Basically the CIA asked yemen to release an alqaeda leader from prison. In a secret phone call, CIA director George Tenet asked Yemeni president Saleh to release AlQaeda leader Anwar Al-Awlaki from prison. Saleh suggests handing him over to the FBI instead. Tenet insists Al-Awlaki be released, and the FBI not told about it. What this shows is it wasn't reall necessary for the US to execute the american citizen and his children, unless the CIA was worried about what he might say in trial.