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Two More Suspicious Packages Sent To Robert De Niro And Joe Biden

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

We have confirmation now of two more suspicious packages that were found this morning. A law enforcement official says a suspicious package addressed to former Vice President Joe Biden was found in New Castle County, Del. And a spokesperson for the New York City Police Department confirms to NPR that another suspicious package was sent to the actor Robert De Niro, who is a prominent critic of President Trump. NPR's Hansi Lo Wang is in New York reporting on this story.

Hi there, Hansi.

HANSI LO WANG, BYLINE: Good morning, David.

GREENE: All right, let's go through these. Let's start with the package that was apparently sent to former Vice President Biden. What do we know at this point?

WANG: Well, details are really still coming in. But what we know for sure is, as you mentioned, that it was sent to New Castle County, Del. And Delaware, of course, is the home state of former Vice President Joe Biden. And that was confirmed by a law enforcement source who spoke to our colleague Ryan Lucas.

GREENE: And do we know anything about whether this is similar or connected to these other packages that were sent to prominent Democrats, like Hillary Clinton, yesterday that we've been speaking about this morning?

WANG: Well, the source we spoke to - our colleague Ryan Lucas - did confirm that it does resemble other suspicious packages that have been discovered this week. And authorities are really still investigating exactly what's inside of it and what we may learn, the motives here.

GREENE: The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo - we spoke to him this morning. He was telling us about this package that was sent to Robert De Niro's home in Tribeca. He said that this, another one, seems to be similar to the other ones we've been talking about. What, so far, are police in New York saying about that one?

WANG: Well, it was discovered around 4 a.m. Eastern - very early this morning. And it was discovered in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood. And NYPD, they stopped traffic, sent in a bomb squad. This was near the address of a restaurant owned by Robert De Niro. And the NYPD is telling me that it also is similar to other packages that have been discovered this week and, specifically, it contains a device that was similar to what was recovered from CNN's office in New York yesterday. And the NYPD described that device yesterday as an explosive device.

GREENE: Are police saying anything yet about any possible suspects or what could be motivating someone to do this?

WANG: Right now, not yet. But today's discoveries really fit a clear pattern that has emerged. You know, Robert De Niro, former Vice President Joe Biden - they joined a growing list of outspoken critics of President Trump, top Democrats. You know, it's really remarkable. This list includes, you know, former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former CIA Director John Brennan, former Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters and liberal philanthropist George Soros. These are all people who have received packages, bombs, this week.

GREENE: Hansi, Governor Cuomo said that he was putting a lot of security in place at transportation hubs all around the city and around the state of New York. Are you feeling that this morning?

WANG: Well, there have been some traffic disruptions, specifically in the Tribeca neighborhood. And certainly, NYPD is keeping a close watch because we don't know if there could be more packages discovered later today or later this week.

GREENE: All right, Hansi Lo Wang, NPR correspondent based in New York City.

Hansi, thanks.

WANG: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

David Greene is an award-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author. He is a host of NPR's Morning Edition, the most listened-to radio news program in the United States, and also of NPR's popular morning news podcast, Up First.
Hansi Lo Wang (he/him) is a national correspondent for NPR reporting on the people, power and money behind the U.S. census.