Interview With New York Governor Andrew Cuomo; More Bombs Discovered, Manhunt Under Way; FBI Warns More Package Bombs Possible as Three Additional Devices Discovered.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Sources are now telling CNN some of the suspicious packages may have come from Florida. The FBI bomb lab is looking for fresh clues tonight. Blaming others. We are told President Trump has no plans to acknowledge that his verbal attacks on his critics might have inspire a serial bomber. Instead, he is renewing his criticism of the news media. And considered dangerous. Police are asking for help in finding other potential bombs that may be on the way to the homes or offices of prominent public figures right now. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You are in</s>THE SITUATION ROOM. ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.</s>BLITZER: We're following breaking news on the search for one or more of the political terrorists who have sent packaged bombs to prominent figures who have been criticized by the president. Tonight, sources tell CNN that authorities believe several of the packages went through a mail facility in Opa-locka, Florida, this as police are warning that additional devices may be in the mail right now and should be considered dangerous. Authorities say they're treating all 10 packages that have been intercepted so far as live devices. Three more were discovered today. One was sent to the office of the actor Robert De Niro. Two others were addressed to the former Vice President Joe Biden. I will speak with the New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and with the former Defense Secretary and CIA Director Leon Panetta. And our correspondents and analysts are also standing by. First, let's go to our national correspondent, Miguel Marquez. He's in New York City for us. Miguel, we got an update on the bomb investigation from police and the FBI late today.</s>MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. And I want to underscore what you have talked about there, that many of these devices, they believe, originated in Florida because they were processed through a facility there and Opa-locka, Florida. Several of those devices were. Many of these devices either at or on the way now to Quantico, Virginia, where the FBI has his headquarters, desperately trying to get at who is behind planting these devices.</s>WILLIAM SWEENEY, ASSISTANT FBI DIRECTOR: We continue to advise the American public to remain vigilant.</s>MARQUEZ (voice-over): A dire warning for all Americans. There could be more potentially explosive devices out there.</s>JAMES O'NEILL, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: This is something that should be taken seriously. The NYPD and the FBI, we're taking this seriously. We are treating them as live devices. As you see the way our bump squad detectives went into CNN yesterday, this has to be taken with the utmost seriousness.</s>MARQUEZ: But offering assurances hundreds of thousands of postal employees are tracking packages for any potential dangers.</s>PHILLIP BARTLETT, U.S. POSTAL INSPECTION SERVICE: We have over 600,000 plus employees out there right now. So we have their eyes and ears looking for these packages.</s>MARQUEZ: At least 10 bombs now discovered from New York to Washington, Florida and California, the latest, two suspected bombs sent to former Vice President Joe Biden. At least one was misaddressed, both earlier today sitting in the U.S. postal facilities in Delaware just miles apart.</s>ROBERT DE NIRO, ACTOR: I just want to make a note of the apology for the idiotic behavior of my president.</s>MARQUEZ: Overnight, another package discovered addressed to actor and Trump critic Robert De Niro at his downtown Manhattan film offices, TriBeCa Productions.</s>BILL DE BLASIO (D), MAYOR OF NEW YORK: The device was removed successfully. Thank God, there were no injuries. The really quick- witted work of a security guard there at that facility in Tribeca is to thanks for the fact that nothing happened and no harm was done to anyone.</s>MARQUEZ: The package sent to De Niro similar to the one addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan and sent to CNN, six U.S. flag forever stamps, but no postmark. The bomb sent to CNN ultimately delivered by courier, the return address, the Florida congressional office of Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz. The device is now in the hands of forensics experts, who will look for the bomb-maker or makers' signatures on the packaging and the devices themselves.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A low I.Q.-individual, Maxine Waters.</s>MARQUEZ: Two devices also sent to Trump critic California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, one intercepted at a congressional mail sorting facility just outside D.C., the other at a post office facility in Los Angeles. Similar packages sent to President Obama and Hillary Clinton were intercepted before reaching their homes. The package to billionaire and Democratic donor George Soros appeared to be placed in his mailbox. The device to Former Attorney General Eric Holder was sent in the mail, but was returned to Wasserman Schultz's office in South Florida, which, like, the others, used her address for the return. Law enforcement sources calling the devices rudimentary, but functional, and at least one was packed with projectiles meant to inflict greater damage, the FBI calling them potential explosive devices.</s>SWEENEY: Any device could be considered potentially dangerous and treated as such until proven otherwise.</s>MARQUEZ: Now, authorities are using that term potentially because they can't quite understand why none of them have exploded or if they were even designed to explode. They're now trying to understand that. Were these actually live devices that could have exploded, or were they meant to just appear as they could have exploded, using all the elements of a bomb, but not actually creating a bomb? Also, one other piece, there was an ISIS flag on some of the bomb pictures that we saw it. They're not taking any of that any credible -- they're not making that anything credible, they say. They think it was a parody ISIS flag that they could have pulled off the Internet. A lot of questions for investigators as they're trying to dig in to each of these devices to figure out who was behind it -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: All right, Miguel, thank you very much, Miguel Marquez reporting. Let's talk a little bit more about the investigation. Joining us now, our law enforcement analyst, the former FBI special agent Josh Campbell. Anthony Ferrante is with us. He's a former FBI bomb technician. Pamela Brown is our senior White House correspondent. Josh, you're getting some new information the manhunt, the nationwide manhunt for the person or persons who may have been responsible for sending these devices. What are you learning?</s>JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: That's right, Wolf. Thus far, we understand this to be a nationwide investigation. If you look at the number of incidents, this is spanning coast to coast from Los Angeles to the New York area. And now all eyes on Florida. We're getting new information about this mail facility where some of the suspected devices were believed to have processed through. This has been a clue that investigators have been looking for, trying to track that back to the actual location that may have processed some of these devices, because it's a potential treasure trove of intelligence. Now, since the Unabomber case, since the anthrax cases after 9/11, the U.S. Postal Service has increased their capability technologically, analytically, as far as tracking mail as it transits through the U.S. Postal Service system. So, again, once law enforcement officers are able to track that back to a particular facility, they can then work backwards from there, trying to determine, is there evidence to help determine who actually may have dropped off a mail package at this location? We're talking to some of our law enforcement sources who indicated that it could be as simple as scanning the vicinity of the area. There could be a bank on the corner with CCTV that saw someone coming or going. This is now the focus for law enforcement officers. Again, we're told that they don't -- they haven't honed this into a particular person. But having the location is a key development for investigators -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Pamela, officials are saying there could be more packages out there. How are law enforcement authorities now looking for potential bombs?</s>PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're holding press conferences like what we saw today asking the public for help, not only in trying to determine who could be behind this, whether it be an individual or a group of people. So that is really key and also keeping law enforcement on high alert. It's already paid off in terms of what the FBI has done seeking public help. In the Robert De Niro case, Wolf, the retired police officer recognized the parcel based on the images that had been released through the media, said, wait, this looks like the same type of package. And it turns out that that is now considered one of the suspicious packages, making it 10. So that is a big part of this, is just keeping everyone on high alert and working with the U.S. Postal Service.</s>BLITZER: The investigators, Anthony say that the devices are now being examined at the FBI Quantico lab, not too far away from here in Virginia. What clues are they looking for?</s>ANTHONY FERRANTE, FORMER FBI BOMB TECHNICIAN: So, Wolf, this is an all-hands-on-deck effort right now in the federal government, state and local. Right now, the U.S. government has dedicated a jet to fly around the country to transport this evidence to Quantico. I wouldn't be surprised if this jet is taking off from La Guardia Airport at least twice a day. Having worked some of these crisis incidents before, the Boston bombing, for example, this is all hands on deck, and they're not going to waste time transporting evidence. You're right. They're going to bring it to Quantico to TEDAC, the Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center. This is the preeminent explosive laboratory on the planet. Experts who have analyzed the bombing situations of the last 25, 30 years are there, the USS Cole, Boston bombing, Austin, Benghazi. Globally, this is where they collect all the components of an explosive device. And they're going to analyze it. They're going to determine where it came from. I mean everything, from the ends of the devices, to the wires used, to the material found in the device, to the tape used. And they're going to pull fingerprints from it and the device manufacturers.</s>BLITZER: Let's be precise, because you're a former FBI bomb technician. You have worked in these kinds of cases. Officials are now saying these were potential explosive devices. Yesterday, they were saying they were bombs. So what's the difference?</s>FERRANTE: I mean, that's a really tough line to walk. The fact of the matter is, is that to make an explosive device, it must have certain components right? You must have power, a power source. You must have an explosive material. You must have wires, of course. And you must have a detonator, a blasting cap, something to initiate that charge, right? Heat, shock, friction, that's what bomb technicians think about. That's what it takes to ignite one of these devices. Some of that could be simply unscrewing the ends of the pipe, right? The friction from unscrewing that pipe, that cap of the pipe can actually cause enough friction to ignite that. That's why these are so fragile and so dangerous. And until a certified bomb technician clears it, everybody, the American people should consider these extremely dangerous.</s>BLITZER: You speak as a certified bomb technician. You worked in these cases. I want you to stand by, Pamela, Josh. Everybody, stand by. Joining us on the phone right now, the New York governor, Andrew Cuomo. Governor, thanks so much for joining us. We have got a bunch of questions for you. The police, as you know, in New York, they held a news conference over the past few hours. They didn't reveal a whole lot of new details. Are there new leads? Or, frankly, Governor, are the police stumped right now?</s>GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: No, I think the investigation is proceeding very well. As you have been talking about on your show, Wolf, the federal government, the FBI, the JTTF, they are all over this. They are working very hard. And you can see how quickly it's progressing. The information about possible mailing from other states, that then gives them a specific location to do research. There have been some caveats to that. If it's a post office that's not in New York, how did they -- how were their -- quote -- "couriers" that delivered packages in New York? They're not necessarily inconsistent, but they're not obviously consistent either. So that is proceeding. The sophistication of the bomb, I think, is the issue that people are talking about. But, even with that, let's remember, you can now download from the Internet information on how to build a bomb, and you don't -- they don't have to be that sophisticated and work. We have seen that in New York with terrorist attacks where we have had the -- quote, unquote -- "lone wolf terrorist" download information and ignite bombs. Some have been successful, some have not been successful. So I think that's a question that they're debating, is the sophistication of the bomb. And then you have a question of, was the purpose -- was the individual purposely not sophisticated in the construction because they wanted to intimidate, or it was just the best job they could?</s>BLITZER: Have you learned anything, Governor, as far as you know, about the courier who delivered that bomb to the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle in New York City? Has that person come forward? Do you think the person who delivered the package is the bomber or simply a courier who unwittingly was used by the bomber?</s>CUOMO: That is unknown at this time, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Authorities also believe at least some of these packages went through a facility in Florida. What have you learned about that facility?</s>CUOMO: They are now -- that is the subject of an intense investigation and in many points a focal point, one of the focal points of the investigation, going through that facility, the cameras in that facility, and who may have seen people come in, et cetera. But that is no doubt one of the focal points of the investigation. You're right. It then brings you back to the courier theory in New York, for which there is no answer right now.</s>BLITZER: Apparently, some of the bombs or packages were delivered through the Postal Service, the postal system. I suspect that there are some reports out there that maybe all of them at least went at least partially through the Postal Service. What does that tell you?</s>CUOMO: Well, the Postal Service has strict regulations after past incidents on how they track packaging. I'm sure this is going to open up another chapter of practices and procedures within the Postal Service, when should they be doing screenings, et cetera. If it turns out to be true that these devices did go through the Postal Service, then I think there -- that is going to be a serious line of -- that's going to be a serious line of investigation. But, remember, on a lot of these situations, Wolf, we -- that's how we learn, right? Things are revealed, flaws in the system are revealed because people exploit them. But, if it is true, then I think one of the first things the federal government has turn to is better precautions at the Postal Service.</s>BLITZER: I know you spoke with President Trump today. How did that phone call come about, and what did he say?</s>CUOMO: The president was -- it was about the investigation. And the president wanted to make sure that every -- everyone was coordinated. We chatted about the investigation and some of the things from the investigation, and how well the federal government was providing resources, and were we satisfied in the state of New York? Was there coordination? Was there anything else we needed? He basically ended by saying, anything you need from the federal government, let me know. If they're not doing what we need them to do, he would intervene personally.</s>BLITZER: Did he initiate the call, or did you?</s>CUOMO: We had missed each other yesterday. The days have blended together. I think we missed each other yesterday, and then we went back and forth this morning. I'm not even sure who called whom.</s>BLITZER: All right, Governor, good luck to you. Good luck to all the men and women who are trying to find the bomber or bombers out there. Appreciate it very much. Thank you for joining us.</s>CUOMO: Thank you, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: All right, just ahead, we're going to have more on the search for the serial bomber or bombers -- why investigators are now focused again on Florida. And after first calling for unity, President Trump is now blaming the news media for what he calls anger in U.S. society. But what about his own hostile rhetoric?