and have a right to kill or capture enemy combatants trumps the fact that one or another of those combatants might have u.s. personhood wrapped around them. reporter: and the former ranking democrat on the house intelligence committee is in too, but she wants the administration to be transparent about its legal justification for killing an american without due process. i believe there is a good case. imminent threat beyond our ability to arrest him, the authorization to use military force against al qaeda. he was explicit with al qaeda. but i think the justice department should release that memo. reporter: in fact, two americans were killed in the u.s. attack. the target, anwar al awlaki, a master recruiter linked to several plots against the u.s., including the ft. hood shootings, and an al qaeda propagandist. something eats that the dick cheney, something president obama said in cairo in divine about the u.s. reaction to the 9/11 attacks. the fear and anger that it
branding make it easier to do something if necessary in one of those places or another place yet to be determined? very much case-by-case. we have different capabilities in different places. what s happening now, for example, in jordan and syria is part of the middle east. these are three different parts of the middle eastern region. we have a different approach. we have very frosty relations with syria and have for quite some time. very limited assets and capabilities. and there s no need at this point to conduct military operations. there is most certainly brutality. but that doesn t mean that right now we need to be protecting the population from some slaughter, such as was truly the case in libya. what about yemen? it s of deep concern for american intelligence folks. what s happening in yem yemen?
if assad does what gadhafi was doing which is to threaten people house-to-house and kill anybody who s not on his side, there s a precedent now that world community has set in libya and it s the right one. we re not going to stand by and allow this assad to slaughter people like his father did years ago. that s a question a lot of people have been asking now that in libya, what about syria and yemen? syria s president is expected to announce he is lifting a 50-year state of emergency and moving to annul other harsh restrictses and political freedoms. yem yemen s president is taking down his offer to step down by the end of the year. that lasted four days. that move come as islamic militants are taking advantage of deteriorating security by seizing control of towns in the southern part of yemen. protesters have been calling for the president s immediate out offer there and have been joined by military commanders, politicians, and tribal leaders.