ank you so much as always. >> make sure to follow me on twitter @jaketapper, all one word. i am turning you over now to wolf blitzer. he is right next door in the situation room. wolf? happening now, u.s. vet joins isis. a former u.s. airman is now accused of trying to join isis in syria. could he have given the group military secrets? >> and israel's election will they get a new prescribe? and how the vote will impact washington. >> rushing the cockpit, a man screaming jihad rushes the cockpit in a crowded airliner. could he have brought down the plane. >> and south korea says that cyber facilities have been attacked and growing to include

blackmail. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in the situation room. >> we're following two breaking stories right now. u.s. air force veteran has been indicted for allegedly trying to join isis. the former airman who worked on engines and weapons systems was headed to syria but stopped by turkish authorities. and neck and neck. voting is over in israel and fighting for his political life prime minister benjamin netanyahu may have finished a last minute stunner that could enable him to hold on to power. his party shows a very slight lead over the challenger isaac herzog. one of them will be asked to put together a coalition government. that's no easy task in a bitterly divided nation. and i will speak with the state department spokes woman. analysts are standing by for full coverage.

but let's get the very latest on that u.s. airman. pamela brown is standing by. pamela? >> reporter: this is the first u.s. military member we know of who allegedly tried to link up with isis. according to court documents, he was at one point a mechanic for american airlines and an air force mechanic for four years tried to travel to syria to join isis. he left the air force in the 90s and worked for several private aviation companies as an airplane mechanic and in speaking to officials that is alarming because he could have taken his skills to the terrorist groups and helped them. he allegedly flew from egypt to turkey. turkish officials denied him entrance after he refused them access to his electronics and turkey sent him on a return flight to egypt. it appeared that his electronics had been tampered with.

now after a search of the electronics, the fbi was able to recover some of what was on his computer. more than 108 propaganda videos including excuse of multiple prisoners. the fbi found web searches for ways to cross from turkey into syria. his division attorney se tells cnn that his client will plead not guilty here in court. there were communications with his egyptian wife and this letter he wrote, he apparently said according to authorities i will use my talents and skills given to me to establish and defend the islamic state. there are two possible outcomes for me victory or martyr. talking to law enforcement officials, what makes this case unique is this allegedly is someone who was not just influenced overnight by isis propaganda propaganda.

he was influenced right after 911 and had sympathized with osama bin laden. so this is someone who became increasingly radicalized over the past decade or so. >> very disturbing development and we will have much more on this later this hour. thank you very much pamela brown. there is other breaking news we are following. the election in israel was supposed to be close but there has been a stunning finish with a rocky relationship between u.s. and jewel lem hanging in the balance. netanyahu seemed to be losing his grip on power but he may be able to hang on. that is by no means certain. his right wing party is neck and neck with the center left headed by herzog. one of them will have to form a coalition government. that could take weeks with parties across the political spectrum. let's go to tel aviv. elise, netanyahu is already claiming a big win. his crowd, they are pretty

excited but it's way too soon to declare a victory. >> reporter: way too soon to declare a victory in terms of whether prime minister netanyahu will be able to form a coalition, but this is a bit of a victory for prime minister netanyahu. as you know just a few day ace go four seats behind in the polls. in the last 48 hours a media blitz to energize the right wing base. these were controversial positions that he had been talking about, reversing his commitment long-standing commitment to a two-state solution with the palestinians and talking about fare-mongering trying to get the right wing to come out and vote to prevent the arabs from taking over and unseating him. obviously it's going to be a long night and a long couple of days to see if prime minister netanyahu has the support from

the right to form a coalition. he has fought his way back and is in the running. >> get that microphone closer to your mouth if you can. we're having trouble hearing you with all that noise behind you right now. move it up a little bit like that. that's what i was trying to suggest. there is no doubt this could take several days at a minimum. the president of israel has said he hopes to get the process started as early as sunday but the negotiations between both of these two big parties with the smaller parties, that could take a while. >> reporter: there is a lot of back room dealing that will go on over the next several days. the right parties like mr. bennett's party. and also some of the other real extreme right wing parties are going to go with him. but it's a question of some of these other parties, a former supporter and he is really the

king-maker here. he has about nine seats up for grabs. it remains to be seen if he can bring over enough votes to get that 61 he needs to form a coalition. for him there is more states on the right, more seats and really is looking very good for him right now to have a mandate to continue to govern in israel. >> thanks very much. we will stay on top of this. we will get more information but it's a cliff hanger in israel right now unclear whether netanyahu or his challenger will be able to form the next government. what will happen? we will stay on top of this story as well. meanwhile, russia is raising the stakes in its show down. russia is now sending nuclear capable bombers to that peninsula and it's deplaying mobile ballistic missiles that borders two nato allies.

full combat alert for war games. what's the latest? >> well putin is back in public view after the ten-day absence. the question now is not so much where was putin, the question is what is he up to now. nato's military commander warning moscow to tread carefully. >> russia might believe that the large scale con vensal forces that she has shawn she can generate on very short notice could in future be used not only for intimidation and coercion but potentially to seize nato territory. >> a classic cold war soviet military technique. escalate tensions to the point that no one is sure where it

comes to next. >> short range ballistic missiles are being sent to to other nato nations. >> that is something that nato will keep a very close eye on. looking for any signs are the nuclear weapons that might accompany the system. >> in the arctic putin has ordered troops to combat alert. exercising nearly 40,000 troops 50 warships and more than 100 aircraft. nato directed its forces to be able to move within days against russia if ordered in the black sea, the u.s. continuing with itsit s exercises, attempting to

reassure nations that the alliance will defend them. military intelligence analysts don't forsey a cold war type of confrontation confrontation. tank battles, dog fights in the sky. the biggest risks is the baltics that putin may try to stir up trouble and control territories there as he did in crimea. >> that is the big risk right now. officials will tell you putin could force many hands. nato and the u.s. are sworn to defend them. >> thanks very much. the state department deputy spokesperson is joining us. that's where her boss is holding negotiations with iranians officials on their nuclear program. we're going to get to all of that in a few moments but i want

to get your quick reaction from what you heard over the pentagon and these latest russian developments. how worrisome are they what they're doing in crimea what they're doing so close to some of the nato allies. how worrisome is this to the united states? >> we we're clearly watching it very closely. we have always said throughout this process that putin has an off ramp. if he were acting in the best interest of his people he would take it. my boss has been very clear about that. when we work on other issues we will continue upping the pressure and we will be watching what he is doing. >> is he ordering the northern fleet of russia into some sort of full mobilization now? is he doing it for show or is

something else going on? >> well you know, i think if i have learned anything in this job it's not trying to figure out why vladimir putin does the things he does. we're not worried about why he's doing them we're worried abwhat he's doing. that's what we're watching and what we're focused on. we're going to be very clear if this type of behavior continues there will be other costs. the longer the costs and sanctions are in place the greater impact they have. we are very prepared to stay the course up the pressure and get them back to a better place. >> you saw the results from the exit polls. now they are counting the real votes. we don't know what the official results are. the prime minister he is claiming victory but it's way too early to claim victory right now. they have got to come up with some sort of coalition

government. what's the u.s. government's reaction to what you know about what happened on this election day in israel? >> well, wolf c i think what we know is that it is obviously democracy in action. we're congratulating the israeli people. this is what democracy looks like. it's too early to know what will happen here. we will certainly keep working with them. we have an incredibly close relationship with israel no matter who is in that job. we will watch the process unfold over the coming days and weeks. >> if netanyahu does emerge as the prime minister you heard him yesterday say under his watch there will be no palestinian state new york city two-state solution which was his position going into this election and the u.s. position in very a long time. how alarming is this statement from netanyahu? >> well you know what our position is. that the only path forward is a

two-state solution with israelis and palestinians living side by side in peace and security. that is what my boss secretary kerry, and president obama are committed to. people say a lot of things during campaigns. what we're focused on is the israeli's moving forward and forming a government. we will work with whoever is prime minister and work to make progress. >> i want you to standby. the secretary of state is holding negotiations with iranianss. we will talk about where this is moving right now. the nuclear negotiations with iran. much more from switzerland when we come back.

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>> a stunning conclusion to israelis election. exit polls show netanyahu with a neck and neck finish with his rival isaac herzog. one of them will be asked to form a coalition government. the outcome could have a huge impact on ties with the administration. he says a big win for the country of israel. herzog and his opposition party saying not so fast.

you want to react quickly to those two statements? >> i hadn't seen them just heard them from you. i think it's too early to make predictions about what will happen here. the israeli system sometimes takes days or weeks and we will see how this process plays out. we will keep working with them keep having a very close relationship on all the issue wes work together on and that will absolutely continue. >> how do those negotiations where you are right now with the secretary of state and iranians officials, how are they working out in terms of this nuclear deal? >> these are tough conversations. we are coming up on the deadline at the end of march and we still have a lot of work to do. a lot of issues that are remaining are technical. that's why the secretary of energy are here. a lot of them are political.

we had a lot of work to do but we had a lot of work to do. is it true that technical issues have been resolved? >> i don't think i would put it the same way. we have a number of outstanding technical issues. we have made progress. i would say that. we are closer to a deal today than we were yesterday or the day before but as we have always said this is all part of one equation. you can have part of it agreed and part of it not agreed and you won't get to a deal. we need to have all of it agreed to.

too hook up with isis. he was extradited back to egypt and back to the united states. what can you tell us about this individual. anyone who can play a role here is very focused on americans who are trying to travel and support isil in some way. it's probably a bigger challenge giving the proximity. i think you saw the law enforcement community taking action they thought was appropriate.

>> how kerpi don't have any details on that. this is an ongoing law enforcement matter again, and i think more details will come out as we go forward with that process. of course we would be concerned about any american who had any information they were trying to share. as we talked about before. you don't even have to go fight or train with them to be inspired by them and be a threat. that's certainly something that we are focused on as well. >> very disturbing story in the "new york times." i want to get your reaction. 500 million dollars. other mechanical equipment sent to yemen could have been seized by these rebels or al qaeda in the i-rabian peninsula. what's going on? has the u.s. in effect now contributed half a billion worth

of military hardware to al qaeda or these rebels in yemen? >> i know the department of defense is looking into the reports. when it comes to yemen, obviously it's a very complicated situation and one that we're very concerned about. they are certainly not fighting on the same side and we said to them that they have -- there's a process in yemen that they should abide by if they want to affect political change. they obviously aren't doing that. they're very concerned about it. >> i want to clarify it was a washington post report not a "new york times" report. thanks very much for joining us.

blames north korea for yet another cyber attack. we have details about a very threatening incident. the man rushed the cockpit screaming jihad.

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>> right now russia is upping the ante in the show down. it is sending ballistic missiles. our senior national security analyst, military analyst and

washington post columnist david ignasius. do you think putin actually would try to grab some nato territory using these large scale military forces? how much of a threat do you believe this really is? >> i certainly don't think it would be a very smart move. he has done enough in ukraine and has generated some support within the european nations and 28 nations of nato to counter what he is doing but he is certainly doing some things that are concerning. nato and the united states has been doing some things to counter some of these threats in an attempt to reassure the allies and demonstrate freedom of movement. >> this kind of move is a popular home for putin. what is disturbing is that putin

in ukraine has been using what analysts call hybrid warfare, meaning something closer to covert intelligence operations than conventional use of force or nuclear weapons. this moves the game into a different and more dangerous phase. >> certainly does. let's talk about this former u.s. air force airman if you will an expert on aifvionics. extra dated to turkey and then back to egypt and finally to the united states. the story is that he was trying to sneak into syria to join isis. this would be the first u.s. military veteran to join with isis although others have joined with other terrorist groups. >> that's right. we have seen others with more moderate terror groups but this is the first u.s. military

veteran trying to join isis. he is a lot older than what we principally see trying to join isis. he according to the complaint against him, he was voicing support for osama bin laden around the time of the 911 attacks. he doesn't fit the profile of a lot of the kids. >> we remember hasan who went out and killed fellow soldiers. he was clearly sympathetic to that kind of jihadi movement. >> the fbi was tracking some of his movements but didn't do enough about it. >> how much of a threat could

that be with helping them appreciate u.s. military hardware. >> not much. this guy was in the military from 1986 to 1990. he has been out of the air force for 25 years. he did attempt to support al qaeda in the late 1998 right after he basically converted to islam in 98. he said he wanted to be a jihadi before. he was working in kuwait as an aircraft mechanic on private airplanes. i think the biggest part of him getting into syria as he traveled from egypt to turkey and tried to get to syria would have been the propaganda value of having a former service member. that's the biggest thing. an aircraft mechanic who happened to have served in the air force 25 year ace go. i don't think this is a big deal. >> do you think the u.s. is doing enough to prevent americans from joining isis.

>> this is really a question of communications. there is a lot of monitoring that is going on even with all of our concern about privacy, this is a real propaganda hit for isis. >> the other disturbing development in pakistan today as you well know the lawyer who represented the pakistani doctor who helped the u.s. find bnl that lawyer has now been assassinated. he was driving in the car. >> i think he's the cia said he wasn't going to tell him that. it was a closely held secret.

he is serving 33 years in jail. >> for a separate charge unrelated unrelated. but he didn't really help. >> you pointed out that the taliban shot and killed his lawyer. we have new details about a frightening security scare aboard a u.s. airliner. passengers had to subdue a man who ran towards the cockpit screaming jihad and north korea blamed for a new cyber attack this time on nuclear power plants. denver international is one of the busiest airports in the country. we operate just like a city and that takes a lot of energy. we use natural gas throughout the airport - for heating the entire terminal generating electricity on-site

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>> there are accusations of drinking and driving around washington clancy conceded he has big problems to fix. >> it's going to take time to change this culture. >> that didn't sit well with lawmakers who demanded answers earlier this month. >> i can't believe you said it will take time to change the culture. can you explain to me why it's okay for a member of the secret service to get so inneeb reeuated that he would take a car and run into a barricade. >> surveillance video may reveal a less sensational story but he was not told for five days. >> we had a good stern talk about that and instructed the staff to go out to their management to insure that these

events any event of misconduct or operation alal errors have to be relaid up the chain. >> with decades of experience as a top agent who became director just a month ago, clancy explained there are deep-rooted issues to such a high pressure job. >> it does cope with the stresses that many of you have mentioned today by using alcohol. there is no question we have that element. >> you have to be a very set chain of command regulated from top to bottom. whether it's the president, the pope people at the u.n. or whatever. those are big spobltds and i think your chain of command is haywire. >> clancy said changes are

coming to say that taller temporary fences are going up later this summer. the secret service wants to build a new mock white house at a cost of $8 million. >> we think it's important to have a true replica of what the white house is so we can do a better job of this integrated training between our uniformed officers agents and tactical teams. >> clancy and the white house say they are awaiting the results of the inspector general's investigation but lawmakers may be viewing that surveillance video as soon as today and wolf the white house was asked if the president has confidence in joe clancy and the white house says he does. >> thanks very much. we're getting new details about what happened aboard a united airlines event. other badges subdued the man held him until the plane made an emergency landing.

renae renae, what do we know? >> this was a tense situation midair. we're talking about 7,000 feet up in the air. passengers on board say this man charged right towards the cockpit but he was intercepted, tackled, taken down to the ground. take a listen to the unruly passenger apologizing just seconds after other passengers intercepted him. >> you're talking to the -- >> i'm sorry. i'm sorry. i'm sorry. >> don't move. we're going to get you off this plane. we're going to get you off this plane. >> youunited flight 1074 from dallas going to denver was in the air for only about five minutes before the pilots had to

start to descend and come right back. take a listen to the moment when the pilots called air traffic control putting in that emergency call. >> he ran forward towards the cockpit and he is being restrained by other passengers. the cockpit is secure. and we would just like to return to the airport and have the authorities meet him. >> all right. we do know that they were able to land. no other passengers were injured. at this hour wolf the passenger is at a local hospital. he is under observation. they are checking out his mental state if it's determined that he is mentally ill it is quite possible that he may not face charges. he has not been arrested or charged with anything at this point, wolf. >> we will come back for any new information.

kim jong un is charged with another attack nuclear power plants. and a shocking arrest of a u.s. air force veteran who allegedly was trying to join isis. what information was he trying to pass along to terrorists? the real question that needs to be asked is "what is it that we can do that is impactful?" what the cloud enables is computing to empower cancer researchers. it used to take two weeks to sequence and analyze a genome; with the microsoft cloud we can analyze 100 per day. whatever i can do to help compute a cure for cancer, that's what i'd like to do.

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also we have new information on a possible cover attack online against north korea. michael mccaul said quote, there were some cyberresponses to north korea for the sony hack but mccaul did not say who was responsible for the cyber responses. this comes, as we mentioned, word of another alleged cyberattack from north korea that could have been more devastating than the sony hit. inside of a power plant, technicians drill for a cyberattack in response to a nuclear plant system in december. tonight, south korean prosecutors say north korea was part of that attack. that's according to a news agency. the data stolen was far from critical but that south korean nuclear power company runs 23

reactors and experts say this could have been much worse. >> if they could have found that physical path from the internet to the nuclear control rooms, then they could have had just the same access as the operators, the highly trained operators in the plants themselves. they could have potentially caused a catastrophe. >> reporter: just last week the hackers demanded money or they would hand over sensitive information to countries. kim jong-un has a secret cyberattack team. commanded by general kim jong cho, a former bodyguard for kim jong-un's father and grandfather. >> i would suspect they would use 121. a nuclear power plant is a hard target. this is not like trying to take down somebody's website. >> reporter: this attack occurred at the same time as the sony hack. it's one thing to steal e-mails

from angelina jolie, but both attacks carried warnings of physical violence in the nuclear plant hack a threat to destroy the facilities. analysts say it's unlikely that north koreans have the capability to do that to south korean or american reactors but does reflect the brazen aggressiveness of kim jong-un. >> we don't know if he understands the concepts of red lines like his father and grandfather knew. this could qualify under u.s. law as acts of terror. >> noerkrth korea denies hacking the south korean system just as they did deny the sony attack. again, this comes as we heard from the chairman of the house homeland security committee that someone retaliated against north korea for the sony hack with quote, cyberresponses. that's significant. >> very significant.

could the north koreans potentially launch some sort of cyberattack let's say against south korea's power plants or along the lines of the cyberattack that reportedly the u.s. and israel jointly did to slow down iran's nuclear program? >> it's a key question because they want to do something like that. the cyberexperts we speak to say they are really not there yet. they say the north koreans are not as proficient at cyberwarfare as the americans, chinese or russians but are working to get better and it's worth noting that many of their hackers, some of the hacker servers that they use are inside china. so they have access to some of the stuff but they are not quite there yet where they can launch that kind of an attack. >> but they are learning? >> they are learning. they are getting better. >> thank you, brian todd. coming up trained at maintaining weapon systems and charged with trying to join isis in syria. how much damage could he actually have done?

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. happening now, breaking news a u.s. veteran and trained airplane mechanic charged with trying to join terrorists in syria. was he trying to share his expertise with the enemy? putin threat. nearby troops now on full alert.

what's his next move? midair emergency declared as a passenger rushed the cockpit yelling "jihad." how close was he to bringing down a united airlines flight. and aaron schock resigns from congress as an ethics investigation heats up. was he using taxpayers dollars? we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we're following breaking news. a former u.s. air force mechanic charged with trying to join isis forces arrested as he was allegedly trying to enter syria from turkey. and he's no stranger to the fbi, which has been monitoring him for years after we reportedly expressed sympathy for osama bin laden. we're covering that story and much more at this hour with our guests, including congressman adam schiff, are a ranking member of the house intelligence

committee. also joining us are our correspondents joining us from key locations. pamela brown is learning new details of the air man who has been charged with trying to join isis. >> what makes this case so unique is this is the first time we know of an american veteran, a former u.s. airman with a lot of experience in aviation and experience allegedly wanting to commit jihad with isis. a u.s. air force veteran stopped in turkey for allegedly trying to join isis in syria according to just unsealed court documents. 47-year-old tairod nathan webster pugh attempted to enter syria on february 10th. turkish officials stopped him at the airport. he was carrying an ipod and four usb drives and a cell phone. the search of his laptop found repeated search for information

of borders controlled by islamic state. he was denied entry when he refused to allow the officials to search his electronics. pugh worked on airplanes for years in the air force from 1996 to 1990 he received training on installation and maintenance of aircraft engines and weapons. he worked for the american airlines. >> his experience in the private aviation sector disturbs me the most because he would have had access to private american and european-made aircraft. he could have had knowledge about where to stash bombs and weapons. >> reporter: an american airlines employee tipped off the agency over ten years ago that he was sympathizing with bin laden. pugh had converted to islam and had become more radical during that time. >> after 9/11, co-workers were

tipping off the fbi that this guy was sympathetic to bin laden. it's not like he suddenly got influenced by isis propaganda in the last few months and said this is a good group. he's sort of had this ideology for quite some period of time. >> and pugh's defense attorney says that his client plans to plead not guilty when he goes before a judge in new york tomorrow. wolf? >> pamela, thank you very much. in israel prime minister benjamin netanyahu is claiming a win although the exit polls show that the race is too close to call right now. our global affairs correspondent elise labott is joining us from tel aviv. what is the latest over there, elise? >> reporter: wolf f. we're expecting the prime minister here any minute. he's already claiming victory because a day ago he looked like

he was out of the job but now he fought his way back and he's still in the game. it's a neck-and-neck race but a last-minute media blitz may have helped him stave off defeat. millions of israelis cast their votes to determine the next prime minister but tonight it's too close to call. in the final days before the election netanyahu made a major push to the right reversing his commitment to the islamic state and vote to prevent arab parties from unseating him. >> translator: the arab voters are coming in huge amounts to the polls. >> reporter: isaac herzog got a huge campaign boost to get rid of netanyahu but he struggled to explain his vision to the voters who were frustrated when netanyahu focused on security and his neglect of economic issues. casting his vote today, he

repeated -- >> one who wants change and hope for the future of israel should vote for the union led by me. >> reporter: netanyahu and herzog must make back-room deals. as the leader tries to form a government he'll have to balance serious challenges to repair the relationship with the united states its closest ally. with a deadline looming for an iran nuclear deal the new leader will have to voice israeli concerns and deal with a deepening rift with the white house. an uphill battle for benjamin netanyahu, to be sure but even isaac herzog won't have an easy start. >> whether or not the prime minister confident of his victory, is seemingly vindicated would want to somehow reduce the friction i could see that as a possible option.

>> reporter: and wolf it remains to be seen as we said whether prime minister will be able to form that government. even if he did, it would be a very right-wing government. it will be very hard for him to address some of those international issues after he made this real bend to the right. it will be extreme coalition and very hard for him to repair that relationship with the united states with those positions. >> potentially, elise, it could take not only several days but maybe even a few weeks before they determine who is going to be the next prime minister of israel right? >> reporter: that's right. he is telling cnn he realizes it's important to get a government as quick and possible and he wants to start meeting with the various parties as soon as sunday. they will give him their recommendations of who they think should form the government.

if indeed it's prime minister netanyahu or isaac herzog they will form the government. it's also possible considering it's so close, the president will ask herzog and netanyahu to form a unity government and that could take even longer wolf. it could take not only weeks but months. >> we'll see what happens, elise. stand by. we'll continue to monitor and hear what the prime minister has to say in tel aviv. other breaking news we're following, the u.s. military has lost contact with a drone over syria and that country's military is claiming it actually shot down the drone. barbara starr is working this story for us. what are you picking up barbara? >> wolf no confirmation that the drone was shot down but u.s. officials are saying that earlier today the u.s. military lost contact with a predator drone, a u.s. military predator drone. the belief is it was flying over the syrian port city.

there is video being shown on syrian state tv. it's a bit murky. it doesn't show a lot. but it is what the syrians are claiming at least is evidence as you see there, of the u.s. drone being shot down. pretty interesting if the port of latakia is where this indeed happened because that's a port that the russians use all the time. they pull into there, unload weapons, other gear other supplies for the assad regime. so if this drone was conducting surveillance over the port of lchl latakia, it may have been that the u.s. wanted to see what the russians were doing and keeping their eye on. >> there are reports that the russians are moving troops in closer and closer including some of the nato allies war games under way. what's going on? >> you know, vladimir putin doing what he does stirring up tension, stirring up trouble. the big concern is where does

this all go? right now the russian news agency task reporting that a number of back-firebombers are being moved to crimea. these are russian bomber aircraft that are capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear weapons. so a big concern that putin is opening that nuclear door in crimea know there's no evidence that he's moved nuclear weapons in there yet. second move by putin, putting short-range ballistic missiles into a russian military area that butts right up against both the baltics and poland. it's making eastern europe concerned about what putin might be up to. ukraine is not a member of nato. nato has not pledged to defend ukraine but moving this all up against poland and the baltics, the u.s. and entire nato

alliance sworn to defend those kournts kournts outside of aggression. joining me is adam schiff the ranking member of the house intelligence committee. do you have an understanding of what putin is up to right now with moving these aircraft into crimea moving troops closer and closer to some of the nato allies? >> this is what dangerous dictators do. they are playing to an external and internal audience. these aggressive moves have made him very popular at home. it's a way of putting pressure on nato and basically asserting russia's prominence on the world stage. it's very consistent about what we've seen with the provocative moves that putin likes to make and there's no telling where this ends. >> it was very disturbing in the russian state tv documentary, he said a year ago when russian troops were helping their allies

in crimea take over annexed crimea make it a part of russia, he was putting some of his nuclear forces on alert. >> it is very alarming that he would come out and say that if it were true and if it were true even more alarming. at the same time i find it remarkable and a little bit arrogant for him to talk about how, quite openly he was planning the takeover of crimea before they even voted on that. the fact that he's proud of that that the election was essentially a charade is extraordinary. >> i've spoken with certain allies nato allies if one nato ally is attacked all of the other nato allies must come to the defense of that -- they are worried about russia right now. they are not sure that the u.s. and other nato allies are ready to come to their defense. >> he can understand why they are concerned. it's why we have to make sure we do everything that we can to assure them and that means assisting with their policing mission and nato forces in the

region closer to the theater, but there are also i think, very much feeling under assault internally as the russian propaganda machine tries to move their domestic populations. they have a right to be concerned. >> on this issue, barbara was reporting that the u.s. lost a drone over the syrian regime. what can you tell busus about that? >> i can't confirm that's the case. we've had mechanical problems with drones. whenever the drone goes down where it goes down people take credit for it being shot down. that's often not accurate and not the case. if these reports are true that it was shot down who shot it down? a lot of unanswered questions at this point. >> if they have a drone, they could do reverse technology and learn stuff that the u.s. probably don't want them to learn as well. congressman, stand by. we have a lot more to talk about including isis and including the

israeli election results. we'll have a lot more with congressman adam schiff right after this. in my world, wall isn't a street. return on investment isn't the only return i'm looking forward to. for some every dollar is earned with sweat, sacrifice, courage. which is why usaa is honored to help our members with everything from investing for retirement to saving for college. our commitment to current and former military members and their families is without equal. start investing with as little as fifty dollars.

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let's get to more of the breaking news. we're following an american air force veteran and airplane mechanic now formally charged with trying to join isis forces. the fbi had been monitoring him for more than a decade after a co-worker said that he sympathized with osama bin laden. i'm joined by adam schiff. his name is tairod nathan webster pugh. how much damage could he have

done to the united states if in fact he got into syria and connected with isis? >> i'm not sure how much damage he could have done on the intelligence front but what kind of work was he doing as a contractor in iraq and why would we be employing someone who made those expressions earlier about the bombings of the u.s. embassies being justified. the bigger concern is what kind of service he can provide in terms of aircraft either as a mechanic assisting isis or more importantly, whether he has insights into vulnerabilities into commercial aircraft. that's always been a key concern of ours. >> in terms of hijacking and shooting down aircraft or things like that? >> or finding ways to smuggle explosives onto a plane. >> he had been monitored for a long time but i guess they didn't have enough to arrest him until he went to turkey from egypt and was trying to cross into syria.

>> and that's a real challenge because it looks like what we know of the complaint or the public reports that he makes statements to others that are reported but that's not people have a right to express their opinions. so clearly when he took those steps of trying to get into the country, we had enough cause to arrest. >> let's talk about the election results in israel. too close to call right now. very very close between prime minister benjamin netanyahu and isaac herzog his main challenger. even netanyahu is claiming a big victory. what is your reaction? >> my reaction to the last couple of days of the campaign the thing most streaking to me is netanyahu walking away from the commitment to a two-state solution. if he has problems with the current administration and ends up staying in power, we've just added a whole new issue of considerable heft to the differences between netanyahu and the president and that is support for a two-state solution. >> do you mean israel alongside

a new state of pal len stein? >> that's right. if it's more of a campaign pledge that the prime minister plans to shed if he's re-elected this is going to be another substantial problem. we have the very important differences of the iranian nuclear deal and disagreements with the desire ra built of a two-state solution. >> do you think he was just saying that in the final days of the campaign to right-wing voters i'm not going to support a palestine under his administration? assuming he stays on as prime minister and there's no guarantee he will but let's say he does can he quickly walk away from that? >> i don't see how. if there are parties that he brings into a coalition that he was appeasing with that kind of commitment that's something that he walks away from. it's going to be a pivotal issue if he remains at the leadership. in congress we're going to have to make sure that we maintain a

strong relationship with israel no matter who ends up governing in that country, that's something that's been put at risk to the degree that the republican party has become associated with -- it was more of a case it doesn't matter who is running the country. >> because the rep between netanyahu and president obama is it's strained because of the speech before congress. you went to that speech although you weren't happy that he delivered that speech which basically said what the president is trying to do in these negotiations with iran is a bad deal and urged everyone to oppose it. it already was bad then but now could potentially be a whole lot worse if he opposes that so-called two-state solution? >> yes. that is the main takeaway for me. we already had a poor relationship between mr. netanyahu and the president. it got worse with the speech and it may get worse still if the prime minister intends to --

>> if he's re-elected let's say he holds on to these positions, opposes any deal with iran opposes the current notion of the deal owe positions a two-state solution do you think the obama administration backed by congress would actually take steps against israel and reduce economic assistance? for instance military-to-military cooperation, stuff like that? >> i think the military-to-military cooperation is going to go on regardless of who is in that office and differences over policy. but where it may come in, if the prime minister opposes a two-state solution and there are issues before the u.n. because so much of the time is spent on israel and often criticizing israel it's hard to imagine the administration being as eager to rush into israel's defense if there's yet another disagreement on policy. >> and the solutions which are anti-israel, that's what you're talking about, the u.s. may be

more reluctant to do that? >> particularly if they do with a two-state solution. we'll have a very big divide on that important policy. >> first of all, he's not re-elected yet. it's going to take several days if not several weeks, before there's a determination who is going to be the next prime minister of israel. this exclusive poll shows 68% of the people support using direct diplomacy to try to prevent iran from developing nuclear weapons. 29% oppose. there's a decisive majority that likes the idea that the obama administration is trying to end the possibility of iran getting a nuclear bomb. what are you hearing about those negotiations in switzerland right now? >> well it certainly sounds like they are close and the white house has been briefing us and the team has been briefing us from time to time. but it's also a situation where it could fall apart. there still are remaining significant differences and whether we can close that gap or the negotiating teams can or not, we'll find out soon. i wouldn't be completely

surprised if we get to the end of the month and we don't have as many specifics as many in congress would like and then i expect we'll have a debate over whether there's enough common agreement to hold off any legislative action until the real deadline in june. >> you're the ranking democrat on the house intelligence committee. are you being briefed as thoroughly as you'd like from the obama administration of what is going on with the negotiations? >> i have been. they have been very frequently coming to the hill or inviting us to the white house for briefings on this. and so i think the communication on that has been very good. there are certainly policy differences among us on the hill but i don't think any of us can complain that we've been left out of the loop. >> are you comfortable potentially, as the report suggests that after ten years all bets are off and iran can do whatever it wants? >> we'll see. ten years seems to be to be a short period of time. it goes by in a heartbeat and

particularly with a regime in terms of millennia not the rej regime itself ten years is a blip on the screen. it depends on what the alternatives are and my concern all along on this has been at that timetable, let's say this breaks apart and we have the sanctions. is there enough time for the sanctions to take place before we get to any red lines? and i'm not sure there is. >> congressman schiff thank you for joining us. >> thank you. we're getting more information on the u.s. veteran trying to join isis. and then the passenger on a united airlines flight that tried to storm the cabin.

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we're following the braking news an airline mechanic charged with trying to join isis after he was arrested in turkey allegedly trying to make his way into syria. let's get more on what is going on. joining us our cnn political comment commentator peter beinart and philip mudd.

thanks to you for joining us. the guy actually makes his way to turkey and is only arrested after trying to cross the border into syria. >> the first one is he's a clean skin in business. he's got a document they can get him back to the united states. the more significant issue, wolf is the digital footprint he's leaving. by that he had to buy a ticket to go to turkey and he's online looking at websites that would show him entry into a place like syria. if you're like me a counterterrorism professional you may look at the physical footprint you would look at in the 20th century. you're allowed to travel to turkey and allowed to look at bin laden and travel sites in syria. you have to change the law because right now you can't look at that stuff without cause. >> mike rogers you were chairman of the house intelligence committee for a long time. apparently this guy was known

for a long time going back to at least 2001 to 9/11 if you will when he started telling friends and colleagues he supported bin laden. were you briefed on that? >> it depends. if there's an action that this individual was going to take an affirmative action the fbi does hundreds thousands of cases per year on individuals who appear to be self-radicalizing and engaged in at least speech that would indicate that they are going to take the next step to have an aspiration to commit an act of terror. >> are you surprised that a military veteran -- i know it's bad that any american might be considering this but a vet, were you surprised that a vet would do this? >> i'm not shocked. we're seeing a certain amount of this going on in the u.s. military. we saw it recently at ft. bliss in el paso. i'm much more worried about his passport and his ability to get back than his military knowledge

going forward. >> let me go to peter beinart. netanyahu is claiming victory in israel but it's by no means a done deal. it could take days, weeks before a new government is formed either netanyahu or isaac herzog. give me your analysis. >> this is much better for netanyahu than most people have thought. running up to this election people thought herzog would have an advantage. he does seem to have an advantage. netanyahu has a better chance of forming a government than herzog does and the consequences of that are really going to be quite severe. netanyahu ran, i think, an openly racist campaign at the very end, basically warning his voters that arabs were voting in droves. his own citizens demonizing his own arab citizens and said he would not support a palestinian state, reversing the pledge he made back in 2009. i think if he is the next prime

minister which i think he's prepped likely, the relations between him and the obama administration is going to get worse. >> the relationship has been pretty strong but if netanyahu stays on as prime minister and opposes the president on the nuclear negotiations with iran opposing what he used to support, a two-state resolution is it going to affect the u.s./israeli relations? >> this has had a deterioration factor for years. despite that the relationship between our military and intelligence officials has never been better. i've been in rooms with mr. netanyahu, prime minister netanyahu in discussions on iran on isis on relationships between he and the president of the united states. he feels passionately about it but also understands this is a critical relationship for the benefit of israel and for the united states and i think an election can be a healing process. i think we'll get through the election. i do believe he'll end up

forming a coalition to remain as prime minister and then those dialogues will rekick off. >> it's going to be close. we'll see what happens. your reaction? >> well had a european responsibility for those relationships between israel and the united states. they have never been stronger at the military-to-military level. but a fundamental plank of u.s. policy begins to put real stress on the political side of this thing and i think we'll have a significant bleed-over. >> you worked for the cia for a long time. is that relationship between the cia and assad as strong as chairman rogers is suggesting? >> boy, it's a rare moment that i have to agree with the chairman. i prefer to fight for him. but you're responsible as an intelligence professional to give the president and others the best information you can. the israelis are very very good on the iranian nuclear problem. the security services are going

to talk because they have to give the best picture to the leadership and both sides have a piece of that puzzle. >> you were the nato supreme allied commander. you know what russia is all about. what is up with putin? >> i think we're seeing act three of a three-act play. act one was the annexation of crimea which violates every norm of international law. act two is this insurgency that he's fostering. act three, unfortunately, may be a push towards mariupol. it's a very dangerous next step. >> do you agree, mr. chairman? >> i do. they've already voted that they would like to become part of russia according to the parliament. that's a strategic piece of land for putin. i think he'd be interested there. think about where he is at. he has annexed crimea his

numbers at home are off the chart despite the financial problems. i think he thinks he's doing well. he's just modernized his military huge operations training operations in the arctic which is really a message to the baltic states. if you think about his lens he locks at it as i didn't want georgia in nato and ukraine in nato. i've got both of those things. the world is going my way. he's looking at it very differently than we would look at it. >> let me get peter beinart's thoughts. >> russia is still basically a declining power. it's a power that doesn't have any economic foundation other than basically exporting oil and gas. its population is declining quite dramatically. and although he may be able to keep the border states out of nato nato is far, far deeper towards russia than anyone else would have imagined when ronald reagan was president.

now it's ukraine. so i don't think when you look -- putin may have his own views but when you step back it's not a story of putin winning. >> mike rogers admiral and philip mudd peter beinart, thank you. a passenger stormed a cockpit screaming "jihad". and the embattled u.s. congressman aaron schock announcing his resignation.

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we're learning new details of what one passenger calls the scariest moment of her life when a man rushed the cockpit screaming "jihad." our aviation correspondent rene marsh is at dulles airport outside of washington, d.c., and what are you finding out? >> reporter: wolf this all happened some 7,000 feet in the air and now the man at the center of this midair scare is being held at a local hospital for observation. >> okay okay, okay. >> this out of control passenger tackled midair onboard united airlines flight 1074 before he

and lij allegedly tried to rush the cockpit yelling "jihad jihad quits. >> i'm sorry so sorry. >> we're going to get you off this plane. >> the flight was cleared for takeoff and the boeing 737 climbed to 7,000 feet when the pilots were forced to make an emergency call to air traffic control. >> declaring an emergency due to a passenger disturbance. >> reporter: the plane from washington dulles airport bound for denver was in the air roughly five minutes when the pilot was forced to turn around. >> he ran forward towards the cockpit and he is being restrained by other passengers. the cockpit is secure and we would just like to return to the airport and have the authorities meet us. >> reporter: in the back of the plane, a fellow passenger captured video of the man with bruises below his right cheek and near his mouth. airport police removed the man

from the plane and transported him to a local hospital for observation. a spokeswoman for dulles airport says no passengers were injured and no weapons were found on board. we should point out this man has not been arrested or charged with anything at this point. if it is determined that he is indeed mentally ill, he may not be charged after all of this. wolf we should point out that a government official tells me they've looked into his background and so far no links to terrorism. wolf? >> so there's no explanation they are offering as to why he was shouting jihad as he was rushing towards the cockpit? >> right now the focus really is on his mental state and perhaps that's what this will all end up to be a situation in which someone who is mentally ill and when you -- as you know when you have those sorts of situations things happen and it

may not necessarily mean a learning to terrorism. and i believe all of the authorities looking into this situation at this point are leaning to the idea that perhaps this person does have mental illness. wolf? >> rene thanks very much. let's get more analysis. joining me is tom fuentes, former fbi assistant director. what are authorities right now looking for? >> wolf i spoke to a senior fbi official and they say they have discovered no links to terrorism. he's under observation for mental health issues and there are no charges to be filed. the fact that he's mentally ill, they will most likely not use the justice system and will get him the treatment he needs. >> you can hear him screaming, please stop please stop.

he sounds almost like he's becoming almost apologetic. >> it sounded like that yeah. that once he was tackled and on the floor of the plane and they had subdued him, that he was apologizing and acting a little bit hysterical. he doesn't sound like a person that is very sane. >> and a sane person would know that that cockpit door that's secure that's locked. after 9/11 pilots all commercial pilots they don't fly with that door open. >> that's true. the same person would know not to shout "jihad" because there could be an air marshall on that plane that is going to shoot you dead. you don't actually do that unless you're committing jihad. >> no weapons. so we'll see what happens. you're probably right. thanks very much tom fuentes, for that. a being showing resignation of a rising republican star.

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breaking news. republican star now stopping down from korngcongress amid questions about his spending. a lavish redecoration of his office led to questions about his extensive travel. let's get some more joining us. dana bash and jeff and brianna keiler. >> it was too much to stain what

was going on. it was just revelation after revelation. reporters found that people got from the lawyers that he has to hire to do a forensic search into all of the mismanagement of his extenses. >> like what? >> for the past 24 hours, the big thing, questions about a political donor having some donations to a housing thing that he was dealing that was probably improper. this is the most stunning. he actually put in for his expenses through taxpayers for his mileage on his car. that was 90,000 more miles than he had on his odometer. those are some things that said enough. the ethics committee and the house was investigating. he resigned. >> technically that stealing taxpayer money.

>> he's giving the money back today. >> you had an interview with him after he redecorated his office rather lavishly as well. >> right. it started with the office that raised eyebrows. every other office is beige. his was shiny red as we're seeing. he did not want us to have this interview. we waited several hours. we finally talked to him. we asked what was he thinking. he said i've never seen downtown abbey. he said i've never been a crusty old white guy. heist i'm different. i came to congress at 27. he thought he played by different rules but he needs to play by the same rules. he got in trouble with it. he was a celebrity more than a politician and those things caught pup with him. >> did he really have any choice but to resign?

>> it seemed like it got to the point where he didn't. at first it was the downtown abbey office. he quoted taylor swift. i understand it was the mileage that got him in trouble. they were not aware about this mileage issue and so it kind of seems like not that it was the straw that broke the camel's back but the log that broke the camel's back. leaders didn't know about it. if they had then there might have been some more pressure. you saw speaker boehner welcome the resignation and that's pretty telling. >> loretta lynch is supposed to become the next attorney general of the united states but her confirmation is being held up right now. there's a lot of out rage. what's going on? >> there's so much politics being played to be fair on

both sides. mitch mcconnell said he was going to hold up her nomination for another piece of legislation, which is great bipartisan support against human trafficking. there's some politics going on a with that. that's why the democrats are holding that up. he said we're not going to tough her until this happens. let's cut through all of that for a second. the democrats it is in their interest we want to be honest to slow the trains down in order to keep mitch mcconnell as somebody they can call a leader. the goal is to show he can lead the senate. on the flip side republicans see this nomination as they did as someone very qualified. she could be attorney general. >> she would be the first african-american. republicans revolted against.

they see her as the last way to basically protest against that plan. there are lots of politics going on on both sides. we believe the longest time an attorney general no, ma'amminee has been held up since ed. >> at the end of the day they don't like eric holder. politics on both sides on this. at the end of the day, how long can they hold her up. if this goes into april, pretty unthinkable. >> they don't want to lose more republican support. >> mitch mcconnell keeps saying on this human trafficking, who supports human trafficking. the democrats voted for the legislation that included this little loophole if you will, that would brar the u.s. from paying for abortions. now they have come up and

discovered it. they're not going to vote for it. >> democrats messed up. they didn't do something really basic which is read the bill properly to find what is known as hyde language which has been in spending bills to prevent federal dollars, taxpayer dollars to be used for abortions. there have been some internal back and forth. there's been on this issue for months and months in which republicans kind of relented and said we won't do it at the last minute they snuck it in. democrats didn't notice. it is their fault they didn't see it. however, we are where we are. now that they are protesting republicans are saying sorry, we're not going to give in. it's also a base issue. republicans don't want -- the base doesn't want them. >> i talked to a top democrat, i said how could you miss that. they said the hyde amendment was not specifically listed. it didn't say hyde amendment. the republicans listed seven

changes and this with not one of them but you're right they totally missed it. it was someone from the lobby that found the change in here. it was a mistake on their part no question about it. >> the rule you got to read this legislation before you vote on it. you can't just assume you know what's in it. >> you do need to read it. that's why it's so important. there's so many times where we have been notifyied to many bills by outside lobbying groups. some of them might be non-profit but they are still lobbying it. they go through it with a fine tooth comb. >> talking to democrats on capitol hill they probably would have given in to a certain extent on human trafficking bill but when mitch mcconnell made it an if or or then you have all of these democratic constituencies coming out making an issue. >> thanks very much. good discussion. remember you can always follow

us on twitter. tweet me. you can tweet the show. please be sure to join us again tomorrow right here in "the situation room." you can watch us live or dvr the show so you won't miss a moment. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer. erin burnett outfront starts right now. breaking news the u.s. military confirms it's lost contact with a predator drone over syria. was it shot down? this as we're learning new information about a u.s. veteran trying to join isis. is benjamin netanyahu about to lose. late breaking developments on that. new developments in the case of robert durst. could he be linked to another woman's disappearance? let's go outfront.