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House Panel Begins Hearing Into FBI; Concerns Over Top Secret Clearance; Leak Reporter Fires Back At Representative King; Mandela Responding Well To Treatment; Philly Building Inspector Kills Himself; NASCAR Driver Jason Leffler Killed; Colorado Fires Chase 9,000 From Homes; Tornado Hits Small Iowa Town; Military Chiefs Still To Decide Assault Cases; Arias Jury Foreman Against Death Penalty; The Duchess And "The Royal Princess"; More Federal Aid Denied For West, Texas; Major Blast At Louisiana Chemical Plant; Supreme Court Rules On Gene Patents
Aired June 13, 2013 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, breaking overnight, massive wildfires out of control in Colorado.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't imagine sitting there watching on TV and wondering if my house is gone.
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COSTELLO: Thousands forced to flee and it's getting worse.
Also, Apple picking, thieves grabbing your phone right out of your hands. Cell makers called together to come up with a plan to stop it.
Plus, success, Sarah gets her lung transplant as her family prays for the donor.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So my heart goes out to them and they really are the heroes of this story.
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COSTELLO: A live report on Sarah's condition. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for being with us. We start this morning with another bombshell from the former NSA contractor who leaked classified information on the government surveillance programs. Edward Snowden told the "South China Morning Post," the U.S. has been hacking computer networks around the globe for years including hundreds of computer this is China.
The paper says a few documents supporting that claim but was not able to verify them. Snowden's claims come not long after the U.S. complained about Chinese hacking American institutions. In the meantime, Snowden remains in hiding in Hongkong and is believed to be staying at a safe house.
He says he will fight extradition to the United States. Also getting under way right now on Capitol Hill, the House Judiciary Committee holding a hearing on FBI oversight and we're expecting the top secret program prism to be a big topic. FBI Director Robert Mueller is in the hot seat today.
CNN White House correspondent Dan Lothian joins us now live. Dan, I know that today's hearing will be focused on the FBI in general, but surely the NSA leaks will come up.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It has to come up because that's been sort of the big concern for a lot of lawmakers here in Washington this week. There are concerns that, yes, while they may have understood that these programs were in place, that perhaps they may have gone too far. Some lawmakers saying they didn't understand the scope of these programs, one saying that they might even be unconstitutional.
And so there are a lot of tough questions that lawmakers have for these various agencies involved in the intelligence sector. Nonetheless, as we saw yesterday, one top intelligence official is insisting that these programs work.
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LOTHIAN (voice-over): Edward Snowden is hiding out with his secret perhaps in a Hongkong safe house, now accusing the U.S. government of a global hacking operation. Thousands of miles away on Capitol Hill, the director of the agency's Snowden once worked for argues the controversial surveillance programs work.
GENERAL KEITH ALEXANDER, DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY: It's dozens of terrorist events that these have helped prevent for both here and abroad and disrupting or contributing to the disruption.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Out of those millions, dozens have been critical?
ALEXANDER: That's correct.
LOTHIAN: Most of the details he says are classified, but Alexander was more than willing to admit this intelligence helped stop a plot to attack the New York subway system, leading to suspect Najibullah Zazi who pleaded guilty to terror-related charges in 2010.
ALEXANDER: So it was the one that allowed us to know it was happening.
LOTHIAN: But the target of the investigation, former NSA contractor Snowden remains defiant believed to be in Hongkong. Telling the "South China Morning Post," I would rather stay and fight the United States government in the courts. He accuses the U.S. of hacking network backbones like huge internet routers, targeting Hongkong and China, and proclaims he's neither traitor nor hero, but what to call him is less of an issue than how a high school dropout ended up privy to the super secret surveillance programs.
SENATOR RICHARD J. DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: Ask you if you're troubled that he was given that kind of opportunity to be so close to important information that was critical to the security of our nation?
ALEXANDER: I have great concerns over that. The access that he had, the process that we did and those are things that I have to look into and fix from my end and across the intel community.
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LOTHIAN: Now, today Alexander will hold an unusual classified briefing for all senators where he will give more details about some of these government surveillance programs. He's been under heavy fire lately, but he says that he'd rather be criticized than jeopardize the nation's safety -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Dan Lothian reporting live from Washington this morning.
The columnist, the newspaper columnist from "The Guardian" who Snowden was leaking information to is now fight back against his own critics. Mainly Republican Congressman Peter King who says journalists who help leak classified information should be prosecuted.
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REPRESENTATIVE PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: If they willingly knew that this was classified information, I think action should be taken especially something of this magnitude. I know the whole issue of leaks has been gone into over the last month. But I think something on this magnitude, there is an obligation both moral and legal I believe against a reporter disclosing something, which would so severely compromise national security. As a practical matter, I guess there have been in the past several years a number of reporters who have been prosecuted under it. So the answer is yes.
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COSTELLO: King went on to claim that Greenwald was threatening to disclose names of secret CIA agents. CNN's Anderson Cooper asked Greenwald about that. He said that's not true.
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GLENN GREENWALD, "THE GUARDIAN": The last thing I would try and do is read the mind and what goes on internally in the swamp of Peter King's brain. What I do know is he has a history of all kinds of radical and extremist statements. He himself was a supporter of terrorism for several decades when it was done by the IRA so I don't know if he decided to make it up or if he hallucinated or what. But what I do know is that the claims the he made on national television about me were utterly and completely false and they were very serious charges that I think he ought to be held accountable for. You can't just go on national television and call for the arrest and prosecution of a journalist and tell outright falsehoods without consequences.
I was really staggered that a United States congressman, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, actually could go on national television and make up an accusation, literally fabricate an allegation, namely that I have threatened to uncover the name of covert CIA agents, as a way of arguing for my arrest and prosecution inside the United States for the crime of doing journalism.
It's bad enough to call for that. It's extraordinarily menacing that he did so on based on a complete falsehood, the idea that I ever threatened that. I did not nor would I ever.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, CNN'S "AC 360": So when people are saying you have put American lives at risk, do you believe that at all?
GREENWALD: No. And Anderson, that point you just made in my opinion is really the crucial point for anybody listening to takeaway. Every single time the American government has things that they have done in secret exposed or revealed to the world and they're embarrassed by it, the tactic that they use is to try and scare people into believing that they have to overlook what they have done.
They have to trust American officials to exercise power in the dark rest they be attacked, that their security and safety depend upon putting value in political officials. And I think it's the supreme obligation of every journalist and every citizen when they hear an American official say this story jeopardizes national security to demand specifics.
To ask what exactly is it that has jeopardized national security because if you look at the stories that we reported, we were careful to never disclose anything that could even conceivably harm national security.
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COSTELLO: Congressman King did not respond to a CNN request for clarify his comments.
Former South African leader, Nelson Mandela, is responding better to treatment. That's according to the current South African president. Mandela has been hospitalized since the weekend with a recurring lung infection. Children are now leaving hand drawn get well cards outside Mandela's home and family members, of course, have been visiting him in the hospital.
A new development in that deadly building collapse in Philadelphia last week. A source telling CNN the man who had inspected the building before its demolition has now committed suicide. Police believe he died of a gunshot wound. In the meantime, the man who was operating the crane knocking down the building has been charged with six counts of manslaughter.
NASCAR driver Jason Leffler was killed last night in a crash during a Sprint car race in New Jersey. "USA Today" reporting Leffler's car flipped and then hit a wall. Leffler spent most of his career in the nationwide series winning two races and having 107 top ten finishes. The single father leaves behind his 5-year-old son, Charlie Leffler.
In Central Colorado this morning, strong winds are pushing two wildfires across tinder dry brush. These are images that came into us just a little while ago. The numbers are staggering. Actually these are live pictures we're showing you. As I said the numbers are staggering, close to 100 homes now lost, 9,000 people are on the run from the advancing flames. Evacuation orders actually blanket a sprawling 55 square miles and the inferno shifting with the winds.
Dan Simon is live in Colorado Springs to tell us more.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This fire is still not contained at all, zero percent. That's even after having 500 firefighters on the ground and you got dozens of aircraft dumping water, dumping retardant. It just shows you that the weather has the upper hand.
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SIMON (voice-over): Multiple wildfires burning out of control across Colorado, forcing thousands more to flee their homes. Hundreds of firefighters trying to gain control of the wind-whipped flames as the evacuation areas grow.
SHERIFF TERRY MAKETA, EL PASO COUNTY SHERIFF: We've had incredible wind shifting and the winds have remained pretty consistent and that has done a lot of things we were not really expecting.
SIMON: On Wednesday the fires roared through thousands of acres in mere hours fuelled by hot temperatures, dry brush and gusty winds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We watched the plumes of smoke as the fire was rolling over our neighborhood.
SIMON: And there is no sign of slowing down. This Boy Scout camp is heeding the warnings and heading out of harm's way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want to be sure they're going to be safe.
SIMON: House and horses taken to safety and this baby deer carried out by a firefighter as the out of control inferno puts everything and everybody in danger.
PAULA WARREN, EL PASO COUNTY RESIDENT: The sheriffs came down and said you're going now and this part not knowing whether I have a house or don't is the worst.
SIMON: About 60 miles to the southwest, a smaller wildfire threatening the iconic Royal Gorge suspension bridge. Its structural integrity now being evaluated and this sobering image snapped at a local baseball game gives a glimpse of the incredible size of these unpredictable fires.
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SIMON: And we just got word that the mandatory evacuation order has expanded, 10,000 people under that order. Carol, we didn't know when things will start clearing you. Obviously the temperatures will go up today. Supposed to get into the 90s and we may see wind gusts in 40- mile-per-hour range. Things have gotten so bad now that federal authorities are now taking control of the operations. A federal incident commander is now on the ground preparing to take things over -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Dan Simon reporting live from Colorado Springs this morning.
The Midwest continues to clean up following a line of powerful storms as the east coast now prepares for its turn. A funnel cloud hit near the town of Belmond, Iowa, leaving a path of destruction, no one hurt, but one home and several businesses were destroyed.
Storms also pounded Chicago. Check out that picture, the city's tallest building struck by lightning. Now the mid-Atlantic is under threat with moderate risk of damaging winds, large hail, tornadoes and flooding so please be careful.
Coming up in the NEWSROOM, they were told you're not alone, but many in the damaged city of West, Texas feel they are certainly alone. As FEMA says it cannot help them rebuild.
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COSTELLO: It's 16 past the hour, time to check our top stories. The Pentagon has scored a victory on Capitol Hill beating back a proposal that would have removed military commanders from a growing problem, sexual assaults. A recent Pentagon survey estimated 26,000 troops were sexually assaulted last year. Some lawmakers said that number could be reduced if commanders were removed from the initial judicial process.
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SENATOR KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D), NEW YORK: The chain of command has told for us decades that they will solve this problem and they have failed. Take it from the victims who have said to us over and over again that they do in the report because they do not trust the chain of command.
SENATOR CARL LEVIN (D), CHAIRMAN, ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: It is the chain of command that can protect victims of sexual assaults.
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COSTELLO: Well, Senator Carl Levin won the argument against allowing military trial lawyers to decide, which cases to prosecute so those sexual assault cases will remain in the military's chain of command. We're hearing for the first time from the foreman of the jury that found Jodi Arias guilty of murder. He was one of four jurors who voted against giving her the debt penalty. He spoke with CNN affiliate, KTVK about the trial's impact.
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BILL ZERVAKOS, ARIAS JURY FOREMAN: The tension was so high in there all the time, you know, the magnitude of it. How much I was shaking when I signed the guilty of first-degree murder form, I literally had to hold my hand down. I literally had to hold my wrist so that I could sign it. I just wanted people to understand the human side of it, what the toll was it took on 12 people because it took a hell of a toll.
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COSTELLO: Because the jury could not unanimously agree on Arias' punishment, a new jury will be seated to decide if she gets life in prison or the death penalty. Jury selection set to start July 18th.
Britain's Duchess of Cambridge christens the Royal Princess. The former Kate Middleton carried out the honors for the cruise ship this morning. Another christening on the horizon, too, of course, she's due to deliver reportedly in about a month.
Enjoy watching sports in 3D, apparently not so much especially on ESPN. The sports network is pulling the plug on its 3D channel. Mashable.com reports 3D TV sales are up 39 percent this year, but ESPN says the audience for that programming just is not there. It will bring the channel back if and when 3D TV takes off again.
It's been almost two months since explosions levelled a Texas fertilizer plant. Now rebuilding that devastated area will be much harder. Remember that massive explosion that literally levelled the town of West? Now FEMA says West, Texas is not a major disaster area and additional federal aid has been denied.
Ed Lavandera is in West, Texas to tell us more. Good morning, Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, this is a move that has a lot of people here in the town of West scratching their heads. The city says it needs more than $100 million to repair all of the things that need repaired here, infrastructure, streets, roads, water and sewage lines as well as two schools. And the city is caught in the middle of the political showdown between the Obama administration and Texas Republicans.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the Webbers here, they just moved out. They will be destroying their house and rebuilding.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): On a drive around town, West Mayor Tommy Muska knows the longer it takes to rebuild his city, the more likely his neighbors will never move back. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My job is to get the town back built up.
LAVANDERA: But the job is getting harder. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has denied Texas Governor Rick Perry's request for disaster aid to rebuild schools, roads as well as wear and sewage lines, the news stings.
MAYOR TOMMY MUSKA, WEST, TEXAS: I don't know if we need 50 more houses to blow up or five more firemen to die to make it a disaster? I don't know. I don't know what their definition is of a disaster.
LAVANDERA: After the explosion, politicians rolled in to town making big promises, Governor Rick Perry.
GOVERNOR RICK PERRY: We will never forget what happened.
LAVANDERA: And President Obama.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We stand with you and we do not forget, and we'll be there even after the cameras leave.
LAVANDERA: Our cameras are still here and this little town needs help. In a letter to Governor Perry, FEMA says the remaining costs for permanent work is within the capabilities of the state and affected local governments. State officials accuse President Obama of turning his back on the people of West. But even despite Texas' robust and healthy budget, state officials haven't provided enough disaster relief to cover the rebuilding costs either.
MUSKA: We're third page news.
LAVANDERA: Mayor Muska says the city has a $2 million yearly budget and needs $17 million to repair the damage infrastructure, and officials say the school system is lacking about $25 million to rebuild two destroyed schools. Mayor Muska says without the disaster aid, he might only be able to afford gravelled roads in the destroyed neighborhoods.
(on camera): So when you tell folks here in town that they might be driving on gravelled roads in these neighborhoods --
MUSKA: I haven't told them yet, but we'll see. They'll understand. They will have to understand.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): While the politicians haggle, Mayor Muska and his neighbors sit and wait.
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LAVANDERA: Now, Carol, FEMA says that it has already paid out about $7 million to residents who have applied for help, individual residents, as well as approving 75 percent of the cleanup cost of debris removal and that sort of thing. But Governor Rick Perry says he will appeal the decision. In the meantime, folks here as we mentioned, sit and wait. As one city official told me, he felt like they have two strikes against them, but still at the plate batting away.
COSTELLO: And another community may be grappling with this very problem. Ed Lavandera, we'll let you go from West, Texas.
We do have breaking news to tell you. There has been a chemical plant explosion in Geismar, Louisiana. It is close to Baton Rouge. We understand this chemical plant is right along Route 30. Emergency workers tell us there are possible fatalities there. There are injuries. We don't yet know what kind of chemical plant this is.
When we confirm these possible fatalities, of course, we'll pass the information along to you. But right now, it is a major incident, emergency crews now on the scene, again, a major chemical plant explosion in Geismar, Louisiana along Route 30 near Baton Rouge.
The 113 smartphones go missing every single minute. We'll tell you who is trying to make sure your loss isn't someone else's gain.
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COSTELLO: We understand the U.S. Supreme Court has made a major ruling this morning. The decision is in on whether -- a decision is in a case examining whether human genes are patentable. Right now only one company can patent to your genes. This has been in the news because of Angelina Jolie's case.
John King is in Washington, his following this story. I'm sorry, we don't have -- I'm sorry, we'll go to Sanjay Gupta. Sorry about that. Explain this case for people, why only one company can own your genes?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, what the company is saying is that -- and we're talking about the mutated gene as you pointed out, first of all, not only women have them. Fewer than 1 percent of women have them. But simplistically, the company is saying in order to take out those genes, in out to isolate those genes, it requires a very sophisticated technique and in the process of doing so, they're changing the gene.
You can't take it out without the sophisticated technique. So it is changed and therefore patentable. People who say it should not be patented say essentially what a lot of people might think and that is that, look, it's my gene. Why should someone else be able to hold a patent to my gene? It came in my body and therefore it is mine. It's not something that can be owned or patented by somebody else.
COSTELLO: And it's also interesting that you can only go to this one company to get that test. There are no other companies you can go to in the country.
GUPTA: That's why they're being sued and other people are saying we should be able to create that test, isolate that gene ourselves. But this comes up in the larger contest of not only genetic testing, but myriad, the company at the heart of the lawsuit will say we're the ones who are able to isolate the gene and we did this first with a lot of research and development and that is what we're trying to patent. But again, the reason this has gone to the Supreme Court is because it's controversial, a lot of people can disagree on this.
COSTELLO: All right, as I said, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on this. We have people out there in the field, including John King and Jake Tapper, reading that ruling right now. When they have either I dotted, every T crossed, we'll pass the ruling along to you. We'll take a quick break. We'll be back with more.
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