government was fairly successful in its counterterrorism efforts with the help of the u.s. and today, they are once again getting help. you're getting more u.s. trainers? >> every time things getting worse, we get support more. >> reporter: u.s. special forces are providing the training. but drones are providing aerial surveillance. and officials say cruise missiles have provided fire power. this week's aggressive raids against al qaeda, 20 miles from the capital, left the nephew and teenage son of a top leader dead. u.s. officials say this is not just for show. they are geared up for a fight, said one. a fight that will likely take many years. martha raddatz, abc news, sanaa, yemen. there's important new research for the millions of americans fighting depression. the studies done in pennsylvania show patients that suffer from mild to moderate forms of the disease got little help from antidepressant drugs. for those with severe depression the study results were much different. >> you have to be pretty severe in this study to show a difference, an actual benefit of the medication versus placebo. >> doctors say medications should not be ruled out but alternatives, including exercise and psychotherapy, should be considered. it looks like holiday shoppers spent a little more in 2009 than they did the year before. retail sales this season were up 1.7% overall. there was a big boost in online shopping. electronics and luxury items showed improvement. apparel sales were down overall. retailers, especially discounters, should show profits. the arctic blast that has americans bundling up from the rockies to the deep south could get even worse today. in many cities heavy blowing snow is making it tough to get around. there will be snow in parts of ohio today in addition to the 2 feet that's already caused numerous school delays and closings. it is a mess across much of the country. here's your wednesday weather. up to a half foot of snow from the northern rockies into the midwest with blizzard conditions expected in at least five states. snow also around the great lakes and northern new england, and showerin parts of texas, rain and mountain snow in the northwest. >> 40s in seattle and portland. single digits in billings and fargo. and teens from the twin cities to omaha. 30s for much of the east coast. miami doesn't even hit the 60-degree mark. a new addition at a nevada zoo may have trouble blending in with the rest of the big cats. >> the newest resident at sierra safari in reno is a baby liger. the 8-month-old is the offspring of a male lion and a female tiger, a rare combination that does not occur in the wild. in fact are there, only 20 ligers in the united states liger is pretty much my favorite animal. >> thank you, napoleon. >> this liger doesn't have a name yet so the zoo is conducting a contest to pick one. maybe napoleon, how about that. >> that would be a good one. >> we'll be back with more "world news now." 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>> they're hiding the straints. physical restraint is visible, chemical restraint is not. >> reporter: the lawyer for the doctor in e case plans to cite the widespread use of these drugs in his defense. >> to suggest that using psych tropic medications is contrary to a patient's best interests is just flatly contradicted by what happens every day in the united states. >> reporter: a food and drug administration official estimates each year, unnecessary antipsychotics kill 15,000 nursing home patients, like fannie mae brinkley. john hendren, abc news, lake isabella, california. >> such a disturbing and sad story, especially when you consider this is the most innocent of age groups that there are and they have no way to report what's going on. >> everybody's worst nightmare. you have an elderly parent, elderly relative who seeks hair, has some mistreatment. the vast majority of people who work in this business do care. you get the occasional one who sullies the reputation of the others. when we return, they have been on stage fo35 years. >> where kiss gets all the energy to rock all night and party every day. i delivered that poorly. >> sing it. ♪ rock all night and party ev one indication of increased airport security, comedienne joan rivers was detained at a costa rican airport over the weekend. rivers was celebrating new year's with her family. when it came time to fly back to new york on sunday an airport security guard became suspicious of her passport which reads joan rosenberg, aka joan rivers. rosen bearing was the name of >> i'm not stupid, i travel a lot. i begged. i cried. i pleaded. i asked for help. i asked them to call new york. >> nothing worked and rivers' flight left without her. she left costa rica monday after a 6 1/2 hour drive to another airport. rivers says she is never going to costa rica again. >> joan rivers, been around a long time just like the guys from the rock band kiss. >> their over the top look and guitar-driven sound have been staples on the arena rock circuit for 35 years. >> john berman about did some hanging out with the band. ♪ i'm going to rock and roll all night and party every day ♪ >> reporter: we all might want to rock and roll all night. but what does it take to actually do it? in spandex. and makeup. for 35 years. so how old are you now? >> 57. >> you look good. >> not bad, not bad. amazing what they can do with formaldehyde. >> reporter: backstage with kiss before a sold-out show in chicago you begin to see the heavy lifting that has built these heavy metal icons. >> nobody wants to see a fat guy in tights. let me hear you roar! >> reporter: there's much more to kiss than just the shrieks of front man paul stanley. or the blood spitting of bassist gene simmons. how much work is the music part of it for you now? >> well, you know, the music has to come first. it really does. i mean, you know, you can have all the smoke bombs you want and all the makeup but a crap band is still a crappy band. the most important thing. not too shabby when it comes to entertaining either. ìc&you have a little stuff on here. >> a little subtlety. >> reporter: the show is every bit as unsubtle, every bit as shocking, as it was in 1973 when paul and gene, two jewish kids from new york, first put kiss together. how much does it cost to put on a show like this? >> we spend about $300,000 a show. just on production. we're doing this, we're overdoing. >> lick this. >> reporter: overdoing that leaves 60-year-old gene sim moneys in something of a puddle after each show. >> kiss television, baby, right here. >> reporter: who knew demons wore bathrobes. ♪ this is how we do it >> reporter: gene is in control of a lot. along with paul he owns the rights to kiss music, makeup and merchandise. everything from t-shirts to condoms to coffins. he was trying to sell me on a kiss comic book collection. >> well, looks like i'll selling you the books. what i'm really selling you is -- >> reporter: you will never pass up an opportunity to sell? >> why would you? >> reporter: you're very committed to gene simmons. >> i am, i'm in the gene simmons business. >> reporter: how's business? >> business is good and gets better every year. >> reporter: it's estimated kiss alone has generated over $500 million since the '70s. ♪ gene simmons family jewels >> reporter: now gene has his own reality show, even his own marketing company. do you have to still get on stage every night in the makeup? >> i'll tell you sething. you can be in busine, you can be the pope. everybody wants that feeling. just to spread your arms like this. and to suck in that glorious air. it's god-like. the pope doesn't get that high. >> reporter: the pope doesn't get this banged up either. paul stanley has been through the wringer. >> i've had both my rotator cuffs in my shoulders repaired. they've bows been torn. my meniscus in both my knees, both have been torn. i've had hip replacement. >> reporter: you're not a kid anymore. why still drag your ass out of bed and do it? >> every time i climb a mountain i look over and see another mountain. gee, might be fun to climb that one. >> reporter: with your hips you can climb mountains? >> i can -- >> reporter: metaphorically? >> metaphorically, yes. >> reporter: the band signed pictures and gene and paul signed checks. >> for all the detractors, the fact is we'd be crazy to put out merchandise that nobody wants. all we're doing is giving people what they want. >> reporter: but you do put out a lot of merchandise. >> they want a lot. >> reporter: this tour alone could bring in up to $50 million. yes, 35 years later people are still willing to give kiss the money from their wallets and the shirts off their back. is this par for the course here? >> doesn't that happen to you guys? >> not so much for "nightline." >> hey, i'm on "nightline." >> that's why everybody wants to be a rock star. presidents want to be rock stars. >> reporter: we all might want to rock and roll all night. but only kiss can do it like this. i'm john berman in minneapolis. >> you can safely say i've never been flashed. you? >> that's never happened for me either. >> no. interesting, gene simmons says he still hates heights. he's been doing that same sha tick and hates flying. >> speaking of very cool. how about this. yeah! i got the tongue too, how about that. >> yowza. whoo! awake again? yay! >> such a big day for us here on "world news now." >> where's your noisemaker? >> it's right here. 18 years. >> you know, this part of the show is "morning paper" time. we brought it back to the news room as an homage to the early daze of the show because we loved it so much back when these two -- >> aaron brown and lisa mccree. when one was out the cardboard cutout would play the role of the other anchor, which would be nice. >> it would be far mor interesting, i'm sure. put you know, it was 18 years ago tonight that these two were sitting out in the news room and they launched this thing we call "world news now." how about that. >> it's nice to hear aaron brown reflect on what it was like when the show first started. this notion of, it's the middle of the night, they want to present news the way we thought people would want news in the middle of the night. serious news with a funny, comical twist. >> i watched this show when i was in college and i can honestly say it was a professional aspiration of mine to be a part of this show. i used to watch and say, that would be cool, i would love to be a part of that. >> aww! >> even when i got the chance to first work at abc, wow, what if i got to do that at some point. and here i am, wondering when i won't have to do it anymore. >> you don't mean that. we both say this will probably be the most fun job we have in news. >> other anchors have said that too. you were here 18 years ago, right? >> yes, indeed. >> who else? there's a lot of people on our staff that have been here the full 18 years now. yes. >> donna in graphics who brings us those great graphics has been here a long time. >> what's your favorite in the history of this show? >> when i was working in denver, asha blake, a former anchor, let me see her resume tape. a clip of this show, there she is, i think it was peter jennings' desk at the time, and she danced. i remember asking, wait a second, this was news? she said yes. and at the time i never put the two together this was "world news now." it was just something she'd shown me. >> believe me over the course of the last 18 years, the question "this is news?" has been asked many times in reference to this show. >> tell me your favorite. >> present company, you know, considered here, my favorite memory is the wedding send-off. how's that for the right answer? remember? it's not that long ago we had the polka, we sent you off in big fashion to get married. that was a lot of fun. >> i should have picked that moment. >> you should have, rit? there you are with os. look at that. >> that's really nice of you. you can put down lisa and aaron system failure. that's how the president describes the nation's security after the christmas day bombing attempt. what's his next step? then, buried in snow. 50 inches. since december 28th. wing here and, 18 years of "world news now." >> it was like the kids had taken over the network in the middle of the night. >> celebrating our broadcast's anniversary with you. it's wednesday, january 6th. >> from abc news, this is "world news now." >> do you feel older tonight? >> i feel like we're part of history and that's a very exciting thing to me. 18 years. >> i feel all grown up. we're old enough to vote now. >> we are. >> how about that. "world news now" -- >> not old enough to drink yet, though. >> legally. "world news now" turns 18 and we're glad you're here for the festivities. we'll talk more about our big anniversary coming up this half hour. good morning, i'm jeremy hubbard. >> i'm vinita nair. president obama was blunt. his intelligence and security teams screwed up by not preventing the underwear bomber from boarding a flight to the u.s. >> now he's demanding instant improvements to protect americans. t.j. winick is in washington with more. good morning, t.j. >> reporter: good morning, jeremy and vinita. the president expects to have a clearer picture of those intelligence failures later this week when those two reviews he ordered are due. the meeting in the white house situation room to discuss what led to the attempted bombing of a tolerance atlantic flight on christmas day, and what can be done in the future, lasted about two hours. according to a white house official, president obama told his national security team, this was a screw-up that could have been disastrous. we dodged a bullet but just barely. it was averted by brave individuals not because the system worked and that is not acceptable. >> we face a challenge of the utmost urgency. as we saw on christmas, al qaeda and its extremist allies will stop at nothing in their efforts to kill americans. >> reporter: in the meeting, homeland security secretary janet napolitano briefed the president on enhanced airline screening measures. homeland security adviser john brennan briefed the president on intelligence failu the bottom line, there was ample warning about umar farouk abdulmutallab but the intelligence community failed to connect the dots. >> the u.s. government had sufficient information to have uncovered this plot and potentially disrupt the christmay a >> reporter: in an address following the meeting, the rmsh asng the meeting, the ror lisly a former homeland security official believes without the president firing anyone, no one is truly being held accountable. >> the proof of the pudding as to whether you're serious abo accountability sems s whether heads roll aslt >> reporter: according to t wousecla version of the intelligence review will likely be made public very soon. jeremy and vinita? the security failure at the newark, new jersey airport sunday was worse than first thought. the airport operator revealed that the camera system was not recording when an unscreened man walked through a secure exit. in fact, it had been broken for nearly a week. the terminal was shut down for six hours, grounding flights. backup cameras operated by continental airlines eventually confirmed the security breach. a small plane crashed into the des plains river near chicago, killing the two pilots on board. the lear jet was approaching the chicago executive airport and had been cleared to land when it went down. the plane was operated by a michiganased cargo company.as sm pickup in illinois and fly to georgia. an oregon man is lucky to be alive this money. high jinks landed him in the path of a subway. check out the just-released kioki yusimo was wrestling with a friend on a platform and a flying kick throws him onto the tracks. the camera switches. you can see him being pulled from the tracks after two train cars passed over him. the train is newer with greater clearance he suffered a minor foot injury. >> wow, he is lucky. new video surfaced of that third suspected white house party crasher. the pictures show the man getting out of a van, looking around, and then walking into the white house state dinner. it's unclear whether the man was ever asked for hs the secret service apparent asmyonee ma gro >> you cannot let anyone into a controlled space, particularly with the president, without being cleared. >> the man, carlos allen, apparently runs a party planning business in the d.c. area. his lawyers say allen doesn't feel as if he did anything wrong, and he is cooperating with investigators. this morning, 32 states have winter weather watches or warnings in the nation's worst deep freeze in a quarter century. it is especially bad in upstate new york. john berman reports from a town buried under 4 feet of snow. >> reporter: what do you do when it never stops snowing? >> on the average it's been twice a day. since new year's. >> reporter: here in fulton, new york, shoveling is a full-time job. >> this is the third time i've shoveled this today. >> reporter: the great snow assault began here on december 28th and kept coming and coming. piling and piling. day after day after day times nine. more than 50 inches and counting. for these hardy northern warriors the snowy cold is a nuisance. in other parts of the country it's a nightmare and a heartbreak. in tennessee, where overnight lows hit 12, four people have died. hypothermia the cause. in new jersey a nuclear power plant was shut down because of ice in its cooling system. in centr florida with temperatures below freezing all week, farmers are performing a kind of citrus cpr, spraying warm well water on trunks and lower branches. the freezing process actually creates energy stored within the ice to keep the fruit warm. further south in palm ach, manatees are huddling for warmth near power plants. at palm beach zoo, those suited for the tropics need help in these temperatures. the parrots are getting space heaters. the sloths too. >> the most vulnerable animals are the ones we're giving the most heat to. >> reporter: creatures big and small trying to shut out this cold. back in fulton, new york, where it snowed for nine straight days, the forecast, snow, more snow, and still more snow. in fact there's a cold front coming at the entire eastern part of this country. it could bring winds as high as 40 miles an hour and snow to the deep south. john berman, abc news, fulton, new york. >> so think about fulton before you complain about your weather today. snow from the northern rockies to the midwest with blizzard warnings and watches in five states. another snowy day around the great lakes and northern new england. showers and mountain snow in the northwest. >> windchills in the dakotas dip to 50 below zero by tonight. fargo's high will be 6. 4 in billings. teens from omaha to the twin cities. 30s for most of the east coast. 58 in miami. we are stepping back in time this morning getting a never before seen look at baby pictures of our vast universe. >> the hubble space telescope has created the earliest images yet. galaxies just 600 to 800 million years after the big bang. because light takes billions of years to cross the universe, hubble's infrared camera was able to get pictures of galaxies dating back 13 billion years. >> scientists say this is the most complete snapshot of the early universe so far. >> fascinating baby picture. we'll be right back with more "world news now." than ever before? 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>> every time we -- thin are getting worse, we get support more. >> reporter: and like it or not, yemen's prime location offers great appeal to al qaeda to try to establish an even bigger base of operations. 40% of the world's crude oil passes through the gulf of aden, giving al qaeda greater incentive to fight hard to stay here. the people we talked to back on the streets of sanaa told us they want nothing to do with al qaeda. >> we hate al qaeda. >> "it is a disastrous situation," this man said. they may feel that way but the leadership of al qaeda here are old hands in the terror busiss. one of them, nasser al awashi, directed the attack on the "uss cole" in yemen in 2000. he was a lieutenant of bin laden's, with him in the caves of afghanistan's tora bora. another two, sayid al sharri, spent years in prison at guantanamo bay. but that too is part of the contrast here. while al qaeda promotes hatred of the west, the people we have met on the streets of sanaa are as friendly to americans as almost anyplace in the region. which is lucky, since now america needs these people to be its new best friends. i'm martha raddatz, abc news, sanaa, yemen. >> really is an interesting profile. you saw martha talking about that green leaf that the men were stuffing in their faces. it's called khat, and they're saying this is similar -- not similar, it's the exact same thing that somali forces and militia fighters were using fighting american forces all day long. imagine almost like morphine-like drug all day in the system. >> like a narcotic version of snuff that so many of them use. also she showed the security forces. they looked less ragtag than the earlier ones we saw in iraq but they have their work cut out for them no, doubt about that. when we return, some money-saving advice before your next trip to the supermarket. >> our consumer correspondent has a big challenge for food shoppers. have you gotten your seasonal flu vaccination? great - but your work's not done yet. we still need to get the h1n1 flu vaccination. you, me -- we should all get one. the vaccine is safe and proven effective against this highly contagious new strainf flu virus. we can help prevent the spread of this virus if we all just roll up our sleeves. to learn more about the h1n1 flu vaccination visit h1n1get1.com or call your local health department it's up to you to fight the flu. the final auto sales for 2009 are in. for detroit you might call it the good, the bad and the ugly. ford, the only u.s. automaker to avoid bankruptcy last year, ended on a good note. december sales were up 33%, but down 15% for the year. at general motors things were bad, down 30% last year compared to 2008. and chrysler, sales were ugl down 36% for the year. rough year. with the holiday bills coming due you might be looking to save money. >> how does cutting your grocery bill by 25% sound? get this, all you really need to do is just eat the food that you already have. >> as elisabeth leamy reports you could save $1,000 a year. >> reporter: amanda gable is a stay at home mom under constant pressure in her own kitchen, planning and cooking can be exhausting. so too often amanda simply gives up thinking ahead. >> you're going to the grocery store for one ingredient to finish your recipe and you end up picking up five or six different things. you can end up spending $50. >> reporter: it doesn't have to be that way. according to steven shaw, an award-winning new york food writer. >> bon appetit. >> reporter: shaw challenged himself not to shop, but instead, to cook all of his family's meals with just the food in his apartment. so, could amanda gable pull this off? we asked her not to shop for a week, making meals with only the food already in her kitchen. day one, the heat is on. amanda scrounged through her cupboards and discovered four-month-old tortellini she prepared with grilled hamburgers from her stash of frozen meats. stuffed into the bottom of her refrigerat, asparagus. voila, dinner for four, no trips to the store. day two, amanda was desperate for certain spices for a sauce. and while rum manning through her kitchen found spices she forgot she bought three years ago. she lucked out. did she have chicken? it was crucial. back to the freezer bin. amanda searched through frozen bags and then, thank goodness, found enough for chicken skewers. from her cupboard, brown rice. the final days of the challenge were a piece of cake, pun intended. she figures she'll save more than $50 a week at the grocery store. for her that's 25%. by shopping less impulsively. >> cheers, girls. >> that's elisabeth leamy reporting. i don't have any food in my refrigerator, i've got enough for a day, i wouldn't be in any kind of luck here. is it okay to eat food, spices that are three years old? >> spices are okay. the thing that's interesting to me about this, it would seem to me there are other ways to cut your budget. the easiest way is to cut proteins out. if you don't buy meats. >> i'm trying that. i'm trying to go the month of january without eating meat. i really want a hamburger. cost to you. stay tuned for this important medicare benefit information and free scooter guarantee. imagine... one scooter or power chair that could improve your may entitle you to pay little to nothing to own it. one company that can make it all happen ... your power chair will be paid in full. the scooter store. why should you call the scooter store today? because their mobility experts are also medicare experts. and that means the scooter store is your best shot at qualifying for a scooter that costs you little to nothing. hi i'm doug harrison. pay little to nothing out of pocket. how do we do it? we know what it takes to get you your power chair it's our strength. it's our mission. and we back it up with the scooter store guarantee. if we qualify you and medicare denies your claim for a new powerchair or scooter, i'll give it to you absolutely free. i paid into medicare all my life, and when i needed it the benefit was there for me. the scooter store made it so easy. i didn't pay a penny out of pocket for my power chair. the scooter store got me back out in the world again. talk to. there is a medicare benefit that may qualify you for a new power chair or scooter at little to no cost to you. will "world news now" last another five years? of course it will. none of the executives at abc news even know it's on the air right now. >> hi, i'm abc news president david westin wishing happy birthday to "world news now." didn't we cancel that show? >> not yet, we made it to 18. >> there are a lot of things you and i fought about. there's one thing we both agree on, that is that 18 years ago right now, we were both probably sleeping. but we to know that one thing was definitely happening at this very precise moment. >> the first-ever broadcast of "world news now." that's right, today is our program's 18th anniversary. here's how it all started. >> this is the premiere broadcast of abc's "world news now." >> reporter: they said it wouldn't last. and with good reason. >> it was like the kids had taken over the network in the middle of the night. >> reporter: 18 years later, "world news now" has not only survived, it's become a pop culture, well, phenomenon. >> this network fills the wee hours with "world news now" for those left uninformed by its "nightline." >> reporter: not to mention a wellspring of comedy from late-night hosts. >> still angry. well, take a look, take a look. >> reporter: all of it from humble beginnings 18 years ago. based on a simple philosophy. take the news seriously, but not ourselves. >> the one thing we had going for us is we were pretty sure no one was watching. none of our bosses were watching. >> reporter: and before tivo and youtube and fox news and msnbc, we were here, ready to break in. some familiar faces once called "world news now" home. that's anderson cooper about to get a surprise from his famous mom gloria vanderbilt. ♪ >> reporter: one reason so many of you tuned in over the years, of course, the polka. >> they always play some sort of music going into weather. one night they played polka. the anchor at the time, the original anchor, lisa mccree, said, i hate polka music. they got nasty letters and she was forced to make a retraction. ♪ who cares what the bosses think they're a goofy crew ♪ >> they said you should play a polka every week as a theme song. play a polka. i said, i'll write you your own polka. >> reporter: over the years the anniversaries have come and gone. ♪ it's our ten-year polka >> reporter: this one's a g deal, we're finally 18. "world news now" is an adult. i hope that doesn't mean we have to grow up. >> nice move, jack. one thing has changed, i know the bosses are watching because i've gotten in trouble before for things i've said on the air. >> now you also wear that jacket. >> that's right. >> talking about no jacket. >> those are t utmost urgency. the president's plan to improve security now, after the christmas day bombing plot. then, dangerous drug. explosive concerns about methamphetamin after what police uncovered in makeshift labs. and, google's gadget. is this sleek mobile phone truly ground-breaking? >> they're squarely going after apple's iphone market. >> it's wednesday, january 6th. >> from abc news, this is "world news now." >> well, it certainly is a wonderful morning at "world news now." and you know, why don't you? >> it's nostalgia-filled. we're 18, this is our birthday. >> it's unbelievable, years. >> when you think about the people who have sat in these seats before and then they let us sit here. >> yes, big shoes to fill. >> and we have not adequately filled them. >> at all. good morning and thanks for being with us. i'm vinita nair. >> i'm jeremy hubbard. more about our birthday coming up. first the president is outlining new strategies to strengthen the nation's security system. >> president obama said the u.s. had enough information to stop the christmas day terror plot but nobody connected the dots. he says that is unacceptable. jake tapper reports from the white house. >> reporter: it was an intense meeting in the situation room where president obama pressed his national security team on how umar farouk abdulmutallab was able to board northwest airlines flight 253. >> when a suspected terrorist is able to board a plane with explosives on christmas day, the system has failed in a potentially disastrous way. >> reporter: in remarks after the meeting, the president used a version of the word fail nine times in as many minutes. >> fail, failures, fail, failures. >> reporter: he was talking about his government failing to adequately protect the american people. >> we face a challenge of the utmost urgency. as we saw on christmas, al qaeda and its extremist allies will stop at nothing in their efforts to kill americans. >> reporter: in the meeting, homeland security secretary janet napolitano briefed the president on enhanced screening measures. more explosive detection teams. more air marshals. enhanced screening for passengers from 14 nations with ties to terrorism. white house homeland security adviser john brennan briefed the president on intelligence failures. the conclusion, the information about abdulmutallab was there but the intelligence community failed to connect the dots. >> the u.s. government had sufficient information to have uncovered this plot and potentially disrupt the christmas day attack. >> reporter: the president described other reforms. updating the terrorist watch list and adding more individuals to the no-fly and extra screening lists. and getting stricter about granting visas. the president also privately told his team that while there will be a tendency for finger-pointing, i will not tolerate it. but former homeland security inspector general clark irvin says that without the president firing anyone, there is no true accountability. >> the proof of the pudding as to whether he's serious about accountability, it seems to me, is whether actually heads roll as a result of this failure. >> reporter: it remains possible somebody will lose their job over this incident. but the problem action one white house official told me, is it wasn't just one person's fault or even one agency's fault. it was many people, many agencies. jake tapper, abc news, th a suspiciousered major securcare ali the airport was shut down after a positive fortnt five gatorade bottles were found inside the bag and tests showed them to be filled onlth flights were canceled for most of a security failure at newark airport sunday night is turning into an outrage. not only was a man able to slip into a secure part of the terminal without being screened, the cameras that should have recorded the breach were not working. lucy yang reports. >> reporter: we are now learning some disturbing details about those first few critical moments at newark airport sunday night when there was a security breach. according to the tsa, officials were chasing their tail for more than an hour and a half, plenty of time for the man in question to leave the airport unnoticed. 5:30 sunday evening a man is observed walking the wrong way through an exit lane, bypassing security and going straight into the sterile part of terminal c. authorities are notified. the terminal is shut down. all planes are grounded and thousands of passengers thrown into a tailspin. the tsa scrambles to find video of the incident, only to learn as we reported first that cameras are on, but nothing is being recorded. >> to have these security cameras at our airports and then have them not function, again, makes no sense. >> reporter: officials now admit they finally got their first glimpse of the incident an hour and a halfater, when they viewed continental's own security video. the tsa tells us they have a signed agreement from the port authority to purchase, install, operate, and maintain the cameras. clearly, the system was not working when it was needed most. worse yet, abc has learned the camera has not been recording since december 28th, that it broke down three days after an alleged terrorist tried to blow up a plane. however, the port authority argues they were never told the cameras weren't recording and that it was the tsa's responsibility to report the problem. after much back and forth, the tsa announced they will now be responsible for checking all the cameras at the airport. lucy yang, abc news, at newark airport. new details of last we's devastating suicide bombing on a cia base in afghanistan are now emerging. the cia thought its informant was bringing information about the location of al qaeda's number two man, al zawahiri. the bomber was allowed to skip checkpoints because he was recruiteby a member of the jordanian intelligence agency who said he could be trusted. >> they're outsourcing intelligence. they're having to go to the jordanians to ask for help to getting to al qaeda. we simply cannot -- blond hair, blue eyed americans, cannot get out into these camps. >> he demanded violence against the united states in the most brutal way. you know, he was rabidly pro-al qaeda. >> the informant told the cia his anti-west blog was a cover for his spying but his suicide proved it was no act. the betrayal may have compromised other facets of the u.s. intelligence mission in that region. one of the nation's leading democrats is expected to announce his retirement today. connecticut senator christopher dodd has served in congress for more than 30 years. he currently heads the powerful senate banking committee. dodd had faced a tough re-election challenge from two republicans. another democratic senator, myron dorgan of north dakota, announced yesterday he would not run again. winter weather watches or warnings are posted now in at least 30 states as temperatures dip to single digits in the north carolina mountains. they got another half foot of snow on top of the ice and snow that has accumulated there over the past few weeks. schools will be closed today, the second day in a row, due to the weather. kids about the only ones not complaining about that, i'm sure. here's your wednesday forecast. up to a half foot of snow from idaho to illinois. blizzard conditions in nebraska, south dakota, minnesota, and iowa. more snow around the great lakes, upstate new york, and northern new england today. showers in east and central texas. >> a frigid 6 degrees in fargo. 14 in minneapolis. 23 in chicago. mid 30s in new york and boston. 58 in miami. 48 in new orleans. it will be a bit warmer in the southwest. 70 in phoenix. a bit like christmas in january for kids in spain who get to unwrap presents today. >> throngs of people line the streets of madrid for an annual parade on the eve of the epiphany. it rained down candy and other treats as colorful characters captivated crowds. the three kings holiday celebrates the story of the three wise men who presented baby jesus with the gifts. >> the celebration falls on the 12th day after christmas and it's a tradition in spain, latin america dibbean. i just had an epiphany, i want to go there, have some candy >> i know, i be r welcome back. for years, crystal meth has been a scourge for rural towns and inner cities. >> it's addictive and many dealers make it in their own homes. most of them have no idea how dangerous a new way of cooking up meth can be. >> as chris bury reports it is keeping police busy. >> the main thing is obviously everybody be safe out there. >> reporter: safety is very much on the mind of michigan state police lieutenant tony saucito, briefing federal, state and local agents setting out on raids aimed at a dangerous new way of making methamphetamine. >> this is our hot spot in michigan for lab activity. >> reporter: over two days this task force spreads out along the michigan/indiana border. >> for whatever reason, methamphetamine's taken hold down here. >> reporter: in this mostly rural region, amid the small towns and farms, the meth that police are most worried about is home-brewed, toxic, and combustible. it's called mom and pop, shake and bake, or one pot. >> the one-pot cook accounts for approximately 85% to 90% of our labs here in the state of michigan this year. >> reporter: se of the leads on those labs come from this local police informant. just out of jail after serving time on drug charges himself. how long were you in the meth business? >> about eight to ten years. i lost family, my home, everything. >> reporter: at his request, we'll hide his face, scramble his voice, and call him joe. why has it become popular around here? >> because of the mom and pops. everybody's doing it around here. >> reporter: in the tiny town of jones, michigan, long past its prime, the task force has descended on a ramshackle compound just off the main drag. this woman is crying because agents have just busted her nephew for allegedly making meth in a homemade one-pot lab. >> once he realized police were at the door he was trying to destroy, burn up the evidence so he wouldn't get arrested. >> reporter: the ingredients are so toxic that the task force sends in its own hazardous materials team. every inch of their skin is covered. >> this is treated as a haz-mat, hazardous waste, site. part of that is suiting up in these suits to protect them while they're working in this environment. >> reporter: the haz-mat team retrieves the evidence item by item, taken from a small cooler that police say the suspect tried to set on fire. >> all these items are coming from the cooler. >> reporter: at first glance they appear to be ordinary things you might have in your house, garage, or car. >> batteries. drain opener. a half gallon of camping fuel. two full containers of instant starter fluid. >> reporter: when the ingredients are properly mixed, users can quickly cook up a batch of meth in a bottle this small. >> tgi friday's margarita blend. >> reporter: hence the name one-pot. when something goes wrong in the plastic bottles these meth chefs like to use, and it often does, this is what happens. the fire hazard is deadly enough. add to that fumes from the reaction so toxic they can kill. despite the danger, mom and pop labs are taking off because of the crackdown on cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient in making meth. now that customers must register when buying those products -- >> police, search warrant, open the door! >> reporter: federal authorities have noticed a sharp drop-off in the big labs run by dealers. the one-pot method, requiring only a handful of pills, has become far more popular. >> we anticipate the number of lab seizures will be above 8,000 la in 2009. and we think the majority of those labs will be the one-pot or shake a bake method. >> reporter: the method is also catching on because this new breed of meth cooks can shake and bake on the move. police are now finding the labs in cars, in backpacks, and other places you might not imagine. >> there was actually a one-t meth cook going on, active in a child's diaper bag. while the vehicle obviously was traveling down the road and the child was in the back seat. >> reporter: for cops in the field, the spreading menace of the one-t labs means costly raids, tying up equipment and manpower to snag small-time users. this has got to be a real headache for law enforcement. >> it is. it is. it typically costs a lot more to actually process and deal with a meth lab than it would maybe your cocaine or marijuana dealer. because of all the specialized equipment. >> reporter: for those mom and pop methmakers it means a certain trip to jail. and felony charges that could put them away for years. >> i love you. >> i love you too. >> reporter: i'm chris bury in jones, michigan. >> the sad truth about stories like that, i know from working denver, and i'm sure you felt the same way, these meth busts happen quite often and it's not just inner cities and bad areas. i remember i covered one once, almost a million dollar mansion, and i couldn't believe they would turn the inside of that house to shambles cooking these drugs up. >> a lot of times they're being cooked up in homes with children with no regard for that at all. long-term effects, we know they're dangerous. we saw that toxic smoke. it's really disgusting. >> such a bad problem. when we come back we are really shifting gears. we're talking about the tense travels for joan rivers. why she is not laughing about airport security. and tiger woods in act we shoulopen "the skinny" with birthday music. >> if you're just tuning in, it's the 18th anniversary tonight of "world news now." we're having our 18th birthday party. apparently for fire code reasons or budget reasons we don't have y matches to light the candles. >> they're hermetically sealed so we're not tempted to light our 1 and our 8. we're excited about our birthday. guess who's making an appearance in "the skinny" to mark our birthday? >> britney spears? lindsay lohan? >> think more recent. >> paris hilton? >> more recent. >> tiger woods. >> of course. we start this morning with tiger woods. you could read it right there. it's just what he does not need right now. >> this can't be right. >> who knows what's right. an unidentified woman is coming forward. she says that she has a sex video of woods that she claims was shot two years ago. the company, vivid entertainment, one of the co-founders, a guy by the name of steven hirsch, says he has seen the 30-second clip of the video but he is not confirming tiger's identity. already woods' lawyers are jumping on this, sending a letter threatening to go after anyone who publishes nude photos and videos of the 34-year-old. it keeps getting worse. every me we do one of these stories i think, this is the last tiger story. >> by the lawyers sendg that letter, do they acknowledge the existence? >> i don't think that's necessarily true. i think that might have been a blanket. because all these pictures are popping up. i think the mistress count is 12-plus. i lost con't >> maybe it's 18. >> could be. when you think of terrorists or potential terrorists, joan rivers probably does not come to mind. but she feels like she was treated basically as a terrorist as she was trying to catch a flight back to the united states from costa rica. she was headed back tork over the weekend and a jittery continental airlines gate agent apparently found two names on her passport. it said joan rosenberg, aka joan rivers. rosenberg was her husband's last name. she's calling this gate agent nasty and cruel, said she bumped rivers from the last flight out of town, she found herself alone at the airport with no atm card, just 100 bucks in cash. >> i begged. i cried. i pleaded. i asked for help. i asked them to call new york. it meant nothing. she just wasn't going to do it. you can't be furious at an airport because they'll strip search you and that will make everyone nauseous. >> one of the funniest things to me as i was reading about the interactions she had with the person, if i was going to pick a fake name i would not pick rosenburg. i would pick jolie, pitt, not rosenburg. >> she said, do terrorists wear manolo blahniks? >> does dkny make outfits you can smuggle a bomb in? >> i don't think dkny makes that kind of underwear. >> very sad story for her. speaking of sad stories, elizabeth edwards, she's captivated the nation, now another gesture of good will according to the "national enquirer." they are reporting she is wanting to meet frances, who turns 2 in february, frances the alleged love child of her husband, john edwards, and rielle hunter. a close source is saying not only does she want to meet the child she wants john edwards to pay the $18,000 in support rielle is asking for. the same source went on to say elizabeth sometimes breaks down in tears when the talks about frances come up. she says the child needs a daddy. >> it's pretty selfless, really, when you think about it, this woman who's been scorned by her husband. yet still realizes that this child needs an active parent. >> well, there are some people saying elizabeth wants john to settle to avoid any further embarrassment. i agree, i think this is just another example of her really taking the higher road. renee: diabetes scared me to death. there's so much to learn. i just shut down. but liberty walked me through it all ...like when i test ...at night or after i eat ...makes a big difference. vo: a good diet and testing your blood sugar regularly can help y manage-even reduce-the 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polanski is under house arrest in switzerland. and nasa starts selling tickets for next month's "endeavour" launch. it could be the last nighttime shuttle launch at kennedy space center. finally this half hour, we've heard so much about it and it is on. the "it" in thisase is the battle between google and apple over what's going to be the first mega gadget of the new decade. >> google has introduced its first haymaker and apple is expected to answer soon. kate snow joins us with the blow by blow. kate? >> reporter: good morning, jeremy, vinita. this is the new google phone i'm holding. it knows where i am right now. in fact if i say i want pizza it shows me where i can get pizza around here. but you know, right now 27% of smart phone users have this phone, the iphone. not if google can help it. it's google's attempt at moving from an internet search site to a must have device. >> they're squarely going after apple's iphone market. >> reporter: but apple has another trick coming in this clash of the tech titans that just might change the mobile game again. it's called a tablet. this is one of the earliest versions. expensive, used only in places like hospitals. but rumor has it apple has invented a tablet for the masses. these unauthorized pictures are floating around online of a flat screen you touch to read books, play games, surf the web, watch movies. we think the first apple tablet will be this size. i'm going to need to get a new handbag. but the idea is that you'd no longer need to carry around a computer and a calendar, a shopping list, blackberry, ipod, and a dvd player. and you'd never need to come to a news stand again for your newspaper or your magazine. this demo of what "sports illustrated" might look like on a tablet got a lot of attention. what about the argument that this could put magazines out of business? >> no, boy, are we in business. this is a whole other way for me to edit, for you to consume. this is a door being kicked open. >> you have to embrace it, you have to go with it? >> at least you want to dance. >> reporter: with apple leading the way this could really revolutionize the publishing lingle kaays- a lot will depend, though, on how much the new tablets cost. jeremy, vinita? >> despite the cost i have a feeling a lot of people are go