Return to Transcripts main page
Breaking News
End Of The Boston Bombers Manhunt
Aired April 20, 2013 - 1:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN HOST (voice-over): Cheers in Boston as a horrendous week that began with the Boston Marathon double bombing ends with a collective sigh of relief.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Just hours ago, authorities captured the second of the two suspects in Monday's deadly terror attack on the marathon.
Hello, everyone, I'm John Vause at CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta. I'll be joined shortly by Brooke Baldwin, who is live in Boston. We'd like to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world.
To end this manhunt, it did not come peacefully.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, man.
(Inaudible)? What's happening here?
VAUSE (voice-over): Early Friday evening gunfire suddenly erupted in the Boston suburb of Watertown.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Suspected marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was apparently putting up a fight after finding himself surrounded by police.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE (voice-over): What followed was a tense standoff with the 19-year-old Tsarnaev, whose older brother, suspected bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev had been killed in a shootout with authorities the night before.
Friday night's ending, though, would be different. Unlike his older brother, the younger Tsarnaev would be captured; he was injured but alive.
This photo shows Tsarnaev being transferred from the scene in an ambulance. We can see his head through the ambulance window. We are told he is now in a serious condition.
(APPLAUSE)
The arrest of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was greeted with cheers by residents in Watertown, as well as across Boston. We'll have a live report from Poppy Harlow on the reaction to Tsarnaev's arrest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, Friday night's dramatic events followed a massive manhunt in the Boston area. After Thursday night's gunfight with authorities that resulted in the death of his older brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was finally cornered late Friday afternoon, hiding on a boat in the back yard of a Watertown home.
CNN's Anderson Cooper got the details from Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED DAVIS, BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: He was severely injured in most likely the shootout that occurred last night. There may also have been injuries that occurred in an exchange of gunfire with the police this afternoon.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: So he -- there was an exchange of back-and-forth, of gunfire this afternoon in the boat location, is that correct?
DAVIS: That's correct. That's what I've been told. The officers of the Boston Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police, and FBI agents surrounded the boat. There was an exchange of gunfire and eventually the hostage rescue team came in, used flash- bangs and then was able to remove the suspect from the boat without any further injury.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Just some of the details of what was a very dramatic day in Boston. And let's go live now to Brooke Baldwin.
Hey, Brooke.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: John, good evening. It is now officially a rainy evening in Boston. But I will tell you, driving here to this live location where we have been camped out for the better part of a week here in Copley Square, it's really been celebration in the streets, driving here, given everything that happened in the last couple of hours, jubilation.
And I think this is the first night really ever since Sunday that people here in Boston will finally be able to sleep. We will talk you through over the course of the next couple of hours what went down.
I spent my day in Cambridge and learned a lot more about this 19- year-old suspect, who is now not too far from me in a Boston hospital. Talked to a lot of young people who went to high school with Dzhokhar, who told me all about how he was a good kid, how they never really knew about his big brother and never really knew much about where he was from, his roots.
But I want to play some sound because, of course, it's been a tremendous day in Boston and really for the nation. And we heard from the president just a couple of hours ago. Want you to take a listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One thing we do know is that whatever hateful agenda drove these men to such heinous acts will not, cannot prevail. Whatever they thought they could ultimately achieve, they've already failed.
They failed because the people of Boston refuse to be intimidated. They failed because as Americans we refuse to be terrorized.
They failed because we will not waver from the character and the compassion and the values that define us as a country, nor will we break the bonds that hold us together as Americans. That American spirit includes staying true to the unity and diversity that makes us strong, like no other nation in the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Like no other nation in the world. That was the president, just a couple of hours ago, John Vause. What a week it has been here in Boston. And we're just sort of getting the new details, new video. We will share that with our viewers in -- through the next couple of hours tonight here from Boston, John.
VAUSE: Yes, Brooke, this story was followed so closely around the world, not just on CNN but on social media. I think the first word that police had that the suspect (inaudible) had in fact been taken into custody, the big announcement came via Twitter.
Boston police tweeted, quote, "Suspect in custody, officers sweeping the area. Stand by for further info."
And then moments later, Boston's mayor tweeted simply, "We got him."
Within a matter of seconds, Anderson Cooper was able to report that the people of Boston and so many others had been hoping to hear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: The Boston Police Department has just tweeted, "Suspect in custody." Let me repeat that. Around 8:45 pm, Boston Police Department has just tweeted that the suspect is, in fact, in custody. This seems to verify what our Elizabeth Cohen witnessed, neighbors yelling at police, "Did you get him?", police officers saying, "Yes," as a vehicle drove off.
VAUSE: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was taken to Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, where he's listed in a serious condition.
Shaken but undaunted, the people of Boston came out Friday night to hold a vigil at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, the scene of Monday's deadly bombing.
Here now is one of the brief glimpses that we got Friday night of the suspected bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. This photo tweeted by CNN affiliate WMUR; was taken by Jean Mackin (ph). It shows Tsarnaev's face through the window of an ambulance as the word the 19-year old was taken away from Friday night's shootout in Watertown.
Now let's get a rundown of everything as it played out. Joining me once again from Boston (inaudible) Watertown is Chris Lawrence. He is standing by at the hospital.
And, Chris, there must be incredible security there right now at the hospital, at the Beth Israel Hospital.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, literally police, state police and other guards surrounding every corner of this hospital. You can take a look over there. You can see one of the officers literally telling people no, you can't go through this way. You can see an ambulance coming up behind them there.
But literally, just about on every corner here there are police stationed outside. Because ultimately, wherever this investigation goes from here, it's going to start right here at Beth Israel Hospital because inside the same medical team that treated Dzhokhar's older brother about 24 hours ago is now treating him.
We're told that he's in serious condition, that when they found him in that boat, he was covered in blood and had probably sustained those injuries during that initial firefight about a day ago on early Friday morning.
So that means he was on the run and likely wounded for an entire day. Even though they are not giving us details about exactly how he was wounded and what wounds he sustained if you look back, he was injured in that firefight.
We know that when his brother was brought here, his brother was in full cardiac arrest. He had suffered from multiple gunshot wounds, also had some injuries from what looked like a blast or an explosion. Now the younger brother, Dzhokhar, may not be as seriously injured as his older brother was, but those may be some of the similar injuries that he sustained in that initial firefight, John. VAUSE: And, Chris, what do you know about the surgery which he's undergone right now, how long he's expected to be in hospital for, when he may be released, when, in effect, the authorities will actually get to talk to him?
LAWRENCE: That we don't know. And that's going to be up to the doctors. It's interesting because his care, when he would be released, when he would be well enough to leave this hospital is all up to the doctors.
And yet we've been told that updating us and the public on his medical condition will actually come from the FBI, which is a very different than normal protocol. Normally you would go to the hospital officials who would release some limited information. In fact, when they say serious condition, it's not really a term that medical professionals use amongst themselves or in speaking with the family.
It's more a way of giving us some information about his condition without really saying anything very specific. What it probably means, if you look at how others have been classified in that area, is that basically his -- some of his vital signs may be somewhat abnormal, that his prognosis may be inconclusive, not positive, not negative, not as bad, obviously as critical condition, but not as positive as fair condition.
So, again, they will be working on him for as long as it takes. And investigators, again, will be taking it from there and ultimately pushing it from the hospital to one day now pushing it forward into the legal system, John.
VAUSE: OK, Chris, thank you, Chris Lawrence live for us at the hospital.
And Brooke Baldwin standing by live also in Boston.
And, Brooke, it is so crucial that they now have Dzhokhar alive. He is just one very crucial piece of evidence in all of this.
BALDWIN: He is a treasure trove of evidence. And this way he can face the judicial system here in this country and they can ascertain a lot of information as far as why they would have done something like this if, in fact, he is convicted.
It's been just a little more, John, than four hours since police caught this alleged second bomber, this 19-year old. And CNN's Elizabeth Cohen talked to Anderson Cooper earlier tonight about just police reaction, police here in Boston, have been tremendous. And they talked to her about the moment when she saw officers spontaneously clapping tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH COHEN, SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, I'm not sure exactly what just happened, but the police that are here erupted in applause, (inaudible) erupted in applause. A police car came out and took a left and headed down the street. Someone yelled out, "Is that him?" And the police officer said "Yes."
That's all I know; that's all I can tell you from here. I don't know what it means, if there was a definition round of applause for police as the car drove away, as the police car drove away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: What a week it's been for Boston police here, FBI, multiple jurisdictions throughout this city. And with that news tonight, people took to the streets of Watertown, where this whole thing went down, just to cheer the police. Look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN (voice-over): What a crowd. Suddenly fear has turned into relief, grateful residents offering thanks to the myriad investigators who had just captured the Boston Marathon bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: There is also plenty of appreciation here in Boston for the SWAT team that swooped in and helped in this manhunt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN (voice-over): The governor of Massachusetts added his personal thanks tonight, Governor Deval Patrick here in Massachusetts, declaring, quote, "It's a night where I think we're all going to rest easy."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: But as the celebrations here in Boston expanded, one police officer told the crowd, "If you want to thank us, just go home." A lot of humility here among police and first responders. And you know, Boston, this is a town full of students. This is a young town, this is a university town. And elated students held a -- held their own spontaneous celebrations here tonight. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: Boston! Boston! Boston! Boston! Boston!
BALDWIN (voice-over): On this Friday night, you know, those students are out and about. And they had an extra excuse to get out, to celebrate, certainly showing their gratitude to police here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: A police officer who worked for MIT in Cambridge, the engineering university, who was shot yesterday by one of the bombers, this police officer, that happened last night, but now students at MIT say they are relieved. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MYLES MARCUS, STUDENT: I'm here to celebrate getting the suspects. I feel relieved and I feel like everybody else is relieved. We've all been watching the TV, the computer, the live updates since the beginning of this whole thing. And I just feel relieved and I feel like I can go back to school now and know that I'm safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Students feeling that way, I tell you, I took a cab ride today, cab drivers were fearful just being on the streets, some of them. And this relief here in Boston quickly spread throughout the city after police announced just a couple of hours ago they got their man. It has been a terrifying week here for people who live here and work here. But as Poppy Harlow reports, that fear, thankfully, is now gone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was really just moments after the news came that police had captured the second suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing. The streets here in Boston literally erupted in jubilation, in cheers.
We ran into a group of, I'd say, about 400 college students from Northeastern University. They just filled the streets outside of their dorms. They were sitting on the stoops. They were jumping in the streets, waving American flags, (inaudible) USA, USA, and they were saying, "This is Boston. This is Boston."
You could hear the joy in their voice. Some of them told me how scared they have been all week. Some of them haven't had class all week because of how close their university is to the crime scene. They told me that now they feel like they're safe, they can go back to class. They can rest again.
And it wasn't just here in Boston. It is across this country. It is around the world. It is 30,000 feet up in the air. We heard a story of a flight that was ongoing while this news broke, and the pilots announced that the suspect number two had been captured. And the entire plane erupted in applause. So it's really being felt everywhere.
But amidst all of this jubilation, we have to remember this is a city that is still reeling from such a tragedy. At this hour, you still have 58 people that are recovering from injuries from the attack in Boston area hospitals. Three of them are in critical condition, two of them are children and then, of course, you still have those four beautiful lives that were lost.
The officer who was murdered last night, Sean Collier; the 8- year-old beautiful boy, Martin Richard, who died from the attack; you have the girl, Krystle Campbell and, of course, the Chinese student studying here at Boston University, Lingzi Lu (sic), those four lives lost. So something to keep in mind amidst smiles that I haven't seen here all week in Boston, the city still suffering such a tragedy and has such a long way to go. Back to you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Poppy Harlow, thank you. And, John, again, we're in Copley Square, where we've been all week. And I got to tell you, there was a car that just passed by, screamed, "Boston!" I mean, it's just that kind of night, people are finally smiling, as Poppy said, finally able to sleep a little easier one week after the Boston bombings.
VAUSE: I really get the sense that people just need to be with other people right now after everything they have been through, and that is what they have been doing.
Thank you, Brooke, we will take a short break here on CNN's continuing coverage.
And as Poppy Harlow mentioned, in her report, we should not be forgetting about the victims of this tragedy. And we will have more on that when we return.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.
BALDWIN: Back here live in Boston, I'm Brooke Baldwin. A rainy night in Boston but finally, hopefully for a lot of people here, a restful night in Boston, given what's happened over the last couple of hours. The younger suspect here in the Boston Marathon bombings is in custody tonight, bringing an end to a massive manhunt and an incredibly tense day for this entire city.
I want you to take a look at this map and this timeline really of how the whole drama played out during the past 24 hours.
I mean, what a day it's been for investigators, for folks who live here. So just beginning with late Thursday night, police say the two suspects, they stop at a convenience store just across the river from me here in Boston in Cambridge.
Soon after that, a police officer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, was shot and killed while in his car. Now authorities say these two brothers, these two suspects then run away, hijack a black Mercedes SUV at gunpoint, a couple blocks from that convenience store.
Police then begin the chase. They chase them from Cambridge into an area just next to Boston called Watertown. And that's where police and these two suspects got into this shootout. The officers wounded one of the men, the older brother later identified as Tamerlan Tsarnaev. He was ultimately declared dead at the hospital. Fast forward to tonight, authorities said they have the younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, cornered on a boat in the back yard of a home in Watertown, in a boat.
After a tense standoff that lasted more than an hour, Boston police confirm Dzhokhar was in custody, John. And apparently all of that sort of begins to unfold after the police in the Greater Boston area sort of release the lockdown and some people finally got out and about, started walking.
And one very astute person from this neighborhood apparently saw some blood on the boat, saw some movement and immediately called police, John.
VAUSE: It was an incredible moment. They had just finished the news conference, saying that the lockdown, the stay indoors advisory was being lifted. People could go out. Then gunfire rang out. And then suddenly the whole police action started up again, and focusing on that one house with the boat, with that one guy who noticed that there was blood on the ground and the tarp had been ripped on the boat.
He is the luckiest guy in Boston, because he saw Dzhokhar and called the police. And then they brought in helicopters with heat- seeking detection ability. And then the standoff lasted a little less than two hours.
Want to show you something here, which is really interesting. Take a look at these FBI websites.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE (voice-over): Didn't take them long to update their poster, which they had up there for a couple of days. Both of them had been wanted, both suspects and Dzhokhar had been known only as Suspect Number Two. Now instead of "wanted", the word under the suspect's picture it's quickly changed to "captured."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: But Dzhokhar did not go quietly. Drew Griffin has more on the final moments of the manhunt that had Boston on edge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just in the waning moments of the press conference which was announcing that, you know, basically they were going to have the movement out of Watertown, we heard bursts of automatic gunfire from what sounded like, I would say, four weapons.
They sounded all like the same weapon in terms of, you know, their make and model. So I'm only assuming that was a one-way shot being fired from police to the direction of the suspect. I didn't hear anything after that. And then silence. And then all of a sudden we saw this tremendous amount of police response going to the area, which we know now is the boat where this person was hiding. But it was unmistakable bursts of gunfire that began this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: The Tsarnaev brothers are suspected of leaving a trail of death and misery in their wake. MIT police officer, Sean Collier, the last to die, was shot and killed Thursday night. He was all of 26 years old.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN (voice-over): And it all began Monday afternoon at the finish line, just about a block from where I'm sitting here tonight. That was the Boston Marathon, that was the iconic marathon, and the finish line just by the public library.
Those explosions, the two explosions, the first one shown here in slow motion, ripped through this crowd of spectators, young and old. You can see at least one of the runners collapsing to the street. In total, 178 people were wounded by the bombs, 60 are still in the hospital, three people were killed, including 8-year-old Martin Richard.
The Richard family released a statement Friday, thanking everyone who helped. Here is what the family said. Let me quote them.
"We also thank the citizens and businesses that shared images and footage with investigators in hopes of advancing the investigation. It worked. And tonight our community is once again safe from these two men.
"None of this will bring our beloved Martin back or reverse the injuries these men inflicted on our family and nearly 200 others."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: After word of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's capture spread through the city streets tonight here in Boston, you know, hundreds of people visited this makeshift memorial. It's along Boylston Street in Boston. Boylston is just the street parallel to me tonight. And it's on Boylston where Monday's bombings happened. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a radiologist, as a physician who specializes in imaging, I unfortunately saw some of the films of the victims which -- where we saw the shrapnel, the amputations, the dramatic injuries that they face. And it's been tremendously challenging. And so we came out tonight to pay some respects to some of the victims and the three that were murdered this week.
And it's particularly touching to be here, to be with so many other people, who are coming out to pay their respects as well. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are a health care worker as well, Kim (ph). When you come out here and you see all these people and you think about what's happened in the past week, what are your thoughts?
KIM (PH): I am Ms. Wu (ph). I'm also a nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital. And as a nurse, especially with bedside nursing that we -- that I provide, my heart really goes out, of course, to the victims, but especially to their families, because the families are the ones that are left behind.
And our condolences really go out to them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just feel a great amount of thanks for law enforcement and first responders. And took, I'm just thinking of the folks who are hurt and the victims and you know, just wanted to show my support by being out in the city we really love.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How does Boston recover from an ordeal like this, Noreen (ph)?
NOREEN (PH): I don't know how we're recover, but I'm' convinced that we will recover with much grace and fortitude. I have no doubt about that.
BALDWIN (voice-over): Fortitude, she says. I've heard the word tenacity a lot this week in Boston as well, John. And you know, I don't know if you saw, there was an opinion piece in "The New York Times" this week, Thomas Friedman penned this piece.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: And he brings up a point that some people have been talking about, you know, and it makes me think of it, just seeing the pictures from this memorial. The crux of his piece is basically saying, you know, bring on the next marathon, no flowers, no plaques, replace the glass in the windows behind me on Boylston, and let's move.
I want to be careful not ever to say move on, but move forward. So it'll be just curious to see how the city of Boston, you know, once they open up what has been this crime scene right behind me, what will happen in that place where those two explosions happened on Monday.
VAUSE: It will take some time before normality returns. But and we have to be very careful about this, too, there is always this focus on the people that carried out the attacks, who are they, why did they do it, how did they do it? You should never forget what they did, and they killed four people as well.
We'll take a short break here. When we come back, we'll talk live to a former CIA operative, Robert Baer, that's on the actual capture of the two terrorists.
BALDWIN: But first, here is some new video --
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: -- we have gotten in from Northeastern University of the celebrations on campus upon word of the capture tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: USA! USA! USA! USA! USA.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think you can make it through this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And also for those affected in Boston following the Boston Marathon bombings, we kindly ask that you please join us now in remembrance with a moment of silence.
VAUSE (voice-over): That was before the start of the Indians versus Astros baseball game in Houston. There was a moment of silence to honor the victims of the Texas fertilizer plant explosion, but also the victims of the Boston Marathon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The capture of the second suspected bomber capped off an intense five day investigation. For the first three days, Boston waited on edge as investigators tried to identify the suspects. But just hours after they released images of the two men came the deadly shootout and the escape, lockdown city. Brian Todd has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The release of these images on Thursday afternoon let the suspects know the Feds were on to them, even if the authorities didn't know their names yet or where to find them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We consider them to be armed and extremely dangerous.
TODD (voice-over): Around 10:00 pm that night it all began to unravel. The suspects went to a convenience store outside of Boston in Cambridge, near the famed Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They allegedly used a stolen ATM card to get money. Then they headed to the MIT campus where shots rang out.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: MIT is currently saying that the situation is active and extremely dangerous.
TODD (voice-over): An MIT police officer was killed in his car, shot multiple times. Police swarmed, but the suspects were on the move. Just blocks away, a Mercedes SUV was hijacked at gunpoint. A source tells us the suspects made a stunning confession to the driver that they were the marathon bombers. The driver was released at a gas station about a half-hour later. Remarkably, he wasn't hurt.
Now the chase was on, into the night and into the Boston suburb of Watertown.
Just after 1:00 am, witnesses heard gunfire; dozens of officers moved in, SWAT teams in full body gear carrying assault rifles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We heard gunshots and then we saw the explosion. I actually saw a black SUV come down Laurel Street, cross over Dexter. It looked like it hit a police car and then they were just shooting at that and just loaded with that.
TODD (voice-over): Police now knew who they were dealing with, two brothers, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev and 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. They seemed cornered and were desperate to escape. Police say they threw explosives out the window at them. The older brother got out of the car; he was apparently ready to go down and take others with him.
We're told he was wearing explosives and a device to trigger them. Police shot him. He would die soon. But first, his younger brother, in a car, ran over him and then escaped. With the fugitive on the run, more than 9,000 officers were mobilized. They went door to door, searching homes in Watertown. Residents were told to stay off the streets.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my home and it's scary to think of your home as like a war zone almost.
TODD (voice-over): Around 4:00 am, authorities released a new photo of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in a gray sweatshirt, apparently taken from a convenience store camera.
GOV. DEVAL PATRICK, MASS.: There is a manhunt under way.
TODD (voice-over): Boston area residents woke up to a city in lockdown and one of the biggest manhunts in the nation's history. Public schools and universities like Harvard and MIT closed. Trains, buses, subways, ordered to stay put, a historic city in danger and in fear.
ED DAVIS, BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: We believe this to be a terrorist. We believe this to be a man who's coming here to kill people. We need to get him in custody.
TODD (voice-over): Brian Todd, CNN, Boston.
VAUSE (voice-over): And all of this ended with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on a boat. And this is a photo of that moment. He was on a boat on a trailer in someone's back yard. This photo comes to us from CBS News. We know that he had taken shelter under a tarpaulin inside that boat when he was spotted by a neighbor. That neighbor called police. That was when the tactical squad moved in. We know at the time Dzhokhar was covered in blood. He had been wounded in an earlier gunfight. And then after negotiations with a hostage team, they told him it was time to come out. We don't know what he said. Eventually he did. And that is the image of at least some of the time when he was on that boat. We're not too sure when. But clearly at some point.
Robert Baer is a former CIA operative. He is a CNN contributor. He says he does not think these two brothers acted alone. He joins us now from Newport Beach in California.
So, Bob, why do you say that? Who did they work with?
BOB BAER, FORMER CIA OPERATIVE: Well, the fact that the Russians came to Washington and said to look at the elder brother, Tamerlan, tells me that they had some clear information that he was involved with some sort of group, probably in the Caucasus. For all I know, Al Qaeda. We -- that's not a detail that's let out.
I also look at the entire attack and there's a certain professionalism to it, the fact that they were able to explode two bombs, that they made themselves, that they understood explosives, that they're hydroscopic, that they enclosed them, that they put pellets in them. They were 12 seconds apart. This has still not been determined, but they may have used cell phones to detonate them.
And the fact that they stuck around. Additionally, it's extraordinary, these two men had a fight, a running fight with the police. This is not normal people who just get their trade craft on the Internet and, you know, decide to do something. I think one of them had some sort of training, was in a camp. He was indoctrinated, at the very least.
This is all going to come out, the fact that he'd been to Dagestan, maybe Chechnya, we don't know or where else we don't know yet. This has the smell of -- that he got some sort of help. I'm not saying that (inaudible).
VAUSE: So what's the motive then? Because we know the Chechnyans don't actually have a beef with the Americans. They've never carried out an attack on America soil before. So, OK, maybe he was trained there. But why do this?
BAER: I would say -- I'll venture the guess that he identified with jihadism, it's a cultural fight, Islam against the West. He's looking at attacks in Pakistan, drone attacks, Yemen, Mali, the rest of it. He'd found religion, he wanted to defend Islam. It gave him some sort of meaning. You know -- you see bits and pieces.
Well, like I say, we'll know more.
VAUSE: There's a lot of celebration, a lot of jubilation right now that the police, the authorities finally got their men, one dead, one in custody. But the reality is that two young men, essentially closed down an entire city, terrorized a million people for five days. Do you consider this to be a successful operation?
BAER: Well, capturing them. But the fact is that they went unnoticed. And how many more of these cells are there? I mean, yes, you're absolutely right; it closed down an American city. I've never seen that happen. Even on 9/11, New York City was not closed down. This is the first time.
And the other question, if they did get help, we don't know that they did, are there other cells out there? Is this part of a bigger campaign? And what don't we know, is what scares me.
VAUSE: Do you expect Dzhokhar, the younger one, to talk much when he's out of surgery, when he's able to?
BAER: Frankly, it's -- he probably doesn't know much, 19 years old. He did the least amount of travel that we know of. He probably was led into this by his brother. I don't think we're going to get a lot out of him. They'll probably get more out of address books and texting and chat rooms and the rest of it.
But even then, these links are very, very difficult to establish back to some sort of, you know, mastermind, if you like.
VAUSE: OK. We spoke a couple of days ago about whether this was a foreign terrorist attack or whether it was a homegrown terrorist attack, given the links to Chechnya now, even though one had a green card, one was a naturalized citizen, Dzhokhar was a naturalized American citizen, what do you consider this? Is this, in your book, still a foreign terrorist attack?
BAER: I think it's foreign because it's certainly -- you know, it's not what I consider domestic, which would be white supremacists, something like that, you know, attack on federal buildings. This is still an internationally inspired attack. And the indoctrination occurs elsewhere, probably in the Gulf or Chechnya.
And there might be financing but although something like this doesn't take much money to carry off, I still consider it foreign- sponsored in that sense. But remember, Al Qaeda is not an organization. It's an ideology. It's an idea. And the fact that these people pick it up and turn it against the United States, it's foreign.
VAUSE: So they had help in Chechnya, certainly the elder one did, in your opinion, receive some kind of training. They had help on the ground in Boston?
BAER: I don't think so. They had no exit strategy. Maybe they had suicide vests. They made a horrible mistake in not using disguises, the younger brother. He could have -- he could have concealed his face. He probably wouldn't have been caught. This wasn't a -- truly a military operation in that sense, or they might have got away with it. They were very local. It was easy to catch because they did live there. I doubt that they had help on the ground. We certainly haven't seen any so far. But the police are still, I'm sure, holding their cords close to the vest still.
VAUSE: Bob, thank you for that. Bob Baer, live for us, giving us some very good insight into how this was carried out, how it was planned, who else may be involved. Thanks so much.
Now the suspects' family members are speaking out about the attacks and their loved ones who stand accused. And we'll hear from then when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.
VAUSE: And it is coming up to 1:45 in the morning Eastern time. You're watching live breaking news coverage of the successful hunt for the two men suspected of carrying out Monday's deadly Boston Marathon bombing. I'm John Vause at CNN in Atlanta.
BALDWIN: And I'm Brooke Baldwin, live here tonight in Boston. Let's just give you a big overview. If you aren't quite sure how this whole thing unfolded tonight, let me just back up.
First, just a couple hours ago, applause erupting tonight in a part of Massachusetts that has really had zero to cheer about since Monday's Boston Marathon bombing. So look at this crowd. Authorities captured the second of the two suspects in Monday's deadly terror attack.
Earlier Friday evening, gunfire erupted in this Boston suburb in Watertown. The suspected marathon bomber, one of them, the younger brother here, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was apparently putting up a fight after finding himself surrounded by police. He was surrounded by police here in this boat in someone's back yard.
And we want to go to this rundown of how exactly everything just played out, beginning with Susan Candiotti, who is in Watertown tonight.
Susan, how in the world did they first learn of this man's location?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I tell you, you know, it wasn't the police who found them. Isn't that something? After all of this and all of the looking, it was a man who was outside going for a walk. And he noticed something unusual about the boat that he had behind his house.
And he went up and inspected a little closer and knew something was wrong. And he could tell there was someone in the boat, and he went right back inside his house. And he called 9-1-1 and that's how we found out about it.
And, timing wise, that happened just after the police had held a news conference to say, well, we haven't found him yet, but we're still looking. And it's all right for people to leave their homes now. But they should still be very careful because there's a very, very dangerous man out there.
Well, that's exactly when someone went outside and they saw him. And that's how he was discovered. So at that point we heard in the area a couple dozen gunshots. You heard -- you played those back just a little white ago.
Soon you had police cars going from every direction with flashing lights. And I remember that a SWAT team truck went right by us. They were in such a hurry that they didn't even close the back doors to the van. And they were flapping back and forth. And you could just see the people inside holding on as they rushed over to the scene.
Now they found him by -- once he had been discovered, the Massachusetts State Police used a robot to pull the tarp back. He was covered by a tarp. And they used a robot to go up and pull that tarp off. And then they shot flash-bangs -- which are sort of percussions -- to try to disorient him, to see if they could also capture any movement.
We understand that there was some kind of an exchange between him and the police at that time. But even before they approached him, even before they took off the tarp, they used some thermal imaging camera from the helicopter to see whether he was truly inside.
But in any case, after the exchange, they went up, they were able to take control of him, not knowing at first whether he had any -- might have any explosives on him. He did not. They said he was weakened by blood loss, that's how police described it to me. And then the ambulance came and they took him away.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Susan, let me jump in, because I want to explain to our viewers -- I want to explain to our viewers what we're looking at. This is a photograph, courtesy of CBS News. And so this is the boat with this tarp -- I'm not quite sure if this is a member of the SWAT team or an FBI agent.
I don't know who this person is. But this is the boat. Oh, this is him, I'm being told, this is -- this is the suspect. This is Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year old, as he was getting out of this boat finally.
CANDIOTTI: That's right. That's right. And then eventually there's another photograph of them tending to him. So he is whisked away in an ambulance. He is being -- he is said to be in serious condition. They are suggesting that he will survive his wounds.
But the most remarkable fight happened after that, as police started to pull out and by my intersection, you saw the celebrations in Boston, but there in Watertown you had, as the squad cars would come out and the bomb squad cars were leaving, you had people swarming, literally preventing them from moving forward, because they were going up and tapping the side of the car, cheering, screaming, "USA, USA," and celebrating.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: (Inaudible) the cheers right now.
CANDIOTTI: -- end of a terrible nightmare, exactly. It was remarkable. And --
BALDWIN: What --
CANDIOTTI: -- (inaudible) and on and on for, I would say, almost two hours.
BALDWIN: What a scene it was. Susan Candiotti, we thank you so much for being here. I know you're in Watertown. Earlier today, where there was so much activity and then it sort of became this hurry-up-and-wait and we thought something would happen and nothing did.
And here we go, you know, hours later, John Vause, this lockdown has finally lifted, people were able to walk outside of their homes. And it was in that moment that this very astute individual saw the blood, saw the movement and called police, John. Stunning here in Boston.
VAUSE: Yes, he had cabin fever; he'd been inside all day. He went for a walk and then he found Tsarnaev in that boat.
Now members of the Tsarnaev family are actually speaking out to reporters on Friday. Their reaction has ranged from disbelief to disgust. The mother of the two brothers said neither of her sons ever talked about or showed any inclination towards terrorism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZUBEIDAT TSARNAEVA, SUSPECTS' MOTHER: My youngest one was raised actually -- like raised from 8 years -- he was raised in America. And my oldest son, he is like really, really proper raised. And in our house, never -- nobody talked about the terrorism. And my son, Tamerlan, really was -- got involved in the region, you know, like religious politics five years ago.
So he stopped following his own (inaudible) and he never -- he never told me that he would be like on the side of jihad.
He was controlled by FBI like for five, three -- five years they knew what my son was doing. They knew what actions and what the sites on the Internet he was going. How could this happen? How could they? They were controlling every step of him. And they're telling today that this is a terrorist act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: A mother there in disbelief that her two sons could be responsible for terrorizing an entire city which was in lockdown for most of Friday. And when we come back here on CNN, we'll take a closer look at that lockdown of Watertown and Boston, unprecedented actions taking by authority in the United States.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.
VAUSE: And we are coming up to 2 o'clock in the morning Eastern time. You're watching breaking news coverage of the arrest of the second suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing. It was a dramatic turn of events that few could have imagined 24 hours ago.
BALDWIN: Finally here, it's been five days since the horrendous events just about a block from me here in Boston, John. And you know the dramatic events that unfolded tonight in a suburb of Boston in Watertown actually began late last night with this deadly gunfight between the police and these two young brothers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is an active incident in Watertown right now.
BALDWIN (voice-over): A city in terror after a night of chaos and violence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Advising all Watertown eastern residents to remain in their home.
BALDWIN (voice-over): Residents of the Boston suburb, Watertown, woke up in the middle of the night during a shootout between police and the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. They say it was like being in the middle of a war zone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We heard gunshots and then we saw the explosion. I actually saw a black SUV come down Laurel Street, cross over Dexter. Looked like it hit a police car and then they were just shooting at that and just loaded with that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I freaked out. I called 9-1-1. And they were like we don't want to freak you out, but there's a shooting right outside your house. He's like, you need to get down. You need to get away from the doors and windows.
So I was like freaking out. I just heard explosion after explosion. So I crouched down in my doorway. And I saw the bullet come from here through there. It was so scary, it was so loud.
BALDWIN (voice-over): Police rushed into homes with guns drawn, many families' lives disrupted.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Families are still out here on Laurel Street, these are families, roughly eight of them, who were abruptly awoken from a dead sleep, many of them. These are families who have little children. They saw a SWAT teamlike group of police officers banging on their door. They were awoken. I had one gentleman who said he awoke to a long rifle gun to his face and police officers saying, "Get out, get out, get out."
BALDWIN (voice-over): One suspect, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed. His brother, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, on the run, prompting a massive manhunt and a lockdown of the entire city of Boston and its suburbs.
ED DAVIS, BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: We believe this to be a terrorist. We believe this to be a man who's come here to kill people. We need to get him in custody.
PATRICK: Stay indoors with their doors locked and not to open the door for anyone other than a properly identified law enforcement officer.
BALDWIN (voice-over): The streets deserted, public transit shut down, schools and universities closed as heavily armored police urgently search for Tsarnaev before he can hurt anyone else.
TSARNA: I say, Dzhokhar, if you're alive, turn yourself in and ask for forgiveness.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Between the shootouts and the car chase last night and, of course, the capture tonight of this second suspect, there was this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN (voice-over): Much of the Boston area was on a police lockdown. Authorities asked everyone, stay inside, shelter in place because they were out searching for this younger suspect, this younger brother who had yet to be caught. You have schools, so many universities here in Boston, shutting their doors, such an anomaly.
There's normally such hustle and bustle in this great city here in New England, you know, train, bus services were halted. It was almost eerie, trying to be out on the streets. It was tough to even catch a cab. Sporting events even in Boston were canceled. It is estimated that the shutdown cost this city more than $330 million.
And I spent my day in Cambridge, where there was quite a law enforcement presence there because we were just a block from where these two young brothers lived. And while I was in Cambridge, I spoke to one of Dzhokhar's former high school wrestling teammates on exactly what he was like as a student, as a leader, as a community volunteer.
When he saw Dzhokhar, his friend's face, on the news, he couldn't believe it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: You knew Dzhokhar. He was your -- you were on the wrestling team with him. He was the captain of the team his senior year. What kind of guy was he?
SANJAYA, DZHOKHAR TSARNAEV'S FORMER WRESTLING TEAMMATE: He was a very nice guy. I knew -- I know him for about four or five years. Every time I see him, he would keep smiling. There's -- I don't remember a single time when he was sad or mad. The only time I see him mad was after he lost a wrestling match. That's about it.
I mean, that's pretty obviously, you know. If you just lost a wrestling match, obviously you're going to be made. Other than that, he's always smiling. He's always happy.
BALDWIN: Let me step back for a second, because you learned that it was Dzhokhar who was one of these two suspects in this horrendous bombing here in Boston on Monday because you woke up this morning -- wait, your mother called you this morning, and you saw a picture.
SANJAYA: When I woke in the morning, you know, my mom -- my mom woke me up. I saw a picture. At first, I think it was a joke or something, you know. I couldn't believe it was him. It was so shocking for me.
And then my friend, he called me, he told me, let's go down because he told me in his Cambridge, that's where all the people are, so let's go down there. So I didn't even take a -- I didn't take a shower or I didn't brush my teeth. I just came down here.
And I -- the reason I came here is because I want people to know, you know, he's a really nice guy. Because everyone, I went to Facebook when I woke up. And everyone there, they're saying he's a bad guy and all that stuff, you know.
BALDWIN: What has he said ever to you about his older brother?
SANJAYA: He never mentioned his older brother or his background at all. And it was back in 2009, I asked him where he was from.
And he said he was from --
BALDWIN: Chechnya. Russia.
SANJAYA: Russia, yes.
BALDWIN: So I asked you, you know, had you ever been to his apartment, seen him walking into the apartment, and you said he always had you drop him off around the corner.
SANJAYA: Yes. So after wrestling practice, we'd come -- I would drive him down here in Cambridge Street. He used to tell me to stop my car down there and he would just walk down there. And he pointed me. And I asked him where he lived, and he just pointed to his house downwards. And I was like, oh, OK, that's fine.
BALDWIN: Down Norfolk Street?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
