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New Security Measures; Terror Suspect's Background; Iran Clashes

Aired December 28, 2009 - 12:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The Christmas presents have been unwrapped, in some cases already returned in exchange for something else. Now retailers are tallying up their holiday sales.

CNN's Stephanie Elam joining us from New York. Stephanie, how was it for retailers?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The tally was better, Tony.

HARRIS: All right.

ELAM: This was a better holiday for sure than last year. In fact if you take look at the numbers, they were up 3.6 percent for that all-important holiday shopping period between November 1st and December 24th. That is compared to last year, when sales were down 3.4 percent. But keep in mind, there was one extra day here between Thanksgiving and Christmas. So, if you take out that extra day, sales were up about one percent, which was pretty much in line with what was expected during the period.

Of course, a lot of retailers were biting their nails, really worried about what was going to happen, because you might remember that last holiday weekend, the weekend before Christmas, there was a huge winter storm that took out much of the country, that could not make it to the malls. But that led online shopping to actually have a bit of a pop of 15.5 percent during that period.

So, that shows that people were out there, but it still only accounts for about 10 percent of overall retail sales. So that shows you, people still need to get out into the stores.

We also saw jewelry on the upside as well, up about 5.6 percent. Last year, jewelry sales were down about 30 percent.

So, overall, Tony, it just looked like a better season. We'll get the real, real hard-core picture here when we get the December retail sales numbers in January, which is not that far away.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Yes, not bad though. Early signs are really good.

All right, Stephanie. Appreciate it. Thank you.

ELAM: Sure.

HARRIS: And time now for our top-of-the-hour reset.

I'm Tony Harris in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It is 12:00 in Detroit, where we are told a Nigerian man carried enough explosives to blow a Northwest flight out of the sky. At airports across the nation, flyers are facing longer lines today due to stepped-up security.

And it is 8:00 in the evening in Baghdad, where Iraqi women are signing up for the lonely hearts club, hoping to find a new husband.

Let's do this -- let's get started.

Here's what we know right now about the Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight that was a Christmas Day terror target. Suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is out of the hospital, where he was treated for burns. He's been moved to a federal prison outside Detroit.

Tighter security measures mean long lines at airports today, but the requirement that passengers remain in their seats one hour before landing was eased today. That decision is now at the discretion of the flight crew.

And questions. The Obama administration is digging into the security breakdown. Republicans are demanding to know why the suspect's U.S. visa had not been revoked after red flags were raised.

Our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, is following even more new information on our top story.

And Jeanne, you have news on new security directives.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Tony. You'll remember that on Christmas Day, the Transportation Security Administration issued a directive to the airlines mandating that they do certain things --, keep their passengers in their seats for the final hour of flight on flights coming into the U.S. from abroad. Also said on those flights that carry-ons, blankets, pillows all had to be stowed for the last hour of flight. Also said that in-flight communication systems, ones that include those moving map displays that you see, that those had to be disabled.

Now CNN is hearing from multiple source that's TSA is modifying that directive. It is now leaving those specific decisions up to the crews. It is their discretion.

They can evaluate what is going on their flight. They can decide to take those measures if they choose to. But if they think it's all fine, they don't have to follow those particular portions of the directive.

Other parts of the directive remain in force, specifically what has to happen in those foreign cities before people fly to the U.S. There still have to be pat-downs, carry-on bags have to be sorted through. But in flight, a little lifting of those restrictions that we've heard some complaint about from travelers -- Tony.

HARRIS: All right, Jeanne. Appreciate it. Thanks for the update.

Whole-body scanners can detect the type of explosive the Nigerian man allegedly had on his body, but there are just 40 of these machines in use at American airports. Senator Joe Lieberman, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, plans to look at that. He says privacy concerns are minimal compared to what could have happened on Christmas Day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: Our Homeland Security Committee is going to hold a hearing in January on two questions that come off of this case. The first is, why are we not using whole-body imaging scanners more? These are different than the magnetometers that we all go through. They basically look at an outline of your body and can pick up anything you have on you that you shouldn't have, particularly hidden stuff like these explosives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: CNN's Brian Todd looks at the whole-body scanners, what privacy advocates call a virtual strip search.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Already used on more than a million passengers abroad, these special X-rays can catch all kinds of contraband.

PETER KANT, RAPIDSCAN SYSTEMS: Regular weapons, guns, knives, box cutters, and the like, but also unusual types of weapons, explosives, liquid explosives, gels.

TODD: The images will look like this: outlines of the body, not in detail, but weapons and other items do show up. This technology has been very controversial.

I went through a so-called backscatter machine. I was advised that if I didn't want my private areas shown, I should put a metal plate in my pants. I stepped just in front of the machine, turn around. In just a few seconds, the monitor displays my humble contours.

Now, in this test, I'm playing the role of a would-be terrorist. I try to hide a plastic lipstick container in my vest pocket. Busted. I sneak a sports drink bottle. Busted again.

How about wires in a sealed sandwich bag hidden in my sock? On the monitor, they show up on my ankle. But the machines have limitations.

When I pour water into a sealed sandwich bag, place it inside my belt line and in a sock, you can barely see it. But one company behind this technology says trained screeners would detect it. And the Transportation Security Administration says they have other methods to detect liquids.

When this came out, privacy advocates called it a virtual strip search, and they are not much more satisfied with the newer technology.

MARC ROTHENBERG, PRIVACY ADVOCATE: Essentially, they're putting a digital fig leaf on the image. This protects the image from what the operator will see, but the machine itself can still record all the detail and store that information for use at later point.

TODD: A TSA official tells CNN there won't be any hard drives to store the images and says no one will have access to pictures without the so-called fig leaf on them.

From one passenger tested on the older machines...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been through it over in Europe. And I didn't like it.

TODD: In Phoenix, a TSA official tells us the machine will be only used if more than a metal detector is required, and passengers will then get a choice between those machines and pat-downs.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Well, one thing that got Republicans pretty worked up, Homeland Security Janet Napolitano's assertion that the system worked. Today, on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," Napolitano backed away from that. She pledged to look at problems with airport screening, particularly manpower and equipment issues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Security is something that we all have a part in. We are looking at the technology. We have deployed new technology in some airports.

The question is, would it have detected this material in the way he had hidden it on his person? We are ascertaining that. We're ascertaining why it was that he was not flagged in a more specific way when he purchased his ticket, given the information that we think was available, allegedly was available. And that's moving forward.

We need go backwards and say, what happened here? What do we need to change? What do we need to do to make sure that passengers are safe moving forward?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: We should add here that we expect to hear from President Obama this afternoon, presumably on the attempted terror attack. The president will speak from Hawaii, where he and his family are on vacation. Of course, we will bring you the president's statement.

Here's a closer look at the terror suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

In November, he was placed in a U.S. database of people suspected of having ties to terrorism. The reason, his father was worried about his son's deepening religious extremism and shared those concerns with embassy officials in Nigeria.

We've also learned that the 23-year-old was placed on a British watch list after he was refused a student visa. The U.S. should have been notified of the British concerns.

Now, for more on the suspect's ties to the U.K., let's head there. Our Phil Black joins us now live from London.

And Phil, first of all, good to see you.

How did the British government confirm that the suspect was on a U.K. watch list?

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, the British government here says it's a matter of procedure. Essentially, he was placed on this watch list because he applied for a visa to return to this country. We know that he studied for three years, left in June of last year.

The British government says he tried to come back with a new student visa application in May of this year, but that was rejected on the grounds that the college he claimed he wanted to study at was a fake. It simply didn't exist. And they say as a matter of course, he was then placed on a watch list, which then would have kept him from entering this country at any time. And British authorities have said today that also, as matter of course, that sort of information should have been shared with U.S. agencies as well -- Tony.

HARRIS: And Phil, what are we learning about the suspect's past?

BLACK: Well, we've had an interesting picture of this young man, described when he was even younger, when he was a high school student. One of his high school teachers has spoken to CNN and told us about what he was like at that time. He shared some pictures with us.

They show him on a school excursion here in London on a couple of occasions. He's photographed outside Buckingham Palace, outside British Parliament. And this teacher, Mike Ruma (ph), tells us that he was, at that time, already fiercely religious, very devout. His nickname amongst students, strangely, for a Muslim, was "The Pope."

But he also says that he was smart, capable, curious. He had great potential. And although at that time he was already showing some sympathies for extremist thoughts and views, the teacher said that he thought it was just a phase and he would grow out of it -- Tony.

HARRIS: All right. Phil Black with more of a portrait of the suspect here, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. Phil Black joining us from London.

Iran in turmoil. Protesters take to the streets, and the results are deadly. We'll have the latest in a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A day after Iranian opposition supporters clashed with police during commemorations for the Ashura religious holiday, reformist Web sites say several prominent activists have been killed or arrested. At least eight people were reportedly killed Sunday, including a relative of former opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.

CNN International Correspondent Reza Sayah joins us now with the very latest from the Iran desk.

And Reza, let's do this -- let's start with an explanation of the changing shape of the Iranian protest movement.

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's changing and it's getting more intense, Tony, based on what we have seen over the past dramatic 48 hours. And we're going to show you a piece of video that really drives home how ugly, how nasty things are getting in Iran.

This is amateur video that shows protesters surrounding uniformed riot police that are cowering in the streets of Tehran. One of the security personnel who appears to have been beaten up is telling the protesters, "We're sorry. We're sorry." But the protesters continue to taunt them.

One of them is demanding the security personnel to tell them that Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, is a bastard. So that really illustrates how venomous things have become.

Let's go to another piece of video. This next piece of video is going to show protesters attack a security van belonging to Iranian security officials.

There you see a protester karate-kicking the window belonging to the van. In a few seconds, you're going to see these protesters start rocking this van back and forth, back and forth. And eventually, this mob is going to tip over this van.

This emotional reaction by protesters comes after just a vicious crackdown delivered by security forces during the weekend, as you watch the van tip over. Based on witness accounts, based on these pieces of video, security officials went out on Sunday with a mission to crack down on protests, and that's the aftermath -- protesters bloodied up.

Witnesses tell us on a lot of occasions, security officers were going after, smashing people in the head. And Tony, that's perhaps why we have seen a lot of head injuries in these dramatic amateur videos that we have been getting.

HARRIS: Hey, Reza, how many people have been killed? And a significant name among those.

SAYAH: Yes. Eight people, according to state-run news agencies. No name bigger than Mir Hossein Mousavi's nephew.

Of course, Mir Hossein Mousavi, the opposition leader, former presidential candidate. There you see him pictured on the left. To his right is his nephew.

Let's go to amateur video, what's reportedly Ali Mousavi, Mousavi's nephew, moments after he was killed on Sunday. There you see him in Revolution Square.

Now, Iran state-run news agencies are reporting that all of these deaths, these eight deaths, were staged. Police are saying Mir Hossein Mousavi's nephew's death is suspicious. They're investigating.

But I can't stress enough, Tony, the significance of these activities taking place on Ashura, the religious holiday commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hussein. On this major holiday, violence is considered blasphemous. So to have eight people, eight protesters, killed, look for the opposition movement to use these deaths as another rallying cry for their movement.

HARRIS: All right. Reza Sayah for us.

Reza, appreciate it. Thank you.

And as Reza just mentioned, the protests in Iran coincide with the holy day of Ashura. The word literally means "tenth," because it is observed on the 10th day of the first month of the Islamic year.

Ashura marks a public expression of grief and mourning during which some observers flog themselves on the back with chains. The ritual is meant to connect them to the suffering of Imam Hussein, a saint who was killed in the seventh century. Shiite Muslims believe he is the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

Abdulmutallab reportedly claims he got his explosive device in Yemen, which is rapidly becoming the new battleground against al Qaeda.

CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Yemen, eulogies for those killed on a recent air strike on al Qaeda hideouts. U.S. officials privately acknowledge they've provided secret intelligence on several al Qaeda targets to Yemen's government, but won't say if U.S. fighter jets or armed drones were involved.

All of this happened before the suspect in the attack against Northwest Airlines Flight 253 claimed he traveled to Yemen and was given bomb-making materials there, a claim that has the U.S. worried. Al Qaeda in Yemen has already been the focus of secret U.S. military and intelligence operations for months.

General David Petraeus sounded a warning about Yemen earlier this year.

GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, MULTINATIONAL FORCE, IRAQ: That's where al Qaeda and the Arabian peninsula has established its headquarters. This is a concern.

STARR: And with tribal rebel movements on the rise in Yemen, the central government can't fully control the country. Al Qaeda has found a new safe haven.

JON ALTERMAN, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: There is a very real sense that the central government is losing control over most of the country, that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is setting up bases hosted among tribes.

STARR: Look at the map and you see the potential for disaster. Al Qaeda operatives in Yemen are within striking distance of Saudi oil facilities. Hundreds of cargo ships pass the coastline each year. They come through the Suez Canal in one direction and the Indian Ocean in another. Ripe targets for attacks.

The bottom line, experts say, al Qaeda in Yemen may now be able to attack the United States.

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: The important thing here is if, indeed, this does leads back to the Yemen cell. Most of the attacks that we have seen in the past have been in Yemen or in Saudi Arabia. The Yemeni affiliate there has not been able to do out- of-area operations like al Qaeda central on the Afghan/Pakistan border, and this would represent an out-of-area operation and a significant one.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And Barbara Starr joins us now live from the Pentagon.

Barbara, what are people in Yemen saying about all of this?

STARR: Well, you know, Tony, we have talked to some Yemeni officials who tell us they accept the notion and they understand they have an al Qaeda problem in their country. They are looking for more U.S. assistance, they say.

You know, they say if you help us with al Qaeda now, yes, it's going to cost a lot of money. But if you wait and the country collapses, it's going to be a disaster.

And that really is the focus of what the Obama administration is doing now. They're funneling about $60 million to $70 million now in military and security assistance to Yemen, and trying to really beef up Yemen's effort to go after al Qaeda on their own -- Tony. HARRIS: OK.

Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us.

Barbara, thank you.

Let's get you caught up on our top stories now.

Authorities are investigating that early morning apartment fire that killed nine people in Starkville, Mississippi. Six of the victims children. No word on how it started.

In Massachusetts, a series of suspicious fires has killed two people. At least nine house and car fires broke out in mostly residential areas of Northampton early Sunday. Authorities report three other attempts to set fires. They are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a suspect.

Pioneering civil rights attorney Percy Sutton has died. He represented Malcolm X and his wife before launching a career as an influential New York politician and radio mogul. Sutton was credited with leading the revitalization of Harlem, including the restoration of the famous Apollo Theater.

Percy Sutton was 89.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A 12-year-old girl is literally giving the gift of fresh air after her own health scare. Kathryn Chenaille needed purifiers to help fight off infection. Now she's helping other.

Photojournalist Oliver Janney brings us today's "Giving in Focus."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first time I met the Chenaille family was actually walking through the Ronald McDonald House. I heard somebody playing the piano. At that moment, he was contemplating where he would stay when his child Kathryn was discharged from Johns Hopkins Hospital.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was running up a slide in flip-flops and tripped and fell, and got this really huge bruise right here immediately.

BILL CHENAILLE, KATHRYN'S FATHER: I knew something was going on when three white-robed doctors walked in the room and closed the door. And they went on to explain, "We think it's aplastic anemia."

DR. MARK BRODSKY, JOHNS HOPKINS KIMMEL CANCER CENTER: Basically, a failure to produce blood.

CHENAILLE: The night that she finally started understanding how serious she was, then she looked up at me. In one of the tucking and goodnight kiss conversations, she just stopped and looked at me and asked me if she was going to die.

They're just wiping out the immune system with high doses of chemotherapy. And when that reboots, the body develops a brand new immune system.

BRODSKY: The most dangerous effect of aplastic anemia is infection. And that's the leading cause of death.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And they were ready to release her shortly after two weeks. And so we were a little unprepared and scrambled to get into the Ronald McDonald House.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a typical room that a family might stay in for months.

CHENAILLE: I also told the doctors that we will do everything in our power to keep that room's air as pure as possible. I went to Home Depot and got some air purifiers.

BRODSKY: There are particles in the air that these patients can get sick from.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So they said, "I think maybe you can go home."

CHENAILLE: She's living a normal girl's life now.

KATHRYN CHENAILLE: Should I go like this or should I go like that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kathryn actually contacted the manufacturer of Secure Air in Chicago and asked them if they would help her donate air filters to our home. Lo and behold, Tom Novicki (ph), national sales manager, received her call and decided to donate these air filters on behalf of Kathryn to every room in our home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That, for her, is the exciting thing, is actually being able to hand them over to the individual families and seeing how, you know, each individual kid that is going to benefit from them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And updating our top story now.

The attempt to bring down a Detroit-bound U.S. airliner, the suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, is out of the hospital and in the custody of federal marshals. Tighter security is in place following the incident. More physical pat-downs at the gate, more frequent checks of carry-on bags. And we just heard from our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, airlines will be allowed some discretion about whether to have -- you have to stay seated in the last hour of flight time and whether you can have blankets or personal items on your lap.

Initially, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the system worked. That was met with fierce criticism from Republicans who called the Flight 253 episode the complete opposite, a failure of the system. Today on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," Napolitano back- tracked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: With all of the procedures we now have in place. Now we've instituted new procedures moving forward and we were able, immediately upon the passengers apprehending this individual, to institute procedures for -- even for the planes that were already in the air so that moving forward we could provide additional safety in the air environment.

But we need to go back now, and the president has asked us to, to do a thorough review. These are procedures that have been in place since the shoe bomber in 2006. What needs to be updated, improved, upgraded to see that this doesn't happen again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have said that throughout this that the system worked smoothly. What exactly worked in your opinion?

NAPOLITANO: Yes, that's a phrase taken out of context. What I said is, moving forward, meaning once the incident happened, we were able to immediately notify the 128 flights in the air, as well as airports on the ground domestically, internationally, our law enforcement partners, our other allies, institute immediate safety procedures to make sure that this could not happen on other flights and that people were watching out for it on other flights, even as we focused on what went wrong prior to this one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: We are digging into the background of the suspect in the foiled terror attack. CNN is talking to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's family and former classmates. CNN's Christian Purefoy joining us live now from Abuja, Nigeria.

And, Christian, what are the suspect's family members saying?

CHRISTIAN PUREFOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the family has gathering here in Abuja and they have released a press statement, Tony. They're saying that they were as shocked as the rest of the world when they woke up to find that one of their own, a father's son, had tried to bring down an airliner in America. And that they in no way supported his actions and are cooperating with Nigerian and international security agencies.

And the investigation here, Tony, is ongoing. It does seem now that Farouk entered Nigeria on the 24th of December for a brief period. The information ministry put it, he sneaked in on the 24th and then he left on a flight, a KLM flight to fly to Amsterdam to Detroit. He was seen boarding at about 8:30 with a shoulder bag.

Tony.

HARRIS: And, Christian, what has the investigation revealed so far about the suspect's movements in Nigeria?

PUREFOY: Yes. Well, as the information ministry put it, he sneaked back in on the 24th and it's not known what he did during the time between when he sneaked in and when he got on that KLM flight at about 8:30 local time in the evening. We don't know if he met anyone or if he simply laid low.

He doesn't seem -- the family said they have had no contact with him for about two months. And so it's highly likely that he didn't want to arouse any suspicions, he didn't meet any family. He probably was worried that he might come under some suspicion. He might be on some high terror list and that's why he kept a very low profile.

But as we said, we've spoken to security officials, and despite the father reporting his own son to Nigerian and international security officials, Farouk Abdulmutallab was not put on any high security list.

Tony.

HARRIS: All right, Christian Purefoy for us. Christian, appreciate it. Thank you.

He is a young Dutch video producer and director, but after his flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, he is also being hail a hero.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASPER SCHURINGA, HELPED SUBDUE TERROR SUSPECT: My (ph) faith, of course, and without any agitation, I just jumped over all the seats and I just jumped to the suspect and because I was thinking (EXPLETIVE DELETED) like he's trying to blow up the plane.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: We hear from the man who tackled the terror suspect aboard Northwest Flight 253.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right. Let's get you caught up on our top stories now. The death toll from this morning's suicide bombing in Karachi, Pakistan, has grown to 30. The blast happened as thousands of Shiite Muslims commemorated the major religious observance of Ashura. At least 50 others were wounded in the attack.

In South Carolina, four men are facing lynching charges after police say they beat a man to death with sticks and a 2x4. Those who know the suspects say some of them are distant cousins of the victim. South Carolina defines lynching as an attack by a mob. It does not necessarily indicate hanging or that the crime was racially motivated.

Holiday shoppers spending and spreading a little more holiday cheer this year. MasterCard says retail sales rose 3.6 percent from November 1st to Christmas Eve, compared to a more than 2 percent drop last year. We will get another check of our top stories in 20 minutes.

Got to tell you, with anxiety over airlines pretty high and economic worries keeping travel plans at a minimum anyway, it may come as a bit of a surprise to learn that the travel industry staged a comeback in 2009. Really? CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow is in New York.

Poppy, this is a bit of a shocker.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes, that's a good way to put it, Tony. I mean as far as stocks go, travel was actually one of the better performing sectors over the last year. This is largely because of a lot of deals and some deep discounting, as you could have guessed.

But, Tony, when you look at the stocks for websites like expedia.com and priceline.com, they have soared over the last year. Also, the stocks of a lot of rental car companies have, believe it or not, despite the woes in the auto industry.

What we're seeing there, Tony, what a lot of experts are saying is, consumers right now are starting to get a little bit more confident and they're willing to plan some vacations in advance with those big discounts. The consensus seems to be that actually leisure travel is preparing to pick up, but business travel is going to remain really weak next year. One of the travel experts I talked to today said, what he's seeing is these advanced reservations coming in pretty decent for 2010. He says there's a lot of pent-up demand. A lot of Americans just want to take their vacations and they see these extraordinary deals.

But what we're going to see next year, Tony, is that business travel is going to really remain under pressure because you've got, on the one hand, corporate spending way down and also you've got, on the other hand, what some travel experts are deeming, Tony, the AIG effect. And that is, essentially, businesses not wanting to spend lavishly on these incentive trips like we saw AIG get such bad press for doing. So that's sort of weighing on the industry looking ahead to next year.

HARRIS: OK. A couple of things, then I want to get back to more of this outlook for 2010 here. But, look, let's face it, the travel industry is really critical from a jobs perspective. And give us a little more on this outlook for 2010.

HARLOW: It's huge. I mean, the U.S. Travel Association, Tony, says that this industry supports about 8 million jobs in the country, from hotels, to airlines, to restaurants, to everything having to do with an airport or buses. You get the picture. And what they say is, in 2008 and 2009, 400,000 of those jobs were lost. But here's what they're saying for 2010. A little bit of a bright spot here. They're saying that what they're going to see is leisure travel increasing 2 percent next year. They think that's going to mean 90,000 new American jobs. That's still to be seen. But they also argue business travel, that's going to remain really, really weak. Analysts saying 2010's not going to be much better. And this is something to watch out for, Tony, because business travelers, business class, first class, nice hotels, add that up, that's sort of the big bucks for the industry.

HARRIS: Yes.

HARLOW: I'll leave you with two deals that I'm hearing about, you should keep an eye out for. Really cheap hotel rooms in major cities, like Chicago, Las Vegas, Orlando, where there's a glut of hotel rooms, and cruises. Cruises are apparently going to remain extremely cheap. I'll leave it in the words of one analyst who told me, it is cheaper to go on a cruise, Tony, than to stay at home. I don't know about that one, but might as well look for the deal.

HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes. OK. That's good information. Poppy, appreciate it. Good to see you. Thanks.

HARLOW: You got it.

HARRIS: How did the suspect manage to sneak explosives past security agents? A former TSA administrator explains in the NEWSROOM.

Plus, flyers are already feeling the impact of the security crackdown. We will highlight some of the changes that are already in place.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: I've got to tell you, it all could have ended so badly in Detroit. After all, security missed the explosive device. But fortunately for Northwest Flight 253, one passenger saw what was happening and took action. He told CNN's Fredricka Whitfield how it all went down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASPER SCHURINGA, HELPED SUBDUE TERROR SUSPECT: Basically, you know, like I reacted on a bang. And then suddenly like there was smoke piling up in the cabin and so people were screaming fire, fire. And the first thing we -- like we all did is to check where the fire was. So -- and then I saw the suspect. He was trembling (ph) on his seat. So . . .

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN: So how many rows back were you or . . .

SCHURINGA: Sorry?

WHITFIELD: How many rows back -- or you were behind the suspect when this smoke . . . SCHURINGA: No, I was on the right side of the plane and the suspect was on the left. So there were quit some seats in between. So when I saw that suspect, he was getting on fire. And, you know, I freaked, of course. And without any agitation, I just jumped over all the seats and I just jumped to the suspect and because I was thinking oh -- you know, like he's trying to blow up the plane.

And so, you know, I was trying to search his body for -- you know, any explosives. And then I took some kind of object that was already melting and smoking out of him and I tried to put out the fire. And then, when I did that, I was also restraining the suspect.

And then the fire started beneath his seat. So with (ph) my hands and everything -- this hand is a little burned up -- I put out the fire. And then other passengers helped me as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well, Jasper calls the flight attendants brave and says they're heroes too.

New security measures almost immediate after the attempt to blow up that Detroit bound plane. CNN's Sandra Endo joins me from Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia.

And, Sandra, look, already federal officials are relaxing some of the new rules. Maybe you can explain that to us.

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Tony.

Well, I can tell you that passengers are already feeling the effects of new restrictions put in place. Airport and in-flight security is certainly tougher. And you're talking about the Transportation Security Administration implementing new guidelines in light of the Christmas Day incident. And that includes more pat-downs at airports and carry-on luggage will be checked more frequently.

But we are talking about, it's new today, that TSA announced that it will be at the discretion of in-flight crew members to implement the one-hour rule. Now the one-hour rule will require passengers to remain in their seats for the last hour of their flight. They would not be able to get to their carry-on luggage. They would have to remove blankets and all personal items from their laps as well. And also, passengers who have to go to the restroom, they would have to be escorted by a crew member.

And we're also learning today that it's also at the discretion of the flight crew to disable the in-flight entertainment system, which also shows the flight course and the direction of the plane.

HARRIS: Well, Sandra, what are travelers saying about the tougher security and how are they, you know, dealing with these new guidelines?

ENDO: A lot of the travelers we spoke to, Tony, are taking things in stride. A lot of people here are coming in extra early to deal with all the security measures and travelers we spoke to just arriving here from Dulles from international locations all across the world actually say that these tougher restrictions have already been implemented on their flights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only thing new was, when we were landing in the U.S., they said that for an hour we couldn't get up and have anything on our laps.

ENDO (on camera): Was that difficult for you, especially traveling with a small child?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a little difficult because right at the end he wanted some milk and I couldn't give it to him. So he was crying his head off. But, you know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before we boarded, they did a very thorough check of all the bags and patted down the passengers and so forth. They were also, on the flight from Seoul on Korean Airlines, they were very much aware of problems here in the United States and had increased security notifications from TSA to take special precautions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENDO: So just anticipate tougher rules at the airports and get here extra early if you're traveling.

HARRIS: Yes, that makes sense. All right. Sandra Endo for us at Dulles International Airport.

Sandra, appreciate it. Thank you.

You know, you've got the watch list, the no-fly list, stepped up screenings. So what went wrong and what more can be done to make air travel safer? Last hour I talked with a former top administrator of the TSA, the Transportation Security Administration, about the ongoing threat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM BLANK, FORMER DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR, TSA: The threat's real and the threat's continuing. And this better be a lightning bolt that will jolt us awake and come to the realization that we are not putting the resources to aviation security that we need to put to it and that we have to recalibrate how security relates to our privacy consideration. We've become too lax and we need to understand that the threat is real and that we have a big job to do and we better attack it with a sense of urgency.

HARRIS: Well, wait a minute, Tom, my understanding is that we've been spending billions in security and technology to better secure the homeland. Is this a question of resources or what here?

BLANK: Well, it is a question of resources. We know that the shoe bomber, Richard Reid, used PETN. So we've know for a number of years that PETN is a threat. We've known that explosives at the checkpoint and our capability to detect them is a vulnerability that needs to be closed. Yet we see the GAO issuing a report earlier this year saying that TSA has tested but not deployed some 10 checkpoint technologies that could be used to help defeat this kind of a threat.

HARRIS: Are the technologies any good? I mean testing and those technologies being any good are two different issues, right?

BLANK: Well, what we know is, is that the whole body imagers, the x-ray technology is very good. It will find organics. It does a superb job for the military in Iraq and Afghanistan. It does a superb job at the border for customs and border protection. And TSA, while they are now beginning to deploy it, needs to increase the urgency with which they are moving in that direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The Department of Homeland Security has added more air marshals in the wake of a foiled terror attack. We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You know, after years of conflict, the fighting in Iraq may be on the wane. But for many women, the legacy of war goes on. CNN's Diana Magnay looks at how Iraq's war widows are defying tradition.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Jamila Mahmoud husband was killed in 2007. She doesn't know who targeted him. She thinks it was a revenge attack. But suddenly she had to look after four small children on her own.

"I had to keep moving from house to house," she says. "I couldn't stay here because of the living cost. According to Sharia law, I was meant to stay in my house for four months and 10 days after my husband died, but I couldn't."

Mahmoud heard about an organization in Baghdad which helps widows find new husbands. She's been coming here for almost two years, though she still hasn't met the right man.

"There was one guy. I quite liked him," she says, "and he quite liked me. But then something happened. It didn't work out. But I'll try again," she says.

So far, the Al Ethar NGO (ph) has found husbands for 28 widows.

MAGNAY (on camera): It's a big deal for these women to have come here today to actively go on the search for a new husband is not normal in Iraqi society. But with the violence of the last few years and so many men killed, these women just don't feel like they have any other option. MAGNAY (voice-over): Huda Abbas met her new husband through Al Ethar. She's here to tell her story and reassure others about the program.

"For the sake of my children, I challenged tradition, although I was strongly criticized by society," she says. "Yes, my husband died. His message is life is finished. But I have another message to continue, and that is my children. I need to support them and help raise them."

There are more than 2 million widows in Iraq. Mohammed Abbas, who runs the match-making program, says society needs to change to help these women begin new lives.

"I believe that in the near future," Abbas says, "society will be able to overcome these obstacles of tradition because they're outdated and they're even contrary to Islamic law."

Jamila hasn't found a husband yet. She's still hopeful.

MAGNAY (on camera): Who is the perfect man for you? What are you looking for?

MAGNAY (voice-over): "He needs to be honest in his feelings and love is important between the widow and the new husband," she says. "Because if the husband loves the widow, then he will love my children."

And that's what she and so many of Iraq's widows want more than anything, a father for their children.

Diana Magnay, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)