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New Airport Screening Rules; U.S. Terror Fears in Yemen; Wall Street's First 2010 Session; Hawaii Cutting Classes

Aired January 04, 2010 - 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: Good morning, Heidi.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, good morning, guys. And good morning to you, everyone. Here's what we're working on for the CNN NEWSROOM right now.

It's a new year. It's also a new era for airport security. We'll take a look at what's happening for airline passengers and what they will face beginning today with that new screening by the TSA.

And also frigid temperatures, they reach down to the Deep South, and boy, are we feeling it right here in Georgia as well. It is nasty out there. We'll talk about the rest of the weather across the entire nation.

And also, a full-court press. Two NBA players reportedly pull guns on each other in a locker room showdown over gambling debts. Today one superstar meets with police.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Today is Monday, January 4th. And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We begin this hour with rising fears over terrorism, both here and abroad. The White House says al Qaeda in Yemen is planning attacks against U.S. targets there, so for the second straight day the U.S. embassy is shut down in Yemen's capital. The British and French embassies are also close because of the security threat.

And heightened concerns of a terror attack will be obvious at airports around the world. Beginning today international travelers bound for the U.S. will face tighter screening.

Let's begin with today's snew screening rules. Give you a look at what they mean. CNN homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve is in Washington for us this morning to help us break it down.

Hi there, Jeanne. What are people going to be seeing?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, as of now, all passengers on flight heading into the United States will be subject to random screening, not the mandatory intensive screening that has been in place since Christmas day.

But those flying in from certain countries or with passports from those countries will be required to go through enhanced screening. That could include full-body pat-downs, carry-on bag searches, full- body scannings and explosive detection swabs. This according to a new security directive issued by the Transportation Security Administration and now in effect.

The countries include those that are officially listed by the State Department as sponsoring terrorism. That includes Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria. A list of another 10 countries of interest was developed by the State Department, Department of Homeland Security and intelligence agencies. It includes Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen.

A senior State Department official says those countries were chosen because of concerns particularly about al Qaeda affiliates. The directive also gives pilot on all inbound flights the discretion to prevent passengers from keeping pillows and blankets on their laps and to limit movement in the cabin.

The directive does not have an expiration date. It is intended to be, as the TSA puts it, sustainable and long-term.

However, Heidi, it could be modified. It all depends on what new intelligence comes in.

COLLINS: Yes. Yes. Understood. All right, well, meanwhile, of course, administration officials are still continuing to talk about the attempted Christmas day attack.

Do you have the latest for us on the investigation?

MESERVE: The president's top counterterrorism adviser John Brennan fanned out across the talk shows yesterday and said although there were lapses and errors in sharing intelligence, there was no smoking gun. And he rejected comparisons to the failures of communication before 9/11.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BRENNAN, ASST. TO THE PRESIDENT FOR HOMELAND SECURITY: It's not like 9/11. There was no indication that any of these agencies and departments were intentionally holding back information. And I can point to millions...

GLORIA BORGER, CNN ANCHOR: No turf battles?

BRENNAN: No turf battles. There were lapses, there were human errors, the system didn't work the way it should have. But no agency was trying to...

BORGER: Sloppiness?

BRENNAN: I think there were human errors and lapses and so what I'm going to do is to make sure they tell the president exactly what I think went wrong, but there wasn't an effort to try to conceal information.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MESERVE: President Obama will meet with his top homeland security and intelligence top advisers at the White House tomorrow to discuss the shortcomings that allowed Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to board an aircraft and very nearly bring it down. Heidi?

COLLINS: Yes, all right, Jeanne Meserve, our homeland security correspondent. Thank you, Jeanne.

At the airport in Newark, New Jersey, a man bypassed security and created six hours of travel delays. The man walked through the wrong side of a security checkpoint and that temporarily grounded some flights and authorities closed down the terminal to search for the man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody inside there is waiting because they took everybody off the planes, everybody outside of security. They've got to go back through security. Every single person in the airport has to go back through and do a security check so we can get on our planes and get out of here.

It makes me feel like what the heck is going on with people nowadays? I mean I don't know what to expect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Authorities did find the man -- never did, pardon me, find the man in question, but they said the terminal was searched thoroughly to make sure nothing dangerous was left inside the terminal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRENNAN I spoke with our ambassador in Yemen, Ambassador Seche, both this morning as well as last night, and there are indications that al Qaeda is planning to carry out an attack against target inside of Sana'a, possibly our embassy, and what we do is to take every measure possible to ensure the safety of our diplomats and citizens abroad.

So the decision was made to close the embassy. We're working closely with the Yemeni government on taking the proper security precautions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Looking for safety in what has become an al Qaeda stronghold. Yemen is drawing more and more U.S. attention now. President Obama has addressed the rising threat and his top military region in the region visited the country over the weekend.

CNN's Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon this morning with the latest.

Good morning to you, Barbara. BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you, Heidi.

For 2010, here's the new bottom line in the war on terror. Yemen, al Qaeda in Yemen is an organization that can reach out and touch the United States. That is a major reason General David Petraeus went to Yemen over the weekend, met with President Saleh there, took both messages and, we are told, pieces of information -- that's a direct quote -- from a senior U.S. official.

Pieces of information to President Obama to President Saleh. The bottom line they are talking about targeting the al Qaeda in Yemen. Where they are. Where they are hiding out. And what to do about them. General Petraeus makes a very rare open remarks about Yemen over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, U.S. CENTCOM COMMANDER: It's a country that has a lot of challenges. The Hawthis in the north, some southern secessionists in the south. The reduction in oil production, although gas is going up, thankfully. But a huge bulge.

Many of the challenges of countries that are in the process of development, rugged terrain, tribal areas and so forth. And so very important, indeed, that Yemen has taken the actions that it has, and indeed that not just the United States, but countries in the region, its neighbors and so forth have provided significant assistance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: So what comes next, Heidi? Yemen has taken some actions. There will now be more sharing of intelligence, more targeting information, more training and equipping of Yemeni security forces to help them go after al Qaeda. But this is a country that's had a spotty record in cooperating with the United States...

COLLINS: Yes.

STARR: ... in the hunt for terrorists, so there's going to be a lot of caution, but a lot of urgency at the same time about moving ahead -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, at least some of the administration officials that we've spoken with say that they need the help by way of training and everything. But what is the overall Yemeni response now to this?

STARR: Well, the -- you know, the Yemenis have acknowledged that they are moving their forces into the areas where they believe the al Qaeda is hiding. And they say that they've, you know, seen the way ahead here by all indications, and that they are really in this fight now because of the threat posed when you see these direct threats against targets, embassies, targets in the capital city of Sana'a.

This is something, we are told, has caught the president of Yemen's attention and he is beginning to believe his own country is now at risk. Heidi?

COLLINS: Interesting. All right, our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, this morning. Thanks, Barbara.

Remember the U.S. embassy in Yemen has been targeted before. In September of 2008, militants dressed as soldiers detonated two car bombs there. One American was among the 10 people killed.

And in 2000, 17 U.S. sailors died when suicide bombers in a small craft struck the USS Cole. Osama bin Laden is believed to have been involved in that attack. In fact, Yemen is the ancestral homeland of the al Qaeda leader.

Yemen is a poor, decentralized and predominantly Muslim country on the Iranian peninsula. It has a population of 22 million and is the size of California and Pennsylvania combined.

In Afghanistan, America's first combat casualties of the new year. A roadside bomb killed four U.S. soldiers in a southern region. NATO has not given any more details on the attack.

Elsewhere, British forces had their first combat death of the year from a blast in Afghanistan's Helmann Province.

In Iraq now, two people are dead in a pair of roadside blasts. The bombs hit a police patrol in Kirkuk and both of the dead men are officers. The blast happened early this morning within just minutes of each other. Five other people were hurt.

Wall Street set to open its first session of 2010. Later this hour, January was a weak month in both 2008 and 2009. The question is will things get off to a better start this year.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And January, certainly, is starting off as a cold month. Good morning, I'm meteorologist Rob Marciano. 2010, the coldest start in years, in some cases, decades, and more cold air is on the way.

We'll run it down. Weather is next so stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: It is a deep freeze and a lot of us are feeling it this morning. I don't want to wimp out, but you cannot believe how cold it is down here. And crazy cold temperatures across much of the country, in fact, today.

Here's what it looked like in Buffalo, New York. The snow, obviously, just wouldn't stop. If you were watching football you saw it there yesterday, too. That area of upstate New York got as much as 30 inches.

Emergency services and towing companies were busy, of course, helping people all weekend, but we have not heard any reports of injuries as of yet. In Providence, Rhode Island, well, it meant a chance for kids to play. For most parents, it meant breaking out the shovels and digging deep. I mean real deep. They got slammed with about seven inches there.

Rob Marciano is standing by now to talk a little bit more about this. Because we have some record-low temperatures in the Midwest, actually, that they've seen much colder temperatures, but not this time of year. Is that right?

MARCIANO: The beginning of 2010 is starting off as one of the coldest. It's going to be ongoing throughout the first week and into the second week. And that's probably story with this.

(WEATHER REPORT

COLLINS: Yikes. And you know, I'm glad you brought it up because nobody thinks about the alligators in these situations.

MARCIANO: You know, they do stuff when it gets chilly so.

COLLINS: That's right.

MARCIANO: Bring -- you know, bring a nice little alligator sweater out to your neighborhood.

COLLINS: Do they make those? All right, Rob, we'll check with you a little later on. Thanks.

In 15 minutes or so, Wall Street opens its first session of the year and not to put too much pressure on it, but these early sessions could set the tone for the rest of the day.

Our Christine Romans is joining us now live from New York with more on this.

Hi there, Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there. We have...

COLLINS: Happy new year.

ROMANS: Happy new year to you. Boy, don't we all wish it'll be a happy new year in the stock market, right?

COLLINS: Yes.

ROMANS: You're right that this is the time of the year when the stock market prognosticators and stock market junkies like to try to forecast out for the rest of the year. So a little bit like forecasting the weather for the whole year to bring in Rob. I mean it's -- you can look at clues, you can look at historical patterns and try and figure out what it's going to mean.

And there's something that's called the January effect or as goes January so goes the year. And it -- you know, it usually works. Last year it didn't work because last year was such an uncommon year. But usually when January is up the Dow rises for the rest of the year, and when January is down the gain is barely there. It means it's not necessarily a good year. Last year you had a down January but a really big up-year. But I think, Heidi, 2009 is going to go down in the record books as the one that historians study and look back on as sort of the benchmark year that defied all logic...

COLLINS: Yes. Absolutely.

ROMANS: And was really the out liar.

COLLINS: Yes, no question. In fact, those people are already calling the last decade the lost decade. Any reason to think this early on, four days into the new year...

ROMANS: Yes.

COLLINS: ... that this year could be better?

ROMANS: Well, you know, And I've been calling it the awful lost (ph). You know? If you have a grandfather or grandmother who had survived the Great Depression, look at those first years -- the last century, the lost.

I mean they were terrible. I mean look at -- look at the S&P, the Dow, the NASDAQ over the last 10 years. The S&P just in price alone lost 24 percent. The Dow lost 8 percent. The NASDAQ lost 44 percent. And they compare that, Heidi, to the 1990s. The 1980s were really good, too. But look at the 1990s.

The S&P was up 316 percent over the '90s. The Dow was up 400 percent. The NASDAQ was up 794 percent over the '90s. So Heidi, if you are a young person, say, you're in your mid to late 30s and you've only been investing for 10 years -- if you just look at your stock portfolio, if you are heavily invested in the S&P 500, you're actually negative, even when you add in dividends and interest and returns, you are negative.

That has never happened before.

COLLINS: Yes.

ROMANS: And if you're older or, say, you were in your 40s and early 50s over the last 10 years, and you were still pretty aggressively in stocks, you really got hit hard, too. You don't have much time to recover.

COLLINS: OK.

ROMANS: So there are older and younger investors who really got slammed over the past 10 years. The awful lost decade some people are calling it.

COLLINS: Yes. Yes. Well, we'll be watching obviously and really keeping our fingers crossed for 2010 in all regards.

ROMANS: Yes.

COLLINS: Christine Romans, thank you.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

COLLINS: Kids in Hawaii about to get a lot of extra playing time, and they can thank their home state for it. We'll tell you why many people think the shortest school year in the nation is a really bad idea.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Checking our top stories now.

The Iraqi government is going after any employees of the former Blackwater Company who are still in the country. Officials there are angry a U.S. judge threw out charges against five Blackwater security guards last week. The men were accused of slaughtering 17 Iraqis back in 2007.

Today's Iraq's prime minister vowed to see those men punished. The country is planning a lawsuit in the case.

And Olympic snowboarding hopeful Kevin Pierce is in critical condition. He suffered a severe brain injury on Thursday while training for this week's qualifying event. The 22-year-old's spokeswoman says Pierce was completing a twisting double back flip when he caught his toe and landed on his head. She said he was wearing a helmet during the accident.

Starting today, people flying into the U.S. have to go through more security. Any of them could be picked for new random screenings. The Transportation Security Administration has a list of the 14 so- called terror linked nations. Anyone flying from or through one of them will have to go through mandatory screenings.

And that brings us to today's blog question. We want to know about what you think about it. We want to know if you, in fact, think that these new TSA guidelines regulations will actually help. Do you even feel safer knowing that they are in place?

Go ahead and go to CNN.com/heidi. And you can see more of the story there on the new TSA rules and post your comments, tell us what you think. I'll read some of them a little bit later on right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A quick break now. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: President Obama will be back in the White House today returning from a Hawaiian vacation that turned into a working holiday. The president and his family left his home state last night after seeing a movie.

His time away from the office was interrupted by news of the failed Christmas day bombing and the seven CIA officers killed last week in Afghanistan, too. And just yesterday the U.S. embassy in Yemen was shut down because of terrorist threats.

Children in school in Hawaii also getting extra time off. The state is scrubbing 17 days from the school calendar because of the budget crisis.

Our senior White House correspondent, Ed Henry, tells us while many kids think it's a cause to celebrate, they are the ones with the most to lose.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like many 9-year-olds, Hunter Gentry loves his scooter and is very creative.

HUNTER GENTRY, 9-YEAR-OLD STUDENT: Hi. My name is Hunter Gentry, and I'm a chef and a baker.

HENRY: This young Hawaiian has already started his own cooking show on YouTube, hoping to make it big on "Top Chef" some day. But Hunter also has bilateral hearing loss, which makes it hard to hear S's and T's at the end of words. Two hearing aides help and so does special classes at school.

But that's been distracted by Furlough Fridays, a drastic measure by Hawaii to cut more 17 more class days, resulting in the shortest school year in the nation, to deal with the budget hole.

LELA GENTRY, HUNTER'S MOTHER: When he's missing Friday, he's missing not only his regular school day like everybody else, but he's missing his one-on-one resource time with his teacher.

HENRY: Lela works as a makeup and wardrobe stylist and her husband is a freelance photographer. So they can often work with Hunter at home on Fridays. But she knows other families have daycare issues and she has a second child on the way.

L. GENTRY: My time is going to run thin.

HENRY: U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is pushing for the nation to adopt an all-year round curriculum so he's angry this state is going in the opposite direction.

ARNE DUNCAN, EDUCATION SECRETARY: Everyone is having to make really tough choices. But we desperately need more time, not less. When Hawaii said their answer to this tough fiscal problem was to eliminate 17 days of school, 10 percent of the school year, no one else has proposed that kind of answer. There has to be a better way.

HENRY: But last week's Hawaii's Republican Linda Lingle rejected a move by the teachers union and state education officials to restore seven days to the public schools' calendar.

H. GENTRY: I need the day off.

HENRY (on camera): So it's not so bad for you. L. GENTRY: Yes.

H. GENTRY: No. It's like...

L. GENTRY: He's honest.

(CROSSTALK)

HENRY: I need a day off.

(Voice-over): Mom worries that while the politicians slug it out, the testing scores of her son and others will suffer come spring.

L. GENTRY: The biggest person that's, you know, being hurt are the students and I think, you know, when it comes to education, it should never be touched and never be cut back.

HENRY (on camera): With so many states cash-strapped right now, others across the nation may start following a Friday furlough model. But Lela Gentry told us she hopes they resist that temptation and find other places to cut.

Ed Henry, CNN, Honolulu.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: More than one week after the violent protests in Iran, more images are coming from that deadly now. And the opposition movement is finding some solidarity in the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: For Wall Street, the last 10 years were abysmal. In fact, by some measures it was the worse decade in the history of the stock market. But today it's a new beginning.

For a look at what to expect, let's head over to Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange now as we hear that opening bell on a Monday and a new year.

Hi there, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A new year, new optimism. Heidi, it's the first trading day of 2010. We're expecting a higher open.

COLLINS: Ouch.

LISOVICZ: That's a noise maker left from the folks of Korbel which...

COLLINS: I like them.

LISOVICZ: ... makes champagne and they rang the closing bell on New Year's Eve. And the rally that we're seeing in the first few seconds of trading follows the rally overseas. New data shows China's manufacturing sector expanded in December as the fastest rate in nearly two years.

At the top of the hour, we're expecting to learn that manufacturing here at home is picking up as well. One reason why, General Motors is selling plenty of cars in China. The automaker's Chinese sales hit a record high of nearly two million vehicles last year. Just like here, the Chinese were encouraged by tax incentives. GM expects this year to be even stronger.

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke went on the defense. Speaking at (INAUDIBLE) yesterday he said low interest rates in the early part of the last decade were appropriate at the time and not the main cause of the housing bubble. Bernanke said regulation would have been a better way to limit the boom.

Well, I don't know if it's a boom, but we're seeing the Dow Industrials add to last year's impressive gains. Right now up, better than half a percent. The NASDAQ is up 1 percent. The broader S&P is up 2/3 of a percent.

And Christine mentioned earlier, Heidi, we watch how stocks perform in January. The "Stock Trading Almanac" says the first month of the year is 91 percent accurate in how the broader market performs for the rest of the year.

COLLINS: Wow. Yes.

LISOVICZ: The so-called January effect, so let the bull run -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. No question about it. All right, we'll be keeping closely and keeping our eye on that, clearly.

LISOVICZ: See you in a little bit.

COLLINS: Susan Lisovicz, thank you.

Three embassies closed in Yemen. All because of what officials call credible terror threats.

Our Samantha Hayes takes a closer look at a small country with a huge problem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAMANTHA HAYES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula where the Red Sea meets the Indian Ocean is Yemen. That's where a strike just last month killed three al Qaeda members suspected of targeting the U.S. embassy for attack.

CNN has learned a fourth was captured with his suicide vest on, according to a senior U.S. military official. Now the U.S. and British embassies have been closed because of continued threats in the area.

JOHN BRENNAN, ASST. TO THE PRESIDENT FOR HOMELAND SECURITY: There are indications that al Qaeda is planning to carry out an attack against a target inside of Sana'a, possibly our embassy.

HAYES: Saturday, General David Petraeus visited Yemen to coordinate increased counterterrorism aide, while President Barack Obama in his weekly address tied al Qaeda operatives in Yemen to an attempted bombing of a Northwest jet Christmas day.

Brennan says the suspect, the 23-year-old Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, reached out to al Qaeda and received training at one of the camp's hit in a December strike, but a lack of coordination among U.S. government agencies failed to keep him off the plane.

BRENNAN: There is no smoking gun piece of intelligence out there that said he was a terrorists and he was going to carry out this attack against that aircraft. We had bits and pieces of information.

HAYES: But information about underwear bombs like the one used on the Northwest flight, was already known, according to Fran Townsend, CNN contributor and former homeland security adviser to George Bush.

FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: John Brennan this morning said that he did get a brief on the underwear bomb from Prince Mohamed bin Nayef, the head of the Saudi security service.

HAYES: Senator Joe Lieberman says former al Qaeda prisoners once held at the Guantanamo Bay prison may also be to blame.

SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN (I), CONNECTICUT: One of the shocking facts about al Qaeda in Yemen is that some of its leaders are people that we had previously captured and were holding at Guantanamo. We released them back to the Saudis for rehabilitation, they were sent back to Yemen.

HAYES: Six more Yemeni detainees are scheduled to be sent back to Yemen, although Brennan refused to say when.

(On camera): As for the U.S. and British embassies in Yemen, there is no word yet on when they will open again.

Samantha Hayes, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Lots of people going back to work this week after the holidays, and that of course includes Congress. Both the Senate and the House are back in session tomorrow. The two chambers still have to work out the differences in that health care reform bill. Remember?

Both would tax higher income households but in different ways. Under the Senate's version, people making more than $200,000 and couples making more than $250,000 would pay another 0.9 percent in Medicare payroll taxes.

Now under the House's version, people making more than $500,000 and couples making more than $1 million will get a 5.4 percent surtax on their adjusted gross income.

About 100 people gathered just outside the White House yesterday to protest against Iran's government. It demanded human rights and democracy and free press for Iran. The group said they want President Obama to take action to end the violence there.

A lot of those protesters talked about how they are watching to see any amateur video that comes out of Iran.

Our Reza Sayah is at our Iran desk now this morning with the newest pictures from there.

We've seen a lot of them, Reza. Good morning.

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Two new items to show you here at the Iran desk. First off, a brand-new amateur video clip posted online. Let's go and take a look at it. Now remember, some of these video clips are being posted a week after the demonstrations because the government has either blocked Internet access or dramatically slowed it down.

This piece of video reportedly from last Sunday shows a protester climbing up a light post and ripping down a banner bearing the picture of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini.

These types of pictures really drive home how intense things have gotten now. Rarely have we aired comments from the protesters themselves because of the media crackdown in Iran, and also because, frankly, a lot of these people are scared. They are convinced Iranian intelligence agents are watching them, listening to them.

But on Sunday night we managed to tape-record a phone conversation with a protester in Iran. To protect his identity, we'll call him Hesam. He is a 28-year-old university researcher. With everybody dying during these protests, with the arrest without charges, we asked Hesam if he's afraid and why he continues to protest this fight to crackdown.

Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HESAM, PROTESTER IN IRAN: I am afraid but I don't have any chance. It's not a good way just to sit at home and just nothing -- do nothing. So I want to change the condition, if I want to have a vigil life, I have to do that. Yes, maybe it's dangerous conditions, maybe I will be attacked. Maybe I will be shot, maybe I will be killed, maybe I'll be arrested. All of them could happen, but I myself, I do my job.

SAYAH: Hesam, what do you and your fellow protesters want from the demonstrations? What will make you say, OK, I am not going to protest anymore, I am satisfied?

HESAM: I think we need a democracy based on our conscience. Democracy, (INAUDIBLE), and all of the main political (INAUDIBLE). Freedom of speech, and respecting the civil rights, respecting, for example, the human rights for minorities, and everything that is completely common and universal in democracy -- most of the democracy in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAYAH: Based on everything we've seen, this opposition movement is made up of different groups from different social classes, but what's remarkable, there is a united call from them for democracy, for a freer, more open society, and a more representative government -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Well, we know that you're watching those videos. Let us know if we need to come back and take a look at more of them.

Reza Sayah from our Iran desk this morning. Thanks, Reza.

Dubai sets its sights big. The world's tallest building will open there today. It's 160 stories tall and has enough windows to cover 17 football fields. There's a luxury hotel, apartments and offices inside. The final price tag? $1.5 billion.

Bundle up and crank up the heat. We are talking about serious cold out there. So how low will it go? We'll tell you coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Checking our top stories right now.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai hoping the second time is the charm after a whopping 17 of its 24 Cabinet nominees were rejected by parliament. A U.N. spokesman says he's been asked to submit a new Cabinet within days. Karzai says he expects more women in all levels of government by the end of the confirmation process.

Texas Tech Red Raiders won their bowl game without the head coach who led them there. They beat Michigan State 41-31 in Alamo Bowl on Saturday. Mike Leach was fired as head coach on Wednesday following allegations he mistreated a hurt player. Defensive coordinator, Ruffin McNeil took over as interim head coach.

And how about a holiday bowl in the heart of the desert. We'll talk to a legendary football coach who took part in a salute to the troops in the Persian Gulf.

Seventy-five people are dead from flooding and mudslides in Brazil. These are some aerial pictures now of the damage there. Dozens of people were killed when a large part of a mountain collapsed and slid into an upscale resort in Rio de Janeiro.

Three days of torrential rains triggered the flooding. Hundreds of people are now homeless.

Rob Marciano joining us now with more of the weather picture. Certainly across the U.S., it seems like almost anywhere you are it's darn cold out there.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you have to go either to the desert southwest or the southern California, those are the only real spots where we see any sort of reprieve from this cold air.

We describe it two ways. Cold and colder. Or, in the case of the upper Midwest, frigid. Temperatures there yesterday minus 37 below -- that's redundant. Thirty-seven degrees below. That's a record for international falls. So it'll get up maybe above freezing today but another reinforced shot of cold there is expected to come their way.

As far as snowfall totals. We show you some lake effect snowfall totals last hour. I want to show you these totals because this is just from the wrap around moisture from the storm that headed off the east coast.

Burlington, Vermont, 33 inches. Almost three feet of snow there. Wasting powder across northern New England is definitely a rare event. And enjoy, winds will be less today so good day to get out there and enjoy the slopes. Boston seeing 11 inches of snow.

All right, we mention this cold air that's driving down to the south. It's getting all the way down into south Florida. We do have freeze warnings that are posted. And now, with dangerously cold air coming in behind this, figure Wednesday into Thursday, when this next batch of Arctic air is going to drive down to the south.

And we will see temperatures that will be, in many cases, well over 20 degrees below for their average. And in some cases, up to 30 degrees below their average and that will keep us in the deep freeze, I think, right through the weekend, it looks like.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MARCIANO: Stay warm, Heidi. I know you suffered on your way in here this morning.

COLLINS: I'm such a wimp now. I don't know what happened. I just don't even have the right jacket at all in my life so.

MARCIANO: It happens.

COLLINS: Yes. All right.

MARCIANO: I was a little chilly, too. You're not alone.

COLLINS: Yes, OK. All right. I'll check back later. Thank you, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right. See you. COLLINS: A bitter custody battle now becomes a criminal case. At the center of it, a 7-year-old girl. But swirling around the impassioned debate, two mothers, same-sex marriage, and newfound Christian beliefs that may make any compromise impossible.

CNN's Mary Snow explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The bitter custody battle stems back to Vermont where Janet Jenkins and Lisa Miller were married in a civil union in 2000. Miller then became pregnant with their daughter Isabella through artificial insemination.

But by 2003, the couple split. Vermont ordered shared custody but Miller took the child to Virginia where same-sex unions aren't recognized. She became an evangelical Christian and denounced her homosexuality.

In 2005, both women spoke to CNN.

***0945

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The bitter custody battle stems back to Vermont where Janet Jenkins and Lisa Miller were married in a civil union in 2000. Miller then became pregnant with her daughter, Isabel through artificial insemination. But by 2003, the couple split.

Vermont ordered shared custody but Miller took the child to Virginia where same-sex unions aren't recognized, she became an Evangelical Christian and denounced her homosexuality. In 2005, both women spoke to CNN.

LISA MILLER, MOTHER IN CUSTODY BATTLE: I wanted a clean straight and the only way I could do that was to totally sever ties where there would be no ties.

JANET JENKINS, MOTHER IN CUSTODY BATTLE: This would not be happening if it was a heterosexual marriage with the divorce in custody.

SNOW: There were years of court battles, ultimately the Supreme Courts of both states recognize Vermont's ruling that Jenkins is an equal parent and deserves visitation rights. The decision, say legal experts, sends a clear message.

CATHERINE ROSS, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL: It now makes very clear in a very visible way that same-sex parents are like other parents, that children have a right to the parents who have raised them.

SNOW: In December, a family court judge in Vermont found Miller in contempt of court for not allowing Jenkins visitation rights. He ordered Miller to transfer custody of Isabela, now seven, to Jenkins and noted that Miller's whereabouts were unknown.

The hand over was set to take place at 1:00 p.m. at this home in Falls Church, Virginia but nothing happened and Jenkins has now reached out to police.

We reached one of her attorneys by phone.

JENNIFER LEVI, LAWYER FOR JANET JENKINS: This is a really tragic case. I think that Janet is really appealing to the public at this point to help find her daughter, she is worried, very worried about her safety.

SNOW: We reached out to attorneys for Lisa Miller but did not receive a response. We were told Miller's attorneys were on vacation.

But the Family Foundation of Virginia, a conservative group working to ban same-sex marriage has supported Miller's cause and had this reaction to her failure to hand over her daughter.

VICTORIA COBB, VIRGINIA FAMILY FOUNDATION: This is not the first time in a custody case where we've seen someone disappear with their child in trying to protect them from what they know they feel is not a good situation.

SNOW (on camera): Legal experts we spoke with say, it's likely a Vermont judge will issue another contempt order. And that Lisa Miller could face jail time.

Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We hear about how some athletes like to carry weapons for protection. Well, packing heat in a team's locker rooms; those allegations are a whole new ball game.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Five Americans are now officially charged in Pakistan under the country's antiterrorism act.

Arwa Damon is following this for us and she's standing by there live in Islamabad. Good morning to you -- Arwa.

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

And those five have now been transferred from police custody into jail following today's court proceedings. The police are pressing charges against them of meeting and communicating with banned militant groups, which, if found guilty, could see them face life in prison.

Now, these are five American nationals, dual nationals; two Pakistani-Americans and three of African origin who all came to Pakistan in December where they were detained. This is after they went missing in November from Virginia. Now, the police have been following them ever since their arrival in Pakistan because they were originally tipped-off by the FBI. Police say that they have evidence, things like maps of sensitive sites, an e-mail trail, as well as various Jihadi literature that indicate that these five were planning on carrying out a terrorist attack.

Initially the five said that they were here to attend a wedding, but now they are saying that they intended to travel to Afghanistan -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Wow. Arwa, what was their demeanor? What were they saying in court?

DAMON: Well, you know, Heidi, their demeanor was described as being confident, that they appeared at ease. We saw a photograph from today's proceedings taken outside the courtroom where they appeared to be laughing, looking very relaxed.

Now, in court they did say that they wanted to travel to Afghanistan for Jihad. That they wanted to physically and financially help out their fellow Muslims because they felt pained by the acts of violence that they say were being committed against Muslims in Afghanistan.

They were adamant that they had no plan whatsoever to carry out an act of terror on Pakistani soil. And they were also emphasizing the fact that they were traveling to Afghanistan for Jihad and that Jihad does not mean terrorism -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Arwa Damon, live for us in Islamabad, thanks, Arwa.

We do have a lot going on this morning. Our CNN crews are in place to bring you all of the details.

Let's check in first with CNN international security correspondent, Paula Newton in Dubai. Paula good morning.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, good morning.

The embassies in Yemen remain closed. The U.S. embassy, the British embassy, I'll tell you the threats that are behind that. I'll have that next for you in the hour.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, I'm meteorologist Rob Marciano in the CNN's Severe Weather Center. We are experiencing the coldest air of the decade. It's only four days old but it's cold and going to get even colder. We'll talk about that in the next hour.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Elizabeth Cohen in Boston. Why are some children more likely to get autism than other children? Well, it might have something to do with whether or not mom and dad went to college. I'll have more on that at the top of the hour.

COLLINS: All right, thanks, everybody.

Also ahead, a football game in the heart of the Persian Gulf. We'll talk to one of the legendary coaches who took part in a "Salute to the Troops' Bowl" game. Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Washington Wizards' player Gilbert Arenas says he exercised bad judgment by bringing guns into the team's locker room. This morning he'll have to tell it to the police. He's expected to meet with them today over allegations he and a teammate pulled guns on each other over a gambling debt.

Susan Candiotti has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas is a 3-time NBA All Star but his alleged locker room gun antics could get him into serious foul trouble legally.

GILBERT ARENAS, WASHINGTON WIZARDS PLAYER: I'm a jokester, you know. Nothing in my life is actually serious.

CANDIOTTI: But it's no joke. The D.C. police, U.S. attorney's office, and National Basketball Association all say they're investigating. The "New York Post" reports Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton allegedly drew guns on each other in the locker room December 21st over a card playing gambling debt.

ARENAS: I can't, you know, speak on that. But you know, if you've known me, you've been here, I never did anything violent. Anything I do is funny -- well, it's funny to me.

CANDIOTTI: Team owners say Arenas kept unloaded weapons in his locker with no ammo; a practice they called dangerous and disappointing. Quote, "Guns have absolutely no place in a workplace environment and we will take further steps to ensure this never happens again."

ARENAS: I agree. That's bad judgment on my part storing them here. And I take responsibility for that.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): When players are working there's a great deal of security, but away from the spotlight, it's a whole new ball game.

(voice-over): Some professional athletes own or carry guns saying they consider themselves potential targets and need protection; protection from attacks like that suffered by Washington Redskins defensive back Sean Taylor who was murdered in his Miami home during a robbery. But carrying a gun can be costly, even for a celebrity.

Ex-New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress is serving a two-year prison sentence for illegal possession of a gun after accidentally shooting himself in the leg at a nightclub.

Megastars like Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal create fan frenzy when they hit the court. And post-game fans get up close and personal with their heroes.

Shaq, who works with police in his spare time, declined to talk about the Arenas incident.

SHAQUILLE O'NEAL, BASKETBALL PLAYER: No, no. I can't talk about that.

CANDIOTTI: Neither did LeBron James but he did talk about security in general.

LEBRON JAMES, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS PLAYER: I live in Akron, Ohio, which is my hometown, so I don't need security.

CANDIOTTI: Do you carry -- do you own a gun?

JAMES: I don't travel with security. Only thing I do is continue to just make sure my family's always safe.

CANDIOTTI: What are the league rules? Well the NFL and the NBA forbid players from handling guns on company time or property and recommend against gun use for personal protection.

The discussion now is whether teams should write a gun clause into players' contracts similar to banning skydiving or boxing. As for Crittenton, the other player involved in this, CNN was unable to reach his agent. He tells the "New York Post" his client will be exonerated, and Arenas says he'll be talking with investigators tomorrow.

Susan Candiotti, CNN New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)