scene, having to determine at the moment, make a legal determination, was this man immune. >> all right. well, listen, i have to leave it there. i think we're going to be talking a lot more about this as it works its way through the court. danny, joey, thank you both. appreciate your insight, as always. and thank you all. it's been great having you here in los angeles. i'm back live in new york tomorrow. but right now "around the world" starts. starts. stay with us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com a day of extreme violence in iraq, with seven car bombingses exploding in baghdad. my co anchor and friend michael holmes, has spent a lot of time there, and he is back there for the first time in two years. plus, dramatic new video of the confusion and chaos in the moments after the asianic flight 214 plane crash in san francisco. and a social studies teacher is now being called a hero after staring down the barrel of a shotgun and convincing an armed

student to put down his weapon. welcome to "around the world." i'm suzanne malveaux. bombs, death, religious fighting. we're all talking about iraq here again. it is spinning out of control. just today, at least 36 people died in a wave of explosions, car bomb after car bomb blew in and around baghdad, one after another. two of the bombs went off near a market that was full of people. also in the provinces outside baghdad, iraq's military is fighting against militants who are being helped now by al qaeda. dozens of people, mostly civilians, have died there since early december. parts of iraq today look more and more like they did during the most chaotic days of the war. my "around the world" co anchor and friend, michael holmes, is in baghdad now. we also want to talk to nicholas burns, former ambassador to nato, professor as well at harvard in cambridge, massachusetts. michael, i really want to start off with you here.

you're on the ground, we've heard about these numerous explosions time and time again. where were you, where was the crew, how close were you? >> yeah. a couple of those bombs were not that far away from where we stand right now. a mile or two. you know, it just went on and on today, suz. i can't tell you. at last count, we had nine explosions around the city today. seven of them were car bombs. two of them were ieds. there was an attack on a funeral up in ba cube rah, a school teacher's funeral of all things. a man died yesterday. security forces say they stopped another four car bombs before they were detonated. our death toll at the moment, it goes up all of the time. our figure at the moment is 49. i've seen figures in local media as high as in the 70s dead. and more than 100 wounded. and, you know, as you can imagine, when we're talking car bombs, the wounds are horrific.

and, you know, i did a story a couple years ago on people wounded in these sorts of attacks in iraq. it's just horrific. and there is a sense here that, you know, the place is heading down a very, very dangerous road. perhaps to that all-out sectarian war that people fear so much. >> and michael, i mean, you're the perfect person to talk to here. because you were there during the height of that violence in the iraq war. you were also there when u.s. troops pulled out two years ago. give us a sense when you're on the ground, you're talking to people, and you see these things happening again. how does it compare to when you were there before? >> reporter: yeah, in the really dark days of let's say 2006, when the sectarian violence was at its worst, we used to have a white board up in the office, just to keep track of the deaths. it was 75 one day, 80 the next. it was 42. these are bodies found in the street. purely sectarian attacks. it's not at that level at the moment.

these are more this sort of asymmetrical warfare, if you like. these individual attacks. but the difficulty here when you report a story like this, suzanne, and it's important to say this, you can end upstanding here reciting a laundry list of this attack and that attack. seven guys driving trucks with construction material today in the province had their trucks stopped, all seven of them shot dead. it becomes a level of insanity. and to try to personalize that is difficult. i've got a lot of friends here, a lot of people i've worked with over the last decade of covering this war who will literally say, and it's no joke. when they leave the house in the morning, they say goodbye to their families. >> yeah. >> not knowing if they're going to come back that night. and that's not overstating it. >> that is unbelievable. michael, please be safe. we appreciate your reporting. excellent reporting day in and day out. it is obviously a very dangerous situation there. please be safe. nick, want to bring you into the conversation here. we know that one of iraq's deputy prime ministers says that really, it's the united states'

responsibility to help iraq fight al qaeda. that we have a part. we play a part in this. do you think that's true? >> well, the united states is trying, as you know, suzanne. the u.s. has said it will send armaments and military equipment to iraq. it's trying to give military advice. prime minister maliki needs to have a more effective way of reaching out to all of iraq. and being present of prime minister of all of iraq, not just the shia community but sunni community. and needs to work on redrawing those alliances, reknitting these alliances with the sunni tribal leaders in places like anbar province and fallujah and ramadi. that's what was successful during the surge in 2007 and 2008. and it can be successful again. if he gives the signal that he's going to listen to their concerns. i'm talking about the tribal leaders now. in order to combat al qaeda, which is, of course, fomenting this violence. >> michael, i want you to jump in here, as well.

is that how the iraqis see it? do they believe this is al qaeda to blame and that is what has to happen here? >> you know, in all my years of coming here, be even during the bad years, i've never seen a more severe sectarian divide. shia, sunni and say they're terrorists. they support al qaeda. sunni are afraid to walk down the street in case they get randomly picked up by security forces. nick has nailed it there. the main criticism here is that nouri al maliki, when elected, he promised he would power share. he promised reconciliation. he had his fingers crossed behind his back, according to sunnis. they have had none of that. and, you know, i talked yesterday to al alalow allowy. he says he wants to run an authoritarian regime. and sunnis are angry about that. that angry, al qaeda feeds on.

and they have gone into anbar and found some sympathic ears. and that's the danger. >> and nick, i want you to wrap this if you will here. this is the problem, right? before the united states, u.s. troops, allied forces were successful, because they had allied with the sunnis. the sunnis are now aligning themselves with al qaeda. how do you change that? how do you break that apart so that nouri al maliki has a chance? >> reporter: well, he needs to listen to the concerns of the tribal leaders. the central government in baghdad needs to be sensitive to local concerns. and make sure they're working on the real-life problems of the sunnis who live in places like anbar and north and west of baghdad, which is, of course, a critical region. and he needs to -- he needs to make the decision that he's going to be a national leader. and is he's going to work with the kurdish and sunni communities. this is -- most of the violence can be attributed to the new al qaeda threat. but there is a way to fight it, and i think the way to fight it is to look back at what happened

successfully when iraq and the united states work so closely together in -- from baghdad to put down the sunni rebellion of 2007 and 2008. there is that historical precedent at work. >> yeah. and i guess the problem is whether or not the united states really has the kind of influence in determining what nouri al maliki does, if he's an effective leader or not. ambassador burns, thank you very much. nick, as always. and my colleague and friend, michael holmes, please be safe. we have learned now startling details about the investigation. this is into the deadly attack in benghazi, libya. the senate intelligence committee is now saying that 15 people who were helping the fbi investigation, they have been killed. the committee's report says it's not clear if the killings have anything to do with the investigation. so they're looking into that. the attack back in 2012 on the diplomatic compound as you recall, left four americans dead, including the am bass core. i want to bring in our cnn justice reporter, evan perez.

give us a sense of what we're learning here about these 15 people. what was their role? >> well, suzanne, it's -- these are people who the fbi has tried to use to provide information, to try to figure out what happened on the -- during the attacks in the benghazi consulate and annex there. as you know, the fbi had trouble getting in there in the first place, just took them a couple weeks to even be able to get on the ground. and one of the difficulties has been that the libyan government does not control much of its own territory, including benghazi. a lot of militias in charge there. and we know that since those attacks in the past year, for instance, there have been hundreds of these attacks, there have been dozens of assassinations. and at least some of those appear to be people who have been trying to help the americans get to the bottom of this, suzanne. >> this seems rather alarmist. i mean, how are they responding? the fbi and those who are trying to get to the bottom of the investigation? >> well, you know, the fbi and the justice department has filed

some charges against some people they believe were responsible, were involved in the attacks. however, the big question is, you know, how much operationalal control came from other groups. let's look at other findings from this report issued by the senate intelligence report. for instance, one of the things they say was that this -- these attacks were preventible. that the state department could have heeded some of the warnings that came from intelligence agencies. that came in the months before the attack. so they could have done more to improve security. another of the findings is that they -- the attacks were organized, but not necessarily preplanned. and this is a big question that has swirled around the controversy over benghazi, whether or not the administration could have done more to anticipate this. that there was also another finding that there was a security team that was nearby, and whether or not they were told to stand down, the findings from this committee is that they were not told to stand down. they got there as soon as they

could. and also that the administration made some confusion with its own -- >> right. >> talking points and own response to the controversy, suzanne. >> all right. evan perez, thank you very much. we appreciate it. still a lot of questions around that attack, still. here's more of what we're working on for "around the world." an apology now to secretary of state john kerry, after he was called obsessed and -- obsessive, rather, and mess annic by one of the u.s.' closest allies. is the apology enough. and a u.s. agency using a secret technology to tap into computers not connected to the internet. those details on the "new york times" report straight ahead. and better stock up on almonds, because nut prices continue to rise. five things you're going to be spending more on, and less on in 2014. okay, listen up! i'm re-workin' the menu.

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describing secretary of state john kerry as being obsessive and messianic. well, ben wedeman is joining us from jerusalem. we should point out, ben, the defense minister's comments were published in a leading newspaper, hasn't denied making these remarks. so what is behind this, first of all, how does he explain it, and why the apology to follow? >> reporter: well, first of all, actually, he didn't say these remarks to an israeli newspaper. a journalist overheard him say these remarks. and then they were published. he didn't deny them, of course, as you said. but the context is that he's a fairly hard liner in a fairly hard line government. which is unhappy about the fact that john kerry is basically saying, we need to start from the 1967 borders when we're looking at reviving the peace process. and many of these officials have said that the 1967 borders, as far as israel is concerned, are

a nonstarter. >> yeah. and at least yesterday told us that, you know, there's a lot of tension because of these comments, because of these talks that are going on. and a lot of tension here. do you think the apology is enough to move forward now with these critical peace talks he's engaged in? >> reporter: well, it's interesting that normally when dealing with its israeli allied united states is fairly careful. but in this case, they came out very strongly, and very angrily, reacting to these statements. the apology was made after a fairly late-night meeting between prime minister benjamin netanyahu and the defense minister. and i think the affair may be coming to an end. secretary kerry, now in new york, seems to have turned the other cheek, as is appropriate for a peace maker. and he came out and said, you know, we just can't let one set of comments undermine that effort. and i don't intend to. so i think he's letting bygones

be bygones. and he himself is clearly determined to push ahead with this effort. >> yeah. it takes a lot of effort, turning the other cheek. ben, thanks. appreciate it. secretary kerry is focused on syria, spent the day at a conference in kuwait where western and golf nations pledged close to $1.4 billion in new aid for those affected by the syrian civil war. $380 million will come from the united states. that raises the total american commitment to $1.7 billion for humanitarian assistance. and a trial could be coming soon for four defendants accused in a deadly attack inside that shopping mall in kenya. at least 67 people were killed when gunmen stormed the west gate mall in nairobi in september. you might recall that. a terror group based in somalia with ties to adied has claimed responsibility. they are believed to have been

killed in the mall and the four people in custody are accused of helping orchestrate that attack. a hearing to see if there is enough evidence for the trial has been continued and will continue to tomorrow. in indonesian, the volcano that is refuse to go quiet down. look at those pictures, amazing. scientists watching this mountain, saying it erupted more than 30 times yesterday, just happened yesterday. so far, more than 26,000 people who live near that volcano, they left. they left their homes. they're trying to keep a safe distance. a thick layer, as you can see, black and grayish ash covering everything in that community. new details about the asiana airlines crash in san francisco. a new video now showing fighters being warned twice that a body was lying on the runway, and twice that body was run over. we're going to have a live report, straight ahead.

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now to a stunning new video.

this was taken moments after the asiana jet liner crash in san francisco last summer. now, this is what it shows. it shows emergency responders actually being warned twice that a body was lying on the runway. and it was a teenager who survived the crash, but then died after being run over by those rescuerses. we're going to get details from dan simon. >> whoa, whoa, whoa, stop, stop, stop! there's a body right -- there's a body right there. right in front of you. >> reporter: chilling new video obtained by cbs news, giving us a rare up-close look from a fighter's helmet cam. >> yeah, right through there. >> reporter: the chaotic moments first responders encountered after asiana flight 214 crash-landed in san francisco last july. 16-year-old ye mengyuan was accidentally run over twice by fire trucks. her family has since filed a wrongful death claim against the city. in particularly blunt language, it accuses first responders of

deliberately and knowingly abandoning the teen, where they knew she would be in harm's way. >> whoa, whoa, whoa, stop, stop, stop! there's a body right -- there's a body right there. right in front of you. >> reporter: does the new video prove the tragic accident could have been avoided? there is also this. another camera appears to show a fighter directing a truck around the victim. >> we're heartbroken. we're in the business of saving lives. and many lives were saved that day. this video may be crucial to understanding what happened to ye, who the coroner says survived the crash, but died from injuries she suffered after being run over. at the time, officials said ye's body was obscured by foam, and couldn't be seen by the trucks. that combined with the chaos of putting out the fire and rescuing victims. >> i will say this. it was very, very hectic, very emergency mode at the crash site minutes after the airplane came

to rest and there was smoke inhalation and people were coming out of the fuselage as fast as they could. >> reporter: the spectacular crash of asiana flight 214 was captured on amateur video and on surveillance cameras. the boeing 777 descending too low on landing, crashing into the seawall and cartwheeling across the runway. tragically claiming the lives of three passengers and ejecting two flight attendants from the aircraft on impact. a court may eventually have to decide whether fire crews in this video were negligent, and should be held accountable for the teenager's death. >> dan simon is joining us live from san francisco airport. and dan, the first question i have here, when you listen to the video and you hear the fighters, the ems guys saying there is a body, right? they warn there is a body on the runway, does that indicate at all, suggest that they knew that the victim was already deceased? do we know if that is the suggestion there?

>> reporter: you know, that's a very important question. and i can't answer that with any certainty. and i'm not sure anyone can. i haven't seen the videotape in its entirety, and it's not clear if the tape would even reveal that. what i can tell you is that the family alleges that the fire department did not take the adequate steps to prevent this tragedy. in effect, they allege that the fighters were sloppy and careless. at this point, the fire department is not commenting publicly about the videotape, suzanne. all they have said, they don't comment on any pending litigation. i think it is important, suzanne, though, to remember that there were many heroic fighters that day who did save lives. but as for this didnincident, i think there are some questions in terms of why did it take so long for this videotape to come out. and clearly, there is a perception here that fighters or the fire department is not being fully transparent with respect to this incident. so they have some questions still left to answer.

>> all right. dan, keep asking those questions. we'll bring them on as soon as they decide they're going to respond to all of this. thank you very much, dan, appreciate it. we're also turning to this. a mix up in missouri, where southwest pilots landed the wrong airport sunday. were they actually distracted by a third person who was in the cockpit? investigators, they're trying to answer that question today. because the plane landed at a small county airport just about serve miles seven miles from the main brandon airport where it was supposed to go and came within a few hundred feet of sliding down an embankment. southwest says it let an employee ride in the cockpit jump seat. and it's perfectly legal but the faa rules state that the pilots, they can't chitchat, they've got to be all about business when they're taking off and landing. though those pilots, they are now on paid leave, they are investigating. police in roswell, new mexico say the 12-year-old who opened fire in the middle school may have warned some classmates to stay home before yesterday's

attack. two children were wounded after the young gunman began firing in the gym with a .20 gauge shotgun. but more students could have been shot if it weren't for a social studies teacher, john masterson, during a vigil last night new mexico governor susana martinez said that that teacher risked his own life, convincing the student to put down his weapon. >> mr. masterson, who is a hero, who stood there and allowed the gun to be pointed right at him. for him to talk down that young boy, to drop the gun. so that there would be no more young kids hurt. >> just absolutely heroic. the 12-year-old is in state custody now. investigators searched his locker, his home, looking for any kind of motive. the 11-year-old boy who was shot, well, he's in critical

condition. and the 13-year-old girl, thankfully, she is in stable condition. president obama about to make some major changes at the nsa. not surprising. we are also learning about a secret nsa technology that might make your private computer files not so private after all. we've got details coming up. where does the united states get most of its energy? is it africa? the middle east? canada? or the u.s.? the answer is... the u.s. ♪ most of america's energy comes from right here at home. take the energy quiz. energy lives here.

we are tracking today a report about your privacy. the nsa, just how far this agency might actually be able to reach into your life online everywhere. the "new york times" now pointing to some documents that were leaked by edward snowden that describe a secret capability here. developed by the nsa to look at data stored on computers even when the computers are not connected to the internet. it's unbelievable. wolf blitzer joining us. wolf, tell us about the secret technology that we're learning about today. >> it really is amazing, suzanne. and the "new york times" has a very lengthy article quoting experts, u.s. officials, others about this. it's really amazing that there's about 100,000 or so supposedly

these computers that have been infiltrated by the national security agency with these tiny circuit boards and they can emit radio transmissions. you can send radio transmissions through these tiny circuit boards, planted on these computers in various foreign countries, there's no evidence it's being done here in the united states to either receive, to get information from those computers, or to go ahead and launch cyber attacks to attack various aspects of their programs along the lines of what the u.s. it against iran's computers several years ago. the so-called stux net program that eventually resulted in the destruction of some parts, key aspects of iran's nuclear program. it was eventually disclosed back in 2012. but it really is a fascinating insight in how sophisticated this technology, the cyber warfare has become. the targets of this potential

activity, what it can do, what it can't do. but it is pretty amazing. >> yeah, it is -- it's a fascinating read, and it sounds like science fiction and i.t. all combined. it's hard to believe this is even happening or even possible. the president has got to answer a lot of questions, and he's been given a lot of criticism, a lot of grief over the behavior of the nsa. he's got a speech on friday to address some of all of this. what do we anticipate, wolf, that he needs to say to at least calm the nerves of americans and potentially allies overseas who are watching and learning about this? >> he's going to announce which reforms he's going to support. as you know, he had a five-member panel that came up with 40 or 50 -- 46, i think, specific recommendations, how do to modify the nsa surveillance program. he's going to announce which ones he's going to accept, which ones he's not presumably going to accept. and he's going to try to reassure the american public that the nsa is not listening in on their phone conversations, not reading their e-mail. that they only do that, even though they only have this meta

data surveillance program, when there is a real legitimate suspicion there is a foreign terrorist organization or individual involved. and then they'll go and check it out. but only after they get the authorization from the guysa courts, foreign intelligence surveillance courts. so he's going to try to reassure the american public and the international community there. has been a lot of outrage internationally, including from some friendly countries, the notion that the u.s. has been eavesdropping on angela merkel, the chancellor of germany, her personal phone conversations. i think he'll go out of his way to reassure them the u.s. is not going to be engaged in that. i don't think he'll eliminate this whole meta data program, because there is legitimate concern. if you listen to his advisers that positive it tensionally if you walk away from that, that could undermine efforts to prevent another 9/11 type of attack. >> we're going to listen closely on friday, just what kind of recommendations he's making and what is acceptable when it comes to searching and potentially spying in our computer systems.

wolf, thank you very much. appreciate it. the extension of unemployment benefits now seems to be on the back burner, because it leaves 1 million people now in limbo. the benefits they actually expired in december. and the senate bid to restore them failed to clear what was a procedural vote yesterday. so democratic leaders, they're arguing now that leaving long-term jobless americans, folks don't have jobs, without this safety net is just unacceptable. they also say that it hurts the economy since there is less money for americans to spend on goods and services. well, the talks, they broke down over how are you going to pay for this. how do you pay for those benefits which run about $25 billion a year. have you noticed? gas is a little cheaper this year. our cnn money team says this is just one of several things you're going to be paying less for. there is a flip side, however, to this report. you're also going to be paying more for some things. alison kosik joining from us the new york stock exchange. i love this story, alison.

let's start with the good news. >> reporter: yeah, this is a good story. because this is kind of news you can really work with all year. so gas is a biggy on the list. gas is expected to be cheaper this year. i had to do a double-take to look at this. this is after gas prices on the average fell to $3.49 last year to the lowest average price in three years. gas prices expected to keep falling. for a gallon of gas, you'll pay an average of $3.30 today. why is this happening? for one, production is up, cars also getting more and more fuel-efficient. also getting cheaper, electric cars. even mitsubishi cut its price on its imeve. others doing the same. this is because competition is tight, more electric cars getting the market. cell phone service. i couldn't believe this one. that's expected to get cheaper, as well. again, all about the competition. we saw this kind of being battled out between t-mobile and at&t in a price war. both offering big discounts to customers who switch carriers. so expect cell phone service to get cheaper, as well.

tablets are expected to get cheaper, as well. ipads are still expensive, up to $900. but low-cost tablets are beginning to flood into the market. one is actually at $39.99. >> nice! very affordable. the bad news. what are we going to start spending more on? >> reporter: what's going to be more expensive this year? yay, taxes. the tax man cometh and he'll be charging more this year. this is because a bunch of tax credits expired last year. there were credits for teachers who bought supplies and also making energy-efficient improvements on your house. those credits went away. also a penalty -- there is going to be a penalty for not having health insurance. that penalty kicks in. that could raise your tax bill, as well. what else is going up? looking to buy a house? home prices expected to rise 5% this year. plus, you tack on to that mortgage rates. they're going up, as well, because the economy is getting better, the fed isn't throwing as much money into the mortgage market. that's why those things will get more expensive.

and then are you sitting? >> i am. >> nuts are also going to be more expensive this year. >> i love almonds, my favorite snack. >> that's on the list. almonds, pistachios, getting pricier. the usda blaming this on a bad crop. for the full list, go to cnn money. it's interesting to read these things. >> love it. it's good. not going to cut back on the nuts. i'm telling you. >> love the nuts. >> thank you, alison. we're going to take a quick break. we've got more on an apple settlement, huge deal coming up next. [ male announcer ] this is george. the day building a play set begins with a surprise twinge of back pain...

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a developing story here. want to go to jim sciutto to talk about this from the dc bureau. this is a p.o.w. who has been held captive in afghanistan since 2009. jim, what are we learning from a new video, i understand, that has been released? >> reporter: that's right, suzanne. this is news about the only american soldier still in captivity. the u.s. military has obtained a new video made by those holding sergeant bo bergdahl taken captive in afghanistan in june 2009 and is believed held by the taliban aligned haqqani network

inside pakistan. this from a u.s. military official telling cnn the video, which has been described to us by this official, shows bo in diminished health from the effects of close to five years now in captivity. the proof of life has a reference to december 14th of last year, a month ago. cnn has contacted bergdahl's family, the military says it keeps the family aware of developments of this case. this is the first video of him in nearly three years. the previous sent in february 2011. last year bergdahl's family received a letter from him via the red cross oh. i should note, we have not seen the video ourselves but it has been described to us by an official who has seen it and given details. >> and you say it's caused some alarm, based on his appearance. what have they learned? do we know anything more in that description of what he looks like? >> reporter: well, i don't know if it's cause for alarm, but they have noticed, and you will

have experts when these videos come out, doctors, looking at the video for science of their physical condition. and what they have noticed in this latest video is that his condition has declined since that previous video nearly three years ago. and that's something that's worrisome. i was not told that he looked to be on death's door. but that certainly there was a change, a marked change, from the last time they saw him in a video. >> and jim, there has certainly been an effort here to try to release him. where is that now? a lot of people involved. they know his name. it's a household name. what more can be done? >> reporter: a lot of efforts, long efforts, frustrating efforts, for sure. there have been talks of negotiations, perhaps even the exchange of hostages for the taliban. let me tell you what a pentagon spokesman told me a short time ago on the record. quote, sergeant bo bergdahl has been gone far too long, and we continue to call for and work for his safe and immediate release. we cannot discuss all of the details, they say, of their efforts. but they say there should be no

doubt that on a daily basis using our military intelligence and diplomatic tools, we work to see sergeant bergdahl return home safely. i can tell you, having spoken to a number of officials involved in cases like this, this is a top priority for the military, for the pentagon. they are very focused on it. they look for any sign of intelligence as to his condition. they're making every effort. there certainly has been frustration that they haven't been able to get him home safely. and now it's coming up on five years. and, you know, i will say, suzanne, looking at this, there is some good news here in that as of december, just a month ago, he was alive. this is a proof of life video. and if -- in a very sad story, if we can find some good news, that is that you have some proof that he is still alive. >> yeah. there is some sense of hope. even just a video providing that kind of information is hopeful. jim, thank you so much. appreciate that. we have another developing story out of washington, our rene marsh is telling us now that there is a huge settlement involving apple computers

refunding customers at least $32 million. rene, jump in the conversation here. i believe this is about kids, right, who were able to buy apps, but they didn't have their parents' consent on the phone, right? >> reporter: that's right. when you had an iphone or you had an ipad, the ftc is saying they racked up quite a bill. so what we know now, and this just happened moments ago. apple will pay out to consumers a refund of at least $32.5 million to settle this ftc complaint that is charged for kids in app purchases without parents even knowing about it. apple also says they plan on changing their billing practices. so what does this all mean? so apple has an in-app purchase feature. it can be disabled. but when it is enabled, it means that you just need to put your password in once, you download that app, and for a 15-minute window, you can download as many apps as you want without having to reenter that password. ftc says that meant that

children were racking up a huge bill on their parents' dime without their parents even knowing. >> you know, it's interesting, because a lot of times, you know, parents will give their phones, you know, for kids to play with, just to keep them occupied or busy, have no idea they're hitting buttons and potentially buying things. i understand there were tens of thousands of complaints that led to this settlement, and that you had kids who were spending anywhere from like 99-cent apps to $99, right? >> reporter: right. you know, the ftc chairwoman, edith ramirez, she said that there were individual children who spent hundreds of dollars, some even spent thousands of dollars. here she is, just a moment ago. >> in our complaint, we described stories from individual parents whose children racked up hundreds and even thousands of dollars of in-app charges. for example, one consumer reported that her daughter had spent $2600 in the app tap pet

hotel. others reported unauthorized purchases by children totalling more than $500 in the apps dragon story and tiny zoo friends. in aggregate, we allege there have been millions of dollars in unauthorized charges. >> all right. well, apple, for their part, they are saying that the ftc didn't need to get involved here. they said they started refunding consumers last year. they look at this as double jeopardy, suzanne. >> all right. rene, thanks. i imagine there are probably some kids in trouble too today, as well. rene, thanks. appreciate it. the crackdown against gayses in russia has also gotten people who are not gay in trouble. we're going to find out why this teacher is being investigated right now.

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tdd# 1-800-345-2550 open an account and earn 300 commission-free online trades. call 1-888-628-7118 to learn more. so you can take charge of your trading. a shootout in southern russia now has killed three members of russia's security force and four militants, as well. this happened in dagestan today. that is in the same part of the world the coke casts region. the shootout was part of an anti terror operation at a home. there are big concerns, as you know, about security in russia following two bombings in public transit that killed more than 30 people in volograd just last month. it is dangerous to be a gay rights activist these days in russia, because new laws now

banning so-called gay propaganda. you don't have to be gay to get in trouble. phil black reports that a teacher is now under investigation into whether or not her activism makes her unfit to teach children. >> reporter: in a country where gay rights activists are usually attacked or arrested within moments of starting a protest it, you don't get many gay rights activists who are straight. this woman is one of the few. here she is being led away by police. for nothing, she says. her name is katrina boggich and teaches spanish at this school in st. petersburg. her activism is now threatening her career, because someone complained to local education authorities, and her conduct is being investigated. so you will not change your behavior. she says when discrimination starts in one part of society, it inevitably leads to other parts.

boggich was inspired to act because of this man, an orthodox christian, local politician and father of what's known as the fwai propaganda law. he became one of the most high profile politicians in the country, by fighting for legislation which makes it illegal to tell children gay and straight relationships are equal. she says, suddenly, st. petersburg was famous as a religiously fanatical city withzen owe phobic authorities at the top levels of power. we asked for his view on bogach as an activist and teacher. he said as a parent he would be concerned about what she is saying to children. but students' parents say bogach doesn't discuss gay rights in class. that is her personal opinion and has nothing to do with school, this woman says. russian politicians say the gay

propaganda law is designed to protect children. bogach says it's too boost intolerance and says her case is just another sign that proves it's working. the local head of the education department says there is an investigation to determine if her activism is continuing in the classroom. but regardless of the outcome of that investigation, he's already publicly stated, his personal view, which is katrina bogach should stop fighting for gay rights or stop being a teacher. phil black, cnn, st. petersburg. >> and this game, sweat match. how hot is it? at the australian open, it is so hot, players are now passing out on the court? their water bottles are melting. i kid you not. that story up next.

all right. what would you be doing outside, right, if it got to be 107 degrees? would you actually be playing tennis for a couple hours? hardly, right? well the players at the australian open, they have been doing just that. they're not happy about it. i'm going to tell you. one player fainted mid match, needed medical treatment, calls the conditions inhumane. others oh have gotten sick and thrown up. another watched her plastic water bottle melt on the court. that's right. tournament officials could close

these retractible roofs that go over two courts. they could turn on the air conditioning, as well. they have not done that yet, because they say this is simply a dry heat. want to bring in our meteorologist, chad myers, explain a dry heat. why not turn on the ac? come on, really? >> i've looked at some of these temperatures, these dew points. i'm not a germophobe, if i take this alcohol and put it on your wrist, is that cold or hot? >> it's cold. that's what they're hoping. the perspiration and air coming in, the misters they have, will get on the players' skin, and blow it around and keep the players nice and cool. the problem is, it has to be a very dry heat for that to really work. and this hasn't been all that dry. it's going to get to 111 degrees today. >> that's crazy. >> and then they're going to run around for five sets, the guys are. three sets. it's going to be really hot. and the fans aren't happy about this, either. it's very hot. they paid a lot of money. >> you're sitting there watching these matches. what's going to happen to them? start melting.

>> obviously, the best thing you can do is stay hydrated. it is their summer, our winter, their summer. just got there. it's only supposed to be 79 degrees. that's what the high should be. it's going to be 111. we're not close to above, we're way above. let me show what's going on here. 111 degrees today, wind out of the southeast. it would be guys it would be nice if the wind would blow a little bit. yesterday 109. today -- it's a day ahead. they're past the international date line and all of the fronts move the wrong way and winds blow the other direction because it's the southern hemisphere. but much cooler by saturday when some of the big rounds come in. 111, 107, and then 73. so -- >> wow, that's a huge dip. this is -- a health hazard, but also a fire hazard, too, right, chad? things can kind of start come busting. >> there have now been many wildfires out there, bush fires, brush fires, as we would call them out there in the bush. and is obviously, they are trying to get these contained. but now there is smoke coming

into some of these cities, as well. it has been very hot and very dry. not so much in the city, melbourne is not going to start to burn down but some areas where it's been dry. >> all right. well, good luck for those tennis players and folks out there trying to brave that. thank you, chad. appreciate it. several stories, photos, catching our attention today. want you to take a look at this. this is in south korea. these are activists, including north korean defectors. they launched 500,000 balloons filled with propaganda, and launched them into north korea. these balloons inside contain money, dvds, leaflets detaining the human rights violations by the north korean president, kim jong-un. and the north korean government, they threatening now to take action against those launches. in india, students and soldiers, they are rehearsing for the indian republic day parade in new dehli. the children fully dressed in their costumes, beautiful, practicing their tiger dance for the big parade. that parade will be held january

26th. thanks for watching "around the world". "cnn newsroom" starts right now. "cnn newsroom" starts right now. have is a great afternoon. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com right now, president obama only minutes away from giving an important speech on the economy in north carolina. that state's democratic senator notably absent from today's event. has the president become a campaign liability this year. i am not a bully. chris christie said it and apparently new jersey voters believed it. new polls show an improvement in the governor's rating. and michelle obama gets ready for her 50th birthday and opens up about plastic surgery, botox and one day becoming a grandma. hello, i'm wolf blitzer, reporting from washington. president obama isec