Return to Transcripts main page
Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Manhunt Underway for Boston Bomb Suspects; Massive Plant Explosion in Texas
Aired April 18, 2013 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Erin, thanks very much.
Good evening, everyone. There is big breaking news in Boston and utterly horrific breaking news right here in this small Texas town of West. Search, rescue, recovery and damage assessment from the blast that rocked a fertilizer plant here just north of Waco. It registered as a small earthquake, flattening entire buildings, burying people alive, killing them in some cases where they stood.
Claiming the lives, we're now learning, of many volunteers who rushed to help. This story is changing even as I stand here and we're going to bring you all the latest on it throughout the evening tonight. We'll be back on at 10:00 again for another update.
We begin, though, on the story out of Boston, which just a short time ago became a national manhunt. Take a look at these two photos and all the images we'll be showing you from here on out. These are the two men the FBI says it is looking for. Two men they are calling suspects, warning they'd be considered armed and dangerous.
Two men with backpacks, one of whom, the one with the white hat, was caught on tape planting one of those bags shortly before the blast. The bureau did not provide footage of that, but did supply this clip of the two men making their way, one after the other, down sidewalks near the explosion sites.
You'll be seeing plenty of this video here and everywhere in the coming hours and days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD DESLAURIERS, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: Today, we are enlisting the public's help to identify the two suspects. After a very detailed analysis of photo, video and other evidence, we are releasing photos of these two suspects. They are identified as suspect one and suspect two. They appear to be associated. Suspect one is wearing a dark hat. Suspect two is wearing a white hat.
Suspect two set down a backpack at the site of the second explosion just in front of the Forum Restaurant. We strongly encourage those who were at the Forum Restaurant who have not contacted us yet to do so. We consider them to be armed and extremely dangerous. No one should approach them. No one should attempt to apprehend them except law enforcement. Let me reiterate that caution. Do not take any action on your own. If you see these men, contact law enforcement. If you know anything about the bombings or the men pictured here, please call the telephone listed on the photo arrays, that's 1-800-CALL-FBI.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Special Agent DesLauriers could not emphasize that enough. Make a phone. Do not, do not approach these two people. The FBI, as we showed you, provided several still frames they believe best identified the men.
To give you more angles, a better shot of recognizing these men, we dug in to the video, hold out the frames that you are seeing now. Again, this is by no means perfect. And the hats obviously do make it harder.
We've also slowed things down a bit in case that helps. Goes without saying the FBI has trained photo interpreters and more video to work with than they're releasing just now. We should also caution that many people may resemble these men. The FBI, though, is counting on someone seeing something that stands out and points clearly to a name.
I wants to bring in Susan Candiotti, who's standing by in Boston.
Susan, you've got some new information from a source about the behavior of the suspects. What have you learned?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Well, this is a federal law enforcement official who has seen the videos and this official tells me that after the two are seen on videos planting the bombs, that they don't run away, they casually walk away, apparently to avoid drawing attention to themselves. And according to this official who told me this information because -- with the belief that it would not hinder the investigation in any way, Anderson, stated that when the bombs blew up, when most people were running away or lying in the street injured, these two individuals did not leave. They stuck around to watch.
And then they -- in the words of the official who has seen the videos, they casually walked away. Now this is information coming after these videos have been watched by various officials and of course they're still working on this investigation. And we also can tell you now that of course, nonstop investigators continue to trace phone calls, cell phone calls that were made before and after that attack.
They are using techniques that are commonly used and have been for a long time in criminal investigations, in this case, tracking calls made in the area of Copley Plaza using the cell phone tower in this area, and using phone records, and are trying to look up names. They are looking up names of individuals to connect to those phones.
Now, of course, this is a very difficult process because sometimes the names simply won't match. Sometimes people don't use their real names. Sometimes they use a disposable phone, for example. But this is the kind of thing that is going on.
And, Anderson, another thing that we've done for you is to isolate, give you a closer picture of the two hats that those two young men were wearing. Now these appear to be the same hats. We have gone on the Internet and searched and searched and used various other methods because the ones that we've seen -- are seeing on the images provided to us by the FBI are just a little bit blurry.
So these appear to be the same kind of hats. Take a look at them. One first on the one is the hat worn by suspect one and there's also one by suspect number two. So if you see something like this, this might be a clear indication of the hats that those two young men were wearing -- Anderson.
COOPER: You know, I was just looking at this video a lot. It seems like suspect number two has kind of a distinctive walk. Seems like his right leg is almost bow-legged. I don't know if I'm sort of imagining that, or have authorities said anything about that?
CANDIOTTI: No, I haven't heard any discussion of that. But it is the kind of thing that they will be taking a very close look at. Every move they made, how they walk, how they move, the features on their face, the hat that they wore, maybe down to the pants and the shoes. With the kind of technology they have now, obviously you can imagine all kinds of records that they must be trying to match those pictures up against with all the techniques that they have these days to see whether those -- going in tight on those faces, they can match them up in that way as well.
COOPER: Yes. I just noticed that on the right leg. Again, I might be imagining it.
Joe Johns is in Washington, has some new information -- as well.
Joe, what are you learning?
JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, a federal law enforcement official briefed on the investigation tells our producer, Carol Craddy, that the current thinking is that the devices were remotely detonated, but that official would not go into any details. The official would not say if they were set off by a cell phone or by some other method.
Now this official also said the bulk of the material recovered by the authorities apparently came from the black bag you've heard so much talk about. The official added that bag showed up in a lot of pictures yesterday, showing something next to a mailbox, which appears frankly to have nothing to do with the explosions.
The official also said it is accurate that the FBI has video showing the reaction as you just heard of suspect two to the explosion from the first bomb. The official said you can see the reaction of suspect, two along with others around him, but the official was pretty vague as to how revealing that reaction was and said it's subject to interpretation. So a little more detail there about what the authorities think they know right now -- Anderson. COOPER: Subject two is -- suspect two is in the white hat, I should just point out for our viewers.
Joe, I just want to ask you, though, about that report of a remote detonation. Does -- I mean, does that contradict earlier reports over the last several days about a timing device or timing devices were used and there was a circuit board?
JOHNS: Right. It certainly does. It certainly does seem to contradict reports of a timing device. Authorities even at that time told us they weren't 100 percent certain of that, and you may know, Anderson, we had some additional reporting today about the battery that was discovered at the scene, apparently connected to this bomb. We found out through a company out in California that that battery apparently is used in remote control hobby cars, which would lend some to wonder whether this was some type of remote control that was used to detonate one of the devices -- Anderson.
COOPER: Interesting. Stand by. I want to bring in Drew Griffin. He's also in Boston working his sources.
What is your sense from law enforcement about these suspects? Is the assumption that if two people had enough of a plan to coordinate these attacks that they likely had a plan to escape?
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: That's the likelihood based on past experience, Anderson. This rules out the kind of lone wolf crazy person scenario. If two people are together practicing, potentially, buying these products together, assembling together, they're also planning their escape or departure from the scene.
That is kind of standard thinking. So you have to think now one, two, three, four days after, that that plan was initiated. They may be huddled down in a basement watching, you know, all this attention on TV. That may have been their plan. But they also may have had just as calculated a plan to leave or flee the scene as they did setting up what seems to be a calm and cool and collected bombing of the Boston marathon -- Anderson.
COOPER: And Drew, obviously law enforcement is now poring over and has been poring over other photos from subway stations from bus stops, any other closed circuit cameras, any other security cameras all over the city, I would imagine, in the hours before and the hours after these videos were taken.
GRIFFIN: Yes, most likely not only just the subway system here, the train system, but the bus depots, perhaps even the airports. And I must tell you that the FBI is getting calls. They are getting calls. We know just a couple of miles away, we'll have more details on this later in the night, but a false alarm, a college student with a white hat was surrounded by police. This happened just within the last half hour or so, and he described that, you know, they came, they had him put his hands down like this.
So many people had called because here is a guy, a college kid with a white hat on. So they're acting on this -- the tips that they are getting. Obviously they wish they could have found these people without opening up the public to all this speculation, but they are at the point now where they need these tips to find these people. Somebody knows these people. And it's just going to take the right call to find them.
CANDIOTTI: If I may, Anderson.
COOPER: Yes. Susan -- yes.
CANDIOTTI: Just like they did with Najibullah Zazi, the New York City subway bomber, they're also looking for another way they could find him is to try to find out where they bought some of the ingredients to make the bombs. So, for example, we spoke with a hobby store here in Boston and they told us that, in fact, they had been contacted by the FBI to find out whether they had sold nails or a remote device, I believe it was. However, they had not.
COOPER: Sure.
CANDIOTTI: And referred them to another store. So clearly the FBI is trying to track this down as well.
COOPER: Right. Trying to follow up all leads. Susan, Drew, just stay with me. CNN analyst, Fran Townsend and Tom Fuentes join us now. Tom is a former FBI assistant director, Fran served as a Homeland Security adviser in the George W. Bush administration, is currently on the CIA and Department of Homeland Security external advisory boards.
Tom, first of all, what stands out to you from these images?
TOM FUENTES, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I think the complete poise and nonchalance of these two walking down the street. They just seem like they're so proud of themselves, comfortable, Mr. Cool, especially the guy with the hat on backwards, he's just strolling along and thinking he's just the greatest. And I think that -- I think what jumps out at me is actually in the discussion about whether it's a lone wolf, the lone wolves, even if it's with firearms like the Lanzas of the world, you know, they don't socialize with other people. They stay in their basement and stay on their computer and they don't meet a lot of other people. They're not social.
These two seem like they would be social, like they would go to parties, like they would have friends, like they might have pictures of themselves with those hats, not from that day, maybe, but there might be something on one of the social media sites where they've gone to a party or met with friends or went to a football or baseball, basketball game, something. So the pictures that strike out at me is that the two appear like they would not be necessarily reclusive and the less reclusive, the more social they are, the more likely they move in circles where people would know one or both of them.
COOPER: Fran, what jumps out at you?
FRANCES FRAGOS TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Well, one of the -- one of the things that you take from that, Anderson, they know where they're going. They're not wandering around. They're walking very deliberately. And what we know from prior terrorism investigations, both domestic and foreign, is that these people do preoperational surveillance. And so it's likely they've been in that neighborhood. They've walked that route.
You know, they talked about the Forum Restaurant where suspect number two, the guy in the white hat, puts the bomb down. Well, they may have been in that restaurant on prior occasions and there may be store and shop owners in the neighborhood who will recognize these guys from prior to the day of the bombing.
You don't walk around there with two bombs each -- you know, each with a bomb in your backpack and feel that confident unless you've been in that neighborhood and walked those streets before. And so that will also be a source of leads for the FBI.
COOPER: It's interesting. I hadn't thought of that. Fran, appreciate it. Tom Fuentes, as well.
We're going to be checking with you throughout the night.
Let us know what you think about -- what you think of these videos. Follow me on Twitter right now @Andersoncooper.
Later, President Obama joins Boston and all of us, remembering Boston's fallen and all Bostonians who are now standing prouder and stronger than ever before.
And next, the latest on the damage here in West, Texas, which is extensive. The effort to save lives, come to grips with what happened last night, which is very much ongoing. Dr. Sanjay Gupta got an up- close look at some of the effects of the blast, well, some compare it to a war zone.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Our breaking story tonight is sadly happening all around us and it could -- really could be getting worse at this hour. Search and rescue operation in place, recovery work elsewhere, scores of people being treated in area hospitals and as far away as Dallas, about 75 miles from here, people are being treated.
Now a short time ago, state and local authorities here in the town of West spoke to reporters, describing the enormous damage that this fertilizer plant did when it blew up. Police did not give any fatality estimates at all. We are not giving any speculation or anything about that tonight. There are too many people here who are waiting for that information and we don't want to give any information that's incorrect.
Earlier, the mayor of West talked about the death of a Dallas fire rescue captain who lived in town, his name is Kenny Harris, who like so many people here, he rushed into danger to help. He didn't have to go. He rushed in to do whatever he could. 360 MD Sanjay Gupta got close to the explosion site. He's going to join us shortly. We're going to speak with local survivors and first responders. But first, how we got to this terrible point.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): 7:29 p.m., the first reports of a fire. The flames are visible from miles away and the plant burns for about 20 minutes before this.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like picked you up, it just took your breath away, and then it dropped you and it like exploded everything around you. I mean, gusts of wind. It was like a suction and then just blew it all out.
COOPER: This man and his two young daughters about 300 yards from the plant when he stops to take video of the flames.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dad. I can't hear. I can't hear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cover your ears.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get out of here. Please get out of here.
COOPER: The father and his girls are unharmed. The explosion is so powerful, it registers as a 2.1 magnitude seismic event. The rumblings felt as far as 50 miles away.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fire units.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Firefighters down. Again, there has been an explosion. There are firefighters down.
COOPER: Firemen who were already on scene battling the flames are reported missing.
DR. GEORGE SMITH, WEST EMS DIRECTOR: It's just overwhelming to us. We're a town of 2400. We have three ambulances. And there are literally hundreds of people hurt. I know, I don't -- I haven't been there, but I'm very worried that my ambulance was on scene. Those personnel are probably deceased. I think some of the firemen may be deceased.
COOPER: Buildings near the plant are blown out by the blast, including a nursing home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The rest home has been seriously damaged. We have many people down. Please respond. COOPER: Patients were already being evacuated from the nursing home because of the fire, but not everyone made it out before the blast.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did you see it? And were you trapped in there at all?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Everybody was trapped.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you know how many people are -- I mean, how many people are there?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just a guess, I mean, I don't know for sure. I don't know. Maybe like 115 or something like that.
COOPER: The plant continues to burn, raising fears that toxic gases may be released into the air. The fertilizer plant had 54,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia, according to the "Dallas Morning News," which can cause severe burns and even death. By dawn, local hospitals report more than 160 wounded patients, some in critical condition. In the light of day, the devastation from the powerful blast becomes clear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over here, there's a hot water heater and you can see the bathtub. This is obviously the bathroom of this home that is now gone.
COOPER: By 9:00 a.m., heavy rains helped control the flames and also helped dissipate any chemicals, which may have been released. Though residents of the town remain missing. Emergency workers are now in the middle of a search and rescue mission and authorities say they don't know how many people may still be trapped under the rubble.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: You heard a bit from Dr. George Smith a moment ago, his face bloodied there. He's the EMS director for the town of West. He joins us now. Also with us is Jill Jenkins, a triage nurse who also rushed to the scene.
Doctor, thank you for being with us. First, how are you doing?
SMITH: I'm doing all right. Exhausted but doing all right.
COOPER: You got injured in the blast. You were a quarter to half mile away.
SMITH: Yes.
COOPER: And you still got injured.
SMITH: Yes.
COOPER: Where -- from what?
SMITH: I was in the nursing home evacuating the station closest to the fire because I was afraid of hazardous materials and smoke, and luckily we had gotten everybody on the other side of the building when massive explosion . The roof fell in on me, glass fell from he windows. I looked from the outside later today, I hadn't seen outside. I thank God I'm alive just looking at it.
COOPER: It's a volunteer fire department here, it's a volunteer EMS. If you had been on the scene where firefighters were --
SMITH: I probably would have been dead. And I normally go to the scenes but I saw the toxic smoke and I knew I needed to get to that -- get to the nursing home.
COOPER: Firefighters and EMS responded about half an hour or so before the actual explosion when there was a fire.
SMITH: Yes.
COOPER: And they wisely decided we got to evacuate people because of the possibility of an explosion, possibility of toxic fumes.
SMITH: Right. Yes.
COOPER: As you know, you and I have been talking about this, we have not been speculating about fatalities or anything like that. We know more than 160 people have been injured. The mayor of this town did give an interview to "USA Today" saying 35 dead, 10 of them firefighters or first responders. He then seemed to walk that back in another interview with "Wall Street Journal," saying 14 or 15. Are you giving out numbers at this point?
SMITH: No. They've asked me not to give out numbers. We're still in the search and rescue mode. The EMS and fire department personnel, bodies have not been removed yet. ATF has not let us into the scene to remove the bodies yet. We hope to do that shortly tonight.
COOPER: There are a lot of first responders who have been killed?
SMITH: Yes. Yes. I believe we lost five or six volunteer first -- volunteer from West EMS.
COOPER: I'm so sorry.
SMITH: Thank you.
COOPER: How are you doing?
JILL JENKINS, TRIAGE NURSE: I'm doing well, thank you.
COOPER: What did you see when -- I mean, where were you when the blast went off?
JENKINS: We had just turned the corner up here. We just thought it was a fire so we turned the corner and then the explosion occurred, and it was just devastation. It looked like 9/11 to me, what you saw on TV.
COOPER: Is that right, Jill?
JENKINS: Yes.
COOPER: And you -- you went to do whatever you could. Where -- where did you go?
JENKINS: I went to some of the yards first because some of the windows were blown out of the homes and people were in the yards, and then I helped triage the nursing home patients and people from the apartments.
COOPER: It's a miracle that more people weren't killed in that nursing home.
JENKINS: Yes, I don't know, you know, I don't know the numbers or anything. We're fortunate that we had a lot of nurses from local hospitals, Hillcrest and Providence, here in West that were able to get down there and help because we didn't have -- you know, the ambulances couldn't get through and I don't think they really knew what they were dealing with. So we were fortunate for those nurses that were here.
COOPER: Have you ever seen a situation like this? I mean, with so many people affected?
JENKINS: No. Never. On TV, but never, never could imagine.
COOPER: Where do things stand now? About how much of the area has been searched? Because it was about a four or five block kind of radius around the explosion that was most severely affected.
SMITH: The last I heard, about 80 percent of the devastated area's been searched. There was about 20 percent left. My understanding is urban search and rescue because of their time constraints were going to work until about 7:00 tonight and resume in the morning about 7:00.
COOPER: They've got to be exhausted.
SMITH: Yes.
COOPER: I mean, they've been working through the night as everybody here has. And I know there are a lot of folks here who don't -- they don't even know if their homes have survived still.
SMITH: Yes.
COOPER: They haven't been able to go back since they were evacuated.
SMITH: No. They won't let us back to the houses.
COOPER: It is amazing, though, how this community is pulling together. I mean, people handing out free food in the bakery, people, you know, collecting clothes in the pharmacy just down the block. This is a -- this is a close-knit community that's really pulling together.
SMITH: Yes. We're a community of 2500 and everybody knows everybody else and we're here to cry together, support each other together.
COOPER: Yes. Well, Dr. Smith, I'm so sorry for all you're going through.
SMITH: Thank you.
COOPER: And I appreciate you talking.
SMITH: Thank you very much.
COOPER: Jill Jenkins, thank you so much.
JENKINS: Thank you.
COOPER: We really appreciate it. My best to you.
For information on how you can help survivors of the explosion here in Texas and also of the Boston bombing, go to CNN.com/impact.
Coming up, inside the disaster zone. Dr. Sanjay Gupta was able to get into the cordoned off area closest to the explosion site. He tells us what he saw next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, when the explosion happened here in the Texas town called West, there were concerns last night that the presence of ammonium nitrate would make the area around the fertilizer plant incredibly volatile. To use a phrase from the McClelland County deputy sheriff. The impact of the explosion was massive. The destruction in that four to five block radius around the plant overwhelming.
Most importantly, the human toll is still being assessed and as I say, we're just not speculating on numbers at this point. There's too much riding on it. Right now, we do want to show you some images, images of the blast itself that drive home what this town is dealing with right now. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dad? Dad?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't hear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cover your ears. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't hear. Get out of here. * COOPER: -- that drive home what this town is dealing with right now. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't hear. I can't hear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cover your ears.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get out of here. Please get out of here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My God.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please get out of here. Please get out of here. Dad, please get out of here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't even recognize. I have no idea where I am. Look at this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It had to have been a plane. What else could it have been? My God, Andrea lives in those apartments!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought something fell on my house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that your kid?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, it's my grandbaby. He was in the apartments.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't find Andrea.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She even home?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her car is there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My God, people's houses are on fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's get out of here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My God.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Dozens of homes on fire. You saw that apartment complex, the front of it just completely torn off. We talked about the nursing home with Dr. George Smith. The devastation is immense. That's how Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott summed up the damage from last night's blast. He described railroad tracks fused together by the force and heat of the explosion. The apartment complex, destroyed, little farther from the plant, windows and doors blown off houses, even miles away. The people inside had no warning.
Officials have cordoned off the disaster zone. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, got inside for a little bit today and here's some of what he saw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: As soon as you come into the community, which we've been allowed to do, no one else has been in here, you see some of the obvious signs of damage, blown-out windows. And you know, we're about a half mile away from the explosion site.
But this is a school over here that we've been talking so much about. That was a school and you can see the entire side of it sort of collapsed inside over there. Come over here and take a look. You see some of the buildings still off in the distance.
This home first of all, if you look at it, just come in, take a look, the front door literally pulled away on this house. This is what it looks like inside. It is quite extraordinary. It's hard to tell you the magnitude of this blast and what it did, but these images give you somewhat of a better idea.
Just take a look. I think these images are important to be able to show to you just how significant this impact was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: You saw an x on that house. Sanjay joins me now. That was reminiscent of what we saw in the wake of Katrina. The search is still going on.
GUPTA: The search is still going on. They put the x on the house to basically say, look, we've been here. We've been able to clear the house. There's nobody in that neighborhood. It's essentially been entirely evacuated, which was sort of the point of that whole thing.
I think what was striking is you and I were hearing some of the descriptions of these neighborhoods, about a quarter mile away from that blast site, doors blown in, but some of the houses were not as damaged as others, and that was also a little bit reminiscent of Katrina or tornadoes.
Where certain swaths, several houses in a row, really affected and then a couple not as much, but there was a stillness about it, you know. Kids' toys still scattered around and some cars around, but some obviously damaged, tipped over. It had that feel.
COOPER: Obviously we do not know at this point what it was that caused this blast. It is being investigated. But that may take months, authorities were saying today. Last night, there had been a lot of concern about the presence of ammonia, of this fertilizer that's present. You actually got a look at air quality today.
GUPTA: Yes. It was really interesting, Anderson. They set up these testers within a quarter mile radius around the explosion site, really getting an idea looking for what are known as VOCs, volatile organic compounds and then anhydrous ammonia, which is what they were most concerned about.
I can tell you six parts per million was the highest level that they had. That's not that concerning. I asked the people from the EPA that and the levels have gone down since then. So there was understandable concern, people wearing respirators.
People who were setting up the monitors had to be in protective gear the entire time. But now even when they go back to replace the monitors, they're not wearing protective gear. I think the concern level has definitely gone down.
COOPER: We bought respirators on our way in from a local hardware store, but have not needed to use them. Obviously, everybody is very thankful for that. That is something that will continue to be monitored. Sanjay, thanks very much.
Ahead, a father and daughter's very close call caught on tape. We just played the video for you. It's gone viral. They thought they were watching from a safe distance and then that massive blast gave them the scare of their life. I will talk to Derek and Chloe Hurtt ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Welcome back here in West, Texas. You know, one of the most unforgettable videos of last night's explosion has gone viral on YouTube. We showed it to you earlier. It shows how terrifying the blast was in a very human way.
Derek Hurtt and his daughter Khloey were in their truck watching the fire burning the plant from what they thought was a safe distance. They weren't expecting what came next. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't hear. I can't hear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Chloe and her dad are fine. They weren't hurt, just shaken up, as you can imagine. I'm very happy that they join me now. Chloe, I got so many tweets from people saying you have got to find that little girl, make sure she's OK. So how are you doing?
KHLOEY HURTT, EXPLOSION SURVIVOR: I'm doing good.
COOPER: You're doing good? Were you very scared?
KHLOEY HURTT: Yes.
COOPER: Yes? What did you think when you first saw it? Tell me how you came upon the scene.
DERRICK HURTT, EXPLOSION SURVIVOR: I picked her up from a Catholic Church here, from CC classes. We're heading home and saw the smoke the north side of town there. Like everybody else around here, we're kind of nosy, went to see if we could lend a hand, salvage somebody's stuff if the house was on fire. We thought maybe the high school was on fire. Got over there and realized it was the fertilizer plant.
COOPER: How long was it burning before the explosion, you think? I've heard about 30 minutes or so.
DERRICK HURTT: Yes, that's probably about right, 30 minutes. Probably less than 30 minutes, I would say.
COOPER: Right. Were there folks already on scene fighting the blaze when you were there? There were?
DERRICK HURTT: Yes. Yes.
COOPER: So you thought you were safe distance?
DERRICK HURTT: I did. I did. We knew fertilizer and fire, but I thought we're plenty far away. I told her we're going to see a pretty good blast. We were just going to get the structure collapsing on video.
COOPER: You were sure it was going to explode?
DERRICK HURTT: I told her there's a good chance we're going to see an explosion, but I didn't expect what we got.
COOPER: Right.
DERRICK HURTT: We're going to get it collapsing and go home.
COOPER: Right. Then how long did you stay afterward? We've got some emergency vehicles just moving through. It will get loud here in just a second. How long did you stay there after the explosion?
DERRICK HURTT: I sent her home and I probably got home about 2:30 this morning. We stayed around kind of assisting, you know, where we could.
COOPER: Right. Got a large number of emergency vehicles actually just going through town, not quite clear what this is. Actually, I haven't seen this in the last couple of hours that we've been here.
Most of the law enforcement and fire personnel have been maintaining a cordon in that four to five block area so not exactly sure what this is about. We'll try to find out. What was it like for you after the blast? What was it like being there?
KHLOEY HURTT: I was a little scared. I wanted to get out of there.
COOPER: Yes? I know, I kept hearing your dad saying let's go, let's go. When I first saw the video I was kind of yelling at your dad, too, go, go. I was scared, too. What's it like now, I mean, it's got to be real sad to be here and know what's going on with your friends and loved ones.
KHLOEY HURTT: Yes.
COOPER: Yes. You've lost friends?
DERRICK HURTT: Lost friends, a cousin. Yesterday, I think everybody was more in shock and it didn't really hit home what had happened yet. And today, it's kind of -- it's pretty sad today, kind of got to get the emotional effect of it today.
COOPER: Yes. The town is really pulling together and I know people are really there for one another. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. Thank you so much. Khloey, it's really nice to meet you. Thanks very much.
I want to talk with another survivor who goes by the name of Pee Wee, born and raised in West, knows virtually everyone in this town. His house is just 300 yards from the fertilizer plant. He wasn't in it, thankfully, when the plant exploded. He joins me now.
Pee Wee, how are you? I'm Anderson. It's nice to meet you. Thanks for being here.
WILLIE "PEE WEE" ZAHIRNIAK, EXPLOSION SURVIVOR: Thank you.
COOPER: How are you doing?
ZAHIRNIAK: Fine, except we're homeless.
COOPER: You're homeless. Your home --
ZAHIRNIAK: It's gone.
COOPER: It's gone. I'm so sorry to hear that. How long have you lived there?
ZAHIRNIAK: Since '68.
COOPER: In '68. Wow. And you're all just about, what, 300 yards or so from the plant?
ZAHIRNIAK: From the fertilizer plant, about 50 yards from the school.
COOPER: So did you see the fire when it first started?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was at CCD at the Catholic Church. I went to pick him up, on my way home, coming down the street, I saw the fire. So I told him to run in the house, get grandpa so I could get him out. And I was going to turn around and go back to the fire and that's when it blew up and our truck just kind of turned around. He can tell you.
ZAHIRNIAK: It blew my truck sideways.
COOPER: It blew your truck sideways?
ZAHIRNIAK: I never heard a blast like that.
COOPER: Really. Gosh. What did you do after the blast?
ZAHIRNIAK: I was so shook up, when the blast hit, I jumped out, a big plume of smoke. I got back in the pickup, circled the block, went back to the house, house was gone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We took him to the pizza house because I didn't want him to be there. Took him down to some friends at the pizza house, left him there and came back to our house, but they wouldn't let us in.
COOPER: What do you think it was that saved your life?
ZAHIRNIAK: Him.
COOPER: Yes?
ZAHIRNIAK: He kept me out of the house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two minutes and it blew. Two minutes from our house, it blew.
ZAHIRNIAK: If we had been in the house we wouldn't be here.
COOPER: How are you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Good.
COOPER: Yes? Was it scary?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yes.
COOPER: Yes?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tell him what the bedroom was like.
COOPER: What does your bedroom look like?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: It looks like trash and stuff.
COOPER: Really? Were you able to get anything out?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Say not yet.
COOPER: Not yet?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He just saw pictures of it. He's been in but I haven't. He just saw pictures of it.
COOPER: Will you be able to salvage anything?
ZAHIRNIAK: We don't know yet. We don't know.
COOPER: You think some of the furniture?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some of the furniture. I think.
COOPER: How is this town, it seems like the town's really pulling together.
ZAHIRNIAK: You won't find another town like this. It's real close-knit.
COOPER: Good people.
ZAHIRNIAK: Good people.
COOPER: Yes. I was down in the bakery. They're giving away free food.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We belong to the VFW Club, we just ate out there. Yes.
COOPER: Down the pharmacy just down there, they're getting clothes for people. Just everybody's pitching together.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't get back in our house.
COOPER: Is that right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
COOPER: I'm so sorry for what you're going through. I'm glad you're all OK. Pee Wee, thank you so much. It's so nice to meet you. All right, I hope you get stuff out of your bedroom. Thank you so much. I wish you the best. Stay strong.
Coming up, the latest on the investigation into the Boston marathon bombing. Also, there is so much going on here in West, just people really banding together. Everyone is kind of standing around. There are some folks just making barbecue right now. They're going to kind of feed people who really have nowhere else to go tonight.
We'll show you also the pictures of those suspects out of Boston again tonight and hear from a counterterrorism expert about what he sees in these images next. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Welcome back. I'm here in West, Texas, near Waco, where this town is just reeling. I'm trying to literally pick up the pieces, trying to find survivors, trying to account for those who have died here.
We still don't have accurate numbers and we're not going to speculate about actual numbers, but there's a lot of loss here tonight. There's a lot of pain here tonight. And the people here want you to know their stories and what they're going through.
We also do want to show you again all the latest out of Boston. Some of those pictures that the FBI released today, two suspects in the Boston marathon bombing. This video from the FBI shows them.
Both wearing backpacks, one in a black hat, one in a white hat. Suspect one and two, they're being called. Susan Candiotti's source is telling her that investigators are focusing on both the type of hats and the behavior -- the apparent confidence, of the two men wearing those hats and the behavior.
According to Susan's source, of one of them after the bombs went off. As we look at additional images, we isolated the video and should tell you about Joe Johns' reporting as well. His source telling him investigators are inclined to believe the two bombs were detonated by remote control, not timers as earlier believed.
Remember, earlier days ago when sources were saying timers, they said it was likely timers. They're not absolutely certain, so again, getting more information from different sources.
A reminder, anyone who has any information about who these suspects are is being asked to call the FBI. The number is 800-call FBI, 800-call FBI. Joining me now is Jeff Beatty, he is a security consultant, former FBI special agent and a former CIA counterterrorism official.
Jeff, I appreciate you being with us tonight. What stands out to you when you look at these images? I mean, two individuals, they each have a backpack. One appears to be making more of an effort to conceal his face than the other. What do you take from these?
JEFF BEATTY, SECURITY CONSULTANT: Well, you know, we have a mixture here, Anderson, really, of I think strong discipline on the part of these perpetrators, but also some sloppiness. We have indications that they're very comfortable transporting weapons like this. They seem very at ease doing it.
I was noticing as I looked at the video that you have almost a military interval between them as they're moving, they're like five to ten meters apart from each other. But then you have the sloppiness aspect of it in that surely they understand that in this world, in this day, you know, everybody who even uses an ATM has got a surveillance camera looking over their shoulders.
And yet there didn't appear to be, as you said, there was a little bit of the effort, but there didn't appear to be a conscious effort to avoid being seen by surveillance photography so a mixed bag, discipline, distance, good indicators of these guys were operationally savvy, yet sloppiness as well.
COOPER: You know, I've been focusing on what's happening here in West so much today but as I look at this video and I mentioned this earlier, with suspect number two in the white hat, I did notice he seems to be walking kind of bow-legged or at least with his right leg, and you see it more in the shot of him from the rear. Is that something you've noticed, or am I nuts on this?
BEATTY: No, you're not nuts on this. We actually noticed that also. Hopefully when some medical personnel look at that for us and give us an assessment as to what might have caused that, Anderson, I think that's going to be another piece of the puzzle that the FBI is going to be able to use to determine is this an individual who maybe had a leg injured in a car accident, had a leg injured in some sort of military operation, and therefore, is walking in this manner.
On the other hand, we might have talked I think on the first day or so of this that they may take efforts to throw out red herrings as they're moving about. But I suspect that this is a real problem with this individual's right leg, slightly noticeable, and it will be something that will certainly help narrow down the field as to who the possible perpetrator is.
COOPER: Jeff Beatty, I appreciate you joining us tonight. Thank you very much.
Here in West, and also in Boston, so many people are facing pain, facing tremendous challenges ahead. Some grieve for lives that have been lost, some are just beginning a long process of recovering from injuries and even just a few days ago would have been hard to imagine that they would sustain.
Our thoughts are with everyone who is suffering tonight. We wish you all strength and comfort. We hope you're all there for each other. As always, our thoughts are also with the family and friends of those who have lost their lives.
President Obama spoke about them in today's memorial service in Boston. Here are some of the sights and sounds from that service.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Today, our prayers are with the Campbell family of Medford, their daughter Krystle was always smiling. Those who knew her said that with her red hair and her freckles and her ever eager willingness to speak her mind, she was beautiful, sometimes she could be a little noisy, and everybody loved her for it.
Our prayers are with the Lu family of China, who sent their daughter Lingzi to B.U. So that she could experience all that this city has to offer. She was a 23-year-old student far from home and in the heartache of her family and friends on both sides of a great ocean. We're reminded of the humanity that we all share.
Our prayers are with the Richard family of Dorchester and our hearts are broken for 8-year-old Martin, with his big smile and bright eyes. And we're left with two enduring images of this little boy. Forever smiling for his beloved Bruins, and forever expressing a wish he made on a blue poster board.
No more hurting people, peace. If they sought to intimidate us, to terrorize us, well, it should be pretty clear by now that they picked the wrong city to do it. Not here in Boston. Not here in Boston.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Not here in West, Texas. We don't know how many people have lost their lives here, but our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families and we hope in the coming days and weeks to tell you their stories and honor their lives. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, that does it for us. See you again one hour from now at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, 9:00 Central, another live edition of 360 from here in the town of West in Texas.
We'll also bring you all the latest on developments out of Boston and the investigation into the Boston marathon bombings. Thank you very much for joining us. A lot going on tonight. "PIERS MORGAN LIVE" starts now.
