0 boston area. i'll be back later today, 5:00 p.m. eastern, in "the situation room." we'll be focusing in on the president's news conference. he made news, a lot of it, at that news conference. we'll go in depth 5:00 p.m. eastern in "the situation room." that's it for me. i'm wolf blitzer. brooke baldwin and jake tapper pick up our coverage from boston right now. i'm jake tapper alongside brooke copley square for live coverage of the investigation and the fallout from the boston marathon terrorist attacks. we're standing by now for new developments concerning the boston bombing suspect, dzhokhar tsarnaev. so meantime, we heard from the president. he spoke this morning, held a news conference. and he warned that lone wolves like the tsarnaev brothers, that they are the new threat. >> one of the dangers that we now face are self-radicalized individuals who are already here in the united states. in some cases may not be part of any kind of network, but because of whatever warped, twisted ideas they may have may decide to carry out an jessica yellin joins us now. she's our chief white house correspondent. and jessica, in the back and forth with the president today, heard you press the president on some of the criticism he's been getting mostly concerning intelligence sharing before the attack here in boston, just boylston. if you would, walk me through that exchange. >> reporter: sure brooke. the president effectively defended law enforcement's actions leading up to the boston attack and then forcefully defended them after the attack. he effectively accuseded critics who say intelligence was missed because of bad signals or bad sharing. he accused them of playing politics. listen to a little bit of the exchange if you the arm s servic committeei and boston are both examples of the u.s. going backwards on national security. is he right? and did our intelligence miss something? >> no. mr. graham is not right on this issue. although i'm sure it have one individual deceased, one in custody, charges have been brought. i think that all our law enforcement officials performed in exemplary fashion after the bombing had taken place. >> now, lindsey graham republican running for re-election who pressed the president the hardest on this and hit the administration the most forcefully. a little bit of accusation there that this is really all about his re-election. i will add, brooke that thelear that the dni, the director of national intelligence, is conducting an intelligence assessment to see if any balls were dropped, so to speak, in the leadup to before the boston bombing. and, you know the administration just isn't going to finally say yes or no whether they think any clues were missed until that -- until that report is done. brooke? >> okay. jessica, of course there are critics who are not partisan. people -- former counterterrorism officials, interviewed one on the lead yesterday, former ambassador thomas mcnamara, in charge of intellig questions. not all the criticism is partisan, of course. moving on to another subject, the president was also asked about syria. and he seemed to be slightly trying to clarify what he meant when he said a few months ago that using a bunch of chemical weapons would be a red line for syria that nation better not cross. well there is a suggestion that they may have crossed. what was the president's message today? >> reporter: you're right, jake. he did make very careful use of his words there. he repeatedly said if they determined that they used chemical weapons and they determine what the chain of custody was for their evidence it would be a game changer. what is different today is how he defines the game changer. he said that there are a range of options that are available to us and we have to figure out essentially which one of ishe wouin thuse. the minute they say yes, this is chemical weapons, we have proof that they were using it that that would necessarily trigger u.s. military intervention, i think he put the brakes on that a little bit. this leavhe option he's trying to build international coalition or some sort of other operations that could take place. perhaps even outside the public eye to address any chemical weapons used inside syria, jake. >> all right, jessica yellin thanks. in this boston bombing investigation attention turning to the trial, looking ahead, the surviving suspect has a prominent attorney on his defense team. she is judy clarke. she is represented arizona mass shooter jared lee loughner and also atlanta olympic park bomber eric rudolph and unabomber ted kaczynski, all of them escaped the death penalty. ashleigh banfield is here. you have new information from your blackberry from someone very high up. >> good thing they have judy clarke. let's just say that. she's renowned in legal circles as being the person who gets -- who saves your life that works on both sides. it saves the public a lot of money. it saves the public a lot of pain and suffering going through a trying trial, to do speak, the all the witnesses that have to relive what they have gone through all the people who lost limbs who would have to testify there are benefits to both sides if that's the case. they have been clear about two specific charges that this surviving alleged bomber is facing. that's just the beginning. you can always wait to see additional charges added to it. but the department has not gone so far as to say at this point seek the death penalty. a lot of people assume that but she thunt they shouldn't. on both sides of the defense, and the prosecution, there are very and i want to under way right now between the prosecution and the defense and these are conversations that effectively could take any kind of death penalty off the table. in you know negotiation withn abou y the oppor bomb plots or potential co-conspirators, et cetera a wider range of information. this is so early, though it is -- it would be wrong to suggest this would effectively help the 19-year-old avoid the death penalty at this point. >> seems very early. >> they're not even seeking it at this point. but you would expect at this stage of this high profile a case this would already have happened, contact would have been made very preliminary. let me reiterate, very preliminary. but in exchange for the kind of information this country needs, i don't think it is a big surprise that these conversation have begun. there is no indicatunsel has suggested they be interested in this at this point. there is no discovery at this point. they don't even mo what theknow what the government has on him at this point. and the department of justice did tell us that the notion we're engaging in discussions over a penalty is not accurate. so look initial conversations, initial discussions, hello, my name is without question could be going on at this point. fwout but to suggest there are severe negotiations would not be right. >> and also what about also switching gears, kevin spacey one of my favorite actors done a couple of movies based upon books here in boston and here we are at the memorial. >> you were here and you saw him. >> somebody said hello. >> as luck would have it. there is a dichotomy of emotion going on here right now, behind us. there are people crying as they encounter these very moving and touching memorials. and then there is kevin spacey who is making people smile, making bombinge to see them. he's making the police responders, the boston police when he visited smile. he's bringing a touch of levity and appreciation to a lot of the people who i dare say sorely need it in this town. i asked him specifically i know you're very busy. you're filming "house of cards ." how is it that you're here? because i don't think you film here. and this is the response he gave us. >> you know the truth st like eve have been glued to television reading about the unbelievably tragic events here and last week i was in baltimore, about to start the series i'm doing again, and i'm, like you know what i can't spend another second watching this and not get on a plane and come to boston. shot a couple ofheree on sunday. and i spent the day at spalding and i met all the staff there, and a number of those who have been -- their lives have been altered forever. and the spirit the camaraderie, the love that you feel and the kind of extraordinary ability that they're showing to want to come back and run the walk again you know i met adrian the extraordinary young dancer who lost her leg, who is going to dance again. roseanne who is a remarkable woman from the north end, and all the friends. >> the warmer side of caesar sosa. >> i thought this was terrific he met one of the victims he named her adrian who lost her leg, but her husband wasn't there. he said he's going back to the hospital so he could at least organize a meeting with her husband. and then on top of that i had read he was here with some you know with some netflix giveaways. he brought over 200 free memberships to netflix. >> handing them out. >> to give them to the first responders so they can watch "house of cards," give him that plug he deserves it but it wasg. made the local papers too. really appreciated. >> the little things. kevin spacey. >> also having lunches, right where we speak, to signal this place is open for business. >> come on down. beautiful on boylston street. thank you, ashleigh. you heard from the president on syria, on boston played a short bit of that for you. he also addressed the coming out of nba player jason collins. we'll speak live with nba legend karl malone. >> the mail man. >> yeah. who, by the way, who, by the way, is on a lake in louisiana and is calling in just to talk to you, jake tapper. also talking to an espn writer who is openly gay. we'll get his perspective. in a couple ofattack one of the survivors, we're hearing the stories, will be speaking out live from the hospital. we'll have that for you. stay right here. she may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec®. powerful allergy r and kids six years and older. zyrtec®. love the air®. she knows you like no one else. and you wouldn't have it any other way. but your erectile dysfunction - you know, that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same ciaapproved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips tongue or throat or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. 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