belgium officials say they launched several raids across belgium today. this one turned up this cell of people planning this imminent attack. they followed them traced them. how daunting of a task is it to follow all the people then that are coming back from the fight in iraq and syria right now? >> it is a daunting task as you said. it's phd level work. it's a 24/7. it doesn't stop. it's strenuous for folks doing it. it has to be done. once you have success, you move onto the next one very quickly. >> reporter: this is an intelligence game as well. i don't use the word game -- it's no word at all. lives are at stake. they have a suspect in custody. they killed two terror suspects and captured one. what do you do now with the man they have in custody? >> chris, immediately they want to see if this person in custody has actionable intelligence to help further disrupt the network system is. that's what they're looking for immediately. they'll work on that through the night and day until they feel this guy doesn't have more actionable intelligence. then they

belgium has a particular problem. in may of last year there was a deadly attack at a jewish museum by an isis veteran that killed four there. tonight you have these operations including the one in the dramatic video. now ten many total, four cities. right now the casualties we know confined to that one in verviers. we know several other operations are underway. a long planned operation. no connection to paris attacks. john is it possible that counter terror forces in europe are taking steps tonight they might though the have without the paris attacks? do they have a lighter trigger finger to go after suspects in it's possible. belgian authorities making clear they believe there was an imminent threat from fighters returning from syria, and they had to act now. >> reporter: jim, kim information here. no connection say belgian officials to has what took place in paris one week ago. a separate operation directed against people they had been monitoring some time several weeks. ten separate raids jim, reported over four ci

a lot of weapons coming through belgium belgium. >> we have to consider belgium as a hub for people across europe and movement of traffic and weapons across europe. it is not a surprise to have seen those terrorists like coulibaly maybe locating weapons in belgium. >> we have heard in belgium like so many other western countries in europe right now, there have been people fighting in syria or iraq. returning to those countries right now. that is one of the biggest fears facing officials in belgium, france and germany and netherlands. fabrice, thank you. christine, we are standing outside the memorial for "charlie hebdo." it was moving to see the secretary of state here. we spoke to the mayor of the district. he said he does feel safe right now because of the enormous police presence. he doesn't know how long that presence can last. christine. >> john in paris. we will follow the latest on the paris attacks and terror threat across europe all morning long. >>> first, new information about this man. the man the fbi says planning a capitol hill terror attack. in court for the first time in ju

belgium. >> that's true. back in 2001 right at the time of our september 11 attack, there was a big plot underway in seven european countries. the main part of that plot existed in belgium, france and the netherlands. >> but the u.s. embassy -- >> was supposed to be bottomed along with a facility near brussels and another in the netherlands. it was broken up. it was investigated by the european services along with the fbi providing assistance. no one ever heard of it here when the arrests started on september 14th because it was three days after our 9/11 which commanded the top media attention in our country. that was a huge case. convictions were obtained in multiple countries, including in belgium, against al qaeda members. sentences all in the four to five year raining not much. the people are back out and now many of them have gone. we've been talking for months about the foreign fighters hundreds going to fight with isis. we've been talking about at some point many are going to come back to wage jihad in

belgium prosecutors are having a news conference now. >> reporter: the suggestion is that belgium forry has a population higher than anywhere else in europe of returning people. so the suggestion that there were ten houses which were search ed searched -- -- the suspects opened fire before being were neutralized, and as a result two of the suspects were killed one has been arrested. but no police officers have been hurt. just looking at the website of a belgin newspaper, they were ready even before this press conference quoting an unidentified police source saying we have averted a belgin "charlie hebdo." that magazine was attacked by two brothers last week resulting in the deaths of 12 journalists. it would seem that the belgin authorities believe that this is not just small scale operations to disrupt a cell, that this was a fairly large operation and they say terrorist attacks on a grand scale were being planned. >> back with you, and further details emerge, in the meantime, thank you. >> bp announced today it's cutting 300 north sea oil -- >>> this was apparently a large operation

thus belgium security apparatus is top of their game right now. >> we are looking at a map of belgium. are there other hot spots in europe where there are particularly large muslim communities from which foreign fighters are being drawn into the isis attacks in iraq and syria? >> yes indeed. i think germany is ranked on the third in the european countries where many have travelled to syria and iraq and joined isis and al qaeda's links there. we know that there has been a number of european nationals from france belgium and germany but going all the way to chechnya and russia. some from turkey. we have a bunch coming from northern europe and sweden and denmark. europe has been flagged by the rise of radical elements there. many have expressed views of violent jihad. we are seeing it actualizing in europe. >> thank you very much. we will of course keep an eye on developments in belgium as you can see the press conference getting prepped and underway. we will bring you the latest as we learn it. secretary of state john kerry has just arrived in paris where he is expected to meet with fre

>> is there any connection between the suspects and sharia for belgium? >> sharia are for belgium? i can cannot give any comment on that. >> jewish schools in brussels -- on monday. can you talk more about the threat on the jewish community in belgium? >> no we cannot give any comment on the threats. that's for other people to talk about. >> what made you decide to act now? >> the investigation itself. we have an ongoing investigation and at the certain time we decided to intervene, especially because we thought that the threats for terrorist attack was very imminent. >> days hours? >> could have been hour and certainly more than a day or few days. [ speaking foreign language ] >> listening to this live press conference taking place in belgium after this overnight raid that took place there in verviers outside of brussels. we were questioning there in english. they have gone back to taking questions in french. but breaking down what we have learned that they would not confirm whether or not the u.s. was involved with intelligence transfer of information to bring down this terrorist

belgium has the most liberal euthanasia law in the world. and even though this country is predominantly roman catholic, surveys show overwhelming support here for the right to die by euthanasia. since the law passed the number of belgians choosing euthanasia has steadily risen each year, with more than 1,800 dying this way in 2013. that's an average of about five people a day. in 2014, belgium made headlines when it became the first country in the world to extend euthanasia to terminally ill children of any age, although no cases have occurred so far. so, in belgium, it's not just the terminally ill who can request euthanasia. psychiatric patients now children. is belgium pushing the boundaries when it comes to euthanasia? >> i don't think so. i don't think so. >> reporter: gilles genicot is a lawyer and co-chairman of the euthanasia control and evaluation commission, which oversees the practice in belgium. >> the law humanizes the deaths of terminally ill patients, on the one hand, and on the other hand, for patients who are not terminally

in belgium, in particular belgium has the highest concentration of jihadists per capita, if you will.y. but given the 300 or so that have gone there, it has the highest and most dense concentration and there in belgium, it is a community of people who live right in the community. here in france for example, the -- many of the militants of those associated with the groups live on the outskirts of paris. there is a separation. and it is a different situation than belgium. that raid happened right near the center of town. i can also tell you that in belgium today, we understand some jewish schools have closed because they're concerned about attacks. anti-semitic attack in belgium last may that killed four people. there, like here in paris and france, the jewish community feels very much under threat. so we also know that here in france over night there was a big roundup in paris. at least a dozen people were arrested in connection with the attacks here last week. and so far there has been no link, i should say, between what happened in belgium yesterday and the attacks here last week. bu

>>see you tomorrow. ♪ ♪ >>> we're back and following breaking news out of belgium where belgium publichave been killed in a counterterrorism operation. we're getting detailed about that and mike is here to help us understand the connection between belgium and the attack on paris. >> we have to understand just how kektded europe is in aability to transverse borders and ship weapons over borders. we do know in the intelligence has come out post the quts"charlie hebdo" attacks. the weapons were traced back to a source in belgium. what will be happening at the moment. we don't knee definitively that is what the counterterrorism raid was about but the french intelligence communities and belgiums and italians communication and conversations will be happening at a rapid rate post the "charlie hebdo" attacks. wanting to confirm, corroborate intelligence across a number of different organizations to the frefrm to the germans to corroborate intelligence and share intelligence and make sure that anything doesn't drop through the gaps. >> should we expect to see further counter terror across europ

belgium is having raids across belgium to try to stop terrorists. very insecure that this is all of a sudden they we're seeing it everywhere when a week ago we weren't seeing it anywhere. >> you're going to come up with a number that's really concerning. you're talking about half the story. that's the number of people coming home from the battlefield who potentially we conspired. the leader and the group has to have the time and space to plan attack. isis has been around for a while. they own a lot of geographic space. with this number of recruits that gives them the time to plot attacks. that combination of the number of recruits and the fact they have the time and place to plot gives you a future that's going to be ugly. >> thank you very much. >>> next terror in the u.s. washington subway riders were confuse and panicked when smoke filled a car. why did it take so long for first responders to arrive? what if it was a terror attack? >>> divers are searching the fuselage of air asia flight 8501. officials believe the bodies of more than 100 people

first in france now in belgium.er sweeps under way in germany and elsewhere in europe italy, spain. what's going on? >> look, the french, the belgian belgians germans, they arecounterterrorism. i'm glad they are on top of it. it does amplify the need to have the best intelligence. you have satellite communication, signals intelligence. your intelligence agencies have to have the best intelligence they can. god bless the men and women waking up in the morning and raiding houses and doing the intelligence work. it's a very real threat. we saw it play out in france. i do worry that it could come to the united states of america. >> as you know security has been stepped up in airlines due to the concerns. terrorists could sneak hard to detect homemade bombs through. have any plots, as far as you know congressman, been thwarted specifically in that respect? >> i can't say in the last few days specifically. i can tell you that on a daily basis they take weapons off of people trying to get on airlines on a regular basis. it

belgium is part of that anti-isis coalition launching air strikes, belgium is launching air strikes against iraq. that would be a game changer because isis up to this point has not orchestrated any terrorist plots in the west. there have been some isis fighters who have come back but they have launched plots on their own steam. for example, last spring with the brussels museum shooting. this would be a game changer because of all isis' capabilities in syria and iraq they are huge cash reserves training camps, and up to 3,000 europeans who have made the trip to syria and iraq and about 1,000 europeans believed to be with isis right now. i'm told more than 500 extremists have returned from syria and iraq to europe. that's a very very big number indeed. i'm also told this threat is not just about belgium tonight, but it's also other european countries as well this concern in the uk concern in france as well. i was told that by european counterterrorism officials that this cell may have connections in other countries, too, so very very worrying times indeed. unprecedented threat on the streets

>> well there is concern both in belgium and europe.dn't get all of these guys that they only got part of the network. they are confident they got part of the network they were sort of most worried about, but that they fear there are others still out there and that they could avenge the fact that belgium security forces killed two of their comrades in verviers in eastern belgium. on the european level, there's concern that there's connections between some groups in other countries and this network in belgium, that the belgians believe there are actually connections and they have also got some marching orders from isis to launch attacks in europe and european intelligence agencies have received indications that isis are pivoting towards launching attacks in europe to retaliate for those air strikes against it in syria and iraq. several european countries involved in air strikes over iraq. >> bob baer how are these sleeper cells monitored? how big of a role does the united states play in assisting these allies? >> well it's huge. the nati

mostly in germany, netherlands, france and belgium. the source telling us that the threat the biggest threat across the countries is within belgium, possibly the netherlands. who are these people? these are people young men, from europe who have gone to fight jihad. went to war in isis. we are believed to be 3,000 that left europe in recent years. 500 returning. 250 to the u.k. 200 to belgium and 70 to france. they went to wage war and come back here and fight and create havoc. john what we have seen in paris is on high alert and intensifying their search. let me bring you breaking news we had in the last hour. the paris prosecutors told cnn that 12 people are being held in custody over reports of what they say are part of coulibaly. they helped coulibaly with logistics. coulibaly is a terrorist behind the kosher store. four people died there. 12 people arrested. now still in custody over some sort of logistical support that may have provided coulibaly. we heard according to the newspaper, the woman on the run, hayat boumeddiene. she i

belgium and what happened in france. now you have the greek angle to the belgium arrest. is there a feeling -- are investigators saying these are all somehow connected or separate sleep cells that are coming alive all the same time. . >> reporter: it is a good question. they have taken care not to link the attacks on the "charlie hebdo" in paris to the jihadist plot to attack police officers here in belgium. they kept those two cases separated. however, belgium investigators have said that there does seem to be a common thread running through the suspects they detained. that is almost all of them have previously traveled to syria and have had membership in the isis militant group. that's similar to the suspects who were involved in those terrible gun battles and those killings in france. >> ivan watson thank you. in france a source with the knowledge of the paris terror attacks tells cnn police are seeking two people whose dna was found on amedy coulibaly's belongings. including dna found on a gun magazine. coulibaly killed four hostages in a kosher market before police s

the belgium group compromised of a three dozen belgium extremists in september of last year they were put on trial but only eight or nine members were placed on trial out of the 50 or so members who are believed some are at large and some believed to be overseas. belgium has suffered from the rise of radical elements going back to over a decade ago. this should not be a surprise. the other part is that having foreign fighters that largest per capita in syria and places in iraq coming back unnoticed considering they have really good passports that they can undergo and fly under the radar, these are absolutely important aspects that this threat could be emminating from syria and iraq and could be self-radicalized individuals who went online and kind of became self-radicalized over time. >> belgium authorities have a weapons dealer in custody. makes me think of how belgium has been a hub of weapons dealing throughout europe. the spread of weapons throughout europe is part of the problem and something that will have to be combatted in order to deal with the sort of terrorism. as we see th

the other question i have belgium, who knew right? all these sleeper cells in belgium. where were intelligence officials? were they just waiting? did they know about the sleeper cells? did the attack have to happen before they acted? >> no they knew. belgium, 12 million people small country, has been disproportionately represented in the number of people who have gone to fight in syria and iraq and these investigations in belgium have been going on weeks, before paris. so the intelligence officials in belgium knew these cells existed and had been tracking them. what happened is once paris took place the alarm grew that that would inspire one or more of these cells to activate so they felt it was important to go in quickly. again, we don't have all the information. we'll find out, i'm sure in the next days and weeks ahead whether there was specific chatter, whether when they were listening in on the cell they heard something about, well this has happened in paris, we need to start attacking now. perhaps that was what set off the police raid but, you know talking about sm

you recall the belgiums arrested five suspects here in belgium. there are two more awaiting extradition in france and also this individual in greece who we're told is an algerian national. whether or not the belgiums can get their hands on him is the legal defense. if he resists extradition, it could take weeks for the belgiums to get him from greece back to belgium. john. >> ivan watson for us in brussels. thank you. >>> new this morning, protests turning violent and deadly. demonstrate ors in niger were and angered over "charlie hebdo" killings. >>> a cease-fire seems to be holding this morning after fighting broke out near the presidential palace. this is part of the houthi insurgents to gain power. this would be a worrying issue for the officials. a power vacuum is benefits al qaeda in the arabian peninsula which has been using yemen as a base of operations. >>> happening tonight is the state of the union address by the president. he will deliver this facing a new political environment. for the first time, he face ace congress completely in re

gunfire and explosion ons thes on the streets of belgium. authorities say the alleged terrorist target police. >> plans to assassinate policeman in the street or at the police buildings. >> reporter: investigators say they found rifle handguns explosives and cell phones. perhaps more disturbing fake police uniforms. the man who shot video of this raid saw 10 to 20 officers storm the building. >> there was a lot of orders. something movered back. take care of. a lot of smoke and another big, big detonation. >> reporter: officials say the planned terror attacks across belgium were hours, certainly no more than a day or two away. the authorities found handguns, grenades, explosives including the powerful explosive tatp. authorities believer they have delivered a significant dent to this terror plot and the organization that was putting it together. they do not believe the threat has passed from this group or perhaps others. that's why the belgium government is now mobilizing. 150 soldiers to guard key pieces of infrastructure buildings and such

belgium from syria. and mou the belgium arms dealer it is believe had that he provided weapons to the kosher market gunman ahmedi coulibaly and he had names that matched the known extremists already on the belgian's radar, and that was a critical piece. and two men who also were from syria flew into belgium, and they were taken into custody and also the information they pro provided also led the authorities to step it up and that something was imminent and time was of the essence and they could not wait any long e. >> you said that something was imminent. do we know the possible target of the attack? >> well, a number of high value targets in belgium. we are not hearing specific areally the targets, but you have to keep in mind that european commission headquarters are there, nato is there, and remember a number of u.s. troops stationed there, and the terrorists always go after the same targets again and again. belgium is very, very significant and symbolically and also for the number of people and count

belgium is part of the coalition against over iraq so the belgiums think this is an isis plot which is trying to retaliate against belgium for that very, very worrying times in belgium for that very, very worrisome time. this is still a continuing operation. not clear yet that the danger is over. >> but you say recruited, directed by isis. meaning they had actually been in either syria or iraq in isis territory. >> yeah, i mean, these guys had been isis. the belgians think they were recruited and deliberately sent back by isis to launch a terrorist attack and this is a game changer moment because we haven't seen the isis leadership do that yet. i mean, the plots we've seen before it, some isis veterans coming back and launching attacks on their own steam. we saw that with the museum attack in brussels last may. they killed four people in a jewish museum. but even the isis leaders believe that he did that of his own volition. they think it's a game changer with the money and up to 1,000 european recruits. >> it's a game changer because of the time the european western nations got involv

with belgium authorities.nd arrest of 17 people across western europe. >> this operation was meant to dismount a terrorist cell. not only a terrorist cell but the logistic network behind it. >> u.s. official say that is the entire plot was being monitored and watched. part of an ongoing relationship between the u.s. and european intelligence services. >> we have active and ongoing law enforcement and information sharing arrangements with our allies in europe, and naturally those contacts continue. >> u.s. officials will not say precisely what they knew, how much they knew and when they nigh it. there are concerns that the details could signal others planning tacks. one official says that we were aware and tracking this and adding that there's a high probability that other attacks were being planned. a european security says that when belgium authorities arrested two men over the weekend, they squeezed them for information and decided to act quickly. the u.s. was aware of the timing of the moves by the law enfo

anti-terror raids in cities in belgium. not much details on those raids so far but we know this raid was on a suspected terror cell. according to senior belgium counterterrorism official orders from isis to carry out attack in verviers and third custody right now. and global affairs analyst retired lieutenant colonel james reese. paul i understand you've been talking the a senior belgium counterterrorism official. what are you learning? >> they believe this group was connected to isis. they were recruited by isis and not only that they believe they were directed by isis to launch a retaliatory strike in europe specifically in belgium because of these air strikes against isis. bellgium is part of the coalition against over iraq so the belgiums think this is an isis plot which is trying to retaliation for that very very worrying times in belgium. this is still a continuing operation. not clear yet that the danger is over. >> but you say recruited, directed by isis. meaning they had actually been in either syria or iraq in isi

that's a prime concern of authorities here as well john. >> belgium troops deployed inside belgium giving you a sense reality is there's battle going on inside the borders. you were with me in paris where they are mourning the loss of those killed in the attacks. any connection of what is going on in belgium and what happened in france? >> reporter: they say there is no connection to what happened in paris, to the "charlie hebdo" attacks or attack on that kosher grocery store. however, there does appear to be one link. the arms dealer that was contacted near brussels where he tried to get ammo for one of his weapons. that person is believed to have had contact with this jihadist terror cell. doesn't mean there was a connection between the plots and at this point in time prosecutors are saying they don't believe there's any connection whatsoever. however, it is something where there is great concern also by the fact that weapons appear to be fairly easily assessable here in belgium not just there from that person but in some other places as well john. >> one security expert in france told

let's go to belgium. a country described as having more jihadist per capita than any other nation in western europe. belgium authorities arrested five terror suspects. i want to bring in phil black from brussels. phil what's the latest there? >> reporter: greek sportsauthorities arrested two men. of the two men, the belgian investigators say they want one of them. want to bring him back and extradite him to belgium because they believe he was involved in the terror plot they disrupted last thursday while conducting raids across the country. a 33-year-old algerian man. investigators are not saying what role they suspect he played in the plot. you're right. five other people here in belgium have been charged. one of them was a man who survived a shootout with police in the town of verviers. we learned more about the survivor who was arrested. he's a 25-year-old belgian man of moroccan descent. his client says he has nothing to do with the terror plot and he was only in that property at the time because he w

all of it triggered by that dramatic raid in belgium.ity forces blitzing that alleged terror cell that was just hours, hours away from carrying out a plot to kill police according to one belgian federal prosecutor. that raid was one of 12 in a series of coordinated strikes across that country by law enforcement. just hours ago here in washington, d.c. president obama spoke about this growing and global terror threat. standing beside him, british prime minister david cameron who responded frankly sharply to questions about the attacks and pinned all the blame for them on what he called a perverted form of islam, in his words, a poisonous radical death cult. let's go right to cnn justice correspondent pamela brown live in paris. these raids by law enforcement coming at a rapid clip. belgian authorities had these cells under surveillance they say, but you have learned that the paris attacks triggered all these operations sooner than expected. >> reporter: that's right, jake. i was just speaking to a western official with direct knowledge. h

belgium police are not confirms that they definitely came from the belgium arms deal near turned himself in yesterday, and there is no link between that guy turning himself in yesterday and the raids today that resulted in the shoot out, and the arrest. but belgium police are saying what they believe they just disrupted today was an imminent terrorist attack. they believe it was an attack in keeping with the type of attack mounting in france. they say specifically they believe it was targeted against police in belgium. they say they broke up that plot. specifically, belgium police today went out of their way to say that the suspect's plot they believe they disrupted including citizens that went to syria to train with isis before returning to belgium. this is the news now, right? this is kind of how it goes. this is what it's like in the fight against isis and international islamic terrorism. today one arrest and two dead in a shootout with police in belgium. presumably the other nine or so search warrants still being carried out in that country. in germany today, police announce an arres

the major terror raid taking place in belgium.icials say two people are fade -- are dead and a third in custody after cops bust a terror cell that was fully operational, that isis was in charge and the cell was about to carry out large-scale attacks. is the threat over? the answer is no. movements ago we got word from belgium after the raids after the killing of the two terror suspects and after the incarceration of a third they've now raised their terror alert level across belgium. which suggests to one and all there are more out there or they believe there are and they believe the threat may be very high. many questions about what it is that these three were involved in. they have not been specific. they held a news conference over there. we're still not specific about what they believe that this terror cell was about to carry out. we do know they've been watching this group since parts of it have come back from syria and described it to us us as a large-scale attack or large-scale attacks. it's very clear us to the authorities

as we have seen in belgium, with the belgium authorities obviously foiled an attack on belgium.germany, they are making preventive arrests. in italy and spain. this is to strike the most apparent and those who they know are the most aggressive and might decide suddenly to trying very soon. the phenomenon is more entrenched and deeper. we have more than 4,000 european union citizens or residents involved in jihad and syria and iraq iraq. the work that is to be done will not be over very soon. >> what makes the teachings of sarkawi unique for the way of life? >> we have seen that phenomenon for jihad in the past and afghanistan and bosnia and somalia and yemen. of course, totally different scale. today, the problem is the syrian conflict is a close conflict. very easy to access. the propaganda by the groups is especially and effective internet and reaching the young in europe. basically the young population that might be willing to have a future to get involved in something and for them because they feel they have a crisis of identity. they are searching for themselves. it is an a

belgium police fearing an attack raided cells in belgium and france. they made a total of 17 arrests. while that's going on an 18-year-old woman was arrested at the airport outside london. she's held on suspicion of quote preparation of terrorist acts. here in france the terror is widening. two were arrested near paris overnight, all connected to the shooting at the supermarket, all connected to amedy coulibaly, the man that killed four french jews at the market. and a policewoman. i want to get to phil black in the city of verviers. we just got information u.s. knew about something of this terrorist plot in the city where two people were killed. interesting to know the u.s. knew about it. belgium fishofficials seemed to know for weeks as well. >> reporter: that's what belgium authorities have been saying the last 24 hours or so. they've been monitoring this group for some time. they haven't said specifically but implied it's been weeks, predating the attacks in paris, and that it was some piece of information. they haven't said which specifically trig

and he is standing trial for that attack in belgium. belgium is a small country. its population is about the same as the state of ohio. in europe it's smaller than countries like the netherlands or poeland poland. more people have gone to syria to fight with isis from belgium than from any other european country. again, it's not a large, absolute number of people. but belgium is not a country with a large absolute population. proportionately when you look at it on a per capita basis it is a big deal. this week in belgium, they were due to get a verdict in belgium's largest ever trial of islamic militants. belgium has put 46 people on trial for essentially running a jihadist ring that was funneling belgian extremists into syria to go fight with isis and ultimately bringing some of them back home. the verdict in that big case was due to be handed down in that trial for those 46 defendants this week. the verdict was delayed because of the terrorist attacks in france. they now say they're going to release that verdict in that huge belgium terrorism case next month. to

what's the latest on the ground there in belgium? >> reporter: well the -- i was just speaking to a senior official here in counterterrorism. he was the one who told me that of these 17 people rounded up in these terrorism raids yesterday, only three are actually still in custody. the rest have been released apparently that might be indicted at a later time but of the three who were released is also the surviving member of that raid in verviers. remember wolf yesterday one of the raids went very violent with two people who were killed. one of those people survived and the interesting thing is that the official tells me the reason why that man survived is because he was under the shower when that raid started. however, the other two who were in the house in verviers were heavily armed and ready when the police got there. the latest we got is that they had the guns and immediately fired open at the police officers when they started the raid and that's what led to the very long shootout and ultimately to the death of these two people. t

this group was specially targeting belgium police and planned to kill belgium policemen in the street or buildings. they especially were planning to assassinate policemen. i know in the press there has been rumors of kidnapping people and beheading people. we can, at this stage of the investigation, we cannot confirm that. >> reporter: paula, the prosecutor told me belgium requested the extradition of two more suspects. belgium citizens who were arrested by french authorities trying to cross from france into italy. it could take days if not weeks to bring them to belgium. if it takes awhile the belgium authorities may send investigators investigators. >> thanks. trying to piece this together we appreciate the update. paris, they are recovering from the attacks from "charlie hebdo" and the market. it's been a complicated investigation. many suspects at this point. do you get a sense french authorities feel they are able to piece this together and connect the dots? >> reporter: we definitely get a sense the pieces of the puzzle are coming together. as the pieces come together the pictur

from belgium.edown reportedly happen negligent eastern part of the country as a location where armed deals can happen in the train station. details on the exact target we don't know. we are trying to bring the stories together. the praugz according to the local reports may be ongoing. steve is in the agent the former counter terrorism. we expect a news conference. and perhaps we'll know more. >> the events in paris are paramount significant. and the extent of the conspiracy that ended in paris is of immediate interest and concern has to be vigorously. and how many people are involved and the elaboration. the main issue and concern is to make sure all is pursued and it sounds like from what we are hearing from belgium that is indeed the case. >> it will be interesting to see the details of it. >> how much time dow have from a big crime that bee saw murderous terrorist attack and connect the dots if you will? how much is time of the essence here? >> you have time. what disappears quickly is physical

has requested their extradition back to belgium. we're starting to wait for the belgian authorities to come out with more information to give us a better understanding of who's behind this alleged cell. as we heard in fred's report these are men believed to have traveled to syria in the past. they're believed to have links to isis but they're not believed to have had any links revealed thus far to those deadly attacks against the "charlie hebdo" in paris. >> and ivan since police were apparently the targets of the attack they foiled is that causing any change in police tactics in their everyday work there in brussels and around the area? >> reporter: we heard reports in the belgian media, for example that, police have been instructed not to go out in uniform alone. that could be a sign of course of the new rick assessment. of course what belgium is facing is concerning europe on a much broader level, as well. we heard fred talking about the arrest of at least two suspects linked to a mosque believed to have isis links in germany. on

belgium right now.weeps elsewhere in europe as well, a lot of the analysts are suggesting, intelligence officials, this is a game changer what we're seeing in europe right now. >> wolf, that's exactly right. the belgians have thwarted what they say was a major imnaminent plot directed by isis in belgium in the heart of europe. this is isis potentially taking its war to the west. so i think there are questions for these two world leaders about their war against isis, about the air strikes against isis in syria and iraq. in the last 24 hours, there were just 11 air strikes in syria and iraq, hardly a concerted air campaign. there are many questions about this terror safe haven. are western powers doing enough to remove the safe haven because even under the best case scenario, seems these terrorists are going to have a safe haven there for one, two, three or more years, wolf. >> fred pleitgen, update our viewers here in the united states and around the world on what has within going on in belgian cities ov

>> phil black in belgium, thank you so much. i want to bring in republican congressman mike turner a member of the house intelligence committee. he joins me on the phone right now. congressman, thanks for joining us. why did french intelligence do you think, fail to translate this intelligence into an operation to stop these terrorists? what was the breakdown? >> i think certainly we don't know at this point. there certainly is a reluctance at times to take action while you're trying to balance the critical information you're receiving of those who might be involved in terrorism with people's individual rights and also not taking action too soon. but at the same time you have to balance coordination of this. that's what certainly the 9/11 commission said after we did the investigation of what had occurred here in the united states. you also have to make certain you have the cross-collaboration of your own intelligence and policing forces so that you have the most critical information to be able to take action. >> what it sounds

as mentioned in belgium the country on high alert. raids uncovering a sinister plot to target police. take a listen. >> all i can confirm to you that there were plans to assassinate policemen in the street or at the police buildings. >> right now police are holding more than a dozen suspects after 12 anti-terror raids. this is video of one of the raids during -- during one of the raids two islamic extremeists were killed. >>> new details on how an ohio jihadist was nabbed speaker john boehner crediting the nsa's spy powers to stop the alleged plot to bomb the capitol. tracie potts is live in washington. the speaker's comments could open debate over the nsa's reach. >> reporter: it could, especially in the climate we're dealing with now. there's a lot more happening in aurp as they try to crack down on jihadists. and here in the united states speaker boehner says the only reason we knew there was a plot to attack the u.s. capitol was because of government surveillance. >> we would have never known about this had it not been for the fis

belgium has a problem with radicalization. around 300 are thought to have travelled to syria to fight and train with islamist groups. the highest per capita rate of recruitment of any european country. the imam blames social problem, unemployed alienated young men who seek identity and purpose through radical islam. jewish community leaders agree. >> more security and police and to see the problem before if comes and to try to prevent it. >> reporter: the rabbi says the answer is more education and more guns. he wants jewish institutions to be allowed to establish their own security forces. imam hench fears many of europe's muslims will now be persecuted because offof events in france and belgium. two scared communities struggling to respond to the terror deliberately created by a radical few. >> >> phil black joins you live. where do things stand with the investigation? >> reporter: well, crucially a key arrest in athens greece where greek police acting upon information provided by belgium authorities have arrested man and be

that is what happened in belgium. some of these people believed to come to syria in staged attacks there. could that not happen in the united states as well? >> absolutely it could happen. it could happen tomorrow later today. there's no question about that. perspective is important. this represents the special case in the sense you have a perfect storm brewing there. you have antiimmigration and sentiment building large and grieved and alienated muslim community. you have proximity to the region and the ease and lack of restrictions on movement within the continent itself. we're a much harder target. not impossible to be sure. we've seen it not impossible. there's no question about that again, i think we've got to strike the right balance. vigilance 100% panic, no. we don't do ourselves service by panicking. i'm afraid europe with the proliferation of these new discoveries of cells, you really do raise the risks and dangers of overreactions by local citizens and a backlash against muslim communities. i think we're re

reports that two people have died during a police downer terrorism raise in belgium. hello there you are watching al jazeera live from london p also coming up, new images are released that are said to show the devastating impact of boko haram attacks on nigerian towns cheap oil, but at what cost? a dramatic effect on the global economy. >> thank you for joining us, we begin with breaking news from belgium, where there are reports that two people have died during a police counter terrorism raise it's reported hearing gunfire and explosions. a little earlier we spoke with the belgium journalist from the fuse paper in brussells. we don't have all the information, be uh the latest news we had is that we have two people dead and one wounded. this happened in the -- not far from the building. where there was an antiterrorism operation. it is a town where it is one of the hot spots of belgium, with a lot of influence from pakistan, afghanistan, somalia and countries like that. and there are a number of radical centers but we don't know more than that at the moment. let's go

belgium is taking precautions now. the police officers who are of course considering themselves to be targets now have been told not to walk on the streets alone and to always wear their bulletproof vests and to take their weapons home with them as well so they can protect themselves. this is a country on edge taking security precautions and that certainly has drastically escalated its measures here to protect its population. >> frederik pleitgen reporting live from belgium this morning. thank you. one of the founding members of "charlie hebdo" is leveling sharp criticism at the late edit editor editor. this is rather surprising coming from one of the founders of "charlie hebdo." >> we've heard it from other people outside of the magazine but we haven't heard it from anyone on the staff. this is the founder, one of the founders of the magazine. it's been around for decades as you know. he called the editor charb risky by doing so. >> he wrote an article detailing that. >> it's been translated into english. he said i'm

there is a very well-known organization called sharia for belgium. they are very worried about the foreign fighters coming back from syria. experts are talking about at least 100 foreign fighters that are now on the ground in belgium, back from syria. >> police and france have arrested 12 people in their ongoing. >> outside of charlie hebdo laying a wreath for the 12 victims killed there. he was killed along with nine of his colleagues when his offices stormed the gunman -- by gunmen. >> a large antiterrorist raid. >> 250 police officers carried out operations against suspected islamists. the suspects are from turkey, russia chechnya and august on -- dagistan. >> we are taking measures against islamist suspects. focusing on individual suspected of coordinating a terror logistics cell with jihadists in syria. through financial and logistical means. >> authorities believe several hundred fighters left germany to join the islamic state in syria and iraq. some have appeared on i.s. videos. they pose a major security risk when they return to germany. they

and quite a few of those 2,000 to 3,000 live in belgium. some of them still in syria, but i think, what about 100 have come back? >> reporter: a huge chunk. i think to be honest no one can be absolutely sure. and they've ruled out a link between the attack at the "charlie hebdo" headquarters in paris last week and the planned attacks here in belgium. but what perhaps, the implications of that massacre at the newspaper had quoted is that the police are going in faster and they might follow on in the past. because this is a clear and present danger inside europe and it's one that they are having to monitor very closely, indeed. and also they say for now, we heard from the belgium foreign minister earlier. he said that this was the end of this part of the operation, and then they can move on to the next. and he didn't give anymore detail about what the next state of this operation may be. and also the prosecutors were saying today that they would tnt be releasing any further information about the suspect until the end of this inquiry. but you

this one saying belgium, a state of siege. all the newspapers are just like that with commandos and so forth. it's not usual to be so indiscreet. >> also these reports of a raid in berlin plus there are other reports of perhaps 20 terror cells being active in europe right now. if you're waking up to this news living in europe this is unnerving. what is the tror picture that we're waking up to? >> the justice minister knew very well what was going to happen. he is trying -- not trying to play up the hype that perhaps people should be so concerned. obviously they would have to be on the look out and what we're seeing here is people are taking the trams and riding to work. it's not shutting anything down but people are going to be much more alert after what happened in the last 24 hours. it is something that people will be watching. the terror alert has been raised from two to three with a high of four. it's raising a lot of concern here. >> live for us this morning in brussels. thanks very much. we get more developments and info

belgium authorities telling cnn that basically they have arrested a man in belgium.an suspected in connection with arms trafficking. we have been told by the belgium federal prosecutors this man actually turned himself in to authorities. now it is believed that this man, we do not know if he is belgium or french recently bought a car from hayat boumeddiene. if you remember this is the woman that is on the run. she is the partner of coulibaly. she is believed to be in syria. belgium federal authorities telling cnn in the last hour that they raided this man's house last weekend. there, they found paper work that linked him with coulibaly when it came to weapons trails. that is the issue authorities are closing in on that. more on the weapons trail. this time focusing on coulibaly, but taking place in paris. reporting overnight that they believe authorities telling them that perhaps a fourth accomplice. why do they think that? basically if you remember the authorities, french authorities raided an apartment here in france that belonged to coulibaly. they found weapons s