As deputy director of the FBI under Louis Freeh from 1997 to 1999, he initiated a strategic plan in 1998 to overhaul the FBI so it could better address counterintelligence and counterterrorism. He talks about his working relationship with John O'Neill, O'Neill's contributions to the counterterrorism effort, and O'Neill's career problems within the FBI. This interview was conducted on July 2, 2002.

President Clinton's national coordinator for counterterrorism, he is currently President Bush's special adviser for cyberspace security. In this interview he talks about the attributes which made John O'Neill stand apart in the world of counterterrorism, sketches Al Qaeda's threat and how it came into focus for U.S. intelligence, and discusses some of John O'Neill's battles, including the USS Cole investigation. This interview was conducted March 20, 2002.

He was an FBI agent in the New York office for 22 years and worked under John O'Neill in the counterterrorism division. In this interview he describes the problems O'Neill encountered in Yemen while investigating the bombing of the USS Cole. This interview was conducted on June 28, 2002.

A close friend of John O'Neill, Isham is a senior producer at ABC News, and head of its investigative unit. He set up a 1998 interview for ABC's John Miller with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. In this interview he recounts O'Neill's pleas to see the footage of the entire bin Laden interview. He calls O'Neill "one of those rare birds inside the government who had access to highly classified information, and yet also understood that talking to a journalist was not necessarily a violation of any rules. It could actually be helpful on both sides." This interview was conducted on May 31, 2002.

Since 1991, Valerie James was John O'Neill's friend and companion. In this interview she describes daily life with O'Neill. "He is working on this incredible stuff day after day that he can basically talk to none of us about," she tells FRONTLINE. "He can't even tell other of his peers about what he's working on; it's that intense. Does a man like that come home to roast chicken and mashed potatoes every night?" This interview was conducted on July 11, 2002.

He headed the FBI's New York office from 2000 to 2002. Mawn sums up the O'Neill he knew and discusses the battles they both encountered in the USS Cole and East Africa embassy bombing investigations. He also discusses the controversy over his statements at O'Neill's memorial service. This interview was conducted on May 17, 2002.

She served as deputy to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno from 1995 to 1998 and headed the Justice Department's office of intelligence policy and review from 1998 to 2002. In this interview she describes the FBI infighting over the 1998 embassy bombings investigation and the conflict between O'Neill and the U.S. ambassador to Yemen during the probe of the USS Cole attack. Townsend also recounts how high the fear was of a potential terrorist attack at the millennium after the arrest of Ahmed Ressam at the Canadian border. This interview was conducted on May 30, 2002.

As the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1993-2002, White prosecuted the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the 1993 "day of terror" plot against New York landmarks, and the 1998 embassy bombings in East Africa. In this interview she describes working on the capture of 1993 World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef and investigating the embassy and USS Cole bombings with John O'Neill. This interview was conducted on May 2, 2002.