they were identified as 31-year- old elton simpson and 34-year- old nadir soofi. already well- known to the f.b.i. he grew up in the suburbs of chicago, and moved to phoenix, arizona in middle school. he briefly played college basketball before dropping out and converting to islam when he was 20. according to leaders of the phoenix mosque he attended, simpson was well-liked and soft spoken. >> shami: he was always asking questions, attending lectures. >> cooper: usama shami is president of the islamic community center of phoenix. people here thought so much of the young muslim convert, who took the name "ibrahim," that he was included in the mosque's promotional video in 2007. >> when you come together and you pray five times a day with the brothers and you're reminded about the hereafter. >> cooper: but at the time of this interview, simpson had already become interested in radical islam, and the phoenix fbi, which was investigating one his friends, hired an informant, a sudanese refugee named dabla deng, to check simpson out. >> cooper: there are informants insi