we want to work with the president of yemen. what we consider large amount of aid today are minuscule to what we used to give. since 2006, we have given perhaps $400 million in military aid to yemen to assist them. in 1970 fine, when there was a border dust up between north and south yemen, the united states provided in $1,979.480 million. to address that problem. our amount of money we give to these situations is limited and minimizing our influence. >> it sounds like a lot of money. >> $400 million for a country with the number of people of florida, sparsely populated a lot concentrated in a half dozen or so urban centers. how much would sit taken. >> i don't think the united states can stabilize it. there is it is unwiser the the united states to get involved. they have to bring order to their own country. >> so now listening to that, history lesson, did the united states ever understand what it was getting into or what it was buying orr for that matter, did the saudi whose are giving far more? >> well, since 2011. >> let's s

considering yemen crucial >>> yemen's leadership on the edge. houthi fighters take over the presidential palace in the capital sanaa. in the past hour their leader has addressed the country. >> at this defining moment in the history of our homeland. we are going through at critical moment. ♪ ♪ >>> hello there, i am barbara you are watching al jazerra live in london. also coming up on the program. nine policemen are killed in iraq as isil fighters attack the compound of

in order to build militias in yemen, you have to pay people. yemen is a poor country. is not coming from taxes. it is not enough to find that kind of a movement. that is the big movement that the iranians have had. they take the hadith place there, no one paid attention to it. get rid of them, good. it is a key place of his supporters in the military. apparently they moved into snaaanaa. when they take sanaa, they portray themselves as revolutionaries. they say we are revolutionaries, we are a continuation of the 2011 revolution. we are here to implement the national dialogue. we are here to make sure it happens, that the outcomes are enforced. they set up committees that were going into all of the ministries and overseeing them. they went in and incorporated into the police forces incorporated themselves into the military. they very much need the national state. this is what i call schizophrenic behavior. this is the learning process they are going through. they want to have all of the guns in the north. the guns in the north were turned against them. they are very in

let's go to yemen. our senior international correspondent, nick paton-walsh, is the only tv correspondent on the ground in yemen. you had a chance to check out the president's residence today. what did you see there? >> reporter: after all the dealing we have heard in the last few hours and which effectively it seems the houthis have agreed to pull away from the key buildings like the presidential residence we were at this morning and the presidential palace they overran yesterday, in exchange for releaseing the chief of staff of the president, they will be able to have a hand in rewriting lots of the new constitution that was supposed to come in and get their hands on power, too. but really power seems to be being decided on the streets today. there are many cabinet official levels absolutely concerned this is a terrifying precedent, frankly, for the future of yemen. around the presidential residence as you see there, we were talking to the men on top of the tank these young houthis, very young, some o

which is based in yemen. again, and talk through your knowledge that you have of the region so we just heard the president apologizing saying that basically he lost the capitol to othe houthies, sorry for doing this, but he is left in a position where he was left no alternatives. you spoke about the power vacuum, that is fow in the country. this wasn't a functioning government, so really what sort of difference is it going to make? >> well, the only difference it is going to make this time is it is going to make a huge impact on the houthies themselves. the houthies until 5:00 p.m. local time were celebrates their newfound freedoms and also increasing or growing influence. there was this theory that the houthies would be in favor of a weakened president who would be politically beholden to them for the coming years. for them to be able to -- >> they want him to repain in power. >> absolutely. but now when he submitted his resignation along with his government, this leaves the houthiss with no other option but

is the yemen army still responding to his command? >> not all of it. some of the yemen army are responding to his command and this is why the both ministers of defense and interior were on the committee but there are people who wear the uniform and they do not obey the orders of the superiors. >> it sounds as though sanaa is in a state of utter chaos. >> at this point, yes. it's a very -- this story is developing so quickly i think by the time i finish this conversation something new is going to happen. we may probably have a new yemen by the end of the day in terms of maybe a new system altogether. i still don't know what is happening. what i know now is there are attempts for ceasefire and there are people or bodies who are trying not to allow this to happen. ♪ welcome back to the ongoing situation in yemen a little bit later in the program, let's move on to other news education activists in kenya calling on government to improve education and address the issue of complimentary schools and schools in slums and rural areas not part of the formal edu

let's get more on yemen. joining us here in the studio, and we've been asking a lot of people we've been speaking to whether the cease-fire is going to stick. let me ask you that as well. and if so, if there was any potential for it to stick how? how will that be possible? >> well. >> it has political stability in yemen. i don't think this will hold for the the following reasons. the president has appointed a top political adviser the man a few days ago said that there are huge differences and i don't see them coming together in the future to solve some of these problems. it's not just about minor political issues. it's about who is going to rule in the future, and the houthies have made it clear they want to be the ones to rule yemen. >> more specifically, what is it that the houthies want? >> the official narrative of the houthies they want bigger representation and bigger say in the running of the government. it stretches to the north afterwards therefore the one who represent the shia in yemen they want t

there's a company of marines in yemen right now. more military personnel than civilian personnel at the u.s. embassy. no word yet as to what the plans are for the u.s. embassy as of yesterday. there had been no orders to evacuate the survey. obviously all eyes right now on the capital of yemen and what the plans are for the militants who have surrounded the president in his residence. >> so, the president just for you months ago said that yemen was a success story. what are we to make now in the last 24 hours? >> reporter: in the last 24 hours what we have been seeing played out since september when the militants took over the capital center and that was around the same time that the president, president obama made those remarks in his, when he was announcing the isil strategy, the strategy against isis in iraq and syria, at that point he was referring to yemen as a success story. it's clear in the last four months the situation in yemen has changed dramatically. now the counterterrorism efforts, the investment of $275 million by th

one of these people trained in yemen. i think the threat is you know real. >> how important is it for the world, the leaders of the free world, to call it what it is? we heard him now talking about terrorism, but he refrained from saying islam radical terrorism. how important is it for him to say what it actually is? >> it was progress to get them to say terrorism. that was a step forward. you're right. he doesn't often talk about radical islamic terrorism. he talks about extremists. he believes the religion has been hijacked and moderate muslims around the world would say that as well. you're right. he doesn't make that point and that's the threat that's developing around the world. i want to make one point about yemen. you know, it was just a couple of months ago that this president said that yemen and somalia were a success story and that syria was built, the policy, on the yemen and somalia model. when the "charlie hebdo" attack happened, that same day in yemen, a suicide bomber in a mini bus exploded outside a police

the yemen model has all but collapsed. the fighting against al qaeda on the ground has been done now by the houthis, but has made the issue in the problem of al qaeda worse in yemen anyway, the violence carried out by al qaeda has increased hugely since the houthis took sanaa in september. looking at the oxfam figures the underlying problem in yemen those figures have gone to 16 million people in need of humanitarian aid. the last figures that 14.7 million. as a population of 25. whilst international community focuses on the security issues you have an economy that is collapsing, rising humanitarian crisis, and political issues that haven't been dealt with. this kind of short-term thinking about the security situation in yemen is really never going to get to the bottom of the political problems come the economic problems, and humanitarian issues that feed into this in the end. >> you mention one of the underlying problems being an ongoing secessionist movement. most americans have short memories. they forget it wasn't long

yemen facing chaos. many say this is the beginning of an attempted coup by houthi rebels even as there were claims of a cease-fire. >> i do not think that the cease-fire will hold. that's what my gut tells me based off of what we have been watching over the last year going on in sanaa and throughout yemen. >> reporter: shiite houthi rebels backed by iran have been challenging yemeni authority for months. yemen's information minister tells cnn's christiane amanpour the yemeni prime minister is surrounded by militias stationed on rooftops around his home. >> what is the state of control of the government? >> almost nonexistent. >> are you telling me the government is not in control? >> yes. shocking huh? >> reporter: for u.s. embassy workers, if there is an order to evacuate they could leave by state department chartered aircraft. but only if it is safe enough to drive to the airport. if the airport closes, there is another route. cnn has learned the u.s. military has just increased its alert level. marine

of yemen right now. this is a critically dangerous moment. other regions like the united emirates right now. >> it's obviously a border. you have to know it goes well beyond simply. you're talking about people who this really hated. >> it's a big concern. your son says that the u.s. government has been preparing this for a long time. >> symbolically politically, strategically. >> have discussions. this is clearly in the works. even in those meetings when i would talk to some of the royal family the king was not well. they anticipated any minute he was going to pass. i would be shocked if they haven't made contingency plans. >> there's a lot of important hard work to do. repairing some of the strains. all right. it's a sensitive moment. the king of saudi arabia king abdullah has died. there's a new king. king solomon who will be the new king. stay with us for continuing coverage. dramatic developments unfolding. i'm wolf blitzer. erin burnett outfront starts now. >>> outfront next breaking news. saudi ara

how bad are things in yemen? now? >> reporter: yemen has never had stability but it is going from dangerous to totally lawless as you mentioned the iranian backed military is a serious power player and so is al-qaeda. remember the state department is there and a number of those folks have left and the state department is ready to the rest of the embassy if they need to. those plans are in place. it is important to realize how quickly this declined. it was only a couple months ago the president was saying yemen is proof his foreign policies are working. >> asad is under the control of iran, and you have a problem in iraq and lebanon. president obama's standing in the region is terrible. his policies are failing. if this is a success story i would hate to see failure. >> reporter: yemen is the head quarters for the most sophisticated part of what is left of al-qaeda and the former president was a u.s. ally allowing the drone program to go on and align with the cia there in yemen. the question now is will al-qaeda be abl

considering yemen crucial >>> yemen's leadership on the edge. houthi fighters take over the presidential palace in the capital sanaa. in the past hour their leader has addressed the country. >> at this defining moment in the history of our homeland. we are going through at critical moment. ♪ ♪ >>> hello there, i am barbara you are watching al jazerra live in london. also coming up on the program. nine policemen are killed in iraq as isil fighters attack the compound of an influential tribal leader. japan's prime minister says he'll try and save two japanese hostages being held by isil, who want $200 million for their release. plus china's economy posts its weakest growth in nearly a quarter of a century. so should the government be worried? ♪ ♪ >>> hello there, thank you for joining us. it's been a turbulent and fast-moving day in yemen. in the past hour, the leaders of the shia rebels has addressed the nation on tv. he explained why the houthis seized the presidential palace in sanaa after renewed fighting in which at least two soldiers

in yemen's capital. to suggest they're operating at the direction of the iranian government is a little extreme. their agenda is to take resources from outside of yemen and use those resources inside yemen to further their own objectives. jenna: we know yemen has been a hotbed for terror for training and the like. we've seen high-profile drone strikes inside of yemen for that reason. what do you think this disruption inside of the capital means for the different cells, terror cells that exist inside of the country and what does that mean for us and our safety? >> well, sure, look if anything, the yemeni security services are preoccupied with the security in the capital and preoccupied with tribal factional and other struggles we've seen play out over the space of a couple of weeks, it will make it harder for them to focus their attention on threats like al qaeda in the arabian peninsula and its front organization ansar al-sharia and soorgs like aqap and other terror syndicates operating in yemen will pro

now what happened with the hooties. >> schieffer: in yemen. >> in yemen right. with respect there no one knows what is going to happen. the future is unknown. which really should not be the case. we know that the hootis, said they would leave us alone net they say death to israel, deposed the president military has separated off. we have less than 300 yemeni military guarding our embassy. i think number of priorities there. one to see that our people are safe. the second is to take a good look at our policy with respect to yemen. largely counter terrorism largely developed against al qaeda because al qaeda is coming after us. they tried to get four of these bombs that go through mag any tomorrow terse in to our country targeting leadership, trying to take that leadership out. that is what comes through to people. my concern is where is iran going. iran has been supporting the hootis,. i don't know. but i think we have to think long term and i think we have to become much more developed human side rather than technical side. >> do you think the president is too c

is the yemen army still responding to his command? >> not all of it. some of the yemen army are responding to his command and this is why the both ministers of defense and interior were there in this committee but there are people who wear the uniform and they do not obey the orders. >> it sounds as though sanaa is in a state of utter chaos. >> at this point, yes. it's a very -- this story is developing so quickly i think by the time i finish this conversation something new will happen. we may probably have a new yemen by the end of the day in terms of maybe a new system altogether. i still don't know what is happening. what i know now is there are attempts to ceasefire and there are people or body whose are trying not to happen. >> let's get an update from the yemen capitol sanaa and talk to the editor in chief of the yemen post and joins us live via skype from sanaa. and dramatic events in the yemen capitol today, this morning and today. bring us up to date if you can with the latest on the fighting in the capitol. it appears to be chaotic, what are

the levers of power in yemen. we had a statement come in from the secretary general of the united nations he has called on all sides to take maximum steps of restraint and restore all peace peaceful resolutions. the but ambassador is supposed to present his credentials to ban ki-moon. his status of course today is not known, so we are going to get a new yemeni ambassador whether the government that gave him the position is still in charge is the question. >> yes, indeed. thank you, james. hashem there is some talk of this announcement that the houthi leader is going to make in less than an hour's time. and some people expect him to come out and announce some sort of military council. what would that entail? >> well there has been some rumors circulating around that. that they might appoint a military council, which is a replacement of rabbuh mansur hadi. but i doubt it. a military council would pave the way to more anarchy. the only man that has international legitimacy is rabbuh mansur hadi. but we do know from o

the presidential compound and prime minister convey attacked in yemen. >> we may have a new yemen by the end of the day. >> hundreds attended the funerals for six hezbollah fighters killed in an israeli air strike. >> after six weeks of no new infections declared free from the ebola virus in mali. >> there's a growing sense of uncertainty after an attempted coup. there are on going gun battles. the president was forced to flee his palace by helicopter. his convey came under attack and houthi rebels took control of a state news agency. >> the fighting is being heard from blocks away. government forces and houthi rebels have been battling near the presidential palace since early monday. the believe is a symbol of who wields power in yemen something hard to know at the moment. the information minister describes the scene as utter chaos. >> to be honest, i don't think any single party is in control. there are places where the state security's in control places where houthis are in control. both ministers of defense and interior were in this committee but there are people who wear the uni

is this true of yemen? >> in yemen, the u.s. has one interest. and that is al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. a group based in yemen. arab spring when the interrupted in 2011, they looked at what was happening in egypt and syria and wanted to avoid the sort of collapse in yemen it was seeing in other places. try to broker a deal. the president had been in power for 33 years. a deal that would see him step down and there would be a transition. for what the u.s. did is abdicate authority to saudi arabia. the kingdom of saudi arabia had a need for democratic transition in yemen. what we have seen is that kicking the can down the road three years has not really worked. now, the government in yemen has collapsed. the president has resigned. the prime minister has resigned. and a shia group has moved in and they are the natural enemy of al qaeda. what we are likely to see happen is that al qaeda in the arabian peninsula will get stronger. but the u.s. wanted to do is have a good ally on the ground. it is just not in a position to do that. >> president

alena makes it to yemen. storm recalls receiving a text message from one of his danish handlers. >> saying congratulations, brother, you just became very rich. >> soon he is in yet another meeting with intelligence agents. one from the cia is anxious for storm to open the briefcase they brought with them. >> and he looked at me with a massive smile on his face. what do you think the call is? i think -- i have no clue. i didn't even think there was three numbers on each side. come on, come on, he said, think about it. i said, i don't know. i have no clue. he said, 007. >> james bond. >> james bond. it's 007, he said. and clink clink clink. and click, it opened up. >> so happy with the cash, he took this photo of the $250,000 inside. then this, an encrypted message from awlaki, an update. it's about alena. we got married. awlaki ironically adding, she turned out better than i expected. and better than you described. >> she was a very pretty girl. >> and he was happy. >> he was extremely happy, yeah. >> but ther

nick payton walsh joining us from yemen. here with me researcher on yemen. she knows a lot about what's going on. let me get your quick reaction to the breaking news. all of a sudden this yemeni government is gone. looks like these shiite-led rebels are about to take over. >> they took over the city saana in 2014. it's kind of a slow takeover. the government finally got the approval from the parliament in december. they effectively started working only to see them resign now. president hadi realized he's not going to be able to lead the country like he wishes and that the houthi rebels have taken over everything. >> what are they going to do with the president? >> that is not clear yet. i doubt they will kill him at the time being. however, they leaked voice calls that he had with his chief of staff, whom they already kidnapped a few days ago. seems like they want to set him up in a situation where he can't go to the south because he's originally a southerner. >> nick these houthi rebels, they may not necessarily like aqap their shiite al qaeda is largely su

what is happening in yemen. the instability in the capital and lack of clarity of where the country is going. increased instability could play into al qaeda's hands and give them the potential for more likelihood of strikes in the west. not an idle threat being made. >> not an idle threat. nic robertson, thank you. >>> happening right now, the battle against isis at the top of the agenda this morning at a big meeting in london. that is where secretary of state john kerry meets with 20 member nations in the coalition to defeat the islamic terror group. discussions on the military campaign and financing and foreign fighters coming to iraq and syria who have been trying to get into that battle. cnn's atika shubert joins us with the latest. good morning, atika. >> reporter: good morning. that meeting is happening at lancaster house. it is could hosted by secretary of state john kerry and philip hammond. it is the core members of the coalition against isis some 20 countries represented. what they will be doing is tak

of yemen participate. from the wilson center in washington. this is about an hour. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] >> good afternoon and welcome to the wilson center. i'm jane harman, the president and ceo. i visited yemen a few years back and met with leaders of opposition parties. certainly many of us have wanted yemen to turn out right. today we will see what people a lot more informed than i think about all this. i want to express my specific gratitude that mohammed al-basha is here with us today to represent his country and his embassy. thank you very much for coming. and recognize many wilson cabinet and council supporters in the audience. you remember our embassy in yemen has closed, so i hope it will open again soon in a region increasingly compromised by terror. yemen's partnership has been vital to combating terrorist extremists. we hosted the president here in 2012 when the outlook was so much brighter. the u.s.-yemeni relationship was strong. sectarian conflict has done

yemen's leadership on the edge. houthi fighters take over the presidential palace in the capital sanaa before their leader addresses the country. >> translator: at this defining moment in the history of our homeland, we are going through a critical moment. >>> also ahead, nine policemen are killed in iraq as isil fighters attack the compound of an influential tribal leader. >>> and world leaders in business moguls come together for the world's economic forum. ♪ ♪ >>> hello, it has been a turbulent and fast-moving day in yemen. the leader of the shia rebels, abdul malik al houthi address the on television. after fighting in which two soldiers were killed. he blamed president hoodie for instability by failing to honor peace deals with the houthis and for corruption in his government. u.s.-backed leader is currently thought to be trapped inside the palace itself. planned talks to did views the tensions have been canceled with al houthi, blaming the government to stalling what he calls a critical moment of change in

of yemen which was known as north yemen. they have been on the march. they had received an enormous amount of support, although they deny it, from iran, and they've now seized virtually the entire capital of yemen, and add to that the fact that they now, for all intents and purposes conducted a coup d'etat against the american-supported president and his government, which apparently has resigned, leaving the country rudderless and in the hands of these rebels, and at the same time, al qaeda, in the arabian peninsula has had its stronghold in yemen, and it has been probably ground zero in the arabian peninsula for american counterterrorism initiatives against the most virulent and most dangerous franchise of al qaeda that has tried many number of times to attack the homeland against the united states. everywhere, everything from the underwear bomber to the inspiration of lieutenant general high dodd -- hadad, who had attacked fort hood, the tsarnaev brothers were inspired by the assassinated cleric american-born cleric, the l

yemen is a country in crisis. less than 4 hours ago the president of yemen signed a deal with houthi rebels to end months of crisis. today president hadi resigns leaving the country in chaos. >> this is the resignation of yemen's president. the country's head of state after the revolution. it comes a day after he agreed to houthi demands including a change in the constitution. shia houthi fight tours control the capitol of sanaa. but they've been in control of most parts since september last year. they've been promising statement and calling for the setting up of a new presidential council. in this secession itself, there have been calls for the north that shows how divided this country is. there have been calls for the solution to the crisis. >> i ask everybody to be wise, to be in a spirit of national union, to respect the supreme interest of yemen and dialogue and political solutions. >> some analysts say that hadi should have resigned months ago. >> it's a very bad thing and a very good thing. it's a very bad

he was killed by a drone strike in 2007 in yemen. he was one of al qaeda's top recruiters of foreign nationals because of his command of english and charismatic personality. one of the brothers himself admitted in this stunning phone call that he made during the hostage siege that he was part of al qaeda in yemen. >> richard, let me ask you, to that end in terms of claiming responsibility for this we had word that amedy coulibaly said to the press he was trained or affiliated with i.s. the islamic state. the bizarreness of two groups claiming responsibility here. how unprecedented is that at this particular moment? >> it's actually becoming increasingly less unusual. and the reason is syria. and the reason is iraq. because in the last year or so the islamic movements, the islamic radical movements in syria and iraq have become so powerful they have taken over effectively their own small state. that means islamic groups in that country are forced to work together. you see a group once part of al qaeda transform into a -- into entity c

in yemen. the question of course is how long before it simply gets too dangerous to stay put? yemen under siege from iranian-backed shiite rebels attacking the presidential palace raising the possibility of an all-out coup against the sunni-led government. a national security crisis for the u.s. the immediate worry, the safety of several hundred american embassyworkers, an embassy vehicle already shot at. >> if the u.s. embassy is under threat and the u.s. military cannot guarantee the safety of its diplomats and other civilians at the embassy, it is time to go at least temporarily. >> it's no longer clear the streets are safe enough for personnel to drive to the airport to levee area commercial air if the state department orders an evacuation. cnn has learned two u.s. navy warships moved into the red sea late monday ready to evacuate the americans if ordered. the uss iwo jima and uss ft. mchenry on standby. a u.s. official cautions if it comes to that it will be a difficult and dangerous milit

yemen. we're also now hearing the older brother, said has just been buried in an unmarked grave in eastern france. let's go straight to jim bittermann covering this from when it all happened on january 7th. jim, thank you for being with us. what can you tell us about said kouachi, the older of the brothers being buried in the town that he was from? what do we know about that who was there? >> reporter: well, it wasn't attended by anybody. it was done overnight and kind of in secret. no one knows where he is. he's in an unmarked grave. basically because he lived in the city for a time and the mayor had no choice. the local city officials didn't want this to happen. they would rather have had him buried somewhere else. according to the french law, they -- if a person lives in a community he can then be buried in that community. the same thing is happening with his brother who we think is going to be buried in an unmarked grave, cherif kouachi, in a town close suburb of the west of paris. and w

in yemen's capital, u.s. troops are awaiting orders to evacuate the embassy if necessary, and there's growing fear that time is running out. across the region the rise of isis is creating a power struggle of sorts as al qaeda and its loyalists control more territory and more recruits. in yemen isis is challenging the dominance of the local branch of al qaeda in

>> well, many countries have been focusing on yemen quite heavily. the united kingdom has been very, very focused. the french, it is true, are more focused on the magrab in northwest africa, much less so on yemen, but much more so in iraq and syria, a country they have long historic ties with. there are a lot of different places to keep an eye out for. of course, everyone's still looking at pakistan. so it's a complicated picture. but i think the biggest thing to keep an yip out for right now is the activities of militants within europe's own borders. they may not have the organization and the skill-set, but some of them seem really motivated to carry out violent attacks. >> are you worried about follow-up attacks here? >> you have to be worried about follow-up attacks. the period immediately following any attack is, of course, the most dangerous. first of all, because terrorist organizations, especially jihadists, often plan on follow-on attacks to throw the public even more offguard. and also, because there's the possibility of copycat attacks. par

the northern part of north yemen. what is the southern part of north yemen and the whole of south yemen, which is nearly two-thirds of the area, of the country, is still out of his control. so we're heading towards you know, a sort of fragmentation of the country. this is what we've been warning against. today we noticed that the people in the south have closed the border areas previously, and we've called for that. we're now asking the international community and our regional players to be quite assured that this is not going to happen. no way would ali abdullah saleh and the houthies be the only soul controllers of a part of yemen. we've agreed on a federal solution. these people are against the federal resolution. we have agreed on a new state of law and order and a modern state. these are people who are against the modern state. we've agreed to fight corruption, and they've been fighting against the president not to allow 400,000 of-- >> we have to leave it there. thank you so much for your time. >> thank you. >>

yemen. at that time the leadership included nassar, a long-time aide to osama bin laden as well as anwar al-awlaki the claireic i just mentioned in addition to another american who was eventually killed in a cia drone strike, samir khan the main driver behind "inspire magazine" the journal that in march of 2013 called for the execution of the editor and the cartoonists at the french magazine. so that is a lot of dat too -- data points taking to us al qaeda in yemen. u.s. intelligence officials have not reached any firm conclusion over whether al qaeda in yemen directed this operation, but there is now no doubt that the brother had ties to al qaeda in yemen. >> how does all of this information relate to earlier intelligence that we had already confirmed? >> one of the most interesting elements in this is that there was a series of tweets we have reviewed here at fox news that came out within an hour of the terrorist attack. the happen on those tweets was a handle that is associated with aqap

just remind us why yemen is so crucial to the u.s.. >> well, it's because the yemen government under president hadi has been a very staunch ally of the u.s.' drone campaign, against members of al quaida in the arabian peninsula you will recall, of course, that the u.s. used drone strikes to kill the spur call leader of u.q.a.p. back in 2011, that was before president hadi came to power but after he came to power, we saw increased number of drone attacks that were aided and abetted by the hadi government. the u.s. is very concerned that the country is not going to have a chance to be a stable country in the region, it has been very concerns about the political strains within yemen for some time, but certainly when it comes to counter for error im, that is perhaps the number one concern so now the u.s.' man in yemen if we can say has stepped down the houthis rebels make no secret of their dislike of the united states, what options are open to the u.s.? well, the houthies for example, really don't like the drone strike campaign at all they are very much opposed to it but that's not to s

yemen. >> former president solas stepped down reluctantly. it's believed he still has significance influence in the country. the world food program estimate 10 milliony men anies don't have enough food. >> roxana saberi joining us. ibrahim, it is good to see you. thank you for being on the program. i want to share this quote. middle east analysts john alterman used to be a state department officials describes yemen this way. i wonder what you think of this. he said yemen is like haiti with guns. americans get a sense of what haiti is about. is that a fairly accurate description of yemen? >> i think it's not. it looks--it sounds like a racist comment. >> a racist comment? >> yes yemenis in 2011 came out to the streets. the population of yemen the size of the population of yemen is 25 million people. they came out in an up rising in in 2011 to actually demand true democracy in yemen and overthrow the dictator who had taken over the country for 33 years. knowing that yemen has more than 55 mill

i was sent me cherif kouachi, by al qaeda in yemen. the result there summed up in a tweet by the french ambassador "the two terrorists are dead. the hostage is alive." those two terrorists the same brothers whose attack at the offices of "charlie hebdo" magazine on wednesday left 12 dead and began three days of attacks, manhunts and hostage taking. a witness describes his nervous encounter this morning with one of the terrorists. >> translator: we were standing in front of the door to the factory. i shook the hand of the owner, michelle and the terrorist. he introduced himself as a policeman. >> reporter: minutes after the first raid in east paris, we witnessed the second operation live on cnn's air. now i'm hearing gunfire. multiple shots, automatic fire. i'm going to stop speaking just so you can hear it, as well as i am. it's continuing. another explosion. an untold number did not survive. the hostage taker, amedy coulibaly, dead. his companion, hayat boumeddiene, escaped in the confusion. both were wanted in the fatal shooting of a

plus, major chaos in yemen. the country's president and cabinet resign after rebels storm the capitol. al-qaeda backed militants ready to do battle and what this means for our interest in the volatile middle east. and how about another cup? the more coffee you drink less likely you are to develop a certain disease. it is all "happening now". >> and we begin with breaking development in the middle east. a pair of crisis involving allies and the foreign policy and those crucial countries. welcome to it "happening now". i am jenna leely. sdmshgs i am jon scott. king abdullah buried in an unmarked grave today after passing away. he was a stanch ally in fighting al-qaeda and isis. and on the right shiite rebels tossing out the pro- american president and his cabinet in yemen. it is home to the dangerous branch of al-qaeda most recently responsible for the terrorist attacks in paris. leland is live in the white house. how concerned are they about iran filling a power vacum with so much unrest. >> reporter: there is a

look at yemen, that's the model for the future. the model as ed reported is in tatters. >> that was just as delusional as his state of the union message. and the origin of the delusion goes back to his 2009 speech in cairo where he welcomed the arab spring and said this would be the answer to al qaeda. in fact, a stable pro-american government in yemen fell some time back this new government has always been at risk. and what the pro-iranian group -- >> nobody knows who they are. >> they want anarchy, so does aqap. >> the reason we don't want anarchy in yemen is one of the worst adversaries, if there's anarchy in yemen guess what's going to happen? >> it's on the back door of the arabian peninsula with the saudis with a potential succession issue. >> you would think they would be on top of that watching yemen it'd been all over this could happen there might be a coup, the leadership might be falling. and you would be wrong. watch a little highlight of jen psaki today. >> it just happened. we've obviously seen the report. our team is

central yemen. and we upped our operations there, upped our predator attacks against al qaeda's leadership in yemen, increased our training and assistance to the yemeni forces that are pushing back up against al qaeda there. but they've got their hands full in yemen. and i think that this is going to increase our focus there to try to again, push back on al qaeda's presence there and continue to put pressure on them shlg because if they're not under pressure they're going to be able to train more of these types of people and launch them into the west to conduct terrorist operations. so it's a huge concern for the department of defense and the cia and our partners in the region to put pressure on al qaeda in yemen, as that is a forward operating base for al qaeda in the world today. >> michael, what does your gut tell you about what the -- i guess the background is for these brothers whether this is something directly connected and linked to al qaeda or something more, described as a lone wolf situat

iona craig is a journalist who was based in sana'a, yemen for four years as the yemen correspondent for the times of london. she was awarded the martha gellhorn prize for journalism in 2014. the government has cracked down on local and foreign journalists and at one point last year iona craig was the country's last accredited foreign reporter. she is joining us from london. we are also joined by jeremy scahill, co-founder of the theintercept.org. just days after the charlie hebdo massacre, jeremy broke the story that al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula, aqap, had taken credit. he cited a confidential al-qaeda source in yemen. days later, aqap put out an official statement confirming it took responsibility. we welcome you both to democracy now! iona craig, tell us what is happening right now in yemen and who the houthi militants are. >> what is happening now, it is really political posturing on behalf of of the houthis. they have kidnapped the presidential aides, the chief of staff in order to get that leverage. in the fighting we saw in the last 20 four hours is also part of that. the neg

is the yemen army still responding to his command? >> not all of it. some of the yemen army are responding to his command and this is why the both ministers of defense and interior were there in this committee but there are people who wear the uniform and they do not obey the orders. >> it sounds as though sanaa is in a state of utter chaos. >> at this point, yes. it's a very -- this story is developing so quickly i think by the time i finish this conversation something new will happen. we may probably have a new yemen by the end of the day in terms of maybe a new system altogether. i still don't know what is happening. what i know now is there are attempts to ceasefire and there are people or body whose are trying not to allow this to happen. >> let's get an update from the yemen capitol sanaa and talk to the editor in chief of the yemen post and joins us live via skype from sanaa. and dramatic events in the yemen capitol today, this morning and today. bring us up to date if you can with the latest on the fighting in the capitol. it appears to be chao

yemen, to help rebuild this state in yemen. it's not ease but to say given the multiple conflict which the send american troops. this would basically be disastrous catastrophic for both the american forces and the stability of the option the potential of putting yemen together. when you take about the neighbors, you know obviously very concerned about the stability or the lack thereof in yemen. will president obama find working with the new king king salman who is 70-something years old similar to working with king abdullah since a common goal that the u.s. and saudi arabia share is keeping a close watch on yemen? historically the area relees on the american skaurt umbrella. just for your own viewers, yemen symbolically is the birthplace of islam, where the prophet muhammad was born where the two holiest places are, mecca and medina. saudi arabia produces 10 million barrels of oil a day. saudi arabia buys tremendous tons of weapons, tens of billions big contracts, big money, big financial service. the challenge facing president

both saudi arabia and yemen have been huge u.s. allies for years in the fight against terror an al qaeda. how do these developments affect american security interests. john huddy joins us live from the middle east bureau in jerusalem. john? >> reporter: jon, the power for shiite rebels at this point is coming from the barrel of a gun and that does not bode well for the u.s. and its allies. because last night's yemen's president hadid his prime minister and cabinet resigned under pressure from the group huthis. they shelled the president's residence. they took government officials hostage. now yemen's president, as we know was allied with the u.s. and the fight against terror groups like al qaeda in the a arabian peninsula that operates out of yemen and also took responsibility for the attacks in paris. while the huge sympathies oppose -- huthis and opposed and fought with al qaeda in yemen they are said to be supported by iran so that again is a major concern for the united states and saudi arabia's well and saudi arabia's king abd