here back obviously monitoring events with paul cruickshank, with michael weiss, tom fuentes, phil mudd as well. paul, in terms of the resources that the british have compared to what we have seen in france, and the problems we've seen in france, the problems we've seen in belgium, it seems like the british intelligence forces an also law enforcement have a better handle on things than we have seen in some other countries in europe. >> yeah, anderson, i think there's some consensus that the brits are best in class when it comes to dealing with these sort of counterterrorism issues. they've been dealing with it really all the way back to the ira threat from the 1970s onwards. that meant they had to get very smart very quickly when it came to dealing with terrorism threats. they developed a lot of expertise. they made sure that their domestic security services and their police services worked hand if glove, that they had staff working in each other's buildings, that they were sharing intelligence in real time. and this has really resulted in the uk thwarting plot after plot since 9/11, th

this at the nato summit in brussels today. >> erin, thank you. >>> all right, let's bring in paul cruickshankn terrorism analyst and co-author of "agent storm: my life inside al qaeda." he's in our london bureau this morning. paul, good morning. thanks for joining us. we're seeing authorities round up more and more terror suspects. what do you think that tells us? and does this, indeed, mean that there's a terror ring right there in manchester? >> it means that they are attempting to dismantle this network. they believe there were potentially co-conspirators involved here. they are concerned that the bomb-maker may still be at large. so, this is a very aggressive, fast-paced investigation using the entire apparatus of british security services to try to understand this threat and to try to work quickly before anybody else in this network has the chance to launch more attacks. there's also a significant international dimension to this because of the travel of abedi to libya in the three or four weeks before the attack. the british are also trying to understand what he was trying -- what what h

paul cruickshank, thanks very much. we are also keeping an eye on president trump and his overseas trip. he arrives in brussel ahead of his first nato meeting, a meeting with the king and queen as well as the prime minister of belgium. >> let's go to phil black who is following all of that. the president just about to land. what is this meeting going to entail? >> so we expect air force one to touch down in brussels pretty shortly and what we think will be key will be the nato summit that's taking place tomorrow. this will be important because president trump has been a very critical voice about the nato alliance. he's questioned its relevance. he's talked about the alliance not spending enough on defense and indeed, they're not doing enough in their counter terrorism efforts, as well so it will be a cash aual affair and they'll be having dinner with the other 27 member countries and they'll address those issues in particular. we expect commitments to outline plans that would see them increase their spending on defense

let's begin there with our cnn terrorist analyst, paul cruickshank. one person is in custody. police have i.d. 'd him. how quickly will we be able to tell whether he acted alone or had a network? >> that remains to be seen. so far, they have not uncovered any links to an established terrorist group, a group like isis or al qaeda. possibly there will be a link that emerges. as of now, they really have found nothing to suggest that. so they are trying to figure out if he acted alone, in terms of this plot. did he build this device himself or was he part of a network of co-conspirators in the united kingdom, perhaps some kind of sleeper cell or something like that. they are really throwing, i understand, absolutely everything at this in terms of this investigation, one of the largest we have seen in the united kingdom in recent years, brook. >> we talk about terror attacks as we have both covered a number of them. we talk about telltale signs of isis, whether it is using a vehicle as a weapon or using a knife. just based upon what you know, and we know i

clarissa ward, also terror analyst paul cruickshank and cnn national security analyst. paul, it seems the investigation is moving quickly. just in the last hour you told us you thought the police had a name of whoever did this. now they have made an arrest, this 23 arrested in south manchester. what do we know? >> that's right. british prime minister theresa may say the police think they have identified the person who carried out this attack, but they are still working to absolutely confirm that person's identity. if they have got that confirmed, that will ab huge step forward in terms of this investigation, in terms of seeing if this individual had other associates that will be keen to interrogate them, take them spoke custody, if they believe they have any sort of connection to the attack. they will be doing a lot of forensics at the scene, looking at the explosive device. the more powerful that device was, more sophisticated that was, the more likely it is that there's a network behind this, a bombmaker behind this. but i don't think we should rule out the idea that t

. >> paul cruickshank, remind our viewers, we are waiting for a press conference from manchester police we believe is going to take place any minute at the latest about we're told at the top of the hour about seven and a half minutes from now. it's 1:52 a.m. in manchester. the investigation obviously well under way. the area has largely been cleared, paul cruickshank, we understand from the concert goers who were there, a device was detonated. we had an eyewitness was looking out on the street, said there were helicopters flying low. he still saw ambulances heading toward the arena from the local fire station which is right next to the arena. paul, there's a lot going on not only in manchester but also in london and really probably throughout europe at this hour as police and intelligence are trying to look for any possible leads on this. >> reporter: that's right, anderson. the entire apparatus that the british have put together to counter terrorism is going into full gear tonight, into full gear to understand where this threat came from and whether there are more threats out there giv

let me bring to our conversation paul cruickshank. paul, let me start with you. not very much details. identifying the suicide bomber but saying until they get more from the coroner they're not going to say much about it. did you hear anything that helped you add any clues or point you in any direction? >> well, they're trying to figure out whether there was a wider network here and a key data point there is the fact there has been this one arrest of a 23-year-old man in the area in connection with the attack. but after attacks we see numerous arrests, numerous raids and sometimes they don't end up in charges in connection with an attack. so we'll have to wait and see whether this individual that is in custody had any kind of relation. we'll have to see what they found at these various addresses that they have searched since the attack. this is a fast ongoing investigation. there's been a lot of forensic work done at the scene of the attack in terms of trying to figure out just how sophisticated the device was, just how powerful it was, what kind of bomb making c

let's bring in paul cruickshank and michael weis. paul, the elevated high alert. critical level. is this a function of what just happened or intelligence about what may happen next? more of a coordinated plot. >> it is because of concern there would be a wider conspiracy here and that could launch attacks. it is because of the unprecedented nature of the threat to the uk. the fact of an uptick in terrorist activity. it is also due to the fact the election is coming up. there have been attacks before elections recently in paris. also because of the start of the holy month of ramadan. in recent years, isis called for attacks during that period. that causing a lot of concern for uk security services as they move forward and try to understand the threat. >> michael, let's look at what little we know about the attacker. he was 22 years old. he was born in britain to libyan parents. he recently lly went back to li. he has been seen recently wearing longer robes and growing a longer beard. the sense he had somehow become radicaliz radicalized. >> it is out of central casting. british bo

cnn terrorism analyst paul cruickshank joining me now. paul, you have this detail that they now believe that this very likely or very clearly, a network, part of a network. i know that probably does not come as a surprise to you, but what does it mean they picked up? >> well, it means that they believe this could have been a conspiracy. there were others potentially involved. there could be a bombmaker still out there and the police aren't drawn on that and they've been furiously investigating this over the last day or so, and what they've discovered has made them more and more and more certain that there was a network behind this attack and that clearly, there are some people now in custody, but the concern will be that there are others still out there who could pose a threat, who can move forward with attacks and a lot of the focus is now also on the overseas aspect. this individual recently came back from libya and there were questions about what he was doing there and he was from libya in terms of his family and he may have had the opp

paul cruickshank said that british officials are telling him they are less sure that the bomber actuallyn syria. that was the initial reporting. not only had he been in libya, but in syria receiving training for months. >> i think that's probably right. it would be very stupid for ab isis operative whether or not he'd been radicalized remotely or activated remotely to try to get him to syria right now. the turkish policy is they ban you from the country. it's too dangerous. it's too front with complications given international security concerns at the moment. more likely he would have gone to libya. he has his father, his brother, libya is even more of a failed state than seyria. at least in terms of the attention that's being paid to it and the pourous through which you can get in. it just doesn't pass the smell test. >> also the reporting from the airport folks in istanbul that you cannot connect and fly into syria. he didn't go into turkey, but connected on a flight. we wait to see reporting on that. general, before i let you go, north korea has tested yet another ballistic missile. t

. >> wanted to put it in context with you, paul cruickshank, thank you very much. >>> moments from nowharge of the special investigation into the trump campaign's ties to russia will make rare public remarks. standby for robert mueller. plus it is a disturbing practice inside some of america's schools. children who can't afford lunch money shamed in the cafetericaf. some kids singled out with different lunches in different lines. others literally branded on their arms. that story, next. ♪ fun in art class. come close, come close. i like that. [ music stops suddenly ] ah. when your pain reliever stops working, your whole day stops. awww. try this. for minor arthritis pain, only aleve can stop pain for up to 12 straight hours with just one pill. thank you. ♪ come on everybody. you can't quit, neither should your pain reliever. stay all day strong with 12 hour aleve. at crowne plaza we know business travel isn't just business. there's this. 'a bit of this. why not? your hotel should make it easy to do all the things you do. which is what we do. crowne plaza. we're all business, mostly. i

when the other media did start covering up, things were necessarily better over at cnn, analyst paul cruickshanke to speculate the suicide bombing could have been a false flag by right-wingers of course. apparently so committed to making islam work but they were willing to kill them subs to do it. that's commitment but the right, they're committed. over at the bbc, commented that manchester was its present target because manchester did not vote in favor of bricks it. the account would be more understandable if the city had voted for it. very impressive. where is about the media for the hill and he joins us tonight. did you watch it last night? what did you >> have a fortress of solitude down my basement that allows me to watch for tvs at once. you can see pictures of it. i'm able to watch. it's more for fantasy football but also for my job as well. and if there are some numbers around this that are just stunning. 105 minutes during the 7:00 p.m. hour according to an mrc study was spent on trump and russia on cnn and msnbc. just 50 minutes on the attack grotesque as you said in the city of the we

our terrorism analyst, paul cruickshank, and also national security analyst juliette kayyem. michael weiss, also an investigative reporter for international affairs. good evening to all of you. a horrible event happening in manchester. greater manchester police, paul, are treating this as a terrorist incident. you heard them in the briefing just moments ago. didn't take any questions, just gave a statement. why is that their operating theory at this point in time? >> well, because it was a suicide bomber involved and that, of course, points to terrorism and actually also points you toward islamist terrorism. there has not been any claim of responsibility yet from any terrorist group. al qaeda and isis haven't put out any official statements yet, but i can tell you that on social media, people who are supportive of isis, of other jihadi groups, are celebrating right now. they see this as a success. but we'll have to see what this was and who was responsible and whether there was a wider cell that was involved in this attack. we saw what the brussels and paris attacks, those wer