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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Boston Bombing Suspect Dead; Manhunt Underway for Suspect #2

Aired April 19, 2013 - 06:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: -- in Watertown are being told to stay home. Really, that's just the beginning of it. People who live in the general area, we're talking various towns near Boston. A number of towns are also being told to stay at home.

At this moment, police in the Boston suburb of Watertown are searching for a man believed to be suspect number two in the Boston marathon attacks. The man who has been shown since last night in the white cap. He is believed to be armed and dangerous and moments ago police spoke about the grave nature of this manhunt.

And it is grave, the scope of which we are only now beginning to realize, as they have shut down transportation in and out of Boston. The MBTA, subways, and buses, shut down.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: It's remarkable, remarkable turn of events. We've been covering it all night. Overnight there was an armed confrontation at about 10:20 between police and two suspects including the man believed to be suspect number one in the Boston marathon terrorist attacks.

That man, we do not know his name yet. He has been killed. A short time ago a doctor at Beth Israel Medical Center announced that suspect had been taken there, and he described the violence he heard while he was still at home before he left for the hospital.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DAVID SCHOENFELD, BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS HOSPITAL: I was sitting at home and I was able to hear the sounds of gunshots and explosions because I live in Watertown. And when I started hearing the gunshots and the explosions I recognized that something was really, really wrong and called the emergency department to let them know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: This long night of violence began on the campus of MIT in an armed confrontation. A college police officer was killed and then a pursuit began of the two and it led to Watertown. CNN's Drew Griffin has been on the streets of Watertown all night. Drew, what can you tell us?

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Police say that this town is indeed shut down, no traffic in or out. People are being told don't come out on the streets. We just heard the press conference from the police official saying they need to handle this situation right now.

Harvard University not too far from here just closed for the day. Transportation, public transportation closed for the day, all of it because of this one terrorist suspect who is on the loose.

Even though there may be indications police may have him surrounded in some area, we do not know that for sure, all of this is focusing on this one suspect, still on the loose. Police say he is a terrorist. He wants to kill people and that's why the word here in Watertown is so dire.

Robo calls to people overnight telling them to stay inside. Don't answer the door unless it's a police officer coming to your door. Told everybody else just hunker down until they have this suspect in custody. It is an eerie situation here.

The streets are very quiet. Right now, we just have to wait for the police, basically, to give the all-clear.

BERMAN: Drew Griffin us for us in Watertown, Massachusetts. Appreciate it. Again the news this morning, Watertown shut down. Vehicle traffic in and out of that town, they're asking people not to drive in, people not to drive out.

In all the surrounding towns in this area right now people are being told to stay at home, to not leave their houses. Train service, subway service, bus service shut down.

TAPPER: All public transportation.

BERMAN: All public transportation shut down in the greater Boston area, as this manhunt continues, as they search for suspect number two, the man who was seen in the white hat at the finish line of the Boston marathon. They released a picture of him overnight.

He was wearing a gray hoodie right there. He was involved in this police chase. He was involved in this shootout. There was a campus police officer at MIT killed. There was another transportation officer who was heavily wounded and there is now this manhunt under way for suspect number two, as for suspect number one.

TAPPER: Let's talk about suspect number one because on the phone we have Dr. David Schoenfeld. He gave a press conference not long ago about suspect number one who was brought to the hospital mortally wounded and died.

Doctor, thanks for joining us. You said, I believe, that the individual who died, suspect number one, we'll call him, seemed to have died of gunshot wounds, but he also had burns and shrapnel from an explosive. Did I hear that correctly?

SCHOENFELD (via telephone): So that was Dr. Wolf who was commenting on the patient's injuries.

TAPPER: OK. I apologize for confusing you two. Can you tell us what exactly suspect number one, how he died? What killed him? SCHOENFELD: So, that's something that I really can't comment on. That's left for the medical examiner to determine a cause of death. The patient did suffer significant trauma, without question, significant trauma. But the exact cause of death would be something for the medical examiner to determine.

TAPPER: OK. But it could have been either the explosion, or the gunshot wounds, is that fair to say?

SCHOENFELD: So, you know, either would be a possibility, but like I said, it was definitely -- he had significant trauma that was the cause of his death.

TAPPER: One more and then I want to let my colleague John Berman asks a question. That is, did the patient have any explosives on him? Was he wired with any sort of explosive device in any way?

SCHOENFELD: So, you know, I can't comment on what has gone on before the patient arrived in the hospital and whether anything was dealt with by police at the scene. So I don't know.

BERMAN: Just do me a favor then. Describe to me what you did see. What unfolded once he did arrive at the hospital?

SCHOENFELD: So, you know, I really -- I really can't comment on patient care and sort of what went on in the trauma bay. But when the patient arrived to the hospital he was in critical condition. He suffered a traumatic cardiac arrest, and you know, CPR, and all the different life-saving measures that we implement to try and resuscitate the patient.

BERMAN: All right, traumatic cardiac arrest and he is now, in fact, we know dead. All right, Dr. Schoenfeld, thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it.

TAPPER: Obviously Dr. Schoenfeld limited by what he can say because of the situation, obviously this huge manhunt being watched worldwide. Individual, suspect number one, now dead, we know. Suspect number two, on the loose.

We thought he had been limited to the Watertown area of Massachusetts, but now officials here, law enforcement officials and others expanding the area in which they're telling people not to leave their homes.

If you live in Watertown or a number of other areas that John is going to mention in just a second, do not leave your home. And do not answer the door unless it is a clearly identified police officer.

You can see police are out in full force here at the site of the Boston marathon terrorist attacks. But there are many more thousands of them combing through the area of Watertown and these other areas.

BERMAN: Belle Mont, Newton, Waltham, Cambridge, I don't believe I left out any other towns. But again, let's start from the beginning if we can. Eight, nine hours ago, I lost count 10:20 p.m. last night -- TAPPER: If I may interpret. Let's start at 5:15 is when it really seems like this case, in time, we'll find out later what the exactly particulars were. At 5:15 or so the FBI released photographs of the two suspects in the Boston marathon terrorist attacks.

One individual with a black hat, suspect number one, who we know is dead. And one individual in a white hat, who we know is armed and presumed dangerous in the Watertown area. Presumably the release of these photographs did something. Whether it caused the two individuals to panic, or individuals thought they knew who they were, something happened --

BERMAN: Shook the tree.

TAPPER: Smoked them out or whatever, presumably. And individuals -- these two individuals reared their heads, there was a horrific scene at 10:20 on the campus of MIT.

BERMAN: MIT is about a mile, mile and a half from where we're standing right now, which is the finish line of the Boston marathon. About 10:20 last night, there was an MIT campus police officer shot multiple times, killed in his car.

After that in that area there was a carjacking. These two suspects took over a car, kept the driver inside for a time and then started what was a rather intense car chase. At some point the driver, the owner of the car was let out.

TAPPER: Miraculously, apparently unharmed.

BERMAN: Police officials say during this car chase they believe that it's possible that the suspects were throwing explosives out of the car while they were driving, which is why, by the way, every package right now, every device in this area is being treated with extreme caution.

There was this car chase then there was this shoot-out in Watertown. In Watertown, where one of the suspects was shot, taken to a hospital, later killed and now there's a manhunt under way. Let's listen to this witness right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then they brought us into that parking lot over there and the police officer told me to either leave my car or come over here and I brought my car here and we've been waiting since.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When the police officer told you, you know, leave your car there or come across the street, what was going through your mind at this point?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, you could hear screaming up the street of police officers and driving down a guy was pinned down on the ground getting searched. So I thought he was going to search my car, actually so, yes. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you seen anything like this before? Prior to, you know, knowing what this is now, the setup, what did you think it was?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, we knew right away what it was because we were getting phone calls because everyone thought we were at that house on Quimby Street. Everyone thought that we were like locked in, lockdown, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And how do you feel right now? You're from this area. This has been a very long day, long night for you, a long week for the people here in Boston. How are you feeling?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's horrifying. So, you know, this is my home. I come here all the time. You know what I mean? Like I got my license here, this is my home and it's scary to think of your home as like a war zone almost.

From people that I've heard who are in the neighborhood right now who are locked down, they just heard gunshots and people coming into the house, searching the house, and they're all horrified. And I'm horrified waiting to hear back from them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you talking with them through, you know, through the cell phone?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And figuring out how they're doing?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you said you had some friends whose homes were searched?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, the girl who we're waiting to go back into her house. Her boyfriend is there right now and a friend of ours and they said that they just keep on coming up back into the house, looking in the house -- well, it's an apartment. They're just going through the projects right now looking for him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you describe the neighborhood here in Watertown, just to give people at home in Western Mass a sense of what it's like here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it's all suburbs. But where she is, it's like basically like community living. So it's apartment complexes and there's like the backyard, and he said that there's all SWAT in the backyard, and dogs sniffing everything.

There's like a playground for the kids, there's like a child from the area. And that you can't get out of the house. They told everyone to lay down on the ground, not to do anything. And there was, I guess, he thought that they found a bomb in the house because of the way they were acting. He thought there was a bomb in the house. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And police, we are being told, they're looking through the neighborhoods here in Watertown. They're trying to see if there are any devices, and they're trying to talk to neighbors, get an idea, also, and see if they have any information on suspect number two. That is who they're trying to --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Coverage of these unbelievable major developments that have been going on in Boston overnight. There is a manhunt under way, in the greater Boston area right now for the man identified as suspect number two in the Boston marathon bombings.

Right now, transportation, public transportation has been shut down completely in this area. Normally carries 1.3 million people every day. The town of Watertown, no cars are being allowed in or out, as this manhunt for this suspect believed to be very dangerous, police are calling him a terrorist, is going on. And police presumably going door-to-door in that area.

TAPPER: You should also know if you live in Watertown or surrounding areas, you have been instructed by the police not to leave your home or even to answer your door unless it is an identified police officer.

You should expect, as John mentioned, that an identified police officer will come to your door because they are going door-to-door in pursuit, hot pursuit of somebody who is armed, presumed armed and extremely dangerous, perhaps with a gun, perhaps with explosives. This is suspect number two.

What we have here behind us is a bunch of police getting ready to go and enforce the new -- the rule today, which is the closure of public transportation. They will be fanning out throughout the area. We are about two blocks away, right now. We're in the Back Bay area of Boston, two blocks away from the site of the Boston marathon bombings, the terrorist attacks.

BERMAN: Again, as Jake reiterated right now, public transportation is closed. You will not be able to get in or out of Boston on subway or bus. In the surrounding towns people are being told to stay at home. Businesses will remain closed, and the reason is because someone very dangerous on the loose right now.

As many as 9,000 law enforcement personnel right now searching for this man in the area, this all started last night, 5:00, with the release of two photos of the suspect at the finish line of the Boston marathon.

Later that evening there were shoot-outs, a police chase, one police officer at MIT killed, another transportation officer wounded. One suspect, suspect number one wounded and taken to the hospital and died and now there is this manhunt under way.

Again as we said, dramatic, breaking developments, CNN is all over this story with our live team coverage. Deb Feyerick is on the phone right now in Watertown. Hi, Deb. All right, we do not have Deb Feyerick on the phone right now in Watertown. But I can tell you that in Watertown right now, cars are not being allowed in or out of that town. People are being told to stay in their homes, do not answer your door unless it is a clearly identified law enforcement official.

TAPPER: So, let's reset. Let's take a moment. If you're just waking up we want to bring you up to date on major developments overnight in Boston.

Door-to-door search is under way in the neighborhood of Watertown, Massachusetts. Police are looking for the man identified by the FBI as suspect number two in the Boston marathon terrorist bombings. This follows an insane night -- a night of violence that began with the fatal shooting of an MIT campus police officer around 10:20 last night.

Then, came a carjacking. Police say the two suspects in the bombing were in the car. And there was a hot pursuit to the neighborhood -- to the town of Watertown. There was a shoot-out with police. In that shoot-out the man identified by the FBI as suspect number one, the one with the black hat, he was shot. He was mortally wounded. He later died after being taken to Beth Israel hospital.

BERMAN: Again, police believe that suspect number two, photographed Monday in the white hat, they believe suspect number two is now on the loose, could be in Watertown. Could be in the surrounding area.

Public transportation has been shut down, in and out of Boston. We're talking about a service that serves about 1.3 million people every day, has been shut down as police continue this manhunt. And people in the surrounding towns have been told to stay at home right now, and businesses are being told not to open.

We have Deb Feyerick on the phone for us right now in Watertown, which has been the epicenter of activity over the last few hours.

Good morning, Deb.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Good morning, John. Good morning, Jake.

A bus just passed. They're evacuating people from the Watertown area. Another bus coming in.

I have to tell you, I've covered law enforcement for a long time. I have never, ever seen the kind of presence that I'm seeing now. The cars just keep coming and coming and coming. There are armed officers everywhere you look. They are lined up over the street in one area. Their guns are at direct. They've got assault rifles, shotguns, bomb detonation trucks.

The bus is coming to evacuate this area. It looks like they're going to be doing is a massive sweep of this entire area. Something strategic, almost like when you look for forensics, you link arms and you go bit by bit looking for people. Every corner, everywhere you look, there are officers, the FBI, Boston police, Watertown police, Medford police. I'm just reading the names of cars that I'm seeing just pass by here. Like I said, it just keeps coming.

This is very methodical. This entire area is locked down, as well as other parts. Waltham police, they're now coming by, as people with helmets and vests.

It really looks like they are going to be doing a massive inundation, basically choking off this area and going sector by sector, section by section, in order to find this man, the man in the white hat, the man that everybody right now is looking for -- Jake, John.

TAPPER: A bit of news for those college students out there. Number of universities have closed for the day. Obviously, MIT, Harvard, Emerson, a number of other colleges, a number of businesses have been alerted to make sure their employees do not go to work today.

Obviously, the 1.3 million riders of public transportation in Massachusetts are not going to be able to use -- in Boston, I should be more specific -- are not going to be able to use public transportation. It is shut down. The police officers are all there to fan out among the city and tell people to not use the trains and subways.

BERMAN: We have some new information about concerns about suspect number two. I want to go to Joe Johns in Washington for that.

Hey, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Here's what we have. Now, you know about the manhunt that's going on.

This is a little background on why it may be that authorities are so concerned. CNN has been told by a law enforcement source who has been briefed about the situation that the suspect who was shot and killed had explosives on his body. And the concern on law enforcement side is that the suspect that they are looking for may also have explosives on his body.

This is the reason you're seeing this sort of unprecedented police presence, authorities asking for people to stay inside, for businesses not to open. It's because of the concern that the suspect that they are still looking for, the one who was alive, may still have explosives on his body. And that is why people have to be so concerned.

We do know authorities are going door-to-door, they're clearing yards. They're clearing other areas, to try to get a handle on this. But the concern is that that suspect may have explosives on him.

Back to you.

BERMAN: And indeed, Joe, the doctors at the hospital where suspect number one, the one who died, was taken, told us that there were signs of not just gunshots in their news conference, they said not just signs of gunshots, but also perhaps signs of blast or explosive residue on the body.

So, again, Joe Johns, thanks for that report. That is why perhaps they are concerned about suspect number two, that he could be carrying explosives. You're looking at live pictures right now that says Boston right now where we believe there is some police activity under way. Those coming from our affiliate WHDH. Not sure what is happening just in that neighborhood right now.

But again, an enormous amount of police activity in and around the area. I do not think it is hyping it to say it is unprecedented. I don't think it's hyping it to say it is extraordinarily dramatic.

We have Juliette Kayyem, who is a columnist for "The Boston Globe", but more importantly, a former homeland security official for the White House and Boston area.

Look at that. You know, people carrying children away. You know, families really just have to be so careful this morning, according to law enforcement officials right now. Do not open your doors.

Listen to what the police are telling you about either staying home or getting out. The message here is be safe.

Again my question to you, Juliette, never seen anything like this?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN ANALYST: No. I was in charge of homeland security for the commonwealth of Massachusetts, never seen anything like that. But because we haven't had really a successful terrorist attack like we did at the Boston marathon.

So this is a big deal and it is serious and I think that the statements that are being made about people staying put is to protect them and to make sure that they don't get in harm's way. That is what we need to do to get the second culprit, right behind me you're just everyone, all these police officers are lining up. This is called an incident command. We're going to span out throughout Boston. And they are going to ensure that no one is on the T, people aren't walking around.

I'm hopeful now that the sun is out that this will be over relatively soon.

TAPPER: We're going to our WHDH, our affiliate. We have a reporter who is going to go live and tell us what exactly is going on and where he or she is. Can you hear us?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As the SWAT team is inside the houses now. We don't know how many more houses they need to clear. They have those family members there who had a tough, tough night waiting as the officers were worried about explosive devices in the vehicle that you see in front of you. They moved to the houses on the right. Now they're moving through the houses on the left.

It looks -- house because this is where the residents come out first and the SWAT team moves in. Now, the SWAT team apparently has cleared one more house. And we would guess might move down to one other.

The officers apparently satisfied that the vehicle, because they're moving around it with much less care than they did earlier in the night, apparently satisfied that it is no longer an explosive danger.

We've heard from one of the residents in his home that they looked out over the night. This started with the sound of crashing cars. They looked out and saw a police SUV that was involved in the search crashing into his neighbor's car, and then there was the exchanges of gunfire and at one point, they look and he saw what we've heard from others, described as what looked like a pressure cooker out in the street.

And he heard and saw what he thought were grenades being tossed out of the vehicle. Residents who then after that went into their basements now telling their stories, after very difficult night. I'm going to throw it back to you while we begin to watch.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, Dan, thank you. You know we see the things very methodical here now. It was a lot more frenetic throughout the night with gunfire in the streets and the suspect seen throwing devices out of the window. We had a report from a resident who saw what looked like a pressure cooker in Watertown. So there has been big concern about potential explosive devices.

BERMAN: Those pictures, these pictures just tell the incredible story, incredible story unfolding right now in Watertown, Massachusetts. Those really tell the whole story. Police going door- to-door, heavily armed, heavily armed.

TAPPER: John, you and I have both been to both Iraq and Afghanistan, and I have never felt more like I am in a war zone this past week in Boston other than after 9/11 in New York City.

We were talking earlier, Joe Johns was reporting from the Justice Department that one of the reasons everyone is so on edge is because suspect number two, for whom there is this massive manhunt going on in Watertown and surrounding area, is thought to be wearing explosives.

We were talking earlier with the doctor who was there when suspect number one was brought to a hospital. He obviously did not survive. He was killed. And there was talk that he was wearing explosives, although the doctor would not confirm that. That is one of the reasons you see this type of military might.

BERMAN: And they're being so careful, going door-to-door in the town of Watertown. Heavily armed. Obviously the search, what appears to be each and every house, at least in this neighborhood. A short while ago we saw -- just a heart-wrenching picture -- we saw parents carrying their young children down the street being sort of evacuated from these houses as the law enforcement officials, heavily, heavily armed law enforcement officials go in and search.

BERMAN: Juliette Kayyem, what are you seeing here?

KAYYEM: Well, obviously, in terms of what you're saying in terms of heavily armed -- look, these suspects have been here for four days. They had to have been staying somewhere. I don't know if what we're looking at is the door-to-door search or something more serious.

And so this is the kind of activity that they would do on a door-to- door manhunt. What we've never seen before is something that's big. I think that that just goes to show the tremendous amount of law enforcement here right now.

BERMAN: Tom Fuentes, former assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, CNN analyst, on the phone with us right now. Or perhaps on TV with us right now.

Tom, hopefully, you can see these pictures right now and describe to us what you're seeing in this.

TOM FUENTES, CNN ANALYST: You see the tactical units, more or less staging. It kind of tells me that they probably don't have an idea that he's in a specific location because they would be really more deliberative, getting ready to make an assault or to go in to a particular residence.

But, you know, now, the worry is whether the psychology of the subject has changed since the marathon date. They didn't martyr themselves or want to kill themselves or go out in a personal blaze of glory at the marathon. But now with the events that started last night, with the shoot-out and the throwing explosives at the police officers, and if the subjects actually have explosives wired against their bodies, then the question is, is he now in a position that he's going to go down and take as many people and police officers with him, in his final blaze of glory. We just don't know that.

We don't know if he is now suicidal as opposed to their mind-set back on the Monday attack at the marathon. So that's a concern.

But again, a lot of this will hinge on having the identity of subject number one, who is now deceased, and leading to the identity of subject number two. Maybe they have a specific residence.

In a standard fugitive search, you want to know where the person lives, where relatives, friends, associates, colleagues, students, other classmates, may have residences in the area that he may have -- that may have been why they were headed towards Watertown, because they've got support there. They've got -- you know, they live there, had an apartment there, or know somebody that does. And that's why this was so focused in that area.

BERMAN: All right. Now, Tom, we're being told that they're not allowing cars in or out of Watertown. And the camera widen out a little bit there. You see people milling about, clearly being told to leave their homes peacefully right now so the law enforcement officials can go in there and search, as you said.

But again, it's a striking image to see, Jake, such heavily armed officers of the law going into homes in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. TAPPER: It's the kind of scene that you're used to when you watch TV, or if you go to war zones, and see soldiers going door to door in Baghdad or Kabul or in parts of Afghanistan. But it is striking just how much military might is being brought to bear here.

BERMAN: And these developments happening overnight, breaking by the minute. Our coverage of this breaking news, the developments in the Boston marathon bombing continues right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BERMAN: Welcome back, everyone. To our viewers in the United States and around the world, our live team coverage of these breaking, dramatic developments right here in the Boston area. And it's not just Boston. This has expanded over a wider area, a simply extraordinary night with events changing minute by minute.

There is a manhunt, a very active manhunt under way right now for suspect number two in the Boston marathon bombings. People who work near Arsenal Mall in Watertown are being told to stay away. That is simply the beginning. People who live in the general area, we are talking about various towns, a number of towns near Boston, are also being told to stay home.

At this moment, right now, police in the Boston suburb of Watertown are searching for a man believed to be suspect number two in the Boston marathon attack. That is the man who's been shown in the white cap. He's believed to be armed. He's believed to be dangerous.