national counterterrorism center, he's michael leiter now executive vice president of ledos, it is anechnology company. and michael i hope i pronounced that correctly. let me turn to you bertrand vennier. we just heard from mark austin about the people in paris coming out into the streets feeling offended. and yet these three men were able to pull off this terrible act killing 12 people wounding a number of others. is there-- is it a surprise that something like this could happen in paris? >> i think we can't say it is a surprise. no one knew that this was going to happen this morning. and two of dead were very good friends of mine. but in terms of the really surprise because from days and days and days the prime minister the president were telling us every day every two day it is that the risk was very high. the level of security was very high. you had policemen soldiers in the railway stations in paris for example. so i think that mainly the parisians were used to that kind of level of security. they were surprised that there was an attack on "charlie hebdo" but they were not surpas

we want to bring in michael leiter former director of the national counterterrorism center under both presidents obama and bush. he does national security work for the federal government. michael, now that you're in the private sector, what is your government experience tell you, what was your first thought upon hearing this news today, and anything about it indicate we could be in for more? >> well, i think from what we saw these guys were pretty sophisticated, brian. this wasn't the run-of-the-mill home grown where they do one stupid thing with an axe. they were organized. they knew their target. they knew how to get away for a period. that's a level of sophistication we haven't seen. i think what is most telling here is really how vulnerable these soft targets are to these sorts of attacks. and whether we'll see more, i think success, unfortunately, breeds success. right now the al qaeda message, wherever it's coming from, syria or yemen, is gaining traction in many nations including france. >> so safe to be on alert a little bit higher degree here in the united states? >> i think

and that volume can truly be overwhelming. >> michael leiter in washington rounding out our coverage. michael, thank you as always. >>> retired four-star general petraeus is back in the news tonight. nbc has confirmed federal prosecutors have recommended bringing felony charges against the former u.s. commander in iraq and afghanistan because of an accusation that he leaked classified information to his one-time mistress while he was cia director. our justice correspondent pete williams has late details from our d.c. newsroom tonight. pete, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. no charges have been filed and now it's up to the attorney general eric holder to decide whether in fact assembled by the fbi and prosecutors merit going to court. petraeus, a retired four-star general became the cia director in 2011. and the question has been whether he gave classified information to a woman who was writing a book about him, a woman who was also it turns out his mistress. he acknowledged the affair when he stepped down after leaving the cia for about a year. no comment tonight from t

we want to turn now to michael leit leiter now the executive vice president of lydos working with the federal government on national security matters. and, michael, aqap al qaeda arabian peninsula claimed credit for this today, meantime a lot of americans want to know what does it mean here. >> i think it means there are huge challenges not just in france but here in the united states brian. the u.s. intelligence community is very good but it can only handle so much. and it is really been focused on isis in syria and iraq. and aqap in yemen remains a significant threat. and both of these organizations also can contribute to home grown terrorist who is simply see this and are inspired. and that volume can truly be overwhelming. >> michael leiter in washington rounding out our coverage. michael, thank you as always. >>> retired general petraeus is back in the news tonight. nbc has confirmed federal prosecutors have recommended bringing felony charges against the former u.s. commander in iraq and afghanistan because of an accusation that he leaked classified information to his one-time m

. >> michael leiter, thank you for being with us here in our washington bureau tonight. >>> now to the response from the white house and the obama administration on this side of the atlantic. our white house correspondent kristen welker is on the north lawn for us tonight. kristen, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. late today president obama called french president hollande from air force one offering condolences and the full support of the united states. homeland security, secret service and pentagon officials say there is no known domestic threat. still, administration officials say the paris attack is a reminder that terrorists will strike anywhere. officials in some major cities including new york and boston have beefed up security today. the president called france one of america's oldest allies and condemned the attacks. >> for us to see the kind of cowardly, evil attacks that took place today, i think, reinforces once again why it's so important for us to stand in solidarity with them just as they stand in solidarity with us. >> reporter: secretary john kerry echoe

michael leiter is the former director of the national counter terrorism center under presidents bushnd obama and now executive vice president working on national security matters. good morning and good to see you. >> good morning. >> let's talk about the female suspect or accomplice said to be in syria. is that the end of the story in terms of ever bringing her to justice? is she now in the safest place in the world for a terrorist? >> she is in the safest place in the world to be safe from western intelligence officials but she is obviously not safe because many of the people going to syria are dying in syria. but i think it is going to be extremely hard for french and u.s. officials to capture her and get her back. i don't think that's where the rest of this story is going to go. >> i want to ask you about the video richard engle mentioned. it was originally released back in the fall by isis as a recruitment tool to radicalize youk people. it's been released again online over the weekend in the wake of the terror attacks in paris. how concerned are you that those attacks will, in f