without any agitation hesitation i jumped over the seats and jumped to the suspect because i was thinking [ bleep ] he's trying to blow up the plane. >> he's the passenger who jumped on top of a suspected terrorist. hear what he did next. plus how the alleged terrorist attack will affect anyone planning to fly today. a real christmas miracle, a little girl found alive just hours after she was abducted outside her home. then security at the vatican comes under close scrutiny after a woman tackles the pope. and on top of that, this isn't the first time vet can security had to deal with her. plus, it's the day after christmas, so let the bargain hunting begin. question is, are there any deals to be had? a nigerian man has been charged with trying to blow up a plane. thanks for having us over. i'm virginia cha. right to our top story. a few hours ago, that man, 23-year-old umar farouk abdulmutallab was handed a federal criminal complaint for threatening destroy a flight and placing a destructive advice on that plane. investigators say he set off some sort of small explosive device in his seat just before the plane was about to land in detroit. early analysis by the fbi found the device contained an explosive called petn. investigators also found a syringe near his seat believed to have been part of the device. another passenger, jasper schuringa heard the explosion, literally jumped in to help. >> i was on the right siftd plane and the suspect was on the left. there were quite some seats in between. so when i saw that suspect, he was getting on fire and, you know, i freaked, of course, and without any hesitation, i just jumped over the seats and jumped to the suspect because i was thinking he's trying to blow up the plane and so, you know, i was trying to search his body for any explosives and then i took some kind of object that was already melting and smoking out of him and i tried to put out the fire and then when i did that, i was also restraining the suspect. and then the fire started beneath his seat. so with my hand and everything -- you can see it's a little burned. i put out the fire and then other passengers helped me as well. and of course i was screaming for water, water, because we had a fire in the that's not that good, of course. >> so what do we know about the suspect? a family source tells umar farouk abdulmutallab is 23 years old and the son of a man who recently stepped down as chairman of a bank in nigeria. we've learned that the suspect was granted a multiple use entry vicea for the u.s. last year. u.s. officials say at the time there was no information on him that would have made him ineligible for that visa. he originally birthdayed a klm flight in lagos nigeria before am ster day. he went through normal security procedures in amsterdam before getting on the flight for detroit. officials close to the investigation think he may have acted alone and didn't have formal connections to organized terror groups. a federal security source says during an interrogation the suspect says he picked up the explosive device and instructions on how to use it in yemen. counterterrorism officers began searching homes in london today, including this pricey building where the suspect may have once lived. police won't say, though, exactly what they're looking for. that same family source, by the way, who identified abdulmutallab as the son of a banker says he lived in london three years. there are still so many questions here but cnn terrorist analyst peter bergen explains why planes seem to be the target of choice for terrorists. >> why do they do it? it affects everybody. if you can bring down a plane anywhere in the world. it doesn't have to be american. you change the way the global economy functions. aviation and tourism and international business are vital to the world's economy. if you can change that, that's a very big deal. that's a 9/11 -- all this is coming of course when many of you or maybe someone you know are flying home. federal officials are beefing up security. lines started to formerly this morning in detroit. the homeland security threat level hats not been raised. it's still at orange but the feds say there will be heightened security for both domestic and international flights. the security will be different airport to airport based on the threat. the best advice as always, get to the airport early. we will keep you updated so stay with hln for the latest developments. now to the day's other top stories. parts of the country are just not getting a break from the weather. check out the snow in iowa. the national weather service issued blizzard warnings for much of north and south dakota and iowa for tomorrow. parts of the south are covered in snow as well. obviously this makes for tough driving conditions as you can see here in arkansas. the weather is blamed for at least 21 deaths this week as the storm inched its way across the country. actor charlie sheen out of jail on bond after being arrested for domestic violence charges. aspen police would not say if it was sheen's wife. sheen is charged with second degree assault. colorado law requires a protective order between someone arrested for domestic violence and the alleged victim. sheen is scheduled to appear in court february 8th. the pope appears to be fine after being attacked by a woman during mass. now the vatd can says it will review how it handles security. a woman jumped a barricade in st. peter's basilica on christmas eve and right on to pope benedict xvi and managed to knock him down before beeping pulled away. turns out she tried to do the very same thing last year, wasn't successful. even wore the same red sweat shirt. the vatican will review the new episode and, quote, try to learn from experience. a dispute over abortion financing in the health care reform bill has created split among rowe manley catholics. the "new york times." the catholic hospitals say they are confident this would lead to no federal funding for abortions. a group that represents nuns in the u.s. also backs that compromise. but the u.s. conference of catholic bishops called it, quote, morally unacceptable. shoppers are crowding into malls today looking for after-christmas bargains. some retailers are offering huge discounts, as much 70% off, hoping to have boost the bottom line for the season. the national retail federation predicts and overall drop of 1% in holiday sales. you know the nasty snowstorms last week? they didn't help matters any. the shelves are nearly empty at some stores where managers were careful to limit inventory. one shopper told reporters there's nothing left, everything has been picked over. so good luck. "with all due respect." i don't know about you but when i say with all due respect, it means i'm about to follow it up with something ugly. >> i think what robin really means is stay with us for a very special show this evening. the conversation, it's about celebrities, sports stars, gossip, you know. why are we so obsessed with mrs. palin? >> well, she's attractive. that's it. >> excellent answer. >> yes, that's what they call it. >> we're fascinated by sarah palin -- i wouldn't vote for her, but i think america is fascinated because, first of all, she's a hockey mom, she's got five kids and she's attractive. i mean, that's the real reason. i mean, first of all, you know -- and the reason you know that's true, because a year ago we didn't even know she was alive. and then within a swift thing of getting nominated for vice president by mr. mccain, she has become a rock star. >> robin and her guests talk about more of this year's stories. that's tonight 7:00 p.m. eastern called "with all due respect" right here on hln. police in phoenix, arizona, rescued a little girl just showers after she was abducted while playing outside her home. they say a man approached this 5-year-old girl and her older sister and tried to take their picture. he then allegedly forced the younger girl into his pickup and took off. the girl's older sister ran to a neighbor's house, pounded on the door. >> we were having christmas dinner and somebody was banging on the door. so i automatic open the door because i could tell it was a lower knock. and it was this little girl. she says, gout to help me, help me, somebody has taken my sister. then i called 911. >> police say they spotted the pickup hours later, chased him. he crashed after running over spike strips officers laid down, then police were able to capture him. the young girl was taken to the hospital. a senior iranian cleric warned activists not to use a holey shiite day to protest against the government. marking seventh century martyrdom of the grandson of the prophet muhammad this weekend. demonstrations were described as minor. a nato spokesman says a video released by the taliban of a captured u.s. soldier does not prove the soldier is alive. that tape was released yesterday. >> my name is bowe bergdahl. i was born march 28, 1986 in the city of sun valley in the state of idaho in united states of america. >> it was released on christmas day and described as, quote, a horrible act. private first class bowe bergdahl disappeared in afghanistan in june. on the video he criticizes the u.s.-led war there. a senior official says parts of the video may have been filmed months ago. bowe bergdahl's family in idaho is urging that he be released. they viewed that video soon after being notified about it yesterday morning. a family spokesman says they've been waiting for it anxiously since last week when the taliban said a video release was imminent. they released a statement through the local sheriff's office. >> the bergdahl family pleads with the captors to let their only son come home. to bowe, we love you and believe in you. stay strong. >> bergdahl also appeared in a 28-minute web video released by the taliban in july. in that video he was calm but he got emotional when talking about his girlfriend, his family and going home. as many as 45 people are believed dead in a bridge clams in western india. a local official says rescuers are still working to recover all the bodies that fell into the river. the bridge collapsed while under construction. police arrested two people who were managing that construction. they're still trying to figure out why that bridge collapsed. clean-up crews are working to transfer 33,000 gallons of diesel fuel from a grounded tugboat in alaska. it struck the same reef that the "exxon valdez" hit 20 years ago. that accident you may already be aware caused the worst oil spill in u.s. history. this latest accident left a mile long diesel sheen across prince william sound and some fuel escaped a large con tainlt boom. so a new york lawyer who was bilked by bernie madoff will not be able to recover millions of dollars that he paid in a divorce settlement. let me explain. stephen simpson says he gave his ex-wife nearly $7 million but says it was calculated to include half the value of his account with the madoff firm. well, he thought he had more than $5 million in that account but turns out that account was actually empty. he wanted to get back more than $2.5 million from the divorce settlement but the judge says that's his problem and simpson's ex-wife doesn't have to give back that part of the settlement. i want to know how he got on that plane. >> that reaction is shared by a lot of passengers on a jet where an apparent ter o. attempt took place just as that plane was landing in detroit. more developments on this breaking story just ahead. bad weather and beefed-up security are making it tough for people to get home from their holiday travels. a nightmarish winter storm has made some roads treacherous, including this one in arkansas. blizzard warnings are in effect for several states. the massive winter blast dumped up to 14 inches of snow in oklahoma city. slippery roads are being blamed for at least 21 deaths so far. meantime, for air travelers, the weather-related headaches only got worse as federal officials rushed to bump up security at airports across the country. that of course in response to the threat posed by an attempted terror attack on board a plane landing in detroit. president obama was briefed on the alleged failed terror attack as that plane was landing. early this morning the president secured a call with his homeland security advisers to discuss travel safety measures. we're told president obama continues to actively monitor this situation. the president is spending the holidays with his family in hawaii. and on friday, the president and first lady, michelle obama, made a surprise visit to a marine corps base to thank the troops for their service. passengers on that plane carrying the alleged terror attacker are describing what they saw and how that drama unfolded as the would be-be bomber was taken down. >> what we heard at the beginning was a bang. sounded at first like a balloon being popped and then it was a minute later a lady was shouting back and she was saying things like, what are you doing, what are you doing? >> we heard a loud pop. then a bit of smoke and then some flames and yelling and screaming. >> from what we can tell, there was a gentleman had some sort of device on him that caused him to catch on fire. >> all of a sudden, heard some screams and flight attendants ran up and down the aisles. and i think we knew the point when we saw the flight attendant's fear in their eyes and they grabbed the fire extinguishers and, also, we smelled a bunch of smoke. apparently someone in the front of the plane, i don't know if he lit himself on fire or lit something on his lap and it went up in flames. >> they said, there's fire, bring water. people bringing water. then two of the hostesses brought the fire extinguisher and they put out the fire. then one guy, a sturdy guy put a lock on his head and dragged him to the front. >> he didn't say anything. he was injured. he was burnt quite severely on his leg. they were very careful in trying to make sure he had nothing else on him so it was easy to see from the exposure that he had gotten significantly burned. he was very calm. >> times are always different and these things come up, unfortunately. so it's not too surprising. and it doesn't alarm us too much as to what happened. but it's disappointing and i'm sorry to hear that still happens. >> just pray and thank god that nobody was hurt, that this guy goes to jail for as long as he needs to go and gets reeducated, find out what life really is. you have been telling us your views on this. and a lot of you are upset that the suspect got so far. here's a sample of some of the e-mails that we received. >> hey, we would love to keep hearing from you. just send us your views. has this detroit incident changed your opinion about airport security? the best way to reach us today is by e-mail. just head to cnn.com/hln. prayers, moments of silence and ceremonies were held today to mark the fifth anniversary of that deadly tsunami in the indian ocean. more than 230,000 people were killed when a massive wave hit a dozen countries on december 26th, 2004. a tourist who was vacationing in thailand with his girlfriend talked about what happened when that tsunami hit. >> the water just grabbed my ankles and it was a huge pressure. i had never felt anything like it. it was as if someone was trying to pull me out in the ocean. we started walking towards the other side of the island, and the faster we walked, the more water comes after us. then we started to run slowly and the water just chased us. and then we -- seconds later, we ran for our lives. >> that tsunami caused nearly $10 billion in damage and the u.n. says it caused more damage than any other tsunami on record. these are pictures of a florida couple paragliding just moments before something went terribly wrong. police say the man lost control of that aircraft and it plunged into the atlantic ocean off dannia beach, north of miami. >> you could clearly hear the lady screaming. she was screaming because they had swung around and he had obviously lost control. so they were trying to come in. they hit down and that was it. >> the woman managed to get out of the harness when they hit the water, but her husband was trapped. lifeguards dragged him to shore, but they were not able to revive him. did you know some of the most memorable i-reports we have aired this year come from a single contributor? kris moreau shares her passion for all things i-report and gives us the inside scoop on one celebrity-filled project. plus how the alleged terrorist attack will affect anyone planning to fly today. a real christmas miracle, a little girl found alive just hours after she was abducted outside her home. then security at the vatican comes under close scrutiny after a woman tackles the pope. and on top of that, this isn't the first time vatican security has had to deal with her. plus, it's the day after christmas, so let the bargain hunting begin. question is, are there any deals to be had? a nigerian man has been charged with trying to blow up a plane. thanks for having us over. i'm virginia cha. let's get right to our top story. a few hours ago, that man, 23-year-old umar farouk abdulmutallab who you see there in the white shirt was handed a federal criminal complaint for threatening to destroy a flight and placing a destructive advice on that plane. investigators say he set off some sort of small explosive device in his seat just before the plane was about to land in detroit. early analysis by the fbi found the device contained an explosive called petn. fbi agents also found a syringe near his seat believed to have been part of the device. another passenger, jasper schuringa, heard the explosion, literally jumped in to help. >> i was on the right side of the plane and the suspect was on the left. so there were quite some seats in between. so when i saw that suspect, he was getting on fire and, you know, i freaked, of course, and without any hesitation, i just jumped over all the seats and jumped to the suspect because i was thinking he's trying to blow up the plane and so, you know, i was trying to search his body for any explosives and then i took some kind of object that was already melting and smoking out of him and i tried to put out the fire and then when i did that, i was also restraining the suspect. and then the fire started beneath his seat. so with my hands and everything -- you can see it's a little burned. i put out the fire and then other passengers helped me as well. and of course i was screaming for water, water, because we had a fire in the plane is not that good of course. >> so what do we know about the suspect? a family source tells cnn umar farouk abdulmutallab is 23 years old and the son of a man who recently stepped down as chairman of a bank in nigeria. we've learned that the suspect was granted a multiple use entry visa for the u.s. last year. u.s. officials say at the time there was no information on him that would have made him ineligible for that visa. we have also learned he originally boarded a klm flight in lagos, nigeria, before connecting in amsterdam. authorities say he went through normal security procedures in amsterdam before getting on the flight for detroit. officials close to the investigation think he may have acted alone and didn't have formal connections to organized terror groups. a federal security source says during an interrogation the suspect said he picked up the explosive device and instructions on how to use it in yemen. counterterrorism officers began searching homes in london today, including this pricey building where the suspect may have once lived. police won't say, though, exactly what they're looking for. that same family source, by the way, who identified abdulmutallab as the son of a banker says he lived i