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next on msnbc saturday, blaming al qaeda. for the first time, president obama points the finger at the terror network for that attempted terror attack. we have live expanded coverage straight ahead. also, a vacation getaway for the wife of tiger woods. how far has she gone to put distance between them. plus the tv fights. how cable customers suddenly can't see a couple of the most popular channels and why it could be a harbinger of things to come. and it's video for motorists that may give new meaning to the term soda jerk. that's really actually a very good line which you'll understand after you see the

story. good morning, i'm chris jansing in for alex witt. we have all that to bring you this morning, along with a word to the wise about credit card changes that could cost you big-time. first new this morning. for the first time, president obama is directly blaming a branch of al qaeda for that botched bomb plot on the detroit-bound plane. nbc's mike viqueira is at the white house for us. what can you tell us. >> good morning, chris. the president in his weekly radio and internet address for the first time makes a direct link between al qaeda and the suspect who tried to blow up that plane coming into the skies over detroit on christmas morning. we've heard a lot of talk about a trip to yemen, contact with known terrorists, known radical clerics in yemen, by this young man, but the president made it clear this morning what the administration knows about this man's contact with al qaeda. >> we know that he traveled to yemen, a country grappling with crushing poverty and deadly insurgencies. it appears he joined an affiliate of al qaeda and that

this group, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for america. the president went on to emphasize that during his administration, much to the contrary to some of the information and attacks that have come from his opponents here in washington, he has focused on yemen, saying that the previous administration had taken the eye off the ball, by sending so many forces to iraq, and had neglected afghanistan. and now yemen, this is an argument we've heard before. the president has the preliminary assessment about what went wrong. two preliminary assessments. one on the bell jens side, one on the airport security side in hand. he's been reviewing those while he continues on vacation in hawaii. he returns monday morning here to the white house and then the following day he has a meeting in the situation room with the heads of many of the agencies involved that have come under criticism. the department of homeland security. the national counterterrorism center. the director of national intelligence. the transportation security

administration. all entities that were formed in the wake of 9/11, the 9/11 commission, and their recommendations. they were supposed to streamline information, promote the sharing of information that evidently did not happen this time. going to be a lot of tough questions, and some tough answers when the president meets with those agency heads on tuesday, chris. >> not to mention the five upcoming congressional hearings. mike, thank you. >> yes, all right. >> for some perspective i'm joined by nbc terrorism analyst evan coleman. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> so one of the things we hear from the president, he's going to make it a priority to strengthen relationships with friendly countries and cites yemen in particular. but given the internal situation in that country, is it easier said than done? >> yeah, it's incredibly easier said than done. the yemeni government in the last couple days has been coming out and suggesting that if we just give them more money, if we just give them more support, they can take care of this problem. and i think that's a little bit overly optimistic. we've heard the same line from the pakistani government and if you look at pakistan right now there's a lot of work left to be done there. there are some very, very

serious underlying problems in yemen. aside from the fact that you have al qaeda there. there's another insurgency along the saudi border with a group of shiite extremists. who also don't like the united states, who also don't like the west. and who have been waging a pretty active campaign. they actually just took custody of a saudi soldier, took him hostage just a few days ago and put him on tv. so the yemenis have some very serious problems. there's endemic poverty. so simply launching missile strikes is not going to be the answer. not to mention the fact that yemen is not the only problem. right across the straits, right across the red sea we have somalia. and just a few weeks ago an individual was picked up by african union peacekeepers trying to board a flight in somalia, apparently with a device very similar to that of umar abdul mub. so the question is if we put all of our effort, start focusing exclusively on yemen what's going on in those other franchise areas like somalia, this is a multitiered threat.

>> so complicated. but we've known for a long time about afghanistan, obviously. pakistan. now yemen. yemen number two in the amount of money it was given in the pentagon's counterterrorism program. but, $67 million just in the big picture, that doesn't sound like a lot. where do you think the united states needs to be focusing those counterterrorism dollars? >> well, i think most importantly, we have to look at yemen and we have to understand why al qaeda has managed to flourish there. the two main reasons, obviously number one the arrival of a group of ex-saudi guantanamo bay detainees who were released in 2007, who have really given a big jump-start to this organization. we have to try to go after those folks. but number two, most importantly, why has al qaeda managed to achieve a base there? the reason is because they've established relationships with local people. with local tribesmen who are sympathetic to this. who are opposed to the yemeni government. if we really wanted to see al qaeda in yemen, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, the solution is trying to drive a wedge

between the tribesmen, the local tribesmen and al qaeda. how we're going to do that, it remains to be seen. but missile strikes alone are not going to take care of the problem. that's how we're going to separate al qaeda from the local people, and that's how we're going to deprive al qaeda of a base in yemen. >> in terms of their level of importance, how significant are these radical clerics? we now know al awlaki not only tied to this christmas day bombing but he had already been tied to the shootings at ft. hood. >> that sets aside all the other cases where he's been indirectly tied to. let's not forget about ft. dix right here in new jersey. we had a group of home grown islamic extremists who thought al allow ki was the greatest thing since sliced bread. they listened to his lectures all day, saying this is the ideology we want to follow. this guy has laid out our strategy, so you look at cases like this and you start to understand that this is a very important player. anwar al awlaki is an important player not just in a home grown

terrorism but now even in organized terrorism. and he's the one who supposedly, anyway, is helping to forge those relationships with local people, local tribal leaders in yemen. so he's another important piece of this puzzle. we have to figure out a way of making sure that he's not around for the next umar abdulmutullab. the next major nidal hassan. >> one of the things you've been saying for a long time is that osama bin laden is forced more underground and others, there will be people who come in to fill that void and clearly there may be multiple levels of them. thanks, evan. >> thank you very much. police in pakistan say a suicide bomber who killed 96 people at a volleyball tournament probably actually had another target in mind. the new year's day bomb attack took place right near a meeting of elders who were trying to find off the taliban in the area. those men had set up an anti-taliban militia. today, rescuers are continuing to comb through the rubble for more bodies. here at home, big storm brewing for northern new england

states. it's day two of preparations in portland, maine. a significant amount of knsnow expected there and all across the state. for more here's bill karins. >> good saturday morning to you, chris. waking up to snow. new york city a light dusting overnight. it's still snowing pretty good in areas of long island, connecticut, also through massachusetts. it's going to be pretty much an all-day snow event through areas of new england. in boston the next two days it's going to be windy, you're going to see periods of snow, and it will be enough that you probably are going to have to do some shoveling, too. official forecast calling for 3 to 6 in boston. but areas of northern new england, at least 6 to 12 inches with this latest storm. that's the travel trouble spot on the eastern sea board. other locations are cold, including the southeast. but if you want to talk about cold, look at the midwest. windchills are in the negative 37 range in bismarck. minneapolis negative 29. just a horribly cold period into the new year for minneapolis. today's high is going to be 2 degrees. tomorrow, only 7 degrees. so, by far the worst area for

winter cold this weekend. in the midwest. back to you, chris. >> all right, bill, thank you. this latest blast of winter weather is expected to stay awhile so check out weather.com to see how long it will stick around where you are. and tennessee police just releasing this dash cam video showing a man who just apparently couldn't quench his thirst. the video shows him dragging a soda machine from the back of his truck, sparks flying everywhere. he allegedly stole the machine earlier in the day. officers did catch up with him and arrest him before anyone was hurt. police say he was hoping to get the money out of that machine. new details this morning about rush limbaugh's condition following his release from the hospital. the 58-year-old radio talk show host left a honolulu hospital yesterday after he was admitted earlier in the week for severe chest pains. nbc's lee cowan is in honolulu with the latest. lee? >> good morning. a very relieved rush limbaugh resumed his hawaiian vacation

here yesterday, calling his health care something that was very humbling but also very mystifying, as well. he described the pain that he had as some of the worst pain he's ever experienced. cardiologists now here in honolulu say that he did not appear to have a heart attack. but they're not exactly sure at this point exactly what he did have. take a listen. >> i wish i knew what it was. there's all people can do is make wild guesses about it. best guess was it might have been a spasm in an artery. but this angiogram showed literally no heart disease or arterial disease whatsoever. >> reporter: health care and health care reform are two of the key bones of contention that rush limbaugh has with the president and he didn't waste the opportunity yesterday to say that his experience at the hospital here was proof that the health care system is just fine. it's expected to hear probably a lot more of that on his radio show when he gets back. he's expected to be back on the air on wednesday. that's the latest from honolulu. back to you guys. >> thanks very much, lee. and still ahead, getting

away from it all. the wife of tiger woods goes on vacation. just how far did she go? also coming up, the new no smoking signs now in effect in big tobacco country. stay with us. mom: i'm back, ready to go? mom, anybody? hey, where's grandma? grandma: here! mom:ow'd you fit in there? woman vo: manage your weight at unbeatable prices. healthy living costs less at walmart. save money. live better. walmart.

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now to the latest on the tiger woods saga. the golf star's wife elin has turned up apparently at an exclusive french ski resort. mrs. woods is staying at a chalet at a reported $8,000-a-night place in the french alps. the british tab light "the sun" says she's been there for about a week with family and friends and is expected to leave today. meantime, at&t has become the latest corporate sponsor to sever ties with woods after he admitted last month to having extramarital affairs. across the u.s. today, lots of new laws to abide by. the laws taking effect at the stroke of midnight, january 1st,

right when the world was celebrating the new year. so how will the new laws impact your life in 2010 and beyond? nbc's jeff rossen has been looking into this and joins me now with all the details. for starters, jeff, i guess there's a smoking ban now in effect in rather unlikely place? >> yeah, you wouldn't think of it here, right, in north carolina, where tobacco is the king of the cash crops. smoking is now banned, chris, in all indoor areas of almost all restaurants and bars in that state, as well as in enclosed areas of hotels and inns, if food or drinks are served there. those who refuse to comply will face a fine of $50. so how big a problem is smoking in that state? 21% of adults smoke, compared to 18% nationwide. okay let's move over to california. the west coast, there's now a new law for paparazzi who stalk celebrities. paparazzi will pay more if they break the law to get celebrity photos and victims will actually be able to sue the publishers of

the material obtained when the laws are broken in getting that picture. the new law was championed by actress jennifer aniston. california also the first state to partially ban the use of cholesterol boosting artificial trans fats in restaurants. a lot of cities have that ban. california now the first state to do it. new hampshire became the fifth state to legalize same-sex marriage. right after midnight, 15 same sex couples tied the knot at the state capital in concord. the temperature just 21 degrees. you got to want it bad to get married to be out in 21 degrees. that didn't stop the celebrations, as you can see. also in new hampshire, there's now a ban on texting while driving. that ban also now in effect in illinois, and oregon. that makes 19 states now to enact bans, and the secretary of transportation says he wants the laws to eventually go nationwide. police will now give out tickets to drivers caught texting. and there are several laws pertaining to our four legged friends, as well. we take you to massachusetts.

dog racing has now been banned. it's out. and in california, there's a new ordinance that stops dairy farmers from clipping off cow's tails which i understand they use, they cut off the tails to keep the cow cleaner. i'm sure you've done that once or twice in your life, right? >> no, i can't say that i have. that's all fascinating, jeff. but here's the real question. >> yes. >> given the price a picture would fetch, why have we not seen tiger woods? >> we were just talking about this during the break. he's richer than anybody i know. but look, he does exist. has he just been in his house all this time? >> i don't think so, unless he got out by submarine. i don't know. what do you think? >> i don't know. he must have cabin fever. how long has it been now, three, four weeks holed up in his house? >> it is a big house. >> speaking of the paparazzi rule in california, now, you know they are staking out every entrance around this house like a fortress with photographers. how does the man get out of his house at all? elin went out and she had a picture taken of her. >> although i'm not so sure about this picture in chamonix,

because how do we know it's not her twin sister? >> it's true. i'm saying the one at the gas station with the ring and all that. >> yeah, okay. >> i'm on the hunt, chris. >> just leave here right now and i want this for tomorrow's show. >> i'm out. good-bye. >> okay, bye, jeff. thank you. now to more serious news and that terror plot against the u.s. airliner. an apparent shift in strategy from the white house. after a muted public reaction in the days immediately following the attack, the white house had scheduled a situation room meeting with security agencies across the board, and it now warns the president will hold its own government responsible for any intelligence failures. david mark is senior editor for politico. good morning to you, david. >> good morning. good to be with you. >> given the amount of noise that happened after the president stayed in hawaii, and some of his people downplayed the incident, any surprise that we've had this pretty significant shift in tone? >> i think it was kind of inevitable. the obama administration was kind of low-key in the first place. they clearly did not want to get

too far out in front and go out and scare people. i think once they started looking at the situation, and realizing there was some serious intelligence breakdowns, in how this individual got on the plane, they had no choice but to ramp up the response to a much greater degree. >> yet you actually on politico did sort of a tic toc on this and go through it, day one, december 25th, which was the incident. the white house releases a statement. saying the president is closely monitoring the situation. day two, aides speak with reporters, they say the president received updates. day three, we saw gibbs and napolitano going on sunday talkers, essentially saying the system worked. what was the strategy behind that muted initial response? >> the administration was essentially trying to play off the opposite of what the george w. bush administration did for so many years. which was to trumpet each foiled terrorist attack, and what critics would say is essentially scare the population. the obama team was trying to go

in the opposite direction, and say, yes, it's something to be concerned about. but don't change your daily lives. clearly they realized after a short amount of time that strategy wasn't going to work and now they've gotten much more intense and serious about it. >> there's also this debate about semantics that has a lot of republicans up in arms. in his address this morning the president said, quote, our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. and the republicans just wanted to say, war on terror, right? >> right. the obama administration has gone out of its way not to use the term war on terror. they've actually dropped it from official documents. the obama team says that implies that you can use military force against anybody, anywhere, that you just don't happen to like. when what you have to do is be much more precise in who you're targeting. this is a war of words. and it's something we're going to hear a lot from. it's something that republicans think they can get a lot of political mileage out because they think a lot of the american people is -- are on their side.

>> david mark, senior editor for politico where i don't think anyone has taken a vacation in the entire year. but it's great talking to you, david. thanks so much. >> thank you. still ahead, a new poll on the most admired americans. who would you expect to rank higher? first lady michelle obama or sarah palin? stick around and find out on msnbc. announcer: trying to be good to your heart? so is campbell's healthy request soup. low in fat and cholesterol, heart healthy levels of sodium, and taste you'll love. chef: we're all kind of excited about it. guy: mmm! i can see why. announcer: campbell's healthy request. m'm! m'm! good! for your heart.

president obama starts 2010 as the country's most admired living man. "usa today" and gallup polled americans and found the president blowing away the competition for the title. america's most admired women? hillary clinton. but it was a nail-biter. joining me to talk about this, susan pace, washington bureau chief for "usa today." good morning, susan. happy new year. >> thank you, chris. >> barack obama, 30%, beating george w. bush at 4%. nelson mandela for 3%. he really does have a core of strong support in the united states? >> that's right. and we often see presidents coming out at the top of this

list. but only two presidents have ever scored higher than barack obama did this year. that was john kennedy in 1961, the year he took office. and george w. bush in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in 2001. so it's really quite a strong showing. >> and then you have the women's side, and you have hillary clinton, who for 17 years, unprecedented, has been either number one or number two as the most admired. but just barely beating sarah palin. someone about as politically different from her as you could possibly imagine. >> you know, it's so interesting. sarah palin came out of nowhere onto this list. she's never been named before to the most admired list. it's an open-ended question so the people we survey can say whoever they wish. you know, it's essentially a tie. hillary clinton at 16%, sarah palin at 15%. given the margin of error that is a tie. most of the people who named hillary clinton were democrats, but virtually everyone who named sarah palin was a republican. >> the other thing that i find really interesting is that we

talk about our politicians. we complain about our politicians. we saw their numbers plummet as the economy plummeted. and yet, as someone who shall remain unnamed in this building said to me when they looked at the feel male side, where's mother teresa when you need her? i mean, it is interesting that both of the most admired are politicians. >> you know, it's a big change generationally, too. the first time this poll was taken by gallup was in 1948. and then you had first lady and her daughter. you had the queen of england and her daughter. only one woman who had been elected to public office. you look at this year's list it's got three former or current heads of state. it's got two secretaries of state. a former governor. so there is very much big presence for elected officials. although you also see people like oprah winfrey and maya angelou on the most admired list. >> and tierk woods. was this taken before or after the scandal? >> it was taken after the scandal. he came in, his strongest showing in seven years.

he came in tied for tenth, with bill clinton. and his wife, who had not appeared on the list before, tied for ninth on the most admired women's list. >> well that's interesting. and i'd like to talk to the people who voted for both of them to get their reasoning. such interesting stuff. susan, good to see you. thank you. >> thank you, chris. >> and coming up, some questions about the intelligence briefing the president received just a few days before the botched terror attack. how could there have been no mention of yemen in that update? also ahead, new credit card charges. why they may leave you feeling shortchanged if you're not paying attention. you're watching msnbc. [ female announcer ] there's sick...

and then there's the flu. and when you have it, everything hurts. for fevers and body aches from the flu, doctors recommend tylenol more than any other brand of pain reliever, for both children and adults. so when the flu strikes, you can feel better, all over. ♪ welcome back to msnbc. i'm chris jansing. today, for the first time publicly, president obama has laid blame on al qaeda for the failed christmas day terror attack. the president now gearing up for a tuesday meeting with the heads of his intelligence agency. those agencies front and center in the debate over national security and missed warning signs. i'm joined now by former cia

special agent jack wright and michael us acough investigative reporter for "newsweek." good morning, gentlemen. >> good morning. >> michael, there's a report in news week that the president's terror briefing just three days before the christmas day attack made no mention of gemmen. any threats from there. even in light of the fact that there had been one strike against a militant training camp there, and another was in the works, should we be surprised? >> it is a bit surprising. certainly there was no mention of yemen in the written brief. whether it came up at the meeting is another question. and white house officials did not or administration officials do not respond directly to that when my colleague was asking them about it. but look, the point here is that it's clear there were multiple breakdowns in intelligence, and connecting the dots here. the fact that there was a briefing for the president three days before this attack is certainly going to raise questions about what information was given to him.

what information was discussed at the meeting, and what actions were taken, if any, as a result. >> and the question of what actions were taken, jack, certainly points to the fact that a lot of folks have been suggesting, both within the government, and outside the government, that this really was something that was precipitated more by human error than structural error. is it too early to say that, though? >> no, i don't think it is. actually i think it's probably a little bit of both, as i recall. that's one of the things the president talked about. he mentioned human error and he also mentioned systemic error. remember human error in terms of analyzing what's important. but then it's the ability or inability to actually distribute that. i mean, that's really the question now on what it is that sat on the desk someplace in langley, virginia, at cia headquarters. what went to the national counterterrorism center. and how it didn't get distributed from there. so it really cuts both ways. >> does the fact that he actually, the president today, michael, used the term al qaeda, said it was, indeed, al qaeda that was behind this, give a

little more force, at least in terms of the public will to do something about this? >> well, look, i don't think it's any surprise what the president said today. much of that was reported in the initial hours after the attack. but, i -- look, you know, the president has actually escalated what is essentially a covert war in yemen, you've seen a series of air strikes over the last several weeks against al qaeda forces in yemen. with heavy u.s. involvement, intelligence and military assistance to that. we are -- we are essentially have opened up, or are engaged in a second front in the war on terror in yemen right now, that is every bit as ominous and serious as the one in afghanistan. >> so you have the united states really sharply increasing, jack, the amount of equipment, intelligence, training, to yemeni forces. but, how much is that stummied by the fact that you have a very unstable internal situation there?

>> well, i mean, that's part of the problem, too. you take a look at yemen itself. they have two different civil wars going on. one to the north, one to the south. michael's right on this point. is that what we're seeing from the president now is i think very publicly laying out there this, and i would call this a third front, if you would start looking at iraq, afghanistan, and now yemen. it's not just about the intelligence being provided. or the expertise being provided. or even the targeting being provided. the real question is whether we're going to start seeing special ops troops and actually american, if you want to call it boots on the ground fighting in a third front. i think the president is sort of building this argument up or he wouldn't have said this so publicly. >> we already heard a report of special ops in there. michael what are you hearing for potential of increasing the presence there? >> i think that's very much on the table. the fact that al qaeda and the ararian peninsula, which is the saudi and yemeni branch of osama bin laden's network claimed responsibility for the detroit attack.

which after all was a direct, you know, attempted attack on the u.s. homeland. provides the basis for, you know, escalated military action with more special forces, more u.s. military action in yemen. i mean, this is -- this is a big deal. and you know, not just, you have both al qaeda in yemen claiming credit for it, and u.s. intelligence showing that it was coming from yemen. in fact, it was a bombmaker in yemen who equipped the nigerian suspect on that airplane. but just to add one more point i think there's going to be a lot more coming on the intelligence breakdown in the u.s. system. jack mentioned the cia. but national counterterrorism center, which is run by the director of national intelligence, there's going to be a big focus on why they didn't connect the dots. they, after all, were set up to connect the dots. that's what they were there for. and the president has made clear

that as far as he sees, there were a lot of dots that could have been connected prior to this attack. >> not to mention probably dozens and dozens of congressional staff members who are getting questions together for lawmakers at these preparations are under way for the hearings that are going to happen in the congressional hearing rooms. guys, thanks so much. always good to talk to you both. >> thank you. >> thank you. this weekend on "meet the press," deputy national security adviser john brennan on how the terror attempt do have been prevented. also on the show, former homeland security chairman michael chertoff, and former cia director michael hayden. check your local listings for times. new video this morning of a man accused of trying to attack the artist behind the controversial cartoon of the prophet mohammed. the 28-year-old suspect was treated for non-life threatening injuries and was then transported by ambulance to make an appearance in court where he was charged with attempted murder. police in denmark shot the

suspect after they say he tried to enter kurt westerguard's home with an ax and a knife. the artist called police, and hid in a safe room with his 5-year-old grandchild. investigators say the suspect has ties to al qaeda. in 2006, the cartoon sparked protests across the muslim world. in india, fog is being blamed for two train collisions. in this pileup no one was killed. but in a second one involving at least two trains, five people were killed and 50 others injured. and some serious snowfall expected in the midwest over the next couple of days. lake-effect snow could drop 10 to 14 inches in areas east of cleveland, which bill cairns, is where i grew up and where my family still is. >> i didn't know that. >> east of cleveland. >> you could be a cleveland indians fan then. >> well right now i'm a lebron james fan. you see him on his birthday scoring 48 points? >> i didn't know you were from cleveland. al roker spent some time in cleveland, too. >> yes, he did as a matter of fact. he's still kind of our hero

there. >> a little walk down memory lane on this saturday morning. >> i know. and it's still only 9:39. it is going to be cold and snowy in many parts of the country. >> today, a lot of people, we did all these travel stories leading up to the holiday season. of course everyone's got to get home. most of them are doing that today and tomorrow. it's very difficult now, getting numerous reports of two to three inches of snow from long island, connecticut, rhode island, up here from massachusetts and into new hampshire and all of the state of maine. that's where the roads are the worst. it's going to snow probably today and much of tomorrow, on and off. in boston, we could end up with enough to shovel, around three to six inches. all of northern new england, though, you have a chance of getting a foot. so great powder for the skiers. and again, it's mostly saturday/sunday. by the time we get to monday and tuesday in boston, everything should be fine. also, the cold has been incredible this morning. numerous record lows in places that it really has to be cold to break. we're talking forgo, international falls, and the windchill right now in minneapolis is minus 32. so that's not fun.

and you notice those windchills are cold all the way down to nashville. negative numbers for st. louis, kansas city and chicago. and in minneapolis, this is just a weekend to forget. high temperature today, 2. sunday of 7. you won't even get into the teens until wednesday. this is a prolonged cold outbreak. and even look at our friends in florida. you can't even avoid the cold. only 5 in orlando. trust me, at 58 in orlando, everyone's wearing their winter coats. miami at 67 is very cold for florida. there's actually a freeze warnings out for tonight through much of the sunshine state. if you really want to find the warm spot, you've got to head to either hawaii or l.a. l.a. today 75 and sunday. do they just laugh at us all winter long? >> actually, we do. >> wearing shorts and t-shirts. oh, look at them freezing. >> i've been getting e-mails from my friends in los angeles saying come back, it's sunny and 70. i'll be here another week. and happy to be here with you bill karins. >> of course. >> since last week's attempted terror attack there has been call for more airport body scanners.

are toy really, though, the best way to keep terrorists off our planes? we'll talk to a former official from the transportation security administration. also ahead, watch your wallet. credit card companies may be charging you new fees that you aren't even aware of. vera gibbons will clue us in on this msnbc saturday. granddaughter: grandma, you did it! woman: i did. granddaughter: oops. vo: quitting smoking feels good. walmart saves you an average of 20% on these products. vo: save money. live better. walmart.

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a new report by the associated press says airport patdowns are often ineffective. and that most travelers at u.s. airports never get frisked when they pass through security. aviation experts say patdowns are not very effective because of government rules limiting where screeners can put their hands. joining me now from washington, d.c. is tom blank, former head of tsa policy. good to see you, good morning. we've had a series of debates ever since christmas day about how effective or ineffective patdowns are and these screening machines are 73 let's start with the patdowns, do you think they have a place in aviation security?

>> they certainly have a place in aviation security. we don't want to eliminate any tools when we're dealing with people like the christmas day terrorist. >> certainly in the short-term, since so few places have access to the more sophisticated screening machines? >> i think what we've got to do is figure out a way to expedite the deployment of the x-ray, and technologies. this is what's going to help us find explosive material, organic material at the checkpoint. that's what the patdown is designed to do. but we shouldn't be relying on that when we have technology that can do a much, much better job for us. >> you know, i've heard a lot of conflicting information about that. we just had someone on in the last hour about exactly how effective they are. if al qaeda and other terrorists have already developed a way to hide certain kinds of explosives that wouldn't be seen by this machine at all. how effective do we know it is? >> well, it is effective. and we only have to ask our

friends at customs and border protection who are using this every day at ports of entry, to find contraband, drugs and explosive material. we can also ask our friends in the military who have versions of this technology deployed extensively in iraq and afghanistan, to protect our forces who are in harm's way. and we have a lot of experience in the airports where tsa has piloted this equipment, had good success with it, and we found that it has a high degree of acceptability to the american public when given a choice between the x-ray millimeter wave technology or a patdown. >> so if we could come to a consensus on this privacy issue and find that the vast majority of people are okay with it, who should have to go through this kind of screening? >> well, tsa would have a number of operational discretions to make as to who they wanted to put through. they could do it on a random basis. they could do it based upon some intelligence from the secure flight system. so there's a number of ways that

they could choose people to go through. >> tom blank, it's always good to see you. thanks for coming in again. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> after the latest on the investigation into the christmas day terror incident you can logon to msnbc.com. . now this year you might want to consider changing your charging habits. another set of new federal rules take effect next month. but you really need to start reading your billing statements today. because you could soon start paying a fee for paying down your own balance, or, can you imagine being penalized for just not using your credit card? joining me live is msnbc financial analyst vera gibbons. good morning. >> good morning, chris. >> seriously? >> right. here's the thing. we have this new wave of legislation going through in february, right? meant to protect consumers from all the outrageous practices of the credit card companies. well the credit card companies don't like this legislation. it's going to cost them about $7 billion in lost revenue. so what they're doing now is finding new ways around it, loop holes so that they can get consumers with different fees,

rates -- >> what do you need to look for specifically? and is it going to be in -- >> buried in the fine print. these billings are going out now. i just got one from my own bank, actually, juchs a couple of days ago, so you really do need to read the fine print. one of the things they're doing is switching your card from a fixed rate card to a variable rate card. and that's because when this law goes into effect, they won't be able to raise rates on the fixed cards just on a whim. fixed cards have to stay fixed for at least a year unless consumers fail to pay the bill. so they're switching you over to variable rate cards. >> and they can do that? >> that's perfectly legal. say you had a professional rate, 6.99% fixed. all of a sudden your next statement it's 18.99% variable. this is how they're getting consumers. >> all right. so, if you get a paper statement, that's one thing. i assume for those of us who just get their statements online, are they required to send you an e-mail of some sort? >> they're required to send you notice here. you are getting the notice, a lot of people aren't paying attention to the notice. >> because they send you like

5,000 e-mails. >> so you just throw them out. now is the time to open the e-mail you're getting from your creditors. another thing they're doing is penalizing consumers for not using their plastic. they're closing down accounts altogether or starting to charge inactivity fees as high as maybe $19 a month if you don't use your card over a 12-month period. all that old advice we used to give, put a credit card on ice, it's not relevant. >> a lot of people keep a card just in case of a real emergency. >> now you have to keep them active or they're going to close it down altogether. >> are they required to tell but that, too? >> they're required to tell but all of this. the mailings have gone out but people will be in for a rude awakening if they actually don't open that information. >> do we know which banks are going to start adding annual fees? >> this is a really annoying one. citibank has recently started charging consumers annual fees, $30 to $90 if you don't charge at least $2400 a year. bank of america following suit. some of the big banks following. some of the big banks guilty of this one. they're trying to shore up the balance sheet because of the changes going into effect february 2010 that are going to

cost them big money. a lot of lost revenue. here's a way to make up for that. >> very few people i think read their statements. >> i just started to because of these changes going into effect. consumers everywhere should. >> word to the wise. >> yeah. >> thank you, vera. still head -- high-stakes battles over tv programming. how the end result could mean you pay more for less programming.

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this morning, an awful lot of people turning on their tv sets, ready to tune into their favorite programs. don't adjust your tvs. for many of you, not only is your favorite tv show gone but the entire network is gone. tom o'neil is from "in touch" magazine. good morning to you. and this was a big deal when i left l.a., a lot of people were up in arms about this. explain what's going on. >> well, cable companies are fighting bag, cable providers, the one that's give you the feed like time warner, cablevision. in this case, cablevision, which

services long island, parts of connecticut and new york city said when hdtv and the food network said we want more money, they said no and pulled the plug. not only that, they issued a statement, chris, that said we have no expectation of carrying their program in the future. >> so what's the deal with this? it's just a fight. we've seen these fights before. i think there was another big fight maybe right around 2000 or something like this. but it does seem to be sort of a new, wider push. >> it is. because now we're seeing for the first time the cable landlines, the cable providers saying no. they always backed down before. here's what's happening. it's interesting. it's a terrible time to be in the cable business if you're a provider. it used to be all you had to do if you were time warner is say worry about dish network or directv. now at&t and verizon are providing cable services. that pushes down the monthly price we have to pay for this service. meanwhile curious as to what you

as a viewer are paying to watch msnbc, it's about 15 cents a month. >> that is a bargain. i must say. >> it is compared to comedy central, that's 12 cents, tlc is 17 cents, spike-tv is 20 cents. htv was getting 14 cents, which is the exact same amount that vh1 was getting and they said no. food network at 8 cents, they said no, we're not giving you more money. >> wow. so really it is a standoff. what's the potential impact not in the greatest cable universe but broadcast television? >> it is. because it used to be broadcast tv was free, and the cable providers, because it was beamed through the air, they didn't have to pay for that either, abc, cbs and rest of it. now they have to pay for it. >> all of these people who still have rabbit ears, can you believe that? there are people out there who are like 22 cents, what is she talking about, rabbit ears? >> uh-huh. >> yeah, yeah.

so potentially everyone's looking at this in a tightening economy and a more defuse marketplace where there are so many options out there. it's really just a battle for who can get the most bucks. >> it is. if you're a fan of food network and hgtv and you're signing up for cable, you now have to look to see what channels are provided by which service. it used to be all of the channels were provided by all of the services. that's no longer going to be the case if this trend continues. >> what about the people who say, i have 200 channels and yet nothing to watch? >> i know, i know. and they're right, aren't they, on some cases. >> some days it feels like that. >> there's always msnbc. >> hence, here we are. >> and a bargain to boot. >> may i say. thank you, tom. in a moment, we'll get back to our top story. for the first time president obama blaming a branch of al qaeda for that failed terror attack. and a live picture of times square in new york city. looks pretty good now. parts of the northeast can get

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