hello, everybody. happy new year. >> welcome to a brand-new hour inside america's news headquarters. >> great to have you with us. topping the news this hour, the head of the u.s. national counterterrorism center warning that al-qaeda could be plotting another attack on u.s. soil in the wake of the failed christmas day bombing of flight 253. >> also boston's mayor wants to stop yemeni liquefied gas tankers from entering boston harbor, citing security concerns. >> plus, a major snow storm and it's blanketing northern new england. some areas bracing for a foot of snow or more. where else will it go? we've got that. >> let's begin with a brand-new link between the failed christmas day terrorist attack and al-qaeda in yemen.

in his weekly radio address, president obama today saying the group al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula ordered the attack and a 23-year-old umar farouk abdulmutallab received help, training and orders from them. this afternoon, michael lighter, the director of the national counter terrorism center, confirmed the link to al-qaeda. he released a statement that read the following: while this attempt ended in failure, we know with absolute certainty that al-qaeda and those who support its ideology continue to refine their methods to test our defenses and pursue an attack on the homeland. molly henneberg is following the latest developments, she's in washington. the president says that the u.s. has had its eye on this group for a while. right? >> reporter: hi. yes. al-qaeda in yemen and in the broader arabian peninsula. the president says they've gone on the attack previously. listen to this. >> in recent years, they've bombed yemeni government facilities and western hotels,

restaurants and embassies, including our embassy in 2008, killing one american. 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. >> yemen in response has sent hundreds of troops to two eastern provinces where the government has little control to try to route out the terrorists operating there. the president and the use of the phrase, war on terror, which was used so often during the bush administration, he really has been very reluctant to use it. does he use it to describe this failed bomb plot from last christmas day? >> reporter: not the phrase, war on terror. he said the obama administration doesn't like that phrase. it was used so frequently during the bush administration. but president obama describes the plot as, quote, an attempted act of terrorism, and says he's made it very clear since his inauguration that the u.s. is at

war against, quote, a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. and that the u.s. will do whatever it takes to defeat them. the president has used the phrase, war on terror, only once, january 22, last year, when he was speaking to state department employees. he hasn't said it since then. >> we're hearing from republicans as well who say that the united states faces daunting difficulties in the new year. tell us more about what they're talking about. >> reporter: senate minority leader mcconnell delivered the gop's response and he didn't talk about the bombing plot, but he said the u.s. is facing two difficult wars, prolonged recession and double digit unemployment. take a listen. >> while it's true that many of us approach the issues differently, at the beginning of a new year, it's important to remember that we're all united by our love of country and by a common faith that no challenge is too great for the american people to overcome. >> senator mcconnell said the

u.s. will, quote, persevere as we always have. rick? >> molly henneberg in washington, thanks. there are questions about security failures in intelligence lapses in the failed terrorist attack. it's now a top priority in washington. lawmakers have already called for congressional hearings had they get back to work next week and there has been partisan finger pointing on how to keep america safe. what happens to the other big political hot topic? remember health care? will it take a back seat when congress returns from break? joining us now for a look at the new priorities when congress convenes is former advisor to the house republican conference, and richard, former advisor to president clinton. it's great to have both of you here. thank you for joining us. >> hi. >> glad to be here. >> i'm curious. let me ask you first, dave, about health care and where it stands at this point. when everyone comes back to work, is it terror, terror, terror and prevention?

is that what america wants? >> i think that's what obama wants in terms of he wants to get this health care accomplishment done but the problem that the president has had is he's been on the wrong topic. it should have been the economy and jobs jobs and now it's givee way he's approached and the previous segment i was talking about this, that this was a police operation and not a war on terror. he has another incident on his hands that he's faced with. he's not addressing the number one problem effectively in terms of jobs and he's clearly now behind the curve here in terms of dealing with a war on terror. >> richard, how does the president avoid this becoming a partisan issue? terrorism and the prevention thereof should be nonpartisan, yet the meeting that is scheduled that the president will have this week when he returns, there is some concern that all sides won't be represented. >> well, i think basically that the president's style is actually well suited for these challenges. i mean, he tends to be cautious

and thoughtful and these are issues that require cautious and thoughtful approaches. i think he's going to try to bring everybody together. i think you saw in his radio address today an effort to make this not about partisanship, but make it about finding solutions. i mean, the republicans obviously are not necessarily ready to go along. i mean, i think that you saw in dick cheney's statements over the weekend, i think sometimes he has amnesia and forgets that he and george bush up until 11 months were in charge of this system which seems like it was broken for a long time. >> dave, we get closer and closer to the midterm elections and as we watch how congress responds and the president is well to this frightening situation we had on christmas day and we watch health care be implemented and the stimulus continue to move forward and who knows what else is in store, we have to wonder about what the most important issue will be for the voters when it comes to

these midterm elections and foreign policy seems like it could move into a much more important position, not just afghanistan now, but we have concerns about yemen and let's not forget also iran. how do you think both sides will deal with that? >> well, clearly as a result of what happened on christmas day, the concern about terrorism jumped dramatically. having said that, the number one issue is going to be jobs still. as long as unemployment is at 10%, that's where people are going to focus. and one of the problems that the president has is he imcomplemented a stimulus package that he said would cause unemployment not to go above 8%. now we're at 10. it's not likely we'll be able to come close to that number come next fall. now layer on top of that, he completely changed the strategy in terms of how to deal with terrorism rather than making it a military operation. it's now a police operation and given what just happened, i think the president is looking at a situation where he and his party, he's had two significant

failures here. >> i want to let you respond, but i want to add one element if you could respond as well. you say that the president is very well suited for something like this at this time. i'd like to ask you to be more specific. there has been some criticism that he remained in hawaii and continued his vacation. he is not the first president to have done that. what would you say about why he's so well suited and what do you expect him to do next week? >> i think he's well suited because he has a -- he's very steady and he shows leadership in a very thoughtful way. look at the approach he took to the troop increase in afghanistan. i think symbolism is very important. i worked in the white house for seven years. i can tell you that symbolism is very important and he's in hawaii. it's a little break. i think the mistake would have been to come back because you sort of give the terrorists a victory then by disrupting everything. what i think he's shown, he was a little flat in the beginning, but i think he's recovered nicely on this and i think that going into monday, when the

focus will be on national security, i think you'll see an effort to be nonpartisan, but so long as david says, with the focus on the economy, when we get back to the economy, so long as the focus is on the economy, the democrats are going to do just fine because the republicans have no plan on the economy and no plan for an economic recovery. >> dave, what do you think about that? how much effort needs to take place where terrorism is concerned and what are your thoughts with the president taking the amount of time that he did for the afghanistan plan and the fact that now every day on every airplane, there is a potential for what happened on christmas day with those -- if those passenger high school not sprung into action, if this terrorist had not been unsuccessful in detonating that device, we could be having a completely different conversation. what do you think the president will do in terms of what richard is saying, his effectiveness to remain calm and take his time making decisions? >> well, in terms of

afghanistan, that was a decision that actually i thought was not a bad one. i thought he did the right thing there. i think in terms of this terrorist incident, he had immediately, or at least his team had the immediate wrong response. he had his press secretary gibbs and napolitano, the homeland security -- department of homeland security secretary, saying the system worked fine. they had to pull back on that really quickly because the american public did not buy that. it was a huge blunder on their part. you see the president trying to be out there, sort of patch this up. right now he's got a very significant problem with the american public because it sounds like he was just out of touch and understanding what the threat was that was approaching this country and had his team go out and say really just not very solid things at all. if i may, the other problem he's got is he still has not finished health care. and you're going to see the senate come back and try -- trying to finish this off. and everybody saying, where are the jobs? what are you doing about jobs? this is an administration that can't get to that as an issue.

>> i have to leave it there. gentlemen, so great to have you here tonight. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> pleasure. >> rick? >> the nomination fight over the president's pick to head the transportation security administration at tsa could get a bit rockier. errol sotter is under fire from an incident from his past from a number of years ago and the new revelations could impact his confirmation. caroline shively with more now from washington. >> reporter: majority leader harry reid plans to push hard for a quick confirmation vote from the full senate on tsa nominee errol southers. reid could have a fight on his hand. the "washington post" reports some senators already knew before they voted to confirm southers in committee that he had mischaracterized a personal incident in his past. that incident is from 20 years ago when southers was an f.b.i. agent and accessed confidential records about his ex-wife's boyfriend. in november, he told a senate committee that he had asked a police officer to get those records. but a day after the vote, southist admitted he did the

searches himself. susan collins, a republican from maine, tells the post that she has suspicions even then, but approved it conditionally. now she says she's satisfied with his explanation. but fellow republican demint isn't. he originally blocked southers nomination over concerns he might unionize tsa and says southers shouldn't be confirmed if he can't tell the truth. the white house is standing by its nominee. spokesman shapiro tells fox, southers has never tried to hide this incident and expressed it's errors he made in judgment and an error he made in account of events that happened over 20 years ago. congress gets back over two weeks from now. for southers to become the tsa head, the full senate has to confirm the nomination. >> thanks. you can bet national security will be a hot topic on fox news sunday and john brennan, who is the assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, will be among the guests. check your local listings for the time tomorrow morning on

your local fox station. villagers in pakistan are mourning the victims of a massive bomb not guilty a sporting event, they had gathered to pray and carry the remains of their victims to their grave sites. nearly 100 people were killed when a bomber drove his vehicle into a crowd at a volleyball game and blew himself up. the village apparently became the target when it tried to resist the taliban. pakistan's prime minister vowed to defeat the militants. >> the botched attempt to blow up an airplane on christmas day could mean tighter security at the boston harbor. the city's mayor may block a yemeni tanker from a scheduled delivery of natural gas so close to areas homes. laura ingle is following this story for us and is live in the fox news room. >> the timing of the shipment is certainly very troubling, according to local and state leaders ho called the proposed plan wrong and also a matter of grave concern. this would be the first time

that a liquid natural gas tanker originating from yemen would dock there. there are many other shipments that move through this high traffic area, usually coming from places like egypt and trinidad. the suggested plan to bring the tanker to the area was set in motion before a nigerian man, who may have trained in yemen, attempted to blow up the plane. another concern out there, the lingering warning that came from a 2004 memoir by former counter terrorism czar richard clark who wrote that officials learned al-qaeda operatives have been infiltrating boston by coming in on liquid natural gas tankers from algeria. >> right now with all vessels calling on port to the united states, they submit a 96 hour notice of arrival to us and we do security checks, both through documentation and with sometimes with physical boarding teams on board the vessel. >> reporter: just a short while ago, i spoke with the mayor of everett which is where the ship

would eventually dock. he tells me he's been on the phone with the mayor of boston to set up a joint meeting which they're hoping to get on the books for the 15th of january to go over security measures put in place. past studies have concluded that a liquefied natural gas leak could threaten people more than three quarters of a mile away. those in the gas industry say they're scientifically unsupported. one idea going out is to have it offloaded offshore. the security secretary has reportedly said he will arrange for officials to receive a full security briefing from the coast guard before anything happens. the story that continues to develop. >> laura ingle, thanks. >> the most dangerous job in iraq these days for u.s. troops turns out it doesn't involve any combat. it can be just as deadly, though. these guys search out and clear improviseed explosive devices. and the members of this cleanup crew put their lives at risk every day to save others.

dominic has more from kirkuk. >> reporter: the night convoy still patrols iraq's roads alone, removing the areasesome of ied's. the air force disposal team encounters many road side bombs that can take hours to secure the scene. it's not like you see on tv. >> reporter: yes and no, this is how the bomb disposal work is often seen these days, remote controlled robots sizing up a situation. but clearing them, requires an essential human touch. >> you can only do so much with a robot. so yes, it does happen 'cause there is no 100% guarantee you're going to see everything. >> we completely cleared the scene. had the ied. there was one on this side, we had another on that side of the road and i just happened to be looking down and i looked right

down to the right and there was one i had been standing right next to. one of those kind of where you jump back and tell everybody get out of here as fast as you can. >> reporter: familiar or unfathomable ied's come in every shape and size. this washing machine timer reveals how unsophisticated their mechanisms can be. speaker wire is a frequent ingredient. >> that's what connects the circuit. that will set one of those giants off. >> reporter: it's not always this. the missions could last for hours. we've been out for 4 1/2 hours and the night hasn't begun. we could be here 'til dawn. we just saw someone doing something suspicious in the field and we think he may be planting a suspicious device. we're going to check him out t. could be a terrorist planting an ied, but it may be a farmer, yes, even in the middle of the night. he makes a hasty retreat when spooked we our convoy.

the team does come face-to-face with their nemesis. >> you hold yourself relaxed, 'cause you want to beat their faces in, but you can't. >> you've had friends die, you have known lots of people hurt, maimed, killed here and you want to take it out on this guy. >> reporter: this bomb squad's casualty accounts for 20% of all u.s. airmen killed or wounded since the iraq war began, eradicating the enemy's weapons, like the flash before the sound wave hits, there is a secondary reaction in their work, one that should keep more of their colleagues and civilians safer. fox news. >> as we start to feel out 2010, it's not too late into the year to look back at 2009. an amazing year for rescues and animals behaving badly and shocking shootouts like this one.

unbelievable. right? all of it caught on tape. we'll take a look back at the best surveillance videos of the year. #ñ#ñ#ñ#ñññññññññññ

a massive mud slide burying a resort in brazil. at least 22 people are dead, ten others injured. check out this video. incredible. a chunk of hillside nearly 1,000 feet wide gave way on friday and it smashed into treehouses and a tourist lodge. witnesses claiming the structures collapsed under the impact. local police are saying it all nearly 80 mud slides were reported in the region. three days of heavy rains are to blame for at least 50 deaths. >> a major winter storm is now swirling out over the atlantic and it's beginning to drift westward right across northern new england. forecasters expect the storm to linger through the weekend. some areas are bracing for more than a foot of snow. domenica davis is in the fox weather center. hi, happy new year. >> happy new year to you, and yes, folks in maine are starting off with blizzard warnings. that's in effect from now until 1:00 o'clock tomorrow. it's really -- it's already been going here for the past several hours now.

this low pressure sitting to the north, but now it's starting to deepen a little bit. increasing intensity of the snow. by tomorrow morning, what we're thinking is that in the eastern part of maine, right around banger, we could see up to 18 inches of snow. that's by sunday morning. for that and due to the visibility lowering tonight and tomorrow morning, we do have blizzard warnings in effect for the rest of the evening. snowing down through importantland and boston. they'll see significant snowfall over the next 48 hours and here is a look at some of that snowfall accumulation. the heaviest is to the extreme northeast. where you have the shades of blue, that's where we'll see over a foot. could even get close to two feet in some areas. again, with those winds picking up and the blowing snow, visibility will be the biggest problem with blizzard-like conditions lasting through much of the evening and tomorrow. much of the country is seeing very cold temperatures. i mean very cold temperatures.

minus 3 in minneapolis. 6 in chicago. you factor in the wind chill and we have some of our worst wind chills right now through the plains. cold air is pouring down from canada and this is really going to stick around through much of the weekend. can you imagine it feeling only like minus 25 degrees in international falls? that's what they've been dealing with for the past several hours. the temperatures have -- the cool temperatures have seeped to the south. pretty much across much of the country, we are seeing below average temperatures that will stick around through the weekend. 51. that is tomorrow's expected high in tampa. they're right around 50 right now. 48 in new orleans. 34 in memphis. very chilly air even as we move into our sunday. guys. >> good weather to bundle up, stay inside and watch a little fox news. >> absolutely. >> thanks. >> getting a lot of e-mail, people are watching. good to have you with us. meanwhile, what keeps our eyes on the screen?

we love a car chase, but also those surveillance cameras. it's incredible what you can catch. last year no exception. everything from the wild west like a shootout in a poolroom to a bull running through a grocery store, to 20 of the unusual robberies. who know what is we'll catch on tape in 2010? with a look back at last year's highlights, here is jonathan hunt. >> reporter: a shootout at an ohio bar leaves patrons ducking for cover underneath a pool table. one small leap for justice caught on tape as a man tries to rob a southeastern wisconsin bank, taking a stand and flying across the rope line, tackling the masked man to the ground. an angry bull making a mad dash into a supermarket after escaping from a nearby livestock pen. >> i couldn't believe my eyes. >> reporter: another animal, another store. watch out in aisle 2. >> you're not going to believe this, but there is a bear in the store. >> reporter: a bear takes a confident stroll around a

wisconsin grocery store. cameras catch it ambling into the beer cooler. >> he knew where to go. >> reporter: this louisiana woman tuck has case of beer under her house dress as a man tries to block her from the camera. she waddled away, but was later nabbed by police. from stealing beer to using it as a disguise, a robbery suspect in nebraska gets crafty wearing an empty beer box on his head. he demands cash, but settles for nine packs of cigarettes. kansas cops say this guy not only took a grocery store's money, but stole a kiss on the way out. holding a knife to the clerk's throat, he leans in and plants one on her. a close shave in washington state as a toyota camry comes flying into a building, narrowly missing a little girl. luckily the car wound up going airborne, striking a pole, and coming within inches of the six-year-old. a sex toy smash and grab in the buckeye state. a man drives his car through doors, but forgets to put the

vehicle in park. he dashes around the store, looking for a $300 sex toy. one problem, his license plate was visible. and all across the country, an assault on atm's. in california, they took the whole machine and in texas, a truck is used to pull and bash it. and perhaps the most memorable caught on tape moment of 2009 came in the beginning of the year as u.s. airway flight 1549 splash landed into new york's hudson river. alm of its 150 passengers and five crew were safely rescued. the landing of the airplane by pilot sullen berger was quickly proclaimed the miracle on the hudson. in new york, jonathan hunt, fox news. >> i still get chills seeing those people on the wings of that airplane. >> unbelievable. that was quite a day. >> we showed you this video yesterday. but after that report on the surveillance videos of 09, we couldn't resist one more look. take a look, chattanooga,

tennessee, deputy giving chase to a coke machine, all caught on the officer's dash cam. the machine actually being carried and pulled by that blue pick up truck. the police say that the suspect was looking for some quick cash when he stole it from the dollar store. he led them at high speeds for a while before the chain broke. the person was stopped and cuffed and i guess the coke machine was taken become to the store. >> i heard it wasn't because they were thirsty. there was a lot of cash in there. not smart. that was amazing video. 2009 was a rough time, though, for folks who lost their jobs. the calendar has turned, a new year is here. could the outlook for millions of americans who are out of work be looking up? this is one you don't want to miss.

welcome back. it's the bottom of the hour. here are your top headline, the

yemeni military deploying hundreds of more troops into al-qaeda's main stronghold there. the reinforcements are to beef up the military's presence in a region where the government has little control. >> america has been stepping up aid to help yemen combat al-qaeda. president obama discussed the cooperative effort and blame al-qaeda now making the link from training and arming umar farouk abdulmutallab for the christmas day terror attempt. >> police in denmark charging a somali man with two counts of attempted murder. police say the suspect armed with an ax and a knife tried to attack the cartoonist who drew a controversial image of the prophet, mohammed. >> president obama and the first family are in the final stretch of their holiday vacation in ohio and despite the relaxing tropical backdrop, the president's stay has been filled with tense moments, most notably the attempted bombing of the

passenger jet on christmas. now more from honolulu. happy new year. the president doesn't appear to have been as relaxing as he was hoping. what has he been up to specifically and how much time has he had to spend on this terror scare on christmas day? >> reporter: he's had to devote a lot of time to it, but he has gotten in some time for golf and right now he and his family are at the beach at the marine base near their beach front home, the one they're renting. this whole trip has been overshadowed by the attempted bombing. the president examining the preliminary reports of the analysis he wanted. today in the radio and internet address that the president put out that was released today, he for the first time acknowledged there is a direct link between yemen and the christmas day attack and direct link between al-qaeda and the christmas day

attack that al-qaeda in yemen put umar farouk abdulmutallab up to this deed. they are behind it. jamie. >> does that change anything on its face, just making that statement? >> reporter: no. but we knew that there was a yemeni connection and we knew there were al-qaeda in yemen. all along the u.s. has been supporting the government of yemen in their efforts to go after the extremists in yemen. so we're going to continue those efforts, continuing to focus probably dramatically increasing our focus on the tensions there, the problems with al-qaeda in yemen. >> i guess any time the president visits a specific location and we know he has a very close relationship to hawaii, the tourist officials there, i'm sure, hope other people -- i have to tell you, the picture behind you is looking really good. it's freezing here, steve. so what are they planning -- >> beautiful here. >> i know. but it has been very serious time as well. but do you think they'll try to capitalize on it? >> right. they hope the visit of president obama and his family will

improve the situation here. it looked beautiful, but there is trouble in paradise, so to speak. this state hit hard by budget cuts. hit hard by the economic down turn. and officials here are hoping -- they're pinning their hopes now on the tourist in chief, president obama. with luxury hotels lining white sandy beaches, the islands of hawaii have long been a popular vacation spot. >> this year we were in cuba and italy, but the united states, hawaii is the nicest place on earth. >> reporter: the promise of sunshine year round has not been enough to save the state's once booming tourism industry. and now state officials look to president obama's hawaiian vacation to bring in much needed revenue. >> we depend mostly on fewerrism for our economy. and when the tourism went down, it affected everyone. >> reporter: marsha, the state tourism liaison, say it accounts for 25% of the overall economy

and declined in the last two years for a loss of nearly $3 billion. now with an unemployment rate of 7% in hawaii and budget shortfall expected to reach $1.2 billion by the end of 2010, state officials are looking for ways to cut. one proposal is to mandate furlough days for teachers and cut the number of school days. but she says reviving tourism is the ultimate key to rebuilding the state's economy and she welcomes the free publicity that comes along with a presidential visit. >> all of the images that have been shown throughout the world because of his visit here is going to help hawaii immensely as we move forward to put that desire in people's minds. >> reporter: but not all hawaiians are welcoming the president enthusiastically. pat, owner of island sea plane tours, says flight restrictions due to obama's visit will cost him and others greatly. >> we're estimating from 20 to $30,000, which after this past year, with the economy, is

really bad. we just barely scraped by for the year. >> reporter: but in spite of short-term impacts that might curtail some businesses in hawaii, she anticipates obama's visit will bring benefits in the long run. >> we are happy to see the coverage that is coming out of hawaii right now and we do believe that it will have positive results. >> so tourism officials are hopeful. they're looking to 2010 and beyond hoping things will turn around. >> good and safe travel back. thank you. folks looking for work hope this new year will be kinder than the last. a recent survey of more than 2700 employers offer some hope for optism. some reason for optism. 20% of people told career builder.com they plan to hire new workers in 2010. that's up 6% from a year ago. so what kind of workers stand to

benefit and will this new hiring be enough to get the economy back on its feet? joining us is the managing partner. good to see you. happy new year, ed. one phrase that was very popular in 2009 that a lot of people hope stays in 2009 is this whole idea of a jobless recovery. are we now seeing the light at the end of the unemployment tunnel? >> i don't think there is any question about that. happy new year to you as well. it's going to be a good new year for anybody looking for a job because 2010, especially towards the second half of 2010, we're going to start seeing a lot of jobs and things are absolutely getting better. what we saw last year was a moment in time and now the panic is starting to subside and we're starting to see a lot of positive things happening in the economy and i will tell you, jobs are going to be created and we're going to start seeing people getting back to work and things will get much, much better in 2010. >> what kind of jobs? we've heard the president talk

about green jobs, green initiatives. i know in this survey we cited from career builders, people are talking about green jobs and hiring folks to fill them. >> i think there is some of that. you have to follow where the government money is going, 'cause government jobs are going to be one of the really big places where people are going to be hired. there is no question about that. a lot of that money will go towards green initiatives. that's not our economy. our economy is very strong or will be very strong because of just the plain, regular jobs we have out there today. so i don't think for a moment that they're all going to be green. i think the regular industries are going to start coming back. i think people have to remember, things were not as bad as people seemed to think that they were. things are coming back on their own and are they going to be green jobs? it's going to be across the board. it's not going to be one specific sector. although government probably will be an area where a lot of people will get hired. >> let's look at the different parts of the country because a lot of folks who are out of work and who have been out of work would be more than happy to move

if the right opportunity came along. according to this survey, again, it looks like out west is the hot spot where a lot of these jobs are being created. >> yeah. i think so, too. you're starting to see a lot of venture money and a lot of public -- private equity money going to businesses. that tends to be in the west coast, maybe down here in the dallas area, and over toward -- i don't think so much in florida. but in that area, you'll start seeing a lot of jobs come to be more so than maybe in the rust belt. people are looking to move, get your resume out. get it to a head hunter that covers the nation. >> what about salaries? a lot of folks, even those who didn't lose their jobs who were able to hold on to it, watched their salaries plummet by 10, 15, 25%. are these new jobs going to offer good salaries and are some of these folks who had their salaries cut going to see some increases? >> from what i've been able to tell, i don't think the salary increases are going to come back very quickly.

i think those salaries that were cut are going to remain low and going to get some sort of cost of living adjustment, which isn't going to feel very good. i think the area you'll start seeing a lot of jobs and we're starting to hire people on a commission basis. you'll see a lot of people and a lot of people will say, come on board. we'll pay you something. a majority will be a bonus or commission and people will have to be willing to adjust a little bit for that. if you're not used to it, it's a tough thing to do. but that's where you'll see a lot of jobs. companies want to you have skin in the game also. >> i guess it might be a little too early for this. but i'm wondering as we look ahead into 2010, are there any lessons that we can learn from this sort of phase that we're hopefully on the way out of? anything that might help us prevent it from happening again in the future? >> i think that it's human nature. i think there was so much fear, but also not a lot of clarity on what was happening. i think the one lesson we should learn is let's deal with the facts. not just the people who are watching the show right now, but companies as well.

everyone just threw up their hands and said, we have to lay people off. we don't know what our business will be like and there was just truly a panic layoff almost. and i think the lesson would be let's work with the facts. let's get down to the bottom of what's really going on because what we're seeing right now, this recovery, has nothing to do with anything that the administration has put in place. this is simply things weren't as bad as people thought they were. things are getting better. and it's going to take us a while to recover, but going to see a much better year in 2010. >> it's like greenspan when he talked about irrational exuberance, you're saying there was irrational pessimism that caused a lot of the problems. ed, thanks so much for joining us today. >> thanks, rick. >> speaking of some tough economic times, could it mean the end of story time for many of the nation's public libraries? there are budget cuts and it's forcing some cities and towns to shut down their libraries at a time when communities depend on them for so much more than

books. casey stegall is live in los angeles. first, people might react, libraries, everybody does everything on their computer, but a lot of people don't have computers. they have to go to the library in order to get access. >> reporter: yeah. absolutely. it sounds like it is a household name or something that everyone has in 2010, but the reality is, a lot of people don't have their own internet at home or have their own computers. that's why they go to the library. so this whole problem is twofold. unfortunately, 2010 means another year of cuts and layoffs and tax hikes for a lot of americans, as most states head into the new year with holes in their budget. we know this from the reporting of the last year or so with the tough economic times that many municipalities have been forced to cut services already, like education and public safety, but now libraries may be among the latest casualties. more and more cities have either trimmed library hours or completely shut down branches all together just to improve the

bottom line. >> in the past year, we had 1.2 billion people coming to the libraries across our nation and checking out 2 billion items. so you get some sense of closures affect people in dramatic ways. >> listen to this, one southern california city just closed all three of its libraries and laid off nearly 60 employees. but officials say the problem is twofold because as we mentioned, people come to libraries for more than just books. these days, most patrons come to use the computer and surf the internet and those are tools in high demand with unemployment rates at record highs. >> these are the people that get hurt the most. it's not the people who can afford to go to a book store and buy a book or not the people who have internet access at home. they're not feeling the pinch as much. it's the people on the edge and it's the kids that don't have access to computers at home.

>> california is not alone. south carolina has trimmed library budgets by 30%. the state of florida, about 24%. it seems as if everyone is feeling this unfortunate pinch. jamie. >> casey stegall, thanks so much, great story. rick? >> when we come back, does the white house need to rethink troop deployment in the wake of that botched christmas day terror attempt? we'll talk with a former marine officer about that when we come right back. don't go away.

president obama saying the u.s. will work closer with yemen to fight al-qaeda there. all of this coming after news that the would be christmas day bomber had received training, equipment and orders from the terrorist affiliate there. but it raises concerns about expanding our security forces around the world. how much can we do? how does the president set priorities when iraq, yemen, iran, afghanistan, and somalia all represent equally important

terror territory for keeping us safe here at home. joining me now, retired u.s. marine lieutenant colonel bill cowan. good to see you. thank you for being with us. i spent a lot of times with the troops. now that we have deployed some of the surge that the president announced at west point to afghanistan, we have yes, ma'am ton worry about. the question is, how long have we known about yemen? i know weigh gave $70 million in counterterror aid to yemen last year. have we paid proper attention and how much of a focus do we need to put on it when we know we're still sending a lot of troops to afghanistan? >> here is our problem with yemen and that is that it's basically a fairly unstable government and so we have known for a long time about our problems in yemen, about al-qaeda operating out of there. we have a lot of yemenis in guantanamo bay right now. we've known about the problem. our real question is, how much

can we do given the fact that we're dealing with what is essentially an unstable government? >> we need money, too. we know a lot of money will go to economy and also to health care. we've got to give our troops what we need. we've got to get them where they need to be. it seems like al-qaeda moves from one place to another. my question to you is, how does the president best assure the american people that they are safe? it is a tough decision, i know. >> terribly tough. you just ran some polling a little while ago that shows many americans are concerned about safety and security. i think we're doing a reasonably good job in all areas but we will periodically ramp up in places when we have problems, like yemen. not with forces, but security assistance, money to help them buy equipment, money to help them get better training, perhaps intelligence to help them focus on targets. but not troops, but just other things that we can do. i think we have a broad sense of programs going on like that.

when something happens like this, al-qaeda guy coming out of yemen, it puts more focus on a place that we're working already. >> colonel, i have to ask you because you brought up the gitmo detainees and there is people that believe on both sides of this, yes, they should be released and it should be closed and some say don't send the ones that go back to yemen. there are some experience when they go back that they do join potential al-qaeda leadership. so the question is, what does this repatriation process where they leave guantanamo bay and the saudis come in and help them repate crate, that is the goal. does it work? >> well, 14% of the people from guantanamo bay have been back out there on the battlefield. many of them directly involved in the killing of americans. so it's a very difficult problem. some of those released to saudi arabia went through a reorientation process, only after that to end up back on the battlefield. i think it was easy as the administration was getting ready to come into office to talk

about guantanamo bay, to talk about closing it, to have all these big dreams and schemes about what we can do. the reality is, if one guy is released from guantanamo bay who goes out and ends up killing americans because he went back to the battlefield, whose fault is that? >> thank you so much. much more on that, i'm sure, this week. everyone should keep it on fox. thank you. >> thank you. >> for all of those of you out there who have made a resolution and who do every year to try to get fit, but who give up after just a couple of weeks, help is on the way. consumer reports magazine joining us with tips on getting healthy on the cheap and staying that way, straight ahead. don't go away.

i'm sorry i have to be the one to ask, but be honest. did you splurge on the goodies a little too much over the holidays? that's that guilty laughter. all the cookies, the candy, turkey, ham, champagne and the egg nog. no worries, if you're looking to get back into shape, consumer reports is here to help. >> consumer reports is always here to help. forget the expensive gym membership. you don't have to leave your house. joining us with great tips on getting fit on the cheap is the on-line health editor for consumer reports, trisha brandon. happy new year. and this is great stuff because we say you don't have to leave your house. there is literally no excuse for not getting exercise when you've

got the stuff in your house. >> you've got it in your house and it doesn't have to cost that much. i know it can be tough this time of year. you spent a lot over the holidays. there is no excuse not to hit the ground running. >> what do we need to get? you have something here. what can we do with these hand weights? >> there is lots of things you can get for homes. one is this hand weight. you might need to move up over time. resistance bands are also a really great thing. >> since they match my outfit, dial demo. a minute not working out is a minute wasted. look how easy it is. i'm stronger and thinner and i can have a big cheeseburger -- no, i wouldn't. >> it looks great with blue. >> totally. >> these aren't very expensive? >> they're not. they'll set you back about $10. resistance band is another great thing. stability ball. set up a little arsenal at home that will help you kind of focus on the areas. >> arsenal. can you spot reduce? say, for example, i want to do

these for my waist. i'm trying to whittle my waist. can i spot reduce if i work one area? >> if depends what you want to do. if you want to tone and get stronger, you can by focusing on crunches for your abs or situps. you'll see over time that your abs are getting more toned. if you need to lose weight, you need to do both. but certainly you can tone and strengthen through focusing on certain areas. >> great investment. >> if you have to buy a set to match every one of your outfits the way jamie has done, it will get expensive. you also recommend to check out on cable and the internet and maybe the video store because there might be some help that you can find that. >> cable providers are great. mine has on demand free workouts. it's a great way to mix it up, to get a bit of variety so you don't get into too much of a rut. because you want to keep it interesting. >> i think the privacy of your own home, too, must be very

attractive to people, especially if you've overdone it a little bit over the holidays, to be able to start at home. >> you don't need special clothes. you can kind of -- you've got the element of not feeling like you need to dress up and look good next to the person on the treadmill next to you. >> you also recommend that there are -- or looking into personal trainers who will come and do stuff at your house. >> that's right. if you can afford a personal train that are will run you 35 to $100 an hour, can come in for a few sessions and help you develop a program that's right for you, helping target the area that's good for you, building the confidence that you can then do it yourself. >> what other equipment does consumer reports think is a great start for someone that is just this year going to maybe start an exercise program? >> depending on what your goals are. if you have the space and you want to invest in it, you could look at a treadmill or elliptical machine. certainly a great way to keep something in your home that will help you focus on losing weight. it's hard to ignore it. >> are there cyber train

increase. >> yeah, that's another thing you can do if you want that bit of extra boost of motivation is go to some web sites where they'll offer some cyber training. it can cost $10 a month or so. and really help you do some of the things that you might do with a personal trainer, set your own goals, track what you're doing. >> that's great to keep track. >> it keeps you honest, keeps you focused and is a nice pat on the back. >> just to be honest, don't be mad, but you see this? i did bring some dark chocolate into the studio. i gave one to rick. i'm willing to share. i guess portion control. >> well, that's -- >> you're not mad, are you? >> no. >> got to wean yourself off. >> i had to be honest. >> check out the new issue of consumer reports magazine for all this. thank you so much for coming in. >> thank you. >> this is great. that's going to do it for us. i'm jaily colby. >> hope you have a great first weekend of 2010 and stick around

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