with al qaeda. affiliated with the head of al qaeda, then that makes you al qaeda in some way. but at the end of the day, it is not -- i don't think that is the fundamental issue, the issue was this was a terrorist attack, not a protest. >> one final point, if i could, charles, and rue rosenfeld defended the story in a blog saying this was about politics. republicans hope to tarnish democrat candidates making it seem that obama doesn't take this seriously and throw mud at hillary clinton who plans to run in 2016. >> i think he gave it away by being defensive. he is making it obvious the reason the times invested the effort and time in this and put it on the front page is precisely a way to protect the democrats, to deflect the issue, to protect hillary, who was exposed on this issue with almost no issue in her tenure in the administration. it is obviously a political move. but just one point on that state department spokesperson. saying it is not al qaeda because it is core al qaeda is absurd. it is

there's no chance this was an al-qaeda attack, if, by al-qaeda you mean the organization founded by osama bin laden. >> that's the issue which has been raised over and over by republicans mostly. which is the definition of core al qaeda. they insisted it was an attack carried out by core al qaeda. fitzpatrick's report suggests other you. what do you think? >> that sounds right to me. part of it is and i am sure it will be agreed that part of what is driving this, by focussing on al-qaeda, the organization, we miss what is the context on the the ground, which is that libya doesn't have a strong government, guns are everywhere and a lot of people want to do bad things to the u.s. if we are if we think it's al-qaeda we'll draw one set of lessons, if we think about the state of ground on libya, we'll draw other less jornings it's important to get it right. obviously al qaeda is important and will continue to be important, particularly the regional players in yemen and elsewhere. we have to be more nuanced in our approach. >> frank, your reaction? >> the response to the "new york times" is wha

al qaeda came from iraq. now you have territories that are dominating and controlled by al qaeda. they have their own territory at the doorstep in turkey, not too far from europe. they have fighters that came from north africa. this creates a serious security problem. we have to anticipate the return and how to handle this. prevention measures and the exchanges of information about their movements. >> while the commanda of the free syrian army says al qaeda-linked groups are growing stronger. one al qaeda has more than 5,000 foreign fighters. he's denying the comment that the ffa will be ready to fight with president bashar al-assad against al qaeda. >> translation: i categorically deny any comments. i did not comment or give an interview to the independent newspaper at the time. comments are not true. we believe that after the fall of assad, syria will have an army. the backbone of this will be the ones that fight agressors against the syrian people. >> peter beck told of the professor of political science of portland state. and says the free syrian army is trying to scare the we

you have groups claiming to be al qaeda or al qaeda linked. for soldiers on the ground, we had no idea what that meant, whether they were saving directions from al qaeda, inspired by al qaeda. i think what the article does is shows how complicated it was, especially at the time you have massive vacuums of power and people rushing to fill them. >> let's go to matt lewis. supporters of the president said this is a smoking gun that supports susan rice, this new york times piece. this disputes everything that issa and the investigation put out there. what do you see as the impact on the story in benghazi? >> let's get to the clips you showed. bipartisan members of congress, not just republicans on the intelligence committee dispute this new york times report. they say they have access to cables and information that sources, you know, on the ground may differ. they have access to information that says al qaeda was linked and there was preplanning. having said that, look, i think part of the issue you have to keep in mind is that susan rice didn't j

what al qaeda involved? the fact that they interviewed people a year after the event when they could say, oh, we're not part of al qaeda. no, not us. and in fact, you know, it was that video. doesn't contradict -- doesn't displace the evidence that was found immediately after the attack of the terrorist nature of it. it was undertaken by al qaeda affiliates. if we have learned anything in the past ten years, it's that al qaeda doesn't have a corporate organization chart. it's a distributed network. it doesn't leave a paper trail. by flying in formation with other groups, al qaeda can achieve a lot of its own objectives. i thought it was just a bad misreading of what we knew at the time, what the state department and cia knew at the time in benghazi was the real risk. there was a state department cable that catherine herridge broke a month before the september 11th attack where it was clear to everybody there, they couldn't defend the consulate compound. they recommended it be closed down because they were si

yemen's al qaeda leader also advising al qaeda fighters across the region. and those al qaeda affiliates from yemen to syria, iraq and libya are growing stronger. the threat they pose worries key members of congress. >> are we safer now than we were a year ago, two years ago? >> i don't think so. >> i absolutely agree that we're not safer today. >> reporter: in iraq, police are trying to crack down but al qaeda openly operates training camps near the syrian border, and from there, al qaeda has moved into syria with weapons and tactics learned during the u.s. war in iraq. inside syria, a key al qaeda affiliate also stronger than a year ago. about 100 americans along with potentially hundreds from europe are fighting alongside thousands of militants. >> if they were able to return to europe and to get access to the united states or return directly to the united states, they were not put on any watch list, they would pose a very serious threat. they are well trained, radicalized, and they have the ability and the intent to strike the u.s. homeland. >> reporter:

, people think central al qaeda. they don't think militias that may be inspired by bin laden and his other followers. so it is a hot button for political reasons from the administration's view. >> andrea, it was accurate. there was a group that was involved that claims an affiliation with al qaeda. now, al qaeda is not a central command in control. it was, in fact, a loose group that could take general statements and act on them. the important thing in our investigation, in the oversight committee investigation, where people have said under oath repeatedly they were not given the security they asked for in advance, they can't understand why there were not clear attempts to help them during those 8 and a half hours -- >> these are separate issues, chairman. the key question is, do you stand by that the administration lied about who was behind it and what initially happened given this reporting? >> i think david kirkpatrick very clearly says the statements made were false and misleading. he says that in his report. i d

what do you see as the state of al qaeda at the moment? well, it's doing well, unfortunately in iraq and syria. on the pakistan border it's in terrible shape. you had the segment in the program about about weinstein who has been kidnapped by al qaeda in pakistan. that's really the kind of -- that capability's not very large, they're able to kidnap an american citizen in pakistan, like mr. weinstein, but not able to do what they want to do reach out and attack the united states. al qaeda central's in bad shape, but you know, some of its affiliates are doing better for the moment. >> all right. peter, wish we could chat longer. peter bergen, thank so much. >>> ice breaks are racing to rescue a ship stranded off the coast of antarctica. why the passengers might not be seeing help soon. >> they didn't want this white of a christmas. [ sniffles, coughs ] shhhh! i have a cold with this annoying runny nose. [ sniffles ] i better take something. [ male announcer ] dayquil cold and flu doesn't treat all that. it doesn't? [ male announcer ] alka-sel

the other murky piece of it is this question who is affiliated with al qaeda and who is not. the sense that these groups, the individual who kirkpatrick reports was probably involved and ansar al-islam were not on the radar of our people on the ground, including cia people. isn't that most alarming what we learned in the report? >> it's a matter of judgment. i don't think anyone ever claimed this was an attack that was the product of someone sitting in pakistan core al qaeda. by the same token, you do see the evolution of the threat from the core bin laden ran to franchises such as the one in yemen to those who are like minded who believe in the agenda but not necessarily being directed from the outside. kirkpatrick analysis was these were libyan actors, obviously with an extreme agenda but operating based on trying to achieve power and influence inside libya as opposed to being directed from the outside. >> we do have a quote, mr. stephens, like his bosses in washington believed united states could turn critical mass of fighters, helped to oust gaddafi and friends and he died

that core al qaeda has been very much weakened. as a result of that, al qaeda is splintered. metastasized and morphed. in many ways more of a threat than it was on september 11, 2001. if our state department people didn't realize that in benghazi, then that is even more of an indictment what we knew before. if they were trying to say they were not ready for an attack, because they didn't know it was affiliated with al qaeda, they feely even more than they thought they did, al shoe rea has a training camp near the compound in benghazi. bill: the reporter is david kilpatrick or. if by al qaeda you mine the organization founded by usama bin laden. this issue came you up on sunday also. hillary clinton before a hearing on the hill last january. watch. >> the fact is we had four dead americans. >> i understand. >> was it base of a protest or because of guys out for a walk one night decided they would go kill some americans, what difference does this point does it make? bill: there are some suggesting that "the times" is covering for hillary clinton. do you believe that? >> i belie

but the al qaeda movement now you see al qaeda from al qaeda prime in pakistan and afghanistan and westward all the way to the west coast of africa. and the identity, make up of those al qaeda groups shifts a bit as you move westward. a little less al qaeda prime and global and local circumstances and local groups. those groups don't really consider us to be the prime. our problem is what do we do about that? do we wait until they gathered more strength there for are a threat to us. or do we move now and perhaps turn a movement that really wasn't mad at us in to an enemy of the united states. tough decision. >> evolving story. let's get to where we are with the nsa, disclosures, surveillance and some court rulings. i want to read to you one segment of a ruling handed down by judge richard leon here in washington, u.s. district judge who said, it's one thing to say that people expect phone companies to occasionally provide information to law enforcement. it's quite another to suggest that our citizens expect all phone companies to operate what is effectively a joint intelligence gathering op

you are saying al qaeda can fund the al qaeda related elements. do you have proof that al qaeda was funding this, providing support, providing aid in any way? how does al qaeda come into this? >> my understanding is that there is intelligence reports that ties this in ways to al qaeda. i'm not at liberty to speak specifically about what those documents say and what that data shows but there is definitely ties to al qaeda, it is my understanding from briefings that i have been in. in addition to that, i also want to say there's a little bit of common sense here. when you look at the attack itself, this was a methodical, military attack. this was not some group of individuals that was upset and had -- these are trained individuals that went through this, this was a military op. there's no question about that. anyone that has any military training could look at this and say these were people that were very well trained, had all the right weapons, so they were weaponized, they were trained and they were methodical. they have obviously worked together

do they have differences of opinion with al qaeda, do they have affiliations with al qaeda core, definitely. >> and his colleague adam schiff, on the democratic side of the aisle, had this to say. >> congress adam schiff, does this exonerate the president to susan rice to hillary clinton? >> i don't think "the new york times" report is designed to exonerate the security lapses within the state department that left our people vulnerable. i agree with mike that however the intelligence indicates that al qaeda was involved but there were also plenty of people and militias that were unaffiliated with al qaeda that were involved. >> so bob, i'll start with you because we talked about this over the weekend on e-mail. the story praised for journalism and for the writing and the detail that dividend kirkpatrick was able -- that david kirkpatrick was able to detail, but many say the story is not accurate, do you think "the new york times" is left without a story here. >> plenty of story. they had plenty of story. i hope everybody here read it. let's rememberal sherria is a libya based organization.

would be trying to get rid of al qaeda in iraq when in fact the al-qaeda in iraq is one of the bases of the so-called insurgency in syria that the u.s. is backing and others another of the new message to the iraqi government is. going to say the all you are not just for iraqi government is you know we'll deal with this let us deal with it. so a bit of a delay the judge on another front i would say washington at the same time what's negotiate doesn't it with the islamic front in syria an extremist group of rebels while at the same time so you also fight al qaeda really mixed messages over. yeah i think that if we were more i think what we're dealing with here in sin iraq is iraq is to be one of the bases of the insurgency in syria because it's been almost impossible for the syrian government to stop the terrorists from crossing over the border now we should bear in mind that because iraq is now in a strategic ally of syria and iran a lot of those terrorists are actually being caught by the u.s. trained iraqi forces who obviously believe their job is to catch. these these groups now th

yemen's al qaeda leader also advising al qaeda fighters across the region and those al qaeda affiliatesn to syria, iraq and libya are growing stronger. the threat they pose worries key members of congress. >> are we safer now than we were a year ago, two years ago? >> i don't think so. >> i absolutely agree that we're not safer today. >> reporter: in iraq, police are trying to crackdown. but al qaeda openly operates training camps near the syrian border and from there, al qaeda has moved into syria with weapons and tactics learned during the u.s. war in iraq. inside syria, a key al qaeda affiliate also stronger than a year ago. about 100 americans along with potentially hundreds from europe are fighting alongside i'd thousands of militants. >> if they were able to return to europe and to get access to the united states or return directly to the united states and they were not put on any watch lists, they would pose a very serious threat. they're well trained, radicalized and they have the ability and the intent to strike the u.s. homeland. >> analysts say the rise of the new al qaeda af

al-qaeda may not have had nothing to do on the americans?s the report and will break it down and this now claim for you. and movement and a fight over free speech. phil is back. call tv's beggest reality show is full again. a &e putting "duck dynasty" star phil

that's rebranded al qaeda.get past that if you're a serious expert studying this. >> what about the video portion of this? >> there's no basis for that, clayton. everybody's looked at this. let me tell you. i've been in the region. i was in egypt. you don't have that level of access to social media necessary to spawn that level of response for a quote, unquote, protest. plus, this protest started at night. you don't have protests at night. let me be clear on this, too. i spent several hours with the chief of egyptian intelligence, and i asked him directly the question, was al qaeda involved in the attack on the benghazi embassy consulate? he said absolutely. he went through and i can't go through all the details, but the chief of egyptian intelligence said flat out this was an al qaeda attack. who are you going to believe, the chief of the egyptian intelligence or "the new york times"? >> one of the pieces that this "new york times" makes is that you can't trust anybody. they bring up a person they call him the

was al qaeda involved? it was clear that a threat of al qaeda was involved in aspirational, meaning they wanted to do something like this. >> does that mean they did it though? >> do i believe they did. they clearly participated. >> what's going on with the "new york times" why this report? why now? >> that is dove tailing the political question, is it not? >> sure. >> getting to the midterm elections. might be dominated by things more like the economy and obamacare. nevertheless, mrs. clinton needs this to go away, does she not? this could be a problem for her? >> i don't want to speculate. i just am shocked that it a major newspaper in the united states would have the same talking pointed that the administration had the day after the event. if you recall, i was on this they okay the same time that susan rice was on the 12th saying hey, clhis was an organized, if not al qaeda. >> five sunday shows. >> exactly. i was on the same show theakd. would and that narrative never changed. >> the video, that obscure

, it is considered part of the al qaeda network. supporters of al qaeda, and they have a training camp near benghazi. so i've known all along it was them, and i consider that to be an al qaeda affiliate. so i think "the new york times" -- this is an academic debate. this is an al qaeda supporting organization and there are links between the two. when you're going to have these start-up organizations around the world. >> these were excerpts from six chapters of a book that are coming, and sometimes you have to question when somebody is trying to sell a book what goes in it. real quickly, your response in terms of moving forward with benghazi and an investigation? >> i think we still have to have investigations. >> will we have them? >> i'm certainly pushing for them. and the intelligence committee is going forward. we've had people who were at the compound that night who were under attack. they've come in and testified before us. so it's clear there was not adequate security and this was a systematic attack. this was not mob at all.

so al qaeda and al qaeda sympathisers were certainly involved - whether they were card-carrying members of pakistan al qaeda is a moot point. the fact is that al qaeda sympathizers, those that agreed with the vision were part of this attack, and part of this - the killings of the ambassador that evening. >> is this an argument over semantics? does it matter if it was an al-qaeda group, militia or terrorist cell? >> i think it is an article over semantics. the four people and organizations sympathetic, as the author states. >> the report makes it clear that the video had a lot of influence over the anger in the lead-up to the attack over the consulate. does that match up with congressional testimony. >> there seems a question about that. the video came out on the 9th. it wasn't until the 11th when the video created the disturbances in cairo. there are questions whether to, and what extent the video was responsible for the violence in benghazi. that's a reason why there should be further investigations from benghazi, so the issues can cole out. the american embassy stated that the videos

>> that al-qaeda was not involved in this. there was aspiration regarding the attacks, the officials talked about the tactical movement on the compound, even -- this was the compound before they went to the annex, all that would directly contradict the investigation -- >> i should point out private individuals in the united states. and democrat adam schiff who serves on the committee agrees with him, regarding al-qaeda but says plenty of others were involved. said there was no indication that the core al-qaeda planned the attack. he did the reporting for "the new york times." so david you found no evidence of involvement of al-qaeda and did find that the news media report had something to do with the attack, how can you be so sure that al-qaeda was not involved? >> well, first, i'm not out on a limb here. the u.s. intelligence agencies i believe also don't think al-qaeda was involved here. that is the first thing, the second thing is, it is pretty to find out who was involved. this is not like somebody secretly planted a car b

>> yes. >> affiliations with al qaeda core, definitely. >> the distinction between bin laden's al qaedaakes the point that focusing too closely on al qaeda may have distracted u.s. experts from other dangers in bengha benghazi. it was not infiltrated by al qaeda but contained rave local threats to american interest. the attack does not appear to be meticulously planned but neither was it spontaneous or without warning signs. another key point it indicates that anti-islam video that circulated at the time did help fuel the violence. that supports early claims made by susan rice which were sharply rejected by her republican critics. on sunday the chairman of the house oversight committee still reje rejects the u.s. version of events. >> they did not name this video as a prime cause. there was a small piece of information and they seized on it along with a lot of other information and chose that as a talking point. >> the administration has not disputed the article even though its actions before the attack are called into question, the report's main author says the u.s. missed warning sign

and forgotten. >> woodruff: al-qaeda has demanded the u.s.r strikes in afghanistan, pakistan, somalia and yemen, and release al-qaeda suspects around the world. the white house has insisted it will not negotiate. african leaders arrived in south sudan today, trying to broker an end to nearly two weeks of fighting. the president of kenya and the prime minister of ethiopia flew into juba, the south sudanese capital. later, they met with south sudanese president salva kiir. meanwhile, a u.n. envoy said additional peacekeepers should arrive within 48 hours. next door to south sudan, six african union peacekeepers have died in the central african republic. the soldiers were from chad. the a.u. says the group was attacked on christmas day by a christian militia in the capital city of bangui. the country's majority christians accuse the chadian troops of supporting fellow muslims who seized power nine months ago. in thailand, the government rejected calls to delay elections now set for february after street battles erupted in bangkok. a police offic

>> al qaeda not involved in this. some level of preplanning, aspiration to conduct an attack by their affiliates in libya, we know that. >> numbers game. the president's health care law hits a milestone with over 1 million americans signed up through the federal exchange. no time to celebrate for a white house facing an uphill kplim to reach their enroll men goal. xxxx >> very good monday kristen welker in for andrea mitchell in new york. we begin with developing news out of russia where a second deadly explosion rocked the city of volgograd in less than 24 hours. today's attack a rush hour trolley bus bombing killed at least 14 people and wounded 28 hours. nbc's jim maceda has the latest from moscow. >> hi, kristen, investigators in volgograd are operating under the strong suspicion that the latest attacks were the work of islamist insurgents from that restive north region of welsch. we understand police found links between the two most recent attacks the same group or cell carried out train and trolley bus bom bombi

al qaeda. those sorts of methods i never claim. >> why use the term al qaeda? you and other members of congress are sophisticated and know when you say al qaeda, people think central al qaeda. they don't think militias that may be inspired by bin laden and his other followers. it is a hot button for political reasons from the administration's -- >> it was accurate. there was a group that was involved that claims an affiliation with al qaeda. al qaeda is not a central command and control. it was in fact a loose group that could take general statements and act on them. the fact is people from this administration, career professionals, have said under oath there was no evidence of any kind of reaction to a video. and in fact this was a planned attack that came quickly. that's the evidence we have by people who work for the u.s. government and were under oath. >> notice how david gregory and andrea mitchell both tried to gang up on him like, hey, wait a minute, you republicans were trying to tell u

not simply focusing on al qaeda itself. much urk innier and still dangerous situation. >> since the spring, this assumption that america had for a very long time, it's necessary and desirable. it's not the case everywhere in the world. in the debates that we had about syria. there is a lot of question about even if we intervene, who would we help. when you had the local groups that are vying per power and able to be influenced. eye other terrorist groups or impulses and it's very doifl draw the line. >> thank you. first, a rescue mission and passengers on the russian ship stuck in the ice off antarctica are preparing for new year's eve on the ice and having a ball. we will tell you which supreme court justice will join the biggest party on the planet. first, today's trivia question. since 1789, how many people have served in the u.s. senate? the first person to tweet the correct answer will get an on air shout out. the answer and more coming up on the daily run down. stay with us. i can't believe your mom has a mom cave! to

syria is a staging ground for al qaeda and affiliate of al qaeda. we opted not to get involved in that situation, not to get involved in helping the rebels two years ago. now the rebels are afraid of al qaeda as much as assad. al qaeda is now in iraq. not only is iraq a client state of iran, there are 30 to 40 suicide bombings a month. 8,000 iraqis have died this year. that's a country that we fought for for the better part of a decade. we left, left no troops there. that country is on the brink. >> of course now we're still negotiating with afghanistan over a deal we've worked out. the president there is refusing to sign it. there's a dead line december 31st. the president is signaling the president may allow them to go beyond that date. afghanistan is one of the trouble spots we've got going into 2014. >> susan rice talked about data points. let me offer a few. president barack obama gave the cairo speech which was a speech of a apology and it was a f foretelling of retreat. we have managed to make everybody hate us. brother hood, secular army, se

but specifically says he wants to see his family, but al qaeda will only allow that if in fact al qaeda detainees are allowed to visit their families, if they're al qaeda detainees or gitmo or elsewhere, they want the u.s. to allow those detainees to see their families as well. that's clearly not going to happen. you mentioned the state department trying to authenticate this video. the fbi is doing that as well, and the fbi told us, quote, we remain concerned for the safety and well-being of mr. winestein and remain in contact with warren wynn stein's family while we tone to monitor the situation. mr. winestein added he wants president obama, secretary of state john kerry, other top officials, to negotiate with al qaeda here, but it's clear the u.s. government has said again and again, it will not engage in such negotiations. >> obviously there would never be a good time for this to happen, but this is timing that calls into question now, because it comes as president obama is weighing some other big decisions about our involvement in conflicts around the world. >> you're right, and al

there was aspiration to conduct an attack by al qaeda and their affiliates in libya. we know that. the individuals on the ground talked about a planned tactical movement on the compound even this is the compound before they went to the annex. all of that was directly contradictory to what "the new york times" definitively says was an exhaustive investigation. >> reporter: four americans were killed in the 2012 attack including u.s. ambassador chris stephens. some republicans accused the president and then secretary of state hillary clinton of understating al qaeda's involvement for political reasons. administration officials feel "the times" report undercut that argument, but california democrat adam schiff is also skeptical of the claim that al qaeda played no part. >> i agree with mike that however the intelligence indicates that al qaeda was involved, but there were also plenty of people and militias that were unaffiliated with al qaeda that were involved. i think the intelligence paints a portrait that some people came to murder, some came to destroy property, some merely came

the old core al qaeda. many of those leaders are long kbon including osama bin laden and now, the new affiliates have much more autonomy, much more freedom to operate as they see fit. barbara starr, cnn, pentagon. >> elsewhere, overseas today, student at university in egypt are blamed for setting on fire their school. it happened in cairo where widespread protests have erupted since the government declared the political movement muslim brotherhood a terrorist organization. parent are supporters of the muslim brotherhood and allegedly stormed university with molotov cocktails. at least one student fighting with the egyptian police and government who sees anyone publicly backs muslmuslim- >>> this will be kerry's ninth trip to the region. peace talks are digging in their heels. key point of contention include continued israeli troop presence in the palestinian territories and construction of jewish settlements in the west bank. >>> and in just a few days, people in colorado will be legally allowed to smoke, b

there's just no chance that this was an al qaeda attack, if by al qaeda you mean the organization founded by osama bin laden. >> but on the other hand, "the times" report does undercut the white house's version of events. they say this was a coordinated, deliberate attack on this u.s. mission in benghazi. they say there is no evidence to support -- in their conversations with people, they find no evidence to support the theory, the white house version of events that there were spontaneous street demonstrations that escalated into this attack. they say it was a deliberate attack planned on that mission in benghazi. so this is not likely to end the debate over just what did happen on that day in benghazi. alex? >> i was thinking the person who probably is reading this and parsing through it with a fine-tooth comb has to be our ambassador to the united nations, susan rice. so interesting development. thank you so much, jon yang. >>> new reaction today to a federal judge's ruling that the nsa's collection of americans' telephone records is legal. the legal adviser to nsa leaker edward snowden

it's a complex, maybe that's the better word, point about al qaeda. which al qaeda? al qaeda an organized force, you know, the central command of al qaeda or was it these kind of disparate groups who are related to, affiliated with, like al qaeda, et cetera. i think you're getting the picture that what this report is doing is saying it's a lot more murky than either side is putting out. and that's where you get really criticism from both sides. i don't think essentially it changes really the narrative that much. >> all right. jill, thank you. appreciate it. >>> remember when the french actor gerard depardieu due caused such a stink over a millionaire tax proposed in france? well, now, a different version of that very proposal has become law. i'm going to tell you who's going to pay and how much. and it feels like your lifeate revolves around your symptoms, ask your gastroenterologist about humira adalimumab. humira has been proven to work for adults who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. in clinical s

is sending military aid to iraq to help them fight al qaeda. they are targetting forces in the anwar province. 18 troops were killed in an ambush on saturday. african leaders are in south sudan negotiating an end to the violence that gripped the country for two weeks. 1,000 people have died in the fighting. the u.n. is sending in peacekeeping troops and equipment. a russian investigation found no trace of poisoning in the death of palestine leader yasser arafat. >> experts found evidence of a lethal substance polonium in arafat's remains. >> help is on the way for 74 passengers on board a ship caught in icy antarctic orders on tuesday. a professor travelling with the group heard from a chinese ice breaking vessel on round to free the ship. >> holiday sales up 2%. megadiscounts were considered one driving force behind the increase. those are the kheadlines. "consider this" is up next. >> surprising new details about the u.s. mission in iraq. the american military is now helping the fight against extremists with everything from surveillance drone

several journalists interviewed the leader of al-qaeda. why is it journalists can find them. >> there was an attempt to get it at one point. his neighbourhood and community came out to protect him. they set up roadblocks, had people with guns - that's one piece. the extraction is difficult. there's noir issue. people will not want to hear -- another issue. people will not want to hear this. there's a fragile weak government. to my put the government at risk, leaving us with no partner to work with. there are diplomatic factors involved. >> there's confusion over whether the controversial film about islam sparked this. the article made it sounds like it was not a planned attack. how do you get around the fact that it was happening. >> you can pick a day in the calendar year, and it's an anniversary for something. something in the muslim world, terror attack. i think here - ultimately responsibility for these murders rests with that yogroup. when americans burn the koran and engage in bigotry that has consequences. when you shout fire in a t

yemen's al qaeda leader also advising al qaeda fighters across the region.d those al qaeda affiliates from yemen to syria, iraq, and libya, are growing stronger. the threat they pose worries key members of congress. >> are we safer now than we were a year ago, two years ago? >> i don't think so. >> i absolutely agree we're not safer today. >> in iraq, police are trying to crack down. but al qaeda openly operates training camps near the syrian border. and from there, al qaeda has moved into syria with weapons and tactics learned during the u.s. war in iraq. inside syria, a key al qaeda affiliate also stronger than a year ago. about 100 americans along with potentially hundreds from europe are fighting alongside thousands of militants. >> if they were able to return to europe and to get access to the united states or return directly to the united states, they were not put on any watch list, they would pose a very serious threat. they're well trained. they're radicalized, and they have the ability and the intent to strike the u.s. homeland. >> analysts say the

it's not really the question of whether al qaeda run by the late al qaeda personally directed this missiont was the original administration line in september of 2012 was a spontaneous attack made by the video. that's what they wanted to get across. it was people getting angry like in cairo the day before over the muhammad video that according to greg hicks, nobody in libya saw it. they wanted to get away from the idea that it was anything -- that it was planned or coordinated, whether it's al qaeda or al qaeda affiliate or wanna-bes, nobody could have seen it coming. they're still fighting to get it across which is to say there's nothing larger here. you can't hold obama or susan rice or hillary clinton responsible for a sloppy protection. the only one you could blame is the late ambassador stevens. they do blame him. jon: what about the president's promise we were going to get to the bottom of this and justice was going to be done and we were going to find the people who mounted this attack? >> that promise exists still. the problem is that we attacked a country that's now run by militias

of al qaeda is on the path to defeat. our nation is cure, and our homeland is safer. >> two important members of congress in a position to know, including a democratic ally of the president don't agree with him. i'm pleased to be joined by jane harman, a former democratic congress woman who served on department of homeland security commit he is and is director, president of the woodrow wilson international centre for scholars. great to have you with us. let's start with barack obama. he said on 9/11 that we are safer because we decimated al qaeda's core leadership. on sunday senator fienstein said something different. >> i think worldwide is up worldwide. statistics indicate that. fatalities are up. numbers are way up. there are new bombs, very big bombs, trucks ri enforced, bombs through mag ni tom eters. the bomb-makers are alive. there's more groups than ever and huge mal-esso lens. >> who is write, president obama or senator fienstein? >> they are both right. and i'm not kidding. let me say first it's a pleasure to be

and if in its efforts to fight against al qaeda. of course we want to defeat al qaeda, but just adding ours into the mix without integrating shia, suni and kurds is a dangerous route to go down. >> want to bring up when michael knight with the washington institute for near east policy told the "new york times." here is what she had. >> there is one place in the world where al qaeda can run a major affiliate without any drone or air attack and that is in syria. statement? super bowl, first, iraq and syria are two places. but i would say it is worse than that. i think there is an al qaeda ability to operate without risk of u.s. drone strikes across in africa. yes, we do have u.s. drone strikes in pakistan and yemen. but we have seen a resurgence and expansion of al qaeda operations through a much wider area. i think what we are seeing, we have seen a withdrawal of the u.s. from iraq. a planned withdrawal from afghanistan. a a reluctance to engage in syria. a minimal engagement in lybia that we pulled back from. and that has created an