i don't think he resuscitated bin laden when he took it over, back when bin laden was killed. he wasn't a competent leader of al qaeda. but the reason he was killed in afghanistan over the weekend. it was beginning to to take risks. unprecedented number of videos. every time you record a video, there is a chain of custody of the video, getting it out there. someone taking a video. he was becoming more prominent. it seems to me, that may have well been the reason he was detected. >> general hartley, spokespersons just tweeted, an airstrike was carried out on a residential house in kabul city. once again, i'm quoting. initial findings were carried out by an american drone. that's the tweet. what do you make of those details? >> i don't think we should take any intelligence from anybody in the taliban right now. if they are going to talk about a potential for civilian casualties, damage to a neighborhood. again, we really need to listen to what the president says, today, and the kind of intelligence he has and how confident the u.s. is on the success of this strike. we will get a

and zawahiri essentially did but bin laden did.ns that therefore he can very capably lead the affiliates of al-qaeda around the world. essentially, they have been operating autonomous, they independently. they may be part of the brand of al-qaeda, but they certainly weren't under and be operational control. again, noting that this is a very symbolic success to bring one of the last of the original al-qaeda leaders who did so much damage around the world, again, and east africa bombings, and a number of bombings north africa. exhortation's elsewhere. not to mention being a core part of al-qaeda 9/11 attacks were planned. >> and he was increasingly -- he's one of the group who is increasingly radicalized and egyptian prisons. right? >> that's true, and fact he actually led to the egyptian islamic jihad prior to this in the 1990s. and it was in the late 1990s that he actually emerged with osama bin laden. they hadn't met him earlier in the battlefields enough ghana stan and the soviets. >> general petraeus, i appreciate your time. tha

the hunt for bin laden's number two is now over.kabul. president biden addressed the nation with details earlier this evening. >> justice has been delivered, and this terrorist leader is no more. after carefully considering the clear and convincing evidence of his location, i authorized the precision strike that would remove him from the battlefield once and for all. one week ago, after being advised that the conditions were optimal, i gave the final approval to go get

he was the deputy at the time for osama bin laden. he formed the islamic front against jews and crusaders p that was the beginning of the big -- al qaeda movement. we focus on isis and now even that sort of faded from the headlines. the economy is the focus and the reality is they continue to plot against the united states, continue to desire to kill americans including here in the united states including mass casualty attacks. it's going to force al qaeda to go underground for a. of time and that's a good thing. it could inspire attacks but it could early for little bit. host: osama bin laden was the character and the personality. guest: when he formed with bin laden he took it from egg terrorist group and release banded their view to global jihad. he inspired people to do that. ayman al-zawahiri was the coo who really made it happen. host: you talked about planning do you know if there was any current planning by al qaeda or affiliated groups? guest: we do know that he continued to put out videos. he put videos out on the attacks. w

killed bin laden back in 2011. a senior administration official told nbc news that the strike was so precise, none of his family inside of the home were killed. and in a prime time address, president biden called the killing justice for his victims. and the mission, quote, a total success. >> people around the world no longer need to fear the vicious and determined killer. the united states continues to demonstrate our resolve and our capacity to defend the american people against those who seek to do us harm. you know, we make it clear again tonight that no matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide. >> if you are a threat to our people, the united states will find you and take you out. >> just this morning the white house sthared this photograph of the's july 1st meeting with u.s. officials when they used a model of al zawahiri's house to brief any potential risk to civilians if they did attack. bride ensigned off on july 25th telling them to do when this it made the most sense. and in kabul when the unit

al zawahri was bin laden's number two, running al qaeda ever since bin laden was killed.blood of hundreds if not thousands of americans on his hands. he is someone who is number one on the fbi's most wanted list. this is a significant move. each al qaeda in its diminished state, a significant move to take their lowered off the chessboard and does indeed show that the united states can pick off an al qaeda leader without having boots on the ground there. >> we're now learning, nbc news is learning that it was a drone strike that killed zawahri. which again proves that drop strikes can do the work. you don't need 100,000 troops on the ground risking their lives every day away from families. that got do. i wonder what you make of that optic, the fact that they with can pull things off but people saying we had to keep the troops there because of the human rights catastrophe that the taliban represents, i wonder what they think about the former president partying with mbs and taking money from him for a golf turpy and in saudi arabia, women can't even drive without permission.

he never really filled the shoes of osama bin laden. osama bin laden was the face. he was the brand name of al qaeda. ayman al-zawahiri, the legacy player, the scholar if you will establishing the bedrock of the ideology but never commanded a lot of personal loyalty within the group. thena next leader might be ableo be more effective that way. >> richard engel, nbc news chief foreign correspondent in london, technically on vacation, but that's always fungible, given your beat, richard, thank you so much. i really, appreciate you being here,re my friend. >> my pleasure. again, president biden tonight confirming from the white house the news that the leader of al qaeda, aymam al-zawahiri age 71 who took over leadership of the group in 2011 after navy seals killed osama bin laden, he has been killed by a u.s. drone strike in kabul, il afghanistan, and that news being confirmed by the president tonight, in remarks from the white house, 20 years and 10 months after the attacks of 9/11 killed 3,000 americans on u.s. soil. we have very much more news ahead. stay with us. h

he was bin laden's number two, and when bin laden was killed in 2011, zawahiri became the leader of al-qaeda. he was slightly more low profile than bin laden was, but that doesn't mean he wasn't lethal. and there are many, many analysts who believe that zawahiri was more dangerous. he was certainly involved in the planning of 9/11, as well as, you heard president biden talking about the embassy bombings that he -- some intel sources have traced back to zawahiri as well. and in the past few years, the intel community has believed that he's been sick, that he is 71 years old who is not of great health. but he was still making videos, according to american officials. he was still making videos, calling for attacks on americans. >> so, lawrence, what is the leadership like in al-qaeda? what does this do to the leadership structure? is there someone or several people ready to step into the role that he was playing, or does this dismantle and disrupt the leadership of al-qaeda and significant way? >> well, we thought it was true when bin laden was killed. and it turns out -- you know, i look at al

we were successful in going after bin laden. zawahiri obviously is number two, took his place, but the bottom line is that this attack going after zawahiri has made very clear that al qaeda does not have the leadership at this point in time to be able to be a threat to the united states or others. >> clarissa, what about the significance of the location? and again, as i said, we don't know the context yet, and the intelligence, perhaps the president will share a lot more in a few minutes when he begins speaking, but it certainly stands out, not in the -- the border tribal regions. in the capital. in kabul is where this drone strike took out zawahiri. >> reporter: it's pretty staggering, erin. i mean, this is an area which is just really minutes away from a guest house where we were spending a lot of time. it's a place where many taliban leaders spend a lot of time, have houses. the very real burning question of the moment, i think, becomes, whose house was this? who did it belong to? what was he doing there? how long had he been

bin laden was known to all americans.cognition but was taken out at a time when the islamic state was not as is peak but fresh in the minds of americans. killing this al-qaeda leader now i don't think we'll have the same effect. because he was not as notorious and because americans just don't care as much right now about counterterrorism. when americans think about the main terrorism threat, they actually think less about al-qaeda now, and more about far right groups. this attack may change that a little bit. and remind americans that the original war on terrorism, the one against al-qaeda still is not over. i one against al-qaeda still is not over-— not over. i find that fascinating - not over. i find that fascinating that - not over. i find that fascinating that you not over. i find that - fascinating that you point out that when americans think about terrorism they don't think about al-qaeda necessarily anymore because certainly, that was such a huge moment in history notjust for people in the united states but all ove

, s cohesion since osama bin laden �*s death. and certainly not a charismatic leader. it is a blow in the centre they have lost their big man.— blow in the centre they have lost their big man. one thing achieved in _ lost their big man. one thing achieved in recent _ lost their big man. one thing achieved in recent months, l achieved in recent months, essentially raising his communication profile, pushing out the message harder. do you think that had anything to do with the decision to act now? there is a belief that he was being a bit bold and by the fact that his friend, the taliban, did control afghanistan. he felt comfortable enough to notjust move back there but be more visible. he stayed within a safe house for the most part but he has been much more active on social media for a guy who typically only shows up at a ceremony every few months. he did seem to be feeling more comfortable and that makes antiterrorism people uncomfortable, who is it talking to? what kind of second life al-qaeda was the envisioning? so they are br

which of course was how they eventually got osama bin laden. so i think it's a -- it's a mark of the incredible capacity of the intelligence community, and in particular, national security agency and the cia to bring together various arms of information. and then you come up with a target folder. and of course we talked about collateral damage, killing family members, other associates. a challenge probably overdone, in my view. when we get a target of such danger to the american people, those who are associated with them have a lesser degree of protection, in my view, than would be the unfortunate death of the children in kabul just as we pulled out. so they have to decide, what are we going to accept in collateral damage? and then executed the process. these remotely piloted vehicles now -- i don't know where this one was flown from. the air force flies a lot of them from nevada. so you got a 19-year-old airman and a lieutenant colonel sitting next to him. i have been there. and they're piloting a lethal vehicle 7,000 miles away. and they've g

al—zawahiri had previously been osama bin laden�*s number two, and was deeply involved in the 9/11 attackse united states in 2001 one of america's most senior politicians, nancy pelosi is now expected to visit taiwan on tuesday, putting further strains on relations with china. and beyonce will re—record one of her new songs, replacing a word, after disability campaigners raised concerns about the lyrics. and how virtual reality surgery has enabled doctors to separate conjoined twins with shared fused brains. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe president biden says an american drone strike has killed the al-qaeda leader, ayman al—zawahiri. he said the operation, which he authorised, took place in the afghan capital kabul on saturday. mr biden said ayman al—zawahiri was had been deeply involved in the september the 11th attacks as well as earlier attacks on us embassies in africa and the uss cole in the late nineties. zawahiri, who succeeded osama bin laden as al-qaeda chief, was on the fbi's most wanted terrorist list. this is what president biden announced a short

al-zawahri was bin laden's leader. he was with him the whole time. he was as number two man, the deputy at the time the terrorist attack 9/11. he was deeply involved in the planning of 9/11. one of the most responsible for pres. biden: my fellow americans, on saturday at my direction, the united states successfully concluded an airstrike in afghanistan that killed ayman al-zawahri. al-zawahri was bin laden's leader. he was with him the whole time. he was as number two man, the deputy at the time the terrorist attack 9/11. he was deeply involved in the planning of 9/11. one of the most responsible for the attacks and murdered 2977 people on american soil. he was the mastermind on attacks against americans including the bombing of the uss cole which killed 17 american sailors and wounded dozens more. he played a key role in the bombing of u.s. embassies in kenya and tanzania, killing 224 and wounding over 4500 others. he carved a trail of murder and violence against american citizens. american service members. american diplomats. and american interests

became bin laden's personal doctor.merged. bin laden was a newcomer, al- zawahiri had established credentials, these two uniting provided a team that cannot be broken, america was the next target, the world trade center. after 9/11 al-zawahiri was seen in afghanistan and then went into hiding, a $25 million reward on his head, he kept al qaeda a life as isis became the main target of the west. ruthless, the brains behind the world's worst terrorist attack even in his final video calling on muslims to attack america. >> retired army four star general barry mccaffrey , pentagon correspondent for the new york times helene cooper and national security analyst for nbc news and msnbc good to have you all. >> general, your thoughts about the united states finally catching up with the terrorists. >> a remarkable achievement, 7500 miles from the united states the intelligence community putting together in a forensic science manner overhead photography, signal intelligence, agents on the ground to isolate a target and then take h

he met the saudi osama bin laden who was fighting the soviets in afghanistan they bonded. zawahiri became bin laden's personal doctor by 1998, the islamic jihad and al qaeda merged zawahiri a second in command. >> bin laden was a relative newcomer to the world of jihad zawahiri had well-established credentials. the two uniting up provided a team that could not be broken. >> reporter: america was their next target. the world trade center in their sights. after 9/11, zawahiri was seen in afghanistan and then went into hiding at $25 million reward on his head he kept al qaeda alive as isis became the west's main target pious, ruthless, the behind the world's worst terrorist attack even in the final video. he was calling on muslims to attack america. >> richard, what is the significant that this strike took place in kabul >> so there are indications that it took place not just in kabul but right in the center of kabul, not far from the presidential palace. and the united states has been cooperating, many people don't know this, with the taliban in the fight against isis but th

it is not just with bin laden, al-zawahri, but the leaders of isis.back to the days when the u.s. was hunting jay guevara -- che guavara, going back to the 1930's, nicaragua. is it your sense that cutting off the head really deals with the fundamentals raised by these insurgencies? bilal: i think al qaeda did transform the taliban as an insurgency over the last 20 years. let's go back and see how the taliban learned how to use roadside bombs, learned to have an army of suicide attackers, how they learned to have powerful truck bombs. in my view, al qaeda has done their job, as far as i'm concerned. the relationship between al qaeda and the taliban is extremely close, on the battlefield, as well. today, if you look at afghanistan, i would say there goodeveral thousand foreign fighters including arab fighters, those from central asia, operating in afghanistan alongside the taliban. there are those like the islamic movement in pakistan that are inspired by al qaeda. these are militant groups that have lived and fought together in afghanistan, but also be

al zawahiri became bin laden's personal doctor. by 1998, the islamic jihad and al qaeda merged, al zawahiri second-in-command. >> bin laden was a relative newcomer to the world of jihad. al zawahiri had well established credentials. these two uniting provided a team that could not be broken. >> reporter: america was there next target, the world trade center in their sites. after 9/11, al zawahiri was seen in afghanistan, and then went into hiding, a $25 million reward on his head. he kept al qaeda alive as basis became the west's main target. pious, ruthless, the brains behind the world's worst terrorist attack, even in his final video he was calling on muslims to attack america. >> nbc's richard engel. we are expecting to learn how the cia found al zawahiri and how they took them out when the president addresses the nation shortly. cnbc senior white house correspondent kayla tausche with details now. >> we are expecting the president to make that address later on this hour. this is a major conquest for the biden administration. yo

when we killed bin laden we were able to verify we got him.illed baghdadi we were able to verify we got him. only killed soleimani we were able to verify we've got him. let's make sure we verify that ava actually got this guy. to ensure the american people it was a good strike. president trump was right. president biden was right. we have said you can attack these guys from a distance. when you have guys like the predator and global hawk with great loiter time, ability to strike from a distance, we said you don't need troops on the ground. president trump said that. president biden said that. he got out of afghanistan in a very messy way but i think the fact is true. i almost want to look look to the military and say we have been telling you this. we told you the last four or five years. why didn't you listen. 33 you mentioned being able to confirm the strike and the identity of the terrorist. i believe they say they have confirmed it. are you suspicious that they haven't confirmed it yet? how would they go about doing that? matching dna sampl

that was bin laden and others. so zawahiri tnever carried out n attack on the united states or american interests in the decade he ran it. he presided over the split between al qaeda and isis, which, you know, is really a terrible thing for al qaeda because isis became the most effective terrorist group in the world. if bin laden had been around, maybe he would have been able to paper over those differences. >> one open question following the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. we're coming up at the end of the month on the one year anniversary of that had been can the u.s. carry out effective counterterror operations from outside the country without boots on the ground, whether they be u.s. military or cia assets? and bill burns, cia director, acknowledged publicly it is more difficult. i spoke to the head of mi6 who said it is more difficult from outside the country. but they were able to do it here. does it show greater capability to do so than we were aware of? >> it shows how sophisticated u.s. intelligence coll

killing up osama bin laden second in command. president biden announcing that the al-qaeda leader, ayman worry, was killed in a drone strike in afghanistan's capital. >> one week ago. after being advised of the conditions were optimal i gave. the final approval to go get him. and the mission was a success. none of his family members were hurt. there are no civilian casualties. i am sharing this news to the american people now after confirming the mission is a total success through the painstaking work of our counterterrorism community and key allies and partners. >> the updating us most wanted terrorist tonight with the word, deceased. want to bring on cnn national security correspondent, alex marquardt. also military analyst retired -- general mark hertling. and philip mudd. good evening gentlemen. appreciate you joining us. let's start with alex. what are you learning tonight about this mission and how it went down? >> well don, this was a remarkable and complex mission. we've got a lot of the details from a senior administrati

age 70 was the leader of al qaeda and usama bin laden's right hand responsible for the 9/11 attacks, the egyptian doctor fled to al pakistan during the 1980s after being jailed twice and asia for the member of islamic egyptian overthrowing the government of egypt and a former surgeon, the personal physician and closest confidant and became the nominal leader of al qaeda after bin laden was killed in 2011. since september 11th attacks the u.s. state department has offered a u.s. $25 million reward for information or intelligence leading to zawahiri's capture, the drone strike by the cia is the first publicly known strike in afghanistan since the fall of kabul almost a year ago. an example of what the pentagon turned over the horizon strait capabilities. president biden will deliver remarks on the operation at 7:30 p.m. eastern tonight from the balcony of the white house blue room. >> bret: a couple of things, one is to after the u.s. withdraw from afghanistan were a lot of concerns about the ability to go after terrorists with the control and without a footprint on the ground in afgha

ayman al—zawahiri, right—hand man and successor to osama bin laden. he stood on the balcony at this family home in an upmarket kabul neighbourhood. we can hear debris still being cleared up, but then we are told to stop filming. we're in the centre of the city. the house that was targeted in the drone strike is just a few minutes away, but the taliban are not allowing anyone to film nearby, insisting there is nothing to see — one even pointing his gun threateningly towards us a little earlier on. senior taliban figures must have agreed to al-qaeda's leader living here, but they have insisted in public the group no longer exists in afghanistan, so his death poses difficult questions. zawahiri had trained as a doctor in egypt, but was drawn into radical circles. he helped plan the 9/11 attacks, in which nearly 3,000 people were killed. america placed a $25 million dollar bounty on his head. president biden was in the command centre when 0sama bin laden was killed. and here he is, being briefed on this weeekend's operation, a major success after criticis

osama bin laden's right-hand man. president joe biden addressing the nation from the blue room on the -- white house declaring justice has been delivered. warning that the united states will defend the american people. >> no matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the united states will find you and take you out. >> we're also learning more tonight about how it all went down. ayman al-zawahiri killed, in what has been called a precise, tailored air strike using two -- missiles fired at the balcony of a safe house in kabul, 9:48 pm eastern time. happened on saturday. president biden gave final approval for a mission a month ago after months of highly secret planning. one -- members of the zawahiri who were in other areas of the house were not harmed. al-zawahiri helped to mastermind the deadliest attack on american soil with osama bin laden when planes crashed into the world trade center and the pentagon, killing 2977 people. remember this picture? this is the situation ro

killed osama bin laden. he was the number 2.to find him and capture him for so many years. this is a huge moment for the u.s. >> it really is. he is the figure of al qaeda around the world. even if they, since 9/11 have been a different organization. there have been recent concerns about operatives, recently, in afghanistan. there been concern about al qaeda affiliates and offshoot organizations across africa. causing mayhem for some of the most vulnerable populations in that part of the world. concern about al qaeda is very strong around the world. without osama bin laden, over the last few years, is not been quite the same in the organization, with the singular pledge of allegiance to osama bin laden. at various points, he was seen as the elderly caretaker over the years. we saw videos emerge. u.s. officials say don't worry about it, he's trying to remain relevant. at various points, they did not believe he was the strong leader of al qaeda. but, he never went away. with the concern about them operating on the border, with pak

leÓn: fue la mano derecha de osama bin laden y encabezaba al qaeda desde la muerte de bin laden. el primer aniversario de que se retiraron las tropas. >> si eres una amenaza para estados unidos los encontraremos y los liquida haremos. ha dado de baja a quiÉn era la mano de bin laden. han tenido que transcurrir 21 aÑos desde el atentado a las todo rÉgimen has. esta misiÓn se planificÓ cuidadosamente dijo el primer mandatario un dron estadounidense lanzÓ dos misiles de alta precisiÓn. no afectaron ni siquiera la estructura de la vivienda. >> Él habÍa salido en una operaciÓn donde no hubo otras bajas. >> construyeron una maqueta de la lujosa residencia. >> surgirÁ otra figura. patricia: gracias por este informe. nancy pellosi anunciÓ su gira por asia. visitarÁ de taiwÁn, una naciÓn a la que ve y sin considera una provincia rebelde china ha dicho que esto serÍa una provocaciÓn. leÓn: equipos de rescate trabajar por las inundaciones, el gobernador del estado dijo que hay cientos de personas desaparecidas y se espera que aumente el nÚmero de muertos en el pronÓstico hay nuevas tormenta

october, 2001, following the 9/11 attacks, which he had helped to co—ordinate alongside osama biden ladenindependent confirmation of this, but the white house says that president biden will give details of the counter—terrorism operation in afghanistan shortly. let's get more from our correspondent in washington, nomia iqbal. i know that the information is coming in fast and furious. at this point, what are the latest developments you can tell us about as ill as he said, there's no independent confirmation yet but it's being widely reported here by the american media, pretty much headline news on most of the american networks that the us has killed ayman al—zawahiri, al-qaeda's leader who took over from all osama bin laden when he was killed by the us in 2011, one of the world's most wanted terrorists. the mystery as always been a mystery —— his whereabouts have also the micro always been a mystery. cbs's reporting also that ayman al—zawahiri has been killed, as you mentioned there, the details that we've got that's being reported is that the cia carried out this drone strike over the wee

this is one of the biggest terrorist takedowns since bin laden. he's been on the fbi's list of most wanted terrorists around the globe. but the timing of this tonight, linsey, is worth noting. this time last year, president biden was pulling troops out of afghanistan. at the time, the white house faced push-back for saying it would continue to be able to hunt down and track terrorists down in afghanistan after american troops were gorn. linsey, they have shown tonight that is still a possibility. >> all right, cecilia vega from the white house for us. >>> we move on now to the catastrophic flooding in kentucky. the death toll rose again today, with hundreds of people still missing in the flooding. and rain is once again targeting the flood zone in the eastern part of the state. much of which has been under water since last week. at least 37 people are dead, hundreds of people still unaccounted for. governor andy bashir is warning residents more flooding might be on the way. abc's eva pilgrim reports in from kentucky. >> reporter: tonight, the deat

"who killed osama bin laden? "donald trump. "okay, we're calling it.you seriously not remember that famous photo where barack obama, hillary clinton, and joe biden were in the situation room, watching the raid as it happened? is there some photoshop version floating around on the qanon forums where trump is sitting in the middle of the picture in that stance he always has, like he's trying to crowd out the people next to him on the subway "excuse me can you move i need at least an entire row to myself i can't close my legs. i have to have my backpack on the ground." it's also especially galling to give trump credit for catching bin laden, given that trump himself dismissed it as a non accomplishment when the admiral in charge of the raid, william mcraven, publicly criticized trump during his presidency >> bill mcraven, retired admiral, navy seal, 37 years, former head of us special operations >> hillary clinton fan >> special operations -- >> excuse me, hillary clinton fan. >> who led the operations, commanded the operations that took down saddam husse

once known as usama bin laden's right-hand man he led al qaeda after bin laden's death joining is nowounselor. thank you so much for taking time for us tonight. what could you tell us about this operation? >> the last six or seven months. the process of going to come will. family members that we had tracked the cobble. we were able to follow his movements. then it became a matter of intelligence. it was in fact that might give us an opportunity. the president was very clear once he made decisions that he wanted to minimize any risk of civilian casualties. so that put an additional demand on admiral nobody has to tell you the taliban pledge not to have an alliance with al qaeda. he was -- he was sitting there -- usually taliban leaders don't work alone. obviously this is a violation. >> you are right, brian. we hope this is a violation of the dough on agreement. i think the fact that we were able to take out downtown kabul without a scratch to anybody else has a pretty powerful signal to the taliban and anybody else who might harbor al qaeda terrorist going forward. we still believe i

this was bin laden�*s leader. he was his number two men.s deeply involved in the planning of 9/11. murdered 2977 people on american soil. for decades, he was a mastermind of client attacks against americans, including the bombing of uss cole in 2000 which killed 17 american sailors. and wounded dozens more. killing 224 and wounding over 4500 others. american service members, american service members, american diplomats, and american diplomats, and american interests. since the united states deliverjustice united states deliver justice to united states deliverjustice to bin laden 11 years ago, zawahiri has been the leader of al-qaeda. all around the world, including priorities for operational guidance that call for an attack against targets. he made videos, including calling for his allies to attack ours. now, justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more. people around the world no longer need to figure this killer. the united states and used to demonstrate our capacity... we make it clear again tonight that no matter how

bin laden was the saudi money.n some sense he is the original, the founder, the symbol for many of the kadris probably even more so than bin laden, so symbolically a huge setback. the truth is al qaeda is in bad shape anyway. it is a shadow of what it used to be and so i think that -- i'm not sure exactly how much effect it will have operationally because it's already a pretty ragtag operation, but without question, the single biggest blow you could give to appear died would be to decapitate al- zawahiri. >> last year, fareed, when you marked the tenth anniversary of the killing of osama bin laden. you said islamic threat isn't the threat it used to be. what do you think after this strike? >> i have been saying a while what we need to look at is the most important question is are they inspiring people, getting new recruits, able to win people over to their cause? in country after country what you're finding is the answer is no. it's almost as though they had this -- there was this sense of desperation and futility

osama bin laden's right-hand man. now president joe biden, addressing the nation from the blue room balcony at the white house where he is in isolation with rebound covid case. the cleric, that justice has been delivered. and warning that the united states will defend the american people. >> no matter how long it takes. no matter where you hide. if you are a threat to our people the united states will find you and take you out. >> we are also learning some more tonight about how it all went down. ayman al-zawahiri, children what was being called a precise tailored airstrike. using to hellfire missiles fired at the balcony of a safe house in kabul. at 9:40 pm eastern time. it happened on saturday. the president thank you kate final trouble for a patient a week ago after months of highly secret planning. one official is telling cnn that members of his family, who are in other areas of the house, were not harmed. he helped mastermind the deadly terror attack on american soil alongside osama bin laden, when planes crashed

osama bin laden was the face behind the 9-11 bin laden was the face behind the 9—11 attacks, but allahrains. officials say here is —— but al—zawahiri was seen as the brains. it is believed he is responsible for the deaths of nearly 3000 people. both men were close, appearing in public and videos. al—zawahiri was even bin laden�*s personal physician. the us wanted him dead or alive $425 million. 1 us wanted him dead or alive $425 million.— us wanted him dead or alive $425 million. i think what this reflects is — $425 million. i think what this reflects is really _ $425 million. i think what this reflects is really the _ reflects is really the challenges we have in our counterterrorism policies, where _ counterterrorism policies, where al—zawahiri has been able to survive — where al—zawahiri has been able to survive for two decades, outlasted the afghanistan war in the safety, prior to us being _ in the safety, prior to us being able to eliminate him. when— being able to eliminate him. when bin laden was killed by the americans in 2011, al—zawahiri took over. the president said america d

reported, it is widely reported that it was the leader of al qaeda, the man who succeeded osama bin ladenn june 2011. the right hand man from the september 11 attacks. we expect an announcement that he has been killed in a drone strike. some other details have slipped out that this occurred in kabul, but near residents and it does jive with some information that al qaeda had been relatively comfortable in kabul in the last few months. this would suggest that the man hunts underway, once again it would appear the leader is in the city, and living relatively comfortably. in fact, there was a u.n. report in july that maybe we did not give too much credence to at the time, but was saying that al qaeda was gaining strength in afghanistan since the u.s. withdrawal and may become a threat in the u.n. point of view in the long term at least. but there have been reports that al qaeda leaders have been communicating freely in the last few months, and certainly if it is al-zawahiri who was killed in a house in kabul sunday, that would suggest a certain level of comfort at the least. we expect confir

intel community built a scale model the bin laden compound in 2011 and in this case the house in kabul where czazawahri was staying. does this remind you of the operation back in 2011? >> well, yes, jim, it does. although, the nature of the operation obviously different but it does remind me a good bit of that. one comment i would make is vice president biden was a skeptic about the intelligence we had, which was -- turned out to be a good bit skimpier apparently than what was sprepresented to president this time, so then vice president biden now president biden having been through this i am sure wire brushed, the intelligence community to ensure that it was zawahri and that he was present and having good authority that the intelligence community is convinced almost 100% virtually that it was zawahri. even in the absence of the dna. >> yeah, it's a good point because back then, i remember they had to make judgments about whether this tall, taller than average man circling his courtyard in the compound was bin laden whereas here, with c zawahri on his balcony, they probably had better c

al-zawahiri was bin laden's leader. he was with him the whole time.was his deputy at the time of the attack on 9/11. he was deeply involved in the planning of 9/11. one of those responsible for the attacks that murdered 2970 americans on americail. kasia: the cia operated air force drone carried out a so-called precision strike as al-zawahiri stood on the balcony of this house. our security correspondent explains how the operati was rried out. reporter: after years on his trail did the -- how did the u.s. find the al qaeda leader? they appeared to have first tracked his family to kabul and by this spring, th established al-zawahiri himself was in a particular building which he never seemed to leave. they spent months monitoring his movements, establishing what they called a pattern of life, even building small scale models of the compound. after previous disastrous mistakes in the afghan capital, washington wanted to make sure they had the right target. eventually, the decision was taken to launch two missiles from a cia drone when he was out on the b

al—zawahiri was even bin laden�*s personal physician.ve for $25 million. i think what this reflects is, really, the challenges we have had on our counterterrorism policies where al—zawahiri has been able to survive for two decades. 0utlasted the afghanistan war in safety, prior to us being able to eliminate him. when bin laden was killed by the americans in 2011, al—zawahiri took over. the president said america hunted him for a year, eventually locating him to a safe house in kabul last weekend. they shot two missiles at him. his family members were unharmed. al—zawahiri was rumoured to be in bad health, becoming a remote figure, and with the rise of other terror groups like the so—called islamic state, his influence was marginal compared to his predecessor. the taliban has called the killing "a violation of international principles". but al—zawahiri's presence in kabul has cast doubt on the taliban's promise its country would not be a haven for terrorists. nomia iqbal, bbc news, washington. 0ur chief international correspondent lyse do

and they were able to kill osama bin laden.o what could potentially be a different experience. again, we're going get more details when the administration holds a background briefing with reporter at the top of the hour. but that's one of the things we're looking for. what are the specific details, how complicated was this effort to carry out. and the fact the white house is making it very clear, they say no civilians were killed. those are the type of details that we'll continue to report out in the coming days. what, if any, damage was done on the ground? what was the fallout. but again, a significant development, nicole. >> for any of our viewers who were just joining us, kristen well kerr has broke ton story about president joe biden's address to the nation at 7:30 this evening, and news emerged ahead of that address to the nation that the u.s. government -- and it's important. as kristen says, facts are still just beginning to become public. these are the most secret, most confidential missions that any government partakes