every day about 1.5 million americans board airplanes. this morning they have a big question. is it safe to fly? no doubt there's good reason for that concern. this new plot centered around a nonmetallic explosive designed to slip through airport detectors similar to a bomb aboard a flight in 2009. a malfunction may be the only reason those passengers survived. the latest plot also targeted an international flight coming into the united states. that was foiled two weeks ago. the investigation is still unfolding. a short time ago we heard from white house chief adviser or counterterrorism. the big question how worried should we be that this bomb and others like it would not be detected by current safeguards. >> this i.ed was a threat from the standpoint of the design we've been able to determine and so now we're trying to make sure that we take the measures that we need to to prevent any other type of ied from getting through security procedures. >> so will ramped up vigilance mean new security measures again for u.s. travelers? a former assistant director of the fbi is in washington. good morning, tom. >> good morning, carol. >> a lot of people are about to board airplanes, are they safe? >> i think they're no safer than they were before all of this happened. the second thing i would like to add is there's nothing new in any of this. richard reid got on airplane with explosives similar undetected. the underwear bomber undetected boarding an airplane in amsterdam bound for the united states. so whoever was going to have this chemical on their body to bring in, it probably was undetected. dogs can't smell it. unless you have sophisticated screening where you can see through the clothing and see if there's bulges or something on a body or around a body that doesn't belong there, you're not going to detect it. i would also like to add i just flew back to the united states on sunday boarding a plane nonstop landing at dulles airport sunday evening and there were no advance measures. i didn't have to take my shoes off, my belt off. no hand checking of the luggage beyond going through the belt. so even though this may have been uncovered weeks or months ago, apparently some of the other security agencies around the world didn't get the memo. >> it kind of makes you crazy though. you would think that the tsa would be developing new technology or figuring out new ways to pat-down flyers as they go through security since they know that x-ray machines and even those full body scanners can't pick up certain kinds of bombs. >> even if they could do it, i don't know if the public would stand for the type of screening that would be required. ten years ago richard reid tried to detonate a shoe bomb and we had to put our shoes on the belt in u.s. airports ever since. in 2009, an attempt to explode a device in underwear. haven't seen anyone's underwear on these belts. i know it sounds funny or sarcastic, but it's the truth. people are not going to stand for the kind of intrusive examination that would be required to be 100% sure that someone doesn't have something hidden like that and it would probably bring airport travel or airline travel to a screeching halt if you were trying to do this to the million plus passengers as you mentioned every single day boarding aircraft in or around or to the united states. >> so i fly a lot. my family flies a lot. i would like to be safe and know i'm safe onboard a plane. what am i supposed to do? sit on the plane and be ever vigilant and take care of myself and my fellow passengers through observation? >> apparently, yes. that's what the passengers were credited with being vigilant when he tried to ignite the bomb on the detroit bound aircraft. the moral of the story is there are not enough sophisticated machines which would have to be deployed worldwide to actually detect this particular -- if it's petn or similar powdered explosives ignited by liquid chemicals carried in plastic or glass containers. you are not looking at anything new in the sense that it's a nonmetallic device. they've been nonmetallic since richard reid in 2001. >> tom, thank you so much. in 20 minutes we'll talk with congressman mike rogers. head of the house intelligence committee and one of the few lawmakers briefed on the details of this investigation. making news this morning, it's deadline day for the pentagon. house oversight committee wants defense secretary leon panetta to hand over what he knows about 12 military personnel caught up in last month's prostitution scandal in colombia. that scandal cost nine secret service agents their jobs. voters in north carolina are deciding whether the state should change its constitution to ban same-sex marriages. if passed, marriage would be defined as union between one woman and one man and invalidate all civil unions and domestic partnerships of straight and same-sex couples. north carolina is also won of the three states holding primaries today. the other states are west virginia and indiana. this will give mitt romney a chance to pick up more delegates. needs just a little more than 300 more to clinch the republican presidential nomination. besides choosing a presidential candidate, voters in indiana must also decide if senator dick lugar will keep his job. the six-term challenger is fa r facing a loss. >> we've had a very vigorous campaign. essentially the bulk of the money being spent on the campaign has been by so-called outside interest and people have run negative ads for millions of dollars and not only the sup supsupe super pac but others i believe hoosiers will vote for me today. >> rick santorum throws support behind mitt romney for president in an e-mail. santorum told supporters in the 13th paragraph of that e-mail he made his decision after meeting with romney on friday. he says the two men agree president obama must be defeated. santorum dropped out of the republican race last month. prince harry salutes wounded war vets and asks united states and britain to give them everything they need. the prince met with a group of wounded troops that competed at the warrior games. two hours later he was honored with humanitarian leadership award by former secretary of state colin powell. >> if i may, i would like to accept the award on behalf of my brother, william, our foundation, all of those on both sides of the atlantic who worked so tirelessly to support our wounded veterans but particularly for the guys because this is their award. >> another royal gets recognized next month when queen elizabeth celebrates 60 years on the throne. cnn live coverage for diamond jubilee starts sunday, june 3rd at 11:00 a.m. eastern. a new plan would change the way the u.s. secures its borders to keep out terrorists and drug smugglers. it may be a tough sell as the chief heads to capitol hill to convince lawmakers. take a close look at these sisters. they may be in the company of an armed and dangerous man. we'll have the latest on the manhunt. every communications provider is different but centurylink is committed to being a different kind of communications company. ♪ we link people and fortune 500 companies nationwide and around the world. and we will continue to free you to do more and focus on what matters. 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[ female announcer ] new aveeno skin strengthening body cream helps transform dry, thinning skin, by strengthening its moisture barrier, for improved texture and elasticity in 2 weeks. reveal healthy, supple skin. aveeno skin strengthening. it's 11 minutes past the hour. a manhunt is now under way for a kidnapping suspect and two young sisters who may be in extreme danger. two bodies found in shallow graves have now been identified as their mother and another sister. the four family members disappeared a week and a half ago. cnn's martin savidge -- this is a sad story. >> a horrible story. the only hope is that we can find 12-year-old alexandria and 8-year-old alive and well. they are believed to be in the company of adam mayes. 35 years of age. he's the prime suspect here. he's also a longtime family friend according to authorities. and it all began on april 27th when joanne and her three daughters disappeared. at that time authorities it appears thought she might have gone off with adam mayes on her own. they brought in adam mayes and realized the stories didn't make sense. they went to his property in mississippi and found two shallow graves. it was revealed late last night that inside the shallow graves was the mother and oldest daughter. now the concern becomes for those two young children. the 8 year old and 12 year old. a major manhunt under way in western tennessee, northern mississippi. they need the public's help. there's a $50,000 reward. money is not the thing here. it's finding those two young girls and finding them alive and well and authorities say right now the key is finding adam mayes. >> tell me who he is and how he's related to the family. >> this makes the story striking. he has been a friend of the family for years. he's told many people that he considers those girls to be his own. some have wondered whether he's delusional thinking they are his own or whether he's just imp implying they are close. he's been on vacation with the family. he was in the family's home the night before they vanished. they were preparing to move to arizona. we should point out he goes out by a couple aliases. christopher zachary wild is one name. paco rodriguez is another. it's also believed that he has now changed the identities or attempted to of the girls cutting their hair and perhaps dyeing the hair as well. look at that face. >> also a phone number for people to call. if you think you have seen this man, call that number so those little girls hopefully might be found alive. >> already a tragedy we're trying to prevent it from growing much, much worse. >> martin savidge, thank you. 14 minutes past the hour. checking top stories now, u.s. intelligence officials this morning unraveling a terror plot to bring down an international flight bound for the united states. the plot involved a nonmetallic explosive designed to slip sl through airport detectors. about an hour from now, the head of u.s. border patrol will be on capitol hill to lay out a new tragedy for securing the border. he favors a more targeted approach in high risk areas. north carolina is one of three states holding primaries today. the other states are west virginia and indiana. this will give mitt romney a chance to pick up more delegates. he needs just a little more than 300 to clinch the republican presidential nomination. a billionaire heiress knew some of the money was not going to serve that purpose. the prosecution is wrapping up their case and we're getting more details. the bombing mastermind behind the latest terror plot aimed at the united states. cnn's brian todd is taking a closer look at who he is. brian? >> not only tell you who he is but we'll tell you some other plots that he's believed to be behind and what he may be thinking of next just ahead. supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our country... ... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists... ... adding nearly 400 billion dollars to our economy... we're at work providing power to almost a quarter of our homes and businesses... ... and giving us cleaner rides to work and school... and tomorrow, we could do even more. cleaner, domestic, abundant and creating jobs now. we're america's natural gas. the smarter power, today. learn more at anga.us. john edwards' trial enters the third week with more crucial testimony about donations from billionaire rachel mellon. $50 million would be a chip shot for the heiress to endow a foundation he intended to create. >> reporter: the prosecution in the john edwards trial coming off a day that was both very good for the government and not so good at all. their high point came with the witness who returns to the stand this morning. a neighbor of john edwards and a former side kick andrew young. he told a story about how he agreed to drive a mysterious pregnant woman wearing sunglasses at 4:00 in the morning to an airport hangar in a private plane. he later figured out the woman was edwards' mistress, hunter. the testimony tracked with what young told the jury at the start of the trial. meanwhile, the testimony that came in that was damaging to the government was offered by the attorney to mrs. mellon who was supposed to be a prosecution witness but dealt a big blow by explaining that one of her large checks that eventually was used by the mistress could not be a campaign donation. he also testified it was his understanding that john edwards was not supposed to know about the payments that were being made to keep the affair out of sight. prosecutors have said they hope to wrap up their case on thursday. among the witnesses expected on the stand today, a woman edwards' report ledly asked to draft a statement admitting his affair with hunter. joe johns, greensboro, north carolina. now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question this morning how much are you willing to sacrifice your privacy to be safe. we've gone back and forth on airline security. seems like when there's a threat, americans want the government to do anything it can to protect us. when the threat fades, there's anger over the invasiveness of full body scanners and pat downs. the tsa responded by scaling back searches of children and elderly. we learned the united states thwarted a terror attempt with this twist. this would have been an undetectible bomb on an airliner coming into the united states, a bomb like the one warn by the detroit underwear bomber. a plastic explosive but with no metallic content so metal detectors would not find it. those full body scanners might show an underwear bomb or might not. either way, one thing is for sure. terrorists are trying hard to outsmart our security devices. >> people don't want to talk about the technology and the fact that they are improving their technology and i think these guys are very, very good. if they continue to adapt, i think we should consider this a very real threat to our aviation. >> for congressman peter king, the latest terror plot proves america needs to remain vigilant. >> this is very sophisticated deadly organization and they have one goal in mind. that's to destroy western civilization particularly the united states. we can never, ever let our guard down. >> vigilant, yes. when it comes to personal liberty, where do you draw the line? so the talkback question for you today, how much are you willing to sacrifice your privacy to be safe? facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll read your responses later this hour. so what more is being done to keep terrorists from boarding an airliner? the head of the house intelligence committee joins us live from capitol hill. that's coming your way next. don't forget if you are heading out the door, you can take us with you. watch us any time on your mobile or computer. just head to cnn.com/tv. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] virtual wallet can help you be that person who's good with money. see what's free to spend. move money with a slide. save with a shake. feel good about your decisions. save with a shake. recently, students from 31 countries took part in a science test. the top academic performers surprised some people. so did the country that came in 17th place. let's raise the bar and elevate our academic standards. let's do what's best for our students-by investing in our teachers. let's solve this. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ that should do it. enjoy your new shower. [ door opens, closes ] good morning to you. i'm carol costello. 25 minutes past the hour. back to our top story. i want to take a closer look at the man suspected of being at the center of this latest terror plot. he's believed to be al qaeda's master bombmaker. he's blamed for two of the most bold plots against the united states. the 2009 underwear bomb that malfunctioned aboard a detroit bound flight and the 2010 printer bombs one connected flight away from reaching the united states. in 2009, he fitted his own brother with an underwear bomb. we'll have more on that in a moment. al asiri is almost a legend among terrorists. tell us more, brian. >> officials here say that the device that was seized was similar to ones previously used by that group, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. the group as you mentioned has this master bombmaker on america's radar for at least a few years. one u.s. official says a man suspected of involvement in this effort is a bomb making mastermind for al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. he's believed to have planned the 2009 plot to kill saudi arabia's interior minister by placing the bob in the rectal cavity of his own brother. the brother was killed but the minister escaped. i asked the former top aviation security official about implanted bombs. >> it tells me that we have exhausted capabilities of technology available to us. there's no way we can take the next step after the body scanners to figure out when a person carries a device inside his body. >> experts say those full body scanners which we once tested out can see through clothing and find breast implants, contours but cannot detect bombs inside of the body. i spoke with a chief trauma surgeon at washington hospital center about how terrorists might try to pull this off. do you need a hospital to do this or can you do it in a terrorist field camp? what kind of training do you need? >> i think again the fundamental question is how well do you want to do it. if you want to do it to 20 people and have 19 of them die and one success that you can send on your mission, that would be easier. you could do that sloppy. if you want to do it well and expect them all to remain sterile and not cause infection, i think then you're largely talking about a hospital or clinic setting. >> the doctor says explosives could be implanted in abdomen or elsewhere or placed in fake hips or breast implants. he says a nonsophisticated bomb might last three to four days inside the body before complications set in. if it's a sophisticated surgery, maybe in a hospital or something, and if it is there, it could last months or weeks, weeks, months or even longer inside the body. we also have to emphasize that the revelation coming out of yesterday's information the plot that was revealed yesterday indicates that this latest device may have been somethinged more like an underwear bomb than a bomb implanted in someone's body. >> those bombs designed by this guy. do american officials know where he is? i mean, do they have a lead on him? >> it's unclear where he is right now. i think they believe he's somewhere in yemen. as far as exactly where he is, right now i think if they know they're not letting on right now. >> brian todd reporting live for us from washington. thank you. other stories we're keeping an eye on this morning, voters head to the polls in north carolina to decide whether the state should change its constitution to ban same-sex marriage. if passed, amendment one would define marriage as a union between one w