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Fire Department: Twenty Nine People Wounded In New York Explosion; Sources: Device Found Appears To Be Pressure Cooker; Russia: U.S. Airstrike Kills Dozens Of Syrian Troops; New Yorkers On Edge After Saturday Explosion; Obama Delivers Impassioned Speech For Clinton; Polls Show Trump Gaining On Clinton. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired September 18, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. We continue following the breaking news of Saturday night's explosion in New York City. I'm George Howell.

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And I'm Natalie Allen. Yes, officials saying 29 people were wounded from a blast in Manhattan (inaudible) neighborhood. Police say they have video of the explosion and will be using it to investigate.

HOWELL: We can now show you this video from MSNBC. It purports to be surveillance footage from that blast from a nearby fitness center. You can see there the reverberation of the explosion.

ALLEN: Yes, the explosion happened at 23rd Street and 6th Avenue around 8:40 in the evening local time there in New York and there are reports it came from in or near a dumpster. There's so much we don't know. But New York Mayor Bill De Blasio says early indications are the blast was intentional. Here's more of what he told reporters Saturday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK MAYOR: We also want to be up front saying that 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. There is no specific and credible threat against New York City at this point in time from any terror organization.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: At this point, we still don't know exactly what caused that explosion in New York. But CNN has learned from multiple law enforcement sources a suspicious device was found at a second site in Chelsea.

ALLEN: And that caused another flurry of activity that's still going on. You're seeing a picture of that device right there. It appears to be a pressure cooker rigged with wiring and duct tape, and it was found a few blocks away on West 27th Street. None of the officials we spoke with would say what was inside it.

HOWELL: CNN has been covering this story for hours. We have a team of correspondents covering this story. Jean Casarez at 23rd Street, the site of that first explosion. Our Richard Quest joins us from the location of the second device that was discovered at 27th Street.

Jean, let's start with you. What more are you hearing from investigators about what happened there?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a very active crime scene. I'm right here on 23rd Street. If you look behind my right shoulder about one block away, that is exactly where the crime scene processing is going on right now.

It was the dumpster. In the dumpster, outside the dumpster. They don't really -- aren't specific right now except to say that it was an explosion and we do know that 29 people were injured. And they were injured with by-products of whatever exploded.

One puncture wound. Twenty four people have been taken to the hospital. One is in very serious condition they said at the press conference. That may be critical, but it was extremely serious was how it was worded.

And they did say that there was no specific threat of terrorism, that they did not believe anything at this point points to terrorism.

But they also said that all of the anti-terrorism units are on the scene, that New York City has the finest and most sophisticated anti- terrorism units in the world and they are right here.

And I will tell you, we saw federal vehicles. We know every level of government is here investigating tonight to find out exactly who did this and what exactly it was. But the dumpster explosion did cause a fair number of injuries, some extremely significant -- George.

ALLEN: Yes, Jean, this is Natalie. It's amazing what people are saying about this. How loud it was. People that were in that area and till it's a mystery why this area, why this neighborhood, kind of a nondescript block on a wayward sidewalk, just any kind of sidewalk.

CASAREZ: You know, Natalie, that's a really good way to put it because it is sort of nondescript. Now, it is Saturday night. Everybody is out. It's a beautiful night. It's just a nice temperature, nice fall is in the air. It was warmer earlier and this is the Chelsea area, a very popular area in New York City.

But this is also an area, especially 23rd Street here, where there are businesses that are closed at this time. There are some residential, but it's not as active as other areas, that we do know.

And 27th Street, the same thing. The secondary device location, we're told. It's not as active as other areas. But the fact is this is where it happened, and police do have surveillance video. They're gathering more surveillance video and that is helping them in processing the scene right now.

HOWELL: Jean, just talk to us about the situation as far as people in that area. I know that alerts went out for many people, many residents there to stay inside. Are there any new alerts coming out warning residents that you've heard of?

[02:05:08]CASAREZ: Well, the main alert, and I think you're going to go to Richard Quest, he'll tell you about that, was for 27th Street for people to stay away from their windows.

But I can tell you right here they've never specifically told us we can't get to where that dumpster site is, but they did say that they searched the buildings surrounding where that dumpster was, they did not have to evacuate anyone.

So we don't know if it was storefronts and businesses and they were looking to see if there was any structural damage. They have said that through the night they will give us more updates as they come because we don't have all the specific details that we really need and we really want at this point -- George.

HOWELL: All right, Jean Casarez live for us. Jean, thank you. We'll stay in touch with you.

ALLEN: And we are just getting information we want to share with our viewers now from our investigative team in New York. Investigators are looking at surveillance video. We knew they had it. But it appears to show a person near where the explosion at the 23rd Street location occurred.

That's according to local and federal law enforcement officials. Investigators are trying to determine if that individual is connected to this explosion. So that's the first time in hours covering the story that we've heard perhaps of a person of suspicion involved with this.

HOWELL: Right. Early on investigators did say that it was intentional. Now we're obviously connecting dots and learning more. Let's go now to Richard Quest, who's at the scene in New York. That second site just four blocks away. Richard, what are you hearing there?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what happened was several hours ago just -- about an hour or two after the first explosion that Jean was talking about on 23rd Street, we became aware there was a large-scale police operation and just four blocks further north at 27th Street.

Which is -- I'll go out this way, actually, and you can see behind me. That's 27th Street. To give you an idea, 27th Street, it's a very nondescript block between 6th and 7th. Some apartment buildings, some new buildings. Several small businesses.

It's certainly by no means a major thoroughfare like 23rd or a seriously important street, but what they did find was this pressure cooker. You've been showing the pictures now. We can show it again. This pressure cooker with wires coming out, a cell phone, but they've not said what was in it. Now, what we also saw shortly thereafter was a device or bomb containment unit arriving, which is like a big drum on the back of a truck.

And that went down 27th Street, and we believe, we believe the device has since been removed.

HOWELL: Richard, one other thing. Just to set the context and set the scene. It's a busy Saturday night. A lot of people out. UNGA set to start soon. Many people will be out there.

ALLEN: The president's arriving tonight as well in New York City.

HOWELL: A lot happening. Just help our viewers understand the context.

QUEST: Well, I'm one of those people. I was just down in the village minding my own business, having had dinner with friends, and all of a sudden I heard a load of sirens and went past me these black limos, black big, big cars, fire brigade, and ambulances.

Now, my immediate thought was oh, yes, it's the United Nations General Assembly, Limoville. The limos have started and the entourages and the motorcades have begun. And then more and more started to come up 6th Avenue.

And it rapidly became clear that both 23rd Street just four blocks that way and up here as well was something much more serious. Now, what was the evening like? It was a perfect fall evening.

As you can see, I've come straight from the scene where I was earlier, short sleeves. It was a warm night. The streets were absolutely packed with people, which does not surprise me, having seen the evening, that there were more than 20 injuries on 23rd Street.

Because although 23rd Street, I mean, it's a double -- it's two-way traffic. It is extremely busy. Lots of restaurants. Bars. Pizzerias, those sort of things, and it would have been packed at the time. Particularly at the corner where 135 23rd Street is, which is where this took place.

So tonight just to wrap on this point, as I walked around the area because police were looking under every car and every garbage can and every corner to see if there were other devices. The streets, guys, were absolutely packed with people.

ALLEN: And to that point, you know, it's interesting. No one was killed in this. One person is in critical condition. We're told the others do not have life-threatening injuries. So that's amazing in of itself.

[02:10:04]I also want to ask you, Richard, about this device, this pressure cooker. What do they plan to do with it? Are they working on it there? Are they removing it? Do you have any information on that? QUEST: They've not confirmed that it's been removed but sources have told CNN that it has been taken away and that would certainly follow on from what we're seeing. About a couple of hours ago, there were a lot more fire brigades. There were helicopters overhead.

We saw the bomb containment device going into the -- the bomb containment unit going in there. Now, quite a lot of the police have gone. Quite a lot of the fire brigade have gone.

So the word is it has been taken to the Bronx, which is a bomb disposal unit where it can be safely diffused and then analyzed. But the truth of the matter, we know virtually nothing about this other than what you've seen, the pressure cooker, some wires coming out of it.

Oh, yes, and one other fact. One other fact. The emergency warning that was sent out on the cell phone network to all people living in the area to stay away from the windows. And I can tell you there's a hotel down on 27th Street.

There's a hotel halfway down the block, just opposite where the device was, where all the residents of the hotel have been told to stay in and away from the windows, but those guests who were away from the hotel can't get back.

So there's several people walking around these streets that are sort of befallen and -- let me just read you that message. It was the emergency alert. It came out an hour ago.

It said suspicious package, residents on West 27th between 6 and 7 stay away from the windows. So although the buildings were not evacuated, people can't get back into hotels that are along there and residents can't get home.

HOWELL: Important to point out, Richard, to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world, investigators still looking into this. No nexus into terrorism at this point. Obviously, the investigation continues.

But our reporters continue to cover this live. Jean Casarez at the site of the explosion. Richard Quest where that second device was discovered. Guys, we'll stay in touch with you throughout the night. Thank you for your reporting.

ALLEN: And as we've been telling you, there was a news conference earlier. They did not have a lot to say. Of course, at that point they did want to let people know what they did have at this point. New York's fire commissioner also spoke earlier at that news conference out on the street.

HOWELL: And he briefed them on the conditions of the 29 people who were wounded. Natalie just talked about that. Here's more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL A. NIGRO, NEW YORK FIRE COMMISSIONER: There were 29 injuries here. One considered serious. Twenty four of these people have been transported to area hospitals with various degrees of scrapes, abrasions, from glass, from metal. Thankfully, none of these are life-threatening injuries and the 24 patients that have been removed are not in a serious condition other than the one patient with a puncture.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: You know, here's the thing. This is the NYPD that's dealing with this. These guys know what they're doing. They're on top of it. And obviously, as they put out information to let people understand what's happening, you know, they're doing it methodically, slowly, precisely. We'll obviously learn more throughout the night.

ALLEN: And we should point out that it's the new police commissioner's first day on the job.

HOWELL: What a first day. You know, let's bring in Steve Moore now via Skype from Los Angeles. He is a CNN law enforcement contributor and a former FBI supervisory special agent. Steve, good to have you with us. First read from what you understand. All the facts we know so far. What do you think?

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: I think you've got to consider the New Jersey bombing earlier. You've got to consider the 24th Street and the 27th Street all connected. What's going to be interesting to me is to find out what the bomb residue, what the bomb debris was from the blast at about 8:40 and have it compared to what we saw as the possible device on 24th.

ALLEN: What do you make of it, Steve, that they don't know, they haven't said, let's just say that, about the genesis of the explosion? And like you said, that we don't know much about the residue, we just heard the fire chief talked about metal and glass and abrasions with the victims. But don't know much more other than a mangled dumpster.

MOORE: Yes. And what's curious to me is that if you wanted casualties you would keep it away from a dumpster. A dumpster, whether it's right next to it or the bomb is -- the IED is inside the dumpster, it's going to restrict its explosive damage to civilians.

[02:15:01]So I'm wondering why it was near that dumpster. And you know, sometimes you almost even wonder if this was a dry run, could I get to Times Square on a Saturday night and put this into place? You just don't know.

HOWELL: Certainly. A lot of questions that will be asked in the coming hours and the coming days. Steve, if you could stand by with us, I want to show our viewers, if we'd ask the director to do so, to see that second device that was discovered.

And I just want to talk about it from what you have seen. The second device, the image that we've received. From what you've seen there, talk to us about the sophistication here.

MOORE: Well, you know, when I was in the Southern Philippines, we had a bomb put in our perimeter, very similar to that, different type of explosive. But it had the same cell phone duct taped to the top.

One of the things that's interesting is if they can get that phone off of there without the device exploding a lot of times people don't buy brand new phones to do this. They use old phones.

And what we found in the Philippines is we were able to pull that off and go through call records and the directory and it was a boon for us. So if this was intended to go off but didn't, that cell phone might be an immense intelligence coup.

HOWELL: And I heard from our previous guests that have been on in the previous hours, the question, could it be a hoax device? You know, could it be a decoy or just a hoax? There are all kinds of questions that obviously investigators will be looking into.

ALLEN: And Steve, what do you think about the device itself? Is this any kind of sophistication? Is this anything someone could do pretty easily? Just from looking at it.

MOORE: You know, the recipe for a -- for a pressure cooker bomb has been on the internet -- or not on the internet, but it's been available since 1971, when "The Anarchist's Cookbook" came out. So it doesn't mean it's necessarily related to terrorism, although al Qaeda's magazine has put out several of these designs. It doesn't have to be sophisticated. That's why they put it out there. Just about anybody can do it.

HOWELL: And Steve, obviously 29 people who have been injured, and from those 29 people investigators will be able to determine the contents. What was in whatever that device was, whatever it was, that exploded. Talk to us about that process and how they will gain new information and insight from it.

MOORE: That process is kind of gruesome. I've never dealt with it with patients who survived. Usually, you x-ray the bodies and excise from the bodies pieces of the bomb debris and using that it's very important to find out whether you're dealing with thick galvanized metal, meaning a pipe bomb, or thinner steel which might indicate a pressure cooker. You're going to be able to get some downloads fairly quickly once you start getting this information unfortunately out of the bodies of the victims.

ALLEN: Steve Moore, we thank you so much. As we learn more in the next few hours, we hope to continue to talk with you since you're on the west coast. Thanks so much.

I do want to point out again to our viewers the new information we've just learned in the past few minutes that there is video surveillance. Apparently they're looking at that shows a person near the explosion and they're investigating that right now.

HOWELL: We'll get more from investigators surely in the coming hours. This is CNN. When we come back, we continue the breaking news coverage of the explosion Saturday night in New York City.

ALLEN: Plus, just as they were supposed to cooperate against militants in Syria, the U.S. and Russia exchange some very harsh words after the U.S. bombs the wrong people in Syria. We'll have more on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:23:00]

HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN. You're watching breaking news coverage where we continue to follow the situation in New York City. At least 29 people there wounded after an explosion in the city's Chelsea neighborhood.

(INAUDIBLE) We still have correspondents there on the scene working the story for us bringing us any more developments as they learn them because it's very much an active scene there in New York.

But we also want to bring you other stories, major stories that have broken in the past 24 hours from around the world. This one in particular, the U.N. Security Council wrapped up an emergency session a few hours ago.

Russia actually called the meeting after blaming the United States for an airstrike that killed dozens of Syrian regime forces near Deir Ezzor Airport.

The United States said the strike was a mistake and they stopped it immediately after Russian officials informed them of the error. But a spokeswoman for Russia's Foreign Ministry says the strike suggests, and this is what they feel, that the U.S. is defending ISIS.

HOWELL: Also getting new information on a story that we're following, Australia saying its aircraft were involved in that deadly airstrike. The Australian Defense Force has released a statement saying they were among a number of coalition partners that participated. They added that they would never intentionally target a Syrian military unit and never aid ISIS.

ALLEN: Well, we're going to look at how countries in the region are reacting to this airstrike now. Senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman, has been following that angle of the story for the past few hours. He's live in Istanbul for us. Ben, what are you hearing there?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We understand that this attack, this strike took place at about 5:00 p.m. local time yesterday by U.S., Australian, and perhaps other coalition aircraft against what they thought was an ISIS unit in the area outside Deir Ezzor in Northeastern Syria.

This is an area where there are scattered Syrian Army outposts, but by and large it is controlled by ISIS. Now, the strike went on for about 25 minutes until the Russians informed the American command center in Doha, Qatar that they were striking Syrian regime forces.

[02:25:13]The Americans say they called off the strike as soon as possible, but the Russians are reporting that 62 Syrian regime soldiers were killed.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, perhaps more than 80 were killed. And yes, as we see, this has caused a huge blowup in the U.N. Security Council.

Where the United States has expressed its regret for the intentional loss of life, but the Russians are calling blaming the Americans for a failure to coordinate, suggesting that the United States is supporting ISIS.

And certainly that's one of the conspiracy theories that's quite common in this part of the world. There's going to be quite a mess to be sorted out on the ground as well as at the United Nations -- Natalie.

ALLEN: Absolutely. We saw Samantha Power there. She did not mince words when she spoke of her anger at this meeting called by the Russians there on a Saturday night. It should be an interesting week at the U.N. General Assembly.

But a little more -- you know the region so well, Ben, reporting from there for so long. Deir Ezzor, according to reports, as soon as the United States made this accidental bombing, ISIS rushed to take this area.

What is the situation around Deir Ezzor as far as the Syrian government troops backed by Russia and then you've got ISIS as well and the U.S. overhead.

WEDEMAN: Yes, Deir Ezzor is a town on the Euphrates River in the northeastern part of the country. The Syrian government controls the airport and a few parts of Deir Ezzor itself. But by and large these are isolated outposts.

I've met Syrian soldiers who have served in that area, and it is a very isolated, dangerous part of the country where ISIS by and large runs the roost.

However, you do have this complicated mix of forces in the area. In the air you have the Russians, the Americans, and the Americans' coalition partners, in this case the Australians as well. On the ground you have Kurdish forces, you have ISIS. You have the Syrian Army, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

ALLEN: Yes, absolutely. And all the while you have Aleppo, which this stand down in the fighting was supposed to bring much-needed aid to the people there. That has not happened. All right. Ben Wedeman, we appreciate you. We'll talk with you again about this situation as it unfolds. Thanks, Ben.

HOWELL: And we'll have much more now on the breaking news we're following here on CNN.

ALLEN: Yes, just ahead, a man who was nearby when the blast happened in New York City explains what happened afterwards as police rushed to the scene. More ahead here. You're watching live coverage on CNN. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:31:31]

ALLEN: And welcome back to our breaking news coverage of an explosion in New York. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Natalie Allen along with George Howell here for you.

Here's what we know. A device found a few streets from the explosion earlier at 8:40 p.m., this is the device, appears to be a pressure cooker. Sources say wires coming out of it were attached to a cell phone. Police say the bomb squad has now safely removed it.

HOWELL: New York's mayor saying the explosion Saturday night appears to be intentional. At least 29 people wounded there and authorities are wounding anyone with information, anyone that might have seen anything, to come forward.

ALLEN: And apparently as we've been reporting in the video surveillance they have they do see someone that looks suspicious. They're check into that. That's the first we've heard of a person of suspicion in all the hours we've been covering the story. We also heard from a man who was in the area with his family. So many people out and about --

HOWELL: Busy night. Saturday night in New York.

ALLEN: Beautiful, beautiful night in New York City. He talked about what occurred. We spoke with Ryan McMillan by phone. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN MCMILLAN, WITNESS (via telephone): I was at the corner of 23rd and 6th with my wife and two daughters and we were just about to go into the subway, and there was just a -- we were just sort of loitering trying to figure out whether we should go to the subway or have my daughter go to the bathroom.

And it was a huge explosion. And I saw the back window of an SUV pop out, like all the glass went into the street. And my wife and I just looked at each other and we ran up 6th Avenue. But none of us were knocked to the ground.

None of us were -- it was obviously very shocking, but it wasn't -- it didn't feel something like -- you know, there were no fires or anything like that.

It just felt like a huge noise and we could sort of feel the blast. But it was mostly just shock. We ran and people were screaming and running up the block. It was definitely shocking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: So many of the eyewitnesses or people that were there were telling us how loud this was. And reports that people could hear in Hoboken, New Jersey. That's across the Hudson from this area around Chelsea. So a significant something or other. We still don't know what the source of it was.

HOWELL: Like we were saying, it's a busy Saturday night in New York and keep in mind the weather plays into it. It's been really warm in New York. The weather just a couple of days ago, today excellent weather. So many people outside and that's the concern.

When you have something like this happen with so many people out on the streets. I was just in that very neighborhood a few days ago. Tons of people out. So that's the concerning thing here as investigators try to get to the bottom of it.

ALLEN: And the good news, of course, no one seriously injured at all except for one person. We don't know anything about their condition yet, but we'll be checking in with the hospital situation.

HOWELL: Certainly hearts and prayers are going to their quick recovery, that that person is going to be OK. Errol Louis, a host for New York One located in Chelsea, and he told us earlier why New Yorkers are on edge when they get word of something like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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.

[02:35:04]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 VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: A lot of people who live there. UNGA going on. Fashion week in play as well. A lot of things happening. So a lost people on the streets. The good news, the thankful news, 29 people injured, but we know that no one was killed. One person you've mentioned in critical and the hope is that that person will get better. No life-threatening injuries.

ALLEN: Right. CNN's Rachel Crane has been following this angle for us. She is outside Bellevue Hospital in New York City, joins us on the phone. Rachel, are you hearing anything more about the wounded and who are these people? Has anyone been let go from the hospital? Are they still in the hospital? What do you know?

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): 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, 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 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll just 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. And what happened is I just blacked out. 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. I don't remember.

CRANE: How are you doing now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pain. 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CRANE: You hear him say he was worried about not seeing his son again. Clearly worried for his life. As I pointed out, a hospital official told us several of those nine blast victims had been released from the hospital.

We talked to another young woman who is a blast victim who said she was in shock, that she just wanted to go home and go to sleep but it 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 checking every single ambulance coming into the hospital, checking those 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 the people talk about this explosion lifting their car up, that you have people who have already walked out of the hospital there tonight. Do you know anything about any other victims who were taken elsewhere, Rachel, or the person who's in critical?

CRANE: No, you know, 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 and 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 has been pointed out, a hospital official telling us that most of those nine blast victims have at this point been released from the hospital. So clearly their injury is not too serious.

HOWELL: Twenty nine people wounded. Of those 29, nine sent to Bellevue and according to our Rachel Crane, most have been released. And again, the good news here, most of them non-life-threatening.

ALLEN: Fantastic news. For something like this then we had the second device and people talking about feeling it and hearing it so loud. I just want to read one quote by someone in the "New York Times." They were on a rooftop two blocks away. They said, quote, "We felt the shock waves go through our bodies."

HOWELL: My goodness.

ALLEN: That says what people experienced there in the area.

HOWELL: And Rachel, you know, the interview that you had where the man was just concerned to see his son that tells the story.

[02:40:08]People were just going about their day then all of a sudden it just happened.

CRANE: Yes, you're correct. He actually describes the scene. He had just dropped his son off. He was driving with his pregnant girlfriend. I don't know if you can see in the frame there, but she's actually pregnant. She said the baby was all right.

But of course this couple here not expecting their evening to end like this. Both in shock, both just saying they wanted to go home and go to sleep. They were picked up by family members and they said they were looking forward to a good night's rest.

HOWELL: Rachel Crane at Bellevue following this story for us. Rachel, thank you so much. You're watching CNN, continuing coverage of the situation in New York. An explosion that happened just off 23rd Street, and a device discovered on 27th Street. We'll continue to bring you details as we get them. This is CNN breaking news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: We will continue to bring you developments in the New York City explosion story, but we're also following some other developments and stories as well. This one is from Minnesota. The suspect -- a suspect is dead after going on a stabbing spree at a shopping mall in Minnesota several hours ago. Police in the city of St. Cloud say multiple victims have been wounded from that. Eight were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Witnesses say the suspect entered the shopping mall, made reference to Allah and asked at least one person if they were Muslim before he assaulted them. An off-duty police officer shot and killed the suspect. We'll continue to bring you anything more about that suspect if we learn it in the next few hours.

HOWELL: Turning now to the race for the president, the U.S. president, both Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama were featured guests at a gala in Washington, D.C. Saturday night.

[02:45:07]And Mr. Obama delivered one of the most impassioned speeches of his presidency, urging African-American voters not to turn their backs on Hillary Clinton. Our senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: 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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ALLEN: Well, let's talk about these latest political developments from the campaign trail. What a week it has been and it marches on here.

CNN senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein joins us live from Los Angeles. Ron, very nice to see you. A few things I want to talk about. But I first want to start with what we just saw from a fired up President Barack Obama and that speech he gave to the black caucus meeting. What do you make of that?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Not surprising he was fired up. Donald Trump spent years trying to delegitimize him as president, I mean, this was personal. I was at the White House Correspondents Dinner a few years ago where he did his extended riff on Donald Trump and it was lacerating.

He has faced an extraordinary series of challenges during his presidency from voices on the right who questioned not only his policies but his fundamental legitimacy as president. Donald Trump was at the forefront of that.

So it is not shocking that he is personally engaged in this to a remarkable extent. Any outgoing president wants to be succeed by a president of their own party. It is in fact the best way to save their policies and their legacies.

But as you know it has been very tough since World War II. Since World War II, George H.W. Bush in 1988 is the only third term in effect for the same party in the White House. So it is an uphill climb in that way and in many ways Donald Trump faces unusual headwinds.

ALLEN: And the race is tighten field goal you believe the poll of the polls that are out there. No matter the birther thing, that he tried to finally put down this week. Hillary Clinton not being forthcoming about her illness. Could there also be a reason that trump has also been trying to court the black vote that had Obama as passionate as he was in saying do not abandon Hillary Clinton?

BROWNSTEIN: I don't think Donald Trump has got a lot of success in make inroads in the African-American community after the history of his involvement in the birther effort. And of course the other controversies that have shadowed him and his father and their company about racial discrimination.

I don't think he is a credible voice in the black community. I think more of what he's been doing in his outreach to minorities is trying to reassure the large number of college-educated white voters who now tell pollsters they believe he is racially biased.

Roughly 60 percent in the different polls from different organizations. But look, for Hillary Clinton the issue in the African-American community is not so much margin as it is enthusiasm and turnout and particularly among younger African-American voters.

[02:50:01]She's having a problem with millennial voters across the board. She did not do well in the primary against President Obama with them in 2008. She fared even more poorly in 2016 against Bernie Sanders. And if you look at kind of the major components of the Obama coalition in 2012 the young millennials that she has fallen off most conspicuously and that extends across racial lines.

ALLEN: So what do you think? We had Michelle Obama going out on her own to campaign as well. We'll be seeing more of Barack Obama. But with the race tightening what do you think's going through her mind right now as far as what she needs to do as she marches forward with this and in advance of the first debate?

BROWNSTEIN: She needs to deal with the doubts the public has about her. The striking part of this race is whoever is in the headlines as Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia, just put out a study, confirming what we know intuitively.

Whoever's in the headlines more suffers, I mean, you mentioned the race has been tightening. It's tightening primarily because Hillary Clinton has come down, not so much because Donald Trump has come up.

The two what I call north stars of the race remain unchanged this week even in the polling that had the overall race tightening. That was roughly 60 percent of Americans say Donald Trump is unqualified and roughly 60 percent say he's racially biased.

But an even higher number say they don't believe Hillary Clinton is honest and trustworthy even though she scores much better on qualifications. What she above all has to do is give people a positive reason to vote for her.

They're convinced she has an agenda and that her priorities as such that she will make a difference in their own lives. Too many voters view her as someone driven by her own ambition, who is a calculating politician and who lacks core convictions. In many ways the portrait that Bernie Sanders painted of her during the primaries.

ALLEN: Yes, she has her work cut out for her. Donald trump does as well. Ron Brownstein there live for us in Los Angeles. We will be talking with you again. Thanks so much.

ALLEN: We'll take a short break, but we'll continue with our story out of New York. Still developing this hour.

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[02:55:58]

ALLEN: Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining us. We're live in Atlanta and we've just received some new information that is very interesting represented to the New York situation we're following.

We had the explosion at 8:40 p.m. We had the second device. And New York police have just told CNN they are now investigating a third device. It was located at 28th and 5th.

So let's go over where these things have happened, 23rd and 5th, explosion at 8:40. The pressure cooker now being investigated, removed from the scene at 27th. And then one street over, 28th and 5th, we just learned in the past five minutes, police telling us there is a third suspicious device.

What is that doing to the scene there and the investigation and the people that still can't go back to their places they live? But there is of course the pressure cooker, the second device that was found that pressure cooker. Nothing happened with it. It's being investigated, but now we have a third device.

HOWELL: Overall, 29 people injured. At this point, we know one person in critical condition. We'll continue to follow the story. This is CNN breaking news. Stay with us.

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