fredricka whitfield, cnn, atlanta. >> no need to google this. antarctic blast is crippling much of the country right now. florida facing potentially devastating cold to orange crops. our don lemon will have much more on that as "cnn newsroom" continues in new york. for now, i'm brooke baldwin in for fredricka whitfield. thank you. i chose the boys & girls clubs. it's an investment for the future. i chose the national wildlife federation. our pets are our kids. we chose the aspca. we're sharing the love again this year. because giving back feels good. on the subaru outback, motor trend's 2010 and two hundred fifty dollars gets donated to your choice of five charities. hey, ask our doctor about garlique, okay? garlique's clinically proven ingredient maintains healthy cholesterol naturally. eat right. exercise. garlique.

fredricka whitfield, cnn, atlanta. >>> a beloved california educator gunned down, execution style, inwhat happened, in our top stories. >>> and now a check of some of the top stories here. the federal aviation administration now taking a closer look at american airlines after three rough landings last month. the review will mean increased

. >> reporter: fredricka whitfield, cnn. >>> hello, everybody. from the cnn center, you are in the "cnn newsroom." it's saturday, january 2nd. happy new year. thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. >> good saturday morning to you and everybody else. thanks for having me. i'm in for home holmes on this saturday. it's 11:00 a.m. in the east, 8:00 a.m. on the west coast. if you're just pushing back those covers. >> let's talk about this. president barack obama pledges to hold accountable all those involved in the botched terror plot on christmas day. in his weekly address to the nation, the president reit righted his promise to, quote, disrupt, dismantle and defeat al qaeda. >> the investigation into the christmas day incident continues. and we're learning more about the suspect. 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

i'm fredricka whitfield. we begin with video that just may enrage many. it shows the apparent double agent blamed for killing seven employees in afghanistan last month talking about the attack in advance. is he shown sitting next to the pakistani taliban essentially confirming the taliban's claim of responsibility for that attack. senior international correspondent nic robertson is standing by now in amman, jordan. nic? >> reporter: fredricka, until this video came out all that we knew is what the jordanian intelligence service and the cia knew about him, that he said he had gone to pakistan to train -- continue his draining as a doctor. he contacted intelligence services offering to help track down al qaeda leaders. now he's on this videotape filling in all of the blanks. he said what he actually did when he got to pakistan is went to the taliban, joined the taliban and told him what these intelligence agencies sent him there to do and then plotted this attack against the american cia base in afghanistan. then he shared a very clear warning for the cia a

john zarrella, cnn, miami. >>> the "newsroom" continues at the top of the hour with fredricka whitfield. it's warm enough in here none of us are falling asleep. >> nice and toasty in here. gosh, outside? >> not used to this. are we? >> a tease coming into work. >> brutal. dangerous. the whole black ice thing. gotting to careful. what are we hearing about -- okay. all right. so let's talk about richard heene. talking about him. not a hoax -- or is it? i'm confused on the whole thing, what he's saying. he talked with larry king once again as he's getting ready to carry out his sentence. this is a little bit of what he to say. okay. i i'm getting no sound. i think it was roll sound, but it's no sound. you'ller th hear that story. and it might jeopardize the legal hurdles he may still have to encounter. our legal guys will delve into that. >>> speaking of legal hurdle, gilbert arenas in uncharted territory, or is it? another one of those, is it cut and dry or is it not? >> trying to get that on this morning, but that's him joking about it, like he's playing like he's shooting his -- >> that

i'm brooke baldwin sitting in for fredricka whitfield you are in the cnn newsroom on the first saturday of the year 2010. >>> a new year, a new low for pakistani militants suspected in a suicide bombing that killed 90 people at a volleyball tournament. our is arwa damon. >> reporter: it's been a devastating start. people of lakki marwat taking to the streets mourning friday's devastating suicide attack. the attack took place during a volleyball game in a residential neighborhood where some 200 people were gathered. most of them were teenagers. the force of the explosion was so large it also levelled eight buildings in the area. police are saying that they believe the pick-up truck was packed with 300 kilograms of explosives. we saw the death toll rise dramatically after the initial attack. that because police are saying it was difficult initially to ascertain how many people had been killed, but also because this is not an overly developed area. it is not equipped to deal with this type of an attack or with these types of casualties. local leaders saying they believe that they were targ

in the "cnn newsroom" where the news unfolds live this saturday, the 9th day of january, i'm fredricka whitfield>>> a deadly arctic blast is pushing dangerous cold weather across the nation today. it is blamed for nine deaths. places like aberdeen, south dakota and valentine, nebraska are in the negative numbers, minus 33 degrees. one reporter was knocked down while trying to show the sustained winds. >> reporter: the windchill, it is just painful. >> well, you can see the person actually trying to hold her up until she was knocked down. pretty nasty weather there. kgw reporter keeley chalmers. no reports of damages or lasting injuries. mostries in hot atlanta, not these days. no match for sleet and ice. slick roads blamed for a massive 29-car pileup. some of the coldest temperatures it has seen in years with the windchill factor this week. it was colder in atlanta than fairbanks, alaska. so the windchill in many areas of the country today, well below freezing, shelters are urging the homeless to stay inside if they can. the salvation army in san antonio, texas, has been delivering coffee and ho

. >> cnn's fredricka whitfield introduces us to one woman who does all year long. >> good for her. >>hen heads out to feed the homeless in eureka, california. she's done the same thing for 24 years. good morning. >> good morning. >> she's here without fail rain or sunshine. she's like a second mom to us. >> she's given me hope. she's given us blankets and hot coffee. she keeps us going. >> she knows what it's like to live in despair. during china's cultural revolution in the '60s, she was separated from her family and forced to live on the streets when she was just 7. >> i still cannot understand how i alive today. >> chinn eventually escaped china, came to the united states, and started her american dream. >> i had so much. i want to do something. >> reporter: with money from her part-time job, she started taking care of people she truly understood -- the homeless. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. >> like many communities, we have a significant homeless problem, and unfortunately the problem outstrips the resources of the community. betty is in many ways an angel of mercy to these pe