i'm drew griffin at the cnn center in atlanta, in today for don lemon. this is a special edition of "cnn newsroom." face to face with the terror suspect, that's his face. federal investigators say this is the man who allegedly plotted to blow up a passenger jet over detroit christmas day. but instead of disaster in the air, there was just a pop, a puff of smoke and a commotion to tackle that man, umar farouk

abdulmutallab. he's hospitalized now facing with charges of attempting to destroy a u.s. airplane and a charge of a destructive device inside an aircraft. officials claims that he claims he is tied to al qaeda and now the investigation is growing across three continents as airports worldwide amp up security. we're using our global resources to tell our story from every angle. how did this happen, who is the suspect, did al qaeda really play a role and who is the passenger who took divisive action? we'll get the answers to these and other questions for you as our rolling coverage continues on this attack. first, who is he? umar farouk abdulmutallab had his first hearing before a judge a short time ago. suspect wasn't in the courtroom, he was at ann arbor michigan hospital where he's being treated for burns. peggy ager from wxyz was there as the suspect was charged and here is what she says about his state of mind. >> at one point they asked him if he could afford his own

attorney or if he needed consult to be appointed to him and took a little while to explain that to him, what it meant, but he said he did not have funds and could not afford his own attorney. >> our deb feyerick is joining us live from detroit international airport with more on that hearing. deb, what can you tell us about this guy? >> reporter: well, you know, drew, what we can tell you is that there was a lot of excitement over at the hospital. this man was wheeled into this makeshift courtroom, actually, there were u.s. attorneys who brought the charges against him, members of the federal defender's office, they're the ones who will be representing him. also a number of people from the fbi, they were there both to provide evidence and also to stand guard over this guy. he was wheeled into that room wearing a green hospital gown, he had a blanket over his legs, he was handcuffed to that wheelchair. according to one of the detroit reporters who was inside, they say he was calm, he smiled, he was very polite, and he answered

the judge in english a couple of questions the judge asked him, so how are you doing today, and he said he was doing much better today. u.s. attorneys say he is a danger to the community, that he is a flight risk, they have asked the judge to try to get a dna sample for him. that's something the judge is going to decide on monday. the federal defenders, those who will represent him, they want access to the plane. they want to see how this all played out. they're also saying that this -- they're clint may need skin grafts. that's something they'll keep in mind. clearly they don't want to move him from the hospital and run the risk of any sort of complications. he is going to have a formal detention hearing on january 8th. the charges against him, which are having an explosive device and trying to detonate that device to bring down a passenger plane, that brings a total of 20 years for each count. so all of this, right now, playing itself out here. he remains at the hospital but, again, he seemed in good spirits

and the judge was talking to him and when asked, do you have money for an attorney, said, no, can't afford one. kind of surprising given that he comes from such an affluent family. >> very interestinging. i want to point out in the charging pap cheer which we gots afternoon, we learned more about the details of what the flight attendants said. apparently this guy did not resist being tackled on the plane. didn't fight back. didn't shout anything out as we have seen in other attacks. and when according to the court papers, when the flight attendant asked what he had in his pocket, he just matter of factually said, explosive device. seems like he's carried on this matter of fact kind of attitude in court. >> reporter: absolutely. and you have to remember, drew, we checked with the airlines, this was a nine-hour flight. now, if he had this device on him, when he left nigeria, he would have had that device on him for close to 20 hours. but the amsterdam to detroit portion was nine hours.

he sat there that entire time t wasn't until the end of the flight, when he got up, witnesses say he was in the bathroom for 20 minutes, and when he came back, he was sort of saying he had a stomach ache. so took his seat back in 19a, next to the window, pulled the blanket over him and all of a sudden, an explosion, fire, and that's when the passengers and the flight attendants sprung into action. >> all right, deb feyerick live in detroit with us, where this thing ended. here is how itstarted. on christmas eve, 5:00 eastern time, the suspect boarded klm flight 588 in lagos, nigeria. he was on a nonstop to amsterdam. 6 1/2 hours, 11:37, that plane landed at amsterdam's airport. a three-hour layover there. then the suspect takes off again on christmas morning, just before 3:00 a.m. on a northwest flight, number 253, a nine-hour flight as deb reported to detroit. at about 12:30, christmas day, this is just 20 minutes outside

of detroit, the suspect allegedly set off some kind of explosive device in his lap. passengers and crew put out a small fire and subdued the suspect. the plane landed safely in detroit at 12:51 p.m. air travelers already feeling the fallout from yesterday's failed terror attack. if you're heading to the airport, get ready for a wait at the security line. this is the line at detroit airport today and it is not just detroit. travelers around the world are feeling the security crackdown. across the nation today, the tsa tightened up its focus on airline safety. our homeland security correspondent jeanne meserve has that report. >> reporter: security was up at airports across the country, and the effect was obvious. longer lines at checkpoints. >> we were pretty sure that security would be highly increased so we came early, we brought food, in case we got -- and they'll make us through it

out. >> reporter: the transportation security administration says for now there are no new restriction on travelers. a single carry-on bag is permitted, as are three ounce liquid containers placed in a one quart plastic bag. but screeners were clearly increasing scrutiny of passengers and what they're carrying. >> a young lady with her child, they x-rayed the milk i don't know how many times and they took the milk out and sampled each and every bottle of the milk. i've never seen that before. >> reporter: a tsa official says a new security directive was issued for international flights, passengers heading for the u.s. are feeling the impact. >> two agents checked everybody's hand luggage, going through each item, taking out every item that was within the bags, going through in detail. and this was after we cleared security. >> the last hour on the flight, we wornt able to walk around, we had to stay in our seats with our seat belts on and wouldn't be able to have the blankets or pillows or anything covering our

laps. >> reporter: aviation security experts say as investigators learn more about the incident and the device used, additional steps could be taken. >> if this was part of a larger plot, can we assume somewhere there is a master bombmaker who might be making a new generation of devices using different chemicals, using different technologies, using different detonator perhaps or different approach to how to use these devices. so it is certainly possible we may see some significant changes in adjustments in the days ahead. >> here is what we know about the suspect, umar farouk abdulmutallab. he's 23 years old, young man from nigeria, educated at the university college of london, from september 2005 to june of 2008. excuse me. he went through normal security procedures in amsterdam, and he had a multiyear, multientry tourist visa from the u.s. embassy in london which was issued back in june of 2008.

sources tell cnn while he's not believed on any no-fly list, his name does appear in a u.s. database of people with suspect connections. his father is a retired chairman of the first bank plc in nigeria. we're learning it was the father who contacted the u.s. embassy in nigeria just a few weeks ago. seems he was concerned his son had become radicalized and could be planning something. cnn's senior international correspondent nic robertson is in london with the latest on this investigation. >> reporter: hi, drew. well, as we continue to put the pieces together on this investigation, the period of three years when the accused man was studying at university here in london, ten minutes walk away from the apartment complex where he lived in his family's apartment for three years between the summer of 2005 and the summer of 2008, it appears during that period as if he was becoming radicalized, certainly to the point that his family

have told cnn that they were concerned about some of the suspicious characters he was meeting and after he finished studying here, he told his family he wanted to go and study in saudi arabia and egypt. they told him no. he ended up going to study in dubai. they didn't want to send him to saudi arabia or egypt because they were concerned about the influences he might come under there. and the investigation the police have under way -- the police have in the premises behind me has been suspended overnight. that does seem to give the indication, although there are going to restart tomorrow, they're not coming up with anything that is giving them a direct lead for an ongoing terror plot if you will. if that were the case, almost certainly one would imagine they would continue the investigation through the night. but throughout this day we have seen them coming and going with cases, with carrier bags, not carrying away anything large that we have seen. but sort of a very steady movement, about six officers it appears have been working through this ground floor apartment where the family lived

here, drew. >> just a signpost of what you're reporting, you're saying that authorities in london are pretty confident or based on your observations, pretty confident that this was over, this is one and done, and there is nothing else out there looming? >> reporter: well, i think the caution, i mean, you're absolutely right. that does appear to be the case. i think the caution we often get from terror experts is that when they get information, they have to sort of -- it all comes as tiny little slices or grains on a beach, they say. you have to put these slices, grain, whatever the analogy is, you have to put them together and that helps you build a picture. they will over time no doubt build a much fuller picture of what abdulmutallab was doing here in britain, had done in the past is quite possible for the police here already have a certain amount of knowledge about him, perhaps they're fitting in with what they're finding here with that.

but in terms of is there another active plot that has been -- that the police have discovered from what they have learned in this apartment here, that doesn't appear to be the case. of course, they have taken some items away. they do appear to be small. but if there were an active, active terror plot connected to this apartment, one would expect to see a lot more activity going on overnight tonight, drew. >> this investigation obviously going on three continents and we're going to talk next after the break with former homeland security adviser frances townsend who for a long time was trying to put together the pieces of many of these terror plots to see where this particular one, the investigation, is heading. we'll be right back. dentist smooth clean feeling with oral-b rechargeable brushes. dentist inspired cupping action sweeps away up to twice as much plaque as a regular manual brush. oral-b rechargeable brushes. starting at $22. and this is the chevy traverse. it has more cargo space than pilot.

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piecing together the puzzle of what happened is easier said than done. fran townsend, cnn national security contributor, the former homeland security adviser to president george w. bush, and i imagine on days like today, back in date, fran this was just nerve wracking time for you, wondering what was coming next. how do you manage an investigation like this, while you're also trying to currently protect every other flight in the air? >> that's right, drew. that is the challenge. but mostly what you're relying on are the fbi, the cia, the investigative operational agencies that are actually trying to piece together what we know and what we need to find out about the attack that just has been thwarted.

in the meantime, you're coordinating the activities of the department of homeland security who are working with the transportation security administration, and others, to ensure the safety and security of the flying public. they also have to work with their allies around the world at international airports and we have heard the sorts of measures being put in place. as they learn more and understand more about the attack that was thwarted, those pieces of information are shared both internationally and domestically with security officials so that those pieces of information can be sort of assimilated into screening procedures. we hear that people are now not permitted to get up in the last hour of the flight. that goes back to the fact that this guy got up and spent 20 minutes in the lavatory. they're taking blankets and pillows away in the last hour of the flight. obviously that's related to the fact that he covered himself before he tried to detonate this device. and we're going to see increa increasingly new security measures that relate almost directly to the plot. the real challenge now for the -- for security -- federal

security officials is anticipating how the -- our enemies, al qaeda, for example, might take this and twist it, change it just a little bit, to try and get around even the changes that we're making now. >> and, fran, we have seen some evolution taking place. there was an attack in saudi arabia where, you know, there is no easy way to put this, but a would be assassin put a bomb up his back side. now this man has some material, we're told in his underwear. when you have somebody who is willing to die for the cause, a willing dupe, if you will, and somebody puts some kind of material in his hands, how realistic is it that we can set up any kind of screening short of strip searching everybody on a plane to bprevent this from happening. >> that's right, drew. it really is a tremendous challenge for security officials. and, you know, when i was -- when i was in the job, we used to say, you know, they only have to be right once and we have to be right every single time,

every single day. that doesn't mean you give up. of course we have explosive deinvestigatid detection equipment. you want to know what do the component pieces look like. it is like putting together a puzzle. what are the different pieces of the puzzle look like so if they see those two, three, four pieces all in one carry-on or associated with one passenger they know to be alerted, they know to give that person extra screening. we have to look at is there better explosive detection equipment that we need to put in place. remember the richard reed bomber, the shoe bomber, we'll still taking our shoes off because we haven't developed the technology we need to do detect those explosives when you're walking through. i don't have any doubt, drew, this will generate a whole new rash of explosive detection capability. >> well, we'll have you on later in the show. i'll ask you specifically about what kind of cooperation we're going to get from yemen in all of this if, indeed, this is where his plot was developed. so we'll see you later this

evening. thank you, fran. and passengers are now beginning to come forward with their own stories from flight 253. we'll speak to one about his harrowing trip to detroit after the break.

joining us now from st. louis is rosy rosenbliff from flight 253 when this incident took place. you're joining us there live. tell me what seat you were in, first off, and then what you heard or saw or noticed when this incident began to unfold. >> hi, drew. i was in seat 38j toward the back of the plane. when they announced the plane would be landing, immediately there was a commotion. i heard people screaming, yelling, there was a struggle, a fight seemed to break out. as soon as that went on for a while, and immediately i saw flight attendant rushing back to where we were, grabbed something from an overhead compartment and rushed back to the front. later on we learned there was a fire extinguisher. >> did you happen to notice this fellow at all during the flight or the wait for the flight over amsterdam? once you found out who it was and where he was seated, did that person stick out to you in any way, shape or form?

>> i'm afraid not. i was flying from uganda. i run a small startup solar lighting company called village energy in uganda. going home on vacation. there were plenty of other folks there from africa. there was nothing about this fellow that stood out. i think there were other nigerians there, folks from somalia and one individual from ghana, so, no, i don't remember him sticking out at all. >> so how quickly did this unfold until you realized, oh, my gosh, something happened and then, oh, my gosh, whatever happened is over and we are going to land safely? >> after the commotion and it seemed that the screams died down a little bit, there was whispers of fire going out throughout all the passengers. and a flight attendant came back and seemed to motion for everybody to stay seated.

then another flight attendant got on the intercom and in a very kind of panicked sounding voice saying we're landing, we're landing, the exact quote was, your federally trained flight attendants have the situation under control. we're landing. the landing gear is down. and at that point we were all looking at each other and really -- we were afraid. we felt like something had gone terribly wrong. we weren't sure exactly what. we didn't know if it was an equipment failure. we didn't know if somebody had started this fire. but quickly we were learning as the word made its way down that somebody had started a fire and there were these rumors of it being firecrackers and popping and all of that. >> did you smell smoke or see flame at anytime? you're pretty far back from where this took place, but did you smell smoke in the cabin? >> i myself did not smell smoke. when i looked down the aisle, i could see smoke during the time that there was the commotion.

>> i want to go through this quickly, i know. but when you landed, how soon -- how quickly did the plane come to a stop? when did the agents come on board and what did everybody do when that door opened up? did you all just sit there? >> yes. the flight attendants were very clear that everybody was to remain seated while the agents came on board. after we landed, i think we taxied for only about ten minutes before we came to a stop. at that point, the agents came on board, i could see that somebody was being dragged away and then the young man that i found out later tackled him, when he stood up and walked toward the exit, everybody started clapping. >> real quickly, did you walk past seat 19a on your way out of that plane? >> i was on the other side of the aisle. >> you didn't see anything, any burn marks or anything? >> no. but i heard from other passengers that it was significantly burned. >> roey, thank you for joining

us. home on vacation, i hope you have a much better vacation than it started out to be, sir. >> thank you. >> take care. thanks. we're hearing a lot about yemen. and the potential leaks to this terror plot, could this country, perched on the southern tip of the arabian peninsula, have played a role? we'll explore that next. doctort for joint pain. more than the medicines in tylenol or aleve. the medicine in advil is the #1 doctor recommendation for joint pain. relief doesn't get any better than this. advil. people think that honda is always the most fuel efficient choice. well, this chevy cobalt xfe has better highway mileage than a comparable honda civic. this chevy traverse has better mileage than honda pilot. the all-new chevy equinox has better mileage than honda cr-v. and chevy malibu has better mileage than accord. however, honda does make something that we just can't compete with. it's self propelled. chevy. compare us to anyone and may the best car win.

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the son of a prominent nigerian banker was charged today with trying to destroy a plane and placing explosive device on an aircraft. that's a picture from school, we're told, of the family, of the 23-year-old man who was subdued by passengers and crew yesterday aboard northwest flight 253. he was taken into custody as it landed in detroit about 20 minutes later. passengers say there was a pop, like a firecracker and then smoke and flames rising from the lap of that suspect.

in iran, signs the opposition hasn't been silenced. riot police clashing with protesters in the run-up to the shiite muslim holiday known as ashurah. the holiday is celebrated on sunday, and there are concerns that more violence in iran is possible. tomorrow the country will be mourning a recently deceased cleric who was a vocal critic of the government and a champion of the opposition movement. big news from the world of college football. university of florida head coach urban meyer has resigned. he's won two national titles and just five years with the gators. he says he's stepping down for health reasons. the man suspected of trying to bring down northwest flight 253 is being linked to past travels in yemen and possible ties to al qaeda. and this isn't the first time yemen has made headlines because of its al qaeda connections. yesterday's failed bombing attempt comes as yemen's government is intensifying its military attacks against the terror network. in fact, dozens of people were

killed in an air strike on thursday after a radical yemeni cleric told al jazeera's website that he helped inspire last month's massacre at ft. hood. and nearly half of the detainees at guantanamo are yemeni nationals. something else to keep in mind, back in october of 2000, the guided missile destroyer "the uss kohl" was in yemen's port of aden when a small boat with a bomb blew a massive hole in the hull. 17 sailors were killed. 39 more wounded. going back to london now where cnn senior international correspondent nic robertson is standing by. nic, unquestionably there is a link between terror in yemen. what we don't know yet is the link between this suspect and yemen, correct? >> reporter: that's correct. we do know from his family that they say that while he was supposed to be studying in dubai, he then called the family

from yemen saying he was in yemen, that they wouldn't be able to contact him again. they sent him a text message. he said he would be getting rid of his cell phone sim card, the chip inside the phone, so they wouldn't be able to contact him. the family established that he had told them via this text message he was in fact inside yemen. that seems to be at this stage the most credible link we have other than what he's reported to have told police soon after his capture. >> are you surprised how much this person is talking to authorities, if we're getting our information correct? and, also, the lack of any kind of religious outburst before the attack, or any kind of furor in the courtroom today, seems to be a very mild mannered person. >> reporter: all the indications are a slender man, didn't seem to react when he had been burned, he wasn't reacting when these charges were read to him

in the hospital. i think there is certainly al qaeda, we know, trains people and gives them information and it is available on the internet as well, that, you know if they're trying to attack people then they should not be giving away what they're about to do by shouting about it. there are cases where we hear about suicide bombers driving cars full of explosives at checkpoints, et cetera, and they're shouting out in praise of god. that doesn't appear to be the case here. his mission a lot more subversive than that, can certainly be argued. so i -- it is not terribly -- not terribly surprising. again, it is not -- wouldn't be first time somebody with an intellectual affluent background had been converted to a radical form of islam and had gone off to participate in terror attacks. and this, again, seems to be what we're witnessing here, drew. >> all right, nic robertson, up late tonight in london, following this investigation. thanks.

we'll talk more about the suspect in this case with new york security analyst glenn shown joining us from new york, head of security integrity services at ernst & young. you just heard our conversation with nic about this suspect, well educated, apparently mild mannered on the flight and in court, and from an affluent family. nic says not surprising. >> no, indeed. we have seen with a lot of suspect particularly by the way tied to the al qaeda movement a lot of them being fairly well educated, a lot of them being fairly calm in demeanor, a lot of that from what we heard from debriefings of prisoners also having to do with their religious resolve, being at peace with themselves and what they're undertaking. but this background that we see of engineers, computer experts, people with a background in chemistry, we have seen that in a number of attacks. think about 9/11, and the suspects there who had studied all manner of studies in

germany, including getting graduate degrees. other suspects we have seen in the attacks in london, and also the more recent attempts in 2007 in glasgow airport, looking at doctor. it is not, so to speak, canon father type people. they try to select some of these people who self-radicalize and are also not people low on the totem pole or of low intellect. a lot of them are fairly bright people, fairly smart people and technically very adept. >> when you look into cases like this and investigate, who put the idea in this guy's head, who recruited him, who brought him in, do you look for somebody in london, perhaps, who is out there seeking these kind of people, or do these people readily come and volunteer for this kind of service? >> well, you have different degrees of what they call preradicalization. ironically the dutch, of course, this involves the netherlands, this whole story, i've done a

lot of research on this in recent years, looking at different stages of radicalization. and also in the u.s., the new york police department has done a lot of work on this, where they look at people and there is different patterns and models. sometimes we see people who have been essentially working for quite a while, working their way through a process of adaptation by themselves, getting deeper and deeper into their religion, getting deeper and deep near certain philosophical or political viewpoints, and then quite often someone from the outside sort of giving them a new perspective, and if you will, almost a twist to their thoughts and position and suddenly they end up in a maelstrom leading to radicalization. sometimes it is well before they join a group. a lot of people are already essentially looking for supporting the cause before they even join it. >> glenn schoen in new york, thank you for joining us. we want to switch to our pentagon correspondent barbara

starr to talk about yemen. how this country both poses a problem for the u.s., but i also think, barbara, poses some kind of solutions as well as what i'm hearing the government is trying to root out al qaeda in their own country with u.s. help. you've been there. describe to us what this state is like and whether or not the country can control who is inside its borders. >> you know, drew that is the fundamental question right there. can the yemeni government control its own country? that's the problem. you know, yemeni official told me this week, even before all this started, he said, look, we know we have a problem. we're asking for u.s. help now. it is going to be expensive, but if our country fails, it is going to be disastrous. the problem is this, if you look at the map, yemen is rapidly becoming the worry, a failed state, and an al qaeda safe haven. there is a revolution in the

north. there is a separatist movement in the south. there is a central government, but it doesn't control the whole country. and al qaeda is on the rise there. general petraeus has been saying for months that yemen is the new headquarters for al qaeda in the persian gulf. so that's why you saw over the last couple of weeks several rounds of air strikes, not at all clear whether u.s. planes flew in those air strikes, but we have confirmed that u.s. intelligence, especially u.s. military intelligence, provided information about al qaeda targets inside yemen. this is for months now really been a top priority. and when you look at the map, it is so clear why that is. saudi arabia right next door, the saudi oil fields, and right along the horn of africa water ways, this is a major international cargo shipping route area.

and this is an area where al qaeda has set its own sights. drew? >> i this i it is fair to say that the neighboring countries there have a lot more at stake than u.s. interests involved in this. from your pentagon sources, any indication that the saudis are trying to help yemen stabilize or there is any kind of controls from other neighbors in that area? >> well, the saudis, you're absolutely right, the saudis are deeply, deeply worried about this because yemen, of course, on their southern border there, there has been fighting on that border between this rebel movement, shiite rebel movement on the yemeni side of the border and the saudi, warplanes have flown there. this is a war going on in yemen that most americans probably haven't really paid a lot of attention to, you know. our focus has been afghanistan and iraq and pakistan. but it really is the horn of africa and indeed across

northern africa, all the way to nigeria, where al qaeda has been on the rise by all accounts and it has the saudis worried, and it has many countries in that -- in the persian gulf worried. and especially, again, the maritime industry. this is the part of the world that lives on the water, good commerce security all up and down the water ways, and there is a lot of concern that al qaeda, and they may have demonstrated it here, can stage some kind of attacks well beyond its border in yemen that they will now have some reach, and that is a huge concern, drew. >> barbara starr, pentagon correspondent reporting tonight from washington. thanks, barbara, for joining us. well, it is the season of giving, let's not forget. coming up, how one program is successfully nourishing newborns by feeding their impoverished mothers. a good story out of all this. stay tuned. to a well-equipped buick lacrosse.

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bonnie, on any other night, the weather story you're about to tell us would probably lead any newscast just about anywhere. i mean, the bad time of year,

and weather delays at many, many airports. >> that's so true, drew. it is also interesting because they're hitting some of the major hubs, a lot of people are catching a flight in one city or maybe a connecting flight in another and there are a lot of people just to let you know that are in the air now. we have 4800 planes coast to coast as you can see here on flight explorer. that is a lot of activity. unfortunately we are dealing with some delays. quite a few. chicago has a ground stop now and o'hare airport is reporting delays of over four hours. jfk, over two hours. newark, new jersey, over two. and philadelphia, an hour and 15 minutes. most of these delays are related to low clouds and rain, poor visibility and even some winds. not the snow we have seen across the midwest. check out some pictures of iowa, getting hit with this blast of wintry weather. as you can see, it makes for very tough driving conditions you to take it so slow on the roads. even the plows had a tough time keeping up with it because the winds were so strong that they blow the snow back on to the

roads after they were plowed. we still have winter weather advisories right now in chicago, two to four more inches of snow. it is still snowing in chicago. it is also snowing in minneapolis. and then back out further to the west, notice the snow bands coming into omaha, nebraska, kansas city, a place that had a blizzard warning earlier, that subsided. but still lots of snow through indianapolis, and across chicago. just to let you know what's going on in the northeast, we're tracking some wet and raw conditions, temperatures are in the 40s in new york city. but in upstate new york, and northern new england, drew, it is cold enough for ice. be careful out there tonight and early tomorrow morning. >> all right. bonnie schneider, thanks so much for that. >> sure. there may be no need as fundamental as the hunger of an infant and in very poor places mothers are often so malnourished, they can do little to help their own children. that's where an unusual program

comes to the rescue calling on nursing mothers to truly give of themselves. cnn photo journalist tawa inda scott chased that story for today. >> i have a daughter, 13-month-old lilly. >> my name is nicole. i have a 16-month-old daughter named ella. >> i'm passionate about breast-feeding and knew i wanted to nurse her exclusively. very quickly my freezer filled up with a lot of frozen milk. >> i realized i don't know what i'm going do with all this milk. i'm producing it faster than she can drink it. first thing i did was google donate breast milk and the first thing that popped up was breast milk project.org. >> i looked over their website and knew that once i was reading about how they were sending the milk to south africa and helping malnourished infants, i knew it was something that i wanted to

do. >> they send a nurse to draw blood, make sure you qualify and healthy enough to donate and they ship you a cooler. i probably shipped four or five coolers full of frozen breast milk, over 300 or 400 ounces worth. >> i would guess that i've donated about a thousand, maybe a little over a thousand ounces of breast milk. >> breast milk is the healthiest for babies. it has the mother's natural antibodies and you pass along your immunities to the baby. especially for the babies born in these critical situations. >> as i'm pumping, every day, i'm picturing, you know, these little children, these little infants in south africa receiving this breast milk and thriving on it. >> it is so satisfied to give this milk, knowing that i will probably never meet the people that -- the babies that are benefitting from it. >> this has probably been the most rewarding and gratifying volunteerism i've ever done. you're not writing a check. you're not buying books for little kids, or giving money to

a homeless man on the street. it is very personal. and i spent a lot of time thinking about that. it has been very rewarding. >> interesting. while some of the milk is donated to needy mother and children there is also a commercial aspect to this project. as a california-based company that processes and ships to africa at least a quarter of the milk at no charge to the project or the donor. the company pays the charity for the remaining milk and processes and fortifies it by selling it to neonatal intensive care units across the u.s. for more information on this, on how you can help, go to cnn.com/givingtowatch. more stories on people making a difference in their community and beyond. still ahead, a holiday home cooming for u.s. soldiers who spent the year in afghanistan. i'd like one of those desserts and some coffee.

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hundreds of military families got a belated christmas gift in new york. about 300 soldiers returned from afghanistan early this morning to be reunited with their loved ones. here are some of the sights and sounds of the holiday homecoming. >> in a couple of minutes it is going to be pandemonium. about 300 soldiers coming back today. >> they're almost here. it's almost time for daddy. >> jace is waiting on his dad. he hasn't seen him since he was 4 days old. >> kids, babies, husbands,

wives, waiting for their soldier to come home. they have done great work but it has been a hard road. >> he has been trying to hold it together, you know. ♪ we are proud to be in the army of the free ♪ >> we were sent into two provinces completely controlled by the taliban. we made a huge difference. >> it has come at a cost. they lost 24 soldiers from combat-related death. >> we have been called the spearhead of the surge. >> as soon as they say dismissed you are going to have people launching themselves at each other. >> i saw him. damon. >> dad! >> oh, hello! hello! hello! how are you? >> awesome.

>> i'm awesome now. >> oh. it's so good to see you. >> if you've never seen one of these before and you watch it, it is like getting kicked in the throat. >> i'm just so glad he's home and i'm so glad he is safe. >> i was actually worried about coming back. i didn't know if he was going to like me or not. >> so much bigger. >> everybody's grown. everybody's changed while i've been gone, huh. now i've got to get back into the family. >> christmas came a day late and that's okay. >> she is the greatest present we could get. i have her home. couldn't ask for more. >> that's nice. well, from those heros to another hero. the hero of flight 253. you are going to hear from him in his own words next.

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get gold bond pain relieving foot cream. maximum strength medicine stops pain fast. gold bond pain relieving foot cream. finally, fast relief for painful feet. just in to us is a statement from the nigerian embassy in washington. saying that they are in contact with relevant u.s. authorities over the incident. looked like they are vowing to

help in the investigation and saying that officers from the embassy have already flown to michigan to gain counselor access to the individual. that is happening as we are learning more about the hero of this flight. a quick-thinking passenger in seat 20-j, jasper sharinga is being credited for leaping over seats to stop this terrorist suspect. >> i was on the right side of the plane. the suspect was on the right. there were seats in between. i saw that suspect getting on fire, i freaked, of course, and without any hesitation i jumped over the seats and jumped to the suspect because i was thinking [ bleep ] he is trying to blow up the plane. and so, you know, i was trying to search his body for, you know, any explosives and then i took some kind of object that was already melting and