wahayshi was a close associate of osama bin laden. the white house said his death was a major blow to the group. >> nato's secretary general has called russia's plan to modernize its nuclear arsenal dangerous saber rattling. the russian president made the announcement while visiting an arms fair, just outside moscow. vladimir putin told the crowd the new intercontinental ballistic missiles would be capable of piercing any missile defense system. we have this assessment of the announcement. >> in recent months, moscow and washington have been accusing each other of violations of various cold war era missile treaties. washington in particular says that russia that violated a 1987 treaty on intermediate range missiles. moscow says that washington is stepping over boundaries by planning on stationing tanks and heavy weaponry and it suspects interplead yet range missiles in eastern europe. it says nato is pushing russia into a new arms race. it would be difficult to see putin's announcement as anything by a direct response to that. is it t

drone strick in yemen killed wahayshi. he was the head of aqap. u.s. officials say his death is a major blow to the group considered al-qaeda's most active and dangerous branch. we have more. >> wahayshi was among four al-qaeda leaders that launched al-qaeda in yemen in 2007. two years later, it merged with the branch to become aqap. in demember of that year, a nigeria man tried to blow up a u.s. airliner going to michigan with plastic explosives hidden in his underwear. aqap said they trained and funded him. wahayshi was added to the most wanted list in 2010, described as a specially designated global terrorist, who as aqap leader was responsible for approving targets, recruiting new members and allocating resources to carry out attacks. under wahayshi's leadership, aqap carried out a number of attacks on yemeni security forces, including this one on a military post in 2013. the group also claimed responsibility for the attack this year on charlie hebdo magazine in paris that killed 11 people. as aqap leader, wahayshi rejected calls to join islamic st

despite the drone attacks the leader wahayshi seemed to be saying we are not afraid. clearly mocking the u.s. and yemeni governments who for years of vowed to vanquish aqap. is the threat still alive? >> the original al-qaeda has by and large been neutralized. aqap has not they still remain probably the most significant threat to the west in terms of bolt capability and intent to conduct terrorist attacks. >> aqap has long been considered the most active and dangerous wing of the al-qaeda net work. formed in 2009, after the merger of the saudi and yemeni branch, they carried out their first cross border attack in august, when a suicide bomber claiming to have reformed blew himself up in saudi arabia in the presence of then deputy interior minister. a few months later on christmas day, the group tried to down a u.s. passenger jet over detroit. then in 2010, they attempted to send partial bombs on to u.s. cargo planes. these sophisticated and spectacular attack attempts were all planned from hideouts deep within yemen. the u.s., recognizing how dangerous and effective t

nasser alal-wahayshi was taken out a few days ago. already, al qaeda in yemen appointed a successor to him. still, it's a big get. wahayshi a top official. that group behind many plots trying to get bombs on u.s. airliners. anything to take out their leadership is a top priority for the u.s. as you say, chris, this comes after several recent scores for the u.s. intelligence community. it was a couple days ago, they announced an f-15 strike against the top leader of the al qaeda affiliate in north africa. an f-15 strike in libya taking out a man. a couple weeks ago, of course that delta force raid inside syria on the ground taking out a top isis operative. there have been a lot of pluses but there have been you know you have to remember there's a couple very serious misses if you will. the american contractor warren killed earlier this year in a u.s. drone strike in pakistan. they didn't know he was there. several months ago, the failed effort to get several hostages out of syria, they were moved before the special forces team got ther

senior yemen officials who told cnn this drone strike took place in yemen on friday and it killed wahayshi. this is a major blow to the group that is considered the most dangerous branch of al qaeda by the united states. they were behind the three attacks of u.s. airlines in the recent years. and the number two leader of al qaeda worldwide. experts say this is the biggest blow to al qaeda since the killing of osama bin laden, christine christine. >> these are terrorists who want to take on america in their own backyards and homes. they have the ability and bomb making capability. what does this is a about american and western intelligence in yemen? >> reporter: christine, this is a great achievement at a time we saw the reduced footprint. as you know over the past few months with the deteriorating security situation and the war taking taking place in yemen. the u.s. pulling out troops. there is no real u.s. intelligence presence on the ground. yet we are still seeing these attacks and targeted drone strikes taking place. we are still waiting for u.s. confirmation at this point. in recent m

the terrorist group confirmed the death of nasser al-wahayshi. he was the head in the arabian peninsula. officials say if it is true this is a significant blow to al qaeda's leadership. >> he's number 11 on your presidential score card if you are playing. jeb bush hopes to be number one in the hearts of voters. after months of build up he made his candidacy official monday making himself the most qualified to lead and addressing a primary challenge, that's his name. dana bash is live in washington with more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, alisyn. jeb bush addressed something that is painfully obvious to him. he's failed to break out of the pack or scare people out of the pack. he's going to have to earn it. his mother was looking on. he made it clear, he's not entitled. >> not one of us deserves the job by right of resume party, seniority, family or family narrative. itis nobody's turn. it's everybody's test. it's wide open. exactly as the contest for president should be. [ applause ] >> reporter: so one of the enduring questions about

the pentagon confirmed a drone strike killed wahayshi. he has been linked to the charlie hebdo attacks and once was osama bin laden's personal secretary. >> coming up, assisted suicide in california, the state legislature considers a death with dignity law. >> coming up, this famous star wars set is threatened, as well as other areas here in southern tunisia. emmy award winning investigative series... fault lines invisible hands only on al jazeera america >> good morning to you. welcome to al jazeera america. it is 7:43 a.m. eastern and let's look at today's top stories. 300 more firefighters are arriving in alaska this morning to fight two raging wildfires. so far those fires have consumed hundreds of acres north and south of anchorage and dozens of homes have already been burned. >> a psychiatrist who treated colorado movie theater james homes said he had thought of kill people at least three or four times a day. she said holmes did not have a plan to carry outer an attack. 12 people died in the shooting that happened in 2012. >> for th