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New suspicious package addressed to CNN discovered at Atlanta post office

Law enforcement officials told NBC News the latest package is similar in appearance to the ones allegedly sent by Cesar Sayoc, who is accused of mailing more than a dozen pipe bombs to prominent critics of President Trump.
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Another suspicious package was sent to CNN — the third mailed to the network in a week — and intercepted at an Atlanta post office, officials said on Monday.

A U.S. Post Office at 400 Pryor Street SW was evacuated shortly after calls came to local police at 9:30 a.m., officials said.

The bomb squads of both the FBI and Atlanta police rushed to the scene, which is about 1.2 miles from CNN headquarters in Atlanta, according to federal officials.

The piece of mail was removed, rendered safe and sent to the FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, authorities said.

An FBI spokesman on Monday morning declined to speculate if this package could be the work of suspect Cesar Sayoc. But hours later, the FBI confirmed this latest Atlanta package is "similar in appearance to" one addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan and another to former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, both sent to CNN's offices in New York

Federal authorities in Florida on Friday arrested Sayoc, 56, and accused him of sending more that a dozen pipe bombs to critics of President Donald Trump's, including to CNN.

It's feared Sayoc might have sent a package as late as Thursday, just a day before his arrest, sources told NBC News.

Sayoc had a list of more than 100 possible targets, including political figures, journalists and entertainers, law enforcement sources said. Officials are working to contact everyone on that list.

CNN chief Jeff Zucker sent the announcement to staff and sought to quell any fears felt by network employees at the Atlanta headquarters or bureaus.

"This morning another suspicious package addressed to CNN was intercepted at an Atlanta post office," he said in a statement.

"There is no imminent danger to the CNN Center. All mail, at all CNN domestic bureaus is being screened at off-site facilities as of last Wednesday, so this package would NOT have come directly to the CNN Center even if it hadn't been intercepted first. Our screening process is working and we will keep you updated as we learn more," Zucker said in the statement.