margaret warner begins our coverage of the tune i don't know aftermath. >> reporter: the president was greeted with applause by a friendly audience in tampa,

margaret warner has the story. >> warner: more than eight years after the deadly anthrax attacks, the u.s. still isn't prepared to protect the public against a biological terrorist act. that was the word today from the congressionally chartered commission on the prevention of weapons of mass destruction proliferation. in an earlier 2008 report, this panel warned that it was likely that before the end of 2013, a weapon of mass destruction would be used somewhere in the world by terrorists. it recommended 17 steps to counter that.

margaret warner has that part of the story. >> warner: within hours, governments and aid organizations around the globe scrambled to mobilize a massive disaster relief effort for haiti. in washington, president obama, promised all out humanitarian and rescue operations for america's caribbean neighbor. >> the people of haiti will have the full support of the united states in the urgent effort to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble and to deliver the humanitarian relief-- the food, water and medicine-- that haitians will need in the coming days. >> warner: with the chaos in haiti, and the u.n. peacekeeping operation there out of commission for now, the job of coordinating the massive international response to the tragedy has fallen to washington. the u.s. isn't functioning as a gatekeeper, but definitely as a clearinghouse. the u.s. is mounting the biggest effort so far, headed by rajiv shah, the administrator for the u.s. agency for international development. shah told reporters today that the immediate focus is on saving lives, and preparing for longer term relief. >> we have two

a political storm in afghanistan. >> woodruff: now, a political storm in afghanistan, and to margaret warner>> warner: saturday's vote in the afghan parliament was a stinging rebuke to president hamid karzai, rejecting 17 of his 24 cabinet nominees. the prize move caused new disarray. two months after karzai was declared winner of a presidential election plagued by fraud. today karzai ordered parliament to cancel its winter break so it vote on a new list of nominees that he's now preparing. he's under pressure to show progress in governing by january 28 when an international conference on the afghan mission convenes in london. among the rejected nominees was influential word lord khan and the only woman karzai had named. lawmakers criticized many on the list as unqualified political cronies. several holdovers in vital posts were approved. among them the defense minister and the minister of interior. along with the ministers of finance, education, and agriculture. i spoke to afghan ambassador today and asked him how big a setback this was to karzai. >> it may be a temporary setback for the pr

margaret warner has that story. >> warner: explosions rocked the city this morning, and smoke billowedinto the sky. taliban gunmen, some in suicide vests, struck the heart of the capitol with a series of brazen, well coordinated attacks. they detonated bombs at multiple targets in a well secured area of government ministries, shops and hotels and did so with deadly force. this iranian reporter was covering the carnage but moments later at an in-town shopping mall civilians were hurriedly evacuated as afghan police took on the militants and seized it. the fighting raged citywide for nearly five hours. today's grizzly attacks came just as afghan president karzai was swearing in members of his new cabinet. ambassador richard holbrook, u.s. special envoy to the region who just left kabul hours earlier told reporters in india that he wasn't surprised. >> they're ruthless. the people who are doing this certainly will not survive the attack nor will they succeed. but we can expect this sort of thing on a regular basis. >> warner: the taliban claims responsibility for today's attacks telling t

for them, nothing will be enough to replace the world the earthquake left behind. >> lehrer: margaret warner spoke a short time ago to martin smith of our p.b.s partner, "frontline." he is in port-au-prince. >> warner: martin smith, the two pieces we saw from itn suggests it's a real patchwork down there now in terms of who is getting aid and who isn't. is that what you're finding? >> reporter: it is. it certainly is not coordinated. people getting it are getting it in spite of efforts to coordinate the aid. i just came from a hospital where everybody had been moved into the courtyard because of the last earthquake, the tremors that happened yesterday, afraid to stay in the billion. and everybody there complained, newborn babies had no formula. nobody had the right spliedz, and furthermore, it wasn't coordinated. i was in refugee camp where's there were complaints they had no water, they were drinking bad water and getting disintery. downtown yesterday, the looting was rampant. obviously, those people are strong enough and getting some water or they wouldn't be able to loot as they are. so i

. >> lehrer: intnational groups e scrambling to send emergen help margaret warner report >> ifill: then, an intview with rajiv shah, the administration offial charged withoordinating the u.s. lief effort. >> lehrer: then, t investigation to the causes of the financiacrisis. kwame hoan covers day one of e hearings. >> ill: and jeffrey brown looks atyber-attacks and censorship--oogle's threat to pull out of ina. >> lehrer: that's all ead on tonight'"pbs newshour." jor funding for the pbs newshour iprovided by: >> what e world needs now is energy. the energy to get the onomy humming again. the energy to tackle challges ke climate chang what if that energy me from an energy company? ery day, chevron invests $62 million in people, in ids-- seeking, teaching, buiing. fueling owth around the world to move us all ahead this is the por of human energy chevron. >> bnsf railway. toyota grant thornton and by the alfred p. sloan the nationalcience foundation. supporting education and research across all fids of science anengineering. and th the ongoing support of these institutionsnd fodations. and.

margaret warner begins our coverage of the tune i don't know aftermath. >> reporter: the president was greeted with applause by a friendly audience in tampa, florida. he and vice president joe biden unveiled $8 billion in grants for high speed rail, part of their new focus on jobs creation the president said again he understands what americans are going through. >> last night i've spoken about where we need to go and i've said these are difficult times, these challenging times for our country. in the last two years, we've gone through the deepest recession since great depression. think about that. a big chunk of the people here, certainly the younger people here, have never even seen a recession. they don't even... it doesn't register on their minds. this is by far the toughest thing that the country's gone through economically since the 1930s. >> warner: the president also repeated his tune i don't know plea for the two parties to work together. >> on every one of these issues, my door remains open to good ideas from both parties. i want the republicans off the sidelines. i want them

. >> brown: margaret warner gets the latest on the situation in port-au-prince from jason beaubien of n.p.r. >> ifill: paying for the "new york times" on line, but will readers buy in? >> brown: and body scanners in airports. ray suarez reports on a continuing debate. >> they're going to detect prosthetics. they're going to detect vasectomy scars, sex change operations, adult incontinence. >> are they perfect? no. but do they take us very much further down the road to security against this kind of device? the answer to that is yes. ... >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's "pbs newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour is provided by: >> chevron. this is the power of human energy. and by toyota. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: political shock waves rippled outward from massachusetts today. the loss of a u.s. senate seat raised serious doubts about democrats' plans to pass health

margaret warner has the story. luis rueda spent 28 years in the cia, mostly as an agent and station chief in the field, including in the middle east and south asia. his last assignment was dwep tee director for counterintelligence at the cia's counterterrorism center. where he dealt with double agent operations and security. he retired on january 1st on the heels of the foiled christmas day airliner plot and the deadly double agent attack on a remote cia outpost in afghanistan. i spoke to him earlier today at his home on capitol hill a. thank you for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> warner: osama bin laden or a voice saying he was osama bin laden this weekend hailed the christmas day bomb attempt, the same attack that al qaeda had already taken credit for. now one, do you believe this is osama bin laden, but more importantly what-- if so, what does it is a about how al qaeda is operating today? >> it's always hard to identify whether it is him or not. but as far as we know there has never been a false

capital city, where al qaeda still inspires young men to wage war against the west. >> lehrer: now margaret warner at what the yemen terrorism connections mean for guantanamo detainees. >> warner: ever since taking office, president obama has worked to honor his pledge to shut the prison at guantanamo bay, cuba. but his january 2010 deadline has already slipped. now the apparent connection between the suspect in the christmas day plot has raised a new hurdle. nearly 100 yemenis are still at guantanamo about half the total inmate population remaining there. nearly half of those yemenis have been cleared for release. but that was before yesterday's announcement from the president. >> given the unsettled situation, i've spoken to the attorney general and we've agreed that we will not be transferring additional detainees back to yemen at this time. >> warner: for retired u.s. navy commander kirk lippold, the decision came not a moment too soon. >> i'm actual very pleased that they chose to do that. i think it shows that they recognize that the yemini government is having a very hard time in maintainin

margaret warner spoke with him earlier today. hi, ray, it's good to see you.rise. where do things stand for ordinary haitians when it comes to the basics of life, let's say food, for example. >> suarez: there is food. there's a lot of aid flowing in, but a lot of people are living on short rations. it's not like people are going days without eating. but the food that might normally feed a family of six is ibstead feeding 12 or 14 people. you meet a lot of people who are hungry. they'll come right up to you on the street and tell that you. so while there is food aid, there's food in evidence being sold on the streets. there are markets sort of springing up on corners and at intersections. but it's not sufficient. and people are not eating in a way that's optimal. >> warner: we're hearing reports that the food distribution is somewhat chaotic and many people are being left out. have you seen that? >> suarez: today , our "newshour" crew was near a warehouse that was bringing in aid, and often in a situation like this , word moves very quickly by informal bush tel

margaret warner has our report. >> there are places that would be less expensive for the taxpayers, and less disruptive for new york city. >> warner: in a sharp reversal, mayor michael bloomberg spoke out this week against holding the trial of khalid sheikh mohammed, the alleged leader of the 9/11 conspiracy, in lower manhattan. >> it would be phenomenally expensive, and it is very disruptive to people who live in the area and businesses in the area, so that the economic impact is detrimental. and nobody knows how big. and it would be better to do it elsewhere, if they could find a venue. >> warner: the trial for mohammed and four of his co- conspirators was scheduled to take place here at a federal courthouse just blocks from where the world trade center once stood. that announcement was made in november by u.s. attorney general eric holder. >> they will be brought to new york, to new york, to answer for their alleged crimes... >> warner: that same day, he told the "newshour" he was confident the city was prepared. >> new york has also done a number of these trials in the past, has a t

margaret warner has thstory. luis ruedapent 28 years in the ci mostly as an agent d station chief in the field, includi in the middle east and uth asia. his last assignment was dwep tee rector for counterintellince at the cia's counterterrorism center. where he dlt with double agent operations and secuty. heetired on january 1st on the heels of theoiled christmaday airliner plot and the deadlyouble agent attack oa remote cia tpost in afghanistan. i spoke to him earlier today at his home capitol hill a. thank u for being with us. >> thank you for havinme. >> warner:sama bin laden or a voice sayg he was osama bin laden th weekend iled the christmas day bomb attempt, the same attack that al qae had already taken crit for. now one, do you believe th is oma bin laden, but more importantly what-- if so, what does is a about how al qda is operating today? >> it's always hd to identify whether it him or not. but as far awe know there has never en a false osama bin laden tape. so t odds are that it probably is him. i thin

margaret warner gets the details from marcia coyle of the "national law journal." >> brown: and the latest late night drama, as nbc drops jay leno from its primetime lineup. >> you know, actually if they did cancel us, it would be an easy move for me, because i still haven't unpacked from the last show they cancelled us from. so everything's still back there, so it's fine! >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's pbs newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour is provided by: >> what the world needs now is energy. the energy to get the economy humming again. the energy to tackle challenges like climate change. what if that energy came from an energy company? every day, chevron invests $62 million in people, in ideas-- seeking, teaching, building. fueling growth around the world to move us all ahead. this is the power of human energy. chevron. >> this is the engine that connects abundant grain from the american heartland to haran's best-selling whole wheat, while keeping 60 billion pounds of carbon out of the atmosphere every year. bnsf, the engine that connects us. the william and flora he

. >> lehrer: margaret warner picks up the story from there. >> warner: leading figures in the bankingndustry called the plan a bad idea. steve bartlett, president and c.e.o. of the financial services roundtable, a trade association representing 100 of the largest financial companies, said in a statement. "two-thirds of the tarp investment from banks has already been repaid with a large profit to the taxpayer. this proposed tax will do nothing more than stifle economic recovery. tarp was a boost to the economy. this tax is strictly political." for more on all this, we are joined again by binyamin appelbaum of the "washington post." he covers the financial industry. binyamin, welcome back. >> thank you . >> warner: that was populist rhetoric we heard from the president. why now? >> the answer seems to be that banks are about to announce very large profits for 2009. they've indicated that they plan to pay many of their employees very large bonuses. stoll so the obama administration is taking the opportunity to empathize with the anger that many americans feel about that and to show that

margaret warner talked earlier today with jay newton small of "time" magazine from port-au- prince. >> warner: jay newton small, thank you for joining us. we are hearing reports of tens of thousands, in fact hundreds of thousands of haitians fleeing the city. what have you seen? >> i have certainly seen that. the port is clogged with ferries of, you know, haitians trying to leave to go to safer areas. lecay is a very popular place which wasn't at all affected by the earthquake down south from here. people are trying to get anywhere out of town. if you go out into the suburbs, when you drive towards the dominican republic, everybody who has got family anywhere outside of port-au-prince has definitely gone to the suburbs, gone to be with their family outside of port-au-prince because they are terrified of the tremors that keep happening. and they are worried another big one could hit again. >> warner: then we also hear that the government is, one, not standing in the way of this. and two, is planning to build tent cities outside of town. >> well, frankly, one of the problems that haiti

. >> wdruff: now, a political storm in afghanian, and to margaret warner. >> warner: saturday's vote the afghan parliament was stinging rebe to president hamid kaai, rejecting 17 of his cabinet nominees. the prize move csed new disarray. two months aer karzai was clared winner of a presential election plagued byraud. today karzai ordered parliament to cancel its winter bak so it ve on a new list of nomine that he's now preparing. 's under pressure to show progress igoverning by january 28 wn an inrnational conference on the afghan missi convenes in lond. among the rejected nominees was inuential word lord khan and e only woman karzai had named. lawmers criticized many on the list as unqualied litical cronies. sevel holdovers in vital posts were approd. among th the defense minister and the minisr of interior. along with the ministe of finance, educati, and agriculture. i spoke to afghan ambassor today and asked him how bia setbk this was to karzai. >> imay be a temporary setback for e president but it's a step forwd for the democracy in afgnistan. it's really happy fothe parliament o

lehrer: margaret warner uptes the guantanamo prison story, after preside obama suspend transfers back to yemen.iú ou can imagine a situation i which the gornment as a choice between yemen and cleveland,nd that's , you kn, very appealing choice from the government's pointf view. >> ifi: and jeffrey brown talks with rocco landesmanthe broadway procer who now heads the national endowment for t arts. >> i'm goingo be outspoken. i'm iz say.çadÑiçó if people wa to regard that as partisan, i can't lp it. >> lehrer: tt's all ahead, on tonight'pbs newshour. majofunding for the pbs newsur is provided by: >> what the world needs now energy. the energy to t the economy huing again. the energy to tackle chaenges like climate chae. what is that ergy came from an energy company? everyday, chron invests $62 llion in people, in ideas-- seing, teaching, building. fueling growth aund the world to me us all ahead. is is the power of human energy. chevron. intel. supporti math and science education for tomorrow's innovators. >> and bthe bill and melinda gates foundation. dedicated to the idea thatll peopl

margaret warner talked earli today wi jay newton small of "time" magazine from port-- prince. >> warner: jay newton all, thank you for joining us were hearing reports of tens of thousas, in fact hundredsf thousands of haitians fleeing t city. what have u seen? >> i have certaiy seen that. e port is clogged with ferrieof, you know, haitia trying to leave to go to fer areas. lecay is a very popular place ich wasn't at all fected by the earthquake down south fm here. people are ting to get anywhere out of town. if you go out into the suburbs, when you drive towards the dominican republic, everybodwho has got family anywhere ouide of port-au-prie has defitely gone to the burbs, gone to be with their family outside of port-au-prince becausehey are terrified the tremors that keep happening. and they areorried another big one could hit again. >> warne then we also hear that the govnment is, one, nostanding in the way of this. and two, is planni to build tent cits outside of town >> wl, frankly, one of the problems tt haiti had even before thidisaster was that iwas too much of an urban untry. t

margaret warner reports. >> warner: when massachusetts senator edward kennedy died last august, it was taken for granted that the seat he'd held for decades would be filled by another democrat. family friend paul kirk became interim senator until a special election could fill the seat for real. the democratic candidate in tuesday's election is state attorney general martha coakley, a lifelong prosecutor, she's decidedly unflashy. her opponent is state senator scott brown. at 22, he posed for a nude centerfold in "cosmopolitan" magazine. calling himself an independent conservative, he has vowed, if elected, to provide the 41st vote to block the democrats' health care reform bill in the senate. from the outset, coakley wrapped herself in the kennedy mantle, and early polls showed her with a 30-point lead. >> as some have noted, no one can fill his shoes, but we must strive to follow in his footsteps. >> warner: but in recent weeks, brown has surged. a turning point came just after christmas, when brown aired an ad comparing himself to president john f. kennedy. >> ...will have both immed

margaret warner has the story. >> warner: more than eight years after the deadly anthrax attacks, the.s. still isn't prepared to protect the public against a biological terrorist act. that was the word today from the congressionally chartered commission on the prevention of weapons of mass destruction proliferation. in an earlier 2008 report, this panel warned that it was likely that before the end of 2013, a weapon of mass destruction would be used somewhere in the world by terrorists. it recommended 17 steps to counter that. in today's report, the commission gave the white house and congress an f in three of those areas. developing rapid response capability, providing effective congressional oversight, and recruiting the next generation of national security experts. it gave them four a's in other areas including reviewing current programs to secure dangerous pathogens and adopting an inter-agency bioforensic strategy. for more we're joined by the panel's chairman former democratic senator bob graham and its vice chairman former republican senator jim talent. gentlemen, welcome. than

. >> warner: requested bow of npr, thank you so much. >> reporter: you're welcome, margaret. >> brown: now, will consumers pay for news online? with the internet exploding with free content, the entire media world is struggling to find ways to support itself financially in the future. nowhere is that issue more urgent than for newspapers, which have seen huge drops in circulation and advertising revenues. today, the "new york times," with by far the most popular newspaper web site, announced that beginning in 2011 it will charge frequent readers for access to the site. the paper would use a metered

. >> margaret warner, the 3bs news hour.general fraser, under what circumstances would you feel it is necessary to deploy the marines there? in other words, is it a question of keeping civil order or is it just facilitating the disbursement of supplies? and what is the situation on the ground in terms of the degree of order or disorder? >> from what i've been told by general keane, my deputy commander, is the situation is calm, right now, and so we're anticipating going in being table provide that humanitarian assistance, that life-saving effort, that's going to be the focus get ought there it's going to be our assessments that are going to determine in conjunction with menusta how best to deal with any situations that come up. >> are you saying the marines are being sent there as a -- for a security situation or simply that they may be needed to help facilitate the delivery? >> what i'm saying is, we don't know what the situation is on the ground. we're leaning forward to provide as much capability as quickly as we can to r

. >> margaret warner, the pbs news hour.eral fraser, under what circumstances would you feel it is necessary to deploy the marines they are? in other words, is a question of keeping civil order or is it just facilitating the disbursement of supplies? and what is the situation on the ground in terms of the duke reporter or disorder? >> from what i've been told by general keane who is the deputy commander who was on the ground if the situation is calm right now. and so, we are anticipating going in, being able to provide that humanitarian assistance to set life-saving efforts and that's going to be the focus, primarily getting out there. so to be our assessment that will determine and injunction with the other international partners who are there how best to deal with any security situations that come out. >> so are you saying the marines are being sent there as -- for a security situation or simply that they may be actually needed to help facilitate the delivery? >> what i'm saying is we don't know precisely what the situatio

. >> lehrer: margaret warnerpoke a short me ago to martin smith of our p.b.s partner, rontline." he is in port-au-pnce. >> warner: martin smit the two piecese saw from itn sugges it's a real patchwork down there now in terms of w is getting aid and who i't. is that at you're findin >> reporter: it is. it certainly is not coornated. people getting it e getting it in spite oefforts to coordinate the aid. i just came from aospital where everybody had been med into the couyard because of the lastarthquake, the tremors that happened sterday, afraid to stay the billion. d everybody there complained newborn babies had no rmula. nobody had the rig spliedz, and furthermore, it wa't coordinated. i was in refee camp where's there were complaints theyad no wer, they were drinking bad wateand getting disintery. downtown yesterday, thlooting was rampant. obviously, those people are stro enough and getting some water or they wouldn't be ab to loot as they are. so it's hard to ow where the aid . you don't see aid being distributed the streets-- or we haven't seen it in the ys we've been a around the area. >> warne what about in