actually going to certify i can t, being trained in syria, to fight side by side with those anti-government elements? you know, it s a really interesting question, because, of course, nobody can really say for certain. but u.s. officials are telling us, they believe there may be as many as as 70 americans, u.s. citizens, that have gone to syria for a variety of reasons. and, of course, they contract them through international passport controls, transiting across borders, that sort of thing. but it s a very rough estimate. they don t really know. and people come and go all of the time. so the problem is, this is a very tough place for the u.s. to keep an eye on and get really solid intelligence. barbara starr with the latest on that front. very disturbing information. thank you. making a big pitch. the first lady of the united states did that on the tonight show starring jimmy fallon. you re going to hear what she said about the affordable care act that got a big laugh from
i believe they re waiting for leaders to give them a signal as to where they should go next. the barricades have been heavily reinforced around there. there are many people still on the street. and what s so remarkable is an absolute absence of police wherever you go. they have pulled back entirely. almost like a ghost town, where before there were many, many riot police lining the streets all over. so we have a deal. it does have a lengthy timetable for the potential eventually departure of victor yanukovych, but does not give the immediate resignation many in the crowd behind me would have hoped for, wolf. nick payton walsh in kiev, thanks for that update. a potential threat coming out of syria. al qaeda. al qaeda may be recruiting fighters to attack the united states. our pentagon correspondent, barba barbara starr, is working this story for us. what exactly is al qaeda trying to do? reporter: wolf, there s some very dangerous new wrinkles emerging. intelligence has been gathe
operatives in syria, may be specifically trying to target americans and other westerners with western passports coming to syria to fight in the war there. we know they have been trying to recruit outsiders to come fight in that ongoing civil war in syria. but now al qaeda, we are told by several sources, targeting americans, targeting westerners, and then when they get to syria, taking them or attempting, rather, to take them to special training so they can be trained on how to return to their home countries and carry out terrorist attacks. of course, the big worry is there are al qaeda operatives in syria, the u.s. believes, from al qaeda in yemen. and that is the group, of course, that poses the most direct threat to the united states with that master bomb-maker named al aseary, the guy we re hearing about tied to the shoe bomb threat. so all of this getting very concerning, wolf. are there a lot of americans
thanks, everybody, for watching. wolf blitzer, that s just about to start. to start. have a great friday. captions by vitac www.vitac.com right now, ted nugent apologizes. he says he crossed the line when he called the president of the united states a sub human mongrel. also right now, a peace deal reached in the ukraine. the president and the opposition agreeing to the terms. now the world watches and waits to see if the deal will really hold. and right now, new information coming in about al qaeda in syria. the group may be recruiting americans to carry out attacks right here on u.s. soil. hello, i m wolf blitzer, reporting from washington. a surprising apology today from ted nugent for calling president obama a sub human mongrel. was he sincere? you can judge for yourself. here s what he told conservative
been inconsistent. putin has been consistent, but this a way we don t like. old hands saying you re seeing a return to soviet style tactics that forces the only answer and not just in the ukraine, but seyri syria. the question is, you saw these sanctions this week against 20 leaders in the ukrainian government. has an effect on them, but does it move the dial inside the ukraine? maybe not. i am told by a number of people watching this crisis, the real key, the real way the u.s. can influence this positively is with an economic aid package, following a political agreement that has to be clearly more than $15 billion, right? what the russians have offered, in effect. to help get the ukrainian economy back on its feet. they re in danger of a default. but also gives a carrot in effect for staying on this side of that east-west divide. and if you look even in kiev