i want to bring in senior don't ben wedeman. he is live in cairo. n, from your experience, your vast experience in egypt and region, what is security like at sharm el sheikh international? >> reporter: i think if you speak to anybody who has traveled there frequently, it is relaxed. you don't get the feeling that security is very high unlike many other airports in this part of the world. it is normally an exclusively tourist destination and many people going there expect things to be relaxed. the searches are not particularly intrusive. there is not much in the way of questioning of people who are getting on flights. in terms of the security measures in place behind the scenes that you would not normally see. it is difficult to say. there is this british delegation of aviation experts or airport security experts there trying to determine how safe the airport is. obviously now that the eyes of the world are upon that airport, security is going to be very tight, but going forward, the question is the worry of the egyptian officials is that the impact o

let's bring in cnn's ben wedeman. you lived in cairo a long time and you have flown out of sharm el sheikh many times. describe the security there. >> reporter: i would describe it as relaxed under normal conditions. i think we can assume that given all the attention on that airport now, security must be very high. certainly on calmer times, you did not get the feeling that security was particularly tight. it's a very popular tourist destination and so it doesn't have the feel for instance of some airports in the region where you are questioned and your bags are looked at. in sharm el sheikh, it is a very easy going atmosphere. many of the flights are domestic coming from cairo or alexandra and security is basically minim minimal. i cannot speak to what goes on behind the scenes in the bowels of the airplane. i was never impressed with the level of security there. john. >> interesting. ben wedeman, thank you. >>> joining us to put this in perspective is the retired u.s. colonel. we are hearing the same language from t

our ben wedeman joins me with that part of the story. ben, what do we know about the condition of the injured, the nationalities of these victims. whether they think these people will be able to survive? >> well, we understand that as many as 80 people remain in critical condition out of about 300 who were wounded in that attack. and as far as their individual conditions, it's hard to say. now, we did go to one of the hospitals where many of the victims are being treated. and the staff there are under strict orders not to let media in to speak to the wounded. now, we're now in the where hundreds of people have come to express their shock solidarity, and their defiance in the aftermath of these attacks. on top of that monument behind me, there are old posters from january on the attack of charlie hebdo, and those posters are still there. but now beneath, people are mourning this latest attack. what's interesting, there's a police car with a loud speaker here that every once in a while has been telling people to go home to clear this squar

>> ben wedeman live for us in cairo. thank you for your reporting. we expect the world gorning body for track and field to make a big decision in the coming hours. russian officials, athletes and coaches are embroiled in a doping scandal. now russia would be banned from the 2016 olympics because of it. the world anti-doping agency released a report on monday alleging state sponsored cheating and cover-up-ups in russia. a researcher for the international center if for defense and security and a former cnn moscow bureau chief, good to have you with us. so we have heard from the russian president, vladimir putin that he promised an internal investigation into this issue, but this is a pretty important issue to the russian president's heart. just talk to us about the significance to vladimir putin. >> well, that's a good question. after all, you know, you look at sports. it's been a very, very important issue for president putin. not only personally, because he's known as a sportsman, plays a lot of sports. but also symbolically, remember, they had the s

>> ben wedeman live in cairo, egypt. thank you very much for your reporting. as ben mentioned, a news conference set to happen in the coming hours in cairo. we will learn more about the investigation from authorities there. >>> now let's turn to our international diplomatic editor, nic robertson, who is live in st. petersburg, russia, to talk about how people are handling the investigation there. there are so many questions now. no concrete answers. this is a time when people are grieving there. >> reporter: they are. 224 people died aboard that flight sunday. tomorrow there will be a service at st. isaac's cathedral behind me. the bell will toll there 224 times. the pressing questions also about the 79,000 tourist in the holiday resort of sharm el sheikh. russian authorities say they've put in place a hotline for those families who are concerned to call to find out how they can get home. the flight's been suspended. they've had about 400 calls so far. the special commission and emergency ministry have brought on board elements from the interior ministry, the

>> ben wedeman, thank you.many now hearing an attack like the ones we have seen in paris could happen elsewhere, could happen on american soil. up next, what authorities are doing to ramp up security in the united states and around the world. this is cnn special live coverage. milk has 8 grams of high-quality protein. which could be the difference between just living life. and milking it. start every day with the power of protein and milk life. this holiday, i can count on my going off list.again, and knowing right when my packages arrive. so that's two things. introducing real time delivery notifications. sign up at myusps.com my psoriatic arthritis i'm caused joint pain.o golfer. just like my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. and i was worried about joint damage. my doctor said joint pain from ra can be a sign of existing joint damage that could only get worse. he prescribed enbrel to help relieve pain and help stop further damage. enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes f

ben wedeman, cnn, rome. >> you're watching cnn newsroom. and we are following new developments in the paris terror investigation. still ahead, we take a look at how authorities managed to track down the man who organized last friday's attacks. stay with us. [announcer] when you see this truck, it means another neighbor is going to sleep better tonight because they went to sleep train's ticket to tempur-pedic event save up to $300 on the cooling comfort of tempur-breeze. plus, get up to 36 months interest-free financing. sleep risk-free with sleep train's money back guarantee. and of course, same-day delivery. are you next? [announcer] make sleep train your ticket to tempur-pedic. ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ >>> welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. you're watching our special coverage of the paris terror attacks. i'm george howell at the cnn center in atlanta. the belgian man who planned friday's massacre in the french capital may be dead. but authorities say there is still a great deal of

but we want to begin with ben wedeman. he is in cairo, egypt. s will get to fly out of sharm el sheikh. what can you tell us? >> yes, natalie, we're expecting the first flights from the uk to arrive in sharm el sheikh noon local time. that's about two hours from now. we understand there may be as many as 25 flights to take out around 4,000 tourists who are currently there. of course, they will not be able to take check-in luggage, only hand luggage on those flights. their check-in luggage will be taken back to the uk, perhaps by the royal air force some time within the next week. now this is happening after british airport security investigators went to sharm el sheikh, looked at the security procedures there, made recommendations which egyptian officials say they did carry out. now we're also learning this morning that klm, the dutch national carrier has declared that flights leaving cairo for amsterdam will also not be allowed to -- they will not alu passengers to bring check-in luggage as well. only hand luggage, which would indicate there may

. >> ben wedeman joins us live from cairo with analysis. give us some bev on the significance of the strike. >> this is a man who played a very high profile role in these streds of the beheadings of stephen sotloff and james foley and others, which really did galvanize the u.s. certainly into taking decisive action into isis. i think there you're starting to see this entity which really expanded dramatically in the sum ore of 2014 is starting to be stopped and pushed back. the lats major conquest they did this year was in ramadi, the capital of the province by the same name to the west of baghdad. since then, we've seen them driven out of tikrit north of baghdad. now we're seeing this operation to the west of mosul. yes, in terms of symbolism, it's important. but i think beyond that what we are seeing, and this may be part of it is that isis is slowly being rolled back. isha? >> when, you mentioned this being a symbolic victory, but isis understands the values of symbols and messaging. so for the u.s., it still presents a moment to exploit

ben wedeman, thank you very much. we'll focus closer in a moment on the real state of security in sharm el sheikh talking to someone who ran one of the most challenging terror operations on the planet. first, more on what to make of the intelligence picture tonight. joining us is former fbi supervisory special agent ally sufan, and former federal assistant homeland security and former top hope land security official for the commonwealth of massachusetts. ellie, sounds like president obama is not as far out in front of this as david cameron was. what do you make of his comments? >> well, i think, you know, we have to be very careful. there is a possibility according to the intelligence case that it is probably a bomb and i think the president have to be very carefully supporting our allies in the united kingdom. cameron has a totally different situation on the ground. he has about 20,000 british tourists. he has airlines that go there but i think we have to keep in mind this is an intelligence case. that does not mean

. >> ben wedeman, thank you very much. that's terrifying, ten tons. it could take half a pound or less to do this type of explosion. i want to talk more about what we are learning about the bomb. first this breaking news fell to you that egypt has now, and this is a significant move, accepting help from the ntsb in terms of this investigation. they previously rebuffed any assistance from the fbi or ntsb. how big of a deal is this? >> i'm suspicious here. when you talk to the egyptians, they are talking about access to the engines, the american-made engines in the aircraft. to my mind, there are much bigger questions. is there access to the entire geographic area? is there access to the footage from the airport or access to the interview reports from people in the airport? the egyptians are under a lot of pressure from americans to allow access. i want to know what the details are here. does this mean full access or access to the engines on the plane which are american-made? >> they do specifically discuss the engines. they don't exclude anything else

ben wedeman live for us this morning in northern iraq in irbil. ben, thanks. >> all right.a very close call. police now say a second wave of terror attacks could have been just hours away when officers raided an apartment in a paris suburb one week ago. >> take a look at this image. police say this man, and another suspect were plotting a suicide attack on the financial district of the french capital. >> and max foster has much more on this and joins us live now from paris. max, the people of paris have learned about this other attack that was planned this time in the financial district. how are pa reegss reacted to that news, as well as word that there is another paris attacker on the loose? >> reporter: yeah. mohamed abrini. they're searching for them. they believe he drove the car for the attackers and dropped them off at at least the stadium. he was photographed at a fuel station two days before the attacks with one who is still on the run and believed to be the eighth attacker. the investigation certainly continues in terms of that, and they're trying to find abdul sal

ben wedeman, cnn, paris. >> all right.respondent with our affiliate network bf mtv. so here we are again less than ten months after "charlie hebdo," and paris is rocked by terrorist attacks on even a grander scale. what do french people want their government to do? >> well, i think they want their government to explain what's going on and they want their government to explain and the president will try and do that later on this afternoon, exactly what it means to say that france is at war. because this is the one sentence we've kept on hearing over the past three or four days. we are at war with an army of terrorists. so what exactly does that mean? how do we wage war on terrorists? how is it going to change and affect our lives? and most importantly, if it's hard to find an answer to that one, how long is it going to go on for? >> and do you think there's more support now within france for direct military action against this group in syria and iraq? >> yes, i think there certainly is, although there was before. but i thin

we'll bring in ben wedeman on that. ben, a british team on the ground there.t what they've been looking at? >> reporter: well, obviously they are looking at the security measures being taken at the airport. apparently they were given access to the behind the scenes areas of the airport that normal passengers wouldn't see according to reports in the egyptian media. they were taking photographs and what not to get an idea of just what sort of level of security existed at that airport. i've been through that airport many types. oftentimes one leaves there with the impression that security is relaxed, keeping in mind, that it is a resort town that teals essentially with only tourists. a few businessmen, and generally, it doesn't seem like a tense place where security is particularly tight under normal circumstances. >> but the flights cancelled there from the uk. they're advising all but nonessential travel to be cancelled toward there. it's a huge dent to what is a crucial part of the economy for the egyptians. what response have you had from the government there

here's ben wedeman. >> guns outside the vatican.ve been brought in to guard the holy city now in the cross hairs of isis' unholy par. a recently released online isis video entitled paris before rome features an unidentified speaker mention pg the conquest of rome as the forces of the so-called caliphate spread from iraq westward. it was featured on isis' online magazine. since the paris attack, security has been does he have beefed up across italy, but since isis has made so many threat, not just against rome, but against the vatican itself, this is where much of the security attention is being focused. rapid response mode, 1,000 members of the italian army have been deployed around the country. >> you just have to get on with it. >> while others in scotland know this difference. >> they're really tightening up on what they're doing. even seeing the policeman with guns everywhere. >> december 8, rome will host millions of additional tourists, taking part in a jubilee year declared by pope francis. >> during the jubilee, we'll be ver

our ben wedeman is in irbull. how are you reading all this, ben? >> reporter: well, max, obviously, this is a serious escalation. it happened over 24 hours ago when this su-24 went down. we heard a lot of rhetoric from the russians. vladmir putin saying it's a stab in the back by accessory to terrorism. of course, he's referring to turkey, which has been accused by the russians and others of having very close ties with isis. we know that, for instance, sergei lavrov, the russian foreign minister was supposed to visit turkey today. he cancelled that visit. he also encouraged russians to can sell their holiday plans in turkey. it's a very popular destination for russians. of course, there are, despite their political differences, they're on polar opposites when it comes the syrian conflict. there the a good deal of trade when russia and turkey and that could now be in danger if this relationship continues to deteriorate. now, there are reports coming out at the moment that the russians are going to deploy the s-400 air defence system in one of their

let's start with cnn's ben wedeman. he is live in irbil, iraq. what do we know, ben? >> reporter: we know >> we know this incident took place four hours ago in western syria on the turkish border where according to russian officials this russian jet crashed. russians are suggesting that perhaps it was brought down by ground fire but turkish officials say that two turkish f-16s intercepted this plane as it came very close to the turkish airspace and that it violated the turkish airspace after being warned ten times not to and then it was shot down. we don't know the fate of the two pilots. we've seen video of what appear to be two parachutes near the plane where the plane went down. there are suggestions by syrian rebels that one of those pilots was killed and that one has subsequently been captured. there are also reports that russia has dispatched helicopters to the area to try to retrieve these pilots but obviously this is a very serious turn of events in an already tense situation. keeping in mind that syria is a theater of military intervention by russia, the unit

ben wedeman, cnn, paris. >> sending a strong message that we are not afraid.ring in our senior political correspondent for bf mtv. terry, it's great to have you on the program. i want to first ask you if you can give us a sense of what the average parisian has been going through over the last couple of days and what it's been like for you, as well. >> well, it's very unusual and very reminiscent of what september 11 was like in new york. i was living in new york at the time, and this feeling that, you know, almost eerie that in most of paris streets are empty. people are not going out. also the feeling that anybody can be a threat. you can sit at a cafe and be shot at. that is really happening for the first time. the feeling that slowly but surely we are entering a war. you see military soldiers everywhere in paris. that used to be the case since the former attacks back in january. but there are many more security forces out in the street, and soldiers, as well. and what i should add as well and we heard that earlier in the broadcast, what every parisianer is

let's start with cnn's ben wedeman. he is live in irbil, iraq. what do we know, ben? know this incident took place four hours ago in western syria on the turkish border where according to russian officials this russian jet crashed. russians are suggesting that perhaps it was brought down by ground fire but turkish officials say that two turkish f-16s intercepted this plane as it came very close to the turkish airspace and that it violated the turkish airspace after being warned ten times not to and then it was shot down. we don't know the fate of the two pilots. we've seen video of what appear to be two parachutes near the plane where the

ben wedeman is live in cairo. and pamela brown in atlanta. ben to you first. it is almost dawn on thursday morning in egypt. if this was terror, as officials believe. what did isis do and how were they able to bring this plane down? what do you know about the plot? >> what we know is from unnamed american sources, officials who say isis somehow managed to smuggle an explosive device on board the plane when it was at the airport and somehow or other it exploded 300 kilometers north of the airport. this is what american officials are saying. it's not at all clear what happened. the egyptian civil aviation authority put out a very brief statement today saying they are running the investigation and further information will be made available in due course. the egyptians have been very tight lipped about this investigation. and generally, downplaying the possibility that this could be terrorism, terrorism by isis, obviously, tourism is a mainstay of the economy here, particularly in the sinai peninsula, so egyptian officials are very wary of creating an atmosphere i

we have senior international correspondent ben wedeman with those details. >> reporter: he goes by thedowy figure who is the master mind of the downing of flight 9268. it was his voice that claimed in. an audio message that the isis affiliated group raging insurgency in the peninsula brought the plane down killing all 224 on board. was he the master mind? we asked one. >> i would be surprised if anyone can prove that. u don't know we can have that kind of evidence. he is somebody who can provide the justification. he is somebody that can speak on why they did it, but we don't know him as a military commander. we don't know him as a strategist. >> reporter: his face is always blurred. and his real identity or details are equally blurry. although his accent is from mainland egypt, not sinai. >> the problem is we don't actually know who he is. there are multiple theories put forward on who he might be. >> investigators have yet to pronounce on the probable or possible cause of the crash of the russian jet liner. but increase caningly intelligence officials suspect it was a bomb and the li

ben wedeman is covering this for us in kye. >> reporter: ben, has the egyptian government made any acknowledgement of the incident so far? >> reporter: no, we called the ministry of civil aviation to get their reaction, but they apparently are too busy preparing for this press conference they will be holing in four hours at the ministry to discuss the results of rather the investigation as it is so far into the metro jet crash. now, it's interesting that it took the british government two-and-a-half months to act knowledge this rather disturbing incident which took place on the 23rd of august involving that british government. don't hol your breath waiting for the egyptian to comment on this matter. >> so ben, i mentioned this press conference at 10:00. do you have any indication what it is we will hear from the egyptian government? >> nothing whatsoever. we did hear earlier today from the egyptian foreign minister who says that egypt has not ruled out any hypothesis when it comes to the causes of the crash of this airliner. however, he did take the opportunity to complain that still the united st

ben wedeman, cnn, paris. >>> all right.resident of the muslim public affairs council. i suppose, we really have this conversation after "charlie hebdo" as well. and there were incidents of, you know, islamophobia when it came to muslims around the world and we're already seeing it around, aren't we? there have been mosques set on fire. >> unfortunately that's the predictable consequence in reacting the wrong way to terrorism. and i think the point is that xeniaphobia plays right into the hands of muslims. and so any kind of emotional reaction into isis that lends itself to discrimination, harassment, humiliation of communities is playing right into the hands of isis. >> so what can be done to prevent more, you know, islamophobic behavior or events despite us seeing muslim leaders speaking out condemning what happened in paris? >> women, what i'm concerned about is that we see muslim organizations condemning terrorism by themselves. we see other communities having vigils by themselves. the issue is if we want to be effective

. >> let's go to ben wedeman now with a turkish perspective. turkey said it recently warned russia not have to have its aircraft flying into the turkish territory. but turkey says that is what happened. >> yes indeed. not only turkey but nato warned russia about russian aircraft entering turkish air space. this incident happened at 9:24 in the morning when according to both turks and russians the plane crashed. the narratives are completely different with the turks saying they warned this russian plane ten times within five minutes not to enter turkish air space. the turks have in fact put out a path analysis map in which they insist it shows that indeed this praen did enter briefly into the turkish territory. since then the british foreign minister has summoned the russian ambassador. we did see a tweet from the turkish ambassador to washington. he says understand this. turkey is a country who is warnings should be taken very seriously and listened to. don't test turkey's patience. try to win its friendship. that friendship very much in tatter