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Terror Aboard Flight 253; Retaliation for Attack; Training Bomb-Sniffing Dogs; Fighting Terrorism in Yemen; A Lot of Finger Pointing in Washington on the Failed Christmas Day Bombing; Abdulmutallab's Hometown in Nigeria Shocked by His Arrest; Finding a Financial Adviser; Top Stories of 2009

Aired December 30, 2009 - 09:00   ET

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

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And meanwhile, the news continues, here's "CNN NEWSROOM" with Heidi Collins.

Good morning, Heidi.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Thanks, guys. And good morning, everybody. Here's a look at what's happening in the CNN NEWSROOM today.

Terrorists, take cover. The U.S. is possibly considering missile strikes against Yemen. We'll tell you what Yemen has to say all about that.

And also, no rest for the weary because those tighter travel restrictions aren't going away today after all. If you or a loved one is getting ready to travel, we'll tell you what you can expect in the airports.

And also, a decade of change. Boy, that's for sure, isn't it? We'll look at the gizmos and gadgets that have become obsolete now since the start of the millennium. Before they fade away, we bid a fond farewell.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Today is Wednesday, December 30th and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Terror aboard Flight 253. We have new details on the failed bombing of an airliner on Christmas day. CNN has learned the U.S. is looking at potential targets now in Yemen for a retaliatory strike.

Authorities believe failed bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was trained by an al Qaeda group there and new details in the investigation CNN has learned the father of the bombing suspect also tried to warn the CIA about his son.

But a reliable source tells us the CIA never passed along that warning to other government agencies. President Obama wants answers by tomorrow. He's demanding a preliminary report on how the explosives were smuggled on to the airliner.

And the president is lashing out at the security system that failed to prevent the close call. Yesterday he issued his second statement in two days and made it clear unacceptable mistakes were made.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There were bits of information available within the intelligence community that could have, and should have, been pieced together. It now appears that weeks ago this information was passed to a component of our intelligence community, but was not effectively distributed. A systemic failure has occurred and I consider that totally unacceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Let's get the very latest now on the investigation and the search for answers from the intelligence community.

CNN Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve has been following this story very closely. She joins us now from Washington.

Jeanne, good morning to you. What is the latest that you're hearing now this morning?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, this morning Dutch officials announced that passengers headed to the U.S. from Amsterdam will be screened by body imaging machines. This is a change.

Body imaging machines were in place in Amsterdam but not being used. The thought is that they might have caught that explosive that was sewn into the underwear of the suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Now in addition, we are told by a source familiar with the family's discussions with the U.S. that the father of the suspect went into the Nigerian -- U.S. embassy in Nigeria, not once, but twice for face-to-face meetings, that in addition there were telephone calls, there were written communications.

We don't know if the father initiated all of this or if U.S. officials were so concerned about what they were hearing that they reached back to him. But we have learned from a well-placed source that those meetings did generate a report by CIA personnel at that embassy which was forwarded to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

But we are told by the source, it was not disseminated more widely within the intelligence community. The feeling is if it had been, it might have been pieced together with other pieces of intelligence to create a picture that might have tipped authorities off to this plot.

Now there is some push-back. Other people are saying, don't just look at the CIA and its failures.

COLLINS: Yes.

MESERVE: Look at the NCTC. That's the National Counterterrorism Center put together after 9/11 specifically to unify the intelligence being collected all across the U.S. government.

One U.S. intelligence official saying to us, NCTC was created to connect the dots on terrorism. If somebody thinks that could have been done better in this case, they know where to go for answers.

But it looks like, Heidi, this report being prepared for the president -- he's supposed to get it tomorrow -- is going to be a thick one. Back to you.

COLLINS: Yes. It certainly sounds like. Hey, Jeanne, really quickly, I'm not sure if you know the answer to this but regarding the body scan imaging devices that are used in the airports, do we know if those devices were being used for flights that were going to other places other than the United States and just not being used at U.S. gates?

MESERVE: No. No, I don't believe they're being used in Amsterdam at all.

COLLINS: At all.

MESERVE: There were a lot of privacy concerns in Europe that prevented them from being used. But I want to mention something else to you, Heidi, too. The Associated Press is reporting this morning that in November, a man was picked up boarding a flight in Mogadishu. This -- they're quoting Somali officials as saying this.

And this man was carrying explosives, liquid and a syringe. Obviously this bears a striking similarity to the situation relating...

COLLINS: Yes.

MESERVE: ... to the Christmas flight into Detroit. What we don't know is whether U.S. authorities were ever made aware of this or if, more specifically, DHS and TSA were made aware of this so they could change screening techniques for people coming in to the country. It's all stuff we're working on today.

COLLINS: Yes. Yes. Boy, a lot to work on certainly. We sure do appreciate it, Jeanne Meserve, our homeland security correspondent, thank you.

Well, you know, today is the expiration date for those new travel rules put in place in the wake of the Christmas day attempted attack but the TSA is now extending those directives for airlines and airports. They include the pat-downs and extra carry-on bag inspections at airports.

Airlines have the discretion now to keep enforcing that one-hour rule we've been telling you about. It means passengers must stay seated for the last hour of international flights into the United States. Also, blankets and pillows cannot be kept on passengers' laps during that hour.

The TSA is expected to issue a new directive by tomorrow night. Attacking al Qaeda. Officials tell CNN the U.S. is teaming with Yemen's government to pick possible targets for retaliatory air strikes. It would not be the first strike by U.S. forces there.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joining us now live from Washington with more on this.

So, Barbara, what are you learning exactly about this potential retaliation?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Heidi, as you just mentioned, it would not be the first time. Throughout the month of December, the U.S. and Yemen have worked together very quietly. There had been a number of attacks by Yemeni forces against al Qaeda targets, and U.S.-backed air strikes by all accounts.

So what is the next step? They are going to continue that al Qaeda effort, both countries together, and top military and intelligence sources tell us they are reviewing the existing target list now to see if they can tie any of these targets specifically to the attack on the Northwest Airlines flight.

If they can, they will go after them. But the ongoing campaign against al Qaeda in Yemen does go on, very quietly, very secretively because the U.S. has agreed with Yemen it won't talk publicly about what it's doing.

The Yemeni government is under such threat by al Qaeda, they need to protect them, they need to make sure that government there can survive. It's a very sensitive situation. But the military will be ready if President Obama was to order a retaliatory strike, Heidi.

COLLINS: Do we know from intelligence agencies -- I mean I've heard this question batted around for several days now -- how many al Qaeda militants are actually operating or maybe even just training in Yemen?

STARR: You know, top officials say they don't feel that they have a really good answer, but they tell us they put it at somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple of hundred total fighters. But a hard core, if you will, of leaders at the center in a very organized fashion now.

And these air strikes that have already happened, the attacks already happened in December, they do believe have killed some of that core leadership but they're not really sure. Still looking at it and still looking at whether the suspect in the airliner attack may have attended one of these emerging training camps inside Yemen, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. And remind us one more time those operations that happened in December, were they led by the U.S. or led by Yemeni forces?

STARR: Really good question because that's the key. No one is exactly saying. There had been a number of ground operations, which by all accounts were led by Yemeni forces. There is video of some of that, in fact, where Yemeni forces are participating.

But there have been air strikes, and what the U.S. is not saying is to what extent it simply provided the intelligence, the targeting intelligence for those strikes. And we know that they did or did they go one step further, did U.S. cruise missiles, U.S. armed drones, U.S. fighter jets fly into Yemen and attack those al Qaeda targets. That's what's so sensitive right now.

COLLINS: Yes. Exactly, and understood. All right, our Pentagon correspondent working hard on this story, as well. Barbara Starr, thank you.

Here's some more information on the country of Yemen itself. In May of 1990 North and South Yemen united to form the republic of Yemen. It's got a population 22 million and is the size of California and Pennsylvania combined.

Now Yemen is a republic with an elected president who is head of state and an appointed prime minister who is head of the government. Its GDP, $20.4 billion for 2006. Now that's compared to $14 trillion for the U.S. that same year. In 2006, Yemen exported $7.2 billion worth of oil and oil-related products.

The government ordered protests in Iran. Well, thousands of people take to the streets one day after a deadly antigovernment demonstration.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. Some wet weather going on across the Gulf Coast states right now. We'll check in what's happening in Houston along with the snowy forecast up north. That's coming up in just a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN, the most trusted name in news. Now back to the CNN NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: New video, new numbers and new demonstrations. This video posted on the Internet is said to be of Sunday's bloody anti- government protests. We're talking about Iran.

Iranian authorities say more than 500 people were arrested. They also acknowledge at least seven were killed, but not by their security forces.

Today the nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi was buried. No media was allowed. Restrictions were lifted, however, for these pro-government rallies being held in various cities today.

And more concern about Tehran's nuclear ambitions. An intelligence report obtained by the Associated Press indicates Iran is close to making a deal with Kazakhstan for tons of purified uranium ore. That, of course, can be processed and used for either nuclear fuel or nuclear weapons.

A deal like this would violate United Nations sanctions, of course. The Kazakhstan government and State Uranium Company deny any involvement.

One of our best defenses at airports is actually man's best friend. But how do authorities train dogs to sniff out things like explosives.

Our Kara Finnstrom takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There is a German shepherd trained to sniff out explosives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's placing the explosives in the springs of this vehicle. So like it is a car bomb.

FINNSTROM: He hones in and signals by sitting.

(On camera): So that was a find.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

FINNSTROM (voice-over): Uncovering a compound similar to what the U.S. government says airport authorities failed to find on the suspected terrorist accused of trying to blow up a flight into Detroit Christmas day.

PATRICK BELTZ, EXPLOSIVE SNIFFING DOG TRAINER: It's just like silly putty but it's a very high-grade explosive.

FINNSTROM: Patrick Beltz trains bomb-sniffing dogs for agencies like the FBI and Los Angeles Police, and believes any properly-trained dog would have identified the explosives used.

BELTZ: Certainly. It would have been easy.

FINNSTROM: Counterterrorism experts we spoke with agree and they're questioning how and when dogs like Bear should be used.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fact that this individual showed up with a one-way ticket, purchased with cash, with no checked baggage, he should have been pulled aside and at that point if inspected by a dog literally could have detected it.

FINNSTROM: But dogs have limitations. They can only work so long without rest and tend to make a mess if stuck inside for long periods. Still...

FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Dogs tends to be cheapest, fastest and most reliable explosive detection capability that we have in this country.

FINNSTROM: Bear has been a $60,000 training investment over nine years for the Los Angeles port. He trains monthly in different scenarios. Today it is an old bus used to simulate an airplane.

(On camera): It only took the dog seconds to find those explosives hidden aboard this bus. But Bells says had those same explosives been hidden in my clothing the dogs might not have found them at all because they haven't been taught or directed to do so.

BELTZ: That I know of, no one has been given a green light for dogs to smell bodies.

FINNSTROM (voice-over): That's here in the U.S. Beltz does train dogs to sniff search people in countries in the Middle and Far East where he says standards are different.

BELTZ: In America it could be considered very intrusive to make you stand still while my dog went to your groin area and smelled around.

WILLIAM YOCHAM, LOS ANGELES PORT POLICE: They can be taught. And I have every confidence that he could do it. But right now the legalities of it are just astronomical.

FINNSTROM: The Transportation Safety Administration says the 700 dogs it's currently using are trained to check baggage, cargo in airport areas, but could be used to check people if necessary.

Terrorism concerns have prompted Auburn University to develop a program they claim trains dogs to sniff out suspects carrying explosives as they casually walk past. Since the Detroit incident, discussions about increasing aviation security have focused mostly on technology. But perhaps one part of the solution is man's best friend.

In Banning, California, Kara Finnstrom for CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And Yemen now in the spotlight as a key battle front in the fight against terrorism. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claims the Christmas day failed bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight was in retaliation for U.S. air strikes on Yemeni soil. And the U.S. is now looking at targets in Yemen for a retaliatory strike of its own.

Joining me now by phone from Sana'a, Yemeni foreign minister, Abu Bakr al-Qirbi.

Mr. Foreign Minister, I want to ask you a little bit about al Qaeda operatives and the number of them that may be operating in your country. Do you have any idea what type of operations are going on and how many people may be working with al Qaeda right now?

ABU BAKR AL-QIRBI, YEMENI FOREIGN MINISTER (via telephone): Well, it's very difficult to give exact. I think the fact that Americans have over 500,000 on the list, how difficult it is to identify Al Qaeda operatives. But there are a number of them. Maybe 100, 200 or more.

I think the important thing is that Yemeni government has taken a number of steps to really put them on the defense. And as you have indicated in your report, there have been two attacks undertaken by the Yemeni armed forces against al Qaeda.

COLLINS: Are you talking about the attacks in December, sir?

AL-QIRBI: Yes, the attacks this month. Yes, about -- on the 17th and on the 24th.

COLLINS: Actually, there was quite a bit of question about whether those were Yemeni-led or U.S.-led. Do you have more information yourself about them?

AL-QIRBI: Well, these are Yemeni armed forces attacks. They were of course supported by American intelligence and by the training of the Yemeni armed forces.

COLLINS: Well, I wonder if you can give us an idea then of what more the Yemeni government will do and how seriously of a threat they are taking operations by al Qaeda.

AL-QIRBI: Well, we are taking them very seriously. Whatever the number is. Because they have obviously risk factor to Yemen's security. They are a threat to worldwide peace really because of their attacks outside Yemen, as well as their links with al Qaeda operatives in many other countries.

We will continue to put them on the run. The Yemeni government is committed to fight al Qaeda and its operatives in Yemen and cooperate with international community to achieve that.

COLLINS: How exactly will you do that?

AL-QIRBI: How we'll do that? We'll do it by more cooperation. Hopefully we will get the support to increase the number of our counterterrorism units in Yemen, spread them all over the country. This needs a lot of training, logistic support, means for transportation, communication. So this is -- the challenge is how much Yemen -- how much support Yemen will get in order to expand its capabilities to fight al Qaeda.

COLLINS: OK. So would you say that you do or do not have the capabilities and training and will to defend your own homeland at this point?

AL-QIRBI: We have the will and we have a certain amount of capabilities, but it needs to be increased.

COLLINS: What happened with the -- I believe it was -- according to the Pentagon $67 million that the United States gave just this year to your country? How was this spent?

AL-QIRBI: Well, this will go to training and providing equipment for our counterterrorism units. It sounds a large amount but it is peanuts really when you look at figures spent on countering terrorism by the U.S. or by other countries.

COLLINS: I wonder what your country is thinking now this morning about some of the talk that is out there and some of the contingency planning that we are hearing about regarding preemptive military air strikes in your country.

What have the discussions been so far regarding that?

AL-QIRBI: Well, as I told you, I mean, any attacks against al Qaeda in Yemen will take place by the Yemeni armed forces. We will need the technical and the intelligence information to undertake these attacks.

COLLINS: So you're saying you do not...

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: You do not need support from the United States in that regard by way of U.S. air strikes.

AL-QIRBI: No, we don't need that.

COLLINS: You do not need that. All right, well, we certainly appreciate your time, the Yemeni foreign minister this morning, Abu Bakr al-Qirbi. Thank you.

AL-QIRBI: OK. Thank you very much.

COLLINS: That brings us to today's blog question, in fact. What do you think the U.S.' response to last Friday's failed plane bombing should be? By air strikes on al Qaeda operatives in Yemen may be one option as we are talking about this morning? Of course there are plenty of others.

Go to CNN.com/heidi and post your comments. We'll go ahead and read some of them coming up in the next hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Police in Bethlehem, Connecticut say fierce winds killed a postal worker there. The 52-year-old woman died when a tree was uprooted and fell on to the cab of her truck.

In other places across the state, homes were damaged by falling trees. High winds also left nearly 24,000 homes and businesses without power, including much of Plainville.

And Jacqui Jeras is standing by now in our Severe Weather Center to talk more about that and the rest of the country. Yes, really, really windy there in Connecticut.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: OK. Very good. Thanks, Jacqui.

Tracking an accused terrorist. CNN correspondents around the world pick up the trail of the man accused of trying to blow up Northwest Flight 253. We'll talk to the people who have known him for years.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: As we hear the opening bell this morning, Wall Street snapped its six-session winning streak yesterday by edging slightly lower. But, the bears appear to be set to make an even stronger case today.

Alison Kosik joining us now from New York now with a preliminary look at the day's trading action.

Hi there, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. All three of the major averages ended lower by just a point or two yesterday bringing to an end The Bulls' run over the past week and a half. But those losses could accelerate this morning. Though volume is expected to be pretty light with a lot of traders already having closed their books for the year.

The spotlight today definitely going to be on financial firms after reports that GMAC may receive an additional $3.5 billion in government aid. GMAC which provides financing for most GM and Chrysler dealerships has already accepted more than $12 billion in funds. And analysts say the Treasury's willingness to deepen taxpayer exposure that it reflects its importance for a rebound in the auto industry.

All right, giving you a heads-up for drivers. GM is recalling more than 20,000 Chevy Corvettes because of a potentially leaky roof. Officials say a problem with the adhesive between the roof panel and the frame could cause them to pull apart. Corvette drivers can visit GMOWNERCENTER.com.

And Facebook is getting a belated Christmas gift this morning. Online research firm Hitwise says the social networking site was the most popular Web site in the U.S. on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day overtaking Google for the top spot.

Heidi, I don't know, maybe someone was -- they were all opening presents with one hand and on the computer with the other. I don't know. Everybody was posting, you know, messages and holiday messages and pictures. So they were busy doing that definitely.

COLLINS: Yes, no question about it.

KOSIK: Let's go ahead and take a look at the numbers before we go.

COLLINS: All right.

KOSIK: The Dow Industrials right now 32 points lower. The NASDAQ off by five. We'll keep an eye on it for you. The last two trading days of '09.

Heidi?

COLLINS: Yes, that's true, isn't it.

All right, Alison. Thank you.

We are just learning now this morning a terror suspect is in custody in Somalia in a case similar to the Christmas Day attack in Detroit. The Associated Press reporting the man was detain last month just as he tried to get on a flight in Mogadishu. We were telling you about this with our Homeland Security correspondent a little bit earlier in the show, Jeanne Meserve.

He was carrying an unknown chemical powder and a syringe filled with liquid. The powdered substance was sent to London for testing. The flight would have taken him to Dubai.

A lot of finger pointing in Washington about who knew what before the alleged terror incident aboard that plane on Christmas Day.

Various information about the suspect was out there. So what happened? CNN Foreign Affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty brings us up to speed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These images still fresh of what could have been a devastating terror attack, President Obama is slamming security agencies after warnings from the bombing's suspect father that his son might under the influence of religious extremists fell through the cracks.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It now appears that weeks ago this information was passed to a component of our intelligence community, but was not effectively distributed so as to get the suspect's name on a no-fly list. There appears to be other deficiencies as well.

DOUGHERTY: State Department spokesman Ian Kelly insists department staff did what they were supposed to do, send a cable from the embassy in Nigeria outlining those warnings to the National Counterterrorism Center in Washington, the brain trust of all federal agencies fighting terrorism.

Could the State Department on its own have pulled the suspect's visa which allowed him to visit the U.S. any time? No, Kelly says. "It's an interagency decision."

But the bureaucratic finger-pointing has begun. A U.S. government official familiar with how the embassy cable was handled in Washington telling CNN, the cable was a very thin report with nothing specific; just one of hundreds of reports that Counterterrorism Center evaluates daily. Not enough reasonable suspicion to warrant putting the alleged bomber on a no-fly list or revoking his Visa.

But in May, British authorities did refuse the suspect a visa and put him on a watch list. A British source tells CNN, it was because he lied on a student visa application claiming he went to a bogus college. That information, however, was never passed on to U.S. authorities, he says, because it wasn't linked to terrorism. FRANCES FRAGOS TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: I think we've got to ask why wouldn't our allies have shared with us information even if it was not terrorism related? If this individual lied on their visa application, in their visa application process, why wouldn't they have shared that with us? Because, frankly, if an individual is known to have lied to another immigration authority around the world, I'd want to know that.

DOUGHERTY (on camera): Already the State Department is pointing to some possible loopholes that might allow someone to fly even with a revoked visa. Information that a visa has been pulled goes into a database and that's communicated to other U.S. government agencies, but no automatic notification goes into airline databases.

Jill Dougherty, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: We want to let you know here at CNN, we are trapping into our vast international resources in order to bring you a complete picture of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. Next stop, his hometown -- Kaduna, Nigeria, and the mosque where he attended. His neighbors say he last prayed there in August just before he went to Yemen.

As our Christian Purefoy shows us, everyone there is shocked that he is now the center of a global terrorist alert.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIAN PUREFOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Was he a devout Muslim?

"He would be the first at prayers, and the last to leave," says the local Imam. "But he didn't mingle. He liked isolation."

(voice-over): At the prestigious local school here attended, which does not even teach religion, this son of a wealthy Nigerian banker is remembered as well-behaved and popular with his classmates.

(on camera): So he mixed with children from all backgrounds here -- Christian, Muslim.

KERCHIRI SETH, VICE PRESIDENT, ESSENCE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL: Yes. Yes, that's right. Christians, Muslims, Hindus, other religions because we have other nationals here in Nigeria in this school.

PUREFOY: So you have Americans in this school.

SETH: Yes, we have American. No one in this school is un- American.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: CNN's Christian Purefoy also says that while some anti- Western sentiment simmers in the city, the locals say there is no appetite for violent extremism there. They say those ideas are often carried back to the area from young men who study in the Middle East.

Coming up next, we're going to be checking in with the university that the suspect attended in Dubai.

Also, in Nigeria, though the death toll is climbing from a police crackdown on a radical Islamic sec, the clashes between followers and police is unfolding in the north. At least 38 people are confirmed dead. But there are reports dozens more may have been killed. The national police spokesman says the violence is contained and has not spread to other areas.

OK, so here's a question for viewers in the Snow Belt. What happens when it gets too cold to use road salt? The answer -- you turn to vodka on ice, of course. Stay tuned. We'll supply the booze coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Checking our top stories now. At least 22 people are dead in a series of blasts in Iraq. And the governor of Anbar Province is critically wounded.

First, two car bombs went off in Ramadi City. When the governor went to the scene to check on the victims, he was hurt in a separate suicide blast. Reportedly the bomber was one of his own body guards.

The head coach for Texas Tech fighting his suspension in court today. Mike Leach wants to be re-instated in time for Saturday's Alamo Bowl. Tech suspended Leach while it looks into allegations about how he treated a player who had a concussion. The Associated Press says Leach made the player stand in a small, dark place while the team practiced. But Leach's attorney tells CNN the player was always under the supervision of a licensed trainer and in an air conditioned area and given water.

Tracking an accused terrorist. Today we have new details on the extensive travels of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. The man accused of trying to blow up Northwest Flight 253 on Christmas Day. He supposedly got his training in Yemen, after dropping out of a masters program in Dubai.

CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom spoke to the university president there, and he's joining us now from the United Arab Emirates with the very latest.

Mohammed, good morning to you.

What did the university president have to say about Abdulmutallab's time at school?

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Well, in a word, he said it was uneventful. We went to the Wollongong University here in Dubai today to check out what the terror suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's time was like here at the university. We went to the dorm that he stayed in. We saw that. We saw the campus. We weren't able to speak to any of the students there. But when we spoke to the president of the university, he told us that Abdulmutallab made good grades. That he was a shy and quiet student. There was no reason to suspect him for any of this kind of activity, and as far as the remainder of his tenure there, this is what the president had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PROFESSOR ROBERT WHELAN, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG IN DUBAI: We know that he enrolled as a student here in January of this year in the Master of International Business degree program, one of our post-graduate degrees. And, come August, when it was time to re- enroll and pay the fees for the full semester, he didn't pay up and so the university, as is our policy, deregistered him from the university. So effectively he dropped out, having not completed his degree program.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JAMJOOM: And, again, this all begs the question, why would he not have been able to pay? Why would he have enrolled in the first place? Why did he drop out? Or why was he kicked out in that way? We don't have answers to that question. But we do know that nobody suspected him at the university. And even though authorities here in Dubai are questioning people there, apparently nobody else at the university is under any kind of suspicion -- Heidi?

COLLINS: Very interesting. Do we know, Mohammed, if in fact he had contact with his parents while he was going to school there?

JAMJOOM: Heidi, we don't. We don't know a lot of details about him. Apparently, Abdulmutallab kept to himself. There aren't a lot of places on this campus where students congregate. Most of the dorm rooms there are solitary rooms. There aren't a lot of roommates that are living together. So not much is known about him.

We asked especially, was he known to have been radicalized? Was anybody complaining about any viewpoints he had or ideologies he held? We were told, no, they know nothing about that. There was nothing to suspect him. He just couldn't pay his tuition, and therefore was kicked out -- Heidi?

COLLINS: Very interesting. All right, Mohammed Jamjoom, sure do appreciate that. Thanks.

As you well know, drinking and driving do not mix. Frozen roadways and vodka? Well, they apparently do. First, the problem. When temperatures dip below about 15 degrees Fahrenheit road salts no longer work. And in really cold places like Vermont right now, that's a big chunk of winter.

So more road crews across the country are now embracing a new de- icer, and that is vodka. Actually it's more like the leftovers from the distilling process. See I knew there was going to be some magic taken out of this story.

It works in temperatures as frigid as 35 degrees below zero and the company that markets it says it is completely safe.

Jacqui Jeras joining us now over there talking about this story all morning long because we had all these jokes going. But, yes, it's not really actually the vodka. It's the stuff left in the bottom of the barrel, right?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I like how they call it magic salt.

COLLINS: Magic salt, yes.

JERAS: We know what's magic. Looked nasty and black though. Did you see that?

COLLINS: Yes. Gook.

JERAS: And how often is it 35 below in Indiana?

COLLINS: I don't know. That's my question for you.

JERAS: It's not an everyday thing. I'll tell that you, my friend. That's a mighty rare occurrence. Indiana today, getting a little bit of snow for the most part. What you see here on the map is not reaching the ground. You're going to see some occasional light showers, maybe an inch or two and that's about it.

Our main system right here across the nation's mid-section, overall, is a weak one but it is just enough to be a nuisance for you. So you need the salt on the roadways because they are going to be slick. I-70 from Kansas City to St. Louis, I-80 across Iowa over towards Chicago, it will be a little bit of a rough go. And then we're getting all the rain on the south side of the system.

And we still have that (INAUDIBLE) from Houston, I just wanted to point it out because if you look kind of on the bottom you can see how those clouds are just kind of moving in that fog and misty conditions; so visibility certainly a challenge as well.

Chilly conditions across the east today but it looks beautiful. Doesn't it? Lots of sunshine in the northeastern corridor. Our low pressure storm system here across the south is going to trek to the east and then make its way up to the coast.

So that's going to create some interesting conditions for your New Year's Eve holiday. If you're going to be out there at midnight, what can you expect? We're expecting mostly rain, maybe a little bit of a mix into the coastal areas of the northeast including the big cities. You get into the interior and it's going to be snow. A big Arctic blast is going to follow that by New Year's Day.

Also an interesting fact which you may not know, Heidi Collins, which is by the way the number one story, on CNN.com today...

COLLINS: Oh what?

JERAS: ... is that tomorrow night will be a blue moon. Yes and some people don't know what that is. They've heard it but they're like I don't know what that means just in once in a while.

COLLINS: It's a name of a beer.

JERAS: Do you know?

COLLINS: I don't know, no.

JERAS: It means there are two full moons in one calendar month.

COLLINS: Ok.

JERAS: Yes, so that happens on average like once every two and a half years. On New Year's Eve it happens like once every 19 years, that's pretty rare.

COLLINS: Really.

JERAS: Yes.

COLLINS: Very cool. Ok.

JERAS: We probably won't see it here in Atlanta, though. Too cloudy.

COLLINS: Oh, thanks. Ok.

JERAS: So what do you do?

COLLINS: Well, we're going to miss it.

JERAS: Go home to Minneapolis.

COLLINS: We're going to see that video of the blue moon the very next day. I just know it.

JERAS: All right.

COLLINS: All right, Jacqui, thank you.

And coming up in just a few minutes, we are going to be talking more about the big story of course that has to do with everything that is happening over in Yemen and what the possible response could be. We're going to be covering that story for you coming up right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Right now, we're going to take a quick break. And we're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Bernie Madoff, Alan Stanford, you don't have to go very far to find bad apples in the financial field. If you're worried your financial adviser isn't on the up and up, turn up your TV for a minute. Personal finance editor, Gerri Willis is joining us now with today's "Financial Resolution" for 2010.

Finding the right financial adviser. Good morning to you, Gerri. Tell us a little bit about red flags...

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Good morning.

COLLINS: ... that investors should be watching out for.

WILLIS: Well, hi there Heidi. Yes, there are tell-tale signs that your adviser may not have your best interest at heart. Here is what to look out for. If you're planner guarantees you big returns on investments, watch out. Investing is risky and there's no way to guarantee a particular level of return.

And as Madoff's victims found out way too late, your check should go to a third party custodian who is actually holding your funds, not directly to a planner or his company. Another sign, you're pressured to buy a specific investment. Remember, this is your money, after all. You have to be comfortable with how it's being put to work.

One word of caution here, firing an adviser just because you don't like the returns you've had over the last couple of years is wrong-headed. Some of the most level-headed and accomplished investors and portfolio managers had terrible performance recently.

What you want to consider is just how adept were they to responding to the crisis. Did they duck your phone calls, when the market was tumbling? That's a sure sign you should get a new adviser.

COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. What's the best way to checkup on your adviser, though?

WILLIS: Well, if you're working with a stock broker, call the FINRA, that's the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. That agency maintains the Central Registration Directory; it's just a database of brokers. It includes disciplinary actions taken against them and lawsuits. Your state securities regulator may maintain info on broker's employment history and education as well.

And there are lots of designations, letters after your advisers' names. The ones that mean the most, CFP, that's the Certified Financial Planner awarded by the CFP Board of Standards and NAPFA, that's the National Association of Personal Financial Advisers, a group of advisers who don't accept commissions for selling specific investments but rather work for the fees that they get paid by their customers -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, our personal finance editor Gerri Willis. Gerri thank you.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

COLLINS: We have an awful lot going on this morning, as usual on the CNN NEWSROOM. Our crews are in place to bring you all of the details. We want to check in with some of our correspondents now. First off to Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- hi, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Heidi. What's coming up next for the U.S. military in Yemen? I'll have more at the top of the hour.

JERAS: I'm meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. A series of storms slam into the west. We've got heavy snow and airport delays in Salt Lake City right now. The latest on the storms and your travel forecast and what's to expect New Year's Eve. That's coming up at the top of the hour.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: And I'm Poppy Harlow coming to you live from freezing Times Square the day before New Year's Eve. We're going to tell you about the greenest New Year's Eve ball ever and how you can take part at home. That's coming up in the next hour.

COLLINS: At home where it's warm. All right, guys, thanks so much.

And there was a time we could not do without them. Now they're headed for the recycling bin. We'll look at the tech trends that are quickly going out of style.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We are at the end of the year, as you know. It's a time when we look back at the big stories that seemed to shape our world and we asked some of our correspondents from around the globe to weigh in on their top stories of 2009.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm coming to you from beautiful Asheville, North Carolina, outside the Biltmore estate. Looking back at 2009 one of the most incredible stories for me was covering the station fire in Southern California. It was a blaze that scorched an area larger than the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

But amid the widespread devastation, one of the amazing things about the story was the incredible heroic efforts of the men and women battling that blaze.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kyung Lah in the electrifying city of Tokyo, Japan. A story that left a big impression on 2009 is one that reminds us that all of this has an impact on our planet.

We traveled to the uppermost tip of Japan to witness the arctic ice flow. It is truly a spectacular sight, something that is breath- taking. We boarded a ship that cut through the ice and witnessed one of the true wonders of nature. But it is something that is disappearing.

Activists say it is melting because of the carbon emissions produced by the big cities of the globe. Now, activists hope to reverse the melting by convincing cities to reduce emissions. But fear it may be too late and that the arctic ice flow witnessed by Japan may disappear in just a few decades.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: This is camera 412 in New York City at CNN. This has been my home, unfortunately, for a great deal of this recession. This is where I have often reported breaking news from. So much of the news that I've reported has been about jobs. That's been the place where most people have been hit closest to home. When we started this recession, the unemployment rate in this country was 4.9 percent. Now it's over 10 percent.

When we started there were about seven and a half million people unemployed in this country. Now more than 50 million people unemployed.

Back in January, we had lost more than 700,000 jobs in one month. By the end of the year we were much lower than that but we still hadn't gained jobs so that is the big concern. It was the big driver of 2009 and it's going to be the big driver into 2010.

COLLINS: For those of you who still write letters, you'll have a lot of new choices for stamps next year. Here's what you can look forward to. Mother Teresa gets her own stamp and that will be perfect for mailing donations to your favorite charity, right; also Oscar winner Katharine Hepburn, plus from old-time Western heroes like Gene Autry, Tom Nick, and Roy Rogers.

Your favorite Sunday funny stars get their own stamps like Beetle Bailey, Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes you can see there -- is just some of the more than 30 new stamps on the way in 2010.