is the yemen army still responding to his command? >> not all of it.ome of the yemen army are responding to his command and this is why the both ministers of defense and interior were there in this committee but there are people who wear the uniform and they do not obey the orders. >> it sounds as though sanaa is in a state of utter chaos. >> at this point, yes. it's a very -- this story is developing so quickly i think by the time i finish this conversation something new will happen. we may probably have a new yemen by the end of the day in terms of maybe a new system altogether. i still don't know what is happening. what i know now is there are attempts to ceasefire and there are people or body whose are trying not to happen. >> let's get an update from the yemen capitol sanaa and talk to the editor in chief of the yemen post and joins us live via skype from sanaa. and dramatic events in the yemen capitol today, this morning and today. bring us up to date if you can with the latest on the fighting in the capitol. it appears to be chaotic, what are yo

we want to work with the president of yemen.hat we consider large amount of aid today are minuscule to what we used to give. since 2006, we have given perhaps $400 million in military aid to yemen to assist them. in 1970 fine, when there was a border dust up between north and south yemen, the united states provided in $1,979.480 million. to address that problem. our amount of money we give to these situations is limited and minimizing our influence. >> it sounds like a lot of money. >> $400 million for a country with the number of people of florida, sparsely populated a lot concentrated in a half dozen or so urban centers. how much would sit taken. >> i don't think the united states can stabilize it. there is it is unwiser the the united states to get involved. they have to bring order to their own country. >> so now listening to that, history lesson, did the united states ever understand what it was getting into or what it was buying orr for that matter, did the saudi whose are giving far more? >> well, since 2011. >> let's say

which is based in yemen. again, and talk through your knowledge that you have of the region so we just heard the president apologizing saying that basically he lost the capitol to othe houthies, sorry for doing this, but he is left in a position where he was left no alternatives. you spoke about the power vacuum, that is fow in the country. this wasn't a functioning government, so really what sort of difference is it going to make? >> well, the only difference it is going to make this time is it is going to make a huge impact on the houthies themselves. the houthies until 5:00 p.m. local time were celebrates their newfound freedoms and also increasing or growing influence. there was this theory that the houthies would be in favor of a weakened president who would be politically beholden to them for the coming years. for them to be able to -- >> they want him to repain in power. >> absolutely. but now when he submitted his resignation along with his government, this leaves the houthiss with no other option but

is the yemen army still responding to his command? >> not all of it.ome of the yemen army are responding to his command and this is why the both ministers of defense and interior were there in this committee but there are people who wear the uniform and they do not obey the orders. >> it sounds as though sanaa is in a state of utter chaos. >> at this point, yes. it's a very -- this story is developing so quickly i think by the time i finish this conversation something new will happen. we may probably have a new yemen by the end of the day in terms of maybe a new system altogether. i still don't know what is happening. what i know now is there are attempts to ceasefire and there are people or body whose are trying not to allow this to happen. >> let's get an update from the yemen capitol sanaa and talk to the editor in chief of the yemen post and joins us live via skype from sanaa. and dramatic events in the yemen capitol today, this morning and today. bring us up to date if you can with the latest on the fighting in the capitol. it appears to be chaoti

let's go to yemen. our senior international correspondent, nick paton-walsh, is the only tv correspondent on the ground in yemen. you had a chance to check out the president's residence today. what did you see there? >> reporter: after all the dealing we have heard in the last few hours and which effectively it seems the houthis have agreed to pull away from the key buildings like the presidential residence we were at this morning and the presidential palace they overran yesterday, in exchange for releaseing the chief of staff of the president, they will be able to have a hand in rewriting lots of the new constitution that was supposed to come in and get their hands on power, too. but really power seems to be being decided on the streets today. there are many cabinet official levels absolutely concerned this is a terrifying precedent, frankly, for the future of yemen. around the presidential residence as you see there, we were talking to the men on top of the tank these young houthis, very young, some o

considering yemen crucial >>> yemen's leadership on the edge.fighters take over the presidential palace in the capital sanaa. in the past hour their leader has addressed the country. >> at this defining moment in the history of our homeland. we are going through at critical moment. ♪ ♪ >>> hello there, i am barbara you are watching al jazerra live in london. also coming up on the program. nine policemen are killed in iraq as isil fighters attack the compound of

considering yemen crucial >>> yemen's leadership on the edge. houthi fighters take over the presidential palace in the capital sanaa. in the past hour their leader has addressed the country. >> at this defining moment in the history of our homeland. we are going through at critical moment. ♪ ♪ >>> hello there, i am barbara you are watching al jazerra live in london. also coming up on the program. nine policemen are killed in iraq as isil fighters attack the compound of an influential tribal leader. japan's prime minister says he'll try and save two japanese hostages being held by isil, who want $200 million for their release. plus china's economy posts its weakest growth in nearly a quarter of a century. so should the government be worried? ♪ ♪ >>> hello there, thank you for joining us. it's been a turbulent and fast-moving day in yemen. in the past hour, the leaders of the shia rebels has addressed the nation on tv. he explained why the houthis seized the presidential palace in sanaa after renewed fighting in which at least two soldiers were ki

they will tell you because houthis traditional areas is the north of yemen and north of yemen bordersbia and they have an interest of making problems for them. what the houthis did when they took control of sanaa and much part of the country is to secure a port to the western part of the country which gives iran influence on the waterway. you also have accusations from the houthis that saudi arabia has backed them in their traditional strongholds to stop the spread of shia and you have that mixed and you need to remember houthis and former president assad when he was in power they fought wars but things changed because of common enemyies and include the muslim brotherhood and we have that complicated picture and western powers involved for sure. >> talking about situations happening, the situation rapidly changing today in is a than -- in sanaa and tell us about the rest of the country and talking from the south, from the port city of aden. >> yes, that's right. since the houthis took over the capitol last year especially the sentiments is only rising here in the south. there was unit

in order to build militias in yemen, you have to pay people. yemen is a poor country. is not coming from taxes. it is not enough to find that kind of a movement. that is the big movement that the iranians have had. they take the hadith place there, no one paid attention to it. get rid of them, good. it is a key place of his supporters in the military. apparently they moved into snaaanaa. when they take sanaa, they portray themselves as revolutionaries. they say we are revolutionaries, we are a continuation of the 2011 revolution. we are here to implement the national dialogue. we are here to make sure it happens, that the outcomes are enforced. they set up committees that were going into all of the ministries and overseeing them. they went in and incorporated into the police forces incorporated themselves into the military. they very much need the national state. this is what i call schizophrenic behavior. this is the learning process they are going through. they want to have all of the guns in the north. the guns in the north were turned against them. they are very in

nick payton walsh joining us from yemen. here with me researcher on yemen.nows a lot about what's going on. let me get your quick reaction to the breaking news. all of a sudden this yemeni government is gone. looks like these shiite-led rebels are about to take over. >> they took over the city saana in 2014. it's kind of a slow takeover. the government finally got the approval from the parliament in december. they effectively started working only to see them resign now. president hadi realized he's not going to be able to lead the country like he wishes and that the houthi rebels have taken over everything. >> what are they going to do with the president? >> that is not clear yet. i doubt they will kill him at the time being. however, they leaked voice calls that he had with his chief of staff, whom they already kidnapped a few days ago. seems like they want to set him up in a situation where he can't go to the south because he's originally a southerner. >> nick these houthi rebels, they may not necessarily like aqap their shiite al qaeda is largely sunni, b

of yemen right now.like the united emirates right now. >> it's obviously a border. you have to know it goes well beyond simply. you're talking about people who this really hated. >> it's a big concern. your son says that the u.s. government has been preparing this for a long time. >> symbolically politically, strategically. >> have discussions. this is clearly in the works. even in those meetings when i would talk to some of the royal family the king was not well. they anticipated any minute he was going to pass. i would be shocked if they haven't made contingency plans. >> there's a lot of important hard work to do. repairing some of the strains. all right. it's a sensitive moment. the king of saudi arabia king abdullah has died. there's a new king. king solomon who will be the new king. stay with us for continuing coverage. dramatic developments unfolding. i'm wolf blitzer. erin burnett outfront starts now. >>> outfront next breaking news. saudi arabia's king abdullah is dead. the king of the number on

the levers of power in yemen.had a statement come in from the secretary general of the united nations he has called on all sides to take maximum steps of restraint and restore all peace peaceful resolutions. the but ambassador is supposed to present his credentials to ban ki-moon. his status of course today is not known, so we are going to get a new yemeni ambassador whether the government that gave him the position is still in charge is the question. >> yes, indeed. thank you, james. hashem there is some talk of this announcement that the houthi leader is going to make in less than an hour's time. and some people expect him to come out and announce some sort of military council. what would that entail? >> well there has been some rumors circulating around that. that they might appoint a military council, which is a replacement of rabbuh mansur hadi. but i doubt it. a military council would pave the way to more anarchy. the only man that has international legitimacy is rabbuh mansur hadi. but we do know from our s

of yemen participate. from the wilson center in washington. this is about an hour. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] >> good afternoon and welcome to the wilson center. i'm jane harman, the president and ceo. i visited yemen a few years back and met with leaders of opposition parties. certainly many of us have wanted yemen to turn out right. today we will see what people a lot more informed than i think about all this. i want to express my specific gratitude that mohammed al-basha is here with us today to represent his country and his embassy. thank you very much for coming. and recognize many wilson cabinet and council supporters in the audience. you remember our embassy in yemen has closed, so i hope it will open again soon in a region increasingly compromised by terror. yemen's partnership has been vital to combating terrorist extremists. we hosted the president here in 2012 when the outlook was so much brighter. the u.s.-yemeni relationship was strong. sectarian conflict has done

in yemen's capital. to suggest they're operating at the direction of the iranian government is a little extreme. their agenda is to take resources from outside of yemen and use those resources inside yemen to further their own objectives. jenna: we know yemen has been a hotbed for terror for training and the like. we've seen high-profile drone strikes inside of yemen for that reason. what do you think this disruption inside of the capital means for the different cells, terror cells that exist inside of the country and what does that mean for us and our safety? >> well, sure, look if anything, the yemeni security services are preoccupied with the security in the capital and preoccupied with tribal factional and other struggles we've seen play out over the space of a couple of weeks, it will make it harder for them to focus their attention on threats like al qaeda in the arabian peninsula and its front organization ansar al-sharia and soorgs like aqap and other terror syndicates operating in yemen will pro

is the yemen army still responding to his command? >> not all of it.ome of the yemen army are responding to his command and this is why the both ministers of defense and interior were on the committee but there are people who wear the uniform and they do not obey the orders of the superiors. >> it sounds as though sanaa is in a state of utter chaos. >> at this point, yes. it's a very -- this story is developing so quickly i think by the time i finish this conversation something new is going to happen. we may probably have a new yemen by the end of the day in terms of maybe a new system altogether. i still don't know what is happening. what i know now is there are attempts for ceasefire and there are people or bodies who are trying not to allow this to happen. ♪ welcome back to the ongoing situation in yemen a little bit later in the program, let's move on to other news education activists in kenya calling on government to improve education and address the issue of complimentary schools and schools in slums and rural areas not part of the formal educati

is this true of yemen? >> in yemen, the u.s. has one interest.nd that is al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. a group based in yemen. arab spring when the interrupted in 2011, they looked at what was happening in egypt and syria and wanted to avoid the sort of collapse in yemen it was seeing in other places. try to broker a deal. the president had been in power for 33 years. a deal that would see him step down and there would be a transition. for what the u.s. did is abdicate authority to saudi arabia. the kingdom of saudi arabia had a need for democratic transition in yemen. what we have seen is that kicking the can down the road three years has not really worked. now, the government in yemen has collapsed. the president has resigned. the prime minister has resigned. and a shia group has moved in and they are the natural enemy of al qaeda. what we are likely to see happen is that al qaeda in the arabian peninsula will get stronger. but the u.s. wanted to do is have a good ally on the ground. it is just not in a position to do that. >> president ob

and yemen was more peaceful when he was president.y are frustrated typically his son coming into rule. if you look at the auction he is a shrewd tactician. whatever you think of him he has demonstrated that he is brilliant. i think many think what is happening today and it appears he could be one that has been setting himself to benefit. what about the tribal schisms and the sectarian divide, how will that work out? this is primarily a conflict. a political conflict. what is disturbing it has taken on a sectarian tone. what is scary about that, is that it is a country with no real history of septemberments. what about their presence in yemen, and how this will work out for them. >> al quaida has been doing it's best to capitalize. they have been refused the houthies of working together with the united states, and i think if al quaida, the battle between the two is almost a fight. al quaida feels they have a need to destroy them. whereas they feel that they must destroy al quaida. and that this should reinstate their own state that exi

just remind us why yemen is so crucial to the u.s.. >> well, it's because the yemen government under president hadi has been a very staunch ally of the u.s.' drone campaign, against members of al quaida in the arabian peninsula you will recall, of course, that the u.s. used drone strikes to kill the spur call leader of u.q.a.p. back in 2011, that was before president hadi came to power but after he came to power, we saw increased number of drone attacks that were aided and abetted by the hadi government. the u.s. is very concerned that the country is not going to have a chance to be a stable country in the region, it has been very concerns about the political strains within yemen for some time, but certainly when it comes to counter for error im, that is perhaps the number one concern so now the u.s.' man in yemen if we can say has stepped down the houthis rebels make no secret of their dislike of the united states, what options are open to the u.s.? well, the houthies for example, really don't like the drone strike campaign at all they are very much opposed to it but that's not to s

there's a company of marines in yemen right now. more military personnel than civilian personnel at the u.s. embassy. no word yet as to what the plans are for the u.s. embassy as of yesterday. there had been no orders to evacuate the survey. obviously all eyes right now on the capital of yemen and what the plans are for the militants who have surrounded the president in his residence. >> so, the president just for you months ago said that yemen was a success story. what are we to make now in the last 24 hours? >> reporter: in the last 24 hours what we have been seeing played out since september when the militants took over the capital center and that was around the same time that the president, president obama made those remarks in his, when he was announcing the isil strategy, the strategy against isis in iraq and syria, at that point he was referring to yemen as a success story. it's clear in the last four months the situation in yemen has changed dramatically. now the counterterrorism efforts, the investment of $275 million by th

let's get more on yemen. joining us here in the studio, and we've been asking a lot of people we've been speaking to whether the cease-fire is going to stick. let me ask you that as well. and if so, if there was any potential for it to stick how? how will that be possible? >> well. >> it has political stability in yemen. i don't think this will hold for the the following reasons. the president has appointed a top political adviser the man a few days ago said that there are huge differences and i don't see them coming together in the future to solve some of these problems. it's not just about minor political issues. it's about who is going to rule in the future, and the houthies have made it clear they want to be the ones to rule yemen. >> more specifically, what is it that the houthies want? >> the official narrative of the houthies they want bigger representation and bigger say in the running of the government. it stretches to the north afterwards therefore the one who represent the shia in yemen they want t

yemen. the terrorist hot bed south of saudi arabia where killers of last week's magazine attack,er is cherif and said kouachi went. >> reporter: what's key is for french investigators to establish the links in reality between here yemen and those attacks in france. al qaeda in the arabian peninsula's 11-minute statement suggest a u.s. citizen killed in 2011 by u.s. drone strike anwar al awlaki was running that attack. what's vital for french investigators to work out is after that 2011 death there were continued conversations or resources passed from here yemen, to the kouachi brothers. we know potentially one of them came here as early as 2009 and maybe cherif traveling under his older brother's passport came here in 2011 and may have returned to france with tens of thousands of dollars. that's vital information because there are other cells around europe. do they have links to the al qaeda hotbed here in yemen. of course now a quiet day after friday prayer here in the capital but much ange

how many times have we said it goes back to yemen? >> yemen right now is falling apart.are by and large shiia and anti-rebel. neither of these groups is friends of the united states but i think what has happened here is an example has been set for 19, 20 21-year-olds who are thinking of going over there and dieing in a suicide bombing somewhere in kobani instead to emulate these people who are famous and got the attention of the entire world for 48 hours. >> you're kind of on the same page as bill maher he's been saying we can't be dismissive of this husband simm threat. he fears that they're quite a few, maybe millions more who share and believe that what these guys do is right. >> well, look, 1.6 bill i don't think muslims in the world. if 1% of them agree with this type of terror and participate, that's 16 million. people forget, in the turkish community in berlin when those towers went down, a lot of people were firing off bottle rockets. the leaders in the arab and muslim world are denouncing this. but you can bet there are people watching this on television watchin

now what happened with the hooties. >> schieffer: in yemen. >> in yemen right.h respect there no one knows what is going to happen. the future is unknown. which really should not be the case. we know that the hootis, said they would leave us alone net they say death to israel, deposed the president military has separated off. we have less than 300 yemeni military guarding our embassy. i think number of priorities there. one to see that our people are safe. the second is to take a good look at our policy with respect to yemen. largely counter terrorism largely developed against al qaeda because al qaeda is coming after us. they tried to get four of these bombs that go through mag any tomorrow terse in to our country targeting leadership, trying to take that leadership out. that is what comes through to people. my concern is where is iran going. iran has been supporting the hootis,. i don't know. but i think we have to think long term and i think we have to become much more developed human side rather than technical side. >> do you think the president is too cauti

yemen are safe.hat is something we have been emphasizing for the last several months and builds on the work that we have been doing over the last several years. it is a dangerous country and a dangerous part of the world. our second priority is to maintain our counterterrorism pressure on al qaeda in yemen and we have been doing that. i saw some news reports that suggested somehow that that counterterrorism activity had been suspended. that is not accurate. we continue to go after high value targets inside of yemen and to continue -- we will continue to maintain the pressure that is required to keep the american people safe. we are concerned about what has always been a fragile central government and the forces inside of yemen are constantly threatening to break apart between north/south, between sunni inside of yemen and this is one more sequence in what has been an ongoing turbulent process inside of yemen and what we are advising, not just the various factions inside of yemen, but also working wit

let's go to the yemen post. we're just hearing from houthi sources that they have negotiated another cease-fire. what more are you hearing there? >> yes, a deal has been reached by both sides. both sides moving in, and they have greed to the negotiating --have agreed with the negotiation committee. >> hakeem, this is the second cease-fire within a few hours. how do we know this is going to hold. >> we know that it's going to hold because the government is under tight pressure and the houthies are in the capitol. the only option from the president is to reach a cease-fire or by nightfall it will fall to houthies. >> what happened this morning? >> what happened this morning the president met with the houthi officials and threatened if the chief of staff is not released that the houthi kidnapped two days ago they should prepare that things will escalate. they expect the military to fight under him but because he did not do a successful job in unifying the military over the years, most of the military has remained n

yemen is a hotbed of terrorism. al qaeda's affiliate claims to have planned and funded part of the paris terror attacks. an al qaeda leader in the arabian peninsula released a video calling jihadists to launch lone wolf attacks in europe and in the united states. this is new information now, isis recruiting actively in yemen. the obama administration sees yemen as crucial to the war on terror but this morning, that partnership is anything but stable. we want to bring in our senior international correspondent nic robertson. good morning, nic. >> reporter: john experts are looking at yemen as tipped as a failed state status. houthis with no indication and the deal progresses along the timed outline. they will accept stronger positions in government and pull back some of the forces release some of the people they detained. there are indications that they are beginning to spread influence into other parts of the country. some of the key oil regions there. you also have the gulf cooperation council meeting in an emergenc

one of these people trained in yemen. i think the threat is you know real. >> how important is it for the world, the leaders of the free world, to call it what it is? we heard him now talking about terrorism, but he refrained from saying islam radical terrorism. how important is it for him to say what it actually is? >> it was progress to get them to say terrorism. that was a step forward. you're right. he doesn't often talk about radical islamic terrorism. he talks about extremists. he believes the religion has been hijacked and moderate muslims around the world would say that as well. you're right. he doesn't make that point and that's the threat that's developing around the world. i want to make one point about yemen. you know, it was just a couple of months ago that this president said that yemen and somalia were a success story and that syria was built, the policy, on the yemen and somalia model. when the "charlie hebdo" attack happened, that same day in yemen, a suicide bomber in a mini bus exploded outside a police

yemen is a country in crisis. less than 4 hours ago the president of yemen signed a deal with houthi rebels to end months of crisis. today president hadi resigns leaving the country in chaos. >> this is the resignation of yemen's president. the country's head of state after the revolution. it comes a day after he agreed to houthi demands including a change in the constitution. shia houthi fight tours control the capitol of sanaa. but they've been in control of most parts since september last year. they've been promising statement and calling for the setting up of a new presidential council. in this secession itself, there have been calls for the north that shows how divided this country is. there have been calls for the solution to the crisis. >> i ask everybody to be wise, to be in a spirit of national union, to respect the supreme interest of yemen and dialogue and political solutions. >> some analysts say that hadi should have resigned months ago. >> it's a very bad thing and a very good thing. it's a very bad

iona craig is a journalist who was based in sana'a, yemen for four years as the yemen correspondent forthe times of london. she was awarded the martha gellhorn prize for journalism in 2014. the government has cracked down on local and foreign journalists and at one point last year iona craig was the country's last accredited foreign reporter. she is joining us from london. we are also joined by jeremy scahill, co-founder of the theintercept.org. just days after the charlie hebdo massacre, jeremy broke the story that al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula, aqap, had taken credit. he cited a confidential al-qaeda source in yemen. days later, aqap put out an official statement confirming it took responsibility. we welcome you both to democracy now! iona craig, tell us what is happening right now in yemen and who the houthi militants are. >> what is happening now, it is really political posturing on behalf of of the houthis. they have kidnapped the presidential aides, the chief of staff in order to get that leverage. in the fighting we saw in the last 20 four hours is also part of that. the nego

the yemen model has all but collapsed. the fighting against al qaeda on the ground has been done now by the houthis, but has made the issue in the problem of al qaeda worse in yemen anyway, the violence carried out by al qaeda has increased hugely since the houthis took sanaa in september. looking at the oxfam figures the underlying problem in yemen those figures have gone to 16 million people in need of humanitarian aid. the last figures that 14.7 million. as a population of 25. whilst international community focuses on the security issues you have an economy that is collapsing, rising humanitarian crisis, and political issues that haven't been dealt with. this kind of short-term thinking about the security situation in yemen is really never going to get to the bottom of the political problems come the economic problems, and humanitarian issues that feed into this in the end. >> you mention one of the underlying problems being an ongoing secessionist movement. most americans have short memories. they forget it wasn't long

in yemen. the question of course is how long before it simply gets too dangerous to stay put? yemen under siege from iranian-backed shiite rebels attacking the presidential palace raising the possibility of an all-out coup against the sunni-led government. a national security crisis for the u.s. the immediate worry, the safety of several hundred american embassyworkers, an embassy vehicle already shot at. >> if the u.s. embassy is under threat and the u.s. military cannot guarantee the safety of its diplomats and other civilians at the embassy, it is time to go at least temporarily. >> it's no longer clear the streets are safe enough for personnel to drive to the airport to levee area commercial air if the state department orders an evacuation. cnn has learned two u.s. navy warships moved into the red sea late monday ready to evacuate the americans if ordered. the uss iwo jima and uss ft. mchenry on standby. a u.s. official cautions if it comes to that it will be a difficult and dangerous milit

back to yemen. >> okay. so tucker the administration is saying we are not going to transfer any detainees. but did you believe this will last? does it matter? we have seen them go to qutar and uruguay. >> we have seen more detainees to yemen because more are from yemen than any other country. this is naive but why are the remaining detainees not put on trial? i have asked a lot of people. they sound like dangerous people to me who committed crimes against the united states. why not try them? i don't know the answer. but if the choice is between sending them to a country where they are beyond our influence and we cannot monitor them it is a no-brainer >> why do we release them to begin with? they are enemies of the state. >> why isn't this an option? >> it could be. but we don't have a legal obligation to have to give them a trial. so why not hold them there? why is our president resupplying terrorist? he is resupplying jihad by letting people out he doesn't have to release because he made a political promise

yemen. we're also now hearing the older brother, said has just been buried in an unmarked grave in eastern france. let's go straight to jim bittermann covering this from when it all happened on january 7th. jim, thank you for being with us. what can you tell us about said kouachi, the older of the brothers being buried in the town that he was from? what do we know about that who was there? >> reporter: well, it wasn't attended by anybody. it was done overnight and kind of in secret. no one knows where he is. he's in an unmarked grave. basically because he lived in the city for a time and the mayor had no choice. the local city officials didn't want this to happen. they would rather have had him buried somewhere else. according to the french law, they -- if a person lives in a community he can then be buried in that community. the same thing is happening with his brother who we think is going to be buried in an unmarked grave, cherif kouachi, in a town close suburb of the west of paris. and w

yemen facing chaos. many say this is the beginning of an attempted coup by houthi rebels even as there were claims of a cease-fire. >> i do not think that the cease-fire will hold. that's what my gut tells me based off of what we have been watching over the last year going on in sanaa and throughout yemen. >> reporter: shiite houthi rebels backed by iran have been challenging yemeni authority for months. yemen's information minister tells cnn's christiane amanpour the yemeni prime minister is surrounded by militias stationed on rooftops around his home. >> what is the state of control of the government? >> almost nonexistent. >> are you telling me the government is not in control? >> yes. shocking huh? >> reporter: for u.s. embassy workers, if there is an order to evacuate they could leave by state department chartered aircraft. but only if it is safe enough to drive to the airport. if the airport closes, there is another route. cnn has learned the u.s. military has just increased its alert level. marine

how bad are things in yemen? now? has never had stability but it is going from dangerous to totally lawless as you mentioned the iranian backed military is a serious power player and so is al-qaeda. remember the state department is there and a number of those folks have left and the state department is ready to the rest of the embassy if they need to. those plans are in place. it is important to realize how quickly this declined. it was only a couple months ago the president was saying yemen is proof his foreign policies are working. >> asad is under the control of iran, and you have a problem in iraq and lebanon. president obama's standing in the region is terrible. his policies are failing. if this is a success story i would hate to see failure. >> reporter: yemen is the head quarters for the most sophisticated part of what is left of al-qaeda and the former president was a u.s. ally allowing the drone program to go on and align with the cia there in yemen. the question now is will al-qaeda be able to capitalize on

relies on yemen as a key ally. u.s. gives yemen a lot of money to fight terrorism. there's been talk for years about the pow irer vacuum in yemen and if and when and happened who would take control. we talk about the minority. who would it be? on paper, who have would be in control and in reality who would be in control? >> i think it's going to be chaotic. it's going to be a syria elect situation where the country divides into countries controlled by one al qaeda group and one by isis. the pattern we've seen since the strike began, when this chaos occurs, it helps the jihadists. they thrive in vacuums and chaos. i agree with michael this fighting between aqap and islamic state is -- we shouldn't see it -- the bigger issue is they're targeting us together. they're not going to cancel each other out. there's fighting between these different jihadist factions in syria, but they're not cancelling each other out. they're getting stronger. again, this is all worrying on multiple levels. >> so for now michael, if you have two different -- according to the source in yemen

central yemen. and we upped our operations there, upped our predator attacks against al qaeda's leadership in yemen, increased our training and assistance to the yemeni forces that are pushing back up against al qaeda there. but they've got their hands full in yemen. and i think that this is going to increase our focus there to try to again, push back on al qaeda's presence there and continue to put pressure on them shlg because if they're not under pressure they're going to be able to train more of these types of people and launch them into the west to conduct terrorist operations. so it's a huge concern for the department of defense and the cia and our partners in the region to put pressure on al qaeda in yemen, as that is a forward operating base for al qaeda in the world today. >> michael, what does your gut tell you about what the -- i guess the background is for these brothers whether this is something directly connected and linked to al qaeda or something more, described as a lone wolf situat

yemen. at that time the leadership included nassar, a long-time aide to osama bin laden as well as anwar al-awlaki the claireic i just mentioned in addition to another american who was eventually killed in a cia drone strike, samir khan the main driver behind "inspire magazine" the journal that in march of 2013 called for the execution of the editor and the cartoonists at the french magazine. so that is a lot of dat too -- data points taking to us al qaeda in yemen. u.s. intelligence officials have not reached any firm conclusion over whether al qaeda in yemen directed this operation, but there is now no doubt that the brother had ties to al qaeda in yemen. >> how does all of this information relate to earlier intelligence that we had already confirmed? >> one of the most interesting elements in this is that there was a series of tweets we have reviewed here at fox news that came out within an hour of the terrorist attack. the happen on those tweets was a handle that is associated with aqap

but also terrorists from yemen. bombmakers. who are expert in these creative hard to detect types of bombs. so again, yemen, syria, all these things coming into fruition. one official told me including the attorney general that all of this is one of the most active terrorism environments since 9/11. people radicalized on the internet. people in the training camps. they have to watch all of it. it's a daunting task. >> what do officials take from this right now? what happens in the united states in the coming hours, days weeks? given what we have learned from the situation in france? what kind of steps will be taken to protect our towns and cities? >> the biggest thing is information gathering. fbi and homeland security are in the process of gathering all the information they can about what happened in france. it may be delayed a bit because of all the activity today. the information will be sent out to law enforcement officials around the country. it will lay out how the attack took place. it will tell police how to respond to

plus, major chaos in yemen. the country's president and cabinet resign after rebels storm the capitol. al-qaeda backed militants ready to do battle and what this means for our interest in the volatile middle east. and how about another cup? the more coffee you drink less likely you are to develop a certain disease. it is all "happening now". >> and we begin with breaking development in the middle east. a pair of crisis involving allies and the foreign policy and those crucial countries. welcome to it "happening now". i am jenna leely. sdmshgs i am jon scott. king abdullah buried in an unmarked grave today after passing away. he was a stanch ally in fighting al-qaeda and isis. and on the right shiite rebels tossing out the pro- american president and his cabinet in yemen. it is home to the dangerous branch of al-qaeda most recently responsible for the terrorist attacks in paris. leland is live in the white house. how concerned are they about iran filling a power vacum with so much unrest. >> reporter: there is a

more from yemen. >> the fighting is being heard from blocks away. government forces and houthi rebels have been battling near the presidential palace in sanaa since early on monday. the symbol of who wields power in yemen something that's hard to know at the moment. the information minister describes the scene as utter chaos. >> to be honest, i don't think any single party is under control of sanaa. there are places where state is under control places where houthis are under control. army are responding to his command and that is why both ministers of defense and interior are in this committee. there are people who wear the uniform they do not obey the orders of the superiors. >> houthi rebels have been at odds with the government for years but they took control of nine provinces last year. many see them as the real rurals of yemen thanks to those who are loyal to the former president. behind the chaos since his removal from the presidency, to allow his son ahmed to become president. >> first of its kind even the attack on sanaa. months ago was noth

old part of yemen which was known as north yemen. they have been on the march. they had received an enormous amount of support, although they deny it, from iran, and they've now seized virtually the entire capital of yemen, and add to that the fact that they now for all intents and purposes, conducted a coup d'etat against the american-supported president and his government which apparently has resigned, leaving the country rudderless and in the hands of these rebels, and at the same time, al qaeda in the arraign yans peninsula, has had its stronghold in yemen, and it has been probably ground zero in the arabian peninsula for american counterterrorism initiatives against the most virulent and most dangerous franchise of al qaeda that has tried many number of times to attack the homeland against the united states. everywhere everything from the underwear bomber to the inspiration of lieutenant general had ad who had attacked fort hood the tsarnaev brothers were inspired by the assassinated cleric, american-born cleric, the leader of a

in yemen they did their best. a transition started but then fell apart. yemen is an area that didn't as you can sealed as much as they wanted it to. it is a very, very dangerous situation, because it's in these zones of chaos like in parts of yemen where groups like al-qaeda and isis and caliphatous groups emerge take root and start spreading and mobilizing and attracting people. that is the last thing the saudis want is these groups at their doorstep. >> thank you for putting it in perspective for us. thank you. >> now houthi rebel ins yemen are calling for the formation of military and presidential committee to say run the country after the resignation of the president. they are asking supporter to say stage mass rallies on friday in a show of force. we have the details. >> a down attack, shia houthi rebels take stock of the damage. they're leaders were targeted in bomb attacks at a mosque and nearby home. across the country people have been react to go what they see as a houthi takeover, some in celebration, others in anger. in the city, they demonstra