Were other passenger planes at risk . Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. The breaking news a key u. S. Ally in the war against al qaeda is under serious attack from within. A power shift could leave the terror group Even Stronger and much more dangerous. Cremens president ial palace has now been seized by the rebels and the countrys information minister says a coup is now complete. Amid the chaos, a very dangerous situation for hundreds of americans, if not more. The u. S. Embassy says shots were fired at one of its vehicles and two u. S. Navy warships are now in position to evacuate americans from the u. S. Embassy in yemen if necessary. Congressman Jason Chaffetz is standing by live along with correspondents and analysts. We have the only western tv reporter on the ground in yemen, nick paton walsh. Lets begin with our pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. Barbara . Tonight, wolf the u. S. Embassy in Yemen Remains open and operating, said to be a vital outpost to keeping an eye on al qaeda in yemen. The question of course is how long before it simply gets too dangerous to stay put . Yemen under siege from iranianbacked shiite rebels attacking the president ial palace raising the possibility of an allout coup against the sunniled 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. Its 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 military operation, given the uncertainty of the security situation on the ground. A longer term concern . The unraveling of yemen. Next door saudi arabia worried about irans power play in sue pouring the rebels. And the inability of the Yemen Government to take control if al qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, aqap the local affiliate a dangerous advantage just a week after laying claim to the paris attack. Al qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is under the least pressure we have ever seen it because the government is struggling to survive. Frankly, its losing that struggle right now. Just months ago, president obama touting the u. S. Partnership with yemen. The strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us while supporting partners on the front lines is one that we have successfully pursued in yemen and somalia for years. So why run the risk of staying in yemen . The u. S. Diplomats staying put . U. S. Officials say keeping an eye on al qaeda in yemen is vital. Right now it is considered the top threat in terms of terrorist organizations that could reach out and attack the United States. Wolf . Were beginning to see a clear pattern, as you know barbara, the u. S. Obviously for good reason shut down its embassy in damascus syria suspended all Embassy Operations in somalia, evacuated all americans from libya despite the massive u. S. Effort to get rid of kadhafi and get a new regime there. It looks like only a matter of time before the same thing happens in yemen now. I assume two warships are in place, but they probably will need more assets. There are a lot of americans in yemen right now. Well military officials, wolf will tell you that they do have everything in place to handle this if they are ordered. And, look, even if the diplomats were ordered out of yemen and they got in cars and drove to the airport to get commercial flights, the u. S. Military will keep a very close eye on them as they go through those streets of sanaa. That is a very dangerous situation there right now. But wolf you just made a very critical point. There are so many places that the state department has basically had to shutter places that are vital to collecting intelligence on the war on terror. They are reluctant shutter any more of the places. The general feeling is the state department would like to hang on. The pentagon is saying youve got to go before we cant get you out. There are a lot of military personnel in yemen right know the exact number classified. But there are a lot. Theyd have to be evacuated presumably in addition to the diplomats and civilians and other americans there. Thanks very much barbara, for that report. Lets go to yemen right now. Our Senior International correspondent nick waitenpaton walsh, the only western Tv Correspondent on the ground there. What are you seeing there today . I understand a u. S. Embassy vehicle was shot at with americans inside what is the latest youre seeing and hearing, nick . Reporter well the incident happened on monday night near the u. S. Embassy. The black armored suvs, a couple of them seemed to be nearing the embassy and gunmen opened fire initially warning shots but then shots aimed at the vehicle. It was an intent there quote. Nobody was injured on the government side. That was followed today by the real power youve been talk being about, wolf. Weve been seeing an extraordinary situation. The president ial administration was shelled over yesterday. Today, the houthi Rebel Movement accused of being backed by iran they deny that they simply moved in during the end of some political talks aimed at keem kooeching the ceasefire going. There was gunfire outside of the president s residence itself. He of course stayed in there, is said to be safe. The question really now is we just heard the houthi leader on tv asking for changes to the new constitution, a greater share in power, perhaps a change in military operations and a key al qaeda area in yemen. We really are wondering quite whos in charge. Are cabinet officials going to come into work tomorrow . The minister seems to say that the president completely lost control when she spoke to me early on. The houthi leader still calls the president the president. Hes not necessarily claiming a change in title. But the building the president is supposed to be in are crawling with his militia. Theres an enormous power vacuum something that must be troubling washington here. They dont know who to ring here at the moment. If they did call the president , quite where is he and does he have any leads on power . There is a lot of uncertainty here in washington. I can tell you right now they dont believe the shiite rebels who seem to be taking charge, that they really want to go after americans but they fear that could change pretty quickly. Theyre worried about that even though they see no immediate indications that these Houthi Rebels are going to target americans. Reporter well one of the slogans the rebels have on their post is death to america. I mean they very much ascribe to that sort of iranian revolution slogan which leads to iran backing or ideological systems, which they deny. At the moment in the countrys capital, they seem to be initially when they first came in a source of calm. But they were eventually attacked by al qaeda and now weve seen them run into conflict with the government themselves. Theres no immediate antiamerican sentiment you see when you meet them but the leaders speech today it was clear it was critical of the u. N. The u. S. Many western powers trying to impose in yemen, impose the new constitution which they thought would split the country into six different parts, certainly against the benefit of the houthis here. Theres a definite concern of how this develops simply because of the sectarian divide. Theyre facing a lot of sunni tribes including al qaeda. As that tension builds as it has across the middle east, that would certainly assist al qaeda and make life very difficult for the west trying to pursue key targets with the u. S. Drone campaign. Were showing our viewers some video you shot earlier today showing some of the devastation that has occurred the shelling, the fighting thats been going on. Its a pitifully poor country to begin with but it looks like a real disaster unfolding in yemen right now. Is that what you see . Reporter well, the streets of sanaa everybody is terrified hiding indoors, staying away from the windows explaining to their children whats going on. Then theyre running around filling their cars are petrol. Theyre used to it conflict. Nick paton walsh, be careful over there. Well be in touch. Nick the only western Television Reporter courageous enough from our perspective to be in yemen right now. Well stay in close tough with him. The United States may no longer have an antiterror ally in yemen. Hundreds of americans if not more are at risk right now, diplomats, military personnel, other civilians. Joining us now a key voice on National Security issues Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz of utah. Congressman, the yemens capital, the president ial palace and other key places are in control of the rebels. How dangerous is this crumbling situation in yemen right now for the americans who are still there . Well, it may be the most volatile situation on the face of the planet at the moment especially if youre an american. Were deeply concerned about the Embassy Personnel the military personnel, others there in that country, the houthis are making a strong push and as was pointed out in the report no friends of the United States of america. Yet i worry that the president literally a short while ago is not only heaping praise on the success he called it in yemen. That is obviously not the situation. We have to get on top of it because and were good to have to bring in partners like saudi arabia and united arab of emirates emirates. Thats in september when he was citing yemen and maybe somalia as a Success Story in the war on terror. Since then the situation has unfolded. Today you just heard nick report that a u. S. Embassy armored car was fired at not far from the embassy. Heres the question. Is it time from your perspective, to get out of there to evacuate americans while the u. S. Still can in. Look i know we may be republicans and democrats, but we care deeply about the american personnel there. The state department and white house itself will have to make that decision. Id like us to stay there as long as possible. I think engagement is an important part of the longterm future there. We want to have our Embassy Personnel there doing everything they can to build economic ties to that country. But at the same time safety comes first, and theyre going to have to make that decision. Ill support them if they decide to pull them out. Congressman chaffetz stand by. We have a lot more to discuss including whats going on in the overall war on terror. The latest developments unfolding in europe right now. Well take a quick break. Much more right after this. Music. The getaway vehicle for all the confidence you need. Td ameritrade. You got this. They challenge us. They take us to worlds full of heroes and titans. For respawn, building the best Interactive Entertainment begins with the cloud. This is titanfall, the first multiplayer game built and run on microsoft azure. 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Is it just a matter of time before aqap strikes again . Well thats the worry. We worry about the intelligence were able to gather in that part of the world. Certainly they have been expanding, theyre attacking, going after the president ial palace. Does that mean they can strike again in europe or heaven forbid into the United States or anywhere for that matter . Thats the deep worry. So we dont have the type of intelligence gathering there that we need. We know that some of those isis terrorists are dispatching their fighters to specifically target westerners. Mostly in the past we always assume isis was going after various locations in syria and iraq, maybe a few other places in the region. But now there seems to be a new strategy. Is that your understanding . Thats what makes it so difficult to defend because it is widespread. You can do it with small groups of people. But certainly that message has been out there and been pervasive. You see there are calls for those types of terrorist type of activities and the world needs to come together a, lets identify what it is and lets go after and get it. It is radical islamic terrorism. Lets call it what it is and lets go after it and get the job taken care of. I think the world is coming to that conclusion. We cant mess around with this. We have to go out and capture if not kill these people. We know that isis is now demanding japan pull its support for the u. S. Led Coalition Air strikes against isis in syria and iraq. They are demanding isis terrorists 200 million for the return, release of two japanese hostages. There you see some video, you cite two japanese hostages on their knees. Theyre being threatened with beheading within 72 hours unless japan pays 200 million. Whats your reaction when you see this . Well thats what terrorists do. They try to inflict terror and theyre doing it upon the japanese people and the rest of the civilized world. Thats why you can have a no tolerance policy. You have to call it what it is. Were going to have to come up with a global strategy the United States inevitably is going to have to lead that strategy. We need the president more engaged on this to make sure that we bring along the Coalition Partners in all the corners of the world from the japanese to the saudi arabiaens to the united arab emirates. Were going to have to bring people together and correctively fight and defeat this. Youve said the Obama Administration has done in your words a terrible job bringing in other countries in this fight against isis. What other countries are you talking about . What else do you want the u. S. To do . We can talk for instance about no fly zones and making sure we have air superiority, which we could clearly have and clearly do. But we also need to have the engagement of many of those in the middle east who do not want to see the spread of isis who can come to our aid and are in a position not only financially you know its great when they pony up and spend the dollars, but theyre going to have to actually use people and personnel and intelligence. We need that help with the iranian influence and what youre seeing playing out in yemen. The saudi arraignabiarabias united arab of emirates. It takes leadership to fight and win this war. What countries specifically do you want to be brought into the u. S. Led coalition. We need everybody from every nato ally we can name we also need people from the middle east. We have fallen apart in libya. That is nowhere to be found. Egypt is going to play an important part of this. Saudi arabia specifically has a very vested interest that really needs to be in lockstep with us every step of the way. The suspected ringleader of this belgium terror plot is still at large. How important is he that he be captured . Well look you have some great counterterrorism efforts there between the french and those in belgium. I dont know where he is. If i did i couldnt say it anyway. There are a lot of good efforts to capture this one individual. It is a web. You want to understand who are they communicating with who are they interacting with . Who else is maybe in support of what they were doing there . And so i know a lot of effort is being placed into that. I dont have an update for you. I wish i did, wolf. What would you like to hear from the president tonight in his state of the Union Address when it comes to the war on terror . Look i think this is one thing that the president can bring republicans and democrats