>> tonight on frontline: david coleman headley... >> headley was brilliant and evil at the same time. >> ...an american raised in pakistan... >> he changes his name to david coleman headley so that he could travel more easily. >> ...recruited by pakistani terrorists... >> a guy who holding a us passport, headley is a dream come true from the perspective of a terrorist group. ...but also an informant for the dea... >> he uses that to cover allegations of his extremism. >> ...and the major force behind the most spectacular terror attack since 9/11. >> mumbai has been hit and hit hard. >> the attackers were well armed and well prepared. >> david coleman headley widely suspected to be a us double agent. >> tonight on frontline, propublica reporter sebastian rotella investigates what the us knew about "a perfect terrorist." >> did they ask him about his work for the us government? >> we were told by the usa, "that is not to be asked." >> frontline is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. and by the corporation for public broadcasting. major fu

officers ryan headley and matthew cox are working the night shift.the lookout for a reported stolen vehicle. >> i saw the vehicle pass by me, and as i was turning around on the suspect vehicle i saw that the driver of the vehicle was a young female driver, and we were dealing with a very petite individual or teenager. we attempted to stop the vehicle, but she refused to stop for us. and i began asking for assistance from other agencies to get the vehicle stopped. i thought, you know, in the 200 yards she would hit the stop sticks and it would be over and be safe. before we got to that point she made an abrupt lefthand turn. >> the officers are shocked when the driver suddenly veers off the road and crashes directly into the brick wall of a church. >> she just accelerated at a high rate of speed into the church. the impact was just tremendous so i knew she was at a greater speed of 70 miles per hour when she hit the church. after the dust had settled you could really see how bad the accident was because the entire front half of the jeep was into the c

. >> david coleman headley was a specialist in constructing a blueprint of the killing zone. >> a dream come true from the perspective of a terrorist group. >> a sociopath, evil... >> a u.s. double agent... >> did they ask him about his work for the u.s. government? >> we were told by the u.s. that is not to be asked. >> "a perfect terrorist," a frontline/propublica investigation. >> frontline continues online. learn more about the opium brides problem and the politics of poppy eradication. watch frontline's other undercover reports inside afghanistan, and hear from a prominent former u.s. official about why he believes drone strikes in pakistan may be counterproductive. >> in a sense, we have helped to bring about the situation that we most fear. >> follofrontlion facebook and twitter, or join the discussion at pbs.org/frontline. >> frontline is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. and by the corporation for public broadcasting. major funding is provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more ju

. >> david coleman headley was a specialist in constructing a blueprint for killing zones. >> a dreamome true, from the perspective of a terrorist group. >> ...a sociopath. >> ...evil. >> ...a u.s. double agent. >> did they ask him about his work for the u.s. government? >> we were told by the u.s.a., "that is not to be asked." >> "a perfect terrorist," a frontline propublica investigation. >> frontline continues online with more on ramita navai's undercover journey in syria. >> a 14-year-old boy was killed here. >> learn more about syria's minority alawite community and their perspectives on the rebellion. plus, a map of where the rebellion is occurring. find out how key players in the region stack up on the conflict. read extended interviews... >> ...egyptian uprising and the tunisian uprising... >> ...uprising seemed to gain momentum... >> ...hanging with the regime... >> and follow frontline on facebook and twitter, or tell us what you think at pbs.org. >> frontline is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. and by the corporation for p

. >> thomas headley is in unita-1 for his own protection. >> because i was a member of the mormon church a sex offender. this individual decided he was going to beat the living crap out of me and in the process of it, decided he was going to kill me. >> he is serving 15 years. >> they have been holding me in the section that they're in right now, because i absolutely refuse to be housed among people that are going to cause me harm. >> about a quarter of usp's 4,000 inmates are sex offenders. most, like thomas, have been targeted for their crimes. >> we're constantly finding them assaulted. we're constantly finding them extorted. >> i've got a safety list that's got at least 20 names on it with people that told me in no uncertain terms, you're a dead man if we ever get our hands on you. i admitted to have improper sexual relationship with this girl. she was 14. i am a man that is attracted to young women, god forbid. i have 16 months left to go. and all i'm trying to do is survive. >> steven johnson was convicted of killing a rival in a gang fight. >> i'm currently incarcerated for first

. >> faisal shahzad, the time square bomber, david headley, connected with attacks in mumbai, those areall cases in which data was helpful in identifying an unknown actor before the fact. >> but general jones, speaking on the phone the other day, you mentioned something not mentioned often in washington which is a national id card. do you think that's something that it's time for to help secure the country? >> well, this is a very personal opinion, but i believe technology has gotten to the point where something like that could be contemplated, and how you put it together is up to us, but who individuals are really matters, and i frankly, having grown up in a country where you had to have a national id card to have access to just about anything, that would be france, post-war france, called a ray card, but it was the document you had to have when you were pulled over by a policeman or questioned by a lawyer or anything. you had to have it, or tried to get access to health benefits or anything like that. it's not a new idea, but when you think of -- >> but it's very controversial. >> it'

jones -- >> if i might, though, if i might, jeanne, faisal shahzad, the times square bomber, david headley who was we connected wih the attacks in mumbai, all three of them are examples of cases where pnr data was actually very helpful in identifying an unknown actor before the fact. >> but, general jones, when we were speaking on the phone the ore day, you mentioned something that isn't mentioned very often in washington, which is a national id card. do you think that's something that it's time for to help secure the country? >> well, this is a very personal opinion, but i do believe that technology has gotten to the point where something like that could be con contemplated. now, how you put it together is up to us. but, you know, i think who individuals are really matters. and, um, and i, frankly, having grown up in a country where you had to have a national id card to have access to just about anything, that would be france, postwar france, i mean, it's called the gray card, but it was the document that you had to have when you were pulled over by a policeman or questioned by a lawyer o