u.s. has started sharing more intelligence with paris. an isis capability u.s. intelligence never predicted. >> it's clear to me that isil has an internal agenda that they are determined to carry out these type of attacks. so, i would anticipate that this is not the only operation that isil has in the pipeline. >> i don't want to make everybody nervous but i feel the same way i felt before 9/11, that something very well could happen here. >> reporter: so, how to stop experts say more air power, more naval power and diplomacy and better intelligence. figuring out whether isis can really do to washington what it did to paris. >> american officials say the strongest defense against an attack in the u.s. is good intelligence. but the u.s. says it's getting harder to monitor terrorism suspects, something they call going dark. pete williams explains. >> reporter: though u.s. intelligence officials say they don't can yet know how they kept in touch, they would be shocked if they didn't use one method that can't be monitored. isis has recently been running a 24-hour help

u.s. intelligence, uk intelligence is now suggesting. ry quickly, senator, as you know there are still 725 american soldiers in sinai right now, the u.s. embassy in cairo as we heard they issued a warning to all diplomatic employees, their families not to travel to the sinai peninsula right now. the american troops there should they be pulled out? >> i don't think so. they're performing an important function that goes back to the 1978 peace agreement between israel and egypt. and it's a multilateral force. there are troops there from other countries. and i think they're performing an important function. i don't think, again, if this is what ut appears to be some kind of terrorist bombing, i don't think that necessarily ups the threat risk for those people that are there. but clearly that's something we have to pay attention to. and i'm sure the people there are on a state of alert to be aware of any possible threat to them. but part of this peace treaty between israel and egypt has been fraying lately in terms of the middle east because o

u.s. intelligence on what took that metrojet airliner out of the sky. s talk about this possible terror attack with the ranking democrat on the house intelligence committee adam schiff. congressman, thanks for joining us. >> you bet. >> have you been briefed on this incident? is there anything new you can tell us? does what you're being told by investigators match what our reporting that isis or isis affiliate planted a bomb on this plane? >> i have been briefed and i guess i would urge people not to jump to any conclusions yet. we are still trying to confirm what the cause of the crash was. it is certainly possible that it was an explosive, but it's also possible that this was a structural problem with the plane with the tail section of the plane. so at this point i don't think we're prepared to draw any conclusions. but obviously we're investigating it and directing our intelligence resources to try to determine the cause of the crash. >> you were in the sinai just a few months ago. what can you tell us about the presence of extremists, of terrorists,

u.s. intelligence community is monitoring. we now have seen the u.k., ireland respond by cutting flights to sharm el sheikh. a lot of concern about security at the airport there. it must be said that the egyptian government right now is still saying that the airport is safe. john. >> barbara starr, thank you. the possibility of a bomb brought down flight 9268 creating concern in the united kingdom where sharm el sheikh is a popular tourist destination. britain and ireland suspended all flights to and from the airport there. stranding nearly 20,000 british tourists. u.k. officials say the report was driven by a report by exhibiexper experts who found problems at the airport. let's bring in max foster for the latest. >> reporter: and an emergency meeting here at downing street will work out the latest intelligence. intelligence came on yesterday which prompted this response in banning all flights from sharm el sheikh. 35,000 tourists were expected back from the area today. they have to err on the side of caution on this one. thi

u.s. intelligence. a u.s.s cnn chatter over heard after the crash suggests isis planted a bomb on the russian plane. investigators looking for proof, focussing their attention on this. the plane's black boxes. the flight's cockpit voice recorder says an unnamed source captured unchexpected sounds before the flight disappeared, a significant clue. >> the sound will be critical to the investigation. twa 800, we picked up a nanosecond of sound we analyzed very carefully. >> as in any disaster. >> reporter: in 1996 peter gulls was one of the key investigators investigators. questions swirled about whether a bomb brought down that plane. air traffic control audio recordings show the flight out of jfk began normally reaching just over 13,000 feet. then this last communication with the tower. approximately one minute later, the cockpit voice recorder captured a brief unusual sound. the ntsb determined that sound was a low order explosion, the sound of the plane tearing apart after a fire in the fuel tank, not a bomb.

u.s. intelligence community is using satellite images, human intelligence and drone footage to bring the obstacles directly to the front line of an ever changing war. >>> coming up, terror too big to track. >> we're talking about tens of thousands of people that have become radicalized. padvil pm gives you the healingu at nsleep you need, it. helping you fall asleep and stay asleep so your body can heal as you rest. advil pm. for a healing night's sleep. >>> in the early hours of a washington, d.c. morning, a briefcase begins it journey to the white house. inside, a world of spy secrets and security threats. the president's daily brief, the pdb, it is an early-warning system for crises across the globe. deputy director of national intelligence, michael dempsey is the man who personally briefs the president. >> i get up before 5:00. and then go into the white house. >> he has just a few hours to prepare to meet with president obama. >> we usually meet with the president mid-morning. it's probably, you know, a ten minute or 15 minute or so discussion. >> 15 minutes to cover a world of threats. >> th

u.s. intelligence believes it was most likely an explosve device that brought down the plane. o you exactly what a source told me a short time ago. this u.s. government official saying, quote, there is a definite feeling it was an explosive device planted in the luggage or somewhere on the plane. the feeling by the u.s. intelligence community is it was isis or an isis affiliate. this of course they believe happened at the sharm el sheikh airport when it took off going to st. petersburg, russia. the assessment they have now is an explosive device somehow got past sharm el-sheikh. nothing very fancy, a security problem at the airport most likely and got on the plane. you are seeing some confirmation of this in a way. the british government now delaying any flights back and form between the uk and sharm el-sheikh. ireland a short time ago announcing it is suspending flights to sharmel sheikh. we should say the egyptian government has very strongly said airport security is safe at that airport. but there is a lot of concern and a lot of doubt. what is the evidence that the u.s. has

u.s. intelligence community is using satellite images, human intelligence and drone footage to bring the obstaclestly to the front line of an ever changing war. >>> coming up, terror too big to track. >> we're talking about tens of thousands of people that have become radicalized. believe it. at&t and directv are now one. which means you can watch in the house, in a treehouse, or even in miss pepperpie's house. pause in your pjs and hit play during a pb&j. nice! and enjoy some cartoons instead of listening to dad's car tunes. (dad) ♪meet you all the way! get the best of both worlds. directv at home and 2 wireless lines. from directv and at&t. ♪ ♪ the beautiful sound of customers making the most of their united flight. power, wi-fi, and streaming entertainment. that's... seize the journey friendly. ♪ . >>> in the early hours of a washington, d.c. morning, a briefcase begins it journey to the white house. inside, a world of spy secrets and security threats. the president's daily brief, the pdb, it is an early-warning system for crises across the globe. deputy director of national intelligence, micha

u.s. intelligence community is using satellite images, human intelligence, and drone footage to bring theons directly to the front lines of an ever-changing war. >>> coming up, terror too big to track. >> we're talking about tens of thousands of people who've become radicalized. i am totally blind. and sometimes i struggle to sleep at night, and stay awake during the day. this is called non-24. learn more by calling 844-824-2424. or visit your24info.com. >>> in the early hours of a washington, d.c., morning, a briefcase begins its journey to the white house. inside, a world of spies, secrets, and security threats. >>> the president's daily brief, the pdb. it is an early warning system for crises across the globe. deputy director of national intelligence michael dempsey is the man who personally briefs the president. >> i get up before 5:00 and then go into the white house. >> he has just a few hours to prepare to meet with president obama. >> we usually meet with the president mid-morning. it's probably a ten-minute, 15-minute, or so, discussion. >> 15 minutes to cover a world of threats.

u.s. intelligence community has been scrutinizing. >> well, wolf, what we are learning is u.s. intelligence, uk, british intelligence services all scrutinizing every piece of information they have. one of the keys theer thhere th looking at is this chatter that was monitored very soon after the plane fell out of the sky. very soon after this crash. what they were as they picked up chatter involving isis in sinai and isis affiliate operating in sinai communicating in some fashion with another element of the terrorist network. they believe that they were boasting, if you will, with very specific information about the bomb, the airplane and the attack. they're not exactly saying why, u.s. government officials that is, that they're not dismissing that as just simply a boast as terrorist groups often claim responsibility for attacks. this message however was not a public claim of responsibility. the u.s. monitored it in classified u.s. channels. not something that the u.s. was meant to hear by isis in sinai. so very much a focus trying to figure out what all of that means. it is one

u.s. intelligence community. on the intelligence that they do have at this stage in the investigation, they believe that it is a plausible theory that a bomb kou been planted on that plane by terrorist group, but no one is jumping to any conclusions until they get more informing. >> did they learn anything from the passenger manifest? >> there were not any red flags. everyone checked out. so what that tells authorities is that if there was a bomb onboard, the more logical explanation would be someone planted it on that plane, perhaps someone who worked at the airport. and we've learned that there is classified intelligence sup poring the theory that a worker at that airport may have planted a bomb on that plane and that bomb could have detonated once the plane reached a certain altitude. anticipate they think that is more plausible, because all the passengers and crew checked out, so it would be more unlikely that there was a suicide bomber onboard that plane or someon triggering the bomb onboard that plane, thou

u.s. intelligence community has seen from the terrorist group. that would raise the concern substantially. a lot of what isis has been focused on is taking over territory. this indicates that the goals are expanding if the group was responsible for the crash. >> why do authorities believe it was an inside job? >> there is evidence that supports the theory of an airport worker putting the bomb on the plane. officials have scrubbed the passenger manifests and the passengers have checked out. that leads investigators to believe that someone planted a bomb on that plane that would detonate when it reached a certain altitude and only certain people have access to the plane. >> thank you very much for that and our breaking news. now to other breaking news story. donald trump on top in a new national poll of republican voters. and joining me is a columnist for the "washington times" and a media spokesperson for george w. bush. and a washington correspondent for "the new yorker." ryan there is a new poll that fox news conducted after the cnbc debates. tr

u.s. and british intelligence sources. our reporters along with our terrorism and aviation experts are all standing by. we're going to lead off with cnn's barbara starr who broke the news about the u.s. intel yesterday. she joins us live from the pentagon. barbara, what are your sources saying today about how they arrived at this theory that it was in all likelihood an isis bomb? >> jake, as u.s. and british intelligence services continue to scour every piece of information they have, what we now know is that it was chatter as they say very quickly after the plane was -- came down out of the sky after it crashed. they got the interests of the u.s. intelligence community. they monitored very quickly chatter coming, they say, from isis in sinai, an isis affiliate. and this was an isis affiliate that talked or posted information online. we don't know the exact nature of the messages, but there was messaging talking about the bomb, talking about the plane, talking about some specifics of the attack. by all accounts this message

u.s. intelligence as the president addresses the nation. "nightly news" begins right now. >>> good evening. we start with the breaking news out of paris and what at least at this moment looks to be a city under terror attack on several fronts. the reports are coming in rapidly. we expect many details will change but what we can piece together so far sh the associated press reporting two suicide attacks and one bombing outside of a soccer stadium. there have also been shootings. and a large number of people have been taken hostage. french television citing police reporting as many as 60 people are dead. tonight france has closed the borders with the rest of europe. we have extensive coverage. let's start with keir simmons on what we know at this hour. >> reporter: chaos on the streets of paris tonight. gunfire ringing out and simultaneous reports of an explosion at a restaurant. amid the confusion, there appeared to be four separate incidents. reports of 100 people taken hostage at a theater where the american band eagles of death metal out

u.s. intelligence as president obama addresses the nation. who was behind it? "nightly news" begins right now. >>> good evening. as we come on the air in the west, there are several developments in tonight's breaking news out of paris and what at least at this moment looks to be a city under a terror attack on several fronts. the reports are coming in quickly. there are multiple explosions, and reports of over 100 dead in a concert hall after an hours long hostage seize. tonight, the president of france closed borders with europe and vowing to strike back at the people behind the attack without mercy. we begin with keir simmons and what we know at this hour. >> reporter: chaos on the streets of paris tonight. gunfire ringing out and simultaneous reports of an explosion at a restaurant. the taet toll -- death toll reaching 140. there are six or seven separate incidents. reports of 100 people dead after the hostage taken at a concert hall where an american band eagles of death was playing. a shooting in a shopping mall. a separate attack at a restaurant. at least

u.s. authorities saying they got this information? and did they have intelligence about a specific threat prior to the crash? >> right, okay. u.s. officials are telling cnn that, no, they didn't have a specific, credible, timely information about a threat before the crash, before this incident. but in watching this militant activity grow in sinai, it had caught their attention. and after the crash, the incident, they went back, they looked at it and began to develop more intelligence, more information. and they had been monitoring isis chatter, so to speak. we don't know if that cell phone conversation, online postings, isis well-known for using very secure chat rooms. the u.s. monitors isis communications secretly covertly as much as it can and it does appear that isis chatter about this, a claim of responsibility not a public claim, but some other sort of more covert claim in their chatter is at least a key part of what captured the u.s. attention. >> okay. so this idea that someone at the airport, to use the exact words i think you used was involved, what does t

u.s. intelligence suggests the crash of that russian passenger jet in egypt was most likely caused by a bomb on the plane planted by isis. is isis responsible? sources telling cnn that internal communications and increased activity in the region point to a terrorist plot. did an isis sympathizer at the airport plant an explosive device on the plane? flights grounded. new revelations are prompting fear and some countries suspending all flights to and from that resort. is weak airport security to blame? and how great is the risk to americans? ultimate betrayal, a stunning twist in the case of a police officer believed to have been

u.s. intelligence say?n perez has been working his sources and has new information for us. >> reporter: u.s. intelligence at this point has seen no evidence of terrorism or of some kind of missile or anything external to bring down this plane, john. one of the things they've been doing is reaching out to egyptian and russian officials over the last few days, and they've looked at everything from radar, satellite, photo images of the crash scene. they've looked at the passenger manifest and communications, signals intelligence. all of these things that usually give a clue if there's something that went awry, perhaps, terrorismwise. they've seen absolutely nothing. we heard this morning at a conference in washington held by defense one, jim clapper, head of the -- director of national intelligence, addressed this question. he said that he so far has seen no indication of this -- that isis was involved. he even said he's seen no indication that isis possesses the kind of missiles that could be used to bring a

u.s. intelligence achblgen sills worried to get his hands on kem cam weapons now.nd, as isis is on the warpath to syrian ref ewe gees are seeking asylum arnold the world: senator marco rubio has thoughts on that. and he's next. big day? ah, the usual. moved some new cars. hauled a bunch of steel. kept the supermarket shelves stocked. made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. what's up for the next shift? ah, nothing much. just keeping the lights on. (laugh) nice. doing the big things that move an economy. see you tomorrow, mac. see you tomorrow, sam. just another day at norfolk southern. i built my business with passion. but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy for my studio. ♪ and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... that's huge for my bottom line. what's in your wallet? jeb bush: leadership means it's not about yappin'.. it's not about talking. it's about doing. i know how to

u.s. intelligence has not made a definitive conclusion as to what brought down the jet, however isis' sinai affiliate remains the only group that has claimed responsibility. and britain's foreign secretary says that claim and other intelligence pointds to either isis itself, an isis affiliate or an isis inspired lone wolf. >> typically it's usually organizations, go back to pan am 103 or attacks by the chechens in russia, we have to organize the bombs, get it on the plane, there's somebody in charge. >> reporter: isis in the sinai has declared allegiance to isis central in iraq and syria, making the egyptian branch in fact an integral part of isis as a whole. official tells cnn if isis is determined to have planted a bomb on the plane, it would be, quote, clear and concerning evidence of its ambitions outside their home base. now, just in the last 24 hours isis in sinai has posted a new propaganda video threatening violence, but notably makes no mention of that downed passenger jet. in the video a masked man threatens to kill egyptian soldiers and jewish people. and remember, wolf, this is

u.s. is good intelligence. it sounds obvious, but it is not easy. because as pete williams explains, the fbi said it is getng hard to monitor communication between terror suspects. a problem the director of the fbi calls going dark. >> so u.s. intelligence officials don't yet know how the plotters kept in touch. one official said he would be shocked if they didn't use some method of communication that the police cannot monitor. counter-terrorism officials tell nbc news that isis has been running a 24-hour help desk, manned by half a dozen senior operatives. they could tell jihadists how to use software. such as what's app, three ma and telegram. investigators say when isis recruiters find someone sympathetic through twitter, the conversations are shifting to those applications which encrypt a message, at the most it is sent and doesn't unscramble it until it is received. impossible for the government to monitor even with a court order. >> what we are talking about is a deadly game of cat and mouse, where we have a learning, changing, studious enemy.

u.s. intelligence, u.s. command, i hear in the intelligence space about whether you'll create further terrorists by killing someone with the drone. that's not the debate inside government. it's much simpler. this person will go on to murder more people. if he's in the sights, your choice is either to prevent that from happening by killing him or to allow him to keep moving on because you're afraid killing him will create other terrorists. that's not a choice. you'll take him out. >> kate was asking how big a priority this is. i think we had a good sense when british prime minister david cameron walked out on 10 downing to claim victory, saying, this proves the long arm the u.s. and uk has. we will not forget acts of terror committed against either american or british people. that was a pretty stunning statement for the prime minister and it shows how committed that country certainly is to fighting terrorists even if they come from that country. >> this is a striking statement from the prime minister for two r

u.s. intelligence for the u.s.nd french authorities working hand-in-hand to provide targeting information for the jets as they flew into northern syria. , thettacks are the night attacks in syria, are part and parcel of the agenda of the g 20. that is a story that is being closely followed. the political reaction to the story is front and center. that meeting between president and obama -- president putin and obama hugely significant. fran, manus, back to you. francine: you are falling on the development quickly. a understand there might be link. in terms of the assailant, police have identified five of the dead attackers. there is a manhunt. do we know anymore? ? we do not at this stage. if you look at what is happening do not at this stage. if you look at what is happening -- the first terrorist that was identified was identified by one of his severed digits. it is time-consuming. one of the terrorists that they greece -- came to came through greece. it makes it more difficult to track down where these people hav

u.s. intelligence and western intelligence and western military have been very successful in the last year in going after the leadership of al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, particularly after the charlie hebdo attacks. so again, you just don't know what the motivation is. you don't know what the trigger is. but what you can assume is that, as you noted, there is a meeting of world leaders in a couple of weeks in paris and there is no better stage than that sort of function to have the -- to have the leadership of the west take -- take new action here. >> bob, thank you for joining us. >> sure thing. >> that is nbc reporter bob rind ram by phone. let's bring in michelle car usa cab era, also following the story. >> and as bob was saying, coordinated attacks, near simultaneous, unprecedented and a much larger scale than what we saw related to the charlie hebdo situation earlier in the year. what i would add is remember that europe is in the midst of this migratory crisis with the situation in syria leading to thousands and hundreds of thousands trying to get into europe. and we have no ind

u.s. intelligence had imminent. jonathan vigliotti has the latest from paris. jonathan: thousands across paris shared an emotional moment of silence today. they're honoring the lives of the 129 people killed and hundreds more injured in friday night's terror attacks. >> we have to take care and be careful. sorry. jonathan: french police are moving aggressively, arresting about two dozen people overnight during more than 150 raids across the country. security forces in belgium are also on the move, searching for 26-year-old salah abdeslam. police say he's the only attacker who escaped. french reports say abdel hamid abaaoud is the mastermind of the operation. he's a belgian citizen who had gone to fight in syria, where he's believed to be now. french warplanes slammed targets in syria overnight hitting a jihadi training camp and a munitions dump in raqqa. u.s intelligence is helping the french locate targets. pres. obama: isil is the face of evil. our goal is to degrade and ultimately destroy this barbaric terrorist organization. jonathan: many parisians returne

u.s. intelligence. >> thank you very much. i appreciate it. the breaking news we have now that the ntsb, egypt accepting their offer to help. obviously, that could be incredibly significant. egypt denied any involvement by american investigators. who is responsible for this crash? the name could be the new osama. >> reporter: he goes by the name of osama, a shadowy figure some say is the master mind behind the downing of the metrojet flight. it was his audio of the isis-affiliated group waging insurgency brought the plane down killing all 224 onboard. was he the master mind? when he does appear, his face is always blurred. his real identity or any other details are equally blurry, although his accent is from mainland egypt not sinai. >> the problem is we don't actually know hoe is. there are multiple theories put forward by egyptian security officials on hoe might be. >> reporter: egyptian investigators have yet to pronounce on the probable or possible cause of the crash of the russian jetliner, but increasingly, western intelligence officials

u.s. intelligent officials have not pinned down the cause but cbs news learned u.s. intelligence regards terrorism as the leading theory. >> at this this point the united states has not made a determined cause. we can not rule out anything out including terrorism involvement. >> experts say an examination of the 140 bodies found and the wreckage should provide evidence if a bomb went off. the plane broke apart 23 minutes into the night killing all 224 people on board. doctors without borders says u.s. forces had the -- >>> doctors without borders says the u.s. forces had the cord nats of where their camp was at. they were being treated at the hospital but no armed men were fighting in the area. the bombing killed 30 people including doctors and patients. the u.s. military said the attack requested by afghan forces was a mistake. >>> the house passed a $607 billion defense bill. president barack obama is opposed to provisions to transfer barack obama inmates out. congress is calling on the papalestinian president to renew direct peace talks with israel and condemn the

u.s. intelligence never predicted. >> i certainly would not consider it a one-off event. it is clear to me that isil has an external agenda that they are determined to carry out these types of attacks. and so i would anticipate that this is not the only operation that isil has in the pipeline. >> i don't want to make everybody nervous, but i feel the same way i felt before 9/11. that something very will -- very well could happen here. >> reporter: so how to stop isis? experts say more air power. more effective naval power. and several thousand special forces, not just 50. and diplomacy. even this weekend with vladimir putin. and better intelligence. figuring out whether isis can really do to washington, what it did to paris. >> and that was nbc's andrea mitchell reporting. >>> american officials say the strongest defense against an isis attack in the u.s. is good intelligence. but the fbi says it's getting harder to monitor terrorism suspects. a problem the fbi director calls going dark. nbc justice correspondent pete williams explains. >> reporter: though u.s. intelligen

u.s. intelligence officials are. >> u.s. and western officials are extremely concerned, lester. because the fact is the sophistication of the plot, the breadth of the plot in paris, that was undetected. that is what scared people. they realize people could be motivated and inspired by isis and now we see that isis could operate with great sophistication under the radar undetected. and that makes people scared because they don't know what they don't know. >> reporter: all right, michael, thank you. >>> the new video from isis comes hours after a daring pre-dawn raid in a paris suburb to take out another cell ready to act. it is not clear whether the mastermind of last week's paris attacks was killed during the assault. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel has more from saint denis, where the raid took place, less than 30 miles outside of paris. >> reporter: amateur video captured the moment. french police storm a terrorist safe house outside of paris. tipped off, the accused mastermind of the paris attacks, abdelhamid abaaoud, and his gang were holed up inside. but the t

u.s. intelligence is looking at isis and isis affiliate chatter. ut there but some chatter that the intelligence services monitor regularly. also looking at what had been the rise of militant and isis-related activity in sinai over the last weeks and months. all of it putting the picture together. but still very important to say no absolute final decision on this. >> but they are certainly going pretty far down the road and i know it is not an easy job. thank you. we'll check back in a little bit. so if a bomb did get on board was it'sis expertise or just shoddy security? we have cnn's aaron mcclof lin live. more on the security situation there. what are you learning? >> reporter: we're hearing the strong denial from egyptian authorities this morning. they say there is no evidence of a bomb. at the same time a spokesperson for the egyptian president saying it is too soon to draw conclusions but we have heard in a statement ahead of the civil aviation authority saying the following. "regarding the hypothesis of being brought down the plane through an

the british foreign minister said intelligence pointsn, but he did not say what that intelligence is. u.sfficials are telling us that cannot be ruled the airbus a-321 broke apart at 31,000t, raining wreckage on egypt's sinai peninsula. it took off from the seaside resort from sharm el-sheikh bound for st. russia. all 224 on killed,n pizzey has the latest. >> reporter: the british government said it was temporarily suspending flights to and from sharm el-sheikh over fears the russian jet may have had a bomb on board.s also sending british aviation experts to theess the security si]mtuation further. foreign secretaave concluded that there is a significant possibility that that crash was caused explosive device on board the aircraft. >> reporter: it comes on the same day an isis affiliate in sinai released an audiotape daring invrs to move that we did not take the plane egyptian president abdul fattahái al-sisi has dismissed the isis cl isis has recently been angered by russia's strike campaign against them in syria. today egyptian authorities said they had successfully extracted data from t

the british foreign minister direction, but he did not say what that intelligence is. u.s. officials are telling us that mechanical failure cannot be ruled out. the airbus a-321 broke apart at 31,000 feet, raining wreckage on egypt's sinai peninsula. it took off from the seaside resort from sharm el-sheikh bound for st. petersburg, russia. all 224 on board were killed, and allen pizzey has the latest. >> reporter: the british government said it was temporarily suspending flights to and from sharm el-sheikh over fears the russian jet may have had a bomb on board. it is also sending british aviation experts to the egyptian airport to assess the security situation further. hammond. >> we have concluded that there is a significant possibility explosive device on board the aircraft. >> reporter: it comes on the same day an isis affiliate in sinai released an audiotape that we did not take the plane down. egyptian president abdul fattah al-sisi has dismissed the isis claim as propaganda. the russians have also been sceptical of any terror plot, but isis has recently been angered

u.s. intelligence community is working hard to try to piece this together to figure out who was responsible. there have no immediate claims of responsibility but one intelligence and counter-terrorism official told me that the suspicion right now is that this was not the work of isis. that it bears more of the hallmarks of al qaeda or an al qaeda affiliate because of the sophistication and the coordination that is involved. we're talking about potentially dozens of terrorists operating in multiple lotions, all across paris. many of them in that same area where the charlie hebdo attacks that attack claimed by not isis but al qaeda. that is what one official says is the main suspicion right now. if it were, however, isis, it is still a possibility. it would be, quote, a game-changer because it would reflect isis's ability to project power, to project its force much more so than we've seen in the past. and isis has been reaching out internationally. just yesterday isis claimed responsibility for that horrific bombing in beirut and brought down the russian jet over the sinai killing more than 2

u.s. intelligence from you and barbara star getting from your sources, talk to me about this specific chatters the u.s. intel say? >> some of that division about what exactly this means is even here within intelligence circles. some say the chatter points to this being a bombing. and other people say it's not that clear. so even within u.s. circles, they are still very much a division about what this all means. so some of the chatter that we're talking about is discussions among individuals. people that u.s. intelligence is aware of, was keeping an eye on, was listening to this as something they went back after the bombing -- or after the aircraft crashed and heard some of this discussion that they think that some people believe points to the possibility that someone carried o out a bombing on this aircraft. other people are not so sure. some of this intelligence information is coming from open sources which is online forums and other places in social media where we know terrorist groups are hiding some of their communications because they know that the u.s. is trying to use covert means to l