last year at nctc, the national counterterrorism center, we had a chance to look back and celebrate, take note of our ten-year anniversary. as you noted in your opening, evan, nctc was create out of the 9/11 experience, specifically out of recommendations offer bid the 9/11 commission, and then incorporated in legislation by the congress itch think ten years on, the fundmental weakness in our system that the intelligence reform and terrorism prevention act was designed to address, the sharing of information, we can look with some degree of satisfaction at the progress we have made in making sure that all of the relevant information in intelligence information is available to the united states government is brought together in one place and fused, understood, saysed and analyzed, and that happens every day at nctc. that is not to say we have got 'across every hurdle we have closed every gap or addressed every vulnerability we have, but i would say i feel very, very good that the systemic shortfalls, challenges we faced at the time of 9/11, have been addressed successfully. i will say,

>> white house, this is nctc, how do you have us?ud and clear as well. >> this is the daily meeting at the nctc, or the national counterterrorism center. critical to heading them off is first understanding what is happening elsewhere. >> the national counterterrorism center is tracking an explosion near the pyramids in egypt and two suicide bombings inside nigeria. isil is going to remain and expand on these dependingly geographic regions. >> that means isis makes different plans for different places. like putting a bomb on an airplane in egypt or striking france's capital. >> isis is an organization that is definitely still expanding and growing. >> growing and says nctc director nicolas rasmussen, learning. >> that gives you pause for concern because it suggests that the organization is seeking to develop capability, capability that can be brought against u.s. interests, not just in one area, syria and iraq, but around the world. >> one critical innovation, avoiding surveillance altogether. one adaptation is using encrypted communi

community partner that nctcs has contributes personnel to nctc. my analysts have access to the full array of intelligence information as was the design of reform. but increasingly, we're finding that relevant information exists in the nonclassified world, in the open source world, in the world of social media. and so the next great leap for nct dr. and, indeed, i would argue for the national security community, will be finding new and powerful ways to leverage our access to open source information, information that is out there for anybody to look at, but is out there in such volume that looking at it with the tree of analysis and rigor you would want is a challenge. >> well, one of the things that happened just this weekend is a russian airliner crashed, and one of the first things we've heard is a claim by purported members of isis claiming that they were responsible for bringing down this airplane. is there anything you can tell us from what you've seen this weekend that sheds some light on this? >> well, i have seen, evan, of course, the claim

contributes personnel to nctc. the design of reform but increasingly we are finding that relevant information exists in the nonclassified world. in the open source world. in the world of social media. so the next great leap for nctc, indeed i would a argue for the national security community will be finding new and powerful ways to leverage access to open source information, information that is out there for anybody to look at, but out in such volume that looking at it in tpre of analysis and rigor you will want is a challenge. >> one of the things that happened just this weekend is a russian airliner crashed. and one of the first things we have heard is that a claim by purported members of isis claiming they were responsible for bringing down this airplane. is there anything you can tell us from this weekend that would shed light on this. >>. the claims that isil made about taking action to bring down the russian airliner. but at this point we have nothing we have seen in intelligence to corroborate a nexus terror

intelligence community as well as what's called the national counterterrorism center or nctc, the hubhreat analysis. the gathering of information here in washington. are monitoring events in paris. based on my experience, they're really three threads that are of central interest to investigators. as you mentioned, the simultaneous nature of the events, unfolding within an hour or less of each other. the bar, also the stadium and then also the concert hall. i would also note that the concert hall had a high-profile gig going on there with an american band and the french president was at the football stadium. secondly, the location. this was a time of day and a part of paris, which would be an attractive target for any organization who wanted to launch an attack. it's a high-density urban environment, it's a place with a vibrant night life and it was a place that not only drew parisiennes, but also tourists as well. number three, look at the multiplicity of weapons that were reportedly involved here based on the initial information we're getting from the ground. the kalishnakov, that's

nctc willreatly for be finding new and powerful ways to open source information.nformation that is out there for anybody to look at. it is out there is such volume that looking at it with a degree of analysis and rigor that you would want, it is a challenge. one of the things that happened this weekend is a russian airliner crashed and one of the first things we heard is a claim theymbers of isis claiming were responsible for bring down this airplane. is there anything you can tell us what you have seen that could shed some light on this? >> i have seen the claims that isolate did make about carrying out action that brought down the russian airliner. at this point we have nothing that we have seen to corroborate. ,ou'll notice at this point because it is an unfolding picture. we reached up, and try to collect as much affirmation as we can. >> one of the interesting cases that you have been responsible for recently is the -- tell the audience about it and why it was groundbreaking for the justice department. up -- let me be , the defendant will have the right to de

intelligence community as well as what's called the national counterterrorism center or nctc, the hub for threat analysis. the gathering of information here in washington. are monitoring events in paris. based on my experience, they're really three threads that are of central interest to investigators. as you mentioned, the simultaneous nature of the events, unfolding within an hour or less of each other. the bar, also the stadium and then also the concert hall. i would also note that the concert hall had a high-profile gig going on there with an american band and the french president was at the football stadium. secondly, the location. this was a time of day and a part of paris, which would be an attractive target for any organization who wanted to launch an attack. it's a high-density urban environment, it's a place with a vibrant night life and it was a place that not only drew parisiennes, but also tourists as well. number three, look at the multiplicity of weapons that were reportedly involved here based on the initial information we're getting from the ground. the kalishnakov, t

director comey acknowledged, as nctc director rasmussen talked about, we don't have good visibility andthat means inherently there are limitations on our intelligence. indeed, recent events in paris dramatically underscore the limitations of this intelligence. not only did you have two -- at least two large cells that were interlocking but it's important o look at the travels of abdel hamid. he was able to move from europe after a plot he was involved in belgium was interrupted on january 15 of this year back into syria, then moved back into europe to personally direct the plot in france. that's significant. that means while he was a wanted man he was able to move past european authorities into syria, then past european authorities again as he moved back in. that indicates a much more significant intelligence gap than i think anybody would have nticipated prior to this plot. the third thing i'll say is it's important to highlight the fact, when you look at vulnerabilities the united states has to terrorist entry, things like visa waiver, is just more important than refugee resettlement.

i think that we can work with the nctc and with other intelligence agencies to help fill in those gaps working with other agencies. i want to reassure this committee that we work very closely with dhs. this is my fifth time on the hill in the last three days. and that's partly why i was so glad you gave leon all the tough questions. but we're very happy to continue to -- we work together on a daily basis and we're happy to continue to respond to you. one question was, you know, should we be looking closer at our program. the white house has already asked us to really go through the entire process carefully to look at are there ways to have efficiencies with it without cutting corners on security. you know, is it really the best process that we can possibly have. we're convinced it's a very secure process, but everyone has noticed it's lengthy. so, we're willing to do that. that's part of our jobs. thank you very much. >> mr. rodriguez? >> chairman, ranking member, senators. i want to thank you first and foremost for leading what i think has been an incredible from my perspective an inc