we are online 24/7. >> have a great weekend and happy new year. welcome to "the cnn newsroom." i'm brooke baldwin. want to get to new evidence today of a growing security threat right there in the middle east. the united states closed its embassy in yemen, citing fears in al qaeda might try to stage an attack. also, britain closing its doors at its embassy there as well. there's still no word as to when either will reopen. meanwhile, breaking news on a

related security story. the transportation security administration has just unveiled new directives for certain international flights. samantha hayes joins us live from washington to talk about the new directives and the story developing out of yemen. the new directives in effect tomorrow. >> these are dramatic, brooke. starting tomorrow, tsa is mandating every person flying into the u.s. from or through a country that's a state sponsor of terrorism or other countries of interest will be required to go through a hand screening or secondary screening. that can include body scans, patdowns and other regulations. and this is sure to slow down the boarding process but it also comes after the u.s. government stepping up counterterrorism efforts in yemen which is emerging as a more serious front in the war on terror. on the southern tip of the arabian peninsula where the red sea meets the indian ocean is yemen. that's where a strike just last

month killed three al qaeda members suspected of targeting the u.s. embassy for attack. cnn has learned a fourth was captured with his suicide vest on. according to his senior u.s. military official. now the u.s. and british embassies have been closed because of continued threats in the area. >> there are indications that al qaeda is planning to carry out an attack against targeted inside and possibly our embassy some sat kay general david petraeus visited yemen to coordinate and increased counterterrorism aid while president barack obama and his weekly address tied al qaeda operatives in yemen to the attempted bombing of a northwest jet christmas day. brennan says the suspect, 23-year-old nigerian, newtal ab, reached out to al qaeda and received training at one of the camp's hit in a december strike. but a lack of coordination among u.s. government agencies failed to keep him off the plane. >> there's no smoking gun piece of intelligence out there that said he was a terrorist and would carry the attack against the aircraft.

we had bits and pieces of information. >> but information about underwear bombs like the one used on the northwest flight was already known. according to fran townsend, cnn contributor and former homeland security adviser to george bush. >> john brennan this morning said he did get a brief on the underwear bomb from the head of the saudi security service. >> reporter: joe lieberman said former prisoners may also to be blame. >> one of the shocking facts about al qaeda in yemen is that some of its leaders are people that we had previously captured and were holding at guantanamo. we released them back to the saudis for rehabilitation. they were sent back to yemen. >> reporter: six more yemeni detainees are scheduled to be sent back to yemen. brennan refused to say when. as for the u.s. and british embassies in yemen there's no word yet on when they will open again. brooke, back to you.

>> samantha hayes for us out of washington. thank you. want to dig deep other this story developing out of yemen and speak with a professor of middle eastern politics at the london school of economics and political science. he's also written two recent books about islamic militancy. joining me now from new york, if i can put you on the spot and get you to react to this news. new directive, enhanced screening for folks, inbound flights to the u.s. from nations of state sponsored terrorism. what do you think, will it be effective? >> i think any particular measure to enhance security is a good measure. i think in light of the failed attempt, christmas attack, i think this is the way to go. i think for the safety of passengers and safety of everyone. >> all right. let's talk about al qaeda specifically. and according to the yemen foreign minister, numbers we have seen, between 200 and 300 members of al qaeda, in yemen and what i didn't realize with

that -- that number, is greater than the number of members of al qaeda in pakistan. i want to you talk about the strength of al qaeda in yemen and specifically it is far worse than a lot of us led to believe. according to you. how bad is it? >> i think it is very bad. i think, as you said, you are absolutely correct. there are as many al qaeda core operatives in yemen as there are in pakistan, 200 and 300 members. and the difference between yemen and pakistan most of the core operatives in yemen are young and they lack the operational skills of their cohorts in pakistan. i think that evidence is emerging that is more and more of the yemeni al qaeda members, al qaeda branch in yemen, have in iraq or somalia or afghan stack and pakistan. that's acquired the skills not only to carry out attacks in yemen but also to take war to the u.s. itself as the failed

christmas plot revealed. this this is why american officials are concerned no only about the growing threat of al qaeda in yemen but the ability of al qaeda branch in yemen to carry out attacks in saudi arabia and also against the american homeland. just a few weeks ago, al qaeda member in yemen targeted the deputy interior minister in saudi arabia and almost injure him and this tells you about the extent the increasing threat of al qaeda and yemen. >> i want you to bring up the saudis. talk about the saudis and perhaps even the kuwaitis and involvement. what about the u.s.? we know that the head of centcom david petraeus was there yesterday talking to the president and talking yes, we will support more of the u.s. counter terrorism measures. but some say perhaps your -- in that group that these efforts are perhaps counterproductive. >> well, to a certain extent they are.

brooke, look what the -- the u.s. provides yemen with almost $70 million a year. this year we provided yemen with $70 million today. today, yesterday announced the united states will double the secure assistance to $140 million. that's yemen today and tops pakistan which receives only $112 million a year. i think what this problem is not just a counterterrorism problem. question, there is a short-term security problem. >> what's the -- what is the rate of -- greater reaching problem? >> this is a greater political and economic and social crisis facing yemen. and the u.s. should provide the leadership and involve -- muslim state particularly arab league and saudi arabia and kuwait in constructing political vision in yemen. remember, brooke, al qaeda has been able to create a major foothold in yemen because the social and political situation in yemen is very grave.

what i mean by the situation in yemen, have you multiple insurgencies. a major civil war in the north that's basically taking mace for almost three years and you have separatist movement in the north and several tribes are challenging the authority and what al qaeda has been trying to do or has been able to could is to submerge itself within the local conflict and challenge the authority of the sent practical government. >> capitalizing almost it seems on this conflict. you mentioned saudi arabia. i mean, we talk about the u.s. role here. but what about saudi arabia? what about the kuwaitis to a lesser degree? they need to step it up, do they not? >> absolutely. i will argue that saudi arabia is more threatened by the al qaeda branch in yemen than the united states itself. it is in the interests of saudi arabia and kuwait and the you a ran league to construct political vision to yemen, to lead the fight against al qaeda and this is why for any solution

for grand vision for yemen, it is not just only america providing security assistance, it is america providing leadership and convincing yemen's neighbors, particularly arab states, saudi arabia and kuwait, and the arab league, to lead this particular effort to prevent the collapse of the yemen into being failed state. >> not yet failed. all right. we appreciate. so much more to learn about yemen. thank you for the discussion. president obama, by the way, returning to washington this week. cnn's senior white house official ed henry has been traveling with the president in hawaii where the president is winding up his vacation. ed, wow. we know -- obviously, the president has a lot on his plate and as soon as he touches down in washington, what is priority number one? >> well, clearly, it is protecting the u.s. homeland. that's why we are seeing a very

aggressive action when john brennan the president's homeland security adviser, was on the sunday talk shows today, outlining, you know, clearly shutting down at least temporarily the u.s. embassy in yemen because of threats there. beefing up transportation security. making sure that planes coming into the united states have tougher screening measures and so that another explosive like the one we saw on christmas day can't get on a plane. that's job number one. and then clearly, the president will arrive back early monday afternoon, maybe late morning, back at the white house. and tuesday, he's immediately going to have a secure meeting in the white house situation room with all of his top intelligence chiefs to figure out what went wrong on christmas day and the days leading up to it. more importantly, what they are going to dmoving forward to prevent another attack. >> what else does he have specifically on his agenda this coming week? >> that's all we really know about right now in terms of his schedule. i think as you were just speaking with your last guest, in terms of getting more aid to yemen, when you talk to senior

ad men officials they point out one of the potential problems is corruption in the government there. whether or not the money is going to be used on counterterror. secondly, i think a big issue to watch is the fact john brennan, one of the president's top aides on the sunday shows, at least one of them, he was asked about the possible built of u.s. troops being sent to yemen because of the desperate situation there. hay said at least not now that there's no plans to do that. but you have to wonder when the u.s. already in iraq, already sort of pinned down in afghanistan, sending tens of thousands more troops, certainly difficult to image ain't scenario where we could hobble together enough troops now to go to yemen but obviously, given the speed with which the security situation appears to have deteriorated and al qaeda strength has grown in yemen particularly. certainly bears watching. >> absolutely. ed henry, we will see you back in washington come monday. in pakistan, officials tell cnn a teacher and his 9-year-old

son were killed by suspected u.s. drone. the incident happened in pakistan's north waziristan region there. more funerals. 99 people killed there. remember this story? chris brown and rihanna? >> i just didn't realize how much of an impact i had on these girls' lives until that happened, until that happened. it was a wakeup calm. it was a wakeup call for me. >> far reaching implications, that story. our legal guy, avery friedman, will be taking a look back at the year's top legal stories. freezing, freezing cold temperatures out there. >> i brought the warm sweater today. bitter cold conditions.

gripping the eastern half of the country. another arctic blast is on the way. we will tell you when you can expect that and we will show you incredible snowfall totals coming from one part of the country. we will let you know where coming up. let me take this. wait, there's no such thing as a projector phone. no, it's the lg phone and projector. there's no such thing as an lg phone and projector. ta-da. what ? the man said "ta-da" ! introducing the lg expo smartphone and lg projector. only at at&t. introducing the lg expo smartphone and lg projector. shakes off dry winter skin with 2 separate ribbons. the white ribbon that cleanses

and the body butter ribbon that moisturizes continuously leaving skin satiny smooth. goodbye dry winter skin. or diabetics on medicare! i'm a diabetic and i want you to know over 230,000 u.s. doctors have authorized their patients to receive their diabetic supplies through liberty medical. and that begins with the one touch®ultra2 meter. easy to use, fast results... at no additional cost! liberty helps keep you on track by delivering diabetic supplies to your door... and filing your claims. i never feel i'm going to run out of anything. with liberty i always have someone to talk to and now they refill all my prescriptions. call now to receive a diabetic cookbook free. call to receive the one touch®ultra2 meter at no additional cost and find out why 230,000 u.s. doctors and over a million people with diabetes trust liberty medical. liberty, we deliver better health. call now. call liberty medical at the number on your screen.

yes, it is a new year. that means new challenges for the president here as he faces in the year 2010. he has a very real reminder that

terrorists are very much so out there. they are hatching plans to hurt the u.s. republicans may be giving him trouble in upcoming elections. let's turn now to cnn deputy political director, paul. let's just first begin with this terror threat that we have all been talking about and the fact, you know, we heard from president obama yesterday, really tough words, tough talk on terrorism. a lot of republicans saying he has been too soft. >> a message we heard from a number of republican for a week. the top story that consumed this town. and the nation. we heard it from vice president -- former vice president district cheney and former house speaker newt gingrich. current members of congress. they are say thing administration is not that strong. too weak. when it comes to fighting terrorism and say this president isn't admitting we are involved, country involved in the war on terror. take a listen to jim demint. he was on our own state of the union. >> i was concerned about before i heard him talk and i think i'm a little more alarmed because he

seems to have a hard time saying that this is an act of terror, that ft. hood was an act of terror. that the christmas day bomber was an act of terror. unless we are willing to recognize this as a global war in many cases against the united states, i'm afraid we are going to fail to take the actions that we need to. >> the president yesterday in his weekly internet radio address said listen, i have been talking about a war on terror, this country has been facing since my inauguration address a year ago. also, you heard from congress am democrats accusing the republicans of trying to play politics with terror. >> paul, looking ahead to -- funny we are doing it. it is a huge year. we talk about mid-term elections come november. you know that a big topic still has to be terrorism. >> yes. and -- terrorism was an issue that was huge in the first two elections after 9/11. and helped republicans to a great deal of 2002 and 2004. take a look at this, though. a recent cnn opinion research

corporation national poll. this was taken before this attempted attack early in december. and you can see right there, the economy, health care, war, top three issues. if you keep going down on our list you will see very low at the bottom 4% terrorism. now, again, this was taken before the attacks. cnn and other organizations will be out this month. taking new polls and will be interesting to see if terrorism jumps in the minds of americans when it comes to their vote. will it be a big issue this fall? i think as of now, the economy will still the number one issue. there will be a lot of things to keep people's minds on terrorism. congressional hearings later this month on the attempted attack of what went wrong. you are also going to have the guantanamo story, dominating the news. it is going to be in the minds of americans. >> paul steinhauser, big stuff coming up in november. we will be talking about it with you. thank you for joining us from washington. let's take a look at this. pictures, nasty pictures coming in from beijing. the entire country. as you can see, just getting pounded with the nasty winter

storm system. jacqui jeras joining us in the cnn weather center. we are not alone. onis dealing with a lot of what it stuff as well. >> yes. misery loves company. >> i goes so. >> lot of miserable folks out there. not necessarily with major snowstorm with the exception of new england. but with bitter cold conditions. and so we virginia lot of stuff going on impacting people this weekend and this is going to be carrying over into early next week. one of the biggest issues we are dealing with today is we have a lot of holiday travelers. with this system here impacting the northeast and along with very strong gusty winds, we are talking major delays here at the area airports. look at boston. jfk, la guardia, newark. you are all well over an hour here. teterboro, ground delays. over an hour delay. white plains, over two hours. tv, looking at about 40-minute delays. a lot of people not so happy watching in the airport today.

snowfall totals continue to stay heaviest along i-95 and west of there, parts of maine. the winds are the big issue farther on down to the south. new york city, towards philadelphia. and down into washington, d.c. wind speeds in the teens here. however, we are getting gustswhelm beyond that. still up to 30 miles per hour. we are expecting those advisories to be expiring at 6:00 eastern time. those cold winds blowing over the warmer lake waters. lake-effect snows have been a huge issue here. picture i want to show you here out of buffalo, new york. look at this. wow. talk about a winter wonderland. had you about 6 1/2 inches of snowfall yesterday. and those numbers are going to continue to add up throughout the rest of the yeah in an and evening. we think the worst of the heavy snow bands has blown through buffalo but several inches can be expected each and every day this weekend and your temperatures staying well below the freezing mark. 14 is your current temperature but feels like a big goose egg with those bitter cold

conditions. unfortunately, we are looking at more of that. look at the snowfall totals. near the buffalo area. two feet of snow in perrysburg. hannibal at 15 1/2 inches of snowfall. bitter cold temperatures gripped the nation. eastern half. even almost two-thirds. we have another plunge of arctic air coming in mid week. so look for temperatures to stay about 10 to 20 degrees below average for a whole lot of people. >> minus 20. >> below average. yeah, 20 degrees below norm april. if you are not, 20. you are going to be ruined zero. >> wow. yikes. let's move on from this cold, freezing weather here. we will be chatting in the chat room and maybe we want to head to florida this time of year because it is just so cold. how did b this other place we could live? how about a little further away, the moon. yeah. we are not kidding. scientists actually think they

found just the spot. i'm congested right now in this area.

my nose and right around here. (announcer) want to give afrin a try? yeah. it cleared up right away. i can breathe. (announcer) so where would you rate it? 99.9. (announcer) afrin. why suffer? nine days after the terror attack on the northwest airlines flight 253, the transportation secretary administration, event are you person flying into the united states from or through a state that sponsors terrorism

has to go through what they are calling enhanced screening. that rule will also apply to passengers flying in from, quote, other countries of interest, unquote. american and british embassies are shutting their doors in yes, ma'amen today. the move comes in the wake of a new branch of al qaeda based on the peninsula and the embassies could be targeted. john brennan, white house senior adviser, they are taking measures to keep diplomats safe. to iraq. the government there wants to make sure there are no former blackwater employees left in their country. a spokesman says the government is actively pursuing ex-contractors from the private security furm. iraq is appealing the u.s. judge's decision to drop murder charges against this five blackwater security guards accused of killing 17 iraqi civilians back in 2007. 20 years ago, how about this? a group of school kids made just

one single promise and now keeping it. a look at what they did to honor a former teacher.

so time for the chat room. >> yes. >> hi. >> hello. >> we have two stories. we are going to chat about that struck us. some of our writers that pulled them together. the first one, this idea of, you know, a group of third graders 20 years ago actually getting back together what was it, january 1st? >> 2010. they made a pact when they were in the third grade because they loved their teacher, mr. lewis. it was an accelerated class.

they said he made such a difference in their lives. mr. lewis said they were such wonderful children he wanted to find out what they were doing all those years later. >> we were chatting before just being on. our question, of course, is did they get -- facebook one another to remind one another hey, we made this promise 20 years ago to go hang out at the flagpole and honor our teachers? i wonder -- it must have had to -- something. what a great idea. >> absolutely. i know they did facebook and did some myspace as well. i'm not sure exactly how they organized it. >> all came together. one of the quotes from one of the students was the fact that everybody looked pretty much the same, just like a bigger version with beards and gel in their hair. >> i like that. wonderful reunion. >> how about this other story? i think this is cool. i don't know -- >> it is very cool. if you remember, you know, science and technology news a couple of weeks ago, four, five weeks ago, we brought you a story on cnn about how water was found on the moon. now they found another discovery here.

yeah. where maybe a colony could possibly survive. >> can you imagine actually living on the moon? that's what some people are talking about. they are talking about this hole and researchers discovered this protected lewinor, calling it this lava tube. >> yeah. >> not quite sure how we would live on the moon. >> well, they are saying it would protect this emwithin the tube from some of the extreme conditions on the moon. the temperatures are not liveable because it is so cold there. so this would protect them from some of that. it would also protect them from maybe being impacted by a meteorite as well. >> we are talking extreme conditions on the moon. this little thing is -- >> it is really deep. how deep is it? >> 200 plus. >> 250 deep, 213 wide. obviously, they are going to have to have, you know, some type of a structure. >> yes. so if you want to live on the moon or be part of the moon colony, get your name on the list. >> it may the place for.

>> did you sign me up for that trip. jacqui jeras, thanks for that chat. it will be a date. >> 30 years from now. >> exactly. we will talk about it then. have you heard about this? guns in an nba locker room. we will tell you what's coming tomorrow. two washington wizards teammates accused of drawing weapons on each other in the locker room.

our top story, the united states and grit britain today closed their embassies in yemen. this move was precautionary measure against possible terror attacks from an al qaeda cell based in yemen. this is the same group which claimed responsibility for the failed christmas day bombing of the u.s. airliner down from amsterdam to detroit. right now, still unknown exactly how long the embassies will remain closed. earlier today on cnn's

"state of the union," the united states is working very closely with the yemeny government on property security precautions. >> both this morning as well as last night and there are indications that al qaeda is branning to carry out an attack against targeted inside -- possibly our embassy. when we do is take every measure possible tone sure the safety of our dip low sxhatsz citizens abroad. the decision was made to close testimony bassy. working close with the yemeni governments on taking the proper security precautions. >> poor judgment or criminal behavior? that's precisely what police are trying to figure out as they investigate the allegations into two washington wizards basketball players who displayed guns in a locker room. the nba wants to know what happened as well here. witnesses say that gilbert arenas and another player were having a dispute over gambling

debt over christmas. arenas admitted he showed bad judgment for storing his firearms in the team's home locker room. now he will be meeting with the d.c. metropolitan police tomorrow. the league, by the way, closely watching developments in the case. steven a. smith has been covering the nba for espn and nationally syndicated radio host. you don't have to be totally hip in basketball to ask this very one specific question. and that is what was gilbert arenas doing with guns in a locker room? >> well, clearly from -- from his own admission he was being an idiot. that's only way to slice it now. it is completely catastrophic for the league. mainly for him. specifically because who knows what laws he has violated. it is against the law in d.c. to carry a concealed weapon. for to you carry it into the workplace. you know, all of these different things. there's a litany of violations

we are talking about here. and there is a question about the guy that he got involved with. this is a guy that played at georgia tech university. seemed to be somebody of decent intelligence. but yet, still he didn't walk away from the incident himself and who knows what role he played or whether he indeed had a weapon in the arena himself. all of those things have question marks and a story broken by peter vecsey of the new york post. did an outstanding job. we are learning more and more details as time goes on. it is a completely touchy situation. >> touchy and still un -- here is my other question. this is the only way i feel i can relate to this. say i'm coming to work and i'm not so happy with the story we are putting in the run-down. i say to my producer, pam, i'm not a big fan of the moon story or. i pull out a gun or even if i joke about it, i would be fired. neither of these guys, to my knowledge, or -- no only are they not fired they are not suspended. what's up with that? >> well, first of all, you have to let the -- you have to let

due process take its course. the d.c. metro police is investigating the matter. because gilbert arenas lives in virginia and the arena is in washington, d.c., it could be a federal matter. because so you have the district of columbia along with the federal government involved in this right now. the nba itself has to wait until that process, due process, takes place actually before they come down with a ruling. i can tell you right now you have a lot of people in nba according to numerous people that i have spoken to that believe that gilbert arenas should be suspended for the year. remember, according to nba laws, collectively bargained, if he's convicted of a felony, you know, his contract can be voided. he signed a six-year $111 million contract over a year ago. still owed about $100 million. if he gets convicted of a felony you can scratch that. those dollars are gone. >> $111 million. wow. >> you have to remember according to the report in "the new york post", ernie grunfeld informed the league that,

indeed, there were firearms in the locker room but the league had not been informed there was an altercation involving the guns. so who knows what kind of effect this will have on his career as well. it is a whole bunch of -- collateral damage all over the place. no matter what way you slice. >> it what about, you know if i'm a parent and watching this story, i'm thinking oh, brother, you know, because these -- not just nba, not just basketball here but professional athletes are sort of role models for a lot of kids out there. parents are just probably at home shaking their heads lake here we go again. >> well, it is called -- what it is. if you are the nb nba, commissioner david stern, somebody who has done an outstanding job of bringing it into $4 billion a year industry, you can't look at this and say you know what, this is something to sneeze at. the fact is the image has been an issue for the nba for quite some time. particularly because it is over 70% african-american and although by and large i'm here to vouch for a lot of players in

the league that do know how to act like they have sense, there is a small piece of that culture that just contaminates everything. you got people looking at some nba athletes and nfl athletes because of the litany of african-americans that have gotten arrested and saying it is like prisons acting up in the prison yard and multimillion dollar professionals paid to do a job and go home. it is disgusting. it is going to be addressed by commissioner david stern, i can assure you of that. he will have something to say about this one when it is all said and done and gilbert arenas may find himself suspended for the year at the very least. >> he will be meeting with police tomorrow and see what comes out of that meeting. stephen a. smith for us. thank you. interesting conversation. amazing. it started with a question for a beaut why you queen. what happened next turned out to be one of the most talked about legal stories of 2009. we will take a look at that list. looking at bones

just because they're inside you doesn't mean they're protected. oh, ladies. let's say you have osteoporosis. i do. you could be losing bone strength. can i get it back? (announcer) ask your doctor how to help treat osteoporosis with once-a-month actonel. actonel is clinically proven to help reverse bone loss and can help@i increase bone strength to help prevent fractures. so you can get back some of what you lost. do not take actonel if you have low blood calcium, severe kidney disease, or cannot sit or stand for 30 minutes. follow all dosing instructions. stop taking actonel and tell your doctor if you experience difficult or painful swallowing,

chest pain or severe or continuing heartburn. these may be signs of serious upper digestive problems. promptly tell your doctor if you develop severe bone, joint or muscle pain, or if you develop dental problems, as serious jawbone problems have been reported rarely. to get a free trial offer of once-a-month actonel visit actonel.com. and ask your doctor how once-a-month-actonel can help you reverse bone loss. a check of the top stories here. the transportation security administration today issuing a new airline security directive. here is what the tsa is saying. every person flying into the u.s. from or through a state sponsors terrorism has to go through enhanced screening. it also says that rule will also apry to passengers flying in

from, quote, other countries of interest, unquote. top stories this hour here. heightened security concerns prompting the u.s. and british governments to close their embassies in yemen. that move taken because of a possible terror attack from an al qaeda group. this is the same group that claimed responsibility for the failed bombing of that flight from amsterdam to detroit christmas day. today on "state of the union," the white house senior adviser on counterterrorism says that closing the u.s. embassy in yemen is a wise precaution in light of the recent situation there. >> i spoke with our ambassador in yemen this morning as well as last night and there are indications al qaeda is planning to carry out an attack against targ the target, possibly our embassy. we take every -- every measure possible to enhurt the safety of our diplomats and citizens abroad. so the decision was made to close the embassy and working very closey with the yemeni

government of taking the proper security precautions. >> looking back to 2009, you remember the beer summit? do you remember what led up to it? we will take a look back. #ñ#ñ#ññ

there's stories that captured the nation's attention way back in 2009. we just couldn't stop talking about them. let's talk to the top down legal stories of the year. avery, we are talking about the serious troubling legal talkers here. number five, of course, we remember the beer simt. you have to remember the catalyst of that. the arrest of a harvard professor, henry lewis zblats

that's the amazing thing. ing the fact that a harvard professor gets arrested in his own home by the police and, of course the police's perspective is weigh want to find out, show me your i.d. and highlight ad serious question in america -- that's the relationship between the police and the black community. the beer summit was terrific. i'm not sure what it resolved but highlighted the issue. frankly if the president were having a conference wefry confrontation between somebody black and the police, he would be in a perpetual of alcoholic stupor. no doubt about it. >> number four, two big pop stars, rihanna and chris bound. he apologized he assaulted her. this was a huge story. >> well, yeah. he apologized after beating the heck out of her. truth is highlights the issue of date rape, of violence against women. but it also highlights the very important question of whether or not celebrity impacts on justice. the fact is i think any other

normal guy would be in jail for years. chris brown is cleaning off graffiti in northern virginia to pay the price. hardly a fair sentence. >> lot of people said the fun punishment did not fit the crime. number three, ponzi artist bernie madoff. >> man, oh, man. changed the culture. he will go to his grave, he will never tell the truth about what happened. but is it a question of do we need more federal regulation? or are rich people too gullible to see the reality? it is a problem that will never resolve but taught us a lesson that we will be paying attention to in 2010. >> number two, the first latina on the u.s. supreme court. sonia sotomayor. >> the beginning of the year, after the inauguration, everyone kind of thought it was john paul steechbs. he didn't resign. justice souter resigned. justice sotomayor, first hispanic female sitting on the

supreme court. enormous legal chapter last year. >> the number one most serious legal story, khalid sheikh mohammed. the trial will be held right by where the world trade center once stood. >> from a legal perspective, a great move by attorney general eric holder. this is where the case belongs. unlike iran and china where they do things in secret. we do not. and we will get in 2010 a conviction. >> those were the serious stories. stand by for me. we are going to have some of the silliest stories. we are going to talk about a story -- legal story with legs, if you will, as in pant legs. look at these pants here. what do you think about this? would this pair of pants be worth $54 million? we will tell you when the court said.

we have been counting down the top legal stories of the past year. talking with our legal guy, avery friedman. we will bring him back in. we have been talking about the most serious stores. sonia sotomayor. bernie madoff. and now the list of the top five stupid, outrageous, you fill in the blank, whatever adjective you choose. legal toppers of 2009 providing fodder for halloween costumes. coming in at number five, the story out of louisiana -- the guy in louisiana says, you know, thanks but no thanks, i will not marry this particular couple because -- >> well, the justice of the peace, he's made a decision despite the supreme court's ruling 50 years ago, brooke, you don't -- you cannot refuse to marry somebody because of what color they are. well, chief justice -- justice

of the peace bardwell made decision he didn't like interracial marriages and despite the constitution decided not to issue marriage permits. not only did it involve one couple, there were four other couples. after a rein bat only rouge, the state legislature and potential litigation, he resigned. we don't have to worry about keith bardwell anymore. >> coming in at number four, this is a tie. the first half of the tie, remember the story was a group of those young -- african-american kids trying to swim one summer. here they are. and they tried to swim at this predominantly white exclusive club outside of philadelphia. >> huntington club. you know what? the head of the club announced after they threw out the black kids that they were concerned about bringing them in because it might change the complexion.

cl club. whoops. arlen specter, senator from pennsylvania, got involved. the club is now in bankruptcy. >> they are in bankruptcy. i perry that came in and took the kids to disney world. the sad part, brooke the young ones will remember this forever and that really is a shame. >> yeah, it is a shame. another story, some people might have said it was a shame, regard to this family, two words -- balloon boy. >> when casey kasem counts down the hits, this one fits where it fits here because the heene family got what they deserved. a lot of people know that richard is going to spending 90 days in jail. the mother, 20 days, different times. the more important thing, brooke, was that the punishment did fit the crime. the judge barred the heenes from any reality shows or books. the whole idea of the fraud and

using children to defraud government agents and the public goes newspaper smoke. justice prevailed. >> one of the stories we will remember where we were listening, bated breath, this child in this balloon. >> we thought somebody was there. >> it was so scary. number three, carrie prejean. she had quite a colorful answer to a question miss usa pagt that got her in a little heap of trouble. >> well, the answer actually she claims denied her the title so she brings a religious discrimination case against the pageant. because after all, she's pure and very religious. she brought $5200 thon increase her breasts and made x-rated videos. the religious discrimination case in court, as you might imagine, wound up exactly as it should -- dismissed. she wound up with absolutely nothing. >> she wound up with nothing. and she was --

>> bad reputation. >> right. she was on "larry king," trying to talk to larry. this is video we have seen. tried to walk out of the studio on him. >> exactly right. >> yeah. number two, the $54 million pants. what happened? this guy goes to the dry cleaners. they screw up his pants and later sue. >> yeah. you mo what? i think -- thank goodness for ray pearson the judge, he is a judge, that actually brought the lawsuit for $54 million because he was the gift that kept on giving. this case was actually number one in 2008. it's actually number two in 2009. why? because the three-judge panel came down with a 23-page opinion saying you know what, mr. pearson, your lawsuit is absolutely baseless. case dismissed. he was not renewed as a judge. guess what. he is now bringing a suit against the d.c. government because they won't let him be a judge. >> really? wow. i worked in d.c.

a bunch of us covered that. >> it will never end, it seems zblik that was a great one. you have your authorities enthusiasts and you have your sports enthusiasts. this was what, a world series woman that put an ad on craig as list saying what? >> thank goodness for susan finkelstein. she was number one. a philadelphia fanatic wanted tickets for the world series. as many people did, of course, brooke. she went on craigslist and advertised her physical attributes saying that she would basically do anything for tickets. well, guess who contacted her none other than some undercover policemen. >> whoops. >> and she made the offer as everyone expected. the truth is that she's now been charged with prostitution for trying to get those tickets. absolutely ridiculous. number one, for -- 2009. >> avery friedman, such a pleasure. happy new year to you. you stay right there.

this is amazing. let me take this. wait, there's no such thing as a projector phone. no, it's the lg phone and projector. there's no such thing as an lg phone and projector. ta-da. what ? the man said "ta-da" ! introducing the lg expo smartphone and lg projector. only at at&t.

new capzasin quick relief gel. (announcer) starts working on contact and at the nerve level. to block pain for hours. new capzasin, takes the pain out of arthritis. news affecting your money in the business week ahead.

regulations, and ben bernanke is talking about how to avoid another speculative bubble like the housing bust behind the nation's economic troubles. some blame the fed for keeping the interest rates too low over the last decade. bernanke told economists in atlanta today those low rates were appropriate at the time. hay says smarter regulation is needed. yeah, remember all the wall street hand ringing overdue buy as economic problems last year? not so much now. this structure, look at this, huge thing, world's tallest building opening in dubai tomorrow. wow. it has enough windows to cover 17 football fields. enough steel reinforcing rods to go a quarter of the way around the earth. the project already boost ed bo consumer confidence. don lemon will be here in an hour with new video of protests in iran. and he will also be asking this question. is year-round school a gd