. As i was standing up against the gate, it was almost like a wall of officers and fdny moving this direction. Moving everyone back once again. One officer said it does seem to be theyre going to be moving this device out. That would make sense. You can look at the positions, where we are on the street. Weve been moving across 9th avenue. We were on the other side of 9th avenue on 58th, the same block of the Time Warner Center. This would allow for access, to get that vehicle out, if thats Whats Happening, and keep it as far away from the mass of humanity thats here right now. Kate, im being told, as we said a short time ago, that this was going to be moved within the hour. It appears that process is now under way. I was told that theyre going to push the perimeter. That is, theyre going to close off more streets, push people back as they remove this device from our building in new york. What youre really seeing here is just more precaution by police now that this device is being brought down, now that its closer to the ground, to the street, they want to move people further back. What well see is theyll put this suspicious package in this truck and drive it off. There will be a full Police Escort with this truck. Theyll probably close off streets as they drive it. Its going north. Its going to the bronx, where The Bomb Squad is housed, where
theyre located. They have an area there where theyll probably detonate it. Then theyll begin their investigation of really trying to figure out whats inside. The good news here, i think, for s all of us is they feel its safe enough to move, that they can go ahead and bring this down and go ahead and move it into this truck. Were seeing bomb squad officers, perhaps fbi agents on scene with the nypd, Milling Around the truck. Well see movement here soon. Once they move it, hopefully the offices will be reopened and things can move on. The key here, i think, is they feel theyre at a point now where its safe enough for them to remove it, and then really the investigation gets under way after that, kate. Sorry, guys. I was trying to get another update from the officers on the ground right now. Let me go back over to athena
jones. Can you tell me from your perspective what you see . They moved us back. Theyve repositioned one of the fire trucks. Its kind of in the way of our view, but its obviously to protect everybody. What are you seeing from your angle . Youre talking about that Containment Truck that has been repositioned. We saw them close the end of that. It has a big hole. It looks like a Concrete Mixer that the end has been cut off. They repositioned it so its near the Parking Garage. We know the Mail Room Facility is in one of the basements of Time Warner Center. We have a little more information about when the package was received. It was received midmorning in the 9 00 hour. Youll remember it was just the beginning of the 10 00 hour that there was a fire alarm that could be heard on the air. That is when the evacuation began. Weve been out here for about an hour and a half. We know that the package was
received in the 9 00 hour. According to two Law Enforcement sources, the package was addressed to 10 Columbus Circle. Thats the address that comes up if you google cnn. Its not the address thats on our business cards, but thats the address that comes up if someone is searching on the internet for the location of cnn. We still dont know for sure to whom this package was addressed. We know it the address was 10 Columbus Circle. Again, it was received midmorning in the 9 00 hour. One more thing i want to point out, kate, is you can see the officers standing behind me and to my left. The cars that are parked there, weve seen bombsniffing Dogs Sniffing along all of those vehicles, including the u. P. S. Truck you can see immediately behind me and on down the line. This as now were seeing dozens and dozens of Law Enforcement officials on the scene. As we mentioned earlier, we were here in the last hour or so or last half hour or so when john miller arrived in a motorcade. Hes the head of
counterterrorism and intelligence for the nypd. So we know a lot of top officials are on the scene to get to the bottom of this. Kate . All right, athena. Thanks so much. An update for everyone here on the ground. It seems like now were in a waiting period. Theyve moved us back another half a block. Were waiting here. Athena is kind of on the other side. What i do see from where im standing right now, as you can probably see as well, shimon mentioned when this device is moved out, it will have a Police Escort. What im looking at right now looks like a major Police Escort. I want to toss it over to wolf blitzer in washington. All right. Were going to get back to you, kate. Were getting more information here. This is very sensitive information. I want to be very precise in reporting about this suspicious package that was delivered to the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle where cnns new
york bureau is located. We have now been told that this suspicious package was, in fact, addressed to cnn, but it was specifically addressed to the former cia director john brennan, care of cnn at the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle in new york. John brennan, the former cia director, hes a contributor at msnbc and nbc news, not to cnn. But this suspicious package, which has resulted in the evacuation of the Time Warner Center and whole areas around the Time Warner Center in new york city, was specifically addressed to the former cia director john brennan. Were also getting more information right now from the Secret Service, saying that apparently there was no suspicious package that was addressed to the Secret Service. There were two suspicious packages that were intercepted by the Secret Service, one addressed to the clinton residence in chappaqua, new york. Another addressed to the obama residence here in washington, d. C. Nothing addressed to the white
house. No suspicious package, according to the Secret Service, addressed to the white house. Earlier we had that information. The secret Service Spokesperson now saying only two packages were intercepted by the Secret Service. We do know there was a suspicious package intercepted heading towards George Soros Residence Outside of washington. And as we all know, the time warner cnn bureau in new york city. Shimon prokupecz, youre getting more information as well. Thats right, wolf. Exactly what you said there. This device, this package that youre talking about here sent to 10 Columbus Circle, the mail room there, our offices at cnn. It was intercepted in the mail room. It was addressed to the former cia director john brennan. Now what we have here is you have former Obama Administration officials being targeted. You have Hillary Clinton. You have the former president barack obama. As weve been reporting, george soros. Were being told by officials all of these packages are similar in the way they were constructed. At least initially thats what authorities think. Were told at least one of the devices appeared to contain projectiles, including there were shards of glass so if this had exploded, it would have been actually sent out shards of glass, pieces of glass if it had exploded. Were also told that the devices were rudimentary, but theyre functional, which means essentially they could have exploded. Really here authorities now dealing by all accounts with perhaps a serial bomber, someone whos now sent at least, that we know of, four bombs through the mail. Obviously authorities now concerned that there could be other devices similar to this out there. Theyre now alerting people all
over the country to be cautious. What we expect here, wolf, just to quickly update folks on the scene there, is that the police, the nypd, is going to be removing this package, this explosive device they have found at our offices and put it in this truck that youre seeing on the right of our screen here. Then it will be driven to the bronx, where it will likely be detonated. Then they can really begin the investigation into exactly what this device is made of. But authorities in new york are extremely concerned. They know what theyre dealing with. They say this seems to be similar to the other devices. So now the big thing here is just to try to remove this safely so no one gets hurt, wolf. And very, very Important Information were now reporting, shimon. Once again, i just want to update our viewers. The package that was delivered to the cnn new york bureau at the Time Warner Center was actually addressed to former cia director john brennan. That according to city and local
Law Enforcement officials. John brennan a very, very sharp critic of president trumps. He served during the Obama Administration. We also know suspicious packages were delivered to the obama residence here in washington, d. C. , the hillary and bill clinton residence in chappaqua, new york, the George Soros Residence Outside of new york, as well as to the cnn new york city bureau. But that was specifically addressed to john brennan. I want to quickly read a statement that the Vice President mike pence just tweeted. 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. Grateful for the Swift Response of the Secret Service, fbi, and local Law Enforcement. Those responsible will be brought to justice. That statement just going. Oh, and were now being told more information. The Florida Office of democratic congresswoman Debbi Wasserman schultz has also been evacuated. Former head of the democratic committee, another sharp critic of the president. The area around her office in florida, we are told, has been evacuated. The bomb squad down there has been sent to the site. Another very suspicious development. So theres a whole series. Once again, the Secret Service is saying there were only two packages intercepted by the Secret Service, not one, as earlier reported, to the white house. It looks like the white house was cleared in all of this. Kate, youre there on the scene for us. Tell us what youre seeing. Right now weve been tushpus back even further. Were on 58th going from 9th to 10th avenue. When i asked why, officers said they need a bigger frozen zone. Shimon r y shimon, are you on with us as well . My sense is that this thing is about to be moved, and its going to be moved out this way. I dont know if it makes sense to be heading Down 9th Avenue when you said it needs to go up to the bronx, but they definitely have expanded their perimeter. They need more of a frozen zone. This place is cleared out other than Police Presence behind me. Right. We dont know which direction they can go. I dont know if you can look up the street. They probably wont go in the direction of where youre seeing all those officers. I think youre on 9th avenue. It will probably go up to the West Side Highway, then they could take the West Side Highway up to the bronx. It could go up you know, they could do whatever they want here. What youre going to see is streets will be closed. Theres going to be Police Vehicles around that, kate, because they want to move this safely. All right. Shimon, im also seeing officers moving my direction. They could be moving us back even further. Let me just watch this one second with you guys. Im seeing some vehicles move in here and some sirens. I want to make sure i know whats going son really quick. Hang on, everybody. All right. So were watching this. Fdny heading inside the main area on 58th between 8th and 9th. My photographer is going to be showing you what he can see right now. Were listening to sirens right now. Lets go to jim sciutto and poppy harlow, who have another angle. We were on the corner of 58th and 9th, just down the block from the offices. You can see the entrance there. Theyre moving us down all the way to 57th street. You see a circus of activity now. Sirens, more Police Vehicles arriving, pushing everybody back. It appears to prepare for the transport of this device. They dont want us at all close. Even though this is a containment unit designed expressly to contain the danger from these devices, they dont
want anybody close to it at all, as they move it. I would note, kate, our cameraman is holding his camera, being held by four of our producers, walking it on the tripod down the block. Thats how urgently they wanted us to move. I asked one of the nypd Containment Officers back there, why is this . He said so they can move it. One would infer meaning the device. I will also tell you from a detective at the nypd who ive been speaking with, he just told me that the nypd also just sent out. Whats called a heightened Awareness Message to all of their staff, all of the members of the nypd, just precautionary. He said its just to tell us all to be on alert for suspicious items, obviously given whats transpired. Thats Whats Happening internally at the nypd as theyre dealing with this in realtime externally. Were a full two city blocks now from our headquarters there. Again, just to reiterate, this device made it inside the building. They believe it to be an explosive device. Theyre moving it now. Heres the truck. The truck is moving as we speak. Watch this. Maybe we can step away from the cameras so you can see whats coming down here. Theres going to be a caravan of Law Enforcement vehicles as they move this Containment Device. You see fire engines, police cars. There it is. You can see it. It looks like a cement truck. Its going to be turning on to the street, passing us. Ill get out of the way here. Here we go. Take a look. This camera is on 9th avenue and 57th street in the heart of manhattan. Theyve cleared out these two blocks. Now you see it. So where do they take that now . Poppy was reporting earlier they take it all the way to the bronx. Theres a specific whats it called, rodmans neck . Theres a zone up there the police have for this. Theyll take it to rodmans
neck. Thats right. Why wouldnt they detonate it on site, as they often do . We reported earlier today one of the other devices sent to the obama residence was detonated. Why would you not detonate this . If its safe enough, you can glean a lot of clues from that. Theyve taken fingerprints off explosive devices before as you try to figure out whos behind this. Can you guys still hear us . All right, guys. As you probably saw as well, we saw the truck. Im on 58th street. It came right out here. It turned Down 9th Avenue with vehicles with it. Were obviously tracking where that goes with the Police Presence. My question now is now were seeing seeing the immense Police Presence that accompanied that vehicle and left. Now the big question is what
happens next . Im trying to get a sense. We might be getting information now, kind of when we can move back in. You know what, they just ripped the yellow tape. Come on. Come with me. Can we go back in now . We cant go back up to time warner . That block is still clear . All right. Lets go back. They pushed everyone back so they could get the device out is of here safely without having so many people that are standing here trying to get in. Theyve now cleared this half a block. We can walk back up here. But the perimeter is still in place on the block of 58th street between 8th and 9th where the Time Warner Center is. Were going to walk back up here and try to get a sense of what happens next. Let me see what i can see. Sir, can you tell wheres the perimeter now . 58th and 8th. Theres going to be a briefing. A briefing at 58 and 8 at
12 45. The latest is the mayor going to be there . Theres going to be a briefing at 12 45 at 58 and 8. The block will be locked down until then . There will be a briefing got it. Thank you so much. The latest weve heard is theres going to be a briefing. Im not being told who will be briefing. On 58th and 8th at 12 45. To be honest, ive lost track what time it is now. So an hour from now, there will be a briefing. Thats one avenue over from where we are now. Were going to keep walking. I want to toss it back to shimon in d. C. Are you learning anything new . Is that it . I dont know. Is that the device . Shimon, can you hear me . Hey, what are you asking . I could not hear you. Its all right. I totally understand. Just so you know what ive got, ive got a briefing coming from they havent told me who, but a
briefing will be here at 58th and 8th at 12 45. I did see the device move out, shimon. Are you getting any more information . Yeah, it was moved. What im told is that its going to be, as weve been reporting, taken to the bronx. The nypd bomb squad has an area where they can safely detonate it, if thats what theyre going to do. We dont exactly know if theyre going to do that in this case. They usually do with these types of devices. Then they pick up whatever forensic material they can once its detonated. So that will definitively, based on that forensic material, tell them if this device is linked to the other devices, which right now authorities certainly believe it is. They will be able to once they detonate it, they have a way where they explode it and th can just kind of keep some of the material that they need so they can build a criminal case. Now this is a criminal investigation. So theyll do that. Theyll probably do that, you know, probably today perhaps. Well see what happens. All right. I quickly want to go to jim sciutto right now. Hes outside of the Time Warner Center. Jim, first of all, tell our viewers precisely where you are and what Law Enforcement is telling you. All right. We are im with poppy harlow here. Were a block and a half away. Were actually around the corner now from Time Warner Center. Thats a block up and a block to the right. We were closer, but in the moment just a few moments ago, wolf, i believe we were broadcasting it when that containment vessel was driven away with the explosive device inside. As a precautionary measure, they moved everybody a further block back. Thats really been the attitude since the beginning. Since the moment we had that alarm while we were on the air, get out of the building, then move 10 yards down the street, 20 yards, around the corner, now were the furthest away weve been. The equivalent of three city
blocks away. I was just speaking with a detective at the nypd who was telling us that this would be transported up to rodmans neck in the brongx. That would be the routine practice. Whether this device is going there or not, were not sure. They would indeed search it and detonate it then. I also asked how rare is that Emergency Alert we got on our phones, everyone in new york, to shelter in place. Simultaneous text we all got. I said how uncommon is that . He said it is not. That is exactly what we would do in any situation like this when they just dont know if a device will explode. Its a great way to get information to people quickly. Just some other news weve been getting, wolf, as weve been going along. Speaking to the nypd, no injuries to this point. Although, this person was able to get an explosive device inside the Cnn Headquarters here, which of course speaks to the risk. Weve both been saying on air
many times it, the new York Police Department is trained for they train for this kind of thing every day. They get there more quickly than you can imagine. These Emergency Response teams encompass a whole host of skills from fire to emergency to The Bomb Squad that turned out there first. Anyway, that response still very much under way, wolf. Its important to note, jim and poppy, and i just want you guys to elaborate on this. If we take a look at these suspicious devices, clearly where you are, the Time Warner Center, a suspicious package sent to the cnn new york offices, addressed to the former cia director john brennan, whos been a very sharp critic of president trump. So there was one package along those lines. Another package sent to the hillary and bill clinton residence in chappaqua. Theyve been very qucritical of the president as well. A third package sent to the obama residence here in washington. We know theyve been critical of
the president. A fourth package sent to george soros, a Billionaire Investor whos a strong supporter of the democrats, a fierce opponent of the president. All of these developments. Now were told theres some suspicious device at congresswoman Debbie Wasserman schultzs office in florida. It looks like theres a pattern unfolding right now. No yes. On that list, youve just listed a number of folks who the president has accused of being unfair to him, that the president has publicly attacked at times. This is a point jim and i were privately discussing this morning as we were going to air and as this came out. You never want to jump to any conclusions. Our job is to bring you the facts. That is what we are doing here. But this is a fact pattern that is indisputable. It shows you that all of these targets are indeed targets where theres The Bomb Squad
leaving, just as you were talking. Sorry, go ahead. They are the facts. That is the list of where has been targeted thus far. As the Police Investigate incidents like this, they look for ties, for commonalities. We already know the packages themselves have some similarities. Nature of the device, delivery method. In this case, they were mailed to various addresses. So you have an m. O. That appears to be common. Then you begin to look at motive. Its very early. Its very early in this, but when you look at that list, it certainly has one thing in common, wolf. Thats something folks that have been on the list folks and organizations that the president attacks. Early, and clearly things can change, but thats a disturbing development. I want to go to the white house. Jeff zeleny is getting more information. We are, indeed. Were told the president has been briefed several times about the situation throughout the morning. Hes still in the residence of the white house where he usually
spends most of his mornings before his meetings begin. A couple officials are telling us he has been briefed. Hes following along on this. The News Coverage as well, as we know hes generally watching here. Hes not said anything about it himself directly, but the White House Press secretary Sarah Sanders has issued a statement condemning all of these attacks. The Vice President has as well. Ivanka trump, the Senior Adviser to the president and the president s daughter, has also issued a Statement Con Themming did condemning Whats Happening here, condemning these suspicious packages. Were told the president is still scheduled to keep his schedule, that includes an event this afternoon here at the white house as well as a Campaign Rally this evening in wisconsin. If that changes, the Officials Say they will let us know. As of now, hes scheduled to continue that. Wolf, the Secret Service is also clarifying. There were some reports this morning. An official said a package was addressed here as well. The secret stfs ervice is sayin that is not the situation at all. The white house has not received any packages. The president is being briefed on this. So far theyre not saying
anything. Were asking if he has a comment to the sense that all these packages are being september nt these places he has criticized. As weve covered the rallies across the country, the rhetoric is extraordinarily intense. 13 days before the midterm elections. Indeed, it has been for a long time. We do not know if there is a correlation or not, but we are asking the white house for the president s view on the rhetoric specifically, specifically. If he has an answer, well let you know. And just to be precise, the president has not yet tweeted, issued a public statement, anything along those lines, even though the Vice President , the press secretary, and others at the white house are making statements condemning these developments. The president has personally been silent. I just want to be precise on that. As of now, at this moment, at this second, hes not sent out a message. That could change, of course, at any time on social media, on twitter. Thats how he generally communicates. His spokesperson, the White House Press secretary, has sent
out a statement on behalf of the white house. That has happened. The which is unusual, because we likes to tweet on important stuff, not important stuff. This is clearly a very Important Development indeed. Well see what the president says. Jeff, i know youre working your sources over there. Kate, youre there in new york city, outside the timewarner center. You and all your colleagues have been evacuated. There will be a press briefing, a new york Law Enforcement will be Briefing Reporters in less than an hour. But what else are you hearing . Reporter they have opened up 58th street that had been locked down and the Containment Device was being taken down this avenue. They have taken that dangerous path, the risk of that they have now opened up that portion of 58th street, of course the block where our building is,
that is still locked out. No suggestion by anybody involved when that is going to open up, wolf, but i can say that suspicious package has left the vicinity. These are all very, very disturbing developments. Let me read the tweet that ivanka trump tweeted. I strongly condemn the violent acts against the clintons, the obamas and others. There is no reason for this. Thats where the president s daughter and Senior Advisor ivanka trump. A department of Homeland Security spokesperson, has been briefed on these suspicious packages, earlier jeff zelany was reporting that the president has been briefed on that. Youre there outside the timewarner center, what else are you learning . Reporter hi, wolf, thats right, im at the other end of the block from where kate and poppy and jim are, 58th avenue. This is where were expected to have a blesspresser in an hour,s gri briefing. Mayor de blasio, members of the nypd and the Fire Department in new york. This is via my colleague mark morales. So that will be a briefing in about an hour in this vicinity. This part of the block is still shut down, you can see a number of nypd officials. We notice the Containment Truck is now gone. We continue to see bomb sniffing dogs, sniffing the vehicles on this block. And we also got a tweet from the new york city Police Department commissioner, explaining who all is on the scene. I mentioned that jon miller is
the Counter Terrorism and intelligence investigations for nypd, we saw him arrive here earlier. We know that the nypd special Operations Team is here, all of them investigating the circumstances here. And lets remind our viewers where we are, were in midtown manhattan, a major Transit Point that is now shut down as a crowd of onlookers and news cameras arrive. And were standing next to timewarner center, which has been entirely evacuated. This is not just a building that houses cnn, cmt and turner, it also houses dozens of shops, theres a mall, a Grocery Store downstairs, the entire building evacuated just after 10 00 a. M. One more reminder about that package, it was received in the mail center of cnn sometime in the 9 00 hour. That is the information we have right now. We also know that it was sent to 10 Columbus Circle. That Street Address is the Street Address that pops up when you try to google or search for cnn, it also pops up when youre searching for the shops at Columbus Circle. You mentioned that this package was addressed to cnn, but specifically john brennan, the former cia director, this package had wires and things that are suspicious. Wolf . I just want to point out a representative for the former cia representative john brennan. Theyre telling cnn, brennan is not commenting on this at least not yet. Kate, youre there as well outside the timewarner center
in new york. Youre getting more information even as we speak . Reporter yeah, wolfe, right now theyre trying to open up this street on 58th street, theyre trying to loosen up traffic, but i can only imagine the backup thats been created since this started a couple of hours ago. I have been able to link up with my colleagues bob and jim. This is a Pretty Amazing thing to watch. The ebb and flow of the presence this morning. And then that Containment Device leaving. Theres a bomb unit, listen, the device is now gone. So were goi theyre taking it to a safer
location to glean what they can from that device. Since the beginning, the first devices, targeting the clintons, obamas, soros. And Debbie Wasserman schultz. They believe they are linked. But again, its early, we always caution early in the investigation. So there are no conclusions. And the fact that we went on the air right before the fire alarm went off indicating the need to evacuate. These devices were rudimentary and but functional. And you hear that theyre functional and youre on the air, rude rude meathis is so
to take very seriously. When we got down here. I can say, though, we have noticed a change in the tension from the officers that i have been interacting with. Were getting live pictures right now, were showing everyone. Were showing you live pictures of the im just being told that we have live pictures of the suspicious device being remove and being take on to where it eventually will go. The screening facility. Im just learning this from the control room as we speak and were looking at this right now. But again, when that happens, and we can say this very
confidently, this doesnt answer any of the Big Questions question have right now. We have a briefing from nypd which will be in about 45 minutes and there are a lot of questions right now. But first and foremost, control is in my ear talking to me as were trying to talk to me. Theres a lot of Breaking News dealing with this. But the fact of the matter is, a lot of questions still remain. A lot of questions need answered. But the response has been remarkable by the nypd, the fdny. The professionalism they have handled this situation, clarity throughout, this unfolding breaking situation in the heart of manhattan. The reporter you were on the air when we all got that shelter in
place, which is something that we are prepared to report on when it happens. Its never happened to us before and we have seen it and the n d nypd. Its striking, being out here doing our jobs and then getting the order to shelter in place. The nypd have done drills, when a terror like event happens in the city, but what we saw today was not a drill, of course, its real life and the new York Police Department responding to, as they are trained to do and have been every day since 9 11, responding quickly to threats like this one. Reporter its just remarkable to see that this device has now left the timewarner center. Its left the timewarner center, its on the way to the