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U.S. Military Forces Strike in Libya and Somalia; Tropical Storm Karen Spinning In Gulf Of Mexico; Back To Work For 400,000 Federal Workers Next Week

Aired October 05, 2013 - 20:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. It is the top of the hour. I'm Don Lemon. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

Breaking news here on CNN this hour. Two major U.S. military attacks in Africa. CNN has confirmed a U.S. Navy S.E.A.L.S team went on a mission in Somalia and tried to nab an Al Shabaab leader possibly linked to that Kenya mall attack that left 67 people dead. The Navy S.E.A.L.S had to withdraw before they could confirm he was killed because they were under fire.

Also a U.S. official says he does not believe any SEALs were -- killed in that mission. We do not know exactly what happened to the al- Shabaab leader as well. Al-Shabaab works as al Qaeda's proxy in Kenya.

There was also action in Tripoli, Libya to tell you about. U.S. Special Forces captured an al Qaeda operative wanted for the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Abu Anas al-Libi has topped the most wanted list for years. The U.S. had a $5 million bounty on his head. U.S. officials have wanted al-Libi to face trial in an American court. He joined al Qaeda soon after its founding and is considered a senior member of al Qaeda.

Straight first to our Barbara Starr, our Pentagon correspondent. She is working her sources now at the Pentagon and has the very latest on these two major operations here. Two very different parts of Africa.

Let's talk about what happened in Somalia first. So when did this commando raid take place and tell us who the SEALs intended to kill or capture, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Don. This occurred in the last 24 hours. A U.S. Navy SEAL team moving into an al-Shabaab stronghold town in south central Somalia. They were going after someone they believe to be a major figure in the al-Shabaab network. This is the al Qaeda affiliate organization in Somalia that recently spread its tentacles into Kenya, in that shopping mall attack.

Growing concern that the al-Shabaab group had rising strength and a rising ability to project its power outside of Somalia into Kenya against western interests, so that was what they were going after. By all accounts, the SEALs ran into intense opposition when they got to this town. Fire fight ensued and the SEALs, we are told, made the decision to withdraw rather than engage in further combat, so they left before they could determine whether or not they were able to kill the man they were going after.

No SEALs, as far as we know, injured in the attack. Not clear yet the level of damage in the town. The number of Somalis or al-Shabaab fighters in the town that were killed or wounded in the assault. So a very fuzzy picture, but a clear indication, in fact, that there was a good deal of hostile action on the ground when they engaged in this firefight -- Don.

LEMON: Barbara Starr, with the information.

Barbara, you have been working your sources there. The information -- the situation that happened in Libya came in earlier today and now we're getting bits and pieces about the big -- the actual confirmation.

STARR: Right.

LEMON: That al-Libi has been captured and then also now, this latest one that happened in Somalia, details are coming in about that and we expect more moment by moment.

STARR: We do. We expect more details in the coming hours and perhaps over the next couple of days. The move to get Anas al-Libi, the major al Qaeda figure in Libya to the north, a man with a $5 million U.S. reward and indictment on his head for his role in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Africa.

This is somebody the U.S. wanted to get very badly. But -- and it was U.S. special operations forces, we are told, that went after him inside Libya.

But, Don, what is the common thread that we are seeing tonight? The face of U.S. special operations going into these very dangerous areas, going after very specific targets in a -- in counterterrorism, antiterrorism operations. Targets that they feel could -- that the U.S. feels pose a threat to the United States.

That these are the areas of the world where there are not strong governments that can control law enforcement operations that can control terrorist operations in their own territories. These are what they call the ungoverned spaces to some significant extent. Ungoverned. And that means this is where al Qaeda is thriving these days. These are the areas the U.S. goes after very covertly, only talking about it when they want to.

Clearly, they wanted the world to know about both of these operations because of the threats that were posed, but this goes on quite frequently and this really is a new face of al Qaeda. These affiliate organizations in so many countries that U.S. special operations are tar targeting -- Don. LEMON: All right, Barbara Starr, don't go anywhere because I want to get to our Nic Robertson now. He's a senior international correspondent. Nic Robertson is in London.

Nic, you have been speaking with your sources about the operation that happened about al-Libi. What are they telling you?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're saying this is a significant crossroad. Quite where it leads they say it's unclear. A significant crossroads because it means this is a direct intervention into Libya to pick up this senior al Qaeda figure.

Unknown consequences as (INAUDIBLE) has been reporting as well, one of the concerns in Libya is that any U.S. action to capture people involved in the Benghazi at that time a year ago could have led to a potential backlash. So the question right now is, will this arrest capture of Abu Anas al-Libi, will that lead to a rise in attacks on U.S. interest in Libya at the moment.

And that's a very real concern that I'm hearing from people with -- who spend a lot of time in Libya, who were in contact with government agencies, that would have an interest in securing U.S. premises, other foreign national premises inside Libya. So that is the concern at the moment. How does this play out with the Islamists who are strong inside Libya with the Libyan government be able to keep them at bay? Stop the potential for attacks or will we see follow an a fallout from this arrest, Don.

LEMON: So this was 1998 that al-Libi is believed to be responsible for the attacks on U.S. consulates-- U.S. embassies in east Africa. 1998. This is 15 years later. So, this -- what does this say about what's happening now when, you know, as it concerns Benghazi and the attacks on the consulate there? This is 15 years ago and they're just now getting to this.

My question is, maybe the criticism premature when people say, you know what, we haven't gotten anyone, the investigation is not playing out as planned?

ROBERTSON: Certainly, the investigation is taking a long time in some people's eyes, to capture the people responsible, but Libya is not the sort of country that you can walk into, that you have a national security force who are able to go where they want to when they want to. And arrest people that you would want to go and talk to. It's not that kind of environment.

Al Qaeda has set up camps in the east of the county and other parts of the country. And this is a resurgent al Qaeda that's tying links between members across the whole of the north of Africa from the Sinai in Egypt, through Egypt, to Libya to neighboring Tunisia, to Mali, to the south, to Algeria as well.

So this is an organization that has grown strong on the back of -- on the back of the Arab spring, so the move now is we don't know why it's happened now specifically. If we did, we would be able to gain a lot more, a lot more insight into perhaps why -- not just why this has happened, but understand better the context of why it's happening. But certainly, al Qaeda and the north of Africa is a growing threat and danger and to go in now into Libya certainly does show -- with the knowledge of the Libyan government, does show some compliance there, but again, we don't know what the outfall for this weak Libyan government is going to be -- Don.

LEMON: All right, our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is in London, following this. Barbara Starr is following this from the Pentagon as well.

Both of you, please stand by. I want to get now to our foreign affairs reporter, Elise Labott. She is joining us by phone.

Elise, talk -- listen, let's talk about how sensitive these embassy attacks are, I mean, even years later. 1998. What is -- any reaction to this? And you know the State Department well. You cover the State Department for years as well. Talk to me about that.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: Well, I mean, Don, 15 years after the attack, I mean, obviously, there will be, you know, kind of cheers and a celebration that the master mind of the attack will be brought to justice hopefully, but I think 15 years later, look, that was really a watershed in terms of, you know, kind of terrorist attacks against U.S. embassies abroad.

Really caused a major investigation or re-examination of U.S. facilities overseas. There have been so many commissions and reports and rebuilding of embassies around the world and you see as Nic has been saying, you know, 15 years later, these embassies and consulates are still fragile. On the 15-year anniversary of the attack in August, that came at a week of heightened security concerns that U.S. embassies in the Arab world and in Africa, about 20 posts were closed because of threats, possible threats because of al Qaeda.

And you saw with the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi last year that even everything that's been done over these years to strengthen the security U.S. posts as these terrorists become more sophisticated, as they look for softer targets, as they look for ways to breach these compounds, it's still a fragile situation and now, if you have this attack on the deadly mall in Kenya, now, U.S. Marines are fortifying security at the American embassy in Nairobi.

So the quicker that they try to fortify these posts, even as -- even as they're doing it, it's still becoming more dangerous and the threats are coming fast and furious. So even as there will be a celebration that al-Libi is -- was nabbed and hopefully brought to justice, you know, the State Department security officials know that this could even cause greater threats to U.S. facilities overseas.

LEMON: Beyond that, can you talk to us more about what's happening now at the State Department? Because remember, the State Department came under a lot of criticism after the Benghazi attack. Secretary Clinton specifically, and now, Secretary Kerry. I would imagine watching this situation very closely.

LABOTT: Watching it very closely, but also thinking about how they're going to prevent another one. I mean, obviously, there has been a lot of talk about why the people for instance that were responsible for Benghazi when they know that they're roaming free in Libya, haven't been able to be arrested, but we know as Nic, Dranan and others have been saying that Libya has come -- slid steadily into lawlessness with no central government and the U.S. is really loathed to kind of push Libyans in terms of, you know, apprehending and questioning these suspects.

But what they're trying to do right now, Don, is make sure that something like this never happens again. And so there's a couple of dozen high risk posts around the world now. U.S. Marines are going to be sent there. They're going to be sent extra specially trained security officials there in the State Department hiring more top level officials to look at security.

There have been so many commissions and reports, you know, trying to make sure that something like this never happens again. So while the FBI and law enforcement is working on the kind of justice angle of the perpetrators of the State Department, they really want to make sure that U.S. embassies and consulates around the world are as safe as they can be and that another Benghazi will never happen again.

LEMON: Elise Labott, thank you. Stand by as well.

We're going to get back to Elise Labott.

If you're just now tuning in to CNN, you're wondering what the fuss is all about with the breaking news. There have been two major operations carried out by U.S. Special Forces overseas and it means a heck of a lot to our fight against terrorism. More details after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back to CNN, everyone. Breaking news this hour. We are following two U.S. military attacks in Africa to tell you about. A U.S. Special Forces, that's what CNN has learned, Special Forces captured an al Qaeda operative wanted for the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Abu Anas al-Libi has topped the most wanted list for years. He was captured in Libya's capital of Tripoli. A U.S. official says the operation was conducted with the knowledge of the Libyan government. The U.S. had a $5 million bounty on his head and al-Libi joined al Qaeda soon after its founding and is considered a senior member of al Qaeda.

Also to tell you about in Somalia, we are learning a U.S. Navy SEAL team went on a mission there in Somalia and they tried to nab an al Qaeda -- excuse me, al-Shabaab leader possibly linked to that Kenya mall attack that left 67 people dead.

The Navy SEALs had to withdraw before they could confirm he was killed because they were under fire. A U.S. official says he does not believe any SEALs were killed. We do not exactly know what happened to the al-Shabaab leader. Al- Shabaab works as al Qaeda's proxy in Kenya. That's important to point out.

So that said, I want to get to CNN's national security analyst, Peter Bergen. He joins me now from Washington.

Al-Shabaab works as a proxy to al Qaeda in that region. Tell us about that.

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, you know, more than a proxy, Don, I mean, al-Shabaab is really a wholly owned subsidiary of al Qaeda. They've had a relationship with al Qaeda going back several years, but in -- last year, they formally announced the merger of the two groups, so call it an affiliate is probably to underestimate the relationship that exist between them and we saw with the attack on the mall in Kenya, that this is a group that has adopted al Qaeda's ideology.

Also the reason they attacked the mall was not because it was Kenyan, but also because it attracted a fair number of Western businessmen and others living in Nairobi.

LEMON: So, if you attack one, or you -- if you weaken one, Peter, do you weaken the other? If you carry out some major operation on al- Shabaab and it's successful, does that affect al Qaeda and vice versa?

BERGEN: You know, I mean, to some degree, maybe. You know, clearly, al-Shabaab is a group that has adopted the al Qaeda ideology, is willing to attack targets outside Somalia including targets where westerners are congregating and, you know, undermining it would be useful, but these groups also have affiliates in many other countries in Africa and as we've seen, an al Qaeda leader was also captured within the last 24 hours in another African country, which is Libya.

So, you know, it's part of a campaign where, you know, if you capture or kill one person, it hardly means that these groups are out of business. On the other hand, it's not just whack-a-mole if you capture or kill dozens of leaders in an organization. It tends to really grind it down and that's what's happened with al Qaeda Central in Pakistan, where even Osama bin Laden was keenly aware that the drone program has decimated his top leadership.

LEMON: OK. Peter, stand by. I'm being told now that we have CNN military analyst, Lieutenant Rick Francona on the line now from Eugene, Oregon.

Lieutenant Colonel, what are you hearing about the two U.S. Special Forces operations in Libya and Somalia?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, the one in Somalia was tailor-made for the SEALs. Doesn't surprise me at all that they would go in there. If you look at this town, Barawe, it's about 100 miles south of Mogadishu. It's right on the coast. It allows the Navy access, you know, to it from the ocean. That's what they do. It works very well. In Tripoli, it's a different situation. You're operating inside the capital city. That would have probably required the support and technology of the Libyan government. Although it's weak, you still need to be able to operate in the city safely, so these look like maybe not exactly coordinated operations, but they were going after high-valued targets.

One could have gone without the other, but the fact that they did them both I think is a real signal that the United States, no matter how long it takes, will go after these targets.

LEMON: Colonel, you heard our foreign affairs correspondent say this. Elise Labott, you heard our senior national correspondent, Nic Robertson, say it as well. The concern now would be about possible violent reactions in Libya as well as Somalia.

FRANCONA: Yes. I think that's concerning both places. You know, Al- Shabaab will not, you know, just take this. They will try to mount some sort of retaliation. Now, what capability do they have to retaliate against the Navy SEALs? You know, that might not be so great, but they could launch another attack inside Kenya aimed at the west, aimed at the Kenyan government which is supporting United States.

The United States and Kenya have a very close working relationship, so they may go after these soft targets, as Peter mentioned, rather than going after things that they know they can't successfully attack anymore. We've pardoned some of the embassies. We semi-secured civil aviation. But malls are the new airplanes. They may go after something like that.

In Libya, Abu Anas al-Libi by his name, you know that he was a Libyan national, so there may be reprisals aimed at American facilities there and, you know, as I think it was (INAUDIBLE) said that the Libyan government is very, very weak. They will be very, very strained to prevent attacks on these facilities. We're going to act secure these facilities ourselves. So yes, this is the beginning of the operation not the end.

LEMON: So if I'm sitting at home watching Lt. Col. Francona and Don Lemon on television, I'm wondering what this means to, you know, Mrs. Lemon at home or a Mrs. Francona or a Mr. Johnson in Iowa. What does this mean to the average American?

FRANCONA: It means that we may have embarked on another set of operations. We may be in for some bad news in the next few days. We may be in for some good news as American forces continues to take down some of these targets. But what it demonstrates to the country is that we are not lying down and being overrun by terrorists. We are fighting back and I think that's a good signal to send, not only to the bad guys, but I think it's important that the people at home realize that we are standing up for ourselves.

LEMON: An interesting signal to send when back home our government is shut down.

Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel Francona.

I'm going to talk about that a little bit more with someone here. He's from "the New Yorker" magazine. He knows all about this stuff. As a matter of fact, he is a senior editor of the Web site there. Joining us right after the break. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Breaking news this hour. Two major U.S. attacks in Africa. U.S. Special Forces captured an al Qaeda operative wanted for the 1998 bombings in U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Abu Anas al-Libi has topped the most wanted list for quite some time now. He was captured in Libya's capital of Tripoli. U.S. officials say the operation was conducted with the knowledge of the Libyan government. The U.S. had a $5 million bounty on his head. That's new information. Captured with the knowledge of the Libyan government.

Al-Libi joined al Qaeda soon after its founding and is considered a senior member of the terror group.

Now we go to Somalia. U.S. Navy SEALs team went on a mission to nab an al Qaeda -- an al-Shabaab, excuse me, leader possibly linked to that Kenya mall attack that left 67 people dead. The Navy SEALs had to withdraw before they could confirm he was killed because they were under fire. A U.S. official says he does not believe any SEALs were killed. We do not exactly know what happened to that al-Shabaab leader.

To the Pentagon now, and CNN's Barbara Starr with some new information.

Barbara, what do you have?

STARR: Well, Don, an extraordinary development late tonight. The Pentagon has just issued an official confirmation about an operation in Somalia. I don't remember them talking about anything like this quite so publicly. Issuing this statement. One say it is from the Pentagon Press Secretary George Little, saying, quote, "I can confirm that yesterday, October 4th, U.S. military personnel were involved in a counterterrorism operation against a known al-Shabaab terrorist. We are not prepared to provide additional detail at this time."

But separately from this, a U.S. official also commenting and saying that indeed, the U.S. personnel, we now know those were U.S. Navy SEALs in that town in Somalia, quote, "took all necessary precautions to avoid civilian casualties in this operation and disengaged after inflicting some al-Shabaab casualties.

They are not able to identify who those al-Shabaab members were that they got, but this is the first official confirmation from a U.S. official that the U.S. forces, we know them to be Navy SEALs, disengaged. They left the town. They came under heavy fire. There was concern about civilian casualties and so the SEALs essentially packed up and left. We don't have any details about the level of the casualties they inflicted and what exactly happened in that town in Somalia.

It is known to be a significant al-Shabaab stronghold. And I have to say that in many places where al-Shabaab operates in Somalia, they enact significant intimidation and fear amongst the Somali people who live there. Often, they are poor farmers, rural people, who are severely intimidated by the al-Shabaab, so we don't know exactly at this hour what transpired in that town. We know the Navy SEALS went in, inflicted some casualties, came under fire and got out of there -- Don.

LEMON: Barbara Starr, thank you very much.

I want to introduce you to someone. This is Nicholas Thompson. He is an editor at the newyorker.com and a fellow at the New America Foundation. He is also a contributor to CNN international. Correct?

You have some points that you want to make here. You said it's interesting to you this is all happening at the time of the government shutdown D.C. and competence at a times Special Forces action.

NICHOLAS THOMPSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CONTRIBUTOR: I mean, it's sort of amazing that there's this incredible risky operation, two very risky simultaneous operations coordinated clearly at high levels of government happening at same time the government is shut down. Now, of course the Navy SEALS are essential employees. And of course, they are working. It is ironic, however, when you juxtapose the two things that are happening in Africa and in Washington.

LEMON: Both operations were raids and not drone strikes. Drone strikes have come under criticism a lot here in the United States in this administration.

THOMPSON: I mean, this is very serious. We don't know exactly why they carried out these raids instead of shooting them with drones. One possibility, of course, is that you want to capture these people were extra intelligence. There are also can be fewer risks of civilian casualties if you actually go in there instead of shooting from above. And also, of course, there has been a lot of criticism of the drone program, unclear if they played any role in the decision not to (INAUDIBLE) ground strikes (INAUDIBLE).

LEMON: Should we draw any conclusion or anything from these two, the way these two operations went down, two bad guys captured thousands of miles apart at the same time?

THOMPSON: Well, what we don't know, is we don't know whether the close coordination, why this happened, right? It could be that the same intelligence mechanism that let us knows where al-Libi was, that let us know where the al-Shabaab leader was. So, it's possible that we thought that the terrorists would know that once one of them have been caught, the other would go underground. It's possible it was done for other strategic benefits. We will, you know, learn that eventually.

LEMON: As we learn from the attack at the moment, Kenya day had been heavily recruited extensively here, al-Shabaab I'm talking about. How risky is this attack on al-Shabaab because they recruited extensively in the U.S.? How might this cause problem?

THOMPSON: Well so, the worst case scenario, I mean, this is a risky operation. It happens almost 20 years to the day after the Blackhawk down issue in Mogadishu. And it happens on a group that is essentially original terrorist organization. Al-Shabaab, mostly operate in math part of Africa. But al-Shabaab also recruits heavily from the United States.

Now, if al-Shabaab turns into an international terrorist organization, that's not a good thing. We will see. This could be a death blow to an organization that has been on its heels a little bit before that attack in Kenya, or this could be something that inspires al-Shabaab and makes it into a worse problem.

LEMON: And as usual, if you go on social media, people are making political, the really partisan people, right, the people who are in the weeds on both sides, are making some sort of political statement about this. Is there a political statement to be made about this? Might someone make hay and say, listen, you know, this is proof that this or the president is doing his job in this respect. Is there anything political to be made about this yet?

THOMPSON: Well, you know, people will make political statements. One, this shows Obama, you know, he is really good at getting the bad guys. He got Osama bin Laden and, you know, when we learned what really happened in Somalia, this may rebound his credit or perhaps not. It turned out not to go as well as we thought. But certainly, the operation in Tripoli was very successful.

So, some people will say, this shows Obama at his best, pushing back at al-Qaeda, getting all of the top leadership. He has done it from beginning. He will keep doing it. Some people will probably say hey, this was done to distract us from the mess in Washington and all the criticism coming to Obama after health care. That, I think is, you know, it is boloney. If want to distract a country, you would gave a laid on -- you would announced and have it come out late on a Saturday night.

So, I don't think there will be a lot of traction for that argument. Ultimately, I don't think this is a partisan operation. This is an American operation, you know, both sides and everybody in this country should hope for these operations to succeed for them to be carried out and to be as minimal blowback against this nation as possible. I hope this is an opportunity for people to come together.

LEMON: Everybody, take a deep breath. Not everything is partisan, especially when it comes to defending ourselves against terrorists.

THOMPSON: Right. I think that is right. This is an operation that Republicans and Democrats should want to be carried out as effectively as possible and to have a more success as possible.

LEMON: How might one report on this as something, as a New Yorker. Is this a longer story that would take me between now and my time to fly to Africa to finish the articles are so darn long? THOMPSON: Well, I mean, I hope with the New Yorker as said in on the Web site, we'll have smart reactions to it. Immediate takes, you know, that's what we do. But also, that one of our great reporters like Dexter or John Anderson try to over the course of the next few months do a long story that will take up your entire flight to your next (INAUDIBLE). That is our mission.

LEMON: That was a nice little flag. We are hoping that you contribute something to CNN.com as well, since you are a contributor here at CNN International.

We really appreciate it. Thank you, sir. Great information.

THOMPSON: Thank you.

LEMON: All right. Continuing to follow the breaking news here on CNN, we are going to do that throughout the hour. But first, we want to tell you there are some other developing news happening. We are talking about tropical storm, Karen. It's spinning in the middle of the gulf and we don't know where it will land.

Also this, at least 18 tornados ripped through Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota and there is a threat of more to come.

Both stories just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We will get back to the breaking news here on CNN in just a moment. But we want to tell you about severe weather that's making life very interesting for people all over this country, tornadoes, blizzards and tropical storms. Where should we begin here?

This was the Gulf Coast just a short time ago. A little windy, but a tropical storm is spinning about 100 miles off the coast of Louisiana. Emergency officials have prepared for a major storm, but CNN forecasters don't expect tropical storm Karen to be much more than a rainmaker in the coming days.

In the Midwest, I'm talking about Nebraska, specifically, a tornado that suddenly struck a town away produced damage on the scale of an EF-4 storm. That means it pack winds above to 200 miles an hour. Nobody was killed. But a few houses were destroyed and some people were hurt.

South Dakota now, surprise! Here is a pile of snow for you very early on. Thirty to 40 inches of snow fell in just 24 hours. Tonight, people in the plain states are digging out, clearing the roads and checking their calendars. It's just the first week of October.

But we are still keeping an eye on the Gulf Coast because that tropical storm is still coming ashore, but not with the fury that forecasters predicted earlier. It's strong enough to a name, but the people on the shores of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida probably won't remember Karen after it comes and goes.

Chad Myers watching the storm for us.

Chad, you say this one is a dud, so, what can people on the Gulf Coast expect in the coming days? Is it just a bunch of rain, maybe?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, there is one threat still because now everyone is going to take it lightly. The threat is going to be rip currents because the wind is still coming onshore. And when that wind comes onshore, the water goes over the sand bar. When the water goes over the sand bar, it piles up near the shore, near the beach, and then it goes out all in one spot.

And here we have some great pictures. Look at the pictures here. We'll just go, how would you think of a better day on the beach than that? And you are one day, one and a half days, from a tropical storm system. Well, that's the thing. I think people will be out in this water. The red flags are up there for a reason. Do not go in the water. There will be rip currents tomorrow.

So let me explain this math to you what is going on here because like you said, it is just a dud. She has literally been undone. The colors went out. It was like somebody turned off the lights on this storm. That means that cloud tops are not as high. That means the storms around it are not as big. That means it's just about over. This storm turns to the right. It heads over just to the south of Pensacola and eventually over into Florida.

One more thing I want to talk about for you tonight, the potential for some tornados. In fact, this is Memphis way down here, Nashville, 200 miles that way, but here in the northwest corner of Tennessee, one storm with a tornado on the ground. That would be Union City and then kind of going up toward the lakes, highly populated area.

But just so you know, if you hear the thunder, the lightning, some could be coming your way tonight. Some of these storms will be after dark. Obviously, we are already there now -- Don.

LEMON: As you said, danger is not over in some parts.

Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: You are welcome.

LEMON: Even though Karen is losing strength. Gulf Coast residents are still bracing for stormy weather.

CNN's John Zarrella is in Destin, Florida area that is no stranger to big storms.

How are things right now, John?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boy, that is exactly right, Don, no stranger to big storm. But we are on Highway 98 which is right along the Gulf Coast and which historically has taken the brunt of a lot of storms. You can see a lot of traffic on the road tonight. People are out and about in this Saturday night and Sunday, as Chad was saying, will likely be the same here. We didn't see anybody boarding up today. Anything going on special here, but they are certainly very, very fortunate. Because as you said, they have taken the brunt of storms in the past. I remember in 1984, November hurricane, Hurricane Kate (ph) near thanksgiving, hitting in Navarre beach, which isn't too far to the west of us. And then in '95, on October 4th, yesterday, you had powerful hurricane Opal, a category three hurricane.

And all along 98 where we are, both of those storms, boats were on the highway in the middle of the road, blocking the road, washed up from the storm surge. In Opal, when you walked across the street, the water line from the storm surge was two feet up along the buildings on the east side of the, of highway 98. So, they are very, very fortunate they did not see something approaching one of those because we're still in early October. Still have seven weeks to go before the end of hurricane season and this is the time of the year you get these kinds of storms in the Gulf of Mexico.

So, still a ways to go, but very, very fortunate. Again, we are driving westbound now here along 98 and as you can see, lots of traffic out on the road, lot of people going about their weekend activities, and looking forward to another good day tomorrow -- Don?

LEMON: Looks like storm assignment. Where are we going to stay? Can we find the storm? And John Zarrella has taken us there. John had been there many times.

Thank you. Be safe out there, Buddy.

ZARRELLA: Yes.

LEMON: All right.

Back to the job for 400,000 federal workers, but the government shutdown, not over, not by a long shot. We are going to explain next.

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LEMON: You are watching CNN everyone. I'm Don Lemon.

Breaking news at this hour, two major U.S. military operations in Africa. CNN has confirmed a U.S. Navy SEALS team went into Somalia and tried to capture an al-Shabaab leader, possibly involved in the Kenya mall attack that left 67 people dead. The Navy SEALS had to withdraw from the town before they could confirm her was killed because they were under fire. A U.S. official says it is not believed any SEALS were killed.

We don't know exactly what happened to the al-Shabaab leader. Al- Shabaab works as an al-Qaeda proxy in Kenya. There was also action in Tripoli today. U.S. Special Forces captured an al-Qaeda operative wanted for the 1998 bombings on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Abu Anas al-Libi has topped the most wanted list for years. The U.S. had a $5 million bounty on his head. U.S. officials have wanted al- Libi to face trial in an American court. He joined al-Qaeda soon after its founding and is considered a senior member of al-Qaeda.

We continue to update you on that story as we get more information.

A Republican senator is calling for a compromise plan to end the government shutdown. The plan from Maine senator Susan Collins calls for a repeal of controversial medical device tax that would be used to fund Obamacare. Also, her plan calls for businesses to tweet their pension contributions to provide more tax revenue.

Here is an update on the government shutdown. About 400,000 furloughed employees will return to work next week. Defense secretary Chuck Hagel says the law allows civilian workers to return if they are responsible for helping service members.

Meanwhile, the House has unanimously passed a bill to give back pay to all furloughed government employees. The bill now goes to the Senate.

And President Obama took a fresh jab at House speaker John Boehner today. In an interview with the "Associated Press," the president blamed him for not ending the shutdown, saying there are enough votes in the House, Republicans and Democrats, to end the shutdown if the speaker would allow a vote.

Just how far does a U.S. government shutdown stretch? All the way to the beaches of Normandy, apparently. Normandy American cemetery and memorial in France has closed to tourists after Congress failed to pass a short-term funding bill on Monday. Cemeteries and monuments around the world will remain closed until a new funding measure is passed. There are nearly 125,000 Americans who died in World War I, World War II and the Mexican war, buried in these cemeteries.

LEMON: The man who set himself on fire on Washington's national mall yesterday has died. The jogger found the man engulfed in flames near the Air and Space Museums. Bystanders used their shirts to put out the flames. A gas can was found near him. Investigators will have to use DNA and dental records to determine the man's identity.

The mother of Navy yard shooter, Aaron Alexis, apparently warned his bosses about a month before her son went on a deadly rampage. "The New York Times" reports Aaron Alexis' mother told them that her son likely needed therapy and had a history of paranoid episodes. Alexis' boss at the information technology firm where he worked decided to keep him on the job and did not require him to seek treatment.

An internal company report found Alexis called his work after he had an episode at a Virginia airport in August. He thought people in the airport were making fun of him. His co-worker tried to calm him down and told him to get away from the people. Investigation found Alexis killed 12 people at the Navy yard last month before authorities shot and killed him.

We have been following two big breaking news stories, big breaking news stories involving our U.S. military. New details on both operations live from the Pentagon, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Breaking news this hour here on CNN.

U.S. launched two major military operations today on al-Qaeda linked terror leaders in Africa. One mission results in the capture of the terrorist the U.S. has wanted for 15 years for the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Abu Anas al-Libi was captured in Libya's capital, Tripoli. The U.S. had a $5 million bounty on his head. A U.S. official says the operation was conducted with the knowledge of the Libyan government. Al-Libi joined the al-Qaeda soon after its founding and is considered a senior member of al-Qaeda.

In Somalia, a U.S. Navy SEALS team went on a mission to nab an al- Qaeda -- an al-Shabaab leader possibly linked to that Kenya mall attack that left 67 people dead. Navy SEALS had to withdraw before they could confirm he was dead because they were under fire.

A U.S. official says he does not believe any SEALS were killed. We don't know exactly what happened to the al-Shabaab leader. A-Shabaab works as a proxy to al-Qaeda in Kenya.

CNN's Barbara Starr working her sources from the Pentagon.

Barbara, two major operations here. Two very different parts of Africa. Why don't we start with Libya first.

STARR: Well, Don, as you say, this al-Qaeda operative seized by special operations forces, now in U.S. custody. My colleague, Evan Perez, our justice reporter here at CNN, continuing to follow this story through the night. I think it is fair to say we should expect to see al-Libi show up back in the United States for federal prosecution. He is under indictment for alleged terrorism activities.

In Somalia, you saw us Navy SEALS confirmed, went into a town in south central Somalia to try to capture an al-Shabaab leader. Got into a heavy fire fight. No SEALS wounded or killed thankfully in that, but the SEALS did withdraw from the town under heavy fire. Out of concern, we are told over civilian casualties.

What we have seen here tonight unfold, Don, truly is the real face if you will of covert U.S. special operations, commando operations. When they go into these places under cover of darkness often and stage these operations to go after key terrorism targets. We will find out more I'm sure in the coming hours and days about how both these operations went down. But I don't think the irony escapes. Too many people in the U.S. military while the politicians are engaging in discussions on furloughs and 400,000 civilian employees forced into furlough, U.S. special operations command successfully by all accounts conducted these two operations -- Don.

LEMON: And Barbara, that is why it's so important that our men and women in uniform get their paychecks and they're taking care of. And it's important that we get the government back up and running to make sure all Americans are taken care of on a night like this.

Barbara Starr, great reporting tonight. Thank you so much for guiding us through this here on CNN this evening.

I'm Don Lemon in New York. Thank you so much for joining us. Continue to watch us for updates. We will bring them to you as we get them.

Anthony Bourdain "PARTS UNKNOWN" begins right now.