united states, they will get it striked at them. they are not immortal. this is going to happen. yes, it is a tactical pm operation because he was important not only within al-qaida. he was crucial for the al-qaida networks inside the united states so one thinks if we take out al-awlaki in iraq but another thing if we take out anwar al-awlaki who was a direct threat to national security meaning he had connections with elements within our own society, some of whom we have stopped. others, we weren t able to stop including the fort hood massacre issue. from that perspective, it s very important. at the same time, i keep cautioning, al-awlaki is not the end of the day. he is, you know, one part of that chain and now we re going to focus on who al-awlaki has changed. who al-awlaki has indoctrinated
yemen recently met with a somali terror suspect who is now in united states custody. catherine herridge works intelligence for us. live in d.c. tonight. what do we know about the meeting, catherine? the terror suspect is described by u.s. officials as a senior commander with the al-qaeda franchise in somalia. he was in yemen for one year where he met with anwar al-awlaki. al-qaeda s franchises in yemen and somalia are planning a merger. u.s. officials say this is more evidence that al-awlaki has become one of the group s major players. shep? shepard: we information about one american who tried to make the trip from yemen to
new mexico state university. he grew up in yes, ma amen and returned to the u.s. for reject and that photo youee s on the right is from 1997 when this so-called holy man was pked up by san diego cops for soliciting prostitutes. the khi herel- is al-awlaki has become the face of what we ll call this next wave of al-qaeda, the virtual jihaddists who recruit on-line and u.s. officials have told me consistakently that they believe al-awlaki has taken on a more operational role within al-qaeda and his trump card over all of the others is that he is an american citizen he speaks very effectively and directly to these western recruits. jamie: katherine, thank you so much. you reel wcome. rick: looking ahead to the midterm elections now and there are some polls that are suggesting the gop willetake the house in november, whi ans president obamaould soon