Today's Situation Room:
Wolf Blitzer delivers the most important breaking news and political, international, and national security stories of the day. Tune to The Situation Room weekdays 5-7pm ET on CNN.
Latest terror threat: 'We will blow you up'
New video from al Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab shows the terror group calling for recruits and more attacks - just months after they murdered dozens in a Kenyan mall. CNN's Barbara Starr reports.
How terror group recruits in the U.S.
More than 40 Somali Americans have been recruited by the al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group Al-Shabaab, according to a Congressional hearing in 2011. The problem dates back to as early as 2008, and at least three young American men are believed to have carried out suicide bombings in Somalia over the last couple of years. Although Somali American communities like Minneapolis's are "100% against terror," analysts say there is a trend of young men fighting for the organization overseas.
But why? Who would give up a comfortable life in America to fight a jihad thousands of miles away in eastern Africa? CNN's Brian Todd explores how Al-Shabaab has successfully recruited so many young men.
Horror stories from Kenyan mall emerge
CNN's Arwa Damon talks to eyewitnesses from inside the brutal attack on a mall in Nairobi, Kenya.
From Minneapolis to Mogadishu
Al-Shabaab, the terrorist group claiming responsibility for Saturday's attack on a mall in Nairobi, is based in Somalia. But the organization has a history of trying to recruit in the West, and some alleged that two or three Americans were among the gunmen in this weekend's assault.
Brian Todd reports from Minneapolis, Minnesota, a major recruiting ground for the group, on how they have been so successful in recruiting young Somali American men.
Running into the chaos
When most people heard the first shots fired in Nairobi's Westgate Mall, they ran for their lives. They ran to safety. They ran to find their loved ones. But for a few brave individuals, that gunfire is a call to action– the police and first responders, the EMTs, and even some reporters.
Nichole Sobecki, a freelance journalist based in Nairobi, was able to get inside the mall after the attack by terrorists from Al-Shabaab had begun. She describes to Wolf Blitzer what it was like inside the besieged mall– a "surreal... scene of terror."
About this Show
The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer is the command center for breaking news, politics and extraordinary reports from around the world. Tune in weeknights from 5-7pm ET on CNN.
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