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[soft dramatic music]
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♪
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- My name is Michael Morell,
and on September 11th, 2001,
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I was President Bush's
daily intelligence briefer.
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♪
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I briefed him six days a week
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no matter
where he was in the world.
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♪
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From April
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to mid-July of 2001,
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there was a significant
increase in intelligence
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reporting about al-Qaeda
planning attacks.
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♪
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[rockets roaring]
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Catastrophic attacks.
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Multiple simultaneous attacks.
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History-changing attacks.
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[dramatic music]
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♪
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- We'd seen chatter
before other operations.
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♪
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You know, they saw it
around the millennium.
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We saw it before
the bombings in '98.
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We knew
they were planning something.
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But they started using language
we had never heard before.
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They were calling it
Olympic-sized.
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Armageddon.
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- There were real plots
being manifested.
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♪
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The world felt like
it was on the edge of eruption.
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[soft dramatic music]
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- It's early
this Tuesday morning,
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the 11th of September, 2001.
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[upbeat music]
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- From the heart
of New York City...
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- The first job
of any government
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is to protect the country
and protect its people...
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[soft dramatic music]
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But you don't get credit
for what you stopped
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if you don't stop them all.
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♪
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And we were unable
to stop the big one.
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♪
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- For us, there was
a personal dimension in this.
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♪
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3,000 Americans
had been killed.
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The city I grew up in
had been blown up.
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There was
an emotional piece of this
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because we had woken up
every day of our lives...
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♪
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Trying to stop
what just had happened.
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[dramatic music]
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♪
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[soft dramatic music]
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♪
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- 20 years have passed
since the United States
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suffered
the worst terrorist attack
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in its history.
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Four planes...
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19 hijackers...
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Nearly 3,000 killed.
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An act that shook America
to its core,
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led to a 20-year war,
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and left our legacy
bruised and battered.
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For the nation's
premier spy agency,
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9/11 was
the nightmare scenario,
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but it was no surprise.
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♪
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- We knew we were running out
of time every single day.
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Nobody knew when
an attack might happen.
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Could be
at any moment, any day,
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any moment.
That was the feeling.
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It felt like
al-Qaeda was ready.
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It just kind of felt like that.
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♪
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- The international
terrorist network
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was targeting Americans.
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For the officers,
analysts,
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and covert operatives
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of the Central
Intelligence Agency,
81
00:04:33,137 --> 00:04:35,206
the hunt for al-Qaeda
and its leader,
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Osama bin Laden,
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started years before 9/11
and ended long after.
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This is their story.
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- People come to work at CIA
because of the mission.
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The mission is
to collect information
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that we can't get any other way
to keep the country safe.
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♪
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- Pretty much every country
I've visited
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in one way or the other,
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I used to smile
and tell people,
92
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"I was either causing trouble,
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stopping trouble,
or planning trouble."
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♪
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- A CIA case officer
for 18 years,
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Marty Martin recruited spies
in the Middle East,
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often undercover.
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He grew up
in Shreveport, Louisiana,
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and became fluent in Arabic
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while serving
in special forces.
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♪
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- You would think,
"What the heck?
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"How can a guy from Louisiana
operate in the Middle East
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and kind of understand
where they're coming from?"
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Well, as a young boy
in Louisiana,
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one, we are a diversed culture
in a lot of ways.
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At the same time,
we care about honor and family.
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In the Middle East,
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honor is
a very important thing.
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Family and tribe
is very important.
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♪
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- In July, 1998,
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Martin arrives
at the CIA station
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in Nairobi, Kenya.
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His colleagues worry
they and other Americans
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are in the crosshairs.
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- The operations officers
there were strident in that
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they felt like there was
a threat from al-Qaeda there.
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They even showed me how
they would drive that truck
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if they went
to hit the embassy.
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As I look back,
I'll never forget
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the looks on their faces
when they told me,
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"Marty,
we are vulnerable here.
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They are coming at us."
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♪
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- Massive explosions
at two U.S. embassies
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in East African countries
this morning.
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The United States embassy
in Nairobi, Kenya,
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has been heavily damaged.
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♪
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- The bombings
were allegedly carried out
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by members of al-Qaeda,
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an international
terrorist group
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founded by Osama bin Laden.
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- He's believed to run
a vast terrorist network
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from his headquarters
in Afghanistan.
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But who is this man?
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Who is he,
and what kind of man is he?
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♪
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- It's hard for me to remember
when I first heard
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the name Osama bin Laden.
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I probably heard it
when I was first working
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on Afghanistan.
144
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My name is Cindy Storer.
145
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I was a CIA senior analyst
on September 11, 2001.
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♪
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I was the only one
looking at bin Laden
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when I first came.
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And I came across his name
as early as 1982,
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certainly, as someone
who was part of the people
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who were coming
from overseas to work
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and fight
against the Soviets.
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- [shouting indistinctly].
Allahu Akbar!
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[rockets whoosh]
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- He was a guy who had shunned
the riches of Saudi Arabia
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and the bin Laden family
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and gone to the mountains
of Afghanistan to fight,
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and so, you know,
that would engender
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some sort of respect.
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♪
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- He was very devout.
He lived very simply.
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He kept the Koran
by his bedside,
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and as his myth grew,
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people would talk
about him, you know,
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glowing when he prayed
and things like that.
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- Bin Laden
joins Afghan forces
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in a decade-long fight
against a Soviet invasion.
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He then returns
to Saudi Arabia,
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but after denouncing
the royal family's
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alliance with the U.S.,
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he's stripped
of his citizenship
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and leaves for Sudan.
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- Bin Laden was only
just starting
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to expand his reach
when we saw him
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as an emerging threat
during his time in Sudan.
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We characterized him as one
of the most active
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financial sponsors of
Islamic fundamental terrorism.
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- The U.S. pressures
the Sudanese government
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to kick him out,
and bin Laden
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is again a man
without a country.
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- No one knew exactly
where he was gonna go,
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so it was kind of a
"Where's Waldo" going mystery,
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if you will.
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[dramatic music]
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He ended up in Afghanistan,
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which didn't
surprise us at all.
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He had a lot of friends
who would provide
188
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security and support.
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♪
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- Within months,
191
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bin Laden issues
a declaration of war
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on the United States.
193
00:09:11,931 --> 00:09:15,551
- Bin Laden
had two objectives.
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One was to drive
the United States
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out of the Middle East,
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and the other was to depose
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the leaders
of Sunni Muslim countries,
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who he saw as American puppets.
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♪
200
00:09:32,068 --> 00:09:33,758
- When they say
they're gonna come kill you,
201
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they're gonna come kill you.
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♪
203
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- To better understand
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bin Laden's operations
and associates,
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Storer starts
piecing together intelligence
206
00:09:46,310 --> 00:09:49,103
and arrives
at a startling conclusion.
207
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- I was looking
at these associations
208
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that I'd drawn out
209
00:09:52,137 --> 00:09:53,620
and how people
related to each other,
210
00:09:53,655 --> 00:09:57,344
and I was looking at accounting
and how they would move money.
211
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They even talked
about moving money
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00:09:59,068 --> 00:10:02,034
from one line item
on their budget
213
00:10:02,068 --> 00:10:04,724
to another line item
on the budget
214
00:10:04,758 --> 00:10:06,344
to pay
for somebody's medical care.
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00:10:06,379 --> 00:10:08,896
Then they were
issuing paychecks.
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00:10:08,931 --> 00:10:10,793
And then I started going back
and looking at all
217
00:10:10,827 --> 00:10:12,068
of the information
we had on them
218
00:10:12,103 --> 00:10:13,551
over the years and realized
219
00:10:13,586 --> 00:10:16,689
that this was
a terrorist organization,
220
00:10:16,724 --> 00:10:19,172
and it really was
one of those eureka moments
221
00:10:19,206 --> 00:10:21,103
where you've been working
on something for a long time,
222
00:10:21,137 --> 00:10:22,724
and all of a sudden
you just go...
223
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Like, everything
snapped together.
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♪
225
00:10:26,551 --> 00:10:28,034
- Osama bin Laden
226
00:10:28,068 --> 00:10:31,275
is more than
just a financier of jihad.
227
00:10:31,310 --> 00:10:35,206
He's the head of al-Qaeda,
a terrorist network.
228
00:10:35,241 --> 00:10:38,275
- Nobody wanted to believe it.
[laughs]
229
00:10:38,310 --> 00:10:41,034
That can't happen.
Arabs don't work together.
230
00:10:41,068 --> 00:10:43,068
People from all these cultures
don't work together.
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00:10:43,103 --> 00:10:44,896
Their school systems stink.
232
00:10:44,931 --> 00:10:46,551
They're not capable
of critical thinking.
233
00:10:46,586 --> 00:10:48,793
I mean, just a lot of crazy--
234
00:10:48,827 --> 00:10:50,724
not really crazy for the time,
235
00:10:50,758 --> 00:10:53,586
but a lot of assumptions
that people were making.
236
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[soft dramatic music]
237
00:10:56,620 --> 00:10:59,724
- People were focused
on nation-states.
238
00:10:59,758 --> 00:11:02,379
There was not an appreciation
across the organization
239
00:11:02,413 --> 00:11:05,275
for al-Qaeda and bin Laden
240
00:11:05,310 --> 00:11:07,793
and non-state actors
in general.
241
00:11:09,896 --> 00:11:11,275
- So trying to tell folks,
you know,
242
00:11:11,310 --> 00:11:13,206
"Not only do you have
this group of people
243
00:11:13,241 --> 00:11:15,965
"from all over the world
who are working together,
244
00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:17,206
"but that
they're well-educated,
245
00:11:17,241 --> 00:11:18,965
and they know
what they're doing,"
246
00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:21,448
yeah,
that did not go over well.
247
00:11:23,379 --> 00:11:25,379
- Bin Laden
establishes his base
248
00:11:25,413 --> 00:11:28,068
in Afghanistan
after maneuvering his way
249
00:11:28,103 --> 00:11:31,034
into the good graces
of the Taliban.
250
00:11:31,068 --> 00:11:32,413
- The Taliban has set up
251
00:11:32,448 --> 00:11:34,206
a religious
extremist government
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00:11:34,241 --> 00:11:36,758
that not only tramples
on women's rights
253
00:11:36,793 --> 00:11:39,206
and bans most
modern pleasures,
254
00:11:39,241 --> 00:11:43,034
it offers one of the world's
last havens for terrorists.
255
00:11:43,068 --> 00:11:45,896
- The most important factor
256
00:11:45,931 --> 00:11:48,517
in a terrorist groups' ability
257
00:11:48,551 --> 00:11:51,827
to conduct attacks
is safe haven.
258
00:11:54,724 --> 00:11:56,965
And that's what
the Taliban provided.
259
00:11:58,068 --> 00:12:00,448
So complete freedom
of movement,
260
00:12:00,482 --> 00:12:04,379
complete ability to train,
complete ability to plan.
261
00:12:04,413 --> 00:12:05,896
[rockets whoosh]
262
00:12:05,931 --> 00:12:08,551
♪
263
00:12:08,586 --> 00:12:11,413
- At the bomb site in Nairobi
where the search for evidence
264
00:12:11,448 --> 00:12:13,551
and the cleanup
seems never ending,
265
00:12:13,586 --> 00:12:16,586
there is no sense this morning
that revenge is right,
266
00:12:16,620 --> 00:12:19,206
only that it may be necessary.
267
00:12:19,241 --> 00:12:21,034
- In the aftermath
of those bombings
268
00:12:21,068 --> 00:12:23,551
of embassies in Africa,
what do we do?
269
00:12:23,586 --> 00:12:26,758
We fiddle-faddle around.
We sent firecrackers.
270
00:12:26,793 --> 00:12:29,103
We sent, you know,
a few missiles.
271
00:12:29,137 --> 00:12:31,448
- Two weeks
after the embassy bombings,
272
00:12:31,482 --> 00:12:33,931
the United States struck back
at bin Laden long distance,
273
00:12:33,965 --> 00:12:35,413
dropping cruise missiles
274
00:12:35,448 --> 00:12:37,172
on his alleged
terrorist training camp
275
00:12:37,206 --> 00:12:39,241
in eastern Afghanistan.
276
00:12:39,275 --> 00:12:42,724
- The United States
had tried to retaliate
277
00:12:42,758 --> 00:12:45,724
and did no real damage,
278
00:12:45,758 --> 00:12:48,793
and so, to his followers,
279
00:12:48,827 --> 00:12:50,689
he looked like
he had taken on
280
00:12:50,724 --> 00:12:52,689
the United States and won.
281
00:12:52,724 --> 00:12:56,344
- My fellow Americans,
our battle against terrorism
282
00:12:56,379 --> 00:12:59,206
did not begin with a bombing
of our embassies in Africa,
283
00:12:59,241 --> 00:13:01,758
nor will it end
with today's strike.
284
00:13:01,793 --> 00:13:04,620
- You gotta hit 'em
in the effing nose, okay?
285
00:13:04,655 --> 00:13:06,206
You hit them
in the effing nose,
286
00:13:06,241 --> 00:13:08,758
and if they don't go down,
you hit them again.
287
00:13:08,793 --> 00:13:10,413
President Clinton
should have been asking us
288
00:13:10,448 --> 00:13:13,758
every day,
"Where is Osama bin Laden,
289
00:13:13,793 --> 00:13:15,068
and what are you
doing about it?"
290
00:13:15,103 --> 00:13:17,620
No lawyers,
no Janet Reno saying,
291
00:13:17,655 --> 00:13:20,344
"You can't shoot the helicopter
because that's assassination."
292
00:13:20,379 --> 00:13:21,862
None of that.
293
00:13:21,896 --> 00:13:24,275
You say, "This guy
has bombed our embassies.
294
00:13:24,310 --> 00:13:27,034
I want him dead."
295
00:13:27,068 --> 00:13:29,827
♪
296
00:13:35,931 --> 00:13:38,896
[soft dramatic music]
297
00:13:38,931 --> 00:13:45,724
♪
298
00:13:47,379 --> 00:13:50,379
- The big high of this job
that I will never forget
299
00:13:50,413 --> 00:13:51,758
is the quality
of the men and women
300
00:13:51,793 --> 00:13:53,275
and what they meant to me.
301
00:13:53,310 --> 00:13:55,344
♪
302
00:13:55,379 --> 00:13:56,862
Someone once asked me,
303
00:13:56,896 --> 00:13:58,034
"How'd you get
through tough days?"
304
00:13:58,068 --> 00:14:00,000
♪
305
00:14:00,034 --> 00:14:01,965
'Cause I was surrounded
by men and women
306
00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:04,068
who were ready for it.
307
00:14:04,103 --> 00:14:06,172
- George Tenet
became director
308
00:14:06,206 --> 00:14:09,689
of Central Intelligence
in 1997.
309
00:14:09,724 --> 00:14:13,275
A brash New Yorker
and son of Greek immigrants,
310
00:14:13,310 --> 00:14:15,379
he would become one of
the longest tenured directors
311
00:14:15,413 --> 00:14:17,586
at the CIA.
312
00:14:17,620 --> 00:14:21,034
He spoke about the agency's
successes and failures
313
00:14:21,068 --> 00:14:24,034
in a rare interview in 2015.
314
00:14:24,068 --> 00:14:27,620
- We knew
that al-Qaeda was dedicated.
315
00:14:27,655 --> 00:14:30,413
We understood
that this was an organization
316
00:14:30,448 --> 00:14:33,620
that was operating
with a hub in Afghanistan
317
00:14:33,655 --> 00:14:35,931
that operated
in 60 countries.
318
00:14:35,965 --> 00:14:38,103
We understood
that they had an interest
319
00:14:38,137 --> 00:14:40,103
in attacking
the United States overseas
320
00:14:40,137 --> 00:14:41,137
or inside this country.
321
00:14:42,586 --> 00:14:45,551
[indistinct chatter]
322
00:14:45,586 --> 00:14:49,689
- The CIA deserves
both credit and blame.
323
00:14:49,724 --> 00:14:52,689
They deserve credit
for knowing
324
00:14:52,724 --> 00:14:54,793
that a major attack was coming.
325
00:14:54,827 --> 00:14:56,931
People say,
"Oh, well, they didn't know
326
00:14:56,965 --> 00:14:59,896
where the attack was going
to be or when or how."
327
00:14:59,931 --> 00:15:03,793
That's true, but you can't
expect them to know that.
328
00:15:03,827 --> 00:15:05,344
- Richard Clark
329
00:15:05,379 --> 00:15:07,551
was the top
counterterrorism official
330
00:15:07,586 --> 00:15:10,206
at the White House,
coordinating efforts
331
00:15:10,241 --> 00:15:12,413
across all
U.S. intelligence agencies,
332
00:15:12,448 --> 00:15:15,103
including the CIA.
333
00:15:15,137 --> 00:15:17,241
- It was not
an intelligence failure.
334
00:15:17,275 --> 00:15:22,068
9/11 was something that they
had predicted in broad strokes.
335
00:15:22,103 --> 00:15:26,103
What they failed to do was
to actually act on their words
336
00:15:26,137 --> 00:15:27,827
and do anything about it.
337
00:15:29,965 --> 00:15:32,586
- I don't believe
that Mr. Clark
338
00:15:32,620 --> 00:15:34,206
has an accurate sense
339
00:15:34,241 --> 00:15:36,689
of the sense of urgency
that existed
340
00:15:36,724 --> 00:15:38,965
at the Central
Intelligence Agency
341
00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:42,448
between the East Africa bombing
and 9/11.
342
00:15:42,482 --> 00:15:44,931
- By 1999,
343
00:15:44,965 --> 00:15:47,034
as a new millennium
approaches,
344
00:15:47,068 --> 00:15:49,206
the CIA believes
more terror attacks
345
00:15:49,241 --> 00:15:51,448
against the U.S. are imminent.
346
00:15:51,482 --> 00:15:53,724
♪
347
00:15:53,758 --> 00:15:55,551
- There is not
the slightest doubt
348
00:15:55,586 --> 00:15:57,275
that Osama bin Laden,
349
00:15:57,310 --> 00:15:59,344
his worldwide allies,
and his sympathizers
350
00:15:59,379 --> 00:16:01,517
are planning
further attacks against us.
351
00:16:01,551 --> 00:16:03,586
♪
352
00:16:03,620 --> 00:16:06,620
We are concerned that one
or more of bin Laden's attacks
353
00:16:06,655 --> 00:16:08,137
could occur at any time.
354
00:16:10,379 --> 00:16:12,068
- During
the millennium threat period,
355
00:16:12,103 --> 00:16:15,034
I told the President
of the United States
356
00:16:15,068 --> 00:16:18,034
to expect
between 5 and 15 attacks
357
00:16:18,068 --> 00:16:19,551
against American interests.
358
00:16:22,965 --> 00:16:24,931
- Holiday travelers
warned to be calm
359
00:16:24,965 --> 00:16:27,517
but vigilant
for millennium terror threats.
360
00:16:27,551 --> 00:16:29,034
- Preparing for the worst.
361
00:16:29,068 --> 00:16:32,034
The CIA believes
that a bin Laden terror attack
362
00:16:32,068 --> 00:16:35,034
for New Years
is now likely. The U.S...
363
00:16:35,068 --> 00:16:38,034
- The fury
of technical operations
364
00:16:38,068 --> 00:16:41,275
for a period of months
was enormous.
365
00:16:41,310 --> 00:16:43,793
- Arrests in Jordan last week
have linked the threats
366
00:16:43,827 --> 00:16:46,758
to exiled Saudi militant
Osama bin Laden.
367
00:16:46,793 --> 00:16:50,517
- 300 extra customs agents
are on high alert this morning
368
00:16:50,551 --> 00:16:52,793
at entry points
across the United States.
369
00:16:52,827 --> 00:16:55,103
- The arrest of 32-year-old
Ahmed Ressam
370
00:16:55,137 --> 00:16:57,931
has sent a chill through
American law enforcement.
371
00:16:57,965 --> 00:16:59,413
Now they fear terrorists
have begun
372
00:16:59,448 --> 00:17:01,896
selecting targets
within the United States.
373
00:17:03,793 --> 00:17:06,965
- Bill Clinton said,
"Go on alert."
374
00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,241
- Guys, let's go.
Out, out.
375
00:17:10,275 --> 00:17:13,896
- Pull out all the stops,
do whatever you can
376
00:17:13,931 --> 00:17:17,241
to stop
this possible al-Qaeda attack
377
00:17:17,275 --> 00:17:18,965
around the millennium.
378
00:17:20,551 --> 00:17:22,379
- Just a few minutes ago,
the ball dropped here
379
00:17:22,413 --> 00:17:24,620
in Times Square,
and revelers cheered
380
00:17:24,655 --> 00:17:26,241
as the year 2000...
381
00:17:26,275 --> 00:17:27,896
- Were there
successful attacks
382
00:17:27,931 --> 00:17:29,758
around the millennium?
No, there were not.
383
00:17:29,793 --> 00:17:33,620
♪
384
00:17:33,655 --> 00:17:36,793
- What was really happening
at the CIA
385
00:17:36,827 --> 00:17:38,965
was that everybody
had been stunned,
386
00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:42,206
shocked by the extent
of al-Qaeda planning
387
00:17:42,241 --> 00:17:45,034
to carry out strikes
at the turn of the millennium.
388
00:17:46,448 --> 00:17:48,620
And so they had said,
"What else are we missing?
389
00:17:48,655 --> 00:17:50,034
What else is out there?"
390
00:17:50,068 --> 00:17:52,517
And they redoubled
their targeting
391
00:17:52,551 --> 00:17:55,793
for collection of phones,
392
00:17:55,827 --> 00:17:58,379
surveillance
of individuals' homes.
393
00:18:00,034 --> 00:18:02,724
- Major terror plots
have been thwarted,
394
00:18:02,758 --> 00:18:07,034
but the CIA is about to make
one of its biggest mistakes.
395
00:18:07,068 --> 00:18:09,551
♪
396
00:18:09,586 --> 00:18:13,034
- On December, 1999, CIA, FBI,
397
00:18:13,068 --> 00:18:15,758
and the Department of State
received intelligence
398
00:18:15,793 --> 00:18:18,758
on the travels of suspected
al-Qaeda operatives
399
00:18:18,793 --> 00:18:20,448
to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
400
00:18:20,482 --> 00:18:24,862
♪
401
00:18:24,896 --> 00:18:27,068
The CIA saw the
Kuala Lumpur gathering
402
00:18:27,103 --> 00:18:29,965
as a potential source
of intelligence
403
00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:31,689
about a possible
al-Qaeda attack
404
00:18:31,724 --> 00:18:33,034
in Southeast Asia.
405
00:18:33,068 --> 00:18:35,103
♪
406
00:18:35,137 --> 00:18:37,620
- These men,
Khalid al-Mihdhar
407
00:18:37,655 --> 00:18:39,862
and Nawaf al-Hazmi,
are part of the group
408
00:18:39,896 --> 00:18:42,344
traveling to Kuala Lumpur.
409
00:18:42,379 --> 00:18:44,172
Al-Mihdhar is believed
410
00:18:44,206 --> 00:18:46,586
to have ties
to Osama bin Laden.
411
00:18:46,620 --> 00:18:49,068
- The 4th of January, 2000,
412
00:18:49,103 --> 00:18:52,379
CIA obtained a photocopy
of al-Mihdhar's passport
413
00:18:52,413 --> 00:18:55,068
as he traveled to Kuala Lumpur.
414
00:18:55,103 --> 00:18:58,379
CIA suspected that al-Mihdhar
was a terrorist
415
00:18:58,413 --> 00:19:01,379
and knew he had a visa
to enter the United States.
416
00:19:01,413 --> 00:19:04,103
♪
417
00:19:04,137 --> 00:19:06,103
- A suspected
al-Qaeda terrorist
418
00:19:06,137 --> 00:19:08,448
intent on traveling
to the U.S.
419
00:19:08,482 --> 00:19:12,344
♪
420
00:19:12,379 --> 00:19:15,965
The CIA sets up surveillance,
but the two men get away.
421
00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:17,517
♪
422
00:19:17,551 --> 00:19:19,724
The agency fails
to put their names
423
00:19:19,758 --> 00:19:21,172
on a travel watchlist.
424
00:19:21,206 --> 00:19:23,620
♪
425
00:19:23,655 --> 00:19:26,793
- It defies all understanding
426
00:19:26,827 --> 00:19:30,965
that the CIA could know
that these two people
427
00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:32,965
were in the United States
428
00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:35,172
and not immediately
pick up the phone
429
00:19:35,206 --> 00:19:37,275
and tell the FBI
at a high level,
430
00:19:37,310 --> 00:19:39,206
not immediately
pick up the phone
431
00:19:39,241 --> 00:19:42,034
and tell the National
Coordinator for Terrorism.
432
00:19:42,068 --> 00:19:45,034
- It was our responsibility
at CIA
433
00:19:45,068 --> 00:19:48,758
to tell the FBI
that information
434
00:19:48,793 --> 00:19:50,758
in a formal memo
435
00:19:50,793 --> 00:19:53,241
so that they
could be watch-listed.
436
00:19:53,275 --> 00:19:55,896
They could be put
on the no-fly list.
437
00:19:58,103 --> 00:20:00,965
And we didn't do that.
We failed.
438
00:20:02,241 --> 00:20:05,137
- The CIA says
it simply dropped the ball.
439
00:20:07,103 --> 00:20:09,172
- Should they
have been watch-listed?
440
00:20:09,206 --> 00:20:10,758
- Yes, sir.
We've acknowledged that fact.
441
00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,586
- Two weeks after
the meeting in Kuala Lumpur,
442
00:20:16,620 --> 00:20:18,551
al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi
443
00:20:18,586 --> 00:20:22,068
touch down at Los Angeles
International Airport,
444
00:20:22,103 --> 00:20:23,965
one step closer
to the worst attack
445
00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:26,448
on U.S. soil
since Pearl Harbor.
446
00:20:26,482 --> 00:20:28,068
♪
447
00:20:28,103 --> 00:20:31,724
- They have been recruited
into the plan
448
00:20:31,758 --> 00:20:33,586
that Osama bin Laden
had authorized
449
00:20:33,620 --> 00:20:36,551
to hijack airplanes,
turn them into cruise missiles,
450
00:20:36,586 --> 00:20:38,965
and fly them into targets
in the United States.
451
00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:41,448
♪
452
00:20:41,482 --> 00:20:44,241
- We can never say,
in retrospect,
453
00:20:44,275 --> 00:20:47,551
if we had done X or Y,
it would have stopped 9/11.
454
00:20:47,586 --> 00:20:48,758
There's no way of knowing that.
455
00:20:50,551 --> 00:20:52,758
We do know that there were
many opportunities
456
00:20:52,793 --> 00:20:56,068
that CIA either missed
457
00:20:56,103 --> 00:20:58,172
or refused to participate in,
458
00:20:58,206 --> 00:21:01,517
and maybe, maybe,
459
00:21:01,551 --> 00:21:03,551
that could've stopped 9/11.
460
00:21:03,586 --> 00:21:06,517
[dramatic music]
461
00:21:06,551 --> 00:21:09,689
- If we'd been asleep
at the switch, not warning,
462
00:21:09,724 --> 00:21:12,413
not acting, not preventing
people from being killed,
463
00:21:12,448 --> 00:21:15,689
we live terrorism
like we live no other issue,
464
00:21:15,724 --> 00:21:17,206
no other issue.
465
00:21:17,241 --> 00:21:19,241
No matter what anybody says,
466
00:21:19,275 --> 00:21:22,000
they'll never understand
how we live this issue.
467
00:21:24,068 --> 00:21:26,827
[soft dramatic music]
468
00:21:31,931 --> 00:21:34,896
[soft dramatic music]
469
00:21:34,931 --> 00:21:38,103
♪
470
00:21:38,137 --> 00:21:42,034
- My first exposure
to al-Qaeda was in 1997,
471
00:21:42,068 --> 00:21:44,068
when I watched
the first interview
472
00:21:44,103 --> 00:21:45,758
with bin Laden to the West
473
00:21:45,793 --> 00:21:47,793
where he issued
his declaration of war
474
00:21:47,827 --> 00:21:49,448
against the United States.
475
00:21:49,482 --> 00:21:52,448
- [speaking Arabic]
476
00:21:52,482 --> 00:21:54,793
- We declared a jihad,
477
00:21:54,827 --> 00:21:57,965
a holy war against
the United States government
478
00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:01,551
because it is unjust,
criminal, and tyrannical.
479
00:22:01,586 --> 00:22:04,931
- Being young, obviously
it felt like I was a target.
480
00:22:06,103 --> 00:22:07,586
My name is Tracy Walder,
481
00:22:07,620 --> 00:22:09,448
and I was
a staff operations officer
482
00:22:09,482 --> 00:22:12,965
at the CIA
on September 11, 2001.
483
00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:15,275
♪
484
00:22:15,310 --> 00:22:18,344
- Tracy Walder joined the CIA
straight out of college
485
00:22:18,379 --> 00:22:20,586
in the summer of 2000.
486
00:22:20,620 --> 00:22:23,586
She was thrown into the hunt
for Osama bin Laden,
487
00:22:23,620 --> 00:22:27,275
investigating terrorist
training camps in Afghanistan.
488
00:22:27,310 --> 00:22:30,689
- I don't think
that maybe we fully realized
489
00:22:30,724 --> 00:22:33,862
or understood up
until that point
490
00:22:33,896 --> 00:22:37,275
how structured
their training was
491
00:22:37,310 --> 00:22:39,241
and how organized,
quite frankly,
492
00:22:39,275 --> 00:22:40,379
their training was.
493
00:22:40,413 --> 00:22:44,241
♪
494
00:22:44,275 --> 00:22:46,379
And I believe
that in the upper echelons
495
00:22:46,413 --> 00:22:48,206
of administration,
496
00:22:48,241 --> 00:22:52,103
that al-Qaeda
was very underestimated.
497
00:22:52,137 --> 00:22:55,689
♪
498
00:22:55,724 --> 00:22:58,034
I think that it was,
"Uh, well, those people
499
00:22:58,068 --> 00:22:59,620
"in that dirt farm,
500
00:22:59,655 --> 00:23:02,931
"they won't be able
to do anything huge anyway,
501
00:23:02,965 --> 00:23:05,241
"so it won't be that difficult
to get bin Laden,
502
00:23:05,275 --> 00:23:06,862
"and they won't be capable
503
00:23:06,896 --> 00:23:09,172
of this sort
of large scale attacks."
504
00:23:09,206 --> 00:23:16,241
♪
505
00:23:17,241 --> 00:23:18,586
- Our top story this morning
is the attack
506
00:23:18,620 --> 00:23:20,034
on a U.S. ship in Yemen.
507
00:23:20,068 --> 00:23:22,620
♪
508
00:23:22,655 --> 00:23:24,793
- An explosion ripped through
the USS "Cole,"
509
00:23:24,827 --> 00:23:27,758
killing 17 sailors
and injuring 39 others.
510
00:23:27,793 --> 00:23:29,448
- The working theory
among intelligence
511
00:23:29,482 --> 00:23:31,103
and law enforcement officials
512
00:23:31,137 --> 00:23:33,379
is that this was
the work of Osama bin Laden.
513
00:23:35,137 --> 00:23:38,068
- 17 Americans dead.
514
00:23:38,103 --> 00:23:41,344
Investigators confirm
it was al-Qaeda.
515
00:23:41,379 --> 00:23:43,517
♪
516
00:23:43,551 --> 00:23:46,034
- If their intention
was to deter from our mission
517
00:23:46,068 --> 00:23:49,586
of promoting peace and security
in the Middle East,
518
00:23:49,620 --> 00:23:52,241
they will fail utterly.
519
00:23:52,275 --> 00:23:54,068
- Soon the burden will shift
520
00:23:54,103 --> 00:23:57,206
from one U.S. president
to another,
521
00:23:57,241 --> 00:23:59,896
but there's confusion
and delay.
522
00:23:59,931 --> 00:24:02,448
♪
523
00:24:02,482 --> 00:24:04,620
- Today in Florida,
the race for the White house
524
00:24:04,655 --> 00:24:06,310
became a race
to the courthouse.
525
00:24:07,551 --> 00:24:10,206
- I felt that every day
that we didn't kill bin Laden,
526
00:24:10,241 --> 00:24:12,034
that we didn't destroy
the leadership,
527
00:24:12,068 --> 00:24:14,724
the sands of time
were running out on us.
528
00:24:14,758 --> 00:24:16,551
- The divisive election
that wrecked this country
529
00:24:16,586 --> 00:24:19,413
for 36 days
after November the 7th.
530
00:24:19,448 --> 00:24:21,586
- The votes of a single county
531
00:24:21,620 --> 00:24:23,275
that could determine
the next president
532
00:24:23,310 --> 00:24:25,034
of the United States.
533
00:24:25,068 --> 00:24:26,965
- The Bush campaign
is sending a clear message
534
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:29,517
that they are preparing
for the presidency.
535
00:24:29,551 --> 00:24:30,689
- Our hair is on fire.
536
00:24:30,724 --> 00:24:32,034
- It's a Bush win
537
00:24:32,068 --> 00:24:33,379
in the United States
Supreme Court.
538
00:24:33,413 --> 00:24:36,172
- The lights are blinking red
as far as we're concerned.
539
00:24:36,206 --> 00:24:38,241
- I, George Walker Bush,
do solemnly swear...
540
00:24:38,275 --> 00:24:40,344
- The Bush administration
took this seriously...
541
00:24:40,379 --> 00:24:41,724
- That I will
faithfully execute
542
00:24:41,758 --> 00:24:44,034
the office of President
of the United States.
543
00:24:44,068 --> 00:24:45,379
♪
544
00:24:45,413 --> 00:24:47,793
- But like
the Clinton administration,
545
00:24:47,827 --> 00:24:49,379
they, too, ran out of time.
546
00:24:49,413 --> 00:24:51,344
♪
547
00:24:51,379 --> 00:24:54,413
- The new administration
is settling in,
548
00:24:54,448 --> 00:24:56,931
just coming to grips
with the grave threat
549
00:24:56,965 --> 00:24:59,172
posed by al-Qaeda.
550
00:24:59,206 --> 00:25:01,206
A plot against
the United States
551
00:25:01,241 --> 00:25:05,344
is developing
at the worst possible time.
552
00:25:05,379 --> 00:25:07,172
- I think there were
two people in the White House
553
00:25:07,206 --> 00:25:10,896
who were responsible
for making sure
554
00:25:10,931 --> 00:25:13,862
that there was
a sense of urgency,
555
00:25:13,896 --> 00:25:15,103
and that's Richard Clarke,
556
00:25:15,137 --> 00:25:18,379
who was
the counterterrorism advisor,
557
00:25:18,413 --> 00:25:21,172
and Condi Rice, who was
the national security advisor.
558
00:25:21,206 --> 00:25:22,931
They should have created
a greater sense of urgency
559
00:25:22,965 --> 00:25:23,965
on the policy side.
560
00:25:26,068 --> 00:25:28,586
- There was nothing more
that I could have done
561
00:25:28,620 --> 00:25:30,689
to convey a sense of urgency
562
00:25:30,724 --> 00:25:33,172
other than jumping
out the window.
563
00:25:33,206 --> 00:25:36,241
- We were looking for
a more comprehensive plan
564
00:25:36,275 --> 00:25:38,965
to eliminate al-Qaeda,
but we weren't sitting still.
565
00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:40,793
While that plan was developing,
566
00:25:40,827 --> 00:25:43,551
we were continuing
to pursue the policies
567
00:25:43,586 --> 00:25:45,413
that the Clinton
administration had pursued.
568
00:25:45,448 --> 00:25:47,379
♪
569
00:25:47,413 --> 00:25:50,551
- National security advisor
Condoleezza Rice
570
00:25:50,586 --> 00:25:53,103
is on the job just five days
571
00:25:53,137 --> 00:25:55,517
when she receives a request
from Richard Clarke.
572
00:25:55,551 --> 00:25:58,034
♪
573
00:25:58,068 --> 00:26:00,344
- I sent a memo saying,
574
00:26:00,379 --> 00:26:03,068
"We need
a urgent, high-level meeting
575
00:26:03,103 --> 00:26:05,758
"to approve
more aggressive action
576
00:26:05,793 --> 00:26:07,931
"against bin Laden,
577
00:26:07,965 --> 00:26:09,758
"because the intelligence
is indicating
578
00:26:09,793 --> 00:26:12,862
that they're planning
major attacks against us."
579
00:26:12,896 --> 00:26:14,931
♪
580
00:26:14,965 --> 00:26:16,827
And I underlined "urgent."
581
00:26:18,413 --> 00:26:20,034
I wanted
that principal's meeting
582
00:26:20,068 --> 00:26:21,551
the next week.
583
00:26:22,965 --> 00:26:26,448
I got that principal's meeting,
not in January,
584
00:26:26,482 --> 00:26:29,551
but on September 4th,
585
00:26:29,586 --> 00:26:31,448
a week before the attack.
586
00:26:33,137 --> 00:26:35,448
- Rice insists
the Bush administration
587
00:26:35,482 --> 00:26:37,551
was working furiously
in response
588
00:26:37,586 --> 00:26:40,344
to the looming threat,
but that the intelligence,
589
00:26:40,379 --> 00:26:42,275
while dire, was far too vague.
590
00:26:42,310 --> 00:26:44,344
♪
591
00:26:44,379 --> 00:26:46,896
- Let me read you
some of the actual chatter
592
00:26:46,931 --> 00:26:50,034
that was picked up
in that spring and summer.
593
00:26:50,068 --> 00:26:52,551
"Unbelievable news
coming in weeks.
594
00:26:52,586 --> 00:26:54,620
"Big event.
595
00:26:54,655 --> 00:26:58,172
"There will be a very, very,
very, very big uproar.
596
00:26:58,206 --> 00:26:59,931
There will be attacks
in the near future."
597
00:27:01,448 --> 00:27:02,724
Troubling, yes.
598
00:27:04,758 --> 00:27:07,344
But they don't tell us when,
they don't tell us where,
599
00:27:07,379 --> 00:27:09,931
they don't tell us who,
and they don't tell us how.
600
00:27:13,551 --> 00:27:16,413
- What happens
in the spring and summer
601
00:27:16,448 --> 00:27:18,517
is the threat is
starting to rise all over.
602
00:27:18,551 --> 00:27:19,620
♪
603
00:27:19,655 --> 00:27:21,620
[sirens blare]
604
00:27:21,655 --> 00:27:23,862
♪
605
00:27:23,896 --> 00:27:26,620
- If you were to chart
our reporting on a graph...
606
00:27:26,655 --> 00:27:28,275
♪
607
00:27:28,310 --> 00:27:30,034
It would go like this,
608
00:27:30,068 --> 00:27:32,068
and then, in July,
it would spike like this.
609
00:27:33,275 --> 00:27:35,862
- We needed to take advantage
of the Afghan sanctuary,
610
00:27:35,896 --> 00:27:39,172
take advantage of the discord
that the Taliban had sowed
611
00:27:39,206 --> 00:27:42,517
between them
and the tribes of Afghanistan.
612
00:27:42,551 --> 00:27:44,275
We needed to get
inside the sanctuary.
613
00:27:44,310 --> 00:27:46,172
♪
614
00:27:46,206 --> 00:27:48,379
- We knew that's where
the planning was occurring.
615
00:27:48,413 --> 00:27:51,448
We knew that camps were there.
We knew bin Laden was there.
616
00:27:51,482 --> 00:27:53,275
We knew terrorists were there.
617
00:27:53,310 --> 00:27:56,172
- I said, "Condi,
I have to come see you."
618
00:27:56,206 --> 00:27:58,206
It was one of the rare times
in my seven years
619
00:27:58,241 --> 00:28:00,551
as director where I said,
"I have to come see you."
620
00:28:00,586 --> 00:28:05,931
♪
621
00:28:05,965 --> 00:28:08,034
- Tenet and
his top counterterrorism aide
622
00:28:08,068 --> 00:28:10,931
Cofer Black
rush to the White House.
623
00:28:10,965 --> 00:28:13,379
Their message is unmistakable.
624
00:28:13,413 --> 00:28:15,206
♪
625
00:28:15,241 --> 00:28:17,034
- There will be
significant terrorist attacks
626
00:28:17,068 --> 00:28:19,620
against the United States
in the coming weeks or months.
627
00:28:19,655 --> 00:28:21,724
The attacks
will be spectacular.
628
00:28:21,758 --> 00:28:23,758
They may be multiple.
629
00:28:23,793 --> 00:28:25,551
Al-Qaeda's intention
is the destruction
630
00:28:25,586 --> 00:28:26,931
of the United States.
631
00:28:26,965 --> 00:28:28,413
"What do you think
we need to do?"
632
00:28:28,448 --> 00:28:29,724
was the question.
633
00:28:29,758 --> 00:28:31,862
Cofer responded by saying,
634
00:28:31,896 --> 00:28:34,034
"We need to go
on a wartime footing now."
635
00:28:34,068 --> 00:28:35,862
♪
636
00:28:35,896 --> 00:28:39,172
- That's what all of us
had been saying for months,
637
00:28:39,206 --> 00:28:42,172
that we needed decisions
to put us on a war footing.
638
00:28:42,206 --> 00:28:44,448
We couldn't make
those decisions ourselves.
639
00:28:44,482 --> 00:28:46,344
Those decisions had
to be made by the president.
640
00:28:46,379 --> 00:28:51,034
♪
641
00:28:51,068 --> 00:28:52,551
- I think
we've all asked ourselves,
642
00:28:52,586 --> 00:28:54,275
"What more could
have been done?"
643
00:28:54,310 --> 00:28:55,965
♪
644
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,241
If we had known
that an attack
645
00:28:59,275 --> 00:29:01,413
was coming
against the United States,
646
00:29:01,448 --> 00:29:03,413
an attack was coming against
New York and Washington,
647
00:29:03,448 --> 00:29:05,034
we would have moved
heaven and Earth to stop it.
648
00:29:05,068 --> 00:29:06,862
♪
649
00:29:06,896 --> 00:29:10,034
- There was never intelligence
that indicated the attack
650
00:29:10,068 --> 00:29:12,172
would be in the United States.
651
00:29:12,206 --> 00:29:14,896
In fact, the intelligence
652
00:29:14,931 --> 00:29:19,689
was frustratingly lacking
in detail
653
00:29:19,724 --> 00:29:23,965
on location, date, and method.
654
00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:27,344
♪
655
00:29:27,379 --> 00:29:30,586
- A few weeks
before September 11th,
656
00:29:30,620 --> 00:29:33,103
we started noticing
that the training camps
657
00:29:33,137 --> 00:29:35,241
were basically dead.
658
00:29:39,413 --> 00:29:42,413
- The intelligence
just dried up.
659
00:29:42,448 --> 00:29:44,068
♪
660
00:29:44,103 --> 00:29:47,931
What was
a regular flow of intelligence
661
00:29:47,965 --> 00:29:52,068
about a significant
al-Qaeda attack
662
00:29:52,103 --> 00:29:53,448
just was gone.
663
00:29:53,482 --> 00:29:55,172
♪
664
00:29:55,206 --> 00:29:58,241
- The CIA knows
an attack is coming somewhere.
665
00:30:00,068 --> 00:30:02,344
One of George Tenet's
senior aides
666
00:30:02,379 --> 00:30:04,103
goes to him with a warning.
667
00:30:05,793 --> 00:30:08,413
- I'll never forget this
till the day I die.
668
00:30:08,448 --> 00:30:10,517
"They're coming here."
669
00:30:10,551 --> 00:30:13,379
And the silence
that followed was deafening.
670
00:30:13,413 --> 00:30:15,206
You could hear a pin drop.
671
00:30:25,103 --> 00:30:27,413
- What Tenet and the CIA
don't know
672
00:30:27,448 --> 00:30:29,241
is that, by early August,
673
00:30:29,275 --> 00:30:33,344
19 men intent on hijacking
commercial airliners
674
00:30:33,379 --> 00:30:35,379
are already
in the United States.
675
00:30:45,827 --> 00:30:50,344
- I sent an email
to Condi Rice, and I said,
676
00:30:50,379 --> 00:30:53,068
"I want you to imagine
that you were in the future"...
677
00:30:53,103 --> 00:30:56,379
♪
678
00:30:56,413 --> 00:30:59,379
"On the day
when al-Qaeda has attacked,
679
00:30:59,413 --> 00:31:02,724
"and there are hundreds
of dead Americans
680
00:31:02,758 --> 00:31:05,965
"in the streets
of an American city.
681
00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:09,034
"What would you wish
682
00:31:09,068 --> 00:31:10,517
that you had done before?"
683
00:31:10,551 --> 00:31:13,103
♪
684
00:31:13,137 --> 00:31:16,620
"Well, that future day
is coming,
685
00:31:16,655 --> 00:31:18,586
and this is the period before."
686
00:31:18,620 --> 00:31:20,172
♪
687
00:31:20,206 --> 00:31:22,344
"This is the time
when you can do something."
688
00:31:22,379 --> 00:31:29,413
♪
689
00:31:36,965 --> 00:31:39,034
[soft dramatic music]
690
00:31:39,068 --> 00:31:40,793
♪
691
00:31:40,827 --> 00:31:42,793
- President Bush
travels to Florida today
692
00:31:42,827 --> 00:31:44,241
to talk education,
693
00:31:44,275 --> 00:31:45,862
but he's getting
a harsh lesson
694
00:31:45,896 --> 00:31:48,241
about
the deteriorating economy.
695
00:31:48,275 --> 00:31:53,034
♪
696
00:31:53,068 --> 00:31:56,034
- I was on Air Force One
when it went wheels up
697
00:31:56,068 --> 00:31:59,689
for what was to be
a domestic trip to Florida.
698
00:31:59,724 --> 00:32:04,620
♪
699
00:32:04,655 --> 00:32:05,896
The PDB that morning
700
00:32:05,931 --> 00:32:10,413
had the typical 10 to 12 items.
701
00:32:10,448 --> 00:32:11,931
There was nothing in the book
about terrorism.
702
00:32:13,620 --> 00:32:15,551
I left his suite,
and I was told
703
00:32:15,586 --> 00:32:19,206
to join the motorcade,
and we'd be soon heading
704
00:32:19,241 --> 00:32:20,931
toward where the president
was gonna do
705
00:32:20,965 --> 00:32:22,448
one of his education events.
706
00:32:22,482 --> 00:32:27,137
- I was having breakfast
in downtown Washington.
707
00:32:28,931 --> 00:32:31,172
- We understand that a plane
708
00:32:31,206 --> 00:32:33,103
has crashed
into the World Trade Center.
709
00:32:33,137 --> 00:32:34,689
We don't know anything
more than that.
710
00:32:34,724 --> 00:32:36,689
We don't know if it
was a commercial aircraft.
711
00:32:36,724 --> 00:32:38,103
- The head
of my security detail
712
00:32:38,137 --> 00:32:39,862
came over to me to say
713
00:32:39,896 --> 00:32:41,172
a plane had hit
one of the towers
714
00:32:41,206 --> 00:32:43,068
of the World Trade Center.
715
00:32:45,241 --> 00:32:46,965
My instinctual reaction was,
716
00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:48,793
"This is al-Qaeda.
I've got to go."
717
00:32:48,827 --> 00:32:52,034
- They were the only enemy
we had who had said
718
00:32:52,068 --> 00:32:54,758
that they were gonna do some
sort of catastrophic attack.
719
00:32:54,793 --> 00:32:56,172
- All of us were just quiet.
720
00:32:56,206 --> 00:32:59,551
I think we all were
just sitting at our desks,
721
00:32:59,586 --> 00:33:02,689
absorbing sort of
what happened.
722
00:33:02,724 --> 00:33:04,793
- We all looked at each other
and said, "This is it."
723
00:33:04,827 --> 00:33:07,517
This is before
the second plane even hit,
724
00:33:07,551 --> 00:33:09,793
and, of course,
we watched in horror
725
00:33:09,827 --> 00:33:11,448
as the second plane flew in.
726
00:33:11,482 --> 00:33:14,517
♪
727
00:33:14,551 --> 00:33:16,862
- Another one,
another plane just hit.
728
00:33:16,896 --> 00:33:18,448
- [gasps]
- Oh, my God.
729
00:33:18,482 --> 00:33:21,586
Another plane
has just hit that--yes,
730
00:33:21,620 --> 00:33:23,413
that was definitely
was like it was on purpose.
731
00:33:23,448 --> 00:33:26,344
♪
732
00:33:26,379 --> 00:33:29,379
- 60 on page 153.
733
00:33:29,413 --> 00:33:32,103
Get ready for the beginning
of that sentence.
734
00:33:32,137 --> 00:33:33,551
Get ready.
735
00:33:33,586 --> 00:33:37,275
students: She played
with her boat in her house.
736
00:33:37,310 --> 00:33:38,689
- Go on.
737
00:33:38,724 --> 00:33:40,793
students:
She played with her...
738
00:33:40,827 --> 00:33:42,448
- Two things
were racing through my mind
739
00:33:42,482 --> 00:33:45,103
when the second plane hit.
740
00:33:45,137 --> 00:33:49,793
One was, "This is al-Qaeda.
This is bin Laden."
741
00:33:49,827 --> 00:33:51,965
The second was,
742
00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:55,103
"Is somebody gonna
fly a plane into this school?"
743
00:33:55,137 --> 00:33:57,931
♪
744
00:33:57,965 --> 00:33:59,793
This is what we
have been worrying about.
745
00:33:59,827 --> 00:34:01,793
♪
746
00:34:01,827 --> 00:34:03,379
This is the nightmare scenario.
747
00:34:03,413 --> 00:34:10,206
♪
748
00:34:10,241 --> 00:34:12,758
- Today, we've had
a national tragedy.
749
00:34:12,793 --> 00:34:14,448
♪
750
00:34:14,482 --> 00:34:17,586
Two airplanes have crashed
751
00:34:17,620 --> 00:34:20,241
into the World Trade Center
752
00:34:20,275 --> 00:34:22,310
in an apparent terrorist attack
on our country.
753
00:34:25,275 --> 00:34:26,689
- At the White House,
754
00:34:26,724 --> 00:34:29,103
Richard Clarke
is in the situation room
755
00:34:29,137 --> 00:34:31,931
coordinating the nation's
emergency response
756
00:34:31,965 --> 00:34:33,758
as the attacks unfold.
757
00:34:33,793 --> 00:34:35,689
- What I had up on
the TV screens
758
00:34:35,724 --> 00:34:37,034
were the command centers,
759
00:34:37,068 --> 00:34:39,448
and at one point,
it became very clear
760
00:34:39,482 --> 00:34:41,241
that the Pentagon had been hit.
761
00:34:41,275 --> 00:34:43,344
The people I was talking to,
762
00:34:43,379 --> 00:34:45,793
they had felt it,
and then they smelled smoke.
763
00:34:48,586 --> 00:34:50,034
- Oh, my goodness.
764
00:34:50,068 --> 00:34:51,896
There is smoke
pouring out of the Pentagon.
765
00:34:51,931 --> 00:34:54,413
- One eyewitness
is quoted saying
766
00:34:54,448 --> 00:34:56,689
he thinks a plane crashed
into the Pentagon.
767
00:34:56,724 --> 00:35:00,724
♪
768
00:35:00,758 --> 00:35:02,827
- Gentlemen, let's keep moving
away from the building.
769
00:35:04,310 --> 00:35:05,620
Let's get away
from the building,
770
00:35:05,655 --> 00:35:06,965
ladies and gentlemen.
771
00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:08,724
- I was in
the Canon Office Building
772
00:35:08,758 --> 00:35:10,344
up on Capitol Hill.
773
00:35:10,379 --> 00:35:12,689
The members scattered,
774
00:35:12,724 --> 00:35:14,724
and I came out,
jumped in the car.
775
00:35:14,758 --> 00:35:17,620
I actually could see the smoke
776
00:35:17,655 --> 00:35:21,172
from the plane having crashed
into the Pentagon.
777
00:35:21,206 --> 00:35:22,586
♪
778
00:35:22,620 --> 00:35:24,620
- We knew there was
an ongoing attack
779
00:35:24,655 --> 00:35:25,724
that was
targeting Washington...
780
00:35:25,758 --> 00:35:27,758
♪
781
00:35:27,793 --> 00:35:29,379
And we knew there was
782
00:35:29,413 --> 00:35:32,724
another plane up
that was headed this way.
783
00:35:32,758 --> 00:35:34,793
♪
784
00:35:34,827 --> 00:35:36,620
- There is a report
of a large plane crash
785
00:35:36,655 --> 00:35:37,931
in Western Pennsylvania,
786
00:35:37,965 --> 00:35:40,275
80 miles
southeast of Pittsburgh.
787
00:35:40,310 --> 00:35:43,344
The plane is believed
to be a Boeing 767.
788
00:35:43,379 --> 00:35:45,517
♪
789
00:35:45,551 --> 00:35:49,620
- Decisions were made
to ground all the aircraft,
790
00:35:49,655 --> 00:35:51,862
to get fighter jets up
791
00:35:51,896 --> 00:35:55,413
to defend New York
and Washington,
792
00:35:55,448 --> 00:35:58,551
to institute the continuity
of government system,
793
00:35:58,586 --> 00:36:02,068
which we had prepared
in case of a nuclear war.
794
00:36:02,103 --> 00:36:03,241
♪
795
00:36:03,275 --> 00:36:05,103
- At CIA headquarters,
796
00:36:05,137 --> 00:36:08,620
there's concern
they are the next target.
797
00:36:08,655 --> 00:36:10,275
- We know they do multiple.
798
00:36:10,310 --> 00:36:12,034
They've already flown
a plane into the Pentagon.
799
00:36:12,068 --> 00:36:13,965
We need to get
the hell out of here
800
00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:17,034
because we are
the institutional knowledge.
801
00:36:17,068 --> 00:36:19,517
- We decide to tell
most of the workforce
802
00:36:19,551 --> 00:36:21,379
to go home because we assumed
803
00:36:21,413 --> 00:36:23,275
our building was a target.
804
00:36:23,310 --> 00:36:24,620
♪
805
00:36:24,655 --> 00:36:26,413
We assumed
the Capitol was a target.
806
00:36:26,448 --> 00:36:28,724
We assumed
the White House was a target.
807
00:36:28,758 --> 00:36:30,689
Cofer Black said,
"The Counterterrorist Center
808
00:36:30,724 --> 00:36:33,275
wants to stay."
So we kept them there.
809
00:36:33,310 --> 00:36:36,862
We said to Cofer,
"They may die."
810
00:36:36,896 --> 00:36:40,241
And he said,
"Then they'll have to die."
811
00:36:40,275 --> 00:36:42,344
- The president asked
to see me alone.
812
00:36:42,379 --> 00:36:43,689
The president looked me
in the eye, and he said,
813
00:36:43,724 --> 00:36:45,275
"Michael, who did this?"
814
00:36:45,310 --> 00:36:47,793
I said, "Mr. President,
I think when we
815
00:36:47,827 --> 00:36:49,379
"get to the end of the line,
we're gonna find
816
00:36:49,413 --> 00:36:53,793
bin Laden, and we're
gonna find al-Qaeda."
817
00:36:53,827 --> 00:36:56,172
And I told him
that I was so confident
818
00:36:56,206 --> 00:36:57,689
in that judgment
that I would bet
819
00:36:57,724 --> 00:36:59,413
my children's future on it.
820
00:36:59,448 --> 00:37:01,241
♪
821
00:37:01,275 --> 00:37:03,034
- After an hour or so,
822
00:37:03,068 --> 00:37:05,689
a young analyst
came running in,
823
00:37:05,724 --> 00:37:09,241
and this analyst had obtained
copies of the manifests
824
00:37:09,275 --> 00:37:12,034
of the plane
that hit the Pentagon,
825
00:37:12,068 --> 00:37:14,103
and the names
of these two people
826
00:37:14,137 --> 00:37:17,344
were on that manifest,
al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar.
827
00:37:17,379 --> 00:37:19,344
The two people
we'd been looking for.
828
00:37:19,379 --> 00:37:21,206
- Al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar
829
00:37:21,241 --> 00:37:24,862
were the two who had been
in the Kuala Lumpur meeting,
830
00:37:24,896 --> 00:37:28,034
the two who had shown up
in Los Angeles,
831
00:37:28,068 --> 00:37:29,965
the two who had been
in the United States
832
00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:32,275
for over a year,
833
00:37:32,310 --> 00:37:34,172
and two of the people
834
00:37:34,206 --> 00:37:37,862
who would die on 9/11
as hijackers.
835
00:37:37,896 --> 00:37:40,379
- Since entering
the U.S. in 2000,
836
00:37:40,413 --> 00:37:43,103
the two men have been living
under their own names.
837
00:37:43,137 --> 00:37:46,206
Al-Mihdhar is even able
to leave the U.S.
838
00:37:46,241 --> 00:37:48,620
and enter again.
839
00:37:48,655 --> 00:37:51,068
- During August 2001,
840
00:37:51,103 --> 00:37:53,206
CIA had become
increasingly concerned
841
00:37:53,241 --> 00:37:56,034
about a major terrorist attack
on U.S. interests,
842
00:37:56,068 --> 00:37:58,172
and I directed
a review of our files
843
00:37:58,206 --> 00:38:00,413
to identify potential threats.
844
00:38:00,448 --> 00:38:03,793
In the course of that review,
the Counterterrorism Center
845
00:38:03,827 --> 00:38:05,034
found that
these two individuals
846
00:38:05,068 --> 00:38:07,103
had entered the United States.
847
00:38:07,137 --> 00:38:09,379
- 19 days before
the attacks
848
00:38:09,413 --> 00:38:11,551
and 19 months
after first entering
849
00:38:11,586 --> 00:38:13,034
the United States,
850
00:38:13,068 --> 00:38:16,379
the CIA finally adds
al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar
851
00:38:16,413 --> 00:38:19,517
to the watchlist,
but it's too late.
852
00:38:19,551 --> 00:38:21,586
- The CIA knew
853
00:38:21,620 --> 00:38:24,965
that two senior
al-Qaeda terrorists
854
00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:26,965
who had planned
terrorist attacks
855
00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:28,586
were in the United States.
856
00:38:28,620 --> 00:38:31,103
So when the CIA says,
857
00:38:31,137 --> 00:38:33,586
"Well, we didn't know
where or when."
858
00:38:33,620 --> 00:38:37,448
Yeah, that's right,
but they knew who.
859
00:38:37,482 --> 00:38:39,793
- It was a failure
to not detect the presence
860
00:38:39,827 --> 00:38:42,034
of these people
in the United States
861
00:38:42,068 --> 00:38:43,758
before August, yes.
862
00:38:46,103 --> 00:38:47,310
It was a missed opportunity.
863
00:38:49,482 --> 00:38:51,413
- On the night
of September 11th,
864
00:38:51,448 --> 00:38:54,275
Michael Morell
flies back to Washington
865
00:38:54,310 --> 00:38:56,448
with the president
on Air Force One.
866
00:38:56,482 --> 00:38:58,413
On final descent,
867
00:38:58,448 --> 00:39:02,034
a military aid
motions to a stunning sight:
868
00:39:02,068 --> 00:39:04,172
an F-16 fighter jet
869
00:39:04,206 --> 00:39:07,206
alongside
the plane's left wing.
870
00:39:07,241 --> 00:39:09,172
- The F-16 was so close,
871
00:39:09,206 --> 00:39:10,931
you could see the pilot
looking at us.
872
00:39:10,965 --> 00:39:12,379
And in the distance,
873
00:39:12,413 --> 00:39:14,931
you could see
the still-burning Pentagon.
874
00:39:14,965 --> 00:39:19,206
Then he said something
to me that, to this day,
875
00:39:19,241 --> 00:39:21,379
sends shivers up my back.
876
00:39:21,413 --> 00:39:24,551
He said, "Their mission
is, if somebody fires
877
00:39:24,586 --> 00:39:28,896
"a surface-to-air missile
at us on final approach,
878
00:39:28,931 --> 00:39:30,586
"their mission
is to put themselves
879
00:39:30,620 --> 00:39:32,034
"between that missile
880
00:39:32,068 --> 00:39:33,896
and the President
of the United States."
881
00:39:36,137 --> 00:39:36,965
That was surreal.
882
00:39:38,551 --> 00:39:42,862
- Today our fellow citizens,
our way of life,
883
00:39:42,896 --> 00:39:45,344
our very freedom
came under attack
884
00:39:45,379 --> 00:39:49,413
in a series of deliberate
and deadly terrorist acts.
885
00:39:49,448 --> 00:39:51,241
- Around 10:00,
886
00:39:51,275 --> 00:39:53,241
I remember
turning to my computer
887
00:39:53,275 --> 00:39:55,172
and just typing one sentence.
888
00:39:55,206 --> 00:39:58,931
"Nothing will
ever be the same."
889
00:40:00,758 --> 00:40:01,931
- Federal investigators
are following
890
00:40:01,965 --> 00:40:04,034
hundreds of leads tonight
891
00:40:04,068 --> 00:40:06,379
to try to find out
who was behind the attacks
892
00:40:06,413 --> 00:40:08,034
and bring them to justice.
893
00:40:08,068 --> 00:40:09,517
- If there is a gnawing concern
894
00:40:09,551 --> 00:40:11,344
among federal investigators
tonight,
895
00:40:11,379 --> 00:40:13,344
it is this,
"Have we accounted
896
00:40:13,379 --> 00:40:15,275
for all the terrorist pilots?"
897
00:40:15,310 --> 00:40:17,724
- The investigation
into who caused all this
898
00:40:17,758 --> 00:40:20,172
continues to point
toward Osama bin Laden,
899
00:40:20,206 --> 00:40:22,379
and there's no doubt
the U.S. will retaliate
900
00:40:22,413 --> 00:40:25,275
against whoever
is responsible.
901
00:40:25,310 --> 00:40:26,965
- There was a lot
of pressure on CIA
902
00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:28,586
in the aftermath of 9/11
903
00:40:28,620 --> 00:40:31,103
because, frankly,
no one else knew what to do.
904
00:40:31,137 --> 00:40:33,413
- We had to unpack
the threat matrix
905
00:40:33,448 --> 00:40:35,275
that we were gonna report
to the president the next day.
906
00:40:35,310 --> 00:40:37,034
We had to make
immediate decisions
907
00:40:37,068 --> 00:40:40,241
on what actions
had to be taken overnight
908
00:40:40,275 --> 00:40:42,793
to stop the next range
of terrorist attacks.
909
00:40:42,827 --> 00:40:45,931
- I was sending teams
of analysts around Washington
910
00:40:45,965 --> 00:40:48,689
with maps to show people,
911
00:40:48,724 --> 00:40:50,206
"This is what
Afghanistan looks like.
912
00:40:50,241 --> 00:40:52,103
Here are the countries
that border it."
913
00:40:52,137 --> 00:40:55,275
- On September the 12th,
we saw the president
914
00:40:55,310 --> 00:40:58,448
and told him that what we
were gonna propose to do
915
00:40:58,482 --> 00:41:00,517
was put CIA teams
on the ground,
916
00:41:00,551 --> 00:41:02,206
marrying up with the tribes,
917
00:41:02,241 --> 00:41:04,172
create the ground
for special forces to arrive.
918
00:41:04,206 --> 00:41:06,172
We were gonna basically
go after
919
00:41:06,206 --> 00:41:07,896
al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
920
00:41:07,931 --> 00:41:10,034
- CIA said, "We have a plan."
921
00:41:10,068 --> 00:41:11,034
And that's when
President Bush said,
922
00:41:11,068 --> 00:41:12,620
"It's your war.
Go get 'em."
923
00:41:12,655 --> 00:41:15,724
[dramatic music]
924
00:41:19,931 --> 00:41:22,896
[soft dramatic music]
925
00:41:22,931 --> 00:41:27,689
♪
926
00:41:27,724 --> 00:41:30,034
- On September 11, 2001,
927
00:41:30,068 --> 00:41:32,241
I was assigned overseas.
928
00:41:32,275 --> 00:41:33,379
I was on the other side
of the world.
929
00:41:33,413 --> 00:41:35,517
♪
930
00:41:35,551 --> 00:41:38,586
Director Tenet wanted me
to come back and to organize
931
00:41:38,620 --> 00:41:40,344
and lead the CIA effort
932
00:41:40,379 --> 00:41:42,551
against al-Qaeda
in Afghanistan.
933
00:41:42,586 --> 00:41:44,758
I, of course, said yes,
934
00:41:44,793 --> 00:41:48,931
went home, told my wife,
and started packing my bag.
935
00:41:48,965 --> 00:41:50,965
♪
936
00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:54,758
- A legendary spy
and counterterrorism expert,
937
00:41:54,793 --> 00:41:57,344
Hank Crumpton
is a 24-year veteran
938
00:41:57,379 --> 00:42:00,517
of the CIA's
clandestine service.
939
00:42:00,551 --> 00:42:03,206
He was just 10 years old
when he wrote to the agency
940
00:42:03,241 --> 00:42:06,551
explaining his desire
to serve.
941
00:42:06,586 --> 00:42:10,586
- Some kind soul wrote back
on CIA letterhead and said,
942
00:42:10,620 --> 00:42:11,896
"Thanks for your interest.
943
00:42:11,931 --> 00:42:15,068
Please reapply
when you're older."
944
00:42:15,103 --> 00:42:16,793
And that's what I did.
945
00:42:16,827 --> 00:42:20,551
- Now Crumpton would lead
an historic campaign,
946
00:42:20,586 --> 00:42:23,689
commanding special operations
paramilitary forces
947
00:42:23,724 --> 00:42:24,896
to crush the enemy.
948
00:42:24,931 --> 00:42:26,448
♪
949
00:42:28,655 --> 00:42:30,413
- The orders
were pretty clear.
950
00:42:30,448 --> 00:42:32,862
Our mission
was to destroy al-Qaeda.
951
00:42:32,896 --> 00:42:34,896
♪
952
00:42:34,931 --> 00:42:38,931
- So on September the 15th,
we show up at the Camp David,
953
00:42:38,965 --> 00:42:43,862
essentially outline
our plan to basically seal
954
00:42:43,896 --> 00:42:46,034
the borders of Afghanistan,
go after their leadership,
955
00:42:46,068 --> 00:42:48,275
shut off their money,
destroy al-Qaeda.
956
00:42:48,310 --> 00:42:50,793
It was our plan.
It was our direction.
957
00:42:50,827 --> 00:42:53,379
The president was playing
off our sheet music.
958
00:42:53,413 --> 00:42:55,724
- Truly unprecedented
for the president
959
00:42:55,758 --> 00:42:58,931
to sign a covert action
giving this kind of authority
960
00:42:58,965 --> 00:43:01,275
and almost unlimited resources
961
00:43:01,310 --> 00:43:05,379
to the CIA to execute a war.
962
00:43:05,413 --> 00:43:07,965
Never in American history
had that happened.
963
00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:09,448
♪
964
00:43:09,482 --> 00:43:11,344
We walked outside,
965
00:43:11,379 --> 00:43:13,896
President Bush put
his hand on my shoulder,
966
00:43:13,931 --> 00:43:16,344
and he said, "Go get 'em."
And I said, "Yes, sir, I will."
967
00:43:16,379 --> 00:43:18,137
♪
968
00:43:21,241 --> 00:43:24,241
- 16 days
after we brief the president,
969
00:43:24,275 --> 00:43:26,344
we put our first team
on the ground
970
00:43:26,379 --> 00:43:29,689
with a big metal briefcase
full of cash, a lot of cash.
971
00:43:29,724 --> 00:43:31,241
Our officers often slept
972
00:43:31,275 --> 00:43:33,724
on millions of dollars
of cash at night.
973
00:43:33,758 --> 00:43:35,965
If you didn't want
to cooperate with us,
974
00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:38,344
you were more than likely
to get a 2,000-pound bomb
975
00:43:38,379 --> 00:43:39,344
down your throat.
976
00:43:39,379 --> 00:43:42,344
[dramatic music]
977
00:43:42,379 --> 00:43:46,034
♪
978
00:43:46,068 --> 00:43:48,068
- Jawbreaker
was the first CIA team
979
00:43:48,103 --> 00:43:50,103
into Afghanistan after 9/11.
980
00:43:50,137 --> 00:43:53,241
♪
981
00:43:53,275 --> 00:43:56,103
That morphed
into Team Alpha, Team Bravo,
982
00:43:56,137 --> 00:43:59,068
followed by Charlie,
Delta, Foxtrot, Echo.
983
00:43:59,103 --> 00:44:00,896
They were all deployed
984
00:44:00,931 --> 00:44:02,758
into various parts
of Afghanistan,
985
00:44:02,793 --> 00:44:04,862
teaming up with local allies
on the ground.
986
00:44:04,896 --> 00:44:06,413
♪
987
00:44:06,448 --> 00:44:09,344
- People remember scenes
of special forces operators
988
00:44:09,379 --> 00:44:12,172
and CIA officers
riding on horseback.
989
00:44:12,206 --> 00:44:13,344
We're back
in a different century
990
00:44:13,379 --> 00:44:15,034
fighting this war.
991
00:44:15,068 --> 00:44:17,413
So we had 100 CIA officers,
992
00:44:17,448 --> 00:44:20,379
about 400
special forces operators.
993
00:44:20,413 --> 00:44:23,034
There was never
a general on the ground.
994
00:44:23,068 --> 00:44:24,586
There was never
a command structure
995
00:44:24,620 --> 00:44:26,517
on the ground.
996
00:44:26,551 --> 00:44:29,068
This was
real counterinsurgency.
997
00:44:29,103 --> 00:44:31,689
Within 90 days,
this was all done.
998
00:44:31,724 --> 00:44:36,517
♪
999
00:44:36,551 --> 00:44:38,758
- The Taliban
is overthrown,
1000
00:44:38,793 --> 00:44:41,379
and bin Laden is on the run,
1001
00:44:41,413 --> 00:44:43,793
cornered in some of
the most forbidding terrain
1002
00:44:43,827 --> 00:44:45,620
on Earth.
1003
00:44:45,655 --> 00:44:49,068
- Somewhere between 300
and 1,000 al-Qaeda fighters,
1004
00:44:49,103 --> 00:44:51,413
probably including
Osama bin Laden,
1005
00:44:51,448 --> 00:44:53,724
are trapped
in the Tora Bora Mountains,
1006
00:44:53,758 --> 00:44:55,034
cut off from resupplies
1007
00:44:55,068 --> 00:44:57,689
of food, water,
and ammunition.
1008
00:44:57,724 --> 00:45:00,551
[soft dramatic music]
1009
00:45:00,586 --> 00:45:03,448
♪
1010
00:45:03,482 --> 00:45:05,275
- Tracy Walder
is on night duty
1011
00:45:05,310 --> 00:45:07,206
at CIA headquarters,
1012
00:45:07,241 --> 00:45:09,758
monitoring drone footage
in a top secret room
1013
00:45:09,793 --> 00:45:12,206
called The Vault.
1014
00:45:12,241 --> 00:45:14,896
Bin Laden
may be within their grasp.
1015
00:45:14,931 --> 00:45:16,448
♪
1016
00:45:16,482 --> 00:45:18,241
- We had
some interesting situations,
1017
00:45:18,275 --> 00:45:22,206
but that was,
hands down, the most tense.
1018
00:45:22,241 --> 00:45:25,206
George Tenet
was there to support us.
1019
00:45:25,241 --> 00:45:26,965
Tonight's the night
that this is gonna happen.
1020
00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:28,034
We're gonna get him.
1021
00:45:28,068 --> 00:45:29,068
[gun booms]
1022
00:45:29,103 --> 00:45:30,379
- It's not just us.
1023
00:45:30,413 --> 00:45:32,068
So we've got tribals
on the ground,
1024
00:45:32,103 --> 00:45:34,034
and we're calling in
bomb attacks.
1025
00:45:34,068 --> 00:45:36,103
- People were
leaving the caves.
1026
00:45:36,137 --> 00:45:38,034
We were thinking
that bin Laden
1027
00:45:38,068 --> 00:45:40,620
was probably
one of those people.
1028
00:45:40,655 --> 00:45:42,896
- Guys on the ground
come to the realization,
1029
00:45:42,931 --> 00:45:44,517
the Afghan tribals
aren't gonna get this done.
1030
00:45:44,551 --> 00:45:46,206
We need help.
1031
00:45:46,241 --> 00:45:47,896
Our guys consult
with General Franks.
1032
00:45:47,931 --> 00:45:50,379
Tommy says it's gonna take
weeks to get people up there.
1033
00:45:50,413 --> 00:45:52,068
♪
1034
00:45:52,103 --> 00:45:54,689
- We knew
we could not successfully
1035
00:45:54,724 --> 00:45:56,275
capture or kill him
1036
00:45:56,310 --> 00:45:59,793
if there were no ground troops
to sort of stop him.
1037
00:45:59,827 --> 00:46:02,344
That's when
the situation devolved
1038
00:46:02,379 --> 00:46:06,172
into shouting,
cursing, screaming.
1039
00:46:06,206 --> 00:46:11,172
♪
1040
00:46:11,206 --> 00:46:14,379
- Bin Laden
escapes into Pakistan
1041
00:46:14,413 --> 00:46:16,517
and finds sanctuary
in the tribal territories
1042
00:46:16,551 --> 00:46:17,517
on the border.
1043
00:46:17,551 --> 00:46:20,448
♪
1044
00:46:20,482 --> 00:46:24,379
The fighting
in Afghanistan drags on,
1045
00:46:24,413 --> 00:46:27,793
and the president soon turns
his focus to a pursuit
1046
00:46:27,827 --> 00:46:30,413
that would confuse
the War on Terror
1047
00:46:30,448 --> 00:46:32,206
and cost thousands of lives.
1048
00:46:34,655 --> 00:46:39,241
- President grabbed me
in the situation room and said,
1049
00:46:39,275 --> 00:46:43,896
"I want you to look into
Iraq's role in the attack."
1050
00:46:45,482 --> 00:46:48,379
And I said, "I don't think
Iraq had a role in the attack."
1051
00:46:48,413 --> 00:46:51,241
And he didn't wanna hear that.
1052
00:46:51,275 --> 00:46:55,620
He said,
"Iraq, Iraq, look into it.
1053
00:46:55,655 --> 00:46:57,620
Find out
if Iraq was involved."
1054
00:46:57,655 --> 00:47:01,379
♪
1055
00:47:01,413 --> 00:47:03,103
- The preoccupation
with Iraq
1056
00:47:03,137 --> 00:47:06,206
would become
a decade-long distraction
1057
00:47:06,241 --> 00:47:09,068
from the mission
of eliminating al-Qaeda.
1058
00:47:09,103 --> 00:47:12,103
With the Bush administration
shifting priorities,
1059
00:47:12,137 --> 00:47:15,172
a new team is created
at the CIA.
1060
00:47:15,206 --> 00:47:16,724
- My name is Nada Bakos.
1061
00:47:16,758 --> 00:47:20,689
I was a CIA analyst
after September 11, 2001.
1062
00:47:20,724 --> 00:47:22,896
♪
1063
00:47:22,931 --> 00:47:25,206
The whole reason
for the formation of the team
1064
00:47:25,241 --> 00:47:26,758
that I was on
is because the White House
1065
00:47:26,793 --> 00:47:29,344
had the question
of whether or not
1066
00:47:29,379 --> 00:47:32,758
Iraq had anything to do
with 9/11 and al-Qaeda.
1067
00:47:32,793 --> 00:47:35,620
This was backwards completely.
1068
00:47:35,655 --> 00:47:39,862
It's the complete opposite
of how the CIA does analysis.
1069
00:47:39,896 --> 00:47:41,862
We were constantly
running around
1070
00:47:41,896 --> 00:47:43,724
with hair on fire
answering questions,
1071
00:47:43,758 --> 00:47:45,965
and you could tell that people
1072
00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:48,517
weren't getting the answers
they really wanted.
1073
00:47:48,551 --> 00:47:50,413
- And as part of
the president's daily brief,
1074
00:47:50,448 --> 00:47:54,379
we'd actually been asked
to see if we could assemble
1075
00:47:54,413 --> 00:47:57,034
what might be said
in a public case
1076
00:47:57,068 --> 00:47:59,275
about Saddam's weapons
of mass destruction.
1077
00:47:59,310 --> 00:48:01,344
- Every chemical
and biological weapon
1078
00:48:01,379 --> 00:48:03,517
that Iraq has or makes
1079
00:48:03,551 --> 00:48:06,034
is a direct violation
of the truce
1080
00:48:06,068 --> 00:48:10,517
that ended
the Persian Gulf War in 1991.
1081
00:48:10,551 --> 00:48:14,034
- Apparently I said,
1082
00:48:14,068 --> 00:48:16,551
"We can make this better.
It's a slam dunk."
1083
00:48:16,586 --> 00:48:20,206
- Tenet says
that phrase, "slam dunk,"
1084
00:48:20,241 --> 00:48:22,965
was later blown
far out of proportion.
1085
00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:25,551
- Now, the way
it was portrayed
1086
00:48:25,586 --> 00:48:27,517
was this was
the seminal moment
1087
00:48:27,551 --> 00:48:30,620
in the president's life
in terms of deciding
1088
00:48:30,655 --> 00:48:32,068
whether to go to war or not,
1089
00:48:32,103 --> 00:48:34,586
and it's not
what happened at all,
1090
00:48:34,620 --> 00:48:37,413
since the decision to go to war
had already been made.
1091
00:48:37,448 --> 00:48:40,103
What I wanted to convey is,
it was probably a better way
1092
00:48:40,137 --> 00:48:43,275
for us
to make a better public case,
1093
00:48:43,310 --> 00:48:45,586
and all I meant
to say was that.
1094
00:48:45,620 --> 00:48:47,413
[dramatic music]
1095
00:48:47,448 --> 00:48:50,413
- President Bush turns
to his secretary of state.
1096
00:48:50,448 --> 00:48:52,793
Colin Powell prepares
to present evidence
1097
00:48:52,827 --> 00:48:55,034
about Iraq's failure to disarm
1098
00:48:55,068 --> 00:48:57,413
in a speech
to the United Nations.
1099
00:48:57,448 --> 00:49:01,344
- Our team had a draft
of Colin Powell's UN speech.
1100
00:49:01,379 --> 00:49:03,034
We reviewed it.
We made changes.
1101
00:49:03,068 --> 00:49:05,413
We sent it back
to the White House.
1102
00:49:05,448 --> 00:49:07,517
From that point,
it was edited again,
1103
00:49:07,551 --> 00:49:09,448
and we didn't hear it
1104
00:49:09,482 --> 00:49:12,034
until Powell
gave the speech at the UN.
1105
00:49:12,068 --> 00:49:13,758
- What I wanna bring
to your attention today
1106
00:49:13,793 --> 00:49:16,413
is the potentially
much more sinister nexus
1107
00:49:16,448 --> 00:49:18,034
between Iraq
1108
00:49:18,068 --> 00:49:20,034
and the al-Qaeda
terrorist network.
1109
00:49:20,068 --> 00:49:22,275
- It's drawing conclusions
that weren't there.
1110
00:49:22,310 --> 00:49:24,413
It was drawing relationships
that weren't there.
1111
00:49:24,448 --> 00:49:28,103
They plaster up
a organizational chart
1112
00:49:28,137 --> 00:49:29,931
to make it look like
all these entities
1113
00:49:29,965 --> 00:49:32,379
are connected
when they're not.
1114
00:49:32,413 --> 00:49:35,034
- To draw a connection
between Iraq and al-Qaeda,
1115
00:49:35,068 --> 00:49:37,068
Powell points
to a suspected terrorist
1116
00:49:37,103 --> 00:49:38,965
named al-Zarqawi,
1117
00:49:39,000 --> 00:49:41,758
showing a chart
created by the CIA,
1118
00:49:41,793 --> 00:49:44,620
but the words "Iraq-linked"
have been added
1119
00:49:44,655 --> 00:49:46,586
to the original title.
1120
00:49:46,620 --> 00:49:49,586
- To our horror,
General Colin Powell
1121
00:49:49,620 --> 00:49:52,034
used that chart
on the floor of the UN
1122
00:49:52,068 --> 00:49:54,068
to garner international
1123
00:49:54,103 --> 00:49:56,862
and, I think, domestic support
for the war.
1124
00:49:56,896 --> 00:49:59,379
- Iraq today harbors
a deadly terrorist network
1125
00:49:59,413 --> 00:50:02,448
headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,
1126
00:50:02,482 --> 00:50:05,551
an associate and collaborator
of Osama bin Laden
1127
00:50:05,586 --> 00:50:07,068
and his al-Qaeda lieutenants.
1128
00:50:08,758 --> 00:50:12,793
- It was masterful
how they used the information
1129
00:50:12,827 --> 00:50:16,448
and the language around
trying to create this idea
1130
00:50:16,482 --> 00:50:18,724
in the public's mind that Iraq
1131
00:50:18,758 --> 00:50:21,034
had any connection
to al-Qaeda.
1132
00:50:21,068 --> 00:50:22,896
Zarqawi was not connected
to al-Qaeda,
1133
00:50:22,931 --> 00:50:24,517
didn't have anything
to do with that.
1134
00:50:24,551 --> 00:50:26,448
He also wasn't working
with Saddam.
1135
00:50:28,724 --> 00:50:31,275
- We felt that our trust
was violated,
1136
00:50:31,310 --> 00:50:35,931
that something we had made
was misused in this way.
1137
00:50:35,965 --> 00:50:38,379
How can an administration
do that?
1138
00:50:40,482 --> 00:50:43,379
- You know,
everybody was frustrated.
1139
00:50:43,413 --> 00:50:45,413
Why does our team exist?
1140
00:50:45,448 --> 00:50:47,862
- I started to wonder,
you know,
1141
00:50:47,896 --> 00:50:50,689
"What's the point
of my intelligence
1142
00:50:50,724 --> 00:50:53,931
if people are just gonna use it
sort of however they want to?"
1143
00:50:53,965 --> 00:50:55,275
I don't think
that that's right.
1144
00:50:55,310 --> 00:50:58,137
- So who added
the words "Iraq-linked"?
1145
00:50:59,758 --> 00:51:01,551
- So I don't know.
1146
00:51:01,586 --> 00:51:04,517
Whomever changed the title,
I truly don't know
1147
00:51:04,551 --> 00:51:06,034
the answer to that question.
1148
00:51:06,068 --> 00:51:08,034
- When our coalition ousted
the Taliban,
1149
00:51:08,068 --> 00:51:09,517
the Zarqawi network...
1150
00:51:09,551 --> 00:51:11,931
- It's not clear
who was behind it.
1151
00:51:11,965 --> 00:51:15,206
Powell says his speech
was approved by George Tenet,
1152
00:51:15,241 --> 00:51:18,068
who sat behind him
in a show of support.
1153
00:51:18,103 --> 00:51:20,724
And just six weeks later...
1154
00:51:20,758 --> 00:51:22,206
- U.S. forces in Kuwait
1155
00:51:22,241 --> 00:51:24,344
are positioning themselves
for attack.
1156
00:51:24,379 --> 00:51:27,379
Now officially dubbed
Operation Iraqi Freedom.
1157
00:51:27,413 --> 00:51:30,551
♪
1158
00:51:30,586 --> 00:51:32,931
- The U.S. invades Iraq
1159
00:51:32,965 --> 00:51:35,275
based on
the flawed convictions
1160
00:51:35,310 --> 00:51:37,517
that it has weapons
of mass destruction
1161
00:51:37,551 --> 00:51:39,931
and significant ties
to al-Qaeda.
1162
00:51:41,827 --> 00:51:45,517
- I think the Iraq War
had a detrimental impact
1163
00:51:45,551 --> 00:51:48,931
on the U.S. mission
in Afghanistan.
1164
00:51:48,965 --> 00:51:50,586
We took our eye off the ball.
1165
00:51:50,620 --> 00:51:52,896
We did not finish the job
in Afghanistan.
1166
00:51:52,931 --> 00:51:55,758
- The invasion of Iraq
1167
00:51:55,793 --> 00:51:58,413
not only thwarted our ability
1168
00:51:58,448 --> 00:52:01,551
to capture or kill bin Laden,
but in my opinion,
1169
00:52:01,586 --> 00:52:04,344
exacerbated and led
to the spread
1170
00:52:04,379 --> 00:52:06,655
and growth of al-Qaeda.
1171
00:52:08,482 --> 00:52:11,068
- As soon as we invaded Iraq,
bin Laden won.
1172
00:52:11,103 --> 00:52:14,241
It's like we were playing
by his playbook
1173
00:52:14,275 --> 00:52:18,689
and doing the things
that helped him
1174
00:52:18,724 --> 00:52:22,172
fan the flames
against the United States.
1175
00:52:22,206 --> 00:52:25,068
- The American public
would have been angry
1176
00:52:25,103 --> 00:52:27,275
if there was another attack
1177
00:52:27,310 --> 00:52:30,241
and we didn't do
everything in our power
1178
00:52:30,275 --> 00:52:34,172
to get information
on future attacks.
1179
00:52:34,206 --> 00:52:37,103
- But at the same time,
what you do matters.
1180
00:52:37,137 --> 00:52:39,034
Your actions matter.
1181
00:52:39,068 --> 00:52:42,344
Is it really these
interrogation techniques?
1182
00:52:42,379 --> 00:52:44,413
Is that really
the most effective thing?
1183
00:52:44,448 --> 00:52:47,482
♪
1184
00:52:53,000 --> 00:52:55,931
[soft dramatic music]
1185
00:52:55,965 --> 00:52:59,586
♪
1186
00:52:59,620 --> 00:53:03,758
- Penetrating the inner core
of a terrorist organization
1187
00:53:03,793 --> 00:53:06,724
like al-Qaeda
is not an easy thing to do.
1188
00:53:06,758 --> 00:53:08,241
♪
1189
00:53:08,275 --> 00:53:12,172
In 2002, after the first phase
of the Afghan War,
1190
00:53:12,206 --> 00:53:15,068
we started to collect
intelligence that al-Qaeda
1191
00:53:15,103 --> 00:53:17,965
was coming back at us
in a second wave of attacks...
1192
00:53:18,000 --> 00:53:19,413
[rockets whoosh]
1193
00:53:19,448 --> 00:53:21,862
But we didn't have
the specifics.
1194
00:53:21,896 --> 00:53:24,275
- The hunt goes on
for Osama bin Laden,
1195
00:53:24,310 --> 00:53:26,931
but a key lieutenant
is in U.S. custody tonight.
1196
00:53:26,965 --> 00:53:28,586
The biggest catch yet.
1197
00:53:28,620 --> 00:53:30,413
- Abu Zubaydah,
the highest ranking
1198
00:53:30,448 --> 00:53:32,586
al-Qaeda leader captured
so far,
1199
00:53:32,620 --> 00:53:35,620
can expect tough questioning
from U.S. officials.
1200
00:53:35,655 --> 00:53:39,689
- We believe that Zubaydah
was a senior terrorist leader
1201
00:53:39,724 --> 00:53:43,034
and a trusted associate
of Osama bin Laden.
1202
00:53:43,068 --> 00:53:46,758
♪
1203
00:53:46,793 --> 00:53:50,413
- It's March 2002,
six months after 9/11.
1204
00:53:50,448 --> 00:53:52,103
♪
1205
00:53:52,137 --> 00:53:54,172
Abu Zubaydah
has been captured,
1206
00:53:54,206 --> 00:53:56,517
an apparent triumph
that would lead to one
1207
00:53:56,551 --> 00:54:00,724
of the most controversial
programs in CIA history.
1208
00:54:00,758 --> 00:54:03,724
- My name is Jose Rodriguez,
and I was in charge
1209
00:54:03,758 --> 00:54:05,275
of the Enhanced
Interrogation Program.
1210
00:54:05,310 --> 00:54:07,344
♪
1211
00:54:07,379 --> 00:54:09,413
Every day
I was in the newspaper.
1212
00:54:09,448 --> 00:54:12,793
They described me
almost as a torturer,
1213
00:54:12,827 --> 00:54:16,103
violator of laws.
1214
00:54:16,137 --> 00:54:18,793
- Jose Rodriguez.
- Jose Rodriguez.
1215
00:54:18,827 --> 00:54:20,241
- Jose Rodriguez
was the one who said,
1216
00:54:20,275 --> 00:54:21,689
"We need harsh techniques"
1217
00:54:21,724 --> 00:54:24,206
and went out
and developed the program.
1218
00:54:24,241 --> 00:54:27,896
- More than a decade
after leaving the CIA,
1219
00:54:27,931 --> 00:54:30,413
Jose Rodriguez
remains the defiant face
1220
00:54:30,448 --> 00:54:33,551
of the Enhanced
Interrogation Program.
1221
00:54:33,586 --> 00:54:36,413
- I am totally convinced,
1222
00:54:36,448 --> 00:54:38,862
you know,
that the program worked well
1223
00:54:38,896 --> 00:54:40,965
and that we
were the only answer
1224
00:54:41,000 --> 00:54:43,724
that the country had
at the time.
1225
00:54:43,758 --> 00:54:46,034
We had captured Abu Zubaydah,
1226
00:54:46,068 --> 00:54:48,689
and we knew
he was a senior person
1227
00:54:48,724 --> 00:54:50,379
in al-Qaeda.
1228
00:54:50,413 --> 00:54:52,620
He had come
across our screen in relation
1229
00:54:52,655 --> 00:54:56,172
to the millennial plots
of 2000.
1230
00:54:56,206 --> 00:54:58,068
- He was captured
by Pakistani police,
1231
00:54:58,103 --> 00:55:00,517
CIA, and FBI agents
at a house...
1232
00:55:00,551 --> 00:55:02,758
- Abu Zubaydah
was severely wounded
1233
00:55:02,793 --> 00:55:04,724
when he was captured,
1234
00:55:04,758 --> 00:55:07,034
and we made a decision
that we needed
1235
00:55:07,068 --> 00:55:10,689
to take him away from Pakistan
and take him to our own site.
1236
00:55:10,724 --> 00:55:12,275
It became known
as a black site.
1237
00:55:12,310 --> 00:55:14,448
♪
1238
00:55:14,482 --> 00:55:17,896
- FBI interrogators
are also brought in.
1239
00:55:17,931 --> 00:55:20,034
One of the first to question
Abu Zubaydah
1240
00:55:20,068 --> 00:55:22,413
is Special Agent Ali Soufan,
1241
00:55:22,448 --> 00:55:26,068
a Lebanese-American
fluent in Arabic.
1242
00:55:26,103 --> 00:55:27,586
- There is something
that they don't expect
1243
00:55:27,620 --> 00:55:31,068
when they are being
interrogated by Americans.
1244
00:55:31,103 --> 00:55:33,862
They don't expect a person
comes with them.
1245
00:55:33,896 --> 00:55:34,896
They have, like, tea.
They have coffee.
1246
00:55:34,931 --> 00:55:36,172
They have cookies.
1247
00:55:36,206 --> 00:55:38,448
Sit down, talk,
trying to know each other,
1248
00:55:38,482 --> 00:55:40,275
trying to build a rapport.
1249
00:55:40,310 --> 00:55:42,241
That scares them.
That shakes them.
1250
00:55:42,275 --> 00:55:44,862
He was cooperating
every time we talk to him.
1251
00:55:44,896 --> 00:55:47,793
- Once the FBI started
to get involved
1252
00:55:47,827 --> 00:55:50,344
with questioning Abu Zubaydah,
1253
00:55:50,379 --> 00:55:51,758
the CIA's reaction was,
1254
00:55:51,793 --> 00:55:53,172
"Oh, my goodness,
this is gonna take forever,
1255
00:55:53,206 --> 00:55:55,034
and it may
never be successful."
1256
00:55:55,068 --> 00:55:59,068
The CIA's attitude
in the spring of 2002
1257
00:55:59,103 --> 00:56:02,275
was still hair on fire.
1258
00:56:02,310 --> 00:56:04,931
- Abu Zubaydah
gives the FBI
1259
00:56:04,965 --> 00:56:06,965
a critical piece
of information
1260
00:56:07,000 --> 00:56:09,758
about another
alleged terrorist.
1261
00:56:09,793 --> 00:56:12,620
He says this man,
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,
1262
00:56:12,655 --> 00:56:14,931
is not only a member
of al-Qaeda,
1263
00:56:14,965 --> 00:56:17,517
but the architect of 9/11.
1264
00:56:17,551 --> 00:56:20,413
♪
1265
00:56:20,448 --> 00:56:24,206
- Zubaydah disclosed
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, or KSM,
1266
00:56:24,241 --> 00:56:27,034
was the mastermind
behind the 9/11 attacks.
1267
00:56:27,068 --> 00:56:28,862
This was a vital piece
of the puzzle
1268
00:56:28,896 --> 00:56:30,275
that helped
our intelligence community
1269
00:56:30,310 --> 00:56:31,551
pursue KSM.
1270
00:56:31,586 --> 00:56:33,241
♪
1271
00:56:33,275 --> 00:56:36,172
- The news about KSM
is a breakthrough,
1272
00:56:36,206 --> 00:56:38,103
but CIA officials
still believe
1273
00:56:38,137 --> 00:56:41,068
Abu Zubaydah is holding back.
1274
00:56:41,103 --> 00:56:43,551
Rather than continue
to build a rapport,
1275
00:56:43,586 --> 00:56:46,413
the CIA steps in
with a new plan,
1276
00:56:46,448 --> 00:56:48,172
to try to break him.
1277
00:56:48,206 --> 00:56:50,068
- We knew we had
to do something different.
1278
00:56:50,103 --> 00:56:52,275
♪
1279
00:56:52,310 --> 00:56:54,862
- You have nudity,
and then you have noise,
1280
00:56:54,896 --> 00:56:56,896
and you have sleep deprivation,
1281
00:56:56,931 --> 00:56:58,551
and it goes
from one stage to another
1282
00:56:58,586 --> 00:57:00,896
until he decides to cooperate.
1283
00:57:00,931 --> 00:57:02,862
That was shocking to us
at the time
1284
00:57:02,896 --> 00:57:05,379
because this is just--I mean,
1285
00:57:05,413 --> 00:57:09,206
I know, as a government,
we do not torture.
1286
00:57:09,241 --> 00:57:12,206
- You've just killed
3,000 of our people.
1287
00:57:12,241 --> 00:57:14,551
Tough [bleep] if you have
a problem with nudity.
1288
00:57:14,586 --> 00:57:19,034
Nudity works and works well
because these cultures,
1289
00:57:19,068 --> 00:57:22,344
nudity is something
that is not common,
1290
00:57:22,379 --> 00:57:24,413
and they feel
very uncomfortable with it.
1291
00:57:25,758 --> 00:57:27,862
- We knew that Zubaydah
had more information
1292
00:57:27,896 --> 00:57:29,551
that could save innocent lives,
1293
00:57:29,586 --> 00:57:31,448
and so the CIA used
an alternative set
1294
00:57:31,482 --> 00:57:33,275
of procedures.
1295
00:57:33,310 --> 00:57:35,620
- CIA likes to call it
enhanced interrogation.
1296
00:57:35,655 --> 00:57:36,931
It was torture.
1297
00:57:36,965 --> 00:57:38,448
♪
1298
00:57:38,482 --> 00:57:41,034
- The CIA
isn't acting on its own.
1299
00:57:41,068 --> 00:57:44,068
It has full approval
from the Bush White House.
1300
00:57:44,103 --> 00:57:46,034
This Justice Department memo
1301
00:57:46,068 --> 00:57:48,758
approves
ten interrogation techniques,
1302
00:57:48,793 --> 00:57:51,862
including a facial slap,
sleep deprivation,
1303
00:57:51,896 --> 00:57:57,206
insects in a confinement box,
and the waterboard.
1304
00:57:57,241 --> 00:58:00,379
- Waterboarding
is putting someone
1305
00:58:00,413 --> 00:58:05,172
in an incline
with the face and body down,
1306
00:58:05,206 --> 00:58:09,379
and from a distance
soaking up a towel with water.
1307
00:58:09,413 --> 00:58:13,689
So there is a feeling
that you are suffocating.
1308
00:58:13,724 --> 00:58:15,517
- Suffocating, so somebody
thinks they're about to die.
1309
00:58:15,551 --> 00:58:18,689
- Yeah.
Yeah.
1310
00:58:18,724 --> 00:58:20,517
- That's a difficult thing
to think about.
1311
00:58:20,551 --> 00:58:22,068
If somebody
who's in U.S. custody--
1312
00:58:22,103 --> 00:58:24,275
the belief that their life
is about to end.
1313
00:58:24,310 --> 00:58:27,620
- Hey, you know what?
It's either us or them, okay?
1314
00:58:27,655 --> 00:58:30,413
So we needed to do
whatever we needed to do
1315
00:58:30,448 --> 00:58:33,172
to get information out of them
to protect the country.
1316
00:58:33,206 --> 00:58:35,896
- More than four months
after his capture,
1317
00:58:35,931 --> 00:58:38,448
Abu Zubaydah is subjected
to the techniques
1318
00:58:38,482 --> 00:58:43,344
on a near 24-hour basis
for 19 straight days.
1319
00:58:43,379 --> 00:58:45,275
He later releases
these drawings
1320
00:58:45,310 --> 00:58:47,793
depicting his experience.
1321
00:58:47,827 --> 00:58:51,793
He spends 11 days
inside a confinement box.
1322
00:58:51,827 --> 00:58:54,034
During one
waterboarding session,
1323
00:58:54,068 --> 00:58:56,517
he becomes
completely unresponsive,
1324
00:58:56,551 --> 00:59:00,758
with bubbles rising
through his open full mouth.
1325
00:59:00,793 --> 00:59:03,758
- An evaluation
by the CIA's office
1326
00:59:03,793 --> 00:59:07,172
of medical services
said AZ probably reached
1327
00:59:07,206 --> 00:59:09,172
the point of cooperation
even prior
1328
00:59:09,206 --> 00:59:12,620
to the institution
of enhanced measures.
1329
00:59:12,655 --> 00:59:15,586
- Another official says
Zubaydah is blowing smoke
1330
00:59:15,620 --> 00:59:19,068
and deliberately exaggerating
al-Qaeda's capabilities.
1331
00:59:19,103 --> 00:59:22,275
- As it turned out,
Abu Zubaydah didn't know
1332
00:59:22,310 --> 00:59:25,068
anywhere near as much
as the CIA thought he did.
1333
00:59:25,103 --> 00:59:27,241
- Abu Zubaydah
had been tied
1334
00:59:27,275 --> 00:59:29,724
to terrorist training camps
in Afghanistan,
1335
00:59:29,758 --> 00:59:32,034
but the CIA later determines
1336
00:59:32,068 --> 00:59:34,965
he was not
a member of al-Qaeda.
1337
00:59:35,000 --> 00:59:37,206
- Abu Zubaydah has been held
without charges
1338
00:59:37,241 --> 00:59:39,344
since he was captured
in Pakistan.
1339
00:59:39,379 --> 00:59:41,275
Pentagon officials
claim he's a threat
1340
00:59:41,310 --> 00:59:44,241
but admit he was
never an al-Qaeda leader.
1341
00:59:44,275 --> 00:59:47,034
- The belief was that he was
the number three
1342
00:59:47,068 --> 00:59:49,793
or number four
in al-Qaeda, but he wasn't.
1343
00:59:49,827 --> 00:59:52,620
- Correct.
Just as important, however.
1344
00:59:52,655 --> 00:59:57,206
- But the CIA was wrong about
his role and his position.
1345
00:59:57,241 --> 00:59:59,758
- We didn't know exactly who
was the chief of operations.
1346
00:59:59,793 --> 01:00:03,620
We thought it was either him
or Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
1347
01:00:03,655 --> 01:00:05,413
- There was no reflection
1348
01:00:05,448 --> 01:00:07,620
about whether this
should continue.
1349
01:00:07,655 --> 01:00:09,379
Instead,
the opposite happened.
1350
01:00:09,413 --> 01:00:12,034
This unsuccessful interrogation
of Abu Zubaydah
1351
01:00:12,068 --> 01:00:15,758
using these techniques
became a kind of springboard
1352
01:00:15,793 --> 01:00:17,413
to expand the program
1353
01:00:17,448 --> 01:00:19,172
and to apply it
to other suspects
1354
01:00:19,206 --> 01:00:20,758
of different levels
of knowledge.
1355
01:00:22,137 --> 01:00:25,896
- Over six years,
from 2002 to 2008,
1356
01:00:25,931 --> 01:00:29,275
the CIA holds
at least 119 detainees.
1357
01:00:29,310 --> 01:00:33,206
39 are subjected
to enhanced interrogation.
1358
01:00:33,241 --> 01:00:36,724
- People will give you
whatever you wanna hear
1359
01:00:36,758 --> 01:00:39,103
in order
to have the pain stop.
1360
01:00:39,137 --> 01:00:42,724
So the most important thing
in intelligence collection
1361
01:00:42,758 --> 01:00:45,689
is the reliability
of the information,
1362
01:00:45,724 --> 01:00:47,034
and that didn't exist.
1363
01:00:47,068 --> 01:00:49,862
♪
1364
01:00:49,896 --> 01:00:52,965
- In 2009, two days
after his inauguration,
1365
01:00:53,000 --> 01:00:55,448
President Obama
signs an executive order
1366
01:00:55,482 --> 01:00:58,620
eliminating enhanced
interrogation techniques.
1367
01:00:58,655 --> 01:01:01,862
- I can say without
exception or equivocation
1368
01:01:01,896 --> 01:01:04,517
that the United States
will not torture.
1369
01:01:04,551 --> 01:01:07,586
[applause]
1370
01:01:10,206 --> 01:01:12,068
- With that
comes a new chapter
1371
01:01:12,103 --> 01:01:13,931
led by President Obama's
1372
01:01:13,965 --> 01:01:17,103
first CIA director,
Leon Panetta.
1373
01:01:17,137 --> 01:01:19,896
- My view...
1374
01:01:19,931 --> 01:01:24,413
was that the United States
1375
01:01:24,448 --> 01:01:27,689
should stand
by our values as a country.
1376
01:01:27,724 --> 01:01:31,517
Torture should not be part
1377
01:01:31,551 --> 01:01:34,896
of what we need to use
to gather intelligence.
1378
01:01:36,827 --> 01:01:38,758
- He's entitled to his opinion.
1379
01:01:38,793 --> 01:01:41,034
We had a binding legal opinion
1380
01:01:41,068 --> 01:01:45,103
in writing that said
that it was not torture.
1381
01:01:45,137 --> 01:01:47,620
- I hope no other director,
1382
01:01:47,655 --> 01:01:50,965
no other president,
is ever faced
1383
01:01:51,000 --> 01:01:52,689
with the situation
we were faced with
1384
01:01:52,724 --> 01:01:54,586
in those immediate years.
1385
01:01:54,620 --> 01:01:57,896
At a period of maximum danger
to the country,
1386
01:01:57,931 --> 01:02:00,965
we did it by the numbers.
1387
01:02:01,000 --> 01:02:04,620
We gained information
that I believe
1388
01:02:04,655 --> 01:02:06,862
saved thousands of lives.
1389
01:02:06,896 --> 01:02:09,034
I'm not gonna ever accept
the use of the word torture
1390
01:02:09,068 --> 01:02:12,275
in front of what happened here.
1391
01:02:12,310 --> 01:02:14,793
- This week, the Senate
Intelligence Committee
1392
01:02:14,827 --> 01:02:17,931
is expected to issue
a long-expected report
1393
01:02:17,965 --> 01:02:21,068
on the CIA's
interrogation practices
1394
01:02:21,103 --> 01:02:24,068
that were adopted
in the aftermath of 9/11.
1395
01:02:24,103 --> 01:02:26,103
- Tactics used
were more brutal
1396
01:02:26,137 --> 01:02:27,862
than previously thought.
1397
01:02:27,896 --> 01:02:29,758
- The report's
most damning conclusion
1398
01:02:29,793 --> 01:02:31,758
is that the tactics
were ineffective.
1399
01:02:31,793 --> 01:02:33,413
- In 2014,
1400
01:02:33,448 --> 01:02:36,172
the Democrat-led
Senate Intelligence Committee
1401
01:02:36,206 --> 01:02:39,896
releases a report
that concludes CIA's use
1402
01:02:39,931 --> 01:02:42,172
of its enhanced
interrogation techniques
1403
01:02:42,206 --> 01:02:45,206
was not an effective means
of acquiring intelligence
1404
01:02:45,241 --> 01:02:48,103
or gaining cooperation
from detainees.
1405
01:02:48,137 --> 01:02:51,103
- I have long believed
1406
01:02:51,137 --> 01:02:53,896
some of these practices
amounted to torture.
1407
01:02:53,931 --> 01:02:55,724
♪
1408
01:02:55,758 --> 01:02:58,241
- Republican Senator
John McCain,
1409
01:02:58,275 --> 01:03:02,241
himself the victim of torture
as a Vietnam prisoner of war,
1410
01:03:02,275 --> 01:03:05,034
was one of the program's
fiercest critics.
1411
01:03:05,068 --> 01:03:07,965
- As the committee's report
makes clear,
1412
01:03:08,000 --> 01:03:09,862
it produced
little useful intelligence
1413
01:03:09,896 --> 01:03:14,103
to help us track down
the perpetrators of 9/11
1414
01:03:14,137 --> 01:03:16,689
or prevent new attacks
and atrocities.
1415
01:03:16,724 --> 01:03:21,862
♪
1416
01:03:21,896 --> 01:03:25,379
- Today, Abu Zubaydah
remains in American custody
1417
01:03:25,413 --> 01:03:27,724
at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
1418
01:03:27,758 --> 01:03:30,551
He has never been charged
with a crime.
1419
01:03:30,586 --> 01:03:32,862
- The bottom line
1420
01:03:32,896 --> 01:03:37,103
is that we saved American lives
1421
01:03:37,137 --> 01:03:40,172
and we protected the homeland
1422
01:03:40,206 --> 01:03:43,448
at a time of crisis
1423
01:03:43,482 --> 01:03:44,586
and despair.
1424
01:03:44,620 --> 01:03:46,862
♪
1425
01:03:46,896 --> 01:03:49,551
- Jose Rodriguez faced
a criminal investigation
1426
01:03:49,586 --> 01:03:53,206
by the Department of Justice
after ordering the destruction
1427
01:03:53,241 --> 01:03:55,172
of 92 videotapes
1428
01:03:55,206 --> 01:03:57,620
of enhanced
interrogation sessions.
1429
01:03:57,655 --> 01:04:01,344
The CIA deemed
his actions inappropriate.
1430
01:04:01,379 --> 01:04:03,793
He was given
a letter of reprimand,
1431
01:04:03,827 --> 01:04:06,241
but was not charged
with any crime.
1432
01:04:06,275 --> 01:04:10,586
- I think that historians
1433
01:04:10,620 --> 01:04:12,862
as well as the press
will continue
1434
01:04:12,896 --> 01:04:15,551
to label it as torture.
1435
01:04:15,586 --> 01:04:19,896
As far as I'm concerned,
I have no regrets at all.
1436
01:04:19,931 --> 01:04:21,517
I would do it all over again.
1437
01:04:21,551 --> 01:04:24,586
♪
1438
01:04:29,000 --> 01:04:31,172
[soft dramatic music]
1439
01:04:31,206 --> 01:04:33,413
- Our overarching goal
remains the same,
1440
01:04:33,448 --> 01:04:35,551
to disrupt, dismantle
and defeat
1441
01:04:35,586 --> 01:04:37,965
al-Qaeda in Afghanistan
and Pakistan,
1442
01:04:38,000 --> 01:04:40,551
and to prevent its capacity
to threaten America
1443
01:04:40,586 --> 01:04:42,448
and our allies in the future.
1444
01:04:42,482 --> 01:04:46,103
- The president made clear
that we continue
1445
01:04:46,137 --> 01:04:50,034
to go after bin Laden
and bring him to justice.
1446
01:04:50,068 --> 01:04:53,517
- It's late 2009,
more than eight years
1447
01:04:53,551 --> 01:04:55,620
since al-Qaeda
attacked the U.S.
1448
01:04:55,655 --> 01:04:58,034
and changed
the course of history.
1449
01:04:58,068 --> 01:05:01,586
The CIA doubles down
on its hunt for bin Laden,
1450
01:05:01,620 --> 01:05:02,758
who is still at large.
1451
01:05:02,793 --> 01:05:05,344
[dramatic music]
1452
01:05:05,379 --> 01:05:08,862
Sarah Carlson
would help close that chapter.
1453
01:05:08,896 --> 01:05:11,275
Her journey starts on 9/11,
1454
01:05:11,310 --> 01:05:13,758
when she's
just a college senior.
1455
01:05:13,793 --> 01:05:16,931
- That is when my career
in counterterrorism began.
1456
01:05:16,965 --> 01:05:20,862
This drive to protect
runs very strong in my family.
1457
01:05:20,896 --> 01:05:23,551
All three of my brothers
actually joined the military
1458
01:05:23,586 --> 01:05:25,931
after September 11th.
1459
01:05:25,965 --> 01:05:28,862
We wanted to hold
those responsible accountable.
1460
01:05:28,896 --> 01:05:31,965
♪
1461
01:05:32,000 --> 01:05:33,517
- For the CIA,
1462
01:05:33,551 --> 01:05:37,172
the pursuit of bin Laden
would come at a grave cost
1463
01:05:37,206 --> 01:05:40,413
suddenly and without warning.
1464
01:05:40,448 --> 01:05:42,724
- We set up a meeting
1465
01:05:42,758 --> 01:05:46,413
at a place
called Khost, Afghanistan,
1466
01:05:46,448 --> 01:05:51,068
which was a base located
near the border of Pakistan.
1467
01:05:51,103 --> 01:05:55,103
It was part
of this effort by the CIA
1468
01:05:55,137 --> 01:05:58,034
to try to go after
any possible lead
1469
01:05:58,068 --> 01:06:00,724
that might bring us
1470
01:06:00,758 --> 01:06:04,724
either to Bin Laden
or to Zawahiri,
1471
01:06:04,758 --> 01:06:07,448
who is his second in command.
1472
01:06:07,482 --> 01:06:10,448
- The meeting
is with Humam al-Balawi,
1473
01:06:10,482 --> 01:06:12,413
a Jordanian doctor
1474
01:06:12,448 --> 01:06:16,034
who claims to have information
on al-Zawahiri,
1475
01:06:16,068 --> 01:06:17,793
but the asset turns out
1476
01:06:17,827 --> 01:06:20,448
to be a double agent
seeking revenge.
1477
01:06:20,482 --> 01:06:23,034
♪
1478
01:06:23,068 --> 01:06:26,586
- He was not searched
as he came through the gate
1479
01:06:26,620 --> 01:06:28,034
as he should have been.
1480
01:06:33,551 --> 01:06:35,344
- And when he pulled up
and stepped out of the car,
1481
01:06:35,379 --> 01:06:36,965
he detonated a suicide vest.
1482
01:06:48,379 --> 01:06:52,965
- It was al-Qaeda
taking the fight
1483
01:06:53,000 --> 01:06:57,206
to CIA...directly.
1484
01:06:57,241 --> 01:07:00,206
[soft dramatic music]
1485
01:07:00,241 --> 01:07:03,241
♪
1486
01:07:03,275 --> 01:07:06,034
- We were called together
into the hallway,
1487
01:07:06,068 --> 01:07:10,068
and the head of CTC
announced to all of us
1488
01:07:10,103 --> 01:07:13,172
that the source
conducted a suicide bombing
1489
01:07:13,206 --> 01:07:17,758
and that--excuse me.
1490
01:07:17,793 --> 01:07:20,206
And that seven CIA officers
were killed.
1491
01:07:27,586 --> 01:07:29,620
Sorry, it's still hard.
1492
01:07:35,068 --> 01:07:37,241
And more were wounded.
1493
01:07:39,241 --> 01:07:44,689
♪
1494
01:07:44,724 --> 01:07:48,793
- I greeted their bodies
when they came back to Dover,
1495
01:07:48,827 --> 01:07:52,068
and I remember going
to each of the families,
1496
01:07:52,103 --> 01:07:56,689
and every family
I talked to said,
1497
01:07:56,724 --> 01:07:59,344
"I hope you will not stop
1498
01:07:59,379 --> 01:08:02,241
"going after the goal
1499
01:08:02,275 --> 01:08:05,379
that our sons
and daughters died for."
1500
01:08:05,413 --> 01:08:07,517
And I said,
"You have my assurance."
1501
01:08:07,551 --> 01:08:12,241
♪
1502
01:08:12,275 --> 01:08:14,068
- You know,
it's very difficult.
1503
01:08:17,827 --> 01:08:21,206
I had been involved
in stopping so many attacks
1504
01:08:21,241 --> 01:08:23,344
and disrupting
all these threats,
1505
01:08:23,379 --> 01:08:26,724
and, this one, you know,
it made it very, very personal.
1506
01:08:26,758 --> 01:08:31,379
♪
1507
01:08:31,413 --> 01:08:35,379
- Getting bin Laden
would make clear
1508
01:08:35,413 --> 01:08:38,241
that their death
was not in vain,
1509
01:08:38,275 --> 01:08:43,379
so I established
a task force at the CIA,
1510
01:08:43,413 --> 01:08:46,275
and I made clear to them
that their responsibility
1511
01:08:46,310 --> 01:08:48,965
was nothing else,
1512
01:08:49,000 --> 01:08:53,241
nothing else but focusing
on the hunt for bin Laden.
1513
01:08:53,275 --> 01:08:57,931
♪
1514
01:08:57,965 --> 01:09:00,379
- In late August, 2010,
1515
01:09:00,413 --> 01:09:02,689
the task force
finally gives Panetta
1516
01:09:02,724 --> 01:09:04,724
the lead
he's been waiting for.
1517
01:09:04,758 --> 01:09:08,344
In Pakistan, they've located
bin Laden's couriers,
1518
01:09:08,379 --> 01:09:10,724
his only links
to the outside world.
1519
01:09:10,758 --> 01:09:16,172
♪
1520
01:09:16,206 --> 01:09:20,172
- They followed the couriers
to a town called Abbottabad,
1521
01:09:20,206 --> 01:09:22,448
which is near
the capital of Pakistan.
1522
01:09:22,482 --> 01:09:24,068
♪
1523
01:09:24,103 --> 01:09:27,689
The couriers
pulled into a compound,
1524
01:09:27,724 --> 01:09:30,758
and as soon as the individuals
involved with the task force
1525
01:09:30,793 --> 01:09:33,172
saw the compound,
1526
01:09:33,206 --> 01:09:35,551
the house
where they were going into,
1527
01:09:35,586 --> 01:09:37,206
the bells went off.
1528
01:09:44,379 --> 01:09:46,551
- Much larger
than any other compound
1529
01:09:46,586 --> 01:09:48,517
in the neighborhood.
1530
01:09:48,551 --> 01:09:52,689
12- to 18-foot walls
topped with barbed wire.
1531
01:09:52,724 --> 01:09:56,172
A third-floor balcony
that had a privacy wall.
1532
01:09:56,206 --> 01:09:57,965
You have a balcony
to look out.
1533
01:09:58,000 --> 01:10:01,448
Why did somebody build a wall
so you couldn't look out?
1534
01:10:01,482 --> 01:10:03,172
♪
1535
01:10:03,206 --> 01:10:05,448
The hair on the back
of my neck stood up,
1536
01:10:05,482 --> 01:10:07,310
and nobody said
bin Laden might be there...
1537
01:10:09,620 --> 01:10:11,413
But everybody,
including me, was thinking it.
1538
01:10:11,448 --> 01:10:16,034
♪
1539
01:10:16,068 --> 01:10:19,517
- It was soon after that
that I immediately sat down
1540
01:10:19,551 --> 01:10:20,931
with the president.
1541
01:10:22,620 --> 01:10:26,275
- The president had two orders
for Director Panetta and me.
1542
01:10:26,310 --> 01:10:29,586
First, find out
what the hell is going on
1543
01:10:29,620 --> 01:10:31,586
inside that compound.
1544
01:10:31,620 --> 01:10:34,103
Number two, don't tell anyone.
1545
01:10:34,137 --> 01:10:38,551
It was the best-kept secret
of my entire career at CIA.
1546
01:10:40,103 --> 01:10:41,517
- Even within CIA,
1547
01:10:41,551 --> 01:10:43,206
even within
the Counterterrorism Center,
1548
01:10:43,241 --> 01:10:45,517
there was
a very few number of people
1549
01:10:45,551 --> 01:10:47,793
who actually knew
about the operation
1550
01:10:47,827 --> 01:10:49,551
before it happened.
1551
01:10:49,586 --> 01:10:53,103
My job and why I was brought in
was to start assessing
1552
01:10:53,137 --> 01:10:55,862
and writing about
and briefing about,
1553
01:10:55,896 --> 01:10:57,275
well, what if he's there?
1554
01:10:57,310 --> 01:10:59,241
♪
1555
01:10:59,275 --> 01:11:00,965
What's going to happen?
1556
01:11:01,000 --> 01:11:05,448
What will that retaliation
look like if we capture him?
1557
01:11:05,482 --> 01:11:07,620
What will al-Qaeda do
if we kill him?
1558
01:11:07,655 --> 01:11:09,793
♪
1559
01:11:09,827 --> 01:11:13,034
- And we continued
to do surveillance,
1560
01:11:13,068 --> 01:11:15,965
and there were
some interesting developments.
1561
01:11:16,000 --> 01:11:18,965
- There was an individual
who, nearly every day,
1562
01:11:19,000 --> 01:11:21,551
would come out and pace
1563
01:11:21,586 --> 01:11:24,344
around the garden.
1564
01:11:24,379 --> 01:11:27,793
We called him the pacer.
We did not know who he was.
1565
01:11:27,827 --> 01:11:29,724
We couldn't get
a good enough look.
1566
01:11:29,758 --> 01:11:31,689
♪
1567
01:11:31,724 --> 01:11:35,172
- We followed the couriers
when they made phone calls,
1568
01:11:35,206 --> 01:11:38,206
were able to intercept
their phone calls.
1569
01:11:38,241 --> 01:11:42,620
We got a conversation
with the courier
1570
01:11:42,655 --> 01:11:45,793
from a friend
who had called him,
1571
01:11:45,827 --> 01:11:48,862
and he was asking the courier,
1572
01:11:48,896 --> 01:11:50,241
"What are you doing?
1573
01:11:50,275 --> 01:11:52,413
I haven't seen you
for a long time."
1574
01:11:52,448 --> 01:11:54,758
And the courier said,
1575
01:11:54,793 --> 01:11:58,206
"We're doing
what we did before."
1576
01:11:59,586 --> 01:12:01,379
Well, what they had done before
1577
01:12:01,413 --> 01:12:03,862
was to be couriers
to bin Laden.
1578
01:12:03,896 --> 01:12:06,310
♪
1579
01:12:08,413 --> 01:12:10,862
- President Obama
decides it's time
1580
01:12:10,896 --> 01:12:12,724
to bring in the military.
1581
01:12:12,758 --> 01:12:15,689
Together with the CIA,
Admiral Bill McRaven
1582
01:12:15,724 --> 01:12:17,931
devises a plan,
1583
01:12:17,965 --> 01:12:20,896
a helicopter assault
using Navy SEALs
1584
01:12:20,931 --> 01:12:22,862
to infiltrate the compound.
1585
01:12:22,896 --> 01:12:26,275
- Our hope was
that we might get
1586
01:12:26,310 --> 01:12:30,896
that one piece of evidence
that would make it 100% certain
1587
01:12:30,931 --> 01:12:33,034
that bin Laden was there.
1588
01:12:33,068 --> 01:12:36,448
♪
1589
01:12:36,482 --> 01:12:39,793
- At the end of the day,
the president will tell you
1590
01:12:39,827 --> 01:12:44,344
that he was 50/50 about
whether he was there or not.
1591
01:12:44,379 --> 01:12:46,586
♪
1592
01:12:46,620 --> 01:12:49,172
- On April 29, 2011,
1593
01:12:49,206 --> 01:12:52,551
President Obama
greenlights the operation.
1594
01:12:52,586 --> 01:12:56,517
- I got word from the president
1595
01:12:56,551 --> 01:13:00,034
that it was a go,
1596
01:13:00,068 --> 01:13:04,931
and I remember calling
Admiral McRaven
1597
01:13:04,965 --> 01:13:09,344
and saying, "I'm ordering you
to proceed with this mission,
1598
01:13:09,379 --> 01:13:14,344
"to go in, get bin Laden,
get the hell out.
1599
01:13:14,379 --> 01:13:17,586
"And if you go in
and bin Laden's not there,
1600
01:13:17,620 --> 01:13:18,448
get the hell out."
1601
01:13:18,482 --> 01:13:25,724
♪
1602
01:13:25,758 --> 01:13:28,517
- We had set up
an operation center in CIA.
1603
01:13:28,551 --> 01:13:30,241
The director's conference room
had been turned
1604
01:13:30,275 --> 01:13:32,517
into our situation room.
1605
01:13:32,551 --> 01:13:33,896
♪
1606
01:13:33,931 --> 01:13:35,689
A lot of people monitoring
all sorts
1607
01:13:35,724 --> 01:13:37,344
of intelligence feeds.
1608
01:13:37,379 --> 01:13:39,344
♪
1609
01:13:39,379 --> 01:13:42,068
- We sort of got
real-time updates
1610
01:13:42,103 --> 01:13:44,793
on what was occurring.
1611
01:13:44,827 --> 01:13:48,793
The anticipation
in the office and CTC
1612
01:13:48,827 --> 01:13:52,206
was, like, the highest
you can possibly imagine.
1613
01:13:52,241 --> 01:13:55,965
It was like a palpable feeling
of just waiting
1614
01:13:56,000 --> 01:14:00,482
to hear if he was there
and then what would happen.
1615
01:14:02,758 --> 01:14:07,413
- I issued the order,
and Admiral McRaven
1616
01:14:07,448 --> 01:14:11,758
gave the order to the SEALs.
They got on the helicopters.
1617
01:14:13,068 --> 01:14:15,344
It's after midnight
in Pakistan.
1618
01:14:15,379 --> 01:14:19,241
And as the helicopters
approached the compound,
1619
01:14:19,275 --> 01:14:22,896
one of the helicopters
just kind of started to shake.
1620
01:14:22,931 --> 01:14:24,275
♪
1621
01:14:24,310 --> 01:14:26,862
Thank God there was
an experienced pilot
1622
01:14:26,896 --> 01:14:31,517
on that helicopter,
and he was able to set it down,
1623
01:14:31,551 --> 01:14:33,275
and the tail of the helicopter
1624
01:14:33,310 --> 01:14:36,551
was up on one of the walls
around the compound.
1625
01:14:38,413 --> 01:14:41,206
- When the helicopter
crashed...
1626
01:14:41,241 --> 01:14:44,034
I was so worried for them.
1627
01:14:44,068 --> 01:14:45,931
They intentionally
did this overnight
1628
01:14:45,965 --> 01:14:48,413
when people would be sleeping,
you know, woke people up.
1629
01:14:48,448 --> 01:14:50,448
- And I remember
1630
01:14:50,482 --> 01:14:52,724
immediately calling
Bill McRaven and saying,
1631
01:14:52,758 --> 01:14:54,724
"What the hell
is going on, Bill?"
1632
01:14:54,758 --> 01:14:57,103
I said,
"What the hell is going on?"
1633
01:14:57,137 --> 01:15:00,000
♪
1634
01:15:10,068 --> 01:15:11,793
[soft dramatic music]
1635
01:15:11,827 --> 01:15:13,206
It's one of those moments
1636
01:15:13,241 --> 01:15:16,068
where, you know,
your stomach's in your mouth
1637
01:15:16,103 --> 01:15:18,931
and you're not quite sure
what the hell is happening.
1638
01:15:18,965 --> 01:15:24,206
♪
1639
01:15:24,241 --> 01:15:27,689
- On a moonless night,
two Black Hawk helicopters
1640
01:15:27,724 --> 01:15:30,344
carrying a team
of Navy SEALs descend
1641
01:15:30,379 --> 01:15:32,965
upon Osama bin Laden's
suspected hideout.
1642
01:15:33,000 --> 01:15:33,965
♪
1643
01:15:34,000 --> 01:15:36,206
One of the engine stalls,
1644
01:15:36,241 --> 01:15:38,896
and a chopper is forced
to crash land.
1645
01:15:38,931 --> 01:15:40,827
♪
1646
01:15:44,000 --> 01:15:46,689
- Bill McRaven, to his credit,
didn't miss a beat.
1647
01:15:46,724 --> 01:15:49,068
He said, "Mr. Director,
1648
01:15:49,103 --> 01:15:50,379
"we're going on
with the mission.
1649
01:15:50,413 --> 01:15:53,241
"I've called in
a backup helicopter,
1650
01:15:53,275 --> 01:15:56,103
and they're going
to continue the mission."
1651
01:15:56,137 --> 01:15:58,172
Just like that.
1652
01:15:58,206 --> 01:16:01,034
And I said,
"God bless you, Bill."
1653
01:16:02,448 --> 01:16:04,241
We heard gunfire
1654
01:16:04,275 --> 01:16:07,172
soon after
they breached the walls.
1655
01:16:07,206 --> 01:16:08,724
- They were clearing
the building
1656
01:16:08,758 --> 01:16:10,241
and looking for bin Laden,
1657
01:16:10,275 --> 01:16:13,275
and we were all just waiting
with bated breath
1658
01:16:13,310 --> 01:16:16,034
to hear what had happened.
1659
01:16:16,068 --> 01:16:20,241
- There was
about 20 minutes of silence.
1660
01:16:20,275 --> 01:16:22,931
The longest 20 minutes
in my life.
1661
01:16:25,000 --> 01:16:27,379
And at the end
of that 20 minutes,
1662
01:16:27,413 --> 01:16:31,241
Bill McRaven came on and said,
1663
01:16:31,275 --> 01:16:35,862
"I believe
we have a Geronimo,"
1664
01:16:35,896 --> 01:16:39,000
which was the code word
for locating bin Laden.
1665
01:16:41,413 --> 01:16:43,896
- They brought the body bag out
with bin Laden in it.
1666
01:16:43,931 --> 01:16:45,103
You could see it.
1667
01:16:46,586 --> 01:16:49,379
And they put it
on a helicopter,
1668
01:16:49,413 --> 01:16:51,137
and they were out of there.
1669
01:16:52,793 --> 01:16:56,413
- Finally, both helicopters
arrived back at Jalalabad.
1670
01:16:57,931 --> 01:17:00,103
And it was at that point
1671
01:17:00,137 --> 01:17:03,448
that I think
we all sighed in relief
1672
01:17:03,482 --> 01:17:05,758
that the mission
had been accomplished.
1673
01:17:07,896 --> 01:17:10,241
- Tonight, I can report
to the American people
1674
01:17:10,275 --> 01:17:12,275
and to the world
1675
01:17:12,310 --> 01:17:14,620
that the United States
has conducted an operation
1676
01:17:14,655 --> 01:17:18,620
that killed Osama bin Laden,
the leader of al-Qaeda,
1677
01:17:18,655 --> 01:17:20,620
and a terrorist
who's responsible
1678
01:17:20,655 --> 01:17:23,620
for the murder of thousands
of innocent men,
1679
01:17:23,655 --> 01:17:25,586
women, and children.
1680
01:17:25,620 --> 01:17:28,586
[cheers and applause]
1681
01:17:28,620 --> 01:17:33,448
[people chanting]
U.S.A., U.S.A., U.S.A., U.S.A.!
1682
01:17:33,482 --> 01:17:36,965
- We were walking
back towards the West Wing,
1683
01:17:37,000 --> 01:17:41,034
and you could see that crowds
were beginning to gather.
1684
01:17:41,068 --> 01:17:45,275
You could hear them yelling,
"U.S.A., U.S.A.
1685
01:17:45,310 --> 01:17:48,103
CIA, CIA."
1686
01:17:48,137 --> 01:17:50,275
Something I never thought
I would hear.
1687
01:17:53,000 --> 01:17:55,103
- It was a big moment
for the country.
1688
01:17:55,137 --> 01:17:56,931
It was closure.
1689
01:17:58,827 --> 01:18:01,896
There was a wound
opened on 9/11.
1690
01:18:03,103 --> 01:18:06,896
And that wound
was closed on May 1st.
1691
01:18:08,206 --> 01:18:10,724
- You just think
about how much
1692
01:18:10,758 --> 01:18:12,724
throughout the world
people have suffered
1693
01:18:12,758 --> 01:18:14,206
at this man's hand.
1694
01:18:14,241 --> 01:18:16,965
It felt like justice
was finally served.
1695
01:18:17,000 --> 01:18:20,103
- I felt obviously
a lot of emotions thinking,
1696
01:18:20,137 --> 01:18:22,000
"Finally, finally,
you got what was coming."
1697
01:18:23,758 --> 01:18:26,448
It was a good moment.
Good moment.
1698
01:18:26,482 --> 01:18:28,586
But it also brought
flashbacks of people
1699
01:18:28,620 --> 01:18:31,379
who sacrificed their lives
along the way.
1700
01:18:33,827 --> 01:18:36,310
- I thought of all the people
I knew who had worked on this.
1701
01:18:38,896 --> 01:18:42,724
There are 137 stars
1702
01:18:42,758 --> 01:18:46,413
carved in the marble
of the CIA lobby,
1703
01:18:46,448 --> 01:18:49,034
one for each person at CIA
1704
01:18:49,068 --> 01:18:50,965
who has died
in the line of duty.
1705
01:18:52,551 --> 01:18:54,965
Well over one third
of those stars
1706
01:18:55,000 --> 01:18:57,931
have been carved since 9/11.
1707
01:19:03,620 --> 01:19:07,275
- I also welcome the hearings
because it is finally a forum
1708
01:19:07,310 --> 01:19:11,034
where I can apologize
to the loved ones
1709
01:19:11,068 --> 01:19:12,827
of the victims of 9/11.
1710
01:19:14,275 --> 01:19:16,689
To them who are here
in the room.
1711
01:19:16,724 --> 01:19:20,793
I thought it was appropriate
for someone
1712
01:19:20,827 --> 01:19:24,896
who is involved in 9/11
1713
01:19:24,931 --> 01:19:28,275
to turn around to the families
who were sitting behind me
1714
01:19:28,310 --> 01:19:32,034
and to the families
who were watching on TV
1715
01:19:32,068 --> 01:19:35,517
and say what someone
should have said before.
1716
01:19:35,551 --> 01:19:38,034
We tried hard,
1717
01:19:38,068 --> 01:19:40,241
but that doesn't matter,
because we failed.
1718
01:19:41,758 --> 01:19:44,344
And for that failure,
1719
01:19:44,379 --> 01:19:49,068
I would ask,
once all the facts are out...
1720
01:19:49,103 --> 01:19:53,620
for your understanding
and for your forgiveness.
1721
01:19:55,965 --> 01:20:00,862
♪
1722
01:20:00,896 --> 01:20:03,896
- You cannot go
to the 9/11 Memorial
1723
01:20:03,931 --> 01:20:08,448
or the 9/11 Museum
in New York without tears.
1724
01:20:08,482 --> 01:20:13,413
What comes to mind
for me is sorrow...
1725
01:20:13,448 --> 01:20:16,344
♪
1726
01:20:16,379 --> 01:20:18,172
That we were unable
to prevent the attack.
1727
01:20:18,206 --> 01:20:19,758
♪
1728
01:20:19,793 --> 01:20:21,344
- There were lots of things
that I saw,
1729
01:20:21,379 --> 01:20:23,241
lots of things that I did,
quite frankly,
1730
01:20:23,275 --> 01:20:27,551
that made me
lose sleep at night.
1731
01:20:27,586 --> 01:20:29,724
I would have night terrors
and things like that.
1732
01:20:31,137 --> 01:20:34,517
I feel a huge sense
of responsibility
1733
01:20:34,551 --> 01:20:36,862
to the victims
and to their families
1734
01:20:36,896 --> 01:20:38,448
that I
should have stopped this.
1735
01:20:38,482 --> 01:20:41,379
I could have stopped this,
and I know I'm just one person,
1736
01:20:41,413 --> 01:20:45,379
but I think a lot of us
probably feel that way.
1737
01:20:45,413 --> 01:20:48,068
- In the beginning,
I kept questioning,
1738
01:20:48,103 --> 01:20:51,034
why would I have PTSD?
I wasn't in the military.
1739
01:20:51,068 --> 01:20:53,379
I think it's
just collective trauma.
1740
01:20:53,413 --> 01:20:55,965
It's just the bombardment
1741
01:20:56,000 --> 01:20:59,724
of that kind of,
you know, experience.
1742
01:21:01,137 --> 01:21:02,344
- We're humans,
1743
01:21:02,379 --> 01:21:03,896
and I do think,
in the aftermath,
1744
01:21:03,931 --> 01:21:06,758
obviously we all
lost loved ones along the way,
1745
01:21:06,793 --> 01:21:08,344
little brothers or sisters.
1746
01:21:08,379 --> 01:21:12,241
That makes that guilt, that
PTSD, probably more severe.
1747
01:21:12,275 --> 01:21:15,413
♪
1748
01:21:15,448 --> 01:21:19,344
- I just found ways that I
could sort of disconnect
1749
01:21:19,379 --> 01:21:21,034
and try to just calm my mind.
1750
01:21:21,068 --> 01:21:23,413
♪
1751
01:21:23,448 --> 01:21:25,620
For me, the best thing
was just to separate myself
1752
01:21:25,655 --> 01:21:27,241
and to go into nature.
1753
01:21:27,275 --> 01:21:30,103
♪
1754
01:21:30,137 --> 01:21:33,620
- I struggle with PTSD
every day and depression,
1755
01:21:33,655 --> 01:21:36,482
and every day
since I left the agency.
1756
01:21:39,620 --> 01:21:43,551
20 years later.
It's ridiculous.
1757
01:21:52,551 --> 01:21:55,724
- 20 years after 9/11,
what I think about the most
1758
01:21:55,758 --> 01:21:58,379
is that if bin Laden
were still alive,
1759
01:21:58,413 --> 01:22:02,275
he would probably think
that he won,
1760
01:22:02,310 --> 01:22:04,310
that he created
a global movement.
1761
01:22:07,827 --> 01:22:11,068
- Bin Laden was always
playing the long game.
1762
01:22:11,103 --> 01:22:12,586
I don't believe
that he ever intended
1763
01:22:12,620 --> 01:22:14,344
for the movement
to die with him,
1764
01:22:14,379 --> 01:22:17,241
that he felt like
he was beginning it.
1765
01:22:19,551 --> 01:22:21,344
- On September 10, 2001,
1766
01:22:21,379 --> 01:22:23,172
his movement
was in one place
1767
01:22:23,206 --> 01:22:25,724
on the planet, Afghanistan.
1768
01:22:25,758 --> 01:22:29,241
Now it stretches
from West Africa,
1769
01:22:29,275 --> 01:22:32,034
all across Africa
to East Africa,
1770
01:22:32,068 --> 01:22:34,965
into the Middle East,
into South Asia,
1771
01:22:35,000 --> 01:22:37,034
and into Southeast Asia
1772
01:22:37,068 --> 01:22:39,275
in the form
of both al-Qaeda and ISIS.
1773
01:22:39,310 --> 01:22:45,413
♪
1774
01:22:45,448 --> 01:22:47,206
- We've got breaking news
for you right now
1775
01:22:47,241 --> 01:22:48,620
from Afghanistan.
1776
01:22:48,655 --> 01:22:50,965
The Pentagon says
there's been a suicide bombing
1777
01:22:51,000 --> 01:22:52,862
outside the Kabul Airport.
1778
01:22:52,896 --> 01:22:54,689
It is the deadliest day
for U.S. forces
1779
01:22:54,724 --> 01:22:56,862
in Afghanistan in a decade.
1780
01:22:56,896 --> 01:22:58,862
The bombers
struck late in the afternoon
1781
01:22:58,896 --> 01:23:01,241
at an airport entrance
packed with people.
1782
01:23:01,275 --> 01:23:02,931
More than 100 were wounded.
1783
01:23:02,965 --> 01:23:04,275
An affiliate of ISIS
1784
01:23:04,310 --> 01:23:06,793
has claimed responsibility
for the attacks.
1785
01:23:06,827 --> 01:23:09,241
♪
1786
01:23:09,275 --> 01:23:11,862
- 13 Americans
killed in action.
1787
01:23:11,896 --> 01:23:13,448
♪
1788
01:23:13,482 --> 01:23:16,344
It is a bitter
and bloody ending
1789
01:23:16,379 --> 01:23:20,034
as the last U.S. soldier
leaves Afghanistan.
1790
01:23:20,068 --> 01:23:23,068
The longest war
in U.S. history
1791
01:23:23,103 --> 01:23:26,241
has cost
more than $2 trillion.
1792
01:23:26,275 --> 01:23:29,517
The human toll is staggering.
1793
01:23:29,551 --> 01:23:34,068
The lives of nearly 2,500
American service members
1794
01:23:34,103 --> 01:23:38,689
and tens of thousands
of Afghans lost.
1795
01:23:38,724 --> 01:23:41,931
- I'm now
the fourth American president
1796
01:23:41,965 --> 01:23:44,034
to preside
over war in Afghanistan.
1797
01:23:44,068 --> 01:23:46,379
I will not pass
this responsibility
1798
01:23:46,413 --> 01:23:48,586
on to a fifth president.
1799
01:23:48,620 --> 01:23:50,724
- I think we made a mistake
1800
01:23:50,758 --> 01:23:55,034
in invading Afghanistan
1801
01:23:55,068 --> 01:23:56,724
in the way that we did.
1802
01:23:56,758 --> 01:23:58,620
We were going after al-Qaeda,
1803
01:23:58,655 --> 01:24:01,586
not to take over a country.
1804
01:24:02,586 --> 01:24:08,034
- The war is over,
but the War on Terror is not.
1805
01:24:08,068 --> 01:24:09,586
- Today, Taliban fighters
1806
01:24:09,620 --> 01:24:11,758
took control
of the capital, Kabul.
1807
01:24:11,793 --> 01:24:14,896
Taliban fighters were seen
rolling up the Afghan flag
1808
01:24:14,931 --> 01:24:17,965
inside
the presidential palace.
1809
01:24:18,000 --> 01:24:19,586
- We lost
the war in Afghanistan.
1810
01:24:19,620 --> 01:24:21,172
♪
1811
01:24:21,206 --> 01:24:23,206
The Taliban has won.
1812
01:24:23,241 --> 01:24:25,931
- The Taliban's
swift return to power
1813
01:24:25,965 --> 01:24:28,689
means al-Qaeda
could now reconstitute itself
1814
01:24:28,724 --> 01:24:31,344
in Afghanistan faster
than U.S. government estimates
1815
01:24:31,379 --> 01:24:33,448
of two years.
1816
01:24:33,482 --> 01:24:35,034
- We forget the lessons
1817
01:24:35,068 --> 01:24:39,034
that come from attacks
like 9/11,
1818
01:24:39,068 --> 01:24:42,172
and the tendency
for us as a country
1819
01:24:42,206 --> 01:24:46,724
is to then focus
on something else and move on.
1820
01:24:46,758 --> 01:24:49,172
We need to continue
to pay attention
1821
01:24:49,206 --> 01:24:52,793
and be vigilant
about attacks on our homeland.
1822
01:24:52,827 --> 01:24:54,793
♪
1823
01:24:54,827 --> 01:24:58,965
- If you allow the enemy
to maintain a safe haven,
1824
01:24:59,000 --> 01:25:02,034
that gives them
a platform to recruit,
1825
01:25:02,068 --> 01:25:04,793
to train, to plot, to plan.
1826
01:25:04,827 --> 01:25:08,620
We learned that lesson
the hard way a long time ago,
1827
01:25:08,655 --> 01:25:10,448
and I hope
we haven't forgotten it.
1828
01:25:16,068 --> 01:25:19,034
[soft dramatic music]
1829
01:25:19,068 --> 01:25:26,275
♪
1830
01:25:26,310 --> 01:25:29,586
- One of the things
that I sometimes worry about
1831
01:25:29,620 --> 01:25:31,931
in this country is that
we have a short memory.
1832
01:25:34,000 --> 01:25:36,068
There are
a lot of young people now
1833
01:25:36,103 --> 01:25:38,413
that were not alive
when 9/11 happened,
1834
01:25:38,448 --> 01:25:41,275
don't really remember,
you know,
1835
01:25:41,310 --> 01:25:44,241
all of the sacrifices
that were made.
1836
01:25:44,275 --> 01:25:46,241
♪
1837
01:25:46,275 --> 01:25:48,206
Don't really understand
1838
01:25:48,241 --> 01:25:51,586
the impact of a country
1839
01:25:51,620 --> 01:25:54,413
that is suddenly thrown
into war.
1840
01:25:54,448 --> 01:25:59,172
♪
1841
01:25:59,206 --> 01:26:02,862
It was a terrible day.
We've just been attacked.
1842
01:26:02,896 --> 01:26:05,931
I thought
I really have to get back
1843
01:26:05,965 --> 01:26:09,172
to my family in California.
1844
01:26:09,206 --> 01:26:11,862
You know, threw my luggage
in the back of the car
1845
01:26:11,896 --> 01:26:14,275
and just started driving west.
1846
01:26:15,931 --> 01:26:20,448
It was a very strange
and yet encouraging trip
1847
01:26:20,482 --> 01:26:24,241
across the country
of patriotism,
1848
01:26:24,275 --> 01:26:28,724
and you could see
people throughout the country
1849
01:26:28,758 --> 01:26:32,724
felt that they had
personally been attacked.
1850
01:26:32,758 --> 01:26:37,103
♪
1851
01:26:37,137 --> 01:26:39,758
As we come together
1852
01:26:39,793 --> 01:26:42,931
on this 20th anniversary
of 9/11,
1853
01:26:42,965 --> 01:26:45,275
it's an important moment
1854
01:26:45,310 --> 01:26:49,758
for a country that today
is deeply polarized,
1855
01:26:49,793 --> 01:26:53,517
deeply divided
over a lot of things...
1856
01:26:53,551 --> 01:26:55,206
♪
1857
01:26:55,241 --> 01:26:58,344
That we remember
1858
01:26:58,379 --> 01:27:00,689
that when
this country was attacked...
1859
01:27:00,724 --> 01:27:01,793
♪
1860
01:27:01,827 --> 01:27:03,413
We pulled together.
1861
01:27:03,448 --> 01:27:06,551
♪
1862
01:27:06,586 --> 01:27:10,413
I hope we remember
that deep down,
1863
01:27:10,448 --> 01:27:12,862
there is
a fundamental spirit here
1864
01:27:12,896 --> 01:27:16,620
that can never, never be ended
1865
01:27:16,655 --> 01:27:20,517
by terrorists or by any enemy.
1866
01:27:20,551 --> 01:27:27,310
♪
130396
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