nick paton walsh, thank you for that. >> so a deadly plane crash to report to you in alabama.ideo. it's just a red dot and then it's a fireball as it approaches the birmingham, alabama, airport. the pilot and co-pilot were both killed. it's an airbus a-300. luckily no one on the ground was injured. what a video. what a crash image. that flight originated in louisville, kentucky, and the national transportation safety board team was dispatched right away to investigate what is left of that wreckage. >>> also, to egypt now. a bloody and deadly crackdown happening right as we speak in the streets against supporters of the president who was ousted, mohammed morsi. security forces raided forces in the city of cairo. at least 95 people have been killed. and the number of wounded is pretty staggering. about 500 at this point. and among the dead, we're sorry to report one of our colleagues, cameram cameraman mick dean, was killed in this. they've posted a curfew in cairo and other cities across egypt. state tv says that all violators will be jailed. so stay tuned for more violence the

nick paton walsh in new york, ivan watson at the turkish/syrian border and ben wedeman here with us. nick, i want to start with you here because you're sitting next to me and it's polite. military action, the president makes clear again today the president thinks the u.s. should strike but limited. what would be the likely effect on the ground? >> limited and narrow, you risk potentially not sending a strong enough signal to assad that he can't use chemical weapons and gives a license to continue as he wanted. to too hard, you degrade the regime too much and give the people most likely to take advantage of that and the rebel rank, the islamist extremists, a big window to increase their control in the country. strong argument the time for that intervention in this limited narrow way passed. if you did it a year ago when there was still kind of al qaeda inflated extremists hasn't risen independent ranks, that could have turned the battlefield. now it's the u.s. saying we need a bit of a punishment strike here to set another red line and then, okay, carry on as normal. >> that's what it

joining me is nick paton walsh. what more do we know about it, nick?> reporter: state media is saying that he was picked up not far from the mosque where the large sit-in protest that was disrupted five days ago where they kept the dead. they've been showing pictures of him on state television in a white shirt and next to him is a man guarding him with an ak-47. these images very much part of the government. in the past few days they are fighting terrorism and that's obviously their word for the muslim brotherhood. now, mohamed badie in custody. he's been wanted for a number of charges, a whole scope of things it brotherhood are accused of. but this, of course, will feed in to the fears that now the brotherhood are going to be pushed underground. there's no scope for negotiation. that's been off the cards for a number of days, if not weeks. we've seen the violence in the past week and now we have the majority of their leaders in state custody and these images which are, frankly, him on parade. the army, administration making it quite clear that they ha

let's go to nick paton walsh at the united nations.ry had some strong words, today, about the united nations and its role. listen to this. >> by the definition of their own mandate, the u.n. can't tell us anything that we haven't shared with you this afternoon or that we don't already know. and because of the guaranteed russian obstructionism of any action through the u.n. security council, the u.n. cannot galvanize the world to act as it should. >> as you know, nick, ban ki-moon, the u.n. secretary general, he has made it repe repeatedly clear he doesn't want the u.s. to strike. he wants this to play out diplomatically at the u.n. and elsewhere. what's the latest at the u.n.? >> we're anticipating perhaps a busy 24 hours ahead of us. it is clear that ban ki-moon will receive a briefing from angela cane who led the weapons inspectors, the chemical weapons inspectors to damascus. that briefing will happen tomorrow. what i am hearing though from a western diplomat is a slight change in the sequencing we were expecting. now, ban ki-moon h

cnn's nick paton walsh is in bay tr route, lebanon, where the u.s. embassy will not be closed. holy day on the muslim calendar. what is the mood in the middle east right now? >> reporter: well, certainly there's concern amongst american ex pats because of these threats. the embassy isn't closed sunday -- sorry, it is always closed sunday, so it won't be obviously opening for any particular reason. that reflects the specific timing of this threat in many ways, and it will be open again on monday as per normal. you also referenced the particular day of sunday in the muslim calendar. it's toward the end of ramadan known as the night of power in which many muslims believe the prophet mohammed was given the text of the koran. there is some suggestion there may be extra fervor to twattackn that day but most people living in the country have their mind on other issues. the violence swirling next deer in syria where 100,000 have died, merging in sectarian violence in iraq and egypt, too. it's not capturing the popular consciousness in the region. >> what about this message from ayman a

. >> let's talk with cnn's nick paton walsh at the u.n. nick, talk about the u.n. mandate that is just simply out of reach for the u.s. >> reporter: well, what you heard john kerry delineate yesterday was how simply a russian veto here at the united nations historically meant that all syrian resolutions here are blocked, that the u.s. really never gets its way here, and that's certainly i think what has been blocking any progress in the past few days in the u.s. mind. we have a complicated time table ahead of us here because, as you mentioned earlier, u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon will be briefed by angela cane who you saw arriving at jfk in new york late last night. now, we had expected and ban ki-moon had said that he would then go on and brief the u.n. security council about what she told him. i understand from western diplomats that actually that's not going to happen now. he is simply going to be briefed, and then the lab samples taken from alleged chemical weapon sites inside syria will go, one to germany it seems for testing. it will be collected and th

i also want to bring in nick paton walsh. usually i gee to you in the middle of all of this. in fact just a couple weeks ago, you were there. and what i'm seeing is that a lot of the american koer correspondents and foreign correspondents are having a tough time getting the actual story because nobody wants them there. >> they are in many ways december spic despised by both sides. there was a think takic death of a cameraman yesterday shot at one of the demonstrations. it's incredible to experience the animosity. they think you're a manifestation of the government which they believe in fact assumed the muslim brotherhood. and then of course as a residual, suspicion amongst pro morsi demonstrators that america backs israel that somehow you're be holden to a greater enemy. so an animosity there. and the crowds, until you experience it, you can't imagine the anger they feel towards many outsiders. >> when you see these pictures, you certainly get a good sense of it, but we tend to think that when the president of the united states stands up and does a live news conference, that

our senior international correspondent nick paton walsh is joining us from beirut. ere, nick? >> certainly interestingly the embassy in beirut would normally be closed on a sunday, and they tell me, in fact, they're not taking any special measures and anticipate opening again on the monday, but that really just gives you an idea of how geographically nonspecific this threat is. the 21 posts range from west africa to bangladesh on the other side of india. mostly, as you say, in the arab world, but it's so key particularly about the time, sunday being, of course, the main focus. that's obviously a big day in the muslim holy month of ramadan known as the night of power falling in fact on sunday. that's when the islamic faith believed the prophet mohammed was given the text of the koran and there are some suggesting maybe there's a religious significance for some islamic extremists who may misinterpret that part of the callendcalenda. >> i know you're monitoring the situation throughout the middle east, throughout the arab world in particular. even if they're saying that

we want to go to cnn's nick paton walsh. nick, tell us about this message and do you see it as a warning or a conciliatory gesture? >> reporter: i think it's important to put it in context. it's in a broader speech in which he makes it clear the army has been given authority to enact this crackdown. he's talking constantly about the need for security. and we've seen days now of government rhetoric labeling them as terrorists. so there is that phrase suggesting there is room for everybody in egypt, which many consider to be a solid brine so it doesn't reflect the tone we've heard over the past few days. >> and there are increasing calls here in the u.s. for the president to at least suspend the $1.5 billion or so that it sends egypt every year. is there any reaction to that there? >> i have to be honest, and you might hear a helicopter flying past me, i think washington's reaction has been to the september where cairo and the generals may have concluded washington believes its relationship is important strategical strategicall

nick paton walsh will tell us more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning.e have just seen on egyptian television, a helicopter which apatieparent licariing former dictator hosni mubarak away from the prison from where he's languished for months away now to a military hospital on the outskirts. he's not free. he is still in custody, but he's under house arrest now in a hospital. an infirmed elderly man but still a man despised by many egyptians for decades in which he held the country under authoritarian rule. let's point out, too, a key figure in what's being called the arab spring, the last 2 1/2 years of dissent and tumult that this region has been thrown into. he was the first big authoritarian head to rule. remarkable scenes of this helicopter taking off after prosecutors said the decision yesterday by courts that he should be freed really were technicality. to see a helicopter land and whisk him away, we would have expected perhaps a year ago to see egyptians up in arms at this man seemingly having his condition significantly improve. what's remarkable

cnn's senior international correspondent nick paton walsh joins us live from cairo. chnical reasons why he was let out, which is the last of three corruption charges he was facing. there's a court hearing. the lawyer said he's paid the money back and he's been in the jail longer than egyptian law allows without a conviction. that's why he was physically allowed out and there is a reason why we had incredible scenes of a blue and white helicopter landing into the prison where he's languished for over a year, moving him to a military hospital. much better conditions for an 85-year-old informed man. that helicopter lands, an ambulance whisks him inside, soldiers running in behind like the enemy's embracing almost its old figurehead for so many decades. but politically, it seems the military feels this move was possible at this time. cairo is deadly silent right now because of the curfew and strong security forces present. so, even if people were wanting to protest, they may be reticent. and of course, people could also be tired of the blue tallity and unrest of the past

our nick paton walsh joining us right now from the united nations with the very latest. when might we hear publicly more details of the bags of evidence that were collected by these inspectors? >> reporter: well, we are supposed to hear from the u.n. spokesman in the next hour and a half or so, but it's no the quite clear how much we'll reveal. just to clarify, the samples taken from alleged chemical weapon attack sites in syria, they have now gone on a german foreign ministry charter plane from laeb lebanon to the hague in the netherlands where testing will take place. angela cane, who headed the u.n. inspections mission to syria, she's come back here to meet the u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon. quite possibly that meeting is going on somewhere other than this building. we haven't seen anyone come in here just yet, but that will be updating him on her team's activities. there had been expectations that he would then go and talk to the security council about those initial reports. he himself said that. that has since it seems changed according to a western diplomat th

our senior international correspondent nick paton walsh joins us.pper hand. what's the latest? >> reporter: it's very quiet again on the streets. we have had a series of arrests in the past 24 hours. prominent amongst them the spiritual leader of the muslim brotherhood picked up by police in the house of a school teacher. that school teacher home was searched. weapons confiscated. they say police equipment that was seized by militants during a raid on a nearby police station, the brotherhood moves swiftly to say the charges against him are all trumped up. but the real issue here is the government being much more successful in painting the brotherhood as terrorists. they seem oblivious to outside criticism. and we've seen really most importantly despite about a hundred arrests and including the most senior leader of the brotherhood, they have not called their people back out onto the streets to protest. that's the difference here. we're not sure if it's because they're regrouping or because they lack enthusiasm at the ground level here, but really th

joining us now, cnn senior international correspondent nick paton walsh.bler, an expert on syria at the washington institute for middle east policies. also spent a lot of time in syria. like seven years living there. how is assad likely to respond to this very brutal blunt warning today from the secretary of state? >> we can already tell from his own words, he's going to blame everything on a conspiracy of israel and the united states and what he's going to do is also say that this is america's vietnam, that it's just like iraq. even though the situation is completely different. and then after that, he's probably going to go on the diplomatic offensive with his allies and try and wrap this all up, he hopes diplomatically. >> nick, if the u.s. together with some allies, maybe support of turkey, maybe some of the arab countries does launch military air strikes against targets in syria, what's likely to happen? you've spent a lot of time in the region. >> well, the region is really on a knife edge in many ways. lebanon, for example, i think the key place you'

nick paton walsh is in new york.ia on several occasions, based in beirut, knows the situation well. how is this strong statement from the secretary of state likely to be received by the regime in damascus, nick? >> reporter: wolf, you've met the secretary as well. he's normally a very mild mannered, measured man. you can actually sense, i think, personal anger in many ways in what he was saying. he referred to how he'd watched one more time the gut wrenching video. also quite clear that the use of chemical weapons by the regime was undeniable. really laying out, i think, a personal case there. a man of some global diplomatic stature perhaps putting his brand, his stamp on the u.s. claim going forward. that will make it clear in the region. one interesting thing he pointed out, one thing he didn't point out, they didn't go into specifics about how they were so sure these weapons had been used. he did say that additional information that they have would be provided in the days ahead. it's clear we're going to see more

there is nick paton walsh coming to us from beirut. what are you hearing new today? intelligence? new warnings? new indications of where this purported threat might originate? >> reporter: well, brooke, it seems that the threat originates in yemen. there's a lot of concern because it may be linked to the chief bombmaker of the group in yemen, ibrahim asyria. he's the mastermind behind those three attempts against u.s. airliners. three plots against u.s. airliners in recent years. he's been able to build the most sophisticated devices ever seen from al qaeda devices which are very difficult for detection, scanner equipment to pick up. so a lot of concern that he may be linked to this plot. this is a guy who put a bomb inside his own brother in august 2009 to target the head of saudi counterterrorism, brooke. >> i want to come back to you about al asiri and the cutting-edge bombmaking, if you will. nick, to you, as we have been reporting, really one of the wild cards here is this rash of prison breaks. you have hundreds of militants who have been sprung in these nine d

. >> want to bring in nick paton walsh that joins us and first of all explain to us what's happening here. mubarak has been released but in a military hospital and still faces serious charges regarding death of protesters. so what has been the response and the reaction, the fact that he is kind inform this limbo area? >> reporter: well, there has been limited reaction in many ways. we haven't seen the massive popular protests you may have thought would be provoked by a move like this presumably with military consent. a day of some drama in many ways, prosecutors saying a few hours ago they have authorized his release from the prison where he has been a number of months to the military hospital. we saw a helicopter lift off from the prison. egyptian television showing it land near the hospital grounds and ambulance it seems there to ferry the former president inside the military hospital and talking about an 85-year-old infirm man here. we haven't seen him in any of the pictures but it is almost showing the army taking back into its arms literally the former president of egypt, and yo

. >> nick paton walsh, thank you. >> reporter: thank you, candy. >>> while we want to sustain our relationship with egypt, our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual when civilians are being killed in the streets. >> the president cancelled next month's joint military exercises with egypt, but did not cut off u.s. aid, not yet. his equation is this. however popular a military coup ousting an elected government followed by a deadly crackdown on protesters run counter for the values the u.s. espouses to the world. still, so much rides in the balance of what happens next. for decades, egypt has been an imperfect, undemocratic but critical u.s. ally in the middle east. the first arab state to make a cold peace with israel for which egypt was rewarded with u.s. aid. the egyptian military, where u.s./egyptian ties are strongest, has helped fight extremism in the sinai. egypt has been helpful in the u.s. fight against terrorism, a counterweight to iran and in many ways egypt, the most populous arab state, is the heart of the middle east. many analysts believe as egypt goes, so goes the arab

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we're also joined by nick paton walsh who has reported in syria.that syria is now a problem from hell. what do you mean? >> i think the obama administration is in an interesting spot because overthrowing assad as jay carney just said is not their aim. they're concerned about the -- >> i think that's their long-term aim, but not in the short-term by the limited strikes. >> but i think even -- they don't like assad, but they're concerned. the do most effective groups fighting in syria are al qaeda organizations and backed by iran. so whoever prevails in that fight is not going to be an ally of the united states exactly. and so when these strikes come, they're going to be calibrated in such a way they do punish assad for the weapons but not enough to overthrow him. but i think that's the calculus that they're making. >> nick, you reported from inside syria last year and this year. why do you think assad has been ramping up this escalation? by using chemical warfare? >> i suppose if you're being cynical, he was perhaps using the alibi of inspectors in

nick paton walsh, thank you so much. it's important for u.s.why this is so important. and what's at stake and what's the real danger here if this doesn't calm down. >> egypt is the most populous country. it's a cultural leader traditionally for other arab countries, it's been an ally of the u.s. it's experiment and democracy that started two years ago with a lot of euphoria is dead. this is a real gravestone on that experiment and what's even scarier about this is that the muslim brotherhood, the plut call islamists who were part of the political process, it's been clear you're not apart of it it. where do they go now? >> is it the concern in the middle east when there's a vacuum, it it becomes a breeding ground for terrorism. isn't that one of concerns? >> that's one of the fears. what you're seeing is mower mirrored but many other issues. the same fighting now in egypt are also seeing themselves backs against the wall in syria, in iraq as well. they are looking for an identity region wide. you're seeing the most populous country the trend set

>> nick paton walsh, thank you very much. >>> the window now could be open for a strike.te house, the pentagon will be ready. >> some analysts believe the first strike could come with tomahawk missiles. cnn correspondent barbara starr is joining us now from the pentagon. what kind of damage are we talking about that the pentagon would want to do to the syrian military? and can they do that now that the syrian military has been given essentially a heads up? >> well, what you start with is the president of the united states. what is his goal? what is his strat swri? by the president's own words, his plan is to do something to deter future use of chemical weapons. the target list that the pentagon is going to work off of will try to meet that objective. by all accounts, that means they will go after specific things that they believe were associated with this attack or associated with the chemical weapons structure. so look for command and control facilities. weapons delivery facilities, not maybe the chemical weapons themselves. those are very hard to strike, because you can