Bill Clinton says, whilst President, he ordered the assassination of Osama bin Laden

(23 Sep 2001) 1. Clinton approaching podium at press conference with New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani 2. Cutaway to reporters 3. Medium shot of Clinton at podium 4. Reverse angle of Clinton at podium 5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Bill Clinton, Former U.S. President "We did everything we could do - as you probably know, it's been in the paper now, so I can talk about it. I authorised the arrest, and, if necessary, the killing of Osama Bin Laden, and we actually made contact with a group in Afghanistan to do it - and they were unsuccessful. So, we did everything we could, and everything I thought was appropriate. We also trained commandos for a possible ground action, but we did not have the necessary intelligence to do it in the way we would have had to do it. Now, we have support from people who would not have supported us then, and they give us many more tactical options than were available then. (Reporter: You're talking about Pakistan?) Yeah. 6. Wide shot of rubble at ground zero in New York 7. Medium shot of searchers on rubble with orange body bags visible at bottom of screen 8. Medium shot of two firemen hugging each other 9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Bill Clinton, Former U.S. President "There are a lot of operational issues about putting ground troops in there, that I think will be still not easy. The president still has got some tough tactical calls to make, but I think they're clearly handling this in a very careful and deliberate and strong way." 10. Wide shot of rubble at ground zero with workers in basket of in crane 11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Bill Clinton, Former U.S. President "Will there never ever be another automobile accident or plane crash? I mean, you can't answer it in that way - but, can this big international movement be defeated? Absolutely it can. If the world will stay together, we can." 12. Wide shot of sign which reads "We Will Never Forget" on building at ground zero STORYLINE: Former U-S President Bill Clinton said on Saturday his administration's failed attempt to capture or kill Saudi exile Osama bin Laden relied on an Afghanistan-based group because the United States lacked the intelligence needed to use its own commandos. In recent days, Clinton has acknowledged authorising bin Laden's assassination. However, he believes a new attempt would have a better chance of success now because it would have more international support. Clinton said Bin Laden's network could be stopped if the world works together. The former president also gave the Bush administration high marks for its handling of the crisis. Clinton made the comments during his first visit to the city's emergency command center, where he appeared with New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/e1ed248c56034ba3ec77fa66aaa5ee99