news on an if you terror plot down at one of the busiest construction sites on earth. if that s all it were a construction site it would still be remarkable. we all know it is much more than that. along with a new transportation hub and two enormous skyscrapers going up behind me there s also a memorial to the 2,206 people killed here almost ten years ago. ten years later all over manhattan, washington, d.c., there are echoes of that terrible day. police and troops with assault riefls in the train stations, same as it was. checkpoints and road blocks pulling over trucks and vans looking for explosives and other dangerous material. same as it was. people on edge, same as it was. and not just because of the anniversary. the breaking news tonight, new developments in the potential plot targeting new york and washington. two of the three people thought to be connected to it are american citizens. susan candiotti has been working her sources. she joins us now so does fran townsend
we all know it is much more than that. along with a new transportation hub and two enormous skyscrapers going up behind me there s also a memorial to the 2,206 people killed here almost ten years ago. ten years later all over manhattan, washington, d.c., there are echoes of that terrible day. police and troops with assault riefls in the train stations, same as it was. checkpoints and road blocks pulling over trucks and vans looking for explosives and other dangerous material. same as it was. people on edge, same as it was. and not just because of the anniversary. the breaking news tonight, new developments in the potential plot targeting new york and washington. two of the three people thought to be connected to it are american citizens. susan candiotti has been working her sources. she joins us now so does fran townsend former homeland security advisor for george w. bush. on the phone, analyst peter berg again. last night we thought at least one person was a u.s. citizen of
he speaks english. he s also an imam. he has religious authority that bin laden never had. he was not in the jihad, but he has been a feature of this for a long time. when the first wave of al qaeda came to america in january of 2000, they went to san diego, where anwar al awlaki was the imam. and then he moved to falls church, virginia. they moved with him. he became the chaplain at george washington university. and was he as radical then? because i ve read it was later he became radicalized in a prison in yemen. we don t really know the true story. all we know is that al qaeda was on his tail all across america. and the fbi interviewed him and let him go. but you know, this guy has been responsible for most of the major attempts in the united states in the last couple of years. he s been a very inspirational figure. he clearly has the ability to summon up followers, which was the great strength that osama
taxpayers footing the bill. what al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, which is now run by this american cleric anwar al awlaki, how significant are they? i mean, it seems like in a lot of the recent attacks in the united states even there has been inspiration if nothing if not even direct connection between awlaki and the perpetrators. i think the center of gravity has moved in that direction. and it s been happening for some time. anwar al awlaki is an american citizen. he speaks english. he s also an imam. he has religious authority that bin laden never had. he was not in the jihad, but he has been a feature of this for a long time. when the first wave of al qaeda came to america in january of 2000, they went to san diego, where anwar al awlaki was the imam. and then he moved to falls church, virginia. they moved with him. he became the chaplain at george washington university. and was he as radical then? because i ve read it was later he became radicalized in a prison in yem
time. anwar al awlaki is an american citizen. he speaks english. he s also an imam. he has religious authority that bin laden never had. he was not in the jihad, but he has been a feature of this for a long time. when the first wave of al qaeda came to america in january of 2000, they went to san diego, where anwar al awlaki was the imam. and then he moved to falls church, virginia. they moved with him. he became the chaplain at george washington university. and was he as radical then? because i ve read it was later he became radicalized in a prison in yemen. we don t really know the true story. all we know is that al qaeda was on his tail all across america. and the fbi interviewed him and let him go. but you know, this guy has been responsible for most of the major attempts in the united states in the last couple of years. he s been a very inspirational figure. he clearly has the ability to summon up followers, which was