former secretary of homeland security michael chertoff and former director of the cia, michael hayden. welcome to both of you. general hayden be, let me begin with you. reaction to what you heard here from mr. brennen, specificall on new threats being posed by yemen and al qaeda in yemen. >> i agree totally with what john pointed out. we've been watching yemen. as pressure increased in pakistan we always look to yemen and somalia as a place where the senior leadership could slip to. the senior leadership has not gone there but we've seen a steady growth in al qaeda since 2006, there was a massive jail break in yemen, about two dozen al qaeda members incarcerated escaped, from that point on we've seen the steady growth of al qaeda and their use of yemen as a safe haven. >> should there be accountability on the part of bush national security officials like yourself at a time when there were detainees from guantanamo released back to yemen at a time when yemen and al qaeda there was becoming more robust, that the administration did not do more to specifically target the al qaeda threat?

, former director of the cia, michael hayden, and former secretary of homeland security, michael chertoff. >>> finally, in this new year, a crowded inbox for the president -- terrorism, unemployment, and the final mile on health care reform. insights on what's ahead for the obama agenda with our round table. nbc news special correspondent tom brokaw, "new york times" columnist david brooks, "washington post" columnist e.j. dionne, and historian doris kearns goodwin. >>> but first some news this morning. the u.s. has closed its embassy in the capital of yemen because of what officials are calling an active security threat posed by al qaeda there. the nouncement one day after the president specifically implicated the yemen based branch of al qaeda for being behind the christmas day terror attempt. >> it appears that 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 atta that plane headed for america. >> we are joined now live by the president's top counterterrorism adviser john bre

michael hayden and michael chertoff. finally finally, in this new year, terrorism, unemployment, and insights on what is ahead with the obama round table. special correspondent, tom brokaw, david brooks, washington post columnist, and historian, doris goodwin. >>> but, first, the u.s. has closed the embassy in the capital of yemen because of what officials are calling an active security threat posed by al qaeda there. >> it appears that he joined the affiliate of al qaeda. this group trained him, equipped them with the explosives, and directed them to attack that plane headed for america z we are joined now live by the president's top counterterrorism adviser. welcome to "meet the press." >> thank you. >> is it because of specific intelligence that says that an attack is coming? >> yes. there are and i spoke with the ambassador down there and the british embassy and it will give the government an opportunity to thwart that threat. >> it's the threat that we know that they have been tash getting and safeguard and the pres

>>larry: by the way, michael chertoff is co-founder of chertoff group, a security and risk management firm. their clients include a manufacturer of body scanning machines and negroponte is adviser at firm. body scanners will start to be used? >> we tried to get these to be used in 2007 and 2008, because what they do is allow you to see what's concealed in clothing including nonmetal. it has hit a lot of resistance from a small group of very determined people who have privacy objections, but you have to weigh in the balance the need to be able to ensure people are not smuggling on bombs against the concern that some people have that you're intruding. we did put things into the system so we blur the face and we don't retain the image. so i think we did a pretty good job of balancing, but it's slowed up the deployment quite considerably. >> mr. ambassador, what about the white house decision will they mandate fliers from 14 mostly muslim countries, is that effective or, as critics say, profiling? >> i was traveling myself this weekend, and a beneficiary of some of these enhanced measures

by the way, tomorrow night michael chertoff, the former director of homeland security, will be with us. will it shift attention away from health care he reform and other issues? we'll talk about that after the break. >> larry: does all this terror talk shift us away from other things? >> to some extent it is. we're not talking a lot about how to fight terrorism. we're listening to folks like dick cheney level these extremely partisan criticisms, which i think people on both sides suggest may be inappropriate and we should think about new tactics. the interesting thing is when you here folks like cheney, part of the problem with that critique is it suggests that that admissinistration was infallible and they got the terror fight right, and they didn't. they cut terror funding for new york city. they opposed overseas screening of cargo shipments after they let the dubai company operate u.s. ports. the notion that they're infa infallible is rubbing people the wrong way right now. >> larry: andrea if this is a war on terrorism, is it wrong to criticize the commander in chief? >> no, absolu

. >> larry: tomorrow night mike he kel chertoff will be with us.ill it shift attention away from health care he reform and other issues? we'll talk about that after the break. than a comparable honda civic. this chevy traverse has better mileage than honda pilot. the all-new chevy equinox has better mileage than honda cr-v. and chevy malibu has better mileage than accord. however, honda does make something that we just can't compete with. it's self propelled. chevy. compare us to anyone and may the best car win. i was short of breath, so i couldn't always do what i wanted to do. but five minutes ago, i took symbicort, and symbicort is already helping significantly improve my lung function. so, today, i've noticed a significant difference in my breathing. and i'm doing more of what i want to do. so we're clear -- it doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. my doctor said symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, os

it's been mentioned, a former secretary chertoff was on tv talking about the eu having restrictions of privacy, not wanting european airports to implement the use of intrusive screening devices. the problem is that the areas that need the most examination are absolutely the most private areas of your body and you're not going to want people in a machine where you're virtually naked or a bomb-sniffing dog or someone physically touching you in the case of a hand search in those areas of your body. it's going to be the most intrusive search possible. that's where the explosives are going to be hidden and were in this particular case in detroit. that's the political issue. then you get to the second issue of is it practical? houma sheen w many machines wil? the lines of people waiting to be searched are going to go out the doors at many airports and down the sidewalk. that might be fine in miami in january. that's not going to be fine in minneapolis when it's 40 below zero and people are outside for an hour and a half with little children. >> that's why i asked if it was overkilled. what i

chertoff thinks so. >> are they perfect? no.but do they take us very much further down the road of security against this kind of device? the answer to that is yes. >> suarez: during the last debate over body imaging, the opponents won the argument. after the christmas day bomb attempt, even if controversies continue, americans can expect to see more body scanners when they fly. >> brown: again, the major developments of the day: president obama and democrats the u.s. senate race in massachusetts raised serious doubts about democrats' ability to pass health care reform. the "newshour" is always online. hari sreenivasan, in our newsroom, previews what's there. >> sreenivasan: more on how the massachusetts senate election results affect the balance of power on capitol hill. we put that question and others to chris cillizza of "the washington post." dante chinni of the "patchwork nation" offers another take on scott brown's victory. he says it maybe more about a longer term trend than just about parties. an update on executive bonus

if you look at the first homeland security security, tom ridge, and to look at michael chertoff, chertoffeally shifted with the color alert system. basically, it did not happen under chertoff, except when there was the liquid bomber's threat from london. michael chertoff was already intent upon bringing down the kind of hyperventilations that occurred. i think that obama has continued to that. to some extent, terrorists succeed if they get the united states into a frenzy, even if they are not successful. terrorism is as much about the killing of people as it is about the terror and the destruction that it causes. the administration has to be careful to not overdo its response. if the president would have gotten on a plane and come back to washington from his vacation -- to some extent, that would have suggested that even though the attack in detroit was not successful, it would have been successful. i'm sure that they weighed what is the appropriate reaction? i think there definitely gauging what is the appropriate response. i think the public is well served by that. host: daniel on the i

you heard even republicans michael chertoff defending janet napolitano. they think the administration is pleased by that. they feel like some of the political pressure is off of her. there still could be some political pressure on, say, dennis blair, the director of national intelligence, or michael leiter, the guy in charge of the national counterterrorism center. but again, it's going to be weeks, maybe months before we know for sure if somebody individually gets held accountable, lester. >> chuck todd and richard engel tonight with us. thank you very much. >>> now to the weather. and this year is getting off to a cold start across much of the country, even by january standards. and the cold snap came just as many americans are on the move after the holidays. from the great plains to the northeast, ice, snow, and frigid cold were the order of the day. we get more from nbc's jeff rossen. >> reporter: whiteout conditions in buffalo, new york as the bills battle the colts. fans could barely see the players. >> yeah! >> reporter: perhaps the players could b

defend, deputy national security adviser john brennan as well as former hs security director michael chertoff and foreer cia director michael hayden. >>> now where does all of this leave air travelers as the post holiday rush home begins. one, two or no carry-on bags? can you still use the lavatory before landing? pat-downs or body scans? here's nbc's jeff rossen. >> reporter: uncertainty in the air and now on the ground, too. from secondary screenings of carry-ons to additional pat-downs, holiday travelers who flew out before christmas are facing a whole new set of challenges today. >> there's longer lines, there's more security, there's a requirement to put your baggage through the x-ray machine sometimes twice. >> reporter: the christmas day terror plot aboard a northwest jet approaching detroit exposed, safety officials say, a hole in airport security. how did umar farouk abdulmutallab sneak explosives inside his underwear? >> we have known for some time the capability to detect explosives at the checkpoint is a vulnerability. that's what got exploited and that's what we've got to use tec

chertoff already, really shifted, the whole color asystem. remember all the, you know, the essentially, escalations of the color-coded system occurring under tom ridge. basically didn't happen under chertoff except for when liquid bomber threat from london. they escalated the color code for aviation in the united states after that. but, i mean, chertoff was already intent upon down, bring down the kind of hyper ventlations that -- ventilations that occurred. i think obama continued that. to some extent terrorists succeed if they get the united states into a frenzy even if they're not successful. terrorism is as much about the killing of people as it is the terror, and the disruption that it causes. and i think, wisely, administration has to be careful to not overdo its response and to some extent if the president gotten on plane come back from washington on his vacation and made lots noise in washington, to some suggestion even though attack in detroit was not successful would have been successful. they're weighing appropriate reaction, how m

secretary chertoff will tell you the same thing you can only operate on information you get. the fact that the cia didn't do anything. the fact that the state department didn't pull the visa, multi-entry visa should have been pulled as soon as the dad walked in the door. the fact they didn't put this individual on the no-fly list immediately those are done outside the department. >> sean: these terrorists come from wealthy backgrounds and families for example osama bin laden son of a billionaire construction guy in saudi arabia. atta son of wealthy egypt doctor. this kid comes from a wealthy background. hillary clinton said we cannot stop terrorism or defeat ideologues of violent extremism when hundreds of millions of people see a future with no jobs, no hope, no way to catch up to the developed world. so we're responsible? poverty is responsible for extremism? >> i've never bought into that theory. if you look in the background of the individuals apprehended don't forget the veries in great britain this reason detroit terrorist, major hasan, that doesn't fit. it is an ideolo

the former director of the cia, michael hayden, and former secretary of homeland security, michael chertoffolitical roundtable weighs in on the year ahead for the obama administration. it's all this morning on "meet the press." >>> do you find it hard to lose weight because you're always hungry? well, hunger is natural. it's the body telling us we need fuel, but too often we take advantage of that urge by eating too much of the stuff we wendy rieger has more on how to rein in the appetite. >> my two kids were saying i needed to lose weight. >> reporter: pamela found herself at 228 pounds, too much for her 5'5" frame, then she got control. how did she do it? >> walking through the right door with the right mind-set. >> reporter: the right door was weight watchers. it's had great success with a basic formula, eat less, move more, get good habits, and get support. >> weight watchers does teach us about how important it is to take care of ourselves first. >> reporter: margaret bell is a weight watchers manager in alexandria who lost $30 pounds. and she knows weight loss is all in your head. >>

executed, to some extent, by meryl chertoff. i want to thank them very much for all of there hard work. thank you. [applauding] [inaudible conversations] >> tonight president obama delivers his first hit of the union address to congress line at his vision for the future of the country and is planted deal with issues like unemployment, health care, and the wars in iraq the state of the union address tonight beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. you can ive. >> and now former supreme court justice sandra day o'connor. her remarks are part of the conference looking at the impact of recent supreme court rulings on the selection process for judges at the state level. georgetown university and the aspen institute hosted this event. it is a half-hour. >> okay. the folks in the back to our standing plan to take seats to take their seats. we can get started again. i am pleased that we have been joined by some of our georgetown law school students. i'm meryl chertoff, the co-director. visiting professor of law. i would be remiss if i

with former director of the cia, michael hayden and former secretary of homeland security, michael chertoffs morning "meet the press." >>> we want to say congratulations to april bartlett, our art director. she's engaged. new year's eve engagement. congratulations. >>> first i want to thank ron matt and janice huff. thank you both for being with us. next week when you look at food label, you know what you're reading. we're going to get to the bottom of them. >>> plus eight brave women travel to antarctica for the adventure of a lifetime. find out what they did when we meet them live. i'll see you back here for nightly news tonight. have a great day, everybody. >> coming up next, the naacp's baltimore chapter head joins us for a segment. we will speak to a local author as well. >> this morning the sun is out and it is windy and very cold. when you're living with bipolar depression... ...it's easy to feel like you're fading into the background. that's because bipolar depression doesn't just affect you. it can consume you. one option proven effective to treat bipolar depression... is seroquel

also on the show, former homeland security chairman michael chertoff and former cia director michael hayden, check your local listings for the times in your area. >>> a record blast of arctic cold in parts of the country today. maine is bracing for what could be a one-two bunch, a combination of strong winds and falling snow will lead to blizzard or near-blizzard conditions in parts of that state. take a look at the big waves the storm stirred up along the massachusetts coast on saturday. roads were flooded. a few homes were flooded as well. 6 to 10 inches of snow blanketed massachusetts and more snow is in the forecast for the state, and also for parts of upstate new york, like buffalo. windchills in buffalo today are expected to fall below zero. the weather channel's alex wallace is in atlanta with a check on the weather. alex? >> yeah. absolutely, you mentioned some of that snow moving in across portions of new england and we continue to find that driving on by. generally coming in here from the north here and moving towards the south and the west, moving through parts of new york

also on the show, former homeland security chairman michael chertoff and former cia director michael hayden. check your local listings for times. >>> an update now on a developing story we're following this morning. british officials say pirates have hijacked the british-flagged cargo ship "asian glory" off the coast of somalia. pirates reportedly seized the ship east of the somali coast before it joined a convoy heading for the gulf of aden. 25 people are said to be on board including bulgarians, romanians, indians and ukrainians. >>> conservative radio talk show host rush limbaugh is out of the hospital this morning. the 58-year-old was taken to a honolulu hospital on wednesday, suffering chest pains. nbc's lee cowan has the latest on his condition from honolulu. lee? >> reporter: well, 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

also on the show, former homeland security chairman michael chertoff, and former cia director michaelayden. 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

chertoff thinks so. >> are they perfec no.but do they take us very muc further down the road security agast this kind of device? the answer to that is ye >> suare during the last debate over body imang, the opponentwon the argument. after the chrimas day bomb attempt, even controversies continue, americans caexpect to seeore body scanners when theyly. >> brown: agn, the major developmentsf the day: prident obama and democrats the u.s. senate race in massachusetts raised sious doubts aboutemocrats' ability to ps health care reform. the "newshour"s always online. hari sreenivan, in our newsroom, eviews what's there. >> sreenivasan: more on hothe massachusetts senate electn results affect the balce of power on citol hill. we put that question a others to chrisillizza of "the washington post." dae chinni of the "patchwork nation" offers anoth take on scott brown'victory. he says it maybe morabout a longer term trend th just about parties. an updaton executive bonuses and how big nks are reacting to proposals f new taxes that mes f

with former director of the cia, michael hayden and former secretary of homeland security, michael chertoffs morning "meet the press." >>> we want to say congratulations to april bartlett, our art director. she's engaged. new year's eve engagement. congratulations. >>> first i want to thank ron matt and janice huff. thank you both for being with us. next week when you lk at food label, you know what you're reading. we're going to get to the bottom of them. >>> plus eight brave women travel to antarctica for the adventure of a lifetime. find out what they did when we meet them live. i'll see you back here for nightly news tonight. have a great day, everybody. >>> kbilbert arenas speaks to reporters about bringing guns into the verizon center. >>> murder investigation three days into the new year. d.c. has another killing on its hands. how this is becoming a troubling trend. >>> and bundle up if you're heading out. the wind tod feels like needles on your skin. i'm elaine reyes. news 4 today starts now. >>> good morning, everyone.

michael chertoff and senator, welcome.o surprise there is a not guilty plea entered on all six charges. >> it's standard operating procedure. the government and defense counsel have probably not even begun to talk about the ultimate disposition of this. not guilty is the default position. idea of a detention hearing is going through the motions. it's inconceivable the court would award any amount of bail. what happened today was routine, quick and to be expected. martha: when you look at it, are you surprised there are not terrorism charges on this list and there is no mention of al qaeda? when you compare this to the richard reed case those charges were mentioned. >> i don't know why those charges are not there except the six charges that are there. each of them carries a life sentence. the evidence for each of them, the evidence of guilt, the federal definition using the word terror requires two or more criminal acts of violence threatened or planned or actual intended to affect the policies of the government. one could

chertoff wants us to buy these machines because he has money in them.ink of a way where you can still get explosives past those machines. i would just say it on the air because i don't want our planes to blow up. once somebody has dreadlocks and a crew of the explosives in the dreadlocks and lit their head on fire, i don't want the airplane go up. and i want to make one more statement -- i had a moment on this american muslim issue when my friend had a heart attack, and this guy was not able to help her but there was a muslim, a black american muslim dr. that cured a white baby -- did a heart transplant. host: barbour, i will let you go there. -- barbara, i will let you go there. guest: i don't know who owns the shares of the companies to make the machines. but i think you are asking the right question. the question is, before we grow more prone to our already hardware heavy security process at the airport, how much will this contribute to security? will there be a significant contribution, will it be a modest contribution. it is not going to be a silve

host: secretary chertoff. caller: and later on it came on on another news thing, he is trying to push for a big plan so they will take over some company he started. i am starting to say, what is wrong with our country that these guys are so worried about lining the pockets of their pants that they cannot stand to protect the american people? president is in charge of -- protecting america. this health care thing, transparency, i give mr.. lamb credit for sending that letter today. you tell me which party is protecting our country. i would love to support that person. host: get caller mentioned a letter sent by c-span requesting our cameras in future negotiations on health care legislation. you can read that letter online at c-span.org. regarding possible changes in the wake of flight to 253 bombing, the president is standing by his two directors, leon panetta, and the director of national intelligence. california. go ahead. caller: we need to look at the end product of the philosophy. it is a risk where you de

chertoff the former head of the homeland security is now selling 600 new machines to x- ray everybody and get us more secure. that is a nice connection. i wonder if you have heard about the ehud olmert e-mails -- heard about the e-mails of the conspiracy of wandering all the money that they stole on the mortgages -- conspiracy of laundering the money? check into it, america. caller: the u.s. to push for full body scanners at foreign airports. the u.s. will urge governments to deploy a controversial whole body imaging scanners to detect explosives hidden beneath people's clothing. president obama said the announcement came as top security aides detailed intelligence failures and responses to aviation security gaps uncovered in the december 25 incident. below this i want to show this full-page. "the washington post" put together a graphic detailing how intelligence is supposed to work where the device region where the dots are supposed to be connected. -- where the dots are supposed to be connected. over here they talk about how the list works. the list is called the terrorist identitie

i am meryl chertoff, director of the program at aspen institute. i would be remiss if i let the opportunity to go to say a few words about some of our programs that are coming up. in november 2010, the third georgetown aspen institute symposium will take place and it will treat one of justice o'connor's other interests, and that's education. the event is going to take place -- it will be devoted to the subject of civic education which justice o'connor has done some much on in her years since leaving the supreme court. each year, we conduct a seminar in aspen, colorado and which we read classic works of political philosophy in the jurisprudence. a seminar this year will take place july 13 through 19. if you are interested, further information can be found on the aspen institute web site. the moderator's for [unintelligible] the same bottle programming i hope we're providing today will be provided in a more expansive week-long format. i now have the very distinct pleasure to introduce our keynote speaker. most of us in this room are familiar with the

i remember very distinctly secretary chertoff telling me that vermont was an example of a state thatnted to your enhanced drivers license as an example of a compliance driver's license. he also cited washington state, new york, and michigan as having -- as being in material compliance. so therefore, i am surprised to see secretary napolitano assert this morning that no state is in compliance with real id. i first want to ask you, do you consider vermont to be in that material compliance with real id? >> i do, at this point. on december 31, there are 18 benchmarks that states have to meet, and even a state like mine that is doing its best to comply is not going to be able to meet all of these 18 benchmarks on that date, because of the requirements for the national data bases that are not yet up and running. we will find it virtually impossible to meet all of these 18 deadlines by the end of the year. that is why the urgency is critical. >> that is an excellent point, and the reason we have gathered here today. i don't want to leave the impression that there has been no progress in thi

chertoff wants us to buy these machines because he has money in them. i personally can think of a way where you can still get explosives past those machines. i would just say it on the air because i don't want our planes to blow up. once somebody has dreadlocks and a crew of the explosives in the dreadlocks and lit their head on fire, i don't want the airplane go up. and i want to make one more statement -- i had a moment on this american muslim issue when my friend had a heart attack, and this guy was not able to help her but there was a muslim, a black american muslim dr. that cured a white baby -- did a heart transplant. host: barbour, i will let you go there. -- barbara, i will let you go there. guest: i don't know who owns the shares of the companies to make the machines. but i think you are asking the right question. the question is, before we grow more prone to our already hardware heavy security process at the airport, how much will this contribute to security? will there be a significant contribution, will it be a modest contribution. it is not