Transcripts For CNN CNN Tonight 20091229

might have to go to the hospital later as a precaution, but the first family is absolutely fine. >> that's good news. thank you. up next, cnn tonight. tonight, al qaeda claims responsibility for the failed christmas day attack on a u.s.-bound airliner. president obama warned those behind the blast that the united states won't let the attempt go unanswered. >> we will fin to use every element of our national power to disrupt, to dismantle, and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us. al qaeda said the attack was this retaliation for u.s. strikes in yemen. cnn has learned that u.s. involvement in yemen is deep anything. what role does yemen play in the role on terror? >> if we don't act preemptively, yemen will be tomorrow's war. that's the danger we face. >> a powerful explosive that's what are the thos say the device aboard flight 253 contained, so how did someone on a government watch list manage to get a visa and board a plane with the potentially deadly device? this is cnn tonight live from new york. here now, john roberts. >> good evening and thanks sfroech joining us. president obama tonight warned those responsible for the failed christmas day attack on northwest airlines flight 253 that they will be be found and held accountable. the president also ordered a review of air safety procedures and the nation's watch list system. al qaeda said the attack was in retaliation for u.s. air strikes in i can't men. tonight there is rising concern that yemen could be the next front in the war on terror. we have extensive coverage of the investigation of the attack and its impact on the war in terror and we begin with ed henry who is traveling with the 3rd. he's in honolulu tonight. why did the president wait three days to come out and speak to the american people about this incident? >> well, john, whois aidesed in the president doesn't like to jump out there on terrorism issues and basically comment before all the facts are in, potentially alarming people. but also potentially giving more attention to terrorists. but i can tell that you when republicans first criticized the president for not speaking out sooner, white house aides kept telling me the president didn't need to come out, he was going to let others step out front and center, people like homeland security chief janet nepin napo. but ofafter she slipped up yesterday, the president decided to come out and reassure the american people. he said he's ordered into investigations into figuring out what went wrong and also said he's beefing up aviation security. >> we will not rest until we find all who were involved and hold them accountable. this was a serious reminder of the dangers that we face and the nature of those who threaten our homeland. the american people should be assure that hd that we are doin everything in our power to keep you and your family safe and secure during this busy holiday season. >> reporter: very interesting that the presidented added the u.s. will not just beef up its defenses, but also will stay on offense against terrorists in places like yemen. and an al qaeda group claimed responsibility and said it was in retaliation for recent air strikes against al qaeda operatives in yemen. the u.s. has not confirmed involvement publicly in in those air strikes, but it's clear from the president's comments that they're sending a clear signal that they plan to keep the heat up on al qaeda, other terrorists in yemen. >> ed, you were also the first to report some police activity at the obama family compound tonight there in hawaii. what you can tell us about that? >> reporter: quite a bit of drama because the president had to cut short a golf match and his motorcade was leaving the golf course very rapid speed to get back to his rental home. then reporters on the scene saw an ambulance leaving the scene and stepped up police and law enforcement presence, a scary few moments. it turned out that a child who was staying at the compound basically fell, cut his chin. initially they thought he'd need stitches. turned out it wasn't even that, but enough concern because the president was playing golf with the father of the child, they wanted to make sure things were good. things calmed down enough that the president resumed his golf game. >> i imagine there was a lot of concern there. ed, thanks so much. federal authorities are trying to determine how abdulmutallab was allegedly able to bring an explosive device on board flight 253. our homeland security correspondent has been following the investigation. >> reporter: the failed christmas day attack was in retaliation for alleged american strikes on terror targets in yemen. according to a claim responsibility purportedly from al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. it hails as a great deed abdulmutallab's use of an advanced bomb which got through security defying the legend of american and international intelligence services. it also promises more attacks. a u.s. counterterrorism official says the statement appears to be authentic and it seems credible that the group had some involvement in the attempted attack. the government of yemen where al qaeda and n. the arabian peninsula operating says abdulmutallab visited the country from early august to early september. >> do you worry that next time the lesson they'll take from this is next time what we need is two or three guys on each plane and several planes so that we can have some assurance at least one them does blow up. so i'm not sure i would take a whole lot of comfort from it. >> reporter: a law enforcement pishl says at least part of the explosive device on the northwest flight was season. sewn into understand wear. for ren sick analysis of how it was made and who made it is continuing. intelligence officials say the u.s. was unaware of abdulmutallab before november 19th when his father warned the u.s. empty bass city in nigeria about his son's worrisome radicalization. u.s. officials say the information was thin, limited, one of 100 such reports of suspicious activity the u.s. receives every day. and did not meet the threshold to put abdulmutallab on the terror watch list. but critics say there was a failure to connect the dots including his use of cash to purchase a one-way ticket that he didn't check luggage and perhaps most importantry areally the bril tesch decision to deny him a visa last may. >> i just don't believe that we'll ever have a scenario where we'll get more advanced warning of an attack on america. it's hard to imagine that this will happen. and yet we failed to put that information together. >> reporter: the secretary of homeland security is admitting that existing systems failed and review is under way to see how watch list protocols and aviation screening can be improved. two prisoners released during the bush administration from the guantanamo bay detention facility are among the leaders of al qaeda in the are a babian peninsula, the group claiming responsibility. counterterrorism officials say they are still investigating just how tightly linked that organization really is with the attempted bombing. >> certainly they would appear to want to be linked to it at the very least. jean, thanks so much. as we reported, al qaeda today claimed responsibility for the attempted debt nation of a device. the group said the attempt was in retaliation for u.s. attacks in yemen. the government confirmed that the suspect in the flight was in yemen for several month this is it year. barbara starr at the pentagon tonight has the latest on yemen's role on the war in terror. >> reporter: this is the front line in the new u.s. founded secret war here in yemen. al qaeda now claiming the attack against northwest airlines flight 253 was in direct retaliation. cnn has confirmed u.s. involvement is deepening in yemen. in recent weeks, several air strikes, ap-al qaeda operative, you'll guises fellow fighters. a yemenian official tells cnn shortly after this the man is killed in yet another raid. general david petraeus sounded warnings months ago. >> that's where al qaeda has established its headquarters, this is a concern. >> reporter: in recent months, both general petraeus and john brennan, president obama's top counterterrorism adviser, personally warned yemenian president that al qaeda was targeting his inner circle. a senior u.s. official confirms to cnn that intelligence agencies and military special operations teams are helping yemen, providing intelligence, training, and weapons. u.s. officials say they gave yemen intelligence on al qaeda targets but won't say if american warplanes or armed drones conducted the recent strikes. senator joe lieberman offered one of the few public hints. >> we have a growing presence there and we have to of special operations, green beret, intelligence. if we don't act reempty differencely, yemen will be tomorrow's war. that's the danger we face. >> reporter: that's one rope the u.s. is so worried about the claims by the northwest airline suspect. he says he travelled to yemen and was given bomb-making materials by al qaeda. look at the map and you see the immediate potential for disaster. al qaeda operatives in yemen are within striking distance of saudi oil facilities. hundreds of vulnerable cargo ships past the coastline each year. one reason al qaeda has established yemen as its safe haven, the government there is already battling tribal rebels in both the north and the south. >> there is a very real sense that the central government is losing control over most of the country. >> reporter: a seen yorp u.s. official tells cnn that yemenian president has grown more accepting in recent weeks of u.s. assistance that he understands now the situation in his own country fighting al qaeda has grown dire. john? >> barbara, thanks. the device carry order board flight 253 reportedly contained a very powerful explosive. abc news has obtained these exclusive photos tonight of the bomb that was allegedly in abdulmutallab's understand wear. petn is in the same family as nitro glis rin. you'll remember that the device was secreted in robert reed's shoes. nic robertson joins me now and you've got a first hand look at this explosive. and just how powerful it can be. how deadly could it be? >> reporter: it could be very deadly and has been deadly in the past. it's been around for about 100 years. what we saw today was just a tiny amount of this explosive petn, about enough to fill the cap of my pen here. put on a piece of aluminum about double the thickness of the skin of an aircraft and that tiny amount, much smaller than abdulmutallab is alleged to have taken on that northwest airlines flight on christmas day, and the debt debt toe nation nation would have brn through the skin of the aircraft creating a large hole in the side of it. one of the other features is that it takes a lot to set it off. you need a detonator. you could wear it about your person, could you put it on the ground and hit it with a hammer and it won't go off. it's very, very stable. so it's ideal material for somebody doing what he was alleged to do, which is carry it a long way on an aircraft, not worry about bumping into people. >> we're just looking at the pictures here of the demonstration, the gentleman there putting the petn on that piece of aluminum. you say that that was about double the thickness of the aircraft skin. and you running away here from the explosion. you said that if that had have gone off, it could have blown its way through the side of the airliner. could it have brought the airliner down? we've seen planes fly with substantial holes in them in the past. would that have been a guaranteed kill or would it be left up to chance in. >> reporter: the experts are telling us it really depends just exactly what it ripped through, which direction would the blast have gone if it had hit smch the sort of control of the aircraft, if it had been able to penetrate the fuel tank beneath it that was perhaps partially empty at that stage, that could have had an additional explosion p t. the best guess it could have been it hard to remain stable. >> you're also getting new information on the al qaeda linked to the suspect in this case. what are you learning about that? >> reporter: well, they are dealing us, and we don't know if it's true or not, that they put abdulmutallab on the flight with this explosive device. and they call it an advanced bomb and they say they've tested it. and if you look at what we know about the bombs that have been used in that region, the only place we've heard about petn sewn into understand we wear isi arabia. it was exceptionally a suicide attack. but is that what they're referring to, is this a genuine claim that they tested it and they knew it was safe to put on aircraft? clearly they're claiming that this is one up for them, that they've been able to figure out a way to get around airport security services and the threat is that there's more people who have the training or the equipment who are ready, willing and able and capable to go ahead and use these devices elsewhere, john. >> all right, difficult to know if security shear playing catchup or can actually get one step out in front of these people. nic robertson tonight, thanks so much. we'll be following developments throughout the night. nic will have much more on ac 360. tonight, president obama is condemning the latest government crackdown in iran saying history is on the side of the protesters. thousands of demonstrators poured on to the streets of tehran and other major city this is weekend to dispute president mahmoud ahmadinejad's reelection. joining us with more on the unrest, we have breaking news on a high proceed tile arrest. >> reporter: there's all sorts of indications that while in this major political crisis, iran's hard line leadership is engaging in a campaign of intimidation and repression by going after anyone they deem to be part of the opposition movement by arresting them. and we have a high profile arrest tonight, this time iranian officials detaining the sister of world renowned iran yap human rights lawyer and activist shirin ebadi, of course the win winner of the 2003 nobel peace prize. we just got off the phone with mrs. ebadi, she's concerned about her sister's arrest. she was living in an apartment in tehran according to mrs. ebadi with her husband and two sons when around 9:00 p.m. local time on monday night, a little more than six hours ago, mrs. ebadi says that three individuals and a woman from the ministry of information came to her home, they searched her home and eventually detained her and also confiscated her computer. mrs. ebadi tells us that her sister is not politically active, she's not a member of the opposition movement, and she believes she was detained in order to intimidate her, but she is telling us and there you see a picture of the nobel peace prize winner, but she tells us she doesn't plan to stop her human rights work outside of iran. she's been outside of iran ever since the disputed election on june 12th. >> thanks so much. when we come back, airline security measures, they didn't prevent an explosive device from being wrought on board flight 253. is there any way to keep the skies safe? and the president's response to the failed attack. why did he wait three days to weigh in on a matter of such importance to the american people? those stories next. at quicken loans, we're making it easier for you to get a home loan. we've got a way for you to check the status of your loan online... securely, any time, anywhere. our e signature technology makes it really easy... for you to sign your documents from home. we've helped over three-quarters of a million families... refinance or purchase their home. it's how we've done things at quicken loans for 25 years now. it's why quicken loans is one of america's largest mortgage lenders. - and that's why i love... - i love being a home loan expert. ♪ if you fly you know drill, take off your should you, your jack account, your belt, put liquids in three ounce containers. despite all of that security, someone almost pulled off an agent of mass murder aboard anie sweeping changes in airport security tonight. >> reporter: shoes off, jab kets off, laptops and wallets through x-ray machines. even after all of these failed to catch a terror suspect tliing in to skrit on christmas day, we found passengers are still ready to do their part. >> i've always been welcome to having my shoes taken off. >> i don't mind if they pat me down, i really don't. i'm flying with my wife and kids, my mom. whatever they need to do. i'm not too worried about the invasion of privacprivacy. safety should come first. >> reporter: despite the screenings and despite the administration recently signed off on security arrangements at the lagos international airport, abdulmutallab flew freely from l lagos to detroit allegedly attempting to blow up his plane. he was placed on a u.s. terror watch list as a potential threat, but only after being approved for travel to the united states. >> doesn't sond like all is well. >> i feel like security is slacking. if we have a watch list, it's because we should be on top of that. >> reporter: tom blank is a former tsa official. >> the threat is real and the threat is continuing. and this better an light mink bolt that will jolt us awake and come to the realization that we are not putting the resources to aviation security that we need to put to it and that we have to recalibrate how security relates to our privacy consideration. >> reporter: bill is a flight attendant with u.s. err air. >> you can't have a missing link in security. you cannot. if you do, this is what happens. and we have not really secured all of those links yet. >> reporter: john says that congress needs to mandate com pull sorry advanced aviation training. and passengers should still take off their shoes and jackets. >> the failed attack raises critical questions about american's security. larry johnson is the ceo of bird associates, a former deputy director of the state's department county terrorism office. great to see you. this all raises a question. eight years after 9/11, how much better are we at screening people who go aboard aircraft? >> we're better than before 9/11, but let put it in the right context. this is 15 years after al qaeda made its first effort successful to put a bomb on the plane, your receive, the bomber of the first world trade center? 1993. in december of '94, he took com poe in the meantimes onboard a philippine airline flight, built it in the bathroom, got off at the next stop, plane took off and it blew up in midair. so we've thoen about it for 15 years and it's stunning that despite knowing that everyone to this day there is no effective technological solution in place at the airports for passenger screening in terms what have a passenger takes on board a plane and for carry-on luggage that would prevent a bomb. >> so you're saying that there's nothing in the existing system that could have prevented this fellow from bringing this on board? >> nothing that's required and in place. this are a variety of systems, two basic types. one called trace detector, basically think of a dog's nose. it sniffs out elements left over. the problem with the trace detector, though, is that someone who is skilled can package it in such a way that you will not pick up the trace elements of the explosive. the other one is a bulk detector, something like the ct scan used right now for checked bag allege. that has a little bit better success. the point is that since 9/11, we have put this place professionals it at the security check points, that's a good thing. they have required to x-ray and submit and look for explosives in checked baggage. but if the passenger boarding spots, that's still a massive vulnerability. >> let's look at the progression of airport security. after 9/11, you cooperate take on board any sharp objects for fear that hijackers might take over the crews as they did at 9/11. then richard reed comes along, you have to take off your shoes. and then these people come along trying to get liquid explosives on aircraft. now you're limited to the at of liquids. goodness know what is eventually will come out of this latest attack. it always seems like we're preparing for the last attack as opposed to the next one. are we simply playing catchup here or are we simply react something. >> we're not even playing catchup. i go back to the pan am 103 bombing. it took us from 1988 until 2001 to start putting in place requirements to screen checked baggage for explosives. that was over 13 years. and now we've had since 1994 where we know a person, an al qaeda operative, brought a bomb on board and we still have not put in place the tick knowledges at those check points that can prevent it. i don't even not sure we're reacting. this is not waiting until the horse escapes the barn. we wait until the horse escapes, the barn is burnt to the ground and then we run around saying quick, somebody, capture the horse. >> earlier today you were talking about the idea of the u.s. government need sing some sort of manhattan project style of program to come up with new technology at the airport. you can detail some of that for us? >> there's been a little bit of that effort at faa, but there has not been -- you've not marshalled the resources of all the national laboratories. we have an enormous network across this country initially in place to build nuclear weapons and prepare to deal with the soviet threat. that thet's gone away. these national labs have been looking for a mission this life. the one thing that no president has done, not president clinton, bush or obama yet, have demarshalled those national laboratories and say let put a manhattan project together to develop viable technology that will detect explosives that people can hide on bodies. the good news we face is that foreign lit al qaeda guys are fairly incompetent at this. >> larry squjohnson, thanks so much. coming up tonight, much administer on that failed christmas day terror attack and a father says he missed five years of his son's life and just wants to be called dad. we'll have the latest on this father and son reunion. if you haven't been able to quit smoking, you haven't failed, maybe your method of quitting has. but you can do it. you may just need the right tools. clinical guidelines recommend treatment and support to improve your chances of quitting smoking. why not get all the help you can? make a plan, get support, and talk to your doctor about prescription treatment options that can help you quit smoking. and to find out more, go to rethinkyourquit.com introducing the 2010 motor trend truck of the year. the all-new ram heavy duty. with a legendary 6.7-liter cummins turbo diesel. an all-new refined interior. it gives brains more to think with. it gives muscles more to work with. it gives trophy shelves more to deal with. introducing the 2010 motor trend truck of the year. ram. an apartment fire in starkville, mississippi killed nine overnight and so far no one know what is caused it, munk the victims six children. the fire broke out before dawn around 4:00 a.m. firefighters say the flames spread so quickly, there was little time for the victims to escape to safety. in florida, a father and so that are together again after years of separation. they are back in the united states after a bitter international custody battle that took five years to resolve. the child is nine years old now. the boy's mother took her son to her mate difference brazil, divorced his father, remarried, and then died last year during the birth of another child. her family fought ferociously for custody of the boy. eventually the brazilian supreme court cheered the way for little sean's return. >> it's very real. there he is, there's my boy. who has grown a foot. he's a big boy. but it is very real because he's here and i can hold him now and i can hug him and i can tell him and look him in the eye how much i love him. it's the rebirth of our family. >> his father says is he still waiting to hear one hinge for his son sean to call him dad. father and so that are staying with relatives in orlando. goldman, david goldman, has not said when he's going to bring shaup back home to new jersey. turning now to the economy and good news for retailers. holiday shoppers spent a little bit more this year. according to numbers released by mastercard adviser spending pulse, retail sales rose 3.6% from november 1st lieu december 24th. the boost was led by electronic sales which were up almost 6%. online sales saw a large increase as well, up 15.5%, but they made make up only a small percentage of all retail sales. coming up, president obama speaks out about the attempted terror attack, but critics say she have done that much sooner. and days after a man managed to smuggle explosives on to a flight, the president says security has been enhanced. but are the new security measures enough? you don't need a rematch-- but a re-think-- with lunesta. lunesta is different. it keys into receptors that support sleep, setting your sleep process in motion. lunesta helps you get the restful sleep you need. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving or engaging in other activities while asleep without remembering it the next day have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions such as tongue or throat swelling occur rarely and may be fatal. side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache, dizziness and morning drowsiness. stop fighting with your sleep. get a free 7-night trial on-line and ask your doctor about switching to lunesta. discover a restful lunesta night. this is amazing. let me take this. wait, there's no such thing as a projector phone. no, it's the lg phone and projector. there's no such thing as an lg phone and projector. ta-da. what ? the man said "ta-da" ! introducing the lg expo smartphone and lg projector. only at at&t. - for the better. - we really listen to you. and that helps us recommend a home loan option that's perfect for your needs. we'll close your loan at your own house if you want. you don't have to come to us. we'll come to you. my cell phone's always on. if you need me, i'm here for you. every client. every time. - no exceptions. - no excuses. that's what we're all about. - and that's why i love... - i love... i love being a home loan expert. ♪ the president today warned that the united states will respond aggressively to terrorism. the president spoke today from his vacation residence in hawaii. it was the first time since the christmas day incident that the president addressed the american public. our senior political correspondent candy crowley joins us. why did it take three days for the president to come out and talk to the american people will all this? >> reporter: well, the obama administration spokesmen have told ed henry who is out in hawaii with the president that at first they said we just don't see the need for the president to be out there, that janet napolitano, homeland security secretary is out there, the communications spokesman, robert gibbs, would be out there and the president didn't feel the need to reach to the microphones. they also talked about howed it would elevate the act if the president spoke to it. nonetheless three days later, he came out and said much of what he might have been able to say in the first 24 hours and as you you know, he too something hits for it, not just from republican, but we're now seeing democrats publicly say he really should have come out in that first 24 hours simply to reassure the flying public and the american public that he was doing everything he could be doing as a fairly simple message. and there are people who think that the president is not quite yet comfortable first in the arena, the foreign policy arena, and point out that, in fact, when the president was a candidate, as you remember russia instraighted georgia and it took a couple days for obama to make a statement about it, whereas john mccain was out early and made an issue of the fact that obama had pot come out and talked. so a lot of people thinking key have u he use could have used his presidential power. but on the other hand, i don't think a month from now we'll care too much. >> one statement that did get a lot of attention that you highlighted on state of the union was from the homeland security secretary, you were pressing her on a particular point and her answer seemed a little unusual. let's play that and then we'll talk about that exchange on the back side. >> if it it was properly screened and get on anyway with that, it doesn't feel that safe. >> it should. this was one individual of literally thousands that fly and thousands of flights every year. he was stopped before any damage could be done. and now the informatiforensics analyzing what could actually have been done with whatever substance he had. those are all undetermined issues. >> the poents that you were talking to her about was her statement that the system seemed to work in this case. what did you make of all that? >> well, i made of all of it that she came out with one message, and that was to say that the system worked, we notified the planes that everything was okay. but in fact it got sort of tumbled around in her words. you hear her say it's just one individual out of thousands. well, of course it only takes one individual. she said it worked and he was stopped. well, he was stopped by his bomb didn't work and people were willing to heap over airline seats to wrestle him to the ground. so it was i think one of the reasons that people could point to and say this is why the president should have been out will because, number one, when they put him out there on jobs or the economy or anything they say the president's you're best spokesman. well, yes, is he. so it's not just the office of the commander in chief. this is a man particularly blessed with rhetorical powers who could have so easily talked reassuringly as he did today, in he is sense given much the same speech he gave today, without having someone else out there who obviously had to come back and clean up a little what she'd said. >> candy crowley for us tonight. thanks. joining us now for more on the attempted terrorist at stack fred burton, the author of ghost, confessions of a counter terrorism agt. one of the world's foremost experts on corporate security. fred, good to have you with us. are you surprised that eight years after 9/11 a terrorist was able to walk through security with a bomb attached to his person? >> i'm not surprised in the least. we've been following the developments of al qaeda in the arabian peninsula and first reported in september this innovative kind of improcevised explosive device that they were working on. >> al qaeda bragged today in an e-mail posting or web posting that it had been testing a new type xf ploes sif designed to get through security and brag that had abdulmutallab was able to get through security. does this represent a whole new level of threat to the united states? >> well, when you look at this as my colleague larry john so that johnson mentioned earlier, this is a challenge when it comes to securing an aircraft. in essence a sophisticated bombmaker can look at this as a prove of concept kind of run.ai. in essence a sophisticated bombmaker can look at this as a prove of concept kind of run. very similar to the richard reed case. al qaeda wants to see what will work and they're able to sits back and design an improvised explosive device to get through the system. so in essence this proof of concept did not work, but it came very close at being successf successful. i think they had a firing train malfunction with the design of this device, but to be blunt, it's pretty fright anything. >> so what do the tress it do now, do they look at this and say this attempt didn't work, we had a problem with the krugs of the device, let's go back and refine it, let's make it a little more sophisticated and try again? >> yes, in essence that's what held do. but remember we've had a series of strikes in yemen which has eliminated many high value targets. and with any luck, the bombmaker was taken out in those strikes. time will tell. but if the bombmaker is on the loose, i'm afraid we'll see a modification and the next time they possibly could get it right. >> what about connection between al qaeda and "the quan" tan know bay detention facility ? because a couple high ranking officials went through a terrorist retraining program in saudi arabia and ended up back plotting terrorist attacks again. are there more people like that out there? >> well, i think there are more out there as evidenced by this attack here on this in--bound flight to detroit. but let's look at the success recently with the strikes in yemen. the body count is still not in, but we think that numerous al qaeda in the a rainian peninsula high value targets were eliminated about about. >> fred, good to have you with us. thank soches f much for sharing expertise. coming up, more on the failed christmas day terror attack. a classmate tries to make accepts for his friend's arrest. and the war on the border. dropping nationwide, but there is one glaring and violent exception. this is a honda pilot. and this is the chevy traverse. it has more cargo space than pilot. and traverse beats honda on highway gas mileage too. more fuel efficient and 30% more room. maybe traverse can carry that stuff too. now during the chevy red tag event, get an '09 traverse with 0 percent apr for 72 months. see red and save green. now at your local chevy dealer. one man who knew the passenger accused of trying to blow up the detroit-bound flight says he was stunned by the news. he called the suspect a peaceful and devoutly religious man. mary snow spoke with a classmate of the suspect. >> reporter: he's having a hard time making sense of how his former school mate, abdulmutallab, could now be a suspected terrorist. he's seen here as a student. he went to the same schedule as abdulmutallab in a west african nation. when you heard this new, what was yours reaction? >> i was shocked and surprised and i didn't believe it at first until i saw more traffic images which showed that this was the student i went to school with. so once i saw that, i was like, man, this is unbelievable, this is out of this world. i would have never guessed. >> reporter: what was he like? >> he was a peaceful person, a friendly person. sociable and someone if you had a problem, could you always go and talk to. always willing to help students. a lot of teachers in the school also liked him because he was an intelligent kid. >> reporter: was and he religious kid? >> very religious person. religion was a key aspect of his life. he was someone that always prayed and followed the are a decisions of his religion. >> reporter: was there anything that he ever talked about that made you think that he was somewhat of a radical at all? >> nope. never. >> reporter: he says he last saw abdulmutallab in 2007 when he left my year i can't to come to the u.s. he describes the boarding school he attended with abdulmutallab in togo as a small elite school. he says while the two mostly talked about basketball, they sometimes did discuss religion. he's a christian and says did ask abdulmutallab questions with negative perceptions about islam. >> what we saw on tv, people like portraying them as bad people and that's what led me to the curiosity even to talk to help and ask him is that true, and he said no. do you see me coming to school with a bomb? no. always peace. that's what the main philosophy is about islam. >> reporter: he says in the last few day, he's been keeping in touch with former school did the mates on facebook. >> some of them are tear guyed, some of them are like i don't believe it, some of them are like this is unbelievable. some said at first they didn't believe it was him. >> reporter: he last saw abdulmutallab this 2007 and never kept in touch with him after that. >> soepd that some of the people's been keep manage touch with are terrified would this whole thing. how does he feel? >> absolutely in disbelief. he says he cannot fathom his former friend being a suspect at this point. but is he scared, as well. >> mary snow for us, thanks. abdulmutallab never passed through any security checkpoint in this country. he boardeded the detroit-bound plane in amsterdam. tonight airports across this country are reviewing their procedures to prevent a similar attack. chris lawrence is in michigan tonight. what are airportss doing to bee up security measures? >> reporter: the differences you'll see are more law enforcement personnel in the airport, also more of those bomb-sniffing dogs around the security area. and an increase in gate screening. that's when you get to the gate and they pull certain people out of line to check their carry-on bags. if you're flying internationally, a u.s. official is now telling us that the tsa has already revised at least part of its new directive. they put into place right after that christmas day, they hastily put put into place a new one hour rule that says within an hour of landing, you can't get out of your seat, you can't have a blanket on you, they have to disable all those in-flight entertainment systems if they contain the movie map display because they didn't want passengers to know exactly where they were in the flight pattern and how close they were to landing. so now it's being left up to the crew's discretion whether or not enforce that. as to the sights abdulmutallab snuck on to that plane, some say a physical search of him might have peicked that up, but that may have been more intrusive than a normal search done today. also, body scanners which are those big machines where you walk lieu it athrough it and ite x-ray, that also may have picked it up. the tsa just bought about 150 more of those, but those cost about $100,000 a pop. so it's expensive and they're only used in about seven airports right now. >> chris, thanks. coming up, violent crime in the united states is dropping, but a drug swar raging across our border with mexico. later on, charlie sheen spends part of his christmas in police custody. we'll have all of the details and some of the 911 tapes from the incident. opportunity. at amway global, it's the foundation of our business. because opportunity built nutrilite, the world's... top-selling vitamin, mineral, and supplement brand. and artistry, one of the world's best-selling beauty brands. which makes amway global the online... health and beauty leader. and worldwide, amway has over 8 billion in annual sales. for your opportunity to be part of this success... and to start making more money for yourself, contact an amway global independent business owner... or visit amwayglobal.com. drug-related violence in mexico is rising with some areas referred as war zones. while this is good news, the battle with the drug cartels is far from over, and we should warn you his report containing very graphic images. >> more than 15,000 people have been killed in mexico since its president engaged federal troops in the war against drug cartels three years ago. the violence shocking and graphic. earlier this year it was the focus of hearings in washington where lawmakers expressed concern about its impact on the united states. >> the united states and this congress cannot ignore our role in assisting our neighbor and ally in this fight. of course, in preventing that violence from slipping into the united states. >> reporter: but the latest fbi crime statistics show violence for now at least is not slipping over but dropping in cities on the u.s. side of the border. the number of murders in brownville e-shgs texas, tucson, and san diego california are lower. the head of the coalition credits the decline to several factors. increased patrols by local law enforcement, greater cooperation between local and state police and successful interaction with federal agencies like the u.s. border patrol. but this sheriff from texas warnings -- >> we're seeing an increase in assaults against police officers on the border. they're ramming our vehicles and our officers are getting shot at. the violence is still there. >> reporter: just this weekend a border patrol agent was shot and wounded while on patrol in arizona. one long time observer of politics in mexico says he sees drug violence intensifying and becoming more of a threat to the u.s. >> they're the ex-army special forces who have gone to the dark side and now have the meanest, leanest cartel in the country. so i wouldn't be surprised to see more blood-letting as they try to take over the turf that was once occupied by the beltre lavos. >> congress has agreed to help fund the war against the cartels voting to commit $1.3 billion to the fight. however, according to a reporter at the geng of december, only a fraction of the money has been spent. the head of the southwest border sheriffs coalition thinks it should be funded on lom law enforcement in the united states to help fund their efforts, john, to keep the vile lens out of here. >> you can't really reduce crime to any great degree on this side of the border without cooperating with the mexicans on their side? >> that is true. at least that's the theory and the thinking. if they can get it under control, it makes it easier to keep it under control on this side of the border. coming up at the top of the hour in for campbell brown tonight is rich sanchez. he's with us now with a sneak preview. >> we're looking at a lot of stuff having to do with this attempted terrorist attack on the united states. you know, we're going to start with what everybody wants to know about, petn. there is about 80 grams of a substance that looks like it. you will seek where the line is, where my finger is. what is it? what can it do? how is it detected? we're going to ask all of questions many americans want answered tonight. one of the most important questions that americans want answered tonight, why wasn't this guy put on the no-fly list? also tonight, one of the top tv actors, top paid guys in all of hollywood is being charged with two felonies. we're going to tell you what it is and what happened. john, back to you. >> what does he make, $825,000 an episode for "two and a half men." >> that's a lot of moolah. >> coming up four minutes from now. a belligerent ivan na trump is escorted off a plane in florida. we'll tell you what she did to deserve that, coming up next. if you've had a heart attack caused by a completely blocked artery, another heart attack could be lurking, waiting to strike. a heart attack caused by a clot, one that could be fatal. but plavix helps save lives. plavix taken with other heart medicines, goes beyond what other heart medicines do alone, to provide greater protection against heart attack or stroke and even death by helping to keep blood platelets from sticking together and forming clots. ask your doctor about plavix. protection that helps save lives. people with stomach ulcers or other conditions that cause bleeding should not use plavix. taking plavix alone or with some other medicines including aspirin may increase bleeding risk, so tell your doctor when planning surgery. certain genetic factors and some medicines, such as prilosec, may affect how plavix works. tell your doctor all the medicines you take, including aspirin, especially if you've had a stroke. if fever, unexplained weakness or confusion develops, tell your doctor promptly. these may be signs of ttp, a rare but potentially life-threatening condition reported sometimes less than 2 weeks after starting plavix. other rare but serious side effects may occur. at quicken loans, we're making it easier for you to get a home loan. we've got a way for you to check the status of your loan online... securely, any time, anywhere. our e signature technology makes it really easy... for you to sign your documents from home. we've helped over three-quarters of a million families... refinance or purchase their home. it's how we've done things at quicken loans for 25 years now. it's why quicken loans is one of america's largest mortgage lenders. - and that's why i love... - i love being a home loan expert. ♪ charlie sheen was arrested in aspen, colorado on christmas day. his wife called 911 claiming that sheen had a weapon and was threatening here. . >> my husband has a -- >> sheen was arrested on suspicion of assault and criminal mischief and released on bond mplt he's due in court on february 8th. prosecutors will decide whether or not to press charges. reality tv star jon gosselin's new york apartment was vandalized but was it a pub city stunt? he claims furniture was smashed and electronics stolen and he hinted his ex-girlfriend is to blame. the attorney for his ex says she's being framed and this is nothing more than a publicity stunt. the gone lynns' attorney plan on pursuing felony charges. police in florida say ivana trump was belligerent and had to be escorted off the plane. children were running up and down the aisles, and she started to curse at them. sheriff's deputies asked her to leave the an