Deadlock Persists Over TSA Nominee Wall Street Journal - January 4 On Sunday, John Brennan, President Barack Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, said Mr. Southers was highly qualified for the post, and that the attempted Dec. 25 attack underscored the need for a confirmed TSA chief. The post has been filled by an acting chief since January 2009. Mr. Brennan, appearing on "Fox News Sunday," said Mr. Southers had apologized and accepted responsibility for providing a misleading account of a 20-year-old personal incident to the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Mr. Southers had originally told the panel that while at the FBI, he had asked other law-enforcement officials to check federal databases to find information about his estranged wife's then-boyfriend. The White House alerted key lawmakers in advance of the committee vote that Mr. Southers would be amending that account. On Nov. 20, the day after the Senate panel approved his nomination, Mr. Southers had sent a letter to the panel formally acknowledging that he had accessed the records himself on at least two occasions. In the letter, he said he had previously provided incorrect information because he had forgotten the exact circumstances of the database searches because so much time had elapsed since the incident. Mr. Brennan told "Fox News Sunday" that Mr. Obama had full confidence in Mr. Southers. "These issues have been looked at repeatedly," he said. "And again, it's unfortunate that there's just one hold." Petraeus Visits Yemen as U.S. Beefs Up Counter-Terror Ops Wall Street Journal - January 4 Meanwhile, the U.S. and U.K. embassies in Yemen announced Sunday they had closed for security reasons. John Brennan, President Barack Obama's top counterterrorism adviser said the U.S. Embassy was closed because of an active threat from al Qaeda. The U.S. won't "take any chances" with the lives of American diplomats and others at the embassy in Yemen's capital. Mr. Brennan told "Fox News Sunday" that there will be an ongoing threat until Yemen's government gets a better handle on the terrorism threat. He said the U.S. isn't opening a new front in Yemen against terrorism. Mr. Brennan estimated that there are several hundred members of al Qaeda in Yemen. On Thursday, the U.S. embassy sent a warden notice to American citizens in Yemen urging them to be vigilant and practice security awareness. It was unclear from the statement how long the embassy would be closed. U.S. Says It Missed Signs of Bomb Plot; Al Qaeda Threats Prompt Closures of U.S., British Embassies in Yemen; U.S. to More Than Double Antiterror Aid to Country Wall Street Journal - January 4 John Brennan, the White House's top counterterrorism official, used a round of appearances on the Sunday morning talk shows to defend the administration's handling of the attempted attack. A 23-year-old Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, allegedly tried to set off explosives that he had smuggled underneath his clothing onto aNorthwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. "There is no smoking gun," Mr. Brennan said on "Fox News Sunday." "There was no single piece of intelligence that said, 'This guy is going to get on a plane.'" Trial in airliner incident defended The Washington Post - January 4 Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian charged with the failed attempt on the Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight, was initially "talking to people who detained him" but now has a public defender and "doesn't have to," John O. Brennan said on "Fox News Sunday." Advice for Tiger The Washington Post - January 4 Former Fox News anchor Brit Hume is urging Tiger Woods to overcome his personal problems by converting to Christianity. "The extent to which he can recover, it seems to me, depends on his faith," said Hume as a panelist on "Fox News Sunday." "He is said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So, my message to Tiger would be, 'Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.' " U.S. shuts down embassy in Yemen; Obama administration cites terrorist threat for closure USA Today - January 4 On Saturday, Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, on an unannounced visit to Yemen, said the U.S. will double the $70 million in security aid it gave the nation last year. On Fox News Sunday, Brennan was asked if the U.S. might send troops there. "We're not talking about that at this point," he replied. U.S. AND BRITAIN CLOSE EMBASSIES IN YEMEN CAPITAL The New York Times - January 4 ''He knows that there are certain things that are on the table, and if he wants to, in fact, engage with us in a productive manner, there are ways that he can do that,'' Mr. Brennan said on ''Fox News Sunday.'' He expressed hope that Mr. Abdulmutallab would provide useful information. ''As you talk with the lawyers and you talk with the individuals, as they recognize what they're facing as far as the charges, conviction and possible sentence,'' he said, ''there are opportunities to continue to talk about it.'' He added that the ''F.B.I. has some of the best interrogators and debriefers in the world, and so I'm confident that we're going to continue to be able to work this system.'' In defining the administration's response, Mr. Brennan -- a 25-year veteran of the C.I.A. who served as Saudi station chief in the late 1990s and then took on other senior roles at the agency -- was walking into an escalating political battle over two administrations' approaches to terror threats. Mr. Brennan shot back at former Vice President Dick Cheney, who accused the Obama administration of failing to recognize it was at war with terrorists. ''I'm very disappointed in the vice president's comments,'' he said. Insisting he was neither Democrat nor Republican, Mr. Brennan accused Mr. Cheney of either ''mischaracterizing'' Mr. Obama's views or being ''ignorant'' of what the administration was doing to fight Al Qaeda. He suggested several times that Mr. Obama had focused on Yemen from the first days of the administration. Al Qaeda threat has been 'exaggerated,' Yemen says; But the U.S., citing credible evidence of danger, closes its embassy in the capital, Sana, as does Britain. Los Angeles Times - January 4 On Sunday, Obama's top counter-terrorism advisor said the U.S. had evidence of a viable threat against the embassy, which led to the decision to close it. "There are indications that Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is targeting our embassy and targeting our personnel," John Brennan said on "Fox News Sunday," adding: "We're not going to take any chances with the lives of our diplomats and others who are at that embassy." Asked whether Americans in the country are safe, Brennan said, "I think until the Yemeni government gets on top of the situation with Al Qaeda, there is a risk of attacks. A number of tourists have been, in fact, kidnapped. A number of tourists have been killed." Deadlock Persists Over TSA Nominee Wall Street Journal - January 4 On Sunday, John Brennan, President Barack Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, said Mr. Southers was highly qualified for the post, and that the attempted Dec. 25 attack underscored the need for a confirmed TSA chief. The post has been filled by an acting chief since January 2009. Mr. Brennan, appearing on "Fox News Sunday," said Mr. Southers had apologized and accepted responsibility for providing a misleading account of a 20-year-old personal incident to the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Mr. Southers had originally told the panel that while at the FBI, he had asked other law-enforcement officials to check federal databases to find information about his estranged wife's then-boyfriend. The White House alerted key lawmakers in advance of the committee vote that Mr. Southers would be amending that account. On Nov. 20, the day after the Senate panel approved his nomination, Mr. Southers had sent a letter to the panel formally acknowledging that he had accessed the records himself on at least two occasions. In the letter, he said he had previously provided incorrect information because he had forgotten the exact circumstances of the database searches because so much time had elapsed since the incident. Mr. Brennan told "Fox News Sunday" that Mr. Obama had full confidence in Mr. Southers. "These issues have been looked at repeatedly," he said. "And again, it's unfortunate that there's just one hold."