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Investigators: Possible Terror Cell Behind Bombings; Bomb Exploded Near New Jersey Train Station; FBI Stops 'Vehicle of Interest' in NYC Bombing Probe; ISIS Wing Claims Responsibility for Minnesota Mall Attack. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired September 19, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Here it is.

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[07:00:07] CAMEROTA: OK. Police say that was one of five devices found inside a backpack that was hidden in a trash can near a train station in Elizabeth.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: The good news is that the FBI is questioning several individuals picked up after pulling over a vehicle of interest in connection with Saturday's bombing in New York City.

Take a look at the map. This is where they went off. Remember, one of those little fire marks there on the map is something that was done by authorities.

We have every angle of this breaking story covered. Let's begin with CNN investigative producer Shimon Prokupecz. Now, let's get down on what our reporting on this.

They stop these guys in a car. They see guys on videotape. They wind up connecting the two, but that's just the beginning of what they're now calling a terror investigation.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN INVESTIGATIVE PRODUCER: That's right. So, really all this started unraveling yesterday. I think they had found some pretty good clues. I think what happened was they started digging in on some of the clues; and they found that this, perhaps, may be connected to a wider net of people.

And so the FBI started working back, and they've made several connections now between several people. We're told less than a dozen, perhaps, that could be part of this cell. And now they're out trying to arrest them. Some have already been detained. The FBI is out doing searches.

They do believe the bombing, the bomb that went off in New Jersey at Seaside Heights; the incident last night in Elizabeth, New Jersey; and, obviously, the big explosion that occurred on Saturday in Chelsea is all connected at this point, all connected by the same group.

CAMEROTA: And so Shimon, terror cell. What does that mean? That means homegrown? That means ISIS-directed?

PROKUPECZ: We don't know. So we know all we know right now is that these guys wanted to blow things up and wanted to kill people, wanted to hurt people, whatever it is. We don't know if it's ISIS-inspired. We don't know if it's ISIS-directed. That's also ongoing, and authorities have not shared any of that with us.

C. CUOMO: ISIS hasn't taken any responsibility. My reporting says that what's happening here is that these guys in the car are just leading to more and more people who are involved in this. They're working very quickly to try to isolate this and find the main guy, Shimon. They're saying that's their big focus right now. The person who may have made these bombs is the most dangerous, because he can be get put into different situations.

PROKUPECZ: Correct. I mean, perhaps. But the other thing is we also -- we really know the main guy, as far as we know, until really yesterday, there was really -- really only one person that they were looking for that we knew of in this cell. And that was the guy who was captured on surveillance video in Chelsea, carrying a duffel bag with the -- with the pressure cooker.

So, late last night, things started developing; and we started hearing, well, a lot more people may have been involved in this.

CAMEROTA: Shimon, you're getting information by the minute. Keep coming back and sharing it with us as you get it. Thank you very much for that.

One of the five explosive devices detonated at that train station in Elizabeth that you just saw -- that was in New Jersey. CNN's Jean Casarez is live at the scene with the latest. What have you learned, Jean?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, I want to tell you, we can confirm to you that there's police activity going on right now at a secondary location in New Jersey. It is very close to where the backpack was found in the trash can; and we can also confirm that this activity is related to the ongoing terror investigation.

Now, let me take you to last night at 9:30. Two men were walking by a trash can near a pub close to the train station. They saw a backpack. They took it out. They thought there might be valuables in it. They took it under the train tracks, opened it up. They saw a pipe and wires. They knew it was extremely serious at that point. They went to local authorities. Local authorities called in the bomb squad, the FBI.

A robot went up to that backpack. There were multiple explosive devices, bombs in that backpack. You are looking right there when the robot inadvertently cuts one of the wires, and one of the explosive devices goes off. Just one. Well, at one point, just several hours ago, they were able to contain

it, put it in a protective container. It is safe. It is locally still here. It will be sent to the FBI in Quantico, Virginia, for forensic processing.

But also important in the last few hours, they have found near the pub, where the trash can was, surveillance video. They have been combing that surveillance video to see what they see or who they see. And trash pickup, the last trash pickup was on Saturday at that particular trash can, but of course, the identity of who put that backpack in that trash can is critical -- Chris.

C. CUOMO: All right, Jean, thank you very much.

A lot of this reporting is coming in very quickly as investigators are getting confident enough to release it. The big concern right now is to find the man or woman who made the bomb. Why? Because these bombs are made easily. They're made easily in large numbers, and they were so somewhat randomly being distributed.

So what they're concerned about is, if we don't get everybody involved right away, they may dump more of these bombs in some kind of panic.

CAMEROTA: Of course, of course. And you can see that person in the surveillance tape that they want to find.

C. CUOMO: All right. So right now, let's bring in the mayor of Elizabeth, New Jersey, Chris Bollwage.

Mr. Mayor, we know you're very busy and a lot of information coming in. Thank you very much for joining us this morning. What do you want people to know?

MAYOR CHRIS BOLLWAGE, ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY: First of all, I want people to know that the area is extremely safe. The city of Elizabeth is open for business. The schools are open. It's extremely important that people go about their normal day today.

C. CUOMO: What do you know about the raids that are going on right now? There seems to be a lot of quick activity, coordinated efforts between state and federal.

BOLLWAGE: The response by the Elizabeth Police Department and union county and as well as the FBI and the state police has been second to none. Currently, we are on Linden Avenue and Elmora Avenue. The FBI is executing a search warrant. They will be there for the next few hours, going through this location to find any evidence possible, whether it's in relation to this incident or the Chelsea incident.

We're confident that the FBI and the city of Elizabeth and the state police will execute that search warrant to the best of their ability.

C. CUOMO: What does it mean to you that investigators are reporting to us that they believe this may be part of a terror cell's activity that is located somewhere in New Jersey, they believe maybe in Elizabeth? BOLLWAGE: Well, no mayor wants to wake up and find out this news,

never mind last night when I was out here for a few hours. It's extremely important that the entire country faces these threats, and no mayor is immune from it. We spend all day trying to protect our citizens and making sure they have a better way of life, while there are a few people in this country who would look to destroy that way of life.

C. CUOMO: Now, you're saying Elizabeth is open and, obviously, that's a message that you want to get out to people, to get life back to normal, to disrupt the terrorist intent here of changing life.

But at the same time, you've got feds flying around, trying to close down all the possibilities and different players who might be there. What's the balance of caution until all these bad guys are caught?

BOLLWAGE: Well, the railroads have been opened. The Amtrak and New Jersey Transit has opened up the train station here for people to get to and from their job. The schools are open. The police are doing their job.

It's extremely important to recognize that the police have leads. They're going to follow those leads, and they're going to make sure that the perpetrators are caught.

C. CUOMO: Have investigators been able to give you any degree of confidence that they know who, or the number of people who are responsible for this?

BOLLWAGE: This is an ongoing investigation. As you've said earlier, it started with one person. It's going to continue. The police will follow every lead that they possibly can; and then those leads will result in arrests in the future.

C. CUOMO: All right, Mr. Mayor, thank you very much. As you get information that you believe is important for people to know, please, you know how to be in contact with us. We're help -- we're happy to help in this situation.

Best of luck there in Elizabeth.

BOLLWAGE: Thank you for having me.

C. CUOMO: Absolutely. Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right. We're going to turn from Elizabeth now to that bombing that injured 29 people in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood. The FBI and the NYPD stopping a, quote, "vehicle of interest" in Brooklyn and questioning the people inside.

CNN's Jessica Schneider is live at the scene of the New York City bombing with all the latest. What have you learned, Jessica?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Alisyn, we're now learning that both of the devices here in Manhattan were pressure cookers. The pressure cookers were packed with BBs and ball bearings and other metal fragments.

And we're learning that the pressure cooker that was placed right here on West 23rd Street near 6th Avenue, that was partially placed underneath a Dumpster, which may have diminished the impact.

Of course, 29 people were injured. But the placement under, or partially under, the Dumpster may have spared a lot more people.

Now, in addition, investigators are now looking at two key pieces of video. In that video, it shows one man in both the locations, the explosion location and where the pressure cooker was found, unexploded. Investigators say that the man had a duffel bag on wheels. It was here at West 23rd Street. And then he was seen with that same duffel bag four blocks north of here.

Then two additional men entered the video. They went into the duffel bag, pulled out a white plastic garbage bag. And investigators believe that the pressure cooker that did not explode was in that garbage bag, as well.

So now authorities are looking to piece together other video from other surveillance cameras in the area to find out how those men might be related and how this all connects to the explosion right here on 23rd Street here on Saturday night -- Chris.

C. CUOMO: That was one of the early confusing aspects of this investigation. The men took the white bag out that they believe had the pressure cooker in it and left with an empty duffel bag. So, were they part of it? Were they just people happening by who wanted the duffel bag? Investigators don't know yet. But they do now know so much more than they did even earlier this morning.

They believe they are working on breaking a terror cell. As a result, while they're trying to balance, your local leaders, saying business as usual, life is getting back, there is a huge rush of extra security, especially in and around the New York City area.

You have to remember, the U.N. General Assembly is also in session right now. CNN's Brynn Gingras is live outside the U.N. right now. Obviously, that is always a secure situation, but now even more so.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Definitely, Chris. And you just posed a number of questions that investigators are trying to answer and, in that time that they're trying to answer, they're just saying be vigilant, because we don't have those answers as of yet.

But of course, be vigilant, everyone, not just the police. But there is extra layers of security, not just here at the U.N.; also at Times Square but other landmarks around the city and random locations, as well, including inside the subway systems, where commuters this morning are going to see a lot more K-9 units. They're going to see random bag checks.

So there's a lot of action being taken around the city to make sure everyone is safe because, again, at this point no one under arrest for any of these incidents that have happened around the tristate area. And that's why security definitely stepped up as of now here at the U.N. especially -- Chris.

CAMEROTA: Brynn, I'll take it. Thank you very much.

We'll go now from New York to Minnesota and bring you the latest in the mall stabbing there. An ISIS wing claiming responsibility for that attack as the officer who took out the attacker is hailed as a hero.

CNN's Rosa Flores is live for us in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Give us the latest, Rosa.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, some tense moments Saturday night in the mall that you see behind me. According to police, one man wearing a private security company uniform walked in, referenced Allah, asked a few people if they were Muslim before attacking them with a knife.

Now, authorities are not releasing the name of this individual, but they do say that by the end of the night, nine people had been stabbed. Three of them are still in the hospital, including one with critical injuries.

But authorities say it would have been so much worse if it weren't for one hero. They're hailing him a hero, an off-duty police officer from nearby Avon, a man by the name of Jason Falconer. Authorities who watched the surveillance video, they say that the stabber was lunging towards this off-duty police officer; and the police officer shot and killed him.

Now, now we're learning that the news agency linked to ISIS is claiming responsibility and, also, calling this suspect a soldier of ISIS. Now, CNN can't independently confirm that, but the FBI, Chris, is investigating this as an act of terrorism.

C. CUOMO: Absolutely. Rosa, thank you very much.

CNN has learned investigators are looking into the possibility that the bombings in New York and New Jersey are connected to a terror cell.

Up next, we've got the New York governor and the New York City mayor about what they know about the investigation. How safe is their city and their state? Next.

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[07:17:07] CAMEROTA: All right. We're staying on a lot of breaking news for you. There is information about the bombings in New York and New Jersey, and CNN investigative producer Shimon Prokupecz joins us now.

Shimon, I know you've been working your sources all morning. You have learned that these three different locations were coordinated.

PROKUPECZ: Yes. They believe at least connected, somehow coordinated. They believe that the people who were responsible for the bomb that went off in Seaside Park or that Marine charity run. The location last night in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where several bombs, pipe bombs perhaps were located at a...

CAMEROTA: At a train station.

PROKUPECZ: ... at a train station and, obviously, the Chelsea situation on Saturday are all connected.

C. CUOMO: So let's do this the right way. People are being flooded with information this morning. Some of it's wrong, and a lot of it is being taken out of sequence. Let's begin at the beginning.

This happens. They start with a very intense federal, state and city investigative effort going over the video. They start to see similarities that are then confirmed by the forensics with the actual explosives. Where does that leave them?

PROKUPECZ: So that leads them -- they start -- they get a name. So the -- I will tell you, they get a name; and I think a lot came from the pressure cooker that did not explode.

CAMEROTA: In Chelsea.

PROKUPECZ: In Chelsea. A lot was learned from there because, again, they still had this thing. So they had a ton of forensics that they were able to get off of the pressure cooker. What that is, whether it's actual fingerprints or something else, we have not been told. But I think that -- that played a key role in this investigation.

CAMEROTA: And they also saw someone on surveillance video at the scene where 29 people were injured in Chelsea, and then also at the scene four blocks away where that pressure cooker was found.

PROKUPECZ: Yes. So this is kind of -- this surveillance video. So, they first located surveillance video on 23rd Street of a man kind of wheeling a duffel bag. They then, again, see him about 15 minutes later. So first they see him about 7:50 Saturday night, and they see him...

CAMEROTA: Before the explosion?

PROKUPECZ: Before the explosion. And they see him wheeling the duffel bag. They lose him somewhere in the area, and then the explosion happens.

About 15 minutes later or so, they see him on 27th Street wheeling the same duffel bag, placing it down near where they would eventually found the pressure cooker.

C. CUOMO: Just to be clear for people, they found this on surveillance video. It's not like they had this guy in real time.

PROKUPECZ: Correct.

C. CUOMO: And he wound up getting away. This is all after the fact on videotape. There are then two men who enter this scene four blocks north of the

initial explosion in Chelsea. They come, they open the duffel bag. They take out a second bag that they now believe has this pressure cooker in it that they're using to get all this forensic information. They then leave with the duffel bag.

PROKUPECZ: Correct.

C. CUOMO: And investigators believe they may have been a distraction. They may have been guys who just wanted the duffel bag, not part of what they're now calling a potential cell.

PROKUPECZ: Right. We don't really know, but initially, there was some thinking that these two men were not part of it. Who knows where we are right now? But initial thinking was perhaps, maybe these two men were not part of it.

[07:20:02] All they really did was they saw the duffel bag. They opened it. This is all on video. They opened it. There's a plastic kind of a white garbage bag. They take out the garbage bag, which contained the pressure cooker. They leave it. They then take the duffel bag and walk away. We don't know if investigators have talked to them. We know, obviously, investigators want to talk to them. But we don't know if investigators have actually interviewed them, ruled them out. So we don't know where they stand in the investigation right now.

CAMEROTA: OK, Shimon, thank you very much. We appreciate all of your reporting. We know that you'll be bringing it to us throughout the rest of the program.

PROKUPECZ: Sure.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much.

All right. Joining us now is New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Governor, thanks so much for being here.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: Good to be with you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right. Governor, what can you tell us about the latest in the investigation? We just had Shimon reporting that investigators now do believe that these attacks in New Jersey and New York were coordinated and the work of a cell. What can you share?

A. CUOMO: Well, coordinated work of a cell. We know that, obviously, at a number of bombings -- Elizabeth in New Jersey, Seaside Park and in Manhattan in the Chelsea area -- and there are similarities among the bombs. They are not all -- they're not identical, but there are certain similarities in the way the bombs were put together with certain elements, et cetera, suggesting that they might have been a common linkage or a common person behind all the bombs.

Individuals have been questioned. The investigation is proceeding rapidly. I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't start to zero in on a particular individual. Today even. And I wouldn't be surprised if we do find a foreign connection to the act.

Yesterday we were saying that, in my opinion, it was clearly an act of terrorism. It was a dangerous act. It appeared designed to intimidate civilian population. You set off two bombs in New York City, not to mention New Jersey, and that is an act of terrorism. The question was, was it foreign-related?

CAMEROTA: Yes.

A. CUOMO: And I think that answer might be coming today.

CAMEROTA: And what would the answer to be -- I mean, be? In other words, are you close to concluding that, yes, this is an act of international terrorism?

A. CUOMO: Well, the investigation is proceeding rapidly, and the evidence might suggest -- and I don't want to get ahead of the investigation officially -- but it might suggest a foreign connection to the action, which would then, obviously, raise an issue of the foreign nature of this attack.

CAMEROTA: Governor, I do want to ask you about what you were just referencing, and that is that you were quicker than some other politicians to label this an act of terrorism. And what gave you that confidence yesterday?

A. CUOMO: Well, yes, the definition of terrorism is a dangerous act that endangers human life and that appears intended to coerce or intimidate a civilian population. You set off two bombs in New York City, that's terrorism. That is generic terrorism.

The question becomes, is it foreign-related? That's a second question. And yesterday, we didn't have that information.

But call it what it is. And, frankly, we're in the political silly season here with presidential politics. In some ways this is the political crazy season. And there was an over-fascination and a gotcha game, I think, with what did Hillary Clinton call it, what did Donald Trump call it? And who called it what first?

I'm the governor of New York. I'm concerned about New Yorkers. I want them to have the facts. I want them to have the truth. I want to call it the way it is. I don't want to sugarcoat it. But I also wanted to say, "Look, this is New York, and these things happen. They have happened to us." 1993 World Trade Center bombing, 9/11. We understand what it is. We're going to be honest about it, and we're going to get on with our life. We're not going to allow them to succeed.

To succeed would be to intimidate New Yorkers. We're not going to allow that to happen. New York is up and running today.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

A. CUOMO: Subways are running. The roads are open. So we are right back to business. And that's my message. Also, that we have more security forces probably than ever in history

right now. You know, we have the U.N. General Assembly coming...

CAMEROTA: Right.

A. CUOMO: ... and President Obama. I brought up another 1,000 state police and National Guard. So, you will see more security. And that should make you feel better about the situation.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

[07:25:06] A. CUOMO: But it is what it is. That is the statement of the world. And I think, when you are not direct with people, they sense it, especially New Yorkers, frankly. And that's not the way I govern.

CAMEROTA: Governor, we understand there is a person of interest who was seen on surveillance video -- we have not, in the public or media, seen it -- at the two sites, the one in Chelsea where the bomb went off injuring 29 people and then four blocks away. What can you tell us about that person of interest?

A. CUOMO: Just that. You know, I was -- I'm the former attorney general of the state of New York. I participate in many of these investigations. And it's important that you allow the investigation to proceed without giving out too much information which could actually hurt the effort itself.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

A. CUOMO: But as I was saying before, Alisyn, there is a person. I believe the investigation is going to turn to focusing on a particular individual.

CAMEROTA: Yes. And do you believe that...

A. CUOMO: And that will then give us more of an idea of the genesis.

CAMEROTA: Do you believe the FBI will be releasing any sort of wanted poster or image of that person today?

A. CUOMO: That could occur. Let me say that. Now, I don't mean to be overly careful with words with you, but this is a sensitive time in the investigation. And I would not be surprised at all if they put out information to law enforcement about the person they're looking for.

CAMEROTA: Governor, we've heard what happened over the weekend described as the most successful terror attack in New York since 9/11. Is that how you would characterize this?

A. CUOMO: You know, I don't know. I don't even know what that means. You had bombs detonated, 29 people injured. Thankfully, no fatalities. To compare it to 9/11 is just, you know, absurd in some ways. But a bomb was detonated. The second bomb did not detonate. Law

enforcement was unprecedented in their response. We were seamless between the federal, state and city authorities.

So you know, I -- my guess is the intention was to do more damage than they did. And the intention, again, of terrorism is to intimidate, is to coerce. And we're not going to allow that to happen. And we haven't allowed it to happen. This happened yesterday. Today, Alisyn, we're back up and we're running. The subways are running. The stations are open. So, no, I don't believe they were successful.

They were successful in detonating a bomb. They were not successful in intimidating or coercing New Yorkers, which is the purpose of terrorism. That's what they want.

CAMEROTA: Understood.

A. CUOMO: They want to disrupt our lifestyle. They're offended by the freedom, offended by the democracy. And we're not going to let them do that.

CAMEROTA: Governor Andrew Cuomo, thank you very much for taking time for us this morning. We will be watching you all -- all day with this investigation.

All right, we do have some breaking news.

C. CUOMO: Alisyn, while you guys were talking, we're getting some new reporting in that will fill in some of these holes. Shimon, come back on to us now. What can we report now? There's been an advance.

PROKUPECZ: So this man, a 28-year-old man. I just -- I don't have his name in front of me here. Police have just released this photo. They are looking for him in connection, specifically, they say, with the Chelsea explosion. This is someone they want to question.

He's 28 years old. I'm told he's from Afghanistan. That is where authorities believe he was born. And they're now looking for him. This has gone out to all across the -- all across New Jersey and New York; and police are actively, and the FBI is actively searching for him now.

CAMEROTA: Is this the guy in the surveillance video?

PROKUPECZ: We don't know. I've asked that specifically, and no one has confirmed that for me; no one has denied it. But no one -- no one has told us anything.

CUOMO: All right. So let's bring in the mayor right now, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, live from city hall.

Mr. Mayor, thank you for joining us during this very busy time. It's important to get the information out there. The man on our screen right now believed to be Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old Afghan -- Afghanistan, of descent from Afghanistan, now here in the U.S. Authorities are looking for this man. Is this what you've been told? MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK CITY: That's right, Chris. I'm going

to give you a couple of details here. Ahmad Khan Rahami, he is a New Jersey resident, 28-year-old naturalized United States citizen. He is wanted for questioning. That photo is going out just now to the public, as you said.

Want to -- I want to be very clear that this individual could be armed and dangerous. He should be treated as armed and dangerous. Anyone seeing him should call 911 immediately.