i want to bring in paul cruickshank. paul has been developing this information. what can you tell me about this isis directed group that was the target in belgium last few hours? >> hi john. i've been speaking to a senior counter terrorism official. these guys have been under surveillance a while. their concern has been after they came back from syria they were planning to launch some sort of terrorist attack. authorities weren't sure exactly what when how. the belgiums received indications that this group, when they were in syria had connected with isis and had been directed to some extent by isis to come back and return to europe to launch attacks. that would be a game changer. we have not seen that yet from isis. they have not prioritized attacks yet. it's a very very concerning indeed if they're putting resources into launching attacks back in europe in retaliation for air strikes from the united states and other countries. belgium is involved in the air strikes in iraq. belgiums were worried this group was noting something against belgium to retaliate for an

want to bring in cnn analyst paul cruickshank. reporting on this over the last several hours. you look at this as an important moment in the evolution of isis. up until this point, they've been eager to recruit fight hers from -- fighters from the west to go to syria to fight. this is the first time they've sent them home to fight western nations? >> that appears to be right. a counter terrorism official telling me they suspect this group was with isis in syria and directed by isis to come back to belgium and europe to launch attacks. that really would be a game changer because isis has not yet directed itself the top leadership any terror plots against the west. we've seen fighters who have been with isis come back and launch attacks. that's been on their own. the shooting in brussels at the museum last may. what i'm understanding is that belgiums think isis were deeply connected to this group and isis encouraged and directed them to return to europe in retaliation for these air strikes against them in syria and iraq. of course be

more once again paul cruickshank is joining us. he's the co-arthur of "agent storm."o on bear, a former cia operative. bob, as we look at all of these leads underway right now, these actors and several countries. i think seven countries now involved in what could be an expanding operation. the details really skrechy still at this point although we will be learning a whole lot more. how surprised are you by these developments? >> well, not at all. two things going on here. that's the conflict in iraq and syria, we're seeing the blow back hitting europe. let's never forget that 9/11 was a plot hatched in europe. there were wide cells there. they went from spain to france to italy and the rest of it. what i think is happening now that the french finally woke up and they are on the phone as they put all these contacts together and are calling people and starting to roll people up. i think we're going to see a lot more of this and that there's a lot more cells than anybody suspected. >> and paul, we talked earlier about the threat of so-called lone wolves if you will. that

bob baer paul cruickshank, thanks for joining. brianna, back to you in new york. >> thanks jim. >>> leaders are head to go participate in the unity rally in the march. what's being done to keep them and the hundreds of thousands of other people who may show up safe? we'll have that next. introducing... a pm pain reliever that dares to work all the way until... the am. new aleve pm the only one to combine a safe sleep aid plus the 12 hour strength of aleve. you get sick you can't breathe through your nose... suddenly... you're a mouthbreather. well, put on a breathe right strip and instantly open your nose up to 38% more than cold medicines alone so you can breathe and sleep shut your mouth and sleep right. breathe right. huh, fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. yeah, everybody knows that. well, did you know that playing cards with kenny rogers gets old pretty fast? ♪ you got to know when to hold'em. ♪ ♪ know when to fold 'em. ♪ ♪ know when to walk away. ♪ ♪ know when to run. ♪ ♪ you never count

paul cruickshank, give us your perspective.and what's going on in belgium, what's happened last week in paris, the sweeps under way in belgium right now. there are sweeps elsewhere in europe as well, a lot of the analysts are suggesting, intelligence officials, this is a game changer what we're seeing in europe right now. >> wolf, that's exactly right. the belgians have thwarted what they say was a major imnaminent plot directed by isis in belgium in the heart of europe. this is isis potentially taking its war to the west. so i think there are questions for these two world leaders about their war against isis, about the air strikes against isis in syria and iraq. in the last 24 hours, there were just 11 air strikes in syria and iraq, hardly a concerted air campaign. there are many questions about this terror safe haven. are western powers doing enough to remove the safe haven because even under the best case scenario, seems these terrorists are going to have a safe haven there for one, two, three or more years, wolf. >> fred pl

paul cruickshank, bob baer thank you. i want to go to fred plankton who spent the day at the scene of the kosher restaurant following the developments in the hunt for hayat boumediene. fred what else have we learned today? >> reporter: well we have learned a wide array of things. this new information we've gotten now is of course very significant. and remember that the french authorities still, we're hoping to get their hands on hayat boumediene even if she wasn't here during the time the events played out over the past couple of days. simply because she is such a key figure in this entire plot. because she could give them some sort of light or shed some sort of light as to what groups might be behind this. whether it was really al qaeda and the arabian peninsula, whether or not there were ties to isis. and whether or not the fact that now the french authorities are saying that apparently some sleeper cells have been activated, what exactly might be behind that. so she is still very much a prominent figure very much an im

pamela brown is in paris and paul cruickshank is here with me.ou have new details. >> the suspected ringleader in this plot in belgium abdelhamid abaaoud, 27 years old, connected with isis about a year ago, he's believed to be still at large. there's a big international manhunt for him. he was believed to be operating from greece in talks with this belgian terrorist cell in greece connected back to the top leadership of isis in syria. they are pretty sure this was an isis attempt to retaliate for attacks in iraq. >> now this desperate manhunt is on and also the scale of this attack was not just significant, it was extremely significant? >> very significant indeed. the belgians think it went far beyond targeting police officers. they found chemicals for explosives. they found police uniforms the suggestion being that they were trying to get access to a sensitive site for a major attack. the belgians think now they may have been planning multiple attacks in belgian. they say the danger is not over. they think they disrupted the major part of this p

let's bring in paul cruickshank. paul what are you learning about the status of the investigation?uspected ringleader in that plot is still believed at large at his last known location in greece. you can see him on the video right here. that was shot in the last year somewhere on the isis front lines in syria or iran. but he traveled from there to greece to direct this terrorist cell in belgium who were plotting a terror spectacular according to belgian officials. they had the chemicals necessary to make high explosive. they had police uniforms suggesting they wanted to gain access to sensitive sites. in the video, you see here on the screen the leader says that he gets pleasure from seeing the blood of the disbelievers flow. so you get some insight into his world view. he's a highly motivated individual very dangerous, still on the run. the cia are chasing him many of the world's intelligence agencies trying to figure out where he is. but they've not yet been able to locate him, wolf. >> presumably he's changing his appearance. he's one of the most wanted men in the world right no

paul cruickshank, doing excellent reporting for us. thanks very much. >>> let's talk about all of this. joining us democratic congresswoman tulsy gabbert of hawaii she sits on the foreign affairs committee. you hear this reporting from paul cruickshank and others. what's your reaction? >> this is really just a sign of how deep the problem is not only in belgium, but also across europe across many of these eu member countries. i think there are some really important lessons for us here in the united states to learn from all this. i think we have seen over a very long period of time that belgium and france and some of these other countries, they hadn't done nearly enough to really check the travel for example, of their citizens and residents going to places like syria, going to places like yemen, and then keeping track of them. we have heard and learned a lot more in the last few days about the free and open travel between these eu member countries and how turkey really is the number one transit point for these foreign fighters who are c

i want to bring in paul cruickshank. hat yemen has simply according to nick spiraled out of control right now, that is a threat to the united states why? >> it's a threat to the united states as no functioning government right now. there's a huge contest for power between the houthiw the houthies who have taken control and then the president who seems now to be at the very least a figurehead so it means that they're not focused on going after al qaeda in yemen. al qaeda in yemen is taking advantage of this chaos to expand that presence throughout the country. and yet they are using the shia sunni issue and fact that houthies are shia to recruit sunni tribals in the tribal areas of yemen saying we need to fight holy war against shia. they are expanding ranks. they are getting hold of more territory. this group said repeatedly in the last several months the number one priority is to attack the united states. they are also the group that claimed responsibility for the "charlie hebdo" attack in paris. this is really really wo

joining us our global affairs analyst, lieutenant colonel jamie reese paul cruickshank and bob baer. en he raises his hand that was a deliberate signal in your mind right, paul? >> i think that's clearly a deliberate signal. we've seen that a lot from isis fighters in video. this is now a signal which is very popular amongst jihadists. all around the world. it's their version of the victory signal we're going to be number one, but also the oneness of god and also that there's just one legitimate ideology it's ours and every other world view needs to be fought wolf. >> what's your analysis, bob baer of how powerful this video will be? you know that the terrorists are going to use it for propaganda purposes. >> well, exactly, wolf. they are making this attack in central paris a military-style attack they were almost doomed right from the beginning to be caught and shot down by the police. so the whole idea of martyrdom is going to be a big boon for this movement. the fact that the target was so precise and their ability to use weapons -- remember in the past paris has been hit by terror

let's go right to cnn terror analyst paul cruickshank. a lot of attention on this guy caught in greece who is now being extradited to belgium. what can you tell us about him? is he the ringleader? >> jake i was just speaking to a senior belgian counterterrorism official. the guy that's being extradited an algerian towards belgium, is not the guy that they suspect is a key ringleader in the plot. but they haven't completely discounted the possibility he also played a significant role in this plot. they want to find out a lot more about this guy, the role that he plays. he may have had a connection to the belgian morroccan operative they suspect was the key ringleader in this plot. he remains at large, still a threat. he's believed to have connections back to the isis leadership in syria. the belgians are increasingly sure that the senior leadership of isis signed off on this plot jake. >> i also want to bring in cnn counterterrorism analyst phil mudd. phil i want to ask you about french intelligence today. it seems as though some clear sig

colonel james reese, paul cruickshank, thanks form being with us. michaela? >> all right, john. up next an ohio man arrested for allegedly plotting an attack on the u.s. capitol. why did authorities let this so-called isis sympathizer get so far as to buy weapons? we'll discuss that ahead "@this hour." >>> good to have you back with us "@this hour." changes coming at the top of the secret service. four senior officials at the agency are being asked to leave their jobs. however, they could end up staying at the agency. they had over seen protection investigations technology and public affairs. the shakeup comes after several embarrassing security breaches at the white house over the last few months. >>> a 20-year-old man from ohio is in custody this hour accused of planning an attack on the u.s. capitol with pipe bombs, guns and a determination apparently inspired by isis. not very long ago, chris cornell was still living at his parents' house. let's bring in our law enforcement analyst tom fuentes, also a former assistant director of the fbi. great to have your expertise on this

i want to bring in cnn terrorism analyst paul cruickshank. paul what do we know about this video? >> reporter: we know french investigators have actually watched the video, that it's seven minutes long that it features amedy coulibaly killing three of the hostages in cold blood. when he first enters the grocery store, and we also know the french assure that it was e-mailed out to some kind of associate of amedy coulibaly through technical assessments of the computers that they found in the grocery store. >> we know that coulibaly claimed allegiance to isis. do we know who he was trying to send this to? was he sending it to isis lieutenants in syria, media, any idea? >> reporter: well the big worry the french have is that this is going to kind of pop up in an isis propaganda video in the days ahead. he actually already sent out a previous video where he declared allegiance to al baghdadi. he also spoke how he funded the kouachi brothers in their attack recorded that video, that first initial video with news coverage of the "charlie hebdo" attack in the background. he e-mailed that

want to bring in cnn terrorism analyst paul cruickshank.uthorities are looking for him as a possible link between these cells in belgium and isis itself in syria. >> i've been told by senior belgium counterterrorism official that there is a big manhunt for this official described as an operative who traveled from syria to greece and when he was in greece he was running the cell in belgium. he was in touch with them and he's believed to be in touch back to isis leadership. belgians think this is isis directed plot and this guy in greece is the key guy running the show from there. they brought the cia and the greek police in to try to find him last week but not able to find him. greeks have one person in custody who has been extradited about a k back to belgium. big manhunt for this guy. a key middle man link person organizing this. >> that's one of the key questions here. everyone is looking for possible links to isis behind these groups in belgium mostly and one question is how directly are they running the show right now? how directly is i

paul cruickshank, colonel reese, thank you for being with us. there is deflate-gate deflecting going on. bill belichick says he has no explanation. tom brady says he didn't alter the footballs so who did? did anyone? and what if no one ever proves anything? that's next. you wouldn't do half of your daily routine. so why treat your mouth any differently? complete the job with listerine®. kill up to 99 percent of germs. and prevent plaque, early gum disease and bad breath. sfx: ahhh listerine®. power to your mouth™! she inspires you. no question about that. but your erectile dysfunction - that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for ch

paul cruickshank, i appreciate it. thanks so much. >>> so true nfl scandal next.es the afc champion new england patriots. reports say they cheated perhaps on their way to the super bowl. what is the nfl going to do about this? you just got a big bump in miles. so this is a great opportunity for an upgrade. sound good? great. because you're not you you're a whole airline... and it's not a ticket you're upgrading it's your entire operations, from domestic to international... which means you need help from a whole team of advisors. from workforce strategies to tech solutions and a thousand other things. so you call pwc. the right people to get the extraordinary done. ♪ ♪ >>> happening now, a major controversy brewing in the nfl as we head into the super bowl. the biggest sporting event of the year of any year. new england patriots, afc champions, did they cheat on their way to the super bowl? the nfl according to espn found that 11 of the 12 footballs that the team used in sunday's blowout win against the colts, 11 out of 12 were underinflated. they did not have enou

very concerning times for europe. >> paul cruickshank, thank you so much. remind our viewers, the museum event you were talking about was in may, when a gentleman with algerian roots attacked innocent people at the brussels jewish museum and killed four innocent people. we will take a very quick break and come back with more on this breaking news. coming up new details on this plot and the raid in belgium. stay with us. vo: 85 percent of people who travel will go someplace they've already been. where's the fun in that? it's time to find someplace new. book the hotel you want with the flight you want and we'll find the savings to get you there. sir, we're going to need you on the runway. (vo) theraflu starts to get to work in your body in just 5 minutes. (vo) theraflu breaks you free from your worst cold and flu symptoms. (vo) theraflu. serious power. [ male announcer ] it's a warning. a wake-up call. but it's not happening out there. it's happening in here. [ sirens wailing ] inside of you. even if you're treating your crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis,

all right, paul appreciate the update paul cruickshank. thank you very much. >>> we aired a report critical. bobby jindal and fox news saying no go zones in england and elsewhere. if you're going to point fingers at other people's mistakes you should also acknowledge your own mistakes and we didn't do that on the program. in the wake of the paris attacks, several guests mentioned no go zones in france. i twice referred to them as well and should have been more skeptical. i won't make the same mistake again. new reports that federal prosecutors made their recommendation on whether to bring civil rights charges with darren wilson. first question did the new england patriots make it to the super bowl by cheating? some say they did and some say they should be booted out of the big game for it. we'll look at the evidence ahead. our eyes they have a 200-degree range of sight. which is good for me. hey! and bad for the barkley twins. your brain can send information to the rest of your body at 268 mph. three times the speed of a fastball. take car

cnn terrorism analyst paul cruickshank has been getting new information from his counterterrorism sources in belgium and that includes word that the cell targeted in this raid had obtained bomb making material. paul is joining us now. paul the members of this cell that are still at large. what are your sources telling you about them? >> reporter: wolf there's a significant concern about the members of this cell believed to be at large in belgium tonight. the fear that belgium counterterrorism officials have is they could still strike they could still be armed and they may wish to strike to avenge the death in that shootout yesterday of two of the fighters who were killed. fighters believed to be linked back to syria and to isis been recruited by isis. the belgians believe this was an isis directed plot. they have intelligence subjecting there was a middleman, a key operative in greece who was running the operation from there. they reached out to the cia to try to get help to locate this operative in greece. they weren't able to do that. he's still at large as well. so significant concern

breaking news from paul cruickshank, cnn terror analyst. thank you so much. more on that later on cnn. that's it for "the lead." i'm jake tapper. i now turn you over to wolf blitzer in "the situation room" who will continue to cover this breaking and evolving story out of europe. wolf? >>> happening now, breaking news. new terror arrests, urgent police operations in countries across europe. dozens of suspected militants taken into custody in germany, the netherlands, belgium, france and the uk. can officials stop the next attack? >>> anatomy of a terrorist cell. we have new insight from former jihadists, and intelligence officer under the threat of so-called sleeper cells, the threat they pose and how and when they will be activated. >>> tracking al qaeda. exclusive cnn reporting from inside yemen, home to the terror organizations most active and most dangerous affiliate. is it orchestrating terror operations in europe and the united states?

and paul cruickshank. paul the suspected isis plot ring leader has been identified.ou hearing about him and his associates? >> well that's right, don. he was identified to us by a senior belgian official as the suspected ring leader of this plot in brussels. this is a belgian moroccan isis operative who was in syria, but traveled to greece so that he could direct this plot in belgium. he was in phone contact with the plotters in brussels. he is suspected of being connected back as well to the top leadership of isis. the belgians think this was an isis-directed plot a kind of game-changer with isis pivoting towards launching attacks against europe -- specifically the european countries that have been launching air strikes against them in iraq countries like the uk and france and holland and denmark and of course also belgium. >> fareed zakaria spoke to a former cia director and defense secretary leon panetta, he said this is a much more aggressive and dangerous chapter in the war on terror and that he thinks it's a matter of time before terrorists direct an act of vio

we want to turn to paul cruickshank, cnn terrorism analyst and jim archides a former defense department official counterterrorism official and president of the foreign policy political action committee or d-pac. paul i want to start with you. we've talked with you about the threat that exists in europe. and i specifically want to talk about that given the fact there's a hostage situation, these men are surrounded by a very large police presence. on the ground there in france. it's important for them those authorities that are dealing with this really urgent threat right now, to understand who they're dealing with. so talk about the context that we know that these men have spent some time in yemen and syria. what kind of threat does this pose to them right now? >> well michaela i think that the key part of this is the fact that one of these brothers interfaced with al qaeda in yemen, trained with al qaeda in yemen. and not just anybody can do that. i think they would likely this brother was recruited by the group. and perhaps swore an oath of loyalty, then received training in yemen. now

want to bring back, now, phil mud, paul cruickshank and mia bloom. a u.n.l telling cnn "we expected this. they liken the terror threat to the war on drugs. a fight in perpetuity." >> look this is, we are frying to characterize this as the an isolated incident in paris. characterize home grown stuff in north america. remember the attack on the parliament. in ottawa. the hatchet attack in new york. aepisodic experience. this is not a war with an end. this its a cancer. and a sliver of islam that will be affecting us for decades. one of the problems we have. i have heard this. extremely frustrating. as a former practicing ear. it is people talking abut thout as a failure. when you are 15 years into a campaign. you are dealing with tens of thousands of cases. across north america and europe. the standard for success is not one of them goes south. that its a misunderstanding of what is going on, don. what's going on is we are no longer in a war on terror. we are dealing with a cancer within society that will take decades to resolve. >> it has been said this atta

cnn terrorism analyst paul cruickshank has been getting new information from his counterterrorism sourceshat the cell targeted in this raid had obtained bomb making material. paul is joining us

all right, paul cruickshank great to have you here.his. >>> if we're talking about terrorism, you got to talk about politics because they go hand in hand. and the republican presidential field already crowded for 2016. is that a win for democracy? or a sign that nobody is that strong? we'll tell you who's in and out and guess how much it will cost to be president. in my world, wall isn't a street... return on investment isn't the only return i'm looking forward to. for some every dollar is earned with sweat, sacrifice, courage. which is why usaa is honored to help our members with everything from investing for retirement to saving for college. our commitment to current and former military members and their families is without equal. start investing with as little as fifty dollars. >>> the first two weeks of 2015 producing a flurry of potential 2016 presidential candidates. preparatory steps being taken by chris christie rand paul jeb bush even mitt romney is mobilizing his donors. so to help us sort through the crowded ring we've calle

reveals his journey in this book "agent storm: my life inside al qaeda and the cia" co-authored by paul cruickshank and tim lister, both cnn contributors. coming up, how storm goes from boxer to holy warrior. >> i was invited by osama bin laden to join up with him in the training camp in afghanistan. and quit a lot,ot but ended up nowhere. now...i use this. the nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release technology helps prevent the urge to smoke all day. i want this time to be my last time. that's why i choose nicoderm cq. who are you calling a shrimp? that, my friend, is a big shrimp. it's red lobster's big shrimp festival. i get to pick my perfect pair from six creations for just $15.99. so open wide for crispy jumbo tempura shrimp with soy ginger sauce, and make room for creamy shrimp scampi linguini. yeah, we're gonna need a bigger fork. unless i eat those spicy sriracha grilled shrimp right off the skewer. don't judge me. join me. but hurry, because the big shrimp festival ends soon. based on 6 different criteria... why did a panel of 11 automotive experts... ... name the volkswagen golf m

joining us our military analyst, mark occur ling and paul cruickshank and fran townsend.should say, like these terrorists who have now been killed in paris. >> that is right, wolf. but i think we have to be fair. it is right, we're going to go back and look at what the intelligence was and what should have happened but it is true to say say, it is nearly impossible to follow all of them that come back. and are they all operational. it is not whether or not they are combative, but whether or not they are operational. >> was there an intelligent blunder here? because these guys were well-known to french authority but not under surveillance. >> and wolf that is what they'll have to go back and look at whether or not they should have been. but it takes a lot of people. they can't possibly cover everybody who has been radicalized and they have to make judgments. here it was wrong. but did they have all of the information, domestic and foreign to make that judgment. we don't know that. >> and the fear paul is they were quiet for a few years and may be part of a sleeper cell tha

let's talk more about this with cnn terrorism analyst paul cruickshank. isis is asking for ransom. why? >> they have been asking for ransom with other hostages in the past and even for some american hostages we understand that there were private channels where they were asking for ransom. they immediate money for their war effort to fund the caliphate so they claim it to be in syria and iraq. i think perhaps they feel that the japanese government may find a way to give some money over. perhaps that's their hope. it will be difficult for that to happen. there's a huge international spotlight on this case right now. the international community doesn't want anymore money getting to the terrorist group, which now appears to be pivoting toward launching attacks in the west. western countries, japan and other countries, can't afford to give this group money to fund that kind of terrorism. >> let's put the graphic up again. this is the ransom money that's been paid out by certain countries for terrorist groups to release their citizens. that's a lot of money, right? the reason i ask you a

let's go to paul cruickshank. it appears aqap is claiming responsibility. seems very significant, paul. >> it is very significant. cnn hasn't authenticated this. the u.s. government intelligence hasn't authenticated it. so we have to be cautious. but it does appear an operative with al qaeda in the arabian peninsula is claiming responsibility for this. this is after we learned that one of the brothers trained with the group in yemen in 2011. and from what we know about al qaeda in yemen, you wouldn't be allowed to train with a group unless you took an oath of loyalty to the leader and you actually formally join the terrorist organization. so there's been some thought they had ownership over this. they're now saying they directed this plot. >> right. of course it squares with the intelligence community in the united states and in europe saying that one of the brothers one of the now dead terrorists said kouachi, who is 34 years old, had traveled to yemen. also one of the kouachi brothers earlier today telling a french tv station that anwar al awlaki the amer

we are back with our terrorism analyst, paul cruickshank, our law enforcement analyst tom fuentes, ourcurity analyst bob baer and our global affairs analyst, james reese. tom, how do you prevent somebody a lone individual lone wolf as he is usually called from getting on a bus with a knife and starting to stab people? >> you don't. there's no way to prevent that. everybody has cutlery in their kitchen and can take out a butcher knife theoretically and everybody can get on a bus, and everybody can start stabbing people. there's no way to do it. >> what do you think, colonel, is there anything significant -- it seems so simple a guy just gets a knife and goes on a bus and starts killing. >> he does, wolf and there's not much you can do about it. we have talked about it several times. the best thing we can do is just be aware and like i always say, if you're walking around look for people's hands. they don't lie. >> the other thing, bob i want you to weigh in on this. this is new video of amedy coulibaly, the guy who carried out that attack on that kosher supermarket in paris, killing fou

joining us in "the situation room" cnn terrorism analyst paul cruickshank, cnn intelligence and securityr a former cia operative. our law enforcement analyst tom fuentes is former assistant director of the fbi. and jean-pierre villeaux from the paris school of international affairs. to all of you, thanks very much for joining us. paul, i know you have been working your sources in belgium very very carefully. i understand recently european intelligence reports warned of isis attacks coming from european extremists who recently came back from syria. what more can you tell us? >> yes, wolf i have been talking to a senior belgium counterterrorism official. he tells me they suspect this group traveled to syria, came back from syria, that when they were in syria they connected with isis there and they also suspect that isis directed them to launch an attack in belgium, in europe to retaliate for these air strikes. of course belgium has been part of that coalition. belgium has been launching air strikes on isis in iraq. so that's their assessment. there is real concern that isis is pivoting now

we have paul cruickshank with us from new york. and we have cnn intelligence and security analyst bob baer joining us from colorado. paul the u.s. backed the yemeni president. this country is a u.s. ally in the battle against al qaeda. what happens if the houthis take control, even if they aren't big fans of al qaeda themselves? >> that's a big question indeed. the hadi government has been an ally of the united states in going after al qaeda in yemen, in the country. over the last several months they haven't focused on that because they've been fighting for political survival. and this coup which is finished today actually started in september when the houthis took over much of the capital, sanaa, many of the ministries. they've been the document force in the capital. the houthis have been fighting al qaeda themselves in many part ts of central yemen so they're no friends of al qaeda. they've been going after them to some degree. but the americans are very concerned because the houthis are essentially shia and they worry that al qae

you heard our paul cruickshank say that some individuals could be here to carry out attacks.ring in cnn global affairs analyst kimberly dozier. hindsight is 20/20. in hindsight if there are 500 people fighting inside syria and now returned here to europe did these nations need to do more to keep them out or to monitor them? >> reporter: the problem is that rules that are in place, the laws under the european union were put in place to facilitate open trade and open travel of european citizens to jobs where they might be needed. this was never designed with terrorism in mind. so it's going to take a while for the laws to catch up with the reality on the ground. to put in place perhaps their own form of a patriot act. i've spoken to u.s. counterterrorism officials who say the other thing that has to be looked at are individual privacy laws in europe. what can happen is the cia contracts someone from yemen or afghanistan all of the way across the middle east and then lose them in a european country because of their privacy laws. not because the intelligence service in that europ

paul cruickshank and also lieutenant colonel james reese, retired delta force commander and ceo of tiger swan. paul you just heard the news that the two paris terror suspects are connected to al qaeda's chief recruiter in europe. and said kouachi traveled to yemen, roomed with the under wear bomber and prayed with him. are most of these radicals connected? >> i think the short answer is yes, in france these attackers were connected and that some of them had connections back to al qaeda suddenly in yemen. one of the kouachi brothers believed to have trained with al qaeda in yemen. perhaps even both brothers trained with the group. and the brothers may have met with anwar al awlaki the american terrorist cleric who was someone determined to recruit people like the kouachi brothers for attacks back in the west. they also mentored by this guy beggal very much part of the al qaeda set-up in afghanistan before 9/11. he was recruited by senior al qaeda leaders to launch an attack on the u.s. embassy in france after 9/11. the attack was going to be after 9/11. he was recruited before 9/11. he wa

let's bring in cnn terrorism contributor paul cruickshank. let's get your take on the developments we've heard on this situation. i found it surprising that jordan is talking realistically about this swap. you are not so surprised. >> they want to get their pilot back. it's a big deal for them. he ejected from a fighter jet in syria in december. was captured by isis. taken into a town in syria. they want to get him back. isis want to get sagida al rishawi back. she's an isis living legend. >> at what cost? >> at the cost of doing a swap from isis point of view that this would be a big propaganda coup for isis. even back in december of 2005 a month after captured by the jordanians they tried to do a prisoner swap then. they've tried to do this for quite some time. >> jordan gets their fighter pilot back and isis gets this suicide bomber from ten years ago back in their hands but they get more than that. >> they get a lot more than that. they're negotiating state to state with jordan with japan and a major world power. this will be a big propag

we're also joined by cnn terrorism analyst paul cruickshank.an hear a cacophony of people across the country saying, i could have told you so. but i also hear a lot of people saying, wouldn't we have been following him? >> reporter: well, ashleigh, let's kind of unpack this a little bit, there are detainees who have returned to the battle in the past, about 12% to 15% of them. in this case, very much politically charged because it was a 5 for 1 transfer to get bowe bergdahl back. what happened here is the u.s. actually does run a classified surveillance program on all of their communications in qatar. e-mails, cell phone, all of it. and they found very quickly when it happened essentially in real time that one of them had made phone calls to taliban associates back in afghanistan. so they picked it up really almost instantly that this had happened. it's one of the benefits you might think of this classified surveillance program, of their communications. inside the intelligence community, a bit of a difference of opinion, perhaps. some say, not

. >> i want to thank jim reese, paul cruickshank on the phone, samuel laurent, once again. >>> when we come back jewish people here in france still living in fear. we're going to discuss that fear right after this break. out of 42 vehicles... based on 6 different criteria... why did a panel of 11 automotive experts... ... name the volkswagen golf motor trend's 2015 car of the year? we'll give you four good reasons the all-new volkswagen golf starting at $17,995. there's an award winning golf for everyone. is your high-performance laptop your office bff? then you might be gearcentric. right now, all pc's are on sale, like this hp 15" laptop now only $249.99. office depot & officemax. gear up for great. >>> welcome back. i'm jim sciutto in paris. there are 3.7 million people who turned out today across france to show their unity in the face of terrorism. and joining them were the leaders, the heads of state, of some 50 countries, european, middle eastern, african. missing, however, and i heard this from many french participants in the rally, french commentators and others was the america

joining me is cnn terrorism analyst paul cruickshank.that they are treating this attack as a terror attack? >> anderson this is a worrying development that there's a connection with today's shooting in a southern suburb of paris and yesterday's attack on the satirical magazine. the details we're learning about the shooting attack this morning in southern paris are pretty chilling. the shooter described as somebody of north african appearance appearance somebody with a bulletproof vest with a handgun, with a rifle who carried out a shooting on two police officers one of whom has been killed. that shooting took place near a jewish school in southern paris, so there's some possibility that could have been the target and the police officers were a target of opportunity. there will be a lot of concern that there is a connection between the attacks in paris yesterday because if this was a copycat attack it occurred very very quickly indeed and this gunman appears to have been very well prepared today anderson. >> paul since the mumbai attacks,

susan candiotti, paul cruickshank, thank you for everything. i'll be right back. [ female announcer ] nervous whitening will damage your teeth? introducing new listerine® healthy white™. it not only safely whitens teeth, but also restores enamel. lose the nerves and get a healthier whiter smile that you'll love. listerine® healthy white™. power to your mouth™! introducing data stash. now at t-mobile, all your unused data rolls forward to the next month. we'll even get you started with 10 gigabytes of free 4g lte data. data stash. only from t-mobile. >>> in france police are reportedly on the search for a new suspect in last week's terror bombings. let's head to paris with jim sciutto. good morning, jim. >> reporter: good morning, carol. that's right. that's based on the french newspaper which is citing police sources saying this man may have driven the terrorist amedy coulibaly to the kosher supermarket where he took the hostages and killed four of them. police have learned coulibaly drove from france into spain a week before the attack. a few

we'll bring in our terrorism analyst, paul cruickshank, and global affairs journalist kimberly dozierly what's the significance that isis now seems to be negotiating for the release of this woman in jordan? >> well i think they're doing two things. they are signaling at least to their followers that look, we're willing to negotiate. the international community said they didn't want to fund our operation so we're giving them another option. but the other thing it does is by asking for prisoner sagida al rishawi is to call attention to women jihadist. it becomes part of their recruiting cam aimed at women like hayat boumeddiene. you have two things going on. will they get this prisoner back in exchange for the japanese hostage? probably not. the jordanian government has in the past officials told me never conducted such an exchange. >> i want to get your take on this as well paul and what you think the significance of this change in demand is and also news coming out just right this morning about isis renewing its call for lone wolf attacks on the west. do these two things work together

want to bring in our terrorism analyst paul cruickshank. there's another development overnight.r shooting outside paris in the south of the city. the prosecutor's office said they are treating that as a terrorism case as well. a police officer was killed at a traffic stop by someone apparently wearing all black, using a semi-automatic weapon. it's either connected or a copy cat killing or an awfully strange coincidence, paul. >> french authorities are not yet saying they're connected. i think there's certainly a possibility that they are connected. this shooter this morning was described as having north african appearance. he had a bulletproof vest all these weapons. he got away. he's still at large, still a threat. the fact that it happened just one day after this other attack could suggest that he was perhaps in on this what could be a wider conspiracy by a group of militants in france to launch attacks. that's not clear yet. altz you say, it could also be a copy cat style attack as well. >> paul i want your expertise on analyzing what we know about these two young men, both i

. >> fran townsend paul cruickshank, general hert ling. thank you. that is it for me. this is wolf blitzer in "the situation room." erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. >>> "outfront" tonight, breaks news. dramatic video tonight. [ gunfire ] >> french police storming a grocery store to free terrified hostages. the hostage taker killed in gun assault assault. >>> and the accomplice still searched for and how did this woman escape? intelligence officials said there are mass planned attacks on the west. let's go "outfront." >>> good evening. and welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm erin burnett. and "outfront" tonight, the breaking news. dramatic new video of the terrorist siege in france and its deadly end. [ gunfire ] >> police storming a kosher grocery store in terrorist to free terrified hostages. the hostage-taker shot to death to the gunfire. and inside of the store, four were killed. from paris to a small town 20 miles away and at the same time police took back that grocery store, another police assault. >> explosions and gunfi

we are looking more and paul cruickshank, terrorism analyst is joining us as well. we know more than we did 24 hours ago about the movements of these two brothers at least internationally. movements to yemen and there are reports of recent movements of the younger brother to syria as well that we haven't been able to confirm. >> that's right. anderson. there's more certainty about the travel to yemen of one of the brothers that he trained with al qaeda in yemen in 2011. now al qaeda in yemen wouldn't train somebody unless they were recruited into the terrorist organization unless they also swore allegiance to the leader of al qaeda in yemen so i think we may see that al qaeda and yemen is a stake holder to some degree in this terribly spectacular attack that we've seen unfold in europe and arguably the most spectacular terrorist attack in the west since 9/11 and if al qaeda in yemen was indeed involved in that i think their reputation in the global jihadist community is going to go up they're going to get more recruits more fund-raising opportunities. this attack we

here to weigh in is cnn terrorism analyst paul cruickshank and carolyn from the bush administration. it sent a shiver down my spine. you describe an attack like this in the u.s. as quote inevitable. >> i think you have to understand it is almost. now let's back up a little bit. when i said that we didn't realize that these were foreign fighters. the fact in fact these guys returned in syria and are foreign fighters that's -- >> they were french natives. >> that's right. but they went to the fight in the syria/iraq region. they were affiliated with a known terrorist group and then they came back. all of those are opportunities and clues to intelligence and law enforcement that allows them to keep better track of them. the problem is in a large country and an open and democratic society. it's difficult to keep track of every sing the one of these guys that comes back. it's heightest priority for u.s. law enforcement. but the attack in paris demonstrates it's a hard problem to solve. >> and paul we have had an attack that seems to be eerily similar to this not exactly, but the boston ma

paul cruickshank, a terrorism analyst.number six, checking with your sources, those sound right, this report? or is this just about the unknown and figuring out who else could have been involved? >> hi chris. i think actually we will have very difficult, it's very difficult for us to know exactly the number of those terror cell of this group. because you know as the police department we're not saying a thing about that. they are chasing those guys and they try to keep secret that information, because it's so important for us to catch those guys they don't want to give information to help them to escape or just to know they're in our sights so i think we have to to be careful what we say. six could be a good number. because i don't think the group is much more bigger than six people you know. >> when you see all of the increased military presence fabrice, according to your sources, is that about a specific threat? is that just about showing the people in france that they are safe? >> say it again for me chris? >> all of the

>> paul cruickshank, mike rogers thank you so much. >>> with the presidential intrigue side elizabeth presidential run. but guess what a bunch of really motivated people are kicking it back open for her. john king has more on "inside politics." s it gets. wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters and even piano tuners were just as simple? thanks to angie's list now it is. start shopping online from a list of top-rated providers. visit angieslist.com today. >>> here's a look at your headlines, beginning with breaking news an official in charge of the search efforts for airasia flight 8501 says the plane's fuselage the main body of the plane has been found. this is photographic evidence of it from the bottom of the java sea. let's bring in david molko, live in jakarta. we're seeing the wing attached to the fuselage david. >> yeah michaela day 18 of the search efforts, this is the day search officials have been waiting for. not a celebration, when you see the pictures they are difficult to look at. especially when you realize that there are people most likely inside that aircra

paul cruickshank as always.ary of state john kerry, he's in paris and he is holding a press conference there with the paris mayor, let's listen in. >> i know you have a warm relationship with him and not only am i in an historic building but i am with an historic mayor. because she is the first woman to serve in this office. that is no small thing. so it's a privilege for me to be here with you, i'm particularly honored to be members of the law enforcement community. those who were so directly engaged and affected by the events and you honor us and you honor me and my country by being here today. we thank you so much for that. on date of the living nightmare that began at "charlie hebdo," i had a chance to share a few thoughts with you from back home in washington and today, i really wanted to come here and share a hug with all of paris. i wanted to express to you personally, the sheer horror and revulsion that all americans felt for the cowardly and despicable act, the assault, on innocent lives. and on fundame

paul cruickshank helps us. ake the points. what happens here? cherif kouachi, he has his passport confiscated so they put a control order on him which restricts his movements and they actually take away his passport. >> they take away his passport. do they make the case against snim does he go away? >> he doesn't wind up going to jail. he's under a control order so they're watching him to some degree. >> now he's on a list right? all right. so we then go to 2011. what happens? >> what does he do? it's now believed he uses his brother, said's passport to go to yemen to get terrorist training with al qaeda. >> that goes to how closely do you look the similarities that game is the same everywhere. what about this? that he was not listed in travel databases? why not. if they pulled the passport -- >> it's because he travels to aman and slips across to yemen. he's very smart. he doesn't go directly to yemen. he goes to aman for a several week-long trip. while he's in aman he slips off it's believed into yemen to go m