Coming up Wednesday
Family members injured in Boston Marathon Bombings
Three members of the Brassard family were injured at the Boston Marathon Bombings near the finish line. Six weeks later, husband and wife Ron and Karen Brassard are on 'Starting Point' talking with Christine Romans and John Berman on their current condition.
They are remaining hopeful as they slowly recover from the severe injuries they sustained.
Funeral Director asks for government help to find burial place for alleged Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev
More than two weeks after his death, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the alleged Boston bombers, has yet to be buried. This morning Peter Stefan, the funeral director who accepted his body is running out of options after being turned down by every cemetery he has approached. Stefan, owner of the Graham Putnam and Mahoney Funeral Parlor in Worcester, Massachusetts joins “Starting Point” to discuss the Tsarnaev’s uncle wanting him to buried in Cambridge.
Neighbor: Tsarnaev roommates known to be 'party animals'
New Bedford resident Felix Jorge, neighbor of Dzokhar Tsarnaev, on recording Tsarnaev raid & why other neighbors say his roommates behaved like 'party animals.'
Importance of not jumping to conclusions in Boston bombing investigation – Fmr. MI6 director weighs in
Richard Barrett, fmr. dir of MI6 counter terrorist operations and senior director of the The Soufan Group, weighs in on the investigation into the Boston marathon bombing. He explains the potential reasons why female DNA was found on the explosives, how Tamerlan Tsarnaev's widow could fold into the investigation and the importance of working leads in Russia.
Tsarnaev mother: America took my kids away
Zubeidat Tsarnaev, mother of Boston marathon bombing suspects Tamerlan & Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, speaks in a news conference.
Rep. King: It's 'much too early' to accept that Tsarnaev brothers acted alone
According to a U.S. government source, Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been communicating with investigators from his hospital bed, tellingthat him and his brother masterminded the deadly attack independent of any international terrorist group.
Rep. Peter King questions that account on Starting Point this morning, saying that he thinks it's "much too early to accept" that the brothers acted alone.
"Here’s a person that was a mass murderer, who can barely speak. I don’t see why he would be giving up any accomplices he may have have or talking about any connections his brother may have had in Chechnya or Russia. To me what he is saying is such a small part of the overall picture," King says.
The New York Congressman also weighs in on the possibility that the brothers were radicalized by reading the English language Al Qaeda magazine "Inspire."
"Inspire has had a real impact because it was written by an American who understood American idiom and I know that that has had an impact in a number of cases," King explains. "For a number of years, that one magazine seemed to be a main recruiter of young Muslims in this country in terms of self radicalization."
Law enforcement officials remember slain MIT officer Sean Collier
One of Cambridge's finest, MIT police officer Sean Collier, was laid to rest yesterday in a private funeral. 26-year-old Collier lost his life late Thursday evening after being shot in his vehicle by the Tsarnaev brothers.
Today, college and law enforcement communities will pay their respects to the slain officer in a public memorial service expected to be attended by Vice President Joe Biden and his wife.
MIT Police Chief John DiFava and Cambridge Police Chief Robert Haas join Starting Point this morning to remember Collier and to discuss today's memorial.
Sen. Risch: FBI investigation into Tamerlan Tsarnaev was 'not shoddy work'
Intelligence Committee member Senator James Risch received information on the Boston bombing yesterday, an event that he calls "more than a briefing" on Starting Point this morning.
"We have actually started the inquiry into how the FBI and how intelligence agencies handled this," Risch explains.
The Idaho Senator weighs in on criticism of the agency's handling of the investigation into Tamerlan Tsarnaev prior to the attack, saying that "no red flags" were raised during the initial inquiry.
"I know shoddy work when I see it. This was not shoddy work," Risch says. "They were doing the best they could do with the information they had, but they uncovered absolutely no fact here that raised the matter to a level that this man should get 24-hour surveillance or any of the other things that are available to the FBI to watch them."
Risch also discusses the nature of the Boston Marathon attack, explaining that it was "very typical of what we see, from lone wolf operations."
Fmr. Attorney General: Trying Tsarnaev in federal court system 'makes sense'
Amid calls by some members of Congress to treat 19-year-old Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as an enemy combatant, the White House has been adamant about trying the alleged terrorist in the federal court system.
Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales discusses the debate on Starting Point this morning, saying that while people may presume that there may be more time to gather information if they designate Tsarnaev as an enemy combatant, "it makes sense" to try him in the criminal justice system.
"Through the criminal process, you often have a situation where the suspect, in exchange for a more lenient sentence may be more cooperative in sharing information," Gonzales says. "So the information that we desperately seek in this particular case may be obtainable through the criminal justice system."
Townsend: Important counterterrorism information 'not adequately shared or followed up with'
(CNN) - Russia apparently contacted the FBI more than once about dead about Boston Marathon attack suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a Virginia lawmaker told CNN Wednesday.
U.S. Rep. Robert Goodlatte, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, was asked about a newspaper report that said there wasn't just one point of contact between Russia and the FBI.
"We are hearing that," Goodlatte said.
CNN National Security Analyst Fran Townsend responds to Goodlatte on Starting Point this morning, saying that the repeated contact is "unusual," but needs to be taken in context.
"What I find more disturbing is the information sharing issue," Townsend explains. "Even in the current administration we've seen an instance where this sort of important counterterrorism information is not adequately shared or followed up."
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