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More Witness Accounts on Christmas Day Terror Attempt; Credit Union Advantages; Violence Along the Border

Aired December 29, 2009 - 09:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And bloodshed along the U.S.-Mexico boarder. The drug wars get more dangerous for American law enforcement and it could get much worse.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. It's December 29th. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM."

All of our CNN crews are very busy this morning breaking down the botched terror attack. Want to let you know Mohammed Jamjoom is looking at the deepening concerns over Yemen now. Sort of a renewed stronghold for jihadists and terrorists.

Also CNN's Sandra Endo, as you see here, is going to walk us through those new airline security measures and the new questions that are facing passengers. A lot going on in that regard.

And also Jill Dougherty this morning talking about how the terror suspect raised so many concerns in both the United States and overseas, but still had a valid visa at the time of the attack.

Here is the latest now on the terror attack. CNN has obtained an FBI bulletin that show how especially rigged underwear concealed the explosives. You could see burn marks from the attempt to detonate the package.

And here's the mugshot now of suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. The 23-year-old Nigerian citizen has been charged with trying to blow up the Christmas day flight. Three hundred people were aboard that flight.

And an al Qaeda group is in Yemen is now claiming to have planned the bombing. Federal investigators have not confirmed that claim, though. CNN has learned that two of the al Qaeda members were once detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

Once again our focus this morning on Yemen. A safe haven for al Qaeda and a recent home for the terror suspects.

CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom is in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

Mohammed, we know the suspect had actually visited Yemen, right?

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Heidi. We have from the Yemen government, that the suspect visited Yemen at least twice, once between August and December in 2009. I was also told by Mohammed Albasha, the spokesman for the Yemen embassy in D.C., that he had visited once before, sometime in either 2004 and 2005. Heidi?

COLLINS: There are a lot of reasons why Yemen worries the United States right now. And we talked a little bit yesterday, Mohammed, about that this was sort of where al Qaeda began but then moved off to places like Afghanistan.

JAMJOOM: That's right, Heidi. Yemen right now is acting as a hub for militants, not just al Qaeda, other militants. You're also seeing people from Afghanistan and Pakistan go into Yemen.

Yemen is a very poor country in a very rich neighborhood in the Middle East. It's a very easy country to get into and get out of. It's a very easy country to smuggle weapons into and out of.

And it's not just al Qaeda that's a problem in Yemen right now. There is a resurging al Qaeda. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, it's based there. That you're seeing the Yemen government try to combat right now. But the Yemen government is also dealing with a separatist movement in the country's south.

This is a big problem because they're trying to break away from the unified government. Beyond that, you're also seeing in the northern part of Yemen, on the border with Saudi Arabia, rebellion by Hawthis Shiite rebels against the government.

The government has been combating them for -- since August this past year. It's a big, big problem. The violence is spilling over into Saudi Arabia, and that's concerning the U.S. because they don't want violence spilling over into the biggest oil exporter in the world and a key strategic ally in the Middle East for the U.S. Heidi?

COLLINS: Yes, and a key commodity there that you mentioned, oil, obviously. All right, Mohammed Jamjoom, sure do appreciate it from Dubai this morning.

For years, Yemen has been a magnet for terrorists and those harboring a deep hatred for the United States. In September of 2008, militants dressed as soldiers detonated two car bombs outside the U.S. embassy in the capital. Remarkably, no Americans or embassy employees were among the 10 people killed.

Earlier in March of last year, mortar rounds were fired at the U.S. embassy, but struck a nearby school for girls instead. And the deadliest attack against Americans came in 2000. Suicide bombers detonated a raft next to the USS Coal. Seventeen U.S. sailors were killed.

President Obama says there is no safe haven for terrorists who target Americans. He interrupted his holiday vacation in Hawaii to condemn the failed attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We do not yet have all the answers about this latest attempt, but those who would slaughter innocent men, women and children must know that the United States will do more than simply strengthen our defenses.

We will continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, to dismantle and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us, whether they are from Afghanistan or Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia, or anywhere, where they are plotting attacks against the U.S. homeland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: President Obama has also ordered a review of U.S. security policies in the wake of the alleged attack by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. Former Homeland Security secretary, Tom Ridge, agrees that something needs to be done. He talked with our Larry King about gaps in American security.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM RIDGE, FORMER SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: The old Cold War mentality was "need to know." The new war, the new paradigm, the new enemy requires a need to share. And when the president said today he wants to scrub the watch list and see -- see what the gaps were, understand precisely why the total picture was not available to the terrorists at the screening center so that this person could not have boarded that plane.

Why the State Department didn't revoke his visa immediately is beyond belief, in my judgment either. But in the heart of this, it's a clash of cultures. It's an institutional challenge. DHS can only act on information it gets and I'm not sure they had all the information at its disposal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Ridge went on to say he does not think the suspect deserves any of the constitutional protections afforded to American citizens.

The Christmas day attempted attack has security experts rethinking the way we fly now, which means more rules and restrictions for travelers. But will those new rules last like taking off our shoes at the airport?

CNN's Sandra Endo has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bags checked and rechecked. Tighter security for international travelers headed to the United States.

RATI LAVANIG, AIRLINE PASSENGER: We were landing in the U.S. they said for an hour we could not have anything on our laps.

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

LAVANIG: It was a little difficult because right at the end, he wanted the milk, and I could not give it to him.

ENDO (voice-over): The Transportation Security Administration beefed up measures Saturday after the Christmas day incident in Detroit. But just two days later, CNN has learned the TSA is rolling back the restrictions, allowing flight crews to decide whether to impose what's called a one-hour rule on international flights.

That rule required passengers to remain seated for the last hour of their flight with no access to carry-on bags, removing everything from their laps. Flight attendants would have to escort people to the bathroom, and the in-flight entertainment system which shows the flight map of the plane would be disabled.

The TSA would not address why the rules were relaxed, saying only that the agency is constantly reviewing and revamping security measures. A former TSA official says the new guidelines make sense.

TOM BLANK, FORMER TSA OFFICIAL: I think the TSA is simply acknowledging that the people that are best suited to make those decisions are the flight crew operating under the pilot in command.

ENDO: The tougher rules come at a time when the airline industry is struggling, first from the sagging economy, severe winter weather this holiday season, and now an attempted terrorists attack. The tighter security measures for international travelers could put another squeeze on air travel.

SHANE DOWNEY, NATIONAL BUSINESS TRAVEL ASSOCIATION: The economy is dependent on travel and if we can keep people up and traveling and getting where they need to get to, that benefits everybody.

ENDO: Some international travelers say their choices are either to fly or stay close to home.

LAUREN WALTERS, AIRLINE PASSENGER: You have to fly if you wanted to get somewhere. Everywhere else takes too long.

BARRY LINEBACK, AIRLINE PASSENGER: I think everybody is pretty safe and secure with those kinds of things going on. There was no grumbling. I didn't see anybody grumble about it. Everybody cooperated.

ENDO: A much-needed attitude since travelers are facing longer security lines at airports.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And Sandra Endo is joining us now live from Washington's Dulles International Airport with more on this.

Sandra, good morning to you. A lot of questions about these new flight restrictions and whether or not they're going to apply not only for flights leaving the United States but also those flights coming in from other locations overseas.

Will that one-hour rule then once these planes come into American airspace, is that when it will be enacted?

ENDO: Well, Heidi, it's very interesting to hear from international travelers today and yesterday when these rules became discretionary. It's really up to the flight crew to determine if they want to impose that one-hour rule. And we talked to international travelers coming in from Thailand, South Korea and Vietnam who said that that one-hour rule was, in fact, imposed on their flight.

But today we talked to travelers coming in from Dubai who said it was easy. Their flight was a breeze. There were no added security measures. So certainly it's going to be a case by case basis now given that these rules are now discretionary.

COLLINS: Yes. Because I don't know that we understood that very well yesterday that it will be up to the flight crew to decide. All right, Sandra Endo, sure do appreciate that in a windy Washington Dulles Airport. Thank you, Sandra.

It's been an up and down year, and an up and down decade certainly. But if you would have invested in these things at the start of the decade, you would have tripled your money by now. We'll tell you what they are.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. You saw that wind in D.C. It's all over the place across the northeast. Find out how it's impacting your travel and snow in Texas. That's all coming up with your forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Hot stocks come and go, as you know, but there are some investments that never seem to go out of style, especially this decade. Stephanie Elam is joining us now live from New York.

This is a heck of a tease, Stephanie. Not a good decade for stocks, as we know, but a stellar for oil and gold that still seems to be going.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and in fact, if you take a look at stocks, it's the worse decade on record since the numbers have been tracked in this matter.

COLLINS: I know.

ELAM: So the least we can say about 2000 and -- or I should say the 2000 decade coming to an end is the fact that stocks really got slapped around. But, on the flip side, if you take a look at gold and oil prices, they were on a tear.

Let's go ahead and start off by taking a look at gold. For this year alone, it's up 25 percent. But take a look at it over the decade there, Heidi, of almost 300 percent over that period. Really rebounding since the cyclical low that was pegged in 1999 there. So making a difference there.

Now moving from gold to oil, you can see for this year, oil is up 77 percent, and for the year -- I mean, I'm sorry, for the decade, 208 percent of gain there. So obviously, if you had invested, it would be a very nice ending to the decade for you -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. And if you had told me, too, about it's a little bit stronger, I would have done it. What affects these prices exactly?

ELAM: There's a lot of things that go and affect these things. You've got geopolitical tensions. That there's more demand in one part of the world, that could also factor into it. We've seen over this decade that demand for things such as oil just ramped up in countries like India and China, let alone our own demand here in the United States.

COLLINS: Yes.

ELAM: All of that factors in. Temperatures can affect oil. You know, when it gets colder here, if it gets really, really cold like it's been doing for so much of the country, that can also affect oil prices. The strength of the dollar, this cause -- oil is tracked in U.S. dollar. That can also affect it as well.

So all of these things factor into the movements of oil. And you also see the changes in gold because stocks did get beaten up so much over the past decade, people wanted to go someplace that was safe and because of that you saw it move into something tangible that they know has value and that helped lift gold in ways that we just have never seen.

We've never seen commodities rise like this with over 100 percent gains ever. This is the first decade that we've seen this kind of move for commodities. So it just goes to show you that a lot of people are looking for other safe places to be, looking for safe places to go, and gold is definitely one of those places.

For the people who did invest, it's a very happy ending to the year.

COLLINS: Yes, it sure. All right, Stephanie Elam, thank you.

ELAM: Sure.

COLLINS: Taking a break from all your worries, financial and otherwise, the New York's Times Square was the place to unburden or self yesterday, during the Third Annual Good Riddance Day. It's a way to toss your troubles aside by writing them down on paper and throwing them on a giant shredder. Also popular, credit card bills and pictures of exes.

I don't know.

Jacqui Jeras joining us now. Do you think that really works? I don't know. JERAS: I have heard of that before.

COLLINS: Me either.

JERAS: I've heard of, you know, like burning old boyfriend pictures and things like that. But...

COLLINS: Really? Do you have something else to tell us?

JERAS: I have never done it.

(LAUGHTER)

JERAS: They're all good. No, I'm kidding.

COLLINS: Hey, speaking of old boyfriends, I mean, it is cold, cold out there. Right?

JERAS: And that has what to do with old boyfriends?

COLLINS: Yes. I don't know.

JERAS: I don't know. Keeps you warm.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Not good.

JERAS: No.

COLLINS: All right. Well, we'll come back to that. As we get closer, maybe things will change. I don't know.

JERAS: No.

COLLINS: Jacqui, thank you.

JERAS: I'm going to hold my breath.

COLLINS: The U.S. condemning the crackdown in Iran. But a top Iranian politician says his government should be even harsher. He's calling for no mercy for opposition protesters.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Time now to check some of the top stories that we're watching this morning.

Democrats are indicating they may be close to dropping the public option from the compromised health care bill in Congress. A House and Senate conference committee is expected to start work on the bill in the New Year.

The House bill passed in November and includes the public option for health insurance coverage, but as you know it is not in the Senate version that passed last week. China executed a convicted British drug smuggler this morning despite pleas from Britain's government to grant clemency. Akmal Shaikh was caught with around nine pounds of heroin in 2007.

Supporters say he was mentally ill and was tricked into carrying the drugs. A British legal group said Shaikh is the first European executed in China in 50 years.

Washington State Police officer Kent Mundell has died. He and his partner were both shot last week while responding to a domestic disturbance call. His partner is recovering. The shooter was killed in the exchange. Mundell is the sixth Seattle area officer killed in the line of duty in the past two months. Four officers were killed in an ambush at a coffee shop back in November.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: No mercy for the protesters. That's the call from the speaker of the Iranian parliament. He says people who took part in Sunday's deadly anti-government demonstrations should face harsh punishment.

Hundreds were arrested and U.S. condemned the crackdown. Reports say at least eight protesters were killed but Iran's government denies that anybody died. The demonstrations came on the Muslim holy day of Ashura. It also marked the seventh day after the death of an influential opposition leader, the Grand Ayatollah Montazeri.

In Pakistan, experiencing problems of its own on the Muslim holy day. Forty people are now dead in a suicide blast in Karachi yesterday.

Our Arwa Damon is following this for us from Islamabad this morning.

Arwa, good morning to you.

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. And as you did mention there the death toll from the suicide bomber in Karachi going up to at least 40 people now killed.

What happened was that the suicide bomber hid himself amongst the crowds of Pakistani Shias who were making their way in a procession to commemorate the death of the seventh century imam, Imam Hussein.

The explosion happened at a refreshment stand. There are many of these refreshment stands dotting these types of processions so that those who are partaking in them can just stop and take a break.

Devastating for this country. And what happened in the aftermath was even more devastating, perhaps, and much more of an indication of exactly where the Pakistani mindset is. What we saw happened was that many of the people who were there turned their anger on the Pakistani security forces. They were hurling stones at them. They were torching cars, enraged that the state was unable to protect them. And then today we saw small protests in Islamabad, also against the government, also wanting to call for greater security, greater protection -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Arwa, the significance of this particular attack is what?

DAMON: Well, there is a number of things to talk about when it comes to this particular attack. First and foremost, of course, the fact that it happened during Ashura, during such a holy time for pilgrims around the world.

There are concerns that this could re-spark sectarian violence, for example. And also the fact that it happened in the city of Karachi. It's Pakistan's largest city, it's his financial capital, but perhaps even more importantly, it has largely been spared the violence that has recently plagued much of the rest of the country.

People thought it was safe. And we've been talking to a number of individuals about this and they just keep expressing how shocked they are that this attack happened and even more so because it's the third such attack in as many days.

COLLINS: Yes.

DAMON: And people want to know exactly how such a breach of security happened and what is the government going to do to keep it from happening in the future.

COLLINS: Yes, all very good questions. So, Arwa Damon this morning from Islamabad. Thanks, Arwa.

You might have to get used to machines like this at the airport after the botched attack on a Northwest Airlines plane. Just how much of yourself is actually exposed in these body scans?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.

COLLINS: Stocks on Wall Street have managed to close higher for six days in a row. Will today's session mark lucky number seven?

Alison Kosik at our New York bureau right now with a preview of the day's market action.

So what do you think? Hi there, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is the question, Heidi. All three major averages, though, begin the day at their highest levels of the year and we're even expecting more gains this morning.

The spotlight today can be shining on some fresh economic data, specifically from the housing front.

At the top of the hour, we learned home prices in 20 metropolitan cities fell in October compared to a year earlier. The S&P/Case- Shiller price index declined by 7.3 percent. Prices in all 20 cities fell for the 19th month in a row.

Another report that we got -- that we're going to be getting at the top of the hour is expected to show an increase in consumer confidence this month.

And we've got some good news for workers who've had their hours cut or have been laid off. A new forecast from CareerBuilders says 20 percent of employers plan to increase their number of full time company employees next year. That's up from 14 percent this year.

***0930

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The iPhone is back on sale to big apple residents after a mystery over the weekend in which New Yorkers who tried to order an iPhone on AT&T's website were left out in the cold. Still though, we don't have any clear indication of what exactly prompted the company to temporarily stop selling it.

And if you're looking for a car, it may be a good time to go car shopping. GM is offering its dealers big incentives to move thousands of discontinued Saturn and Pontiac vehicles off their lots. The move could cut the cost to car buyers by as much as 46 percent off the sticker price. The year-end fire sale is under way until January 4th.

On Wall Street right now, we are seeing some modest gains in the first few moments of trading. The Dow industrials up 13. The NASDAQ, better by two. We'll come back to you next hour with that consumer confidence report. Heidi.

COLLINS: Sounds good. Alison, thank you.

Terror aboard flight 253. Passengers are still coming forward with their accounts of the chaos and courage aboard the Christmas day flight. With no air marshal on board, passengers quickly subdued 23- year-old Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab. The Nigerian man is charged with trying to detonate the explosives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOICE OF KURT HASKELL, PASSENGER ON NWA FLIGHT 253: When this was going on, I was more focused on the fire. She witnessed more of the altercation between the terrorist and the passengers.

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: And Lori, he seemed to be subdued pretty quickly.

VOICE OF LORI HASKELL, PASSENGER ON NWA FLIGHT 253: Yeah, everything happened it seemed like in less than a minute. We saw smoke. we then saw flames going up the side of the plane near the seat where he was sitting. At that point, two people, one from behind him and one from the side of him tackled him to the ground. And that's pretty much the last time that we saw him. We were pretty freaked out by the fire. So we weren't paying attention to that. We were paying attention to the fire going up the side of the plane. (END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: CNN sources say if the explosives had detonated, they could have ripped a large hole in the plane and brought it down. Three hundred people were aboard that flight.

U.S. authorities were warned about Abdul Mutallab several weeks ago, by his father no less. He was even on the government's terror database. So how did he get on that flight? CNN's Jill Dougherty is in Washington this morning. Good morning to you Jill. So first off, what did the suspect's father tell authorities exactly?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The suspect's father is in Nigeria. He goes to the embassy in Abuja (ph), the U.S. embassy and he says I'm worried about my son. My son I think is under the influence of religious extremists. I think that he is in Yemen. He went there from London. Can you help me?

So at that point Heidi, the U.S. Embassy puts together what they call a visas viper cable. They've been doing this since 9/11. The send that cable back and they give the information that the father gave to them. It goes to the State Department and it goes to the national counterterrorism center. And then that national counter terrorism center, which is really an inter agency review, decides well, there's still not enough information to revoke his U.S. visa.

COLLINS: A lot of questions. What do they do with that information then?

DOUGHERTY: Well they look at the information and I think what you're seeing here is that the State Department apparently did what it was supposed to do, but only what it was supposed to do. It didn't go further. It didn't say does this rise to the occasion to really make the State Department's voice known and perhaps say we should look at it more seriously.

There are just a lot of questions. It would appear that the system worked to a certain extent, but it did not go far enough to put all of that information together. One of the crucial pieces, Heidi, was did he have a visa and he did. He had a two-year tourists visa, multiple entry and that, anyone could have had information, anybody working in the government, especially in the security agencies could have found that out pretty quickly.

COLLINS: But then the British refused to reissue him a visa.

DOUGHERTY: They did. He did. He also had a visa to study in the UK. He did study there. He reapplied. That visa ran out. He reapplied for another visa and they found that he had given some incorrect information on his visa application, maybe misleading information, so they decided that they would not reissue the visa. He went on a watch list and he could not enter the UK. So the question for the United States is, if the UK and the U.S. share all of the security information, did they share the information that he had been refused a visa? That's the question we still don't have the answer to. But it's a critical one, because it could have raised that level of concern even higher.

COLLINS: Yeah, absolutely. All right, Jill Dougherty (INAUDIBLE) as our foreign affairs correspondent. Thanks so much, Jill.

Explosives sewn into his underwear. Here's a picture of that underwear. A source with knowledge of the FBI's investigation tells CNN the suspect in the attempted Christmas day attack had a substance called PETN in his pants. Here is what that substance can do. This explosion was caused by just six grams of PETN. Remember, just six grams there. CNN international correspondent has more on that explosives investigation. Here now is Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sources familiar with the investigation tell CNN the working assumption is that the alleged bomber, Abdul Mutallab, may have had some 80 grams of PETN.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That would probably be if it were dry closer to 80 grams.

ROBERTSON: Is that enough to blow a hole in an aircraft?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainly it's enough to blow a hole.

ROBERTSON: From what we understand, he was wearing these explosives in the sort of groin area. Can you imagine that you could in some way fit these into -- sew them into a set of underpants?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainly you can. Yes, I have done it. No problem at all.

ROBERTSON: It looks just like sugar, just like salt and it's easy to imagine how this could be stitched into clothing and hidden around the body and that's what makes PETN such a challenge for airport security officials to detect.

(INAUDIBLE) believes the only reason lives were spared this time is because the alleged bomber's lack of training meant he couldn't detonate the bomb. That means he probably didn't make it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Metal detectors and shoe X-rays wouldn't have caught the flight 253 device which means you might see more of this before you can get on a plane, full body scans. A type of X-ray technology that could spot hidden objects. The current type shows outlines of your body, not the actual details. So you don't have to worry about anyone seeing you naked. Nineteen airports have them in the U.S. and more of them are on the way. Some flyers don't mind, but for others it's still too invasive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How would you like this if they scanned you and that's what showed up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I wouldn't. I don't want to be scanned.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not? Is that just too much there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why do I have to be scanned like that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As far as I am concerned, better screening, yes, I am all for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: So that brings us to today's blog question. How do you feel about those body scans? Do you feel like it's life-saving technology or sort of a virtual strip search? Love to hear what you think. Just go ahead and go to our blog. You get a little bit more about the story and how it works, the body scans. We would love to hear your thoughts, cnn.com/heidi. Let us know what you think and then I will read some more of those comments coming up a little bit later on in the show.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: North Korea says it's holding an American for going into the country illegally on Christmas eve. It's believed to be 28- year old Robert Parks, a missionary from Arizona. Park is a Korean- American who told relatives he was in fact going to try to sneak into North Korea. His parents say he was ready to risk his life to spread his Christmas message.

Better check your medicine cabinet. Johnson & Johnson is now recalling all 100 count bottles of Tylenol arthritis pain caplets. They come with a red, easy open cap. Some people have complained a moldy smell from the bottles that's caused nausea and stomach pain. The company says the smell comes from a chemical on the wooden pallets used to move and store the bottles.

It's the first same-sex marriage in all of Latin America. A gay couple tied the knot in southern Argentina yesterday but they could face problems in other parts of the country where the issue is decided at state and local levels. They had to travel because a court in Buenos Aires stopped their wedding with an injunction earlier this month.

Ever dreamed of kissing your bank good bye? 2010 may be the time to do it. We'll tell you why in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Flooding fears in two countries to tell you about. In Argentina two people are dead and thousands have fled as rivers spill into the streets. It has been raining hard for the past couple of days in the province of Buenos Aires. And the rain still coming down in New South Whales in Australia. Despite all the water, officials say a lot more is needed to break the drought there. Jacqui Jeras standing by, wow, some pretty incredible pictures there Jacqui. (WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: We will be watching closely. Thank you, Jacqui.

The wife of actor Charlie Sheen claiming she feared for her life in a newly released 911 call. (INAUDIBLE) Sheen made the call last week in Aspen, Colorado. Police then arrested the actor on domestic violence charges. Sheen's wife says he threatened to kill her after she asked for a divorce.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

BROOKE MUELLER, WIFE OF CHARLIE SHEEN: My husband had me -- with a knife and I'm scared for my life and he threatened me.

911 OPERATOR: Ok, are you guys separated right now?

MUELLER: Yes, right now we have people that are separating us but I have the report, or else...

911 OPERATOR: Are there other people there? Does he still have the knife?

MUELLER: Yes, he still does.

911 OPERATOR: And what's your husband's name?

MUELLER: It's Charlie Sheen.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

COLLINS: Sheen has denied the charges. He was released after posting an $8,500 bond.

Daytime TV fans will have to get your Tyra Banks fix somewhere else. She tells "People" magazine, she's ending her talk show. After 5 years, she's decided to focus on other projects. But you can still catch her in primetime's "America's Next Top Model", and "True Beauty", they're both returning.

Ladies, Peter Orszag's number's up. President Obama's budget director is officially engaged to a staffer at ABC News. They met at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in May. The White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel once credited Orszag for making nerdy sexy.

Violence is actually dropping on the U.S. side of the Mexican border while an out and out drug war goes on right across the way. How are authorities shielding Americans from it?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Fed up with your bank? A credit union may be just what you're looking for. Personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, is here with another financial resolution for 2010. Hey there, Gerri.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Good morning, Heidi. COLLINS: First up, tell us if you would, because maybe not everybody is very familiar with how credit unions actually work.

WILLIS: Well, they are an alternative to banks, right? Let's look at how they work. Credit unions, unlike banks are non profits. For you that translates into lower fees and better rates. That's because profits tend to go back to members in the form of lower rates and fees rather than going to stockholders. Credit unions also don't pay taxes so there is a lower cost of doing business.

Let's look at just what kinds of rates you can get from a credit union versus a bank. We got this info from Data Track, an independent research firm. And a savings account at a credit union will yield you about 0.41 percent, at a bank you are getting less, 0.3 percent on average.

On a one-year CD, a credit union will give you 1.45 percent, while a bank is at 1.15 percent. So fairly close, but again, the union is beating the bank rate. And finally mortgage rates are pretty much neck and neck with the bank interest rate just a bit lower than the credit union.

Keep in mind though this isn't a perfect world. Credit unions are just as vulnerable to a bad economy; so far this year, 23 have failed. And remember there can be membership fees that can run $5 to $25 a year -- Heidi.

COLLINS: So then overall are credit cards from credit unions actually a better deal for consumers?

WILLIS: Well check this out. This is from Pew Charitable Trust. Interest rates on credit union credit cards are 20 percent lower than bank cards. Over limit fees are $19 lower than banks; penalty APRs, 18 percent versus 29 percent at banks. And 25 percent of credit union cards charge a fee to transfer a balance. Banks 88 percent charge that fee.

But that's not to say a credit union is for everybody. Reward card holders may prefer the more generous rebates of major bank card issuers -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. Also some restrictions on who can join a credit union, right?

WILLIS: Right. Well, becoming a member is usually based on where you live, what you do for a living, what religious community you belong to. Credit unions also service the military, teachers, firefighters, policemen, people who work for specific companies.

To find out if you're eligible, go to creditunion.coop and make sure the credit union is insured by the National Credit Union Administration. That's the credit union equivalent of the FDIC. Your money is insured up to the same limits as with a traditional bank -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Got you. All right. Our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis. Thanks Gerri.

A lot of ground to cover this morning. Our CNN crews are in place to bring it all to you.

First off this our Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- hi Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Al Qaeda in Yemen, is this now the new war on terror? We'll have more at the top of the next hour.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Allan Chernoff at Detroit metropolitan airport; patient passengers, very long lines for security. I'll have details straight ahead in the newsroom.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A closely watched index of home prices fell by more than 7 percent from a year ago. That's good news for home buyers but bad news for the economy. Heidi I'm going to tell you which areas were hit the hardest in the next hour.

COLLINS: All right guys. Thanks so much.

And if you are on the hunt for a job, we may have a temporary solution. Later this morning, we've got some top execs ready to reveal some key ways to break into the job market.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: New York is hailing a big drop in the murder rate this year. Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the city has seen the fewest number of murders since they began keeping records in the '60s. There were 461 murders this year. That is an 11 percent drop.

Mayor Bloomberg credits the police department's emphasis on patrolling traditionally violent areas. The FBI says national violent crime trends also down with the murder rate dropping 10 percent.

Drug-related violence in Mexico, though, is on the rise. U.S. officials have worried about it spilling over the border but that really doesn't appear to be the case as our Bill Tucker explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: More than 15,000 people have been killed in Mexico since its president, Felipe Calderon engaged federal troops in the war against drug cartels three years ago; the violence shocking and graphic. Earlier this year it was the focus of hearings in Washington where lawmakers expressed concern about its impact on the United States.

REP. LORETTA SANCHEZ (D), CALIFORNIA: The United States and this Congress cannot ignore our role in assisting our neighbor and ally in this fight, and of course in preventing that violence from slipping into the United States.

TUCKER: But the latest FBI crime statistics show that violence for now, at least, is not slipping over but dropping in cities on the U.S. side of the border. The number of murders in Brownsville, Texas, Laredo, Texas, Tucson, Arizona, and San Diego, California are lower.

The (INAUDIBLE) Southwest Border Sheriffs Coalition credits the decline to several factors. Increased patrols by local law enforcement. Greater cooperation between local and state police and successful interaction with federal agencies like the U.S. border patrol.

But this sheriff from Texas warns.

SHERIFF SIGIFREDO GONZALEZ, JR., SOUTHWESTERN BORDER SHERIFF'S COALITION: We're seeing I think an increase in assaults against police officers on the border. They're starting to ram our vehicles. Our officers are getting shot at. That hasn't stopped. The violence is still there and the violence is going to continue.

TUCKER: And just this weekend a border patrol agent was shot and wounded while on patrol in Arizona. One long-time observer of politics in Mexico says he sees drug violence in Mexico intensifying and becoming more of a threat to the U.S.

GEORGE GRAYSON, AUTHOR, "MEXICO, NARCO VIOENCE AND A FAILED STATE": The Zetas are the ex-army special forces who have gone to the dark side and now have the meanest, leanest cartel in the country. So I wouldn't be surprised to see more blood-letting as Los Zetas try to take over the turf that was once occupied by the Beltran Leyva's.

TUCKER: Congress has agreed to help fund Mexico's war against the cartels; voting to commit $1.3 billion to the fight.

Bill Tucker, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The methods used to track illegal immigrants are getting more sophisticated, and now it seems the tricks they use to evade authorities are as well. The associated press says a group of visual artists at U.C. San Diego are developing a new GPS cell phone. It would help dehydrated migrants find water. Critics, not surprisingly, say the device is misguided at best.

Here are some of the other stories we're watching right now. A settlement in a toy safety case; the government accused the makers of Thomas and Friends Children's Toys of knowingly importing and selling toys from China with lead levels above the legal limit. The claims stem from a 2007 recall. The company has agreed to pay $1.25 million, but denies it intentionally broke the law.

Somali pirates have seized two ships in the Gulf of Aiden. One of them a British-flagged chemical tanker with more than 20 crew members on board. European naval forces say the ship is being taken closer to the Somali coast now. The other ship is a tanker flying a Panamanian flag.

Democrats are indicating they may be close to dropping the public option now from the health care bill in Congress. A House and Senate conference committee is expected to start work on the bill in the New Year. The House bill passed back in November includes the public option for health insurance coverage but it is not in the Senate version passed last week.

Terror aboard Northwest Flight 253; we have new details on the botched attack on Christmas Day. CNN has obtained an FBI bulletin that shows how specially rigged underwear concealed the explosives. You can see burn marks from the attempt to detonate the package.

And here's the mug shot now of suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian citizen has been charged with trying to blow up the Christmas Day flight. 300 people were aboard.

An al Qaeda group in Yemen is claiming to have planned the bombing. Federal investigators have not confirmed this claim. CNN has learned that two of the al Qaeda members were once detainees at Guantanamo Bay.