TRANSCRIPT:
SAWYER: But we wondered. How did they stay in control with so much information coming in every day

For instance, the afternoon of our interview, the day’s news had been filled with the terror arrests– twelve people in London just that morning

But when we asked the Director of Intelligence: London, How serious is it, any implication that it was coming here.? Any of the things that they have seen were coming here?

[PAUSE, Clapper looks puzzled, stumped]

SAWYER: Dr. Clapper?

BRENNAN: You read the arrests of the 12 individuals by the British this morning

CLAPPER: Oh.

BRENNAN: … this is something that the British informed us about early this morning that it was taking place.

SAWYER: Later in the interview …I came back to the director … did he really not know? I was a little surprise you didn’t know about London, Director Clapper.

CLAPPER: Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t.

BRENNAN: You referenced London, but you didn’t about the arrests.

SAWYER: Before we left, a question for the three people standing sentry over American security this Christmas. ‘You all sleep well at night?’

CLAPPER: When we get to sleep, yes we do.

NAPOLITANO: I call it sleeping fast. We sleep fast.

You’re always trying to anticipate what the next threat is going to be. what we need to do. One of the things that the president has said to all of us, is to make sure we take every step we can when we have indications that there might be a thereat to the American people in the Homeland or abroad. It’s one of the things that we each go home at night we want to make sure that we’ve done all that we can do to identify these threats and to stop them.

A statement released from the national intelligence director’s office after the interview and the following day read that Sawyer’s question was ambiguous, and that the director’s knowledge of the threat streams in Europe — quote is ‘profound and multi-dimensional.’

Full interview (left-to-right)
Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper
Chief Counterterrorism Advisor John Brennan
Secretary of Department of Homeland Security
Janet Napolitano.

TRANSCRIPT
DIANE SAWYER: When we look around today with Newark Airport, and the false alarm there, but New York City we had several of them [terror incidents]. What do you say to the American people right now about the degree of anxiety that’s just realistic right now as we head into the holidays.

NAPOLITANO: Yeah, well I say to the American people is that we are, and thousands of people are working 24/7, 364 days a year to keep the American people safe.

The comment was made minutes after Diane Sawyer’s interview revealed that Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper was not aware of an arrest of 12 men in Great Britain — suspects of a major terror plot in the country. Police in the United Kingdom had the 12 men under surveillance for months.

Full interview (left-to-right)
Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper
Chief Counterterrorism Advisor John Brennan
Secretary of Department of Homeland Security
Janet Napolitano

“holiday season provided attractive opportunities for terrorists”

“It is imperative that law enforcement and security personnel remain alert for indicators of attack planning.”

“We are concerned these terrorists may seek to exploit the likely significant psychological impact of an attack targeting mass gatherings in large metropolitan areas during the 2010 holiday season, which has symbolic importance to many in the United States,” The “Security Awareness for the Holiday Season” bulletin states.

The bulletin cites no specific threat, but is based on a persistent, evolving threat, including the attempted Christmas Day underwear bombing of Northwest 253 in 2009, Faisal Shahzad’s failed Times Square car bomb last spring, the “printer bomb” cargo plane plot last October, and a number of alleged would-be bombers caught in stings in Oregon and Chicago.

My assessment is that the threat environment is increasingly active.
– United States Secretary of Homeland Security of the United States

“During the last year,” said the bulletin, “al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have attempted to carry out attacks in the United States, thereby raising their international profile. We cannot discount the possibility that other al-Qa’ida-linked groups, such as al-Qa’ida in Iraq, al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb, Lashkar-e Tayyiba, or al-Shabaab, will attempt to target the Homeland during the holiday season.”

The document suggests that terrorists may consider public gatherings like “sporting events, parades, religious and cultural activities” to be attractive targets. “Attacks against these targets could maximize the psychological impact on the American public given the symbolic importance of the holiday season to many in the United States,” says the bulletin. “Attacks against air cargo during this busy season are also a concern.”

RECENT STINGS
Chicago Man, Sami Samir Hassoun, Arrested in Terrorist Bomb Plot in Wrigleyville
SUN SEP 19 2010 — Sami Samir Hassoun, 22, of the 4700 block of North Kedzie, was arrested and charged with plotting to blow up a high-powered explosive outside Slugger’s Wrigleyville bar just after midnight Sunday — immediately after placing what he believed to be a live explosive into a garbage can near the corner of West Eddy and Clark streets near Wrigley Field. Hassoun was arrested without incident on Seminary Avenue near the 3500 block of North Clark Street, by members of the Chicago FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). The arrest followed an investigation that accelerated in June of this year. Hassoun was charged in a criminal complaint filed today in U.S. District Court in Chicago with one count each of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted use of an explosive device, both of which are felony offenses.

Somali Mohamed Osman Mohamud Arrested in Sting to Blow Up Van at Portland, Oregon Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony
FRI NOV 27 2010 — Somali-born teenager Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, was arrested in a sting operation at 5:45 p.m. Friday at Southwest Yamhill Street and Sixth Avenue, Portland, Oregon while trying to blow up a van he believed was loaded with explosives at a Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Mohamud, of Corvallis, Oregon, drove a van to the ceremony and was arrested immediately after dialing a cellphone that he thought would detonate the explosives about 20 minutes before the tree lighting was to occur. The van was loaded with fake explosives.

Transcript on Department of Homeland Security on Janet Napolitano’s response …

CNN CANDY CROWLEY: Has there been any evidence of the Al Qaeda ties that this suspect has been claiming?

DHS JANET NAPOLITANO: Uh, right now that is part of the criminal justice investigation that is ongoing, and uh, I think it would be inappropriate to speculate as to whether or not he had such ties. What we’re focused on was making sure that the air environment remains safe, people are confident when they travel, and one think I’d to point out is … is that the system worked. Everybody played an important role here … the passengers and crew of the flight took appropriate action within literally an hour to 90 minutes of the incident occurring all 128 flights in the air had been notified to take some special measures in light of what had occurred on the Northwest Airlines flight. Uh, we instituted new measures on the ground and at screening areas both here in the United States and in Europe … uh … where this flight originated, so … ah … th … the whole process of making sure that we respond properly, directly and effectively went very smoothly.

…

CNN CANDY CROWLEY: If he was not improperly screened or properly screened, and yet you want Americans to feel safe on the planes and so … if he was properly screened any got on anyway with that, it doesn’t feel that safe.

DHS JANET NAPOLITANO: Well uh you know it should, this was one individual of literally thousands that fly on thousands of flights every year, and uh he was stopped before any damage could be done and now the forensics are analyzing, well, what could have been done with, with whatever substance he had and whatever amount, those are all undetermined issues right now … uh … and then we will go back and see about … about that technology … about that screening, just as we will go back at the president’s request and look at how we put people on different types of watch lists. Those are things that had been in place … uh … for many years. They have been the procedures that we have utilized … uh … and again once this incident occurred, what I really think deserves attention is everybody responded quickly effectively … witihout, without, you know, panicking and shutting down the airline systems — air travel. Uh, what we did is dealt with the incident,put out additional security measures both at airports here and abroad and made sure that the flights that were in the air were indeed safe.

Wikipedia: Candy Crowley | Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano | Northwest Airlines Flight 253 | No Fly List