the debate offer the u.s. drone program in the region. also b, is this the first time an american citizen has been killed by a drone attack outside of anwar al awlaki who was an american who became a terrorist and taken out by a u.s. drone strike. >> to be clear white house statement says counter-terror operation. they do not specify that it was a drone strike. so we should hear from the white house and i'm reaching out now to specify what kind of operation this was. was a drone strike aircraft or elements on the ground involved. that's one thing we have to look into. keep in mind all those things have inherent risks. drone strikes killed civilians before. you mentioned al awlaki strike the one previous we've known before pesifying drone specifically. keep in mind there was another operation on the ground in somalia with ground forces that killed not an american but an international hostage from south africa. so all these options at the president's hands, all of them are risky in these contexts and all of them have potential positives but also potential great negatives. we're seeing this one here in the worst form possible accidentally killing an american and italian. as you mentioned, poppy, leading up to this you have the broader debate strikes counter-terrorism, civilians killed on the ground local nationals. in a country such as pakistan and afghanistan as welles the primary feeder of anti-american feeling there and, two, a real recruiting tool for the very groups that are being targeted in these operations. al qaeda, the taliban, isis in syria. you kill civilians on the ground that helps drive people to these groups. from ra tribal perspective, your brother, relative killed in a strike like this you would feel an obligation to join the group. you've seen that. even going back to donald rumsfeld a decade ago, he asked the question are we killing them faster than they are recruited. i'm paraphrasing here. this has been a calculation not just the obama administration has had to make but the bush administration. to be fair when we speak specifically of drones remember it's the obama administration that greatly ramped up the number of drone strikes by a significant factor from the bush administration. it's been a favorite tool of this president. >> it certainly has. jim sciutto, thank you for the reporting. the white house beginning the statement saying it is with tremendous sorrow they make this announcement. let me hand it over to my colleague in washington as we wait for the president to speak. jake. >> thanks poppy. good morning, everyone. if you're just joining us let's bring you up to speed on what's going on. at this hour we're expecting any moment president obama to appear in the brady white house press briefing room to talk about what is probably the most difficult decision a president has to make the decision to try to rescue hostages the decision to send troops into harm's way. right now what we know president obama is going to talk about is a counter-terrorism attempt, mission that went wrong. one that went wrong in january, an attempt to rescue the hostage, kenneth weinstein -- sorry, warren weinstein, an american contractor who has been held by al qaeda since august 2011. in december 2011 the al qaeda leader ayman al zawahiri claimed to hold him. last video in 2013 when warren weinstein asked president obama in his second term to do everything he could to try to rescue him. this rescue attempt did go wrong. we're now told by president obama and the white house that warren weinstein and another hostage, an italian hostage have been killed along with two americans who had joined the ranks of al qaeda. i'm going to go to our senior national security correspondent jim sciutto who has new information. we're expecting president obama to come to the brady briefing room any moment and we'll bring that to you live. jim, what do you have? >> just to be clear i'm told by a senior state department official there were no boots on the ground in these counter-terrorism operation. want to clear this up. this would have been an air operation, which, of course jake adds an element here. you have a certain amount of intelligence striking from the air. there are always gaps. here there was a major gap. you have the unfortunate sad result an american and italian killed as a result. let's be clear, no ground troops involved in these operations. >> jim, do we know where this mission took place? we talked about this is a drone mission. do we know where the hostages were thought to be held. >> the only specificity along afghan pakistan border which is the prime hiding place for al qaeda going back to 9/11. on that border on the pakistan side where osama bin laden was killed a number of years ago. we don't know which side of the border just in that border region. >> jim, we know the mission took place in january but president obama has only recently declassified the information. he's going to be sharing the information of this failed rescue attempt moments from now in the white house. what else do we know? why did it take so long? did they have to get dna testing from the site of this drone attack? >> i've asked that very question. we all want an answer the president may provide it. that would be typical. in any strike whether you have a sad result where an american something like this would be killed the target. they work on dna evidence. they are going to watch social media, quite frankly, do the leaders announce these things post pictures et cetera. it's a whole collection of things that you look at. when you have americans involved you would want and need dna confirmation before you'd have the president come out and say this has happened. as the statement said this was previously classified information. the president made a decision to declassify. in his words, the words of the statement, at least, he decided the public had a right to know. >> the president announced there were two americans killed two americans who had joined the ranks of al qaeda, one of them relatively well-known to those who follow the story, that is adam gadahn. this is the individual who was originally born adam pearlman and also known as ahsan the american. the other not well-known ahmed farouq an al qaeda leader who was an american citizen. what else do we know about these two individuals killed in this same mission, the white house says? >> well adam gadahn as you mentioned, jake really the one who is most prominent here. incredible story from california jewish background christian background converted a number of years ago and then started appearing in al qaeda videos in 2004. we've seen this in other cases. when you have an american in one of these groups omar in al shabaab, rapping jihadist these groups love to put that out there. it shows they have pull inside even their primary target america, particularly post 9/11 adam gadahn was very prominent in those videos and had a significant propaganda role in that organization that has power. it wasn't just a face. he was considered prominent and powerful in the organization. so to get him would be a significant, i don't know if achievement is the right word but would be an achievement. that to be clear, was in a separate strike the white house saying it's not the same strike that killed the american hostage dr. weinstein or the italian but it was in that same strike this other leader ahmed farouq was killed. >> it was in the same region different counter-terrorism operations. was it thought to have been part of the same mission? >> they don't specify it was on the same day. it was in the same month. just adding some news as it's coming in jake we're hearing from pakistan a spokesperson from the ministry of foreign affairs, has no comment on this at this time. that would be the typical standing from the pakistan government. they do not like to comment on american operations on pakistani territory. again, to be clear we know this was on the afghan pakistan border. we're not sure on the pakistani side of the border. they tend not to comment because it is a very controversial issue, american strikes on pakistani territory. pakistan government allows them but they don't like to say in public they support them. because on the ground pakistanis hate them because of the possibility, there have been a number of cases of civilian casualties of these strikes. it's a real driving force of anti-americanism in that country. of course in this case you have americans who were killed american and italian who were the civilian casualties of this strike. >> all right, jim, stay with us. i want to bring in bob baer cnn security analyst, former officer who knows a great deal about these kinds of counter-terrorism operations. bob joins us on the phone, this obviously being a rush breaking news situation. bob, president obama is about to come to the white house brady press briefing room to talk about this counter-terrorism mission in january that failed. it was an attempt to rescue warren weinstein, an american contractor who has been held hostage by al qaeda since august 2011. in addition there's an italian hostage giovanni lo porto. he's been held hostage by al qaeda since 2012. the president also going to talk about two other americans recently killed in counter-terrorism operations in the same region. we do not know if it's the same mission or same operation. those being ahmed farouq an american who was an al qaeda leader and then of course adam gadahn. we're expecting president obama to come to the white house briefing room in two minutes to tell this information and give more detail we assume to the american people. bob, what strikes you about this announcement by the president and this failed mission? >> well i think as we've been talking about, the united states doesn't like conducting an air campaign within the borders of pakistan. it's been a very open secret. but nonetheless, it is highly unpopular among the pakistanis. in fact, pakistan is in many ways withdrawn operations collecting intelligence on these areas, simply because so many civilians have been killed. it doesn't surprise me frankly, that hostages are accidentally killed in this because we have no intelligent human asset in the tribal areas of pakistan. you can watch it from drones. you can listen to telephones. but as al qaeda got off the telephone, your intelligence becomes more iffy and more iffy. so the fact this happened tells me it was probably a signature strike they saw from the air, what looked like the al qaeda compound spent months confirming that. once they went to the president white house saying -- >> here comes president obama, bob, i'm going to cut you off. here comes president obama. this morning i want to express our grief and condolences to the families of two hostages one american dr. warren weinstein, and an italian giovanni lo porto, who were tragically killed in a u.s. counter-terrorism operation. warren and giovanni were aid workers in pakistan devoted to improving the lives of the pakistani people. after warren was abducted by al qaeda in 2011 i directed my national security team to do everything possible to find him and to bring him home safely to his family. dedicated professionals across our government worked tirelessly to do so. we also worked closely with our italian allies on behalf of giovanni who was kidnapped in 2012. since 9/11 our counter-terrorism efforts have prevented terrorist attacks and saved innocent lives, both here in america and around the world. and that determination to protect innocent life only makes the loss of these two men especially painful for all of us. based on information and intelligence we have obtained we believe that a u.s. counter-terrorism operation targeting an al qaeda compound in the afghanistan pakistan border region accidentally killed warren and giovanni this past january. yesterday i spoke with warren's wife elaine and prime minister of italy. as a husband and a father i cannot begin to imagine the anguish the weinstein and lo porto families are enduring today. i realize there are no words that can ever equal their loss. i know there is nothing i can ever say or do to ease their heartache. today i simply want to say this. as president and as commander in chief, i take full responsibility for all our counter-terrorism operations including the one that inadvertently took the lives of warren and giovanni. i profoundly regret what happened. on behalf of the united states government i offer our deepest apologies to the families. as soon as we determine the cause of their deaths i directed that the existence of this operation be declassified and disclosed publicly. i did so because the weinstein and lo porto families deserve to know the truth. and i did so because even as certain aspects of our national security efforts have to remain secret in order to succeed, the united states is a democracy, committed to openness in good times and in bad. our initial assessment indicates this operation was fully consistent under the guidelines which we conduct counter-terrorism operations in the region which has been our focus for years because it is the home of al qaeda's leadership. based on the intelligence that we had obtained at the time including hundreds of hours of surveillance we believed this was an al qaeda compound that no civilians were present, and that capturing these terrorists was not possible. we do believe that the operation did take out dangerous members of al qaeda. what we did not know tragically was al qaeda was hiding the presence of warren and giovanni in this same compound. it is a cruel and bitter truth that in the fog of war generally and our fight against terrorist specifically mistakes sometimes deadly mistakes can occur. but one of the things that sets america apart from many other nations, one of the things that makes us exceptional, is our willingness to confront squarely our imperfections and learn from our mistakes. already i've directed a full review of what happened. we will identify the lessons that can be learned from this tragedy and any changes that should be made. we will do our utmost to ensure it is not repeated. we will continue to do everything we can to prevent the loss of innocent lives. not just innocent americans but all innocent lives in our counter-terrorism operations. today we join their families and friends in honoring warren and giovanni two humanitarians who came from different countries but who were united by a spirit of service. for decades warren lived the ideals of our country, serving with the peace corps and later with the united states agency for international development. he devoted his life to people across africa and south asia. he was a loving husband, father and grandfather who willingly left the comforts of home to help the people of pakistan. at the time of his abduction, he was a u.s. aid contractor focusing on helping pakistani families escape poverty and give a better life to their children. giovanni's humanitarianism also took him around the world to the central african republic to haiti, and ultimately pakistan. like warren he fell in love with pakistan and its people and believed passionately he could make a difference in their lives. giovanni's service reflected the commitment of the italian people, our great allies and friends to the security and dignity of people around the world. today is a reminder of the bonds of friendship between our country and the shared values that bind americans and italians together. there could be no starker contrast between these two selfless men and their al qaeda captors. warren's work benefited people across faiths meanwhile al qaeda boasted to the world that it held warren citing his jewish faith. al qaeda held both men for years, even as warren's health deteriorated deteriorated. they deprived these men of precious irreplaceable years with family who missed them terribly. amid grief that is unmjable i pray these two families will find some small measure of solace knowing warren and giovanni's legacy will endure. their service will be remembered by the pakistani men, women, and children whose lives they touched and made better. their spirit will live on in the love of their families who are in our thoughts and prayers today, especially warren's wife elaine their daughters, alicia and jennifer and their families. the shining example of these two men will stand as a light to people the world over who see suffering and answer with compassion compassion; who see war and work for peace. god bless these two brave men and may he watch over and comfort their families for all the years to come. >> mr. obama leaving white house brady briefing room after giving the grim news that a u.s. counter-terrorism operation, one we're told was conducted from the air, likely a drone strike killed two hostages two innocents, including warren weinstein, a u.s. contractor who had been held hostage by al qaeda since august 2011 as well as an italian hostage named giovanni lo porto, who had been an al qaeda hostage since 2012. in addition the white house statement given before the press remarks by president obama talked about separate counter-terrorism operations in which two other americans, although these were americans who had joined al qaeda, were likely killed. those individuals being ahmed farouq an american who we're told was the deputy amir of a new off shoot of al qaeda in the indian continent ais as well as adam gadahn known by those who follow national security stories, he was the young american born adam pearlman who joined al qaeda and and in propaganda videos. let's bring in correspondent jim sciutto. jim, president obama talking about how he wanted to bring this information to the american people as soon as it was declassified. but we are also told that the "wall street journal" told the white house they were going to run a story about this drone strike killing these two innocent hostages. in fact that story and this morning in the "wall street journal," jim. >> that's right. certainly that seems to be a pressure point here. a couple more details i can report now, jake. this was a drone strike. we said earlier there were no ground troops involved but it did come from a drone. typically cia drones are the ones that carry out these strikes in the pakistan border region. some more detail on the american that was killed in this strike that killed the american hostage warren weinstein and italian hostage giovanni lo porto. you mentioned his name deputy amir of al qaeda in the subcontinent. he was a big deal. to give you a sense of the ambitions of this group that he was deputy amir of operational leader in september of this last year they attempted to hijack pakistani naval vessels to then use those vessels as weapons. this is an operation he would be involved in as operational leader. that operation failed. this is a group with tremendous capability and tremendous ambitions. so he was killed in this strike. oddly enough in the white house statement they concluded he was there, and of course the same operation that unfortunately killed the american weinstein and the italian lo porto. but those details there, it was a drone strike. there were no ground forces involved. and the significance of the american ahmed farouq. i imagine many have heard about gadahn he was an americana convert, he and in so many videos. they might not have heard about farouq but he was a significant figure in al qaeda and the al qaeda branch. >> do we know if this is the same counter-terrorism operation, same mission at all, or is that still unclear? >> it is clear based on the white house statement. so you have one counter-terror operation, one drone strike that killed ahmed farouq deputy emir operational leader of al qaeda in the indian subcontinent. it was that operation that killed the american warren weinstein and the italian giovanni lo porto. it was a separate strike that killed adam gadahn. same area afghanistan/pakistan border region both in january, but a separate strike. >> let's bring in cnn military analyst james spider mark joining us by the phone. one of the things interesting senior administration official told our state department correspondent that the operations targeting al qaeda, the operation was targeting al qaeda combatants and u.s. intelligence had, quote, near certainty there were no hostages at the target site of course. of course, this is a target site that did have hostages. i think this once again shows that intelligence is flawed. and as much as we would like to believe that intelligence is concrete and airtight there really are no defs when it comes to this type of-- no definites when it comes to this type of intelligence gathering. >> it is not a scientific endeavor it is one of gaps. multiple intel is needed to close the gaps. in this case we had no presence on the ground. we had no human intelligence to confirm or deny or provide clarity before the decision is made to execute the drone strike. so that clearly -- this clearly is a demonstration of the nature of intelligence the fact it requires persistence in order to close the gaps as a matter of routine. if i can, jake the president's comments were absolutely spot on but i think what i would say is they are necessary and they were certainly sympathetic as they should be but i think the message that needs to be said additionally is that america will always try. we don't leave folks behind. so we will try to recover folks. the message should be to our enemies we don't want you guys for a second to rest. i think that's a very strong very powerful message that has to be equally delivered at a time like this. >> although it does seem general, this was not a mission to rescue the hostages. it was, based on the information we have and it's still coming in in drips and drabs but seems like this was an operation to target al qaeda not to rescue warren weinstein and the italian national who were killed in the operation. >> absolutely jake. but the inevitability of al qaeda not keeping its head down is that they will continue to conduct operations and they will take hostages as a matter of routine. it has to be clear that america is going to continue to maintain pressure. we have to continue to conduct operations do a very precise risk assessment and move swiftly as we can. >> it is a sad day. president obama expressing profound regret for what happened to the two innocent hostages killed by we believe, an american drone, we believe in the border region between afghanistan and pakistan in january of this year. he also offered on behalf of the american people his deepest apologies. let's bring in cnn foreign affairs correspondent alicealice, a sad day, was the president planning on revealing this information or was it forced based on the information you have on the by the fact "wall street journal" was going to report it and, in fact did report it. >> once the genie comes out of the bottle there's no way to keep it quiet. the press briefings, you've been at the white house briefings for years, once we hear about something like this it's our responsibility to keep asking. this is the problem with american hostages. the u.s. has very little information about where they are. sometimes they do have information about where these hostages are. they are keeping quiet and looking for an opportunity you've seen over the years, missions that have been undertaken under secret cover to try and rescue some of these people. my information they had near certainty, which obviously is not very good intelligence that there were no hostages there. i think it's unlikely the u.s. would undertake a drone strike knowing hostages certainly an american hostage, was on the ground. i've been following the case of warren weinstein for many years. there have been times when the united states thought they knew where he was. there were other times where it's gone completely under cover. warren weinstein has been sort of in a black hole for many years. obviously the united states says the safety of its citizens and trying to recover them is the highest priority. but warren weinstein's family over the years has felt a little bit that he was forgotten. it doesn't seem the u.s. has known for several years where warren weinstein is. they have tried very hard. when the president says we never forts about american hostages he means it. >> president obama offering personal regret personal apologies on behalf of the american people to the families of warren weinstein as well as the italian national killed by an american drone strike in the border region between afghanistan and pakistan in january of this year. the italian national's naims name was giovanni lo porto. as we all know president obama does not definitely authorize each individual drone strike. he and his administration have increased drone strikes on that region significantly since the bush administration. do we believe president obama actually knew about this drone strike in january? >> it's unclear at this point, jake. what we do know as you point out, president obama did not specifically authorize these two drone strikes that killed the americans we just learned about today. according to a u.s. government official these drone strikes were conducted within the policy guidance in regards to drone strikes. now, there are still operational details, we're told that have not been declassified. in regards to these two american al qaeda members, we are learning from government officials that they weren't targeted. that their killing were unintentional. so they were highly sought-after members of al qaeda. a source i spoke with that said they were essentially collateral damage similar to kahn an american killed in the same drone strike as anwar al awlaki first american targeted in a drone strike back in 2011. as we know jake the justice department issued a legal memo basically authorizing that drone strike but it still caused a lot of controversy and a lot of political debate whether an american can be killed in a drone strike without due process. >> all right. we're going to take a very quick break. when we come back we're going to have more coverage about this shocking news announced by president obama just moments ago about a counter-terrorism operation that went wrong, counter-terrorism that killed two innocent hostages one of them an american. we'll be right back. >> as president and as commander in chief, i take full responsibility for all our counter-terrorism operations including the one that inadvertently took the lives of warren and giovanni. i profoundly regret what happened. on behalf of the united states government i offer our deepest apologies to the families. ♪ building aircraft, the likes of which the world has never 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counter-terrorism operation that went wrong in january. two american -- one american hostage and another innocent hostage were killed in the operation. warren weinstein, contractor who worked with u.s. aid held hostage by al qaeda since 2011 was killed in this strike. president obama expressing his profound regret and his deepest apologies. in addition an italian national was killed in the strike. we're also told that two americans who joined al qaeda were killed one in that strike one in a separate strike. let's go to our white house correspondent michelle kosinski to bring us up to speed. michelle president obama talking about how he wanted to bring this information to the american people. it also seems fair to say his hand forced "the wall street journal" reporting this information as well. >> in fact we just got something from the white house now. the questions are there. obviously why now. these two operations happened back in january. no word of that until now, until we know some of this was coming out in the press. asking the white house about this timing. they are saying we understand there will be a fountain of questions relating to all of this. you'll have the president's remarks. there's going to be some questions answered at today's press briefing. so at this moment they are not giving any more insight into the timing there. but it is interesting. we know that the reporting was out there. it makes sense this is how it came about. an extremely difficult thing for the white house to do to put out this lengthy statement, for the president to get out there and give large scale apology talking about grief and condolences, saying he could never do or say enough to ease the heart aches of the families. focusing first on the emotional side of this on the families left there so long without information. saying he can't begin to imagine the anguish, expressing profound regret and deepest apologies. after that though he did explain the operation saying this was fully consistent with counter-terrorism guidelines explaining some of what led up to this operation, at least the one involving the two hostages. there were hundreds of hours of surveillance done explaining operatives thought this was an al qaeda compound only there were no hostages present. in fact in a statement put out by the white house, they said they had no reason to believe there were hostages there. he said that the hostages were hidden deep within this compound. hundreds of hours of surveillance. of course questions will be there about standards and different types of operations. it was a failed rescue operation, remember at the end of last year. luke somers the american photojournalist, the south african hostage, that was an attempt to rescue them. it failed. they were killed. also when we look at the case of james foley and steven sotloff. in those rescue situations the questions that come out are why did the u.s. wait so long. whatever the timeframe was, people always question that timing. the response by the administration is always well we wanted to make absolutely sure that they were there. make absolutely certain that this was going to be safe and successful. of course mistakes and accidents anderson unforeseen circumstances do happen. in this case the questions are going to be are the standards the same for an operation that is going to target al qaeda. what are the standards for ascertaining there are no innocents or hostages that are going to be there. repeatedly the white house emphasizes it seeks to limit in every way possible the deaths of civilians, especially the deaths of american hostages. you can see the president try to explain, try to justify some of that in his statement today, jake. >> that's right, michelle. of course we'd be remiss if we didn't note it was hardly the first time innocent people have been killed in american drone strikes in afghanistan, pakistan or yemen. there have been hundreds if not thousands of innocents killed according to human rights groups. we have this new statement i want to read from elaine weinstein, sadly now the widow of kenneth weinstein. let me read some of the remarks. on behalf of myself our two daughters, our son-in-law and two grandchildren we are devastated by this news and the knowledge my husband will never safely return home. we were so hopeful that those in the u.s. and pakistani governments with the power to take action and secure his release would have done everything possible to do so. there are no words to do justice to the disappointment and heartbreak we are going through. we do not yet fully understand all of the facts surrounding warren's death but we do understand the u.s. government will be conducting an independent investigation of the circumstances. we look forward to the results of that investigation. but those who took warren captive over three years ago bear ultimate responsibility. i can assure you he would still be alive and well if they allowed him to return after his time abroad working to help people of pakistan. late last year warren weinstein's wife spoke with alison camerota. let's hear what she said about interaction with the government while trying to get her husband back from the clutches of al qaeda. >> the u.s. government says they are doing whatever they can, looking at every possible way of getting my husband back but we don't really know what that means, because we're not privileged to that information. we just have to believe what they tell us. >> let's bring in nick peyton walsh. he's joining us by phone from tripoli. nick good to talk to you. what action was taken that resulted in the death of warren weinstein and the italian national giovanni lo porto? >> we should point out the first action that put their lives at risk was being taken hostage by al qaeda. specifically we're talking about the drone strikes it appears the u.s. in washington was behind the explosion that hit this al qaeda compound. jake the question that's now going to be asked is exactly how did the cia and those behind the drone striking question come to the conclusion that a strike was necessary. we understand there were no ground troops involved. this was not a capture mission that was possible here according to the president himself. but an interesting point in what he says. while he determines that farouq and adam gadahn both u.s. nationals, farouq and gadahn both nationals from al qaeda were killed in this strike and the subsequent one later, it does say neither was specifically targeted in the strike at the compound where warren weinstein and giovanni lo porto were killed. the question of course will be asked exactly what was it that the cia noticed at this compound that led them to believe a strike was in order. there have been a lot of reviews of this very favorite tool of the obama counter-terrorism policy. much embraced by him when he came in 2009 heavily used around border area of afghanistan and pakistan. i should point out not clear if it happened in afghanistan or pakistan. he certainly allowed grand expansion of much of this program and recently has begun to review it tightening of the rules. one of the key issues i think, which has come under great scrutiny something called signature strikes where behavior, military age males in areas known to be high al qaeda presence often enabled a strike to be used. they have been much that remains confidential. the question will be given he has said neither of these two american al qaeda members or leaders were in fact specifically targeted by this strike what was it that led them to believe this attack was necessary and exactly what did they know in full about who was in that compound jake. >> that's right. good questions. if they didn't know these two high-value targets -- being targeted were going to be in the strike zone who did they think was there. those are questions that undoubtedly we'll be asking the white house and national security officials in the coming hours and days as we cover this tragic tragic counter-terrorism operation that went wrong in which an american hostage warren weinstein and italian national giovanni lo porto were killed as well as these two high value al qaeda targets adam gadahn and ahmed farouq. ahmed farouq not as well-known nick paton walsh. he's somebody said to be the deputy emir of a new al qaeda offshoot al qaeda indian subcontinent adam gadahn nick very well-known to those who follow national security stories. >> let's deal initially with farouq gadahn a well-known al qaeda member prevalent in a lot of propaganda american citizen, million dollar award out for information leading to his capture. a high-profile figure. we can accept if the u.s. was aware they were going after him in a strike that's to some degree explanatory apart from targeting an american citizen. ahmed farouq yes, as you say, al qaeda in the indian subcontinent not a particularly well-known offshoot not behind as far as ascertained operations that made headlines that much. said to be engaged in setting up islamic caliphate in india, bangladesh, that region and subservient. very little known about them. of course there will be a lot of scrutiny about ahmed farouq's level of seniority, what level of transparency there is about why he was chosen to be hidden in that particular compound. two, bear in mind administration quite clear they were not specifically targeting ahmed farouq when they hit the compound where these two aid workers tragically lost their lives. exactly who it was and what pattern of behavior they had seen there to make them think that strike was necessary. there could have been electronic intercepts hundreds of hours of surveillance. they could ascertain there was so much traffic or passage to that particular destination that a strike was mandated. you have to assess quite where that fits into the rules the u.s. government has been increasingly around the drone strikes and also how this may, perhaps, perceive that tool of the obama administration counter-terrorism policy the drone. still very much in use, still very popular within military espionage circles, but something, of course had many unintended deaths blamed on it. a lot of hatred in the afghanistan pakistan border area against the united states. some say complicate their bids to dampen insurgency there. in this specific case i have to also point out barack obama very clearly standing up there and saying as commander in chief he takes full responsibility referring to both men by their first names repeatedly. a very difficult moment for a president like that because one necessitated by what seems to have been a tragic error or perhaps accident and white house when that strike was launched. >> that's our senior international correspondent joining us on the phone from tripoli. let's go back to senior correspondent jim sciutto. jim, having a second during the break to read the second from the widow of warren weinstein, we didn't read the more scathing part of the letter the more critical part of the letter when it comes to those whose help she was seeking. first of all, to be very clear the weinstein family says the cowardly actions of those who took warren cap tiff to the place and time of his death are not in keeping with islam and they will have to face their god for their actions. she is definitively blaming al qaeda. there should be no mistake about that. that said she thanks some -- she thanks her two senators and congressman from maryland as well as specific officials from the fbi. but listen to, this jim. she says unfortunately the assistance we received from other elements of the u.s. government was inconsistent and disappointing over the course of three and a half years. we hope that my husband's death and others who face similar tragedies in recent months will prompt the u.s. government to take its responsibilities seriously and establish a coordinated and consistent approach to supporting hostages and their families. she also goes on to criticizes the pakistani government of course her late husband warren weinstein taken from his home in lahore. she says the pakistani government she's disappointed in the military in pakistan warren return should have been a priority based on contributions to the country but they failed to take actionses earlier in his captivity when opportunity presented itself treating warren's captivity as more of an annoyance than priority. i hope the nature of our future relationship is reflective on how they prioritize situations like these. start with the u.s. component. this is hardly the first time we've heard from the family of someone who has lost a hostage, american hostage held cap tiff by a terror group being critical of the obama administration. >> it's not. we heard it from the foley family after he was killed. keep in mind killed by isis. keep in mind the administration attempted a risky rescue operation for james foley and some of the other hostages held in isis and syria. turns out they got their late. it was the right location but they got there late. following his death the foley family was critical. it's not just that camp. i've been in touch with the three families of the americans held in iran. they will privately and sometimes publicly question why there's not more focus on the cases of their relatives. in the context of iran why is the u.s. in these nuclear negotiations that seem to be proceeding so well and why isn't the freedom of our family members tied to those family members. why isn't it a prerequisite of the negotiation. you hear from a number of quarters from families who their relatives, loved ones are being held whether be by terrorist groups like isis and al qaeda but also by foreign governments. some of that -- when you speak to administration fibl about it they say, listen some of that is natural. they miss their relatives. they may have lost their relatives. some of it is natural. it is across the board enough that it raises hard questions. that said how do you satisfy these relatives. the only way you satisfy them is with freedom. that's difficult to gain. the pakistani government let's deal with that for a moment. the frustration with the pakistani's role with regard to a group like al qaeda, taliban, et cetera is that, you know and you'll hear this even from government officials in private, where do their true loyalties lie, do they turn a blind eye. those questions were raised with the fact bin laden was hiding very close in a pakistani city for a number of years, close to a major military installation. so that criticism of the pakistani government's role in this extend beyond the families. i have some new information, too, jake i wanted to add on this. it goes back to a question you asked me earlier, how do they know the american warren weinstein was killed in this. i'm told there was no body. they did not recover a body. there is no dna evidence of weinstein or the italian hostage giovanni lo porto, this was based on circumstantial evidence a cia assessment. they took all the information they could glean. what could that be? intercepted communications comments on the internet et cetera. they do not have dna test they do not have a body so they had to make a judgment here. that's why from the president's comments as well you hear them saying based on our best assessment. just on that question that's new information. i'm also told that the weinstein family was just told yesterday about this given the equivalent of a classified briefing where a senior white house official and other senior administration officials delivered this very sad news and laid out the case for them why uss intelligence agencies and the white house have made a determination that their loved one and that the italian giovanni lo porto were killed in the strike. so those two headlines there. one, they don't have a body they don't have dna evidence. it's an assessment that intelligence agencies made. two, the family only found out yesterday after being -- being -- their relative for a number year senior white house officials and other administration official. >> jim, thank you very much. we're going to take a very quick break and when we come back more on this tragic story, two american hostages killed in a counter-terrorism strike in january. back after this. >> for decades warren lived the ideals of our country, serving with the peace corps and later with the united states agency for international development. he devoted his life to people across africa and south asia. he was a loving husband, father and grandfather who willingly left the comforts of home to help the people of pakistan. at the time of his abduction, he was a u.s. aid contractor focusing on helping pakistani families escape poverty and give a better life to their children. ♪ ♪ when you're living with diabetes steady is exciting. only glucerna has carbsteady clinically 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[ male announcer ] we know they're out there. you can't always see them. but it's our job to find them. the answers. the solutions. the innovations. all waiting to help us build something better. something more amazing. a safer, cleaner brighter future. at boeing, that's what building something better is all about. ♪ ♪ ortho home defense gives you year long control of all these household bugs - roaches, ants, and spiders. spectracide gives you year long control... of just roaches. their label says so. got more than roaches moving in? get home defense. the label tells the story. ortho bug b gon gives you season-long control of all these types of bugs. spectracide gives you season-long control... of just ants. their label says so. bugged by more than ants? get ortho bug b gon. the label tells the story. welcome back to our coverage of the sad news delivered by president obama this morning that an american counter-terrorism operation in january accidentally or by some sort of faulty intelligence took the life of two innocent hostages including an american named warren weinstein who has been in the clutches of al qaeda being held hostage by al qaeda since august 2011. in addition an italian national named giovanni lo porto who had been held by al qaeda since 2012 were killed. there are also two americans killed in that strike and subsequent strike. americans who were members of al qaeda, one of them ahmed farouq who was an al qaeda leader the subemir, vice emir in the indian subcontinent. the other well-known to people who follow national security stories because of his propaganda value adam gadahn an american who was very active and vocal when it came to al qaeda propaganda propaganda. a very sad statement from president obama expressing regret apologies to the families of weinsteins. and giovanni lo porto. the drone strike that took their lives was done in accordance with the rules and regulations the obama administration had set. let's go to white house correspondent. we're going to take a break now. thank you for joining me for special coverage. i'm jake tamper. at this hour starts right after this break. if you take multiple medications, a dry mouth can be a common side effect. that's why there's biotene. it comes in oral rinse spray or gel so there's moisturizing relief for everyone. biotene, for people who suffer from a dry mouth. [ male announcer ] we know they're out there. you can't always see them. but it's our job to find them. the answers. the solutions. the innovations. all waiting to help us build something better. something more amazing. a safer, cleaner brighter future. at boeing, that's what building something better is all about. ♪ ♪ thank you for being a sailor, and my daddy. thank you mom, for protecting my future. thank you for being my hero and my dad. military families are thankful for many things. the legacy of usaa auto insurance could be one of them. our world-class service earned usaa the top spot in a study of the most recommended large companies in america. if you're current or former military or their family, see if you're eligible to get an auto insurance quote. hello, i'm john berman. >> i'm kate bolduan, president obama a short time ago offering a dramatic announcement the white house is calling a terrible tragedy. a u.s. drone strike on an al qaeda compound in january killed two innocent hostages. one of them an american dr. warren weinstein who had been held for nearly four years. the other an italian humanitarian worker named giovanni lo porto. >> the government has sfent years trying to find these men. weinstein was a
there were no ground forces involved. and the significance of the american ahmed farouq. i imagine many have heard about gadahn he was an americana convert, he and in so many videos. they might not have heard about farouq but he was a significant figure in al qaeda and the al qaeda branch. >> do we know if this is the same counter-terrorism operation, same mission at all, or is that still unclear? >> it is clear based on the white house statement. so you have one counter-terror operation, one drone strike that killed ahmed farouq deputy emir operational leader of al qaeda in the indian subcontinent. it was that operation that killed the american warren weinstein and the italian giovanni lo porto. it was a separate strike that killed adam gadahn. same area afghanistan/pakistan border region both in january, but a separate strike.
tragic tragic counter-terrorism operation that went wrong in which an american hostage warren weinstein and italian national giovanni lo porto were killed as well as these two high value al qaeda targets adam gadahn and ahmed farouq. ahmed farouq not as well-known nick paton walsh. he's somebody said to be the deputy emir of a new al qaeda offshoot al qaeda indian subcontinent adam gadahn nick very well-known to those who follow national security stories. >> let's deal initially with farouq gadahn a well-known al qaeda member prevalent in a lot of propaganda american citizen, million dollar award out for information leading to his capture. a high-profile figure. we can accept if the u.s. was aware they were going after him
ground troops involved. this was not a capture mission that was possible here according to the president himself. but an interesting point in what he says. while he determines that farouq and adam gadahn both u.s. nationals, farouq and gadahn both nationals from al qaeda were killed in this strike and the subsequent one later, it does say neither was specifically targeted in the strike at the compound where warren weinstein and giovanni lo porto were killed. the question of course will be asked exactly what was it that the cia noticed at this compound that led them to believe a strike was in order. there have been a lot of reviews of this very favorite tool of the obama counter-terrorism policy. much embraced by him when he came in 2009 heavily used around border area of afghanistan and pakistan. i should point out not clear if it happened in afghanistan or pakistan. he certainly allowed grand expansion of much of this program and recently has begun to review it tightening of the