of course, we can't count on al-qaeda to put itself out of business. so we're focusing our efforts on undermining the group's narrative and preventing the radicalization of vulnerable or alienated individuals. in the government we call these efforts countering violent extremism. and one of the first things i did in taking office was create a unit in our bureau to identify drivers of extremism and develop programs to counteract them. we're hard at working developing a better understanding of the dynamics of communities in which extremism has taken root. every one of these at-risk communities possesses unique political, economic and social factors that help contribute to the radicalization process. and for this reason we know that a one size fits all program has limited appeal. instead, programs need to be tailored to fit the characteristics of the audience. and for that reason we're employing microstrategies customized for specific communities and even neighborhoods so that they have a better chance of succeeding. we're realistic about what the u.s. gov

the magnitude of the challenge insurers no country can successfully combat al qaeda on its own. partnering with others especially at the local level is critical these officials are likely to have paid better understanding and can identify who is best to cantor. and also crucial to our long-term success. we no credible boys have to take the lead in their own community and they have the best place to have countered year it is. of the u.s. government is working to reliable partners and amplified legitimate voices in the west can help empower the local actors through funding are simply providing them with space physical or electronic to challenge the extremist views. nontraditional actors such as ngos public-private partnerships, private businesses have put some of the most incredible partners and local communities u.s. government and partner nations seek to develop greater understanding between the diaspora communities and it ancestral homelands through business and family networks defense that affect one community have an impact on the other. with the aid of these incredible messe

central is taking steps to undermine the appeal for al qaeda's rationale for violence. obviously part of this strategy involves building a genuinely global approach to a global threat. the administration's been working hard to reinvigorate alliances and partnerships, and this is especially true in the arena of counter terrorism. through consistent diplomatic engagement we are seeking to boost the political will and strengthen the resolve of senior leaders around the world. that will is essential for our long-term capacity building efforts with a wide range of partners. because we know that ultimately our success will hinge on strengthning the ability of others around the world to deal with threats in their countries and regions. we cannot be everywhere all the time and we will be vastly better off and safer if others are as concerned about the threat as we are. and for these reasons we have also reingaged in a host of different global and roinlal multilateral forward that are bidding capacity whether in the u.n., the g-8's counter terrorism group or other-- elsewhere. a

they were seen as the traditional link to al-qaeda because al-masri was egyptian. the other was meant to show it was a grass roots insurgency, not one imposed by foreign fighters. iraqi government officials say the men were killed in a

we know that al qaeda has been involved in the number of these efforts. fortunately, they have been scammed a couple of times but they continue to pursue it. there has been demonstrated interest over a number of years. we are most concerned about the most sensitive of their efforts and therefore it will have only very few people involved in the effort and it requires very good intelligence. as far as potential insider threat, throughout the world al qaeda is looking for vulnerabilities and facilities and stockpiles and to bring countries that will allow them to obtain the byproducts of nuclear reactors and materials that they can use but also to go after individuals that might have access to the individuals or have the expertise to fabricate a nuclear device. >> have they manage to do that? >> there is evidence of their attempts to do that. i would like to think that we have been able to port their success to that. >> -- their success today. >> [unintelligible] are they doing everything to protect nuclear interests? can you describe the nature of the crim

the iraqi insurgency had been engaged in a disagreement with al qaeda in al anbar and finally al qaeda went up against the insurgency and surrounded them, surrounded a lot of their fighters, hundreds of their fighters in this town of al-qaim in july of 2005. and they were going to be wiped out. the sun was setting and an insurgent leader called jerry jones, a colleague of mine and a friend of mine at the pentagon who was a special assistant to donald rumsfeld and said, you have got to help us. we are going to get wiped out. jerry jones called john coleman at camp pendleton, the marine corps colonel and coleman said i can take care of us and called camp fallujah and they dispatch helicopters and we attacked with the insurgents al qaeda. that was the beginning of the al anbar awakening. that is when the anbar tribes came to our side. i think it was-- it is not like like the battle of the bulge. it is not like normandy. it is not something you can point to in the history books and save the gettysburg of iraq but it was a key turning point i think in the battle, and it led to a political u

look at al qaeda. al qaeda can they don't all speak arabic. they are surely not all arabic. they come in brown, yellow, black, white. it's a real multinational corporation but they will die for each other for the vision of their faith. to underestimate the power of religion in human, it is like putting a ball and chain on our strategic ankles from the outset. so in afghanistan, i don't want to lead. i want to keep some forces there to keep hammering the al qaeda. but let's recognize al qaeda, not in afghanistan anymore. there are other ways of doing it. they are scattered through air country that although there is one piece of very good news about al qaeda. it's important that i'm also proud of this, back in 2006, and 2007, i wrote that there was a good chance that the sunni flip against al qaeda and iraq would mark the high watermark with a guided. and it has. because al qaeda sets itself up as a champion of the sunni muslims. remember after september 11, 2000 want them how you saw policy and others jumping up and down the street celebrating? because al qaeda did what relig

i'm not talking about al qaeda. i'm not talking about talking to the dead in the revolutionaries, people who want to burn it down. al qaeda doesn't fit constituency. they are just a revolutionary that work. people are not talking about talking to hamas, les hezbollah. the three most influential organizations and movements in the middle east. the great middle ground of islam that we should recruit to the war on turkoman notte al qaeda. al qaeda deserves one outcome and that is to be defeated and tracked down wherever they are and to be eliminated. i believe that firmly but for the other groups that is not the case. they can be our allies and should be. >> host: the initial title of your book is with what i would call the popular perception which is we don't talk to terrorist but the reality has been over the years u.s. policy was that we don't talk to terrorists. it was we make no concessions. we can negotiate but no confessions. now i guess the more interesting issue if you are going to talk and not make confessions

so go say, al qaeda is just using the religion as a tool. while then, we don't have wise to also affect this? is iran? the taliban, their hacker at, there pederasts. the religion does exist. and again, keep fighting for people in washington to accept the fact that when you and me and says that he is fighting for his religion and is willing to die for his religion, it might be wise to take him or her seriously. i mean, we pretend the ivy league grads, they're so secular and education outlook they don't get the power thing, the transformative power of revelation, the incredibly the shattering echoes of the voice of god in human affairs. they don't understand that power. and so, they just rationalize it away. but i put it to you, what could be more powerful than religion? here are the five most powerful come in the great religions: judaism, to a layperson like me at the least 3000 or so, 262-2000 us and nobody goes back obviously further. christianity, two dozen are sold. hinduism, god knows to buddhism, 2000 years. islam is a baby. it's about

the taliban is tired al qaeda will go elsewhere. put the taliban will come to the understanding that will not be comfortable but we will not extend the 4,000 lives in afghanistan i think even though i was a skeptic of the 30,000 reinforcements that stanley mcchrystal asked for, i was a real skeptic i do is think it has a good chance of working. because of what happened in iraq and losses that we learned there. >> host: let's go back. chapters two through 55 finger awful the first chapter alone deals with the missed opportunity in iraq we could have saved the lives of 2000 american soldiers if this when the fuse of opportunity was lifted iraq with the military solution by killing? >> ironically i think the military provided the political opening for a lopsided july 2005. all kinds of small towns and medium-size towns on the iraqi syrian border and the iraqi insurgency had been in the disagreement with al qaeda and anbar and finally al qaeda went up and surrounded hundreds of fighters in july 2005. they would be wiped out. the sun was

i want to keep some forces there to keep hammering al qaeda, but let us recognize al qaeda is not inafghanistan anymore. we don't want them to come back. they are in somalia that they are in yemen. they are scattered throughout other arab countries that although there is one piece of very good news about al qaeda. i'm also proud of this. back in 2006, in 2007, i wrote that there was a good chance that the sunni awakening of the sunni flip against al qaeda would mark the high watermark of al qaeda. and it has. because al qaeda set itself up as a chance of sunni muslim to remember after september 11, 2001, iso- pictures of palestinians and others jumping up and down in the streets celebrating? because al qaeda did what religious fanatics in power always do, pushing things too extreme and alienated the local people, they pretended to champion. millions of iraqis, arabs turned against them. and that did rule out the arab world. so very different from 2001. right now al qaeda is not welcome in any arab country. they are still there and there are backroom deals and funding from gulf emirat

we have to keep the pressure on wherever al qaeda is located. it takes a network to deal with a network. that is what has been established. that's what we have. >> charlie: if the president calls you and says, "general, define for me your primary mission." what would you say? >> in a macro sense it's obviously to advance our interests in the region. we do that, obviously, in different ways in different countries. we do it in iraq now by supporting our partners. we're about to transition by the end of august not only to a substantially smaller force down from say a little under 95,000 now to 50,000 but then a change of mission where we will enable and assist. that's how we do it there. in afghanistan, obviously, we're fighting, we certainly have afghan partners but we're in the lead in a number of areas,oir certainly partnered at the least in various -- or certainly partnered at the least in various areas, providing assistance, equipment, funding in some cases, occasionally sharing some information or what have you, so what we're trying to do is

in terms of the capabilities of al qaeda, i think that director panetta in his various statements has captured quite well. the group really is, certainly its senior leadership is under the worst pressure it has experienced in quite a long time. certainly since the 2001-2002 period. however, this is an enormously capable and innovative opponent that is always looking for new ways to achieve its ends. i don't think that we should write off their ability to direct complicated logistically challenging operations that could strike u.s. interests abroad or at home and, i think the other thing to note is that the threat in some ways, as i noted about al qaeda of the arabian peninsula is a bit more distributed than it was before and a lot of these groups are capable, a lot of these groups, al qaeda in arabian peninsula certainly and other groups aspirationally are able to conceive of operations themselves and are of, you know, tapping their way forward to carry them out. again, i think that we are doing better attack call counterterrorism than we have ever done before but i think it is a die

>> that this plot came from al qaeda central, the leadership of al qaeda in northwest pakistan.uple years there's been a lot of terrorism cases made by the justice department and the fbi and until about a year ago, they tended to be the lone wolves, the people who were inspired by al qaeda, who read about it on the internet. and were an ideological sympathy. we've seen a number of cases over the last year, and this being perhaps the strongest example, where the directions were coming from the very top, directly from al qaeda leaders on that afghanistan/pakistan border. in this case, the queens cab driver who pled guilty said he, along with naj i zazi. they didn't get there, but they got recruited by al qaeda leaders, they identified them yesterday in federal court, one was the chief of al qaeda, external pragues and they were the ones who directed them to launch this attack against the new york city subways. >> here's what's really concerning. this guy, the 25-year-old was a taxi driver, someone who knew the city well. >> right. >> they targeted the person they needed most. >> e

initially aided by al-qaeda but not much now. we as military practitioners look at that as a regime trying to regain power, address the reason the government is in power, and what we're doing is a counterinsurgency and by definition it's a war. what i have trouble with bruce is, i think he is saying to us that al-qaeda, who is a transnational organization, not wedded to a particular country, when we're fighting them in iraq as a foreign intervention force, believe it's a war. meets that definition. when we're fighting them in afghanistan, it's a war. but when they kill 3,000 americans here and go back someplace and they're difficult to get ahold of and move from one country or another. the congress of the united states has authorized the president to kill them or capture them whenever they are because of what they can do to us. that gives us special powers to do that. we believe we're fighting a war against that enemy even though at times it was in iraq, times it was in afghanistan. some of it is in pakistan. some of it is in oth

, but an associate of al qaeda. he was more closely connected to the taliban, in fact, than he was to to al qaeda at that time. he continued though to have an interest in working outside of afghanistan against the broader crusaders and zionists enemy, which is how al qaeda refers to you in any and all this. he was involved in 2000 in what is called the millennium plot, which was an attempt to stage simultaneously on three continents, terrorist attacks on the eve of the start of the current millennia. his attack was to take place in jordan and was to blow up a very large hotel in downtown of mind called the radisson hotel as well to attack several targets in the jordan river valley, which are tourists facilities, which he knew would be attracting western. that was spoiled by jordanian intelligence at the last minute. after september 11, abu decade zarqawi did something different. rather than going to pakistan but most of the rested, he he moved to iraq and he began building, in 2001 and 2002, the infrastructure for t

q tell us something our viewers don't know about al qaeda.me with them and the book is entitled "dining with al qaeda." kwel get to that ma moment, but give us something you learned about this organization that might not be all that obviousy. >> my contact with al qaeda was a fascinating one. i asked to meet someone who known them the. the camp in afghanistan where they are chained, if you like them. the young man who gave them religious direction agreed to meet me. i would just say that the man was somewhat flaky. he at first threat. ed to kill me as we started the conversation, but gradually i understood that we were undertow we were not threatening to each other. but i would stress that he thought i was of a spy to kill him just as he was threatening to kill me. the important thing to remember is when we attack or do things in the middle east, we don't feel it. similarly, we only feel what they do to us. there's a huge lack of empathy and engagement with the middle east on a broad front and getting the context right of what's happening wil

plus, too, al-qaeda has evolved.ized organization that doesn't require large tracts of land. >> geraldo: let's put this on pause. i'm up against a hard break, matthew. you stand by and we will continue our conversation and kimberly will rejoin us and give us the latest on tiger and the other stories of the day. let's take a quick break. we will be back from >> geraldo: welcome back live to camp hansen, the head quarters of the third battalion sixth marines here. the world's opium capital. the marines doing their best to wean thi their pop lex from the deadly poisonous crop and get them to do something on the straight and narrow. there are a plethora of legitimate agricultural products that can be grown here. we have a bit of a desert storm coming up so might get having meteorologically. i'm speaking to the foreign services officer making the argument we should get the hell out of here because al-qaeda doesn't need a base like this and they are internationally organized like a terror group, a criminal gangster syndica

, about al qaeda's plans. what i said in that hearing was an assessment of the likelihood that we are going to be able to capture him alive. what i said was that with regard to that possibility both in our attempt to capture him and from what we know about instructions that he was given to the people who surrounded him, his security forces, i think it is highly unlikely that he will be taken alive. but our goal is to either capture osama bin laden or to kill him. >> mr. attorney general the last time you can do for this committee strongly defended your decision to try the 9/11 plotters and criminal court in new york rather than in the military tribunals. since then, the president has said he will review your decision. do you still believe criminal court is the right place for the trial? if they are moved to a military tribunals how would you address the concerns that critics have about such tribunals? one month ago due said that the administration was, quote, weeks away. when can we expect this decision to be

, about al qaeda's plans. what i said in that hearing was an assessment of the likelihood that we are going to be able to capture him alive. what i said was that with regard to that possibility both in our attempt to capture him and from what we know about instructions that he was given to the people who surrounded him, his security forces, i think it is highly unlikely that he will be taken alive. but our goal is to either capture osama bin laden or to kill him. >> mr. attorney general the last time you can do for this committee strongly defended your decision to try the 9/11 plotters and criminal court in new york rather than in the military tribunals. since then, the president has said he will review your decision. do you still believe criminal court is the right place for the trial? if they are moved to a military tribunals how would you address the concerns that critics have about such tribunals? one month ago due said that the administration was, quote, weeks away. when can we expect this decision to be

they were seen as the traditional link to al-qaeda because al-masri was egyptian. the other was meant to show it was a grass roots insurgency, not one imposed by foreign fighters. iraqi government officials say the men were killed in a nighttime raid in tikrit. in a statement, the top commander in iraq said -- >> reporter: the two had been reported dead before on a half dozen occasions but never before have we had reaction from the vice president and the iraqi prime minister on the same day. operation was hailed in washington and baghdad as a sign that iraqi security forces are stepping up to the plate before the planned u.s. withdrawal. it remains to be seen if the deaths disrupt the organization in long-term way. >> bret: thank you. 2.5 million ballots cast in baghdad have been ruled manually we counted. the decision came after an appeal after prime minister nouri al-maliki who narrowly lost. he is hoping for a gre greater outcome to change the outcome. afghanistan intelligence service says it arrested members of a terrorist cell planning suicide bombings and oth

this is abu ayyub al-masri, one of the men believed to be the founder of al qaeda in iraq and abu al-baghdadieda leader in iraq has also been killed and there was a statement out by the u.s. military and they were taken out southwest of tikrit, and it is the former home town of the former iraqi leader saddam hussein and with me is spyder marks, and the managing editor of ergo.net and it is sometime since we reported this and they have two of them? >> i know, that is a big deal and clearly, bill, the objective is not now to high-five and congratulate each other. what that really means is there is great cooperation, and at the start to the finish. of between the u.s. forces, coalition forces and the iraqi forces. details need to be determined, who actually pulled the trigger and where did the intelligence come from and how did it work together and this is a tremendous accomplishment. bill: we'll go back to their faces, al-masri and al-baghdadi and we were familiar with al-masri, were you familiar with both. >> al-baghdadi was not on my scope but, clearly, he is. al-masri, he a a-- this is a big

al qaeda and iraq.n that included -- it was fronted by iraqi security forces supported by the americans. it happened, according to the prime minister, in the past few days. this is a big blow to al qaeda although we have seen in the past other leaders killed and captured and the group has been resilient and has been able to reform and get new leadership. everybody saying a big blow to al qaeda in iraq and a big blow to the structure of the organization. >> you call it a big blow. is there any suspicious that these two were involved or had a hand in some of the recent attacks that you covered there? the recent attacks that came in, around and after the parliamentary elections in early march? >> well, since last august we have seen repeated attacks, the coordinated car bomb attacks or bombings that happened in and around baghdad usually hitting four to five government locations, sometimes embassies, sometimes residences. iraqi officials have been quick to point the finger at al qaeda in iraq or the islami

we know that al qaeda has been involved in a number of these efforts.ortunately, i think they have been scanned a number of times, but we know they continue to pursue that. there has been, i think, demonstrated interest across a number of years. one of the things we are most concerned about is that this is probably one of the most sensitive of their efforts, so it will only have very few people involved. it therefore requires very good intelligence work -- intelligence work done. i think al qaeda is looking through the world and for those vulnerabilities and facilities and stockpiles that would allow them to obtain nuclear reactors and materials that they can use, but also, to go after those individuals that might have access to the materials as well as the expertise that they need. >> is there any evidence that they have managed to do that? >> there is evidence of their attempts to do that. i would like to think that we have been able to thwart their success today. -- to date. >> [inaudible] can you describe the nature of who these gangs are? [inaudibl

we know that al qaeda has been involved in a number of these efforts to acquire it.fortunately, i think they've been scammed a number of times, but we know that they continued to pursue that. we know of individuals within the organization that have been given that responsibility. so there has been i think demonstrated interest across a number of years. and also one of the things we're most concerned about this is probably the most sensitive of their efforts, and therefore it will have only very few people involved in the effort. and therefore it requires that very good intelligence work that's done. and the second question as far as potential insider threat, throughout the world i think al qaeda is looking for those vulnerabilities and facilities and stockpiles in different countries that would allow them to obtain the byproducts of nuclear reactors and materials that they can use -- but also to go after those individuals that might have access to the materials as well as individuals who have the expertise that they need to actually fabricate an improvised nuclear de

al qaeda has been involved to acquire it. they have been scammed a number of times but they continue to pursue that. we know individuals who have been given that responsibility. there have been demonstrated interest across a number of years. one of the things we're concerned about is this is the most sensitive of their efforts. it will have only a few people involved in the effort. a requires that intelligence work is done. al qaeda is looking for those older buildings and facilities and stockpiles in different countries. that would allow them to obtain materials that they can use. to go after those individuals that have the materials and experience to fabricated device. >> [inaudible] >> there is evidence of their attempts to do that. i would like to think that we could for their success. >> -- thwart their success. >> is there reassurance [inaudible] >> [inaudible] >> let me -- before john gets to pakistan, i would read you from the read out yesterday. the president indicated his appreciation of that broadbased sentiment ad

he came to the clinton administration and said let's work together against tel dan and al qaeda and mind you while they knew what al qaeda was up to it was obviously after terrorist attacks on the united states world trade center, first world trade center attack. it was after the attack on the u.s. destroyer in 1998 so putin and stalin was for the united states and russia to work together against taliban and al qaeda. but what the clinton administration had at the time as the russians wanted to establish more presence in central asia. they wanted the united states to legitimize continuing what the russian who ruled scott worse when putin offered full cooperation and we accepted what he did and then moved against almost every interest that he had by walking out of the treaty and by dropping any verification of the arms control treaty we finally signed. things that we had worked for decades to get into the fair fight reduction of nuclear weapons so i think that we made a series of mistakes. one can never be sure what would have been the result. but certainly u.s. policies first in the clin

, about al qaeda's plans. what i said in that hearing was an assessment of the likelihood that we are going to be able to capture him alive. what i said was that with regard to that possibility both in our attempt to capture him and from what we know about instructions that he was given to the people who surrounded him, his security forces, i think it is highly unlikely that he will be taken alive. but our goal is to either capture osama bin laden or to kill him. >> mr. attorney general the last time you can do for this committee strongly defended your decision to try the 9/11 plotters and criminal court in new york rather than in the military tribunals. since then, the president has said he will review your decision. do you still believe criminal court is the right place for the trial? if they are moved to a military tribunals how would you address the concerns that critics have about such tribunals? one month ago due said that the administration was, quote, weeks away. when can we expect this decision to be

now, al qaeda thrives on turmoil.his is particularly, however, a revenge attack because they -- the sons of iraq turned on al qaeda back in 2007. all in all is creating intense circumstances here. we just had elections but no new government is formed and is getting people worried that there could be increased violence in the weeks ahead. harris, back to you. >> heart rendering to think four people opened their doors to those killers think they were americans. dominic reporting live from baghdad. thank you. here in the u.s., two american women known as jihad jamie and jihad jane now facing federal terror charges. one of them turned herself in yesterday, 31-year-old jamie paulin ramirez dubbed jihad jamie in the jihad jane flu to the u.s. surrounding to the fbi. she is a former nursing student in colorado. one of several people detained in ireland nor plot to kill cartoonist. charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism. this woman la rose already facing charges in the case. she is the one used the internet screen name j

he was already saying that this was a signature al qaeda attack.sident told him, no, i want saddam hussein. he felt like the president was pressuring him to jury rick the investigation so that they could pin it on saddam hussein. this is him in a private meeting with a president. there were several other people in the room and we were able to get them to verify off-camera his version of events. when we then interviewed stephen for the peace -- piece, he did not exactly deny it. he said, there is no record of such a meeting. he is -- that is not saying that the meeting did not occur. lesley stahl is the correspondence that i worked with. for the next week, condoleezza rice was saying publicly that there was no record of such a meeting. she was attempting to a tic -- attack his credibility. five-seven days later, some of our confidential sources then decided to come forward and go public and say, i was there. he was telling the truth. right after our piece, which was a two-part piece, the 9/11 hearings occurred. he followed up our peace with his test

mentioned some of the variances of it, initially aided by al qaeda but not now. we as military practitioners look at that as an insurgency trying to regain power, address the grievances of that government in power, and use armed violence to achieve that. what we are doing as a counterinsurgency and by definition, it's a war. what i have trouble with bruce is, i think he's saying to us, the al qaeda who is a transnational organization, not whetted to a -- wedded to a particular country, when we're fighting them in iraq as an intervention force, it's a war. when we're fighting them in afghanistan, it's a war. but when they kill 3,000 americans here and go back someplace, and they -- and they're difficult to get a hold of and they're moving from one country to another, the congress of the united states has authorized the president to kill or capture them wherever they may be. because of what they have done to us and what they could do to us. that gives him special powers to do that. we believe that is -- we're fighting a war against that enemy, even though at times,

al-qaeda showed with the embassy bombings and then with 9/11 it is capable of attacking more than one site at the same time if it is needed to achieve its objectives. and they have very minimal security at most of these places. many of them are on university campuses. and nuclear theft is not a hypothetical worry. it's an ongoing reality. there are 18 cases documented by the international atomic energy agency involving theft or loss of real plutonium or highly enriched uranium. there are more cases that definitely occur. the relevant person was arrested, confessed, spent time in jail but for whatever reason the relevant state hasn't been willing to confirm it to the iaea. there is, however, good news in this story as well. we don't yet have any hard evidence that any terrorist group has, in fact, gotten either the nuclear materials necessary for a bomb or all of the nuclear expertise necessary to turn it -- those materials into a bomb. and this would be, i think, among the most challenging things, technical activities that a -- any terrorist group has ever succeeded in accomplishing.

of course, the big concern is al qaeda. the u.s. believes they are trying to get their hands on nuclear material for years? listen to john brennan, the president's top adviser or counter terrorism. >> over the past two decades, indoi indisputable evidence that dozens of terrorists have sought weapons of mass effect, relative to other potential weapons, which include biological, chemical, radiological, the consequences and impact of a nuclear attack would be the most devastating as well as the most lasting. >> how hard is it really? terrorists first would have to get their hands on nuclear material. as you pointed out, it is all very strictly controlled or at least everyone hopes. if it was stolen by criminals, perhaps, and terrorists got their hands on it. the next challenge they would face is fashioning it into some kind of weapon and being able to deliver it to explode it, if you will, over a city or military base. all of these things will make it a very tough challenge for terrorists but the whole idea of the summit here in washi

who confessed to being a member of al qaeda who swore allegiance to al qaeda in the '90s but the judgeded to grant the hideous petition because the government could not prove on the day of capture in 2001 they were still a member of al qaeda. it is my view mr. attorney general that we need to reform our hideous procedures and if the presumption should follow detainee, once you are a member of al qaeda, proven that on the day of capture there would be a presumption you are still a member of al qaeda and the court could hear evidence otherwise. this is just an example of why congress in my view ladies and gentlemen needs to get her involved. hang firm, stand strong, be fair, be aggressive, be pragmatic but do not lose sight that we are at war. when it comes to confinement facilities, i share the presidents president's concern that guantÁnamo bay has become an iconic image used against our troops and in the field and it would be preferable in my view to have the new facility that starts over and not tainted by the passive guantÁnamo bay even though it is a well-run facility now and i woul

we'll also talk with her about al-qaeda leader al masri.ar on terror and chances for success for iraq's government. >>> plus, the latest on the volcanic ash in the skies and how soon planes can get passengers where they want to go. walmart has rolled back pris on top lawn care brands like poulan pro, brute by briggs & stratton, pennington, scotts and spectracide. along with thousands of others all over the store. it's rollback time! save money. live better. walmart. ♪ could open a world of wonder ? ♪ ♪ so sensory ♪ so satisfying ♪ the discovery ♪ never seems to stop ♪ ♪ it's the magic friskies ♪ ♪ makes happen ♪ every day ♪ in so many ways ♪ friskies ♪ feed the senses i could still eat the foods that i love to eat. love the chicken parm -- gotta have the chicken parm. [ laughs ] on the weight watchers online website there's a whole bunch of little tools to track your success. while i'm waiting for my kids to come out of karate, i can just plug my numbers in right there. i take my shirt off to take out the garbage, you know, and all the litt

>> first off, al-qaeda continues to be significantly degraded. we have to put this in perspective, chris. first quarter, fiscal year '10 was the lowest number of incidents we had in a quarter. the lowest number of high profile attacks injuries the lowest number of indent fire attacks. the lowest number of u.s. force casualties. the lowest number of iraqi security force casualties. the direction continues to be headed in the right way. they are still capable of conducting attacks against innocent civilians but the iraqis have rejected the ideology of al-qaeda. they are rejecting al-qaeda as a whole inside of iraq. we continue to make progress against them. there is still work to be done. there will still be bad days ahead of us but it is becoming more and more difficult. but the most important thing is the iraqi security forces are now in the lead in going after al-qaeda and they are now developing their own capabilities to do this. we support them now. we will continue to support them through 2011 but i feel confident that they continue to build

officials say the planned visit between the diplomat al-madadi, and the imprisoned al qaeda member was just a are routine case of a diplomat checking on a countryman. the visit never happened because al-madadi sparked a scare on his flight last night. officials say he lit a cigarette in the first-class laboratory. when a flight attendant smelled smoke and asked what he was doing, he says i was just lighting my shoe on fire and went back to his seat, refusing to turn over his lighter. federal air marshals on the flight got involved and the pilot declared an emergency. >> they thought maybe he tried to ignite something. >> reporter: that was enough to scramble fighter jets and warrant a briefing of president obama. after a flurry of diplomatic talks it was decided al-madadi would be recalled home. all of this shows the hairtrigger sensitivities just three months after the underaware bombing attempt on christmas. what has some people incredulous is the idea the diplomat al-madadi, would make a joke about terrorism while flying to visit a convicted terrorist. his unceremoniuous return home

>> first off, al-qaeda continues to be significantly degraded. we have to put this in perspective, chris. first quarter, fiscal year '10 was the lowest number of incidents we had in a quarter. the lowest number of high profile attacks injuries the lowest number of indent fire attacks. the lowest number of u.s. force casualties. the lowest number of iraqi security force casualties. the direction continues to be headed in the right way. they are still capable of conducting attacks against innocent civilians but the iraqis have rejected the ideology of al-qaeda. they are rejecting al-qaeda as a whole inside of iraq. we continue to make progress against them. there is still work to be done. there will still be bad days ahead of us but it is becoming more and more difficult. but the most important thing is the iraqi security forces are now in the lead in going after al-qaeda and they are now developing their own capabilities to do this. we support them now. we will continue to support them through 2011 but i feel confident that they continue to build

you just successfully foiled a plot by al-qaeda in iraq.t of a 9/11 style plot to hijack airplanes and fly them in holy shiite shrines. are the insurgents, is al-qaeda, are they becoming a new -- a renewed threat, more of a problem in the security situation in iraq? >> yeah, first off, al-qaeda continues to be significantly degraded. we have to put this in perspective, chris. first quarter fiscal year '10 was the lowest number of incidents in a quarter, lowest high profile attacks, lowest fire attacks, lowest number of civilian casualties and lowest number of u.s u.s. casualties. so the direction is headed in the right way. yes, they are still capable of conducting attack against innocent civilians but the iraqis rejected ideology of al-qaeda. they're rejecting al-qaeda as a whole inside of iraq. we continue to make progress against them. there is still work to be done. there will still be bad days ahead of us, but it's becoming more and more difficult. the most important thing is the iraqi security forces are now in the lead at going after

we already have al-qaeda in somalia. we already have problems with al-qaeda in yemen. we are having to take action with our multilateral problems to deal with the problems and we will continue to have to do so. why are we in afghanistan? and why do we have to be vigilant all the time? the reason is there is a chain of terror that links these al-qaeda groups in different parts of the world and action that could happen in the united kingdom. every week i get a report, sometimes every day, of terrorist plots and most arrive in the afghanistan-pakistan area, and we have to deal with it. to keep the streets safe in britain, we have to take on al-qaeda wherever it is. i also have to say about afghanistan that this is a mission that can work. the reason is we are training up the afghan soldiers. so when ever we are in a mission abroad, we have to make sure we have a means by which in that country we can build up their own security staff so that we can bring our troops home. that is my mugs. -- that is my mission. >> if i was your prime minister i would can to think, what is i

[laughter] >> for the viewers could you distinguish between the [inaudible] -- and the al qaeda components of the pakistan questioned? >> well, actually, rob, we are less and less able to distinguish because many of the speed eckert -- many of the speed groups like mlt are very much active in different parts of the country as well as in afghanistan. and one of the trends that we have seen is increasing sort of stitching together different groups and this is a great worry and we also see a rise in half freelancers. people who have their roots in one group drifting to another, contracting with the mother, and it makes for another one of the challenging aspects of the change in counterterrorism. but let me get to the gentleman's question. it is true -- i was asked this question very often in india. let me be quite that -- quite categorical. there are legal issues at stake but what is not at stake is the indian government is getting every bit of relevant information from headley that requires. the issues of access our best handled by the departments of justice which handled the plea agreement

day underwear bomber training with al qaeda. wolf blitzer. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. the world. you're in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> not often these days that u.s. senators on opposite sides of the aisle are seeing eye to eye, but there was bipartisan fury today directed at officials of the giant wall street firm, goldman sachs. democrat carl levin led the charge, accusing the company of unbridled greed for betting against the nation's housing market as the economy was unraveling. but in dramatic testimony, current and former goldman sachs officials stood their ground. listen to this -- >> surely there's no law, ethical guideline or moral injunction against profit. the goldman sachs didn't just make money. it profited by taking advantage of its clients' reasonable expectation that it would not sell products that it did not want to succeed. and that there was no conflict of economic interest between the firm and the customers that it had pledged

. >>> al qaeda in iraq confirms that two of the group's top militant leaders in iraq have been killed. the group acknowledged their deaths on its website. u.s. official says the men were killed in a joint u.s.-iraqi operation a week ago in tikrit. the military is calling the deaths a potentially devastating blow to the terrorist group. >>> an '80s rock legend is back in the news after suffering a severe brain hemorrhage. the latest update from bret michaels' rep about how he is doing. ys the hat guy. i can't even tell you how much it's changed my life. [ male announcer ] only rogaine is proven to regrow hair in 85% of guys. no more hats. [ male announcer ] stop losing. start gaining.

as you know, he was the guy telling everybody that bin laden and al qaeda was targeting the u.s. and meanwhile in bush administration wasn't taking its seriously. nobody was heeding his or george tenet's calls to action, so to speak. and then -- you know, dick and i were talking about it as it was all unfolding and it was all off the record and couldn't report it but there came a time when he wanted to go public. he was -- you know, the dilemma for him was when you work for the president of the united states, your loyalty is to the president. you are there to represent his interests. that's something that dick, like all executives, office workers take very seriously, but he felt this higher calling. that the administration was trying to blame iraq for the 9/11 attacks in order to justify invading iraq. he didn't believe that and he had to choose between his loyalty to the president and his sense of duty to the country. and i know he was motivated by a sense of duty because i saw a high school yearbook that he wrote when he was a teenager and he said may the seventh ring of hell b

focus on al qaeda? >> guest: absolutely that's part of it. and also i think that things got even worse after mine 11 when the putin again offered full cooperation and we accepted what he did and then moved against almost every interest that he had by walking out of the treaty and by dropping any verification of the arms control treaty we finally signed, things we worked in decades to get into very verify reduction of nuclear weapons we made a series of mistakes. one can never be sure what would have been the result but certainly u.s. policies first in the clinton administration and the second bush administration made it virtually impossible for any russian leader to cooperate across the board with us because of things we were doing were seen as attempts to undermine their own security and we do think there were opportunities to cooperate and there still are against terrorism and so on. but we have got to understand we have to take the national russian interest into account in doing so and pushing things we don't really need which the russians