CNN office in New York receives a homemade bomb, similar to those sent to Clinton, Obama

October 24, 2018 / 14:50 GMT / Update 20:07 GMT

By Elisha Fieldstadt, Jonathan Dienst, Pete Williams and Tom Winter

The Time Warner Center in New York, home to CNN's office, was evacuated Wednesday morning after the arrival of a suspicious package containing a homemade bomb, authorities said.

The package looked like suspicious packages found near the home of Bill and Hillary Clinton in New York and another sent to former President Barack Obama in Washington, DC, earlier in the week, officials said. Law enforcement. Another package was sent to former Attorney General Eric Holder and returned to the fraudulent return address, that of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla.

The guns contained in the packages appear to be homemade bombs, said John Miller, assistant commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism services at the New York Police Department.

The package sent to CNN, also containing a white powder, was destined for former CIA director John Brennan, who was not working for CNN but was a senior national security and intelligence analyst for NBC News and MSNBC.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked CNN and Brennan. In July, Trump revoked his security clearance and called him "the worst CIA director in the history of our country."

"The White House is totally misunderstood about the gravity of the continuation of its attacks on the media," CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker said Wednesday in a statement. "The president, and especially the White House press officer, should understand that their words are important, so far they have shown no understanding of that."

According to Miller, following the discovery of packages sent to the Clinton and Obama, New York police officers were deployed to news organizations in New York to show them the type of packages to suspect. New York police personnel did exactly that with CNN staff when the device was discovered.

An informed source of the situation, who was not allowed to speak in public, said that CNN had been steadily improving its security over the last two years and that the company's security team regularly assessed the threats directed at them. against society and its journalists.

The source added that the company had issued several threats to law enforcement over the last few months.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday afternoon that the presence of New York police would be strengthened throughout the city, especially in the offices of media organizations.

"Do not encourage violence, do not encourage hatred, do not encourage attacks on the media," Blasio said. "Unfortunately, this atmosphere of hate contributes to the choices people make to turn to violence, there is no doubt about it."

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that strengthening security was not the result of a specific but precautionary threat.

"Terrorism only works if you let it work," he said. "We are New Yorkers, we are smart, we are tough, we are resilient and we will not allow these terrorist thugs to change the way we live."

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., Was also the target of a suspicious package intercepted at a mail processing facility in Maryland, according to three congressional sources. The FBI is currently investigating to find out if it is related to other packages.

At a briefing on the package sent to CNN, Cuomo said that a package had also been sent to his Manhattan office. The package has been erased and has no relation to others, said J. Peter Donald, the deputy commissioner for communications with the NYPD later.

Earlier, the New York Police Department had urged people to avoid Columbus Circle, where the Time Warner Center is located. New Yorkers also received an emergency alert on their phone, urging the entire block to be housed immediately on the spot.

Zucker said in a statement at noon that the device had been removed from the building and that the police were carrying out another cleaning operation of the building. CNN staff members returned to the building shortly before 4 pm

Zucker said the building had been evacuated "for caution". He added that the other CNN offices had been audited and deemed safe, but additional security measures were being put in place at the CNN Center in Atlanta, which is open to the public.

"While communicating via social media, be careful, avoid sharing images or geography that may reveal your position," Zucker said. "We have no particular reason to worry, but we think it would be the most cautious approach."

Jim Sciutto, a CNN correspondent, tweeted that the demining team had responded. "We are told that explosive devices have been received," he writes. Sciutto and Poppy Harlow were on the air around 10:09 am when a fire alarm was triggered. The two men continued to report from their mobile phone in the middle of the evacuation.

Sciutto reported that the police delivered a containment boat used to transport explosive materials and filmed the film transporting it on 57th Street West, one block away from the CBS Broadcast Center.

Zucker said CBS News, whose offices are less than three blocks from CNN, offered help to the evacuees.

The White House condemned the "Attempted Attacks".

"We condemn attempts to attack President Obama, the Clintons, @CNN & others. These cowardly actions are despicable and have no place in this country. Grateful for the quick response of @Secret Service, @FBI and local law enforcement. The officials will be brought to justice, "Vice President Mike Pence wrote in a tweet.On an event in Scranton, Pennsylvania, he said that" cowardly deeds are despicable ".

The president retweeted Pence's tweet, adding, "I totally agree!"

"In these times we must unite, we must unite and send a very clear, strong and undeniable message that acts or threats and all forms of political violence have no place in the United States of America", said Trump later an event. "It's a very bipartisan statement that I can tell you from both sides, we both agree on this point."

"This blatant conduct is abhorrent to all that is dear to us and sacred as Americans," he added.

Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump each condemned the one who sent the parcels.

"As a person whose family has been directly victimized by these threats by mail, I condemn anyone who has done so, regardless of his party or his ideology.This bullshit must stop and I hope that it will not happen. they will end up in jail for a long time, "tweeted Donald Trump Jr.

Sarah Sanders, press secretary at the White House, said in a statement: "These acts of terrorism are heinous, and any responsible will be held responsible to the fullest extent permitted by law."

The package sent to Hillary Clinton was intended for the former presidential candidate and was discovered Tuesday near the Clinton home in Chappaqua, a suburb of New York. A second was sent to Obama and intercepted in Washington, DC, said the FBI and the secret service in a statement.

"The packages were immediately identified as potentially explosive devices during routine mail control procedures and were handled as such.The two packages were intercepted and delivered to the intended location. recipients of the protection did not receive them and were not likely to receive them. "

This comes a few days after the discovery of an explosive device in the mailbox of George Soros' home in New York, about 10 miles from the Clinton home.

The packages sent to Clinton, Obama and Soros, which appeared to contain functioning explosives, were in packages containing stamps and signatures bearing the signature with a return address belonging to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla, according to three officials in the law enforcement officials. Wasserman Schultz is not suspected of sending the devices.

Jason Abbruzzese contributed.