airlines was arrested this summer accused of trying to sabotaging a plane with 150 people on board. authorities say they used surveillance video to identify him. the pilots were rolling down the runway in miami when they suddenly aborted takeoff due to faulty readings. experts say if it hadn t been caught, it could have brought the plane down. you have to know how fast the plane is going to do a successful takeoff. it is a very dangerous malfunction. reporter: today prosecutors said they also found an article about the deadly lion air crash in indonesia last year on his phone. they say it referenced the same type of air data module system he s accused of sabotaging and the federal government say he told his co-workers his brother was a member of isis and went to iraq to see his brother. prosecutors say his roommate told them he went to iraq because his brother had been kidnapped. no terror-related charges have been filed. in court documents, prosecutors initially said he confessed
of the intelligence and judiciary committee and our correspondents are standing by. first let s go to cnn s brian todd with the latest on the airline mechanic accused of sabotaging. a judge just denied him bond saying he may, quote, be very sympathetic to terrorists. the judge did say that just a short time ago and the judge also called the suspect s alleged actions, quote, very disconcerting. prosecutors say in one message that the suspect sent to another person, he wrote that, quote, ala, we ask you to use all of you re might and power against nonmuslim but tonight the mechanic is not charged with terrorism-related offenses. reporter: prosecutors drop the bombshell in open court telling a judge that the 60-year-old airline mechanic had an isis video on his phone. and had forwarded it to someone else. prosecutors say abdul alanni visited iraq this year and sent $700 to someone living there. he is a mechanic for american
sabotage due to a pay dispute and wanted to get more overtime fixing the flaw he created. but tonight analysts say investigators may now be looking into whether he was somehow radicalized. we ve seen these organizations be very creative innovative and we ve seen more outsourcing as they themselves could not mount a 9/11 type operation. they essentially reach out to other people that could do things for them. reporter: terrorist groups from al qaeda to isis are known to be fixated on trying to bring down american planes and the threat of a terrorist getting a job with an airline to pull off an inside job has always been a major security concern. for example, the deadly metrojet crash in egypt in 2015 claimed by isis might have been perpetrated by a mechanic according to reuters. they see airport insider as helpful recruits and there is track record of this. reporter: but terrorism experts say it is possible his interest in iraq and isis could have no bearing on the alleged sabot
isis videos for all sorts of reasons. this man was from iraq. perhaps he was interested in what that group was doing to his country. the question of travel to iraq, plenty of iraqis in the united states go back to their home country. reporter: american airlines said the mechanic has been fired. he has not entered a plea in connection to the late july incident. but he is expected to enter a plea later this week. the judge has denied him bail. now in court today, wolf, his lawyer did say that he never meant to hurt anyone and only wanted overtime pay. he said that he agreed to the search of his phone and now where that isis video was found and the defense attorney asked if he was a terror threat, why wasn t he on a no-fly list. these are all trong points made by the defense today in court and he should enter a plea later this week. a lot of questions need to be answered. good report, thank you very much. there is more breaking news we re following. tough new talk from president tru
critic but now his new national security adviser. was flattery part of the reason he got the job. i m wolf blitzer and you re in the situation room. announcer: this is cnn breaking news. we re following breaking news, including very disturbing new allegations against an airline mechanic accused of sabotaging a passenger plane that was forced to abort takeoff. prosecutors now say the iraqi-born man downloaded an isis video to his phone and told co-workers his brother was a member of the terror group. also breaking this hour, president trump alluding to possible war with iran which he blames for the devastating aerial attack on a pager saudi oil field. tonight the secretary of state mike pompeo is in saudi arabia as the president announces new sanctions on iran. we ll talk about that and more with congressman eric swalwell