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Twenty-Nine People Wounded in New York Explosion; U.S. Says It Was Targeting ISIS in Airstrike. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired September 18, 2016 - 04:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. We continue following the breaking news here on CNN. An explosion Saturday night in New York City. I'm George Howell. Here's the latest that we know.

Officials say 29 people were wounded from this explosion that happened in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. Police say they have video from that -- where that explosion happened and will now use it to investigate.

The video from MSNBC that you see here, it purports to show that blast. It's surveillance footage from a nearby fitness center. The explosion happened at 23rd Street and 6th Avenue around 8:40 in the evening local time in New York.

The mayor of New York told reporters Saturday 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 just 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. It has duct tape on it and connected to a cell phone.

There were concerns that a third device was discovered but we just learned here within the last hour that that turned out to be nothing. In fact, it turned out to be garbage. But investigators certainly on high alert looking for everything there.

Jean Casarez has the very latest for us on the blast in Chelsea. Here's her report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And here where I am is the initial explosion. If you look over my right shoulder, it is still a very active crime scene, that most likely will be for many hours to come. They're investigating what happened at about 8:30 Saturday night. It has been termed an explosion at or in a Dumpster. We do know that 29 people were injured. Nothing life threatening;

however, 24 of them were transported to local hospitals and we do know injuries were from metal and from glass and things that were emulating (sic) from that explosion.

Also we do know there was one puncture wound. Now the mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, specifically said tonight that there was no terror threat against New York City and that, at this point in time, there is nothing to believe this is terror related.

Now saying that, he also said that 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 counter terrorism, NYPD, the Fire Department of New York City.

The number of emergency vehicles during the height of this just stretched for block after block, all of them with their 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 right here, 23rd, an explosion tonight in New York City -- Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: All right. That was Jean Casarez at 23rd Street where that explosion happened and police widened the perimeter of the crime scene after finding these multiple suspicious devices. It is a fast- evolving investigation and our Richard Quest has been there for every step of it. He was at the scene of that second device discovered on 27th Street. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNNMONEY EDITOR AT LARGE: 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 bomb containment unit of the police department arrive, which is a large metal structure which was taken down the road and we believe that's --

[04:05:00]

QUEST: -- where the pressure cooker was put into and subsequently the suggestion is it has been taken away to be defused 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 in Manhattan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: And the location of these devices certainly will play into the investigation. Now let's get some context and bring in Steve Moore via Skype from Los Angeles. Steve is a CNN law enforcement contributor and former FBI supervisory special agent.

Steve, thanks again for being with us this hour.

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Sure.

HOWELL: Let's talk about the situation as we know it. So at 23rd Street, an explosion. At 27th Street, a pressure cooker discovered. And if we can show our viewers that image to see this pressure cooker. It looks to be a crude device, but it has got wires, it has got a cell phone attached to it.

It may have some writing nearby that investigators will be looking into and I'm sure there will be a lot of curiosity as to, you know, what is written there.

But I also want to point out that third device turned out to be nothing. We learned that there was a third device just about an hour ago but then learned from investigators that it was nothing, but they were on the highest of precaution.

Steve, from what you understand of the facts this hour, what do you make of it?

MOORE: I'm still confused as to what the purpose was. If there was writing next to a 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 had one of three detonate yesterday morning at the Marine charity run. We had the 27th -- 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.

HOWELL: It's important to point out, the fact of the matter, that investigators are saying no connection to what happened earlier with the explosion that you mentioned but they're looking into this situation now.

And from all indications, Steve, this happened at a time when New Yorkers were out on the street, a busy Saturday night.

Could that have played into the timing?

MOORE: Well, it certainly, George, I believe, played into the timing. What's curious about the location is that they were so close to Times Square on a Saturday night.

Maybe they -- 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.

And you're right, there is no official connection between any of these three bombings or three IED situations. I'm just speculating based on my experience.

HOWELL: But here's the thing, you have a great deal of experience, given your background. So, you know, we appreciate the insight. And it just raises questions, Steve.

So you have the mayor of New York coming out and saying this was intentional. You also have investigators saying that 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 CNN law enforcement analyst. Heard from him earlier; he has a hard time understanding how the investigators can say one thing, the mayor can say another.

MOORE: Tom's correct. I admire Tom quite a bit -- excuse me -- I think what is happening here is that you are -- when you're the mayor of New York you are going to have to play this very close to the vest.

You're not going to want to instill panic but, at the same time, a reasonable investigator with experience in these matters would tend to believe that three IEDs in the New York area within 24 hours are not coincidental.

[04:10:00]

HOWELL: Steve Moore, live for us via Skype in Los Angeles.

And, Steve, we point out, this is the NYPD that's doing part of this investigation, along with counterterrorism investigators. These guys know what they're doing, as you know very well. So they're turning out the information very methodically and very precisely. We'll report it as soon as we can.

MOORE: Sure.

HOWELL: They are saying no nexus to terrorism but they are saying that this was intentional. We'll continue to get updates. Steve, thank you so much for being with us.

MOORE: Thank you, George.

HOWELL: New York Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke to reporters after that blast. And here's a little more of he had to say on Saturday evening on what authorities knew about that explosion.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL DE BLASIO, MAYOR OF NEW YORK: There is no evidence at this point of a terror connection to this incident. This is our preliminary information. It's something we will be investigating very carefully. But there is no evidence at this point of a terror connection.

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. But 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. So as we are analyzing what happened here, we are doing it against the backdrop but we have no credible and specific 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 are going to have a lot more to say in the coming hours as we have more -- a detailed analysis -- but we believe at this point in time this was an intentional act.

I want to assure all New Yorkers that the NYPD and all other agencies are at full alert and that our anti--terror capacity in particular is at full alert, our Critical Response Command and our other key units, our Strategic Response Group, our 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.

And we have in this city the most advanced anti-terror capacity of any city in this country and obviously the largest police force of any city in the country -- all ready to ensure our safety.

Now I want to be clear whatever the cause, whatever the intention here, New Yorkers will not be intimidated. We are 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 key agencies, FDNY, OEM, et cetera, making sure we will be safe.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: The mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, there, giving our reporters the very latest information that he knows.

And to give a little context now on the fact that there were multiple incidents in the New York area, earlier Saturday, before that explosion in New York, a similar blast rocked a beach town in New Jersey.

And explosion went off in a garbage can in Seaside Park right before a charity run for the United States Marine Corps was set to start. Police found three devices that resembled pipe bombs. One of those devices detonated. No injuries were reported but police say that it was clearly meant to disrupt that event.

And on the same day, another terrifying act of violence, this time 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 that multiple victims had been wounded. This is new video that you see here. Eight people transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Police describe what happened here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM BLAIR ANDERSON, ST. CLOUD POLICE CHIEF: Tonight at approximately 8 o'clock, an armed suspect entered the Crossroads Mall. That individual made some references to Allah and we have confirmed that he asked at least one person if they were Muslim before he assaulted them.

HOWELL (voice-over): We learned that an off-duty police officer shot and killed the attacker. And police now say the unnamed suspect had two minor encounters with police back in 2008 and 2010. Those encounters did not result in an arrest, though.

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HOWELL: The U.S. president and both U.S. presidential candidates are fully aware of what's going on right now in New York City. Hillary Clinton learned about that explosion when she was at the Congressional Black Caucus gala in Washington on Saturday. And Clinton talked to reporters about that explosion after her plane landed in New York.

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HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've been briefed about 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.

We have to let this investigation unfold. We've been in touch with various officials, including the mayor's office --

[04:15:00]

CLINTON: -- in New York, to learn what they are discovering as they conduct this investigation. And I'll have more to say about it when we actually know some facts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: We're also hearing from the Republican candidate running for president, Donald Trump, about the explosion. Here's what he said after stopping at a campaign rally in the state of Colorado.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: 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'd better get very tough, folks. We'd better get very, very tough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Witnesses from the explosion in New York. They tell CNN what they saw and we will continue to bring you the very latest from what we're hearing from those witnesses and also new information as we're learning it here as the breaking news coverage continues.

Plus, just as they were supposed to cooperate against militants in Syria, the United States and Russia exchanging some very harsh words. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

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HOWELL: We're back to our breaking news coverage here on CNN. An explosion in New York City, 4:19 at this moment.

[04:20:00]

HOWELL: Here's the latest that we know.

Multiple devices were found a few streets from where that explosion happened. One turned out just 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 but 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 just a few hours ago. Russia called that after blaming the United States for a coalition airstrike that killed dozens of Syrian troops in an eastern province. Australia has now said that its aircraft were also involved in that

airstrike. The U.S. said that the strike was a mistake and that they halted it after Russian military informed them of the error. But a spokeswoman for Russia's foreign ministry said it suggests that the United States is, quote, "defending ISIS."

As CNN's Richard Roth reports, that brought a swift response from the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: A fierce and bitter war of words between the U.S. and Russia Saturday night at U.N. headquarters in New York.

Russia had called for an emergency security council meeting. U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power, before she went into the session, said the U.S. regrets the loss of life, Syrian soldiers hit by a U.S. airstrike but then blasted Moscow.

SAMANTHA POWER, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: This said, even by Russia's standards, tonight's stunt, a stunt replete with moralism and grandstanding, is uniquely cynical and hypocritical.

ROTH: Samantha Power spoke while the Russian ambassador was briefing the Security Council in closed consultations. Quickly the Russian ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, came to meet the media, outraged at what he had heard.

VITALY CHURKIN, RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR: All my years in the United Nations, that is over 10 years and in four more years in international life, I've never seen -- which is over 40 years. I've never seen such an extraordinary display of American heavy-handedness as we are witnessing today.

As I was talking in the Security Council, sharing our analysis and frustration over the situation of Syria, Ambassador Power chose to talk to you.

ROTH: Diplomats inside the meeting said the real show was outside before the cameras. Both the U.S. and Russian envoys seemed to indicate an interest in keeping the humanitarian pause agreement in place but there are bruised tensions.

POWER: And so why are we having this meeting tonight?

It's a diversion from what is happening on the ground in Syria.

CHURKIN: 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.

ROTH: Ambassador Churkin has quarreled with other U.S. ambassadors, though this appeared to be particularly edgy. The General Assembly annual debate begins Monday and Syria is a major topic -- Richard Roth, CNN, United Nations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: And 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.

Matthew, you just heard that, the two different points of view there at the United Nations.

What are you hearing about the impact that this is having regarding the mistrust that already exists between these parties?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 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 very tentative truce that was agreed between Russia and the United States to try and bring an end to the fighting to allow humanitarian access to Eastern Aleppo, with those tens of thousands of people trapped inside.

That's still very much the focus at the moment. But it's done nothing to build trust between the various sides.

Inside Syria, we're meant to be in a trust-building period, inside this truce. But already there have been tensions, even before this airstrike and against the Syrian army, apparently by the U.S.-led coalition.

The Russians were accusing the United States of not upholding their end of the bargain, of not putting sufficient pressure on the rebels, to stop their fighting and to separate themselves from the more extremist jihadist elements outside of the terms of the cessation of hostilities. In fact, the Russians yesterday said that --

[04:25:00]

CHANCE: -- in the 24 hours before they made the report, there was 55 separate attacks by Syrian rebels against the forces of the Syrian government. And that was the responsibility, they say, of the American government 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. And obviously this attack on the Syrian armed forces, of course, Syria is a very close ally of Russia, has only further undermined that level of trust.

But the Russian claim that the United States is somehow defending or on the side of ISIS, an incendiary claim there.

CHANCE: It is. And I think we're seeing, if you 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 Vitaly Churkin is part of that as well as the foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova.

They are the ones that are saying essentially it looks like the White House is defending ISIS. You saw Vitaly Churkin there 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 Russian defense ministry. They're leaving the door open to the possibility that this was, indeed, a mistake.

They're saying, look, if it wasn't error, then it was an error that is 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, closer cooperation between the United States and Russia in Syria.

And indeed, the cessation of hostilities is meant to lead to a situation in which the air forces of the United States' led coalition and the Russians can work together to fight against ISIS and the other jihadi groups inside Syria.

Unfortunately, this incident seems to have -- it could well have put that possibility back.

HOWELL: Throughout the course of this bloody war, there have been accusations of hospitals being bombed, many different accusations affecting 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.

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HOWELL (voice-over): 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 (INAUDIBLE) in the Chelsea neighborhood as CNN NEWSROOM continues.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: 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 pm Eastern time, here's what we know. That explosion happened 8:40 pm Saturday night. Then about four blocks away, a second device was discovered. You see it here. The news of it announced around 11:00 pm. That device determined to be a pressure cooker.

And take a look there. You can see it's rigged with duct tape and has 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 there on high alert.

The mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, saying the explosion Saturday night 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 to or connected with the explosion.

Some of the people wounded in the explosion are now being released from hospitals in New York. Just a little earlier, my colleague, Natalie Allen, and I spoke Rachel Crane, our correspondent who is outside the hospital there at Bellevue.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: George and Natalie, nine of those 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, 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 described the scene. They said that they were driving their car in the area when, all of a sudden, the explosion occurred, that's when their 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 they said they are incredibly lucky to be alive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll just tell you what I remember. I was driving a car and the 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.

CRANE: What about you?

What do you remember?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything was so sudden and fast, it was more of a shock that I remember.

CRANE: How are you doing now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pain and, you know, a little traumatized. Just thought about that I was close to not actually seeing my son again. That was the scariest part of the night for me.

CRANE: And George and Natalie, you hear him saying he was worried about not seeing his son again, clearly worried for his life. Now as I pointed out, a hospital official told us that several of

those nine blast victims had been released from the hospital. We spoke to another young woman who was a blast victim, who said that she was in shock, that she just wanted to go home and go to sleep but it had all happened so fast she could hardly recall it.

We also have seen a heightened security presence here all evening outside of Bellevue Hospital, heavily armed officers. They were also checking every single ambulance that was coming into the hospital, checking ambulances by those armed guards.

Clearly, all of New York City, including Bellevue Hospital, on heightened alert -- Natalie and George.

ALLEN: Very interesting developments. It's just really amazing when you hear people talking about this explosion lifting their car up, that you have people have already walked out of the hospital tonight.

Do you know anything about any other victims who were taken elsewhere, Rachel, or the person who's in critical?

[04:35:00]

CRANE: We have not yet learned any details about the person who is 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 those nine victims, two of which you just heard from yourself and then the other young woman that I spoke of.

But as I pointed out, a hospital official telling us most of those nine blast victims have at this point been released from the hospital. So clearly their injury is not too serious.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: That was CNN New York correspondent Rachel Crane, giving us the latest, speaking to Natalie Allen and me just earlier here 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 blocks away.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it sounds like, when you hear those metal steel plates, the ones that are like an inch thick and they're 20 foot by 20 foot or 10 foot by 10 foot. And it just flattened full straight on the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where were you at ?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was on 23rd Street and 10th.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you're pretty far away?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm about three blocks away. I didn't know it was three blocks away, it sounded like a block away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which is pretty amazing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's an explosion and then you start -- I'm an architect -- then you get concerned. You heard about gas explosions; I've lived through 9/11 and, yes, it was a concern for humanity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell me about the scene afterwards, once you heard the explosion --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- first responders coming. So a lot of the blinking lights, first responders, a lot of police and then as they started, fire trucks, emergency vehicles, undercover emergency vehicles. I spoke to one ambulance man, he says, I go, "What's going on?"

He goes, "I haven't heard anything yet."

He goes, "We're still investigating."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was it chaotic? Was it calm? How would you describe --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's pretty calm. There's a lot of people at the corner because there were still vehicles, surprisingly. There was many vehicles still coming down 23rd Street that they had to clear out.

And as they started -- and then I just saw the first police car block everybody on 23rd Street and then get rid of all those cars. So after all the vehicles were gone, then you see the people congregating on the corner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you concerned at all for your safety, knowing that this explosion just happened, what, three blocks away from you and not a lot of information?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Initially, yes, you always have that concern, because you don't know if it's three blocks away or if it's about 100 feet away. And you just never -- you don't know -- and these days, you just don't know.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: You just don't know.

To give some context here, in that very neighborhood, I was just in that very neighborhood through the last week. Right there, so many people, a lot of people on the streets at night because the weather is just perfect in New York, not too hot, a lot of people out in the evenings.

And 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. So a lot of people in town and a lot of people concerned. Errol Louis is a host for New York 1 and located in Chelsea. And he explained earlier why New Yorkers are on edge when they hear something like this happen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERROL LOUIS, ANCHOR, TIME WARNER CABLE NEWS: It's the kind of thing that when New Yorkers hear this kind of thing some of the calls they might seem humorous to non-New Yorkers but as New Yorkers we would understand this. People have called in and said I heard the explosion and then I went out to the deli.

You know, or hey, it's a dumpster fire, you see these around the city all the time. It's not that big of a deal. So New Yorkers can be a little bit blase just because the city is so busy and so noisy.

For something like this to happen in Chelsea, though, Chelsea has not been one of these areas where you expect to hear this kind of thing.

We know that further downtown the World Trade Center site has been a terrorist target for a long, long time. We know that in midtown things happen because everyone's trying to get into Times Square, not just on New Year's Eve but lots of other times of the year as well.

It's a little 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, but there are a lot of brownstones there. There are a lot of people who live there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Let's not lose sight of the fact that this is September. A lot of people are coming off remembering September 11th and many people who died in the 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 pm Saturday night when he held a news conference. So we will be awaiting an update as the day goes on.

Our senior law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director, Tom Fuentes, spoke with CNN's Don Lemon and Poppy Harlow about that earlier. Listen.

[04:40:00]

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: You know, Poppy, I have no idea. I've been a special agent in charge, I have run two joint terrorism task forces. And when you have someone deliberately commit an act that results in 25 people being injured, unless it was accident, the person was carrying something dangerous and it accidentally detonated and they know that it was an accident. If it was intentional it's terrorism in my book. And I don't know how they're, you know, mincing words with this or not and they can but it doesn't make any sense to me, to be honest.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Interesting.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: They said that -- also, Tom, they said they believe there's no connection to the incident in New Jersey. Earlier this morning a pipe bomb went off in a trash can in Seaside Park, New Jersey and it was on a timer and it was set to detonate at the time runners in a 5K race were supposed to run right 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.

FUENTES: Well, whatever the -- whatever caused this 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 it's two different events. I don't know what could explode that at hand of a man or a woman that -- you know, that causes all these injuries and if it's not an explosive device how that can't be deliberate act. The fact that they didn't know of a threat beforehand is irrelevant.

You know, there are a lot of events and crimes that happen and nobody knew until it happened that it happened. You know, the fact that we 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. So 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.

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HOWELL: The breaking news coverage continues here on CNN. That explosion that happened in New York's Chelsea neighborhood. We'll continue and bring you the very latest.

Plus, the United States president normally known for his calm demeanor, very different Barack Obama delivering one of his most impassioned speeches of his presidency, supporting Hillary Clinton. Stay with us.

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HOWELL: Latest on the breaking news we are following. The explosion Saturday night in New York City. Here's what we know at this hour.

Officials say 29 people were wounded from that blast. It happened in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. Police say that they found video, they had video from the explosion and will be using it to investigate what happened here. This video now from MSNBC purports to be surveillance video of a blast

from a nearby fitness center. You can see the reverberations from the explosion that happened just outside. You see people outside the windows running as that blast happens.

The explosion happened at 23rd Street and 6th Avenue, for those of you familiar with New York. It happened around 8:40 pm local time. Officials telling CNN they found a suspicious device just blocks away, four blocks away and you see it here. This image of a pressure cooker. It was rigged with wires, it has 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 Saturday night.

And President Obama, who took a bow with his wife, delivered one of the most impassioned speeches of his presidency, urging African American voters not to turn their back on Hillary Clinton. CNN senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny was there.

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JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: President Obama delivering a rallying cry to black voters during a speech Saturday night in Washington in 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 said it would be a personal insult to his legacy if Donald Trump was elected.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: 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.

And after we have achieved historic turnout in 2008 and 2012, especially in the African-American community, I will consider it a personal insult, an 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 send-off?

Go vote.

ZELENY: 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 birth certificate, but he also talked about more and said that black voters in particular need to rally to Hillary Clinton's side.

For her part Hillary Clinton also on stage at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation dinner. She came to the president's aid, talking about his birth certificate. CLINTON: Even when hateful nonsense is thrown their way, Barack, Michelle, their two beautiful daughters have represented our country with class, grace and integrity.

Mr. President, not only do we know you are an American, you're a great American.

ZELENY: 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 indicate clear to black voters and he is going to go across the country campaigning for the month of October -- Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Washington.

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HOWELL: Jeff, thank you. Let's get some context now. CNN Politics reporter Eugene Scott, live this hour via Skype in Washington.

Eugene, always a pleasure to have you with us.

EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Thank you.

HOWELL: Let's talk about what we just heard there, the President of the United States. And, Eugene, he's known to be a pretty laid back guy but, my goodness, this is a Barack Obama like none other that I've seen. Really fired up and it seems personal for him.

SCOTT: Yes, it's been very clear this election that black voters who overwhelmingly historically rally behind the Democratic nominee have been divided.

We saw a significant number of black voters back Bernie Sanders in the primaries and even now some of Hillary Clinton's harshest critics have been young black activists and Millennials. And she needs these voters to win in November. And I think President Barack Obama was making that very clear last night.

HOWELL: Eugene, also when we talk about what we heard from the president and also from Hillary Clinton, focusing in on 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 --

[04:50:00]

HOWELL: -- Donald Trump has said that he blamed 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.

SCOTT: I think what Hillary Clinton tried to do last night is show that, between the two candidates, she believes that she is 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 multiples in a longer narrative of saying thing that overrides voters, including black voters.

And she wants to make it very clear that it is her and her alone that can continue the legacy of President Barack Obama, a candidate who has very high approval ratings with black voters.

HOWELL: Reaganesque, in fact, it seems when it comes to voters around the country. The president has very high favorability numbers at this point.

Eugene Scott, live for us in Washington. Eugene, thank you so much for your reporting.

SCOTT: Thank you.

HOWELL: 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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HOWELL: 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.

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HOWELL: The mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, told reporters earlier in the night the explosion was intentional but no nexus to terrorism. Take a listen.

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BILL DE BLASIO, MAYOR OF NEW YORK: 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 of a terror connection. But we do want to be very clear, the early indications, the initial indications is that this was an intentional act.

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HOWELL: That was Bill de Blasio around 11:00 pm. So we will 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.