Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

Attempted Terror Attack on Board Northwest Airlines; Vatican Reviewing Security Measures After Woman Attacked Pope Christmas Eve

Aired December 26, 2009 - 09:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again. Welcome back to the CNN SATURDAY MORNING on this December 26th. I'm T.J. Holmes.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Brooke Baldwin. Good morning to you, in for Betty Nguyen. Thank you for starting your Saturday with us. Hope you had a nice holiday. We are busy, busy here at CNN, keeping a close eye on our top story. This attempted terror attack on board this Northwest Airlines.

Let's bring you up to speed and tell you what we know exactly what's going on and hopefully perhaps show you a picture of this young man. Basically what happened yesterday, a plane comes in from Amsterdam to Detroit. This man, this 23-year-old Nigerian national. There is our exclusive picture. There he is in the white t-shirt.

This is 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdullah Mutallab. He had some kind of explosive device on him, on his leg possibly. What was it? We don't know. FBI in Quantico, Virginia, trying to figure that out right now. But he got on board that plane, initially from Lagos, Nigeria, en route to Amsterdam, and attempted essentially to blow up perhaps the whole plane.

Once authorities calmed it down, got him off the plane and that's where we are right now.

HOLMES: Where we are right now also and one of the most critical things you all need to know out there is that this is going to change security today at airports and throughout the weekend as people are trying to travel and get back home.

Our correspondents are standing by at a couple of airports. Kate Bolduan at Dulles International for us in Virginia, and Deb Feyerick joins us from Detroit, again where that plane was trying to land yesterday, where this incident happened. Deb, let's start with you. Just how big of a mess are you seeing there so far?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The line is out the door here at the Detroit Airport. We can tell you just to bring you up to speed is that the FBI can connect this man to several countries. Yemen, where he allegedly got the device and instructions on how to use it. Question, who did he get instructions from? Two, they can connect him to Lagos, Nigeria, that is the airport from which he originally departed. Amsterdam, where he landed. We are told that he did go through a screening when he was in Amsterdam. We don't know how thorough of a screening it was. We don't know why the explosive device or even some sort of bomb residue was not picked up at that time. We can connect him to London, where he apparently went to university there, a prestigious college.

And then clearly here to Detroit where he was headed when he decided to light that device on fire. Under investigation, why did that device not perhaps detonate fully? That is a big and that is an important distinction. Did it simply go up in smoke or did it detonate fully? That is something they want to take a look at because, clearly, this man had the level of sophistication to bring the device on board, that it failed to perhaps cause the amount of damage that perhaps he expected it to.

That is under investigation. The man was sitting at a window seat. Probably no accident. That is something federal law enforcement officials look at, if you're sitting near the side of the plane you can cause perhaps greater damage to the outside of the plane. That, too, under investigation. We are told that the FBI has alerted airports across the country as to the type of explosive device that was used.

They have beefed up security inside. We can tell you there are announcements saying there is a heightened security alert even though the actual level has not been raised. But there's a heightened security alert and that passengers may not be allowed on with certain additional items.

We've been talking to a couple of people inside. We also gave our cards to a couple of folks and told them to call us once they got through that secondary screening or through the actual initial checkpoint to see what else is going on. We're waiting to hear back from them and that's what we can tell you so far about the investigation. T.J.?

HOLMES: All right. Deb Feyerick for us this morning in Detroit. Deb, we appreciate you. We'll be checking in with you again plenty this morning.

BALDWIN: All right. So Deb says the lines are out the airport there in Detroit. What about Washington, D.C., what security changes can passengers expect to see in light of this terrorism attempt on flight 253?

CNN's Kate Bolduan covering that angle for us. She is joining us live this morning from Washington's Dulles Airport, there in northern Virginia. And Kate, big hub. I imagine, big lines this morning.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Brooke. Well, we spoke to an airport spokesperson who said they expect this during the holiday season rush. They expect today to be a lighter of the holiday travel days. So that may be working in some people's favor in terms of the crush of people that could be here and the added delays and lines that people may be seeing. I tell you, we've had an opportunity to walk through the airport and speak to some people, both people traveling out and people who are flying in here to Dulles International Airport. For people who are traveling out, we actually were able to speak to some people checking in at Northwest, Delta ticket counter is right over there. And they told us really when we asked them, clearly they knew about the situation. Everyone is talking about the situation in Detroit.

But they said that they do definitely expect more security. They expect themselves more scrutiny. But at the same time they were very quick to say anecdotally to people that we talked that that doesn't bother them. They are not bothered by any type of inconvenience of a longer wait or an added security check or another check of their passport if that means the safety of themselves and their family.

Are they nervous to fly? We ask and they say, no, they're not nervous to fly. People that we talked to said that they were confident that the security situation is being handled. And I tell you, we did hear a little bit more trepidation or a little bit of differing opinion on the question of if you were nervous about flying in terms of if it was a domestic flight or something transatlantic, you know, an international flight, people were feeling differently about that.

We were able to also, went downstairs and we spoke to some people who were just landing in that baggage claim coming in from New Delhi. The flight actually stopped over in JFK. One gentleman said he didn't see very much more stepped up security but he definitely saw some added security checkpoints. He said they actually checked his passport one more time just as he was about to enter the plane. And he said he's never seen that before.

He definitely gave me the sense that didn't concern him, that didn't bother him. It seemed that many people that are hearing this news, this very troubling news and stepped up security on any conversation of an attempted terrorist attack that people do welcome these added security measures at airports across the country, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And Kate, just to explain to people who are seeing pictures of this flight in question. They're seeing Delta markings on the outside. We keep calling it an Northwest flight. Just briefly, to explain, they merged. It is a Northwest flight that we're talking about that came into Detroit yesterday.

That said, let me ask a follow-up, Kate, that being, you know, I'm glad people understand the reason for the additional security because yesterday was Christmas and perhaps a lot of people were not watching the news, you know, in fact to allot a little extra time heading in.

But any idea from perhaps airport security as to how long this heightened measures will be in place?

BOLDUAN: You know, we haven't gotten a sense of that. I'll definitely tell you from my conversations, you know, we talked to airport security officials quite often, as well as airport spokespeople. Today in trying to speak with them and have some conversations with people, they were much more tight lipped.

Clearly the TSA and government officials, federal aviation officials not wanting to tip their hand here in terms of what type of stepped up security measures specifically are going to be happening. We've heard from administration officials they want this to be unpredictable. The measures, stepped up security measures aren't going to be the same from airport to airport. They clearly have a reason for that, not wanting to tip their hand exactly what people will be facing when they head here.

BALDWIN: Absolutely. It makes sense. Kate Bolduan, from a very busy Washington Dulles Airport there. Kate, thank you.

HOLMES: Well, so many questions and trying to understand right now exactly what happened, why it happened, what the motive exactly was, and is there a larger plot here at work. We brought in some of the best in the business right now. We're going to rejoin our conversation with international security analyst, Glenn Schoen, Tom Fuentes, CNN contributor and former FBI assistant director of international operations and of course, our Peter Bergen, CNN terrorism analyst.

I will pick up with you, Tom, on a point I was asking Glenn about, which is, is this an issue here, do we think where terrorists have come up with something new that our security has not been looking for, whatever this is he got onboard or do you think, more so, this is a matter of he just got creative of how he was going to get this stuff onboard?

TOM FUENTES, FMR. FBI ASST. DIR., INTL. OPERATIONS: That could be true, T.J. I think what Glenn mentioned is, you know, that you have this type of security looking for metal devices, guns, knives, that type of material, which, of course, metal detectors are designed to detect metal. If you have chemicals, powders, liquids, other items maybe taped to his body, he's going to be able to pass through a metal detector.

I'm sure TSA is asking itself since this started of whether or not he would have been detected in the U.S., had he boarded the domestic United States flight.

HOLMES: Well, Peter, this is some scary stuff here. How in the world are we supposed to stop this? Can you stop it? I mean, we're already stripping down pretty good once you get to that security line. Besides getting down to our underoos, what can we do to stop this from getting this onboard? Can you stop it?

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, you know, by the law of averages, you know, somebody's going to get through with something.

HOLMES: That's scary to hear that, Peter.

BERGEN: But on the other hand, you know, we've seen a lot of cases, we've talked about them, T.J., in the last several months in this country, where people, you know, have not succeeded in terrorist plots because of good law enforcement. Najibullah Zazi, the Afghan- American who was allegedly planning to blow up targets in Manhattan with a hydrogen peroxide bomb, one of the questions that I think investigators are going to be looking at carefully is was this a hydrogen peroxide based device?

We've had reports of a powder and a liquid. I'm not an explosives expert but certainly an Al Qaeda signature of being hydrogen peroxide base explosive? Richard Reid, by the way, he had TATP, which again, is a hydrogen peroxide, very unstable kind of explosive. So those are the kinds of things that investigators will being looking at as we speak.

HOLMES: So Peter, it sounds like more so than that front line if you will, which is going through security and trying to make sure we stop it there, we need to stop it before the guy ever gets to the airport.

BERGEN: Indeed. And obviously, you know, I think that, you know, as we've discussed, T.J., Lagos, Nigeria, has had problems. The level of scrutiny there is just not going to compare to what it would be in this country. So the idea that this guy could get it through in the United States I'm much more skeptical about it.

By the way, one thing that's very interesting. He wasn't on a no- fly list but he was on a watch list. You can be on a watch list without being on an no-fly list. In the United States, if somebody is on a watch list they would at least be put on a secondary. That appears to not have happened with this guy.

HOLMES: Well, Glenn, try and help us here. What would have happened in Lagos? We are still used to in this country what it means when it say scrutiny screening at an airport, you're taking off your shoes, you're taking off your belt, you're taking off your jacket, your liquids are going through, three-ounce bottles. What would security have looked like in Lagos when he first got on that plane? What kind of scrutiny? Peter was kind of hitting on it there but it doesn't sound like he would have gone through too much.

GLENN SCHOEN, INT'L SECURITY ANALYST: Peter and Tom are both right. If you just look at the bigger context here, think of the airport in Lagos as a place where we already have other big security issues. We know there's a lot of drug smuggling.

We know there's a lot of corruption in the country. And unfortunately, of course, most good people there trying to do their best to overcome these problems but you're dealing with a place that does not have the level of technological advancement that you might see in some other countries when it comes to the equipment or maintaining the equipment.

Perhaps not enough in terms of the level of how much money can we spend for good guards, their level of training. And they know some limitations in this sense. And obviously they're doing their best, but when you talk about what professional grade screening nowadays in the western world and how does that compare to some of the other locations, we're clearly saying that one or two notches lower in different international organizations have noted that over time about Nigeria. HOLMES: Well, Tom, again, we have an idea of what security screening and scrutiny is here in this country. It forever change with Richard Reid, the shoe bomber. He has changed the way we go through an airport. We all have to take our shoes off and put them in the bin now. This incident today, given that we have seen them try this before, some terrorists tried this before, is this a potential to change the game once again? I asked Peter this question a little earlier.

But do you think we might be looking at another new wave of changes that will once again forever change how we go through security at an airport?

FUENTES: Well, that's going to be difficult to determine. You know, short of having people go through the detectors naked, it's going to be difficult to find some chemical and liquids if they're hidden on a body under clothing and a metal detector doesn't find it. I've been through that airport in Lagos and Amsterdam many, many times.

I should add TSA has attaches throughout the world, in U.S. embassies. They work with the local aviation authorities in those countries to ensure that flights bound for the United States meet the same stringent requirements as they would domestically in the United States. But in this case you have a flight going from Lagos to Amsterdam. The U.S. government would not be a position to dictate to the Nigerians what type of security would be required for that flight.

HOLMES: And Tom, how would you say ...

FUENTES: Screening ...

HOLMES: Oh, I'm sorry. (INAUDIBLE) You said you've been through Lagos and Amsterdam, sounds like several times, you describe it for me then. How would you describe it? You've been through security here in this country, compare the two. How lax is it?

FUENTES: Well, in cases when I went through Lagos you weren't required to remove your shoes. You know, many Africans dress -- men dress in attire that would be difficult to determine what's under their garments as they go through. So you do go through metal detectors but it may not raise any alarms with them if you have loose- fitting clothing and go through security to board the aircraft.

In Amsterdam, every flight that I've taken through any of the major airports in the world, once you connect and you're bound for the United States you're going to go through a different and more intensive security which often includes a search of every handbag that you're carrying and more detail search of your passport, travel documents, that type of screening.

So that would have been required in Amsterdam. It's hard for me to believe there was not secondary screening exiting the first flight and before boarding the U.S.-bound flight. As I said earlier, we don't know if the same screening in the United States would have detected the materials that he got onboard with. HOLMES: All right. Peter, last thing to you. Why is Al Qaeda, as another guest earlier said, obsessed with blowing up airplanes, obsessed with air travel, obsessed with U.S. air travel? Is there any chance they are going to stop going after this as their chosen and unfortunately some case proven method of success when it comes to terrorizing?

BERGEN: T.J., I think that they are not going to give it up. You know, commercial aviation is now the hardest target immanageable and Al Qaeda is consistently still trying to go after commercial flights, whether it was the plane (INAUDIBLE) in the summer of 2006, bringing down seven American-Canadian airliners.

Also an attempt to bring down an Israeli passenger jet in Mombassa with a surface to air missile back in 2002. Maybe this plot and why do they do it? Well, you know, look, I mean, it affects everybody. If you can bring down a plane anywhere in the world, it doesn't have to be American. You change the way the global economy functions.

Aviation and tourism and international business are vital to the world's economy. And if you can change that, that's a very big deal. That's a 9/11 style event, if you can bring down a plane.

HOLMES: All right. Well, Tom Fuentes, Peter Bergen ...

FUENTES: T.J., can I ...

HOLMES: Go ahead, please. Go ahead.

FUENTES: I was just going to say that Al Qaeda has changed its playbook slightly when it comes to blowing up aircraft. If you recall PanAm 103 was intended to explode over the Atlantic ocean and of course, you would have the flight just simply disappear. It went off prematurely, and landed on the countryside near Lockerbie, Scotland.

Many of the flights as Peter mentioned and the (INAUDIBLE) plot and others were intended for aircraft to simultaneously disappear over oceans. But what Al Qaeda has learned and other terrorist groups have learned is that for maximum impact you would like that plane to go down on land where CNN and other international news agencies can get a camera crew there and show all the gruesome aspects of the explosion.

HOLMES: Yes, different effect on the psyche of a lot of us if we could see pictures, if we god forbid had to see those pictures.

FUENTES: Exactly.

HOLMES: But again gentlemen, Glenn, Tom, Peter, we appreciate you this morning. Great discussion. Appreciate your insights and expertise. We'll be checking in with you guys plenty, I'm sure, about this story. Thanks so much.

FUENTES: Thanks, T.J.

HOLMES: We're going to take a quick break here on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING, continuing coverage of our breaking news story, an attempt to blow up U.S. airliner, a plane trying to land in Detroit on Christmas day. Stay with us. We'll be back right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Here are some of the other top stories this Saturday morning. First, the family of a captured U.S. soldier is appealing for his release after a new video surfaced from the Taliban. In it, Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl criticizes the U.S. efforts in Afghanistan. Bergdahl vanished from his outpost back in June. But it is still not clear when or specifically where the video was shot. The military says it does not prove he is still alive.

The Vatican reviewing its security measures after this woman tackled Pope Benedict during Christmas eve mass. The pope is OK. Went on to deliver his Christmas message. But the "Associated Press" is reporting that a cardinal who fractured his hip during that incident is still waiting for surgery.

And police in Arkansas looking for two men right now, accused of killing a Salvation Army worker. Police say the two men shot Major Phillip Weiss during this attempted robbery outside of a Charities Community Center. All of this happening in northern Little Rock. The victim's three children were with him at the time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, if you haven't heard, the Senate, they've passed their version of the health care bill. Of course you heard. That got a lot of attention right before Christmas. Passed the bill on Christmas eve. A lot of hard work there that happened.

But now the work actually begins because next month the House and Senate are going to try to make their two bills into one, if it becomes law. We're talking about the largest overhaul that we've seen since the expansion of with the birth really of Medicare and Medicaid, some 40 years ago.

Now our guide through much of the progress is Kenneth Thorpe, the health care policy expert who has worked with the Clinton administration in its health care reform efforts. Good morning to you. You said this would happened. It in fact happened.

So far so good with your predictions, at least. Is it going to happen now? We've got two bills. First, you know what, let me ask you this. Put it in perspective for people out there what this means to actually have a bill that has passed in the House and the Senate. People remember Hillary care, as they call it. People don't remember nothing got out of anything at that point. How big of a deal is it that we got two bills now?

KENNETH THORPE, NATIONAL HEALTH CARE POLICY EXPERT: Well, this is a major set of reforms. President Clinton tried to do this in 1993, and his bill didn't make it out of a single committee in Congress. So this really is a major set of reforms. I think what's important is it does three things that I think we've lost sight of. One is that it really reforms the insurance market. So in this state of Georgia, if you're a self-employed individual trying to buy health insurance and they've got diabetes or high blood pressure or skin cancer you can't get coverage at any price. That will change. It moves towards heading all Americans covered. A major part of what President Obama ran on. To move towards universal coverage.

And three, it changes how we pay for health care, to make it more efficient. Make it not so that we're not paying on volume but we're really trying to reduce unnecessary admissions to the hospital and readmissions. The big picture stuff is all there.

HOLMES: And so we're talking no matter, there are differences in these two bills but you're saying no matter what, and there are differences in these two bills but you're saying no matter what, those three key things looks like we're going to end up getting those no matter what bill comes out? Because those aren't really sticking points between the two.

THORPE: Now, that's right. The major things that the president ran on will be in this legislation. There are a lot of details that they're going to have to work out, in terms of how to exactly pay for it, what, if any, role there will be for a public option. Those are types of issues that the House and Senate now need to work through.

HOLMES: OK. So let's take up those two issues. And let's start with the public option? Isn't happening?

THORPE: Not likely to happen in the way that progressives want to see it happen. In the Senate version there will be at least two national plans. Meaning that if you live anywhere in this country, Albuquerque, Indiana, Pennsylvania, you pay the same premium. That was something that progressives wanted to have. It will be a government plan but just run by a not-for-profit private health plan.

HOLMES: OK. Well, some in the house have been firm that we are not going to do this if it does not have a public option. They say you can't have real reform without that public option. Are they going to have to give a lot? Because it sounds like you and everybody else I'm hearing, there is no way a public option, in the form, we least think of it has, will be in the final bill.

THORPE: Well, there's not the vote in the Senate to really do that and I think that we've got to take a step back and remember what we're trying to accomplish in the first place. That really is reforming the insurance market, moving towards universal coverage, making health care more efficient. This is not a one and done deal. We will be back next year, I believe, dealing with issues around entitlement reform and the deficit. And the opportunity to come back and rethink some of these issues will be on the table next year, as well.

HOLMES: Are we still, can we call it, would you call it, because the public option, we were told when the House started talking about this, when -- before they voted, that this was the key issue, you have to have this to have health care reform. So if a final bill and the law, the final one the president signs does not have a health care -- public option, can we still call it that true reform?

THORPE: I think it's still true reform. I mean, we're moving in the right direction. Is it better than the status quo? I think absolutely. Just making sure that people can get access to health insurance coverage without being denied it if you got a pre-existing condition, or being thrown off your policy if you're sick. That is a major set of reforms, as is moving towards universal coverage.

HOLMES: OK. We saw what happened in the Senate, I mean, if one of the senators would have had a flat tire going in, he would have missed the vote and this thing wouldn't have gone through. So, that's how tight it is. So, once they get together and try to -- I mean, you got so many people you can lose if this legislation changes just a bit.

So, what's going to happen here? Are Democrats essentially going to say hey, we're this close and every -- and some guys are just going to have give up a lot of what they wanted? Or, as you start adding some things, you're going to start finding Democrats falling off and losing, like Ben Nelson, like others who barely gave their support to the legislature?

THORPE: Well, the Senate can't afford to lose a single vote. So, at the end of the day, I think that the final legislation that comes out of the conference between the House and the Senate is going to look a lot more like the Senate bill. There's a little more leeway in the House in terms of votes, but I think that at the end of the day, this is going to look a lot like what the Senate has already passed.

HOLMES: All right. Well, you've been right on so far. Kenneth Thorpe, been walking us through it so far. Appreciate having you as always.

THORPE: All right.

HOLMES: Hope you had a good Christmas yesterday. Brooke, I will hand it back over to you.

BALDWIN: All right, T.J. I'll take it, thank you. Folks, if you're used to seeing "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" with Gerri Willis 9:30 Eastern, it has been preempted because of our breaking story here on this attempted terror plot onboard this Northwest flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

And coming up, we will talk to more terrorism experts, dig a little deeper, here. We're also taking a close look at the pain essentially, pain a lot of you are feeling on the airports. The security measures are heightened. And we will continue to hear from passengers who were onboard that flight, that Northwest flight 253 on Christmas day, it's an attempted terror attack. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Hello there, everybody. Welcome back to the CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes. BALDWIN: Hi good morning, I'm Brooke Baldwin sitting in for Betty Nguyen. Thanks for starting your weekend with us.

A busy, busy weekend newswise, let's get right to it, let you know what's going on. But, this incident that happened actually on Christmas day onboard this flight to Detroit from Amsterdam and why so many of you out there heading to the airport could face long lines and security.

The reason, this man, you're looking at him, 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, the guy in the white tee-shirt, there. He is accused of trying to set off some kind of explosive device that he took onboard that plane; this Northwest flight that was landing, again, from Amsterdam to Detroit.

He began his travels, actually, way over in Nigeria, in Lagos, flew to Amsterdam, on to Detroit. He somehow ignited this thing. We don't know if it fully ignited or the whole thing kind of went up in smoke. But bottom line is, he burned his legs. He was taken off, you can see by security officials in this exclusive photo.

Counterterrorism police are in London now. So many pieces of this story. They're in London investigating, they're at his former house. A London police spokeswoman there says police are making several inquiries all at the request of U.S. authorities.

We are all over this thing. CNN is covering this story from every angle. We have Kate Bolduan, live at Dulles International Airport, Deb Feyerick joining there -- joining us from Detroit, Wayne County Airport, Ed Henry working the story from Hawaii where the president is vacationing, Nic Robertson there is in London, Richard Quest for us in Amsterdam, and we have reporters here in Atlanta working the investigation.

But I wanted, again, with our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, now joining us from this former home of this 23 year- old Nigerian national, this former home.

Nic, tell us what you know, so far.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Brooke, we know that police have been at the premise here in the center of London since the early morning. We know also that British prime minister has said that the terror threat that is posed here and any danger to the public is something that the government here takes very seriously and they've been investigating. The police are also, we believe, at a number of other premises.

If you look at this building behind me, it is a very grand building in the center of London. Apartments here, to give you some idea of how much it costs to live here, apartments in this building cost between about two and $4 million.

So, this man, if, in fact, this is where he was living and this is believed to be his last address, last known address in London. He's believed to have had a basement, lower ground floor apartment in this building. Clearly, he would appear to be a man with some financial means. It is not a cheap place to live in, right here.

The other addresses that the police are searching right now in the center of London, connected with this same man, connected with the same investigation, we have seen police coming and going from the building, earlier on, police dressed in those sort of forensic coveralls that they wear.

Later on, some more specialist looking officers we saw coming out of the basement of the building, going back in. But, from outside we're seeing very, very little activity. Most of it going on inside behind the closed doors behind me -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Obviously they're there trying to get any kind of information from evidence perhaps looking at his computer to try and understand any kind of motive. But, Nic, what about Interpol? Are they involved in the investigation at all, do we know?

ROBERTSON: Well, at this stage we haven't been made aware of that right here. But it would be normal in a situation like this for intelligence agencies, the FBI and others, to reach out to any means and any people, other intelligence agencies, Interpol, as you say, to provide more information, where was this man recently, what was he doing, who he was associating with, what information can be gleaned from those contacts.

And most importantly, to find out if he was with another group of people or if there were other events planned, getting this information quickly is very, very important in an investigation like this. And that's what would be utmost on intelligence agencies and police minds at this time. And Interpol would be, obviously, one way to go to try and track down his movements and any associates he might have -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Right. Was he a lone jihadi or was he possibly working as part of a larger group. Nic Robertson for us, digging deeper in London. Nic, thank you.

HOLMES: We want to continue with our team coverage, now. We're going ahead to Detroit, which I guess you can call that the scene of the crime, at this point.

Deb, first, a couple of things to hit on here with you, one, just the mess of airport security, right now, and the long lines, but also, that is really, I guess you could call that ground zero for this investigation, now. So give us the latest on both those fronts.

FEYERICK: Well, you know, we can tell you a lot of people are disheartened when they arrive at the airport, the first thing they hear is due to heightened security alerts that they may not be able to bring everything onboard the plane, certain items restricted. The FBI has identified what the materials are and so there's more of a screening to make sure that people are not bringing these potentially dangerous items onboard.

Now, we know that this is a 23-year-old Nigerian. It appears that he was a student at the University College of London that is one of the best in the country. Searches are going on in homes in that area with which he was likely connected.

Federal and international authorities are retracing this man's roots from Yemen where he allegedly received this device and instructions on how to use it, when to detonate it, then on to Lagos, Nigeria, that was his point of departure, Amsterdam, where he stopped over before flying to Detroit, to Detroit, Michigan. Why he was waiting to detonate that device when he was close to the airport, that is under investigation, as well.

The man was sitting sort of not exactly in the middle of the plane, closer to the front in row 19a, which is a window seat. When people heard a noise, saw smoke, one of the men who was sitting nearby pounced on him, was able to subdue him. The location of the device appears to have been on his lap where he sustained the most serious burns, this 23-year-old Nigerian.

Now, when he was taken into custody, an official memo makes clear he had extremist affiliations. It's not clear what exactly that means. Was he acting as some sort of al Qaeda operative or, more likely, was he some sort of lone wolf, sort of a lone jihadi who was radicalized somewhere along the way, wanting to try to carry out this Christmastime attack?

All of that, right now, under investigation. Here at the airport, people sort of grinning and bearing it. They know what to expect. It's not the first time there's been heightened security, it certainly won't be the last time. But again, a little bit of a scary moment to think that somebody would try something at such a high volume of travel time -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right, Deb Feyerick for us at what's becoming a busier and busier airport. We're hearing more and more planes taking off behind you. Deb, we will be checking in with you again plenty. Thank you so much, this morning.

BALDWIN: Busy airports really all across the country. Perhaps you're headed to the airport, perhaps your loved ones. Holiday travelers facing long delays this morning because, you can imagine, these added security precautions. CNN's Kate Bolduan is live for us this morning at Dulles International Airport, really an international hub for so many travelers.

And Kate, it looks fairly quiet behind you from my vantage point, but I imagine it's a different story right around that security screening.

BOLDUAN: Hey, there, Brook. Well, we spoke to an airport spokeswoman and she said really in terms of the very busy holiday travel season that we're kind of in the middle of, today is a little bit on the lighter side. And I will tell you from what we've seen, the ticket counters have been pretty light, people really moving in, I would say, normal traffic.

But, as you know and as we've been talking about, the department of Homeland Security about passengers flying both on domestic flights as well as international flights, may see some additional security measures in place in light of yesterday's incident in Detroit.

And from what we've heard from passengers flying in here today, yet this morning, they are, antidotally, that's what they're telling us. They're seeing small things that they said they noticed, nothing major is how it's been described to me, but small things.

One woman said at airport security they were careful to check all of her liquids. Her liquids were baby formula. She was traveling with her young child and they were very careful to check and make sure exactly what the liquid was. She said more so than when she's traveled in the past.

Another passenger, gentleman flying in from New Delhi, they had stopped over in JFK before they landed here at Dulles said when they were boarding their flight in New Delhi he was surprised to see that they checked his passport again, that could have been, he said, the fifth time they had checked his passport just before he boarded the airplane.

But, as I've talked to passengers here, both people that are flying out and coming in, the really say, by and large they are not convenience by these delays, by these extra checks that they're seeing, even if it does mean that they need to get here a little earlier or they're delayed before they get on their flight. Because they say what it comes down to is, it doesn't bother them if it means the safety of themselves, their family, and their fellow fa passengers.

But, what are the types of security measures that we could we be seeing, Brooke? Well, we're hearing from administration officials that things could be stepped up, some stricter security measures, more stringent security measures you could be seeing when you're at the airport, some more explosive detection, canine units, bomb-sniffing dogs as well as additional gate checks and more personal attention possibly.

And also, you could be seeing some behavior detection specialists, people who are really trained to keep an eye out and really be able to sense and detect some suspicious behavior of people at the airport. So, those are some of the things that we're hearing. But, TSA really, and when you look at their security plan, they talk about it as a layered approach. These multi layers to catch different types of security concerns and hat really is what the focus.

But, as you and I have been talking, they're defiantly not tipping their hand today on what you will be seeing today at the airport for good reason. They're trying to keep the fine public safe and to not let people know exactly what they could be up against if they go to the airport.

BALDWIN: Exactly, we don't know how long this will last, but given what's happened, I would agree with the passengers that you're talking to, that it's justified. Kate Bolduan for us at Washington Dulles. Kate, thank you. We'll check back in with you later on this morning. We are covering this whole story for you, really from the bottom to the top. Stick with us as this story continues to develop as it is.

Coming up, we'll be talking to a terrorism expert and we'll also continue to look at the weekend travel security issues, some of the delays, some of the things that can maybe get you through the process a little quicker. And we will hear from those very passengers who were onboard that flight with that 23-year-old onboard that Northwest flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. We've been talking about these longer lines this morning at the airport. Not just because of some weather the people are experiencing, really it's because of that attempted terror attack onboard that flight, yesterday. So, Josh Levs has been looking into what you really shouldn't take or...

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What to do.

BALDWIN: Or what to do.

LEVS: How to speed it up, because there are ways that you can speed it up. And you know, this is one of the busiest traveling times of the whole year.

BALDWIN: Already. Without all of this going on, right?

LEVS: And how many travelers have we already been hearing from during the early house, this morning. talking about how much more difficult it is, right, and security screening. So, what I'm going to do now is I'm going to give everyone some tips on how to make it faster.

Let's get to this first one, right here. This comes from the TSA and what they talk about, they actually show you on the Web site what to do. Pack in layers. Anything that you're going to carry-on, if you have a carry-on, do a layer of clothes, then a layer of electronics, then a layer of clothes and then a layer of heavier items. And they explain why it will be so much faster for the screeners if you do that.

Let's go to this next one, here. Prepare in advance anything that's going to be liquids that they're going to question. These quart-sized clear, plastic, zip-top bag of liquids. You can buy those things, you (INAUDIBLE) at the airport. You can also get them at a lot of pharmacies. If you have them in advance, it saves a lot of time. You multiply all the travelers out there, it saves hours and hours.

Let's keep going. Pack coats, if you can, inside your checked bags. When you get to the airport, if you can, take off your coat, smush it into the luggage that you're going to be checking and do it that way. It's going to save a lot of time if you can avoid taking it through screening with you. Next, limit the metal that's on your clothes. TSA says there are a lot of people who feel the need to wear what they're calling a lot of accessories even when they're at the airport. No big heavy jewelry, the less metal on you, the better, the faster.

Now, let's get to some of the holiday stuff. I found this really interesting. No jelly, sauce, syrup, these kinds of things -- you know, you're visiting some relatives, maybe you're bringing home that great maple syrup or grandpa's cranberry sauce, whatever it is. If you have that in your carry-on, they will take it away, they'll probably throw it out and the amount of time that they spend piecing through your bag to figure out what all this stuff is, will slow it down for everyone.

And finally, this one's interesting, no snow globes in your carry-ons. Do not bring a snow globe on. TSA talks about that and their videographer here, who's actually taping me right now, Scott Hall (ph) says his wife, just the other day, tried to carry one on. She ended up having to go buy another bag, right Scott, just to check it. So, these are just a few of the examples of things the TSA says, if you follow these, you will save yourself so much time. If everyone can start doing that, it will move everything through the airport more real quickly.

And this is where you can see the full list, I posted it all for you at my blog, CNN.com/josh. We've also got it at FaceBook.com/joshlevscnn or Twitter.com/joshlevscnn. We've got it every which way. The more people that see it hopefully the better.

So, still, look, I mean, Brooke, T.J., we know it's going the take a while. We're hearing the stories already that people will spend more time going through screening, but if today more and more people start to do those things we can kind of make up some of the difference, get people through faster.

BALDWIN: Yeah, toss it in checked baggage. And I know we're all moaning and groaning over those extra checked baggage fees but, today -- if you're going to pay, today's the day.

LEVS: Yeah, people would pay a little bit more to have to skip some of that time, so if everyone does it, it will help out.

BALDWIN: All right, Josh, thank you -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right, stay with us here. This is a fast-moving developing story this morning. Again, a man attempting to blow up a plane that was landing in Detroit. That is changing how you and your loved ones are going to be traveling this weekend.

Plus, the investigation into this plot is now branching out. We're going to be taking a closer look at the country of Yemen and could it be the next focus in the war against terror. Stay with us, CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. Digging a little deeper on this story is Drew Griffin, CNN's Special Investigations Unit.

Looking into this Northwest Airlines terrorism case, talking about what you found. And I think your -- one of the points here is when you talk about this young man, this 23-year-old onboard this flight, who perhaps presumably would have committed suicide with this explosive device, he would have shown some kind of behavior that perhaps an air marshal could have picked up had an air marshal been on the flight.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. That's right. And I think there's two parts to this investigation now that we're looking at. What? Did anybody flub up? Did somebody miss something? Or the fact that nobody really got hurt here is -- can we use this as a way to teach us what's next in fighting this kind of terrorism and look for the things that would have tightened up?

And when you look at the behavioral issues, it's a real biggie. Was there anybody in Nigeria looking at this man, and did he seem odd? When he boarded the flight in Amsterdam, did he stay at an airport lounge? Was there anything odd about him? Was there any kind of a ritual that was going through?

Investigators will be trying to track down every single person on both of these flights and actually seeing if they had any pictures, was he in the background of any family photos? Was there any changes that they saw, did this guy stick out in any way? Aand then they will be asking that about this particular flight when he's flying across and the hours are passing and he's thinking about the deed that he wants to carry out.

Here's a man who is just about to commit suicide. What was or was not noticed about this man, not only that we could kind of see where blame might lie, but where we might learn something perhaps to prevent the next.

HOLMES: And this is a lot -- I mean, hopefully we can learn a whole lot here, but another -- we've been talking to terrorism experts this morning, they're talking about, you know, we got to stop this guy before he even gets to the airport.

That's going to be key, because who knows what he had on him and how he got it through, but something like a powder, I mean, unfortunately, you could hide that. It's hard to stop that. It's a matter of tracking these guys and knowing who they are before they're even allowed to get on their plane.

GRIFFIN: Yeah. You know, Richard Reid, tries to light his shoe. So, now we got to take our shoes off. Then the liquid thing. you know, could there be a liquid bomb? And then they were worried, a lot, T.J., about a team of guys with a three ounces of liquid, all meeting in the bathroom and putting it together.

This guy seems to be somewhat different. What was this? Of course they're analyzing what this powder was or was it a powder with an injectable. They'll figure that out and try to trace exactly where those components came from. That will be part of the actual trail.

Where was this purchased, where is it sold, how easy is it to get and then how to detect it. And the fact of the matter is, as Tom Fuentes, as we had on, was talking about it in places like Nigeria, the screening at the airport is not as good as we would like it here in America.

Well, so what's the point? Do we just yell at Nigerian officials to do a better job, or do we help them, do we bring that into the fold, do we try to make this an entire world community fighting this scourge of terrorism?

BALDWIN: What about also the fact that just judging by what Nic Robertson was reporting standing in front of one of his former homes in central London and he was saying the condo costs, you know, several million dollars. This young man, if this, in fact, was where he lived, he had access to wealth. He was not some poor freedom fighter, to quote you, you know.

GRIFFIN: We see that over and over again, even with our, "homegrown" terrorists that we've been talking about. I just did a story in Toronto where a bunch of suburban Toronto kids were involved in this plot. You are seeing a lot of this movement of al Qaeda. It's not so much the group al Qaeda, although we don't know if this man had any connections or not, but the idea.

And it may be being fostered among young people who have access to wealth, who have access to computers, to Web sites, and just kind of adopt the ideals of al Qaeda. Certainly this guy could travel, he could live in expensive apartments in London. He was not a poor kid, you know, trying to fight for the freedom of the country somewhere.

HOLMES: All right. Drew Griffin, part of our investigative team. We're going to be hearing a whole lot more from you because I know you are digging and you always find something. All right, Drew Griffin, we appreciate you as always.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

HOLMES: We're going to take a quick break, here. Brooke and I will be back and going to reset this story for you, a story that's going to affect you and your loved ones this weekend and your travel. And could be affecting this country for some time to come. Quick break. We're right back on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)