al qaeda's number two leader ayman al zawahiri speaks in english by a recording obtained al zawahiri and osama bin laden are thought to be hiding in pakistan near the afghanistan border. >>> tragedy in iran today. a russian-made plane carrying 168 people crashed. shortly after takeoff from tehran airport killing everybody on board. the caspian airlines jet was headed to armenia's capital city. and most of the passengers were reportedly armenian citizens. the wreckage covered a dirt field northwest tehran. the witness reported that plane's tail appeared to be on fire and that it seemed to be circling shortly before the crash. >>> secretary of state hillary clinton stepped up pressure on iran today reminding that country's leaders that they have only a limited amount otime to accept the united states' offer to begin face-to-face talks. iran has so far refused to discuss or even scale back its nuclear capabilities. many experts believe iran is several years of being able to build a bomb but in a report in the german news magazine "stern" today, german intelligent source are quoted as sa

> is it this group, do they directly coordinate with al qaeda in the sense that bin laden or ayman al zawahiri the loose right now, they plot, talk or it's just an inspiration? >> if you go to the bali attack of 2002 which 200 people died in, at that time there was a direct tie. there was also somebody who had been a close friend of bin laden who is in u.s. custody. now the links are much more inspirational rather than operational. >> the fact that they were two american hotels attacked, al qaeda has always said to itself if you destroy america's economic prowess, you destroy america. the world trade center, for example, in new york was hit not once but twice as all of our viewers will remember. this is part of that same mentality, right? >> yeah, and i think also hotels are in the hospitality business, they can't turn themselves into fortress fortresses. it's a brand name, you're going to kill westerners. we've seen these kind of hotel attacks, the hilton in egypt, best western in imman, jordan, and jakarta on several occasions. so unfortunately, if you're in a muslim country in a five star h

. >> i'm for one, shocked, that the cia had a secret plan to kill osama bin laden and ayman al zawahiri. the idea they are going to make political hay out of this is not very smart for them. now is a time republicans have been punished on the national security issue because of the iraq war and mistakes made. democrats have had a chance to take this back with all the infighting with cia and making political hay out of it, i don't think they are whiffing on this entirely. i don't think it's benefitting them. bill: "newsweek" magazine obviously wanted an investigation and they are pushing holder to do it. >> i think you are confusing two things. i think one thing is the secret plan that they didn't tell the congress about and, of course, congress reflects us, and we should know what's going on. bill: even if it's not operational? even if it's just somebody's piece of paper. >> that's the law. bill: no, it's not the law. if the plan is operational, they have to inform coming. if it's just some guy made this up, they don't. >> no, this f. they are planning -- well, my understanding if it get

>> reporter: heidi, the message coming from ayman al zawahiri, number two in al qaeda to osama bin laden. this is a very consistent message. we've heard this before from both al qaeda and the taliban to get people to support their fight against the u.s. the timing here is interesting. it comes as the u.s. increases its troop presence across the border in afghanistan and as the pakistan military continues its offensive against taliban militants in the northwest part of the country. zawahiri saying the pakistani politicians and military leaders are traitors to the afghanistan and pakistan people. he says they're trying to stay on a payroll, that a reference to the billions of dollars that america has poured into pakistan to assist its fight against the insurgents. it comes as people in pakistan continue to move back to their houses after fleeing the fighting in recent months. the pakistan government saying they have secured the northwest part of the country and it is safe to go back, but fighting is continuing. just in the past 24 hours, 23 militants killed, another 14 arrested. still very

levels of al qaeda it was written by a top al qaeda commander it actually has introduction by ayman al zawahiri that's osama bin laden's number two guy. dave: paranoia and stress you bring up. what about about desperation? that is so mainstream. doesn't it show they are getting desperate? >> i think it does, dave. frod tore drone attacks are the single tool in destructive operations in northern pakistan. the book mentions it. it's been translated by memory. the book refers to the leveling of homes by planes that are unheard, unseen, and unknown. it also says spies have spread throughout the land like locusts it definitely shows she's drone attacks are working. gretchen: how effective can this web book be? i'm sort of wondering personally this morning why they would even put it down in print. >> that's interesting, gretchen. if you are a regular taliban member sitting in waziristan you don't have the internet but your leaders might. the book specifically tries to find leniency around sure real law, muslim law to deal with the spies. if it leads to decrep bid old money and women being ripped out

ayman al zawahiri released a new audio message this morning and asking pakistanis to support islamic because of what he called blatant american meddling in pakistan. suspected u.s. missiles recently targeted leaders there just as pakistan's military is conducting a major anti-taliban offensive. >>> investigators looking into michael jackson's death are pouring over new medical records. yesterday, l.a.'s assistant chief coroner went to the office of jackson's dermatologist. just last week on our sister network cnn the doctor said he never gave jackson any dangerous drugs. >> we're still conducting our investigation. there is a security hold on the case and i can't comment any further. >> are these paper documents or are you looking at medication as well? >> we're looking for some documentation that dr. klein has agreed to provide to us. >> medical records of michael jackson? >> can you say something about the toxicology results? >> no. we hope to have the findings probably in the middle of this next week. >> the california attorney general's office and the d.e.a. are helping l.a. offi