having me. >> all right. hello again, everyone. i am fredricka whitfield. we have much more straight ahead in the "newsroom" where we're betting a restart right now. no safe tap water, but plenty of health complaints. a west virginia poison center is inundated with calls after a chemical taints the water supply. details are moments away. damage control. newly released documents shed new light on how appointees of new jersey governor chris christie shut down lanes to a busy bridge, and what they did afterwards to stem the growing outrage. and a new ruling today on the career of new york yankees' star alex rodriguez. an arbitrator decides on his punishment for allegedly violating major league doping rules. that decision, and a-rod's decision, straight ahead. no season, no playoffs for

baseball great alex rodriguez. an arbitrator reduced the suspension for the new york yankee slugger to 162 games. major league baseball had suspended rodriguez for 211 games for allegedly violating major league baseball's anti-doping rules. a-rod's rep, saying they respect the drug prevention and treatment program. the arbitration process as well as the decision released today by the arbitration panel. jason carroll is following the story for us from new york. so what are the fans saying? >> reporter: kwell, you know, obviously fans are weighing in on this issue. the man himself, alex rodriguez talking about it as well, fredricka. this is a disthat was not entirely unexpected by rodriguez and his team. alex rodriguez releasing a statement earlier saying, the number of games comes as no surprise. the deck has been stacked against me from day one.

i've been clear i did not use performance enhancing substances as alleged in the notice of discipline or violate the basic agreement or the joint drug agreement in any manner. to end this manner and prove it i will take this to federal court and work hard to get back on the field and help the yankees achieve the ultimate goal of winning another championship. fredricka, i'm told that throughout this entire process, the rodriguez team would have been willing to accept perhaps a 50, even a 65-game suspension. there would not have been any admission of guilt, but something they could have lived with and moved on, but that was not the case. also, major league baseball weighing in on this as well. as you know, they initially wanted that 211-game suspension to stand. they weighed in saying, well, we believe the original 211-game suspension was appropriate, we respect the decision rendered by the panel and will focus our continuing -- and will focus on our continuing efforts to -- to

eliminate performance enhancing substances from our game. but as you can imagine, as you said from the top, a number of fans are weighing in on this particular issue. i had an opportunity to hear what fans are saying now about rodriguez and this 162-game suspension. >> i'm from boston. i thought the penalty was also too strong. so i'm good with the 162. >> how do you hand out 162-game ban to one person and not give anything to all of these other people doing the same thing? yeah. i guess it is. just a-rod, yeah, it's too harsh. >> i think it's ridiculous. they gave him anything it should be 50 games. at the max. >> the whole career should be out. not enough. >> i think he deserves it. yop think there should be doping in baseball. it's america's pastime. >> reporter: well, here's the deal. as you know, fredricka, rodriguez was allowed to continue playing during this whole arbitration process.

the question now is, will he be allowed to play as he now takes his legal fight to the federal level? when i spoke to a representative from mlb, this person told me, look, the arbitrator's decision is binding and final. he will not be able to play. he will not see him in spring training, et cetera, as he continues on with this, but i'm told that what will happen, in all likelihood, his attorney, a tough guy, anyone who knows this attorney knows that, he knows his stuff. he'll get in there and ask a judge for a federal injunction to allow rodriguez to continue playing while he continues to fight. >> hmm. because he's hoping that maybe a federal court would take on this case, but we've heard it from so many experts and even people you've talked to that say that's not likely, that a federal court will even want to -- take on -- >> reporter: it's a tall order. >> the arbitration panel. tall order? >> reporter: definitely a tall order. once again, joe tacopina and anyone who knows his reputation

knows he's a tough attorney. knows the law. knows this particular situation, and perhaps if there's anyone who can get a federal judge to listen and see their sides of things, it might be joe tacopina, but he has a tall order ahead of him. >> jason carroll, keep us posted. thank you so much. >> reporter: you bet. looks like another retailer has been hacked. neiman marcus said today it is working to contain a cyber breach at the company. that took place last month. this follows the revelation that nearly twice as many tart customers had their data than originally thought. jennifer, neiman marcus is style trying to contain this and really don't know how widespread or how far back this breach goes. right? >> you're right. we know the credit card information was takening. the unknown is, how many credit card numbers were compromised, and what the time frame is of when this security breach happened. so let's take a look at what we

do know. this all started in mid-december when neiman marcus was alerted that there was a potential security breach. after that, they contacted police. they began working with secret service. they began working with a forensic team and it took until january 1st for that forensic team to determine that there, in fact, was a breach. we know that credit card information was compromised, but we just don't know how widespread that was. neiman marcus has said they will contact customers who they believe their information has been fraudulently used already. they've also issued this statement today saying in part, we have begun to contain the intrusion, and have taken significant steps to further enhance information security. and, fredricka, the importance in that is especially great right now, given that target also had a recent security breach. >> yes, and a very big one. >> yes. >> everyone thought it was big with 40 million, but now, huge. >> it doubled in size. even maybe more than that at this point.

we don't know. originally we thant credit card and debit numbers, pin numbers, expiration dates. now that's expanded to include your personal information. the information we're talking about is your name, mailing address, phone number, and e-mail addresses, and the reason why that can be crucial is that people could use that information to then contact you and kind of dupe you in to thinking that they know more about you than they should. >> all the ingredients of identity fraud. >> absolutely. >> stealing your identity. >> there are ways to protect yourself. as we talk about this, talking about it with target, seems basic, obvious, but these are the steps want to take to make sure you protect yourself, and some of the steps are, mont are bank statements. anything on the statement that seems out of the ordinary, even a $1 charge, contact your bank and make sure it's legitimate. don't click on strange links e-mailed to you. we mentioned, targeted, the they got your e-mail address. don't click on anything you don't know. be aware of fishing scams,

looking for more information about you and contact a credit monitoring service if you'd like and target is offering that to their customers for a year for free. and people still have a chance to sign up for that. these are things that are good to do whether it's a security breach with target, neiman marcus or any other time that you may think your information has been compromised and you could be a victim of fraud. >> all scary stuff. >> absolutely. >> no matter which way you look at it. thanks, jennifer. appreciate that. the scandal involving governor crhris christie and hi office are growing. aides tried to stone wahl the media about plan to close lanes of the washington bridge. it causes massive backups on the bridge and a trail of internal e-mails indicates the closings were done to punish the mayor of ft. lee for not backing chris christie's re-election campaign. what more are you learning from these documents, margaret?

>> reporter: fred, about 2,000 pages of documents have, and e-mails, have been released appearing to show that those in governor chris christie's inner circle were part of a cover-up. his closest allies made it seem like closing down lanes to the george washington bridge back in september was part of a traffic study for four straight days there was gridlock. major inconvenience for commuters and delays for emergency responders. now it seems the stunt was allegedly part of a political plot for retribution against the democratic mayor of ft. lee for not backing christie for re-election. the man leading the charge is new jersey assemblyman john wisneski, a democrat saying the charges could be criminal. >> i'm not a prosecutor but i do think laws have been broken. clearly, it was said on september 13th, and public resources, the bridge, the police office, the people who move the coverage all used for a

political purpose for some retribution. that violates the law. law enforcement ought to look at this as well to make sure any violations of law are addressed. >> now, i suppose with mr. wisniewski. they've been looking into it and they want all documents related to this made available. and chris christie, could be a potential candidate in 2016 has long denied his involvement in any of this. >> i have come out here to this office where i've been many times before, and i come out here today to apologize to the people of new jersey. i apologize to the people of ft. lee, and i apologize to the members of the state legislature. >> reporter: now, christie's been out there doing damage control saying this is "embarrassing and humiliating." he fired his deputy chief of staff, e-mails showed he was

involved and he says he'll do an internal investigation. on thursday christie held a press conference and answered questions nearly two hours and went to the mayor of ft. lee and apologized. there's a lot to come out of this investigation. a lot of questions. did governor christie know about any of this? so far there are no documents showing that he did. and why did it take so long for all of this to come out? fred? >> all right, mart connelly, thanks so much. keep us posted. former israeli prime minister ariel sharon died today after eight years in a coma. he was 85. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu expressed his deep sorrow over his passing and said this -- "the state of israel bows its head on the passing of former prime minister ariel sharon. ariel sharon played a central role in the struggle for the security of the state of israel over all its years." a-rod suspension for steroid use has been reduced, but that's not good enough for the yankee's star. the battle over his future, next.

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baseball this season. hours ago an arbitrator reduced the suspension of alex rodriguez to 162 games. major league baseball banished the yankees' third baseman to 211 games. joining me on the phone, dan levy, the national league writer for the bleacher report. okay. so, dan, i guess, is this much of a surprise, in your view? that the arbitration panel would reduce what managelb had given n terms of suspension? >> no. this is about exactly as everyone expected. because the original suspension would have taken him through the end of last season and the entire 2014 season. all this does, both sides expected this. >> so a-rod in his statement says he will try to involve a federal court. in the meantime, what does this

mean for the yankees' team? what does it mean for his payroll for the next year, since this 162 games means he's out for at least a year? >> i saw you had people, some fans reacting. the yankees' fans should be high-fiving. it's about $27 million that brian cashman can go out and spend on other players. a-rod was an enormous weight on that team when they're trying to get under the luxury tax. if they can get under the tax and still make their team better. they do have a hole at third base. their best option at third base. $27 million you can spread over four, five players without having to pay a-rod in 2014 is great for the yankees. >> does this give them wiggle room to get out of the payroll? >> i think people want a-rod to retire. hope he'll retire. i think he'll try to collect every dime possible just to prove a point.

they'll probably try to get out of if. i don't think there's much legal room with the collective bargaining. >> what about his legacy? you mentioned him as one of the best third baseman ever. now what? what does this do to his legacy? >> i don't think it changes it based on this decision. i think his legacy has been tarnished, if you will. it's interesting because of what happened a few days ago at the hall of fame. roger clemens, barry bonds didn't get in. doesn't look like they're get enough votes anytime soon. now i rod. manny ramirez will be up soon. the greatest players of the last 25 years, of all-time, if you look at their numbers and all tainted by this. i really think at some point we're all going to have to look back, all who write about the sport and figure out what this means. it's not a blanket, they're all cheaters. never honor them again. a confusing time in sports. >> no real evidence of his use of substance performance drugs, however does this ruling, this

suspension, mean that it now reduces his chances of ever being in a hall of fame? >> well i think the people who don't vote for bonds and don't vote for clemens, neither of them suspended or failed tests. this is now the same process. now they can look at a-rod and say, he's in that category. a great player. so much overwhelming evidence outside of a failed test that they'll feel that he's unclean as well. according to mlb, what they've put out, an overwhelming amount of evidence. a-rod thinks it's all lies. fascinating to see how this will work out. >> if t is fascinating. dan levy, thanks so much from breacher report. waiting in long lines for bottled water. clean water, period. thousands of people in west virginia are forced to do just that this weekend, because they still don't have any clean tap water. days after a chemical leak. the possible health impact of that spill, next. farmer: hello, i'm an idaho potato farmer.

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to the painted water, and fema is sending 75 trucks filled with about 5,000 gallons of water each. they will be distributed across the affected areas. joining us now from washington. aaron, what's the latest? we do understand now that there have been five patients admitted to the hospital. and also saying they've been sickened by this water. >> reporter: well, fred, we've learned now that the president of west virginia american water says that this problem may go on for days. west virginia american water just released a statement to us about what things are looking like right now. they say the ken roy valley treatment plant must consistently produce water samples at or below this level, 1 part per million before the current do not use order is lifted. an inadd krit number of samplings to report. even when water meets acceptable

water levels extensive levels must be conducted before the do not use order is lifted. as we head, we are going 1250e this go on for days so fema will continue to send in this water so that west virginia residents have something to drink and to use. now, on top of that, one of the u.s. attorneys in west virginia, booth goodwin, is launching an investigation saying even negligent could tlelead to a criminal charge. >> then i understand erin brockovich is also speaking out about this situation. to what degree? >> reporter: well, fred, as you know, as a public advocate, she goes in to a lot of these situations and complains that this is something that is kind of systemic. she was on cnn last night and explained that she and her team may go to west virginia to do some work there. take a listen to what she had to say. >> when there's a disaster like this, i'm usually flooded with e-mails from the community, and

so our job is to go to assist, advise, help them in any way we can. we'll take a look at the site. see possibly how that breach did occur and then go from there, and so as the disaster's unfold, i'm getting more and more e-mails. so we will get on the ground, work with those communities. hear from those communities and begin an investigation. >> so we're looking at a couple of investigations essentially there in west virginia, but, again, it's going to be a couple more days before that water is back to usable standards, fred. >> okay. erin mcpike, thanks so much in washington. all right. coming up next, he is the top scoring nba player of all-time. let me give you a couple seconds to think about it. before you see him, right there. kareem abdul-jabbar. also known for his sports diplomacy. he joins us live and weighs in on dennis rodman's trip to north korea.

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apologies coming from dennis rodman saying sorry to the family of american kenneth bae ba. and sorry to the players he took to north korea and to those he blasted in a cnn interview. >> reporter: overnight former

nba player dennis rodman admitted in a statement to cnn he was out of bounds. i want to apologize. i take full responsibility for my actions. it had ban very stressful day. some of my teammates were leaving because of pressure from their families and business associates. my dreams of basketball diplomacy were quickly falling apart. rodman's apology comes in the wake of a wild week playing exhibition basketball in north korea where he exploded in an interview with cnn's chris cuomo. >> i don't give a [ bleep ] what the -- i don't give a rat's ass what the hell you think. i'm sitting here with these guys. look at these guys here! >> reporter: rodman explains i had been drinking. not an excuse. by the time the irt view happened i was upset, overwhelmed. it's not an excuse. it's just the truth. rodman ended his alarming north korea trip with even more bizarre images. ♪ happy birthday to you >> reporter: singing "happy

birthday" to lieder kim jong-un and giving him a bow. >> to you, sir, let me know, we going to get it -- >> reporter: rodman sparked a firestorm with a seeming justification foyer the impri n imprisonment of kenneth bae, living his family and home disappointed. >> do you understand what he did. >> you tell me what did he do? >> in this country. no, no, no. you tell me. you tell me. why is he held captive? >> reporter: now rodman is back pedaling saying i want to first apologize to kenneth bae's family and to chris cuomo. i embarrassed a lot of people. i am sorry. i should know better than to make political statements. i am truly sorry. also, a regret from former nba star charles smith who questions whether he did the right thing

going to korea. perhaps in a birthday gift to kim, rodman lost along with his team of former nba stars to the north korean national team. their loss, another apparent victory for north korea's gargantuan prop ganaganda regim which said it paid tribute to north korea and its leader. rodman called this trip basketball diplomacy. cnn caught up with former nba player charles smith. he was part of that group that traveled with rodman to north korea. smith says, they accomplished their goal. >> we all sat out to do, to use basketball as a bridge for cultural change. we accomplished that mission. all the players that were there. the american tourists. even our documentary film crew. i think we can all agree that the trip was just simply incredible.

>> joining us now is former nba great kareem abdul-jabbar joining us from los angeles. kare kareem, were you a pointed a cultural ambassador in 2012 by then secretary of state hillary clinton. so your thoughts on this trip? mission accomplished or did it backfire? >> i think that it certainly backfired on them. i don't think they had a really good idea of what they could accomplish, because there's so much that is not known about north korea. it's a very unpredictable place. and the leadership there can do some very bizarre things. you know, caution is usually the best way to approach situations like that, and you know, when you have no idea of what's going to happen, it's usually a wise thing to do to stay away from those kind of situations. >> and then, you know, rodman, you heard in this interview with cnn. he said it in other ways, too, that he really thought that this trip would be opening a door,

and that this really was about friendship, and even though this was not a trip sanction eed by e u.s. state department, can you help people understand who may have a difficult time seeing how sports can be used as an avenue to bridge a divide, how, in your view, should sports diplomacy work? >> well, i think that sports diplomacy can be great for getting people to talk. remember the ping-pong diplomacy during president nixon's term of office? >> yeah. >> and also, you know, i have -- i made friendships with, let's say, a baseball player named ernie banks, who's in the hall of fame. he wants to take a team to cuba to play baseball, just to play some games hopefully to open up the dialogue. so sports can be very instrumental in doing those types of things, but i don't think what mr. rodman did was thought through very carefully,

and it was just ended up being an opportunity for the north korean government to have a propaganda coup. >> would there have been a better way in which dennis rodman could have embarked on this, and while it may not have been sanctioned by the u.s. state department, perhaps he would have had the blessings from many more, if, perhaps, there was a clear objective or perhaps some real consulting on how to craft this trip? >> yeah. i think he just went in to it with blinders on, so to speak. not understanding the political implications and then, you know, the outburst that he made was very unfortunate. it just -- started to compound all of the bad things that were happening as a result of the trip. i'm really -- i feel that the other players did the right thing in understanding and realizing that they were being used, and getting out of there.

>> and how, in your view, can sports be used as a uniter? even when there may be some political differences that may stand in the way? how can sports still kind of bridge that gap, in your view? >> well, you know, differences can never be bridged unless people start to talk, and a sporting match is a great way to initiate a conversation. you have something in common. your love for a game or sport, and the ability to come together in that way can lead to people coming together in more ways, and it just -- it opens doors and gets people talking, and that's such an important key for any attempt at diplomacy. >> and do you see that this trip in any way may have hurt or potentially helped even though dennis rodman seems, says there may have been a door that somewhere down the line we'll see that has been opened? do you see that this trip in

some way may have helped somewhere downed line, or do you think it is a setback? >> fredricka, i don't know enough about it, but i was embarrassed. just being a former nba player, i was embarrassed that one of our guys did not take the time to fully look at this and think it through before he went and did something like that, because, you know, he's on the world stage, and that's not the best place to be making mistakes. >> all right. kareem abdul-jabbar. thanks so much. i said at the top, former nba great, but you're still a great. it's the former nba player part. >> you're too kind, fredricka. thank you so much. >> all right. always great. thanks so much, kareem, appreciate it. >> you're welcome. >> always good to see you. all right. a hunter's group in texas, you've probably heard it by now, is actually auctioning a permit to kill an endangered rhino. they say it's for a good cause. hear how the humane society is

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in the world. in the country of namibia, only 1,700 still alive. thousands of miles away in this convention hall, it has a way of helping save this ancient beast. the group will auction off a permit from the namibian government to hunt and kill one black rhino. the club's executive director ben carter says sacrificing one animal for the greater good is smart conservation. >> it's going to be able to raise more money than any other way you could do it to help provide for all the conservation needs that we need for the black rhino. >> reporter: the auction started death threats, which the fbi is investigating along with a vicious debate over how to save this endangered species. critics call the auction is sad joke. >> marsha, where are you joining us from? >> in namibia in africa. >> reporter: marcia works with save the rhino trust and works with the government to protect the rhinos.

>> do you agree with the tactic? >> i tepersonally don't agray. it's saying one rhino is worth it much more than the whole. >> reporter: you need a special ticket to get in. no cameras allowed in. organizers say it's to protect the identity of the bidders. the permit could sell for as much as $250,000, even up to $1 million. the dallas safari club says all of the money will be donated to namibia's kevs efforts to save the glak rhino and the government picked a handful of rhinos that can be targeted by the hunter who wins the auction. >> they've already picked out two or three black rhino males that are old, non-breeding males. not contributing to the population anymore. in fact, black rhinos are very territorial and very aggressive and actually are debtmental to the population when they're old like that. they're like a cranky old man. >> reporter: conserve sags groups say it would be better to

keep him alive, selling the opportunity to see the animals up close in the wild. >> i can't state strongly enough how perverse this is to say that killing this animal is the best thing for these animals. it is a critically endangered species. >> reporter: the black rhino is in the cross hairs controversy and both side say they're doing what's best for this wild beast. ed lavandera, cnn, dallas. wayne pacelli joins me now from washington, the ceo and president of the humane society of the united states. good to see you. >> yes. good morning. good afternoon. >> okay. clearly, we know your point of view. you're not going to be in favor of such an auctioned item, permit, to be able to kill a black rhino. so what, if anything, could you or other kovaticonservationists maybe not stop the auction but prevent the actual act of killing a black rhino in namibia from happening? >> obviously, we'd have to

convince the in a mickian authorities, the ony allows this to occur. even more on point for those of us here? the united states is the u.s. fish and wildlife service is essentially allowing this to occ occur, because there's an import permit. the hunter is only going to do this is the yirt fish and wildlife service allows the trophy to be imported. this is a trophy hunt. it's not for me or for population control. precisely the opposite, as you indicated in your piece there, it's one of the most endangered animals in the world, and, therefore, comes under the protections of the federal endangered species act, there are foreign listed species. so the u.s. fish and wildlife service, the federal regulatory committee, has to bless this, and we are asking the fish and wildlife service to deny this, because where is this going to end? what if a bunch of wealthy elites want to go shoot and orangutan or an asian elephant, perhaps a sigh beberian tiger?

will we allow a rich hunter because he's willing to pay for it? i hope the conscious doesn't lay on that selfishness what about the incentive, purely the hunter who is the highest bidder just for the sheer pleasure of being able to hunt and kill this black rhino overseas, is really the incentive enough? it seems as though the u.s. w d wildlife, fish and wildlife would not be able to intervene. would it? >> well, that's correct. but there really isn't a lot of fun going on in hunting a rhino. it's like shooting a parked bus. i mean, these are enormous, prehistoric-looking animals. this is essentially a guide hunt to kill a specific animal. how anyone can think this is sporting is really beyond me. if we care about the care and protection of these animals into the next generation, we have to do everything we can to stop

this inhue maim killing. sow the south of africa, nearly 1,000 rhinos have been poached. these animals are under siege for their horns because of the international trade for that product. just like elephants are under siege for their ivory. the last thing these animals need is more human-caused killing for frivolous purposes. whether for a trinket, a potion or someone mounting their head on a wall thousands of miles away for their own ego. >> the real perplexing thing is is, whether it be the dallas safari club or namibia as well, offering the permit, the dialogue that is coming with this auctioned item is, you kill one rhino, this money that was gained from the auction, is going to help in the conservation of the pop populous of the rhino. many are buying that selling point along the line.

so what do you say, you know, to that selling point, and how do your words, you know, try to make a difference, or prevent or stop this from happening in the first place? >> well, there are lots of us involved in rhino protection conservation, whether the humane society of the united states or the african wildlife foundation or others. none of us are contributing and demanding the opportunity to shoot one of the animals. if one of these folks in dallas really cares about the rhino, they'll give the $200,000 or the $300,000 that they'll donate for the auction and just decouple that from the idea of killing the animal. why do we have to say that, well, the only way we could get money for rhinos which is so false, because millions of dollars are now going to rhino protection, from people who just want to help the rhino. not get something out of it. >> wayne pacelli of the humane society of the united states, and we did reach out to any representative of the dallas saffuri club. you did see a representative who

was in ed lavandera's piece. we did try to reach out to have a live discussion with the representation of those who are supporting this auction as well. wayne, thanks so much for saying, yes. >> thank you so much. you know him as the rough and tough patriarch of the orange county choppers family, but what you may not know about paul is that he's a recovering addict. dr. sanjay gupta brings you his story in this week's "human factor." >> reporter: grinding -- blowing things up -- and building bikes. it's what paul tuttle senior, star of the hoe does best. there was a time his future didn't seem so bright. >> back in the day i kind of started early drinking and getting high and, you know,

black then you think that that stuff's going to go away as you get older, and what it does, it gets progressively worse. >> reporter: as a younger guy, tuttle and his buddies hit the sauce early, and auv. >> i could drink a quart of whiskey and lunchtime and then go back to work. >> reporter: after years of giving everything to alcohol, he realized it all came down to a simple choice. live or die. >> i was pretty fortunate that, you know, i was able to get in a 12-step program. i went nine years straight, and i was afraid to miss a meeting. >> reporter: he began to change, but his friends didn't. >> just because i stopped drinking, didn't mean anybody else did, and you know, the people, everybody that i associated myself with drank, and drank hard. the first two years were, it was really -- it was really tough. >> reporter: and the consequences were dire. >> i had a partner. he was 35 years old. i got sober. he didn't. he died the same year. >> reporter: that's why senior has now been sober for 29 years,

continues to share his story. >> after 12 years of tv, being myself, everybody knows that -- how [ bleep ] crazy i am. so it's no secret. it's kind of like i always look at it, if i can get sober, anybody can. >> reporter: dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, reporting. farmer: hello, i'm an idaho potato farmer.

and our giant idaho potato truck is still missing. so my dog and i we're going to go find it. it's out there somewhere spreading the good word about idaho potatoes and raising money for meals on wheels. but we'd really like our truck back, so if you see it, let us know, would you? thanks. what?

now to the iraq war. there's been a stunning surge of violence. at least 60 people have been killed and fearly 300 wounded since december 1st. the city of fu lieu ja is at the center of the fighting. michael holmes is live from baghdad. tell us more about the situation there. >> reporter: what's interesting is two cities at center of all of this in a well known to

americans the locals there say the tribal leaders, the tribes are charge inside those cities. but i got to tell you there's been a lot of incidents around. and between those two cities. they are not very far apart. for example, police say iraqi military hit a guest house there owned. by a tribal leader. three dead, seven wounded. sort of a tick, tick, tick deaths that have been building up. seven civilians were wounded later on. usually we can't verify as e sh showing those extremists. you say from the islamic state in iraq and syria they were taking on the government. forces outside of ra ma day and also we saw evidence of what the opposition say the tribes say they destroyed five humvees.

this happened at a place just about four miles northeast of fallujah. the fighting is still very much going on. it's sporadic. so it's still a very concerning thing for iraq. >> michael holmes, be careful there in baghdad. we'll continue to e get your reporting over the next few days. thanks so much. next, a a young man born to lead. russell wilson thrills crowds with flair, which is good for a guy who was told he wasn't good enough to play in the nfl. his inspiring story is coming up right after this break.

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at a company that's bringing media and technology together. next is every second of nbcuniversal's coverage 0f the 2014 olympic winter games. it's connecting over one million low-income americans

to broadband internet at home. it's a place named one america's most veteran friendly employers. next is information and entertainment in ways you never thought possible. welcome to what's next. comcastnbcuniversal. a victory tonight would propel the seattle seahawks into the nfc championship. quarterback russell wilson is leading the team. wilson comes from a long line of accomplished family members. some people say he was simply a born leader. here's rachel nichols. >> reporter: he has a colgate smile, stars in national commercials alongside his beautiful wife and, e oh, yes, he's the quarterback for the

seattle seahawks. but russell wilson is aware according to the experts he wasn't supposed to be sitting here. >> if i had asked outsiders in vegas the odds were that you'd be in this position? 1 in 10,000? >> not too many people think you can play in the national football league. >> reporter: will some coson coa family of high achievers. his grandfather. was a university president. his grandmother earned a doctorate on the way to becoming a college dean. then there was his father harrison, an ivy league graduate, president of his law school class and a two-sports star who attended training camp with the chargers. harrison raised russell in his image. >> he's always asked, you just about to play in the super bowl, what's next? what are you thinking? those type of questions all the

time. >> reporter: he enrolled in north carolina state after the school allowed him to play football and baseball. >> i always wanted to do something different, unique. i wanted to be uncommon in that fashion. >> reporter: there was only one problem, his father harrison was sick. >> my dad had diabetes his whole life. fast forward it's my junior year in college. he wasn't doing well at the time. ended up get. ing drafted by the rockies. the next day my dad passed away in 2010. so i'm at the biggest high in my life. the next day he's gone. my dad always thought i would play shortstop for the new york indiana keers. at the same time i had fire o play the quarterback position. my dad loved football so much. he get. s to see every game. it's a special thing. >> reporter: wilson fell he had his father's blessing to return to football. in 2011 he transferred to the

university of wisconsin for his final season of college eligibility. taking the badgers to the rose bowl. after being drafted in seattle, he shocked the pundits by taking the seahawks to the playoffs in his rookie season. >> it was the right team, right place, amazing fans. it was something that was really in tune. >> if your dad got to hear those words somewhere that russell wilson is a super bowl-winning quarterback, are you going to save that interview for your dad? >> i will be answering just like i did in the car when i was 14 years old. >>. cute as can be. what a great. story. you can catch unguarded with rachel nichols on friday nights here on cnn. that's going to do it it for me. much more ahead in the newsroom with kyra phillips.

you are at the scene of newsroom. coming up, a-rod may have won a battle against the mlb, but not the war. his suspension reduced. he's not done fighting to get back in. the game. a data breach spreading par wider than we thought. hear how spamers might trick you into getting more information. and chris christie in damage control. could the bridge scandal impact his future political aspirations? e we begin with a state of emergency for 300,000 people in west virginia who have been told not to use their tap water. officials just wrapped up a news conference saying it could be days before it could be safe to drink the water. nine counties are in the middle of a dangerous situation after more than 7,000 gallons of a tox toxic chemical leaked into the

ground water. there is some good news. fresh drinking water is arriving by the truckload. 16 tractor trailers sfrent tsen from the department of homeland security arrived. first of all, have officials offered any type of timeline as to when this could be cleaned up? >> no, kyra, there is no end date. and actually we want to play for you a little bit of the press conference that jeff mcentire, who is the president of west virginia american water, held just a short time ago. he explained why. >> i would expect that we are talking days. our teams are out. we have employees that have worked the system that are knowledgeable. they are out collecting samples and looking at flushing activities at this time. >> kyra, the water company has also explained through statements that they will want to test this water repeatedly

and come up with a safe results repeatedly before they deem it it usable again. so in other words, it won't just be be on the first test that they say go ahead and use it it, everyone. that's why it's going to take days. once they finally get a safe result. >> with regard to the company responsible for the leak, it's been issued the cease operations order from the state department and environmental protections. do we know yet if criminal charges are going to be brought against the company? >> that is very possible. and just last night, the one of the u.s. attorneys in west virginia said several times that he will launch an investigation and says that just for negligence there could be criminal charges brought against the company. >> thanks so much. it may be a long time before anyone sees alex rodriguez sling a bat. they ruled he should sit out the season for a performance

enhancing drug scandal. he's running out of chances to get back on the field. >> reporter: this decision is very disappointing for alex rodriguez and his team, but it was not entirely unexpected. he released a statement saying the number of games comes as no surprise as the deck has been stacked against me from day one. i have been clear i did not use performance enhancing substances as alleged in the notice of d discipline or the joint drug agreement in any matter and in order to prove it i will take this fight to federal court. i will continue to work hard to get back on the field and help the yankees achieve the ultimate goal of winning another championship. i'm told that alex rodriguez would have actually accepted a 50 or possibly even a 65-game. suspension. there would not have been an admission of guilt but they would have moved on. but that did not happen. major league baseball, of

course, wanted the entire 211-game suspension to stand. that did not happen. they released a statement as well saying "while we believe the original 211-game suspension was appropriate, we respect the decision rendered by the panel and will focus on our continuing efforts on eliminating performance enhancing substances from our game." as you can imagine a number of sports fans are weighing in about the 162-game suspension. here's what they had to say. >> i'm from boston. i thought the penalty was a little too strong. >> how do you hand out a ban to one person and mot give anything to all the other people doing the same thing? if you talk about just a-rod, it's just too harsh. >> i think it's ridiculous. if they gave him anything, it should be 50 game. s at the max. >> the whole career should be out. >> not enough. >> i think he deserves it. i don't think there should be

doping in baseball. it's america's past time. >> he was allowed to play ball. that may not be the case this time. representative from major league baseball said this decision is final so he will not be able to play baseball while he takes his fight to the next level. do not expect him to show up for spring training. just one minute that may not be the case. he's going to ask his attorney to ask a federal judge for an injunction to allow him to keep playing while he keeps fighting. jason carol, cnn, new york. the target store chain says it looks like the breach is worse than reported. here's the new figure. 70 million customers may have had their personal information hacked. credit card numbers, phone murms, mail and e-mail addresses. it's almost the biggest theft of customer data ever in this

country. and now another store is saying that it has a security issue as well. niemann marcus officials said that hackers broke into their computer systems and started grabbing private customer information. how many customers? we don't know yet, but there's a few things you can do now if you think you might be one of them. jennifer merrily is on the story for us. if we think the hackers got our personal information, because i was impacted by the target situation wharks do you do? >> the first thing i would say is be aware and be wary. because we know they have gotten phone numbers, e-mail addresses, you want to be careful about who is contacting and what kind of information you're giving out. there's a couple different things you can do to protect yourself. monitor your bank statements. if you see anything on there that seems out of the ordinary, call your bank and your credit card. just make sure and inquire that it's a legitimate charge. don't click on strange links.

people may e-mail you looking for other information. don't click on anything you don't know where it's coming from. be aware of fishing scams. anyone looking for extra information from you. you can contact a credit monitoring service. target is offering this for their customers for free for a year because of the situation there. it's a good idea to do any ways if you think you might be a victim. let's talk about niemann marcus. this is something that they said they were alerted to in mid-december. it took until january 1st for a forensic team to determine that there was fraud at the department store. they are working with the secret service now with forensic team. they seem to be uncovered more information and because they know they are a victim of this cyber security fraud, that means that customers are also victims in this case. so far they don't know how widespread it is. the other unknown is what was

the timeframe this happened. niemann marcus is saying that they will contact those people who they believe their credit cards have already had fraudulent charges. they issued a statement saying we have taken steps to further enhance information security. that is essential right now given that target has had this breach and niemann marcus is the latest one. >> what more can can you tell us about what banks and credit card companies are doing? my bank is the one that told me don't worry. we're monitoring everything. we'll let you know what you should do. we'll get you a new debit card. they were very proactive. >> it's nice to feel the comfort from them. that's what they are doing in this case too. cnn staffer got this letter in the mail that said, hey, your visa card was a part of this fraud and we're monitoring it. they gave him a new card.

that's happened with more than one bank. and they are giving him a new card. if you have any question about what you're getting in the mail, before you use the card, contact the bank. double check saying did you send me this card. always good to double check. >> great advice. thanks so much. president obama said condolences to the family of ariel sharon. he died today in a hospital just outside of tel aviv. he was in a coma since a stroke in 2006. he was a general in the israeli army before entering politics. he was elected and relekked prime minister and shocked the world in 2005 when he pulled all israeli troops from gaza. he was 77 years old at the time of his stroke. he died today at the age of 85. coming up, former new mexico governor bill richardson joining me live. he has a lot to say about chris christie and dennis rodman.

we'll talk to him after the break. plus a new government report found that your gps is spying on you beaming back data that some companies are holding for up to seven years.

. so chris christie has tried to overcome the political scandal after 2,000 pages of documents link his aids to a bizarre plot

to snarl traffic on the nation's busiest bridge. . that plot apparently hashed as political revenge on the new jersey mayor who refused to support christie's reelection bid. there's no indication in the documents that christie played any role. bill richardson is joining me live from washington. great to see you. >> nice to be with you. >> how much did governors really know when it comes down to what their aids are doing? christie says he had no knowledge. do you believe him? >> well, i give him the benefit of the doubt. governors run huge bureaucracies but also in their personal saf staff, there can be as many as 50 people that are operating on your behalf. i give him the benefit of the doubt because it it seems that some of these aids were in port authority commission positions. you're not watching things every day.

the danger that he has is the deputy chief of staff being so involved. that's a number two person on your staff. he claims that he didn't know. but it depends on what happens in the day ace head. whether anything else dribbles out. >> let me ask you there, governor. i've been with you and other governors when the deputy is there. that's a right-hand person. you're hearing every call, holding the blackberry. you are checked into everything your governor is doing. >> that is true, but if this aid didn't inform the governor, as governor christie said, it's hard to keep track. i had a very good staff. i had a lot of meetings. what you want to do is be engaged at all times. some said i micromanage too much. every presidential candidate, every major political figure has had some kind of a crisis in

their life. i think what happens with gov. nor christie is going to depend on is this over in terms of his connection, but also the personal whatever might happen personally through an individual that was a victim of that traffic snarl. some sick kid or somebody that passed away that the human side but i think the advantage of governor christie is this like three years away from a presidential run two and a half years? he's chairman of the republican governors. and i must say this is not been a plus a all, but of all the republicans out there, and i'll be supporting the democratic candidate for president, he's the guy that i think i would think is the most dangerous in terms of being elected president. >> so is this going to impact that? will this incident be big enough to impact his chances o of becoming the nominee?

>> yeah, it will have an impact. it depends on is it a decisive impact. what i'm saying is it's going to depend on what else dribbles out. any personal tragedy that occurred because of this incident. but again, this is something that you can't say is going to have what is called a disqualifying impact right now. it will have an impact. his image of being a take charge law and order bipartisan guy, there he is with president obama in that hurricane. this does take a blow to his image, which he had been cultivating of a can-do governor that is elected in a state with minority votes. i think he got. 65%. so there's quite a bit dent in his image. >> so do you think this is going to raise questions then about his capabilities as a manager?

that people that he hires could do things like this? and what does that say if he were to be president of the u.s.? >> well, i think what he has to do, and i'm not somebody that's giving him advice nor do i enjoy any fellow governor having problems like this, but i think he has to reach out and get a staff that is more independent, that is not so partisan, that is petty. i know this is difficult to do, but i think he's needs to search out for individuals that will say to him, governor, we can't do that. governor, this is a gray area. let's do this. i think it's more acceptable and transparent. and i see a lot of his aids in these e-mails, they wanted political retribution. they wanted to go after this mayor of this small town because he didn't endorse the governor. these are children that are affected from the democratic candidate for governor.

>> so before we head to break then, just a yes or no. i want to keep you around to talk about dennis rodman. is he going to have to let those aids go? are we going to see people fired if he wants to pursue a bigger political career? >> yes, and he needs to bring in new, more forthcoming, more open, more national aids with frankness that are going to tell him what is right and what is wro wrong. >> governor, stay with me. i want to talk about dennis rodman and his trip to north korea and why he definitely crossed the line. blap llo, i'm an idaho potato farmer. and our giant idaho potato truck is still missing. so my dog and i we're going to go find it. it's out there somewhere spreading the good word about idaho potatoes and raising money for meals on wheels. but we'd really like our truck back, so if you see it, let us know, would you? thanks.

what?

. do you understand what kenneth bay did? >> what did he do? you tell me. >> no, no, you tell me. why is he held captive? >> they haven't released any charges. they haven't released any reason. >> let me do this. all these guys here, does anyone understand that? >> we do. we wish them well with the cultural exchange. >> yes, that's dennis rodman, accent risk to say the least now

apologizing for the outburst on cnn where he says he was drinking. he was talking about kenny bay an american being detained in north korea. dennis rodman now says he was boozing and stressed out. i want to apologize for kenneth bae's family. i'm truly sorry. bill richardson still with us. governor, did rodman's rant there hurt kenneth bae's chance for release? >> i'm worried because what basically rodman said he might be guilty. he didn't quite say it, and that's very far from the truth. but does give the north koreas some kind of cover. he's a missionary who strayed. he's sick. he needs to come home.

rodman apologized to the family. the family accepted the apology. but i think rodman has caused some damage. at the very beginning when he first went to north korea about a year ago, the new leader kim jong-un saw dennis rodman and he wouldn't see me. so i was a little dumbfounded by that. but i thought basketball diplomacy was maybe be a channel, but obviously since dennis went there and he went after kenneth bae, he went to play basketball the day of kim jong-un's birthday, he sang happy birthday so he's dissolved any good will towards basketball diplomacy being a channel. it became a side show. and on the whole, it's not a good episode. it's not a healthy episode. potentially an opening of a

relationship between the united states and north korea. and out of the box diplomacy, basketball diplomacy, ping-pong diplomacy like it it did with china, i think that's pushed aside. >> you're being very diplomatic in your word choice. you have been to north korea plenty of times on diplomatic missions. a lot of people are sitting back looking at dennis rodman thinking, what? i mean, this is a train wreck. what do you think of dennis rodman going there? >> well, it was just to play basketball. the only person that kim jong-un has received that's an american or any kind of envoy. i think at first you see what happens. it's probably not protocol conscious, but now it is a disaster. now it's best that dennis is home and that hopefully traditional modes of diplomacy. here's where i think the chinese can be helpful.

they are very close to kim jong-un. they are very close to the north koreans. they could help in releasing kenneth bae, letting the poor man come home and finding ways to reassess the american/north korean relationship, which the only way it's going to improve is if the north koreans new leader scraps his nuclear weapon program and there's no sign that he's ready to do that. he's too worried about keeping his power. he's obviously being challenged internally. he brutally executes his uncle. hi doesn't say he wants to improve a lot of his people and he doesn't say he wants to stop the nuclear ambitions. he shoots off missiles, but he's a big ini guess ma. the problem is he leads a country that has nuclear weapons that has missiles with men in arms. he has close to 30,000 americans

in south korea. the place is a tinderbox with a possible confully grags between north and south korea that could draw us in that could affect american security and american troops. >> just the way you drive both those individuals, you think of someone like kenneth bae and all the serious issues that you just mentioned, he's on these freelance diplomatic missions and it's just -- it it takes a lot of the serious presence, i guess, out of what we should be talking about. instead we're covering these crazy episodes with dennis rodman. bill richardson, i sure appreciate you weighing in. your car may be spying on you. who's watching? we'll have more on that straight ahead.

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is your car spying on you? because a new government report says it is. listen to this. the government accountability office found the gps systems built in or that you bring into the car beam information back to the car makers or companies like garmin and google. your speed, where you go and some of them are storing all that data for up to seven years. a trade group for auto makers told the detroit news that information is disclosed in the

privacy policies and sales and service agreements. that's the fine print that no one reads. but the gao wants the companies to spell out exactly what they are collecting and for how long. soon tracking your driving habits could become law. the government would then charge you based on how many miles you drive. coming up next hour, we'll be speaking with the lawmaker who wrote this bill and find out more on what it means for you. i'm kyra phillips. i'll see you at the top of the hour. welcome to sgmd. want to talk about one of the most devisive issues. more americans told cnn that that's good rather than bad, but most said let's hang on a minute and see how it it goes. we're talking like places like colorado which just passed a