>> the difference is just what michael chertoff said. we knew it for several months that a very nasty people are planning terrorist attacks in europe, but we don't know where or when. if we do more, it would be more than general. what we have is a more general bratt, but we take this very serious. -- a more general threat. >> the british and french governments are alarmed about the threat level. more alarmed than the germans. why is that? >> i know the british government warned people about traveling to the continent. the french had a series of arrests in the last 24 hours that suggests there is an active terrorist plan. they have good reason to be concerned. why the german government does not see this in the same light may reflect the intelligence they have. >> why is your assessment different in germany? >> the ministry of the interior had a meeting with a terrorist group. he took into account all the intelligence we have, which includes the intelligence from our friends in allied countries. this includes from america and the others. i

security secretary michael chertoff said americans planning trips to europe need to pay attention to security alerts. today in the bay's tracie potts is live in washington, d.c. with what americans need to know this morning. >> let me tell you why you need to pay close attention. someone was arrested outside paris for a bomb scare on a train that shut down a train station there last friday. it turns out it was just a scare, but they had several and that is the type of thing that has led authorities to raise this new travel alert for americans heading to europe. they say don't necessarily cancel your plan. it's not a warning, but you need to be on alert in a few places. travel hubs like airports and train stations and tourist attractions that attract lots of people in one place at one time. the government is known for weeks of a general threat of some sort of terror plot being created for europe. they believe that eight germans and two british brothers in pakistan and afghanistan have been working on this perhaps with the help of osama bin laden. it is a general threat. they don't hav

next to him, michael chertoff, also very well known to all of us.an his career as a federal prosecutor in new york and new jersey, assistant attorney general for the criminal division and actually oversaw the investigation of 9/11. he was a federal judge on the court of appeals for the third district, 2003 to 2005. he became director -- went to the cabinet as the director of the department of homeland security. it is also from harvard, both undergraduate and his jurist dr. -- j.d. degree. philip mudd came from villanova to the cia back in 1985 and became very well known as a very successful and a list of asia and was a middle east expert. he ultimately to a charge of the iraq analytic group at cia. also worked in the national intelligence council and became a deputy for near southeast asia. he worked in the national security council on middle east issues. he served in the counter- terrorism center of the cia, where he also rose to the no. 2 position of deputy there. he went on to the fbi where he helped develop an analytic capability and became dire

joining us from washington is michael chertoff, the former secretary of the homeland security and now chairman of the hrtoty i perspective on you just heard brian's reporting and given what you know what do you believe this all stands, where does it stand? >> well, it sounds to me as if intelligence officials have gotten credible information but is not terribly specific as to time and place. and that's why they're generally raising the alert posture all throughout europe, but they're not able to focus on a particular target or set of targets. and frankly, from a secity standpoint,t's est lenal w you knosmeting enough detail to focus your efforts. >> so why issue this hh al this unusually high alert, in the absence of any concrte >> well, i do th inormaroab pretty concrete. and i have to emphasize this is the lowest level of warning or alert that the state department it's no a sn ta it's merely a suggestion that you stay alert. i think it's a judg and what the authorities ar wrestling wits tho there's a threaut t and they feel an obligation to share that. at the same time, you don't wa

joining us is michael chertoff, he's the former secretary of the homeland security and now chairman of the chertoff security firm. it's good to have your perspective on this. you just heard brian's reporting, given what you know now, where do you believe this all stands? >> well, it sounds to me as if intelligence officials have gotten credible information that is not terribly specific as to time and place. and that's why they're generally raising the alert posture all throughout europe, but they're not able to focus on a particular target or set of targets. and frankly, from a security standpoint, that's the hardest challenge to deal with. you know something's going to happen but you don't have enough detail to focus your efforts. >> so why issue this high alert, this unusually high alert, in the absence of concrete information? >> well, i do think the information is probably concrete. i have to emphasize this is the lowest warning that the state department issues. it's not a suggestion that you not travel. it's merely a suggestion that you stay alert. i think it's a judgment call. wh

and speaking earlier on abc's "good morning america," michael chertoff says americans planning trips to europe need to pay attention to the security alert to europe. his comments coming a day after the obama administration learned of a possible terrorist attack against germany. they need to consider, "where you need to take shelter if something happens" and not "walk around with the american flag on your back." meanwhile, japan has joined the u.s. and britain in issuing a travel alert for europe warning of the possible attack by al qaeda or other groups. and some experts say the warnings could hurt a still fragile european economy already hit hard by the debt crisis. and those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> hey, middle and high school students. enter c-span's student cam documentary competition. make a five to eight-minute video on this year's theme, washington, d.c., through my lens. tell us about an issue, event or topic that helped you better understand the role of the federal government in your life or community. ble sure to include more than one point of vi

>> all along, i had the feeling that michael brown was a scapegoat and the real villain was chertoff. i ran into him on the street in new york. he said why did you not put me in your movie? >he said if we did another one he wanted to be in it. he did an interview. he tells why it took five days for the government to show up. to me, i think it is a burden of the tisch shoulders. he was the face of fema, but he was not the one making the decisions. chertoff was the guy. >> which brings us to chertoff. what you think of his performance? the head of homeland security. >> people are dead now because he did not do his job. he was ill-equipped to do the job. there are certain positions -- i know you have cronyism and you give your friends' jobs, but do not put them in a position where people's lives depend on them. fema? they are playing with people's lives. as i said before, people are dead. another thing is that a number of people died, but the number is twice that. there are people who died after. they were all of their medication. a lot of stuff happened. they committed suicide. there ar

. >>> joining me, michael hayden, retired four-star general in the united states air force, former director of the cia and currently principal with the chertoffton. thanks for being here. >> good morning. >> let's start out with what struck me when they issued this alert. what is the practical value of saying to people, listen, keep going on your trips but be alert? >> it's a personalized warning. i mean, if you look at the view of government who know these things, who know that the threat conditions have actually changed, there's kind of a moral responsibility to let your citizenry know. it's very difficult, though, candy, to -- >> looks cia, though -- >> it could be viewed that way, but i think, frankly, that's unfair. i think the administration handled this well. they put the alert out, they let folks know that there was something different. and also tried to simultaneously calm fears, tell people they shouldn't cancel travel to europe. frankly, it's an imperfect science. that's about the best you can do in terms of letting the people know how the danger has changed. >> and how bad does the information have to be to trigger an alert? >> we