i happen to understand united states law and constitution and these things and i exercise my rights. >> counterterrorism officials say that it is through the islamic thinkers society that bryant begins to develop his ideas about jihad and wanting to fight u.s. troops. >> in a sense they're almost bug lights for aspiring jihadists, they've got an anti-western, anti-democratic, anti-u.s., pro-al qaeda message. >> to hell with america! >> and the leading light of the group, according to counterterrorism officials, was this man, yousef al kahtab. >> i love osama bin laden. i love him -- whoa, like i can't begin to tell you. >> he recently told cnn's drew griffin that he met bryant. >> how closely did you know bryant neal vinas? >> i met him one time. >> one time? >> that's it. i just knew that he was a good muslim brother, and that was it. >> and you are an enemy of islam! >> you are an enemy of islam. >> but law enforcement officials tell us that kahtab met bryant on several occasions. khattab has since left the united states. so we tried to locate ahmed