The White House is set to make public an unclassified account of the alleged attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day.President Barack Obama is then expected to address the nation about its findings and recommendations.
National Security Adviser James Jones has said Americans who read the report will feel "a certain shock".
Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister Rashad al-Alimi said on Thursday Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab met Anwar al-Awlaki in the cleric's ancestral home province of Shabwa, having been recruited while a student at the University College London (UCL).
Mr Awlaki has been linked to an attack by a US Army major on the Fort Hood base in Texas in November, in which 13 people died. 
UCL has said there is no evidence to suggest Mr Abdulmutallab was radicalised while he was studying with them.
Responding to Mr Alimi's statement, UK officials have said they still believed the recruitment of Mr Abdulmutallab occurred in Yemen in the months before the attack.
Mr Abdulmutallab - a 23-year-old Nigerian - was arrested and charged for allegedly attempting to set off explosives hidden in his underpants on the Northwest Airlines flight, with 290 people on board.
Following the near-disaster, President Obama ordered a report into the security lapses that allowed it to happen, and has since made five public statements.
James Jones warned, in an interview with USA Today, that people would feel "a certain shock" that clues about Mr Abdulmutallab's role were not acted on.
"The man on the street... will be surprised that these correlations weren't made," he said.
But he also suggested that the report will show the Obama administration is in control of the situation.
"We know what happened, we know what didn't happen, and we know how to fix it," he said.
"That should be an encouraging aspect. We don't have to reinvent anything to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Following publication of the report, Mr Obama is expected to unveil new steps aimed at avoiding further attacks.
Following the near-disaster, President Obama ordered a report into the security lapses that allowed it to happen, and has since made five public statements.
James Jones warned, in an interview with USA Today, that people would feel "a certain shock" that clues about Mr Abdulmutallab's role were not acted on.
"The man on the street... will be surprised that these correlations weren't made," he said.
But he also suggested that the report will show the Obama administration is in control of the situation.
"We know what happened, we know what didn't happen, and we know how to fix it," he said.
"That should be an encouraging aspect. We don't have to reinvent anything to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Following publication of the report, Mr Obama is expected to unveil new steps aimed at avoiding further attacks.
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