very good morning to you. it's january 7, a thursday. hope you are having a good morning. i'm in for robin meade this morning. first up, the suspect on the botched terror attack is formerly charged and president obama is about to reveal the details of government mishaps that happened. plus. >> he was in alaska. i don't know. i never, i don't want to be in alaska. >> no, you don't. you know it's cold when people say florida feels more like alaska. a deadly arctic chill is

tightening its grip. we are tracking dangerous temperatures. plus -- >> i saw him in this craft and bradford told me he went inside. >> balloon boy's dad saying they did not pull off a hoax. why did he plead guilty, then? >> first, the tsas camera's were not rolling at the time of the security breach. now, we are expecting video anytime on that. they are releasing it so people can help id this person who has not been found yet. someone ducked under a rope without passing through security. it caused massive delays. people not going anywhere. we will show the video as soon as we get it. there are still a lot of questions. we find out about the government mistakes that allowed

a man to try to blow up a plane on christmas day. president obama will release the report he got. he's asking for immediate changes to connect the dots. this has to be fixed because airplanes will continue to be targeted. >> the terrorists have been fascinated by aviation, if not obsessed by it. they will move on. next time, a shopping mall or a sea port of subway. if we look at what they have gone to, they have the shoe bomber. we have this bomb in the under wear, the liquid explosives, a plot to crash the plane into the tallest building on the west coast. it's not just one of many possible venues for terrorists, it's one that fascinates the terrorists. >> umar farouk abdulmutallab was

indicted on six counts including attempted murder. david describe how he thinks the suspect was drawn into al qaeda and how his dock trination was similar to that in the ft. hood shootings. >> this young man was drawn in by the internet. one person called it hauntingly persuasive for people like him. he went to yemen. he was there for four months. in that time, he was swept up and brainwashed in an almost cult-like environment. they sent him forward on his mission. it happened quickly. he was turned around and turned into a guided missile for the al qaeda. >> they have people on edge. in a few minutes, you'll hear from passengers on a flight that turned around mid-flight escorted by fighter jets. oh, boy, it's on the ground

and happening everywhere. the deep freeze that has you out in the shivering cold. several inches of cold could fall as far south as tennessee and georgia. there's snow on the ground in memphis and kansas city all right. it's hard for people living on the streets. >> it's a great coat. this is the only coat i have. >> i appreciate it very much. it's a warm feeling to have somebody in this community that serves us like that. >> in some cases, it can be a matter of life and death. people need to find a way to find shelter from the cold. >> over to bob van dillen who has been watching the chill. one of the producers are saying they are talking temperatures. it's colder in georgia than in alaska in some places. >> anchorage is 22. it's a snow maker in northern

sections of storm. chicago looking for three to seven inches for a total of a foot of snow. the temperatures coming in are on the very cold side. we are talking minus 35 degree windchills in south dakota in toward north dakota, too. full details in a bit. >> thank you, bob. a new antiseptic. two studies found that the antiseptic did a better job of fighting infections than the iodine solution used. they were swabbed or bathed in it before the surgery. infections were cut by 40%. in netherlands the combination of the bath and nasal ointment reduced infections. gilbert arenas will not be playing basketball for awhile. he's suspended indefinitely for

taking a gun into the locker room. >> the league came down hard, suspending him without pay. it comes a day after he was seen before a game in philadelphia, pretending to shoot his teammates in teammate intros. making his hands into pistols while his teammates encouraged him. he was stern with arenas saying it will result in a substantial suspension. it makes you wonder if he'll ever play in the nba, again. he's not been charged with a crime. should they suspend him for a year, kick him out of the league or nothing. go to our facebook page. you can text us at hln tv,

45688. we'll try to read your comments on air later. >> never play again? thanks a lot. makes you wonder. if you didn't stay up to watch the people's choice awards. queen latifah kicked things off. ♪ don't you worry the queen is here ♪ ♪ all your dreams are coming through yoet yes, i'm hosting people's choice ♪ >> not bad there. jackman picked up an award. sandra bullock won. she got choked up during her acceptance speech. >> most of all, to my -- my family who life is hard sometimes but we get through with laughter. to my dad, i hope you are feeling better and my husband, who is my boyfriend, who makes

me feel like this every single day. >> my husband who is my boyfriend. other winners included carrie underwood. keith urban and hugh lori from house. he's not ak centric, right? not an air, at least. a robber escaped on tv. the guy in the orange hood escapes from his handcuffs. new york's police commissioners say they do not tighten them too much so they won't hurt inmates. they are reviewing the procedures now. >> hello. >> what's going on there? >> so much for that. when it's cold, your hands shrink, right? what's up richard? the real story today is the heavy snow. it's working through the great lakes in the midwest. ground blizzards.

winds gusting. central parts of south dakota. the wind is going up the mountains toward denver. denver, your windchill is minus 32 degrees fahrenheit. the cold air is rushing to the east. we're calling for three to six in st. louis. memphis and inch or so. take you live to atlanta. winter weather advisory. you are headed down here, be prepared. the clouds are coming in now. light rain and snow mix by the afternoon. it changes to all snow for the evening. if you are trying to fly in or out of the airports in the south or midwest, it's going to be a nightmare. we'll talk about that in about ten minutes. >> when snow hits places that aren't used to it, the place shuts down. >> nashville is going to get three inches of snow today, there you go. >> thanks. hear about no less than

three flight scares all in one day. you might see changes when you go to target. they are trying a new approach to selling stuff.

here's more evidence that nerves are on edge after the failed christmas day terror scare. we had two f-15 fighter jets escorting a plane back to portland, oregon yesterday. after an unruling passenger made threatening remarks and refused to store his bag. they released the man. there was no link to terrorism, but people were a bit rattled. >> we see the fire department surrounding our airplane as we landed. next thing we know, we wouldn't move out of our seats. the doors open and the police are there escorting two people out. >> wow. >> so, we knew it wasn't a

mechanical problem, right then and there. >> meanwhile, another flight from detroit to orlando was diverted when someone found a suspicious package mid-flight. it turned out to be a christmas ornament. a northwest airlines flight was set to take off when a person was heard making inappropriate remarks. we have a mug shot of that passenger. he was taken off the plane and arrested for disorderly conduct and other charges. 911 dispatchers say they can't believe how calm a 5-year-old girl stayed when she thought her dad was having a heart attack. >> he looked a little shaky. i'm shaky, too. >> you have to hear the rest of this call that saved her dad's life. it's new for you in 20 minutes. all right. a lot of uproar about your tax dollars being spent to bail out general motors. now, the company says it could

turn a profit this year. jennifer westhoven has more on that. how? >> this is a pretty bold prediction coming from ed whittaker. just a year ago, gm files for bankruptcy. if he's right, it would be good news in a bad economy. gm more than half owned by you, me, richard, yeah. the ceo, this is what he says, gm is going to make money this year and by focusing on sales, not just cost cutting. if you think, for a long time, they have been cutting jobs, cutting here and there instead of building cars people would love. turning that sheet around, it would be a massive u-turn for gm. it's lost billions of dollars each year since 2005. huge packages at target.

they are going to test drive a new strategy. they are selling in bulk to compete with sam's club and costco. they have been doing well during the recession, the big discount stores while target sales have weakens during the recession. we'll watch to see if it works. >> i'm a big fan of the big three. i'm surprised. hopefully, it will happen. >> it is a surprise. it's bold. a lot of people are going, how? >> thanks. there's one place to find the hot new gadgets. that's vegas. we'll check out one of the big items. an auto worker won the biggest jackpot in kentucky's history. try wrapping your brain around winning 128 million bucks.

governor arnold schwarzenegger is expected to sign a bill today that will completely overhaul california's education system. the state senate approved a plan to let parents take their children out of some failing schools. those schools could be shut down. teacher's unions and education groups are against the plan saying lawmakers rushed into signing the bill. the state stands to get $700 million in federal grants and it needs the money.

if you want to see the latest gadgets, vegas is the place to be. it's where the consumer electronic's show is going on. we have a sneak peak. >> reporter: the buzz word in the tech word, tablets. apple is rumored to have one. let's check it out. among the millions of things here, tablets. devin, crunchgear.com. >> it's a small computer with a touch screen like on the iphone. it's bigger. you can read your website on it. you can take it to the kitchen or living room, sit on the couch and read e-mails. the one we have is a u-1. it's a little tablet, but fits on a keyboard portion, a separate computer. when you snap it on there, it switches control to the keyboard

and you can type and stuff. it's weird, but cool. >> reporter: devin, crunchgear.com. see you this week. >> thank you. >> thank you, joe. the show runs through sunday. we'll be there live bringing you the scoop on all the new gadgets. check out our coverage. go to cnn.com/robin. >> rafer, do you have a favorite gadget? >> no. but you do. dibers and formula, that's mine. >> that's what it's come down to. we have new details on the death of chris henry. what are police saying? >> they are not going to charge the fiance of the late bangals receiver. there's no evidence she drove recklessly. she was driving between 19 and

23 miles per hour, well below the speed limit. the couple argued at the home, at a home, rather, before she drove away and henry jumped in the bed of the pick up truck. no charges for his fiance. gilbert arenas was suspended for taking guns to the team's locker room. it's the day after he was photographed pretending to shoot his teammates. he told reporters, if i did something wrong, i would feel remorse. >> arenas' response, he showed remorse. he said i put them in a negative light and let our teammates and fans down.

i am very sorry for that. we are asking for your suggestions. >> if they do anything, he should be suspended until next season to teach him and the rest of the league a lesson. >> an example must be made otherwise this will continue in other sports. >> he has not been charged with a crime, yet. still, bad image taking those guns to work. >> most of the viewers not happy with what arenas has done so far. >> right. >> much worse. asking to be sentenced, even though he's still in switzerland. prosecutors don't like it. they want him to show his face. a fugitive should not dictate the court process. he fled the united states before he could be sentenced for having sex with a 13-year-old girl. we are waiting for the new

video of the security breach in newark's airport. you are asked to help identify the person who helped cause the scare. the latest on a sea lion tangled in fishing line off the california coast. 

we expect to get video of the security breach at newark's airport any minute now. they are releasing it so people can help id the guy who has notd been found yet. someone ducked under the rope without passing through security. president obama is letting you see the report he got about the failed christmas day terror attack. the white house is releasing a declassified version of that. the suspect here, umar farouk abdulmutallab was indicted on six counts, including attempted murder. there's a crucial misstep that left four oakland police

officers dead in california. the suspect gunned down two motorcycle officers. the ill fated decision to storm the apartment led to more officers being killed. the s.w.a.t. team later killed the suspect. i'm richard lui in for robin meade. there's a big concern about the winter storm heading south in a big way. record low temperatures are forecast in a lot of places. some states could see several inches of snow. this storm has already caused big problems in the central and midwest states. look at this that happened in nebraska. all these vehicles crashing. ten cars and trucks ended up in the ditch. bob van dillen has been watching this all this week, warning us last week it was going to happen. he'll tell you what you need to know. that's coming up. the fight against california's same-sex marriage

bill. whether proposition 8 is unconstitutional. it goes to trial on monday. this is a rare decision for a federal court. the proceedings will not be streamed live, but will be up loaded to youtube every day. rescue teams have a frustrating case. they have been trying to catch an injured sea lion. the animal keeps getting away. it appears to have fishing line tangled around its upper body. >> we keep trying. he'll come back up again to rest, again. if it's someplace accessible, we will make another shot. he's got a good chance. >> this is one of three injured sea lions they have tried to rescue. for now, they will not try again. let's check out what's making headlines in the newspap newspaper. we may feel the effects of the recession long after it's over. people's incomes may stay at a

permanently lower level and kids could lose education opportunities. we take you to the l.a. times. governor arnold schwarzenegger wants to mandate states spend more money on public universities than locking people up in prison. the "chicago tribune," a story straight out of a hollywood caper flick. what might be first for the city, police say they were able to nab suspected bank robbers thanks to devices hidden in the stolen cash. technology helping out there. most adults are in a panic when they call 911. one little girl stayed calm when her father had a heart attack. she gave the address, stayed on the line for ten minutes. listen to how calm she is here. >> what's wrong? >> my dad can't hardly breathe.

>> keep him away, okay? >> okay. he really needs oxygen. >> he needs oxygen? >> yeah. real bad. >> how old are you? >> i'm 5 years old. >> and very, very smart. her dad is back at work because of her call. love those stories, bob. let's talk about weather now. so cold you may have to stay overnight in this building. >> not going to happen. we're going to see snow in georgia, alabama, mississippi getting snow now. the cold fronlt, as it dips through memphis. it's a quick-moving storm and breezing through the chicagoland area now. behind it, the arctic air is in place. look at the current temperature readings, minus six in denver. 11 in des moines, 7 in omaha. keep in mind, a lot of snow on

the ground. tazz air mass goes over it, it's not going to warm up. it doesn't have a chance with all the snow on the ground. minus 32 in bismarck, minus 30 in casper, minus 15 in omaha. some of the windchills, minus 52. there's the cold air. look at the snow ahead of this thing. it's pushing through areas of the great lakes. the red is a blizzard warning for south dakota. the wind is picking up and making visibility rough now. look at the snow. all this white is all snow, chicago toward minneapolis. snow moving away from st. louis. light stuff overhead. here is where you are going to get the snow piling up the most. it's a white, fluffy snow. it piles up quickly. a good snow maker in chicago toward peoria. the snow is heading to the east,

central illinois, but it's going bab toward kentucky. live to new york city metro, the storm is moving to the east. by the time it gets here, it's going to have an inch or two of snow. it's mainly overnight tonight and tomorrow morning for areas of new york city. that brings the temperatures down to the low 30s over the weekend. it's going to be cold. what about across the ocean? a little weather coming at you from england. they are getting the snow when it comes to cold temperatures. england, it's rough over there as well. it's rough in the northern hemisphere. >> they have lots of snow. the so-called balloon boy's dad said they did not pull off a hoax. why did he plead guilty? he says he had a very good reason.

all right. here are some stories to watch today in your "morning express" planner. the secretary of agriculture unveils a sculpture made out of butter. at 10:00 a.m. eastern, jayson williams will be arraigned on recent drunk-driving charges. california will vote on a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage. the year ended. you might be thinking about your tax return. if you need help, good luck when calling the irs. it might take awhile.

jennifer westhoven. >> only three out of five people who called the irs and said i want to pay my taxes can you help me. only three out of five get a human being. two out of five got disappointment. they say that's not enough. if you are one of the lucky ones to hit the jackpot and get through, it's after waiting an average of 12 minutes. her job is to stand there and say what's going right and wrong when it comes to the irs working with you, with taxpayers? congress keeps heaping new duties on them without new resources so they don't have the time to help people pay their taxes. i think it's interesting. we just had the president saying you shouldn't need a law degree to read your mortgage contract. i'd like to see them apply that same principle to taxes.

charlie sheen lost a big endorsement deal. they talk about their haines. they say give me allegations. dropping him was a straight forward call. he was arrested in aspen. according to police, his wife said he threatened to kill her. no comment on the decision. we have seen so much about tiger and him keeping the endorsements. it's playing out here. >> the impact of what you do outside of work. thanks a lot. you never know what might happen when two comedians get together. on the joy behar show, how tim allen's famous grunt got started. >> can tim do his famous grunting sound? >> what am i, a monkey? specifically, i'm dying in akron, ohio in '79 or '80.

all the guys from good year tire, cigars in between bites of stake and brown liquor. i said maybe if i spoke your language you'd listen to me. the whole night, i said i'm killing. the whole night, going oh, yeah. >> all right. catch joy behar tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern with great guests like that. was it fair play or bad sportsmanship. you have to see the basketball game that got rough because of the score. police say this guy is not your typical shoplifter.

well, the people's choice awards were on last night. vampires sucked the true blood. each picked up an award and the movie "twilight" won four. his ex-girlfriend, taylor swift won favorite.

>> this is an honor. i'm proud to be in the category of all the other nominees, thank you so much. oprah, i love hear your show go cancelled. i share this with you. ♪ >> that was cobra starship "good girls go bad." mary j. blige took the stage. you'll see that next hour. bob with the travel update. what do you have? >> short de-icing around st. louis. things are going to start going downhill shortly. snow in chicago metro. watch for an hour delay. that's for mid way and o'hare.

one hour or more delay is a good possible. st. louis, morning snow and windy conditions half hour to hour delay. san francisco, morning fog. yesterday, the delay was 53 minutes, right about there this morning. more on that in a minute. remember the iraqi immigrant accused of killing his own daughter because she was to westernized? he does not understand a part of the legal process. the lawyer cannot tell if it's because of the language and culture or if he has mental health issue. gilbert arenas learning his punishment for taking guns into the team's locker room. suspended indefinitely without pay. it could be worse, right? >> this could be the beginning of the punishment. he has no remorse because he says he did nothing wrong. he calls david stern mean.

he was mean. with the teammates laughing about this, stern did not find it amusing. his actions do not make him fit to play on an nba court. his punishment could be worse. arenas responded and lacks forward to playing again soon. we are taking your thoughts on this. let arenas play ball until he is guilty of breaking the law. he's not been found guilty of breaking a law, yet. committing a crime. >> kick him out completely. keep the comments coming. text us at 45688, start it with robin so we get them. tensions boil over in a high school basketball team. one team tried to put up 200 points on the opponent and set a record. uates went up 100-12.

won bay 135 points. there it is. the coach defended his decision. lee's coach was furious. i'm sorry. bad sportsmanship? absolutely. they tip off in a rematch. >> piling it on. >> in a major way. texas and alabama is tonight. some do not want to call it a championshipship. this commercial paid for by a group. polls were run before the games. markets like dallas where tcu is and boise. many say they deserve a shot at the national title, they do, richard. they do. you know, it still should be a great game between texas and alabama. >> every year, this time of the month, time of the year, that's the debate out there. thanks. the ft. hood shooting suspect, whether he's able to stand trial.

a medical review board will review his case. he's charged with 13 counts of murder and 32 counts of attempted murder for the november attack. what you are about to see will give you an idea how cold it's been in the deep south and growing. we have this video from atlanta, georgia. this frozen fountain has been growing every day because the water keeps running. after that, it freezes solid. would you like to send us an i-report to give a sense of what's going on. go to cnn.com/robin, to learn how. the man known as balloon boy's father. he talked to larry king on cnn and says he thought his son could have been on that balloon. >> i'm not disputing the fact that i did have to plead guilty and when i say have to, i had to do it to save my family and wife. >> how so? >> the threat of deportation was

eminent. >> deporting who? >> my wife. >> to where? >> japan. >> we had to she should have be an american citizen by now but anyway, i can't break up my family. >> you can see the entire interview on "larry king live" tomorrow eastern for more revelations. the biggest selling of hybrid vehicles is trying to help save the environment one car at a time. clark howard explaining here the new spin on fuel efficiency that could save you some money. >> welcome to 2010, or 2000-10, which ever way you prefer to say it. this decade we're moving into is going to have more change in the car market than any i can recall. here is one example, next year in 2011 or 2000-11, whichever

you prefer, toyota will have a pl plug-in hybrid that will get around 135 miles per gallon, a plug-in car. when you get home at night, it's weird, but you'll plug your car into an electric outlet. then we start driving the next day, the car will be an electric only car, depending on how much you drive for the whole day or for part of the day. once you run out of the electric charge, it will then drive like a regular gas engine car. the savings in your wallet and the convenient irnment huge. how much is it going to cost? don't know. i'm clark howard, for more ways for to you save a buck, check me out at cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> clark will teach you how to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. you know that if you've watched any of his stuff. catch him noon eastern on saturday and sunday on hln. 3d movie adventures may be

coming to your living room soon in the form of 3d tvs. we'll take you to the electronics show where future high-tech gadgets are on display.

a very good morning to you on this thursday. almost to the end of the week. we really appreciate you spending some time with us this morning. i'm richard lui in for robin meade. a lot going on. the suspect in the botched terror attack on flight 253 is formally charged and president obama is about to reveal some details of government missteps that allowed the failed christmas day plot. plus -- >> who was that guy in alaska, i don't know never in alaska. i never, i don't want to be there. >> who wants to be there? people in florida are saying it feels more like alaska there. a deadly arctic chill is tightening its grip on many places of the country and we're

tracking dangerous subfreezing temperatures. and a robbery suspect slips away from police. watch this in front of a tv camera crew, gone. find out what happened after that daring move. all right, if you are not waking up to cold temperature this is morning, you are in the minority and in a very small part of the country. a winter storm could mean record low temperatures in two-thirds of the united states today. just look at this from the miami zoo, even the animals are trying to keep warm, on the right-hand side, they're getting help from zookeepers but it's tough. look at what the storm has done to the mighty mississippi. what's that? is that a river? the river's frozen over in illinois, that's how cold it is. this is a big, fast-moving river. there's plenty of snow on the ground in memphis and kansas city. it is particular hard for people living on the streets. >> it's a great help because this is the only coat i have. >> i appreciate it very much. it's a very good warm feeling to have somebody in this community that serves us like that. >> in some case it is can be a

matter of life and death. people need to find a way to find shelter from the cold. >> tough for many people and if everybody really, bob van dillen joins us now. so cold if you're in places of georgia, you want a warmer place to go, go to alaska one of our producers was noticing. >> it's 32 degrees in anchorage now and the mid-20s around atlanta so yeah. >> unbelievable. >> cold arctic air driving down to the south. here answer the low pressure region a quick moving storm, no doubt about it. by this time tomorrow up across the northeast with light snow out there but decent snow around chicago and the back side of that it's the coldest air mass of the season so far and moving down out of canada. look at these current temperature readings, minus 31 in regina, minus 13 in billings, minus 4 in rapid city. 6 degrees in kansas city that, cold air sliding on down with the wind out there, too, windchill is definitely a factor. so cold up there we ran out of colors. you can see it right there. we talked about minus 52, minus 32 in bismarck.

minus 33 in pierre. feels like minus 14 in kansas city. feels like 16 in chicago. a foot of snow is a possibility and the cold air is temporarily moving away from the southeast but comes back in full force over the weekend. we'll talk about that and a look at the snow in a cup of minutes. >> so tough, bob was out with the color chart going use this one, use this one. >> i ran out of colors, magenta. >> we got to laugh about it. it's so tough. the tsa's cameras were not recording at the time of the security breach at newark airport, but we're expecting some video now any time soon. new jersey senator frank lautenberg is releasing it so people can i.d. the guy who has not been found. continental airlines had cameras that were recording. you might recall here, someone ducked under rope into the terminal without passing through security and this happened, lots of folks having to wait, they got delayed, massive problems there. we'll show thaw video as soon as we get it.

gilbert arenas will not be playing basketball for awhile. the nba star suspended indefinitely for taking guns into the locker room, rafer, what do you have? >> well, richard, gilbert arenas did not have a very good 28th birthday, suspended indefinitely without pay after he was seen pretending to shoot his teammates at a game on tuesday. this was before a game. he's made his hands into pistols while his teammates seem to laugh about it and encourage him. then he told reporters, no, he's not remorseful because he "did nothing wrong." the commissioner did not agree saying the suspension could be substantial, perhaps even worse which makes you wonder, what's going to happen to gilbert arenas? will they ever let him play again? he still has not been charged with a crime. what do you think the nba should do with arenas? what do you think about this suspension, should they suspend him the rest of the year, kick him out of the league or nothing happen? go to our facebook page and post a comment, cnn.com/robin, also

text us at 45688, start it with robin's name and we'll get it and read them on the air in 10, 15 minutes. >> thanks a lot, rafer. a robbery suspect escaped from police in front of a tv crew in new york. watch this guy with the orange hood here. he slips out of his handcuffs. police caught him minutes later on a train and broke his ankle after running away from. new york's police commissioner say officers do not tighten handcuffs too much so they won't hurt inmates but they're reviewing procedures there. an autoworker from kentucky won $128.6 million in the lottery. that is the largest jackpot in the state's history. rob anderson and his wife say they've been buying tickets for 12 years. >> i looked and said oh, god, oh, god. baby, you might want to check this ticket. something's not right. i said, damn, started scratching my head, you get the funny

feeling inside. she said, we hit? i said, we didn't hit. that's not us. >> they decided to take a lump sum by the way. they get about $63 million after taxes and they say they want to take a trip to hawaii and buy a new car. they can do that a bunch of times with all that money. bob van dillen joins us now. real down-to-earth guy. we all would react that way. >> i think he might be my second cousin. >> open up that phone book now. >> 63 million bucks, man, i'd broadcast the weather naked once, pay the fcc fine and quit. that would be the end of it, last you'd see of me. that's a lot of cash. the snow-making capability of this storm now, it's a real cold atmosphere. any moisture you have is going to pile up quickly when it comes into snow, the fluffy stuff, not good packing snow but chicago coming down pretty well, back in towards illinois, indiana now, stretching in towards louisville, kentucky, and you can see the path as it moves toward the east. we have winter storm warnings, advisories all across the midwest. zero in towards chicago's radar and all of the blue is all snow.

you have it overhead coming from the southwest, going to be over there for the better part of the day. more light snow showers overnight and st. louis heaviest snow is away from you, the flurries are still around and also going to be breezy for today. travel problems will be found out there, too. across the east farther, here is the louisville radar, the heavy band of snow moving right on in towards the city, that's going to stretch overhead, gets it towards eastern kentucky and falls apart a little bit overnight tonight when it gets to the northeast. a little bit dry there, loses a little bit of its punch. it's all rain now from central parts of mississippi back in through louisiana, back in towards texas. the blue right here is rain. the white part is where you're finding that snow coming down so memphis heavy snow is away from you, breaking up as it gets into the drier air mass situated over the east coast, but it is headed in towards atlanta. let me take you live to atl, the morning looks fine but you can see the mid level clouds already working in from the west. those are going to gradually thicken and lower and turn into rain this morning, probably

later this afternoon really, starts this afternoon, rain switching over to snow and then ending up tonight as snow. so watch it for about a half inch to inch of snowfall in atlanta itself, but breezy conditions, you're going to find problems at the airports. we'll talk about the air travel delays in a couple of minutes. >> a pretty clear line on that system of snow and rain. >> a good delineation right there. we'll get to it. there's one place where you can find the hot new gadgets, that's vegas. we'll check out one of the big items at cthe consumer electronics store. and in a few minutes hear from passengers on a plane that turned around mid flight escorted by fire jets.

when the morning comes, don't say you love me ♪ ♪ don't say you need me

today we find out about the government mistakes that allowed a man to try to blow up a plane on christmas. president obama is asking for immediate changes after intelligence failed to, in his words "connect the dots." one security expert says this has to be fixed because airplane also continue to be targeted. >> the terrorists have been fascinated by aviation, if not utterly obsessed by it. even after 9/11 people said next time it will be a shopping mall or a seaport or a subway, and yet if we look at what they've gone to, again and again they've gone back to shoe bomber, we had this bomb in the underwear, the attempt of liquid explosiveexpl there was supposedly a plot to crash a plane into the tallest building on the west coast. aviation is not just one of many possible venues for terrorism, it seems to be the one that most fascinates the terrorists. >> well the suspect umar farouk abdulmutallab was indicted yesterday on six counts, including attempted murder.

here's more evidence that nerves are on edge after the failed christmas day terrorist scare. two f-15 fighter jets escorting a hawaiian airlines plane back to portland, oregon, yes, after an unruly passenger made some threatening remarks and refused to store his carry-on bag. the fbi questioned and later released the man and his companion. there was no link to terrorism but people were certainly rattled. >> we see the fire department surrounding our airplane as we landed, next thing you know they told us we couldn't move out of our seats, then all of the sudden the doors open and the police are there escorting two people out. so we knew it wasn't a mechanical problem right then and there. >> and then there's a second incident to tell you about, another flight from detroit to orlando diverted to nashville when someone found a suspicious package mid flight. turned out to be a christmas ornament, good thing and a third incident in miami, a northwest airlines flight was about to take off when a passenger was heard making inappropriate

remarks and being disruptive. this mug shot of the passenger was released last hour, taken off the plane and later arrested for disorderly conduct and other charges. we're watching that for you. mariah carey winning a major honor for her acting talent. it's not the award that got attention. what was she thinking? your tax dollars bailed out general motors, a lot of you had hulabaloop no they're going to turn a profit this year? >> really, this year, pretty bold words from ed whitacre after five years of huge losses for gm and a year after gm filed for bankruptcy. if he can make this come true that would be good news in a bad economy. gm more than half owned by you, by me, through the government, all of us. the ceo says the key is going to

be selling quality cars. he's also reportedly betting on a recovery that jobs are going to pick up and people will be able to get car loans more easily through the rest of the year. you may see something different on the shelves at target in the next few weeks that makes you go, huh, am i in target? huge packages of toothpaste, paper towels, granola bars. they're going bulk, going to try out a new strategy competing with sam's club and costco. target has seen its sales weaken during the recession, meanwhile over at places like costco they tend to be doing well, people trying to focus on what they need, not just what they want. if you want to see the latest gadgets. starting up buzz these days, las vegas is the place to be right now, that's where the annual consumer electronics show is going on. joe carter got a sneak peek at some high-tech futury items and found a favorite. >> reporter: the big buzz word of the tech world these days, tablets. apple's rumored to have one. we found one here at ceolenovo

makes. check it out. among the millions of things here, tablets. devin, crunchgear.com tell us about the tablets. >> a tab slet like a small computer that has a touch interface, touch screen like on an iphone, smart phone and it's bigger and you can read your websites and stuff on it. something you might take into the kitchen or living room, sit on your couch and read your e-mail, look at some logs and stuff like that. the one we just saw is called the u2 from lenovo. it's a little tablet and fits on to a keyboard portion that is a separate computer. when you snap it into its little keyboard, it switches control over to the keyboard and you can type and stuff. it's kind of weird but also pretty cool. >> reporter: definite vin coldaway, crunchgear.com. thanks for your time. see you this week. >> thank you. >> joe is out there all week, the consumer electronics show will run through sunday, we'll be there live looking at the scoop on the new gadgets.

check out the coverage cnn.com/robin. maybe you're waking up thinking am i going to be able to get through the snow to work, am i going to be affected tomorrow? bob is here with everything you need to know. >> good morning, not just the air travel, road travel today, indianapolis, chicago through st. louis. snow, jen you're right. here's what it looks like now in d.c., not technically in a winter weather advisory. baltimore is to your north. one to two inches of snow overnight. washington breezy today, might see a delay because of the wind. you can see the flags out there right now. saber flight explorer, blue is all snow, that's going to be there for the entire day, foot or more. delay wise atlanta with rain and snow developing, chicago snow, all day long, hour or more is a good possibility and down into areas like new york and dallas, it's going to be windy conditions and snow pops up in memphis. st. louis mainly in the morning, 30-minute delays possible, same with cleveland and cincinnati later this afternoon and watching for detroit, minnesota w some snow, minneapolis. houston rain and san francisco we're going to have fog.

more in a bit. homeland security is skr scrambling to beef up airport security and in desperate need the department is asking for volunteers. >> he looks like he's real shaky. i am real shaky, too. >> 911 dispatchers can't believe how calm a 5-year-old girl stayed when she thought her dad was having a heart attack.

♪

we have some new developments in the death of nfl player chris henry. rafer weigel just getting in to tell us more. >> this was a shocking story, a lot of questions regarding it but now richard, police are saying case closed. they will not charge the fiance of a late cincinnati bengals receiver. there was no evidence she drove recklessly when henry came out of the back of her pickup truck and suffered fatal injuries. tonga was driving between 19 and 23 miles an hour, well below the speed limit, drove off in the truck after an argument and henry jumped in the back. gilbert arenas suspended indefinitely without pay for taking guns into the team's locker room, a day after he was photographed before game pretending to shoot his teammates, while they surrounded him in a circle. what were you thinking, gilbert there, laughing and egging him on? after the game he said "if i really did something wrong i'd feel remorse but i didn't do anything." commissioner david stern had enough of the flippant behavior saying "although it is clear

that the actions of mr. arenas will ultimately result in a substantial suspension and perhaps worse, his ongoing conduct has led me to conclude that he is not currently fit to take the court in an nba game." worse? kicked out of the league? arenas responded with remorse, "i put the nba in a negative light, and let down my teammates and our fans. i am very sorry for doing that." we do not have any facebook quotes to read on the air but we have a page where we have a lot of quotes, richard, some mostly sega renas should be pubbished severely and kicked out of the nba or suspended for the rest of the year. >> a lot of the comments not happy. >> most are not happy, to be fair he's not been charged with a crime yet. >> good point. thanks, rafer. homeland security is looking for some volunteers to train to be air marshals on the flights all of us take every day, specifically targeting immigrations and customs agents and wants more people to screen

visa applicants overseas after president obama's call for immediate reforms after the attempted plane bombing christmas day. we are waiting to see some new video of the security breach at newark's airport. you are being asked to help identify the person who caused that scare, who they have not found as of yet. also the latest on a sea lion tangled in fishing line off the california coast. we're looking at live pictures of the white house. it is cold across the country. we've got president obama working with his team, getting ready for some comments later on today. there are some major issues of course to be discussed we're touching on one of them, what to do about the security measures at the airports across the country. we were telling you about two or three incidents overnight that have concerned not only travelers but the president as

well as janet napolitano the secretary of homeland security. we are watching the president. the capitol also, they are working, we'll be back in about two.

we are expecting to get video of that security breach at newark's airport sometime today. new jersey senator frank lautenberg releasing this so people can help identify the guy who has not been found as of yet. someone ducking under a rope into the terminal sunday without passing through security that caused all of the massive delays. a new report blames crucial missteps for a shoot-out that left four oakland police officers dead back in march in california. the suspect gunned down two motorcycle officers. the report says an ill-fated decision to storm the apartment where the suspect was hiding led to two more officers being killed. a s.w.a.t. team later killed

that suspect. then we turn to gary coleman who had to spend the night in an l.a. hospital. the 41-year-old actor had a slight seizure but a cat scan showed no major problems with the actor. he says coleman, who has had two failed kidney transplant also get dial sis before he's released from the hospital. those are some of the stories we're watching thursday. i'm richard lui in for robin meade. the suspect in the failed christmas day plane attack, umar farouk abdulmutallab, now faces six counts including an attempt to murder the 289 people on board that plane. he was indicted yesterday and will make his first court appearance tomorrow. he could get a life sentence if convicted and abdulmutallab met with the same radical cleric who exchanged e-mails with major has hasan, the man accused of the ft. hood shootings. big time bundle up. record cold temperatures coming your way if they haven't already

arrived. shelters are working overtime to try to get ready for people who need a place to stay in this bitter, bitter cold. some southern states could see several inches of snow. this storm has already caused some big problems in the central midwest. a look at the chain reaction that was happening in nebraska and this crash, about ten cars and trucks ended up in the ditch. meteorologist bob van dillen joins us right now. we'll see lots of that, of course we are concerned all of the people who need to get out of the cold and that cold is getting worse. >> right. >> bob willing back later. i bumped to you too early? >> that's your m.o. i'm here for you. >> bob is always early. >> i'll come back in a minute and tell you about it. the man known as balloon boy's father insists the incident was no hoax. in his first television interview since he pleaded guilty richard hooeene talked t larry king on cnn.

he said his son could have been on the balloon. >> he searched the house high and low, and, and i'm sorry. >> larry: okay. >> and i, you know, after i saw him in and out of the craft, in bradford, telling me that he went inside, i told him that perhaps he's around. i just saw him, and -- >> larry: some in substance you believe your son was in the craft? >> i knew he was in the craft. >> larry: you didn't know it because he wasn't. >> in my mind. there was no other place, because i visualized him, i yelled at him, to not go in it. >> you want to see more of that, the entire interview on "larry king live" tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. eastern. we could find out next month in the ft. hood shooting suspect whether he's competent to stand trial, major nidal hasan.

he is charged with 13 counts of murder and 32 counts of attempted murder for the november attack. you can watch the fight against california's same-sex marriage ban on youtube. a judge is allowing cameras in the courtroom for the lawsuit over whether proposition eight is unconstitutional. it goes to trial on monday. this is a rare decision for a federal judge. affiliate kgo reporting the proceedings will not be streamed live but uploaded to youtube each and every day. new jersey could take a step toward allowing illegal immigrants to qualify for in-state college tuition. the state senate votes on that today and the state assembly is said to vote on monday. they are split down party lines. >> that's going to reduce the benefits of the people that have been here legally. >> if they go to college, then they're going to have good jobs and they'll be paying even

higher taxes than they are with what they now get as minimum wage jobs. >> democrats are racing to get it passed, the democratic governor leaves office in 12 days. he supports that bill. the republican governor-elect, he opposes it. take a look at a man acaused accused of repeatedly walking out of a target store with high priced items without paying. police in atlanta are looking for this guy. on four different occasions he filled his cart with expensive vacuum cleaners, blu-ray disc player answer more and walked out the door. at one point he threatened an employee with a baton who confronted him about what he was doing. the audacity of that employee. how dare he? >> if you act like you know what you're doing, people believe you. it's scary. not that it has anything to do with me. >> not from experience do you speak. bob van dillen i jumped the gun earlier. you're here for a story

important to just about everybody in the country. >> travelers are getting it now around chicago, through st. louis. this weather brought to you by tylenol flu. the big setup, we have a quick-moving low, a storm center around chicago now, the heavy snow is ahead of that near chicago, below it notice the blue shading south of memphis in towards mississippi and alabama, now, too. that's the light rain, all going to be spreading across the gulf coast and turning into snow for areas like central parts of kentucky and tennessee. behind it, it's another big story, cold temperatures coming into place. lps the blizzard warnings out there for southern parts of south dakota, you can see the pink shaded there. the red shaded counties, the entire state of iowa just about, winter storm warnings for the morning and the vilzryes extend out to the mason dixon line, d.c. gets a couple inches of snow overnight tonight, same with areas like baltimore, advisory for baltimore and advisory for atlanta as well. look at the temperatures behind it. right now minus 14 in bismarck. over the border in saskatchewan, minus 33.

minus six in denver. add the wind to it, the windchill worse. minus 50 in saskatchewan. feels like minus 21 in sioux falls. i told you it was going to be cold in omaha this morning, minus 18 there and minus 17 with a windchill in denver. how about the snow? chicago getting covered up right now. midway o'hare both reporting light snow, going to move in towards lower parts of michigan, indiana, also in towards ohio. that snow will be heavy at times especially the first part of the day, that's chicago. you go to the south toward st. louis most of the heavy snow is working through central parts of illinois and breaking up with just light snow showers near the st. louis area. that's what it looks like. ohio has been in the deep freeze for the last couple of days. take a look at this ice mountain, this guy is trying to build an ice mountain as high as 25 feet in his front yard. he saw the idea online, got a plastic pipe and nozzle and trying to get it as high as his house. >> it may not be too difficult

with the weather. >> there's no warmup in sight for ohio. it will get colder for the weekend. >> a pipe with water coming out the top. >> looks like an ice volcano. >> appreciate it. police nabbing a suspect, bank robbers we're talking about with gps trackers.

okay, let's check out what's making headlines for you in today's "morning papers." we're headed out to the cold reading them for you. we may feel the effects of the recession long after it's over. people's incomes may stay at a

permanently lower level and kids could lose educational opportunities because states are forced to slash their budgets. check out the "l.a. times." governor arnold schwarzenegger wants to mandate states spend more money on public universities than on locking people up in prison, it was the highlight of his final state of the state address last night. and chicagotry bun has a story straight out of the hollywood caper flick in what may be a first for the city. police were able to nab suspected bank robbers thanks to credit-card sized gps devices hidden in the stolen cash. 2009 is over. you might be think being your tax return. if you've got some questions about that for the irs, good luck. jennifer westhoven looking out for you. not easy is what you're saying to reach folks that are working for the irs, if you have a question about, say line 13 on form b or e. >> right, not eels easy at all. if you try and call the irs good luck with that.

three out of five people who call for help actually get a human being to help them with their question. you got two people who probably end up frustrated and not sure if they're making the right choice in their tax forms. if you get through the average wait is 12 minutes. the irs taxpayer advocate says that's not good enough. the advocate is nina olson and her job is to make sure the irs is treating taxpayers fairly. congress has been heaping all of the new duties on the irs but not giving them any new resources so they don't have the staff to try and help you. it's not they don't want to or trying to be harsh but they don't have the people there to do it. it's interesting that we've got a lot of call for banks to make simpler statements. we've got the president saying hey, you shouldn't need a law degree to read your credit card contract. you certainly need a professional to do your taxes right now. i wonder if we could apply the principal to two areas. >> there's lots of possibilities obviously. >> lots. a lot of people talk about,

hey, how come charlie sheen is being lotted, tiger woods in trouble, blah, blah, blah. charlie sheen lost a big endorsement deal, maybe you've seen the tv adz for hanes underwear. talking to michael jordan and tries to hang out with him and michael jordan drives off. it was a straightforward call for hanes. sheen denies the allegations and had no cooperate on hans' decision. >> hanes are driving off. >> people have a loft opinions. sometimes your contract says you do something of moral turpitude we don't want you as your spokesperson. it's snowing in indianapolis. the area is expecting four to five inches of snow there. look at the live pictures. you don't want to be in that. it's slowing down lots of different folks from affiliate wrtv. we're watching that and was it fair play or bad sportsmanship? see the high school basketball game that got a little rough because of the score. and "of aor" has people

excited about 3d, it may be coming to your living room sooner than you think. we'll catch a sneak peak from the consumer electronics show in vegas.

♪ ♪ ain't nobody going to treat you better ♪ ♪ ain't nobody going to touch you better ♪ that was the mary j. blige taking the stage at the people's choice awards, singing the song lots of folks liked. stick around. vampires stole the show there, tv shows "true blood" and "vampire diaries" picked up and "twilight" won and ellen had some jokes during his acceptance speech for favorite talk show. >> this is an honor. i'm proud to be in the category with all the other nominees. thank you so much. oprah, i love you, and i'm sorry to hear your show got canceled. so i share this with you. >> hugh laurie also won favorite

actor on a tv drama. the nba coming down hard on gilbert arenas of the washington wizards. he's suspended indefinitely without pay. rafer weigel more details on this. >> there appears to be richard. arenas almost seemed to dare nba commissioner david stern to suspend him. he called stern "mean" said he did nothing wrong and even mocked the situation by pretending to shoot his teammates before a game. gilbert, come on. stern had enough. did not find it amusing. he suspended him without pay indefinitely and said his actions do not make him fit to play on an nba court, and his punishment could be "worse." what does ma thank mean? au we're taking your thoughts on this. russell wrote on our facebook page last time i checked carrying weapons is still legal. suspension for stern for picking pistol hand gestures is

ridiculous. pax tested 30-game suspension for the rest of the season, okay, i can see that. ferm nent suspension, get real. vick came back after going to prison. keep the comments cnn.com/robin, hit the "contact us" button or text 45688, start your text with robin's name so we get it. tensions boiled over in a houston area high school basketball game as one team tried to put up 200 points on its opponent and set a record. yates in red went up 100-12 at halftime, ended up winning by 135 points over lee. tempers flared, there were some hard fouls. yates coach defended its decision. lee was furious. the two teams tipoff in a rematch at the end of january. the bcs championship some don't want to call it a championship. this commercial paid for by a group that wants college football to use playoffs and not polls. tcu and boise state undefeated

and out of the championship. the spot will run in markets where the schools are in. a new cnn opinion research poll found most americans want a playoff system in college football. "avatar" could the technology be in your living room soon? that's part of the buzz at this year's consumer electronics show going on in vegas. joe carter got a sneak peek of that. >> reporter: the biggest story at this year's ces, 3d tvs. is it going to change the way we watch television or is it all hype? let's go find out. brian cooley, editor at large with cnet, brian, what do you see is going to wow! us this year in ces? >> i hate to say it but 3d tv. it's really here. i'm kind of an i don't get it guy on td. it's for a narrow audience that watches a certain content, great for gaming. you have to put on gogglements to watch weekly scripted drama on television, to watch a newscast. might be shot in 3d but i don't

want to put goggles on all the time. i'm nerve bus that and a lot of consumers bought an hd tv two or three years ago and don't want to buy another. >> we'rehdtv. >> we're just getting used to hdtv and still digesting the $2,000 purchase we just made, hello? which is what a car used to cost, but 3d is for real at this show. we're also seeing a lot of connected cars which is interesting. a lot of folks are getting nervous about this. i don't want to be driving and surfing the web. hold everything, right? but the idea is to allow car-centric apps just like on an iphone to be loaded in the car and do things over the internet, on the car that used to be loaded in the car. for example, if they have the navigation dvd now, it would reach out to the web and use google maps instead of having it tuned to radio or play music on your ipod it would stream radio. internet connection in the car makes a lot of things happen that are very much like your smart phone and computer which

is a smart consistency. >> a new decade and new devices. thank you, sir. >> brian coolly with the 3d shirt. did you see that thing? the consumer electronics show runs through sunday. be sure to check out the coverage. logon to cnn.com/robin. >> over to bob van dillen. >> i thought it was very garish, but perfect for vegas. good morning, richard. >> so far no delays each though it's snowing when you get to chicago. both those areas looking at snow. here's what we have for the rest of the day. we'll see delays popping up. let me show you first what it looked like on a tower cam a couple of minutes ago in indianapolis. winter weather advisory for indianapolis. this is literally 15 minutes ago. it is coming down and sticking to the roads. be careful out there, three to five inches of snow in indianapolis and it will all head to central ohio for later this afternoon. chicago and atlanta.

it will be rain and snow in atlanta and snow in chicago, watch for hour-long delays because of poor weather there, too. more in just a bit. >> mariah carey's performance in "precious" got her an award, but what everyone's talking about is what happened on stage during her acceptance peach.

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com a very good thursday morning. i'm richard lui in for robin meade. i hope you're having a good january 7th. the suspect in the botched terror attack on flight 253 is formally charged and president obama is about to reveal details here of govern chlt missteps that aloud the failed christmas day plot. plus on an extra layer -- you better put on an extra layer before you head out it morning. it's cold throughout and getting colder. some of you may be digging out of a new layer of snow today. plus -- >> once i found a different dress, he was, like, i would have married you in blue jeans. it didn't matter. >> a hitch and getting hitched.

a bride's dress here and a lot of other stuff was stolen days before her wedding, but she's not letting it get her down. she is resilient. top story today. we find out about the government mistakes that allowed a plan to try to blow up a plane on christmas. president obama will release a de-classified version of the report he got. he is asking for immediate changes after the intelligence failed to connect the dots. this has to be fixed because airplanes will continue to be targeted. >> the terrorists have been fascinated by aviation, if not utterly obsess by it. even after 9/11 they said they'll move on. next time it will be a shopping mall or a sea port or a subway and yet if we look at what they've gone to again and again, they've gone back to the shoebomber. we had this bomb in the underwear and the attempt of liquid explosives and there was a plot to crash a plane into the tallest building on the west coast. so aviation is not just one of

possible venus for terrorism. it seems to be the one that most fascinates the terrorists. >> the suspect in the failed attack, umar farouk abdulmutallab was charged with six counts including attempted murder. the question is how complicated is the legal case against him? >> when the facts are as obvious as these facts are people tend to not go to trial and i don't know when he will plead guilty, but i think he will. >> what we're hearing from fbi officials is that they spoke to him without giving him miranda. as you would expect they were interested in the disruption of any follow-on attacks and they then gave him miranda and what i'm hearing from fbi sources is he clammed up and became somewhat belligerent. if he maintains the belligerent attitude he may force the government to walk the paces in this case. >> he's expected to make his first court appearance tomorrow. now to the security breach at newark's airport. the tsa's cameras were not recording at the time, but we're

expecting to see new video today. new jersey senator frank lautenberg is releasing him so people can help identify the guy who has not been found as of yet. continental airlines though had their cameras and they were recording. you might recall someone ducked under a rope sunday without passing through security and caused these massive delays you see here and we'll show you that video as soon as we get it right here on hln. another top story is outside right in front of your house and the deep freeze that has a lot of you shivering is about to get serious in the south and several inches of snow can fall as far south as tennessee and georgia. it is already very cold there and there's snow on the ground in memphis and kansas city already. it's particularly hard for people living on the streets. >> it's a great help because this is the only coat i have. >> i appreciate it very much. it's a very good, warm feeling to have somebody in this community that serves us like that. >> in some cases it can be a matter of life and death. people need to find a way to

find shelter from the cold. >> those shelters are definitely working over time today and throughout the week. bob, in fact, it's so cold in the south that one of our producers was noticing, if you want warmer temperature goes north to alaska. >> go to arching raj. they're 32 degrees right now. the arctic blast now going down through canada, into the northern part of the united states. here's what it looks like. the low pressure center just outside of chicago and that's moving to the east. heavy snow in chicago stretching toward indiana and ohio, but behind it temperatures are dangerously cold. look at these readings. minus 14 in bismarck and minus 8 in pierre. that's without the wind and add the wind to it and the windchill factor is just about deadly. minus 46 in saskatchewan where you see the green shadings come back in, we ran out of colors because that's how cold it is. it's easily minus 50. minus 14 in kansas city and

there's the cold there. we'll have the full details in just a couple of minutes. then you have check out a man accused of repeatedly walking out of a target store with high-price items without paying. police say this happened near atlanta and they're looking for the man and they say on four different occasions he filled his car with things like expensive vacuum cleaners and blu-ray disk players and then he walked out of the store. at one point he threatened an employee with a baton who confronted him about what he was doing. >> gilbert arenas will not be playing basketball for a while. the nba tar is suspended indefinitely for taking guns into the locker room. rafer weigel joins us with more with the details. >> suspended indefinitely without pay after he was seen pretending to shoot his teammates at a game tuesday. this was before the game during intros. he made his hand as pistols

while his teammates seemed to laugh and encourage him to do it and after the game he told the reporters he's not remorseful because he did not nothing. league commissioner did not agree. he said the suspension could be substantial and perhaps even worse, worse makes you wonder. will they suspend him the whole year? will they kick him out of the league? he still has want been charged with a crime. what do you think the nba should do with gilbert arenas. should they suspend him for the year? should they kick him out of basketball or nothing at all? post a comment cnn.com/robin and click on the icon and you can also text us at 456 8. make sure you start your text with robin and we'll read it on the air in a couple of minutes. thanks a lot, rafer. >> over to bob van dill wen weather. we say it's cold all across the country and other parts hurt more than others. >> the upper midwest. i know you're used to very cold temperatures when it comes towards january, but when you start seeing wind chills of minus 35 to minus 50, that's

dangerous and that's what you're encountering across the dakotas in toward minnesota and ahead of that is the low pressure region right around st. louis in toward chicago and as this thing rides out to chicago, notice the trajectory of the snow gets north to the city and pivots back around and it's the pivoting area that gets the most amount of snow includes chicago and stretches to michigan and northern parts of indiana. we have winter storm warn negligence chicago land. most of the snow is on the light side around the city. get down south and those darker shades of blue. heavier snow out of bloomington and all moving to chicago itself. here's what it looks like with the tower cam. snow coming down being reported around o'hare and midway. visibility is down because of the snow. we will get delays in both those airports and it will be over an hour once they begin. >> you can see the st. louis radar picture, some light snow showers are still out there, but the snow itself is working through louisville. you can see the radar picture

out of kentucky and that's all of the snow headed toward indianapolis, too. >> we'll take you a couple of minutes to indianapolis and sticking to the roads and having a tough time and a very slow commute this morning. watching for that and the snow will pile up to 3 to 5 inches in indianapolis. especially to cincinnati, maybe less, one to three and we'll talk about that in a bit. >> the point is, you're showing us these pictures, things slow down. >> the airports are really going to get slammed today. atlanta getting rain and snow and we'll talk about it. >> appreciate it, my friend. >> you got it. there's one place to find hot new gadgets and warmer weather. that's vegas, baby! we'll check out the consumer electronics show for you and many across the country are dealing with nasty winter weather and it looks like it's going to get worse.

>> al qaeda is now claiming that

it was behind that suicide bombing that killed seven cia officers and contractors in afghanistan last month. an islamist website saying it was revenge after a u.s. missile attack killed a taliban leader in pakistan. a former u.s. intelligence official says that the bomber was a jordanian doctor acting as a double agent for both al qaeda and the united states. several groups say they planned the attack on the u.s. base and analysts say they are competing for credit to attract more donations and more recruits. here's more evidence that nerves are on edge after the failed christmas day terror attack. two f-15 fighter jets escorted a hawaiian airlines jet back to portland, oregon. after an unruly passenger made threatening remarks and refused to store his carry-on bag. there was no link to terrorism, but people were still rattled, understandably. >> we see the fire department surrounding our plane as we

landed. next thing you know they told us we couldn't move out of our seats and all of a sudden the doors open and the police are there escorting two people out. >> wow! >> so we knew it wasn't a mechanical problem right then and there. >> and we have a second incident to tell you about in the last 24 hours. another flight from detroit to orlando was diverted to nashville when someone found a suspicious package mid-flight and it turned out to be a christmas ornament. a northwest airlines flight was about to take off when a passenger was heard making inappropriate remarks and being disrupted and pilots taxied back to the gate. we have mug shots released with the passenger. mansor mohammad assad was taken off the plane and later arrested for disorderly conduct and other charges. we've got more from last night's people's choice awards last night in case you didn't have time to stay up late and get some zs. queen latifah hosted as she kicked it off with a very good

jazzy opening number, i should say. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> multi-talented queen latifah getting jackman to get a good smile there. he, by the way, picked up an award for favorite action star and johnny depp won a title, favorite movie actor of the decade. >> it has been quite an amazing decade, incredible ride, and i sincerely thank you all for bestowing upon me all your great treasures. thank you. other winners include carrie underwood for favorite country artist and keith urban for favorite male artist. check out a man accused of repeatedly walking out of a target store with high-priced items without paying. police near atlanta looking for this guy. they said on four different occasions he filled his cart with expensive vacuum cleaners and blu-ray disk players and walked out of the store.

at one point he threatened an employee with a baton who confronted him about what he was doing. >> how dare he, jen westhoven, try to stop the guy from walking out of the store without paying. how dare he? >> just like that. >> wasn't there some other story where some employees chased a shoplifter out and they got fired because they're not supposed to chase. >> it can be dangerous. >> what do you do? i guess you say all right, well put your picture up and find you next time. >> they'll get him next time. tax dollars bailing out general motors and there was a big argument about whether that should happen or not and now the company is saying it could turn a profit this year and magic dust and that's great to hear. >> this is a bold prediction from the new head of gm. previously he said they'd be profitable for 2011 and maybe even this year. that's after five years of losses and just a year after gm filed for bankruptcy, if he could make that come true that could be big news in a bad

economy. gm, half owned by all of us through the government. the ceo says the key is going to be selling quality cars, persuading americans that gm cars are quality and he's also reportedly betting on the economy. if the economy picks up gm's profits will too. you may see something different on the shelves in target in the next few weeks. giant packages of things, toothpaste, mouth wash, paper towels, granola bars. you may be thinking am i in the right store? is this costco? target will check out a new strategy to compete with warehouse stores like sam's club and costco, sales in bulk. their sales weakened during ret session and meanwhile, the warehouse stores have been doing great. costco just this morning had new numbers out about great sales in the latest month. back to you. >> thank you so much. >> the tsa has not had a leader for months and the new white house nominee has hit a snag.

republicans are saying he lied about his past.

it is that time of year when we talk about gadgets and if you

want to see the latest of those causing a buzz these days, vegas is certainly the place to be. that's where the annual consumer electronics show, ces, is going on right you in. we have our joe carter there giving us a sneak peek at some of the high-tech futuristic items and he found a favorite for us. >> the big buzz word these days, tablets. apple's rumored to have one and we found one at ce is that lenovo makes. deaf incoldaway, crunch gear.com. tell us about the tabs. a tablet is a small computer that has a touch screen like on a smartphone and iphone, but it's bigger. you can read your websites and stuff on it. it's something you might take with you into the kitchen or to the living room and sit on your couch and read your e-mail, look at some blogs and stuff like that. the one that we just saw is called the u-1 from lenovo. it's a tablet but it fits on to a keyboard portion that is actually a separate computer and when you snap it on there, and when you snap it into the

keyboard it switches control to the keyboard and you can type in stuff. it's kind of weird, but it's pretty cool. >> thanks for your time. we'll see you this week. >> thank you. the consumer electronics show runs through sunday. joe will be there reporting for us. we will be there live, of course, giving you the scoop. we're at the water cooler and you know exactly what's happening with the new gadgets and technologies. check out our coverage cnn.com/robin. . the most popular sport in the world is soccer and the world cup coming up in south africa, but advocates for the country's sex workers they want the world to decriminalize prostitution. concerns all around the issue. >> richard, this is like you said, it is the largest sportinges vent in the world. hundreds of millions of people will be watching and up to half a million soccer fans are expected to be in south africa. it's estimated that up to half of the country's prostitutes carry the hiv virus. so an advocacy group for sex

workers want to remove the threat of prosecution. their argument being that it would make it easier to give sex workers condoms and let them turn down clients who refuse condoms. it would beer inially impossible to get that legislation pushed through in time and they do not believe there will be an increased risk of spreading hiv. gilbert arenas has been suspend indefinitely without pay for taking guns to the team's locker room. this comes a day after he was photographed inexplicably before a game pretending to shoot his teammates, seemingly mocking it. after the game he told reporters if i really did something wrong i would feel remorse, but i didn't do anything. commissioner david stern did not agree. although it was clear that the actions of mr. arenas will ultimately result in a substantial suspension and perhaps worse. his ongoing conduct has led me to conclude that. he is not currently fit to take the court in an nba game.

arenas responded with remorse saying he put the nba in a negative light and let his teammates down and his fans and he's sorry for doing that. kitty wrote on our facebook page. kudos to the league, commissioner and any other authority who follows suit dealing with all these overpaid sports players who choose to walk the wrong side of the street. robert wrote, suspending him is a good move until he gets legal stuff out of the way. the nba then should make tough are rules so this would not happen again. that's a look at sports. richard, to be fair, the nba has very strict rules about guns on team property. >> they certainly do. and the viewer responses as you've been telling us, very passionate. okay. thanks, rafer. >> several republican senators are holding up the nomination of a new ts achieve. the washington post reports senators are concernedier rol southers lied. he improperly accessed a federal database more than 20 years ago and looked up records there on his estranged wife's boyfriend,

but it actually happened twice. he says he simply forgot that detail. the white house is standing by him. a bride thought she had everything she needed for her big day, but a thief put a kink by stealing her wedding dress.

we dpop get video of that security breach at you in arc's airport some time today. new jersey senator frank lautenberg is releasing it so people can help identify the guy who has not been found as of yet. someone ducked under a rope into the terminal on sunday without passing through security. that cause wad you see which is massive delays for a lot of different people. a new report blames crucial missteps for a shootout that left four oakland police officers dead back in march in california. the suspect gunned down two motorcycle officers and an ill-fated decision to storm the apartment where the suspect was fighting led to two more officers being killed. the s.w.a.t. team later killed

the suspect. actor gary coal mid-cap had to spend the night in an l.a. hospital. his agent says the 41-year-old actor had a slight seizure, but a cat scan showed no major problems. coleman who has had two failed kidney transplants will get dialysis. those are some of the stories that we're watching for you on this thursday. i hope you're having a good january 7th. i'm richard lui in for robin meade. bundle up, record cold temperatures are coming your way. shelters working overtime trying to get ready for people who need a place to stay in this bitter cold. some southern states could see several inches of snow in the south. this storm has caused big problems in the central and midwest. look at this chain reaction crash in nebraska where ten cars and trucks ended up in a ditch. bob van dillen will tell you what you need to know coming up, so stay with us. the suspect in the failed christmas day plane attack umar

farouk abdulmutallab faces six counts in an attempt to murder 289 people onboard the plane. he was indicted yesterday and will make his first court appearance tomorrow. he could get a life sentence if he is convicted and new this morning, a government official in yemen saying that abdulmutallab did meet with the same radical cleric who exchanged e-mails with major nadal hasan. nadal hass app, the man accused of the fort hood shootings. here's more evidence that nervesor edge after the failed comes day attack. two f-15 fighter jets escorted a hawaiian airlines jet back to portland, oregon, yesterday after an unruly passenger made threatening remarks. the fbi later released the man and his companion as well. they say there was no link to terrorism, but people were certainly rattled. >> prior to that before boarding, you know, i didn't feel real comfortable with him.

>> i'm so tired. we came over portland and came really low over the river like we're going to make a water landing and they said it was employ inproblems or something. >> thaupt the only incident. another flight from detroit to orlando was diverted to nashville when someone found a suspicious package mid-flight and that turned out to be a christmas ornament. then there is a third example in miami last night. a northwest airlines flight was about to take off there when a passenger was heard making inappropriate remarks and being disruptive. we have this mug shot to show you of the passenger that was released this morning. police say mansor mohammad assad was taken off the plane and later arrested for disorderly conduct and other charges. now to a robbery suspect that escaped from police right in front of a tv crew in new york. here's the video. watch the guy with the orange hood there. he slips out of his handcuffs and he runs. police say they caught him minutes later on a train and he

break his ankle. what officers do is they don't tighten the handcuffs too much so they won't hurt the inmates and they're reviewing those procedures. >> ohio police are searching for two bank robbers, but don't call it a man hunt. the suspects are girls. they're both believed to be no older than 14. investigators say they hand the teller a note demanding cash. these girls even dodged a police helicopter and dogs, too. a former criminal investigator talked to "prime news" host mike galanos about why he thinks they'll be caught very soon. >> they gave them bait money. >> there are a lot of things that banks are doing these days. bait money is money where the serial number has been taken and they can take copies of it so when the dollars start showing up in circulation they can start tracing this back. some banks have tiny transmitters that can follow it. that's not in this case, but there are a lot of interesting things banks are doing.

once those dollars start getting spent, there's no doubt they'll start zeroing in on these people, but i believe the big of the clues will come from the girls themselves as they start talking about this. get the latest on this story on "prime news "wto with mike galanos. join mike at 5:00 eastern on hln. it's cold as ice. bob van dillen. a lot of people having to change their regular routine because it is so cold outside, even us here at the cnn headquarters in atlanta, some people might be staying overnight at the hotel to be sure to get in for work. >> exercising the whole time today. if you're definitely not going outside today. if you live in north florida toward the northeast, here's what it looks like. this weather is brought to you by cheerios. gotcha! i didn't know that, but i'm glad they did that. low pressure region south of chicago. that's your storm moving full force over toward the east and the snow is decent. we're talking about a foot of

snow possibility and that's when you get toward chicago. we have blizzard warnings out there for lower parts of south dakota. the reason why, windy conditions and poor visibility and you have the winter storm warnings and the areas shaded in red right around iowa and northern parts of illinois. let me show you how much snow we're counting on over the next 48 hours and this might be underdone as we get into the gaks. that snow will pile up and the white, fluffy variety. you see the dark shoifd purple. the rest of the region is three to six and that includes indianapolis to cleveland and fades apart, losing that punch and energy, but we are going see slick roads out there because of the black ice is a possibility once it begins to freeze later this morning. here's what it looks like later today. we're looking at temperatures dropping down and minus 9 in bismarck and it's minus 16 in billings and add that windchill and it's minus 41 degrees in

billings. minus 20 in sioux falls and minus 19 in omaha. those are extremely cold temperatures and they're all racing to the east and it will want warm up that fast, either, because all of that air smas going over snow that's already on the ground. look at snow going through chicago headed toward indianapolis and you zoom on into chicago's radar and that is moving on down especially down to the south. i want to show you this tower cam right here. winter weather advisory for the city of atlanta. that is for the afternoon. you're looking to the east and notice the mid-level clouds moving through. that's the beginning stages of the snowstorm as it heads into the region. only looking for a half inch to an inch of snowfall accumulating overnight and the beginning stages are already there. it looks pretty nice there, but this time tomorrow there will be snow on the ground. atlanta, the capital of georgia and that's a little fountain in the middle part of the city. look at that. the water just keeps rubbing and the temperatures have only been above freezing each day over the

last couple of days. it's just a monolith of ice. more details on that in a little bit. are you on team dog or team cat? people have strong feelings about this and you'll be surprised which species gets the most support. plus charlie sheen is feeling the backlash from his domestic violence arrest. what companies are dropping the ads with the actor.

let's check out what's making headlines in today's morning papers. we'll go outside in the cold and rack them open for you.

"usa today" reporting people's incomes may stay at a permanently lower level and kids could lose educational opportunities because states are forced to slash their budgets. we go to "the l.a. times" governor schwarzenegger wants to mandate that state and spend more on public universities than on locking people up in prison. it was the highlight of his final state of the state address last night. then we take you to the chicago tribune. it has the story straight out of a hollywood caper flick in what might be a first for the city police. they were able to snab suspected bank robbers thanks to credit card-sized gps devices hidden in the stolen cash. that ink stuff is all old school, i guess. it's an age-old battle, dogs versus cats, but it looks like the dog lovers are the clear winners here. a new poll found nearly that three-quarters of people like dogs a lot, but only 41% said they were cat lovers. sorry you feline lover ps there

were also more people who strongly disliked cats. men are a bit more likely than women to say that, by the way. you're supposed to respect and admire them. >> okay. so let me guess here, jen westhoven, you are on the cat side? >> i am on the cat side, but, you know, everybody's got their own. >> that's all right. you want to be politically correct is what you want to be. if you node help with your tax questions this year, good luck calling the irs. you might think, jen westhoven, that would be the first place to go. they wrote the code. >> i think the temptation is to say what's going on over there? they're blowing us off? only three out of five people who call the irs get a human being? that's two people who get left hanging on the line and not knowing how to file their taxes, wanting to do a good job. if you do get through the average wait is 12 minutes, but i should tell you that the irs taxpayer advocate, she doesn't

work for the irs. she says, though, that's not enough. this is nina olsen and her job is to make sure the irs treats taxpayers fairly. well, she says because congress is sweeping too many new duties on the irs and not giving them resources so they just don't have the staff to try and help everyone. she's saying, look, it's a resource problem and not an attitude problem. i hope something changes there and i've been bringing it up this morning, there's been pressure banks to be clear in their language with you, with me, with all of us. maybe the tax code can get clearer in its language, too. i think we'd all like that. >> this just in this morning, want too much change in the weekly count of the jobless market that we always look at. you want to know what's happening here. 1,000 more people signed up for the first time to get unemployment benefits, that's 434,000 people in all across the country in the latest week. so when we look at this weekly jobless number it has been getting better, but so slowly, too slowly for many people, but

the big job will come tomorrow and the monthly number and there's a lot of hope and we'll see signs that things are getting much better in the market. there will be minimal losses after nearly two years where jobs were getting crushed month after month here. so a lot of hope, richard, that things will look a lot better. finally charlie sheen lost a big endorsement deal. maybe you've seen the tv ads for hanes underwear, trying to hang out with michael strord an. michael jordan looking at him like, you're weird, bud pep given allegations of domestic violence this was a straightforward comment for them, and he denied the and has no comment on hanes' decision. hanes is the one driving away now. >> this is so much bigger in light of the news with tiger woods and his endorsement deals that everyone is looking at both of them. >> far-reaching implications there. >> thank you. more trouble for nba star gilbert arenas. how the league is coming down

hard on him for taking guns into the locker room. people are getting to try out new gadgets and gizmos, the consumer electronics show in vegas. you will get a look at the new technology in store for your car.

the blockbuster movie "avatar" brought us 3d drama in the big screen, but could that technology be in your living room soon? that's part of the buzz at the consumer electronics show going on right now in vegas. our joe carter is there and he's getting the sneak peek for us. >> the biggest story at this year's ces, 3d tvs. will it change the way we watch television or is it all hype. let's go find out. brian keel, editor-at-large with cnet. brian, what do you see that will wow us at ces? >> i hate to see it, but 3d tv. it's really here. i'm kind of an i don't want get it. it's for a narrow audience that

watches a certain kind of content and i don't think we'll put on goggles that you have to watch weekly scripted drama on newscasts. i don't want to put goggles all all of the time and i'm nervous about that and a lot of consumers just bought an hdtv and they don't want to buy another one with 3d ability which they don't want to do. >> we're still digesting the $2,000 purchase we just made. hello which is what a car used to cost, but 3d tv is definitely for real at this show. we're also seeing a lot of connected cars which is interesting. a lot of folks are getting nervous about this and say i don't want to be driving and surfing the web. hold everything, right? but the idea is to allow car-centric apps just like on an iphone to be loaded in the car and do things over the internet on the car that used to be loaded in the car. for example, if they're having the navigation dvd now to have your maps it would reach out to the web and use google maps instead of having it tuned to

radio or play music to your u pod, you would stream radio. it makes a lot of things happen that are very much like your smartphone or computer which is a nice consistency. >> a new decade and a whole lot of new devices. brian keel, editor-at-large of cnet thank you. >> you bet. the consumer electronics show, ces, runs through sunday and joel be there live. we'll bring you call of the scoops on the new gadgets. be sure to check out coverage at cnn.com/robin. the nba coming down hard on washington wizards star gilbert arenas. he is suspended indefinitely without pay. rafer weigel, we are finally hearing from the league on this, huh? ? our viewers are coming down hard on him as well. get this, if his suspension lasts the whole year he'll lose $9.9 million, but it remains to be seen how long he'll be suspended and it came a day after this happened. he was photographed pretending to shoot his teammates before a game. seemingly mocking the situation.

well, commissioner david stern not finding this amusing and said his actions do not make him fit to play on an nba court and his suspension could be indefinite responding with an apologetic statement says he looks forward to playing again, soon, whenever that is. if i brought a gun to work and waved it around i would be fired on a spot and i don't work in a public arena. he should be looking for a new job. jonathan from new jersey, i think he should be kicked out of the league, like it or not u he is viewed as a role model. please keep your comments coming. cnn.com/robin and hit the f icon or text us at 45688 and start it with robin's name so we get it. >> any teammates come out for arenas? >> they say if he's been convibted of a crime, suspend

him. tensions boil over in a houston arena. a high school basketball team. one team tried to put up 200 points on an opponent and set a record. ended up winning by 135 point. tempers flaired and a couple hard fouls andiates' coach defended his decision. they tip off again january 29th. that is bad sportsmanship. texas and alabama is tonight, but some say don't call it a championship, this commercial paid for by a political action group shows tcu and boise state both undefeeted. by the way, a new research corporation poll found more americans want playoffs in college football and most americans like breathing oxygen. playoffs. from the no kidding category. >> rafer weigel, thank you. bundle up well before you head out the door. a polar chair is tightening it

grip on the country. and people and balloon boy's dad, again, deny he pulled off a hoax to get publicity. so, why did he plead guilty.

it is thursday, january the 7th. thank you very much for joining us right here on "morning express with robin meade." so glad you have taken out the time to join us this morning because you're just getting up. first off, the suspect in the botched terror attack on flight 253 formally charged. and president obama is about to reveal details of government missteps that allowed the failed christmas day plot. and then -- >> what if that guy was in alaska. i don't want to be. you know it is cold when people in florida feel the

weather that is supposed to be, well, more than, it's cold in alaska or something like that. a deadly arctic chill is tightening its grip on the country. we're tracking sub freezing temperatures. a rob resuspect slips away from police right in front of a tv camera crew. first off, if you didn't wake up to cold temperatures this morning, you are certainly in the minority. probably 5% of the country. a winter storm could mean record low temperatures in two-thirds of the united states today and even some southern states could see even several inches of snow who are used to seeing that. ten cars and trucks in nebraska skidding off the icy road and cold temperatures freezing the mississippi river in illinois and the bitter cold is very hard for people living on the streets, as well. >> it's a great hope because this is the only coat i have. >> i appreciate it very much. it's a warm feeling to have

somebody in this community that serves us like that. >> in some cases, it can be a matter of life and death. people need to find shelter from the cold. >> difficult, very difficult for those who don't have homes in this very cold weather, bob. unfortunately, that means just about most of the country. one of our producers even saying if you're in atlanta right now and you want to get warmer weather, you have to go up to alaska. one of those spots we were playing earlier. she said the same thing, right sph. >> i want to live in alaska, if you'rive hadding in jacksonville, florida, it feels just like it. at least this time of day. that quick moving low just south of chicago. heavy snow out there. behind it, it's the coldest atmosphere of the season. arctic air is now driving down through canada and in towards the dakotas and the purple-shaded colors bleeding in towards montana and north dakota. minus 30 fahrenheit without the wind and add the wind to it and it feels a little worse.

feels like minus 46 up in saskatchewan and notice the lack of coloration right there i ran out of colors because it's too cold. i will show you where the snow is headed in about three minutes. >> all right. a top aide to president obama says you'll be shocked when you hear the details of a new report of the failed christmas day report on a plane bound for detroit. later today, the president is releasing a declassified version of the report that he got, and that's when we're going to get those amazing or shocking details. he is ask forring immediate details after intelligence failed, too, in his words, to connect the dots. james jones telling "usa today" president obama is alarmed by what went wrong. >> i think once people read it, read it, i think there's a certain shock to it in the sense that, you know, the man on the

street will say, will be surprised that, you know, that these correlations weren't made. there was that out there. there was a number of things that could have triggered the prevention of this individual ever getting on an airplane. >> now, the suspect in the failed attack abdulmutallab was indicted on six counts, including attempting to murder the 289 people onboard that plane. he could get a life sentence, if convicted. the question is, though, how complicated is this legal case against him. >> when the facts are as obvious as these facts are, people tend not to go to trial and i don't know when he will plead guilty, but i think he will. >> what we're hearing from fbi officials is that they spoke to him without giving a miranda. they were interested in the disruption of any follow-on attacks. they then gave a miranda and

what i'm hearing from fbi sources he clammed up and became somewhat belligerent. if he can maintain a belliger t belligerentebelligeren belligerented aitude, he could walk through the case. now to the latest on the security at newark airport. the cameras were not recording at the time, but we are expecting to see some video today. continental airlines had cameras that were recording. frank lautenberg is releasing it so people can help identify the guy who has not been found as of yet. you might recall in the story someone ducked under a rope into the terminal on sunday without passing through security. this caused massive delays and we'll show you that video when we do get it right here on hln. gilbert arenas will not be playing basketball for a while. the nba star is now suspended indefinitely for taking guns into the locker room. rafer weigel, not happy. >> absolutely not, richard. we knew it was coming, we just didn't know to what degree.

suspended indefinitely without pay after he was seen pretending to shoot his teammates at a game on tuesday. this was before the game, making his hands into pistols while his teammates seem to encourage him on and laugh. afterwards told reporters that he's not remorseful for bringing the guns because he did nothing wrong. david stern did not agree and says the suspension could be substantial, perhaps even worse. which makes you wonder. will they kick him out of the league and suspend him the rest of the year. he still has not been charged yet with a crime. that's what we're asking our viewers. what do you think the nba should do with gilbert arenas? should they kick him out of the league or nothing at all? click on the f icon or hit the contact us button and you can also text us at hlntv 45688 and make sure you start with robin's name and, again, we'll try to read your comments in ten minutes. richard, very passionate responses on our page. president obama has popped

up on a times square billboard without his permission. it features a news photo of the president wearing that, a weatherproof brand jacket. the company bought rights to the picture but didn't think it needed white house permission because the ad does not say president obama endorses the brand. the white house plans to ask weatherproof now to take that down. all right, over to bob van dillen right now. we have snow and ice and the only place we're not going to see that is in the west, right? >> san diego, los angeles, looking pretty nice. nice morning for you guys. it is. i will tell you where it's not coming down and drying out for you around the dakotas with the snow. the cold still out there and, obviously, heaviest snowmaker right around chicago with the low down to the south. as it moves to the east, the snow pivots around chicagoland to northern illinois and northern parts of wisconsin and that is the area that picks up

the heaviest amounts of snow. let me take you live to chicago. here's what it looks like on michigan avenue. ground stoppage at o'hare right now because of that snow. you see magnificent mile, kind of tricky getting around there today. grand total of about a foot and maybe 14 inches of snow for you around chicago. it's that puffy snow and the stuff does not pack because of the cold. cold front all the way down to houston and that's your arctic cold frontal boundary. little moisture out of the gulf of mexico and rain right out of louisiana and rain and snow trying to get through mississippi in towards alabama and light snow being reported right around huntsville and that light snow and rain mix headed towards atlanta. travel delays, you bet you. we'll have full delays coming up in about ten minutes. now to a story we're getting in here on hln. st. louis police are looking for a gunman suspected of shooting three people in an office in north st. louis. the victims' conditions have not

been released. we're just getting in this video from our affiliate and information from our other affiliate there. the suspect is believed to be armed with an assault rifle. police are still searching for additional victims and the gunman, as well. st. louis police looking for a gunman suspected of shooting three people. from cell phones to computers and flat screens, there is one place where you can find the hot new gadgets, las vegas. some of the things at the consumer electronic show that are creating quite a buzz. the christmas day terror scare has people on the edge. in a few minutes you'll hear from passengers on a plane that turned around and escorted back fighter jets.

diverted to nashville when someone found a suspicious package midflight and it turned out to be a christmas ornament and then another flight in miami last night. a northwest airlines flight about to take off when a passenger was heard making some inappropriate remarks and being disruptive. pilots taxied back to the gate and then got this video for ow of the suspect. he was taken off the plane and then later arrested for disorderly conduct and other charges. >> this is not the time to be joking around. >> a lot of people are concerned, not only passengers, but the officials, too. you make that point, jen. your tax dollars bailing out general motors. a lot of conflict when this happened. the bailout, right, for the

automakers. but now gm is saying, guess what, we'll be profitable in this year, which for us because we're taxpayers, that sounds pretty good. >> that could turn out to be one of the business school textbooks if he could really do that. bold predictions from ed whittaker after five years of losses and just a year after he filed for bankruptcy, he's saying the company can turn a profit next year. if that comes true, that would be good news in a bad economy. huge turn around. gm more than half owned by you and me through the federal government. the key is going to be persuading americans that they have a quality product and he's also betting a bit on a recovery that the job market is going to get better. if you shop at target in the next few weeks you may start to see something different on the shelves. gigantic packages of toothpaste, granola bars you might think, am i in sam's? target will sell in bulk to compete with the big warehouses like sam's and costco.

target has been looking at some weakening sales throughout the recession. a successful business owner traded in her high heels for dancing shoes. she took every penny she had and opened a new dance studio in atlanta and she said she'd do it again. stephanie elam has her story in small business success. she was in the insurance business until she took a leap of faith. >> it was a good time for me in my life to pursue something that really made me happy. not just something that paid the bills but fed the passion that i've always had for dance. >> reporter: at 46 she cashed in her ira to start a dance studio in atlanta. >> i opened this business with $40,000. that's all i had. it is amaing what you're willin to do when you believe in something. >> reporter: she never let doubt get in the way of her dream. >> keep you on your toes and then you're able to embrace it a little bit easier.

>> reporter: she opened the studio with 25 students just 35 years ago. since then nearly 13,000 students have come through the doors. it offers more than 120 classes a week from hip-hop to latin jazz. she plans to open more dance studios soon. >> if you can add something into your life that brings you joy, your life gets better. that's what dance does to people. >> okay, so maybe you think that's really nice, but my small business is even better. well, come on. we'd love to see your story. you have to take a video ireport of it and tell us some tips you used when starting your business and upload it at cnn.com/robin and you could be next on "morning express."

going on right now, our own joe carter got a sneak peek at the future high-tech futuristic items and found a favorite for us. >> the big buzz word, tablets. apple is rumored to have one and we found one here. among the millions of things here, tablets, tell us about these tablets. >> a tablet is just like a very small computer that has a touch screen like on the smartphone and iphone and it's bigger and you can actually read your websites on it. somebody may take it to the kitchen or living room and sit on the couch and read your e-mail or blogs. and it's a little tablet but it fits on to a little keyboard portion. actually a separate computers and when you snap it on there, snap it into its keyboard it switches control over to the keyboard and you can type and stuff. it's pretty weird, but pretty

cool. >> thanks for your time. we'll see you this week. >> thank you. the consumer electronic show runs through sunday and we'll be there live bringing you the scoop on all the new gadgets. check out our coverage. back to this breaking story here on hln. st. louis police looking for a gunman suspected of shooting at least three people at an office in north st. louis. police say the suspect is armed with an assault rifle. police are still searching for additional victims and looking at tape here from our affiliate. we're watching live pictures but we don't want to show that because there's an ongoing search right now. searching at a power company and we'll have more information as we get it and we'll share it with you. soccer world cup coming up this summer in south africa. they want officials to decriminalize prostitution. rafer, this is a huge event. this has got to be the biggest one.

>> biggest sporting event in the entire world and you are looking at half a million soccer fans expected to be there. it is also estimated that half of south africas carry the hiv virus. they want to remove the threat of prosecution. the threat that it could make it easier to give sex workers condoms and one official told cnn it is nearly impossible to get that legislation pushed through in time in june. a member does not believe there will be an increased risk of spreading hiv. nba star gilbert arenas suspended indefinitely without pay for taking guns to the team's locker room. he was photographed before a game pretending to shoot his teammates while surrounded in a circle and then after game told reporters, if i really did something wrong, i feel remorse, but i did not do anything. david stern did not agree. handing down the punishment, although it is clear that the actions of mr. arenas will

ultimately result in a substantial suspension, and perhaps worse, his ongoing conduct has led me to conclude that. he is not fit to take the court in an nba game. arenas responded saying i let my teammates and my fans down and i'm very sorry for that. here's what you're saying about it, an anonymous viewer said, i think indefinite suspension is a bit extreme, but i would agree with a suspension, period. just not an indefinite one. very poor judgment, suspension is good, but if they let a dog fighter such as michael vick back in, he needs to be allowed back. by the way, richard, he has not been convicted of a crime for bringing those guns out of the locker room. >> we need to remember that. despite all the stuff happening on the outside. thank you, rafer. a look at this video, a sea lion keeps getting away, but there's a reason why it needs to be caught. 

b. entop fund raising team for bike ms. stocks are expected to dip early in the day, we're watching this. some retail reports are out that can make or break some things for investors and also looking at the latest report on unemployment claims and how that will affect the market. we'll have that for you. we expect, though, to get video of that security breach at newark's airport some time today. in the meantime, new jersey senator frank lautenberg is releasing it so people can get help to i.d. the guy who has not been found. someone ducked under a rope

sunday without passing through security and it has caused massive delays. snow and ice causing big problems across europe. delaying flights in britain, france, netherlands. several roads in britain are closed after heavy snow caused hundreds of accidents and long delays there. then, new details this morning about the suspect in the failed christmas day plane attack. an official in yemen says that abdulmutallab met with a radical clearic there. the same cleric that exchanged e-mails with major nadal hasan. he was accused of the ft. hood shootings. thanks for being with us. richard lui in for robin meade. st. louis police are looking for a gunman suspected of shooting three people in an office in north st. louis. within the last 45 minutes we're getting details here at hln and we're learning that police say

the suspect is armed with an assault rifle and police still searching for additional victims. this is recorded video. now, we're watching the live video but we want to show that to you in case the suspect is watching the live video. the st. louis post dispatch saying that employees were running to the roof to escape the shooter at the time. we're monitoring that and we'll get you updates right here. stick with us. big concern this morning about the winter storm heading south right now. record low temperatures are forecast in a lot of places. some states could see several inches of snow. now, this storm has already caused big problems in the central and midwest states. just look at this chain reaction. nebraska about ten cars and trucks ended up in the ditch and then, get this, a big chunk of ice smashing through an illinois man's windshield. take a look. >> poof and the ice hit and,

unfortunately, directly into the windshield, directly in front of me and straight into me. i thought i was going to die. the impact was so bad and the pain was so severe. >> here's what happened. the ice apparently fell off the top of a truck going the other direction. it broke apart in the air and then it crash under to the driver's face through the left side of that windshield there. al qaeda is now claiming that it was behind that suicide bombing that killed seven cia officers and contractors in afghanistan last month. an intelligence official says the bomber was a jordanian doctor acting as a double agent for al qaeda and the united states. it was revenge after a u.s. military attack killed a taliban leader in pakistan and, actually, several groups now saying they plan the attack on the u.s. base. and say all these groups are competing for credit for this to try to attract more donations and more recruits. the man known as balloon

boy's father insists the incident was no hoax. he talked to larry king on our sister network cnn and he said he really thought his son could have been on that balloon. >> i'm not disputing the fact that i did have to plead guilty. and when i say have to, i had to do it to save my family and my wife. the threat of deportation was imminent. >> deporting who? >> my wife? >> to where? >> japan. we had applied years ago for some paperwork and we had to reapply. she should have been an american citizen by now but, anyway, i can't break up my family. >> all right. well, see the entire interview on "larry king live" tomorrow night at 9:00 eastern on cnn. police have a frustrating case on their hands. they were trying to catch a sea lion in california and people say the animal appears to have

fishing line that is tangled around its upper body. >> we keep trying. he'll come back up to rest and some place accessible, we'll make another shot because we need to get that net off him. >> this is one of three injured sea lions that they tried to rescue without success and rescuers say they will try again. if you didn't stay up late last night to watch the people's choice awards, we got you covered. queen latifah hosted it and kicked things off with a jazzy opening number. look at this. ♪ don't you worry the queen is here ♪ ♪ all your dreams are coming true people's choice ♪ >> getting a laugh there. picked up an award for favorite action star and sandra bullock won for favorite movie actress. she got choked up during her acceptance speech. >> most of all to my family, my

family who life is hard sometimes, but we get through it with laughter and to my dad, i hope you're feeling better. and my husband who makes me feel like this every single day. >> all right. other winners include that vampire mega hit "twilight." he won for favorite breakout movie actor. his ex-girlfriend taylor swift won favorite female artist. all right. bob van dillen. rocking with the weather for us. cold all across the country. i think we have alaska that might be warmer than some states in georgia. >> 32 cities in georgia. >> 32 in anchorage and mid-20s in georgia. and behind it, though, behind the storm the coldest air is located and temperatures easily below minus 35 with the wind

chill. now, let me show you the snow totals, too. snow moving towards the east and snow accumulating on the ground when you get in towards western ohio coming out of indiana and chicago. the purple-shaded areas near chicago, that's a foot or more of snow. you're looking at south right there in the bullseye at least on our computer model that's 12 inches of snow. we're looking for that as it moves on through. now, let me show you the temperatures behind this. these are all the current temperature readings, just plain old temperature. minus 10 in pierre and watching the temperatures in saskatchewan just dropping. minus 35 right now when you get towards and you add on the wind and remarkably bad. feels like minus 22 in sioux falls and minus 15 in kc and in towards denver, mile high city minus 21. that cold air is going to be here and gets a little bit warmer for you at least tomorrow afternoon into the weekend.

temperatures trying to climb back up and that cold air move over to the east and southeast over the next couple days. look at heavy snow in chicago and stretches down and rain for mississippi on in towards mississippi and rain and snow mix and kentucky and mostly towards georgia shortly. new york city live real quick. you look at the snow and not until overnight tonight. cold front breezes by and we get temperatures set up and 30s and 31 and 32 for saturday and sunday. more on that in a bit, richard? >> always cold, but negative 50. thank you, sir. all right, let's move on to the nation's biggest retailers. they're reporting their sales today and, guess what, it's very important because for the month of december susan lisovicz joins us from the new york stock exchange and what we might expect to see in the market today. how are you doing there, suzen?

>> i'm staying warm. it's real cold outside, but there is a chill on wall street. you know, we had the bull run on monday and investors have been sitting on the fence and that's sort of the case today, despite the fact, richard, that retail picture is encouraging. strong showing from target, t.j. maxx and macy's, sears and nordstr nordstroms. retailers, let's face it, cut back on inventory so they didn't have to move clearance. meanwhile, general motors showing up and he expects the automaker to turn a profit this year. gm has been losing money since '05 and also says the company is proceeding with its winddown plans for saab since the buy down for buyable bids expires today. finally sam's club you buy paper towels and electronics there and you can soon buy vodka there. the wholesale club will launch a

premium vodka rue 33 and about 2 to of its stores this month. a 1.75 liter bottle will cost $28, which is a whole lot less than say gray goose, costco already sells the vodka, as well. folks who are entertaining at home more due to the recession. so they're responding. richard? >> it is just warmer inside. susan lisovicz, thank you. a new coffee house in your neighborhood may seem a little familiar. why this place is running a stealth campaign. 911 dispatchers can't believe how calm a 5-year-old girl was when she believed her dad was having a heart attack.

a powerful tool for screening airline cargo may not work all of the time. the tsa says three bomb sniffing dogs at philadelphia international airport flunked a critical test twice. now, they have been decertified since then but still on patrol. the tsa has some 700 dogs patrolling airports and travel hubs across the country. ohio police are searching for two bank robbers but don't call this a manhunt. the suspects here, they are girls. they're both believed to be no older than 14 years old, as well. investigators say they handed the tell arnote demanding cash. these girls even dodged a police helicopter and some dogs. a formal criminal investigator talked to mike galanos on why he

thinks they'll be caught soon. >> they gave them bait money. that could be traced. >> a lot of things banks are doing today. the serial number has been taken and they can do it in a lot of different ways, including making copies of it. when these dollars start showing up in circulation, they could trace it back. some banks have tiny transm transmitters that could follow it. a lot of interesting things banks are doing. once those dollars start getting spent, they will start zeroing in on these people. the biggest clues will come from the girls themselves as they start talking about this. >> police don't think the girls used weapons during this robbery. people living within four miles of an ash spilling volcano are being evacuated. the coast of costa rica raising the alert level. several dozen people have taken refuge at government shelters since. the volcano started rumbling several months ago and the last major eruption was 145 years ago. most adults are in a panic when they have to call 911, but

there's one little girl who managed to stay completely calm when her dad had a heart attack. he couldn't talk, so he passed the phone to her and she then gave their address to the dispatcher and stayed on the line for ten minutes. listen to what she was saying. >> what's wrong? >> my dad can't hardly breathe. >> keep him away, okay? >> he really needs oxygen. >> he really needs oxygen? >> yeah, real bad. >> how old are you? >> i'm 5 years old. >> very is a smart and very responsible. her dad, by the way, is okay and back at work. some rare tiger cubs just made their big debut to the world. a big crowd gathered at the zoo to see the five white tiger cubs and they watched as the two girls and three boys got their first medical tests. they are in danger of extipnctin

extinction, by the way. the big bcs showdown between texas and alabama is tonight. we'll have a live preview from pasadena for you. and a robbery suspect makes a run for it. how police end up catching this guy.

we have six people here to visit the morning express team with robin meade. thanks for getting up. we appreciate you coming on the tour and hope you have a great time here and happy new year, by the way. all right. all right, i'm rafer weigel with sports. it is considered the super bowl of college football. the bcs national championship kicks off tonight. number one, alabama, taking on number two, texas. our own mark mckay is live in pasadena and, mark, the bcs title game for all its controversy is still the biggest college football game of the year with so much at stake. >> no doubt about it, rafer. good morning as the sun prepares to come up over southern

california. we're just hours away from that number one matchup alabama against texas. the bcs title game. alabama looking for its first national title in 17 years and the texas longhorns looking for their second national title in five years, their fifth overall to say these two teams are raring to go, rafer, is an understatement. what i gen is both of these well-respected coaches and nick sabin and nick brown a whole month to work on game plans that they hope will bring them a national championship at the rose bowl behind me tonight, rafer. >> figures to be a good game, mark. one of the key players is going to be alabama's mark engram, the winner of the most prestigious award in college football. his story is an interesting one. >> an interesting one, indeed. first heisman trophy winner looking to cap a sensational season to score no more than

1,500 touchdowns. the whole ingram family will not be here tonight. in a holding cell in new york city sits mark father, mark sr., serving a 7 1/2-year extend for money laundering and bank fraud. the talented running back from alabama says he constantly talks to his father on the phone each day. he has been in contact, and he has said that everything he's learned about the game of football he's learned from his father who has an interesting history himself, rafer. mark sr. was a key member of the 1991 super bowl-winning new york giants team, he played wide receiver. >> and i know the tro have a very close relationship inspite of him being incarcerated. thank you very much. we'll check in with you in an hour. that's it for sports. richard? >> thank you, rafer and mark, too. wow. let's check in with travel updates with bob van dillen now. bob? good morning, i have a live towercam from louisville, kentucky. winter storm warning right there, already have a couple of inches of snow on the ground. you can see it here.

live shot coming at you. moderate snowfall. about 3 to 5 total for you. winter storm warning in louisville, kentucky. what about the rest of of the region? chicago, you will see delays. right now we're calling for an hour or more even though o'hare, 2 1/2-hour delay now. atlanta, rain this afternoon, changing to snow this evening. watch for an hour or more delay here and also st. louis, half-hour delays possible this morning. san francisco currently has a 45-minute delay due to fog. full details on that winter storm and a look at the arctic outbreak in a couple of minutes, richard. >> thanks, bob. your favorite new coffee shop might be a starbucks without you even realizing it. what the company is doing is trying coffee houses under different names and without the trademark tall, grande, and vente cup sizes. starbucks says though they're operating under different names the stealth stores are not a departure from the brand. 3-d tv may be coming to your living room. we'll take you to the big electronics show where future

gadgets are on display.