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Obama works to reassure Americans after bombing

Posted at 11:36 AM, Sep 19, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-19 12:02:07-04

NEW YORK (AP) — President Barack Obama says investigators are focusing on a "person of interest" in the New York and New Jersey bombings, but see no connection to the stabbings in Minnesota.

Obama says the country is "extremely fortunate" nobody was killed in the bombings. He says he's spoken to the governors of New Jersey and New York and pledged all needed federal assistance.

He spoke around the time police in New Jersey arrested Ahmad Khan Rahami, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Afghanistan with an address in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Authorities were looking for him to question him about the bombings.

The president is echoing FBI officials who have said they're investigating the Minnesota stabbings as a potential act of terrorism.

Obama is urging Americans to report suspicious activity to law enforcement.

Obama is in New York for the annual U.N. General Assembly gathering.