>> well, we've been concerned about aqap for a long time. that's known as core al qaeda. zawahiri has been trying to get them to launch attacks against the west and the united states. so you have a competition going on and a dangerous one between core al qaeda, aqap and al baghdadi, which is isis, for the biggest game in town. who can get the most attention? the best way to do that from my perspective, the thing that concerns me about that competition, the best way to do that is to strike the west and to strike the homeland. and that's something that they haven't been able to do since bin laden. >> is there any chance based on all the intelligence analyst you've seen, congressman, i'm sure you've seen a lot of it, that various groups like isis on one hand, core al qaeda on the other hand, right now, they're split, in competition right now. but they could unite at some point down the road? that would represent a much greater threat potentially. >> that's right. you have this dangerous competition of one-upsmanship. but we're seeing alliance within certain factions. isis ha

has put a lot of time, money and advice to help yemen deal with aqap. but as we see in iraq the u.s. believes if there is not an unified government all the efforts might be for not. >> okay, roslind jordan joining us live from washington, d.c. thank you very much, ros. >>> now foreign ministers of iran and saudi arabia have met in new york. they told local media that the countries could be influential in regional and global security. >>> and russian president vladimir putin has met with his security council to discuss operating with other countries in the fight against isil. there is no word on which countries those might be. russia has not yet responded to u.s. calls to join an international coalition. a video was released condemning putin. >>> groups advance has sent thousands of kurds fleeing for their lives. kurds now spread across large parts north. isil has surrounded dozens of areas it has been threatening the town itself. more than 200,000 people have fled from syria. >>> more than 130,000 rafaels from syria have arrived in turkey over the last

one lieutenant of bin laden is now within aqap, aqap has been the organization with the individual who has trained them to make explosives and sent them to syria. if you really want to pull the threads, i think you can make the argument there is a connection, although it is the third cousin once removed by marriage or however you want to explain it. there is still that connection. and correct me if i am wrong, peter, al-fadl -- his connections to al qaeda predate 9/11? >> yes. >> he predates 9/11. the larger question is this question of definitions and distinctions. we are pulling ourselves into this vicious circle -- peter, i want to bring you -- when you look at the threat, it is more diffuse. it is under one umbrella, but it does not have that top-down, like a fortune 500 leadership anymore. >> i want to return to this question, because, ok, we are at war with dices, which is divorced itself from al qaeda. mary has said the administration uses a narrow definition of all this. so, it seems to me when we did the first of strikes, there were two arguments being made by the administrati

we have also had a threat from aqap together.his is unprecedented that we have these huge buildings of affiliates that call themselves that, or called by us affiliates . they call themselves branches. they are threatening to carry out attacks against the united states. in -- howto bring you do you make a distinction, if there is a distinction, between a group like khorasan, which has members that i would call traditional al qaeda, or ties to the old guard of al qaeda, and the front in syria that is a shares the at least same goal as the united states and its allies, which is to topple the regime of bashir al-assad? a minority report compared to my colleagues and i am sure they will correct me. will jump in first, and then we will bring you in. >> we want will ok. >> no problem. group -- thesan name we have been told -- i do not know if that is what they call themselves or not, but it is part of an organization in syria that is a direct affiliate in al qaeda for the past year or so. sarah was a part of the islamic state in iraq an

it was an offshoot of aqap embattled yemeni president has signed a u.n. brokered truce and power sharing accord with the mall that movement. state department which was forced to evacuate most personnel from the embassy in sanaa this past week reasserts -- the u.s. remains firmly committed to president hadi. the u.s. also denounces the elements seeking to exploit the current situation to inflame matters particularly members of the former regime and houthi leadership. calling on them to "return the medium an heavy weapons" that the group has captured to the hands of the central government. >>> u.s.-led coalition warplanes appear to have taken out an isis-controlled oil refinery in syria. residents of a nearby turkish border town say the air strikes hit early this morning. part of the coalition strategy has been to target those oil installations controlled by the islamic state in an effort to cut off the revenues that make this terror group one of the wealthiest ever. so it our bombing strategy working? fox news military analyst, major general bob scales joi

i will conclude with aqap has attempted three times to attack the u.s. homeland.airliner plot of december 2009, an attempt against a u.s.-bound cargo planes in october 2010 and an airline plot in may of 2012 demonstrate their efforts to adapt to aviation security procedures and underscore why aviation security is a priority area outlined by secretary johnson. in response to these recent threats, generally from overseas, over the past few months, dhs has taken steps to enhance aviation security at overseas airports with direct flights to the united states. and other nations have followed suit with similar enhancements. mr. chairman, i will conclude my remarks here and if you would, allow me to submit the rest of them for the record. >> without objection. your entire statement will be made part of the record. thank you, general. ms. spalding, great to see you. please proceed. >> thank you, chairman. ranking member coburn, distinguished members of the committee, it's -- thank you for this opportunity to be here today. and particularly pleased to be here today with my

i will conclude with aqap has attempted three times to attack the u.s. homeland. the airliner plot in december of 2009 in an attempt against a u.s. bound carb -- u.s. bound cargo plane and an airline plot in may of 2012 demonstrate their efforts to adapt to aviation security procedures and underscore why aviation security is there prior to area outlined by secretary johnson. in response to these recent threats overseas over the past two months dhs has taken steps to enhance aviation security at overseas airports with direct flights to the united states and other nations have followed suit with similar enhancements. mr. chairman i will conclude my remarks and if you would allow me to submit the rest for the record. >> thank you general. it's great to see you. please proceed. >> thank you distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to be here today particularly pleased to be here with my colligan secretary taylor and our partners from the federal bureau of the counterterrorism center. i will amplify with regard to the threat to cybersecurit

corps counter terrorism veteran chalked up to the obama administration having focused too much on aqap and not enough. >> just has is short sighted in the strategy against isis, we have seen in yemen -- it tells of how the administration doesn't want to engage iran. >> state department spokesperson also called on the hoopies to reporting from washington, james roadsen, back to you. >>> and authorities in ferguson, missouri, searching for two men after a police officer was shot last night. it happened when the officer approached the men near a closed community center. the officer said the men then ran and opened fire. he was hit in the arm and is expected to be okay. now the police chief sees no connection to the recent turmoil over the michael brown shooting. >> in an area that's fairly secluded and i wouldn't have any reason to believe right now that it was linked in any way, shape, manner or form with the protest. this certainly doesn't appear that way. >> ferguson has been the scene of unrest since early august, and michael brown, an unarmed black teenager was shot and killed by a w

of course one of them is isil, another is aqap coming out of yemen that has a bomb that goes throughet four of those on different occasions into our country, and there is isil. each one of these is capable of one day some sooner than later of a strike against our country. so this is not a good situation. with isil, in my vieg this aims to be a country, a caliphate. it has a third of syria already, it has occupied some 14, 15 cities in iraq. it beheads -- excuse me. it beheads children. i have a picture of what i estimate to be a six-year-old girl in a gingham party dress, white tights, a little red band around her wrist, mary jane, and he is lying on the ground and her head is gone. this could be an american child. it could be a european child, it could be a child anywhere. and this is the mentality of the group that we are so concerned with. they have killed thousands, they are marching on. they have an army. they are well organized. many of us believe they are aimed at baghdad, perhaps our embassy this, and who knowslp else. what kind of authorization of use of force, we give the p

one lieutenant of bin laden is now within aqap, aqap has been the organization with the individual who has trained them to make explosives and sent them to syria. if you really want to pull the threads, i think you can make the argument there is a connection, although it is the third cousin once removed by marriage or however you want to explain it. there is still that connection. and correct me if i am wrong, peter, al-fadl -- his connections to al qaeda predate 9/11? >> yes. >> he predates 9/11. he was part of this facilitation network in iran. and now he is in syria. the larger question is this question of definitions and distinctions. we are pulling ourselves into this vicious circle -- peter, i want to bring you -- when you look at the threat, it is more diffuse. it is under the broad umbrella, but it does not have that top-down, like a fortune 500 leadership anymore. >> i want to return to this question, because, ok, we are at war with isis, which is divorced itself from al qaeda. mary has said the administration uses a narrow definition of all this. so, it seems to me when we di

aqap hasnclude with attempted to attack the homeland. attemptiner fought an against a u.s. bound cargo plane on october 2010 and an airline in may of 2012 demonstrated their efforts to adapt to aviation security procedures and underscore why aviation security is a priority area outlined by secretary johnson. these recento threats, generally from overseas over the past few months, dhs has taken steps to enhance aviation security at overseas airports and airports with direct flights to the united states. other nations have followed suit with similar enhancements. mr. chairman, i will conclude my remarks. if you would, allow me to submit the rest of them for the record. >> without objection. thank you, general. please proceed. ranking you, chairman, member coburn, distinguished members of the committee. thank you for the opportunity to be here today. i'm particularly pleased to be here today with my colleague, undersecretary taylor, and with our partners from the federal bureau of investigation and the --n to -- national carriage national counterterrorism center. i'm going to

. >> war zone experience encounter terrorism says the obama administration focuses too level on aqap in the south and not enough on the north. >> just as it's short sighted in the strategy on isis, in yemen, we have seen that they ignore the iranian influence, which tells the tale of how the administration dublt want to engage iran. >> last week, the u.s. embassy citing terrorist threats urged americans living in yes, ma'men leave the country, hour shepard smith was told this afternoon the dperpt has no announcements to make about the status of u.s. embassy personnel. >>> president obama makes his case for war at the united nations. we'll get reaction from the all-star panel after a break. >>> there can be no reasoning, no negotiation with this brand of evil. the only language understood by killers like this ask the language of force. the united states of maerk will work with a broad coalition to dismantle this network of death. i have made it clear that america will not base our entire foreign policy on reacting to terrorism. instead we waged a focused campaign against al qaeda and

qaeda which has already diminished in its capacity and of course to continue the fight against aqim, aqap, and other affiliate that would arise. there has to be a different strategy because the problems are arising out of the political structures in the area that they are hosting these affiliates. so it's important not to have a one size fit all al qaeda strategy, to continue to focus on the core which has been diminished, but to also work in each case. >> thank you. yield back. >> thank you all for being here today and for your service. i very much appreciate it at this time. i expressed yesterday a great deal of skepticism about the strategy of arming the so-called syrian moderates. i have this sinking feeling that we're already violating things that we know to be true, like starting with the idea that it's generally historicically a bad idea to get involved in a religiously oriented land war in the middle east. i still have yet to receive an answer to the question of how a lightly trained force will fight two enemies at once. ambassador crockor, you may be right that we are able to con

. >> aqap melted away while controlling regions the government doesn't have reach to. >> reporter: that'st cooperating. u.s. forces won't have that in syria. a yemeni official says his government's partnership with the u.s. has been successful killing off dozens of leaders, one of them awlaki, a top strategist. >> they got the number two man at guantanamo bay. >> reporter: still standing two of the most dangerous, its top leader and its master bombmaker. al asiri is responsible for attempts to bomb planes headed for the united states including the underwear bomb attack and 2010 printer cartridge bomb plot. there is concern al asiri is sharing bombmaker groups in syria. white house officials say there's more work to be done in yemen. brian todd, cnn, washington. >>> coming up after the break, isis wants to add more women to its ranks. you'll hear from experts who say the terror group is look for a certain type of female. >>> also ahead, other news that we're following. new developments for young american man held in northern korea. what's your favorite kind of cheerios? honey nut. but... c

>> think about aqap.ation was their access to western nationals who could sneak past borders or into airports and carry these devices. the underwear bomb plot was using a nigerian national who had residency in london. large number of westerners are going there. we just saw the same group affiliated with the khorasan group release a video of a young kid from florida blowing himself up in a suicide bombing and talking about how he hated the united states, how he wanted to kill americans, how he wanted to kill president obama, ripping his passport apart and it's that mentality and the supply of western nationals combined with this unit that's focusing and developing explosives apparently that can be nsnuck on board airplanes. a combination you don't want to see. >> definitely not. >>> next hour, more from central park for you as we gear up for the global citizen festival. ad and put your bag right here." "have a nice flight." ♪ music plays ♪ music plays traveling can feel like one big mystery. you're never q

they're trying to work with aqap bombmakers to smuggle on bombs on our planes.we cannot lose sight of that threat. that's a more immediate threat to america. >> i would say they're all a threat. equal threats, coming at us, and we have to be on our guard at all times. if isis went into australia, they can certainly come into the u.s. in 2011 they attempted to attack ft. knox. >> gentlemen, you have thoroughly scared me. thank you both. thanks for coming in today. >>> coming up, the latest on the scandal involving the national football league and commissioner roger goodell. but first, how much of a coalition has president obama put together to fight isis? our sunday panel joins us next. this is the people of that region versus isil. it's the world versus isil. >> president obama talking about the broad coalition he says he's put together to fight isis and it's time now for our sunday group. fox newses senior political analyst, julie pace, syndicated columnist george will and fox news political analyst ron williams. julie, from the white house officials you talked

even so some analysts say al qaeda and its offspring remain a potent threat, especially aqap,. >> put a person in an airplane over detroit with a bomb. and that bomb failed but nonetheless that is very long-reach. considerable capability. >> reporter: but even without pulling off another attack on the size of 9/11, borne deadly roots, the attacks at fort hood, the boston marathon and a failed attempt to bomb times square. and the alon loon loan wolf, whs america. >> cat loving florida kid before he carried out a suicide attack in syria. now the u.s. is focused on the islamic state group also known as i.s.i.s. its leader, abu bakr al-baghdadi is a shad ohy figure who was actually imprisoned by u.s. forces in iraq back in 2005, he was later released and the u.s. is now offering a $10 million bounty for his death or capture. the group has drawn in fighters for 80 countries including europe and the u.s. the fear is that some will return home ready to do damage. >> i.s.i.s. could certainly operationalize, and tell them your mission is to train and return to the u.s. >> reporter: focused on

marine corps counter terrorism veteran talks to the obama administration, having focused too much on aqap and not enough on the hoofies. >> just as it's shortsighted in the strategy on isis, in yemen, it seems that they have ignored the iranian influence, which tells a tale of how the administration doesn't want to engage iran. >> state department spokesperson jen saki called on the return of the medium and heavy weapons that the group has captured at the hands of the central government. >>> a police officer is shot in ferguson, missouri and expected to survive. that officer was in pursuit of two suspects when one of them allegedly opened fire. st. louis county police say the death appears to have nothing to do with the protests of the death of michael moore earlier in the summer. >> seemingly unrelated but it certainly is fresh and unwelcome tension in ferguson. here's what we know, a policeman was turning up in his patrol car, and two people on foot panicked as they saw him and went running off is officer went in pursuit and during that pursuit, one of the men pulled a gun on him. this

and they have learned over the years from what al qaeda and other groups, aqap and al shabaab and otherse been doing, to reach out. and the whole purpose of this, of course, as we talked about in the past s to try to bring into the fold in particular westerners. whether they're americans, whether they're brits or german or french, north africa, whatever they can do to recruit those individuals who can provide them with the abilitto cross borders more easily than they can. so this is in a sense not something new, but it's a more developed, because they have been learning over the years how to do this better. >> how optimistic are you in terms of the u.s. or the u.s. and a coalition for the president out of the nato meetings that we will, in fact, be able to defeat isis? >> well, i think if we can do a couple things. if we can separatehe politics here in the u.s. in particular from the operational needs of this. and by that, what i mean is, look, we can all argue that the white house and president obama was a bit slow to the game in understanding the immediacy of the threat and in dealing

not only isis, carol, but the threat that al qaeda and specifically aqap poses to the us. right now isis is focused on establishing an islamic caliphate but al qaeda and its afail i can't tells are trying to target the west, specifically aviation. they've tried to conceal explosive devices to destroy aircraft and that's a major concern to u.s. officials and this's why we've seen increased aviation security overseas and particular in response to that, carol. >> thank you, pam. i'm a little distracted. i was watching homeland security secretary jay johnson shake hands with code pink anti-war protesters. it should be another interesting hearing. pamela brown, jim acosta, thanks to both of you. >>> in the meantime, the fight against isis shifts to american soil. you heard pamela brownout line. a grand jury has indicted this man, yemen born mufid elfgi. federal officials say to 2-t 30-year-old tried to join the extremist fight and authorities say he was planning to gun down troops who served in iraq. will it's talk about this with cnn's justice reporter evan perez. apparently t

they're trying to work with aqap bombmakers to smuggle on bombs on our planes.we cannot lose sight of that threat. that's a more immediate threat to america. >> i would say they're all a threat. equal threats, coming at us, and we have to be on our guard at all times. if isis went into australia, they can certainly come into the u.s. in 2011 they attempted to attack ft. knox. >> gentlemen, you have thoroughly scared me. thank you both. thanks for coming in today. >>> coming up, the latest on the scandal involving the national football league and commissioner roger goodell. but first, how much of a coalition has president obama put together to fight isis? our sunday panel joins us next. . her long day of outdoor adventure starts with knee pain. and a choice. take 6 tylenol in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. onward! on my journey across america, i've learned that when you ask someone in texas if they want "big" savings on car insurance, it's a bit like asking if they want a big hat... ...'scuse me... ...or a big steak... ...or big hair... i think we have

they're trying to work with aqap bomb americas to smuggle on bombs on our planes. we cannot lose sight of that threat. that's really the more immediate threat to americans -- >> adam i would say they're all a threat. they're equal threats. they're coming at us and we have to be on our guard at all times. if isis went into australia they could certainly come into the u.s. in 2011 they attempt to attack or not. all of them, i say, are threats we cannot let our guard down at all. >> gentlemen you have thoroughly scared me. congressman king, congressman schiff, thank you. >>> coming up the latest on the scandal involving the national football league and commissioner roger goodell. but first, how much of a coalition has president obama put together to fight isis? our sunday panel joins us next. >>> we'll lead a broad coalition of nations who have a stake in this fight. this isn't america versus isis. this is the people of that region versus isis. it's the world versus isis. >> president obama talking about the broad coalition he says he's put together to fight isis. and

marco rubio said that, others are saying that today, mainly because al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, aqap a resilient, viable, terrorist organization that can till threaten the united states and put bombs on planes. their leade eer is still alive. their master bomb maker is still alive. that's the guy who successfully put bomb abouts on planes bound for the united states while the al qaeda in the arabian peninsula has been attacked by the army and u.s. drones and decimated in some areas they've shown resilience and been able to push into other areas and keep the capability alive. that's a question as to whether yemen is a real success. >> the other criticism of the president, you're comparing appsles and oranges in a sense. al qaeda in the arabian peninsula in yemen, al shabaab in somalia but these are terrorist groups, bands, they don't control a whole lot of land. they don't have tank, armored personnel carriers, they don't have an officer corps, an army, and they don't have hundreds of millions of dollars like isis has, which controls a huge amount of territory in syria and iraq and th

they're trying to work with aqap bombmakers to smuggle on bombs on our planes.we cannot lose sight of that threat. that's a more immediate threat to america. >> i would say they're all a threat. equal threats, coming at us, and we have to be on our guard at all times. if isis went into australia, they can certainly come into the u.s. in 2011 they attempted to attack ft. knox. >> gentlemen, you have thoroughly scared me. thank you both. thanks for coming in today. >>> coming up, the latest on the scandal involving the national football league and commissioner roger goodell. but first, how much of a coalition has president obama put together to fight isis? our sunday panel joins us next. [ breathing deeply ] [ inhales deeply ] [ sighs ] [ inhales ] [ male announcer ] at cvs health, we took a deep breath... [ inhales, exhales ] [ male announcer ] and made the decision to quit selling cigarettes in our cvs pharmacies. now we invite smokers to quit, too, with our comprehensive program. we just want to help everyone, everywhere, breathe a little easier. introducing cv

al-qaeda and its offspring remain a potent threat, especially al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula, or aqapich has put a person on an airplane over detroit with a bomb, and that bomb failed, but nonetheless, that is very long reach, considerable capability. >> even without pulling off another attack in the u.s. on the scale of 9/11, the seeds of violence sewn have born deadly fruit, inspiring so-called lone wolves to carry out attacks at fort hood, the boston marathon and a failed attempt to bomb times square. now there's concern about a potential new breed of lone wolf, americans who fight with violent groups overseas, then sets his sight on his homeland. >> you think you all killed osama bin laden -- >> a florida kid carried out a suicide attack in syria. >> now the u.s. is focused on the islamic state group, also known as isis, its leaderral baghdady was imprisoned, later reds and the u.s. is now offering a $10 million down they for his death or capture. the group has drawn in fighters from europe and the u.s., the fear is that some will return home ready to do damage. >> isis certainly

and equipped has proven to be inadequate to defeat the insurgency in question as with the case with aqap the taliban or isil. in some cases, the insurgency does not affiliate itself with al qaeda or build upon territorial gains before aspiring to attack the u.s. homeland. so the growth, advance and evolution of isil presents a turning point for the president. will the fall of anbar province and the threat posed by isil to jordan, saudi arabia and turkey lead to a reconsideration of its entire national security policy, the kind i've alluded to here and elsewhere? or will the president confine himself within the book ends of shortsighted national security policies that were conceived on the campaign trail in 2008? if prior events or arguments left the president unpersuade, the emergence and recent actions of isil should convince him the time has come to revisit his prior assumptions and rethink his approach. isil is large and it is lethal. and its rapid growth has outpaced the capacity of either the peshmurga, iraqi security forces or the moderate syrian opposition to contain it. ominously

we have al qaeda, isil, aqap, this is geopolitical whack a mole.ve to have a strategy to get to the bottom of why are young people joining these organization s organizations? how do we counter their message that is attracting people into this radical death oriented philosophy? so i think i would urge the administration, you have to deal with the current crisis. i understand that. i think isil is a threat. but we also have to deal with, okay, what happens if the iraqi army doesn't stand up adequately and what happens if our troops that we trained in syria are unable to really take the fight to isil? the third question which i think is important is, we've got to have a longer-term more broad strategy to deal with this threat. otherwise, this is going to be a 100-year war. i just don't think it's in anyone's interest to contemplate such a terrible outcome. again, i want to thank you gentlemen and your testimony has been very helpful today, both of you. >> thank you, senator king. senator? >> thank you both for your service and being here today. secret

aqap, as they're known, taking a page out of the isis playbook. >> it's not been a success in yemen.tners are struggling to contain the insurgency. >> reporter: critics say the yemeni government hasn't been strong enough. a yemeni official tells cnn, yemeni forces have driven the terrorist group out of key strong holds. u.s. special-ops troops assisted them in one operation this year, killing 65 terrorists. joslyn says that's only part of the problem. >> they melted away and still wages the insurgency and controls rural areas. >> reporter: that's a government cooperating with the u.s. in syria, u.s. forces won't have that. the partnership with the u.s. has been successful in killing off dozens of leaders. one of them, awlaki, the american-born cleric, a top strategist. >> they also got the number two in the group, a saudi who had been at guantanamo bay. >> reporter: but still handing, two of the most dangerous terrorists that threaten america. now, al asari is responsible for some nearly successful attempts to bomb planes bound for the u.s., including the underwear bomb day attack in

air strikes, drone strikes in afghanistan, al qaeda core, pakistan, al shabab in somalia, aqap in yemenst than that but not a ground invasion. one thing we learned today is that they are going to talk senior isis leadership, which is a tactic that they've used against al qaeda and al shabab through drone strikes. you're also going to have a more sustained air campaign. in the last month, you have had 150 something air strikes in iraq against isis. that's more than you've had in a number of years in yemen or somalia. but it's far from an iraq-like invasion. >> we just heard from the former secretary of homeland security, tom ridge, under george w. bush during the iraq war. he was talking about how at some point there needs to be some boots on the ground, because from air strikes, if the goal is to destroy and not degrade, you can degrade from the air he says, destroy on the ground. when you're talking to administration officials, what do they say about that? >> you have the line from the former cia director who said, it's like casual sex. >> he said gratification, but there's no commitme

to the really serious threats, though, if you want to rank them, i still say al qaeda, central and aqap, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. >> and that's led by al zarqawi. why is he still at large, this guy who was some argue the real brains behind the 9/11 attack? >> the leader of al qaeda is not there. and we continue our efforts against al qaeda -- >> so long to catch this guy? >> it's taken a long time. but ultimately the united states achieves its goals in this area. with respect to al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, this poses a threat to the united states. this is an organization that's indicated an intent and is actually undertaking operations against the united states and the west. >> why the u.s. launches air strikes and drones and others in yemen. >> we have a multidimensional set of challenges. al qaeda's become more complex -- >> and you don't have a problem calling this a war? >> i don't have a problem calling it a war against these groups, no. but we know how to do this. that's the important point about the isis or isil effort in iraq and syria. we have learned a lot of

probably threat is more immediate and what concerns us most about it is the working with aqap and other affiliates to put together an that's successful mainly targeted at aviation targets, i think all of that has public, but it's serious and it's rising up. and it's interesting that where you see these operatives isn't necessarily where you might see some before. so you might see number s iraq, africa, in con swrungs with another affiliate. that's a new twist, the way we see it. so you have this immediate threat that we continue to push back on, this al qaeda threat, to what is aon growing national security threat isil and their ability to get people back into the united states. new threat, what do you see as their goal? is there one specific goal or them?a bunch of >> the best defense against terrorism is intelligence. muche need to get as intelligence as we can. thatve a unique resources no other country has, but we also need intelligence from the know whoso that we we're going after, where they are. isis is concerned, we knew they were there for years, but remember in syria, which is

we have al qaeda, isil, aqap, this is geopolitical whack a mole. have to have a strategy to get to the bottom of why are young people joining these organization s organizations? how do we counter their message that is attracting people into this radical death oriented philosophy? so i think i would urge the administration, you have to deal with the current crisis. i understand that. i think isil is a threat. but we also have to deal with, okay, what happens if the iraqi army doesn't stand up adequately and what happens if our troops that we trained in syria are unable to really take the fight to isil? the third question which i think is important is, we've got to have a longer-term more broad strategy to deal with this threat. otherwise, this is going to be a 100-year war. i just don't think it's in anyone's interest to contemplate such a terrible outcome. again, i want to thank you gentlemen and your testimony has been very helpful today, both of you. >> thank you, senator king. senator? >> thank you both for your service and being here today. sec

you know, we've got al qaeda, isil, al shabab, aqap, al nusra.is is geo political whakamo and we have to have a strategy to get to the bottom of why are young people joining these organizations? what's motivating them? how do we counter their message that is attracting people into this radical, death-oriented philosophy? and so i think i would urge the administration, you've got to deal with the current crisis. i understand that. i think isil is a threat. we also have to deal with, okay. what happens if the -- the iraqi army doesn't stand up adequately? and what happens if we're -- our troops that we train in syria are unable to really take the fight to isil? the third question, which i think is important, is we've got to have a longer term, more broad strategy to deal with this threat. otherwise this is going to be a hundred-year war. and i just don't think it's in anyone's interests to contemplate such a terrible outcome. again, i thank you gentlemen and your testimony has been very helpful today, both of you. >> thank you. senator king. senato

additionally, by trying to hold terrain as we saw with aqap in yemen, as we saw with al qaeda in afghanistan, as we saw with al shabab in somalia, there's a vulnerability that comes from trying to hold terrain and they're not as -- they can't surrender that easily without losing their sense of invincibility. so the combination of all those things lined up mean if we put a coalition together, we'll prove what history always teaches us, and that is nations with allies can only defeat nations without them, and what they're doing is instigating more allies on our side. >> thank you. ambassador crocker, following up on a question that congressman king had asked about the embedded military advisors with the iraqi security forces, you say that's the way it works best. would you say that that's also just as important if we're going to do a train and eequipped mission for the free syrian army that for it to work best we should probably embed special forces advisors and we train, equip and send them back into syria? >> sir, in my written testimony, i tried to make that point. syria is not iraq obvious

we know there are threat streams that aqap, the al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, are engaged in thistion of what they believe is air flight attacks. we saw some disturbing trends. they reached out to el nusra and its affiliates in syria. but we should make no mistake, one of the things the 9/11 commission said is that the u.s. intelligence services lacked imagination about putting all the pieces together for somebody getting on an airplane and flying into a building. you look at what isis has. time, space, more money than they know what to do with, and access to jihadists with western passports. doesn't take much imagination to understand the threat. >> i was surprised to hear the head of the u.s. national counterterrorism center testify today saying that al qaeda right now is trying as best as they can still to attack u.s. commercial aviation. how much of a problem is that? >> it's a huge problem. they dedicated themselves to do it. one of the threats that rose up with awlaki that was killed in yemen is that he was really focused on this airliner attack. so he did the ink cartridge

what concerns us most about is the working we see with aqap, other al-qaeda affiliates that put together an operation that successful, mainly targeted at aviation targets, all of that has been public. but it's serious and it's rising up. interesting that where you see these operatives is a necessary where you might see them before. so you might see some in iraq and syria and northern africa putting this plan together in conjunction with another affiliate. that's a new twist, the way we see it. and so you have this immediate threat that we continue to push back on, this al-qaeda threat, and encourage other intelligence services to do what they can't vision to what is a growing national security threat which is isil and the ability to get people back in the united states. >> so this new threat, what d.c. is their goal? or is there any one specific goal, or is it a bunch? >> the best offense against terrorism is intelligence. and we need to get as much intelligence as we can. we have unique resources that no other country has. we also need intelligence from the ground. and so we know who we

we've had considerable success training forces in yemen to help confront aqap. the goal of this is to reduce the requirement far robust u.s. military presence to advance our interests. i have heard number of folks, particularly on my side of the aisle, express that concern that we don't want to go down the slippery slope of committing forces to a large-scale war. i agree with them. but this amendment does not authorize military force. in fact, quite the opposite. it authorizes us to train local forces so that they can do the fighting. i've also heard a number of people express the frustration, which i share, we shouldn't be over there fighting these battles. we need the local population there is to stand up and fight for themselves. but that is precisely what mr. mckeon's amendment enables us to do. it enables taos train local forces to fight isil on our behalf. this is important, not just because it keeps us out of the fight but because it gives us a far greater chance of being successful. if this is perceived as the u.s. coming in against the muslim group, the

all of you mentioned that it's not just isis but it's the whole al qaeda threats we have to face, aqap, al qaeda itself and others. one group, i'm only mentioning this because it was in the media, the corzine group. can you tell us in any unclassified setting regarding this? and if not i understand. i'm only mentioning it because it's been in the media. >> discussion of specific organizations i think should be left to a classified setting. >> i understand that. ranking member thompson asked the question about working with our allies. director comey, i would ask you, what are the plus and minuses of prime minister's cameron -- prime minister cameron's suggestion that passports be taken away, in particular people that travel to syria? americans traveling from syria, what is your perspective and the f.b.i.'s perspective of taking away their passports? >> thank you, mr. king. that's a question probably better answered by secretary johnson. just quickly, it's of interest to us. i met with the home secretary, as i know secretary did from the u.k., this week to try and understand better how t

after all, he who was tending to bin laden is now within aqap who's been the the course on the group, so if you want to really sort of pull the thread i think you could make the argument that there is a connection although the third cousin once removed by marriage or however you want to look at it but there still is that connection. and then when you look at this is someone and correct me if i'm wrong his connections to al qaeda predate 9/11. this is part of the facilitation and now he has been in this area. but the larger question here is a question of definitions and distinctions and whether we are putting ourselves into this vicious circle of trying to find the definition when we look at the thread asked your report has found out it is more diffuse and it is under this broad under allah, but it doesn't have that kind of top-down fortune 500 leadership anymore. >> i want to return to this question because, okay, so we are at war with isis just devoted itself from al qaeda and amiri said that his administration who uses a narrow definition on the list, so it seems to me that when we

what concerns us most bet it, working with aqap. other al qaeda affiliates to put together a operation that is successful, mainly targeted at aviation targets and all of that has been public but it is serious and rising up and it is interesting where you see these operatives isn't necessarily where you might have seen them before. you might see some in iraq and syria and north africa, putting the plan together in conjunction with another affiliate. that's a new twist the way we see it. so you have the immediate threat we continue to push back on, this al qaeda threat. and, encourage our intelligence services to do what they can. in addition, to what isa growing national security threat which is isil and their ability to get people back into the united states. >> with this new threat what do you see as their goal or is there a one specific goal. or is it a bunch of them. >> best defense against terrorism is intelligence. we need to get as much tell against as we can. we have unique resources that no other country has but we also need

and so the centerpiece in yemen, those who study intensively, they were not even from the aqap.have declared their allegiance thing that you must make allegiance to them and i've never seen anything like that before. in all 16 years, i have never seen anything like this defeat of isis. >> okay, gentlemen on the aisle here. >> i have a question to you relative to your discussions mainly in regards to anwar al-awlaki. he had various interfaces with three of the hijackers involved in 9/11. did he ever make any mention of his knowledge before 9/11 or what he might have known after 9/11? >> no, sir. he never mentioned that. he never mentioned that. but i remember in syria, in lebanon and jordan. and so why would that be again in syria? and you couldn't even mention this in secrecy. and so it is something that these people are religiously motivated with. >> thank you. i am in the uk where you are. and just to give a sense as we close out here. to give a sense of the cost that he has had to bear, all of this work he was doing on the cutting edge of counterterrorism, targeting the vario

it was an offshoot of aqap that claimed responsibility for yesterday's attack.d a truce with the state department who was forced to evacuate this past week. they reaffirmed support for the central government saying, quote, the united states remains firmly committed to supporting president hadi to counter the shared threat from al qaeda. the united states also denounces elements seeking to exploit the current security situation to further up flame matters, particularly members of the former saleh regime and houti hi leadership. you know you are in a position when you have to say, give back the medium and heavy weapons you have. >> i don't think you're expecting a positive response from that request. >> james rosen, thank you. >>> back here at home, a lot of questions surrounding the beheading out in oklahoma where alton nolen has not been charged yet but allegedly went into his place of work and beheaded one of his former coworkers after being fired. he has been shot and then had been laying in a bed in a hospital being watched by police card. well, guess what? t