[Harlow:] Condemned to death for his role in the Boston marathon bombings, a federal jury's unanimous decision that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should pay with his life for the 2013 terror attack. The pressure cooker bombs planted at the marathon killed three people, injured some 240 others, 17 people lost limbs, including my next guest, Heather Abbott. She lost her left leg below the knee. And I reported on her recovery and had the privilege of getting to know her over the past two years. Her spirit throughout has been absolutely remarkable. She helps other amputees obtain prosthetics through her foundation, is it the Heather Abbott foundation. You can find it online at heatherabbottfoundation.org. Heather, thanks for being here.
[Heather Abbott, Boston Marathon Survivor:] Hi, Poppy. Thank you.
[Harlow:] You testified at this trial. I wonder what the moment was like yesterday afternoon when you heard the verdict.
[Abbott:] I was definitely anxious to hear it and then it was I guess I was expecting I would feel some sort of emotion, but it was really just signed of sad. It didn't feel like something to celebrate.
[Harlow:] You posted on facebook that the verdict does not bring you peace and that it makes you sad. You say the verdict, regardless of which one it turned out to be, does not bring me peace. You found peace and closure long before this.
[Abbott:] I did. I think I had been looking for something else throughout the process of this trial, but I didn't I didn't get any answers. I don't think I ever will. So I think when I look back over the last two years
[Harlow:] Have you been talking to some of the other survivors? I mean, I know you guys are really a close-knit community. I wonder if you've spoken to them since the verdict came down and what the feeling is.
[Abbott:] I have. And we've talked but nobody really expressed their opinion of the verdict. It was more just expressions of support for each other.
[Harlow:] You gave a commencement address yesterday. I know I spoke to you on the phone right after that and you were driving home. But tell me a little bit about what that leaving that commencement speech and then hearing the verdict brought to your mind, considering Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's age, college student. You just finished speaking with these college students.
[Abbott:] Yes. I couldn't help but think that he would be in the same shoes as a lot of those students I spoke with last night. And you know, how excited they were about their future, all that they had to look forward to. And you know, it sounds like at one point he was a very likeable person and very intelligent and I just wonder why he threw all those opportunities away and what went wrong.
[Harlow:] We were showing some images, I think we can pull them up again, but some recent images of you at the launch of your foundation. Because I know the headlines today are about the verdict and about Tsarnaev. But really, the focus needs to be on the survivors like you and so many others. And frankly, the work you're doing is incredible. I mean, I couldn't imagine what I'd do if what happened to you happened to me. You've channeled it in this incredible positive way. Tell me about the foundation, what you're doing, what your goal is.
[Abbott:] Well, when I became an amputee, I was became vastly aware of the extremely high costs of prosthetic devices and the lack of insurance that covers them. And I couldn't help but think what if the whole world didn't know about me? What if I didn't lose my leg in the Boston marathon bombing and everyone wasn't reaching out to help. I bet there's a lot of people that are in that situation on the past two years. So the foundation is to help people obtain prosthetic devices that insurance doesn't typically cover like sports devices, high heel devices and hopefully that will help some other people the same way that I was able to.
[Harlow:] It's amazing work that you guys are doing, Heather Abbott. I know you and I were joking about maybe running a 5k together, maybe not a whole marathon, but a 5k. Do you think we should do that still?
[Abbott:] I do. I think we should.
[Harlow:] OK. I will come up and we'll do it in Newport, Rhode Island. Heather, thank you so much. I appreciate it. And I'm just so impressed with your resilience and all you're doing for others. Thanks a lot, Heather.
[Abbott:] Thank you.
[Harlow:] All right. You can help Heather's foundation if you want. You said they're trying to help others get prosthetics that are incredibly expensive. And a lot of these prosthetics that look like human limbs are not all covered by insurance. So if you want to help, you can go to heatherabbottfoundation.org for more information on how to give. We'll have more news back in just a minute.