FBI did its job in Tsarnaev probe, President Obama says
(CNN) -- Federal intelligence officials are looking at whether more could have been done to prevent the Boston Marathon attacks, President Barack Obama said Tuesday, though he added that he's not aware of any missteps."Based on what I can see so far, the FBI performed its duties.
Boston bombings victims face lifetime of medical bills
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- More than $30 million has been donated for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing.
Boston bombings overshadow Mass. Senate election
(CNN) -- Fifteen days after the Boston Marathon bombings, Massachusetts voters head to the polls Tuesday to select Democratic and Republican nominees in a special U.S. Senate election that's been almost completely overshadowed by the terror attacks.Even before the bombings, Massachusetts voters weren't paying that much attention to the contest to fill the remaining year and a half of the term of longtime Democratic Sen.
FBI has interviewed 'Misha' in Boston bombing probe
(CNN) -- The FBI has interviewed "Misha," an elusive figure whose name has surfaced in the Boston bombing investigation, a U.S. government official told CNN on Monday.Investigators spoke with the man in Rhode Island, the source said, after reports surfaced suggesting that members of the suspected bombers' family blame a "Misha" for radicalizing alleged bombing mastermind Tamerlan Tsarnaev.The man, whose real name is Mikhail Allakhverdov, denies ever encouraging a violent take on Islam and says he was not Tamerlan's teacher, according to a New York Review of Books writer who says he interviewed Misha."He began telling me he cooperated with the FBI" and had handed over his computer and cell phone, reporter Christian Caryl told CNN on Monday.Allakhverdov insisted he had "nothing to do with radicalization," Caryl said.CNN has made repeated efforts to speak with Allakhverdov, but has so far been unable.A lawyer who stepped out of the West Warwick, Rhode Island, apartment listed for Mikhail Allakhverdov told CNN he represents the parents of someone who lives there, adding, "We call him Michael."The parents have answered all questions the authorities have asked of them, attorney Richard Nicholson said.The parents are nervous because of the media focus on them, he said, adding that the mother has a heart condition.Misha's family 'friendly and welcoming'Caryl said that when he showed up at Misha's home, he took the family by surprise but managed to spend some time with him."I wasn't his teacher.
From dorm to prison cell: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's new digs
(CNN) -- Less than two weeks after he partied with classmates in a college dorm, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev now lives in drastically different surroundings.The 19-year-old Boston Marathon bombing suspect is locked inside a 10-by-10-foot cell with a steel door, a slot for food and an observation window, a prison spokesman said Sunday.Tsarnaev is able to speak and has been interacting with staff at the Federal Medical Center Devens, spokesman John Colautti said.Medical professionals at the prison medical facility, which currently houses 1,044 inmates, are making regular rounds to check on Tsarnaev, Colautti said, and Tsarnaev has spoken with staff there about managing his health.The spokesman said he could not comment on whether Tsarnaev was speaking with investigators.He referred questions on Tsarnaev's medical condition to the FBI, saying the facility does not assign medical condition rankings like civilian hospitals.Tsarnaev is in an area of the facility where there's extra security, he said.On Friday, authorities said Tsarnaev had been transferred from Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to the prison facility, which is about 40 miles west of the city.Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction for his alleged role in the April 15 bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260 near the marathon's finish line.Tsarnaev was captured April 19 after a nearly 24-hour manhunt.
Official: Russia heard Boston suspects' mother 'discussing jihad'
(CNN) -- Russia intercepted a communication between the mother of the accused Boston Marathon bombers and someone who may have been one of her sons "discussing jihad" in 2011, according to a U.S. official with knowledge of the investigation.This source described the conversation as vague.The Russians turned over the intercept to the FBI in the past few days, the official said.This source was not aware of a reason for the delay and did not offer an opinion about whether it would have given the FBI enough reason to justify a closer look at Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the oldest of the two brothers suspected of killing three people near the finish of the marathon on April 15.
Young Irish dancers come together to honor Boston victim
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- The nation was heartbroken by the death of the youngest victim in the Boston Marathon bombings -- eight-year-old Martin Richard.Richard's sister, Jane and her mother were severely injured when two bombs went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.Jane lost her leg as a result of the bombings, and the little girl had just taken up Irish dancing.In Milwaukee on Saturday night, April 27th, some young dancers held an event to honor Jane at Dominican High School.Some of the proceeds from Saturday's event will benefit the Richards family.
Boston Magazine cover shows city's heart
(CNN) -- "We will finish the race."That's the simple but resilient statement framed by dozens of running shoes forming the shape of a heart on the cover of Boston Magazine's May cover.Design director Brian Struble and deputy design director Liz Noftle came up with the idea on April 15, the night after the Boston Marathon bombing shook the city -- and nation -- just a few blocks away from the magazine's offices near Copley Square.The staff decided to scrap the magazine's previously planned May cover, and with the new concept in hand utilized social media and personal connections to ask runners who took part in the marathon for their shoes.With each pair of shoes came a story, which the staff packaged into a feature called "The Shoes We Wore." Only 15 stories would fit in the print issue; the rest will live online."Every pair became precious," said editor-in-chief John Wolfson.On Thursday, Struble packed his car with 120 pairs of colorful sneakers and drove to New York so photographer Mitchell Feinberg could bring the concept to life."Everyone on staff came together to make this happen," Noftle told CNN's Jake Tapper and Brooke Baldwin.Wolfson explained on the magazine's website that the cover is about "perseverance and unity.""By itself, each shoe in the photograph is tiny, battered, and ordinary.
Boston bombing suspects planned Times Square blasts
(CNN) -- The surviving suspect in the Boston bombings has told investigators he and his brother planned to bomb Times Square, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday."Last night we were informed by the FBI that the surviving attacker revealed that New York City was next on their list of targets," Bloomberg said.The two came up with the plan spontaneously after the Boston bombing, as they talked in an SUV they hijacked, New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.Dzhokhar Tsarnaev initially told investigators that he and his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, had talked about going to New York to "party." Then in a second round of questioning Sunday evening into Monday morning -- during which Kelly said the suspect was "a lot more lucid" than the first time he was interviewed -- he revealed they planned to use their remaining explosives there, Kelly announced.The plan "fell apart" when the SUV ran low on fuel in the Boston area and the Tsarnaevs ordered the driver to pull into a gas station, Kelly said.
Fundraising for Boston victims tops $26 million
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Fundraising campaigns for victims of the Boston Marathon bombings have raised more than $26 million and the donations continue to grow.More than 50,000 people and roughly 60 corporate donors have pledged more than $23.8 million to The One Fund Boston, which was set up by Massachusetts Gov.
How could the Boston suspect's wife not know?
(CNN) -- What's clear: Katherine Russell claims she was completely in the dark about her husband's alleged plan to bomb the Boston Marathon on April 15.What's unclear: How could she not know?Russell and Tamerlan Tsarnaev were married on June 21, 2010.
Suspects' mother shares doubts about Boston bombing
(CNN) -- The past week has been a devastating one for many families.
Father of Boston bomb suspects to fly from Russia to U.S.
(CNN) -- His older son's body remains unclaimed.
Diamond to donate 'Sweet Caroline' royalties to Boston
(CNN) -- Neil Diamond will donate royalties from his song "Sweet Caroline," which has been played at every Boston Red Sox home game for more than a decade, to the One Fund Boston, the singer said on Twitter on Wednesday.The song was downloaded more than 19,000 times this week, with sales up 597%, Neilsen SoundScan said.Diamond told Rolling Stone earlier this week that he will write a song about the bombings and other tragedies."I'm writing now and obviously affected by this situation in Boston, so I'm writing about it just to express myself," he told the magazine.Diamond was at Fenway Park on Saturday to lead the crowd in what has become a stadium tradition of singing the tune during the break in the eighth inning before the Sox come to bat."What an honor it is for me to be here today.
Zooey Deschanel gets an apology for caption mistake
(CNN) -- In the middle of the Boston Marathon bombing coverage last Friday, a closed captioning mistake added "New Girl" star Zooey Deschanel to the conversation.Those who were watching Dallas-Fort Worth's Fox affiliate KDFW might've caught the closed captioning mishap.
Boston Marathon bombings investigation moves forward
(CNN) -- Here's the latest on what we know about the Boston bombings:-- The parents of Boston bombing suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will fly to the United States on Thursday, Anzor Tsarnaev told Russian state news agency Ria Novosti on Wednesday.
Boston bombings case raises questions about post 9/11 intelligence
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Share and share alike was supposed to have been a lesson learned by federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies from the 9/11 attacks almost 12 years ago.A new hierarchy was created to draw together all the work done by more than a dozen government organizations including the FBI, CIA and others.Now, the case of suspected Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev has caused some members of Congress, almost all of them Republicans, to suggest continuing problems with what they refer to as stovepiping -- in essence, the failure of different agencies to share what they know."I think there's been some stovepipes reconstructed that were probably unintentional," GOP Sen.
Police: Boston bombing suspects may have planned NYC 'party'
(CNN) -- Dzkohkhar Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, allegedly had inflicted pain and carnage by detonating two bombs at the Boston Marathon's finish line.
Boston blasts site reopens as officials try to question suspects' parents
(CNN) -- Nine days after terrorists turned Boylston Street into a gruesome scene of carnage, the city of Boston is taking it back.Workers replaced missing bricks and patched up concrete just before opening the area to pedestrian traffic Wednesday morning.
Suspect's uncle: Friend in Cambridge 'brainwashed him'
(CNN) -- The evolution of Tamerlan Tsarnaev from aspiring Olympic boxer to apparent radical jihadist may have been influenced by a friend in Cambridge, Massachusetts."This person just took his brain.