afghan-pakistan area where the al qaeda core and senior leadership reside, i would say that the al qaeda and arabian peninsula is the most active operational franchise right now of al qaeda and that this is one that deserves a lot of our attention. shepard: the most operational. yemen became a key focus for u.s. counter terrorism officials after last year s christmas day attack and now this. president obama says yemen s president has promised full cooperation in the investigation. judith miller is with us now. fox news contributor, pults prize winning journalist with great contacts over there. what are you learning tonight? well, shep, we believe that these things that are being described as explosive devices with now being looked at by bomb specialists in london and then the uae. and that they are very good cooperation, obviously, between the u.k. and the u.s. as also between the uae and the u.s. so we should be knowing more about these devices and what was
new york was in the air when they realized it was carrying cargo from yemen. fighter jets escorted the 747 before it landed this afternoon at jfk. rick leventhal is live there tonight. the feds call this a precautionary measure. did anything come of it? not yet, shepard. no word on whether they found anything suspicious in that one piece of yemen 14 hour journey was extended by a couple of hours because every piece of luggage was rescreened and hand checked. they also tell us they had no idea landed. it was dark inside. watching a moe. having a having a meal. having a drink. did the captain announce anything? no. the same passengers told us they had no problem with being kept in the dark until they landed, shepard. shepard: rick, escorting planes with fighter jets, just how rare is that sort of thing? well, it s very rare for fighter jets to escort
harder at cargo shipments, right now all flights, passenger flights, direct links between yemen and u.k., grounded. shep? shepard: greg palkot tonight in london. greg, thank you. more developments on the terror plot against the united states today on studio b. i spoke with the pulitzer prize winning journalist judith miller on how serious a threat the terrorists in yemen actually pose to the united states. this is a real nightmare. we do not want yemen to become the second afghanistan. shepard: no, we don t. straight ahead judith miller joins us live with details on increasingly dangerous off shoot in yemen when the fox report continues straight away. for 18 holes with your buddies? [ glass shatters ] more passion for the one you love? more fun with your family and friends? it could be a treatable condition called low testosterone, or low t. c mon, stop living in the shadows.
yemen branched the yemen and saudi branches to formal died in the ayabian peninsula. they have linked anwar al awlaki to attacks including the attempted christmas underwear bombing attempt. the fort hood and failed times square bombing. yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world with very high unemployment. key ingredients in terrorist breeding ground. united states is sending yemen $150 million in military assistance this year. the pentagon has deployed troops from the joint special operations command to yemen and sent armed drobs there to target the terrorist. much more ahead on yemen including what our contacts tell us is happening on the ground there right now. that s coming up just minutes away. all but one of the planes security officials searched today were cargo planes. the other was filled with passengers. security officials say emirates aerials flight 201 from dubai to
complicated relationship with the yemenese. shepard: yep. the saudis have been both fighting the yemenese over the border for a long time but, also, they have been fighting al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. and they have had to be aware of everything that the yemenese know about this organization because they have been targeted by this group, not just the united states, not just the west. the saudis have been very, very cooperative in this matter. shepard: it s not any secret that things have been coming from yemen and that yemen is a problem. now we just heard that yemen is the most operational of the al qaeda branches. right. shepard: yet we spend $3 billion a week in afghanistan where we know that there are because few handsful of al qaeda operatives. big picture, are we still fighting the last battle in the war? i think we re fighting to prevent al qaeda from regaining a foot hold in afghanistan, from moving from pakistan back into