is in afghanistan fighting al qaeda. but given what richard clarke says about the number of al qaeda in yemen, is yemen next? >> reporter: well, yemen is certainly next. there are five or six times as many al qaeda fighters in yemen as there might be in afghanistan. the problem with al qaeda is it has morphed, there are franchises in yemen, in northern africa, in lots of places. but yemen is a place where particular particularly virulent strain of al qaeda, with anwar awlaki, going ahead and urging other younger muslims that they are right to attack the u.s., that that is the thing they can do and be proud of. >> it's a very difficult situation. we thank you, as always, brian ross. we'll have more on the political implications of the attempted attack later tonight in the broadcast. >>> when we come back, on a totally different front, we turn to sports, and the cottage industry being built in miami around lebron james and company. host: could switching to geico really save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance? do

because it's had al qaeda members coming from saudi arabia because saudi arabia cracked down on al qaeda. the government in yemen is relatively week. there are tribes there against the government that al qaeda has been able to find space to develop not only the underpants bombs used at christmas but a new type of device that's being shipped around the world by these freight carriers. there's clearly al qaeda there feels that it has the space to develop these particular weapons and experiment with them in the way that we're seeing right now, larry. >> larry: nic robertson, our cnn senior international correspondent. when we come back, we'll talk to the first person ever to head the department of homeland security, former governor of pennsylvania tom ridge next. ♪ uh oh. sorry, son. you still have too many of 'em. [ female announcer ] you can't pass inspection with lots of pieces left behind. that's why there's new charmin ultra strong. its enhanced diamondweave texture is soft and more durable versus the ultra rippled brand. more durable so it holds up better for a dependable clean. fewer

qaeda in afghanistan. even though the united states has 100,000 troops in afghanistan, and no troops in yemen. they are somewhat different. but they are probably controlled by bin laden, remotely, from wherever he is. >> and i know you've talked to the counter-terrorism officials you know so well. what did you sense from them today about the degree of this plot? >> this is a very serious plot. they were on it quickly and they had good luck. but this means they're going to have to step up their efforts against al qaeda in yemen and yemen is a government that's friendly to the united states, but it's a weak government, and it's been unable to stop al qaeda. >> well, martha, you were there. we watched you on the terror trail in yemen. and, there's a name that's come up over and over again in these terror plots and it's anwar al awlaki, born in new mexico in the united states, he was an imam in california and virginia. tell us about him and al qaeda there as you saw them. >> he is a top target of the cia and t

i'm talking about al qaeda, i'm not just talking about al qaeda in the fatah area in afghanistan. i'm talking about the franchises including in yemen, which have demonstrated very clearly that not only are they intending to do certain things against this homeland but that, as we saw last christmas day, that they will in fact take steps to carry out those intentions. the american people should be very pleased we were able to get insight into the fact that there were suspicious packages out there that we had to find, and i'm not going to go into the operational details. i think that's the reason why we have a security system in place that has these redundancies and the ability to detect things from inception all the way to the possible execution of an operation. so we were on to this but i'm not going to go into details about how we knew. antibiotic in the arabian peninsula is an organization of several hundred individuals that are disbursed throughout the country. they are murderers and they are determined to carry out attacks against innocent lives whether they be yemeni, american

." >> this week, we learn two al qaeda leaders were killed in droned attacks in europe. the clash of emerging economic titans, that democracy versus dictatorship. and we talk to comedian russell brand about celebrity culture. >> people enjoy narratives. i suppose that's why politics have become inundated with narratives. people no longer want to grapple with the depths of the grand ideas. >> a british man killed in pakistan was being groomed to be an al qaeda terrace. that is the claim of the security source who has spoken to us. this comes as threat levels were raised across europe, leading to the evacuation of the eiffel tower. several militants have been killed in recent days, including a man who has been on the fbi's most wanted list for 10 years. this program source says the man was involved in plots to bring mayhem to the u.k. and elsewhere similar to attacks in mumbai. >> it has been an intensive month for drone attacks in north waziristan. more than 20 with more than 100 killed. critics say amongst them will be in a sense, but it is clear many of these strikes ha

on my orders the united states military has begun strikes against al qaeda terrorist training camps and military installations of the taliban regime in afghanistan with. the joint us british air assault would be followed within days by a ground assault and the initial attack did remove the taliban from power but since two thousand and six afghanistan has seen threats to its stability from increased taliban led insurgent activity record levels of illegal drug production at a fragile government with limited control outside of kabul now during the two thousand and eight presidential election then senator barack obama campaigned against the war in iraq calling afghanistan the right war the place where our focus should lie the central front in the war on terror is not iraq and it never was and that's why the second goal of my new strategy will be taking the fight to al qaeda in afghanistan and pakistan. so when he became president he turned to what was until then the forgotten war and turned it into a quagmire that we'll never forget ten months ago obama announced a huge escalation with anot

iran didn't support al qaeda, they had no special affection for al qaeda. in fact, they had put under house arrest some al qaeda people in tehran. what part of that is not true? >> i'm in a difficult situation because everything i know about this i'm not allowed to talk about. i think there's a more ambiguous sense about what iran's... a more ambiguous relationship than simply that. >> rose: and they're within elements that may or may not be represented by the iranian... of the government per se that engages in these kind of activities? >> i think it's fair to assume the type of people you're talking about are under control of the government so if they are released it's probably a governmental decision not an independent entity. >> rose: what about yemen? where does he become a leading as a $25 million-- i think-- target on his head, is it not? >> i don't want to talk about target on his head. (laughs) that's a sensitive issue. but i will say that anwar al-awlaki, who is the... >> rose: an american citizen. >> an american citizen who's now we believe in yem

by al qaeda.irk, the cole's commander then, saw the bodies trapped in the wreckage. >> this is an act of war. >> reporter: john and gloria lost their son, kenneth, in the attack. >> kenneth was on opposite side of the bulkhead where they had detonated and that's why he was just slaughtered so bad. >> reporter: after the attack, president clinton vowed the u.s. would hold the terrorists accountable. >> you will not find a safe harbor. we will find you. and justice will prevail. >> reporter: ten years later, that promise has gone largely unfulfilled. the u.s. did not strike back at al qaeda for the cole. despite exhaustive investigations, arrests and indictments of some of the terrorists responsible no one has ever been held accountable in an american courtroom. two suspects arrested in yemen within weeks of the bombing confessed. but later, escaped or were let go. the alleged mastermind captured by the cia in 2002, waterboarded and shipped to guantanamo, has never been prosecuted due to political d

it's an ideal ground for al qaeda to base themselves, to have their training camps. >> reporter: and yemen is where anwar al-awlaki has gone, the american-born jihaddist and militant prop gantist warning there is more to come. >> america cannot and will not win. the tables have turned and there's no rolling back of the worldwide jihad movement. >> reporter: and the yemen-based militants have combined their ambition with technical innovation. jihaddist web sites have included instructions on how to hide explosives in picture frames and cassettes in order to avoid detection. the uss "colonoscopy" was attack in yemen 10 years ago using an explosive-laden dinghy. >> the idea is the west can be lucky once but not all the times. i think we will have more of this coming. >> reporter: and coming from yemen. mark phillips, cbs news, london. >> glor: nato soldiers in afghanistan have killed some 50 taliban insurgents in separate battles. officials say at least 38 were killed during an attack on a combat outpost in pakika province and at least 10 insurgents died during an attack in southern hel

al qaeda even produces its first online english language magazine from yemen called "inspire." with articles like "how to make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom." the magazine calls on supporters to launch as many attacks as possible, arguing that even if they fail, they create publicity, disruption and economic loss. >> al qaeda at this point understands that it doesn't need to carry out successful terrorist attacks to have the impact that it's looking for. >> reporter: while there are al qaeda cells all over the world, lester, the u.s. officials are particularly concerned about the one in yemen, because of its clear desire to carry out an attack inside the united states. >> richard, i want to ask you, there was a u.p.s. 747 freighter that crashed in dubai about a month ago. it was presumed an accident, there was smoke reported in the cockpit. i think it killed both of the pilots. is anyone going back now and thinking maybe there's some red flags that have been raised in that crash? >> reporter: yes. nbc news has learned -- this is a very interesting story. there was a crash i

. >> at al qaeda video from earlier this summer schilling german-speaking militants training for -- the german- speaking militants training for jihad. they claim to be preparing for an attack on a pakistani army position. this was part of an attempt to disrupt an al qaeda plot against europe. >> there has been a plot to try to attack multiple times in europe. there should not be any panic. european and intelligence services are working together. a lot of people have come on the radar screen. that needs to be dealt with. >> germany provides one link to the plot. a dozen disappeared from hamburg in 2009. some attended a mosque. over in a afghanistan, one of the germans was arrested this summer. he told u.s. officials of plans for commando-style attacks in europe. many of these were this -- aimed at disrupting a plot. an early attack killed a britain. germany, france, and britain are all possible targets. there may be differences between europe and america about how soon to attack. >> germans are thinking, we will let this develop more. clearly, they are still over in pakistan. let's see w

what does that tell us about al qaeda? we know they always want to go after american citizens if they can. >> al qaeda is still there and can still plot these attacks. it also shows bin laden is very invested in this plot and it was an ambitious plot from al qaeda. >> paul, what else are you learning from your sources across europe as they look at this threat level? we know they are not changing it. what else are you learning? >> the big unknown here is this thing imminent or a long range plan? we're not getting very good answers on that at this point. i think all of the european counterterrorism agencies are cooperating with americans but they don't want to alarm the public. we have to remember here that there are only two successful attacks in europe since 9/11. that's very important to remember. >> one of the other things is this mosque here and we talk about the questioning going on in afghanistan right now. there were several other members from this mosque that went with him. what's known by the people you speak to ab

the administration has tied the plot to al qaeda in yemen. we'll get the latest developments from the president's top counterterrorism adviser in just a moment. but first abc's senior foreign affairs correspondent martha raddatz explains how this poor country of 23 million people became the major training ground for al qaeda. ♪ >> reporter: al qaeda first used yemen to launch attacks against the u.s. in october of 2000 when suicide bombers rammed their speedboat packed with explosives into the "uss cole" killing 17 sailors. >> we've seen movement for many years recruiting of young warriors, yunji haddists. >> reporter: u.s. officials say yemen now surpasses any other country in the world in posing a direct threat to the u.s. and the man they believe is most responsible for carrying out those threats is american-born radical cleric anwar awlaki. the obama administration has approved the targeted killing of awlaki, an extraordinary turn of events. just months after 9/11, awlaki, who was an imam at a mosque in falls church, virginia, was invited

i think this is a failed operation by al qaeda. it reminds us to keep vigilant we shouldn't amplify their failures into things that are scaring us unduly. >> two guys who have been on this story all day and know the region very well and the subject matter, thanks. >>> because of this latest scare, homeland security has said that passengers may see some changes in security once again at the nation's airports. tom costello covers aviation for us. he's at reagan national in washington tonight. tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. 100% of cargo on u.s. domestic passenger planes is screened by tsa certified shippers. but all cargo worldwide and all international flights, it's up to the airlines themselves to screen the cargo. security experts believe that al qaeda is still aiming at passenger planes. enhanced security at the nation's airports is likely to include a show of force, including specially trained, heavily armed teams of officers. stepped up scrutiny at checkpoints. more bomb sniffing dogs in terminals and behind the sce

. >> reporter: police across europe are looking for ten al qaeda suspects. u.s. officials are worried. >> it speaks to al qaeda central still having the capability to threaten the west. >> reporter: osama bin laden is back in business, five german recruits killed by a rocket from a u.s. drone. key intelligences coming from an al qaeda captive afghanistan. >> the spectrum of information suggested we needed to put something out to warn people about the potential for attacks. . >> reporter: what might be the target? big train stations and transits are guarded. >> if they want to cook up a bomb in their kitchen or pick up a gun and shoot someone, that's far more difficul to stop that a sophisticated airline plot. >> reporter: officials most fear something like the 2008 jihad attack in ndia. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. >>> not even a full week into october, and already11 nato service members have been killed in afghanistan, including for just yesterday. their nationalities have not been disclosed. on monday, aexplosions kiled up to four afghan police o

it is time to refocus america's $100 billion-a-year investment away from insurgents and back to al qaeda. >> we can start to not be spending money again on the war. >> the white house reports pakistan's military is backing off direct conflict with the taliban and al qaeda. now there is word the taliban is in talks with afghanistan's government, possibly to end this war. the u.s. pullout is supposed to begin next summer. the beginning of year 10 offers

, that al-qaeda was behind this plot? >> when i look at the information that we've received from the british authorities about the i.e.d.s and the construction of them and sophistication of them, it has hallmarks of the al-qaeda in arabian peninsula. and we know aqap has been vocal about threatening attacks and they've tried to attack the homeland. the packages were destined for the homeland. >> chris: apaq is al-qaeda in arabian peninsula. i want to ask about several stories out there and you can tell us if they're true or not. there is a report that the british, with a tip that there was a bomb on one of the cargo planes, searched the plane and they missed the bomb. only after the other bomb was found in dubai they did another search and found the first bam, and that it was that sophisticated. is that true, sir? >> british identified the bomb. that was the first one that was discovered. as a result of that, they worked close with the authorities and so they were able to do additional tests and were able to find it. it w

this is becoming a staging ground for al qaeda to launch global attacks. and so, it has to be an area of focus for the u.s. government. >> the explosives that were contained in these packages yesterday were particularly complex. is yemen in a position that it is sophisticated enough to pull off a truly large-scale u.s. attack? >> oh, i think they are. and i think the problem here is that the affiliate there in yemen is made up of seasoned, hardened al qaeda operatives, the leader is a long-time bin laden ally trained by al qaeda. the fighters that they have along with them, the expertise, is real. and so, the attempt that you see to probe our defenses, i think, are very real attempts by al qaeda in arabian peninsula to find our vulnerabilities and actually attack us and i think we've got to be quite conscious of that and defend against it. >> juan zarate, thank you if being with us. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> now what else is making news this morning, whit johnson is at the news desk. good morning. >> good morning, everyone. straight to breaking ne

qaeda all around the world.cond mission became now we're going to turn afghanistan into such a stable developed country that none of this can ever happen again. we will probably have to be there with an over the horizon presence, we will probably have to be watching it the way we are watching other parts of the world. it's important to understand this is one battlefield in a war on terror. we can't get obsessed with the geography of the taliban. >> the taliban, there's a lot of different pieces of of it so how you negotiate with an organization where there's no clear hierarchy. >> that's proved to be one of the difficulties my guess is actually the nodes of control are all in pakistan and that's one of the problems we're finding. >> we went in because we were concerned about al qaeda. part of the reason is that al qaeda has left and gone to pakistan or somali or yemen. so we have to chase them there and what is to prevent al qaeda from going back into afghanistan, how long does this last? >> the president had sa

again something directed by bin laden and al qaeda to hit in european cities should not be ignored. at the same time we shouldn't overact. there isn't enough information to suggest something is going to happen tomorrow. but it does suggest americans need to be vigilant and need to be aware of their surroundings when they are traveling to european cities and just be conscious of the fact that there may be an attack sometime in the future. >> mitchell: cbs news national security analyst juan zarate, as alwayss thanks. suspected militants attacked roughly 20 tanker trucks near islamabad, pakistan, tonight as they were preparing to carry oil to nato and u.s. troops in afghanistan. pakistan police say at least two people were killed in the attack on the tankers which reportedly were parked at a poorly guarded terminal. >> and now to politicsment election day 2010 is now less than one month away. and it has been a very busy weekend of campaigning across the country. one of the critical contests in the fight for control of congress is in kentucky where the u.s. senate race between a tea pa

it is further evidence of how far al qaeda has fallen.ed attack on the miami.homeland. now it's you anible to do that osama bin laden admits as much, says instead the organization is focused on fighting the u.s. overseas, in afghanistan, iraq, yemen and somalia. now in recent years, in three of those four locations, al qaeda has had very little success, with the exception of being afghanistan. indeed, other articles in the magazine go even further in admitting the success of america's counterterrorism efforts. an article called "the jihadi experience" says that al qaeda is no longer able to operate the same way it did before 9/11 because of the american response which "destroyed a great majority of the existing secret organizations." and points out they have never really been able to rebuild. so while the old methods don't work, al qaeda seems to be inscribing to the "inspire" a new way at getting what they call the terrorist state of america. the publication encourages lone gunmen types already in the u.s. to attack the homeland, folks f

>> what's different is that this is an al qaeda central plot. it has direct links back to the safe haven in pakistan. bin laden may have had some role, maybe not direct operational but certainly blessing or providing guidance, the fact that there's any plot that's directly related to al qaeda central is what's making the u.s. government and the european government so concerned and so nervous right now. >> the u.s. has not issued a call for vigilance yet, but if you're someone who's about to get on a plane for europe, if it was you or your family, would you take that trip? >> lester, i leave thursday night for london and i look forward to that trip. i think we all should travel. we should never engage in self-deterrence in the light of terrorism threats. >> appreciate your candidness and your information. roger cressey, thank you so much. >>> the fight against the taliban and al qaeda has increasingly carried over from afghanistan into neighboring pakistan. the u.s. launched two more drone attacks on targets there today. the attacks capped a week

we begin with the growing heres that al-qaeda may be plotting to attack european capitals. it's prompted the state department to issue a new travel alert to americans heading overseas. jim maceda has more from london. >> in addition to the u.s. travel alert, now we're learning that japan has joined in. it has issued a travel alert as well. so all japanese thinking about or on their way to any country in europe. also, we know about the latest british travel alert. raising its level of threat for brittons traveling or living in france or germany, raising that from general to a high alert. now, this puts great britain in line with the other countries that would be potential target is in any al-qaeda attack. that would include france, germany and the united states. we have underline that it's a high level, but not a critically high level. there is no sense at all there is an imminent threat on the horizon. unlike the previous alerts, these are nonspecific. there is no specific warning to any one from the united states, britain, japan or other countries to avoid any other countr

guest: the fact is, of course, that the taliban had not had that alliance with al qaeda and al qaeda had not watched those attacks, they would probably still be in power today. but would probably still be recognized as the government. they have to make that link. with a break it? if they said they did, how could we be sure that that was the case? how could we make it clear that they were not welcome in afghan territory. difficult questions for the taliban to answer. given the way that tribes operate in that area, saying that we have nothing to do with them ever again, the people do not work like that over there. people say that you have to keep quiet if you want to live with us. they cannot easily say that you have no room in our house. they're not quite confident overboard what has been saved. the two things that they cannot do, the internal affairs of another country, they cannot allow anyone to do it from within their territory. they have made that very clear. what they're trying to do now is put their hopes into other bits of the movement. is getting much harder to say that they'

>> what's different i that this is an al qaeda central plot. bin laden may have had some role, maybe not direct operatiol but certainly blessing or providing guidance, if there's any plot that's directly related to al qaeda central is what is making the u.s. government and the western europe peen government so concerned and so nervous right now. >> if you're someone who's about to getn a plane for europe, if it was you or your family, would you take that trip? >> i leave thursday night for london, and i look forward to that trip. we should never engage in self-deterrence in the light of terrorism threats. >>> the fight against the taliban and al qaeda has increasingly carried over from afghanistan into neighboring pakistan. the u.s. launched two more drone attacks on targets there "today." the attacks capped a week of marked tension. we're join by john yang in the afghan capital of kabu >> reporter: there are conflicting reports on the death toll from those missile strikes but local government officials tell nbc news that at least 14 people wer

al qaeda is obsessed with aviation. >> reporter: under law 100% of cargo shipped in the bellies of u.s. passenger planes is now supposed to be screened, and the tsa says about 80% of cargo on inbound international passenger flights is checked, but critics say those numbers are exaggerated. and what about those cargo only planes like the ones involved in friday's scare? >> what i hear still is about 90% of that cargo is not screened, at least where you could determine what was in the containers. >> reporter: analysts point to several reasons, the most blaring shippers often allow their most trusted customers to send parcels as secure meaning those packages regularly scoot through without further security checks. then there's lackluster screening at overseas airports, cargo that won't fit inside x-ray machines and a lack of costly gamma ray machines that can see through steel and detect explosives. >> the remedy is to use the proper technology. that's the remedy. make the investment. >> reporter: critics say up till now shipping companies have fought stricter cargo screening rules becaus

new questions are raised in the campaign against al qaeda militants. clearing up the toxic sludge in hungary. it will take at least one year and tens of millions of dollars. it is midday in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington, 4:00 in the afternoon in pakistan. the scene of a attack on a nato convoy. the sixth attack in as many days. those attacks have occurred inside of their border crossings in afghanistan. hundreds of trucks with crucial supplies have been left stranded. >> dense black smoke fills the sky after another attack on nato fuel tankers. the target this time is a depot on the outskirts, said the blaze by one dozen gunmen. >> this morning our people came under fire. some of our men went to the tankers. these are all oil tankers. >> the bbc correspondent had a lucky escape when a tanker exploded right behind him. the taliban says that they carry out the attack and threatened further strikes. saying that the more they are hit by u.s. drones, the more they will hit the convoy is. 6000 lorries have been at a standstill since last week when pakistan