vimarsana.com

Card image cap



came from a packaging in the mail room in the jeffrey building, a red brick building four stories high belongs to the state government of maryland. and it houses the secretary of state and also the state homeland security. it sits off the circle next to the maryland statehouse. and when i pulled up the state employees were actually being allowed back inside the building. a spokesman for the city of annapolis told us that there was one minor injury of a mail room employee. however, the state police are telling media members that no one was injured. there is still a lot of activity and the building but the state employees have been allowed back inside. i have seen the postal inspector here. federal authorities. f.b.i. maryland state police, as well. but they are not taking it as seriously as if they think perhaps there could be more packages inside this building. >>shepard: i am told these are about the size of a book, and they did not do a lot of damage, and that nobody was injured. do they have a clue from who might have done this? >>guest: not at this point. i am not informed yet as to exactly what they think has happened here. the spokesman for the mayor of annapolis told us that they do have a device, his words, and they are examining it but we have not been able to get any information as to whether there is an address on this, who it was addressed to, who it may have come from or anything like that. that is all preliminary at this point. we have not been given a briefing on the record from maryland state police which is my understanding is the agency that actually is handling this investigation. >>shepard: paul wagner from fox 5 from metro washington, dc, including annapolis and surrounding areas. thank you. and now to jonathan hunt. when you have, jonathan, a package that debt -- that detonates, there is a lot of investigating to be done and a lot of questions who may have done this. than despite there were no serious injuries according to all the authorities on the scene right now, there is obviously great concern as to the motivation of whoever was behind these and whether there may be more packages out there. the state of maryland has put a lockdown on every state mail room while they continue to investigate this. obviously, in and around washington, dc, state and federal offices are familiar with the procedures from the amtrak scare a few years ago, a state and federal authorities that received the packages so this is a well practiced kind of series of events they are going through and that is why the mail rooms have been closed down. obviously, everyone is relieved no one was seriously hurt but still a great deal of concern of what might still be out there. >>shepard: you know, it's very early and we don't know why someone who do this but we could have a whole list of possibilities and probably somewhere on the list they would check whether this is terror-related. no one has mentioned that. >>jonathan: no mention. but in itself it is an act of terrorism because you are by definition terrorizing those who receive the packages but whether it is an act of somebody with a domestic grudge against somebody specific in one of the, one or both of the offices, or, a grudge against the government in general, or whether it is somebody acting from an international base, all of that will have to be investigated and looked into in the coming hours and days. >>shepard: the first device went off at the mail room at the department of transportation headquarters at 1:00 o'clock and 30 minutes later at 1:30 another package was reported at the jeffries state office building which we have mentioned in annapolis. right now they have shut down mail rooms as a precaution, it is my understanding, but they don't have reason to believe there are anymore. >>guest: they have for reason to believe specifically that there are more devices out through but, obviously, they want to be absolutely sure of that because you can imagine just how many packages, how many letters, are going through every state mail room in the entire state of maryland. they simply do not know. they obviously are looking at the possibility, the distinct possibility, that the two devices are related in some way and they exploded on the same day, just 30 minutes apart so they simply do not know right now whether there could be more of these kind of devices out there. that's why they should down the mail rooms. >>shepard: these devices they are careful to tell us did not explode but, in fact, one of the police officials are saying it went more of a "poof," than an explosion. have they given us a specific description. >>jonathan: no description as yet. as to exactly what was in the packages. as you said earlier, it is described as being the size of a book and they don't sound on initial evidence as though they were particularly sophisticated devices but we don't know, for instance, whether they went, in the words of the one official "poof," because they didn't go off properly and there was a more sophisticated device in the packages and it did not detonate or this was the full extent of whatever was in there, more a frightening device than anything that could have done damage. >>shepard: thank you, jonathan. mail rooms are shut down across the state. they have requested that happen all over the state of maryland. no injuries. two devices in two different locations. we are expecting the news to develop quickly on this and we will take you live to maryland as situations arrive. there are new details on the mysterious death of a former pentagon aide, john wheeler. police now say he somehow changed his clothes between the two times he appeared on surveillance video before someone murdered him. he was disheveled when he was seen walking around wearing one shoe and carrying the other. we are told his car was parked in another lot not far from the garage and investigators say they have surveillance video from another building in downtown wilmington and on that video he is wearing different clothes. we are also hearing from a witness who claims he spoke with this man, wheeler, who served under both bush administrations and the reagan administration, and spoke to him less than 24 hours before we know worries found his body in a landfill. our senior correspondent is in wilmington, delaware. what are you learning? >>reporter: that person told me that he had blood shot eyes, super blood shot eyes and, in fact, wheeler had the most blood shot cries he had ever seen. that witness works in a coffee shop, sold him coffee less than 24 hours before he was killed, and said he thought he was homeless and it seemed like he was sleeping in his clothes for days and that the cuff open his white shirt was so dirty off the arm but when he ordered he was fine and ordered coffee and could herent. he was last seen here in downtown wilmington on surveillance video and that is where police believe he had a change of clothes. they do not know exactly how he may have changed his clothes or what happened versus the surveillance video from 24 hours earlier. police hope, they want, they hope they can find out about that and see what happened after he left here. that's a mystery to us and that is what our investigators are working on, one thing, where did he go after he was spotted on the 29th in the parking garage until the next day when he is spotted in the morris building? we do not know at this time. >>reporter: the missing 14 hours before his death they do not know. >>shepard: do we know if there is a link between the arson attempts we have reported on here before and the murder? >>reporter: no, we don't. that's a really strange twist. the wheelers' home is across from another home that is being built and they were suing their neighbors. they have had three lawsuits and police are investigating whether wheeler may have put some device s in front of that new home that is being built, owned by a couple right across the street from the wheeler's house in delaware. two weeks ago there was a court hearing, in which a judge denied the wheeler's attempt to try and stop that work. the spokesman for the couple would have no comment when he was asked if there is a link between the murder and potential dispute with the building and the fire marshal is not commenting. but that is just another strange one on top of this very odd case. >>shepard: odd, indeed. back to you soon. lawmakers in congress have a lot of big jobs ahead. the biggest is to try to get more jobs in the american economy. what the democrats and the republicans plan to do about it and what the president's new mock team apparently has in mind. and, we are teaching watch on the situation in maryland, two packages igniting in different buildings. new information is coming in that we will bring you when we get it. [ female announcer ] this is not a prescription. this is norma. who knows how important it is to have her medicine in one place. so noa brings all of her prescriptions to walgreens where her pharmacist can watch out for interactions with her over-the-counter medicine. now norma thinks less about her medicine and more about her vacatn. tell us what you take just once and we'll check for interactions every time. expertise -- find it everywhere there's a walgreens. >>shepard: we met the person who will have more influence on president obama than any other. the new chief of staff. and the president's pick could force you out of the mood for the next couple of years. meet an economic adviser to president obama and during the 2008 presidential race he served as secretary of commerce, and president clinton second administration and known to support business-friendly politics. that is key. he is a midwest chairman of j.p. morgan which got $25 billion in bailout cash. and he was reportedly opposed to the health care reform and the creation of the consumer financial protection bureau. he also helped lay the effort to loosen regulations on accounting and auditing and president obama summarized william daley's resume. >> he was a member of president clinton's cabinet as commerce secretary and took on several other important duties over the years on behalf of our country. he has led major corporations. he possessed a deep understanding of how jobs are created and how to grow our economy. and needless to say bill also has a bit of awareness of how our system of government and politics works. you might say it is a genetic trade. >>shepard: his brother is now the mayor of the city of chicago. the position for which the president's initial chief of staff, rahm emanuel, is now campaigning. rahm emanuel is on a long list of high level staffer whose have left the administration in the last few months, including the budget director, and the economic council chair, and the economic council director, larry summers and the national security advisor, james jones, white house chief secretary and volcker, leaving a lot of slots to fill. and now the news from the white house. doug, daley will have a big job the next couple of years here. >>reporter: huge. most important job in 9 white house other than the president and his job primarily is to get the president re-elected. the president said it himself this is one of several high level changes to come in the days and weeks to come. so stay tuned for that. but to build daley the 7th and youngest son of the legendary former chicago mayor richard daley, controversial mayor from the 1960's and now serves as head of corporate responsibility for j.p. morgan, the midwest branch with extensive banking experience, extensive experience in the private sector, but, also, a lot of public service experience as you mentioned. he was the secretary of commerce during the internet boom years of the clinton administration. he is a little bit of what he had to say when introduceed moments ago. >> mr. president, you are proving your strength, your leadership, your vision, during a most difficult time for our nation and for the world. you have also shown through your example that public service is an honorable calling and i am pleased to answer your call. >>reporter: interesting reaction coming from the u.s. chamber of commerce. the chamber has had a very rocky relationship with the white house the past couple of years but here is the statement from the prident of the chamber. and i quote, "this is a strong appointment. bill daley a man of stature and extraordinary experience in government, business, trade negotiations, and global affairs ." that signals a sea change in their relationship. >>shepard: it sounds like it, thank you, doug, from outside the white house. new numbers from the labor department show more finalled for unemployment, with initial claims rising to 409,000, up 18,000 but the latest figures still remain near their lowest levels in almost three years. the economists predict that december's job report due out this friday will show a big jump in hiring. we will see. city, not enough to affect the national unemployment rate of right at 9.8 percent. both republicans and democrats have made it clear that job creation is their stated top priority for the new signature. but they have different ideas how to accomplish that goal. and now bob o'brian, the editor of an internet site. i thought this appointment said something about the white house and business and how business friendly it is going to be, with a lot of complaints from the business community that this white house wasn't. he souped like -- sounds like a republican. >>guest: he will be chief of staff, but he is the guy closest to the president and will have bearings on speed dial that will help the influence of the financial sector on the white house and try to stall the criticism that has come out of the financial sector. >>shepard: i am guessing that some of the people who are on, who are constantly telling the bankers put us in this mess, they are not regulated and this will happen against because the bankers are running the people will see this as a bad sign. >>guest: especially some of the president's own democratic constituency is going to be very upset with this appoint. they are going to see this as one more hit to the banking community. they were not that excited about the financial regulation and they did not think it went far enough and putting bill daily in this position is going to stoke the fires of criticism. >>shepard: and now the health care plan, the congressional budget office is house with a forecast of, if you did away with health care plan that president obama signed into law it will cost $250 billion if you repeal it and republics have another number and one political side likes the c.b.o. and has numbers it likes and that is always the case but republicans are arguing that it will cut jobs. >>guest: i suspect that the employment picture is going to respond affirmatively just with the rhetoric coming from capitol hill. they are going to feel that capitol hill is going to be a lot more friendly to the business environment. the overregulation not only of the health care, the financial services market, missions control, regulation of the internet, all of these initiatives will die on the vine. i am not sure about health care. but the others probably die on the vine. and it create as more business-friendly environment and gives businesses the incentive and then enthusiasm to go out there and hire. >>shepard: the other side to the argument is you are putting the fox back in charge of the hen house and the other side could think you need more regulation now you get less. it is two competing philosophies on how to run things. one side just won. >>guest: the reality, the extremists on the left are probably losing this battle and that's to the good. look, the nature of wall street has changed dramatically since lehman brothers and i don't think, we are not going to fight the same war again. >>shepard: but the same war is out there. we still have derivatives. we still trade on a closed market with for transparency. with a money flow that is 13 times the size of the output of the nation. that is a recipe for trouble, unregulated markets and untransparency. unless you trust that the people doing the trading exercise a little bit more responsibility than they did. and --. >>shepard: that is a big wish. >>guest: the markets have not changed. structurally. >>shepard: and they are up at a level and they look like they did before the last recession started. it's weird. >>guest: history don't always repeat itself but it sometimes rhymes. >>shepard: we are getting into new details on the deadly shooting at a high school yesterday happening during this program. now we learn what may have set off the gunman and we hear the police response. plus, laws have pushed smockers -- smokers out of bars and restaurants, and in one town you cannot be on the sidewalk. poin, then i did a tour of duty in iraq. when ias transitioning from active duty, i went to a military officer hiring conference. it was kind of like speed dating. there were 12 companies that i was pre-matched with, but walmart turned out to be the best for me. sam walton was in the military, and he understood the importance of developing your people. it's an honor to be in a posion of leadership at walmart. i'm captain tracey lloyd, and i wo at walmart. ♪ >>shepard: an update from the two devices which were found in the state of maryland. both at state government offices. neither exploded. they are described to have detonated and sent home around and scared a lost people and now mail rooms all around the state are shut. the city of annapolis public information officer we will have a news conference from authorities there in the next ten minutes. and right now, i believe, we have the city of annapolis public information officer. >> we are not putting together --. >>shepard: we have one coming from somewhere else, where is it coming from? from whom? from annapolis. from another agency, that is ahead. what happened? it doesn't sound like they exploded at all? >>guest: from what i know about the incident that took place in annapolis, i can't confirm an explosion. our crews responded before 1:00 o'clock today to the state mail room in the justifiry building and there was a package device that injured a mail room employee. i don't know the extent of the injuries. and i can't describe anything else. i have been cleared it was not an explosion. we had our city bomb squad examining the device. this afternoon. but i don't know any details about their examination. >>shepard: you were not given a description? we have been given a description about the size of a "book." >>guest: i have not spoken with my counterparts at the state and i don't know any details. i can speak to the city's response, that the mayor has put out an order to not open mail packages at our city buildings until we can have our explosive dogs inspect packages, our chief of police has stepped up security at city hall in response. we are just, everyone is waiting for things to settle down with a few more details so we know how to go forward. >>shepard: we will get new details from the maryland state police and i believe, from the governor. yes, the governor will be on with us as well in eight to ten minutes. we will have live coverage. some of our viewers have been with us and are probably hearing this conflicting information about injuries. and they are not alone. this was a spokesman and we have heard one person was injured but the official report of the state is no one was injured. we are starting to believe that someone was injured because we hear it from so many in authority but we don't know the extent of the injuries. we guess maybe they are not too serious and maybe an ambulance was not involved. but we will not definitive in eight to ten minutes. who would put these explosive devices, these devices that detonated, at the state offices? and why? what does this person want. the military is just months away from the start of withdrawing from afghanistan. so, why is the pentagon getting ready to send in more u.s. marines? yes, we are sending more. a long at what could be one of the final afghanistan war strategies. [ female announcer ] the only thing better than seafood is enjoying it together. and right now, a complete seafood dinner for two is just $29.99 at red lobster. you both get a fresh salad and irresistible cheddar bayiscuits. two entrees, from a menu of classic favorites and new creations. and your choice of either an appetizer or a dessert to share. your favorite seafood with your favorite person, just $29.99. for a limited time at red lober. >>shepard: bought o the hour and time for the top of the news on "studio b" today. 1,400 more marines on the way to afghanistan. specifically an area that chairman of the joint chiefs called the war's "center of gravity," before fighting will step up in the spring. and months before the troop withdrawal in july. this bump in personnel pushes the total number of americans in country closer to 100,000. here you can see the number has changed since the conflict began. the most dramatic increases under president obama. we are told the marines would head to an area where the u.s. is concentrated efforting in the past few months. that is the second largest city and the birthplace and the stronghold of the taliban. and now, michael is the director for research and foreign policy with the brokings institution a nonpartisan think tank. great to see you, michael. what are we to make of 1,400 more? >>guest: i don't think it is a huge deal. my guess in is a chance the marines will go to western province and next to the province where most marines are so we could be trying to create a zone of marines and we happen to have 1,400 marines in the right size package who are easily deployable so i don't read too much into that number. it is only a little more than 1 percent of the total number of forces we already have in afghanistan. my guess is it is for a very specific purpose in one particular part of the province. >>shepard: in the general, that is probably just better least unsaid and none of our business. that said, we are now in a position where what they keep telling us our leaders, that this thing will get better, this will work, if the afghanistan government improves and the corruption is diminished. are there signs of that? >>guest: i'm afraid not. i think that there are very good afghans, and we hear a lot about karzai's friends and cronies and brothers, and i'm not always the biggest fan of them and most americans aren't but there are a lot of good afghans at the cabinet and working level. i have met and seen a lot of them do their thing. unfortunately, the corruption will have to improve at the higher levels and i have not yet seen significant trends. we have a good american strategy that is better than before because we were part of the problem until now. we would pump in money to certain companies, certain families, because they knew how to fill our american forms or otherwise, do business with us, so we keep pumping in the same money to the same corrupt actors, favoring certain tribes and individuals over others and we now have a better strategy to address that and try to spread out the wealth a little more and maintain more vigilance. but the afghan government at the top is not boater. >>shepard: we are paying off more people now. is what you are saying. >>guest: to some extent you do not need to eliminate corruption. you need to eliminate the blatant forms and spread out the benefits of our presence to a wider number of people and tribes. if you can do that the insurgency will decline. that's a big part of what we are trying to accomplish and there has been some headway on paper. now, whether it's translated into improvement in the field, i don't yet know. >> part of what we have tried to do is go into an area, get rid of the bad actors, put troops in place to keep the peace, and then give it over to the afghans for them to hold that area so we can move on to clean up another area. that hasn't worked. to we know of one location where we have been able to clear and they have been able to hold? >>guest: well, that's a great question and put starkly. i certainly think there are areas where they are doing more than they were. and the best answer to your question, shep, is the capital city column where nato never had a huge presence and the afghans are doing a good job without having had a huge noon clearing operation. that is not the heartland of the insurgency. you mentioned before the heartland is around kandahar and the south. that is where the answer to your question so far is no, we have not seen that complete hand off. but, kabul, it shows the concept is feasible because around the capital city the afghans are doing a good job on their own today. >>shepard: thank you, michael, great to see you. happy new year. all right, a news conference will begin momentarily in annapolis, maryland. we have reported the last couple of hours on the packages which detonated at two state buildings in the state of maryland and now all mail rooms across the state we are led to believe are closed. no more mail is delivered while they see if there are more of these things. one detonated at 1:00 o'clock p.m. eastern and another at 1:30 p.m. the governor is about to speak to us, so are the state police. and our legal pan sell here to talk whether they can make you stop smoking on the sidewalks. a legal product, legal to consume, but you cannot consume it on sidewalks. the town that did it and the legal panel that says "yes" and legal panel that says "yes" and "no." need to do the preventative things that you need to do for your heart health. for me, it means an aspirin regimen. before you begin an aspirin regimen. speo your dtor. before you begin an aspirin regimen. what super fruit is taking sunsweet ones.orm? prunes? they're a delicious source of nutrients. wow! it's packaged by itself... that's fantastic! that is so juicy. this is delicious. sunsweet ones. over 400 million enjoyed, and counting. the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been inspireby you. and we've been honored to walk with you to help you get where u want to be. ♪ because your moment is now. let nothing stand in your way. ♪ >>shepard: we are about to begin a news conference in the state of maryland, annapolis, with representatives from the governor's office and the state police. let's listen. good afternoon. i am greg shipley a spokesman for the maryland state police. with me is the state fire marshal's office, bomb squad commander, jack waldner. also, major a.j.mcandrew, assistant bureau chief of the maryland state police. at 12:25, today, in the jeffrey building, in the mailroom, an employee, a state employee, opened a package that is best describeed by showing it to you, something that looks like you would receive a book in, from the mail. i will give you individual shots of this after. but this is the package that was opened by the employee, addressed to the governor and state mail comes through this mailroom. when the employee opened that package, there was an initial flash of fire and smoke and a smell that emanated from the reaction. the employee reported his fingers being singed but refuse ed medical treatment so a minor irritation. obviously we called emergency officials right away. and multiple answers have responded here. to include the state mire marshal's office, the annapolis fire department, and the county fire department and maryland capital police and other agencies including the maryland state miss -- state police. the package was contained and the mire marshal used the robot to go into the room and examine the package further and render it safe. and the investigation here is continuing. employees went back into the building and were allowed back in here before 3:00 today. now, about 20 minutes after this incident occurred, about 12:45 at the maryland department of transportation headquarters new bwi airport, there was a state employee from the department of transportation going through mail in an answer room here. the office of the secretary of the maryland department of transportation, and a similar package was examined by that mailroom, or that employee and that employee opened the package and a similar reaction occurred. a flash of fire, smoke, and smell. the employee immediately dropped the package and emergency officials responded to that location. the headquarters was evacuated about 250 people evacuated from d.o.t. headquarters and the fire marshal's office, bwi fire, responded to the scene. that packaging was rendered "safe," and the employees complained of burned fingers and several employees from the general area would i am told were transported to the hospital as a precaution. not because of any serious injury that was inflicted as a result of any kind of explosion that occurred. so, both investigations are continuing. it is very early in the investigation. we are working, the maryland state police, the maryland fire marshal's office are working with our partners in the f.b.i., the joint terrorism task force, on this investigation, as it continues. so there are a lot of questions to be answered. this is a mail bomb, but was there an explosion? (inaudible) >>guest: when both packages were opened, there was a reaction. a reaction that caused a flash of fire. a brief flash of fire. smoke. and a smell. this is not to be compared with a significant explosion that you would thing of when you say the word and i stress that. there was no property damage. and there was obviously no serious physical harm inflicted on the employees as a result of this reaction. so i will let the commander speak to that in a second and maybe he can describe it better. >> and the analysis of the material in there, did you look at any of it? >>guest: the fire marshal is reporting no explosive material found but, again, it's very early in the investigation and both the packages will go to our forensic scientist division for examination. >> are there any other packagings found that are similar to this? >> not a this time. the governor and his staff sent word to all state offices to quarantine their mailrooms in their building. that was done. immediately after the incidents were learned of. and, so those mailrooms have been quarantined and investigators will be communicating about the description of the packages through the other offices and we will go through that mail to make sure there are no other packages that may have been sent to other state offices but we have nothing. (inaudible) i have not personally seen a picture of the second package but it was received as about the size of receiving a book in the mail. that is similar to this. >> where was it from? >> it was addressed to the maryland department of transportation. but i don't know who, specifically. (inaudible) the mail came through the post office or elsewhere? >>guest: through the u.s. postal service and it appears to be u.s. stamps on this, holiday stamps, and we have no notified the postal inspector and they are involved in this continuing investigation. >> what day is it postmarked? >>guest: sorry? all any evacuations of the buildings? >> i mentioned that there was an evacuation of both building, this building, 50 employees and the maryland department of transportation building about 250 employees and they were allowed back in shortly before 3:00. they have not gone back into d.o.t. headquarters. i have no information on that. >> any information on either package? >> all i can give you right now is this photo, what we have here. i don't have the details to that extent. >> any sense when they might have arrived? >>guest: no. >> no dates? >>guest: i assume they have postmarks. this has several postmarks, it appears. i can only assume, i do not know for sure and i am certain that is something that investigators will look into. it appears to have come through the u.s. mail but that is not verified. (inaudible) >>guest: this is an office, this office opens mail addressed to the governor. >> is it connected? >> we have indications they are connected but that is up to investigators to determine as this proceeds. >> it is a minor explosion, the entire package. >> it is, it is. so i hope that is an important point to convey. >> and there are reports about, can you confirm ... (inaudible) is this similar to any other situations which law enforcement are investigating? your reaction? >>guest: consistent with most like this. we have not had any, though, to address your question specifically, these are the only two incidents reported. in the recent past. >>reporter: con itsistent with what? >>guest: the smell and the minor burning. it happened instantly. >>reporter: (inaudible) >>guest: incendiary reaction occurred as it was opened. incendiary reaction occurred producing a small blame and fire. >>reporter: so it was an sundayary -- incendiary device? >>guest: correct. incendiary device. still early analyzing the evidence as we speak. the technicians are looking at most everything. and it is unprofessional to speculate on what they will find. it is -- it was the odor of sulpher. it was disabled when it was opened. it was used by the annapolis bomb squad to examine the room and get a good handle on what is going on prior to the bomb technicians making initial entry. >> any other material ... (inaudible) >>guest: i can't talk about that. >>reporter: there was no message inside it? >>guest: these are details we will not get into. that is for the investigators to look at. >>reporter: how are you investigating this? terrorism? what is this? >>guest: we are investigating this as an incendiary device received at two locations involving state offices. so, we are covering all the bases right now. until evidence points to one direction or another. so, we are leaving nothing to chance. we have local, state, and federal law enforcement involved from the ground floor from the beginning on there. the governor has directed that all appropriate resources be implemented and the maryland emergency people management agency has been stood up to a level two so they are in operation and assisting with this. so, all appropriate resources are being directed to this but, and we have the best in the business here in maryland and they are working to solve this case. >>reporter: how long will the investigation take? >>guest: i don't. we want the state's business to continue. without interruption. and i don't know if that will be tonight or tomorrow morning before someone is able to go through the packages. >>reporter: where are the packages now? >>guest: in police today. state fire marshal and the state police. >>reporter: (inaudible) >>guest: the maryland state police, and the maryland state fire marshal's office are working this investigation. if you need a primary agency to be designated it is them. and then we are coordinating with the join terrorism task force and local law enforcement, as well. thank you very much. thank you. >>shepard: we got a lot more information there. what is he saying? listen to this. we have a picture of this device. it is better than this. can you get that on the screen? that is the envelope that it was in. a cushioned envelope so that it has a bubble wrap in it or something like that so it is like a cushion. we now know, the question was asked at the end, and we wanted to ask because we have heard the reports this was a message with the incendiary devices is what they want us to call them, so i will, a message with these, and the answer from state police this was "i can't talk about that." so, news from the future, we will hear something about some sort of message. if there was not one he would have said but he is saying that he cannot talk about it. so we will get that later. what we got new in this news conference is, one of the two packages which created a fire flash, a smoke that smelled like sulpher and burned some people's fingers was addressed to the governor of the state of maryland. we first heard that the governor was going to speak today. instead, the governor's office said they would send people instead, and the governor would not speak. he was the target of one of these and they don't want us to call them "bomb," you open and it flashes a fire, smoke comes out and semi-s like sulpher. you call that what you want. those are the facts. on ton of that the other one was sent directly to the governor, and one to the department of transportation, but they did not detonate until someone opened the package so that made them detonate if that is the right word. could there be more of these packages? yes. mailrooms across the state are shut down right now and they will examine everything and probably look for something like that, a manila envelope. they have had postmarks all over and you can see the stamps that look to be canceled but they cannot say for sure whether it came through the mail. if they did, they will be able to trace this. it is believed they came through the mail. and we have a mess on our hands in the state of maryland. a flash of fire. smoke. and a smell of sulpher. no property damage. no serious injuries. several postmarks and they believe it came through the mail. we are about to get another news conference from the fire marshal's office in handover, maryland, the spot where the second package was sent. that addressed, according to the police commissioner there, or the head of the state police, to the department of transportation. these microphones are being set up for another news conference here. this is breaking news. now we know somebody targeted the governor of the state of maryland and whatever it was, we know, it was a flash of fire and sent smoke that smelled like sulpher into someone's hands and this is serious. you will take that, like. and now over to trace. anything from the news conference jump out to be besides those items, trace? >>trace: the location of the offices we talked about, we talked this is the governor's homeland security office, also inside the jeffrey building in downtown annapolis, maryland. all of the mail the governor would get would go through this office and this particular package was actually addressed to the governor. he also said, on the outside you mention a stamp, those were christmas stamps that were placed on there. the question is, would that make it more ... comforting for the governor to open? what was the intent here? and as you pointed out which we all asked, what was the message inside that box? they said they could not comment. we asked earlier, again, they said they could not comment on what was actually inside these, along with the in sendary devices so you have government offices in one building. the jeffrey building in downtown annapolis which they told us 20 minutes ago they now let the employees go back inside. and the other office we have been looking at for the better part of the day, the department of transportation, which was targeted, the second news conference we are waiting for, the -- it will be interesting to find out if the question is asked of the second box and package if this was a message in that and how the authorities respond to that. >>shepard: that will tell us more of how this will move forward and i will bring in our legal team. randy is with us and arthur, attorneys in the new york city area who have works these things in the past especially in the prosecutor's office for you, author, when you send something that sends a flash and smoke it sounds bombish to me. i might have thought bomb but incendiary device to the governor of state of maryland you have screwed up. >>guest: are is the f.b.i.? this is the mail. the united states postal service. i am surprised. we have not heard from the f.b.i. and the postal inspector's office, and a.t.f. this is huge. huge. the whole show could be dedicated to it. the investigation will be insanely thorough. you will have every state and federal agency involved in this investigation, as it should be, because when you try to kill one of the 50 governors --. >>shepard: we don't know that is what it was. >>guest: this was an act of terrorism and regardless of the outcome and thank god it wasn't much worse, terrorism is not about the outcommit is about the thought of the out come and now we are back in the mode of "who is this? where did it come from? why did it happen? arthur is right, they will tear this apart looking for d.n.a. on the envelope, did the guy lick the envelope, they will try to determine where it came from and they will canvass everyone. has anyone been complaining about the governor? or anyone been canned likely. they will rip the investigation and they will know thousand this incendiary device --. >>shepard: let's listen to the news conference and i have new information to give you after this. >>guest: weapon -- when the individual received the package it produces a puff of smoke, they dropped the package, and the evacuation of the building began and the fire department was called. along with bomb technicians from the offices of the state fire marshal, and i know there was another package called at annapolis city fire department, and bomb technicians were operating at the same time, and it was approximately 30 minutes prior to this call, and that was at the jeffrey building at 31 francis street in annapolis. and our bomb technicians have determined it was an incendiary type device with for explosives. the package here and the package that was at 31 francis street, another state facility, were very similar in nature. they have completeed their operations at this point in time and they are in the investigation and evidence collection phase. be happy to answer any questions >>reporter: one package was addressed to the governor? >>guest: that is part of the investigation. we would like to determine more for the investigation. >>reporter: were there chemicals? >> there were no explosives but when the package was opened, there was a sulpher smell and what was described by the individuals that opened the package, similar, a small puff of smoke. that evidence, that evidence from both of those packages has been collected and we are working with the maryland state police, the f.b.i., the postal inspectors, the a.t.f., and, again, we want to get to the bottom of whoever sent the packages. >>reporter: what process you will take? >> one thing that was, a precaution taken right away, many of, if not all of the state mailrooms were advised and shut down not to open any additional packages at this time. and we are going to get some additional information to them in the immediate future about the size and shape and things of this particular package. if somebody comes upon one that is similar we want them to be prudent and take precaution so you do not, we can go there and look at and it take the appropriate action. at this point, i want to emphasize, there is only the two packages, that have been specifically identified and they are both very, very similar in nature. >>reporter: can you tell us that if it had, indeed, gone off --. >> again, that part is, that end of it, that information is part of the investigation. there was some initiation of both packages because this was the reported puff of smoke, there was no fire. there was no explosion. this was no white powder. report was it a brown paper bag? >>guest: the packages are similar in nature to what you would receive a book in the mail from. so, you would be talking at 10" or 12". >>sheparim

Related Keywords

United States , New York , Manila , Philippines , Iraq , Afghanistan , Delaware , Maryland , Annapolis , Capitol Hill , District Of Columbia , Kabul , Kabol , Washington , Chicago , Illinois , Americans , America , Afghan , Afghans , American , Sam Walton , Rahm Emanuel , Jack Waldner , Greg Shipley , Doug Daley , William Daley , James Jones , Tracey Lloyd , John Wheeler , Richard Daley , Paul Wagner ,

© 2024 Vimarsana

vimarsana.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.