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Holly Petraeus vs. Predatory Lenders; Package Explosions at Two Maryland Buildings
Aired January 06, 2011 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We're looking at two live pictures here.
On the left, I believe, is the Pentagon.
Is that correct, Valerie (ph)?
We're expecting to hear from Defense Secretary Robert Gates regarding an announcement to send 1,400 more Marines to Afghanistan to bolster some of the activities there and to counter a Taliban insurgency that they are expecting in the spring.
On the right, we are looking at the U.S. Treasury, where we are expecting to hear an announcement about an appointment having to do with Holly Petraeus. She is the wife of General David Petraeus, who is going to be appointed to a key position with respect to the consumer finance legislation that was passed several years ago.
We'll tell you about both of those when they happen
When last we talked about U.S. troops in Afghanistan, all eyes were on July, six months from now. Why? Because that's when U.S. forces may ever so gradually begin to pull out. That is still the plan, officially.
Today, however, comes word that in the meantime, more troops are going to go in. That's why we were looking at the Pentagon.
Already, far more U.S. troops are in country than ever before. Take a look at this.
Our troops, of course, went in at the end of 2001, after the 9/11 attacks. And gradually, with very few exceptions, it's been going up. But look at this escalation in 2009 and then into 2010. We're at the highest level yet, about 97,000 troops.
As we speak, they are planning to -- by the way, 97,000 U.S. troops, 131,000 total for the NATO force. Soon these troops will be joined by 1,400 Marines heading for the southern Taliban strongholds of Helmand province and Kandahar province.
Their goal, in the words of one senior U.S. official, is to take advantage of the security gains that have already been achieved and to minimize the chances of a Taliban offensive in the spring. OK. A world away from the Afghan theater, the wife of the commanding U.S. general is taking on a threat to U.S. troops around the world. Not a threat that most non-military families would think of, by the way.
Pentagon surveys have found money problems rank very high on the list of service members' stress factors, obviously. Higher even, by the, way than health and family relationships.
So, today Holly Petraeus, wife of four-star General David Petraeus, is taking charge of the Office of Service Member Affairs in the brand new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. You're looking at the -- well, I'll show you -- there you go. You're looking at a picture of the room where we're expecting that announcement to be made.
CNN's Jessica Yellin is following that story. We've got her on the phone for "Two at the Top."
Jessica, tell us a little about this. What is the thing that necessitates the appointment of somebody to this particular position?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Ali.
One of the key concerns that led to Congress forming this consumer bureau is that there were all these complaints that service members who are overseas, serving this country at war, are getting calls and letters from their families saying that, you know, I got talked into this loan, it wasn't what I thought it would be, that there are all of these abusive practices by dishonest lenders who are luring military families into financial trouble.
So this new bureau has formed this office. Holly Petraeus, the wife of General David Petraeus, is going to be able to work with the DOD, we're told. They'll work in partnership with the Department of Defense to both educate the families of service members and also help them with claims against abusive lenders, and answer questions for these military families.
They'll work with federal and state agencies to coordinate response. And they're going to -- it's basically -- they say it's a way to help pay back these people who are doing so much for the country, and at least get them clear of any dishonest lenders who are taking advantage of them.
VELSHI: Right. You've got to think, Jessica, for all the people who are based here in the United States and not busy fighting a war, there are complications. I mean, you can't even figure your way through the financial system if you're not in the military. So it does seem worse that people are taking advantage of service members.
YELLIN: Absolutely. And you add all the stress and the fact that one of your family members, that a husband or wife is now not working, so probably not making a paycheck in their regular job here, so all these strains on the family. There just has been no central office to help with oversight of these issues. And Holly Petraeus will not just be running it, she'll be setting it up, figuring out how it needs to be structured to best respond to service members' needs.
VELSHI: Excellent, Jessica. We'll watch her swearing in when it takes place. Thank you, Jessica Yellin.
There you go. There it is. We are just about -- that's Elizabeth Warren, by the way, very important -- she has played a very important role in formulating the Consumer Finance Protection Act.
We will keep an eye on that for you.
(NEWSBREAK)
VELSHI: Well, a study linking autism to childhood vaccines has been declared fraudulent, but this story is far from over. What do you do right now if you're a parent concerned about vaccinating your child? Elizabeth Cohen is here to separate fact from fiction right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: OK. We're just getting this information in now. You're looking at live pictures from KABC. WTOP, our radio affiliate in Washington, D.C., is reporting that two packages have exploded in two Maryland State government buildings.
One package was at the Jeffrey Building on Francis Street in Annapolis. Another one was at the Maryland Department of Transportation Building in Hanover.
A government official says no one was hurt in either incident, but we are working on getting details of two package explosions inside Maryland government buildings, one of them in a Department of Transportation office and one at the Jeffrey Building in Annapolis.
You are looking -- that's WBAL, our affiliate. That does not look like Annapolis right there, so that may be the one that's at the Jeffrey Building. This is Hanover, Maryland, that you're looking at right now.
You can see a lot of emergency vehicles on location. We do have the initial information that we have. WTOP, our CNN Radio affiliate in Washington, also reporting no injuries reported in the two explosions. But apparently, the explosions did take place inside the buildings.
So, two packages. That's what we know at the moment.
We do apparently have -- I don't know if I saw another shot from Annapolis, Valerie (ph). Is this the one we're looking at right now?
WBAL. This is Hanover, Maryland. This was a Department of Transportation -- a Maryland Department of Transportation building. We're at the mercy of our affiliate's helicopter there. We're thankful for it, but I can't tell you exactly what we're pointing at the moment, or whether that is the building that we're talking about.
Most of the emergencies -- most of the emergency vehicles seem to be centered around something a little bit closer than building where the explosion may have taken place. You can see there where Hanover and Annapolis are. Annapolis, obviously the state capital.
We're moving in there. All right. So that is the -- OK.
So that is the building that we were looking at right there, the large building, what you saw in the aerial photographs. That's the Maryland Department of Transportation headquarters in Hanover, Maryland.
We're taking a look now through Street View to get a sense of what it is. OK. So that's the building.
We were looking at it. That is the building that we're talking about. It does appear that there's no activity at the building. There were a lot of emergency vehicles parked some distance away from that building.
Again, officials are telling us there were two blasts, two different government buildings in Maryland, but that there were no injuries in either package explosion. One of them that you're looking at right now, in Hanover, Maryland, that's a live picture from there. Another one in Annapolis. It's something called the Jeffrey Building.
We're finding out what the Jeffrey Building is, what government activity took place there. In this particular case, it is a Department of Transportation -- a Maryland Department of Transportation building that we're looking at.
The building appears to be just further up from what you're looking at right now. If the camera were to pan up, you would see it tilt up. You would see it.
But right now you're seeing those emergency vehicles. And it does appear that there have been no injuries. We're glad to hear that.
But we're staying on top of it with our affiliates, WBAL and our D.C. CNN Radio affiliate, WTOP, to find out what, if anything, authorities know about those packages, whether there's any information at all at this stage about where they were sent, how they were discovered, how they detonated, who was around when they detonated.
At the moment, this is all the information we have right now. I'm just checking to see as new information is coming into us what we've got, because we've got our affiliate, WTOP, providing most of the reporting on this.
Again, the building in Annapolis was the Jeffrey Building on Francis Street, for those of you who know Annapolis, Maryland. The one that we're looking at right now, however, is in Hanover, Maryland.
That is the most information I've got right now. OK. Let me just tell you a little bit more about this.
The building in Annapolis, the Jeffrey Building, is the State House office building. The one in Hanover that you're looking at now is a Department of Transportation headquarters for the Maryland Department of Transportation. We are getting this information via the affiliate, WBAL.
Apparently, this is attributed to the Annapolis mayor, Joshua Cohen, telling us that the Jeffrey Building, an explosion occurred in Annapolis, Maryland, is the State House office building.
All right. I'm now getting information -- my executive producer is telling me that that is not necessarily the case.
Kelly (ph), tell me what you know about Jeffrey Building.
The Office of Homeland Security is in the Jeffrey Building in Annapolis, and the secretary of state for Maryland is in the Jeffrey Building. That's what we know right now.
So it may not be -- initial reports may not be that it is the State House building. We are understanding that's the Office of Homeland Security for Maryland and the secretary of state.
This is a building in Annapolis. The one you're looking at now is not that one.
The one you're looking at right now is WBAL. That's from our affiliate in Baltimore, WBAL of Hanover, Maryland. And it's the Department of Transportation headquarters.
You can see emergency vehicles on the site. We've seen that helicopter sort of tilt up and pan to the left to give us a sense of that building. But that's the information that we have.
We're now looking at -- I'm just going to push in and show you where Hanover, Maryland, is. That's Hanover. That's not Annapolis. That's Annapolis right there.
OK. So that's Annapolis. That will be the Jeffrey Building that we're looking at.
I'm just getting some more information right now to tell you about that site that you're looking at. All right. So I'm looking at the site of what is in the Jeffrey Building. I'm just scanning through that.
It is the -- let me just look through this list. Secretary of Appointments is in that building, the secretary of state is in that building, the Office of Homeland Security is in that building. That's what I can mostly make out.
It is 16 Francis Street in Annapolis, Maryland, for those of you who know. And Annapolis is one of those state capitals that is -- it's an old colonial town that's very tightly woven. So, all of these streets are very close to the state capital, which is in that round- about that you can see on the top of the screen.
So I can't make out -- I don't know Annapolis well enough to know where the street actually is, which one of those streets it actually is, 16 Francis Street. And I can't make it out from where we are. But that is Annapolis that you're looking at.
So, two explosions in two different places in Maryland. Both of them did actually detonate inside two government buildings.
One is the -- a government building in Annapolis, the state capital. The other one is the Maryland Department of Transportation office in Hanover. And that's the one you're looking at right now.
OK. So let me -- I'm just trying to get some more information on this right now. But we are looking at live pictures from WBAL, our affiliate there.
I'm getting a little more clarity. My colleague, Jim Acosta, is letting me know as we're trying to locate the Annapolis location that initially we had said -- I was telling you that it's near the State House. It is across the street from the State House. The Jeffrey building is across the street from the State House in Annapolis.
Now, again, we've got two pictures going on here because we don't have live pictures from Annapolis just yet. What we do have is live pictures from Hanover.
That is the building right there. That's the Maryland Department of Transportation headquarters on the right side of your screen, one of the two buildings in which a package has detonated.
What we are hearing from government officials and through our CNN D.C. Radio affiliate, WTOP, is that there were blasts at both buildings, but that no one was injured in either of the blasts. We are still trying to determine what exploded, what type of blasts they were, how big, and how damaging they were. But what we do understand is that nobody was injured in either of those explosions.
Now, here is a picture. This is not -- these are not live TV pictures. We're looking at Google Earth here.
These are pictures of Annapolis. Now, you see the State House right in the center there and all of those streets that go off of it. This explosion was at a building that is across the road from the State House.
Again, Jim was just helping me out. Jim Acosta was just helping me out by letting me know where it was.
But there's the State House. And there are a number of streets leading up to it, sort of up a hill. And there are buildings that -- government buildings that surround it. One of those buildings is the Jeffrey Building. That is -- that houses a number of government offices, including the Maryland Office of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State's Office.
Very, very -- information is sort of trickling in at the moment from our various sources, and we are thankful to WBAL, our Baltimore affiliate, for getting us pictures of Hanover through their helicopter that you're looking at right now. And for WTOP, our D.C. radio affiliate, who is doing a lot of the reporting on this to try to let us know what's going on.
If you are out there and you do know what's going on, send me a tweet @AliVelshi, or post it up to my Facebook, and we will follow up on all of these leads to find out what exactly is going on there.
This is Francis Street in Annapolis, Maryland, where the Annapolis explosion was. In Baltimore, we're going to find out a little bit more information.
Those of you who know the Maryland Department of Transportation building -- and I suppose if you're in that part of Maryland, it's sort of a building everybody will know because you have to go there probably for your licenses -- that's what we're looking at. So we're alternating between the two spots.
This is now Annapolis again Two explosions inside state of Maryland government buildings. Apparently, no injuries.
We don't know what it was that blew up. But apparently, they took place inside government buildings. Not the State House.
We're showing you Annapolis. And if you know Annapolis, that's sort of a big landmark there, other than the naval institutions. But the State House is not where the explosion took place. It took place on Francis Street, at the Jeffrey Building, which is home to the secretary of state, home to the homeland security offices there, and other -- numerous other offices. We don't know yet exactly which other offices they are.
Now, these two buildings are both state of Maryland building, the Department of Transportation headquarters, and a place where there would be other senior Maryland government officials. So it is unclear what the motivation would be to target those two buildings.
Annapolis, about -- less than an hour's drive from Washington, D.C. Now you're looking at Hanover there and the complex that houses the Maryland Department of Transportation headquarters.
So we have no information yet coming to us about what it is.
Now, let me tell you more -- OK. So we have been reporting -- again, this is all very, very new information.
We've been reporting no injuries. There are conflicting reports now that a mail room employee may have been injured. We are working -- because this is breaking news, we are working to clarify information as we go along.
But this is -- this may have happened at the State House in Annapolis. Again, lots of conflicting information.
We had first heard that the explosion was at the State House. We are now told it is at the Jeffrey Building, which is across the street from the State House on Francis Street.
We do know that the bomb squad -- or this is what we're told -- was investigating the incident. The FBI were on their way when the incident took place.
This would have been about 1:00 Eastern. This is information that I'm getting from "The Baltimore Sun."
But again, I have to tell you, this is -- we're getting new information momentarily, and some of it is conflicting. So all we seem to know is that something blew up at the Annapolis -- the Jeffrey Building in Annapolis.
There were also reports on the other picture. This is -- this is -- are we still on Annapolis? Let's see that WBAL picture for a second.
This is the Maryland Department of Transportation. Again, according to "The Baltimore Sun" -- and they're not -- they're saying that they got this from other media sources. According to "The Baltimore Sun," there were injuries at the Maryland Department of Transportation.
We're putting in calls to various people in these towns to find out what they know. Apparently, the fire department in the county may have been responding to an explosion when -- they don't know what it is. They don't know what it is. Initial reports say that it might have been a chemical explosion.
OK. Let's go back now to Annapolis for a second. And I'll just keep on informing you of what I know, what new information is coming in.
Again, these are all reports -- and I'm getting some information now through "The Baltimore Sun." The Jeffrey Building, which is across from the State House in Annapolis, includes a number of gubernatorial staff offices, as well as the Office of Homeland Security, the Office of Appointments, and the secretary of state.
So it's an important Maryland state building in Annapolis, Maryland, the state capital. That is the State House.
These are Google images that we're showing you. Anybody who's been to Annapolis knows that that part of town is centered around the State House. A slight incline, a bit of a hill to get up there, and government offices surround it.
So, obviously in a case like this, there is going to be conflicting information, but we are trying to get as much new and accurate information as possible. I've got everything open here. So if you have information and you want to tweet me, @AliVelshi, if you're near there, let me know what you see. Let me know what you're hearing or what you've even heard on local media outlets.
So I'll update you with what we know now.
You're looking at a picture of Hanover, Maryland. This is coming to us from our affiliate WBAL. And it is the parking area, the road, basically, outside of the Maryland Department of Transportation, where apparently there was an explosion.
We do not know what exploded. We had heard initially that there were no injuries at all. We are hearing conflicting reports because that's what happens when things happen. Various news organizations get different pieces of information.
We have conflicting reports about injuries in both places. So we don't know.
In the case of the other location, in Annapolis, we heard reports that someone may have been injured in a mail room in the State House, but we're now learning that the explosion wasn't in the State House, it was across the road from the State House.
I did receive a tweet from somebody whose dad works at the Naval Academy, the other big presence, obviously, in Annapolis, Maryland, and said they had heard no explosion, no idea of an explosion, or no information about the explosions.
I'm just reading through my information to see if there's anything else that we have about these explosions. OK.
So what we're looking at there is -- we're pushing in on Google to Hanover, Maryland, the Maryland Department of Transportation. They are -- officials -- there seems to be some movement there. There seems to be some people on the ground, but there doesn't seem to be anybody near the building at all.
We showed you a picture of the Maryland Department of Transportation headquarters. It's seems to be completely devoid of activity at this point. So whatever is happening doesn't seem to be happening with great urgency at the moment. It seems to have been over an hour since this was first reported.
Now we're getting more information from a different source that people have been injured at this particular one that you're looking at. This is courtesy of our affiliate in Baltimore, WBAL.
There are some reports that there have been injuries there. There are also reports that this may have been an improvised explosive device.
Let's go to -- what town is that in, Kelly (ph)? All right.
I've got somebody on the phone.
Josh Stewart, are you there?
JOSH STEWART, "CAPITAL NEWSPAPER": Yes, I'm here. How are you doing?
VELSHI: Good, Josh. Where are you?
STEWART: I am in downtown Annapolis, not too far from the state building.
VELSHI: OK. Tell me what you know.
STEWART: Well, here's what's going on. There's been a suspicious package at a state office building right by the State House. And there was some sort of an explosion.
I'm not sure at this point how large it was. And we're receiving conflicting reports about whether the person that opened the package in the mail room was injured.
VELSHI: OK. Just give me a bit of the geography.
We're looking at it right now on Google. We're looking at a view that shows me basically a lot of streets leading up to the state capitol, to the front entrance of the state capitol.
Where would this Jeffrey Building be? Where is this Francis Street?
STEWART: Francis Street is -- if you're looking at Google Maps, and, you know, right down that State House, you can see on the one side what looks like a statue.
VELSHI: Yes.
STEWART: The statue is staring right down Francis Street.
VELSHI: OK.
STEWART: And you see Main Street, the big road there. It's off to the right.
VELSHI: So if I'm looking at it, it's to the right of -- OK. So we see it. We've got a dot there that shows the Jeffrey Building.
An important building? A building that a lot of people spend a lot of time in during the day?
STEWART: You know, it's mostly state employees. I mean, every now and then, you know, a regular citizen will have business there. But it's a lot of bureaucratic work that goes on there.
The Department of State is there, and they do a lot of paperwork related to some of the corporate filings and stuff like that. But it's not a place like the DMV, where everyone has business.
VELSHI: Right. And the other explosion we're hearing about in Hanover is at a Department of Transportation office. Again, it looks like an office building, so I don't know whether they do things like licenses and things like that. But this is not necessarily a public building, the Jeffrey Building, but it is obviously home to a number of important offices. We're hearing about the Office of Homeland Security and the secretary of state in Maryland.
Josh, please stand by. See what information you can gather on this, because we need to get some new information.
I'm going to just take us over now to the president of the United States with his announcement about William Daley.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- most trusted aides to step into the breach and lead us through a very difficult time. And I also ask Pete to help us think about how the White House should be structured and run over the next two years.
Thanks in no small part to his efforts, a period that everybody thought would be one of retrenchment turned out to be one of great progress for our country. And Pete's leadership is all the more remarkable when you consider that when I first met him and asked him to lead my Senate staff, he told me in that gruff voice of his that his strong inclination was to leave government.
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: The reason everybody is applauding is because they've heard him say that every day -
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: -- they've heard him say that everyday for the last six years. And yet each time I have asked him to accept one more assignment, he's saddled up and he's taken the job. And it's fair to say that I would not be where I am today without his extraordinary counsel.
Pete didn't volunteer to serve as interim chief of staff. He made it clear that that was not his preference, but he accepted the responsibility. And as he oversaw our strategy during the lame duck session of Congress, he also was working to develop a structure and a plan for the next two years that I believe will serve the White House and more importantly, the American people very well. One of those assignments was providing me recommendations for candidates to serve as chief of staff moving forward.
As part of that process, today I am proud to announce the appointment of an experienced public servant, a devoted patriot, my friend, fellow Chicagoan, Bill Daley to serve as my chief of staff.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Few Americans can boast the breadth of experience that Bill brings to this job. He's served as a member of President Clinton's cabinet as commerce secretary. He took on several other important duties on behalf of our country. He's led major corporations. He possesses a deep understanding of how jobs are created and how to grow our economy.
And needless to say, Bill also has a smidgen of awareness of how our system of government and politics works. You might say it is a genetic trait. But most of all, I know Bill to be somebody who cares deeply about this country. Believes in its promise and considers no calling higher and more important than serving the American people. He will bring his tremendous experience, his strong values, and forward-looking vision to this White House. I'm convinced that he'll help us in our mission of growing our economy and moving America forward, and I very much look forward to working with Bill in the years to come.
Before I ask Bill to say a few words, I should also confess that I have prevailed once again on Pete's sense of duty or sense of guilt, I'm not sure which. And I'm grateful that he has agreed to one more tour of duty as my counselor for the next two years.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Now, as you might have noticed, people like Pete. He is a unique and indespensible asset to me and this administration. I cannot imagine life here without him. And I told him so. And I'm delighted that we're able to keep him a little bit longer.
I'll be making further announcements in the days and weeks ahead. And I am absolutely confident that we will have a great team that's equal to America's task in the years to come. But with that, what I'd like to do is to introduce my new chief of staff, Bill Daley.
(APPLAUSE)
BILL DALEY, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you very much, Mr. President, Mr. Vice President. You have honored me and my family by giving me an opportunity to serve you and to serve our nation.
Fifty years ago this month, I visited the White House with my parents. And my brothers and sisters to visit a young president who went on to show great strength, leadership and vision in the face of enormous challenges in those times. You, Mr. President, have proven your strength, your leadership, your vision during a most difficult time for our nation and for the world. You have also shown through your example that public service is an honorable calling, and I am pleased to answer your call.
I look forward to working with the wonderful staff, which you have assembled. I know my job will be made easier by the great work and direction of Pete Rouse. The direction and great work he has provided over these past couple of months, and the president talked about the enormous successes under Pete's watch. Pete, too, has dedicated his life to public service and to our nation, and I am grateful for his efforts and I am proud to call him my colleague. I assure you, Mr. President, as they have done in the last two years, that this team will not let you down, nor the nation. Thank you very much for this extreme honor.
(APPLAUSE)
VELSHI: Okay. President Obama announcing William Daley, former commerce secretary, son of long-time Chicago mayor -- as his new chief of staff. And congratulating Pete Rouse, who came in as interim chief of staff after Rahm Emmanuel, decided that he is going to leave, go back to Chicago to run for mayor. So, remarkable interconnectiveness with Chicago, the place where the president has lived for a long time.
All right. Let's go back to that other story that we are following. I'll give you an update on the two explosions that have taken place in the -- in Maryland. This picture is coming to us from WBAL. It is in Hanover, Maryland. Outside of the headquarters of the Maryland Department of Transportation.
Here's what we know. This is one of two explosions that have taken place. A Maryland state government official has told CNN there are some injuries in the incidents. He describes them as very minor. There are two packages. Basically, one of them went to the building we were just showing you, that site that we were just showing you. This is the Maryland Department of Transportation headquarters. That's the building on the right side. One went to that mailroom.
The other one went to the Jeffrey building, which is a block away, across the road from the state house in Annapolis, Maryland. There's the state house you're looking at. You see the red dot, just a little below that, that's the Jeffrey Building. We are told that they were not big explosions. They were packages. We don't know what the packages are. Both buildings have been evacuated.
A source has told CNN that -- something happened. They detonated, flame was emitted. The source talking to CNN felt that it might be too strong to call them blasts. But we still have details coming in. One of the details we have coming in is that Annapolis, there may be one injury there as well. There do appear to be some injuries.
Let's go to Jeanne Meserve who is following this along with us from Washington. Jeanne, what do you know?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, what we're hearing is that explosion might be too strong a word to describe what happened with these two packages. However, they did ignite. These devices went off. We're told by one law enforcement source that flames were emitted. One individual was trying to deal with one of the packages and did at least -- one person sustained injuries. Those were burns to their hands.
Now, this is a Maryland incident. The Maryland State Police are taking the lead. The FBI is also responding. The Department of Homeland Security says it is aware. It's closely monitoring reports, but at this point in time, this is a Maryland state incident at this point. These two devices, the only ones we've heard about so far, Ali.
VELSHI: Okay, Jeanne. Stand by. Let's bring Fran Townsend in. She's a national security contributor, joining us from New York.
Fran, what I haven't told our viewers, if they've just joined us, is that the Jeffrey Building, the one in Annapolis, across from the state house, housed homeland security and it housed the secretary of state. The other building was the -- in Hanover, Maryland, was the Maryland department of Transportation headquarters.
What comes to your mind when you hear these two places as targets? What does that mean?
FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR (via phone): You know, it's really hard to understand or explain right now, Ali. I was talking to a very senior law enforcement source, federal law enforcement source who had firsthand knowledge of the investigation. He said, look, these packages ignited. As Jeanne just pointed out, too strong to probably call it a blast. But this was just a surprise. Suggesting to me, Ali, that it wasn't related to an ongoing investigation that they know of yet.
Clearly, as Maryland -- Maryland are the first responders. The federal officials are now trying to look at this and figure out do we know anything that might be useful to help Maryland as they continue to try and understand who might be behind this and why those particular buildings.
VELHSI: Fran, stand by. Let's go back to Jeanne Meserve. Jeanne, what have you got?
MESERVE: We've got new information from a government source. According to this individual, the package at the Jeffrey Street address flashed with a little bit of fire. The package emitted what was described as a s sulfur smell. A person there was slightly injured.
The other package was at the Maryland Department of Transportation headquarters, as you know, near BWI airport. That resulted in an injury, we're told. According to this source, the reports of these two devices came in not simultaneously but very close.
Precautions have been taken at state facilities all across Maryland. The FBI, Maryland state police and the Maryland fire marshals are now all responding to these incidents. But we should caution you here, these are early reports. Early reports, as I know -- Fran can tell us better than anyone are often incorrect. But that's the early picture we're getting now.
VELSHI: Well, that's -- thank you, Jeanne. You work in a beat, Jeanne, where you're often called upon to talk about things where we have very little information. Fran, I'm just looking at my some tweets. Some of them are helping me out, gathering information. Other people are saying, don't you guys know what you're talking about? This is exactly the case, though. When you have things like this, you have something detonating or flames coming out of it at two different buildings not terribly far from each other. At what point does the information become solid where we have a sense of whether this was a terror attack? Was it someone with a gripe? How do you make sense of fast moving information like this?
TOWNSEND: Ali, the first thing they're going to try to do is try to look at the remnants, what's left of each of these devices. They'll look at the sophistication, they'll look at what was the detonation device, what was the material used to get the flash or the ignition. And all of that will tell you something more about the bombmaker.
Was it a disgruntled employee? Or was this some organized group that had some agenda or message that they were trying to get out? You know, until we know more from the scenes, from the actual the facts of the investigation, it's hard to know which this would be.
VELSHI: Okay. We'll continue to lean on you and Jeanne Meserve. Fran Townsend and Jeanne Meserve, thanks very much for helping us out on this. We'll keep an eye on this situation, obviously. As we get more information on these two explosions -- whatever they were, these two - something -- that happened at two Maryland government buildings, we'll bring that back to you as soon as we have it.
We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
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VELSHI: OK. Continuing our coverage, there have been two reports of packages exploding in state government buildings. One incident occurred at the Jeffrey Building in Annapolis. Across the street from the state house on Francis Street. It houses offices of a number of the governor's staff, including the secretary of state and the office of homeland security.
The other blast occurred at the Maryland Department of Transportation building that you're looking at pictures of it now courtesy of our affiliate, WBAL. And that explosion occurred at the headquarters of the Maryland Department of Transportation. There are conflicting reports as to whether anyone was hurt in these incidents. We are getting some reports from government officials that there were minor injuries in both of them, although some dispute as to whether they are -- how you characterize these, as blasts or explosions. But something detonated and there were flames involved.
We'll keep you updated on details of this as we get them. But please continue to send us information as you have it. You can tweet me @alivelshi. Or go to my blog or my Facebook page. Facebook.com/AliVelshiCNN.
Some other top stories we are following. President Obama has announced that he has tapped William Daley to be his new chief of staff. Two senior officials say -- well, Bill Daley was named as President Obama's chief of staff just moments ago. He's the top executive with JP Morgan Chase and a former commerce secretary. His appointment is seen as a sign that the president is trying to build his ties - or rebuild his ties with corporate America. We will continue to bring you more information on that.
The U.S. military plans to keep pressures on the -- pressure on the Taliban in Afghanistan by sending in more troops. Military officials tell CNN 1,400 Marines will head that way soon. They'll be in country for a few months to boost security efforts in southern Afghanistan and help counter a Taliban offensive ahead of mandated U.S. troop reductions.
Repealing health care reform could add about $230 billion to the federal deficit. That's their preliminary assessment from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. But new House speaker John Boehner is not buying that. He's planning to push ahead with repealing the legislation as Republicans promised to do during the midterm elections.
And today's "Odds & Ends" story was unusually serious. An update on the human cost of Arizona's Medicaid cuts. We asked for your thoughts. I'll check some of them out, straight ahead.
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VELSHI: Since Arizona eliminated Medicaid coverage for many organ transplants three months ago, we've seen two people needing transplants die. I asked you guys to share your thoughts on this. Let's go over to my Facebook page, and I can tell you some of what I've seen in there.
An interesting posting from Ann who says, hang on, I just lost that - Ann, who says -- "Where does the idea come from that this is unusual, that we save everyone possible from everything? We may be able to do that someday, but we're nowhere near that day yet."
Jamie says, "If this was a homeless congressperson, they would have gotten a liver." And we've got other comments like that.
We've also got people saying that why should -- Elizabeth is saying "Why should taxpayers be funding health care for everyone?" And the sad part of this, --Eric says "The sad part of this already sad story is that many people in Arizona and around the country are against the push for health care reform because of the so-called death panels. And this was a death panel in its own right."
Various comments. Lots of comments from all of you. We appreciate that discussion. You can always put your comments on my Facebook page at facebook.com/AliVelshiCNN. Or send me tweets as many of you were very helpful doing with respect to the ongoing situation we're covering in Maryland with respect to those devices that were found in the newsrooms. OK - in the mailrooms, I'm sorry.
OK. Time now for a political update. Senior political analyst Gloria Borger joins me from Washington now.
Gloria, it is official. We just saw it. Former commerce secretary William Daley is the new White House chief of staff. You know Daley. You've encountered him.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYS: I do. You know, he's been around a while in Washington. So have I. I've covered him both as commerce secretary when I covered the fact that he worked to pass NAFTA, which, as you know, was an important trade agreement in which he worked with Democrats and Republicans.
I also covered him, Ali, when he ran Al Gore's campaign. You remember that. And I had this funny story with -- with Bill Daley. I was working for CBS at the time, and it was election night. As you remember, we were all going back and forth on Florida, Florida, Florida. And I got a call on my cell phone at some point late, late in the evening in which it was Bill Daley who called me up and said, "Gloria, tell your network we're not conceding. This election is not over." And then he hung up. And that was it. And we -- at that point, I knew, like, okay. This is going to take a while. This is going to take a while.
So he's a real fighter, Bill Daley. And I also think it shows you, Ali, that really the president has made a turn in choosing Bill Daley to the 2012 election. Because in Daley, he not only has somebody who knows how to work with Republicans, but this is somebody who understands presidential campaigns and understands the importance of getting those independent voters on to the Democratic side. Which is exactly what he's going to try to do starting today for Barack Obama. Because the president, as you know, has lost those -- those independent voters, those blue-collar voters that he needs to get back.
VELSHI: What about all those people that say -- there are two ways of interpreting this. One is that he's cozying up with business by having a guy who's cozy with business who's had a senior position at JP Morgan Chase, or others who say he's offering an olive branch to business? Which one of those is true?
BORGER: I think it's probably the olive branch. Look, there is no secret -- you know this better than I do, Ali. In the business community, that they need to start talking to the business community a little bit more. And Bill Daley has made no secret of the fact that he's part of that business community. One problem they might have, quite frankly, is that Daley was not somebody who supported all of the financial reform bill, which the president counts as one of his greatest achievements, right?
VELSHI: Yep.
BORGER: So that could be a problem. But I'll tell you, what's interesting is, while you do hear from some liberal groups about Bill Daley not being a good choice, Howard Dean of all people came out and said, you know what? I may disagree with Bill Daley on a lot of policy issues, but he's a grown-up and that's what they need in the White House. There you go. VELSHI: All right. Well, we'll watch it all unfold. Gloria, thank you very much. Great to have you here as always. Gloria Borger. Your next political update is just an hour away.
Hey, I want to bring in Tom Fuentes to cover this news that we're covering in Maryland. Two explosions in two different mailrooms of two different government buildings. Tom Fuentes is a CNN security correspondent and contributor for CNN, former FBI. Tom, what do you make of what we've heard so far?
TOM FUENTES, CNN SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR (via phone): Hi, Ali. I agree what Fran Townsend and Jeanne Meserve have already reported. It's very early in the investigation to determine what type of attack or who might have been behind it. Obviously no one has claimed credit yet that we know of. And at this point, it will be the forensic work to determine how the bomb was put together, if it was an actual bomb that didn't work or was it an incendiary-type device that someone concocted at home and tried to detonate to cause an incident.
We don't know that yet. Time will tell with that type of thing. We have the Maryland state police investigating. Of course, other federal agencies such as the FBI and ATF.
VELSHI: Right.
FUENTES: Providing assistance to determine the nature of the device and whether or not a terrorist group, a domestic terrorist group, might have been behind it or just somebody that had a gripe with the state of Maryland or somebody in one of those offices wanting to do this incident.
VELSHI: Yes, usually when you see something in a state government office or a municipal office, your mind immediately goes to whether somebody had a gripe or a former employee or something. But this one was in two different places.
FUENTES: Well, that's true. It may be, you know, again, to get attention. It could be somebody that has -- that doesn't have a gripe, that just thought this would be a convenient way -- those offices might not have had the level of security that a federal building might have or some other targets might have had. So, we don't know yet exactly the motive or the reason -- you know, the reason someone would want to pick those buildings. That will come out in time hopefully during the investigation.
VELSHI: One of the building, of course, was in Annapolis. You're looking at that right now. That's the state house. The other -- the big installation in Annapolis is the U.S. Naval Academy. Barbara Starr is reporting to us from the Pentagon that Naval Academy officials are aware of the situation and are taking prudent precautions.
I imagine everybody is checking their mail right now, Tom. This is something that worldwide we've been faced with. Things that happen in mailrooms, they're hard to deal with. They're hard to foresee. I mean, does that sort of change the way we all look at mail whenever we are?
FUENTES: Well, that's the problem. When you have an incident that's at a typical choke point, which might be where mail comes in or the entrances to buildings, such as the attack at the Pentagon last year where it was right at the -- in front of the checkpoint, that's what those checkpoints are designed to do. That's what mailrooms are designed to do, is prevent something harmful from going any further in the system to going to its final destination. Unfortunately, that has to be the first place where packages are checked.
We've seen the bombings in Rome, for instance, in the last couple of weeks where these people that were injured in those attacks were the people that received the devices in the mail and had to be responsible for trying to open them and decide who should get them. So, anytime you have a mail screening center or a mail receiving center, that's what's going to happen.
VELSHI: All right. Tom, very good. Thank you for helping us out with this, our coverage of this. We'll continue. That was Tom Fuentes, former FBI assistant director.
That's it for me. Brooke is going to continue this live coverage in just a minute.
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