here's pierre thomas. >> reporter: it was a national nightmare. someone was lacing tylenol with cyanide. seven people murdered in chicago in the fall of 1982. >> cyanide contains tylenol. >> this product may be contaminated with cyanide and should be destroyed. >> reporter: it dominated headlines. >> a nationwide search is under way today to find a man and a woman wanted for questioning in the tylenol murders. >> reporter: a case that literally changed the way americans shop. the tylenol scare prompted the nation's first mass recall of a retail product. tamper-proof medicines now a fact of life. three decades later the case remains unsolved. now a shot in the dark. the unabomber terrorized the country for 18 years. >> sir, are you responsible for these bombings? >> reporter: injuring 23 people and killing 3 in a series of mail bombings. as it turns out, kaczynski grew up in the chicago area where the tylenol attacks happened. four of his bombings took place there between 1978 and 1980. sources tell abc news giving kaczynski's ties to the region, t

pierre thomas joins us tonight. and pierre, these bin laden files could be the most valuable intelligence breaks ever. >> reporter: indeed, george. as investigators review a mountain of intelligence from osama bin laden's compound, sources say it's clear, bin laden thought of himself as a head coach, overseeing strategy, blessing and approving plots. the cashe of electronic and handwritten notebooks taken from the bun laden compound, is both a strategic playbook and a greatest hits album of al qaeda aspirations. while no imminent plots have been uncovered, it is clear that bin laden was constantly consulted on ways to attack the u.s. >> they were bringing bin laden computer discs and other computer thumb drives that may have had plots on them. we know in the past he's approved specific attacks and he sent attacks back for further work and further analysis. >> reporter: the materials include numerous hallmark al qaeda plots, including attacks on infrastructure targets, such as water supply and transportation. rail and

>> pierre thomas back on the tylenol case in the news again. pierre, thank you. >>> there is a blistering new report out tonight on the west virginia coal mine disaster. you'll remember, 29 men died in that mine last year. while the criminal investigation continues, authorities now say those men died because the owner of the mine ignored even the simplest of precautions. and we learned today what the one worker who did survive handed to his fellow miners before he got out. here's david kerley. >> reporter: tonight, the first haunting images from deep underground of that massive mine explosion. block walls crumbled, metal equipment twisted. and today, we learned that not all of the 29 miners were killed instantly. a survivor says he put rescue breathers on seven men, still alive, but with his air running out, he was forced to leave. "the hardest thing i ever done," he said. only one of those miners survived. and none of this should have ever happened. >> this was a preventable accident. an accident that was manmade. it was not preordained. >> re

here's pierre thomas. >> reporter: the signs were so clear. the newly released e-mails from pima community college show jared loughner was descending into madness. 11 months before the tragedy, a student complains to a teacher that loughner has brought a knife to class. the teacher fires off an e-mail to college officials. "i'd like to do everything we can to have him removed from the class." campus police are alerted but loughner is allowed to stay in school. seven months before the tragedy, loughner is acting so strangely in math class that the instructor thinks he's on drugs, describing him as having an evil big smile and laughing very inappropriately. at least one officer wants loughner expelled. but a college administrator vetoes that, writing, "since there's been no direct threat from the student, i did not feel comfortable rushing in to remove the student from class." her concern, balancing loughner's right to due process with the rights of other students in the class. >> i think the facts are clear that they could have made a better de

i want to take this to pierre thomas. you cover the fbi every single day and they have benes specially concespecia especially concerned about homegrown attacks here in the united states. they'll be especially vigilant for attacks to go off automatically when osama bin laden was captured or killed. >> that's right. law enforcement officials had long placed plans that they'll be looking for anything that suggests something could be coming. i want to go back for a second to this notion of the symbolism. every senior law enforcement and intelligence official i've talked to over the last decade has talked about the need to get this man for the murder of nearly 3,000 people. and you can be talking to them and you will see their eyes sometimes almost nearly tear up when they talk about it. they didn't want to talk about it all that open on a regular basis because they knew that that would set up expectations. but believe me, throughout the government tonight, these officials are ecstatic. one official i talked to earlier who was

because our own pierre thomas, justice department correspondent, has been covering what has been happening nonstop for the last 24 hours, and pierre, tell us what they are saying now tonight at the fbi. >> reporter: diane, tonight, u.s. law enforcement is bracing for the very real prospect of more attacks here at home in retaliation for bin laden's death. today, major cities across the country, including washington, d.c. and new york, police were out at transportation hubs, including subways and air force, in a show of force to deter any retaliatory attacks. >> we certainly are not taking any chances. our assumption is bin laden's disciples would like nothing better than to avenge his death by another attack. >> reporter: in chicago, police were sending the same message, with more security measures for tonight's nba playoff. the concern reflects a blunt message today from cia director leon panetta. though bin laden is dead, al qaeda is not. the terrorists almost certainly will attempt to avenge him. so, are we safer? in the short term, law enforcement officials say no. >> we're not going t

i want to take this to pierre thomas. you cover the fbi every single day and they have benes specially concespecia especially concerned about homegrown attacks here in the united states. they'll be especially vigilant for attacks to go off automatically when osama bin laden was captured or killed. >> that's right. law enforcement officials had long placed plans that they'll be looking for anything that suggests something could be coming. i want to go back for a second to this notion of the symbolism. every senior law enforcement and intelligence official i've talked to over the last decade has talked about the need to get this man for the murder of nearly 3,000 people. and you can be talking to them and you will see their eyes sometimes almost nearly tear up when they talk about it. they didn't want to talk about it all that open on a regular basis because they knew that that would set up expectations. but believe me, throughout the government tonight, these officials are ecstatic. one official i talked to earlier who was

pierre thomas, abc news, washington. >>> the president is receiving rare praise even from the former vice president. dick cheney in an exclusive interview with our jon karl gives credit to the president. but warns about spending too much time celebrating bin laden's death. >> i think the administration clearly deserves credit for the success of the operation. and from what i can tell, it looks to me like, you know, we all owe him the same sense of satisfaction that i'm sure they feel. >> reporter: are we safer now? >> i think so. there's every reason to believe there will be further attacks attempted against the united states. and for us to spend so much time patting ourselves on the back because we got bin laden, that we miss the next attack, would be a terrible tragedy. >> above all cheney credits the military and the intelligence community for their long-term commitment to getting bin laden. >>> saranavy s.e.a.l.s for tsing the navy s.e.a.l.s for the mission. speaking at a fund-raiser in colorado, palin questioned whether high-level pakistani officials helped bin laden remain unde

for "nightline," i'm pierre thomas in washington. >> it is a story we will continue to follow closely> and finally tonight, a mug shot has been released of dominique strauss-kahn who is accused of attempting to rape a hotel maid last saturday. his lawyers are expected to present a new bail appeal in the morning. "good morning america" will have more on the story. and you'll have a full update tomorrow night right here. thanks for watching abc news. we hope to see you right here tomorrow.

pierre thomas spoke to an official about the threat. >> reporter: they're not taking a moment to enjoy this too much. they're saying, we have to worry about al qaeda in afghanistan, in pakistan, and in yemen. in the arabian peninsula. it's specially anwar al awlaki. he's being seen as an imminent threat than bin laden was. >>> police in new york say they're stepping up patrols at major areas. >> bin laden's death is having a positive effect on financial markets. as soon as the president made the announcement, the dollar rose. overseas markets went up as americans celebrated as well. the traders are more confident in the u.s. for now. the nikkei average is up. the hang seng is down slightly. in london, the ftse opened up also very slightly. >>> when we come back, on this historic monday morning. spontaneous celebrations here in the u.s. crowds have been up all night, elated with the news of bin laden's death. >>> and, of course, everyone thinking of the 9/11 families who are now sharing the joy. you'll hear from some of them. you're watching coverage of the death of osama bin laden. the

and pierre thomas now brings us his exclusive new reporting on it tonight. pierre? >> reporter: diane, sources tell us the entire u.s. intelligence network is per suing leads from the bin laden files, including names and phone numbers, as officials work to see if the plots that bin laden was working on had gone beyond simple discussions. sources familiar with the journals and computer files tell abc news, names of suspected operatives have been discovered and an effort is under way to find them. an international manhunt has been launched to determine if the names are real, or aliases, with the u.s. calling on al lis like great britain and canada to help. >> they're under a lot of pressure to resolve and identify these people as quickly as possible. >> reporter: travel records are being searched to see if any of these people have entered the u.s. already and trip wires are being set up at border entry points, just in case any operatives try to come here. a special task force set up on the grounds of cia headquarters to explore the bin laden files is working 24/7. one

pierre thomas, abc news, washington. >>> and no one will forget those scenes of celebration that we showed yesterday morning in front of the white house, also from here in new york. there is also outpourings of emotion and patriotism in shanksville, pennsylvania, that's where flight 93 crashed on 9/11. the mood was mostly solemn as visitors remember the passengers who revolted against the hijackers. >> we're not done yet. we still have a lot of work to do. and be prepared. just in case they do strike us again. they may try. but these colors don't run. and i'm proud to be standing here today. this is great, isn't it? i love america. >> well the memorial to those who died on flight 93 is still under construction. >>> and our target bin laden coverage continues later this half hour with reaction from the muslim community. on top of that you can look for some more live reports and analysis on "america this morning" and also on "good morning america" as well and of course you can get updates anytime at abcnews.com. >>> and turning to other news this morning. it's not get anything easier if you'

our pierre thomas has been told about the details that prompted intelligence officials to issue a new alert today. and he brings them to us tonight. pierre? >> reporter: diane, investigators have been going through this evidence nonstop. and the initial sifting of this material reveals that handwritten notes about plans to derail trains in the u.s. authorities in all 50 states are being warned that al qaeda had been planning to attack train lines, potentially killing hundreds, on the upcoming anniversary of 9/11. the bulletin obtained by abc news states, "as of february 2010, al qaeda was allegedly contemplating conducting an operation against trains in an unspecified location in the united states on the tenth anniversary of september 11th, 2001. as one option, al qaeda was looking into trying to tip a train by tampering with the rails so that the train would fall off the track in either a valley or bridge." >> you can't guard hundreds of miles of track. and if they can get to one location that's not well guarded and put explosives on it or do something to cause the train to derail, t

. >>> pierre thomas, immediately after the word came out, embassies on high alert, police officers inorcement officials are overjoyed at bin laden's death. now is not the time to let the security guard down. there's real concern about retaliati retaliati retaliation. the fear has long been that al qaeda might have a contingency attack already in place in the event that bin laden was killed. >> they'll use this as an excuse to speed up an take or plan one. >> reporter: security at subways and airports can expect things to the beefed up. homeland security is urging law enforcement to remain individual la vigilant. the state department issued an alert for those traveling abroad. >> if you're the u.s. gomt today, you're on probably some of the highest alert as far as intelligence information. >> reporter: the focus is on three primary areas of threat. homegrown terrorists here in the u.s. in the last two years, more than 50 americans have been charged in terrorism cases. the pakistan region. they september a bomber to times square. al qaeda in the arabian peninsula based in yemen. that gr

with more, here's pierre thomas. >> reporter: in court a dramatic outburst with jared laugher in yellingor the freak show." and in an apparent reference to congresswoman gabrielle giffords loughner blurted, she died in front of me. his alleged delusional obsession still in full effect. marshals rushed him out of the stunned courtroom. within an hour federal judge ruled that loughner is mentally incompetent to stand trial. >> it appears he's deeply psychotic and suffers from a very serious mental illness. >> reporter: judge burns agreed with the assessments of a psychiatrist and psychologist who concluded he hallucinates and is delusional, suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. under court order, loughner will undergo treatment for four months to see if his mental health can be improved. there is no guarantee it will. during wednesday's proceedings loughner rocked back and forth in court, so apparently troubled he may never stand trial for a crime there is overwhelming evidence he committed. for "good morning america," pierre thomas, abc news, washington. >>> diane sawyer with a preview o

pierre thomas has the story. >> reporter: it was a national nightmare.as lacing tylenol with cyanide. seven people murdered in chicago in the fall of 1982. >> cyanide-contained tylenol. >> this product may be contaminated with cyanide and should be destroyed. >> reporter: it dominated headlines. >> a nationwide search is under way today to find a man and a woman wanted for questioning in the tylenol murders. >> reporter: the case that literally changed the way americans shop. the tylenol scare prompted the nation's first mass recall of a retail product. tamper-proof medicine's now a fact of life. three decades later, the case remains unsolved. now a shot in the dark. the unabomber terrorized the country for 18 years. >> are you responsible for these bombings? >> reporter: injuring 23 people and killing three in a series of mail bombings. as it turns out kaczynski grew up in the chicago area where the tylenol attacks happened. four of his bombings took place there between 1978 and 1980. sources tell abc news, given kaczynski's ties to the region, the fbi

pierre thomas, abc news, washington. >>> a new study by the roman catholic church blames the priest sexlution of the '60s and '70s. researchers say the abuse never had any connection with either priest celibacy or homosexuality. they say the offending priests weren't able to copy with social upheaval. victims groups dismiss the study saying it does not address the higher-ups who allowed the abusive priests to stay on. >>> doctors say that congresswoman gabby giffords is recovering after surgery to repair a hole in her comes as relief to her husband, commanding the space shuttle "endeavour" 200 miles above earth. bob woodruff has details. >> reporter: nasa commander, mark kelly, docked the space shuttle "endeavour" at the international space station while wife congresswoman gabby giffords was at the hospital in houston for what could be her final surgery. after being shot in the head four month as go, gabby's brain began to swell dangerously pressing against the bone. for relief, surgeons removed a section of her skull to let her brain expanded more freely. doctors performed a procedure,

here's pierre thomas with that story. >> reporter: the unabomber, the man responsible for a terrorism campaign spanning 18 years killing three and injuring 23 others with mail bombs. but sources tell abc news the fbi wants to know if kaczynski could be linked to for series of chilling murder, the unsolved 1982 case where seven people were killed with cyanide-laced tylenol sold in chicago stores. >> cyanide contains tylenol. >> this product may be contaminated with cyanide and should be destroyed. >> more poisoned capsules turned up. >> reporter: the case that changed the way americans shop prompting the nation's first mass recall of a retail product. now in a strange turn of events, the recent court filing, kaczynski hinted he may be a person of interest in the case. kaczynski grew up in the chicago area and four of his attacks happened there between 1978 and 1980. that reason, sources say, the fbi wants a sample of his dna to compare to evidence in the tylenol case. the fbi had quietly asked kaczynski to voluntarily give it a dna sample but he tried to cut a deal. turns out the gover

this september, as pierre thomas reports, alerts have now been sent out to all 50 states. >> reporterversary of 9/11. the bulletin obtained by abc news states as of february 2010, al qaeda was allegedly contemplating conducting an operation against trains in an unspecified location in the united states on the tenth anniversary of september 11, 2001. as one option, al qaeda was looking into trying to tip a train by tampering with the rails so that the train would fall off of the track in either a valley or a bridge. >> you can't guard hundreds of miles of track. and if they can get to one location that's not well guarded and put explosives on it or do something to cause the train to derail, that's a lot easier than going after an aircraft. >> reporter: abc news has learned the bulletin arises from evidence recovered from bin laden's compound. revealing that al qaeda remained fixated on so-called "soft targets" like transportation. this appears to confirm that bin laden still had a role in approving al qaeda plots, just as he did in 9/11. in which he openly bragged about his direct invo

pierre thomas has more on that from washington this morning. pierre, you've been all over this story since the beginning. what's the latest? >> reporter: one source briefed on the bin laden materials, say they provided unprecedented insight into al qaeda's motives, tactics and doctrine. an intelligence bonanza. sources describe this as the mother lode, a treasure trove of materials that provides the al qaeda playbook. a playbook designed by a man who documents were trained, as a book for terror, bin laden. ed by. >> bin laden was asking questions and getting information. >> reporter: the documents seized have names, phone numbers and addresses, that could turn out to be safe houses or suspects. a search is on to follow every possible lead. the nation's infrastructure. water treatment plants and so-called soft targets. trains, subways, hotels, shopping centers. they wanted to hit major cities. new york, chicago, los angeles and washington, d.c. and contrary to what many analysts thought, a strategy to attack americans on holidays and anniversarie

pierre thomas has more on that from washington this morning. pierre, you've been all over this story since the beginning. what's the latest? >> reporter: dan, one source briefed on the bin laden materials say they provide unprecedented insight into al qaeda's motives, tactics and doctrine. an intelligence bonanza. at the cia campus outside of washington, analysts are working around the clock. racing to exploit a mountain of files and documents, seized at bin laden's compound. sources describe this as the mother lode, a treasure trove of materials that provides the al qaeda playbook. a playbook designed, in part, by a man who documents portray as a sort of head coach for terror, bin laden. >> bin laden, the engineer, who wants to look at the structure of possible attack targets, was asking questions and getting information. >> reporter: the documents seized includes names, phone numbers and addresses, that could prove to be safe houses or suspects. a worldwide search is being mounted to follow every possible lead. possible targets suggested, the

here's about pierre thomas. >>reporter: authorities in all 50 states warned that al qaeda was planning to attack train lines potentially killing hundreds on the upcoming anniversary of 9/11. bulletin obtained by abc news states as of february 2010 al qaeda was alledgedly contemplating conducting an operation against trains in unspecified location in the united states on the tenth anniversary of september 11, 2001. one operational died was looking into trying to tip a train by tampering with the rails so that the train would fall off the track in either valley or bridge. >> can't guard hundreds of mile office track. if they can get to one location not well guarded and put explosives on it or do something to cause the train to derail these a lot easier than going after an aircraft. >> abc news has learn the bulletin arises on evidence recovered from bin laden compound. revealing that al qaeda remains soft target like transportation. this appears to confirm that bin laden still had a role in approving al qaeda plot

chief foreign correspondent martha raddatz and justice correspondent pierre thomas. you all, what a week it has been. i want to go to you first. everybody is worried about the so-called treasure trove and what it might be telling us. we tried to get from donilon and haqqani what is out there. is there anything out there that we should be worried about right now. >> there is no specific imminent threat they found but i can tell you what they're most concerned about. right now the most immediate threat are so-called lone wolves, typically radicalized on the internet sympathizing with al qaeda, those are the people who might show up at a mall and start shooting. the first level. the second level of level is al qaeda in the arabian peninsula and in yemen, if you will. they're led by the radical clear irk anwar al aawlaki and tried to have the christmas underwear bombing and followed it up nine months later with the parcel bomb attack out of yemen, as well so the concern is they will try to do something very quickly. the third level of threat is al qaeda central but right

pierre thomas has been tracking this overnight and joins us now from washington. pierre, good morning to you. >> reporter: elizabeth, evidence recovered from bin laden's compound revealed that up until his bitter death, he and al qaeda had murderous intentions for the u.s. >> that's a roger. we'll be in new york next. >> reporter: the plan apparently in its early stages, diabolical. a blood-thirsty plot to derail a train. >> if a train were to derail off a bridge, hundreds of people could be killed, which would have the same effect as blowing up an airplane. >> reporter: a homeland security bulletin obtained by abc news states that al qaeda, in february of last year, was developing a chilling tenth anniversary plot for this september 11th. as one option, al qaeda was looking into trying to tip a train, by tampering with the rails, so that the train would fall off the tracks at either a valley or a bridge. abc news has learned the bulletin arises out of evidence recovered from bin laden's compound, revealing that al qaeda remained fixated on so-called soft targets l

. >>> we're going to turn to pierre thomas from the justice department. u.s. officials on high alert for a retaliatory strike by al qaeda. you've been tracking this overnight. and their biggest concern is someone could pull off an attack here in the united states. >> reporter: exactly, george. perhaps the most imminent threat, homegrown radicals. this morning, police are reviewing a new fbi homeland security bulletin, which warns of possible retaliation. it was blunt saying, quote, bin laden's death may provide justification for radicalized individuals in the u.s. to rapidly mobilize attacks here. and senior administration officials have been warning me about the al qaeda affiliates in yemen, which sources say have a simple game plan. get on the scoreboard. do an attack, even if it's small scale. across the country, you're going to see lots of heavily-armed police, especially at transportation hubs like sub waist. >>> let's put the questions to the counterterrorism adviser, john brennan, who was in the situation room with the prident. thanks for getting up ear

pierre thomas has been tracking and has the latest on all this overnight in washington. good morning, pierre. >> reporter: hi, robin. this morning we hear bin laden's voice from the grave as he tries to align himself with recent uprisings in tunisia and egypt. in perhaps a desperate move to remain relevant, bin laden tries in a new audio recovered before his death to catch the winds of change racing through the arab street. "my muslim people, we watch closely what's going on in the world today. we rejoice with your rejoicing and your pride." u.s. officials believe it's a copy of audio navy s.e.a.l.s recovered at bin laden's compound when he was killed. it is more evidence they say that bin laden still could quickly get messages to operatives in the field. this comes as abc news has learned that the bin laden files also included a number of references indicating he was pushing to launch an attack on u.s. soil on or before the 10th anniversary of 9/11. officials emphasize there is yet no evidence of an imminent specific plot but some analysts are worried such an attack migh

today sister marie simon-pierre carried a relic of john paul, a vial of his blood extracted during his long illness. it took st. thomas more 350 years to be beautified and plus another 50 to become a saint. john paul is definitely on the fast track. >> there are times in the life of the church when everybody just says, this is pretty obvious. >> reporter: some are offended by the speed of this process in light of the church's slowness to respond effectively to the sexual abuse scandal. do you feel like the church is making a mistake here? >> my own view, i think -- i think given the seriousness of these issues, it is enormously premature. >> reporter: but today here in st. peter's square, that was the minority view. today, john paul's coffin is in front of the altar inside the basilica. his anointed successor was first in line to pay tribute. and all of these people are standing in line now to pay tribute, as well. you know, john paul himself sort of started this process of fast-tracking saints during his papacy. he sainted and beatified more people than all of the popes before him. 1,340 beatifications, 483 new saint