it has been three days since the attacked left 129 dead. we have a lot to get to from paris to the air strike against isil, and back in america several governors say they won't take anymore syrian refugees. >> reporter: in an extraordinary session of french parliament the politicians united to sing the national anthem. then a standing ovation for president hollande who declared war on the islamic state. >> translator: france has s at war. it constitutes an aggression against our country, against its values, against its youth. >> reporter: overnight police executed 168 raids in 19 regions

of france. weapons seized. more than two dozen arrests. police in belgium rounded up people who may have links to the paris attackers. who were they? this 26-year-old is named as an active participant in the attacks and is on the run. another brother blew himself up in the paris blood bath. today at his apartment, a third brother spoke out. >> translator: we could never have imagined that one of my brothers could be linked to this terror attack. we do not know where he is at the moment. >> reporter: and police named this man in syria as the mastermind of the plot. he is also believed to be behind the high-speed paris train attack in august which was thwarted by three americans and another plot against a church in the suburbs. france has moved an acraft

carrier into the gulf and continued heavy bombardment of raqqa, the isil strong hold. president hollande now threatens to strip anyone considered a threat of their french citizenship. today a moment of silence around the world for those two died in the attack. at the north -- notre dame cathedral people stood for almost 10 opinions. it seems that no one was left untouched from that brutal and bloody violence of friday. >> europe is a good thick in so many ways, but it is a nice dream that is being destroyed because one failed to cater to

common sense. things like opening your borders. >> reporter: dana lewis joins me now in paris. dana, give me an idea of what else president hollande is telling the people. >> reporter: he is announced things like 5,000 more police on the streets, tougher laws for anyone caught smuggling arms, and he is going to go for a full three-month state of emergency now, and he sort of announced it like it is [ inaudible ] as they say here, but it is not. i think the one thing he didn't talk about was reform of the intelligence agencies, and i think there will be a lot of discussion in the future about that. we have five guys identified already, they warned about a couple of them. >> thank you very much. u.s. secretary of state john kerry made an unannounced trip

to paris here today. he is there to pay tribute to the victims. he stressed washington's support for a key ally in the war against isil. ultimately we will defeat daesh, and we are on the course to do so. we will continue also to show compassion to those who seek refuge from the violence that the terrorists engender. >> both france and the united states are vowing to increase the fight against isil. jamie mcintyre has more from the pentagon. >> john, france's new more muscular contribution to the air war is certainly welcomed here at the pentagon, herbal as officials quietly concede it is more symbolic than strategic value. french jets launch from bases in

jordan and united arab emirates and drop 20 bombs on the syrian city of raqqa. the targets a training facility, command center, and ammo depot were picked by the france based on intelligence fewly shared by the u.s. speaking to the french parliament, president hollande pledged to continue the attacks, and the aircraft carrier's rival would increase the attacks. after the united states, france has conducted the most coalition strikes since the bombing of iraq and syria began over a year ago, but that is not saying much. as of last week, the coalition conducted just over 2800 strikes in syria, of which more than 2600 were u.s., and just 146 were by other countries, of which only a handful were french. the french bombardment of raqqa

were one of seven attacks by coalition aircraft on sunday, including one along the border with iraq. a similar strike in september, it was a bid to cut into isil's black market oil revenues estimated at $1 million a day. john brennan warned that the paris attacks were in his words not a one-off event. i would anticipate this is not the only operation that isil has in the pipeline, and security intelligence services right now in europe and other places are work feverishly to see what else they can do. . >> reporter: a new isil video features a spokesman saying as we struck france in the center of its abode in paris, we swear we will strike america at its center in washington. the pentagon says u.s. military

bases are already on high alert, but issued a temporary ban on u.s. travel to france. the u.s. and france are now going to share information faster. pentagon officials are ordered an end to some review procedures that delayed the sharing of time-sensitive intelligence. john. >> kurt voelker is a former u.s. ambassador to nato and joins us now from washington. how would you characterize the fight against isil right now? >> well, i think we are beginning to see a new face. what we have had up to this point has been very minimalists, nothing really strategically oriented. i think what you are getting from france now is a new level of resolve, that they are aiming to conduct a war and really defeat isis, and i think that will galvanize others as well. >> there has been a lot of talk

about the new french attacks, but they are pretty limited, aren't they? >> they are at this point. i think we have been able to provide limited intelligence, which has given them an additional range of targets, i think symbolically it was important to have targets in and around raqqa, but what we need now is a more strategic level of engagement, one that is going to take a combination of good intelligence, and targeting more air strikes and forces on the ground whether they are from countries in the region or western sources or otherwise, but isis has to be put on the defensive, and that means going after leadership targets, economic targets, disrupting lines of supply so that it is much more difficult for them to actually function. until now they have really had a state to work with, like no other terrorist group has done. in that has to be disrupted right away. >> russia supports the assad

regime, how is russia now effected by all of this? >> i think russia has positioned it's a quite smartly. they have already gone in on the side of assad. they have tried to go after some of the moderate syrian opposition. the rest of the world is going after isis, and that is going to have the effect of putting russia really in the driver's seat supporting assad, and claiming he is part of the solution in syria, something that would have been incredit the only say even a couple of months ago, but now i think you'll find people believing that there is no other way to defeat isis than by cooperating with assad. that's exactly what russia wanted, and that is going to strength russia's position in the middle east. >> president obama has had a steady as she goes attitude in this fight against isis in syria. how is that going to change in >> you are absolutely right that

the approach has been degrade and ultimately defeat isis. we assembled tactics that we felt to be relatively painless for us as a way of engaging. they were not effective at all. isis is stronger, has more people, territory, and money than it did when we started the air strikes. so now the question is really are we going to see the u.s. take a step change in this operation as well? what we heard from president obama today didn't quite give one that sense of determination and engagement such as we have heard from president hollande, but we'll see. there is an opportunity now for the u.s. bilaterally to support france, to engage more, and really engage now a strategy to really defeat isis for the first time. >> ambassador it's always good to see you. thank you for your incite. >> thank you, john. president obama today defended the u.s. strategy against isil. critics are calling for an escalation of that fight, even

ground troops. mike viqueira has more from turkey. >> reporter: president obama is forcefully rejecting the critics who say he isn't being tough enough on isil. he says there is going to be more of what is already being done. at the close of two days of meetings dominated by the war in syria and the fight against isil, president obama rejected calls for a dramatic military escalation. >> we have the right strategy, and we're going to see it there. >> reporter: that means continued air strikes, targeting isil leaders and supply lines, and helping groups already taking the fight to isil on the ground. but mr. obama warned against thinking of isil as a viable state that could be concurred by a military invasion, and once again ruled out american combat boots on the ground. >> if you do not have local populations that are committed to inclusive governance, and who

are pushing back against idealogical extremes, that they we resurface, unless we're prepared to have a permanent occupation of these countries. >> reporter: the french president has called the paris attacks an act of war, and president obama agrees. still he hit back on what he called bellicose statements. >> if they think that somehow their advisors are better than the chairman of my joint chiefs of staff, and the folks actually on the ground, i want to meet them. >> reporter: but mr. obama's harshest words were for isil itself. >> these are killers are fantasies of glory. >> reporter: with one of the assailants reported by entering europe with the flood of refugees from the syria war, the president spoke directly to politicians back home. >> when i hear folks say that

well, maybe we should just admit the christians but not the muslims, when i hear political leaders suggesting that there would be a religious test, we don't have religious tests to our compassion. >> reporter: governors from texas, michigan, and elsewhere have vowed to bar refugees from entering their states, citing security risks. mr. obama warned against a backlash. not -- >> they will lead, i think to greater recruitment in the terrorist organizations over time, if this becomes somehow defined as a muslim problem as opposed to a terrorist problem. >> reporter: and john, make no mistake, despite all of the talk about military action, the focus is still on diplomacy, talks

resume in january in vienna, among all of the countries represented to try to bring a diplomatic solution to what is happening in syria. if they can end the civil war, then isil won't be the opportunity to exploit. >> right now david shuster is in new york with the backlash on syrian refugees and muslims in general. >> reporter: there are now more than a dozen u.s. governors that have pledged to close off their states to syrian refugees. we spoke with democratic congressman keith ellison, one of only two muslims in congress and got his reaction. >> well, unfortunately, i think the people who are taking this action are reacting in a panic. they are -- they are being subjected to fear, and i think that's the wrong position to

take. i think the right position is for us to understand the refugees are victims of terrorism, in the same way that people in paris have been, and he should understand we're not going to make ourselves or anyone safer by succumbing to fear in this way. personally, i think that we should continue to accept refugees. i think that the west and the united states should continue to be looked upon as a safe haven for suffering people as a refuge, because it is the terrorists who are the cruel ones, the ones chasing people out of their homes. we should be the ones accepting people who need it within. of course we should vet people properly. we have the right to make sure we safeguard the refugee program from terrorists who might try to infiltrate it. >> you mentioned the screening process, giving the screening process as it stands is pretty

comprehensive, is this really a case of islamaphobia, given that most of these senators and governors know there is a standard screening process that exists? >> there may well be pandering going on, but at the end of the day, whether it's the internal fear of the policy makers, or the fear of their constituents which they are trying to whip up, it is fear that is driving them. and i think it's irresponsible, and i think it's not what states people do. the fact is we need people to operate morally. >> i want to ask you one more question about something happening here in the united states. donald trump suggested today that perhaps it is time to start monitoring mosques. his spokesperson issued a statement saying the islam phrase of the week and uses political correctness after

cover. what is going on with republican voters in your estimation? >> well, i think that a lot of americans are fearful about what they don't understand or know much about. i would ask people to ignore donald trump. this is a person with a long history of whipping up hate and fear against minority groups including mexicans. now he is picking on muslims. but muslims stand opposed to daesh. these terrorists kill muslims more than anyone else. we should be trying to create a unity and solidarity among all people to isolate and eliminate these -- these murderous terrorists that call themselves isis or whatever. what we should not be doing is playing on the fear, hysteria, and trying to scapegoat religious minority groups, which is what donald trump has a long history of doing. last election,

kaine -- mr. cane, and mr. gingrich were whipping up hate and fear against muslims. this election ben carson and donald trump are doing the same thing. they must believe that anti-muslim hate is some sort of an election tool for them. it's unfortunately, but i believe americans will reject it. coming up the backlash against muslim refugees. more than a dozen governors now they the refugees are not welcome in this their states. plus investigators believe the killers in paris used encrypted messaging technology. jake ward reports on the implications across the globe. and the danger in america. is isil's latest threat very credible? can the united states prevent isil from attacking washington, d.c. or any other city? all of that and more ahead. ♪

and welcome back to paris, everyone nch the investigation into friday's attack is still in the early stages, of course. already we have seen arrests, and raids, but that's only part of the story. there's also a political reaction here in europe and back home in america. for that we go back to david david in new york. >> john two republican presidential candidates both announced new legislation today to block the united states from taking anymore syrian refugees. over the past four years only about 2,000 syrian refugees have entered the united states, and

as it stands the screening process averages nearly a year and a half. but president obama says despite the paris attacks his administration will still push forward with plans next year to bring in 10,000 syrian refugees, and so there is that opposition in congress and push back from several governors. today 16 of them, 15 republicans, and one democrat said they want to block syrian refugees from coming to their state. bisi onile-ere is detroit with the story. >> reporter: good evening, david, when the michigan governor made his announcement yesterday afternoon, four others quickly followed and others came on board throughout the date. some analysts say legally states cannot block their borders, but they can make the process of accepting refugees challenging.

>> we are going to suspend things until we have a chance to talk to the department of homeland security. >> reporter: rick snyder is suspending the state's efforts to take in more syrian refugees. the concern, refugees could pose a threat to u.s. security. >> most people are not terrorists, and we need to be thoughtful about helping people around the world. this is just to be prudent to make sure that some terrorist element is not entering our country. >> reporter: not long after the announce on sunday, several other republican governors followed suit. the move is about face for the governor who just two months ago welcomed plans to help refugees fleeing syria. >> we have always be a diverse state, and now he has closed the door. but it sends a really strong message that puts blame on innocent people. >> reporter: former state representative is with take on hate, a campaign that addresses

discrimination against muslim americans, as governor of a state with one of these largest middle east populations in the u.s., she says the governor missed the mark. >> reporter: he could have displayed leadership here, and took the lead of how we can do it right, through syrian americans that are currently here, that can keep us safe. instead we took a complete extreme position that i think is un-american. >> reporter: so far it's estimated that more than 4 million syrians have left the country since the crisis began. 1600 have come into the u.s. the obama administration says the pledge to take in more syrian refugees in the next year still stands, the state department is looking into whether states can block refugees on their own. >> it's incumbent on us moving forward as we strive to reach this target of at least 10,000, to work with state and local

governments to address their concerns about a resettlement program, whether they can legally do that, i don't have an answer for you. >> reporter: this syrian american, who has family in syria, says he is concerned for those who may not find a way out. >> we never give up, yeah. we're going to lobby the governor, the adz administrative and [ inaudible ] of michigan and the united states to bring more refugees. >> reporter: with the syrian refugee effort on hold, governor schneider has asked the u.s. department of homeland security for a full review of its procedures and clearances. in the meantime he said the syrian refugee now headed for michigan will not be turned away. some governors are asking federal lawmakers to intervene by inserting a provision in the spending bill that would ban syrian refugees from entering

the u.s. there are also calls to create a safe zone to house syrian refugees in their own country. david? >> reporter: bisi onile-ere reporting from detroit. thank you. joining us in the studio now is a foreign policy analyst and author. what do you make of these lawmakers, members of the senate, and also more than 15 governors who say enough of the syrian refugees. >> i think the united states took almost nothing compared to countries like beirut or lebanon where -- i mean you have 5 million lebanese the whole country and they have taken in almost 1 million syrian refugees. it's disgraceful. it's creating the kind of terror we have been seeing the last 36 hours, you are blaming these people who are the recipients. who is fighting today, isis? muslims. who are the first victims of

isis? muslims. and you are blaming them. it's that kind of bias and prejudice that created the problem in the first place. these policies dangerous policies are the same policies that -- that we see that actually created radicalization, alienation and made young people vulnerable to isis. >> the argument you hear is that this is simply about protecting the united states, and they don't trust the screening process they have in place -- >> yeah, and they don't even trust women to decide for their own body. these are the same exact people who are anti-immigration, absolutely, the rhetoric for anti-immigration, they have been backing it, anti-muslim, anti-minority. the kind of rhetoric towards minorities is the same, basically, and reminds me of the

30s in europe when the target was european jews. it's beyond disgraceful. and honestly, they are playing the -- they are playing in the hand of isis. they are actually endorsing what isis is saying. the magazine of isis in june when the refugees started, you know, fleeing and they wanted to come to europe, there was an article where they were calling for the [ inaudible ] to immigrate back to the land of islam, and i was a slap in their face that millions of refugees didn't want to have anything to do with them. they want to go to europe, because they would have a better opportunity. and the g.o.p. is saying, no, no, no. we agree with isis on this. >> so you flat out believe this is islamaphobia playing out here? >> i think it's islamaphobia for sure. but we will have an election in

one year, and obviously they are using fear, which is the strongest weapon in this country that you can use and get votes, so it's about power. the same thing that other candidates are doing on the other side by proposing policies, they are po posing one issue, fear, division, which again plays into the hand of al-qaeda. what al-qaeda did in iraq was creating a civil war between shias and sunni, and they managed to recruit more sunnis. the g.o.p. is continuing the same policies that put us in -- that paved the way for isis basically, occupation, invasion, more militaristic views, the idea of us and them, this is the same idea that isis is arguing. us, the muslims, and them the

cofar. so you have to choose your camp. and i think the overwhelming majority choose not to be in either camp. >> what about the policy as far as how to deal with isil. there is a division, the idea that the united states could go after isil in the middle east or they will bring their fight to the united states. >> we are already in syria. >> with air strikes. >> air strikes that have been taking place for the last -- i would say eight months -- >> but even democratic senators say that is not as effective as actually putting ground troops in. >> and she is right. ground troops have to be there, but they should be a national unity -- or a global -- the global war on terror have to be a united global war on terror. the first isis state was defeated by the ottoman empire

and who lead the army was an egyptian general. the problem with isis is a symptom of a bigger problem. and the symptom is the guy who set himself on fire in indonesia, what did he call for? dignity and opportunity. these are the same demands of hundreds of thousands of muslims around the middle east. if you don't create an opportunity, you will always have isis. billing of bin laden has nothing to do with this. >> thank you. >> thank you. this evening congress stood still for 15 seconds. lawmakers bowed their heads to remember all of the victims of the attacks in france snfrmths

up next, john siegenthaler with more from paris including a closer look at the 129 people who lost their lives in friday's attacks, who they were, and how they are being remembered. ♪ plus a report on the technology the attackers used to avoid detection and carry out their plot as our coverage of the paris attacks continues.

after the attacks, paris on edge and this mourning. what happens now? from the investigation to the fight against isil. stepping up the air strikes in syria, will it work, or should the strategy change? plus breaking the code, our jake ward has incite into the encrypted message. welcome back, i'm john

siegenthaler? paris. it's day three of national mourning here. today president francois hollande said the nation is at war. france has launched air strikes against isil in syria, and is vowing along with the u.s. to intensify the fight. here in paris the city is very much in shock. the candles still burn despite the rain, and the eiffel tower has been dark for two days. today it was lit up in the colors of the french flag. the tower will be lit in blue, white, and red for three days. parisians are holding vigils all over paris. and tonight we're learning more about the victims, so many of them young people who's lives

were senselessly cut short. roxana saberi has the latest. >> reporter: it's the little things that made them all so different. and to those who loved each of the victims, irreplaceable. 129 people from 19 nations with details now americaing about the paths they forged in life. most were killed at the concert hall. there to see the american band eagles of death metal. nick alexander was british, 36 years old, selling merchandise for the band. a final good-bye. also at the club a guitarist enjoying the show, he lived in paris with his french wife. his band captain americano posted a final tribute on its

facebook page. a restaurant manager who loved to sky dive, and friends say had infectious energy. and more fell as they enjoyed the paris night life at restaurants and cafes. like this 24-year-old markets manager. this woman who came to paris to pursue her love of fashion. and this 23-year-old american who was studying design. these brothers were out with their sisters that night. the women did not survive. >> translator: my parents are in absolute distress. we were eight brothers and sisters, and now we became six in one evening. >> reporter: as french muslims they worry about their loss and the public's response. >> translator: we're all inhabitants of this planet. we need to help each other. all of us were hit. so we're all in the same boat. >> reporter: roxana saberi, al jazeera. one of the key questions for

investigators is how the attackers were able to coordinate without being detected, some point to strong encryption technology, used in many smartphone applications. jake ward has more. >> reporter: if someone wanted a secure application to communicate plans for an attack, they would have no end of options. who's app, the world's leading messaging app would be a lodgeable first choice. the app may have been used by the paris attackers. in the aftermath of the bangkok bombings in august, it was discovered the culprits used what's app to communicate. it is the preferred means of communication for nearly one-seventh of the world's population. what's app reports it has 800 million monthly users, and while

20 billion text messages are transmitted each day, the world uses what's app to sent 30 million. in the early days it has a somewhat weak security reputation. after the company was acquired by facebook, it implemented a new kind of encryption one the company itself cannot decode. when i send a message on what's app my phone does the enkriping and the phone on the other end does the decrypting. they arrange a handshake that doesn't involve a central server. and therefore it cannot decrypt my message. there is no back door or master key that it can offer to the intelligence community. it's that kind of encryption that has members of the intelligence community complaining that it makes their jobs more difficult if not impossible. cia director john brennan

described encryption this way. >> intentional gaps that have been created and the ability of intelligence and security services to protect the people that they are asked to serve. >> reporter: david cameron in january of this year even called for banning encrypted messaging apps in britain. a move struck down by the high court in england. it's important to remember while we have discovered again and again that people use these apps to plot violence, it's always in retrospect that we find that ou out. >> it's really difficult to pick a signal that small out of a huge haystack, and even if they could, there is nothing that could prevent terrorists from starting to use their own code

words. >> reporter: a russian effort to warn the united states about tamerlan tsarnaev was misseded because his name was misspelled in a database. multiply that complication by 30 billion and the problem doesn't seem to be a matter of gathering information, it's a matter of what to do with it. >> an international security consultant who has written extensively on how groups like isil get their financing. i asked him about president hollande's decision to extend the state of emergency. is this open-ended? >> no, this is -- >> the next three months. >> the next three months as a fist step. this gives us power night and day to arrest people, to interrogate people to make

sure -- clear -- mostly to clear people. >> i look around here, and after 9/11 new york, there were police everywhere. in paris, tonight there's not. can you explain why? >> there's -- around 100,000 security forces involved in securing the territory today as we speak. both military and police. you don't see them, but i can tell you if you move in paris, on each corner of the street there is someone. >> so there are reports that turkey and iraq told france -- gave france intelligence about a possible attack. what do you know about that? and why didn't france respond? >> we need to see the details of that. of course we were expecting some kind of terror attack, because we're several -- at least five terrorist attacks have been foiled since january. so we were expecting something -- something happening

here in paris. we knew or saw that we were a target of this group, of other groups and that -- because also we have a lot of individuals involved in these groups. at least 600 of our citizens are involved in syria and iraq. so we knew he would be targeted sooner or later. >> we heard president hollande speak to parliament and talk about how he needs to beef up security and the money that will need be spent. how long will this last? >> i thought his speech was very conventional in terms of measures to be taken. we're in the same mood, in the same truck as we were already in january. there's nothing really knew to suggest that france is becoming at war against those networks. >> how safe is paris today? there were some people yesterday who told us they expect another attack soon. >> well, the work that is done, we don't see it.

it is done by the intelligence services every hour as we speak. to track the individuals, and several individuals are sought in relation with the paris attacks, and others are interrogated currently or arrested and arms are seized as we speak, so the work is -- is underway to protect the people. >> charles thank you very much. we appreciate it. many of the events in paris have been canceled this week, but stores and museums are open again. and parisians are getting back to work, finding some comfort in their daily routine. adam raney has the latest. >> reporter: back to work, but not business as usual. there's a heaviness as parisians start their first workweek in the wake of the deadly attacks here. you can see a weariness, pain, nagging fear. but many are happy to have

something to do. >> let's go to work. let's go to dance. let's go to eat and drink. life doesn't stop. >> reporter: but danger seems ever close. over the pa system a warning about a suspicious package on the metro. a warning people take more seriously now as people try to create a new normal, they realize that could be hard. >> it kind of changes the city, i think. because people used to be more -- i don't know -- more alive, i would say. >> reporter: there is always work to do in the city, and work this street cleaner says can be therapeutic. >> translator: we see our colleagues. we're all together. we talk about it. it feels good. it's better than staying home locked up doing nothing. >> reporter: at the end of the work day, hundreds of parisians gathered here where people have been holding candlelight

individual -- vigils since the attacks. an impromptu concert offered a chance to come together and feel alive again. ♪ >> reporter: adam raney, al jazeera, paris. ♪ coming up next on the broadcast, isil is threatening to attack inside the united states. what needs to be done to guard against it. we continue our coverage from paris right after this. ♪

in paris tonight residents and visitors paused in front of a growing memorial at one of the sites that was attacked on friday. more than a dozen people died at the cafe. john siegenthaler will have more from paris in just a few minutes. cia director john brennan says friday's attacks in paris are not a one-off event. he told a global security forum in washington that officials had strategic warning about the attack. he also says that isil is plotting to carry out more attacks in europe and elsewhere. >> it is clear to me that isil has an external agenda that they are determined to carry out these types of attacks. this is not something that was done in a matter of days. this was something that was deliberately and carefully planned over the course, i think

of several months in terms of making sure they had the operatives, the weapons, the explosives, the suicide belts. >> he also said that privacy protections us put in place after edward snowden's revelations have made it more difficult to monitor potential attackers. daniel benjamin is a scholar at dartmouth university in hanover, new hampshire. i want to start with the news from the cia director who says i would certainly not consider it a one-off event, in terms of talking about another terrorist attack coming in europe. what is your reaction? >> i think he is probably on very solid ground in saying that. the possibility that there are other groups that have come in to the country from outside, and particularly from syria is significant, and there is certainly a large number of disgruntled people in -- among the muslim minorities of europe.

they are a very small percentage, but they nonetheless are there and can be violent. just as we saw charlie hebdo in january, we could see yet another attack in the near future, and of course there is a premium on striking as soon as possible because that maximizes the amount of fear that people feel. >> you wrote today it's a smaller group of disgruntled muslims here, much more difficult to get to the united states, and you suggest an attack in the united states is actually much less likely than it might seem. >> yeah, i don't want to mislead anyone and suggest there's no chance of an attack. of course there is always a chance of an attack, and we have had them in the past. but we have invested a lot more in intelligence, law enforcement and border controls, and in addition we have a -- a muslim

community in the united states that is much better integrated and -- whiching tends to be very well educated to earn well, to have fewer of the grievances that european muslims do. so while i think we do need to be viblg -- vigilant, i think there is reason to be more hopeful in the united states. >> and far fewer people in the united states can connections to isil than in europe, but we all know it takes just one. the amount of resources the government has put forward in monitoring people who might be troublemakers, how much more helpful is that? >> well, first of all, you said it just takes one, and that is true, and people should keep that in mind. the violent activists we're seeing now are more likely to go on a shooting spree with an

automatic weapon than those of al-qaeda who wanted to use an elaborate bomb. so that raises the danger a little bit, but it is less likely to be a large-scale attack. as for the other question which was about our surveillance, well, you know, everyone has limits on the number of bodies they can throw at any particular surveillance problem, but we do have much deeper ranks, i would say, much deeper bench at the fbi than many of our european counterparts and i think we have done a good job at tracing connections between extremists overseas and americans here at home. i do think that over the 15 years, 14 and a half years, really, since 9/11, that we have done pretty well. >> there was a video, allegedly

from isil that was leased today suggesting they do want to attack washington. what do you make of that video? >> the group is undoubtedly interested in spreading fear, and that's one good way to do it. and is often the case with terrorist groups, the threat of the operations, i don't doubt that they would like to carry out an operation in washington, but of course our senior intelligence officials have said time and again, that thus far there is no evidence of any ongoing plotting. >> daniel benjamin scholar at dartmouth college, and author of the on ed titled could paris happen here in the "washington post." thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. up next, john siegenthaler with more from paris when we return. ♪

the attacks happened here in paris, but the seeds of the plan may have been planted thousands of miles away. ali velshi is taking a look at how radicalized fighters are making their way into syria from turkey. >> i'm in istanbul worrying about the role that turkey has to play in the fight against extremism, the fight against isil. turkey plays a critical role. it is on the cross roads between europe and asia. it is really where east meets west. it is where many of these syrian refugees make their first stop before moving on into europe. some of those refugees are now not going to get the welcome they were getting. it is also the place where some of these radicalized fighters on their way to syria stop to try to get through the border into syria. and turkey is a nato ally.

it has joined the fight against the syria regime and against isil, but there are some questions as to whether turkey's allegiances lie, and whether turkey is more concerned with its kurdish nationalist issue than with fighting isil alongside the american-lead coalition. so we're looking into turkey's crucial role in the fight against -- in the fight against isil, the fight against terrorism, and the fight against extremism right here tonight. john? >> more from istanbul on ali velshi on target. the images say so much about the suffering here, and at the same time, the strength. the city of light, standing still. a subway station, the restaurant, where lives were cut down, there is silence, a nation pausing to mourn, to remember.

three days after the attack, the blood has been washed away. the tears remain. you can see it in the eyes of this young woman clutching a friend. you can see it in their faces. the sadness is overwhelming, a friend of one of the victims cries by a memorial. the tributes are growing. the sea of flowers, flickering candles, signs of solidarity, and the messages, there are so many. and in english, this, my wish, one world, one nation, no hate, just love. ♪ >> that love is everywhere for those who have perished, and not just in paris, in places like beirut, kenya, and across the world. we are united in grief, in love. >> that's our broadcast for this

hour from paris. thanks for watching. i'm john siegenthaler. ali velshi "on target" is next from istanbul, turkey. ♪ >> "on target" tonight, the new nexus for the fight against i.s.i.l, turkey is the exit point for radicalized fighters going into syria. it's the exit point of hoards, it is the only muslim ally in nato. it could hold the key to i.s.i.l. defeat.