by forces earlier this month. >>> his name is ahmed abu chattalah. he is the main suspect in an attack on the u.s. mission in benghazi libya on september 11th, 2012. that attack killed u.s. ambassador chris stevens and three of his staff. earlier on saturday ahmed abu chattalah was flown to washington by helicopter from a u.s. navy ship. he was held on board and interrogated by investigators since his capture two weeks ago in libya by special forces. on saturday he appeared here, ahmed abu chattalah plead note, insisting he is innocent, and did not direct the assault on the u.s. consulate. the u.s. justice department charged ahmed abu chattalah on three counts, including murder and providing support to terrorists. security analyst jj green was in the courtroom and said the appearance in federal court was the first opportunity for the judge to determine if ahmed abu chattalah was fit to chant mile. >> people were trying to get an idea of what state of mind and health he was in. a number of people wanted to make sure that he would, indeed, clear and pr

early on saturday ahmed abu chattalah was flown to washington by helicopter by a u.s. navy ship.e'd been held on boar since his capture two weeks ago by libyan special forces. on seat he appeared before a special judge. he pled not guilty insisting he is innocent and did not direct the assault on the u.s. consulate. the u.s. justice department charged ahmed abu chattalah on three counts, including murder and providing material support to terrorists. security analysts jj green was in the courtroom and says the appearance in federal court was the first opportunity to determine if ahmed abu chattalah was fit to stand trial. >> people were trying to get an idea what kind of state of mind he was in, and the state of health. a number of people wanted to make sure that he would, indeed, clear and pren. >> the attack it controversial. in the united states, days before it occurred an anti-islam video splashed protests at u.s. emyaus in the muslim world. the obama administration blamed the benghazi attack on what it said was spontaneous protests against the video. later it emerged that it

ahmed abu chattalah was captured two weeks ago by special forces and swept away by u.s. s "new york." he was arrested and tape full court. >> reporter: his name is ahmed abu chattalah, he is the main suspect in an attack on the u.s. mission in benghazi, libya, on september 11th, 2012. that attack killed u.s. ambassador chris stevens, and three of his staff. earlier on saturday ahmed abu chattalah was flown to washington by helicopter, from a u.s. navy ship. he'd been held on board and interrogated by investigators since his capture. amid tight security she pleaded not guilty, assisting he is incident, and did not direct the assault on the u.s. consulate. the u.s. consaulate department -- consulate department charged ahmed abu chattalah on three counts including murder and providing military support to terrorists. jj green was in court and said it was the first opportunity for the judge to determine if ahmed abu chattalah was fit to stand trial. >> people were trying to get an idea what kind of state of mind he was in, what state of health he may have been in. clear ly a

ahmed abu khatallah is being held under very tight security.d in the 2012 attacks that killed u.s. ambassador chris stephens and two other americans. he was captured two weeks ago and brought to the u.s. aboard a navy battleship where he was reportedly questioned about his role in the attacks. now, nearly two years after the deadly raid on our consulate, the wheels of justice are finally moving. we are bringing in our legal panel to talk about what happens next. i want to start with the former federal prosecutor. how does this change? now, is he basically like any other federal suspect? >> absolutely. well, he has been indicted. so he is not a suspect anymore and he is a defendant and he will go through an arrangement, and he will plead not guilty and be asked whether he understands the charges against him and then there will be a bail hearing. right now -- >> does he get a lawyer? >> absolutely he will get a lawyer. if he cannot afford one, one will be appointed to him just like an american citizen would get. >> now that he is a federal defend

cnn has learned that ahmed abu khattala is now being questioned. sources tell cnn he was lured to a location not far from benghazi and captured without a fight. now plans have come together to bring abu khattala to the u.s. in the death of christopher stevens and three other americans. let's get right now live to tripoli. what are you learning about how he was captured and what happens next to him. >> reporter: christine, we're getting very little information. the details of how this capture actually went down. libyan government here, officials here in tripoli have not said a thing. no official comment yet from the libyans. but what we do know from the u.s. officials is for days before this operation took place, the u.s. special forces, that's the army's delta force, the fbi and intelligence agencies were closely watching ahmed abu khattala. they say also information from locals was helpful in the surveillance. now, as you mentioned earlier, he was lured to a location south of benghazi where he was grabbed. u.s. officials say not a single shot was f

ahmed abu chattalah ahme chattalah >>> this is al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler in new york. captured - the chief suspect in the benghazi attack arrested and in u.s. custody. >>> closing in - rebels in iraq moving the fight towards baghdad. our special report - iraq under siege. >>> guns around the world - despite living under threat, why so few israelis own guns. >>> freedom - gaoled but never charged. an al jazeera journalist is finally released. >>> and the world cup wizard tries to conjure up a win for mexico. >>> we begin in libya where the man accused of orchestrating the deadly attack on the american consulate in benghazi is in custody. the raid in 2012 killed four americans, including u.s. ambassador chris stephens. mike viqueira joins us from the white house. tell us about the suspect and the arrest. >> it was a long time coming, but the administration announced the first breakthrough in holding those responsible for the attacks to justice and an attack that has become a political flashpoint at home. >> reporter: it took almost two

ahmed abu chattalah was captured by special forces. james weddick is a former special agent with the federal bureau of investigation and explained why it too so long to arrest ahmed abu chattalah despite knowing where he was. >> they needed to affect the rest and make sure those that made the arrest could turn to the u.s. safely, as well as kat articlea. i have a number of high value arrests, and sometimes those plans go on for a little longer than most people think. when you have something with international waters and territory, you can imagine it would take a long time. >> we prosecuted a number of terrorists, they'll be given their rights, and it will be chaired by a judge. i don't expect there to be a problem presenting the evidence, and i don't expect his defense team will have a problem defending him. it will be difficult for the defense team and the prosecutors. it will be up to the judge to maintain, you know, a fair decorum in the courtroom, and make sure that everybody gets their fair shake, if you will, at making their case

you actually met this man, ahmed abu khattalah, in libya, more than a year ago. you sat down with him. i want to show our viewers your fascinating report. it aired on cnn september of last year. >> u.s. officials have often suggested that they would be interested in speaking to a man named ahmed abu khattalah about the events the night of the attack. he's really not that difficult to find. we met with ahmed abu khattalah in public at the coffee shop of a well-known hotel here in benghazi for around two hours. he seemed to be confident, his demeanor most certainly not that of a man who believed he was going to be detained or targeted any time soon. and he agreed to let us film audio, but not video, of our conversation. he doesn't deny that he was there the night of the attack. [ speaking foreign language ] he claims he didn't even know the americans had a consulate in benghazi. never mind having any information about a specific location. his narrative is unclear and at times seems to be contradictory. he says when he arrived at the perimeter of the compound, he sa

we have the full story. >> reporter: his name is ahmed abu chattalah. he is the main suspect in an attack on the u.s. mission in benghazi, libya, on september 11th, 2012. that attack killed u.s. ambassador chris stevens, and three of his staff. early on saturday ahmed abu chattalah was flown to washington by navy ship. he'd been held on board since his capture two weeks ago. saturday he appeared here before a federal judge. ahmed abu chattalah pled not guilty insisting he is innocent and did not direct the assault on the u.s. consulate. the u.s. justice department charged ahmed abu chattalah on three counts, including murder and providing military support to terrorists. the appearance in federal court was the first opportunity for the judge to determine if ahmed abu chattalah was fit to stand trial. >> people were trying to get an idea of the state of mind he was in, what state of health he may have been in. clearly, a number of people wanted to make sure that he was clear and present. >> reporter: the attack is controversial. in the united states, days

ahmed abu khattala was taken into custody during a secret raid on sunday.e have the details. >> september 11, 2012, the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya, coming under attack from a group of islamic militants. the american ambassador, christopher stevens, was killed in the assault along with three of his compatriots. up until now, none of the suspects has been captured by u.s. forces, but in a secret raid, they have apprehended ahmed abu khattala, one of the alleged ringleaders. the commander-in-chief of the united states military conducted a mission to capture ahmed abu khattala. khattala has been charged for his role in the attacks in benghazi, libya, on september 11, 2012. the united states is taking him to a secure location outside libya. >> the obama administration has faced strident criticism or not doing enough to find those responsible, so a rare success for a president struggling with overlapping crises in syria and now iraq. >> it is important for us to send a message to the world that when americans are attacked, no matter how long it takes, we w

also right now, benghazi suspect ahmed abu khattalah is on a slow boat trip to the united states. once he arrives, what kind legal battle does he face? and was the u.s. capture legal to begin with? right now, a new ruling hits the washington redskins where it hurts in the wallet. will this be enough to finally convince the team to change its name?

we have new details this morning on where ahmed abu khatallah is being held and new allegations from the u.s. that he may have been planning more attacks. >> four americans, including ambassador chris stevens, died in the benghazi attack. it happened during hillary clinton's tenure as secretary of state, and during cnn's town hall with clinton last night, she spoke about the lingering controversy. >> there are answers, not all of them, not enough frankly. i'm still looking for answers because it was a confusing and difficult time, but i would hope that every american would understand, number one, why we were there, because we need to be in dangerous places, and,

his name is ahmed abu khattala. he was captured two weeks ago in libya. until now, he's been under interrogation aboard the "uss new york." owe 0 officials say now he's being held under tight security at a federal courthouse 0 in d. where he will answer to charges for his role in the september 11, 2012, attack in libya that killed four americans, including u.s. ambassador chris stevens. our national security correspondent jennifer griffin is live outside the direct courthouse in d.c. right now. how, jennifer, was khattala brought to the courthouse today? >> reporter: well, kelly, u.s. officials tell us that he -- the "uss new york" came into the chesapeake bay and a u.s. helicopter brought him from the ship to a base, a national park service helipad over in an acos acosta. he was brought by vehicle by land to the courthouse behind

we have new details this morning on where ahmed abu khatallah is being held and new allegations from the u.s. that he may have been planning more attacks. >> four americans, including ambassador chris stevens, died in the benghazi attack. it happened during hillary clinton's tenure as secretary of state, and during cnn's town hall with clinton last night, she spoke about the lingering controversy. >> there are answers, not all of them, not enough frankly. i'm still looking for answers because it was a confusing and difficult time, but i would hope that every american would understand, number one, why we were there, because we need to be in dangerous places, and, number two, that we're doing the best we can to find out what happened. >> we have complete coverage beginning with pentagon correspondent barbara starr. barbara, tell us more about what we're learning about the capture of khatallah. >> reporter: good morning, kate. u.n. ambassador smith samantha pour says khatallah may have been planning more attacks against americans, that being report by the reuters

again, the united states president, weighing in on the capture of ahmed abu khattalah in the benghazicks. we will bring to justice those responsible for the benghazi attacks. we will remain vigilant against all acts of terrorism and we will continue to prioritize the protection of our service members and civilians overseas. we will also sustain the libyan people and do the difficult work of democracy. some of that may sound like platitudes. the president will undoubtedly have an uphill battle. there were, by all accounts, dozens. but also in the aftermath, there were no american personnel to actually process that crime scene. one of the first people at that crime scene was our own arwa damon who was able to look at and read some of the evidence, a journal by the former ambassador. the now late ambassador. that is going to be a case ripe with defense issues. once that suspect dft i suppose we can now say, whether that's official, whether that's just common parlance, i don't know yet, but there will be, clearly, a lot of issues at stake in trying to prosecute khattalah. i want to get to

ahmed abu khatallah was lured to a location south of benghazi, u.s. officials from multiple agencies tell cnn. army delta force commandos, fbi and intelligence agencies were watching and waiting for days. khatallah, a key operative in ansar al sharia, the group played for the 2012 attack on the u.s. compound in benghazi. intelligence gleaned from local libyans helped draw khatallah to the location. u.s. commandos captured him with no shots fired, no one getting hurt. a surprising feat, one former libyan official tells cnn, because khatallah usually surrounded himself with guards. u.s. commandos whisked him to a navy ship in the mediterranean to begin undergoing questioning for his role in the attack and anything else he knows about terrorist activity. officially the pentagon will say little. >> i'm not going to get into specifics on the actual execution of the operation. >> reporter: president obama touted the capture. >> it's important for us to send a message to the world that when americans are attacked, no matter how long it takes, we will find th

. >> glor: ahmed abu khattala was captured over the weekend. justice correspondent bob orr is in washington. bob. >> reporter: well, jeff, this operation had been planned for well over the last year. u.s. officials now tell us they believe that this is a picture of ahmed abu khattala. officials say they wanted to move on him when he was least protected and least likely to resist. that opportunity came sunday night. after the benghazi attacks, khattala often appeared in public, unconcerned about any potential capture. but after word leaked last summer that he'd been charged by the u.s. justice department, sources say khattala became more cautious and frequently changed locations, often joined by just a few close friend. but u.s. intelligence ultimately tracked khattala to a small seaside villa south boston of benghazi. sunday evening after dark, u.s. commandos and f.b.i. agents silently converged on the home and quickly captured khattala without firing a shot. no one was hurt. pentagon spokesman admiral john kirby. >> the important thing for eve

but ahmed abu khattala has been very much on the mintsds of our law enforcement, our military and intelligence professionals since that night in september of 2012. >> and obviously, you've been asked so many questions about this so many times. but certainly some of the family are still very distraught. one of the mothers said that she still feels all this time that she has not had the sufficient answers. how do you relate to her as a mother? >> oh, i totally relate to her as a mother or to any of the family members of the four americans who were killed that night. i can see why she and others are inconsolable. there have been, as you know, a number of investigations, including the independent one that the state department commissioned as well as many in congress. there are answers, not all of them not enough, frankly. i'm still looking for answers because it was a confusing and difficult time. but i would hope that every american would understand, number one, why we were there because we need to be in dangerous places and number two, that we're doing the best we can to find out what happened a

ahmed abu khattala was arrested in libya two weeks ago. he's been traveling on a navy warship since then. that is until this morning. let me bring in pete williams, who has been following developments for outside the federal courthouse. please give us the update and what can we expect here in the next -- i guess any moment, but certainly the next few hours. >> about 3:30 actually will be the time for the arraignment for ahmed abu khattala. a big deal. almost two years ago, to face a federal judge here in the united states. he arrived in the u.s. on u.s. soil this morning, brought off the navy ship by helicopter. they landed here not a couple of miles away from this federal courthouse at the foot of capitol hill and he's been in the courthouse since about 8:30 this morning eastern time. a little over five hours, waiting for his hearing this afternoon before a federal judge. it will be a very brief hearing. he'll simply be told of the charges against him. it's a formal arraignment. and then i assign the judge will set the time for the rest o

ambassador and three others. >> reporter: held on the "uss new york" ahmed abu khattala is described by a u.s. official as compliant but not forth coming with his interrogatointerrogato. on a recent guantanamo tour reporters were told detainees who have been in the camp for years are still providing useful intelligence about their network of contacts. >> the valve it is not determined the day we hear about it. it could be something that turns out to be of more value later on when they are able to make some connections. >> reporter: crypts including republican senator kelly ayotte want a full read out about ahmed abu khattala at what point he was read his reits and stopped talking. >>> no grapevine tonight so we can concentrate on today's supreme court rulings. and where do we go from here? keep smoking... ...because it was easier to smoke than it was to quit. along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it's a non-nicotine pill. chantix reduced the urge for me to smoke. it actually caught me by surprise. some people had changes in behavior, thinkin

now ahmed abu khattala is being held. a live report coming your way. >>> iraqi forces going on the offensive backed by helicopter and gunships. they try to take back the northern city of tikrit from sunni militants. president obama hasn't authorized air strikes in iraq but armed u.s. drones are flying over baghdad at this hour. we'll have a live report from the middle east. plus congressman ed royce, chairman of the house foreign affairs committee will be here to weigh in. >>> could the missing lois lerner lost e-mails turn up by the end of next week? that's what the irs chief is telling the house ways and means committee he hopes happens. maybe just in time as one congressman proposes offering a $1 million reward for the e-mails' return. a live report on that coming up. >>> and news this week that the world's biggest economy, ours, is shrinking as the gdp takes a big dive. we'll have how the economy can make a comeback. >>> obamacare is not the answer. tax increases are not the answer. >> i'm uma pemmaraju, america's new

after being arrested ahmed abu khatallah claimed that it was. now he's in washington, d.c. it's something that we'll find out for sure. >> iraqi government forces are conducting a major counter offensive just north of baghdad today. army soldiers have surrounded takrit and have begun an aeria an air bombardment. al jazeeral jazeera has more. >> reporter: after an intense day long battle the iraqi army said it's in the outlying area of takrit. it's famous of being the hometown of former iraqi leader saddam hussein. social media accounts are telling us that they have the iraqi army on the run. the only thing that both sides can agree on is that there are fierce clashes ongoing and the battle of takrit city is about to begin. now what we're see something that the iraqi army used two different types of forces. one regular infantry, and the other shia militia to go back into takrit. they are backed by iraqi army helicopters. it will be key to see how it plays out because it is the first major ground offensive in a city held by sunni rebels and the islamic state in iraq and the l

barbara starr tonight report. >> reporter: ahmed abu khatallah was lured south of benghazi.commandos, the fbi, and intelligence agencies had been watching him for days. they swooped in sunday night. the chairman of the joint chiefs hinting at how dangerous it all was. >> the abu khatallah operation though it may have looked rather routine, it took us months of preparation and intelligence. >> reporter: khatallah, a key operator in ansar al sharia, the group the u.s. blames for the compound in benghazi. intelligence gleaned from local libyans helped draw khatallah to the location. they captured him with no shots fired, no one getting hurt. then u.s. commandos whisked him to the uss new york in the mediterranean. he is now undergoing questioning. delta force commandos had been in libya before. in october, they captured alleged operative anas al libi in tripoli in a raid that took less than 30 seconds. some wonder why it took so long to get to khatallah when journalists like cnn's arwa damon found and talked to him more than a year ago. >> we met with ahmed abu khatallah in pub

now we have a lot of fight left to handle here. >> was ahmed abu khattala the master mind?ave we broken the back of this conspiracy? >> oh, i wouldn't say we have broken the back by any stretch of the imagination. it's an important -- this was an important activity to happen. to take someone like khattala off the battlefield and sends a clear message in libya we haven't gone away. that's important. there's over a dozen individuals of interest. i think that the united states needs to gather up. this is one. it's an important step. i think with some hope, he'll cooperate with the united states and provide us information that will lead to the bringing justice of others who are involved in the benghazi attack. >> and your take as an intelligence expert on what group was responsible for this now all these years later? >> for benghazi? >> yep. >> yeah. ansar el shariah clearly involved in this event, an al qaeda-minded organization that had a lot of freedom of operation. we know through intelligence reports they were interested in an event like this happen and probably a conglome

months of intelligence research went into capturing ahmed abu khattala. a week ago, two u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s and at least two fbi agents slipped into libya by sea to nab him and took him to a u.s.-bound navy ship for interrogation. the u.s. justice department plans to try him in a federal court in the u.s. joining me from london is timothy stanley, a writer and historian for britain's "daily tell l telegraph." how is it, justified or out of bounds? >> i think it's probably justified, although, of course, there's anxiety about the u.s. carrying out such extraordinary renditions like this. what the arrest won't do is asp the key questions was the u.s. support for the downfall of kadafi worth it? with groups in libya, governments coming and going, some people doubt that. but also it doesn't answer the question of why did the u.s. government respond the way that it did? and many people still feel, rightly or wrongly, that it responded too slowly, or else it tried to pass the buck upon blaming that controversial video. >> what do you mean responding like it did? you're talking abou

was able to capture ahmed abu khattalah, the leader of an islamist terrorist group in libya. >> stephen: yes, we got our man. justice has been served. u-s-a! u-s-a! u-s-a is what they want us to think. but it's going to take more than what we demanded to satisfy us. >> why did it take so long to bring this guy in? >> what took so long? >> for those keeping track, it's been 642 days. >> it took 642 days after the attacks to land one suspect. >> this guy has been drinking strawberry frappes and lattes for 642 days. what's up? >> stephen: what's up? why did it take so long? khattalah was interviewed by "the new york times" sipping a strawberry frappe on a patio. they could have just looked for the terrorist with the frosty pink mustache. [laughter] president bush did not wait 642 days to catch bin laden. if he couldn't catch him right away, he wasn't going to catch him at all. that's called having some pride. folks, we will have more on this story as soon as i can figure out why it's bad. but in the meantime, there are people out there who will continue to tell you that hillary clinton's a

. >> commandos with drones overhead grabbed ahmed abu khattala, whisking him off to navy warship. >> u.s. intelligence tracked him to small seaside villa and quickly captured khattala without firing a shot. no one was hurt. >> jon: no shots, no wounds, no errors. the commanders even spruced up the villa for the next b&b guests, which i thought was very nice. great news all around, well-planned operation, executed flawlessly, terrorists captured without casualties. cannot find a single thing wrong, which is probably why i don't work at fox. >> what took the obama administration so throng capture ahmed abu khattala. >> 641 days after the president vowed to bring the killers to justice. >> jon: for god's sake, obama good night the guy you have been come make about. why are you being such moby dicks about this. oh, melville, why did you name your symbol of evil if a modern world? how easy should it have been for us to get him? >> khattala had been living in plain sight. >> he always met with journalists in public fairched sipping lattes at a local hotel in bank of england. >> sitting out

designated ahmed abu chattalah as a terror unfortunate. describing himself as a leader for a libyan armed group with links to al qaeda. he is faces criminal discharges with more to follow. >>> republicans this congress launched a series of investigations, many accusing the administration of downplaying terrorism in the attacks. two months before the presidential election. a main republican tart hillary clinton, secretary of state at the time of the attacks. clinton was defiant. >> we send americans into perilous dangerous places all the time. i believe that is the right decision. people have every right, but when they say the united states shouldn't be in the dangerous places, i disagree. >> on tuesday, many wondered what took long to capture him. >> we did it as expeditiously as possible, taking into account a range of factors. >> i can't speak for his living habits. let's say for argument's sake he's living in plane sights. >>> the struggle to bring to those responsible, an attack in benghazi, a political fire storm. >>> mike viqueira at

ahmed abu khatallah was captured in libya two weeks ago, by u.s. special forces, and was formally arraigned late today in a washington courthouse. he is charged with providing support for the attack that left ambassador christopher stevens and three other americans dead and ignited a political firestorm here at home over how the obama white house responded and first characterized the attack. our justice correspondent pete williams has late developments for us. pete, good evening. >> reporter: lester, good evening. it was a brief court hearing lasting about ten minutes, but a very significant one. the first suspect arrested in the benghazi attacks, making a highly unusual weekend appearance before a federal judge here in washington. under heightened security, he was brought early this morning to the federal courthouse at the foot of capitol hill. ending a 5,000 mile journey that lasted nearly two weeks. ahmed abu khatallah, around 43 years old, now faces a charge of providing material support to terrorists, contained in a grand jury indictment unsea

was able to capture ahmed abu khattala, the leader of an islamist terrorist group in libya. >> our special courage and precision were able to capture an individual, abu khattala, who is alleged to have been one of the masterminds of the attack. >> reporter: u.s. officials tell abc news that khattala had been under surveillance in libya for months. in fact, he was interviewed by reporters for cnn and others, denying his involvement and flaunting his presence in benghazi. >> if a cnn reporter can have an interview with him openly in a cafe, why couldn't we get to him sooner? >> reporter: u.s. officials say a plan to capture abu khattala was delayed after public outrage in libya over this video of the takedown of another accused terrorist in tripoli last october. the mother of one of the americans killed in benghazi told other san diego affiliate, katv, her questions about what happened are still not answered. >> i'm glad they got one of them. there were a whole bunch that set fire to that place. >> reporter: khattals is now being held on a u.s. naval ship in the mediterranean where he is bei

. >> commandos with drones overhead grabbed ahmed abu khattala, whisking him off to navy warship. >>acked him to small seaside villa and quickly captured khattala without firing a shot. no one was hurt. >> jon: no shots, no wounds, no errors. the commanders even spruced up the villa for the next b&b guests, which i thought was very nice. great news all around, well-planned operation, executed flawlessly, terrorists captured without casualties. cannot find a single thing wrong, which is probably why i don't work at fox. >> what took the obama administration so throng capture ahmed abu khattala. >> 641 days after the president vowed to bring the killers to justice. >> jon: for god's sake, obama good night the guy you have been come make about. why are you being such moby dicks about this. oh, melville, why did you name your symbol of evil if a modern world? how easy should it have been for us to get him? >> khattala had been living in plain sight. >> he always met with journalists in public fairched sipping lattes at a local hotel in bank of england. >> sitting outside

the special forces operation to arrest ahmed abu chattalah comes as obama administration is considering sending special forces troops to advice and train the iraqi military. senate and congressional leaders was invited to the white house over amounting concerns of sectarian fighters in iraq. forces are struggling to control bacuba, with reports that u.s. intelligence has been hampered. we are joined by rear-admiral john kirby, the pentagon press secretary. good to have you on the show. let's start with the raid in libya. why did it take so long to get the guy. reporters like cbs news elizabeth palmer spoke with him weeks after the attack and reported that he didn't look like a wanted man, that he was sipping mango juice in a benghazi hotel. >> what matters is he has no longer sipping maquarie banko juice in libya. he's in u.s. custody in a secure location. he'll meet justice. that's number one. while he may have found it enjoyable to talk to reporters, they are good at evading justice. it takes a long time, sometimes, to have enough information and the resources in the right places to c

ahmed abu khatalla was captured. susan mcginnis is in washington where there's sharp debate over how to handle the suspect. susan. >> good morning, anne-marie. here's the essence of the e-mail. some want him held at guantanamo bay and interrogated at length. some democrats say the u.s. federal court system is the right place to gain intelligence from him and bring him to justice. u.s. officials believe this is a photo of ahmed abu khatalla. the libyan militant who was on his way to the u.s. to face trial for his alleged role in the deadly 2012 attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. it's the first arrest connected to the assault that killed u.s. ambassador chris stevens and three other americans. >> when americans are attacked, no matter how long it takes, we will find those responsible and we will bring them to justice. >> u.s. military commandos tracked khatalla to a small seaside villa south of benghazi. following months of planning, they captured him sunday without firing a single shot. khatalla is report lid o

ahmed abu khattala is interrogated following capture. >>> a large storm rolled through nebraska againhis time the twisters were not close to any communities. on monday, two tornadoes touched down wiping out 75 percent of the small town. the governor said that the damage and by far the worst he has ever seen. >> five, the parents of a four-year-old sunnyvale have their neighbors to thank for saving their son's life spotting the child face down at the apartment complex on monday and pulled him to safety. a fencing crew have reinforced the gate. >>> check out the sunshine about to spread over all of our neighborhoods and the coolest is when summer starts on saturday with the seven-day forecast coming up. >> seven, the bay bridge toll plaza show as few extra cars coming into the tolls from the maze, and, all in all a quiet start to the morning with one accident that was cleared and, i will tell you where the congestion is building, coming up in a few minutes. >>> the southern california mayor would was caught on camera thoughing a bag of dog feces into the yard of his political opponent r

ahmed abu chattalah appeared in a u.s. court for the first time on saturday, and is expected back in court next week much he pled not guilty to charges, more from our correspondent in washington. >> reporter: he is ahmed abu chattalah, he is the main suspect in an attack on the u.s. mission in benghazi libya on september 11th, 2012. the attack killed the u.s. ambassador and three of his staff. earlier on saturday ahmed abu chattalah was blown to washington by helicopter. he had been held on board and interrogated by investigators since his capture two weeks ago by u.s. special forces. on saturday he appeared here, before a federal judge. he pleaded not guilty. and insisted he was in the. the u.s. justice department has charged him on three counts, including murder and providing material support to terrorist. security analysts jj green was in the courtroom. he says the appearance in federal court was the first opportunity for the judge to determine if he was fit to stand trial. >> people were trying to get an idea of what k

the arrest of ahmed abu khattalah is finally news for those waiting, wanting answers. one of those outspoken critics has been patricia smith, because her son, sean smith, a state department information officer, was one of the four americans killed in benghazi in september of 2012. patricia smith talked to anderson cooper a month after that attack. >> i told him if it's such a secret thing, fine, take me in another room, whisper in my ear what happened so i know and we'll go from there. but no, no, they treat me like at first i was so proud because they were treating me so nice when i went to that reception. they all came up to me and talked to me and everything. i cried on obama's shoulder. and then he kind of looked off into the distance. so that was worthless to me. i want to know, for god's sakes, or for allah's sake or for whoever's sake is there. i don't know where -- i look on tv and see bloody handprints on walls, thinking my god, is that my son's? i don't know if he was shot, i don't know -- i don't know. they haven't told me anything. they're still studying it

ahmed abu chattalah was somewhere on the outskirts of benghazi on sunday when the u.s.ilitary and the fbi grabbed him, took him into custody and left libya. the man alleged to be behind the attack on the american consulate in 2012 is on his way to the u.s. he will be tried for the deaths of four men in the compound at the time, including the u.s. ambassador, chris stephens. >> it's important for us to send a message to the world, that when americans are attacked, no matter how long it takes, we will find those responsible and bring them to justice. but news of the arrest was overwhelmed by questions about how and why the obama administration acted when it did. officials were gagy on whether they cleared their mission with the government and tripoli. i'm not going to get into the specifics of diplomat studies. given that reporters interviewed ahmed abu chattalah, after he was called a suspect and indicted. there was surprise that he hadn't been arrested before now. u.s. forces conducted the operation as soap as the president and his national security team were confident

like the raid that killed osama bin laden the capture of ahmed abu khattala is welcome news by president obama. >> after so many months being battered over cover-up charges on benghazi, president obama all but took a victory lap as he tried to bring the killers to justice. >> regardless how long it takes we will find you. i want to make sure everybody around the world hears that message very clearly. >> reporter: to be clear, it took 646 days after the attacks to land one suspect and others still at large nearly two years after this promise in the rose garden? we will work with the libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people. >> reporter: in the case of ahmed abu khattala, he often appeared in public as if to taunt the administration and congressman trey gowdy pointedly gave the president no credit saying i applaud our military and law enforcement officials for apprehending this terrorist. senate majority leader harry reid quickly called it disgusting for republicans to down play the takedown. >>> wonder if the men and women who captured the terrorists agree

ahmed abu khatallah was arrested sunday night. he is accused of carrying out the attack that killed four americans in 2012. from across the bay to around the world, the stories that matter on "kpix 5 news this morning." captions by: caption colorado comments@captioncolorado.com >>> good morning, i'm michelle griego. >> hi, everyone. i'm frank mallicoat. nearly 5:00. get you out the door with a little traffic and weather. lawrence says this is the pick of the week, i guess, right? >> this is it. nice and clear now, more of a northerly component to the winds so we are going to see lots of sunshine even out toward the beaches today. a lot of 60s there inside the bay. some 70s and 80s inside the bay, 90s inland. clear over san jose right now. temperatures in the 50s. by the afternoon, getting hot in spots inland. 88 concord, 84 san jose, 65 and sunny in pacifica. let's check on the roads now with gianna. >> all right. we have a location change for the earlier accident we reported. it's actually northbound 238 connector to northbound 8

ahmed abu khattala, grabbed in libya earlier this month by u.s. special forces, and today, delivered to the u.s. federal court in washington. the tightest security on hand, armed guards standing watch outside. abc's senior washington correspondent jeff zeleny leads us off tonight, reporting from outside the courthouse. >> reporter: ahmed abu khattala stood before an american judge for the first time this afternoon. he raised his light hand, speaking softly with the help of an interpreter. as his public defender entered a plea of not guilty. he was fingerprinted and photographed like any other suspect. but the tight security and rare weekend appearance at federal court highlighted the importance of the case. before dawn, abu khattala was flown to washington after being held on a navy warship after his capture in libya nearly two weeks ago. inside the courtroom, he stood tall with a bushy gray beard. his eyes closely watching the judge and nearly a dozen government prosecutors. fbi agents had been interrogating hum aboard the "uss new york," as the

ahmed abu khattalah.was there in benghazi in the middle of everything, if the allegations are true, when the united states ambassador and three other americans died in that attack on the u.s. consular outpost. in fact, lots of people believe that he was, in fact, one of the men in charge, if not the big cheese. right now, he is a guest of the united states navy. and he's on board a ship heading to the united states. not a plane, which is quick, a ship, which is slow. that means american investigators and interrogators have a lot more time face-to-face with their guest, mr. khattalah. that's so much to talk about, what this really means, interrogating a terror suspect on board a ship. a terror suspect or a criminal suspect. there's a difference. because it's big. it's fast. and it can make all the difference. the libyans want him back. they want him to stand trial there on libyan soil. what are the odds that's going to happen. and where this person really is on the terror spectrum too. all of that coming u

special forces aided by the fbi to arrest this man we've known of for so long, ahmed abu khattala, accused of being one of the co-conspirators, ringleaders, master mind if you will on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. he had actually been designated a terrorist in january by the state department which called him a senior leader of the benghazi branch of ansar al shariah, the terror group the government blamed for the attack. the criminal charges were actually filed last year in july of 2013 and were just unsealed by the federal judge who's responsible for the case here in washington and that cheens that he will undoubtedly the u.s. will try to bring him here to face charges. being questioned now and we don't know when he'll be brought here but that's the plan. >> good news there. pete williams, thank you so much. >> you bet. >>> now to today's other big news. american troops going back to baghdad. up to 275 u.s. military personnel could be deploying to iraq with isis fighters moving closer to the capital. the troops mission to secure the u.s. embassy n. a letter to congress, president obama

ahm ahmed abu khatallah. he's the prime suspect.ur greg pal could have -- original straighter behind the benghazi attacks almost two years ago. >>> meanwhile president obama in the middle of all this landing in new york city moments ago. he's in town to raise money with fund-raiser starting with the senate majority pac fund-raiser. still another by the lgbt ga la for the democratic national committee. we know the president can multitask because he committed these 275 troops to baghdad. images count and pat kadel doesn't think they count for much. >> he left this weekend when all of iraq is falling apart to fly to california and do fund-raisers. now, he's back one day and he's in new york. i've never seen anything like this when a president checks out and takes care of whatever politics. remember the morning after benghazi, he wasn't in the situation room the night of benghazi. it's nice we finally got somebody. they have really been rushing to do that. the timing is coincidence. we do know the next morning he was in las vegas raisin