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State Department Changing How it Handles Visas; Armed Pilots Get Weapons Extension; British Security Ramps Up; Climbing out of Debt; Russia's Drinking Problem

Aired January 01, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: And good morning. Here is a look at what is going on right now in the "CNN NEWSROOM".

First up, we are talking about Afghanistan -- outpost Afghanistan. A suicide bomber kills seven CIA employees, and the United States vowing to strike back.

And take a look with me, here, this does not look like a whole lot of fun. Lines at the airport, we are used to that, right? If you are flying this busy holiday weekend or if you know someone who is, heads up, there are some new rules in effect that will definitely affect you.

And, of course, happy 2010. We are ringing in the New Year with celebrations all around the world, here, on this Friday morning.

Good morning, everybody. Happy New Year. Funny to be saying, January 1, 2010, but that is exactly what we are doing here.

I am Brooke Baldwin in for Heidi Collins. Today is 1/1/2010. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

First up, this morning, a vow of retribution. This is the reaction to the deaths of seven CIA officers in Afghanistan, they are victims of the suicide bombing attack. What were they doing? They were there in the country working at the forward operating base. Take a look at the map, this is Eastern Afghanistan. Not too far from the Pakistan border. CNN Pentagon Correspondent Chris Lawrence has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): CNN has learned a father of three children was one of the Americans killed in Afghanistan. Harold Brown died in Wednesday's suicide bombing.

Unlike their military counterparts, most CIA officers served in the shadows, their names unknown to many Americans. Some analyze intelligence, and others recruit Afghans to the American side. Now seven are dead and six wounded and a U.S. intelligence official is promising revenge. Quote, "This attack will be a avenged. Through successful, aggressive counter-terrorism operations."

On Wednesday a single suicide bomber got onto this American base in Eastern Afghanistan. A U.S. official described this as a crucial base, where the CIA monitored the Pakistan border, and conducted intelligence operations.

FRAN FRAGOS TOWNSEND, CNN NAT'L. SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Even going back as far as 2004, Khost was a very active forward operating base because of the proximity to the tribal areas of Pakistan.

LAWRENCE: CNN Contributor Fran Townsend visited the base as President Bush's Homeland Security Advisor. She says it was targeted because it's not a military base.

TOWNSEND: I believe this was a very deliberate strategy on the part of the Taliban to push back on President Obama's strategy to increase the number of civilians, and increase the civilian components.

LAWRENCE: President Obama recently announced a civilian surge to train more forces and improve living conditions in Afghanistan. Thursday he wrote a letter to all CIA workers honoring those that died, and telling others, quote, "Your triumphs and even your names may be unknown to your fellow Americans, but your service is deeply appreciated."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: And Chris Lawrence now joins me live from Washington.

Chris, I know you spent a chunk of time in Afghanistan. You have been on and off base, and I know there are probably a lot of rumors flying as to how in the world, this guy, this suicide bomber, got on base. What are you hearing?

LAWRENCE: Yeah, that's the big question, Brooke.

If you look at the base like this, there are barriers, there is barbed wire. There is a watch tower, where someone is looking out over the area. And this apparently happened, you know, fairly deep into the base.

Now, the Taliban are claiming that they got a Afghan National Army soldier to wear a suicide vest and blow himself up, inside the base. Now the Afghan defense ministry is denying that any Afghan forces were involved in this. So the question of the investigation will now become, you know, was this uniform stolen, or was this person brought on to base, by base personnel, and not thoroughly searched?

We are told they are doing a complete assessment of exactly where the security break down occurred, but that it won't stop the CIA, and other workers like that, from doing the work that they are doing. They are not going to pull people out, so to speak.

BALDWIN: Right, seven victims, and seven CIA employees, one of whom a mother, a mother of three. Chris Lawrence, for us out of Washington.

Chris, thank you.

LAWRENCE: Sure. Flags, as you can imagine this morning, at CIA headquarters there in Langley, Virginia, they are flying at half staff, of course, in honor of all of those fallen officers. In a statement, CIA Director Leon Panetta said that, "they were doing the work that they must done to protect our country from terrorism."

Charges, they have been dropped now against those five security contractors accused of killing unarmed Iraqis; 17 Iraqis died, 17 civilians in that Baghdad shooting in that busy square. You remember, that was back in September of '07. About two dozen others were wounded.

The Blackwater guards said they were responding to enemy fire at the time, but Iraqi authorities say there was no actual threat. This is the last case that lead to limits on security contractors in Iraq. Blackwater has since changed its name to Xe Services. A federal judge said prosecutors wrongly used coerced statements against the men. The Justice Department may appeal.

We have more details for you this hour here, on that failed Northwest Flight 253, that failed bombing plot. CNN has learned investigators have linked this suspect, here he is, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to a radical cleric. According to a U.S. counter- terrorism official, this is not clear, if this American-born cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki played any role in the Christmas Day attack. But if the name sounds familiar, it should, here. He had exchanged e-mails with that Army major who is now accused of the shooting, the rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, 13 people died in that November attack.

A lot of questions here, but one big one, let me tell you about. For those investigators, and that is when did the seeds of hate really first take root for this 23-year-old, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab? His father is talking, and he said the descent into religious extremist was recent. But we wanted to dig a little deeper on this point. So, a CNN actually traveled to Abdulmutallab hometown, to speak to those that have known him the longest.

And CNN's Christian Purefoy is one of the few reporters there searching for clues, digging deeper for us. Christian is in Kaduna, Nigeria. He is joining me live this morning to talk more about this.

Christian, we are starting to hear some people come forward who have perhaps known Abdulmutallab in his past life, if you will. But I know you are out and about in Nigeria talking to some of the towns people, are they indicating anything that might prove surprising, perhaps just interesting in Abdulmutallab's background?

CHRISTIAN PUREFOY, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, we are standing outside his hometown here -- sorry, his house - where he grew up just behind me here.

Everybody in the community knew him. They worshipped with him at the mosque just about 50 meters down the road. And they said he was always the first to arrive, and the last to leave from the prayers at the mosque. That he liked isolation. He liked to be alone. And they are all very shocked. But it has to be said, that Kaduna, growing up in Kaduna, and he went to primary school until he was about 12, again, just down the road. While he was in school, there was religious violence here in Kaduna.

Kaduna, the city, runs across -sits on the longest religious fault lines in the world, between a Christian Sub-Saharan Africa, and a Muslim Northern Africa. And after that violence, where about 1,000 people were killed, while Abdulmutallab was in school, the town has since been separated along a river that runs through. Again, a Christian south and a Muslim north of the city.

And amongst all of this, you know the grievances of religious components (ph) here are very local, but it has to be said that with everyone we have talked to, Nigeria might be far away from the Middle East, on the other side of the African Continent, but they know perfectly well what is going on there.

We spoke to an Imam, Brooke, and here is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

"Whatever happens in Iran and Iraq, it is because of America," this Islamic preacher says. "Whatever is happening to America today is happening because of its foreign policy."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PUREFOY: So as you can see, Brooke, people here are well aware of grievances of Muslims across the world, Brooke.

BALDWIN: It's interesting. We hear, and we are seeing so much finger pointing. EH is pointing fingers at America, and our foreign policy, but what about religious sects, radical sects. Radicalism there, specifically in Northern Nigeria? From what I understand, it definitely is gaining a foothold there. In fact, some say it's exporting jihadism elsewhere?

PUREFOY: Yes, we don't know quite how many people, how many members or anything like that among these sects in Northern Nigeria. But in the last year there has been a huge crackdown by the Nigerian government on these Nigerian Islamic sects. The biggest was a 1,000 people killed, when a group, and Islamic sect, Boko Haram (ph) rose up and against what they called the introduction of Western education into the region.

And in just the last couple days we have 30 to 70 people dead in a neighboring state in another crackdown. Now, most of these sects, it has to be said, have very local grievances. But as we just heard from the Imam (ph), their views are global. They know what is going on in the world and the worry, Brooke, is that this region might just throw up another Abdulmutallab, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Not something we want to hear, though, as we begin the New Year at all. Christian Purefoy for us in Nigeria this morning. Christian, thank you. Great digging.

He says he is ready to die for reform. Iran's opposition leader is vowing to keep backing peaceful anti-government protest. You have seen all the video of these protests. It is unbelievable.

This is the first time actually hearing from Mir Hossein Mousavi since his nephew and six others were killed during protests earlier this week.

Meanwhile, Iranian security forces are blaming a privately owned vehicle for allegedly mowing down protesters rallying on the Shiite Muslim holy day, this final day of Ashura. This is some of the video, amateur video, that captured of the incident. It really tells the story, though we have to add here, CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of the particular video.

Turning away from Tiger Woods? Could it be? A major sponsor saying, hey, thanks, but no thanks, while the disgraced golfer stays out of sight?

And this is kind of cool. Take a look at this. A robot eyes the battlefield and brings much needed treatment for the wounded in Iraq.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: OK, Brooke, the big number right now is 2010. The New Year on this first day of January. Some other numbers we'll share with you are just going to be a representation of the bone-chilling cold sub-zero conditions staying in parts of the Northern Plains. We are going to show you who is going to get what, coming up in a few moments this morning on CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Tiger, Tiger, Tiger, new information for you today about Tiger Woods. He has lost yet another sponsor, while remaining still, out of sight. But we are also now learning that Woods did in fact meet with Florida police after all. CNN National Correspondent Susan Candiotti has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The meeting took place five days after Tiger crashed into a fire hydrant and a tree Thanksgiving night.

A neighbor described him lying in the street snoring. Wood's wife told police she used a golf club to bash out the windows of his car to free her husband.

It was only after the case was closed that Tiger was slapped with a fine for careless driving, that he agreed to sign his ticket in front of police. They said he was polite and that was it, meeting over. The only visible injury? Police described swollen lips, quote, "consistent with somebody that was not restrained in his vehicle".

That could stifle some rumors.

(On camera): Some of the reports have him, immediately after the accident, practically speaking, getting onto a plane, going off to Arizona, undergoing plastic surgery. Does that seem plausible, in that kind of timeline?

TOM O'NEIL, SENIOR EDITOR, "IN TOUCH WEEKLY": There is no way that Tiger could have suffered massive damage to the face, got to Arizona, had the reconstructive surgery, made it back to Orlando within five days to see the police, who only witnessed a small bump on the lip. Impossible.

CANDIOTTI (voice over): "In Touch" magazine's Tom O'Neil has been following Tiger's tale. While Woods remains out of sight, he lost another sponsor Thursday. AT&T joins Accenture in dropping golf's biggest name.

Quote, "We wish him well in the future," AT&T said in a New Year's Eve statement.

O'NEIL: Tiger may be thinking that silence is golden, but in fact more damage is being done every day. Another sponsor deserts him, and another fan is disappointed, another question goes unanswered. The damage stacks up.

CANDIOTTI: And how far will it stack up? While Tiger says he is trying to repair his personal life.

O'NEIL: Who is shocked by a sports figure having a sex scandal? Nobody. But we are all surprised at how poorly he is handling this.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): Tiger Woods admitted infidelity may have costs his sponsors' stockholders billions. A new study put out by University of California economics professors, estimate the scandal could cost up to $12 billion in reduced shareholder value. Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: So, this is something you may not realize, though, AT&T maybe cutting ties with Tiger Woods, but they are not dropping golf altogether. In fact, they will keep sponsoring a PGA tour event. It is usually hosted by Tiger Woods, though. This year's AT&T National will be played over the Fourth of July weekend in Philadelphia.

Just a couple hours from now, in New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg will be taking the oath of office for the -count that-the third time. And he will be issuing a challenge. Aides say the billionaire mayor will stress volunteerism in his noontime inaugural speech. And to underscore his message, he will be shunning the tradition of a traditional inauguration party. Instead, Bloomberg will visit people who are doing volunteer work in the city's five boroughs.

And so you are waking up, maybe you are groggy, maybe you have not gone to bed. So we are asking this morning. How did you ring in the New Year? In case you missed some of the big parties around the world. Let's take a look. Go around the world.

In Vegas, seven casinos on The Strip took part in a $500,000 fireworks show that apparently stretched for more than four miles. Beautiful.

Go to New York. We know that's a huge scene there. The crystal ball, wait for it. Here we go. Three thousand pounds of confetti, going down, as we wait for that crystal ball to countdown. It is showering there the massive crowd. I don't know you have ever done that. I have yet to brave the crowds in Times Square for New Year's.

And over to London, England; it's crowds braving the near- freezing temperatures. You know that thing, that is the London Eye. Watch as this amazing --listen to that, the fireworks display there over the Thames. London, have you ever been on that huge, big, Ferris wheel over the Thames River.

Now, the fireworks, yes, they may be over. Time to get a little serious about the New Year. And on our blog this morning, we are asking you for your New Year's resolutions. Come on, we know you have thought about it. Go to CNN.com/Heidi and let us know. I will reading some of those resolutions, on the air, in the next hour.

And Reynolds Wolf, there you are. Hunkering down in the Weather Center. I know you had, I'm sure, just like me in my house, big raging New Year's Eve, in my sleep.

(WEATHER REPORT)

BALDWIN: A battlefield robot, it's high-tech eyes actually help doctors treat injured troops thousands miles away in Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Want to get you some of the top stories we are watching for you this morning. First up, suspected U.S. missile strike has killed four people in northwest Pakistan. It happened in North Waziristan, that is near the border with Afghanistan. It has been the site of many battles between the Pakistani army and militant fighters. Local officials say the missile targeted a car carrying militants.

Same-sex couples in New Hampshire are beating the rush with marriage ceremonies just after midnight. That's when New Hampshire's same-sex marriage law officially went into effect. About 15 couples, apparently, were married at the state house in Concord just after the clock struck 12. New Hampshire, by the way, the fifth state to allow same-sex marriages.

And yeah, this could affect your bowl games here, folks. Negotiations stretching through the night in the contract dispute between the Fox Network and Time Warner Cable. Here is the deal. Fox wants Time Warner and one other cable provider to start paying to carry the network. The dispute could leave 6 million customers without today's Sugar Bowl game, and Sunday's final regular season NFL games. The dispute does not include FOX NEWS, just the entertainment network. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Want to tell you about a milestone we are marking from Iraq. Did you know December if the first month since the Iraq war began that there was no U.S. combat deaths, zero. Three troops, though, did die in non-combat-related incidents. And the U.S. scales back its operation in Iraq.

Now many of those who are wounded are finding some help thousands of miles away from a very unlikely source. CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent, Doctor Sanjay Gupta reports on the duties of a battlefield robot.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): An explosion in Iraq, and combat medics are among the first to arrive. The clock is ticking and they have less than an hour to stabilize the wounded.

Doctors on the front line know the challenges in emergency medicine. Now they are using lessons on the ground to advance medical technology.

(On camera): We are here at the Brooke Army Medical Center at the Burn ICU, and I am making rounds with a very unusual rounding partner today the Chung-Bot. That is actually Doctor Chung there on the screen, and he makes rounds just like this in an ICU, just like this. We are going to get an idea of how this all works.

DR. KEVIN CHUNG, BROOKE ARMY MEDICAL CENTER: So, Jeff, how is the patient doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today, Sir, we are adjusting his fluids to match the TPN increase.

CHUNG: OK, Sergeant Hill,

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, Sir?

CHUNG: What are the bed settings right now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is on the top line (ph) of 450.

GUPTA (voice over): Doctor Chung regularly sees patient via the wireless robot. He can portal inside a patient's room from just about anywhere.

(On camera): So we are here controlling this robot, in Santa Barbara. We are here in Texas. Dr. Chung does this all the time. You could be here controlling the robot in this hospital or really controlling the robot anywhere in the world, right?

CHUNG: Right, anywhere around the world.

GUPTA (voice over): The robot moves freely, and pretty fast, with three motorized wheels. There are sensors around the torso that signal any obstacles in the way. And a high-quality camera allows the robot to move its head from side to side and record images from all angles. There is laptop and a remote joy stick that lets the doctor zoom in, and check a patients pupils, vital signs, even examine their brain scans remotely.

(On camera): I had a situation when I was in Iraq and I was the only neurosurgeon out there, where they didn't have any neurosurgeons. They asked me to take off my journalists cap and put on the surgeon's cap and perform operations. But could a robot have helped in that situation like that?

CHUNG: Absolutely.

If you take a look at the vent, real quick, again.

GUPTA: A surgeon could essentially talk somebody through the operation as if they were doing it themselves, in real time. Chung used the robot while deployed in Baghdad to fetch updates on critically injured soldiers he treated, and who had returned to the United States.

(On camera): That has got to be a big morale booster?

CHUNG: It sure was. To visually see that patient in a bed, with stable vital signs, halfway around the world, that did wonders just to be able to see that, for all the staff.

GUPTA: The patient was in Baghdad, and two days later you are looking at that patient from a robot in a hospital in the United States?

CHUNG: Yes, right.

GUPTA: Pretty remarkable.

(voice over): But to be clear, this s technology is not quite ready for primetime yet.

(On camera): Oh, so here is a problem that I think happens sometimes. I think we may have just lost wireless connection.

CHUNG: So, I hit a dead spot.

GUPTA: Hit a dead spot in a hallway, which can happen sometimes. You can see, again, they just went into standby mode. That is probably going to be one of the limitations of a robot like this, even in a big hospital.

Doctor Chung? Hello?

(voice over): Chung says despite the occasional hiccup in technology, he has successfully treated over 200 patients, thanks to the robot.

(On camera): Base on what you know are we going to see robots everywhere, within 10 years, in hospitals like this?

CHUNG: As we try to stretch our expertise, our assets, to different places around the country this type of technology will help us do that.

GUPTA (voice over): Doctor Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Effective airport security. Where are we talking about? Israel. Priding itself on its safety record. So what are they doing that other airports aren't?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If you've been on a plane at all the last week, you know things have changed. The attempted bombing of a plane on Christmas Day is once again here put a spotlight on gaps in security both in this country and abroad.

As CNN's Jill Dougherty tells us how the State Department already is moving to close one of those loopholes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN NEWS FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): One key fact about the Christmas day bombing suspect is that he had a U.S. visa, allowing him to board a plane to America at any time. But that crucial detail was never included in a cable about him sent to the National Counterterrorism Center in Washington.

Now CNN has learned the State department is ordering American embassies around the world to change their procedures. Any time embassies send so-called, Visas VIPER cables with information about suspicious individuals, they must answer the question, does that person have a U.S. visa. Starting now, that will be required.

Information that the bombing suspect did have a visa was available in government databases, but someone would have to be worried enough about him to search for it.

In another attempt to shut down loopholes, the State department is considering automatic notification of airlines when someone's U.S. visa has been revoked. Right now, department staff may or may not notify an airline of that fact.

Congress, too, is clamoring for quicker trigger to deny more visas and put more people on watch lists. Current standards require reasonable suspicion based on fact that someone is or is suspected to be engaged in terrorism-related conduct. Mere guesses or hunches are not enough.

Senator Dianne Feinstein says that is too restrictive and should be changed. She wants to include anyone who is reasonably believed to be affiliated with, part of, or acting on behalf of a terrorist organization. (on camera): So, under rules proposed by Senator Feinstein, could this suspect have been put on a no-fly list? In theory, yes, because he allegedly was affiliated with extremist organizations. But that in itself raises issues of how to balance privacy with the need for security. And we'll be hearing a lot more about that when the Senate begins hearings on this attempted terror attack beginning January 21st.

Jill Dougherty, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Hundreds of pilots certified to carry guns in flight will not have to give up their weapons today at least. An organization that represents this pilot says the Homeland Security Department extended the weapon certification for these pilots yesterday just hours before they were due to expire. A TSA official says security concerns, of course triggered by that attempted attack, that tempted bombing on a U.S. airliner Christmas Day prompted the government to extend the certificates for another six months.

And that failed bombing of flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit has apparently served really as a wakeup call all around the world. In fact, in Great Britain, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has ordered an urgent review of airport security.

So let's get the latest from London, specifically. And CNN international security correspondent, Paul Newton.

And, Paula, good morning to you in London.

My first question is -- we hear Gordon Brown talk about this urgent review of airport security, it seems kind of a nebulous. I mean, what kind of specific measure might this involve?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly, most people here are looking at the full body scanners. They've been tested here for quite some time. But because of civil liberties concerns, really they were not installed. I think they're going to review that.

It's a difficult situation here. I know that they have tested many, many different security procedures in the field. They've tested a lot of those in private areas where they didn't have the civil liberties concerns.

There are two problems. One is they are worried about how invasive any of these security measures may be, and how quickly you can actually process people through security. That's the first thing.

The second thing, they're also worried about effectiveness. They don't want to really buy in to some of this technology and then find out that it isn't working properly. But there's a lot of different things on the table right now. Technology companies now working hard for several years, coming up with different things about how to actually see, do a full body scan. How to detect certain kinds of liquid or powder, and really pinpoint what they are.

BALDWIN: The U.K., the British government saying, look, we're going to look at it all and move, they say, very quickly to institute some of that new technology and those new procedures in their airports.

So, as the U.K. is looking to re-evaluate, certainly Britain no stranger to plots, to attacks as well here. But we remember a couple of years ago -- what was it -- it was a plot to essentially detonate these liquid explosives. I think it was on ten airliners back in 2006.

Paula, what really has changed, if anything, since then?

NEWTON: What's interesting here is that, you know, if everyone remembers back home, that's when we had the liquid ban and the no carry on rule here in Europe. After that they relaxed it a bit. You can allow the 3 ounces. It's all that will fit in your plastic bag.

What's interesting is, we did a little bit of work about a year and a half ago, with an explosives expert, did some experiments. And even with those small quantities, it is possible to cause an explosion on an airplane.

When I put that to the British government here just several months ago, they said, look, we think the security is adequate. But we still think it would be rare for someone to be able to do that. And they were confident.

It will be interesting to see if they now reverse themselves also, and just have an outright ban on liquid and powder, or at least have more restrictions on them going through security.

BALDWIN: It's interesting. It's hard to keep it all straight when we're going through security and those metal detectors. What we can bring and what we can't.

Paula Newton for us in London. Paula, thank you.

And one other issue people are talking about, the debate over passenger profiling. In fact, in Israel, it is part of the overall airport security plan, right along with, as we were just talking about, x-ray machines and strip searches.

CNN's Paula Hancocks has more on how they handle security at Israel's Ben Gurion airport, and how it could be a blueprint for the rest of us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's considered one of the safest airports in the world. Israel's Ben Gurion has much of the latest technology and sophisticated machinery. American security officials came to visit a few years ago to watch and learn. But in Israel, there is also a human element. Almost every passenger is questioned, sometimes by more than one security officer. Some are strip searched. And no matter how distasteful it may be to civil liberties groups, Israel actively profiles passengers and makes no apology for it.

NERI YARKONI, AVIATION EXPERT: Good profiling is distinction. It's not discrimination. And I think that you should profile. If you don't profile, you waste -- you waste time, you waste money and you might miss what you're looking for because you're searching it on the wrong people.

HANCOCKS: Yarkoni says profiling needs to be based not simply on ethnicity, but also on behavior, intelligence gathering and statistics.

YARKONI: The concept, as I see, is that you should impose 90 percent of the -- the efforts toward, let's say, 10 percent of the public.

HANCOCKS: But what if you find yourself on the wrong side of profiling?

Palestinian human rights lawyer Muhammad Dalleh deals with many cases of what he calls discrimination of Arabs at the airport, saying he himself has been a victim.

MUHAMMAD DALLEH, PALESTINIAN HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER: We are talking about 1.2 million Palestinians who are citizens of the State of Israel. They cannot be treated as a security threat. The whole community -- more than one million citizens up front to be treated as suspects.

HANCOCKS: Israel knows it has many enemies that it has to protect itself from, so inconveniencing passengers comes with the territory. Up until today, no airplane that has left this airport has ever been hijacked. And Israel's national carrier, El Al, is probably one of the safest -- if not the safest -- in the world.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Ben Gurion Airport.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Well, here are two things you may not put together hash browns and second hand shops. But that is indeed part of how one family got rid of its six-figure debts. Wait until you meet them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Want to get a check of some of our top stories right now.

Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh remains in a Honolulu Hospital. He was rushed there, Wednesday, with chest pains. Doctors have not said whether he suffered a heart attack or not. Hospital officials say Limbaugh is resting comfortably, is in good spirits and appreciates all the well wishes he has received.

And what appears to be an olive branch from North Korea. It is a traditional New Year's message. Pyongyang stated its commitment to lasting peace, to better relations with other countries and to a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. It remains to be seen, though, whether or not North Korea will again take part in negotiations aimed at ending its nuclear program.

They've call themselves "Team Leach." Hundreds and hundreds of these Texas Tech fans rallying in the rain for their fired coach. We are talking about Mike Leach, who was let go, Wednesday, following allegations that he mistreated an injured player. On Thursday, he would have been paid $800,000 for completing a portion of his contract.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEYTON AUFILL, LEACH SUPPORTER: I will always be a red raider. But I tell you what, if we had the guts to ever schedule a Mike Leach football team, I hope he beats the living tar out of us every year.

BECKY KOEHLER, RALLY ORGANIZER: I don't plan on renewing my season ticket. I think that's the only way the administration is going to get the message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Wow. Coach Leach says he is being railroaded by Texas Tech officials and boosters. His lawyer promises to sue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: So in addition to waking to a new year, Mr. Wolf, some people I guess are waking up to -- what -- rain? Snow?

(WEATHER REPORT)

BALDWIN: Millions of us, yes, we're waking up this morning and we're facing this New Year, 2010 and maybe the whopping debt some of us racked up over the holiday season, not fun to look at all those numbers racking up.

Personal finance editor, Gerri Willis joins us with an inspirational story of a family -- I read this number and I couldn't believe it Gerri -- a family that paid off a $123,000 debt. My question, of course, is how did they do it?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Yes, hey, there, Brooke.

You know, getting into debt isn't hard to do, especially during the holiday season. But this family was dedicated to paying off their debt. They spent the last five years paying it off, every extra penny going to reducing their balances. And they were determined they wouldn't get into debt over Christmas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIS: Lights, presents, debt. For some it's inevitable after the holiday season, but not for the Hildebrandts. The family we first met last October after they climbed out of a whopping $123,000 of debt.

KANDY HILDEBRANDT, STAYING DEBT-FREE: This beautiful little Victorian I got at a craft store, but on an after Christmas debt, I probably got 65, 70 percent off for her.

WILLIS: This year the Hildebrandts survived holiday shopping debt free. The kids still got stocking stuffers, but Kandy didn't spend more than $30 on each. One tip, thrift store shopping.

How much do you pay for one of this turtle necks?

HILDEBRANDT: The low price going now is about $2.99 or $3.99.

WILLIS: Another way to keep costs down, focusing on family traditions like baking cookies or singing Christmas carols at a local nursing home instead of expensive holiday entertainment.

Just one year ago, Russell Hildebrandt was working a second job as a night janitor, sleeping in his car to save on gas money.

Kandy stretched their dollar with cheap meals. Today they're finishing the last of the hash browns that got them through the worst of it.

The hash browns were part of your strategy for, when you were desperate, really saving money.

K. HILDEBRANDT: Absolutely, this was pretty much a main stay when - you know there wasn't any extra money for grocery so we make hash browns and we had it for breakfast. I would make as a side dish for dinner, as you see, soup, and, yes.

WILLIS: Anyway you could?

K. HILDEBRANDT: Anyway we could.

WILLIS: It's a new age of thrift for the Hildebrandts, a strategy that will be front and center in the New Year.

RUSSELL HILDEBRANDT, STAYING DEBT-FREE: And we're going to go over our year, the things that we want to get and set up putting money away for certain things and staying debt free. That's our number one goal.

K. HILDEBRANDT: There you go, yes.

WILLIS: It took five years for the Hildebrandts to come out of their six-figure debt, but to hear them tell it the real savings is more than dollar and cents.

K. HILDEBRANDT: And we found out you really could do without things. Our quality of life did not decrease, because life became more simple, you know, without all the clutter of the things that we get trapped with.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIS: They are amazing. Not everyone has debt like the Hildebrandts but any level of credit card debt is a drag on family finances. Kandy's strategy for getting out of the credit card debt is to pay off your lowest balance credit card first to get that sense of accomplishment and then that inspires you to pay off other bills -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Just slowly chipping away. I cannot believe he slept in his car. That is dedication, but what a way to ring him in the New Year, burden free, debt free.

WILLIS: Burden free and they are confident about their ability to continue saving money. They bought a house; they're really doing well -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: That's awesome, a great story. Gerri Willis, thank you.

WILLIS: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Putting the brakes on a Russia's growing problem, alcohol abuse. Now the government has a plan to change not only the way people drink but what they're drinking.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: As Americans are looking ahead to the New Year, you may notice we're not exactly all on the same page, even us here at CNN going back and forth over this, at least when it comes to what we're calling the New Year. Have you thought about this?

This new CNN Opinion Research Corporation Poll, shows the majority of you, 69 percent are calling this year "Two Thousand and Ten." Now, compare that to 29 percent who want to say, "Twenty-Ten." Potatoes, potatoes perhaps, but then there are the people who are just being downright diplomatic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's more like tomato, tomato kind of thing. I'll probably say "Twenty Ten." I'm sure 2010 is probably going to climb in my mouth at some point too. So it's either way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You won't going to be saying "Two Thousand and Twenty" you want to say 2020 right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That will be time I guess for yet another poll. And that brings us to today's blog. We are asking you, what will your resolutions be for 2010? I'm going with that, go to CNN.com/Heidi and let us know. I'll be reading some of your resolutions on air next hour. That should be fun.

And we do have a lot going on, on this first day of 2010. Our CNN crews are in place to bring it all to you.

Let's first check in with Chris Lawrence -- Chris.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, big question this morning. How did a man get onto an American base in Afghanistan wearing a suicide vest packed with explosives? He blew himself up and killed seven CIA workers, injured another six more. We're going to be looking and taking a deeper look into that investigation coming up at the top of the hour.

WOLF: And we are ringing in 2010 -- twenty ten sounds better -- with some of the coldest air of the winter season. And we're going to let you know how low those temperatures are going to go and how long it's going to last in just a few moments.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: If you're like most people, you make New Year's resolutions and then you break them. Well, I'm going to be telling you how to make your resolution in 2010 stick. I'll have that at the top of the hour.

BALDWIN: All right, thanks to the three of you. Also football fans on edge perhaps? Will you be able to tune into your favorite bowl game today? Some of you may not. We will update you on the contract battle brewing between Fox and its cable operator.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Vodka anyone? Yes, that is Russia's national drink and apparently it's coming under fire by the Russian government.

You see, a minimum price per bottle goes into effect today, all in an effort to curb excessive drinking and the boom in illegal alcohol brands. And a lot of that illegal vodka is ending up on store shelves for half the price of the real stuff.

Now, the government is putting a minimum price of around $2.80 for just half a liter. CNN's Matthew Chance has more on Russia's drinking problem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Alcoholism touches virtually every family in Russia. It's a massive problem that has now been designated by the country's government as a national disaster. A disaster claiming lives at a staggering rate.

In a recent survey, the "Lancet Medical Journal" found that in the past several years alcohol has been a cause of more than half of all Russian deaths at ages 15 to 54 years. These incredible figures are based on findings from three Russian cities but few doubt they're representative of the whole country, where heavy drinking is a fact of life and where vodka in particular -- the national drink -- is celebrated.

(on camera): The Kremlin says that Russians on average drink about 18 liters of pure alcohol every year each. Now, to give you an idea of what that means, we've lined up all these bottles of vodka, because vodka, remember, is only 40 percent proof. And it amounts to 45 liters of Russian vodka for every man, woman and child in this country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: That's a lot of vodka. Matthew Chance reporting.

By the way, Russia trying to cut that number to just five liters a year by 2020; Russians, though, may just change the way they drink altogether. Reports out of Russia say scientists there have figured out a way to produce vodka in a pill form. A pill form? Wow.

Now just to put this in perspective for you, Russians drink more vodka per year than Americans drink whole milk.

And here's some of our new laws going into effect today. Take you to Illinois first. Illinois, by the way, and New Hampshire and Oregon now ban texting and driving. In Illinois, you also can't talk on your cell phone while driving in a school zone.

North Carolina -- how about this -- North Carolina becoming the latest state to ban smoking in restaurants; that will be tough for some people to take, of course, that being "Tobacco Road."

Also on the books for 2010, a ban on novelty lighters in Nevada and Louisiana. And if you're a teenager, you will now need to take an adult with you when you go to the tanning salon in Texas.