White House: Intel Chief Wasn't Briefed on Arrests

Washington (AP) — The White House is trying to reassure Americans that it is closely monitoring terror threats this Christmas, even as it acknowledges that the nation's top intelligence official was not briefed on a terror plot in Britain.

Homeland Security adviser John Brennan says the mistakes that allowed a Nigerian man to slip onto a U.S.-bound airliner with a bomb last Christmas have been corrected.

Brennan vigorously defended the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, who appeared stumped on ABC News on Tuesday when asked about a roundup of terrorist suspects in Britain. Brennan said Clapper was focused on problems on the Korean peninsula and a nuclear weapons treaty with Russia but should have been briefed by his staff.