[Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me. We want to take you now to Yemen home to the branch of al Qaeda that claimed responsibility for those deadly Paris attacks. One of the group's leaders saying the incident was years in the making and masterminded by U.S. born cleric, Anwar al Awlaki. He's alleged to have met with one of the Paris gunmen. We're getting new details about the trip one of the Kouachi brothers made to Yemen. CNN is the only major news network in that country. I want to bring in now senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh. What have you found out Nick?
[Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, much of the focus of the investigation is not really when Said Kouachi and most likely too his younger brother Cherif, were actually in Yemen. We know there were a number of trips particularly focused on 2011 when Cherif is essentially thought to have used his brother's passport to come into Yemen perhaps legally and of course, the focus is did they meet Anwar al Awlaki, the U.S. citizen killed by a drone in that same year who is said to be the operational planner by al Qaeda in Yemen's lengthy statement. We're learn today from an interior ministry official speaking to CNN that in fact in their data base of immigration here they believe that the first trip, the first record they have of Said Kouachi coming to Yemen is in August 2009. That is significant because it does mean it's possible that he was the roommate of the man known as Underwear Bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who tried to blow up a plane to Detroit in Christmas in 2009. They could potentially have roomed. That's been alleged here by witnesses. And the official the interior ministry official goes on to say they believe there were two or three subsequent trips after that lengthy one going on potentially as long as 2012. Now that doesn't really tell you other information received but it's new detail and it starts to paint a picture really here giving a sense of the exact dates in which the elder Kouachi brother was in country and now the focus is when did the younger come here and most importantly who did they meet and what did they do, what did they bring back with them from here to France Carol?
[Costello:] All right. Nick Paton Walsh reporting live from Yemen thanks for that interesting information. I want to talk more about that information with former CIA operative and CNN intelligence analyst Bob Baer. Bob thanks for being with me.
[Robert Baer, Cnn Intelligence Analyst:] Carol good morning.
[Costello:] Good morning. So what do you make of that? One of the Kouachi brothers was in Yemen in August of 2009, which says he probably roomed with the Underwear Bomber, right. And then there were two or three subsequent trips. Nick Paton Walsh said that painted a picture. What does it paint for you?
[Baer:] I think Nick is right. I think what we're seeing here is this was more of an organized attack. It wasn't homegrown. The more evidence we see the larger number of cells that come into play. The connections with Belgium and Spain all tell me that this was an organized plot. And you know, we go on about lone wolves and rest of it, I don't think this was. It was probably funded out of Yemen. These guys were sent there to get training and guidance. Make sure that they were thoroughly vetted and the rest of it. This looks like an organized attack with more evidence we see.
[Costello:] Remember back in September when President Obama outlined his strategy against ISIS and used Yemen as a success story in terms of how the U.S. fights terrorism? Let's listen to that.
[Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] The strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us while supporting partners on the front lines is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years.
[Costello:] Were there successes in Yemen?
[Baer:] Well, no. I mean, I don't think you could ever characterize it honestly as a success. Yes, that we did hit some targets. Yes, we did assassinate al Awlaki. Fine but that's not enough to stop a movement like this. The only thing that can stop violent jihad is a strong central government, for instance in Saudi Arabia where locals crush these movements. At any place there's problems is where there's a failed state. Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Mali you can go down the list Nigeria, of course. And without a strong central government there's nothing the United States can do and there's nothing we can say. We just can't describe these places as successes. Even Pakistan is not a success of course.
[Costello:] Wow. So, can you kind of help us explain exactly what's happening so in Belgium there were those raids right? And they found guns there and they found pretty heavy weaponry, explosives they found. They say there are like 180 cells operating within Europe. Are those all connected to al Qaeda, ISIS, Yemen where?
[Baer:] I really have a problem with those names. I just call it violent jihad. I know there is a competition between these groups but it doesn't really matter. They are at war with the West, with the United States. And they will fight us where they can. These North African immigrant populations in Belgium, high unemployment, there's absolutely no hope for these people and what they're doing is they're simply, you know, getting on the Internet and seeing this conflict in the Middle East. They are showing up there. They are getting battle training and they're coming back home. And as I've said for a long time, as long as these wars go on in the Middle East, as long as there are political black spots on the map, there's going to be blowback in Europe. And I would assume one day in the United States. We're much better off than the Europeans because we're able to assimilate our immigrant populations much better.
[Costello:] Bob Baer, thanks for your insight. I appreciate it. Still to come, one woman could know how this attack was carried against France. We're talking about this woman who has possibly fled to Syria. Why can't they track her down? Is she out of reach? We'll talk about that next.