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New Details on Failed Northwest Flight 253Attack; Al Qaeda in Yemen; Airport Body Scans; Public Option on Edge

Aired December 29, 2009 - 10:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Four days after the failed attack, passengers are still coming forward with their account of the chaos and courage aboard that flight. With no air marshals on board, passengers quickly subdued 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. The Nigerian man is now 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 and she witnessed more of the altercation between the terrorist and the passengers.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And he seemed to be subdued pretty quickly?

VOICE OF LAURA HASKELL, PASSENGER ON NWA FLIGHT 253: Yes, he was -- 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 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 that if the explosives had detonated, they could have ripped a large hole in the plane and brought it down. As we've been saying, 300 people were aboard that flight.

U.S. authorities were warned about Abdulmutallab several weeks ago by his father, no less. So why did he still have a U.S. visa? CNN's Jill Dougherty is in Washington with more on this. So Jill, what do we know at this point?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, one of the big questions hanging over the State Department this morning is how the suspect got his U.S. visa and most importantly why it wasn't revoked after his father raised several red flags about his son.

Right now there's a lot of finger pointing and the secretary of state has ordered an immediate review of visa procedures. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOUGHERTY (voice-over): Why didn't alarm bells go off when the suspect's father, according to a new account by a senior U.S. official, warned the U.S. embassy in Nigeria his son was under the influence of religious extremists and was in Yemen. The U.S. official denies the father wander officials his son might be on a suicide mission.

There was no suggestion he was about to carry out a terrorist act, this official says. The family says "the father reported the matter to the Nigerian security agencies about two months ago, and to some foreign security agencies about a month and a half ago, then sought their assistance to find and return him home."

The State Department says the father went to the embassy November 19th. The next day the embassy sent what's called a visas viper cable to Washington detailing the father's concerns, but the State Department says the National Counter terrorism Center ruled that information was not sufficient to revoke the suspect's U.S. visa.

Could that information have choked off an alleged plot? A U.S. official tells CNN "we coded his visa file so that had he attempted to renew his visa months from now, it would have triggered an in-depth review of his application."

But -

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Why wasn't that visa revoked once he had been tagged in the system?

JANET NAPOLITANO, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I've asked the same question. And we all want to know the answer to that question. And, you know, that will be part of the process that we are undergoing at the president's direction over the next days and weeks.

DOUGHERTY: It's a stark contrast to the British.

ALAN JOHNSON, BRITISH HOME SECRETARY: He was here on a legitimate student visa, studied on a degree course at UCL, hasn't been in this country for 14 months. Applied to come back on a student visa in May, was refused, which meant he automatically went onto our watch list and can't enter this country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOUGHERY: And just a few minutes ago I was speaking with a senior U.S. official and he does say that the system needs to be refined. It needs to be corrected and that the system that exists right needs protocols, not just on the system of reporting but on the action that should be taken. He said that that reporting back to the NCTC is still a very passive system. They need something that's more active. Heidi.

COLLINS: It's incredible. So we understand now why the British didn't renew his visa, but the U.S. did. DOUGHERTY: Yes. And you have to ask why didn't they know what the other person was doing.

COLLINS: Yes.

DOUGHERTY: That's still not clear. That's one question I asked a few minutes ago. It's still not clear because the U.S. and the U.K. do share obviously a lot of intelligence information. But when it comes to a visa issue like this, which is kind of a consular issue but it's also a security issue. It apparently wasn't shared or at least it wasn't flagged to raise a level of concern.

COLLINS: Wow, all right. Well, we'll continue to watch your reporting. Jill Dougherty, thank you.

And former Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge said information gaps between government agencies is partly to blame. He talked about his concerns on CNN's "Larry King Live."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM RIDGE, FMR. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I'm concerned that over years that we've kind of lost our sense of urgency. That we're not paying attention to the minutia, the details that are absolutely critical in making an assessment as to whether somebody should be on a plane or not. It's not about profiling, it's about taking a look at very important critical pieces of information and making sure that they're shared with the decision-makers.

And I'm afraid some of the events over the past couple of months have suggested that that old paradigm, the need to know, has maybe been receded in some of these organizations. Because it doesn't appear to me that there's a willingness to share that kind of information that we need to make America as safe as we want it to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Larry King, as you know, welcomes news makers and celebrities to take your calls weeknights 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

As we mentioned a few minutes ago, Al Qaeda in Yemen has claimed responsibility for the failed Christmas day attack. Joining us with a closer look on that, CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. Barbara, good morning. What do we know exactly about the terrorist organization here?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, as you say Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula, the AQAP is now really front and center of U.S. government attention. This is Al Qaeda in Yemen. General David Petraeus had started warning earlier this year that it was this organization that people should really start getting worried about.

This is the new headquarters for Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula, if you will. They have been driven out of Saudi Arabia, next door to a large extent. Yemen is a country where the central government does not control the whole country, it's fairly weak and they have been able clearly to establish a safe haven there.

They have claimed responsibility for the attack on the Northwest flight. Whether that is true or not remains to be seen. You know there are two members of Al Qaeda in Yemen who are former detainees at Guantanamo bay, were released. They claim to be involved in Al Qaeda in Yemen. That likely is all very true.

But the real organization there, how organized, how well trained, how well financed and what they can really do is now a top level concern. If the Northwest flight suspect, the Nigerian man, is proven to be absolutely tied to them, this is a game changer because it proves Al Qaeda in Yemen can reach out and touch the United States, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, sure. So talk about then, Barbara, if you can, what we know about U.S. missions or strategies regarding Yemen.

STARR: Well, think of Yemen, Heidi, as a little bit like the U.S. military and intelligence community's efforts in Pakistan. It's not a country we're at war with, but we do as a country have stated enemies inside those borders, just like in Pakistan. So how do you go after Al Qaeda in a country you're not at war with.

The U.S. intelligence community, the U.S. military now very quietly but very substantially helping the Yemeni government, training, money, financing, weapons and sharing of critical intelligence about Al Qaeda targets inside Yemen.

COLLINS: All right. Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. Very interesting. Barbara, thank you.

How is the attempted attack affecting air travel? Well, we've already seen long delays for travelers. Of course, you may have expected that. But coming up at the bottom of the hour, we'll have more on the new rules and restrictions being put in place.

Texas and New Mexico could see snow. Jacqui Jeras is in the severe weather center now with more on that. Hey there, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey there, Heidi. Yes, for the second time in as many weeks we're going to be seeing some snow today in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. The latest on that storm and where it's headed, just a heads up, look at the northeast. We'll tell you about it coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Because of the incident aboard Northwest flight 253 you might have to go through this before you fly in the future, full body scan. A type of x-ray technology that spots hidden objects. The current type shows outlines of your body but not the details really. So you don't have to worry about anyone seeing you naked. 19 airports have them in the U.S. and more as you might imagine are on the way now.

So what is it, life-saving technology or virtual strip search? What do you think about these body scans? Do you feel comfortable going through them? Certainly in light of these latest stories? We would be very curious to know what you think. In fact, we've already gotten an unbelievable amount of response on this.

We're going to get ready and share some of those responses with you. A record number, in fact, today. Go to cnn.com/heidi and we will post those thoughts coming up in just a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Some winter weather advisories for parts of the country that really aren't that used to cold. Jacqui Jeras joining us now with more on that. What are we talking about here?

JERAS: Well, we're talking about Texas and you know, they had a white Christmas in Dallas last week, and now as this moisture moves in, interacts with some of this cold air, we're going to be looking at snow once again today. We're already getting it pretty heavy along the i-20 corridor and a little bit of a wintery mix. You can see a lot of that pink. It will likely start out as a mix and then change over to some of that snow.

We'll show you a live picture here out of DFW. This is from our affiliate WFAA TV. And we're looking at mostly cloudy skies right now. Temperature 35 degrees. And a little bit on the breezy side. And we'll watch for that snow to move in after the noon hour today. So it's just not all that far away overall.

We've got winter weather advisories which are in affect across much of Texas with winter storm warnings across western parts of the state, including El Paso. Snowfall totals here closer to three to five inches and then we'll look at half an inch to two inches for Dallas on up toward the Oklahoma City area.

And that's the storm we're going to be watching throughout the week as it makes its way across the southeast and eventually rides up the northeastern coast. But still a little bit of a question mark as to what it's all going to spell out. Keep it here and we'll keep you up to date.

In the meantime the northeast doesn't look too bad on the radar picture, does it? But we still have some of those lake-effect snow showers which are going to be continuing to come in off Erie and Ontario as well as Lake Michigan. But what you don't see are some of these strong winds across the area into the Boston area as well as down towards New York City and into Philadelphia.

Winds in the teens and 20s, but we're going to start to see some of those gusts as strong as maybe 30 to 50 miles per hour. So that causes some damage at the airports and we've got some delays. Already Newark, just about an hour and a half, La Guardia 10 minutes. When do you ever see 10-minute delays at La Guardia? Why even mention it almost, right now?

But I do mention it because I think that that will lengthen throughout the day and affect a whole lot of people. Those winds too, by the way, Heidi, bringing the wind-chill factor down to dangerous levels. Could get frostbite in a matter of minutes in parts of the northeast.

COLLINS: Oh, yuck. All right. Hey, we'll talk about that Vikings game a little bit later on.

JERAS: I'm still crying.

COLLINS: I'm still tired. All right, Jacqui, thank you.

In a few days we'll ring in the new year and with it hopes for a better economy. If you managed to hold on to your job, could you possibly expect a raise this coming year? That's a great question.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is joining us now with a closer look. Hi there, Stephanie.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. Yes. for a lot of people they're really happy to see 2009 come to an end. It's been a difficult year for a lot of folks out there. You take a look at the fact that 85 percent of companies went out and axed annual merit raises this year and obviously a lot of people would like to see that come back.

So what we do know is that 54 percent of companies plan to lift salary freezes in 2009 and 35 percent plan to restore their 401(k) matches with 70 percent of those companies taking those matches back to original levels.

Now, why the change here? Well, 40 percent of companies say they feel better about their financial situation for next year and they don't expect it to get worse so because of that they think they can be a little kinder to their employees, Heidi.

COLLINS: So who is in the best position then to get a raise?

ELAM: Well, there's a few positions that are definitely looking for a better position. Let's start off by taking a look at tax accountants. Tax accountants, good position, compliance directors, someone has got to make sure everyone is meeting those deadlines, making sure that all the information is up to par.

Information systems, security managers as well. Medical records clerks. There's just so much medical data out there and it all has to be transferred over correctly and it doesn't look like anyone is going to stop needing doctors in the new year. And also executive assistants looking like they're poised for a better position.

But you know, a few other things are interesting to note. 60 percent of senior managers did not get a raise or saw cuts during this year compared to 54 percent of employees. Also should mention that salaries, while they may improve they probably won't increase beyond three percent and that doesn't match where we were in precession levels before December of 2007, when the raise was about four percent.

So while things are moving in the right direction, they can still get a little bit better. But of course, Heidi, if anyone wants to find out more about this or even get an idea of salary ranges, they can always check out cnnmoney.com which has a really cool write about the 2010 jobs picture.

COLLINS: Yes. A lot of people, of course, wondering still about unemployment overall. So I'm sure they'll be checking it out.

ELAM: Indeed.

COLLINS: On our web site. Thank you, Stephanie.

ELAM: Sure.

COLLINS: Thousands of people have died from it, millions of people have caught it, millions more have been vaccinated against it. The H1N1 virus. How did it start? Meet the little boy many believe was the first patient.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Time to check some of the top stories we are watching for you this morning.

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

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 of people were arrested. The U.S. condemned the crackdown.

Reports say at least eight protesters were killed, but Iran's government denies that anyone 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 Mantozeri. For more on the unrest in Iran, be sure to check out our special section at cnn.com. There you can find video from inside Iran and see the international reaction to the government's crackdown.

If you take Tylenol arthritis caplets, take note of this. The manufacturer is expanding its recall of the product. This involves all 100 count arthritis pain caplet bottles with the red easy open caps. Johnson & Johnson has received reports of some sort of moldy smell, nausea and stomach pains. It is moving production to a new facility.

Because of the incident aboard Northwest flight 253, you might have to go through this before you fly in the future. Full body scans. It's a type of x-ray technology that can spot hidden objects. The current type shows outlines of your body, not the details. So you don't have to worry about anyone seeing you naked. 19 airports have them in the U.S. and more are on the way. So it got us thinking, of course, we wanted to know what you think of these body scans. Do you think that they could actually be life-saving devices or are they kind of like virtual body scans that make you feel very compromised? We are getting a whole lot of responses. In fact record numbers of responses today. So of course we wanted to share some of them with you.

This one from Don. If you don't want to get a body scan, then take the train. I want myself, my family and everyone on board to be safe from terrorists. From Wendell, I support a full body scan. It's just like going to the doctor and having him see your body. From Jason, I do not mind people looking at me with a virtual strip search, that's no problem. I am more concerned of any health risks from these scans. Do they emit radiation or anything harmful?

Then from Rick, although I am not against any improvements in safety, it takes too long now to get through an airport. Add the body scans and you better get to the airport about a half a day early.

Remember, we always love to hear from you. Again, getting an awful lot of responses on this body scan issue today. Just log on to cnn.com and share your thoughts with us there, we'll try to share more of them before (INAUDIBLE).

In April of this year a new and deadly flu strain began spreading. Now nearly every country has been affected by the H1N1 virus. In the United States alone, health officials estimate almost 10,000 people have died. Earlier this year our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta went to Mexico where it all began.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the number of cases of swine flu build around the world, everyone has been on the hunt for the source.

(on camera): We've long suspected that the origin of the swine flu may have been on a pig farm and now we're headed towards one about two hours north of Mexico City. We think we may find where this started. We may also find him, Edgar Hernandez. People believe he is patient zero, the first patient to contract the virus.

(voice-over): La Gloria, it's a village where everyone knows someone. I showed this motorcycle rider Edgar's picture. His name is Frederick and he offers to take me.

(on camera): Don't drop me. OK.

So after hours of searching and hours of driving, we're finally going to meet the little boy that everyone is calling patient zero.

(voice-over): There he is, Edgar Hernandez. A little five-year- old boy who got so sick.

(on camera): Did you have a headache?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He had a headache and throat.

GUPTA (voice-over): He was brought to this clinic where he was diagnosed as possibly the first case of swine flu of this outbreak. So where did it come from? Edgar's mom thinks she knows.

(on camera): A lot of people are saying that the swine flu came from some of the pig farms. Do you believe that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's what she hears.

GUPTA: It's no question we stumbled onto a controversy here. The citizens of La Gloria really believe that the pig farms in the nearby areas got so many of their citizens sick. So we decided to pay those pig farms a visit.

(voice-over): The industrial pig farm is huge and owned by American company, Smithfield Foods. People in town say they believe this is the source of the outbreak.

(on camera): We finally made our way to the hog farm but the Mexican Department of Agriculture and the company itself said they have been testing and the tests come back negative. They simply won't let us through security and won't show us the pigs.

(voice-over): This medical mystery only now half solved. We know who may have first contracted swine flu, we just don't know where he got it.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, La Gloria, Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Of course, the CDC has since determined this new strain of H1N1 does not come from pigs. You can read more on how Dr. Gupta and his team found the little boy in Mexico on our blog. Just go to cnn.com/newsroom.

What to expect when you fly. The Christmas day attempted terror attack may slow you down. Screeners are taking extra time to make sure you're safe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Four days after the failed bombing of Northwest flight 253, we have new details to pass along. This is a specially rigged underwear that had explosives sewn into the lining. The images comes from an FBI bulletin obtained by CNN.

If you look closely, you can see the burn marks from the attempt to detonate the package. And here is the mug shot of suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. The 23-year-old Nigerian citizen has been charged with trying to blow up the aircraft on Christmas day. 300 people were aboard the Detroit-bound flight.

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

The event on flight 253 took the country by surprise, but just imagine what the people on board were thinking. Patience Harris said she was sitting next to the suspect. She's still coming to grips with what could have happened that day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATIENCE HARRIS, PASSENGER OF NWA FLIGHT 253: He was sitting next to me. You know, he had the white shirt on. He was just -- he didn't have any eye contact. He was just sitting there. So I was really -- I'm glad I'm still here with the baby, really. I still can't believe it. It's just unbelievable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Harris has four little boys, one of them was on the plane with her.

Two agencies key to our security have no permanent leader right now. The Transportation Security Administration and the Customs and Border Protection Agency. President Obama's choice to run the TSA is being held up by South Carolina Republican Senator Jim DeMint. He's afraid the president's nominee will allow workers to join a union. Expect to see the acting head of the TSA front and center when Congress holds hearings on the Christmas Day attack.

So what's it like at the nation's airports right now? We can tell you that getting through security may certainly take a little longer. CNN special correspondent Allan Chernoff is joining us live from Detroit's Metropolitan Airport.

Allan, good morning to you. What are you seeing there?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, I was just looking right now down onto the tarmac. There's a bomb-sniffing dog checking out a few vehicles right here and you see behind us are the aircraft. So security -- definitely tougher here -- in place. And you know what that means for passengers, long lines. Nonetheless they are being patient, understanding, recognizing that these are steps that have to be taken to ensure their safety.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF (voice-over): The lines are long, the security measures at a minimum an inconvenience, and the time loss substantial and seemingly as long as ever following the Christmas Day bombing attempt.

(on camera): You got here three hours before your flight.

ANGELA SZCZESNY, AIR TRAVELER: Yes.

BARRY SZCZESNY, AIR TRAVELER: Yes.

CHERNOFF: And its domestic?

A. SZCZESNY: Yes. Yes.

CHERNOFF: Normally would you get here three hours before a flight?

A. SZCZESNY: No.

B. SZCZESNY: No.

CHERNOFF (voice-over): But in the aftermath of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's apparent attempt to destroy a Northwest Airlines plane, it seems no inconvenience is too great for the safety of the skies.

A. SZCZESNY: I'd rather be safe than, you know, than, you know, them take the extra precautions.

DONALD COHEN, AIR TRAVELER: It's what it has to be, and it's unfortunate that we have to go to these measures, but I guess it's understandable.

CHERNOFF: As if body and luggage scans, shoe removal and liquid disposal weren't enough, now passengers on some international flights must abide by strict flight rules. These passengers who arrived in Detroit from Amsterdam had to remain seated for an hour before landing with nothing on their laps.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just like a small house arrest on the last leg of the flight. It was pretty good. It felt really secure.

TERRY DAVIS, AIR TRAVELER: Unfortunately, this is in the day and age where we have to do these extreme things.

CHERNOFF: Extreme as in serving as the last line of defense if all security measures fail. Just as Jasper Schuringa sprang into action to grab Abdulmutallab on Flight 253, others say they're prepared to do the same.

JASON LEVIN-KOOPMAS, AIR TRAVELER: We all hope so that everyone wants to be that sort of hero.

CHERNOFF: But will the thoughts of heroism and tolerance for inconvenient security last? Psychologist Jeff Gardere says they won't if there are no further incidences in the coming months. Memories are short.

JEFF GARDERE, PSYCHOLOGIST: I think as time goes on, they'll start being a little less agreeable, a little bit more irritable especially if they feel that the rules are being delivered in a way that is draconian.

CHERNOFF: But what Americans remember right now is the fact that someone came close to blowing up a plane on its way to Detroit.

B. SZCZESNY: Just press on, you know. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and everybody stay vigilant.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF: After 9/11, the country had a wartime mentality. Incidents like Friday's near miss, that attempted bombing, certainly bring back that vigilance -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, Allan, you mentioned in your piece some of the changes for international flights, if you can share a couple more of those cause people are wondering what they're going to see if they're traveling.

CHERNOFF: That's right. Those passengers we interviewed had actually come in on that very same flight, 253. And on that particular flight, and it is -- we should mention -- it is up to the crew, but on international flights coming into the U.S. now, an hour before arrival in the U.S., the crew can require passengers to remain in their seats. If they want to go to the bathroom, they'll need an escort. Nothing on their laps and also their entertainment systems, that as you know also have those maps that show how close you are to your destination, those can be disabled as well -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Allan Chernoff, we sure do appreciate that from Detroit this morning.

The housing market has been lurching through a slow recovery over the past year, but the news this morning not so good. Alison Kosik is in New York with more on this.

Alison, another drop in prices from just a year ago.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, but there are two ways you could look at this, Heidi. It's good news if you're buying a home, but it's bad news for the overall economy. The S&P Case-Shiller Index of home prices fell by more than 7 percent in October from the same time a year ago and that's a bigger drop than analysts had expected and the 19th monthly drop in a row.

As for the hardest-hit areas, no surprise, prices in Las Vegas, they're down for 38 straight months. Prices there have lost more than a quarter of their value over the year. It's really the only metro area that hasn't seen any glimmers of hope whatsoever. Phoenix and Tampa also struggled -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, and it's hard to track just how solid the recovery is, if we even want to call it a recovery, because of all the conflicting number that say we keep on getting.

KOSIK: Yes, you're absolutely right. That's really been the pattern over the past months, especially in housing with an encouraging report followed by a negative one. Just last week we learned existing home sales surged almost 10 percent in November, but a few days later new home sales fell to a seven-month low.

An S&P economist is concerned that today's numbers may spark worries that home prices are about to take a second dip. We are watching home builder shares trade lower right now across the board on that news, but the broader market averages, they're mostly higher. Take a look, the Dow Industrials up 26 points, the Nasdaq up a about fraction.

At the top of the hour, Heidi, we did get a reading on consumer confidence showing that it increased in December from November and the outlook for the next six months improved to its highest level in two years. Maybe that confidence will get people to spend more which could only help the economy -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, sure. All right, Alison, thank you.

And good news at last on the jobs front. Find out why temp work may actually be the way to go.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

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 in late November.

It is 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.

China executed a convicted British drug smuggler this morning despite pleas from Britain's government to grant clemency. Akmal Shaikah 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 says Shaikah is the first European executed in China in 50 years.

The unemployment rate sky high, but one area showing promise is temporary workers. "The New York Times" reports that temp hiring has risen each of the last four months. For today's "Snapshot Across America" we brought in executives from are four temp agencies. Joanie Ruge is a senior vice president at Adecco Group North American, she is joining us now from New York; and Robert Dickey, president of Sapphire Technologies which is a subsidiary of Randstad, he's in Boston for us; a company is in Boston; Carl Camden is president and CEO of Kelly Services is joining us from Detroit; and Bonnie Peracca, owner of Rush Personnel Services, she's in Chico, California, and coming to us via Skype.

Thanks so much for being with us, everybody, and coming off your holiday breaks, I understand at least for some of you. We do appreciate it.

Joanie, I want to start with you, if I could. Tell us a little bit about the demand for temp workers right now. Has it really increased or decreased since last year?

JOANIE RUGE, ADECCO GROUP NORTH AMERICA: Well, you know, the good news is there's a lot of positive signs, Heidi, about the temporary staffing worker. The November jobs report from the BLS data showed 52,000 jobs added in the sector, which is very exciting.

So, you know, this time of year we do see the holiday season, of course, the demand increases, but we're seeing an increase at Adecco in all skills, you know, all different sectors. There's certainly a demand for the temporary worker right now.

COLLINS: So who are you seeing come in into your -- I mean, has the profile, if you would, sort of changed at all for someone who's coming in and saying, hey, I'd like some temporary work.

RUGE: You know, I do think the profile is changing. We're seeing candidates that are looking for jobs.

You know, in the past maybe what many of your viewers might think of a temporary worker is the administrative assistant or more general labor. You know, today, it's really much more of the professional skills person as well. College educated, specialized training, accounting is in high demand right now, IT engineering. And there's a lot of project work for that specific skill set and there's opportunities out there. So we see candidates looking for opportunities and we also see our clients that we work with at Adecco are really looking for all levels, all different types of experience.

And I think clients today too, they're a little, you know, still cautious. I would say cautiously optimistic about hiring and hiring a temporary worker is a good way for them to bring on a new employee and get the work done, but they're still a little cautious about bringing people on permanently at this point.

COLLINS: Yes, understood completely.

And, Robert, you know with Randstad, the subsidiary that supplies a number of temporary workers in what Joanie was just mentioning, and that would be the IT industry. What are your thoughts on this? Has the demand changed much from a year ago?

ROBERT DICKEY, RANDSTAD: The demand has changed. If I could bring us back to Q1 of this year, we saw for the most part demand basically being for existing projects, developers, support and integrators. A leading indicator of the market is what's happening within employment demand.

And what we're seeing now is greater increase for higher level types of placement, project managers and business analysts, which usually bode well in terms of advances in the economy because initially what starts to happen is that's usually the onslaught of new project base work, that tell us, again, companies are back into spending mode.

COLLINS: Yes, I wonder, though, when you do that, do employers ever worry about some of these company secrets, if you will, when they have temporary workers coming in and working on some of these projects that you're talking about and then taking that information with them when they go? Do they have to think about that and be cautious?

DICKEY: No, not so much. I think to a degree, I think the type of work that a company has is a good selling tool, a good opportunity to attract good contractors and the types of contractors. Contractors today are very eager to add to their resume. They're looking for cutting-edge technology and the information that they can get from these contract positions bode well for companies that are tracking the best talent.

COLLINS: Carl, what about you? Has your company, Kelly Services, seen a change in demand for temporary workers?

CARL CAMDEN, KELLY SERVICES: There's been a very significant pickup over the last quarter. Much of it again, as your other guests have been talking about, in the professional and technical area, particularly for us in the scientific areas, PhDs, lab assistants and so on.

COLLINS: Really?

CAMDEN: Yes, but a more typical of an early phase of a recovery is you see temporary employees beginning to be demanded more in distribution centers, call centers, warehouses as inventory is being restored, light manufacturing, and we're seeing a significant pickup in that area also, which is indicative of an economy that's beginning to move into a solid recovery.

COLLINS: Yes, one of the interesting things, though, it seems like we are hearing a lot about competition in the job market. And when we talk to young kids who are coming out of college looking for work, their competition is -- oftentimes, it seems coming from people who have retired and have decided to come back into the job market.

What about those same people going for temporary work, are you seeing that?

CAMDEN: Very much so. Over the last decade, the average age of a temporary employee has been steadily increasing, but it's significantly moved up for us in the last year. What's taking place is that as people stock funds -- retirement funds have taken a beating in this recession -- there's been a desire of a large number of people who had taken themselves out of the workforce to come back in now to supplement their retirement income.

And for us, we've seen a real surge of very talented individuals over the age of 60 who are coming out of retirement and looking to work part year, part-time and happily right now there's a lot of demand for that.

COLLINS: Yes, that's really interesting to me.

Bonnie, what about you? Your company does a lot of work in the construction and agriculture sector. Are you seeing more temporary workers going to that sector right now? BONNIE PERACCA, RUSH PERSONNEL SERVICES: I certainly do, and the business is going up. Construction is -- we see the light at the end of the tunnel because we've had a lot of new constructions lately.

COLLINS: Yes, that's a good thing, certainly. I understand sometimes you have a little bit of trouble collecting from these people who are bringing in temporary workers, right? Getting the money back from your clients?

PERACCA: Yes, that's true. It is very true.

But as far as northern California, we're into the agriculture and we stay pretty stable with that. We're into rice mills and fruit mills and we just have a lot of the agriculture up here.

COLLINS: Yes, well, we sure do appreciate the conversation today and very much appreciate some of you coming in off of your holiday vacations to talk with us about it. We thought that it was pretty interesting to hear about temporary workers and the opportunities out there for everybody. So again, we appreciate it, Joanie Ruge from Adecco, Robert Dickey from Randstad, Carl Camden from Kelly Services and Bonnie Peracca from Rush Personnel, thanks again, you guys. Appreciate it.

A look at the colder temperatures across the nation now coming your way in just three minutes.

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COLLINS: Because of the incident aboard Northwest Flight 253 you might have to go through this before you fly in the future -- a full body scan, a type of x-ray technology that can spot hidden objects. The current type shows outlines of your body, not the details, so you don't have to worry about anybody seeing you naked. Nineteen airports have them in the U.S. and more are on the way.

Well, that brings us to today's blog question, which by the way, we got something like 325 responses on -- a new record here. We asked what you think of the full body scans.

From R.J., he says this, "If a full body scan will potentially save 300 lives and a valuable aircraft, I am ready for it. Anyone that finds that unacceptable is too self centered for their own good."

From are Claire, "I have a great body so I don't mind having it scanned. Seriously though, I totally support full body scans. We have to work together with the security services to rid our country of terrorism."

And from B.J., "No to body scans. Body scanning was not the problem with the underwear bomber. Poor reaction to his father's warning was." Remember, we do just want to hear from you any time we have a question about our stories that we are covering here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Just log on to CNN.com/Heidi and share your comments.

Thank you for them.

I'm Heidi Collins, CNN NEWSROOM continues with Tony Harris.