tv CNN Newsroom Live CNN September 18, 2016 1:00am-2:01am PDT
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29 people were wounded from this explosion that happened in manhattan's chelsea neighborhood. police say they have video from where that explosion happened and will use it to investigate. the video from msnbc that you see here purports to show that blast. it's surveillance footage from a nearby fitness center. the explosion happened at 23rd street and first avenue at 8:30 in the evening local time in new york. the mayor of new york said early indications were that the blast was intentional, but at the same time that there was no evidence of a terror connection. officials also telling cnn they found a suspicious device near that blast scene, in fact, four blocks away you see the image of it right here, determined to be a pressure cooker apparently rigged with what you see there. wires with duct tape on it and connected to a cell phone. there were concerns that a third device was discovered but we learned within the last hour it turned out to be nothing, in fact, it turned out to be garbage but investigators on
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high alert looking for everything there. jean casarez has the latest on the blast in chelsea. here's her report. >> here where i am is the initial explosion. if you look over my right shoulder, it's an active crime scene. it most likely will be for hours to come. they are investigating what happened at 3w8:30 saturday night. it has been termed an explosion at or in a dumpster. we know that 29 people were injured. nothing life-threatening, however, 24 of them were transported to local hospitals. we do know injuries were from metal and glass and things that were emulating from that explosion. also, we do know there was one puncture wound. now, the mayor of new york city, bill de blasio, specifically said there was no terror threat against new york city and that at this point in time there's nothing to believe this is terror-related. saying that, he also said that
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all of the anti-terrorism equipment and enforcement is out tonight, vigilant in new york city. we also can tell you that the federal agencies, the fbi, and all associates are here also, as well as counterterrorism, nypd, the fire department of new york city. it stretches block after block all with lights on, streets blocked and it was a busy saturday night in new york city in the chelsea area. a lot of people are out and about. some hung around for a long time to see what was going on. but it is definitely worldwide news as we see international broadcast networks going live from here. 23rd an explosion tonight here in new york city. jean casarez, cnn. that was jean casarez where
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that explosion happened. police widened the crime scene after finding multiple suspicious devices. it is a fast evolving investigation and wrich ard quest has been there for every step of it. here he is. >> it was roughly an hour and a half after the 23rd street device exploded that we became aware of considerable police and fire department activity four blocks further north on 27th street and 7th avenue. and it was soon thereafter confirmed that a device had been found on 27th street. a picture was later released showing a pressure cooker with wires coming out and supposedly attached to a cell phone. but we've never been told what was in that pressure cooker or indeed whether it was a viable device. shortly after that, we saw a containment unit of the police
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department arrive, which is a large metal structure, which was taken down the road and we believe that's where the pressure cooker was put into and subsequently the suggestion is it has been taken away to be diffused and analyzed. as for the scene around 27th street, well, it was a warm evening, the beginning of fall. the streets were packed. people enjoying the evening. and, frankly, nobody can quite understand why these two streets, 23rd and 27th, streets like pretty much any other in new york, certainly not streets of any great significance or importance, why they should be the ones that would have been the targets. richard quest, cnn, 27th street? manhattan. >> the location of these devices will play into the
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investigation. let's bring in steve moore via skype from los angeles. he's a cnn law enforcement contributor and former fbi supervisor and special agent. steve, thanks for being with us at this hour. let's talk about the situation as we know it. 23rd street an explosion. 27th street a pressure cooker discovered. if we can show our viewers that image to see this pressure cooker, it looks to be a crude device but it's got wires and a cell phone attached to it. it may have writing nearby that investigators will be looking into it and there will be a lot of curiosity as to what is written there. but i also want to point out the third device turned out to be nothing. we learned there was a third device about an hour ago but learned from investigators that it was nothing but they were on the highest precaution. steve, from what you understand of the the facts this hour, what do you make of it? >> i'm still confused as to what the purpose was. if there was writing next to a
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device, you would assume that the paper would be disrupted to the point where you couldn't read it. my blink on this is that you have somebody who is making a series of ieds, planting them and having very little luck in having them detonate. that would just -- again, i could be proven wrong here. but we have one of three detonate at the marine charity run. we had the 23rd street ied go what i think was probably low order and it's very likely that this pressure cooker bomb didn't go off at all. >> it's important to point out the fact of the matter that investigators are saying that the -- no connection to what happened earlier with the explosion that you mentioned. but they're looking into this situation now.
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and from all indications, steve, this happened at a time where new york wrers out ers were out streets. could that have played into the timing? >> it certainly played into the timing. what's curious about the location is that thirp so close to times square on a saturday night. maybe whoever was planting these, if their intent was to do a lot of physical harm to people, maybe they felt that they couldn't get through to times square without being interdicted. you're right, there is no official connection between any of these three bombings or three ied situations. i'm speculating based on my experience. >> but here's the thing. you have a great deal of experience given your background. so we appreciate the insight.
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it just raises questions, steve. so you have the mayor of new york coming out and saying that this was intentional. you have investigators saying there is no nexus to terrorism. you have these multiple situations that happened there in the new york area. how do you square the circle? i know we heard from tom fuentes another analyst. heard from him earlier. he has a hard time understanding how investigators can say one thing, the mayor can say another. >> tom is correct. i admire tom quite a bit. excuse me. i think what is happening here is that when you're the mayor of new york, you are going to have to play this very close to the vest. you don't want to instill panic, but at the same time, a reasonable investigator with experience in these matters would tend to believe that three
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ieds in the new york area within 24 hours are not coincidental. >> steve moore live via skype in los angeles. steve, we point out, this is the nypd that's doing part of this investigation along with a counterterrorism investigators. these guys know what they're doing as you know very well. they're putting out the information methodically and precisely. we'll report it as we learn from them. they're saying no nexus to terrorism but saying it's intentional. we'll continue to get updates. steve, thanks for being with us. >> thank you, george. new york mayor bill de blasio spoke with reporters after that blast and here's more of what he had to say about what authorities knew about that explosion. >> there is no evidence at this point of a terror connection to this incident. this is preliminary information. it's something we will be investigating very carefully. but there is no evidence at this point of a terror connection.
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i also want to affirm that, based on what we know at this hour, there's no specific connection to the incident in new jersey. it's, again, too early to say anything definitive on those questions. there's no specific evidence of a connection at this point. i want to say more broadly, there is no specific and credible threat against new york city at this point in time from any terror organization. as we're analyzing what happened here, we are doing it against a backdrop where we have no credible and specifc threat at this moment. but we do want to be very clear. the early indications, the initial indications is this was an intentional act. we're going to have a lot more to say in the coming hours as we have more detailed analysis. we believe it was an intentional act. i want to ensure all new yorkers that the nypd and all other
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agencies are moving -- our anti-terror and critical response command are other response groups, emergency services unit, all are on alert and all are dealing with this situation and being vigilant all over the city at this point in time. we have in this city the most advanced anti-terror capacity of any city in this country and obviously the largest police force in any city of the country all ready to ensure our safety. i want to be clear, whatever the cause, whatever the intention here, new yorkers will not be intimidated. we're not going to let anyone change who we are or how we go about our lives. we have the best police force in the country and a number of other teams, fdny, et cetera, making sure we'll be safe. >> the mayor of new york, bill de blasio giving reporters the latest information that he knows. to give context on the fact that
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there were multiple incidents in the new york area, earlier saturday before that explosion in new york, a similar blast locked a beach town in new jersey. an explosion went off in a garbage can in seaside park before a charity run for the u.s. marine corps was stoet start. police found three devices resembling pipe bombs. one of those devices detonated. no injuries were reported. police say that it was clearly meant to disrupt that event. >> on the same day, another terrifying act of violence in the u.s. state of minnesota. a suspect is dead after going on a stabbing spree at a shopping mall. police in the city of st. cloud, minnesota, say multiple victims have been wounded. this is new video that you see here. eight people transported to the hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries. police describe what happened here. >> tonight at approximately 8:00 an armed suspect entered the crossroads mall. that individual made some
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references to allah and c confirmed that he asked if at least one person was muslim before he assaulted them. >> we learned an off-duty police officer shot and killed the attacker. police say the unnamed suspect had two minor encounters with police back in 2008 and 2010. those encounters did not result in an arrest, though. the u.s. president and both presidential candidates are fully aware of what's going on in new york city right now. hillary clinton learned about that explosion when she was at the congressional black caucus gala in washington on saturday. clinton talked to reporters about that explosion after her plane landed at new york. >> i've been briefed about the bombings in new york and new jersey and the attack in minnesota. obviously, we need to do everything we can to support our first responders, also to pray for the victims.
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we have to let this investigation unfold. we've been in touch with various officials, including the mayor's office in new york, to learn what they are discovering as they conduct this investigation. i'll have more to say about it when we actually know some facts. >> we're also hearing from the republican candidate running for president, donald trump, who spoke about that new york explosion. here's what he said after stopping at a campaign rally in the state of colorado. >> i must tell you that just before i got off the plane a bomb went off in new york. and nobody knows exactly what's going on. but boy, we are living in a time, we better get very tough, folks. we better get very, very tough. >> witnesses in that explosion from new york, they tell cnn what they saw. we'll continue to bring you the very latest from what we're hearing from the witnesses. new information as we're learning it here as the breaking
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news coverage continues. plus, just as they were supposed to cooperate against militants in syria, the united states and russia exchanging harsh words. you're watching "cnn newsroom." (announcer vo) americans don't celebrate the good enough canyon. we didn't aim to be second to the moon. verizon doesn't settle for good enough either. so now we're introducing verizon lte advanced. with 50% faster peak speeds in more than 450 cities, coast to coast. so don't settle for an unlimited plan with limits. switch now and get our best deal. 20 gigs of limitless data with four lines for only $160. welcome to the next gen network.
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welcome back to break news coverage on cnn. an explosion in new york city. 4:19 at this moment. multiple devices were found a few streets from where that explosion happened. one turned out to be garbage. but another is this device that you see here. a pressure cooker with wires attached to it. you see duct taping on it. law enforcement officials aren't saying exactly what was inside. sources tell cnn that a cell phone was attached to the outside. new york's mayor bill de blasio says the explosion appears to be intentional. at least 29 people in the city are wounded because of that explosion. sources say that investigators are looking at surveillance video that appears to show a person near where that explosion occurred. they're also trying to determine if that individual is somehow connected to the incident. >> turning to other news we're following around the world, the united nations security council wrapped up an emergency session a few hours ago.
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russia called that meeting after blaming the united states for a coalition air strike that killed dozens of syrian troops in an eastern province. australia has said that its aircraft were also involved in that air strike. the u.s. said the strike was a mistake and that they halted it immediately after russian officials informed them of the error. but a spokeswoman for russia's foreign ministry said it suggested the united states is, quote, defending isis as cnn richard roth reports, that brought a swift response from the u.s. >> a fierce and bitter war of words between the u.s. and russia saturday night at u.n. headquarters in new york. russia called for an emergency security council meeting. u.s. ambassador samantha power, before she went into the session, regrets the loss of life syrian soldiers hit by a u.s. air strike. >> this said, even by russia's
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standards, tonight's stunt, a stunt replete with moralism and grandstanding, is uniquely cynical and hypocritical. >> samantha power spoke while the russian ambassador was briefing in closed consultations. they came to meet the media outraged at what he had heard. >> all my years in the ununited nations, that is over ten years and all my years in international life, i've never seen, which is over 40 years, i've never seen such an extraordinariness of american heavy handedness as we're witnessing today. as i was sharing our analysis and situation. ambassador power chose to talk to you. >> diplomats inside the meeting said the real show was outside before the cameras.
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both the u.s. and russian envoys had an interest in keeping the american pause agreement in place but bruised tensions. >> why are we having this meeting tonight? it's a diversion from what is happening on the ground in syria. >> frankly, i don't know what the next step is going to be or what the next move we can expect. unfortunately, from what i heard ambassador power say as she walked into the room, this is not a very good omen. >> ambassador churkin has quarreled with other ambassadors, although this appeared to be particularly edgy. syria will be a major topic. >> richard roth, following the icy back and forth there at the united nations. now let's get the view from moscow. our senior international correspondent matthew chance live from the russian capital. you heard the two different points of view there at the united nations. what are you hearing about the
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impact this is having regarding the mistrust that exists between these parties already? >> well, as richard was saying in that report, the jury is still out on what impact this is going to have on the ground in syria, whether it's going to derail the tentative truce that was agreed between russia and the united states to try and bring an end to the fighting and humanitarian to eastern aleppo with the tens of thousands of people trapped inside. that's very much the focus it seems at the moment. it's done nothing to build trust between the various sides inside syria. we're meant to be in a trust building sort of period inside this truce. but already there have been tensions before this air strike against the syrian army, apparently by the u.s.-led coalition. the russians accusing the united states of not upholding their end of the bargain, not putting sufficient pressure on the rebels to stop their fighting
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and separate themselves from the extremist jihadist elements on the terms of the cessation of hostilities. the russians said in the 24 hours before they made that report, there were 55 separate attacks by syrian rebels against the forces of the syrian government. and that was the responsibility, they say, of the american administration to pressurize those rebels to cease and desist from doing that. so there's been allegations on both sides that they're not holding up either end of this bargain they struck five days ago. obviously, this attack on the syrian armed forces, of course, syria is a very close ally of russia. as only further undermined that level of trust. >> the russian claim that the united states is somehow defending or on the side of isis. an incendiary claim there. >> it is. i think we're seeing, if you
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look closely as i have been doing on the statements that have been coming out from the various sort of elements of the russian administration, on the one hand we're seeing the foreign ministry and of course vitale churkin is part of that as well as the spokeswoman. they're saying essentially look, it looks like the white house is defending isis. you saw churkin last night at the u.n. security council saying that it was very suspicious that the united states would choose to intervene against isis at that time. but you're getting a slightly different message from the russia defense ministry. they're leaving the door open that it was indeed a mistake. if it was an error, then it was an error down to the fact that the united states continues to refuse to cooperate militarily with the russians on the ground. remember, that's something the russians have been calling for all along, cooperation between the united states and russia in
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syria. indeed, the cessation of hostilities is meant to lead it a situation in which the air force was the united states, that coalition and the russians can work together to fight against isis and the other jihadi groups inside syria. unfortunately, this seems to have quite well put that possibility back. >> through the course of this bloody war, there are -- both sides, this just the very latest. our senior international correspondent, matthew chance, live for us in moscow. matthew, we appreciate your reporting this day. this is "cnn newsroom." still ahead, dozens of people wounded, millions more on high alert in the city of new york. the very latest on the explosion that happened in the chelsea neighborhood as "cnn newsroom" continues.
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welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. we are following the breaking news here on cnn. an explosion in new york's chelsea neighborhood. i'm george howell at 4:31 a.m. eastern time. that explosion happened around 8:30 p.m. saturday night and about four blocks away, a second device was discovered. you see it here. the news announced around 11:00. the device determined to be a pressure cooker. take a look, it's rigged with duct tape with wires on it. the bomb squad has since removed that device. investigators thought they may have found another device at a third location, but it turns out that was a false alarm. in fact, it was just garbage. but everyone on high alert. the mayor of new york, bill de
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blasio, saying the explosion appears to be intentional. at least 29 people were wounded in it. sources say that investigators are looking at surveillance video that appears to show a person near where that explosion happened. they're trying to determine if that individual is somehow tied or connected to this explosion. some of the people wounded are being released from hospitals in new york. just a little earlier, my colleague natalie allen and i spoke with rachel crane our correspondent outside the hospital there at bellevue. >> nine of the 29 blast victims were transported here to bellevue hospital. hospital officials tell us that many of those victims at this point have, in fact, been released and that none of them had life-threatening injuries. we had a chance to speak with a couple that were victims of the blast just as they were being discharged from the hospital. they describe the scene and said
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they were driving in the area when all of a sudden the explosion occurred. the car was lifted up by the force of that blast and the whole left side damaged. both of them were transported here to bellevue and said they are incredibly lucky to be alive. >> i have to tell you vaguely what i remember. i was driving a car and next thing you know i felt an explosion and the car just tilted over halfway and came back down. what happened was, i just blacked out. the next thing you know i'm in an ambulance. >> what about you? >> everything was so sudden and fast, it was more of a shock that i remember. >> how are you doing now? >> pain. you know, little traumatized. just thought about that -- i was close to not actually seeing my son again. that was the scariest part of the night. >> george and natalie, you hear him say he was worried about not
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seeing his son again. clearly worried for his life. as i pointed out, hospital officials told us that several of those nine blast victims had been released from the hospital. we spoke to another young woman, a blast victim, said she was in shock, just wanted to go home and go to sleep. it all happened so fast, she could hardly recall it. we have also seen a heightened security presence here all evening outside of bellevue hospital. heavily armed officers. they were checking every single ambulance coming into the hospital. checking the ambulances by those armed guards. clearly, all of new york city, including bellevue hospital, on heightened alert. natalie and eorge? >> very interesting development. just really amazing when you hear the people falk about this explosion lifting their calf up. people have already walked out
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of the hospital there tonight. do you know anything about any other victims who were taken elsewhere, rachel, or the person in critical? >> no, we have not learned any details about the person in critical condition. they were not transported here to bellevue. we do know that. as far as other victims here at bellevue, we only spoke to three of the nine victims, two of which you just heard from yourself and the other young woman that i spoke of. as i pointed out, the hospital officials telling us that most of those nine blast victims have at this point been released from the hospital of the clearly, their injuries not too serious. >> that was rachel crane giving us the latest speaking to natalie allen and i earlier during the course of our breaking news coverage. we're also hearing from witnesses who tell us what they experienced when this explosion took place in chelsea. one man said that he heard the blast even though he was several
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blocks away. >> well, it sounds like when you hear the metal steel plates, the ones that are an inch thick and 20 foot by 20 foot or 10 foot by 10 foot. >> i was on 23rd street and 10th. >> you were pretty far away? >> i was three blocks away. i didn't know i was. it sounded like a block away, which is pretty amazing. [ inaudible question ]. >> that there's an explosion and i get concerned. you heard about gas explosions. i've lived through 9/11. you know, it was a concern for humanity. >> tell me about the scene afterwards. you heard of the explosion. >> first responders coming. the blinking lights, first responders. lot of police. and then fire trucks. emergency vehicles, undercover emergency vehicles. i spoke to one ambulance man and
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i go what's going on? he goes, i haven't heard anything yet. we're still investigating. >> was it chaotic? >> it was pretty calm. there was a lot of people around the corner because there were still vehicles, surprisingly, there was many vehicles still coming down 23rd street that they had to clear out. as they started -- then i just saw the first police car block everything on 23rd street and get rid of all those cars. after all the vehicles were gone, then you see people congregating on the corner. >> were you concerned at all for your safety knowing that this is a -- a few blocks away from you and not a lot of information. >> initially, yes. you always have that concern because you don't know if it's three blocks away or 100 feet away. and you just -- you don't know. these days, you just don't know. >> you just don't know. to get context here, in that very neighborhood, ifls just in that very neighborhood through the last week.
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right there, so many people, a lot of people on the streets at night because the weather is just perfect in new york. a lot of people out in the evenings. keep in mind what's happening there. the united nations general assembly kicking off. you have fashion week, a lot of people in town for that. a lot of people in town and a lot of people concerned. errol lewis, a host for new york one and he explained why new yorkers are on edge when they hear something like this happen. >> it's the kind of thing that, when new yorkers hear this kind of thing, some of the calls, it might seem humorous to nonnew yorkers. as new yorkers, we understand this. people call in and say i heard the explosion and went to the deli. hey, it's a dumpster fire, we see them all the time. it's not that big of a deal. new yorkers can be blase because the city is noisy and busy. chelsea has not been one of these air ys where you expect to hear this kind of thing.
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we know further downtown, the world trade center site has been a terrorist torgt for a long, long time. in midtown, we know things happen because everybody is trying to get in times square, not just on new year's eve but lots of other times of the year as well. it's unusual for what is truly a residential neighborhood. we know about it as kind of an arts district and we know about it as a place where lots of things go on. >> right. >> but there are a lot of brownstones there, a lot of people who live there. >> let's not lose sight of the fact that this is september. a lot of people are just coming off remembering september 11th. many people who died in that terrorist attack on the united states. this on a day where there have been multiple incidents in the new york area. again, the mayor of new york, bill de blasio, saying that the explosion in new york was intentional but also pointing out that there is no evidence of a nexus to terrorism. that is the latest word from de blasio as of 11:00 p.m. saturday night when he held a news conference. we'll be awaiting an update as the day goes on.
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our senior law enforcement analyst and former fbi assistant tom fuentes spoke with don lemon and poppy harlow about that earlier. listen. >> unless it was an accident, the person was carrying something dangerous tanned accidentally detonated and they know it was an accident, if it was intentional, it's terrorism in my book. i don't know how they're mincing words with this or not. they can. but it doesn't make any sense to me, to be honest. >> interesting. >> they said that they believe there's no connection to the incident in new jersey earlier this morning. a pipe bomb went off in seaside park new jersey and it was on a timer and set to detonate at the time runners in a 5k race were supposed to run by that area. the race started late. therefore, it didn't injure anyone. they said already no connection to that. how would they know that so quickly? >> well, whatever caused this
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explosion mysterious device that exploded and hurt all these people must have been enough different from what caused the explosion in new jersey to be able to say it's two different devices or two different events. i don't know what could explode that's at the hand of a man or a woman that causes all these injuries and it's not an explosive device that it's not a deliberate act. the fact that they didn't know beforehand is irrelevant. there are a lot of crimes that happen and nobody knew until it happened that it happened. the fact that you didn't have advance warning in orlando or in san bernardino didn't mean that you could say, well, it wasn't terrorism because we didn't know about the threat before it happened. i just don't understand this argument. it confuses me. if somebody else really understands it, congratulations. but i think it's -- i think they're playing word games. >> the breaking news coverage
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continues here on cnn. that explosion that happened in new york's chelsea neighborhood. we'll continue to bring you the latest. plus the united states president normally known for his calm demeanor. different barack obama delivering one of his most impassioned speeches of his presidency, supporting hillary clinton. stay with us.
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latest on the breaking news we're following. the explosion saturday night in new york city. here's what we know at this mour. officials say 29 people were wounded from that blast. it happened in manhattan's chelsea neighborhood. police say they found video. they had video from the explosion and will be using it to investigate what happened here. this video now from msnbc. it purports to be surveillance video of a blast from a nearby fitness center. you can see the reverberations from the explosion that happened outside. you see people there outside the windows there running as that blast happens.
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the explosion happened at 23rd street and 6th avenue for those of you familiar with new york. it happened around 8:40 p.m. local time. officials telling cnn they found a suspicious device blocks away. four blocks away. and you see it here. this image of a pressure cooker rigged with wires that had duct tape and a cell phone attached to it. it was found on west 27th street. obviously, we'll stay on top of this story and bring you any new information as we get it. we're following other news as well. in the race for u.s. president, both hillary clinton and barack obama, the president of the united states were featured guests at a gala in washington. he took a vow with his wife and urged african-american voters not to turn their back on hillary clinton. cnn senior washington correspondent jeff zeleny ws there. >> president obama delivering a rallying cry to black voters during a speech saturday night in washington.
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some of the strongest language he has used yet. acknowledging that he's not on the ballot but his legacy is. he delivered a blistering attack against donald trump and would be a personal insult to his legacy if donald trump was elected. >> my name may not be on the ballot but our progress is on the ballot. tolerance is on the ballot. democracy is on the ballot. after we have achieved historic -- in 2008 and 2012, especially in the african-american community, i will consider it a personal insult, insult to my legacy if this community lets down its guard and fails to activate itself in this election. you want to give me a good sendoff, go vote! >> the president has often criticized donald trump but not in these strong of terms. he also said that trump is simply wrong about the history of the country. he talked about his -- in particular, need to rally to
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hillary clinton's side. for her part, hillary clinton also on stage at that black caucus foundation dinner. she came to the president's aid talking about his birth certificate. >> even when hateful nonsense is thrown their way, barack, michelle, their two beautiful daughters represented our country with class, grace and integrity. mr. president, not only do we know you are an american, you're a great american. >> president obama and hillary clinton talked backstage. there's no question that he is going to be one of the biggest components in her final election strategy here in the next 50 days. he made that case clear to black voters and he's going to campaign for the month of october across the united
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states. jeff zeleny, washington. let's get context. eugene scott is live via skype in washington. eugene, always a pleasure to have you with us. let's talk about what we heard there. the president of the states. he's known to be a laid-back guy. my goodness, this is a barack obama unlike any that i've seen. really fired up and it seems personal for him. >> yeah. it's been very clear, this election, that black voters who overwhelmingly historically rally behind the democratic nominee have been divided. we saw significant numbers of black voters, bernie sanders in the primaries and even now some of hillary clinton's harshest critics have been young black activists and millenials. she needs these voters to win in november. i think president obama was making that clear last night. >> we talked about what we heard from the president and also from hillary clinton focusing in on
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the birther controversy that donald trump has spoken about. donald trump saying that he has solved it. that turning out to be a little, well, let's say donald trump has said he blames hillary clinton for it. that's factually inaccurate. do you think this is an opening for the clinton campaign. clinton is sliding in the polls as donald trump is gaining ground. >> i think what hillary clinton tried to do last night is show that between the two candidates, she believes she's the one that has the highest view of diversity and the greatest respect for the black american community and that donald trump's comments are just one of multiple in a longer narrative of saying things that under -- black voters. she wants to make it clear that it's her and her alone that can continue the legacy of president barack obama. a candidate who has very high approval ratings with black voters. >> reaganesque in fact, it teams when it comes to voters around the country. the president has high
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favorability numbers at this point. eugene scott, live for us in washington. thank you so much for your reporting. >> thank you. a possible lead for investigators in the city of new york. we'll have more on that explosion that rocked the chelsea neighborhood as cnn's breaking news coverage continues.
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cnn following the breaking news coverage out of the city of new york. an explosion that happened there in the chelsea neighborhood. here's the latest that we know. that explosion wounded 29 people. authorities also found multiple suspicious devices in the area. the surrounding that explosion. one of the devices turned out to be garbage, but then there's in th one. this one was determined at 27th street. it was determined to be a pressure cooker. you see it here with duct tape on it, wires, a cell phone attached. cnn sources say that they will be looking into that device to determine the nature of it. investigators also poring over surveillance footage. they may have a person with a possible connection to the explosion caught on video. the police have yet to make an announcement to that effect. the mayor of new york, bill de blasio, told reporters earlier in the night the explosion was
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intentional but no nexus to terrorism. take a listen. >> there is no evidence at this point of a terror connection to this incident. this is preliminary information. it's something we will be investigating very carefully. but there is no evidence at this point of a terror connection. but we do want to be very clear. the early indications, the initial indications is this was an intentional act. >> that was bill de blasio around 11:00 p.m. we'll be awaiting the latest update from authorities and possibly from the mayor. we thank you for being with us. i'm george howell. our breaking news coverage continues with cnn's new day in just a moment. thank you for watching cnn. the world's news leader.
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good morning everyone. so grateful to have your company one hour earlier than usual for us. we want to welcome the viewers in the u.s. and around the world. i'm christi paul. >> i'm victor blackwell. starting with the news out of new york. police with sniffer dogs are searching for explosive devices after a blast. it ripped through a neighborhood in chelsea. that's the community. injuring dozens of people. the force of the explosion blew up windows and forced glass and pieces of metal flying in all directions. sending terrified people running. you see in the cell phone video,
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