we know about al qaeda. the black banners is from the prophet of islam, the prophet mohammad. the accuracy is still out there but there's an alleged had read that at the end of time the black banners will be victorious and won't be defeated. osama bin laden when he issued the 1996 declaration of jihad against the united states signed it from afghanistan, the region that allegedly the profit spoke about is a region in central asia between afghanistan and pakistan and a little bit of iran and so forth. al qaeda believes or bin laden believed al qaeda and the islamic mujahedin are the black banners which is interesting because it shows there's a counterculture not from mainstream islam but on the fringes of islamic extremism that al qaeda created for itself and try to sell themselves that the final battle between good and evil is between al qaeda. >> host: that ends in jerusalem. one of your interrogation quoted that. >> guest: many of them mentioned the black banners. many mentioned the end of time epic battle

iran's president denying that al qaeda did 9/11. al qaeda wanting credit for 9/11. you guys fight it out amongst yourselves. i'm going to watch and eat popcorn. that same issue of the al qaeda magazine has this at the end on the left hand side there. a blurry photo of people in what appears to be grand central terminal in new york city. plus this notice of an article by anwar al awlaki, on targeting the population of countries at war with the muslims. al qaeda in its magazine says as you can see, this article by anwar al awlaki is coming soon. no, it's not. not anymore. today the united states government announced anwar al awlaki was killed in yemen. it is understood to have been by a cia drone strike. killed along side awlaki was another star from the most recent issue of the al qaeda magazine, an author of an essay of how al ckqaeda is at propagaa and how bad the u.s. is. the author of the essay, sameer khan. he and awlaki reportedly killed today by a u.s. strike in yemen. both known for their role in al qaeda propaganda and importantly both americans. not just am

the leaders of al qaeda and the arabian peninsula. >> so is al qaeda in the arabian peninsula going to be the driving force behind the attacks to come or the attempted attacks to come? >> regionally i don't think the death of al awlaki will affect al qaeda and the arabian peninsula. i think awlaki's death is more important for us in the united states than in the west because if you look at al qaeda as a franchise, he was the person that was handling the operations in the west and in the united states. >> interesting. >> so from that perspective, he is extremely important to us, but when it comes to the middle east, when it comes to yemen, he's pretty irrelevant, and i think everyone in yemen and in the region will look into the assassination today within the context of what's happening today in yemen between saleh and the opposition. >> peter bergen earlier said they're on the run, basically, they have bigger problems given all that's going on in yemen? >> absolutely. i think both of them, the regional group is on the run, because they have quite the battles going on in afghan and many

the leaders of al qaeda and the arabian peninsula. >> so is al qaeda in the arabian peninsula going to be the driving force behind the attacks to come or the attempted attacks to come? >> regionally i don't think the death of al awlaki will affect al qaeda and the arabian peninsula. i think awlaki's death is more important for us in the united states than in the west because if you look at al qaeda as a franchise, he was the person that was handling the operations in the west and in the united states. >> interesting. >> so from that perspective, he is extremely important to us, but when it comes to the middle east, when it comes to yemen, he's pretty irrelevant, and i think everyone in yemen and in the region will look into the assassination today within the context of what's happening today in yemen between saleh and the opposition. >> peter bergen earlier said they're on the run, basically, they have bigger problems given all that's going on in yemen? >> absolutely. i think both of them, the regional group is on the run, because they have quite the battles going on in afghan and many

helping recruit for al qaeda? >> no. >> reporter: not at all? >> no. >> reporter: helping recruit for terrorism? >> not at all. >> reporter: kahn fled to yemen, where he became the chief propagandist for al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. his latest edition was published just this week, a tribute to the 10th anniversary of 9/11. it was that signature attack, of course, which defined al qaeda. at the time, in 2001, al-awlaki was an imam at this virginia mosque. while the f.b.i. was never able to connect him directly to the attacks, we know awlaki had at least some contact with three of the hijackers who attended his sermons. now, the death of al-awlaki comes, of course, just five months after the killing of osama bin laden. that makes it a double body blow to the terror organization, but officials caution that al qaeda, particularly al-awlaki's branch in yemen, remains very dangerous, bob. >> pelley: so, bob, what do think they the connection was that he had with the 9/11 folks? >> reporter: they're not exactly sur

a new kind of al qaeda figure?ll, no, i mean al qaeda has been doing those sorts of things, they were doing that in the past. and there are many elements of al qaeda that are still doing those sorts of things. but most of that content is produced in arabic, others in german, turkish, french. many different languages. but it was awlaki that was doing it in eng lush. so it was awlaki that was speaking to americans and awlaki that was speaking to brits, for example. and that's why he was different. and it is that sort of personal story that gave him power and the ability to bring people into the movement. because there were things that he lacked. he lacked for example, battlefield experience. he was not a commander. he didn't have the historical experience in afghanistan and the personal trust with the very senior central al qaeda figures. so he was not a bin laden level figure but he was somebody that was able to communicate with western muslims in a very unique sort of way. >> suarez: but while bin laden was holed u

efforts to communicate directly with al qaeda. i was hoping you could give us details on this, putting this into context and to what extent is a reason to believe that perhaps these attempts continued today? >> what we write about in her book right after the 9/11 attacks there a number of reactions. we talk about the killing capture reaction in the and the troops on the ground. some other reactions were frankly somewhat harebrained and one of the things we write about in the book is how up on point and a small pentagon official, somebody even suggested if there was going to be signs of another attack coming from a kite is that the united states threatened to bomb mecca. while you can imagine i think that shows the lack of cultural sensitivity to say the very least about the kind of thinking when i'm. thankfully that i didn't never left the room but what they did do and what the american, the small number of intelligence officials and others in the government did was they tried to open a conversation with bin laden himself. extensi

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[laughter] this trove of data was known as the al-qaeda roldex. they are aliases and home tones of all. it shows which school teachers or, you know, religious leaders had inspired them to make jihad, and they were able to determine in graphic spread sheet form where they were from and where the ink spots or the centers of gravity that provided so many suicide bombers. two-thirds came from libya and saudi arabia, very, very interesting. one an ally, one not one at the time. all the documents were translated, come piled and analyzed, but the military wanted to know what to do with them. it's a powerful narrative. in the military, whatever unit captures intelligence, owns the classification of that intelligence. an officer, not well known at the time, but is now, stanley mcchrystal, he was the commander of the mission, and he decided i'm going to break down wall. this is too valuable to keep inside my joint special operations command to run for missions. we have to push this out to the world. he declassified more than 800 files on jihads giving to co

al qaeda video everything. so what they were able, this data became known as the al qaeda rolodex. add the documents, hometowns of all of the young men who had come to. ♪ to make g. hunt. more importantly it showed which schoolteachers or religious leaders had inspired them to make behind. there were able to determine in graphics spreadsheet form where there were from and what the centers of gravity that were providing some of these was of bombers. coming from libya and saudi arabia. very interesting. one an ally, all the documents were translated, compiled, and analyzed. the military wonder what we could do. this is a very powerful narrative. well, in the military whatever your it captures intelligence was the classification of the intelligence. an officer who was number of well-known at the time, stanley crystal. he was the commander of this nation, and he decided this is simply too valuable to keep inspired my joint special forces command. we need to push this out. he declassified more than 800 files. he gave it to special operations command, kuwait, west point to do academic re

he was also a leading al-qaeda of terrorist acts. question, how big a blow is al- awlaki's demise to al-qaeda? pat. >> i think it's very big, john. he is believed to be the inspiration or the source of the fort hood killer, who killed 13 american soldiers and wounded 29 at fort hood n the largest massacre on an american military base. he is -- i don't know he is the operative chief of al-qaeda, but he is the principle public voice. i almost in that part of the world and certainly in yemen, and so that is a big victory for the united states. but i'll tell you that, john. the important thing is the united states has indicated ever since osama bin laden was taken down that they can run down and find and shoot and kill using drones or airstrikes and incredible number of al- qaeda leaders. it's astonishing -- they must have gotten a huge volume of intel from bin laden's computers or somewhere else because they've been killing them left and right, and the al- qaeda reports inside al-qaeda are saying all our guys are being killed! >> do you

>>> attacking al qaeda. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews in new york. leading off tonight, no country for old men. another victory in the war on terrorist, this time in yemen. the united states killed anwar al awlaki and a colleague who edited al qaeda's online magazine. awlaki has been linked to numerous incidents, including the underwear bomber and the murderous assault at ft. hood. along with the killing of osama bin laden, today's drone strike in yemen makes it that much more difficult for republicans to credibly call the president weak on terrorism. >>> also, a new poll shows that most people still blame president bush for the awful economy. but bush isn't on the ballot next november. president, it looks like it's time for a new strategy. >>> plus, jersey sore. amid all the talk of chris christie getting in the race comes word today that the governor doesn't really get along with the big-name democrats in his state. senator frank lautenberg calls him the king of liars. we'll ask him what he means by that. >>> and mr. president, you're on the air. p

>> and awlaki is it the next generation of al-qaeda.ery charismatic, fluent in english, knew how to use the web and magazine to recruit the terrorist like the guy that tried to set off the bomb on the plane coming to detroit. >> the underwear bomber, umar farouk abdulmutallab. >> he was included in every major attack including 9-11, he he was imam in the mosque where some of the 9/11 plotters worshipped and real speculation he knew of the plot or some ways supported the plot. the times square bomber, the underwear bomber, abdul mu mutttalab and he needed his business to continue threats against america. >> paul: what was perhaps because of his english skills, could appeal through internet videos or other appeals to disenchanted american muslim youth and radicalize them. >> and british youth as well and that's why, his influence is going to remain with us, unfortunately, for a very long time. one of the things he he did was produce these cd's and videos and described as inspirational for muslim youth who are susceptible to the call of ji

al qaeda and pakistan, al qaeda in somalia or al qaeda in north africa. yemen is becoming a failing state. and that gives al qaeda a lot of potential and scope to exploit that. >> so if yemen really was involved in all of this, it would seem that yemen was actually taking a move to save itself, if you will, or at least the man who rules the country. >> oh, absolutely. the president has just come back after three months recoup rating from an assassination attempt. he spent three months in saudi arabia. it's interesting that within a few days of arriving back al-awlaki has been targeted, intelligence leading to his targeting and his killing has come into the domain of the united states and the people who are flying the drone aircraft. and there's no doubt that the president looks to the united states to try and support him and his 30-year rule. there are so many demands for him to step down from students, from tribesmen and from opposition politicians, part of the army and major partners defected and trying to bring him down. and what president sali wants t

look, obama really has gone aggressively after al qaeda. no one can argue with that. if anything, you could say that this is overly aggressive. we're going after people with missile strikes. but i think what ron paul and i think some others have gotten wrong here is the idea that just because he's an american citizen, we shouldn't be firing missiles at him. this is someone who declared war against the united states of america, who openly broadcast -- >> wait a minute, ron paul, talk about being out to lunch. you mean if you go join the nazi army and you're fighting in the army against us with the ss and you get killed in action, that's somehow wrong? you need to be given a bill of particulars or whatever? miranda rights? >> yeah, there's no mystery here. >> miranda rights. what are you talking about? >> there's no mystery here. this is someone who went on video and said, i want to kill americans. i want other people to kill americans. as many as possible. that is declaring war against the united states. if you do something like that, if you make yourself into a clear

the authorization to use military force against al qaeda, he was complicit with al qaeda. no question about that and a couple of other grounds. but i think the justice department should release my memo. i remember my time as ranking member on the intelligence committee begging the bush administration to release the memoranda but which we finally did see, most people felt initially were on faulty legal ground but nonetheless we finally saw those memos. i think vice president cheney has a rather thin skin for a guy that's been in the partisan wars as long as he has and i think some of the criticism of bush secrecy is valid. don't think the obama administration should be repeating it. i do applaud the fact they've continued an aggressive counterterrorism strategy. i'm for that. but i think the debate about the legal grounds for that strategy should be more in the open an we should have a legal framework around our interrogation and detention policies far more than we do right now. >> let me turn the last couple of minutes to pakistan. general mullen, still the chairman of the

a major blow to al qaeda. as u.s. drones kill the american cleric heading in yemen who inspired the ft. hood shooter and other lone wolf terrorists. and security officials issue a bulletin, warning of possible retaliation. >>> emergency response. dramatic paramedics testimony in the trial of michael jackson's doctor. what they saw when they arrived on the scene. >> we're going to call it here, time of december is 12:57. >> what they say his doctor refused to tell them. >>> and funny business. crashes, gags, wipe youments and goofs. before there was youtube, there was "america's funniest videos." we take you inside the hit show. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," september 30th, 2011. >> good evening, i'm terry moran. we're going to begin tonight with some late news. the department of homeland security has issued a bulletin, warning about possible, though unspecified and unconfirmed attacks in the united states in

>> this is actually what al qaeda believe they are. the black banner is a saying from the prophet of islam, prophet muhammed. >> stephen: i know who that is. sounds like a good guy, yeah. >> it says that the black banners will come at the end of time for the final battle of armageddon, and bin laden made a lot of these people who joined him in al qaeda believe that they are part of this black banner myth that's going to come towards the end of time. >> stephen: so it's an apocalyptic vision. >> well, it just gives us how little we know about al qaeda as an organization after all these years fighting it. >> stephen: you actually found out a fair bit about al qaeda for the greater good of the united states. you got bin laden's bodyguard to identify the september 11th hijackers. you got abu zubada to finger the 9/11 mastermind, and you unearthed jose padilla's plan to use a dirty bomb. can i assume all of that is waterboarding? because that enhanced interrogation is what got us the tips we needed to fight al qaeda. >> actually, none of th

is this a big deal, the end of al qaeda? >> i think it is a big deal and it is practically the end of al qae qaeda, at least if you believe leon panetta. and that's because they're having a huge amount of trouble fund-raising, recruiting and being relevant. and, in addition to that, the whole dynamic has changed in the arab and muslim world. people are rising up for freedom and democracy and not for violent change like al qaeda's philosophy is. >> the arab spring is competing with -- >> exactly right. >> now, president obama, got osama bin laden, now awlaki. does this establish him, really, is a strong president in the war on terror in people's minds? >> i think in the war on terror, yes. because he hasn't shrunk from doing these difficult things and he's really dramatically raised the tempo of these drone strikes which you know are controversial. that's a whole other issue. but the list of big bad guys who have been wiped out is quite impressive. you got osama bin laden, awlaki now and all sorts of others. but those two par

first of all, the united states is at war without qaeda. as a result of the joint resolution of congress back in september of 2001, the united states and the president are authorized to wage war against al qaeda and anwar al-awlaki was in charge of al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. what is troubling to many of the people you cited was that he was an american citizen. the justification is twofold. he has joined the enemy. just like in world war ii, is an american citizen donned the uniform of not his, american troops would not have to take that person into custody. the second issue that the aclu and others often cite is that actions like this violate international law. this case today is not that. from the present to the secretary of defense to yemeni officials themselves, they said the cooperation between the yemeni government and the united states was high in this operation. juxtapose that between the united states and pakistan. in the osama bin laden operation. that was nonexistent. >> the jury in the manslaughter trial of michael jackso

al qaeda is a much diminished network."awaki had alleged ties to the christmas day underwear bomber -- and faisal shehzad -- who tried to blow up a vehicle in times square. he met with three of the nine-eleven attackers and exchanged more than twenty e-mails with the fort hood shooter, according to the f-b-i. also killed today -- another american -- twenty-five year old samir khan of charlotte, north carolina -- al awaki's webmaster and publisher of an online jihadist magazine that shows al qaeda recruits how to make bombs.panetta says: "it was a bad year for terrorists." on the steps of the pentagon after meeting his canadian counterpart -- defense secretary leon panetta thanked yemen's government and intelligence service.panetta says: "the yemeni's themselves, have long cooperated with the united states in this effort." the president of yemen arrived back in his country from saudi arabia this weekend after narrowly escaping a terror attack that nearly killed him.(cover with video)at the pentagon, jennifer griffin, fox new

again, al qaeda in yemen, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula was a group that tried again not only christmas day plot but also ten months later tried to bomb cargo planes using a printer bomb plot. they're thought to be the most active group. the notion you can take out their spiritual leader and also someone who was radicalizing americans online. i think the most fascinating thing i found out today talking to sources is one reminded me of 50 cases brought against americans charged with terrorism, 19 of those cases awlaki, his name came up in the files in terms of people online looking at his materials, looking at his sermons. he was the guy who said we needed to get. gwen: it was that central. thank you, pierre. now we move on to presidential politics, is this the man who can save the republican party? >> we watch a president who once talked about the courage of his convictions and still has yet found the courage to lead and still we continue to wait and hope that our president will finally stop being a bystander in the oval office. gwen: thousands of steps from other candidates from colin

the conflict against al qaeda is complex and multifaceted.ress must be careful not to micromanage, complicate and impose across the board limits on our options. both the congress and the executive branch must be careful not to impose rules that make military detention more controversial, not less. i have spoken today about ways to legally solidify and improved armed conflict, not into it. they should not be the natural order of things. but war is sometimes necessary to secure peace. you heard me describe the tragic but heroic story of a young naval officer lost his eyesight to an ied. martin luther king, the man for whom we dedicated a memorial on sunday, said that in the end and i for an eye leaves everybody blind. no matter how much longer this conflict will go on, we should all continue to believe that the arc of the human experts on earth is long but it bends towards peace. thank you all very much for being here. thank you for listening. [applause] >> thank you, jay, for that thorough and understandable speech. i'm going to ask, take the