renews the counterterrorism effort in yemen, the failed attack put a spotlight on umar farouk abdulmutallab's homeland of nigeria. it's a country not generally associated with extremism and even the suspect's own father reported his son's suspicious activity to the united states. so what led umar farouk abdulmutallab to radical islam? contact and reaction from nigeria coming uppen up on thex report." we're looking into security lapse at one of the busiest airports. this oversight coming days before the failed plot to take down delta flight 253. the tsa launching an internal investigation after a security check point at dallas/ft. worth international airport was left unattended for an hour-and-a-half. we understand employees from the airport department of public safety were actually the ones who find the unsecured area during routine patrol. now the tsa is responding to the incident. laura ingle joins us to explain. >> hi, julie. the idea that anyone or anything could have passed through the security screening area for the 90 minutes is unsettling to say the least. if there is any good news to

greg bush has the reaction. >> reporter: talking to friends of the family of umar farouk abdulmutallab over the past few days, it became very clear that they embraced a much more moderate version of islam than their son. most nigerian muslims do. they're quick to point out the radical ideas abdulmutallab picked up were abroad. despite having 75 million muslims, they're not known for breeding international terrorist. >> it's not in the culture of its people. even among muslim, they're progressive. >> reporter: umar farouk abdulmutallab came from the elite society, unlikely perhaps to get radicalized, but very use. to terrorists once he was. most nigerians are living in devastatingly poor conditions, often without running water, life expectancy is just under the age of 47. what seems to unite most muslims and christians in this country is poverty. >> what might be on a collision course is not christianity and islam. it is not religious. it might be the have notes and the haves. >> reporter: he was among the haves of this society, a very small percentage of nigerians with a lot of money,

you see that again with umar farouk abdulmutallab. how much of this was something they should have put together? in hindsight everybody can rationally say this was obvious. if you look at these clues half the time things aren't always so obvious. >> one of the things that i found interesting in your piece was that a lot of the policies that barack obama is following now were actually policies he adopted from the bush administration on terrorism. during the campaign he sort of ran against the first-term bush but as those policies were moderated, he has now adopted many of those that bush adopted in the second term. >> right. by the time president bush left office he had already shaved off some of the most, you know, extremely radical parts of the first-term counterterrorism policy. president obama kept a lot of it. he didn't give up the right to have renditions. he still has people being detained without trial. >> schieffer: it's a fascinating piece. i highly recommend it. we're out of time. we'll be back in a moment. employees everywh

those changes will ininvolved the agencies that alawed umar farouk abdulmutallab slip through the cracks undetected. there was pieces of information that should have placed him on a watch list. it was never circulated among the agencies. if umar farouk abdulmutallab was flagged, the bomb would have been discovered. >> if that person was selected, a whole protocol that detects bombs would have been applied. >> reporter: republicans are already launching complaints. >> since 9/11 we've seen a breakdown on homeland security. >> the botched attack has launched counterterrorism to the top of president obama's agenda. he's promised to work with yemen and fight extremist groups there. the president returns from vacation on monday and meets with top security officials first thing tuesday morning. >>> the british government announced that it will assist the u.s. in yemen to fight increasing threats coming from the country. they have closed the embassy for security reasons. >>> other top stories, the death of a baby girl inside a northeast baltimore home. charges documents show that the man is acc

how did 23-year-old nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab get on an amsterdam to detroit flight with explosives on his body. the suspect in the bombing over detroit was able to pass through security despite carrying an explosive powder. it could have been picked up by a high tech scanner. some say they see too much and can violate a passenger's privacy. >> reporter: in an off building some of the advanced scanning machines in the country are made. rapid scan makes a low level x-ray machine that provides a two-dimensional image of the company. >> we believe that this is the best technology to go along with the metal detectors and the baggage screeners already out there. >> reporter: i tested it to find out why. at first it scans the front of my body and the brack. for privacy i hold a thick stack of paper in the process. within seconds the image appears on a computer. it clearly detects the paper and my microphone. >> any normal detector would detect this knife but not this liquid. >> this picks up liquids and other threats that are concealed under your clothing. >> i tried that out as well. the

the main suspect, umar farouk abdulmutallab claimed to have carried out the attack. over the weekend, president obama directly accused an offshoot of al qaeda based in yemen to be responsible for the ally bomb plot his administration will also look at the fate of 90 or so yemeni detainees held in guantanamo prison on a case by case basis when the fall jot still resonates around washington. >> it's accepted that eight years or nine years, bomber richard reid used the exact same explosive that we still don't have a system in place to detect that kind of explosive. >> and building up, security seems to be at the forefront ever since al qaeda's attack ten years ago, highlighting just how deadly the organization has come to come. jeremy. >> thanks. abc news' martha raddatz is in yemen and will be reporting on a situation there. you can see her reports on "world news" with diane sawyer and on "good morning america." >>> and in afghanistan, four service members have been killed in two separate bombings. a british soldier also died in one of the incidents. these are the firs

umar farouk abdulmutallab appeared in court last night. he is facing six federal charges including an attempt to blow up a plane and an attempt to use weapons of mass destruction. that charge could get him life in prison if he's convicted. his defense didn't challenge the government's request to keep him in pre trial custody. his next court date has not been set yet. >>> it appears some muslims wanted to make a case that this case has nothing to do with their faith. about 50 of them held a rally outside the courthouse in downtown detroit. they tried to show that terrorists don't represent islam. they chanted "we are americans" and held a manner saying "not in the name of islam." as mary snow reports, many think it was about time to say something like this. >> reporter: inside a tiny mosque in detroit, this man leads fellow nigerian muslims in prayer, a break from what what he describes as the shocking news that umar farouk abdulmutallab stands accused of plotting to blow up an airline nah. >> this is sa disgrace, embarrassment to us as mus

umar farouk. umar farouk abdulmutallab, yemen, extremist, all came to the attention of u.s.again the very next month when the 23-year-old's father came to the u.s. embassy in nigeria. but no one made the connection. >> i'm sympathetic to the problem of what we sometimes call intelligence overload. so much information comes in, how do you separate what we call the signal from the rest of the noise? and often it's very difficult to do. >> reporter: there were other missed clues. a british decision to deny him a visa. abdulmutallab's cash purchase of a ticket. the fact that he didn't check luggage, vague warnings about holiday attacks. on new year's eve, the director of national intelligence, dennis blair, issued a statement to his employees noting the obvious, that it had been an especially challenging week for the intelligence community. he said the president's judgment that there had been intelligence failures was a tough message to receive, but it was time to move forward to outthink, outwork and defeat the enemy's new ideas. jeanne meserve, cnn, washington. >>> now some mo

enhancement of the watch list so we make sure that when you have an umar farouk you put that together with umar farouk abdulmutallabnd all the information. and you have teams that can pursue the small bits of information rather than just the high profile threats. it does take more resources. and director blair has been extremely supportive of that as has been the white house. >> we have moved -- we have moved money and people in the near term to put more on -- to put more on helping nctc and there will have to be some adjustments in the overall budgets in order to sustain that. >> another question, i just wonder in our democracy, as i was watching the news on this issue, about the detroit bomber on the murder report, i just had some concern about what was being reported for future actions? and i don't know whether or not this is going to come up in the closed hearing or not. but i was concerned when the media was reporting where the airports are, they were now going to be screening from. so the simple response is, okay, if i'm a terrorist what am i going to do? i'm not going to be bothered -- it's some information

the suspected bomber umar farouk abdulmutallab joined al qaeda in yemen. e group gave abdulmutallab the explosives and his marching orders. in his weekly radio address, the president says this same al qaeda group has attacked before. >> this is not the first time this group has targeted us. in recent years, they've bombed yemeni government facilities and western hotels, restaurants and embassies, including our embassy in 2008, killing one american. >> meanwhile, the head of delta airlines is speaking out for the first time about that attempted attack. ceo richard anderson said he is disappointed the suspect managed to bring explosives on a plane. however, he says, delta followed all government security guidelines. he says delta will keep working to implement new government security measures. the suspect allegedly tried to pull off a flight from amsterdam to detroit on christmas day. >>> a man barricaded himself in a family rest room at the seattle airport. officers say the man told them he had a gun and wanted to fly somewhere but didn't have a ticket. the

saying the group al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula ordered the attack and a 23-year-old umar farouk abdulmutallab received help, training and orders from them. this afternoon, michael lighter, the director of the national counter terrorism center, confirmed the link to al-qaeda. he released a statement that read the following: while this attempt ended in failure, we know with absolute certainty that al-qaeda and those who support its ideology continue to refine their methods to test our defenses and pursue an attack on the homeland. molly henneberg is following the latest developments, she's in washington. the president says that the u.s. has had its eye on this group for a while. right? >> reporter: hi. yes. al-qaeda in yemen and in the broader arabian peninsula. the president says they've gone on the attack previously. listen to this. >> in recent years, they've bombed yemeni government facilities and western hotels, restaurants and embassies, including our embassy in 2008, killing one american. so as president, i've made it a priority to strengthen our partnership with the yemeni government, t

in his first court appearance, umar farouk abdulmutallab through his attorney pled not guilty to all six counts in the federal indictment charging him with attempting to detonate a bomb concealed in his underwear aboard northwest flight 253. wearing a white t-shirt and olive pants, the nigerian national spoke softly as he confirmed he was not challenging being held without bond. standing with abdulmutallab, miriam ceiver, one of three public dependers with strong reputations. >> i would describe them as the a-plus team. they are extraordinary lawyers, individually and, and they will be extraordinary defense team as a group. >> bret: although it was thought that abdulmutallab's father would be at the arraignment, he was not. >> let him through. let him through. >> bret: instead, on hand was one person from the nigerian embassies and attorneys representing the defendant's family. outside the courthouse, a group of muslim american passionately denounced terrorism done in the name of islam. >> we're going to let the terrorist know that you want us, we're here, we're on camera. you want t

umar farouk abdulmutallab boarded the flight for detroit, despite several indications that he might pose a threat. the white house adviser leading a review says there was no warning sign pointing to an eminent attack. republicans, however, continue to attack president obama's response to that attempted bombing. >> clearly, the system didn't work. we had a problem in terms of why abdulmutallab got on that plane there is no smoking gun evidence that says he was terrorist, he was going to carry out an attack on this aircraft. we had bits and pieces of information that didn't give us the clarity we needed to match it to abdulmutallab. what we need to do as an intelligence community, as a government is bring those disparate bits and piece of information together so we prevent mr. abdulmutallab from getting on plane, which need to take the politics out of this. but there is no question the president has downplayed the risk of terrorists since he took office. he is investigating the cia rather than to build them up. he is not focused on building security and intelligence apparatus of our countr

how did umar farouk abdulmutallab sneak explosives inside his underwear? >> we've known for some time t capability to detect explosives at the checkpoint is a vulnerability. that's what got exploited. we got to use technology to improve upon. >> reporter: umar farouk abdulmutallab smuggled the explosives through checkpoints in amsterdam and nigeria, raising new questions about international security. on monday homeland security officials will travel to major airports around the world to review screening procedures on flights bound for tuesday. the solution some say the hi-tech full body skaerns. there are 40 full body scanners in use at 19 u.s. airports, including albuquerque, las vegas, miami, san francisco, tulsa and salt lake city. add now the tsa has order 150 more to be deployed this year. while the exact locations are a well guarded secret, boston logan and newark liberty are likely candidates. >> it's a necessary evil, i guess. >> for security of hundreds of people, i think that it should be acceptable to be able to view a body like that to make sur

weekly address the president said the group, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, trained umar farouk abdulmutallabnow abdulmutallab is accused of trying to bring down an airplane landing in detroit with an explosive device that failed to detonate. >> the investigation into the christmas day incident continues. and we're learning more about the suspect. we know that he traveled to yemen, a country grappling with crushing poverty and deadly insurgencies. it appears that he joined an affiliate of al qaeda and that this group, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, trained him, equipped him with those explosives, and directed him to attack that plane headed for america. this is not the first time this group has targeted us. in recent years, they've bombed yemeni government facilities and western hotels. restaurants and embassies including our embassy in 2008, killing one american. so as president i've made it a priority to strengthen our partnership with the yemeni government. training and equipping their security forces, sharing intelligence, and working with them to strike al qaeda terrorists. >>> in hi

shortcomings on the watch list kept umar farouk abdulmutallab's name from causing the radar to go up until he was already in the air. initial search of the suspect's name used the wrong spelling, that's just what we're learning from the initial report. this week i spoke to a former director of intelligence under george w. bush. welcome to you both. mr. ambassador, administration officials had told us last night that the american public would find this report in its glory pretty shooking. what in it did you find most surprise something. >> well, first of all, you use the phrase in the leadup here that the system is broken, and i don't think that's really true, and i think in the statement the white house issued today they made clear there have been a lot of successes since the reforms took place after 9/11. as john brennen said, hindsight is 20/20 vision. we've had this terrorist now in custody for a couple weeks time, we've learned the narrative of what he was plotting to do. so sure it looks a bit shocking looking in retrospectively, but i didn't find it too surprising, and i think

umar farouk abdulmutallab appeared in court in detroit yesterday. he faces six federal charges, including an attempt to blow up a plane and an attempt to use weapons of mass destruction and that charge could get him life in prison if he's convicted. his defense didn't challenge the government's request to keep him in pretrial custody and his next court date has not yet been set. >>> republicans are pushing for a closer review of how would-be bomber abdulmutallab made it onto the plane. the ranking republican on the house homeland security committee says there were enough red flags to raise an alarm. >> both parties recognize the need for answers so bureaucratic reviews will take place and congressional hearings will be held. and while that's all well and good, this is about much more than whether the no-fly list gets longer or it takes more time to get through the security line at the airport. this is about whether we've learned our lesson. >> this past week president obama acknowledged u.s. intelligence failed to connect the dots on all of the info

his name is umar farouk abdulmutallab. he was in federal court in detroit yesterday.-year-old nigerian now facing six federal charges. >> there are a lot of arguments over how this could have been prevented. and this week's gop address released this morning calls for a new legislation to keep things like this from happening again. >> one of the first things we need to do is pass the keep terrorists out of america act. a common sense bill, republicans have proposed to prevent terrorists from being brought on to our soil. this would help stop the misguided plan to put khalid shaikh mohammed and others in the united states. there's a good reason why the government has had such a hard time transferring these terrorist detainees to other countries. they are the worst of the worst. no one should want them. that's why we should put in place a process by which these terrorists should be held and tried as enemy combatants by military commissions. to keep terrorists out of america act will also help to ensure that we're treating terrorism as what it is, a war crime, not a law e

responsible for the botched bombing aboard a detroit-bound flight on christmas day, saying that umar farouk abdulmutallab was involved. >> al qaeda in the arabian peninsula train him with the explosives and directed him to attack that airplane heading toward america. >> the administration has faced increasing scrutiny of the past week as more information about the suspect has come out, including why the agencies in charge of preventing terrorist attacks appeared to be caught by surprise. as a result, the president has called for agencies to share information more readily. after he returns from vacation, he plans to meet with intelligence and homeland security officials to try to resolve the current problems. >> i will do everything in my power to make sure our hard- working men and women in intelligence, not law enforcement, homeland security have the tools and resources they need. >> some experts believe the intelligence community needs to do a better job. >> having the information does not tell you much, but if you put it together with six other pieces, the picture emerges. they could not do that becau

cnn's debra fair rick has more on umar farouk abdulmutallab's first court appearance. >> reporter: arrivingt federal court, umar farouk abdulmutallab walked into the courtroom slowly and with apparent difficulty. the alleged christmas day suicide bomber having suffered second and third-degree lap bombs after detonating explosives i hidden in his underwear. standing before the judge, his white t-shirt too big for his thin frame. the public defender for him entered a plea of not guilty. abdulmutallab told the judge he is on pain killers for his injuries. he understands the charges against him. they include attempting to blow up a u.s. jetliner and kill some 290 people on board. she was on north wefwest flight. she said it was important for her to see the proceedings firsthand. >> it looked the same. he had a little bit more actions. when i saw him on the plane, he was very blank. he didn't move or struggle. >> reporter: several dozen people came to protest against the alleged bomber holding signs that read, islam is not terrorism. abdulmutallab is being represented by miriam. she did not figh

measures still won't detect concealed bomb materials like what was sewn into the underwear of umar farouk abdulmutallab. the top adviser took to the airwaves yesterday. brennan acknowledged the system failed but - >> there was no single piece of evidence that said mr. umar farouk abdulmutallab was going to carry this out. >> reporter: when the president returns to washington later this morning he'll meet with his top advisors including the cia and homeland security to discuss the intelligence failures. viviana hurtado, abc news, washington. >>> police are still looking for a man who slipped through security at newark airport in new jersey. authorities say that the man walked through a screening checkpoint exit into the secure side of the continental terminal. this is yesterday. police are looking at all the surveillance tape to try to identify that man. yesterday flights were grounded for hours as police tried to find the man. today things appear to be back up and running as usual in newark. >>> in glen burnie six people were hurt in an apartment fire. when fire crews got to the willow apartments they

intelligence received leads about the umar farouk abdulmutallab, but failed to share them and act on them quickly. since the attack security was tightened and people flying from nigeria and yemen faced full body stands and -- faced full body scans. he had a message for al qaeda. >> president obama said the review into the christmas day terrorist plot revealed alarming and avoidable lapses in counter-terrorism operations. >> the u.s. government had the informations scattered throughout the system to potentially uncover this plot and disrupt the attack. rather than a failure to collect intelligence, this was a failure to connect and understand the intelligence we had. >> in blunt language the report specifically blamed the cia and the national counter-terrorism center for failing to connect the dots. it also outlines additional new measures to try to prevent future attacks, including more emphasis on high priority threats and following intelligence leads. faster distribution of intelligence reports, moves to strike an analysis of intelligence and an immediate effort to add more people

umar farouk abdulmutallab is already in downtown detroit. his arrangement expected to get underway less than one hour from now. steve brown is outside the courthouse. the deputy national security adviser john brennan said sunday there would be a plea deal ordered. has a plea bargain been offered in this case? >> well, if it has, we're not aware of it. the chief prosecutor, the new chief prosecutor here for the federal government, barbara wade, said not yet to the associated press and a number of other local media outlets. we asked again today about any kind of plea deal that maybe in the offing, and her office said, we cannot comment at this particular time. it is important to note that abdulmutallab is inside the federal courthouse and has been since before 11:00 this morning, presumably having meetings with his defense team. trace: yeah. and there are muslim-americans, steve, demonstrating against alabama lab. >> yeah. a sizable group, and they're really a passionate group of muslim-americans that wanted to come out here on this particular

cnn's deborah feyerick has the latest on umar farouk abdulmutallab. >> reporter: abdulmutallab waking today in a small michigan jail cell. yesterday he was here at the federal court in detroit. he entered the courtroom very slowly surrounded by u.s. marshals. he was walking with some difficulty. the alleged suicide bomber had suffered second- and third-degree wounds self-inflicted after detonating that device on board the plane. now, his feet were shackled. he appeared thin, almost frail. his lawyer entered a plea of not guilty for the 23-year-old nigerian grad student. the judge asked whether he'd taken any medications within the last 24 hours. he did reply that, yes, he was taking pain medication. his lawyer says despite that he does understand the charges against him. those include attempting to destroy that u.s. jetliner and kill all 290 people on board the plane. now, the hearing took just a couple of minutes. when it was over again he was l led out of that courtroom surrounded by u.s. marshals. his lawyer did not fight the detention, although the judge said she does have the opt

there are indications there was direct contact or communication between al ayla i can and umar farouk abdulmutallab, the suspect in the christmas day bombing attempt aboard a u.s. airliner. the official could not give details a bt the nature of the contact, how frequent they were or when they occurred. he had previously exchanged e-mails with u.s. army major any d hassan. the official says even before his name came up in the ft. hood investigation, al awlaki was closely scrutinized by the counterterrorism community, as he moved into a more operational role for al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. that group has claimed responsibility for the airline bombing attempt. what kind of operational role would he have with them? the counterterrorism official said he seemed to be mobilizing his cohorts to direct attacks but gave no other specifics. peter bergen offers another possibility. >> as an insider to jihad, also a religious cleric, he would, you know, be able to sanction attacks because, of course, al qaeda and like-minded groups, you know, they're looking for religious sanction for kinds of attacks th

. >> reporter: those changes will undoubtedly involve the agencies that let umar farouk abdulmutallabp through undetected. there were pieces of information that should have placed him on a high priority watch list. while a report was prepared it was never circulated among the agencies. security experts say if abdulmutallab had been flagged, the bomb would have been discovered. >> if that person had been a selectee, a whole protocol that excludes explosive detection would have been applied. >> reporter: intelligence officials are bracing for congressional hearings about the miscommunication later this month. republicans are already lodging complaints. >> since 9/11, we've seen a real breakdown in the fundamentals of how both parties view homeland security and national security. >> reporter: the botched attack has haunched counterterrorism to the top of president obama's already loaded agenda. he promised to work with yemen and more than double u.s. efforts to fight extremist groups there. the president returns to vacation in hawaii on monday and will meet with top security officials fi

umar farouk abdulmutallab made his first court appearance yesterday in detroit. he told the judge that he understands the charges against him. at least one passenger from northwest flight 253 attended the arraignment. >> he looked the same but he had a little bit more actions. when i saw him on the plane, he was very blank. he didn't move. he didn't struggle. you know, he spoke in court today. he didn't say anything on the plane. so it was a little bit different. seeing him felt a little strange. i felt something sort of in my stomach and my heart. i think it was just a little bit of -- brought back the feeling of maybe what i felt on the 25th. >> so this week a grand jury indicted abdulmutallab on six charges. the most serious, attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, which could bring a life sentence. >>> another nasty weekend in the deep freeze for much of the u.s. and it could be days before any leaf is in sight. jacqui does let us know it might feel a little less cold over the next few days in some places. temperatures are so cold right now that recor

umar farouk abdulmutallab.e need as a system make sure we can put the pieces together so we take every step possible to prevent the individuals from getting on the plane . >> chris: you can characterize it without getting into the details. was there a smoking gun that was ignored? was it that there were bits and pieces of information and the puzzle wasn't put together? or was that it there is continued division, rivalry among the various intelligence agencies? >> well, a couple of things. one, there was no smoking gun. there was no piece of intelligence that said this guy is a terrorist and is going to get on a plane. no, none whatsoever. it was a failure to integrate the bits and pieces of information. but it's much different prior to 9/11. before there then was a culture of keeping the information to individual agencies and department. in the review so far, there is no indication whatsoever that any agency was not trying to share information. there were some lapses, human errors and failures of the system to

. >> reporter: the failed plot involving 23-year-old nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab has left the white house deflecting criticism it's too distracted to keep americans safe or just weak on national security. the administration says not true. >> what i think the president understands today is the system is a very complex one, there are ways to strengthen it. he's determined to strengthen it. >> reporter: obama says the northwest suspect was connected to the al-qaeda cell in yemen despite evidence the terror group is getting stronger in that impoverished nation some are concerned about more guantanamo detainees going there. >> i think it would be truly irresponsible for us, america, to send prisoners of war we hold now at guantanamo back to yemen. >> reporter: the white house says once the facility closes some yemeni detainees will return there. the administration says it's working with that nation's government to assure americans' safety. >>> 5:04. new rules are going in place now when you fly within the u.s. when you fly into the u.s. just yesterday a man slipped through security

. >> before he was a bombing suspect, umar farouk abdulmutallab was reportedly a student of extremism known by british intelligence for radical ties while at school in london. senior british official tells the associated press that the nigerian man started making contact with extremists under surveillance about a year after arriving in the uk. the official says no one considered him enough of a threat to alert american authorities. >>> with evidence of a growing terrorist threat in yemen some lawmakers say now is not the time to close the prison at guantanamo bay. critics say once that happens former detainees will be back fighting against the u.s. president obama's top counterterrorism adviser says the failed terrorist attack isn't going to change plans to close gitmo. >> i have been in constant dialogue with the yemenis about the arrangements in place. several of those individuals were put into custody as soon as they returned to yemen so we are making sure we don't do anything that's going to put american citizens, whether yemen or here in the states, at risk. >> it would be irresp

and associated with al-queda operatives in yemen as the suspect in the christmas attack, umar farouk abdulmutallab, did. some intelligence experts say this is a bit of a falling down in the administration' part. the president said it was a failure. this is one aspect of it. >> increasing the focus on yemen, do some people believe this should have happened sooner? >> this is all part of the same sort of conversation. i think the intelligence from the outside is having. when the c.i.a. said yesterday, releasing a statement to the director after the president spoke where it was increasing its focus on yemen and africa, the analysts i talked to said, wait a minute, yemen's been on the screen quite some time. what the c.i.a. was trying to get at, the peninsula in yemen, not only active there, somalia but with this case was able to persuade someone in nigeria, bring them to yemen, get them on a plan and that sort of suggests a regional component. across the entire maybe northern africa and expanding that focus and the intelligence-gathering is now top on the c.i.a. and the national counterterrorism cent

president said his administration is learning more about the 23-year-old nigerian suspect umar farouk abdulmutallab and the time he spent in yemen. >> it appears that he joined an affiliate of al qaeda and that this group, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for america. >> reporter: that's the first time the president has publicly pointed the finger directly at al qaeda and its faction based in yemen for the christmas day incident. u.s. officials say in recent months, the emotion has dramatically increaseits focus on yemen with with where al qaeda has bombed hotels and embassies, including the u.s. embassy in 2008. the president said u.s. has increased support for the government of the yemen, training and equipping security forces, sharing intelligence sand working with them to attack eabled terrorists. >> training camps have been struck, leaders eliminated, plots disrupted. and all those involved in the attempted act of terrorism on christmas must know you, too, will be held to believe. >> reporter: that's

at follows our look at the arraignment of umar farouk abdulmutallab in detroit tay. the 23-year-old nigerian is arged with trying to blow up detroit-bound rliner on christmas day. to fill us in on the events and outse the courtroom is paul egan, who covers fedel cour for "the detroit news." he talked to rayuarez late this afternoon. >> suarez:aul egan, welcome, whawas abdulmallab eventually charged with, whatre the multipleounts? >> well, the mt serious count is attempted use oa weapon of ss destruction. that's a charge that cries a maxim penalty of life in prison. he's also charged with attempted murder and attempng to blow up an airplane, taking a destructive devi upon an airplane, and two cots of using destructive devi to helcommit a felony. >> suaz: and how did he plead and dihe enter that plea on his own or wast done by his lawyer? >> he stood muteoday. anwhat normally happens at an arraignmentappened today. the judge ented a not guilty plea on his behalf . >> suarez: this is a yng mawho has only beeseen in old phographs nce his arrest. descri for us his appeara

. >> reporter: the failed plot involving the 23-year-old of umar farouk abdulmutallab has left the white house leading to criticism the administration says not true. >> i think the president understands that the system is a complex one. he's determined to find it. >> reporter: the suspect was connected to al qaeda in yemen. some are concerned about guantanamo detainees going there. >> it'd be truly responsible for us to send prisoner of war that we hold now at guantanamo back to yemen. once the facility closes, some detainees will return there. they are working with that nation's government to ensure american safety. >>> in the meantime, uncle sam is issuing new security rules for all airlines flying into the united states. passengers will be subjected to body screens and pat downs. the security administration says that they are starting tomorrow. all passengers can also expect extra scrutiny on random flights. >>> the biggest hole is that people get on board. they have pollings. we should not get on the airplanes without going through the secondary screening. >> tsa as they pull but for

. >> reporter: the alleged plane bomber, umar farouk abdulmutallab, said he was trained by al-qaeda in

a 23-year-old nigerian citizen named oumar if a huk abdul -- umar farouk abdulmutallab. he carried deadly explosives concealed in his underwear. the plane crossed the atlantic and in the approach to the detroit runway, abdulmutallab tried to detonate the bob, it failed. he was then overpowered by passengers. catastrophe was averted powerful enough to have killed all 300 passengers had it occurred on the plane. abdulmutallab was tried in a civil court, not a military one. question, abdulmutallab could have been detained as an unlawful military combatant where he then could have been interrogated by the fbi and others. instead, he was given a miranda advisory that he need not say anything to anyone until his attorney was present. was this the worst screw-up, that particular feature that he was treated as a civilian and not an enemy combatant, the worst screw-up of all? >> john, this is one of the indemocratic problems of the obama administration in my judgment. president said two weeks after this christmas attempted bombing, we are at war with al qaeda. this was a warrior

the decision to charge umar farouk abdulmutallab as criminal defendant inste of enemy combatant.k, but only for 30 hours. and the fact is according to a lot of interrogators 30 hours is not enough. why not? what is the -- let me ask it this way: what is the downside to continuing to treat him as an enemy combatant? >> well, first of all, we have charged and in many cases convicted hundreds of individuals since 9/11 in our vil courts as criminals. and i think one -- it's an effective way to seek justice. two, it takes away the aura that the al-qaeda are trying to project, that they're soldiers. they're criminals. >> chris: isn'tp that there might be more abdulmutallab in the pipeline, isn't that the most importantp thing? t a p.r. move? >> it's not a p.r. move. the fbi nation initially interrogated him. the issue of how do you dispose of this case is one the most effective and fairest and surest way to get justice. we have had 200 people tried in our civil courts. three have been tried in civil commissions. the civil commissions are still under constitutional scrutiny because of s

we're talking about umar farouk abdulmutallab, the man on the flight. he gave everything to the f.b.i.. in fact he was the operative. it was almost like he was bragging. there was some fear that maybe he was spreading diz information. it turns out so far that the story he has told has checked out every step of the way. he said he went to yemen. said he got explosives there and said he trained on the arabian peninsula there. he told one thing that's very haunting. he was training in yemen with a number of other people. he didn't know how much. he called them his brothers. he said though we were segregated. he felt (garbled audio) you have to assume there.... >> schieffer: chip reid, i take it the president was briefed. we begin every news cycle getting word that the president has been briefed. what else is going on out there? >> well, they're talking a lot about what is going to happen when the president gets back to washington. i think what you're going to see beginning on tuesday when the president has this meeting in the situation room with the heads

umar farouk abdulmutallab with the head of the pakistan taliban. >> in a letter to the washington post today cia director leon panetta defended the agents for letting the man in, he said the individual was about to be searched by our security officers, a distance away from other intelligence personnel, when he set off his explosives. critics contend they trusted and risked too much. >> one of the officers killed had nearly 15 years experience doing nothing but al qaeda. he is referring to the base's station sheet, a member of the clandestine service, former agents tell me in loss is going to have a chilling effect on the risks that agents on the ground are allowed to fake jeff. >> glor: kimber dozier, thank you. since the attempted christmas airline attack, international attention has focused on yemen, which claims to be taking action against al qaeda there. but it is hampered by a civil conflict that could bring even more chaos to an already troubled country and potentially even more trouble for the u.s. terry mccarthy is in the yemeni capital tonight. >> reporter: yemen is fighting a

how did umar farouk abdulmutallab sneak explosives inside his underwear? >> we have known for some time the capability to detect explosives at the checkpoint is a vulnerability. that's what got exploited and that's what we've got to use technology to improve upon. >> reporter: abdulmutallab smuggled the explosives through checkpoints at amsterdam and nigeria, raising new questions about international security. on monday homeland security officialless travel to major airports around the world to review screening procedures on flights bound for the u.s. the solution, some say, may be these high-tech full-body scanners, security screeners can literally see everything. right now there are 40 full-body scanners in use at 19 u.s. airports, including albuquerque, las vegas, miami, san francisco, tulsa and salt lake city. add now the tsa has ordered 150 more to be deployed this year. while the exact locations are a well-guarded secret, officials say boston logan and newark liberty are likely candidates. >> it's a necessary evil, i guess, for me. >> for the securit