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[suspenseful music playing]
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[helicopter whirring]
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[reporter 1] He has a personal fortune
estimated at $250 million.
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He lives in a cave
atop a range of mountains in Afghanistan.
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From there, he controls a web
of financial, logistical,
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and strategic assistance
to Sunni Islamic groups
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engaged in what they consider a jihad,
or a holy war.
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ABC's John Miller recently traveled
to Afghanistan for a rare interview
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with bin Laden.
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[Miller] The bin Laden interview
was a calculated risk.
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Yes, we took chances. It was dangerous.
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Journalists put pressure on themselves.
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I have to get on the inside
with one of these people,
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not just looking at
another propaganda video.
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It was May 1998 in Islamabad.
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We were thrown onto a flight
that led to buses,
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the back of pickup trucks,
where there were no roads.
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Finally, we get to the top
of this mountain.
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Everybody points their rifles in the air
and starts shooting tracer rounds.
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There's a little boy next to me.
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He has an AK-47,
and he's firing it this far from my ear.
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And I push the gun away,
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and he brings it back,
and he finishes the magazine.
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That was Osama bin Laden's son.
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One of the fighters says,
"I have good news for you."
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"Mr. bin Laden has agreed to answer
each one of your questions,
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but we're not gonna translate
the answers."
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And I said, "Well, how am I gonna ask
follow-up questions?"
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He said,
"There won't be follow-up questions."
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We begin our interview,
and we go through the questions.
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"Did you finance plots
to blow up airplanes over Pacific routes
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filled with passengers?"
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"Assassinate the Pope in Manila?"
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[speaking Arabic]
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"Was there a plot
to kill President Clinton?"
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[speaking Arabic]
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[Miller] And I'm sitting there,
kind of nodding along with it,
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wondering, "Well, what do we have?"
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At the end of the interview,
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I went back to our fixer in the back,
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and I said, "What did he say?"
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And he said, "He said a lot."
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"We need to get the tapes,
and we need to get out."
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[tense music playing]
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[Miller] Once we got back to the hotel
and we had the main translations done,
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it was groundbreaking, it was frightening.
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[interpreter] We do not differentiate
between those dressed in military uniforms
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and civilians,
they're all targets in this fatwa.
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Holy shit. He was inserting a message.
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He wanted the interview as his platform
to publicly declare war on America.
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[interpreter] You will leave when the
bodies of American soldiers and civilians
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are sent in the wooden boxes and coffins.
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That is when you will leave.
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This is a game-changer.
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[music intensifying]
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[clicking]
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The U.S. reportedly had the chance
to capture Osama bin Laden but didn't.
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Captured al-Qaida fighters say bin Laden
was at the Battle of Tora Bora.
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The Washington Post reports he escaped
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because the army
failed to send troops after him.
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[Henry Crumpton] We had
bin Laden in our sights.
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We needed to kill bin Laden in Tora Bora,
and we didn't.
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And now we were pretty confident
bin Laden had escaped into Pakistan.
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[Tracy Walder] I was a little angry
with the administration,
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because you just let him go
from a place where we had him
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relatively contained,
and we knew where he was,
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to now basically
the Wild Wild West of Pakistan,
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which is really impossible
to find people in.
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And so…
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[laughing] A little angry, um, as well.
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[Cofer Black] Could have
ended it and moved on.
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Would have given some closure
to the survivors in New York.
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This one was the best shot we ever had,
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and, uh, I'm sorry we didn't take it.
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I thought I killed him.
I thought I killed him.
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I thought, "Well,
we're gonna have to get back at this."
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"Probably won't be me, but someone else
is gonna have to get a shot at this."
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Another Osama bin Laden propaganda video
surfaced today in the Arab world.
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[in Arabic] We are close to approximately
800 destroyed buildings and high-rises.
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[reporter 1] In this video, bin Laden
does not look like a man under attack
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or running for his life.
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[George W. Bush] He is not escaping us.
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This is a guy who, three months ago,
was in control of a country.
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Now he's in… maybe in control of a cave.
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He knows that we're on the hunt.
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And I like our position better than his.
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[reporter 1] With bin Laden still
unaccounted for, the hunt continues.
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[reporter 2] The question remains,
where is bin Laden?
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[tense music continues]
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[Cindy Storer] There was concern that,
once bin Laden and other al-Qaida members
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left Afghanistan,
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he could go anywhere.
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They could disappear across the border
into Pakistan, into Iran,
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take flight and go wherever they wanted.
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[woman] The problem is,
those possibilities are infinite.
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He'd been evading our security
for years, even before 9/11.
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We were tracking him since 1996.
So he wasn't stupid.
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He understood what he needed to do
to keep himself safe.
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So finally, we started thinking,
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"Is there another way
we can look at this?"
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The question isn't, "Where is bin Laden?"
It's, "Who might be with bin Laden?"
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[Soufan] I was an FBI agent tasked
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in investigating
al-Qaida attacks around the world
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and interrogating its members.
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The mission was not only
capturing Osama bin Laden,
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but also preventing further attacks.
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After bin Laden escaped Tora Bora,
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U.S. forces were searching for any clues
that may lead us to him.
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And in al-Qaida safe house,
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there was a tape that they found
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where bin Laden
was explaining the operation.
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And every time he's explaining 9/11,
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he points at the person
who's holding the camera,
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and he says, "Mukhtar."
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[in Arabic] In the dream, he saw Mukhtar.
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[speaking Arabic]
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"God bless Mukhtar."
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[speaking Arabic]
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[Soufan] In the same tape,
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bin Laden's son,
who was a little kid at the time,
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found a piece of a drone,
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and he starts yelling, "Mukhtar,
Mukhtar, come and look at this one."
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[child speaking Arabic]
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The guy comes with the camera,
take it, look at it.
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This tape made it clear that Mukhtar
was part of bin Laden's inner circle,
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and he could be one of the few people
who knew where bin Laden was hiding.
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So we're trying to figure out
who Mukhtar was.
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We did not know what he looked like,
because he was never shown on tape.
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We were only
working off his alias, "Mukhtar."
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[Walder] We talk about
"bin Laden, bin Laden, bin Laden,"
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but I felt that, at this point in time,
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he was stationary,
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that a lot of this work
was being delegated out to these henchmen.
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They are the ones
who are doing all of his dirty work.
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He had all the faces
of all his little lieutenants
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that were all over the place.
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Bin Laden was, of course, at the top.
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After him was his deputy, Zawahiri.
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Next in command
were a handful of lieutenants
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that were also very close to bin Laden.
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{\an8}There was Abu Zubaydah,
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{\an8}who was suspected to be
bin Laden's chief operations guy,
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{\an8}and a mysterious operative
known only as "Mukhtar."
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{\an8}- [man calls out]
- [group] Allahu Akbar!
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And so there was a lot of leads
that we were pursuing,
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and in the midst of that,
we thought another attack was coming.
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[speaking Arabic]
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- [gunfire]
- [speaking Arabic]
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When al-Qaida escaped from Afghanistan,
they didn't go into hiding.
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They continued to plot and to plan.
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[reporter] The country
remains on high alert
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after U.S. intelligence heard
what they called "suspicious chatter."
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[clicking]
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[tense music continues]
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[reporter 1]
A disturbing incident on board
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an American Airlines jet this afternoon.
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Officials say a flight attendant
discovered a passenger
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carrying a bomb on the jumbo jet.
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There is no doubt this man
intended to commit suicide
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and take the plane down.
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Enough explosives in his shoes
to trigger, quote, "a major disaster."
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[Miller] Richard Reid,
the so-called shoe-bomber,
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was al-Qaida's first effort
to rebound on another airplane
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with another terrible attack.
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Could you imagine if U.S. airliners
fell out of the sky?
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[reporter 2] America is on guard
tonight in a whole new way.
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[Storer] If you're talking
about a major corporation,
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and one office gets wiped out
in an earthquake,
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does that mean
the organization doesn't work anymore?
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Does it mean they don't move
their headquarters elsewhere?
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[bleeping]
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They had bases all over the world,
and these plots were already in motion.
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[Soufan] We felt like
we were at a dead end.
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{\an8}But then we got a lead on Abu Zubaydah.
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[John McLaughlin] Abu Zubaydah was someone
who was in charge of logistics,
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recruiting, planning operations.
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[Walder] I view Abu Zubaydah
as bin Laden's right-hand man.
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His operations guy.
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Through a series
of intelligence breakthroughs,
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we started to develop a pattern of travel
for Abu Zubaydah in Pakistan.
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We were able to narrow his travel down to,
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as I recall, about 17 locations.
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And so, we made an unprecedented decision.
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We decided we would try
and go after 17 locations at once.
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[clicking]
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[men shouting in Arabic]
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[McLaughlin] When the raid occurred,
he escaped,
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and was jumping from roof to roof,
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and was wounded quite severely.
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[man shouting in Arabic]
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[Soufan] He was taken to a hospital,
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and my partner and I were called in
to interrogate him.
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Abu Zubaydah was badly injured.
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One of the medic came over, and he said,
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"If you wanna talk to him, you better
talk tonight 'cause he's septic."
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"He's probably… he's dead in the morning."
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- [monitor bleeping]
- [siren wailing]
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[steady bleep]
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I told him, "Death is not an option.
Do anything you can to keep him alive."
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[high-pitched, steady bleep]
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[rhythmic bleeping]
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In the hospital,
we continued to keep the interview going.
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Everybody was shocked
that he was cooperating.
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And he named an al-Qaida operative
who was planning an attack.
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I said, "Oh. If I showed you a picture
of that guy, can you tell me if it's him?"
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He said, "Sure."
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My partner had a Sony device.
It looks like the Palm Pilot.
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And on this device, he had photos
of all the most wanted terrorists.
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And he went down there, like,
you know, hitting the stylus.
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Passed it.
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So I said, "Is this the guy?"
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And he said, "No."
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What I did not realize was that my partner
had zoomed in on the wrong photo.
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So I said, "Oh, sorry."
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I said, "Hey, Steve, you gave me
the wrong photo, dude."
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He said, "By the way,
who the hell is he? Tell me."
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He said, "This is Mukhtar."
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So I looked at the picture.
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Now, I'm very anxious.
I wanna see who the hell this Mukhtar is.
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And it's a picture
of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed,
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also known as KSM.
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He was a terrorist
we had been tracking for years.
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I had no idea that KSM
was a member of al-Qaida.
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I was totally shocked.
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{\an8}But that was nothing
compared to what happened next.
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I said to Abu Zubaydah, "Since we're
on this, why don't we talk about him?"
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He said,
"Yeah, he's the one who did 9/11."
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A light bulb connected
all the things in my head together.
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KSM had been
bin Laden's accomplice all along.
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He was the architect,
the visionary, the mastermind of 9/11.
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[Gina Bennett] Once Abu Zubaydah
revealed KSM's involvement in 9/11,
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we realized KSM had been obsessed
with the World Trade Center for years.
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[clicking]
234
00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:21,151
[ominous music playing]
235
00:14:23,362 --> 00:14:25,281
[explosion echoes]
236
00:14:25,990 --> 00:14:28,826
[Storer] In 1993, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
237
00:14:28,909 --> 00:14:31,787
pulled off this attack
on the World Trade Center in New York.
238
00:14:31,871 --> 00:14:34,039
He works with a local cell.
239
00:14:34,123 --> 00:14:36,208
They get the van,
they set up the explosives,
240
00:14:36,292 --> 00:14:38,460
and then they put a bomb
under the World Trade Center.
241
00:14:40,129 --> 00:14:45,175
He thought the structure would move enough
to shake and even topple.
242
00:14:45,259 --> 00:14:46,927
He wanted it to fall down.
243
00:14:47,011 --> 00:14:50,180
He said later
he wanted to kill 100,000 people.
244
00:14:50,764 --> 00:14:52,892
If they just had
a little bit more explosives
245
00:14:52,975 --> 00:14:55,978
and moved the truck
one inch to the right or left,
246
00:14:56,061 --> 00:14:57,646
they might've toppled the building.
247
00:14:57,730 --> 00:14:58,689
It was that close.
248
00:15:02,860 --> 00:15:07,990
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed just never rested
until he could bring those towers down.
249
00:15:09,241 --> 00:15:13,120
[Miller] After the 1993 bombing
of the World Trade Center,
250
00:15:13,203 --> 00:15:14,955
{\an8}Khalid Shaikh Mohammed,
251
00:15:15,039 --> 00:15:17,708
he had a bag full of plots and ideas,
252
00:15:17,791 --> 00:15:20,127
but he didn't have the money
to make it happen.
253
00:15:21,253 --> 00:15:24,298
He finds his way to Afghanistan
and into al-Qaida,
254
00:15:24,798 --> 00:15:27,176
and he finds his way back
to Osama bin Laden,
255
00:15:27,927 --> 00:15:30,888
and he pitches this idea of,
256
00:15:31,972 --> 00:15:34,767
"We'll target the World Trade Center,
to take care of that,
257
00:15:34,850 --> 00:15:37,561
because we tried it before
and it's still standing."
258
00:15:38,228 --> 00:15:41,106
But now the plan kept getting bigger.
259
00:15:41,690 --> 00:15:45,402
"We'll target the Capitol.
We'll target the Pentagon."
260
00:15:45,986 --> 00:15:50,240
"We will set America back on its heels
like no one has ever done."
261
00:15:51,241 --> 00:15:54,912
If there was a keystone individual
in this whole plot,
262
00:15:54,995 --> 00:15:56,789
it was Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.
263
00:15:56,872 --> 00:15:59,875
Bin Laden was the inspiration
and the charismatic leader,
264
00:15:59,959 --> 00:16:03,379
but Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
was the designer, the architect.
265
00:16:04,213 --> 00:16:06,548
[Soufan] After 9/11, he went into hiding.
266
00:16:07,549 --> 00:16:13,514
Through a series
of classified spy operations,
267
00:16:13,597 --> 00:16:16,558
we learned that he was
in Rawalpindi in Pakistan.
268
00:16:17,393 --> 00:16:21,313
That activated our operation to capture
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.
269
00:16:21,897 --> 00:16:23,399
[clicking]
270
00:16:23,899 --> 00:16:25,109
[horns honking]
271
00:16:28,070 --> 00:16:32,074
[reporter 1] CIA and Pakistani agents
hit the two-story villa hard,
272
00:16:32,157 --> 00:16:35,244
bashing in doors
and sweeping up anything of interest.
273
00:16:35,327 --> 00:16:38,664
Family members said
everyone was asleep when they came.
274
00:16:38,747 --> 00:16:41,333
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
was caught in his underwear.
275
00:16:41,417 --> 00:16:42,710
It was his birthday.
276
00:16:42,793 --> 00:16:46,130
[reporter 2] Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
is in American hands tonight.
277
00:16:46,213 --> 00:16:49,091
[reporter 3] Al-Qaida's top planner
is now out of action.
278
00:16:49,174 --> 00:16:51,260
[Morell] Bin Laden and KSM were close.
279
00:16:52,678 --> 00:16:56,015
When we caught KSM,
we thought it might take us to bin Laden.
280
00:16:56,807 --> 00:17:00,060
It was a very significant capture.
281
00:17:00,561 --> 00:17:02,062
The most significant to date.
282
00:17:03,564 --> 00:17:08,027
[Miller] This is the first time
the CIA had a serious lead on bin Laden.
283
00:17:09,445 --> 00:17:11,864
And expectations were big.
284
00:17:19,204 --> 00:17:21,874
[McLaughlin] The capture of Khalid
Shaikh Mohammed was very important,
285
00:17:21,957 --> 00:17:24,710
because it disrupted
things he was planning,
286
00:17:25,794 --> 00:17:31,508
and we learned from him about operations
that were plans in process.
287
00:17:33,886 --> 00:17:36,555
What we learned
from all the intelligence that we gathered
288
00:17:36,638 --> 00:17:41,018
was that bin Laden was
micromanaging the organization.
289
00:17:41,852 --> 00:17:47,441
He was approving assignments.
He was deeply involved in attack planning.
290
00:17:48,901 --> 00:17:52,237
He was very much
the active head of al-Qaida.
291
00:17:54,573 --> 00:17:56,950
And their capabilities were rebounding.
292
00:17:57,785 --> 00:18:00,871
I was concerned about additional attacks.
293
00:18:03,749 --> 00:18:05,292
[clicking]
294
00:18:08,253 --> 00:18:10,255
[crowd clamoring]
295
00:18:11,757 --> 00:18:13,759
[reporter 1] A van full of explosives
296
00:18:13,842 --> 00:18:16,095
detonated during Sabbath prayers
this morning.
297
00:18:16,178 --> 00:18:19,932
A group that says it's tied
to al-Qaida claimed responsibility.
298
00:18:21,308 --> 00:18:24,269
It felt like a ticking time bomb situation
299
00:18:25,020 --> 00:18:27,606
'cause homeland
was absolutely on their list
300
00:18:28,190 --> 00:18:30,275
of places they wanted to attack.
301
00:18:30,859 --> 00:18:33,362
[clicking]
302
00:18:35,489 --> 00:18:38,117
[Walder] I was sitting at my desk
in headquarters,
303
00:18:38,700 --> 00:18:41,662
and I just heard, "Fuck you!"
304
00:18:43,455 --> 00:18:44,957
They blew up a train in Spain.
305
00:18:46,208 --> 00:18:48,919
[Bush] These are nothing
but cold-blooded killers. They…
306
00:18:49,002 --> 00:18:51,588
They do not value life
the way we value life
307
00:18:51,672 --> 00:18:53,048
in the civilized world.
308
00:18:53,132 --> 00:18:56,093
Bin Laden basically franchised himself.
309
00:18:57,177 --> 00:19:00,097
You start to have these al-Qaida groups
happening everywhere.
310
00:19:00,597 --> 00:19:03,350
There was only one al-Qaida on 9/11.
311
00:19:03,433 --> 00:19:05,561
All of a sudden,
you have all of these groups.
312
00:19:05,644 --> 00:19:07,646
[Walder] Like, "When's something
gonna happen next?"
313
00:19:07,729 --> 00:19:10,399
"When's the next attack?
When's the next attack?"
314
00:19:10,983 --> 00:19:12,651
[clicking]
315
00:19:12,734 --> 00:19:17,322
[Morell] I was in London in a meeting,
and somebody walked into the room.
316
00:19:17,406 --> 00:19:20,242
"Multiple attacks in London.
Dozens killed."
317
00:19:20,325 --> 00:19:24,746
[reporter 1] A series of bombs exploded
in the London mass transit system
318
00:19:24,830 --> 00:19:28,083
during the morning rush hour,
wounding more than 700.
319
00:19:28,167 --> 00:19:30,460
[Miller] Bin Laden was creating this fear.
320
00:19:30,544 --> 00:19:33,505
"You should be afraid
on your trains, on your buses,
321
00:19:33,589 --> 00:19:36,383
in your streets, at your hotels."
322
00:19:36,466 --> 00:19:38,802
[Storer] There was attack after attack,
323
00:19:38,886 --> 00:19:43,765
and we knew that there could be
another attack at any time, anywhere.
324
00:19:44,558 --> 00:19:47,394
[Bennett] He wasn't stopping
or slowing down.
325
00:19:48,228 --> 00:19:49,730
We had to find bin Laden.
326
00:19:51,231 --> 00:19:54,401
He was this cult of personality.
He was the key to everything.
327
00:19:55,861 --> 00:20:00,324
[Morell] KSM provided us information
about al-Qaida as an organization.
328
00:20:02,826 --> 00:20:06,079
But there was one thing
that he wouldn't talk about.
329
00:20:11,752 --> 00:20:15,964
KSM was protecting bin Laden
as fully as he could.
330
00:20:16,548 --> 00:20:19,051
[clicking]
331
00:20:19,968 --> 00:20:22,679
After 9/11, one of the things
that happened pretty early
332
00:20:22,763 --> 00:20:25,891
was discussion about doing what
333
00:20:26,808 --> 00:20:29,102
came to be called
"enhanced interrogation."
334
00:20:29,853 --> 00:20:32,481
The U.S. government
built a detention center
335
00:20:32,564 --> 00:20:36,193
in our Guantanamo Bay military facility
on the island of Cuba.
336
00:20:37,236 --> 00:20:43,242
They did that to interrogate prisoners
outside the civilian legal system.
337
00:20:44,159 --> 00:20:46,536
Now, why wouldn't you interrogate them
on U.S. soil?
338
00:20:46,620 --> 00:20:49,665
Well, because you wanna do some stuff
that wouldn't be allowed.
339
00:20:58,465 --> 00:21:02,469
These were not soldiers. These were
the hardened top leaders of al-Qaida.
340
00:21:02,552 --> 00:21:07,766
When you had them in your possession
and they refused to offer any information,
341
00:21:08,350 --> 00:21:10,769
the thought was
that some coercive measures
342
00:21:10,852 --> 00:21:14,606
might, uh… help unlock
some of that information.
343
00:21:17,317 --> 00:21:18,402
[door lock buzzes]
344
00:21:20,654 --> 00:21:24,741
[Storer] The emotional atmosphere
in the office was revenge.
345
00:21:24,825 --> 00:21:26,827
These people deserve whatever they get.
346
00:21:26,910 --> 00:21:28,787
The gloves are off.
347
00:21:29,496 --> 00:21:30,831
No holds barred.
348
00:21:31,748 --> 00:21:33,750
[Soufan] Enhanced interrogation techniques
349
00:21:33,834 --> 00:21:37,587
incorporate physical and psychological
pressure on the detainee.
350
00:21:38,171 --> 00:21:42,634
These techniques include slapping,
insults, stress positions,
351
00:21:43,135 --> 00:21:44,386
and sleep deprivation.
352
00:21:45,053 --> 00:21:48,181
[McLaughlin] About 100 hours
of sleep deprivation
353
00:21:48,265 --> 00:21:50,684
was a normal part
of interrogation techniques.
354
00:21:50,767 --> 00:21:52,394
[loud guitar music blaring]
355
00:21:56,565 --> 00:21:58,567
[Soufan] When a detainee was
not cooperating,
356
00:21:59,568 --> 00:22:02,779
other enhanced interrogation techniques
were introduced
357
00:22:02,863 --> 00:22:04,281
to decrease their resistance.
358
00:22:04,364 --> 00:22:06,450
These include death threats,
359
00:22:06,533 --> 00:22:08,327
cramped confinement,
360
00:22:08,410 --> 00:22:10,662
and the infamous waterboarding,
361
00:22:10,746 --> 00:22:14,833
where the detainee experiences drowning
and imminent death.
362
00:22:16,335 --> 00:22:19,046
This is apeshit.
This has… this has gone crazy.
363
00:22:19,713 --> 00:22:21,173
We can't do this,
364
00:22:21,882 --> 00:22:23,300
as… as the U.S.
365
00:22:26,011 --> 00:22:29,848
[Storer] Torturing someone
to get a piece of the puzzle
366
00:22:29,931 --> 00:22:32,476
in order to stop attacks down the road?
367
00:22:32,559 --> 00:22:33,477
No.
368
00:22:34,478 --> 00:22:38,523
No. And I know as an analyst
369
00:22:38,607 --> 00:22:43,195
that there's plenty of other sources
of information and ways to do that.
370
00:22:45,947 --> 00:22:47,699
I went to my management and I said,
371
00:22:47,783 --> 00:22:49,993
"I'm not gonna have anything
to do with that,
372
00:22:51,036 --> 00:22:53,914
because I think
that this is morally wrong."
373
00:22:58,543 --> 00:23:01,505
[Soufan] It's an issue between people
who wanted to do the right thing,
374
00:23:01,588 --> 00:23:04,132
people in the field
who understand the field,
375
00:23:04,716 --> 00:23:09,888
and people in Washington
who wanna be warriors behind their desks,
376
00:23:10,555 --> 00:23:13,975
and the only fear they have
in the war on terrorism is a paper cut.
377
00:23:15,018 --> 00:23:17,813
KSM, by the time he was arrested,
378
00:23:17,896 --> 00:23:21,108
he was in charge
of all global operations for al-Qaida.
379
00:23:21,608 --> 00:23:23,360
He knew exactly where bin Laden was.
380
00:23:24,778 --> 00:23:28,031
How many cells did we take down
because of KSM? Zero.
381
00:23:28,865 --> 00:23:30,617
He didn't give where bin Laden was.
382
00:23:32,202 --> 00:23:35,997
So sleep deprivation, waterboarding.
383
00:23:37,666 --> 00:23:38,667
For what?
384
00:23:40,127 --> 00:23:41,628
To feel that we're tough?
385
00:23:42,212 --> 00:23:44,131
Being tough is being successful.
386
00:23:45,507 --> 00:23:48,677
Being tough is winning your war.
387
00:23:50,345 --> 00:23:54,474
Being tough is not breaking shit
and being like in a… bull in a china shop.
388
00:23:54,558 --> 00:23:56,893
That's not being tough.
That's being stupid.
389
00:23:59,354 --> 00:24:01,064
Unfortunately, what was going on
390
00:24:01,148 --> 00:24:03,984
with the way we were executing
the war on terror,
391
00:24:04,609 --> 00:24:07,362
I just decided
to get the hell out of the way.
392
00:24:07,863 --> 00:24:09,239
I could not follow.
393
00:24:10,323 --> 00:24:11,408
That's why I left.
394
00:24:16,079 --> 00:24:17,789
[tense music playing]
395
00:24:19,791 --> 00:24:23,920
This was a difficult decision
for anyone to have to make.
396
00:24:25,714 --> 00:24:26,882
On the one hand,
397
00:24:26,965 --> 00:24:31,219
it's not good to, you know, inflict
coercion on other human beings.
398
00:24:31,845 --> 00:24:35,348
On the other hand, it's unethical.
399
00:24:35,432 --> 00:24:37,350
If you don't get this information,
400
00:24:37,434 --> 00:24:41,229
then you have the blood of hundreds,
thousands of Americans on your hands.
401
00:24:41,313 --> 00:24:44,149
- [crowd whistling and applauding]
- [band playing]
402
00:24:44,232 --> 00:24:46,568
You're torn between two things that are
403
00:24:47,569 --> 00:24:51,281
right at some level, but in contradiction.
404
00:24:52,115 --> 00:24:53,158
And, uh…
405
00:24:54,034 --> 00:24:57,412
most people who were at the CIA
at this time, their attitude is,
406
00:24:57,496 --> 00:25:01,458
"We hope no one else
has to make such decisions in the future."
407
00:25:01,541 --> 00:25:04,002
[clicking]
408
00:25:04,085 --> 00:25:07,881
[Anderson Cooper] Five years since 9/11,
and Osama bin Laden is still wanted.
409
00:25:07,964 --> 00:25:11,551
Officials say they're making the country
safer from an attack, but are they?
410
00:25:12,719 --> 00:25:14,596
Bin Laden was like a unicorn.
411
00:25:14,679 --> 00:25:18,016
A lot of people were claiming
to know where bin Laden was
412
00:25:18,099 --> 00:25:21,728
because the reward for justice
on bin Laden was $25 million.
413
00:25:22,979 --> 00:25:25,649
And we were left with
a lot of really bad sources
414
00:25:25,732 --> 00:25:28,693
coming in and telling us
where he might be,
415
00:25:28,777 --> 00:25:30,904
and we were running
down rabbit holes every time.
416
00:25:30,987 --> 00:25:34,699
"Bin Laden is sick. Bin Laden is dead.
Bin Laden is on dialysis."
417
00:25:34,783 --> 00:25:37,577
All of that
was in the intelligence stream,
418
00:25:37,661 --> 00:25:40,413
but that's because they were
putting out enormous resources,
419
00:25:40,497 --> 00:25:42,457
and nothing was close to panning out.
420
00:25:43,542 --> 00:25:48,380
I had been following
these fragments of dots,
421
00:25:48,463 --> 00:25:52,384
these clues that shift and disappear,
for so long,
422
00:25:52,467 --> 00:25:53,969
and we haven't found him.
423
00:25:55,804 --> 00:26:01,309
Though we never stopped looking
for bin Laden, the hunt basically stalled.
424
00:26:01,810 --> 00:26:04,104
[Morell] It was a complicated situation.
425
00:26:05,313 --> 00:26:07,482
There were plots against New York,
426
00:26:07,566 --> 00:26:09,734
including plots against
the New York subway.
427
00:26:09,818 --> 00:26:12,779
A plot to fly ten to 15 airliners,
428
00:26:12,862 --> 00:26:15,323
blowing them up
over the continental United States.
429
00:26:17,325 --> 00:26:19,536
[Miller] Bin Laden was in search of,
430
00:26:19,619 --> 00:26:23,290
"What's my next 9/11?
What will exceed 9/11?"
431
00:26:24,124 --> 00:26:25,542
[clicking]
432
00:26:25,625 --> 00:26:27,168
[Morell] There was reporting
433
00:26:27,252 --> 00:26:30,589
about al-Qaida's interest
in weapons of mass destruction,
434
00:26:31,298 --> 00:26:35,427
most importantly in its interest
in acquiring nuclear weapons.
435
00:26:36,136 --> 00:26:39,806
[Walder] He was looking
not just at radioactive material,
436
00:26:39,889 --> 00:26:42,601
but then also crude toxins and poisons.
437
00:26:42,684 --> 00:26:43,977
So, anthrax.
438
00:26:44,060 --> 00:26:48,106
[McLaughlin] We knew that bin Laden
had met with nuclear scientists
439
00:26:48,189 --> 00:26:49,733
in Pakistan,
440
00:26:49,816 --> 00:26:51,568
and when they said to him,
441
00:26:52,193 --> 00:26:54,529
"Look, the long pole in the tent
is obtaining
442
00:26:54,613 --> 00:26:58,116
the nuclear explosive material,
enriched uranium and such,"
443
00:26:58,199 --> 00:27:00,869
he had said to them,
"How do you know we don't have it?"
444
00:27:02,829 --> 00:27:05,582
[man] It was a high priority
for the al-Qaida leadership
445
00:27:06,082 --> 00:27:09,336
{\an8}that it was being driven
by bin Laden personally,
446
00:27:09,419 --> 00:27:10,629
{\an8}and that there were real people
447
00:27:10,712 --> 00:27:13,465
{\an8}and real efforts around the world
associated with it.
448
00:27:14,966 --> 00:27:18,845
They needed something
that was bigger and better than 9/11.
449
00:27:18,928 --> 00:27:20,722
You can't repeat yourself
as a terrorist group.
450
00:27:20,805 --> 00:27:22,474
You always have to move to the next level.
451
00:27:24,934 --> 00:27:28,313
So the vision was what he described
as the American Hiroshima…
452
00:27:30,482 --> 00:27:35,570
where this bomb crowned their efforts
to defeat the United States.
453
00:27:39,324 --> 00:27:41,743
[clicking]
454
00:27:41,826 --> 00:27:43,578
[radio static crackling]
455
00:27:43,662 --> 00:27:45,246
[in Arabic] People of America,
456
00:27:45,747 --> 00:27:49,959
we'll continue to escalate
the fighting and killing against you.
457
00:27:50,043 --> 00:27:53,129
That's our duty,
and our brothers are doing it.
458
00:27:53,213 --> 00:27:54,964
[reporter 1] "I'm alive and I'm well."
459
00:27:55,048 --> 00:27:58,760
That's the main message of a new videotape
from Osama bin Laden,
460
00:27:58,843 --> 00:28:00,595
the first in nearly three years.
461
00:28:00,679 --> 00:28:04,683
[reporter 2] A radical Islamic website
says a new video is coming from him,
462
00:28:04,766 --> 00:28:07,769
timed to coincide with next week's
anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
463
00:28:07,852 --> 00:28:10,522
[reporter 3] If it turns out to be real,
that he's still alive
464
00:28:10,605 --> 00:28:12,565
and secure enough to be making videos…
465
00:28:12,649 --> 00:28:14,776
[Bennett] It had been
six years since 9/11,
466
00:28:14,859 --> 00:28:17,404
and we had no leads, nothing.
467
00:28:18,822 --> 00:28:21,324
Every 9/11 anniversary,
468
00:28:21,408 --> 00:28:26,121
the only thing you could think about
is that bin Laden is still out there.
469
00:28:26,913 --> 00:28:30,959
That was… just the knife in your back.
470
00:28:31,626 --> 00:28:33,169
[Storer] We just wanted to stop it,
471
00:28:33,253 --> 00:28:36,589
and it was so frustrating
that we couldn't.
472
00:28:36,673 --> 00:28:38,466
It became obsessive.
473
00:28:38,550 --> 00:28:41,428
People were working just all the time,
474
00:28:42,053 --> 00:28:43,930
and yet we were constantly insulted.
475
00:28:44,013 --> 00:28:47,475
We have an intelligence network
that is so dumb,
476
00:28:47,559 --> 00:28:49,519
they could throw themselves
at the ground and miss.
477
00:28:49,602 --> 00:28:52,814
[man] There's been
a complete intelligence failure here.
478
00:28:52,897 --> 00:28:54,858
[Storer] The media was saying
we had failed,
479
00:28:54,941 --> 00:28:57,152
and so other people had
to be brought in to run the center
480
00:28:57,235 --> 00:28:58,903
because we were a bunch of failures.
481
00:28:58,987 --> 00:29:01,781
The intelligence failures
that may have led
482
00:29:01,865 --> 00:29:03,366
to the September 11th attacks…
483
00:29:03,450 --> 00:29:07,162
The commission itself is going to have to
sort through all of this finger-pointing
484
00:29:07,245 --> 00:29:08,830
and come up with a report in July
485
00:29:08,913 --> 00:29:11,124
saying who should've known what and when.
486
00:29:11,708 --> 00:29:14,669
[clicking]
487
00:29:16,838 --> 00:29:19,257
[Storer] People asking questions
as if we were guilty,
488
00:29:19,758 --> 00:29:22,510
and of course we all felt guilty,
so that didn't help.
489
00:29:23,261 --> 00:29:25,847
Whether there was anything else
you could've done or not,
490
00:29:26,347 --> 00:29:28,892
you still…
you question yourself all the time.
491
00:29:28,975 --> 00:29:31,269
"Is there anything
I could've done differently?"
492
00:29:31,853 --> 00:29:34,063
[reporter 1] The commission
investigating the 9/11 attacks
493
00:29:34,147 --> 00:29:36,065
came out firing this morning.
494
00:29:36,149 --> 00:29:38,860
[reporter 2] Specifically,
the CIA's handling of the al-Qaida threat
495
00:29:38,943 --> 00:29:40,695
before September 11.
496
00:29:41,279 --> 00:29:45,575
{\an8}[Bennett] The only time I got angry
was really after the 9/11 Commission,
497
00:29:45,658 --> 00:29:47,327
when they blamed us.
498
00:29:47,911 --> 00:29:49,120
That made me angry.
499
00:29:49,204 --> 00:29:53,166
[reporter 2] The Commission says neither
president had adequate intelligence.
500
00:29:53,249 --> 00:29:56,169
How in God's name
are you supposed to imagine a threat
501
00:29:56,252 --> 00:29:58,087
if the facts are being withheld from you?
502
00:30:00,006 --> 00:30:01,966
[Bennett] Seeing
The 9/11 Commission Report
503
00:30:02,050 --> 00:30:04,469
go on The New York Times Best Seller list,
504
00:30:04,969 --> 00:30:09,891
knowing that it singled out
the handful of us
505
00:30:09,974 --> 00:30:15,146
who had been trying,
you know, to the best of our ability,
506
00:30:15,939 --> 00:30:20,151
to have them accuse us
of failing to imagine the attack,
507
00:30:20,235 --> 00:30:21,945
failing to connect the dots,
508
00:30:23,071 --> 00:30:26,950
it… it was so painful,
509
00:30:27,700 --> 00:30:31,287
and we couldn't…
we couldn't defend ourselves.
510
00:30:33,540 --> 00:30:36,084
[Storer] I've lived with that
for 20 years. [sniffles]
511
00:30:36,167 --> 00:30:40,463
And it's only recently that
I've realized that it just doesn't matter.
512
00:30:40,547 --> 00:30:42,757
[laughs] It doesn't matter what we did.
513
00:30:42,841 --> 00:30:45,593
Unless we had said, "Date, time, place,"
514
00:30:45,677 --> 00:30:48,638
and thwarted the attack,
we were gonna get blamed.
515
00:30:49,389 --> 00:30:50,265
And…
516
00:30:51,558 --> 00:30:55,812
[sighs] So I did… I did what I could,
and that's all you can do.
517
00:30:58,773 --> 00:31:00,650
[clicking]
518
00:31:00,733 --> 00:31:02,735
[tense music playing]
519
00:31:04,112 --> 00:31:07,323
[reporter 1] Today, President Bush hosted
the man who will be president
520
00:31:07,407 --> 00:31:09,033
in less than two and a half months.
521
00:31:09,117 --> 00:31:11,911
When Barack Obama is sworn in
on January 20th,
522
00:31:11,995 --> 00:31:13,830
he'll inherit a world of trouble.
523
00:31:13,913 --> 00:31:17,208
But today, it was one gracious couple
welcoming another
524
00:31:17,292 --> 00:31:19,502
to their new home and new life.
525
00:31:21,045 --> 00:31:23,840
[reporter 2] What is the most urgent
threat when it comes to security
526
00:31:23,923 --> 00:31:25,508
that Barack Obama has to deal with?
527
00:31:25,592 --> 00:31:28,011
[Bush] The most urgent threat
that he'll have to deal with
528
00:31:28,094 --> 00:31:30,221
is an attack on our homeland.
529
00:31:32,557 --> 00:31:34,475
And I wish I could report
that's not the case,
530
00:31:34,559 --> 00:31:35,977
but there's still an enemy out there
531
00:31:36,060 --> 00:31:38,229
that would like
to inflict damage on America.
532
00:31:39,981 --> 00:31:42,692
[man] Taking out bin Laden was about
cutting off the head of al-Qaida,
533
00:31:42,775 --> 00:31:46,905
but it was also about the closest thing
that the United States was gonna get
534
00:31:46,988 --> 00:31:48,948
to a victory in… in the war on terror.
535
00:31:53,411 --> 00:31:55,038
{\an8}So when Obama comes into office,
536
00:31:55,121 --> 00:31:58,625
he gives a directive
to double down on the bin Laden search.
537
00:31:59,375 --> 00:32:02,587
What was prepared was a kind
of presidential directive to the CIA
538
00:32:02,670 --> 00:32:04,964
that's like,
"I wanna do more to get bin Laden."
539
00:32:06,758 --> 00:32:10,178
"I'm sure you're working on this,
but move this up the priority chain,
540
00:32:10,261 --> 00:32:12,388
put more people on it,
put more resources on it,
541
00:32:12,472 --> 00:32:16,017
and importantly,
I want regular updates about this."
542
00:32:18,436 --> 00:32:20,772
[man] There was always
a challenge included
543
00:32:20,855 --> 00:32:23,691
in every job that I took in Washington.
544
00:32:27,070 --> 00:32:30,907
It was soon after I was sworn in
that I went to the Oval Office
545
00:32:30,990 --> 00:32:32,241
to meet with the president,
546
00:32:32,825 --> 00:32:37,914
and he said my primary task
as the director of the CIA
547
00:32:38,414 --> 00:32:41,167
was to go after and get bin Laden.
548
00:32:41,250 --> 00:32:42,835
[heartbeat pounding]
549
00:32:42,919 --> 00:32:47,423
[Panetta] My first step was
to call the key people from the CIA
550
00:32:47,507 --> 00:32:50,802
and basically say,
"Where are we? What's going on?"
551
00:32:50,885 --> 00:32:52,387
[ominous music playing]
552
00:32:55,390 --> 00:32:59,769
[Morell] Under President Obama,
I became deputy director of the CIA.
553
00:33:00,395 --> 00:33:02,730
The CIA never stopped looking.
554
00:33:02,814 --> 00:33:04,399
We followed every lead.
555
00:33:04,482 --> 00:33:07,360
We were trying desperately
to figure out where bin Laden was,
556
00:33:07,443 --> 00:33:09,070
and not getting closer.
557
00:33:09,654 --> 00:33:14,867
I decided to appoint a task force
with no other responsibility
558
00:33:14,951 --> 00:33:16,828
but to go after bin Laden.
559
00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:22,375
Leon Panetta put an immense amount
of pressure on you to show progress.
560
00:33:22,458 --> 00:33:24,460
[Panetta] When you're
an intelligence agency,
561
00:33:24,544 --> 00:33:29,340
what you've gotta do is develop
as many possibilities as you can
562
00:33:29,424 --> 00:33:30,425
that can open a door.
563
00:33:31,217 --> 00:33:34,429
And one of those possibilities came to us
564
00:33:34,512 --> 00:33:37,724
from one of our allied countries
in the Middle East.
565
00:33:38,891 --> 00:33:40,810
[clicking]
566
00:33:45,982 --> 00:33:49,819
[Morell] In 2009,
the Jordanians had in their custody
567
00:33:49,902 --> 00:33:51,571
a physician named al-Balawi.
568
00:33:52,155 --> 00:33:57,368
He was arrested because he was espousing
the views of a jihadist,
569
00:33:57,452 --> 00:33:58,828
the views of al-Qaida.
570
00:33:58,911 --> 00:34:04,125
[Bennett] He had been writing online
in support of al-Qaida's extremism.
571
00:34:04,667 --> 00:34:07,670
He saw himself as a violent member
of the mujahideen,
572
00:34:08,254 --> 00:34:11,382
someone who was going to fight
on behalf of his faith.
573
00:34:12,383 --> 00:34:15,344
[Morell] The Jordanians
came to us and said,
574
00:34:15,428 --> 00:34:21,059
"We think we would be able to turn him
and use him as an asset against al-Qaida."
575
00:34:21,142 --> 00:34:22,268
"Are you interested?"
576
00:34:23,186 --> 00:34:24,520
We said, "Absolutely."
577
00:34:24,604 --> 00:34:25,730
[dramatic music playing]
578
00:34:25,813 --> 00:34:29,776
[Morell] His incentive at this point
is not being in jail,
579
00:34:30,276 --> 00:34:34,197
and if he delivers
significant al-Qaida leaders,
580
00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:35,782
significant reward.
581
00:34:37,825 --> 00:34:42,246
That resulted in the Jordanians
sending him to Afghanistan
582
00:34:42,330 --> 00:34:43,748
to penetrate al-Qaida.
583
00:34:45,708 --> 00:34:49,504
The agency has been called risk-averse
so many times in the past.
584
00:34:49,587 --> 00:34:51,881
There's nothing risk-averse about it.
585
00:34:52,799 --> 00:34:54,300
This was a big gamble.
586
00:34:55,676 --> 00:34:57,345
And then…
587
00:34:59,305 --> 00:35:02,308
it was as if he just disappeared
into thin air.
588
00:35:03,768 --> 00:35:04,936
Pfft!
589
00:35:05,645 --> 00:35:07,814
Into the fog, into the ether.
590
00:35:08,564 --> 00:35:09,732
He went dark.
591
00:35:09,816 --> 00:35:11,651
[tense music playing]
592
00:35:11,734 --> 00:35:13,361
[Miller] Did he just run away?
593
00:35:14,529 --> 00:35:17,907
Did they figure out he was a spy
and kill him?
594
00:35:18,825 --> 00:35:19,909
What happened?
595
00:35:22,328 --> 00:35:24,038
A long time goes by.
596
00:35:24,539 --> 00:35:26,415
First weeks, then longer.
597
00:35:27,166 --> 00:35:29,502
[clicking]
598
00:35:32,630 --> 00:35:34,423
[Morell] It took several months.
599
00:35:36,425 --> 00:35:41,430
And then he reported back
that he is with al-Qaida's number two…
600
00:35:43,474 --> 00:35:44,642
Zawahiri.
601
00:35:44,725 --> 00:35:49,021
They actually got film of him
being close to Zawahiri. It was crazy.
602
00:35:49,105 --> 00:35:51,732
[Miller] This is
a potentially very big deal.
603
00:35:51,816 --> 00:35:55,319
[Morell] This would be an opportunity
to get at the number two.
604
00:35:56,654 --> 00:35:58,739
Maybe even more than the number two.
605
00:36:01,409 --> 00:36:02,243
Bin Laden.
606
00:36:03,035 --> 00:36:04,912
For us, that's a huge opportunity.
607
00:36:05,955 --> 00:36:11,961
But before we would even think about
operationalizing this opportunity,
608
00:36:12,044 --> 00:36:13,296
we wanted to meet him.
609
00:36:14,255 --> 00:36:16,716
We wanted to make sure
that he was the real deal.
610
00:36:18,384 --> 00:36:23,097
We set up a meeting in Afghanistan
at a place called Khost,
611
00:36:23,181 --> 00:36:25,892
which is near the border with Pakistan.
612
00:36:30,813 --> 00:36:34,108
[clicking]
613
00:36:36,402 --> 00:36:39,822
[Walder] When you develop a source
in terrorist groups,
614
00:36:40,323 --> 00:36:41,908
that's really hard to do.
615
00:36:43,201 --> 00:36:46,454
You're basically asking someone
to flip on, like, their own blood.
616
00:36:46,954 --> 00:36:48,581
It's near impossible.
617
00:36:52,335 --> 00:36:56,923
[Morell] You can imagine
the thinking of the officers in Khost.
618
00:36:58,382 --> 00:37:00,593
A guy who might have access
619
00:37:01,302 --> 00:37:04,138
to the number two in al-Qaida
is coming to see you.
620
00:37:04,847 --> 00:37:06,724
[radio chatter]
621
00:37:06,807 --> 00:37:10,186
[Morell] Do you wanna put him
through multiple security screenings,
622
00:37:10,269 --> 00:37:11,395
maybe turn him off?
623
00:37:11,896 --> 00:37:13,940
Or do you wanna welcome him
with open arms,
624
00:37:14,023 --> 00:37:15,942
make him feel like one of us?
625
00:37:16,025 --> 00:37:18,027
[radio chatter continues]
626
00:37:19,820 --> 00:37:23,199
[Bennett] Khost became
such a big operation.
627
00:37:24,617 --> 00:37:28,371
And we were getting so close
628
00:37:29,038 --> 00:37:31,374
to a real lead on where bin Laden was.
629
00:37:34,418 --> 00:37:37,838
When he came into the base,
cars can't just drive up.
630
00:37:38,339 --> 00:37:40,591
They're slowed down through checkpoints.
631
00:37:41,717 --> 00:37:44,887
[Miller] You go all the way
to the end of the base,
632
00:37:44,971 --> 00:37:47,515
and there is a small compound
633
00:37:47,598 --> 00:37:52,436
where the core CIA people
are gonna meet with him privately.
634
00:37:53,688 --> 00:37:56,607
[Panetta] He finally got
to where our CIA officers were,
635
00:37:56,691 --> 00:37:57,692
and they all came out
636
00:37:57,775 --> 00:38:00,903
because they'd been waiting
for this meeting, to greet him.
637
00:38:02,613 --> 00:38:05,032
[Miller] He's considered
potentially the golden goose.
638
00:38:05,116 --> 00:38:08,828
This guy could bring us to where
we've never been able to go before.
639
00:38:10,037 --> 00:38:12,164
So they came out to the car.
640
00:38:13,791 --> 00:38:15,251
This was something big.
641
00:38:17,670 --> 00:38:18,963
This was a turning point.
642
00:38:21,007 --> 00:38:24,468
[clicking]
643
00:38:29,140 --> 00:38:32,184
[man] I am Dr. Abu Dujana al-Khorasani,
Jordanian.
644
00:38:32,768 --> 00:38:35,521
The Jordanian
and the American intelligence services
645
00:38:35,604 --> 00:38:39,066
offered me millions of dollars
to work with them
646
00:38:39,150 --> 00:38:41,610
and spy on mujahideen here.
647
00:38:41,694 --> 00:38:43,070
But Alhamdulillah,
648
00:38:43,154 --> 00:38:44,780
I came to the mujahideen,
649
00:38:44,864 --> 00:38:46,824
and I told them everything,
650
00:38:46,907 --> 00:38:50,119
and we arranged together this attack.
651
00:38:53,039 --> 00:38:54,832
We'll get you, CIA team.
652
00:38:55,750 --> 00:38:59,712
Inshallah, we'll come to you
from unexpected ways.
653
00:39:00,212 --> 00:39:02,214
[tense music playing]
654
00:39:04,383 --> 00:39:05,634
This is for you.
655
00:39:06,469 --> 00:39:07,595
It's not watch.
656
00:39:08,095 --> 00:39:09,180
It's detonator.
657
00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:11,515
You will be sent to the hell.
658
00:39:12,016 --> 00:39:14,018
[music intensifying]
659
00:39:22,568 --> 00:39:24,570
[dramatic theme music playing]