independently. al awalaki was a top member of al qaedaing and personally declared war on the u.s. a missile from the u.s. drone hit his car in yemen. president obama makes no apology and calls his death a major blow to al qaeda. he directed the failed attempt to blow up an airplane on christmas day. in 200 he directed the failed attempt to blow up cargo planes. and he repeatedly called on individuals in the united states and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda. in an interview with cnn s erin burnett today, leon panetta defended the rational for killing al awalki without giving him a trial. this individual was a terrorist. yes, he was a citizen, but if you re a terrorist, you re a terrorist. and that means we have the ability to go after those who would threaten to attack the united states and kill americans. there s no question that the authority and the ability to go after a terrorist is there. barbara star has bee
new terror plot from down at one of the busiest construction site on earth. if that s all it were, a construction site, it would be remarkable. it s much more than that. along with a new transportation hub and two enormous skyscrapers up behind me, there s a remarkable memorial, the 2,606 people killed here almost ten years ago. and ten years later, all over manhattan, washington, d.c., there are echos of that terrible day. police and troops and the assault rifles and the train stations, the same as it was. check points and roadblocks pulling over trucks and vans and the anniversary to breaking news tonight. new developments of the potential plot targeting new york and washington. two of the three people thought to be connected to it are american citizens. susan candiotti working her sources. she joins us now. and a volunteer for george w. bush, and national security analyst, peter bergen. last night we thought it was just one person was a u.s. citizen, now we re hearing two.
Al zawahiri, analysts say he lacks bin laden s charisma. he s viewed as a polarizing figure, someone not easy to deal with, not a good manager. al awalaki is seen to have commanded the airline plot. his achilles heel. he s not a fighter. he s a cleric. he s a speaker. and not a fighter. and al qaeda over the years have wanted to be led by a fighter. reporter: credentials bin laden had from his years battling the soviets in afghanistan. but other dangerous figures could surface including saif al adal who is believed to have played a key role in the african embassy bomb also. al libi who rose to prominence for escaping from bagram air base. and a well connected bin laden