Ruslan Tsarni (second from right), uncle of Boston Marathon bombing suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, enters his home Friday morning with an escort of FBI officials. (AP)

The uncle of Boston Marathon bombing suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev lashed out at his nephews during a press conference in front of his Maryland home, saying they “put shame” on the family and “the entire Chechen ethnicity.”

Ruslan Tsarni, who said he has not spoken with his nephews since about 2009, said the boys immigrated to Cambridge from Kyrgyzstan in 2003.

“We’re ashamed,” he said. “They’re children of my brother — who had little influence. Somebody radicalized them, but it’s not my brother. … He spent his life working.”

Added Tsarni: “It has nothing to do with Islam, not the way my brother raised them. It has to do with them being losers.”

Asked what might have provoked the attack, Tsarni said: “Being losers. Not being able to settle themselves, and thereby just hating everyone who did. … He put a shame on the Tsarnaev family. He put a shame on the entire Chechen ethnicity, because everyone now [associates negatively] with the word Chechen. So, they put that shame on the entire ethnicity. So, that’s what I would say. Turn yourself in and whatever, whatever [unintelligible], put yourself at the discretion of those who are here. That’s what I would say.”

Meanwhile, the suspects’ father, Anzor Tsarnaev, spoke with The Associated Press and called Dzhokhar “a true angel” and “an intelligent boy” who was studying medicine.

Anzor Tsarnaev, described by the AP as being badly agitated, insisted: “They were set up, they were set up! I saw it on television; they killed my older son Tamerlan.”

Tsarni, the uncle, expressed sympathy for the victims of Monday’s bombing.

“Those who suffered, we sharing with them in their grief,” he said. “I’m ready just to meet with them. I’m ready just to bend in front of them, to kneel in front of them, seeking that forgiveness. In the name of the family.”

Earlier in the morning, Tsarni said in an interview with CBS that the brothers “do not deserve to live on this earth.”

Said Tsarni: “I always told those two, Islam has always been there, just do your business. Work, go to school, be useful. Know why you came to America. … I am not sympathizing with them.”

The Boston Marathon suspects were identified as Dzokhar Tsarnaev (left) and his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev (right).

One Boston Marathon bombing suspect was killed in a shootout in Watertown and the other was being pursued Friday morning, authorities announced. Residents of Watertown and the surrounding communities, including all of Boston, were told by Gov. Deval Patrick to remain in their homes. All public transportation was shut down.

“This situation is grave,” Massachusetts State Police spokesman Col. Timothy Alben said at a press conference. “We’re making significant progress up there. But it may take hours to do this.”

An MIT police officer, 26-year-old Sean Collier, was killed late Thursday night. That preceded a car chase through Watertown shortly after midnight. Police said the suspects carjacked an SUV and hurled explosives at pursuing officers. The driver of the SUV was eventually released at a gas station. During the shootout, an MBTA officer, 33-year-old Richard Donohue, was seriously wounded.

The suspects were identified as brothers from Russia who have lived in Cambridge for about 10 years. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who died after suffering injuries from bullets and an explosion, was a talented boxer who won a New England Gold Gloves tournament. He reportedly had studied at Bunker Hill Community College. His brother Dzokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is a student at UMass-Dartmouth. He was a wrestler while at Cambridge Rindge & Latin High School.

For more on the situation, click here.

Welcome to Friday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.

FRIDAY’S BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS:
MLB: Royals at Red Sox, 7:10 p.m. (NESN; WEEI-FM)
MLB: Braves at Pirates, 7 p.m. (MLB Network)
NHL: Penguins at Bruins, 7 p.m. (NESN Plus)
NHL: Predators at Blackhawks, 8:30 p.m. (NBCSN)

AROUND THE WEB:

Joe Berti was on hand for both the Boston Marathon bombing and the Texas explosion this week. (AP)

♦ Joe Berti, a 43-year-old from Texas, crossed the finish line of the Boston Marathon seconds before Monday’s bombing. He escaped unharmed, while his wife, Amy, who was at the finish line watching him, was hit by shrapnel but did not suffer serious injuries.

Berti was back home in Texas this week and driving to his Austin home from a meeting when he saw and felt the explosion at a fertilizer plant near Waco.

“It’s a miracle,” Berti told The Associated Press. “People keep saying, ‘Don’t you feel unlucky?’ and I was actually the opposite — saying not only do I not feel unlucky, but I feel blessed that my wife could be 10 yards from the explosion and not have a scratch.”

As for a suggestion that Joe should stay home for a while, Amy Berti said: “We need to keep him moving. Maybe he just needs to stand in an open field.”

♦ Salaheddin Barhoum, who runs track at Revere High School, spent Wednesday night and Thursday morning clearing his name after his photo was on the front page of the New York Post along with 24-year-old Yassine Zaimi and identified as someone the FBI wanted to talk to in connection with the Boston Marathon bombing.

After the photo made its way across the web, Barhoum sent a message on his Facebook page: Going to the court right now! S*** is real. But you will see guys [I] did not do anything.

The FBI essentially cleared Barhoum and Zaimi — both Moroccan — during a Thursday press conference, when it showed pictures of the actual suspects and indicated photos of other individuals were not relevant.

In an interview with ABC News, Barhoum said that when he saw the Post cover, “It’s the worst feeling that I can possibly feel. … I’m only 17.”

Said New York Post editor in chief Col Allan: “We stand by our story. … The image [of the two] was e-mailed to law enforcement agencies [Wednesday] afternoon seeking information about these men, as our story reported. We did not identify them as suspects.”

♦ An Atlanta man pleaded guilty to mailing threatening letters to ESPN this week, seven years after being sentenced to five years of probation on a similar charge. Sentencing is scheduled for July 10.

According to court testimony (via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution), Evan P. Chaggaris, 42, mailed approximately 24 handwritten letters to the network with threats to injure or kill certain ESPN personalities.

In 2004, he mailed 31 threatening letters to ESPN and made six threatening phone calls to one ESPN personality. He pleaded guilty two years later.

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA (answer below): On April 19, 1969, the Red Sox traded which 1968 All-Star to the Indians?

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Photos: All images released by the FBI of the two suspects

The FBI released photos and video of two suspects involved in the Marathon bombings, and has requested the public’s help in identifying the two individuals.

In a press conference Thursday afternoon, FBI Agent Richard DesLauriers said the photos and video came from surveillance cameras near the explosion sites. According to DesLauriers, both men are considered armed and extremely dangerous.

“Do not take any action on your own,” he said.

The two suspects were described by DesLauriers as Suspect No. 1 and Suspect No. 2. Suspect No. 1 was wearing a dark hat with a forward-facing brim. Suspect No. 2 was wearing a white baseball cap turned backward. DesLauriers said Suspect No. 2 was observed planting a bomb, leaving it in place shortly before it went off.

DesLauriers asked for the continued assistance of the public.

“The nation is counting on those with info to come forward,” he said, urging anyone who recognizes the men to call 1-800-CALL-FBI or go to the bureau’s website, FBI.gov.

The two explosions Monday afternoon at the finish line killed three people, including an eight-year-old boy, and injured more than 180.

President Barack Obama attended an interfaith service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston on Thursday and delivered an inspirational speech to residents still healing from Monday’s Boston Marathon bombing.

“I’m here today on behalf of the American people with a simple message: Every one of us has been touched by this attack on your beloved city. Every one of us stands with you,” Obama said. “Boston may be your hometown, but we claim it, too. Boston, you’re my home. For millions of us, what happened on Monday is personal.”

Obama said the city has sent a strong message to the rest of the country.

“This doesn’t stop us,” he said. “And that’s what you’ve taught us, Boston. That’s what you’ve reminded us — to push, to not grow weary, to not get faint, even when it hurts. We finish the race. And we do that because of who we are, and we do that because we know that somewhere around the bend, a stranger has a cup of water. Around the bend, somebody’s there to boost our spirits. On that toughest mile, just when we think we’ve hit a wall, someone will be there to cheer us on and pick up.”

Added Obama: “When the Sox, the Celtics, the Patriots, the Bruins are champions again — to the chagrin of New York and Chicago fans — the crowds will gather and watch a parade go down Boylston Street. And this time next year, on the third Monday in April, the world will return to this great American city to run harder than ever and to cheer even louder for the 118th Boston Marathon. Bet on it!”

As for the perpetrators of the attack, Obama promised retribution.

“Yes, we will find you,” he said. “And, yes, you will face justice. We will find you. We will hold you accountable, but, more than that, our fidelity to our way of life, to a free and open society, will only grow stronger — for God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity but one of power and love and self discipline.”

The Cavaliers on Thursday announced that they have fired coach Byron Scott following his third straight losing season.

Scott, who had one year remaining on his contract, was 64-166 in his Cleveland tenure. The Cavs were 24-58 this season, third worst in the NBA.

“I wish Byron Scott and his entire family the best going forward,” owner Dan Gilbert said in a release. “Byron is a class guy, both on and off the court, and I thank him for his three years of coaching the Cavaliers. I fully support the difficult move that was made today. Although we saw progress with young individual player development, we did not see the kind of progress we expected on the team level this past season.

“We understand it was challenging with the injuries, but when you are at our stage in the building process, you don’t only measure team progress in wins and losses.”

Also Thursday, as expected, Doug Collins resigned as coach of the 76ers. Collins will remain with the team as an adviser.

“This is his decision,” 76ers owner Josh Harris said. “He is not being pushed out.”

Welcome to Thursday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.

THURSDAY’S BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS:
MLB: Red Sox at Indians, 7:05 p.m. (NESN; WEEI-FM)
MLB: Giants at Brewers, 1:10 p.m. (MLB Network)
MLB: Rangers at Cubs, 2:10 p.m. (WGN)
MLB: Cardinals at Phillies, 7:05 p.m. (MLB Network)
NHL: Devils at Flyers, 7:30 p.m. (NBCSN)
NHL: Wild at Sharks, 10:30 p.m. (NHL Network)

AROUND THE WEB:

Ray Allen is in Miami now, but his thoughts were with Boston following the Marathon bombing. (AP)

♦ Former Celtics guard Ray Allen no longer is in Boston, but the victims of the Boston Marathon were on his mind Wednesday night before his Heat played the Magic in Miami.

“We have a family friend that was there, that ran the marathon, and she’s in intensive care now because she lost her leg,” Allen said. “A good friend of mine, one of the managers of his restaurant, the 29-year-old that was killed was his manager. And his assistant chef, I don’t know if he said he lost both his legs or one, but he got hit pretty hard and he’s dealing with that now.”

Allen said he would have been somewhere close to the bomb scene had he still been in Boston, cheering on family members.

“We would have been sitting at the finish line, me and my whole family, waiting on my mom and my wife. … They would have been running if we were in Boston,” Allen sad. “So that presented some anxiety when I thought about it.”

♦ Rasheed Wallace won’t come back to haunt (or help) the Celtics in the playoffs as a member of the Knicks. The 38-year-old forward announced his retirement Wednesday after his final unsuccessful comeback bid — a brief appearance in Monday’s game against the Bobcats. Wallace, who returned from a two-year retirement to join the Knicks this season, missed most of the year with injuries — most recently a broken foot that required surgery in February.

“Rasheed has given this team everything he had,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said in a statement. “He is a winner, true professional and leader on and off the court. Due to his injury, he will not be available to play for us during the playoffs. We owe this season’s success to veterans like Rasheed.”

Wallace, who was a member of the 2009-10 Celtics team that lost in Game 7 of the NBA finals, played 21 games for New York.

♦ Last week, Mark Sanchez‘ personal coach, former NFL quarterback Jeff Garcia, took some shots at Tim Tebow. “Having Tebow there doesn’t bring anything positive. It just brings distraction,” Sanchez said. “For Mark, the main competition is going to be David Garrard and Greg McElroy.”

On Wednesday, Tebow’s coach, Steve Clarkson, tried to defend Tebow by claiming he was set up to fail. Clarkson also took a swipe at Sanchez, calling him “fragile-minded.”

“I think [Tebow] was purposefully sent to New York,” Clarkson said on a conference call, ignoring Broncos vice president John Elway‘s explanation that Tebow chose New York over Jacksonville. “From the standpoint: You send him to a situation where you have instability with your coach — you don’t know if he’s coming or going. You have a fragile-minded Mark Sanchez at quarterback. You stick Tim Tebow in there and you kill two birds with one stone. So if you’re Denver, you’ve got to be thinking, ‘We send him to New York, we basically kill an opponent and, at the same time, Tim Tebow doesn’t come back to bite us in the proverbial butt, if you will, because he’s not going to make it out of there.’ ”

Clarkson also said the Jets’ limitations on Tebow guaranteed he would not succeed.

“I think in Tim’s case, they walked him into New York and said, ‘We’ve got four plays for you. You execute these four plays and that’s all you’re going to get,’ ” Clarkson said. “Well, when you walk on the field and that’s all you practice, and you don’t get any meaningful reps and you walk into a game and basically the defense is telling your offensive line basically where the ball is going to go, it’s pretty depressing and it doesn’t give you much room for hope. I would hope whoever, wherever he ends up that they give him an opportunity, and I think if they do, they’ll be pleasantly surprised. I think the guy still can play.”

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA: On April 18, 1997, the Bruins fired coach Steve Kasper one week after the season ended with the Bruins failing to make the playoffs for the first time since 1967. Who replaced him?

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Despite conflicting reports that an arrest had been made earlier on Wednesday, the Boston Police Department and U.S. Attorney’s Office issued statements Wednesday afternoon that said no arrest had been made in the Marathon bombing case.

In addition, the FBI issued a similar statement Wednesday afternoon: “Contrary to widespread reporting, no arrest has been made in connection with the Boston Marathon attack. Over the past day and a half, there have been a number of press reports based on information from unofficial sources that has been inaccurate. Since these stories often have unintended consequences, we ask the media, particularly at this early stage of the investigation, to exercise caution and attempt to verify information through appropriate official channels before reporting.”

According to reports from CNN and The Associated Press, authorities have made an arrest in the Boston Marathon bombing, with the suspect expected to appear in federal court in Boston.

CNN reported that video footage from a department store — reported by The Boston Globe to be Lord & Taylor — was crucial, along with television footage, in identifying the suspect. CBS News reported that the individual was wearing a black jacket over a gray hooded sweatshirt with a white baseball hat worn backward, and he was seen placing a black bag on the ground. He was talking on the phone at the site of the second explosion when the first blast occurred, and he then moved into the crowd.

FBI bomb experts are said to be working to rebuild the bombs from devices found at the scene, including the lid to a pressure cooker that was located on the rooftop of a nearby building.

A press conference was scheduled for 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Also Wednesday, Boston University confirmed that Chinese graduate student Lingzu Lu is the third individual who died in the attack. Arlington’s Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant manager, and Dorchester 8-year-old Martin Richard previously had been identified as victims.

Dennis Rodman says the FBI has reached out to him for information on North Korea, hoping to use his recent trip to the country to help settle tensions as North Korea threatens to use nuclear force against the United States.

The White House did not originally embrace Rodman’s trip to North Korea in February, saying Kim Jong Un‘s government should be focusing on the welfare of its citizens instead of “celebrity sporting events.”

But as Rodman told The Miami Herald at a recent charity event, the FBI now is hoping to use Rodman’s first-hand experience with the North Korean elite to its advantage.

“They wanted to know what went on and who’s really in charge in North Korea,” Rodman told the Herald. “I have been invited back to North Korea in August, and I want to go.

“I know what Kim Jong Un is threatening to do regarding his military muscle,” he added. “I hope it doesn’t happen because America will take whatever actions to protect America and our allies. I do think that we have to talk to people who want to cause us harm, so hopefully they won’t.”

Rodman said he isn’t apologizing for North Korea’s human rights offenses, considered some of the worst in the world by the State Department. But he said his personal experience with Kim Jong Un, who took power in 2011, was a positive one when he visited North Korea with the Harlem Globetrotters to film an HBO series.

“He’s a good guy to me,” Rodman said after the trip. “As a person to person, he’s my friend. I don’t condone what he does.”