logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2022
18m 46s

The Killing of bin Laden’s Successor

The New York Times
About this episode

On Monday, President Biden announced that the United States had killed Ayman al-Zawahri in a drone strike in Afghanistan. 

Al-Zawahri was the leader of Al Qaeda. A long time number two to Osama bin Laden and the intellectual spine of the terrorist group, he assumed power after bin Laden was killed by U.S. in 2011. 

Who was al-Zawahri, and what does his death mean for Afghanistan’s relationship with the United States and for the threat of global terrorism? 

Guest: Eric Schmitt, a senior correspondent covering national security for The New York Times.

Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter

Background reading: 

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Up next
Yesterday
Trump’s Top Aides Spread the Epstein Conspiracy. Now They Are Trying to Kill It.
For months, President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi suggested that they would expose the hidden, potentially sinister truth about Jeffrey Epstein’s death in 2019.But over the past few days, the Trump administrationWhite House decided to shut down has poured cold water on t ... Show More
21m 47s
Jul 8
A Love Letter to Camp Mystic
On Monday evening, the death toll from the flooding in Central Texas rose past 100. A single place accounted for 27 of those deaths: Camp Mystic, a century-old Christian summer camp for girls.Erin Paisan, who attended Camp Mystic, explains what the place meant to generations of g ... Show More
25m 9s
Jul 7
A Dark Moment for Journalism — and Devastation in Texas
Last week, when Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, announced a $16 million settlement with President Trump over editing of a segment of “60 Minutes,” many of the network’s journalists were furious.The deal also raised questions about the independence of CBS’s journalism, ... Show More
34m 15s
Recommended Episodes
May 2021
The killing of Osama Bin Laden
It is 10 years since the al-Qaeda leader was killed. We look at the US special forces operation that finally tracked him down to a city in northern Pakistan, the 1979 siege of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, one of the events that shaped his world view; we talk to a Western-based jour ... Show More
49m 33s
Apr 2021
The killing of Osama Bin Laden
The US tracked down the al-Qaeda leader to a city in northern Pakistan in May 2011. Special operations troops were sent to capture or kill Bin Laden in a top secret raid in the dead of night. The Americans did not tell their Pakistani allies about the raid beforehand. Gabriela Jo ... Show More
9m 1s
Sep 2021
Condoleezza Rice | The Ben Shapiro Show Sunday Special Ep. 117
This week is the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. 20 years ago, 19 Al Qaeda terrorists hijacked 4 airliners, three of which hit their targets: Tower 1 and Tower 2 of the World Trade Center as well as the Pentagon. It resulted in 2,997 deaths and 25,000 injuries - a ... Show More
41m 36s
Aug 2021
Biden is warned “another terror attack in Kabul is likely”
President Biden and Vice President Harris were warned by their national security team that “another terror attack in Kabul is likely” as the mission enters its “most dangerous period to date.” The names of the 13 U.S. servicemen who were killed in the suicide bombing outside the ... Show More
51m 23s
Aug 2022
5:51 PM ET: US kills al Qaeda leader
The United States killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike in Afghanistan. Listen for more details.To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy 
47s
Feb 2022
ISIS Leader Dead After U.S. Raid, Biden Says
President Biden said that ISIS leader Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi blew himself up as U.S. special forces conducted a pre-dawn raid in northern Syria on Thursday. The president said the all Americans returned safely from the operation and every effort was made to limit civilian ... Show More
14m 15s
Aug 2021
At least 13 U.S. service members killed in Kabul airport attack
President Biden vowed to “hunt” down the terrorists who attacked Kabul’s airport that killed at least 13 U.S. service members and more than 60 Afghans. The President said the U.S. will “respond with force and precision” to the deadly attack. Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling tells Anderson ... Show More
55m 39s
Sep 2022
Al-Qaeda’s Next Top Terrorist: The jihadist movement after Zawahiri
A recent US drone strike, in the heart of the Afghan capital of Kabul, killed the head of Al-Qaeda. Ayman al-Zawahiri had led the group since 2011, following the death of Osama bin Laden, and during that time the jihadist terror organisation underwent a number of significant chan ... Show More
25m 2s
Aug 2022
Could the war on terror be over?
Vox senior correspondent Zack Beauchamp and Vox senior foreign writer Jonathan Guyer discuss the killing of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, one of the organizers behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US. His death marks a turning point in the “war on terror” and US for ... Show More
1h 4m