Officials: U.S. May Strike al Qaeda in Yemen; Abdulmutallab's Hometown
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. It is Wednesday, the 30th of December, 2009. And here are the top stories for you, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. A trail of missed opportunities from Nigeria to Detroit. Eight years after 9/11, U.S. agencies aren't communicating about potential terrorists. The Iranian regime calling thousands of its supporters to the streets. Anti-government protesters are told to stay away or expect no mercy. And tears of joy in Georgia. A mother reunited with the daughter she gave up for adoption 50 years ago. Good morning, everyone, I'm Tony Harris, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM. A new finding this morning about the attempted bombing of Northwest Flight 253. Here's what we know right now. Two senior administration officials tell CNN the U.S. military is reviewing targets in Yemen. Retaliatory strikes could be aimed at al Qaeda training camps. Bomb suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was apparently on the CIA's radar as far back as August, but sources tell us a report on the Nigerian never made it to other U.S. security agencies. President Obama calls the communication breakdown a systemic failure. The president says the intelligence, plus other information, could have kept the suspect off the plane. And an official with the African Union says a man was arrested after he tried to board a flight from Somalia to Dubai last month. The official says the man carried potential bomb-making ingredients. He says the incident may be linked to the Detroit incident. All passengers flying out of Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport to the U.S. will now undergo a full body scan. The technology could have detected the explosive powder hidden in the suspect's underwear.</s>GUUSJE TER HORST, DUTCH INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): It takes three weeks to start using these machines because one-half of the two still have to be</s>HARRIS: All right. And that is a look at the latest developments in the terror investigation this morning. Now let's zero in on Yemen and possible retaliatory strikes on al Qaeda. CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr joining me now. And Barbara, what are you learning about possible military action?</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Tony, let's break it down for people. There have, in fact, been, already this month, long before this Northwest flight incident, a number of military operations in Yemen. Some carried out directly by the Yemeni military, by all accounts, some U.S. intelligence and targeting information, possibly even some U.S. weapons provided to go after al Qaeda targets. The al Qaeda network in Yemen has already been in the crosshairs of both countries. But now, in light of this incident, two senior U.S. officials tell CNN that both countries, together, their military and security services are going back, looking at the al Qaeda target list inside of Yemen, trying to see if they can make a link to this Christmas Day foiled attack. And if they can, they certainly will continue to carry out these strikes that have already been ongoing, and they will look for targets that they can hit that were directly linked to this possible attack -- Tony.</s>HARRIS: Barbara, any way of knowing how many al Qaeda militants are operating or training in Yemen?</s>STARR: Right. What exactly is the al Qaeda target list in Yemen? Well, you know, U.S. officials say they think, but nobody has a really solid handle on it, that there might be as many as 200 or so al Qaeda members inside of Yemen around a central core leadership in that country. But the key is the strikes that have already happened, nobody really knows for sure yet whether they have been able to take out that core leadership or whether the leaders have actually scattered and now will even be tougher to track down. There are also a number of al Qaeda training camps inside of Yemen, and there is some concern that this Nigerian suspect may indeed have trained at one of those camps -- Tony.</s>HARRIS: One more for you, Barbara. The idea of dropping U.S. bombs on another country, clearly highly sensitive stuff here. How does the U.S. potentially head down this road and avoid the type of blowback we've seen in Pakistan?</s>STARR: Well, that is really key here. If there are additional strikes, the level of U.S. involvement, we are told by very senior officials in the Obama administration, would be directly coordinated with the Yemenis. And that's the reason the U.S. has been so quiet about the strikes that have already happened this month. There's essentially a secret agreement with Yemen. The U.S. will help, it will help as much as it can, it will press the Yemenis to do as much as they can, but Washington will remain very quiet about it because it's so sensitive inside of Yemen that there would be any U.S. military assistance. So don't expect to see a lot of headlines when and if it happens -- Tony.</s>HARRIS: OK. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us. Barbara, appreciate it. Thank you. And next hour we will talk more about airport security worldwide. Rafi Ron joins us. He is the former security director at Israel's Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International Airport. And to get a better understanding of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, CNN's Christian Purefoy traveled to the hometown of the suspected terrorist in Nigeria.</s>CHRISTIAN PUREFOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the small mosque once attended by Umar Abdulmutallab, the man who allegedly tried to let off a bomb onboard the Detroit flight on Christmas Day. The last time Abdulmutallab came here to pray, his neighbors say, was in August this year, just before he went to Yemen. Everyone here is shocked that he is now the center of a global terrorist alert. (on camera): Was he a devout Muslim? (voice-over): "He would be the first to prayers and the last to leave," says the local imam. "But he didn't mingle. He liked isolation." At the prestigious local school he attended, which does not even teach religion, this son of a wealthy Nigerian banker is remembered as well-behaved and popular with his classmates. (on camera): So he mixed with children from all backgrounds here, Christian, Muslim...</s>KERCHIRI SETH, SCHOOL VICE PRESIDENT: Yes, that's right. Christians, Muslims, Hindus, other religions, because we have other nationals here in Nigeria.</s>PUREFOY: Do you have Americans here in the school?</s>SETH: Yes, we have Americans.</s>PUREFOY: But outside the school there was violence on the streets. The city of Kaduna sits on one of the longest religious fault lines in the world, separating a Christian sub-Saharan Africa and a Muslim northern Africa. In 2000 nearly 1,000 people were killed in Kaduna after religious riots, and in 2002, thousands were displaced after the Miss World Competition was to be held here. It was canceled after tens of mosques and churches were burned. Growing up in Kaduna, Abdulmutallab was certainly no stranger to religious violence. (voice-over): Nobody in Kaduna that I met publicly supports Abdulmutallab's actions. But he is certainly not alone in his resentment against the West. "The West promotes immoral values," said this trader. "It's wrong for the west to support the Israelis to kill Muslim Muslims," says another. Extremism is not taught here, insists Imam Dumawa. There is no attempt to justify suicide attacks. Abdulmutallab must have learned his radical ideas in his studies abroad, he says. But he warns many similar young men from wealthy families studying in the Middle East are often returning with dangerous ideas. "There are sects abroad that are trying to trap and brainwash our children," the imam says. The question that concerns many in Kaduna now is whether Abdulmutallab may not be the last young Nigerian to fall prey to radical and violent ideology. Christian Purefoy, CNN, Kaduna, Nigeria.</s>HARRIS: Another major story we're developing and following this hour, government-staged rallies in Iran. We will show you the other side of the story. And Jacqui Jeras tracking weather. Get your -- I always want to walk over here when I see this shot. Get your New Year's Eve forecast from this lady right here.</s>JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You've got to go that way. Hello.</s>HARRIS: Sorry about that, Jacqui. I don't know what to do with that shot. But first, here's the latest from the New York Stock Exchange. We're selling, in a selling mood early. Stocks down 13 points. We're following developments throughout the day, right here for you in the CNN NEWSROOM.