Attempted Bombings Appear to Target Prominent Liberals, Media
*By Carlo Versano*
The explosive device sent to CNN in New York was an "effort to terrorize," said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Investigators at a press conference described the device as an apparent "live" pipe bomb. Officials fielded questions in front of the Time Warner Center, which houses CNN's New York studios and was partially evacuated Wednesday morning when the mailroom discovered the suspicious package. There was an unknown white powder that came with the device, which was undergoing testing, officials said.
Police officers were in the mailroom at the time because of the apparent bombs also sent to prominent Democrats over the last two days, including former President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and George Soros. NYPD Deputy Commissioner John Miller said officers were there to instruct mail handlers on what to do if they saw something suspicious.
N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said his office had also received a device Wednesday, though he did not elaborate on whether it was connected.
CNN reported the package it received was addressed to former CIA Chief John Brennan, with an address that comes up on Google ($GOOGL) for CNN's N.Y. bureau but is not its official address. Brennan does not work for CNN but has appeared on air making sharply critical comments of the Trump administration.
The network also reported that another device was sent to former A.G. Eric Holder, though the address was incorrect and it was returned to sender. That device had a return address of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the former Democratic congresswoman from Florida. It was unclear whether a separate suspicious package reported at her office was, in fact, the Holder package being returned.
Yet another suspicious device was intercepted by Capitol Hill police that was addressed to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), ABC News reported.
James O'Neill, the NYPD commissioner, said at least some of the devices had consistent packaging, and that given the targets, the possibility that they were part of a single politically motivated attack was "of concern."
The White House said in a statement on Wednesday: "These terrorizing acts are despicable, and anyone responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
President Trump, speaking at an event on the opioid epidemic, condemned "political violence of any kind" and said "in these times we have to unify."
He did not mention CNN.
The Social Security Administration’s acting commissioner has stepped down from her role at the agency over Department of Government Efficiency requests.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says her government is not ruling out filing a civil lawsuit against Google if it maintains its stance of calling the stretch of sea between northeastern Mexico and the southeastern United States the “Gulf of America.” Sheinbaum, in her morning press conference on Thursday, said the president’s decree to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico is restricted to the “continental shelf of the United States” because Mexico still controls much of the body of water. “We have sovereignty over our continental shelf,” she said.
U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum “will not go unanswered,” European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen vowed on Tuesday, adding that they will trigger toug
President Donald Trump is hitting foreign steel and aluminum with a 25% tax. If that sounds familiar, it’s because he did pretty much the same thing during
President Donald Trump has ordered the U.S. to stop minting pennies. His surprise announcement comes after decades of unsuccessful efforts to phase out the 1-cent coin. Advocates for ditching the penny cite its high production cost and limited utility. Fans of the penny cite its usefulness in charity drives and relative bargain in production costs compared with the nickel. Here's a look at some question surrounding Trump's order.
The Trump administration has ordered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stop nearly all its work, effectively shutting down the agency that was created to protect consumers after the 2008 financial crisis and subprime mortgage-lending scandal. Russell Vought is the newly installed director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought directed the CFPB in a Saturday night email to stop work on proposed rules, to suspend the effective dates on any rules that were finalized but not yet effective, and to stop investigative work and not begin any new investigations. The agency has been a target of conservatives since President Barack Obama created it following the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
Brian Bennett, Senior White House correspondent at TIME, discusses Musk's relationship to Donald Trump and how he has such access in the federal government.
