Evan Colman News Today

Officials who have been watching this threat, people who know who al qaeda in the arabian peninsulas leaders are, what theyre capable of. some people disregarded the idea that it would be an embassy that embassies are relatively hard to attack, that it could be a consulate, it could be a small outpost, or it could be an airport, an airline. this is a creative group, a group that although it might be difficult is considering actively how to put a bomb in someones body. it is putting -- figuring o...

0 >> let me go to ebben coleman for your analysis as well. give me your sense of what this tells us, the fact that al qaeda central still is central in pakistan where we killed bin laden. heres the successor to bin lad laden giving order to the guys in al qaeda in the arabian peninsula saying i want some action. >> i think its important to focus here on something that rich just said which is that this relationship is not a new one. nasr fought in afghanistan. he was a personal aide to bin laden....

Getting increasingly small. its getting increasingly technologically developed. you know, these guys arent -- they arent fools anymore. theyre not tourists. theyve spent a lot of time doing this. ibrahim al asiri, the individual who presumably built this latest bomb, he sent his own brother in a suicide mission to try to kill a saudi official. this guy, you know, hes got some experience in this, and i think we have to, you know, we have to understand that were dealing with, you know, a fairly tr...

>> i do not comment on specific classified operations other than to say that the united states engages in a number of operations to go after al qaeda and their militant allies. their terrorist allies who would try to attack the united states. what this incident makes clear is that this country has to continue to remain vigilant against those that would seek to attack this country. >> well have the latest on this story at the top of the show. plus, debating gay marriage. it was a great ...

continue to remain vigilant against those that would seek to attack this country. >> well have the latest on this story at the top of the show. plus, debating gay marriage. it was a great case of tell me what you really think. yesterday vice president joe biden came out in favor of same-sex marriage. its assumed he was speaking for himself, not for the president. opposing gay marriage is no longer a slam dunk for republicans. americans attitude towards gays and gay marriage are changin...

Out who the operatives are designated to carry these devices rather than trying to scan every single passenger looking for a device that is getting increasingly small. its getting increasingly technologically developed. you know, these guys arent -- they arent fools anymore. theyre not tourists. theyve spent a lot of time doing this. ibrahim al argsiri, the individl who presumably built this latest bomb, he sent his own brother in a suicide mission to try to kill a saudi official. this guy, you ...

suicide bomber using an upgrade of the underwear bomb that failed to detonate over detroit on christmas in 2009. in the past hour, leon panetta had this to say. >> i do not comment on specific classified operations other than to say that the united states engages in a number of operations to go after al qaeda and their militant allies. their terrorist allies who would try to attack the united states. what this incident makes clear is that this country has to continue to remain vigilant...

what this incident makes clear is that this country has to continue to remain vigilant against those that would seek to attack this country. >> well have the latest on this story at the top of the show. plus, debating gay marriage. it was a great case of tell me what you really think. yesterday vice president joe biden came out in favor of same-sex marriage. its assumed he was speaking for himself, not for the president. opposing gay marriage is no longer a slam dunk for republicans. a...

Latest updates on this topic.

Main al qaeda. the central organization. >> right. >> but these splinter groups, mainly located in yemen now, as well as in somalia and a couple of other places, have been increasingly attempting to fill that vacuum. and that is the main focus of american intelligence and american drone strikes with the cooperation of officials in yemen. >> hold on there, andrea. lets go right now to evan colman, our nbc terrorism analyst. he joins us by phone. evan, again, back to that question when weve been l...