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Erin Burnett Outfront
"The Defendant Is Alert"; Suspected Bomber Speaks From Hospital Bed; Federal Charges Filed Against Boston Bombing Suspect; Bombing Suspects' Mosque Outburst; Cheap & Deadly Pressure Cooker Bombs
Aired April 22, 2013 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT next, breaking news, the surviving suspect in the Boston marathon bombings, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev speaks.
Plus Chechnya connection and whether the FBI could have stopped a man who already was on a path to terror.
And the wife, who is the woman who married Tamerlan Tsarnaev? Let's go OUTFRONT.
Good evening, everyone. I'm Erin Burnett. We begin with breaking news. OUTFRONT tonight, the Boston bombing suspect speaks. Saying the word no when asked about whether he could afford a lawyer during a bedside hearing today at the hospital today where he is recovering.
Tonight, we're getting a first look at the transcripts of that hearing obtained by "The New York Times." It is a court note. The defendant is alert, mentally competent, and lucid. He is aware of the nature of the proceedings.
And along with that breaking news, we are covering this story tonight from every angle. Drew Griffin, Brian Todd and David Mattingly are all in Boston tonight. Drew with the latest on the investigation, Brian with new information about the older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the one killed on Thursday night, what we know about his outburst at a mosque in January.
David has an OUTFRONT investigation on exactly how those deadly bombs were made. Nick Paton Walsh is in the Dagestan, Russian Republic dodged by religious violence where the suspect's parents live and where the older brother spent six months just last year.
And Chris Lawrence is in Rhode Island where Tamerlan's wife, Katherine Russell, lives. And Deb Feyerick is here in New York with all the details of that hospital hearing and the charges filed against the suspect today.
I want to start with you, Deb. We know the federal government filed two charges against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev today. One count of using and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction and one of malicious destruction of property by means of an explosive device resulting in death.
And I'm just looking here, Deb. We just got a look at the complaint filed against him. In the actual transcript of what happened today in the hospital room though, the thing that stood out, maybe he was too injured to speak. When they asked him the question can you afford a lawyer, the defendant said the word no.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, what is fascinating about that, Erin, is that also you have to remember, this is a kid who is on a ventilator. He is heavily sedated. He is being restrained.
And what we're told is that many of the responses to the answers were he was nodding his head. That was really all that he was allowed to do. What really struck me in the transcript that came out about the court hearing was the fact that -- that he was roused.
That he had to be roused from a semi-state of sedation. That's exactly how investigators had spent the morning questioning him, teams had gone in. They'd asked him yes and no questions to which he had responded including whether or not he was working with somebody else.
So -- but yes, you're correct. He was communicating very clearly. He cannot afford his own lawyer and therefore, he is going to be appointed a federal defender. Erin, it's a federal defender that he's likely -- that is likely going to have to be very well versed in the death penalty.
Because that is one of the charges he's facing. The prosecutor who was there along there along with the judge and the federal defender, the prosecutor said that the charges against him face -- carry a maximum penalty of death or certainly life in prison -- Erin.
BURNETT: Deb, interesting. The defender also speaks Russian, which was important. Obviously we know he is fluent in English, the suspect, but an important development perhaps.
I was reading into the complaint. I thought there might be some things in here that you might find fascinating. I mean, they went into his dorm room, right? What did they find in there?
FEYERICK: This is what is so striking. This is somebody who actually returned to his dorm room and the university has confirmed that. The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth have actually confirmed that he did return there.
Well, the FBI seized from his dorm room among other things a large pyrotechnic, like a firework. They also seized a black jacket and a white hat, which is the same kind that he was seen wearing the day of that bombing.
They also seized BBs. BBs were used in the pressure cookers. Those are used when a bomb like that goes off it causes maximum damage, maximum impact so all of that is something that they're looking at now -- Erin.
BURNETT: Deb, what other evidence did they uncover? That they say makes it -- it seems to be in their view they have a very clear cut case. That they think they have that links the suspects to both the bombing and the carjacking.
FEYERICK: Yes, absolutely. Clearly, they have pictures of these two individuals. They are at the scene. They have multiple angles of it. What is fascinating in the criminal complaint, Erin, was that also investigators describe some sort of a time line.
They say, you know, the guy in the black hat, as we know, they were walking together one behind the other. The older brother walked towards the finish line. The younger brother stayed behind. Basically at this tree where little Martin Richard was standing.
He was there for a period of about 4 minutes and then what we know according to the complaint is that he seemed to put his cell phone up to his ear and have a conversation. The conversation last for around 18 seconds. And then within moments of that, the first explosion detonates.
The first explosion detonates and then he slips away from the backpack, which is left by this tree and he disappears 10 seconds later. The second explosive goes off. So it really does create sort of a time line.
But they found another pressure cooker. The pressure cooker had also similar to the device that was found and they found a number of explosives in the area of the car where that first shootout happened.
So they're able to create a time line of where these people were, what they were doing. And, you know, you have to remember, this kid woke up, 19 years old not quite a kid, but he woke up in his hospital bed and he is being heavily guarded. The U.S. Marshals are outside his door. This very much in play as this moves along -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right, thank you very much, Deb Feyerick. I want to go to Drew Griffin now who is in Boston. Drew, where do things stand in the investigation into whether these two brothers acted alone, just the two of them or were part of a larger plot? Because I know there are other people still being questioned or in custody. Do they know the answer to that question yet?
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, the answer right now is no there doesn't seem to be else involved. You have to keep in mind there are two real investigations all part of the same one. Deb kind of laid out the criminal investigation.
But there is and has been the national security investigation, which has been going on to try to find out is this is it? Are there any more? The death of the brother, the arrest of the other is this the entire group that was involved with this?
You mentioned those detained people down in New Bedford, Massachusetts. We know that two Russian speaking students were questioned and then taken into custody out of the abundance of caution we are told, but they're being held on visa issues, nothing else at this time.
We also know from the complaint now that the investigators have credit cards. They'll be able to meticulously go through every single purchase on the credit cards, every single phone call.
That's what they're doing to try to contact everybody who's contacted these brothers to make sure, Erin, that there is absolutely no one else involved. Right now, the answer to that is there is no one else involved and that's what we're hearing from the investigation.
BURNETT: And, Drew, then the other big question, how close are investigators to determining the motive, the inspiration for these attacks because that is the thing that has confounds so many.
GRIFFIN: Right. And the information will come from two places, one, the personal contacts that these two individuals had and also from this kid in the hospital himself. He can explain it.
They'll be looking at what kind of media, what kind of contacts they may have had overseas in the past. Some of these terrorists, specifically these radical Islamic terrorists, have tapes of sermon that's they listen to.
And maybe even getting e-mails from overseas. Was that inspirational e-mails or actual operational e-mails? Those are all the things that they'll be able to determine at the end of the investigation.
BURNETT: All right, thank you very much, Drew. I want to go to Brian Todd, also in Boston to talk about the brothers' religious background, which Drew just mentioned. But Brian, I know you have new information about a visit the older brother Tamerlan made to a mosque back in January. What happened at that incident? Because that one really sticks out, right?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It does, Erin. There were actually two incidents. There were a couple of outbursts that the older suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev had at the mosque. This was the Islamic Society of Boston's mosque in Cambridge where the older brother attended prayers mostly on Fridays.
But back in November, he had one apparent outburst where he got up and objected to something that was said. That wasn't really the more inflammatory one. The more inflammatory one came in January, on January 18th, that was a Friday.
It was around the time of the Martin Luther King holiday. At that time mosque officials say the person giving the sermon was kind of extolling the virtues of Martin Luther King saying that both the prophet and Martin Luther King were men who people attending the mosque should emulate.
Well that was a little bit too much for Tamerlan Tsarnaev. One of the board members of the mosque, Anwar Kazmi, explained what happened next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANWAR KAZMI, BOARD MEMBER, ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF BOSTON: Some people said that he said something to the effect that you cannot, you know, compare or make a parallel between a prophet and a non-Muslim. Some people said that he referred to the person that was giving the sermon as a hypocrite.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: And Kazmi says that outburst was a clear violation of mosque etiquette. He said during these sermons, you're not even supposed to speak. You're supposed to sit there and listen. He said the people who were attending that sermon at the time calmed Tamerlan Tsarnaev down and spoke to him and told him that wasn't right. He left after that. He did keep coming back to Friday prayers after that though -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right, Brian Todd, thank you very much also reporting from Boston.
OUTFRONT next, what do the terror attacks have to do with one of Russia's most troubled republics, Dagestan?
And the FBI is under fire accused of not doing enough when they first learned of suspect number one's presumed extremist ties.
Plus, she is married and has a child with Tamerlan. What her attorney says she knew absolutely nothing about the attack, possible? Who is the wife of Tamerlan Tsarnaev?
And later, how easy was it to make the bombs that killed three and injured dozens more? An OUTFRONT investigation on that and whether it's possible to stop another one.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: A search for the answers in the Boston bombings could be found in one of Russia's most troubled republics, Dagestan. It is a dangerous region that has become the epicentre of a violent Islamic insurgency and a hub of Jihadist recruitment.
It also happens to be where the older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev stayed for six months during his trip last year. Nick Paton Walsh joins us tonight from Dagestan. Nick, what did you learn about what Tamerlan did while he was in Dagestan, which appears to be -- I mean, it is truly one of the most central questions here that Americans have.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Key is what he did between January and July of last year. We spoke to an aunt who said that she thought he turned up in about March of that year, leaving a gap in the beginning we don't know quite where he was. We know he was staying with his father from about May for about a month because a shopkeeper told us she saw him staying there. We know from the aunt too that he went to visit relatives in Chechnya a couple of times during that visit as well. That in and itself massively suspicious because a lot of the violence Chechnya was renowned for has in fact moved across the border here to Dagastan.
Instead, always most important we heard from the aunt is the change she described in her nephew. Tamerlan having left the U.S. about five years ago came back to here Dagestan a devout Muslim. She joked almost they were worried in America, he'd take up smoking, drinking, or drugs. But in fact, he came back preaching Islam should be at the center of his life, not looking at women he wasn't related to in the eyes, and very clear about his religion, Erin.
BURNETT: Nick Paton Walsh, thank you very much. Some of these crucial details coming to light and could be at the center of this.
And today, while recovering in his hospital bed, the youngest of the two brothers, Dzhokhar, was charged with using a weapon of mass destruction. And the White House also announced he will not be tried as an enemy combatant. Now this has intensified a debate over how to handle terrorism countries - terrorism cases in this country. Today, Senator Lindsey Graham urged the White House to reconsider its decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I'm asking this administration to leave on the table the option if the effort warrants to designate this individual as an enemy combatant. The ability to have access to this suspect without a lawyer present to gather intelligence about a future attack is absolutely essential to our national security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, a member of the House Intelligence Committee is OUTFRONT. He is also a former federal prosecutor. Congressman, good to have you with us.
We now know that that Dzhokhar, suspect number two, has been read his Miranda rights. So he won't be designated as an enemy combatant. But if he was labeled an enemy combatant, he wouldn't have been entitled to a lawyer. He wouldn't have been entitled to a civilian jury trial. And of course, as Lindsey Graham indicated, they could have asked him a lot of other questions without a lawyer present that may or may not be relevant to national security.
Now, why did they make this decision not to go for quote, unquote, enemy combatant status? Do they just think they have so much evidence in this case that they can go ahead with the civilian jury trial and they don't need to hide behind enemy combatant?
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), CALIFORNIA: I think that is certainly part of it. It does look like an overwhelming body of evidence. But more than that, I think they felt they could get the immediate information they needed by the Miranda exception, the public safety exception, so they could make sure the public was safe.
But there just doesn't seem to be a constitutional basis for treating an American citizen arrested on American soil for acts committed in the United States, as an enemy combatant. The sort of quintessential enemy combatant case is someone you apprehend, a foreigner, on a battlefield in Afghanistan or elsewhere. The Supreme Court has upheld treating an American, the American Taliban Hamdi, who was captured in Afghanistan as an enemy combatant. But here on our own soil, this is a paradigm case to be treated as a terrorist and prosecuted within the civilian court system.
BURNETT: I see your point. But people are going to ask the question of whether terror has changed. An enemy combatant, according to the government, as you well know, is a person who planned, authorized or committed or aided the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. And a person who was a part of or substantially supported al Qaeda or the Taliban.
Now that worked back when the combat was related to 9/11. But if it has indeed spread and you all of a sudden have extremist groups, whether inspired in Chechnya or somewhere else that are killing American civilians and is done by Americans, isn't it the term that needs to change rather than us say the person doesn't fit the term?
SCHIFF: Well, Erin, that's a great question. In fact, I think what you're pointing to is that authorization used military force, which was drafted in the wake of 9/11, is really outdated and doesn't fit the kind of changing threat that we're facing. We have seriously degraded al Qaeda's core. But now we're seeing these al Qaeda franchises. We're seeing these spin-offs. We're seeing a lot of self- radicalized cases. And that's going to require a different approach and a different legal basis.
But simply because the threat environment changed doesn't mean that our Constitution is so flexible that we can ignore its provisions. I do think that what we ought to call the administration to do is come forward with a new structure and to articulate how the rule of law will support protecting the country in this new threat environment. But there just wasn't the case for treating this brother as an enemy combatant, and I think it was very premature for some of my Senate colleagues to call for him to be treated that way.
BURNETT: Interesting point. Also interesting we do really need to reconsider. Thank you very much, Congressman. We appreciate your time.
And OUTFRONT next, authorities stop another terrorist attack. This one on a train between New York City and Canada. We have a live update on this.
And we talk to a man who was there when police finally captured suspect number two on that boat in Friday. How police talked him out of the boat.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: An al Qaeda linked plot to attack the United States was stopped today. And it was stopped in Canada. Canadian police arrested two men accused of planning to bomb and derail a passenger train traveling between Canada and the U.S.
Now, according to the Royal Canadian Mountain Police, the two suspects were planning the attack for months and were getting support from al Qaeda in Iran. Authorities say there is no link to the Boston bombings. CNN's Paula Newton is in Ottawa tonight with the latest. Paula? PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Erin, you know, police are at pains to say the attack was not imminent at all. But they do say the threat is real. These people wanted to kill people. They wanted to hurt people.
They were very sensitive about the fact that the attack was not imminent. Why? Erin, they were listening in for months on this plot. They were putting the pieces together, bugging their homes, their cell phones, to try and figure out what this plot was all about. They were not Canadian citizens. They had been in the country for several months.
And, Erin, they were also tipped off by the Muslim community itself that they apparently led them to believe that these two people were plotting something. They didn't know what. And that's what gave them the tip-off to be able to bug them.
Peter King, also - Congressman Peter King says this was indeed a train from Toronto to New York. That is something that the police here will not confirm for us. But certainly chilling details about that kind of a mass attack which we know, Erin, comes right out of the playbook for al Qaeda. Again, trying to lay a bomb and they say the bam was to hurt people, kill people and cause economic damage. Erin?
BURNETT: Paula, thank you very much. Reporting from Ottawa tonight.
Up next, the attorney for the American wife of Tamerlan Tsarnaev says she said she had no knowledge of the attack. Does that add up?
And the suspected bomber partied after the day after the attacks. Went to classes, went to the gym. We talk to two of his dorm mates.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, the FBI wants to question 24-year-old Catherine Russell, the widow of suspected bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Russell and Tsarnaev were married in 2010. And as authorities search for answers, family and friends are crucial to this investigation.
And nobody seems to know very much about his wife. Whether they lived together, how old their daughter was. There are so many things that seem to be unclear. According to Russell's attorney, she knew nothing about the bombings and was devastated to hear her husband may be involved.
CNN's Chris Lawrence is in Russell's hometown of North Kingstown, Rhode Island tonight with the latest. And Chris, I mean, this is kind of amazing, right? We keep seeing all these different things about her. I know you've been trying to follow the trail and find more about exactly who she was. What do investigators want from her?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: They basically want to know two things, Erin. They want to know, "A", did she know anything about what her husband was doing? And does she know if her husband Tamerlan was involved with anyone else other than his younger brother? Her attorney says she has been cooperating with the investigators. We know federal agents have been here to the house off and on over the past couple days speaking with her and her attorneys. We've seen federal agents posted down the street.
He said basically, the attorney did, that, quote, "She understands the need for doing it" -- talking to investigators, that is. "This is the way the government looks at it and she understands this. It's a threat to national security and she gets that. She's a really good person, very sympathetic to. That Katy is just trying to bring up her daughter."
The daughter, of course, is the 2 1/2-year-old little girl she had with Tamerlan. And we're also told basically by the attorney that Katherine Russell was in a bit of a bad spot in that Tamerlan wasn't working full time so Katherine Russell, he says, was working up to seven days a week, sometimes 70 hours a week and Tamerlan was actually the one who stayed home and took care of the little girl -- Erin.
BURNETT: And, Chris, there are reports from her friends talking about how dramatically she changed. You see her hair in a hijab, the leopard patter hijab, that picture taken this weekend. But, you know, she grew up Christian if not Catholic, right? I mean, what are you learning about the dramatic transformation that happened in her life?
LAWRENCE: That's right. I mean, she's young, first of all. I mean, she just graduated from high school six years ago. You take a look back at that high school year book photo, you know, she looks like a typical American girl.
Basically what the attorney was telling us is that she grew up Christian. She converted to Islam when she married Tamerlan. This is back in 2010. And she is a relatively observant Muslim. She wears a head scarf as you seen in some of the pictures.
And, again, they have been living in Cambridge but now, she is living here in Rhode Island with her parents and since the events of the past few days.
BURNETT: Just a quick follow on that, Chris. We don't know how long she's been living there or are you clear at this point that she really was living in that small and rather squalid apartment that two brothers shared?
LAWRENCE: Well, you know, I have to say, you know, we've seen pictures of her leaving that apartment as, you know, as recently as just Friday or Saturday. So, she was there at some point, you know, in the very recent past. Whether she was there consistently or constantly, we don't know.
That but we do know now she's with her mom and dad and she has her daughter as well.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Chris Lawrence. Chris doing all this reporting on this heavy lifting. But, as you can tell, crucial questions about this woman and who she is -- and still, a lot of them unanswered tonight.
Well, two of the bombing suspects' sisters live in New Jersey and also being investigated by the FBI. I went out to the town of West New York, which is in New Jersey and visited the mayor and also one of the sister's homes. The mayor was actually with the two sisters on Friday, right when they found out that their brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, had been captured.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. FELIX ROQUE, MAYOR OF WEST NEW YORK, N.J.: I was actually there. It was surreal feeling with the crying. You could see this feeling. And as a physician, it was terrible, the wailing. They were both hugging each other.
BURNETT: The two sisters?
ROQUE: The two sisters were hugging each other. The baby was in her arm. And it was just surreal. It was depressing. It was terrible -- terrible feeling.
BURNETT: And what -- what did they say when they -- I mean, were they totally shocked?
ROQUE: They were shocked. They were shocked. And they were just crying and God, you know, they were mentioning God. This is incredible. And they just were feeling terrible about the whole situation.
BURNETT: And could they believe it? I mean, we can only imagine what it's like whether you find out something like this. You know, some people in the family have been, you know, in disbelief that they don't think that those men could have done this. What did the sisters think?
ROQUE: No, it would just continuous crying. And I basically said, listen, I'm here as the mayor. My concern is your safety. My concern is your health. Let us know whatever you need. I'm here to, you know, the same thing I do with whatever resident of West New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: The mayor also told us Tsarnaev's relatives are afraid to leave the house. They have a police officer stationed outside out of concern for their safety tonight.
Well, when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was finally captured and searched, authorities found his UMass-Dartmouth ID card on him after that boat, when he got under a boat. And just after the attack, Dzhokhar returned to that campus 60 miles south of the bombing site, slipping back into student life, until that surveillance video surfaced that allegedly exposed him.
Santo Dell Aquila and Derek Jouozaitis knew Dzhokhar and lived in his dorm. They saw him on campus during those days. And they're OUTFRONT tonight. And, look, I really appreciate you both taking the time. I know this has got to be bizarre, confusing, difficult, sad, make you angry all at once.
And, Derek, let me start with you. We know that Dzhokhar went to the gym this week. It showed on his ID card that he scanned in and out. We know he was back on campus going to parties also last week after the bombing and before Friday.
Where did you see him? And did -- I mean I know hindsight is 20/20 but did you notice anything unusual when you saw him last week?
DEREK JUOZAITIS, DZHOKHAR TSARNAEV'S DORMMATE: No, I just saw him walking to class. He looked like an average college student. Didn't seem anything out of the ordinary. Just walking by like everyone else.
BURNETT: Like everyone else.
And, Santo, when you saw him on Thursday, he was doing something a little different, right?
SANTO DELL AQUILA, DZHOKHAR TSARNAEV'S DORMMATE: I saw him Wednesday leaving campus in the green Honda Civic which I called into the FBI.
BURNETT: You called it in to the FBI. Why did you do that?
AQUILA: Because, normally, I saw him driving a nice BMW. It seemed strange to me he was driving a green Honda Civic which, I don't know, just seemed out of the ordinary.
BURNETT: And that was after the video when you seen the video? Or did you really just say this is different. I'm going to call?
AQUILA: I didn't call until Friday morning when I saw his picture on the news.
BURNETT: And what made you decide to make that call?
AQUILA: I knew it was actually him.
BURNETT: Yes, There were others that saw it and some former classmates. They said gosh that looks like him and he always wears his hat like that backwards. It's got to be him. But they didn't call because they were afraid it might not be him and they didn't want to, quote-unquote, "throw him under the bus."
AQUILA: I called because I knew it was him. And I called my buddies. They were like, yes, you should definitely call that in.
BURNETT: That must have been hard.
Derek, you said that there was some things about Dzhokhar, you know, everyone I talked to that knew him said -- you know, some ways all American kid. Smoked pot. Went to parties. Totally normal kid.
But you said there were some things that made him different.
JUOZAITIS: Yes. Just the way he carried himself sometimes. He seemed like he was kind out there. Like every other college student getting involved, hanging out with friends outside. Usually, he was in groups but usually kind of stuck to himself. He just seemed a little out there for himself.
BURNETT: A little out there.
And, Santo, you had a political science class with him. Did he ever talk about family, politics, religion, anything like that, with you?
AQUILA: No, he never talked about anything personal. And to be honest, I never really saw him that much in class.
BURNETT: Really? Interesting. OK, that gives a little color.
The FBI today, I don't know if you all are aware, you know, the complaint has come out. They say in his dorm room, they found a, quote-unquote, "large pyrotechnic" along with a white cap and black jacket that they say are similar to what he was wearing in the video. And they there were also BBs in the dorm room which were also in the bomb.
You hung out with him at one point in his room. Did you ever see anything unusual?
AQUILA: No. I never saw anything. I was only in his room once. But you never would have known. You never really would have known.
BURNETT: Does this make you think completely differently about people? I mean I know can you both point and say this is different. This was different. But, fundamentally, you never would have guessed this guy would have done this, would you?
AQUILA: Never. I don't know who to trust.
BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you both very much.
JUOZAITIS: Scary whether you see someone like that.
BURNETT: Yes. I'm sorry, a little bit of a delay. I didn't mean to cut you off.
Derek, Santo, thank you both.
And OUTFRONT next, what was it like in the final minutes before authorities captured Dzhokhar Tsarnaev? We'll talk to a man who was there as authorities got him out that boat.
And then the destructive nature of the pressure cooker bomb and what can be done to stop them. An OUTFRONT investigation on how they're made.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: I want no check in with Anderson Cooper with a look at what's coming up on "A.C. 360."
Hi, Anderson.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Erin.
Yes. We're live in Boston tonight for all the very latest on the investigation into the marathon bombings and the arraignment of the bombing suspect from his hospital bed. There's a lot to tell you about tonight.
Also looking tonight at just who these brothers are. What turned them into killers, apparently? We'll dig into their ties in Chechnya and the older brother's recent trip there.
We'll also speak to their aunt who lives in Canada. She feels convince her nephews were framed. We'll talk to her about why she feels that.
Also, I spoke to an amazing young woman this afternoon. A dance instructor who lost her foot and part of her left leg in the blast. She is still in the hospital. She tells me she plans to not only dance again but hopefully run the marathon next year as well.
We'll talk to her. Her story will inspire you.
Those stories and a lot more at the top of the hour -- Erin.
BURNETT: I can't wait to see that one. Thank you, Anderson.
Well, the takedown that captivated the nation on Friday night, law enforcement officers surround the home in Watertown, Massachusetts, helicopters using infrared cameras confirm a man believed to be the Boston bombing suspect is holed up on a boat on a property.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
BURNETT: Gun shots fired. Eventually the suspect captured. One man who was on the scene as it went down, Watertown police detective, Lieutenant Michael Lawn.
Good to see you, sir. We really appreciate you taking the time.
When on Friday night did you know that you had the guy?
DET. LT. MICHAEL LAWN, WATERTOWN POLICE DEPARTMENT: Friday night, after the press conference, we received a call from Mr. Henneberry from Franklin Street that he observed a body in the back of the boat. I think that was about 6:30 or 7:00 Friday evening.
BURNETT: Six-thirty, 7:00, you knew you had him?
LAWN: Well, he was spotted in the boat. That's when officers responded down there. The perimeter was set up and then the negotiations began.
And I think the whole process was probably an hour and half, two hours, I believe.
BURNETT: I mean, it's just incredible. It was -- it riveted the world, and the negotiations also. Our Brian Todd got a little glimpse of them from nearby, Detective.
But tell me how those negotiations went down. Was he fully communicating back with you, the police?
LAWN: I was too far outside. The FBI negotiators were inside doing the negotiation. It was difficult for us to hear that from where we were. But there was some form of negotiations between them. But I can't talk about what that was.
BURNETT: OK. All right.
Well, how concerned were you and were the FBI at that time when you're trying to, you know, you say look this is the guy. You're confident you got him. You're trying to negotiate with them.
How concerned were you that he had more bombs on him, whether it was a suicide vest or pipe bombs or grenades?
LAWN: That was a grave concern. I mean, that's what everybody was thinking. That's what everybody was taking precautions. That's probably why it took the length of time that it did.
BURNETT: Because they were so worried about that.
Now where does this go from here, on the investigation, on your side, Detective?
LAWN: The investigation is still on going. The FBI is still on Franklin Street doing the crime scene. Mass State Police, FBI, Boston police, Watertown police -- really the investigation has been going all weekend and it's really going full tilt right now. It's going to go for a very long time, I believe.
BURNETT: You know, there are a lot of people -- we all watched this. We watch what people like you do. And we're in awe that, you know, you risk your life to do this. At a moment like Friday night, something you trained for but never probably ever expected, something like that would happen. You're worried the guy has explosives to kill people. He killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology policeman.
Were you ever for a moment scared?
LAWN: No. You know, personally I wasn't. You know, the resources that were there, I'm not on the front lines. I was more behind the scenes coordinating the Watertown Police Department.
It's the SWAT guys that are up front, you know, entering. The resources that we have like the helicopters from state police, the robots that approached has really cut down on a lot of the officers just approaching the suspect without any concern.
So, having those resources and those people are highly trained. They did a tremendous job. So for me, you know, it was a long ordeal. Everybody at that point was tired, up for over, you know, 15, 17, 18 hours. And to have the results that we had that night was truly spectacular.
BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you very much, Detective.
Twenty-four hours before that takedown, a violent gun battle took place with the police on the streets of Watertown, where the two brothers are said to have also tossed a pressure cooker bomb at authorities that authorities say was the same brand in the one used in the Boston marathon bombings.
Now, tonight in an OUTFRONT investigation, our David Mattingly learns how easy it is to build and detonate one of these bombs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At this remote desert testing ground, experts from New Mexico Tech replicate and explode bombs used by terrorists. On this day, there is a sense of urgency.
(on camera): After Boston, what are you worried about? Could this be the future of domestic terrorists?
VAN ROMERO, VICE PRESIDENT, NEW MEXICO TECH: You always worry about copycats. More and more people are going to be using this.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): This is a pressure cooker bomb, similar to the bombs in Boston and we're about to set it off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very good. Do the countdown.
MATTINGLY: In the wrong hands, we already know how deadly this bomb can be, and we're not taking any chances.
(on camera): For safety reasons, we had to retreat to this mountain top here. We're now over a quarter of a mile away from where we left that pressure cooker.
(voice-over): But that's still not far enough to avoid flying shrapnel so we're watching from inside a bunker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five, four, three, two, one.
(EXPLOSION)
MATTINGLY (on camera): Wow. That white smoke looks just like what we saw in Boston.
ROMERO: Yes.
MATTINGLY: I could feel it all the way up here.
ROMERO: Oh, yes. That shock wave will travel all the way.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): But down below is the real shock.
ROMERO: At this point, we're looking for fragments.
MATTINGLY: One bomb turned into thousands of weapons, scattered northern 100 yards.
This was part of the pressure cooker now mangled and razor sharp.
(on camera): No wonder so many people got hurt.
(voice-over): Instead of nails, we filled the pot with nuts from a hardware store, shot out like bullets, they pierced plywood. Some even melted from the heat.
(on camera): Look at the back of it. How fast were these things moving when they went out of there?
ROMERO: They can travel 1,000, 2,000 feet a second.
MATTINGLY: A second, that's faster than sound.
ROMERO: Right, they'll move faster than the speed of sound. These things will actually get in front of the shock wave and hit you before the pressure wave does.
MATTINGLY: You're hit before you even hear it.
ROMERO: That's right.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Here's what the blast looks like using a high speed camera. An intense ball of fire less than 20 feet across, but watch the white rings on the desert floor. That's the shock wave.
Engineers studying this blast say there's a lesson in here for first responders.
(on camera): Let's say I'm a first responder. What do I need to be aware of when I come up on a scene like this?
ROMERO: Well, there's a lot of shrapnel around. It's very hot, very sharp. You can easily cut yourself. There could be unexploded ordnance, parts of the bomb that are still left over that didn't explode when it was supposed to explode. That could go off at any time.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): But for potential bystanders out of this demonstration, there are only words of caution. By the time you hear the blast, you could already be hit. Awareness of your surroundings could be the only defense.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: David joins me now.
David, that is just incredible to actually watch that and watch the shock waves and that you felt it a quarter mile away. I mean, just gives me a whole new appreciation for what people felt at such distance.
You're talking about how easy it is for people to make these bombs in a pressure cooker. What surprised you the most about what you saw?
MATTINGLY: We commissioned the experts at New Mexico Tech to do this demonstration for us. What surprised me, less than $100 worth of material and access to the Internet and you can build one of these bombs. They're crude, they are very difficult to police, but what we're seeing based on the tests that we had there was how fast the material flies out once that gun powder or whatever explosive material is being used actually blows up.
You heard him say that material was flying out at -- faster than the speed of sound, so you could literally be hit and hurt before you even hear the bomb go off.
BURNETT: Wow. That is amazing. When you talk about them going faster than the speed of sound. When you -- obviously you said they did this, you know, you commissioned them to show this sort of an explosion. So we could learn about what happened in Boston. But as you said, this is where what they do for a living, they do these kind of explosions to see what terrorists might do.
What do they say about the kinds of explosives and bombs they're most worried about?
MATTINGLY: Well, in this case, what they were looking at with this pressure cooker bomb that they set off there, they were able to do this in a controlled setting, so they could get a real idea of the physics behind it to be able to look at the blast patterns and how to protect first responders when they first get out there on the scene so they know what to look for in terms of residue, in terms of explosive material that may not have gone off.
There's a lot of things that can still hurt them when they first get to the scene other than the bomb itself that's just gone off.
They're going to take this information to Washington with them. In fact, some of them are in Washington right now working with some government agencies, including homeland security.
BURNETT: David Mattingly, thank you very much. That was fantastic.
OUTFRONT next, one week after the deadly bombings, a nation and a city remembers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: As a makeshift memorial continues to grow at the Boston marathon finish line, everyone is seeking answers. Why Boston? Why the marathon? Why now?
And looking to the investigation to reveal an explanation that makes sense of a senseless act.
But there are a lot of people asking why my son, why my daughter, why me? For them, the answers will never be enough, but we want them to know that while we won't understand their pain fully, we stand with them.
Today, Boylston Street was very different at 2:50 p.m. than it was exactly one week ago. Instead of bombs and chaos at the finish line, the air was filled with a moment of silence and the ringing of bells.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. DEVAL PATRICK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: We'll have a moment of silence now to acknowledge those who lost their lives or were hurt in last week's bombings at the marathon.
(BELL TOLLING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And at the White House, the president also took a moment of silence at 10 to 3:00 to honor the victims.
Those lost in the bombings, Krystle Campbell is one of them. She was remembered during a memorial service today. And as the service began, which took place nearly seven miles from the marathon finish line, police officers lined the street to salute the casket bearing her remains. Lingzi Lu, the graduate student from China who friends say was passionate about math and took delight in the little things in life is also being remembered tonight.
Those who were injured are struggling to recover. Tonight, 50 people remain in the hospital, including the transit officer who was wounded in the firefight with the Tsarnaev brothers on Thursday night.
Many of the dozen or so survivors who have endured amputations are being consoled by war veterans, which is just an incredible thing, who are telling them that their love of life doesn't have to perish with the limbs that they have lost.
A group of runners who didn't get to finish the marathon last Monday did today, symbolically carrying the torch for those who could not. And finally this evening, the FBI officially turned Boylston Street back over to the city. Agents presented the mayor, Mayor Menino, with a flag that has been flown over the finish line at half staff.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
BURNETT: We remember the fallen and the injured and those who love them tonight.
"ANDERSON COOPER 360" starts right now.
COOPER: Erin, thanks.
Good evening, everyone.
There is a lot of news to tell you about tonight about the bombing suspect, his dead brother and what drove them to do what they allegedly did. We're going to touch on all of that tonight, including new details from the surviving suspect's hospital bedside, court proceeding and the one single word he uttered, as well as a close-up look at the government's case against him.