apple presenter but ecstatic nation, confidence, crisis, and compromise, 1848-1877. we wrap up tonight primetime programming at 11:00 p.m. eastern with mac griswold, author of the manor, three centuries at a slave plantation on l.i. that all happened tonight on book tv. >> peter lance talks about gangster gregory scarpa next on book tv. a high-level member of the colombo crime family. and his role as an informant for the fbi going back to the early 1960's. mr. scarpa committed many of his crimes, including many murders, while working as an informant. this is an hour 45 minutes. [applause] >> okay. i feel like i know you people already. how is that?

their i am. okay. now, first of all, i have to -- i just have to get a shot up to this museum. i have been to museums. we all went over kids in washington to the smithsonian because we want to look for john doe lungers' -- that's why we went to the smithsonian. this museum is absolutely extraordinary. it's astonishing that not only the depth and breadth of the research that went into this, but the multimedia displays, those of you are physically here understand what i'm talking about, but the museum itself is in this beautiful former post office, this historic building in downtown las vegas. the displays are extraordinary. it's not -- on the seventh or eighth level of meaning when comes to of material. i haven't done a miniseries

eroded. it did not get made. this iconic book, the amazing -- the prosecutor and an associated press reporter. gasol a million copies worldwide. now the exhibit that they have on murder ink itself is phenomenal. but this is an example of the wall, just the kind of hall of shame if you will. gregory scarpa sr., the object of my book and then we will be talking about today, gregory scarpa senior is featured. military is kind of like one among dozens and dozens and dozens. but as you see, when we get into

of the presentation he was by far the most bloodthirsty and vicious and coming mafia so in the history of cosa nostra. we're just trying to get into him today in earnest as we discussed deal with the devil. but want to tell you briefly how i got on to the story. a lot of people say when i do these books -- when you see the book, those of you have already bought it, it's like to pals. you can use it to press your shirts. it has 210,000 words. eighty pages of documentary appendices, 2100 notes. three and notes in one sentence, and that is because when you do books critical of the fbi you have to be right or else there would get the ira still our view. just kidding. when people say to me, you write books on al qaeda and the mob.

are you ever afraid? am afraid of being audited by the irs. just joking, wherever the new irs guy is. anyway, i have done these three books. the first book was called a thousand years for revenge in 2003. that book, the premise of that book, the essence of that story was that i am determined and documented how the two attacks on the world trade center were done by the same relatively small al qaeda cell, less than 25 people dominated by the blind sheik using this bomb maker. and this genius bomb maker went on to do this september 11th plot. he went on to design the plot, executed by his uncle. i'm going to talk a lot about that today because the organized crime story and the terrorism story are really intertwined, and you will see what today. my second book, cover-up, supposed to be all about the 9/11 commission.

months before the book was due to go to my editor at harpercollins, i got this incredible treasure trove of evidence from a researcher, dozens of fbi 302 memos having to do with organized-crime figures to had -- half of that book was devoted to the terrorism organized crime story. my third book which is really a trilogy of books, triple krauss, focuses on the character on the cover who is the al qaeda master spy. i will talk about him. mahmoud was from the unit that murdered sadat in 1981, but he never got jail for it because he was an elite egyptian army officer who happened to be at fort bragg, north carolina at the time officer exchange program and later became the al qaeda master spy. you will see in a few minutes the kinds of things he did for osama bin laden and al qaeda. the other fel is yousef, the

two principal members of the new york cell that executed the first trade center bombing. he designed the 9/11 plot. a bomb maker trained in wales. a genius, criminal genius came up with the original hoping to knock tower one into tower to, only to have that accomplished essentially on 9/11. hal i got -- from the terrorism story to the mob story in has to do with an extraordinary event that happened in 1996. i have a cough drop in my mouth. i will put it down on the table because i probably sound like at marbles in my mouth. they captured him and rendered him back to new york. he is in the federal jail lenore manhattan and he is in cell number one. cell number three, if you will, is more thought, the original pilot. there were planning to execute the plot to take the towers down in 1995. a fire in the bomb factory.

he fled islamabad with his uncle. he was captured, rendered back to the u.s. he escaped only to go on and bring the towers down on 9/11. in the middle of these guys -- and this is one of these only in new york stories, gregory scarpa jr., the son of gregory sr., the principle of my book. and scarpa jr. is running out these two terrorists. they drill a hole in the wall of a jail cell of their passing notes back and forth. because his father, as you will hear, only to 30 days for 30 years of murder and mayhem, scarpa jr. is photographic the notes for the fbi in writing these guys out. they discovered ksm is hiding out. this and the hostage rescue team, the elite fbi keep the doreen team and told to wait. he spirited out of the country to the czech republic only to

execute the 9/11 republic. but that intelligence of was absolutely genuine and could have, if all the dots were connected and no one is faulting the fbi in this case for that, but it could have literally terminated the 9/11 plot years earlier. now, there's a timeline on my website for people who are watching this, you know, on c-span. he go to a peter lance. you will see on the right-hand side to my 32 pace timeline that basically -- you don't have to take notes today. you can enjoy this. there is no blue bookies them. relax. if you really want to get into this, the dna of the story, that can't be. that can't be. and then today you can challenge me. we will fly before it. you can see who was rider wrong. if you read that time when you will see that starting with the murder at the top of my go through the whole story and

connect the organized crime story first of the mozart of terror and again, his uncle, they guy the fbi identified in 2002 as the mastermind of 9/11 paris of the bombing in february 26, 1993, use of lazuli made a mistake a placement, not bomb design. i know that small picture, but he actually when he built this 1500-pound your rea nitrate fuel oil bomb and parked it in a ryder truck on the b-2 level committee hope that he would not the north tower into the south tower. in fact, he blew down through four floors of a 11-inch thick read part concrete. in effect did not work because it just blew down word. so he literally went over to jersey, watching this moldering towers, grinding his teeth. he promised that he would take the towers down eventually. and on 9/11 his uncle did.

the plot executed that he designed in 1975 executed by his uncle. now we are back. that is my introduction, and that is what you're going to here. will pay this off in space later. let's get to the reason you're here. let's get to the mafia story. this is a picture that the u.k. daily mail did a piece on my book when it first came out about three or four weeks ago. tabloid from england to the story. this is great dancing with linda, is common law wife. in the middle up there, the horses had seen from the godfather. and then mississippi burning. wait until you hear hal scarpa senior is the gatt this of the mississippi burning portrayed in that movie which they happen. scarpa see at various nicknames. they call them the killing

machine. he reveled in this. he felt that he had a license to kill. he would sign notes cayenne, killing machine. they called him the grim reaper, hannibal lector, the mad hatter. he had various names. he stopped counting after 50 murders, which makes him the most prolific killer in the history of cosa nostra, bar none and it makes him one of the top zero colors of all time, by the way. anyway, he only did 30 days in 30 years in prison. why? because from 1962 forward he was the top echelon criminal informants for the fbi. his briefing memos went directly to j. edgar hoover himself. over the years three separate organized crime strike forces, one in newark, one in chicago, one in brooklyn tried to put them away. could people are trying to get this mad dog killer of the street. other members of the fbi you are protecting him and keeping it on the street.

these are a couple of the homicides that he did. vincent in the upper left corner is a guy named vincent pizarro. he shot him while he was trimming christmas tree lights with his wife, christmas lights on his house. over to the right, that's nicholas nicky sitting in his toyota land cruiser outside a social club. he rolled up in a car must try to shoot him. the gun jammed and is killing partner to shot him in cold blood. down below in the left-hand corner joe, the adopted son for all practical purposes, not legally, but he was like a second son. he was the godfather to just child, the best managers wedding joe was the best man at gregory jr. sweating. that is our policy was. but when scarpa senior got word that he might write him out as a source, as a federal informant, he was murdered.

now, 26 of the homicides happened on the watch of the defect deal. one of the most powerful fbi agents in the history. he ran to organized crime squads for the new york office, the banana and colombo's god. he taught informant development at quantico at the fbi academy, the supervisor, the case agent on the famous mafia commission case that propelled reach guliani. his eyes on the white house. you get an idea of just how powerful he was. and so last 12 years of his tenure with the bureau he was his contacting or control agent. now, an incredibly complicated life as a mob guy, but listen to his personal life. and did not have a picture of his first wife, of his only legal wife who is still alive. she's the mother of gregory jr. this is a great shot of senior engineer in front of the fathers

mercedes hundred when jenny was in his late teens. but gregory married coney, had four children, including gregory jr. he started doing crime through his dad when he was 16. gregory senior shifter off to a horse farm in new jersey. he was so wealthy -- you will eat your the kind of money. he actually had a farm that could produce thoroughbred horses. that's the kind of guy you was, turner. he should connie and the kids off on weekends. he then took up with is incredibly gorgeous young woman who had been dating wiseguys, 15 years old. she actually had two kids, chilly and little linda. she married a guy named charley euros so that the kids will feel like they were legitimate, if you will, not that those words have any meaning. so did not know that there were not his case. they come over. and finally he divorced her.

of course it was not a very aggressive divorce considering who she was hanging out with. at any rate, while he is living common-law and commuting to new jersey, his legal wife, he goes off to las vegas and mary's former ms. israel in 1975 who looks like jeanne hello. you know, they guy -- he's already married legally once. common law. and he buys an apartment. this is a marriage certificate in the back of my book on sutton place. you cannot see it really, but at the top says his address, 36 sutton place south apartment six something. the most exclusive block in manhattan for cash. he bought an apartment for cash. he was a multitask. obviously.

but listen to this. now, he was also incredibly protective. gregory senior was basically going to kill -- like one time on a bank job this guy named donnie in 1980 happened to criticize gregory jr. who was working as a lookout. he just said something, like gregg jr. should never been more prepared, not release serious criticism. scarpa sr. had this ironically named social club called the blimpie boys. that was what they called it. no one could tell me where they got the boat that -- the name. he tells donny to come over. there are like six guys playing cards in the front room. scarpa seniors in the back. tawny locks and, has no clue what is about to happen. scarpa says, understand you like to criticize my son. in the starting to talk. scarpa pulls out a gun and shoots in debt ride on the spot. brains splattered. these are hard wise guys, and they're like, i can't believe

alleges -- okay. scarpa goes later on, i wish i could take him of sluggish even again. that's our rough. that's what he did to a guy who happened to criticize the sun. if we can go back to this line, this amazing director, this guy was a handsome delivery board. this is like when he's in his 30's. when he was young, 18, young stud. when this season and because, hey, you know, the full amount with him. no, what everyone. he used to come over and make love to wind up. greg senior would be in the house watching. larry had no idea who this guy was. he's like, you know, stooping, as they say in new york. but guess what, you think he's going to get killed, got to get erased. no. he took a liking to larry and made it is school team and bank

robbery, a getaway car driving and eventually homicide. there became his main killing partner. so go figure, as they say in bensonhurst. these are some of the guys in the last colombo war. there were three wars, the person go in the early 60's, the gallows in the early 70's. all talk about thay joy gallo. and then this the third war for the takeover of the family. this is a family with 130 magi's compared to 600 in the gambino. yet they have an incredibly violent history. no one knew until now white. the reason is because they have this provocateur on the inside getting fbi intelligence and using it to a lack of, eliminate by murder or indictment all the guys in the family around him inciting violence. so the third war for the colombo family was instigated using fbi intelligence. one of the guys that died.

all of the debriefing memos on scarpa went directly to every fbi director, including j. edgar hoover, starting with j. edgar hoover. now this is a credible. those of you who are watching tonight go. in the upper left corner you will see the you can download this. this is how manipulative and brilliant the was. 1962. we're going to get there. and he gives j. edgar hoover the entire mafia playbook. the mafia commission down to the level of captain to all the names. he gives them the secret induction ceremony, punishable by death. it is to give it to? the director. you go back and look at the memo , that's the director. there was only one of the director, and it was hoover. as you know, those of you are old enough, in 1963, a lot

before the kennedy assassination , the national tv audience was shocked to hear the revelations of the sky. he was a soldier in the genevese crime family, and he is believed to be the first turn go in the history of the mob. you read any mafia history and there will tell you joe volos you sang for that mcclellan committee. these elaborate charts. he listed all the members of the family. a lot of people, this incredible former new york times reporter who wrote this great book five families with to recommend, essential reading. when he wrote his book he speculated that the information that he testified to he could not have known because he was kind of low-level muckle cracker. he was a soldier. he did not have access. so where is he getting all this information? well, they speculated it was three legal wiretaps that hoover was using. you feel that information.

they used him as the vessel. i mean, i would have thought the same thing until i started reading the 1,153 pages of secret air tell the were released under the freedom of formation act pursuant to a lawsuit by angelo clemente. they are part of what my book is based on. and those, starting with that when you saw a few minutes ago, lay all of this out 16 months before he sang for the committee. now, i'm going to have to put my glasses on. this is part of the thing. the head of the family, automatically the head of the family member, the organization called the commission. then as the underboss, consider the way, couple regime or captain. these of the terms of later in the godfather for the first time this information came in 1962, june, to j. edgar hoover. at the bottom he says good

fellows, also known as bud man our soldiers. these terms are synonymous and indicate the purses are members of the organization but have not yet attained any rancor position of authority. he is giving the mafia for dummies to hoover. he's giving him the playbook on organized crime. remember, including the secret induction ceremony which was punishable by death. with this of us were that if i ever violate the oath i might burn the way they would do it is as you remember, there would be a group of people. there would countdown various numbers around a table until the came to one guy who had become the patron of the guy being inducted. there would then prick the trigger offenders with blood, the mutual trigger fingers, touch so there blood's intermingled, if you will, and then take a mass card like the virgin mary r. st. anthony and burn it in their hands and set on fire. the guy was a camel with this of us whether the fed never violate the up by may burners this paper.

now when joe testified, listen to his ." >> this is the worst thing and doing -- i'm doing him now. a very good. this is the worst thing i can do, to tell about the ceremony. this year when i'm telling you, when i am exposing to you, this is my june. that is out seriously joe took this giving up this ceremony. hoover had a year-and-a-half from scarpa. now lest you would think -- the deal with the devil ultimately i will tell you the government got the worst of the deal. scarpa get the best. he can give them this viable affirmation and do missions like about to tell you about that made hoover astonished of what this guy could accomplish. a member of the same is mississippi burning case, the zeroth council rights workers down and philadelphia, mississippi, kidnapped and murdered, the burden of station

wagon is found. hoover and bobby kennedy flip out. they said hundreds of agents to scour the swamp looking for the bodies. is the big story of the summer. and the movie, in the movie there is a black fbi agent to comes down to solve the case. there maybe a dozen black fbi agents back then. that's not what happened. hoover sent gregory scarpa sr. down. i don't want to leave this light on for too long. he sent to scarpa down commanded the charlie kidnapped the mayor of the town it was a klan member and took into a cabin in the woods. an fbi agent outside you have knowledge. scarpa takes again and put it to his head and said, where the bodies? the guy gives them some of disinformation. the checks. in other words, the guy is more afraid of a planned in the is of this guy from bensonhurst, the

guy in the beginning. he takes the gun and puts it in his mouth again and give some of disinformation. finally takes us tracer and starts to unbuckle the guys belt. that's when the guy gave him this awful scene. these three beautiful young men buried beneath 50 feet of clay under an earthen dam. two years later this is another fbi memo. asked for a special to get out to break the case. another wrote civil rights leader who was firebombed to death. these are really important moments in the history of the civil-rights movement. sure enough scarpa was -- first they went to the fontainebleau hotel in miami for couple of days. then it took them over to a mississippi. recently breaks that case. but that is interesting because the guy that he basically tortured was called lawrenceburg , yet tv and

appliance store. he went into the store. this time is actually working directly with an fbi agent. they buy tv pretended to be good old boys. they bring the tv into the alley to luggage and the car and grabbed a guy and throw him into the trunk and literally extract their version of water boarding back in the day. they get the confession. now to my scarpa was in the colombo family. this is a picture. those of you are mafia fascine not as know that joe colombo was the first boss who ever kind of steps outside of the secrecy of the mafia. he gets too big for his britches. he would go on talk shows. he created this thing called the italian-american civil rights league. if you look in the upper right-hand corner, that was their logo. the italian flying colors. he basically was kind of trying to call it a civil rights lee, comparing the mafia to what --

the discrimination of other ethnic groups in america at the time. this thing got some momentum. they started picking the fbi offices. scarpa sr. was like picketing every day. often the spokesman. night he would go back and wrap of colombo to the fbi. and so the first year the fbi thought it was going to blow over. the first to the they had a rally, 50,000 people showed up. it got so big the sinatra give a concert. they actually got so powerful that they got aaron spelling to make the name mafia out of their series the fbi. they got the producer of the godfather to take mafia out of the godfather. there is no mention of the word the mafia in the godfather. that is a powerful they got. joe also got powerful.

the other bosses on the commission, including gambino, started to get jealous. at the second rally, i happened to be their working a few blocks away, 50,000 people were there. a young african americans supposedly posing as a camera man fired a shot. he was mortally wounded, but it took years to die. i have evidence in my book that scarpa senior may have had something to do with that. that is too long a story to get to now. here is a little bit of a lighter story. let's get this guy. he was in that new england does semester, the boss, if you will, of wedding bolger. you're all familiar with the way bull trout going on now. the store were widely was the top echelon informant and his control agent or contacting agent was john connally, that is like a disney movie compared to the story will tell you today. whitey is accused of 19 murders.

his control agent is doing life for having leaked information to have. the justice department vigorously tries to convict when the bolger. it did not happen with the same scenario. we will get to that in a minute. the justice department was vehemently against. they supported the conviction of john connally in boston. but this guy decided to flip or turn a some point. the word was that he was going to do a memoir, remember the blotchy papers to another famous best seller that was made into a movie with charles bronson read by the great journalist. well, they were -- the rumor among the mob was that this guy was going to tell a story that would embarrass. so this is @booktv going to try to read. this is a teletype. to the director. the boston office.

like a sinister commission member recently returned. colombo confided to an informant and the informant is scarpa. not a vacation but a famer -- a favre. aware that colombo, a close friend of the singer frank sinatra requests that he intercede with author known to sinatra who is presently writing a book based on information from stool pigeon who was barred those of. this was written by an fbi agent. you have to love this. from still patient -- and dug into the end of it. basically compromise patriarch. today you think the writer was? did not identify the writer. truman capote. they think. by the way, at this time he has a number one international best seller in the world, in cold blood. he had written this incredibly important and powerful book on

the murder of the family in the midwest. he was capable, no doubt, for all of his frivolity. capable of writing -- can i say yes? he was capable of writing a penetrating investigative book. however, it wasn't true. the rumor was untrue. here is why he thought the rumor was true. frank sinatra and mia sara woody allen's former. anyway, great actress, mary to sinatra briefly. they went to this famous thing called the black and white ball that truman through for katharine graham's. one of the most famous social events of the last part of the 20th-century. sinatra was there. the thought was that he and german through the party, as sinatra could lead not sherman. sinatra was marked. he did not get to be the

chairman of the board for no reason. so the end of this thing, he said he sat with sinatra and miami. characterized other is bad and ruthless. sinatra said he would do anything for colombo. this author might even tell and therefore backed off. in other words, frank was smart. the way he got around not doing a favor for the boss of the colombos on behalf of the boss of the new england of cn was, it forgets that it will be embarrassing. definitely stepped aside. that is just one of the -- there are like 60 stories like this. this is the next one. the brothers were incredibly colorful, part of a colombo crime family. they had done one of the most famous hereabouts they allegedly did in mafia history, the murder of albert anastasia, the lord

high executioner. if you go outside the look and you'll see the barber chair that p.m. in bought and donated to the museum here. albert anastasia was one of the six principals in murder incorporated, this famous killing machine from the 19 thirties and forties. and this is the park sheraton hotel. he walked in there on october october 205th 1957. he's getting a shave and everything. five guys come in. essentially there was a report of to. eventually the call that the quartet. in the all had fedoras and masks. he was shot to death. well again, just a littlelu for my book. avenue version that i published. revenue for word to available at my website online.

we will be signing some copies later. let's get back to the. why did they do this? they allegedly were with, my purse ago, the boss was going to be the boss of the family. this supposedly did it so that they could take over a significant sports book operation in brooklyn part of which anastasia controlled. well, the boss of the family decided to stiff them and not compensate them for this job. so two things happened. they broke away. carmine aaron says nickname the snake. they call him, and the state personal because he decided he was better off splitting with the gallows and informing them that they had this plot to take over the family. he went to carlo gambino and the others. there's a famous incident that was in the godfather part two. when frankie and tangelo, frank -- figures played by this incredible actor, he's in a bar.

all of a sudden he's sitting there. some guy comes in and starts to strangle him to death. michael lamb says side. and then they come by. he becomes a government witness. very famous scene. well, that was based on an actual incident. this herbart in brooklyn, they called them. , it's a lot to me on sunday to be sure enough that is exactly what happens. he was strangled. the concept of the combined the lift. so that is a true story. now the land down. hyper violent. they decided to take their revenge. so jelly later went to prison for a while. he was the first suspect by the way when colombo was shot. as i say in this book, i have new information.

i believe he engineered the merger. the less morning of his life, as birthday. a great on ironic kinds of events. is is like al qaeda. it will pick an event. he just marry this beautiful young woman. they're up that the cobra, the co but cabana, the famous nightclub with the great scene in the beginning. he takes the train into the kitchen. there have a bodyguard with him. his body guards girlfriend. is there to in the morning. they drive down to little italy for pastries and coffee. he goes in to it umberto's clam house. not suspecting a thing. the gunman come in and he's dead wiped out. well, this information in my book that he may bin behind that the second contact, there were two. the second one was called

anthony. he was a real brooklyn guy. he was like a wise guy. in a very effective, by the way. he wrote a book. he has no more. the lot of great information from his book. he had fictional names, but when the character was. now was able to corroborate some of the information. this is a list of his arrest record. thirty days in jail. his first arrest was september september 1st 1950, a position of a firearm. possession of firearms, indictment breach of peace, theft of interstate shipment, possession of stolen goods, consorting with these and criminals. some of these sounds cute. all the way up today's final arrest in august of 1992 for murder. but he only did the 30 days. upon very briefly, clothes, and then formally opened at the top

echelon informant in '62 and then stayed open until 75 when he was closed for five years. during the five years when they did not have protection he got pinched by the nypd and did the 30 days. as his son told me, my dad could not do time. that was one of his things. he could not to time. now 1980, he was the supervisor of the two squads in new york. top informant development at quantico. case agent. anderson cooper -- the book came out a year ago. i like to plug all authors. i'm going to plug when book. we're going to win this thing. came from this famous incident during the colombo war where this guy is murdered. the underlying comes in and tells him. he goes, we're going to win this thing, like he is rooting for scarpa in the war.

shocked by that. later edile back. no, the fbi is going to win. that's what he was saying. who roots of somebody being murdered. you don't celebrate the death of anybody. so that became -- that line showed up in the last episode of the sopranos, those of you are soprano buffs. frank telegram to by the way presides over the grid is restaurant in new york, the contract you know. now. everybody that tells of. anyway, he's a great guy. love the guy. he went up there with a good friend of mine, a former detective. we brought a couple of copies of my book the last time i was in new york. frank said he would give it a read. lp watch c-span because i'm hoping for your review one of these days. he writes his book called we're going to win this thing. anderson cooper does a piece on

60 minutes. now this is a shot of lane taking anderson over in telling him how he opens scarpa, al he, you know, reopened him after he was closed for five years. he said to my pulled up outside where he was living. , walked up, knocked on the door. in certain words to the effect of a basically confronted. asset and use some help. two weeks later he became a cooperating -- to begin to cooperate as an informant. that's the story. look at this. in one of the air tells that i find, this is from that deal, fbi 209 memo to d.c., source has -- source was closed by communication dated may 5th 1975. noted approximately six months have been required to discreetly we contact the source had to persuade him to resume furnishing information, which is

extremely high quality. so he himself tells a barrel in 1980 it's taken him six months to open scarpa. he tells anderson cooper and puts in his book they did in two weeks in the summer. obviously is a little bit of a conflict. when i finally got to gregg jr. and interview him for this book, 23 years in prison. he was at the super max. if you go to the super max we will create a security risk this prison. they denied me. transfer to another prison last year. as started interviewing him. while. classic senior. my father started auditioning to couple of years after he was closed. he would go over to begin in jersey, coming back from the horse farm. by this side of the road. so it makes sense that scarpa was such a brilliant machiavellian strategist would have audition to make sure that he knew that he could control

land verses the other way around. that's the theory. it's my theory. i'm sticking to it. this is that when the boy's social club. an intimidating presence, you have to admit. this will show you how ruthless the guy was. this knockout woman, she was dating the underboss of was on land. word got out. of course it was one of the counts in the brooklyn das indictment. and all charges were dismissed. we would get there. one of the four murders in the indictment was for allegedly telling scarpa senior that mary was going to cooperate or was going to inform or give the whereabouts of personnel. she was lured to a cocteau club. keys to the club. is and as she walks in -- grabs your answer debt and wraps her

up in a tart and jobs are on the street like a dog. that is see this guy was. and later, the next day, was cleaning the club with bleach. his dog pound part of her ear which got blown off. they joked about it a dinner that night. that is up cold-blooded. so the romance, those of you are mafia buffs and mafia of the cn not those to a certain degree is romantic, but they're is a level of brutality that is just terrible. so you can never -- unit, as a writer people say to me, touch you get kind of lost with these guys? to a federal prosecutor described what he thought happen . danny around with all of these guys. he would wear a peak during, just like a wise guy, where gold jewelry. every other word in his vocabulary was an f-word. at to get with these guys.

at to be like them to convince them to just me. in fact, after a point the stockholm syndrome happens. you begin to potential across the line. as a journalist, as fascinated as a and buy this stuff, i have to every day on it myself. don't fall in love with these guys. think of that joe papp she's seen in good fellows we stabs the guided death with a fountain pen. that is what you have to remember. that everybody in the mafia's like that. second son. he adds that -- this is how he ended up. this is scarpa with fbi surveillance video outside of a social club. now, he -- this is where in the mid 80's he paid his dues, the government. he became most probable cause for the title three wiretaps and the mafia commission chases. guliani came from scarpa senior. so they can argue.

because it is championship season. the mafia, the back of the mafia was broken when carmine person go on the left goes to prison, head of the colombos. anthony salerno, head of the genevese say. you have to have a middle name. and so now the contract on

shot at him one day. he was eating an ice cream car and he survived. he wanted to know right away. this is the famous interview he did for "60 minutes" and talking about the most famous murder. one of the shooters. he got the mafia cops who were living in las vegas, as you know in 2005 were arrested in las vegas. i actually wrote a pilot for series called "missing person." i was a show runner and starred with michaelman. my first trip to las vegas to watch him shoot a script i had written three days earlier. i tell people i started at the top and worked my way down. they shot it in last.

the mafia cop arguably the biggest crime law enforcement story in the last ten years, they were later convicted of supplying information to him that he would use to kill people. guess what he told me? he told me that jimmy, the most famous murder, the cops delivered him to the cops but the intelligence he got to learn that he was the shooter got from gregory scarpa, senior. who he believe got from linda. this is another part of rewriting the modern history. he said i shot him a couple of times. ed said how many? twelve or thirteen. anyway. anthony gave me an interview from prison. that was an eye opener. this, again, in comparison to whitey bulger. this is john connelly. his control agent, and his version doing life. completely different story. i told the story in my book

"cover up." i introduce the whole story. scar pa, jr., senior, whole thing in my second book. the brooklyn da calls me in september of '05. the book came out in you're. about year later they call me in and congressman william of massachusetts who had been a prosecutor who knew the bulger case contacted them as did angela clement tee the forensic investigator who had a lot of files. and the con fliens of three of us them reading my book resulted in on the 30th of march twirks came up with florida where he had retired and the pull fengs and indicted on four count of murder. and on the right, the picture -- that is him, the night before surrendering. but the next day after he was a million dollars bail was set for him. okay.

fifty exagents supported him showed up in blue suits, red shirt, they supported him. and there was a scene unlike you have ever seen. there were pushing people away. they were like soccer hule began at the uk soccer match. they were straight arming guy, protecting him while the reporters asked questions. they called it body checking to chuck grassley of iowa. mentioned it at the jew kish area committee hearing whether retired fbi agents should be so quick to, you know, protect somebody who is presumed innocent. of course. just the tactics were pretty wild. this was -- the trial started in, like, october 15 of '07. headlines like this in the new york tabloids. agent of death. like, they basically convicted him. but the star witness, one of the star witnesses was linda. the woman i told you. and it was alleged by these

reporters, now, on the left you see jerry, probably the most famous and probably the greatest contemporary reporter on organized crime. he had a column called get gang land." he played himself in the sopranos. so, you know, tom robins in the middle worked with him in the daily news. they interviewed him in 1997 for a book they were doing. they claimed it was kind of suspicious they claim they happen to look for the tapes before trial they had known for a year and a half going to be a star witness. whatever. on the right is mike i'm a half italian. half of my book was accurate. and so jerry -- , by the way, when at the height of the colombo war. you know, the war was at wage

from, '91 to '93. 14 people killed including bystanders. literally scarpa killed himself. lynn was no doubt leaking information to him that lead to some of the death which is why the brooklyn da indicted him. he and robins wrote about it. they knew that linda was going to be the star witness. linda allegedly lied. look at the headline two weeks later. talk about a reversal of florida. "moll tape freeze igman. you know what he did that night? they separated at the spark steak house over champagne. he was tbifn the note of irony to the thing. will be to what the judge said. this is his decision dismissing the case. what is undeniable in the face of obvious men answer posed by

organize crime, the fbi was willing to make their own deal with the devil. they gave scarpa criminal immunity for the information. he willingly -- they actively recruited him to participate in crimes under their direction. a thug like scarpa would be employed by the federal government is a shocking demonstration of the government unacceptable willingnd to employ criminality to fight crime. that was the justice. he died about a year ago. why should we care? , by the way, is anybody ant sincerity and need go to the bathroom and want to leave? you enjoying this? like to take the temperature of my audience. applause is unnecessary. no, kidding. but -- okay. now i'm going give you the why should we care. there nothing more fascinating than a good mafia story.

why is americans -- you people sitting in the room. why i do keep writing the books? if i actually amtize my harper colins will kill me. if i took my advances for the amtize them. if i was picking strawberry in a field i would have made more money. i have not done these four books for financial gain. okay. aye done them because my son christopher went to high school in new york. it's the number one public high school in america. it's about 100-years old. when they built batter-park city. they added to lower manhattan. they quid pro quo with the city of new york was to build a new high school. incredible campus. it has an prelim pick-size pool. a broadway stage organize stray. 28,000 applicants a year take a

test and 6 to 800 got in. my son cris got in. what was the second day of ?ool 9/11. three blocks away. i'm in california and i'm like -- i heard on cbs radio that the campus may have been hit. we can't get through on the phone. my ex-wife is working on abc news. she jumps on the subway and goes down and can't get through. flipping out. ends up getting on a bus and goes -- back uptown and, again, only in new york story. they stop her bus around the post office at 34th street. it's like hanging for twenty minutes because there's a rule you can't let people off a bus if it stops in between stops. people being new yorkers finally said f it and kicked the back window out and escaped from the bus. donna, being a real new yorkers did that. she goes over a couple of blocks to another i guess eighth avenue or i don't know whatever and

sibs avenue gets on another bus and christopher is on the bus. with a bunch of his friends from the school who were in the outer burrows and couldn't go. we did a little piece for channel 7 eye witness news that night. when i knew i dodged a bullet personally, i found out incredible fire marshall had died that day. i met rony in 1997 i had written a book called "first degree burn" a paperback novel which i republished in a new edition. i wanted do a benefit for the burn fund. penguin -- i went to the fire museum and said what can we do to raise money. i will -- i thinklet get donate 500 copies get the fire museum and the burn -- the bell society, which is the list of all the rich guys in new york which they were firefighters when they were kids and raise money. great, my publishers won't give

me one book. i basically a three-book deal. i broke my deal with them and said, forget about it. i fought 500-copies and we made $10,000 that night. one of the guys that night was a fire marshall. we went to the soho grand drinking after an event like that. my rabbi was louis garcia, the -- new york term for mentor. half cube ban, half puerto rican. sent his son to harvard, daughter to yale. a little irishmen and this guy named ronnie. it's fiction you're the real thing. gave it to him. and he was talking that night at the bar he said i'm telling you, he's talking about the towers. he said they're going come back and hit the tower -- but now louis and jimmy heard the story like a million times. come on. the reason he said that he was in military intelligence he was

a green beret in the reserve. his posting was -- boeing air force base. he would go down on weekends and heard about the guy the original bomber had been in manila after he fled in new york and rendered back to new york, the philippine national police got evidence there was plot of hijacking airplanes and given to the southern district fed and nothing happened. okay. all right. this is, rick, 1997. okay. all right. this is like with a year after the happened with you receive. the guy was hot on this. he thought they were going to come back from below. he didn't envision the plane until he heard about the plot. so now al qaeda -- this is the significance of what i'm about to tell you. they have in any great military organization. you need options and intelligence. you need guys -- blows things up on the ground and you need spy.

ali had been in the unit that had killed an war. he literally was adopted by who performed al qaeda with bin laden. he was vectored to the cia in hamburg in the mid '80s and blew the cover and put on a watch list. he flies to america, seduces a woman on the plane. he was a stud. disuses a woman they get married a the drive-through wedding chapel. he is living in silicon valley. anybody that wants to come in. come in, please. you can stand. so he's now setting up an al qaeda operation in silicon valley. he enlists in the u.s. army. it's an exgreen -- egyptian army commando. he goes in an as an enlisted man. he end up in fort bragg, north carolina at the jfk special warfare school where the e leelt green beret training.

he's coming up to train the cell i'm about to tell you about. you see the photograph. it's an fbi photograph of surveillance from one of hundreds of photographs taken over four weekends in 1989 when george bush's father was president. 1989. long island. two of the people photographed. the red and mohammad. you remember them a minute. they are photographed over four weekends. they followed them. okay. of the men photographed, there. okay. trained by ali. the guy i told you. the spy. you see the surveillance picture. three of them were convicted eventually in the world trade center. two were convicted in the plot to blow up the bridges and tonal manhattan. one killed the rabbi who was this famous rabbi murdered in midtown marriott hotel in 1990, november, who was the first blood spilled by al qaeda on american soil.

and all of them who were trained by ali in a cell funded directly by bin laden. i put it in my first book "thousand years for revenge." it was dominate bid the fly and shake. who was the prince of jihad. when i finish this today. he's going to be -- he's as hot as he's been ever. he's the guy behind -- he inspired the benghazi attack. the hostage incident in algeria in jan. the guy that got morsi elected in egypt of the muslim brotherhood because he told the brothers in egypt you better elect the guy. this is story as contemporary. we're going back twenty years. the blind shake comes. the rabbi is speaking and -- posing as a jew shoots the

rabbi. there's a gun battle on lexington avenue. he shoots him. he's wounded. two blankses rush to bell view. the rabbi died. he lives. this is a shot taken bay wonderful man who gave me permission to use the shot of the rabbi dying. ali trained this guy. mohammad and also trained by mohammad. they were get-away drivers that night. okay. when they go to the guy's house in new jersey, like, everybody the world shows up. you know, like the fbi, joint terrorism task force, jersey state police, new york state police, n.y.p.d. there's 500 uniform in the neighborhood and they find 47 boxes of evidence including things written in arabic that say the direction of the enemy exploded by the high world buildings. they had a blinking light

flashing at the trade center. they couldn't have been clearer what was in the work with the cell. okay. now they also found top secret material from that came from fort bragg. look the this. the russians would have paid a million dollars for the one document at the height of the cold war. it's the location of every single u.s. special force worldwide. attitude and longitude. ali is tried as a lone gunman. even though they find him at the house that night. he's tried as lone gunman. now that all happens, -- i'm giving you the background. '02 receive explodes the bomb in new york. they don't figure out how to stop the bomb. the bomb and there's -- believe me the evidence that the fbi could have done that. we won't goat that.

and a couple of -- this guy mohammad bin laden's brother-in-law. he was the money man. they came up with three plots. how do i know this? i went to the philippines. i met with the philippines national police. i came back with three classified intelligence and mohammad's name all over. everything i'm going tell you i got the philippine's police in 2002 goes back to '95. three plot. they kill the pope who is coming in january, with ironly with the bombs along the parade route like bonaminio. and blowing up twelve u.s. airliners coming in. planting a bomben the first leg and the bomb would got pacific boom. and blow up and the third plot was hijack plane, fly them to buildings plot executed on 9/11. they had thirty pilots training in u.s. flight school in 1995.

and the guy on the right was trained in four u.s. flight school. he was going to be the lead pilot. they spoil that. it's an act of give. fire in the bomb factory. he is rendered back. a quick story. when they render him back. they call it rendering back. okay. he's flown in to stewart airport in westchester. he's shackled. they have a helicopter take him down to correctional center. the federal jail. one of the perfect night in new york. towers are gorgeous. they are gleaming. any place in manhattan you can seat tower. when they get to the world trade center, he's wearing shackle, he has belly belt and cuff. a hood on as the protocol for moving a prisoner like ha. when they get to the tower they circle at the 50th floor and you go you see, you see they're standing. there are three versions. i spoke to one of the fbi agents in that helicopter.

and without blinking said they're standing for now. they're standing for now. because he knew that plot was in the work to take them down. scarpa come up with the amazing intelligence these notes or kites fkding, look at this, a bomb formula from the schematic he gives to -- now, scarpa had a 10th grade education. there's no way he's going write a bomb schematic like that. this is the bomb they were going use on the twelve planes. this is what they found in the bomb factory. there's a thing that said c106d it's leek a semiconductor had he soldered to the watch. they call his signature. nobody knew that. and scarpa jr. is giving this to the fbi getting. they are passing note themselves bhop is a party to this? patrick fit gerald the guy in

the middle the u.s. attorney in the southern district the head of the terrorism and organized crime unit. and the woman on the right is the head of the criminal mafia prosecution. and the guy in the mid is one of the guy i prove in the first booked got the evidence from the film peen about the plot. okay. he's about to prosecute him for the plot for the bomb plot. they're all there. the fbi -- meeting with scarpa. okay. now he talks about how they're going hijack a plane, one of the -- , by the way, the thing at the top is an fbi 302 memo. it's not peter making it up. they are on my westbound. it basically hijack a plane to free the blind shake. look at the famous presidential daily briefing to george bush in crawford, texas. one month before 9/11. what does it say?

that was intelligence that was important enough to share with the president of the united states two years later. that was gotten by gregory scarpa, jr. for the fbi. linda and scarpa at that point in 1996 it was a huge problem in the southern district of new york and broob lynn. remember i told you about the colombo war. fourteen guys and the guy shot through the glass in the window. hank? well, they are now 75 cases percolating through the court in the colombo war. these are all the wise guys. in the original cases nobody knew that carr pa had a secret relationship with the bureau. the defense attorney never knew. linda was testifying as an experience. nobody had an idea he was in a quote holy alliance.

that's what they call the material. so you a right as a criminal defendant whether you're in the mob or not. they freaking out. a memo was sent in '96. they start doing in march of '96. here a memo in 1996. the new york office who became -- and dlain is undergoing an internal affair investigation that lasted many months because four agents under him ratted him out and say finding information. we're worried the boss is leaking it to starr pa. insufficient evidence to take prosecutive action against him. the failure of the justice department to provide a

prosecutive opinion for the fbi to the administrative resolve this matter continues to have a serious negative impact on the government's prosecution of various figure in the eastern direct and create cloud over the new york office. in other words shut it down. louis shut it down. and sure enough, that summer in august they close the investigation after linda did the unheard of. he took the fifth. he a right. the fbi agents who are innocent don't usually plead the fifth. he refuses a polygraph. they give him immunity. why? and that immunity prevented them from prosecuting him. they basically, you know, closed the investigation. he retired with a full pension in sara so that. he work as a private investigators. the 11-month treasure-trove. the feds decide to call a hoax

and sam. they calm up with a theory it was completely fabricated by -- which is absurd. how could gregory come up with the stuff. why would him get to the fed. gregory disar pa go up for the trial and try to get the release time for helping the government arguably rat out the terrorist. he gets 40 years for the super max. not a single member. take the fifth. then he later granted immunity again. he said i don't want to -- i'm going perhap it up. why should we care? john gotty's social club. the fbi's number one priority in the new york years was getting gotti. that's the truth. it they had a 24-hour surveillance. 2 hours a day. seven days a week.

they wired social club for sound and surveying the testify felon don. good for them. over in new york while it's going on. you see that building. that's a building on kennedy boulevard on jersey city. the sign on the is mosque of peace. that's one of the blind shake three mosque in new york. it was an fbi informant said a nest of vipers. half of the brothers in that mosque were convicted in the day of terror plot to blow up the bridge and tunnel in 1995. all right. okay now see where it says t-mobile on the bottom? all right. 2828 ken i can boulevard. there's about egyptian around bin laden.

they're all egyptian. this is san francisco trading. a check boxing check cashing store. the feds know the guy that -- that's the first. the member of the same crew that was photographed murder the world figure 1990 and they know within weeks after having searched his apartment he had a mailbox there. 1994, okay. all right. 1994, the certificate of incorporation for san francisco trading is set up by two men. okay. you can see the close up.

patrick fitzgerald arguably the most powerful u.s. attorney at the time in the justice department and andy mcconsider think are the one that successfully prosecute the day of terror plot after the trade center bombing they put the guys away. they had a list of 172 unindicted coconspiracy spiritters. who is on the list? bin laden, mohammad. all the all-star. all the al qaeda all-star are on the list. look in the middle come line up on the right-hand side you see that? they put the coincorporater on a list with bin laden which suggest the guy must have a little bit of weight in the organization, if you will, right. why would you put a guy's name an list. okay. now wait until you think two of the 9/11 hijackers got the fake id? say that flew american airlines 77 to the pentagon with all the people killed with the fake id

at san francisco trading three months before 9/11. so what i say, question is as old as watergate. i make the argument that they these two cells, the original world trade bombing cell was the cell possible for 9/11. the 9/11 commission -- it seems kind of of, you know, you think that is a threat -- dna rather was the only mainstream journalist on two might -- nights from iraq. the pick which owrn the right is a shot of the cbs evening news with my boom coming over a shot of the 9/11 attack. and dna ratherrers was only main stream journal this case credited me with putting those attacks together. okay. right. the 9/11 commission, i testified before it. the reason i testified is that the jersey girl, the beautiful widows whose husbands went to

work and didn't come homemade sure the 9/11 commission happened. they handed out my weak at the commission hearing in the fall pen at governor sent me a letter we want you to testify. who do you think took my testimony on the 9/11 commission? who do you think? snell. the guy who was the very guy that was one of the people that got the information from the pill finds who apparently ignored it in 1995. they make him not a witness, they make him senior counsel to the 9/11 commission. so do i testify in an open hearing? no. i testify in a windowless conference room on march 15, 200426 federal plaza. there's no recording equipment or stenographer. whether

gave them ream of evidence proving they were connected. at the end of the footnote they go, the philippine officer declined to identified. basically talk about how go to the philippine if the plot were connected. information was provided to a u.s. initial. we have no indication it was written down or sis seminated within the government. incidentally, ksm said he never discussed his idea for the plans operation with the pilot. a person ksm regarded as a minor figure. they are using to a warrant to refute me. that is like using david for the central within on the son of sam murder. that's the 9/11 commission report. now get this, almost done. april 2010 "new york times." in federal court a docketed number for global terror.

u.s. attorney for the southern district after denying the 9/11 commission denying a connection between the two attack. patrick fifth gerald and i in a interview they amend the super seeding indictment on yousef to include can lee they on every death of 9/11. they finally came around. which is why i keep doing it. you chip away, chip away and try to tell the truth and cowment the truth. eventually people listen nap is what happened. now as the fbi learned anything at the justice department learn anything from the misplace priority. what do i say? i'm saying for they had devoted 5% of their energy they devoted to monitoring john gotty's social club and set up for a purge for at plan they would have been in the middle of the 9/11 plot in july. with the plat --

chatter going on. i'm hypothesizing. we can never say for sure. it's pretty clear they had a ability to monitor the training and could have done it. and they might have been in the middle of the 9/11 plot. now in january they a huge headline. erick holder get up. the biggest mafia bust in history. millions of dollars are spent in 2011. less than thirty were made members. two in the 80s, a couple in the 70s and out of. why? now we come back to the three greatest mafia stories put on film. god father one and two. we don't talk about the third one. francis had to be drinking his own wine. good fella and casino. the second leg of the triple crown. and knick is a prince, by the

way, and incredible journalist turned screen writer and good fella and casino. and the seventh season of the sopranos. would anybody disagree right now that is the gold standard when it comes to mafia stories? how do you outdo that? how do you tell a different mafia story? ly submit this book deal with the devil, if you choose to, you know, your mission should you choose to accept it. if you want to buy a copy. they are out there. it ties the two story together. the incredible mama fee ya story. why should we -- the greatst mass murder in american history has never been a trial. that's a joke. that's not a trial. and, you know, there was a lot of people lobbying. they wanted a the l trial in new

york. they could have had on governor ice island would have been completely safe. i say we need that trial to happen. we mohammad to stand to the crime. ramsey need to be in the docket bring him out and put him in the dock and put him there. let have, you know, the 2,700 people that died that day have some kind of justice. that's it. [applause] so now those of you you want to take a quick potty break. those that have to. you know, but we have questions. and this is c-span now inspect is, you know, we're lucky enough to have this. it's being recorded and, you know, they are going air it fairly soon, i think, from what i understand. those of you as soon as they get set up and we know they can take shot.

when i say take shot i'm speaking metaphorically. why is it -- do me a favor. do me a favor. contact me this way. it's not fair to the people. we have a program in progress. okay. call me. we have a program in progress here. we're still rolling; right? c-span. we still going? okay. let's do questionses. we have the microphones? monica is going to come up and this man, this lady come up and just -- you want me to sign your book? i don't even have a pen. you have a pen. sorry. what is your name. name real quick. brandy, okay brandy. i'm sorry. thank you. thank you for hanging in there. good. spread the word. wait, let me give you one of my cards. tell your friend; okay. first question, the man in the

front row. you've been taking notes of the whole thing. >> a wonderful presentation. given your extensive knowledge and exposure of organized crime, al qaeda and the fbi, what gives you the confidence and more importantly the cowrnlgt to write these books? , i mean, al qaeda is still around. the fbi is around. is the mafia is dead. >> well, i think the tradition that no doubt -- can we close the doors, by the way. i'm sorry to do this on crshes span. can we close that door? the traditional is a sicilian ma fee has been broke. you have to credit -- [inaudible] and the agent in the new york office who got the probably cause. because the mafia commission case rudy giuliani brilliantly prosecuted brought an end to -- close the door. brought an end to organized crime. it's the beginning of the end. guys start to flipping with

reckless abandon. you have to give credit where credit is due. my overall message when we step book and look at history. every day we're we i writing history. we're revaulting things. we have to -- i discretely want the fbi to become a better organization. my children live in new york. you know, i don't want to see new york hit again. i love america and i love the fbi. i think it's a great education and the only way it's going improve is by looking what the faults were and correcting them. it's true of any institution. i keep writing these weaks and say, you know, just that's because what i want to do rewrite history to the degree it's possible. i don't know if that answered your question. anybody else, please. this lady any the front. >> have you ever personally been threatened or sent any kind of threat to your life or ex-- for exposing some of this? >> i wasn't physically --

well, i had a couple of death threat on the website. but, you know, i was patrick fitzgerald of the very powerful u.s. attorney i talked about who was the head of organized crime and terrorism in the southern district spent 20 months from the fall of '07 to the summer of '09 trying to kill my last book. literally, lirmly threatened 32 pages of letter threating to sue for liable. didn't have a prayer and a case and he knew. he's a brilliant attorney. my books were, you know, they call it impeccably research. i'm super careful. i have a law degree from school of law. masters. i'm careful. and fits jeerld knew it. when i went to law school in florida. we had a great judge who was former judge who taught evidence and the judge said the first day of evidence 101, ladies and gentlemen, if you're in court

and you don't have it on the law, pound down the fact. if you don't have it on the fact pound on the law. if you don't have it on the fact or the law pound on the table! that is what patrick fitzgerald did for twenty months. pound the table to try to intimidate me and the world. the largest english-language publishers in the world. he sent the second letter -- my website i did a piece for playboy. they have articles in playboy. i did the piece in june of '09 called the chilling effect about that. which is more intimidating? to have some guy call up and make a death threat over the phone? an enormous person or send you an e-mail or the most powerful lawyer in the justice department gunning for you metaphorically speaking. [inaudible] thank you >> thank you.

it's a the name of my company. tenacity, look, i think there are several great quality in any person. tenacity, imagination, the willingness to think outside the box, loyalty to your friends and, you know, "devotion" to your family and tenacity. thank you. fleece, a couple of more question, please. this lady over here. we have a -- you, is there any chance you can come forward to see the beautiful face on c-span? >> i would like to know the law in -- [inaudible] connected to any of these groups? >> locker v. trash was clearly libyan-based. the two guys who were former libyan -- one was extradited and chid eventually in libya. there's no doubt that was

libyan-base. i have a whole theory. which is come to the news of late because of the 17th anniversary and the documentary. if you go to petered lance.com. you'll see my theory. i just happen to google twa and my name repeatedly when the documentary came out. and i was shocked to find on wikipedia on the page with all the alternate theory. the missile theory, various theory my theory has gotten the most credence on wikipedia. any my second book i actually cover this. on peter "dallas" lance.com. those interested. i believe that twa is as a result of a bomb that was placed on forward gate mistrial in the case. that summer. there's even a 302 from scarpa to the -- the day after the most damaging evidence was going in to trial the philippine he mistrial, your

honor. the plane blows up. they deny it. and other reason i won't get to this but specific right now. i believe there's extraordinary evidence there was a bomb and certainly not an elect call short. somebody else? anybody else? come on. there's got to be disgruntled exmember of the mafia or -- >> i have a comment here and appreciate the education because i've heard people say the government knew about 9/11. but i didn't understand, you know, where that idea came from. >> well,, you know, look, i'm -- the inside job theory people and i are at great odds. i don't believe new york was an ?dz job. okay. that's ridiculous. and there's a whole question why tower seven fell and all that have in the afternoon. i believe what i've uncovered over the years in these books started with a thousand years for revenge. is actually more disturbing

because what suggests is years and years of negligence and to the point of criminal negligence. now i didn't use criminal negligence. harry was the fbi agent in minneapolis who try to get a fisa warrant. remember the guy that called 209 9-hijacker who want to learn how to find a fly a 747 but didn't care how to land one. this guy was the best of the best. he was an expilot. top gun. okay. he became an fbi agent in minneapolis. he was trying to get a fisa warrant so they could search the briefcase of the guy. who later confess he was going fly in to the white house for what reason? to free the blind shake. okay. so at his trial harry risking his political career said i believe my chain of command and the fbi were criminally

negligent. that's harry, an fbi agent. you know, there's the whole notion the 9/11 commission. it was staffed at half the staff from the very agency they were supposed to be auditing. okay. 25% of the robert was a former producer for nbc news determined something like 25 percent of the footnote in the 9/11 commission reported which you saw mine is a good example. we're from people who are tortured. how reliable could they be in the 9/11 commission insighting them as footnotes. so, you know, it's people think that protect us. i think more than ever people are cynical about that. in a good way. and actually skeptical is better word. if you're cynical you say the glass is half empty. i never say that. i always say the glass is half full. i want to be proven wrong. i try to think the best of

everybody, really. if you wake up in the morning, you know, when i audit myself, by the way, as a reporter i always say every single day i swear to god, which is what i say. i talk to my myself. i live and work alone. who else am i going to have conversations with? i say, listen,man, are you trying to fit the evidence in to some preconceived theory what you want to write about? you kind of jam it in? are you letting the facts take you where they will? if you're going down the road and you're wrong you have to have the courage to back up and go down the right road. that's what i do every day. that's why people on the left and the right and the middle embrace my work. i'm not a -- i'm a liberal to begin with in my political life and become a little bit more conservative as ghoul giuliani quote if you're not a liberal when you're 18 you're not a conservative when you're

i don't know if i agree with that. but i naturally you come a little more conservative in life. but i pick and choose the issues. i really look at each individual issue. that's why i think it's outrage use congress is gridlocked in the way they are right now and there's so much partisan pickering. there's no debate. there's no, hey, list let's sit down and figure it out. okay. that's my approach to journalism is that. i want the truth the justice said come from a multitude of time. that's when i try to embrace in my work. anyone else? before we wrap. yes, sir? wait for the mic. a prior presenter here not long about was michael. i'm sure you know. >> he invented the gas tax scam or benefited. >> yeah. i read his book. he gave a great presentation.

your presentation is super, super, super. i wonder after his seem to be quite honest about -- career but he mentions no murder, no -- [inaudible] you might comment on that if you know anything. i don't know. but i mentioned michael once in the book. he was actually forbes magazine -- they had a gas tax scam that the russians incented. they sized on it they would get siphon a couple of cents of gallon in the tristate area. imagine how much money that was. the acting boss of the colombo family. i make a case in my book and if

the cam are are rolling for c-span. he's in the end of the murder that he's doing life for he may have done other things if he gets parole and they want to indict him for something else. that's something else. the tommy murder i spent a lot of time in my book saying he was innocent of that. he was such an incredible earner for the family. he participated in that. he was antidrug and really wont violent vie which is scarpa wanted to eliminate him. scarpa wanted to take over. that's my answer about him. >> one question i've always had. i never understand you can go to the teens, 20s, some of the guys make huge amount of money. why isn't there a pot in switzerland or the cayman, anywhere. why don't we read or hear two generations later. three generations, four generations that these families

of the -- are still super money there. >>well, you know, it's funny. invariably all of the families that i interviewed and got to be talk a lot to anthony jr. the sun of gas pipe. and he doesn't have a -- and i don't i had he would mind me saying this. the poor guy is broke. okay. and so if there is a pot of gold throughout and his dad has been in prison far long time and scrolled communicated where it is if it was there, most of the guys they just burn through their money. because if you think about it. who becomes a member of the group where if you get up in the morning and can be dead by the end of the day. remember the story about johnny? who even does that? and the answer to that are the guys i talk to. the ex-wives guys of the, you know, they say. it's the money, peter. it's not just the money. it's the power. a lot of gyres are not

functionally -- they are not well educate. if they are on their tone accomplish something. but to say we're with the colombo. you know? you get nap impedes twhem a level of power. they never really learn what we have to do in life. how to solve problems. they go jail then the ones come out of twenty years in jail they were completely clue clueless. i don't know -- can we do like we're is the longest show in the history of c-span. why don't we go one more question. take one more question. this lady over here. >> i have a two-part question. what happened to mohammad. and when i hear someone infiltrating our own military was connection between the man you researched -- >> closer to the mic. >> and the fort hood shooter.

>> that's a great question. could you repeat your question one more time. it's a great question. >> what ultimately happened to mohammad. and then, knowing that he infiltrated her own military were there questionses between the men and the fort hood shooter? >> okay. excellent question. first of all, mohammad remains the greatest enigma on the war on terror. i think one of the reason fitzgerald came after me and wanted my hardback sledded and no paperback to see the light of day. i have an incident in the book where mohammad had become an fbi informant as early as 1992. he an empty suit of a control agent. his daughter was involved in incredibly, not the daughter but she was he's the perfect guy for

nomed have as the control agent. he wasn't really watching, if you will, in my opinion. so mohammad gets busted in i think in 1993 in vancouver. they do their job. he's busted in vancouver international airport bringing in an al qaeda agent to the united states. the system works. they find out the guy. they see the guy waiting. they put him in -- they sweat him. i'm sure in can can they don't the equivalent of n.y.p.d. blue. they put the fire to his feet metaphorically. and finally says writes a number down. call the number. they call the number. yeah. yeah. he works for us. they let him go. what does he do? he goes very shortly thereafter to kenya to begin the

surveillance for what would become the african embassy bombing plot five years later. he was one of the principle instigators of the african embassy bombing plot. cut to -- one of the defense attorneys wanted to hire to s&p nomed testify. because he was kind of a living witness to what was going on with the feds all these years. it would been a good defense witness. and andy mccarthy, the lead prosecutor on the case actually flew to california and met with mohammad a few -- not took before and mohammad suddenly doesn't show up at trial. he's not there. and even encouraged the missing witness to dismoish him to the judge. the feds didn't want nomed

testify. for obvious reasons. because it would have been embarrassed. let's cut to october, 1997. patrick fitzgerald flies -- he's living in sacramento. he is honorably dangered from the army. and living in sacramento. fitzgerald goes to sacramento and has a sit down in the restaurant near the state house. jack is there and another fbi agent. jack told me the story. the exfbi agent. and patrick fitzgerald naively thinks he's going turn the guy. ali mohammad and he looks at fitzgerald -- remember the they convicted him was is a dishes, treason basically against the united. mohammad who has sworn two oath as an arrogant and army enlistee to america i love bin laden. i don't need to attack america.

i have exnumber of guys sleepers. i could activate -- fu pat and walks out of the restaurant. patrick turns to the agents and said, that is the most dangerous man i have ever met. we cannot leave him on the street. yet, they left him on the street for an x number of month. the bomb go off in africa. 200 and some dead. they wait a month and finally arrest him. when they arrest him and get him in a hotel room in new york and let him go the bathroom. the police 101. from anybody thafer watched csi miami or dragnet knows soon as soon as you put the cuff on somebody you search them. before they -- they let him go the bathroom and later admitted he flushed key information downtown toilet including lot indication. the must remember two guy in al qaeda's location. guess what happened to ?omed.

>> he's a john doe. they put him in a john doe warrant. they don't want the media to know. they finally cut a deal allowing him to avoid the death penalty. he is the number one witness for patrick fitzgerald and u.s. versus bin laden? no. never appears. he's in some cuss codial witness protection forever. he has seals upon seals. tried to get there and couldn't get near him. if they ever do the 9/11 fliel new york. i pray they do. he needs to be one of the top witnesses. he will peel the layers of the years of negligence. at the fort hood, if you go to peterlance.com. i did a two-parter on it. and the connection the guy later targeted by the drone and killed. his connection. i found no connection between hasan and mohammad. that has to wrap it up. we're almost to two hours, which is just enough time for c span to make couple of announcements

before the next program. i really enjoyed this. i hope you have. and i want to remind of the great words of justice louis. when it comes to government and secrecy and the desire of the people to know the truth. sunlight is the best disinfectant. [applause] [applause] [inaudible conversations] you're watching booktv non-fiction authors and books

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