we begin with nbc's mike viqueira at the white house. mike? >> good evening, lester. the president shared some new intelligence information with the nation today, and now he and others want to know why america's intelligence agencies failed to share that information with each other. today president obama revealed for the first time what many had suspected since the attempted bombing on christmas day, al qaeda was behind it. >> it appears that he joined an affiliate of al qaeda and that this group, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for america. >> reporter: the president says that the suspect, umar abdulmutallab, made his al qaeda contacts and received his training in yemen, a country wracked by poverty and an ongoing civil war. now fertile ground for extremists driven from strongholds in afghanistan and elsewhere. >> there's really basically a de facto safe haven for islamic terrorists and the yemeni government is almost powerless to stop them from operating. >> reporter: aft

nbc's mike viqueira is at the white house with more on that. mike? >> reporter: good evening, lester. today a white house official says there are hundreds of al qaeda members within yemen, that middle eastern country where the fight against terrorism has taken on a new urgency. citing specific threats against americans, officials today closed the u.s. embassy in yemen. >> there are indications that al qaeda's planned to carry out an attack in the capital of yemen. >> reporter: employees were told to stay home. a journalist on the ground describes the scene. >> right now the government is putting out heavy security just in case that the al qaeda threats are real. and also the helicopters from the military are put on hold in case any attacks do happen. >> reporter: the british embassy was also shuttered, with prime minister gordon brown calling yemen a failing state while also beefing up his nation's security at home. >> we've recognized that there are new forms of weapon that are being used by al qaeda. so we've got to respond accordingly. >> reporter

. >>> nbc's mike viqueira joins us live from the white house. mike, any word this morning from the obama administration or is this all simply the state department in terms of the closure of the u.s. embassy in yemen? >> actually, the white house homeland security adviser here at the white house john brennan is making the rounds, appearing on "meet the press" first and foremost, saying there is a threat from al qaeda that has resulted in the temporary closure of the american embassy in yemen. the capital there sana, we learned that british embassy is being closed. a nonspecific threat, but out of an abundance of caution, embassy employees are being told to stay in their home. all told, there are about 500 employees of the u.s. embassy there. this comes after a number of developments over the weekend. of course, david, you mentioned, that the president specifically confirmed what many had suspected yesterday in his radio and internet address, he said that it was an al qaeda connection. aqap, they call it. al qaeda on the arabian peninsula where the

mike viqueira tells us how president obama is linking al qaeda to the attack. >> reporter: presidenta revealed for the first time what many had suspected since the attempted bombing on christmas day. al qaeda was behind it. >> it appears that he joined an affiliate of al qaeda, and that this group, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, trained him, equipped him with those explosives, and directed him to attack that plane headed for america. >> reporter: the president says that the suspect, umar farouk abdulmutallab made his al qaeda contacts and received his training in yemen, a country recked by poverty and an ongoing civil war, now fertile ground strongholds in afghanistan and elsewhere. >> there's really a de facto safe haven for islamic terrorists and the yemeni government is almost powerless to stop them from operating. >> reporter: after getting initial reports earlier this week, mr. obama has called a face-to-face meeting with top officials, set for tuesday at the white house. among the attendees, director of national intelligence, dennis blair. homeland security secretary, janet

. >> nbc's mike viqueira joins us now live from the white house. mike, fill in some of the gaps about what the administration is saying. >> reporter: david, it was the president himself who yesterday in his weekly internet and radio address who confirmed what many suspected and that it was al qaeda that was behind that aborted christmas day attack in the skies over detroit. al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, a new strong hold for an old enemy in the country of yemen, a country wracked by poverty and civil strife. it's said al qaeda can find a strong hold there because the government is weak, controlling a very relatively small amount of the territory of that country. as the united states an others make inroads routing out terrorists from afghanistan and elsewhere, they are finding a safe haven in yemen. john brennan, that individual you just saw there on "meet the press," he is the advisor here at the white house on homeland security. he had more to say about that incident and the larger terror threat this morning on "meet the press." >> clearly the

. >> nbc's mike viqueira joins us now live from the white house. the administration's trying to portray this as out of an abundance of caution. but anything more specific about what prompted them to do this? >> we're told there is no specific threat but a number of factors picked up in intelligence over the last several days, including the revelation that the president shared with the american public yesterday in his web and internet radio address where he said it was indeed al qaeda where the suspect trained, spent time, was actually taught how to use the device that he attempted to detonate over the skies of detroit on christmas morning, david. the president making that statement in a radio address. now as you mentioned, both the u.s. and the british embassies are closed. general petreaus, david petraeus, many people are familiar with him, he is now leading all u.s. military and allied military operations in the mideast region, including afghanistan, pakistan, the saudi peninsula. he visited yemen yesterday, consulting there with yemeni governmen

nbc's mike viqueira joins us live from the white house. good morning to you, mike. >> reporter: good morning, alex. >> how effective do you think it will be for the president to shift away from terror and on to the economy? listen, both these things, while different in tone, they're both imperative. >> reporter: absolutely, and there's a political imperative here in washington as well, and that is because every member of the house of representatives is going up for re-election this year, 2010, and a third of the senate. there's considerable pressure from democratic allies in congress to do something about jobs. a second stimulus bill already passed the house in december, alex, pending in the senate, but the world keeps intruding here at the white house. of course, the attempted bombing on christmas day has focused the attention here. two weeks the review took from homeland security and intelligence officials here. the president with the big announcement earlier this week and then shifting gears. they had hoped to do that a little bit earlie

nbc's mike viqueira is at the white house for us. thfs pa this was part of his weekly radio address that essentially came in overnight. >> that's right, chris. vab available at 6:00 this morning. they called it aqap. while there have been many reports the past few days both from leaks from the intelligence community on capitol hill and background briefings from administration officials that yemen had something to do with that christmas day potential attack aboard that airliner over the skies of detroit, the president himself this morning confirmed it, talked about the role that yemen played eed and radicals within yemen played in staging that attack. >> we know that he travelled to yemen, a country grappling with crushing poverty and deadly insurgencies. it appears he joined an affiliate of al qaeda and that this group, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for america. >> chris, it was just days before christmas when the yemeni government, whic

nbc's mike viqueira is at the white house for us. what can you tell us. >> good morning, chris. the president in his weekly radio and internet address for the first time makes a direct link between al qaeda and the suspect who tried to blow up that plane coming into the skies over detroit on christmas morning. we've heard a lot of talk about a trip to yemen, contact with known terrorists, known radical clerics in yemen, by this young man, but the president made it clear this morning what the administration knows about this man's contact with al qaeda. >> we know that he traveled to yemen, a country grappling with crushing poverty and deadly insurgencies. it appears he joined an affiliate of al qaeda and that this group, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for america. the president went on to emphasize that during his administration, much to the contrary to some of the information and attacks that have come from his opponents here in washington, he has focused on yemen, saying that the pr

. >> nbc's mike viqueira is at the white house. we've been talking about a possible al qaeda connection for several days now. but this is the first time it's actually come from the president. >> reporter: well, that's absolutely right. directly from him, not from some leak, not from some congressional hearing. aides had talked about a possible al qaeda connection. but the president making it clear today in his weekly radio and internet address, chris, that al qaeda on the ararian peninsula is partly responsible for helping this young man try to blow that plain up on christmas day over the skies of detroit. the president and the administration, as you know, have been under some attack since that day. primarily from republicans, but also from concerned democrats that the intelligence community has somehow dropped the ball, and from republicans that the president had not taken the lead in fighting terrorism, has de-emphasized the war on terror. the president and the administration say that's not true, and after this comment that you j