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CIA Vows to Avenge Deaths; Terror Suspect's Sympathizers; Cable Battle

Aired January 01, 2010 - 11:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm old enough to have invented the Cabbage Patch.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Of course you did.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes. Absolutely.

BALDWIN: Can we see it?

HARRIS: You know, I've got a clip that I'm trying to live down already of me and...

BALDWIN: Right. Not trying to put you on "The Daily Show." Sorry.

HARRIS: So my dance life is on full blast already, but thank you for the offer.

BALDWIN: Happy New Year.

HARRIS: Happy New Year, Brooke. Have a great 2010.

BALDWIN: 2010. Thank you.

HARRIS: All right.

What am I saying here? I is it January 1st, 2010? Or is it January 1st 2010? What are you going with?

New year, new decade. Here are the faces of the stories driving the headlines this Friday.

Russell and Kandy Hildebrandt saying hello to 2010 and goodbye to their six-figure debt. We will show you how they did it.

Michael Jackson, a legend lost in 2009. The singer's death and his infinite contribution to American culture.

And today's teens snitching, and why they don't do it even if lives are at risk. Our ongoing series, "Class in Session," returns.

Good morning, everyone, January 1st, 2010. I'm Tony Harris, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

All right, let's get started.

First, the CIA is vowing to strike back for the deaths of seven of its workers in Afghanistan. Reports today suggest the bomber infiltrated the CIA nerve center for Afghanistan.

A number of reports indicate the bomber may have been posing as an informant. If that's the case, former intelligence officers say he probably would not have been searched to build trust.

CNN Pentagon Correspondent Chris Lawrence has more on the tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON 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 serve in the shadows, their names unknown to many Americans. Some analyze intelligence. Others recruit Afghans to the American side. Now seven are dead, six wounded and a U.S. intelligence official is promising revenge. "This attack will be avenged through successful, aggressive counterterrorism operations."

On Wednesday, a single suicide bomber got on to this American base in eastern Afghanistan. A U.S. official described it as a crucial base, where the CIA monitored the Pakistani border, and conducted intelligence operations.

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

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

TOWNSEND: I believe that 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 component.

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 who died and telling others, "Your triumphs and even your names may be unknown to your fellow Americans, but your service is deeply appreciated."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: So this is a base with a watchtower, barbed wire and barricades. The big question is, how did he even get on?

Well, the Taliban says they got an Afghan National Army soldier to put on a suicide vest, and he blew himself up inside the base. There are other reports that he was brought on the base to be recruited as a possible informant. And the Afghan National Army, the Defense Ministry, is saying that no Afghan forces were involved in this attack.

So there's an intensive investigation going on right now. But, Tony, the bottom line is someone with a suicide vest got onto that base, obviously without being searched.

HARRIS: So, Chris, how will this attack, this loss of life impact the CIA?

LAWRENCE: It's been pretty devastating. I mean, this is probably the deadliest attack on the CIA in well over 20 years. They had been building up their forces there in Afghanistan to match that military surge that is ongoing now.

We're told that this hurts because not only is it a personal loss for the officers' families, but you lose their expertise in that part of Afghanistan. But they say as this investigation goes on, they're not going to slow down their operations there.

HARRIS: OK. Our Pentagon correspondent, Chris Lawrence, for us.

Chris, appreciate it. Thank you.

LAWRENCE: You're welcome.

HARRIS: And flags are flying at half-staff at CIA headquarters to honor the slain officers. A rare occurrence for the agency. A former CIA official is calling Wednesday's suicide bombing the greatest loss of life for the agency since the Beirut embassy bombing in 1983.

Signs of progress and peace in Iraq as we enter the new year. Two top U.S. generals assessed the situation there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, U.S. CENTCOM COMMANDER: There has been sustained progress, and that progress has been maintained even after U.S. forces moved out of the cities. That progress continued even as U.S. forces have drawn down now, as you heard me say, to about 110,000. And I am confident that progress will continue over the course of this new year as we reduce our forces further, as Iraqi forces continue to grow in capability and in number.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. RAY ODIERNO, COMMANDING GENERAL, MULTINATIONAL FORCES, IRAQ: December was the first month since the war started that the U.S. had zero battle casualties in the month. We had three non-battle deaths, but we had zero deaths due to combat operations inside of Iraq. And that's a fairly significant milestone for us as we continue to move forward. I think it also speaks to the level of violence and how it's decreased over time. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: In all of 2009, 149 U.S. troops died in Iraq. That's just half the number of troops that died in Afghanistan this year.

Iran's opposition leader says he is willing to die to defend people's right to protest against the government. Mir Hossein Mousavi's comments followed calls by hard-liners for his execution. He said the government's deadly crackdown on protesters will only make their fight stronger.

And new developments in the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound jetliner. Here is what we know right now.

The suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, appears to have had direct contact with a radical Muslim cleric already under scrutiny. That's according to a counterterrorism official. The official provided no details about Abdulmutallab's contact with cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. The cleric had exchanged e-mails with the suspect in the Fort Hood shootings.

And in the wake of the attempted bombing, the Department of Homeland Security is extending permission for hundreds of pilots to carry firearms. Their certification had been set to expire at midnight last night.

Nigerians are shocked and outraged that one of their own is accused of trying to blow up a U.S. airliner.

CNN's Christian Purefoy joining us live now from Kaduna, Nigeria.

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

What is the reaction from the suspect's hometown there in Nigeria?

CHRISTIAN PUREFOY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Tony.

Well, yes, I mean, this is his hometown, it's his neighborhood. Behind me there is his house. And everybody here knew Abdulmutallab, the mosque where he went for prayers until he was about 12. And every time he came back to Nigeria, during his education travels, he would go back to that mosque to worship.

Everybody there is shocked at what he has done. They said he was a quiet man, he was always the first at prayers, always the last to leave. But he never mentioned anything of this sort, never had any contact with any extremist groups. They said he was a very quiet boy.

But having said that, that's not like in Kaduna here he would have been a stranger to religious violence. This city runs along probably the longest religious fault line in the world between a Christian sub-Saharan Africa and a Muslim northern Africa. And the city of Kaduna really sits on that.

And in 2000, religious violence outside the school gates of Abdulmutallab when he was about 12. About a thousand people died in that violence. So, you know, he didn't see -- he may not have seen the violence from the primary schoolteacher we spoke to, but he may very well have been influenced by that.

And also, people here, it's not like they're strangers to what is going on in the rest of the world. Nigeria may be very far from the Middle East, right on the other side of the African continent, but they know exactly what's going on in the Muslim world.

Here's a malam (ph) we spoke to earlier, Tony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PUREFOY (voice-over): "Whatever happens in Iran and Iraq, it's 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, the Muslims here are very well connected with what's going on in the Muslim world, Tony. If anything happens -- for example, the Danish cartoon incident some years ago -- some of the heaviest violence in the world was right here in Nigeria -- Tony.

HARRIS: All right. So, Christian, look, put this into some kind of context for us. Are extremists gaining ground in northern Nigeria?

PUREFOY: Yes. And it has to be said, despite all the violence, almost all of the grievances in the past have been very local, about local politics, and nothing to do with international problems.

Yes, that is brought up and it certainly is taught. Accusations and grievances against the West is taught in the schools here. But when it comes to violence, it's a local problem.

However, whether the extremists are gaining a foothold, certainly above Nigeria, in Mali, a British man was killed by suspected al Qaeda. And in Nigeria itself, there are a lot of sects, and the Nigerian government in the last year has had a massive crackdown on them.

Boko Haram rose up. It's an Islamic sect -- rose up. Nearly a thousand people were killed when they protested against western education.

Again, that's all very local. But the worry is, against this background of religious violence, are we going to see another Abdulmutallab thrown up into the mix?

Tony.

HARRIS: All right.

CNN's Christian Purefoy for us from Kaduna, Nigeria. Christian, appreciate it. Thank you.

This is the best time of year, really, when you think about it, for college football, right? So could a fight over cable fees keep millions of fans from seeing some of the biggest games?

And the man, Reynolds Wolf, is tracking your New Year's Day forecast. And it's still an open question, 2010, 2010.

Reynolds?

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: 2010.

HARRIS: It's a personal choice. We're going with 2010.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: So, can you clearly make that out? All right. It's Raleigh, North Carolina -- does that help a bit? -- welcoming the new year by dropping a giant metal acorn.

There you go. It's an acorn. It's 1,200 pounds of copper and steel and the official symbol of the city.

You know, football fans might not go gameless today. The parent company of the Fox Network and Time Warner Cable are working to resolve a fee dispute, working past the midnight deadline. Both companies have agreed to a short extension while they talk it out.

CNN's Susan Candiotti joining us now from New York.

And Susan, first of all, what might the impact be here on cable customers? It could be significant.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, it sure could. First of all, Happy New Year to everybody.

HARRIS: Yes, Happy New Year.

CANDIOTTI: What impact? Thank you very much, Tony. And how about a giant roasted chestnut falling from -- what city would that be? I'm not sure, but I kind of like that idea too.

HARRIS: Yes.

CANDIOTTI: Well, what's going to happen? What could happen is that you might no longer be able to watch some Fox shows that are very popular, including, let's see, "American Idol." There's "The Simpsons," all that pro football. And so, if the screens go blank, what are you going to have to do? You might have to turn to maybe buying satellite TV in order to get those shows. So it's kind of tough.

It's always about money, Tony, and that's what it's about this time. Fox wants to have Time Warner Cable pay them more money for the right to carry those programs, so they want Time Warner -- they want to charge Time Warner Cable $1 more per subscriber, and Time Warner has 13 million subscribers. And Time Warner is saying, uh-uh, not going to do it.

HARRIS: Yes.

So what happened at midnight? I mentioned we've got an extension here. I thought they were actually going to pull the plug.

CANDIOTTI: Well, so did we. And believe me, we were watching to see what would happen at the midnight hour as the ball was dropping.

We had our eyes tuned to a local Fox television station to see if the screen would go blank. It didn't.

We immediately started to reach out to Fox, and that's when we heard, well, we've got a brief extension going on, but no one said anything else. What does "brief" mean?

HARRIS: Yes, what does that mean?

CANDIOTTI: All we know is that the channels are still on. You know, because it's happening behind closed doors and because no one is getting on the phone to really tell us anything, we're left to wonder, well, they still must be talking. And thank goodness for a lot of people who are hanging on the next several hours to find out what's going to happen next to all these shows, including football.

HARRIS: Yes, well, that's my last question here. What about the football games today?

I mean, we're talking about an extension. Is it an extension? Can we assume that it will be long enough to get folks their Sugar Bowl fix?

CANDIOTTI: Well, isn't that what we all hope? You bet.

HARRIS: Yes.

CANDIOTTI: Even the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has said, hey, guys, let's get it together and let's keep on talking, because you don't want to do that to the millions of football fans who will certainly be tuned in to watch the Sugar Bowl, which is airing tonight between the University of Cincinnati and the University of Florida.

And, in fact, we reached out to some football fans to see, what are they going to do? And we know there are a number of them who are planning any way to go to some local bars if they have to, to watch the game on satellite television to make sure they see it, in case everything falls apart.

HARRIS: OK. And I know you'll be watching. We'll all be watching. Come on, the Sugar Bowl, for goodness sakes.

All right. Susan Candiotti for us in New York.

And again, Happy New Year, Susan.

CANDIOTTI: Same to you.

HARRIS: New year, new goals. Right? Well, tips on getting it done, sticking with it in 2010.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's get you caught up now on our top stories. At least 19 people have died from flooding in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro state. Nine people were injured and many have been left homeless.

Pope Benedict XVI welcomes the new year with a plea -- respect those who are different. The pope urged adults to follow the example of young children. He says they laugh, cry and play the same, no matter their ethnic or cultural differences.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg starting his third term. Today he will deliver his inaugural speech at noon, when aides say he will stress the theme of volunteerism. Instead of an inaugural party, Bloomberg will drop in on folks doing volunteer work in the city's five boroughs.

Over the next week, over 100 million Americans will set new personal goals, resolutions, but experts say three out of four people who make resolutions will eventually break them. A third won't even make it -- are you kidding me? -- to the end of January.

Let's bring in Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

Elizabeth, good to see you.

Are you kidding me? That's a terrible success rate. Barely a success rate at all.

Why are resolutions so hard to keep?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know what, Tony? I think resolutions are so hard to keep because people don't make them in the right way. They just say, "I'm going to lose weight this year."

Well, how realistic is that if you don't come up with an actual strategy for doing that? So the resolution should be the strategy. The resolution should be the individual steps.

So, take a look at this and you'll see exactly what I mean. So, when you make a resolution, if you want to keep it, here's what you need to do. First of all, set small, specific goals. In other words, don't say, "I'm going to lose 50 pounds." Five pounds. That's reasonable. You can keep that, you can get that done. And be specific about what you're looking for.

Also, write it down. Write down, "I will lose five pounds by February 1st." Well, that's probably too soon, but you know what I mean. Write it down, be specific.

And also, spread the word. Tell your family and friends, hey, my New Year's resolution in 2010 is to lose weight. I just want to let you all know that, because you never know, maybe your neighbor has made the same resolution and she'll take a walk with you every night.

So let other people help you. Sometimes it takes a village to keep a New Year's resolution.

HARRIS: Hey, now, so you're telling us that if you want to be successful, you need to set these smaller goals and you need to write them, and you really need to be this specific to get it done.

COHEN: Oh, absolutely, because if you're not specific, it's just never going to happen.

HARRIS: Right. Right.

COHEN: So I've given you -- I've got an example for you. I love examples. I think it's much easier to do something when someone shows you an example.

So here's an example of someone whose resolution is to lose 10 pounds by March 1st. So, they write down that specific goal with a time frame in mind and they say, OK, the way I'm going to do this is I'm not going to eat out on weeknights, I'm going to pack a lunch for work so I don't run out and get junk food. I'm going to walk the dog four times a week. I'm going to eat whole grain bread and drink a glass of water before every meal because that's healthy.

And then look at the bottom there, Tony. They sign it. Annie Maude Scott (ph). I have no idea who that is. I don't know why we picked that name, but you get the picture.

Sign your name, stick that thing up on the fridge, and keep those -- not just the resolutions, but keep to the specific strategies and tactics that you've come up with.

HARRIS: And if you write it down, if you're really specific here, and you sign it, the idea being psychological. You really don't want to disappoint yourself after you've gone through the trouble of doing all of that and being specific. That's got to be part of what's at work here.

Does that make sense?

COHEN: You know what? I do, I agree. I think that is part of what's going on here, is that you've made a contract with yourself. HARRIS: A contract with yourself.

COHEN: And you don't want to break a contract with yourself.

HARRIS: Yes, I like that.

COHEN: Yes. Think of it that way.

HARRIS: All right. Elizabeth, Happy New Year. Good to see you.

COHEN: Happy New Year to you.

HARRIS: Can't wait to spend a lot of time with you in 2010.

And be sure to tune into "HOUSE CALL" this weekend. Elizabeth is hosting the show with a great lineup of experts. The entire focus is helping you develop a game plan to successfully reach your goals in 2010.

Tune in Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: I've got to tell you, getting into debt isn't that hard to do, especially during the holiday season. But Gerri Willis paid a visit to one Wisconsin family who not only managed to dig themselves out of a six-figure debt in less than five years, they have stayed that way. That's why the Hildebrandts are among our "Faces of the Story" today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR (voice-over): 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. Got it on an after-Christmas sale. I probably got 65, 70 percent off of 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.

(on camera): How much do you pay for one of these turtlenecks?

HILDEBRANDT: The low price going now, it's about $299 to $399.

WILLIS (voice-over): 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 are finishing the last of the hash browns that got them through the worst of it.

(on camera): The hash browns were part of your strategy for, we were desperate, really saving money.

HILDEBRANDT: Absolutely. This was pretty much a mainstay when there wasn't any extra money for groceries. And we'd make hash browns. We had it for breakfast, I'd make as a side dish for dinner. As you see, soup and -- yes.

WILLIS: Any way you could.

HILDEBRANDT: Any way we could.

WILLIS (voice-over): 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.

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 dollars and cents.

K. HILDEBRANDT: You know, 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: Amazing story.

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 credit card debt is to pay off your lowest balance credit card first to get a sense of accomplishment, and that you can use to inspire you to pay other credit cards off -- Tony.

HARRIS: I love that story. Thanks for finding that story and bringing it to us. Boy, that's inspirational. There's hope for all of us.

Gerri, Happy New Year to you. Thank you.

WILLIS: Sure is.

HARRIS: Two unforgettable crimes shocked us all in 2009, the beating death of Chicago honors student Derrion Albert and the gang rape of a girl outside a homecoming dance in California. In both cases, there were witnesses who did little or nothing to help police. Nobody willing to snitch.

I spoke to a high school class here in Atlanta about that code of silence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where I live at, and the society that I grew up in, you just can't snitch. Like, it's just out of the question. You just can't do it or you'll get in trouble. You know what I'm saying? And most of the people doing these bad thing, you know them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Next hour, hear the rest of my conversation about snitching with these sharp kids. My series, "Class in Session: The Culture of Not Snitching," coming up at noon Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right, new developments now in the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound jetliner. Here's what we know right now. The suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, appears to have had direct contact with a radical Muslim cleric already under scrutiny.

That's according to a counterterrorism official. The official provided no details about Abdulmutallab's contact with cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. Now the cleric had also exchanged e-mails with the suspect in the Fort Hood shootings.

And in the wake of the attempted bombing, the Department of Homeland Security is extending permission for hundreds of pilots to carry firearms. Their certification had been set to expire at midnight last night.

President Obama is reviewing preliminary reports on the bombing attempt, and what could have been done to prevent it. In the meantime, agencies are taking steps to improve intelligence information, sharing of that information and airport security. Details now from our Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There is no new intelligence indicating an increased threat to aviation, but because this is a heavy holiday travel weekend, security is going to be even more enhanced. There will be more canine detection teams, more federal air marshals and requirements for 100 percent inspection of the passengers coming into the country remain enforce.

In addition the State Department is sending embassies around the world when you send a cable about a suspicious individual, include information on whether they have a visa. This is because cables about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab did not mention the very significant fact that the 23-year-old had a valid multiple entry visa to enter the United States. Experts say the failures exposed by this episode will likely catalyze change.

FRANCES FRAGOS TOWNSEND, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: View this as an opportunity, it is a painful one, but view it as an opportunity to solve some of the things that have been stuck, in either the budget process, the policy process -- get things done.

MESERVE: Communication intercepts of extremists in Yemen in picked up between August and October discussed operations and someone called The Nigerian, and a partial name Umar Farouk. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, Yemen, extremism, all came to the attention of U.S. intelligence again the very next month, when the 23-year-old's father came to the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria, but no one made the connection.

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, FMR. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I am sympathetic to the problem of what we sometimes call intelligence overload. So much information comes in, how do you separate what we call the signal from the rest of the noise? And often, it is very difficult to do.

MESERVE: There were other missed clues, British decision to deny him a visa; Abdulmutallab's cash purchase of a ticket, the fact that he didn't check luggage. Vague warnings about holiday attacks.

(on camera): On New Year's Eve, the director of national intelligence, Dennis Blair, issued a statement to his employees noting the obvious. That it had been an especially challenging week for the intelligence community. He said the president's judgment that there had been intelligence failures was a tough message to receive, but it was time to move forward, to outthink, outwork and defeat the enemy's new ideas.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And many of you have been through airports across the country since Christmas Day. Are you experiencing long delays or security searches? That's our question. It's on the blog.

Pam writes, "Passengers should receive a clear plastic tote bag to put purse, laptop, iPod, medicine, books, et cetera in to take onto planes. Everything else should be checked luggage in my opinion."

And this from Debra. Debra writes, "Coming back from Fort Wayne, Indiana, on Wednesday -- again, no long lines, but they did swab my bag for bomb residue. They didn't even check my boarding pass and I.D. until after I went through the metal detector."

All right, Debra, appreciate it. Thanks for sending that note to our blog. We'd love to hear from you. You can leave your comments on my blog, CNN.com/Tony.

Remembering Michael Jackson. New details on one of the most shocking stories -- you went back to old school -- one of the most shocking stories of 2009.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: I've got to tell you how to take a look back to 2009 and Michael Jackson. Come on. Can we do this? Roll in one of my favorite videos from Michael of all time? Smooth criminal.

(VIDEO CLIP)

Clearly an homage, right, to one of his dancing idols, Fred Astaire. That's what these moments are all about. That's old Fred Astaire. And for me sort of the best melding of music and choreography in a video I've seen.

All right, Michael Jackson's death clearly one of the most shocking stories of 2009. At age 50, he was on the verge of a comeback tour and looking ahead to a smash opening really in London. And then he was gone.

CNN entertainment reporter Kelley Carter joining me to talk about the controversy around his death.

Have we hired you yet, Kelly? We're calling you our entertainment. Have we hired you?

KELLEY CARTER, CELEBRITY ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: I don't know. Are you telling me some good news for the New Year?

HARRIS: It's news to me, but all right, come on board.

Well, Kelly, you covered Michael's death for "USA Today."

CARTER: I did.

HARRIS: What moments stand out for you?

CARTER: There are so many moments, but I think about the memorial itself. It was incredible, because I think it really showed what his impact was and just how many different types of people he touched. He crossed all types of racial and cultural boundaries, and that was really evident at that memorial service.

HARRIS: Yes. What did -- I don't have a lot of questions for you, but I've got a few I'd like you to spend some time with.

CARTER: Sure.

HARRIS: What did Michael's death say, maybe reveal about his life?

CARTER: You know, I think the circumstances surrounding his death, you know, really shows us that he died as eccentrically as he probably lived the last 20 years of his life. And it really kind of gave us a look at something we had no idea that was going on. You know, with the abuse of the drugs, you know. And I think that shocked a lot of fans.

HARRIS: You know, I'm -- I don't know if you are, but I'm certainly troubled by the role that appears this giant entertainment company, AEG, played in Michael's life at the end. I don't want to feed into the conspiracy theories that are out there, but are we clear, are you clear from your reporting on the real fiduciary relationship between AEG and Michael Jackson?

CARTER: Yes, absolutely. AEG essentially financially bailed Michael Jackson out. Doing the concerts in London was to alleviate his debt. You know, he was in the hole about $50 to $60 million, so essentially AEG was actually paying for Michael Jackson to live. They were paying his expenses, they were paying his physician bills and they settled up some legal debts for him. Doing these concerts would have gotten rid of that debt.

So what happened after he died, probably a few days later, you know, Randy Phillips, the CEO of AEG told us at a round table that they wanted to not be a burden to the estate, and that they would be putting out a documentary based on over 100 hours of raw footage that they had. And they have more than settled that debt because it's grossed an excess of $250 million just at the theatrical rhyme.

HARRIS: I'm going to circle back to this in a moment. But 2010, will there in your view be indictments? Will Conrad Murray, in your view, be indicted?

CARTER: I mean, I think that certainly is what the family is hoping for. Just yesterday, Joe Jackson subpoenaed UCLA Hospital to get the medical records, because what they want to do is get some type of foul play in black and white print. And I think that's essentially the setup for some charges to come down in 2010. So I think that we're definitely going to see that happen.

HARRIS: And Kelley, this is it. Let's get back to that for a second. I guess I've seen it three times now. After all the media coverage of his death, really I expected to see kind of a drugged-out walking corpse of a Michael Jackson. Instead, I saw Michael, I saw his process, really the enormity of his talent.

What did you see when you watched it?

CARTER: I saw the same thing. I think we saw the genius that was Michael Jackson. You know, watching "This Is It" really reiterated just how incredible of a performer he was. Because I think, again, the last 20 years so much Michael Jackson news. You know, the headlines were about the legal cases. The headlines were about, you know, his eccentric lifestyle. It wasn't about, you know, the genius of this musician. And so I think you saw that with "This Is It," and it was really incredible.

HARRIS: Well, Kelley Carter, I guess you're hired.

CARTER: Thanks, I'm excited.

HARRIS: All right. Kelley, great to talk to you.

CARTER: Great to talking to you, Tony.

HARRIS: And I look forward to talking to you a lot in 2010. And another musical interlude to start the new year, the unforgettable zombie graveyard dance and "Thriller."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's get you caught up now with our top stories.

A suicide car bomber killed 30 people at a volleyball game in Pakistan today. 52 others were wounded. The attack happened in the northwest territories where al Qaeda and Taliban have a foot hold. The police chief says militants were flushed out in the fall, but have been making threats against the community.

New Hampshire now one of five states that allows gay couples to get married. A new law legalizing same-sex unions went into effect at midnight. Several couples braved the cold, exchanging vows outside the New Hampshire State house in Concord.

A new year's tradition stepping off at Pasadena. Are these live pictures? Tell me these are live pictures.

All right. The annual Rose Parade is making its way down Colorado Boulevard right now. Live pictures. This year's grand marshal is miracle on the Hudson pilot Sully Sullenberger.

We're back in a moment.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And these gentlemen remind us of that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some of these fellows came from as far away as Massachusetts to ride in the parade today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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HARRIS: The CIA is vowing to strike back for the deaths of seven of its workers in Afghanistan. The suicide attack happened at this barren U.S. outpost near the border with Pakistan. Reports today suggest the bomber may have been posing as an informant. CNN has learned two of those killed once worked for the security firm known as Blackwater. It is now known as Z.

CNN executive producer Suzanne Simons authored "Master of War," a book about Blackwater. She is here to put this story into some context for us.

And let me start with the Z, formerly Blackwater angle on this story. For most of us who are not in that life and doing that kind of work, the idea here is that the CIA is here and the private contractor is here.

SUZANNE SIMONS, CNN EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Right.

HARRIS: That company is working here, the CIA is working here.

SIMONS: Right.

HARRIS: But it is clear that in this relationship, they looked at this as a real partnership.

SIMONS: Absolutely. Well, I wrote about that in the book, the relationship between the guys from Blackwater/Z -- whatever you want to call it today -- work with these teams. And these teams are the guys who go out into the worst of it, right?

I mean, they are the ones who need to -- they take the most risk.

HARRIS: Right.

SIMONS: They need to recruit agents. They need to get Intel. They're leading the show. So that means they have to, you know, approach people, they have to take a certain amount of risk in terms of talking to them and trying to explain to them why it would be in their interest to work with them in an environment that is hostile and aggressive. And there's a lot of risk involved.

HARRIS: Well, I got to tell you, I want to turn to some of your reporting on this. You sent me a note yesterday. We talked to Chris Lawrence about this point. The CIA is clearly taking this episode hard.

SIMONS: Yes.

HARRIS: And in your reporting yesterday, you received a letter from a former top official.

SIMONS: Yes.

HARRIS: With the CIA. Share some of that with us.

SIMONS: It's a touching letter, because we saw that statement from the president.

HARRIS: Yes.

SIMONS: We saw the director, they came out with something. But this one is from Rob Richer. He was the associate deputy director of operations.

HARRIS: Yes.

SIMONS: He knew these people. He worked with these people. In some cases, he helped train these people.

HARRIS: Right.

SIMONS: You know, we're talking about a father of three, a mother of three. Rob put out his amazing statement that just said, "Upon return home, they would not wear medals on their chests identifying their service to their country in harm's way. No. They would have would have come home, been thanked by those who led them, by those with whom they serve and then gotten back to the business which makes the Central Intelligence Agency unique."

Which is really -- if you think about all of the losses we have in the military...

HARRIS: Yes.

SIMONS: ...and the bodies are brought home, and there is this incredible outpouring of support for people who have lost loved ones. You don't get that with the agency.

You know, if you were to pass someone on the street, you couldn't acknowledge that you know them.

HARRIS: Right.

SIMONS: You can't grieve with them openly. I talked last night with Jeanine Hayden, who is the wife of former director, Michael Hayden, who ran the agency, who knows a lot about military loss and agency loss. And she said, you know, it's a very different culture in terms of having to grieve a lot on your own. And these families take on enormous sacrifice when they sometimes uproot their entire families and move to different parts of the world. They don't see their spouses for a year at a time. They find out on the news if something has happened. You know, there's no network there to come together to really help them. So the agency has tried to do that.

HARRIS: So, how are they going to deal with this? I mean, I want to do two things here.

I want you to talk to us about some of these people who have lost their lives.

SIMONS: Yes.

HARRIS: I mean, you're talking -- you're talking about officers with families.

SIMONS: Yes.

HARRIS: And then, so how does the CIA deal with something like this?

SIMONS: Well, you know, they haven't had a lot of losses over the years. I mean, 90 people altogether, but not all of those were in the line-of-duty losses.

HARRIS: Yes.

SIMONS: They had four deaths in the last decade that have been in the line-of-duty deaths. And they didn't have any support network built in for a long time. But back in 2001, a bunch of former agency officials came together and said, you know what, we need to do something for these families. The risk is enormous. They give their lives. There's nothing really we can give them back other than our thanks. So they came up with this foundation. And it's called the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation.

I think we have some information on that, as well.

HARRIS: Do we have that? OK.

SIMONS: Yes. They gave $289,000 this year to some 23 students, kids, whose parents had been killed in the line of duty. And they are trying to help these kids get educations and go to school. And so they're asking, you know, if people want to donate or they want to reach out and find a way that they can say thank you, they can always donate to this and help those kids at least get an education. The kids who have given really, you know, the ultimate sacrifice -- their parents.

HARRIS: Terrific reporting. It's -- boy, you've got some great sources who are reaching out to you with this information. And thanks for sharing.

SIMONS: There are a lot of people who care. A lot of people who care.

HARRIS: All right, Suzanne, appreciate it. Good to see you. Happy New Year.

SIMONS: Happy New Year.

HARRIS: New year, new laws. We will take a look at the state's banning texting while driving. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Ah, look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one. Happy New Year!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Nice. Thousands turned out for the so-called Little Apple Ball drop in Manhattan, Kansas, to ring in 2010. And, boy, did those folks -- look at that. They get -- they waved their party flags or what?

A science museum in Virginia welcomes the New Year by raining 11,000 rubber balls on children. And to make it kid friendly, they did it at noon Thursday, not midnight. The museum said it's a fun way to sneak in a lesson on gravity.

And here's what we're working on for the -- I guess that's your story, and you're sticking with it.

Here's what we're working on for the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

New laws in effect today in cities and states across the country. And taking aim at some of our favorite vices, Kara Finnstrom takes a look at some of them.

And no snitching allowed. Atlanta teenagers talks about the code of silence that keeps them from getting involved even when one of their peers is the victim of a violent crime.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Mobile, Alabama, welcomes 2010 with a giant moon pie. People started throwing the treats from Mardi Gras floats in the '50s. The city adopted the moon pie for new years in 2008. If that 600- pound moon pie was real, it would have 4-1/2 million calories?

Really? My goodness.

Texting while driving can be dangerous, but texting while being carjacked turned out to be a smart move for a man in Texas. He was abducted at gunpoint and forced into the trunk of his own car. He was afraid a phone call would make too much noise.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The only thing I can think just maybe you send a text message to my friend, then -- because my friend had most of my information, if they want to meet, he can explain to them.

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HARRIS: The man didn't want to be identified. He was driven to a bank ATM and forced to withdraw money before deputies showed up and arrested the two suspects.

OK. Time for your top of the hour reset. I'm Tony Harris in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It is 9:30 in the evening in Afghanistan where the CIA tries to nail down security lapses that cost seven employees their lives.

It is 7:00 in Israel, where privacy takes a back seat to security for airline passengers.

And across America, the unwritten code of teenage life, I'll take a look at the real-world consequences of no snitching.