yorker writer and the author of the looming tower, al qaeda and the road to 9/11, please welcome lawrence wright, thanks so much for coming on. (cheers and applause) okay lawrence, what wither now al qaeda. they've lost their frontman. is this like van hall en? have we killed david lee roth? is there a sammy hagar waiting in the wings? or more of a gary sharron type? >> it's going to be tough for them. they are facing an existential moment because they've been drifting for years. they haven't been able to pull off a bigger track like, they've been wanting to ever since 9/11. if they can't pull off something in the next year, they're going to seem really irrelevant. >> stephen: so it's make-or-break for those guys right now. >> exactly. >> stephen: there is no tomorrow. >> there are other teams out there that are contending for the crown. >> stephen: who are the other people out there? who should i be-- because as i said t ter fews me to not be scared. who should i be scared of next? >> because we have to keep our guard up. >> i do think you're right to put your finger on anwar al-awlaki. when th

lawrence wright is the author of "the looming tower," on the origins of al qaeda. his article, "the double game," on the u.s. and pakistan, appears in this week's "new yorker." ambassador, leaders in both countries today talked about how important it was to maintain this relationship. is that a sign that however flawed it is, they're kind of stuck with each other. >> we're stuck with each other. we need each other. it's very important to both of our national objectives that we maintain a good relationship. look, this has been a tough week. a lot of loose talk, a lot of dangerous talk on both sides. on our part people threatening to cut off aid. i think it's a mistake. on their part, equally angry words about expelling military trainers and liaisons and intelligence. also very dangerous. i think the prime minister's speech today is an effort to try to walk it back. i'm sure he had full consultation with his senior military advisors. they met midweek. commanders meeting. i'm sure they had a lot to say at that meeting and advice on how to get back to a more normal rel

al-qaeda and its background because that story has been very well told in "the looming tower" by lawrence wright as well as, of course, by the 9/11 commission report. i was trying to set out to tell the u.s. response from the fbi's standpoint about the way that the bureau has evolved both before and after 9/11. >> host: that caller specifically is someone critical of u.s. policy towards israel, as you could tell from his remarks. can you talk a little bit about the fbi and its relationship with israeli security? >> guest: the fbi does work -- the fbi has a different role as a law enforcement agency than an intelligence agency like the cia overseas. and so one of the things, and this was raised by the previous caller, of course, as well that the fbi in many ways has an ability when it goes into a foreign country to be more open, you know, sort of the fbi is investigating crimes. it's doing this openly with an aim towards prosecuting in an open courtroom. and so the fbi is not going in undercover. it's not going in to conduct espionage on a host government. and so the fbi is able to work very clos

with us from washington is lawrence wright, who devoted years researching al qaeda and bin laden forulitzer prize winning book, "al qaeda and the road to 9/11." thank you both for joining us. richard, let me begin with you. there's a serious dispute going on. was bin laden actually being saved? was he being hidden by our supposed allies in pakistan? the pakistani intelligence agency, the isi, people are saying must have known where he was in a compound literally on the outskirts of islamabad, the capital of the nation. do you believe that they, in of the, knew where h efs? . >> is that addressed to me? >> yes, indeed it is. >> yes. no, of course, we don't know. and i strongly doubt that they were active parties to the conspiracy. i mean, if you put yourself in the position of bin laden and those who were charged with protecting him, would you trust the pakistanipakistanis? there were a large number of al qaeda elements, including a significant number of al qaeda leaders who have been either killed or captured directly through the cooperation of the pakistanis. i can't believe for a m

group keep america safe, tom ricks who writes the best defense blog for "foreign policy" and lawrence wrighthe new yorker" who tracked the rise of osama bin laden and al qaeda in his book "the looming tower." thank you all for joining us. clearly the story of the week, bin laden is dead and pakistan is in the hot seat. around the table who is shocked and horrified to think that pakistan is saying it didn't know and who really believes that pakistan didn't know? >> neither in this case. pakistan we knew going in is a house divided against itself, and as americans know, a house divided itself must become one thing or another eventually. and the question is, how is there -- is there close to a tipping point? is it more healthy than unhealthy? that's a question we have to answer, but the stakes are enormous. we're in afghanistan only because of pakistan. if it weren't next door to pakistan, we wouldn't be there. >> liz? >> well, i think that it is surprising that he was 35 miles from islamabad. i think it's unclear whether anybody in the pakistani government was supporting him, was helping him.

. >> reporter: but according to lawrence wright who won the pulitzer prize for his study of bin ladenqaeda, they can never be forgotten. >> they created an event that will be remembered throughout history. unfortunately they created a precedent, a kind of legacy, for other groups that will follow the al qaeda template. bin laden's dead. al qaeda will die eventually. but other groups will look to that model and hope to emulate it. host: could switching to geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance? host: does the buck stop here? sfx: buck's blustery exhale. host: could switching to geico 15% or more on car insurance? host: does it take two to tango? ♪ and, just like toddlers, puppies need food made for them. that's why there's purina puppy chow... with all the essential nutrients your growing puppy needs. purina puppy chow. ♪ >> osgood: and now a page from our sunday morning almanac. may 8, 1886, 125 years ago today. a white on red letter day in the chronicles of carbonation. that was the day that a man delivered the first batch of his new soda fountain drink to jacob's pharmac