Obama Reviewing Reports on Failures Leading To Terrorist Attack On Flight 253

President Obama on Thursday received preliminary reports on the human intelligence and screening errors that led to a terrorist suspect being allowed to board Detroit-bound Northwest Flight 253 on Christmas Day. He said in a statement issued from Hawaii that he will meet in Washington on Tuesday with officials responsible for air safety.

Obama said he discussed the situation in separate calls with John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

"This morning, I spoke with John Brennan about preliminary assessments from the ongoing consultations I have ordered into the human and systemic failures that occurred leading up to the attempted act of terrorism on Christmas Day and about our government-wide efforts at continued vigilance on homeland security and counterterrorism efforts. In a separate call, I spoke with Sec. Napolitano to receive an update on both the Department of Homeland Security review of detection capabilities and the enhanced security measures in place since the Christmas Day incident.

"I anticipate receiving assessments from several agencies this evening and will review those tonight and over the course of the weekend. On Tuesday, in Washington, I will meet personally with relevant agency heads to discuss our ongoing reviews as well as security enhancements and intelligence-sharing improvements in our homeland security and counterterrorism operations."