it is just painful. >> some unbelievable scenes playing out across the eastern united states. it's like somebody left the door open to the arctic. when forecasters are saying temperatures could come back to normal. the people who once wanted to adropt a missing 3-year-old boy spoke with hln. what they say they did to help police find gabriel johnson. a mystery in san francisco may have been solved hundreds of miles away where experts say scores of sea lions have turned up, and why. record breaking cold across the country today. you're watching "hln news and views." i'm general jennifer westhoven, thanks for joining us.

the icy roads caused many car accidents, even this massive pileup. 300 crashes were reported in one georgia county alone. driving is even more difficult further north thanks to all the snow. snow plows worked in hammond, indiana, to clear out the road but some people took to shovels to dig themselves out. >> i prefer sunnier skies, but you know, you got to do what you got to do when you live in the midwest and dealing with this weather. i'm -- usually i'm pretty angry with the snow, but i'm okay this year. >> i'm glad he's got a sense of humor about it. many parts of the country saw record-breaking low temperatures. listen to this. 31 below in aberdeen, south dakota, and 31 below in grand island, nebraska. the freezing temps even moved to the sunshine state, prompting a run on space heaters. >> i bought four but i think i'm going to go in and get some more. >> business is booming for florida stores that sell space heaters.

but the cold snap isn't so good for tourism or orange crops. temperatures will reach into the mid 40s today across parts of central florida. but factor in the windchill and it feels more like the low 30s. authorities in new jersey say they've identified and arrested the man who touched off the newark airport security scare. he was taken into custody from his home last night. authorities say he ducked under a security rope on sunday to walk his girlfriend to her plane. when it was reported to security, the terminal was shut down. thousands of passengers had to be rescreened and thousands more trapped on arriving planes. last night jiang was charged with defiant trespass and released. new jersey senator frank lautenberg says his arrest sends a clear message. >> we're pleased that there is a message that goes out there saying don't try it. don't try it.

because if you will, we're going to catch you. >> at the time, jiang allegedly slipped through security, the tsa screener who was supposed to be monitoring the checkpoint had stepped away. and while thousands of passengers, as we said, were tied up for hours, security officials say jiang left the airport just 20 minutes after the incident. the christmas bombing suspect has pleaded not guilty to all charges. abdulmutallab appeared in court yesterday. he faces six federal charges including an attempt to blow up a plane and an attempt to use weapons of mass destruction. and that charge could get him life in prison if he's convicted. his defense didn't challenge the government's request to keep him in pretrial custody and his next court date has not yet been set. republicans are pushing for a closer review of how would-be bomber abdulmutallab made it on to the plane. the ranking republican on the house homeland security

committee said there were enough red flags to raise an alarm. >> both parties recognize the need for answers so bureaucratic reviews will take place and congressional hearings will be held. while that's all well and good, this is about much more than whether the no-fly list gets longer or it takes more time to get through the security line at the airport. this is about whether we've learned our lesson. >> this past week, president obama acknowledged u.s. intelligence failed to connect the dots on all the information it had about the suspected plane bomber. one of the questions on this year's census has upset a lot of people. it's the one about your race. for 2010, one of the choices is negro. now, the word is listed alongside black and african-american, as it has been on past forms like the last one from 2000, seen here in yellow. now, the 2010 census is in blue, but some people say the word is outdated. >> personally, i don't care for it. i believe that african-american pretty much states what we need to know.

and it's very clear. >> negro sounds like something in the slavery time, to me. >> it's not so much what we're called but what we respond to is the thing that matters. >> the san francisco chapter of the naacp says what's more important is people fill out the census so african-american communities don't miss out on billions of dollars in federal fund. census officials say some people wrote in the word negro on the 2000 census. the bureau, which operates under the commerce department, is considering whether to remove the term for the next census in 2020. so we've been getting your views on this. you've got a wide variety of opinions on this. here are a few posed from facebook. jackie went to dictionary.com for historical perception.

so we want to hear from you on this story. what do you think? do you think using the word negro on the census is outdated? should it still be listed if some people prefer it? sound off on my facebook page. search for jennifer westhoven, hln or e-mail us cnn.com/hln and dive into the discussion. we may read some of your answers on the air today. most of san francisco's famous sea lions have disappeared. what happened to them? where did they go? it's been a big mystery, but now that mystery may be solved

maybe you heard about the big mystery in san francisco. hundreds of sea lions who had become a popular tourist

attraction over the years just disappeared. well, we may now know where they went. it seems some of those sea lions went north, 500 miles north. the sea lions started showing up at a popular cave on the oregon coast. experts say it's probably because there's lots of sea lion food there, like anchovies. it's not totally a surprise that they made it so far. sea lions can swim 100 miles a day in search of food. millions of people have seen the sea lions at pier 39 in san francisco, but they started leaving late last year. just 20 were left by thanksgiving. scientists say there's no way to tell how many of the sea lions in oregon are from the san francisco group. vice president joe biden says he's lost the woman at the center of his family. his mother, jean biden, died yesterday at the family's home in delaware. she was surrounded by loved ones. the vice president said in a statement, she believed in us and because of that we believed in ourselves. jean biden was 92.

you may not know the name art clokey but i bet you know his work. he died yesterday. he invented gumby as part of a student project when he was at usc. gumby and his horse friend pokey were eventually featured on "the howdy doody" show and in the '80s he was portrayed on "saturday night live" as a cigar chomping, prima donna. bank failures are common last year and still turning up in 2010. horizon bank of bellingham, washington, was the first bank to fail this year. all its deposits and assets will be taken over by washington savings and federal loan association in seattle. that means the fdic will have to cover more than $500 million in insurance costs. 140 banks failed last year, the highest number since 1992. the fdic chairwoman says the number could be even higher this year in 2010.

this weekend, las vegas is a high tech haven. firms are showing off their trendiest smart books, laptops and lots of other devices. hln's joe carter is there and takes a look at something that soon you may not be able to do without. >> reporter: we're in las vegas. it's not just gambling this week. it's all about the gadgets. the technological world has come here to unveil their hottest projects for 2010, the smartphones, the pcs. the gaming. let's go check it out. so what is this? >> it's a k-3 wind and solar charger. it charges any of your small electronic devices, cell phones, ipods. >> reporter: so i can plug my iphone into this device, stick it outside and it will either charge by sun or the wind? >> correct. and it has a battery in it so you can precharge it. then if you're hunting or camping or fishing or whatever, it continues to triple charge while you're out and about. >> reporter: the k-3.

flat screens are getting even flatter. this is the ultra thin by samsung and it's actually thinner than my iphone. if you're inspired by interactive technology, you're going to love this. this is the e-board by samsung. think of it as an electronic chalkboard. use it for school or business meetings. you can actually play video. if you want to show some images, same concept. drag, drop, open. another cool feature for this e-board is everything you do during your presentation will be saved which you can then put on a disk and give it to anybody watching the presentation. an electronic chalkboard by samsung. i'm joe carter for hln. >> that's our new guy, joe carter, reporting from las vegas where the consumer electronics show runs through tomorrow. we're there bringing you the scoop on new gadgets all weekend. you know cops and security guards may be packing heat. but humane society workers? why some are carrying concealed weapons on the job.

. president obama says he's accepted an apology from senate majority leader harry reid for comments reid made about him. reid's private comments came when obama was still a presidential candidate. reid reportedly said, obama could win the 2008 election thanks in part to his, quote, light-skinned appearance. reid went on to say obama didn't speak with a, quote, negro

dialect unless he wanted to have one. the comments were reported in the atlantic as part of an excerpt by two journalists. in a statement to our network cnn, senator reid says he deeply regrets using such a poor choice of words and he sincerely apologizes to all americans, especially african-americans. after talking with reid today, the president says, as far as he's concerned, the book is closed. just because you can drive in icy conditions doesn't mean you should. it's impossible to know just how many vehicles are now dinged and dented across the eastern u.s. atlanta alone is reporting hundreds of accidents after frozen rain and snow. and staying inside is no guarantee you're going to escape problems from the arctic blast. ruptured pipes are keeping plumbers busy. this video comes from houston, where some folks obviously ignored advice to wrap their exposed pipes. hardware stores there say foam insulation has been flying off

the shelves. if you can't find any, one plumber says, towels and duct tape will do the job in a pinch. in oregon, a reporter determined to get the job done was literally blown away by a howling wind storm. >> with sustained wind blowing 60 to 70 miles per hour out h e here, but the windchill is just painful. >> now, don't worry. she's okay, even after that fall. the reporter, keely chalmers, was back reporting live from the same scene later in the evening. but all the videos show just how many problems are being caused by the icy roads, the frigid temperatures and the wind. keep it tuned to hln. we'll have complete weather coverage all afternoon. i'm meteorologist bonnie schneider for hln with your saturday forecast. another day, another cold weather day. we are looking at more arctic air hitting the south in places

that typically aren't this cold this time of year at all. check it out. frigid across the center of the country. and then down in the south, so-called we've had reports of sleet and snow flurries early this morning in central florida. that's right, florida. the cold front has passed through and now the cold air is well in place. so temperatures today are going to be just brutal. check this out. highs today across the midwest, 19 degrees in chicago. the windchill factor will be below zero, as it was early this morning. even worse in kansas city, with a high of only 9 degrees. the windchill again below zero. then as we head to the southeast, 25 for the high temperature in memphis, tennessee. brutally cold there. as well as in atlanta. we're also looking at very cold temperatures for florida. miami at 53. also boston, northeast looking cold. if you're looking for milder weather, here's the place to find it, los angeles. we'll look for sunshine there and a nice, mild high temperature of 78 degrees. so if you're looking for relief

from all this cold, you'll want to head to southern california. that's where we're looking at the nice weather. in las vegas, 61 degrees. cold there. into salt lake city with a high of 32 right at freezing. that is a look at your saturday forecast. i'm meteorologist bonnie schneider for hln. a flight on its way from atlanta to san francisco had to make an unscheduled landing because of an out of control passenger. two f-16 military jets escorted the airtran flight to the ground in colorado yesterday after a disruptive passenger locked himself in the plane's bathroom. other passengers say the man appeared to be drunk. >> and the guy is just going off on the stewardess because she's telling him, you've had too much to drink. but he has no shoes and he has no shirt on. >> he was just pointing and yelling. and even when we went to land, he wouldn't sit down. he stood up in the back of the plane. >> the unruly passenger was taken into custody by police in colorado springs. he's expected to be charged on

monday with interference with a flight crew. that's a federal charge. a suspected suicide bomber blamed for killing seven cia employees and contractors threatened revenge before he died. humam kalil abu mulal al balawi appeared in a video. in it he said the attack war for revenge for a former palestine boss for an air strike. he said he was also carrying out the attack because of drone attacks inside pakistan. perhaps more ominously, he threatened more attacks are coming against america both outside and inside the united states. the man sitting beside al balawi in the video is the new leader of the pakistani branch. this is another picture we got from kalil al balawi's family. police in england arrested three men who they say

threatened staff aboard a plane bound for dubai. the men were arrested on suspicion of making a bomb threat and are in jail in london. it happened last night as the plane got ready to take off from heathrow airport. all the passengers were taken off the plane while police searched it with bomb-sniffing dogs. they found nothing suspicious. heathrow remained open during the incident. the togo national soccer team has withdrawn from the african cup of nations tournament. the team pulled out of the games this morning in the wake of that devastating attack that killed at least two people when gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying the team to the tournament. it happened on the border between angola and republic of congo. so far there's no claim of responsibility for the attack. some humane society workers have started carrying weapons. but it's not the animals they fear. in lawrence, kansas, workers who investigate animal abuse have started carrying concealed guns at work. and they say the real risk,

angry pet owners who aren't taking care of their animals. >> they're usually not very happy to see us. they don't think anything is wrong. or if there is something wrong, they don't want to admit to it. so they're usually not in a very good mood. >> it's important to have people here that can protect the public and our animals and make sure nothing bad is happening. >> the director of the hugh main society says while most calls are not dangerous, investigators are seeing more violence in their line of work. it's late night's latest battle. only months ago nbc gave jay leno a primetime talk show and put conan o'brien in the top rated late night spot. but low ratings for both hosts could soon lead to a late-night shakeup not seen since david letterman bolted for cbs $$$

suspect has been arrested for the scare that shut down a terminal at newark airport. the charges he's facing and why authorities say for ducking under a rope. the change of venue may have been for nothing. this scene on the courthouse steps as a transit police officer's trial got under way. plus, you'll be getting those census forms in the mail soon. pretty extensive, but one word on the form getting a lot of attention. why some people say it's outdated. we'll hear your thoughts on whether it should be there. record-breaking cold across the country today. you're watching "hln news and views." i'm jennifer westhoven. thanks for joining us.

the deep freeze has taken over partsd of the south making driving a dangerous prospect. the icy roads caused many car accidents, even this massive pileup. 300 crashes were reported in one georgia county alone. driving is even more difficult further north thanks to all the snow. snow plows worked in hammond, indiana, to clear out the roads, but some people took to shovels to dig themselves out. >> i prefer sunnier skies, but you know, you got to do what you got to do when you live in the midwest and dealing with this weather. i'm -- usually i'm pretty angry with the snow, but i'm okay this year. >> i'm glad he's got a sense of humor about it. many parts of the country saw record-breaking low temperatures. listen to this. 31 below in aberdeen, south dakota, and 21 below in grand island, nebraska. the freezing temps even moved to the sunshine state, prompting a run on space heaters. >> i bought four, but i think i'm going to go in and get some more. >> business is booming for florida stores that sell space heaters.

but the cold snap isn't so good for tourism or orange crops. temperatures will reach into the mid 40s today across parts of central florida. but factor in the windchill and it feels more like the low 30s. police in ohio are looking for two teenaged girls who are on the run after they allegedly robbed a bank. police say t the teen girls wald into the bank on tuesday, suggested they had a weapon and got away with an undisclosed amount of cash. authorities report that the suspects were described as two girls, one 14 had to 16 years old and the other possibly as young as 12. police are asking for your help, for help from the public to track them down. authorities in new jersey say they've identified and arrested the man who touched off the newark airport security scare. 28-year-old haisong jiang was taken into custody last night from his home last night in piscataway. authorities say he ducked under a security rope on sunday to walk his girlfriend to her plane.

when it was reported to security, the terminal was shut down. thousands of passengers had to be rescreened and thousands more were trapped on arriving planes because none of the gates at the terminal were open. last night jiang was charged with defiant trespass and released. he's expected to appear in court next week. new jersey senator frank lautenberg says jiang's arrest sends a clear message. >> we're pleased that there is a message that goes out there saying don't try it. don't try it. because if you will, we're going to catch you. >> at the time, jiang allegedly slipped through security, the tsa screener who was supposed to be monitoring the checkpoint had stepped away. and while thousands of passengers, as we said, were tied up for hours, security officials say jiang left the airport just 20 minutes after the incident. the christmas airline bombing attempt suspect has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

umar farouk abdulmutallab appeared in court yesterday. he faces six federal charges including an attempt to blow up a plane and an attempt to use weapons of mass destruction. and that charge could get him life in prison if he's convicted. his defense didn't challenge the government's request to keep him in pretrial custody, and his next court date has not yet been set. republicans are pushing for a closer review of how would-be bomber abdulmutallab made it on to the plane. the ranking republican on the house homeland security committee said there were enough red flags to raise an alarm. >> both parties recognize the need for answers, so bureaucratic reviews will take place and congressional hearings will be held. while that's all well and good, this is about much more than whether the no-fly list gets longer or it takes more time to get through the security line at the airport. this is about whether we've learned our lesson. >> this past week, president obama acknowledged u.s. intelligence failed to connect the dots on all the information it had about the suspected plane bomber.

the arizona couple that wanted to adopt missing baby gabriel tells hln they voluntarily took polygraph tests. gabriel johnson was last seen in san antonio with his mom. she was arrested in florida a few days later without him. so far, she won't say where baby gabriel is. jack and tammy smith at one time wanted to adopt him and were named persons of interest by police in arizona. investigators said they knew more than they were letting on. they think baby gabriel is still alive. they're asking anyone with information about him to call the national center for missing and exploited children, 1-800-the lost. one of the questions on this year's census has upset a lot of people. it's the one about your race. for 2010, one of the choices is negro. now, the word is listed alongside black and african-american, as it has been on past forms like the last one from 2000, seen here in yellow. now, the 2010 census is in blue, but some people say the word is outdated.

>> personally, i don't care for it. i believe that african-american pretty much states what we need to know. and it's very clear. >> negro sounds like something in the slavery time, to me. >> it's not so much what we're called but what we respond to is the thing that matters. >> the san francisco chapter of the naacp says what's more important is people fill out the census so african-american communities won't miss out on billions of dollars in federal fund. census officials say some people wrote in the word negro on the 2000 census. the bureau, which operates under the commerce department, is considering whether to remove the term for the next census in 2020. so we've been getting your views on this. and your opinions are wide ranging. here are a few posed from facebook.

so we want to hear from you on this story. what do you think? do you think using the word negro on the census is outdated? should it still be listed if some people prefer it? you can sound off on my facebook page. search for jennifer westhoven, hln or e-mail us cnn.com/hln and dive into the discussion. we may read some of your answers on the air today. most of san francisco's famous sea lions have disappeared. what happened to them? where did they go? it's been a big mystery, but now that mystery may be solved.

maybe you heard about the big mystery in san francisco. hundreds of sea lions who had become a popular tourist

attraction over the years just disappeared. well, we may now know where they went. it seems some of those sea lions went north, 500 miles north. the sea lions started showing up at a popular cave on the oregon coast. experts say it's probably because there's lots of sea lion food there, like anchovies. it's not totally a surprise that they made it so far. sea lions can swim 100 miles a day in search of food. millions of people have seen the sea lions at pier 39 in san francisco, but they started leaving late last year. just 20 were left by thanksgiving. scientists say there's no way to tell how many of the sea lions in oregon are from the san francisco group. okay. so most people make new year's resolutions to better themselves or others. but a san francisco politician is taking his new year's resolution in the opposite direction. city supervisor chris daly says he plans to use the "f" word in every board of supervisors

meeting this year. he announced his new year's resolution at a board of supervisors meeting and most of his constituents and colleagues are not happy about it. >> i think it's f'ing ridiculous and i am so glad he is almost out of here. >> i think it's a non-i shall ew and publicity stunt. >> i actually dropped off a bar a soap in his office so that he could use it to clean up his language. >> san francisco's mayor says daly's behavior is an embarrassment to the city. this weekend, las vegas is a high tech haven. firms are showing of o their trendiest smart books, laptops and lots of other devices. hln's joe carter is there and takes a look at something that soon you may not be able to do without. >> reporter: i've been hearing a lot about green product at this year's ces and i found one. it's called an electric book. this is david with sanoe. tell me about it. >> one of the things we've done over our 15 years of developing

electric bikes in japan is we made one that feels like riding a regular bicycle. the motor is in the front wheel and the battery pack it here and the electronics that manage it are on the bottom bracket. there's no throttle. all you do is get on the bike and start pedaling and the bike takes off. >> reporter: how fast can it go? >> 15 miles per hour is max speed but the harder you pedal, the faster you go, up to 15 miles per hour. you can also shut the electric power off and it will be just like riding a regular bicycle. >> reporter: do i need to plug this into the wall? >> you take out the battery and plug it into a charger. >> reporter: he assures me when i ride this, i'll come back with a smile. off and running. you can feel the power in the bike. this thing takes off. how much is this bike going to set me back? >> 2,295. >> that's a lot of dough. >> it will basically pay for itself by gasoline savings. >> brakes like a normal bike and

pedal except when you pedal you can feel the power. >> in summer i ride my electric bike to work. it costs about three cents to charge the battery to go from work to home. >> good thing saving the planet. green is good. >> that's our new guy joe carter reporting from las vegas where the consumer electronics show runs through tomorrow and we are there bringing you the scoop on new gadgets all weekend. you know cops and security guards may be packing heat. but humane society workers? why some are carrying concealed weapons on the job.

senate majority leader harry reid apologized today for comments he made about president obama during the campaign. they were reported in the atlantic as part of an excerpt from an upcoming book by two journalists. the book tells how senator reid reportedly said in private that then candidate obama could win thanks to his, quote, light-skinned appearance. the excerpt goes on to say that obama didn't speak with a negro

dialect unless he wanted to have one. in a statement to our sister network cnn senator reid says he deeply regrets using a, quote, poor choice of words and sincerely apologizes to all americans, especially african-americans. just because you can drive in icy conditions doesn't mean you should. it's impossible to know just how many vehicles are now dinged and dented across the eastern u.s. atlanta alone is reporting hundreds of accidents after frozen rain and snow. and staying inside is no guarantee you're going to escape problems from the arctic blast. ruptured pipes are keeping plumbers busy. this video comes from houston, where some folks obviously ignored advice to wrap their exposed pipes. hardware stores there say foam insulation has been flying off the shelves. if you can't find any, one plumber says, towels and duct tape will do the job in a pinch. in oregon, a reporter determined to get the job done was literally blown away by a howling wind storm.

>> with sustained winds blowing 60 to 70 miles per hour out here, but the windchill is just painful. >> now, don't worry. she's okay, even after that fall. the reporter, keely chalmers, was back reporting live from the same scene later in the evening. but all the videos show just how many problems are being caused by the icy roads, the frigid temperatures and the wind. keep it tuned to hln. we'll have complete weather coverage all afternoon. a flight on its way from atlanta to san francisco had to make an unscheduled landing because of an out of control passenger. two f-16 military jets escorted the airtran flight to the ground in colorado yesterday after a disruptive passenger locked himself in the plane's bathroom. other passengers say the man appeared to be drunk. >> and the guy is just going off

on the stewardess because she's telling him, you've had too much to drink. but he has no shoes and he has no shirt on. >> he was just pointing and yelling. and even when we went to land, he wouldn't sit down. he stood up in the back of the plane. >> the unruly passenger was taken into custody by police in colorado springs. he's expected to be charged on monday with interference with a flight crew. that's a federal charge. a suspected suicide bomber blamed for killing seven cia employees and contractors threatened revenge before he died. humam khalil abu mulal al balawi appeared in a video. that aired on al jazeera this morning. in it he said the attack was for revenge for a former palestine boss for an air strike. he said he was also carrying out the attack because of drone attacks inside pakistan. perhaps more ominously, he threatened more attacks are coming against america both outside and inside the united states.

the man sitting beside khalil al balawi in the video is the new leader of the al qaeda's pakistani branch. this is another picture we got from khalil al balawi's family. he's suspected of blowing himself up at a cia base in afghanistan on december 30th. police in england arrested three men who they say threatened staff aboard a plane bound for dubai. the men were arrested on suspicion of making a bomb threat and are in jail in london. the incident happened last night as the plane was getting ready to take off from heathrow airport. all the passengers were taken off the plane while police searched it with bomb-sniffing dogs. they found nothing suspicious. heathrow airport remained open during the incident. the togo national soccer team has withdrawn from the african cup of nations tournament. the team pulled out of the games this morning in the wake of that devastating attack that killed at least two people when gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying the team to the tournament. it happened on the border between angola and republic of congo.

so far there's no claim of responsibility for the attack. docket ost may soon have two new tools to help them in the fight against alzheimer's disease. one is a drink that may one day be sold at harmsy. souvenaid is a food that must be prescribed by doctors but a new study suggests it may help delay some of the symptoms of alzheimer's. another found a new kind of scan called diffusion tensor imaging may help pick up signs in people. some humane society workers have started carrying weapons. but it's not the animals they fear. in lawrence, kansas, workers who investigate animal abuse have started carrying concealed guns at work. and they say the real risk, angry pet owners who aren't taking care of their animals. >> they're usually not very happy to see us. they don't think anything is wrong. or if there is something wrong,

they don't want to admit to it. so they're usually not in a very good mood. >> it's important to have people here that can protect the public and our animals and make sure nothing bad is happening. >> the director of the humane society says while most calls are not dangerous, investigators are seeing more violence in their line of work. it was a big scramble for a big prize by elvis impersonators yesterday. check it out. ♪ that was his best shot. these guys are competing at the european elvis championship in england. his look-alikes came from all over and even from new zealand. the king of rock 'n' roll would have celebrated his 75th birthday yesterday. it's late night's latest battle. only months ago nbc gave jay leno a primetime talk show and put conan o'brien in the top rated late night spot. but low ratings for both hosts

could soon lead to a late-night shakeup not seen since david letterman bolted for cbs.