al qaeda's murderous new ideology.minating in this, osama bin laden's official and very public declaration of war on america and americans. [ speaking foreign language ]. bin laden had spoken. once again he had warned his enemy. but was anyone really listening? did anyone take him seriously? bin laden was about to strike and now had his own spy casing the target. >> my name is ali mohamed. >> reporter: an agent who had spent years inside the u.s. military. [ sirens ] two american embassies, two truck bombs, two terrorist attacks just nine minutes apart in neighboring countries along the coast. kenya and tanzania. more than 200 dead. more than 4,000 injured. who was behind this carnage and why? within eight days there were leads and suspects and a stunning realization. osama bin laden had lived up to his threat. his al qaeda terrorists had just struck their first direct blow in their holy war against the united states. the attacks were carefully planned. >> my name is ali mohamed. >> reporter: this man, ali mohamed, was

and they thought they were shooting at a mid-level al qaeda operative in a group of men sitting on the ground eating dinner. it turned out that he was not there. and to the people who were there and were killed abdul -- abdul rachman al-maliki and the sun 17-year-old cousin. the u.s. government has to this day never been willing to say anything public way about this. however we snaked around and talk to people on in the background privately and i believe them when they say this was a mistake. they had no idea the teenagers were there and they would not have taken the strike if they had known they were there and i'm also told that obama was furious when he got word of what had happened. he knew there would be a huge backlash against the u.s. and u.s. counterterrorism in the yemen. indeed yemen is a tribal society where they could kind of understand that anwr out awlaki duest tried to kill americans and americans got them first. there were certain justice there but the death of this kid which got a lot of attention in yemen, people were completely infuriated and perplexed by it. the peop

as al- qaeda turns *30*... we're looking at the u- s strategy to *destroy* the terror group and others like it in tonight's safe and secure report... coming up after the break. 3 "siouxland news at nine on fox castillo and siouxland's chief 3 3 we're tracking the latest developments tonight in the war on terror... as isis reveals it killed a journalist last year... but used her social media to hunt down others until this week. 3 kimberly suitors has the latest developments inin tonight't'terrorisisalert desk upupte. 3 from the terrorosm alert desk in washington, i'm kimberly suiters . an american is arraigned on charges for plotting an attack on a u.s base in afghanistan. prosecutors say muhanad mahmoud al farekh planned to attack the base back in 2009. farekh was born in texas and joined al qaeda in pakistan in 2007. isis has executed a female syrian journalist then hunt down enemies for months. ruqui hassan was prominent journalist reporting from sya. while she was captured and executut in september, the terr

obama, all these things have sort of created a backlash that is eventually done some recruiting for al-qaedathat seemed to me to be a paradox that it wanted to think about. so i also wanted to tell a story, and i'd written a number of stories about anwar al-awlaki, sometimes his name is pronounced awlaki but it's the same guy. is family pronounces it al-awlaki. and before we tee up the first video i'll tell you a little bit about, background about this guy. his life and death make a hell of a story that involves sort of a family drama. it involves obviously terrorism. it involves sex, involves spying, and it raised all the kind of big issues of this period of time, these 14 years that have changed and sort of shaped american values, american principles, american foreign policy. and he also has historic importance. he was the most effective, most powerful recruiting voice in english for al-qaeda. some people would say in any language. and he was also, has the distinction of being the first american citizen since the civil war to be hunted down and killed without criminal charges, without tria

and so it's al qaeda but it's not the al qaeda we know from 9/11, right? al qaeda whose real focus was to hurt the u.s. home land. these are really folks who are local who have sort of affiliated and pledged allegiance to al qaeda but not part of a central organization that would coordinate attacks across the united states. >> boko haram, quaip quaip, qu e arabian peninsula. >> whether you are talking about syria, thorn and western africa, you're a member of one group today, bun group tomorrow, within the al qaeda in the islamic maghreb you have had subfactions who have broken away, others that have stayed with al qaeda. it's much more loose and diffuse than is typically the case when you think of warfare. >> do you think that al qaeda affiliates are going to get stronger, is there a danger that the west could be taking its eye off the al qaeda ball because of i.s.i.l? >> good question, first answer is i don't know, number 2, it's worth considering. what bothers me most, al qaeda which has taken its lumps, particularly the centralized leadership of obvious

led attack on an al-qaeda camp last fall in afghanistan killed more than 200 al qaeda members and revealed a previousily unknown sophistacated network of fortresses. military officials say there are *other* such compounds.. but just *how* many is unknown this as, a *new* generation of al qaeda jidhadists is growing./sot/ shaffer"now what we see is an al qaeda that is going through a "madonna like renewal of identity". and i think they're very quietly trying to pick up on what is working with isis and then integrating that into their philosophy as they go forward."/bridge/"retired colonel tony shaffer says in the last 15 years, the total u.s. military cost against terrorism in africa and the near east has been roughly 2- trillion dollars and al qaeda's goal is to win the battle against the west through attrition."/sot/shaffer "the idea of trying to bleed us with 1000 cuts was they were able to draw us both into afghanistan and iraq." /map/now, experts say *other* terror groups have drawn the u.s into several hotspots nigeria, egypt, syria, jordan, djibouti, iraq and afghanistan. /vo/with is

the cia is desperate to find al qaeda leaders like al awlaki. and storm, a dane, is exactly what the cia needs. >> i had these different names. i had different personalities. i was mort storm, murad storm, abu osama, abu mujahid, polar bear, it's some kind of schizophrenic lifestyle. >> and he's made important, surprising connections with al qaeda leaders. according to counterterrorism expert magnus ranstorp. >> he had been to the many place, he had met all the right people. >> reporter: he's almost a forrest gump of radical islamism. >> i don't think there's many people like him that have all those different dimensions. he was the real deal. >> reporter: the real deal. a larger than life personality who reveals his journey from jihad to james bond in this book "agent storm: my life inside al qaeda and the cia," co-authored by paul cruickshank and tim lister, both cnn contributors. coming up, how storm goes from boxer to holy warrior. >> i was invited by osama bin laden to join up with him in the training camp in afghanistan. does your makeup re

al qaeda in iraq. they simply change their name and we'll come to that in a second but al qaeda and iraq became a group after the u.s. invaded iraq and it became one of the opposing forces in the u.s. occupation. al qaeda in iraq. they got their man largely from the sunni population including some people that used to work for the iraqi government. and they ended up fighting the u.s. for long period of time. we ended up doing that from the battlefield. they ended up killing millions of americans. so by the time the united states left militarily left iraq in 2011 al qaeda in iraq was at its weakest point. .. that moderate -- started joining al quade in iraq. then the syrian civil war breaks out, and al quade in iraq wants to be part of the action in syria. they go does the bearder and change their anyway. you can't be fighting in syria and be called al quade in iraq. and they rebrand themselves and called themselves isis. and three things happened in syria that made them strong. the first was they got th

their differences from al qaeda. al qaeda can see one or two from american and from the crusader as they put it. when it comes islamic state, yes they want to take revenge but the major thing is to grab land, and then expand. that is what happened. and by the way it is a symbolic command has a historian symbolic meaning for them. why? because it used to be the temporary order summer resorts love one of the upper side, well known leaders at the time. so it is extremely important for them. they do not not choose muslim to be there heavy coat, they do not choose -- they chose something else because of the symbolism. but because they consider their capital to be mecca or medina. so first to conquer and consolidate annex band on their surrounding. i believe now, witnessing what is happening in paris, it it seems that it shift from priorities now. they actually would like to spread the savagery in order to take revenge. this change of ideology, or strategy is extremely important. as if they would like to combine the doctri

the assault we understand, the operation by this al qaeda group is still on going with a number of hostages. we don't know the exact number, however, are trapped inside. attackers we're told by eyewitnesss were light skinned wearing covers over their faces and they spoke in a language not native. that's the latest information we're hearing from the ground, john. >> we understand al qaeda a short time ago claimed responsibility for this attack, correct? >> reporter: yes, al qaeda and islam a special sector of theirs that just recently joined up with them, a very similar hotel they were responsible for a very similar hotel attack on the radison blue in neighboring mali that killed 22 people. similar got gunmen going in and just to give you background, this particular movement al qaeda and islam in december called for muslims in west africa to wake up for jihad. this is a clear calling to those

>> guest: yeah, what you see there is an al-qaeda attack.it reflected the difference between al-qaeda and the isis folks we see today. so al-qaeda picked a strategic target and a highly symbolic one going after a u.s. aircraft carrier or navy ship, rather and creating images on television that made al-qaeda looked powerful and it took us quite a long time to deal with that. isis are not so much interested in tough targets. they are most interested in going after soft targets, civilians. that's what you saw in paris last week, going after innocent people. it's not the first time they did that. showing no mercy, even muslim children being legitimate targets from them. that's why they're different from al-qaeda. >> host: latice in staten island go ahead. >> caller: yes, my question, sir, from the beginning -- yes. my question is that from the beginning in syria that syrian soldiers or regime are fighting these people and all of the other terrorists, and recently, of course, the kurds are fighting also. west and the united states are not helping

a group attached with to al qaeda claim to be behind it. >> al qaeda, daesh, all the same, a bunch of criminals. >> thanks indeed. the group that claimed responsibility for that attack al qaeda in the islamic magreb, was behind as you remember an attack on mali's capital in november of last year that led to the deaths of 19 people. that was the first attack coordinated between two groups, al qaeda in the islamic mexicoagreb and el morabatun. the porous borders have contributed to the situation in the region. france has sent some 3500 troops to five countries in west architecturafricain order to cum groups. max abrams says more attacks are likely to take place across west africa later this year. >> it doesn't seem that any country is safe these days. the international terrorist threat is spreading way beyond iraq and syria. a ocouple of days ago in indonesia there was an attack. there wasn't much terrorism in that country in tease times. burkina faso isn't a usual country to be attacked. al qaeda and all of their affiliates this bloodshed is becoming international. i think we'll be see

al qaeda. the terror group behind 9/11. >> marie: national core spanned ent jeff barnd talked to experts who say these extremists could once again plot attacks against the west. >> reporter: al qaeda is nearly 30 years old. it has endured the soviet incursion in afghanistan in the late '70s and '80s. american strikes and killing osama bin laden the group behind the worst attack on u.s. soil survives. >> al qaeda's resurgence or continued existence should certainly be a concern for the united states and other western governments. >> reporter: a u.s. led attack on an al qaeda camp last fall in afghanistan killed more than 200 al qaeda members. and revealed a previously unknown sophisticated network of fortresses. military officials say there are how many is unknown. this as a new generation of al qaeda jihadists is growing. >> now what we see is al qaeda that is a bit going through i identity. i think they're very quietly trying to pick up on what is integrating night their philosophy as they go

and al qaeda united. with the syrian and the iraqis. and i believe as the decades for the time being. >> your book has a remarkable treatise on line in 2004 under the title of the management of savagery. this my possible have been written by a egyptian close to the group. as every your summary the face of savagery expelling the non muslims from the area and the face to consolidate that order so it seems like what they used to call the dictatorship of the proletariat. how is it that every day brutality might prepare the ground for the society? >>. >> a very good question. that is the renewal of that state when we write the of the annual of the edge of body movement he concentrated on the savagery. he wants to say that when that passes through this it is time to take over. what does he mean by that? and when we create this anarchy and if you look at what is happening in france is an example to use it for two reasons. but that is what happened. so as is a brutal organization. so as the means of recruitment because of the message that they

question that al qaeda and al qaeda affiliated organizations are continuing to look for opportunities to carry out attacks against the west. i guess if there is a lesson learned here from paris and san bernardino, it is that we cannot really predict where and from what direction the threats we see next might come from. eric: do you feel you can rely on the forces in europe and they were plots right under the nose of the officials in belgium and france? are they doing enough? rasmussen: our european partners are clearly confronting something in their societies on a scale far different from anything we are seeing inside the united states. they have to make their own judgments about whether they have the right array of legal authorities, resources, money, all the things necessary to carry out effective counterterrorism operations inside their own country. i will say, if there is a bit of positive news over the past few years as we have dealt with the conflict in syria and iraq, it is that our level of cooperation and engagement with some of our european partners has really increased fair

within that opposition that you and others are referring to who are trying to overthrow assad are al qaeda. they are al nusra. they are islamic extremist groups who have been reports as they've taken over territory to be implementing and enacting this political islam, forcing women to bear wur kas and implementing this religious law on the society that they have in the sarme way we have seen isis in the territory they've regained. go ahead, dr. vickers. mr. vickers: one, i think -- i generally agree but i think you need to draw aties twings --dis-- distinction between the ex-term proplotting arm of al nusra, a number of those attacks hich began september 2014 have continued as those targets have been developed. i think al nasser or somebody, there were a series of them over the past year, i would say. al nusra proper, which is, i don't know, some 6,000, 9,000 troops or so, they're spread across the country, i would agree that a lot of the foot solerer js -- soldiers have done tactical alliances with other parts of the opposition and have not been targeting in the same an that -- partially

it is the first move for al qaeda. they had the opportunity, so they did it. foras considered safe western citizens, and even a hub for western intelligence, which displays maybe why it was targeted. without forgetting a few days ago why the islamic state was attacking in jakarta, there is a very important communique from al qaeda, from one of the most prominent leaders, talking especially about libya and asking jihadi's in the region to pick out western armies, starting with france, italy, and the united states. , and they arethat on a full-scale war. we are forgetting one most important thing, too, that he was considered someone who can fix things with the jihadis in order to live -- in order to liberate western hostages. atknow it was a harsh call the time. and all this confusion today in burkina faso, they may have participated in this security breach that al qaeda succeeded in making. genie: you were saying this has been claimed by al qaeda, my -- does this mean that the --up is spitting into spreading into western africa? wassim: to witness another attac

they destroyed my vehicle as well. >> an al-qaeda regional affiliate called al-qaeda islamic maghreb took responsibility for the assault. this is the first attack of its kind in burkina faso's capital. the president was elected two months ago. how he deals with this crisis will be seen as his first big test in office. >> we would like to salute the response to the security forces. the doctors and red cross who participated in this situation, and the support we've received from the french and americans. it's important to share information from our neighboring countries and share military means to fight against this urge. >> the challenge for him now is to come up with a plan to tackle those armed groups. al jazeera. >> and al jazeera is live, just explain, if you will, why an al-qaeda affiliate would target burkina faso. >> i believe from what people are saying on the streets is that the al-qaeda and others are trying to leave the message that they can strike at any time, at any place, at any given place. that's what happened. so far it's been said almost 18 nationalities were inside

this is something typically al-qaeda. one of the shooters wanted to go and join the al-qaeda forces in yemen. i think we may find out it's a tangentle one. >> or maybe even al-qaeda. >> yes. >> apparently farook was radicalized. >> whether or not they should be checking social media before they let somebody in the country. what are your views on that? >> it's not something that i studied but i think we are surprisingly for a country that invented social media we are not great at surveying it and doing it. that's stunning to me that the enemy here is way better at certainly using social media to foment and inspire. we don't have the same power in that space that we should. i think -- i don't mean to answer the question, not the one that you were asking me, but you go hand in hand. i think you have to have greater sophistication in government to figure out what is happening out there and utilizing that. as roberto said, when you have an assymetric war is intelligence. you have to use it. >> i was looking at the idea of big

are you now seeing groups like isis, al qaeda, get stronger? are we going to see a lot more of this? we just saw an attack at a hotel in neighboring mali in which 22 people were killed. >> unfortunately, erin, i think we are going to see a lot more of this. west africa isn't as much of a problem, although nigeria is. north africa certainly is. there's a lot of instability in the region. isis with its control of a good part of libya and all the arms that had been under the control of moammar gadhafi from more than four decades are now spread out throughout that region. so al qaeda and isis are very much on the run with the capability to do things that no terror group had had in the past. this is a very daunting task for any civilization to deal with. and you look at the situation in this hotel, hopefully there are assets that can be responding there quickly. again, i don't mean to belabor the subject of benghazi, but i happened to see the movie the other night and just seeing the heroism of the american men and women, cia assets that were there,

we we see a continued connection between al qaeda and the taliban. we see the efforts of the pakistani force, some of these terrorists are forced to the other side of the border. former members of the tpp, we have members of other terrorist organizations that have joined together to form is kp, so we, so we see their attempt to get in there. back to our first principle of preventing an attack on the homeland, we still see attempts by terrorist organizations to get into afghanistan. we see we see linkages between them and the telegram. again this is the first principle requires our continued focus and effort. the question in my mind is, what level of investment is necessary to accomplish the ct mission? to avoid is having our own combat troops there, in an endless sense, you need need to develop their indigenous capabilities. the 382,000 soldier policemen, security force is, we think that number still right, that is still the right number. as we mentioned before, we don't see this original projections are for a drawdown have to be looked at in terms o

they are still al-qaeda guys. >> al-qaeda loves. this they want everyone on isis and the islamic state. it allows them to move forward. even jordan released a cleric to talk about the danger was isis. al-qaeda said they are moderate jihadiist force. this is a nightmare for us in the long run. they are triangling themselves to be acceptable force. this many years after 9/11 and al-qaeda is portraying itself as a moderate force. >> what a bocking. wow. that gives us a lot to think about. great to have you on the program, jon. >> a real estate agency goes out and shows a house and winds up murdered. we'll have more on the trial. >>> fox news alert. all of the presidential candidates are out in force. and ted cruz at a rally in hudson, new hampshire and billed as the second amendment rally, less than a month before the primary there. couple of protestors up on the stage and get right in his face. apparently they were anti- gun rights protestors and they jumped up on stage and hasseled ted cruz before security huszled them off. >> the be

this is a very distinct difference between al-qaeda and i.s.i.l. i.s.i.l. has got a ready source of revenue that does not fend as much on a-- depend on a donor network, depend on countries that give you money through the back door. they've got a bit of a business going >> absolutely. they've always been that way. donations have always been a small part of their revenue portfolio. right now it clues oil and also extortion and taxation, much like a state would do >>> ransom has become a smaller part of this or is it still a major part of their revenue? >> ransom has always been a nontrivial but small part of it. nothing compared to extortion, taxation, nothing compared to oil, nothing compared to the amount of money they stole from banks when they took over cities throughout iraq and syria. is it >>> through your work you have estimated last year that i.s.i.l. produced over 150,000 barrels of oil a day. that's huge. that amount has changed significantly since then. what's their current production load and what's the best way to cut into that revenue stream? >

i also don't think al qaeda is out of the game.my fear is that being number two al qaeda will strike in a larger way because they are in a battle for influence. i like to turn the attention to iran. since congress failed to stop the iranian deal, we watched them put a missile strike in camp liberty, we watch them embolden and to a degree influence the shia militia. to your point about reconciliation between the sunnis and the shia as iranian influence begins to be embolden, i don't see how a sunni reconciliation can occur without checking area. i believe the reports are valued that the shia militia went through anti- sunni rallying cries and battle cries in my fear in ramada, although i think we were wise to put the iraqi military in charge of operation rather than the shia militia as that territory is gain the shia militia and greater influence on the providence i think is perilous. how concerned are you about iranian influence in iraq and syria? >> i will go first year. i'm deeply concerned about iran. the nuclear issues not the

inspired by groups such as al-qaeda and i.s.i.l. after every attack americans wonder where and when the next one will be. enforcement say domestic right wing groups are a great risk than groups radicalized over cease. the rise of i.s.i.l. has taken nation security agencies by supplies. nearly two years ago heavily armed men waving black flags swept into the iraq' town of fallugia, the same one that american soldiers fought over 10 years earlier. news reports in 2014 talked about an al-qaeda splinter group seizing the town. i.s.i.l. wasn't part of the public lexicon yet. it has carved out territory in war torn iraq and syria where it plots attacks now in the west. i.s.i.l.,isise, danger, islamic state, whatever you want to carry it, they have taken over

came courtesy of zarqawi. >> he was like a terrorist psychopath. >> sunni insurgents inspired by al qaeda's iraq, al zarqawi blew up a holy shiite shrine. >> the murders of innocent civilians, indiscriminate bombings, even beheadings, the focus not just on foreigners but on shiites. other muslims, seen as heretics, tactics that today sound hauntingly familiar. >> with a $25 million price on his head, there's no one the u.s. wants to capture or kill more than zarqawi. >> the cia had been tracking his every move. in june of 2006 u.s. forces killed him with two 500-pound bombs. >> tonight the most wanted terrorist has been killed in a united states air strike. >> zarqawi, he said, is eliminated. >> zarqawi's death is a severe blow to al qaeda. >> but as it turned out, the movement zarqawi began would survive that blow. >>> when we come back, the rise of the leader of isis. >> he wasn't considered from everything that we know now, a high-level detainee. >> inside an american prison. >>> isis came to life in this desolate landscape, the windswept desert of southern iraq. this is camp bucca, an a

-led attack on an al qaeda camp last fall in afghanistan killed more than 200 al qaeda members. and revealed a previously unknown sophisticated network of for tress. military officials say there are other is up compounds, but just how many is unknown. this as a new generation of al qaeda jihaddists is growing. >> now what we see is an al qaeda that is a bit going through i think a madonna-like renewal of identity, and i think they're very quietly trying to pick up on what is working with isis and integrating it into their >> reporter: the retired colonel tony shaver says in the past 15 years alone, the total u.s. military cost against terrorism in africa and the near east has been roughly $2 trillion that is climbing. in the meantime, al qaeda's goal is to win the battle against the west through attrition. >> the idea of trying to bleed us with 1,000 cuts, they were able to draw us both into afghanistan and iraq. now experts say other terror groups have drawn the u.s. into other hot spots, nigeria, egypt, syria, jordan, iraq and afghanistan. with isis continuing its bloody campa

in this regard, isis has a different dream than al qaeda. laden wanted to perpetrate large-scale terror attacks against the west. but he did not want his own state. isis does and it uses its caliphate as a base to launch its terror attacks. the best way to understand the difference between the two groups is to go back to al qaeda's signature moment, its most spectacular attack. ♪ september 11th, 2001. 19 operatives hijack four planes, knock down two skyscrapers, crash into the pentagon and kill almost 3,000 people. >> the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon. >> at that moment with the american people terrorized, the american government searched for a fitting response to this attack. at that moment, the seeds of isis were planted. it would take years and untold numbers of dead before isis would supplant al qaeda. but you can draw a line from the horrifying events of 9/11 and the american response to the creation of the islamic state. that line begins 18 months after september 11th, the united states invades iraq.

al qaeda is nearly 30 years old.. it has endured the soviet incursion in afghanistan in the late 70's and 80'sa& and so far.. despite constant american strikes and killing osama bin laden, the group behind the *worst* attack on u-s- soila& survives.al qaeda's resurgence certainly be a concern for the u.s. and other western governments" a u.s. led attack on an al-qaeda camp last fall in afghanistan killed more than 200 al qaeda membersa& and revealed a previousily unknown sophistacated network of fortresses. military officials say there are *other* such compounds.. but just *how* many is unknowna& this as, a *new* generation of al qaeda jidhadists is growing. "now what we see is an al qaeda that is going through a "madonna like renewal of identity". and i think they're very quietly trying to pick up on what is working with isis and then integrating that into their philosophy as they go forward" retired colonel tony shaffer says in the last 15 years, the total u.s. military cost aga been roughly 2-trillion dollarsa& and

bob, the al qaeda affiliate claimed responsibility for the attack. tell me about this group and what they have been doing recently. >> well, john, you look at the map and you've got mali and they have extensive networks. very active and well-articled and as you saw, it was a synchronized attack, car bombs, plenty of people to take that hotel. this is clearly a group that knew what it was doing. and they are very active and i think this tact is long over due. it's a fragile country. just had a coup. you see the french taking the lead in this. doesn't surprise me at all. the americans, yes, american troops there but they are not used to doing entrees i'm quite sure you wouldn't have that in place like this. the french do. but it's a big hotel hard to take back and there could be a lot of casualties before the day is over. >> bob, are we seeing a competition, an international competition between isis and al qaeda because yesterday we had an isis inspired attack or isis affiliated attack and today al qaeda and west africa, is this important for propagand

now given al qaeda and presence in the region do we have the right size force. and the only thing i would mention is a couple of considerations, what capabilities do we need to help them with? >> thank you so much. we have not had an attack on our homeland anything to the scale since september 11. that is an important point. we are disrupting our adversaries activities. i thank you for making that point loud and clear. we should focus on counterterrorism. we need to protect the homeland. thank you for your service and to the members of your family. >> thank you and congratulations. two regards. veterans of combat on the the last people who want to go into combat again. family members often have to stay behind at home. and 2nd multi- generation multimember family of the armed services, a small percentage of americans currently shoulder the load. as we appreciate your families decorative service. you will be replacing general john campbell former commanding general of the hundred 1st airborne. i can see lots of service. >> i have not served at fort campbell. >> i

al qaeda. that the terrorist group behind the 911 attack. >>> jeff barnes talks to experts who say the extremist could once again plot attacks against the west. >> al qaeda is nearly 30 years old. it has endured for the 70s and 80s and so far despite constant american strikes and killing osama bin laden the group behind the worst attack on u.s. soil survived. >> off-site is -- al qaeda's resurgence or continued existence should be a concern for the united states and other western governments. >> the us-led attack on an al qaeda last fall in afghanistan killed more than 200 al qaeda members and revealed a sophisticated network of fortresses. jihadists are growing. >> they are going through a renewal and they are quietly trying to pick up what is working with isis and then integrated their philosophy. >> were titled koerner -- colonel tony chauffeur says the past 15 years alone the cost against terrorism has been nearly $2 trillion. and that is coming. in the meantime he says al qaeda's goal is t

recruited by al qaeda.d at al qaeda guest houses trained at the famous al qaeda alpha rook training camp. name found on al qaeda documents. he has threatened to kill u.s. citizens and as you pointed out. slit their throats. as a result jtf gitmo when they did their assessment said he was high risk detainee to the guards at guantanamo and certainly if he is released. he said if released is he likely to pose a threat to the united states, its interests and allies. >> it's interesting that this story doesn't register. this is just happening and suddenly we get a release 34 more are gone. well, there they go. >> part of it is that congress has made itself pretty clear but b. we are not going to bring any of these to the u.s. this is happening in the back drop of a lot of bad stuff going on in the world not raising it to that level. if we do see one of those people who have been released either up either dead because of a drone strike or some sort of attack somewherecf#nñ else, absolutely this will become a bigg

. >> reporter: the video by the al qaeda affiliate based in africa is a pitch to come and join the cause. al shabaab responsible for the attack on a mall that killed dozens. and minutes into this recruitment video, this clip from donald trump minutes after the attack in san bernardino. >> i'm calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states until our country's representatives can figure out what the [ bleep ] is going on. >> reporter: analysts says using trump can be effective. >> this is someone with a major political following. >> reporter: trump's opponents warned that his statements would be used by the militants. it's no surprise terrorists would try to use a comment. we're going to do everything we can as the u.s. government to make it clear that's not the case. video apparently targeting a u.s. audience narrated in english and also fee featuring al qaeda's best known leader. >> it's a recruitment call. it relies on words spoken by donald trump and anwar al awlaki. >> we're talking about security. we're not talking about religion. we're talking about

when al qaeda ept to afghanistan, al qaeda went down in terms of being seen as a loser rather than a winner. >> congressman, i would just add i think the delegitimization of the religious justification for what jihadists are doing, whether isis or al qaeda or anybody else, has got to come from the muslim leadership. a remarkable speech was given a year ago this month. he basically said that there needs to be a revolution inside islam. he has not done any follow-up to that as far as i'm aware. it was a remarkable speech at the time, and it was absolutely right. there are plenty of verses in the bible that would justify violence but there's not a lot of -- not a significant number of christians who act on that. we have moved beyond that. islam needs to do the same. that's what president assisi was saying. we don't have those arguments. we just don't. we need to have conversations with leadership in the muslim world about how they need to take this on themselves. i think america's diplomats need to talk to the leadership of those countries about. >> ambassador, do you have anything to a

burkina faso security forces taken over al-qaeda-link. at least 23 are dead. >> hello, we'll have all your sport, including england claim their first win in south africa in 11 years. >> iran's isolation as a result of sanctions in its nuclear program looks to have come to an end. >> today is a day when we prove to the world that threats, sanctions, intimidation, pressure don't work. respect works. through respect, through dialogue, through negotiations we can impact, reach mutually acceptable solutions, implement mutually acceptable solutions, prove that the naysayers are always wrong, and therefore move towards a world in which diplomacy, not force, not pressure, will prevail. >> they're waiting for reports from the international atomic agency to make sure that the country's nuclear program remains peaceful. in a sign of thawing relations five u.s. citizens have been freed from prison in iran in exchange for seven iranians held in the united states. paul brennan reports. >> 39-year-old jason rezaian was arrested with his wife and two pho

among them was an al-qaeda preacher. >> the usual dethe judiciary deals with facts and criminal intent. >> last year a special court sentenced nimr to death. he did not deny the political charges against him but said he never carried weapons or called for violence. saudi arabia vowed to stamp out terrorism after a suicide-bombing if at a mosque in august. many others such as an al-qaeda preacher had been linked to attacks in the kingdom between 2003 and 2006, and attacks said to have been carried out al-qaeda-link. >> in october iran warned saudi arabia of what it called dire consequences if nimr was killed. that warning was repeated when news of his death was released. >> iran will try to ignite the soft spots in the region, as it has done in the past. it would not be a surprise if it attempted to do it again. >> more executions may be on the way, 2200 similar cases are still to be had in saudi arabian courts. >> muslims in saudi arabia have taken to the streets to demonstrate against the execution of nimr al-nimr. protests over the excuse has been held in several villages in bahrain.

also, a new threat from al qaeda's explosives mastermind. bomb maker whose previous devices have been smuggled on to commercial planes is now vowing the terror group will never stop trying to attack the united states. there are also new developments in the ambush of the philadelphia police officer allegedly by a man who says he pledged allegiance to isis. tonight investigatiors are looking into a tip he had ties to the radical group and the fbi says he traveled to the middle east. we're covering that and much more this hour with our guests, peter king. our correspondents and expert analysts are all standing by. let's begin with the dramatic new video of the raid that captured the notorious drug lord "el chapo." martin savidge is working the story. you're outside the mexican prison where "el chapo" is being held. what's the latest? >> reporter: mexican authorities haven't gotten to the point where they are thanking actor sean penn but just about said that, his role, that interview was crucial to rearresting "el chapo", but when you look at th

core al qaeda operations. degrading their ability to carry out complex attacks. we should all take great satisfaction from that. there is no question that al it feels arely as ,ense of competition with isil they are continuing to look for opportunities to carry out attacks against the west. is we can't really predict from what direction the threats we see next might come from. eric: do you think you can rely europe and they were plots right under the nose of the officials in belgium and france? are they doing enough? rasmussen: our european partners are clearly confronting something in their societies that is on a scale far different from what we have to deal with in the united states. they have to make their own judgments about whether they have the right array of legal resources, money, all the things you need to carry out effective counterterrorism operations. if there is any positive news, our level of cooperation and engagement has really increased fairly dramatically. the sharing of information about travelers. that information sharing is much more advanced

we see a continued connection between al qaeda and the taliban.e've seen the efforts of the pakistanis force some of these terrorists to the other side of the border, former members of the ttp, we have members of other terrorist organizations that have joined together to form iskp. so we see their attempt to get in there. so back to our first principle of preventing an attack on the homeland, we still see attempts by terrorist organizations to get into afghanistan and we see linkages between them and the taliban. so this, again, as a first principle requires our continued focus and effort. so then the question in my mind then is what level of investment is necessary to accomplish the ct mission and so to avoid us having our own combat troops there, in an endless sense, you need to develop their inindigen capability. so the force is weakening. as i mentioned before we don't see this original projections for a draw down have took looked at it terms when this occurs. we have to get this force to a level to be able to prevent re-emergence of sanctuari

and al-qaeda define inspiration. al-qaeda define inspiration. the notion that you should the notion that you should commit violence against commit violence against journalists and subject them to journalists and subject them to physical lashings, is it physical lashings, is it spraying that al-qaeda also spraying that al-qaeda also thinks it's a good item to thinks it's a good item to attack a journal iflt whose attack a journal iflt whose opinions they don't like? opinions they don't like? the notion that you should be the notion that you should be head people in public displays head people in public displays for those who insult islam or for those who insult islam or otherwise harm the state, is it otherwise harm the state, is it surprising that i.s.i.s. also in surprising that i.s.i.s. also in the name of islam is sentencing the name of islam is sentencing people to death and executing people to death and executing them? them? this is the fundamental problem this is the fundamental problem that saudi arabia that is to that saudi arabia that i

>> a shia cleric and leading al-qaeda preacher among 47 men executed by saudi arabia. for terrorism offenses. good to have your company. i'm david foster. you're watching al jazeera live from london. also from this program, fighters kill at least two soldiers at an air base at the border near pakistan. and we meet a farmer who is feeing the bite as russian tanks take effect. and the u.s. worker is beginni beginning 2016 with a pay raise after a two-year fight. saudi arabia is defending its decision to execute 47 men, among them a leading shia clear, and prominent al-qaeda preacher. both of whom are convicted of terrorism charges. first we look at rob matheson's report on the men's death. >> these are some of the 47 men would who were executed in safer who were accused of convicting and carrying out terrorism attacks. they included this man, nimr al-nimr, who was a figure in the protest in saudi arabia which intensified in 2011. among them was a al-qaeda preacher, human rights criticized the executions, but saudi arabia said it was after a fair trial. >> we deal with the

why would al qaeda target this hotel in burkina faso?> if you look over the last sick months, richard, al qaeda has actually been trying to resurge its operations in the sub-saharan african region. they've carried out now three major hotel attacks. last august there was an attack on a hotel which housed u.n. personnel in mali. then we saw the one that took place in the capital of mali, and now this one. they are going after two things. one, they're going after westerners where they congregate in these third-world countries. i have been there. it's not the most cosmopolitan city but they have pockets of westerners. two, it's the only tourist and external revenue apart from mining and other concessions, so they are attacking where the westerners are and making sure westerners don't feel safe. >> you were talking about al qaeda here, yet the headlines recently certainly have been about isis. what would you say is the strength of al qaeda today and we ask this question because of the siege that you bring up in mali, the siege we're talking a

the islam but remained loyal to al qaeda coming back over to al qaeda which adds to the capabilities. that's significant because in particular, fit the profile that robert bear talked about. they were like special forces for al qaeda going from country to country that included the attack in eastern algeria that was an oil facility which occur in january of 2013. the attack in other rather high-profile attacks. they are very good at terrorism game and seems they were involved in this attack. >> bob, we have turkey, and now this. are groups trying to one up each other? >> well, i think what we're seeing more is an offensive. the islamic state and al qaeda are not that different. i pamean, one has a caliphate a the other doesn't. these are unimportant. i've been talking to, you know, jihad circles for a couple days now and they have been talking about an offensive and you've got the one as you said in turkey and you've got the burkina faso and the fall of ramadi had no effect on groups and the fall of tim buck two. they are mobile and gorilla force and difficult to get inside of and the