Tonight, here are the questions we want answered:
On the trail of missed signals in the christmas day bombing plot.
Tonight new clues about what the government knew…when they knew it…and why there was such an utter communication breakdown.
What will it take to make sure we never see another failure like this again?

The white house under fire: has the administration downplayed the war on terror…and made us vulnerable in the process?
We'll ask tonight's newsmaker: former homeland security secretary michael chertoff.
He joins me to talk about all those missed connections.

Plus, a radical imam in yemen, linked to the suspected christmas bomber *and* the man who opened fire on fort hood.
Is he inspiring a new generation of radicals?

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Communication breakdown! The plot to blow up flight 253 – the CIA met with the father of the alleged bomber months ago! So why didn't they connect the dots? Why didn't it make it up the food chain?
How does one go from a good student .. into a suspected terrorist?

But internet postings paint a different picture ..of a young man who said he'd never found a true muslim friend.
How does a mixed-up kid become a radical?

Plus, what are you willing to give up to be safe when you fly?
Full-body scanners can see through your clothes - is that ok?

How much privacy would you trade for security?

Also tonight, is yemen the new hotbed for al qaeda?
And what should the u-s do about it?

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Why was this guy on a plane on Christmas Day? Why wasn't he on the no-fly list?

Even his dad said "watch this guy"!

So after all the money and years spent, what will it really take to protect Americans?

So should we talk about the one thing that could've stopped this guy, but we're all afraid to say it: Profiling.

Also tonight, celebrities behaving badly.
From Charlie Sheen to Ivana Trump - they got into some serious trouble over the holiday weekend.
We'll tell you what happens now.
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David Reisner is one of the producers at CNN and around here we know him as the technical guru behind that now famous magic wall. He knew yesterday was going to be one of the biggest days of his life.

What caused a near disaster aboard an American Airlines jet?
Dozens of passengers hurt when their plane skidded off the runway in Kingston, Jamaica.
Tonight - we'll get some expert advice on how to survive if your caught in an aircraft emergency.

Why are U.S. troops going to some of the most unforgiving land in America?
We'll show you the answer in a C-N-N exclusive: "The War Before the War" a looks at what our soldiers go through to get ready for Iraq and Afghanistan.

And - is the health care fight headed for the courts?
With the Senate's final vote on the reform bill just hours away... could Republicans be ready to take the fight to a whole new level?

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we need to warn you that some of the images we are about to show you in the next story, well, it may not be suitable for all viewers. You're going to see some very realistic war training for our troops designed to get them used to the horrors of war before they even set foot in a combat zone.

Our T.J. Holmes shows us the people whose acting skills turned the Southern California desert into a true battlefield setting. Again, while the wounds shown in this story are fake and part of a training exercise, they appear to be very real. So, be warned.

VELSHI: T.J., this has been designed in its current configuration in training around Iraq. With the emphasis on putting more troops into Afghanistan, is something going to change?

HOLMES: They expect it to. They normally do a new unit every month during the year. This past year, they only did two rotations of Afghanistan, the rest before training in Iraq.

And I asked the general there - when I did the story, we were still waiting on the decision from President Obama. Now that we have it, he said, we are ready to go as soon as we hear the decision. So, they do anticipate in the coming weeks and months they will hear that more and more soldiers will be trained for Afghanistan. They can turn on a dime, month to month.

VELSHI: Is that right?

HOLMES: They can have it ready, change a few actors, change a few of the settings, and they can train for Afghanistan on a dime.

VELSHI: What changes in terms of day-to-day or month-to-month changes on the ground? So, rather than Iraq to Afghanistan, if there a month when there's a certain type of insurgency going on, can they adapt to that?

HOLMES: They get minute-by-minute, day-by-day updates about exactly what is happening in theater, exactly what methods the insurgents are using in Iraq or Afghanistan, also the exact type of weaponry they're using. They get that and they apply it in theater literally the next day they can have it changed.

VELSHI: Wow.

HOLMES: So, it is - absolutely. It mirrors exactly what's happening in Iraq. It's always up to date.

By Graham Flanagan
CNN Associate Producer

In the months leading up to the release of the movie Avatar, director James Cameron’s highly anticipated follow-up to 1997’s Titanic – we all saw trailers that made some pretty hefty promises. One of them said, “Movies will never be the same.” Another promised, “The greatest adventure of all time.”

Courtesy 20th Century Fox

It’s hard to expect one movie – especially one about a blue-skinned alien race quickly maligned by the blogosphere for its similarities to the Smurfs – to actually live up to hype of that magnitude. However, if ever there existed a filmmaker who specializes in surpassing expectations, that person is James Cameron.

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We have part two in our series: The War before the war
How far does the military go to train our troops for war?

A C-N-N exclusive: The most intense war games you have ever seen.
Meet the people POSING as terrorists... for a good cause.

And: does the the blockbuster film, Avatar, have a secret message?
We talk with one of the stars of the film.

Plus, We have a more on a story we brought you last night-an order issued to tens of thousands of troops on the battlefield in Iraq.

Why is the Army threatening: Get pregnant... or get another soldier pregnant... and you could get court-martialed?

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T-J Holmes takes us as close to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as you can get... without leaving the country.
He went inside a training ground the size of Rhode Island that is meant to prepare troops for real-life battle.
We'll also look at the new order issued to tens of thousands of troops on the battlefield in Iraq.
Why is the Army threatening: Get pregnant... or get another soldier pregnant... and you could get court-martialed?
Plus, This is being called the worst decade for stocks EVER.
Should you have kept your money under the mattress instead?
See what the last ten years can teach us about the NEXT ten years.

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From Barbara Starr and Adam Levine, CNN
Washington (CNN) - A new order from the general in charge of northern Iraq makes getting pregnant or impregnating a fellow soldier an offense punishable by court-martial.

The directive, part of a larger order restricting the behavior of the 22,000 soldiers under Gen. Anthony Cucolo's command, is meant to prevent losing soldiers at a time when troop strength is stretched thin, Cucolo explained in a statement sent to the troops under his command and provided to CNN.

"I need every soldier I've got, especially since we are facing a drawdown of forces during our mission," Cucolo wrote. "Anyone who leaves this fight earlier than the expected 12-month deployment creates a burden on their teammates. Anyone who leaves this fight early because they made a personal choice that changed their medical status - or contributes to doing that to another - is not in keeping with a key element of our ethos."

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