Return to Transcripts main page

The Lead with Jake Tapper

Boston Bomber Suspect In Custody; Interview with Representative Michael Capuano; Questioning Miranda Rights Exception

Aired April 20, 2013 - 16:59   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Brand new pictures from last night's capture in Boston. I'm Jake Tapper and this is THE LEAD.

Breaking news. A fresh vantage point on the manhunt for bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. This is how they knew exactly where he was and that he was still alive. Police in just the last few moments releasing thermal imaging photos. The older suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, killed in a shoot-out with police. The FBI got a heads up that he may have been up to something two years ago. Yet they uncovered nothing. Was the ball dropped?

And life here can't get back to normal until Red Sox nation gets to sing "Sweet Caroline" together once again at Fenway. Boston's team taking the field at home for the first time since the attack.

Good afternoon. "The Lead" is coming to you live from Boston for special live coverage of the capture of the surviving suspect in the marathon terrorist attacks.

Breaking news, police in just the last few moments have released incredible brand new images from the closing moments of the hunt for the most wanted man in the country. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

These are from a Massachusetts State Police helicopter above the scene last night, thermal imaging clearly shows the body outline of the suspect cowering inside the boat dry docked in a Watertown backyard. There are also images of the robot that police sent in to peek under the boat's tarp. I want to bring in our own Tom Foreman to break these pictures down for us. Tom, explain to us what we're looking at.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Jake. This is the first image that we have. This is a thermal imaging picture of the boat right here that was taken at about 19 minutes past 7:00. So 19 minutes after this homeowner spotted blood here and said he saw someone inside here. You can't tell much from this. They're looking for heat signatures. There might be something up in here, but you really can't tell.

But when you look at the other pictures, you start seeing more. This one, for example, look at this very clear sign here of a strong heat signature coming from in this area. Now as you think about the size of a boat, that's pretty big. They knew at this time he was moving around in the boat. So as you capture an image like this or maybe some trailing heat essentially as the person moves. So there is a sense that he's moving inside the boat even though by now 22 minutes passed, they're around the point where they have either had a gun battle him or about to have this gun battle with him.

We move on and then we have these images which are also just amazing of then extending a robotic arm in here, tearing away some of the fabric that was covering this boat. Remember, a tear in this is what initially attracted the homeowner to pay attention because he had this winter (INAUDIBLE) and was surprised to see a tear. They're tearing more away to try to get a better look inside and see where this fellow might be.

And then you move forward to a different angle of the same thing. Remember, this is a big boat. So even if it you're looking in here, there's a lot of room to go here. They believe in the gunfight here he was hit two more times, so they know they have to move with some speed because in fact he may be bleeding to death inside if you don't move quickly. And then this picture, Jake, really the most stunning one absolutely of everything we're seeing in this new batch.

Look, you can barely see his feet, down here, his body is extending beyond this (INAUDIBLE) in the middle of the boat. His head is somewhat up in here. It's possible we don't really know this. Dark spots in here and at one point there is an indication he might have been forward in the boat. So we don't know why they're getting a eat signature here. That may be just ambient heat. But it's very clear if you look at this where he was.

And this is at about 8:00. This is shortly before they step in and they basically have him stand up to show that he has no bombs on him, that he's not going to blow something up, and they take him away. At that point as you can see from his position here, Jake, they said he was essentially too weak to offer anymore resistance. Amazing pictures, Jake.

TAPPER: Amazing indeed. Tom Foreman, thank you. I now want to bring in our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr and CNN analyst and former FBI assistant director Tom Fuentes on the phone.

Barbara, the public doesn't get a look at pictures like these very often but the military uses this kind of technology all the time. Barbara, are you there?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Not hear me?

TAPPER: Tom Fuentes. Tom Fuentes, if you're there, if you can react to the use of this thermal imaging technology. Tom.

TOM FUENTES, CNN ANALYST: Yes, the technology, Jake, is called flare, Forward Looking Infrared, usually mounted on helicopters because they can hover. And it shoot actually video. So you would get a video feed back to the helicopter, forward it back to whatever the command post is. So the commanders can actually watch that video live as it's being taken. The way that works is obviously the human body is warmer than the air and the metal object like the boat around him so it stands out.

It's not only used by military -

TAPPER: Tom.

FUENTES: It's very common in law enforcement. That's why the state police have it on their helicopter. You would use it in fugitive searches, you would use it if you have missing children in the woods and you want to try to look down at night and try to be able to find them as they're walking around lost. So it's a commonly used technology.

TAPPER: And Tom, would the FBI and law enforcement, would they be using this kind of technology throughout the week at night as they searched? I guess it only - the search only began Thursday evening after they began looking for Dzhokhar. But were they probably out there deployed looking with a helicopter looking thermal imaging to go see if there were any unusual heat signatures?

FUENTES: Yes, I noticed on the night of the shooting of the police officer at M.I.T. that you could see helicopters hovering in the air at that time. Of course, they come back out in the morning. It just depends, the technology in a way works best when it's black because the human body is going to be warmer especially in the cooler night air. And the city lights down there, they might use night vision equipment which takes the ambient light that's already there from street lights and traffic lights and amplifies it a little bit. So there are different technologies depending on the amount of available light at the scene and time of day that it is.

TAPPER: And Barbara Starr, if you're there, our CNN Pentagon correspondent, this is the kind of technology that military uses all the time in overseas operations, right?

STARR: Oh, absolutely. This is really - if you want to think of it as classic combat helicopter operations, that's what you saw in that backyard. It didn't get to the point of, you know, lethality at the end game. But this is how the military track insurgents. If they're laying IEDs, if they're hiding out in the tree line, if they're setting up an ambush, this is the classic way you look for this thermal imaging capability in your helicopters, zone in and conduct precision targeting against that insurgent.

I think what Tom said is so critical. This is the kind of technology that is now with law enforcement but also with National Guard forces across the country. If there is any benefit perhaps to 11 years of war, this kind of modern technology can now be used in communities across the country to help rescue people in disasters. It can be used to real benefit.

The other thing the Pentagon is really taken note of this week in the midst of all this tragedy, some of the lessons learned from combat trauma care, being able to deal with mass casualty trauma incidents, many doctors across the country now are looking at some of the experiences of the military. We know some of those lessons learned are things that have helped people in Boston.

TAPPER: All right. Barbara Starr and Tom Fuentes, thank you very much.

Shockingly, this week was not the first time the FBI had heard of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older bombing suspect who was killed after a shootout with police. The FBI now admits that a foreign government, meaning Russia or more specifically the Russian FSB, that's the successor to the KGB, that that Russian intelligence agency asked the FBI to check him out in 2011 warning that he was, "a follower of radical Islam" and "a strong believer" and may have been planning to leave the U.S. to join an underground group in Europe.

The FBI even interviewed him in 2011, but say they found no terror-related evidence at that time. The law enforcement official tells the "New York Times" today that the FBI did not follow up after Tamerlan Tsarnaev returned from Chechnya in 2012. Now it seems pretty evident that he was not watched closely enough. I want to bring in Juliette Kayyem, CNN national security analyst and "Boston Globe" columnist.

And Juliette, the FBI, they might be the here rows of this operation right now, but they are going to have a lot of questions to answer about this.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes, I think they will be fully prepared to do so. I mean, they, - you know, as you said, they are the heroes in terms of how they captured them. But looking back is important for two reasons and the institution itself, the White House will look back and say what did we miss, how did we miss it, did we not take the Russians seriously enough. Or were there - what we don't know is how many people were interviewed, over what period of time, was there any future surveillance. All of these questions will have to be answered. They have to be answered not only because the American public will ask, but I think the administration, any administration is going to want to know what could we learn from this.

And that's what is also important. You look back not to blame or whatever else that may be an important part of this, but also how can we do better in the future. You know, I constantly say sort of I fear - I don't want to say I fear that there will be instances, but this could happen again and we want to get better at sort of stopping it from happening again.

TAPPER: It happens a lot according to intelligence sources I've been speaking with all day, it happens a lot that other countries reach out and tell the U.S. about suspects they believe might be affiliated with Al Qaeda. What does that happen a lot according to intelligence sources is that Russia does it.

KAYYEM: Right.

TAPPER: They do not often do this and I reached out to the White House today and to get more of an explanation about why the FBI did not follow up with an interview with the older brother when he returned. And whether or not the White House feels like the FBI was on the case enough, the White House deferred comment, referred me to the FBI, the FBI did not answer questions today. Of course they are probably gathering all the evidence because they know that there are going to be a lot of questions about this. But I have to say, if I were a victim or if I knew a victim, I would be mad.

KAYYEM: Right. I mean -

TAPPER: They knew about him.

KAYYEM: A bad thing. Jake, a bad thing happened, right? And what we don't know right now is who did the investigation. So there is all these different constructs of how you do these. There's the JTF, there's the FBI office here, and then there is the FBI in D.C.. Sort of who did the investigation? Where did that information go, shared with local and state officials. This we still don't know, the extent, sort of how far that interrogation of the older brother went. And so, yes, there was an interrogation of him.

TAPPER: An interview.

KAYYEM: An interview. There wasn't a follow-up. That's what we know so far. And the FBI is clearly, wants to get to the bottom of this, as well, because they obviously don't want this to happen again. I'll leave it to the congressmen to discuss what they're going to do with it.

TAPPER: Right. We'll have Congressman Michael Capuano from the Boston area. One thing that you and I were discussing is we also don't know the requests that the Russian FSB, that's the successor to the KGB, whether they gave the U.S. a list of 1,000 people or whether it was a list of two. We're not really sure.

KAYYEM: That's right. I mean, our FBI is utilized and our intelligence agencies including the Department of Homeland Security where I was - is utilized by a lot of foreign governments to get information about nationals or people that have lived there who are now here. So what we don't know in sort of all the data that's going to come out in the next couple of weeks was this so unique that we should have paid more attention or was this sort of a standard request that, you know, might have been part of a large or a couple of thousand interview.

You know, I say this with a lot of caveats because you know, I've been in government a long time and sort of looking back, you can say it's so obvious that he would have done this, right? Because he did it. And sometimes when you put the pieces together at the moment, it doesn't makes much sense. And that is what going back is about. It's not just, OK, blame, we don't like -

TAPPER: Right. I understand.

KAYYEM: It's also about the future. And so there's going to be a lot to learn from this, both from the FBI and administration's perspective but obviously, you know, I anticipate as we are now hearing that this will take political overtures.

TAPPER: OK. Juliette Kayyem, thank you so much. Appreciate your time. Coming up for a few hours last night we all held our breaths while police closed in on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in a boat. We'll have even more new details on the hunt and we will go live to Fenway where Neil Diamond's voice is heard every home game singing "Sweet Caroline." Today fans got Neil Diamond in person. We'll show you the moving tribute, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to "The Lead." I'm Jake Tapper, live in Boston. The Boston Red Sox have always been claimed by all of New England. Today for a little while, the whole country, even the Bronx shared them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will run another marathon. One bigger and better than ever. We are one. We are Boston. We are strong. We are Boston strong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: The Red Sox and tens of thousands of fans returned to Fenway Park this afternoon for the first time since the bombings. Their game against the Kansas City Royals was postponed last night due to that lockdown, transit shutdown and the ongoing manhunt for the bombing suspect.

Today they wore special uniforms as a tribute to the city they have called home for more than 100 years. Their home white said Boston on the front rather than Red Sox. Those whites will be auctioned off later to support the One Fund for bombing victims. The ceremonies today included very emotional moments of silence for the four lives that were lost during this week-long reign of terror.

Eight year old Martin Richard, Krystle Campbell, Lingzi Lu, and M.I.T. police officer Sean Collier. And then citizen heroes, Matt Harrison and Steve (INAUDIBLE) along with marathoners Nick and Dick Hoyt were announced. Patterson, an off duty firefighter, saved the life of a young boy at the finish line. And Dick Hoyt - well he has run the marathon every year since 1981 while pushing his quadriplegic son in a wheelchair. All of them shared in the honor of throwing out the ceremonial first pitches.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Matt, Stephen and the Hoyts, it's time for our ceremonial first pitch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: And in what has now become a Boston sports tradition, the entire crowd sang the national anthem in unison.

Then one of the greatest Red Sox's ever David Ortiz delivered a pep talk that may end up on a t-shirt tomorrow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAVID ORTIZ, RED SOX DESIGNATED HITTER: This is our (INAUDIBLE) city. And nobody going to (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: And finally, in the eighth, no game at Fenway would be complete without Neil Diamond. This time not just on the P.A., they got him in person.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: USA, USA, USA!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Boston just hit a three run homer to go on top. And Poppy Harlow is live at historic Fenway Park. Poppy, tell us about today's ceremony.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jake, you know, you stole my lead there. As you were talking, Neil Diamond must have been the good luck charm because they scored a three run homer, 4-2 Boston, turning this game around. What a day here in Boston.

All day, it's palpable that the turn around the city is feeling. Boston Red Sox fans pouring into Fenway Park behind me. Chanting "USA, USA" after they were surprised to see Neil Diamond take the field and sing "Sweet Caroline" at the bottom of the eighth. A few folks I talked to here, I said "How big a Red Sox fan are you?" He pulls off his shirt, turns around and shows me his Red Sox tattoo and he said "You know, we have to show Sox pride, we have to show Boston pride, we have to show country pride. That is why we are here."

I talked to some police officers who were outside although they said we are really tired from the week this has been, so many people are coming up to us and saying "Thank you, thank you for what you do. Right when they said that, four guys walked by and said thank you to the officers. So that's just a sense of what you're feeling here. People could not be more excited. And like I've been saying all day, even some Royals fans might be Red Sox fans today, Jake.

TAPPER: Well, I think it's fair to say, Poppy, that today we're all Red Sox fans.

HARLOW: Yes, absolutely.

TAPPER: The manhunt may be over, but the race is on to find a motive in the Boston terrorist attacks. We're learning more about the suspects, their lives and what have made them innocent bystanders at the Boston marathon. Stay with us for the latest in the investigation. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to a special Saturday edition of "The Lead," live from Boston. It's a much calmer day to the relief of the people here who were living in a constant state of tension ever since those bombs went off the marathon on Monday. At this hour, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is in custody. Federal prosecutors may charge him while he's still in the hospital where he is listed in serious condition. The FBI is not commenting on whether he's willing to answer questions or even able to do so.

A tip in the suburb of Watertown led police to him where they found the 19-year-old hiding in a dry docked boat underneath a tarp. He did not come quietly. Gunfire erupted, more than 20 shots were fired. Police called out to the suspect commanding him to surrender, ultimately rushing the boat and taking him alive. His brother, 26- year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, did not live to answer for his alleged crimes. He died after a shootout with police early Friday morning.

At the scene, police found hand guns, a rifle, and at least six bombs, three of which had exploded. Watertown's police chief tells CNN that early indications are that these two acted alone, but we're still learning so much about what drove them to violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just a regular normal kid, if you will.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He came off like any other high school kid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two Mondays ago he seemed fine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: But just one Monday ago, any normalcy the Tsarnaev brothers knew began to unravel. Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev allegedly killed four people this week and maimed scores more. Here is what we know about them now. Nearly a decade before Monday's bombings, the brothers and their family, mom, dad and two sisters, came to the U.S. from Dagestan.

ZUBEIDAT TSARNAEV, MOTHER OF SUSPECTS: My youngest was raised in America and my oldest son he is really, really proper raised in our house.

TAPPER: But that son, Tamerlan killed during a shoot-out very early Friday morning would never live to become a naturalized citizen here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are 2,525 applicants for naturalization present here today.

TAPPER: His younger brother, Dzhokhar, now in federal custody, gained his U.S. citizenship last year on September 11th to be exact. "A decade in America already, I want out," said a tweet from an account registered to him. But friends say the UMass Dartmouth student appeared to live a content life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was just a quiet guy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a bad driver, but that's pretty much it. TAPPER: As late as Thursday afternoon, this week, the same day the FBI released his photograph, Dzhokhar was on campus and attending classes. Even going to parties in the dorms, according to a university official. Shockingly normal behavior for a college student who raised few flags.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No signs of what you would see from a terrorist profile. Not a loner. He had a good group of friends.

TAPPER: Tamerlan, however, had a profile of a different sort. On its website, the FBI says it received information from a foreign country in 2011 that in the FBI's words "He was a follower of radical Islam and a strong believer and that he had changed drastically since 2010." We now know that country was Russia. And at Russia's request, the FBI interviewed Tamerlan but apparently found no cause for concern.

ZUBEIDAT TSARNAEV: Tamerlan really got involved in the religion, you know, religious politics five years ago. So he started following his own religious aspects and he never told me that he would be like on the side of Jihad. He was counseled by FBI like for three, five years. They knew what my son was doing.

TAPPER: The aspiring boxer was arrested in 2009 for domestic abuse. In the years following, he quit school, wed a woman named Katherine Russell, and became a father. His wife's family releasing this statement, "Our daughter has lost her husband today, the father of her child. We cannot begin to comprehend how this horrible tragedy occurred. In the aftermath of the Patriot's Day horror, we know that we never really knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev." Tamerlan's uncle also in shock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He decided to take lives of innocent people, hurt innocent people. I may believe he's been full of evil. Maybe he's been himself evil, he turned to be evil. There is - even if there is speculation that there was some political views, no, there were no political views. I say there were no political based on what I know about him. And I know about that family.

TAPPER: Tamerlan and Dzhokhar's Russian father tells CNN he will fly to the U.S. in response to his younger son's capture.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you going to America?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

TAPPER: And despite his astonishment, family is still family. And it seems the 19-year-old who police say did the unthinkable will still get help from his uncle.

RUSLAN TSAMI, BOSTON BOMBING SUSPECTS' UNCLE: First, I'll try to help by seeking forgiveness from those who he put in suffer. And anything else that he would need.

(END VIDEOTAPE) TAPPER: Coming up, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev might be the most hated person in America right now, but he is still innocent until proven guilty. What will a federal trial look like?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back. I'm Jake Tapper live in Boston for a special Saturday edition of our show.

One of the most intense and frightening manhunts in our nation's history ended last night in a hail of flash bangs, bullets and laser scopes in someone's backyard in Watertown, just about eight miles that way, when police finally tracked down the terror suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in a boat that wasn't in the water. A short time ago, police released these brand new thermal images showing the body outline of the suspect cowering inside the boat.

Tom Foreman is in the virtual studio to recreate the moments when we all held our breath -- Tom.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right. Jake, these images -- these stunning images really have a testament to the tenacity and the technology that authorities brought to bear here. Remember, all day long, they had been closing in on Watertown trying to set up a core done around it, trying to limit the ability of this young man to get out. They wanted to keep him trapped in that area. They didn't know if they had, but then, around 7:00, a man walks in his backyard and he sees a torn tarp on his boat, some blood on that, looks inside, sees a body, calls the police. And suddenly, thousands of officers are racing to the area setting up a cordon around this and then they're calling in the technology, a thermal imaging helicopter.

What does that mean? Well, what it means is a helicopter comes in and flies around just like this model is right now and it's casting a beam down to the ground that is reading anything that is warm coming off the ground -- an image of anything, including a body.

So you see the boat trailer there in the backyard. This is what they got from doing that. As they flew in, they saw, yes, there was someone inside this boat and he was moving around.

A gunfight broke out between the officers and the man inside the boat. He was hit two more times. They threw in flash bang grenades to try to stun him, and then everything grew quiet.

So that was the moment, Jake, that they brought in a little bit more technology. The next thing had to do with basically a robot.

They brought in a robotic armed vehicle that could reach in and tear away some of the fabric, give them a better view while negotiators up in the house on the second floor were yelling out a bull horn to this guy to say that he needs to surrender. So, all of this is going on, they're waiting to see what's going to happen. And time is passing. You're getting closer to dark.

So, then, finally they reach the point at which they bring in their thermal imaging again. Remember, they don't have lights for this. They can do it in the dark and it was getting dark fast.

And this is what they see now. They see the suspect is collapsed essentially. Those are his feet at this end. That's his head down at that end behind this console.

He is as authorities would later say basically unable to offer anymore resistance at this point. They make him stand up at the edge of the boat, raise his clothing and show that he has no weapons or explosives on him, and then after this massive collection of technology, tenacity and effort has been closing in for hours and hours and hours, they finally make the arrest they're after -- Jake.

TAPPER: Tom Foreman, thank you.

I want to bring in Congressman Michael Capuano, Democrat in Massachusetts.

You represent about 75 percent of the city. Every mile of the marathon, Cambridge, you used to represent Watertown.

Just tell us about this wrenching week and how the people of Boston are doing now.

REP. MICHAEL CAPUANO (D), MASSACHUSETTS: We're starting to heal. I mean, we're starting to bring it back together. People are anxious to bring it back together. That's why we're looking forward to so many sporting events today to try to find some semblance of normalcy again.

I think everyone is going to do OK, but we all know we have a lot of people who are still hurt, a lot of families still wrenched apart, and we're going to spend an awful lot of time trying to help them to the best of our ability.

TAPPER: Obviously, law enforcement did a remarkable job and we're all glad the situation appears to be over. There are a lot of questions about the FBI having been told about the older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

In 2011, that the Russians reached out to look into this guy, he's an extremist. They did an interview and then apparently didn't follow up even after Tamerlan spent six months in Chechnya.

Is this something you want to hear more answers about?

CAPUANO: There's a lot of questions we'll get to. I mean, first we had to capture the other one and we have to make sure things are settled, and then we'll start asking all the questions. There's going to be a lot of questions asked. One of them obviously that they're going to want some answers. I'm sure the FBI is going to want to ask those questions of themselves, as well.

TAPPER: And lastly, one of the things, I've been out and about today talking to people, I was in Boston Common earlier. People are, as you say, eager to heal, eager to get back to normal. But there is also an acknowledgement that there is going to be a little bit more -- people are going to be more on guard. And the city, even if it's never going to -- even if it's not going to be a city on edge anymore, people are going to be a little bit more suspicious looking around.

Ultimately, is that something you're concerned about?

CAPUANO: No not really. I mean, that's normal. Don't forget, Boston was deeply involved in 9/11, as well. I mean, the planes took off, we lost our locals, as well.

We went through this before. We'll go through again probably some day. I hope not, but probably.

We're not used to it. You never get used to it, but we'll get through it and we'll get back to normal at some time. It's going to take some time to do that and that's one of the processes we'll go through.

TAPPER: And the last question I have for you, we hear a lot about whenever there are all these joint operations and you have Boston police, Watertown police, the FBI, local officials, federal officials, everybody working that there are a lot of people stepping on each other.

I know it's vogue to say that everybody works seamlessly. But from your vantage point, what could be improved? Hopefully, there won't be a next time, but --

CAPUANO: I -- well, there'll be probably a next time somewhere. Hopefully not, but likely. That being the case, from what I saw, everybody reasonably worked together. I mean, something normal cause of events. These things get thrown together quickly and, you know, you can't expect perfection.

I actually think they worked very, very well together, given the realities of the situation, the fact that so many police officers and law enforcement people were brought together so quickly, that though they had trained -- training is one thing, it's another thing playing a serious game right then and there where time is of the essence and you get so many other things going on. So many rumors flying back and forth, left and right, so many leads to follow.

I actually think they did a pretty good job from what I saw.

TAPPER: And last quick question, because I know you are a proud progressive. Are you concerned at all that there was a public safety exemption invoked before Tsarnaev was read his Miranda rights. No?

CAPUANO: No, not at all. Not at all. Look, like it or not, this is an American citizen and he will be entitled to his American rights. And I actually think if we don't do that, we become less of ourselves.

We are Americans. We have beauties in this system. We some problems in the system.

I think if we do anything other than embrace what America is all about, then the terrorist would have won and I think that is the absolute wrong thing to do.

TAPPER: Congressman, thanks so much.

CAPUANO: Thank you.

TAPPER: It's good to see you, sir. Appreciate it.

We know now that 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will face federal terrorism charges and with all the photographs and the video, is the case a slam dunk for prosecutors? We'll look into that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. You know, we're all Boston Red Sox fans today. And the Red Sox just beat the Royals 4-3.

I'm Jake Tapper, live in Boston.

They got him alive, barely alive. And now, the government is trying to figure out how to bring justice to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Legal questions started right away with the decision to hold off on reading him his Miranda rights.

Joining me now is Beth Wilkinson. She's former prosecutor, who helped send Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh to the death penalty.

Beth, thanks for joining us. Why does the Miranda issue matter?

BETH WILKINSON, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Jake, it really matters on whether there will be able to determine if there is other further threats and whether they're going to be able to prosecute him in federal court. And as soon as they mirandize him and give him the right to a lawyer, they know they can use those statements against him in court. If they don't do that, they're going to have a very tough time using any evidence they collect from him before that time against him in a federal courtroom.

TAPPER: Put yourself in the shoes of the Obama administration. They want to know as much as they can about how this happened so as to not make it -- so as to make sure it doesn't happen again. If he lawyers up, if he is read his Miranda rights, he probably will be advised not to cooperate and not to say anything.

Isn't it -- just to play devil's advocate -- in the best interests of the nation to withhold on doing that for a second and get as much information as they can?

WILKINSON: Well, it's a very tough decision, but really the exception they're using is the public safety exception and that's to protect the rest of us, to make sure there aren't any accomplices, any other direct and immediate threats. But after that, it is in the interests of the country to be able to prosecute him in a public courtroom and have people understand what happened.

So it is important I think for the administration and for the Justice Department and the FBI to give him his Miranda right so that they know they can use all the evidence against him in a courtroom and there's going to be many victims and survivors who feel it is important to have that moment in court to try to understand what happened in this horrific situation.

TAPPER: And lastly, Beth, this isn't the first time we've seen this happen with a terror suspect. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is a naturalized U.S. citizen. Will that affect where he's tried, whether it's a criminal court or military tribunal?

WILKINSON: Well, I guess it could be, but I don't think so. I think the government will have a strong interest in having him prosecuted in a federal court. I think Bostonian will want him to be prosecuted there. And I think, for the interest of everyone, it will be best for him to be in a federal courtroom.

TAPPER: You helped get the death penalty for Timothy McVeigh. Do you think prosecutors will do the same thing here? They will seek the death penalty?

WILKINSON: Well, we don't know all of the evidence at this point. But what we did know, surely underscores this was a planned premeditated terrorist event. And with that, it seems very likely that the federal government would ask for the death penalty.

TAPPER: All right. Beth Wilkinson, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

WILKINSON: Thanks, Jake.

TAPPER: Were there warning signs the 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev was headed down a murderous path? Some who knew him are now painting an ominous picture of a man full of uncontrollable rage with a hatred for the U.S. government. We'll have that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: I'm Jake Tapper in Boston for a special Saturday edition of THE LEAD.

The manhunt here is over but the frantic search for answers is just the beginning.

Laura Sullivan is an investigative reporter for National Public Radio and she joins me live from Washington.

Laura, you have been learning more about the older suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev. You spoke with three women who knew him when they were in college. They roomed with his then-girlfriend, who became his wife. What did they say about Tamerlan Tsarnaev?

LAURA SULLIVAN, INTERVIEWED FRIENDS OF SUSPECT'S WIFE: Well, they all met freshman year. They say that Katherine Russell, their roommate, met him at a bar and from the very beginning, they never liked him. They thought he was very controlling. They described him as manipulative of her.

And they said that he had a real violent streak that really troubled them for a long time them. They would say sometimes he had the ability to fly into a rage, that he would hang out with them and party and he would smoke and drink in the beginning, and then all of that changed.

TAPPER: The FBI interviewed him in 2011 because the Russian FSB, which is the succeeding organization to the KGB, they were concerned that he might be an extremist, an Islamic extremist, and might have ties to a terrorist network. It doesn't sound like they really got to the bottom of it because you're reporting that maybe in 2008, 2009 is when he became something of an extremist and seemed, according to your reporting, to think that Islam was under attack?

SULLIVAN: Exactly. So, it was about 2008, 2009 when these women say they saw Tamerlan begin to change and he stopped going out with them, he stopped drinking, he stopped smoking. And he, at that point, said to Katherine Russell that she also had to become a Muslim, join Islam and that she had to start covering herself and wear hijab and she did that.

They had a very tumultuous relationship, but they felt he expressed what they called extremist point of views. They said that he was angry with the American government and that he felt that Islam was under attack.

They were deeply worried about Katherine. They had an up and down relationship and we know that in 2009, he was arrested for domestic assault and battery charge. That was actually on a different woman than Katherine. He had another girlfriend at the time is what the roommates were saying, but they were deeply worried about Katherine for a long time and they still are.

TAPPER: All right. Laura Sullivan, great reporting, congratulations on the big scoop. And we'll have you on the show again soon.

Coming up next, Boston strong -- those two words have become the rallying cry, not just of a city, but of a nation, after a terrifying day spent holed up in homes throughout the Boston region. Residents are now out and breathing easy again. We'll have more on that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

TAPPER: The man himself, Neil Diamond, in the flesh, singing "Sweet Caroline" at Fenway Park today. By the way, the Red Sox beat the Royals, 4-3.

It's the one phrase that says it all this week: Boston strong. Those words could not ring out any louder than in the cathedral of Boston, also known as Fenway Park.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER (voice-over): Today, Boston tried to get back to normal. This afternoon's Red Sox game rescheduled because of the manhunt was a chance for the city to come together and the city's most public space, Boston Common, was alive again, after yesterday's eerie quiet. Families strolled, relieved to finally have their city back after this week of terror.

(on camera): Were you angry?

ERIK WEIBUST, BOSTON RESIDENT: Absolutely angry. Little scared for the kids, haven't told them about it or anything but definitely angered.

TAPPER (voice-over): As her daughter played at the water's edge, this mother said she could finally exhale.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been terrifying. I mean, it's definitely, I don't know, an amazing experience to just feel scared in your own city, in your own backyard. So, this is, you know, where we live and our home. So, it's very vulnerable feeling.

I'm thankful that we now can get out of the house and experience a little bit of sunshine because yesterday was very much a harrowing day.

TAPPER: We stopped Eric Kaye on his run, the first he'd made since he was stopped just short of the marathon's finish line on Monday.

ERIC KAYE, BOSTON RESIDENT: My family was there at the finish line. Thankfully, they are all OK, but I thought like this was the only way to reclaim in some cathartic way running for the community and city.

TAPPER: And while the sense of anxiety here is abating, Boston will be changed forever by what happened on its streets this week. Last night, locals burst onto the streets to cheer for the police who brought an end to the manhunt.

(CHEERS)

TAPPER: But the light of day brings the stark reminder that while one suspect is dead and the other is in custody, the violence they left in their wake, that remains. Four dead and dozens more wounded, with injuries they will live with forever.

The makeshift memorial here a sort of prayer for them and the city to remain Boston strong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: That's it for me and this special edition of THE LEAD live in Boston. I'm Jake Tapper. You can watch THE LEAD Monday through Friday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, 1:00 p.m. Pacific.

For now, I'm going to hand it over to my able friend, Wolf Blitzer, and "THE SITUATION ROOM." Mr. Blitzer, take it away.