Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Veterans I.D. Theft; U.S.-Israel Talks; Built For A Hurricane; Sadr City Bombing; Card Cop

Aired May 23, 2006 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We'll get started talking, especially to veterans out there, are your savings trickling away with each passing second? Right now thieves are auctioning off stolen identities. We're going to go inside a black market chat room and show you who is watching out for you.
And the edge of disaster. A mother and her son face a life and death dilemma, jump or die. The right choice. And I'll tell you right now, a happy ending is ahead in the next two hours.

Meanwhile, drama in the courtroom. One sniper may testify against the other. That's what we expect today in the second trial of John Muhammad. Muhammad is facing six murder charges this time in Maryland for the 2002 killing spree. And now there's word that his convicted accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, has struck a deal with prosecutors. If that pans out, Malvo will testify against Muhammad. Our Kathleen Koch is in the courtroom at this hour and she'll bring you an update as soon as that is available.

For every living veteran since 1975, and we are talking here about 25 million people or more, all may be at risk today for identity theft. Personal data, birth dates, social security numbers, just what a thief needs to ruin your financial life. The information was on a computer disk that has been stolen.

Our chief national correspondent John King has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The stolen Department of Veteran Affairs record represent the largest data breach in history. Personal information on 25 million living veterans, plus some of their spouses.

MARK RASCH, FORMER CYBERCRIME PROSECUTOR: Whether you're a terrorist and you want to fly on an airplane or you want to get somebody's credit card information or get credit, all you need is their name, their date of birth and their social security number. Exactly the information that was stolen here.

KING: The government says the thieves may not know the value of what they have.

ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We have no reason to believe at this time that there has been -- that the identities of these veterans have been compromised. KING: The V.A. says a long-time employee took the data home earlier this month, a violation of government policy, and then reported it stolen during a burglary in his home. The government says the computer files had personal data on 26.5 million people in all. All 25 million living military veterans, a modest number of their spouses and more than a million deceased veterans. The FBI is investigating, as well as the department's inspector general. The government has alerted the major credit agencies and set up a hotline in case people like Korean War veteran Robert Armstrong see any suspicious activity.

ROBERT ARMSTRONG, KOREAN WAR ARMY VETERAN: With social security numbers they can eventually get into bank accounts and that sort of thing and I'm not real happy about that.

KING: Senate Veterans Affair Committee Chairman Larry Craig says Congress needs to look quickly at data security across the government.

SEN. LARRY CRAIG, (R) VETERANS AFFAIRS CHAIRMAN: Well it's obvious it was lax at this agency. But if it was lax there, my guess is it's everywhere else. It's just that we have not focused on it with the intensity that we should have.

KING: Cybercrime experts say the government collects too much information to begin with and has long ignored obvious security risks.

RASCH: We can encrypt the data. We can scramble it. We can make it more difficult to access. We just don't want to because it makes it more difficult to do our jobs.

KING: The employee who took the disk home has been placed on leave pending the investigation. The department won't say exactly when the theft took place, just some time this month, raising concerns in Congress about how fast the affected veterans were notified.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And you can catch the news of the day on "Paula Zahn Now" weeknights at 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific.

The Veteran's Administration has set up several ways to answer your questions and concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, VETERANS AFFAIRS HOTLINE: Welcome to 1-800- Fed-INFO. If you are calling about the recent theft of Veterans Affairs' electronic data, please listen to the following message. We believe this theft was a random act and not a deliberate attempt to steal information about veterans. The V.A. is actively investigating, but there is no reason to believe any veterans' information will be misused.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: That phone number, by the way, is 1-800-FED-INFO. There are also two websites you can visit. The addresses are firstgov.gov and va.gov/opa.

Live on a computer screen near you, stolen identities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're trading credit cards and identities. They're swapping out different types of wares and tools so they can commit crimes. But they're real. They're doing this right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Identities for sale. One of them may be yours. We'll take a look coming up.

News out of New York City. The revolving anchor chair at ABC taking another spin. Just minutes ago the network announced that long time anchor Charles Gibson will take over as the sole anchor of "World News Tonight." He'll start at the end of the month as a solo anchor. That means he'll replace Elizabeth Vargas. Yes, it was just six months ago that she and Bob Woodruff were named as replacements to Peter Jennings after he lost his battle to lung cancer. Woodruff was injured while on assignment in Iraq. Vargas says that after she returns from maternity leave she'll work on the news magazine "20/20" and new specials.

And here is what ABC News president David Westin had to say. "Charles Gibson is one of the most distinguished journalists on television. He is a superb broadcaster, the consummate professional, and a very familiar presence to the audience and everyone at "World News Tonight."

On to world news. Take a look at these pictures. An amazing escape in Germany. That's a mother and her 11-year-old son as they jump from a second floor balcony after their apartment goes up in flames. Firefighters say before they jumped the woman tried to make a rope as a safety net that she used to keep her cat on the balcony. The mother and her son did suffer smoke inhalation. The mother also injured her hands and feet. By the way, the woman was holding the cat when she jumped.

A champion race horse on the road to recovery. We're talking, of course, about Barbaro. Veterinarians are keeping a round the clock watch on the three year old colt. He now has a cast on his right hind leg. He broke that during the Preakness on Saturday. The vets are treating Barbaro. They say he is standing on that leg today. He's eating well. And even paying some attention to the girl horses. Less than an hour ago the vets talked about the progress that Barbaro has made so far.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR DEAN RICHARDSON, VETERINARIAN: He's done a couple of things that manifest his level of comfort. One of which is he actually was scratching his left ear with his left hind leg, which is his good leg. And he tried, when I was in working with him this morning, he kind of waved at me with his left hind leg, which is his good leg. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Setting borders in the Middle East. Israel may do it on its own terms, saying it lacks a peace partner. It's the talk of Washington today. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has meetings that the White House and the Pentagon. Our Ed Henry is at the White House this morning.

Ed, these meetings come at a very interesting time of relationships not just between the Israelis and Palestinians, but Palestinians and the United States as well.

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. We see the violence playing out in the last 24-hours in Gaza, adding even more urgency to these talks between President Bush, Prime Minister Olmert. They'll be in the Oval Office about 3:00 Eastern Time today. There will be a 5:00 Eastern Time press conference with the two leaders.

Clearly at the top of the agenda, that violence in Gaza, but also this plan that Prime Minister Olmert is trying to flesh out and sell to the U.S. government a plan to withdrawal from most of the Jewish settlements on the West Bank. A Bush administration really surging a go slow approach, concerned that imposing a West Bank settlement on the Palestinians could really blow up the peace talks even more.

Prime Minister Olmert, what he has really been saying in advance of this meeting though, is that he feels, as you noted, that the Palestinian government, now run by Hamas, a terror organization, really is not a partner in peace. That he can't negotiate with them directly. No easy options here.

The White House thinks that this settlement plan, on one hand, could pave the way for a Palestinian state. That could help the peace process. But on the other hand, Israel wants to keep some other settlements. That could be seen as a land grab at a time when the U.S. is trying to build an international coalition to stop Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Ed, a big week for the president in terms of world leaders. He'll be meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair later this week.

HENRY: That's right. Tony Snow just a few moments ago confirming what we knew yesterday, which is that, in fact, Tony Blair will be here. The prime minister officially arriving on Thursday. Talks with President Bush will start then. But they will also carry over into Friday.

A lot to discuss, obviously. Prime Minister Blair yesterday made a surprise visit to Baghdad. He was the first world leader to actually go to Iraq after the formation of the new government. They want to talk about that. And one quick note. A lot of British media reports suggesting the two leaders may make a major announcement, maybe a major cut to U.S. troop levels, for example. So far White House officials insist no major announcement coming.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Ed Henry at the White House. Ed, thank you.

HENRY: Thank you.

KAGAN: Danger on the doorstep. A 500-pound bear stormed into a house and attacks. The outcome ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY.

Also getting ready just in case there's another big one. Coming up, New Orleans gears up for the new hurricane season.

And what a welcome home. New Orleans rolls out the carpet to greet some of its smallest Katrina evacuees. That story just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: And this just in to CNN. Word of out Rockville, Maryland. Confessed sniper Lee Boyd Malvo, who was the younger of the two snipers back in that 2002 round of shootings in the Washington D.C. area, has been sworn in. This is the second round of trials and John Muhammad on trial here in Maryland. Both have already gone through the trial system in Virginia. This time Malvo is going to testify and has been sworn in to testify against John Muhammad. It should be a fascinating and eerie scene in this Rockville, Maryland, courtroom because John Muhammad, the older sniper, is acting as his own attorney. So he will be posing the questions to Lee Boyd Malvo, a young man who now claims that he was brain washed by John Muhammad to go through that series of shootings back in 2002. Our Kathleen Koch is in the courtroom and will bring us the latest on what that testimony was like when she's available to leave the courtroom and the courthouse.

Let's turn to some weather news now. It's only nine days before hurricane season and New Orleans is taking no chances today. Right now emergency workers are staging a drill and mock evacuation of the city. Scientists predict this year's season will bring up to 16 named storms and six major hurricanes. That is down from last year's record season.

Hurricane season is just days away and there's a big question along the Gulf Coast. Is FEMA ready? Well this is what Katrina did to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. And nine months later, the state's emergency management director says he does not have a good feeling about FEMA's plans. Robert Latham says the agency has done little to coordinate aid distribution with the states and he'd like to know what to expect and when to expect it.

A category five hurricane bears down, residents evacuate, but the forecasters have to stay. Now some have a fortress where they can keep tracking the storm. Our John Zarrella prepared his report for "Anderson Cooper 360."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Sloppy Joe's bar. The southern most point in the U.S. A postcard sunset. All are must sees for anyone visiting Key West. And now this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And on the far left corner is the new location of the National Weather Service.

ZARRELLA: The new weather service bunker has made the famed Conch Train Tour.

MATT STRAHAN, METEOROLOGIST-IN-CHARGE: I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about hurricanes. It's become such an obsession down here and rightfully so.

ZARRELLA: The $5 million structure is designed to allow Matt Strahan, and his staff of 21, to continue gathering data right through a category five hurricane.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can't even hear, for the most part, that the storm is going on outside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good evening. And the launch from the corner of White Street (ph) and United (ph) is approved.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you very much. Launching in one minute.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger.

ZARRELLA: Sending up last-minute data gathering balloons, analyzing changes in the storm. It's the kind of information that emergency managers say could save lives here in the Keys if people listen.

BILLY WAGNER, MONROE COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGER: And I can assure you, if they don't pay attention to this, we're going to lose thousands of people if we have a three, four or five make landfall down here.

ZARRELLA: The bunker is made of concrete and steel. The windows are made to withstand wind of 165 miles an hour. If that's not enough, 500-pound storm shutters add protection.

Now if for whatever reason this outer area should fail, the forecasters can retreat inside here. This is the safe room. The walls are 13 inches thick, poured concrete, steel reinforced. The door weighs 450 pounds. It opens to the inside so that it can't be blocked by debris. The entire room is designed to withstand wind of 255 miles an hour.

On one wall are pictures drawn by school children who went through Hurricane Wilma last October. One child wrote, "my house had two feet of water. My room was destroyed." Another said, "Wilma destroyed everything."

But Wilma wasn't the big one. Forecasters say if the big one does hit, though, they'll be here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The forecast for the lower and middle Keys, including Key West and Marathon.

ZARRELLA: Tracking the storm, even if they're in the middle of it.

John Zarrella, CNN, Key West.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And you can keep watching Anderson Cooper for hurricane coverage this season. Join "A.C. 360" weeknights at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

Let's check in on what the weather is doing today. Chad Myers, our severe weather expert, has that for us.

Hi, Chad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Breaking news out of Iraq. Our Tony Harris has that.

Hi, Tony.

TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Daryn.

This will come as no surprise to you. Another car bombing in Iraq, Sadr City this time, east of Baghdad. About 5:45 in the afternoon local time there in Baghdad, five dead, 15 wounded in the Jamilla (ph) market area of Sadr City. And apparently this was an attack that was aimed at Iraqi police commandos.

And, Daryn, this sort of underscores, of course, the security challenges facing this new government. So once again, a car bombing in Sadr City. That's east of Baghdad. Five dead, 15 wounded in the Jamilla market area of that city. We'll keep you posted on developments related to this car bombing.

KAGAN: All right, Tony, thank you.

HARRIS: Sure thing.

KAGAN: Ever wonder where the bad guys go to sell stolen identities? The answer might be as close as your computer. The shadowy side of the Internet. Crime time ahead on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Check out the markets. Look at this turnaround. This is a nice change of pace. The market have been open about 54 minutes. The Dow, you can see, is climbing. It's up 73 points. And the Nasdaq also well into positive territory. It is up 22.

Let's talk about identity theft now. And all too often the victims learn that they're vulnerable only after their information winds up in the wrong hands. You're about to meet someone who's trying to intervene on your behalf. He trolls the underbelly of the Internet where stolen info is pedaled to the highest bidder.

The details from our technology correspondent, Daniel Sieberg.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN CLEMENTS, CARDCOPS.COM: Here's a thief that says he has a Citibank credit card or checking account and he wants to be paid via WU, which is Western Union, to make a deal. And if you want to make a deal with him, message him.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Dan Clements of Cardcops doesn't carry a badge or a gun, but he's on patrol in cyberspace, in virtual black markets where thieves buy, sell and barter personal information in underground chat rooms. The format is called IRC, or Internet Relay Chat. A low frequency hum in the World Wide Web. Think of it as the Internet equivalent of CB Radio.

CLEMENTS: This is just a guy posting that he's hacked into a checking account with a $2,100 balance and he's x'd out the numbers. He's proving he has access to it and he wants to trade for some type of tool or ware and he wants to split the money on this account.

SIEBERG: So this is somebody's checking account just waiting to be robed.

CLEMENTS: Yes. Yeah. And he's looking for help. He's looking for an accomplice.

SIEBERG: It's a live look at identity theft. Chitchat among con artists happening in realtime. If you've heard about personal data being stolen, a lot of it ends up here.

CLEMENTS: This is what they call a gold profile. This is all the information on this lady. We have her e-mail address, eBay account, PayPal account. We have her first name, last name. We have her address, phone. We even have her social security number. We have her MMN, which is mother's maiden name. If the thief has this information, he can absolutely rip this lady's identity off in seconds.

SIEBERG: Dan, help me understand this I.D. thief community or black market, if you will. Each of those names down the right-hand side there, they're actual people in this virtual world trading all of this very real data in real-time.

CLEMENTS: That is correct. These people in the chat room, they're usually in Europe and they're trading credit cards and identities. They're swapping out different types of wares and tools so they can commit crimes. But they're real. They're doing this right now.

SIEBERG: Clements doesn't have the means to track down the criminals, but he earns his living by spreading the word. His team alerts law enforcement, credit card associations and merchants, many of whom pay for his information. And he even notifies consumers whenever they spot a crime in the making.

CLEMENTS: Hello, Nestor. My name is Dan Clements with Cardcops. I'm investigating some fraud on your MasterCard ending in 1992.

SIEBERG: A man named Nestor's entire personal profile is posted. We have no trouble calling him since, well, we have his home number.

How do you feel knowing that all of this personal information of yours is in this chat room where anybody could come across it and buy and sell it? How does that make you feel?

NESTOR: Oh, my gosh, it's in a chat room?

CLEMENTS: Yes.

SIEBERG: Yes.

NESTOR: Well, no wonder, because at this moment I'm still getting charges even from Spain, Italy.

SIEBERG: Does it scare you that this is happening?

NESTOR: Well, it does, yeah.

SIEBERG: Is it too late for Nestor now that his information is out there, Dan?

CLEMENTS: Well, it's too late in one regard. But, Nestor, you can put a fraud alert on your credit file.

NESTOR: Well, I did that.

CLEMENTS: Oh, you did that. That's good.

SIEBERG: A little later Clements gets a private communication.

So, Dan, somebody's messaging you right now?

CLEMENTS: Right.

SIEBERG: On here?

CLEMENTS: Yes. They're sending me an instant message and let's see what they have to say.

SIEBERG: What do they often want?

CLEMENTS: This particular gentlemen is offering credit cards with CVV2, full info and PayPal. So he has those available and he wants to either sell them to me or trade them to me.

SIEBERG: A whole new meaning to the phrase online shopping. Price tags on your priceless information, bought and sold in a marketplace right under our noses. Daniel Sieberg, CNN, Calabasas, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Ready or not, you go ahead and jump. Nervous Iraqi soldiers experience their first air assault. On the job training just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com