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Kevin Spacey Honors Boston Victims; Obama Needs Facts on Syria; FBI Continues Investigation Into Bombing Suspects; Suspect's Widow Katherine Russell Under Microscope; Interview with Sen. Lindsey Graham

Aired April 30, 2013 - 12:00   ET

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

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: You know, I've got to be honest, Kevin, as we've been here for days, typically what people are doing behind me is crying. They're overwhelmed by the things they're seeing here, the memorials and shoes and signatures and messages from other countries even. So it is nice to try to bring the positive.

KEVIN SPACEY, ACTOR: Well, you know, and it's part -- we were having a lunch for the last couple of days right here on some of the great restaurants here. You know, Abe (ph) and Louis (ph) and all of these places that were greatly affected, their business has been affected. And, you know, it's important that people know they can come down here, it's safe. Businesses are ready and happy. The food's awesome. And so it's just important to get the word out that, you know, "Boston strong," you know, I kind of feel like we're all Boston.

BANFIELD: Yes.

SPACEY: So it's important that everybody be supportive as they can.

BANFIELD: And what is your plan for the rest of the day?

SPACEY: We're going to Beth Israel Hospital a little bit later and then I'm going to go see the SWAT guys in their debrief, the ones I didn't meet yesterday. And I'm going try to get back to Spalding (ph), because I want to meet Adrian's (ph) husband, who I didn't get a chance to meet, because he had - he had been discharged. But we're trying to organize it so that we can - I can go and meet him.

BANFIELD: And some good news I can break to you, and the viewers at the same time as well, and that is that we get an update condition for all of the -- those who were affected who remain in the hospital. And every day, on this Blackberry, I've been watching the condition of one of these victims as -- remains in critical, remains in critical. Today is the first day the update came from the hospital, no one is in critical condition any longer.

SPACEY: Well, yesterday, when we were at Boston Hospital, I met a man who -- his name is John, who had been in the bombing, and he didn't lose any limbs, but he was seriously injured. He actually flat-lined in the first surgery. And it took a long time to get him back. And then he woke up two days ago for the first timing. And so we spent some time with him and his wife yesterday in the hospital room and he's going to do OK. He's going to pull through. BANFIELD: Had he had much of a memory of what had happened?

SPACEY: Yes, you know, it's been kind of extraordinary how all -- every person that I've met who was in and affected by the bomb itself in the hospital, their memory of it is incredibly clear. I don't think anyone, surprisingly, really went unconscious for more than a few seconds. They remember everything. And some things, of course, they don't want to remember. But what they do remember, and you know I remember Roseanne (ph) saying to me that she still doesn't know who the guy was who got under her arms and lifted her up and helped carry her to an ambulance. She still doesn't know who that guy was. She wishes she did. And I said, well, you'll probably run into him at some point.

BANFIELD: Any other really great stories from the people that you spoke with?

SPACEY: You know, I mean all the - all the Boston Police that I've met over the last couple of days, who were prepared, you know, I suppose that, in any kind of law enforcement situation, they are aware of the fact that if they're going to hit us, they're going to hit us at the finish line. And they were ready and they were prepared. And when it happened, they moved. And, you know, they would just say, of course, they're just doing their jobs. But for those of us on the outside who saw that extraordinary thing of, you know, them running into it, it's just incredible. And I think - I don't want to get too political, but I do have to say that I think it's a shame that they've been working without a contract for a number of years now and I think it's time that the police in this city deserve to have a contract.

BANFIELD: And, by the way, I'm assuming you got the same response that we got when we talked to these police officers, they all deflect their heroics and they say, we're just doing our job. We're just average guys. We're union guys, you know, we're not heroes in this.

SPACEY: Yes. Well, and I think, you know, that's an incredibly professional thing to say and I think, you know, certainly with the doctors and nurses and surgeons I met yesterday, you know, the one thing they probably won't admit is, a, they're tired and, b, they're emotionally affected by it. And I think that, you know, just to sort of go and try to lift their spirits has been really, for me, the whole reason I came. And I'm really glad I came.

BANFIELD: There's a guy, a bit of a non sequitur, but there's a guy I met named Bobby Deangelo (ph), and we interviewed him here yesterday. He provides the products for Fenway Park and he also has a store over on Newbury (ph) Street that sells these ball caps that say "Boston Strong" and they've got that logo of the Boston Red Sox. He has sold - I think the statistic was - what are we at, around -- over $500,000 now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the last 24-hours?

BANFIELD: In the last 24 - well, certainly in the last eight days he sold a remarkable amount of these hats. One hundred percent of the proceeds going to the One Fund (ph). SPACEY: Great.

BANFIELD: And what we remarked on the most is that he's so positive and he's smiling and he's just a happy personality.

SPACEY: Yes.

BANFIELD: And it makes a huge difference in a story like this.

SPACEY: Yes.

BANFIELD: And here you are, you know, this famous actor who shows up unannounced. You've got to feel that that's happening.

SPACEY: Oh, it is. And, you know, I think people might be surprised at how much the victims themselves are smiling and surrounded by friends and surrounded by great doctors and psychologists and people to help them get through. You know, I suppose it's one thing for the professionals to, you know, to understand that these kind of things might happen, you know, thank goodness that they did all these drills so that I think they're incredibly happy that they've proved that they can do it.

But the emotional terrain is something that they're probably not prepared for. And I think everyone needs to understand that and remember that all those first responders that are saying it's just our job, you know, they're humans just like all of us and they need to be supported and need to allow themselves to, you know, sometimes if you just admit that you're feeling sad or you're having a bad moment, you know, when you let's it out, you own it. And I think there's a lot of people in this town who are owning it.

BANFIELD: By the way, the guy who's administrating the One Fund, who will be meeting with victims next week to -- a lot, who gets what sort of compensation from the roughly $30 million that's been raised, he mentioned this morning, with Chris Cuomo, my colleague at CNN, that there are roughly a half dozen double amputees and another approximately half dozen single amputees. I'm sure you've probably come in contact with a couple of those people at the Spalding Institute (ph).

SPACEY: Yes, and I'm really glad that a number of our wounded warriors, who have found themselves in similar situations, have come to Boston and visited with these victims because I've been to Walter Reed and, you know, it's one thing when you're a soldier, you know, and I suppose to some degree you know going into that profession and serving in the military that it is possible that you're going to get your leg blown off and so they prepare for it and they understand it. But for, you know, a mother or a son or a father who came out to cheer on a family relative or a friend, to suddenly find themselves in a situation they could have never imagined -

BANFIELD: Right. No preparation.

SPACEY: They're not prepared for it. And so I think it's really valuable that these extraordinary soldiers have walked into their hotel rooms and said, look at me, you know, I'm independent, I run in a marathon, I have incredible mobility and flexibility. And their attitude - you know, I remember when I went to Waller Reed, their attitudes, again, the spirit of it was so incredible because they're just like, you know, well, they're putting in this titanium arm tomorrow and as soon as I learn how to work this, I've got to get back to my unit. I've got to get back to my unit. You know that's --

BANFIELD: (INAUDIBLE). A job to do.

SPACEY: That's the -- that's the spirit that will keep everyone going. And, you know, it's been incredible to be here. This is a beautiful city and a beautiful day and we've just got to, you know, move on and move forward and just to embrace as many people as we can.

BANFIELD: And in that effort, small known secret that you're the big star of the Netflix "House of Cards" and you've brought some of those DVDs to the guys -

SPACEY: No, what I did was I actually brought - I didn't bring DVDs, I brought subscriptions to Netflix.

BANFIELD: Oh.

SPACEY: So I brought six-month subscriptions to Netflix and gave them out to a lot of people.

BANFIELD: Right.

SPACEY: And then I have to thank Jeffrey Katzenberg and Paramount for providing me with about 250 DVDs of "American Beauty." So I've been passing those out, too.

BANFIELD: Oh.

SPACEY: So Netflix and Jeffrey and Paramount have been incredibly kind.

BANFIELD: Nice. And for people who are watching right now, and you're inspired to give, because these people are going to need a lot of work and a lot of help in the ensuing years -- months, years and decades. Onefundboston.org. Onefundboston.org. And you can give -

SPACEY: And all of you on social network, retweet that. Retweet it. Retweet it.

BANFIELD: That's great. Thank you for doing this.

SPACEY: Thanks. Thank you.

BANFIELD: I know you were in the middle of talking to --

SPACEY: Well, we all walked over from the Boston Athletic Association together because a lot of them haven't even had a chance to be here, they've been so responding to everything that they need to respond to -

BANFIELD: Yes.

SPACEY: Because there's a lot of runners that suddenly got stopped.

BANFIELD: Yes.

SPACEY: And so there's a lot that they had to deal with. But we've come over today with all of them and they've been pretty happy to finally get here today.

BANFIELD: Great of you to stop by. Appreciate it.

SPACEY: Yes. Thanks.

BANFIELD: Don't forget your hooked on to a microphone, so don't leave right away.

SPACEY: I know. I know. I won't walk away with that on. Take the set with me.

BANFIELD: Thank you, Kevin Spacey. Kevin Spacey joining us live.

And, obviously, you probably saw him over the weekend. He was a headliner in one of the videos of the Correspondents' Dinner in Washington, D.C. It was very, very funny. Wolf Blitzer was there. He was watching that live. And he joins us now to continue our coverage.

Wolf, I'm going to toss it over to you.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Ashleigh thanks very much. And thank Kevin for all of our viewers as well.

President Obama faces some serious questions about some of the most pressing issues here in the United States and around the world from the bombings in Boston to the war in Syria. The president, a few moments ago as you saw live here on CNN, wrapped up a news conference with reporters in the White House Briefing Room. On the war in Syria and evidence that chemical weapons were used, the president says his wants to make sure he has all of the facts before taking any direct, new action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If I can establish, in a way that not only the United States but also the international community feel confident is the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime, then that is a game changer because what that portends is potentially even more devastating attacks on civilians and it raises the strong possibility that those chemical weapons can fall into the wrong hands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, let's dig a little bit deeper right now. Our chief political analyst Gloria Borger, she watched the news conference with all of us. The president is walking a very fine line, a sensitive line, on this truly explosive issue of Syria potentially using chemical weapons against its own people and how the U.S. will respond.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, of course, he is, Wolf, because he's already said that if we discover that the Syrian government has actually been using chemical weapons, and that would be what he calls a game changer. But he was so careful today, Wolf, to say he doesn't know the chain of custody of this. He's got to make sure that he's got the facts. We don't know how the weapons were used, who used them. And he said, as commander in chief, he's got to figure that out first.

Then, Wolf, he said, once they discover the facts, he would have to, quote, "rethink" the range of options available to the United States. He did not specify, Wolf, whether military options are among those options that he's got on the shelf. He did talk about what he called a spectrum of options. So you see, Wolf, he clearly wasn't going to be railroaded into this at this point, wanting to make sure that he had all of the facts before making a decision about exactly what the game change would be if it were warranted.

BLITZER: There was lots of news at the news conference with the president -

BORGER: Yes.

BLITZER: On the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombings. He strongly defended the FBI, despite some serious criticism from various members of Congress, including Senator Lindsay Graham. At one point he said Mr. Graham is not right on this issue. This issue is only just beginning as a political football, if you will, because there are some serious differences between the president on the one hand and Senator Graham and several other Republicans on the other hand.

BORGER: Right. Senator Graham and other Republicans are saying that the government did not connect the dots properly, to use that phrase. And it took about a nanosecond for Senator Graham to issue a press release responding to the president. And he said, with all due respect, Mr. President, Benghazi and Boston are compelling examples of how our national security systems have deteriorated on your watch.

The president said that intelligence did what it needed to do. He was also, I thought, careful not to criticize the Russians, although he did say that, quote, "suspicions remain" between our government and the Russian government because we also understand that the FBI went to the Russian government asking for more information and did not get it back.

One other little piece of information we learned here was that the Russians, he said, had told us not only about the elder brother, but also about the brother's mother, who's somebody that they're clearly looking at, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, we're going to continue to follow up on some of the news that emerged from the president's press conference over at the White House throughout this hour, the next hour, certainly later in "The Situation Room" as well.

Gloria, thanks very, very much.

BORGER: Sure.

BLITZER: There's other important news we're working on this hour as well, including Amanda Knox. She's now opening up about the year she spent in an Italian prison. She says it could have happened to anyone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: All right, let's get you up to speed on the latest developments in the Boston terror investigation.

Federal agents, right now, they're trying to determine if there's a link between the dead suspected bomber and this man, William Plotnikov, a Canadian boxer turned jihadist who was killed a year ago in a shootout with Russian troops.

The firefight happened in the same region that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was visiting. He returned to the U.S. quickly thereafter.

Tsarnaev's widow, meanwhile, Katherine Russell, is coming under closer scrutiny apparently. Investigators have taken DNA samples and other items from her parents' home in Rhode Island. They'll compare the samples to a female DNA found on a fragment of one of the pressure cooker bombs used in the Boston attack.

And the wounded bombing suspect, the younger one, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, now is a prominent attorney on his defense team, another one. He's got a lot of attorneys right now, but among others, Judy Clarke, she's just joins the team.

She's represented defendants in some of the most high-profile death penalty cases in recent years, including the Arizona mass shooter, Jared Loughner, the Atlanta Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph, and the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski.

They all received life in prison instead of the death penalty.

CNN's crime and justice correspondent, Joe Johns, is working this part of the story. You're getting new information.

I suspect, by Judy Clarke coming in, that seems to be a signal they're going to do whatever they can to avoid the federal death sentence for this suspect, Joe?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That would certainly make sense, and obviously in death penalty cases, that is generally the way the story goes, Wolf.

What we can tell you, though, is that we do know preliminary talks have been under way for a while, perhaps the last several days to -- between the Justice Department and the defense team to try to, at the very least, open up the door so the surviving suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, can actually restart conversations with investigators and, obviously, as a part of that, Wolf, the question would be whether the death penalty could be taken off of the table.

Quite frankly, at this stage, the Justice Department has not said whether it will pursue the death penalty in the Boston bombings cases. However, taking it off the table would pave the way for, you know, some type of a life sentence presumably for an individual. That's the kind of thing that might be thrown into the negotiations so that talks could continue with the suspect, Wolf.

BLITZER: So, can we call that, Joe, and I know you're an attorney, you went to law school, could we call that, at this preliminary, very early stage, potentially a plea bargain?

In other words, he'll plead guilty if he doesn't get the death sentence. He'll plead guilty and get, let's say, life in prison without the possibility of parole?

You think the federal prosecutors, the U.S. attorneys, would be willing to enter a plea bargain deal at this early stage with this guy in exchange for his supposed full cooperation?

JOHNS: I absolutely think it's premature to say that, Wolf, at this stage. The defense team has not signaled they're ready to make any deal, and the Justice Department has not even said whether it will consider the death penalty when this individual presumably were to go to trial.

But we do know all of these things are issues that have to be considered, and we also know that one way to get this individual to restart his conversations with investigators is some type of conversation about taking that death penalty issue off of the table.

These are very preliminary discussions, and all of that will form somewhere down the road in all likelihood, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yeah, and I assume Eric Holder, attorney general, and all the other U.S. attorneys who might be involved in this would want to speak with relatives, survivors, get their opinion, before they were to make any such plea deal with this suspect right now.

It's obviously a sensitive issue, if they were to take the death penalty off the table right now.

I know, Joe, you're going to be working this story for us throughout the day and, of course, in the days to come. Joe Johns reporting for us.

Meanwhile, Tamerlan Tsarnaev widow is under more scrutiny today as the investigation moves forward. Katherine Russell's lawyers were there when investigators searched her family's home in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.

Erin McPike is joining us once again from outside Russell's attorney's office in Providence not too far away. Erin, what can you tell us about the search? What have you learned?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, as you know, yesterday afternoon a team of about five FBI investigators carried out what looked to be an evidence gathering equipment from the Russell home.

One of those things was a DNA samples bag, and a few other things that we now know that the FBI was testing for Katie Russell's DNA.

Now, today, here's what we can tell you. There have not yet been any Katie Russell sightings today. However, it is possible and, in fact, very likely, that Katie Russell is here inside her attorney's office. We know her attorneys have been tied up inside that office since about 9:00 this morning.

And the other thing, Wolf, is there are a number of unmarked law enforcement vehicles who have been swarming and monitoring the area as they have been doing at the Russell's' home for about the past week or so in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.

The other thing, Wolf, is that one of those investigators, or federal officials, rather, who was inside the Russell home yesterday entered the attorney's office here about 90 minutes ago, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Erin, we'll stay in close touch with you, as well. Erin McPike's working this part of the story.

We're going to have a lot more on the Boston terror investigation, a lot more on president's news conference this morning.

Also, other news we're following, she was called a temptress and a she-devil. Now Amanda Knox is speaking out. She's telling her story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Let's follow up on the president's news conference.

At one point, over at the White House, the president specifically, in response to a question from our own Jessica Yellin, the president specifically said Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina -- and in the president's words -- "is not right on this issue," referring to the criticism that Senator Graham has leveled against the Obama administration for the build-up to what happened in Boston, also on the Benghazi killings in Libya as well.

Senator Graham is joining us on the phone right now. He's in Phoenix, Arizona.

Did you have a chance, Senator Graham -- I assume you did -- to hear the exchange between Jessica Yellin and the president at the news conference?

SEN. LINDSAY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Yes, somebody played it back for me. And I just say, Wolf, with all due respect to the president, we've had eight Americans killed in the last seven months by radical Islamists, four in Benghazi, four in Boston.

And I think our systems are degrading and I stand by that statement. It's not like I relish saying that. I just think it's true. And Benghazi, multiple warnings were coming out of our consulate, our Ambassador Stevens. They were ignored. Request for security was denied. The consulate became a death trap for 71/2 hours. Nobody could come to the aid of the people who were under attack.

And after the attack, Susan Rice and the administration told the narrative that just didn't hold water. It wasn't a spontaneous event caused by a video.

Boston has got its problems, too.

BLITZER: All right. Well, let me play the clip. This is the president, speaking at the news conference, responding to Jessica Yellin's question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Lindsey Graham, who's a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, has said that Benghazi and Boston are both examples of the U.S. going backwards on national security.

Is he right?

And did our intelligence miss something?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, Mr. Graham is not right on this issue, although I'm sure it generated some headlines.

I think that what we saw in Boston was state, local, federal officials, every agency, rallying around a city that had been attacked, identifying the perpetrators just hours after the scene had been examined.

We now have one individual deceased, one in custody; charges have been brought. I think that all our law enforcement officials performed in an exemplary fashion after the bombing had taken place. And we should be very proud of their work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: "Very proud of their work."

All right, Senator Graham, you want to directly respond to this part of what the president said?

GRAHAM: Absolutely. Great work by the Boston Police Department, great courage by the Boston people, all of the police organizations in the Boston area, the FBI to catch the guy afterward.

The FBI had a photo of the suspect and I still don't know why that didn't ping the system to say we've already talked to him. But my concerns are about what happened before. He was interviewed in 2011, the older brother was; got a warning letter from the Russian intelligence service sent to the FBI in March and the CIA in November.

He goes back to Russia and Dagestan in 2012, Wolf, and DHS picks him leaving and coming, but they don't share the information with the FBI or the CIA, so he's never interviewed. They never share this guy's presence with the Boston Fusion (ph) cell, who's supposed to be tracking terrorists in the Boston area.

And when he comes back in June of 2012, he goes on a YouTube channel, a website, on the Internet for the whole world to see and embraces radical Islam.

A guy that's already in the system that's suspected to be a radical Islamist is now on the Web inside the United States, embracing radical Islamist ideology and the rest is history.

So, this is stovepiping. The FBI and the CIA not being informed of his travels back to Russia, when he gets on the website, nobody comes back to him and say hey, listen, in 2011, you said you loved America; you wanted to be an Olympic boxer.

What are you doing now, interacting with these radical Islamic websites? Our systems are failing, in my view.

BLITZER: I guess the argument that some administration officials have made is that the FBI, after they got that initial tip from Russian intelligence back in 2011 -- and the president specifically said the Russian intelligence agency alerted the U.S. to the older brother and mother, the president said today, and mother as well, as potentially being sympathizers -- the president then said they did, the FBI, they went out and interviewed the older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and the mother.

And after their investigation they came up with nothing. So they closed that file.