coming in at this moment about how the cia stopped an ambitious al qaeda plot to blow up a passenger jet bound for the united states. a u.s. counterterrorism official tells cnn the explosive device is similar to the one used by the would-be underwear bomber. you may recall that on christmas day 2009. just like that bomb, this one did not contain metal, which raises real questions about whether it could have gotten past airport security. as of yet, the person who had developed that bomb had not yet bought a ticket. here's defense secretary, leon panetta. >> what this incident makes clear is that this country has to continue to remain vigilant against those that would seek to attack this country and we will do everything necessary to keep america safe. >> fran townsend is cnn's national security contributor, a member of both the dhs and cia external advisory boards. chad sweet is a former dhs and cia official, also the cofounder of the chertoff group, a global security firm. good to see both of you. fran, i know you've been reporting on this throughout the day. we're hearing now that there could have been this bomb and other bombs, perhaps. how close of a call was this? >> you know, the official i spoke to, erin, kept saying over and over, the obama itself was never a threat to the united states. that says one of two things. either this was in an early stage or it was made inert. when i say inert, i mean they added a substance to it so that it would have never actually detonate spd explod and explode. it was made clear to me this was never a direct threat to me to the united states. >> and there are reports now saying there are more bombs unaccounted for. do we have any sense what that might mean? >> they were asked why if this plot was disrupted, did the president also direct agencies to take measures to stop similar bombs. we didn't understand it. well, as the official made clear to me, look, we know that al qaeda typically launches multiple simultaneous attacks. >> and chad, what is your take on whether this would have invaded airport security. it was either all the way there and made inert, or not all the way there. but obviously al qaeda and any lone wolf's goal now would be to do something that ld evade the metal detectors and the screening that you go through, even when you're outside the united states and coming in. >> it is a big concern. when you think about it right now, about 90% or more of detectors in the united states are magnetometer, which means they're meant to detect metal, not the explosive. after the last attempted attack like this, abdulmutallab in 2009, the obama administration pushed forward a pilot program to accelerate the deployment of advanced imaging technology, which is not just looking for the metal, it's actually looking for the explosive itself. that's what we need to do, is accelerate the the deployment of -- the technology we have to give us a better footing against our adversary. >> fran, what can you tell us about the suspect, known as one of al qaeda's top or if not the top bomb maker for their organization. >> the intend user, the suicide bomber, it was said to me, he's no longer a threat, that mean he's either in dead or in custody. >> could have been one of those drone attacks in the past few days. >> that's right. al asery, the source i talked to wouldn't say what his status was. but this bomb had marked similarities to other asirry bombs, so we believe that he is at the center of this. the one other thing that i would add, erin, al quso, the one killed in the drone strike over the weekend, sources to me -- look, this guy became the chief of external operations after al awlaki was killed in a drone strike, so this was a one-two punch. it's been a big week for terrorism and counterterrorism. this really sets them back. >> it's interesting, chad, after we've been hearing so much just in the past ten days, the triumphs that the united states has had against, you know, as president obama said last week in his speech, in kabul, about 30 of the top al qaeda operatives have been taken out. at that time, it appears he knew about this plot. they didn't tell us, the american people, but does this show that there are still more risks than they would like to acknowledge, especially in an election season? >> well, i think this is a challenge that fran had to deal with and so did myself and my other colleagues in homeland security and our friends in the intelligence community, when you have the responsibility to protect the american public, you're balancing constantly how do you keep on the offense and defend your information, your sources, your methods, at the same time, keep the public informed. so if you look at this plot, what the administration said with was technically accurate. that they did not have specific information on the target and that the threat, as fran said, wasn't against the homeland. so technically, they were correct. however, the alert levels will be something that i imagine congress and our intelligence communities will be briefed on how and that will operate in this process. >> fran, when do you tell the american public can? >> that's right, erin. we understand now that focus in the administration went to reporters when they began to sort of report this story, when they knew about it early on -- >> and they said please back off. >> that's exactly right. and the administration official i spoke to said, while they did for a little bit, they obviously didn't let it go as long as we would have liked. the idea here is you want to make sure you disrupt it before it's reported publicly, because otherwise individuals who may be sorbet associated with the bomb plot disappear before you can take them into custody. >> chad, we always hear once they try one way, they're going to try a different way. this appeared to be the same sort of strategy as two years ago, an underwear bomb. so are we looking in the right place, i guess is the key question? >> well, sometimes if you have an opponent that keeps running the same play over and over, that's a gift, because you can continue to oppose it. but on the other hand, if you look at the device, it has gotten much more sophisticated. they are advancing and doing different techniques. when you think about the making of a bomb, there's a supply chain to do it. what we want to do is to continue to move to the left of boom. meaning we don't want to have the bomb go off and do the forensics afterwards, we want to do exactly what was done here, track it, disrupt the supply chain, and what's going on right now is like csi on steroids, they're looking at the device, fingerprints, hair follicles and that's being put back into the 21st century terrorism. and if there's a fingerprint on that device anywhere, any terrorist that was involved in the construction of that device has to ask themselves the question, did i leave my fingerprint or my hair follicle, and if they did, and they try to enter the united states, we will get them. >> erin, one other thing i will add to this, the individual i spoke to didn't say it was an underwear bomb. it wasn't an internal bomb, it was an external bomb. that also ought to be a comfort to people, because those we are better at detecting. we do have the technology. >> we've been doing a lot of conversation about those body cavity bombs. "outfront" story 2 is next. stillout front, crackdown in china. >> right now we're looking at our possible -- this might be as far as we go. biden's bold words. >> i am absolutely comfortable with men marrying men. >> all this outfront when we come back. all right. coming up, president obama, he's being pressured by his own party to change his stance on gay marriage. will he? and a man whose name is synonymous with lobbying and corruption. jack abramoff comes outfront tonight with a story about how the lobbies are controlling everything we eat. so, i was really excited today when i realized that the dreamliner has landed. the new wide body 787 is made by boeing and landed at reagan international ait toda as part of its dream world tour. it's a neat pr thing they're doing. the dreamliner can carry up to 290 passengers and it's gotten rave reviews for things like it's fuel efficiency, its air, and large windows. there were tons of delays, years and years of them. the company got picked on a lot, but thanks in part to them, airlines had a lot of time to look over the ware s and it's nw booked more advanced sale to any other airliner in history. 27 is the number of scheduled to join air india's fleet next month. which is interesting consider "the new york times" reports that air india is hemorrhaging money and lost about $1 billion in its most recent accounting year. i've flown air india and the attendants were eager and friendly, but the experience was terrifying, and not just for me. many others have reported late flights, poor customer service, and reports that the pilots covered the windows with newspaper to keep out the sun. and they were fined for noncompliance with regulations. look, we know you need the sales, boeing, but we hope it's worth it. seriously. all right. our second story out front, a state of fear in china, trying to contain the fallout over the blind activist, chen guangcheng. he's still under guard in a beijing hospital, waiting to hear if he and his family will actually be allowed to leave china for the u.s. now, the chinese government has mount what had some call a state of fear, detaining and harassing chen's family members and sympathizers as well as dissidents. the crackdown has turned the work of foreign journalists into a game of cat and mouse. our cnn's own stan grant is there. he's experienced this. he'll show you the road blocks and encounters he's dealt with as he tries to do his job. >> i cannot go any further? >> yeah. >> reporter: okay, yeah. the police don't want us anywhere near chen gaung chang. the blind activist has opened the world's eyes to what he says is china's beautiful human rights crackdown. he remains in hospitals, surrounded by chinese government security. chinese media calls him a traitor and a u.s. pawn. fellow activist have said detained and gagged. we can't go anywhere near the hospital. and cnn locked out. but chen's is not the only case. cnn has followed china's crackdown from villages to back roads and city streets. >> let's get around the corner here. >> reporter: always trying to stay one step ahead of authorities as they lock up activists as fast as we can find them. there's nobel peace prize laureate still languishing in a chinese prison. the u.s. has called for his release. this man's family claims he was beaten to death in police custody. he was arrested after helping launch a village protest against alleged illegal land seizures. police maintain he died of a heart attack. elsewhere in china, tibetan monks are setting themselves alight in record numbers. they want freedom and the return of the dalai lama. the u.s. says it is gravely concerned. china's response, lock down tibetan homelands and keep us out. >> and they're now having to look at our passports. . this may be as far as we go. >> reporter: and the secret chinese pollitt bureau has been rocked by the most explosive case of all. a top cop fled the party and got refuge. he told a tale of intimidation, corruption, and alleged murder. his former boss, party power broker, has been purged and disappeared. this once in a generation crackdown makes reporting china increasingly difficult and dangerous. harassed, threatened, attacked, all part of the job, but only a small taste of what all chinese have to deal with, day after day. >> get in the car, go. >> reporter: stan grant, cnn, beijing. >> amazing watching that footage of stan's. well, vice president joe biden made his stance on gay marriage very clear. >> i am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marry men, women marry women, and heterosexual men and women marrying another, are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties. and quite frankly, i don't see much of a distinction beyond that. >> it sounds like the president might need to change his views from evolving to something a lot more specific. that's next. [ male announcer ] if you think tylenol is the pain reliever orthopedic doctors recommend most for arthritis pain, think again. and take aleve. it's the one doctors recommend most for arthritis pain. two pills can last all day. ♪ two pills can last all day. fore! no matter what small business you are in, managing expenses seems to... get in the way. not anymore. ink, the small business card from chase introduces jot an on-the-go expense app made exclusively for ink customers. custom categorize your expenses anywhere. save time and get back to what you love. the latest innovation. only for ink customers. learn more at chase.com/ink ticking in europe. but not in france. and an american held by al qaeda makes a direct plea to the president. we have that video for you. but first, our third story out front. pressure is building on the at he has called his quote,n evolvie ining position on gay marriage. ju a dayfter the president made it clear he supports it, the education secretary also weighed in today. >> do you believe that same-sex men and women should be able to get legally married in the united states. >> oh, come on. you're going to start there? >> yes, i do. >> okay -- >> have you ever said that publicly before? >> i don't know if i've ever been asked publicly. >> well, he wasn't expecting the question, so he answered it honestly. it was a good one. this all begs the question now of why so many in the obama administration are willing to say something the president isn't. john avalon joins me now, cnn political contributor, mara hoover is here with us in the studio. also happens to be the the better part of john. more of her biography on the left side of the screen. great to have o all of you with us. john, let me start wi you. the president when he was a state senator supported gay marriage. then he got in office and realized, politically, maybe you've got to be more careful. but joe biden has put him in his spot. is the president now going to be forced to say, yes or no, not on something ambiguous, but on gay marriage itself? >> well, i think, certainly, there's pressure building on the president among the the democratic base. and what joe biden and the cabinet secretary said, i think, reflects the growing conventional wisdom within the democratic base. the problem that the president has, of course, is elections are won with swing voter ifs swing states like north carolina. and while this president can point to successes in advancing ga and civil rights much more than any other president, that final step would lead him open to a series of negative attacks that could really alienate swing voters. so while he's going to be feeling that pressure, i don't think it's a done deal. >> what do you think, margaret? >> i think you never know what the president's going to do, but just because his education skrair has a different view than he does, remember, in george w. bush's administration that i worked in, the vice president also had a different view. vice president cheney was not for an national amendment to the constitution for same-sex marriage and president bush was for it and campaigned on it. the national perception is republicans are all against gay marriage. all of them are against it. and the truth is, there have been 285 legislators, republican legislators, across the country that have voted for freedom to marry, civil unions or domestic partnerships in the last few years. there are some tectonic shifts happening in the republican party that have not percolated up to the top of the national scene yet. >> jamal, do you think the president will be forced or choose to go out on a limb and do this. and it could galvanize some of his base. >> you know, i think most democrats don't see people not being that passionate in the debate. there's a poll out just this week that showed that there's far more enthusiasm in the democratic base for barack obama than there is in the republican base for mitt romney. but on this issue of gay marriage, it is possible the president is genuinely conflicted. you know, it's not a slam dunk. he's from chicago, you know, there's a lot of people in the african-american communitier who are con nikted on this issue. you talk about the politics of it. you talk about the politics, it's not just north carolina and virginia, think of suburban voters across ohio. there are a lot of people in the country who have not made up their mind on this issue. if there are politics there, they're weighing in on that front. >> and john, is north carolina going too far? i'm really curious about this. the state already bans same-sex marriages, right? so this thing they're voting on tomorrow is essentially making it in the constitution, so it would ban any kind of union at all. do most people in north carolina realize that? and is that something that's going to really end up hurting, frankly, mitt romney? >> i don't know if it will hurt mitt romney, but you make a really important poison. this isn't just banning gay marriage, this is something else. this would ban civil unions or domestic partnerships, so this really is an additional step. and the polls right now show that the forces that want to ban gay marriage have a force in the polls. and you're already seeing record turnout in early voting. this is a real force to watch tomorrow, because it could have real implications for the fall when north carolina's going to be a state the democrats desperately want to win again. >> erin, think about this. these elections happen in may, there's no democratic contested primary. there's no republican contested primary, really. so you're going to get a very small number of voters who are going to show up in this election. and i bet you the people who are passionate about it, the people who are against gay marriage are far more passionate than the people who are for it. >> jamal, there are other ballot initiatives on the map. you'll have maine and washington state. all will have ballot bites in november. north carolina, they expect to lose. they expect to lose by tight manners, not tight margins, but i think there'll be a lot more effort in this race and these state blot initiatives coming in november. >> thanks to all three. we appreciate it. 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