saudi arabia and that means really the royal family the government of saudi arabia which are the same thing we're concerned the son of bin laden would turn his guns effectively on the regime would work towards an overthrow of the rogue regime in saudi arabia and to that end what we would call if we were starting not the saudis but say organized crime than last year they paid protection money millions of dollars in money that came direct from the saudi official purpose were paid by princes whom we've named in the book to al qaeda and osama bin laden to make sure that they weren't attacked in saudi arabia the second interesting level is the level of which that ins and we trust develop more of this but the two official investigations found the vestiges of evidence that the saudis in california. produced a sort of support network for the first future nine eleven hijackers the first of the terrorists to land in the united states twenty months before the operation was carried up and just in the last few days i've been able to to develop information that there was a similar support network i

saudi families in california, saudi families in florida. so it will be interesting to see after ten years on whether the identity of those hijackers and the source of the funding of those hijackers ultimately reveals itself. do you think we'll ever know the truth? >> i think if there's anyone who can chase it down, it's you, dylan. and when it comes to money and sourcing, you know that game better than anyone else. but that's a remarkable revelation, and if we can get to the bottom of that, that will be tremendous. >> i think we benefit that through the journalism of anthony somers, who just identified these families. they'll join us in just a second. thank you, martin. >>> well, remembrance and speculation, as our nation honors the victims of september 11th and once again mourns their passing. new questions emerging about who we really can trust. good monday afternoon to you, i am dylan ratigan in new york. and today, the ground zero memorial officially opened to the public. tonight, congress will gather on the steps of the capitol, just a

saudis with official connections at the saudi consulate in north angeles and a saudi with connections to saudi aviation. and and who had a reputation. as being a saudi intelligence agent help those first two rivals the guys we were talking about just now me don has me help them in a supported sense but they needed it because they couldn't speak english. at all and they were complete strangers to the west and western ways hope them help them get set up in an apartment with vast for them. and just recently in the last week i pursued a lead that i had curing the research from the people in florida which is where three of the four pilot hijackers learn to fly and find that there's another connection with saudis living as ours so the evidence of some sort of saudi support for the hijackers involved in nine eleven is troubling. troubling to say the very least you you write in the book about john o'neill and how he was working on the saudi connection even before nine eleven. who was he what what happened with him and how did that all work out. both heroic and tragic story john o'neill was a

or representatives of the saudi. a saudi citizen living in san francisco was one of the first people to help the hijackers on our shores. in this highly redacted fbi document, the then 42-year-old had been in the u.s. on a student visa since 1993. >> is there any record that omar was a student in the united states? >> he professed that he was a student. i checked with the university that he said he had attended, they had no record of his having been a student there. >> as a reporter for the san diego tribune, kelly thornton was aware of him. >> he was very well known in the community and was thought to be by some saudi spy, kind of spoiling on other sawed can is by the saudi government. he often had a video camera. >> he was also collecting a salary as a ghost employee for ircan subindividual area for the audi aviation. >> when he comes from from san diego. culture political and cultural affairs in we don't know what happened in the one hour meeting that they had. as soon as the meeting was over, by umi and his drive

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specially our neighbors the saudis and the saudis have been a little bit hesitant as regards you know their position i mean they have been reports of one kind of they're worried about the crystallizing the president but we have been hearing reports that sometimes the family the people who are you know are having second thoughts about that ok well. let's talk about saudi arabia later because there are reports that the saudis are arming this regime here david if i can go to you again we started out with the program with the word dilemma i mean what is the dilemma washington has right now because it would seem to me the more they try to pursue their war on terror and al qaeda in yemen the more it creates terror that needs to be fired you see what i mean it's like a vicious circle. yes i'm not sure that's true quite now after all the yemeni army and yemeni government is fire fighting al qaeda down in the south and we have used drones we have a common enemy and fortunately they've made themselves a better target by concentrating down there with the u.s. has done quite a bit the american am

a saudi prince told me this recently. >> we heard a lot lately about the right of women to drive in saudi arabia. the issue is a lot more deeper than having ladies only drive the car. we need ladies to have equal rights like men. >> joining me now a woman who made that cause her own, on the boards of the bin talil foundation. thank you for joining me. >> thank you for having me. >> it's unusual to see a young saudi woman appearing on western television like this. how have you managed to break down these barriers? >> i guess two things, one being part of this generation, multilingual, globalized generation where we have global culture. second, i have great support. if you don't have support behind you, you can't do anything. my husband is incredible support for me. >> he's a remarkable man. i had him on this show. like a worldwind of energy and i do nammism. one of the richest men in the world and richest saudi in the world. the money doesn't seem to be the driving factor. wants to drive change. when i met you both, i had the pleasure of meeting you both, i got the sense you're in this tog

and from saudis with official connections in saudi arabia. the nine eleven joint inquiry which senator graham. coach head. and he was a very hands on co-chair he was very much involved with the investigative they stumbled on evidence that this the first two hijackers to arrive in the united states had had support from saudis living in california. what has not been known till now which certainly wasn't revealed to senator graham who himself had a special interest in florida because he's a two time governor of the state of florida was that there was also a psychic connection in florida and as senator graham has said if there was a saudi connection with the hijackers where at one time based in california or if there was a saudi connection with apply that hijackers trying to fly in west florida then was there also a shoddy connection in the other places that they take out that which includes eventually virginia and new jersey and indeed for a while. now you also wrote the cia officers may have met with osama bin laden in dubai shortly before nine

the hijackers were largely from sewa saudi arabia and largely funded through saudi arabian channels. saudi arabia's involvement with these events? >> what we know rather more than we used to know. during the first the official investigations. that was the congressional inquiry in late 2002, the fbi withheld for a long time information that involved saudis who had supported the first two future hijackers to arrive in the united states. that was as early as the millennium. 20 months before 9/11. the congressional investigation stumbled on it themselves and then found themselves locked in a bitter fight with the bureau to get the information out. and at the end of their work, the president bush personally ordered that the last 28 pages of the congressional inquiry report would be withheld, and we know from sources that -- we know that it involved the question of foreign support for the perpetrators of 9/11. and we know from sources that that support came in the view of the investigators for the congressional group from saudi arabia. what i've put together in the last week or so going ba

money, saudi government. has all that changed since 9/11 in these 10 years? >> yes. experts i talked to who study the salafi movement say the saudi government's approach to proselytizing and promoting islam abroad has changed. it's become much stricter with the funds it gives foreign islamic groups. it's tried to move closer to mainstream islamic groups abroad and it's toned down some of the extremist rhetoric of some of the walabi's clerics. 9/11 and the insurgency they had in 2003 has made them much more wary of the more aggressive rhetoric of wa and they're attacking steps to tone that down. >> brown: and the so-called arab spring, why margaret is back in egypt to look at that there. what kind of impact has that had on saudi arabia? is it perceived as a threat to the government there? >> the saudis were put off kilter by the arab spring, and especially when their great ally and friend, hosni mubar astepped down-- >> brown: they didn't know what to make of it. >> they didn't know what to make of it. they we

be a very important step forward in equal rights and one of the most unlikely places in the world saudi arabia yesterday saudi arabia's king abdullah announced that for the first time in his nation's history women will be able to vote and run for office in local elections beginning in two thousand and fifteen is a huge leap forward in a nation that satori is for cracking down on the rights of women some say this is the latest effort by king ability to shield his wealthy and we'll rich nation from the uprising of the arab spring that has toppled dictators next door back in march king abdullah announced a ninety three billion dollars aid package full of new jobs and services to quell unrest from disaffected saudis who may try to bring the arab spring to the kingdom of saudi arabia so far it appears to be working so what does this all mean is this really a giant step forward for women's rights or merely a gimmick for the monarchy to keep power increasingly volatile middle east or both here to offer her take as a new shade hussein author of a new she's point and columnist of forbes woman ou

we'll talk about saudi arabia later because there are reports that the saudis are arming this regime here david if i can go to you again we started our program with the word dilemma i mean what is the dilemma washington has right now because it would seem to me the more they try to pursue their war on terror on al qaeda in yemen the more it creates terror that needs to be fired you see what i mean it's like a vicious circle. yes i'm not sure that's true quite now after all the yemeni army and yemeni government is fire fighting al qaida down in the south and we have used drones we have a common enemy and fortunately they've made themselves a better target by concentrating down there but the u.s. has done quite a bit the american ambassador along with the european union colleagues especially the german have tried very hard it's a tough situation it's difficult the president is kind of a difficult target you think you have a commitment and it's gone but we understand that. even if he was helpful to us in some regards in the past is is fundamentally gone and there has to be a new regime

all right, so there are some minor, seemingly archaic policies towards women in saudi arabia. like our blue laws. they're on the bookes, seldom enforced, nod, nod, wink, wink. >> a saudi woman sentenced to 10 lashes for driving a car. >> jon: that's (beep) up ( applause ) why do we let-- why do we let saudi arabia get away with this stuff? how can we put up with them denying women basic human rights and still call them-- wait a minute-- allies and all that. i just-- why can we-- how can we did that and still-- i can't stay mad at you. ( laughter ) that was weird. all right. of course, it's overseas. democracy overseas can be a little messy. it's new. here, america, the cradle of liberty, we're long past those fits and starts. what the ( bleep ) was that all about? ( laughter ) what happened? did those ladies try and drive? what? that's here in america? apparently, that footage came from the march on wall street this past saturday during an ongoing demonstration called, oddly enough, occupy wall street. >> this is what democracy looks like. ( laughter ) >> jon: all right, i gue

did he ever change his views with respect to saudi intelligence and the saudi royalty? >> have i changed my view towards saudi intelligence? >> no, do you know whether he did? >> did john o'neill. >> john o'neill and i quote him in the book saying he thought all the elements of dismantling osama bin laden's network was in saudi arabewra and all the clues were there. i think he recognized that as much as he tried to befriend them and had friends there he recognized there were duplicitous and their self-interest came first. i think now the saudis have really woken up, they can't continue to sit on sighted lines and take too many games until they took down the apartment houses in riyhad. whole different story for them, i think. >> before he took his job, he told me -- i congratulated him on his new job. great job. so i just was concerned that's true. >> that's very kind of you. >> he says he knew john o'neill and 48 hours before he started his new job at the world trade center, he can confirm that john o'neill did say, i'm taking this job but they're going to attack the wo

>> saudi arabia. at the -- he studied economics and public administration. >> and when did he get his money? >> his father died in 1967. all the kids are pretty young, but even osama's oldest brother at that time would have been only 20. so, the family company was sort of put in trust, and the estate was only divided in the 1980's. and bin laden apparently got about $35 million. and i know that because i talked to somebody somewhat privy to the division of the estates less than -- estimates are he had a lot more than that. but $35 million is $35 million. then at a certain point he becomes probably the biggest businessman in sudan between 1991 and 1996, this really intense period of -- in the book, "holy war, inc.," it really was, in the sense he had this huge array of businesses from tanneries to bakeries, to banks to construction businesses, trucking companies, import, export, basically cornering the market in sudan ese agriculture products. but at the same time running these military camps and so, y

many, many saudis are very happy with the royal family. they conot want the royal family overthrown. but membership of those saudis also want a more participation in their open government. that's why we saw earlier this year four or five petitions signed by a wide array of the population from seculars to islamists, asking for a constitutional monarchy. and the government so far has not indicated that it's willing to do that. >> warner: now take these municipal councils. this is only the second time they've had these elections. at least they were open to all mep, yet, from all reportes, the turnout was pretty low. now, that because people are-- you just said they're not satisfied with the level of participation or is it because they're-- they think these councils are meaningless? i mean, what explains that? >> i think a large explanation for the low turnout today is that these councils have not really proven to be effectual at all. they're not givee big budgets, they're not given power. and i think the saudis, you know, saw that last time w

he had become saudi arabia's first celebrity. the saudi's didn't know what to do with him because he stood apart. he said in this real another region between the royal family and everybody else. he was someone to be conjured with. he is not only rich and famous. he had a small army at his command. there'd never been anybody like him and saudi arabia. and alleging he carried around with him gave him standing with saudi's and other arabs in that region that he didn't really earn, but he took upon himself. >> host: we are going to come back. when we do come with a lot more to talk about. in particular, comparisons between your book and the way 9/11 commission reports on the story. we'll be right back. >> host: talking to lawrence wright about his look, "the looming tower." i want to in this section talk about the comparisons between the two stories as they are told. they provided different portrait, not just a bin laden but the entire movement. for example, there is barely mentioned of the role of zawahiri, the jihad movement aren't

. >>> in saudi arabia, a historic decision expanding women's rights. saudi women will be able to vote and run for office in future municipal elections that doesn't include elections coming up this thursday. a prominent women's rights advocate in saudi arabia says women's voices will finally be heard. she says now it is time to remove other barriers like not allowing women to drive cars. >>> and stay right there, more on this story including reaction in women's rights groups, other ones in saudi arabia. >>> president barack obama is due to arrive at the paramount theater in seattle, washington, this hour. he's visiting the west coast to push his plan for creating more jobs. and to raise money for fellow democrats. we expect to hear from the president before he heads to california later on today. >>> the president also delivered his message personally to the congressional black caucus in washington last night in the nation's capital. washington, d.c. that is. it was straight talk. >> i don't know about you, cbc, but the future rewards those who press on.

so that human contact between us is all important to saudis. and my fear is that with this veto that the u.s. will exercise on this issue, that somef these things that we now take for granted will come under great strain. >> chaie: like what? >> well people for example looking to the united states as a source of know how and skills. up to now at least the saudi students have been seeking to come here to acquire their huh-uh and their skills. i don't know how they would react to america position. there will be those who say becae of amica's excellence in education that people will come to come here. i don't know. but my concern is that those given assumptions that we have about our relationship will come to question. and will become, if you like, a controversial issue for people, not just in my country but even in your country. >> charlie: i hear this idea that in fact the palestinians may not want to vote, they just want to get the process started. and therefore it could be delayed but they want to get it started, and that's what's important to

arabia is playing a supportive role in this conflict how to saudi arabia back into this. i think the saudi arabia is a very key ally to the united states in the middle east and we know and it's nothing new i mean you could we could you could go back to fifty years ago to see that when it came to the american strategy in the middle east in particular well the saudis had they were to say i mean they were taken into consideration so considering that saudi arabia doesn't want anybody to intervene in the yemeni internal affairs. considering also that rain is an important ally to the united states but sea is also and contrary to interests of saudi arabia is attached in this context we can see that with the ongoing serious situation in syria we also the violence is there are going on in syria it seems that some countries i would include the united states but also france and the u.k. and so on want to build a pressure further pressure on the syrian regime when you all do you talk and when you talk about western powers are building the pressure on the syrian regime let's address t

how did the saudi king make this announcement? >> fredricka, the king made this announcement at the gathering of the shura council, the consultive council in saudi arabia. a council of advisers that the king hand picks. it was significant he was telling them not only could women in the future serve on this council, he would pick more full-time members as women, but also, that they would be able to participate in the next round of municipal elections, nominate themselves to participate in the next round of municipal elections. it's important to point out while the king did not use the word vote, that it's being taken that women will be able to vote. i've spoken to many womens rights activists in the past several hours after this announcement was made they are elated at the news. they say it's about time. it's one thing to vote, but to nominate themselves as candidates in the future round of elections even though the date hasn't been set yet they say they are over the moon about this. this is a big step forward toward the empowermen

who might be connected to the saudi government and the news and frel that is connections to saudis, bush, halliburton, it was a very sexy mea angle. most of those leads really didn't pan out there were some saud who, for instance, workinin the ministry of religious affairs who back in the 09see, when the saudis were sponsoring lots of fundamentalist islamic grou might be involved or have connections to islamic terrorist groups. but the saudi government, there is no evidence that linked the saudi government or government policy to anything-- supporting al qaeda or the royal family. and in a way it makes no sense because oom qaeda hated the saudi government. wanted to overthrow the royal family. >> rose: especially osama bin laden. >> absolutely. and actually, lots of saudies have now died fighting al qaeda and al qaeda has killed a lot of saudis. but the main threads, charlie, though, havingto do with a support network inside the united states actually have to do with yemenies. and indied, we name names. and one of the names we name in the report back in '04 is now a much more well-k

the saudis and the israelis have been trying to overthrow the syrian government since the days of the bush administration money was voted for this by congress and there are steady reports that some of the armed groups going into syria are coming out of lebanon and they were trained by western intelligence services and there's a fight going on i'm not sure that the u.s. will intervene or the west will intervene in a full scale war in syria because the syrians unlike the libyans unlike the iraqis unlike the afghans can shoot back they have been obsolete but it's still fairly tough army and it will not be a cakewalk and there is everybody is worried that what will happen if syria does call absolute take over the government it may be like libya with the islamists taking over but look the west is using humanitarian intervention that's its new banner for getting involved abroad counterterrorism is passe humanitarianism is rules a will see other humanitarian interventions when and where it suits the interests of the west or other power blocs lindsay finally. after afghanistan. funded by the