Yesterday, President Obama's counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan dodged questions about the suspect being dubbed the new "underwear bomber."
Now we know why.
Today we've learned that the U.S. and its allies managed to insert an informant into the al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen - a remarkable feat. The would-be bomber eventually turned the explosive device to U.S. officials, as opposed to creating a threat aboard a passenger flight. American intelligence officials are apparently upset the story broke, saying it will compromise their efforts to continue to use covert tactics to protect Americans. Nevertheless, we've gotten a rare glimpse into the War on Terror, a reminder it's still very much an active fight.
PANEL
Patricia Murphy, The Daily Beast (@1patriciamurphy)
Fmr. Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA), NBC News Political Analyst
Maggie Haberman, POLITICO (@maggiepolitico)
Hugo Lindgren, Editor, The New York Times Magazine (@hugolindgren)
GUESTS
Michael Steele, Fmr. RNC Chair/msnbc Political Analyst (@steele_michael)
BULLPEN
Chris Matthews (@hardball_chris)
Jose Diaz-Balart (@jdbalart)