rare chance to sit down and talk with a man who was leading the fbi's counterterrorism efforts, michael steinbachnd he shared some disturbing insight into how isis is reaching into american homes to find their newest recruits and their next victims. of all the weapons used by terrorists one of the most dangerous is social media. >> they're using it successfully to spot assess identify target folks outside of war zones. they're using it in europe and they're using it in the united states. >> when you say target folks, how young are we talking? >> we've seen across the globe kids as young as 13 recruited by isil. >> 13. >> 13. >> are they actually in direct contact in some of these cases with isis militants who are overseas in syria that are reaching out to them directly? >> what we've seen is individuals in syria reaching directly into the united states starting in public chats on different social media platforms and then moving to private chat where is they continue to recruit recruit, inspire, and coerce individuals to either travel overseas or even worse to conduct an attack here in the united

chance to sit down and talk with the man who was leading the fbi's counterterrorism efforts, michael steinbachd some disturbing insight into how isis is reaching into american homes to find their newest recruits and their next victims. >> reporter: of all the weapons used by terrorists, one of the most dangerous is social media. >> they are using it successfully to spot, assess, identify, target folks outside of war zones. they're using it in europe, and they're using it in the united states. >> reporter: when you say target folks, how young are we talking? >> we've seen across the globe kids as young as 13 recruited by isil. >> reporter: 13. >> 13. >> reporter: are they actually in direct contact in some of these cases with isis militants who are overseas in syria that are reaching out to them directly? >> what we've seen is individuals in syria reaching directly into the united states starting in public chats on different social media platforms and then moving to private chats where they continue to recruit, inspire and, of cour and encour individuals to travel overseas or worse to conduct a

opportunity to do an exclusive interview with the head of the fbi's counterterrorism division michael steinbach. we discussed a range of threats facing americans. and he was very candid. he said it's been a struggle keeping up with all the americans coming and going to syria and that he would be lying if he said the fbi has not lost track of some americans, citing the sheer volume of travelers and the ease of travel to syria as just a couple of reasons why. and one of the key questions we wanted an answer to is whether there are sleeper cells in the u.s. here's what he said. have you seen people in the u.s. coordinating to launch an attack? >> we have seen individuals collaborate, of course. >> reporter: in the u.s.? >> yes. >> reporter: so are there isis cells in the u.s.? >> there are individuals that have been in communication with groups like isil who have a desire to conduct an attack yes. >> reporter: that are living in the u.s. right now? >> correct. >> reporter: steinbach also says there is a growing trend of isis recruiting young u.s. teens as young as 15 years old. he says isis has be

for michael steinbach and the fbi, the key is to try to keep up. >> what the threat looks like to is certainly not what it looked like ten years ago. it won't be what it looks like in ten years. >> reporter: do you have a sense of what the face of terrorism might look like down the road? >> i don't want to guess. >> more stories to come. >>> greece's newly elected prime minister tries to again eurozone support to reduce the heavy debt load. will it work? that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans they pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay and could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. call today to request a free decision guide to help you better understand what medicare is all about and which aarp medicare supplement plan works best for you. with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare

. >> reporter: michael steinbach says in many cases these groups are a few individuals who are looselyink the term super cell is simplistic. i think the threat is much more complicated and diffuse. >> reporter: a reminder the deadly paris attacks. they were trained by terrorists and their associate went on separate rampages. are you concerned in light of what we saw in paris that there could be an american here in the united states who may have had similar training as the coeawashy brothers? >> yes. i'm concerned about those who have seen what happened in paris and other countries and want to follow with similar acts. >> reporter: can you tell us how many americans are fighting and training with terrorists overseas? >> i won't discuss specific numbers. i will say that the fbi in partnership with the intelligence community we track several buckets of individuals. >> reporter: are you not willing to tell us a number because you're not willing to or that you don't feel confident that we know all the americans who have come and gone. >> the answer is both. i don't want to tell you a number

i spoke about this issue with the head of the fbi counterterrorism official, michael steinbach, and said the recruitment is more than we've ever seen by a foreign terrorist organization. there's a deliberate focus by isis to recruit women, from female fighters to brides for isis militants. even though american women wanting to join is a minority compared to the u.s., much higher and in cases, a false narrative of what it's like in syria to lure women to come over when we know a lot of them are raped, sold, or even die on the battlefield. >> pamela brown, thank you very much. >>> jordan and the latest from joma jomana caaradsheh. >> reporter: retaliation with isis as they were saying and officials now saying jordan wants to increase the air strikes it is carrying out as part of its coalition missions. now the number of these air strikes is going to depend on a number of factors including weather and the location of these targets. we have heard from the jordanian government, jordanian officials have said and promised an earth-shaking response. we also heard king abdullah today reiterate th

. >> michael steinbach, the head of the fbi's counter terrorism division says they're using facebookentify american victims. is there intelligence to back it up? >> there is intelligence to indicate they're using social media not only to spot and assess but select targets, targeting law enforcement, government officials. >> that threat led the fbi to issue a string of warnings urging government employees to scrub their social media. >> how do you get through the noise of someone who is mouthing off versus someone who is a legitimate threat? >> that's the trick of law enforcement and the trick of the u.s. intelligence community to work through that using data using strong analytical skills but it's a full-time job and a challenge. >> something that steinbach said to me said there's a deliberate attempt to use people to recruit people with sophisticated and specific skills engineers and accountants to run the business end of their caliphate. >> she says in some cases parents have encouraged their children to join terrorist groups because they're inspired by the message. >>> new york ci

. >> reporter: the head of the fbi's counterterrorism division michael steinbach, says terrorists overseas using social media to reach into american homes, grab ahold of vulnerable teenagers, and lure them into their group. >> groups like isil have done an effective pr campaign putting out a false narrative, describing what it's like over there, and that's a narrative that's sucked up by kids here in the u.s. and other western countries. >> reporter: over the summer three teenage girls from denver was caught in germany, not far from their goal joining isis in syria. >> what we know is we've been fortunate enough to prevent several intanss of youths attempting to travel. but i can't speak with any certainty minor children have not made it over there. >> what have you found with the parents in the cases you've dealt with? >> we've seen parts who encourage, we've seen parents who are oblivious, around parents in a state of denial. >> you've seen parents who encourage this? >> absolutely. there are individuals inspired by the message of terrorist groups and they encourage even their children t

. >> that was the head of the fbi counterterrorism division, michael steinbach.n it comes to stopping ice fridays -- isis from spreading messages it is "losing the battle." losing the war. you brought up a good point in the break. a couple weeks ago they were battling back with their own internet campaign. >> it was said as recently as last week these guys aren't buzz feed. they're not social media professionals. i think the story that changed is the idea that this is infiltrating the u.s. makes it a different kind of story and not just that people are leaving for syria but that these messages can get out and seep through the homeland which is frightening. >> get into it. you believe this is setting up something else. >> if you read the news reports today, do people read one tweet and become radicalized? i doubt it. what you read today was government officials saying that's why we need access to your phones. apple has been encrypting phones and the government has been fighting them on that and they bring this up and say this is why we're asking for that access. i

and last but not least, michael steinbach, appointed as the assistant director of the fbi's counterterrorism division by director comey in july of 2014. he joined the fbi in 1995, held a variety of positions at fbi headquarters in the field and overseas during his ten-year career with the bureau. most recently served as deputy assistant director of the counterterrorism position. the witnesses' full statements will appear in the record. the chair francis "frank" x. taylor now recognizes undersecretary taylor for his opening statement. >> chairman mccaul, ranking member thompson, and distinguished members of the committee i'm pleased to be here today with my colleagues from the fbi and nctc to discuss the foreign fighter threat and our current efforts to disrupt terrorist travel. i would be remiss if i did not highlight one of the biggest threats to the security of our homeland, the lack of a funding for the department of homeland security. given the myriad of threats facing the homeland, it is imperative that congress pass a full year dhs appropriations bill for 2015. as long as the departmen

the fbi's head of counterterrorism, michael steinbach, recently told cnn copy cat attacks are a major concern. >> they want to conduct an attack just to make the news like the folks they saw on tv. they may be at one level of intent, but community events or world events, at least through their eyes, spurs them on to mobilize and conduct an attack. >> pamela brown joins us now in copenhagen. what have you learned about the time he spent in prison and how that may have affected any radicalization? >> reporter: anderson, we've been speaking to people on the ground in copenhagen about that and people said before he went to prison, he did express extremist views and anecdotally, people noticed a change in him after when he was released just two weeks ago saying they were scared of him. clearly, something has changed in him. we spoke to the mom at the prison where he was. he wouldn't say whether he worked directly with al hussein but talked about the issue of radicalization. i asked him, is it a concern of his? they are aware of it. it's not widespread, a systemic problem but what happens h

. >> reporter: michael steinbach said it's a few individuals loosely associated.paris attacks. french citizens cherif and said kouachi with amedy coulibaly went on separate rampages. are you concerned in light of what we saw in paris there could be an american in the united states that may have similar training as the kouachi brothers that we didn't have visibility on? >> of course i am. i'm worried about individuals we don't know about that would have training and individuals that just see what happened in paris or other countries and want to follow with similar paths. >> reporter: how many americans are right now fighting training with terrorists overseas? >> i don't discuss numbers. i won't discuss specific numbers but i'll say the fbi in partnership with the intelligence community, we track several buckets of individuals. >> reporter: are you not telling us a number because you're not willing to or because you don't feel confident that we know all the americans who have come and gone? >> the answer is both. i'm not telling you a number because i don't want to

michael steinbach, fbi assistant director for counterterrorism testified about the intelligence community'slity or inability to keep track of all the westerners traveling to fight isis and then return home. i want to play a very chilling remark that he made during your hearing. >> if i were to say that we had it under control, i would say i knew of every single individual traveling. i don't. and i don't know every person there and i don't know everyone coming back. so it's not even close to being under control. >> not even close to being under control. what was your reaction when he said that? what do you think that means practically? >> i think it was a very candid opinion. i applaud the agent for being honest in his answer. to me it's nothing new. i receive that in my threat briefings but it's the first time it's come out publicly at a hearing by the fbi and i think what they're saying is that look we have a rough idea that there are 20,000 foreign fighters up to 5,000 with western passports, hundreds of americans who traveled over to the region. some have come back. but the bottom line i

this comes from the fbi's top counterterrorism official michael steinbach. he says the u.s.narrative is effective, but the volume of isis messaging too much to overcome. >> and the nation's busiest airport doing something many thought they should have been doing for years -- atlanta's hartsfield-jackson airport now screening the bags of workers before they're allowed into secure areas. and the airport reducing the number of employee access points from 70 to just 10. this comes after a gun-smuggling operation was uncovered there run by employees who were not screened. >>> actress lupita kneenyong'o's $150,000 pearl-studded gown from the oscars has been stolen. nyong'o who won an oscar in 2014 for her role in "12 years a slave" was not in the room at the time of the theft. authorities are investigating. >> it looks strangely similar to what were you talking about a couple of days ago -- the gift -- >> that i got of a white beaded pearl dress? >> luckily my eyes read it as green. soy wasn't suspicious. >> don't go there! >>> let's get to "inside politics" on "new day" with john

michael steinbach recently said that copycat attacks are a major concern. >> they want to conduct anike the folks they saw on tv. they may be at one level of intent but community events or world events at least through their eyes spurs them on to mobilize and conduct an attack. >> u.s. officials that i've been speaking with say they are alarmed by the frequency of these lone wolf attacks we've seen here in copenhagen. danish police say the gunman tried to enter through other entrances before going to the main entrance of the first location where that free speech event was taking place. wolf it is clear he was on a mission to wreak havoc. >> yes, he certainly was. pamela brown in copenhagen for us thank you. as isis launches a major new offensive right now under way in iraq not far from the kurdish capital of erbil, the white house is holding a summit. there's been controversy kroundingkround surrounding the talks. let's go to jim acosta. the president spoke about the summit just a little while ago. >> reporter: that's right. the white house encountering violent extremism, some of it

to conduct an attack here in the united states. [ speaking a foreign language ] >> reporter: michael steinbach, head of the fbi's counterterrorism division says isis is also using facebook and twitter to identify potential american victims. >> i'm wondering, is it an assumption or is there actually intelligence to back it up? >> there certainly is intelligence indicating that foreign terrorist organizations are using social media not only to spot and assess but select targets, targeting military targeting law enforcement, targeting government officials. >> reporter: that threat led the fbi to issue a string of warnings urging u.s. government employees to scrub their social media profiles of any information terrorists could use to find them. everyone is on social media these days. how do you get through the noise of someone who is just mouthing off versus someone who is a legitimate threat? >> that's the trick of law enforcement and the trick of the u.s. intelligence community, to work through that using data using strong analytical skills but it's a full-time job and it's a challenge. >> repor

and last but not least, michael steinbach, appointed as the assistant director of the fbi's counterterrorism division by director comey in july of 2014. he joined the fbi in 1995, held a variety of positions at fbi headquarters in the field and overseas during his ten-year career with the bureau. most recently served as deputy assistant director of the counterterrorism position. the witnesses' full statements will appear in the record. the chair now recognizes undersecretary taylor for his opening statement. >> chairman mccaul, ranking member thompson, and distinguished members of the committee i'm pleased to be here today with my colleagues from the fbi and nctc to discuss the foreign fighter threat and our current efforts to disrupt terrorist travel. i would be remiss if i did not highlight one of the biggest threats to the security of our homeland, the lack of a funding for the department of homeland security. given the myriad of threats facing the homeland, it is imperative that congress pass a full year dhs appropriations bill for 2015. as long as the department operates under a cr ther