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Suspect #2 To Be Charged; Boston Bombings Could Impact Immigration Rules; Trying To Heal After A Horrific Week; Questioning Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect May Come With Caveats

Aired April 21, 2013 - 16:01   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We're learning more about what's going on but I understand the mayor of Boston is speaking right now, Thomas Menino. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN LIVE PRESS CONFERENCE COVERAGE)

MAYOR THOMAS MENINO, BOSTON: I'm here with these two priorities for this plan. Make sure we do this as respectfully as we can for the victims, their families an all those impacted by last week's tragic event. Operate as quickly and seamlessly, without bureaucracy, for business owners and residents who have been affected by the attack on our city.

Our Copley Square re-entry plan is a multi-agency effort to maximize all resources, manpower, equipment, expertise of our city teams. Once the scene is released to us, the FBI worked with this plan to open up this area to the public. The Copley Square re-entry plan is a five- phase effort that includes everything from environmental testing, including building assessment to debris removal, utility restoration, eventually full access plan.

The deliberate step by step nature of our approach is reflective of our overreaching concern for the health and safety of our citizens. The patience and cooperation of our business owners and residents of this area have played a critical factor in the success law enforcement's investigation and it will be equally important as the city works to reclaim and restore Boylston Street.

We have been working closely with business owners and the city business resource center to set up the park plaza. We'll also open up a mobile city hall close to the area for businesses to have fast and more convenient access to representatives of the city. Also a team has been in communication with the victims and the families and will continue to work with them as we move towards opening the area of Boston for our public once again.

I just want to say to my team behind me, thank you. You're doing a great job. Last week or so all the agencies, and since Friday, been working overtime making sure we have a plan that works to re-establish Boylston Street in the city of Boston. I'll have Rene (INAUDIBLE) emergency medical manager who's working on all the plans. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, mayor. Good afternoon. The city has been working the restoration and re-entry strategy for the Copley area since last Wednesday. A team comprised of the Boston Athletic Association and city agencies, including public works, inspectional services division, Boston Emergency Medical Services, Boston Fire Department, Boston Police Department, the Department of Neighborhood Development, the Boston Public Health Commission and Boston Transportation Department has developed a five-phase plan designed to return Boylston Street to the general public as safely and quickly as possible.

Once the scene is released to the city from the -

BLITZER: All right, we're going to continue to monitor what's going on but clearly they are opening up parts of downtown Boston, Copley Square which had been closed now since the horrific, horrific bombings at the end of the Boston Marathon on Monday. We'll continue to listen to this, continuing to get some other news. Let's check in with Fred. She's also watching what's going on.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you so much, Wolf. This is a special edition of the "CNN Newsroom" with Wolf Blitzer in Boston. I'm here in Atlanta.

So we have a lot more information about what's taken place over the course of the last week. More information about the jihadist video now that the older brother, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev had on his YouTube account. We'll show you that in just a few moments.

But first, here are the latest details on the surviving suspect, the younger brother, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. He's still being hospitalized. He's listed in serious but stable condition. An federal official says he has injuries to his throat and is unable to talk. He could be charged by federal prosecutors today right at his hospital bedside. Wolf?

BLITZER: That would be a pretty dramatic moment if in fact a judge or magistrate shows up at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, goes to the bedside of this 19-year-old suspect and formally notifies him of what's going on as far as federal charges are concerned.

WHITFIELD: It would indeed.

BLITZER: Let's take a look at what else we know about the process, the Justice Department coming up with some formal charges. Our crime and justice correspondent Joe Johns is monitoring this part of the story in Washington for us. What are officials telling you, Joe, what can we anticipate?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, first, on that point you were just making, the rules say that when a person's charged with a federal crime, they need to be informed as soon as practicable but it is not clear whether that would mean this suspect would have to be notified today.

Our sources have told us it's possible we could see charges today but there's no guarantee and it's also likely we won't see charges today. We've heard as recently as yesterday that authorities were contemplating a terrorism charge, most likely something relating to a use of a weapon of mass destruction. There's also a possibility of a state murder charge as well as a use of firearm in commission of a felony charge. Conspiracy's possible, too, because authorities allege the suspect worked on this with his brother. Wolf.

BLITZER: What about this new video of the suspect's capture Friday night? I know authorities are going through it. You've been taking a closer look. Tell us what we are about to see.

JOHNS: All right. Well, the video you're referring to is actually video of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. That's not it there. It's video of him in the boat on the night he was captured, the way authorities found him. There were initial reports of a man down in the boat. They quickly learned that he was moving around. We knew that authorities were reaching out to him at that time trying to communicate with him, telling him, for example, come out on his own terms.

This went on for a period of time, we're told about 25 minutes or so after that he surrendered with a very serious injury and that's why he's in the hospital now. Wolf?

BLITZER: The other video that we were showing our viewers involves a jihadist who was killed by the Russians himself last December. And apparently we've now confirmed that video had been posted to the older suspect's Web site, the You Tube channel that he had. Is that right, Joe?

JOHNS: Right. Right. And it's important also to say that we have been checking with sources and people are telling us that the only connection between that older brother and this individual that they can see, at least right now, is the fact that he posted the YouTube video. It doesn't show any more than that. It doesn't create - at least so far - an inference that these two men actually had some physical contact or worked in concert or anything like that.

BLITZER: Although we know that authorities are deeply interested in knowing what exactly he did last year when he spent six months in Dagestan, which is part of Russia.

All right. Joe, I know you're working your sources. You'll get back to us. Thanks very much. Fred, back to you.

WHITFIELD: Thanks, Wolf.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is being hospitalized in serious but stable condition. When police did capture him, the 19-year-old college student was wounded and had lost a whole lot of blood.

CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is outside the hospital where he is being treated. Elizabeth, what more can you tell us about his condition, how sedated he is and tell us a little bit more about this intubation and how significant that is?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, Fred. This intubation is very significant. It means that doctors do not want him to breathe on his own. They want to help him. That will actually help in his recovery. He must be under such strain, his body is under such strain from the loss of blood that they would rather have the machine breathe for him. Now when someone's intubated that means that a tube is going down their throat.

As you can imagine this is extremely uncomfortable. That's why they sedate people when they intubate them. You know, the level of intubation might vary but basically they're not holding conversations. They're not really aware of what's going on around them. If you tap them on the shoulder or say their name they might grunt at you but they're not having conversations, they're not understanding what people are saying around them. Fred?

WHITFIELD: And so what about security inside his room, outside the room? Just fortified around the hospital? Explain.

COHEN: Yes, you certainly see police officers stationed at entrances to the hospital. And according to our affiliate, WHDH, he's in the intensive care unit with two guards and I would imagine they're at his bedside and also that he is handcuffed to the bed. I imagine there are also guards in the hallway where he is. We're told he's kept in a sort of somewhat separate area of the ICU from other patients.

WHITFIELD: And has it been made clear how long he would be intubated, by the way. or even in ICU?

COHEN: No, not at all. And I would understand that sort of go out on a limb, I bet if you asked his doctors they would say we don't know. You know, in these situations it is really, you know, sort of an hour by hour decision about how long. Doctors don't want to keep people incubated any longer than they have to. You intubate someone for too long they could get pneumonia and other complications but you do want to keep them intubated for a certain period of time. It can help their recovery.

WHITFIELD: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you so much.

All right. Now back to Wolf also in Boston.

BLITZER: All right. Fred, thank you. As we said we're learning much more about these suspects on an hourly basis. New information coming in, including new information coming in from the Russian Republic of Dagestan, where they once lived. Our own Nick Paton Walsh is actually there in the region. It's near Chechnya.

And Nick, I want to pick up on this jihadist video that we're talking about. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older brother who's now deceased, he had posted it on his YouTube channel. First of all, what do we know about the man featured in this video?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The man (INAUDIBLE) for a man called (INAUDIBLE). Now he is widely accused of having been a militant with a number of other followers around, kind of a militant gang, if you - I say had been because he was killed in December in a substantial shoot-out. I've seen the video of it, really quite violent confrontation between Russian special forces (INAUDIBLE) and his group held up in a flat not far from where I'm standing. We've been to the ruins. It is substantial destruction. Now (INAUDIBLE) was accused of being a leading militant, radical in many ways, calling for jihad in videos he posted online. We don't know why Tamerlan posted a link to a video of him on his YouTube channel. We know it was deleted. We don't know if the two men ever met. But we do know Tamerlan's father lives here. Tamerlan came back to see him at some point during last year and in the same time (INAUDIBLE) was in the Jihadi underworld here.

So the question to be asked about that certainly. And I think people we know U.S. intelligence even looking in his social media to establish any links to extremists here in the North (INAUDIBLE) and this clearly is one at this particular point. Wolf?

BLITZER: Nick, we've heard from a Chechnya rebel group in the area where you are about the bombing suspect. What do they say?

WALSH: Well, this is called Caucasus. (INAUDIBLE) extremism. They released a statement to say they are not related to the Boston bombing at all. this is all part of some broader conspiracy to pin blame on them, on separatists and radicals here in the north caucuses. And actually that the Russian government may be behind trying to pin that upon them. This is sort of a bid by them to get distance from this, not gain any kind of U.S. reprisal at all. This particular group, I think an internet kind of figure head in many ways over the past decade for much of the terrorist activity in and around Russia but certainly things are so fractured here and so many of the extreme groups fragmented, different groups like the (INAUDIBLE) crew we just talked about, extreme in their ideology (INAUDIBLE) larger umbrella. Wolf.

BLITZER: Nick Payton Walsh on the scene for us in Dagestan, reporting for us. That's where the father of these two suspects remains right now. We'll check back with you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Wolf.

So the investigation into this Boston bombing moves into high gear now and we're learning more about how prosecutors just might build a case against the surviving suspect. But what about the defense angle? We're digging deep into that when our special coverage of the "Newsroom" continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The surviving Boston bombing suspect is lying sedated in a Boston hospital but officials say Dzhokhar Tsarnaev may be charged as early as today. Investigators have not read him his Miranda rights under what they call the public safety exception clause. So they may use any information he reveals as evidence in court.

Let's bring in Christopher Tritico right now. He's joining us. He defended the Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh. Christopher, thanks very much for coming in. He is a U.S. citizen. He was - he received his naturalized citizenship last September 11th, of all dates. He's obviously in a hospital. The crime was committed in the United States. If they don't read him his Miranda rights right away, you OK with that?

CHRISTOPHER TRITICO, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, look. I think the public safety exception is being greatly and overly expanded in this instance. The public safety exception as the Supreme Court laid out is for an instance when an officer walks up on a situation and sees an empty holster and says where's your gun.

That's to prevent an imminent threat from happening right then. What they are doing now is really expanding that public safety exception to say really the fifth amendment applies when they say it does and I don't think the Supreme Court is going to uphold that down the line. The Supreme Court actually heard oral argument on a case very similar out of Texas last week where their argument was the fifth amendment doesn't apply until we read the Miranda rights. So we may have an answer to that sooner than we think.

WHITFIELD: Christopher -

BLITZER: Would it make any difference - I'm sorry, Fred.

WHITFIELD: It's all right.

BLITZER: Just want a little follow-up. Would it make any difference if the U.S. were to revoke his naturalized U.S. citizenship as far as the law is concerned?

TRITICO: No, I don't think it would make any difference at all, because when this occurred and when the action occurred, when the crime occurred, and when the refusal, if you will, to read him his Miranda rights occurred he was a citizen. So I don't think that would matter at all.

BLITZER: All right, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And Christopher, this is Fredricka in Atlanta. So I'm wondering, given you defended Tim McVeigh, Oklahoma City bombing case, are you seeing any parallels between this case and that which you defended?

TRITICO: Well, I mean, there's certainly some parallels because you have the explosions and this wasn't - fortunately, wasn't as devastating as the Oklahoma City bombing was. But the trial is going to be as difficult, I believe, as the Oklahoma City bombing. When you have to get in and get experts and bombing experts and people to help you learn how to blow up a bomb, build a bomb and clean up a bomb, that takes an extensive amount of time and a lot of expertise. So whoever ends up defending this man is going to need a lot of help with investigators and with experts and a pretty good team of lawyers around them to get a case this size put together.

WHITFIELD: And likely it will be a public defender and so one has to wonder, even though he's intubated right now and the Miranda rights issue still has not been resolved, is it your feeling that there is a public defender already waiting in the wings, already getting familiarized with this case, already assigned to this case? TRITICO: Well, there's no way for me to know that. Typically speaking the judge who ends up with the case is the one who makes the assignment. I don't know if it will be a federal public defender or if it will be someone who was like me who was just called and asked to take on the case. Either way, if it is the federal public defenders office, they may already be working on it. If it is someone like me, you haven't got the call yet, there's nothing you can really do to get started.

BLITZER: Let me follow up with one point. It's interesting that you did the Timothy McVeigh case. He blew up the federal building in Oklahoma City, the actual trial took place in Denver. That's where they thought it would be more appropriate and he was eventually executed in Indiana. Do you see a similar process potentially unfolding here whereby the trial wouldn't necessarily take place in Boston but maybe even moved out of the state?

TRITICO: I think that whoever ends up representing him, that has to be one of their very first motions is a motion to transfer venue. Because in a situation like this, we've had constant media coverage ever since this happened and none of it has been favorable for this defendant. And so the mood in Massachusetts is not good for him and so getting a fair trial is going to be very difficult to get a jury who hadn't already made up their mind. And in the interest of justice I would think we would want to move the trial to a place where the citizens who make up the jury pool have not already been galvanized in their position.

And so I would think that the government probably wouldn't really want to fight that too much. I don't know. They did in McVeigh's case. But getting to a place where the citizens have not been sealed in a position is better for justice at the end of the day.

BLITZER: Christopher Tritico, thanks very much for joining us. Appreciate it.

TRITICO: You bet.

BLITZER: All right. Fred, back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Wolf. It didn't take long that Washington politicians would not be in the fray after this bombing. They want to know what the FBI knew about the suspects and what more could have been done to prevent the attacks in Boston perhaps. We'll hear from those politicians next as our special coverage continues from Boston and Atlanta.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Some lawmakers on Capitol Hill want answers from the FBI and other agencies about a trip to Russia taken by the oldest bombing suspect. Tamerlan Tsarnaev who had a green card visited Russia last year for six months at the request of the Russian government, the FBI interviewed him before he left but not when he returned.

"State of the Union" anchor Candy Crowley is here. So Candy, good to see you. You talked with some of the lawmakers today about that very topic. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL, CHAIRMAN, HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY CMTE.: There are reports that they had suicide vests on. You don't learn that overnight. I personally believe that this man received training when he was over there and he radicalized from 2010 to the present. Then nine months after he comes back from the Chechen region he pulls off the largest terror attack since 9/11.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER, MEMBER, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: There were a lot of questions that had to be answered. This man was pointed out by a foreign government to be dangerous. He was interviewed by the FBI once. What did they find out, what did they miss. Then he went to Russia and to Chechnya. Why wasn't he interviewed when he came back?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So lots of questions and then, a letter was actually sent as well for some of the lawmakers about this topic, what was said and what's that all about?

CANDY CROWLEY, ANCHOR, CNN'S "STATE OF THE UNION:" Well, what the lawmakers want to know is certainly on the House side and the Homeland Security Committee as well as the Intelligence Subcommittee is, what kind of information do you have on the older brother, now deceased. Why wasn't this followed up on? I think we got a partial answer about that from our Tom Fuentes who was on a panel that said, listen, sometimes you get like 50,000 of these requests from a different government saying could you check on this guy, or we think this guy this, or we think that guy that.

And he points out that Russia has not been -- and Chechnya has not been a place from which terrorists are training and then come to the U.S. He said he couldn't think of a single case.

WHITFIELD: Then you asked in your show whether this could potentially slow immigration reform, the efforts already in the pipeline right now on the hill. Do they believe it will?

CROWLEY: They believe it will be attempted. Here's what's interesting both Lindsey Graham and Senator Schumer who were on the show are members of that gang of eight that came up with this bipartisan reform for the immigration system. We've now heard opponents of the immigration system saying this is another reason why we need to take another look at what's going on here. You get the feeling that the slow walk is beginning. But both Senator Graham and Senator Schumer make the case that this actually is the time for immigration reform. They say you know we, 40 percent I believe is the figure of the folks who are in the United States without documentation have overstayed their visas and they say that within their legislation is a mechanism and a system through which that will no longer be the case.

That when people are in this country, you will know who they are. Now let's remember that one of these young men -- the younger brother was a U.S. citizen, the other was a permanent resident. So I don't know how far that kind of system would reach out. But nonetheless, they think that now is the precise time to have immigration reform, not a time to slow it down.

WHITFIELD: Candy Crowley thanks so much, host of "State of the Union."

CROWLEY: Thanks Fred.

WHITFIELD: Boston and the nation are trying to recover but it will not be an easy task. Coming up we'll talk with one of Boston's long-time spiritual leaders about what the city needs to do to heal and how Boston's spirit lives on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back to our continuing coverage of the Boston bombings. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting from here in Boston.

A lot of people have been wondering how a city gets through an ordeal like these Boston marathon bombings. Some turned to prayer. On Thursday thousands gathered at a memorial service where the president of the United States actually spoke. A long-time Boston spiritual leader was also there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REV. LIZ WALKER, ROXBURY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: While someone this morning may have answers, I do not. But this is what I know. God is here in the midst of this sacred gathering, in this sanctuary, and beyond. Different faiths, different races, strangers bound first by loss and pain but now clinging together and growing strength in a city that has always faced the darkness head-on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The Reverend Liz Walker is joining us here. Thanks so much for coming in.

WALKER: Thanks for having me, Wolf.

BLITZER: That was quite an emotional moment. What was it like inside knowing literally the whole country was watching?

WALKER: Well you know what? The first thing that was on my heart and in my mind was the fact that I was actually participating in trying to help people heal in Boston and that's really important to me because I love this city. So it was a humbling experience. I hadn't thought about the idea that the whole country was watching. It was just about a community that was in deep pain and I wanted to be of some service.

BLITZER: How is the community doing?

WALKER: You know this is a tough town. I'm sure you know that yourself, Wolf. It is a tough town. It's taken a big hit but I think it's pulling people together. I think people are making it through. In church this morning we talked about people are still hurting. This was unfair. This was a below-the-belt kind of a hit. But people are going to be fine. They're going to be fine.

BLITZER: A lot of people don't know -- people of Boston know -- you've been an anchor here for a long, long time. But then you made the transition to the church.

WALKER: Yes.

BLITZER: How did that happen?

WALKER: You know, people ask me that all the time. I tell people I was an anchor here for 125 years.

BLITZER: Back to 1980. Right.

WALKER: Back to 1980 was when I started. But back in 2001 I was called to the ministry. The people who are my ministers kind of defined a life situation for me as a call. I started divinity school at Harvard, September 11th, 2001. I will never forget that. So my whole call has been around this idea of healing and bringing people together.

BLITZER: Now you've made the transition. Are people coming together? Let's talk a little bit about what needs to be done in the greater Boston area.

WALKER: I think what needs to be done is happening. Boston is, as you though, is a big city, it is an international city but it is a small town. What's happening right now is that people are kind of clinging to each other. Communities are coming together. Faith communities are coming together. Students are coming together. That's how we are healing, through each other. So I think that it's all happening slowly. I think people are in pain. But people are reaching out and I think that's how we --

BLITZER: Because it is hard to believe, two brothers allegedly could come up with this kind of a plot and wind up killing four people and injuring almost 200 others.

WALKER: The whole thing is impossible. It makes no sense from the very beginning, the Boston marathon! That's our treasured moment! That's -- everybody can go downtown and be in this neighborhood and be a part of it. To have that attacked is just heinous. I can't even imagine. So from that point on, it's unbelievable. But the strength of this city is that we are communities that are strong together and we came together from the first moment. From the second -- before the smoke had cleared from the bombs, people were coming together.

BLITZER: One final question. I asked this question to Mitt Romney the other day. He's very active in his church as well. When bad things like this happen to good people and members of your church ask you minister, why does that happen, what do you say?

WALKER: I don't know why bad things happen to good people but I do know that evil provokes good. And so when bad things happen, good rises up and fights back. And that's what's happened in this city and that's what gives us hope.

BLITZER: The Reverend Liz Walker thanks so much. Especially for coming on this Sunday.

WALKER: Thank you.

BLITZER: Fred, back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Wolf.

The alleged Boston bomber is linked to a video of a well known jihadist. We'll show you that video and ask our security analyst Jim Walsh what all of this means. Keep it right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The sounds of gunfire and explosions filled the air as suspect number one, as he was called, was killed in a gun fight with the Watertown Police over the past few days. WHDH anchor and reporter Adam Williams, he was on the scene. He saw it all firsthand. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAM WILLLIAMS, WHDH ANCHOR: I believe they have the suspect in custody. I'm going to get down. We have officers right now pointing their guns at somebody.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Back up, back up.

WILLIAMS: They're backing up though. They're backing up. They're backing up. Everybody is running. The police are backing up. Officers have their guns drawn but they're backing up and they're running back toward us. We're all taking cover now behind the different news vehicle. Even the police are taking cover behind their cars.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Adam, go.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Take cover.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Go, go, go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: I spoke to Adam last hour about his harrowing experience.

WILLIAMS: It was actually behind the door of our news vehicle there. At the time when all of this was going on there was our news car and about five police officers. This is before the army of police came in. So I started behind our door. Then when I saw the officers with their guns backing up I knew we were in a pretty serious situation. Then I'd run and get behind another car.

You know I was saying, in our coverage, the bullets when we arrived they weren't coming at us but they were going right by us. We were hearing explosions. There were gunshots going right by us. And it seemed like from every direction. Your first instinct to take cover wherever you can.

BLITZER: I take it you are not necessarily a war correspondent. You didn't have a lot of experience covering gunfire like this.

WILLIAMS: Not at all. You've been in those zones. I have not. And it felt like -- seeing the officers with the helmets and putting their bulletproof vests on and I guess that's when the journalistic instinct kicks in to stay safe but then to carry the story at the same time.

BLITZER: How scared were you?

WILLIAMS: At the time I think I was just in the mode of doing my job of getting the information out as accurately and aggressively as I could. It wasn't until after the fact and especially learning that within feet of us were indeed the bombing suspects. When I learned that I think that's when it sunk in how vulnerable we were in that situation.

BLITZER: That's a normal kind of thing, your adrenalin is pumping. You're in the middle of it. Later you say to yourself, wow, that's pretty scary, pretty frightening. You were in a dangerous, dangerous situation. And that report that we just saw, was that live on TV or were you filming it for air later?

WILLIAMS: No, that was live while it was happening. I got to give credit to my photographer who was able to capture those pictures. He was taking partial cover behind the police car, just enough to get lens over to capture the video but we were live on the phone as it was happening. Frankly we didn't know what was going on. Before we even got to the scene the sounds of explosions were so intense that we could hear them in our car. We had the police radios blaring to try to figure out the information. We heard boom, boom. We got out of the car and the booming continued we heard gunfire exchange, then a lot of yelling. Intense to say the least.

BLITZER: You didn't know this was the climax; this was the end of that hunt.

WILLIAMS: Didn't know it. Didn't know it until later on. We just knew that whatever was going on it wasn't your typical shooting. It was more than that. We heard the explosions. We hear 200 rounds of gunshots. We knew it was something big. We knew we were close but as you would do as well, the first instinct was to get on the air and cover it and it was important because Watertown is a town of eight square miles, 32,000 people. Everybody there heard it. Everybody wanted to know what was going on. And it was our job to let them know what was going on.

BLITZER: The police let you stay there. They weren't pushing you a side, they weren't saying get out of here or anything like that.

WILLIAMS: Police were so focused. When we got there, like I said it was maybe five officers, their number one priority was protecting themselves, the public, apprehending this person, doing what they needed to do; they didn't even notice us in the beginning. It wasn't until a minute or two of our coverage that they were like, get them back, along with everybody else, because at this point there were -- but we actually became trapped in the crime scene because where we parked we had police cars all around us. The perimeter hadn't been set up yet. So they did get us out of there once they -- I guess kind of got control of themselves.

BLITZER: Young reporter anchor here in Boston doing an excellent job under difficult circumstances. We're going to have much more on this story, including how the suspect in the Boston bombings might be interrogated. Stay with us. Our special coverage, we're live here in Boston. We'll continue in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Questioning Dzhokhar Tsarnaev about the Boston marathon bombing is not as straight forward as it may seem. CNN's Emily Schmidt has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EMILY SCHMIDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): More questions are emerging about the Boston bombing suspects. Did the FBI do enough to learn about one brother and now who questions the younger brother?

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: This man in my view should be designated as a potential enemy combatant and we should be allowed to question him for intelligence gathering purposes to find out about future attacks and terrorist organizations that may exist that he has knowledge of.

SCHMIDT: Republican Senator Lindsey Graham says the enemy combatant designation would allow investigators to question Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a U.S. citizen, without a lawyer. Acknowledging that none of that information could be used against him in a criminal court. Democrat Governor Dianne Feinstein argues questioning could happen for a limited time before Miranda Rights are read. Without calling Tsarnaev an enemy combatant under what is called the Public Safety Exception, it lets investigators question a suspect about any imminent threat.

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN, (D) CALIFORNIA: I'm not really worried about whether they can be convicted. The question is what else would they have been up to, who are their associates, how did he become radicalized? Is there a Chechnya connection and that's what's has to be discovered.

SCHMIDT: There's also debate about Tamerlan Tsarnaev shot dead during the manhunt. The FBI interviewed him in 2011 at the request of Russia then dropped the matter after asking for more specific information from Russia. The FBI says it never received.

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL, (R) TEXAS: Why is this FBI interview important? Because if he was on the radar and they let him go, he's on the Russians' radar, why wasn't a flag put on him, some sort of customs flag?

SCHMIDT: House Homeland Security chairman Michael McCall says he and fellow Republican Peter King want answers from the FBI. Democrats have questions, too.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER, (D) NEW YORK: Why wasn't he interviewed when he came back either at the airport when he was returning or later? And what happened in Chechnya?

SCHMIDT: Massachusetts doesn't have the death penalty but the federal government does. Senators Chuck Schumer and Dianne Feinstein, both Democrats, say they think the death penalty would be appropriate under federal law in this case.

Emily Schmidt, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: We'll have much more of this special edition of the CNN NEWSROOM from both Atlanta and Boston after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We're following all the developments in the Boston bombings investigation including this latest information on the criminal case against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The Justice Department now says charges will not be filed today. We'll have more on the investigation in a moment.

Of course, we'll also try to wrap up our weekend coverage with a look at all of the stories that just might be making news in the week ahead.

On Monday's the yolk's not on you, move over Mcmuffin. McDonald's is introducing is new egg white delight nationwide. It is a move toward a healthier menu.

On Tuesday the Boy Scouts of America will ask its voting members on whether gay scouts should be welcomed. The decision will announced in May.

On Wednesday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton makes her first paid speaking engagement before the National Multi Housing Council in Dallas. Unclear on what she'll earn but reportedly Clinton will charge upwards of $200,000 for an appearance.

On Thursday the Bush family dedicates the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas. It opens to the public May 1st. President Obama and the four living former presidents are expected to be there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANTI TEO, NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL PLAYER: Do you want to hear from me what the truth was and they haven't really said anything about it affecting me?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: While in New York, its NFL draft time. All eyes will be on Manti Teo and whether he makes the first round.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): President Obama offered to wash senators' cars if it would lead to an immigration bill. The senators then told Obama, if you're going to wash our cars, why do we need immigrant?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And on Saturday, Conan O'Brien headlines the annual White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington.

And that's the week ahead.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. On behalf of my colleague Wolf Blitzer and myself, of course, thanks so much for being with us this afternoon. Don Lemon picks our coverage live from Boston right now.

So Don, I understand you will also be talking to city police commissioner as well. Right?

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Police Commissioner Ed Davis will be with me in just a moment here.