Obama Won't Change Travel Plans in Light of Potential Threat

CBS

Updated at 5:40 p.m. ET

President Obama today confirmed that the suspicious packages discovered by intelligence and law enforcement officials late Thursday night in Dubai and England contained explosive materials.

Mr. Obama confirmed that the packages originated in Yemen and were addressed to Jewish places of worship in Chicago. John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counter-terrorism, confirmed they were addressed to synagogues.

Speaking from the White House press briefing room, the president confirmed that he was alerted of the potential terrorist threat last night and directed the Department of Homeland Security and law enforcement officials to "take whatever steps are necessary" to ensure the safety of U.S. citizens, including additional screening of planes in Newark and Philadelphia -- airports where incoming flights from Yemen were arriving. Officials are also investigating whether there is any connection to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen.

"The events of the past 24 hours underscore the necessity of remaining vigilant against terrorism," Mr. Obama said. "The American people should know the counter-terorrism professionals [investigating the threat are] taking all necesary and prudent steps to ensure our security."

The president is traveling to Philadelphia on Saturday morning and Chicago on Saturday evening as part of a series of campaign stops he is making across the country ahead of the Nov. 2 midterm elections. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Mr. Obama will not be changing his plans.

"The president was quite clear on this: We are taking this threat very seriously," Gibbs said. That said, he continued, "The president's travel plans both this evening and tomorrow at this point are not expected to change. The president was clear... our counter-terrorism professionals are on the job. The president's not going to change his schedule, and there's no cause for Americans to change their schedules."

Brennan added that election season or not, "there's never a day we relax our guard against al Qaeda."

"The American people should feel particularly good since 9/11 the U.S. government has built up a very capable, robust homeland security system," Brennan said. "We were able to get insight into the fact that there were suspicious packages out there that we had to find."

Brennan said that only two suspicious packages have been found so far, but that "it is very prudent for us to make sure other packages that might be coming from similar routes are looked at very closely."

The FBI, Department of Homeland Security and other domestic agencies are making sure that potential targets of attacks are alerted, Brennan said.

While officials have not confirmed that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is behind the suspicious packages, Brennan said the group "has been rather open in its venom" toward the United States. The Yemeni government has pledged its full cooperation, Brennan said.

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Stephanie Condon is a political reporter for CBSNews.com. You can read more of her posts here. Follow Hotsheet on Facebook and Twitter.

[slatep]

nanc12: evidently you didn't read the article. He's going to these two cities to campaign (God help us; more lies) and then he is going to India AFTER the election.

[slatep]

dibbs97: My ten year old grandson is smarter than OBAMA. The only "smarts" Obama has are academic. I know people who have graduated from upper echelon colleges, and; while they are smart about their subject; most of them can barely find their way to the bathroom.

[slatep]

catmomx: I wasn't suggesting he hide in a bunker anywhere you boob. I was suggesting he stay in Washington and come up with ways to prevent other terrorist attacks in view of how many threats are being made against the US and elsewhere.

[liberalme]

Weeeeelll--at least he isn't sitting in a classroom reading "my Pet Goat" upside down.----Then frooooze like an icicle when he was told his plan worked.

[slatep]

Obama thinks he is showing the world he is not a coward; caving into the possibility he could be killed by terrorist on this trip. If he really wanted to show the world how "fearless" he is , he should stay in Washington making plans to bomb the hell out of the terrorists and put an end to their ability to create fear among the entire world.

[dibbs977]

Get out of whatever cult you are in before you have to kill yourself when the next comet comes.

[catmomtx]

OMG!! Are you upset that the President didn't go hide in a bunker? He should stay in Washington and what be afraid? Republicans are handling that for all of us. They have spent the last two years making sure we are afraid.

[pasha128]

by fairfaxjoelives October 29, 2010 6:58 PM EDT
Why did we not have these terror troubles when Bush was president after 9/11?

-------------------


If Bush was such a superior president why did he not read intelligence about the training for the 9/11 attacks -- oh yea, he spent the entire month of August before the attack on vacation permitting the most successful attack on the US mainland probably in the history of this country since 1900, for sure. That "since 9/11" qualifier Republicans are so proud of is a poor excuse for incompetence that cost 3000+ US citizens their lives.

[catmomtx]

Perhaps he expected for Army Psychiatrist Major Hasan commanding officers to have done their jobs and addressed his known issues before he got out of control. I find it interesting that you think any President of the United States should be held responsible for someone when his military commanders weren't doing their jobs. Way to pile on a..wi%e

[K. Daraa]

What a hero; however, unless he was traveling on cargo planes, I don't think there was any threat to the POTUS.

[slatep]

TO: catmomx, the shootings at Fort Hood could have been prevented if our military didn't have to be afraid of being considered not "politically correct". Obama giving a good shout after the shootings is tantamount to locking the barn after the horse is stolen. Apparently, you are unaware of the restrictions Obama has put on the military.. Obama and the Pentagon are so afraid of being called racists or discriminatory, this is the exact reason this terrorist and traitor was able to carry out his attack. Sadly, same principles apply when it comes to dealing with Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen. Unless something changes; all we have to look forward to is more of the same.

[jgg000101]

so why exactly are they taking 800 people, occupying the complete 5 star Taj Mahal Hotel, including restaurants and ballrooms plus two other nearby hotels, taking 40 planes including both Air Force Ones plus cargo planes with two heliocoptors that require assembly when they arrive, two limos, and teleprompter equipment? Of course he's not changing his travel plans. Can you imagine having to change those plans?

[dnsallday]

I am so proud to have a such a brave man as President of this country. Especially as compared to the cowardly fake cowboy who was afraid of horses (as well as his own shadow)

[slatep]

You need to get in line with the rest of the fools to drink the Kool-Aid.

[nanc12]

by fairfaxjoelives October 29, 2010 6:58 PM EDT
Why did we not have these terror troubles when Bush was president after 9/11? #######################################

You mean, like not counting the group of six radical Islamist men, allegedly plotting to stage an attack on the Fort Dix military base in New Jersey, were arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on May 7, 2007 or June, 2007 - Authorities disrupt a plot to detonate the fuel system at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.
You meant, besides those, right?