The Man Who Knew

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The story of FBI agent John P. O'Neill, an FBI counter-terrorism expert whose warnings about al Qaeda fell generally on deaf ears. Pressured to leave the bureau, he became security director for the World Trade Center, where he died during the September 11 attacks.

Transcript

00:00:00The night before he died, he had said to me, we're due, and we're due for something big.

00:00:18His name was John O'Neill, and long before the world knew about Osama Bin Laden,

00:00:25FBI agent O'Neill was obsessed with him.

00:00:28He was among the first people to see the Bin Laden threat.

00:00:32He warned of al-Qaeda.

00:00:33He said that we're at war with these people.

00:00:35He warned of the threat to the United States.

00:00:37And we better not take them for granted, because they are here to hurt us.

00:00:42But people at FBI headquarters thought John O'Neill was too much of a maverick, and they stopped listening to him.

00:00:48You could be plagued as a problem, and your career could pretty much be over.

00:00:52Last summer, O'Neill left the FBI and took a new job as head of security at the World Trade Center.

00:01:00Of all the places to go to work, and of all the ways that you could lose your life.

00:01:07Tonight, Frontline investigates the internal power struggle at the heart of the FBI's failure on September 11th.

00:01:14There was, after the horror of September 11th, the inevitable question.

00:01:43Did anyone in the government know?

00:01:58The move from Chicago to headquarters in Washington was a big promotion for Special Agent John O'Neill.

00:02:04He'd be the chief of the counter-terrorism section.

00:02:14He drove all night from Chicago, and went straight to the office on a Sunday morning.

00:02:26He'd just arrived when the White House called.

00:02:28It was a Sunday morning.

00:02:37FBI.

00:02:38But I was in my office, and I was reading intelligence, and I saw a report that indicated that the man who had plotted the World Trade Center bombing in 93,

00:02:48the ringleader, Ramzi Ahmed Yosef, he was about to move within Pakistan, and there was a small window, closing window, to catch him.

00:03:00And so, thinking there might be somebody at the FBI on a Sunday morning, I called.

00:03:10It's sort of typical.

00:03:11I mean, you know, John in the office on a Sunday.

00:03:13John, a new job, was going to get his feet on the ground and get himself settled in,

00:03:19and was going to make sure that he was, if that was his job, he was going to be the expert in it in short order.

00:03:24John O'Neill had made his reputation investigating white-collar crime, drug rings, and abortion clinic bombings.

00:03:35I said, who's this?

00:03:37And he responded, well, who the hell are you?

00:03:40I'm John O'Neill.

00:03:41And I explained, well, I'm from the White House, and I do terrorism, and I need some help.

00:03:47And I told him my story on a classified phone line, and he went into action.

00:03:56And over the course of the next two or three days, he never left the office.

00:04:01He worked the phones out to Pakistan.

00:04:05He worked the phones to the Pentagon.

00:04:08He worked the phones to the State Department.

00:04:11O'Neill was new to the counterterrorism game.

00:04:14In 20 years, he'd chased a lot of bad guys.

00:04:16But nobody liked Ramsey Youssef.

00:04:21U.S. Chinese office.

00:04:23Youssef is one of the most dangerous people on the planet, very smart.

00:04:28Getting him and incapacitating him was a significant public safety issue.

00:04:33And John O'Neill recognized that, was not about to take no for an answer anywhere before he was taken into custody.

00:04:45White House.

00:04:46O'Neill put together an arrest team that managed to catch Ramsey Youssef in Pakistan just before he moved into Afghanistan, which would have been beyond our reach.

00:04:56It was a pretty intense couple of days, but it worked.

00:04:59At headquarters, down in the Sayoc, the situation room, they waited for word from New York that Youssef was in the lockup.

00:05:09And when we loaded him on the helicopter, he had been blindfolded.

00:05:17It was a very clear night, very, very clear, sometime in January.

00:05:21And one of the agents asked me if he could take the blindfold off Youssef.

00:05:25And I said, sure, go right ahead.

00:05:27And it was ironic, because as he finally focused his eyes, we were right adjacent to the World Trade Center.

00:05:34And he kind of focused in on that.

00:05:36And, of course, one of the agents sitting next to him gave him a little bit of a nudge and said, you see, it still stands.

00:05:42And Youssef, in no uncertain terms, said it would not have been had we had more funding.

00:05:49And I looked at him at that point.

00:05:50Really, this is the way that he said that, the coldness of it, is something that I'll probably never forget.

00:05:57For the next six years, O'Neill and his agents would follow the bloody and complex trail from Ramsey Youssef to Osama bin Laden.

00:06:06He'd painstakingly piece together bits of information gathered from sources around the world.

00:06:12Sources who would sometimes become close friends.

00:06:16One of them was a journalist.

00:06:19He was one of those rare birds that are inside a government who had access to highly classified information.

00:06:25And yet also understood that talking to a journalist was not necessarily a violation of any rules.

00:06:31And that could actually be helpful on both sides.

00:06:35In analyzing the information about Ramsey Youssef,

00:06:38Isham said his friend O'Neill saw a different sort of terrorist, with a new kind of mission.

00:06:45The picture was still fuzzy.

00:06:46I mean, it was by no means sharp.

00:06:48That there was an emerging global Islamic fundamentalist terrorist network

00:06:54that was becoming more and more engaged in the objective of attacking American targets.

00:07:02When Youssef led from the Trade Center bombing in 1993,

00:07:07among the places he went, really right before he was apprehended in Pakistan,

00:07:11was to the Philippines, where he was mixing the bombs to blow up 12 jumbo jets in a 48-hour period,

00:07:18and was not far away from at least attempting to carry out that plot,

00:07:23which would have resulted in thousands of deaths in two days.

00:07:27For Agent O'Neill, the trail of Ramsey Youssef was an introduction

00:07:32into the sophisticated and interconnected world of the new terrorism.

00:07:37We now know that he was planning an operation to crash a dozen American airliners

00:07:44virtually simultaneously with bombs.

00:07:46Now, one version of this, I believe from the Philippines,

00:07:50has it that he was planning on crashing one of the 12,

00:07:53not in the Pacific, but into the CIA headquarters in Langley.

00:07:58What's interesting is whether that was part of his plan or not.

00:08:03If you look together at crashing airliners

00:08:06and at Ramsey Youssef's plot to blow up the World Trade Center in 1993 by explosives,

00:08:12what happened in September 11, 2001,

00:08:15is some kind of a weird amalgam of those two Ramsey Youssef plots.

00:08:20Another of O'Neill's friends worked in the upper reaches of the Justice Department.

00:08:26John completely throws himself into this.

00:08:28He's reading everything he can get his hands on about radical fundamentalism.

00:08:33He's already got in his mind,

00:08:34this is a major and long-term problem for us that we are ill-equipped to deal with,

00:08:39not because we lack the commitment to deal with it,

00:08:42but because it's a mindset.

00:08:43He's now read, he's studied it.

00:08:45From the beginning, O'Neill obsessed about the details of the Ramsey Youssef case.

00:08:51He dug into that plan to blow up the planes, known as the Bojinka plot.

00:08:58Investigators had found a connection with the World Trade Center bombing

00:09:01that led to Youssef's co-conspirator, Ahmad Ajaj,

00:09:05and a terrorist training manual with a title that would translate into Al-Qaeda, the base.

00:09:13They uncovered a list of phone numbers called by Youssef

00:09:17and other World Trade Center conspirators from their safe houses.

00:09:21One of those numbers belonged to Osama bin Laden,

00:09:26identified by an early CIA report as an Islamic extremist financier.

00:09:31I think if you ask most terrorism experts in the mid-1990s,

00:09:35well, what about this man bin Laden?

00:09:38Most people in the mid-1990s would have said,

00:09:41ah, yes, the financier, the terrorist financier.

00:09:45And what O'Neill said was, no, this man is not a financier.

00:09:48The money is money for a purpose.

00:09:50The purpose is building a worldwide terrorist network

00:09:55based out of Afghanistan,

00:09:57the point of which is going after the United States

00:10:00and after governments friendly to the United States,

00:10:02particularly in the Arab world.

00:10:05Once convinced bin Laden was a threat to America,

00:10:09O'Neill began a campaign within the FBI to sound the alarm.

00:10:13The first time I ever heard the name Osama bin Laden was from John O'Neill.

00:10:17And John O'Neill was very much aware of who he was,

00:10:21who his group was, Al-Qaeda.

00:10:22Over time, Robert Bear Bryant would become second-in-command at the FBI

00:10:28and a supporter of John O'Neill.

00:10:30He was a person that I had immense personal regard for.

00:10:34And we could argue like a couple of thieves in the night over issues

00:10:39because we were both hard-headed,

00:10:42we were both a little bit Irish,

00:10:44and he much more so than I.

00:10:46And we had strong opinions about things,

00:10:50and we could get into it really quick.

00:10:53O'Neill argued for a plan that would represent a seismic shift

00:10:56in the way the FBI had always operated.

00:10:59He would give authority to a new, more analytic agent

00:11:02who would have enhanced technology to fight the new terrorism.

00:11:07That directly threatened the dominance of the group

00:11:10who held sway over the culture,

00:11:12the criminal division.

00:11:13From his point of view, it was very clear what had to be done.

00:11:17You would basically have a whole branch of the FBI

00:11:19that would not be touched by the criminal side.

00:11:24The criminal side.

00:11:26The J. Edgar Hoover G-men

00:11:27who carried the guns and made cases and arrests.

00:11:32The man who would eventually lead the criminal division,

00:11:35Tom Picard,

00:11:36aggressively competed with O'Neill

00:11:38for the attention of the director,

00:11:40Louis Freeh.

00:11:41As a former street agent himself,

00:11:46Freeh identified with the criminal division,

00:11:49and Tom Picard was a longtime friend.

00:11:53O'Neill's counter-terror section

00:11:54was on the FBI's radar,

00:11:57but just barely.

00:11:58A lot of people don't realize

00:11:59that a year prior to the first bombing

00:12:02of the World Trade Center,

00:12:04all but one squad was eliminated

00:12:06or reconsolidated

00:12:07in New York.

00:12:09And we were the flagship office

00:12:12that had most of the counter-terrorism issues.

00:12:15We were pretty much scaling back,

00:12:17and while we would never close the program,

00:12:20it certainly was given much less resource support,

00:12:24and the threat was thought to have been diminishing.

00:12:29To reinvigorate the counter-terrorism effort,

00:12:34O'Neill would try to muscle his way

00:12:35through the bureaucracy that surrounded Louis Freeh.

00:12:38But in that struggle,

00:12:40O'Neill's personal style got in the way.

00:12:43They said he was too intense,

00:12:45pushed too hard,

00:12:47had what they called sharp elbows.

00:12:49We often talked and joked about the fact

00:12:52that we weren't really in the club,

00:12:55and we really didn't care.

00:12:57And that was something that John and I

00:12:58had shared on occasion,

00:12:59and there is a difference between

00:13:01those people who spend time in an organization

00:13:04and are happy to make it to the top

00:13:06and have never rolled over a stone

00:13:09or created a problem

00:13:10or solved a problem,

00:13:12you know, just to carefully run through

00:13:14and be there and be promoted.

00:13:17John was not like that.

00:13:19O'Neill just didn't do anything the FBI way,

00:13:27where at the end of a long shift,

00:13:28they went home to their families.

00:13:31He's the type of guy who put his arm around you

00:13:33and take you out to dinner and smoke cigars

00:13:36and drink whiskey with at the end of the day

00:13:38and really talk about all the issues in great depth.

00:13:41And he took his business beyond the work hours

00:13:45and well into the evenings where he liked to do that.

00:13:49O'Neill's evenings were spent at Washington's watering holes

00:13:56with a network of spies,

00:13:58CIA, DIA, NSC, and foreign intelligence officers.

00:14:02John tended to be a little more flamboyant

00:14:07than a lot of the traditional agents in the FBI.

00:14:13I think there were jealousies.

00:14:15John did know everybody all over the world.

00:14:18John could pick up a phone and talk to somebody

00:14:21in an embassy, in a foreign intelligence service,

00:14:24anywhere in the world, and they all knew them.

00:14:29And in the button-down FBI,

00:14:31O'Neill was considered too flashy.

00:14:34It was the presentation.

00:14:36It was the, as he would call it, it was the package.

00:14:39They resented sort of the Burberry suit

00:14:41and the white pocket square

00:14:42and the expensive tie and the Bruno Magley shoes.

00:14:45You know, this wasn't the Bureau.

00:14:48I kind of thought he was kind of a dandy.

00:14:51You know, he's impeccably dressed

00:14:52and looked like his fingernails were polished

00:14:55and his hair swooped back.

00:14:58And a bunch of us kind of, you know,

00:15:01started to call him the Prince of Darkness.

00:15:03He worked both ends of the candle pretty hard.

00:15:13We had a morning briefing every morning at 7.30.

00:15:17Sometimes he would come in late

00:15:18and I told him I wanted him there.

00:15:19I don't care if he came in

00:15:20and he'd just slippers and pajamas be there.

00:15:23And he was.

00:15:28O'Neill's days were spent

00:15:29analyzing fragments of information.

00:15:31There was the story about

00:15:34two of Ramsey Youssef's Bojinka co-conspirators,

00:15:37Wali Khan Amin Shah and Abdul Hakim Murad.

00:15:42In 1995,

00:15:44Murad told a story of Middle Eastern pilots

00:15:46training at U.S. flight schools

00:15:48and of a proposal to dive bomb a jetliner

00:15:50into a federal building.

00:15:53It was a tantalizing bit of information.

00:15:57Agents were dispatched, but then withdrawn.

00:15:59John, the investigation languished.

00:16:02I had a fairly low opinion of our headquarters

00:16:05throughout my whole career.

00:16:08It seemed like, you know,

00:16:09the headquarters was a very negative place

00:16:11where they would find a million reasons

00:16:14why you couldn't do something

00:16:15as opposed to why you could do something.

00:16:17It was not the type of place

00:16:19where you always felt

00:16:21you were getting a lot of assistance.

00:16:24John was the opposite of that.

00:16:25John you could talk to

00:16:26and you could tell John what you needed.

00:16:28And John would get it.

00:16:30James Kallstrom was the powerful boss

00:16:32of the FBI's New York office.

00:16:35Watching from a distance,

00:16:37he saw Neal's attitude and expertise

00:16:39make enemies among the group

00:16:41that surrounded Louis Free.

00:16:42Yeah, I'm sure there was some jealousy

00:16:44in the bureaucracy.

00:16:45There always is.

00:16:46And you can get by

00:16:47with some sharper elbows for a while,

00:16:49but you need to be right a lot.

00:16:54You know the old saying

00:16:55when you run with the wolves,

00:16:56don't trip, you know.

00:16:57You can have those types of character traits.

00:17:00You really need to have those

00:17:01to get the job done sometimes.

00:17:03But there'll always be a comeuppance

00:17:05in bureaucracies.

00:17:09If you exercise that too much

00:17:11and you don't restrain it.

00:17:15At headquarters,

00:17:16there were those

00:17:16in the upper reaches

00:17:17of the bureaucracy

00:17:18who looked for ways

00:17:20to wound O'Neill.

00:17:21A whispering campaign began

00:17:23about O'Neill's personal life.

00:17:26There was one version.

00:17:27Married his high school sweetheart

00:17:29and had a couple of kids.

00:17:31Then there was the truth.

00:17:32John had been separated

00:17:34from his family for some time.

00:17:36And I think John

00:17:37would have said to you,

00:17:38his family suffered

00:17:39as a result of that,

00:17:40as a result of his devotion

00:17:42to his job.

00:17:43I think the FBI was his mistress.

00:17:46He loved it.

00:17:46He loved it more than he loved

00:17:48any woman in his life.

00:17:51He loved it.

00:17:54And he loved Valerie James.

00:17:57Very first time I saw John,

00:17:58I did something

00:17:59I had never done before

00:18:00and will never do again.

00:18:03I sent him a drink.

00:18:04He just had the most,

00:18:06he was standing at the bar

00:18:07and he had the most

00:18:08compelling eyes

00:18:09I had ever seen.

00:18:12She had her own children

00:18:13and after a while

00:18:14they started calling him dad.

00:18:17He hinted

00:18:17he might marry their mom.

00:18:20The trouble was,

00:18:21he hadn't told her

00:18:22he was already married.

00:18:23I didn't know

00:18:24for two or three years.

00:18:25And someone that John worked with

00:18:30in the FBI's wife told me.

00:18:33And it was bad.

00:18:35I was shocked.

00:18:37My family was shocked.

00:18:39I loved him.

00:18:45It had been two or three years

00:18:46by that point.

00:18:47What are you going to do,

00:18:48you know?

00:18:50There weren't exactly

00:18:51FBI regulations

00:18:52against O'Neill's behavior,

00:18:54but there were

00:18:55unwritten rules of the road.

00:18:57And the whisperers

00:18:58said O'Neill's lifestyle

00:18:59made him unfit

00:19:00for his sensitive job.

00:19:02John's brilliant.

00:19:03He's a guy

00:19:04that gets it.

00:19:06He is working on this

00:19:07incredible stuff

00:19:10day after day

00:19:11that he can basically

00:19:12can talk to none of us about.

00:19:13He can talk to a very few,

00:19:16some people in law enforcement.

00:19:17He can't even tell

00:19:18all of his peers

00:19:20about what he's working on.

00:19:21It's that intense.

00:19:23Does a man like that

00:19:24come home and eat

00:19:24roast chicken

00:19:25and mashed potatoes

00:19:26every night?

00:19:27And I think his whole life

00:19:28needed to be complicated.

00:19:33I think he was

00:19:34complicated.

00:19:38O'Neill said

00:19:38he could care less

00:19:39what the bureaucrats thought.

00:19:41The only one

00:19:41he was concerned about

00:19:42was Louis Free.

00:19:45Louis Free

00:19:46is extraordinary

00:19:47in the sense of being

00:19:48sort of a regular person,

00:19:50very committed

00:19:51to his children

00:19:51and his wife.

00:19:52He wasn't one

00:19:53to be out late

00:19:54or wasn't a big drinker,

00:19:56wasn't...

00:19:58That was not his style at all.

00:20:00O'Neill figured

00:20:01a personal connection

00:20:02to Free

00:20:03was out of the question.

00:20:04He'd have to find

00:20:05another way

00:20:06to make his case

00:20:07about reorganizing

00:20:08the FBI.

00:20:15And then,

00:20:16after Islamic militants

00:20:17in Saudi Arabia

00:20:18blew up the U.S. Air Force

00:20:19barracks known as

00:20:20Kobar Towers,

00:20:22O'Neill saw his chance.

00:20:23both O'Neill and Free

00:20:32got deeply involved,

00:20:33taking 14-hour plane rides

00:20:35to Saudi Arabia,

00:20:37time enough

00:20:38for a sustained

00:20:38O'Neill terrorism tutorial.

00:20:40from the beginning O'Neill's cop instincts

00:20:51told him the Saudis

00:20:52weren't fully cooperating.

00:20:54They were hiding something.

00:20:55On at least one occasion,

00:20:59John told me

00:20:59that he believed

00:21:00that the Saudis

00:21:02were telling us

00:21:04one thing

00:21:04but doing another,

00:21:06and that he tried

00:21:08to persuade

00:21:08the director

00:21:09of the FBI

00:21:09of that,

00:21:10but the director

00:21:10wanted to believe

00:21:11that the Saudis

00:21:12were cooperating.

00:21:13Finally,

00:21:18on a flight back

00:21:18to Washington,

00:21:20O'Neill decided

00:21:20to give Free

00:21:21a piece of his mind.

00:21:24The way they tell

00:21:25the story

00:21:26at the Bureau,

00:21:27O'Neill uttered

00:21:27an indelicate phrase

00:21:29telling his boss

00:21:30the Saudis

00:21:31were blowing smoke

00:21:32up a particular portion

00:21:33of the director's anatomy.

00:21:35He never told me

00:21:36the precise words,

00:21:37but I can hear

00:21:39John saying them.

00:21:40I, you know,

00:21:42I think that

00:21:42that he felt

00:21:43that the Saudis

00:21:45were definitely

00:21:46playing games

00:21:48and that

00:21:48the senior officials

00:21:52in the U.S. government,

00:21:52including Louis Free,

00:21:54just didn't get it.

00:22:03The story has it

00:22:05that Free

00:22:05didn't appreciate

00:22:06the bluntness.

00:22:08The two flew home

00:22:10in silence

00:22:10for 12 hours.

00:22:12If that was

00:22:14what John said

00:22:15and he said it

00:22:16in that indelicate

00:22:16a way,

00:22:17it wouldn't surprise me

00:22:18that Free would have

00:22:19viewed that

00:22:19as inappropriate

00:22:20and therefore

00:22:21disrespectful.

00:22:22If John said it

00:22:23in that way,

00:22:24it wouldn't surprise me

00:22:25if Louis chose

00:22:26not to sort of

00:22:27deal with him

00:22:27while he was

00:22:28in that mood.

00:22:31Louis Free

00:22:31has reportedly

00:22:32denied this story

00:22:33but declined

00:22:34Frontline's request

00:22:35to talk with us.

00:22:36And as to the substance

00:22:40of the dispute

00:22:40between Free

00:22:41and O'Neill

00:22:42over at the White House

00:22:43where they always

00:22:44thought Iran

00:22:45was behind the bombing,

00:22:46they eventually

00:22:47learned the truth

00:22:47about the way

00:22:48the Saudis were acting.

00:22:50Well,

00:22:51it turns out

00:22:52that the Saudi government

00:22:53had a suspicion

00:22:54that it was Iran

00:22:55and the Saudi government

00:22:57didn't really want

00:22:58the United States

00:22:59to conclude

00:23:00that it was Iran

00:23:01and go off

00:23:02and start bombing Iran.

00:23:04So the Saudi government

00:23:05decided at a very high level

00:23:07to give the United States

00:23:09and the FBI

00:23:10only a little bit

00:23:11of cooperation,

00:23:12not the full picture.

00:23:16O'Neill's instincts

00:23:17had been right

00:23:18but it was a Pyrrhic victory.

00:23:22Well,

00:23:22remember about this

00:23:23being in the club?

00:23:23I mentioned

00:23:24you have to be

00:23:26a little bit

00:23:27of a minimal threat

00:23:29to the organization

00:23:31and the director

00:23:32and the management structure.

00:23:35John,

00:23:35because of his

00:23:36aggressive posture,

00:23:37his aggressive nature,

00:23:40his willingness

00:23:41to go forward

00:23:43when it may not

00:23:44be politically correct,

00:23:47I think a few people

00:23:49were just uncomfortable

00:23:50with John's

00:23:52aggressive style.

00:23:54But for every enemy

00:23:56O'Neill made

00:23:56at headquarters,

00:23:57it seemed he'd made

00:23:58an ally elsewhere.

00:24:01One of them,

00:24:02in the midst

00:24:02of her own struggle

00:24:03with Louis Free

00:24:04and the headquarters bureaucracy,

00:24:06he kept secret.

00:24:07The attorney general

00:24:09had seen John

00:24:10in meetings,

00:24:10knew he was an expert

00:24:11from his position

00:24:12at the FBI

00:24:13and she would frequently say,

00:24:15well,

00:24:15what does John think?

00:24:16There were times

00:24:17I was sitting in her office

00:24:18and she'd ask that

00:24:19and I'd say,

00:24:19I didn't know

00:24:20and she said,

00:24:21well,

00:24:21call him.

00:24:21And literally,

00:24:22I would be dialing

00:24:23John's cell phone

00:24:24from the attorney general

00:24:25of the United States' office

00:24:26and, you know,

00:24:28he'd get on the phone,

00:24:28hi,

00:24:28how are you?

00:24:29And I'd say,

00:24:29look,

00:24:30I'm in Ms. Reno's office.

00:24:32And so,

00:24:33if she wanted to know,

00:24:34she knew she had the ability

00:24:35to reach out to him.

00:24:37This made him,

00:24:37in fairness,

00:24:38a little bit uncomfortable.

00:24:39He knew that this would not

00:24:40have been looked upon kindly

00:24:41by other people

00:24:44in the Bureau.

00:24:49Around Washington,

00:24:50O'Neill's allies

00:24:51and drinking buddies

00:24:52began to warn him

00:24:53that he should take

00:24:54his al-Qaeda crusade

00:24:55to a field office.

00:24:58He should leave headquarters.

00:25:02You've got to be careful

00:25:03whose toes you step on,

00:25:05particularly in Washington,

00:25:06because there are

00:25:06some pretty big shoes

00:25:08and he created some headaches

00:25:14for himself at headquarters

00:25:15because he did manage

00:25:17to step on some toes.

00:25:20He told me

00:25:21that was the most intense time

00:25:23he spent with the FBI.

00:25:25I mean,

00:25:25it burnt John out.

00:25:28Do you know how Jimmy Carter

00:25:29looked when he started office

00:25:30and the pictures of him afterwards,

00:25:32how he aged?

00:25:33I felt that that,

00:25:34I've said it to John,

00:25:35I felt that job age, John.

00:25:40There was an opening

00:25:41in the New York City division.

00:25:44The boss up there,

00:25:45Jimmy Kallstrom,

00:25:46was also a tough guy,

00:25:48a thorn in Washington's side.

00:25:50He grabbed O'Neill,

00:25:52saved him, really.

00:25:54At headquarters,

00:25:55they were happy

00:25:56to see him go.

00:25:56And on January 1st, 1997,

00:26:00John O'Neill moved to New York.

00:26:01It was a promotion.

00:26:25Assistant special agent

00:26:27in charge of counter-terrorism

00:26:28and national security.

00:26:29He'd be in charge

00:26:31of a team of about

00:26:32350 agents.

00:26:34And best of all,

00:26:35it was in New York.

00:26:38New York was the flagship

00:26:39office of the FBI.

00:26:40It's where it happens

00:26:41in New York.

00:26:42I mean,

00:26:42that's where you wanted to be

00:26:43if you were an FBI agent.

00:26:45So it's only natural

00:26:46that John O'Neill,

00:26:47who was,

00:26:48you know,

00:26:48his whole life

00:26:49was the FBI

00:26:49from what I could see,

00:26:51would want to be in New York.

00:26:54In the New York office,

00:26:55they were still piecing together

00:26:57the evidence

00:26:57in the 1993

00:26:58World Trade Center bombing.

00:27:01They'd also had new information

00:27:02that bin Laden

00:27:03had been involved

00:27:04in the shooting down

00:27:05of two American

00:27:05Black Hawk helicopters

00:27:07in Somalia.

00:27:09The confession

00:27:10of captured

00:27:11al-Qaeda member

00:27:11Jamal Ahmed al-Fadl

00:27:13told of Osama bin Laden's

00:27:15efforts to develop

00:27:15chemical weapons,

00:27:17buy weapons-grade uranium,

00:27:19and to spread

00:27:19the al-Qaeda network

00:27:20into Europe.

00:27:23O'Neill was working

00:27:24to connect all these dots

00:27:25with a powerful U.S. attorney,

00:27:27Mary Jo White.

00:27:29I had a reputation

00:27:30of being fairly autonomous

00:27:31also,

00:27:33and not being afraid

00:27:34to rattle cages

00:27:35to get things done,

00:27:36and he had that reputation too.

00:27:38And so,

00:27:39when he came to New York,

00:27:40he wanted to try

00:27:42to get us both off

00:27:43on the right foot

00:27:44and, you know,

00:27:45not have those two

00:27:46cage rattlers,

00:27:47you know,

00:27:48work at counter purposes.

00:27:51U.S. attorney White

00:27:52was among the first

00:27:53of his allies

00:27:53in Manhattan.

00:27:55His forays

00:27:56into the night

00:27:57added more.

00:27:59He connected

00:28:00with many of them

00:28:01at the epicenter

00:28:02of the New York scene,

00:28:03Elaine's.

00:28:07He's a lovely man,

00:28:09intelligent,

00:28:10easy to talk to,

00:28:11very well-groomed,

00:28:13wasn't a braggart,

00:28:16he was a low-key,

00:28:17because they know

00:28:18some of the others,

00:28:20they tell you

00:28:20they just saved

00:28:21the whole world

00:28:21out there.

00:28:23But he never spoke

00:28:24like that.

00:28:28Elaine's has a very

00:28:29hierarchical

00:28:31seating structure,

00:28:34and sort of

00:28:34the tourists

00:28:35and the peasants

00:28:36are relegated

00:28:37to the back end

00:28:38of the restaurant,

00:28:40and you simply

00:28:42don't want to be there.

00:28:44And there are about

00:28:45seven or eight tables

00:28:46on the front.

00:28:47John always made sure

00:28:48that he was in

00:28:49one of those front tables

00:28:50because he understood

00:28:52the importance

00:28:53of being

00:28:55completely wired,

00:28:57and he felt

00:28:58in order to be wired

00:28:59he needed to be

00:29:00in the front of the restaurant,

00:29:01not the back

00:29:01of the restaurant.

00:29:03He's like George

00:29:03Flintton.

00:29:04I mean,

00:29:05he's George Flintton

00:29:06of the job.

00:29:07There's no place

00:29:08that George can't

00:29:08sit,

00:29:10and so it was

00:29:11with John.

00:29:13He could sit

00:29:13any place he wanted.

00:29:15He was the big kahuna.

00:29:22O'Neal would return

00:29:23to the office,

00:29:24often after midnight.

00:29:27He might have a scrap

00:29:28of information

00:29:28or a new name.

00:29:32John always feared

00:29:33that somehow

00:29:34we would miss something.

00:29:35He would be

00:29:38after his investigators

00:29:39to make sure

00:29:40they covered

00:29:41every base,

00:29:42and woe be you

00:29:44if you failed

00:29:46to cover everything.

00:29:48O'Neal's investigators

00:29:54now had more evidence

00:29:55about one of the

00:29:56conspirators

00:29:56in that Bajinka plot

00:29:58of Ramsey Youssef.

00:30:01Wali Khan Amin Shah

00:30:02admitted involvement

00:30:04in a plot

00:30:05to assassinate

00:30:05President Clinton.

00:30:07The plot had links

00:30:08to Bin Laden.

00:30:11Under John's

00:30:12investigative leadership,

00:30:14he pressed

00:30:14his investigators

00:30:16to try to

00:30:17look for the ties,

00:30:19look for the

00:30:20any connectivity

00:30:22between these

00:30:23organizations.

00:30:25This larger picture

00:30:26turned out

00:30:27to be Al-Qaeda.

00:30:30O'Neal was

00:30:31becoming obsessed,

00:30:33haunted by

00:30:33the specter

00:30:34of Bin Laden.

00:30:36My dad had

00:30:37a lot of video

00:30:38of Osama Bin Laden.

00:30:40Whatever was out there

00:30:41was actually

00:30:41in his apartment.

00:30:42He studied him

00:30:43several times,

00:30:46watched the videos

00:30:46I know several times.

00:30:51He would watch

00:30:52videotapes,

00:30:53he would read

00:30:54whatever material

00:30:55he could get

00:30:56his hands on.

00:30:57We had a fax

00:30:57in the house,

00:30:58people would fax

00:30:59him information

00:31:00all the time.

00:31:02John would sit

00:31:02in bed

00:31:03or sit on the couch

00:31:04or wherever

00:31:05and constantly

00:31:06underline everything.

00:31:07By then,

00:31:14Bin Laden was

00:31:15in Afghanistan

00:31:16and I organized

00:31:19through some channels

00:31:20to do an interview

00:31:23with him

00:31:23which took shape

00:31:24in the early 98

00:31:27through spring of 98.

00:31:28the interview

00:31:29actually happened

00:31:30in May of 98

00:31:31with John Miller.

00:31:33And some of

00:31:33O'Neill's information

00:31:34helped Isham

00:31:35and correspondent

00:31:36John Miller

00:31:37draw up their questions.

00:31:38I wanted to ask

00:31:39that he either,

00:31:41Mr. Bin Laden,

00:31:42either finance

00:31:43or order

00:31:44the World Trade Center

00:31:45bombing

00:31:45because of the

00:31:46Ramsey-Yussef Association.

00:31:48Because of the

00:31:49Association

00:31:50is why I would

00:31:50want to ask that.

00:31:51But would you

00:31:52ask him now

00:31:53if we could ask that

00:31:54before he starts again?

00:31:55O'Neill couldn't wait

00:31:57to get his hands

00:31:58on the tape.

00:32:01He wanted to see

00:32:01everything.

00:32:03He said,

00:32:03well,

00:32:03I need to see

00:32:04the whole thing.

00:32:04I need to see

00:32:05the whole interview.

00:32:06He says he doesn't

00:32:08know.

00:32:09I said,

00:32:12well,

00:32:12you know,

00:32:12we have this whole thing

00:32:13about outtakes

00:32:14and,

00:32:14you know,

00:32:14it may sound stupid

00:32:16but,

00:32:17you know,

00:32:17we really can't give you

00:32:18all the outtakes

00:32:19of the interview.

00:32:20He says,

00:32:20no,

00:32:20you don't understand.

00:32:21I have to see

00:32:21the whole interview.

00:32:23And it was like

00:32:23he wasn't taking

00:32:24no for an answer.

00:32:25O'Neill finally

00:32:27saw the entire

00:32:28interview

00:32:28on the ABC News

00:32:30website.

00:32:31He was obsessed

00:32:32by him.

00:32:32I think there's

00:32:33no question about it.

00:32:34He always knew

00:32:35that there was

00:32:36so much more

00:32:37that he didn't know.

00:32:38And that's

00:32:39what spooked him.

00:32:40What spooked him

00:32:40and what really

00:32:41used to drive him

00:32:43crazy was

00:32:44what he didn't know

00:32:46and how much

00:32:47was out there

00:32:48that he didn't know.

00:32:49Two bombs

00:32:51minutes apart

00:32:52exploded

00:32:53without warning

00:32:54Friday

00:32:54outside the U.S.

00:32:55embassies

00:32:56in Nairobi,

00:32:56Kenya

00:32:57and Dar es Salaam,

00:32:58Tanzania.

00:32:59We had turned on

00:33:00the TV

00:33:00watching CNN

00:33:01and John O'Neill

00:33:02put it together

00:33:03in relatively short order

00:33:04and was convinced

00:33:06in his own mind

00:33:07that Al-Qaeda

00:33:07was behind that.

00:33:09I had the same

00:33:13immediate reaction.

00:33:14What I did

00:33:15was to call

00:33:15both Lou Shillero

00:33:16and the Attorney General.

00:33:18I think John O'Neill

00:33:20and I

00:33:20in particular

00:33:21having been

00:33:22enmeshed

00:33:23in bin Laden

00:33:24and Al-Qaeda

00:33:25was our

00:33:26immediate reaction.

00:33:28And it was really

00:33:28the first time ever

00:33:29that I began

00:33:30to at least focus in

00:33:31on really

00:33:33the significance

00:33:34of Osama bin Laden.

00:33:36Two American embassies

00:33:37had been bombed

00:33:38in East Africa.

00:33:39Virtually simultaneously.

00:33:41That clearly

00:33:42was the event

00:33:43that changed

00:33:44bin Laden's profile

00:33:45dramatically

00:33:46because it was

00:33:47such a major event.

00:33:49Two embassies

00:33:49blown up simultaneously

00:33:50over 500 miles apart

00:33:52in the continent of Africa

00:33:54which was not expected.

00:33:55Most of the attacks

00:33:55previous to that

00:33:56were in the Middle East.

00:33:58This was a part

00:33:59of the world

00:33:59we didn't expect.

00:34:00Two embassies

00:34:01done simultaneously

00:34:02showed a great deal

00:34:04of sophistication

00:34:05in the organization.

00:34:07So this was

00:34:08was a major event.

00:34:11But at headquarters

00:34:12the brass

00:34:13were engaged

00:34:13in a procedural dispute.

00:34:16We're in the command center

00:34:17and people

00:34:19are being pulled in.

00:34:21I'm over there

00:34:22there's all sorts

00:34:24of senior bureau

00:34:24people there.

00:34:26Everybody's

00:34:26coming together.

00:34:29And the reason

00:34:30that this becomes

00:34:30a significant question

00:34:31almost immediately

00:34:32is because

00:34:33the FBI's

00:34:34got to deploy

00:34:34people overseas.

00:34:36they're going to

00:34:37deploy people

00:34:37initially to Kenya

00:34:38and Tanzania.

00:34:40And who's going

00:34:42to be the

00:34:43on-scene commander?

00:34:45O'Neill believed

00:34:45his experience

00:34:46and expertise

00:34:47made him the obvious

00:34:48choice to lead

00:34:49the investigation

00:34:50as the on-scene commander.

00:34:53And he really

00:34:54wanted to roll up

00:34:55his sleeves

00:34:56and get into it

00:34:56and wanted to be there

00:34:57and wanted responsibility.

00:34:59He believed

00:35:00the New York

00:35:00field office

00:35:01had the greatest

00:35:02depth of expertise

00:35:02of anybody

00:35:03in the country

00:35:04on this issue.

00:35:05And if it's Al-Qaeda

00:35:06how could you send

00:35:07anybody else

00:35:08but the people

00:35:08who know the most?

00:35:12But down in the

00:35:13Sayoc

00:35:14there were those

00:35:15who wanted to cut

00:35:15New York

00:35:16and O'Neill out.

00:35:21On the QT

00:35:23Townsend called

00:35:25O'Neill.

00:35:26And he was

00:35:28to say angry

00:35:29disappointed

00:35:30hurt

00:35:31there becomes

00:35:32this bureaucratic

00:35:33arm wrestle over

00:35:34who's going to be

00:35:35the office of origin.

00:35:36O'Neill desperately

00:35:37needed the help

00:35:38of U.S. Attorney

00:35:39Mary Jo White.

00:35:41U.S. Attorney's office.

00:35:42He and I

00:35:42were both

00:35:43very adamant

00:35:44that the New York

00:35:45field agents

00:35:46who were most

00:35:47knowledgeable

00:35:47about bin Laden

00:35:49and the Al-Qaeda

00:35:50organization

00:35:50get over to Africa

00:35:52as quickly

00:35:53as possible

00:35:54as the investigation

00:35:55was unfolding

00:35:56because those

00:35:57first few days

00:35:59are often

00:36:00the most critical

00:36:01to whether you

00:36:02capture somebody

00:36:03or not

00:36:03or figure out

00:36:04who's involved

00:36:05and he and I

00:36:06certainly shared

00:36:07the view

00:36:08that you need

00:36:09the folks

00:36:09who know

00:36:09what they're

00:36:10looking at

00:36:10in charge of

00:36:12or very much

00:36:12in the thick

00:36:13of the investigations.

00:36:14I'm basically

00:36:17sitting at the

00:36:17PSYOC

00:36:18at this point

00:36:18as the Attorney

00:36:19General's

00:36:19representative

00:36:20and so

00:36:21I'm running

00:36:21back and forth

00:36:22across Pennsylvania

00:36:23Avenue

00:36:23twice a day

00:36:24to brief her

00:36:24say

00:36:25there is

00:36:26tremendous

00:36:27consternation

00:36:28about

00:36:28who's going

00:36:29to be

00:36:29the office

00:36:29of origin.

00:36:30You think

00:36:31it would be

00:36:31bigger things

00:36:32than that

00:36:33but in the

00:36:34early going

00:36:34we're involved

00:36:35in that discussion.

00:36:38The Attorney

00:36:38General decided

00:36:39to stay out

00:36:40of it.

00:36:41Fran Townsend

00:36:41and Mary Jo White

00:36:42couldn't win

00:36:43the argument

00:36:43and as it

00:36:46happened

00:36:46O'Neill's

00:36:47other ally

00:36:47Deputy Director

00:36:49Bear Bryant

00:36:49was out of

00:36:50cell phone range

00:36:51on vacation

00:36:52so the head

00:36:53of the criminal

00:36:54division

00:36:54one of those

00:36:55men in Louis Free's

00:36:56inner circle

00:36:57Tom Picard

00:36:58was temporarily

00:36:59in charge.

00:37:01He decided

00:37:02the New York

00:37:03team would not

00:37:04take the lead

00:37:05in the investigation

00:37:06Washington would

00:37:07and John O'Neill

00:37:09would not

00:37:10get command.

00:37:11This is the

00:37:12World Series

00:37:13and he's

00:37:14gotten benched

00:37:15and that's

00:37:15exactly how

00:37:16he feels

00:37:16about it

00:37:16and he is

00:37:19very hurt

00:37:21very upset

00:37:22about it

00:37:23and bitter.

00:37:29O'Neill hit

00:37:29the phones

00:37:30he ended up

00:37:31venting to

00:37:32Bear Bryant.

00:37:33He said

00:37:34you're going

00:37:34to have a

00:37:34stroke.

00:37:36He was so

00:37:36intense.

00:37:38This is the

00:37:38first guy you

00:37:39heard the word

00:37:39Al Qaeda

00:37:40and Bin Laden

00:37:41from.

00:37:42Shouldn't he

00:37:42be there?

00:37:43Well, he

00:37:44wasn't.

00:37:47But that

00:37:48wasn't your

00:37:48decision.

00:37:48I got a feeling

00:37:49that wasn't

00:37:49your decision.

00:37:55Well, he

00:37:56wasn't there.

00:37:57It wasn't your

00:37:58decision, was it?

00:37:59He wasn't there.

00:38:00After a couple

00:38:09of weeks, O'Neill's

00:38:10belief that Al Qaeda

00:38:11was responsible for

00:38:12the bombings

00:38:13turned out to be

00:38:14right.

00:38:15Headquarters

00:38:16reversed itself

00:38:17and gave the

00:38:18investigation to

00:38:18O'Neill's

00:38:19New York team.

00:38:21But Washington

00:38:22refused to send

00:38:23O'Neill himself.

00:38:26Stuck in New York,

00:38:28he had to be

00:38:29content to learn

00:38:29as much as

00:38:30possible long

00:38:31distance from

00:38:31his agents.

00:38:33You'd go into

00:38:33John's office and

00:38:34on the wall there

00:38:35would be a chart

00:38:35with lines connecting

00:38:37phone numbers in

00:38:38the United States

00:38:39and phone numbers

00:38:40in the Middle East

00:38:41and phone numbers

00:38:42in Africa.

00:38:43Names.

00:38:43This guy was

00:38:44involved in this

00:38:45case and he

00:38:45talked to that

00:38:46guy over in

00:38:46that case.

00:38:48O'Neill's agents

00:38:49in East Africa

00:38:50had found another

00:38:51training manual

00:38:52nearly identical to

00:38:53the one found in

00:38:54the World Trade

00:38:54Center bombing.

00:38:56One cooperating

00:38:57witness revealed

00:38:58that bin Laden

00:38:58was planning to

00:38:59send operatives

00:39:00to the U.S.

00:39:01for pilot training.

00:39:03A computer found

00:39:04in a raid showed

00:39:05hundreds of targets

00:39:06around the world

00:39:07already surveilled

00:39:08and approved.

00:39:10O'Neill's agents

00:39:11identified a man

00:39:12named Muhammad

00:39:13Rashid Daoud

00:39:14Alawali.

00:39:15He led them

00:39:16to a safe house

00:39:17in Yemen

00:39:17that acted

00:39:18as a kind

00:39:18of terrorist

00:39:19telephone exchange

00:39:20relaying messages

00:39:22to and from

00:39:22bin Laden

00:39:23in Afghanistan.

00:39:26Certainly after

00:39:27the embassy

00:39:27bombings in Africa

00:39:28in 98,

00:39:30it was very obvious

00:39:31that what John

00:39:32was saying

00:39:32was right,

00:39:34that this was

00:39:34more than a

00:39:35nuisance,

00:39:36that this was

00:39:37a real threat.

00:39:38but I don't

00:39:39think everyone

00:39:40came to the

00:39:42understanding

00:39:43that it was

00:39:43an existential

00:39:44threat.

00:39:45The question

00:39:46was,

00:39:47yeah,

00:39:47this group

00:39:48is more than

00:39:49a nuisance,

00:39:50but are they

00:39:51worth going

00:39:51to war with?

00:39:53After all,

00:39:54they've only

00:39:54attacked two

00:39:55embassies,

00:39:56and maybe that's

00:39:58a cost of doing

00:39:58business.

00:39:59This kind of

00:40:00thing happens.

00:40:00Yes,

00:40:01we should spend

00:40:01some time

00:40:02and some energy

00:40:03trying to get

00:40:04them,

00:40:04but it's not

00:40:05the number

00:40:05one priority

00:40:06we have.

00:40:09O'Neill's

00:40:10message still

00:40:11hadn't gotten

00:40:11through,

00:40:12and yet he

00:40:13had come to

00:40:13believe Al-Qaeda

00:40:14had infiltrated

00:40:15the United

00:40:16States.

00:40:19He'd studied

00:40:20the videotapes

00:40:21of bin Laden's

00:40:22training camp

00:40:22in Afghanistan.

00:40:28He knew

00:40:29thousands of

00:40:30Al-Qaeda fighters

00:40:31had been exported

00:40:32throughout the

00:40:32world.

00:40:34His police

00:40:34contacts in

00:40:35Germany,

00:40:35Spain,

00:40:36Italy were

00:40:37tracing their

00:40:38movements,

00:40:39but he could

00:40:41not convince

00:40:42headquarters that

00:40:43they were in

00:40:43the United

00:40:43States.

00:40:46He fully

00:40:47believed that

00:40:48they had

00:40:50moved in

00:40:51and had

00:40:52cells here

00:40:52for a long

00:40:53time,

00:40:53that groups

00:40:55were coming

00:40:55in from

00:40:56various parts

00:40:57of the

00:40:57world,

00:40:58and we

00:41:00couldn't really

00:41:01find out what

00:41:02they were about,

00:41:03but we could

00:41:04see movements

00:41:05of groups

00:41:06into this

00:41:06country.

00:41:11John understood

00:41:11that this was a

00:41:12global operation,

00:41:14and that if we

00:41:16were going to get a

00:41:17handle on this,

00:41:17we had to work

00:41:18very, very closely

00:41:20with liaison

00:41:21services such as

00:41:23the British,

00:41:24the Jordanians,

00:41:25and the Egyptians,

00:41:26and the Yemenis,

00:41:29and the French.

00:41:34What John O'Neill was

00:41:35trying to do was to

00:41:36get a momentum going

00:41:37in the FBI to look

00:41:39seriously for those

00:41:41cells, to look for

00:41:42the connections,

00:41:44which, frankly,

00:41:46most FBI offices

00:41:47were not doing.

00:41:49It was not one of the

00:41:50priorities of most

00:41:51FBI field offices.

00:41:52At headquarters,

00:41:56as he prepared to

00:41:56retire,

00:41:58Bear Bryant tried

00:41:59one last push of

00:42:00the reorganization

00:42:01plan he and O'Neill

00:42:02had been talking

00:42:03about for years.

00:42:04It would emphasize

00:42:05new ways of

00:42:06gathering and

00:42:07passing on

00:42:08information about

00:42:09groups like Al-Qaeda.

00:42:11The trouble with

00:42:12the FBI, he never

00:42:12knew what it knew.

00:42:13I mean, it had

00:42:14information, but

00:42:15never got to the

00:42:16right places.

00:42:17And that goes to

00:42:18automation, that

00:42:19goes to, you know,

00:42:21analysts, it goes to

00:42:22a lot of things.

00:42:22The reform plan

00:42:27meandered up the

00:42:28ladder at the FBI

00:42:29through the Justice

00:42:30Department, the

00:42:31Congress, and the

00:42:32White House.

00:42:33But it was never

00:42:34enacted.

00:42:35It was never

00:42:35funded.

00:42:37It was just, it

00:42:38was put in the

00:42:39back burner

00:42:39somewhere.

00:42:40By?

00:42:41I don't know.

00:42:41I left in 99.

00:42:43I left in December

00:42:4399.

00:42:45The thing I saw

00:42:46was that it was

00:42:47never properly

00:42:47funded, whether

00:42:49it's priorities or

00:42:51whatever.

00:42:51I don't know.

00:42:52I wasn't there.

00:42:57At just this time

00:42:58in New York, a new

00:43:00crisis was emerging

00:43:01that would eventually

00:43:02get the entire

00:43:03Bureau's attention.

00:43:05O'Neill's

00:43:05international contacts

00:43:07were on full alert

00:43:08about the upcoming

00:43:09Millennium celebrations.

00:43:10and O'Neill was

00:43:12lobbying for a full-blown

00:43:14FBI response in the

00:43:15United States.

00:43:17The Millennium, not

00:43:18only because of what

00:43:19that represented

00:43:20symbolically, which

00:43:21again raises its

00:43:23danger value

00:43:24tremendously, but also

00:43:25because of intelligence

00:43:26we were getting

00:43:27throughout our

00:43:28government, had us all

00:43:30extremely concerned.

00:43:32from the New York

00:43:34Sayoc, O'Neill and

00:43:35his team began to

00:43:36track a case that

00:43:37proved his theory that

00:43:38Al-Qaeda had

00:43:39infiltrated the United

00:43:40States.

00:43:42An Algerian

00:43:43national, Ahmed

00:43:45Rassam, had been

00:43:46arrested on the border

00:43:47between Canada and the

00:43:48state of Washington.

00:43:49among his possessions

00:43:53they found bomb-making

00:43:55material and maps.

00:43:57He had circled the

00:43:58Los Angeles airport on

00:43:59this one.

00:44:00We had always talked

00:44:02about the possibility

00:44:03that there were Al-Qaeda

00:44:04cells in the United

00:44:05States.

00:44:07And we had looked

00:44:09for evidence.

00:44:10And we had encouraged

00:44:11FBI offices other than

00:44:13John O'Neill's office

00:44:14in New York to start

00:44:16looking for evidence.

00:44:17Anybody who's anybody

00:44:18who could be anybody

00:44:20related to this,

00:44:22we're watching.

00:44:23We're, we, the

00:44:25entire FBI is

00:44:26mobilizing.

00:44:28The agents dug into

00:44:29the details of the

00:44:30plot.

00:44:31From a plan to blow up

00:44:32the Los Angeles

00:44:32airport, another trail

00:44:34led from Boston to a

00:44:36planned attack in

00:44:36Jordan.

00:44:38There were other

00:44:39conspirators in

00:44:40Seattle, Brooklyn,

00:44:42and Manhattan, where

00:44:43O'Neill was worried

00:44:44about the massive New

00:44:45Year's Eve celebration

00:44:46in Times Square.

00:44:48Certain documents

00:44:50were found on

00:44:51Rassam's possession.

00:44:52Documents that

00:44:53indicated a New

00:44:54York connection.

00:44:57In fact, a pretty

00:44:58strong connection to

00:44:59New York.

00:45:03John's frankly

00:45:04terrified.

00:45:05New York presents a

00:45:06real target to him.

00:45:09He's got the New York

00:45:10City Police Department.

00:45:11He's got hundreds of

00:45:13agents working.

00:45:14He's got all kinds of

00:45:15things in his world of

00:45:17work that he's got to

00:45:17worry about.

00:45:20O'Neill personally

00:45:21hit the streets,

00:45:23seeking fast-track

00:45:24warrants and pushing

00:45:25the investigative

00:45:25envelope.

00:45:27One of Rassam's

00:45:28co-conspirators lived

00:45:29in New York.

00:45:30Abdel Mischini was

00:45:31supposed to deliver

00:45:32money and a cell phone

00:45:34to Rassam.

00:45:36O'Neill's agents

00:45:36arrested him.

00:45:38Arrests were made

00:45:38that had they not been

00:45:40uncovered, the plot had

00:45:41not been uncovered in

00:45:42those arrests made, we

00:45:43could have had horrific

00:45:44tragedies around the

00:45:46millennium.

00:45:46We have two million

00:45:47people, two million

00:45:49people compressed to

00:45:51this small area here

00:45:52in Midtown Manhattan.

00:45:53No incidents.

00:45:54O'Neill was one of

00:45:55those two million

00:45:56people.

00:45:58If Al-Qaeda struck

00:45:59here, this was where

00:46:01he wanted to be.

00:46:02We were in the

00:46:24SIAC, the Attorney General

00:46:25was there, we waited for

00:46:26midnight with sort of

00:46:27bated breath on the

00:46:28east coast, and he

00:46:30called in to the SIAC and

00:46:31we put him on speaker

00:46:32phone, and he clearly

00:46:34couldn't have been any

00:46:35more pleased that we had

00:46:36gotten through it.

00:46:41And I remember talking

00:46:42to John shortly after

00:46:43midnight.

00:46:45There was a sense of

00:46:45accomplishment.

00:46:46We had just made the

00:46:47arrests in the Rassam

00:46:49spin-off, and certainly

00:46:52we believed that we got

00:46:53everybody that we needed

00:46:54to find, but you're

00:46:56never really 100% sure

00:46:57of that.

00:46:59And so I think a lot

00:47:01of the FBI leadership

00:47:03for the first time

00:47:05realized that O'Neill

00:47:07was right, that there

00:47:09probably were Al-Qaeda

00:47:10people in the United

00:47:11States.

00:47:12They realized that only

00:47:13after they looked at the

00:47:14results of the

00:47:15investigation of the

00:47:16Millennium Bombing

00:47:17Plot.

00:47:18So by February of 2000,

00:47:22I think senior people in

00:47:24the FBI were saying,

00:47:25there probably is a

00:47:27network here in the

00:47:27United States, and we

00:47:28have to change the way

00:47:29the FBI goes about

00:47:30finding that network.

00:47:34If the Bureau was

00:47:35finally going to

00:47:36reorganize itself to

00:47:37take on terror, O'Neill

00:47:39wanted significant

00:47:40influence in that

00:47:41process.

00:47:42He needed a highly

00:47:43visible, powerful

00:47:44platform.

00:47:46As it happened, Jimmy

00:47:47Kallstrom's old job,

00:47:49head of the New York

00:47:50office, was open.

00:47:52O'Neill pulled out all

00:47:53the stops and made a

00:47:54play for it.

00:47:56He couldn't stop

00:47:57himself.

00:47:57He desperately wanted

00:47:58that job.

00:47:59He really wanted that

00:48:00promotion.

00:48:01And it would have been

00:48:02unlike John to want

00:48:04something and not really

00:48:05throw himself into it.

00:48:07O'Neill aggressively

00:48:09lobbied.

00:48:11But there were some

00:48:12administrative problems

00:48:14on his record.

00:48:15He'd lost a Bureau

00:48:16cell phone and a Palm

00:48:18pilot.

00:48:19Then there was the time

00:48:23his old Buick broke

00:48:24down.

00:48:26Val was with him.

00:48:28He figured he'd just

00:48:29pop into an FBI safe

00:48:30house to pick up a

00:48:31Bureau car.

00:48:32He'd take her home,

00:48:33and that would be that.

00:48:35But headquarters called

00:48:36taking the car

00:48:37unauthorized use of

00:48:38government property.

00:48:40And letting Val use

00:48:41the bathroom at the

00:48:42safe house was

00:48:43considered a security

00:48:44breach.

00:48:44John went through a

00:48:48couple of really bad

00:48:49years here.

00:48:49The first really bad

00:48:50year was in 1999,

00:48:52and I believe that was

00:48:53the first year that the

00:48:54car issue came up.

00:48:56And it was hideous.

00:48:57It was horrendous.

00:49:00Headquarters initiated

00:49:01a formal inquiry.

00:49:03I think what happens

00:49:04in the FBI, it's a very

00:49:05militaristic society,

00:49:07and you have to,

00:49:10if you're being

00:49:12investigated by OPR,

00:49:15Office of Professional

00:49:17Responsibility, there's

00:49:19a question they don't

00:49:20want to promote

00:49:20somebody that's got a

00:49:22cloud over them, even

00:49:23a minor thing like a

00:49:24vehicle.

00:49:26Bear Bryant, O'Neill's

00:49:28biggest supporter at

00:49:29headquarters, had

00:49:30retired.

00:49:32Louis Free promoted his

00:49:33longtime friend, Tom

00:49:34Picard, to deputy

00:49:35director.

00:49:37It was not good news

00:49:38for Agent O'Neill.

00:49:40It was Picard who

00:49:41decided O'Neill would

00:49:42not lead the

00:49:42investigation in East

00:49:43Africa.

00:49:45And now, Picard and

00:49:47Free decided John O'Neill

00:49:48would not get the big

00:49:49job in New York.

00:49:52John was somebody that

00:49:54the bureaucrats were

00:49:55not always pleased with

00:49:57because they felt that he

00:49:58wasn't marching to

00:49:59their tune, that he was

00:50:01too ambitious, and

00:50:04too, that he operated

00:50:08out of the box too

00:50:09often, and this was a

00:50:11FBI that believed very

00:50:14much under the free

00:50:15regime of operating

00:50:17within the box, that

00:50:19this was a guy that was

00:50:21constantly pushing the

00:50:22envelope when the

00:50:23envelope didn't want to be

00:50:25pushed, and so the

00:50:28envelope fought back.

00:50:29At 48, it looked like the

00:50:39bureaucracy was sending John

00:50:40O'Neill a message.

00:50:42The old-timers had seen it

00:50:43all before.

00:50:44My daddy always said, don't

00:50:51kill your mavericks, they

00:50:52might save your life

00:50:53someday, and they're the

00:50:55ones that will always have

00:50:55the great ideas, so try to

00:50:58take care of them.

00:51:01And John was a maverick.

00:51:05Brilliant maverick.

00:51:06The buzz around the New York

00:51:13office was that the new

00:51:14boss, Barry Maughan, wasn't

00:51:17keen on keeping O'Neill

00:51:18around.

00:51:20I had heard stories that,

00:51:22you know, he was Mr.

00:51:24Neyak, that he was the

00:51:26FBI in Neyak, and so if

00:51:29you needed anything or

00:51:30wanted anything, you had to

00:51:32go through John, and he

00:51:35was also, I think he

00:51:37enjoyed being, having the

00:51:39contacts, liaison, being a

00:51:41power broker of the

00:51:42Alaynes.

00:51:44I think John enjoyed all of

00:51:45that.

00:51:50Maughan had all but made up

00:51:52his mind to move O'Neill

00:51:53out of the New York office.

00:51:56Barry was a skeptic.

00:51:57He had heard sort of the

00:51:59headquarters gossip at John

00:52:01O'Neill's style, but it was

00:52:02funny, I can remember saying

00:52:03to John, Barry doesn't stand

00:52:04a chance.

00:52:05If you decide to win him

00:52:07over, you'll win him over.

00:52:09You just have to, if you put

00:52:10your mind to it, you know

00:52:11very well you'll do it.

00:52:12And I used to tell John, John

00:52:13was his own best advocate,

00:52:16when he put his mind to it.

00:52:19There was a knock on the

00:52:20door and John was holding

00:52:22two beers.

00:52:23And he said, well, I

00:52:25understand you're an

00:52:26Irishman and you like to

00:52:27drink beer.

00:52:27These are for you.

00:52:28So I laughed and said, well, you

00:52:32got that correct.

00:52:34And he said, well, where are we

00:52:39at?

00:52:41Referring to the relationship

00:52:44between us.

00:52:46John loved the Bureau.

00:52:47He loved the FBI.

00:52:48And he also felt that there was a

00:52:50lot that he could be doing for

00:52:51the FBI.

00:52:52And that given the war on

00:52:54terrorism was escalating, it

00:52:56wasn't in any way getting

00:53:00resolved, it was getting worse,

00:53:01not better.

00:53:02He wanted to stay in New York.

00:53:08He said, I will be your most

00:53:10loyal supporter and all I ask in

00:53:14return is that you be supportive

00:53:15of me and my efforts.

00:53:17And so I said, well, we got a

00:53:18deal and we'll go forward.

00:53:21So I, we went forward and

00:53:24essentially he lived up to his

00:53:27agreement and I believe I lived

00:53:29up to my agreement.

00:53:30Bless Barry.

00:53:32I give him credit.

00:53:33Barry saw John O'Neill's

00:53:35talent.

00:53:36He saw past the sort of the

00:53:38package issue, if you will,

00:53:39the style issue.

00:53:41And Barry recognized John's

00:53:42enormous contribution and how

00:53:43bright John was.

00:53:45And Barry came to rely on John.

00:53:47As the weeks wore on and just

00:53:50as that investigation about the

00:53:52car incident seemed a thing of

00:53:53the past, headquarters ordered

00:53:56O'Neill to attend a conference

00:53:57of other agents in Florida.

00:54:00We were meeting in Bell Harbor

00:54:01at the Marriott.

00:54:03John came in.

00:54:04He is just, I don't remember

00:54:06seeing John as distraught as he

00:54:08was this night.

00:54:10What has happened?

00:54:12He told me he left his briefcase

00:54:14in this room of 150 FBI agents

00:54:18and got a phone call, couldn't hear

00:54:21on his cell phone, so he just

00:54:22walked outside to take his call.

00:54:26Walked back in, his briefcase was

00:54:28gone.

00:54:29He was completely freaked.

00:54:31O'Neill's bag contained classified

00:54:33documents.

00:54:35Taking them out of his FBI office was

00:54:37against the rules.

00:54:38It's one of those moments, I remember

00:54:41where I was, I remember what I was

00:54:42doing, because I can, John was a, you

00:54:47know, he used to say he swaggered,

00:54:48you know, he had all this, he exuded

00:54:50self-confidence.

00:54:51And I could hear the fear in his voice.

00:54:55I could hear his throat tighten.

00:54:56I could hear he was wound that he had

00:55:00lost, that this bag was gone.

00:55:01And he knew, even if there had been

00:55:03nothing in it, his sense was, because

00:55:06the Bureau had come down hard on him

00:55:07the time before, um, for something

00:55:10stupid, that even if it was nothing

00:55:12more than he lost Bureau equipment,

00:55:15he was going to get, this was going

00:55:17to become a federal case.

00:55:19Um, this was going to be a big deal

00:55:20in terms of the Bureau, and it was

00:55:22going to be used to hurt him.

00:55:25Hours later, the bag was retrieved.

00:55:28Fingerprint analysis showed the

00:55:29documents hadn't been tampered with.

00:55:32But the damage was done.

00:55:33John always wanted to be thought of

00:55:38as being close to perfect.

00:55:42At the end of any meeting, he would

00:55:45hang around and say, how'd I do?

00:55:48What can I do better next time?

00:55:50What am I doing wrong?

00:55:52And of course, he was doing nothing

00:55:53wrong, he was doing everything

00:55:54spectacularly well.

00:55:55But he always wanted to do better.

00:55:59He always needed that reassurance.

00:56:00And for him to be criticized for

00:56:05something like the suitcase, the

00:56:06briefcase incident, uh, whatever the

00:56:08truth value of that incident was, uh,

00:56:11it hurt him a lot because he always

00:56:13wanted to be thought of, uh, as close

00:56:16to perfect, perfectly dressed,

00:56:18perfectly briefed, uh, and didn't want

00:56:21anybody to think that he was in any

00:56:23way, uh, not the number one guy in

00:56:27terms of performance.

00:56:30At headquarters, they pounced.

00:56:33Upstairs, they said that O'Neill was

00:56:35getting sloppy, burning the candle at

00:56:37both ends.

00:56:39Carrying around classified documents

00:56:41was a serious problem.

00:56:43The FBI's Office of Professional

00:56:45Responsibility began a criminal

00:56:47investigation.

00:56:48I knew it wasn't good.

00:56:51Uh, he knew it wasn't good.

00:56:53Um, he, uh, he felt that this would

00:56:59probably be used by some of the

00:57:01detractors, uh, unnamed detractors at

00:57:04headquarters that would use this against

00:57:06him.

00:57:07O'Neill was in real trouble.

00:57:10He hired a lawyer and hunkered down to

00:57:13save his job.

00:57:14He was consumed by this job.

00:57:16And the job turned on him when he

00:57:19would make some foolish mistake that

00:57:21came down awfully hard on him.

00:57:24Given what his contribution was, given

00:57:26what he had sacrificed, he, there's a

00:57:29sense of entitlement and it's a terrible

00:57:31sense of unfairness.

00:57:33Why?

00:57:34Because you don't like that I have a

00:57:36drink at Elaine's or you don't like my

00:57:37suit?

00:57:38Um, because, and he really, he really

00:57:41felt people, he didn't, people above him,

00:57:44his view was people above him felt

00:57:46threatened by him, by his expertise.

00:57:48And so didn't really want him around.

00:57:54As the criminal investigation against

00:57:56O'Neill dragged on inside the FBI, he and

00:57:59his team began noticing increased telephone

00:58:02activity from that safe house in Yemen.

00:58:05One intercepted message confirmed by

00:58:08Millennium bomber Ahmed Rassam said bin

00:58:11Laden was planning an Hiroshima-type event.

00:58:16O'Neill had his agents paying attention to

00:58:18American embassies, especially in Jordan

00:58:21and Saudi Arabia, and U.S.

00:58:23military targets, because an Egyptian

00:58:26informant had told them an American

00:58:28warship would be hit by al-Qaeda.

00:58:30Then on October 12th, 2000, al-Qaeda struck.

00:58:44The guided missile destroyer USS Cole was the

00:58:47target of a suicide mission.

00:58:49Seventeen sailors died.

00:58:51John came to me and said, it's al-Qaeda, and I totally

00:58:57agreed with him, and he said, you've got to get to the

00:58:59director, and we've got to get this, so the

00:59:02NIAC office responds initially.

00:59:04At headquarters, down in the Siont, there was once again

00:59:09strong resistance to the idea of sending O'Neill and his

00:59:12crew from New York to Yemen.

00:59:13It took hours for Barry Maughan to convince Director

00:59:18Free to let New York take the lead, and to authorize O'Neill

00:59:22as the on-scene commander.

00:59:24Washington headquarters of the FBI happy that O'Neill was

00:59:27going?

00:59:32I, my recollection is that I got questioned on it.

00:59:39Is John the best guy to send?

00:59:41And I had no hesitancy and said, absolutely, he's the best

00:59:45guy to send.

00:59:46Why would they have said that?

00:59:49Well, again, I think it kind of goes back to a little bit of

00:59:51the history John had with some of the folks back there that

00:59:54there was probably some questioning as, well, do we want to

00:59:57send O'Neill?

00:59:58And he does have shot by elbows, or his style, maybe they were

01:00:04concerned that he wasn't the best guy to go.

01:00:10And that you needed someone more of a diplomat.

01:00:14My view, to a certain extent, is when you have a major incident

01:00:19like that, you really don't need a diplomat at that particular

01:00:22point in time.

01:00:23You need somebody that knows what to do and is going to do it

01:00:27and get it done.

01:00:30Headquarters gave in to Maughan.

01:00:32This time, O'Neill was named on-scene commander in charge of the

01:00:36Yemen investigation.

01:00:38And he was like a kid.

01:00:39He couldn't have been any more excited.

01:00:40I can remember him leaving the office to go to his apartment to

01:00:42pack a bag to go.

01:00:43And he was so pleased.

01:00:46He said, this is it for me.

01:00:49You know, I needed this.

01:00:51I needed this.

01:00:52And in some ways, he believed it was a vindication of him that the

01:00:55bag incident wasn't that important.

01:00:57Because if it had been that important, they wouldn't have sent him.

01:00:59If the Bureau thought it was that important.

01:01:01O'Neill and the members of his rapid deployment team immediately

01:01:06headed for Yemen.

01:01:08O'Neill knew time was of the essence.

01:01:11The Al-Qaeda attacks had been coming more frequently.

01:01:14This was the case that he was really pushing hard on.

01:01:19That he understood that this wasn't just a venue where they set off a

01:01:23bomb.

01:01:24That there were connections between Yemen and East Africa and Yemen.

01:01:30and Afghanistan and Yemen and Europe.

01:01:35And that there were, this was very much of an important operational base

01:01:40for these guys.

01:01:41And that if he could illuminate that base, that he could begin to really put

01:01:50a dent in this network.

01:01:53But when he got to Yemen, O'Neill discovered how hard his task was going

01:01:58to be.

01:01:58It's much like living in a 14th century or 15th century country, listening to

01:02:04sporadic gunfire from AK-47s.

01:02:07And certainly Yemen was bin Laden's backyard.

01:02:10That's where he was from.

01:02:10That's where his family is from.

01:02:12That's where he lived.

01:02:13And we recognize that.

01:02:14It was very difficult to get information out of the Yemeni security forces to

01:02:19actually cooperate with us initially.

01:02:21They were suspect of the U.S.

01:02:23government being in their territory and what our ultimate purposes were.

01:02:27They're in impossible conditions, the agents.

01:02:31I mean, they don't have any place to sleep.

01:02:33He's got agents sleeping on the floor.

01:02:34They're working ridiculous hours.

01:02:36It's hot as all get out.

01:02:38And they're in impossible and it's a hostile environment.

01:02:40We had to move in caravans from the hotel out to the coal or from the hotel to some of the

01:02:49sites where we believed the terrorists and their support network had been.

01:02:53And those were in caravans of NCIS, FBI personnel, all armed, surrounded by Yemeni security force

01:02:59personnel.

01:03:00So those caravans would be 8, 10, 12 cars long.

01:03:05It was certainly announcing our presence any time we went somewhere.

01:03:09Everybody in that city knew who we were and where we were going.

01:03:12And it gave us an uneasy feeling.

01:03:14To protect the hundreds of investigators on the ground, O'Neill and American military commanders

01:03:20wanted to show the Yemenis a forceful presence, guns ready, perimeters established.

01:03:25But much to O'Neill's surprise, that approach quickly angered the American ambassador, Barbara

01:03:32Bodine, who felt his actions were harming U.S.-Yemeni government relations.

01:03:39You had an ambassador who wanted to be fully in control of everything that every American

01:03:46official did in the country and resented the fact that suddenly there were hundreds of FBI

01:03:56personnel in the country and only a handful of State Department personnel.

01:04:02She wanted good relations with Yemen as the number one priority.

01:04:08John O'Neill wanted to stop terrorism as the number one priority.

01:04:12Uh, and the two conflicted.

01:04:16Can you tell us anything about the investigation?

01:04:19This results in meetings between the Attorney General and State, FBI, CIA, and Justice.

01:04:25Um, but Ambassador Pickering is at it.

01:04:28He's the Undersecretary.

01:04:30Um, and, uh, the Attorney General.

01:04:33I mean, things are getting raised to that kind of a level.

01:04:35This has become such a bone of contention between them.

01:04:38Almost all of us who were following the details in Washington, uh, whether we were in the Justice

01:04:46Department, the FBI, the White House, the State Department, uh, the Defense Department,

01:04:51all, almost all of us, uh, thought that John O'Neill was doing the right thing.

01:04:56But not the higher-ups at the FBI.

01:05:01There may have been people at FBI headquarters that were going, see, I told you so.

01:05:07You know, John does, uh, upset people and get them upset, and maybe he wasn't the right guy.

01:05:14But that's, I mean, that's all childish, uh, gossip and rumoring as far as I'm concerned.

01:05:22But on the ground in Yemen, the law enforcement agents saw a very different John O'Neill.

01:05:31I think he developed a real sense of closeness with the senior Yemeni officials.

01:05:36Um, uh, they referred to him in Arabic as Al-Aq, which is the brother, uh, and oftentimes referred

01:05:41to him as the commander or your commander.

01:05:44Uh, they had a real sense of appreciation for his seniority in the U.S. government and

01:05:49for what he represented, uh, and I knew that they came to trust John.

01:05:54For six years at the center of the FBI's counterterrorism effort, O'Neill and his team

01:06:00had built the evidence on the mounting Bin Laden threat.

01:06:04Failed plots to kill hundreds of Americans in Jordan.

01:06:07For Sam's explosives headed to LAX.

01:06:11An aborted Al-Qaeda plot to blow up another American warship.

01:06:14The U.S.S., the Sullivans, and now the coal.

01:06:19The Yemenis finally agreed to let the FBI join in the interrogation of one of their most prominent

01:06:24suspects, Fahad Al-Qusso.

01:06:28O'Neill and his agents believe Al-Qusso knew about Bin Laden's desire to videotape the destruction

01:06:33of the coal, and possibly a whole lot more.

01:06:36O'Neill worked his newly developed Yemeni police officials and old allies in the CIA.

01:06:45He had come to believe that some Yemeni officials were not being forthcoming about information

01:06:49from Al-Qusso and other suspects.

01:06:52It was the Khobar Towers investigation all over again.

01:06:56But the weeks were taking their toll.

01:07:00O'Neill needed a break.

01:07:02He'd get back to Al-Qusso after he returned from New York at the first of the year.

01:07:08I have to tell you, when John came home, he got home, I think it was two days before Thanksgiving,

01:07:13because he kept telling me he was going to try to be home for Thanksgiving.

01:07:17John had dropped 20, 25 pounds.

01:07:20In New York, he plotted his return to Yemen.

01:07:25He'd taken a Yemeni police delegation on a tour of Elaine's and other hotspots.

01:07:30He was working them, trying to get unfettered access to Al-Qusso and what he knew.

01:07:36But then, he was told he wouldn't be allowed to return to Yemen.

01:07:41Ambassador Bodine denied his visa.

01:07:43I mean, John was not rational on the topic of Ambassador Barbara Bodine.

01:07:51I mean, livid would be putting it mildly.

01:07:55I mean, one can't forget that John was, he was very American, but he was also very Irish.

01:08:05And that means?

01:08:06That means when he got hot, he got hot.

01:08:10And he was hot, no question about it.

01:08:12I think he felt that she was on the wrong side.

01:08:20Ambassador Bodine would not grant Frontline's request for an interview.

01:08:24She was quoted in the New Yorker magazine.

01:08:28The idea that John or his people or the FBI were somehow barred from doing their job

01:08:34is insulting to the U.S. government, which was working on Al-Qaeda before John ever showed up.

01:08:39This is all my embassy did for 10 months.

01:08:42For weeks, the ambassador had been making the case against O'Neill, even lobbying Louis Free.

01:08:52Finally, her accusations had their intended effect.

01:08:56Headquarters supported her decision not to let O'Neill back into Yemen.

01:08:59John was upset.

01:09:04She was bad-mouthing him.

01:09:08She had caused a stir at headquarters.

01:09:09I actually think John was more disappointed that our headquarters didn't back us as far as sending him back

01:09:21and taking a stronger stand with the State Department.

01:09:25Eventually, our headquarters said, well, let's try and work around not having John go back.

01:09:30And so that's what I had to do.

01:09:35So O'Neill would not be in Yemen.

01:09:38The investigation slowed to a crawl.

01:09:40I watched with dismay as the issue of the U.S.S. coal completely disappeared from the U.S. scene, completely again, in a new administration.

01:09:52It was just not on their agenda.

01:09:54Clearly, it was not on the agenda of the Congress, the media, or anyone else.

01:09:57Again, it went into oblivion.

01:09:58By spring, intelligence about al-Qaeda forces in Yemen convinced O'Neill they were about to target his agents.

01:10:07O'Neill pleaded with Barry Maughan to pull them out, and Maughan agreed.

01:10:12O'Neill's investigation in Yemen was effectively over.

01:10:16We don't know what would have happened if John could have done his job in Yemen

01:10:22and had really had the full backup to go and to really push in Yemen

01:10:28and what kind of networks he could have exposed.

01:10:31But, you know, we do know that there were Yemenis involved in the attacks of September 11.

01:10:39So is it possible that if he had been able to really open up that network and really expose that network

01:10:46that he could have in some way deterred the tragedy of September 11?

01:10:50I don't think we know, but it's sad because we won't know the answer to that.

01:10:57But I think there is at least a fighting, he would have had a fighting chance if he'd been able to do his job.

01:11:07By early summer of 2001, other intelligence services were putting the Bush White House on full alert.

01:11:14Every single indication was that al-Qaeda was planning a major attack on the United States.

01:11:20In June of 2001, the intelligence community issued a warning

01:11:27that a major al-Qaeda terrorist attack would take place in the next many weeks.

01:11:33They said they were unable to find out exactly where it might take place.

01:11:39They said they thought it might take place in Saudi Arabia.

01:11:42We asked, could it take place in the United States?

01:11:46They said, we can't rule that out.

01:11:48And so, in my office, in the White House complex, the CIA sat, briefed the domestic U.S. federal law enforcement agencies.

01:12:05Immigration, federal aviation, Coast Guard, Customs, and the FBI was there as well, agreeing with CIA.

01:12:17Told them that we were entering a period where there was a very high probability of a major terrorist attack.

01:12:23In New York, O'Neill was also convinced al-Qaeda had picked a target.

01:12:30But he was, by now, more marginalized than ever at the FBI.

01:12:34And so, in July of 2001, when that memo from the Phoenix office pleading for investigations of flight schools

01:12:42made its way to headquarters, it was not passed on to O'Neill or Maughan in New York.

01:12:50Nor was the struggle that August of the Minnesota office to investigate the alleged 20th hijacker,

01:12:55Zaharias Moussaoui, the most sophisticated office in the FBI.

01:13:03The office that, under O'Neill, had been dealing with these matters for six years,

01:13:08apparently was out of the loop.

01:13:11John had heard the alarm bells, too.

01:13:13And we used to talk about it.

01:13:14And he knew that there was a lot of noise out there,

01:13:17that there were a lot of warnings, there were a lot of red flags.

01:13:19And that it was at a similar level that they were hearing before the millennium,

01:13:28which was an indication that there was something going on.

01:13:34And yet, he felt that he was frozen out,

01:13:39that he was not in a capacity to really do anything about it anymore

01:13:42because of his relationship with the FBI.

01:13:50So, it was a source of real anguish for him.

01:13:56O'Neill's after-hours reveries around Manhattan took on a morose quality.

01:14:02He knew it was time to go, but where?

01:14:06His friend at the White House, Dick Clark, had an idea.

01:14:09Shortly after the Bush administration came into office,

01:14:14the question came, well, who would you recommend to do the terrorism job?

01:14:19And I came up with four or five names.

01:14:23The first name that came to mind was John O'Neill.

01:14:27With the job required Senate confirmation,

01:14:30the FBI would have to endorse him.

01:14:33And O'Neill knew better than to believe they would.

01:14:35And then, 13 months after that briefcase incident,

01:14:40with the investigation still open,

01:14:42a well-placed leak to a newspaper

01:14:44made sure his government career was over.

01:14:48The New York Times is now starting to ask questions

01:14:51about that incident,

01:14:53both at the headquarters level and at the New York field office.

01:14:56In spite of sort of Jimmy Calstrom and others

01:14:58trying to persuade the New York Times

01:15:00that somebody had an agenda here.

01:15:02This was really sort of ill-motivated.

01:15:06It was clear that they were going to run with it.

01:15:09And that was the final nail in John O'Neill's coffin

01:15:12that they were going to use to have him retire.

01:15:19Did he know who did it?

01:15:21He suspected.

01:15:23Did he confront them?

01:15:26Yes.

01:15:27And what happened?

01:15:28It was completely denied.

01:15:31The person that he felt did it

01:15:34said absolutely not,

01:15:36wouldn't want to hurt you in any way, shape, or form.

01:15:42It's been reported that it was Tom Picard.

01:15:46That's what John felt it was.

01:15:48Tom Picard.

01:15:49And John really never knew.

01:15:57He was out to get John for a long time.

01:16:00And John never really knew why.

01:16:03At the time,

01:16:05Tom Picard was interim director of the FBI.

01:16:08Now retired,

01:16:10Picard would not agree to an interview with Frontline.

01:16:13He was, however,

01:16:15quoted in Esquire magazine saying,

01:16:16the briefcase was a big deal.

01:16:20It was not so much that he lost it.

01:16:22He shouldn't have had those materials with him in the first place.

01:16:25Losing the briefcase just added to it.

01:16:28Let's just say it was not John O'Neill's finest hour.

01:16:32I think

01:16:32the cost personally

01:16:35had become so high for John.

01:16:38The New York Times article,

01:16:40the outstanding issue about the missing bag,

01:16:43there had become such a personal cost.

01:16:47And I think

01:16:47he had sustained so many blows.

01:16:50You know, he would say,

01:16:50how many body blows does somebody have to take?

01:16:54I think it had become too much.

01:16:56It was just time for him.

01:16:57He just didn't want to take it anymore.

01:17:03At the end of August 2001,

01:17:05Agent O'Neill ended his 25-year career with the FBI.

01:17:10He was 49 years old.

01:17:12In his last day,

01:17:13he calls me.

01:17:15It's probably

01:17:15six o'clock at night,

01:17:17to which I say,

01:17:18what in the world

01:17:19are you still doing there

01:17:20on your last day?

01:17:22And he said,

01:17:23well, I just signed

01:17:24the authorization

01:17:25to send the agents back into Yemen.

01:17:27And I wasn't leaving here

01:17:28until I did it.

01:17:29Because I promised

01:17:30that we would send them back.

01:17:31When I pulled them out,

01:17:32I had to.

01:17:34But I was determined

01:17:35to be the one

01:17:36who signed the piece of paper

01:17:37to send them back.

01:17:38O'Neill needed to make some money.

01:17:44Just being John O'Neill

01:17:45had gotten very expensive.

01:17:48Jimmy Kallstrom and others

01:17:49made some calls.

01:17:51There was one job in particular

01:17:53he was really interested in.

01:17:56It paid $350,000 a year.

01:17:58But it also had a special

01:18:00kind of significance

01:18:01for O'Neill.

01:18:03It was chief of security

01:18:04at those buildings

01:18:05Framzi Youssef

01:18:06had tried to destroy.

01:18:08The World Trade Center.

01:18:13And I joked with him.

01:18:14I said,

01:18:14well, that'll be an easy job.

01:18:15They're not going to bomb

01:18:15that place again.

01:18:17And he said,

01:18:18he said,

01:18:19well, actually,

01:18:20he immediately came back

01:18:21and he said,

01:18:22no, actually,

01:18:23they've always wanted

01:18:24to finish that job.

01:18:25I think they're going

01:18:25to try again.

01:18:26And, of course,

01:18:28that's something

01:18:28I'll just never forget.

01:18:35On the night of September 10th,

01:18:38John O'Neill did

01:18:38what he loved doing.

01:18:40And he did it

01:18:41from his favorite table

01:18:42at Elaine's.

01:18:43It was classic John.

01:18:45To this day,

01:18:46I can remember

01:18:48John sitting in a chair

01:18:50looking up at me

01:18:51with that classic

01:18:53John O'Neill smile

01:18:55saying,

01:18:56it doesn't get better

01:18:57than this.

01:18:59The talk, of course,

01:19:01turned to Bin Laden.

01:19:03He had said to me,

01:19:05we're due.

01:19:06And we're due

01:19:06for something big.

01:19:09That was just,

01:19:10he said,

01:19:11some things have happened

01:19:12in Afghanistan.

01:19:14I don't like,

01:19:15you know,

01:19:16the way things are lining up

01:19:18in Afghanistan.

01:19:19I sense a shift

01:19:23and I think

01:19:23things are going to happen.

01:19:25And I said,

01:19:27when?

01:19:28He said,

01:19:29I don't know,

01:19:29but soon.

01:19:31And that was just

01:19:32his sense of things.

01:19:35We left about 2.30.

01:19:37John gave me a big bear hug

01:19:39and said,

01:19:40I'll see you tomorrow.

01:19:41And John went home

01:19:42and that was the last

01:19:44I saw of him.

01:19:45It appears that there is

01:20:00more and more fire and smoke

01:20:01enveloping the very top

01:20:03of the building.

01:20:03I saw the second plane

01:20:09and of course,

01:20:10by then there's no doubt

01:20:11what the issue is

01:20:13and I call again

01:20:14and I don't get through

01:20:14and I leave a message.

01:20:16I knew he should have

01:20:17been there by then.

01:20:20And frankly,

01:20:21I'm just concerned

01:20:22as a friend

01:20:23that he's okay.

01:20:29I got on the phone

01:20:30and he says,

01:20:31hey babe,

01:20:32it's me.

01:20:32I said,

01:20:32are you okay?

01:20:33He says,

01:20:33yeah,

01:20:34I'm fine.

01:20:34He said,

01:20:35well,

01:20:35it's horrible.

01:20:36There's body parts

01:20:37everywhere.

01:20:39Said a few other things

01:20:40to one another

01:20:40and he said,

01:20:42okay,

01:20:42I'll call you

01:20:42in a little bit.

01:20:43I said,

01:20:43okay.

01:20:46He said,

01:20:47look,

01:20:47I'm on my way out now.

01:20:49Have you talked

01:20:49to your mother today?

01:20:51And I said,

01:20:51no.

01:20:52He said to me,

01:20:53well,

01:20:53give her a call.

01:20:55She's worried about you.

01:20:57And I said,

01:20:57okay.

01:20:59He paged me

01:21:00to let me know

01:21:00he was okay.

01:21:01And that was

01:21:04the last contact

01:21:06I had.

01:21:12I was running

01:21:13down the street

01:21:14way after I got around

01:21:16St. Vincent's Hospital

01:21:17on the Y

01:21:18and I started

01:21:18to run a little bit.

01:21:19I saw the

01:21:20South Tower collapse.

01:21:21I knew immediately

01:21:37John was dead.

01:21:37I don't know

01:21:38why I knew.

01:21:38I just knew.

01:21:39And I just sat.

01:21:40I slumped down

01:21:41into a chair

01:21:41and I said,

01:21:42oh my God,

01:21:44John's dead.

01:21:45And everybody said,

01:21:46don't say that.

01:21:47Don't say that.

01:21:48Don't talk like that.

01:21:49About 2 o'clock

01:21:53in the afternoon

01:21:54and I said

01:21:54to my assistant,

01:21:55we were just sitting

01:21:55there waiting

01:21:56for him to call.

01:21:57Everyone went

01:21:57back to my office

01:21:58and he never called.

01:22:03In the aftermath,

01:22:15what John O'Neill

01:22:16had come so

01:22:17tantalizingly close

01:22:18to discovering

01:22:19became clear.

01:22:23Some of it

01:22:24came from Yemen,

01:22:25from that suspect

01:22:26Al Kuso.

01:22:28He told about

01:22:29a secret meeting

01:22:29in Malaysia

01:22:30attended by

01:22:31two coal-bombing

01:22:32conspirators,

01:22:34Nawaf al-Hazmi

01:22:35and Khalid Al-Midar.

01:22:40They had been

01:22:41coming in and out

01:22:42of the U.S.

01:22:43on legal visas.

01:22:45They'd trained

01:22:46in American flight schools.

01:22:48They too had died

01:22:49on September 11th,

01:22:52piloting Flight 77

01:22:53as it crashed

01:22:54into the Pentagon.

01:22:54Among the 2,801 people

01:23:05murdered on September 11th,

01:23:07in the debris

01:23:08of a fallen stairwell

01:23:09under what was once

01:23:10the South Tower

01:23:11of the World Trade Center,

01:23:14they found

01:23:14John O'Neill's body.

01:23:15There's more.

01:23:41Go to Frontline's website

01:23:42for a video interview

01:23:44with John O'Neill.

01:23:45Recorded in 1997.

01:23:49Explore his life history

01:23:51and speeches.

01:23:52Interviews with friends

01:23:53and colleagues.

01:23:54See the Bin Laden threat.

01:23:56More about the FBI

01:23:57and how Bin Laden

01:23:59came into focus

01:24:00for U.S. intelligence.

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01:24:18Next time on Frontline,

01:24:32it is one of our greatest fears,

01:24:35a nuclear missile

01:24:36fired by a rogue nation.

01:24:38I'd like to know

01:24:38that if somebody

01:24:39who is truly crazy

01:24:40fires a missile

01:24:41that we can stop the missile.

01:24:42But are missiles

01:24:43the greatest threat?

01:24:44If Saddam Hussein

01:24:45or the leader

01:24:46of North Korea

01:24:47wanted to inflict

01:24:48great pain

01:24:49on the United States,

01:24:50that missile

01:24:51would be the last thing

01:24:52I'd recommend.

01:24:52Frontline investigates

01:24:54the battle

01:24:54over missile defense,

01:24:56missile wars.

01:25:05To order a VHS copy

01:25:07of The Man Who Knew,

01:25:09call PBS Home Video

01:25:10at 1-800-PLAY-PBS.

01:25:22Funding for this program

01:25:37was provided by

01:25:38the John D.

01:25:39and Catherine T.

01:25:40MacArthur Foundation.

01:25:41Frontline is made possible

01:25:42by contributions

01:25:43to your PBS station

01:25:45from viewers like you.

01:25:52This is PBS.

01:26:22The Man Who Knew

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