These reports are coming in from multiple news outlets, the first of which is NBC News:
NBC Miami has a story up about this which adds a bit more detail. The story also notes that there have already been suggestions the bombs were intended as a threat, not to actually kill anyone:
Some of the 10 suspected mail bombs addressed to high-profile Democrats and others over the last few days were flawed and not capable of exploding, while others have yet to be fully analyzed, several investigators said Thursday.
In some cases, the flaws were substantial. In others, more subtle, they said.
The news comes after investigators said the devices appeared poorly made and that it was unclear if they were hoaxes or simply cases of bad construction…
The latest development could lend credence to a theory NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo mentioned in a Thursday interview with CNN, where one of the devices was sent.
“There’s a theory that the bombs were not intended to explode, but were intended to intimidate,” Cuomo said. “If that is the intent, then this is having the desired intent. And it could actually be fueling the group that’s doing it.”
The Associated Press backs up some of this, saying investigators aren’t sure what the intention was here:
Investigators probing crude pipe bombs sent to prominent critics of President Donald Trump are trying to determine whether the devices were intended to detonate or simply to sow fear, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press Thursday.
The officials said the devices were not rigged like a booby-trapped package bomb that would explode upon opening. They had timers and batteries but never went off. Law enforcement officials were still uncertain whether the devices were poorly designed or never intended to cause physical harm. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation by name.
Authorities may be saying this to the media anonymously, but none of the people at the NYPD press conference today, including the FBI, are saying it to the public. Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill was asked at least four times if the devices could be characterized as hoax bombs and repeatedly said that the NYPD was treating them as “live” devices. “We’re not going to give you a 100% accurate description of what the devices were, but we have to treat them as live devices,” O’Neill said the first time he was asked (video below).
I’m speculating here, but it seems to me that even if some or all of the devices were not intended to detonate, authorities are not going to reveal that for fear people would let their guard down. I suspect we will get a more complete account eventually, but not until the person behind this is caught and no longer a danger. For now, best to just assume these could kill someone.
Meanwhile, a separate NBC story reports that investigators have begun to zero in on Florida as the location from which the packages were sent:
Investigators are looking into whether some of the packages were sent from Florida, two senior law enforcement officials told NBC News. Three officials said that they believe all of the packages were sent through the mail.
The NY Times has a story up reporting the same thing, adding that authorities are focused on southern Florida based on photos taken by the postal service:
It’s no wonder why the left goes to such extremes so quickly when these events develop. They have to fully exploit the story politically before the facts overtake the political trajectory.