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Bombing Suspect Moved to Prison; Interview with Donnie Wahlberg

Aired April 26, 2013 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there. I'm Brooke Baldwin on this Friday afternoon here in Boston for special live coverage of the investigation into the Boston Marathon bombings.

Couple of items of note that I want to get to you. CNN has just learned that investigators are at this moment at this landfill near Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's UMass Dartmouth dorm room where he was spotted just after the bombings.

Earlier this week, investigators were there scouring for receipts. This time, we have learned they're looking for his laptop. Meantime, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is sitting in prison after a week spent in the same hospital here in Boston as so many of the victims he's accused of wounding. Overnight, he was moved here.

This is a federal prison that holds detainees who need medical care. The 19-year-old had suffered a gunshot wound to his throat. All of this as the Tsarnaev parents have gone off the grid. We now know they have left Dagestan, Russia, his father, Anzor Tsarnaev, abandoning his plans to come here to the United States, saying his trip to the U.S. is delayed indefinitely.

As we mentioned, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is now in this prison medical center, just about 40 miles from where I'm standing here in Boston.

And I want to bring in our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen.

And, Elizabeth, I know you have done some checking on this medical facility. Tell me about it. And what does this place suggest about his condition?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, Brooke.

Prisons across the country have some form of a medical facility, but there are only six medical facilities like the one that Tsarnaev is in at Fort Devens. It is a lot of patients. They have about 1,000 inmates getting medical care there. They have six doctors, 60 nurses, and they have 24-hour care, dialysis, X-rays. But it is interesting. There are some things that they don't seem to have. One is that they can't do big surgeries.

And also according to -- if you look on their Web site, the joint commission, they're not accredited for intensive care unit. they don't have -- don't appear to have an intensive care unit. That tells us that he is not in terrible condition. We know he was discharged in fair condition. Apparently, they felt comfortable discharging him to a place that doesn't do big surgeries, that appears not to have an intensive care unit.

BALDWIN: Elizabeth, what about the hospital where he was for a week, Beth Israel Deaconess here in Boston? I know a number of the bombing victims are being treated there as well and understandably so. Having just his presence under the same roof is incredibly upsetting for the victims and the families. Tell me more about that.

COHEN: Right. Brooke, I was talking to a doctor who has many colleagues at the Beth Israel and he spoke to them and they said, wow, patients here who were victims are really freaking out.

He said they were actually scared to have him in the same building. They knew he was handcuffed, they knew there were guards, but still it was scary to have him in the same place. And they also said something interesting, that apparently they thought, wow, what if my doctor is also treating this guy? What if my doctor, who I trust and I have gotten to know, is also taking care of the guy who allegedly hurt me, and that that was really just a huge burden and very traumatic for some of them.

You have to wonder was there some pressure from the Beth Israel to get him out of there?

BALDWIN: Get him treated, get him out. Get him out 40 miles away from the city now. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

COHEN: Right. Thanks.

BALDWIN: And now to this, 90 minutes of sheer terror. This is what this Boston man says he endured after being carjacked by these two bombing suspects, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The 26-year-old Chinese entrepreneur who wants to be identified only by his American nickname, Danny, so we will call him Danny, he detailed his terrifying experience, exclusively to "The Boston Globe."

And "Globe" reporter Eric Moskowitz describes one critical moment of the ride. He says this -- quote -- "They stopped in Watertown Center, so Dzhokhar could withdraw money from the Bank of America ATM using Danny's card. Danny, shivering from fear, but claiming to be cold, asked for his jacket. Guarded by just one brother, Danny wondered if this was his chance. But he saw around him only locked storefronts. A police car drove by, lights off."

Now, Danny would get another chance to escape later after enduring a seemingly endless ride through Boston.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC MOSKOWITZ, "THE BOSTON GLOBE": They drive around for 90 minutes, constantly threatening him, and Danny is just trying to think, how do I stay alive? Don't want to say the wrong thing. At one point he gets a text message from his roommate in Chinese saying, you know, where are you, how come you haven't come home? And Tamerlan takes a Chinese to -- sorry -- English to Chinese app, text back, I'm sick, I'm not coming home tonight, I'm with a friend. That seems weird to Danny's roommate. There is another text, then a call. They don't answer. There is silence in Danny's car. They call again. Tamerlan says you answer. If you say a word in Chinese, because he knows he's speaking in Chinese, he might rat him out, I will kill you. And don't be stupid.

Danny says answering to someone talking to him in Mandarin, in English, I'm sick, with a friend, I'm sorry, I have got to go. And he's just trying to think, where can I get out, when is my moment? Lucky for Danny, the car was running low on gas, they had to stop at a gas station. Double stroke of luck, it wouldn't take the credit card. The younger brother has to go in to pay with cash. That leaves Danny is alone with Tamerlan.

The thing about Tamerlan, he has been on the run all day, he's killed an MIT police officer five hours earlier. He puts his guard down for a second. Puts the gun in the driver's side pocket of Danny's SUV and he has got both hands fiddling with the GPS and Danny realizes, if I'm going to get out, now is the chance. I have got to unbuckle the seat belt, open the door and go in one swift motion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That is exactly what he did. Danny ran to a nearby gas station, got a 911 call made and then it was his iPhone and his car satellite system that would eventually lead police to his stolen car and to those suspects.

Pale, bleeding, legs gone, it was this extremely graphic picture that sent shockwaves across the world. You have seen this image. This is 27-year-old Jeff Bauman who was waiting for his girlfriend to cross the finish line, not a block from where I'm standing on Boylston Street. Minutes later, he was being wheeled away from the explosion site, legs severed below the knee.

And you see the guy on the left here? This is the man in the cowboy hat. This is Carlos Arredondo holding his artery as he ran alongside him, to try to slow the bleeding, in shock, his eyes haunted by what he had just experienced, and what he saw moments before the bomb went off.

This Jeff here came face to face with the man who had nearly taken his life.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

JEFF BAUMAN, BOMBING VICTIM: I was with my girlfriend's roommates and we were having a great time. 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 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 is warm out. He's just an odd guy. He 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. Actually when Carlos picked me up and threw me into the wheelchair, then I was, like, all right, maybe I am going to make it. But before that, no way, I thought I was done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You bringing in the birthday gift for Sydney Corcoran on her 18th birthday, tell us how that went.

BAUMAN: I had a bunch of stuff from Costco. That's where I worked, and they have been great also. They brought me a bunch of electronic stuff. So I was, like, let's give her some gifts and bring some stuff down to her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about when you found out that the guy you saw was run over, literally, by his brother?

BAUMAN: What I thought was, he's dead and I'm still here, you know?

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Jeff Bauman is now facing quite a pile of medical bills. So his friends have set up this Web site to help out. If you would like to donate, you can go to fundme.com. It's Bucks for Bauman.

And Donnie Wahlberg, he loves Boston and the men and women who protect his native city. He's the executive producer and narrator of "Boston's Finest." It's a reality show about the heroics of Boston's police force.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONNIE WAHLBERG, ACTOR: Running around on these streets, I was home, Dorchester now. This is where we grew up, me and my brothers and sisters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like me doing police work, because police work is inherently dangerous.

WAHLBERG: Same pizza shop, same market, same stores. When I'm Wahlbergs and police, usually -- we're usually on the opposite side. As much trouble as -- they treated us like kids in the neighborhood who were worthy of respect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Actor, producer, singer, Donnie Wahlberg joins me live in New York.

Donnie, I wish you were standing next to me here on Boylston Street. I tell you, it is a beautiful, beautiful Friday afternoon. Nice to have you on.

WAHLBERG: Thank you. I wish I was there with you too.

That's, ironically -- the old South Church right where the first bomb went off, just outside of it is where I studied theater in high school. And, I mean, Boylston Street, Newbury Street at this time of the year is the greatest place of the world. If I wasn't working in New York, believe me, I would be there right now. I would give anything to be there right now in Boston. It is home.

BALDWIN: Donnie, let me ask you this.

I know you were tweeting, you know, as so many people were, right after the bombs went off, making sure everyone you knew who might have been along the finish line was A-OK. Is everyone OK, your loved ones?

WAHLBERG: Yes, my loved ones are great.

My bandmate Joe McIntyre was running in the marathon. And I was on set shooting "Blue Bloods" at the time. And just the night before, Joe and I were talking, and I said how long is it going to take you to run the race? He said, I'm hoping for four hours. I said probably 4:05 is my guess.

So, right around the 4:10 mark I guess in the race, everybody on the crew from "Blue Bloods" was sort of started tapping me saying, hey, something happened in Boston, do you know about it? I didn't know. I just thought it might have been a sewer explosion or something like that. I had no idea it would be a terrorist attack.

But I immediately thought of Joe and I said, wow, hopefully he made four hours, because I looked at my watch and I figured it is probably right around the time that I predicted he would be finishing and he just had crossed five minutes earlier. So he was OK. But unfortunately so many people were hurt and there were deaths and it is just -- it is just a horrific, horrific thing and it's horrific to see our city and the people of Boston, you know, in that situation. It's something that nobody could ever imagine such a scenario happening.

BALDWIN: I tell you, though, Donnie Wahlberg, I have been here for two weeks. I was actually here the weekend before at a Red Sox game, and I love this town. You Bostonians are pretty tough, pretty resilient crowd.

Especially thinking of "Boston's Finest," the show you executive produce, I spoke to first responders, and you know some of these guys. I was just sitting last night at a bar in Dorchester. This is a great group of men and women. Can you just talk about the people who you work with? And just really they were the heroes last Monday.

WAHLBERG: Yes, we just -- ironically the last episode of "Boston's Finest" from season one aired Wednesday after the attacks. Everybody had been talking about the first-responders and the men and women of the police department and how amazing they were.

We knew and learned so much about them shooting the show. We go into the lives, and on the job and off, of the men and women of the Boston Police Department, which is the oldest police department in the United States, ironically. But we go into their lives and we learned so much about how courageous they are. They're everyday people like us. They go up in the neighborhoods and just down the street and they put their lives on the line every day to protect the streets they grew up in.

But the amount of respect we gained for them shooting the show, I mean, was infinite. And now to see how they have responded and to see how they stepped up when the city needed them so much at a level they have never have been to. I mean, we have seen other police commissioners in other cities, you know, stepping up to the podium and dealing with the stuff and managing these crises, but to see Commissioner Davis with the world's eyes on him be so courageous and strong and all the men and women -- I mean, Bob Merner, for example, who is a veteran police officer, he's one of the featured guys in our show, and there he was, you know, outside the home and one of first guys there to get this guy out of the boat in the backyard.

Just amazing, and not surprising, though, because they are dedicated, professionals, committed and they really are the finest. They have done our city proud, and in a time when our city needed them more than anyone could ever dream.

BALDWIN: Let me play, Donnie, just a clip of your show to show our viewers. This is an incredibly moving visual tribute to Boston's police force. This is from the show's season finale. Here you go.

So, Donnie, as we look at these images, how will you, if this is, you know, a real show, "Boston's Finest," how do you then incorporate and deal with the Boston bombings on the show?

WAHLBERG: Well, that's a very tough question to answer.

I mean, at this point, you know, we don't want to glorify anything that happened there. Our concern as I'm sure the concern of TNT and the other executive producers and the Boston Police Department is the care of victims now. The part of getting the bad guys has been done and now it is time to take care of the victims. So anything that is going to glorify what happened, it is going to be very delicate to do.

I think maybe what maybe something that is more likely for us to focus on is the preparation for next year's marathon because nothing is going to stop that marathon from happening. Nothing is going to stop the city of Boston from rising up and coming together and celebrating that day next year, honoring the victims and celebrating the great history of our city.

And the Boston Police Department is going to play a huge part in that. So I think that would be something we would be more likely to focus on. It would be impossible to not acknowledge what happened, but we don't want to glorify it and take advantage of it in that light. We will figure it out. It is going to be delicate.

BALDWIN: OK. OK. And then finally, I can't talk to you without talking about New Kids on the Block. You got a gig in Boston in June. I imagine there will be a little something special for people here in Boston.

WAHLBERG: We're planning something special already for our concert, but we have also been talking to everyone back in Boston now about planning something special, a special event with a lot of other legendary Boston artists and we're putting it together now, so it is a little early to talk about it, but something very special is going to be announced very soon to do in honor of the victims and to help raise money for them and their families. Very special.

BALDWIN: Donnie Wahlberg, thank you so much. I'm sure it will be. Thank you so much for talking to me. I'm sure your city is ready to have you back. Thank you so much for talking to me.

(CROSSTALK)

WAHLBERG: Enjoy the city and everybody go out and enjoy Boston. Enjoy it.

BALDWIN: I will. We will.

And speaking of, I'm going to talk to some of these fine people behind me who are paying tribute at this makeshift memorial that has been here since Boylston Street reopened just on Wednesday. I will walk you through some of what is behind me after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I'm Brooke Baldwin live on Boylston Street.

This area was just reopened after being a crime scene for the better part of a week-and-a-half. This is where you normally see us. Swing around and you can see just the media presence here as we have been covering both local and national, what happened two Mondays ago at the finish line, just in front of the Boston Public Library that way.

Walk with me. Let me just show you where I am. As you can see a lot of people have come down here to gather and just see this makeshift memorial. We have some little ones and some parents. And as we walk through here, let me begin with this.

There are a couple of crosses here. Pardon me, excuse me. Little crosses for the four lives lost, the three who were killed from those two explosions two Mondays ago, and, of course, the MIT police officer who was shot and killed in his police cruiser.

And I'll tell you, I have been here every day for the last couple of days and this memorial continues to grow and grow. You have flowers and teddy bears, beautiful flowers. Forgive me, excuse me. Some art has been popping up.

And over here, if I can just do this on the fly, live, people are coming by, plenty of sharpies because people want to, whether they're from Boston, whether they know folks who were here at the finish line or just want to pay their own respects, they are.

Just reading -- may I ask you a quick question? Where are you from?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Boston.

BALDWIN: You're from Boston. And why are you here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because we knew some people here.

BALDWIN: You're about to write a message. What are you thinking about writing?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pray for Boston.

BALDWIN: Pray for Boston. Thank you so much. "Stay strong, Boston," from the Morgan family. "Blessings to all families." There are so many notes scrolled all over here. It's now spilled over on to the wood.

Let me just get down. "Three blocks away, sirens shouting in midday sun, people rushing toward one, another to show why we call Boston home. God bless you. Chicago is with you. God bless, and help heal Boston from Summerville." Summerville is just across the river.

So, just a couple of some of the messages that are being written from people here. And let me walk just over here, because, Glen (ph), you're here from Monterey, California.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.

BALDWIN: Are you just in Boston because you just so happened to be here for fun, for work?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm actually here visiting a friend, but definitely had to come down here and see this.

BALDWIN: And is this the first time you have been down at the memorial site?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is, yes. It's pretty powerful.

BALDWIN: It is powerful. It is tough to almost express to people what it feels like, what it looks like. Have you had a chance to talk to people? What is your sense of this area?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I haven't yet. I'm actually just getting here. But just, you know, reading the messages on the board, it is pretty powerful. There is a lot of bad people in the world. But it is obvious there are way more good people who are going to, you know, come together and get through times like this.

BALDWIN: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Again, flowers down here. A lot of tennis shoes, lots and lots of tennis shoes. We saw Dr. Jill Biden, because the vice president was here Wednesday, for the memorial service for officer Sean Collier. And so Dr. Biden stopped by and she actually tied a pair of tennis shoes up on some of these barricades and these are the actual barricades that were used during the marathon. So they're up here right now.

And who knows how long this memorial will actually be here in the heart of the Back Bay, in the heart of Boylston Street. But it continues to remain and people continue to come down here, take pictures, pause, reflect, as the city continues to heal.

We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: When you think about what happened here two Mondays ago, with the marathon, and you sort of say thank goodness for the cameras here to capture these bombing suspects who were eventually singled out, who were singled out during this Boston Marathon down at the finish line.

But could cameras have stopped the suspects if they had made it to New York in their alleged plan to bring terror to Times Square? Sort of city cameras. The people who run New York City are betting yes. They want more surveillance cameras. Here's what New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said earlier this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), MAYOR OF NEW YORK: We have to understand that in the world going forward, we're going to have more cameras and that kind of stuff. That's good in some senses, but it is different than what we are used to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Stopped the mayor right there I want you to listen closely to what he said next. Roll it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLOOMBERG: And the people who worried about privacy have a legitimate worry, but we live in a complex world where you're going to have to have a level of security greater than you did back in the olden days, if you will. And our laws and our interpretation of the Constitution, I think, have to change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Want to bring in CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin.

So, Sunny, we just heard Mayor Bloomberg say -- quote, unquote -- "our laws and our interpretation of the Constitution, I think, have to change." That's a big statement. With these surveillance cameras, can they have that big an impact on our privacy?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, no question about it. This has been a debate that has been going on for quite some time post- 9/11, because we know that New York was probably the first city to implement these cameras everywhere, not only just watching traffic violations, or violators, but also watching our streets for suspicious packages and that sort of thing.

And it's sort of known as the ring of steel because there are thousands of cameras all over New York. And since this happened, you know, there has been that balancing question, and people are saying, I have my Fourth Amendment right, my right to privacy. I don't want that infringed because of these security concerns.

But I have got to tell you, Brooke, it doesn't come close to me legally, because I don't know you have this expectation of privacy outside in the street. And even if you did, isn't it more important to keep our streets, our people, our country safe? And so I understand where Mayor Bloomberg is coming from. But I don't even think it is a close call. You just don't have that expectation of privacy outside in the street.

BALDWIN: Well, you know, you're around New York and especially Times Square. You think of all the surveillance cameras there. Actually, London tops that. London is really considered most watched city in the world, far more surveillance cameras even than Manhattan. Have all the cameras, though, have they made any real difference in privacy or in solving crime, though? What are the facts?

HOSTIN: It depends who you speak to. Some people say absolutely, absolutely. One, people feel safer, and, two, people are safer. There has been a decrease in certain crimes.

And then you have other people that are saying, I feel like Big Brother is watching me. And that's such a significant trade-off. Again, I don't believe that there is that expectation of privacy. And even if there were that expectation, my goodness, don't we want to be safe from terrorism, don't we want to be safe in our, you know, in our country?

BALDWIN: Sunny Hostin, you make a good point, my friend. Sunny, thank you very much for me in New York today.

The suspects accused of carrying out the Boston bombings, they were not on the terror watch list, a list that has over 700,000 names on it. So the question is this. Does the terror watch list work? Does it need an overhaul? How is this supposed to work in the first place? Back with our special coverage here in Boston in a moment.

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