Operation: Tradebom
Everybody remembers the morning of September 11, 2001, when two passenger jets flew into the World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan. But the idea of toppling the towers was not new. Thirty years ago, a group of men set off a bomb in the garage beneath the North Tower, hoping it would tumble into the South Tower. At the time, this was the largest improvised explosive device ever ignited on American soil. It killed six people and injured thousands, leaving behind a 100-foot crater five stories deep.
Chapter One | The World Trade Center
February 26, 1993. Stockbroker Tim Lang parks his car beneath the Twin Towers, and a bomb explodes. Rookie emergency services officer Cory Cuneo carries Lang to safety. Bomb-maker Ramzi Yousef is disappointed the towers did not fall.
Chapter Two | The First Shot
November 5, 1990, three years before the bombing. The radical founder of the Jewish Defense League, Rabbi Meir Kahane, is shot in midtown Manhattan, and we meet his assassin through the eyes of his eight-year-old son. Meanwhile, FBI agent John Anticev and New York City police detective Louis Napoli of the JTTF are assigned the case.
Chapter Three | The Dangle
Agent Anticev and Detective Napoli focus their investigation into the Kahane murder on a group of young men, but no one is talking. So they enlist the help of an undercover operative who penetrates a budding terrorist cell. Then…FBI brass fires the man for not wearing a wire.
Chapter Four | The World Trade Center II
Secret Service agent Jan Gilhooly sees a suspicious Ryder van parked in the garage beneath the World Trade Center. It holds a 2000-pound urea nitrate bomb. Gilhooly and his partners barely escape with their lives. New York governor Mario Cuomo tours the blast site.
Chapter Five | Our Guys
A bomb technician finds a twisted piece of chassis frame in the crater at the blast site. It has a VIN number engraved in it, which directs the FBI to a Ryder rental facility in Jersey City and leads them to the first bombing suspect. Agent Anticev and Detective Napoli hear the name Ramzi Yousef for the first time.
Chapter Six | A Day of Terror
After the explosion in the World Trade Center, Agent Anticev and Detective Napoli’s undercover informant comes back. He discovers a new plot: a Day of Terror for New York City.
Chapter Seven | Bojinka
December 11, 1994. As the JTTF chases Ramzi Yousef around the world, a bomb explodes on a Philippine Airlines flight. Could this be the work of Ramzi Yousef, America’s most wanted terrorist?
Chapter Eight | Hello, Ramzi
In Pakistan, U.S. embassy security agents Jeff Riner and Bill Miller interview scores of locals who claim to have information about the elusive Ramzi Yousef. Finally, one young man comes forward with a solid lead.
Chapter Nine | The Hunt for KSM
January 8, 1998. In a NYC courtroom, we finally hear the voice of Ramzi Yousef. Meanwhile, FBI agent Frank Pellegrino and port authority detective Matthew Besheer of the JTTF discover that Yousef may not have been the mastermind behind all his terrorist plots after all.