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CNN NEWSROOM

Boston Magazine's Valentine; Russian Warned on Boston Suspects' Mom; Veterans Bring Hope to Amputees; Dogs That Can Smell Bomb Vapors

Aired April 26, 2013 - 10:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our continuing coverage here. Boston is moving forward now that Boylston Street is back open. I'm Brooke Baldwin reporting live here from the heart of the Back Bay.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jake Tapper. Just so you know we're standing right in front of this kind of makeshift spontaneous memorial that emerged after the attacks here on Copley Square. People have left flowers, teddy bears, Boston Red Sox hats, little league baseballs for little Martin Richard. It's a very moving, a very moving makeshift memorial that's emerged here.

BALDWIN: People signing messages, One Fund Boston has a presence back here as well. We heard from Mayor Menino the other night I think they have raised so far $20 million. So it's stunning if you are here in Boston whether you are from here or not I encourage you to stop by Boylston Street both at this memorial and where those blast sites occurred just up the way.

TAPPER: The May issue of "Boston" magazine goes on sale today and it features a special tribute to the marathon runners. The cover grabs you attention.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: It's beautiful.

TAPPER: Right off that shoes worn by runners from the April 15th marathon with the title, "We will Finish the Race." Inside some of those runners tell their stories in the feature, "The Shoes We Wore". "Boston" magazine deputy art director Liz Noftle joins us.

So Liz take us back to marathon on Monday you guys were about to close your edition you realized you had to make some changes.

LIZ NOFTLE, DEPUTY ART DIRECTOR, BOSTON MAGAZINE: Yes so it was Monday we're all in the office, we're supposed to close on Thursday.

TAPPER: And you're right nearby here.

NOFTLE: Yes we're right down in the Back Bay on that spot, so we're supposed to close on Thursday right away we called and got an extension so we closed on Friday and it was sort of a -- ok what can we do to really honor everyone that has to go through that. BALDWIN: It's beautiful, I mean, if we can guys, let's look at the cover back up because it's this heart and it's the colors Liz that make it just -- it's gorgeous and it was your idea I'm going to go ahead and brag on you. It was your idea to do this. Why the heart and why the running shoes?

NOFTLE: Well you know the running shoes is just to honor the runners and the event and the heart to you know just show our support for the community and our love for everyone here. You know it's a whole community event the marathon and we just want to do some special to honor that.

TAPPER: And you didn't paint any of the shoes, that's the natural colors of the shoes, yes.

NOFTLE: No those were the colors. Yes our photo-editor was like let's put the colors in the middle it really feels like it's beating almost, like it's alive and I think it really make it and it's just --

TAPPER: Well the fact that it's so natural and organic and they're not painted, that they're -- that they're real that makes it so much more authentic and -- and real and clever I have to say.

BALDWIN: What are some of the stories because as you know each of the shoes, obviously each pair of shoes tells a story from each of the runners? What are some of the stories you can share?

NOFTLE: I mean, I didn't -- I didn't do any of the actual reporting, I think it's really emotional.

TAPPER: Right.

NOFTLE: But this is --

BALDWIN: Back of that.

NOFTLE: You know we had, yes the back we turned over all of the shoes and it's actually the soles of all the shoes -- so sort of the heart and sole.

TAPPER: Right.

NOFTLE: But yes some of the stories, you know someone crossed the finish line and he just right after the bomb and turned around and went back to help people. So there's people rising to the occasion. You know someone was about to finish and you know saw the smoke and type of and it was really intense moment.

TAPPER: And of course we should take a moment to remember the victims. Krystle Campbell, Lingzi Lu, Martin Richard and of course Officer Sean Collier, their names I think everybody in this city and across the country know their names by now.

BALDWIN: What do you want people to know about Boston?

NOFTLE: Oh gosh we're a resilient city I think and I think that is an opportunity that our whole company sort of I guess represent it. Everyone on staff came to make this happen, interns, editors, online, people from sales all coming here and gathering shoes and turning this around and I think it just represents that we're a strong city.

TAPPER: And the amazing thing is that you kept them all organize, everybody gets, did they got their shoes back?

NOFTLE: We did, we still have some to our lobby to be picked up but still we'll give back to them so.

TAPPER: Well a very beautiful cover I know was published yesterday online and it went viral immediately people are sharing it on Twitter, on Facebook.

BALDWIN: They using as their Facebook profile picture.

TAPPER: It's very beautiful, nice work.

NOFTLE: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Liz Noftle thank you very much. The heart and sole of Boston.

TAPPER: Many are wondering if others might have helped the Boston bombing suspects. We'll talk to former FBI and CIA officials as the government seems to be widening its investigation. Our special live coverage continues after this quick break.

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BALDWIN: Back here in Boston, we are learning it wasn't just Tamerlan Tsarnaev who Russia was concerned about. Russia reportedly warning the U.S., quote, "You need to watch the mother too". Officials say that his mother's name was added to a U.S. terror database in 2011 at the same time as her son.

TAPPER: Let's bring CNN law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director Tom Fuentes and former CIA officer Bob Baer. Bob let's start with you. Tamerlan and his mother delved more deeply into Islam together. She is still obviously alive and well. The last part is subject to debate I suppose. But should she be a focus of any inquiry and does the U.S. have any ability to bring her here for questioning?

BOB BAER, FORMER CIA OFFICER: Jake, yes, she should be talked to in a neutral area. Clearly the Russians brought her name up with U.S. intelligence and the FBI because there is something. She has some connections they know about. They may not have specified it but for them to send a warning to the United States, it had to be serious.

A lot of Chechens have been radicalized including in this country. Why did they pick out the mother? Why did they pick out Tamerlan? The FBI I'm quite sure would like to sit her down in this country preferably and talk to her and examine her connections she's key in this I truly believe. BALDWIN: And Tom what are some of the key questions that investigators -- let's assume eventually they do get mom and eventually dad here in the U.S. to question them. What are some of the questions that they need you know answers to and at the same time what are the challenges? Because again these are you know despite everything that happened here, these are grieving parents and they may not be entirely forthright.

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well that's true Brooke the first question is, who did Tamerlan meet with over there? Was she aware of who his contacts were, who was talking to him, who was contributing to his radicalization, was he in contact with members of a terrorist organization? Is she aware that he had received training there in either how to shoot firearms or make the bombs that have been used in this case?

So a number of questions about what did she know about her son's activity. You know if they get a chance to ask them. But you know it's curious that they would send a warning to us about her when she's there. She's not back here so at least it's my understanding that much of the time of this, she's there.

So I'm not sure of the timeline here and I'm not sure if she would have been in contact with members of a terrorist organization or if this would have been private conversations between her and Tamerlan discussing their beliefs or attitudes about the United States.

TAPPER: Bob, would you be surprised to find out that these brothers acted completely alone, had no accomplices and were not trained in any way by anyone overseas or do you think that that is a realistic possibility?

BAER: I don't think it's a possibility. You know, you just look at all these cases since 9/11 and someone has gone back to Pakistan or Afghanistan or Yemen and made contact with a base if you like and got some sort of training.

There have been a couple of occasions where people have put these bombs together by themselves and got lucky. But overall when you have this many explosives and that many that went off, the fact that he went back there for six months and the fact that the Russians clearly stumbled on to something.

It could have been an intercept. They could have even know Tamerlan, they could have had sources around him. They send - they don't -- they don't send messages to the FBI on a whim or a suspicion; they know something is going on they don't give the full story either.

So it wasn't like the FBI was completely warned and that's the best you get out of the Russians, that's the way it's always been. So yes I think there is a connection that we'll eventually get to.

BALDWIN: Bob Baer and Tom Fuentes thank you so much for join us this morning here.

And coming up a Marine Sergeant who lost both of his legs in Afghanistan just a couple of years ago, is here in Boston bringing a message of hope to the survivors of last Monday's explosions we will share his story when our special coverage continues after this quick break.

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BALDWIN: Welcome back.

Live pictures of this makeshift memorial in the middle of Boylston Street -- what was once a crime scene is now Boylston reopened. We just wanted to show you some pictures of flowers and baseballs and people coming by -- those who live here and those who simply wanted to come and pay their respects and reflect upon what has happened here in the last almost two weeks in Boston.

Good to be with you this morning -- I'm Brooke Baldwin.

TAPPER: I'm Jake Tapper. It is very moving to walk through this memorial.

BALDWIN: Gives you goosebumps -- absolutely.

TAPPER: Give you goosebumps. There are fields of flowers. There are Boston Red Sox hats signed. People have written messages, they have left running shoes. Little league baseballs, little leaguers have signed the messages over to little Martin Richard. There's a T-shirt from the Summer Shack where Kristle Campbell, one of the victims, worked. There are Chinese messages -- messages in Chinese for Lingzi Lu. Messages from other police officers and first responders for Officer Sean Collier. Very moving -- that's the people who knew them, and people who didn't know them but were moved by their stories.

BALDWIN: And let me also just add to this location where we are, just a block down the way where those two explosions happened, there are also flowers and also candles. And I was going in and out of the Marathon Sports store because you saw the big Boston Strong sign in that window. One of the panes was shattered.

They have reopened. The candy store next door has reopened. The lines were out the door when I was visiting yesterday and somebody was playing jazz. So people are gathering and Boston is back.

TAPPER: If there's anyone who can relate to what some of the victims of the Boston Marathon terrorist attack are going through, it is Marine Sargeant Gabe Martinez. Martinez lost both legs after stepping on an IED in Afghanistan. Listen to what he told us in the last hour and what he is telling victims of this tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So Gabe, you lost both your legs in an IED in (inaudible) Afghanistan, Thanksgiving 2010.

SGT. GABE MARTINEZ, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Yes, sir.

TAPPER: What are they feeling right now that you felt at that time? MARTINEZ: They're minds are filled with questions. Starting anywhere ranging from "What am I going to do now? Is any life over? Am I ever going to be independent again? Or am I just going to be dependent on somebody taking care of me the rest of my life?

And I went through that plethora of questions when I was in the hospital. I had my up and downs -- happy one day, sad the next. And it's just -- right now, they're just kind of discovering who they are now. And it is going to be an ongoing process that is going to take some time, but every one of them is going to pull through.

BALDWIN: I was talking to a couple of veteran amputees who were at Boston Medical earlier this week and they were saying to me, you know, Brooke it is one thing to sort of overcome the initial couple of hurdles, but you just never know. Out of the blue one day it's depression that was really tough for them to work through. What could you tell mom and daughter?

MARTINEZ: Just tell them that those are the days you dig deep. Those are the days that you accept who you are. You look in that mirror and you see that I have no legs and I just have to accept that, and you know, I told them all that these legs are a badge of honor for me and it should be for them. They really did lose their legs in this country, and everybody is here to support them, not only in Boston, but the whole world.

That is just the days you have to dig deep and just accept who you are and do good things.

TAPPER: The advances in prosthetics are so amazing. And probably a lot of people don't know this but I wrote a book about Afghanistan and I came to know a lot of soldiers -- Army. Sorry not Marines.

And they -- a lot of them lost legs and are still in the service, still abroad, still serving in Afghanistan. It is amazing what this generation of prosthetics allows someone like you to do if you set your mind to it.

MARTINEZ: Absolutely and that's one thing that I tell all the patients I saw is that whatever your passion was, you're going to be able to get back to it. You're going to get new passions, I promise you.

And I told them that there's a whole spectrum of components for different prosthetics that will get you back in action, whether it's doing hair or whether it's running a marathon. You're going to be able to do it.

BALDWIN: Things with the technology even is here -- just being here in Boston, somebody was telling me, I think they're working in a lab across the river in Cambridge on a bionic ankle. So the technology is incredible.

Before we let you go, though, talk about you know, hurdles and overcoming them. We were just talking before you came on. You're hoping to be in Rio for the Olympics. MARTINEZ: I am. Yes, well, paralympic hopeful for track and field and that's just -- you know, with the support that I've had through, you know, organizations like Semper Fi fund and just Americans in general have just been digging deep like I said and pushing forward. So hopefully in 2016 I'll be in Rio.

TAPPER: And what's the farthest you've run on these new legs?

MARTINEZ: I've done, just on my own day to day running, between five to ten miles.

BALDWIN: That's better than you, Tapper.

TAPPER: That's more -- more than any. Definitely more than me and probably most of our viewers.

MARTINEZ: But right now my body's conditioned for short distance, fast pace.

TAPPER: That's what you would want to do.

MARTINEZ: Right.

TAPPER: Short distance in the paralympic --

MARTINEZ: (inaudible) at two miles now.

TAPPER: We will be rooting for you. And we know your going to make it too. We know you're going to be there.

MARTINEZ: I thinks so.

TAPPER: All right. Well, thank you so much.

BALDWIN: Ok. Thank you.

TAPPER: It is really an honor to meet you.

MARTINEZ: Appreciate it. Thanks for having me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Sergeant Gabe Martinez. We'll look for him in Rio.

TAPPER: What an inspiration. I mean it just makes you smile just to listen to that guy.

BALDWIN: Dig deeper is what they kept saying. It applies to every single one of us.

Just ahead in the NEWSROOM, dogs that can sniff out bomb vapors before a bomb is set down. The trainer of these dogs says that they could have detected the bombs in Boston before they went off.

Back after a quick break.

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BALDWIN: Welcome back here to Boston. The sun, it is back out. It has been a chilly morning here, but we're thrilled to be here. Many people though are still asking the question, what if? What if in the aftermath now two weeks after last Monday's bombings.

One man who trains special bomb sniffing dogs has one answer to that question. He believes one of his dogs would have targeted the suspects before they could have placed the bombs.

CNN's Randi Kaye explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Imagine if the Boston bombing suspects had left a trail, a trail of vapors in the air that smelled like a bomb, vapors that only a specially trained dog could detect.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay, stay, stay.

KAYE: A dog like this now being trained at Auburn University. Researchers here call them vapor weight dog.

The point of a vapor weight dog is to detect the vapor o the bomb, if you will, before it's actually placed, somewhere where it might explode. To catch it before that.

DR. JAMES FLOYD, AUBURN UNIVERSITY: That is exactly correct. Your standard bomb dog, your explosive detecter dog is primed on looking at an object, like a backpack that's placed somewhere. A vapor weight dog's ability is to detect the odor coming off of that backpack or on the back if someone as they carried.

KAYE: Amazing.

FLOYD: And to follow that plume of vapor --

KAYE: Auburn University professor, Jim Floyd says vapor weight dogs are the ultimate bomb snipping dog. They can follow a plume or a bomb vapor stretching several football fields, a skill so unique the university hopes to patent it.

This video from the university shows a vapor weight dog in action. Once he catches the odor in the area, he never lets up.

We did our own experiment at this Alabama mall with the help of the auburn canine handlers. They give the man in the red shirt a knapsack loaded with explosives inside a pressure cooker, just like the bombers in Boston.

Watch as the dog catches a whiff. And just like he's trained to do, when the suspect stops, the dog stops too then sits down alerting his handler to the bad guy. In a crowded mall or on a city street, this technique is crucial. These dogs can potentially stop a would be bomber before it is too late. You think that if you had a vapor weight in Boston, they might have detected the suspects before they were able to place those backpacks down.

FLOYD: Had our dogs been in place on that corner with those two guys walking there with those backpacks, I think they would have alerted on them.

KAYE: Their training starts early even as early as these puppies which are just about three weeks old. At this time, they're held a lot and socialized and then by the time their formal training starts when they're a year old, they're used to people and loud noises. And they don't get spooked so easily. Auburn has its own breeding program for bomb sniffing DOGS. They rarely use shepherds and traditional Breeds, but lean more on Labradors and Spaniels.

Paul Hammond whose company, I K 9 is working with Auburn to train and deploy vapor weight dogs, explains why.

PAUL HAMMOND, I K-9: We need a dog that fits into the public profile, that the public is just going the walk past as if it was a domestic dog.

KAYE: Auburn's bomb dogs are being used in airports on Amtrak trains and by police departments too.

Kaye: What is it about a dog's nose as compared to ours that they are able to pick up something like that?

HAMMOND: Well, the dogs' olfactory system is actually 222 million scent cells compared to a human's 5 million scent cells. So it gives you a real comparison. Where we might be able to smell a woman's perfume walking by, the dog will not only smell the perfume, but you know, the clothes and material she's wearing, the shower gel that she worked with that morning.

KAYE: In addition to vapor weight training, these dogs are all also able to detect explosives in the traditional way. Paul shows us by hiding explosives in the tire well of this car.

HAMMOND: Good job. Atta buddy. It is a game to the dog. But the dog -- you know he thought he was looking for explosives. He probably wouldn't do it.

KAYE: What may be a game to these dogs could mean the difference between life and death to the rest of us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good job.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Aniston, Alabama.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: And we've seen even the dogs here. We're at the makeshift memorial at Copley Square that has emerged here in the wake of the Boston bombings right here on Boylston Street. We've seen people with rescue dogs, comfort dogs, who are here so that people coming here being upset, sad, shaken, have a friendly little wagging tail and a little face to pet.

BALDWIN: Golden retrievers.

Yes. We just wanted to leave with you some live pictures before Ashleigh Banfield takes over for us. But just people here in the beautiful sunshine in Boston on this Friday.

My, what two weeks this city has seen.

I'm Brooke Baldwin with Jake Tapper. Please stay right here. We'll be back at 2:00 Eastern time, "CNN NEWSROOM" rolls on after this break.

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