alone. the police investigation therefore remains open." ♪ ♪ >> the fbi thought i was the greatest informant on the planet earth. they told me to record everywhere. >> al jazeera's investigative unit takes you inside the shadowy world of fbi informants and counterterrorism operations. you'll meet the criminals and conmen spying on orders for the fbi. >> i was for them al qaeda. >> i am representing the sheik osama bashar al-assad. >> we'll bring owners osama bin laden. >> concocted by the fbi part of a post-9/11 mandate to thwart attacks before they even begin. >> it literally boils down to if you cannot find terrorists within the muslim community, make terrorists, create the terrorists. >> the fbi is not perfect in running the operations but they're pretty damn close. >> we'll show how some informants are accused of violating civil liberties and why some americans refuse to join the fbi's intelligence ranks. >> i didn't want to be an informant for fbi for the same reasons that i think the muslim community should stand up to them. if i felt that there were actual terrorists running

>> the fbi said it is now fleeting the california shooting as an act of terrorism. hello, i' i'm maryam nemazee. you're watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up, germany joins the fight against isil in syria while hollande franÇois leads the french offensive. [ gunfire ] violence across the west bank. four palestinians shot dead after allegedly attacking israeli soldiers. pumping huge amounts of oil in world markets. >> an act of terrorism. that's how the fbi says it is officially treating this week's shootings in california. but investigators say that they have no evidence that the so-called islamic state in iraq and the levant had direct links to the assailants. the 28-year-old and his 27-year-old wife, despite an earlier claim by a pro isil newsagent that the group's operatives were behind the attack in san bernardino, that left 14 people dead. fbi director james comey had this to say about the investigation into the shooting. >> this is now a federal terrorism investigation led by the fbi. the reason for that is that the investigation so far has developed indicat

because they had no one to blame. >> at his trial, an fbi scientist testified that hairs found at the crime scene were 'microscopically alike' to joseph's. just months ago, joseph was released from prison, after serving almost forty years behind bars. dna testing had proved the hairs were not his. >> here's the hair from the defendant. here's the hair from the crime scene. i'm looking at them under the microscope and they have enough characteristics where i can say with reasonable scientific certainty that these two hairs match. >> they believed in what they were doing, but they were not scientists. it wasn't science at all. at all. >> joseph was at least the 74th american exonerated of a crime in a case involving the forensic science of microscopic hair analysis. >> it's not science to visually examine something and say they're the same. that's not science. that's subjectivity. >> the u.s. department of justice is now reviewing thousands of old convictions containing hair analysis testimony. last april, it released a devastating assessment. in the cases reviewed, fbi testimony ab

and author douglas charles discusses his book, "hoover's war on gays." the fbi accumulated more than 330,000 pages on so-called sex deviants. these files were destroyed in 1977 and 1978. professor charles discusses his research into the history of the program and the public and official perception of gays during hoover's time at the fbi. the 55 minute program is cohosted by the national the gay at kansas city, and lesbians archives of mid-america, and the truman center at the university of missouri. >> j edgar hoover. when one hears his name, two images easily come to mind. the first is the long serving fbi director targeting communist his files to using get his way, often times, with politicians. mansecond is of a secretive wearing a feather blower, sashaying around washington, ..c. with his lover one of those is verifiable. based on historical evidence. .he other is not nevertheless it has become an irrepressible cultural meme rooted in innuendo, and supposition. it captured the two major hoover era of sessions. .ommunists and gays until now the fbi preoccupation with gays and

program and the public and official perception of gays during hoover's time at the fbi. the program is cohosted by the national archives that kansas city, the day and lesbians archives of mid-america, and the truman center at the university of missouri. >> dr. charles is an associated professor of history. he's the author of "j edgar --the rise of the domestic security state in 1939." his other book is "j. edgar hoover and the bureau's crusade against smut." tonight we will hear from him. he will regale some information in his third book, "hoover's wa ror on gays." please welcome dr. charles. [applause] dr. charles: thank you very much. j. edgar hoover. two one hears the name, images usually come to mind. the first is the long serving fbi director with his files targeting communists and leftists, using his files to get his way oftentimes with politicians. the second image is a secretive man festooned in a black cocktail dress and feather boa, sashaying around washington, d.c. verifiable. is , historicalifiable evidence, the other is not. nevertheless, it has become an irrepressible

, but arguably back even further than that. the church committee held hearings investigating the fbi and cia in particular, but also other intelligence services such as the nsa, military intelligence, and some of the smaller agencies that were involved in intelligence activities as well. our job up here is to think a little bit about what some of the causes and consequences of the church committee hearings were, to think a little bit about their relationship to the politics of the 1970's, particularly to watergate, to what is often described as the investigative impulse of the 1970's, to some of the power struggles between congress and the executive branch, so where did the committee come from? why did it come about at the particular moment that it did? as i said, it was really the first large-scale investigation of what it was american intelligence agencies had been doing in the latter half of the 20th century at that point, so we wanted to talk about what some of the causes of the church committee were. we want to talk about what some of the consequences of the church committee wor

was established to investigate intelligence gathering conducted by the cia nsa and fbi in the aftermath of the watergate scandal. up next, a panel discusses the history and legacy of the church committee including how the senate historical office is collecting oral histories of involved personnel in the impact the committee's findings had on the fbi. the organization of american historians hosted this 90 minute discussion at their annual meeting in st. louis. >> so, we will go ahead and get started since the moment has arrived. others may trickle in from lunch, but thank you and welcome here to this panel on the church committee at 40. my name is beverly gage. i am a history professor at yale. and i will be up here mostly timekeeping and asking some questions. before i introduce the panelists, i just wanted to say a few words about the genesis of this panel, the idea behind it and some of the issues i hope we are going to be able to address. so this year, 2015, marks the 40th anniversary of one of the most important congressional committees certainly of the 1970's. and i think

, breaking news. attack investigation. the fbi says it's probing the killing of four u.s. marines in that chattanooga, tennessee, attack as an act of terrorism. new information emerges about the shooter. >> it was clear that this gunman had every intent to encounter and to murder police officers if he needed to. >> officials are searching his computers right now. they're digging into his background. did he act alone? inspired by isis? the head of the u.s. homeland security committee said he thinks the shooter was motivated to kill by one of the world's most feared terror groups. was he radicalized online or overseas? missed signals. investigators are now looking closely at online postings and the gunman's trips to the middle east to see if there might have been clues to his plan. could a recent dui arrest have been part of the motive? i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." >>> we're following the breaking news. the fbi now says it's investigated the deadly attacks on two u.s. military centers in chattanooga as an act of terrorism. you can hear some of the gun shots in this

search, fbi divers combing a lake in san bernardino near the scene of that terror attack as investigators now reveal ties between syed farook and a convicted terrorist who is from the area and al qaeda recruiter. did his arrest lead farook to abandon an earlier plot? >>> time bombs? a bag of explosive devices left behind by farook before he returned with his wife to massacre 14 people. and tonight a first look inside the room and new questions about whether the bombs were meant to kill first responders. secret apps, terror groups perfecting the use of encrypted communications that help them plot, recruit and send orders to cells around the world all undetected. can isis now launch attacks in the united states by smartphone? >>> hydrogen bomb. north korea's kim jong-un intentionally let slip his alleged development of a thermonuclear weapon, hundreds of times more powerful than an atomic bomb. has north korea dramatically increased its capabilitiecapabi is kim trying to reclaim the world's spotlight. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> we're following breaki

you there as soon as it starts. this is "risk & reward." i'm deirdre bolton. the fbi is probing the san bernardino attack as terrorist attack. >> based on information and facts as we know them, we are now investigating these horrific acts as an act of terrorism. >> this is now a federal terrorism investigation led by the fbi. and the reason for that is, that the investigation so far has developed indications of radicalization by the killers, and of bow tension inspiration by foreign -- potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations. deirdre: the attack left 14 people dead, 21 people wounded. investigators are looking a facebook post by tashfeen malik implied others were involved. the facebook post was in different name and shows a pledge to isis. earlier, numerous journalists wept into the shooters apartment in redlands, california. jeff flock was there. any clues that were found in any that speak to larger potential connections? reporter: deirdre, i was not one of the journalists that traipsed through the house t was a bizarre scene, landlords of couple allowing reporters

explosive new film that shines a bright light on the fbi's shadowy use of informants in its controversial counterterrorism sting operations. you just heard the fbi informant saeed torres, aka sharif. this is his target. >> sharif left me alone in his truck. when he did that, there was a letter sitting on the dashboard from the law office. i snapped a picture of it because i knew he was fbi. i wanted to know who this guy was. his real name is saeed torres. amy: khalifah al-akili from a white muslim convert in pittsburgh, about to have a news conference with his lawyer sang he was being set up when he was arrested by the fbi. ultimately he was sentenced to eight years in jail on non-terrorism charges. today, we look at the film "(t)error" that is with a "t" with current the seas around it. we take you on the journey of the fbi informant as well as -- all of that and more coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. hundreds of people are believed to be dead in what may be the deadliest migrant disaster ever in the mediterranean sea. as m

shooting massacre as the fbi is now revealing its investigation of the attack as an act of terrorism. it's investigating that attack. authorities now say the female shooter tashfeen malik pledged her allegiance to the isis leader abu bakr al baghdadi. three u.s. officials now tell cnn she's believed to have posted the pledge on facebook as the attack was happening before she and her husband syed farook were killed by police. also breaking, a surreal first look inside the couple's rental home. their landlord inviting cnn and other news outlets to enter the townhouse after it was searched by authorities. reporters saw lists of items seized by the fbi as well as the family's personal belongings including toys for the couple's 6-month-old baby. i'll ask congressman andre carson what he's learning. he's a member of the house intelligence committee. our correspondents and analysts are also standing by to cover all of the breaking news. up first, let's go to our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto for the very latest. jim. >> wolf, today the fbi said it has good reas

service and i am confident you will continue to serve honorably. today, the fbi continues to face the effects of one of the worst national security leaks in our nation wash history by edward snowden two years ago. was aa freedom act bipartisan law that ended a controversial national security program. you provided transparency of the american intelligence gathering. the act in chores that federal law appropriately respects civil liberties, while providing the and meet ourls national security responsibilities. comey to thank director and the men and women of the fbi, for working closely with the members of this committee to ensure the passage of the freedom act. events of the past year have deeply violated the world's moral compass with scenes of theaginable brutality at hands of isis. in particular, the appalling and targeting of anyone refuse to abide by isis's isis stated goals to establish a global caliphate has resulted in the shedding of innocent blood by the most revolting method. as a radical islamic terrorist organization, isis mandates conformity to an ideology which admit

arguably, back even further than that. the church committee held hearings investigating the fbi f.b.i. and the c.i.a. in particular, but also the n.s.a. military intelligence, and some , of the smaller agencies that were involved in intelligence activities as well. so, our job up here is to think a little bit about what some of the causes and consequences of the church committee hearings were. to think a little bit about their relationship, to the politics of the 1970's, particularly to watergate, to what is described as the investigative impulse of the 1970's, to some of the power struggles between the, between congress and the executive branch in the 1970's. so where did the church committee come from? why did it come about at that particular moment it did? as i said, it really was the first large-scale investigation of what it was that american intelligence agencies had been doing in the latter half of the 20th century at that point. we want to talk more about what some of the causes of the church committee were. we want to talk about what some of the consequences of the church com

on c-span. now fbi director testifies before an oversight hearing of the house judiciary committee to discuss the range of security issues being addressed by the bureau including the challenges of encryption technology for law enforcement and the use of surveillance aircraft, cybersecurity in and the screening of refugees coming into the u.s.. congressman bob goodlatte it is about two hours and 45 minutes and we will show as much as we can until today's white house briefing starts. that is scheduled it is scheduled for 12:30. >>> good morning. the committee will come to order it without objection the chair is authorized to declare recess of the committee at any time terri and we welcome everyone to this morning's hearing on the oversight of the federal bureau of investigations. and i will begin by recognizing myself for an opening statement. welcome, director, to the second appearance before the house judiciary committee since the confirmation as the seventh director of the federal bureau of investigations. we are happy to have you here with us today. once again i commend your dist

caution that we're expecting the fbi to hold a press conference here within a matter of minutes where we hope they will confirm or deny that information. there's obviously a lot of speculation that has been circulating, and it is growing more intense over the past hour or so. both of these suspects, both of whom died in a gun battle with police on wednesday afternoon, one was from the united states, he apparently met his wife online. she is a pakistani citizen. they met -- they then went to saudi arabia together and traveled back to the united states. none of this in and of itself suggests any wrongdoing per se, but fbi officials have been looking at all of this, trying to connect the dots to see if there is any sort of connection to terrorism. up until now they had been basing their investigation on one of two lines of thinking. one this could have been an office dispute, office violence, or links to terrorism. those were the two lines of thinking up until now. over the past eight to ten hours or so, the line about potential terrorism has been gaining more traction. in that is

do you have to say to that? >> yeah, good question. yesterday i said to you, the fbi is an organization that is apolitical. we are a fact-finding organization, and we deal in fact. i don't have all of those facts yet. so i don't know the answer to the question you asked me. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] claimed responsibility. do you have anything on this -- >> not unusual that they would -- >> their official website where they post all of their video, they have claimed responsibility. >> i'm not surprised. maybe they did. maybe they didn't. but it only helps them to be able to attach themselves to an act like this. >> reporter: is someone detained that gave him the rifles. >> there is a person of -- there is -- we don't know -- okay. let me go back on that one. there's some differentiations. there is a person who purchased those weapons, but i'll let atf answer the questions on the guns. the person is not under arrest at this point. >> but they are being questioned. >> they are not under arrest at this point. >> reporter: with that facebook post did they pledge allegiance to

most wanted man in america. bulger eluded the fbi for 14 years by hiding in plain site in santa monica, california. tonight, you'll hear from the agents who finally caught him, with some help from an alley cat and his girlfriend's breast implants. >> we just rushed him. >> kroft: you mean guns out? "fbi, don't move!" >> i asked him to identify himself and that didn't go over well. he asked me to "f"-ing identify myself. and i asked him, i said, "are you whitey bulger?" he said, "yes." >> kroft: when you became a made man, when you were formally inducted in... into la cosa nostra...? >> gotti, jr.: you like the way that word sounds, "la cosa nostra"? how it flows on your tongue? >> kroft: no one is likely to be watching this story more closely than the fbi. >> you break rules, you end up in a dumpster. >> kroft: it's the first extended tv interview john gotti, jr., has ever done. he talks about his life as a made member of the gambino crime family, following in the footsteps of his famous father, the dapper don, john gotti, jr. obviously, he spent a lot of time in prison for murd

unanswered questions. welcome everybody i'm in for neil cavuto and this is "your world." we know the fbi is expected to bring in several hundred investigators as they try to determine who is behind the shooting and what was the motive. it follows alerts that u.s. military personnel could be targets. witnesses reported hearing 30 to 50 gunshots. the front window of a recruiting station, peppered withbullletholes and now in new york city, they're beef up security at a recruiting station times square. we begin with john roberts. >> reporter: i'm at the training center in choate. officials held a press conference and released some details. we're learning a lot but still a lot we do not know. bill killon, the u.s. district attorney says they're pursuing this as an act of domestic terrorism, not ruling out any kind of nexus to isis or any other terrorist group but at the same time saying this does not rule out the fact that this could simply be a criminal act and not an act of terrorism. here's what we know so far about what happened. itself was 10:45 this morning that this lone gunman rolled up

now the official designation by the fbi that san bernardino is now the single deadliest terror attack on u.s. soil since september 11th, 2001. we are awaiting on the fbi. thank you very much, mr. jasser, bill, and greg, liz, to you. >> it is official. san bernardino designated as the single deadliest terror attack on u.s. soil, on u.s. citizens since 9/11, back of course in 2001. exactly two days, 48 hours after the shos rang out in san bernardino, california and 14 innocents were murdered by suspects, one who pledged allegiance to isis, the san bernardino shooting is now being called an act of terror by the fbi. still, we need to tell you there are a lot of unanswered questions, but it does possibly all come down to one facebook post by the female suspect in the case along with the evidence revealed here, inside the house of horrors where the two san bernardino suspects holed up and where police found at least 12 pipe bombs and thousands and thousands of rounds of ammunition, there you see a koran, that was sitting there, of course. if any of this is giving you the chills. how

." the fbi will be not rule out terrorism as a possible motive in today's deadly shooting rampage in san bernardino, california, which left 14 dead, 17 injured. tonight, we have dramatic new video of the gun battle between police and the suspects earlier tonight. watch this. >> something's going on. something's going on. there they go. they're after that guy. they're after that guy. guns. gunshots. gunshots. gunshots. [ sirens ] >> did you see that? >> shots. >> there were gunshots -- oh [ bleep ]. we better get down, bro. >> police say two of the suspects were killed in that shootout and have been identified. one man, one woman. and the third person was detained at the scene, but authorities have not said if this person was involved. adam housely obtained that video exclusively for fox news, he's live on the ground where the gun battle took place with the police, adam. >> reporter: yeah, sean, in fact the battle began behind me. david espinosa shot the video. it's grainy, but you can see what's going on. they have moved all of us back now significantly. maybe, oh, a quarter mile from wh

at eight eastern and pacific, the span/q and a. fbi director james coney testified before the senate judiciary commission. severalctor addressed challenges facing the fbi including data encryption and the ability of isis to create fraudulent past. this is almost three hours. --director call me that director james comey, we welcome -- last week confirmed that radical islamic terrorism continues to be a of whetherrdless that is politically correct for convenient for our president. is a determined enemy executing a plan to gain and itself,ritory, in rich inspire followers, and launch deadly attacks against the west. the american people are very worried. it is not just about terrorism, but about our president's inability or unwillingness to oury the country to lead international partners, to develop a credible strategy to destroy isis, and to execute that strategy. we are now paying a price for that weakness. turn, eventsry have proven the president wrong about this. in august 2012, to a redline warning the regime not to use chemical weapons in syria. but the president back down a

cosa nostra"? how it flows on your tongue? watching this story more closely than the fbi. >> you break rules, you end up in a dumpster. >> kroft: it's the first extended tv interview john gotti, jr., has ever done. he talks about his life as a made member of the gambino crime family, following in the footsteps of his famous father, the dapper don, john gotti, jr. obviously, he spent a lot of time in prison for murder. how do you justify that? >> i don't know if you can ever justify murder. i don't know if you can justify it. but i can make... i can make some type of an argument. you want to hear it? >> kroft: sure. >> okay. fbi agent to infiltrate their organization, and add to that the fact that i'm a cuban-born playing an italian who was able to fool them-- it's an amazing insult to them. >> keteyian: jack garcia learned the language of la costa nostra, infiltrated the mob, and took down one of the most powerful mobsters in america. how did he do it and why is he now talking on "60 minutes?" >> you know what? somebody comes after me, they i'm ready for them. two million, four hundred

questions are not for the fbi. we comply with the law. as it stands today, we have three days to get it done. we will do our best to get it done in three days. if congress were to change that we would get it done, obviously. back to encryption, i understand the concerns you have raised here today and in the past. the experts really say, trying to get the back door is a mistake. if you have the back door, the hackers will get it and china will get it and we will be less safe. that leads me to a question about the use of encryption by the fbi. are you encrypting all of your your agents,l of and personnel, and payroll, and systems? data. we use encryption on a significant amount of data. >> i'd like to follow up with that because i was stunned that the office of personnel did not have that important data encrypted. the federal government should protect itself by encrypting this data. we know that we're being hacked constantly by state actors and the enemies of our country and i'm sure they would love to get data about the f.b.i. i look forward to hearing a greater details on them. i yield

doesn't reflect the good people of the fbi or what you and the fbi are trying to do today. the fbi's own website declared the coin tell pro program as rightly criticized by congress and the american team for abridging first amendment rights and other reasons yet his name continues to adorn the fbi building. would you agree his name is not appropriate as a reflection on what the fine people at fbi today try to do to bring about justice in our country. >> i'm sorry, hoover's name? >> yes, sir. >> i'm not following the question. >> i'm saying, does it not -- does it not reflect the qualities that the fbi individuals and fbi today have in pursuing justice as being fair and not using tactics to attack minorities this country. >> i see. thank you, i'm sorry. the fbi today is vastly different than it was under its first director. in some of the ways you mentioned and in lots of other ways. i keep that under the glass of my desk, not to dump on hoover -- i never knew the man -- but to make sure people understand the danger in becoming -- in falling in love with your own view of things

followed by an update from fbi director james comey. >> so far we have no indication that these killers are part of an organized larger group or form part of a cell. there's no indication that they are part of a network. there is nothing in our holdings about these two killers. there werects between either of the killers and subjects of our investigations. there were of such a significance that it raised these killers up on to our radar screen. we're obviously looking very closely at those contacts. but i would not want you to over-index on that just yet. >> it was terror. and that makes wednesday's shooting in san bernardino the deadliest terror attack on u.s. soil since 9/11. we have also learned that the female suspect, tashfeen malik, had pledged her allegiance to isis via facebook just as the deadly attack began. and we've gotten a look inside the home of the married terrorists, where can you see tab evide tapestries with arabic writing with phrases from the koran. >> as we've been talking about, investigators are on the ground knew from very long, felt it was a terrorist i

this time. >> just moments ago, the fbi briefing out in san bernardino. good day, everyone. i'm kate snow. you heard them say the big news announcing that they're now invest gatding the san bernardino shootings as an act of terrorism. we have also learned that the female suspect tashfeen malik posted a statement on facebook pledging her support to isis, the morning of the shooting. that confirmed again by the fbi. let's go saight to thomas roberts in san bernardino watching it all. thomas? >> reporter: kate, a lot developed in the 48 hours since we began our coverage live on the air there live back in new york a stone's throw from where i stand now at the inland regional center so the developments and the clearer picture to get about this couple is that they are somehow radicalized. not sure if they are just completely isis inspired or somehow isis directed. it seems to be that the fbi would be leaning to the prior of just being inspired and wanting to connect themselves to isis. but also, trying to figure out which was the person more radical than the other. was it the wife who

federal authorities involved. the fbi, the bureau of alcohol tobacco and firearms very involved in this investigation in san bernadino county and if it turns out that it is a terrorist attack of some sort, the fbi will then take the lead. as jonathan mentioned, the president spoke earlier today to cbs news this was an already-planned interview but when the shooting occurred he was asked about what happened in california and here is what the president had to say. >> my hope is, is that we are able to contain this particular shooting and we don't yet know what the motives of the shooters are. but what we do know is that there are steps that we can take to make americans safer. and that we should come together in a bipartisan basis at every level of government to, you know, make these rare as opposed to normal. we should never think that this is something that just happens in the ordinary course of events, because it doesn't happen with the same frequency in other countries. >> and the president also said that he hopes that folks come together to pass what he called common sense gun laws.

investigations involve joint operation of the fbi and police. joint task forces have down under extreme are terrorism. according to author and journalist trevor aaronson, the number of confidential informants has risen to 15,000 since 9/11. and a scathing critique, aaron aaronson says, the bureau can then claim victory on the war on terror. the bureau justifies spending millions of dollars on counterterrorism efforts. david ariosto reports. >> when it comes to funding efforts to root out terrorism the united states is virtually unmatched. america's intelligence community spent 16.6 billion billion on counterterrorism in 2014, both in the united states and around the world. provided by documents from edward snowden. using 4200 agents across the country and since the september 11th attacks the u.s. that is doubled down on security, spending more than half a trillion dollars ointelligence with monitoring and disrupting violent extreme is among its top priorities. since then there's been a string of successes. in 2002, brooklyn born jose padilla was arrested and convicted after returning from p

unaafraid. greta goes "on the record" right now. >>> this is a fox news alert. the fbi says terrorism, it was terrorism. and today the fbi officially declaring a husband and wife killer duo carried out an act in southern california. the evidence proving that is piling up. the female shooter pledging her allegiance to isis on facebook on the very day the couple stormed the regional center slaughtering 14 innocent americans and injuring 21 more. an inside look into the couple terrorist home. this is the home police describe as a bomb factory. we will take you inside that house of horror. we have live team coverage from the bomb factory house to the multiple crime scene to the nation's capital. terrorism. >> we're here today because we want to make sure you understand this is now a federal terrorism investigation led by the fbi. >> we are now investigating this as an acted of terrorism. >> the investigation so far has developed indications of radicalization by the killers and foreign terrorist organizations. >> we have also uncovered that these subjects attempted to destroy the

georgetown community and our guests from the fbi, who joined us for today's event. we gather now to hear fbi director james comey offer his perspective on questions of law enforcement and race, a topic that demands our most careful and serious attention as a nation, as its members, as members of our communities. this is a topic whose importance and urgency has been exemplified in the events from ferguson missouri, to cleveland, ohio, to staten island, new york. at this moment when our country seeks a greater understanding, a renewed sense of responsibility for when another, a stronger mutual trust. we're grateful for this opportunity to provide a venue for dialogue on these matters. we're thankful to have our mccourt school of public policy as an academic partner for this morning's event. after director comey's remarks, our audience will have the opportunity to ask questions moderated by our mccourt school dean, edward montgomery. and i want to thank dean montgomery for playing this role today. i wish to take a few moments top introduce director comey, who took on this position leading the f

very much for joining us. we're starting with breaking news out of new york city right now. the fbi has three men in custody, men who were planning they say, to fly to turkey and then join up with isis in syria. our justice reporter, evan perez, is joining us from new york. he's got details. this is a very disturbing development. tell us first of all about these three men who have just been arrested. >> we're talking about three men who were planning to travel to turkey with eventual plans to join isis in syria. the fbi says one of them was arrested early this morning as he was trying to board a plane at jfk airport here in new york. another one was arrested in florida and another one here in brooklyn. the allegation from the fbi is that these three were something of a network trying to get over there and join these militants in syria. now, if their plan did not succeed to join isis they also had plans to carry out terrorist attacks here in this country, perhaps attacking -- trying to kill the president of the united states or fbi agents and police officers. it's a very serious comp

armageddon. >> this is the fbi command post. we have a fire at the compound in mt. carmel. the entire compound is going up right now. >> it was an epic debacle in united states law enforcement history. a deadly shootout followed by a 51-day siege that ended with more than 70 people dead in a raging inferno. all caught on live television with the whole world watching. two questions rise from the ashes of this american tragedy. who shot first and who started the fire? >> it began innocently enough. in 1935 a small religious group moved to waco. an off-shoot of the seventh day adventist church, they eventually called themselves as the branch davidians. >> pretty stable leadership for a lot of years, and they were known in town as a somewhat bizarre but benign religious group that pretty much kept to themselves. >> the davidians bought property about ten miles east of town, built a compound, and named their sanctuary mount carmel after the sacred biblical site in israel. but in the early 1980s a new member appeared who would change everything. his given name vernon wayne howell. handsome