>> and [ inaudible ]. >> -- involving tsarnaev? what happens next on in terms it of where he goes and the how he might be -- [ inaudible ]. >> well right now mr. tsarnaev will remain in the custody of the u.s. marshals. be mindful there is another -- i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we want to welcome viewers in the united states and around the world. you're watching a live news conference where prosecutors and the phishfbi are discussing the jury's decision of a death sentence for the boston marathon bomber dzhokhar tsarnaev. let's continue to listen. >> -- victims and survivors will have an opportunity to make an impact statement in writing. we've already solicited impact statements from victims and survivors, some will be given an opportunity to be heard in court, obviously. we'll figure that out. there when be a sentencing hearing, the judge will officially issue a sentence and

then the defendant will go into the custody of the federal bureau of prisons, and then they will determine whether he goes to adx or goes to terre haute, awaiting the appellate process, but we have nothing to do with that. the federal bureau of prisons will then be in charge. >> [ inaudible ] to a point that you or law enforcement a particular part of this case something you that found that really drove you guys to the death penalty -- how do you feel about what [ inaudible ] tsarnaev's behavior that made him think we need to [ inaudible ] -- >> when you look at the crimes that occurred here the heinous gravity of the crimes the number of deaths you know a child was murdered with a weapon of mass destruction. another young -- two young women as well. a police officer was executed in the line of duty. and so when you look at the

gravity of the -- of the harm and in particular as well the many many victims who became every amputees and many others suffering with many other forms of injuries and then you look at the motives, as we said in our case the political motives, really this was an act of terrorism and thes process began and the department of justice approved a path that provided for the severest of punishments, severe punishment for a severe crime. >> i'm sorry. >> and the -- [ inaudible ] focus on the [ inaudible ] i guess can you comment about the death penalty versus a life sentence now that -- [ inaudible ]. >> i didn't hear the last part of your question. >> can you comment? what is your reaction to the jury's finding on the pressure cooker number one, the [ inaudible ] life sentence there versus -- [ inaudible ]. >> i'm not at this juncture, i'm not going to comment on what

you're asking me is really to go into the jury's deliberations. obviously, they had taken their time. they were deliberate in how they made their findings. only to say that as we said we are gratified with the jury's verdict, and we very much respect how they concluded it. yes? >> massachusetts is known as a fairly liberal district when it comes to the death penalty. are you confident that they would go for death or are you surprised at it? >> how i feel about it really isn't at issue here. i think that you make a very good point in terms of the type of state that this is, but you have to realize that when -- when you're in court and you're sitting as jury and you're listening, you're the only ones that really have full access to all of the evidence all of the key factors that should be considered. you have the law to follow. i think that that has much more of a controlling factor rather

than what your opinion may be but clearly, never an easy decision. what i was confident of and what i think proved true is the tremendous work that the prosecutors and the investigators did in presenting this case. i thought that they first of all, in terms of the investigation, left no stone unturned but in terms. predation of evidence i feel gratified and proud we were able to show exactly what happened here. provide motives for what actually did happen and so that the jury could render a just and fair verdict. >> [ inaudible ]. >> go? >> were you surprised at all? i mean [ inaudible ] the overall timing you know what was mentioned about [ inaudible ] can you -- [ inaudible ]. >> i don't want to comment on that. >> did you -- >> about the emotion -- >> michelle? >> very emotional. during the presentation of the evidence can we hear a little

about their reaction today? this was a dogged investigation. can we hear about their reaction and the victim's reaction after the verdict was rendered? >> do you want to hear from -- do you want to speak? no. we're not going to talk about -- we have had private conversations with victims. we've met with them throughout the process, the very beginning of the trial. i had meeting sessions with them with the trial team myself directly. i've personally met with many victims and families. and those conversations are private. what we've tried to do is so support and really try to prepare them for this incredible process. >> they were -- at some point did members of the prosecution team -- an emotionally charged case. what are their reactions? the prosecutors. >> yeah. i think they want to hear -- bill, why don't you take a stab

at it. >> okay. well on behalf of the prosecution team i think i can say we feel very privileged to have represented the united states in this case. we're grateful to the u.s. attorney and to the department of justice for entrusting us with an important case and it was our goal to make sure that the jury got all the information they needed to make a fair and impartial decision in this case. we wanted to make sure the victims had an opportunity to tell their stories, and we wanted to make sure that, that the entire, the entire story was told. and we are grateful for all the people who assisted us in that endeavor. it's been a long haul. we think that we we did our best and we're grateful for the opportunity we had to do that. we're grateful for the jury's hard work in this case, and it is an emotional experience to be part of, but we -- part of your

job as a prosecutor put your emotions aside and follow the law, do what your job requires and that's what we tried to do in this case. >> -- want to tell the whole story at trial. is that why you didn't take the -- earlier when they offered -- [ inaudible ]. >> we can't comment on anything that isn't in the public record in this case. but it's always the job of prosecutors and prosecuting a case to try and make sure that the story gets told and that the jury has the information they need to achieve a fair verdict. >> bill is there an answer in all of this -- yet that you most wish today you knew the answer to? >> you know the four of us standing up here along with many other people who aren't standing here but who were every bit as much parter in with us in this case as we were have spent the last two years working night and day researching the facts of this case trying to understand

what happened, and i think that we have as full and clear a picture of what happened as we could hope to have. >> is there -- [ inaudible ] frustrated [ inaudible ] -- tsarnaev -- i think a lot of those watching [ inaudible ] do you feel as a prosecutor like you had fair insight into his mind of what happened -- [ inaudible ]. >> nobody can see into another person's mind. and it's often the case in criminal cases that you have to prove that somebody had an intent to do something or a motive to do something, and do you that in the only way that you can as a prosecutor which is you look at the facts, you look at the things they said you look at all the evidence in the case and you present it to the jury and ultimately, it's for them to make those judgments. i'm not a mind reader, but you

know, our job was to try and to try and recognize the facts and the evidence that would help the jury make that decision for themselves and that's what we tried to do. >> last question. last question. >> mr. tsarnaev -- showed little or mow remorse throughout the entire trial, including today. what does that tell you -- [ inaudible ]. >> i'm not going to comment on mr. tsarnaev or anything he did or said or anything like that. that wouldn't be appropriate for me. again, the issue of remorse was an issue that was put before the jury. they heard evidence about it, and they rendered their judgment on it and i think that it's their judgment and not our personal views on anything that really matters here. >> hey, guys -- >> we're okay. okay, guys. >> what about the -- >> does he want to touch -- do you want -- there we have the statement coming in from the u.s. attorney. the prosecutors in this case. i want to immediately go to our national correspondent deborah

feyerick who's there on the ground at the courthouse in boston. deb, you were there. walk us through what has happened for viewers here in the united states and around the world, who are just tuning in. >> reporter: well wolf we can tell you it took the jury about 14.5 hours over 3 days to reach their verdict. the verdict and the sentence, death on six of the 17 death-eligible counts. they found him guilty and they found that he deserved death for planting the bomb in front of the forum restaurant the bomb that killed 8-year-old martin richard, the youngest victim as well as the exchange student, lingzi lu. they found that the crimes were heinous and depraved and that for a those six capital counts he should be put to death. now, dzhokhar tsarnaev stood during the reading of this verdict. it took almost 30 minutes for all of the counts to be read out

loud. it took about 30 minutes, and there was this very heavy silence in the courtroom. the judge warned through his clerk that anyone hoon said anything during the -- who said anything during the reading would be held in contempt and held -- we saw relatives dabs tears from their eyes. bill richard, the father of that 8-year-old boy, he didn't show emotion. neither did his wife. this has been such a tremendous strain on the entire family. they thought that the death penalty would not be the right thing, because they wanted dzhokhar tsarnaev locked away and forgotten in a place where no one would ever say his name. it's unclear whether the defense will appeal the dense, wolf did leave court. they were the first ones out of the court after meeting with tsarnaev immediately after receiving the death sentence the first out of the court. went out the back door. were asked for reaction. asked whether they would appeal

and they simply said nothing. they walked away very somberly and very soberly, deciding what their next move will be. they really put all their emphasis on the mitigating factors, trying to soften dzhokhar tsarnaev trying to say that it was his brother that was really responsible for this and that they wanted to portray him as a good kid. somebody who was well-liked by his teachers by his aunts and uncles. most of the jurors found in fact help was well liked and well respected by his teachers and even by his friends, but they found that as for tamerlan's role they disagreed. they didn't believe three of the jurors at least, didn't believe he was the ringleader the driver instead deciding with the prosecution who basically said they were co-conspirators, partners in crime, they were brothers in arms and it was a very powerful closing statement, closing argument on wednesday, when the prosecutor said trying to sort of take the martyrdom aspect off

the table, he said death isn't giving tsarnaev what he wants. death is giving him what he deserves and the men and women on that jury they stood at attention, as did dzhokhar tsarnaev and his lawyers, as this was read and tsarnaev didn't show any emotion. he was sort of stoic, the way he's been the whole time. you know i've seen it as almost being disengaged disinterested. at the end the judge thanked him for showing propriety during the entire proceedings. a lot of people voicing their opinion on whether it was the right sentence. >> deb, stand by. bringing in our senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. >> former federal prosecutors. the appeals process is going forward. sentenced to death but this will presumably take years if, in fact he is eventually executed? >> that's certainly true. timothy mkcveigh was convicted of

a similar act and not executed until 2001 four years later. by modern death penalty standards, that was fast. we've had people in this country executed after 20 years on death row. so the legal process has miles and mimes to go and there's one argument that actually may get some traction on appeal. most appeals fail and i think the likelihood this appeal will fail. but the one argument that might succeed is that this trial should not have taken place in boston. now, that was even appealed before the trial, and there was a very closely argued appeal in the first circuit court of appeals, 2-1, judges said the trial could stay in boston but the argument that -- the community was so traumatized that this trial should have gone elsewhere is a powerful argument. you know the oklahoma city bombing trial was moved to denver in part for just that reason. so i just think as the appeal process begins and as you say,

it will take years, that's the issue to keep an eye on. whether this trial could fairly be held in boston. >> jeffrey toobin stand by as well. we're expecting to hear from some family members of those who were killed in this boston marathon bombing. let's remember who they are, four individuals, killed all young. martin richard, 8 years old. lingzi lu, 23 years old. krystle campbell 29 years old and the m.i.t. security officer shot at point-blank range, sean collier. he was killed as well. we'll take a break. much more of the breaking news, right after this. the real question that needs to be asked is "what is it that we can do that is impactful?" what the cloud enables is computing to empower cancer researchers. it used to take two weeks to sequence and analyze a genome; with the microsoft cloud we can analyze 100 per day. whatever i can do to help compute a cure for cancer,

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on the heels of a chilling audio message from its leader isis launching a surprise offensive since a city 70 miles from baghdad. the terror group may be on the verge of recaptures ramadi. raising a black flag. iraqi forces fighting back with air strikes. live to barbara starr. what are you learning? >> reporter: ramadi is the second largest city in western iraq. it is critical for the iraqis to hold on to. right now a u.s. official telling me it may be down to 50/50 between isis and the iraqi forces as to who controls the city. they've launched this offensive today from isis fighters sending car bombs through the city breaches trying to take back a building raising their flag. officially the pentagon says it's an ebb and flow of the fight. ramadi has been contested for months between the two sides,

and the fighting goes back and forth. but the reality is the u.s. conducting some 12 air strikes in the last 72 hours there. trying to do everything they can to ensure the iraqis are able to hold on to this city. >> and the new audio from the isis leader al baghdadi does that concern the pentagon? that's their reaction there? >> reporter: the same thread we're hearing continually. the pentagon saying that audio proves they're desperate, because he's asking for more recruits and more fighters. the pentagon very much insisting isis is on the defensive, they're no longer acting as an offensive military force and all of these events reflect their attempt to hold on to territory. fair to say there's a lot of people that may disagree with the pentagon's assessmented, still see isis as a very potent force and the iraqi forces struggling to hold on to what they have. wolf? >> barbara, stand by. i want to get more on what's

going on. joining us democratic congresswoman from hawaii member of the armed services and foreign affairs account and a veteran of military service in iraq. what's going on? isis was supposed to be kicked out of ramadi but now they're on the verge, it looks like of taking over this key city in the anbar province? what's going on? >> i think wolf what we're seeing is the issue i've brought up many times before. that right now the united states policy and what's happening in vaek not iraq is not addressing the core problem allowing isis to continue to come back in particular into these sunni stronghold areas. the fact this central government in baghdad is still not arms and equipping thekurds and sunnis trying to fight for their homeland and territories and their people. we saw in tikrit for example, isis was pushed out, but because there was no plan in place for the sunni people to secure themselves to provide this governance for their own area we saw the shia militia, guys

fighting against isis going in razing homes, burglarizing stealing, looting, terrorizesing the people there. another part of the problem we're seeing the united states is still not providing are as and weapons direct listen to the soviet union ir fighters and kurdish fighters on the ground fighting against isis. >> stand by congresswoman. a lot more to discuss. looks like the iraqi military also right now pretty depressive missing in action once again. much more coming up. we'll take a quick break. making a fist something we do to show resolve. to defend ourselves. to declare victory. so cvs health provides expert

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more breaking news. eight new coalition air strikes against isis targets in ramadi have taken place in the last five hours or so. we're back with democratic congresswoman tulsi gabbard of hawaii and obviously looks like they're desperate now to prevent isis from taking over ramadi. only a few weeks ago general martin dempsey, outgoing chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said ramadi was not symbolic not central to the center of iraq made a bigger deal about the oil refinery also in the control of isis at least 80% of it right now. i don't get it. >> yeah. again i think we're seeing a continued effect or continued symptoms of the core problems we've seen allowing this problem to occur in iraq in the first

place allowing isis to continue to maintain a stronghold and be able to come back to these strong sunni, particularly the sunni-held areas. we just passed the defense bill today from the house, and were able to incloo udude a provision dealing with authorizing funding to the sunni and kurdish fighters bypassing the central government in baghdad we've seen unwillingness to fund these fighters. >> the administration says go through the central government. say the new prime minister is better than maliki, the old prime minister when you armed the kurds directly or the moderates, in the sunni province that would undermine the sovereignty of that central baghdad government. >> an area i disagree with the administration pap growing number of members of congress disagree and will continue to push that get this funding and

these weapons these fighters who are really bravely fighting on the ground they really so desperately need to be effective. one of the leaders, the major leader of the sunni tribe fighters a sheik coming here to washington next week to plead their case i'll meet with him one on one as he really paints a realistic picture of what they're facing on the ground and what they need and how desperately they need t. you've been critical of the obama administration and you're a democrat wah they refused to use the frayed "radical islam" and very critical. have they been in touch, talk to you about that? you're critical of them refusing to arm the kurds, america's friends directly. what do they say to you? >> an area unfortunately, where there's an agreement to disagree. we've heard arguments. they've heard my arguments. i've heard theirs and the issue here is that we have to stay focused on what our mission is. our submission to defeat isis and these islamic extremists who threaten not only people in the middle east but increasingly seeing people around the world.

so this continued failed policy of supporting one central government in baghdad that is led by the shia leadership that's heavily influenced by iran this does not best serve our core focus and mission which is and should be to defeat isis. >> congresswoman, thank you for coming in. >> thanks wolf. allow wa aloha. and finally talking to federal investigators, the engineer of the amtrak train chash. stand by.

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and mr. sumwalt, lead investigators for the national transportation 15i69y board saying the engineer has now been interviewed by the ntsb and extremely cooperative. let's listen in. >> and when asked, when asked he demonstrated a very good knowledge of a very good working knowledge of the territory. speed limitations, things like that. he began his railroad career while in college as a brakeman. he started with amtrak in 2006 as a conductor. and in 2010 he game a locomotive engineer. since 2012 he has worked out of new york city and he's been on

this particular job for several weeks. he works five days a week it's an out and back trip to him. goes to new york washington and back to new york, five days a week. he said that he did not feel fatigued nor did he report any illness. as we reported the other day, the train has three conductors. the conductor is -- is not able to be interviewed as he is still in the hospital however we did interview the two assistant conductors. i'll call it assistant conductor number one. she was -- she's 39 years old. she was hired by amtrak in 2011. and she was in the fourth car which is the cafe car. she stated that before departing

washington the entire crew conducted a safety briefing, where they went over all of the speed restrictions along their intended route. she reported it was a normal run through philadelphia. everything was normal, up through philadelphia. and she said she could hear the transmission of the locomotive engineers. the conductors carry radios and they are frequently talking to and listening to the locomotive engineer. so she could hear the transmissions from the locomotive engineer. she reported that approximately three to four minutes after departing philadelphia she said she heard the engineer talking to septa engineer and recalled he reported he had either been hit by a rock or shot at.

and that the septa engineer said he had a broken windshield and placed his train into emergency stop. she also believed that she heard the engineer say something about about she also believed that she heard her engineer say something about his train being struck by something. this is her recollection, and certainly we are going to be conducting further investigation of this -- of this comment. our investigation is not independently confirmed this information, but we have seen damage to the left-hand lower portion of the amtrak windshield that we have asked the fbi to come in and look at for us.

we oftentimes rely on the fbi for their technical expertise in such areas. and they will be there tonight looking at this particular damp to the amtrak locomotive. the windshield. of course, when the engine went through the -- went through the through the impact the windshield was shattered, but there's particular damage there that we want them to look at for us. we've secured the track image recorder by the way, from the septa train to see what we can learn from that. now, moving forward, right after she recalled hearing this conversation between the engineer and the, her engineer and septa engineer she said

that she felt rumbling and her train leaned over and her car went over on its side. she said they were not able to self-evacuate, and they waited for the emergency responders to get them out. she said she had about 15 passengers in her car. we asked what her relationship working relationship was, with her locomotive engineer. she said she had worked with him a good bit and said that he was great to work with. she said he was always offering to help her with her job. now let's move to the assistant conductor number two. he's 35 years old. he was hired by amtrak in may of last year just a few days before the accident he had celebrated his one-year anniversariry amtrak. he was in the seventh passenger car, that of course is the last passenger car, and he reported having about 40 people

in his car. up to the accident he reported no problems other than some radio problems radio problems with his portable radio. he said sporadically he could hear but not sure that some of his transmissions were going out. at the point that we're describing at the location of the accident he said he felt shaking, then two major impacts. he said that interior seats disconnected and he attempted to contact the amtrak dispatch center but does not recall receiving a response. he assisted with the evacuation of injured passengers until instructed by emergency responders to go seek medical attention on his own. he said he had not worked much

with the amtrak engineer before the accident trip, but he did say he was happy with the engineer and described the engineer as being very professional. so what we've just described is the information that allowed us to delay the press conference so that we could report that information to you. we've got some other investigative activities we'll fill you in on on what's been going on you know we've mentioned through the week a 3d laser scanner. we have done a 3d laser scanning of the locomotive interior and exterior. we've scanned and exampler passenger car to compare the scamper passenger car to the damaged cashes and we've also documented interior safety features in all cars. we'll continue -- we've continued the testing of the

signals and the signal circuitry. basically as the tracks are being rebuilt, our signal specialist it's are going along to check the continuity of the signal circuitry. over the weekend we plan to reassemble the train set as much as we can to put it back together connect the brake lines and conduct a brake test and that will take several days. over the course of the last few days some of you have asked, what would we do if we could not talk to the engineer? and how would we resolve it and one of the things we've called for is the wake of a fatal train crash in 2008 where 25 people were killed including the engineer the ntsb issued recommendations for

forward-facing image recorders and inward-facing image recorders. so something that would get a video image, video and audio image of what's going on inside the locomotive cab, as well as the outward-facing cameras, and, of course this train did have an outward-facing camera. we also feel it's important to the have the inward-facing cameras. the fra, that issue, that recommendation was issued in 2010 when we completed our investigation of that accident out in chatsworth california and the fra replied that they do intend to act upon that recommendation. there's a lot to be done. i think over the last few days we've gotten a lot done. but this will be our final press briefing on-scene. future information on this accident will be coming from our press office in washington,

d.c., and in just a moment i'll ask peter to explain that process, but basically i think you can follow us at our web page www.ntsb.gov and also follow us at twitter, i think you know our twittle hander is @ntsb. i want to emphasize even though this is the final press briefing certainly there is a lot of work that needs to be done and will be done over the next several days while our investigative team is here in philadelphia. there's a lot that needs to be done and will be done, but anyway that's the end of my prepared remarks, and if you would, please raise your hand. i'll call on you and identify your outlet. yes, ma'am? >> "new york post." you said this route is from new york to washington and then back to new york. >> yes. >> was he coming back, his second journey of the day? >> he does -- was that his second journey of the day? that was his, the answer is

it's one round trip. he starts in the -- in the early afternoon. washington -- excuse me. new york washington back to new york. so it's one round trip. >> how much time is between that? >> how much time is twheenbetween that? we will have his schedule i don't have it immediately in front of me. i've often said we are here to get information that will go away with the passage of time. his schedule we can do things like next week. we want to do train interviews and things like that. yes, sir. >> what else could explain acceleration of the train? >> other than human input, what else could explain the acceleration of the train? the train is the train does not have i flew airplanes a long time. we had airplanes with automatic throttles. the trains do not have automatic throttles. it's a manual input. we're going to be through the -- through the event recorder,

through the black box, if you will, we do one of the parameters recorded is throttle movement. so we'll be looking at that to see if that might correspond with the speed increase. we're also looking to see if there could be any type of mechanical anomly that could potentially cause the train to accelerate without an input. so we'll come right here. >> and have you been able to get any of his toxicology reports back bloodwork, things like that and are there any other video sources on the train that may show you what he was doing before the crash? >> have we been able to get back the tox reports and is there any other video we may be able to learn from. let me address the video issue first. we're always surprised and happy that there are video sources that come from unintended sources as recorded on the media. a security camera that recorded

some sparking or really an explosion, the way it was described on tv that probably came as a result of the lines collapsing after the, after the collision -- after the accident. so you know people have cell phone cameras and things like that. so we're always looking for additional sources of video, information, if anybody has video information that we don't know about, we'd love to hear about it from our witness line that witness line is witness @ntsb.gov. we'd love to hear from that. also -- we're going to break away and continue to monitor this briefing. sarah feinberg is here in the "situation room" with me the acting administrator of the federal railroad administration and just back from philadelphia herself. sarah, thanks very much for coming in. he's making news robert sumwalt, the lead investigators for the ntsb the national

transportation safety board. tell us what we just heard. >> he's basically doing what the ntsb does better than anyone in the world, which is updating the public on the status of their investigation. so the ntsb is the lead investigator in this accident. the fra also runs an investigation. we also partner with the ntsb and they update the public every day on the latest on their investigation. so that's exactly what you were hearing. >> encouraging to hear him describe the locomotive engineer and being extremely cooperative. yes, he went to the interview with the ntsb with his lawyers, but that's understandable. that was encouraging. wasn't it? >> well sure. i mean you know the first news out of an accident is frequently wrong, and inaccurate information. we heard earlier reports, i think everyone was reporting that the engineer was not being cooperative. mr. sumwalt, incredibly experienced, said yesterday he wanted to put to rest the fact the engineer was being

cooperative, but in fact he was being cooperative. >> also an bit from one of the assistant conductors. who overheard a conversation between the engineer of this locomotive and another engineer from what he described as a septa train, a southeast pennsylvania transit authority. local commuter train. that's some sort of projectile was thrown or hurled into the windshield there and may be into the windshield of this train, 188, the amtrak train as well. you heard him say that. >> i did and that's probably the perfect example of why the ntsb is so good at their work. there's all kinds of assumptions going into an accident it must have been caused by this or that and that's new information and that's why the ntsb is so good as their job. >> we had heard minutes before this incident there was a separate incident involving this local commuter train where some sort of projectile was thrown or hurled at the windshield. but for the first time we're hearing now that the engineer of

that train and the engineer of the amtrak 188, saying well maybe something similar happened. have you heard anything along those lines? >> no and i'll let the ntsb lead the investigation, that's why they're so good. this is new information, they'll get to the bottom of it. they are so good at getting to the root cause. >> and the engineer of amtrak 188, he doesn't remember a lot. understandably so. he was the lead car and all of a sudden it derailed. so main that's understandable as well. where do we go from here? >> well the ntsb will continue their investigation, frequently takes another couple days. another couple weeks. they'll possibly have a preliminary report of their findings the fra will do our investigation as well and over time will come to a conclusion and release it to the public. >> what's the key question you need to know the fra, the

federal railroad administration and you're the acting administrator. >> we need to know how the accident happened and how we can prevent it in the future. >> that's the most important thing is safety. it's our only mission and it's the most important thing we do and we'll be determining how the accident happened. how to stop it from happening in the future in the meantime is there anything we can do to make sure that rail passengers are safe. even before we have a determination of this accident. for example, amtrak in this area where the derailment happened has some technology on the southbound tracks that cap speed if the train is speeding. we've told them instructed them before they reopen their tracks later next week they've got to put the same technology on the northbound side. if you've ever got a train speeding in that same area that speed is going to be capped by technology. we've told them they have to take a new look at all of their curves make sure they have technology in place where they need to and increase speed signage as well. we'll possibly take some

additional steps and possibly execute some emergency orders later. >> what i hear you say something until amtrak gets the automated equipment to make sure if an engineer dozes off or is distracted by a cell phone or whatever and is going too fast into a curve, there's going to be the technology that system in place that will automatically slow that train down. it's in certain areas, but it wasn't in this area where the accident occurred. and you're not going to allow amtrak to continue operations between philadelphia and new york until they get that working? >> well there's a couple of different kinds of technology here. there's positive train control which is the most detailed the sharpest technology that's out there. >> which exists but was not existing in philadelphia in this area? >> exactly. and amtrak has said that they will implement that technology by the end of the year. it's incredibly expensive, very complicated, require as lot of testing. >> is that good enough for you? >> ptc is great. >> by the end of the year? >> that's when the deadline is the congressly mandated

deadline. >> you're going to live with that. what do you want them to do specifically by next week in order to allow the rue assumption of service between philadelphia and new york? >> we want them to match on the northbound side the technology they have on the southbound side which is less than ptc, but it still caps the speed of the train. if the train is speeding it sends a message to the engineer saying you're speeding. the engineer has to react to that or slow the train down. if he or she doesn't, it automatically slows the train down. >> what does amtrak say, can they do it by next week? >> they've said they'll do it. >> what day do you think the service between philadelphia and new york will be resumed? >> amtrak said they want to resume service on monday or tuesday. be it full capacity. they have to get this done first. >> is it safe for americans to get on these amtrak trains? >> absolutely. 300 million americans -- >> there have been three accidents on the northeast corridor this year alone. >> most derailments happened in railyards, frequently we're

talking about derailments in railyards amount to training bumping into each other, very slow speeds new york city injuries. the reality is the first is the first derailment on the northeast corridor in many many years. rail travel is incredibly safe. that doesn't mean we won't do everything to keep passengers safe. >> sarah feinberg the acting administrator of the federal railroad administration. isis on the offensive, a surprise attack puts the terror group on the verge of recapturing a key iraqi city, only 7 miles from ball game. we're sold. it's so pretty. they're good-looking cars. it feels great. perfect. this is not what i would expect from a chevy at all. get more than you expect, for less than you imagined at the chevy memorial day sale, going on now. get cash back for 15% of the msrp on select 2015 models in stock the longest. that's over four-thousand dollars on this chevy equinox. find new roads at your local chevy dealer.

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happening now, breaking news death sentence the jury hands down the ultimate punishment for the boston marathon bomber dzokhar tsarnaev we're learning new details of his reaction inside the courtroom. stunning setback, isis launch as ddly new offensive to retake one of iraq's most important cities. deploying multiple suicide bombers and car bombs killing dozens of people. is this what so many american troops fought and died for? i'll ask retired general stanley mcchrystal. finally speaking the engineer at the controls of the amtrak train that derailed in philadelphia. breaks the silence and talks to investigators along with an assistant conductor who revealed a mysterious new clue. did something strike the train just before it flew off the tracks? and boxing myth -- former republican presidential nominee, mitt romney steps into the ring with former heavyweight champion evander holyfield tonight. what's behind the story of this

unlikely match? we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." we're following two major breaking stories this hour. including the boston marathon bomber dzokhar tsarnaev sentenced to death. the 21-year-old condemned by a federal jury to die for six charges stemming from the homemade bombs he and his brother planted near the finish line of one of the world's most famous races. also breaking new, in the amtrak derailment -- one conductor is now telling the ntsb that just before the wreck, she heard the engineer say -- that the train had been struck by something. we're covering that story and more this hour. with our correspondents. and our guests including the former commander of u.s. and international forces in afghanistan, the retired u.s. army general stanley mcchrystal. but let's go to our justice correspondent, pamela brown,

beginning the breaking news coverage this hour with the latest. >> wolf the decision today handed down by the jury is a culmination of two years after boston and the nation were shaken by the terrorist attack. it took the jury a day and a half to hand over the death penalty to dzokhar tsarnaev for six of the 127 charges. throughout the more than two months of trial, the jury remained focused on this moment. where novak djokovic and his older brother, tamerlan detonated two bombs at the race finish line. killing three and putting the city of boston on lockdown. jurors heard days of dramatic testimony from some of the 264 bombing survivors and families of the deceased. like 8-year-old martin richard. his father fought back tears as he described the moment he saw his son after the bombing. telling the jury quote i just knew from what i saw that there was no chance.

some comment on the verdict, please? >> tsarnaev's attorneys argued tsarnaev shouldn't be put on death row because he was under the influence of his older brother, tamerlan. death penalty opponent helen prejean said she was with tsarnaev and believes he is remorseful for his crimes. but the prosecution argued tsarnaev's writings inside this boat where he hid from police showed he was kplitscomplicit in the bombing. >> the defendant claimed to be acting on behalf of all muslims. this was not a religious crime and does not reflect true muslim belief. it was a political crime designed to coerce and intimidate the united states. the defendant was an adult who came to believe in an ideology of hate. and he expressed those beliefs by killing, maiming and mutilating innocent americans on

patriot's day. >> tsarnaev is in custody of the u.s. marshals even though he was sentenced to the death penalty, it could take years for anything to happen because of the appeals process and because of that wolf the martin family as you may remember recently wrote an op-ed asking for the jury to put him in prison for life. because they didn't want this process to drag on with the appeals. >> well the appeals process is going to go forward i assume now for several years. that's the way it just happens to work out here in the united states. thanks very much pamela for that report. let's go to our national correspondent, debra feyerick she's in boston covering the reaction. >> the reaction was fascinating, actually. to set the scene inside the court. there was such a heavy silence as the jury findings were read and as the sentence of death on six of the counts was handed down. it's a heavy silence, the only way i can describe it some of the relatives in the court, they dabbed their eyes the

survivors, the victim dabbed their eyes with a tissue. officials very quiet and when court let out, many of them simply sort of hugged each other. but it wasn't a mood of celebration. there was no sort of jubilation either. after, at a press conference a number of the family members spoke. one of them saying there was mixed emotion. the sentence of death means the process will drag on. another said there's nothing to celebrate. and another said it was not given dzokhar tsarnaev what he wanted it was giving him what he deserved and another said it feels odd, i have no idea what i should feel. so very mixed, very somber. the defense attorneys not happy at all. they followed dzokhar tsarnaev back to a holding cell after the verdict was read. and they left court very quickly. one of his lawyers during the entire time was very aggressively scribbling notes on a legal pad, dzokhar tsarnaev

for his part showed very little reaction very little response as he listened to everything that was read. and then as he exited the court. wolf? >> debra feyerick in boston with the latest developments dzokhar tsarnaev sentenced to death. there will be a lengthy appeals process. there's other breaking news we're following now including the deadly amtrak derailment. federal investigators have conducted their first interviews with the train's crew and one conductor told the ntsb the national transportation safety board that just before the wreck, she heard the engineer in the locomotive say that the train had been struck by something. cnn's rene marsh is joining us from philadelphia with more. tell us the latest renney. >> well wolf that really is the most interesting headline coming out of this presser still going on. we know that investors had their face to face with the engineer of this train, as well as two assistant conductors. now one of the assistant conductors says she heard a

septa, a different train operator call in it dispatch saying i believe i've been hit with something. perhaps some sort of projectile a stone, something to that effect. we know that after that was reported to dispatch this conductor said she believed she heard the engineer of the amtrak train say that the same sort of thing happened to his train. that is what she believes. so this is something that investigators are now looking into. was this amtrak train struck with some sort of projectile. we know that there is damage to the lower half of the windshield. and it is a circular force, a circular sort of pattern in the windshield. and now they want to find out was this train struck as well. today accident investigators met for the first time with the train's engineer brandon bostian, as well as two assistant conductors. the interviews will be critical in determining what caused the

deadly derailment. >> she said she heard the engineer talking to a septa engineer. she recalled that the septa engineer had reported to the train dispatcher that he had either been hit by a rock or shot at. she also believed that she heard her engineer say something about his train being struck by something. >> the ntsb says the train accelerated as it approached a sharp curve in the track. data from the train's video camera shows 65 seconds before the crash, the train was moving at 70 miles per hour. 22 seconds later, more than 80. then 90 before exceeding to more than 100 miles per hour the brakes heard as it approached the curve. >> mere seconds into the turn we could see the train tilting, approximately 10 degrees to the right. and then the recording went

blank. >> according to friends, bostian has a passion for trains and was a train safety advocate. following a deadly 2008 metro link crash in california blamed on an engineer distracted by text messages a post on a train enthusiast website believed to be from bostian read quote that's why it shouldn't take an act of congress to get industry to adopt common-sense safety systems on their own. meantime we're now hearing from emergency crews, who helped pull people from the wreckage. >> i saw a lot of people injured, a lot of head wounds. a lot of arm injuries leg injuries. >> officer daniel cosme seen on the far left was one of the first to arrive after 911 calls flooded in. >> the guy, he was laying on the floor, holding his leg. he had a broken leg, a broken ankle. grabbed each other's hands to make a chair so he can sit down.

and then we carried him through the whole way. >> wolf, we also now know what the engineer the man operating this train said to investigators. he told them that he was not tired. he said he had no problems handling the train. he knew the speed limitations. but he also said he didn't remember what happened or what led up to the crash. so most of the detail that we're getting now coming from the assistant conductor. >> the assistant conductor saying she overheard this conversation between the engineer of 188 and another engineer for a local commuter train. the other local commuter train said some projectile went through his window and then the engineer of 188 said yes, there's just been something here too. and -- the next thing you know there's this crash. go ahead. >> and if i could add, because of that account, we now know the fbi has been brought in. they are looking at the

windshield of this train amtrak 188 to make the determination if something struck it. like i said there's a circular pattern on the lower left side of the windshield. so now the fbi has been brought into the investigation. >> they've got to figure out what the projectile was. stand by rene. i want to bring in madison calvert. he was a passenger on an earlier train through philadelphia. took a picture of the damage caused when that train was struck by some sort of object. what was going on madison? you were southbound acela heading towards philadelphia when your window was hit? what happened? >> hey, wolf i was headed down from new york city to washington, d.c. i had a company meeting up in new york. i took an 8:00 acela and in about 9:10 or so five to seven minutes outside philadelphia 30th street on my left window all of a sudden i hear a loud should thud and a shatter of my window.

i'm a regular commuter doing this for ten years and never had something like that happen. >> that was around the same time as the crash of amtrak 188, the regional train that had just left philadelphia. one, that one crashed around what 9:28 9:30 something like that right? >> yeah. from what i understood following the timeline it looked like the train crashed ten, 15 minceutes later. i with a going south, and that train was going north, passing fill l.a. we were boarded by amtrak police when we got to the 30th street station and about 9:23 they let us leave. i had a text message chin with my wife. five minutes later, so the other accident occurred. >> you were reported this that your window had been hit by some sort of object to the conductor, is that right? >> yes. it was not me who reported it it was another guy sitting in the same row. but we were boarded by two amtrak police officers the conductor came in and checked to

make sure that the window had not shattered all the way through. they declared it structurally sound and let us keep going on our way. >> what did it sound like what did it feel like? was it a rock? was it something else? what did it feel like when you looked over at the window? >> wolf there's a really small radius in the center of the picture. i mean the shatter is pretty big, so i assumed it must have been some kid throwing a rock or something like that. there was a small indentation. somebody on the train said they thought it was a bullet. you know i didn't even think about it. but i thought it was a rock or some kid throwing a battery or something. >> this would be the third train potentially ha was hit by some sort of projectile or object the local commuter train, amtrak regional 188 and the acela that you were on going towards philadelphia from new york. did the authorities, were the police when they came on board, did they say anything? >> no you now they quickly surveyed it. the conductor at first said we're going to have to check if

it's structurally sound. five to seven minutes later, the two amtrak cops came on took a couple pictures felt the inside of the window and let us continue. to me i thought even though i've never seen it in years. i assume that these things must be fairly routine if they would send us off that quickly. all very surreal, the mayor of philadelphia came out the next day and said there was no connection. my train was hit, a septa train was hit and then the amtrak train derails and crashes. >> i remember reading about the local commuter train hit by some sort of projectile and wondering if there was any connection with the amtrak regional 188 train going towards new york. but now you're telling us about this third acela train was hit by some sort of object. we're showing the viewers the front of the amtrak 188. this is the train that

eventually was derailed. you see what happened you see the windo, that was shattered there. but they're looking now, they're taking a closer look to try to determine what that projectile or object was that may have hit that. i'm sure they're going to review the conversation between the engineers of that local commuter train and the amtrak 188. hold on for a moment madison. because ray lahood the former transportation secretary is joining us as well. this is major news, mr. secretary. the fact that there may be three trains in the philadelphia area. may have been hit by some sort of object or projectile. what do you make of this? >> you know, i don't really know wolf. i all i know is what i've been watching on your program. and if it's true obviously that would be a huge distraction. to the conductor and engineer and the folks that were

providing the leadership and providing you know conducting the trains. and you know, that if it's true it would be a tremendous distraction for them. >> because you heard robert sumwalt, the ntsb lead investigator say they're going it take a look at the window of the amtrak 188 to determine what if anything the object was. they're looking at the local commuter train. now they have this acela they want to take a close look at as well. i know you're an adviser to amtrak. have they said anything to you, mr. secretary, about the possibility that something was going on three trains relatively within the same amount of time up between 9:00 and 9:30 p.m. were hit by something? >> i think they just learned about this afternoon, wolf and i have not been briefed on it.

>> probably will be briefed on it next week. as all of your viewers know now, the ntsb will continue their investigation. they're going to rebuild the train cars rebuild the braking systems. but they will do some of their work back in d.c. and obviously the reconstruction and so forth. i think when they do that reconstruction obviously they'll be looking at the windshield at the front of the train cars. to see if something did hit them. and hopefully, we'll learn a lot more after they have a chance to really look at the train cars. and the engine to see if it was, if there was some kind of distraction caused by an object very distracting to the engineer. >> we knew earlier right after this train crash, that the separate commuter train was hit by some sort of projectile.

that was widely reported but the assumption was, there was no connection between that and the amtrak and the 188 or the acela hit by some sort of object as well. mr. secretary, stand by i want to continue the breaking news coverage as other breaking news we're following as well including new coalition airstrikes right now to push back an isis offensive on a very important iraqi city of ramadi. joining us here in the situation room is retired u.s. army general, stanley mcchrystal, author of a brand new book. i want to take a quick break, general crystal and get to the breaking news. if you have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis like me and you're talking to your rheumatologist about a biologic...

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u.s. official telling cnn that multiple coalition airstrikes is being carried out against isis as the terrorist forces retake a key iraqi city. that city being ramadi. our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto is working the story. what are you hearing from your sources? >> hearing from a senior administration official just in the last hour of eight strikes in just the last six hours, earlier the u.s. military in iraq told us that ramadi at this point is about 50/50. half under iraqi control, half under isis control. which is alarming considering how many months iraqi forces have been fighting to defend this city. just on friday at least 47 iraqi soldiers and 26 civilians killed there. iraqi forces battling isis. inside the critically important city of ramadi. a desperate defense against a deadly offensive by the terror group. who sent a barrage of suicide

bombs through breaches in the city's defenses. after a month's-long battle ramadi the largest city in western iraq and just 70 miles west of baghdad -- is in danger of falling into isis' hands. >> within ramadi again, it's difficult to say specifically in terms of percentages, how much each side controls if you will. >> more than 100,000 residents have fled the violence in just the last month. >> iraqi forces could very quickly be overwhelmed if they're not careful and that could spell all types of trouble for baghdad. >> to the northeast the critical oil refinely at baiji also remains under isis assault. the iraqi forces struggling to keep the terror group at bay. >> pentagon calls the fight a stalemate. >> the new isis push comes as the terror group's leader releases an audio statement calling for recruits across the globe to join the fight in iraq

and syria, or take up arms in their own countries, including the u.s. >> today the u.s. military said ball gami's message is a sign he is having trouble recruiting and that isis is securing only propaganda victories on the battlefield. the combination of the u.s.-led air campaign and iraqi ground action have left the group unable to field large conventional formations to take and hold the territory. u.s. commanders see weakness in the iraqi military as well. >> the ability to hit back on ice sis nonexistent. iraqi forces do not have the capability to not only defend the territory, but to go on the offensive. >> let's take a look at the map. this is areas under isis control. in iraq and syria in the last three months. yellow isis support zones, red, isis control zones this is february 2015.

three months later, not much of a difference. some gains up here for some of the rebels against isis. but when you look at cities like ramadi. when you look at baiji, a back and forth, 50/50. when i spoke to the u.s. military today they said you have to expect and we are expecting, the u.s. military is expecting periods of progress and periods of setback. when you look at the overall picture, wolf it looks like a stalemate across large parts of iraq and syria. it's a real challenge moving forward. >> and isis still in control of mosul. the second largest city in iraq. a city of nearly two million people. and the iraqi army doesn't even think about going after that target at least for now. thanks very much jim sciutto reporting. lets get more from retired u.s. army general stanley mcchrystal. he commanded u.s. and international forces in afghanistan and previously headed the joint special operations command. he has a new book out entitled "team of teams: new rules of engagement for a complex world." general mcchrystal, thanks for your service and thanks for

writing this important book. what's going on in iraq rye now? you served there, 4500 americans lost their lives there. trin dollars was spent by u.s. taxpayers there. tens of thousands of american troops came home wounded. tens of thousands of iraqis were killed in that war, was it for naught? >> we have to navigate from where we are, we have several factors, we've got a very weakened region. not just iraq iraq is politically weak it's having trouble putting its military together. it's having trouble bringing the different religious sects together and it's next door to syria, which has literally melted down. and you've got intervention by the iranians. the entire region is like a patient that's got hif aids. >> it looks like the central government in baghdad and their military is missing in action they can't control what's going

on. and isis is not losing it seems to be winning. >> they're having a hard time. and isis is a 21st century thing that has created. it's got certain attributes of a traditional terrorist organization you see the suicide bombing tactics they use around ramadi. it's very unnerving, you see that they're holding terrain. they're gaining a little bit of credibility just by the fact that they are governing areas and they're leveraging information technology to make us think that they're everywhere to make us think that they're behind our doors and under our beds and they can communicate so extraordinarily well. their message is even more powerful than their presence on the battlefield. >> general dempsey testified not that long ago. he suggested that ramadi wasn't really strategically all that important. the baiji oil refinery was strategically important. but ramadi a lot of americans got killed trying to secure ramadi and there's been a lot, it's the capital of the anbar

province the sunnis look there. what's going on here? >> well ground is very important. cities are very important. because they have an emotional tie as well. that's part of the western euphrates river valley ramadi biggest city west of baghdad. it's critical from that standpoint. but also as a symbol. >> why is the iraqi military after all the training the arms everything the u.s. did to train 300,000 iraqi soldiers i'm guessing most of them are missing in action right now. they have fled. why did the iraqi army turn out to be a disaster? i think after the departure of the americans in 2010 there was a move that the shia dominate organizations and i think it cut the morale and leadership out of many organizations, i think there's still some solid organizations in there but the most critical thing about a military is its leadership and you've got to have an infrastructure through. >> the former prime minister al

maliki turned out to be a disaster. you blame him? >> has the biggest part of the guilt, but there's plenty going around. >> should the u.s. be slying arms to the friends, the kurds,ed moderate sunnis in the anbar province. right now the u.s. is unwilling to do so. they still send all the weapons to the central government in baghdad and the baghdad regime disperses those weapons. that sounds like an awful decision. >> we've got to decide what our long-term goal is. the long-term strategy to reach that goal if isis disappeared today right now, we would still have a terrible situation in that region. we've really got to deal with that. i do have some sympathy for the idea that if you start to go around the central government you don't solve the problem, we saw it in afghanistan, you actually make it worse. >> but the central government looks like pretty much a wholly-owned subsidiary of the iranian regime next door. >> if we don't fix the central

government we'll be living with a bad central government even if isis disappears. when you see the sunni tribes trying to defend themselves. it's a balance. sometimes you've got to go out and give help. but i don't think you can say we have to go around the central government. >> the leader of isis was on an audio tape released yesterday. abu bakr al-baghdadi, the pentagon suggesting that's shows how weak they are because he's making speeches and distributing them on the internet. >> i think that that perspective will probably not be shared around the region. it's possible that's true but people around the region who hear that will hear his voice and probably give him credibility for being alive and in charge. >> a big portion of his supporters are the saddam loyalists who were basically removed when the u.s. went in in 2003 right? >> it's sunni who is felt dispossessed former baathists, much more broad than just iraq.

people who like the idea of this. >> what's the most important lesson all of us should learn from team of teams? >> well you can have great small teams, but if you can't put them together in a big team linked together and you're going to have to do that with sharing information in a way we've never done before you're not going to be very effective and that's true of every kind of organization today. >> general mcchrystal, thanks very much for coming in the book is "team of teams: new rules of engagement for a complex world." thanks very much. just ahead, a u.s. man arrested bit fbi accused of going to syria to fight with isis, we're learning new details.

big day? ah, the usual. moved some new cars. hauled a bunch of steel. kept the supermarket shelves stocked. made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. what's up for the next shift? ah, nothing much. just keeping the lights on. (laugh) nice. doing the big things that move an economy. see you tomorrow, mac. see you tomorrow, sam. just another day at norfolk southern.

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following multiple breaking stories in the "situation room." the ntsb now revealing an assistant conductor on the derailed amtrak train here hearing the engineer saying the train had been struck by something just moments before the train derailed. also a u.s. official telling cnn that multiple airstrikes are now being carried out against isis as the terrorist force fights to retake a key iraqi city that being ramadi. let's get more on what's going on joining us the former c.i.a. counterterrorism official phillip mudd and joining us retired general mark hertling a former c.i.a. operative, the

c.i.a. security analyst, robert baird. isis making major moves on ramadi the u.s. and other coalition partners sending airstrikes in. i guess the fear is ramadi seen in the last month, 100,000 refugees flee the important town in the anbar province. ramadi could be falling right now to isis control. that would be really awful, wouldn't it? >> it would be wolf and it's been hotly contested for over a month now. it's the forefront, it's the front of the campaign between isis and some of the iraqi security forces. my sources on the ground tell me right now there's quite a few of what any iraqi veterans will know to be a schamal going on out there. you'll see the overcast clouds that's tough to bring in air power so while they are bringing in air power, it's really tough and isis knows that. that's when they drive the suicide vehicles up to the gates and blow their way in. so i think you're going to see a tough fight here for the next couple of days. at the same time you're seeing

tough fights in baiji, in hoeji, in sin jar and tall afar. there's no scarcity in fighting going on in iraq right now. >> very disturbing developments all around. the fbi meanwhile, phil they arrested an iraqi-born american citizen in texas under charges that he had travelled to syria to fight with isis shows a shift in strategy for how the intelligence law enforcement communities are going to respond to individuals who have shown an interest in support sympathy for isis. what's going on here? >> well you got to think about this in terms of how much the war on terror has changed in the last five ten years. if you're looking at a traditional al qaeda case you've got to sit on that case for a while. you're talking about a conspiracy that might go into asia. you're talking about understanding how people are communicating, how they're recruited, who provided false documents or money. it takes a long time to map that

kind of conspiracy. let's go to texas in 2015. we don't see with isis those kinds of conspiracies we've seen kids as young as 15. in this case we have an individual in his 30s, they're looking at propaganda online maybe with minimal interaction with other people and saying hey, i'm just going to travel. you don't have to sit on that case for a long time before saying we're taking it to federal court. the final thing you see is there are so many of these cases after the garland situation, if you're in an fbi field office you're looking at this saying we got to triage this. we got to move through this and move to the next one and furthermore, we not going to sit on this too long because we can't afford to have a second garland. >> it looks like the arrest could be a result of in part what happened in garland, texas. what'sor analysis? >> well i think the fbi is stepping up its game. they've been waiting around for an attack for a long time. and it finally came in garland. they're starting to pull the trig anywhere a lot more of

these cases, they simply don't know unless they're really on top of these people, whether they're going to flip the switch and turn to violence. i think we're going to see a lot more arrests and a lot more active fbi now that we've actually had a case of terrorism. >> i think you're probably right. bob baird, mark hertling fip mudd. another important story we're following, the wreckage of a u.s. marine helicopter that went missing in nepal has been found with three bodies. six american marines, two in nepal service members, they were on board taking part in earthquake relief efforts. no word on the cause of the crash. for more on how you can help with the earthquake relief efforts in nepal, visit cnn.com/impact. just ahead -- kim jong-un may be ruling with an iron fist is he also losing his grip on power and reality as some analysts are now suggesting? we're about to take a closer look at what's behind the latest brutal crackdown.

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brutal and unpredictable, north korea's kim jong-un is feared as a dictator. just recently he allegedly

ordered the execution of his military chief, ripped apart by high-powered anti-aircraft weapons. but is kim jong-un the one that's really afraid? our global affairs correspondent, elise labbott has been looking into it for us. >> the defense minister is the latest of in a report of increasingly gory executions kim jong-un has ordered as part of a paranoid strategy. there are sims that kim's cruelty is starting to back-fire, raising questions whether his reign of terror could be coming to an end. >> he is erratic, cruel and rules north korea with an iron fist. pumping out propaganda showing him flying high, and in command. >> but after a series of recent high-profile executions of his closest advisers some experts wonder if kim jong-un is losing his grip on power and reality. >> the tactics that he's using are really aimed at trying to scare people and trying to

follow his role. >> the kim family dynasty has always been one of brutal dictatorship. kim jong-un's father and grandfather both imprisoned their enemies. but the young kim is taking ruling by fear to new levels. within three months of taking power, the son had his father's inner circle seen here as pall bearers and his final, executed. he killed his uncle and mentor followed by hundreds of alleged purges of military brass and party officials. >> by purging, executing and creating a climate of fear i think he's undermining himself. he's going to create some internal opposition that in the end could topple him. >> south korean intelligence says kim had 15 top officials killed so far this year. followed by this week's purge of his defense minister for being disobedient and dozing off at military events.

according to south korean intelligence, his reported punishment death by an anti-aircraft firing squad. warning to hundreds of north korean elites watching the spectacle. u.s. officials say they have no reason to doubt the execution, but cnn cannot independently confirm it. >> among his own people in both the party and in the military structure, he's clearly having problems. because he keeps executing them. the transition that lasts four years isn't a transition any more. it's it means that there's something seriously wrong. >> now, a north korean defector who worked with un's father and asks for his identity to be hidden tells cnn that kim jong-un has lost the confidence of north korea's military and elites and predicts that the regime could implode within three years. u.s. officials point to a very volatile political situation inside north korea. you hear more and more speculation how officials in the regime may conclude that nobody is safe and perhaps team up to

kill kim or launch a coup. watch this space. >> the story is developing we'll have more on it. we'll take a quick break, more on north korea right after this. ♪ ♪ mike fincham was diagnosed with colorectal cancer 2 years ago. it was a priority for mike that he continue to be there for his family throughout his treatment continuing to live the life he loves. that's why he chose cancer treatment centers of america. there he found a comprehensive array of therapeutic options all under the same roof designed to fight his cancer boost his energy and help him

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north and south korea. the heavily mined frontier separating millions of troops on the north and the south has been called the most dangerous place on earth. organizers say the knot gave its permission last month. the group is playing into the hands of kim jong-un. he's discuss what's going on with two key members of this group. professor chung, sorry for mange ling your name. let me start with you. what's the objective of this trip? >> we try to end korean war. we will make a call for action to end longest war in 21st century and 20th century. korean war never over. we only have a cease fire and

when we make the army's case 1963 they said we will have a peace treaty within three months. that three months became 62 years. so we tried for called for ending the korean war and reunite the 10 million divided family between north and south. that's why we walk. >> let's talk about that. let's go through how many women are going with you on this march? >> we have 30 international women, incredible group. i highly respect them from all walks of life from academics to two nobel peace lawyer yets. so i think nonengagement is what

is risky and naive. and i believe that the kind of intellectual and strategy that this group has put together i'm honored to be a part of it. and if not us and now, who? this is a game changer. i don't think this has ever happened certainly this many international women crossing the most militarized border in the world after a 70-year war. wish us luck. we hope to meet with the women, tell stories, hear from them so that we start the engagement. >> and we know that gloria steinem is going on this mission too, right? >> yes, that's true. gloria steinem. 15 countries are represented. >> you're going to be flying to i don't think i don't think and then driving down to the

demilitarized zone and walk across the dmz. south korea has given you permission to do that? >> correct. the final official approval was today from the koreans. the north koreans gave us approval about a month ago. the u.n. command is going to help facilitate it. we have all of the approvals we need. we fly from beijing to pyongyang or the 18th of this month, stay for almost a week and cross on the 24th of may which is international women's day of peace and demilitarization. >> is there any opportunity you might have like dennis rodman to meet with the leader kim jong-un? >> i don't think so. this is diplomacy. and we will have peace symposium, women, leaders in north korea than we'll have a peace symposium of women leaders in south korea.

we avoid the political leaders at this time. >> you remember you and i were in pyongyang with bill richardson in december of 2010. it was a very tense period. how worried are you. i'm sure your loved ones are worried about your own security and safety heading into north korea. >> well to be honest i am probably more -- yes, there's been some real maneuvers lately that are very disturbing. but i think i would be more worried to not do something. this dead lock is not working and i think citizens have to get involved. so you know i trust what we're doing is the right thing. so yes, i'm sober about it. i think we all are very sober about it. but it's necessary and i hope that the world will stand with us and try to engage this flash point in the world. >> well we hope you'll stay in

touch with us. i know you guys have a tough mission out there. let's see what happens. we'll hopefully stay in touch with you throughout this mission. thanks very much. be safe over there. that's it for me. thanks for watching. erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. >> outfront next the breaking news death to the boston bomber. dzhokhar tsarnaev visibly unmoved. outfront tonight, a survivor who lost a leg in the bombing. tsarnaev's next stop what's called the alcatraz of the rockies. a version of hell. we'll take you inside. a stunning revelation from the ntsb. did something strike that amtrak train just before it flew off the rails? let's go "outfront."