and taliban is not al qaeda. they are associated with al qaeda. think that when we have local groups that are associated with a transnational militant organization there is a aversion of the questions needed to be asked whether it's in syria, north africa or mali or whenever. the better solution, six questions. the first one is the key strategic question that the good versus bad taliban gets. does the militant group attack pakistan. the reason why it's fundamental are local environment and fundamentally frameses how they are going to be interacting with the organization that has the most power on the ground which is still the pakistani military. if we look at the governor, for example, this is somebody that did over time generally have a more positive relationship with the pakistani government than ore militants. he came to power in 2004, only after a previous drone strike killed the primary rival, at the time he was in a pakistani prison, which i don't know how to put it. allows for a lot of negotiation with the pakistan state. he was released an

with al qaeda. we have set out kind that is trying to kill americans, and that we will do everything possible to protect the lives of american citizens from these murderous attacks. we have signaled this worldwide. we repeatedly have said it openly. any american he joins al qaeda will know full well that they have joined an authorization that is at war with the united states and has killed thousands upon thousands of individuals, many of whom were americans. in american who did that should know well that they in fact are part of an enemy against us and that the united states will do everything possible to destroy that enemy to save american lives. >> and i certainly, and i said this at the very beginning, i certainly want to be part of that effort to fight al qaeda on all of these key fronts. i just want to have some answers, and i will give you another chance, whether you think the president should give an individual american a chance to surrender? i think senator king talked about the idea, and i

al qaeda in iraq, al qaeda in libya, euro al qaeda, chipotle. [ laughter ] oh, really they are not part of -- i thought al qaeda bought that from mcdonalds? either way it's delicious. [ laughter ] lest you worry that we're being too general about who we can target and it's too late to cancel your incredibly ill-advised spring break trip to the yemen sandals. [laughter] the leaked document lays out clear limitations of when terrorists can be targeted. we only take these kinds of actions when there's an imminent threat. >> jon: imminent threat. by definition that requires clear evidence to a specific attack on u.s. persons and interests will take place in the immediate future. >> an imminent threat does not require the united states to have clear evidence that a specific attack on u.s. persons and interests will take place in the immediate future. [ laughter ] >> jon: really because that seems like if you did that you would have to create a different definition for the word imminent, a broader concept, if you will. >> they use the phrase broader concept of imminent. [ laughter ] >> jon: s

, or al qaeda 3.0. if you want to learn more about that, go to our website. let's go back to questions now that i have advertised for myself right here. >> my question has to do with prt teams and their attraction with troop engagement teams. to address the martian problem, you want to put a civilian with that to maybe soften them up. there were attempts in afghanistan to do just that. have there been any highly successful programs of that nature? aside from the efforts of some very brave prt team members that are being discussed for future engagement, should the u.s. population have the appetite to go into another country a and try to connect with that again? >> the great question. there is a tendency to want to wipe the white board clean. there's a certain group that says counterinsurgency does not work, and therefore, we will turn to something else. a little bit like, i could not reach the grace, so they must have been sour. -- they must have been soured. counterinsurgency is always hard. that is why

to act against al qaeda which we have. and we pretty much decimated core al qaeda. the offshoots of al qaeda is something i'm sure we'll discuss during the course of this conversation. but decimated core al qaeda and provide the necessary personnel and training and assets for the afghans to pain taken a modicum of stable going forward. >> rose: maintain a modicum of stable. is a modicum of stable enough? >> yes, what i mean by that is the ability to maintain the sovereignty of their state, and to prevent it from becoming a safe haven for al qaeda again. that's what that mean os. in other words, they're having the assets and the training and the resources going forward to maintain the stability of the state going forward. and to ensure that it doesn't become a safe haven again. the third thing on the broader issue that you raise, with respect to the kinds of forces that we have going forward, we are focused on having forces that meet the challenges we're going to have in the future. so in a time of diminished resources, you make choices about what the threats are goi

he looked at me and said this [ bleep ] of contacts with al qaeda has got to be taken out.bleep ]. and i said i agree with you. let's take it out. done. within a half an hour, tenet comes in and explosively tells about this high level al qaeda operative who has been interrogated and admitted to these contacts. whoa. and we put it back in. >> that would be the dubious confession extracted from ibn al shaykh al libi. >> both of us convinced ourselves if the intelligence community believed what they were presenting, then we had to believe it because they were the experts. >> i wrote parts of this speech, what i saw over the course of week, up until the night before he gave that speech, and into the early morning is does this fit? is this compelling? who can pick a hole in this? i'm going to stand in front of a billion people. what i say better be the clearest and most credible information we have. >> on february 5th, 2003, the moment of truth arrives. >> the 4,701st meeting of the security council is called to order. >> the world witnesses colin powell deliver the ultimate arg

what do we know about al qaeda?e know that members of this network, all this information we take for granted now? >> we did not know that much. we did not know who was responsible for 9/11. we had a few assets that provided us some peripheral information. we did not know very much. it took a long time for us to be in a position to really learn what was going on. in march of 2002, we captured al zabeta. we recognized that we had to do something different. contrary to what some people are saying, he initially provided a couple of pieces of information. then he shut down. we knew they were coming after us in the second wave of attacks. we knew that they had a nuclear program. they had a biological weapons program. we thought we needed to do something different. that is when the enhanced interrogation program came into existence. he went through the program, started in august of 2002 for 20 days or so. a few weeks later we captured a major player. he was a go-between. this was the key to all of that. we forget that it w

al qaeda attacked this nation. we are attacking al qaeda back. there's no -- >> a 16-year-old was not in al qaeda. >> hold on. but the difference is -- >> 700 innocent children were not in al qaeda, toure. that's what's happening. >> it needs to be codified because if we don't -- there needs to be a standard because if we have no standards for otherwises to articulate, when another country wants to use it against us, we don't have an ability to say, well -- there has to be some sort of international protocol how to handle this. >> no matter who's running the administration, yeah. >> all right. >>> up next, the president out this afternoon pushing once again for a grand bargain. yeah, that's out and howard fineman will join us in the guest spot as "the cycle" rolls on for tuesday, february 5th. in honor of new york getting the first country station since 1996, nash 94.7, i'll be offering a diet of country tunes. this is huge, folks. we've all had those moments. when you lost the thing you can't believe you lost. when what you just bought, just bro

with al qaeda. we have set out kind that is trying to kill americans, and that we will do everything possible to protect the lives of american citizens from these murderous attacks. we have signaled this worldwide. we repeatedly have said it openly. any american he joins al qaeda will know full well that they have joined an authorization that is at war with the united states and has killed thousands upon thousands of individuals, many of whom were americans. in american who did that should know well that they in fact are part of an enemy against us and that the united states will do everything possible to destroy that enemy to save american lives. >> and i certainly, and i said this at the very beginning, i certainly want to be part of that effort to fight al qaeda on all of these key fronts. i just want to have some answers, and i will give you another chance, whether you think the president should give an individual american a chance to surrender? i think senator king talked about the idea, and i

what does it tell you about al-qaeda.ohn bolton joins us. >> good evening, greta. >> greta: so they located the tip sheet in mali. what do you think about this tip sheet? >> well, it's not exactly a high-tech response to drones, but it shows that al-qaeda is an adaptive organization, number one, that it recognizes this as a threat. and that it's taking steps to minimize that it may be excessively, excessive reliance that we placed on drones as a way of dealing with al-qaeda and number two the fact that it's distributed around the terrorist network shows how al-qaeda developed and metastasized around the world and a lie to the administration narrative that it's on the road to defeat because it doesn't have a meeting of a corporate al-qaeda board of directors doesn't mean the organization's not growing and spreading and remains a-- a larger threat than before. >> i think things have change dramatically. we've just signed-- the united states set up a drone base in africa and i think the nature of this whole war has changed d

targets may including al qaeda or an associated force of al qaeda.s approved by an informed, high-level official. and the programs requires, again quoting, a broader concept of imminence. doesn't this allow drone operatives, being honest, david, a vast amount of flexibility? >> i'm always honest with you because i know you can take it. and i want to congratulate my former co-author, mike isikoff, for breaking this important story. i think you just pointed out, as have others, the three major contentious points of this memo, the problems that are there. because i think -- i'm sympathetic to the argument that in some instances you got to use drone strikes when there's no other opportunity, but the definition of imminence is really stretched here. it's almost orwellian. when you get to a high-level official, the memo seems to suggest that you can do this without anyone vetting the decision of a single person, and whether that's the president or anybody else, it doesn't even state. i think that's also a gigantic problem. and the fact that the memo doesn'

-born cleric lean to to al qaeda in yemen. he and his son died in from starbucks in 2011. -- in the drone strikes in 2011. >> in other news ketsana -- in other news, hough an official investigation has found that an australian and canadian to be among the trees -- the three suspects behind the bombing in israel in 2011. it could be behind the effort to brand hezbollah a terrorist organization. hezbollah has denied being in the attack. the strike began six days ago, protesting over employment rights. they said they would defy the decree. they will set -- they will spend 10 years in prison unless they go back to work wednesday morning the u.s., has gone to work against the standard and poor's. accusing the firm of deliberately playing down their risks of investing in mortgage support -- mortgage-backed securities. the standard imports denies any wrongdoing. the red carpet was rolled out for the arrival of president mahmoud ahmadinejad. the three-day visit marks the first of and running and leave your -- an iranian leader to cair

al-qaeda leaders and i can tell you from firsthand personal experience that the reason people take up arms against us is because of a lack of education yet that i understand that the united states can't educate the whole wall no we can't but we can we can help other countries develop an infrastructure so that they can educate themselves coming more and more about your encounters with those what are their impressions that you have the first kind of fighter i ever caught was in one thousand year old boy from tunisia and the only reason he went to afghanistan was because he had nothing else to do he had no skills and no way of making a living and he wanted to get married so the local in mom said if you want to make some money you know what you should do you should go to afghanistan and make jihad against the americans if you do that i know somebody who will pay your family five hundred dollars and you can use that for a dowry and you can you can get a wife. so this kid had nothing against the united states he had never even really thought about the united states so from your experience y

in this case it is al-qaeda. the problem that has come up against, they waited so long to make both the military and legal case for doing something clearly legitimate and limited that they are now feeling that backlash from mostly from their own flank. >> one more quick point. these terrorists primary weapon is the blowing up of civilian populations using suicide bombers. whether in new york, london, madrid or, indeed, in pakistan or libya. wherever they fight, what they do is blow up innocent people going about their daily business. that is the enemy. >> what about the charge that the administration is too quick to default to drone distant killing as opposed to trying to capture and then interrogate terrorists where you get the best intelligence to be able to prevent future attacks? >> that is really a good question. there is a powerful suspicion that the drone serves the administration's effort to cleanse itself of the boots on the ground danger. cleanse itself of a place where to put these people we have no pl

secret memo, justifies killing american citizens on foreign soil if they have high-level ties to al qaeda. good evening. i'm gwen ifill. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, we explore the legal and other issues surrounding the u.s. policy. >> ifill: then, federal and state governments sue a credit ratings agency it says gave good ratings to bad mortgage investments. >> brown: ray suarez looks at president obama's use of campaign-style events to push his legislative agenda. >> ifill: hari sreenivsan examines a million-dollar match fixing scandal shaking the world of international soccer. >> brown: and playing with the enemy: we have the story of an orchestra of israelis and arabs coming together for music, and maybe more. >> the only way that we can achieve anything that is remotely related to peace is if and wek titerthal and talk or if we at least try to. >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> sailing through the heart of historic landscapes you see things differently. you get close to iconic

with al qaeda. we have set out kind that is trying to kill americans, and that we will do everything possible to protect the lives of american citizens from these murderous attacks. we have signaled this world wide. we repeatedly have said it openly. any american he joins al qaeda will know full well that they have joined an authorization that is at war with the united states and has killed thousands upon thousands of individuals, many of of whom were americans. in american who did that should know well that they in fact are part of an enemy against us and that the united states will do everything possible to destroy that enemy to save american lives. >> and i certainly, and i said this at the very beginning, i certainly want to be part of that effort to fight al qaeda on all of these key fronts. i just want to have some answers, and a i will give you another chance, whether you think the president should give an individual american fortunately to surrender? i a think senator king talked and i comme

the cia is launching drone strikes on al qaeda in yemen. among the strikes launched from the base was the one that killed an american born al qaeda leader for years ago. the obama administration has approved the killing of u.s. citizens if they are known to pose an imminent threat to the country. >> lithium ion batteries are not necessarily safe for use on airplanes -- not necessarily unsafe but safeguards need to be in place. the board is looking into the possibility that battery should have to meet tougher testing standards. x a sunny and windy day to day. >> a nice surprise for an elementary schoolteacher in southwest washington today. a show of appreciation. miss simms is a third grade teacher and she had no idea she was going to be honored. she received this year's education award. she gets a $25,000 cash prize. >> my third grade students bring a smile to my face every day. >> if you are wondering what she will do with the money she is getting, she says she will pay all some bills and possibly purchase a harley-davidson. that will make

secret memo, justifies killing american citizens on foreign soil if they have high-level ties to al qaeda. good evening. i'm gwen ifill. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, we explore the legal and other issues surrounding the u.s. policy. >> ifill: then, federal and state governments sue a credit ratings agency it says gave good ratings to bad mortgage investments. >> brown: ray suarez looks at president obama's use of campaign-style events to push his legislative agenda. >> ifill: hari sreenivsan examines a million-dollar match fixing scandal shaking the world of international soccer. >> brown: and playing with the enemy: we have the story of an orchestra of israelis and arabs coming together for music, and maybe more. >> the only way that we can achieve anything that is remotely related to peace is if we sit together and talk or if we at least try to. >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> sailing through the heart of historic landscapes you see things differently. you get close to iconic la

those that do not have a part of the al qaeda nexus.eed for clear status in congress as to what the range in this ought to be, and we need to bear the armed conflict model. that being said, we are also careful to identify the distinct head of the authority. that has to do with the president defending the nation when faced with threats to the american lives. >> lines. >> let me interrupt you. my time has expired and i would like to get to the hostage situation. >> number one, in regards to that, collateral is a distinct possibility and it is one of the background principles that i think makes the analogy so precise. it is a possibility that you may actually accidentally kill some of the hostages. number two, i think the collateral deaths of u.s. citizens -- >> what about the danger that is very real. >> yes, that's correct. you have the possibility of imminent danger. >> you don't necessarily have that with somebody driving around this drone attack you but you do have the possibility of people on airplanes, those who are allegedly dealin

but the fb ray refers to this as al qaeda and mr. franchise, but in fact them with this idea and go carry out the attack. but the fbi is specifically looking for our people who run the spectrum the fbi turned on one side operational and the other side is a sympathizer. they want to find someone on the sympathizers tied, but just about to cross over to become a terrorist and catch them before he becomes a terrorist. the sting operations are to draw them out to commit some act of violence and arrest them to deal that means the fbi has, which is the criminal justice system according to some lot, conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction or other terrorism related cases. i think it's easy to be empathetic to the fbi co and i talk about this in the book but if you're a case agent and you have a sky saying i want to bomb the subway system, you don't want to be the guy who says that to ignore them in six months later he actually does commit an act of terrorism. it's easy to understand why the fbi would pursue these cases. what i put in

when he we went into afghanistan in 2001 we took down the al-qaeda, but now al-qaeda's what, six or seven countries, pakistan, afghanistan, syria, iraq, libya, mali, this is the 12th year of the war on terror, quote, and al-qaeda has expanded the theater of operations across two and three continents. the point is, are we losing this war or are we winning it aen if if we're creating more terrorists than we're killing, we're losing the war and endless war. >> greta: we're changing the rules of engagement. >> the president cannot unilaterally assert a law to kill americans. he's a constitutional law professor, has he read the constitution? >> i'd be interesting to see what the congressional oversight does, to what extent we get more information about this program because we're not getting a lot. >> but everybody, look, every american, i think, realizes this is an effective weapon and when you go after folks you might have some collateral damage here. >> we're targeting americans on foreign soil. >> now we're targeting americans and it's not in the war theater, afpac it's know-- >> i think we

when we went into afghanistan in 2001, we took down the al qaeda. but now al qaeda's what? in six or seven country, pakistan, afghanistan, sirria, iraq, libya, mali. this is the 12th year of the war on terrorism, quote. and al qaeda has expanded the theater of operations across two and three continents. the point is, are we losing this war? are we winning it? if we are creating more terrorists than we are killing it, we are losing the war and we are in an endless war. >> we are changing the rules of engagement. it is not inconceivable to see a drone coming this way at some point. >> exactly. the president cannot unilaterally assert a right to kill american citizens. he's a constitutional law professor. hasn't he read the constitution! >> it will be interesting to see what the congressional oversight does, whether, you know, to what extent we get more information about this program. we are not getting a lot. >> everybody, look, every american realizes this is an effective weapon. when you go after folks, you might have some collateral damage here. >> we are targeting america

al qaeda had declared war on the united states. so when people say there's a list of americans, not really. this a time honored tradition. the legal basis goes back many years when u.s. citizens would go on flight for foreign nations that were engaging in combat with the united states. so what they were saying is once you've made that choice, you no loca longer get the protections that you would. if you join the enemies oversea, you joan the enein the enemies . we do have oversight. i knew about the operations leading up to it and i review all of the air strikes that we use under this title of the law. >> well, you review the air strikes after the fact, correct? >> in this particular case, we knew -- well, remember, the air strike itself is just a tool at the end of the day. the policy, research, intelligence packages is what leads up to it. this is just, to be very blunt about it, pulling the trig ger t the end of the day. so all the stuff that comes up before that is in the purview. some of it is isolated to a very small number o

drone strike in yemen. >> the death of al-awlaki is a major blow to al qaeda's most active operational affiliates. he took the lead in planning and directing effortings to murder innocent americans. >> reporter: u.s. officials say al-awlaki inspired the fort hood shooter in 2009 and the failed bombing of a detroit airliner that christmas among other attempted attacks. three other americans, including al-awlaki's 16-year-old son, have also been killed by u.s. drone strikes in yemen. civil liberties groups have said such attacks deprive u.s. citizens of constitutional due process protection. but white house press s.e.c. jay carney justified those actions today as legal, ethical, and wise. >> the questions around this issue are important and the president takes them seriously. we have significant challenges because of the nature of the attacks, how they're planned, who plans them. but there is no question that senior operational leaders of al qaeda are continually planning to attack the united states, to attack american citizens. the authorization to use military force is entirely appropr