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Boston Bombing Investigation Continues; Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Moved to Prison Hospital; Boston Magazine Releases Bombing Issue

Aired April 26, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, everyone. I'm Anderson Cooper in Boston for our special coverage of the Boston bombings investigation. There's a lot to tell you about in the hour ahead.

Terror suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is no longer in this city. Here's the latest, the wounded 19-year old was moved from a hospital here in Boston to a prison hospital 40 miles away. He's now at Federal Medical Center Devens. It holds male inmates who need specialized or long-term medical care.

The whereabouts of the suspect's parents is now in question. Their father was supposed to have been here either today or tomorrow, that according to the family. He'd agreed to cooperate with the investigation as well, but his wife now tells CNN her husband is delaying his trip indefinitely, she says, for health reasons.

She also says they've left their home in Dagestan and gone to another part of Russia, exactly where we don't know. Thirty-four of the more than 260 people wounded in last week's terror attacks are still in the hospital. One remains in critical condition. At least 14 of the bombing victims have had to have amputations.

We got word earlier today of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's transfer from that hospital here in Boston to the federal prison detention hospital. The move comes almost, obviously, a week after he was captured in the manhunt.

Deborah Feyerick is outside the federal facility right now in Devens, Massachusetts.

So fill us in on what you've learned about this transfer, Deborah.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we do know is that Fort Devens was put on lockdown yesterday, just sometime yesterday. And we got confirmation this morning about 6 o'clock that, in fact, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had been moved to the facility here.

It's a medical facility that's run by the Bureau of Prisons. They have got about 1,000 beds. And he was brought here by the U.S. Marshals, the U.S. attorney, FBI, all of them obviously coordinated this to make sure that he got here.

What's interesting is the fact that they moved him. Usually -- and I spoke to somebody at the Justice Department -- usually when a prisoner is well enough and they are transported to an official Bureau of Prisons facility -- and I'm told that that's what happened in this case.

I tried to press to see whether there was any suggestion that perhaps the hospital wanted him moved sooner rather than later because of victims who were there. But all I got was the fact that once a prisoner is ready to be transported, is well enough to be transported, then that's what happens, Anderson.

COOPER: All right.

And how -- the facility, what do we know about their capabilities there?

FEYERICK: They've got doctors on staff here. This is where people come for both medical care but also for mental health care. We were told that they have extensive amount (sic) of medical practitioners who are on hand. Clearly the circumstances around Tsarnaev are a little bit different because he has a team of doctors that are handling him.

He had 24-hour care, intensive care while he was at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital Medical Center there. That's clearly because they don't want anything to go wrong. He was in fragile condition when he arrived.

He was intubated immediately; his hands were restrained, heavily sedated. And that was in part to stabilize his body, because he did have wounds throughout. And so they wanted to just make sure that there was -- that he didn't go into any sort of cardiac arrest. So they were trying to keep him as stable as possible while he healed from his wounds.

We're told that at the beginning of the week that the tube was removed, that he was breathing on his own, but he was well enough and stable enough in fair condition to now be in the bureau prison system, Anderson.

COOPER: All right. Deborah, appreciate it.

"Boston" magazine is getting a lot of attention for its special edition on the bombings, which hits newsstands today.

It's got a great cover. It's turned a simple picture of running shoes into a powerful image. Take a look at it. The shoes, from people who ran in the marathon, shaped into a heart with the words, "We will finish the race."

According to "Boston" magazine's editor, that picture says perseverance and unity just days from shipping out the May issue. It took a frantic team effort to pull it off. We're joined by the man who led that effort, Editor John Wolfson. Thanks so much.

First of all, how did you come up with the idea? Who came up with it?

JOHN WOLFSON, EDITOR, "BOSTON" MAGAZINE: Well, it was actually our art department. We were kicking around a few different ideas. We weren't sure exactly what we were going to do. And we knew we wanted to do something that symbolized the race and running. And, of course, the shoes came together and suddenly we had it.

COOPER: And how did you get the shoes from people who ran in the race?

WOLFSON: Well, that was the most interesting part. Once we had a great concept, how do we execute it in about three days? So we immediately took to our social media channels, Twitter, Facebook and then we had an all-out scramble, everyone on staff, sales, marketing, editing, reaching out to everyone they knew or might have known who ran in the race.

COOPER: And we have some of the pictures of behind the scenes of you putting it together. I mean, everybody told their stories as well, which is so nice.

WOLFSON: So all the shoes that are on the cover we are still photographing those individual pairs of shoes and then interviewed the folks who submitted them. And about 15 of those people and their shoes are in the magazine. And the rest are going on the Web.

COOPER: To you, what's the power of it? I mean, hearing this stories, seeing the pictures.

WOLFSON: Yes, it's interesting; it just really helps all of us understand I think how every single individual contributes to the whole. And as hokey as that may sound, I think that really symbolizes the movement forward here in the aftermath of the bombing. I think if you remove one shoe or one pair of shoes from that cover concept, the overall effect -- it diminishes it some, to some degree.

And I think you could say the same thing about every person who's helped out and been affected by this --

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: There has been this extraordinary sense of kind of a unity and defiance here. I mean, I've seen it in Haiti; I've seen it around, going -- in New Orleans after Katrina. One kind of wishes life could be like this always in terms of people being together, you know? It really does bring people together in a way.

WOLFSON: No, I think that it does. I think you're absolutely right. And I think that it was really touching to all of us who -- because everybody had to interview folks. We had so many people submitting their shoes. And to hear those stories again and again and again really did understand the city coming together. And people still grieving, to be perfectly honest.

COOPER: And it's also interesting, because it really is. I mean, everywhere you went, everybody kind of had their own view of this. They all wanted to tell you where they were, what they experienced; even if it wasn't something that directly touched them, it impacted them in ways large and small.

WOLFSON: No, that's exactly right. And Boston, you know, we'd like to think of ourselves as a big small city. And it's such a small footprint and so many people take part of this event that really you didn't have to scratch the surface very far to find some way that everybody had been affected on one level by this whole thing.

COOPER: Yes. And this made me want to run the race next year, even though I'm in terrible shape. But like I think there's a lot of people who want to be part of it next year.

WOLFSON: I will say this, that if the effect -- if the intention was to in any way undermine the race going forward, it had the exact opposite effect, because they -- I think they'll try to get more people to run it next year. (Inaudible) --

COOPER: Oh, no doubt about it.

WOLFSON: So many people feel the way you do.

COOPER: Yes, definitely.

It's a great cover. Thank you so much for being with us.

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Really appreciate it. It's great to see. It gives you a real sense of what it's been like here the last almost two weeks.

Support for the bombing victims can be seen very clearly on Boylston Street just behind me. People still leaving flowers, stuffed animals, other gifts and makeshift memorials near the site of the bomb blast.

There's also a big show of support at Marathon Sports on Boylston. The running store was just a few feet from the first bomb blast. Its employees rushed to help victims, really became kind of a triage area.

They have reopened; the staff's wearing T-shirts with the phrase, "Boston strong in solidarity with the victims." Customers are lining up to buy the shirts. Proceeds from the sales are going to benefit One Fund Boston. It's great to see that store back open.

Here's what we're working on this hour, these dogs can literally smell the vapors of a bomb, not just the actual device, but the vapor trail of a bomb before it goes off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just like he's trained to do when the suspect stops, the dog stops, too, then sits down, alerting his handler to the bad guy.

COOPER (voice-over): It's an amazing story of the use of these dogs. We're going to have that for you.

Plus, forced spending cuts are causing painful delays at airports. If you've been flying lately, you know that, no doubt about it. But things are about to get better. We'll take you to one of the busiest airports in the country, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Hey, welcome back. I'm Anderson Cooper in Boston, where we continue to follow developments in the marathon bombings.

But right now another important story to get you up to date on. Thousands of air traffic controllers will head back to work soon. An hour ago the House voted for a bill ending the furloughs that went into effect on Sunday. They caused some 3,000 flight delays.

The bill gives the FAA permission to move money from another part of the budget to fund the controllers. It's wiggle room in the forced federal spending cuts. The president is expected to sign it later today.

Travelers from New York to Chicago to L.A. have been dealing with flight delays as long as 90 minutes all week since the furloughs went into effect. So the bill's passage is certainly welcome news to a lot of those folks, although we don't yet know when the air traffic controllers will be able to go back to work.

Stephanie Elam is live for us at Los Angeles International Airport.

What are the delays like today, Stephanie, there?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, when you take a look at the delays here, they're actually not that bad right now. Beautiful day here, a lot of flights coming in from local areas, maybe Arizona, or coming in from Texas, not too far away.

Some of the airline employees that I've spoken to have said that a lot of these delays tend to mount up later in the evening because of the furloughs. They kind of add on top of each other. So that's one thing to keep in mind.

But, overall, when you talk to passengers and they -- if they know about the furloughs or not, they know if they've been sitting on the tarmac a little bit longer. What they're really concerned about is not necessarily about being on time. In fact, one passenger we spoke to summed it up the best way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I actually dozed off on the runway and woke up and we were still there. I jump on and off these planes like they're cabs. I just want to make sure that it's safe and that there's somebody there making sure we take off and land and that we're not running into each other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: So safety being a major concern obviously here, that people want to make sure that these planes are safe, that there are enough eyes on these planes from the air traffic control towers.

But moving forward, a lot of people also concerned that it was so easy for Congress to come together with a result on this one item that affects so many people, but there's still so many other bigger items that are still on the table, Anderson.

COOPER: Yes, no doubt about it. Stephanie Elam, appreciate it. Thanks very much from LAX.

Syrian officials say that they don't have chemical weapons and that if they did, they would not use them. Syrian government officials, they're reacting to American and British government claims that evidence now exists that Syrian forces used sarin gas in its fight against the rebel uprising.

Syria's information minister said those claims have no credibility and they're just being thrown out there to pressure the government of Bashar al-Assad.

It would take time, more than a month for someone who's had an amputation to take that first step again. And even small things, like pouring coffee, are big milestones. We're going to take you inside a special facility to see what the Boston bombing victims will face in the month ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER (voice-over): And welcome back. You're looking at live pictures, (inaudible) of the memorial on Boylston Street, where so many people have stopped throughout the day today and just over the last several days, now that Boylston Street has reopened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: One of the numerous people now regarded as a hero of the Boston Marathon bombings is speaking out. Jeff Bauman's terrifying ordeal was captured in this now-famous photograph, showing him in a wheelchair moments after receiving massive injuries from the explosion. He lost both his legs.

And despite his injuries, he was able to identify one of the suspected bombers. This morning Bauman spoke to Boston radio station WEEL, saying he's getting along as best he can, but his injuries hurt every day.

He also described the chilling moment when he was standing next to one of the suspected bombers.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

JEFF BAUMAN, IDENTIFIED BOSTON BOMBING SUSPECT: I was with my girlfriend's roommates and we were having a great time, you know. We were watching the runners. Everyone was having a great time.

And just that one guy, you know, he didn't look like he was having a good time. So he was right next to me, you know, at that point. And he had a bag. And he had his glasses. He had kind of like a leather- like sweatshirt type of deal.

And you know, it was warm out. He was just an odd guy. It just struck me odd. And that's what I remember of him. And then next thing you know, I hear fireworks and I'm on the ground, you know?

(END AUDIO CLIP)

COOPER: I misspoke; it's WEEI, the Boston radio station, WEEI, interviewing the Boston bombing victim, Jeff Bauman, who helped authorities identify the suspect.

Well, the road to recovery for the dozens of injured in the bombings will be a little longer for some. At least 14 bombing survivors have had amputations; all of them will have to learn to walk again with prosthetic devices.

There have been remarkable advances in prosthetics over the past several years due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, takes a look at what it takes to learn how to walk again with prosthetics. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It takes time. About six weeks post-surgery for a new amputee to take this first step.

GUPTA: So one of the most important things is that this wound around the amputation has to heal up completely, this incision line that you see over here. And after that is done, they actually have to shape the remaining area of the leg and then actually put a -- put something on to sort of shrink those tissues so the prosthetic can go on.

GUPTA (voice-over): Every patient that suffers an amputation goes through tailored therapy to learn how to use their new limb.

Peter Coolidge, who lost his leg due to complications from diabetes, has had his prosthetic leg less than two weeks.

GUPTA: The signs of progress can be small sometimes, but look no hands there. He was using one hand earlier. Two hands before that.

Let me show you something else, if you come around and take a look. When you actually look specifically at what's happening with his feet over here, he's stepping up with his good leg over here. But look what's happening with the prosthetic. You get this sort of expected what you want, the heel-to-toe sort of rock. That doesn't come naturally. That's something Pete really has to practice.

Surprisingly, everyday tasks like making coffee, it's part of therapy as well.

He's not holding onto anything right now. He's able to actually keep his balance on his own. He's trusting his leg, he's distracted, not thinking about that and he's got a lot of balance that he's testing and successfully testing by actually moving around the kitchen here.

So he's never done this before. I mean, take a look. It's an uneven surface. He's got to essentially bend his knees. It's a lot harder than it looks for someone who just has a brand new prosthetic device.

Pretty good, Pete.

GUPTA (voice-over): The first month of therapy is all about the basics for lower limb amputees, taking those first steps to learn to live independently.

GUPTA: Some people say, look, this is going to be sort of a new normal for these patients. But you say it's actually more of just normal.

DR. BRUCE POMERANZ, KESSLER INSTITUTE FOR REHABILITATION: Once they look back on the situation a year from now, two years from now, you know, that's -- yes, this will be a nightmare and, yes, there is a loss that is permanent, but they have every reason to expect that they're going to be able to go on and live the same happy, satisfied lives.

GUPTA (voice-over): In fact, thanks to advanced prosthetic technology, most amputees go onto not only live a normal life, but to push themselves even beyond previous expectations.

POMERANZ: The future is really much brighter than they could probably imagine at this point in time. But I think for the people in Boston, they'll also have that experience.

GUPTA (voice-over): Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, if you want to help those affected by the Boston bombings, you can visit or even the explosion in West, Texas, you can visit our website CNN's "Impact Your World."

Still ahead, for the first time, we're going to take you inside Chechnya, into the place where the Tsarnaev brothers' -- where their families are originally from.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Welcome back. We're here with our live special coverage from Boston.

A Boston mosque once attended by the Tsarnaev brothers is now defending itself in the wake of the terror attack. David Mattingly reports on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Worshiping under the roof of this neighborhood mosque, The Tsarnaev brothers aroused no suspicions they were planning deadly violence. And now the mosque leadership has to defend itself against claims it is a haven for radicals.

We find there has been some hate mail, sometimes menacing. YUSUFI VALI, ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF BOSTON: So a lot of the claims made are simply false. There have been people coming in and out of this place. We have a congregation of 1,300 people.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Charles Jacobs is a long-time critic of the Islamic Society of Boston.

CHARLES JACOBS, ISB CRITIC: They're aiming to transform the youth, particularly the youth, into more and more radical Islamist beliefs.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): He claims the group has had numerous affiliations with extremists, claims the ISB denies in detail.

JACOBS: There have been several instances of people connected with terror and hate speech at that mosque.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): One figure Jacobs lists prominently is ISB founder, Abdulrahman Alamoudi, a man whose public image was very different from some of his activities.

Once consulted by President Clinton and George W. Bush, Alamoudi was sentenced in 2004 to 23 years in prison for terrorist fundraising and conspiring to murder the Saudi prince. The ISB says, "During his time at the ISB, he followed all rules and regulations," a defense similar when it comes to the Tsarnaev brothers. "They never expressed any hint of violent sentiments or behavior."

VALI: I think if we could have done more, we absolutely would have.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): The ISB says people who knew the Tsarnaevs were immediately instructed to call the FBI.

MATTINGLY: The younger brother rarely attended services here. And the older brother attended only occasionally. And it was his own actions that seemed to dispute the idea of a radical mosque.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Three months ago Tamerlan Tsarnaev shouted at a preacher during a service, calling him a nonbeliever and a hypocrite when he praised Dr. Martin Luther King. He was told to be quiet or he would not be welcome.

Charles Jacobs stops short of accusing the mosque of having a hand in Tsarnaev's radicalization.

MATTINGLY: Is there any evidence that any of these individuals or any of these teachings you've been talking about were influential in radicalizing the bombers?

JACOBS: We don't know that. They live five blocks away. If you're looking for -- there are many suppositions about what actually radicalized these bombers.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): David Mattingly, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER (voice-over): All right. Take a look at a makeshift memorial that is growing on Boylston Street, the site of the marathon bombings here. You're looking at live pictures. There's been 11 days since terrorists struck this city, killing four people, wounding more than 260 others; 34 of the wounded remain hospitalized right now, one still in critical condition and 14 of them have had amputations.

The wounded bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, has been transferred out of the city. He was moved from a hospital here in Boston to Federal Medical Center Devens; it's a prison hospital that's 40 miles away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Boston is only one side of the bombing investigation, of course. The other side is overseas in Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER (voice-over): And authorities are still trying to piece together what Tamerlan Tsarnaev was doing there for that six-month timeframe. That's where the bombing suspects also traced their roots. They trace them not only to Dagestan but also to Chechnya. Our Nick Paton Walsh went to Chechnya today.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Heading into Chechnya, you feel the weight of two brutal wars for an independence Moscow would never allow. Its ruins rebuilt over, the only upside of the Kremlin's heavy hand.

The Tsarnaev family's identity was forged here. We found their hometown and what's left of the family home. In its ruins lie the brutalized past the brothers must have grown up with. Tamerlan fled this town when he was about 11, before the second war began and this street was bombed.

WALSH: It's hard to be a Chechen without a tie to your homeland. And these ruins bombed out in the first Chechen war are what's left of the family home of the father to the alleged Boston bombers.

WALSH (voice-over): Their great uncle remembers a devoutly religious Tamerlan from last year, but also them as children.

ZAINALBEK TSARNAEV, SUSPECTS' GREAT-UNCLE (through translator): They were this big, but I didn't see them after that. And they weren't involved in that crazy stuff.

WALSH (voice-over): I show him Tamerlan's picture from online.

TSARNAEV (through translator): That's him. That's Tamerlan probably. He didn't live here, so I can't say.

WALSH: The Americans say he's behind the Boston bombings.

TSARNAEV (through translator): I saw them on TV. They said he was dead. I saw that, there he looks good. But I saw him on TV like this and that's it.

WALSH (voice-over): Since the wars, intense repression inside Chechnya has pushed the violence across the region into Dagestan.

Shootouts like this, which killed Abu Dujana, a militant whose video Tamerlan posted a link to, are commonplace. Police call them bandits, using jihad as a cover for criminality. Militants like Abu Dujana claim they wage jihad against corrupt Russian police.

This video, police say, shows them cutting the throat of a policeman in his home.

The West sometimes in their rhetorical sites, as they train and recruit in the woods, Chechnya's war begat a cycle of violence that doesn't stop, just spreads.

(END VIDEOTAPE)