good morning to you. i'm carol costello. let's start this morning with breaking news. it's pretty big. we have just learned that an american citizen linked to al qaeda has been killed. an official statement from the yemen defense ministry confirmed that anwar alawlaki is dead. this is the man who has radical liezed.

>> reporter: he's seen as someone who can recruit far and wide. he's a yemeni citizen. he's been hiding there for several years. he's a popular figure in yemen. he's so popular that many people thought that after osama bin laden was killed that he might ascend the hierarchy of al qaeda and be the next leader. he's a charismatic figure. he's someone who is putting his statements on the internet. a different language than a previous generation of al qaeda leaders. able to bring more members into the fold. and just a few months ago, a few days after osama bin laden was killed, a drone strike targeted

anwar al awlaki in yemen. u.s. officials at the time confirmed that. he narrowly escaped that attack. then he went back into hiding. he's been a target there for awhile now. the yemeni tried to get him last year. they gave him a guilty verdict. they could never find him. but this is something also that's not really so much of a coincidence. the yemen president said he's the number one ally when it comes to fighting al qaeda. so if this really is true, there have been other reports in the past that anwar al awlaki was killed and he wasn't. this is something that's going to enable him to say that says i shouldn't have stepped aside. you need the figure head to be able to fight this organization.

i come back just a few days later and we're able to kill anwar al awlaki. it's something that's going to boost allies and the way he's perceived as somebody who is able to fight al qaeda. >> fascinating stuff. i know you're continuing to do some reporting on this. we'll let you go. mohammed jamjoom reporting on the death of anwar al awlaki. many governments saying that he's been killed allow with some of his followers. we're not exactly sure how, but if indeed this man is dead, that would be big for the united states since he's inspirational in the al qaeda movement. in other news this morning, if you're a fan of bank fees, and i know you are, you're going to love this. starting next year, bank of america plans to charge $5 a month for using your debit card. it doesn't matter if you use it once or a bunch of times. the fee will not apply to atm

withdrawals. the man who finally called 911 for michael jackson's house says conrad murray put him on cleanup patrol before paramedics arrived. here's jackson's director of logistics talking about murray's instructions. >> he reached over and grabbed a handful of viles and reached out to me and said, put these in a bag. >> that man went on to tell jurors about the moment he found out two of jackson's children were watching their dying father. >> they were right behind me. and paris screamed out, daddy. dr. conrad murray said, don't let them see their dad like this. >> today we're expecting to hear testimony from paramedics. lawyers for amanda knocks

told jurors their only option is to clear their client of guilt and overturn her conviction in the 2009 murder of her roommate. they are used their final arguments to counter portrayals. they say knox was not allowed a translator when arrested. today the prosecution gets a rebuttal. we'll get a look inside the italian prison where knox is being held from the perspective of a rock band that plays for inmates. the band has struck up a friendship with knox. you might have seen her there in the red shirt. she's actually letting lose. >> she's struggling. she knows. she knows she shouldn't be there. she's struggling with the fact she can't be with the people she loves and do the things she

loves to do. >> and as i said, knox and her former boyfriend will give their final statements on monday before the jury deliberates a ruling. a massachusetts man officially has been charged for his alleged terror plot against washington, d.c. he plans to fill remote-controlled model airplanes like those with explosives and attack the pentagon and u.s. capital. neighbors in his upper middle class neighborhood on his street about 30 minutes from boston paint him as a young man who liked to keep to himself. >> a loner. he would float up and down the street always with his head down. >> the 26-year-old was arrested after federal agents posing as al qaeda members delivered what the suspect thought was explosives. a detention hearing is on the schedule for monday. a mob attacked the u.s. ambassador in syria. what's described as an armed

violent mob attacked robert ford during a visit with an opposition leader. he was not hurt, but it is similar to a confrontation last month. secretary of state hillary clinton calls the situation ugly. >> this assault is clearly part of an ongoing campaign of intimidation aimed at not only american diplomats, but diplomats from other countries. observers who are raising questions about what's going on inside syria. >> an opposition group says 49 people have been killed in western syria over the past two days in fighting between pro and antigovernment forces. nearly 40 current or former boeing workers are now facing drug charges. they are accused of illegally selling, having, or trying to buy prescription drugs like oxycotten and sa nax.

boeing said they cooperated with the investigation, and the quality of the aircraft was not affected. let's head to atlanta to check in with rob. expecting any flight delays today? >> we have a pretty decent storm moving across the great lakes. big winds in chicago and the western great lakes. that's going to be a problem. here's what it looks like. it's going to be the one storm that shakes up the weather pattern that's been causing the dreary and muggy and unsettled weather across the northeast. it will replace it with a cooler and still some unsettled weather there. winds have been gugs over 30 miles an hour in chicago. we expect to see some delays. probably over an hour throughout the day today. maybe a little more in the way of rain in cleveland. enough to cause problems at the new york metro airports. still another balmy day across the east coast. look at chicago and minneapolis. barely touching 60 in those spots. we'll see lake effect showers over the weekend.

some might mix with snow at times across parts of ohio, pennsylvania, and west virginia. meanwhi meanwhile, it's still hurricane season. hurricane ophelia is now a category two storm. it will pass by bermuda. tropical storm warnings are posted for that island. it will make a run at our friends in newfoundland sunday night into monday. likely as a morphed storm. it will have hurricane-force winds. this will be the second time this year that newfoundland gets hit by a hurricane. we have been relatively lucky so far to not have a major storm here. we're waiting for hurricane season to be done. hopefully, we'll talk about a man who was caught smuggling humming birds in his pants. caught at airport security. we'll have pictures too. >> oh, great. i can't wait for that. >> see you then. >> thank you, rob.

we needed to smile. we're continuing to follow this breaking news on the death of an american citizen linked to al qaeda. anwar al awlaki is dead. some of his followers were also killed. no word on exactly how he and his followers were killed. anwar al awlaki is suspected in playing a key part in the failed underwear bomber incident in 2009. this man is suspected of encouraging nadal hasan to kill 13 fellow soldiers at fort hood in 2009. he was named a global terrorist by the treasury department. we have just learned that accused terrorist anwar al awlaki is dead. it's 10 minutes past the hour. ed to recovery. proper nutrition can help you get back on your feet. three out of four doctors recommend the ensure brand for extra nutrition. ensure clinical strength has revigor and thirteen grams of protein

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it is 12 minutes past the hour. just a couple weeks ago, we reported that netflix lost 1 million customers. now its stock has taken quite a hit. let's head to hong kong. people are mad at netflix. everybody is. even investors. >> very mad. other issues as well. shares of netflix fell 11% hitting its lowest price in a year. the stock has fallen more than 60% from its all time high. it's all thanks to the customer backlash over a video service price hike. netflix is also facing stiff

competition from amazon, which unvailed their tablet this week. the fire is designed to work with its own video service. and microsoft plans to offer video streaming through xbox live. back to you. >> let's talk about tweets and how they are sort of like mood rings. the mood rings of the '70s. >> i like that. i was going to say this is like a focus group. i like mood rings. researchers studied the mood of 2.4 million people on twitter. they read through 509 million tweets and learn that people tend to wake up in a good mood, which worsens during the day, and picks up from dinner time to bedtime. no big headline there. but the researchers also launched a website where you can explore more behavioral results from this massive twitter data

set. for instance, we found there was a spike in mentions of cnn on thursday nights on twitter. don't know why, but the data is there. check it out. researchers are calling it a game changer for behavioral research. back to you. >> thursday nights? really? >> yeah. go figure. you can go and play around with it. you can add different terms like cnn, breakfast, whatever it is. you can see during the time of the day or days of the week, you get a spike in mentions on twitter. it's fun. >> that's amazing. i'm going to do it after the show. thank you. the onion is hilarious, unless you work for the capital police in washington. we'll tell you about the oniony tweet that left a really bad taste in their mouths.

good morning to you. late night comedians take gabs at obama. here's your punchline. >> we have a big fundraiser in west hollywood. president obama was heckled by a protester who called him the antichrist. he was detained and released without being charged and then

later offered his own show on fox news. >> the president is doing whatever he can to appeal to voters now. he held an event at the white house yesterday. >> there are laws in the books that i have to enforce. >> no. you can change the laws. you are el president. >>. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> it was a miracle. obama care. it's a beautiful plan. >> in a speech yesterday, michelle bachmann told students that it's okay to settle for cake batter if the local yogurt shop is out of cookies and

cream. yeah. it was in response to the question, can you give us a food-based metaphor that explains your marriage? >> oh, ouch. time now for your political ticker with tim farley. live from washington. that was a low blow. so let's turn the corner shall we. we could learn more about the fiscal health of the presidential campaigns this week. >> today is the end of the quarter obviously. the 15th of october is when the numbers are due to the elections commission. but the game here is how to position this and how to spin it. there will be numbers coming out. boston globe report that mitt romney's campaign will collect around $11 million. we're looking at $5 million from

ron paul. the key is when the announcements are made and also how much they get compared to what they thought they would get. even the presidential campaign pretty soft that quarter. partly the economy and partly the debate in washington over the debt ceiling being raised. it will be fun to watch as the numbers come out throughout the day, carol. >> michelle bachmann's numbers. we heard ed rollens say her campaign was just about broke. she isn't releasing fundraising numbers for a dup l more weeks. is that an even more ominous sign? >> it's a pretty good observation there. it's probably not -- they will come out on the 15th, which is when they are required to. on the other hand, maybe they have good news and are just lowering expectations for us and are trying to look weak and will come out looking strong. that's what the spin is all about, carol. >> let's talk about the onion. most people love the onion. but capital police certainly weren't laughing at a joke tweet

about armed congressmen holding children hostage. it was supposedly this alleged plot to attack the capitol and capitol police took it seriously. >> it was a tweet. sometimes those things get truncated. it means it raises questions. if they are getting questions from the reportsers or the public at large, it indicates there may have been a problem. i'm just as much enjoying the snark of the onion. given the recent arrest of somebody who was thinking of trying to attack the capital and you saw what happened when the earthquake hit and people flashed back to 2001 and 9/11, for me it's a little over the top. the onion can keep making fun of pl political pun dants, but at least it doesn't disrupt the safety in d.c. that's just my theory. >> i think you're on to

something there. tim farley, host of morning briefing. thank you for joining us. >> have a great weekend. >> you too. thank you. we're continuing to follow this breaking news. we have word from the yemeni government that anwar al awlaki, a terrorist linked to the al qaeda movement, is dead. this is the man who inspired nadal hasan, the fort hood shooter. he also inspired the underwear bomber, the guy who tried to bring down the plane in detroit on christmas day a couple years ago. if this is true, this is big news. anwar al awlaki was supposedly responsible for radical liezing people. he was a very charismatic figure. we are following this story. we'll take a quick break and be back with more. she won't eat eggs without hot sauce. she has kind of funny looking toes. she's always touching my hair. and she does this dancing finger thing.

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24 minutes past the hour. we have just learned that accused terrorist anwar al awlaki has been killed supposedly in yemen. the yemeni government is telling us this. this guy is the inspirational voice for al qaeda. we have our pentagon reporter, barbara starr on the phone right now. it's tough to get information, but what do you know? >> reporter: what we're really looking for is the confirmation of the report from the yemeni government that this has happened. it will be key to whether it is

the yemeni forces or u.s. forces that carried out this attack, if true. it is really important to know that u.s. special forces have been in and out of yemen for some time. we know there was a contingent there recently working on training and counterterrorism assistance, if you will, with the yemenis. we don't know if the u.s. troops were involved, but there were u.s. troops there recently. multiple military sources have told us that. as you said, one of the key things about awlaki is his involvement with al qaeda in yemen. they in recent years have proved to be the one terrorist group that essentially could reach out and touch inside the united states through the underwear bomber incident, the times square incident, whether it was

inspired by al awlaki or carried out at his orders, still it was this extraordinary influence that he carried in recent years with these very small attack attempts, but yet attack attempts that could reach out and touch inside the united states for one of the few times since 9/11 when these individual attackers really made an effort to do something in this country. >> we're still trying to get information. we'll be back after this. get back on your feet.er u three out of four doctors recommend the ensure brand for extra nutrition. ensure clinical strength has revigor and thirteen grams of protein to protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. and immune balance to help support your immune system. ensure clinical strength... helping you to bounce back. ensure! nutrition in charge!

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good morning to you. it is friday, september 30th. this is your a.m. wakeup call. i'm carol costello. it's just about 30 minutes past

the hour. let's start with our breaking news this morning. we have just learned that an american citizen linked to al qaeda has been killed. an official statement from the yemeni defense ministry says anwar al awlaki is dead. let's talk with mohammed jamjoom. what more can you tell us? >> reporter: we don't yet have a lot of details from the yemenis. there's a statement saying he was killed. this is huge news. al awlaki has been a fugitive on the run for many years now. he's a charismatic figure in yemen. he's considered very popular. he's somebody who is popular within the al qaeda organization. because he speaks fluent english. he is very internet savvy. he's bringing up an entire new generation of al qaeda.

he might be in the leader in waiting of al qaeda. that didn't happen. a few days after osama bin laden was killed, we heard from u.s. officials and yemeni officials that a drone strike had targeted anwar al awlaki, but he narrowly escaped that. the yemeni officials have been trying to capture or kill al awlaki for some time. u.s. officials have been trying to kill him for some time. they consider him to be one of the most dangerous al qaeda members there is because he's such a popular figure and because he was able to really rally people to the cause and bring people to yemen and inspire them in trying to launch attacks on the west. >> just want to share this with americans. awlaki was expected to have a key part in the underwear bomber. also of encouraging nadal hasan

to kill 13 fellow soldiers at fort hood in 2009. so that this guy may be dead is important for american security. how likely is it, mohammed, that the united states played a role in al awlaki's death? >> reporter: i would say it's likely. you probably won't hear that right away, but we know that u.s. drones, whether they are operated by the u.s. or whether it's intelligence sharing, that drone strikes have been basically planned by the u.s. in the past in trying to go after al awlaki. the u.s. after osama bin laden's death confirmed that they were involved in the drone strike that went after al awlaki and narrow narrowly missed him. there's been a lot of information sharing. so i would say it's more than likely that the u.s. played a role, but it probably will be a

little while before the u.s. would confirm that. >> you were telling us something interesting before that the yemeni leader had just come back to the country. and this killing might be politically motivated. >> reporter: the yemeni president, who has been recooperating after surviving an assassination attempt, just returned to yemen a few days ago. he's been under increased national pressure to step aside. there's a lot of anger directed at him in yemen. there's a huge antigovernment protest move there. so many allies of yemen has been asking him to step aside and to find a power transfer. that's the best thing for yemen. they don't want yemen to be destabilized. the yemeni president's argument

has always been they won't be able to go after terrorists without him. the timing is coincidental. if he's able to say i came back and a few days later we were able to kill the most wanted al qaeda person out there right now, this would be a big victory for him. and the countries that have been calling for him to step aside would have to modify that somewhat. it would be a big victory for him. the timing doesn't seem coincidental. he's been making a lot of noise about going after al qaeda and trying to target al awlaki. this is certainly something that would bolster his chances in the eyes of the international community to try to hold on to power a little longer in that country. >> let's talk about al qaeda itself. after osama bin laden's death, people pretty much thought al qaeda was weakened beyond

repair. there wasn't a leader to put into his place. you mentioned that al awlaki might have been that leader. that he might be dead, is this the death now for al qaeda? >> i don't think it's the death now, but what you have seen in the past few months when it comes to al qaeda, it is a weakened organization. one of the reasons they are weakened is because they are not as relevant anymore. the uprising that has taken root in the middle east and that region, al qaeda hasn't played a role. they have sort of been forgotten. they haven't played any role in bringing down leaders or government in this prodemocracy movement. al qaeda is still a very powerful organization. it's the most threatening wing of the al qaeda movement. it's an emboldened group.

only about 700 members, but they have tried to launch sophisticated attacks against the u.s. and other countries in the past few years. yemen is an impoverished country. many parts of it are bold. they can hide very effectively from the authorities and can't be found. even though the organization itself as a whole is much more diminished in stature than a few years ago, and many people think it might be dying out, in yemen it's still resur gent. some entire towns have been taken over by al qaeda. that's really scared u.s. and other countries. they want to make sure it's taken care of. there's still a lot more work to

be done when it comes to trying to snuff out al qaeda. >> thank you so much. let's head live to washington now. dan, good morning. the white house is certain to welcome this news that anwar al awlaki may be dead. >> reporter: that's right. in fact, i was just told he is dead. president obama giving the order last year for capture or kill. but by no means does this mean it is the end of this threat from this group. but no doubt, it is good news for this administration to be able to get a target like that, who had posed a threat to the u.s. within these connected threats against the u.s. a senior administration official

confirming that he is dead. officials are saying they will have more information coming shortly. >> how is it likely that the united states played a part in this death? >> reporter: it's unclear at this point. there's a story at least on this end that's still developing. the u.s. has been very active in that region with drone strikes. there will be a couple reports over the past year that u.s. drone strikes had killed him. those reports turned out not to be correct. so it's unclear. at least we have not confirmed yet, that the u.s. operations there in yemen air strikes and what was responsible for his death. the senior administration official just confirming that he is dead. >> how big a threat was this man as far as the white house was concerned? >> reporter: he was certainly considered a big threat. we're not talking about osama

bin laden, but certainly in that peninsula, he was considered a significant threat. that's why president obama issued a capture or kill order. what's interesting is at the time his father wrote a letter to the president suggesting that his son was not part of al qaeda. but nonetheless, u.s. considering him a threat. and confirming this morning that, in fact, he is dead. >> just to remind people. this al awlaki is expected to play a part in the failed underwear bomber incident in 2009 in detroit. he's also expected of encouraging nadal hasan to kill 13 fellow sol idiers in 2009. so you can see why the united states might welcome this news that this terrorist leader is dead. the interesting thing about this man is he was born in new mexico.

he's an american citizen. he was educated in the united states. he attended mosques within the united states. i believe he left the country shortly after 9/11. and recently, he's been hiding out in the mountains of yemen. there has been this effort to find this man on the part of the americans in cooperation with the yemenis. >> that's right. and i think you bring up a very good point. this was an unusual effort by u.s. to go after a u.s. citizen. in the past, some of the other targets were not u.s. citizens, and i think that's why this particular case in addition to the fact he's connected to the high profile terrorists, he was also a u.s. citizen. so that is correct. this was a safe target for the administration. it does present an issue. we hope to get more information

shortly about what role the u.s. played in getting him. in fact, were the u.s. drone attacks in that area responsible for his death as some reports have suggested. >> all right. we have just learned that anwar al awlaki is dead. that has been confirmed by u.s. officials. don't know exactly how he died just yet. we'll have more details as soon as they come into us. [ boy ] hey, i thought these were electric? uh, it is, yeah, it's a chevy volt. so what are you doing at a gas station? well it still takes gas to go farther. but you're not getting gas. true. not this time. uh, don't have to gas up very often. so you have to go to the bathroom? no. yes you do. thought these were electric? yes, it's a uh, a chevy volt. so what are you doing at a gas station?

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government, although u.s. forces might have been involved. it is a victory in the fight against terrorists, especially al qaeda throughout the world. in other news, the man who finally called 911 to michael jackson's house on the day he died says dr. conrad murray put him on cleanup patrol before paramedics arrived. murray is on trial for the involuntary manslaughter case. don lemon is in los angeles. >> reporter: so much time was lost in this case. so much time was lost according to prosecutors. when roberto alvarez, who is the head of the security for michael jackson, when he got to the front door, he says he saw conrad murray standing over the banister on the second floor looking at him, exasperated. he runs upstairs. by the time he gets upstairs and ushers the children away and gets into the room, instead of

calling 911, he said conrad murray started this whole cleanup campaign before calling 911. >> he reached over and grabbed a handful of viles. he reached out to me and said, here, put these in a bag. >> reporter: he said now take this. put this in the plastic bag. take this and put it in the blue bag. so they are going to say they were losing crucial moments. then the 911 call. here it is. >> did anybody witness what happened? >> no. just the doctor, sir. >> so the doctor is there? >> what happened, sir?

>> we're on our way. u.s. just pass this on to paramedics. >> thank you, sir. >> okay. we're on our way. we'll be there shortly. >> thank you. thank you. >> mr. alvarez, was that your voice? >> yes. >> was that difficult to hear? >> it is. >> reporter: that was just a snippet of that 911 call. that took a long time too. they put him on hold and transferred him and had more conversation with him. a lot of time was lost here. that's what the prosecution is trying to drive home. not only time was lost, but that conrad murray was trying to clean up evidence, carol. >> it's just so bizarre that it took so long to call 911. i know there was some testimony from the chef as well and t security man ran in. the jackson family is in the

courtroom hearing all this. how do they seem to be holding up? >> reporter: you took the words out of my mouth. there was a lot of time lost. maybe everyone was thinking so you called or you called or this is your responsibility. i don't know. but i was sitting in front of the jacksons this time yesterday in court. as that 911 call came on, i turned and looked. they were just sort of sitting there. some of them had had their heads down. they were looking at the mom to see if the mom needed tissues. she said, i'm okay. but the 911 call was about two minutes long. every time you hear, hold on. standby. you can hear them mumbling. like get there. even they are reliving it again. i want someone to get there. it was pause after pause after pause. finally they came. but what prosecutors are saying, they believe michael jackson was already dead and didn't have a chance. >> unbelievable.

don lemon, thanks so much as always. we'll have more on our breaking news. the al qaeda inspirational voice, let's say. the man born in america and hiding out in yemen, anwar al awlaki is dead. killed in an operation. we'll have more on this story after a break. [ male announcer ] it's a fact: your nutritional needs can go up when you're on the road to recovery. proper nutrition can help you get back on your feet. three out of four doctors recommend the ensure brand

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welcome back. it's 51 minutes past the hour. we continue to follow breaking news on the death of an american-born terrorist linked to al qaeda. anwar al awlaki is his name. a senior obama administration official is confirming to cnn that al awlaki is dead. mohammed jamjoom joins us on the phone. we know a little more at least about where he was killed. >> reporter: that's right. we have just gotten a statement from the yemeni embassy. they sent the location as to where he was killed. it was just about 140 kilometers from the capital. it happened about 9:55 a.m. local time. still not a lot more details. we're still trying to find out

if the u.s. played any role in intelligence sharing. if this was a drone strike? how it happened and how they gathered the intelligence. before now, al awlaki was widely believed to be in another province in yemen. that's a special homeland. it's a province that they pointed to when they believed that's where they thought he was hiding. >> just to remind our viewers who he is. he's responsible for the underwear bomber plot back in 2009 here in the united states in detroit. he inspired the fort hood shooter that killed 13 people in 2009 as well. do we know what al awlaki's life was like in yemen? >> we don't know. we have ideas from journalists in yemen who had spoken to him, but there's been a lot of rumors as well. some people in yemen claim that

al awlaki really wasn't in hiding. but the government officials said there's no way that he would be operate out in the o open. they believe he was hiding in the mountains in a cave somewhere. that's why he was so hard to find. that being said though, yemen outside the capital is a very rugged country. it's a country with a weak, central government. it's not a country that's looking for government-backed forces to find people that are on the run. especially if they are in provinces where there are tribes that support them. and many in yemen believe that al awlaki was a figure that was revered by certain tribes. he comes from a powerful tribe. they have affiliations with the government. and so it's just something that was very difficult to try to

find out exactly where he was. it was difficult to pinpoint. and for awhile, the yemeni government was afraid to go after al awlaki because he was so popular and he was such a revered figure. the government was always afraid. they thought they would lose a lot of ground support in yemen if they were perceived as openly going after anwar al awlaki no matter how much the u.s. wanted to capture or kill him. >> interesting. i know some of his followers were killed as well. that's according to the yemeni government. how many followers did he have there? was it a large following? >> reporter: it's hard to know. he was certainly a popular figure in yemen. he was a popular figure when it comes to the al qaeda organization. he was certainly the most charismatic figure in the organization. he was somebody who was so popular. in yemen they were afraid to go after him. they were afraid to be openly

seen as acting and trying to capture or kill him. as far as the actual numbers, it's hard to know. but in yemen when you're talking about al qaeda, even though it's the strongest link of the al qaeda organization, you're talking about only 700 people. that's one of the most fascinating things when it comes to counterterrorism forces and officials in yemen. even though the numbers aren't large, analysts say maybe 700 to 1,000 active members, but it's an emboldened group. it's people who have learned from other al qaeda terrorists and have been able to launch spectacular attacks and sophisticated attacks from their base in the mountains of yemen. that would seem to be counterintuitive. you wouldn't think they would be able to do that in such a rugged terrain. that's why they have been targeted. that's why anwar al awlaki has been targeted. >> we have to take a break, but

we'll be back with more on this breaking news that anwar al breaking news that anwar al awlaki has been killed in yemen. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

good morning to you. it's friday, september 30th. allie has the day off. we begin with breaking news. the leader of al qaeda is dead.

>> the administration is confirming this for us. he was killed along with other al qaeda operatives. the facts are still sketchy. the u.s. government has not announced it yet, but al awlaki was considered more dangerous than osama bin laden by some experts since he was a u.s. citizen. that means he has the passport and can travel so many places. he was linked to the accused underwear bomber and the accused fort hood shooter. he was called the internet bin laden because of his skill for recruiting terrorists on the web. >> joining us now for more on the phone is fran townsend. this is great news in the war on terror. >> reporter: it is terrific news. al awlaki has ties going back to some of the 9/11 hijackers.