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CNN Tonight

New Watch List Rules; Homeland Insecurity; Terror Plot Probe; Democrats Retiring; Arctic Blast

Aired January 06, 2010 - 19:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Tonight, a massive security failure. Now, new rules, the government lowers the bar, adds thousands of names to the terror watch list. Can we stop the next attack before it happens?

And the homeland security boss under fire promising the next time things will be handled differently.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dots are not connected in the intelligence community and that is what the president has ordered to be addressed and rectified.

PHILLIPS: Security boss Janet Napolitano speaks.

Also, fighting depression, millions turn to prescription drugs for relief. A new study says they may not help most people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well (INAUDIBLE) are the number two cause of (INAUDIBLE) substance abuse in this country.

PHILLIPS: Are those little pills actually making people smile again?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN TONIGHT live from New York. Here now Kyra Phillips.

PHILLIPS: And good evening, everyone. The Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up an airplane over Detroit on Christmas is indicted by a federal grand jury. The six counts against 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab include attempted murder on 289 passengers on a Northwest Airlines flight, stunned by the intelligence failures that allowed Abdulmutallab to get on that plane. The Obama administration has overhauled rules used to put suspected terrorists on watch lists or have their visas revoked. The new standards have lowered the bar necessary to flag people and might have prevented the Nigerian from ever boarding an airliner bound for the U.S. Jill Dougherty is in Washington, so Jill what can you tell us about these new standards?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well Kyra you know it is a major change and as you said after all if it had been in effect it might have kept that suspect off the plane essentially before up until this point, you had to have let's say a multitude of various sources on a person before they could push to put them on a watch list or maybe revoke his visa.

And now, it's easier to do that. They just need one, has to be credible, but one source. That is important because remember with this suspect, his father was the primary source in the beginning when he was telling officials that his son was under the influence of religious radicals, et cetera. If they had had that one-source rule in place, and it was deemed credible, it could have kept him off the plane. And by the way, Kyra, they went back and they, as they say scrubbed. They went back and looked at a lot of the data on the 500,000 people who are on the main data list and they did put other people on the watch list and did revoke some visas. They are not saying exactly how many though.

PHILLIPS: Well we'll see how this works going forward -- Jill Dougherty thanks so much. And the Department of Homeland Security is under heavy scrutiny after that attempted terror attack on Christmas Day. Our homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve actually talked with Secretary Janet Napolitano, the woman in charge of DHS, so Jeanne, what kind of changes are we going to see at homeland security now?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well Kyra, since Christmas Day, all eyes have been on aviation security. But Secretary Napolitano says protective measures have been stepped up elsewhere.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We have taken measures at the sea ports and at the land ports in the United States. And as well as really beefed up our communication with state and local law enforcement about things they need to be on the watch for.

MESERVE: Can you be at all specific about what you're doing at the ports and at the land borders that you weren't doing before Christmas?

NAPOLITANO: Well one of the things we've done is we've searched personnel. We have searched examination of cargo and some of the other things that are coming across those land ports and into our sea ports.

MESERVE: I asked the secretary about the decision to screen all citizens and travelers from 14 countries linked to terrorism.

How does targeting those 14 countries differ from profiling?

NAPOLITANO: Well, it's not profiling. It's threat based and profiling...

MESERVE: Isn't profiling often threat based?

NAPOLITANO: No, I don't think so. Profiling is stereo typing. It's just assuming because a person is a particular race or religion that they may be bad. This is intelligence that suggests that those who seek to do ill, either in other European countries or to the United States are threats (INAUDIBLE) through those countries and therefore to ensure the safety of American passengers and the United States extra screening needs to be done.

MESERVE: Let me ask you about body scanners. How long would it take to put body image devices in every airport in this country?

NAPOLITANO: Don't know the total number, but certainly by the end of this year, we will have at least 300 more in addition to the 40 that have already been deployed.

MESERVE: Are they worth the investment? People have said the terrorists are simply going to continue to improvise and if you start scanning the body, maybe they will start hiding them internally (INAUDIBLE) do more with carryon luggage. Is it worth the investment?

NAPOLITANO: I think it is. And again, look, we can't give 100 percent guarantees here. And I don't think Americans disagree with that. They understand that. But they also understand and we understand that improved technology can help minimize risk and that's what these scanners assist us doing.

MESERVE: We understand that in the last week, more people have been added to the (INAUDIBLE) no-fly list. In the past, that has sometimes created problems at the nation's airports because a lot of people get pulled aside who have similar names. How are you dealing with that? Should we just expect to see some of those problems in the coming months?

NAPOLITANO: Well we've already anticipated that. And I've already directed a process to say all right if we're going to increase the watch list we need to make more robust the process by which people get removed from the watch list, so that project is underway right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: President Obama has said we should expect additional aviation security measures. The secretary would not tell us what is being considered but did say there will not be any additional restrictions on carrying on liquids and powders and she says at this particular point and time she thinks the department has struck the right balance between security and privacy -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Jeanne Meserve thanks so much. And a preliminary report on the failed Christmas Day terror plot is due on the president's desk tomorrow. President Obama is expected to speak on those findings. The reviews are focused on passenger screening methods and the use of terror watch lists. Dan Lothian at the White House -- so Dan, what are we likely to hear from the president tomorrow?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well we should hear from the president about the failures in the intelligence system, what went wrong, and then based on the review what will be done to correct the problem to make sure that it does not happen again, such as changes in watch listings or in passenger screening. This report that will be released tomorrow to the public will be an unclassified version, this one coming from the top aide to the president when it comes to counterterrorism matters -- this is John Brennan, so the public version will be unclassified. According to Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesman, he says that it will be comprehensive but that tomorrow will only be the first step in what will be an extensive process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The review will simply identify and make recommendations as to what was lacking and what needs to be strengthened. The review process will be a dynamic one where the president and John will continue to ensure that agencies are implementing their plans for correcting what was identified in each of those reviews.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: At this point it's unclear as to whether or not there will be any personnel changes. The White House not ruling out that anyone will be fired or will resign. Now there are some Republicans who are saying that someone does need to be held accountable, some even calling for the secretary of homeland security, Napolitano to step down -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: That's interesting. A lot of criticism out there about who is in charge of security right now, Dan you bring up an interesting point. I mean we are hearing recommendations, review, looking over. But I think what Americans want to know is bottom line, are things going to change or not? And what are you going to do?

LOTHIAN: That's right and that's a very difficult question because there are a lot of concerns that here eight years after 9/11 we're still -- certainly these two situations are not parallel completely. But some of the same questions that were being asked in the wake of 9/11 are now being asked now and so people are concerned that is there anything that this administration can do to ensure that something like this doesn't happen again?

Clearly, the intelligence was there so I think everyone agrees that there wasn't a breakdown in gathering the intelligence. The question is what happened with that intelligence. Why did it not get sent around to everyone who needed to know about it?

PHILLIPS: Dan Lothian, we will talk tomorrow after the president speaks.

Democrats with an eye toward the 2010 midterm elections may be feeling a little queasy today. Two senators, Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota have dropped plans to run for reelection. Coupled with recent retirements in the White House the news could spell trouble for the president's party. Dana Bash has more. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A 30- year Senate veteran took a painful step to protect himself and his party.

SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD (D), CONNECTICUT: There are moments for each elected public official to step aside and let someone else step up. This is my moment to step aside.

BASH: Chris Dodd spoke of a trying year.

DODD: I've been diagnosed...

BASH: His battle with cancer then losing his sister and best friend, Ted Kennedy to the disease, but the big factor was that internal data showed his reelection virtually unwinnable say Democratic sources.

DODD: Now let me be clear. I'm very aware of my present political standing here at home in Connecticut.

BASH: That standing started to drop two years ago. Dodd not only waged a long shot bid for president. He moved his wife and children from Connecticut to Iowa. Connecticut voters appeared to take it as a slight, then he was dogged by controversy. An alleged sweetheart mortgage deal from Countrywide, the Ethics Committee eventually cleared him, but then there was this.

(on camera): You were very adamant yesterday, very adamant that you didn't know how this change got in there and now you are saying that...

(CROSSTALK)

DODD: Going back and looking and obviously and I apologized...

BASH: Dodd denied then later admitted to CNN he helped write legislation that allowed AIG executives to keep controversial bonuses. His poll numbers collapsed and never fully rebounded despite leading roles in high profile issues like health care. Dodd's exit now is actually good news for Democrats. They hope to keep the seat with Connecticut's popular attorney general who jumped right in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This will be very much a grassroots bottom-up campaign.

BASH: But the surprise retirement of lesser known Senator Byron Dorgan does worry party leaders. He was a safe Democrat from North Dakota, a red state Democratic sources admit they could now lose.

STUART ROTHENBERG, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, "THE ROTHENBERG POLITICAL REPORT": The bottom line is still nationally a difficult one for Democrats where in the Senate it looks like they could lose some seats and that 60-seat majority that they hold could be slipping away day by day. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Losing that 60-seat Democratic majority would have serious consequences for President Obama's agenda. Just look at the health care vote last month. It barely passed the Senate with 60 votes along party lines, not a vote to spare. If Democrats even lose one seat, the president's strategy, an approach towards Congress will have to be dramatically different. He will have to compromise more with Republicans to pass his priorities -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Dana Bash reporting. Still ahead, what we are learning now about the double agent suicide bomber who killed seven CIA officers in Afghanistan. Also California Governor Schwarzenegger delivers his final State of the State Address and outlines his prescription for pulling California out of recession.

And the hammer falls on an NBA star, we'll tell you why Gilbert Arenas has been suspended indefinitely.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The 89-year-old white supremacist accused of gunning down a guard at the Holocaust Museum in Washington has died. According to his lawyer, James Von Brunn died in federal custody at a prison hospital in North Carolina. Von Brunn was awaiting trial for the shooting in June. He was wounded in that gun fight but survived. Von Brunn was a Holocaust denier who posted racist rants on an anti Semitic Web site that he called "The Holy Western Empire".

Well, he's played a barbarian, a cyborg, now perhaps his toughest role a lame duck. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was swept into office on promises of fiscal reform but tonight his state remains in economic crisis. Casey Wian reports the governor's last State of the State address was upbeat in spite of all of California's calamities.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in the Assembly Chambers.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For a governor struggling with a $20 billion budget deficit, a state unemployment rate above 12 percent and a legislature mired in political grid lock, Arnold Schwarzenegger managed to sound optimistic, delivering his final State of the State speech.

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: While we still have a long way to go, the worst is over for California's economy.

WIAN: His first priority for his last year in office...

SCHWARZENEGGER: Jobs, jobs, jobs.

(APPLAUSE) WIAN: California has lost a million of those just since mid- 2007. Schwarzenegger is asking the legislature to approve half a billion dollars for job training to create about 100,000 jobs and help another 140,000 Californians stay employed. He also promised to protect education funds, which have been cut dramatically.

SCHWARZENEGGER: Thirty years ago, 10 percent of the general fund went to higher education and only three percent went to prisons. Today, almost 11 percent goes to prisons and only 7.5 percent goes to higher education. Spending 45 percent more on prisons than universities is no way to proceed into the future.

WIAN: He is proposing a state constitutional amendment to prevent that from happening in the future and he wants to transfer state inmates to privately run prisons. The governor was vague about funding his initiatives but clear that California is counting on more money from the federal government.

KAREN BASS (D), CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY SPEAKER: What the governor pointed out correctly is that for every dollar that we send to the federal government in taxes, we get back about 76 cents. We need to get more back in federal resources.

WIAN: Schwarzenegger also is pushing major reforms of California's tax and budget systems, ambitious goals for his curtain call.

DANIEL SCHNUR, USC UNRUH INSTITUTE OF POLITICS: Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn't seem to accept the premise of lame duckedness. For a governor in his last year this is a bit of a difficult trick to pull off because the benefits that come from this package aren't going to kick in until somebody else is sitting in the governor's office.

SCHWARZENEGGER: If I had hesitated in my career every time I made a move because it was hard, I would be still yodeling in Austria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIAN: A year from now he'll be free to do that. Already there is lots of speculation about Governor Schwarzenegger's next job including a run for the Senate or perhaps mayor of Los Angeles. Some believe he will join the Obama administration in some capacity to work on climate change issues. There is always the possibility of a return to Hollywood -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: That wouldn't be surprising. Now Casey, you know I'm from California, my family is there. I have a lot of friends there, many teachers. And I heard Schwarzenegger say in the speech the worst is over. I think a lot of people would argue that point.

WIAN: Absolutely and they would have good reason to argue that point. I think what the governor was talking about is the fact that the job losses that we've seen in California month have month have started to slow down, so at least that part of the equation has stabilized somewhat. Californians still have massive problems, taxes are going up, services are being cut, huge cuts in education, tuition is going up. Residents here are still very pessimistic the governor saying at least the jobs part of that has bottomed out -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Casey Wian thanks so much.

Well coming up, just how effective are popular antidepressant drugs like Prozac and Paxil. We'll have the startling results of a new study.

Had enough of this cold? Well better turn up the heat. Even worse weather could be heading your way.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well it just doesn't end. The stubborn deep freeze is tightening its icy grip from north to south, yet another winter storm clobbering the northern plains while farmers in the south are struggling to salvage their crops from the cold. Chad Myers, tough time for a lot of people across the country, temperatures that we have not seen in a long time.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes and I'm not sure we have ever seen temperatures like this in Ocala, Florida tonight Kyra, it may get down to 20 degrees. Now my parents lived there for a very long time near the Villages and I'm telling you very few things outside are going to survive at 20 degrees. All these tropical plants, they may all be dead by morning. Cover them up, try to get them watered on the ground before.

But I'll tell you what it's going to be a very tough night for citrus growers and strawberries as well. It is already 45 in Orlando, probably another 17 degrees to go down before it finally stops going down by morning. Here is the snow -- St. Louis, Kansas City, Des Moines all the way back into Davenport, could be four or five inches into St. Louis by the time it stops. I think maybe just a little bit more in Chicago.

There may also be some here near Hammond. There may be a little bit of a strike coming down of lake-effect snow. That would be east of Chicago, out toward Gary. We will see if that happens if that develops tomorrow. I've got some fantastic pictures. I know we showed you the chilly chimps yesterday covering up in burlap. But today we have other primates doing other kind of human things drinking hot chocolate.

The Miami Metro Zoo, yes, now this was hot chocolate approved by the zoo and by the caretakers and by the dietitians there and then tea, tea, a video of tea, a high tea in Berlin. Now, I'm looking at this and I'm not seeing the tea steaming very much. So this could have just been a photo op. But you know, when you get to see -- you know any type of a primate drinking anything, it's funny.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Now I want to know how did you confirm it was hot chocolate and it was tea.

MYERS: The curators told us. PHILLIPS: OK, so we're taking their word because they looked awfully happy.

MYERS: If it was brandy, they're not saying.

PHILLIPS: There you go -- a sip of brandy, what the heck. All right thanks Chad.

MYERS: Sure.

PHILLIPS: That sounds good actually.

All right still ahead, the latest information on how a Jordanian double agent beat the CIA at its own game and took the lives of seven CIA officers. Also a new study says some of the most popular anti depression medications may be no better than sugar pills. And guns in the locker room lead to an indefinite suspension for an NBA star.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN TONIGHT live from New York. Here again Kyra Phillips.

PHILLIPS: The more we learn about the suicide bombing that killed seven CIA officers and contractors in Afghanistan, the worse it looks. The bomber is believed to have been a doctor from Jordan and the CIA thought it had successfully recruited him as a spy. The CIA was beaten at its own dangerous espionage game. Chris Lawrence joins us now with more on what we are learning about this U.S. intelligence failure -- Chris.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well Kyra, a U.S. intelligence official now tell CNN that the sophistication behind this attack was unprecedented and they now believe it was planned at the very highest levels of al Qaeda. Now sources are telling us that this bomber, this man, was picked up by American officials off the base and he was put into a car without being searched.

Now we are also told that most of the Americans intelligence officers had never met al-Balawi personally. So a Jordanian intelligence officer was there as a go-between. He was driven through the normal base security and we're told that he detonated his hidden explosives within minutes from arriving there on base. Now al-Balawi was a man who had written on some extremists Web sites about Jihad.

But both Jordanian and American officials say that he had been giving them very good intelligence over a period of time. They thought he had been turned and here he was now, dangling one huge carrot. The whereabouts of al Qaeda's number two man in al Qaeda -- in Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So how does this attack and the deception behind it impact American intelligence gathering from here on out.

LAWRENCE: Good question. A U.S. intelligence official says -- told us quote, "we have a deep bench. We are not standing down in Afghanistan and that this will be not diminish their efforts there to go after the bad guys", but we talked to a former CIA agent who says at this point they have got to be scouring every single piece of intelligence that al-Balawi gave them, going over all of the operations that they may have undertook because of that intelligence and because it was the Jordanians that may have initially vetted this man, it has to call into question the Jordanian screening process as well.

RICE: There's an additional piece to this. They need to now be concerned about any intelligence they have may have inadvertently given him, which would have likely and did end up into the hands of al Qaeda, including the identities of Jordanian officers, American officers, and anyone else working for the Jordanians and the Americans in Pakistan, Afghanistan, or any where else in the world.

LAWRENCE: It's a chilling thought. Even though it was a CIA intelligence operation, I'm told by a senior U.S. military official that the military has put out new security guidance across most of its bases in Afghanistan. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Chris, thanks.

Joining me now is CNN security analyst Clark Kent Ervin, a former homeland security inspector general and also author of "Open Target, Where America Is Vulnerable to Attack." And Fouad Ajami, a professor of Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University. Listening to Chris Lawrence in talking about changes in security within our military and on military bases and then we're talking about changes in security when it comes to screening for flying on aircraft, I'm curious, you sat down with extremists all across the Arab world. You've had conversations. No matter the regulations out there, they are going to find the gaps.

PROF. FOUAD AJAMI, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: Absolutely. We say, we should look for the foot soldiers of terrorism. They are poor kids from the camps, refugee children and you hear about a Nigerian child of privilege, a banker's son. And you understand that the war on terror and the terrorism menaces to the country, it's enduring. And the president, his name is Hussein. We thought the war is over. And once George W. Bush is off in Crawford, Texas, we can rest easy. It is not so easy.

PHILLIPS: I think we have to face the fact that no matter what we do and how we try to repair relations with the Middle East, there will always will terrorists who hate us. This is something we have to deal with.

AJAMI: This is hard core. There is an Egyptian who once said trying to measure this hatred of America is like trying to measure distance in kilograms. We can't measure it and there is an enticement and energy to America. And it doesn't matter who is at the head of the political system.

PHILLIPS: It's interesting. And Clark, this is something that you had to deal with when you were a part of homeland security. Do you finally just reach the point where you say, all right, we're not going to be able to win everybody over? We have to deal that the fact that we have to fight terrorism every day for the rest of our lives. Taking that into account, how do you stay one step ahead of the terrorist? It seems like we are reacting more than anything else.

CLARK KENT ERVIN, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: We are always reacting to the last war, fighting the last war. That is why I was heartened by among other things Secretary Napolitano saying they are focused at the department of homeland security not just on tightening not just aviation procedures but also they are looking at maritime procedures, land borders, surging personnel, deploying war technology and you're right. We have to get one step ahead of the terrorists. The odds are always against us. They have to right once. We have to be right every single day. We have to double our efforts. If there is one good thing that comes out of this incident, it's that the mind has been concentrate concentrated. We need to seize this moment.

PHILLIPS: Clark, are you basically saying that no matter what regulations are put into place, it doesn't matter?

ERVIN: No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying a couple things. First of all, we have to understand there is no such thing 100% security. Our counter terrorism officials, our law enforcement officials, our intelligence officials can do everything right and we can still be hit by a terrorist attack. On the other hand, that is not an excuse for us to not to do everything we possibly can do to minimize risk. And it's unfortunate it took a near miss on Christmas day for us to begin to revise list procedures, visa procedures, to enhance screening. We're doing all that and everything that administration announced since Christmas day is a step in the right direction. And the fact that it's prolonged measures is a good thing. And we have done it in the past. The one thing we haven't heard about is accountability. It will be interesting to see if anyone loses his or her job as a result of the failures on Christmas day.

PHILLIPS: In addition to adding more security and regulations, we have to add more to the conversation. There has to be cultural repair as well. The president has that to deal with.

AJAMI: You're exactly right. We don't know these lands very well. Someone said that war is god's way of teaching geography. And we no that Yemen is at the southern tip of the Iranian Peninsula. We now have to get deep into the politics of Yemen. And we go into the politics of yes, ma'am and say, what do we find here? A president there for more than three decades. He is our partner. And his priorities are different from ours.

PHILLIPS: You bring up an interesting point because when 9/11 happened, I will never forget, journalists across the country, Americans across the country, learning about places in the Middle East we had never heard of before. And shame on us. You know, Clark, a lot of this is relation building in addition to rules and regulation. I mean, for decades, we refuse to I guess work at a relationship versus tearing up relationships in the Middle East.

ERVIN: That's exactly right. That is a multifront struggle we are engaged in. There has to be a law enforcement aspect, intelligence and a war aspect. We can't kill and capture every terrorist. We have to find out what drives people, the rich and the poor, the black and white here in this country and around the world to somehow take the name of Islam in vein and use it to kill people who don't believe as they do. One of the good things is that the Obama administration has worked overtime to rebuild our relations with the rest of the world. That will be a key arrow in our quiver as we begin to again fight the war on terrorism if that's what we choose to call it.

PHILLIPS: Finally, the president is going to come out with this report tomorrow. I want you to weigh in on the investigation on the failed bombing on Christmas day. What do you want to hear from the president?

AJAMI: To put my cards on the table, I'm not a fan of the president. I voted for his rival in '08. And when the president said, we have to connect the dots, he has to connect the dots. That's part of his job as president. He went and said that the war on terror is over. And he went and a speech on Cairo and spoke to the Islamic world and told us the outreach is going to work and we are going to drain the swamps of anti-Americanism by talking nice to the terrorists. And it didn't work. He went to Egypt and Turkey and he spoke in Cairo. Every public opinion tells me one thing. The anti- Americanism is the same in Egypt and Turkey. We have to accept there are certain enemies. We can't charm people out of their feuds and out of their passions. And that is my disagreement with Clark.

PHILLIPS: Clark, your thoughts.

ERVIN: Well, certainly we can't convince everybody to like us. On the other hand, there is a principle we need to have a decent respect for the opinion of man kind. And it matters if we listen to the rest of the world. If we are open to engaging with the rest of the world. That is a critical counterterrorism thing we need in our strategy. To answer the initial president you posed, I'm looking for one urgency we have now, it's not going to glass for a finite moment in time. We are going to continue to focus on the measures at hand, and two, I think we need to hold people accountable. We don't need new organizational structures. We have new programs they didn't work. Mistakes were made by people. We have to identify the people and hold them accountable or we will be sitting here six months or years from now having the same conversation.

PHILLIPS: Clark Kent Ervin, Fouad Ajami, pleasure to have you both. Thank you so much.

Coming up tonight on Campbell Brown at 8:00 eastern, a special investigation into a chain of chain yoga and wellness centers called Don Yoga. It has thousands of members who claim it changed their lives notch now Don Yoga is under attack standing accused as a cult. The allegations are serious as you hear now from one former employee who said she was sexually assaulted by the founder.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He slowly took my clothes off of me and pushed me where I wanted to go. And I numbly, like a robot, just responded. PHILLIPS: Why didn't you tell him to stop?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had been taught and trained that he was a holy person, a holy object. And he was my connection to divinity.

PHILLIPS: Attorneys say they are confident the claim will be dismissed in court. The special investigation continues tonight on Campbell Brown, 8:00 p.m. eastern.

Coming up anti-depressants just how effective are they? Not very at least according to one new study. We will have more next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Tonight, dramatic new developments in the fight against depression. 22 million Americans rely on drugs like Prozac and Paxil just to get through the day. That is more than 10% of the population. But a new study shows that anti-depressants are no more effective than sugar pills. Bill Tucker has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anti-depressants are among the most prescribed drugs with sales that total $9.5 billion or more than 164 million prescriptions in 2008, according to the pharmaceutical research company IMS Help. But a new study published in the Journal of American Medical Association raises questions about the drugs' effectiveness in treating mild depression. One of the studies most profound findings according to the co-author --

ROBERT DERUBEIS, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: Some people from the investigation is that people who took the placebo improved quite a bit. This is one of the reasons that the medicines showed so little added advantage for those in the moderate range of symptoms.

TUCKER: The people who have taken a placebo see them as taking charge of their conditions. And take action. It's an important distinction and calls into question the way the drugs are prescribed.

DR. NORA VOLKOV, NATIONAL INST. ON DRUG ABUSE: The drugs are the number two cause of substance abuse in this country. And the numbers have been increasing over the past 10 years.

TUCKER: The new findings are based on tests based on two drugs and none of the trials lasted more than 11 weeks. Some drugs take longer than others to become fully effective. What the authors of the study hope is that will be encourage discussion and investigation how we treat depression. There is no convenient one size fits all approach to depression.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCKER: The study does stress while anti-depressants are not necessarily effective for mild or moderate depression, they can be helpful for those who suffer severe depression. If you take them, please don't stop without talking to your doctor. PHILLIPS: All right. Thank you.

Here is the lead investigator of the study that Bill was just talking about, Dr. Robert Derubeis from the University of Pennsylvania.

Rob let me ask you, if I go to the doctor tomorrow and he or she said, I'm going to prescribe you this anti-depressant, what should I do? Considering the information we just learned in.

DERUBEIS: That's a good question. I might ask the doctor what he thought about considering the recommendation and if there are other options he might suggest as well. And then I would certainly ultimately go with the doctor's recommendation. And if the doctor did suggest that I try something decides those meditations for now, I would be keen to come back to the doctor if after a time I wasn't finding I was getting better.

PHILLIPS: Let's say you don't need them. And you're taking them, could there be detrimental effects?

DERUBEIS: Well certainly with any medication and I'm not a medical doctor but we all know with any medication there are potentials for side effects. We know there are different things for those who need or don't need the medications. They have to be monitored by doctors. There is nothing special that I know of that's a risk for those if you will aren't likely to benefit from the drug.

PHILLIPS: Because I have known of cases where individuals have gotten off the drugs quickly. And the consequences have been pretty severe.

DERUBEIS: Well, yes. It certainly behooves any patient who is going to stop taking medicine -- there was a suggestion that people could stop taking medicines if they read reports like ours. One does that want to do that without careful oversight by a doctor. So certainly coming off a medication, we have all seen it in friends and others, if it's done too quickly and without a doctor's care, it can be a problem.

PHILLIPS: Did you think doctors prescribe too quickly these days?

DERUBEIS: I don't have an opinion on that. I know that doctors have a lot they need to do. General practitioners, and it's not -- depression is not an easy problem. Whether some doctors might go too quick try a medication, I have to imagine some do. But it really has been that we haven't known very much. I think we have been more confident than we should be about knowledge about how to treat depression. And I hope we can increase our knowledge and have it catch up a bit to our confidence.

PHILLIPS: I know you have been getting feedback since the report came out. It sure caught our attention. What do you think the biggest misconception has been since it's been released? DERUBEIS: That's a good question. You addressed a couple of them. And one of them, those who are interpreting the research and saying they aren't good for depression. They clearly are. Our own research has documented this not that it needed to. It's been so well documented. And so for people who are benefits from antidepressants, there is no question it's been a lifesaver and so on. So that's one misconception is that the study says that antidepressants aren't effective.

The other one is that also, you mentioned, which is it's not that the results said that the treatment with anti-depressants for mild and moderate cases don't help people, our studies find it's the chemicals in the medications that aren't adding much of anything to the benefit one gets from seeing a doctor, learning about your depression, taking action and so on. They happen in studies when someone taking a placebo pill. And our findings say it's for the mild to moderates there is benefit there.

PHILLIPS: Thanks for your time.

DERUBEIS: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Coming up, the NBA takes action, suspending a star player for brandishing a gun in the locker room and the nation's cold snap. Does a pose it threat to Florida's orange crop? We'll have that story next in our financial report.

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PHILLIPS: There are faint glimmers of hope on the jobs front today. Job losses eased in December. The service sector actually reported job growth with an increase of 12,000 jobs in December. It was the first growth in that sector in 21 months. Production and manufacturing sectors, those saw a loss for the month. A report from out placement firm Challenger Gray and Christmas said there were 45,000 job cuts in December down 10% from November.

And the nation's cold snap won't affect your morning glass of OJ yet. The freezing weather moving across Florida would have to wipe out at least 20 percent of the crop to effect retail prices according to a Florida official. So far, the officials say damage to the crop has been minimal.

Coming up at the top of the hour Campbell Brown. Hey Campbell.

CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there Kyra. Coming up tonight, the U.S. government, about to spend millions of dollars on body scanners for airport security. Do these scanners make us safer? We're going to look at that tonight.

Also, why are Democratic office holders dropping like flies it seems? We going to ask Senator Byron Dorgan why he decided not to seek re-election. And we continue the investigation. Is a nationwide chain of yoga centers a cult? You're going to hear from both sides, your investigation coming up a little later.

PHILLIPS: We'll see you in just a few minutes. Thanks, Campbell.

NBA Super Star Gilbert Arenas has been suspended indefinitely without pay. He violated league rules for brings a gun boo the locker room. David Stern planned to await for a criminal investigation before acting but he changed his mind. He said his conduct led me to conclude he is not fit to take the court in a NBA game. I'm suspending him indefinitely without pay effective immediately. Arenas apologized for his actions in a statement today. He is a star player for the Washington Wizards, used to be called the Washington Bullets. The team name was changed due to the violent connotation.

Still ahead, a violent clash between activists and a whaling ship leaves one boat badly damaged and taking on water. That story next.

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PHILLIPS: A dramatic picture tonight of a new clash between Japanese whalers and anti-whaling activists. Take a look at this confrontation between the activists and the larger whaling ship. The group claimed that it was rammed by Japanese whalers. But the whalers say this video shot from their boat shows the boat moving towards them just before the collision. All six crew members were rescued safely.

Tonight, a new star is ready for his debut. Check him out, a 5- month-old baby panda made his debut at the San Diego Zoo today. Yun Zi is the fifth cub at the San Diego Zoo and he is already mugging for the cameras. He is the largest for his age, weighing around 20 pounds and he is growing quickly. Zoo visitors will be able to see the cub starting tomorrow. I'm from San Diego, one of the best zoos in the country.

Thanks for being with us tonight. Please join us tomorrow. Up next, Campbell Brown.