hello, everyone, i'm don lemon, reporting live tonight from new york. we are tracking a developing weather story this hour with temperatures 5 to 25 degrees below normal across two-thirds of our nation. it is not just cold air. check this out. new england is getting wallops by heavy snow this weekend, and all of this is snarling holiday travel around the country as well. our jacqui jeras hard at work at the cnn severe weather center in atlanta. you see she's checking on the conditions now. we will check with jacqui in just a few minutes. first, we want to get to the terror threat now and some tough talk from president barack obama today. he is making a direct connection between the suspect in the christmas day terror attack on a u.s. airliner and al qaeda forces based in yemen. in his weekly remarks, mr. obama

said the group al qaeda in the arabian peninsula has attacked u.s. targets before and the u.s., he vowed, is fighting back. >> so as president, i've made it a priority to strengthen our partnership with the yemeni government, training and equipping their security forces, sharing intelligence and working with them to strike al qaeda terrorists. even before christmas day, we had seen the results -- training camps had been struck, leaders eliminated, plots disrupted. and all of those involved in the attempted act of terrorism on christmas must know you, too, will be held into account. >> and something else to keep in mind involving yemen, a senior u.s. government source tells cnn that general david petraeus, head of u.s. central command, met with yemen's president today in yemen. and our ed henry is traveling with president barack obama in hawaii. ed joins us now. head, what's the significance of the president tying al qaeda to this attempted attack? >> well, don, this was the fist time that the president himself really made such a direct connection.

we heard this from administration officials in private previously, but hearing it from the commander in chief is a big deal and it also suggests that the u.s. has some stronger intelligence now for the president to go out there tying this to al qaeda, at least through affiliate there's in yemen. i think it's very significant and maybe an indicator of what's coming in the days ahead that as you noted, general david petraeus was in yemen today meeting with top government officials because that could be a real signal that as the president was talking about long before this terror incident on christmas day, the u.s. had been working with the yemeni government in terms of trying to root out some of the extremists, some of the al qaeda terrorists in yemen. this just shows that there's the potential -- and i stress potential -- for more either u.s. air strikes or yemeni with u.s. backing, yemeni strikes on u.s. targets in the days ahead so so there's an intense focus

there, don. >> so the president said will he hold people accountable for the security mistakes. what does that mean? what does he mean by that? >> well, on tuesday his first full day back at the white house, he's already called in the cia chief leon panetta. other top intelligence chiefs. the attorney general, the homeland security secretary, for a big meeting in the white house situation room. a chance, perhaps, to call some of these officials on t s on tht for what went wrong but he wants to get a sense of what was learned from that incident, what was missed where the cia had an inkling that this eventual suspect had ties to extremists, why wasn't that shared with other intelligence agencies? it sort of hearkens back to before 9/11. all of this was supposed to be fixed post- 9/11. so i think the most important thing about this tuesday meeting at the white house is going to be, what have they learned so they can fix some things to prevent future attacks, don? >> you know the president, before he came into office, he said he didn't want to run the

country on fear, based on fear, he they wouldn't call it the war on terror. what i'm wondering is could this terror threat at least play a big role in the midterm elections? it seems like economy and domestic issues are top issues but could this play a role? >> no doubt about it. look, obviously, it's a truism in politics for a long time that people vote with their pocketbooks. and that's why we have been hearing in recent weeks the president in 2010 will have a heavy focus on jobs, jobs, jobs. however, as we also have seen in recent election cycles, if people don't feel personally safe that is, of course, a issue for them as well. that's why we have been seeing the president so aggressive. last night they put on a still photo of the president meeting with dennis mcdonough, a top security aide on this hawaii vacation. sort of huddling, getting updated on the terror investigation. they clearly understand that while the economy will be a big issue in this midterm election year, so will terror, so will national security and they want to look like they're all over

it. that's also why he's having this big meeting in part tuesday at the white house. not just for public relations but because he really wants to get these answers to these very important questions, don. >> ed henry, on a much lighter know, you're a very lucky man to be where you are. the temperatures, we're reporting, will be a nor'easter tomorrow. windchill here in new york city, 19 degrees. enjoy it, my friend. >> i'm so sorry to hear that. i have to go. i'm heading down to the water. i'll see ya. >> ed henry in hawaii. thank you very much. we appreciate it. another cause for u.s. concern in yemen lies nearby in somalia. that's where a group of al qaeda back fighters say they're preparing to head for yemen to join the insurgents there. this video is from somalia. it shows al shbob fighters are wrapping up their military training near mogadishu. their leaders say the fighters are prepared to battle government forces in both somalia and yemen. yemen is reportedly tightening security along its coast and searching suspicious votes and other vessels. meantime we're getting word between a possible link between

the cress day terror attack and november massacre at ft. hood, texas. a u.s. counterterrorism official tells cnn that would-be bomber umar farouk abdulmutallab had contact with terrorist anwr al walky, the american-born imam that has been linked to internet contacts with the accused hasan. where does the u.s. go from here? let's bring in military analyst ken robinson. he's joining us live from los angeles. we appreciate you joining us. let's talk about general petraeus, his meeting today. is this a step in the right direction? >> i think it is, don. it's really a pri cursor to putting the president of yemen's fingerprints on the bombings that are sure to come, as ed henry talked about in the last interview, the strategy of the united states government is to prevent the president from being overthrown. there's a secessionist movement

going on there. internally there's a huge urban youth goal and on top of it, people don't have jobs. yemen is feared to become a failed state like somalia. when you see ohio it's gene graphically positioned between somalia and yemen, it's a vice that the united states just can't let happen. >> all right, so listen, is this a precursor to anything that we should be concerned about, especially as americans? >> i think it is, because what we have right now is really good diplomacy going on because they're trying to establish legitimacy with the government of yemen and with the arab street because these bombings are going to happen, and legitimacy is going to be half the battle. the other part of it is going to be proper target selection of legitimate targets that have had to do with either giving sanctuary to al qaeda or threatening the survival of the state of yemen, and we have to avoid collateral damage in the process. >> ken, what i'm really asking is when we hear things like this, we hear the president

talking about this, we hear general david petraeus is having a meeting. some americans -- and i think it's a legitimate question -- may be wondering which direction, if any, is this going into if we might be heading towards conflict? that's the real question. >> well, we're not heading towards conflict. we're in the middle of conflict. the government of the united states is at war, and it is at war with militant islam. and militant islam is not a nation, it's not a state, it doesn't have a flag, it doesn't wear a uniform and it is spreading like wildfire across africa and across the middle east. and we must confront militant jihadist islam and prevent it from creating instability, creating failed states where people like al schabob in somalia or the terrorists groups in yemen can then provide choke points for the red sea or the gulf of adren or the straits of

hormuth, and it's not an american war, it's a war problem and we're at war. >> ken robinson, thank you very much. meantime back here at home in the united states, we're dealing with very, very cold weatherment our jacqui jeras is in the cnn severe center checking a nor'easter on the horizon tomorrow that will cause flooding and major travel delays. it is bitterly, bitterly cold. jacqui? >> this is definitely the coldest air of the season for a lot of folks, don. and it's so cold, it's really dangerous to be outside for some people. i want to show you the big picture to show you how this grips about the eastern two-thirds of the country and temperatures here anywhere between 5 and 25 degrees below average. this is what you can expect for tomorrow morning. a couple of the highlights down here across parts of florida. we've got hard freeze warnings which are in effect and we're really concerned about the citrus crops here. strawberries and also oranges as well as lemons in that area. and then the upper midwest is where we have been seeing temperatures this morning in the 30s below zero, and we're

expecting this cold air to grip much of the nation throughout the week ahead. here's the overnight temperature that you can expect -- 13 below in minneapolis. 7 in chicago. 24 in memphis. and then you see tampa getting close to that freezing mark, but you get on the interior and that's where the temperatures should reach the freezing mark or colder. we have windchill advisories in effect there as well. it's the upper midwest, dakotas across parts of minnesota where we have been seeing those temperatures in the 20s and 30s below zero and it's still feeling like that across much of the region, feeling like 7 below in green bay. many records were broken in the upper midwest this morning, including north dakota, grand forks there at 35 below zero and fargo at 33 below. that's all due to antarctic high pressure system. we have low pressure here towards the canadian maritimes. and this low is doing a backwards turn. you don't see that happen very often. it's called retrograding. this is the same thing that brought the rain in new york city on new year's eve.

well, it's coming back and bringing heavy snow across parts of maine. check out the picture that's we have that we want to show you. this is just outside of portland in the wyndham area. the snow so far hasn't been all that bad but the winds are going to be picking up and we have had a lot of coastal flooding in this area as well. so that's that system's going to stick with us throughout the day for tomorrow. again, heaviest accumulations in the interior parts of the northeast. if you're trying to travel, don, still a lot of people trying to get around and about from the holidays. we've got delays over an hour at most of the major airports in the northeast, and those winds are going to get even stronger overnight, up to 50 miles per hour. >> all right. i guess that means here we go. jacqui, thank you very much. we appreciate it. after three days of rain and mudslides, rescuers are pulling bodies from beneath huge mountains of mud and dirt in brazil. a giant piece of a mountain brook loose and plunged straight into a resort two hours west of rio. the coastal city has been especially hit hard. rescue teams are on duty around

the clock but hope is fading for any survivors there. at least 64 people had been killed in the southeastern part of that country. the new year begins in iraq with an all-too-familiar scene. what can be expected in the war-torn country as the u.s. continues its drawdown on u.s. troops? fr and remember the cartoonists that drew the controversial images of the prophet muhammad? at least one man apparently has not and today tried to kill him. make sure you join the conversation, twitter, facebook, myspace or ireport.com. wondering where i have been? on vacation, i'm back. hit me up. ♪ seems you've always been right there ♪ this life was saved... ♪ soothing sadness ♪ healing pain and this life was made easier... ♪ making smiles appear again because of this life. nursing. at johnson & johnson, we salute all those who choose the life... that makes a difference. ♪ you're a nurse ♪ you make a difference

chunks of charred metal are strewn across baghdad streets after a series of car bombs exploded in the western part of the iraqi capital today. police say one person was killed, 22 others hurt in the explosions and that wasn't the only violence in the city today. iraqi army officer was reportedly killed this morning by a sniper's bullet. many iraqis are still furious over the dismissal of manslaughter charges this week against five contractors working for a u.s. security firm. now the government is taking action. >> we are going to ask the justice department to appeal this verdict and to follow the case and at the same time we're going follow our case in the united states to sue the

blackhawk members as well as we reserve the right through our citizens through the san francisco agreemestrategic agre with the united states over the rights of the members that has been affected during military operations. blackwater is an extension of the military forces of the united states, and we keep them fully accountable for such a crime. >> the judge dismissed the case after finding evidence of misconduct by prosecutors. 17 iraqis were killed in the 2007 incident involving guards working for the company then noe known as blackwater. it prompted a wider debate over the role of contractors in war. but the general overseeing the war effort said the iraqi reaction to the decision demonstrates the triumph of the rule of law. >> it's a lesson in the rule of law. you know, we're a country of rule of law. iraq is a country that's abiding by the rule of law. and that's what protects its citizens in the long run is having a system where you use the rule of law in order to make

your determinations, and i think this is the case. now for some news that we like to report about iraq, no u.s. soldiers died in combat in iraq last month. that's according to the military, zero. this is the first time since the start of the iraq war that the monthly death toll didn't budge. there were three noncombat fatalities but the top u.s. commander in iraq is calling this a significant milestone. since the invasion in march of 2003, 3,477 troops have been killed by fighting. about 900 others have died in noncombat incidents. other dinah magny is in baghdad. we reached out to her to find out what will change and what will stay the same in iraq in 2010. >> reporter: iraq 2010, there are two key dates on the calendar which will fundamentally shape this country's future. march the 7th, national elections. iraqis will choose whether they want a secular or religious leadership, whether iraqi nationhood matters more than a

myriad of ethnic and sectarian tensions. and then there's the time it will take to form an actual government. >> if you really have two elections here, you have the election for the members of parliament, the over 300 members of parliament, and enyou have what may be the more important election, which is the election of the prime minister president council of representatives and the determination of who will hold key ministry positions and so forth in government. >> reporter: the u.s. is banking on that transition to power being a smooth one because less than five months later, it plans to have pulled some 60,000 troops out of iraq. only 50,000 will stay after august 2010, all advise and assist brigades. and the u.s. says that is a fixed date if the u.s. security follows its current and proven trend. while all of this is going on, you also have the vote of foreign investors. they're showing themselves increasingly willing to bank and not just iraqi oil but also on the country's reconstruction.

their confidence, though, depends on the political landscape and on security, and that, once again, depends on the elections. diana makdgdy, cnn, baghdad. after end 20g 09 with a record number of drug-related deaths in mexico city, 2010 begins with more violence south of the border claiming more lives, including an american. and keeping a new year's resolution 20 years later. former students go back to school to honor a pact they made back when they were in the third grade. if you want to see the weather ahead, push here. if you want to access 10 gigs of music you just downloaded to your hard drive, push here. and if you want to pull away from it all, you can push here. the all-new-40-gig hard drive nav and entertainment system on the 2010 lacrosse. from buick. it's the new class of world class.

the danish cartoonists whose drawing of the prophet muhammad angered the muslim world has been attacked in his only. an ax-wielding somali man with suspected al qaeda ties is charged with attempted murder. cnn's phil black has details for you. >> reporter: this man was looking after his 5-year-old granddaughter when danish police say a man broke into his home in aarhus and tried to kill him. westergaard fled to a fortified safe room and activated a panic alarm. the police say they responded quickly. this officer says the man attacked police with an ax and a knife and they were forced to shoot him. the 28-year-old somali man, who lives in denmark, was later

taken to court on a stretcher. he has gunshot wounds to his leg and hand. he's been charged with attempting to murder westergaard and a police officer. the danish security and intelligence service said he was already under surveillance and he has connections to the somali extremist group al shabaab. westergaard was one of 12 cartoonists who drew caricatures of the prophet muhammad for a danish newspaper in 2005. the images triggered an angry and often violent reaction in muslim communities and countries around the world. dozens were killed. danish embassies were attacked. muslims consider all depictions of the prophet offensive. danish police say they disrupted other plots to kill kurt westergaard, and they're aware of the constant threat against him. but in this case, they had no indication an attack was imminent. phil black, cnn, london. >> all right, phil, wrong place at the wrong time is what many

say happened to augustine bobby salsayo. he went out to dinner with some of his former classmate in a mexican town when they were attacked. their bodies were found all shot to death. the mayor of el monte, california, where he served on the school board, spoke of his character. >> bobby was a natural born leader. from a very young age, he was student body president of mountain view high school. he went to boy state. wherever he went, he was leading. he took that leadership role back to his community and did so many wonderful things. >> 2009 was a record year for drug-related deaths in mexico, especially in juarez. across the border from el paso, texas. the government has not released official figures but the unofficial count shows 7,600 mexicans lost their lives last year. more than 2,500 of those deaths -- or 25 of those deaths,

i should say, happened in juarez. a tragic truth, when guns are fired into the air, the bullet has to fall somewhere. celebratory gunfire on new year's eve proved dangerous in three cities. a 4-year-old in decatur, georgia, was killed by a stray bullet that pierced the roof of a church where he was attending a new year's eve service. the child died after being rushed to a hospital. and in environmentingham, georgia, a man was asleep in bed just before midnight when he was hit by a bullet. the slug fell through the roof of his mobile home and hit him in the leg. and in miami, florida, a 6-year-old was hit by a stral bullet when eating at an outdoor restaurant. the boy is in serious condition but is expected to recover. the city's mayor says it will warn people about the dangers of firing weapons in the air. how can seven cia acts be killed in afghanistan inside their own compound? if it's an inside job, as the taliban is now claiming, carried

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the failed christmas day terror attack was a stark reminder of al qaeda's ultimate goals, that is a word from a top government official who says al qaeda is testing u.s. defenses as a plan to launch an attack on u.s. soil. the director of the national counterterrorism center says u.s. officials know with absolute certainty that would-be terrorists are working to refine their methods. the afghan parliament has overwhelmingly rejected the new cabinet of president hamid karzai. 17 of 24 nominations were rejected by afghan lawmakers. the vote is a serious setback for karzai, coming on the heels of his controversial re-election as president. somehow, some way, a suicide bomber managed to slip onto a u.s. base in afghanistan without

being searched, killing seven cia officers. now a terror group is taking credit for wednesday's attack, praising a possible double agent. cnn's atea bowie is in kabul with the very latest. >> reporter: the question that remains is just how a suicide bomber was able to make it onto an american base in eastern afghanistan, detonate his vest and kill seven cia agents. american officials here in afghanistan still are not talking about just how he was able to do that. the taliban claiming that he was actually an afghan soldier, a soldier that they were able to convince to switch allegiances rather than fighting with the u.s. forces, fighting against the u.s. forces. and the taliban claimed that they will continue to infiltrate the afghan army and they point to an attack just a day before wednesday's attack in western afghanistan where an afghan soldier was able to shoot and kill a u.s. soldier and shoot an injure two italian soldiers. reports today also that the pakistani taliban are now

claiming responsibility for this attack that killed the cia employees. this is really no surprise when you look at the area that it occurred. host province boardsers the north and south waziristan areas of pakistan, an area where one group has very strong control, and that is a network run by jalil hakani and he was a fighter against the soviets in the 1980s and it is believed he had heavy funding from the cia through the pakistani intelligence, the isi. a car bomb turned a volleyball tournament into a bloody massacre in northwestern pakistan, killing 93 people. at least six children and dozens of teens were victims of yesterday's ground-shaking blast. many more people are still hospitalized today. police believe the bomber used more than 600 pounds of

explosives, triggering a blast that was felt 11 miles away. back in the u.s., a hangover from the christmas day terror plot is still causing headaches for officials and also for travelers. as homeland security correspondent jeanne meserve reports, authorities could learn some valuable lessons from that plot. >> reporter: there is no new intelligence indicating an increased threat to aviation, but because this is a haevy holiday travel weekend, security is going to be even more enhanced. there will be more canine detection teams, more federal air marshals and requirements for 100% inspection of passengers coming into the country remain in force. in addition, the state department is telling embassies around the world, when you send a cable about a suspicious individual, include information on whether they have a visa. this because cables about umar farouk abdulmutallab did not mention the very significant fact that the 23-year-old had a valid multiple entry visa to enter the united states. experts say the failures exposed

by this episode will likely catalyze change. view it as an opportunity, a painful one, but view it as an opportunity to solve some of the things that have been stuck in either the budget process, the policy process, get things done. >> reporter: communications intercepts of extremists in yemen picked up between august and october, discuss operations and someone called the nigerian and a partial name, umar farouk. umar farouk abdulmutallab, yemen, extremist, all came to the attention of u.s. intelligence again the very next month when the 23-year-old's father came to the u.s. embassy in nigeria. but no one made the connection. >> i'm sympathetic to the problem of what we sometimes call intelligence overload. so much information comes in, how do you separate what we call the signal from the rest of the noise? and often it's very difficult to do. >> reporter: there were other missed clues. a british decision to deny him a visa. abdulmutallab's cash purchase of a ticket. the fact that he didn't check

luggage, vague warnings about holiday attacks. on new year's eve, the director of national intelligence, dennis blair, issued a statement to his employees noting the obvious, that it had been an especially challenging week for the intelligence community. he said the president's judgment that there had been intelligence failures was a tough message to receive, but it was time to move forward to outthink, outwork and defeat the enemy's new ideas. jeanne meserve, cnn, washington. now some more proof that lapses can happen despite the best efforts of airport security. a united airlines expresses flights bound for chicago yesterday had to do a u-turn, an express flight had to do a u-turn. airline learned after takeoff that the name of one of the passengers matched on a tsa restricted list. the mistake irritated many of those passengers. >> if there was that kind of concern after it was off the ground, somebody's just dropping the ball here. if we have these computer systems that check, you know, these people before they get on the flights, they need to make sure that, you know, they stay

to that standard. >> go jet airlines, which was operating the flight, said it realized the mistake after a computer glitch was fixed. the passenger in question wasn't actually the person on the list. incidents like this one leave us all wondering if security can stay one step ahead of terrorists. and our next guest is an expert in airline security and has worked for both northwest airlines and the secret service. his name is douglas lair and he joins us from reno, nevada. been doing a lot of flying this holiday season. the question i ask, can the tsa stay ahead? there were a lot of folks there i noticed during the holidays, but can they stay ahead of these possible groups or even maybe being on lace or not being on a list? >> it's a very tough challenge, and part of the problem is the technology hasn't kept up like it should. remember, this is not a new scenario that we saw on christmas day. >> can you stop right there. when you said the technology hasn't kept up like it should,

whose fault is that? what should we be doing? how should we be more advanced in our technology? >> in the final analysis n. my opinion, the way to keep the scenario from happening again is you have to do a body scan. this is very controversial, but, again, if you want to keep the bombs off airplanes, that's the major gap that has to be filled. >> and, you know, we had the puffer things, i remember they were taken away. they started them and took them away because people were complaining about that. here's a question i have been asking, i have been asking my team and lots of experts, do civil rights really play -- how much of a role should it play when you're trying to protect the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of people? >> well, in 1972 when we first started screening passengers boarding aircraft in the u.s. to stop the hijacking to cuba, there was a human cry about rights. i believe we have to give up certain of our rights to protect all of us when we fly. >> yeah. and israel, i mean, israelists

will target certain groups b because they say those are the groups of people that are doing it. i don't know how much outcry there was in israel but they haven't had a significant attack. >> israel is totally different than the united states. for one thing, the israelis clearly understand the threat under which they live. i'm not sure the united states' citizens for the most part understand that we really are at war with the extreme group of islamists. >> and the question obviously is in the workplace and other areas, there's a distinct -- you know, civil rights are distinct. but when you are up against an issue like this and you have a certain group of people who are doing 99% of the possible terrorist acts, then what gives? what's the outcry about? if someone scans me, i'm not a terrorist. i don't care. >> that's the way i look at it but some people are very concerned that if they are body scanned, that the person observing the image will see private parts, for lack of a better explanation. >> we all have private parts. we all have private parts. >> that's right.

i think it's a small price to pay to help keep it safe to fly. but let's not ever forget that there's no such thing as 100% security. they will continually be finding a way to try to get around whatever it is that we do. >> there's no such thing -- i have lost e-mails and phone numbers, and i will call either the carrier or the company e-mail system and say can you retrieve it, and they can get it. so everything is documented. so i think you're right, there's really no -- no privacy or not much of it. is there something -- do we need to evolve in a certain way and realize, you know, hey, we're behind here? >> well, for one thing, the body scanning imagery does not -- is not maintained in a memory or in a file. >> right. >> as soon as the next person moves on, it justdisappears. so that's a false thing people have. but the other side wins if they put us in a total state of fear. we have to get on with our lives and realize that some unpleasant things happen occasionally. but we also have to do our best

to prevent them from happening in the future. >> i think that's a good place to leave it, absolutely. i was sitting around with a group of people, mr. laird, and they were saying why so much about this terrorist attack, because jets used to be hijacked all the time in the '70s and '80s, and we all remember that and there was a big uproar about this. we can understand why a little bit. some of it appears to be -- and that's the question, i'm not sure if it appears to be overkill. you said some bad things happen and we should get on with our lives. >> let's look at the big picture, how many people do we kill a year because of drunk drivers? >> yeah. >> the europeans, for example, have taken very severe, strict measures on dealing with the drunk driving issue. the american public doesn't want to go in that direction, but there for the grace of god go, for my assumption anyway. but, again, let's not let the fear overwhelm us or else they've won. >> have you to keep moving, keep on with your life. douglas laird, thank you very much from reno, nevada. >> thank you, sir. >> happy new year to you. >> same to you. is there really a problem or

is it just coincidence? we'll tell you why government inspectors are keeping a close watch on american airlines. all my business information is just a phone call away-- to my wife... who's not answering. announcer: there's a better way. intuit quickbooks online p9 organizes your business in one place, and helps you stay on top of your business anytime, anywhere. get a 30-day free trial at intuit.com.

live pictures now of new york city, where it is, what, about 19 degrees. that is the windchill here. look at that, beautiful shots. i think this is the city court billing. look at that, 15, 15 is the windchill in new york city. it is cold in a big part of the country. i can't tell if it's dark. which bridge is that? george washington bridge, gwb in upper manhattan. cold night in new york city and much of the northeast. even in the midwest there. jacqui jeras says we're expecting a nor'easter tomorrow and travel, travel delays in the northeast corridor is get ready on your way back home from the holidays. meantime a smoky smell in the cockpit forced a delta flight to turn around and head back to boston this morning. delta flight 1379 had been in the air about 8 minutes bound for new york city when the pilot decided to turn back. the odor had dissipated by the time the plane and its 34 passengers returned to the gate at logan international airport. now, delta says its pilot was

acting out of an abundance of safety. better safe than sorry. american airlines is under the faa's microscope after the carrier racked up three botched landings in less than two weeks. you're looking at video of the worse of the incidents when the jet overran a runway in jamaica injuring 91 passengers. that came just a few days after a plane slid off the side of a north carolina runway. and on christmas eve, an md-80 struck its wingtip while landing in texas. american airlines is said to be cooperating with the federal investigation. what did tv anchors do during the commercial breaks? they party. i know those two guys. they are funny, funny, funny, and great people. yeah, anyway, you might be surprised. also ahead for you -- calling all cars. be on the lookout for a speeding coke machine. stay with us for a coke chaser. lots of caffeine there, it looks like.

"the situation room" is straight ahead. suzanne malveaux is in for wolf blitzer. suzanne, what do you have for us? >> thanks, don. at the top of the hour i'll talk to a 9/11 commission member who's concerned that the u.s. intelligence community is still failing to connect the dots when it comes to fighting terrorism. plus, is president obama doing enough to help blacks? one prominent african-american says he is not. and will iran decide its future in the streets? many are chanting "death to the dictator" while others are chanting "death to america." who's going to prevail in this showdown? i'm going to speak with the best-selling author of "reading the leader in tehran." >> suzanne, we will be watching, thank you. how about this, the local sheriff calls it the strangest crime he has ever seen. a man in tennessee tried to steal vaa vending machine by chaining it to his pickup. within minutes, the police were hot on his tail but the suspect

kept trying to escape even when the chain broke. the police caught him, he explained that he needed some money. now he will need some more spare change, especially since he's charged with resisting arrest and theft. well, you guys ever wonder what, you know, we do during the commercials when you're not watching? well, i'll never tell you. we do a lot of crazy things. but these two anchors, jackie bane and bob jordan, i know them personally, you're about to see not only do they report the news, but you're going to see their little act during the commercial breaks. it's become really news, kind of. everyone's watching it. it's a hit on youtube. here's cnn's jeanne moos. >> reporter: if you think listening to the news is depressing, imagine delivering it. >> the burningi inbuilding. >> three patrons were stabbed. >> an undercover drug operation. >> the toxic dirt ordnance. >> reporter: give us a break, a commercial break. there's a name for this -- >> what anchors do during commercial breaks. >> reporter: well, maybe not all anchors.

at wgn in chicago, the weekend anchors do this on the first commercial break of every show, started -- >> we were so tickled to hear our names, we went ah -- >> and started pointing. >> wgn news at 9:00. >> reporter: this used to be something only the crew got to see. but then it landed on youtube. they have between two and two and a half minutes until the commercial break ends. >> getting close. >> reporter: moves range from -- >> john travolta. >> you missed that. >> reporter: to the dick cheney. hold it, that is the famous fly move, based on a national incident when robert got caught on camera when he thought he was off camera. >> i see the flies zooming around and i started reaching for it. >> reporter: sure there have been dancing weather men on

youtube. even dancing iraqi anchor men. and one of wgn's own reporters couldn't keep still. >> i got to do my thing. i'll be right back. >> reporter: but this takes choreography. >> 30! >> 30, oh, no! >> she would try to go with me, poke my eyes out -- >> reporter: borrowed from the three stooges. but don't call these two stooges. >> i try to add moves, she won't let me add new moves. onces that i like. >> ask him what his move was, please. >> i want to do the chest bump. >> reporter: next commercial had you take a bath from break, remember these two breaking into their routine, working it right down to the last second. >> ten seconds coming up to a voice-over! >> we made it. >> reporter: back to the world of mayhem and destruction. >> three, two, one. >> reporter: two ankers who aren't quite anchored to their desk.

jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> i was going to show you what i do, but they got -- you know how i learned that? i don't get a chance to eat before the show because i like to, you know, write a lot and see the scripts and as does my old partner kyra phillips. we would always eat quickly during the break because we didn't get to eat a lot during the show. kyra thanks for the bad habit. i hate you guys. they're laughing. no, i love you guys. glad to be back. or as they say in the south, bless your heart. they're only in third grade when they made a promise to meet again. >> living in a time of, you know, people reconnecting on facebook and myspace and that sort of thing, but actually coming together physically for something that was really a special memory. >> we'll tell you how things turned out 20 years later. se. it has more cargo space than pilot, and traverse

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percy sutton was one of the nation's most prominent african-american political and business leaders during the civil rights era. new york mayor michael bloomberg paused to remember him duringing his inauguration speech just yesterday. >> as we look at our flags still flying at half-staff, let us join in honoring and thanking a true civil rights pioneer, and a legendary public servant and a great new yorker percy sutton.

[ applause ] >> sutton, a civil rights activist, a lawyer, and once the highest ranking black elected official in new york city, died the day after christmas. he was 89. his memorial service is wednesday at riverside church in manhattan and he will certainly be missed. a schoolyard pact still holds water two decades after the fact. back in 1990, a class of washington state third graders maim a promise to their teachers and yesterday they held up their end of the deal. a reunion promise was fulfilled. >> you know i really didn't know exactly what to expect. >> reporter: the pledge was simple, meet at the armen jar elementary flagpole at noon. 20 third graders and one forward thinking teacher who has been waiting 20 years for this day. >> oh, my gosh.

>> reporter: nine minutes until noon and the students start flooding in. and so do the memories. >> hi, sweetie. >> this one is actually just a bigger version of what she was. >> reporter: retired third grade teacher richard lewis remembers just about all of his students. >> good to see you. >> reporter: even remembers the day he made the pact to meet here. what surprises him most is that they remembered too. >> and a lot of us remembered for years and brought it up and joked with each other. i mean, i'll have to get on some people who aren't even here right now. >> living in a time of, you know, people reconnecting on facebook and myspace and that sort of thing, but actually coming together physically for something that was really a special memory. >> reporter: the students were part of the bremerton school district's gifted program. mr. lewis' lessons resonating well beyond the classroom. >> i thought i would start crying when i saw mr. lewis and i did. >> i was really emotional.

>> two over from mr. lewis right here. >> that's the best part about all of this. i mean, to me they look exactly the same, just with beards and gel in their hair and stuff. and kids in tow. >> and everyone acting like we did. >> reporter: bright eyed third graders now mothers, fathers and professionals. >> i think i could envision doing something really great and probably having kids which i do, so i was right. >> reporter: seeing their faces, hearing their stories and knowing that he made a difference, mr. lewis says this is what teaching is all about. >> and it is, like, you know, i finally get to get the ball and i get to go in the end zone and i going to spike it. and i go, that's it, i did it, i actually did it. >> reporter: and bremerton, tonya moseley. >> what a very nice story. want to read some of your feedback. jason in atlanta, go ahead and refresh again, i added some more things on twitter. can you put them up on the screen, roger? can we see them?

do i have to read them? okay. is he refreshing now? there we go. these are all from you guys. most of you talk about me eating. you eat on the job during commercial breaks. that was funny. thanks for sharing that clip. now we know what you do during the commercial breaks. ranger pete, first one from lisa lee, 84, that was the first one. deleonia says how is new york city? nice haircut, buddy. my hair was getting really long. people were telling me to cut it and i didn't cut it on my vacation until the last day. let's see, i really like your elmer fud hat. happy new year's, that was the other night in times square. everyone is asking me about the hat. i got it a couple of years ago in chicago. i have to remember where i got it. let's see. happy new year, did you really kiss -- someone asked me who i kissed for new year's eve and i said pop p py harlow because i reporting with her.