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Recession in Europe Officially Ends; How Hackers Can Invade Homes; Michael Jackson's Ex-Wife to Testify; Newtown, Connecticut Sees Gun Demand Spike; RGIII Says Now is the Time for Gay Players to Come Out
Aired August 14, 2013 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, hack my house. A Texas family in shock after someone outside their house hacked into their baby monitor. How your entire home is becoming more and more vulnerable.
Plus this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now this is where the magazine goes?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's correct.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cassidy. Okie-doke.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Armed in Newtown. Pistol permits soaring, grandmas becoming first-time gun owners.
And courtroom shocker. Michael Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe about to take the stand. The superstar's drug use front and center.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for being with me. Checking your top stories at 31 minutes past.
NTSB investigators now heading to Birmingham, Alabama, after a UPS cargo plane crashed near that city's airport happened just hours ago. The pilot and co-pilot died. That's according to the mayor of Birmingham. No buildings were hit. No one on the ground was hurt. The plane was en route from Louisville, Kentucky.
To central Louisiana where two hostages remain in critical condition after police stormed the bank where they had been held hostage for 12 hours. The captor was killed in the police raid but only after he had shot the man and woman. Police say the suspect was a paranoid schizophrenic.
Now to Wall Street, big news out of Europe this morning. The recession is over. For a look at how it will affect trading here in the United States, let's head to the New York Stock Exchange as the bell rings and check in with Alison Kosik.
Good morning, Alison.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. And it's not affecting trading. So after almost two years of no growth, the euro zone is now showing growth but the market are taking it as -- but, you know, it is good news. The recession is over in Europe. You look at the growth, though. It isn't super strong but it is growth nonetheless if not contraction.
Now keep in mind, Europe is one of our biggest trading partners. So it could give U.S. companies a boost. You look at the companies that had been feeling the pinch of the recession. Ford has been losing money in Europe. McDonald's recently said it's been struggling in Europe. Same with Caterpillar, the equipment maker.
But once again, this good news not really moving the needle for U.S. markets today. We are seeing a flat start to the day, but you know what, it is summer. That time of year when stocks kind of move sideways. Something we've seen happened over the past few sessions. And although we saw stocks do a U-turn yesterday from negative to positive territory after some comments from a regional Fed member saying that the mixed economic data lately means the Central Bank may not necessarily pull back on stimulus in September.
The possibility of keeping the spigot open pushed investors back in but they don't seem to be dipping their toes in at the moment -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Alison Kosik, thank you.
When you think of hackers, you probably think of something like this from the movie "Swordfish."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUGH JACKMAN, ACTOR, "SWORDFISH": Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: I know I do. What you don't probably think of is someone tapping into your baby monitor and yelling, yelling through the baby monitor at your kid. Actually happened to one family and it turns out that's not all hackers can do to the gadgets in your home.
CNN's Laurie Segall explains.
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LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECH CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Imagine. Your 2-year-old daughter sleeping and an outsider watching her through the baby monitor. That's what happened to a family in Texas this weekend. They discovered the problem when they heard a man yelling at their toddler, reading her name off of her bedroom wall.
MARC GILBERT, FATHER: He said, wake up, Allyson. (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
SEGALL: The Gilberts believe their device was hacked.
GILBERT: It felt like somebody broke into our house.
SEGALL: Someone kind of did. And as home automation becomes increasingly popular there are more and more ways to hack your house, and many devices that are vulnerable.
DANIEL CROWLEY, SECURITY RESEARCHER, TRUSTWAVE: I can tell the Varilight, please, unlock the door.
SEGALL: That's a hacker literally unlocking your door. The smart lock is connected to a device that enables you to control your home appliances from your phone. Daniel Crowley, a security researcher, found flaw in that device.
CROWLEY: I actually run code on the Varilight and compromise it, just set up a backdoor, or I can control any device hooked up to it.
SEGALL: In a world full of these types of devices that let you do everything from flush your toilet to turn on your lights through your smartphone, a hacker can make your house feel haunted.
DAVID BRYAN, TRUSTWAVE: Basically what I can do is open up any of these rooms that have been configured or associated with this device and control them, either turning them on or turning them off.
SEGALL: Sound like something Casper would do? These security researchers found an issue with this INSTEON hub that enable them to take control of the devices connected to it.
A similar vulnerability was found in a children's toy. This toy rabbit has a camera that syncs with an app on a parents' mobile device. Designed for keeping an eye on your kids, but someone else could, too.
JEM SAVAGE, SECURITY RESEARCHER: That traffic, I was able to capture and then pull from it a URL which was the direct video feed, and as long as the access token was still valid, it hadn't been expired yet, I could watch that video feed indefinitely.
BRYAN: INSTEON has fixed the issue identified by these researchers. Varilight stresses that a hacker requires an insecure Wi-Fi connection and they say the majority of their users have secure Internet connections.
The makers of the baby monitor and the toy rabbit did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment.
As for ways to stay safe, always put a strong password on your Internet connection. Keep your software up to date and never click on links from strangers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Laurie Segall joins us now.
So let's go back to the baby monitor because it protects this family and that poor baby. Was there anything they could have done to prevent their baby monitor from being hacked?
SEGALL: I mean, it's pretty unbelievable to think that there could be someone shouting in your baby's room through a baby monitor but the answer is, yes, Carol. I mean, there was a software update available that they could have -- they could have updated their software and it would have prevented this hack from happening.
But let's take a step back. How many -- how many parents have baby monitors in their home and think, oh, I've got to update this software every so often if not someone could be screaming in my baby's room and spying on my child. And this is an interesting reality we're facing. I mean, the woman you saw in the piece, she showed us, she was a hacker and showed how she was able to hack into this kid's toy and she said, you know what, I'm just doing this to show you. But at the end of the day, bad hackers could be doing this and we've just seen that. Now they officially are -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Laurie Segall, thanks so much, we appreciate it.
SEGALL: Yes.
COSTELLO: We're getting brand-new pictures and terrible pictures out of Birmingham, Alabama. You can see this UPS plane crashed around 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time and it was landing, it was coming in from Louisville, Kentucky. And it just slammed into the ground upon landing and you can see the plane exploded on impact. Neighbors felt it from miles away.
It missed the airport altogether. It's very near the airport, though. So, you know, NTSB is on the way trying to figure out what happened.
We also have daylight pictures to show you. Take a look at the wreckage and how far afield it's spread. It's just -- well, it's unbelievable. The pilot and co-pilot, of course, died in this crash. And as I said, the NTSB on its way to try to figure out what happened.
We'll be right back.
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COSTELLO: Just a few short hours jurors will get an intimate look at the life and marriage of Michael Jackson. The pop star's ex-wife Debbie Rowe will take the stand as a witness for AEG Live answering questions about Jackson's drug use as far back as the 1990s.
Ted Rowlands is in Los Angeles, following the trial.
Good morning, Ted.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. One thing we know is that Debbie Rowe is not going to be happy to be here. This is a woman that lives on a horse ranch, does not like the media, doesn't like the public life and she is not going to like being inside this courtroom on the witness stand today.
AEG wants her, though, because she is a unique individual and that she could talk about Michael Jackson's previous drug use dating back to a concert tour in Germany when he was using Propofol and they can keep their allegation steady that he didn't tell anybody outside of a very small circle.
So she's perfect. She was his wife. Jackson met her when she was working for Arne Klein actually giving him injections of Demerol which she was addicted to and later admitted to. So she is a perfect witness for AEG. The problem is, she doesn't want to be here. So it'll be fascinating to see how it plays out in court.
COSTELLO: Trial has gone on for a long time, Ted.
ROWLANDS: Yes. Yes. It never seems to end there. The problem here is that this is a civil case and you've got a lot of money at stake. After this witness, Debbie Rowe, we're expecting another month and a half of this to go on. One would think that jurors would want to shoot themselves.
However, you talk to people who have been here every day, they're actually entertained by it and they have developed this family-like atmosphere. So the jury, I think, wants it to continue according to those folks in the courtroom every day. But boy, it has been excruciatingly long.
COSTELLO: Yes. Ted Rowlands, I can attest to that. Ted Rowlands, many thanks.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the gun debate took on a new life after the Sandy Hook shooting massacre, but the demand for guns is still soaring in Newtown. We'll tell you why.
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COSTELLO: The words Newtown and Sandy Hook will be forever linked to gun violence. It's been eight months since the deadly school shooting and in those eight months tougher gun laws have been put into place. But you might be surprised to hear the demand for guns is through the roof. Poppy Harlow joins us now. Good morning, Poppy.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Good morning to you Carol. Yes what we have seen is that people in Newtown applying for pistol permits has gone up dramatically in those eight months. And it's not just in Newtown, this is happening across Connecticut. When you look at the numbers and you compare the six months before the Sandy Hook shooting to the six months after there has been a 53 percent increase in background checks for people wanting to buy guns.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY ELIS, NEW GUN BUYER: I'm Nancy. How are you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi. How are you doing? I'm pleased to meet you.
HARLOW (voice-over): She's a grandmother who is about to become a first-time gun owner.
ELIS: This way it's easier.
HARLOW: Nancy Elis says the new gun laws passed in Connecticut among the toughest in the country are a big reason why she's buying her first firearm.
ELIS: Our rights are being slowly infringed upon and that this whole idea of controlling guns has not -- has come to my backdoor. In other words, there may be a time when I may never be able to get a firearm.
HARLOW: Elis lived in Newtown for 28 years. Her desire to own a gun is part of a spike in the state. Newtown vividly remembered for one of the worst gun massacres in U.S. history is on track this year to double the amount of pistol permits it issued last year.
DAVID ACKERT, FOUNDER, NEWTOWN ACTION ALLIANCE: I'm concerned that it can get out of hand. Nancy Lanza had quite an arsenal I understand in her home. You only have two hands. How many guns can you fire at once?
HARLOW: Dave Ackert and Monte Frank are members of Newtown Action Alliance pushing to curb gun violence.
MONTE FRANK, NEWTOWN ACTION ALLIANCE: There is a perception that the government is going to come and grab all their guns or it's not going to allow them to purchase certain guns.
HARLOW: Newton resident Ryan Delp owns multiple guns, but did not want to show them on camera out of respect for the Newtown victims.
(on camera): You went out and you bought another gun after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. Why?
RYAN DELP, NEWTOWN RESIDENT AND GUN OWNER: That was a 100 percent driven by the legislation I was anticipating being passed. It's my responsibility to take care and protect my family.
HARLOW: It's hard for Gilles Rousseau to understand as he grieves the loss of his daughter, Lauren, killed at Sandy Hook.
GILLES ROUSSEAU, DAUGHTER KILLED IN NEWTOWN SHOOTING: It hurts in a different way. I had my first dream with my daughter was in the dream just about a week ago and I said, Lauren is dead. How can she be there? She's dead.
HARLOW: What do you think when you see these numbers?
ROUSSEAU: It's sad. It's really sad. There is no other words to say it. It makes me sad to think that people, well, they feel that they're protecting themselves, but they're just adding to the problem.
HARLOW: There was also a surge in gun sales in Colorado following the Aurora movie theater massacre and after the 2011 mass shooting in Tucson, background checks for gun purchases in Arizona spiked. While Nancy Elis grieves for the victims of the tragedy in her own backyard --
ELIS: My heartbreaks for them. It truly does.
HARLOW: For her, this is about protecting her rights.
ELIS: Did the guns cause the tragedy? No. It is the person behind the gun that caused the tragedy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: And Carol, you know we are seeing this nationwide. If you look at the FBI statistics for background checks for people that want to buy guns, they have risen steadily over the past few years despite these mass shootings. What's interesting to know here is that although since the '70s the number of people with guns have actually gone down in this country the amount of guns have gone up because we're seeing people buying multiple guns more and more.
And that is really what is concerning those two men that I talked to in Newtown Dave Ackert and Monte Frank. They are not opposed to guns but they are worried about what they see as stockpiling of guns and what that could mean after the tragedy that that community went through -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right Poppy Harlow reporting live for us this morning thank you.
Here's what's all new in the next hour of the NEWSROOM. Filner watch day 24. The focus shift to the Mayor's finances.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The regulars at the bars tell us that the Mayor was often here and usually with a different woman every time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Who paid for their drinks? San Diego taxpayers.
Plus, young women in India fight back forming brigades to protect themselves since they say nobody else will.
And -- what a difference 30 years makes. Coke's new ad campaign tries to convince people its diet drinks won't hurt them.
That's all new in the next hour of NEWSROOM.
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COSTELLO: The Washington Red Skins star quarterback Robert Griffin III, RG3, says he believes there are gay players in the NFL and it's time for them to come out. Andy Scholes has this morning's "Bleacher Report". Hi, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Hi, good morning Carol. Well since the NBA veteran Jason Collins came out in April as the first gay athlete in American sports there's been a lot of talk about when an NFL player would do the same. Several NFL players have spoken up either in support or against the idea of openly gay players in the league but Griffin is by far the highest profiled player to talk about the subject.
In a recent GQ interview RG3 said, "I think there are gay players right now and if they are looking for a window to just come out, I mean now is the window. My view on it is, yes, I am a Christian, but to each his own, do what you want to do."
Well Dez Bryant says he will be mad if the NCAA does suspend Heisman trophy winner Johnny Manziel for allegedly receiving money to sign autographs. Dez says he has nothing against Johnny Football, he actually doesn't want him to get suspended but he does want to see some sort of consistency from the NCAA. Dez was suspended for the majority of his final season at Oklahoma State because he lied to the NCAA about having lunch with Dion Sanders. While he wants to watch Manziel play this season Dez thinks it would be unfair if he is not suspended.
Well the only undefeated team in NFL history is finally going to make a trip to the White House. President Obama will host the '72 Dolphins next week, more than 40 years after they won a 17-0 perfect game. The Dolphins didn't get to go to the White House after their perfect season because President Nixon was busy dealing with his little thing called the Watergate Scandal.
COSTELLO: Oh, that.
SCHOLES: Jason Dufner's on top of the golf world right now after winning major, the PGA Championship. And apparently he and the (inaudible) trophy are inseparable. Dufner's wife Amanda posted a pic on Instagram with Dufner sleeping with the trophy with the caption, "I've been replaced #pgachamp #DufDaddy."
And Carol, you see that trophy right there --
COSTELLO: That's the definition of a trophy wife.
SCHOLES: How many beers do you think that trophy right there holds?
COSTELLO: I would say maybe three cases.
SCHOLES: That's about right. Dufner on the Howard Stern Radio Show said it holds 43. To know that number, he must have actually poured 43 beers into that trophy.
COSTELLO: He looks like he drank 43 beers when he went to sleep with that thing.
Andy Scholes, thanks.
The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.
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