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Attempted Airliner Terror Attack

Aired December 26, 2009 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: We, of course, as well, have a very busy day ahead just as you've had a busy morning, particularly because of what U.S. officials are now calling an attempted terrorist attack on a U.S. airliner.

Let's bring you up to date on what has been taking place, since CNN first brought you the story yesterday afternoon. We have this exclusive photo now of the suspect. There, in the white t-shirt, taken by a fellow passenger. He is 23 years old, a Nigerian national, identified as Umar Farouk Abodul Mutallab. The FBI has been questioning him and the "Associated Press" reports a prominent Nigerian banker says the suspect just might be his son.

Passengers aboard flight 253 say the man tried to set off a small incendiary device, or explosive device, it's still being sorted out what this device was, as the plane was actually approaching the Detroit Airport, a flight that originated in Amsterdam.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHELLE KEEPMAN, FLIGHT 253 PASSENGER: We were in the back of the plane, and all of a sudden heard some screams, and flight attendants ran up and down the aisles, and I think we knew at the point when we saw the fear in the flight attendant's eyes and they grabbed the fire extinguisher, and then also we smelled a bunch of smoke.

MELINDA DENNIS, FLIGHT 253 PASSENGER: From what we can tell there was a gentleman that had some sort of device on him that caused him to catch on fire. They put out the fire, brought him up front were they stripped hill down to make sure he had nothing else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: We're seeing long lines, of course, at some airports across the country as a result of what took place and the fact that this is still the holiday season, lots of travel. Officials with the Transportation Security Administration tells CNN that passengers will see increased security. For how long? Unclear. But there are no changes in the requirements for domestic or international flights as we know of yet.

CNN is following this story from every conceivable angle. You can you see our crews are simply across the map worldwide from Amsterdam to Hawaii, to Washington and, of course, Detroit. Let's start with Deborah Feyerick she is at the airport outside Detroit.

So, Deborah, what are we hearing from the SCI or any officials, there?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, this is what we can tell you so far, this investigation in full swing. Investigators both here and overseas tracking down whatever leads they have on this 23-year-old Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab. It appears he's a student at the University of London -- University College of London, which is a premiere university there, in the U.K. Searches have been done of one of the place where is he is believed to have lived, a very ritzy apartment in central London.

Now, a senior official told us yesterday that he is talking to the FBI, and he is, "talking a lot." Now, federal and international authorities are trying to retrace his steps. Who he may have spoken with and where he may have been. Four different countries we know that he is at least connected with. One, Yemen. He allegedly told investigators that he got the device in Yemen and he got instructions there on how to use it. Who was he talking to? That's under investigation. Then his departure point, Lagos, Nigeria, he flew to Amsterdam, the fifth largest airport in Europe and it is there that he boarded this flight to Detroit, Michigan.

Now, he was sitting towards the front of the plane, seat 19a, which is a window seat. Not clear whether he received instructions that it would be an effective place to detonate this device.

Well, let's talk about that device. Now, that also is under investigation. There was a lot of smoke. People heard a loud pop. The question investigators want to know is, did it actually detonate or did it simply burn and not do what it was supposed to. So they're looking at that, as well. Again, this man was sophisticated enough to at least bring this device on to two planes. Why it did not do what it was supposed to, well, that's one thing that investigators want to know.

Now, an official document says that when this man was taken into custody, he did say he had extremist affiliations. What is not clear is whether he trained in some sort of al Qaeda terror camp or whether he is simply a terror wannabe, some self-radicalized lone jihadi, who self-funded this trip and this planned to detonate this explosive device. The device apparently, in his lap where he received second and third-degree burns. If it were it not for the bravery of some of the passengers onboard that plane, it could have been worse.

One man who saw what was going on lunged over a couple seats to get to him and subdue him. But right now, this investigation, Fredricka, in full throttle as people are spanning out in several countries trying to figure out exactly how this happened -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And Deborah, I know you've spoken to a lot of passengers, a lot of passengers on that flight have spoken publicly. Did anyone say that there was anything peculiar about his behavior, his activity just prior to this device burning him on the plane?

FEYERICK: You know, it's interesting, one woman described him after the incident as calm. I did speak to another woman who appears to have seen him prior to boarding in Amsterdam who said he seemed to be pacing a little bit. You know, unclear whether that behavior becomes suspicious. You know, after the fact, however, he was sitting there, he was quiet, and he certainly doesn't seem to have attracted any unusual attention during that seven to eight-hour flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. So, it was only in the final moments everything sort of went chaotic.

WHITFIELD: All right, Deborah Feyerick, thanks so much from Detroit, there, appreciate that.

Well, from Hawaii where President Obama has been spending the holiday vacation with his family he has spoken out on this as well, was briefed right away, early yesterday morning, prior to the public learning about it. Our senior White House correspondent, Ed Henry, is in Honolulu.

Ed, you thought this might be a piece cake of a White House gig, there in Hawaii, but lo and behold now there's something very significant that has caught the White House's attention

ED HENRY, CNN SR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fred. A very serious national security challenge that this White House knows it needs to treat very carefully, and that's why they are keeping this president in the loop both with briefings from some of his top security adviser, but also paper updates, we're told.

He's getting secure communications from the White House situation room all the way back in Washington, making sure the president stays in the loop, has the latest information. Here's what we're being told the president knows right now.

First of all, the president has been briefed that this was an attempted terror attack. That is what U.S. officials believe. Secondly, the president was told this suspect is being debriefed by the FBI and has been talking a lot, has been giving up a lot of information. That coming to us from a senior U.S. official familiar with the investigation. This senior official also said the early impression in what the president is being told is that this suspect appears to have acted alone, does not appear to have direct connections to an organized terror group like al Qaeda. Nevertheless, this is still very early in this investigation, this senior official and others are cautioning, so they're still trying to gather as much as they can.

But, in these early stages, they also do not believe that there were other bombs, devices ready to detonate on other planes around the United States, but they have been running the traps, in the words of one official, to make certain of that, to make sure that there's nothing else planned or plotted that could be unfolding today or in the days ahead.

Finally, also, we're told that the president yesterday, during one of these secure briefings, ordered federal officials to beef up aviation security around the country. As you've been noting, White House officials realize that could make an already difficult holiday travel season a bit more difficult, but obviously, they believe security is paramount in this situation, and so they say there may be some challenges, may be hurdles, but they've got to make sure that there are no more incidents like this -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ed Henry, thanks so much for that update from Honolulu where the first family is vacationing, spending the holiday week. But, of course, staying on top of this investigation, which is really in its infancy.

CNN Special Investigations Unit correspondent, Drew Griffin joins me live for a quick debrief now on the security incident, yesterday in Detroit, and other details emerging from this.

What's interesting, too, while we hear this individual went through security in at least two airports, Amsterdam being one of them, before this was to take place approaching the Detroit Airport, does this mean that investigators are starting to believe he may have had devices that were not necessarily unauthorized devices, but somehow got creative on being able to use it and an incendiary device?

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT: Yeah, I think they're trying to figure what exactly it is, right now. In fact, we know that's what they're doing, trying to figure out if it was it meant to burn, to blow up, did it act as it was? Was it such a pathetic piece equipment that this is all it did, was the burn the person carrying it? Or was there some bigger thing that didn't happen that could have happened?

But, what they're also going to be looking at is how it did get through the screening. And the problem is, this device may have been small enough, may have been strapped to his body where they just didn't detect it through any machine or screening you would have other than some kind of behavioral notification, somebody who said something that the man was pacing before the flight.

That may have been something that stuck out, they brought him aside, questioned him a little more. You know, that kind of additional personal contact, possibly, but you know, in a lot of cases, if this was a powder or if this was a small liquid mixed way powder onboard you're not going to detect it.

WHITFIELD: Except the restrictions on liquids, that's something that all passengers know about. Really this kind of reminds you of the Richard Reid incident, 2001, same sort of thing. Transatlantic flight, Richard Reid was eventually convicted of trying to light his shoe.

GRIFFIN: That's right.

WHITFIELD: You know, an incendiary device, and all kinds of layers of security were put into place as a result of that.

GRIFFIN: Including taking off your shoes, putting them through a detector to see if there's anything weird about that shoe, not just if there's a metal plate in it, but there's anything else that they could see in it. But, all these avenues are being investigated from the forensics to what Deb Feyerick was talking about, the suspect talking to where he lived in London, his possible connections to a rich family in Nigeria. All of these will be looked as they try to figure not only what happened, but how to try to prevent this or see the warning signs before it happens again.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, and how this just might be impacting travel in the immediate way. Lots of people traveling, millions of people traveling, right now, during the holiday season. So, everyone is going to be impacted in some way, shape or form as a result of this.

All right, Drew Griffin, thanks so much. We'll be checking back with you throughout the day.

All right, well we know the bomb suspect boarded this Northwest flight in the Netherlands. We'll tell what you they're doing at the airport, there, right now, to stop something like this from happening again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, very long lines at airports across the country and around the world particularly because of new concerns as result of that breach of security, potentially, that may have happened over the past 24 hour.

The FBI now questioning the man in white t-shirt in this CNN exclusive photo, right here, he is identified at 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab. The "Associated Press" reports a Nigerian banker says the man might be his son.

Passengers say the suspect tried to light some kind of device attached to his leg. He was the only one hurt. This taking place as the flight, which started in Amsterdam, was descending in Detroit. That's when this device was lit, that's when the burning took place and that's when the tackling took place, as well.

Well, today as a result of what took place on that flight, we're seeing long lines at various airports across this country. Officials with The Transportation Security Administration say they have definitely beefed up security, but there are no changes in the requirements for domestic or international flights, as of yet.

So now, there's going to be extra screening taking place, but could it have potentially been a lack of security overseas that actually got us to this point? Joining me now from New York is international security analyst, Glenn Schoen.

All right, good to see you, Glen. Well, right now we really don't know what this device is, so how is that impacting security measures, not just at American airports, but maybe those overseas as well?

GLENN SCHOEN, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, security is always a matter of layering your efforts. So, they're looking at different places in the process, what can we do to stop things? Can we check and make sure we have the right person and their identity, that their ticket is correct? Do they show signs of nervousness? When we check their back baggage, do we find suspicious objects in that luggage? Do we fing things that may be put together, that might form a danger? Is it possible that a cluster of people traveling together on an aircraft might be bringing different components of a device on to one plane? (CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: So these are things that you look at to prevent something terrible from happening, but now that something strange, alarming, has indeed happened, something the White House calling it an attempted terrorist act, how is this impacting security measures in this country abroad at the airports? What is being done to try and identify another attempt like this? What can we say investigators and security agents are looking for, right now?

SCHOEN: Well, some of it's out in the open and some it's not so visible. But obviously we can think about patterns by which we can search for people who might be traveling alone or on one-way tickets or a particular age group, or coming from particular destinations or trying to get on U.S.-bound flights at the last moment.

So, there's different kinds of steps that are not so visible, but are used by analysts to pre-determine in support of security operations what flight should we especially target? And a lot of airports now are going through what they call 100 percent control measures, meaning that everything that they have, that they can use to deploy now to add to the security effort in any way, whether it's dogs or nitrate snitchers or extra people for an additional round of questioning people before they board the flight to detect signs of nervousness or deceit is now being put to use.

WHITFIELD: And so while that's being used, this 100 percent controlled effort, as you say, these security agencies are now looking for guidance from the FBI and others who are looking into this device. Whether it was an incendiary device, explosive device, we still don't know -- trying to examine the component and how might the discovery of these components impact air travel almost immediately?

SCHOEN: Well, it could be very significant. Let's say we hear from the FBI today that certain viles or syringes or plastic tubes were used to make this device, and we're worried about copycats or follow- up attacks, then certainly that would be an immediate message going out to all airline security agencies, worldwide. Probably coordinated through the IASA, the International Aviation Sarty Authority, to make sure those the kinds of things we'll be looking at targeting. And as we had in 2006, it probably means that there's going to be a bit of a shock to the system, meaning that people haven't yet been instructed to please leave this or that type of object at home and now suddenly are faced with extra scrutiny and people pulling out those viles, syringes, whatever it may going to be faced with extra scrutiny and people pulling out those viles or syringes or whatever it may be.

WHITFIELD: International...

SCHOEN: Extra difficult -- I'm sorry. What makes it extra hard right now is it's wintertime. So, everybody is traveling with coats, extra luggage, probably gifts, electronics, computer articles that they've gotten for Christmas. It makes it extra difficult for security personnel.

WHITFIELD: Oh, wow. All right. International Security Analyst, Glenn Schoen, thanks so much and we'll be talking to you throughout the day, because this investigation, as I mentioned earlier, is still in its infancy.

Which also brings to us our legal guys who will be joining us later on in the hour. No charges, as of yet, that we know of, but the suspect is being questioned while he is also being hospitalized because of those burns on the leg. We're going to be talking to our legal guys about what potential charges might be in store for this suspect, whether it be here domestically or perhaps even abroad.

Much more straight ahead right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, new developments in the alleged terror attempt on Northwest Airlines flight 253, Friday, in Detroit. Here's what we know. Police in London are searching the last known home the suspect. The suspect a 23-year-old Nigerian citizen and is in U.S. custody after the Christmas day incident. The man identified at Umar Farouk Abdul Mutalla allegedly ignited some type of explosive or incendiary device aboard Northwest Airlines flight 253 as the plane was about to land in Detroit.

British security officials described the terror attempt as a potentially serious security threat, and say police in Britain are working closely with U.S. investigators to "uncover the full background to the incident."

The "Associated Press" reports a Nigerian banker believes the suspect behind this terror attempt on a U.S. airliner may be his son. Twenty- three-year-old Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab is accused of igniting this incendiary device. You're looking at exclusive images that actually came from a passenger onboard the flight. The suspect is actually in that white t-shirt if you can make it out, there. It was a very nerve-racking experience for all that passengers, particularly this one on the plane.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHELLE KEEPMAN, FIGHT 253 PASSENGER: We were in the back of the plane, and the all of a sudden heard some screams, and flight attendants ran up and down the aisles and I think we knew at the point when we saw the fear in the flight attendant's eyes and they grabbed fire extinguishers and then also we smelled a bunch of smoke.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The suspect claims to have extremist ties and he is being questioned by the FBI and officials say he is actually cooperating as they continue to question him.

The U.S. military calls the release of a new Taliban video a "horrible act." The video shows Army Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl. He disappeared from his post in eastern Afghanistan back in June. One senior U.S. official says it looks like the video may have been shot several months ago offering no proof that private Bergdahl is still Alive.

And tensions are reaching a boiling point again in Iran, today. Thousands of demonstrators clashed with riot police in Tehran. Police actually outnumber the anti-government protesters. You're looking at amateur video shot of the protest and things could get even worse apparently tomorrow, that's when even more demonstrators are expected to take to the streets to mourn the Grand-Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, right there in the photo with the glasses.

Thousands turned out for the funeral, this week. He was a leading voice of the opposition and critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Sunday marks the seventh day since his death. The seventh day is traditionally a time of mourning in Islam.

All right, so what next for this suspect that now FBI officers are investigating in Detroit, as his burns are also being nursed at a hospital. His name again, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab. It is clear now, according to many passengers onboard that he was trying to light something on the plane as the transatlantic flight, as it was descending in Detroit. So, now what for this suspect? Our legal guys are with us. Avery Friedman is a civil rights attorney and law professor and Richard Herman is a New York comical defense attorney and law professor.

Good to see both of you.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTY: Good to see you, Fredricka.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTY: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: OK, Richard, let me begin with you. Apparently he is cooperating; I'm talking about the suspect, with FBI authorities as he's being hospitalized in Detroit. What kind of charges might come out of this?

HERMAN: I'm sure he's...

WHITFIELD: Is it too early toll say?

HERMAN: I think it's a early, Fred, but I'm sure he's voluntarily cooperating. I'm sure there's not an issue, there. But, in any event he'll be charged in the United States with these actions, these criminal acts he committed while over the airspace of the United States. And certainly that's where we want him charged here, because he's going to be convicted and spend probably, probably die in prison.

We don't want the Netherlands to prosecute him because he saw how they botched the Natalee Holloway thing. So he has to be prosecuted and will be in the United States. He is not going to see the light of day again, and the unsung heroes, Fred, are the passengers who subdued him. Because you can have all of these plans and controls in place walking through airports, but when you sit on that plane, you have to be aware, it's sad, but you have to be aware of your surroundings and these passengers who subdued this guy, they're the heroes.

WHITFIELD: And so, Avery, when there -- is it really that clear-cut? Because I'm talking about a transatlantic flight, and yes, while upon descent in Detroit this incident took place, tell me, or is it cut and dry that U.S. authorities would be the ones taking charge of this? Or would it involve a whole n'other body because it originated overseas?

FRIEDMAN: Not even a question, Fredricka. It's going to be prosecuted here in the United States. Now, many don't know that next to New York or Washington, the federal district court in the eastern district of Michigan, that's Detroit, has more experience than virtually any other federal court. Between the U.S. attorney's office in Detroit, between the Justice Department officials in Washington, I can think of roughly nine federal charges that Mr. Abdul Mutallab will are charged with. Again, we're early on, but I actually am certain that this will be prosecuted by American authorities.

WHITFIELD: OK, all right. Let's move on to another case, even though know we could delve into this, you know, quite aggressively for a long time, now, but we only have a limited amount of time with you guys and we have a couple other cases, too. David Goldman, New Jersey dad being reunited with his 9-year-old son, Sean. We've talk about it a long time now. Is this case closed, done deal? They're back in the U.S.? Or might the Brazilian family in any way be able to make yet another legal issue as it pertains to visitation? Anything like that -- Avery.

FRIEDMAN: Well, I think this week was a great day for the rule of law. A great day for matters of the heart. The fact is that the Brazilian family will fit into the formula, not in a legal perspective, Fredricka, but ultimately what we have to think about is 9-year-old Sean Goldman. And the family, David seems like a very sophisticated dad. There's going to be a period of time in which there's going to be a reclamation. But, don't be surprised to see the Brazilian family factoring in, not a legal perspective, but in the best interests of little Sean.

WHITFIELD: And Richard, do you see it that way? Because I understand there is a pretty good bond between the grandmother, the Brazilian grandmother and Sean and that maybe something's going to be worked out where they can see each other? Have contact?

HERMAN: Yeah, there may be some supervised visitation in the United States.

FRIEDMAN: Yeah.

HERMAN: In the town where Sean lives, but he's not going on any trips, he's not going back to Brazil. And Chief Judge Gilmar Mendes out of the supreme court of Brazil overturn the corrupt judge who entered this stay and prevented the return of this young man. He is back with his father. They were at Disney world this weekend, probably still there and that's where he belongs. And like you said, if they factor in it's going to be supervised visitation, he's not out of this country again.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. OK, 30 seconds for one last bit. The Amanda Knox case. I know both of you have been pretty fired up about it. Now we're talking about the first person who was convicted and serving time for this murder. He got a sentence reduction. What does that mean potentially for Amanda Knox. Here family members, here in the states who were hoping that maybe he harsh sentence, what was it 26 years, might get reduced in some way? Avery, does this...

FRIEDMAN: I mean, I've been saying this all along. You're either going to see a reversal reduction in the sentence. The fact that Rudy Guede, who was the actual murder, the drifter, had his reduced from 30 to 16, bodes very, very well for Amanda Knox. Very optimistic.

WHITFIELD: Do you agree?

HERMAN: No, I don't agree. I think it's meaningless. It was a simple calculation error in calculating the time. It's not going to have any impact on Amanda Knox. And Fred, trust me, there are people in the United States that get convicted of murder with less evidence than was found in the Amanda Knox trial.

WHITFIELD: All right. Richard Herman and Avery Friedman, thanks so much, good to see you all. Happy holidays.

HERMAN: You too, see you next year, Fredricka.

FRIEDMAN: Happy holidays, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much. See you in 2010.

All right, we're going to talk more about the incident that took place in the air in Detroit. The suspect being connected to Yemen. Well, Yemen is known as a magnet for militants where the government has given ground to separatists and insurgents. So, what the connection just might be behind this attempted terror attack in the U.S. and Yemen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back.

We're continuing to follow what officials call an attempted terror attack on an U.S. airliner. It happened Christmas Day. The man in the white T-shirt you're about to see in this CNN exclusive photo was taken into custody at the Detroit Airport. He's identified as 23- year-old Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab. The "Associated Press" reports a Nigerian banker says this man actually might be his son.

Passengers say the suspect tried to ignite some sort of an incendiary or explosive device attached to his leg. He was burned and apparently, was the only one lurt. He's being hospitalized in Detroit where FBI authorities are also questioning him.

Well, as a result today, we're also seeing long lines at some airports across the country. Officials with the Transportation Security Administration say that they have beefed up security, but there have been no changes in the requirements for domestic or international flights as yet. The advice, however, if you're going to the airport, you need to get there early. So, the suspect says the explosive or incendiary device came from Yemen. Well, Yemen was where al Qaeda attacked the USS Cole in 2000, killing 17 U.S. sailors and although the government insists that it is a loyal ally in the fight against terrorism, Yemen remains a hot bed of extremist thought.

CNN correspondent Mohammed Jamjoom has spent some time there. He's joining us now. So Mohammed, when it was learned that this device may have come from Yemen, there may have been some correspondence between either someone in Yemen and this suspect, what thoughts went through your mind? What thoughts perhaps went through investigators' minds in terms of the connection between Yemen, the history of Yemen and the U.S.?

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Fredricka, I can tell you the security analysts I've spoken with and the Yemen government officials that I've spoken with have told me it doesn't take a big leap of the imagination to think that this person could have gone to Yemen and these weapons could have been taken out of Yemen.

Yemen is a very poor, very dangerous country with very porous, open borders. It's very easy to smuggle stuff into Yemen, to smuggle stuff out of Yemen. It's been a hot bed of militant activity for a very long time, even before 2001.

What you're seeing now is the Yemeni government trying to show the world that they're coming out very strong trying to battle al Qaeda. That's a big deal because al Qaeda is very resurgent there, it's very strong. Some people think it's even stronger than the government, that the government is very ineffective there right now.

But it's not just al Qaeda that the Yemeni government has to worry about. They've got a separatist movement going on in the south of the country; that's very dangerous. They've also got these Houthi rebels that are fighting with the government in the northern part of the country on the border with Saudi Arabia.

So, trying to contain all that, fight all of that, keep everything together, everybody I speak with say you know, Yemen right now, it's not just that it's a failing state, it's practically a collapsed state. That's very dangerous and people are really concerned al Qaeda and militancy is going to be a much bigger problem there in the near future -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So, the two things that stand out for me in what you just said there -- you talk about the porous borders and you talk about the government being so weak that perhaps al Qaeda is stronger than the Yemeni government there. So, when it is said or reported that this suspect may have gotten a device that came from there or may have interacted with someone in Yemen, it is no longer an outlandish thought?

JAMJOOM: Everybody I've spoken with says, no, that is by no means an outlandish thought. Now, the Yemeni government has not commented on this, they have not comfirmed that this person was ever in Yemen, that he had ties or contacts with any militant groups there, including al Qaeda or other militant groups.

But let me tell you just some of the signs that we've seen over the past months that shows how concerned not just Yemen's regional neighbors are, but also the U.S. is about the situation there. In July, you saw General David Petraeus going there, talking to the Yemeni president about the situation with al Qaeda. In August, you saw John McCain going there with a delegation, once again seeing what the U.S. could do to help the Yemenese in their fight against terror.

Clearly, the U.S. is concerned, they don't want the violence spilling over, they don't want it getting worse, OK. Beyond that, the Yemeni government is saying they're taking aid from the U.S., that they're getting intelligence from the U.S., but they're saying that they're fighting this. Problem is all the other countries in the region are saying Yemen just isn't quite strong enough to fight this on their own -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Yes. So, if the Yemeni government is kind of powerless in all this, it's going to be difficult for even the U.S. to be able to count on Yemen, right, to continue on or try to get ahead of any potential terrorism or planning.

All right, thanks so much. Appreciate that, Mohammed Jamjoom.

JAMJOOM: Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, in that same region, Iran protests are heating up there. We'll talk to Reza Sayah when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, taking place overseas in Iran, and then we'll get back to our continuing coverage of the suspected terror attack being investigated in Detroit. Well, in Iran, there have been a number of protests, not this time in protest of the disputed elections back in June, but this time over the death of a revered leader in that country.

Our Reza Sayah, who you often find doing his reporting from Tehran is actually state side now. He's in Philadelphia; he's giving a -- kind of a thumbnail sketch as to the significance of the protest taking place overseas and why many are concerned about where it may be going from here.

Reza Sayah joining us now from Philadelphia. So Reza, explain to us why the protests have been going on for days now, not because of the disputed elections but because of something else.

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, there's two reasons, Fredricka, why this particular day and these few days are significant in Iran.

First of all, today is the eve of the seventh day after the passing of visiting cleric Ayatollah Montazeri last week. In Shia Islam, it's customary to hold commemorations seven days after a passing and Montazeri of course was a huge figure for the opposition movement because he was a relentless critic of the regime.

Today is also the eve of Ashura. Ashura is the most important religious holiday for Shia Muslims. It marks the day when one of the most revered religious figures, Imam Hussein was martyred by a Sunni Caliph. That did two things -- it marked the split between Sunni and Shia Muslims, but it also defined Shias as a sect that takes pride in rebelling against injustice and also in effect, it takes pride in being a minority because when Imam Hussein was martyred, legend has it he was outnumbered by thousands, yet he fought valiantly with only dozens of supporters.

Now fast forward more than 2,000 years, in the post-election turmoil in Iran and you have remarkable symbolism here. You have an opposition movement that is outmuscled and outgunned by the Irani regime, but despite repeated violent crackdowns, this opposition movement has been defiant and continues to come back in the streets to protest and we've seen some widespread protests and clashes today in Tehran, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And while these protests are directly related to the death of that ayatollah, explain to me how what we saw in June with the protests that bubbled up as a result of the disputed election, how these protests are being galvanized or even fueled by what the world witnessed back over the summer?

SAYAH: Well, those protests that we saw right after the disputed election of June 12th have completely evolved. Initially, the people in Iran, the opposition movement, the so-called "green movement" came out and said look, these elections were fraudulent. We want a re- vote. President Ahmadinejad is not the legitimate president.

What the regime did was respond with a violent crackdown, and what these protests have evolved into is a movement that's asking for oftentimes regime change, sometimes a freer or more open society. Today on talking to witnesses, once again, we are hearing direct slogans against the regime, against Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran's supreme leader, which was just unheard of just one year ago.

So, these protests have certainly evolved from once they were going against the election result and now, they're going directly against the regime and this government -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Reza Sayah joining us from Philadelphia. Thanks so much. Very familiar. You are with that region usually reporting to us from Tehran. Thank you.

Much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

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WHITFIELD: All right, one man has found a way to turn his love for trains into a holiday tradition his entire community can enjoy. He's been collecting trains since his father gave him one more than 60 years ago. CNN photojournalist Bethany Swain takes us to Pasadena, Maryland, to show us how John Sturgeon shares his elaborate collection with friends and neighbors. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN STURGEON: I didn't think my collection would grow this big.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, look.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It started out little section, little section, little section.

STURGEON: 1,200 people came through last year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's been collecting since he was a child, and he just decided he wanted to build a train garden. I said, OK.

STURGEON: I had quite a collection at the time. So, I wanted to share it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're going through and up above.

STURGEON: So, we built this building so we could set the trains up and give her back her closets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are Thomas and Percy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right there.

STURGEON: It took me several years to put them up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It basically is an all-year thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And here it comes again.

STURGEON: Each year, I put at least 100 hours in here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, there's James. He's right there with his eyes moving.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We leave it up all year long.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, grammy, look.

STURGEON: We control the heat in here, and in the summertime, we have a dehumidifier in here to take the moisture out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's snowing on it.

STURGEON: It's still better than in the house. Santa Claus is here every night until Christmas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We come every year, at least once a week.

STURGEON: At least that many.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They've been looking forward to it for about three months now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a tradition with them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, this is our first time. It's absolutely wonderful. I just can't imagine the effort and the time that Mr. and Mrs. Sturgeon have put into this.

STURGEON: There's a train we added this year; it has 30 cars on it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is a long train.

STURGEON: So, it runs the whole length of the board.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the outside decorations are as beautiful as the inside decorations.

STURGEON: They know when this thing's lit and it starts flashing they can come in and have a good time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love it, that's why we do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lights my heart up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just such a wonderful thing to do for the community.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, very fun stuff.

All right, we're going to also redirect our efforts on a pretty serious investigation that is in its infancy. Investigation of this, attempted act of terror on a U.S.-bound flight. It's intensifying the former security director for Northwest Airlines actually talks to us one on one and a passenger onboard the Northwest flight who says he helped subdue the suspect is going to be joining us for a conversation, right after this.

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WHITFIELD: All right. The suspect in what's being called an attempted act of terror is being questioned in Detroit, as you know by now. This is someone who's suspected of actually trying to light an incendiary or explosive device onboard a flight that was making a landing into Detroit, a flight that had originated in Amsterdam, and now apparently he is being questioned by authorities.

We're going to talk right now to someone who has unique insight into this latest incident, and not only is he the former security director for Northwest Airlines prior to its merger with Delta, he is also a highly regarded former Secret Service agent of 20 years-plus. Douglas Laird joins us now by phone from Reno, Nevada.

Good to hear from you. When you first heard of this taking place on a Northwest flight, just as it was making a descent into Detroit, what were your thoughts as to how in the world this could happen? DOUGLAS LAIRD, FORMER SECURITY DIRECTOR, NORTHWEST AIRLINES: Well, I thought here we go again. You know, hearken back to Richard Reid and if you go way back in time, to Ramzi Yousef who did a similar event with a bomb on Philippine Airlines flight 434 during the Christmas holidays in 1994.

WHITFIELD: So, were you thinking here we go again, very similar incident could take place and how in the world given the security measures in place could it happen? Or do you believe that this individual maybe had some authorized materials on flight and simply got very creative?

LAIRD: I believe that we can't blame the security at Schiphol Airport for the simple reason, and it's the same in the United States. We don't provide the screeners with the technology to find what it is they're looking for, in this case, a powder or a small amount of liquid more than likely carried on his person.

WHITFIELD: What sort of materials might security need in order to be more proactive? If it's your belief that screeners just simply don't have the right kind of material, what should they have?

LAIRD: Well, you know, when you are screened to go on a flight, you walk through a metal detector. The metal detector finds metal, it will not find liquids or powders and that sort of thing. I think the answer is that we need to do body scanning. That's called back scatter x-ray.

It's very unpopular in the United States and people make an argument that invades privacy. But if you want to keep this sort of thing from happening, it's a technology that we need to provide screeners.

WHITFIELD: Body scanners unpopular because they're expensive or because people were alleging it's an invasion of their privacy? I mean, it can look right through your clothes and some folks are a little uncomfortable with that.

LAIRD: They're not that expensive. The issue is privacy and I think it's a false argument in that we definitely want to keep these -- these threat (ph) items off airplanes and you know, I've heard -- I don't know this to be true. I've heard at airports now in the United States, we're doing patdowns.

Well, you can't find what you're looking for with a patdown because in our culture, there's certain parts of the body that, you know, cannot be touched. And obviously, that's where you hide the item you're trying to smuggle.

WHITFIELD: Douglas Laird, thanks so much for being with us. And I guess what's so perplexing now and curious for so many people is we still don't know what kind of device, items this suspect had. We don't know what he used to actually ignite it, whether it's an incendiary or an explosive.

That's what's so perplexing about all this, still in the beginning stages. Fbi trying to get to the bottom of this as they continue to question him, because he is being hospitalized as a result of burns, but they say he is indeed being cooperative as yet.

Douglas Laird, thanks so much and we'll be checking in with you again.

LAIRD: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: So, Mr. Laird was talking about Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. So, exactly what kind of security measure do they have there? Josh Levs has been looking into it as well -- Josh?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred, you know, it's interesting. We've been hearing a lot of questions about this today and we're about to speak with a frequent traveler who knows what it's like to be one of us traveling around, non-security expert, just what it's like to try to board a plane at Schiphol Airport. She's going to compare it to other airports around the world and she has some surprises for us.

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WHITFIELD: All right, more on that attempted terrorist attack on that Northwest Airlines flight making its way into Detroit, originating in Amsterdam. Well, one of the questions many people are asking now, what kind of security steps do they have at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport? That's where Flight 253 actually took off for Detroit.

Our Josh Levs has been looking into this. Josh, what are you hearing?

LEVS: Yes, you know, what's interesting is we wanted to know what it's like for the average traveler, not someone who is particular expert in security, but what it's like for people. And I heard this morning online from Lee Judd, who's joining us now by phone.

Lee, are you there?

LEE JUDD, TRAVELER: Yes, I am.

LEVS: OK, great. Listen, you're a frequent traveler and you take this exact plane, this exact jet on this trip all the time. So, get really specific for me. You get to Schiphol Airport. What kind of security steps do you go through and what do you not go through?

JUDD: Typically, when I arrive at Schiphol Airport, I'm coming in from either Asia or from another country in Europe. I -- just from another country in Europe, I go through customs, check out of Europe and then, you have to go through security again.

Then, once you get to the gate, you are confronted by a series of guards who ask you intense questions like who packed your suitcase? Where has it been? And then, they go through a series of normal questions, then they always give you a slip-up question, like what's your frequent flier account number or where have you been? What are you doing, things like this.

Then you've got to go through to check in and show your boarding pass, et cetera, and then that airport is more sensitive than others whereby you go through security, they make you take off your jackets and your shoes. LEVS: You do? You have to do all these things? You take off your shoes and you take off your jackets. You told me before we went on air; they also do the checks for liquids?

JUDD: Yes. That airport makes you take your liquids in your baggy out for your three ounces and not more than a quart bag.

LEVS: And a matter of seconds left. Let me ask you this, you travel a lot overseas, you run your own your own solar company. Compare the security experience at Schiphol Airport to some of the other airports that you have been. Don't be specific, but in general, is it more secure, less secure than others?

JUDD: One of the highest security ones I travel through.

LEVS: I keep seeing the same thing from analysts. And Lee thank you so much for joining us on this. It was really good to talk with you. We'll talk with you again. Fred, you know what? It is just so interesting to hear that from her and from some analysts. Who were saying this is not one of the more laxed airports. This produces a whole new question, about why someone might have chosen this airport to originate from.

WHITFIELD: Exactly, just heard that again from Douglas -- he was formerly with Northwest Airlines, and he said this is an airport traditionally that has great security. But if there are gaps he says, it's his belief it's because they may not have all of the equipment and that's his charge in terms of a lot of airports across the country as well. Like body scanners he recommends.

LEVS: Exactly. And travelers are seeing it as well. That someone who goes there a seeing how much security there is, which means someone who is coming at it from that side has reason to know they're going to check some stuff.

WHITFIELD: All right. We're going to delve into this throughout the day, beginning with this next hour, 1:00 Eastern Time. Right now Josh, appreciate that.