geovany's service reflected the commitment of the italian people. and today is a reminder of the bonds of friendship between our countries, and the shared values that bind italians and americans together. there could be no starker contrast between these two selfless men and their al-qaeda captors. warrens 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 has warren's health deteriorated. amid grief that is unimaginable i pray that these two families will find some small measure of solis by remembering the legacy of these men. their families are in our thoughts and prayers today, especially warren's wife elaine their daughters alicia and jennifer, and their families and the shining example of these two men will shine as a light to people the world over who see suffering and answer with compassion who see hatred and offer their love who see war and work for peace. may god bless these two brave men, and may he watch over and comfort their fami

warren weinstein, an american was held by al-qaeda since 2011, and geovany laporto, held since 2012. mike viqueira is live from washington. we just heard from president obama -- not a news conference my error, he took no questions -- what else do we know? >> reporter: it came as a complete surprise. the president appearing in the briefing room taking full responsibility a somber even rueful president obama, taking responsibility for those two hostages. here is a little bit more. >> as president, and as commander in chief, i take full responsibility for all of our counter terrorism operations including the one that inadvertently took the lives of warren and geovany. on behalf of the united states government i offer our deepest apologies to the families. >> reporter: the president says that the operation was fully consistent with the guidelines under which these operations run. of course it happened on the border between afghanistan and pakistan. dr. weinstein taken from his home in pakistan some three years ago. >> mike this happened in january, why do you think it took so long for th

this past january. >> warren a doctor and geovany an italian aid worker were held there. >> it's a true but bitter truth in the war generally and the fight against terrorists specifically mistakes sometimes deadly mistakes can occur. >> he did not mention by name two american al qaeda members killed in the operation. >> we believe that the operation did take out dangerous members of al qaeda. >> he was killed in the strike in january and ahmed farouk were killed in the strike that killed warren. he was a former peace corps and u.s. aide official working for a company that dealt why u.s. aid issues. >> my life is in your hands mr. president. >> president obama also said he profoundly regrets what happened and the u.s. will work to and sure that something like this never happens again but there are still a lot of unanswered questions. reporting from washington, karen travers channel 6 "action news." >> thank you. >>> back here detectives in radnor township were looking for the brazen burglar that was targeting the homeowner she opened the front door and saw the suspect with one of her sui

our counter terrorism operations including the one that inadvertently took the lives of warren and geovani. i regret what happened. on behalf of the u.s. government i offer our deepest apologies to the families. >> good morning. in a stunning announcement president obama acknowledged an american aid worker was killed in a u.s. air strike in january along with a fellow hostage, italian aid worker. warren was 72 years old, from rockville, maryland outside washington washington d.c. he had been held since 2011. president obama said he declass tide the information because the families deserve to know the truth. >> today we join their families and friends in honoring warren and geovani, two humanitarians who came from different countryings united by a spirit of service. there could be no starker contrast between these selfless men and their al qaeda captors. >> i'm joined by nbc chief pentagon correspondent and chief foreign correspondent richard engle. when did the u.s. learn it made this tragic mistake? >> according to senior officials, there were two separate drone air strikes conducted by t

he was killed along with geovany. in announcing the deaths yesterday, president obama said hundreds of hours of surveillance indicated no civilians were present at the compound. house minority leader nancy pelosi also wants an investigation into the incident. >> it is beyond collateral damage. it is something that should have never happened. >> the family of dr. weinstein echoed the call for an investigation but put the blame for his death on al qaeda. those who took warren captive over three years ago bare ultimate responsibility. >>> support for gay marriage is at a record high according to a new poll from the washington post. the poll found 61% of americans support same sex marriage. the same numbers 61% also pose individual states prohibiting gay people from getting married. next tuesday the u.s. supreme court is scheduled to hear arguments on what could be the decisive case on same sex marriage in the country. the justices are being asked to rule on whether the constitution allows states to ban gay marriage. >>>

all our counterterrorism operations including the one that inadvertently took the life of warren and geovany. i profoundly regret what happened. on behalf of the united states government, i offer our deepest apologies to the families. >> noting he moved to declassify the information and go publicly offered praise for american transparency. >> it is a cruel and bitter truth that in the fog of war, generally, and our fight against terrorists 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 willing to confront squarely our imperfections and to learn from our mistakes. >> a statement following the white house announcement the weinstein family said they were devastated but those who took warren captive over three years ago were ultimate responsibility. without providing specific details, the family of the two hostages would be compensated for their deaths. joining me now, senior policy at the center of american progress, brian katlus. and senior affairs for politic

strike in which those two hostages, the american warren weinstein a well as the italian aide worker, geovany lo porto were killed in the strike. >> thanks. let's continue with general wes 0ley, which. the awe for of a book, don't wait for the next war also a senior fellow at the -- at ucla. thank you. >> thank you shep. >> do we have enough on the ground intelligence or from the air intelligence, on the sites we're bombing with drones, to be able to do so regularly without this sort of thing happening or are we overstepping what we can get done? >> i think we have expectations that are probably too high for what intelligence -- what is possible to be done. first of all we don't -- i wouldn't think have a lot of people on the ground. the average american cannot go into this area, learn a language and suddenly be accepted as a tribesman and be welcomed in and then report to us. so there's no way of getting real on the ground, human intelligence sources directly. we get some from our allies in the area, and we have overhead, we take imagery we pick up transmissions electronically and do other t

our counter terrorism operations including the one that inadvertently took the lives of warren and geovani. i regret what happened. on behalf of the u.s. government i offer our deepest apologies to the families. >> good morning. in a stunning announcement president obama acknowledged an american aid worker was killed in a u.s. air strike in january along with a fellow hostage,

all our counterterrorism operations including the one that inadvertently took the life of warren and geovany. i profoundly regret what happened. on behalf of the united states government, i offer our deepest apologies to the families. >> noting he moved to declassify the information and go publicly offered praise for american

we also worked closely with our italian allies on behalf of beyovanny kidnapped in -- geovany kidnapped in 2012. since 9/11, we've prevented terror attacks and saved lives both here in america and around the world. 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've obtained, we believe that a u.s. counterterrorism 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 the prime minister of italy. as a husband and a father, i cannot begin to imagine the anguish that the families are enduring today. i realize that there are no words that can ever equal their loss. i know that there's nothing that i can ever say or do to ease their heartache and today i simply want to say this -- as president and as commander in chief, i take full responsibility for all of our counterterrorism operations, including the one that anniversarily took the lives of -- that

all our counterterrorism operations including the one that inadvertently took the lives of warren and geovani. just hours later, the press secretary walked it back. >> the president did not specifically sign-off on these two separations. there are policies and protocols in place for our counterterrorism professionals to make decisions. >> not to be too literal. did he take responsibility or didn't he? here to aelucidate is is jonah goldberg? did he take responsibility or no? >> it's funny, earlier i was listening to how you president obama's white house correspondent speeches are self-deprecating. it's something like that this with this. he says i take full responsibility but i had nothing to do with it. right? that is basically the upshot of it and it's very strange and at first when the pentagon came out and said the president didn't sign-off on this. i really thought it was the pentagon trying to shift the blame on the c.i.a., but then everybody -- josh earnest comes out and does it too i think there's something of a pattern here. whenever there's bad news in government president obama sai