Return to Transcripts main page

Weekend Early Start

Lawmakers End Furloughs for Air Traffic Controllers; Syria Says It Has Not Used Chemical Weapons; Investigation Into Boston Bombings Continues

Aired April 27, 2013 - 06:00   ET

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

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our continuing coverage of the Boston bombing. I am Poppy Harlow, coming to you live this Saturday morning from Boston.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW (voice-over): We have new details about why investigators are combing through a landfill in search of evidence from the Boston bombing suspects. The critical information they hope to find and a possible clue to a possible accomplice.

Also there is new evidence this morning that the suspected bombers read an online Al Qaeda- inspired magazine that reads a how-to for how -- for terrorist organizations, how to make a bomb. We'll have much more on that, what it is and how it wasn't just a manual, but may have been -- may have been a motivator.

And a second chance to finish the marathon, what one couple is doing to cross the finish line at last.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HARLOW: I am here on Boylston Street by the memorial for the victims of the Boston bombing. Here life is trying, people are trying to get back to normal. It is now just over a week since the capture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

But while people here in Boston are going about their Saturday morning, a beautiful sunrise to my right, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about what happened and why.

And those questions have led investigators to a landfill about an hour away from here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW (voice-over): It is in New Bedford, Massachusetts. That's right near UMass Dartmouth, where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev went to school. Investigators are looking specifically for a laptop computer. That computer could provide more information about the planning and the execution of this horrific attack.

CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti spoke with our Anderson Cooper about the investigation. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The leads to search the landfill for that laptop computer came not only from the suspect himself, the young man who is now hospitalized, but others who, according to this official, may have had knowledge of its whereabouts or may even have played a role in ditching it, getting rid of it after the bombing.

Now the source says there is also evidence that leads investigators to think that the elder brother, Tamerlan, may have been involved in drug dealing. The source would not elaborate on the nature of the evidence.

We've already been talking about the fact they've been looking into whether he may have supported himself through drug dealing; but, of course, if they can find that laptop, Anderson, in this landfill, after it had been ditched somewhere that was, you know, like a dumpster, that eventually made it to the landfill, if they can get into that, they can find out things like e-mails and contacts and schedules and instructions, so much other information about how this plot may have come together.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: I understand you also have new information about what the bombs were made of or how they were constructed. What do you know?

CANDIOTTI: Well, the belief, number one, is that both of the brothers had a remote device to blow up each of the two bombs.

Now in terms of the ingredients, we know that they're still analyzing a lot of this information, but they do know that one of the pipe bombs that was used in that -- the shoot-out in Watertown, those improvised devices were, in fact, constructed from elbow pipes.

Now elbow pipes, that is one instruction method, rather, that comes up from time to time in "Inspire" magazine, which is something that has been used and promoted by Al Qaeda to give information about how to make a bomb. So that bit of information also is an important part of this alleged plot investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: And Susan has been doing phenomenal reporting on this since the start. One of her sources also talked to her about Tamerlan Tsarnaev possibly dealing drugs. Investigators, we know, have been looking into whether Tamerlan supported himself by selling marijuana. That's a possibility that they are looking at.

One thing that is also important to note that is developing is that police are taking another look at the 2011 murder of one of Tamerlan's friends from back in his boxing days. That friend's name is Brendan Mett (ph). He and his two other friends were killed. And when their bodies were found, police found marijuana sprinkled on them. So a lot of questions remaining and just developing this morning.

In Washington, a warning that more arrests could be coming. It comes from Congressman Mike Rogers. He is the Republican chairman of the House Committee on Intelligence.

In an interview with "The Boston Herald" yesterday, Rogers said -- I want to quote here -- "There are clearly more persons of interest and they are not 100 percent sure if there aren't other explosives."

He went on to talk about that; he gets daily briefings on this investigation, of course, and he had some very critical words about the decision to Mirandize bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev by his hospital bed several days after his capture, saying this -- and I'll quote -- "I think this was a serious and possibly a dangerous set of decisions made. There's going to be more arrests, I do believe.

This is incredibly important, and once he, Tsarnaev, got a lawyer, which the citizens of Boston and America are paying for, he stop stopped cooperating."

And we do know that from our sources as well, that (inaudible) any significant information to authorities since he was Mirandized. Now he was questioned for about 16 hours before he was read his Miranda rights.

But of course, he was in and out of consciousness, so we don't know how much information he gave. And that questioning came under the public safety exemption. During that questioning, Dzhokhar said that he and his brother acted alone, but investigators have a lot of questions and, of course, many are saying of course he is motivated to say that they acted alone at this point in time.

Dzhokhar is right now at a federal hospital, a Federal Prison Hospital in Devens, Massachusetts. It's about 40 miles outside of Boston. He was moved there Friday morning from a Boston hospital, where some of the bombing victims also were being treated.

Pamela Brown is at the Federal Medical Center Devens.

Pamela, good morning to you. Give our viewers a sense of what it's like there and especially what the conditions were when Dzhokhar was brought to that facility.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right. Well, Poppy, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was brought here in the early morning hours of yesterday morning by the U.S. Marshal Service.

When he was brought here he went through what's called an intake screening process. Now that entails a strip search, a medical screening as well as a psychological screening. From there he was fingerprinted, a DNA sample was taken and a photograph was taken.

All of that was given to the FBI, we're told. Now that was followed by him -- taking him to a restricted part of this facility here behind me, Devens Federal Medical Center. This restricted part of this facility is for, quote, "high-risk inmates".

So he was taken there and that is where his cell is, we're told. It's a basic cell with a steel door, a slot for food, and a toilet and sink and that's about it, we're told, Poppy. HARLOW: I know that he has his own cell there. But I'm wondering if we have any indication on how long he is going to stay there or when we might see him in court?

I would assume that the investigators will try to get more information from him there if his lawyer will allow them to.

BROWN: Absolutely. I spoke to the U.S. Marshals Service. Right now we don't know when he's going to be moved. U.S. Marshals Service says that they don't release that kind of information. But what we do know here is that he was officially charged this past Sunday. And we have 30 days from the day he was officially charged for the indictment with a grand jury.

So essentially over that 30 days, a grand jury will be presented with evidence and then decide the charges that he will face. From there, there will be an arraignment, where he will make a court appearance and plead. And then you're going to see the pretrial motions take place.

Now, Poppy, at the end of this month, at the end of May, rather, there was a -- what's called a probable cause hearing scheduled during that initial appearance this past Monday with the judge. But we are told that there's a good chance he might waive that probable cause hearing.

Typically during that hearing there is a lot of evidence presented and a lot of times defendants will waive it for that reason, Poppy.

HARLOW: And I think also, Pamela, it's very interesting that he is taken to this facility where they do not treat very severe injuries or do very complex surgeries, so I think that gives us some indications of his state of health at this point in time. Pamela Brown joining us live this morning, Pamela, thank you.

Well, for the first time in days, we are getting a look at the wife of Boston bombing suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

You see her there, Katherine Russell; that was shot there yesterday. First time she has left her home in days, where she lived in Rhode Island. She is the woman in the head scarf, there you see walking into that car. The other woman is her attorney.

Well, Russell is one of the most mysterious figures in the case, someone we don't know a lot about. She was married to the man accused of plotting to bomb the Boston Marathon, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and she says she knew nothing about it.

CNN's Erin McPike is in Providence, Rhode Island.

Good morning, Erin.

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, we saw Katie Russell for the first time in several days on Friday, when she finally left her parents' house, when she was escorted by her attorneys to their office here right behind me, where they met for about 90 minutes. Now when she arrived, I did get a chance to ask her, how are you doing and what is happening; she didn't answer any of that, of course; she just looked a little bit bewildered. She left; we did not see her leave. We do know that her attorneys will be here, working all weekend, Poppy.

HARLOW: Absolutely. Authorities have certainly been questioning her and want as much information as they can get. Erin, thank you.

And to Russia now and a crackdown on suspected Islamic extremists. Russian security forces raided a place of worship in southern Moscow and detained 140 people yesterday. More than 30 of them are foreign nationals. Officials say the site had been visited before by suspected radicals, including some from Chechnya. The raid is not believed at this point to be linked to the Boston bombing.

And back here in the United States, investigators in New York are taking a closer look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW (voice-over): It is a piece of an airplane's landing gear. And officials believe it's from one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center on 9/11. The 5-foot-long piece of metal was found in a small space near an Islamic community center.

The plane part will be, of course, examined by the medical examiner's office and the NTSB. And we will have much more on that discovery a little bit later this morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Well, 90 minutes of terror with the Boston bombing suspect. The Chinese national who says they carjacked him is now sharing new details about that absolutely terrifying night. We will give you all of those straight ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW (voice-over): But first, before we go to break, we wanted to show you the cover of "Boston" magazine. This is heartwarming; it is beautiful. Take a look.

Those running shoes, actual running shoes that runners used during the marathon in the shape of a heart, on the back, actually, you see the soles of the shoes, in the middle, the words, "We will finish the race." Just shows the strength of this beautiful city. We'll be right back.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW (voice-over): Good morning, everyone, happy Saturday. Welcome back. We are coming to you live from Boston this morning. And I want to set the beautiful scene. We are right here in Copley Square, the heart of Boston, and this makeshift memorial has been growing and growing and growing. You see it; it's behind us.

Four crosses for the four lives lost: of course, Officer Sean Collier, shot dead, murdered at MIT; that Chinese exchange student at Boston University, Lingzi Lu, a cross for her; 8-year-old Martin Richard, that beautiful boy whose smile became a symbol of the resilience of Boston and, of course, 29-year-old Krystle Campbell.

Honoring them, people from all over the world writing their support for Boston, this city will grow and will move on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: The boat where Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hid before he was finally caught has now been transported. Sources say police did not find any guns inside of that boat. There were a lot of questions about that, whether he was firing back or not.

The boat's owner, very brave, called 9-1-1 when he spotted blood on the boat and peeked his head under that tarp and saw what he thought was a body inside, and he called the authorities.

That boat was towed from that back yard in Watertown yesterday. It is being moved to a secure location so that investors (sic) can, of course, examine it, get all the evidence that they can get out of it.

But before that boat ever became part of this investigation, a young Chinese immigrant says the Tsarnaev brothers carjacked him in the middle of the night, made him drive around for 90 terrifying minutes before he was able to escape. CNN's Brian Todd has more on how that all played out.

Brian?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, the area where the carjacking began is just a few miles west of here in the area of Brighton (ph). It began a week ago Thursday night, with suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev banging on the window of the victim's car and demanding a ride. It played out over 90 minutes and left the victim shaken.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD (voice-over): Tamerlan Tsarnaev, according to the victim, wielded a silver handgun when he climbed into the black Mercedes SUV. The suspect's first words:

PROF. JAMES FOX, ADVISER TO CARJACKING VICTIM: He said, did you hear about the bombing, the marathon bombing? And Danny said, I did. And he said, well, that's me, I did that and I just killed a Cambridge cop.

TODD (voice-over): Professor James Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University, has counseled the victim and knows every detail of the story. The victim, a Chinese national, did not want to go on camera; would only agree to be referred to by his American nickname, Danny. He gave a description of the carjacking to "The Boston Globe," which Professor Fox confirmed to CNN.

The victim says when he pulled off the curb with Tamerlan in the passenger seat, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was following in another vehicle.

It was hard to drive at first.

FOX: Early on in the drive, Danny is obviously quite nervous and driving somewhat erratically because of his nerves. And Tamerlan says, oh, relax, calm, drive slowly.

TODD (voice-over): They drove from Brighton to Watertown, into Cambridge, about 90 minutes in all. We retraced the route. At one point, Professor Fox says, the two vehicles pulled over. The brothers got out, unloaded objects from Dzhokhar's vehicle into the victim's trunk.

TODD: What does he think it is?

FOX: He thinks it is luggage.

They wanted -- he -- Danny didn't want to look back.

TODD (voice-over): They ditched Dzhokhar's car. All three were now in Danny's vehicle.

FOX: At that point he realized that, boy, he may not live to see another day.

TODD (voice-over): Tamerlan was then driving, the victim in the passenger seat, Dzhokhar in back. They stopped at an ATM in Watertown, withdrew money with Danny's card. Professor Fox says Danny heard them speaking in their native language, could only make out the word "Manhattan" in English. But that's not all.

TODD: In the car, the three of them are talking like normal guys. Right?

FOX: Exactly, exactly. Well, they have over 90 minutes to spend with each other, and they were talking about ordinary things, what kind of phone do you have? Do you have a CD player in the car? There was this kind of a relationship forming, which in -- eventually aided Danny.

TODD (voice-over): But at one point, Danny's phone buzzed with two texts then rang twice.

FOX: Danny answers it. Tamerlan says don't say a word in Chinese because if you do, I will kill you. So his friend is speaking Chinese over the phone, but Danny answers in English, I am going to sleep elsewhere tonight. And when he finally hung up, Tamerlan said "Good boy, you did it well."

TODD: Professor Fox says the victim's brief window for escape came here at this Shell station. It was cash only at the time. So he says Dzhokhar Tsarnaev went in to pay cash for the gas. At that point Tamerlan Tsarnaev was briefly fumbling around with his personal GPS system. He says Tamerlan then set the gun down temporarily inside the door pocket.

FOX: And in one motion, Danny undid his seat belt, opened the door and ran to the rear of the car, over across the street to the Mobil station.

TODD: How did Tamerlan Tsarnaev react? What did he do?

FOX: Well, Tamerlan tried to grab him. Missed. Swore. That was it.

TODD: Didn't fire?

FOX: Didn't fire. Well, it would have been difficult to fire, because Danny by this time was to the rear of the car and it would have been difficult for him to sort of fire through the back window.

TODD (voice-over): At the Mobil station, the victim got an employee to call 9-1-1. The Tsarnaev brothers took off. The encounter with the police in Watertown came soon after, when Tamerlan was killed. Professor Fox says, given the information that the brothers planned an attack in New York...

FOX: If it were not for what -- for his actions, his behavior, his composure, his wits about him, who knows what would have happened.

TODD: But Professor Fox says the victim does not consider himself a hero and is still nervous, because he knows he may well have to recount the entire episode in court if and when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev goes to trial. Poppy?

HARLOW: Brian Todd, thank you very much.

And folks, just ahead, the Boston Celtics return home for their first game in this city since the marathon bombings. They pause to remember the victims. We're going to show you what they did to honor them, next.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW (voice-over): All right. I am a Celtics fan this morning. Always a Timberwolves fan, but a Celtics fan this morning, even though they did not win last night, they played back here in Boston for the first time since the Boston Marathon bombings, returning to the Garden, both fans and the team honoring local heroes and first responders who risked their lives to help victims.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Our Joe Carter joins us this morning with the "Bleacher Report".

Good morning, Joe.

JOE CARTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, good morning, Poppy.

Yes, the playoff game for the Celtics last night was a little rough. They got crushed by the New York Knicks. But basketball aside, what Boston did before the game for those that were affected by the bombings and for those who helped after the bombings was a really touching moment.

Before the game started, every single person inside the Garden stood for a moment of silence to remember the four innocent victims who lost their lives 12 days ago.

And then representatives from the FBI, the Watertown Police Department, the Boston Medical Center, the Boston Children's Hospital as well as countless first responders and volunteers, took center court for a moment and the P.A. announcer appropriately said that these are the people who are and always will be heroes among us.

So it was a real nice moment last night for Boston and for their fans, as you see, even Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks cheering on the first responders there.

Well, Friday, yesterday was day two of the NFL draft. And Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o finally came off the board.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the 38th selection in the 2013 NFL draft, the San Diego Chargers proudly select Manti Te'o, linebacker, Notre Dame.

(APPLAUSE)

CARTER (voice-over): All right. Te'o did not make the trip to New York City. He celebrated with friends and family at his home in Hawaii, and despite all the baggage, the Chargers like this guy so much they traded up several picks to get him.

MANTI TE'O, NOTRE DAME LINEBACKER: I don't know if these guys know what they just did, you know. They just created like a fire in me that I haven't felt before. And I think it's a blessing in disguise for me. And I am just -- I'm excited to get this thing started.

CARTER (voice-over): All right. And finally at the beginning of the basketball season, Louisville Coach Rick Patino promised his team that if they won the national championship, he would get his first and only tattoo.

Coach Patino promised, and well, Coach Patino delivered. And it's a big tattoo. It's not a little wimpy tattoo. The big red L takes up a lot of real estate on his back. Got the 2013 NCAA Champions at the 35- 5 record, a very nice border.

Poppy, the question is, if they win another national championship next year, what will he do to top that? Perhaps a tattoo somewhere. I don't know, maybe?

HARLOW: Yes, a bigger tattoo. Man, Boston fans are strong here. I asked one of them how big of a Boston fan are you. He pulled up his shirt and showed me the tattoo on his back as well.

Joe Carter this morning, thank you very much.

Folks, we'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: It is half past 6:00 on the East Coast. Welcome back, everyone. I am Poppy Harlow coming to you live from Boston this Saturday morning. Thanks for starting your day with us. Here are five stories that we are watching for you this morning.

Number one is good news for travelers. Lawmakers voting yesterday to end that furlough of air traffic controllers. You may have felt the delays. I know I did. Now that bill goes to the president who says he will sign it. Those airport staff reductions went into place on Sunday delaying thousands of flights throughout the week. A move that has many frustrated passengers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH ROUSE,DELAYED PASSENGER: We were in a rush to get us seated and he did not mention any delays. I think they were trying to keep it from us as long as possible. But after some frustrating time passed sitting on the runway, the pilot finally came on and said, well, ladies and gentlemen, we are about 24th in line. It's going to be at least 45 minutes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Another story we are following closely for you this morning, Syria's government insisting it has never used chemical weapons in the country's civil war, and doesn't even have them. And it says, the United States and Britain are lying, U.S. officials have said, they have increasing evidence that chemical - that chemical weapons, sarin, was used on a small scale. Damascus says Washington is just trying to increase pressure to end that war.

Also, investigators in New York are taking a closer look at a piece of an airplane. It is believed to be one from one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center on 9/11. The five foot long and four foot wide piece of landing gear was found in a small space between two buildings right near ground zero.

In Texas, Governor Rick Perry wants an apology from the "Sacramento Bee." A California newspaper that published and editorial cartoon, appearing to link Perry's push for less regulations to the recent fertilizer plant explosion that killed 14 people and injured many other. Take a look, an image of Perry bragging that quotes "Business is booming!" It's juxtaposed with a picture of an explosion. Perry responded on Facebook saying "I won't stand for someone mocking the tragic deaths of my fellow Texans and our fellow Americans." For their part, the paper stands by that cartoons saying it was a statement on Perry's disregard for worker safety, not an attempt to disrespect any of the victims.

Also this morning Boston marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, has been moved to the federal medical facility, Devens, it's about 40 miles away from Boston. He was being treated here in Boston at Beth Israel Deaconess, that's the same hospital where a number of the victims are also being treated. Officials tell CNN that Tsarnaev has recovered enough to sit up, that he's able to write, but that he has not really revealed any more substantial information since being read those Miranda rights.

Well, I am joining you live here on Boylston Street in Boston, a beautiful spring morning, sun just coming up to my right, behind me a beautiful memorial, a makeshift memorial for the victims of the bombing. It continues to grow and grow. People from all around the world sending messages of support and strength to the people here in Boston. As of late yesterday afternoon around 30 people are still in the hospital, still being treated, and one of them is in critical condition.

Meanwhile, we are learning a little bit more about the explosives that were used by the alleged bombers. They used elbow pipes instead of straight parts. This is when they had that shootout with police in Watertown and were throwing pipe bombs at police. And why this is important is because elbow pipes are a signature explosive made with the help of instructions from "Inspire" magazine. Now, "Inspire" is an online magazine from al Qaeda. And we have much more on that magazine and its possible role in the bombings later on the show. But that's an important development. And today investigators are hoping they'll find the laptop that belonged to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. They think it might be here in this massive landfill near Boston. For three days crews in white hazmat suits have been sifting through mounts of trash in search of it. Investigators told CNN they've learned about the computer's whereabouts from the suspect, from Dzhokhar and also from other people who knew that it had been thrown out or who may have helped get rid of it. That is very important. Were there any other accomplices in this, what did other people know? CNN Susan Candiotti talked to our Anderson Cooper about the computer and how it could help the investigation.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If they can find that laptop, Anderson, in this landfill after it had been ditched somewhere, that was, you know, like a dumpster that eventually made it to the landfill, if they can get into that, they can find out things like emails and contacts and schedules and instructions. So much other information about how this plot may have come together.

HARLOW: It would be absolutely critical. Our Susan Candiotti reporting there.

Now, some people have said they are going to think twice about running in a marathon again, one woman is getting ready to run again tomorrow. Chau Smith has ran the Boston marathon, was just about a mile away from the finish line when the bombs went off. She and her husband who was watching and supporting her were obviously terrified like everyone. But tomorrow they are both going to run together in the Oklahoma City marathon with thousands of other people. After the bombings, Oklahoma marathon officials offered to let runners from Boston compete for free in their marathon. To cross that finish line. Officials say, the security tomorrow will be tight, and the bomb squad will sweep the area before the race. Some people are running, of course, in honor of the victims. And I am so happy this morning to be joined via Skype by Chau and her husband, Michael. Joining us from Kansas City, Missouri, right before you guys take off to head there to Oklahoma to run in the marathon, thank you so much for joining us. Tell me, Chau, first, why this is so important for you to run this marathon to finish that - finish the race?

CHAU SMITH, RUNNING THE OKLAHOMA CITY MARATHON: Well, first, it's - I say the same thing, like I am never going to Boston again. But after thinking over and I say, well, I will continue to run and that's the passion, you know, and I always have and I won't let just a small group of people try to hurt the innocent people to stop us. We are Americans, and just like my coach from (inaudible) Edison, he is in Kansas City says, well, we doubt, but we are not out and we are going to finish what we start.

HARLOW: That is a great point. And Chau, just so our viewers know, you are a marathon expert. You have run 40 marathons and I know the two of you are going to run this one together. Michael, you were a spectator, you're taking all these great photos that we are showing our viewers of Chau, your wife as she was getting ready to run and running the marathon. Tell me what your thought was when you heard those bombs go off, you knew your wife was close to finishing? How did you find her and how did you know she was OK?

MICHAEL SMITH, RUNNING THE OLYMPIAN CITY MARATHON: Well, when the bombs went off, I was headed down towards the intersection to get a position to take photos, and I was terrified. I had been following her progress on the Web site, so I knew approximately where she was, but then it occurred to me whether she had speeded up at the end. And so as the bombs burst, and I was really worried. And I didn't talk to her or didn't get a text from her for about 15 minutes, and those are pretty scary moments.

HARLOW: Absolutely. And I know the both of you are running this together. I don't know who is faster, but hopefully you will get to - cross the finish line together. We wish you all the best of luck. And we know that you are doing this in solidarity with the people of Boston and the victims. So, thank you very much for joining us this morning. And good luck.

CHAU SMITH: Thank you.

MICHAEL SMITH: Thank you. Boston strong.

HARLOW: Boston strong. That's for sure, guys. Thank you.

Well, build a bomb in the kitchen of your mother. Just let that sink in for a moment, OK? That headline. That's a headline from a 2010 edition of that online al Qaeda -inspired magazine, called "Inspire." It's an online guide on how to build a bomb. And investigators are looking into whether the Boston bombing suspects actually used that information to build these bombs. We're going to have details on that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Well, we now know from officials that one of the explosive devices found at last week's gunfight between police and the Boston bombing suspects in Watertown may have an online connection to al Qaeda. Our Nick Valencia's following the story for us in Atlanta. Good morning, Nick, thank you for joining us. And this is - this is a pipe bomb. We knew from our sources that five pipe bombs were thrown at police in that dramatic shoot-out in Watertown in the middle of the night, but now we know that an elbow pipe was used and it was a similar design to an al Qaeda online magazine, is that right?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is right, Poppy. And it's a new development. And investigators look to narrow down the motive behind the Boston marathon attack. Some of the answers may lie in this online publication. It's affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and it's essentially the organization's attempt at looking to influence English-speaking radical wannabes, perhaps the scariest part about this, Poppy, is how easily it's found on the Internet. I found this with a very quick Google search, it's hosted on third party sites as well as jihadi forums, and their PDF files are easily found on the Internet. Now, you're looking at the founders here. These are co- founders. Samir Khan (ph) and radical cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki. And you ask yourself, why does that name sound familiar? Now, he is the radical cleric that exchanged e-mails with the Major Nidal Hasan before the Ft. Hood massacre. Both of these two were pictured in better days in 2011. They were killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen. But let me open up the publication just to give you a sense, a little bit more of what we're looking at here. It's an open source jihad, a resource manual, they say, for those who loathe the tyrants. It includes bomb-making techniques, security measures. It's a step by step guide of how to carry out a bomb. The title of this spread in the very first publication is how to make a bomb in your mom's kitchen. You see why investigators are focusing in on this investigation, ingredients used to make bomb making materials. Poppy, this is very alarming, and perhaps will reveal some answers about why these bomb makers, alleged Boston bombers, used this magazine. Poppy.

HARLOW: Absolutely. Yeah, incredibly disturbing. And I know we will have more from Nic Robertson in Dar Es Salaam (ph) on that a bit later. Thank you so much, Nick.

Well, those who survived the terror attack, many of them were severely injured, some of them lost limbs in this attack, and the road to recovery is going to be extremely difficult for them. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta will take us inside the new normal for these amputees. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT GABE MARTINEZ, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Whatever your passion was, you're going to be able to get back to it. You're going to get new passions, I promise you. And I told them that there is a whole spectrum of componetries (ph) for different prostheses that will get you back in action, whether it's doing hair or whether it's running a marathon. You're going to be able to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Very encouraging words from double amputee and U.S. Marine, Gabe Martinez. He is a U.S. Marine Corps sergeant who was among a group of veterans who offered words of support to the Boston bombing victims in the hospital this week. We know at this point that at least 13 men and women injured in the attack on Boston have had to have at least one limb amputated as the result of the bombs, and our Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us with a look at their road to recovery.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It takes time, about six weeks post-surgery, for a new amputee to take this first step.

So, one of the most important things is that this wound around the - 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 something on to sort of shrink those tissues so the prosthetic can go on.

Every patient that suffers an amputation goes to tailored therapy to learn how to use their new limb. Peter Kulik (ph), who lost his leg due to complications from diabetes, has had his prosthetic leg less than two weeks.

The signs of progress can be small sometimes, but look, no hands, or 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 what's happening with the speed over here, you are stepping up with this good leg over here, but look what's happening with the prosthetic. You get the sort of expected what you want, the heel to toe sort of rock. That does not come naturally. That's something Pete really has to practice.

Surprisingly, everyday tasks like making coffee, is part of therapy as well.

He's not holding on to anything right now. He is able to actually keep his balance on his own. He is trusting his leg. He's distracted, not thinking about that, and he has got a lot of balance that he is testing and successfully testing by actually moving around the kitchen here. So he has never done this before. You can take a look, it's an uneven surface. He has got to essentially bend his knees. A lot harder than it looks for someone who has a brand new prosthetic device.

The first month of therapy is all about the basics for lower-limb amputees. Taking those first steps to learn to live independently.

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 INST. FOR REHABILITATION: Once they look back on the situation, you know, a year from now or 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 are going to be able to go on and live the same happy, satisfied lives.

GUPTA: In fact, thanks to advanced prosthetic technology, most amputees go on to 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 will have that experience.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Good morning. Welcome back, everyone. I want to get you up-to- date on some of the other stories and also the weather situation, especially across the Midwest. A lot of focus on flooding there. Let's go to Alexandra Steele. She is in the CNN Weather Center for us this morning. Good morning, Alexandra.

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning to you, Poppy. We have talked about it day in and day out, and of course it's the inundation of the flooding. We have seen some of these rivers crest. Others more downstream have yet to crest. But first, here is the big picture. It's a soggy go for many of you waking up this Saturday morning. Certainly not that bright. Look at I-55. It's really between I-70 and I-20, is the balance of the heavy weather today. Very heavy rain, nothing really severe, although you certainly see plenty of lightning strikes from Dallas to St. Louis, south of Cincy, north of Atlanta, that's where the heaviest rain is. Really through this weekend, I-20 north has the potential between one and three inches of rain.

So I'll show you more where that rain will go, but of course, all this rain exacerbating the troubles here, and of course it's the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. And you know, what's really the (inaudible) aspect to this is temperatures are getting so warm here, where they have not been warm thus far this winter, it has been a very cold winter, cold spring.

The Illinois River of course a major tributary to the Mississippi. It has already crested in Peoria, we've been watching that. It's crested in St. Louis as well, and now in Memphis, you can see the current stage, 28 feet flood stage, certainly well lower than that. But of course, it's the Red River at Fargo. Now, the Red River actually flows north. So downstream is south of Fargo, and of course, the biggest problem here is what we're seeing now, the temperatures are incredibly warm. Look at Fargo, in the 70s. They have not been at 50 degrees for 155 days, and all of a sudden yesterday they got to 70.

Now the problems, of course, the snow pack. There is between 8 and 16 inches of snow there ready to melt to all go into the water. So the snow will melt, the runoff will increase, and that river will really jump. So that's the biggest problem. And then there comes the rain. A very wet weekend here in the Southeast, Poppy, but of course, for you on the northeast, a very nice Saturday but the mid-Atlantic gets wet by Sunday, but Boston stays dry in New England.

HARLOW: Absolutely, Alexandra. I know it's going to be a warm, beautiful day here, but I am wondering when. I have got these heat warmers in my pocket, because it has not warmed up here yet this morning, but it will be another beautiful day here in Boston. Thanks so much, Alexandra.

STEELE: Sure. You will be able to shed the scarf.

HARLOW: Exactly, I will, in a few hours.

Well, folks, tonight is the White House Correspondents Dinner. You might know what that is. Team Coco, Conan O'Brien, taking over Washington. The one and only hosting tonight's annual White House Correspondents Dinner. It has been dubbed the nerd prom. But honestly, you should expect more glitz and glamour than anything. Top Hollywood celebrities and other politicians will join Conan, they will join the first family for a night of laughs. And of course, CNN will be all over it. You can catch tonight's White House Correspondents' Dinner, our live coverage of that, tonight at 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.