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Starting Point with Soledad O'Brien

Police Report One Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect Killed and Another on the Run; Police Search for Remaining Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect

Aired April 19, 2013 - 07:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The Associated Press is reporting right now, we have not confirmed the Associated Press is reporting that both of these suspects, the one who is dead and the one on the run, they believe they're from Chechnya and they moved here a while ago legally. That is being reported right now by the Associated Press. We will be reporting on that as we can all morning.

We have learned that the second suspect, second suspect is dead. Suspect number one is dead. Suspect number two on the run right now. People are told to be staying in their homes right now in the town of Watertown, the surrounding towns, as well, and being told to avoid public transportation. It's completely shut down, subways, buses not running and Amtrak not coming in and out of the city.

We wanted to update you on the major developments unfolding here in the Boston area. Boston colleges and public schools closed. Public transportation shut down. The manhunt intensifies right now for suspect number two, who is on the loose right now.

People who work near the arsenal mall in Watertown are being told to stay indoors. People who live in the general area, a number of towns in the general area are being told not to venture outside. Stay in your houses, businesses staying closed there. At this moment police in the suburb of Watertown are searching for the man believed to be the surviving suspect in the Boston marathon attacks. The man who's been shown overnight wearing the white cap at the finish line, he is believed to be armed. He is believed to be dangerous.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Let's catch you up to speed, because I've been up all night reporting on this story overnight. Shortly after 10:00 there was an armed confrontation between police and these two suspects. Including the man believed to be suspect number one in the marathon attack. That man, the man with the black hat, has been killed. A short time ago police urged the public to heed their advice to stay in their homes for their own safety.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need your help now. We're asking everybody to shelter in place because no vehicle traffic is going to be allowed to travel in or out of Watertown until further notice. No businesses will be allowed to be opened. The Watertown community's always stood strong. We need them to do that today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: This long night of violence began on the campus of MIT not far from here, about a mile away from Cambridge, where in an armed confrontation, a college police was shot and killed by the two suspects, the very two had have been identified by the FBI just about five hours before in the press conference when they released the images. Deb Feyerick is also joining us from Watertown. She has the latest. Deb?

DEB FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jake, John, we can tell you this area is essentially a frozen zone. People are being told to shelter in place, to stay away from windows, stay away from doors. We're looking at a police caravan that just passed here. This was a key area, an area where a lot of law enforcement was gathering. We saw a truck. There were armed personnel on it. We saw bomb sniffing dogs from the FBI. Really, the impression was they were searching for an IED. It's something you would see in a theater of war, in a combat zone, not here in the streets of Boston.

You still have a lot of personnel. Some have slowly been pulling back. But again, it's a very active scene that's going on right now. We don't know the status. We don't know where this individual is, whether he's close, whether he's in custody. But by creating a huge perimeter around this particular area, what they do hope to do is either flush him out, or at least tighten the noose. And so that's what they're trying to do. They are going door-to-door. They are canvassing different homes, they are trying to do a sweep.

Remember, these people, even though they were on the run, they hijacked -- they basically carjacked an individual and then they fled. And they were still throwing out bombs we're told either bombs or grenades or some sort of pipe bomb. So that means that they're still armed, at least this individual likely still armed. The man in the white hat, that's the person that everybody's looking for.

What's interesting is we've heard reports about a name. We're not reporting the name but I did speak to a global terror expert and he confirmed something that John said that is the name itself seems as if it's from the caucuses, perhaps even Chechnya. A young man, that's the one they're looking for, 19 years old a man seen in the white hat.

Again, a lot of folks still back here, FBI, police from all over the state are here. They're all working to together. This is a very coordinated effort. You've got thousands of people on the ground swearing SWAT gear, tactical uniforms. They've got their assault rifles. They've got shotguns. They're heavily armed. So this is a very serious situation.

Again, bomb squad moving past there, also one that is large, basically you could put a bomb in and detonate that device. So it appears what they're doing right now is not only looking for this individual, but they're also looking to see perhaps if there are any devices that need to be disarmed. That's the last thing police here in Boston want. They don't want a situation whereby someone unwittingly opens up a bag and a device goes off. So that's part of what they're doing right now here in the Watertown area, a very active scene. And it's interesting, sun is up, birds are chirping. The movement that you see is either the media and law enforcement. Jake, John?

BERMAN: All right, Deb, thanks so much for that. As you alluded to, the Associated Press right now reporting the identity of the suspects saying they are brothers from Chechnya, brothers from Chechnya, that again coming from the Associated Press. We will have more on that as more information comes in.

TAPPER: At one point before we go to don lemon who is also in Watertown, we can't really say this enough. If you live in Watertown or the surrounding area and you're turning on your television, you don't know what's going on, the most important thing right now, stay in your home. Do not leave. If you're in Watertown or any of the surrounding areas, do not leave. Do not even answer your door unless it is an identified police officer at the door. There is a massive manhunt going on in Watertown and some of the surrounding areas, including Cambridge, including Waltham.

Do not go outside to your car unless a police officer who is clearly dressed as a police officer is instructing you to do so. Suspect number two in the Boston Marathon terrorist attack is on the loose, and he is identified by law enforcement as a terrorist who wants to kill people. It is not known what kind of armaments he has with him, whether explosives or an assault rifle or whatever kind of weapon he might have, but he is presumed extremely dangerous.

So before we even go to Don Lemon I just wanted to say if you live in that area, stay at home. Schools are closed for the day. Employers are being told not to have anybody come to work today.

BERMAN: Let's go to Don Lemon who is in Watertown where all this is happening where people are being told to stay home. Don, what are you seeing?

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm looking in front of me I see law enforcement coming with flashing lights, if I look behind me, the same thing. We have seen tactical units come in and out of here. Response units come in and out of here, a massive presence of police in this area. Again as you guys said, you cannot get in and out of here unless you are either media or law enforcement. They're checking identification, asking everyone to stay in place in their homes, do not let anyone in or out.

When all of this started going on, when all of this began, he they were chasing that suspect, there was a witness who saw what -- who saw said it sounded like firecrackers with all the shooting what was going on. I'm going to send it back you. We have more information but I want to get back to you guys.

TAPPER: Don Lemon in Watertown, Massachusetts. That's where a massive manhunt is going on right now. We also have been learning from Joe Johns who we'll go to in a second that one of the reasons for all the concern is it's thought that suspect number two might be wearing some sort of explosive device. Joe, what have you learned? JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly right. And that's been the big concern. Apparently the suspect who was killed, according to authorities, he did have explosives on his body. And the big concern and the reason why we're seeing this unprecedented manhunt and police going door to door, shutting down the transit system, asking businesses not to open, is because of the concern that the other suspect, the suspect they're looking for, may also have explosives on his body.

Talking to law enforcement officials just a little bit of color and background, one of the things that a couple law enforcement officials have said to me is that they were, frankly, quite surprised that these individuals they were looking for actually maintained their presence in the community after this bombing occurred.

And if you put the whole thing together, there was a report of a robbery this morning which would indicate at least to one law enforcement official I spoke with that the bombing had been planned very carefully, but the getaway had not been planned very carefully at all. And so these individual, authorities said they suspect didn't have the money to get out of the area, and that's why this apparent robbery may have occurred late last night, early this morning, that led to the series of events to where we are now.

But the most important thing, I think, that needs to be said from the perspective of a law enforcement official I've spoken with is the concern that the individual they're looking for may have explosives on his body and that's why they are telling the public to be so careful right now. Back to you.

TAPPER: All right, Joe Johns, thank you so much. I want to give this urgent bulletin from the Boston police department for residents from the area in the commonwealth and Charles Gate vicinity. Police are going to be conducting a controlled detonation, a controlled detonation in the commonwealth and Charles Gate area with all the explosives used and suspected to be around you can expect that that will happen until the suspect has been apprehended and perhaps even after he's been apprehended.

People are worried about any package left on the side of the road and there are going to be a lot of controlled detonations, I would suspect. Juliette, you're here. You're a "Boston Globe" columnist and a former official with the department of homeland security both in the federal government in D.C. and also here in Massachusetts. This is what you would expect.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN ANALYST: We're going to have a long time of these controlled detonations, luggage left in one place, a bag left in another. It's going to feel kind of crazy to everyone watching and maybe we don't need to go to all of them. This is what the police do. They see these things and detonate them to make sure that they're safe. There are a lot of bags in any city and the city is on high alert. That's going to be natural. But the chances are that all of these are going to be nothing, and this is just the normal routine.

TAPPER: I want to point out for the cameras. You've been talking about how they're going to be fanned out and stopping transit because all public transportation has closed in the Boston area and they're getting on this bus that is not in service and fanning out throughout the city.

KAYYEM: This was an incident command and they were clearly getting directions of where they were going. This is how organized, you know, sometimes public safety can look really disorganized. A lot of times it's quite organized. This is what's happening. They met. They're going to go somewhere. That's towards Newton. This is where I lived. This is where I was a Homeland Security official. And this is what these people trained for a lot of time. But it's going to be a really crazy day for the next couple hours until suspect number two is caught, and we should anticipate that.

BERMAN: We're looking at live pictures I believe right here in Boston of door-to-door searches going on right now. These are happening now in an expanding area. We knew they were happening in Watertown, police going door to door looking for suspect number two, who is on the run right now.

And again, I should say the Associated Press is reporting that both of these suspects, number one and two, the two men believed to have carried out the Boston Marathon bombings, the Associated Press is reporting they believe they were brothers from Chechnya, which is why I want to bring in Tom Fuentes right now, former assistant director from the FBI, a CNN analyst. Tom, the Associated Press reporting brothers from Chechnya. When you hear that, what does that mean?

TOM FUENTES, FORMER ASSISTANT FBI DIRECTOR: Well, unfortunately it means Islamic fundamentalist terrorism. Chechens have been engaged in the battle with Russia to try to break away because of the predominantly Muslim regions in the southwestern area of Russia and they feel that they would like to have been separated. So they've been fighting with Russia for decades to try to become an independent country. And they've committed many, many terrorist acts in Russia for a long time. Of course we remember the school incident in Russia in 2004. We remember the airplanes that were blown out of the sky over Russia also in 2004. The opera house incident where more than 20 Chechen terrorists took over the Russian opera house, held about 800 people hostage. Before that incident was over, hundreds were killed in trying to resolve that.

Chechnya has been kind of a training ground before Afghanistan and Iraq for militants to go and kind of cut their teeth on how to fight and how to learn how to fire weapons and make explosives and all of that. In recent times it's been reported that the Chechen militants have now gone to Syria to aid the rebels in the Syrian civil war that's going on right now. And that might be -- we just don't know at this point. We don't know if both suspects end up killed, but it could be that these individuals are upset. It may be the U.S. is also seen as an enemy in terms of not providing support to the rebels in area to the degree that they would like, and they think, therefore, the U.S. is, you know, helping the regime stay in power, let's say, or helping their brothers get killed over there. We don't know that. But there have been many -- the terrorism issues out of Chechnya have been going on for decades. BERMAN: And we should make clear that the Associated Press reporting the possibly the brothers from Chechnya, it's also possible that they are from the wider Caucasus area which is the same general area over there and I think the same general concerns over terrorism from there, Juliette.

KAYYEM: Yeah. I think if this is true, and we don't know any background right now so it's relevant only because they're not home grown and that is relevant. We've been talking about that division right now. They are not home grown. And in other words, they got here somehow, through either immigration or -- lawfully or unlawfully. They stayed here. They planned it. They lived here. They possibly lived in Cambridge or in the Summerville area, which is where I live, and then they sort of they went after what's not a soft target, but a low grade target like the Boston Marathon. Lots of activity, not something very hard to do.

For those of us in the field, we've always wondered sort of why isn't that happening more, because we've gotten so fortified. We've anticipated it. And if this is true, this is it -- I want to tell everyone, though, the good news is -- and I know it's hard to believe in good news -- is these are terrorists who cannot plan a major event. So while Monday was devastating, the successes of our counterterrorism efforts have made these sort of, you know, sort of like whack-a-mole is how we described it in government, sort of brothers getting together and planning an event.

So there is going to be a lot to learn. How did they get here? How did they stay here? And it is, you know, it is something that we haven't seen since 9/11.

BERMAN: A lot going on tonight. A lot going on overnight and this morning. As we said, this manhunt under way at this very moment.

Let's go to Washington right now, or Brianna Keilar right now. What has the president been told at this point, Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He is up to date on what's going on there in Boston and Watertown, John. He was briefed overnight as this situation developed by his homeland security and counterterrorism adviser Lisa Monaco. The White House is in very close contact, of course, with the FBI, as well.

And while the White House is monitoring the situation right now, don't expect President Obama or the White House to really be interjected into this at this point. Obviously this is very much an evolving situation, a fast-moving situation. We're not really expecting to hear anything of substance from the White House, I would say, until this sort of comes to a conclusion.

There's a full handle of the facts and the dust settles.

But again, President Obama up to date overnight, and this morning on what's going on there in Boston, in Newtown. And he will continue to monitor the events there. BERMAN: Al right, thank you very much, Brianna. Brianna Keilar at the White House for us this morning. Again, President Obama just here yesterday lifting the spirits of Boston as part of that memorial service, a very different morning right now as the manhunt for one of the suspects is very much under way.

TAPPER: If you're just joining us, just to bring you up to speed with a very abbreviated version, there is a manhunt under way for one of the two suspects in the Boston Marathon terrorist attack. The first suspect was killed overnight in a shoot-out with police officers. It began on the campus of MIT in Cambridge, where a police officer was killed, there was a carjacking and a chase ensued.

One of the suspects, the one with the black hat, suspect number one, has been killed. Suspect number two is on the loose in Watertown, Massachusetts.

BERMAN: Could be Watertown, could be the wider area.

TAPPER: Or the surrounding area. Earlier John and I spoke to the doctor. And there also was a press conference at the hospital where suspect number one was taken.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. RICHARD WOLFE, BETH ISRAEL MEDICAL CENTER: Multiple injuries, probably we believe a combination of blasts, potentially gunshots.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many gunshots?

WOLFE: Unable to count.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Multiple gunshots?

WOLFE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry...

WOLFE: And probably a blast injury, also.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blast meaning what?

WOLFE: An explosive device, possibly shrapnel, thermal injuries.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you describe where it was?

WOLFE: It was pretty much throughout the trunk. It was multiple wounds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would it be consistent with perhaps a bomb strapped to him? Would it be...

WOLFE: Unclear. I think the medical examiner will be able to kind of conclusively say that. But there were signs of more than just gunshot wounds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: That was one of two doctors who spoke with reporters at Beth Israel Hospital where suspect number one was taken with mortal wounds. He died there after being killed in a shoot-out with police. The doctor said that the suspect had both burns from an explosion and also gunshot wounds. Would not say which actually were the reason that he had died and actually was very reluctant to go into any detail at all.

When John and I interviewed one of the doctors afterwards, we asked if he was wearing any sort of suicide vest, any sort of explosive device, and the doctor would not say, although Joe Johns, our law and justice correspondent, did say that it is a big suspicion that suspect number two is wearing some sort of explosive device because suspect number one, according to his law enforcement source, was also wearing an explosive device.

And earlier, this event has been going on throughout the night. And we saw an innocent man, who was suspected by police of having been part of this criminal escapade, this terrorist attack, and they made him take off all his clothes before they arrested him, because they were presumably worried that he had an explosive on him.

So suspect number two still at-large and perhaps even has an explosive device on his person, John.

BERMAN: Which is why there is so much concern this morning, just one of the reasons why there's so much concern, which is why the subways and buses have been shut down in the Boston area which affects about 1.3 million people. It's why all colleges in Boston and the surrounding towns have been closed for the day, classes canceled. And it's why public schools have been canceled and it's why people in the surrounding towns have been told to stay home and the businesses told to remain closed today.

As we said, the investigation and manhunt for suspect number two, it really does continue to grow minute by minute here. Police SWAT teams going door-to-door in Watertown. As we said they're asking people to stay home, lock your doors. Do not answer your doors unless you see a bona fide law enforcement official outside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED DAVIS, BOSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT: This is an ongoing investigation. We can't get into details on the descriptions of the suspects or the names. We're trying to get information out to the people who live here, that they should stay in their homes, and not open their doors unless police officers are there. There's a 20 block perimeter around the location that Chief Devoe just talked about.

We are concerned about securing that area and making sure that this individual is taken into custody.

We believe this to be a terrorist. We believe this to be a man who's come here to kill people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: If you're just joining us, there was a shoot-out overnight. And suspect number one in the Boston Marathon terrorist attacks was killed, suspect number two on the loose.

We're going to take a look at some amateur video from the shoot-out last night in Watertown, Massachusetts.

BERMAN: As we said, residents in Watertown are being told to stay inside. No cars being allowed in or out of Watertown right now. That town really under complete lockdown. Other towns in the area, people told to stay at home and businesses to remain closed, and in this manhunt, the web of this manhunt really expanding this morning.

I'm joined by Juliette Kayyem, former Homeland Security official, a columnist for the Boston Globe, Tom Fuentes, former assistant director of the FBI and a CNN analyst is with us as well.

And as the minutes passed this morning and the hours go on, Tom, is it easier or harder to find this suspect?

FUENTES: Well, I think in the long run it will get easier as they narrow down or eliminate other places that he could be but they discover he isn't. Certainly having the identities of the individuals, that gives them a starting point of the addresses. And as brothers, you know, if they lived together, they would be having a couple of addresses, if not one main one, to be able to focus on a little more intensely than just randomly starting to go apartment to apartment in all the neighborhoods.

So it would seem that they may have this person in somewhat of a containment, or at least a rough idea of a containment. But again it's clear that the strategy of the two brothers changed from Monday committing the terrorist act, but being able to walk away from it on their own, not martyring themselves at that time, but maybe starting last night, they were ready to martyr themselves. And maybe that was part of the plan all along, is commit one act, and then when the police close in, take as many policemen out, go out in a blaze of glory. And we've seen that with terrorists who have done that in other locations.

I know a group in Madrid when they had al Qaeda cornered in an apartment that happened and they had a huge shoot-out and eventually the apartment burned down. So that could have been their intent is to -- when they got ready for martyrdom it was suicide by cop with cop, as well.

BERMAN: Now at this point, CNN cannot independent verify the identity or the origin of these two men, the suspects involved in the Boston Marathon bombings, and now this shoot-out and car chase last night.

But Juliette one thing we do know is they didn't get very far.

KAYYEM: Right. So what we do know, and sort of taking a bigger lens here is that they stayed here, which is unique. They seem to have limited resources. They tried to rob the 7-Eleven, or one of them did. And so that suggests not a lot of expertise,at least on thinking through how they were going to get away. And it also suggests that they may not have access to a lot of money or resources.

So those pieces are being put together. But we can't know simply by what's going on around us right now did they have contact elsewhere? Did they have people funding them? None of that can be known. They clearly were desperate for means tonight, or last night, because that's when this all started was trying to get money, trying to get food and trying to get out of town.

TAPPER: If you're joining us, I just want to show amateur video of the shoot-out last night in Watertown, Massachusetts. Police having a shoot-out as they pursue the two suspects in the Boston marathon terrorist attack. One of those suspects, suspect number one, the one in the black hat in the photographs that the FBI released yesterday afternoon, late afternoon, certainly after 5:00, he is dead. He was shot, mortally wounded in Watertown, taken to Beth Israel Hospital and pronounced dead at the scene. He was thought to have been wearing an explosive device, according to law enforcement sources, or having some sort of explosives on him, which is one of the reasons why suspect number two, for whom there is a tremendous manhunt in Watertown and the surrounding areas, is also presumed to be extremely dangerous and perhaps also wearing an explosive device.

BERMAN: Or with it on his body. I mean, we're not quite share of the nature of the explosive device right now, but with him, near him, on him. It is a major concern.

TAPPER: If you are in Watertown, Massachusetts this morning you are being instructed by law enforcement to stay at home, to not answer your door unless it is a clearly identified police officer.

If you live in the Boston area, if you are in one of the surrounding towns, Waltham or Cambridge, you are also being told that you should stay at home. They do not know exactly where suspect number two is.

Public transportation in the Boston area has been shut down, public schools and colleges and universities are shut down for the day as well. A lot of employers are being told not to have their businesses open today. This is a day, obviously, you should be in contact with your place of work, but presumably it might be a day that you want to stay at home because there is a massive manhunt going on for suspect number two, presumed to be a terrorist, according to law enforcement, a terrorist who wants to kill people in Boston, innocent people. This all began Monday at the Boston Marathon, last night it exploded with a police officer killed at MIT

We're going to go to Don Lemon who is in Watertown, Massachusetts. Don, what's the latest there?

LEMON: We have seen a number of city buses come in with -- packed with police officers presumably from the Boston Police Department. They have been coming in all morning.

And also speaking to officers here telling everyone, the media, everyone here to be careful, to be safe, because if this guy is here he's going to feel trapped, and they are believe her is obviously, as you guys have been saying, armed and dangerous. And if someone is feeling trapped that way, they're not sure exactly what he will do.

But you just saw moments ago they had been busing police officers from all over the area, Jake and John, to come in. We just saw two busloads and there's more police officers coming in and out of here,.tactical units. And they believe that it's about a 20 block range here taht is sort of -- central to where they're going. And then also being told by one of our photographers who is out at Melindy at Nichols Aavenue (ph), he has been seeing dogs going in and out of the area, a SWAT team. Also according to him a chemist. And they believe there's an intense interest in this area. Again this is in Watertown.

Watertown on complete lockdown. Residents being told to stay in their homes, do not go anywhere. We have been seeing people who are venturing out, maybe to go to the Dunkin Donuts or to get something to eat, not to go far in blankets coming out of their homes in coats and pajamas and then running right back into their homes.

So again, on complete lockdown.

But we have officers coming in and out of here from different municipalities, busloads of them to try to track down this suspect, guys.

BERMAN: All right, Don Lemon in Watertown, Massachusetts what seems to be sort of the center right now of this ongoing investigation, this ongoing manhunt with these breaking developments overnight.

Our continuing coverage begins right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

BERMAN: So, I'm John Berman here along with Jake Tapper. If you are just waking up right now we want to bring you up to date on the major developments that have been happening in Boston, and in fact the entire area.

A door-to-door search is under way at this moment in Watertown, Massachusetts as police look for the man identified by the FBI as suspect number two in the Boston Marathon bombings. This follows, this follows an intense night, a night of violence that began with the fatal shootings of an MIT campus police officer. Next came a carjacking. Police say the two suspects in the Boston marathon bombing, these two suspects, were in the car, there was a shoot-out with police in Watertown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: During the course of that pursuit, several explosive devices were discharged from the car at the police officers. In the exchange of the gunfire, we believe that one of the suspects was struck and ultimately taken into custody.