Good evening. If a terror suspect had carried out his alleged mission today, we would be starting tonight with a suicide bombing at the seat of the United States government. Instead, we begin with the story of how federal agents arrested that man today. On his way, apparently, to the U.S. Capitol, where the FBI says he was out to kill as many people as possible. Undercover FBI agents were on to him from the start, and we begin our coverage tonight with Chip Reid at the Capitol.
The suspect was arrested this morning in this underground parking garage about one block from the U.S. Capitol. Twenty-nine-year-old Amine El Khalifi, according to court documents, was wearing a vest containing what El Khalifi believed to be a functioning bomb and carrying a MAC-10 automatic weapon.
The FBI says his alleged plan had been to walk from the garage to a Capitol entrance, shoot Capitol Police officers who would try to block his way, enter the building while shooting more people, then detonate the suicide vest.
Officials say he had conducted surveillance of the Capitol on multiple occasions to identify when it was busiest so he could kill as many people as possible. In fact, though, for months, El Khalifi, who lived in nearby Virginia, had been the subject of an intensive FBI sting operation. He was under a round-the-clock surveillance. Officials say at no time was the public in any danger. The vest and gun had been given to him by undercover FBI operatives, and charging documents say both the weapon and the bomb had been rendered inoperable by law enforcement. And that El Khalifi thought the federal agents were representatives of al Qaeda. El Khalifi was in court today, charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction against U.S. government property. He faces a possible life sentence.
FBI agents say El Khalifi considered a number of different targets, including a synagogue and a restaurant frequented by the military before settling on the Capitol. Scott. Chip, thank you very much. We`re joined now by CBS "This Morning" senior correspondent John Miller, who`s a former assistant director of the FBI. And, John, I think people lose track of how many of these plots there are. We were talking about than in the newsroom today. JOHN MILLER, CBS CORRESPONDENT: You know, Scott, after September 11th, going to 2002, there was an average of about four of these plots. Meaning, targeting people in places on U.S. soil a year. And then around 2008, 2009, 2010, you see that really start to spike up to a dozen a year. PELLEY: And why is that?
A lot of people in the intelligence community believe it was that al Qaeda got more mature with its message, but also found the right messenger --Anwar al-Awlaki --who had been here in America for years, born in New Mexico, spoke perfect English, and was a master propagandist for al Qaeda. And he was a very prolific YouTube video creator.
And he was killed by the U.S. government. In a drone strike in Yemen. And I think when you see that spike start to dip, Scott, that may have something to do with it. Two things -- One, that the government asked YouTube to remove a lot of those videos because they said there was direct link between that message and terrorist plots. But then, Awlaki`s death also kind of made that communication halt.
In a case like this, what kind of evidence is there likely to be? MILLER: In this case, you`re going to see wall-to-wall evidence, Scott. You`re going see video inside apartments of people handling weapons. You`re going to hear voice recordings and video recordings of people in cars. You`re going to see him trying on this suicide vest. Because the government has also realized the strongest hedge against the entrapment argument is to film the whole thing, let the jury watch it step by step and come to their own decision. John, thanks very much.
You know about the growing tensions over Iran`s nuclear program, the economic sanctions, the threats of war all in the effort to stop Iran from building a nuclear bomb. Well, today all of a sudden, the Iranians said they want to talk. Norah O`Donnell is at the White House tonight. Norah. NORAH O`DONNELL, CBS CORRESPONDENT: Scott, and U.S. officials are cautiously optimistic about a letter that they have received from Iran. Today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Iran did not insist on any pre-conditions, but they want to make sure that Iran is serious about ending its enrichment program and not just stalling for time.
We think this is an important step and we welcome the letter. The letter from Iran`s chief nuclear negotiator, Dr. Saeed Jalili, proposed talks at the earliest possible time. It was received Tuesday in response to a letter from Lady Catherine Ashton, the European Union`s foreign policy chief and point person for negotiations between the major world powers and Iran. Secretary Clinton met with Lady Ashton at the State Department today.
This response from the Iranian government is one we`ve been waiting for. And if we do proceed, it will have to be a sustained effort that can produce results. Secretary Clinton said the Iranian letter seemed to embrace a basic pre-condition for any future talks with the rogue nation, which boasted this week about advances in its nuclear program. Any conversation with Iran has to begin with the discussion of its nuclear program. And Iran`s response to Cathy`s letter does appear to acknowledge and accept that. Really great collection iphone 4 hard cases
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