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Attempted Air Terror Attack; Speeding Up Airport Security

Aired December 26, 2009 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider tracking weather and travel conditions for this busy travel weekend. Two to four more inches of snow for Chicago. Winter weather advisory continues for that area. We're also watching out for blizzard conditions out to the west. The system still bringing some very heavy snow to the northern plains.

We're also tracking rain, kind of a cold rain happening over the New York area right now, and if you're wondering how is this affecting travel, well it certainly is. We have lots of airport delays in Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia as well. Most of these are light but be prepared, they could grow in volume as we go through the evening. Stay tuned. We'll have a lot more coming up with CNN NEWSROOM with Fredricka Whitfield.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASPER SCHURINGA, HELPED SUBDUE TERROR SUSPECT: When I saw that suspect, he was getting a fire, and I freaked, of course. Without any agitation, I just jumped over the seats and I just jumped to the suspect. And because I was thinking, like he's trying to blow up the plane.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Boy, that was a harrowing account of one of the passengers on board that Northwest Airlines flight. Battled to subdue an alleged terrorist as that airliner lands in Detroit.

And a suspect is in custody, but did he have help? Police search the London apartment where he last lived. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM, where the news unfolds live this Saturday, December 26th. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Authorities have just filed charges against a 23-year-old Nigerian man accused of igniting some sort of explosives board a U.S. airliner. Security removed Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab from the plane after passengers and crew members subdued him. The struggle happened shortly before flight 253 landed in Detroit yesterday.

Abdul Mutallab is the son of a retired Nigerian banker. He has been questioned by the FBI, and one official says he's actually talking a lot. Sources say his name was placed on a general watch list a few weeks back but he wasn't considered enough of a risk to warrant revoking his U.S. visa.

Let's check in again with our Jeanne Meserve in Washington. Jeanne, you heard and learned a lot today, everything from the charges involved to now the components or chemicals or things that were located as it pertains to this investigation.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right, a federal, criminal complaint has now been filed against Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, charging him with attempting to destroy this Northwest Airlines plane and with placing a destructive device on the aircraft.

According to an affidavit filed in connection with these charges, a preliminary FBI analysis of the device strapped to his body showed that it was PETN, which is a high-caliber explosive. In addition, the affidavit says they found the remnants of a syringe near his seat. That's believed to have been part of the device that he was carrying.

According to this affidavit, they interviewed members of the crew and passengers on board this flight. They said that this individual went to the bathroom for about 20 minutes, came back to his seat complaining of a stomach ache, carried his lap with blankets, and then they started hearing those popping noise, which we now know was his attempt to apparently detonate this device.

One flight attendant asked him what he had in his pocket. According to the affidavit, he replied, "explosive device." Now, these charges may not be the final word - certainly won't be the final word from federal authorities on this individual and what he was up to. One administration source tells us that we are still pulling the strings on this, meaning they are trying to figure out more about who he might have associated with, what other people or countries might have been involved in his effort to bring this alleged effort to bring down this plane.

There have been a lot of questions, Fred, about why he had a visa to enter the United States. According to a senior administration officials, he got a visa back in June of 2008 when there was nothing in his files that would have raised a red flag and led them to be concerned about this individual. He got a multi-entry visa in London.

The official says that the father of this individual did alert the U.S. embassy in Nigeria in recent weeks that he had concerns about his son and what he might be up to. That information was passed on to the national counter terrorism center, which maintains the watch list. According to this official, a file was opened on him but the information about him was not considered specific enough that he was put on a no-fly list or that his visa was revoked.

And that's the information we have thus far. He's making a court appearance today. Perhaps we'll get more information at that point in time.

WHITFIELD: And so Jeanne, I just have a quick question about that visa. Do we know whether or not, did he receive that U.S. visa for educational purposes, or does it have to be a reason associated with him being granted one? MESERVE: The information from the senior administration official was that this was a tourist visa. It allowed him to come into the U.S. several times over multiple years issued back in June of 2008 in London, where he was a student.

WHITFIELD: Got you. All right. Jeanne Meserve, thanks so much from Washington. Appreciate that.

Let's go to Detroit now, where we find our Martin Savidge as well. This is kind of the centerpiece of the investigation. This is still the location where the suspect is being hospitalized and being questioned.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, it's expected that appearance where he's going to go and hear the federal charges held against him, this is the 23-year-old Nigerian suspect, will take place in his hospital room. Apparently he suffered third degree burns as a result of the detonation that took place that he triggered on board the airplane yesterday.

As a result of that, apparently, he's not capable to go to a federal courthouse, so in essence, the federal courthouse will come to him so he could hear those charges as Jeanne outlined just a few minutes ago.

PETN, by the way, that explosive, has actually been around for a long time. It came about at the end of World War I. It's considered to be similar to nitroglycerin, and it is also the same material that was used by Richard Reid, the shoe bomber when he tried to light his shoe on fire with the explosive in December of 2001. That was on a flight that was going from, I believe, Paris to Miami.

That, too, was thwarted thanks to the quick actions on the part of crew members and by passengers. Of course, that was the same thing that happened yesterday. So we're still learning more about this investigation, and exactly were others involved. And the fact that you have this explosive material, PETN is not that common, would imply that perhaps the suspect did in fact have help, and there is now an organization that is linked to Al Qaeda coming out of Yemen that is saying, that yes, in fact, they did supply the explosive material and they did give the training to Abdul Mutallab that allowed him to try to carry out his attack.

Again, it did not appear that his explosive device worked correctly and, again, because of crew members and passengers yesterday, a very bad situation was prevented from happening. Even so, a very bad thing is going to happen for many of the traveling public. A lot of delays probably because now there are new and stricter search restrictions that are being put in place for passengers that are traveling. Not just domestically, not just for people coming home for the holidays, but anybody traveling overseas coming back to the United States.

You can expect more thorough searching, and then on top of that, greater restrictions for your movements on board the aircraft, especially as you approach U.S. airspace. That information will be released later but you can anticipate if you're traveling by air in the coming days and weeks, you better give yourself more time. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Martin Savidge. Appreciate that from Detroit.

Martin was talking about the passengers that were very vigilant. Well, among them Jasper Schuringa. He was on board flight 253. He actually heard the pop sound, saw the smoke and the fire and then he jumped into action. I spoke with him earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHURINGA: I reacted on the bang and suddenly there was smoke piling up in the cabin. So people were screaming, "fire, fire." the first thing like we all did was to check where the fire was. And then I saw the suspect, and he was turning on the seat.

WHITFIELD: How many rows back were you?

SCHURINGA: Sorry?

WHITFIELD: How many rows - you were behind this suspect when the smoke -

SCHURINGA: I was on the right side of the plane and the suspect was on the left. There were quite some seats in between. When I saw the suspect, he was getting on fire, and you now, I freaked, of course.

And without any hesitation, I just jumped over all of the seats and I just jumped to the suspect because I was thinking, you know, like he's trying to blow up the plane. And so I was trying to - to search his body for any explosives and then I took some kind of object that was already melting and smoking out of him and I tried to - I tried to - to put out the fire.

And then when I did that, I was also restraining the suspect. And then the fire started beneath his - his seat. So with my hands and everything, you can see it's a little burned, I put out the fire and then other passengers helped me as well. And of course, I was screaming for water, water. Because a fire in a plane is not that good, of course.

And so by then the fire was actually getting a little worse because what I did, it didn't extinguish the fire. So I grabbed the suspect out of the seat, because if he was wearing any more explosives, it would be very dangerous because he was almost on fire. And when I grabbed him from the seat, the chemical came and they came with fire extinguishers and they got clear of the flames.

And just to be sure, I grabbed him with another attendant and we took him to first class, and there we stripped him and contained him with handcuffs and we made sure he had no more weapons, no more bombs on him.

WHITFIELD: And so Jasper, when you saw - you talk about how something underneath the seat was on fire, was something on fire on him or was it - did it appear to be the seat that he, you know, may have set on fire and then as a result he also burned as well?

SCHURINGA: Well, like he was - he put something on fire that was hidden in his pants and apparently it was dripping. I think, like the liquid or anything like that, it dripped down on the floor and two pillows got like - two pillows got ignited. But it went very quick, and like we're all just reacting to the fire. And everybody was panicking.

WHITFIELD: Tell me about him. Was he fighting you? Was he struggling? Did he just seem to - upon discovery, just kind of let it go and you all were able to handle it?

SCHURINGA: No. He was very calm. He was (INAUDIBLE) but he didn't resist anything. And he was just sitting there. And he looked like a normal guy as well. But, you now, he was just hard - hard to believe that he was actually going to try to blow up this plane.

WHITFIELD: Was there anything about him prior to that incident that ever made you look at him. Did you suspect anything? Did anything catch your attention about him?

SCHURINGA: No. Nothing, nothing, actually nothing. So it was a big surprise when we heard the first explosion, people were just like looking around like, OK, this is not good. What's going on? And then the first person shouted fire, and then like I got to my senses. OK, this is wrong. So I tried -

WHITFIELD: Some of the passengers described as hearing like a pop. What did you hear just prior to the smoke and the fire?

SCHURINGA: Yes, well, first, it was a pop and then like about 30 seconds later, the smoke started to fill up on the left side beneath this person. And from then on we just jumped and tried to save the plane and we did luckily.

WHITFIELD: Well, it sounds like you had an incredible, you know, response there, very quick. You think about international flights, oftentimes when you get close to that descent, somewhere within the last hour on a trans Atlantic flight, many people have been sleeping, you're a little groggy, when you heard the pop, when you heard people talking about the smoke, how quick was it to actually react? Was there a moment where you said before you thought, it really must be nothing?

SCHURINGA: I basically reacted directly. I didn't think - when you hear a pop on a plane, you're awake, trust me. So I just jumped, I didn't think. I just went - went over there and tried to save the plane.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Apparently, he did. Jasper Schuringa there talking to us from Miami after being on that flight in Detroit and helping to apprehend the suspect.

All right. White House reaction. Our Ed Henry joins us from Hawaii, where President Obama was told about the attempted terror attack yesterday while he was on vacation in Hawaii.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The man suspected of trying to carry out a terror attack on a U.S. airliner on Christmas day is scheduled to make his first court appearance later today. It will take place actually in his hospital room. Charges against 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, a Nigerian national, was filed this afternoon.

Officials say he ignited a small explosive on board Northwest Airlines jet just as it was approaching Detroit. He was quickly subdued and the device was extinguished as well.

Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab attended college in London from 2005 to 2008. Police searched an apartment there today. CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins us live. When is the last time it's believed that he was there?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The summer of 2008 is the best information that we have, Fredricka. Why we believe that is because he was at university here for three years. And the university, University College of London, was just around the corner from these luxury apartment buildings.

What we're looking at right now is the largest number of police we have seen coming and going from this investigation in the last, I would say seven or eight hours and counting. At least a half dozen police officers there. They are counter terrorism police. We understand they're the men that have been searching the property here. No indications that they're finished for the night.

This police tape has been put up in the last few hours to keep people from getting close to the building or the residents here or able to come and go. Nut the amounts of time that he's spent in this building in the last year and a half is really the question we don't have answered at the moment.

And this is perhaps something those police officers will know much more about now that they've been going through the premises there, probably belonging to Mr. Mutallab's father, a banker in Nigeria. These apartments here very expensive, costing between $2 million and $4 million. It gives you the type of family that Abdul Mutallab came from. Fredricka -

WHITFIELD: Nic Robertson, thanks so much from London. Appreciate that.

All right. The White House has been responding to this, saying that President Obama is being briefed on the investigation in Hawaii, where he is spending the holiday. CNN senior White House correspondent Ed Henry joins us now from Honolulu.

ED HENRY, SNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPOINDENT: Well, Fred, good afternoon. You're right. The president briefed again this morning about 6:20 a.m. local time. We're five hours back from the east coast. So just before noon Eastern time, the president got another secure briefing from two of his top aides. John Brennan, who is his principal homeland security adviser, as well as Dennis McDonough. He is chief of staff for the National Security Council.

He's traveling in Hawaii with the president. They're trying to keep him up to date, give him as much background information about what's happening. We're told the president also getting secure paper updates from the White House situation room back in Washington. Obviously, even when he's on vacation, the president needing to stay in the loop on this. We're told in terms of specifics, as we have known, the president has been told this was clearly an attempted terror attack. That's obvious for all to see now as we have seen these exclusive pictures on CNN and elsewhere.

Number two, the president also told that the suspect is being debriefed by the FBI and has been speaking a lot. And talking a lot, giving up a lot of information and that U.S. officials behind the scenes now are trying to verify what he's saying.

Finally, the president also was initially told in some of the early briefings yesterday - he's getting more today as I noted that there were no formal ties between an organized terror group and this suspect. But obviously, officials stressing that it's early in the investigation, that they're running down all possible leads and trying to make sure that there was not any sort of training or any specific contact with Al Qaeda or another terror group.

They're still trying to run down those leads, check that out to figure out exactly what kind of contact there may have been as Nic is reporting. This investigation now carrying far beyond the borders of the United States, going into London, may go elsewhere, obviously, into Nigeria, et cetera. So this is still very early, but they're trying to keep the president up to date as much as they can, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Thank you very much, coming from Honolulu, Ed. Appreciate that.

So with the attempted terror attack, it is likely that lines at the airport are going to be even longer this holiday season. We know they already are today. Our Josh Levs has a look at how you can make life a little bit easier on yourself if you are traveling this week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're back in the NEWSROOM. I'm Josh Levs. You know, in the aftermath of the attempted terror attack, airports are increasing security efforts all over the country and all over the world and that means longer lines on this holiday travel weekend. But there are some things you can do to make this process quicker. So I'm going to talk you through these right now.

This is from tsa.gov over here. They talk you through basics, how to pack and zoom over here, how not to pack. We've boiled it down to a few pointers. I'm going to trace you through them and then I'm going to show you where you can find all of this yourself. Let's go to this first one. Pack in layers. This is very interesting. They say do a layer of clothes and then all of your electronics and then clothes and then any heavier items. If you do it in those stacks, then when you get to the security line, if they look at your carry-on baggage, it's going to be much, much faster.

Let's go to the next one now, which is also interesting. Prepare in advance. You know your little baggy of your liquids, and they talk you through the sizes they should be, but you want that quart size clear plastic zip-top bag of liquids. You can you get it at the airport. You can get it at pharmacies. If you have it in advance, it may save minutes per person and adds to hours all those travelers.

Let's go through a few more here. Pack your coat. Now some people don't want to do this. You're traveling somewhere that might be cold. I understand. But the TSA suggests you take your coat off when you get to the airport, smoosh it inside your luggage and then check that. If you do that, again, it saves minutes per person. Multiply that by all of the travelers out there.

A couple more here, limit how much metal you're wearing, think about accessories. Don't wear a lot of metal jewelry. The time you spend taking all of that off, which you may have to, multiply again can affect a lot of people. Now comes the holiday stuff. Let's say you're visiting grandma right and you have some of that great cranberry sauce or you're in Vermont, you want to bring home some maple syrup. Don't bring anything like that on the plane.

They say they have actually been getting a lot of this off people's carry-on luggage. It takes a lot more time. And one more I'm going to point to, because I like the fact it's there, I find it interesting, is that you cannot carry a snow globe in your carry-on. If they find a snow globe, they're going to get rid of it. It certainly looks like it in the x-ray, they're going to get rid of it.

Give you a chance to send it home because there's liquid inside there. Now everything you need to know is posted at the blog for you. Here's where you can find it, cnn.com/josh. Also Facebook and Twitter, Josh Levs, CNN. Those of you watching in airports right now, you probably already know this. We certainly hope this information helps you and all of the rest of you as you travel around this holiday weekend.

And coming up, we have news from Iran, also news from Afghanistan. Plus, you know what, still a holiday weekend. We are going to show you which movies you should see.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. A look at our top stories right now. Police in London are searching homes and other buildings in connection with the attempted terror attack on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. No word on exactly what they're looking for. The suspect from Nigeria is now charged in the U.S. with attempting to destroy the Northwest Airlines plane. He's accused of igniting an explosive device as the flight was preparing to land in Detroit yesterday. And more unrest today in the streets of Iran's capital. Riot police clashed with opposition protesters taking part in a Muslim observance. The holy period reaches its climax tomorrow and more violence could break out. Wide protests coincide with the day of mourning for a deceased cleric who emerged as a champion of the opposition.

And another American military death in Afghanistan. The Pentagon said the service member was killed on Christmas day in a bombing in the southern part of the country. That raises the U.S. death toll in the Afghan war to 848.

And if you're traveling this holiday season, you may have questions about what security will be like after this attempted terror attack. Maybe you have experienced it already, some changes in the airport security. We want to hear your comments and your questions. We'll get answers from some of our experts and share some of your stories. Just e-mail me at my Facebook page or my blog at cnn.com/fredricka. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, if you're spending the holidays with the family, you may want to get out and catch a movie.

We've got the lowdown on movies hitting the big screen this weekend, beginning with "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel", "It's Complicated" and "Sherlock Holmes", all just out in the theaters. And so, of course, who else would we call upon but Ben Mankiewicz? No one. He's a film critic. Good to see you, Ben.

I'm going to - I'm going to take a stab here that it's three out of three - you like them all.

BEN MANKIEWICZ, FILM CRITIC: You're mistaken. I don't want to call you out on your own show, but...

WHITFIELD: Oh, OK! Well, let's begin with "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel." Let's listen to it.

MANKIEWICZ: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): Oh, my goodness.

JEANETTE, THE CHIPETTES: Ah, that Simon is dreamy!

ELEANOR, THE CHIPETTES: I think Theodore was looking at me.

BRITANNY, THE CHIPETTES: Yes, I know. But guys, remember when Ian said? We can't trust them.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: Oh, come on! Don't tell me you don't like that one. I know you're really into romantic comedies. You told me last week you're the king of them.

So, you're not into this sort of - you're not...

MANKIEWICZ: I - well, based - I can tell by your reaction, you're definitely into this one. But - but you were influenced by your child, I am certain.

Look, I'm - I have a very tough time with - with movies like this in the sense that - who cares what a 42-year-old man has to say about it? This movie is for 5-year-olds and in the history of the world, has a 4-year-old ever walked out of a cartoon and said, "Daddy, I think it lacks substance, like a juice box"?

So I - there's a lot of things lying into people's groins here. It's actually not as energetic or fun as the first one. It's pretty slow. There are a lot of "oh" movements. I give it a C-minus. The - your - the kind - a 4-year-old will give it an A-plus, a 25-year-old will give it an F. So, there you go.

WHITFIELD: OK. Maybe I should have taken - maybe I should have my little tot to see that last night. I took to him to "Princess and the Frog"...

MANKIEWICZ: Yes, perhaps you should.

WHITFIELD: ... can you believe he didn't even like it?

MANKIEWICZ: He didn't like it? Really?

WHITFIELD: He didn't like "Princess and the Frog"! But anyway, I digress.

All right, let's talk about "It's Complicated". Let's listen in and watch.

MANKIEWICZ: Yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: I think this is very French of us.

MERYL STREEP, ACTRESS: How is it French of us?

BALDWIN: I have a young wife, but I am having sex with my old wife. Not old, you know - ex. I didn't mean old.

You're doing that thing when you act like you're not listening to me, but think about what I said, OK? You got any of your homemade (INAUDIBLE)? It's been so long since I had any.

STREEP: Oh, you miss it?

BALDWIN: So much. STREEP: We sell it for $6.50 a bag at the store.

BALDWIN: Yes, well, why give it away when you can - Oh!

STREEP: Oh, God!

BALDWIN: Kiss good-bye.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: OK. As a non-5-year-old, will I like this one?

MANKIEWICZ: Yes. There's certainly a better chance that you'll - that you'll like this one. And that's where this movie, this Nancy Meyers movie - you know, "Something's Got to Give," "The Holiday," "What Women Want." She's the writer director...

WHITFIELD: She's good at these.

MANKIEWICZ: That is - that is where this movie is at its best, the scenes between Alec Baldwin and Meryl Streep. They were married for 19 years, now divorced for 10 and they - they reconnect. And then Steve Martin is also interested in her.

The problem with this movie is that the story is so sort of inconsistent, it's hard to follow. It's hard to join Meryl Streep in that journey. And I don't think the rest of the cast is nearly up to the work that Streep and Baldwin give. They're both...

WHITFIELD: Am I hearing a B-minus here or something?

MANKIEWICZ: They're both good.

She's great. She - she classes up the joint. Every scene she's in makes the movie better, and she's in nearly every scene.

That said, a lot of it falls short. It's better than average. It's OK. I give it a C-plus.

WHITFIELD: He married up, as they say, huh?

OK, well...

MANKIEWICZ: Yes, well, I don't - I'm not sure he married up. I think when you leave Meryl Streep, you, by very - your very definition - married down.

WHITFIELD: Oh - Oh! Ouch!

OK. "Sherlock Holmes" - we can look at it while we talk. We can't hear it.

MANKIEWICZ: Yes, sure.

WHITFIELD: But what do you think? You like? MANKIEWICZ: Well, what's interesting about "Sherlock Holmes," I feel very similar to they way I do about "It's Complicated" in that the scene between Robert Downey Jr. - you can see there - who plays Sherlock Holmes, and Watson played by Jude Law, which incorporate both of the movie. You're seeing Rachel McAdams there, who is sort of Holmes' sort of love interest.

But the scene between Holmes and Watson, Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr., are really terrific. And Guy Ritchie gives this the same cool look that he gives most of his movies.

The story is downright incomprehensible, and it's so hard to follow that you don't even care about trying to follow it. But the performances of Law and - and Downey sort of lift it up. I also think it's better than average. It's OK. There's not a lot out now. I give it a C-plus, too.

But the story really fall short despite the nice work from an actor named Mark Strong, who's terrific and who plays - he was in last year's "RocknRolla" for Guy Ritchie, who plays the - who plays the evil - who plays the bad guy in the movie.

But, overall, I - I really think it - it falls short. Again, better than average, but not...

WHITFIELD: Wow! OK, well, I halfway got it right. It is 3 for 3, meaning three of them you don't like.

MANKIEWICZ: I sort of liked two of them. It's tough. It's tough. But there's not much out, so if you want to see a movie, those two aren't that bad.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, we're going to talk about DVDs when we come back. Maybe "A Perfect Getaway" is kind of up your alley? We'll check it out.

MANKIEWICZ: A little bit, maybe. OK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: OK. So if you plan to grab a little popcorn and kick back with the family to watch a DVD, you don't want to miss this. "A Perfect Getaway" hits the shelves on Tuesday, and so does "District 9." Well, actually, it came out a few days ago, but you can get it Tuesday if you want too as well.

Film critic and host of Turner Classic movies, Ben Mankiewicz, joins us again from Los Angeles to tell us what he thinks of these.

All right, which one should we take a stab at first? You think "A Perfect Getaway"?

MANKIEWICZ: You want to start with "A Perfect Getaway"?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

MANKIEWICZ: All right. We'll start with...

WHITFIELD: Is it a perfect getaway?

MANKIEWICZ: ... "A Perfect Getaway."

WHITFIELD: A perfect (ph) DVD?

MANKIEWICZ: I, well, first thing is, it is a perfect getaway. We got - we got Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich as a young married couple. They're on their honeymoon in Vegas - in Vegas! They're on their honeymoon in Hawaii.

WHITFIELD: You're thinking "Hangover."

MANKIEWICZ: And they're hiking - I know. I was in Vegas last week. It's all in my mind.

WHITFIELD: Oh, yes.

MANKIEWICZ: They hike to a remote - they hike to a remote beach. They run into another couple, Timothy Olyphant among them, and it's a mysterious couple. And then, meanwhile, there's been a murder, a terrible murder of a third couple in Honolulu, and the questions is one of these guys, this couple, is Timothy Olyphant. Is he responsible for the murder?

This movie has a great twist, really, maybe the - one of the best twists of the year in movies. That said, before and after the twist, it was a little dull and a little predictable. But that twist, I'm still thinking about, and it's been months since I saw the movie. So I actually like "A Perfect Getaway" a little better than when I first reviewed it four months ago. But I give it a D-minus.

WHITFIELD: OK.

MANKIEWICZ: It's a fun thing to rent and watch on your couch. You'll get some scares. It's - it's pretty good. Not great, but it's pretty good.

WHITFIELD: Oh, that's funny, because sometimes certain movies are better at home than when you go to the theater.

MANKIEWICZ: Yes. I figure if I'm still thinking about it four months later, it must have had a slightly greater impact on me than I gave it credit for at the time.

WHITFIELD: How about "District 9"? Still with you or did you let it to?

MANKIEWICZ: You know, "District 9," now that the Academy Awards has expanded to 10 nominations - and again, I say always every week, I'm horrible at making predictions. I'm always wrong. I can't predict football games and I can't predict movies.

I think now that...

WHITFIELD: Something's wrong with them, not you.

MANKIEWICZ: Well, I think now that - not that there are 10 nominations, you may see a nomination for - for "District 9." I'm not a big science fiction fan, but sci-fi at its best is great, and this is science fiction at its best.

I gave this movie an A at the time. It's still an A. It's from director Neill Blomkamp, who's a disciple of Peter Jackson.

It's about an alien - an alien spacecraft arrives in Johannesburg in South Africa in 1982. These people were not violent, these aliens, but they get segregated into a - into a refugee camp, District 9, and they essentially just - they're sort of - it's a miserable place. It's dirty. It's disgusting. They're addicted to cat food. And then this multinational corporation wants to move them to another refugee camp and the multinational corporation, not surprisingly, has ulterior motives.

The lead, played by a guy here named - real quick...

WHITFIELD: I must be living under a rock, because I don't remember this one at all.

MANKIEWICZ: Yes, real quick, a guy named Sharlto Copley plays the lead and he's great. It's really interesting. It's unlike anything you'll see this year. It's gripping. It's tense. It's dramatic.

I really, really like this movie, I think, and I think you don't have to be a sci-fi fan to - to enjoy this. This is a great story.

WHITFIELD: Two for 2! Redemption. All right. Ben Mankiewicz.

MANKIEWICZ: Thank you very much, Fred. Appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: Thank you. All right, have a great one. I'm glad you made it back from Vegas because last we spoke, when you were in Vegas, big old snowstorm in the northeast, and that's where family is, was. And so -

But wait a minute. But now you're in LA.

MANKIEWICZ: Yes. I made it back, but my family was in the middle of the snowstorm. They loved it, though. They just sat at home and watched it snow.

WHITFIELD: Oh, good. Good, good.

All right, well, have a great holiday and happy New Year. See you soon.

MANKIEWICZ: Thank you, Fred. Bye.

WHITFIELD: All right, Bonnie Schneider - she'll have a quick check of the forecast right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Welcome back.

Taking a look at our top stories once again, a 23-year-old Nigerian national has been formally charged with trying to bring down a Northwest Airlines jet on Christmas Day. Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab is accused of igniting a small explosive on board the jet as it was about to land in Detroit. He was quickly subdued and the device was extinguished.

Abdul Mutallab is scheduled to make his first court appearance later on today, and it will actually take place at the Michigan hospital where he's being treated for burns suffered in that incident.

And a strong undersea earthquake struck near Indonesia today. There are no reports of injury or damage. The quake hit as the country mark the anniversary of another earthquake that struck off the coast five years ago. That quake triggered a devastating tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people.

And actor Charlie Sheen is free on bail. He was arrested Christmas Day in Aspen, Colorado on domestic violence charges. Those charges include second degree assault and menacing, both felonies. He is scheduled to appear in court in February.

All right, this Christmas week will be one to remember for a whole lot of people - a (ph) nation's midsection in particular. They got a white Christmas, and, in Arkansas, that's not something you see very often. But all the heavy snow has caused a lot of problems as well, including a rash of traffic accidents.

Folks in Des Moines, Iowa, also woke up Christmas day to sleet and heavy snow. Parts of the state were under a blizzard warning as the storm moved through.

All right, parts of the country are still getting, in fact, heavy snow. Bonnie Schneider is tracking it for us in the CNN Weather Center.

When people say they want a white Christmas, they usually mean like a mild little blanket of snow. They don't want to be like buried under a foot of snow or more.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Or have to travel in it. And today people are traveling, of course, the day after Christmas, and, unfortunately, if you're doing that in Chicago, watch out. Two to four more inches of snow.

It's already been snowing for quite some time. This is highlighted in red because it's a winter storm warning, meaning we're still going to have strong winds through the night, possibly gusting as high as 25 miles per hour. That could blow about already plowed roads that have kind of had the snow removed. You can get another blanketing of snow. So be careful driving.

And it certainly not just in Chicago. Check out the Plain States, blizzard warnings persist for areas into North and South Dakota, as well as Northern Nebraska. Omaha really got hammered by the storm, and now Fargo and even Minneapolis, further off to the east, still seeing snow tonight. Again, the blowing snow, a big problem because it does limit visibility, and we're anticipating that as well to continue.

To the northeast, well so far, so good for Christmas. Some nice weather there. But everything is changing. We are looking at a lot of rain coming up. That will change to freezing rain into Upstate New York, New Hampshire and Vermont tonight, so be very careful. There'll be icy roads tomorrow morning when you step outside in Manchester, further northward. And we are also tracking the threat for definitely poor visibility.

Now, that means that if you're traveling tonight, the delays are lengthy. We have a ground stop at O'Hare in Chicago. We also have delays at all the airports in New York City, including Teterboro, New Jersey, and Philadelphia getting some light delays at this hour.

Now, despite that, just to let you know, there are a lot of planes in the air, over 6,000 of them at this hour. That's a lot of travel. Yesterday we had about 4,000 at this time. So many people are trying to head to their back home destination or maybe heading on an extended holiday, Fred, but it looks like so far, so good. The delays are light, but I'm just concerned about the northeast as we go into tomorrow with the icy roads for New England.

WHITFIELD: Oh, yes. Oh, that's always nasty, too.

Thank you so much, Bonnie. Appreciate that.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

WHITFIELD: Well, here's a question for you. Will security change now in the aftermath of the attempted terror attack on that Northwest plane yesterday?

We'll hear from a former FBI assistant director.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: New developments now in the attempted terror attack on a US airliner. The suspect, a Nigerian national, has been formally charged with trying to destroy a Northwest Airlines jet yesterday by igniting a small explosive in his lap (ph) right before the landing.

Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab was subdued and the device extinguished. He's scheduled to make his first court appearance today, and that one should take place in the hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he is being treated for injuries that he suffered in that incident.

Some passengers on board the Northwest flight described what happened after the suspect allegedly ignited that explosive.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELINDA DENNIS, NORTHWEST PASSENGER: We were coming in from Flight 253 in Amsterdam when right at the end of the flight, right when we were about to land, there was some commotion in the back, and, from what we can tell, there was a gentleman that had some sort of device on him that caused him to catch on fire.

They put out the fire, brought him up front, where they stripped him down to make sure he had nothing else, and they brought him - took him off the plane.

We landed at about 12:40-ish - around there. Well, around 12:00 or so. We actually landed quick, but we've been in containment ever since then.

RICHELLE KEEPMAN, NORTHWEST PASSENGER: We were in the back of the plane and all of a sudden heard some screams and flight attendants ran up and down the - the aisles. And I think we knew it at the point when we saw the fear in the flight attendants' eyes and they grabbed the fire extinguishers and then also we smelled a bunch of smoke. And apparently someone in the front of the plane - I don't know if he lit himself on fire or lit something on his lap, and it went up in flames.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So what happens now that the charges have been filed against the suspect? Thomas Fuentes is a CNN Contributor and former FBI Assistant Director of International Operations. He joins me now from San Francisco.

So among those charges - attempting to destroy a US Airlines flight - now, apparently, he's not going to be in court, but instead his first court appearance will be in his hospital room. Describe for me what would take place.

THOMAS FUENTES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, basically, he'll be informed that the charges are being placed against him and the nature of the charges at the moment. He'll get his chance to plead guilty or not guilty and determine whether he needs court-appointed counsel to assist him.

But it's really a formality at this point. He's going to be in the hospital for a while, and, you know, the authorities will have time to assess which charges to - to add, possibly, to the original charges being placed now.

WHITFIELD: Give me an idea of the importance of why investigators felt very quickly they needed to impose at least one charge?

FUENTES: Well, so he's technically in custody, so they maintain control, security over him, prevent anybody from having access to him that they don't want, especially to ensure his security and - and safety so that no harm comes to him before he has an opportunity to get well and have his day in regular court. So that's the responsibility of the government, to protect him.

WHITFIELD: There are a few details being revealed as it pertains to this investigation, this suspect, et cetera, such as having some sort of chemical with him, which is a type of explosive, that remnants of a syringe were also located in the area where he was sitting, and - and that apparently he did reveal to a flight attendant while on board that he had an explosive device in his pocket, because a flight attendant actually asked him such.

What's your takeaway from this kind of information that's being revealed already?

FUENTES: Well, I'm not sure what the timing of that is, as far as - from the time the flight attendant heard that information and the time he actually set himself on fire. I mean, she could have heard that from him, ran to get other flight attendants to provide assistance, and, in the interim, he may have tried to set himself on fire. Before they got back, he was already burning.

So we don't know that there was any problem with that. It certainly would have been appropriate for the flight attendant to get a backup before engaging with him.

WHITFIELD: Give me an idea, as a former FBI person, give me an idea of the kinds of questions that are being asked. What are some of the - maybe the top three things that the FBI wants to nail down as it pertains to this suspect and this type of offense?

FUENTES: Well number one, who are you, and how do we verify your identity, where you're from, which country your citizenship is? What background, whether he has a criminal history of any kind or has come up on any watch lists or other databases in the US or other countries around the world.

You would also want to know how he learned the technique he was trying to employ. What was it he was trying to do with the device? What chemicals did he have? Where did he get them? Who worked with him, provided assistance, provided training? Did he learn all of this by himself on the internet or did he actually go to - to someone else who showed him what it was he's supposed to be doing? Was he doing this with others? Were there other plans to attack other aircraft under way that he may have been aware of or others that he was involved with?

And certainly the FBI interviewing all of the passengers in Detroit yesterday after they exited the plane would have wanted to know from them, not just what occurred on the aircraft as far as setting himself on fire, but what happened before boarding that aircraft, when they were in the holding area outside the gate before boarding. Was he seen with anybody else? Was he having a conversation? Was he talking on a cell phone? Was he reading documents?

Exactly what was his behavior before boarding the aircraft? Did he meet with anybody else on that plane once he boarded, one they were in flight? Trying to trace his background steps before - during that flight.

WHITFIELD: Former FBI Assistant Director of International Operations, Thomas Fuentes, thanks so much, from San Francisco. On to Iran now, new unrest as opposition protesters gathered in Tehran to mark a major holy day. The event turned violent with protesters clashing with riot police, and the violence could get even worse tomorrow. The holy period reaches its climax then and at the same time mourners will gather to remember a prominent cleric who died just six days ago.

The cleric was a leading figure in the 1979 Iranian Revolution. He went on to become one of the current government's most vocal critics.

And the Vatican is reviewing its security procedures in the wake of the Christmas Eve attack on Pope Benedict. The Pope wasn't hurt when a woman actually jumped out of the crowd and knocked him to the ground. The woman, described as mentally unstable, is still being held in a clinic for treatment and officials will decide what to do with her sometimes over - some time, rather, over the next few days.

And another American military death in Afghanistan. The Pentagon says the service member was killed on Christmas Day in a bombing in the southern part of the country. That raises the US death toll in the Afghan war to 848.

Next hour in THE NEWSROOM, Drew Griffin will be here with more on the terror charges against a Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a plane as it was landing in Detroit. Does he have ties to terror groups like al Qaeda?

Also, Drew talks with former Homeland Security Adviser Fran Townsend about the difficulties of coordinating this investigation.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Have a great evening.

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