we are at war against al qaeda. a far-reaching network of violence and hatred that attacked us on 9-11, that killed nearly 3,000 innocent people, and that is plotting to strike us again. chris: today we examine that threat with these four reporters who cover national security. we'll look at how al qaeda threatens us abroad as that new year's attack on our c.i.a. headquarters in afghanistan so tragically showe but first let's look at the threat of the next al qaeda attack here at home. david, if you're in charge of intelligence in this country and looking out at the world, what's the threat coming here? >> the threat is that this is a resourceful, adaptable enemy that learns from us. they study us. so if we start to block one avenue of entry, one kind of weapon, they turn to another. they come a us in different faces from the ones we're expecting. i'll give you an example. the early al qaeda attacks obviously involve people from south asia. afghans, arabs, coming at us. and so we begin to look for them and they were

we have the main al qaeda in the pakistan theater and afghanistan theater. fledged wing in yemen. fully fledged wing in iraq. fully fledged wing in al chi do. >> is the threat from al qaeda greater in yemen than it is afghanistan? >> certainly not. the threat overall from al qaeda is melded together. it's an international organization. we tend to forget that a decade ago we knew al qaeda was in over 50 countries. they're in far more countries than that today. >> let me play for you something -- i asked john brennan if al qaeda, in fact, was diminished or more sophisticated. let's hear what he had to say and then you can respond. >> it is both. we have made quite a bit of progress this year in degrading the capabilities of al qaeda organization. we've taken the battle to them. we have eliminated a number of their senior leaders and operatives. that doesn't mean they still don't have capability of carrying out attacks. they're trying to look for ways and vul numbers in our system to get their operatives to the united states to carry out attacks. >> mr. brennan

we have killed some of the al qaeda leaders and every dead al qaeda leader is a success. but all we have is a body countch we now have al qaeda, the main al qaeda and the pakistan theater in afghanistan theater. we have a fully fledged wing in yemen. we have a fully fledged wing in iraq. a fully fledged wing in north africa and in somalia. how can it be less threatening to us? >> is the threat from al qaeda greater from yemen than afghanistan now? >> no, certainly not. the threat overall from al qaeda is melded together. it is an international organizationch we tend to forget that a decade ago we knew that al qaeda was in over 50 countries. they're in far more countries than that today. >> well, let me play for you, something. i asked john brennan if al qaeda in fact was diminished? or more sophisticated. let's hear what he had to say. then you can respond. >> we have made quite a bit of progress this year in degrading the capabilities of al qaeda organization. taken the battle to them. eliminated a number of their leaders and operatives that doesn't mean they don't have

the prominent previous jihaddist who denounced al qaeda. so you know, by 2005, we come to understand who this al-libbi is, things to al qaeda media, but again, like i said, he wasn't featured prominently in al qaeda's big media organization, it was coming out on this peripheral organization, so one of the things you see here is the making arguably of al-libbi, the branding of him. you have to roll out this new line, so starting in late 2005, you have a series of videos where you show al-libbi fires klishnakovs, so he's a fighter, he's a romantic, they start publishing some of his previous poetries and you see this is a comprehensive man, not just a guy sent out there to, you know, to go kill. he was on the sha rhea council form the libyan islamic fighting group. he is a thoughtful and smart and religious guy, as they're painting him. you see him sitting here with a guy who is flanking him to his right side, almost in every video from 2005 forward, named abdul ashami, this is a guy i thought of, but he's right next to al-libbi. one of his bag

more strikes on christmas eve targeted american-born al qaeda cleric anwar al-awlaki. intelligence officials believe he may have helped plan december's attempted airliner bombing, but they believe he survived the attack. they also say stand by for more joint u.s.-yemeni action. now, u.s. officials had kept fairly quiet about the extent of u.s. involvement in these joint attacks but each day now we are learning more, weps more americans asking what their government is doing to keep them safe in the wake of the christmas day bombing. >> glor: kimberly dozier in washington. in kabul, a political setback for afghanistan's president karzai. the parliament rejected most of karzai's picks to fill his new 24-member cabinet. most turned down were viewed as cronies of karzai. a bit of controversy from five years ago is flaring up again this weekend in denmark where a man has been arrested for trying to kill an artist who drew cartoons of the prophet mohamm mohammed. sheila macvicar has more. >> reporter: carried into the courthouse on a stretcher his face covered to conceal his

that's a victory for al-qaeda.he last week has been a victory for al-qaeda in that region, i'm afraid. >> i disagree. i don't think there was a smoking gun. what mr. brennan was talking about was a specific failure you can back track and say here is the moment when there was derogatory information to lead you inescapably to say we want to crack down on this information. by the standards that the u.s. has, the father went to the embassy and the father did complain and we had the knowledge, it wasn't sufficiently communicated but is there some specific standard that was not held to? i don't think so. and then with regard to what brit was sayingsaying, i recall richard reid was tried by the bush administration in criminal court. i don't see that there is any change between what conservative republican administration and more liberal -- >> that was in december of 2001. they didn't have military commission shown up. and richard reid didn't know anything. >> chris: didn't know if richard reid knew anything. >> maybe it w

the enemy is al qaeda.inger pointing is going on in washington here, these partisan politics and agendas, quite frankly i find it very disappointing that people would use this issue, issue of tremendous import of national security and forget that it is al qaeda that is killing our citizens. >> a.b. stoddard, associate editor and column nis with "the hill" newspaper. first, a.b., what do you make about the embassies being closed today in yemen and how that may play politically today and in the days ahead? >> well, obviously they must be on some high alert in their assessing very dangerous threats if they're closing a 500-person embassy there. it's been attacked before and i think that politically it's not going to have much of an effect. the obama administration has found itself a little bit on the offensive since their initial response, the very first announcement that system had worked and obviously obama worked quickly to mitigate the damage of that and has been out front very bold since. i don't think th

in the past year, you've seen al qaeda from saudi arabia and al qaeda from yemen merge. that made the group even stronger. they were able to carry out spectacular attacks within saudi arabia within other regional neighbors. that really got the attention of the world community as to how bad the situation had gotten. and because yemen's government is so week and so inspect and there's so much corruption, they're not seen as being able to handle this, so you're seeing the u.s. try to team up to battle al qaeda. but a lot of the analysts that i've spoken with wonder if it's not just too late. because it's gotten so bad and because al qaeda there has gotten so strong, they don't know how the u.s. and yemen and other regional neighbors will be able to effectively battle al qaeda in the coming week, months and years. >> how much u.s. involvement is taking place in yemen to try to shore up some of these borders and prevent some of the terrorism activity? >> reporter: it's very clear that the u.s. has taken a very keen interest in yemen. they're going to be providing them with mu

of al qaeda.t is going to take a great deal of patience. it's going to take a very knew understanded localized and a multifaceted response by the united states. >> ifill: mr. barrett, we had a former ambassador to yemen on the program last year. she said we needed to get ahead of the failure curve. can you define for us what you think that might mean. >> yeah. i think that there's still a problem in exposing al qaeda for what it is truly is. it's just really a criminal organization that exploits people's sense of lack of justice or whatever grievance they have. to say that all muslims are underattack from the west. when you look at the facts it's pretty clear immediately that in fact most of the victims of al qaeda-related terrorism are muslims in muslim majority countries. between 2006-2008, 98% of victims of al qaeda-related terrorism were muslims in muslim-majority countries. we need to get ahead of the failure curve by trying to undermine the appeal that al qaeda still has. i mean it's all ver

al qaeda continues to morph and change. the striking difference now is the emergence of more americans as part of the process in al qaeda. they have a higher priority of attacking the united states. they have not set as criteria that they intend something as big as 9/11. they're satisfied with things like ft. hood and what could have happened on christmas day. in 2004, we focused on collecting all the information we needed to collect, we wanted to make sure that that information would be shared so we could connect the dots. the challenge that we now face is that we're collect sod much information, we are sharing it, we need to develop the capabilities to do a better job of analysis. we had the dots here. the problem was that the systems are not in place to connect the dots. this is the part of the transformation we still need to see in the intelligence community. >> let me turn to passenger screening. which has been raised. is it time to profile passengers on the basis of religion or ethnicity? or is at the completely contr

there are several different countries now where there are al qaeda or al qaeda franchises or would-be al qaeda factions that all recognize that if they want to make a big splash in terms of media, in terms of recruitment, in terms of financing, there is nothing better than launching an international terrorist attack, one that shows sophistication, credibility and know-how. >> to that end, some people in the united states are wondering is this just simply one incident and al qaeda essentially failed because they couldn't get this thing to detonate or was it a test run in which al qaeda was using this to probe the vulnerabilities of the united states and refine their tactics for the next attack or next series of attacks that maybe they are planning? from this is obviously not the first, nor the last, that we'll see of this. if you look at the reaction following the attempted assassination of a saudi prince that was running saudi arabia's counterterrorism program, by an assassin, a much-wanted al qaeda operative, carrying explosive made of petn, hidden within him. after he carried out th

country. >> the al qaeda threat is not simply to u.s. interests, but very much to yemeni interests as well. the people of yemen have suffered a great deal in terms of economic well-being because of al qaeda's activity there's. so that's number one. i think the seconds thing is that based on that action by yemenese security forces are likely to be much more effective in countering the al qaeda threat in yemen than direct action by u.s. military forces. >> there are no easy, no obvious solutions in yemen. but i think one of the most important things for the u.s. to remember is that it's not going to defeat al qaeda in yemen today, tomorrow, next month, or even next year. it's going to be a very long, a very hard slog. there is no magic missile solution. >> why do you say that? >> well, al qaeda is someone that the u.s. has already defeated once in yemen. it defeated it really in '01 to '03, and al qaeda came back after a prison break in february of 2006. so if the u.s. continues to go down the same road, it's going to get the same results,

airliner and al qaeda based in yemen. the president said that the al qaeda in the arabian peninsula has targeted the u.s. before and the u.s. is fighting back, he vows. >> as president, i made ate priority to strengthen our partnership with the yemeni government, and sharing intelligence and working with them to strike al qaeda terrorists. before christmas day, we had seen the results and training camps struck and leaders killed, and you, too, must know, you will be held in account. >> there is another development we want to tell you about yemen. president barack obama has been briefed on the meeting today between the president of yemen and the commander of u.s. central command general david pe tray yas, and yemen's president offered his thanks for the help in the battle against the extremists. ed henry is traveling with the president. i want to start with the president's remarks tying the christmas day attack with yemen. >> well, he had not gone there yet, don, in remarks throughout the past week or, so and that is impor

and on the down side you have al-qaeda still grinding u.s.rlines to a halt, freaking everyone out and causing less confidence in the government to protect them. and this is an unsuccessful attack. i am not sure that the bomb did not erupt was failed. this is a really difficult problem for governments to deal with. and i think it's only getting harder. >> and the final point to you tim, but to show the exchange

al qaeda. but it is clear that al qaeda increasingly seeks to recruit individuals without known terrorist affiliations, not just in the middle east but in africa and other places, to do their bidding. that is why i directed my national security team to develop a strategy that addresses the challenges posed by these recruits. that is why we must communicate clearly to the muslims around the world that al qaeda offers nothing but a bankrupt vision of misery and death, including the murder of fellow muslims. the u.s. stands with those who seek justice and progress. to advance that progress, we have sought new beginnings with muslim communities all around the world. in gauge on the basis of mutual respect -- we engage on the basis of mutual respect for . we work together to fulfil the aspirations that all people share -- to get an education, to work with dignity, to live in peace and security. that is what america believes in. that is the vision that is far more powerful than the hatred of these ex

the enemy is al qaeda. as this is going on in washington, the partisan politics and agendas, frankly i find it very disappointing that people would use this issue, issue of tremendous import of national security and forget that it's al qaeda that is killinour citizens. >> we'll leave it there. mr. brennen, thank you. we are joined by two members of the bush administration's national security team. former secretary of homeland security michael chertoff and former director of the cia, michael hayden. welcome to both of you. general hayden be, let me begin with you. reaction to what you heard here from mr. brennen, specificall on new threats being posed by yemen and al qaeda in yemen. >> i agree totally with what john pointed out. we've been watching yemen. as pressure increased in pakistan we always look to yemen and somalia as a place where the senior leadership could slip to. the senior leadership has not gone there but we've seen a steady growth in al qaeda since 2006, there was a massive jail break in yem

al indicate de w al qaeda was untouched. u.s.etaliation that worked, it happened in yemen in 2002. a u.s. drone fired a missile, one of the dead was an al qaeda operative, believed to have been behind the october 2000 attack on the navy warship cole in yemen that killed 17 sailors. even now, the u.s. is continuing to provide training, weapons and intelligence to the yemeni forces. but if president obama decides to strike back in retaliation for the botched attack on the northwest airlines flight, there will be a target list for him to approve. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >>> let's talk now about the possible military strike. gregory johnston is here with me. i'm also joined on the phone by a former u.s. ambassador to yemen. we'll get to you in a second. what should our viewers know about yemen. you say there are misconceptions that you need to clear up? >> well, the first thing is that the al qaeda threat is not simply to u.s. interests, but very much to yemeni interests as well. the people of yemen have suffered a great de

al qaeda's #two grubb pierre. jordan has been aggressively -- al qaeda's number two gre up here. months ago the doctor was arrested here by a spy agency. he began working for them they thought as a double agent inside al qaeda. the family said they knew nothing about it. >> i just spoke to the sister of the bomber. she did say that she is angry and confused. she cannot believe her brother would do something like that. she describes him a a serious doctor whose life was all about his work and family. he did not have any extreme views, but one thing is for sure, she is told by officials not to speak to us or anybody. we have been told to get out of fear. -- to get out of here. officials are keeping tight- lipped about the attack on the cia agents. this is one of the reasons why. and member of jordan's royal family was killed along side the cia agents in afghanistan. he was a liaison officer between the jordanian and american secret services. the general work for jordan's powerful royal family for more than 20 years. he told me even this dramatic intelligence failure would not affec

officials by al qaeda in yemen.in, this is according to the obama administration's top counterterrorism official, john brenn brennan. brennan said today, quote, we are not going to take any chances. this comes just hours after the head of u.s. central command, general david petraeus, met with yemen's president to talk about increasing counterterrorism efforts in the country. and it also came on the same weekend of president obama acknowledged for the first time publicly the connection between al qaeda and yemen and that suspect in the failed christmas bombing attack over detroit. >>> a big development this morning in the thanksgiving day murder case in florida. the suspect is now behind bars after spending five weeks on the run. police arrested paul merhige at a motel last night in the florida keys. he stands accused of killing his twin sisters, his aunt and his cousin's 6-year-old daughter. the little girl's parents reacted to the arrest this morning on the "today" show. >> it was a huge relief to know that the mon

i think that evidence is emerging that is more and more of the yemeni al qaeda members, al qaeda branch in yemen, have in iraq or somalia or afghan stack and pakistan. that's acquired the skills not only to carry out attacks in yemen but also to take war to the u.s. itself as the failed christmas plot revealed. this this is why american officials are concerned no only about the growing threat of al qaeda in yemen but the ability of al qaeda branch in yemen to carry out attacks in saudi arabia and also against the american homeland. just a few weeks ago, al qaeda member in yemen targeted the deputy interior minister in saudi arabia and almost injure him and this tells you about the extent the increasing threat of al qaeda and yemen. >> i want you to bring up the saudis. talk about the saudis and perhaps even the kuwaitis and involvement. what about the u.s.? we know that the head of centcom david petraeus was there yesterday talking to the president and talking yes, we will support more of the u.s. counter terrorism measures. but some say perhaps your -- in that group that these efforts

rerts today said he had been reuited to try to infiltrate al-qaeda. ime minister nouri al-maliki vowed today to keep the at on private guds who worked for blackwater.s.a. five guards re accused of killing 14 civilns in baghdad in 2007. but last week, a federaludge in washingtothrew out the charges. toda maliki promised lawsuits both american and iraqi courts. >> for our part, we have de what is necessary to proct our citizens ando punish those o committed the crime. we he formed committees and filed a lawsuit ainst the black water curity firm. both in america and iraq weon't abandon our right to punish this firm. sreenivasan: the blackwater guards claimed thewere ambushed. osecutors and many iraqis sa the guards use of chine guns and grenades was unpvoked. the first business dayf the new year s a surge in stocks and the price of oil. wall street surged on encouraging news about manufacturing in the u.sand china. the dow jones dustrial average ined nearly 156 points to close just under0,584. the nasdaq rose 39 pointto ose at 230 and oiclosed above $81 a

embassy is closed in direct response to, quote, active threats by al qaeda. mbassy employees have been instructed to stay away until further notice and remain inside their homes as much as possible. this comes just hours after the head of u.s. central command general david petraeus made a surprise trip to yemen to talk to counterterrorism officials there. on the same weekend president obama acknowledged that for the first time the connection between al qaeda and yemen and the suspect in the failed christmas bombing attack. >>> joining us is eric lipton. what's the latest reporting in "the new york times" in terms of what prompted officials to close this embassy in yemmen. >> >> well, apparently john brennan, the homeland security adviser to the president, has alerted him that there's this imminent threat potentially in yemen. there appears to be just an escalating situation right now between the united states and the authorities in yemen and sympathizers with al qaeda where the united states had support by the yemeni government to take strikes against them las

he said they are going to fight al qaeda. they're going to sacrifice their blood and their souls to fight al qae. they want to take care of this themselves but they do want help and they're getting a lot more help. a lot more trainers are coming in here to train the counterterrorist forces here in yemen. but i don't think you'll see a huge force here. >> the yemeni foreign minister estimates hundreds of al qaeda members are in the country. martha raddatz continues her week of reporting from yemen coming up on "good morning america" and later tonight on "world news with diane sawyer." >>> thfederal aviation administration says it's investigating american airlines. the faa said the carrier had three botched landings just last month. that includes the accident in kingston, jamaica, where the jet overshot the runway in a rainstorm. investigators are also looking into incidents in charlotte and austin where airplane wing tips actually touched the ground during landings. >>> when the leader of a california mega church discovered chr

host: as far as al-qaeda, why do they pick yemen to operate?uest: there are many reasons, because the government doesn't have control over all the country. and it's in these ungoverned sources that al-qaeda will seek safe refuge, and that's what is happening. host: the numbers are on the bottom of the screen, we are talking to christopher boucek about yemen and what is being done. how does yemen get on with its neighbors now? guest: yemen has well-developed relations with the gulf countries. with the relationship with saudia arabia is one that is recently become more difficult because of the security situation in yemen. i think that the saudi's look at what is going in yemen and see this as a source of the problems in their country. there are a number of event that is took place in yemen that had a negative effect on saudia arabia with suicide attempts and there was an attack to the security chief. and the war in the north between the government and shiite rebels and has been going on for years and now the saudis are reactant. host: bring this

al-qaeda corps out of pakistan. it's one of the most lethal and co concerning. >> all of this learned only after umar farouk abdulmutallab, al-qaeda operative out of nigeria, failed to blow up northwest flight 253 on christmas day. >> we had a strategic sense of where they were going, but we didn't know they progressed to the point of actually launching the individuals here. we have taken that lesson and so now we're on top of it. >> the top counterterrorism experts like rick nelson say the white house shouldn't have been surprised from the threats from yemen and the c.i.a. shouldn't have waited until now to add agents focussed on it. >> the threat of al-qaeda in yemen is not new. we can recall the uss cole attack in 2000 where 17 sailors lost their lives and numerous others were injured. then again, the al-qaeda in yes yemen, attacked the u.s. embassy a few years ago. threat of al-qaeda in yemen is not something new. >> former democratic congressman and former 9/11 commission chairman lee hamilton agrees. >> it see

it appears he joined an affiliate of al qaeda and that this group, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for america. the president went on to emphasize that during his administration, much to the contrary to some of the information and attacks that have come from his opponents here in washington, he has focused on yemen, saying that the previous administration had taken the eye off the ball, by sending so many forces to iraq, and had neglected afghanistan. and now yemen, this is an argument we've heard before. the president has the preliminary assessment about what went wrong. two preliminary assessments. one on the bell jens side, one on the airport security side in hand. he's been reviewing those while he continues on vacation in hawaii. he returns monday morning here to the white house and then the following day he has a meeting in the situation room with the heads of many of the agencies involved that have come under criticism. the department of homeland security. the national counterterrori

of al qaeda at a high level.ck his trail. the jordanians have seemed to have turnedç him into what they thought was a double agent, somebody was normally a jihadist butó[ working for the. in that guise he was making his plans with al qaeda and ended up here on the afj1 what's interesting is that he came, it seems, a triple agent. that somehow al qaedaç flipped him back and sent him into this camp apparently bringing really hot intelligence about theó[ perhaps having the locations of the number two in al qaeda, just tantalizing stuff forç the americans. they left him in the gate and he had a suicide bomb. >> ifill: is it generally understood$ intelligence circles or even in jordan that the u.s. intelligence community was working so closely withç jordanians? >> it's understood for people who pay attention to this. i wrote a novel, a body of lies, that wasç made into a hollywood movie with leonardo decap pre-owe. the whole scene of that movie isçó jordan is a key in the fight against al qaeda. jordanians gener

here we tend to equate taliban with al qaeda.they are not the same there are elements that would support al qaeda in wanting to attack the united states and other elements but they interested in having a say in the government in afghanistan. we have to stop treating them as monolithic way as a single threat two as if they are a threat to the united states of america proper. they are not. we have to live with less than perfect in terms of what happens in afghanistan and i also think we have to be willing to concede at this point* that what is left of al qaeda weather coming across the border in afghanistan i saw a news report that supposedly even bin laden found his way across the border into afghanistan periodically. it is not the same al qaeda that attacked us on 9/11. been lauded in particular does not have operational control over a group that has global reach that can attack the united states. our larger problem is not osama bin laden the larger problem is the ideal at -- ideologically of radical islam that has seeped into th

now we know for a fact that he was al qaeda. al qaeda trained, equipped. now that we know that, it gives us something to work with, and it couldn't be more clear. i think it's becoming clearer by the day exactly how this worked out. >> the president also said that it's a priority for him to strengthen the u.s. partnership with the yemeni government. but is that easier said than done, given the fact that, for starters, there's two civil wars going on in that country? >> yes. we've had a rocky history with yemen. they've been on our side, at least nominally. but we've had some difficult times getting them to do things that we want them to do. this is a country that needs resources and we really need them. so it's important to somehow get this government to cooperate with us, to get our people on the ground to increase resources, to go after some very serious problems that they know now that they have over there. >> i guess the question, and one of the key questions that the president will be looking at, and congress as well, is exactly what kind of resources

he said, they are going to fight al qaeda. they're going to sacrificeood a al qaeda. >> very strong language for a middle eastern general for sure, especially given the fact that he was saying this in the gulf of aden, which is where the attack on the "uss cole" happened in 2000. what are the other governments in the region with whom we cooperate to fight terrorism is pakistan, but they won't allow us to send in significant numbers of ground troops to take on al qaeda. will the yes, ma'am mennies allow that to happen if the obama administration pushes for it? >> reporter: i really can't imagine that the government would want that, just like the pakistanis, they consider themselves a sovereign nation. they want to te care of this themselves buzz they want help. and they are getting that. a lot more trainers are coming in here to train the count counterterrorist forces here in yemen, but i don't think you'll see a huge force here. >> martha, we hope you stay safe and thank you again for your reporting tonight. martha will have e

linked to core al qaeda. what does that tell you, wolf? that tells you they had direct contact, they believe they have evidence, direct contact to the al qaeda cells we're now trying to track down in pakistan. everything here in yemen on the ground has changed. i can tell you it is not going to go off the radar again, not for a very long time. an official on the ground here described the engagement here in yemen as episodic. and that's from three administrations. what is so interesting now is when we start to uncover all the layers, there are so many connections to yemen. they're really even too long to list. every time we try to get to the story a little bit more, you get more and more operatives coming through yemen, coming here to learn, to teach, to hear different preachers, and also we're now wondering in these vast tribal areas, what kind of operational help are they getting and this is what the administration has to start to sink their teeth into. and, you know, i have to say, just talking about janet

we are at war against al qaeda. a far reaching network of violence and hatred. >> the president issued 16 new reforms he wanted implemented at agencies, state, review how u.s. visas are issued and revoked, homeland security, new technologies for screening airline passengers, cia, strengthen procedure on watch listing review and distribution, fbi, conduct a thorough review of the terror screening database. >> the president said he would provide access to more agencies involving threats to the united states. >>> the suicide bomber who killed seven cia agents in afghanistan. he was a double agent and found how he was able to slip through security. >> this is a doctor who slipped through security. he was providing for important information on high-level targets. >> the double ought was brought on to the base without being given a polygraph test, a basic tool. he provided bona fide information including the location of al qaeda leaders killed by drone strikes. u.s. officials say there were questions about his reliability

as, you know, bin laden's's al qaeda and evin bin ladens's al qaeda the same thing. post a 9/11 the same as it was pretty 9/11 much less every other group out there who is like a rolex that you buy on the corner and not very much like a rolex. and we do -- and part of where i will criticize john brennan's remarks in the press conference -- he was given the opportunity to present that. you know one of the reporters asked what is the why here? why would this 23-year-old man be willing to sacrifice himself? y? and his response was al qaeda is an organization dedicated to murder and want and slaughter of innocent. i'm not sure that is a response. al qaeda has the destruction and the debt and are determined to carry out attacks in the homeland. i don't think that is helpful. because one of the things the government should realize about the christmas attack, this kid was what, 14-years-old on 9/11 raised in wealth and a country that wasn't really part of the conflict that created al qaeda. why in the world -- we should be concerned about why this 23 year old kid over the l

al-qaeda watches us.y have a media wing and people involved in the terrorist effort for a long time. we have to remember how long we have been fighting this. it didn't just start at 9/11. and to speak to the technology because there is -- too oversimplifying. one is the list process that we are becoming so familiar with and the fact that abdulmutallab was on one list and not others. and then there is the technology side. i'm a big buyer on technology because that is the easier fix in a way. i know it costs money. >> kimberly: what about body scan. >> i have no problems with the intrusive nature of the technology. a lot of people do which is why we have so few of those machines out there. some of those people on capitol hill have been complaining it is too much of an intrusive process. it would be much easier in a way, i know logistically and resource wise, difficult, get the machines throughout because trying to fix the human side, again, that holy grail of how do we connect all the dots and do it all the

>> this al qaeda faction is an extension of al qaeda. it is one of the most lethal. the fact that they move forward with this plot demonstrated to us that we had a strategic sense of where they were going but we did not know they had progressed to launching individuals here. we have taken that lesson. we are on top of it. >> i have been following up the tactic of using an individual to foment an attack as opposed to a large conspiracy or multi-person conspiracy such as we saw on 9/11. that is something that affects intelligence. it is emphasized with a renewed importance and how different intelligence is integrated and analyzed. it will impact how we will improve security at airports around the world. >> was there a contractor used for a security in amsterdam? >> the screening at the airport was done by dutch authorities. they did the screen that was described earlier this afternoon, the hand luggage was screened, the passport was checked, he went through a magnetometer. that was done by dutch authorities. >> what did you find out about why. >> al qaeda is an organiz

>>> right now on msnbc, al qaeda connection. president obama makes his first direct link between that group and the botched terror attack on christmas day. >>> heart healthy. rush limbaugh is out of the hospital and talking about what might have caused his chest pains. >>> the getaway. tiger woods' wife takes a trip far from the troubled golfer. she's been spotted at a resort. we'll tell you where. >>> plus, how much was a trip to the top of the empire state building ten years ago? we'll compare a lot of price tags for you then and now. >>> good morning, i'm chris jansing, in for alex witt. we'll have all of that and new laws in effect for this year. >>> but we begin this hour with the latest on the potentially huge winter storm. it's expected to hit northern new england states today. in portland, maine, a significant amount of snow is expected there and across the state. nbc meteorologist bill karins joins me now. bill, good morning. looks nasty out there. >> it depends where you're traveling. these are area that's get snow but

al qaeda for years has been trying to outdo 9/11, organize another massive attack that al qaeda could be proud of, if you could call it that. al qaeda in yemen has a different philosophy. they're encouraging people all over the world to go onto the internet, to download explosives, and to carry out many, many smaller kinds of attacks. so it's a different approach and one that seems to be coming out of yemen. >> the last eight years we've been accustomed when we hear a place referred to as a front in the war on terror, we think u.s. combat boots on the ground. why won't that likely happen here? >> oh, i don't think you're going to be seeing any american divisions going to yemen. what we have in yemen is a friendly government that wants to cooperate. and the reason that general petraeus was there, to try and increase this cooperation. so you'll see more intelligence sharing, maybe some more equipment, potentially even some firepower lent to the fight. but you're not going to see american forces invading yemen, but just trying to beef up their cooperation and support. >> chuck todd, let

al qaeda. in eight years of struggle against al qaeda, we have succeeded in moving its core leadership from kandahar, afghanistan, to a location completely unknown. believed to be, believed to be about 100 kilometers away, somewhere in pakistan. but the truth is, despite the largest manhunt in history, we don't have a clue where osama bin laden is. we haven't had eyes on target since tora bora. we hear his voice, with you know he's there, but we haven't a clue where he is. that makes the whole issue of trying to establish how critical and influential he is in al qaeda today all the more complex. for analysts to understand. what we do know is that this al qaeda core has successfully embedded itself in what i call a syndicate of terrorist organizations in pakistan. the old of a began taliban, the new pakistan taliban, groups like josh mohammed, this is not a monolith and al qaeda is a very, very small part of a much larger syndicate. it has no central direction, it has various different agendas.

if we do, we play into al qaeda narrative. and we make it more successful organization every time we put additional forces overseas into muslim countries. >> reporter: experts say that al qaeda is using yemen to try to lure the u.s. into another ground offensive. that's something that obama administration wants to avoid. >> rachel martin. >>> at least 96 people died when a suicide car bomber drove into a crowded volleyball game in pakistan. and the rubble is being searched for more bodies. the village had been fighting to resist taliban infiltration. >>> the cia is vowing to avenge in afghanistan. tonight, we have new evidence that the bomber was someone that the agency knew. nick sifrin has the story from kabul. >> reporter: along the afghanistan/pakistan, america's most dangerous emies have a safe haven. and the cia officers killed this week were trying to break that. abc news has learned that the suicide bomber was a regular informant for the cia. a pakistani, invited on the base ltiple times. on wednesday afternoon, he was