The Looming Tower (2018) s01e07 Episode Script

1 You've been flagged for recent expense patterns.
I'm having dinner and drinks with important people.
You need to start living within your means.
There is a chain of command in which decisions are made.
Your boss has yet to learn this lesson.
Can you tell us what happened a few months ago with your Palm Pilot? "Qimma" means mountaintop.
- But it also means summit.
- A summit meeting.
- In Malaysia.
- WOMAN: I'll get the Malaysian Special Branch on this immediately.
We're gonna need eyes and ears in Kuala Lumpur.
You've built an operation based outside this country.
That's where all roads lead: Southeast Asia.
What exactly do you want from me? I definitely want us to be more than buddies.
HEATHER: Okay, then.
Walla? [SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
[SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
[SOMBER MUSIC.]
[TENSE MUSIC.]
[HORN BLARING.]
[OVERLAPPING CHATTER.]
[TENSE MUSIC CONTINUES.]
Shit.
[SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
Al-Qaeda? Please do not rush to conclusions.
What is the death toll? Ten so far.
The search continues.
Please order a patrol boat for me.
Not safe.
I can't allow it.
Later today.
Once we secure the harbor.
I hope she doesn't sink.
I'm sure every measure has been taken to save her.
You understand our own FBI agents will have to investigate.
Foreign law enforcement in Yemen is forbidden.
And nonnegotiable.
There are dead Americans.
If al-Qaeda did this, it is an act of war.
The enemy of peace is the enemy of all Islam, Ambassador Bodine.
You have my word the FBI will collaborate with the Yemen government and make as small a footprint as possible.
[PLANE ENGINES ROARING.]
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION.]
Don't tell me how it ends.
- I didn't know you were - Yeah.
On and off since I was a kid.
More on lately.
Just can't escape it.
Can't run if it's inside you.
You sure as shit can't outrun a Jesuit.
But it helps.
Sometimes.
I grew up in Beirut, boss.
God was the fuel and the flame.
Why now for you? Lot of pressure.
I I need this one.
I-I need it to go well.
[HYDRAULICS WHIRRING.]
[TENSE MUSIC.]
[SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
[TENSE PERCUSSIVE MUSIC.]
What the I told them you're a general.
[UNSETTLING MUSIC.]
Welcome to Yemen, General O'Neill.
[BACKGROUND CHATTER.]
What's going on? We've been ordered to relinquish our long guns, boss.
Sa'adit al Jiniral.
Is forbidden for the long guns.
Who the fuck's in charge here? I am.
Are you my point person on the ground? Actually, no.
I'm Ambassador Barbara Bodine of the United States Foreign Service.
I am a guest of the Yemenis, and you are my guest.
Here's how this will go.
Your men will not leave the hotel walls without one of their men who speaks Arabic and understands the culture and laws.
Keep your handguns holstered unless absolutely necessary for your safety.
Who are you? - John O'Neill, FBI.
- Well, Agent O'Neill, please hand over your long guns as requested.
[SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
[EDGY MUSIC.]
Around 11:18 local time, 08:18 Universal Coordinated Time, a small boat containing an estimated 400 to 700 pounds of explosives approached the port side of the destroyer and exploded.
17 dead sailors have been identified.
Kenneth Eugene Clodfelter, 21, Hull Maintenance Technician.
Richard Costelow, 35, Chief Petty Officer.
Lakeina Monique Francis, 19, Mess Management Specialist.
Timothy Lee Gauna, 21.
Information Systems Technician.
Patrick Howard Roy LIPPOLD: You're the case agent? When were you at Quantico, Soufan? '97, sir.
A lot of sailors died on this ship.
He's young, but he's good.
Goddamn skiff the size of my bass boat back home.
I don't envy your job.
MAN: Commander, 23MC on the bitchbox.
'Scuse me.
What's the population here? Million, million two.
Like picking fly shit out of pepper.
That's if they're still here.
They're still here.
Looking at us right now.
[ENGINE WHINES.]
Sa'adit al Jiniral O'Neill? Yes, he is General O'Neill.
Special Agent Ali Soufan.
I am General Ghaleb Al-Qamish.
I would like to escort you to headquarters.
We're fine, General.
We got some leads we want to pursue.
Please, General.
It won't be safe for you and your colleague if you're just walking about.
Please.
[ENGINE ROARING.]
You are married, Sa'adit al Jiniral? Yeah.
You? Yes, of course.
And you, young Mr.
Ali? No.
You must marry.
It is Allah's will.
[YEMENI MUSIC ON RADIO.]
Captain Amin of our Aden Police.
He's our top guy.
I leave you now with good hands.
[SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
Our SAC, John O'Neill.
[SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
[ENGINE TURNS OVER.]
Soufan, that's a Yemeni name.
Lubnan.
[CONTINUES INDISTINCTLY.]
[SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
[SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
He asks you want sugar? Why you speak Arabic but live in America, the beautiful? The FBI gave you job because you know about secrets of our people? Maybe you have a blonde American wife like Christina Aguilera? Why not married? So you won't speak Arabic to me? No.
I don't trust you.
Tell me about the boat trailer.
Trailer? Trailers are usually by lakes, or where water freezes.
Not warm harbors.
I don't know the trailer.
In the back, behind the fence.
Mm.
I'll ask.
Can you ask now? The man is not here today.
When will the man be here? We make good advance on the investigation for you.
You see? All are held on suspicion.
Suspicion of what? Suspicion, [SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
.
Suspicion.
We'd like to speak to them.
Who? All of them.
You must have a reason.
Dead American sailors is a reason.
I'll tell you.
The men you want to speak, they are dead.
Dead when the boat they drive hit your boat.
We'd still like to speak to all these men.
Sa'adit al Jiniral, please.
We have our policy.
We hold these men for a reason.
You must bring me legal basis, or a good reason to interview.
Then we decide, kaza, kaza, kaza, who you talk.
[KNOCKING ON DOOR.]
[SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
I wish I had one of those.
You have several of us, boss.
Where's your wife? With her mother, who is ill.
Mm.
I like you, General.
And I will forgive you did not understand never to ask about a man's wife.
Sorry.
You asked if I was married.
Mm-hmm.
I was enquiring about the character of a man.
You were seeking the location of a woman, you see? Ah that's a subtle difference.
I take no offence.
It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to sit with a friend from beyond the borders of my little country.
Perhaps together, we can make decisions that will change the world for the better.
All before midnight.
[LAUGHS.]
Hey.
Never finished this in college.
I read them all.
Many twice.
- Oh.
- You're a better man than I.
In the Arab world today, it is difficult to find books written in English.
All we have available is Holy Qur'an, or Hadith, you see? The mind is closing.
That makes me very sad.
You play chess? No.
Not really.
Because I think you are playing chess with me now.
The compliments, the late night visits.
We do have a favor to ask.
Please.
The police have a boat trailer frozen out back.
We need the name and address on the registration.
Amin won't supply it.
Yes, of course.
Bring the official license plate number to my office.
Actually can you do it now? [PAPER RUSTLES.]
You are pushy, Mr.
Soufan.
I am sad to see you did not retain the polite manner of our Arab people.
[SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
[DISTANT GUNFIRE.]
[TENSE MUSIC.]
[DOGS BARKING DISTANTLY.]
[BACKGROUND CHATTER, CHANTING.]
[DISTANT GUNFIRE.]
[TENSE MUSIC.]
Clear.
[AMBIENT BACKGROUND NOISE.]
See? Looking right at us.
[SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
[LAUGHS.]
[REWINDING.]
[SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
[SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
[LAUGHING.]
[SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
Hi, how's it going? Well, the Yemenis provided a dredger, so we're searching beneath the Cole, and Forensics ships what we find to Dubai for analysis.
It's a mess.
You? Ever hear the name Jamal al-Badawi? The boat was registered to him.
[DISTANT GUNSHOTS.]
[GUNFIRE CONTINUES.]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
[GUNFIRE CONTINUES.]
[GUNSHOTS.]
[GUNSHOTS.]
[CHILDREN SHOUTING.]
[DARK MUSIC.]
[SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
[SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
I've worked hard in the state of Texas to make sure our institutions are reflect the state, with good, smart policy.
Policy that rejects quotas.
I don't like quotas.
Quotas tend to pit one group of people against another.
Anything? BUSH: That's not the way America's all about.
Kids.
Can you believe this crap? Nobody mentioned terrorism.
I mean, do these candidates even know we're here? Or why? BUSH: Both Republicans and Democrats to pass a law that said if you come in the top 10% of your high school class, you're automatically admitted to one of our Ali? ALI: I'm still here.
HEATHER: Are you? Yeah.
What's going on? I saw these boys tonight.
They were Like my friends back in Beirut when I was a kid when [DISTANT GUNSHOTS.]
HEATHER: What was that? It's nothing.
Nothing.
The kids that I work with, you know, the ones that want to heal, they find a way to tell their story.
Saying it out loud helps.
So you sit with them? HEATHER: Yeah.
Yeah.
It's nice to be with someone, isn't it? It can be.
[DISTANT GUNFIRE.]
HEATHER: I know that's gunfire.
[GUNSHOTS CONTINUE.]
ALI: It is.
It's non-stop here.
Please be careful.
I will.
[ENGINE REVVING.]
[MEN SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
[CHILDREN SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
He says his boat was stolen.
The boat and trailer are registered to him in a house at Al-Safarat District.
The men who bombed the Cole were living in that house.
[SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
I told him about you.
That you are a human lie detector.
Hmm.
[SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
["ADHAN" SOUNDS.]
["ADHAN" CONTINUES.]
Finish now.
No work at prayer time.
No work.
I had him.
Fuck! Amin shriveled up when he heard Quso and the long-named guy.
Walid Mohammed Saleh bin Roshayed bin Attash.
I assume that's Quso.
No.
See, I didn't get that.
Badawi's going up the chain of command.
Quso is next.
Then long name guy.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
Quso owns the house? I don't think we know who owns it.
I don't think he knows.
They keep the cells small.
Five or six at the most.
He's saying that if you want to know about the house, talk to Quso, or long name guy.
[DOOR OPENS.]
Not possible, Sa'adit al Jiniral.
Oh, what's wrong with him? Quso is on your list.
Again, I tell you we have a system.
Material witness offers the name Quso.
In our system, that would justify bringing him in, or at least a knock and talk visit.
Mr.
Ali tricked Badawi with the lie detector.
It's a joke, right? If he says Britney Spear, I can't bring you Britney Spear here to talk for you.
Britney Spear is not on your list, man.
The men you want are all dead.
I'm gonna go above your pay grade.
Sa'adit al Jiniral, you give me reason, I give you Quso.
Hey.
What are you afraid of, Amin? Hm? Not you, America Mr.
Ali.
[ENGINES HUMMING.]
Hotel bar remnants from a better day.
Oh, you shouldn't have.
I wanted to.
What is it? We can't make progress this way.
Did you recently make the great sociological discovery that far away foreign cultures don't operate the same way mob thugs in Flushing do? 17 dead American sailors and their families - want justice served.
- Every one of those families would rather live in a peaceful world.
I need you to clear a path for us.
Yeah, I don't like your hostility.
Sit.
We need Yemen! It borders Saudi Arabia, our most vital ally in the Arab world.
Every move you have made since you've arrived has offended every man, woman, and organization you've come in contact with.
You make enemies, not progress here in my country.
You're confused.
Isn't your country the United States? We're citizens of a country that offers so much, the rest of the world either wants to be us or kill us.
And my goal is to make sure Yemen is the former.
17 dead Americans! Their blood's gonna be on your hands.
After my initial tour of the Cole, my clothes were covered in blood.
I could've gone to change before my meeting with President Abdullah Saleh, but I wanted him to see it.
Don't talk to me about Make the fucking phone call, Bodine.
Diplomacy will recover.
Those sailors are gone forever.
[SOFT, DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
Please.
[DOOR OPENS.]
Is this man in custody or what? You want to talk, so talk.
If he's al-Qaeda, just arrest him.
He said he filmed the Cole.
[CLICK.]
[SOFT WHIRRING.]
[MAN SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
[BOTH CONTINUE SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
[LAUGHING.]
[SPEAKING IN ARABIC.]
[CAMERA WHIRS, STOPS.]
Usama's very disappointed in you.
He says he overslept.
[LAUGHS.]
Are these men al-Qaeda? Say what you want from this man Shh! $36,000 USA cash.
He says the cash was for a new leg.
A new leg? A peg leg? Ask him if it's for a guy named Khallad.
[LIQUID SPLASHING.]
I don't get it.
The money's moving away from an operation.
Maybe it moves towards one.
ALI: I need anything about Malaysia.
Kuala Lumpur, a meeting.
Any of our suspects.
Fahd al-Quso, Khallad or Walid, Mohammed, Saleh bin Roshayed bin Attash.
I don't have anything.
I'll check.
[TENSE MUSIC.]
[PHONE CHIMES.]
[DICE RATTLING, CLATTERING.]
We have another request.
Play and talk first.
Then I do a favor for you, friend, a brother.
Tric troc.
I win.
Did you cheat? [LAUGHING.]
I don't need to when I play you.
[LAUGHING.]
You are ruthless.
I'm a man of peace in a military uniform.
[CHUCKLES.]
And you? You're a man of peace? I'm a man of justice.
I'm sorry to say in this case of the Cole the bad guys are all dead.
Al-Qaeda's behind it.
They're still watching us.
Planning more.
My investigators told me there were three men on the skiff.
One, a young boy, maybe 12 years old.
This boy was likely born in a bin Laden camp.
And educated where they teach only from one book: the Holy Qur'an, a book I sincerely doubt any al-Qaeda member has ever read.
In their version of this book, there are two forces in the universe.
Allah, good, and everything else, evil.
What does President Clinton think when he puts this battleship rising up in our harbor, like the devil himself, in a country where there is only Allah and not-Allah? If one squints at the mast, with American flag, from the devil himself.
You made your point.
Killing is not the appropriate response.
I agree.
I'm not trying to convert you.
[ZIPPER SOUND.]
This is the only English language book I have with me.
John mine is not a curious country in these times.
This book is seen as a threat.
But I have always dreamed of reading the Holy Bible.
Thank you.
That book has helped me often.
I fear I have not been thoughtful as you - to bring a gift.
- Oh, it's not necessary.
I'd like for you to have this.
Subhah, Islamic prayer beads.
It belonged to my father.
No, those belong to your family.
They're special.
And the Holy Bible you gave me? Fair enough, from my childhood, but You insult me if you don't accept.
Please.
Shukran.
Afwan.
And now, for the request.
I need to speak to a Khallad.
Is he al-Qaeda? [EDGY MUSIC.]
[PIPE BUBBLING.]
I ask for you but make no promise.
Malaysia was an operational issue.
Intelligence.
Not criminal.
It is foreign soil in the Pacific region.
Not the domain of the FBI.
The $36,000 originated offshore and was delivered offshore.
CIA business.
[EDGY MUSIC.]
["ADHAN" SOUNDS.]
["ADHAN" CONTINUES.]
["ADHAN" CONTINUES.]
["ADHAN" CONTINUES.]
Ambassador Bodine.
Special Agent O'Neill.
I'd like to update you on our progress.
- I'm listening.
- Dredging for evidence beneath the Cole has been completed, shipped for analysis.
The Quso interrogation, which you arranged, led to a name we believe is the mastermind of the attack.
Khallad.
Thank you.
Are we okay? You and I? As we ever were.
What do you have for me, Colonel? We have a heavy lift ship moving South from Europe MAN: Are bending to political pressure by easing standards for considering whether a ballot counts.
The board had been throwing out ballots that did not have two corners poked out of the chad.
- The b - [CLICK.]
Give me the FBI office in New York.
WOMAN: Right away.
[BEEP.]
Ambassador Bodine.
Yes, thank you.
It is a difficult time.
Listen, I'm having a bit of a problem here with one of your guys.
[JET ENGINES ROARING.]
Maybe they need you back home.
Nah, it's a different play.
I'm getting jerked by Sanchez.
- Just wish me luck.
- All right.
General! I found about the man you want.
Khallad.
A better gift than old prayer beads, agree? Thank you.
Shukran, shukran.
I'm not a general anymore.
Salam.
Salam.
Salam, brother John.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]