re: #77 nightlight

The CIA knew:

CIA had report on suspect before plane bombing attempt
(CNN) — The father of terrorism suspect Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab talked about his son with someone from the CIA and a report was prepared, but the report was not circulated outside the agency, a reliable source told CNN’s Jeanne Meserve on Tuesday.

This must be why Obama issued such a strong statement earlier about system failures. He’s trying to get out in front of the storm of criticism. It probably won’t do him any good.