CNN's Pentagon corespondent Barbara Starr reported Tuesday on a "triple threat from al Qaeda" the United States faces in Pakistan, Syria and Yemen.
Syria has become a "hot bed" for training camps and planning of external attacks, and a "growing threat" from al Qaeda exists in Yemen. Starr said there is a concern al Qaeda there are capable of attacking the U.S. embassy in Yemen, as well as inside the U.S. itself.
Also, an American-born terrorist known as Abdullah al-Shami is essentially the head of al Qaeda's external planning operations in Pakistan and is being closely monitored by American intelligence.
"This is not al Qaeda on the run," Starr said. "This is someone they're watching very closely."