the rachel maddow show, transcript 04/16/13

Host Rachel Cherry: Thank you for joining us this hour.
The reason you can\'t bring liquid into the airport and take it to the plane, the reason you have to buy a small bottle of shampoo and pour your water and everything before you go through security is because of this.
In the summer of 2006, a group with al-
Al-Qaida plans to take a different flight at London Heathrow Airport.
All planes will fly from Heathrow to the United States.
The way these guys bomb these planes and make them fall into the Atlantic is to bring soda bottles on those planes that look like they only contain soda or water, but in fact, they contain concentrated hydrogen peroxide and other ingredients needed to make hydrogen peroxidebased bombs.
People at Heathrow were caught before they did it, and they were stopped.
But now thanks to them, we have to buy small cosmetics like this one with sticky hair, right?
It turns out that this is not just a security issue in this case.
There\'s a reason for this.
Hydrogen peroxide-
They are bombs apparently trained by al-Qaida.
London bombings in 2005, 777 bombings
Terrorists linked to al-Qaida
Bombs on trains and buses in London
52 people were killed.
Four years later, there was an American imitator.
In 2009, a guy tried to buy a bunch of hydrogen peroxide from a beauty store in and around Aurora, Colorado.
This peroxide link has attracted enough attention, resulting in the arrest of this guy Najib Zazi.
It turns out that he is planning an explosion like a London traffic bomb, but he is planning to explode on the New York Metro.
His plan is hydrogen peroxide.
The style of the bomb has different bloodlines.
They have connections with different groups to teach in a specific way, and to be able to specifically understand the type of bomb used, both ways allow investigators to find ways and places to build bombs.
But it also gives them a clue to the investigation, in terms of how Bombers Learn to make bombs, or at least who the bombers learned from.
Sometimes it works like this.
Sometimes that\'s how they stop the plot ahead of time.
Sometimes that\'s how they find bombers there.
But we learned today from investigators in Boston that the bomb detonated at the finish line of the Boston Marathon race yesterday afternoon was a bomb with a signature that could be harder to read. (
Start Video Editing)
NBC\'s justice correspondent Pete Williams: Authorities Andrea told us they were shoddy.
They seem to be assembled in a pressure cooker, and also in a pot like this.
The device is equipped with a pressure cooker.
It includes a low-power explosive. (END VIDEO CLIP)
Now, we have some new information.
Actually, in the last few minutes of NBC News.
I want to tell you what NBC told us.
Sources involved in the investigation told NBC News that Boston\'s pressure cooker bombs were designed and placed \"like homemade claymore.
\"Of course, Claymore is a powerful directional killer device, so they don\'t shoot in 360 degrees.
They are directional.
The sources told NBC News that these sources and other sources told NBC that the trigger mechanism appeared to include battery packs and boards, which they thought was a complex trigger mechanism.
Both elements of the trigger mechanism are restored on site.
Reference \"it seems to be built from scratch, but there is a complex trigger mechanism.
Frankly, at the end of the day, all the bombs are rough equipment, and the way they are triggered can be complicated.
They run by design.
\"The pressure cooker is exactly what you think.
They are metal pans that press the top tightly with a tight seal, allowing you to cook your food under pressure faster than you can cook it alone with a regular lid, it\'s like an ordinary cooking pot.
If it sounds like I\'m not a person who can cook, you\'re right.
But that\'s how the pressure cooker works.
Making a bomb with a pressure cooker, you still need some sort of explosive flammable material to put inside, but it\'s important that the pressure cooker can be tightly sealed.
This means that when you light the material inside the cooker, it doesn\'t burn like it is outdoors, but it explodes.
It is in a tightly sealed container.
There is a lot of pressure.
So, it exploded.
Of course, when it explodes, the metal of the pressure cooker itself becomes shrapnel, which can kill or hurt people around it outside of the explosive force.
This is a simple enough concept for how to make a homemade bomb, and the idea of a pressure cooker bomb has been seen by law enforcement.
It was used by bombers around the world.
Prior to the coordinated attack in Mumbai on 2008, the three-day attack involved multiple grenade attacks and shootings, as well as a dozen attackers, two years before the Mumbai attack, there was another terrible attack in Mumbai.
During the afternoon rush hour, seven coordinated bombs exploded within ten minutes of interacting on commuter trains.
This is a huge attack.
All seven bombs were made from pressure cookers, killing 209 people and injuring more than 700 others.
At the time of that terrible attack, the United StatesS.
The Department of Homeland Security released the announcement on the use of pressure cookers by potential terrorists.
Note that the pressure cooker bomb was used for conspiracy or vandalism in Nepal and France, even before the explosion in India and another incident.
The Department of Homeland Security\'s announcement shows the photo of Malaysian soldiers carrying a group of confiscated pressure cookers.
It\'s a hard thing to wake you up.
This is the website I will be showing from a company in Pennsylvania that makes inert explosives.
Therefore, it is not explosives to explode, but other real explosives, which are made for the purchase of training.
They make products that look like bombs and trigger switches for these things so law enforcement and the army can train how to identify them and detect them, avoid tripping them, learn how to disarm them
Rather than selling exclusively to the public, the company is selling to institutions with proper licensing, which specifically sells virtual pressure cooker improvised explosive devices as training equipment, because there are a lot of such people around who work on explosives and ammunition handling needs to know how to deal with this kind of thing.
People put explosives in a pressure cooker, not with a fuse or a timer, but with a gun.
People do this in their backyard.
You can see it on YouTube.
Pressure cooker bombs are something that people think they can make relatively easily that has been around for a long time.
Three summers ago, you might remember us about al-
Al-Qaida has released a magazine that tries to inspire local terrorist attacks around the world.
Their first issue of English magazine included an article called \"How to make a bomb in your mom\'s kitchen\", which was hilarious in one respect.
On the other hand, it also gives very specific instructions on how to make pipe bombs and pressure cooker bombs.
What we are now told is that the bomb that exploded yesterday in Boston doesn\'t seem to be al-
Al-Qaida\'s iconic bomb
It seems important that it is a bit like a ubiquitous bomb that has long been used by various bombers around the world. A bomb that al-
Al-Qaida has made thoughtful efforts to try to ensure that anyone can get it as widely as any other bomb --
Make any other kind of technology, but it\'s a technology that has been around for a long time in many different places.
Look, there are many explosions in the world.
Scranton, Pennsylvania, doesn\'t need a company, they make fake bombs to train if there aren\'t many bombs in the world.
But in the United States, bombing is not usually successful.
At least not recently.
We are used to an explosive attempt to defeat or fail.
For example, since the hydrogen peroxide bomb plot in New York City in 2009, 9/11, Times Square tried to bomb in the second year, which, by the way, was an attempted pressure cooker bomb.
There was a bomb in the backpack, filled with heavy objects for fishing.
It was planted during the Martin Luther King Day parade in Spokane on 2011.
It was discovered before the explosion.
In the fall of 2010, in Silver Spring, Maryland, a guy with explosives tied into the Discovery Channel.
He was killed by the police.
There were underwear bombers and shoes bombers.
For more than a decade since 9/11, there have been many people trying to bomb American targets, but there has been little successful bombing, and an explosion actually detonated the explosives and caused the expected damage.
Last year, a small homemade bomb at a family planning clinic in Wisconsin did not cause such damage.
It broke the windowsill.
On 2004, an email bomb was sent to the diversity directory in Scottsdale, Arizona.
That exploded.
It does hurt people who are targeted, but on top of that, attempts to detonate bombs in the United States have not been frequent since 9/11.
Tried many times but almost never succeeded.
A lot of people are trying, and almost no one is trying.
Why can they succeed in Boston?
Does it say something important about the people who bombed the Boston Marathon, and when almost all the other conspiracies over the past 12 years have either died or been thwarted early, they were able to successfully detonate the bomb?
Is this lack of training, or is it training, how do we differentiate?
Now, the authorities have told us that this is a pressure cooker bomb explosion, a bomb that is too common, too International, too general, and too widely understood.
In this survey, it was easy to grasp and could not point the investigators in a specific direction?
Don Polly is joining us now. He`s a 25-
It\'s an FBI veteran.
He used to be an assistant special agent in charge of the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force. Mr.
Borelli is now chief operating officer of Soufan Group, a strategic consulting firm. Mr.
Thank you very much, Borelli.
Don Polly, former FBI agent: Thank you for inviting me.
So, I don\'t know anything about the topic of bombs.
I am trying to learn it so that I can report it.
Did I say anything in that thread that surprised you? I think.
No, I think you\'re on the scene.
I mean, the pressure cooker bomb is not a unique phenomenon. We`ve seen it. Like you said.
In other investigations, plans for the manufacture of these bombs were also published online.
Although relatively rough, it works.
You pointed out the difference between the bombs we saw in the Najib Zazi conspiracy, where, the man, Najib Zazi, went to Pakistan and Afghanistan to receive a concrete understanding of how to make a concentrated hydrogen peroxide into TATP and use it as the main ingredient.
It needs training, you know, he did a little practice, he practiced in Denver, and then finally came to New York.
The plot was defeated by intelligence.
The situation here is different.
These are ready materials.
Hardware stores, sporting goods stores.
There are plans.
I think one of the interesting things you bring is, what is the charging mechanism?
What you\'re talking about is the settings for the board, timer and directional charging.
These are some things that add a certain degree of complexity to the bombs, otherwise they are rough.
Normally you can take one of the devices and you can set it up and you can get something like an egg timer, battery and wire that is relatively rough and if you connect it well, it will explode.
However, according to the components found, some advanced circuits may mean that this person has received a certain degree of training.
I think people at the FBI lab will know this in a short time.
I want to ask you this question.
What we have heard is that the evidence related to the bomb has been taken to the Terrorist Explosive Device Analysis Center. BORELLI: TEDAC.
What is this? BORELLI: TEDAC.
TEDAC, at the FBI lab in Quantico.
What happened there?
BORELLI: they will look, they will compare the bomb, the character of the bomb with the other bombs they see, trying to find out that they have similarities, they will try to get a model followed by an almost bomb manufacturer.
They stick to it when they have something that works.
So, they will compare and see if this is similar to the other bombs they see.
They will try to analyze the details of these works.
So, for example, they might find that it\'s just a wire.
Well, when they look at the wires under a microscope, it will have a special set of marks.
So it could be a clue, maybe not now, but the future.
For example, let\'s assume they run a search warrant in one location and find a pair of wire cutting machines.
They can take the wire cutters, check and compare to see if these wire cutters cut the wires of this device and now you are connecting a person or a place to a specific device.
So, just look at the various ingredients of these bombs, there will be a lot of investigation clues.
Obviously, you are not directly involved in the Boston survey.
If you put yourself in the mindset of an investigator in charge of the joint terrorism task force investigating the matter, would you want a more exotic weapon?
Is this easier to track than something deliberately ubiquitous?
BORELLI: Well, I mean, a more effective foreign weapon could kill more people.
So, thank goodness, you know, the loss of life, and of course not wanting to minimize the number of people killed, but if it\'s made with TATP, higher explosives, more shrapnel, maybe set in different places, and the shrapnel is higher in the head, we could have seen more deaths and serious injuries.
So I think-MADDOW: the uniqueness of this is not-it\'s not a unique type of structure.
BORELLI: the simpler it is, the easier it is to buy this material in the open market.
You know, the harder it is to go back to where this pressure cooker or pressure cooker was purchased.
Where did this circuit board come from?
You know, the more common it is, the greater the scope of the search.
MADDOW: Don Borelli, who used to be FBI, is now the COO of Soufan Group, and it\'s really helpful to have you here.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for inviting me.
MADDOW: I\'ll talk to you about this again if you don\'t mind coming back. BORELLI: Sure.
MADDOW: Okay.
From the latest information in Boston tonight, some of the basic information we know is the same as yesterday.
But some information has changed over the past 24 hours.
So far, the confirmed death toll from the blast is a tree.
We can say two of the three killed. They are 29-year-
Old Chris Campbell from Medford, Massachusetts
She had been cheering at the finish line yesterday for a friend who was running.
The youngest victim was eight. year-
Old Martin Richard
He watched the marathon in the crowd with his parents, brother and sister.
His mother and sister were both seriously injured and it is said that the situation is terrible tonight.
Martin Richard\'s father issued a statement quoting \"my dear son, Martin, was injured and killed in the Boston attack.
My wife and daughter were seriously injured.
We thank our family and friends for the people we know and for the thoughts and prayers of those we never met.
The third victim was a graduate student from Boston University in China.
Now, the names of the students have not been published, waiting for permission from the family.
We will respect this absolutely.
The graduate student is one of three friends watching the race near the finish line.
One of the three people standing together was killed, one was not injured, and the other was injured. as of tonight, the situation is stable, Boston Medical Center.
Of the 176 injured, 71 were still hospitalized tonight at Boston hospital.
Up to now, 24 out of 71 are in critical condition.
There are 19 patients at Boston Medical Center.
The hospital says most of them will need further surgery in the next few days.
There are 15 patients in the Brigham Women\'s Hospital, of which 5 are in serious condition.
Mass General has 12 patients, 8 of whom are in serious condition.
Beth Israel has 12 patients, two of whom are in serious condition.
There are three patients at Boston Children\'s Hospital, two of whom are in serious condition.
Fortunately, in taftz, 10 patients were injured in the blast, and none of them were life-threatening.
So far, at the scene of the explosion, investigators have closed a crime scene of about 1 square mile.
You can see this mark on the screen.
Probably a square mile of a triangle, but they are now looking for evidence on such a large land.
Interestingly, Homeland Security Minister Janet Napolitano, FBI Director Robert Mueller and National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander made this afternoon to members of the House and Senate intelligence committee
As far as what the Boston people are doing tonight is concerned, tonight there are vigil and public events throughout Boston city and surrounding communities.
Tonight\'s biggest vigil took place in the Boston public area, less than a mile from yesterday afternoon\'s bombing site. Eight-year-
Old Martin Richard was remembered tonight at the vigil at the local parish church.
Ann is in Dorchester.
The door to the official vigil tonight is open. At the St.
James Church in Somerset, the door is open, Arlington Church in Boston, DC
Paul Church and North Street Community Church as well as Nazareth and Hingham.
There is an event at Boston University Brandeis University tonight.
Harvard seminary across the Cambridge river.
The people of Milton gathered tonight to watch for the victims and for the marathon.
The White House announced today that President Obama will travel to Boston the day after tomorrow to speak at an inter-religious ceremony at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston.
The president described the attack as a terrorist act, but added that officials did not know that the reference was \"planned and executed by foreign and domestic terrorist organizations, or the behavior of a malicious person.
\"Finding out who did it may or may not start with a mile wide crime scene that law enforcement was working on when we were looking for clues and evidence.
Next is what officials are trying to get from the public. Stay with us. (
Business break)(
Start Video Editing)
Special Agent in Charge of the FBI, Special Agent Richard DesLaurier: I urge anyone with information related to this crime to call 1-800-
CALLFBI: this is a hint line that we have set up to receive a hint that might come in or a clue that might come in. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: The first thing investigators said to the public after the Boston Marathon bombing yesterday was that we need your help.
Quoting them, the hint line they set up is \"for anyone who has information, visual images and/or details about the Boston Marathon route and explosions elsewhere.
In other words, send us whatever information you have.
Reference \"no information or details can be too small. ”(
Start Video Editing)
ATF agent gene marquez: We would like to review any media you have there.
This may give us more clues to the investigation.
It is important that the person doing so is someone\'s friend, neighbor, colleague or relative.
We ask anyone who may hear someone talking about the marathon or the date of April 15 in any way, indicating that he or she may be calling us with the aim of the event.
We ask business to review and keep video surveillance videos and other original forms of business records.
As of noon today, the FBI has received more than 2,000 tips, many of which have been reviewed, analyzed and reviewed. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: thousands of photos were taken yesterday before, during and after the explosion.
The investigators basically said they wanted everything.
Information or details are too small to do by yourself
Sensor, don\'t hold back.
Send everything in.
Besides calling 1-800-
People can also call the Boston police station to report information anonymously.
They can also contact the police station on Facebook or Twitter.
The authorities have been stressing that none of the messages is-none of them, and none of the details are too small.
When you think of this, it means that they are not trying to avoid being overwhelmed with a lot of information.
In fact, they ask for a lot of information, and in fact, they get a lot of information. (
Start Video Editing)
Williams: The reaction is amazing.
They have and forgive me for using a nasty computer term, three megabytes of video, still.
I\'m not sure if I know how to translate into how many minutes of video and how many personal static images will be there.
But needless to say, it\'s a lot of material and they said they would look at all the material.
They asked the people who lived at the airport and the people who participated in the competition.
They asked people outside the airport to ask if they had photos they wanted to share.
So they repeatedly asked for pictures and stills at this morning\'s press conference.
So it\'s clear that they think it\'s a very, very important source of evidence for them and they\'re working on getting photos. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: the authorities implicitly say that they are not worried about being overwhelmed or overwhelmed, that they have the ability to remember the data by asking people to send everything that may be related to the explosion, and will make something useful out of it, which will be more valuable than the time they spend filtering this data. Are they right?
Michael Leiter is joining us now.
He is a national security analyst for MSNBC and NBC.
He is the former director of the National Counter-Terrorism Center, which is a very important thing.
Thank you, Michael Leite.
Michael leiter, national security analyst at MSNBC: It\'s a pleasure to be here, Rachel.
MADDOW: I feel like asking all the information in the world is asking so much information that you can\'t imagine any information that might be useful.
Why are they so confident in data mining?
LEITER: Well, I\'ll tell you right now that they\'re not going to do data mining on it perfectly.
If you look at the explosion in London around July 7, 2005, there are several hours of video tapes.
It took the UK several months to solve the problem.
Now, the FBI and the United StatesS.
Intelligence agencies are doing better in this regard.
Advanced technology.
But it will take a while for them to get through this.
They will be as close as possible to the beginning of the incident, the explosion, and leave from there.
So, my nat data will take a slow start, but will definitely go through the rest of these photos, the rest of the video.
Over time, but it will be a few weeks.
They will have a better understanding of other factors, such as bags they think carry bombs.
Otherwise they will miss something like this.
So I think it\'s great, take this now because it\'s hard to save otherwise.
MADDOW: is this-is this a way to develop over the last 12 years?
Isn\'t that the way they handle this before 9/11?
Since then, we have made a huge investment in intelligence?
I think two things have really changed.
First of all, we have no access to all the video and photo technologies that are prevalent today.
There are more official cameras in hotels and restaurants where people walk around with iPhones.
Everyone is recording this activity.
Did any lovers cross the finish line?
The second is that the ability to process these massive amounts of data is much greater, and the technology there has definitely improved, the United StatesS.
The government and intelligence services have been at the forefront of adopting the technology.
MADDOW: Is it risky that they ask too much?
You think about our assessment of the error of missing 9/11, not knowing that it will happen or the warning that happened earlier.
They got lost in the straw.
Is there any risk?
LEITER: it\'s possible that they will get lost because of too much, but-MADDOW: it\'s more important than that.
Yes, because otherwise they will never have it.
You know, these recordings are usually deleted by restaurants, hotels, after a few days or even a week.
So, it has to get it now, save it, and in the end, they will get it.
MADDOW: although we just talked to Don Borelli, we just got new news tonight through NBC, and the source told the trigger mechanism on NBC\'s device, while the devices themselves may not be the most complex bombs in the world, the triggering devices involved, otherwise, the circuit board may be a bit more complex than we previously thought.
Is this important to the investigation?
LEITER: I think it\'s mainly because the circuit boards are easier to track than other parts of the explosive device, you know, ball bearings, you might be able to track them, but they\'re common.
The backpack, maybe similar, but the board usually has some signatures and you can track where it was made and where it might have been purchased.
So, in that sense, I think it might be-MADDOW: it doesn\'t necessarily indicate the specifics of the bomber, the training of any level, things like that, but it can help you find it.
No, that\'s it.
What I\'m trying to say is the complicated question-MADDOW: Yes?
LEITER: the most complex device is effective, and that\'s where these people or this person succeed.
Michael Wright, I should have good night with you right now, but I don\'t want.
I also have a question to ask about one thing I\'m going to report here.
Do I pay you to stay?
I think there\'s something you can do.
Oh, good.
Wait a minute.
Master enterprise.
We have to pay them a little more.
We will be back soon. (
Business break)
This is a picture of castor beans.
From castor beans is castor sesame oil, which has many uses, including in the polyurethane industry, which is a convenient agent if you have to know.
When you mash up the castor sesame paste and get the castor sesame oil, there will be a range of different by-products, including a deadly poison in the anesthetic.
In other words, if you can get the castor beans, you can get an ingredient in one of the most famous hands-on poisons of your own.
Ricin is not easy to make, but in theory, at least something that is not illegal can be made in the initial state.
With a relatively low national survey
Yesterday, later this afternoon, the News reported a letter to Washington, D. C. C.
Mississippi Senator Roger Wake\'s office was screened in an off-site mail facility before arriving in the United StatesS.
Congress and the letter were positive for the in test.
The FBI is now testing it to make sure it\'s not a false positive.
None of the postal staff had been exposed to the poison.
Because I asked him to stay and to join us again was Michael Wright, former director of the National Counter-Terrorism Center.
Michael, what do you think about our test for ricin? Is this worth worrying about?
So there are three basic tests.
The preliminary screening results are positive.
There is a field test that proves to be correct, and there is a final test, which is a laboratory test that takes about 24 hours.
I want to stress that the false positives of the first two are common.
That doesn\'t mean that we don\'t have to worry about this, nor does it mean that the final test may not be positive, but when I was the director of the National Counter-Terrorism Center, we often see false positives in field tests, and it turns out that this is not the case.
MADDOW: again, we don\'t know what lab tests will say, but is ricin one of those things that is more prone to false positives than the other things we hear?
LEITER: this is very common.
We\'re seeing ric hemp more hot than the anthrax we\'re seeing, but basically the powder in the letters is a very common phenomenon.
People don\'t know much about it, but it\'s clear that it gets a lot of publicity after such an event.
Michael Leiter, national security analyst at MSNBC and NBC, former director of the National Counter-Terrorism Center. I owe you.
Thank you for staying.
We will be back soon. (
Business break)
MADDOW: If you\'re not a marathon runner, one of the disturbing things about this year\'s official Boston marathon project is that it\'s mostly advertised for other marathons.
So, like the Kansas City Marathon, there\'s a barbecue running the marathon.
Because the weather in Bermuda is good, you can take part in the Bermuda marathon in January.
Six different half marathon in six different American wine regions.
There is a lady half marathon in Niagara Falls. they wrote in the advertisement that porta-
The Potty is really good because there are no men in this competition so they can put flowers in the potty.
If you\'re not a runner, it\'s easy to forget that marathon running is a big culture and industry, and if you want to run the Boston Marathon, it\'s likely that\'s the case, you \'ve been training your whole life, just to be able to do this in the game.
You will most likely do so again.
Some people run 26.
Only once in a lifetime, but many people are running.
Run as many as 2 miles.
They often have a preference for ports --potties.
In the days after the 9/11 incident, New York City strengthened security in a very obvious way.
There are soldiers carrying military rifles at railway stations and airports.
You can\'t miss a very obvious reaction.
After 9/11, they stopped playing baseball around the United States.
When the Olympics resume later that month, you have to go through a new security check to get into the stadium, at first, because the extra check is new and we are not good at it yet, so it took a long time for everyone to be searched and seated, but at least there was a baseball field in a closed place.
Even on those terrible days, if we had enough trouble, the stadium seemed like a place where you could make sure it was safe.
After 9/11, New York City even held a World Series.
But something like this, like the marathon route.
It\'s 26 miles long.
This is almost less easily locked and protected.
These are photos of the New York City Marathon held every November.
In Chicago, Fargo, Bermuda and Niagara Falls, marathons anywhere tend to be public.
The marathon crowd was very close.
They beat the runners very high. fives.
They provide water and orange slices to runners.
In 2001, just a few weeks after the terrorist attacks, New York City was frantically wondering if they would hold such a match.
The New York City Marathon runs 26 miles, 9/11 kilometers.
New York decided not to cancel on 2001. (
Start Video Editing)
Unidentified women: maybe people across the country don\'t know, but Sunday was the New York City Marathon with 30,000 runners and more than 100,000 spectators.
Can such events of scale and scale be adequately protected? Mayor?
Rudy Giuliani, mayor of New York City: That\'s right, like the three World Series.
Unidentified woman: can you tell us what kind of security measures you have?
Giuliani: a lot.
We never say what kind of security measures we have. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: What is the guarantee for the marathon?
He\'s not you, he\'s not you.
After 2001, head again to New York City for the 9/11 marathon and for safety, runners are warned not to take orange slices or water from strangers along the way.
Breath-holding in New York City, runners depart from Staten Island, cross the boroughs and enter the Central Park.
The game went well.
It fell off safely.
We don\'t know why the Boston Marathon was attacked yesterday, killing three people and injuring more than 170 others.
It can be simply chosen as a website that will guarantee a lot of people.
It could have been chosen as a symbol of something or something.
This is the patriotic day of Massachusetts.
This is the tax day of the county.
There are many other anniversaries this week that might make sense for those who want to kill for some reason.
This could be an attack on Boston.
This could be an attack on the United States, and this is where it happened.
But in a direct sense, what happened yesterday was an attack on the highest level moment of a relatively low highest level event
Unique culture of profile, this is marathon runner, finalists, whip
Thin, extreme testing, addictive competitors do not do the same thing as anything else in our American culture.
In our instant reward World, marathon runners are pursuing not just the satisfaction of delay, but a satisfaction that most of us have a hard time believing will be satisfying.
But this difference promotes the friendship between marathon runners, cultivates the culture, and has now cultivated, even a whole economy that you won\'t know exists unless you look.
This is a runner named Amby Burfoot.
He won the Boston Marathon in 1968.
Ambi Burrfoot is still at the Boston Marathon.
When the explosion happened yesterday, he was less than a mile from the finish line.
It is almost impossible to believe that the attack was aimed at the marathon, just like the marathon.
But even if the marathon is hit as a symbol of something else, it is hit and hit directly, which means the world for the entire running community.
Amby Burfoot wrote in Runner world today, \"it\'s not just an attack on the Boston Marathon.
This is an attack on the American public and our democratic use of streets.
We use public roads to hold annual parades, protest parades, presidential inauguration, Marathon and all other events.
The road belongs to us, and the use of the road is an important part of our liberal democratic tradition.
I believe and believe that this will not change in the future.
Not in Boston, not in the Boston Marathon, or in other important public events.
Yes, we must be forever. vigilant.
We cannot hide our eyes and ears and pretend that acts of violence do not threaten our great institutions.
But, \"he said,\" but our institutions have not become great for taking a timid and cowardly path.
We can only hope that when we slam (ph)
Like today\'s Boston Marathon, it will be stronger than ever.
\"It\'s Amby Burfoot who joins us now, who celebrated the 45 th anniversary of winning the Boston Marathon yesterday.
Yesterday, when his wife called him about the explosion, he was three quarters away from the finish line.
Amby Burfoot is the editor-in-chief of Runner\'s World magazine. Mr.
Burfoot, it\'s great to have you here tonight.
Thank you very much for your time.
Amby burfoot, editor-in-chief of World of runners: Thank you so much, Rachel.
MADDOW: is that the last medal you wore in the marathon?
This is my last medal.
Although I didn\'t finish the marathon, I was stopped yesterday for three quarters a mile from the finish line.
We finally got our bags and medals today.
I wear it proudly, and I want to tell you and everyone that I\'m not wearing it for myself, but, I really want to pay tribute to those who we lost yesterday and were injured yesterday.
There is only one reason why they are in that place.
Because they support runners in the marathon and in the US, which makes them part of our runner family, we want to remember and respect them.
With this medal, with all our medals, with our thoughts and prayers.
MADDOW: when I saw that you wrote in the world of runners today that yesterday\'s attack was an attack on the democratic use of streets, I would like to ask, as a runner, what does this mean to you and what it means to all of us because we are thinking about how to deal with these attacks rather than being intimidated by them.
BURFOOT: Well, I\'m not writing this primarily as a runner because I \'ve been running on the streets of the United States for 50 years.
When you do that, you start to generalize from a bigger perspective, and I\'m starting to think that, you know, these games are not sporting events like the Red Sox and the Patriots.
It\'s more like a march, a civil rights parade, or a street theater in July 4.
I feel Americans have the right to enjoy, use and talk about on our great streets and big squares.
Times Square is the Boston Common area in my backyard, and these places are important places for us to go safely.
MADDOW: as a marathon runner, at least externally, he is involved in the marathon culture and not even sure if it\'s your idea.
I ran two miles myself and fell down.
As a marathon runner, as someone who has been running for decades, when you think ahead about the future here, when we try to balance safety and freedom, do you think these events look different in the future? When we try to balance the security and happiness that these events relate to you?
BURFOOT: of course, we are thinking about this now, and Hurricane Sandy canceled the New York City Marathon at the last minute in the fall.
So we put New York and Boston back to back.
Now it is weighing heavily on our minds.
Let\'s face it, there will be a lot of good runners who will decide not to spend $3 to $4,000 on a large city marathon that they may feel threatened across the country.
But I \'ve talked to a lot of runners in the last 24 hours and I would say 99% of runners, including myself, we are more determined than ever to go back to Boston to run it next year because we want to take back the city and the street and we want to thank the city and its supporters and Cocks (ph)
They have been supporting us in our background during this wonderful event.
MADDOW: Amby Burfoot, editor-in-chief of runner World magazine, the winner of 1968 Boston Marathon, you can get as close as you can to his final this year. Mr.
Burfoot, thank you for being with us tonight
I really appreciate what you wrote today for the world of runners, and I don\'t think a lot of people would consider reading the world of runners.
But I think what you wrote today makes a lot of sense.
BURFOOT: Thank you.
MADDOW: Thank you. All right.
Although yesterday\'s tragedy in Boston dominated today\'s news, Washington is carrying out some very important political activities, and it turns out that tomorrow will be a major D-deal, Capital D-deal, bid tomorrow in Washington.
We have it next. (
Business break)
MADDOW: as the nation\'s attention is focused on the afterthought math of the Boston bombings, what Washington is now concerned about is a background check on gun sales votes.
At present, the overwhelming majority of the US Senate supports the Manchin/Tommy amendment. Fifty-
Two senators with records, 40 senators with records, opposed it.
It should be good news for those who want to expand the background checks to be part of the country\'s response, right?
After Newtown, right?
The expansion of the background checks is clearly supported by the majority.
Most people are irrelevant except Republicans who block it.
The 40 senators said they voted against the merits of the background check amendment.
They voted against allowing a vote on background checks on the amendment.
They are voting to block the proceedings.
Most people agree, so they vote to block the voting rules of most people by blocking the proceedings.
Arizona Senator Jeff Fletcher waited until the most intense reports of last night\'s Boston bombings, and he waited until nine o\'clock P. M. Eastern Time last night to quietly and silently announce, in fact, on his Facebook page, he will vote against background checks.
Jeff Fletcher has eight of Arizona\'s 10 voters supporting the background check.
But he said last night, or rather, he quietly wrote to his Facebook page last night saying he would vote \"no.
\"In fact, he even voted to stop the vote.
He\'s quietly voting for the people who blocked the proceedings.
That\'s last night 9:00 aboutm.
Then today, hey, look, Senator Jeff Fletcher of Arizona appeared at the ceremony of the US Capitol dedicated a room for Gabriel Zimmerman.
Gazzimorman is a more helpful member of parliament, Gifford.
He was one of six people who died in that congressional shooting at your corner event in Tucson on January 2011, where congresswoman Gabby GIF Fords was also shot.
Gabby Gifford was kept secret by gachimoman.
Today, one day after he indicated that even if the expanded background check was allowed to vote, he would vote against it, Senator Fletcher appeared and was in that event with Gaby Gifford
The two men spent a day supporting the amendment to the background check on Capitol Hill.
Jeff Fletcher says he will vote-sorry, he won\'t even be voted so far at least.
Republican obstruction will be tested tomorrow afternoon.
Look at this space (ph). (
Business break)
MADDOW: this hour we have new pictures and new details about the device that detonated during the Boston Marathon attack yesterday.
The most important thing is that we don\'t have these, but we have them now.
This is what investigators left behind from the bomb found at the crime scene during the Boston Marathon.
According to a joint FBI and Homeland Security document, they made it clear that one of the bombs was made up of a pressure cooker hidden in a backpack.
Below is a picture of what might be a backpack.
But investigators now say that when the second device is also placed in a metal container, I would quote here, \"there is not enough evidence at the moment to determine if it is a pressure cooker.
At this point, the fusion system and the trigger method of the two devices are unknown.
\"It doesn\'t seem clear either that what you see in this photo is the pressure cooker unit, as we just showed you, or that we\'re not quite sure it\'s a pressure cooker unit, however, this is part of the debris left over from the bomb they showed us.
NBC has also learned in the past hour that both bombs in the Boston Marathon seem to have small nails.
Described as a smaller nail than the one you use to hang the picture (ph)
Or a fine based on one of the people assigned to the case.
We were also told that the equipment itself seemed to be delivered to the site in two bags.
Earlier tonight, sources involved in the investigation told NBC that the trigger mechanism for a bomb appeared to include a battery pack and a circuit board.
Elements that have been restored on site.
This is important.
NBC\'s Michael Leiter told us earlier this hour that a complex trigger mechanism, at least a relatively complex mechanism, may not be very important in reducing the professional level of the suspect, or the training level, but, more importantly, allow investigators to find physical clues of their source to find out how the bomb was assembled and where the bomb debris came from, allowing the bomber
Put it on MSNBC.
Obviously, the story continues tonight.
We will keep you informed when this happens.
Now, it\'s time to \"last word\" with Lawrence O\'Donnell.
Lawrence reports in Boston tonight. Stay with us.
This is a report card in a hurry.
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